Racism in the age of the America’s first black president finds the country at a crossroads, said Professor Roy Brooks of San Diego State University in a speech on campus Nov. 3.

Brooks said the U.S. is in a post Civil Rights period that is marked by contrasting racial dynamics. On the one hand, we have racial success; on the other hand, we have racial despair.

“Conservatives argue that the best way is not to define it at all,” Brooks said. “As we have seen the success of many African Americans, many people believe that we do not have a race problem anymore.

Brooks said this is incorrect.

“The problem lies in cases like teenage pregnancy, the linkage of blacks and crimes, hypersensivity to racial issues, and the lack of educational ambitions,” Brooks said.

A jazzed up version of “Jingle Bell Rock” will be one of several holiday selections included in the free jazz performance on campus at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 7, in the Bruce Owen Theater.

This will be the first time to incorporate Christmas music into the jazz concert, said music Professor Michael Boyle, who trains the musicians.

Boyle said the performance will involve two student jazz groups.

OCCC’s production of “Romeo and Juliet” was an opening night success with almost every seat in the Bruce Owen Theater filled on Nov. 17.

“The show is where I want it to be,” said Rachel Irick, guest director of the play, after the performance. With flowers in her hand, a gift from the cast, she said she expected each night’s performance to get better.

Recovering from an injury, Irick watched the performance from her wheelchair in the back of the theater.

If you ask mathematics Professor Jay Malmstrom whether math can be applied in real life, you may get a surprising answer. As a former applied mathematician for the U.S. Navy, Malmstrom said he knows math can be applied in many different contexts.

He has a particular interest in the link between Native American art and mathematics.

In a Student Life sponsored Brown Bag lunch Nov. 15 entitled “Mathematics in Culture,” Malmstom showed some of his Native American artifacts.

A multicultural video conference on Oct. 25 between OCCC students and students from the Ulyanovsk State University located in Ulyanovsk, Russia, offered students at both schools a small window into the lives of their counterparts.

About 20 students and faculty from OCCC attended the conference, while about 10 Russian students made an appearance.

The video cameras for both classrooms were situated to show all of the students instead of focusing on one student individually.

It was clear to OCCC students that the Russian students were bashful about their ability to speak English. However, many of the Russian students answered with great clarity.

Student Life is hosting a Brown Bag luncheon about the Chernobyl meltdown at noon Wednesday Nov. 16, in CU1 as part of International Education Week.

Service Learning and Student Life Programs Coordinator Jill Lindblad will be speaking with students about the nuclear disaster that happened on Apr. 26 in Chernobyl, and how it compares to the recent Japanese Nuclear accident.

Brown Bag luncheons are hosted every week by Student Life in the College Union rooms.

Playing William Shakespeare’s Juliet is a dream role, said Emily Germany, who stars in OCCC’s upcoming performance of “Romeo and Juliet,” perhaps the world’s most famous story of tragic young love.

OCCC’s performance of “Romeo and Juliet” opened at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17, and runs through Nov. 19, in the Bruce Owen Theater on campus.

Her co-star is Michael Cowan, Jr.

Student life is hosting a Brown Bag luncheon speaking about math-related current events.

Professors Jay Malmstrom and Christopher Oehrlein will be speaking with student about the euro, the global economy, and the Mayan calendar as part of international education week.

The event will take place from 12:30 to around 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday November 15, in room CU1.

The Oklahoma Blood Institute hosted a blood drive from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Nov. 2 in the general dining area of the Main building.

The OBI set up a mobile donation center in the dining area and was giving cookies and soda to help raise the blood sugar of those who gave blood.

“Each donation saves three lives,” said supervisor Lakesha Shields.

As of 1 p.m., 27 people had already donated. Though the results will not be released for a few weeks, Jill Lindblad, Student Life coordinator, said on average as many as 90 students show up to these events, and only about 50 will actually be eligible to donate.

Student life is hosting a Brown Bag luncheon about the history and culture of origami from noon to 1 p.m. on Monday Nov. 14 in room CU1 as a part of international learning week.

Speaking with students will be Service Learning and Student Life Programs Coordinator Jill Lindblad and World Languages and Culture Center Lab Coordinator Chiaki Troutman.

According to Lindblad, they will be teaching students about an aspect Japanese culture that they might not have known about.