The Oklahoma State Department of Health has confirmed the state’s first case and death of Heartland virus. A Delaware County resident died recently from complications of the virus.

The virus is found in the Lone Star tick (Amblyomma americanum) and is likely spread through tick bites.

Heartland virus was first identified in Missouri in 2009. The Oklahoma case is only the tenth person confirmed with the virus and the second person to die from it.

Other cases have occurred in Missouri and Tennessee. All of the patients diagnosed with Heartland virus reported spending several hours per day in outside activities or occupations.

This letter is in reference to the recently announced news that the speaker for this year’s graduation will be Gov. Mary Fallin. I am personally sickened and horrified by this decision.

In my opinion, there is no worse choice for this honor. Not only has she been declared by some as the worst governor in America; her policies and actions go against the OCCC code of values as published in the handbook. Time after time governor Fallin has favored the rights of big business over the rights of Oklahomans. She has denied our schools access to money to build storm shelters. She refused to expand Medicare programs for our state, thus denying free health insurance to thousands of Oklahomans.

Would you date a smoker? Action on Smoking & Health has partnered with two New York creatives, Angelle Juneau and Jeff Scardino, to create a Tinder experiment called Smoking Hot. The social experiment uses the number one dating app Tinder to see if smoking is attractive to potential dates.

Recent studies have indicated that although smoking is down among high school students, the age group with the highest rate is the 18- to 26 year-old crowd. Both cigar smoking and social smoking have contributed to the high rate.

The trouble with getting this age group to stop smoking is they don’t think about their own mortality.

Health literacy is one of the strongest determinants of health for individuals, communities and nations.

To help increase awareness and action about health literacy in Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Health Equity Campaign is hosting the 2nd Health Literacy Summit at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, May 8, at the Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center in Norman.

During the summit, participants will discuss and develop practical ways to improve the health status of Oklahomans through the tool of health literacy. This year’s keynote speaker is a researcher and internationally recognized expert in health literacy, Andrew Pleasant. Pleasant is Senior Director for Health Literacy and Research at Canyon Ranch Institute, a 501(c) 3 non-profit public charity located in Tucson, Arizona. Pleasant leads research and evaluation activities at the institute, where he also is responsible for advancing the role of health literacy across all partnerships and programs. His interactive presentation will focus on “Health Literacy: A Powerful Tool for Prevention & Partnership.”

This April, LifeShare celebrates National Donate Life month. The celebration commemorates those who have received or continue to wait for lifesaving transplants. National Donate Life month also serves as a reminder for people to register to become an organ, eye and tissue donor.

There are more than 100 million registered donors in the United States and more than 1.6 million from the state of Oklahoma.

Still, the number of people in need of transplants continues to rise. Now more than 121,000 nationally and nearly 900 in Oklahoma are in need of organ transplants.

The focus for this year’s annual Child Abuse Prevention Month activities in April is to highlight actions each of us can take to help raise safe, healthy, resilient children. Child advocates and the general public will be encouraged to step up and “Be a Superhero for a Child!” during CAP Day at the State Capitol on Tuesday, April 8.

From 8 a.m. till noon, booth displays and special activities will focus on building supportive community and family environments that help children grow and develop into productive citizens.

Among the activities offered will be a “Save a Baby’s Bottom” diaper drive, directed by Infant Crisis Services. Diapers of all sizes may be dropped off from 8 a.m. till noon at the second floor rotunda.

To the Editor:

Married at 20, I dropped out of college and went to work. I had three children by the time I was 30 and was a stay-at-home mom. I worked from home as a typist, proofreader and editor for college students, helped write résumés, created commissioned art, and more to generate income. When I could afford to, I took college classes. I accumulated 95 credit hours from eight colleges in four states by the time I was 45.

Divorced at 47, making less than $10 an hour, I knew I needed to decide how to make a new life for myself. I decided to obtain my bachelor of arts in Administrative Leadership through the University of Oklahoma. Classes were offered at OCCC and online, making class attendance easy to manage. My next challenge was financing my education.

Severe weather season will be upon us before we know it and now is the time to prepare for what Mother Nature will send our way.

The American Red Cross is participating in National Severe Weather Preparedness Week by encouraging all households to be ready for the next emergency or disaster.

MAKE A PLAN: It is important that everyone in the household helps put the emergency plan together and knows what they should do if something occurs. During the day many people are at work and school so household members may not be together when a disaster happens. The plan should include ways to contact one another and two predetermined places to meet — one near the home in case of a sudden emergency like a fire and one outside the neighborhood in case circumstances prevent people from returning home. People also should identify an emergency contact person from outside the area in case local telephone lines are overloaded or out of service.

The President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching is presented during the spring of each year to a full-time faculty member who exemplifies teaching excellence. The office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs administers the process of receiving nominees and developing recommendations to the President. To be considered for this award a faculty member may be nominated by a fellow faculty member, by a current or former student or by a staff member.

Nominees will be asked to complete a reference sheet supplying personal and professional information. After a review of all nominations, a selection committee appointed by the Vice President for Academic Affairs will recommend three candidates The Vice President for Academic Affairs will then forward the recommended candidates to the President who will make the final selection.

Criteria for selection include:

To the Editor:

The American Red Cross has an Earthquake App, putting lifesaving information right in the hands of people who live in or who visit earthquake-prone areas.

This free app — available in English or Spanish — is the third in a series created by the American Red Cross for use on both iPhone and Android platforms.

“This newest app gives instant access to local and real time information on what to do before, during and after earthquakes,” said Ken Garcia, Regional Communications director, Central and Western Oklahoma Region of the Red Cross.