“It was originally supposed to be strictly a tuxedo shop,” Dafoe said. “But one day a woman from California came in who was selling top hats – I found out she made costumes and it took off from there.”

Now the shop offers costumes year-round.

“People come in a lot for holidays like Christmas Santa Clauses, Easter Bunny suits and New Year’s parties,” Dafoe said.

Fall is the busiest time of year because it encompasses Homecoming, Halloween and weddings, Dafoe said.

“I like the selection here; it has to be the best one in town,” said Flushing senior Jennifer Travis as she purchased her “Cotton Candy Cutie” costume for Halloween.

Dafoe said he tries to make sure there always is a wide range of different styles to choose from.

“I try to buy no more than three of one kind of costume,” he said.

Dafoe is a member of the National Costumers Association and attends conventions where costume designers and vendors come together to pitch ideas and display their work.

Black-Tie rents out about one to 10 costumes a week throughout the year, Dafoe said.

The shop has more than 200 costumes available to rent, from a beatnik outfit for $10 to a full Darth Vader costume for $100.

“The price is completely dependent on how elaborate the costume is,” said employee and Lansing junior Kelly Teklinsky. “If it’s just a T-shirt and pants it will be cheap. But if you have boots, a mask and more accessories, it will be more expensive.”

Dafoe said he typically spends $500 to $1,000 for a deluxe costume and he gets the outfits professionally cleaned after every use.

Teklinsky said occasionally people request funny costumes, such as a chicken.

“Nothing is too crazy, though, because we have costumes like hot dogs and pizza,” she said.

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The play is sponsored by Program Board and is a part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, said Allegan senior Carrie Lewis, Program Board cultural events co-chair.

“I’m sure the audience will be in for a shock,” said Matt Burza, Program Board president. “The topic is something no one wants to talk about but everyone should hear.”

Burza, an Allegan senior, said the play will be an extension of the “No Zebras” show freshmen view during orientation.

The show will last about 90 minutes with a discussion session after the show, Lewis said. Students from Sexual Aggression Peer Advocates (SAPA) will be on site throughout the performance for anyone who feels compelled to speak with someone during the show, she said.

“We will have about 15 SAPAs that will be in the back of the room who can follow people into the hallway and talk to them if they want to, but it is 100 percent confidential as always,” said Steve Thompson, director of Sexual Aggression Services.

An actor from Deana’s Educational Theatre in Stoneham, Mass. will perform the show. According the theatre’s Web site, the show will help students recognize warning signs of abuse, help those who are victims of abuse, understand the abuse cycle and access community resources.

“This play will give the audience a more personal account of what can and has happened to this woman in the past and what you can learn from her experiences,” Burza said.

For more information about the play, visit acttoprevent.org.

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So many people showed up to her speech in March 2007, some had to be turned away.

The Accessibility and Disability Advisory Council and On the Fly Productions are co-hosting Roloff’s speech.

“She will talk based on her own experiences about respecting, understanding and working with individuals with disabilities,” said Maxine Kent, disabilities coordinator and associate vice president of Human Resources.

Dani Hiar, OTF adviser, said some faculty have asked her if they can reserve seats for the show, but she is unsure whether Roloff will be able to fill up Plachta again.

“She brings her own following and the true fans are excited to see her again,” Hiar said. “It’s cool to have a pretty famous alumna on campus, and one that is willing to spend time with current students is a huge bonus on top of that.”

Roloff, from “Little People, Big World,” will serve as the Homecoming Grand Marshal too. She will have a float to ride during the parade and will be on the football field during the half-time ceremonies when the gold ambassadors are announced.

Hiar said she does not know if Roloff will visit with her family or if the TLC cameras will be with her.

“It’s possible – last time she was here, TLC came too,” Hiar said. “There was an episode on the show when she comes to visit CMU.”

Kent said the event is geared toward both faculty and staff.

“I think it’s a tremendous opportunity to be exposed to things that we aren’t usually exposed to and encourage people to attend if they can,” she said.

The event is a part of Disability Awareness month and is one of many events taking place on campus and throughout the community.

