March 6, 2021 Issue, Page 8 of 24

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March 6, 2021 Oklahoma’s Merritt Cemetery Prescription for Change Association Opioid overdoses and deaths sures. Monitor your medicines frequent conversations with are an epidemic that have for missing or outdated pills. your children and others - it’s been on the rise in our state. Don't keep leftover medicine not too early and it’s not too meeting planned Opioids include prescription - dispose of them safely at late. medications used to treat pain a local medication drop box, The Red Rock Regional Pre- as well as illicit drugs such as mail-back program or use FDA vention Coordinator asks com- Merritt Cemetery Association will have The cemetery is located west of Merritt heroin. recommended home disposal. munity members to be proac- their annual meeting April 1, School on BK E. 1130 Rd. We would welcome Part of Oklahoma's Prescrip- 4. Carry Naloxone. If you or tive in taking these steps to 2021 at 6:00 pm. in the Merritt High School and appreciate any input. tion for Change includes: someone you know takes opi- help prevent opioid overdoses Commons. 1. Avoiding opioids. Opioids oids, they may be at risk for and deaths in our communi- come with serious risks. Ac- overdose. Get the naloxone ties. “These are small, simple cording to the CDC, there are it, keep it close, and know the steps everyone can do and will safer approaches that are more signs of emergency overdose. help curb the opioid epidemic effective for pain manage- 5. Coping Skills. The ben- we are and have been facing,” ment. Ask your doctor for all efits of learning and practicing states RPC Director, Lynsi the options to manage pain. healthy coping skills are many. Mayfield. If you have questions 2. No sharing. Never share or These skills can help us better regarding opioid overdose pre- use another person's prescrip- manage difficult circumstanc- vention, local drop boxes or tion opioids — it’s dangerous es, prevent or reduce distress disposal at home, please call and illegal. Instead of helping, and positively influence how the RPC at 405-401-2390. you may be putting yourself or we experience pain. The Red Rock RPC is funded someone else on a dangerous 6. Talk Early, Often. Young by the Oklahoma Department path. people who learn about drug of Mental Health and Sub- 3. Safeguards. Keep opioid harms at an early age are bet- stance Abuse Services and the medications locked away to ter protected from future Substance Abuse and Mental prevent theft, child poison- problems than kids who don’t Health Services Administra- ing, and other harmful expo- receive these messages. Have tion. SWOSU Sets Dates for Commencement Activities Southwestern Oklahoma to graduates, and tickets will day evening, April 30, at 7 p.m. State University in Weather- be scanned for admission. All master’s and Ed.S. stu- ford and Sayre has announced ‘The tickets will be available dents, 2020 and 2021, will the schedule for Commence- through stubwire.com at a fu- graduate on Saturday, May 1, ment ceremonies for 2020 and ture date. Guests will be re- at 1p.m. 2021 graduates. quired to wear masks and ob- Additional commencement All ceremonies will be held serve social distance. information can be found at: at the Pioneer Cellular Event All 2021 undergraduate cer- https://bulldog.swosu.edu/ Center and will also be live- emonies are on Saturday, May commencement/index.php streamed. 1, either at 10 a.m. or 4 p.m. The SWOSU graduation ap- In order to comply with CDC All 2020 undergraduate cer- plication deadline is April 11. guidelines and SWOSU regu- emonies are on Sunday, May After that date, students may lations during the COVID-19 2 (one ceremony is scheduled submit a graduation applica~ pandemic, guest seating will now, and another will be added tion and participate in the ap- be limited to two guests per if there is a need). propriate commencement cer- graduate. Bar-coded tickets All pharmacy students, 2020 emony, but their name will not for guests will be provided and 2021, will graduate on Fri- be printed in the program. Dr. Diana Lovell Named President of SWOSU University (SWOSU) in Weath- nity connections will not only erford and Sayre. grow the enrollment of SWOSU Book siging, "The Calm before the from the Bible and todays world events. Lovell—who has been serv- storm" Second Edition, by Pauline Ringer Rest assured, the world but also demonstrate the value is not falling apart. ing as Vice-Chancellor of Stu- of higher education,” said Su- Signs of the season, is a prelude for ist It's falling right into place at the feet of Je- dent Services, Dean of Social Thessalonians 4:16-18. sus, just as He said it would. Sciences and Professor of His- san Winchester, chair of the An event that has extraordinary influ- Location: Merrifield Office Supply, 224 tory at Blinn (TX) College Dis- Regional University System of over my heart. S. Main, Elk City, trict since 2012—will start as Oklahoma (RUSO). “Her deep ‘This book brings light, truth and clarity Date: March 9th, 4:00-5:30 p.m. SWOSU president on July 1. roots in western Oklahoma ‘The announcement came at and SWOSU will enable her to a special meeting