About a dozen OCCC faculty and staff members, as well as some students, gathered in the Communications Lab today to bid ‘aloha’ to Tonya Kymes, lab supervisor.

Kymes is leaving the lab to take an English teaching position at the college.

The Hawaiian luau-style promotion party, which began at 3:30 p.m., included a buffet and pot luck, to which co-workers brought homemade barbecue, fresh fruit trays, cookies and other tropical foods.

Kymes took over the Communications Lab in 2008.

“I know she will be missed in the Communications Lab,” said Lyndsie Stremlow, Arts and Humanities division assistant.

Students looking for a little extra cash can sell their textbooks back to the OCCC Bookstore until Friday, said Brenda Reinke, bookstore director.

“It’s the end of the semester, and that’s always our busiest time,” Reinke said.

She said the bookstore accepts most used textbooks for resale on campus, even if they are dog-eared, written or highlighted in.

When people are directed to the Pioneer newspaper office, they are often told to go to the second floor of the Main Building and locate the yellow shag carpeted walls.

Those walls will be dismantled in a couple of weeks when the Pioneer office, lab and a classroom relocates to the former ceramics lab in the Arts and Humanities Building. Construction on the new space began July 1 and should be finished before fall classes begin, said Susan VanSchuyver, Arts and Humanities dean.

“The new space will provide much more room and will house the Pioneer, the Broadcast News Lab, two audio labs and a storage closet,” she said.

Sixteen benches were recently installed around the Arts Festival site on the northwest side of campus, said Larry Barnes, Facilities Management project manager.

Barnes said the 16 benches surrounding the site each have an L-shaped flower bed in front of the bench.

They are made of black metal and can fit up to four people.

“The benches are there for students and members of the community,” he said.

Students in the nursing program this fall will be able to practice their assessment and other skills in three new nursing labs.

The labs are located on the first floor in the Health Professions Center, said Assistant Nursing Program Director Deborah Myers.

Myers said in the past the faculty had to pair the nursing students and juggle the lab time in a single classroom.

The new labs would ensure the students get the experience they need, she said.

If a gunman is loose on campus this fall or if a fire consumes the Biology Lab, students and employees won’t have to turn on the news to find out the latest.

Instead, they will get an instant text message, e-mail and a Facebook wall post — if they sign up for the new OCCC alert notification feature to be unveiled by August.

The software, produced by the company Regroup, will allow OCCC to instantaneously communicate with students and employees via several different mediums, said John Richardson, Online Marketing coordinator.

A bill written by two OCCC staff members to address problems in Oklahoma’s emergency services was passed and put into effect June 6.

House Bill 1888 requires local governments to take a serious look at the state of Emergency Medical Services, said Rodney Johnson, Health Professions lab assistant and bill co-author.

“EMS is in a state of collapse right now,” Johnson said. “It is the number one health threat that no one ever heard about.”

OCCC is expected to have a 10 percent increase in enrollment in the fall semester, said Jon Horinek, Recruitment and Admissions director.

Horinek said the college is facing its third consecutive semester of enrollment increase.

Much of it is likely due to harsh economic times, he said.

“During years of economic hardship, enrollment numbers increase at OCCC,” Horinek said.

About 30 sixth through eighth grader sharpened their dancing and singing skills this week as they prepared for today’s performance of “Thoroughly Modern Millie.”

The students of Musical Theatre Academy, a College for Kids class, will perform a full musical production of “Thoroughly Modern Millie” at 3 p.m. today.

Because it is set in the 1920’s, Manning said, “Thoroughly Modern Millie” teaches the students social studies and civics.

Enrollment rates for OCCC’s Emergency Medical Sciences program are expected to surge this year, said Leaugeay Barnes, EMS program director.

Barnes said the economy and program reputation is driving the wave of enrolling students in the Basic Emergency Medical Technician program up 30 percent over the 2009-2010 academic year.

The program had 180 students combined in both fall and spring 2009-2010.