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[h1]
[/h1]Shell shock: RU breaks record[h3]by Nawal Qarooni / The Star-Ledger[/h3]
[h3]Friday April 11, 2008, 6:41 AM[/h3]
Photos by Saed Hindash / The Star-LedgerRutgers' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles take a group shot -- a requirement for those applying to break a Guinness record -- to show the record-breaking number who gathered last night at the school.
Remember those heroes in a half-shell?
You know, the ones in the Manhattan sewers who battled evil for the love of pizza and the human race?
Well, hundreds of Rutgers students want you to know they remember, too.
In a large public demonstration of ''turtle power,'' Rutgers University students dressed as characters from the popular 1980's''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' cartoon gathered at the school's Piscataway campus to eat pizza, answer trivia and wax nostalgic.
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Joe Wescott, of Neptune, a Rutgers student, participates in a pizzaeating contest dressed as a Ninja Turtle.
By about 10 p.m., 748 students had shown up, easily beating the Guinness World Record (200) for the Largest Gathering of People Dressed as Ninja Turtles.The participants were given long-sleeve turtle-shell T-shirts, at least until the T-shirts ran out, and masks. Some 100 additional students were turnedaway.
''You should be proud, you're part of history,'' Matthew Ferguson, the event organizer and also a graduate student of city planning,told the gathering. He said London-based Guinness would not disclose who the previous record-holder was until Rutgers' effort is officially recognized.
''The turtles rule,'' said Ali Ozbek, 19, a freshman from Clifton. ''I never thought I would do this in college, but I always hopedI would.''
''I'm a product of the '80s, and I grew up loving the Ninja turtles,'' added Erin Winterbottom, 22, of West Chester, Pa.
''This has never been done before at Rutgers, and it's a great way to get school spirit together.''
The university had to apply to try to break the Guinness record. It had to secure two witnesses not affiliated with the school -- a professor at New JerseyCity University and the warden for the Middlesex County jail were chosen -- to verify incoming signatures of participants. And it had to document the entireevent with video and still photographs. Plus, participants had to convene for at least 15 minutes to officially break the record, Ferguson said.
To Joan Carbone, executive director for the university's residence life department, the process and the roughly $2,000 spent on the event was worthit.
''We are trying very hard to bring students together in a fun, nonalcohol-based way,'' Carbone said. ''It's a very strenuousacademic period, and this is a very short event that can offer a bit of relief.''
That's exactly what students who attended last night said.
After signing in as one of the four turtles -- Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo or Donatello -- students painted their faces green and donned their costumes.Later, each got a certificate memorializing the event.
It worked out to roughly $5 a student, paid for by a combination of funds from the university's recreation and residence-life departments -- a nominalamount for the good time participants said they had.
''We're giving them an experience they'll never forget,'' Ferguson said, adding that they wanted to dress as Smurfs but the recordfor largest gathering dressed as the blue cartoon characters had been attempted several times recently.
''We're hoping it will be a tradition on campus, that students break a different record every year.''
As the festivities ended, the students ate pizza and sang the theme song from the Ninja Turtles movie as they pumped their fists.
Rutgers University students at the Livingston Recreation Center cheer last night upon learning they broke the record for the largest gathering of people dressed as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They jammed 786 students and professors in the center dressed as the cartoon characters. The previous record was 200. Below, Joe Wescott, of Neptune, a Rutgers student, participates in a pizzaeating contest dressed as a Ninja Turtle.
[/h1]Shell shock: RU breaks record[h3]by Nawal Qarooni / The Star-Ledger[/h3]
[h3]Friday April 11, 2008, 6:41 AM[/h3]
Remember those heroes in a half-shell?
You know, the ones in the Manhattan sewers who battled evil for the love of pizza and the human race?
Well, hundreds of Rutgers students want you to know they remember, too.
In a large public demonstration of ''turtle power,'' Rutgers University students dressed as characters from the popular 1980's''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' cartoon gathered at the school's Piscataway campus to eat pizza, answer trivia and wax nostalgic.
http://
By about 10 p.m., 748 students had shown up, easily beating the Guinness World Record (200) for the Largest Gathering of People Dressed as Ninja Turtles.The participants were given long-sleeve turtle-shell T-shirts, at least until the T-shirts ran out, and masks. Some 100 additional students were turnedaway.
''You should be proud, you're part of history,'' Matthew Ferguson, the event organizer and also a graduate student of city planning,told the gathering. He said London-based Guinness would not disclose who the previous record-holder was until Rutgers' effort is officially recognized.
''The turtles rule,'' said Ali Ozbek, 19, a freshman from Clifton. ''I never thought I would do this in college, but I always hopedI would.''
''I'm a product of the '80s, and I grew up loving the Ninja turtles,'' added Erin Winterbottom, 22, of West Chester, Pa.
''This has never been done before at Rutgers, and it's a great way to get school spirit together.''
The university had to apply to try to break the Guinness record. It had to secure two witnesses not affiliated with the school -- a professor at New JerseyCity University and the warden for the Middlesex County jail were chosen -- to verify incoming signatures of participants. And it had to document the entireevent with video and still photographs. Plus, participants had to convene for at least 15 minutes to officially break the record, Ferguson said.
To Joan Carbone, executive director for the university's residence life department, the process and the roughly $2,000 spent on the event was worthit.
''We are trying very hard to bring students together in a fun, nonalcohol-based way,'' Carbone said. ''It's a very strenuousacademic period, and this is a very short event that can offer a bit of relief.''
That's exactly what students who attended last night said.
After signing in as one of the four turtles -- Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo or Donatello -- students painted their faces green and donned their costumes.Later, each got a certificate memorializing the event.
It worked out to roughly $5 a student, paid for by a combination of funds from the university's recreation and residence-life departments -- a nominalamount for the good time participants said they had.
''We're giving them an experience they'll never forget,'' Ferguson said, adding that they wanted to dress as Smurfs but the recordfor largest gathering dressed as the blue cartoon characters had been attempted several times recently.
''We're hoping it will be a tradition on campus, that students break a different record every year.''
As the festivities ended, the students ate pizza and sang the theme song from the Ninja Turtles movie as they pumped their fists.
