On the New Student Union Building....

_The construction of the new Student Union building are coming along speedy over the past year. The building is being constructed at the corner of Belvedere Ave and Mt. Edward Rd.

The $6.75 million complex was officially started on May 23, 1991 and is expected to be complete in mid 1998. The 6 story building is being funded through a $3.5 million contribution from the Atlantic Canada Opportunity Agency, a $2 million dollar grant from the provincial government, and a $4 mil- lion dollar contribution from the students of UPEI, to be collected over the next 5 years.

The building is to hold the offices of the SU executive, a 10 thousand square foot dance hall, an executives lounge, and offices and space for any other student union organizations. The controversy is still unfolding over the complex’s off- campus location but the Student Union claims the site location is the most complimentary to the students of UPEI. A University spokeswoman was unavailable for comment. An unidentified Student Union member confidentially revealed to the X-Press that the Presidents office in the new building is to be located in the penthouse and is to be equipped with a jacuzzi, and a large bar. When asked to comment on the accusations, the executive had no comment. The first accident in the construction occurred on Saturday, March 28, when a large crane tipped over while moving some large beams. One worker was injured but was released from hospital shortly after.

FROSH WEEK 1992

The big week has come and gone for another year. All of the innocent frosh have made it through, for the most part unscathed, and ready to get on with the business of being university students. In retrospect it is hard to decide which part of frosh week was the toughest to get through. Was it the daunting line-ups at registration, the idea of taking lectures from professors who seemingly spoke a foreign language, or was it the humiliation associated with wearing a beanie? The first two win overwhelmingly. All summer I had been hearing from some frosh week veterans that the frosh week activities organized by the Student Union were somewhat silly and a waste of time. Not being one to go along with other people’s feelings, I decided to give ita try myself.

Westarted off Monday morning with beanie ceremony. This was when all of the frosh were completely made fools of by donning out little white felt beanies. We then proceeded to hear some speeches and broke up into groups to play some really fun games. You know which ones I’m talking about, those junior high school-esque games based on the getting

acquainted premise, i.e. the elephant walk, suck and blow, etc. It was at this time, however that the most significant event of the week took place. THE BEANIE RAID!!!! This was when the sly colour groups snuck up and stole the beanies of other naive groups. This was, of course, not allowed and the beanies had to be given back. The morning ended with all the frosh lining up along University Avenue and bowing to the traffic, then doing the wave. The people in the cars were obviously very impressed with us, one guy even got out of his car and took a picture of us. Except for the group chants the afternoon was basically a washout, so I'll move on to the evening. The dance was a good time; the music was excellent and the dance floor was packed. Roughly halfway through there were a few local comedians. Some of these guys were hilarious, but some simply stunk.

Tuesday offered a bit ofa change. There were no organized activities in the morning, but we faced the challenge of registration. If nothing else, it convinced me that pre- registration is an excellent idea. Frosh week activities began in the afternoon with a significant drop in the number of participants. We played some more mildly perverted games and everyone’s all-time favourite, the wheel-barrow race. Halfway through this a shocking thing happened, someone drove up and took off with the panther! After the games we were assigned to go out and find whodunit. Turns out it was none other than that homely orphan who will appear on our license plates as of this fall, you guessed it, Anne of Green Gables. We finished the afternoon with another set of chants and a barbecue. In the evening we hada Hawaiian tacky tourist dance. This featured plaid jackets, a guy wearing a woman’s bikini, and a load of grass(cut up garbage) bag skirts. One of the surfer dudes later won the limbo contest and picked up for himself a Polo shirt, a fitting prize for being able to practically smear yourself on the floor. It was another very enjoyable evening, especially the killer slam dance to ‘‘Smells Like Teen Spirit.’’

Wednesday was a day off from the frosh week activities while frosh experienced their first day of classes and at-

tended their first university event where ALCOHOL was

served. On Thursday evening the closing banquet for frosh week was held at the cafeteria. This evening was a success because the speeches were short and door prizes were handed out, including about two dozen Coca-Cola squeeze bottles, Island Tel hats, and CBC Radio license plates, among more substantial prizes. The Main Event at the Barn followed the banquet and put a topper on the week’s events.

All jokes aside, frosh week was a worthwhile activity for all

those who took part. Those so-called ‘‘childish’’ games can be fun in their own way if you let them. The organizers for the week deserve a great deal of credit for their effort because the event accomplished its only real goal, to get first year students familiar with campus and each other.

UPEI X-P RESS

September 17, 1992

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