Snap, Crackle, Pop

Sarah McGrath

Kent Interhall Council-sponsored Rice Krispie Build-Off promotes diversity

Big Ben has crumbled to the ground and lies in ruins at Eastway. After two hours of work, students crowded around to watch the classic English structure collapse.

This version of Big Ben was built last night out of Rice Krispie treats, provided by Dining Services, and other edible goodies for Kent Interhall Council’s first Rice Krispie Build-Off.

The evening began with eight teams, made up of student representatives from different residence hall councils, randomly choosing which classical building they would try to re-create out of food. Choices included the Taipei Tower, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Taj Mahal, Big Ben, the Coliseum and the Parthenon.

“I felt the need to promote cultural diversity among students,” John Machingo said about why he chose to have students build classical foreign structures. “I thought architecture was a good medium to convey that diversity among Kent State University students.”

Machingo, a director of programming for KIC, created the event and helped to judge the structures students recreated.

The structures not only had to meet a height requirement, but also were judged on creativity, proportion, teamwork and overall appearance. Students had to create their buildings out of Rice Krispie treats, but were able to use Graham Crackers, Laffy Taffy, Twizzlers and green sprinkles to decorate them.

The surviving structures will be displayed at Eastway’s Lower Lounge tomorrow night and will be judged a second time by children who attend Lil’ Sibs weekend.

In the end, Lower Plaza, which is made up of Apple, McSweeney, Metcalf and Munzenmayer residence halls, received the most points from the judges at last night’s composition.

Points from both nights will be combined to determine the overall winner who will receive an end-of-the-year party put on by KIC.

“I think we should do more stuff like this,” said Shawn Szymecki, a senior biology major from Allyn Hall, whose team tried to re-create the Taj Mahal. “It gets people to come together.”

Contact room and board reporter Sarah McGrath at [email protected].