GOOD CAUSE FOR LIFE IN A SMALL CAR
By Karla Pincott

Sunday Herald Sun (Australia)
November 19, 2006 Sunday
FIRST Edition

LIVING in your car is usually a sign that you’ve hit rock bottom,
but for two young Californian women it was the way to snare some
money for pet charities.

And this was no roomy van, either. University of Southern California
students Dolce Wang and Anna Grigoryan spent five days in the US
version of a Holden Barina to win the Chevrolet Aveo Livin’ Large
contest.

During that time they ate, drank, slept, worked, partied, held events
and broadcast every minute of it to the world by webcam from the car.

They beat teams from several other universities in scoring the most
votes as having "lived largest" in the Aveo. They were allowed to
leave the car to attend classes and exams, and for 10-minute bathroom
"bio breaks". But otherwise they had to be in continuous contact with
the car. During the five days parked in the university square, they
competed with the other teams in daily challenges such as shooting
a video or mounting a charity food drive — for rewards such as an
in-car massage.

They also held and performed in a concert, hosted a drive-in film
festival with movies produced by fellow USC students, decorated the
vehicle as an elephant for Halloween, and sported fancy dress —
including an inflatable fat suit that put even more stress on the
snug conditions.

Ms Grigoryan said they enjoyed most of their time in the car. "We
got our front yard going, our backyard, master bedroom, dining
table-cum-office (the dashboard)," she said. "Having only 10 minutes
for bio breaks led to us washing our hair in the bathroom sink or
pretty much just cutting it to reduce the mass."

Ms Wang and Ms Grigoryan were judged by online voters to have been
the most entertaining team and won an Aveo each, plus one for their
university. Each of the young women is donating the cash value of
their car (about $15,000) — Ms Grigoryan to a group of families in
Armenia and Ms Wang to an organisation that funds a school in Ghana.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress