November 3, 1999
Campus reacts to arrests
By RYAN JOHNSON
Assistant News Editor
The Ferris campus and the athletic division in particular drew a collective breath several weeks ago, when two Ferris football players were arrested on several serious drug counts.
The two suspects, Matthew Lahaie and Miguel Cooper, were taken off the field by undercover officers during a practice session. "They just came out onto the field and asked for our guys," Jeffrey Pierce, head football coach, said. As of last Friday, Lahaie has been released on bond and Cooper is still in the Mecosta County Jail.
"Their arraignment has happened," Stan Dinius, director of DPS, said. "Now there will be a preliminary exam in District Court to see if there is enough evidence to take them to circuit court." While the immediate future of these two men seems to be set in stone, Ferris is still stirred up.
"Obviously, you don't need things like this to happen," Pierce said. "I have been here for sixteen years and this is the first time anything like this has happened. It is very unfortunate, but I have not changed the way that I handle my team."
"This didn't have anything to do with athletics," Thomas Kirinovic, interim athletics director, said. "They were picked up on a civil charge. Our only action was to suspend them from the team. We will determine their status after the investigation is complete."
"Both of the guys were back-up players, and there is not much we can do about it," Pierce said. "They did what they did. Sometimes this can happen if a person is guilty of making the wrong choices. Unfortunately, others have to pay for it as well."
"In some ways this came as a surprise, and in some ways it didn't," Kirinovic said. "A campus is a reflection of society, and in a society we have many things like that. Really, we were more disappointed than surprised."
Other sports and coaches felt the effects of the incident, while some did not. Tracey Fisk, head women's basketball coach, said, "This has not affected the team at all. I don't see any problems like that on the team.
"I don't think it has changed my program," Jeff Kavalunas, head track and cross-country coach, said, "But there is always some concern when it's found out that student athletes are into drugs. I know my athletes really well, and I don't have any concerns.
"I discussed it with my team, and it is kind of scary. These guys were athletes, had locker rooms right next door, and I think that bothers them a little."
Students as well have strong opinions on the issue, and the general attitude is one of firm disappointment.
"I think that they deserve what they got," Jeff Downer, a freshman in Visual Communications, said. "If a person does drugs or sells drugs, then they deserve to go to jail."
"It's sad to see this," April Smith, a Business sophomore and member of the cross-country and track teams, said. "For these guys to work so hard and put so much effort into football, to get into college and actually be on their way, and then throw it all away on something stupid like selling drugs. That's just sad. But if they did it, they did it,and they should go to jail."
"We have had drug testing with NCAA, and we have never had anyone test positive., so I'm not concerned with my team," Pierce said. "I have talked to the guys, and I stress with them that it is all about decision making, about making the right choices. That is what it's all about."
Students come across many benefits through an internship
By LAURA CHENE
Ferris State Torch
Ferris offers students a number of opportunities to broaden their chances of succeeding in their career fields. Participating in an internship provides many benefits, and knowing that there is a possibility of having a job lined up after graduation from college is one incentive.
According to Barbara Sabisch, assistant director of Career Services, Career Connections is a free service offered to all Ferris students. The service allows students to have direct access to on-campus recruitment. Students are able to see the companies for which they are qualified to work.
Companies send fliers to Career Services, according to Sabisch. Career Services then posts them on the job list on the Web. Employers go to the job list to seek out Ferris students specifically, and representatives from different companies come to campus and recruit students each year.
According to Sabisch, there are a variety of internships that are offered to students. Career Services has a big book with a list of nontraditional internships. She believes that by looking through the book, a student can get a unique, effective internship.
According to Sabisch, internships with state and federal governments are also available. "(These are) definitely nontraditional," Sabisch said. "We have file drawers full of these types of internships."
Doug Ward, a senior in Print Management, participated in a student internship this summer. According to Ward, the experience was extremely helpful. Ward worked in Washington, D.C. with the government printing office.
Ward admits that his program, the Alumni program, was very helpful in setting up his internship. Representatives from the company traveled to campus to interview him.
According to Ward, he received five credits, which he was paid for, from the internship. He was also paid for working. Ward believes that the internship is a way of teaching, and the wages are not as important.
