Crickets, climbing walls, and happy meals. What do they all have in common? They were all part of the Students’ Union’s Tuition Fear Factor held Tue., Mar. 19 in front of MacEwan Hall.
SU Commissioner Richard “Krafty” Bergen hosted the event, and was pleased with the outcome.
“It was our first time doing something like this so there were a few bugs we had to work out,” he said. “All in all, I was impressed with how well it went.”
Ten contestants battled it out, competing to go on to the finals on Thu., Mar. 20. Only those who completed each of the challenges could move on with Wednesday’s victors. The original ten students were David Smith, Lisa Roberts, Tim Robbins, Lindsay Lambert, Dana Schwab, Jake Everett, Elise Chisholm, Jeff Clemens, Rory Farnan, and Javan Bernakevitch.
The contest began with a climbing wall, where contestants had to climb a wall to retrieve a flag. Taunts were cried out from competitors, legs were grabbed, fingers were stepped on, but in the end, not everyone could bring it. Those with the seven fastest times moved on to the second challenge. The three who didn’t make it, walked away with a tuition toque, and a ticket to see Fubar.
The second challenge involved crickets. Contestants had to pull marbles out of a box of 2,000 crickets, one at a time. The three contestants with the least number of marbles, within the time limit, were sent packing. Here we said good-bye to Lindsay, David, and Jake.
What did they miss out on? A happy meal smoothie. What could be better than gagging down pureed chicken nuggets, fries and pop? It gets better. Each of the final four contestants, Rory, Dana, Javan, and Elise, had to roll the Fear Factor dice to decide which condiments would be added. Fish oil, beef tripe, cod liver oil, durian fruit, duck tongue, and chicken feet were the options, and each contestant had three added to their smoothie.
They all gagged them down, dry heaving along the way, except Elise. Some of the contestants were bothered by the fact that Elise didn’t finish her meal.
“I can’t believe they let her bitch out,” Rory claimed after the competition.
Tuesday winners Dana Schwab, Javan Bernakevitch and Rory Farnan, will join Wednesday winners Laura Sydenham, Juan Riedinger and Dave Almon at the finals on Thursday evening at 6 p.m. on the south lawn, where $1,000 is up for grabs.
Rory is looking forward to the competition.
“If I can make it through the bull riding, I think I have a pretty good chance at getting a prize.”