1983_03 Insight March 1983

              Alorchaf, 1983
Insight
Student stuffs stomach for Guinness world record
CRIS MONAHAN
Record is not as easy or as fun as
stuffing 20 people in a Volkswagen or
making   the   world's   longest
For tbe six contestants who
participated in tbe first annual
soovlaki eating contest in Fresno, it
was a serious task.
Paul Giangos, owner of Mr. Sam's
Greek and American Food
Restaurant in the Tower District, not
only sponsored the event, but also
participated in tbe contest which was
held on the eve of Super Bowl Sunday
(Jan. 26).
Soovlaki is a Greek specialty
similar to a slush kebob, but tbe
skewer contains lamb and pork. "I
marinate tbe soovlaki in my own
sauce," said Giangos.
Records and noticed there were no
records established with Greek food.
"I couldn't believe it, no Greek
food in the World Book," he said in his
accented English.
Giangos pointed out that tbe
current record of eating 147 soolvaki
had been recorded in tbe Greek
Record Gook in 1972 with each skewer
weighing one ounce. "Here I made
each skewer two ounces for the
contest to establish a new record,''
said Giangos. "This one will be for tbe
Guinness Book of World Records."
In order to prepare for the event,
he had made 2,000 soovlaki. "I haven't
slept or eaten in the last SO hours," be
said. Despite bis hectic schedule,
Giangos said he was going to eat 200
soolvaki.
Two of the contestants, Gibson
Holub and Ryan Barrett, both lO-year-
olds, were hoping to break tbe junior
record in the Guinness World Book.
'I like punishing my body
with good food.'
—Robert Hord
forced into the contest by some of his
friends. "Compared to other Greeks, I
can eat a lot. My Greek friends think I
can win."
Papdopoulos said that he had not
eaten anything all day and his
stomach was a bit nervous.
The contestants were seated at a
long table covered with a white
tablecloth and decorated with
flowers.   .
Each participant was given a
plate with 25 soolvaki. The contest
started at 6:45 p.m. with plenty of
encouragement from the 30 or more
bystanders in the restaurant and bar.
Buzuki music could be heard in
the background mixed with sizzling
sounds from the kitchen, where
Giangos wife, Anna Maya, was
cooking the soolvaki.
The judges, Mike Feher, Dr.
Harry Cost's, and retired Army Major
Benjamin Amirkhanian were seated
at one end of the table. Their job was
to make sure tbe contestants didn't
slide any meat underneath their
plates or into their pockets.
Two of the judges, Feher and
Costis , are instructors at CSUF.
Costis is a statistics instructor and is
chairman of the Information Systems
and Decision Sciences in the School of
At tbe start of tbe contest all tbe
participates appeared excited and
ready for the feast.
One of tbe contestants, Robert
Hord. 30, a student at COS, said be had
been drinking all lands of liquids in
tbe last two weeks, trying to stretch
his stomach.
Hord has been a friend of Giangos
for more than a year and wanted to
help him out. "I like punishing my
body with good food," he said.
Giangos came up with the
soolvaki idea one night while looking
through tbe Guinness Book of World
"I just want to get my name in the
book," said Barrett, a fifth-grader at
Heaton Elementary School. "I know
it's a lot to eat, I've been chewing a lot
of gum," he said.
Holub found out about the contest
through Barrett. "I really want to do
it because I'm hungry," he said.
For Tim Brigham. 28, a student at
Fresno City College, it was a matter
of sheer boredom. "There is not a
whole bell of a lot to do tonight, so why
not-tay and break a record."
"•David Papdopoulos, 20, who is
Greek and a student at CSUF, was
"I've known Paul since he has
been in Fresno and opened his
restaurant in I960," said Costis. "I
thought he came up with a really good
idea."
Feher, an English instructor, said
that tbey had to make sure everything
was eaten on each plate.
"This contest can't be taken
lightly," said Amirkhanian. "We are
knowledgable in .first aid."
"If anyone chokes we know how to
use the Hemlich "^ocedure," said
Feher. "You give the victim a sudden
push into their stomach to bring up
the food." ~~*=S
Between bites of soovlaki,
Giangos would get up and dance on
broken plates that were thrown on the
floor by some of his friends. Zeibekiko
is a traditional Greek dance that actor
Anthony Quinn made famous in the
movie "Zorba the Greek."