According to Ward, he was offered a job after graduation. He now has a job lined up once he graduates.
Lisa Zack, also a senior in Print Management, found her internship to be beneficial as well. She interned this past summer at Grand Rapids Press and received experience from working in different departments, including the pressroom, management and the advertising area.
According to Zack, her program requires a student to participate in an internship. "Every program should require an internship," Zack said. "I would advise to wait to do one until you know the field that you want to go into. The class understanding is helpful."
Both Ward and Zack agree that there are not many disadvantages to an internship. "It's just hard to come back to classes after working in the hands-on training industry," Zack said.
"Try to work in your field as soon as you can," Ward said."(Participating in an internship) is a rude awakening to the real world of work."
For more information on student internships, contact Career Services. Career Connections can be found under Career Services on the Ferris Home Page.
Strict new laws could leave some offenders walking
By CATHERINE DOUGHERTY
Ferris State Torch
New legislation already in effect as of Oct. 1, 1999 will be causing concern to drivers who have more than one OUI on their record. Drivers with a suspended or revoked license caught operating a vehicle should be even more concerned.
The legislation states that subjects caught drinking and driving will have their licenses suspended. They can be sentenced to serve up to 93 days in jail, charged a $500 fine and have to serve up to 45 hours of community service. Driving on a suspended or revoked license carries the same penalties.
Repeat offenders face vehicle forfeiture. Prior convictions carry a heavier weight, and those who violate the laws a second time will be subject to confiscation of their vehicle. If not forfeited, the car must be immobilized. If a subject knowingly lends their car to a friend who gets picked up for drinking and driving and it is that person's second offense, the car will be taken away, regardless of the owner.
"We are still trying to digest what it all means," Stan Dinius, DPS director, said. "We are trying to make sure that we are compliant with it. A very significant part of the new laws is the part about taking a person's license away. These new laws will have huge ramifications."
The new "Repeat Offender Law" may be hitting hard on a number of people in the area. Being a Ferris State University student will not make it easier in the eyes of the Mecosta County District Court. If a person is caught drinking and driving, it does not matter who they are or where they are from. The person will be sent to the Big Rapids jail. |
Unique scholarship opportunity offered
By STEVE COOK
Assistant Amusement Editor
As school bills continue to increase, students at Ferris are searching for any way to get their hands on scholarships to help pay for school. Luckily, there are numerous scholarships out there for the students at Ferris. One is a pageant scholarship, and it's called the Miss Greater Central Michigan scholarship pageant.
The Miss Greater Central Michigan scholarship pageant will take place at Warriner Auditorium on the campus of Central Michigan University, on Nov. 14th at 2 p.m. Tickets for the event are $5.00 per person at the door, but there is no entry fee for contestants at this pageant. However, the applicant must be between the ages of 17-24, an unmarried female and in college or college-bound.
Competition for the pageant consists of a twelve-minute interview on current events and personal viewpoints. Thirty percent of each contestant's overall score is from the interview. Contestants are also rated from 1-10 in four different phases, swimsuit 15 percent, talent 40 percent and evening wear 15 percent.
Each contestant must bring a swimsuit and an evening gown with them to the pageant. They also have to bring a talent outfit, which would be some kind of costume. All contestants need a opening number outfit, something that is self expressive. Contestants must also wear business attire for the interview.
The judging panel at the pageant is made up of five people. One judge is a novice, an outsider who hasn't had anything to do with the pageant. Another judge is an executive director of local pageants in Michigan. Two other judges are from the local media and important people from local cities, and the last judge is the previous title holder from the year before. The judges rate contestants on confidence, personality, intelligence and community involvement.
All contestants must write a one-page essay on a platform issue; in this case, how much community service the contestant has performed in the past. Contestants give their essays to the pageant communities and then they are sent to the judges.
Whichever contestant has performed the most community service will win a Community Service award given out by the pageant committee. She will also be crowned, given a plaque and a $600 scholarship reward. There are also prizes given out to the three runners-up: $350 to second place, $250 to third place and $200 to fourth place.
