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CAMPUS

The Norwich Guidon
October 30, 2003

Gallon Challenge!

Students hold milk chugging contest to break stress

By Jessielynn Bagnas and
Luis Barberena
Norwich Guidon Staff Writers

No doubt when she was a little girl, Becky Bagley heard from her mother how drinking milk would make her strong, build her bones, yada, yada, yada.

But for the 19-year-old Norwich sophomore, chugging a gallon of milk as fast as she could wasn't to get the nutritional value; it was to see if she could beat the guys.

Bagley, an architecture major from Kennebunk, Maine, said she was part of the competition held behind Chaplin Hall last week because it was a challenge. "I did it just for the fun."

The milk chugging contest was essentially a way for a group of architecture students to beat the boredom of long hours and late-night projects and was conceived basically as a temporary diversion. That's why last week a small group of them each grabbed a gallon of milk and started drinking.

They didn't know that other student spectators would be watching -- whether gathered around the group or dangling from dorm windows above.

"I was sitting in my room doing homework, and I hear all this noise outside," said Mike Cepeda, 21, a senior history and political science major from Amarill, Tex. "I thought it was a fight, so I decided to check it out. I look and saw a bunch of people chugging milk and throwing up.

"It was the sickest thing I've ever seen," Cepeda added. "I thought it was kind of weird, but if they think it's fun, more power to them."

Some of the men participating in the chug-a-lug recruited women, too, said Erika Satterson, 19, a sophomore from Lewisburg, Penn.

As a rugby player and architecture student, Satterson is used to stress, and she is open to ways of relieving it. And that's how she found herself swigging a gallon of milk with her classmates.

"I stumbled upon it," she explained. "The guys were talking about doing a gallon challenge and they wanted some girls to do it. They asked me." Satterson said that the initially the challenge was to drink the full gallon in one hour. "But the rules changed just to see who could drink a gallon of milk."

What some of the contestants learned, however, is that what goes in must eventually come out. And for some the exit route wasn't ideal.

"There was some serious projectile vomiting, there," said Jason Mitchell, 22, a senior architecture major from Frederick, Maryland. "It was pretty funny, sitting back and just watching all of my friends having a good time."

But for Bagley, one of the few women involved, drinking milk suddenly became an obsession, with or without the puking.

"It was very intense," she said. "I didn't think it was going to be as big as what it was, because I didn't know the whole school knew about it, and everyone was down there [watching]."

Satterson faced a different type of obstacle to winning the competition: the milk's temperature.

"The milk was really cold, and it gave me brain freeze," she said. "I didn't actually finish all of my milk, because I couldn't puke like everyone else. It made me feel really sick afterwards."

Bagley knew the secret to winning, however, explaining that it was important to "drink as much as you can as fast as you can" and then occasionally purge what is ingested to make room for more.

"I felt sick for hours afterwards," she admitted. "Even after throwing it all up, I felt really sick."

It wasn't just the participants who had a break from studies. Fellow student observers viewed the activity as a temporary form of escapism.

Sean Carey, 21, a criminal justice major from Fort Leavenworth, Kan., was among those with a front-row seat watching the drinking and purging.

"It was pretty motivating," he explained. "It was good to see people having a good time. I didn't want to see them quit."

And for those who think the architecture contest barons have retired after the milk chugging feat, think again.

Because of the success of the chug-a-lug, two more students have conjured up another idea to top the hype of the milk fest: jousting.

"We came up with a jousting event," explained Ted Mikulski, 19, a sophomore architecture major from Rocky Hill, Conn. "My friends did it back home, once, and I thought it was really fun. So I figured we might have a big event and have a bunch of people watch."

The gauntlet has been cast down: an "architectural jousting" competition is now planned for 1 p.m. Nov. 1 on Disney Field, Mikulski said, adding that those students who plan to participate are allowed to use only two items to make their armor -- corrugated cardboard and glue.

He explained that repairs are allowed, but only using duct tape.

"We wanted to spark a little creativity," said Paul Conforti, 19, a sophomore architecture major from West Boylston, Mass. Conforti and Mikulski are the masterminds behind the jousting event.

"It's a little thing we came up with to make use of the cardboard that gets thrown out," Conforti said, adding that the joust isn't limited to just architecture students; anyone can participate. But he explained that word hasn't reached many beyond Chaplin Hall yet.

"It's not just an architecture thing," Conforti said. "I think we're just too lazy to advertise outside of the [Chaplin] studio."

From milk to cardboard, the challenges facing those who inhabit Chaplin Hall just don't seem to end. It's too early to know whether Bagley will be out jousting with the best of them in round two of the architecture challenges. One thing is for certain, however; if she chooses to participate, the other contestants had better watch out.

"I'm a rugby girl, and I'm very competitive," Bagley said. "When I get into a competition, I really get into it."

The Norwich Guidon is a twice-monthly student newspaper distributed at Norwich University. It provides laboratory experience for students in the Communications program. Claims asserted by letter writers, editorials and other articles do not represent the positions of Norwich University. The Norwich Guidon welcomes signed letters to the editor. They should be no longer than 300 words. Unsigned letters will not be printed, but names may be withheld upon worthy request. All letters are subject to editing for length and good taste. Mailing address: The Norwich Guidon, Communications Center, Norwich University, Northfield, VT 056632. www.norwich.edu/guidon. If you have any questions or comments about the paper, please contact Professor Ken Bush at kbush@norwich.edu.