As Winter Carnival draws near, most students tend to spend more time indoors bundled up in thick, wool sweaters or wrapped up in blankets. But at this time of year, Sara Paisner '96 spends hour upon hour outside in the cold.
As the Winter Carnival sculpture committee chair this year, Paisner can be seen almost any day of the week out on the Green, hard at work on this year's 20-foot stegosaurus snow sculpture.
"I love working on the sculpture," Paisner said.
Paisner has been actively involved in building the snow sculpture each year she has been at Dartmouth, according to Winter Carnival Publicity Chair Beth Bloodgood '96.
Tim Chow '96, senior co-chair of the Winter Carnival Committee, said Paisner is "really enthusiastic about coming out everyday. She's almost relentless."
Bloodgood said Paisner can be seen working on the sculpture "day in and day out."
"For such a little person, you'd think she'd get lost in the crowd, but when she is out there working on the sculpture, you always know where she is," Bloodgood said.
Bloodgood said Paisner's friends sometimes call her "the four-foot avenger."
Paisner said building the snow sculpture every year is a learning experience, but is also stressful.
She said while the rest of campus is "getting psyched for Winter Carnival," she gets nervous.
Paisner said she first got involved with the Winter Carnival snow sculpture her freshman winter when she walked by the Green and saw two people building it.
"I thought it sounded fun," she said, and she worked on it almost every day that winter.
During the week right before Winter Carnival she and other workers often build the sculpture late into the night, and usually on Wednesday they work all night long, Paisner said.
Her freshman year, she and other workers stayed up all night on Wednesday and then on Thursday night a '95 who was helping got sick. Paisner and others took her to the hospital and did not sleep that night. She said she was exhausted on Friday when Winter Carnival began, Paisner said.
Paisner described this year's sculpture as a 20-foot high stegosaurus standing on a block of ice munching on Baker Tower, which is sitting on a globe.
She said the carnival theme was decided at the end of the summer, and most of the planning for the sculpture took place in October. Paisner worked with Chris Carbone '97 and Chris Aslin '97 to design this year's sculpture.
Paisner said the only thing that bothers her about working on the sculpture is that people do not always help out. She said the committee is trying to get different groups involved to attract more builders.
Paisner said the ski team and other sports teams will be helping build the sculpture this year.
The committee is trying to get Dean of the College Lee Pelton and President James Freedman to work one day, she added.
Winter Carnival co-Chair Amy Henry '97 said Paisner and Bloodgood are "rallying a lot of support" so far this year.
Undergraduate advisors are encouraged to bring their UGA groups to help build the snow sculpture on the Green, Paisner said, as well as to build their own smaller sculptures.
Paisner said she has provided information on how to build a snow sculpture to UGAs and Greek houses.
There is a $100 prize for the best snow sculpture built by a residence hall or house, according to Paisner.
Paisner, who spent the spring on a Foreign Study Program in Kanazawa, Japan and the summer working in Tokyo, is a chemistry major, a member of Delta Gamma sorority, a tutor for the Women in Science Program and a member of the sailing team.