Two students from Ferris, Stacey Goosen and Jessy Tontini, will be competing in the pageant. Goosen is a junior in Applied Biology/Pre-Medicine and Tontini is a sophomore in International Business. So far Goosen has been involved in seven pageants and has won over $2,000 in scholarship awards. This will be the first pageant for Tontini.
The platform issue that Goosen has decided to do is mentoring. She will talk about being an RA in South Bond, coaching dance teams in high school and in college. Her issue will also include the summer dance clinic she runs in Cedar Springs.
Tontini's platform issue is on senior citizen awareness. According to Tontini, senior citizens in America aren't considered very important or knowledgeable. She hopes to change that.
While Tontini has not been in any previous pageants, she has enjoyed the pageant so far. "It's a really great experience, you get to meet new people. It's a good experience for any girl. It's also good for public speaking," Tontini said.
Tontinti thinks that the keys to winning the pageant scholarship are very simple. "You should just be yourself and just be natural." She also likes the pure concept of the pageant. "I like that it's more on intelligence and hard work than on sheer beauty."
Goosen explained that her love of Miss America was why she got involved in the pageant. "I always loved watching Miss America on T.V. I wanted to be on stage and know what it felt like to be one of those women."
According to Goosen, the hardest part of the pageant is the interview and the work you must put into the pageant. One month prior to the pageant, contestants must practice for a solid week. Goosen feels, though, that in the end it's all worth it and the pageant presents a great opportunity to earn money for school.
SLA makes the grade
By COLLEEN MCGINNIS
Ferris State Torch
Structured Learning Assistance is an academic support system designed to help all Ferris students. The program features weekly study and practice workshops, in which students master course content to develop and apply learning strategies for the course. The facilitators of the program use a variety of activities to teach the material effectively.
"Ferris State University is the only university in the country that has SLA the way we have it. Other universities around the country are impressed by our tangible results," John Kowalczyk, coordinator of the SLA program, said. Kowalczyk has been the program's coordinator for a year and is very positive about SLA's expanding program.
The SLA program began in the fall of 1994 with one course, History 121. It currently has over 30 programs and over 50 professors involved in the program.
Jennifer Root, a third year student in Social Science, took three SLA programs and commented on the learning strategies of the program. "Overall, the SLA program helped depending on what the SLA teacher was doing to assist us in learning. One learning strategy was playing games, (which) helps me learn verbally and is repetitious. The strategy hits all learning styles. (It) is enjoyable and not tedious."
The SLA workshops are facilitated by trained professionals who develop workshop materials in collaboration with the professor. The facilitators clarify lecture points for the students and help them understand the expectations of the professor. SLA support is offered in a wide variety of highly challenging courses. More than 50 FSU departments within the seven colleges participate in the program.
The facilitators of the program come from a variety of backgrounds. They are senior level students who completed the class successfully, recent graduate students or teachers. Mark Rankin is a 4th year student in Product Design, and this is his first semester as a facilitator for Mechanics 240. Rankin's background included being a tutor for Math 126. "In my workshop, I will go over questions people have about the lecture, go over the main points of the lecture and help out with homework problems. I will also make up a practice test before the real test, and I have weekly meetings with the professor of the class," Rankin said.
Joel Morse is a junior in Plastics Engineering and has taken two SLA programs. He is currently in Rankin's SLA program. "The facilitators of the SLA program seem to be very knowledgeable in what the class is teaching. They portray the information in another way than the professor, that makes it understandable for the students. This helps because at the SLA, the time is designed specifically for problems you have," Morse said.
Statistics from over 8,000 students who have participated in the program has been very positive. 70 percent of the SLA sections have a pass rate that is 30 percent better then the pass rates of non-SLA classes and other students who took the SLA class without going to the workshop. More than 73 percent of SLA students credit the program with improving their overall grade from one-half to one whole letter grade.
