This year more than 60 different businesses will be represented at Career Day, held in Finch Fieldhouse from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“(The businesses) are all notable and we are grateful that while CMU is two and a half hours from any major job market, these employers are going to spend the day on campus recruiting our students,” said Julia Sherlock, director of Career Services.

Sherlock said students are highly encouraged to check the list of registered organizations online to see if there are any organizations they have a particular interest in. Students attending Career Day must show up in professional dress or they will be turned away at the door.

Students who want to get the most out of Career Day should do some preparation beforehand, said Magenta Eggertsen, Greenville senior and corporate relations chair for AKP.

“First, they should put together an error-free resume, and if they are having difficulty, they can attend REACH, a (resume) program through Career Services,” Eggertsen said. “Once a student has an error-free resume, they should research the companies of interest. It is important for students to be educated on the company so they are able to ask professional, well-developed questions during their time with the recruiters.”

The experience of talking to recruiters is extremely valuable, but sometimes businesses will also hand out interview invitations as well, said Emily Cook, Freeland senior and president of AKP.

“It’s amazing.” Cook said. “Even if you’re not looking for a job, and especially if you are, always go. You can only benefit from going.”

Cook said she has attended every Career Day event since her freshman year and has really benefitted from the experience and practice she has gained talking to recruiters.

“Give it a shot and go for it,” she said. “Even if you walk away and you feel like you did a completely horrible job, you will do better next time.”

Career Day is open to CMU students and the public.

Anna Ridgway, 4, of Mount Pleasant, dances alongside her mother at the 21st Annual Night of Louisiana on Saturday. (Brad Lowe/Staff Photographer)

People looking to alleviate their cabin fever and escape the cold with Cajun food and dancing attended the 21st annual Night of Louisiana at Finch Fieldhouse Saturday.

The event was co-hosted by Central Michigan University Public Radio and University Events and drew approximately 900 people to dance, drink and enjoy live music.

“There is no question it’s a celebration of life,” said Bob Ebner, director of University Events. “It’s like a huge block party, and I think it’s the most fun event University Events puts on. For me, it’s the most gratifying, because everyone leaves here with a smile on their face.”

Amid the tables decorated with Mardi Gras beads and masks were couples on the dance floor two-stepping.

Perhaps the brightest and most noticeable of everyone were Lansing residents Linda and Paul Loeffler. The Loefflers adorned themselves in traditional Mardi Gras costumes. Paul’s costume was bright with orange, red, green, purple and complete with a mask and an accordion. Paul made his costume from scratch, using pajama pants.

Paul said his mother was a seamstress and taught him how to sew at a very young age. The couple danced and took pictures and posed for pictures with others in attendance. The Loefflers said they promote Mardi Gras parties in Lansing, and Paul taught himself how to play the accordion and joined a Cajun band.

“We’ve been in love with this culture for 30 years,” Linda said. “The music just has so much drive and pump to it. The first time we went, we had a blast, and so we decided, ‘Why not come in costume the next time?’”

Ebner first brought the event to Mount Pleasant 21 years ago after falling in love with the people and music of New Orleans during a trip there.

Purple and pink lights illuminated the bands on stage, “Balfa Toujours,” led by Christine Balfa and “Terrance Simiem and Zydeco Experience.”

Ebner said he tries to bring both Zydeco and Cajun tunes to the dance floor, because they provide different styles of music.

“I’ve always had a Cajun band, because it has some of the more traditional dances such as waltzes,” Ebner said. “While Zydeco has more of a rockin’, faster sound to it.”

Along with traditional music, food was provided by Aramark, along with a full bar serving mixed drinks, including “the hurricane,” which Ebner gets the mix for from New Orleans.

Shepherd resident Gina Del Castillo said she has come every year for the past 18 years to celebrate her birthday.

“I love that all types of people and all ages of people come here,” Castillo said. “I especially love the old-time dances and how everybody’s together and included. It warms my heart to see all ages of people dancing together.”

While the event is popular with the community of Mount Pleasant, it doesn’t bring in too many college students.

“I figured it would be more fun to come here because the Wayside crowd gets a little lame after a while; plus these people dance better,” said Mount Pleasant junior Angel Foster.

Central Michigan University events and WCMU 89.5, CMU’s public radio station, will host the 21st annual Night of Louisiana Saturday in Finch Fieldhouse. The event will feature authentic Cajun food, a cash bar and large dance floor. Doors open at 6 p.m., and the concert begins at 7 p.m.

Director of University Events Robert Ebner said he chose this type of event after visiting New Orleans. He said he felt the culture needed to be brought to Michigan so people could enjoy the Cajun style of music.

“This is a great event that is a celebration of life. I challenge anyone to sit still during this event,” Ebner said. “It is open to the public, and anyone that has cabin fever and needs to get out, this is the event to come to.”

