Their hopes high that half their goal can be obtained by Oct. 16 - the halfway point in this year's Connecticut State Employees Charitable Campaign, UConn Cares - the campaign committee is sponsoring a 1950s-style luncheon, in honor of reaching $50,000, from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in the Student Union Ballroom that day.

Replete with an old juke box filled with records from the 1950s, the luncheon will feature some old fashioned standbys - cheddar cheeseburgers, foot-long hot dogs, french fries and onion rings, with root beer floats and cherry cola to wash it all down - for only $3. Faculty, staff or students who dress appropriately for the era (presumably Bobby sox, beehives and ducktails, and lots of white socks and grease) can eat free.

The committee also plans to show old episodes of the Honeymooners and other 1950s television shows.

During the lunch, drawings will be held for a variety of prizes that can be won only by those in attendance: University Catering will raffle off a chocolate chip cookie pie, and there will be gift certificates from Husky Blues, the Willimantic Brew Pub, Bagelz, Cafe Earth, and more.

By October 8, about $20,000 had been raised, some $5,000 short of what the committee hoped to see by the end of the campaign's first week, as it headed toward a 1997 goal of $100,000.

RAV