YouZeum hosts college students, adults

The after-hours event doubled as a fundraiser.

By Andrea Kszystyniak

Published Dec. 4, 2008

MU students gathered at the YouZeum in downtown Columbia on Wednesday evening to allow older patrons to experience interactive exhibits typically enjoyed by children.

College students and adults were invited to explore the museum after hours, out of the path of the young children that usually occupy the newly opened museum. The MU branch of the National Science Teachers Association organized the event as a service program to help to raise money for the YouZeum.

Debi Hanuscin, the NSTA's faculty adviser, said that the event was just one of many that NSTA participates in every year.

"We needed to do something more community oriented," Hanuscin said.

Melissa Weber, a junior and treasurer of the NSTA, said the event was a fun and worthwhile way to raise funds.

"It's fun to just drop in, run around and play for a while," Weber said. "Our focus was that it was just MU students and adults so that they weren't fighting with the kids to play."

YouZeum employee Andi Strackeljahn said the museum encourages patrons to become healthier.

"It's about making healthy decisions," Strackeljahn said. "Things that we do that we think are healthy aren't always. We encourage physical activity and also, safety."

The exhibits demonstrate this. A variety of virtual reality games explained the calorie content of certain foods in a way that young children can understand. Activities to stimulate the brain sat beside an area full of games designed to physically engage youth. A group of students played around in the Virtual Obstacle Course, absorbed with a virtual reality game where the player swats as many bees away from themselves as they can. The students worked themselves into a frenzy, jumping and waving their arms, swatting as many virtual bees as possible.

Nearby, junior Kim Winkler tested how high she could jump, participating in just one of the many physical challenges the YouZeum has as part of its exhibit.

"I've been really excited," Winkler said. "I really like the heart rate measure. It measured your heart rate after a minute of movement."

Senior Katie Stuckmeyer said she found the YouZeum interesting and fun.

"I think it's great that they're trying to get more people into health," Stuckmeyer said. "I'll bring back family, friends or a little brother or sister."

Sophomore Jill Mueller said she enjoyed an exhibit where patrons can use a computer to count calories in certain foods and fix a healthy meal.

"I had a burger tonight and I felt bad about it but when I saw how many calories other stuff had, I didn't feel so bad," she said.