Whatās āfragā? The dictionary says itās a noun or verb ā āfrom Vietnam-era U.S. military slang via the games Doom and Quakeā¦ 1. To kill another player's avatar in a multiuser game.ā
Whatās āFrag For Cancerā? Well, it doesnāt have much to do with killing other playerās avatars. In fact, Frag For Cancerārun by Yazeed Sobaih, Evan Oberman and Andrew Ehlerāraises money for the Canadian Cancer Society. Itās really more about saving lives.
Yazeed Sobaih, a third-year commerce student at pilipiliĀž», founded Frag For Cancer.
āMy first year at Dal, in the summer of 2005, my dad was getting ill.ā On Yazeedās 18th birthday, his father was diagnosed with lung cancer. The next summer, Mr. Sobaih passed away and Yazeed began volunteering at the Canadian Cancer society.
He started out canvassing door to door and then proposed a video game tournament as a fundraiser and got the green light. His idea grew into Dalhousieās āFrag For Cancer.ā The third annual Frag For Cancer video game tournament is set for Saturday, October 11 in the McInnes Room in the Dal SUB.
Eighteen-year-old Evan Oberman, who is studying business management at Dal, likens the event to a combined concert and sports game. āI used to play sportsā¦ (but) thereās nothing like the rush of a good game of Counter Strike,ā says the former competitive gamer. Heās an ideal organizer and a technical wiz who built his first computer at 13. āI met Yazeed at (a previous) Frag for Cancer. Weāre both into gamingā¦ we decided weād both work together on Frag for Cancer 3.ā
Thereās a lot to work on. The tournament will feature multiple gamesāDefence of the Ancients, Halo 3, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and the smash hit Rock Bandāand prizes donated by the likes of Alienware and EB Games.
Itās a spectator event as well. āWeāre going to do Rock Band on stage, on a projector. Rock Band is one of those games thatās not only fun to play, but fun to watch.ā
This yearās event is much more ambitious than its predecessors. Yazeed hopes to raise about $3,000 this year, up from last yearās total of $545. āThis is a huge jump,ā says Yazeed. āBut that gives us the skyās-the-limit challenge that weāre going for.ā
So whatās the best thing about Frag For Cancer? āThe whole aspect of planning an event for months, and then seeing it happen in front of me, you know what I mean?ā says Yazeed. āEverything you imagined, it clicks all together. Thatās pretty good satisfaction, there.ā
Evan is adamant that the event will be satisfying for participants too. āMost charity events, I find, are just āOK, come, donate, and leave,āā he says. āBut aside from being a charity event, (Frag For Cancer) is a fun event people are going to take something out of. Aside from the prizes ā āand there are plenty ā āI met a lot of people last yearā¦ itās a great way to meet other gamers, and we get involved supporting a good cause.ā