By Dinah Alobeid
It was a cold, foggy January Thursday on Northeastern’s campus, but inside the Curry Student Center the temperature was heating up.
The Student Activities Office sponsored the second annual Winterbash Jan. 13, a combination of a spring “Welcome Week,” Student Activites Fair and Night at the Student Center.
The festivities began with a Jeopardy tournament run by the Latino Student Culture Center on the ground floor of Curry.
“It was mainly the student members of the organization running this event; Alejandra the assistant director, Tanisha and Honorio. We had only six student participants, divided into two teams of three, the Tango team and the Samba team,” said Elena Quiroz, director of the Latino Student Culture Center.
Although the student participation was limited, all involved said they had a good time.
“I had a lot of fun, especially winning. It was just a nice activity to partake in,” said Halli Grimsson, a junior criminal justice major.
Even the losing team’s Kevin Freitas said, “I just got up and got involved in the game. It was a lot of fun.”
Meanwhile, in afterHOURS a DJ decked out in a Hawaiian T-shirt, straw hat and lei played the latest music while free “mocktails” were available. But by 4 p.m. there was one student in the on-campus club and the happening party appeared to have died down.
Upstairs in Curry’s indoor quad, the student activities portion of the event was taking place.
Numerous student groups were present to advertise their latest events, recruit new members and put their names out into the NU student community.
Ashley Standfield, a freshman political science major, was representing the Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority.
“I am a new member, but the the reason we are here today is to get out there and let people know we are accepting spring recruits and to show people what our sorority is about,” she said.
With a quick walk into the indoor quad, any student could participate in small, yet entertaining activities such as getting a massage from the PT Club, a club for physical therapy majors.
Nikki Nicosia, a graduate student who works in the Student Activities Office, planned and prepared most of the event.
“Trying to come up with a theme wasn’t difficult. Last year’s theme was the Wild Wild West, and I asked friends and students what they would find to be a nice atmosphere and several people listed a beach theme.”
Nicosia was enthusiastic about the event the day before, scrambling to start decorating and waiting to hear back from over 30 student organizations and other on-campus departments signed up for booths.
“The prize table should be a big hit. We are giving away prizes through a raffle and they include a signed Theo Epstein Red Sox T-shirt and a gift certificate with STA Travel in the Curry Student Center to name a couple,” Nicosia said.
Although the student showing was not as large as during fall semester’s Welcome Week, the event provided a sunny alternative to January’s unpleasant weather.
