User:Alex McCulley/Pumpkin Ralphie

Pumpkin Ralphie was a multiple award winning Jack-o’-Lantern designed and carved by the ENLP 3000, the Intelligent Leadership class in the CU Engineering Leadership Program, class in the fall of 2022 for the CU Boulder School of Engineering annual pumpkin carving contest. Ralphie was created on October 26, 2022 in the courtyard of the Engineering Center on campus. He stayed overnight in the Colorado Space Grant Consortium lab until being placed on display in the Engineering Center lobby on October 27th. Voting was open from 9am -2pm, during which time students, faculty and staff admired the field of pumpkins and cast more than 250 votes. Ralphie was moved to the Dean's office overnight before being retrieved by the class on October 28th for a victory lap around the Engineering Center and classroom (ECCR 110). Ralphie went home with students and spent Halloween weekend as the life of the party at the Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity.

Competition
The University of Colorado Boulder Engineering Pumpkin Carving Contest is the pinnacle of the annual Halloween celebration put on by the college of engineering. Timeline/Description decorating, etc. as soon as captain is selected after the event or take with you
 * Team Captain meets with department about design ideas, who will be doing the
 * Team Captain selects pumpkin from the CEAS HR Office ECAD 140 beginning Tuesday, October 18th
 * Department has until October 27th to decorate pumpkin
 * Unit pumpkin must be on display in the main lobby by 8:30 AM on Thursday Oct 27th
 * Judging takes place from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM
 * Winners announced at approximately 3:00 PM to the entire organization via email
 * Pumpkins need to be picked up by 4:30 PM at the latest
 * Pumpkin disposal – please put in composting bins which will be located in the EC Lobby

The only rule is that it cannot be inappropriate. Categories: scariest, engineering themed, classic, funniest, CU themed, best overall (all entries are automatically included in this category) The Winner of the best overall category gets a pizza party for the creators. 252 votes were cast on October 27th, 2022… Pumpkin Ralphie won CU themed category and tied for first place in best overall!

The other contest winners were: Scariest and Classic: John Bacus in ATLAS

Engineering themed: Jonah Spicher and Lauren Darling in the Integrated Teaching and Learning Program

Funniest: Min Ning in Engineering Administration

Other two best overall winners: Natasha Ouellette and Humsini Acharya in the Integrated Teaching and Learning Program:

Bold Center Team:

CU vs CSU Rivalry
A football rivalry starting in 1893, between the University of Colorado Buffaloes and the Colorado State University Rams has become an important part of CU culture. To capture this spirit and be competitive in the CU themed category, referencing the |Rocky Rocky Mountain Showdown was an important part of the design of Pumpkin Ralphie. The CSU ram mascot was carved into the pumpkin held in Chip’s mouth to emphasize CU pride.

Materials
The central pumpkin of Pumpkin Ralphie was provided by the University of Colorado Boulder, as per the rules of the competition [insert source (a)]. Additional items to assemble the pumpkin were purchased by the course’s professor, Alex Dietrich (link page) [insert source, receipt]. All materials used for Pumpkin Ralphie are compostable and environmentally friendly.

Carving kit, pumpkins, Sargent Art Tempera Paint(gold, black. non-toxic), wiggle eyes from Creatology, furry grass, glue, sharpies, plates, paper cups, wooden stakes, CU themes face stickers (sourced from Kings Soopers), pipe cleaners, black felt

Sustainability
CU has adopted definitions and principles of the Zero Waste International Alliance (ZWIA) to achieve its goals of sustainability including 90% diversion of waste from landfills and incinerators. Following the guidelines of CU’s commitment to sustainability, Pumpkin Ralphie was created with compostable and recyclable materials.

Process
Pumpkin Ralphie began with a simple concept sketch with pen and paper. Once the idea was solidified, the top of the pumpkin was cut out and the interior was hallowed out. A Sharpie was used to outline Ralphie’s face, eyes, nose and mouth. The whites of the eyes and the mouth were then cut out and wiggle eyes were glued onto the remaining part of the eye. Ralphie’s nose and horns were cut from one of the additional pumpkins. Black paint was used to paint the horns, nose, and the face surrounding and a mixture of gold and yellow paint was used to paint Ralphie’s face. Small wooden stakes were used to attach the horns and nose to the exterior of the pumpkin. Using a paintbrush, glue was spread across the back half of the pumpkin and the furry grass was pressed into the wet glue. A tail was fashioned from the stem of one of the additional pumpkins by painting it black and gluing it to the rear. Ears cut out of black felt and attached by cutting small holes and gluing attached pipe cleaners inside the holes. Black stickers with the Colorado Buffaloes logo that resemble eye black were placed beneath each eye. Four hooves were cut from small paper cups and painted black. The Colorado State Rams logo was carved into the remaining additional pumpkin. This was then placed inside the mouth of Pumpkin Ralphie. The entire assembly was lowered onto the top of the four cups which lay on top of the remaining felt.

