While other students partied and bought books, about 450 volunteers took shifts hammering and sanding the floor and walls of a three-bedroom house in the Henderson Building parking lot Sunday.

The project, "Operation: Home Delivery," was created to build a house that will be donated to a family impacted by Hurricane Katrina, said Felicia McGinty, assistant vice president of student engagement.

"After the disaster, faculty, staff and student groups discussed how to help the Gulf Coast relief effort," McGinty said. "We chose this project because we wanted students to get involved and be active in the community from the beginning of the year."

Volunteers broke down the 35 panels of the house frame yesterday morning and took them to the building site about 10 blocks from campus.

The house should be built by April 2007, said Ken Blythe, president of the Tri-County Habitat for Humanity.

Before working on the project, students received hard hats, specific work assignments and safety instructions. Katherine Fletcher (freshman-secondary education) said she read about the event on fliers and thought it sounded interesting.

"I'm not sure construction work is for me," she said. "It took me about 10 minutes to hammer in one nail."

Elyse Adams (sophomore-bioengineering) said the event helped her meet new people.

"A lot of people on the project didn't know each other," she said. "I definitely met some interesting new students."

Operation: Home Delivery served as part of Welcome Week activities, and across the country, colleges are creating more active orientation programs. Some colleges are incorporating movies and reality television shows into their orientation activities, according to www.insidehighered.com. At Lehigh Univiersity, HGTV's "Mission: Organization" star, Diane Albright, helped new students organize their dorm rooms as part of orientation week activities.

The new programs are tailored to fit the needs of students more interested in the visual media than past generations. The programs also acknowledge the growing volunteerism among college-aged students by including community service-based activities.

"I like [Welcome Week activities] because I didn't have this opportunity [when I went to college]," said Scott Irlbacher, coordinator in the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life. "I think [the student participation] really speaks well on this freshman class."

New Penn State students responded positively to this year's Welcome Week events including the Mount Nittany hike and other community service activities such as Labor for Your Neighbor.

"I really like them because they're helping us get to know the campus better. It makes us go out and explore new areas," Michaela Hutchinson (freshman-broadcast journalism) said.

Other students liked Welcome Week because it helped them step outside their comfort zone.

"I think [Welcome Week] helps students get more organized," Nancy Londin (freshman-communication sciences and disorders) said. "It helps you put yourself out there and take risks."