Issue date: 2/28/08 Section: The Weekly

NOT CLOWNING AROUND

Looking for something to truly blow your pledge daughter away? Then get in touch with Communication sophomore Dan Siegel, who is selling his balloon sculptures to raise money for Roteract's spring service trip to Ecuador. "I can make French poodles, teddy bears, Spider-Man, lovebirds in a heart, the Disney Princesses, Blue (from Blue's Clues), SpongeBob, you name it," he writes in an e-mail that went out over Sorority listservs in anticipation of Pledge Mom weeks. "If your pledge daughter lives in Willard, I can drop it off to them myself," he writes. "Otherwise, as I found out last week, it's too difficult to drop the balloons off at dozens of different places at different times."

Siegel has been doing "balloon art" since he was 10. He often volunteers at children's fairs and works at a family restaurant making the critters during the summer, where he can pull in up to $100 dollars per night. Here on campus, business is a bit slower - he estimates he's made around $75. "I don't think I'm going to reach $100, but that would have been nice," he says, adding that he'll be making the balloon animals for those interested until the end of the quarter. Any weird requests? "There are a lot of sorority mascots," he says. "A lyre? I don't even know what that is, let alone how to make it," he says, referring to Alpha Chi Omega's symbol. "And lots of girls in Chi Omega wanted owls, but the only picture I could find of an owl online looked evil, so they didn't want that."

Other popular requests have come from the e-mail he sent out, which includes pictures of Disney princesses and characters from Winnie the Pooh. But the youngsters for whom he has made objets d'art have certainly been more creative: "I was once asked for a balloon kitchen," he says, admitting that he didn't know how to make one. Damn, we wanted a sorority house! Yes, an actual house.


NEXT: DISROBING FOR DIABETES

The name says it all: Bare it All for Bear Necessities. That's the title of a fundraising event Phi Delta Theta is hosting with Dance Marathon for this year's beneficiary on Friday. On one hand, we applaud them for their clever wordplay (come write headlines for us?). But on another, we couldn't think of two things further from each other than nudity and children's cancer research. I know, I know, it's a joke. And we shouldn't pick on a frat that is actually doing something innovative to raise money for DM. But comments on the Facebook site advertising the event include one guy wondering, "So am I supposed to come naked to this?" One girl says that she will be dressing for the theme with "a smile and some earrings ... maybe." On their Facebook group page, the hosts of the event promise an "UNMATCHED" DJ at what they're calling "Club InPHIDELTity" (more wordplay... get it?). But to us, it just sounds like a good excuse: If you want to see your friends naked, just say you're doing it all for charity.


WHERE IN THE WORLD IS... JAKE HERBERT?

We all know that wrestling sensation Jake Herbert has taken time off from Northwestern's wrestling team to pursue a spot on the United States Olympic squad. But if you want to know exactly what he's up to while training in remote eastern Europe, here's a taste: "We are staying at the Belarus Olympic training center built in the 1970s and I don't think it has been updated since," he writes in an e-mail to friends, family and some rogue acquaintances. "Even though the living conditions suck here, none of that matters. THE WRESTLING IS GREAT AND THE TRAINING IS GREAT."

Prior to the sojourn in Minsk, Herbert was holed up in Kiev, Ukraine, which he describes as "maybe a step up from Pittsburgh but not at all with its culture or class or people ... everyone here smokes, that sucks, but there are tons of nice eateries and a market store right down the street." Not surprisingly, Internet access has been shaky in both locations: "'Til next time I come 40 miles into town just to get Internet," he signs off. We can't wait.

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