A campus activities support group will co-sponsor a co-ed mud volleyball tournament to which the DeKalb Fire Department will donate 1,000 gallons of water.

Chris Lussow, president of the student group OPRA, said this will be the fifth year of the tournament, held in both the fall and spring semesters.

Mud volleyball begins today at 2 p.m. and goes until dark, and picks up again Saturday at 9 a.m. until dark. Sunday’s teams will play from 12 p.m. until the tournament is finished.

Lussow said OPRA is a student group that attends NIU activities to enocourage support among the students.

In the past, NIU allowed the group to fill a pit, located in Eco Park on the west side of campus, by pumping water out of the West Lagoon, he said.

Lussow said that due to the summer drought, NIU is unable to allow water to be pumped from the lagoon. Instead, the water has been donated by the DeKalb Fire Department.

“They (University Programming and Activities) told us they’d have to truck it in and it would cost us an arm and a leg and then some,” Lussow said.

Vicki Bray, UP&A receptionist, said it would cost more than $400 to have the necessary water brought into the lagoon area. She said the office was willing to help the group in any way possible and gave them time to find a less expensive way to get the water.

Lussow said they would need about 800 gallons of water to initially fill up the pit. He said that because of the water problem, the group’s plans were delayed and that said UP&A was unable to provide university equipment such as trash cans and extension cords without “ten working days” notice. “We reserved it before school and they’ve (UP&A) known about it all along,” Lussow said.

UP&A Director Michelle Emmet said, “The receptionist talked to these gentlemen (OPRA) quite a few times. Last Friday the contract (to hold the tournament) was typed and they said to hold it until Monday and no one (from the group) came in until Tuesday.”

Emmet said that although the office was aware of the tournament, procedures have to be met before NIU assistance can be arranged. She said that first the information for the contract has to be written, taken by the group to be read, signed by OPRA and a faculty adviser and returned to the office.

The contract signing process has to be completed withing ten working days and “we (UP&A) were giving them up to five days,” Emmet said.

“They are a student organization that is mad because they didn’t follow the policies,” she said.