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HOMECOMING OCTOBER 26, 2009
MONDAY
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PHOTO BY ALLIE GARZA | STAFF
Andrew Krebs, a marketing freshman and Sigma Chi pledge, works on the Sigma Chi "Paint the Town Blue" entry on a window of Whitehall Classroom Building on Sunday.
Queens, kings and lots of paint Vegas theme helps paint Lexington casino-blue By Taylor Moak news@kykernel.com
Lexington has been painted blue. Saturday morning 39 student organizations participated in the “Paint the Town Blue” Homecoming event. Organizations painted a window either at a campus building or a local business with a “Viva LexVegas” theme. The goal of this event is to help the university connect with the Lexington community and to help student organizations publicize themselves while competing for Homecoming points, said Bryce Moffett, director of traditions for the Student Activities Board. “(It) is good for Lexington to see what is going on at UK,” Moffett said. See Paint on page B4
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PAGE B2 | Monday, October 26, 2009
HOMECOMING 2008
Biology Senior Jillian Meeks accepts her title as 2008 homecoming queen on Saturday October 18, 2008.
STAFF FILE PHOTO
STAFF FILE PHOTO
Students painted the windows of White Hall Classroom Building at the start of Homecoming week on Saturday, October 11, 2008.
STAFF FILE PHOTO
Students painted the windows of White Hall Classroom Building at the start of Homecoming week on Saturday, October 11, 2008.
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Monday, October 26, 2009 | PAGE B3
Homecoming’s schedule of events, according to the Student Activities Board Web site, (http://www.uky.edu/SAB/events.php): ! Banner competition: began Sunday at 4 p.m., judging at noon on
Tuesday and ends once judging is over Banners will be displayed at the W.T. Young Library and the Johnson Center; the top three banners will be on display outside Commonwealth Stadium at Saturday’s game against Mississippi State. ! Homecoming gallery: Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Rasdall Gallery, located in room 30 of the Student Center. The Homecoming Exhibit will be taking place, where any student or organization can enter art to display with the theme of “Spirit of UK.” The event is free and open to the public. ! Canstructure: Monday beginning at 10 a.m. at Memorial Coliseum, organizations paired up will build a structure out of canned goods. Judging begins at 3:30 p.m. and all cans will be donated to God’s Pantry. ! Kitty Karnival: Tuesday starting at 5 p.m. at the South Campus Courtyard (near the towers), students will put on a carnival for children of Lexington. There will be games, food and giveaways, along with a petting zoo. In the event of rain, the carnival will take place in the Student Center Grand Ballroom. ! Big Blue Impromptu: Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Student Center Grand Ballroom, participating organizations will compete in a comedy event. The show will feature comedian Theo Von of “Road Rules” as its announcer. ! Homecoming parade: Saturday starting at 9 a.m. SAB will put on its annual parade. This is the first year it will take place on gameday. Float check-in starts at 7:30 a.m. in the Martin Luther King lot near Blazer Hall and Memorial Coliseum. Parade route: The parade will start at Memorial Coliseum, down Avenue of Champions to Rose Street, through University Drive to Cooper Avenue and then back to each float’s construction locations. ! Crowning of Homecoming king and queen: Saturday during halftime of the Mississippi State game, Mr. and Ms. UK will be crowned. The game begins at 7 p.m.
This year’s candidates: Shaun Denney Student Development Council Dwight “DJ” Lacy Black Student Union Justin Linne Phi Sigma Kappa Calvin Riney Kappa Kappa Gamma Ben Duncan Delta Tau Delta Autumn Abraham Pi Beta Phi Ashley Jackson Black Student Union Katie Wilkerson Kappa Alpha Theta Barbara Jackson Chi Omega Dana Deptola Alpha Omicron Pi Last year’s Homecoming finalists: Kristen Fulcher Pi Kappa Phi Adam Mesaros Sigma Kappa Aun Ali Munis Phi Delta Theta Emily Parsley Alpha Delta Pi Meg Phillips Delta Delta Delta Clayton Spiceland Delta Sigma Phi Jeff Steller Phi Kappa Tau Madison Young Student Government 2008 winners: Jillian Meeks — Student Development Council Tim Joos — Sigma Chi
PAGE B4 | Monday, October 26, 2009
PHOTOS BY ALLIE GARZA | STAFF
Adal Yousef, an accounting junior with Alpha Kappa Psi, the business fraternity, works on a painting of a slot machine on the window of Whitehall Classroom Building on Sunday. UK fraternities and sororities painted the classroom building and other buildings around campus for Paint the Town Blue, part of Homecoming Week, over the weekend.
PAINT Continued from page B1 Student organizations could have begun painting as early as Saturday at 8 a.m. The final projects have to be completed by Monday at 8 a.m. Some teams, like service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega, worked on their window on Saturday afternoon. Alpha Phi Omega painted the windows of Tolly-Ho Restaurant with casino cards and the saying “Cats Cash In.” Other organizations did not begin working until Sunday. Marty Dunning, a member of Phi Kappa Tau fraternity, worked on his
fraternity’s window at Raising Canes on Sunday afternoon. Dunning said for their window, the organization wanted to mesh a Las Vegas theme with a Lexington theme. Dunning said he planned to paint “trademarks of the city,” including Rupp Arena and Commonwealth Stadium. Student organizations could request three primary colors of paint to use on their window. In addition to the three primary colors, each team received a can of black paint. The judging starts at 9 a.m. Monday. Points will be awarded based on how well the window represents the “Viva LexVegas” theme. The windows will be on display until Friday afternoon.