Tbe first plate was enough for the
10-year-olds. Holub finished after
eating 16 and Barrett ate 22. "I just
can't eat anymore, I can't stand the
taste of it anymore," said Barrett.
Giangos could finish only 19,
complaining that he had to help in tbe
kitchen and get things under control.
Water and beer were provided for
the last three contestants, who had
been eating for an hour. The second
plate of soolvaki was too much for
Papadopoulos, who finished with 31
and Brigham who finished with 37.
Hord was the last contestant left
eating and was still going at it slowly
but steadily.
"I feel good and want to push my
eating limit," be said.
After receiving his third plate,
Hord, who resembled a football
player, was able to eat only one more.
He finished in 90 minutes with 51
soolvaki.
Giangos plans to have this event
every year on the eve of Super Bowl
Sunday. Next year he will include an
entry fee of $20 for each contestant. "I
want to have it every year, so the
record will get higher and higher each
year."
With the help of this article and
the written testimony of Hord, who
finished eating 51 two-ounce soolvaki
in 90 minutes, this record may get into
the Guineas World Book of Records.
This summer Giangos is
undertaking a new project of making
the world's longest shish-kebob. "I
will make the shish-kebob during the
Greek Food Festival this summer. It
will be built around St. George Greek
Orthodox Church at Clinton and
First," he said.
Fresno may be considered not
only the Raisin Capitol of the world  Eating at a slow but steady pace. Robert Hord was able to pat away 5
but  also  the  soovlaki/shish-kebob  skewers, the most eaten that day.
capitol as well, with the help of
Giangos.
Fraternities 'go dry' during Rush Week
e all a
KENJOHNSON
Insight reporter
Fraternity rush.
Thofc two sVords used to mean
wild parties, a lot of noise and a whole
lot of drinking.
But today at CSUF, the image of
rushing and belonging to a fraternity
Is undergoing a drastic change due
mainly to tbe efforts of tbe fraternities themselves, said Bill Corcoran,
dean of students at CSUF.
"Rush is certainly significantly
" lay thaW it was five years
•rise that fratemiUes are
MM with a
e picture of what tbey
" said Corcoran. "The
 H to be to attract as many
leaspossiNewithapartyandlet
i 'find out about fraternity life
once tbey were In."
Tbe biggest change Corcoran has
seen In this regard was the voluntary
agreement among tbe fraternities to
refrain from serving alcohol one night
during rush week.
Fraternity rush was held at CSUF
Fab. 7-11, and tbe decision to go "dry"
on Tuesday, Feb. 8, was one that was
. on by tbe
a Of the Interf ra temity Council, made up of delegates from each of
the 10 fraternities at CSUF.
Wayne Turner, president of tbe
council, and a member of Sigma
Alpha Epsilon, said there was a
hesitation at first between tbe houses
to not serve alcohol, but tbe agreement was finally made.
"Everyone I talked to was pleased with the way things went on Tuesday," said Turner. "Three or four
years ago alcohol was tbe big thing
and would bring people over, now it
isn't that big. I pledged after'Animal
House'and it was really like that, but
now everything haa changed so much.
I would eventually like to see a com -
paetar/dry rush."
Bob Lundal, administrative advisor to CSUF's fraternities, said a lot
more of the campuses across the
country today are going towards a dry
rush, not because tbey want to, but
because they are feeling pressure
"I don't think that will ever happen here, tbe way things are going,"
said Lundal. "Tbe absolute joy is that
dry rush is a product of the system
here. I think the dry rush element is a
big part of tbe whole change in the
rush program here at Fresno State.
"Sigma Alpha Epsilon was the
first bouse to go dry in 1981 and now
tbe other bouses here have tried it and
see it as an alternative."
One ftaterwlrr at CSUF, Kappa
Sigma, did not serve alcohol tbe entire
week of rush. The fraternity's president, Frank DeLito, said this was
done because they felt tbey would be
rushing a person who wanted to be
there and wasn't there just to drink
tbe beer.
"You can't hide the fact that there
is going to be drinking during the
semester," he said. "But when you're
there to rush, you want to be able to
talk to them on a one-to-one basis and
be sober about it. I think we are going
to continue to go dry."
Eric Johannasen, director of expansion for tbe national office of Delta
Sigma Phi fraternity, has been at
CSUF for more than a month
recruiting new members for his
fraternity.
