UAF students demonstrated their craziness and caring last weekend at the annual SpringFest celebration.

Classes were cancelled, free food abounded, and students took the opportunity to eat, drink and be merry.

Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. After days of sunshine, Friday was damp and cloudy. The temperature sometimes dropped below freezing, and sleet breezed throughout the day.

Students at the Cutler Apartments blamed the weather for the low turnout.

"SpringFest is terrible. No one is here," said Paul Martz, 21, who reminisced with Eric Hansen, 22 about Case Days years past.

"My freshman year, you had to wade through beer cans the next morning," said Hansen, motioning to the relatively clean sidewalks and calm gatherings.

J.J. Boggs, coordinator for the Leadership Program, said weather also affected volunteer turnout.

About 160 people signed up for volunteering, but fewer showed up due to the nasty weather.

Still, many students overcame the weather. They came to pick up trash, sew teddy bears in the Wood Center, and bake cookies for the Immaculate Conception Soup kitchen.

The Leadership Program has been planning for SpringFest since January and had some new projects this year. Students signed up to help clean parks, build handicap accessible flower boxes and prep books for the Literacy Council of Alaska.

Danielle Ryder, 22, who headed a committee for volunteering for the event, promoted her pet project "Spring Cleanout" by putting up posters urging people to donate their unwanted stuff at the end of the semester to go to a sale next fall.

The proceeds will go to fund Alternative Spring Break, a program that sends UAF students outside of the state during spring break to do charity work.

Volunteers worked from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on projects on campus and around the city. Some students helped make teddy bears in the Wood Center on Friday.

Hundreds of students around campus ignored the cloudy skies and chilly wind, plunging into the other traditional SpringFest activities.

The crowd was a mixture of sensible spectators in stocking caps and jeans and shirtless competitors smearing cold mud.

Just as mud volleyball stands as a SpringFest tradition, so does drinking large amounts alcohol. The activity inspired SpringFests unofficial name, "Case Day."

Alec Venechuck, 23, honored the tradition outside of SAC on Friday. He was on beer No. 13 around 7 p.m. His comrades joked that such a modest consumption of alcohol was "pretty weak."

When asked how he was feeling as he opened his 14th beer, Venechuck said, "Im easy, but Ive been easier."

The Oaken Keg on College Road places Case Day in its top five sales days of the year.

Paul Carlson, assistant manager at the store, said they stock about 20 percent more cases than on usual weekends.

The favorites are Budweiser usually. He said the store usually sells 100 more cases than usual.

Carlson likes selling to UAF students, and said that relative to other campuses he hears about, students at UAF seem to be more responsible drinkers.

People who chose not to drink on SpringFest had the opportunity to win prizes by taking regular breathalyzers throughout the day.

Twenty-four hours of sobriety could earn them prizes. They started Friday at 2 a.m. and got up again at 8 p.m. to ensure they did not have alcohol on their breath.

One woman blew above the acceptable BAC at 8 a.m. because she had just used Listerine. The staff had her rinse out her mouth and try again.

Another man blew a 0.14. He just wanted to see how drunk he was.

Tav Ammu, a sober participant who wore a long curly brown wig and costume, stood in line for free food as he recovered from participating in mud volleyball.

"This is a lot of peoples only purpose to come to college," he said, indicating the crowds of people playing volleyball and eating. "Its a good reason to get down and dirty."