Edition 3

...What's Up at Marian...



Marian College On-Campus Residents Unite to Provide Kids with a Safe Fun Halloween
By: Becca Finley

“I think it’s cool that we can teach kids it’s ok to be yourself,” Megan Smith said behind her hippie glasses tie dyed shirt and vest. Marian College was holding their annual trick or treat night and hall decorating contest.

Wednesday October 29, 2008, Marian College held its annual trick-or-treat night on campus. Clare, University, and Doyle residence halls participated in hall-decorating contests to bring an imaginative Halloween to youth trick-or-treaters. Parents rated the best-decorated halls in each building.

Clare Hall had two floors that participated starting with Charlie Brown’s pumpkin patch and ending with the wild and wonderful jungle. Tall green paper grass covered the walls where a green swirly stem of Christmas light pumpkin vine wrapped around the entire patch. You could find Charlie Brown and his friends hiding in different places in the patch.

“The hardest part of decorating the hall had to be cutting the grass, as well as hangingup all the ghosts. It was all time consuming,” said resident Megan Somerville as she pointed to the tiny little ghosts that hung from the ceiling.
Next came the zoo, a hall resident dressed in flippers and a snorkler waved kids through the glass doors of the commons room or “fish tank” which was illuminated by blue lights to give it a realistic glow.

After you rounded the corner you discovered the Arctic, complete with a polar bear as well as an Australian landscape. The zoo was decorated with 3-d trees and snakes, as well as the ocean with whales.

“We had a bigger space to work with, compared to last year,” said hall resident Maria Solis. “We worked together to combine ideas and delegate tasks.”

University Hall’s first floor sported the movie Cars as their theme and as you entered you came across Exit 95 for Radiator Springs. Electric tape divided the “Road” as you walked through the hall; continuing down the road, you came across a couple of cones and car tires and streamers.

The third floor welcomed their guests to Kansas with the Wizard of Oz theme. As you entered the hall you were swept up in the tornado in a black fog with a strobe light and fan where you pushed past the dark plastic cloud to munchkin land. Here you jumped on the yellow brick road, which lead you through the haunted forest, the field of poppies, where you found the Scarecrow, Tin man and cowardly Lion on your way to the Emerald City.

Doyle had the most hall participation of all the residence halls and contained a little bit of everything from terror filled scenes to Enchanted “Adalasia.” The basement had the Dungeon, which sported an infamous bloody bathroom scene complete with bloody corpses as well as the Jokers batman quote “Why so serious?” painted with laundry detergent which caught the black light with an eerie iridescent glow.
The Dungeon held record turnout for the guys, “Pretty much all the guys participated,” said KC Woods, hall resident. None of the other male halls had a high participation rate, Woods attributes leadership and teamwork, “A lot of the guys on this floor are athletes or highly involved in activities on campus and so they’re used to taking leadership roles and working as a team.”

You walked up stairs to find the Spider Cave with ghost like cobwebs and scary pop out figures. “The cob webs were the most fun to put up,” said Jon Weicher. The boys spent around $50-60 on the decorations.

The second floor welcomed you to the psychedelic 70’s. You were met by a handful of girls who lived on the floor dressed in tie dyed shirts and jeans. This hall had a fun family atmosphere, apparent when I spoke with resident Teri Mauer who held an adorable baby as she described the teamwork involved in creating the hall.

“Sam Crump, Megan Smith and myself ram rodded the whole thing, and we had the support of the entire hall.” It took a total of three days to decorate the hall, the Beatles “Here comes the Sun” Played in the background. Megan Smith said, “Its a lot of fun, we can show kids its ok to be yourself.”

Next came the Andalaysia Enchanted hall, which was based off the movie Andalaysia. Girls in prom dresses greeted you as you entered the hall, which looked like it came straight from the pages of a fairy tale with elegant dresses hung on the wall. The girls said they tried to hit all the main points of the movie.

The High School Musical hall followed, which played the High School Musical movie and offered face painting and sported a huge High School Musical sign, which looked like it had come straight from the movie. Jessy Kirkwood, hall resident assistant, said, “The sign was the biggest challenge,” as she described how the hall found all the materials and put together the life size billboard.

The last hall I visited was the Winter Wonderland. Fake sparkling snow wisped across the floor while jolly Christmas stockings lined the doors. The residents dressed up like snow fairies, and whos from the movie The Grinch. Students loved making Halloween special for the kids, hall resident Cindy Mohlenkamp said, “We had one little boy who was so excited to see snow, he said ‘Yes! It finally snowed on my birthday!”

Doyle Hall was crowded full of parents and dressed up kids. “I think it’s neat that they can have something fun for the kids to dress up for that’s safe and inside away from the cold,” said Lashonda Gilliard, mother of a tiny superman, cute storm trooper and an adorable little girl dressed as a princess. Trick-or-treating at night may, to some, not be the safest way to celebrate this fun holiday. On campus, the kids were offered a way to have a fun Halloween while being safe.

Apparently the kids loved their Halloween experience, “I liked the jungle the best,” said five year old A’shaune decisively as he ate some of his Halloween candy.
The Residence of Clare, University, and Doyle look forward to putting on another “Trick-or-Treat” night around campus next year.


10 Things on Guys Minds
By: Kirsten Sordelet

The never ending question on every college guy’s mind still stands unanswered. “What are girls thinking about?” It’s a tough one. Sadly, I’m not writing a novel, just a simple article, and that question will have to wait for another day. Yet, doing research around the Marian College campus and picking the brains of unsuspecting pedestrians brought to mind an important yet very over-looked topic involving men and women. “What are guys thinking about?” Not to down grade the complex, intellectual and philosophical minds of your average college male, but writing this article seemed a little more realistic than my first option. After getting some input from a number of my fellow MC classmates, I’ve come up with the 10 most popular responses, as quoted straight from the source.

Anthony Furlin:
“Chicago Bear’s football. I’m thinking that they are going to the super bowl this year. I’ve been a fan since I came out of the womb with a Bears hat on.”

Rob Alderman:
“Hoping I survive football. It’s hard doing that and making time for studying.”

Gabe Cotton:
“My main concern is grades and sports. I’m taking a pretty tough schedule and dealing with basketball makes it tough to get study time.”

Greg Stimler:
“I have a lot to think about. I also want to be on the right track to have a successful future. Getting good grades is important because I want to get a good job.”

William Stubbs:
“My baby girl, girls, sports, what is going on this weekend and if I’m going to class or not. In that order.”

Jeff McClure:
“I think I’m the best at video games. I’m also still mourning the Red Sox loss. They should have won the World Series.”

Jordan Tucker:
“I think about a nice, warm walk on the beach somewhere. Also, skiing in the Rockies. Maybe even transferring to Hawaii… Not for school but to become a beach bum.”

Jeff Hokl:
“ Football. It’s the reason I’m here and I’ve got a scholarship to work for.”

Cory Watkins:
“Sports. MC Women’s volleyball. It’s a big time commitment but the season is coming to an end and we need to stay successful in the post season.”

Curtis Clem:
“I’m thinking a lot about basketball. We’re just starting a new season and it’s important to think about how our teams chemistry is working out.”


Well, I think the theme is pretty apparent. 80 percent of guys are at some point in time obsessing over sports. Marian’s coaching staff must be doing something right. I think it’s fair to say that this year MC athletes on going to be ready… so watch out!