The Tartan

by Juli Cariello
Staffwriter

From April 3–5, on-campus organizations came together for Booth, a Carnival tradition in which students construct small buildings decorated to fit a theme. Organizations built 18 booths (not including doghouses) on Midway, the parking lot between Margaret Morrison and the College of Fine Arts, which were each designed based on a movie or TV show to fit the Hollywood theme chosen by the Spring Carnival Council.

With rain all three days, weather presented various complications, including two evacuations of Midway. Mechanical engineering first-year Caroline Kiesnowski, of Fringe, said, “The weather definitely made it a less enjoyable experience. The wood got really warped and kind of moldy, so we’re gonna have to replace a lot of it for next year. Our tarp had a hole and it flooded our booth, destroyed some of our artwork, and some of the game was messed up.” 

The weather didn’t just affect their materials. “I also think the weather made less people show up so it was a less vibrant experience and it was just not as fun as I imagined it but still a fun time.”

Carnival, including the opening of Midway, kicked off on Thursday, April 3. As current students, alumni, and community members enjoyed the hard work of these various organizations, select members of the Spring Planning Committee judged the booths in various categories.

The first of these categories was the dog house — an offshoot of the booth tradition which features dog houses, which are akin to booths but smaller, designed in accordance with the overall Booth theme. 

In first place was Scotty Labs’ “Peanuts” dog house, featuring a Snoopy dog house with Snoopy sleeping atop the roof. Second place went to RoboClub’s “The Iron Giant” dog house, and third place went to Kappa Phi Lambda’s “Ponyo” dog house.

The next of these categories was the Blitz, a one room booth structure. First place went to the “Jurassic Park” booth, built by the Sustainable Earth (SusE)/Theme Park Engineering Group (TPEG). “Aladdin” booth, built jointly by MENASA (Middle Eastern and North African Student Association) and Spirit, took second. In third place was KGB and Prisim’s “Sharknado” booth.

The booths themselves were judged in different organization categories: Independent, Sorority, and Fraternity. 

For the Independent category, SDC’s “Wall-E” booth came in first. ASA’s “Howl’s Moving Castle” booth was second, and Fringe’s “The Muppets” booth was third. 

For Sororities, Kappa Kappa Gamma’s “Toy Story” booth placed first, Delta Gamma’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” booth placed second, and Alpha Phi’s “Barbie World” booth took third. 

The Fraternity category saw Sigma Phi Epsilon’s “Indiana Jones” booth in first, Alpha Epsilon Pi’s “The Simpsons” booth in second, and Phi Delta Theta’s “Men in Black” booth in third. 

As for the main event, the first overall winner was the top scorer amongst the Blitz, independent, fraternity, and sorority categories. This honor was bestowed upon SusE and TPEG’s “Jurassic Park” booth. 

Additional categories included People’s Choice Award, which went to Fringe. 

The Robert Anderegg Safety Award was awarded to Delta Delta Delta.

The Environmental Award Design and Planning was awarded to Delta Gamma.

The Environmental Award Energy Use went to both SusE and TPEG.

The Environmental Award On-Site Practices went to Alpha Epsilon Pi.

The Environmental Award Clean Energy went to Student Dormitory Council, the T-Shirt Competition to Alpha Epsilon Pi, and Chairman’s Choice to Kappa Kappa Gamma.