How deployment interferes with college education and occupation

Deployment for student and faculty soldiers can disrupt progression toward graduation and other goals

Since the dawn of voluntary military service, education has been an incentive for recruits to enlist. Military institutions in the United States generally provide for a soldiers education after they sign a contract. However, college student and faculty soldiers in military units such as the National Guard or U.S. Army Reserves face the possibility of deployment that can affect their education.

Students and faculty that are currently enlisted in an active-service branch have the possibility of being deployed at any time during a time of war. Usually universities are cooperative with a deployment and students typically do not fail out of their classes. However, multiple deployments during college can prevent them from moving forward toward their degree.

“Gabe” Sevigny, a veteran of the National Guard, has had his college career interfered with multiple times since joining in 2003.

“I started school in 2003 and was deployed the next year, so I had to drop out,” Sevigny says, “it wasn’t until [2010], when I got out, that I was ever able to return to school.”

Sevigny has been a student of several universities during his early years in the guard, but had to keep dropping out due to his National Guard commitments.

The War on Terrorism has certainly increased the number of National Guard and Army Reserve personnel that have been deployed abroad. The military is a good way for people to go to college if they can’t afford it, which is why many people like Sevigny end up being deployed during their academic careers.

The issues that college student veterans have are depending on their experiences during their deployment, says Christina Kulp. Kulp is a captain in the U.S. Army Reserves and has had her tenure process interrupted by deployments to Iraq.

“My tenure has been pushed back three times because of [Army Reserve] stuff,” said Kulp. “It’s also difficult for me to come back and pick up the work where I left off.”

Sevigny, president of the Student Veterans Association (SVA) at the University of Oklahoma says many veterans do not take advantage of their benefits post-deployment because their interruptions in education make them lose interest in it.

“Many people get out of the [military] and just go out and find a job, rather than trying to continue their education where they left off… That’s something I hope to change [as president of the SVA],” Sevigny said.

Organizations such as SVA can help student veterans deal with unique issues that regular college students don’t face. Post-deployment issues due to trauma can prevent student veterans from performing to their potential academically. SVA and other organizations can help student veterans cope and seek friendship they may have a difficult time finding in the classroom.

“I want there to be a place for veterans to come if they are feeling the pressure to just relax and have people they can relate with,” Sevigny said.

As more veterans return from war seeking an education there will likely be more organizations such as the SVA to help soldiers make the transition to being a student.

(VIDEO: Matt Dyer, 2:12)

"Gabe" Sevigny and Christina Kulp talk about their experiences in the military and how it has affected their educational and occupational lives.

UCO students perform play about human trafficking to spread awareness

A play written and performed by University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) students hopes to spread awareness about human trafficking in Oklahoma.

The play, called “VOICED: The Real Story of Prostituted Women” was performed at the University of Oklahoma (OU) on April 24. The play was written and directed by UCO seniors Claudia Fain and Summer Nolan. The 45-minute long play detailed human sex trafficking and the young women who are victims of it. It is intended for mature audiences.

Some may believe that human trafficking is a big-city problem; however, it happens in rural areas too, such as Oklahoma. Fain and Nolan say young women are the targets of pimps and forced into a life of prostitution.

“Oklahoma has some bad areas, some areas in the city… They take young girls to be what they call ‘truck stop girls’…” said Nolan.

VOICED features a series of monologues and other scenes to depict the life of the victims of human trafficking. Nolan and Fain had no specific inspiration or story when they were writing the play, however, that doesn’t mean it is any less realistic.

“We fantasized the stories a little bit… but they are not far off from what is actually happening to many women out there,” said Fain.

The audience consisted of about 75 people inside of Dale Hall 103. The play was well received by the audience, prompting some audience members to stand up following the final curtain. The play was free for audience members but donations were accepted. All proceeds went to non-profit organizations Gender Equality and Reproductive Rights (GEARR), Oklahomans Against Trafficking Humans (OATH), and No Boundaries.

 “At least 70 percent of women in a sex industry job, whether its porn, strip clubs, or prostitution, were forced there in some way or anything,” Fain said, “we just hope to let people know just how bad this problem is.”

“VOICED: The Real Story of Prostituted Women” is a memorable, if not slightly disturbing look at a grim world. 

