Drink specials at Smokes? Just press one

Press two on PARIS, and you can drop all your classes. Press two on the new FunnLine and you can hear drink specials at South Street clubs. Don't mix them up. By dialing 573-FUNN, students can find out what's going on every week on campus and in the city, from the flavor of the week at TCBY, to which bands will be playing at Walsh's Tavern, to information on sorority rush. Currently the line is featuring information on campus bars and restaurants, Center City bars and clubs, and campus events, with movie listings to be added next week. Run through a Penntrex Voicemail system, the FunnLine, launched by a group of enterprising marketing students, offers callers several options which they can select by pressing buttons on their touch-tone. And, organizers say if the student-run line is successful, they could add a variety of events, including fraternity parties, campus performing arts events and city sports information. They are "playing with many ideas," including extending the FunnLine to include other Philadelphia universities. "We are setting our sights high," said College senior Julie Feldman, one of the five organizers of the FunnLine. "We are looking into many things." Currently, about 15 local and city businesses advertise on the FunnLine, but founder Neil Vogel said the number will grow, adding that many establishments said they would advertise as soon as the line was operating. Feldman said the FunnLine has been successful so far. "As far as we know, people have been calling, the idea has gone over well," Feldman said. "We hope it becomes a tradition, the way people get entertainment information at Penn." The idea for the FunnLine originated, ironically enough, in a Wharton classroom. Wharton senior Vogel said that the assignment for his marketing class was to create an imaginary product and explain how they would market it. But after the project had been completed, Vogel and his group members believed that they had done too good a job designing the "imaginary" product. "Everyone liked the idea, and we said 'Wait, this would actually work,' " Vogel said. "So we did it." "When we started to do the research we realized it was feasible and desired," Feldman said. Feldman said they are currently updating the message on the FunnLine weekly, and that they are constantly working on improving the system so that there are more options for callers to choose. "It took us a couple of weeks to get the kinks out, but now the line is running and there's good information on it," Feldman said.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.