On Friday, January 25, the Student Activities Board hosted “Monmouth After Dark.” Despite freezing temperatures and snow, students braved the trip to Boylan Gym for the first SAB event of 2013.
Lucy Russo, VP of Major Events in SAB and a junior majoring in psychology explained, “We are doing an event where it is free and open to everyone. We have black-light laser tag, glow-in-the-dark tattoos, and an oxygen bar where you get oxygen in different scents and it is supposed to cleanse and help health.” When asked how long the process was to prepare the gym for the event, Russo stated, “It took about an hour to set everything up.”
One of the first students at the event was Rebekah Mar-Tang, a graduate student in social work. She said, “It’s an interesting event. I’ve been here since I was a freshman and I was never aware of things like this or I would have done it earlier. A lot of people I know usually go home so at least there’s something on the weekends that people can do that don’t want to go home and want to stay in the area.”
Upon being asked what she liked about the event, Mar-Tang replied, “I don’t know what an oxygen bar is. It’s intriguing me a little bit. I do like the [neon] tattoos though since I am not brave enough to get a real tattoo. Getting one that I could see in a black light is cool.”
Leonard Rusciani, a senior majoring in software engineering, enjoyed the night. “There’s not as many people as I thought there would be, but it snowed so that affected [the attendance]. It’s really fun. I’ve never played laser tag before so my friends brought me out here to try it. I was on the blue team and we won. I’m going to try the oxygen bar next.”
Another student enjoying the event was Christina Gonzalez, a sophomore majoring in social work. She discussed the event saying, “I just got here but it looks like a lot of fun. I think the oxygen bar is cool. It’s something different. They’ve had laser tag before. Plus it’s something for people our age.”
Amanda Salerno, a freshman studying psychology, said, “I’m actually in SAB so the events are fun.” When asked about the weather affecting the event, Salerno stated, “More people probably would have been here.”
Some students simply came for the door prize drawing of two tickets to the sold out All Time Low concert on April 27. The concert also features Pierce the Veil, Mayday Parade, and You Me at Six. SAB member Casey Inguagiato, a sophomore majoring in business said, “There’s a good turnout for the raffle tickets. A lot of people like the bands.”
Zakari Jaworski, a sophomore history major, is one of the students who came for the chance to go to the concert. He stated, “The raffle tickets are nice; hopefully I win one.”
Inguagiato said, “The turnout is good. There are a lot more people than I thought because the weather is so horrible outside.” When asked what would be the most popular station of the night, she replied, “Definitely the oxygen bar. We saw people walking in and they just wanted to go there.”
“It’s pretty innovative,” Jaworski said. “I’ve never been to an oxygen bar before so that was cool. I tried [the flavors] mint, jasmine, pineapple, and lavender.”
Kelly Rose Printon, concert chair for SAB and a junior studying social work, enjoyed participating while working. “The laser tag in general is really fun. I haven’t done laser tag since someone’s birthday party when I was about eight. I had a lot of fun doing it.”
Russo was surprised with the amount of people at the event. “It’s a pretty impressive turn out,” she smiled. “Usually our events typically have a little more people. Despite the weather, it’s still a great turn out.”
Joseph Pagnotta, SAB VP of finance and a junior majoring in chemistry said, “The turnout is really great especially for the first weekend back from break and with it snowing. We didn’t expect this many people to come. I think this is one of the best kickoffs for a semester that we’ve had besides Grooveboston. We did as much as we could and it got a lot of students to come out.”
“I thought that [the weather] was going to affect the event,” said Mar-Tang. “It’s not a blizzard but I thought it would be completely empty. It seems like there is a pretty good turnout despite the weather.”
Printon was very happy. “I think that the turn out, considering the weather, is actually really good. I’m pleasantly surprised. It’s hard when it is cold out to pump up something that is indoors.”
Students who want to become involved and help plan events like these can join SAB. Printon said, “There are about twelve people on our executive board. We meet twice a month on Wednesday. There are meetings with all of our general members, which is around 60 people. After the meeting, the executive board discusses the week. The meetings for general members are at 2:30 pm on the third floor in the SAB room office. This club is for everyone. It brings events to the campus and everybody has something to offer.”
The next SAB event is an Ice-Skating Trip on January 31. Following, the SAB will co-sponsor “Snow Day” with Alpha Sigma Tau. The event has been moved to Saturday, February 2 due to low temperatures. Students can visit the Residence Quad for a photo snow globe, super sledding slide, and hot chocolate.