Sign up today if you are interested in the SLA program. Check the new Winter/Spring class schedule book. SLA classes are marked in bold letters surrounded by a border around it. SLA courses have no extra charge. For more information, visit the SLA program office in Starr 321 or call their office at 591-5947 or x5940. You can also learn more about the program by visiting the SLA website at http://www.ferris.edu/htmls/academics/sla/. |
Hockey loses two against fifth-ranked MSU
By CHRIS MILLER
Sports Editor
The number five ranked MSU hockey team (6-1-0) in the nation sweep two games this past weekend from Ferris State University. MSU took the first game 4-1 and the second game 4-0. The two losses sets FSU's record to 3-5-0 overall.
"We out played MSU in the second game, but during the first game we didn't play well," head coach Bob Daniels said.
In the first game held at State, the Spartans got on the board first with a goal from senior center Shawn Horcoff. Horcoff came into the game leading the team and the CCHA in scoring with nine points, all of them assists.
Ferris then tacked on their only goal of the game in the second period. Freshman Troy Milam scored the goal with assists from senior Rob Kozak and junior Jon Rogger.
The goal ended MSU's shutout streak of 143 minutes, 32 seconds. It also snapped a streak of 32 consecutive successful penalty kills for Michigan State.
MSU answered with a goal of their own later in the period. State scored the last two goals in the third period to seal the victory.
"As a whole, our team just didn't perform like we should have in this game," Daniels said.
The Bulldogs completed one out of six power play chances, while MSU scored twice on seven chances. Sophomore goalie Phil Osaer got the start and saved a total of 28 shots.
"We only had a total of 14 shots on goal for the game, which didn't help in the loss," Daniels said.
The second game was held at FSU on Saturday.
"The Bulldogs had a lot more step on us in this game, they came out to prove something," MSU head coach Ron Mason said.
The extra energy wasn't enough to beat the Spartans as they shut out Ferris 4-0. MSU's first goal came in the first period from sophomore Adam Hall. Horcoff, along with freshman Brian Maloney, assisted Hall on the goal.
"Throughout this game, I thought we were the better team on the ice," Daniels said. "We did make a couple of mistakes, but that is bound to happen in every game."
The second MSU goal slid past junior goalie Vince Owen in the second period. Spartan junior Damen Whitten scored his fourth goal on the season. Later in the period, Horcoff scored his third goal of the season courtesy of a Bulldog turnover.
The final MSU score came in the third period by junior Brody Brandstatter, with the assist from junior Rustyn Dolyny.
"Even though MSU is one of the top-ranked in the nation, we didn't feel intimidated at all." Daniels said, "The puck just didn't fall. We had plenty of chances on offense throughout the entire game."
FSU increased their shots on goal against MSU to 22. The Bulldogs didn't take advantage of power plays on eight MSU penalties
"It wasn't one of Owen's better games." Daniels said, "Their defense and goalie were incredible. They have a lot of talent, but we knew that we could get our chances." Despite the four goals, Owen saved a total of 20 shots in the game. MSU freshman goalie Ryan Miller recorded the shutout and improved his record to 2-0-0.
During the third period, senior captain Brent Wishart hit the boards hard and went down with a sprained knee.
"Wishart will be back, we will probably sit him for next weekend's games against Lake Superior State," Daniels said. "Hopefully, Brent will be back to full strength for the two game series against Bowling Green State on Nov. 19-20."
Both games against LSSU are at Ferris on Nov. 5-6 at 7:05 p.m.
 Junior Sarah Vandermolen shines at FSU
By CHRIS MILLER
Sports Editor
Every weekend, junior Sarah Vandermolen's family comes to support her as she leads the FSU volleyball team towards another victory. Vandermolen is the co-captain of the volleyball team this year, along with junior Libby Martz.
Graduating from Charlotte High School in 1997, Vandermolen was picked twice on the Class B all-state team, and she was chosen four times on the All-Capital Circuit Conference Team. Vandermolen led the team as a senior with an average of 3.6 kills, 2.4 blocks and four digs per match. She also helped lead the Orioles in Class B with two-state runner-up finishes.
In high school, Vandermolen became the first female athlete to earn 12 varsity letters. Besides volleyball, she played tennis and ran track. Academically, Vandermolen placed among the state's best in numerous drafting projects and was a member of the Michigan Industrial and Technology Education Society.
