Ford participates in torch relay

Steve Ford, telecommnications manager for Northeastern State University, is among the runners scheduled to carry the Olympic Torch for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games

He will carry the torch a ceremonial distance of a few hundred meters in Comox, British Columbia, Canada, a town near the eastern shore of Vancouver Island.

This summer, Ford concluded four years of service as president of the International Nortel Network Users Association, an advocacy group for Nortel customers.

His role in providing international telecommunications service for the Winter Olympics and stating the needs and concerns of the clients resulted in Nortel asking him to represent the company – and others – in the torch relay.

“I’m just really excited to represent NSU and Oklahoma,” Ford said. “I recently found out I’m the only person from Oklahoma participating. As I was beginning the application process, I was told that only a handful of people from the U.S. were included. Apparently, very few non-Canadians are involved in the relay.”

The Olympic Torch will pass through Comox Nov. 4.

Playhouse presents Dracula

Tahlequah Community Playhouse presents Dracula directed by Mike Phillips on November 6, 7, 13,14 at 6:30 p.m. and November 8 and 15 at 1:00 p.m. in the Tahlequah Armory MunicipalCenter Auditorium at 100 N Water. All performances are dinner theater and reservations are required. Ticket forms may be printed at tcpok.com or picked up at the Tahlequah Chamber. Adult tickets are $20, students 13 years through college are $15 and children 12 and younger are $10.

ROTC places 3rd in competition

While most NSU students were preparing for a relaxing weekend, the NSU-ROTC Ranger Challenge team was beginning a 48-hour competition, at Camp Gruber Oklahoma. Competition began Friday Oct. 23 and ended Saturday Oct. 24, with NSU cadets finishing 3rd overall out of a 13-school field. On Friday the cadets began with a day and night land navigation course. Saturday morning events began at 4:30 a.m. with a physical fitness test, push-ups, sit-ups and a 2-mile run. Round robin events consisted of weapon disassembly/ assembly, hand grenade assault course, casualty evacuation/obstacle course and a written test. The final event, a 10-kilometer ruck-run finished out the event Saturday evening.

NSU’s six-man team is proud of placing so high in last weekends challenge. Team NSU found itself competing against much larger ROTC programs like OU, OSU, Cameron University and the University of Arkansas that were able to enter multiple teams in the competition. Members of the NSU team were: Jason Workman (team captain), Kenneth Metcalf, Shawn Dolan, Torin Sanders, Casey Hudson, Cody Brannon, Joseph Muse and Collin Fitzgerald.

For information about participation or support for NSU-ROTC call Major Gary Gile at (918) 444-3066.

Yeutter named 1st runner-up at Stache Bash

This year’s “Stache Bash” has put one NSU professor in a national spotlight. On Oct. 30, the finalists for the American Mustache Institute’s “Robert Goulet Mustached American of the Year” award met in St. Louis to show off their lip sweaters to a more than eager crowd.

This year, The 1st place award went to the Arizona Diamondbacks’ relief pitcher, Clay Zavada. Yeutter won 1st runner-up while Bill Geist of CBS’s Sunday Morning won 2nd runner-up. Geist featured the contest on his program last Sunday to national audience.

This year’s competition was furry, so to speak, with other competitors including Oklahoma University’s Landry Jones and Attorney General Eric Holder.