Friends and Family
From the creation of the pumpkin to its final days, the soul of Ralphie was awakened and sustained through its family, the ENLP 3000 program. Its life, and legacy, was created with love and its spirit lives on in the hearts of its family and friends of the CU Boulder Engineering Center forever. Ralphie was inspired initially through the brainstorming of pumpkin carving ideas for the annual Engineering pumpkin carving contest. The idea of her creation reigned superior over all others, unanimously winning the approval of her family, and urging the idea of her to transition into the production stages. Fellow student Carter Andrew was responsible for overseeing the entire process of Ralphie’s creation as well as the design for the pumpkin itself. He added brilliant ideas of hooves, facial structure, and a tail. Our instructor, and Mom of Ralphie, Alex was responsible for supplying all materials, funding, and snacks for our Wednesday workshop when we created the pumpkin. She supplied food for Ralphie's family which increased creativity and warmth towards her production.

Class Roster: Instructor: Alex Dietrich Carter Andrew *TEAM CAPTAIN Grant Barnes, Joshua Beijer, Robert Benke,Dylan Mckellar Blake, Brayden Robert Curry, Clayton D'epagnier, Talen Fischer, Florian Frick, Michael Gross, Mark Stephen Haley, Emma Hopson, Alexander Mcculley, Taylor Meyer, Ella Marie Mumolo, Monique Ness, Dayn Reoh, Noah David Schwartz, Luke Seifert, Angelo Sabatino Vacca, Shreenija Vadayar, Travis Wood

Impact
The impact of Pumpkin Ralphie can be measured at the classroom, school, and societal levels. In the classroom, it brought the students of ENLP 3000 together on a collaborative group project. This group collaboration builds strong bonds between students that aids in the absorption of information in class and among peers.

Throughout the greater spectrum of the University of Colorado, Pumpkin Ralphie represents the endless feud between Colorado State and CU Boulder. The cannibalized CSU pumpkin held within the mouth of Pumpkin Ralphie further incites the ferocity and savagery between the rival schools.

Ralphie has an impact beyond the bounds of the traditional college mascot rivalry. In the greater Denver and Fort Collins area, CAM the Ram is a common household name. The brutal depiction of the cannibalization of their mascot influences the youth in a way that could lead to less application submitted by upcoming students. The impact of Pumpkin Ralphie in the denver-metro area cannot be quantified in layman’s terms. The only impact we can draw for certainty is the absolute demoralization of any CSU fan that happens to see the outstanding performance of Pumpkin Ralphie in the CU engineering pumpkin carving competition.

Final Days/Disposal of Remains
Pumpkin Ralphie went out with a bang. He spent his final weekend at a Halloween party in the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity house of Boulder, CO. Early on in the party, there was an attempt to steal him made by a group of girls in cat ears. They were scolded and removed, and Pumpkin Ralphie spent the rest of the night in a safer environment. By the end of the weekend, Pumpkin Ralphie became quite deflated, growing mold and losing its natural pumpkin shape. Pumpkin Ralphie will have its eyes properly disposed of and will spend the rest of eternity returned to back to the earth, buried at Beach Park, Boulder, Colorado.

Obituary
He started his life as much of us have, by coming from the earth and emerging into this world we call life. He never had much say in who would buy him, if he'd be turned into homemade pumpkin, cut into a Jack-O-Lantern, or simply smashed for some good halloween fun. Fate destined Ralphie Pumpkin to be bequeathed to class ENLP 3000 for the annual CU Engineering Pumpkin Carving Contest. His final form was still unknown, but he managed to keep a smile on his face everyday. Ralphie knew how to enjoy life and make sure he milked every drop possible. Some would say his greatest accomplishment in life was winning the award of “Best Spirit”, but he took more pride in his celebrations of victory rather than the victory itself. Ralphie retired from his career as “Best Spirit” pumpkin to enjoy a more leisurely yet still exciting life as a frat house pumpkin for the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. His timing for retirement could not have been better timed as his last days were spent enjoying the fun filled halloween festivities. No one was able to keep up when they started going Shot for Shot, and he even managed to run away from police to avoid receiving a D&D. He was truly a legend.

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