Mr. and Ms. Ship set sail on revamped competition

By Will Lyons, Staff Writer -- lyons14@up.edu

On March 31, residents of Shipstad Hall gathered for the annual Mr. and Ms. Shipstad competition.

The first floor lounge was crowded with about 100 students to watch freshmen Nicholas Herb, Patrick Torrellas, Stephanie Petrie, Corey Hubbard, Britney Benson-Townsend and sophomore John Fugiera compete in games of agility, creativity and overall silliness.

The judges for this year's Mr. and Ms. Shipstad were last year's victors, senior Lara Foster and junior Kyle Cochran, as well as Br. Tom Giumenta, C.S.C. The competition consisted of an evening wear beauty competition, featuring everything from togas to sweat pants, a talent show, a Shipstad-themed question-and-answer session and a test of agility and mental processing in "Minute to Win It."

"We're creative and fun here and like to show it," freshman and emcee of Mr. and Ms. Shipstad Jessie Proctor said. "My favorite contestant was Corey because of her improv skills."

Torrellas and Hubbard were named Mr. and Ms. Shipstad for 2011.

"I had the most fun doing the talent portion," Hubbard said. "I've always been able to do funny voices because as a kid I watched a lot of British television."

Over the course of the competition, Hubbard received the most points and applause from the audience with her talent of accents from around the world and the ability to spin a hilarious story about rats haunting Shipstad in the question-and-answer session.

"Corey stole my heart," Foster said. "This year's Mr. and Ms. Ship had lots of energy and was very entertaining."

The competition was generally the same as past contests, except for "Minute to Win It," which replaced last year's "How Bad Do You Want It?"

"It was different from last year's competition," Cochran said. "But they added things that compensated well."

The "How Bad Do You Want It?" competition became infamous in years past as a series of outrageous stunts that drew a crowd, but had potentially dangerous outcomes, according to Cochran and Foster.

"I chugged a gallon of milk while getting slingshotted with cherry tomatoes last year," Cochran said.

According to Cochran and former Ms. Shipstad contestant, and sophomore Katie Polese, other contestant generated stunts from years past included a live branding of an ‘S' into a senior Wren Weichman's thigh, Polese getting an ankle anchor tattoo with a rope ‘S' for Shipstad, graduate Andy Matarrese swallowing a live fish, junior Darren Kwan doing body shots of hot sauce off an RA's chest and Foster getting slapped hard in the face. This final stunt resulted in the end of "How Bad Do You Want It?"

"The change was a long time coming," Shipstad Assistant Hall Director Amanda Murphy said. "This year proved we don't have to have ‘How Bad Do You Want It?' and encapsulated Shipstad spirit."

The change comes on the heels of a larger campaign to change Shipstad's overall reputation as a party hall.

"We're trying to change the perspective that people have about our building," Murphy said.

Giumenta, who moved to Shipstad in February, agrees with Murphy and doesn't see the hall's reputation as a problem at all.

"One of the things I'd like to debunk is that Ship is fond of partying," Giumenta said. "I have not been awakened one night since I moved here. After 10 p.m. everyone is very respectful."

Despite the end of "How Bad Do You Want It?", Mr. and Ms. Shipstad will continue to be a source of community in one of UP's oldest dorms.

"The spirit of Mr. and Mrs. Ship was all the same," Cochran said. "Everyone still made a fool of themselves in front of friends."