MEGHAN GUATTERY
Assistant News Editor
Fredonia students returned from winter break to a slew of activities planned for their first week back on campus.
Welcome Week is held each semester and hosted by Spectrum Entertainment Board. However, a shortened break allowed for less time for the typically six-day event to occur.
“We lost two days,” said junior public relations major and Spectrum president Stephanie Willis. “Typically we do Sunday through Friday, but we have a lot going on with planning, so we just chose to do Tuesday through Friday.”
As W.H.O.A. (Weekend Hang Out Activities) held Casino Night on Saturday, Spectrum Entertainment Board chose not to hold an event on Saturday.
Regardless of the scheduling constraints, Spectrum was able to host another week of activities for students to enjoy.
The four days of activities began on Tuesday, Jan. 20, with a two-part Zumba class. The two-hour dance-fitness class was held in the Multi Purpose Room of the Williams Center.
Nearly 50 students attended the event, all of whom were entered into a raffle to win a fitness basket at the door.
The event began with one hour of instruction by Department of Theatre and Dance professor Paul Mackovak.
Freshman musical theatre major Eva Mancarella continued the instruction for a second hour after Mackovak. A certified Zumba instructor, Mancarella was excited to expand her teaching to a wider range of students at Fredonia.
“I love Zumba,” said Mancarella. “When Spectrum asked me to do it, I thought it would be good because then people who weren’t just my friends or knew of the Aerobics Center through someone else could see it here. I wanted more people to know that we offer Zumba on campus so that they know that there are opportunities like that.”
Mancarella instructs Zumba classes on Tuesdays and Fridays at 4 p.m. in the Aerobics Center in Hemingway Hall. She was eager to teach in a new location outside the confinement of the basement walls of the Aerobics Center.
“We had a pretty nice turnout. It was a lot of fun. I love doing it in the MPR just because it’s such a big space, so I feel like people just have more fun.”
Welcome Week continued on Wednesday with an open mic and karaoke night at The Spot in Tim Hortons. Over 100 students attended the night of musical talent and were given the opportunity to win one of three iTunes giftcards.
“The whole time we had people singing, reciting poetry and even flouting,” said Willis. “The last time we did an open mic night, me and the vice president ended up having to sing to fill some gaps a couple times, but this time I didn’t have to sing at all.”
Two days after hosting a night promoting physical fitness, the MPR was transformed into an artery-clogging wonderland. Garbage Plates and trivia brought nearly 300 students to the Williams Center for the third night of the week.
Over the course of the event, 350 garbage plates were consumed by the students in attendance. This mound of food is a Rochester tradition and had its fifteen minutes of fame recently when it was talked about on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
The garbage plate originated at Nick Tahou’s Hots and consists of baked beans and/or macaroni salad with either home fries or french fries, and a choice of two of the following: cheeseburger, hamburger, red hots, white hots, Italian sausage, chicken tender, haddock, fried ham, grilled cheese or eggs. It is topped off with onions, mustard and Nick’s signature hot sauce.
“We actually bumped up the amount of plates we got from the past by about 100,” said Willis. “We didn’t sell out completely. We were able to have leftovers [so], while we were playing trivia, people could eat. So, we ended up getting rid of all the plates, but it was nice that way so people could keep eating.”
Once their stomachs were full and their brains were fueled, many of the students stayed for the trivia night that followed. They broke off into teams of up to eight people and prepared for a battle of Trivia Crack- and QuizUp-inspired questions.
Each member of the top-two finishing teams was awarded an FSA gift card. Sophomore marketing major Maggie McHugh was among those winners.
“My favorite part of trivia night was getting the chance to work as a team with all my friends and being able to see all of my friends’ intellectual strengths,” said McHugh. “It was a ton of fun and a really great event [for Spectrum] to host.”
Once the hamburgers and macaroni salad were cleaned up, Welcome Week concluded with Bingo on Friday night.
Over 200 students made their way to the MPR to play for a chance to win prizes ranging from fast food gift cards to a Blu-Ray player or Keurig brewer. However, in typical food-loving college student fashion, no prize was more popular than the snack basket.
“Everyone comes up and they look at all the expensive stuff and say, ‘I want this. I want the snack basket,’” said Willis. “It’s this huge tub I just fill with juice boxes, soda, chips and snacks like that.”
While the participants came for the event, many stayed for the tie-breaker that came when multiple students would shout, “Bingo!”
“The best part about Bingo was definitely the dance off,” said McHugh, who also attended Bingo. “It was so much fun seeing all the energy and dance skills.”
Even when faced with the challenge of working around a tightened schedule, Spectrum was able to bring over 600 students together for four nights of activities.
“The attendance was excellent for this part of the semester,” said Willis. “There was a great turnout at the events and a lot of interest and a lot of competitiveness with the trivia and Bingo, but people are always fun about it.”
As per each semester, Spectrum’s next event will be Activities Night on Wednesday, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. in the Steele Hall Field House. They will also be hosting a concert series highlighting student and local artists to be held once per month throughout the semester.