CAS News

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently awarded OSU’s Department of Computer Science a Rapid Response Research (RAPID) grant of more than $100,000 to develop virtual reality-based training simulators for COVID-19 first responders. Computer science professor Dr. J. Cecil, who is leading the project, explained that the proposal was approved by NSF in a matter of weeks—a process that can typically take at least six months.

“The NSF moved on it faster because the country is facing an emergency,” Cecil said. “The federal agencies realize that engineers and scientists have to help the doctors."

Footage of the death of George Floyd while being arrested by the Minneapolis Police Department has sparked outrage across the country. Large protests, and in some cases riots, are pushing for a variety of changes in our justice system. In order to have an educational discussion about these difficult topics, we welcome Lawrence Ware, co-director of the Africana Studies Program and Teaching Assistant Professor and Diversity Coordinator in the Department of Philosophy. Like all of our podcasts, this episode is an open discussion for the purpose of education, and should not be mistaken as OSU’s institutional stance on race relations or any other topics discussed.

After graduating from Weleetka High School in the early 1950s, Gary Stewart headed to Stillwater with the intention of becoming a forest ranger. But a hiccup in registration set him on a new path.

“When I came to OSU, I thought I was enrolled,” Stewart said. “I wasn't.”

Annagrace Lewis recently graduated from Oklahoma State University after triple majoring in Biology, Plant Biology and Zoology. She joined us to talk about why she earned three degrees, how the College of Arts and Sciences has helped her prepare for medical school,  and what it was like to have the end of her undergraduate experience wiped out by the COVID-19 epidemic.

Like many freshmen, Oklahoma State University graduate Corina Hernandez took a few semesters to cement her chosen major of Human Development and Family Science in the College of Human Sciences. But then, while looking for electives to fill out her schedule, she enrolled in an intro to communication disorders course in CAS’s Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders.

“I loved everything about it,” said Hernandez, who hails from Elk City, Oklahoma. “And once I got my feet wet in [CDIS], it was straight ahead from there. I was so engaged in every lecture. I remember telling people how easy it was to go to class because everything was so interesting.”

Jacee McCoy of Katy, Texas, wasn’t sure what she wanted to major in when she came to Oklahoma State University. Despite being unsure of the exact pathway that she would take to reach her goals, McCoy knew that OSU would give her the opportunities she needed to succeed.

“I knew I wanted to major in a science field but wasn’t sure exactly what science that was going to be. I just knew that I love school and wanted to continue my education somewhere I thought would allow me to grow and flourish. OSU allowed me to do that,” she said.

In November 2018, OSU art history graduate and Stanford Ph.D. candidate Lora Webb moved to Rome to study Byzantine art and manuscripts for two years. But when COVID-19 began to rapidly spread through the country in February and March of this year, Webb had to make a decision: stay put or come back to the U.S. She ultimately decided to remain in Italy.

“It's a pandemic, so it's not like you can outrun it,” Webb said. “It seems like the best way to get out of a pandemic is to just stay in place. That's all you can do. Otherwise, you're going to be in it longer. You're going to run straight into it.”

While Oklahoma and most of America has been in some form of lockdown over the past two months, Italy implemented one of the strictest versions in the world and did it earlier than most nations. That country has now begun easing restrictions, but we spoke with OSU art history alumna Lora Webb when they were still in place. She is in Italy working toward a Ph.D. from Stanford. Lora published a letter in the Oklahoman urging her home state to shut down to save lives, just as Italy did. We spoke about that, how her experience compares to what we are seeing in Oklahoma, and why her research area makes some people uncomfortable.