(VIDEO: Matt Dyer, runtime 3:21)

Despite overwhelming support, some Oklahomans say "no" to Keystone XL

Despite great support for the Keystone XL pipeline, some Oklahoma residents go to drastic lengths to try to stop its construction. This is certainly the case for Nancy Zorn of Oklahoma City, and Elisabeth Leja of Norman. These two environmental elderly ladies decided to halt construction of the Keystone XL pipelines by physically blocking the massive construction vehicles that are used to build the pipeline. Zorn used a bike lock around her neck to attach herself to a piece of construction equipment while Lejas used a cable lock.

Construction for the Keystone XL pipeline began in 2008. The pipeline will transport "oil sands" or "tar sands" from Canada down the Texas and oil refineries in the Gulf Coast. The pipeline is somewhat controversial considering the crude nature of oil sands and their potentially damaging effects on the environment if they are spilled.

Despite the controversy over the Keystone XL pipeline, according to the Pew Research Center a total of 66% of the total people surveyed support the construction of the Keystone Pipeline, which would end in the middle of the year if it is passed by President Obama. 

Although support for the pipeline is overwhelming, there are others, besides Zorn and Leja who think that the pipeline is a bad idea. Groups such as "Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance" are fighting to block the proposal to finish the Keystone XL pipeline. Zorn, Leja and the anti-Keystone pipeline activists believe that the oil sands are bad for the environment and hope to keep them out of Oklahoma, despite being built elsewhere.

Not all anti-Keystone pipeline activists have implored as colorful and drastic was of preventing the construction of the pipeline as Zorn and Leja, locking themselves to the body of a piece of machinery that can easily crush them. There efforts are interesting and prove their compassion. However despite the opposition, it looks like the pipeline is here to stay.

Life after "Operation Babylift": many adoptees yearn to learn about past

The Vietnam War negatively impacted many lives; however, for the children of “Operation Babylift,” it gave some hope at a new life.

In 1975, just before the fall of Saigon, United States forces in South Vietnam prepared for the worst – the infamous war was coming to an end, as North Vietnamese Army soldiers closed in on Saigon. Operation Babylift, as it would come to be called, was one of the more unusual and surprising end-of-war preparations made by the United States. The plan was to evacuate infants from South Vietnamese orphanages to United States, and allied countries, to prevent them from being killed by the North Vietnamese. As it turned out, Operation Babylift would begin with tragedy after the first flight, carrying at least 300 people – including infants, crashed in a rice paddy field shortly after take-off. 138 people, including 78 children, were killed.

Years after Operation Babylift, adoptees are experiencing mixed emotions about their lives in their new home countries.

According to a 1983 Australian survey, 90% of New South Wales families who adopted Vietnamese war babies felt that their adoption was “successful for themselves, the family and the child.” However, despite how successful Vietnamese war babies integrated into Australian society, or anywhere else, there is still something missing in many of their lives. A 2000 survey by The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Agency reports that many adoptees of Operation Babylift were confused about their ethnical background while growing up in their new homes.

“I did not feel like I belonged to the Vietnamese culture nor completely in the Caucasian culture,” a random responder wrote.

Racial stereotyping and discrimination also plagued many of the Vietnamese adoptees childhoods in their predominantly white societies.

“Throughout my school years, there were various times peers were mean to me because I was different,” another random responder wrote.

The same survey also details the respondent’s desires to search for their birth families. Out of the 88 responses, only 25 percent responded that they had no desire to search for their birth families.

Most Operation Babylift adoptees in America feel as though they are American by birth, despite being born in a country all the way across the world. However, curiosity about their pre-Babylift background persists. Throughout the U.S., Canada, Britain, and Australia, the main countries adoptees were sent upon arriving in the United States, there are organizations dedicated to helping Vietnamese war babies reunite with other adoptees, or even their blood relatives. Although considered orphans by the war, many children were simply abandoned by their mothers in South Vietnamese orphanages.

Many adoptees of Operation Babylift were very young at the time they were shipped over to the United States, so most have no recollection of their blood families or life before the end of the war. Organizations such as Operation Reunite help support Vietnamese adoptees through their journeys to discover their origins, a journey that can be hard to make.

As far as the survivors of the Operation Babylift crash, some were awarded settlement following a lawsuit made against the United States Government and Lockheed Aircraft Corp. For others, simply surviving the ordeal was reward enough.

Adam Vance lives in Tampa Bay, Florida, and works for WTSP News 10 as a photojournalist. He is now 39 years old, but a day does not go by where he does not think about the plane crash that could have killed him.

