Alumnus will try a world record on for size at IMU

Aaron Waltke will take the idea of layering for the winter to a new extreme Saturday when he tries to wear a record-breaking 160 T-shirts at once.\nWaltke, who graduated from IU in May, will attempt to set a new world record for "the most T-shirts worn at one time by a single human being" by breaking the old record of 155 shirts. He will attempt to put the shirts on at a comedy show at 9 p.m. Saturday in the Frangipani Room in the Indiana Memorial Union.\n"Ever since I was a little boy, I've always wanted to hold a world record," Waltke said. "My idea of the measure of a man didn't come from power or success or money. It was whether you had eaten the most hamburgers or done the most pogo-stick jumps."\nWaltke said he has known he wanted to break a world record for years but realized he had to set his sights on something reasonable.\n"I don't think I could conceivably be the man who has run across the United States the most times or the highest pole vaulter, but I could be the man to wear the most T-shirts at once," Waltke said. "It was that or eating the most jalapenos in one minute."\nWaltke's friend, Phil McLaughlin, an IU senior, is documenting the entire process, including their recent trip to the Guinness World of Records Museum in Gatlinburg, Tenn. McLaughlin plans on using the footage to make a short documentary about the process.\n"I think it's interesting to note what kind of mentality someone breaking a world record has and the drive that goes into it," McLaughlin said.\nWhile some people have laughed at Waltke for thinking he can break the record, most have been supportive, he said. A group on Facebook promoting Waltke's record attempt has more than 100 members, and Waltke said he expects a good crowd for his official attempt Saturday.\nBut Waltke won't be taking any chances about breaking the record. He said he will hold at least one or two "rehearsals" where he will actually break the record in private before doing it in front of an audience.\nWaltke will wear shirts ranging from size small to 10XL, the largest size available. He had to special order about 60 shirts from "big and tall" stores across the country.\nWaltke will appeal to the public for some of the other 90 shirts. He plans to collect donations of shirts outside Ballantine Hall at about noon today and Thursday. Waltke said he will return shirts to their owners after the record attempt and donate any unclaimed shirts, as well as the huge ones he special-ordered, to Goodwill.\n"I'd go just to see if he can do it," freshman Morgan Faske said. "I wouldn't lend him a shirt because I like my T-shirts, but it's a cool idea."\nThe current record-holder, Matt McAllister, a radio host in Santa Barbara, Calif., wore 155 T-shirts on Sept. 15. McAllister said he was skeptical Waltke could break the record during a conversation McAllister and McLaughlin had on McAllister's morning radio show.\nAccording to the official Guinness World Records Web site, there is a strict set of guidelines for official record-breakers.\nWaltke had to send in paperwork months in advance to get clearance for an official record attempt. Guinness researches past records and accepts or rejects proposals to break the records. If Waltke succeeds in his record attempt, he will send Guinness a video tape of the event, as well as newspaper clippings and pictures. He said he doesn't expect to get a spot at the Guinness Museums but said it's possible that the record could be in the "Guinness Book of World Records."\n"The book doesn't list every record; it's more the highlights, but it's conceivable I could be in it," he said.