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Best Residence Hall Association. Dorm life just doesn’t have the same meaning if you reside in University of Florida’s residence halls. UF’s Inter-Residence Hall Association may be one of the premier rez-life groups in the nation. Representing UF’s 7,000 on-campus students, IHRA officers and members meet Mondays to talk about issues and possible solutions to concerns about the cost of campus housing, security, recycling programs, and cable TV. "We have very good support from our housing staff," says IRHA President Gary Slossberg, whose spring 1999 campaign for UF student body president has boosted the group’s visibility and may prompt more on-campus students to become involved in campus politics. "It’s a very social community atmosphere and the members are very conscious of meeting the needs of students."
     Representatives of IRHA’s 13 area governments and their hall residents help plan the annual Residence Hall Week, including an IRHApalooza concert and carnival and a Tie & Tails formal that generates $500-$700 a year that is donated to the Children’s Miracle Network. Slossberg rates IRHA as a top rez-life group is because as he says, ‘We have a lot of motivated, excited students who care about what they do--they’re not just there for a resume line."

Best Powder Puff Jocks. To generate excitement for a homecoming without a traditional football game, University of Tampa campus leaders turn to gridiron competition of a softer type. The Powder Puff Spartan Bowl, launched in October 1998, is open to junior and senior women who compete in a lottery to win slots on the two 25-person teams. UT men, some dressed in skirts, volunteer as cheerleaders. The SG gives red jerseys to the seniors and black jerseys to the juniors, who battle it out under the lights at UT’s Pepin-Rood Stadium on the Thursday of Homecoming Week. The game is preceded by the presentation of Homecoming royalty, a bonfire, and singing of the national anthem. Plans for next year’s event include a live band and more prize giveaways, says Dan Cuneo, SG President.

Best Recycled Campuses. Now home to thousands of college students, these three Florida colleges also have harbored vastly different populations, leaving a significant legacy to their communities.
     The 92-acre site of Valencia Community College’s East Campus once housed county criminals borrowed by the U.S. government to work area lumber tracts. According to campus paper The Valencia Source, chain-gang prisoners were brought to the area in the late 1930s in large, horse-drawn wagons. The prisoners cut lumber during the day and slept in portable cells at night. When John Warren bought and settled the property in the early ‘40s, he and his children found bottles of shaving tonic, whiskey, and other artifacts now in the possession of Dr. Bob Holland, former dean of student affairs at East Campus. Also discovered were trees with rings attached to their branches that supposedly were used as whipping posts.
     During World War II, German POWs lived at Lake-Sumter Community College. According to Peter Kehde, an LSCC instructor for 22 years, the U.S. Army built a camp in 1942 on what is now the school’s main campus. Former POWs Hermann Boettjer and Fritz Fitting have visited L-SCC in recent years to reminisce and share stories with campus administrators about their memories of the warm Florida weather, catching pet snakes, and picking oranges and celery. The men were two of the 250 Germans transported to the Leesburg site in 1944, which previously was used as military personnel housing.
     "The Plane! The Plane!" Those words may have once echoed over the 344 acres of what is now Florida International University’s, University Park Campus, once the home of an airport with an ivory tower and plane hangars. Aileen Izquierdo, media relations specialist, says the site was converted in the summer of 1969 by community leaders, including founding President Charles Perry, then only 32, to provide South Florida with a public university. Since 1972, FIU’s student population has grown from 5,000 upper-division students to 30,000 undergrads and graduate students. Two years ago, the school celebrated its 25^th anniversary with a torch run, concert, and parties for Panther boosters and alumni, which number more than 70,000.

Best College Value. St. Augustine’s Flagler College takes prides in its title of "least expensive" among selective liberal arts private colleges and universities in Florida. Director of Admissions Mark Williar says the $9,930 annual fee includes everything-- $6,130 for tuition, $1,490 for a room in the residence halls, and $2,310 for meals for the spring and fall semesters. Summer school isn’t included.
     Webber College comes in a close second at $11,730 annually (tuition is $8,000, while room & board is $3,570). Director of Admissions Mike Mattison says first-time students get a "Florida Freshmen" scholarship of $1,000, cutting the annual rate for the first year to $10,730.

Best Connection. Getting to know you is the goal for Lake City Community College students and staff who attend a popular fall retreat held at Camp Weed, an upscale wilderness getaway in Live Oak. Located far from the hustle and bustle of campus life, the serene setting gives participants in the annual President’s Student/Staff Retreat a unique chance to interact and work jointly on goals in a relaxed atmosphere. Started in 1985, the event attracts about 50 faculty and students in October for roundtable discussions, a poolside cookout, outdoor recreation, and leadership training. According to Interim Director of Student Services Marnell Hayes, the 1998 event "was the best opportunity for communication between the students and staff. And besides all that, it was fun!"

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