This year the First Year Leadership Council (FYLC) has been formed to give freshmen more of a say on campus and improve the quality of living. The council is made up of every resident in Village I, making it the largest student organization on campus. However, it has a regular following of 17 freshmen. The FYLC has eight officers: Candice Roundy President; Heather Denise, Vice-President; Leah Starkey, Treasurer; Cheryl Taylor, Director of Programs; TreDella Hall, Director of Facilities; Summer Foster, Student Government Association representative; Natasha Sasaee, Wesleyan Advisory Council representative; and Charly Hunteman, Director of Technology. The faculty advisor is Kristen Whalen, assistant director of Residence Life and director of Student Leadership and Programming. Helping Whalen is junior Jim Baker, the community development assistant. Recently FYLC sponsored Fall Fest to coincide with Parents Weekend, which was much like Spring Fling. Clubs and organizations were able to advertise and try to attract new members. Food and games were also available to students who stopped by last Friday afternoon.

The biggest attraction was the inflatable bungie run, where students raced to the end of the course and were flung backwards by a bungee cord. Intramurals set up a volleyball net for students and music was provided by DJ Eric and DJ Slash, two local disc jockeys. "I really enjoyed Fall Fest," said junior Kim Schone. "It’s something new to do in the fall season. I found much laughter watching people compete in the bungee run." Students were able to participate in all the activities, which made it a success. "The people we have are all first-year students and are full of new ideas," said Baker. "They are devoted to FYLC and want to make it a success." Now that the council has sponsored its first event, they are preparing for their Halloween trick-or-treat on Saturday, Oct. 28. The council will entertain 15-25 children from Haven House, a shelter for the homeless. The activities will start at 3 p.m. in the Grille, where members of the group will help make costumes, play games and watch movies. From there the students will divide into groups and lead the kids trick-or-treating through Village I. The activities will end at 6 p.m. "I think it will be a lot of fun for little kids," said Foster. "It’s good thing to do for them." Phi Kappa Tau fraternity will host a haunted house in Pruden Hall on Monday. In preparing for this event, freshman Janelle Rogers, who is a member of FYLC but not an officer, coordinated with Haven House to bring the kids to campus. "I think it will be a lot of fun for little kids," said Foster. "It’s good thing to do for them."

"I’ve been so impressed with Janelle Rogers," said Whalen. "She isn’t an officer but has done as much as any of the officers." FYLC is also making plans for the remainder of the semester. Plans for a talent show and a Christmas farewell to students are being discussed in meetings. Kristen Whalen added that they have created suggestion boxes and placed them in and around resident halls. She added that students are taking the initiative,and FYLC is student-run.

"Five or fewer. That’s the maximum number of drinks most (68%) VWC students drink at one time, according to a Fall 1999 survey by Health Services." Chances are you have this quote memorized by now if you’re a resident, anyway. Every time you key into your hall, a friend’s hall or your room, the words stare right back at you. So how did this tidbit of information get printed on nearly 500 key cards? Upperclassmen remember the highly publicized statistic from last year: 68% of VWC students only drink once a week. We couldn’t even go to the bathroom without seeing these words plastered on the stalls. Consider this stat number two. Linda Tisdale, director of health services, stepped up her attempt to promote awareness of VWC’s alcohol use by asking security to allow this statistic to be printed on all new key cards.

But what do students think about the change? Freshman Lyndsey Tripp said, "When I first got here, I thought it was a little ridiculous. But now it doesn’t seem so bad, because I’ve seen so many people drink a lot more than that." The survey is given twice a year -- once in the fall to freshmen and again in the spring to random students. Adult Studies students are not included because the target age for the study is 18-24. Are the results impressive? Not really. "We’re higher than we should be when compared to state and national levels," said Tisdale. "I have to start somewhere, so that maybe next year 68 percent drink four or less." The statistic shows that students drink five, four, three, two, one, or even zero drinks at one time. Tisdale stressed the importance of the zero, because she wants people who don’t drink at all to feel like they’re normal, too. "I want to correct the perception that everybody at VWC drinks a lot," said Tisdale. A person drinking five or fewer drinks isn’t going to be the one standing in a corner of Eggleston Hall, peeing on the floor. Point taken. But just how promising are the results? Some students believe the statistic does not represent VWC well. "Five or fewer, is that a good thing or a bad thing?" asked sophomore Laurissa Ellis. That decision is left up to students. Just beware if the survey is correct, 32 percent of VWC students just might end up in the corner of Eggleston Hall. That’s quite a lot of carpet to clean.

At VWC, you can get credit for learning self-defense and feel safer and healthier besides. The type of Karate studied here is Tang soo do (meaning "art of the Chinese knife hand") and Moo duk kwan (meaning "school of the military way"), which are ancient forms of Tae kwan do. Instructor Ray Schackelford has been studying for 27 years and is a fifth-degree black belt. He has been teaching at VWC for 10 years and has had six black belts graduate from his program. Shackelford teaches students how to get along in society. He doesn’t want to teach them to be merciless fighters or troublesome. He wants them to be able to protect themselves if they need to. "It is better to know Karate and not need to use it," he said. Shackelford teaches his students to train and, if they want to, compete. Two students fromVWC, Melissa Agostino and Ross Andrews, recently won trophies. Agostino won first place in forms in the beginning to intermediate level. Andrews won third in fighting and ninth in forms. "I couldn’t believe I won," said Agostino. "I was competing against people that had been practicing for up to a year of this, and I had only done it a month. I didn’t really have much time to prepare. I couldn’t believe that I won for awhile. But I’m excited that I did."

Everyone who takes Karate at VWC can compete in fighting and form tournaments. Discipline, respect and physical fitness are also emphasized. Everyone taking Tang soo do also learns basic Korean counting and fighting commands. All students accomplish the feat of breaking the board. Age, strength and sex don’t matter. What does matter is willingness to learn and determination to succeed. Tang soo do doesn’t just teach self-defense, but discipline, respect, strength and the way of life.