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Best Welcome Wagon
     Moving from a foreign country to go to school in America isn’t a lonely experience for Bethune-Cookman College students. Ever since the Daytona Beach college’s Junior Women’s Advisory Board created the "Wiz Project," international students not only receive a warm welcome, they get care packages. Each kit, prepared gender specifically, contains shaving products, linens, school supplies, toiletries, and hair accessories. Almost 60 foreign students got welcome gifts this year. "We wrote letters to get donations from different companies, and we had a fun time putting the kits together," says LaWanda Williams, student president of the Junior Women’s Advisory Board. "We did it in an assembly-line process. It took maybe two days tops. We’re pushing to do it every year that we can in the future."

Best Homework Assignment
     How about getting a new car for doing your homework? That sounds too good to be true, but for one student at Lake City Community College, it wasn’t. Dusty Bailey ended up with a new Ford F-150 XLT truck just for doing an assignment for Dr. Sheri Carder’s Business Communications class. Dr. Carder required students to think of a product or service that didn’t meet their expectations and then write the company asking for compensation. Bailey wrote to the Ford Motor Company requesting a new truck, because his spark plugs weren’t working correctly. To his surprise, he got just what he wanted. "After about three months of negotiations with Ford, we agreed that my truck’s problem couldn’t be fixed," Bailey says. "I’m still making payments on my new truck, so it’s not like I got it for free. I was very excited when I got it though. I’ve been a Ford fan all my life, and I feel like they do care about the customers now."

Best Speakers’ Spot
     Speaking your mind at the University of South Florida is easy thanks to Speaker’s Square, an open forum in a central area on campus. SGA developed it because the old preaching courtyard channeled too much noise into classrooms. Now, students can voice their opinions without consequences or fear of censorship. "We’ve had so many campus preachers with nowhere to go to express themselves," says Natalie Copeland, director of executive affairs for USF’s SG. "This area gives them a place where they can feel comfortable. It’s a home for them to speak, and it definitely eliminates some chaos from in front of the academic buildings." Some preachers weren’t too happy about having to go to a different place, Copeland says, but hopefully the future additions of a new podium and adjacent benches can change their minds.

Best Holiday Helpers
     Everybody do the Gobble Wobble! No, it’s not a new dance move—it’s a 5K run-walk sponsored by Florida A&M University. Last November, the third annual Gobble Wobble raised $5,000 for needy families, so they could have a better Thanksgiving. The Second Harvest Food Bank found the families, and 110 turkeys were purchased for them with all the proceeds. "We make sure that everybody is pretty much well-fed for at least two days," says Coordinator Paul Chance.

Best Study Spot
     Not even a hurricane can stop students at Florida International University from studying for exams, as long as they’re on the third floor in the North Campus Library. That’s because the library had a $250,000 makeover, and among its many improvements, such as new carpet and a paint job, the third level was made hurricane proof with aluminum shutters. "It’s a change for the better," says Gaile May, an FIU student and senior library technical assistant. "Lots of people notice it now since it looks so much better. The majority of the library’s collection is on the third floor, too, so it’s great that it’s hurricane proof."

Best Mattress Movers
     Race to bed or race the bed? It’s really not that confusing. At Barry University, students, faculty, and staff compete in the Founder’s Day bedraces every fall to mark the anniversary of the university. If the weather permits, anywhere from eight to 15 teams race across 50 yards. Five people push while one person gets to cruise on top of a decorated mattress. The winners, such as the Jamaican Association which has won for the last few years, get their names engraved on the Founder’s Day bedrace trophy, which is displayed in the student union. "Last fall was my first time doing the bedraces, and it was a really neat experience being among the other students," says Rick Gunsallus, coordinator of disability services. "We didn’t have enough time to decorate our bed, but we won and it felt great. I’m looking forward to doing it again next year."

Best Freaky Fund-raiser
     What would you say if you could play the victim of a scary movie? At Daytona Beach Community College, students got a chance to do just that. The school’s SGA had its first-ever haunted house, with a partial Blair Witch Project theme, as a fund-raiser for United Way. Around 30 students, including the Student Contractors and Builders Association, helped create the event. About 125 students, middle school and up, relived some of the movie by walking through simulated wooded corridors, led by a guide dressed as Heather from the film. "Since The Blair Witch Project was such a popular thing at the time, we thought it would be unique to use it in the fund-raiser, and we wanted to do something that hadn’t been done in a haunted house before," says Chanele Brothers, SGA vice president and creator of the fund-raiser. The event raised close to $125, with students giving a $1 donation to participate.

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