Yalies Perpetrate Great Shower Hoax

Two Yale law students recently decided to take a poke at the gullibility and irresponsibility of the national press.

Hearing a radio report that a student at American International College had set a new record by remaining in a shower for 15 hours, on Dec. 10 Richard Wideman and Yan M. Ross set out to plan the Great Shower Hoax.

First, they called a CBS all-night disk jockey, announcing that one of the boys, Richard Wideman, was about to enter his shower in an attempt to break the record. At that point it was 1 a.m.

Early the next morning, a CBS news program reported that the shower marathon had begun. Wideman was still in bed then. Later, he rose--and, undaunted by the imminent arrival of newspapermen--attended classes as usual.

Enters Shower

At 5:45 p.m. Ross called CBS to announce that Wideman had broken the record and was about to emerge from the shower. Fifteen minutes later, Wideman entered the shower for the first time to get in shape to meet the press.

Once out of the shower, he soaked his hands in a sink of boiling water until they were puckered and wrinkled. Then he took a sleeping pill to make himself dizzy and held a cigarette in his face, letting the smoke roll up into his eyes.