Cardinal Points

Issue date: 4/20/07 Section: Fuse

Three Plattsburgh State students have the chance to win $1,000 - and you could be one of them.

Shawn McElwain, assistant director of student activities, and Cori Matthews, director of the Center for Service Learning and Volunteerism, have had the idea to hold a Deal or No Deal game show on the PSUC campus.

The event, which will be based on the NBC game show hosted by Howie Mandell, will begin at 8 p.m. Monday, April 23, in the Angell College Center Warren Ballrooms.

Students attending the event will be required to show a valid PSUC ID card and to fill out a short questionnaire, featuring background questions such as where the student grew up, McElwain said.

"We want to be sure that only Plattsburgh students have the chance to win the prizes," McElwain said.

MJ Garrett, who appeared on "The Real World Philadelphia", will be acting as the host of the game show.

McElwain said he met Garrett at a conference in Nashville and told him about the event.

"He immediately wanted to get involved," McElwain said.

Garrett said he participates in a lot of events similar to PSUC's Deal or No Deal.

"It's one of the neat things that came out of doing 'The Real World'," Garrett said. "I have the opportunity to get people involved and help put on interactive activities for students. Plus, it will be fun to play Howie Mandell. I just have bigger hair."

Garrett will only be in the Plattsburgh area for one day.

"I'll fly in and then fly out," Garrett said. "I'm a travelin' man. I've been doing events, traveling and speaking. For almost four years now I usually travel three to four days a week."

Deal or No Deal will be run just like the TV show, McElwain said. The three contestants will be drawn from the questionnaires the audience filled out and all three will have the chance to win.

The prizes, which range from 1 cent to $1,000, will be given to winners in the form of Cardinal Cash and can be used for anything on campus, such as food and textbooks, or at any of the off-campus locations that accept Cardinal Cash.

For graduating seniors, a check can be requested at the end of the year for the amount they would have received in Cardinal Cash.

"All three students have the chance to win $1,000," McElwain said. "Unfortunately, our budget wouldn't allow for the $1 million prize but we still wanted everyone, seniors included, to get the amount they win."

On top of Cardinal Cash, the three participants will have the chance to win other surprises, McElwain said. The majority or prizes, however, will be money.

McElwain said he is hopeful for a large crowd, anywhere from 300 to 500 students.

"We put a lot of planning into this event," McElwain said. "It took longer than we thought to get everything organized."

Although registration will end at 8 p.m. the doors will remain open for any students who want to watch the event.

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