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R acquet The University of Wisconsin - La Crosse
IN THIS ISSUE:
SUMMER FLING OR WEDDING RING?...page 2 FIND YOUR NICHE AT UW-L...PAGE 3 RESIDENCE HALL RESTAURANT...PAGE 3
T h u r s d ay, S e p t e m b e r 10, 2015
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4 Pa g e s
S i n g l e Co p i e s Fr e e
New students, new opportunities for Fall 2015 semester By Danielle Cook News Editor
This fall semester, 3619 students are expected to move into UW-La Crosse residence halls, with 1984 of these young people entering college as freshmen. For new students, UW-L offers a variety of opportunities to make friends, study hard, and get involved on campus, but it all begins
“Our biggest goal is to get to know students, help them connect to others, and then help them learn outside the classroom.” Lisa Weston Student Services Coordinator with the pivotal move-in weekend, this past weekend in the dorms. Hall directors, resident assistants, and other staff members have been busy planning group activities and events for months, all in an effort to introduce students to life at UW-L as well as their peers. Around dorms this year, traffic was rerouted due to construction on campus, specifically near Angell Hall where a chiller is being built in part of the R1 parking lot. Since La Crosse Street is a state highway, coordinators also directed traffic off main roads to keep congestion to a minimum. Residents were also permitted to move large items into dorms early, such as carpets and futons, to better facilitate traffic flow on move-in day. Four hundred students chose to participate in the early move-in. With Welcome Week in full swing
beginning September 8, new students are encouraged to involve themselves in the residence community in order to ease more smoothly into college life. This includes not only campus-wide events, but dorm activities like bluff hikes, room decorating crafts, game nights, ice cream scavenger hunts, and so much more. “The 11 Hall Directors and their teams work hard to create a Community Development Plan for each building,” explained Lisa Weston, UW-L’s Student Services Coordinator. “Our biggest goal is to get to know students, help them connect to others, and then help them learn outside the classroom.” Prior to Welcome Week, New Student Orientation groups freshmen into Eagle Groups, which are led by Eagle Guides. This runs from September 4/5 through September 8, when students are led through programs, events, and services to learn about the various aspects of everyday life at UW-L. In the dorms, resident assistants are a friendly and helpful resource to help new students feel at home away from home. These older students make a conscientious effort to get to know residents, as well as keep an
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“Try things! When a new person or your RA says, ‘Hey, come join us,’ do it.” Lisa Weston Student Services Coordinator eye out for anyone struggling to connect with the community. Their goal is to connect with these new residents as much as possible one-on-one, to make the transition to college easier and help students with making friends in the first couple of weeks. Dr. Nick Nicklaus, Director of Residence Life on campus, has some words of advice
for incoming freshmen, international and transfer students. He suggests “attending hall meetings, reading the weekly emails sent out by the hall director, and [getting to know] hall directors and RAs” as the best ways to get connected quickly with campus life. Weston encourages, “Try things! When a new person or your RA says, ‘Hey, come join us,’ do it.” These simple reassurances to push past the fear of fitting in or being somewhere new can truly make a difference in the first weeks of college. It is important to remember to keep an open mind and be eager to try new experiences. Remember, there are 3618 other UW-L students feeling the same way, so make a new friend and get connected!
Safety Tips from La Crosse Police: Student Safety a High Priority
By Christopher Rudolph Associate Reporter
With the recent string of shootings in La Crosse fresh in the minds of many students, safety on campus is a serious topic. Unlike La Crosse, which suffers from a higher than average crime rate, UW-La Crosse is an extremely safe place to go to school. With zero burglaries, robberies and aggravated
“You’re usually safer here on campus from a violent crime than you are from wherever you came from.” Scott McCullough Interim Chief of Police assaults in the last few years, students have little to worry about as long as they keep their wits about them. Interim Chief of Police Scott McCullough agreed, saying, “You’re usually safer here on our campus from a violent crime 231 & 232 Cartwright Center 1725 State Street La Crosse, WI 54601
then you are from wherever you came from.” La Crosse’s campus has 11 sworn police officers keeping it safe, all of whom have gone through extensive training, which includes mental health crisis intervention training, weapons training and lifesaver training. This training is not just to fulfill the state minimum requirements for police training officers - three officers have used their lifesaving and first response training to save the lives of students with defibrillator devices. Officers on campus are also involved in community outreach programs, including a self-defense class offered through the Eagle Rec Center, an alcohol awareness program and a theft prevention class. To stay safe and avoid theft, McCullough advises that students lock their doors at night, even if they’re in the room, and not leave their possessions unattended. The blue light system is another safeguard that exists for students. The goal of the system is to have a blue light be visible from any spot on campus while walking at night. When used, the blue light initiates a direct call to the University Police. The response time is “usually less than two minutes, to any call, let alone a blue light call,” according to McCullough. The police department on campus is always working to make the university area a safer plac, and one way to achieve
Word of the Week cannula
A small tube for insertion into a body cavity or into a duct or vessel The doctor used a cannula for the patient’s surgery.
student and staff safety is through on-body cameras. “For about ten years now the university police have been trying to get body cameras…we’ve tried about six of them, but the quality wasn’t there,” McCullough said.
“Unlike La Crosse, which suffers from a higher than average crime rate, UW-La Crosse is an extrememly safe place to go to school. Scott McCullough Interim Chief of Police Body cameras have been a hotly contested issue in recent months with an uptick in officer involved shootings. “Cameras are just invaluable, they make us more accountable to the communities that we serve,” explained McCullough. The department is looking at a new body camera from a brand that is familiar to them. This brand produced the reliable squad car cameras the department has been using in their vehicles and the department hopes to utilize this new technology in the near future. Index
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