The Omnibus

Issue date: 3/30/07 Section: In the Spotlight

Media Credit: David Van Bebber Senior David Van Bebber waits at a door in hopes to trade one penny for anything bigger or better. Van Bebber, senior Nathan Ross, graduate student Chris Robards and sophomore Andrew Shatto took the game "Bigger and Better" across state lines.

In the past week, most students have been asked at least a half a million times, "What did you do for spring break?" Most students have condensed their answers into a one-line phrase such as, "Oh, I went to the beach" or "I went home." However, Southwest Baptist University seniors David Van Bebber and Nathan Ross still have not found a way to condense their answers.
These two students decided to find out how much they could get for a penny. They hatched a plan to start the break with one penny and go door-to-door, trading the penny for something bigger or better.
They started with a 1956 wheat penny. They began by stopping in Philipsburg, Kansas, where they made their first trade with a man who identified himself as Uncle Bear. The penny was exchanged for some antique ice tongs.
The two then traded the ice tongs to an older lady for an angel statue. Van Bebber described the statue as being about three feet tall, glass, and depicting "an angel on a chariot being pulled by dolphins".
They left with their angel statue and began working on their next trade. They hit pay dirt when a middle aged man traded them a Hibachi grill.
According to Van Bebber, the man did not really want to part with the grill but kept repeating, "I really want to help you guys out."
Ross embraced the beautiful grill, and they continued trading.
The Hibachi grill soon turned into a set of golf clubs. It was at this point when they made, as Ross put it, a "fatal mistake."
They traded the clubs for a miniature trampoline. The trampoline was not as stellar as it had first appeared. While Van Bebber was filming Ross bouncing on the trampoline, it broke.
Hearts heavy with loss, the pair drove to Nebraska to continue the trading the next day. However, nobody seemed to want the broken trampoline. After a day of no success, the trampoline found itself in a Presbyterian Church dumpster.
"So, we went up and saw Mt. Rushmore," Van Bebber explained. "[We] went to Wall Drugs. It's like the biggest drug store in the world. It's in South Dakota. It's a pretty big deal actually, and I didn't even know it!"
Graduate student Chris Roberds and sophomore Andrew Shatto also participated in the "Bigger and Better" plan.
Their dreams shattered as a tire fell off the vehicle and "rolled down the interstate for a thousand feet." They did manage to trade their penny to the tow truck driver for an orange.
Although none of these students got as far in their trading as they would have liked, they did do something quite unique. They had an adventure.

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