Northwest Missouri State University - Tower Yearbook (Maryville, MO)

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% 0 t V The line forms here Increased enrollment causes overcrowding n ack-to-school blues hit many stu- dents when Aug. 24 rolled around. Of course, some were anxious to get back into the swing of things, and others were here for the first time with high expect- ations. But all 5,054 students didn ' t have to walk far to soon found themselves fac- ing the routine of classes and the hassle of moving in. Students were also faced with a problem that wasn ' t so routine: overcrowding. Enroll- ment had Increased by about 500 people from the previ- ous year, and it was apparent everywhere. Students saw advantages to Northwest ' s growth, how- ever, because more students meant more money. The extra students were beneficial to the University. Sherry Mclnteer said. There was more money to invest in new programs, and I felt more of our needs were be- ing met. Residence halls that had been closed for repairs were re-opened to serve as tem- porary housing until more people could be accommo- dated. Some men stayed the entire first semester in Doug- las Hall. I had the option of mov- ing during the semester to the high-rises, but I didn ' t mind staying where I was, Henry Dominguez said. My roommate moved and shared a room with two other guys, so I had a private room and class. One thing students did mind was waiting in lines that never seemed to end. Mass- es of impatient students were delayed, in some cases for hours, at the cafeterias, the Registrar ' s Office and Cash- iering. A few students who felt the problem wasn ' t being dealt with quickly enough started petitions for Taylor Commons to open both sides of its serv- ing lines. It was ridiculous that stu- dents had to start petitions to complain about things that obviously needed to be done, Brad Summa said. Extra people flooded class- rooms, as well. Chairs weren ' t as plentiful as stu- dents, forcing instructors to move classes to other buildings. Gpperclassmen tended to blame the inconveniences on the unusually large freshman class, whose enrollment in- creased 30 percent from the year before. I waited in line four hours for general registration only to find the freshmen had filled all the classes 1 wanted, Steve Rehbein said. Even though I didn ' t pre-register, as a sophomore I should ' ve been able to take general education classes without having to get special permis- sion. There were even problems with parking that the new color coding system for park- ing lots didn ' t seem to alleviate. I bought a red parking sticker that should have al- lowed me to park close to my dorm, but it didn ' t, Mark Gerling said. I might as well have saved my money and parked off campus as far as I had to walk. Big numbers didn ' t have to be bad. though. Good things were also waiting when students arrived. Each resi- dence hall room was equip- ped with a computer terminal followed by the promise of telephone installations in October. New dugouts were built on Bearcat Field, the newly remodeled Everett W. Brown Hall welcomed the College of Education and yellow paw prints were painted on streets near campus entrances. Students found the first days memorable, eventually getting through the lines and finding parking spaces. When the year got underway, overcrowding became less noticeable as students joined the routine and squeezed into ca mpus life.D Cara Moore 1 First Days 29

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Balloons are released as Presi- dent Dean Hubbard, Gov. John Ashcroft and Shaila Aery, com- missioner of higher education, officially switch on the Elec- tronic Campus. The ceremony took place during Freshman Orientation. Photo by Debby Kerr Peer advisers, student ambas- sadors and student leaders receive instructions on the Playfair program, which took place the first night of Fresh- man Orientation. The program was held so freshmen could meet their classmates. Photo by Debby Kerr Mark Martin demonstrates the frustration felt by freshmen moving into residence halls. The large freshman class led to a shortage of rooms, forcing some to live in temporary hous- ing. Photo by Ron Alpough Temperatures in the mid- eighties force Craig Brown to move his speech class outside to the Bell Tower. Outdoor classes were not uncommon during the first days of school. Photo by Kevin Fullerton 28 First Days

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Reason to celebrate Show choir gives noteworthy performances T he talent development concept was at the core of several Culture of Quality objectives, but that idea had been at work for eight years among the mem- bers of Northwest Celebration, the CJni- There was a lot of excite- ment in St. Louis, Dave Hi- man said. When tiie au- dience was appreciative, it really made us want to do our best. In January, Celebration performed for the Missouri Music Educators ' Convention at Tan-Tar-A at the Lake of the Ozarks. Of the nearly 90 tapes submitted by groups auditioning for the honor. Celebration was one of 12 groups chosen. In a spring tour, Celebra- tion planned to perform in Springfield, Pleasant Hill, Marshfield and Aurora. Wey- muth said the group tried to plan its tours to include high schools that were good for recruiting music students. Before school started in August and during the first week of classes, open auditions were held. Over 100 performers auditioned for the 24 spots. Each prospective member sang a pop solo and a madrigal, then demonstrated sight reading and pitch memory skills. The top 48 advanced from those preliminaries. At that point, the singers were given a pop song writ- ten exclusively for Celebra- versity ' s show choir. Dr. Richard Weymuth, the choir ' s director, said it was the pride in their work that made the members ' perfor- mances shine. Their pride was the neatest thing about the group, Weymuth said. They wanted to be good. We were all involved in mediocre things at one time or another, so it was nice to be involved in a group where everyone cared. The group ' s efforts paid off in performances. Celebration presented its repertoire of popular songs and dance steps approximately 1 5 times each year for audiences on and off campus. In addition to their regular stage show, they presented madrigal pro- grams at the Renaissance Festival in Bonner Springs, Kan., and at madrigal feasts. They did shows for events like Sneak Preview in addi- tion to their regular spring concert, fall musical gala and state-wide tours. During the fall semester. Celebration members travel- ed to St. Louis, where they performed for over 7,000 people at the Missouri State Teachers ' Convention. tion and orders to learn it in two days. They returned for final auditions, which usual- ly took over four hours. Although the auditions seemed grueling to some, they provided performers with good experience. it wasn ' t that difficult freshman Jodie Winter said. We just had to do a good job and be confident of our talents. After members were cho- sen, practice sessions began. Surprisingly, Celebra- tion was only able to practice together during the three- hour weekly class period set aside for rehearsals. That meant members had to spend time outside the group learning their parts. Although practice time was limited, the group didn ' t buckle under the pressure, and Weymuth said members kept positive outlooks on their work. There were no attitude problems, Weymuth said. The student s were all there because they wanted to be. I hadn ' t had a bad rehearsal for years, because they came in every day with the attitude that we were going to be good. If honors and acclaim were any indication, the group had indeed accomplished some- thing impressive: a musical achievement worth celebrat- ing.D Mike Dunlap 30 Celebration