President Williams suffers heart attack - 6 March 2007

We recieved a tip on this story about one hour before the paper went to print, throwing my awesome page design into whack. I think the design turned out alright, though, and students were happy to know the story on their president.

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President Larry Williams suffered a “moderate” heart attack over the weekend, the university announced Monday.

He is in stable condition in a Tulsa hospital, said Dr. Neal Weaver, vice president for university relations, in an e-mail to faculty and staff.

Williams was taken to Tahlequah City Hospital Saturday, and then was transported by helicopter to Tulsa. Doctors there inserted two stents to restore normal blood flow to a blocked artery, said Weaver.

More will be known later this week about when Williams can return to work.

He has no history of heart disease, Weaver said.

“The president and Pam [Williams] asked me to convey their sincere appreciation for all the positive thoughts and prayers extended for his quick recovery. He certainly looks forward to being back on campus soon and is grateful to the entire NSU community for your support and concern,” said Weaver.

FBI says campus minister planned sex with 8th grader - 20 Feb 2007

This wasn't my first crime reporting story, but I was shocked at the things this guy allegedly said in the affidavit - I spared the details from the story.

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A university employee who also served as a Redmen for Christ sponsor is scheduled to appear in federal court Thursday on a complaint that he attempted to solicit sex from a minor.

Charles “Chuck” Shaffer, 45, was arrested in Walters, Okla., exactly one month after police said he began an online conversation with what he believed was a 13-year-old girl, an affidavit states. A special agent with the FBI filed the affidavit in federal court.

According to the affidavit, Shaffer told FBI agents at the scene that he intended to engage in sexual activity and that he had made reservations at a Best Western in Lawton, 19 miles from Walters. Management at the motel found condoms, a digital camera and baby oil in the room after Shaffer’s arrest.

Since December, the Walters Police Department has coordinated with Perverted-Justice.com in an Internet sting.

According to the affidavit, a member of Perverted Justice had portrayed a 13-year-old girl and was in contact with an individual with the screen name “c_meandu,” who said he was a state employee and worked in the field of communications. Shaffer is network manager with the university technical services network.

Shaffer told the FBI he had traveled to Walters to have sex with what he believed to be a 13-year-old girl. The affidavit also states Shaffer planned to record the event with the camera.

He was aware of the child’s age, the affidavit states. According to the document, Shaffer asked on Jan. 2, “what grade are you in?” and the undercover agent replied, “8.”

He is quoted as saying, “I’ve dream [sic] about making love to an 8th grader!!!,” and then explicitly describes a sexual act.

Shaffer is charged with using the Internet in attempting to persuade a minor to engage in sexual activity. If convicted, he could face 5-30 years in prison.

University policy orders that Shaffer be placed on administrative leave until the completion of adjudication. He will receive whatever vacation and sick leave pay he has left, said Kim Cherry, vice president for Administration, and may receive job benefits until his pay runs out.

If the charges are dropped or he is found not guilty, Shaffer may return to work pending a review, but he will be terminated if found guilty.

Shaffer resigned Feb. 6 from his part-time post as a campus minister and head of Redmen for Christ, which is overseen by the South College Church of Christ. Church elders have asked the congregation to provide spiritual support for Shaffer and his family, and in a prepared statement, the church confirmed Shaffer’s resignation and asked for prayers.

Shattered Dreams - 30 Jan. 2007

A simple break-in piece wouldn't be very interesting to our readers, so I wanted to explore what it was like owning a business while going to school. That angle came easily, and so did the awesome quotes from the husband and wife owners.

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Joe Corn got the call in a hotel room. He and his wife Clara had rented the room because his home’s electricity did not work – a casualty of this month’s ice storm.

And if a week without power wasn’t enough, police were on the line.

A burglar had broken the 7 foot-by-6 foot storefront window of RPM Paintball with an apple-size rock.

By the time a patrol car had been dispatched, two paintball guns and the burglar were gone, leaving glass and debris on the redbrick sidewalk in front of his business.

“I was surprised, I wasn’t expecting it. I thought it was a prank call, actually,” said Joe, Tahlequah junior.

