By: MABEL MYERS
Staff Writer
There are a variety of ways to take out stress on campus from lifting weights to running the track in the SAC. The brothers of Alpha Sigma Phi decided to take the meaning of stress relief to a new level. They brought an old car for students to hit with hammers, bats or even a sledgehammer.
“We thought of the idea for the car smash last semester. We wanted to put on an event that wasn’t so g-rated,” Matthew Applegate, Vice President said.
On Tuesday afternoon from noon to 4 p.m., Nathan Welling brought his old car to the parking lot by Green Lawn. To get the car ready for the smash, they had to remove the windows, have a mechanic who is certified to remove the fluids, and disconnect the battery from the vehicle.
They got the idea from looking at what some of the other IU campuses do. They wanted a way for students to get some aggression out and do something that hasn’t been done on campus in a long time. Many students and even faculty came out to participate in the smash like Corey Long, Assistant Director of Student Life.
“This was my first time participating in a car smash. Even though I used a sledgehammer, I didn’t do nearly as much damage as I thought I would to the hood of the car,” explained Eric Goodzey, a student participant.
Many students commented on how much better they felt after they took their feelings out on the car. Most of the students left with smiles on their faces.
All who participated in the event had to fill out a liability waiver for the university and pay for their turn. The cost of the event was $5. With that fee, participants could hit the car ten times with a hammer, 5 times with a baseball bat, or 3 times with the sledgehammer.
The fraternity raised over $100 with the event. After the event, the owner of the car took it to the scrap yard and the fraternity sold what is left of the car and the tires to add to their total. In the end, the money they earned at this event will help them throughout the year with expenses.
