2008 Woodie Awards
Students get opportunity to 'Lei Back' during relaxation event
By Caleb Pardick
Rocket Editor-in-Chief
Issue date: 1/20/06 Section: Life
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In short, they can simply lay back and relax.
SRU's University Program Board made sure that upon returning to campus for the spring semester, students had the chance to lei back and relax.
UPB's welcome back event, "Lei Back and Relax," which took place in the University Union lobby from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, featured a handful of activities designed to make the transition back into school easier for students.
Students were given the chance to create their own photo telescope keychains and Hawaiian leis, and also the chance to have any early-semester apprehensions melted away in relaxation chairs.
Samantha Dawson, VP of University Events for UPB, organized the event.
"We (UPB) always like to have a welcome back event at the beginning of the spring semester," Dawson, a junior, said. "We wanted to do something opposite of what the weather is like and we thought a Hawaiian theme would be good."
Simplified Entertainment, a company that provides relaxation chairs and other entertainment at college campuses nationwide, was contacted by Dawson and UPB during the fall semester for the event.
"This is my first year as VP of a committee," Dawson said. "This was an idea we had that came from the ground-up. By the end of October, we had our theme, we knew how we wanted to decorate for it, and we had the entertainment booked, so my committee and I were pretty well-organized."
While a few hundred students created photo keychains, created leis, and took the time to snack on fruit sitting atop tables lined with grass skirts, the most popular attraction of all by far throughout the afternoon was the relaxation and rejuvenation chairs.
The chairs, part of what Simplified Entertainment calls its "CyberDream Experiences," allow students to experience a unique form of stimulation that engages all five senses.
A student is first given a mint to suck on for the duration of the experience. A headset resembling a pair of virtual reality goggles is then placed over the student's eyes. This headset also includes a small tube through which aromatherapy scents pass. An array of calming pictures-including scenes of rolling hills, endless oceans, and blue skies-are seen through the headset as the chair in which the student is sitting softly vibrates.
