Leos take 'Next Step' toward ULV
Campus Times
September 18, 1998
Freshman Jason Cooper and OWL Nancy Ikari "swing" to sophomore
John Joines rendition of "Jump, Jive and Wail" by Brian Setzer
Orchestra. Karaoke was followed by dancing. Disk jockey for the evening
was Paul of High Society.
Nerves were raw and emotions intense as the incoming class began to
settle into their new-found homes at the University of La Verne, and began
the long eventful weekend that lay ahead.
There was check-in, move-in, Club Fair, Playfair and the hypnotist.
Then, of course, there was camp with its many activities, and to round
off the weekend there was Academic Orientation.
The Move In
Students and parents alike carried armful and armful of accumulated
personals into rooms where nervous roommates awaited, wondering what the
year had in store for them.
Natalie Fowle, freshman, and her mother, Bonnie began unpacking in a
cramped Stu-Han double that has been converted into a triple. Many of the
double rooms have been tripled to accommodate the flood of new students
wishing to live on campus.
With an incoming class of 440 new students, housing is full with 24
remaining students still on waiting lists.
Lauren Larsen and her roommate Leslie Estrada, both freshmen, said "so
far everything is okay." Their only complaints were that they could
not seem to find a comfortable place for the computer and that their room
was rather hot.
"We need to have air conditioning," said Estrada.
It was a busy day for housing and the resident assistants. They had
the grueling task of escorting these students and their families to their
rooms to fill out all necessary paperwork for the completing the check-in
process.
"It [check-in] was a little bit confusing, because you had to stand
in three separate, long lines instead of one single line to get all the
things done," said Larsen.
"The R.A.s have been so nice and have made us feel so welcome.
Everyone is so outgoing."
Among the chore of moving in students also had the opportunity to participate
in the Club Fair that was held in the quad. Local businesses such as Juice
Stop, In-n-Out and Hogi Yogi were handing out free smoothies as well as
coupons redeemable for other free food and merchandise. Campus Ministry,
Campus Safety and other groups also had booths.
Younger siblings of new students played in the "Little Leos"
bounce house, provided by the Office of Admissions, or created masterpieces
with sidewalk chalk.
In La Fetra Lecture Hall a historical video was shown. The video was
a comparison of the University throughout the years.
In 1940, stamps cost four cents, they were just testing the television
set and it was the 50th anniversary of ULV. It was the first few years of
World War II and the population at ULV was only about 100 students, 75 women
and 25 men.
In the afternoon, President Stephen Morgan spoke to the new class about
"launching together on a great journey."
An education is not about going to classes and getting units, he said,
but about broadening their horizons, about choices, new cultures and beliefs.
It is about pushing their limits and watching and listening with critical
eyes and ears.
During the evening hours, students were urged to participate in Playfair,
a game that incorporates the message of respecting "individuality and
commonality" with hysterical, chaotic ice breakers.
(Above): Senior Sergio Velasquez was so deeply hypnotized by Rick the
Hypnotist that he did not respond well to suggestions. Because of this,
the hypnotist had to whisper instructions for his performance. The show
was held Saturday night in the Student Center.
(Below): Junior OWL Mike Miller assists Rick The Hypnotist
in keeping the stars of the show from falling off their chairs. Under hypnosis
are senior Nancy Ikari, sophomore Imen Aney, senior Sergio Velasquez, sophomore
Ernie Minner, freshman Diana Hall, sophomore Rachel Eldridge, and senior
Cecilia Torres.
Following Playfair was Rick the Hypnotist who captivated the audience
with his powers.
He enlisted the help of several students in the audience which included
senior Orientation Week Leader (O.W.L.) Nancy Ikari.
Ikari was told that she was Snow White and was looking for the eighth
dwarf, Sleazy.
Rick told the panel of participants that they were sitting on seats
that were so hot that it was burning their bottoms, so they began jumping
out of their seats while frantically rubbing their bottoms to cool the heat.
The performance ran longer than expected due to its surprising popularity.
And so ended the first day of orientation.
Camp Pilgrim Pines
It was about 8 a.m. and five buses had already been filled. A sixth
bus was recruited to hall the remaining students. By the time the buses
departed they were forty-five minutes behind schedule, and Camp Pilgrim
Pines lay in waiting, nestled in the low mountain town of Oak Glen.
The retreat to Pilgrim Pines has been a tradition for over 30 years.
Many other traditions that ULV honors are associated with orientation.
For instance, Associate Dean of Student Affairs Ruby Montaño-Cordova
and her fluorescent orange tennis shoes, which she uses to "leo-gize"
students. It is said that Montaño-Cordova "bleeds orange and
green."
Another of the camp traditions is that of folk dancing. In past years,
Professor of Physical Education Emeritus Dwight Hanawalt has taught everything
from the "Hokey Pokey"to square dancing at camp. Because he was
unable to attend this year, a Pilgrim Pines staff member filled in and lead
the group in the traditional dances.
Daniel Obregon, freshman, said that Trisha Smith, also a freshman, "taught
me to do the chicken dance and the YMCA. I had a great time. It was awesome."
Obregon needed extra assistance due to the fact that he is blind.
