An NIU student was injured early Friday afternoon when he tried to ride the Douglas Hall cafeteria conveyor belt through to the dish washing room as a joke.

Michael Acuna’s stomach got caught between the end of one belt and the beginning of another, said Robert Fredrickson, director of residence hall food services.

Bridget Greifenkamp, who successfully completed the conveyor belt trip into the dish washing room, told The Northern Star the pair had heard stories of others doing it and only wanted to surprise the dishwashers.

Acuna declined comment on the issue, but said Sunday night that he is fine.

The problem pops up from time to time, but no one got stuck in the belt before, Fredrickson said. “Over the years, a few people have done it,” he said. But, the opening from the cafeteria to the dishing room is small, he said.

Acuna and Greifenkamp might be in for disciplinary write-ups and incident reports, which probably will be filed in the case.

“We don’t want to encourage such behavior,” Fredrickson said, adding it hurts students’ welfare. Fredrickson estimates the Friday incident tied up dishwashers for at least 30 minutes and said the problem kept DeKalb Police and Fire department officials at Douglas Hall when there could have been another emergency.

The Fire Department would give no information on the incident during the weekend and will not release a report until Tuesday.