Northwestern’s campus had another structure built on it this weekend. It might melt before the week is over, though.
Just past the Arch stands a hollow mound of snow with a hole for an entrance. Eleven students from Canterbury Northwestern made the igloo, said Pat Fennig, a Weinberg junior who’s part of the group. Inside it is a tray for visitors to make donations to the United Nations Millenium Development Goals.
The igloo took almost a full day to complete, from about 9 a.m. Friday through to Saturday morning. Fennig and others just gathered a big pile of snow, compressed it, and hollowed out the inside. With just sleeping bags, they spent the night in the igloo.
“It did a pretty good job of keeping us warm,” Fennig said.
A handwritten cardboard sign outside asked students to donate to the cause, and another sign invited them in. But many students, including Weinberg sophomore Katarina Petras, were still confused.
“It’s definitely attention-grabbing, but if it had more information on these goals, it might be better,” Petras said.
Medill sophomore Carley Ribet agreed.
“It’s a good way to grab people’s attention, but they need bigger signs to tell what it is,” Ribet said.
The igloo is getting attention from passersby. Two girls walked past and exclaimed, “Aw, how cute,” while another group of students laughed and wondered out loud if anyone was inside. More than one person stooped down to look inside the shelter before walking away. Some were intrigued, some were amused and some were confused, but few didn’t take at least one look at the igloo.
“I had no idea about this,” said Weinberg sophomore Alli Kuntz. “I wish I knew more about it though.”
The United Nations Millenium Development Goals are eight specific goals for all countries in the UN to achieve by 2015. These goals include eradicating extreme poverty, promoting gender equality, reducing child mortality and combating HIV/AIDS and other diseases. Fennig built an igloo for charity his freshman year too, to benefit victims of the 2005 tsunami.
Weinberg junior Leonid Stosman had other things on his mind though. He jumped through the hole as soon as he saw the igloo Sunday afternoon.
“As a kid I always wanted to build an igloo, so I wanted to see what was going on,” Stosman said.