18 Call them what you may - funning around, pranks, mischief or practical jokes, they are most definitely a way of life on college campuses. They are therapeutic: sometimes the need to violate a rule or poke a bit of fun at the system is overpowering, and practical jokes, simple or elaborate, seem to fill the bill. Chances are that most students have puUed a prank, but chances are even better that most have been the victim of one. Although there is an art to planning and properly executing a good practical joke, there are elementary versions of the genre which are performed frequently in freshman dorms and summer camps all over America. Freshman dorm pranks are the garden variety which are not meant to hurt anyone, but are rather feeble stabs of rebellion against being merely a computerized student number. A successfully executed prank somehow restores one's identity. A few examples of the type: A room filled with newspaper. Saran Wrap on the toilet seat. Vaseline on the doorknob. Buckets of water perched atop the half-open door. Victims of these plots are not always good natured - describing the perpetrators with such harsh adjectives as juvenile, immature, thoughtless, childish, sophomoric, delinquent and rude. But, then, neither are those who commit the deeds always discreet and considerate. In men's residence halls, pranks run more to firecrackers and bottle rockets under the doors. On the Harbin wing known as the Zoo, almost everyone on the wing has fallen for the shaving cream on the telephone trick. Some of them received the white stuff in the ear; the unluckier ones got it in the mouth. Using his electrical expertise, senior James Sewell once cut off the power on his dorm wing during the night, then sneaked into each room and turned on hair dryers, radios and stereos up to full volume. The commotion that ensued when Sewell reconnected the electricity caused several sleeping men to believe, as Tom Alexander did, that the Judgment was indeed taking place, like a thief in the night. Keller 2A, disturbed by the vandallizing of their community showers by Just for Fun men on another wing who removed toilet seats and shower heads, retaliated by abducting one of the criminals and leaving him for the dorm manager to find, bound, with a toilet seat around his neck and a sign which read, "[ steal toilet seats." Apparently Keller 2A doesn't take practical jokes sitting down. The ability to stage a practical joke is a coveted trait. One of the most historic examples of the simple but successful practical joke was the young man who collected every hymnbook from the Main Auditorium. Taking them to the men's room, he stacked them on a board across a toilet seat and placed pants and shoes on the floor to forestall any immediate search of the restroom stall. Students sang from memory in chapel for two weeks before the missing books were discovered. According to Academic Dean Joseph E. Pryor, "(n the past, people have stolen the hymnals and hidden them in the attic, the Green Room and in the air conditioning ducts." Historically, the lily pool has been the scene of a multitude of pranks. During warm weather especially, the passerby may be grabbed up and taken for a swim at a moment's notice, and as quickly left drenched and undignified to make his way back to the dorm for dry clothing. Newly engaged couples have been traditionally susceptible to this violation of privacy. Dumping one's laundry soap into the pool en route to the laundry was an oft-performed feat of reckJess abandon, leading to the proliferation of algae on the surface of the water and the acute disfavor of the maintenance crew. At various times, compact cars and rowboats have appeared in the pool overnight, also. One trick which ·drew an extensive crowd occurred in 1976, when Carl "Evel Kneivel" Powell attempted to jump the Illy pool through a hoop - astride a bicycle. He was unsuccessful, wiping out in the middle of the attempt. Ascending the scale of difficulty were a second group of pranks, grouped together not by virtue of originality but because of the brute strength required to carry them out. Some Eavorites in tltis category are senior Ken Wiles' Volkswagen Beetle in Heritage lobby and the bonfire fueled by the much-hated barricade blocking Center Avenue at the Student Center. Finally, there are the originals. These all-stars are special because of their timing and simplicity. The panty tree, which blossomed overnight into a multicolored array oE of women's underclothing on the front lawn, disappeared as quickly as it came due to the prompt action of campus security, leaving in its wake few lucky souls to vouch for its existence. Pranking is an ancient pastime. Administrators have a long list of favorites. "l can remember one escapade back in the old science building," commented Dean Pryor. '1t was a very dark night, and the Petit Jean photographer and I came doWR' from the darkroom on the third floor in the pitch dark. About halfway down we smelled a very acrid 04or. Just as I set my foot down on the bottom step with my hands out in front ol,me, [ touched what turned out to be the back end oE old Napoleon Bonaparte, the mule that used to haul the trash. fortunately, instead of kicking, he took a few steps forward, allowing me to retreat upstairs to tum on the lights. Someone had put the mule and a bunch of ducks on the first floor to roam the corridors as a Halloween prank." And some pranks were an annual occurrence. "One club," he continued, "used to steal Ju Go Ju's maypole during practice Eor May fete. Brother club Galaxy ended up setting up a twenty-Eour hour watch to protect it." The Editor's Choice Eor best prank of the year, however, came to the Petit Jean office during a December alInighter. At approximately 12:30 a.m., the office door burst open, revealing a band oE semi-military clad males, identities concealed. Working quickly and with accents Erom some Eastern country, the men brutally bound and gagged three staff members, leaving chaos in their wake. At the following evening's Christmas party, the troops appeared again, this time armed and prepared Eor battle. Each sporting a pair of suction dart pistols, the terrorists attacked the crowd of celebrating stafEers, taking one female hostage in the men's room, where she remained as the editor refused to negotiate the cheese dip in exchange for her safe return. Surprised by an authoritative voice at the door, the vandals fled, leaving Dean Pryor standing amid the rubble with an arrow stuck to his Eorehead, proof that, though there is an art to committing a successful prank, there are times when it is equally important not to get caught. - Melanie McMillen, Lynne Ketteler and Patti Farmer
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