But when he arrived, reality set in.

“I was worried about what they took,” he said.

Luckily for the 1-year-old business, the burglar only took two cheap paintball guns, known by their trade name: markers.
His wife Clara, Tahlequah junior, was a little more upset about the Jan. 20 break-in.

“People should really think before they steal from someone,” she said. “When you steal from a small business, it hurts someone. When you first start out, your paying for it to be there.

“I just wish people would think more often.”

A few days after the incident, Joe purchased a security system and installed new locks on the doors.

A spokesman for Tahlequah Police said there are no strong leads in the case.

“We need a break on this one,” said Brad Robertson, public information officer. “We need someone to come forward.”

He said there have been no similar crimes in the area. Statistics show Tahlequah Police arrested and jailed 21 burglary suspects in 2006.

Few students run a full-time business while taking a full-time school load. The balance is stressful, said Joe, but his love of the sport helps.

“It is pretty stressful. You’re trying to organize and work with the schedule of the store,” he said. “On the other hand, I have my own life to take care of. School is what takes the most toll, so I put it in backseat a lot more.”

Playing paintball has exploded in Oklahoma, especially along the Arkansas state line, where the forest terrain supports “woodsball” weekends. Middle-class patrons fuel the sport’s commercial base, buying up markers, compressed air, paint, goggles and accessories at a fervent rate, sometimes building their own “hot-rod” setup.

And since a another business owner opened a paintball field near Tahlequah, those playing “speedball” run through paint and air about twenty times quicker with faster marker rigs.

But Joe seems to care less about the bottom line and more about enabling the love for a game, a love for the hobby he shares with his customers.

The burglary will not hurt his business too much, but if a suspect were caught, Joe said he would only ask for a monetary recoup of his losses.

“I just think they were being idiots. Everybody makes bad decisions,” he said.

And on the success of RPM Paintball, Joe takes a light-hearted approach.

“It was a chance on opening the business,” he said. “I’ve gone through my first year, which is always the roughest.

“Then I get broken into.”

Storm blasts through campus - 17 Jan. 2007

There is usually a big lapse between semesters, so I had a while to get info on this story. Check out the other story I did, though, about the two students in a shelter.

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The first big ice storm of 2007 hit Green Country with devastating force last week, immobilizing several communities and leaving a layer of thick ice on nearly everything.

University officials cancelled classes at all three branches scheduled for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Although the roads around Tahlequah were safe to drive Monday, conditions that commuters might face prompted the cancellations.

“A lot of folks don’t have electricity, no water,” said Neal Weaver, vice president of University Relations.

Administrative offices were open, however, including the essential services like campus police and food locations. The Muskogee and Broken Arrow campuses were operating on a “skeleton crew,” said Weaver, because of worse conditions in that part of the state.

“BA is not a safe campus,” he said.

Much of Muskogee faced power outages early this week, and by Tuesday that campus had minimal power resources.

Oklahoma Gas and Electric reported more than 9,000 customers without power in Muskogee, and as many as 24,000 across their system.

An automated message at Lake Region Electric Cooperative mentioned more than 9,000 without power in their system, and those with LREC might go without power until Wednesday night.

Residence halls still had electricity Tuesday, but Housing made plans in case the dorms lost power. Residents were encouraged to “evaluate other accommodations,” and the UC basement was set up as an emergency gathering point.

Emmanuel Griffin, Muskogee freshman, said he has a friend in town with an apartment, but he had planed to stay in the dorms and keep busy during the unexpected break.

“We’re gonna play spades - cards and some board games while the lights are still on,” he said. “We gotta make due with what we got.”
Several events scheduled for this week were cancelled, most notably the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration. Organizers have not rescheduled a date yet. Also cancelled Monday was the Faculty Voice Recital.

Severe weather was not enough to keep away the Oklahoma Blood Institute or its donors - 38 showed up Monday - but the cancelled Battenfield-Carletti Distinguished Entrepreneur Lecture has not been rescheduled.

