theSpread

FEBRUARY Issue

SINGLE? LONG DISTANCE? DON’T

KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT?

HOW TO CELEBRATE VALENTINE’S DAY

HOW TO THROW A PARTY

SPORTS DRAMA:FROM FAKE GIRLFRIENDS TO COACH BREAKuPS, WE’VE GOT IT ALL COVERED. . .

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFEmily Waldron

ASSISTANT EDITORSarah Soenke

DESIGNCaroline Broler

Austin BairdMinjoo Lee

Taylor OdishoAngela Yang

STAFF WRITERSTaylor Odisho, Scott Gantner, Sarah Soenke,

F. Amanda Tugade Dan Broderick, John Edwards,

Melissa España, Imani Brooks, Bailey Bryant

Blaize SterwartAngela Yang

Cory HolbrookMariah SuttonMaisie SackettLiz Amanieh

EDITORSAmanda Tugade, Elise

King, John Edwards, Lau-ren Rohr, Philip Johnson,

Sarah Soenke

PHOTOGRAPHERScott Jackson

THE SPREAD IS A DIGITAL PUBLICATION OF THE REGISTERED STUDENT ORGANIZATION JAMS (JOURNALISM, ADVERTISING & MEDIA STUDENTS) OF THE

COLLEGE OF MEDIA AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

ADVERTISINGFor further details, contact us at spreadjournalism@gmail.com

ADVERTISINGFor further details, contact us at spreadjournalism@gmail.com

BY SAM EDWARDS

he weekend is approaching and your homework load doesn’t look too scary, so what do you want to do? Go have some fun and party of course! But if

you’re like me, you’re probably getting tired of frat parties with room-temperature key-stone and nothing to do but play beer pong. Or sticky, crowded bars that you have to pay a silly cover fee to get into. You’re fed up and want to take matters into your own hands. You want to throw your own awesome party (yes you do, I know it). Now here are some great tips to throw a disaster-free bash that everyone will love.

1. Have food, preferably good food.If you simply throw together a random party, you know some of your friends will show up. But if you have food, more of your friends will show, and want to invite their friends, and everyone will love you. Seriously, don’t we all get the munchies when we’re out having fun? Why don’t people ever have snacks? So, come on! Break out the chips and salsa, bake some cookies, or make some pigs in a blanket. You know, fun stuff. Or tell friends to bring some good snacks; it’s super easy to get a few peo-ple to chip in. Nom nom nom.

2. Provide a good variety of beverages.

Serving nothing but Keystone is a genuine party foul. Don’t do it! I like to have a nice variety of beer and hard liquor, depending on what my guests (well, at least the ones I know well enough) really like. But, I also would rec-ommend providing soda AND lots of bottled water. Trust me, many guests will appreciate being able to just grab a Coke when they want to cool it on the booze. They will also happily clear out your supply of water at the end of the night if you let them, and will thank you the next the day for saving them from dehy-dration and hangovers.

3. Hide breakable items you don’t want broken.

This should be a no-duh. Otherwise some-thing will get broken.

4. Make some good playlists.I’m not the best at this, so I would tell friends to bring iPods/phones with their favorite par-ty tunes.

5. Have more games to play besides just beer pong and flippy cup.

Everyone likes to play beer pong, but not all night! You gotta break out the catch phrase too. And don’t worry about whether it’s a drinking game or not, because anything can be made into a drinking game if people really want it to be. My top recommendations are Catch Phrase, Telestrations, Things, Say Any-thing, etc. Card games can be fun too, as can video games like Super Smash Brothers Brawl or Mario Kart.

6. Clean before the party, and keep cleaning supplies on hand.

Having a dirty apartment is also a party foul. Please actually clean it before your guests ar-rive. This means wiping down surfaces, clean-ing the bathroom, etc., not just clearing away clutter. Also, keep quick clean-up supplies like Lysol and Clorox wipes in easy-to-reach plac-es if any messes occur during the party, which they likely will.

7. Check with neighbors.This is a step that most people like to skip, but it wouldn’t hurt to give neighbors a heads up that you’re throwing a party, and maybe even invite them too to be polite. And let them know that if they are uncomfortable with any rowdiness at any time that they can just personally ask you to keep it down instead of calling the cops. No one will be happy if your party gets shut down for noise.

Party on.

T

18

he weekend is approaching and your homework load doesn’t look too scary, so what do you want to do? Go have some fun and party of course! But if

you’re like me, you’re probably getting tired of frat parties with room-temperature key-stone and nothing to do but play beer pong. Or sticky, crowded bars that you have to pay a silly cover fee to get into. You’re fed up and want to take matters into your own hands. You want to throw your own awesome party (yes you do, I know it). Now here are some great tips to throw a disaster-free bash that everyone will love.

1. Have food, preferably good food.If you simply throw together a random party, you know some of your friends will show up. But if you have food, more of your friends will show, and want to invite their friends, and everyone will love you. Seriously, don’t we all get the munchies when we’re out having fun? Why don’t people ever have snacks? So, come on! Break out the chips and salsa, bake some cookies, or make some pigs in a blanket. You know, fun stuff. Or tell friends to bring some good snacks; it’s super easy to get a few peo-ple to chip in. Nom nom nom.

2. Provide a good variety of beverages.

Serving nothing but Keystone is a genuine party foul. Don’t do it! I like to have a nice variety of beer and hard liquor, depending on what my guests (well, at least the ones I know well enough) really like. But, I also would rec-ommend providing soda AND lots of bottled water. Trust me, many guests will appreciate being able to just grab a Coke when they want to cool it on the booze. They will also happily clear out your supply of water at the end of the night if you let them, and will thank you the next the day for saving them from dehy-dration and hangovers.

3. Hide breakable items you don’t want broken.

This should be a no-duh. Otherwise some-thing will get broken.

4. Make some good playlists.I’m not the best at this, so I would tell friends to bring iPods/phones with their favorite par-ty tunes.

5. Have more games to play besides just beer pong and flippy cup.

Everyone likes to play beer pong, but not all night! You gotta break out the catch phrase too. And don’t worry about whether it’s a drinking game or not, because anything can be made into a drinking game if people really want it to be. My top recommendations are Catch Phrase, Telestrations, Things, Say Any-thing, etc. Card games can be fun too, as can video games like Super Smash Brothers Brawl or Mario Kart.

6. Clean before the party, and keep cleaning supplies on hand.

Having a dirty apartment is also a party foul. Please actually clean it before your guests ar-rive. This means wiping down surfaces, clean-ing the bathroom, etc., not just clearing away clutter. Also, keep quick clean-up supplies like Lysol and Clorox wipes in easy-to-reach plac-es if any messes occur during the party, which they likely will.

7. Check with neighbors.This is a step that most people like to skip, but it wouldn’t hurt to give neighbors a heads up that you’re throwing a party, and maybe even invite them too to be polite. And let them know that if they are uncomfortable with any rowdiness at any time that they can just personally ask you to keep it down instead of calling the cops. No one will be happy if your party gets shut down for noise.

Party on.

T

19