SLU professor using zombies game for research

CANTON — Humans beware; the horde is here.

Zombies have invaded the St. Lawrence University campus, and it is mathematically impossible for the humans to survive for long.

"Humans never win. The best thing that can happen is everybody is dead," math professor Daniel M. Look said. "It's a moral victory. If you want to win, humanity better start organizing itself really quick."

Mr. Look has been using the zombies-versus-humans battle to teach students in his differential equations class about building mathematical models and population equilibrium points. He hopes to use the model the class develops, combined with an elaborate game of tag, for a research project next year.

Humans versus zombies is a game that is sweeping across the country. "Humans," armed with socks or Nerf guns to throw or fire, try to keep themselves from being eaten and turned into "zombies," who are armed with socks or nothing at all. At SLU, the humans will have socks and the zombies have to tag the humans to turn them into the undead.

"It's so fun watching these kids hiding in the bushes," said sophomore Ashley N. Hartz, who is a neutral party in the battle as a nonparticipant. "The other morning I saw some kid sprinting across campus to escape."

This is the first time SLU has been part of the battle between humans and the undead. SUNY Potsdam has been playing it for years, according to college officials.

The game started at Goucher College in Maryland in 2005 and has spread to more than 350 universities across the country, according to Max J. Temkin, one of the founders of the game.

"We've created a monster. Not in our wildest dreams did we expect this to get so big," the senior philosophy major said. "Playing humans versus zombies is an authentic thing; it's all about letting your guard down and having fun. It's not about 'How is this going to look on Facebook?' It's about being outside and running around with your friends."

The game at SLU began Wednesday and ends today. It's starting small, with only about 80 students playing, but game coordinator Nancy K. Decker, a junior, has big plans.

"I'm actually putting in for organization status so we'll have our own budget," Ms. Decker said. "We want it to be a twice-a-year thing and maybe a daylong thing when the first-years get here."

Funding would help the club pay for the green bandannas that mark who is playing and for posters — and maybe even a comic about the game. Humans wear the bandannas on an arm and zombies put them on their heads.

To get people interested in playing, four students dressed up as zombies and went around campus, handing out information.

"It was epic. I had a bone protruding from my face and scared the crap out of my boyfriend. It was awesome," Ms. Decker said. "A lot of people were like, 'That's really cool.'"

Mr. Look found out about the game through a professor at the College of St. Joseph in Rutland, Vt. He then discovered a research paper from the University of Ottawa and Carleton University, also in Ottawa, studying a hypothetical zombie plague as a type of infectious disease.

From the two of them, he got the idea for his research proposal which, when finished, will be publishable, he said. He involved students to organize the game while he started teaching about mathematical models dressed up like a zombie.

"I'm going to try to get all the data from the schools that play and analyze it," Mr. Look said. "What is the implication of different background factors, like if you're in the middle of a city versus more secluded and the percent of the college actually playing. Using this game for actual academics would be awesome."