Sunday, November 22, 2009 East Central Illinois
The Answer Book 2005
|
Previous 2005 Answerbook story |
The Answer Book |
Next 2005 Answerbook story |
|
They did what? Smart students can do some dumb things BY JODI HECKEL © 2009 THE NEWS-GAZETTE URBANA The University of Illinois attracts some of the brightest students in the country. But as smart as they are, they can do some dumb things. "He had taped himself from head to toe with duct tape and filmed it as his performance art piece, only to realize he couldn't see or breathe and couldn't get out," said Dean of Students Bill Riley. "He'd put (duct tape) over his mouth and his eyes. He made enough noise that someone came along and helped him extract himself." Riley said he and UI staff members see some of the same mistakes or pranks from students every year.
Floor surfing in a dorm hallway full of soap and water has been going on for decades. So has pulling fire alarms, which is frowned upon by UI officials because firefighters must respond every time, even though most are false alarms. "It's just an acclimation to what a college campus is all about and what's appropriate behavior. They get little bit goofy," Riley said. "For most of the things that are just goofy, the (residence hall) staff understands that a lot of young people are new and naive and don't understand the possible repercussions. It's acknowledged in that way, for the things where there was no intent to harm somebody." Many of the dumb things Riley sees involve freshmen and sometimes the parents of freshmen and they often happen on move-in day. Last year, when new students moved into the dorms in August, one young man and his parents arrived with a few extra items. "They came in a van and it was packed from top to bottom, and attached to the van was a U-Haul trailer packed from top to bottom with bulk food items Coca Cola, mac and cheese, snack foods, those kinds of provisions," Riley said. "Mom wanted to be sure her young man didn't starve to death while at the university. "We have all kinds of instances where people bring more than what fits in the room," he continued. "They ended up maybe able to put 20 percent of it (in the room) and ended up carting the rest of it back home." Food isn't the only item brought to the UI in bulk by freshmen. Many bring every possible kind of electronic device, Riley said. "A family was moving their son into a hall and they approached the (resident adviser), wanting to know if he could tell them where to buy additional power strips," he said. "They only had four of them and they weren't sure that was enough." One of the funniest incidents Riley recalled happened about 15 years ago, when he got a call the weekend before school started from a sergeant with the Champaign Police Department. "He was laughing. Usually when a police officer calls me at home, he's not laughing," Riley said. The police had received a call about a group of students loitering around an apartment complex in west Champaign and sent an officer to check it out. "He said it was a group of Austrian students who had just got to campus," Riley said. "They had decided they were going to walk to west Champaign so they could look at the mountains." Apparently, they believed they could look across the prairie and see the Rockies. More recently, a student had a run-in with police when Bill Gates visited campus in February 2004. The student wanted to make a political statement, Riley said, and he sneaked into a closed upper area of Foellinger Auditorium, where Gates was to speak, to hang a banner across the front of the building. "He came down and went out to look at his fine work, only to discover the banner hadn't unfurled," Riley said. "He was not so bright as he tried to get away with it twice. He went up and tried to unfurl his banner and got caught." Some dumb things students do have more serious consequences. Freshmen often sign up for several credit cards to get a free soft drink or T-shirt from vendors who hang around the campus area at the start of the school year. Some end up with a large amount of debt on the cards, Riley said. |
||
|
Previous 2005 Answerbook story |
The Answer Book |
Next 2005 Answerbook story |