Tuesday, November 2, 2010
For three days, Josh Frketic and Nick Sperdute battled to be the Last DJ Standing.
During the competition, the battling DJs had to sleep on the floor, stay out of the Point Cafe and run some of the events held in the hallway for Rock-A-Thon.
On the last day of Rock-A-Thon, Frketic, who was exhausted when it was over, won by raising the most money. The Last DJ Standing event raised a total of $200.
"I [myself] raised $115, which was more than was expected [and] I was extremely happy- not to mention I won," Frketic, a senior broadcasting major and sports director for Point Park University's radio station, WPPJ, said.
The contest was worth it for Frketic because he was able to help the children at the Early Learning Institute, a provider of early intervention and early childhood education programs for Allegheny County. It was also worth the work for Sperdute, a sophomore broadcasting major, who raised just under $100 for the charity.
"It was really for a good cause and made it worth sleeping on the floor and eating Cafe food for a couple days," Frketic said.
Passerby witnessed the most difficult aspect of the competition: the contestants' obvious lack of sleep. Confined to the hallway outside the Cafe for the duration of Rock-A-Thon, Frketic and Sperdute seldom found a moment to sleep amid the wires and their broadcasting equipment.
"[The] hardest part was sleeping by far, but it was all hard," Frketic said. "I did not think it was going to be, but it really was. Sitting in one place and seeing the same things for a long period of time is tough on the mind."
Along with sleeping on the floor, the contestants had to stay in the hallway the entire time, which meant no showers and no going to the Cafe. The contestants had to bring their own food or have friends bring food to them during the competition. The rules were rough on Frketic who depends on his daily shower.
"Usually, I need a shower to function in the morning," Frketic said. "So instead of showering, I had to get someone to bring me coffee, lots of coffee."
After the contest was over, Frketic returned to a busy schedule.
"Well, the first thing I wanted to do was shower and sleep, but I had a flag football game that I played in, then showed and just hung out," Frketic said. "I slept like a log that evening though. The bed felt unreal."
Sperdute did not have an easy time after the contest was finished either.
"I actually had to go to a class that I'm the teaching assistant for," he said.
In its 30th year, Rock-A-Thon raised $2,400 for The Early Learning Institute. General Manager Anthony Costulas said this year's Rock-A-Thon produced the second largest amount raised in the last 30 years.
Costulas believes the event was an overall success and enjoyed running the event.
"My favorite part was meeting new people, organizing [the events] and getting everyone to work together to make it a success." Costulas said.
The most popular event of this year's Rock-A-Thon was the Pie the CFs event. On the first day, students could pay a dollar to pie different CFs from the school. The event sold more than 300 pies, and the total amount raised was just over $1000 off of the all-time record, which was $3,700 in 2008.
"I really liked being around to see all aspects of the event take place," Sperdute said.