“Everything I do goes back to that crash. It is a part of who I am,” Vance said.

Vance feels that his life could have been different in a matter of an instant. Although he does not remember what that horrible day was like, he lives his life knowing that he could have easily been among the unlucky ones.

“I was 13-months-old at the time that happened, so I remember very little. But for me it’s a constant reminder of where I could be…” Vance said, “I feel as though I have a purpose in life, I don’t know what it is yet, but I’ll figure it out.”

Since Operation Babylift, there has been debate about whether or not these children should have been brought over from Vietnam in the first place. Many felt as though the United States had no business taking children from their native countries. Others were concerned about the murky legal issues that were sure to, and did, follow the adoptees arrival in the United States.

Giving aid to children of war-torn countries has become more common since Operation Babylift. Often times it is the work of charity organizations, rather than the United States government. Whether or not Operation Babylift itself is considered successful, without it many children may not have had the precious chance at life they were given. Despite the problems of Operation Babylift, it can be considered a humanitarian victory.

Meet Adam Vance

Adam Vance leads an interesting life. Living in Tampa Bay, Florida he works for WTSP News Channel 10 as a photojournalist. He is a self-described “leatherman” who says when his station needs something done, he is the one they come to. However, what people may not know about are the many challenges Adam has faced in his journey to where he is today. Many of which he does not even remember.

Born in Saigon, South Vietnam during the last part of the Vietnam Conflict, Adam was orphaned as a baby. In April 1975 the United States began an operation to transport as many babies living in South Vietnamese orphanages as possible to the United States in hopes they could find a new life in America. The very first flight of Operation Babylift ended in tragedy when the military airplane carrying the babies crashed in a rice paddy field due to an equipment malfunction. Nearly half of the people on board died in the carnage. Adam, although only 13-months old, was one of the lucky survivors to dismount the plane on that fateful day.

Adam feels as though he has a purpose in life after surviving a plane crash that could have easily claimed his life. The importance of being the best person he can be is not lost on him, even 38 years later, as he lives happily with his wife and children in Tampa Bay, Florida.

Meet Adam Vance.

(VIDEO: Matt Dyer, runtime 2:25)

Activist informs students about privacy and social media

Chris Soghoian, a privacy activist, believes privacy is important in regards to social media. Students gathered on Feb 26 in Gaylord room 1140 to listen to what Soghoian believes are the causes and solutions to the lack of privacy in today’s social media world. The discussion-format seminar drew a near-full audience as Soghoian and Ashley Packard discussed the history and future of privacy. The presentation wrapped up with a Q&A section with audience members.

Anyone who uses Facebook or other social media should be worried about privacy. As social media becomes more prevalent in today’s society privacy may be hard to obtain in the future.  Soghoian explains that social media sites and search engines store information for years. This information is accessible, without limit, to any law enforcement or other government agencies. Not only does this make it easier for law enforcement to gain information, it can be intrusive as well.

“[Information that] would once have taken the FBI to the field to get they can now get on their web browsers,” Soghoian said.

Packard and Soghoian PHOTO: Matt Dyer

Soghoian’s activist techniques range from obtaining official documents through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to smuggling tape recorders into places he should not be.  He also helped create the Do not Track privacy program. Although his activism deals with technology, he says that his research and ideas are about the policies behind the technology.

“I try to make these [issues] assailant and understandable… [it’s] public policy questions wrapped in a thin layer of technology,” Soghoian said.

Despite the decreasing privacy on social media like Facebook, there are some companies who maintain transparency. Twitter and Google are open about the data transactions that they are required by law to complete. These are small steps in the larger progress towards maintaining privacy. Often times in social media people are not given a choice about certain aspects of their privacy. This creates problems for people who are not aware of the privacy concerns in regards to social networking.

“It’s not that the information is being collected, it’s that we don’t know what information is being collected,” Packard said.

Thanks to activists like Soghoian people can be relieved to know that not everyone has forgotten about privacy. However, social media is not going away. Privacy should be a consideration everyone takes into account.  Soghoian urges students who have a problem with privacy policies at their university to try and get those changed. If no one tries to enact change, there will be no change. How important is privacy to you?

Attempt to capture the atmosphere of a walk through Gaylord Hall

Runtime: 1:41 VIDEO: Matt Dyer