The bands performing will be “Balfa Toujours,” led by Christine Balfa and “Terrance Simiem and Zydeco Experience.” Zydeco music originated in southwest Louisiana and is closely related to “La-La” music, or Cajun music. Zydeco sounds much like blues and is sung in both English and French.

“A lot of times, these bands play in auditoriums, and you just sit on a chair nailed to the floor, but that’s not the intention for this event. The point of the music is to get up and shake your hips.” said Robert Barclay, host of “The Juke Joint” on WCMU

The dinner and concert are separate costs, and dinner tickets must be bought before the event. The dinner costs $11. Tickets are $20 if purchased before Friday and $25 at the door. Tickets can be purchased on CMU’s online Ticket Central.

“We’ve built up a substantial number of people that come every year, and we’re fortunate enough to attract a new crowd to maybe replace those who couldn’t make it,” said WCMU Director John Sheffler.

DeWitt senior Liz Waterhouse crawls underneath an obstacle during the Dash for a Difference 5k run, benefitting the Special Olympics of Michigan, Saturday morning on the marching band practice field. Waterhouse said the obstacle was perfect for her height. (Ashley Miller/Staff Photographer)

Students from a therapeutic recreation class incorporated several obstacles into their hosting of a 5K race Saturday to benefit Special Olympics.

About 27 participants ran through tires and balanced eggs on spoons in Finch Fieldhouse as part of the Dash for a Difference 5K.

St. Johns junior David Presocki said the run was unique as far as 5Ks go.

“(We) decided on choosing events that were not too physically demanding,” Presocki said. “We realized that many 5K races with obstacles are very difficult and our goal was more to provide an enjoyable experience than it was to challenge our participants.”

Presocki is part of a small group for his class, RPL 340: Therapeutic Recreation: Developmental Disabilities, and hosting the event was the group’s final project for the course.

Presocki said all proceeds from the event were donated to the Special Olympics.

University of Michigan sophomore and St. Johns native Stephen Kay was first to finish the run. He said he likes to participate in events like Dash for a Difference.

“I’ve life guarded for Special Olympics events,” Kay said. “I would do it again for sure, if it was for a good cause.”

Shay Mannino was second across the finish line. The Grosse Ile senior said she signed up because the obstacles sounded like a fun twist and she wanted to donate to Special Olympics.

“I enjoyed it,” Mannino said. “I like to support Special Olympics or any type of fundraiser.”

Group member and junior Janet Fase said the class earned about $240. She said the group was able to keep the cost of the event low because the prizes they used were donated by local businesses.

To supplement the money they raised from the $15 registration fee, the group sold raffle tickets. Prizes from the raffle ranged from free pizza coupons to gift cards.

Presocki said raising money for Special Olympics is not the group’s only goal.

“Our goal is to have our participants leave with a fantastic experience as well as knowledge on a topic that they might not have been aware of before,” he said.

Fase said she was concerned rain might keep people away, but the sun was shining all afternoon.

“It’s a perfect day,” Fase said. “I was so worried.”

A student group will host the scavenger hunt starting at 5:30 p.m. at Finch Fieldhouse.

The event is part of a class project for RPL 430: Planning Recreation Programs and Events. In the class, five students are put together at random and must create an event from scratch.

Tim Otteman, assistant professor of recreation, parks and leisure services and instructor for the class, said this project is the crux of the class.

“Throughout the semester students learn how to plan an event,” Otteman said. “Then they must run the event, make money and donate it to the charity of their choice.”

All proceeds will go to Believe in Miracles, a nonprofit organization founded in 2005 by two fifth-graders from Troy. Its mission is to help Michigan children suffering from threatening medical conditions by buying them a gift of their choice.

Group member and Muskegon junior Allison Wisneski said the charity was picked because a member in their group attended high school with one of the organization’s founders.

“Because of the foundation’s purpose, we really want to get younger kids involved (in the scavenger hunt),” Wisneski said. “We just hope it’s a really good turnout with good weather.”

While Otteman is not directly involved in any of the projects and only evaluates them at the end, he said this group did a good job at tying the event with the charity of their choice.

Wisneski said they hope to get 40 teams or more and raise at least $400.

The entry fee is $12 per two-person team and $14 with pizza. Registration will start at 5:30 at Finch Fieldhouse on Wednesday. Participants can also pre-register for a $10 team fee by emailing WaldoAtCMU@gmail.com

There will be prizes for the first two adult teams and two kid teams to come back with all five clues.

A raffle will also be held at 7:30 p.m. Prizes include a child-size Waldo costume, a CMU Fathead, local restaurant gift cards and more prizes donated by the event’s sponsors.

CMU Program Board Concert Chair Jordan Benghiat, Southfield sophomore, said the concert is at Finch Fieldhouse, which seats 3,000, but could move to the Events Center if tickets sell out – something Benghiat hopes will happen.

