Issue date: 4/7/09 Section: News

Cody Kline, junior graphic design major, aims a ping pong ball at a cup during a game of "beer pong" played with root beer on Monday evening in the University Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union. The mock kegger was sponsored by Student Government. (Karolina Strack/The Daily Eastern News)

The music blared as a small group munching on chips gathered around the keg - the root beer keg.

What would normally seem like an average night on any college campus was actually an event sponsored by the Student Government aimed to keep students safe.

As part of Campus Safety Week, a root beer keg party was held Monday night in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union, where, instead of beer pong, groups of students vied for first place in games of rootbeer pong.

While the event was small, 20 students at the most, the experience for those who attended could make all the difference.

"If one event can save one persons life, it's all worth it," said Student Body President Levi Bulgar.

Wanting to make this year's Campus Safety Week more than just "a five-day walk around campus," Bulgar planned the week to incorporate safety information about every aspect of students' lives by offering events such as the live line demonstration scheduled for 7 p.m. today in McAfee Gymnasium.

Bulgar specifically planned the event for Monday in order to reach more students who normally would be out partying.

Students who attended the event received a plastic cup with a color sticker on the bottom that was intended to correspond with four different sessions about underage drinking, driving under the influence, sex and alcohol, and alcohol poisoning.

They then broke up into groups and played root-beer pong at the tables and munched on snacks, while party music selected by a DJ blared from the stereos.

This only lasted about an hour - and then the police showed up.

Two officers from the University Police Department crashed the party to do a presentation on drinking on campus, followed by a question-and answer-session with the remaining students.

John Owens, a freshman history major, knows some of the tests police officers conduct to determine sobriety, but learned there is no way to fool the tests.

At the end of the night the floor was sticky, empty cups were lying everywhere; the party was crashed, but those who attended took away a new appreciation for what a game of beer pong might actually mean.


Emily Steele can be reached at 581-7942 or at DENnewsdesk@gmail.com.

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