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

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Yean star extra S •continuetlfrom page 010 One of the faculty members who participated was Dave McLaughlin. McLaughlin was a member of Maryville Citizens for Community Actions, the community organization that Residence Hall Association worked with. I was quite pleased with the students, McLaughlin said. The hardest part was keeping people busy. We had more people than work. They did a wonderful job. With the construction on campus, some of the people who usually worked on clean up and repair in the halls were busy in other areas. That meant RAs had to help more to get their halls ready. We had areas that we had not used that we had rts smoothly with to get ready, Dye said. The RAs really pulled together and did things that would be considered above and beyond. The freshmen attended events like hypnotist Dr. Jim Wand, speaker Dr. Bertice Berry, comedian Buzz Sutherland and a pancake breakfast. Textbook services was another area at Northwest that played an important part in getting freshmen and returning students ready for classes. Five days before verification, they began to pack up books that the students would pick up. They had to pack up books for about 3,600 schedules. With RAs ready, textbooks bagged and students moved into their halls, the preparations that took months payed off as a new academic year began. Dr, Bertice Berry by Kiinb« rly Mansfield Freshmen filed into Bearcat Arena not knowing what to expect from Dr. Bertice Berry ' s presentaion. Berry was a motivational speaker who also entertained her audience with a sense of humor. This was Beny ' s second performance at Northwest. The staff wanted her to speak to the school. Counseling Center Director Liz Wood said. She was definitely worth hearing again. She had a serious message, twi she was also funny. Her mes.sage to students was to make college a good experience. Berry challenged the crowd to find experiences other than drinking in college. She urged ttie crowd to attend cultural events and other events in college life and to examine them. An unexamined life is not worth living, Berry .said. Berry asked questions that made the students examine their lives. She posed questions to the audience, then allowed the students to question her. As Berry finished, many students stood to applaud her. Sarah McFarland appreciated the message behind Berry ' s presentation. It was exactly what I needed to hear. McFarland said. I was glad she came. Many of the students who did not know what to expect walked out of the auditorium smiling. She was very insightful. Brad Smith said. She turned bad things annind and saw them differently. I would probably see her again if she came back. Staff members confirmed what they knew from Berry ' s previous visit. She was a wonderful speaker. Wood said. ON THE THIRD night of Advantage Week, freshmen anended Or. Baittoa Berry ' s lecture. BenytaMwd about ft importance of staying m school. PTwft) byAmyRoh PNKPAMATIONS for SCMOOl. OI3

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BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS resident assistant Jay Morrison, hall director Kristine Pfeffer and RA Meena Ewing stage possible situations they might encounter thoughout the year. In this situation Morrison was drinl ing in his room and hiding Pfeffer in his closet. Photo by Amy Roh TO LEND A hand to the community, Dan Beyer and Jamie Gaston spend the day painting the Nodaway Humane Society building. This was just one of the projects that the new resident assistants did to promote community service. Photo by Jason Hoke AS PART OF Advantage Week, resident assistant trainee Jamie Britz participates in leadership building activities. The resident assistants used teamwork i n order to get one group from one side of the rope to the other without touching the rope. Photo by Sarah Phipps 01 a STUDENT Lire

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Athletic teams thrive on by Brad Brentlinger To sports fans across America, nothing was more satisfying than attending a sporting event of their favorite team. To the athletes of those teams, nothing was more satisfying than to look out into the stands and see them filled with fans cheering them on to victory. The fans were often an overlooked part of sports, but as long as they attended games, they would always be appreciated. Since he began attending Northwest, Troy Smith had been to many Bearcat football games. A football fan his whole life. Smith said he knew the fans made a difference. Even though away games were harder to attend, I made it a point to go to every home game, Smith said. I realized it could not have was the men ' s basketball team. We tried to catch at least a half of their game, and in return, they tried to see as much of our games as they could. Softball coach Pam Knox felt that good fan turnout was a direct result of a team ' s play. We encouraged our athletes to play sharp for the fans, Knox said. When we played double- headers, they could take as long as three hours, so we tried to do as much as we could to keep the fans in the stands cheering us on. The athletes at Northwest appreciated fan support, whether it was standing room only or just a few spectators, while the fans appreciated the athletes for giving them something to cheer for. been easy for those football players to run up and down the field, going all out for an entire game. If the fans ' presence on the field assisted our team in victory, then I felt it was well worth the effort. Basketball player Becky Wheeler appreciated athletes from other sports who supported them. The football team was great about coming out to support us, Wheeler said. They were usually at our games, and of course we had the cheerleaders at every game too. Another big supporter for us Bobby Bearcat Fan Club by Brad Brentlinger Northwest expanded into the community by starting the Bobby Bearcat Fan Club. When children became members, they received a Bobby Bearcat coloring book, bumper stickers, a patch, Bobby Bearcat trading cards, and an autographed Bobby Bearcat certificate. The program was designed for children ages 1 and younger, and there was no cost to join. Every month, the members with birthdays in that month had their name put into a hat. The winners of the drawings had the option on their birthday to either tour the Northwest athletic facilities with Bobby Bearcat, or have Bobby himself go to their house on their birthday with cake and balloons. This program was started in the fall and hoped to gain new members as it continued. Cheerleader Jacob DiPietre suggested the idea to John Yates, the Northwest cheerleading coach. They held a meeting with Athletic Promoter Matt Symonds and Director of Communications Marketing Ken White and were able to work out an agreement. The funding for the program came out of the cheerleading budget, public relations budget, and the athletic budget. The fan club was aimed directly at children in the community in an attempt to embrace the residents of Nodaway county and get them more involved in Northwest activities. n 01 4 STUOKNT LIFE