The ADAC hosts Dr. Stell Husch Oct. 13 in the Bovee University Center Auditorium.

“She is a well-known expert on handling disabilities and how to perform accommodations for the disabled,” Kent said.

For a full list of events hosted for Disability Awareness month, visit cmich.edu/ada/events.asp.

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He has been featured in episodes of “Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper” and “Moesha,” and has done voices for “Family Guy.” Thomas also has had roles in the movies “Just Married” and “The Wash.”

“We first saw him this February at the NACA (National Association for Campus Activities) National Conference in St. Louis,” said Dave Breed, Program Board concert chair and Muskegon sophomore.

At the conference, students get the opportunity to build relationships with talent agencies and watch performances by those interested in touring at universities.

Program Board put in a bid for Thomas after watching his performance at the conference, said Matt Burza, Program Board president.

“Students can definitely expect some really high-quality comedy,” the Ostego senior said. “He has been on Chappelle’s Show and all over Comedy Central.”

Thomas was originally signed to be the featured comedian for Hip Hop Week, but the week was rescheduled because it would conflict with Homecoming Week.

“We decided to keep Thomas for the Oct. 1 show rather than trying to reschedule him for the week earlier,” Burza said.

Instead, Program Board had Rodney Laney pick up the comedic slot for the Hip Hop Week performance Sept. 22.

Program Board Comedy Chair and Pinconning sophomore Crysta Heckman said Thomas’ show will probably top a lot of the smaller shows Program Board has put on the past few years.

“He’s been doing comedy since he first got out of high school,” Heckman said. “He is really funny, and his show shouldn’t be missed.”

Burza said Program Board is taking suggestions for future comedic acts to come to campus. To give an opinion, click on the survey in the upper-right-hand corner of the CMU Portal, portal.cmich.edu.

The list of possible comedians includes Lewis Black, Gabriel Iglesias, Stephen Lynch, Demetri Martin, Bob Saget and Nick Swardson.

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Brandon Folsom waited in line for three hours so he could stand at the front of the stage for the Yung Joc show Friday night.

The Ferris State junior drove from Big Rapids to Finch Fieldhouse to see the show.

“It was well-worth the drive and the wait,” Folsom said. “Last year I came to the T-Pain concert, waited in line for five hours and still got a bad seat.”

The show drew an audience of about 2,000 people.

Matt Burza, Program Board president and Ostego senior, said he would have liked to have more people show up to the concert but he was still satisfied overall.

“Any crowd is always a good crowd,” Burza said. “If we can get that one or two people to have a good night than I have done my job.”

Kardinal Offishall hit the stage before Yung Joc, introducing much of the crowd to his high-energy, reggae-influenced hip-hop style.

Halfway through the set, Kardinal Offishall asked the crowd to hold up whatever random object they had with them. Then he freestyle rapped for about three minutes about a white pair of sunglasses, a purple bandana and hand sanitizer.

“I like how (Kardinal Offishall) got the crowd involved,” said Mount Pleasant senior Bridget Scanlan. “He was really energetic and his freestyle was fun.”

The Canadian rapper received the most response from the audience when he performed his hit single, “Dangerous.”

But the crowd erupted when Yung Joc took the stage and the audience waived their hands to the beat.

For the majority of the concert Yung Joc played short portions of songs by various artists.

Those in the crowd heard 30 second snippets from songs like “Pass the Courvoisier” by Busta Rhymes, “Paper Planes” by M.I.A. and “Does Your Chain Hang Low?” by Jibbs.

He even played “I Love Rock and Roll” by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts and the theme song from “The Jeffersons.”

Each time he cut a song short an explosion sound effect resonated through the speakers.

“He kept cutting off sweet songs,” said Port Huron junior Derrick Jackson. “The show was all right, but I think it could have been a lot better if he would have played entire songs.”

At the end of the show Yung Joc brought nine women from the audience on the stage to participate in a booty shaking contest. After the contest, he ended the show and had the participants follow him to his dressing room.