Families are first residents in new jail - 16 Jan. 2007

This is why I love being a journalist. The story about the ice storm was OK, but it needed more. I had heard about a temporary shelter being set up in a brand new jail - just one day before all the county prisoners were to be transfered there - and wanted to see if there were any NSU students taking refuge. And between arguing with the Red Cross and jail workers over whether I could interview the refugees, and despite a little objection from the subjects involved, I finally got to sit down with them.

The interviewees were non-traditional students, both in their 40s and toting kids and grandkids, were a little afraid of being interviewed. These were poor folks, trying to make their lives better by going to college, and both had a past that they were somewhat embarrased about. The reason this made me love my job: ingenuity worked, perserverance paid off and the story turned out great.


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Families are first residents in new jail

Students Judy Vail and Roberta Gilliam and their families have felt the crush of last week’s ice storm more than most. Both fled to shelters Sunday after the lights and heat went dead, leaving their homes cold and dangerous.

A tree fell outside Gilliam’s house and pulled the electric cable from its mooring on the outside wall.

“The police told us we had to get out. We had no choice,” said Gilliam, Tahlequah junior.

The risk of fire was too much for her two daughters and grandson, so the family gathered up and moved into the Cherokee County Detention Center, a temporary shelter set up by the Red Cross and emergency management personnel.

“I don’t have to worry about this place catching fire and burning up,” said Gilliam.

Vail left a family shelter, Hope House, with her husband and soon after their home lost power.

“No power, no heat, no nothing. We froze,” said Vail, Tahlequah freshman.

She first tried a hotel, but the electricity failed there, too. Vail said staying in the Detention Center is a little awkward, and that moving from the family shelter was hard.

“We had to take what we could and leave. It was too cold,” she said.

The refugees, who numbered more than a dozen, slept in jail cells that will soon house county detainees. Gilliam said the conditions were comfortable, even thought the lights remained on throughout the night.

“We’ve had almost no sleep,” she said. “At least we’re warm and we get fed.”

Neither Vail nor Gilliam know when they can return home.

“[Hope House] is home to me. I really want to go back,” said Vail.

The Detention Center officially opens Thursday, so the shelter is being moved to the First Methodist Church. President Bush ordered federal emergency resources to the hardest hit areas of the state, but it is unclear whether any federal help will come to Tahlequah.

Until then, or until the lights come back on at home, Vail and Gilliam will weather what’s left of the storm. A local emergency management official said jailers volunteered to watch over the refugee families - the first residents of the 150-bed jail intended to alleviate the strain on the current, overcrowded 35-bed jail.

Fire breaks out in Wyly - 14 Nov. 2006

As luck would have it, I and a group of my reporter buddies were coming out of a meeting one night and saw fire trucks lined up outside a university residence hall. I grabbed one of them, a photographer, found a notebook and ran to the building. This was the most breaking news I had done - go adrenaline!

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Wyly Hall was evacuated after a fire erupted in the men's quad Thursday night.

University Housing said Friday the cause of the fire was from a lit candle in a room on the first floor of the east wing. Officials were unsure if the resident was in the room at the time the fire began.

Don Weston, assistant director of Housing, said the dorm's fire alarm sounded automatically, prompting other residents to evacuate. Campus police then arrived and searched room-by-room until the fire was discovered.

The fire department contained the fire to one room in the men's quad.

Eli Rhoades, Sallisaw freshman, lives in Wyly.

"I came out because of the fire alarm and I saw my RA [resident assistant] running," he said. "Smoke was billowing from the quad."

Rhoades said he did not take anything with him during the evacuation. He said the fire department arrived about 10 minutes after the alarm sounded.

"We had very minor damage because of a fast response," said Weston. "We are very proud of that."

After the fire came under control, resident assistants allowed five residents at a time back into the building to gather linens and personal effects. Housing provided linens to those whose sheets were damaged from smoke. Students were also provided water, and the on-campus convenience store Essentials stayed open an extra hour.

About 30 RAs came on scene to assist with the logistics of supplying Wyly Hall residents with accommodations.


"We set up a big operation to make sure students had a place to go, linens and everything they needed," said Weston.

