Hypnotist entertains at Big Owl Bash
Dozens of dazed students found themselves slouched on top of each other Saturday night.
They weren’t drunk. They were hypnotized.
Saturday evening, before Dis-Orientation — the series of campus parties marking the first wet night of the school year — the Big Owl Bash was held at the Rice Memorial Center. Hypnotist Chuck Milligan performed in the Grand Hall, successfully controlling the minds of audience members. Also, free food was offered, and two bands performed in Ray Courtyard.
The Dean’s Committee to Address Alcohol Awareness organized the Big Owl Bash as part of the Real Rice campaign, which seeks to publicize activities without alcohol on campus. Director of the Wellness Center Emily Dexter Page said the Big Owl Bash was created for a variety of reasons.
“We weren’t necessarily trying to schedule this event directly opposite any other events on campus,” Page said. “We picked a time that we felt would cater to a large group of students and also because we wanted to serve dinner since there was no food provided on campus.”
About 175 students watched the hypnotist.
Wiess College sophomore Jorge Arciga, who went to the Big Owl Bash and Dis-O, said he does not think having the Big Owl Bash reduced the number of people who attended Dis-O parties.
“I think it’s a good alternative to Dis-O, but it’s held before [parties begin], so a lot of people go there and then to Dis-O,” Arciga said. “I think if they had it around the same time, it’d be a lot more effective.”
Hanszen College Resident Associate Paul Sutera agreed the Big Owl Bash was not just an alternative to Dis-O.
“At some universities, you’ll have a welcome [back] event but we don’t really have that type of kick-off,” he said. “This was a nice kind of one-day activity. I think it’s nice that the university offers these activities and they happen to be non-alcoholic.”
Baker College Health Representative Dennis Li, who is also on the Dean’s Committee, said he thought the students who attended the Big Owl Bash enjoyed themselves.
“It was something good to go to on that first Saturday,” Li said. “If we did the same thing next year, I think attendance would be a lot higher because word would spread around about how well it went. I think the hypnotist show went very well, and people had a good laugh from it.”
Li said the live band performances would probably not be part of a future Big Owl Bash.
“The attendance at the band performances was very low, and next year we might switch it to something more cost-effective,” he said. “Overall, though, Rice isn’t a very band-oriented campus.”
Sutera went to the Big Owl Bash with a group of Hanszen students.
“We had a lot of our students who were part of the show,” Sutera said. “They seemed to enjoy themselves and [their being hypnotized] was believable.”
The committee has not yet decided whether to have the event next year, but Page said she was pleased with the event.
“We haven’t done any kind of formal evaluation yet, and we are waiting to get feedback from the students,” she said. “We want students to give input about what they want on campus.”
The hypnotist called 12 males and 12 females up to the stage and sent them back to the audience if he saw the hypnosis was not affecting them.
Baker College junior Russell Schafer was part of the hypnotized group.
“[The hypnotist] more or less had you on the stage doing strange little tasks but nothing out-of-the-ordinary — you couldn’t go kill a person but you were doing things like quacking like a duck,” he said. “You just feel kind of relaxed, and you hear a voice and just listen to the voice. You hear and try not to listen to [the commands], but you get this kind of a ‘Why not follow what he’s saying?’ feeling.”
Dis-O
That night, Dis-O yielded few problems for the Rice University Police Dpeartment or for Rice Emergency Medical Services. REMS responded to two intoxication calls, and RUPD Chief Bill Taylor said no minor-in-possession citations were issued.
“Usually, there aren’t that many MIPs issued around this time of year,” Taylor said. “Last year, I remember it was pretty mellow around this time of year, too.”
Lovett College Chief Justice Dave Blackstock said RUPD’s goal of more strictly enforcing the Alcohol Policy (“Alcohol Policy enforcement to become more strict,” Aug. 19) — affected private party hosts.
“I think the private party hosts were a little apprehensive about how strict the new enforcement was going to be, so they were all really cautious about what went on at their parties,” Blackstock, a junior, said. “They were worried because it’s been said that hosts will now be held responsible in the event that something happens.”
Martel College Chief Justice Erin Sozanski said Martel’s Dis-O was also relatively calm. However, Sozanski said she does not think stricter enforcement of the Alcohol Policy was the cause of the relative quiet.
“In part, I think that people at Martel generally follow the Alcohol Policy,” Sozanski, a junior, said. “Some people were nervous, though.”
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