Absolute publication open to submissions

Justin combs
Editor
editor@occc.edu

OCCC’s literary journal is currently accepting submissions for its April 2010 publication, said Clay Randolph English professor.

Randolph said the publication has been active since 1974 and has remained steady through the years.

“The Absolute is one of the traditions at OCCC,” he said.

“Since the beginning of the college, the journal has been consistently published.”

Randolph said submissions include poems, short stories, essays, black and white photos and screenplays.

Prof shares decades-old coal miner tools with OCCC

Jennifer Pearsall/Pioneer
History professor Ray McCullar shows his father’s miner’s hat and lamp from the mid-1930s. A collection of Dee McCullar’s mining gear is showcased in front of the Social Sciences office located near the Aquatics Center.

STACI BRINKMAN
News Writing Student

During the Great Depression in Oklahoma, coal mining offered hard, dangerous work with low pay for long hours, said Ray McCullar, OCCC history professor.

McCullar has brought to campus artifacts from his father’s life as a coal miner in the 1930s.

Dee McCullar’s coal mining experience is presented through paraphernalia in a showcase in the Social Sciences area, located in the Main Building between the Aquatic Center and the Student Union.

The display includes a collection of 70-year-old tools and objects that were used by Dee McCullar, such as a carbide light, a coffee maker, a coal mining lunch pal, and a brief summary of the history of coal mining.

Ray McCullar said his father’s role was deep down in the mines where he would pick out coal and load it onto coal trucks.

Mining accidents were commonplace, Ray McCullar said. It was not uncommon for coal miners to lose body parts as a result.