Oregon State University - Beaver Yearbook (Corvallis, OR)

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Right: Working together as a team to solve the chal lenging puzzle given to them, a group of incoming freshmen learn skills that they can later apply to their studies at OSU. Photo submitted by Student Orientation and Retention Above middle: During Connect week. SOAR hosts a carnival that includes all sorts of activities. Here a student rode the elliptical for a world turning experience. Above right: Red Robin joins the festivities by promoting the classic cheeseburgers that make great studying food. Photos submitted by Student Onentation and Retention Above: The tradition of the new student walk allows students to congregate within their particular college and major. They will walk with these same people during commencement. Here the OSU Marching Band greet first-year students with a rousing rendition of the fight song. Photo provided by Student Orientation and Retention Connect

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connect week £7ricom su s zzc cz tw too A t z’zr zzwt s e w tozoa Y s 6ecomz a z c ozzzi (Arzzztvw very year the office of Student Orientation and Retention (SOAR) helps new students transition from high school to the beginning of their college life. Staff members helped each student by giving them the resources and assistance they need to become part of the OSl' community. SOAR was an excellent source for any possible question or snag that students may have encountered along the way. Connect week was one of their most well-known activities. It occurred one week prior to the start of fall term. This year it lasted the week of Sept. 20-25, 2005. Rick DcBcllis, an orientation program organizer, mentioned that Connect week actually lasted more two and a half weeks instead of one. This was due to the fact that there was a program called Footsteps that occurred before Connect week. Footsteps was an organized trip that allowed freshmen and transfer students to meet new people while participating in a fun and exciting atmosphere away from the campus. This years trip was white water rafting. This year SOAR also worked with downtown businesses, public safety, and hundreds of students and faculty volunteers to “...Roll out the orange welcome mat, said Marcus Langford, another orientation program organizer. The programs, like Late Night at Fred Meyer, that occurred during this special week gave students an opportunity to connect with incoming students, staff, the OSl’ campus, and the overall Corvallis community. In the end. there were relatively 150-175 programs for new students to choose from. One of those programs was the new student walk. It consisted of students dividing into their particular major anil college anil then walking with one another from the Memorial Union quad to Gill Coliseum, just as they will ilo four years dow n the r« ad during commencement. This new tradition started in 2004 and will continue to occur during every Connect week in the future. I-angford 1 relieved the student walk was a key factor in the first chapter in a student’s book of their college experience. After all, each student might as well start out with one fixrt ahead. Stoty by Izabela Chamot ■vents 'TraatiZo is

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veeer rdeed r la arc ay yames saar mor fast£ a terrasec (jSeaorr sfeiri (vxftanc ec s ac a m With the S80 million first phase of “Raising Reset’ complete, OSU had a stadium to lx proud of. After more than 14 months of construction noises and anticipation forming, Reser was at last raised and ready in time for the for the start of the 2005 football season. There were several reasons for the renovation. It was declared a necessity for recruitment of future football players anti to give the team the competitive advantage. The new placement of the student section also had the football team enjoying its much louder cheering section. “It brings more excitement to the game, and makes it harder on the opposing team,” said senior receiver Joshua Hawkins. The renovation was highlighted by new orange and black seats, ensuring every visitor faced Beaver Pride. The first 14 rows were reserved for students, anti were prepared to holt! 3,000. Above the student section was the brand new donor section which had 3,500 seats under the cover and 5,000 uncovered scats. The Club I .eve I had 3,600 seats anti gave fans 25,000 square feet of space. In private indoor boxes the Founders l.oge held 200 seats for the University President and other high-ranking community members. The Founders Ix ge had its own wait-staff, foot! anti beverage service, private access to the I )ge Club with a field view, a flat panel television, radio, and press box sound options. The stadium was said to lx one the most state-of-the-art stadiums in the Pac-10 Conference though it still ranked ninth in size among Pac-10 stadiums. Completed, Reser stood ten stories tall at around 150 feet or ten stories. In addition to the 300,000 square-foot stadium expansion, a five-story, 1,000 car. 330,000 square-foot parking structure, which happened to lx- the first in Corvallis, was the largest in Benton Count)’ history. To complete Reser s facelift, a new FieldTurf synthetic surface was added during the spring Reser was originally built in 1953 and had already gone through several modifications through its 52 years at OSU. Its original name was Parker Stadium, in honor of Portland businessman and alumni Charles T. Parker, class of 1907, who headed the fund-raising efforts and played a large role in its initial construction. Hopes were always high for the stadium to seat many more than originally constructed. A quote form the Oct. 1952 Oregon Stater reads, “eventually, the stadium will be enlarged to a seating capacity of around 60,000.” This was a “Raising Reser” prediction 52 years before it actually happened. The stadium was renamed in 1999 after alumni Al and Pat Reser donated a significant amount of money to the stadium. The plaza located just outside the stadium remains Parker Plaza in memory of Charles Parker, and was the location of many pre-game activities. After a short renovation, Reser awaited many winning seasons from the Beavers, as were the 43,000 fans in the stands. Though not as big as other stadiums in the Pac-10, Reser s beautiful new stands had as much spirit as a stadium could handle. Story by Lauren Gilchnst ti Xents YuZ ' wm-