Members of Alpha Kappa Psi, the business fraternity, work on their "Paint the Town Blue" painting on the window of Whitehall Classroom Building.
Monday, October 26, 2009 | PAGE B5 Runners received cheers of motivation as they finished the last stretch of the 5K race on Sunday afternoon. PHOTOS BY ADAM WOLFFBRANDT STAFF
DanceBlue 5K draws increase in participation this year By Katie Perkowski kperkowski@kykernel.com
Five hundred. That is the number of participants in Sunday’s 4th annual DanceBlue 5K Run/Walk for the Kids, an increase from last year. The race started at Commonwealth Stadium, went around to the front of the stadium, through Greg Page Apartment Complex, through the back parking lots and then back to the beginning, said Kelsey Webster, overall chair for DanceBlue. The fundraiser lasted from 3 to 6 p.m. The Student Activities Board organized the event this year, with help from DanceBlue and the Homecoming Committee. Webster said DanceBlue would not know the total amount of money raised until Monday, but said members usual-
ly keep the final number to themselves so as not to take away from the reason they do the event.
“It involves the community and a lot of the other events I think are more student-based.”
TATUM DALE
Chair of 5K race, on it’s appeal during Homecoming
Webster said this year, SAB organized the overall event and DanceBlue was more focused on the marketing aspect, including recruiting runners. “We just used all the resources and all the DanceBlue followers to get people out there,” she said.
Webster also said John’s Run Walk Shop helped out in areas of organization. “They pretty much put together the beginning and ending of the race … they understand how races work, so they were the ones that put together the ending and how each person comes in at the end,” she said. The overall men’s winner was Zack Sanchez with a time of 16:16, and the overall women’s winner was Bridget Wolfe-Bertling with a time of 20:21, said Tatum Dale, the chair of the 5K race for SAB. Webster said the event was more of a group collaboration than other events. “I think it’s just a good event to have during Homecoming just because it involves the community and a lot of the other events I think are more studentbased,” she said.
Spanish sophomore and Kappa Delta member, Anna King (left) picks up a free snack and water with chemical engineering sophomore and Alpha Phi Omega member, Ashley McClean after finishing the 5K race on Sunday afternoon.
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PAGE B6 | Monday, October 26, 2009
Homecoming week provides last chance at tradition Most people remember what Homecoming was like when they were in high school. Embedded in as much tradition as pep rallies and proms, whole episodes of popular teen sitcoms are devoted to the big Homecoming game. Whether you were one of the warriors on the football field, trying to win one for the school; a fan sitting on the bleachMEGAN ers, cheering till your HURT voice went out; an excited Kernel student on Homecoming columnist Court, about to step out on stage at halftime; or a kid who didn’t attend, because football celebrations weren’t your thing, Homecoming was part of your high school experience. It helped bring the school together to celebrate school spirit and foster a sense of belonging, if only for one night. For college students it’s a little different. While much of the college experience is similar to high school — there is the sports and homework — those fond memories we had as high schoolers are hard to replace. There’s no more gross lunch food that you secretly didn’t mind, no more social breaks at lockers between classes and no more prom, the so-called biggest night of your teenage life. But just like the Homecoming tradition in high school, the UK Homecoming tradition is offered as the perfect opportunity for student to take advantage of creating and recreating those memories of life as a student. In what other facet of your life are you allowed to come together as a part of something bigger, a group you belong to, and have fun while showing your support? Unless corporations begin hosting Homecomings for their employees, this will be your last chance to experience the tradition. Homecoming in high school usually meant a pep rally in the gym, naming of a king and queen, a home football game and a semi-formal school dance. All this wrapped up in one neatly packaged celebratory day. UK does Homecoming on a much larger scale. Instead of the three pillars of celebration for a high school Homecoming —the rally, the game, the dance — UK offers a weeklong celebration of UK tradition, UK athlet-
ics and UK students, with events geared towards entertaining students and giving back to the community that supports them. While some tend to see the Homecoming tradition at UK as an event for the Greeks or other campus-involved organizations, Homecoming provides the entire UK community with an opportunity to celebrate. The Homecoming week kicked off Saturday, helping to bring the community together by having different campus organizations painting UK-themed scenes on windows of UK buildings and local businesses. Throughout the week, there will be events offered that other students can participate in, including Big Blue Impromptu on Wednesday, which consists of students providing entertainment and comedy, and a pep rally held in Memorial Coliseum on Friday night, with Coach Cal and Coach Brooks in attendance. If you missed Big Blue Madness, this is the next best thing for a free event on campus to celebrate UK Athletics. The weeklong celebration ends with the annual campus parade and the football game against Mississippi State. Other events are less about the school and more about the surrounding community. Unlike the Homecoming in high school, which along with tradition and school spirit was about socializing with friends and finding an excuse to buy a dress, UK’s Homecoming is about students giving back to Lexington. On Monday, Canstructure will have teams building structures out of donated canned goods, which will then be passed along to God’s Pantry. Also on Tuesday, students will hold the Kitty Karnival for children in the Lexington community, providing them with fun games, food and toy giveaways. With so much happening on campus on a regular basis, the events that are a part of Homecoming week might get lost in the crowd to the average UK student. But for all of us, high school is over, and before long, college will be over too. Now is the time to take advantage of the college experiences before we graduate and forget about the importance of traditions and feelings of school spirt. Megan Hurt is a journalism senior. Email mhurt@kykernel.com.
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