The new Big Man on Campus

The 2004 Big Man on Campus competition Saturday evening had three categories for contestants to score points, including a talent portion where several guys dedicated their musical renditions to Zeta Tau Alpha members, possibly to increase their scores. But sophomore Lenny Weiss, who would later be crowned the winner of BMOC, dedicated his Elton John musical performance to his mother -- a breast cancer survivor.\nWeiss' family history of breast cancer was just part of the reason he participated in BMOC. Weiss, a member of Alpha Epsilon Phi, said he feels strongly about fund-raising for all medical causes, and would have done the competition for any cause.\n"I would have worked just as hard to make the event successful," Weiss said. "My mom was always in the back of my mind (while performing)."\nWeiss, along with 17 different fraternity members, spent six weeks rallying support by selling T-shirts, bracelets, event tickets and collecting donations. At the end of the night, the BMOC event raised about $72,000.\nJunior Tara Price, philanthropy chair for Zeta, said almost $50,000 would be donated to breast cancer research. Price, who has been working on BMOC since May, said she was "on cloud nine" with the success of the show.\n"The longer you prepare, the more heart strings become attached," Price said. "The guys worked so hard, and came away thinking this was a great experience. I'm going to miss everyone."\nSophomore Christie Cash, member of Zeta, said breast cancer research is part of Zeta's national philanthropy, and said all the hard work for BMOC definitely paid off.\n"It was amazing," Cash said. "We all worked really hard with fund-raising and selling T-shirts and bracelets. No one expected to raise $72,000 ... We beat our goal by $12,000."\nThe theme for the competition this year was "Road Trip" in which each contestant represented a city or state as part of the "road trip to fighting breast cancer."\nMembers of each fraternity came to the show to support their brother in the competition. Sophomore Andrew Gant from Delta Tau Delta, along with his rowdy fraternity brothers, cheered for contestant No. 3, Delt brother, sophomore Matt Schneider.\n"This year was more fun because I'm more involved with the house," Gant said. "I like when the greek community gets together because it shows unity in the greek system; it shows how strong we are on philanthropy."\nAudience members not affiliated with the greek system, like freshman Caitlin Murray, enjoyed the show, even without a certain guy to cheer for.\n"I liked the question and answer part," Murray said. "I think (the competition) was well done and entertaining."\nStraight No Chaser humored the audience with a "Hoosier Girl" version of the Beach Boys classic "Surfer Girl," along with other popular songs. Ladies First also performed the Mariah Carey version of "Hero" to fit the cause of the fund-raiser.\nDuring the talent competition, each guy expressed his own talent, with several contestants playing instruments and singing, and a couple guys dancing. Alpha Tau Omega member A.J. Rich was one of several contestants who sang their own rendition of a famous song, performing a version of Garth Brooks' "Beer Run." Rich sang about being in a fraternity to Brooks' tune.\nBMOC winner Weiss, who is aspiring to be a physician, said he absolutely loved performing, and felt watching a play or listening to music was one of the best ways to heal a sick soul, which is the reason he picked the Elton John theme.\n"The arts is one of the best medicines," Weiss said. "It can do wonders for someone's health."\nWeiss also said the show was successful because of the strong greek community at IU.\n"The greek system at IU is very predominant over other campuses in doing big events and raising money," Weiss said. "It's power by numbers."\n-- Contact staff writer Ashley Lough at amlough@indiana.edu.