UNR “Assassination Game” to be altered afterall

Monday, April 26, 1999 | 5:50 a.m.

Student leaders had said on Friday they intended to go ahead with the squirt-gun competition and would ask students to wear a simple blue ribbon in remembrance of the victims of the attack at Columbine High School.

But Jake Wiskerchen, UNR's vice president of programming for the student body, said Monday they had changed their minds and would use the stickers instead of squirt guns to stalk and mark each other.

"After taking a good hard look at it, we decided this isn't really something we need to continue with," Wiskerchen told KRNV-TV.

"We can change it with a simple change. Nobody is going to object and it's going to be a lot better for everybody involved," he said.

Nicole Alberti, a UNR junior, and Grace Sampson, a UNR freshman, were among those who supported the move.

Alberti said it was a sign of respect "to what happened in Colorado."

"To change around the game so people would not be offended is quite thoughtful of our school," Sampson told KRNV.

But not everyone agreed.

"I think that is kind of ridiculous. It's squirt guns. It's been played for a long time. It should not be changed," UNR student Bobbi Jones said.

The "assassination game" is part of the 86th annual celebration of Mackay Week - a week of games, barbecues and music honoring John Mackay, one of the mining barons of the Comstock Lode whose family helped build the university.

The game has been popular on the UNR campus for about 10 years. Students still "alive" at the end of the week are eligible to win a VCR.