“That is the first time I have seen a performer bring people backstage with him, but I am sure it’s happened before,” said Miranda Crawford, On the Fly Productions president and Indian River senior.

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For the majority of the concert in Friday’s Finch Fieldhouse performance, the 2007 Grammy-nominated rapper sang karaoke on hits from a variety of other artists.

It was obvious before the concert Yung Joc simply doesn’t have enough well-known songs to fill an entire show. But rather than performing his lesser-known work, he decided to sing 30-second clips of songs from Lil Wayne, Busta Rhymes, M.I.A., Jibbs and others.

Luckily he did perform solid renditions of his hit singles “It’s Goin’ Down,” and “I Know You See It.”

With a high-energy performance of two hits, the crowd was eager for more, thinking he had an arsenal of songs to pull from his career as a rapper.

The rest of the performance couldn’t have been more of a let down.

But then he deflated the audience’s energy by only playing 10 seconds of his single, “Coffee Shop.”

The performance had too many similarities to T-Pain’s disastrous performance last year, a show that couldn’t live up to its hype because of songs being cut too short.

He seemed to receive more cheers simply for his celebrity status rather than for putting on a good show.

The lowest point of the concert was when he played the theme song from the Jefferson’s and “I Love Rock and Roll” by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts.

Closing the show abruptly with a booty shaking contest was a classless way to end a disappointing performance.

Although the concert wasn’t a complete let-down.

Opener, Kardinall Offishall, delivered a high-energy show and was able to keep the crowd involved the whole way through.

He even spit an impressive freestyle rap just going off objects people in the crowd were holding up.

Call me old school, but I like it when people play their own songs, and furthermore, the entire length of those songs.

Maybe Yung Joc’s karaoke performance was punishment to CMU for not selling out his show or maybe he just wasn’t prepared enough to fill an hour of music.

Whatever the reason, Yung Joc needs to put more thought into his future performances or he will continue to get upstaged by his openers.

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But the self-proclaimed “city girl” from Copenhagen, Denmark, found herself on a nine-person raft stuck between two rocks Friday afternoon on the Gauley River in Summersville, West Virginia.

“I was so scared – it all happened so fast and I had to get pulled out of the raft onto one of the rocks,” said Olsen, a freshman. “The guide was able to get it through the rocks and then everyone had to jump back into the raft from the rock.”

Olsen and more than 50 CMU High Adventure Club students traveled Thursday from Mount Pleasant to Summersville for the Gauley River Festival.

The three-day annual event attracted more than 5,000 rafters from around the world, said Middleville senior Pat Konarska, High Adventure Club president.

“I met people from Ireland, New Zealand and Australia,” said Troy freshman Jon Hypnar.

The five-hour journey down the river covered 13 miles and included level-five rapids.

“The scale is out of six, so these were pretty intense rapids,” Hypnar said.

Each raft held eight students and one guide who was familiar with the river and had previous experience whitewater rafting. Students volunteered for two to four hours at the festival to help American Whitewater, a nonprofit organization that works to conserve and restore whitewater resources, Konarska said.

Hypnar said he sold Gauley Fest T-shirts, while others helped with parking and checking in rafters.

A group of about thirty students also went rock climbing Saturday, an outing led by Andrew Yasso, High Adventure Club vice president.

“We brought our own equipment, and we’ve had experience doing it before,” the Rochester Hills junior said.

Yasso said the club is open to anyone who is on a minimal budget and wants to have fun outdoors.

“We try to organize trips that are affordable for college students and can be done by people at all experience levels,” Yasso said.

The trip was Rachel Matich’s first time whitewater rafting.

“I was nervous, but everyone was great and I am so thankful that I went because it was one of the best experiences of my life,” the Waterford senior said. “I am going to keep going and continue to do more outdoor experiences.”

The group is planning more trips this semester, including a paddling trip on the Au Sable River and a backpacking trip through the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Munising, Konarska said.

“We also want to plan a day to go skydiving in the Mount Pleasant area on Central/Western weekend,” Yasso said.

