University of California Berkeley - Blue and Gold Yearbook (Berkeley, CA)

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Welcome to life at Story by Annie Hsu Photos by Lien Dang, Joy Liu, and Terence Tong WELCOME TO CAL! This is the phrase endlessly iterated during Berkeley ' s new student rite of passage — Welcome Week. Choc-full of tours, orientations, social e ' ents, and workshops guaranteed to tire even the most energetic and eager of newcomers. Welcome Week is a chance for freshmen, transfer students, and re-entry students to get their physical and academic bearings the week before classes begin. Each year, Welcome Week ' s countless activities are geared primarily toward acquainting students with university resources such as academic advisors, the campus tutoring center, and student organizations of ethnic, religious, and interest-based centricity. Welcome Week, hosted by New Student Services, ran from August 20 to 24, 2001 and offered activities that lasted from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., leaving no new student without ample opportunity for meeting, meandering, and mingling. Tours of campus libraries, the university ' s different colleges, and the Lawrence Hall of Science filled the afternoons. In the evenings, orientations in more social settings were events for organizations such as GLOBE (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender), the Berkeley Hillel, Cal Corps (initiating social change through leadership at Berkeley), and the Greek community. The peak of Welcome Week is Calapalooza, a three-hour fair where thousands of new students are recruited by l. ' iO different university and student organizations. This is where the hook up happens — new kids are looking for that niche and that way to get involved and differentiate themselves from the other 30,000 students at Berkeley and returning students who are representing an amazing array of organizations are scanning the crowd for fresh faces and ideas, willing to listen and eager to help. Frith Jacob O ' Steen, New Snident Services Program Director and the coordinator of Calapalooza, felt the event was successful, with approximat( 4,000 attendees and numerous acti ities and performers to entertain the The weather was good and I think overall it w ' as a very positi e day i folks. . .We had student groups come and perform on the main stage, includi Decadence, the UCB Symphony Orchestra, and the UC Martial A Program. Total Rebound Ad ' entures brought a ' Gladiator Pedestal Jou and at one point Chancellor Robert Berdahl and ASUC President Wa Adeyemo jousted with each other on the inflatable platform, O ' Steen sa Aside from academic and extra-curricular developments. Welcome We is also the time for moving into the dorms, usually on a designated day. ' help new students get better acquainted with the Berkeley area, t supervising Resident Assistants often plan group outings to cafes arou campus, the Golden Gate Bridge, or hot shopping areas in San Francisi Besides the more organized chaos, there is the simple dorm living experien There are no parents, no curfews, no restrictions, tons of new people each floor, and supervision provided by a couple of older students — anythi goes. All the people on my floor were bored so we just went around a stole furniture and moved it all o ' er the rest of the dorm. It was a bondi experience, noted freshman Josh Tennis, a resident in Ida Sproul Hall Unit 3. Welcome Week is simultaneously a week of relaxation, stress, part ' ii homesickness, and development — the first week, alone and independent Berkeley. Regardless of whether one chooses the infinite number of organiz activities, countless frat parties, or opts for hanging out in the dorms, n( people, new experiences and new places will just whet the appetite for t year to come. These freshmen take a break from w. nng around looking for student groups to join and enjoy Two students get a little boisterous during Welcome Week, relieving their cooped up energy i the shade near the Campanile. excitement for the upcoming year. 18

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Greeks 182 Seniors 200 t t. -Mm-- ' V,----

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Many organizations on campus emphasize tlie importance of education and giving back to the community through mentor-mentee programs with local schools. Housing and Dining Services set up huge buffet lines where students could get lunch. Tables lined Memorial Glade and the Campanile Esplanade and new students took the opportunity to research organizations and activities. 19