Pucker up for philanthropy

Junior Chris Medlyn comes from an Evansville family with five drivers and two cars. When he was offered a summer internship in Indianapolis, he knew he would be able to stay with his grandparents in Bloomington, but he didn't know how he would make the commute.\nWhen he heard about a contest taking place at Delta Upsilon this Saturday, Medlyn saw his opportunity.\nMedlyn outlasted 24 puckering people Saturday to win a 1998 Ford Mustang in an attempt to raise $5,000 for the Boys and Girls Club of Bloomington and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.\nAlpha Omicron Pi sorority teamed up with Delta Upsilon for Kiss-Off, the fraternity's longtime philanthropy project. The groups purchased the Mustang and sold $5 raffle tickets for a chance to kiss the car, and the person who continuously kissed the car the longest became the owner.\nDelta Upsilon philanthropy chair David Kittle said that Kiss-Off has been around for about 20 years. Because the group did not sponsor the event last year, he said it was a challenge and a goal to bring it back this year.\n"In a fraternity, you can easily organize and really give back to the community," Kittle said. "It's an event that works to get people involved."\nAlpha Omicron Pi philanthropy chair Lauren Bailey said when Delta Upsilon approached her sorority this past October, it jumped at the chance to be part of the event.\n"It's been on campus for a really long time; it's one of the oldest philanthropies and it's nice to be connected with something that's been so established," Bailey said. \n"It's getting people involved," she added. "Half of the people here aren't even kissing the car. They're just here to support." \nFollowing a drawing to select the competitors, selected participants lined up and sprinted across Delta Upsilon's front yard toward the car, where they tried to find the best spot. Some crouched on the ground with their lips pressed against the headlights or the bumper. Others smooched the roof while leaning over those who were getting friendly with the doors.\nWith barely an hour of kissing under their belts, six people had given in, including sophomore Clark Conway.\n"Mentally, I think it's easy, but it drains you," Conway said. "My back was hurting, my knees were hurting and knowing there are 24 people who will stay there no matter what the pain, it's hard to keep going."\nAlthough some might expect chapped lips to be a painful side effect of prolonged car-kissing, the opposite is true. Conway said that the close contact made for a sweaty, spit-covered face.\nKittle agreed. \n"There's been some slobber," said Kittle. "These people are messy kissers."\nEvery six hours, competitors received a 20-minute break during which they could eat, drink, stretch or use the bathroom. To pass the time between breaks, some kissers listened to their iPods or used their cell phones to send text messages. One girl pinned a magazine under the windshield wipers. By 1 a.m., one of the five remaining kissers had set up a laptop on the hood of the car to watch movies.\nAlpha Omicron Pi member Christine Bayt brought a shopping bag with a blanket, hat, mittens, coat and iPod to help her boyfriend pass the time while he kissed the Mustang.\n"His car is not that nice, and he doesn't have the money to buy a new one, so he's pretty determined," Bayt said. "He doesn't really have a game plan, just a lot of Red Bulls at the break."\nAfter 17 hours, however, it was Medlyn who limped away with ownership rights. Medlyn was one of two contestants who made it into the early morning hours and were required to kiss the car while standing on one leg and switching every half hour.\nMedlyn said he never thought about giving up because he knew it was not an option. He prepared for the competition all week, eating complex carbohydrates and stretching. While kissing, he said he listened to different types of music to keep him awake, routinely flexed each muscle group to prevent cramping and ate a lot of PowerBars. \n"I still don't think that it's really set in that I won a car," Medlyn said.\nMedlyn will use the car to travel to his Indianapolis internship and will "make it a respectable Mustang," he said, using an engine his roommate has that was made for drag-racing. \nAs soon as he won, he called his father, who had driven up from Evansville for the night and was staying at Medlyn's grandparents' house.\n"I called him and he came over and basically I just sat in the car because my legs were so tired," he said. "I sat in the car and just enjoyed it"