Prank you very much

Jade Fernandez, Staff Writer

On an ordinary morning in the late 1980s, students and employees shuffled into the Scott building to discover that the entire courtyard had been plugged, filled with gallons of water, and turned into a full-fledged pond complete with live goldfish. As the years went by Vanguard underwent many changes, but one thing that has always remained steadfast are the pranks that regularly materialize on campus.

“Those pranks took real thought,” Librarian Pam Crenshaw said as she recalled some of the more impressive pranks of VU. Such as the late 80s when Richard Schultz, the Dean of Students, discovered that every thing in his office had been mysteriously relocated to the Scott Building lobby.

“I think pranks are great. I’m not one to injure people, but a good healthy prank is fair game in college,” said Chris Lott, Admissions Counselor and VU alumnus.

Lott’s most memorable prank occurred during finals week of his freshman year. At 1 a.m. some of the guys on his floor snuck onto their sister floor and released chickens they bought in Compton. They then freed a box of crickets in an attempt to create their own Laguna Hall eco-system. Screaming followed and the night ended in a massive water balloon fight between the two floors.

Since then, many animals have appeared in campus dorms: ducks, possums, gophers, snails, fish, and just recently a raccoon was marooned in the Laguna 4^th floor lounge.

Alumna and music department secretary Rachel Martinez recalled a prank from 2002 in which the freshman girls decided to literally plague the girls of Catalina. They schemed for two weeks and decided to invade every floor on the same night. Each floor received something different: one herds of mice, another live goldfish, and for the finishing touch, fish heads were put into the ventilation shafts.

“Prank while you can, as long as no one gets hurt; they are a part of college life,” Martinez said.

Some students in the past have gotten really organized. An alumnus divulged that a Secret Society existed seven years ago whose members would pull a prank every weekend.

Last semester’s mystery prank was the re-housing of the library’s Jesus statue. Few know exactly how it was done or by whom. Most assume the culprits hid in the library until after hours or they knew someone on the inside. What people find most incredulous, though, is the fact that they moved the solid bronze statue all the way to the Heath lawn.

“I think that pranks can go two ways: if they cause harm to faculty or students or property than it’s immature and there’s a lack of respect. Pranks that you can clean up are not a big deal, but you have to be careful,” said junior Donna Louden, witness to many pranks.

In 2002, the 7^th floor of Huntington pulled the Laguna fire alarm and then bombarded the “trapped” girls with water balloons. Acts such as these have prompted Resident Director Jeremy King to personally offer a substantial reward to anyone who turned in the perpetrator.

While numerous students, alumni, and employees expressed their enthusiasm for pranks as a part of college life, King reaffirmed that the school does not condone pranks and every situation is investigated. He did agree, however, that pranks in good heart can be funny. Plotting pranksters must remember to respect the feelings and safety of others as well as school property. Kool-Aid in the shower head isn’t the same as lighting firecrackers in a dorm.

Silver Lining in ASB Cut Backs

Katie Elser, Staff Writer

While no department or program is immune to the revised budget, ASB feels that the cutbacks coming from their program will be more beneficial for their members, as well as the student body.
Anticipating a 10 percent enrollment reduction for fall 2009, ASB is taking a similar cut from their number of leaders. Student life leaders in charge of making these reductions saw it as a necessary change and a good motivator to make some needed adjustments.
Any changes to the Student Council, which includes class officers and representatives, would have required a change to the constitution. So instead, the Activities Board has absorbed the cuts and has undergone a significant renovation. These changes become effective fall 2009.
“We knew before we were told about the cuts that something had to be done in order to make the Activities Board collaborate better, and this provided a way,” said David Vazquez, freshmen class president and a leader in this decision.
The biggest effect that this change will have within ASB is simply in numbers. The elimination of six positions will make for a much smaller Activities Board.
“We’re hoping it’s going to make the Activities Board more of an elite group—an intimate group that is more of a board than individuals,” senior ASB president Catherine Riley said. Riley thinks this will be an improvement.
The current Activities Board consists of 12 positions, and will be cut to four in the fall, save for each class’ Activities Director. The two marketing director positions will be kept, while the responsibilities of the six eliminated positions will be distributed among other ASB leaders.
The Blue and the Gold Activities Directors are the newly created positions that will be taking on the majority of responsibilities. These positions have been creatively formed to divide the responsibilities of six individual positions into two cohesive positions.
The two new Activities Directors will be primarily responsible for the planning of VU’s most recognizable events, from the All School Party to Mr. VU and everything in between. While these events will be split between the two directors, both will also be responsible for planning one concert, one midnight breakfast and various other weekend activities.
The key change that the student body will see as a result of these cuts will be a decrease in events. In past semesters, one would see constant promotions for various events while walking around campus. The goal for the future is simplicity.
“We will have a change from lots of events on a good scale to fewer events on a great scale,” said junior Bryan Binninger, Junior Class President and ASB President-Elect.
Each class will still have an event every month and there will still be concerts, just not as many.
“If people are used to a monthly concert in the Cove, they may be disappointed, but now we can bring in better artists because there will only be one per semester,” Vasquez said.
Everyone can still count on seeing the traditional big events that have been around for years. Narrowing a large number of decent small events into a few great events is anticipated to bring a higher student turnout and benefit all involved.