Bridging the gap between dry fact and epic story is a challenge faced by every textbook writer, including Professor Dana Glencross.

The OCCC professor has co-authored a political science textbook that will be used at more than 25 college campuses across the U.S., including this one.

Glencross said she worked with fellow writers, John G. Geer from Vanderbilt University, Wendy J. Schiller from Brown University, and Jeffrey A. Segal from Stony Brook University, to create the new political science textbook called “Gateways to Democracy, an Introduction to American Government: The Essentials.”

Writing for fun, rather than for class assignments, drew a small group of students to the College Union for a workshop May 2.

Communications Lab Assistant Lydia Rucker talked about the elements of fiction writing.

A good book is a book that is hard to put down, a book that is suspenseful, a page turner, Rucker said. Most importantly, a good book is one you wish would never end.

For drivers looking for a way around $4 per gallon gasoline, an alternative is vehicles that run on Compressed Natural Gas, or CNG.

OCCC now has two CNG vehicles.

“Compressed natural gas is the same gas that’s in your water heater or your stove,” said Richard Steere, automotive professor. “The only difference is that it’s compressed on a vehicle.”

OCCC has seen a sizable increase in the number of students passing their developmental math courses, said Dr. Tamara Carter, director of the math department.

From 2007 to 2010 the OCCC math department has seen a 9 percent increase, from 46 to 55 percent, in the number of students passing developmental math and taking the next step to a college level math course.

Carter said the college has been working for many years to help students succeed in math.

As classes come to a close and students gear up for the summer, the college bookstore is anticipating a crowd of students looking to get rid of their used textbooks.

Beginning May 9 until May 16, students can sell their textbooks for cash at the OCCC bookstore located in the Main Building.

Brenda Reinke, bookstore director, said students can earn up to 50 percent of the OCCC Bookstore shelf price by using the OCCC bookstore — regardless of where the book was purchased.

What can students do when the college library doesn’t have the materials they need to write a research paper or complete a project?

Use the Interlibrary Loan system to get the information from another library that has it, said Reference Librarian Rachel Butler.

Interlibrary Loan is a system where OCCC agrees to loan books, magazine articles, and DVDs to other libraries, and other libraries return the favor, Butler said.

Students and staff are able to use the Interlibrary Loan database for class or personal interest. “We don’t care,” she said. “We can get all sorts of things for students and staff.”

Oklahoma state Secretary of Commerce and Tourism Dave Lopez will provide words of wisdom for departing OCCC students in his role as keynote speaker for the 2011 commencement. Until just recently, Lopez served as an OCCC regent.

Students will cross the stage May 13 at the Cox Convention Center, located at 1 Myriad Gardens, after hearing Lopez speak.

“It’s an honor to be able to share such an important moment with the graduates and their families,” Lopez said.

President Paul Sechrist acknowledges what the commencement ceremony will mean to everyone involved.

“The annual commencement ceremony is the single most important celebration of the college,” Sechrist said.

A suspicious package led to a campus parking lot being shut down for about an hour Friday.

At about 12:40 p.m., OCCC’s Campus Alerts system issued a message stating that parking lot G, located near the automotive center, had been closed while police conducted an investigation of an unattended package.

All building doors to the lot were locked and students were redirected to other parking lots.

Hundreds were in attendance while the sun was setting on the annual Society of Professional Journalists award ceremony in Tulsa on Saturday, April 30.

Rubbing elbows with the likes of News 9’s Alex Cameron and KOTV’s Todd Ruffin was OCCC’s very own award-winning Online Editor Whitney Knight.

Knight won first place with former Editor Ethan Hendricks for their coverage of the Feb. 26, 2010, campus shooter scare, beating out The McAlester News-Capital and The Oklahoma Daily, the University of Oklahoma’s student newspaper.

OCCC’s Communications Lab is an open opportunity for employment, where students can apply to become lab tutors.

“Tutors will be trained to help students with writing assignments,” said Rachel Olsen, lab supervisor. “Tutors also assist students with minor computer issues.”

There is limited space for new hires, Olsen said.