Charitable Claustrophobia Tech alum Rich Shertenlieb goes
underground to raise Toys for Tots associate producer for the Morning X radio program on WNNX 99.7 in Atlanta, where he is known for the outlandish stunts he orchestrates. An offhand comment during a show in early November ended with Shertenlieb spending 48 hours in a wooden box covered in a 3-ton layer of concrete in the parking lot of a local music store.
By Maria M. Lameiras
T
he holidays are a time of year when we all are more apt to do something for charity — buy a toy, donate food, entomb yourself in a 4-by-6-foot box covered in 3 tons of concrete.
That last one sounds a bit extreme, but that's exactly what Atlanta radio personality Rich Shertenlieb, CIs 99, did in mid-November to solicit toys for the Marine Corps Toys for Tots program. Shertenlieb, known on air as Rich Shortersleeves, is
BUZZwords gets wired UZZwords, which began as an innovative, weekly electronic newsletter in 1995, is being redesigned and reformatted as a monthly alumni Webzine. "BUZZwords was innovative in 1995 and helped pioneer electronic publications," says Joe Irwin, vice president and executive director of the Alumni Association. "BUZZwords will continue to be an innovative news medium on the Web, which enables us to incorporate dynamic design combined with timely news and features. It also provides an array of interactive opportunities. "This is a new direction in our communications strategy," he says. The new BUZZwords will go online in January. BUZZwords — in an abbreviated, headline format — will continue to be sent via e-mail to subscribers and will provide a hyperlink to the Webzine.
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GEORGIA TECH • Winter 2001
"There was a news story about a coal miner who had fallen into a mine shaft and was stuck in a fairly enclosed space for 48 hours," says the 24-year-old Shertenlieb. "I was joking around on the air and I said that would be cool, it would let me catch up on my sleep." During a break, the idea was born to entomb Shertenlieb to benefit Toys for Tots. When the show went back on the air, the disc jockeys announced that Shertenlieb would be buried alive to collect 4,800 toys. "The night after it went out on the air that I would do this, I really couldn't sleep. I woke up thinking I was in a box and I remember saying to myself, 'What have you gotten yourself into?'" Shertenlieb recalls. In preparation, he consulted a hypnotist, a dietician and even a swami to teach him how to cope with the physical and mental challenges. Meanwhile, the station worked with an engineering
firm to construct a box that would hold Shertenlieb and not crumple under the weight of the concrete that would seal him in his crypt. At 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 13, Shertenlieb crawled into what would be home for the next 48 hours. Within 30 hours, loyal listeners had met the goal and Shertenlieb was about to be released when he made the decision to stick out the rest of the 48 hours, "It's like if you've ever gone on a long drive and you have to decide whether to pull over and spend the night at a hotel or go ahead and finish the drive," Shertenlieb says. "I figured I was in this and people were bringing toys, so I'd stay." When bystanders — including Shertenlieb's father, Gary — and construction crews finally broke a hungry, tired Shertenlieb out, listeners and businesses had donated more than 12,000 toys. Other than being overwhelmed by the number of toys raised, Shertenlieb says the most emotional moment came when a Marine gunnery sergeant unpinned from his uniform a medal he earned for valor in Beirut and presented it to Shertenlieb. "It was one of those moments when you can't say anything because anything you could say would be inferior to the emotions you feel," Shertenlieb says.