Penn State Abington Orientation Paraphernalia

Every summer, Penn State Abington hosts seven orientation sessions for incoming freshmen, with two more sessions held in late August and early January.  The sessions teach students about the basics of the Penn State system, show them how to create schedules and advocate involvement in student organizations.

Click here for more information about the orientation program.

The purpose of this page is to preserve information about the orientation program so that it is not lost over time.  The things here may be of interest to future orientation leaders as they see how far the program has come in just a few years.

You'll find videos, graphics, and slideshows from orientation sessions as far back as 2000.  These files are very large.  Modern broadband connections should have no problem downloading these in under two minutes, but dialup users might want to consider going to a public library or to the campus itself to watch.

These videos require the DivX codec.  Download it here if an error occurs.

Yearly Videos

Each year, Steve Sokolowski, with the help of Dane Zdunowski and other orientation leaders, produced a video highlighting the crew's accomplishments (or, judging from the videos, the seeming lack thereof). In 2005, Erin Dooley produced another slideshow to show on New Student day that featured baby pictures of orientation leaders.

"SURVIVOR: Orientation"
Shown:  July 18, 2003
Size: 76.5MB
Length: 2m 56s
PSUOrientation2003.avi
This video combined clips that had been specially gathered on July 11, 2003 to create a mock introduction for the television show "SURVIVOR."  The purpose of the video was to introduce Ninad Pendharkar, 2002-2003 SGA President and 2003 graduate, who was decked out in then-WWF apparel.  When the video concluded, Ninad danced to Indian music.

"The Way Dr. Bob Moves" (Explicit Lyrics)
Shown: July 23, 2004
Size: 29.7MB
Length: 3m 38s
PSUOrientation2004.avi
It's no secret that Dr. Bob hates rap music, and he hates rap music with profanity even more.  That's why, for his 40th birthday, the orientation leaders whipped up this gem.  The end of the video introduces Ninad (now a medical student) and Dane Zdunowski for their traditional Indian dance.  When the dance concluded, everyone donned SpongeBob hats and sang "Happy Birthday."

"Win"
Shown: August 5, 2005
Size: 46.6MB
Length: 4m 26s
PSUOrientation2005.avi
Unlike the prior two years, nobody was asked to act for the camera.  In fact, the secret was kept until the final orientation day.  In contrast to the previous years' comedic shows, this video is a tribute to the hard work not only of the orientation leaders, but also of the staff members who have made the program into the best of Penn State, and among the best of all universities in the country.

New Student Day and "Infants to OLs"
Shown: August 29, 2005
Size: 184.1MB
Length: 20m 39s
Erin2005.zip
Erin Dooley produced this slideshow to be shown on New Student Day as a farewell gift. The "Infants to OLs" section was a result of baby pictures and quotes gathered earlier in the orientation season. This slideshow focuses more on OLs than the "Win" video, which focused on the different parts of the day itself, including the freshmen. Microsoft PowerPoint 2003 is recommended.

Other Videos

Freshmen Feud/Top Ten/Closing
Taped: August 1, 2003
Size: 113.0MB
Length: 14m 43s
FreshmenFeud2003.avi
This file is part of a DVD recorded of Freshmen Feud, when it was in its infancy.  There was a power outage due to a thunderstorm that ended just two minutes before the taping of this video began.  Dane Zdunowski is shown as host, with Steve Sokolowski on computer and Tracy Reed on lighting.  Note how the introductory video is absent, the audience challenge is conducted differently, there is no question music, and the graphics are changed.

"We Are Penn State"
Shown: 2003 Season
Size: 33.9MB
Length 1m 30s
WeAre.avi
This video concluded the 2003 opening slideshow.  When 9:30am approached, Dr. Bob would give a signal, and the slideshow would be phased into this video, which set the stage for his opening comments.

Slideshows

As recent as 2000, the morning slideshow contained little music and few pictures.  Now, the show includes full-motion video and special effects.  All slideshows below are in Microsoft PowerPoint format.

2000 Season
Size:  33.8MB
Length: 22m 2s
PSUSlideshow2000.zip

2002 Season
Size: 44.5MB
Length: 22m 58s
PSUSlideshow2002.zip
This slideshow was authored by Luis Ruiz-Alomar, who served as Student Government Association Treasurer for the 2001-2002 academic year.

Old Top Ten (circa 2002)
Size: 450KB
OldTopTen.ppt
The Top Ten slideshow was redesigned in 2003 by Steve Sokolowski.  This slideshow was used previously.

Images and documents

T-Shirt Progression
Size: 1.9MB
OrientationShirts.zip
This file contains images of the uniforms worn by orientation leaders from 2002-2004.  The choice of pants, white khakis, remained the same.  Note the dramatic departure from the traditional uniform in 2004.  That baseball shirt was designed by Erin Dooley and Lisa Christ.

Training Documents and Master Schedules
Sizes: 2-6MB
Orientation2001.zip
Orientation2003.zip
Orientation2004.zip
These documents of historical interest were scavenged from training binders of previous years.  The July 2001 master schedule shows the program while "Real Life at Penn State Abington" still existed.  Also included in the file are documents with suggestions of speaking topics for that session.  The 2003 training sessions were "FISH!" themed and a "Choose your attitude!" flyer is included.

Orientation Website Script
Taped: September 9, 2003
Size: 26KB
Website.doc
This document is the script that was used by Ashley Martin and Steve Sokolowski to create the feature now found on Penn State Abington's website describing the orientation process.  That site is linked at the top of the page.

Other Photographs
Photographs of freshmen and leaders from the 2002, 2003 and 2004 orientation seasons can be found in the Penn State Picture Gallery.  Many of these pictures were used in slideshows on New Student Days in the past.