University of Arkansas Fayetteville - Razorback Yearbook (Fayetteville, AR)

Page 30 text:

UA students Whitney Haynes and Jeff Hobson grieve as they watch the final results of the 2004 presidential election on an overhead TV. Haynes and Hobson gathered with oth¬ er members of the Young Democrats organization for a watch party at Sodie’s Bar and Grill. Photo courtesy of the Arkansas Traveler

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As part of the ROCK Camp ses¬ sion, freshmen take part in a rafting trip on the Illinois River. The rafting trip was one of the many activities designed to help students meet one an¬ other before move-in day in August. Courtesy Photo ROCK Camp provides chance for new students to meet others and adjust to college life Carolyn Finnie Being accepted to college was no easy task. And even more dif¬ ficult were the challenges facing incoming freshmen once they ar¬ rived: meeting new people, adjust¬ ing to the freedom and finding a balance between school and play. ROCK Camp, a division within the First Year Experience program, was designed to help incoming students become acclimated to the college lifestyle. ROCK Camp, which stands for Razorback Outreach for Commu¬ nity Knowledge, was founded in 2002 in response to the student re¬ tention problem between first- and second-year students. The UA’s goal of raising the retention per¬ centage was focused around FYE. FYE looked at model programs across the country and developed ROCK Camp as an opportunity to reach out to new students. As a result, the UA’s retention rate had increased 15 percent. Although the first ROCK Camp trip in 2002 drew only 67 students, approximately 500 students at¬ tended the camps that took place in two sessions prior to the begin¬ ning of the 2004 fall semester, on Aug. 10 and 11 and Aug. 20 and 21 in Welling, Okla. Most stu¬ dents were incoming freshmen; however, the program was open to transfer students, as well. “Over time, FYE would like to serve the whole freshman class.” said senior Kelsey Bunker, assis¬ tant director of ROCK Camp. At ROCK Camp, students learned tips for having a success¬ ful college experience through a series of lectures on stress, time management and career choices and presentations by motivational speakers. Their experiences during the two-day sessions also gave new students the opportunity to learn about the UA tradition. Students also participated in a rafting trip on the Illinois River. “Some students aren’t success¬ ful their first year in college, and Rock Camp provides an oppor¬ tunity to interact not only with other incoming students but also with faculty and upperclassmen to help and inform the students,” said Shailen Singh, associate director of FYE and ROCK Camp. The most challenging obstacles students learned to overcome at ROCK Camp were “the transi¬ tion of leaving your home and the shock of coming into interacting with others,” Bunker said. “Not only can students build friendships with other incom¬ ing students but also learn inside tricks to being successful,” Singh said. “Students can develop rela¬ tionships and learn traditions, in¬ stilling a sense of pride in being a Razorback.” Beyond the ROCK Camp ex¬ perience, FYE also offered classes as electives to freshmen. These classes were taught by professors throughout the campus’ colleges and departments. They were de¬ signed as a means of offering as¬ sistance throughout new students’ first year at the UA, building on the foundations that were laid at ROCK Camp. Core elements included time management and health. As the size of the incoming class grew each year, FYE helped to en¬ sure a successful transition for all. Boosting Success 25 boosting SUCCeSS

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While some students celebrated the “W ” others looked to the future with heavy hearts and troubled minds Emily Miiholen UA students watched and waited as did the rest of America. With anticipation and emotion running high, students gathered with friends and tuned their tele¬ visions to the news channels. The campus was on fire - divided down the middle in terms of who should win, but in agreement on the fact that all students should be in¬ volved. For many stu¬ dents, 2004 was the first major election in which they could vote. So perhaps the desire to perform their patriotic duty was many students’ driving force. But even more than that, students were concerned about the state of our country and the direction in which it was headed. Some students believed in and supported President Bush and his plan for our nation, while many other students believed it was time for a change. But regardless of political af¬ filiation, one thing was certain: students at the UA were passion¬ ate, involved and interested in the 2004 election. For weeks prior to the arrival of Election Day, stu¬ dents encouraged one another to become involved, to help deter¬ mine the future of America - to vote. The campus embraced the elec¬ tion and made it as painless as possible for students to participate in the process. Months before the election, student organizations set up booths on campus reminding students to register to vote and providing the necessary forms to make the task simple and fast. The Democracy on Wheels pro¬ gram went even further to ease the burden of getting to the polls that on-campus students sometimes faced. The program ran buses be¬ tween campus and the Washing¬ ton County Courthouse and was a big hit with members of the on- campus population who wanted to vote early and evade the long lines on Election Day. election’ ’04 The political spirit was alive on the UA campus far beyond the realm of encouraging voter partici¬ pation. The Young Democrats and College Republicans held political debates prior to the election and watch parties on Election Night. The Associated Student Gov¬ ernment even conducted a mock election, in which John Kerry won by a narrow margin - 623 students for Kerry; 548 for Bush, showing exactly how divided the student body actually was. And when it was all said and done, and the final votes were counted, the campus was just as divided as when it had all began. While some students celebrated President Bush’s victory, others cried. And the following day as students watched Kerry concede and Bush accept another term in office, the campus was quiet. The sense of division was more apparent than ever - the campus mocked the torn nation. And stu¬ dents’ faces, both the joyful and the somber, said what words could not express. Election ‘04 4 m 27