Have you ever wondered who is in charge of those Thursday night movies in the Union that always bail you out of complete boredom after homework hours? Or have you ever thought about how the famed Holiday Bazaar craft festival gets organized every year? Here is the scoop on how those activities around campus get organized each semester, and what some of the new activities are to come. The Campus Activities Board of Mississippi State University is in charge of coming up with ideas for campus activities, informing the students of activities and then putting the ideas into action. CAB is made up of a student director, Jordan Rhinehart, and the assistant director, Kelly Nesbit. They are in charge of the four division heads. Each division is in charge of a committee of 15-25 students who assist in the execution and invention of new ideas for activities.
The fall semester activities are devoted to more traditional ideas while the spring semester is devoted to novelty ideas. Brian Mason, a sophomore, is in charge of the publicity committee. Erin Gray, also a sophomore, is in charge of the committee that deals with the upcoming Halloween Carnival. The carnival is such a big event for the fall that Gray’s committee will devote most of their time to it. Sophomore Shrez Odom is in charge of Homecoming Week, which develops ideas for the floats and the Punt, Pass and Kick tournament for students. Junior Pattie Reiss is in charge of choosing speakers that come to campus and making all the arrangements underlying the event. She is also in charge of the College Bowl and Trivial Pursuit.
There is also a fifth committee consisting of only five members that are in charge of the CAB Web site.
“The student director, the assistant student director and all of the division heads are doing a great job,” Nesbit said. “I really think that CAB is going to have a great year and we are going to have wonderful events. I would like to encourage all students to come out and participate in all events on campus.”
CAB is paid for by MSU, but with only a limited amount of funding. Most of the money for activities comes from a group called “After Hours” (a grant from the center of Drug and Alcohol education). They provide this money to help give students on campus other things to do besides homework, drinking, drugs, TV or nothing at all.
For this semester, an array of activities are being arranged. CAB has already presented one Thursday night movie, and more will be more planned for the semester.
The next event will be a Punt, Pass and Kick competition on Oct. 1-2, during Homecoming week. Another event to look foward to during this week is Maroon and White Day on Oct. 11. There will be an ice cream give-away, and all you have to do is dress the theme. Various organizations will have booths set up on the Drill Field.
On Nov. 31, “Casino Night” will be held in the Union Ballroom. This is a night of gambling fun, but leave your money at home because chips will be given out as a substitute. The people with the most chips win prizes donated by local businesses.
The 30th annual Holiday Bazaar will be Dec. 2 and 3, where up to 100 booths selling crafts will be set up.
“I would encourage students to get involved in most anything and CAB is a great way of doing this,” Rhinehart said. “It is an avenue in order for you to meet people and you never know whom you might meet in college. It is a great networking tool.”
To find more information or if you have any questions, call the CAB office at 325-2930.