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The fierce competition among fraternities and sororities is one of many traditions that adds to the thrill of Homecoming.

Although the Homecoming spotlight is often on Greek students, they are not alone in their spirit.

Each January, immediately after Homecoming weekend has been announced, local hotels begin to book rooms almost 10 months in advance, says Steven Noto, corporate general manager of the Stoney Creek Hospitality Corp. under which Columbia’s newly opened Stoney Creek Inn operates.

“In our pre-marketing, we’ve tried to focus on contacting the major employers in the community, and letting them know what we have to offer,” he says. “The University has been great to work with.”

Pomping: The process of folding tissue paper around a finger or pen and gluing it to a board to create “house decs.”

Ask any student in a Greek organization about pomping, and a groan will follow.

By Truman T. Tiger

In 1958, Susie Cohen became MU’s first mascot and began a tradition that continues to this day. Though just a self-proclaimed, “girl from Kansas City,” her role led her to paper mache, Miami and marriage.

Homecoming allows 10 MU seniors to take a break from senior-year stress to receive the royal treatment as King and Queen candidates.

Some discovered the royalty position rekindled many of their dearest memories of old MU.

Customs foster a connection between people that allows them to communicate even if they’ve never met. Despite how homecoming has evolved over the years, it remains a language through which alumni of each generation can relate to one another.

1950s

This Homecoming, people will gather with their friends and family just as they’ve always done. But there will be one thing missing: The Olde Heidelberg. It was destroyed by fire Aug. 18.

“The ’Berg was the type of place you took your family or friends from out of town, because no other place in Columbia had that ‘Mizzou hangout’ type of feel,” said Shaun Thomason, a May 2003 MU graduate and member of Marching Mizzou. “No other place has that feeling.”

Thirty-seven years ago, a tradition started at the Homecoming game’s pregame show: a performance by the Marching Mizzou Alumni Band.

Each October, alumni band members are invited back to participate in the annual event.

A normal week for me usually entails spending several hours at the local library viewing microfilms. I enjoy poring over old newspapers, reading about events that took place decades ago. Like most researchers, I tend to get distracted when searching for information on one subject — my attention gets drawn off in another direction.

Last week, for example, I was reading through an old newspaper when I came across a story by the Associated Press that said the Missouri School of Journalism was expected to take possession of its newly constructed building, Jay H. Neff Hall, on the university campus within a few weeks. The newspaper, “The Sedalia Democrat,” was dated June 20, 1920. The article went on to describe the Evening Missourian as “one of the leading dailies of this part of the state.” This same newspaper carried a story about the fire that destroyed the Pettis County courthouse, which was the story I was researching at the time.

About 50 Columbia residents participated in a protest of a different sort when they joined “The People Speak: America’s Role in the World,” a series of public discussions held in more than a thousand cities across the country during October.

Participants debated U.S. foreign policy and the occupation of Iraq on Friday as part of the series, which is organized under the umbrella of the United Nations Foundation, a group that is supported by the United Nations. The talks were locally sponsored by the Association of Master of Public Administration Students and MU’s European Union Center.

Looking to save money, the University of Missouri system is exploring ways to consolidate some of its operations with MU.

The plans were made public in July when MU Chancellor Richard Wallace announced his plans to retire in August 2004.

The Central Columbia Association wants you to discover the District of Columbia, but you’re more likely to see Booches than the Bushes.

The new advertising campaign, “Discover the District,” is intended to lure more people to visit downtown and its shops, restaurants and events. Sponsored by the CCA, whose members include downtown businesses, the campaign’s logo features a downtown skyline against a sunset. Businesses were given pins and window decals with the new logo as well as “talking-points” — explanations of the changes — to inform customers about the campaign.

Donators and fashion enthusiasts came to Stephens College’s Davis Art Gallery on Saturday to see wedding gowns but not brides.

Traffic. Safety. Privacy.

Boone County residents echoed the typical concerns about urban growth during Thursday night’s four-hour meeting of the Boone County Planning and Zoning Commission. Neighbors worried about the increased of traffic, the decrease of safety, the loss of privacy, utility capacity and conservation of green space.

Claire McCaskill will return to her alma mater — Hickman High School — at 12:30 p.m. Monday to announce her intentions to run against incumbent Bob Holden in a primary race for the democratic gubernatorial nomination. Winning the nomination and subsequent race would make her Missouri’s first elected female governor. The current Missouri state auditor will begin her campaign trail in Kansas City where she was elected assistant county prosecutor in 1978. Before being elected to her current position, she served as the 42nd District state representative for three terms, and later became the first woman elected as Jackson County ...

A fourth Columbia man will be arraigned Monday in connection with a reported rape.

Frank Kalvin Mosley Jr., 20, had been at University Hospital for undisclosed health reasons, but has now returned to custody in Boone County Jail.

Dwayne Carey pays attention to detail. Five minutes before his official campaign for Boone County Sheriff kicked off, he was replacing popped gold balloons lining the drive to Midway Exposition Center’s patio.

“It’s for Tiger football,” said Carey, a Democrat. His campaign kickoff began one hour before the MU Tigers kicked off in Oklahoma. Carey’s campaign colors will be brown and gold, the same colors as the current sheriff, Ted Boehm.

Every morning, Bishop Bill Rogers wakes up about 4 a.m. He prays, reads the Bible, takes a walk and eats oatmeal and a bowl of Cheerios for breakfast. At age 80, his cholesterol is an impressively low 125, and his doctor jokes that the only way to get rid of him would be to shoot him.

Rogers, the preacher at the one-room Church of God in Fulton, has devoted himself to his faith — and after 53 years of preaching and 88 missionary trips, he has no intention of slowing down any time soon. His has been a life of passion for his work, in which he has been nudged by a machine gun in Cuba, run for president of the United States, and prayed for hours at a time for a single soul.

I just got back from my husband’s high school reunion. I’m not allowed to tell which one, but suffice it to say he’s way past his 25th. And, quite frankly, I dreaded going with him. After all, I’m an outsider. And the place where he graduated is teeny.

The town of Bloomfield, Iowa, has a population of 2,600. It boasts one of the most magnificent courthouses in America. Half the population are farmers. There are wrought iron posts in town where the Amish tie their horses and buggies. You can walk from one end of the town to the other in 10 to 12 minutes, depending on your gait. There is not one fast-food restaurant; the town is famous for its loose meat sandwiches, which I don’t have the space to explain. Wal-Mart is 20-some miles away in the big town of Ottumwa.

As the sun sinks toward the Missouri River, the picnic tables at Les Bourgeois in Rocheport fill up one by one. A few women hold spots for the rest of the group. Some show up right on time at 6 p.m., but most trickle in at their leisure.

That's just fine, though. Leisure is exactly what this night is all about. For the MOMS (Moms Offering Moms Support) Club of Northern Boone County, this is the one night a month they all spend away from their children.