The Rotunda Volume 75, Number 17
Longwood College -- Farmville, VA
March 4,19%
Special Olympics Come to Longwood A Forensic Honor For Longwood By Beth Crispens Rotunda Staff
Special Olympics, held on Longwood'scampusSunday, had many helping hands. Several of Longwood's student organizations participated in one way or another. Two of the main groups who volunteered were the Therapeutic Recreation Organization and the Introduction to Therapeutic Recreation class. The Introduction to Therapeutic Recreation students were buddies to the athletes. Fourteen Greek Organizations participated, including. Alpha Gamma Delta, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Alpha Phi Omega, Alpha Sigma Alpha, Alpha Sigma Phi, Alpha Sigma Tau, Alpha Chi Rho, Delta Sigma Pi, Kappa Delta, Pi Kappa Phi, Phi Kappa Tau, Sigma Sigma Sigma, Sigma Phi Epsilon, and ZetaTau Alpha. Special Olympics give people with disabilities the opportunity to compete in events geared toward their abilities. It also improves self-confidence and physical ability while providing social interaction for the participates. Caroline Johnson, Vice President of the Therapeutic Recreation Organization, said, "If the participants find something they like, they think maybe they can do something else." Special Olympics gave the
By Donnie Hubert Rotunda Staff
Special Olympics wheelchair participant in action. participates that confidence. Raissa Czemerynski, President of the Therapeutic Recreation Organization, explained the individual events. "Target Pass requires an athlete to aim at an area on the wall from a certain distance away. Ten meter dribble is an event in which an athlete dribbles a basketball for ten meters. The third individual event is the Spot Shot, in which the athlete shoots at the basket from different spots on the floor," said Czemerynski. There were also team events. The first was full-court basketball and the second, half-court basketball. These are played according to the athlete's abilities. After the events are finished, each place from First through Eighth receives a medal and the other
participants receive a participation award. The surrounding counties that participated in this year's Special Olympics included Prince Edward, Cumberland, Buckingham, Powhatan, and Lunenburg. Around seventy athletes participated in this year's event. In 1968, the Kennedy family started the Special Olympics for their daughter, Rose Mary. The Special Olympics are helping to improve the abilities of many people with disabilities. This opportunity allows both people with and without disabilities to participatetogetherinoneevent. This event is held every spring semester; all students and faculty are invited to participate next spring.
IFC Achieves Fraternal Excellence By Heidi Hurt Rotunda Staff Interfraternity Council won the Fraternal Excellence award at the Southeastern Interfraternity Conference, February 23-25. This award is the highest honor which can be given to the Interfraternity Council. Interfraternity Council (IFC) is comprised of one representative
from each fraternity on campus. This year was the first that IFC applied for the Fraternal Excellence award. This award consists of 12 different categories, including financial structure, administration, rush, scholarship, public relations, leadership, and community service. Under each of these 12 categories, there are 20 criteria to meet. The Southeastern Interfraternity
Conference consists of 11 states and 100 colleges and universities. This year was the first that Longwood has won the Fraternal Excellenceaward. Only 12 other schools received this award. These winners include the University of Florida, the University of Alabama, Mississippi State, and Virginia Tech.
Longwood College sponsored the Pi Kappa Delta Forensic Regional Tournament this past weekend in the Lankford Student Union and Grainger Building. Fourteen Longwood students participated in this event along with 85 other college students and coaches from six participating schools. The events started Friday, March 1 at 2 p.m., and continued until 9 p.m. that evening. The students started competing the next morning and continued until the evening. The competitions ended Sunday, March 3 around 1 p.m. The six colleges from Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Ohio, Rhode Island, West Virginia, and Maryland who competed in the
event are part of "Province of the Colonies" district. These states, from Massachusetts to Virginia, comprise a section of the nation in which colleges come together every two years and compete. In 1998, the colleges from this district will convene and compete in Massachusetts. Both Nancy Haga and the forensic coach, Sean Rakowski were excited about this tournament and were glad to have the opportunity to host the event at Longwood. Rakowski stated, "I have never organized or hosted a college event like this." The Speech and Theatre Department was buzzing with excitement the day before the competition. The team was excited to be participating in a tournament this important.
See Inside... What Students are doing for Spring Bread... see page 2 Health Series: The Benfits of Exercisesee page 4 Warning about travel abroad... see page 4 Happenings at the Center for the Visual Arts... seepages The Weekender... see page 7 Lady Lancers break record... see page 8
Continued 0n Page 3
Celebrating ^euentp-jftbe Shears; of Writing