of the Re- gional University System of hit the ground running.” Resilience is key to meeting financial goals Oklahoma (RUSO) Regents Lovell was born and raised held March 3. in Weatherford within the You can demonstrate this resilience by an- penalties and leaving yourself fewer resources Dr. Lovell “Dr. Lovell is well-positioned shadow of SWOSU. Both her swering these questions: What is your specific for retirement. You can help avoid this setback Dr. Diana “Diane” Lovell to provide the leadership to parents taught at SWOSU with goal? What obstacle do you face in achieving by creating an emergency fund containing three take SWOSU to the next level. has been named president of her father serving as chair of this goal? How can you overcome this obstacle? to six months’ worth of living expenses, with Her ability to build innovative the Biology Department and Here are some examples of how this resilien- the money kept in a liquid, low-risk account. Southwestern Oklahoma State programs and create commu- cy process works: Goal: Having confidence in your strategy mother teaching in the Home Goal: Building sufficient retirement funds To achieve your important financial goals, Economics Department. Ad- To build sufficient retirement income, you ditional family members have need to invest in the financial markets through you need a strategy - and you need to believe in it strongly enough to keep following it dur- deep connections to SWOSU. your 401(k), IRA and other accounts. But how ing all types of stress on the financial markets. should you respond when these markets go “I am honored the RUSO through periods of volatility? Your best defense It’s not always easy to maintain this conviction board has appointed me as the is to remain invested. If you were to jump out of — less than half of Americans are confident in next president of SWOSU, and the market every time it dropped, you'd prob- their abilities to recover quickly from difficult I look forward to partnering ably miss out on the rebounds that followed. financial situations, according to a new survey Also, over a period of decades, the effects of from Edward Jones. One way to help gain this Availabljoer with the entire western Okla- confidence is by working with a financial advi- short-term market fluctuations tend to dimin- homa community to further ish, so while the results of any particular day or sor. PICKUP ov DELIVERY strengthen our educational week may not look good on your investment In fact, 36 percent of those surveyed began system,” Lovell said. “I am pas- statement, the importance of these results may working with a financial advisor in 2020 for sionate about building inno- diminish in 10 or 20 years. help navigating the past year. The importance vative programs and alliances Goal: Maintaining steady cash flow of receiving good advice became apparent dur- with key stakeholders to grow Keeping a steady cash flow is essential to ing the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought meeting your daily and monthly expenses. So, $50 $75 about a variety of financial worries, such as job the economy of western Okla- it's obviously important that you maintain suf- loss, retirement considerations, caregiving for homa and the enrollment of ficient earned income. But what happens if you elderly parents or providing financial support SWOSU while forging connec- encounter a serious illness or injury that keeps tions with the community.” you from work for an extended period? De- to You adult children. will face some challenges on your jour- pending on the length of time you're not work- Lovell has a B.A. in Educa- ing, you could feel a real financial pinch, so you ney toward achieving your financial objectives. tion from Baylor University in may want to consider some type of disability in- But by being resilient, you can stay on the right, 1989, a M.A. in History from surance. Your employer may offer a short-term road. 6 Months 1 Year the University of Houston in policy as an employee benefit, but it might not ‘This article was written by Edward Jones provided 1992 and a Ph.D. in History be sufficient, so you may need to look at private by Robert Stephens of Edward Jones Financial Advi- coverage. sor. Adi the e-paper to a farint subseriation for $1 ner. month, from the University of Hous- Goal: Keeping retirement ac- ton in 2003. In addition to be- counts intact ing at Blinn College District, Ideally, you'd like to leave Lovell has served as Dean of your IRA, 401(k) and other ac- counts intact until you need to the College of Arts & Humani- “ElkCituNews start tapping into them when Edward Jones, Member SIPC ties at Houston Baptist Univer- you retire. But what if you face sity. an unexpectedly large medical Lovell has two children— bill or you need to replace your 2014 W. 3rd | Elk City, OK 73644 furnace or get a new car? If you 109 W. Broadway Josh and Elizabeth. Lovell becomes the 18th don’t have the money readily available, you might be forced Robert Stephens (580) 225-3156 580-225-3000 » www.elkcityoknews.com president of SWOSU, which to dip into your IRA and 401(k), Financial Advisor [email protected] was founded in 1901. incurring taxes and potential