REC builds NSU tradition

By Saxon Campbell

     NSU has a lot of organizations and many ways to get involved. The RiverHawk Engagement Committee is  a group of university  community members who are committed to elevating the culture of engagement at NSU.  

     REC is comprised of  people from various constituencies who collaborate on initiatives to improve the campus culture, NSU and partnerships with surrounding  communities. During the summer, REC discussed many ways  to make this happen. 

     REC kicked off the  year by giving every incoming freshman a commemorative coin. Each coin is engraved with the NSU seal on one side, which was chosen  for the coin to remind one of the proud heritage and history of this institution and NSU's five core values on the other. The purpose of this coin is simple. Each student who received a coin is to keep it throughout their time at NSU. When they graduate, it is expected that they pass this coin to an individual who has helped them achieve success. This is just one of the many things that REC has done to start a tradition at NSU. 

     "Anyone, student, faculty, staff, community member, is welcome to attend the meetings, whether to bring a new issue to the table or to become more involved on campus," said Evelyn Woods, head of REC.

NSU baseball team begins practice

By Roldan Ochoa

     The NSU Riverhawks baseball team is commanded by head coach Sergio Espinal and assistant coach Nash Garcia. 

     ¨We have a lot of new talent between transfers and freshman players that will help to get into the playoff, which is our goal. This year is going to be the year,¨ Sergio said.

     Team practice began Sept. 7 to prepare for the coming season in 2011. Right now the team is just going to practices in the fall semester and competing in scrimmages, so the coaches will be able to see the talent of the new players on the baseball field.

    The team practices every day at 2 p.m. in and they scrimmaged on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday of the week following Labor Day weekend. 

     The RiverHawks are doing the best they can to get ready for this year because this year will be their last season in Lone Star Conference, and they want to be tough competitors. They have a lot of expectations for the coming season. This year the team has a lot of talent and the players on the team want to be ready for the opening day, Feb. 1, 2011.

CCF brings students together

By Robert Pinion

     Campus Christian Fellowship is a place for students to come together and share their experiences, of God, with each other.

     “We have two goals: one is to reach the campus and to tell them the Gospel, the second is once we’ve reached them, tell them to do the same,” said Matt Ross, CCF president and Broken Arrow sophomore. 

     A list of upcoming events are, the regular fellowship meetings, at 8 p.m. Tuesdays. Leaders' meetings are Mondays at 5 p.m., and the women’s bible study is 7 p.m. Wednesdays. They are an open invitation for anyone to attend. 

      CCF is located on the corner of Crafton and Lewis Street.

VCO is a new campus organization

By Nate Powell

     The Visual Communications Organization is the new organization on campus. 

     “We started this organization in order to support our students to further their education through experience and opportunity,”  said VCO President Brennon Stickel, Tahlequah junior.

     The VCO is for students who are visual communication or mass communication majors; but also, it is for people who simply love the art of photography. This is an organization founded on the purpose of sharing ideas and information. 

     Stickel hopes to get as many students involved with the VCO as he possibly can. With more people there will be more possibilities.  

     Find the VCO on Facebook in the coming weeks. If there are any questions about the organization contact Stickel at stickel@nsuok.edu.

Freshmen succeed by attending University Strategies

By Leah Moore

     First Year Experience staff assisted in designing a class for college freshmen called University Strategies. Attending University Strategies with a positive attitude and an open mind can help students ensure success in the formation of good study habits, and is a key class to earning a diploma. The choices made when students enter college plays an important role in how the journey will end, which is why University Strategies is a requirement and one that should not take lightly.  

     “Graduation rates are low and many freshmen drop out during their first year because they don’t know what it takes to be successful,” said Brian Searcy, student success coordinator. “We hope the students will gain motivation and skills needed to persist to graduation.”  

     A new program added to University Strategies this year, Making Achievement Possible, is a web-based tool, designed to survey first time freshmen students. The survey helps determine how students are transitioning into higher education, academic expectations and behaviors and how aligned they are, said Searcy. Students will complete four surveys during their freshmen year – two in the fall and two in the spring. The completed fall surveys count for 20 percent of the University Strategies grade.  

     During the third week and the seventh week of fall semester, students are sent an e-mail from Searcy with a link to the MAP-Works survey. Within two weeks of completing the survey, students will receive a personalized report in the following categories:

• How to meet their expectations
• What their peers say
• How to be more successful at NSU
• What campus resources are available to them

     “Hopefully students will gain insight in to how their behaviors must line up with their expectations,” said Searcy.  

     Students, who are at risk, will be contacted by a team of faculty and staff; who will offer guidance, answers questions and help in the process of making achievement possible. 

     For more information regarding MAP-Works, visit www.map-works.com. 

RiverHawks win season opener

By Justin Gordon

     The RiverHawks started the year off right with a win against nationally-ranked Tarleton State in Stephenville, Texas, after coming off of a rough year going 2-7. Many faculty and staff expect big things this year. 

