Females take victory in 'Sex Wars'

Maybe it's because they make up 62 percent of JMU's undergraduate population. Perhaps they simply had more spirit or it could just be a matter of better genes. All explanations aside, the females came out victorious at Sunday evening's "Sex Wars."

The event, sponsored by the Sophomore Class Council was held in PC Ballroom. Proceeds from the $2 admission fee went to the Boys and Girls Club of Harrisonburg.

On arrival, audience members were given either pink or blue slips of paper, according to their gender. The papers were collected later and added respectively to each teams' point total.

Emceeing "Sex Wars" along with organizers sophomore Stacey Henning and freshman Adrianne Laputka, SGA president Dave Mills began by announcing that the contest would determine "which sex is stronger, better, faster, cooler."

"I think everyone had a good time. I hope another class council will want to continue this event next year," Laputka said.

Marlier said, "As with any event, it can only get bigger and better by word-of-mouth."

On behalf of their entire gender, four males and four females from each class battled for the title of "Superior Sex." They competed for points in "forbidden fruit" bobbing, limbo, trivia, tug-of-war and dance karaoke.

Ultimately, the contest winner was decided by the approval of a small, but enthusiastic audience.

The males started off the competition by making their entrance to the theme music from "Rocky." Donned in gray hooded sweatshirts, freshman Brent Harlow, sophomore Michael Davis, junior Dave Urso and senior Noah Marlier showed off their boxing moves to the audience.

Not to be outdone, the females came out in fluorescent pink "Girls Rule" T- shirts and matching cowboy hats. Freshman Andrea Troncoso, sophomore Jessica Lumsden, junior Lyndsey Walther-Thomas and senior Catie Campbell made it clear to the males that they were going to have some stiff competition.

Both teams proved that they weren't afraid to get down and dirty in the first competition, bobbing for "forbidden fruit." Sinking their entire heads into water-filled recycling bins, the girls tried to extract apples and bananas while the boys pulled out apples and kiwis.

The guys won this first competition by several kiwis. The limbo contest followed, with Campbell and Marlier going head-to-head at the end. Campbell affirmed that females are more flexible after Marlier fell backward under the rope.

The genders then tested their brainpower in the trivia contest. They were asked questions from the categories of sex, boys and girls and useless knowledge.

If a team member could not answer a question correctly, he or she received a whipped cream pie in the face from the opposite sex. After two rounds, the girls came out ahead by one question.

The tug-of-war competition effectively was eliminated when both teams immediately lost their footing and landed in the puddles of "forbidden fruit" water all over the floor.

While the teams changed into their costumes for the final contest, dance karaoke, the audience was treated to a performance by New and Improv'd. The audience also voted on which songs the teams would dance to: "It's Raining Men" for the boys and "Baby Got Back" for the girls.

Both genders performed equally well in this competition, so "Sex Wars" finally was decided by audience vote in the "best pickup line" tiebreaker. With females comprising about two-thirds of the audience, the girls easily got the win.

"If we could have had absentee voting, I think the guys would have won," Mills said.

"It was close like we knew it would be," Lumsden said. "We got jipped," Davis said. "But all in all, it was a good night."

Junior Connie Maxwell said, "It was a good time," audience member junior Connie Maxwell said. "I'm glad to see the girls come out on top."

Both teams were awarded gift baskets with assorted prizes.