The Masters of the Force Convention '01, held last week, established a new record in attendance, tripling last year's effort. Jennifer Clarke (sophomore - astrophysics), the president of the Penn State Jedi Council Club, spoke to us on why attendance was so phenomenal.

     "Last year, I was the only one who came, and I wanted to make sure that didn't happen again. I posted flyers, sent out email, told my friends; I basically did everything I could to make this happen, and I guess it worked!"

     John Wolfe (sophomore - seti) has been a long-time Star Wars fan, but was afraid he'd become an outcast if his "true Wookie-loving colors" were shown. He said the Convention would be a perfect way to get to know others who weren't part of the "dark side."

	Guests at last week's Masters of the Force Convention, before motion sickness set in.

     "I thought everything was well planned, and for the first time in my life, I felt like I was home, on Tattooine. And the equipment that Jennifer had set up in the janitor's closet of her floor, well, it was just about the coolest thing since Yoda said 'There is no try.'"

     The Convention's audio and visual systems, costing in the range of $150 to $200 were nothing to be scoffed at. With an extension cable running from 279 Runkle Hall to the 2nd Floor Runkle janitor's closet, and a 13" TV/VCR combo set up inside, the Convention attendees were in for a treat. A THX mastered version of Star Wars (1977) was shown and one chair was provided for seating. Finally, sparing no expense, Jennifer provided attendees with a pair of 3-D glasses, which, without the 3-D version of Star Wars, proved nearly useless. The glasses did however give all of the convention-goers motion sickness.

     "I thought it was a really good time until we all started puking like a bunch of sick Imperial slugs," said Chris Kelmitz (freshman - DUS).

     "That floor looked about as inviting as the floor in the scene where Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewie are trapped in the garbage compactor, and the floor looks absolutely sickening, and then that thing comes out and grabs Luke," said Wolfe. "I thought something was going to come out of our vomit and grab me!"

     Despite the messy outcome of the Masters of the Force Convention '01, Jennifer says that she plans to hold another one next year. "Luke didn't let Han stay frozen in carbonite, and I'll be damned to the deep confines of the Death Star (before it was destroyed) if I'm gonna let some angry janitor stop my Jedi aspirations!"