It’s carnival time

Student Union Activities seeks to bring students and faculty together for a night of fun and games

By Matt Lindberg

Friday, August 24, 2007

Riding the Ferris wheel, eating cotton candy and winning stuffed animals is only the tip of the iceberg for Student Union Activities. Saturday night the SUA will attempt to bring students and faculty back to their youth when it hosts its first carnival.

“Last semester, we were thinking of events to plan for the fall, and I thought it would be awesome to have a carnival, something that had never been done here,” said Adam Diskin, Overland Park sophomore and Hawk Nights coordinator. “I just thought it would be fun to do, so I proposed it to the SUA board.”

Shawn Bowers, Overland Park senior and director of SUA public relations, said the event would be similar to traditional carnivals people had attended in the past.

“We are going to have a Ferris wheel on campus, a bunch of different carnival rides and games you would expect,” he said. “You will also have the chance to throw a pie in the face of a University personality ­­— whether a student or professor.”

Diskin said the safety of students was a concern for the University.

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We have traditional carnival prizes like stuffed animals, but we also have KU merchandise for the winners. There’s a lot to win.

-Adam Diskin, Overland Park sophomore and Hawk Nights coordinator

“We had various agents provide the rides and games, but of course there is a legal liability with an event like a carnival because of things like the Ferris wheel and people getting hurt,” Diskin said. “A lot of people came together to work on ideas and making them better.”

To help promote alternatives to drinking, SUA will give each student and faculty member five free tickets. Five additional tickets cost $5, and an unlimited access pass costs $10.

Attendees also will have the opportunity to play some classic carnival games and win various prizes. Diskin said the budget for the event was large enough to provide prizes people would want to win.

“We have traditional carnival prizes like stuffed animals, but we also have KU merchandise for the winners,” Diskin said. “There’s a lot to win.”

Patrick Selly, Olathe junior, said the prizes might persuade him to attend the event.

“It might help,” Selly said. “I have nothing against SUA, the events they have are just not always higher priorities for me.”

Bowers said he hoped to see a large attendance because the SUA has worked hard to put on the event.

“There’s no reason to not come because with a valid KUID, you get five free tickets,” he said. “That’s enough to buy a hot dog, go on some rides and win a prize.” Bowers said with more people in attendance, the more likely it would be for the SUA to put on big events such as the carnival in the future.

The carnival is from 8 p.m. to midnight Saturday in the Student Recreation Fitness Center parking lot.

“As coordinator, seeing the entire KU community ­— students and faculty — coming together would be great,” Diskin said. “It’s going to be an authentic carnival experience ­— it’s going to be unique and exciting.”

— Edited by Amelia Freidline

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