Over 100 watermelons and 300 college students can only mean two things: a fight for a healthy snack, or the Activities Programming Board’s Fourth Annual Watermelon Bust.
We’ll choose the latter.
APB is preparing to host the age-old tradition entitled ‘The Rites of Spring.’
The Rites of Spring is a week of events that personify activities associated with spring, said Jesse McDonald, a member of APB.
It is intended to bring out the feeling of spring in students by encouraging them to be active, he said.
This week of events will begin on Monday, April 19 and end with the main event, the Watermelon Bust, on Friday, April 23.
“Every year the events change, except the Watermelon Bust,” said Jessica Nickoson, executive director for APB.
McDonald remembers one year when they turned bathtubs into makeshift rafts and raced across Lake Inferior.
The APB office would like everyone to get involved.
That’s why they’re showing the movie Gothika outside the Commonwealth dorms and putting things on the University Center plaza to be in the students’ faces, said Nickoson.
“We are really trying to cater to students’ needs. People don’t think we listen, and we do.”
The Watermelon Bust will include several mini-events, like watermelon eating, seed spitting, a watermelon toss, carving, tug-o-war and a few others.
Anyone can make a team: organizations, sports teams, dorm halls, or just friends. Teams of eight or less should go to the Office of Student Life in University Center room 10 and pick up a registration form by Friday, April 16. The registration fee is $15, and all team members will receive a free Rites of Spring 2004 T-shirt.
Along with the bust, students can attend other events during the week. Some events include riding a mechanical bull in the UC plaza on Monday, and Hip Hop Comedians Alfred and Seymour later that night.
Also, the band Eightfeet will perform in the UC plaza during a cookout on Tuesday.
And on Wednesday, LEAD NKU will be have a car bashing in the UC plaza, where students can pay $1 to take a whack at two donated cars.
Proceeds will go to the Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) organization.
The week is for all students to participate and enjoy at no cost.
“We want to see more than Greeks,” McDonald said. “It’s about the entire school.”
For a complete listing of the week’s events, see the APB advertisement on the opposite page.
For more information, visit the APB Web site at www.nkuapb.com.