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CAMPUS

The Norwich Guidon
Feb. 26, 2004

One Norwich student flies off a jump during the Rail Jam, a makeshift snowboard and ski jump built by students in the ski club behind Hawkins Hall as part of the Winter Carnival Weekend festivities

Winter Carnival 2004

By Adrian Ackles
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer
Photos by Sean Whaley

The second weekend in February signals Winter Carnival Weekend, with its many events and traditions which include the Winter Carnival dance, the annual hot tub party, and maybe one of the most significant of all: the snow sculpting contest.

Greg Wortman receives one of the fake tattoos as part of the '80s Flashback dance

But for Ted Mikulski, a 20-year-old sophomore architecture major from Rocky Hill, Conn., and Paul Conforti, 20, from Westboils, Mass., also a sophomore architecture major, the contest didn't represent student life to its full potential.

"Paul and I decided to make a snow sculpture for the contest," Mikulski said. "This has been a tradition in Norwich history but has not involved civilian students. We just wanted civilians to get in the competition."

Jessielynn Bagnas, Camille Betito, Jen Lawton, and Katie Serafine pose during the '80s Flashback Dance.

Conforti wanted to be a part of the snow sculpting since his freshman year but could not get people to back his idea.

"I wanted to do an '80s car," Conforti said. "Last year, I wanted to carve that same car out, but no one really wanted to help me, because there was no reason. This year, I guess I got lucky with the '80s Flashback theme."

A red sports car sculpted by civilian residents of Dodge Hall

A week or so before the competition, one snow pile for each company is provided by Facilities Operations on the Upper Parade Ground for the competition on the following weekend.

"There was no real pile for the civilians, so we decided to make our own pile on the lawn of Dodge Hall," Conforti said. The sculptures have in the past been done by all of the freshmen in a certain company. For Mikulski and Conforti to even have a chance to finish the sculpture, they were going to need help.

The Challenger Shuttle snow sculpture

"Whatever it was, it was something, because everyone was chipping in and wanted to be part of it," Mikulski said.

It started as an idea by one student but was put into action by nearly 15 students by the time the car was finished.

Rod Shakar, 19, a sophomore architecture major from Bennington Vt., was one of the students who wanted to see the sculpture get finished and decided to help.

A skull outlined with red was the work of Golf Company

"Well, it was something to do and to be part of the Winter Carnival," Shakar said explaining the reasons he decided the sculpture was a good idea. "I never heard of a civilian snow sculpture since I've been here, so I think it would be great to get that part of the tradition going."

The tradition also includes being judged for the contest.

"It will be nice to be judged, but I honestly think it was more important that we went out there to do it," Shakar said. "It's just the mentality of coming together to get something done; it has been a Corps thing for I don't know how long."

Band Company designed "ET watching MTV" as part of the competition

"Sometimes, I don't know how we are going to break that barrier down," said Chan Stowell, Director of Student Activities, explaining the occasional gulf between Corps and civilian activities. "The commandant tries to use it to build up the spirit of the Corps; it could be a dorm thing, too."

The Dodge group built their own snow pile and started to build the car from pictures Conforti got from the Internet. Most of the students were architecture majors and used their experience to help them in the sculpting.

The winning snow sculpture was the "Jaws" shark created by Foxtrot Company

"We do a lot of models and sculptures," Mikulski said. "I have been doing it for the past two years, and we decided that we could definitely hang with these freshmen."

Even with their experience, they didn't win the competition. Foxtrot Company won with their "Jaws" shark.

Even though the Dodge group sculpture did not win, they said they have added what they hope will be a new tradition.

"Just to be recognized that civilians are here, too; we can definitely participate in events," Mikulski said.

"I want to see if Patterson can do something," Conforti said. "Next year, I hope we get our own pile on the UP."

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.