Spartan Daily

MP3 Experiment succeeds at SJSU

The MP3 Experiment, an event created by Associated Students, could be a new way to attract students to campus events such as under-crowded basketball games on weekday and weekend nights.

This event was brought on to promote school spirit and get students to the basketball game, according to Marilyn Lowman director of programming affairs.

“I am excited to do it and go to the game afterward,” aviation major Lindsey Jorgensen said.

Despite the early confusion the first MP3 Experiment went well, according to students.

Around 30 to 40 students showed up at the Art building quad near the Student Union to participate. Each student got two glow sticks and a wrist band.

“It looked like fun and something different,” industrial technology major Gianina Canindin said.

The early problems were due to the fact that students hadn't synced their MP3 players, leaving the group not in unison, students said.

Students asked each other, “What minute are you on?” and were able to sync up together.

“It reminds me of flash mobs,” aerospace engineering major Armon Kolver said.

The MP3 experiment was not a flash mob in its truest sense—but it had qualities of a flash mob, according to the dictionary definition of a flash mob.

It was an event in which people were mobilized through social media, however it was not spontaneous.

The first thing that the students were instructed to do was to give everyone a high five. The next thing the students did was to kneel in front of Clark Hall.

A.S. vice president Calvin Worsnup, said he saw the experiment on a YouTube video of the experiment taking place in New York.

“I was just thinking of ways to do something out of the ordinary,” Worsnup said. “I wanted to catch student’s eyes and turn their heads.”

The A.S. vice president was not alone in the process of setting up the event, according to Worsnup.

 Lowman, also an A.S. member, helped out as well.

“It’s a way to get a whole bunch of students doing something together without their knowledge of each other,” Lowman said.

After the kneeling, all the students ran to the Tommie Smith and John Carlos statue and raised their fists to emulate the statues and then took a photo.

Alex Matthews, a freshman industrial design major, was one of the students that spearheaded the event, according to Worsnup and Lowman.

Matthews said that he wants to build a great source of community.

Next, the students were directed to the fountain on Tower Lawn.

“This is Sparta!” the crowd screamed at the fountain.

Two other students were instrumental in bringing about the experiment, sociology major Tanya Koroyan and political science major Teklehaymanot Yilma.

“This idea is really creative and out of the box,” Yilma said.

After the fountain, students went to the front of the A.S. House where they did the chicken dance. The dance was for a video that was being shot by one of the volunteers.

Once the video was completed, the students were next directed to compliment the shoes of pedestrians near them.

Next, the students gathered at the Event Center fountain and were told to strike a pose, some of the students used the cement blocks surrounding the fountain to aid in their poses.

The MP3 track then told students to clap their hands and stomp their feet. When this was completed, the students ran up the Event Center stairs.

At the top of the stairs the event was ended. Each student was given a foam finger, t-shirt and ear buds.

Yilma, Lowman, Worsnup and Matthews then directed students to a free barbecue and told them to stay for the basketball game.

“We hope for a bigger and better event in future years,” Yilma said.

The students then huddled up for a couple of final pictures, and the end of the inaugural MP3 event was celebrated.

The students said they would stay for the game, according to Yilma and Matthews.