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College Pranks Go Commercial
Anonymous Coward writes: "The MIT/CalTech prank rivalry is legendary. Who else could put a cow
on a domed roof? And it inspired the Geek Classic Real Genius.
Apparently the folks at RPI are into
it as well, as evidenced by the DropSquad.
What caught my eye was the commercialization. They're selling
mousepads with photos
of various objects that have been subjected to 'gravitational
modifications'. When this hits MIT, I want a Cow on the Roof coffee
mug!"
But would it kill you guys to search for "dropsquad" before you post? It was cool the first time it was on /.... in 1998. /., but even I have my doubts sometimes...)
~luge(I love
IAAL,BIANLY
I went to RPI from '93-'97, at the end of the time of the Drop Squad. What makes the Drop Squad legendary was not their "prank" -- dropping things from high places is old -- but their stupidity.
The building where they dropped their burgers, Christmas Trees, and the like from, was the Center for Industrial Innovation, RPI's tallest building. The Drop Squad, in a fit of drunken stupidity, not only dropped material from the top of the building, but they also videotaped themselves doing so.
When one person (who is called the F**k on the dropsquad.com web site) turned himself in, he also turned over the video tape. The video tape had the pictures of all of the drop squad members. The campus police had no problems finding the members of the drop squad, and at least one member was kicked out of RPI.
The moral of the story: If you're going to do something illegal, don't let anyone videotape you.
Never play leapfrog with a unicorn. Or a juggernaut.
Anyway, there were better hacks on campus than dropping things down the nine story stairwell, and these were two of them:
The JEC engineering building had a walkway around the Northern side, and during my Freshman year, workers were resurfacing it by placing large tiles (red and grey) on the walkway. The tiles were raised above the surface to provide drainage, but were not cemented in place. Only plastic spacers kept the tiles in position. While a bane to any women wearing heels, it was obvious that a strong but narrow bar could easily pry these tiles up, after which they could be rearranged. So, myself and about half a dozen friends sketeched out a plan to reposition the tiles from the red and grey strips that the workmen had laid down to a big smiley face, approximately 8x8 tiles. Then, one morning at about 2 AM, we ran out, moved the tiles, took a picture, and went back to our dorms.
The impressive feat about this prank is that while the workmen broke countless tiles laying down their regular pattern with real tools, we preserved every one we moved. We also posted guards at both ends of the walkway to guard against Public Safety and passerbys. I think one of our guards wound up going home with a passerby she tried to dissuade... Anyway, the next day, there it was, the RPI Smiley Face, for all to see.
The second, smaller scale prank, occured on April Fools day about a year later. Because some rooms were always being closed due to the endless campus contruction, we printed up some room change signs and ran around in the early morning posting them on various classroom and lecture hall doors. Of course, they all directed students to the same room, which in some cases was completly across campus. This room of redirection happened to be where I had a recitation later in the day, and it was quite amusing to see students sitting outside the occupied room, stating "But it said to come here!". I think we even got one professor...
Anyway, these were great pranks, because nobody really got hurt, nothing was destroyed, and people looked back on them and laughed. It was also a nice diversion from drinking, studying, and wondering why the hell we had decided to come to Troy, NY for a higher education...
When President McKinnley was attending Allegheny College (Pennsylvania) in the mid 1800's, as a prank he stuck a cow up in the bell tower of Bentley Hall, the first building at Allegheny College. The administration eventually had the cow taken down and sold to a local butcher. McKinnley's fate was a little less severe, he got caught for it and ended up getting in a lot of trouble, but then later became president, so now the story is retold with a little pride. It has become a classic piece of Allegheny Lore.
This might have been somewhat funny when Letterman first did it, decades ago, but it isn't now, and it sure isn't much of a prank.
Removing someone's door and plastering over the opening, that's a prank.
Replacing the card section at a football game, that's a prank.
Bankrupting the Soviet Union with vaporware, that's one heck of a prank.
Not telling the refugees in your attic that the war has been over for 40 years, that's a heck of prank.
Dropping stuff down a stairwell? Boring.
George
Says "HACKS" across the front, and has a photograph of a huge balloon inflating in the middle of the Harvard/Yale football match, as well as a diagram of the device they built and burried in the field to inflate the balloon. Across the top it says "MIT 1, HARVARD-YALE 0".
You can get all kinds of stuff like this on MIT campus.
The MIT Gallery of Hacks
Great Post! Indeed this is a valuable story, but I question whether it is truly "Stuff that matters"
if college pranks get you off, go here. It covers college pranks across the country including MIT and CalTech.
"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." - Jack Nicholson
1) Phone the police and tell them that there is a bunch of students dressed as workmen digging up the road at such and such location.
:)
2) Go to the (real) workmen and tell them that there will be a bunch of students dressed as policemen coming in a short while to give them hassle.
3) Retreat to a safe distance and watch the ensuing mayhem.
heh heh
orlando...
-= This is a self-referential sig =-