-
O Christmas/Holiday/City Park Tree
Tweet Share on Facebook November 30, 2007 Comment (1)Perhaps overwhelmed by the holiday spirit, members of a fraternity at West Virginia University chopped down a 10-foot tree from a city park to call their own, the Daily Athenaeum reports. Unfortunately, the school and city weren't too pleased, and after the tree was deemed a fire hazard and "returned," officials asked the frat for $700 to $1,400 to pay for a new tree. On top of the fine, the frat could see some of its social privileges revoked, and the individuals involved could face criminal charges. "They said they wanted a Christmas tree," said a school official. "It would probably have been less expensive for them to go to Wal-Mart." Looks as if he's right: We couldn't find a real one online, but a fake 15-foot one is around $700. Plus, it lasts forever.
In other timber-related news, Louisiana State University was tired of student complaints and reneged on its recent politically correct gesture. The tree formally and briefly known as "holiday" will now return to its original moniker: "Christmas tree."
-
Why Fireworks Sales Are Banned in Michigan
Tweet Share on Facebook November 30, 2007 Comment (118)The police at Michigan State University are offering a $500 reward for tips on an October 30 fireworks scare, the State News reports. The multiple blasts from the fireworks sent hundreds of students scrambling from the building and drove one student—believing the school was under siege by a gunman—to escape through a first-floor window, tumbling 10 feet headfirst to the ground. She injured her arm and suffered a radial head fracture.
-
Another Hate Crime: Do They Ever Get Tired of This?
Tweet Share on Facebook November 30, 2007 Comment (24)I didn't realize this was turning into a hate-crime news blog, but here goes. Members of the Muslim Students Association at the University of Miami found feces at the front steps of the building where the group meets and prays, the Miami Hurricane reports. And the student group's vice president stated the obvious for us: "I don't think anyone would want to do that with a good intent."
-
Trail Mix
Tweet Share on Facebook November 30, 2007 Comment (94)*Tie up your hemp necklaces and pack up your canvas National Public Radio tote bags; it's time for the Chilla Vista festival, an organic produce and solar-powered live music extravaganza near the UC-Santa Barbara campus, which promises a certain "chillness" to it and will equally be "pretty rad," the Daily Nexus reports.
*All those tree-sitters at UC-Berkeley are costing the school around $367,000 in security, the Daily Californian reports.
-
Paper Trail Enters the 21st Century
Tweet Share on Facebook November 29, 2007 Comment (3)The blog finally allows comments from readers, so welcome us into the wild world of online interaction. By going directly to the page of individual posts, you can now leave rhetorical questions, biting criticism, all-caps rants, gibberish, and even praise for us hardworking scribes. The restrictions are few, but be nice. We're fragile.
-
Giant Headshot Begets Dubious Fame
Tweet Share on Facebook November 28, 2007 Comment (95)A University of Pennsylvania sophomore has found his 15 minutes of fame through a giant-sized conceptual art project that explores "the fickleness of celebrity," the Daily Pennsylvanian reports. Ever since his bushy-haired mug shot has been plastered atop a school building where he has classes four days a week, the celebrity-shocked student has had random folks ask him about his future modeling career and, conversely, his possible status as a homeless child—not that the two are mutually exclusive.
-
Why Philosophy and Beer Don't Mix
Tweet Share on Facebook November 28, 2007 CommentBesides finding kindred spirits, there apparently is at least one other great reason to start a beer appreciation club: To wax poetic about the bubbly brew. The Daily Nexus offers some potable quotables from the founder of The Beer Necessities at UC-Santa Barbara.
When his landlord informed him of flooding beneath the beer club founder's apartment during a home brewing experiment: "I shoved the door in his face and I took care of that problem, because obviously the beer is more important than the people downstairs."
On Natty Ice etiquette: "Serve Natty Ice to people you don't care about."
And lastly, his nondiscrimination policy: "There is no such thing as bad beer."
-
Trail Mix
Tweet Share on Facebook November 28, 2007 Comment (13)*After rushing sororities for three semesters and having 13 bids denied this year, one UC-Berkeley senior thinks that it is her wheelchair that has stalled her recruitment efforts, the Daily Californian writes.
*A small chemical explosion at the University of North Carolina forced the evacuation of one school building and sent two students to the hospital, one with a cut above his right eye, the Daily Tar Heel reports. We predict a run on eye goggles in Chapel Hill.
-
Who Needs Football When Your President's a Rock Star?
Tweet Share on Facebook November 27, 2007 Comment (19)Brown University loves its president Ruth Simmons, according to an article in the Brown Daily Herald. Recently named one of U.S. News's "Best Leaders" (shameless self-promotion), Simmons has been described as "a star," "charismatic," "amazing," and "hardcore." The phenomenon of her celebrity has inspired "I Love Ruth" T-shirts, a move to replace the word "cool" with "Ruth," and the formation of several Facebook groups, such as "That's So Ruth" and "If You [expletive] With Ruth Simmons, You're [expletive]-ing With All Of Us."
-
Trail Mix
Tweet Share on Facebook November 27, 2007 Comment*Don't like your university E-mail service? Worse comes to worst, you could do like one Michigan State University student and make your own. About 400 students have signed up already, the State News reports.
*Filed under the "crimes that only happen at college" category, a particularly untalented vandal has been leaving very fourth-year-level English graffiti—featuring references to Thomas Pynchon's postmodern work The Crying of Lot 49 and trumpet-like symbols—all over the UC-Santa Barbara campus, the Daily Nexus reports.