"My personal goal is to lead the Bulldogs, but as a team our goal is to win the conference this season," Vandermolen said.
Last season, Vandermolen led the Bulldogs in solo blocks with 23. She also finished second on the team in attack percentage at .263, fourth on the team in kills at 269 and digs with 260.
Her best performance came at the GLIAC Tournament on Nov. 11. Besides recording a total of 21 kills, 20 digs and 14 blocks, she was named to the GLIAC All-Tournament Team. Other awards that Vandermolen received last year included being selected to the all-tournament team at the Ferris Invitational, honored with the team Bulldog Award and a FSU Dean's Award for academic achievement.
"She has really improved over the summer and leads our team this year in many categories," head coach Tia Brandel said. Vandermolen leads the team in kills, digs and blocks this season.
Currently, the Bulldogs are 22-5 and sit in third place in the north division behind Northwood and Northern Michigan University.
"I am just an average student with a 3.0 GPA," Vandermolen said. At Ferris, she is majoring in sports management and plans on graduating in two years. When she first came to FSU, Vandermolen wanted to major in Computer Information Systems.
"I don't have a job because volleyball has been like a job," Vandermolen said. "I do participate and coach with several volleyball camps each summer." Last summer, Vandermolen coached FSU's volleyball camps.
"Volleyball is my life," Vandermolen said. "If I am not playing volleyball, I am usually just hanging out with my friends or going to class."
Men's tennis ready to represent in the Division I Tournament
By PAM PRESTON
Assistant Sports Editor
In the four days of tennis play, Ferris State sophomore Martin Krbec and freshman Jan Talian came out number one in four conferences. At the Rolex Tournament in Memphis four divisions were represented, NAIA, Junior Colleges and universities in Division II and III.
Krbec and Talian qualified for this tournament after placing first in the Mid-West Region.
"Each Division is represented and then all those four Divisions play each other," Coach Paul Marcum said. "So Martin and Jan are the champions of four divisions actual."
The final rounds of the tournament are called the "Superbowl" of the Rolex Tournament. In these matches Krbec and Talian beat the Division III opponent Shorter College (6-0, 7-6).
"They played awesome," Marcum said. "They were so nervous before they started playing, but got into it and it was smooth from there."
After beating Shorter College, the Bulldogs went on to beat Georgia Primeter by default (6-2, 2-1). One of Krbec and Talian's opponent had to stop playing due to a heel injury. "But we were dominating them so much in the first match that we would have won anyway," Marcum said.
"The weather was beautiful for the whole tournament and it was run very professional," Marcum said.
Krbec and Talian will represent these four divisions at the Division I Tournament in Dallas in early February before the spring season's competition begins.
"This is the first time in Bulldog history that this has occurred," Marcum said. "The last pair that came close was in 1990 when Kurt Hammerschmidt and Aga Soemarno won the Division II NCAA doubles."
The format of the tournament has been changed since 1990, when Hammerschmidt and Soemarno won the tournament only one division was represented. Krbec and Talian won the tournament after defeating four divisions' best pairs.
Winning the Rolex Tournament and qualifying for the Division I Tournament will help Krbec and Talian's pre-season rankings that should be announced between November and December.
On the year, Krbec is 27-7 and Talian doesn't have a record.
"I think Martin and Jan will be number one in the Mid-West and in the top 25 of the Nation."
"I hope that after the ranking committee sees Martin and Jan's success than maybe that will help our team rankings for the spring as well," Marcum said. Coach Marcum is pleased that the rest of the team, who are currently doing only light training right now are so supportive and excited for the two native Czech, Krbec and Talian. The whole team will come back together after the New Year to start heavy training again. |
Ferris students are no idiots
By JOSH LAREAU
Ferris State Torch
Ferris has an open door admissions policy that is making us the joke of the college world. Just because the only prerequisites needed to attend school here include the ability to breath, i.e. you have to be alive, but only somewhat, people from the outside world automatically make assumptions about the academic quality of the students that go here.
The stereotype of the Ferris student as being a brain dead party animal is highly unfair and very inaccurate. People ask you what school you go to, and after you tell them they assume you weren't smart enough to get into any place else. The fact you are in college should say something, but to some people all that matters is what college you go to and the reputation your college has.
