"Humans vs. Zombies"
Student-planned game promises excitement, faces safety challenges.
Eric Poole
Issue date: 3/1/10 Section: News
When the phrase "Humans Vs. Zombies" comes to mind, many would think of the various video games, movies, and literature out today with our favorite brain-craving ghouls that are abound in today's media. However, this is a game played by real people - in this case, students. Michael Antonacci, current resident of Thompson Hall, is trying to start such a game. He was told by a friend from another college about this game, which incorporates a popular genre of classic horror with a twist. Imagine, if you will, 100 or more students waking up Monday to a normal school week; however, one of these students is a zombie, marked by a bright bandanna on his forehead. The rest of the students sport the same bandanna, but inverted, simply stating "human". The object of this game is simple enough - be on the human side by game's end.
This becomes a challenge, however, in a game which generally lasts a week and spans the entire campus. During this week-long period, missions which involve a struggle to maintain control of key locations take place all over the school, and whichever faction controls these locations by the end of the day is granted various advantages over the opposing side. As expected, humans tagged by zombies become zombies themselves, but zombies don't have it that easy. Humans are equipped with Nerf guns and stuffed socks, and if a zombie happens to be hit with these, they are frozen in place for a certain amount of time. Not unlike paintball, moderators observe game play and ensure that both sides are playing fairly. The game ends with a final mission on the following weekend involving a "last stand" scenario. At the end, survivors are whisked away to safety to a zombie-free land and survive the nightmarish scholastic zombie horror.
Michael, along with other supporters, ran into resistance to the game when it was presented to Kettering University for its approval. "As a university, we do not want to promote violence," states Director of Student Life Debbie Stewart. After looking into the game herself, Debbie noted several issues with the event of the living dead, including: illegal Nerf gun modifications, students shutting themselves in their rooms to avoid being "zombified", disruption of class, and negative effects on the school's liability. After some debate, Michael posed that, "In order for Kettering University to deny Humans vs. Zombies, they would also have to take a [similar] stance on such events as Ultimate Frisbee, Stoutch ball, and other on-campus, but non-sponsored, Kettering events."
While an interesting proposal, Kettering must follow particular guidelines in order to be properly protected by its insurance company. Betsy Homsher, Dean of Students adds, "Regardless of Kettering either informed or not of any event, the university may be held responsible." Such concerns include unsuspecting bystanders slipping and falling on school grounds to suffer more serious injures. Therefore, just from an overall safety standpoint, it is hard to imagine Humans vs. Zombies will reach fruition in Kettering this 3rd week of winter term. The university's stance is currently against the game given safety and liability issues on the school's urban campus. Organizers remain optimistic, however, claiming that it is not impossible for Humans vs. Zombies to become reality. Michael is now working on changing the game to be more campus-friendly, for example: omitting Nerf guns, preventing inadvertent vehicular manslaughter, and other crucial safety concerns of the game.
This becomes a challenge, however, in a game which generally lasts a week and spans the entire campus. During this week-long period, missions which involve a struggle to maintain control of key locations take place all over the school, and whichever faction controls these locations by the end of the day is granted various advantages over the opposing side. As expected, humans tagged by zombies become zombies themselves, but zombies don't have it that easy. Humans are equipped with Nerf guns and stuffed socks, and if a zombie happens to be hit with these, they are frozen in place for a certain amount of time. Not unlike paintball, moderators observe game play and ensure that both sides are playing fairly. The game ends with a final mission on the following weekend involving a "last stand" scenario. At the end, survivors are whisked away to safety to a zombie-free land and survive the nightmarish scholastic zombie horror.
Michael, along with other supporters, ran into resistance to the game when it was presented to Kettering University for its approval. "As a university, we do not want to promote violence," states Director of Student Life Debbie Stewart. After looking into the game herself, Debbie noted several issues with the event of the living dead, including: illegal Nerf gun modifications, students shutting themselves in their rooms to avoid being "zombified", disruption of class, and negative effects on the school's liability. After some debate, Michael posed that, "In order for Kettering University to deny Humans vs. Zombies, they would also have to take a [similar] stance on such events as Ultimate Frisbee, Stoutch ball, and other on-campus, but non-sponsored, Kettering events."
While an interesting proposal, Kettering must follow particular guidelines in order to be properly protected by its insurance company. Betsy Homsher, Dean of Students adds, "Regardless of Kettering either informed or not of any event, the university may be held responsible." Such concerns include unsuspecting bystanders slipping and falling on school grounds to suffer more serious injures. Therefore, just from an overall safety standpoint, it is hard to imagine Humans vs. Zombies will reach fruition in Kettering this 3rd week of winter term. The university's stance is currently against the game given safety and liability issues on the school's urban campus. Organizers remain optimistic, however, claiming that it is not impossible for Humans vs. Zombies to become reality. Michael is now working on changing the game to be more campus-friendly, for example: omitting Nerf guns, preventing inadvertent vehicular manslaughter, and other crucial safety concerns of the game.
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