Think back to your childhood science classes, and you might recall an episode of “Bill Nye the Science Guy” about heat transfer. Nye taught kids that cold things still have heat, but their molecules are moving more slowly.
Juniors Ricky Kong, Chris Rota and Nicolas Merritt were reminded of that lesson as they spent a cold and mostly sleepless night camping out to be first in line for tickets to see their favorite scientist.
“Bricks are not an ideal sleeping surface,” said Rota, a biology major.
Their sacrifice paid off — they were able to reserve the entire front row for Nye’s speech at Memorial Hall on Nov. 7.
Starting at midnight, the three braved the elements without a tent after campus police told them it was against University policy to use one.
As the box office opened at 10 a.m., the line stretched along Cameron Drive to the front of Peabody Hall.
Chairs, blankets and board games sprinkled the line as students hunkered down for the wait.
At 1 p.m., the line still was backed up all the way to the front of Phillips Hall.
The last of the 1,400 tickets was sold at 1:30 p.m., leaving more than 40 waiting students without a ticket, said Jenny Kreizman, assistant manager of the box office.
