Zombie Game Roleplayers Seek Removal of Nerf Gun Ban

[Kaos]

http://media.www.bgnews.com/media/st...-3283454.shtml BG Undead searches for support to use Nerf guns By: Ryan Sullivan Issue date: 3/26/08 The University might hamper the second round of BG Undead's game play after the announcement was made last week to place an immediate ban on the use of Nerf guns on campus. The game, a version of Humans versus Zombies, is still going to be played but it's going to be more difficult for the humans to survive, said senior Atonn Smeltzer, the web administrator for the group. Humans versus Zombies is a game played between two teams, the humans and the zombies. The goal of the humans is to survive the zombie attack by not being "bitten" and turned into a zombie. The human's main form of defense used to come in the form of Nerf guns, but is now being downgraded to balled up socks and marshmallows. The zombies win the game by turning all of the humans after placing both hands on a human's shoulders. "All of the game play will still be the same, just no Nerf guns," Smeltzer said. Smeltzer said he and group president Peter Geldes were called into a meeting with Associate Dean of Students Jeff Coats to discuss one of the University's new policies. While in the meeting, the group was told the game was in danger of being canceled due to the number of calls the University received last semester from concerned parents. After Smeltzer and Geldes pleaded their case, the University notified them a few days later and told the group they were allowed to play their game, just without the Nerf guns, Smeltzer said. "We were caught by surprise [by the ban]," Smeltzer said. "This was last Tuesday and we received a call on Thursday banning guns." Not all members of BG Undead are taking this as the final word from the University. Several members have started a petition to get the University to allow the game to use Nerf guns, Smeltzer said. He said groups from other universities have shown support for the petition, including Ohio University's group, which has sent electronic signatures to add to what BG Undead has collected. "We have been in contact with the game creators and their school [Goucher College] and they are in favor of it," Smeltzer said. Smeltzer said BG Undead is going to be featured in an article by the Washington Post about the game itself and how well the group is organized compared to other branches. He is hoping the University will use this as motivation to allow the use of Nerf guns. Geldes said the decision was brought about by the President's Cabinet of the University and they were seriously considering canceling the game altogether. University officials were not available by press time for comment. Nerf has donated weapons to the group for use before and is in support of BG Undead, but they are not an official sponsor. This might help persuade the University to allow the use of the guns again, Geldes said. "One of the players last semester had an uncle who worked for Nerf," Geldes said. "[Nerf] came to the University, talked to the group, did a Q-and-A and gave us Nerf equipment to use." Geldes said he has not heard of any other schools banning the use of these guns, but has heard of a school in Nebraska banning an assassins game that involved sneaking up on people and shooting them with small water pistols. The group is trying to get the students, faculty and staff of this and other universities that participate in Humans versus Zombies to sign the petition to reinstate the Nerf guns as a show of support. My daughter and I have some Nerf Guns. Looks like we have a new game.

[Mike70]

this is crazy. first off why would the concerns of parent's even be listened to? these folks are adults, their parents don't figure into the equation anymore. and, who in the frak can have a concern about a nerf gun? some people just have to fill their lives with drama i guess. the pussification of america continues to march on...

[Neil]

this is crazy. first off why would the concerns of parent's even be listened to? these folks are adults, their parents don't figure into the equation anymore. and, who in the frak can have a concern about a nerf gun? some people just have to fill their lives with drama i guess. the pussification of america continues to march on... Not knowing anything about them... Is a nerf gun in anyway dangerous?

[MinionZombie]

Nerf guns fire foam thingies. We have them here in the UK, were much larger back in the day, kinda tamed out a bit I think of late. Air powered, flings a soft-ass bit foam missile at you. Anybody who could get hurt by one of those things must be doing something wrong in life. BTW, that game sounds awesome.

[Tricky]

Nerf guns fire foam thingies. We have them here in the UK, were much larger back in the day, kinda tamed out a bit I think of late. Air powered, flings a soft-ass bit foam missile at you. Anybody who could get hurt by one of those things must be doing something wrong in life. BTW, that game sounds awesome. remember that massive nerf bow & arrow that used to be advertised on TV years ago?i always wanted that as a kid! A lot of scenario paintball players use nerf rocket launchers during the games for knocking out tanks,basically theres a square painted on each side of the tank & if you hit that with a foam nerf rocket then the tank is "knocked out" of the game!personally i'd prefer they used a paint rocket that splattered all over the tank,but i guess it wouldnt be very safe if a player got hit by it!