Next semester the High Adventure Club is planning a skiing and snowboarding trip and an ice-climbing trip to the Michigan Ice Festival in Munising, Konarska said.

For more information on the High Adventure Club, e-mail cmuhighadventureclub@gmail.com or search “High Adventure Club @ CMU” on Facebook.com.

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“Ticket sales are going all right, but not as good as last year for the T-Pain concert,” said Dani Hiar, OTF advisor. “We felt it would be better to have a packed Finch rather than an empty Rose because of where ticket sales are at right now.”

Last year’s T-Pain concert sold out at Finch Fieldhouse and was moved to Rose Arena to allow for more tickets to be sold.

“I think we will end up getting a good turnout,” said Muskegon sophomore Dave Breed, Program Board concert chair. “A lot of people wait until the last minute to buy their tickets.”

Around 1,100 tickets were sold as of Monday, Breed said.

The show is still scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. Friday and doors will open at 7 p.m.

OTF President Miranda Crawford said Finch fieldhouse will be about halfway full with current ticket sales.

“We thought Finch would be a more appropriate vendor for the show,” Crawford said. “He hypes up the crowd, and we thought it would be a better place for him to connect with the audience while they are on the floor level.”

Crawford said students will still have the option of sitting in the upper levels of Finch Fieldhouse as well.

“With the change, a little bit of regrouping logistically is going to have to be done on our end,” said Allegan senior Matt Burza, Program Board president. “Which actually should be easier for us because the venue is smaller than Rose.”

OTF also announced Kardinal Offishall will be the opener for the show.

The Canadian rapper’s latest single, “Dangerous,” features Akon.

Crawford said Offishall was one of OTF’s top choices for an opening act.

“We were looking for someone who would gel with the Yung Joc performance and would get people excited for the show,” Crawford said. “We think he brings both of those aspects to the show.”

Hiar said OTF is looking to add another opener to help get the crowed hyped before Kardinal Offishall hits the stage.

“There are two guys right now – one local guy named Big Perm, and the other rapper is Tone Tone, out of Detroit,” Hiar said.

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“It is going to be an outside venue now,” said Miranda Crawford, On the Fly Productions president. “We will be meeting at 6 p.m. to discuss more details about the move.”

The show is still scheduled to start at 8 p.m. Friday.

OTF also announced Kardinal Offishall will be the opener for the show.

The Canadian rapper is featured in Akon’s latest single, “Dangerous”.

Check out updates at cm-life.com.

In the beginning it was simply the Lyricist Lounge, a hip-hop battle and poetry slam sponsored by the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity.

This year the performance is only one part of the week-long celebration hosted by Phi Sigma Beta, Minority Student Services, On the Fly Productions and Program Board.

“It became a weekend thing after we teamed up with On the Fly,” said Flint senior Detrone Turner, Phi Beta Sigma president. “Each year it has continued to evolve and grow into something bigger.”

Hip Hop Week will take place two weeks earlier than usual this year because its regularly scheduled date fell on Homecoming Week.

“Last year Hip Hop Weekend ended on Oct. 12,” said Dani Hiar, On The Fly Productions Advisor.

“The weekend after is Central/Western Weekend, so we knew we couldn’t plan it then either,” she said.

Hip Hop Week, which occurs from Sept. 22 to 26, includes a comedian, a poetry slam, a hip-hop battle and a concert.

Hiar said OTF does everything it can to not interfere with other important events occurring on campus at the same time.

Dave Breed, Program Board concert chair, has worked closely with OTF to bring concert headliner Yung Joc to campus Sept. 26.

“OTF takes care of the booking process,” Breed said. “They worked out the deal to bring Yung Joc and they chose the opener as well.”

Breed said Program Board also plans much of the promotional strategies, planning and advertising.

“We have placed a bid for our opener and are waiting to hear back,” said Miranda Crawford, OTF president. “I can’t say who it is until we have confirmed that they are signed on.”

Anyone interested in performing at the Lyricist Lounge on Sept. 24 in Warriner Hall’s Plachta Auditorium should e-mail OTF at onthefly@cmich.edu.

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