The University Activities Commission help students de-stress before finals with laser tag

May the ‘fourth’ guide you to a laser tag victory

More stories from Brittany Walczak

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Photo by Gabbie Henn

Students de-stressed before finals by enjoying a night of outdoor laser tag set to music from Star Wars.

On from 8 p.m., just before sunset, until 10 p.m. on Friday night, the University Activities Commission (UAC) Late Night committee held its annual free laser tag event for students. The event included a light show timed to music to give participants a small amount of visibility to play.

Students who attended were able to play outdoor laser tag in teams of seven, with inflatable objects set up for protection from the opposite team. Headbands of red lights signified which players were “hit” and which were “out.”

In a change from previous years, the event was held in the field outside Haas Fine Arts Center instead of the usual location of Towers Field.

“Because of the construction, we weren’t able to get power across Towers Field,” Marinne Weinberger, a first-year organizational communication student and member of UAC Late Night, said. “There’s advantages and disadvantages to both locations.”

Heather Jordan, a junior English education student, attended Friday night’s laser tag for her second year in a row.

“I think the location change is an improvement,” Jordan said. “There’s less people walking past, and I had to drive from upper campus so it feels like I actually went somewhere to attend it. It’s not surrounded by dorms, so it feels more professional.”

Ciara Riley, a senior sociology student and chair of UAC Late Night, said the location change seemed to draw more people to the event this year.

“With the event being at Towers, it was easy for upper campus students to get to, but at Haas it’s more accessible for off campus students,” Riley said. “The location is more central for everyone.”

This isn’t the first year for laser tag, but the date coinciding with ‘May the fourth,’ the unofficial Star Wars celebration day, was somewhat intentional.

“We talked to the company that does laser tag and they happened to be able to do this date, which worked out pretty well for us,” Riley said.

To acknowledge the unofficial holiday, UAC Late Night had Star Wars music playing in the background during the laser tag event.

“We’ve been doing this event for five or six years, and it’s probably one of our more favorite,” Riley said. “This is usually our last event, so it’s nice to finish out the year with this one.”

Weinberger said the laser tag event is always held just before finals week as a way for students to relax and take a much needed break from studying.

“We also do cookie and plant pot decorating, so just little free events for students to come and hang out with friends,” Weinberger said.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Jordan said. “You get out, and it’s exercise if you do it right.”

While laser tag was the last event of the school year for the UAC Late Night committee, the overall organization does have a couple more events, including Spring Fest, happening on campus from May 6 through the end of the week.