Delta Sigma Phi is one of three
fraternities that will be organizing on
the CSUF campus over the next three
years.
"I've been to well over 100 campuses across tbe nation and I've never
seen a school like Fresno where there
has been voluntary compliance between tbe bouses to have a dry rush.
Usually it is forced down on them
from the administration," he said.
"Overall, the importance of having a large party is going out of style,"
said Johannasen. "You can still have
a good time without a bunch of peopk
getting drunk and tearing up your
house."
Johannasen said fraternities are
always hesitant to adopt a dry rush,
but once tbey do, they find it to be extremely successful. He said there is
usually a down period* but then
membership picks up again.
The fraternity system at CSUF
has been undergoing a steady growth
the last couple of years and that is the
main reason for increasing the
number of fraternities here, said Lundal.
"I think there are many factors
why fraternities have grown over tbe
years," Lundal said. "For one, there
seems to be a growing trend among
students today for a more traditional
college experience. I think the period
of the late 60s and 70s is a thing of the
peat as far as fraternities are con-
Lundal said just over five percent
of the student population at CSUF
belongs to the "Greek system," which
is five percent under the national
average. »   . t
The reasons why students go
through rush and join fraternities are
numerous; however, life in a fraternity or sorority is not for everybody.
"I wan't real serious when I went
through rush this semester," said
Mike McCalligan, a 22-year-old
transfer from Lakeland Community
College in Ohio. "I wasn't really impressed with what I saw because it
was kind of cliquish."
Dave Cowin, a sophomore-
transfer from Kings River Community College, saw things a little differently.
"I was pretty closed-minded
about everything as far as fraternities
were concerned, but I found out I enjoyed what I saw. I saw 'Animal
House' and felt all tbe fraternities had
a reputation like that," said Cowin,
who became an associate member of
Lambda Chi Alpha this spring. "I
stereotyped the fraternities and it
wasn't right. I found out that they do
have some etiquette and some very
serious principles."
It is these principles that tbe administration at CSUF see as the main
reason for tbe growth of tbe fraternities here, said Corcoran.
"I have had more than one dean
of students from a school in California
call me and \e11 me they wish they had
my systetn," he said. "On this campus, to be quite candid, the thing that
has made me feel good is that the
tendency to regulate the activities of
the fraternities and the sororities has
come entirely from within the
system."
Corcoran said there has been a
genuine concern on the part oTthe
"Greeks" the past five or six years to
control themselves and set their own
boundaries. He did say, however, that- - ■
the administration would step in it
they felt it was necessary.
"Fortunately it hasn't happened
yet," said Corcoran. "We hope the
fraternities and sororities will continued to regulate themselves the way
they are."
Dean defends charge of
'bureaucratic] runarpund'
DIANE PUTLER
Insight reporter
Geoffrey Herbst, a senior in
the School of Business, finally got
into the Management 187 course,
but he is still angry about tbe way
it happened.
In a recent issue of Insight,
Herbst wrote a letter-to-tbe-editor
which said: "This Mgt. 187 class,
which is restricted by the School of
Business to a student's final
semester before graduation and is
a requirement for graduation, is
not available to everyone who
needs to take it
"In other words, those seniors
in business who thought they were
going to graduate this semester,
but can't get into Mgt. 187, are getting the royal screw job from the
school of business.
"What are we supposed to do-
wait around for another semester
when we might be lucky enough to
get into a section' Or another
semester, or another..."
While Herbst and other
students fumed, business administrators and faculty were busy
until  all
enrolled.
"Everyone who needed the
class got in," said Dr. Schramm,
assistant dean in the School of
Business. "Other courses were
dropped and replaced with the
needed 187 courses."
"Things could and should have
been run differently," said Herbst.
"Students should be aware of tbe
situation instead of tbe usual
bureaucratic runaround."        «
A policy that is so stringently
enforced "should be set to accomodate," Herbst said. Jj*tudents
should be told they will eventually
be enrolled in the course, but we
were "left out on a limb." ._
Schramm said the School of
Business always makes every effort to accomodate.
"I don't look at it as a
problem," Schramm said. "It is
hard to predict exactly how many
srudents we are going to have."
"Everyone was taken care of.
I don't want to make a big issue out
of it. Students just have to be patient. We're here to help students,
not  to  go against students."
3£
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for all. And you can help. Contact your local Urban League or write:
National Urban League
500 East 62nd Street
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