Best of Florida Schools 1999 Issue

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Best Scare Affair. Ghouls just wanted to have fun at Manatee Community College. The halloween fundraiser "Ghouls Night Out" drew more than 800 parents and kids to get spooked in a 5,600-square foot haunted castle, with a Dracula doorman portrayed by a MCC professor. Other fright-night features included a 7-foot-tall student dressed as Frankenstein’s monster, a troll-guarded bridge, a cemetery, and a hall of fingers—a 25-foot dark hallway with 70 pairs of hanging inflated surgical gloves that swung into visitors’ foreheads.
Student Government Vice President Tom Fuller drafted the castle’s blueprints, coordinated live props, and planned special effects. For instance, a toxic dump scene was created with chemical concoctions, barrels of "waste," and a smashed car with a half-man, half-beast driver. MCC students also acted out a skit from the movie Scream in a maze of terror which led to a swamp with dry ice. Held at the Bradenton campus student center last October 30 and 31, the event raised $2,000 in 12 hours for single-parent scholarships with the help of donated materials and over 40 volunteers.

Most Original Imitation. Michelangelo was here. That’s what the lockers in the Fine Arts building at the University of Florida should say. As part of a project for the art department’s fall Workshop for Art Research and Practice class, students painted murals on the lockers, including one of the Sistine Chapel. Greg Traub, one of the students who created the Sistine interpretation, says WARP’s attempt to beautify the outside of the Fine Arts building took almost a month. "The lockers were pretty much in a bad state before," he says. In addition to his team’s painting, other students recreated Goya, Picasso, and Dali classics.

Edible Art. Exploring the relationship of food to art and culture is the goal of the ArtFe(a)st at Rollins College-Brevard. Students from the humanities class called Cuisine (and/as/in) Art, more informally known as Cuisineart, decorated tables and furnished samples ranging from teatime treats to traditional Thanksgiving food to Latin fare. According to SGA Comptroller Dave Hankerson, last year’s event drew about 80 persons and included displays about "Aphrodite: Sustenance and Sexuality, or The Love Goddess Speaks," "Wine Labels as Art," and "The World of Wonka." Student organizers usually provide all decorations and samples for the event, which started in 1994, but SG and the English Department also chip in for the feast open to all community residents.

Best Training Software. At Florida State University, Student Government developed a tool to keep senators from quitting. A new CD-ROM teaches fledgling student legislators parliamentary procedure and briefs them on how SG works. Mike Van Dyke, the 1995-96 FSU Senate leader whose company designed the interactive program, says SG was spending $6,000 annually trying to replace senators who quit, not including the expense of advertising for positions, producing a training retreat, and intangible costs such as increased apathy. As FSU’s SG Advisor Art Ulrich says, "I did observe a number of students whose learning curve has greatly increased. We always have some hardcore veterans, but recently we had a new senator who’s only been there a month and has matched them on parliamentary procedures."

Best Hands-on Shakespeare. Looking for a way to brush up on your Shakespearean drama skills and get still English credit for it? Enroll in Dr. Jack Gibson’s Elizabethan Drama class at Jacksonville University. Students not only study Elizabethan playwrights’ works, they perform them in full bedsheet robes and taped wooden swords. A Shakespearean drama course is required for theater majors, but the spring class is open to anyone. Gibson says that a goal of the course is to get students over the fact that Shakespeare is a diety to be worshipped. He says that the bard wrote "down ‘n’ dirty" drama for his audiences and recommends movie versions of the plays that are action-packed, like Mel Gibson’s Hamlet. The class is one of three that Gibson teaches involving classic drama. Although he has a degree in English-Shakespeare, Gibson is also an undergraduate student in JU’s theatre arts program. Gibson registered for classes when he decided that he wanted to know more about acting to better teach Shakespeare.

Most Improved PTK Chapter. Building a tradition of excellence, the Alpha Xi Eta Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa honor society at St. Johns River Community College set a goal to match the $7,400 in scholarship monies they raised in 1996-97--and they surpassed their mark with three months to go. According to Advisor Nell Freeman, a mini-auction held in February featuring 50 items including hotel getaways and golf packages put the hard-working chapter at the $10,000 mark. Other events the 25 members successfully planned and implemented throughout the school year include a yard sale, a larger auction, candygrams and balloon-a-grams for Valentine’s Day, and a pre-sold bake sale. Any SJRCC student may apply for one of the scholarships, whose recipients are selected by a committee. One scholarship will be given to a graduate of the Youth Boy’s Home who plans to attend the community college in the fall.

Best Crimewatch. Palm Beach Atlantic College’s security officers never take their eyes off potential crime scenes. Thirty-three new security cameras on campus, including 11 in PBAC parking lots, have helped apprehend criminals in progress and kept car break-ins to two this school year. The school’s courteous patrol units also help jump-start cars with dead batteries, assist in changing flat tires, survey the grounds for lighting, locks, and windows, and escort vagrants off-site. The 11 officers work in three shifts and also escort students who don’t want to walk alone on campus after dark, according to Allen McEniry, director of safety and security.

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