He said the evacuation "couldn't have gone better." Sometimes, he said, not all students will leave their rooms when an alarm sounds.



"In this case, it went great," he said. By Friday, risk managers and campus police were still investigating the fire.

One RA went to the hospital Friday complaining of an irritated respiratory system.

The dorm reopened Friday afternoon to most residents. Those living in the affected areas of the dorm will not return until Monday, Weston said. According to Housing records, 91 students live in Wyly.

Wyly Hall Manager Sarah Slott said Thursday that residents gathered in Leoser Hall until officials could secure other accommodations.

"All over, wherever there are spaces," she said of the effort.

Weston said the displaced residents were assigned to "empty beds" in the Housing system.

Housing policy states candles, incense, oil lamps and other open flame objects are prohibited from resident halls. Weston said the penalty for burning a candle in a dorm room varies by the situation. A resident could watch a fire-safety video or be assigned to counseling. One might also face counseling and a fine for leaving a lit candle unattended, he said.

"This situation really demonstrates how dangerous this really is," said Weston. "This could have been a tragedy."

Housing asked the resident's name and room number be kept confidential. Weston would not disclose any penalties levied against the resident, but according to Housing policies found online, burning a candle can warrant a $250 fine, cost of repair or replacement and being placed on Residence Halls probation.

A professional firm from Tulsa has been contracted to clean the quad and remove the smell.

With the Cards' win, does St. Louis stand a chance? - 31 Oct. 2006

ST. LOUIS – Nothing brings home together like a World Series win.

Nothing like St. Louis’ underdog victory last week breaks down divisions of social status, race and wealth.

Nothing – because after the Cards won Friday, everyone in the streets not from Detroit celebrated with each other: businessman and bum, black man and white, paunce from the box seats and brasher from the bleachers.

Aside from living in the same city, they all had another connection of the heart; they were Cards fans.

Baseball’s popularity is declining, but everyone’s a fan when his or her team makes postseason play. It happened with the Sooners, the Red Sox and every major league football team who wins the Super Bowl. It happened with me last week, too.

The last time I followed baseball with any conscious effort, Nolan Ryan still played for Texas. For some reason, however, I watched St. Louis nearly sweep the Mets to win the National League pennant. Then, I realized the World Series would be in town during my visit to a journalism conference.

My hotel was within a few block’s distance from Busch Stadium and after Adam Wainwright struck out Brandon Inge in the ninth inning, fans poured out of bars, hotels and downtown restaurants to swarm the stadium. The game ended at 10:30 p.m., but five hours later, fans still shouted from the sidewalks, drivers still honked loudly and the Detroit Tigers had all but cried themselves to sleep.

Cards fanatics now know their team is the best. In some way, that means the city is best. It also means the citizens of this city are better than most. For a few hours that night, they were all equally better.

STL natives will be lucky if the cohesiveness lasts more than a week. Even though everyone here is on the same page now, the challenges of living their socioeconomic status will come creeping back soon.

Maybe too soon.

Numbers released yesterday rank St. Louis as the most dangerous city in the United States. The report, compiled by Morgan Quinto Press, looks at 371 cities and their crime data as reported to the FBI. St. Louis was at the bottom of the list of safest cities, Tulsa was 335 and as a comparison, Broken Arrow listed at the 20th-safest.

And according to USA Today, St. Louis has pumped millions of dollars into urban renewal projects – even the building of the Gateway Arch was hoped to bring the city together – and even still, crime keeps rising.

There is a lot of pride in this city, though. People here know who they are and what they want – probably from the Midwestern mentality dug deep into the slums that echo neighborhoods in New York and Chicago. To the west of St. Louis is conservative rural America, and towns to the east quickly become metros of the East Coast.

I guess expecting this city to now rebound and work together is pie in the sky. A simple sports victory, in all its complications, is still just a sports victory. A few people get richer, a few more get bragging rights. But the rabid crowd gets no substantive reward, no trophy to take home besides maybe a red hat. They have no reason to better their lives. And with no reason comes no hope.