By Donald Osmond
Utah Valley State College students got more than they bargained for at a free car contest ? vomit, soiled pants and dehydration was the price to pay to win a ?95 Ford Taurus.
The ?Hold on to the Car? competition, sponsored by the UVSC student government, challenged students to hold onto a car as long as they could; and the last one standing would win a used car purchased by the school.
However, participants were not allowed to go to the bathroom or switch hands during the competition.
The contest started at 8 a.m. Wednesday with 44 UVSC students with the will to win, but by 2 a.m. on Thursday students were fading fast, said Shawn Bunderson, a member of the social committee at UVSC.
?Some people were dehydrating, but that only caused more problems,? Bunderson said. ?People were throwing-up and peeing their pants.?
Nine hours into the contest, Andrea Carr, a UVSC freshman from Indiana, said she decided it was time for her to go home.
?I am exhausted and my back hurts,? she said right after she took her hand off the car. ?My whole hand hurts: my wrist, my fingers, all the joints in my hand -- hurt.?
Joey Toone, a member of the UVSC social committee, said the competition came down to two contestants who were challenged to stand on one foot while holding onto the car.
After 45 minutes, Mary Schauerhamer, who later won the competition, offered her opponent $175 to walk away, Toone said. He didn?t accept.
Schauerhamer won the competition after 21 hours because her opponent lost his balance, causing his hand to slip from the car.
Members of the student government said they started asking themselves if this was ethical, but Bunderson said there was nothing they could really do about it now, and the students did sign a waiver.
UVSC is known for having the wild activities BYU wouldn?t dare to, said Toone. The social committee, under the direction of the student government, tries to make campus life interesting here at UVSC, he said.
?Last time we did this contest it was for a LoveSac,? Bunderson said.
Half of the students said they wanted the car because they need transportation; the other half said they wanted to sell the car just for the money.
Peter Holme, a senior at UVSC, said he was in the contest to win his own car.
?I drive my parents car,? he said. ?But I want my own.?