While many college students view Fridays as the evening to spend money on a good time, the Activities Program Board (APB) gave Shippensburg University students the opportunity to make money.
At 10 p.m. on Friday in the Ceddia Union Building’s multipurpose room, delighted shouts competed against the familiar theme to “The Price is Right” while the stage was packed with classic games like Cliffhanger and Plinko.
In both games, contestants are required to correctly guess the prices of household items. In Cliffhanger, the number of dollars off causes a climber avatar to move the corresponding number of spaces up the cliff. The contestant wins if the avatar is still on his muslin mountain after three guesses. In Plinko, correct guesses earn the contestant one Plinko chip each that they must drop down the studded game board. The slot it lands in at the bottom of the board is how their prize money is determined.
Students of all majors and class standings came to the event for a host of reasons, and the event organizer, Matt Richman, was very pleased with the turnout. Richman is a senior at SU with a major in exercise science.
The APB requested the services of TGP Entertainment, the Syracuse-based booking agency that provided the game show service, and Richman was glad to oversee it.
“We definitely reached out to them,” Richman said. He has been a fan of the show, like many SU students, since the classic Bob Barker era.
Chemistry majors Colby Ott, a senior, and Dijana Katic, a freshman, loved the idea and execution of the event.
“It gives students something to do on a Friday night,” Ott said.
Ott said he has been watching the show since he was 3.
Although not everyone was called up on stage to participate in the game, those in the audience were an integral part of the success of the contestants, who relied on their expertise to help them guess the prices of common items like video games, mac and cheese and pillows.
The prizes ranged from $5 to $60, and everyone was excited to see a winner. Freshman Rhiannon Leonard was one of those fueled by audience enthusiasm, and it ended up serving her well.
“I didn’t want to take just $5,” Leonard said. “[The audience cheering] was very encouraging and exciting.”
As in each episode of “The Price is Right,” the evening terminated with a showcase showdown, wherein two final contestants guess the price of a large pool of prizes. The person who bids the closest without going over is declared the winner
In the end, the showcase showdown between students Jessica Schweitzel and Jaren Bittinger ended with Bittinger overbidding and Schweitzel walking away with the night’s highest prize of $60.
“The Price is Right Live!” is scheduled for Oct. 14 at 8 p.m. in the H. Ric Luhrs Performing Arts Center.
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