“Chiddy Bang isn’t Top 40, but they’re certainly pretty mainstream in the hip-hop world, so I think there’s a large enough awareness for the show to sell out,” Benghiat said. “There’s a large population of students who enjoy hip-hop, so even if people don’t know who these artists are, they’ll still enjoy the show.”

Benghiat said he thinks the concert has the potential to draw from other campuses around the state.

“Due to circumstances beyond our control, Chiddy Bang tickets are not available at this time,” said Program Board President Paul Sullivan, Allen Park senior. “We will notify the campus once tickets are ready to go on sale.”

Tickets will cost CMU students $7 and the public $10, and will be available for purchase at the CMU Box Office.

PB did not originally plan on bringing Chiddy Bang, Benghiat said, as they were hoping to book Wiz Khalifa, who was not available. PB also looked at other hip-hop artists like Pitbull and Lupe Fiasco and are still considering adding an opening local hip-hop act to the bill.

Troy junior Abby Murphy said Chiddy Bang is a cool group to bring and thinks they will be a hit.

“I’ll definitely try to get tickets to go see Chiddy before they sell out,” Murphy said.

Milford Sophomore Casey D’Angelo said he also plans to see Chiddy Bang.

“I like them a lot because they mix so many different types of music,” D’Angelo said. “I’m happy PB is bringing them because they’re less pointed toward one sex, like Ke$ha was.”

Ortonville sophomore Dan Arney is looking forward to seeing Chiddy Bang, but is more excited for The Cool Kids.

“The Cool Kids are party music,” Arney said. “They remind me a lot of the Beastie Boys and aren’t typical rap because they have more roots in older stuff and sample older music.”

Benghiat plans to bring other genres throughout the year in larger and smaller concerts.

“I’m hoping to bring someone like Mumford and Sons for the big spring concert,” he said.

More than 1,000 kids filled the Finch Fieldhouse balcony on Saturday afternoon in search for Easter eggs during the 27th annual Great Egg Scramble. Children ages 12 and under had the chance to scoop as much candy and Easter eggs as they could carry.

“We call it ‘organized chaos,’” said Carol Moody, special events coordinator for Mount Pleasant. “They’re like little vacuum cleaners — once they start, they grab it all.”

The fieldhouse balcony was set up as an Easter wonderland by volunteers. Children could play in inflatable playhouses, snack on free popcorn and Capri Suns and take a photo with the Easter Bunny. Moody said it cost the city about $5,000, but volunteers helped run the event.

“I’m helping out with arts and crafts,” said Dearborn junior Paige Bruce. “I just like the excitement that kids have when they first come in and see what’s going on.”

The main floor was roped off with multi-colored flags and children were divided by age into groups of four. When their group’s turn was called, they ran into the center and played parachute games before dancing to the “Hokey Pokey” and the “Chicken Dance.”

“That’s the fastest I’ve ever seen a floor cleared in my life,” said CFX 95.3 emcee Rob Throop.

Arieis Fuldpausch, 4, was excited to dance and said her favorite music was Justin Bieber. Arieis was wearing a shirt which read, “Future Mrs. Bieber.”

Her dad, Mount Pleasant resident Matt Fuldpausch, said he did not think she was ready to date Justin Bieber quite yet.

“She said, ‘I don’t want to date him, daddy, I just like his music,’” Matt Fuldpausch said. “You gotta watch out for those musician types.”

Mount Pleasant resident Natalie Buck said she has brought her three boys, Koby, 7, Kyle, 4, and Kameron, 7, to the event for the past five years.

“It’s fun to do,” Buck said. “My kids love it.”

Kyle said he was excited as he pulled out the bag of eggs he had captured in the frenzy and said he could not wait to eat them when he got home. His favorite part of the event was the inflatable play house.

“I like to go on the jumpy slide,” he said. “It was funny when I jumped off and fell on my bottom.”

Candy-stuffed, smiling children left the event around 3:30 p.m. Moody said she was pleased with how everything had gone.

“When you see a kid smile, that makes it worthwhile,” Moody said.

A Poverty Simulation Workshop was held for about 60 students and 20 volunteers to learn in a role-playing experience what living in conditions of poverty is like.

The simulation was different for each participant and handled in different ways. Among the students participating was Ann Arbor senior Jessica Dyer, who was in a group with Ada senior Maria Schmieder and Clinton Township senior Alicia Duda.

Their simulation included a mom and their two 17- and 14-year-old daughters whose dad left them with $10 before he abandoned them. The first thing they did was sell some possessions to make more money. Then the mom had to go find a job while the daughters went to school. One of the daughters was sent to jail for two weeks, which was difficult for the family because it had no money to make bail let alone pay for groceries.