     “Now that the new offense is finally installed, I feel that we should have a pretty good year,” said Mike Gaede, instructor of Mass Communication. 

     The RiverHawks have a good number of returning starters, which should help with the leadership on the team this year. 

     Trey McVay,  Fort Gibson junior and Edward Victorian  New Orleans, La.  junior are two players who everybody should look out for this year.

     "They have the potential to do big things this year," said Andrew Rice, Owasso sophomore. 

Broadcast Production experiences difficulties

By Justin Dotson

   As the semester progresses certain programs fall behind while others continue in a forward motion. There has been no Internet connection in the broadcast production studio since the semester started three weeks ago.  There have also been a few issues with Final Cut Express as well, not to mention a random external hard drive failure. 

   “We have Final Cut Express everyone else has PRO, we have five cameras and 30 students, so we are a bit behind on the equipment,” said Michael Gaede, instructor of Mass Communication.  

   Without access to some of the newer and more advanced programs the students are at a disadvantage in the working world.  Also, the lack of cameras means that students have to wait on equipment.  Other students do not return equipment in on time, which becomes a problem when students are running on a schedule. 

Resident Assistants help with student life

By Jonathan Dallis

Campus housing is an important part of the NSU community.  For some, campus life is their first time living on their own. One way the university helps keep the students on track is with the help of resident assistants.

RAs are current students who are at least sophomores.

“Who stand out in the community, and who can help the residents make the transition into college,” said Tammie Willis, assistant director of residence life.

 An RA must maintain a minimum GPA of a 2.5 and pass a series of interviews to be a candidate for the fall semester. It takes more than just good interview skills to become an assistant.

 “We are looking for someone with a high degree of integrity, but also someone who is approachable by the students,” said Willis.  

In the spring semester the campus housing office begins taking applications around February and March, then stage interviews with potential candidates. Once the selections have been made, the new RAs return to the NSU campus around early August and go through two weeks of hands-on training, where they learn how to deal with high stress situations that may come their way.  On average the RAs get paid for 22.5 hours of work a week, even though at times it may feel like they work more than that. 

RAs do more than just post signs and hang out on campus; they are in charge of all students in their halls, and take care of basic maintenance on their floor.

 “I help get people involved, and watch out for students, like if they’re under high stress and just be a friend,” said Danielle Morgan, Bridge Creek junior and current RA of Wilson Hall.

Along with responsibility, the title does come with a few perks; the RA’s get a private room at a semi-private rate, along with getting a chance to meet and socialize with everyone on their floor. Once a student becomes an RA, they are always on the job.

“Anytime they’re on campus, they’re on duty,” said Willis.

 The things that an RA does and how they act could have a drastic effect on how the students perceive them. At the NSU campus, RAs are more than just hall monitors, they are role models and they are friends. 

For more information on how to become an RA visit http://offices.nsuok.edu/housing/HousingHome.aspx.

NSU Theatre Company sets the stage

By James Bagwell

   Although it seems like the fall semester has just started for students at NSU, the NSU Theatre Company is already hard at work.

   “I’m really excited about the talent for this semester,” said Christopher Miller assistant professor of Theatre. 

   Miller is busy designing the sets of both of the productions for this semester, Glenn Gary, Glenn Ross and The Old Sultan, and writing the script for The Old Sultan. 

   For more information about the NSU Theatre Company and for a schedule of shows check visit http://academics.nsuok.edu/theatre. 

Students must make living decisions

By Jacob Poplin

      One of the first things incoming freshman think about, when they finally figure out which college they want to attend is where they are going to live. Even though most colleges require freshmen to live in the dorms their first year, there are always loop holes. The only thing is, is it would take a lot of paper work and time that most freshmen do not really have when first getting to college. Some students think it is worth it though, while some disagree. 

     “I like living off campus way more than I did living in the dorms,” said Jeff Jordan, Sapulpa senior. “In the dorms we had quiet hours and you had to share a couple of washers and dryers with a whole floor of guys. Now that I have my own place, I don’t have to worry about those kinds of things.” 

     While these qualities of living have a higher value to some students, other students would rather have guaranteed food and not have to worry about a parking space. 

     “The best thing about living in the dorms was that you knew you would always get to eat during meal trades,” said Tory Wilson, Stigler senior. “Plus I never had to drive to class, so I saved money on gas.” 

     It all comes down to the preferences of each student. If a student does not want to have to worry about traffic but does not care to wait in line to do their laundry, then the dorms would be a good fit for them. If a student would rather be able to be as loud as they want (to an extent) but have to find park spots or walk every day to class, then an off campus place would be better suited for them.

Small Event Makes the Big Difference

By Daniel Adney

   Small Event is a campus-wide community service event. It not only helped the Physical Plant workers with their tremendous duty of keeping this campus clean, but it made campus more appealing to potential students. The volunteers helped these workers with duties that would take them weeks to do alone. 

