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WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2011
Ally Dukkers F E AT U R E S E D I T O R
The Ally Way
STREAKING Connor Rath, senior, ran through downtown in his underwear and SpiderMan costume. Students donated their clothes to the Salvation Army.
Take it off for charity
PHOTOS BY • RYAN RICHARDS
The Salvation Army receives clothing donations Students ripped off their clothes, throwing them in a big pile on the grass at City Plaza before they took off running in their underwear. Hailey Vincent STAFF WRITER
Batman, Superman, Iron Man and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were spotted in downtown Chico — on the underwear of Chico State students. City Plaza was packed at 7 p.m. Friday as hundreds of Chico State students and Chico residents took off their clothes in preparation for the third annual Undie Run. Excited chattering, jumping and half-naked cartwheels
and handsprings consumed the plaza as undie runners began to disrobe. Participants came wearing clothes to be donated to the Salvation Army, then stripped down to run from the City Plaza through campus and back down Ivy Street, wearing nothing but their underwear. The event was organized by four Chico State students — Kaylee Agaman, Maurice Caviness, Marvin Lee and Blake Levingston — who promoted primarily by Facebook. Many came out to donate for the cause, but the fun social aspect also brought participants. “I’m just looking forward to running downtown in my underwear, helping a cause and
being able to be a goofball and be a kid again,” freshman business major Zach Quilty said. Chants of “Chico” could be heard traveling through downtown as participants took off running from the plaza toward campus. Within 10 minutes, man thongs, lingerie, sports bras and boxers trotted back toward the plaza as participants finished the Undie Run, clutching victory Red Bulls being handed out. Having a large social event that also contributes to charity is a great way to end the school year, freshman communications major Chelsea Adair said. “In a college town, when someone starts an event like this, you want to do it,” she said.
As a first-time participant, she was excited about the event, Adair said. “I’m looking forward to telling a story about this,” she said. “Even my dad knew I was doing it.” Lawrence Pope, a Butte College student and friend of the event organizers, felt good about participating in the Undie Run because it was for a cause, he said. “It’s the good nature of the event,” Pope said. “When you’re doing a good thing, surrounded by good people, it’s just fun.” A mass Facebook event invitation acquired 2,210 confirmed guests for the Undie Run. “The Facebook invite looked dope,” Adair said. “The pictures >> please see UNDIES | D5
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This is the second time I’ve done it and I plan to do it every year until I graduate.
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MARLA TOMORUG music industry and recording arts major
STAFF COMMENTARY
Colorblindness opens eyes while closing doors Griffin Rogers STAFF WRITER
ILLUSTRATION BY LIAM TURNER
EYE EXAM The Ishihara test shows circles with a series of patterns of dots with numbers in the center. A color blind person would see the circles as a group of dots, unable to recognize the numbers.
“Why are you wearing pink pants?” one of my friends said to me in the seventh grade. I looked down at my khakis. They were definitely tan. I tilted my head to get a better look. Yup, still tan. I had no idea what he was talking about. This was a common occurrence throughout the day. Different classmates wanted to know the reason behind my pink pants, which I continued to deny I was wearing. When my mom picked me up from school, the first question I asked her was what color my pants were.
“Well those are pink, sweetie,” she said. “Looks like you might be a little colorblind.” Colorblind. Great. I had made fun of my older brother for being colorblind since I was in the second grade. He discovered his deficiency when his third grade teacher yelled at him for coloring the ocean purple. Still, I didn’t think it was so bad. I knew that whatever form of colorblindness I had was probably mild and it wouldn’t prevent me from doing what I wanted. Figuring out I was colorblind wasn’t a big deal to me, but little did I know, that moment in seventh grade would lead to a >> please see COLORBLIND | D5
Staying in touch after college The last two weeks or so of a semester are spent in a series of all-night study sessions. While I’ve spent a lot of quality time with my textbooks and laptop, I haven’t spent as much time with friends I might not see again. You meet a lot of people in college — friends in the dorms, people in your major, your drinking buddies and hook-ups. Some of my friends are graduating in a few days and will no longer be a constant presence in my life. I am so used to seeing certain people in class every day or spotting familiar faces on campus. Our time in college is usually limited, so we should appreciate the time we have together. Many of our friends will be moving out of Chico and on to the next phase in their lives. I will have to communicate with friends via the Internet and learn about events in their lives through Facebook status updates. Some friendships we make in our lives are temporary. If we want our college relationships to last, we have to put in an effort to maintain them once we are released into “the real world.” Even friends from high school are bound to reappear in your life when you go back home to visit your parents or go to your organized high school reunion, something that college does not have. Toward the end of the semester it seems like everyone suddenly realizes time is up, and out of nowhere everyone seems to be best friends. The majority of the semester everyone was just sitting in their seats waiting for class to be over, but as soon as professors start discussing finals, everyone is suddenly talking and getting along. The friendships you make at the end of the year, standing in line to buy coffee or in the library poring over a pile of exam notes, are more genuine than you might give them credit for. I have a friend in my major who for the past two years I’ve always shared class with. Even though she is very different from me, we both work for The Orion and bonded over our common interest in journalism. She is graduating Saturday and moving back home to Southern California. It is strange to think after sitting next to each other and working on countless class projects, she will no longer be there to study for an exam with. Whether it’s through Facebook, Skype or Twitter, keep in contact with your Chico State friends. Take advantage of these forms of communication that were not available to our parents and older generations. Ally Dukkers can be reached at featureseditor@theorion.com
WORD OF MOUTH >> What is a benefit or drawback from living downtown? See story D2 DICTIONARY
Beardo
“A benefit would be not having to find a designated driver. A drawback would be not finding a quiet place to study on weekends.”
[Beer • doe] A weirdo with a beard. “I can only hope that someday I will attain beardo status.” Mamie Robinson junior | health education
source: urbandictionary.com
“A drawback would be people being loud all night long.”
“A benefit is you’re closer to campus, but where we live we have more issues with fights. So I’d say there is more crime downtown.” Mike Tomin
sophomore | mechanical engineering
Anthony Ybarra
freshman | communication design
“It’s not really the safest place in town. I’ve heard lots of gun shots lately.”
Ali Anderson
sophomore | psychology