Students find relief from studies in wrestling, helicopters, velcro
by Brian Shults, se news editor

    SE Campus Spring Fling provided a day for students to kick around and have fun before finals.

   “It was great weather. Everybody was having a blast with the Velcro sticky fly wall, sumo wrestling, the huge army helicopter taking off and volleyball. Spring Fling was something you could bring your kids out to or have a good time,” Molly Wolfenberger, Phi Theta Kappa president, said.

   Students wrestled each other in sweltering sumo wrestling suits, wore Velcro suits to catapult off a moonwalk platform and stick to a wall and then participated in a volleyball tournament during the event sponsored by student services.
“Student services really went all out. The sticky fly wall will tire you out quickly,”

   Finny Benny, student, said.

   After Benny recuperated from the fly wall, he jumped into the sumo suit to square off with Wolfenberger.

   “Finny is a vicious sumo fighter. When we suited up, he proceeded to run me into the ground and stomp on me. He slammed his shoulder into my esophagus. But after that, I beat him two rounds in a row,” Wolfenberger said.

   SE Campus Crime Prevention Awareness Festival, sponsored by campus police, coincided with Spring Fling. Included in the festival were the Mobile Command Vehicle, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) wrecked display vehicle, Panoz racing school automobile and UH-60A Blackhawk medical model helicopter flown by Army soldiers from Fort Hood.

   The Blackhawk helicopter, approximately 68 feet long and 53 feet wide, carries up to 4 patients and equipment and 6 separate passengers. A common aircraft, the Blackhawk is currently being used in missions in Afghanistan, Army Spec. Joe Sharky, crew chief mechanic, said.

   The Mobile Command Vehicle educated visitors about the rising crime of identity theft, in which personal information such as social security or credit card numbers are stolen and then used to procure a profit. More commonly, the theft is committed across computer lines without the victim’s knowledge, Kayla Sloan, Fort Worth crime prevention officer, said.

   “There are many software programs out on the market to prevent people from knowing your computer keystrokes. Black Ice is an effective and popular one,” she said.

   A somber note on the afternoon was the MADD police car. The car was completely totaled by drunken drivers, killing police officers Terry Lewis and Jerry Crocker.

   Mario Gentolizo instructed groups of onlookers on the sport of mountain climbing and repelling. Using an assortment of equipment, he explained the process of mountain climbing in two phases covering topics such as equipment knots, belaying, etiquette, edging with shoes and body positions to maintain balance.

   Following a volleyball game, student Oscar Martinez offered his opinion of Spring Fling.

   “It was really fun. I went to the Velcro wall twice and lost twice in sumo wrestling. I think teachers should do more to promote this, maybe let class out 20 minutes early because most people don’t read the announcement board.

   “It is always the same students from student organizations. We have 8,000 students, so there should be more of us participating,” he said.

   The volleyball tournament concluded after two hours. The Flaming Marshmallows, who were members of SE’s beginning volleyball class, recovered from a 6-point deficit to overcome PTK 2 in the finals.