   This year the Small Event had a bitter sweet meaning behind it. It was Sept. 11. 

           “It was planned on this day to serve as a remembrance to the events that occurred on this date 9 years ago,” said Johnny Moyer, the vice president of the Northeastern Student Government Association. “But it was also planned in celebration of the home opener for our RiverHawk’s football team.”

The event began at 9 a.m., lunch and T-shirts were provided for all volunteers. Most sororities and fraternities were in attendance along with multiple other organizations on campus.  

   NSGA and the Small Event committee had a tailgate party before the game that evening.

NSU’s BCM heads to Momentum

By Courtney McBride

NSU’s Baptist Collegiate Ministries provide many opportunities where students can be involved. Every Monday at 8 p.m., the BCM opens their doors for Impact, an hour and half full of praise and worship, followed by a speaker to impact the lives of students. 

The BCM attended Momentum Sept. 10, a conference where BCMs from all around Oklahoma gather for four hours of praise and worship to fire the students up to come back and impact their campus for Christ. The featured artists at Momentum include Jeff Johnson and Afshin Ziafat. 

“My favorite part of Momentum last year was the praise and worship, everyone gets into it,” said Orangel Suarez, an international student. 

To attend Momentum, sign up at the BCM located just north of the Business and Technology building. The BCM is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Fridays. 

Wesley Foundation provides worship activities

By Chelsea Sullivan

   The NSU Wesley Foundation is a place where anyone can go and explore the opportunities of faith. If faith has not been something of interest in the past the Wesley is a great place to come together with peers and discuss. The Wesley Foundation always encourages new people to come join the numerous activities each week.

   “I would love to see the Wesley grow with strong dedicated Christian students, I am also very interested in reaching out and helping the campus as well as the community,” said Wesley Intern, Lorie Peaker, Chouteau senior.

   Each week the Wesley has a variety of activities for new people to join. 

   Here is a list of the weekly activities:

Mondays: Free Lunch from 12-2 p.m. and Book Study over “The Christian Atheist” at 9 p.m.

Tuesdays: Ultimate Frisbee at the Intramural fields (across from the soccer and softball fields) at 4 p.m.

Wednesdays: Encounter Bible Study at 8 p.m. with free pizza after

Thursdays: Ultimate Frisbee at the Intramural fields at 4 p.m. and Shachah Worship at 8 p.m.

   The Wesley also participated in The Small Event, where they put together different accountability groups.

   The Wesley Foundation is located on the corner of Oak and Goingsnake. The Wesley Foundation also has a Facebook page to check out for more information.

RAs provide assistance

By Brooke Murdock

Dorm life at NSU is far from glamorous; however, the ancient buildings on this campus do have charm, and mostly because of the people who make the inside come to life. Most residents in the dorms know their residence assistant, and if they do not they will in due time. An RA’s job is to be like mom. They make sure stuff is in order and they lay on the discipline when needed. If something goes wrong it is also the RA’s duty to take care of it as soon as possible.

  “Once a situation happens, say the air-conditioning unit blows out, the residents report the problem to their RA who will then contact the housing office, and then housing will contact maintenance or whoever else is needed,” said Breeanna Perkins, resident  assistant.  

RAs are here for more than just reporting problems. They help put on programs for residents, which will help assist them with everyday problems. 

The RAs can also assist any RiverHawk with the set up of a bank account on campus. NSU is lucky to have the dedicated team on RAs, and these guys strive to make dorm life on this campus exceptional. 

“Housing strives to make a learning community for residents,” said Perkins. 

ROTC members perform at football games

By Blake Harris

   The members of ROTC’s color guard performed Saturday, Sept.  11, 2010 at 7 p.m at Doc Wadley Stadium. The selected ROTC members performed a march across the field for the national anthem, which they presented the American flag and the Oklahoman flag. 

   Collin Fitzgerald, Coweta junior led this group of four across the field.

   “I enjoy the color guard, but it is very time consuming to learn the march. I think it is an honor to do it,” said Fitzgerald.

   ROTC members march in full uniform and it takes much discipline to march correctly. This same group will present the flags for every NSU home football game.

Faculty set to perform recital

By Andrew Cooper

The gala recital is an event ever where faculty will perform. 

"It will be a mix of classical and twentieth century,” said Dr. Ann Watson, assistant professor of music. 

Held in the Jazz Lab, located at 315 N. Muskogee, the recital is for raising money for the music department. 

“You will get to hear a variety of music performed by really good musicians,” said Dr. Ronald Chioldi, associate professor of music. “Also, this is a fundraiser for the music department. You can feel good about supporting the music department. The food and silent auction is also a plus and something not at most recitals.” 

The recital is Tuesday, Sept. 19, and attendees can pay early by contacting Ann Watson by phone at 918-444-2723 or pay at the door.