“The most important thing about this was to break the stereotype people have on those who are in poverty,” Dyer said. “That people are poor because they’re lazy. That’s untrue. They have to work around 20 hours a day.”

Dyer’s group member Duda said the hardest part of the day was witnessing the daily chaos characteristic of a life in poverty.

Participants received an assigned identity and family profile as they entered the event. They then experienced what one month of poverty crammed into three hours was like.

When a whistle was blown, participants would go to each agency and try to get benefits, cash and transportation vouchers. When the 15 minutes was up, the process would start again for the next week.

Deborah Bailey, assistant professor of human environmental studies, helped organize the simulation.

“Most of the students that are here are going to be family studies or teacher education students,” Bailey said. “This experience gives them a chance to see what it’s like to stand in line to try and get resources that they need in order to take care of their families. The goal of it is to give them a broader perspective.”

Afterward, a discussion was held about what participants went through. The discussion was lead and hosted by facilitator Nannette Kenney, a Central Michigan University alumnus.

“One thing I didn’t expect to happen during the workshop was when one of the families left their 14 year old in jail because it was easier,” Kenney said. “At least they would be fed (in jail), and they didn’t have to spend as much on transportation, and they would be OK until they got more money.”

The tournament will be held from April 30 through May 1 around Finch Fieldhouse and Warriner Hall. All funds generated will be put toward Events Center construction expenses. Registration is open until Monday at midnight, and costs $100 for college-aged teams and $128 for the general public. Groups can register at www.macker.com.

“The biggest part of the process that makes it unique to (Central Michigan University) is that this is the first time the event will be run by students,” said Tim Otteman, assistant professor of recreation, parks and leisure services.

Otteman teaches RPL 400G: The Organization and Administration of Basketball Festivals, which was created specifically to run the Gus Macker tournament.

This is the third year Gus Macker has come to CMU, but it is the first time in the organization’s history that college students have had this big of a role in the event. Every aspect of the tournament has been handed over students, including those involved in event management, physical training, ROTC and marketing, Otteman said.

“It’s part of a transition where it gets more and more run by students,” said Scott McNeal, CMU alumnus and founder of Gus Macker.

CMU is being used as the testing grounds for a new model of tournaments designed specifically for college students on college campuses, McNeal said.

“We have seen over the last ten years less and less college students at events,” he said.

McNeal hopes the new model created at CMU can be used to bring Gus Macker back to college students.

Students have come up with ideas for activities beyond the three-on-three tournament, such as a three point and a dunk contest, said Meredith McIlhargey, a Macomb junior, one of the students organizing the event.

McIlhargey has worked with Gus Macker in the past and said the experience has been very inspiring as well as a great way to give back to the community.

“It’s not just a basketball tournament (I have learned about),” McIlhargey said. “It’s a lot more than that.”

The Romeo junior was one of 60 human participants at the “Furry 5K,” a marathon event starting outside of Finch Fieldhouse hosted by Meeting Professionals International at Central Michigan University.

“I knew that it would be a challenge for her to do it,” the Romeo junior said. “She’s 10, so she’s old.”

Troy senior Anna Siroonian, campus representative of MPI, said runners had the option to bring their dogs and either run, jog or walk their way through the course spanning campus.

“We decided to do this 5K for (the Humane Animal Treatment Society, 1105 S. Isabella Road) because it’s our philanthropy as a (registered student organization),” she said. “We just wanted to get an event where people would come out. I feel like having dogs here definitely brings more people out, because who doesn’t like dogs?”

In addition to a 5 kilometer run/walk, the event also featured live music from Moore Media Records artists, a silent auction, T-shirts for participants and food.

As one of the volunteers, Jordan Hathaway, a Zeeland junior, worked to fundraise for the event and coordinate the silent auction.

“I checked the weather like every five minutes because of the thunderstorm, but I’m happy with the turnout,” Hathaway said.

Despite Hathaway’s and Siroonian’s concerns, the weather remained mostly clear throughout the three-hour event, with only minor rain and cloud cover.

Siroonian said MPI had raised $324 prior to the 5K, and is hoping to raise over $800 for HATS. She said she wants to make the event an annual occurrence.

Mount Pleasant resident Corey Friedrich ran the 5K on his own, and finished first in 17 minutes and 13 seconds. Friedrich runs a 5K once a month on average, and is an avid supporter of HATS.

“I love animals and I love running,” he said. “(HATS) is a great organization. I’m glad they’re here to protect the animals in the Mount Pleasant area.”

Cooke used to volunteer with HATS, and immediately jumped at the opportunity to participate in the Furry 5K to support one of her favorite organizations.

“I think it’s so amazing, everything that they do,” she said. “I love going to the animal shelter and playing with the dogs and stuff.”

Cooke said she lives in an off-campus apartment, and her lease will not allow her to house animals.

“My parents came up and brought her for the weekend so that I could take her,” she said.