By RICHARD SISSON

rgs008@latech.edu

 

Tech students, some by accident, followed their feet to Centennial Plaza to find that Fall Fling had indeed been flung Sept. 19.

Matt Bean, head of the committee for Union Board’s Fall Fling committee and a junior in biomedical engineering , said the event was an opportunity to welcome students back to Tech and provide a moment’s respite from the busy days ahead.

“It’s only the third week of classes. You’re just starting to get into some work. [Fall Fling] is just something fun. Relax, have a burger or hot dog, whatever,” Bean said.

Among the several students in attendance was Jeff Moseley, a senior chemical engineering major, who said his expectations were satisfied.

“[There’s] free food, fun, and lots of inflatable things to jump on,” Moseley said.

Moseley also said the best part of Fall Fling was watching people fall off the mechanical bull.

Erin Sigh, a freshman biology major, and Jenny Dismukes, a freshman nursing major, both enjoyed the free watermelon wedges available.

“There’s free everything, but [the watermelon] is a little messy,” Dismukes said, between bites.

Sigh said she did not know what to expect but was excited to see the mechanical bull. She got her chance to see it later when her friend Dismukes mounted the contraption and lasted 34 seconds upon the beast before being tossed onto the inflatable ring surrounding it.

The mechanical bull was only one of several attractions available to students at Fall Fling.

An inflatable obstacle course, posters for sale and free tie-dye T-shirts were featured in Centennial Plaza. Also featured was a rock wall for students to climb, nearly rivaling the clock tower in size.

Some students, such as Joshua Ulrich, a sophomore photography major, stumbled upon Fall Fling by accident.

“Is this Fall Fling? It’s pretty awesome. I didn’t even know it was going on,” Ulrich said.

Ulrich was delighted with the events but felt it could use one slight improvement.

“Maybe have an area where people get to play in the sprinklers? Like a swimsuit sprinkler party,” Ulrich said.

Daniel Flowers, co-head for the committee for Union Board’s Fall Fling and a sophomore biology major, went better than expected.

“This is only the second one we’ve done. [Last year] was an all-organization fair. This year we tried to make it more like Spring Fling.

“It did very well. It was pretty packed most of the day,” Flowers said.

Flowers said the planning for Fall Fling had been going on since the end of May and to see the results of the committee’s work was pretty cool.

“I think it was a huge success. I know we did better than I thought we would. I was expecting about the same crowd for last Spring Fling and we had a whole lot more,” Flowers said.

Students can look forward to Spring Fling in a few months as the Union Board committee has already begun preparing for the event.