University of Miami - Ibis Yearbook (Coral Gables, FL)

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Student Life 1 2 CSR employees helped to raise the facility and its programs to fantastic heights. No one thought that Campus Sports and Recreation could do it in the 1990-91 school year. Without the CSR intern, none of it would have happened. Tracy Thomas, a senior from Washing- ton State University arrived at the University of Miami in August to help. More likely, she was intent on seeing the sun before she graduated from col- lege, but as the intern this year she played an important role in the phe- nomenon. Of course, she was not the sole contributor. Like all of the people at CSR this year, Tracy became inextri- cably involved in a plot of which she was unaware. N ext to the Hurricanes acceptance in the Big East conference, this was the most enormous incident at the university, and it became known to tCanes throughout the land as the Great Gathering. Lists recently compiled show that over 150 members of the Campus Sports community were directly in- volved in the event. In order to tell the story ofCSR this year, it is important to better understand a few of the key contributors, their motivations and their stories. The order in which participants are discussed is in no way related to the significance of their input in the Great Gathering, as any one of them could tell you. . .and most of them probably would. None of it would have been possible without the Director of Cam- pus Sports and recreation. Norm Par- sons, often referred to on campus as the Wellness Guru, was instrumental in captivating the oat bran segment of the university community. Alumni from around the globe were enthralled by his most popular speech, ttWell, Iim well nowt, which serves today as the motto of the National Wellness Committee. He introduced to faculty and students the six dimensions of wellness tsocial, occupational, spiritual, physical, intel- lectual and emotionaD and instructed them in ways to incorporate the well- ness lifestyle. The 1990 Wellness Fair was a culmination of Norm,s efforts toward health awareness and involvement. The fair offered information on sex, drugs, nutrition, health and lifestyle manage- ment. Hands-on activities included a massage table, a Red Cross blood drive and a most popular game called Sexual J eopardy. The 1990 Wellness Fair cata- pulted Mr. Parsons in to the national wellness spotlight. In the months fol- lowing, he was engaged in speeches and fairs at 42 universities in 26 states. It was the year, many of his peers sug- gested, that Norm reached his wellness peak. Some suggest that his sudden plummet from fame to mediocrity caused the eating binge in 91; the fol- lowing depression brought on both the cigarette addiction of Christmas ,92 and the donut dependency the succeeding year. Whatever the reason, Mr. P seems to be back to his normal, well self these days, and no one will ever forget his role in the Great Gathering at CSR. Of course, Bob Wyner, the Di- rector of Menis Intramurals, was also a key player in the events this year at Campus Sports. He coordinated nine intramural sports with over 500 par- ticipating teams and nearly 6000 par- ticipants. It was a record for intramu- rals at the University of Miami, though the domain that truly saw improve- ment and is recognized today for its relevance in the Great Gathering was

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Robert Menendez, of the band Coral during a which Valdez courtesy of Hurricane Productions. mhoto by Dave Opening 1 1

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