The Red and Black

Issue date: 6/28/07 Section: Variety

Media Credit: SARA GUEVARA University student Jessika Wehunt interacts with patrons of North Point Mall on June 24 during her stay in a Mercury Mariner SUV. Wehunt was selected by Star 94 to live in the car for a chance to win it. [Click to enlarge]

Would you consider living in a car for a month if you had the chance to drive away with it for free?

Jesika Wehunt, a sophomore from Douglasville, thought it would be worth losing a month of her summer to give it a try.

She now lives in a Mercury Mariner located in the middle of Alpharetta's North Point Mall as part of "Wheel World," a contest in its fourth year by Atlanta radio station, Star 94 FM.

Wehunt is one of eight people living in two Mercury Mariners from June 11 to July 13.

"Wheel World" mimics MTV's "Real World." Whoever remains in the cars the longest wins one of the vehicles.

To enter the contest, Wehunt submitted an online application, followed up with an interview process.

Because her 1990 Buick Skylark sans air conditioning broke down beyond repair, Wehunt turns her desperation into determination.

"She's doing amazingly well because of all the support she is getting," said Zandra Wehunt, Jesika's mom. "As time goes on, she just gets stronger and more determined than she was the previous week."

The contest also includes an online vote to keep contestants in the competition. The voting process begins on Friday and the contestants with the lowest number of votes will be eliminated.

It is not a free ride; the participants have to abide by a few rules in order to remain in the contest.

Nothing other than food is allowed in the cars. That means, no luxury items, including books, iPods or even pillows.

"The only things they can do are eat, sleep and talk while in the car," said Mike Moshure, the promotions supervisor for Star 94. "They just have to pretty much sit there."

The contestants are allowed a 10 minute break every three hours, but if a contestant is late coming back from a break, they are out of the competition.

"(The contestants) are hanging in there and adapting to their surroundings," said Moshure. "They have become local celebrities, and are eating that up."

As part of the contest, the radio station conducts on-air interviews with the contestants and features links to webcams, blogs, pictures, contestant bios and video confessionals on its Web site.

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