By Sofia Montoya-Deck<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hood\u2019s annual Policies for Dollars competition, where residence halls compete against each other for a $1,000 prize, bragging rights and Hood\u2019s fabled Pink Spoon, returns Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the Policies for Dollars competition, students from each of the residence halls participate in building vs. building activities. For the final event, the residence halls come together in Hodson Auditorium to put their Hood College knowledge to the test in a Jeopardy-style trivia battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Students who were originally assigned to live in Memorial will be competing with the halls in which they currently reside. \u201cResidence life staff and the senior team wanted Memorial Hall to compete as a building,\u201d Memorial\u2019s Head Resident Assistant Zoe Finholm said. \u201cAfter we hosted the event to decorate the banner, they decided to remove Memorial Hall from the competition this year because the involvement and engagement was very low \u2013 we had one resident come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDue to the students being scattered around campus, they don\u2019t think of themselves as a Memorial resident,\u201d Finholm explained. \u201cThey think of themselves as a Shriner resident or a Coblentz resident, so it makes sense for them to compete in that building.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Preparation for Policies for Dollars spans many weeks, with resident assistants from each building assembling involvement from their residents as early as September. Blazer, led by Head RA Remy Anderson, began decorating their banner Sept. 26. \u201cSo far, to prepare, Blazer Hall has created our banner and done an Instagram take-over through the Happeningathood account,\u201d Anderson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
KayKay Redden, the head RA for Shriner, has been randomly quizzing her residents to get them excited and involved in the competition. \u201cI think just not knowing what they will ask is the hardest part, but I think we will do fine,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both Anderson and Redden competed in last year\u2019s Policies for Dollars as head RAs of different buildings. \u201cI participated last year as the head RA of Smith Hall,\u201d Anderson said. Redden participated as the head RA of Coblentz. \u201cLast year there were more events,\u201d Redden said. This included decorating the lounges, designing a banner, and creating a building chant, in addition to the traditional Jeopardy game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Policies for Dollars first began in the 1930s when upperclassmen students would quiz first-year and transfer students on Hood history. Traditionally, each hall is assigned a different color; in the \u201880s, students wore costumes instead. Finholm recalled that \u201cOne year, Coblentz was cats, Shriner was crayons and Meyran was ghosts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Policies for Dollars went on hiatus during the pandemic but returned in 2022. Last year, Coblentz took home the title. Blazer placed second, followed by Meyran, Shriner and Smith. According to Redden, Coblentz\u2019s $1,000 grand prize was used to fund a catered dinner from Black Hog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLast year was so great,\u201d Redden said of the Jeopardy competition. \u201cLots of friendly competition and trash talk. It\u2019s nice to see everyone coming together and just having fun.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year\u2019s Policies for Dollars winner will be the first to reclaim the Pink Spoon since 2015. The giant wooden spoon is repainted pink each year so that residents of the winning hall can cover it with their signatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the Pink Spoon back in contention, the competition is fierce. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to say [who will win],\u201d Finholm said. \u201cSmith has a very fun banner, but HRA KayKay won last year in Coblentz, so she might lead Shriner Hall to victory this year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sponsored by the offices of Residence Life and Student Engagement, this year\u2019s event also includes raffle prizes for attendees. Students will have the opportunity to win a TV, a Polaroid camera, speakers and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Policies for Dollars provides an opportunity for students to show off their residence hall pride. Residents should wear their hall\u2019s designated color when representing their building at the Jeopardy competition: Blazer is pink, Coblentz is green, Meyran is black, Shriner is red and Smith is blue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"