(Above): About 8:30 Sunday morning, Freshmen Jacqueline Reaser and Sarah
Riplex wait as their OWL, sophomore Norma Cruz, gathers her group to board
the buses. Boarding six buses with 277 new students took more than half
an hour.
(Below): Freshmen roommates Jeanette Sanchez and Natalie
Fowle dance to the "chicken song", one of the folk dances done
on the volleyball court Sunday evening. In addition to this dance, students
also learned the "Macarena" and did the "Limbo."
The writing of the goal letter is one of the more personal and serious
camp traditions. This aspect asks students to examine what it is that they
want in their lives and how they plan to achieve it.
Chris Arbizu, freshman, wrote in his letter that he hopes to be a strong
Christian leading a promising future and hopefully a steady girlfriend.
In addition to the folk dancing and the goal letters students participated
in games like MTV's Singled Out.
One gentleman and one lady were picked per round.
The rest of the opposite sex then filed on stage to slow be weeded out.
Categories to be chosen from were along the lines of "Personality:
Betty Boop or Olive Oil." If the student was an Olive Oil and the gentleman
chose Betty Boop then they were to sit down.
Once a majority were seated and only a few remained yet another elimination
process occurred. The contestant asked the remaining few to answer a question.
Ryan Gustafson, freshman, was in an eliminating round and was asked
to give his best pick up line.
He replied, "If you were a booger, I'd pick you first."
"People to People" was performed in the main lodge. Skits
were put together by O.W.L.s, and skits situations -such as date rape, STDs,
racism, homosexuality and cheating-which are possible situations that may
occur at any college campus.
"People to People" fired up a lot of students because it touched
on sensitive subjects. The interaction evoked much discussion on the stupidity
of the characters the O.W.L.s portrayed.
O.W.L.s stayed in character after the performance in order to give explanations
to justify their character's actions. Then they were allowed to tell how
they differed from that person realistically.
Camp this year was successful despite some "challenges" that
had not arose in previous years such as "the large numbers and higher
percentage of students who wanted to attend camp and the number of beds
and the sixth bus at the last minute," said Kate Mueller, coordinator
of student development programs. But those challenges were overcome, and
yet another year at Pilgrim Pines prevailed.
"Every year is different. The OWLs are different. The students
are different. It is wonderful to have so many people there," said
Kate Mueller, coordinator for student development programs, "The kids
seem to have a blast and to really connect with each other."
"Camp was a blast. I had so much fun at camp. I thought it was
good mixers to get to know people better," said Larsen.
(Above): After being introduced to some of the faculty and staff, students
exit the main lodge just before lunch Sunday.
(Below): Junior transfer Eboni Stanford waits to see
her date, freshman Jason Riley, a contestant on ULV's version of MTV's "Singled
Out". Instead of the "date", Stanford and Riley each won
a bottle of bubbles. Other prizes included paper airplanes, pinball games,
and a toy basketball set.
Academic Orientation
The next step in the orientation process focused on the academic aspect.
The first general session, called the "Learning Community,"
began at 8:30 a.m. in Founders Hall Auditorium.
Dr. John Gingrich, dean of arts and sciences, along with Dr. Morgan,
talked of the University's Mission Statement and what it means to ULV students.
The Mission Statement begins, "Through its academic and co-curricular
programs, the University provides rich educational and personal development
of its students."
In respects to this statement, it has further been broken into four
other sub-sections: a values orientation, community and diversity, lifelong
learning, and community service.
Dr. Morgan and Dr. Gingrich asked a few returning students who were
present to tell if the Mission Statement has been their experience during
their time at La Verne.
Rick Garcia, junior, said that the Values and Critical Thinking class
he had taken helped him to identify himself more clearly. It made him question
his own beliefs and what he truly believed.
Discussion regarding lifelong learning also was in the mix. Many were
not aware that the learning process is one that never ceases. It will continue
long after students graduate from ULV, but the skills taught here will hopefully
have taught them how best to further themselves in the learning process.
After the general session, students headed to department open houses
in which they met with the faculty and learned of what each department had
to offer.
Students were required to visit two sessions.
"Where in the World is La Verne?" with Al Clark looked at
studying abroad. ULV does offer study abroad and it only cost slightly more
than a normal semester.
"Thirty-one Flavors -- What Field Should You Study?" was lead
by Dr. Bill Cook, vice president of academic affairs, about how to choose
a major. It was stressed the importance of being interdisciplinary but also
the importance of completing a major.
Dr. Gingrich spoke on the topic of failing out of an academic program
with his session, "ABC's of Failing College."
Lunch was held in the quad with food provided by Davenport.
A mix of music was played to give the lunch a relaxing atmosphere to
foster more mingling between students.
Freshman LaNika Batiste expresses her views on a "People To People"
presentation by the OWLS, a dramatic portrayal of issues in social conflict
students may encounter at ULV.
Freshmen Clint Rodgers and Lauren Larsen finish their goal letters on
the back of OWL Norma Cruz. These letters will be returned to each student
if they return for senior retreat.
International student Faisil al Faisil from Saudi Arabia climbs aboard
the last bus heading back to campus. Although six buses were available,
students still had a difficult time finding open seats.
Students make their way back to the buses on Monday afternoon. They returned
to campus and watched "Good Will Hunting" in the Student Center.
