Freshmen Speak Out on River Run
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Remember that time when setting large objects on fire and sending them down the Charles was good, clean fun? That time is no more. Unfortunately for the class of 2013, Dean of Freshmen Thomas A. Dingman '67 sent out an e-mail last week outlining strict consequences for those brave souls who participate in certain River Run events this year. So what do freshmen think about this? We asked, and here's what they told us.
"I think the e-mail is kind of comical. I know a lot of people who don't take it seriously," said Ashtynn B. Baltimore '13. "I wasn't planning on participating, but most people who were haven't changed their plans."
Her suggestions for an alternative? "We should have a freshmen-only Primal Scream. Or maybe we could toilet paper the Houses we don't like. No matter what, we should come up with something less dangerous. We need to have some sort of a tradition."
Not all freshmen are so law-abiding.
"I'm definitely still doing it, even though I might make my boat kind of small," said one freshman in Annenberg Hall who didn't want to be named. "I will also definitely be drinking. I don't want to be in Winthrop, and I have to please the gods somehow."
When asked about the First Year Social Committee's slumber party alternative, the freshman said, "You can't end a real alternative at 12. People will just go out drinking afterwards anyways."
"I just don't want to be in the Quad," said another freshman. "If I can't light a boat on fire, I'll just burn down the Quad. Then there's no way I can get placed there."
We're not exactly a fan of that idea, since where you'll probably end up is going to look much more like a prison than any room in Canaday Hall ever did.
So to those freshmen wishing to avoid the wrath of the River gods, try some of these alternatives, avoid reserving yourself a room in a state penitentiary, have a cry-fest while reading about River Run experiences that you will never have, and get excited about Housing Day!
Photo courtesy of Eric Hill/Wikimedia Commons.