Courtesy of Ryan Adcock

You, too, can learn how to do the Truffle Shuffle.

Or, at the very least, you can watch Chunk do it April 11 when The Activities Programming Board shows “The Goonies” as part of its Rites of Spring activities week.

Running from April 9 to 13, Rites of Spring is a series of events designed to help students welcome spring, but it is also meant to raise awareness for those not so fortunate, namely people who are HIV positive or have AIDS.

With that in mind, Rites of Spring will incorporate activities ranging from a tug-of-war tournament to a lecture by U.N. spokesman Todd Murray titled “Does HIV Look Like Me?” There will also be free HIV testing offered before and after the lecture.

“We just started looking at big issues that people seemed to be asking questions about, and this issue garnered interest from variety of different students and organizations,” said Kimberly Vance, assistant director of Student Life.

APB also drew inspiration from Gap’s RED campaign, which contributes half the profits of Gap RED products’ sales to the Global Fund to help women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa, according to The Gap’s RED Web site.

“We wanted the week to be fun, a celebration of spring, but we also wanted to take a moment to reflect on the plight of others,” Vance said.

One Rites of Spring event that will exemplify spring merriment and HIV/AIDS awareness is the Student Organization Celebration that will be held at The Newport Syndicate.

APB will be collecting donations at the event for Hope’s Voice, an HIV/AIDS awareness foundation, Vance said. Emceeing the event will be Mike DeStefano, a comedian who is HIV positive.

The celebration starts at 6:30 p.m. April 11, and is free for all members of student organizations, Vance said.

Another Rites of Spring event Vance said not to miss is Norse-a-palooza, which will feature free food and several activities, including tug-of-war and inflatable attractions. APB will also provide live music and will show ’80s movie classic “The Goonies” on a big screen. Norse-a-palooza starts at 4 p.m. April 9 on the Natural Science Center lawn.

According to sophomore psychology major Jessica Flake, Cincinnati-born Ryan Adcock will be performing at Norse-a-palooza.

Adcock has performed more than 500 times since 1998, and he is well known in Cincinnati as an entertaining storyteller.

In fact, The Cincinnati Entertainment Awards voted Adcock Cincinnati’s “Best Singer/Songwriter” in 2001, according to his Web site, www.ryanadcock.com.