[slickwilly13]

Concerned parents? I guess Dorothy Burgess strikes, again. Seriously, are these parents f#cking stupid? And shame on the university for giving in. Real balls guys.

[Marie]

this is crazy. first off why would the concerns of parent's even be listened to? these folks are adults, their parents don't figure into the equation anymore. The parents sign the checks most often. So in actuality these people, while legally adults have parents that are still in the equation. Trust me on this. M_

[Mike70]

The parents sign the checks most often. So in actuality these people, while legally adults have parents that are still in the equation. Trust me on this. M_ trust you or not marie, i have taught at that level and my wife teaches at univ now. i have never allowed a parent to have any say in a decision nor does my wife regardless of who signs the checks. in fact, neither one of us would even speak to parents about a student - becasue they are adults and that would be a confidentiality violation. regardless of who signs the checks the kids go to univ to get an education and hopefully have a bit of fun. the univ admin should have enough balls to keep parents at bay. further marie, tuition payments make up a very small amount of a universities operating budget. a very small amount. this is esp. true of the larger state univ or the larger private institutions. most that money comes from grants from the state/fed govt., along with endowments and research money that is being dumped into the various depts. of the uni by a multitude of outside sources. in fact the dept. i taught in wasn't supported in any way, shape or form by tuition payments. it was funded out of a trust set up by an extremely wealthy alumni that left pretty much her entire fortune to the dept.

[strayrider]

As a right-wing extremist (with a couple of left-wing twists thrown in for balance) I see this as a Communist plot to disarm Americans. The Reds are expecting a Democratic sweep in the next election and the gun grabbers are chomping at the bit to carry out their evil plans for total domination of the earth. Those kids on campus need to arm themselves with Nerf guns and march on the student union. Any Leftie professor that gets in their way should be "tarred" with Welch's grape jelly and rolled around in sand, then rip the patches from the elbows of their tweed jackets for good measure, spit in their tofu, and unleash a pack of endangered wolves on them. Then, to really torment them, chop down a pine tree seedling while they watch in horror, pour Crisco oil on baby ducks, fire up their SUVs and wave the greenhouse gasses up into the ozone layer with giant fans. -stray- ps -- just joking about the baby ducks. Even I'd go off if I saw that.

[Marie]

i have never allowed a parent to have any say in a decision nor does my wife regardless of who signs the checks. in fact, neither one of us would even speak to parents about a student - becasue they are adults and that would be a confidentiality violation. regardless of who signs the checks the kids go to univ to get an education and hopefully have a bit of fun. the univ admin should have enough balls to keep parents at bay. further marie, tuition payments make up a very small amount of a universities operating budget. a very small amount. this is esp. true of the larger state univ or the larger private institutions. If universities don't need the monies sent in by the parents then why are tuitions rising? Surely paying the costs gives the parents some leeway. Besides this, everwhere _I_ went the instructors had very little if any input in the actual running of the institution in question, and in fact a number have been sacked at parential insistance. Usually because they were intent on teaching the students how rotten things actually are and their values mean nothing. Parents are tired of kids coming out of Uni and spending several years living in their basements instead of getting jobs. It appears we have nothing in common to talk about so rant all you want, I won't be answering. M_

[Mike70]

It appears we have nothing in common to talk about so rant all you want, I won't be answering. M_ well good because you have absolutely no idea what you are ranting about. professors at universities cannot be fired at parental insistence because of the tenure system. once a professor is tenured firing them for anything other academic fraud or a crime committed against a student (or some serious breach of university policy) becomes impossible. this allows professors to teach classes in the manner they see fit. it frees them of strong arming by the university (and by parents) and creates an atomsphere where academic freedom and thought can flourish. as for values: the only value in this world that means anything is knowledge and the pursuit of it.

[Legion2213]

Nerf guns fire foam thingies. We have them here in the UK, were much larger back in the day, kinda tamed out a bit I think of late. Air powered, flings a soft-ass bit foam missile at you. Anybody who could get hurt by one of those things must be doing something wrong in life. BTW, that game sounds awesome. Always the voice of reason Mr MZ. Anybody being injured by a nerf gun should probably not be venturing outdoors at all, lest they get maimed by falling leaves or a strong breeze, and yes, what a cool sounding game.