jack4640

the list missed one!

11. block non-scav people from using common areas, lounges, or music rooms, irritate the hell out of people walking through the quads or eating in bartlett or trying to get through the dorms, create extra work for university employees and building staff, spam listhosts, kick the general level of awkward creepiness up exponentially.

I know scav must look really quirky and fun from a distance but when people are banging on your door at 2 am looking for a black light or throwing things at you from the bartlett balcony, it loses its charm rather quickly. I'm a little extra-bitter this year because I work for ORCSA facilities now, so I can't just ignore it when folks trip the fire alarms or flip every piece of furniture in a room upside-down or trash Eckhart quad. Oh, and people straight-up stole some of my equipment. Scav should be taken out back and shot.

cottonwood513

Wait, I have a black light, too.

JHS

jack, I was with you until the part about kicking the general level of awkward creepiness up. I don't think you could possibly have meant that to be as harsh and disrespectful as it sounds.

I do agree, though, that the scavvies ought to clean up after themselves, return all borrowed equipment, and exercise some discretion about when to pound on peoples' doors or throw things from balconies.

Apart from that, it IS quirky and fun. And I'm sure it increases ORCSA overtime, so it's a good thing all around.

jack4640

No, I really didn't. I should have made it clear that the "awkward creepiness" wasn't at scav in general (nothing really that creepy about a bunch of motivated kids having fun doing nerdy stuff, especially at this school) but at the parts of scav that involve large numbers of men wearing dresses and singing at strangers, etc.. Even the scavvies would admit that things in that vein are awkward and creepy, albiet deliberately (it's not a challenge if it's easy).

And so it's totally clear, I don't *seriously* believe the careless actions of some scav people are a legitimate reason to be against the whole Scav Hunt. It's not like they are hurting people or causing substantial damage. I'm just Max Yasgur to their Woodstock.

It's worth pointing out that to the "outside world" it probably seems like Scav is celebrated campus-wide, when in fact there are quite a few people here who hate it and most people really don't care about it at all.

edit: to toss in a positive Scav experience, the quad party was awesome; I was the dude ridiculous on red wine jamming with the guys from Leopold & Loeb.

JHS

Well, I have one kid who lived and breathed (but didn't sleep) Scav for four days, and another who wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot wicker phallus. So I am well aware that Scav is not universally beloved. I think it's goofy, and funny, and actually pretty sweet.

I suspect if I were a student I would kick in and help on a few items just so I felt I was participating a little, and supporting my friends who were into it, and otherwise I would try to stay out of its way as much as possible. I would definitely go to the party, though, and maybe wander by Judgment to see what people did with some of the items. And of course I would read the list. I do that now.

unalove

Ah, that wicker phallus.

Anyway, the way JHS approaches it is the way that many approach Scav (if they do it at all). People tackle an item or two, or think that going to Kansas for a couple of days dressed as the "Wayward Sons" of Dorothy, Batman, the Lion, and the Scarecrow is a lot of fun.

The most competitive dorm about Scav is Snell-Hitchcock, but even there you're not castigated if you, like my friend, have a midterm, a paper, and a show that weekend and only sign yourself up for half an item. You play to play, to have fun, to escort people on the quads with umbrellas, to go to Vegas, to ask a physics professor how they cram all that graham in Golden Grahams, to lovingly sort 86 1986 pennies, etc. Everybody has a great time. Things get messy.

Scav is the most directly expressive aspect of the Chicago personality-- it's for committed, hard-working, creative people who have fun by having traditional "fun" (Scavvies throw good parties and good after-parties) and also by bending their minds. It's the same kind of personality that goes into the uncommon application, the postcards, the classroom experience, and so on.

blucheese

I like how the list was done in LaTeX.