Chaos Theory
College is a lovely time. The body's basic needs are taken care of, leaving the mind free to ponder quantum physics, social deconstruction, the works of Shakespeare, and, of course, how to make the dome on campus resemble a breast.
Throw a bunch of bright youths together, mix in a little frustration with academics and a healthy sense of rebellion, and you wind up with some of the best pranks on the books.
The long and illustrious history of collegiate pranks dates at least back to 1872, when MIT students littered the floor of a campus building with a light explosive. Here are several highlights from this distinguished list:
Temperance, Boys
In 1902, a group of hard-drinking Yale undergraduates calling themselves the Jolly Eight sent a letter to temperance leader Carrie A. Nation claiming that they supported her cause. They received a gratified reply from Nation, and had a good laugh over it.
But they were in for more than they had expected. Nation made an unexpected visit to Yale later that year, and presented herself at the lodgings of the Jolly Eight. She angrily noted a well-stocked pipe rack on the mantle. A quick-thinking student replied that it was a monument to all those who had given up the nasty habit. Appeased, Nation gave a lecture on the merits of temperance, and then posed for a picture with the students. But when the lights were extinguished to allow for the long exposure of the primitive photographic plate, the Jolly Eight grabbed stashed pipes and beer bottles. The picture ran in the college daily paper, the Yale Record.
Card Tricks
The students of Caltech engineered what may be the greatest prank of all time: they sabotaged the half-time card show of 1961 Rose Bowl rival Washington. The day before the big game, several Caltech students broke into the room of a Washington cheerleader and stole the instruction sheet that would inform the Washington fans which colored cards to hold up at various points in the show. The Caltech pranksters altered the instructions, and put them back. On game day, instead of spelling out supportive messages for their team, Washington fans found themselves spelling out the name "CALTECH" in block letters, on national television.
In Our Time
In 1979, University of Wisconsin students woke to find the head and torch-bearing arm of the Statue of Liberty jutting out from the ice of Madison's Lake Mendota. A product of the twisted genius of UW students Jim Malloon and Leon Varijan, the massive replica was built to fulfill a campaign promise.
Malloon and Varijan were running for student government. The platform of their party, the Pail and Shovel Party, included promises to flood the stadium to re-enact naval battles, and to bring the Statue of Liberty to Madison.
When they produced the fake statue, opponents responded by burning the statue. Undeterred, the duo built an even larger replica the following year.
No Permit
The Great Dome of assachusetts Institute of Techology's Building 10 has been the victim of a number of pranks, or "hacks" as they are called at MIT. But in 1994, when Boston arose to find what appeared to be a campus police car complete with flashing lights atop the dome, they knew they were in the presence of greatness.
Students had constructed a replica out of the frame of a Chevrolet Cavalier and assembled it over the course of an evening. The scenario included a dummy dressed as a police officer, complete with a box of doughnuts. On the windshield was a parking ticket that read "no permit for this location."
The Great Pumpkin
Cornell University's 173-foot bell tower houses the oldest continuously-played set of chimes on an American college campus. In October of 1997, it also held the distinction of being the only bell tower to sport a 60-pound pumpkin skewered on its spire.
First reported on October 8, the prank has sparked endless debate on how it was accomplished. While a small hatch opens onto the roof above the bells, there is another 20 feet of steep roof to ascend before reaching the spire. Instead of removing the pumpkin, school officials chose to let it rot, prompting the school paper to issue a daily "Pumpkin Watch."
(AP) On March 24, MIT students commemorated the Academy Award success of Good Will Hunting, a film set in and around MIT, by arranging the lights in the 18-story Green Building in the shape of an Oscar.
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Say Thanks With Pranks
Written by Steven Shaklan with graphic design by Gene Simkin
Copyright 2009 CBS. All rights reserved. Throw a bunch of bright youths together, mix in a little frustration with academics and a healthy sense of rebellion, and you wind up with some of the best pranks on the books.
The long and illustrious history of collegiate pranks dates at least back to 1872, when MIT students littered the floor of a campus building with a light explosive. Here are several highlights from this distinguished list:
Temperance, Boys
In 1902, a group of hard-drinking Yale undergraduates calling themselves the Jolly Eight sent a letter to temperance leader Carrie A. Nation claiming that they supported her cause. They received a gratified reply from Nation, and had a good laugh over it.
But they were in for more than they had expected. Nation made an unexpected visit to Yale later that year, and presented herself at the lodgings of the Jolly Eight. She angrily noted a well-stocked pipe rack on the mantle. A quick-thinking student replied that it was a monument to all those who had given up the nasty habit. Appeased, Nation gave a lecture on the merits of temperance, and then posed for a picture with the students. But when the lights were extinguished to allow for the long exposure of the primitive photographic plate, the Jolly Eight grabbed stashed pipes and beer bottles. The picture ran in the college daily paper, the Yale Record.
Card Tricks
The students of Caltech engineered what may be the greatest prank of all time: they sabotaged the half-time card show of 1961 Rose Bowl rival Washington. The day before the big game, several Caltech students broke into the room of a Washington cheerleader and stole the instruction sheet that would inform the Washington fans which colored cards to hold up at various points in the show. The Caltech pranksters altered the instructions, and put them back. On game day, instead of spelling out supportive messages for their team, Washington fans found themselves spelling out the name "CALTECH" in block letters, on national television.
In Our Time
In 1979, University of Wisconsin students woke to find the head and torch-bearing arm of the Statue of Liberty jutting out from the ice of Madison's Lake Mendota. A product of the twisted genius of UW students Jim Malloon and Leon Varijan, the massive replica was built to fulfill a campaign promise.
Malloon and Varijan were running for student government. The platform of their party, the Pail and Shovel Party, included promises to flood the stadium to re-enact naval battles, and to bring the Statue of Liberty to Madison.
When they produced the fake statue, opponents responded by burning the statue. Undeterred, the duo built an even larger replica the following year.
No Permit
The Great Dome of assachusetts Institute of Techology's Building 10 has been the victim of a number of pranks, or "hacks" as they are called at MIT. But in 1994, when Boston arose to find what appeared to be a campus police car complete with flashing lights atop the dome, they knew they were in the presence of greatness.
Students had constructed a replica out of the frame of a Chevrolet Cavalier and assembled it over the course of an evening. The scenario included a dummy dressed as a police officer, complete with a box of doughnuts. On the windshield was a parking ticket that read "no permit for this location."
The Great Pumpkin
Cornell University's 173-foot bell tower houses the oldest continuously-played set of chimes on an American college campus. In October of 1997, it also held the distinction of being the only bell tower to sport a 60-pound pumpkin skewered on its spire.
First reported on October 8, the prank has sparked endless debate on how it was accomplished. While a small hatch opens onto the roof above the bells, there is another 20 feet of steep roof to ascend before reaching the spire. Instead of removing the pumpkin, school officials chose to let it rot, prompting the school paper to issue a daily "Pumpkin Watch."
(AP) On March 24, MIT students commemorated the Academy Award success of Good Will Hunting, a film set in and around MIT, by arranging the lights in the 18-story Green Building in the shape of an Oscar.
Say Thanks With Pranks
Written by Steven Shaklan with graphic design by Gene Simkin
