Patio lights, fog and a fake orange flame illuminated the North Case Hall study lounge Saturday night as seven students received bamboo torches, said last words to their friends and prepared to live a week without beds, television or showers.
Castaways 2, a program similar to the television show "Survivor," began this weekend in Case Hall. The event is sponsored by Case Hall government.
The seven contestants, all Case Hall residents, will spend six days in the hall government office on the third floor of the building.
The windowless room is about the size of a dorm room, with a round wooden table, two sofas, two file cabinets, four plastic chairs and a square pillar through the middle.
Contestants are allowed to leave the room for class, work, religious observances, bathroom runs and other approved events.
The fluorescent light in the game room must be turned off from midnight to 8 a.m. every night and contestants are not allowed to talk to outside friends while participating in the program.
Volunteer monitors ensure no rules are broken.
One castaway will be voted out of the room every night and the group must complete two challenges every day. The daily winner of the challenge will be safe from being voted out of the office that night.
At the end of the week, the contestants who were kicked out of the room will decide on the final winner.
The first-place prize is $400 worth of textbooks from the Student Book Store.
Case Hall government President Brad Harris said the program creates a "melting pot" of students.
"It brings everyone together from all walks of life," he said.
Audience participation is also important, Harris said. The public is invited to watch the daily challenges and ceremonies and a video of the contestant's adventures will be aired the following week.
"Last year our castaways became mini Michigan State celebrities," Harris said.
This year, the "celebrities" made lists of five items they wanted to bring with them. Hall government officials picked one item from each of the contestants' lists to be taken into the room.
International relations sophomore Gary Herbert's list included a blanket, pillow, air mattress and the board game Catchphrase. Hall government officials permitted only the board game.
Other items brought in by contestants include a guitar, a laptop computer, notebooks and a toy hamster.
Herbert said he looks forward to the week of isolation.
"This comes at a perfect time for me because I gotta get myself in transition for finals," he said. "I've been doing nothing but drinking too much and partying too hard and a week with nothing but my books is going to be good, if I make it that long."
International relations sophomore Shaun Freiman said he wanted to be a contestant after watching last year's program.
"I don't think it's going to be terribly dramatic," he said.
"We all seem like pretty amiable people."
