Students Swallow Pride for Tickets

Freshman Nathan Adams, the "Masticator," took a bite of a cheeseburger, chewed it up and spit it into the mouth of freshman Yin Song, also known as "The Condiment."

Song, with his mouth gaping open, waited as Adams squeezed packets of ketchup and mustard into his mouth with the pre-chewed cheeseburger.

Song then swished the food together and spit it into the mouth of freshman Andy Kitzrow, who wore the T-shirt labeled "I swallow."

Next, as his shirt would suggest, Kitzrow swallowed the pre-mixed and chewed food. The trio repeated the process with chicken nuggets, a banana split and chocolate milk.

The act was part of "What Would You Do for Dook Tickets?" an event for the Carolina Athletic Association's "Beat Dook Week." Four riser tickets and four lower-level tickets for the Thursday's men's basketball game against Duke University were available to students who were willing to perform a gross, funny or unusual act.

"We wanted tickets really bad, and we figured there's no place better than in front of Lenoir to show people how to eat food," Kitzrow said.

CAA President Reid Chaney said that this is the third year in a row the CAA has sponsored "What Would You Do for Dook Tickets?" Though it promoted the event through the CAA Web site, e-mails and advertisements in The Daily Tar Heel, only Adams, Kitzrow and Song signed up in advance.

In past years, one of the acts was named the winner and received the tickets, but because of the low turnout this year, everyone who participated received tickets.

Chaney said student participation in the event might have been affected by Monday's extended Duke ticket distribution.

"I think we would have had increased participation if there had not been a distribution on Monday, but the things (students did) were pretty funny," he said.

As a last-minute addition, junior Tiffany Fischer pulled out one of her front teeth, which actually was a fake tooth attached to a retainer.

Seniors Eugene Kim and Jeremy McDonald and junior David Townes, who also added late, engaged in a slap contest to win their Duke tickets.

"We heard they were having trouble getting people to do crazy (stuff for Duke tickets)," Townes said. "We're always down for a slap-fest."

For the "slap-fest," the three took turns slapping each other across the face in different ways, from taking running starts to jumping off chairs. The performance ended when McDonald kicked Kim in the crotch.

"It didn't seem like the crowd was satisfied with the slaps, so we needed a good finale," McDonald said. "And I like to fight dirty."

But some students thought the event was somewhat disappointing since it was less competitive than it has been in previous years. "I thought it was kind of lame," freshman Jane Poul said. "It seems like you could have gotten up and done jumping jacks and gotten tickets."

But despite the lack of competition, other students said the show was still entertaining.

"There wasn't as much competition as there was in previous years, but it's still fun to watch," senior Kelley Gates said. "It's not an occurrence you see every day in the Pit, and it's all-around fun times."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.