News Reporter
A frigid crowd of Colorado Mesa students gathered in front of the Canyon View 14 Theater Thursday night for the main event of CMU’s first annual Hunger Games Week, put on by the Programming Activities Council (PAC). With bragging rights, a trophy and VIP tickets to the premiere of “Catching Fire” on the line, 12 teams, or ‘tributes,’ competed in four events based on the Trilogy.
The events consisted of an eating competition, the Hunger Run food drive, a dodgeball tournament and the showing of the first movie, “The Hunger Games” in the University Center Ballroom. PAC and Student life capped out the week by renting out two theaters for an early premiere at 9 p.m Thursday.
“We were waiting for like an hour,” CMU student Zach Gardner said, “but we got to see the movie three hours early, and you don’t usually get to do that.”
The line of students almost reached the street behind the theater as they waited to exchange their vouchers, but once the doors opened at 8:30, students flooded past bundled-up fans waiting for the midnight showing.
“We wanted to make sure that the games would be fair for both genders,” PAC Chair Tess Matsukawa said. “We didn’t want the games to be centered around physical strength or athleticism, so we chose to have games that involved a variety of talents.”
Carl Macintyre of team Tom Morrison took gold on November 18, when teams sought to out-stuff each other at the Capital Dinner Party, an eating competition. Also that night, students and tributes alike participated in PAC’s always-popular Grocery Bingo in the Bookcliff Café.
The next day, teams were asked to stuff the stomachs of others during the Hunger Run.
“We wanted to give back to the community due to the close proximity to Thanksgiving,” Matsukawa said.
Teams had one hour to collect the largest amount of food donations for charity. The Physics team excelled, hauling in more than two grocery carts of canned food.
On Nov. 20, teams of four to eight players fought for victory on the floors of the Mav Pav in a dodgeball tournament. The team of Average Bos, comprised of CMU football players, easily took the tournament victory.
The points were added up Thursday, and the top three winners received free movie premiere tickets. Third place belonged to the chemistry club, The Carbon District, second to Ambassa Ballin’, and Team Tom Morrison took first place.
The Carbon District didn’t leave empty handed, as they won their bet with the Physics Nerds. As victors, they will receive coffee, donuts and the title “Sensei” through the completion of finals from members of the Physics Club.
The event was conceived a year ago, according to Matsukawa, when PAC was looking for events for the month of November. Upon noticing that the sequel to the popular “Hunger Game,” “Catching Fire,” released that month, PAC opted to focus on a fun, competition-based week of events centered on the theme of the Trilogy.
PAC says that the problems they faced were minimal and hopes to expand the event next year.
“We are looking to collaborate with more clubs and organizations on campus,” Matsukawa said. “We want to step out of our comfort zone and plan events that are more challenging.”
brjthomp@mavs.coloroadomesa.edu,
cchiovit@mavs.coloradomesa.edu
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