Rock-It concludes RAMS

By Jess Camp

Published Feb. 27, 2007

Surrounded by men in drag and women in kick lines, RAMS participants ended a month of philanthropy events with its annual lip-synching contest Friday night.

The Blue Note sponsored the annual Rock-It lip-synching contest. The show is one of many fundraising events for Rockin' Against Multiple Sclerosis, MU's largest campus-wide philanthropy. According to rockinagainstms.com, organizers raised more than $68,000 this year for the MS Institute.

Since 1992, the philanthropy has raised more than $400,000 for more than 600 mid-Missourians living with MS.

MS is a disease that attacks the nervous system and affects between 400,000 and 500,000 Americans. In extreme cases, a patient can end up with complete paralysis. MS mostly strikes people when they are in their 20s or 30s.

Rock-It is the highlight of the month-long fundraiser. Rock-It began with Phi Mu sorority grooving to a melody from Sister Act 2.

Freshman Lydia Priebe, a member of Phi Mu, said she was glad to have the chance to perform in the finals.

"It's exciting. All of our hard work is paying off," she said.

Jessica Dunegan, also a member of Phi Mu, said she looked forward to performing in the finals.

"It's pretty exciting," she said. "We've been practicing for about a month. I love dancing, and this is for a good cause."

Freshman Michael Moss, a member of Farmhouse fraternity, said he wasn't embarrassed to have his mom and dad in the audience.

"I'm glad they could see me," he said.

Farmhouse members put on a show that got the most laughs of the night. They did a skit to a mixture of jungle-themed songs. The act's finale occurred when a male dressed in a skirt and spaghetti-strapped shirt played the love interest of another scantily clad man, and embraced at the climax of "Can You Feel The Love Tonight?" They altered their act from Monday night; this time the two leads kissed each other on the lips.

Last year, Rock-It was held at Midway Expo Center.

"I like this venue better, but it's smaller. I like that it's not at Midway," said sophomore Ally Barstad, a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.

She said there should be a bigger area for the audience, though.

The event was packed. There were not enough chairs, and people had to sit on the floor and in the stairwells.

Kappa Alpha Theta received the honor of first place for Rock-It.

"This is the best dance our house has done," sophomore Sarah Schultz said. "This has a lot of energy."

She said their act, which was based on the musical Hairspray, had a lot of character. It was not only a song but a skit.

She said the performers practiced for a long time. She said she could hear the song whenever she was trying to study in the studying room in the sorority's house.

There were three categories of winners for RAMS. Little Sisters of the Pearls and Rubies won the organizations category, Beta Theta Pi won for the fraternity category and Zeta Tau Alpha won for the sorority category.

The amount of community service completed, a banner project, the score for Rock-It and other factors contributed to choosing the RAMS winners.