Some argue that an open door admissions policy is good because it lets people go to college who didn't do so well in high school. The only problem is, the people who didn't do so well in high school tend not to do so well in college either. This has led people from the outside to think that the classes here are easier than they would be in other public universities, and that the professors here cater to the lowest common denominator in the classroom. Anyone who goes here can tell you that that is the farthest thing from the truth. The people who got C's and D's in high school still get C's and D's in college. Those are the grades they would get in any public university.
I actually contend that the classes here are somewhat harder than they would be at another school. Especially some freshman courses. A lot of professors here feel that they are the first, last, and only defense against students who don't deserve to be in college. If you are in a specific program or area of study, then at one time or another, usually very early on in your academic career, you will have what is known as a weed-out course. A weed-out course is one in which more than half of the students will either flunk out, drop out, or simply go crazy and start shooting at people from a clock tower because the class is so hard.
These "weeder" courses are designed so that only the most motivated and intelligent students will go on the higher level courses. This has a very practical purpose for the university, especially one like ours with an open door admissions policy. When we all go out and get real jobs, Ferris only wants the brightest and best to represent our school. So far it has worked. Other universities might not give us the respect we deserve, but employers know that we only pump out only quality employees.
Admittedly, there will always be people who slip through the cracks. The filtering system is not absolute, and some professors, after years of handing out academic warnings to entire classes, do unfortunately tend to have lower academic expectations of their students. It should be kept in mind that not everyone who goes here did so because of a low high school GPA. I looked at a number of factors, including classroom size and program reputation before making my choice. Also, some high school slackers might take the opportunity given to them by Ferris's liberal admissions policy as a second chance and truly realize their learning potential.
An open door admissions policy is not a bad thing, as long as the courses are true college level courses. You should be able to graduate from here and have the same knowledge and proficiency in your area of study, as does someone from Harvard. Even more so, since everyone knows that people from Harvard are lazy snobs who rely on their rich parents to get anywhere in the world. But that's just an unfair stereotype right?
Here's to your good health
By STEPAHINE GUILES
Opinions Editor
Everywhere I turn it seems like an unseen force is looking out for me like the over protective mother I never had. Is it Big Brother or Uncle Sam? Everyday we are bombarded with messages that tell us how to live longer, live healthier, avoid injury or disease and strive for at least a hundred years of good health. These massages also tell us we need to live thinner, less wrinkly and with more toned buttocks.
Words of advice are bombarded at us day in and day out. We see many, many warnings. They can be found on television newscasts, in magazines, on the products we purchase in stores, on the net and out of catalogues. It's a phenomena that has lead to the enactment of laws, such as the mandatory seatbelt and helmet laws at least some of us adhere to in the state of Michigan.
Our food products are all full of fat and cholesterol. I'm sure most of us are well aware of this. Many of us are overweight and don't get enough exercise. Can you hear our arteries clogging? We know that cigarettes can and will cause terrible diseases such as emphysema and cancer. We know! The thing is, human beings are mortal. No matter how hard we try to put it off, we are all going to die some day anyway.
Death and disease, although unpleasant, happen randomly too. Although some of these "bad foods" and "bad habits" can be labeled as causes of illness and death, sometimes we also die for no reason at all and no one really knows why. Sometimes these unexplained deaths come on suddenly. In the blink of an eye life is extinguished.
I think of all the little babies who have died of SIDS. No one really knows why they died. We do know one thing though. These children never got to experience a lot of things. They never got to go to a BBQ and eat a hot dog. They never got to go to Disney World and meet Mickey Mouse and have cotton candy. What a shame it is that some children's lives were cut so short.
It's distressing that some people can lead a comparatively long life but they do so constantly reading warning labels, counting fat grams, adjusting their diets and not having what they "like" because it isn't what is "good for them". Some people are given a long life and end up living that life in fear of dying or being harmed by everything they eat, drink and see. We should get warnings about warnings.
