Homecoming Bingo game well-attended

"Be-four" Bingo begun, students crowded themselves around tables filling the overflow seats that were sitting along the walls reaching the room's full capacity.

The Homecoming session of Bingo was well attended, and students were pumped. The ballroom buzzed with participants sharing the gossip of the week, pencils, pens, highlighters, crayons and other marking materials while poised and ready to play. Wednesday night Bingo was ready to roll.

With the card sequence of "U," "N," "C," a seven and a blackout, the Homecoming version of Bingo did not differ from past games save for the Party with a Plan documentary presented to promote the Center for Peer Education's Alcohol Awareness Week taking place next week.

Students were very eager to start after 20 minutes of bringing in additional chairs and fixing the sound.

Drumrolls echoed each start of a new card. The exasperated sighs were especially loud at the first number.

"I've come ever since the first day, because it's something to do," said Chantel Gaston, a freshman elementary education major.

The coordinator of CPE, Rahwa Meharena, a senior journalism major, said Bingo was held Wednesday nights as an alternative to partying.

"Instead of drinking, students can come play Bingo," Meharena said. "It's a fun activity."

The interest and importance of the game was hard not to notice. Students got increasingly noisier after each number, and some pads were thrown to the ground in frustration. "I just needed one more" was a chorus after each thrilled shout of "Bingo!"

"It beats partying and it has rocking music," said Ali Loe, a freshman criminal justice major.

Winners received prizes such as $25 iTunes giftcards, UNC hooded sweatshirts. The iPod winner also got an iTunes sampler and a recycled Apple bag. Two people cannot win, so game organizers would pull names from a hat or play rock-paper-scissors in any event of a tie.

This semester, Bingo has turned out to be a great success and a big activity CPE holds. Last year, the game's inaugural year, about 300 students came to play. This year, Meharena estimated around 700 students have attended.

Freshman biology major Ross Hendrickson came with a group of friends.

"It's free bingo, and you can win stuff," she said. "It's also good to socialize at."

The next Bingo game will be Oct. 22, when CPE will be collecting sweat clothes for sexual assault victims.