Competition at The Fence

This past Wednesday, the Cut echoed with cries of "help the homeless children!" The source of this commotion was Jaime Romero, a junior raising money for the Homeless Children's Education through a unique competition: he was offering $500 to anybody who could keep their hand on The Fence the longest, with the incentive that if you raised money for the Education Fund, you would receive certain perks (for instance, $200 gets you a mattress frame and $400 gets you a tent). At 6:30 p.m., March 22, as the humidity and misty gray skies threatened to make an ordeal out of this competition, the game began.

The Tartan sat down with sophomore contestant Dominic Robinson to learn what happened in the following hours. The competition began with seven contestants, but within mere minutes, that number fell to five. An hour later, it further dwindled to three: Dominic Robinson, president of Game Creation Society (GCS) and Pickleball club, who planned to spend the money on the many orgs under his supervision; Jonathan, who planned to use his prize money for a Lego set and his own fraternity's fundraiser; and Andrew, who was hoping to buy a Nintendo Switch and also give the remainder back to his own fraternity.

Jonathan found himself in the most comfortable position, having raised enough money for a tent. Dom and Andrew, on the other hand, found themselves braving the elements while Jonathan watched the Hunger Games in his cozy abode. Dom and Andrew, in their shared struggle, developed what Dom describes as a "bromance," as they began to consider negotiations and alliances. Hours of back-and-forth discussions yielded no result; Jonathan, in his formidable shelter, held significant leverage, boldly proclaiming that he would wait till Saturday. Hours passed; the sun set and the stars rose behind the melancholy skies above Pittsburgh, and at two hours past midnight the three contestants all voluntarily removed their hands from The Fence, with the money being split $300/$150/$50 among Jonathan, Andrew, and Dom respectively. Such cooperation and solidarity in the face of adversity is sure to reflect well on the moral fiber of the students at our great university.