We wonder why Americans are in such desperate need of therapy and why some of them are so nuts (nuts are very fattening, by the way). Well, we are bombarded with messages of paranoia on a daily basis. Are we getting cancer from our cell phones or our microwaves? Is there something carcinogenic in the water? Is sunlight the culprit? These warning messages are going to drive us crazy. They tell us that nothing is safe. They are going to kill us if nothing else does.
Is anyone out there not afraid of meat? Steak tastes good to people because we are carnivorous. It also tastes good because we need the protein in the steak to live on and to build muscle. Soda Pop tastes good because it is loaded with chemicals that make us like it. Chips taste good. Yummy. A big fattening cheeseburger sounds good right now. I could go for a big ball of sodium, fat and MSG on a processed white bread bun right now. Tofu doesn't taste good at all and no matter what anyone says, they do not really like it. Tofu sucks. And what about all those non-fat food items. Yuck. Sprouts. Yuck.
Who knows, a car could hit me tomorrow, or I could get killed in a random shooting. I certainly wouldn't want my last meal to be steamed Tofu balls with Bean sprouts and curd.
College brats decorate dorms for trick-or-treaters
By KELDA BARNUM
Ferris State Torch
Halloween has come and gone and just like every year, young people are responsible for acts of irresponsibility and disregard. Pumpkin smashing and drunken costume parties popped up across campus over the holiday weekend perhaps causing adults to comment on the decline of the youth today. But I had a much more positive experience this weekend, one that made me proud to be a student at Ferris.
My 4-year-old brother, Skyler, was a ninja this Halloween. It was a tortuous decision for him; the debate over going as an army guy, a skeleton or a WWF wrestler nearly destroyed him. Finally he decided that being a ninja was most convenient considering that he already owned an entire collection of plastic ninja weapons ranging from a battle sword to numb-chucks. He wore this strange ninja mask with a small slit for his eyes that kept shifting towards the back of his head and a black sweat suit with red cord tied around his waist and ankles. Aside from his incredibly tiny stature, he was a very realistic ninja.
Ferris students came to play in my little brother's Halloween adventure when we decided to take him trick-or-treating at the dorms on Thursday night. Helen-Ferris, Carlisle and Masselink were all open Thursday night for kids from the community to come collect candy from willing students.
The problem is that Skyler hates the dorms. No one in my family can really understand why, but he refuses to enter my room, more happy to sit in the hall and pout until my mom takes him home. He can't understand why I live at school and why I can't stay at home with him watching Pokemon and wrestling. When I tell him that I am going back to school, he calls me a "college brat", a term he came up with all on his own.
But regardless of his dislike of the dorms, the prospect of candy was just to appealing and he grudgingly entered the dorms on Thursday night, his sword and pumpkin shaped basket in hand.
Students in the dorms went out of their way to make Halloween fun for the trick-or-treaters. Cobwebs hung off ceilings, huge bats were constructed out of plastic sheeting and fake blood was smeared on windows and doors, an effect Skyler was most impressed with. An impressive number of students decided to give up several hours of their Thursday night to hand out a variety of goodies to little kids, from instant oatmeal to candy bars. Some students really got into it, decorating their rooms with black lights and pumpkins, and handing out candy in masks and princess gowns. By the end of the night, it was too hard for Skyler to carry both his sword and his candy basket that was overflowing with treats handed out by generous students.
Sklyer's last stop was at my dorm to collect candy from my roommate. Despite his apparent hatred of my dorm room, he trick-or-treated his way into my room. He didn't refuse to enter and sit in the hall with his sword on his knees and I would have expected. He came in and looked around and even set down his weapons, tossing his numb chucks on the floor.
As a student, I know how valuable the gifts my brother and other trick-or-treaters received from the students in the dorms are; the time spent handing out candy and decorating rooms and halls could have been spent studying or partying, and the money spent on candy and decorations could have gone towards a million other essentials. Yet, many students were more than willing to give up these valuables to make little kids happy on a holiday that was really meant for them.
Students are always getting recognized for the mistakes that happen in the wake of poor judgement. All the students who helped make Halloween fun for my brother and other little kids should be recognized for their generosity and caring. I know that Sklyer appreciated it and he hasn't uttered the term "college brat" since. |
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