All but 11 seats were empty in the Culp Center ballroom at 7 p.m. on Monday. The ballroom was set up for a full house, but even 10 minutes after the game show Thinkfast was supposed to begin only a few dozen chairs were filled.
Thinkfast is a game show style setup with Ipods as prizes. Buctainment hosted this event, though it was not paid for by ETSU. The program is funded by the Government Highway Safety Office and travels to colleges throughout the country trying to educate students on the dangers of drugs and alcohol by mixing pop culture questions with ones about the substances.
Despite an eye-catching setup, with four score stands similar to those on Jeopardy, questions presented via PowerPoint-like presentation, a graffiti-style background and loud music, it did not draw much attention, whether because of the overall lack of publicity and advertising for it, or just lack of interest in general.
I had the opportunity to talk with the president of Buctainment, Steven Sherman, and the vice president, Caitlin McCauley, before the show. Sherman said the purpose of the show was, “so students can learn about alcohol awareness and have fun and win prizes doing it.”
Yet, speaking with a student both before and after Thinkfast, that was not the impression made.
When asked why he came to Thinkfast before the game started, freshman Andrew Aguayo said, “To win an Ipod, and to just have fun.” When asked if he was expecting to learn anything from it, he said “Just to have a good time.”
Sherman said, “I think they’ll get some stuff out of it. They’re not going to retain everything, but they should get something out of it.”
Despite Sherman’s hopes, the expectations were low from the start in terms of any alcohol education from the few students that showed up.
The game show setup seemed to be well thought out, even if it was not effective. To start, teams of four people each got an answer pad, in which they would respond to multiple choice questions from their seats in the audience.
After each question the team names, such as “Team USA,” “Republicans,” “Raiders” and “Divas,” popped up on the screen with the updated scores and ranks.
The first round consisted of around 20 questions, evenly balanced between pop culture and alcohol awareness, yet not alternating.
Every half dozen slides or so, a witty commercial, such as one in which a man kicks a bear, and frantically runs when it chases him. The tagline being ‘makes as much sense as driving drunk,’ is slipped in to help get the point across in a more accepted way rather than just a lecture.
After the first round was completed, the four members of the winning team took their spots at the podiums. After a rapid-fire session of 95 percent pop culture questions, the winner received an Ipod.
The second half of Thinkfast was much the same, save for one minor difference. In the podium round, one member from each team had an opportunity to win an Ipod for the whole team.
Yet, despite the sponsor being mentioned at least three times, when asked as a question in this round, nobody could come up with the Government Highway Safety Office.
This proved that the contestants were indeed not retaining much of anything, despite the student friendly setup of the game show.
When the program was over and the Ipods dispersed, I caught up with a student before he rushed out with the rest. Matt Johnson, a freshman, said, “I actually pretty much knew everything about alcohol they asked, and I don’t think I learned anything.”
When asked if he would come back if another opportunity like Thinkfast arrived, he said that he would.
But who would pass up the offer for a free Ipod and some pop culture trivia?
Despite the good times had by the students, it seems that Thinkfast should think a little harder about ways to get the message of alcohol safety across, because this just does not seem to accomplish the goal.

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