Last night Kent State suffered two losses: a defeat in basketball to Delaware State and a defeat in beating the world record for balloon popping.

Students taking part in a group project for their Strategic Planning class handed out plastic bags containing balloons and instructions to wait until halftime to use them. The group hoped to be listed in Guinness World Records for popping the most balloons at one time.

“We want to get at least 2,500 (people), but we hope for 3,000,” said Kelly Collins, senior conflict management major, before halftime when the record was attempted.

According to Guinness World Records, the current record for mass participation in balloon popping was set on Aug. 19, 2004, when 2,477 people simultaneously popped balloons in 10 seconds in Wu Kai Sai, Hong Kong.

At halftime, Collins and the other group members told attendees to hold their balloons in the air so they could take pictures as proof of their attempt. Participants also had to sign their names when they got their balloons to send with the group’s application.

Some spectators struggled to get their balloons popped in time.

“You might want to stretch (the balloons) out a bit. They’re a little small,” Collins said over the microphone to the crowd.

Collins counted down, and the crowd began popping its balloons.

Though many attempted to break the record, some who participated didn’t think the group was successful.

“There weren’t a lot of balloons,” said Dustin Fowkes, freshman exploratory major.

Collins and the rest of the group didn’t seem too disappointed by the turnout, however.

“We did OK,” Collins said. “We haven’t counted it yet. We probably came close.”

Collins estimated group members signed up about 1,700 people to pop balloons and said they might try to break the record again.

“Now that people know about it, they might be more inclined to try it,” she said.

Contact Forum editor Steve Schirra at [email protected].