The Spirit of WTF

Lights of the Dana Porter, Part 12

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 11:23:00 -0400

The latest of the designs of the “Pi On The Porter” group, this year’s arrangement was the “3.14159265358”. Arranging the curtains of the Dana Porter Library to spell things has been past time of students for several years and this group of Grebelites has been providing Pi Day designs since 2009. You can see all of their previous designs here.

2nd Anniversary: Some news and a goodbye

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 14:29:22 -0400

Happy Birthday

April 1st, 2013 marked The Spirit of WTF’s 2 year anniversary.

We slowed down a lot during the past year, only posting an average of once per week. However, we still managed to post on some fun pranks, such as POETS getting turned into a beach, POETS getting covered in tin foil, and the Kraft Dinner Prank.

There was also BFC’s Sword in the Stone, and the resulting Concrete fountain at UofT. As a birthday special, we are happy to be able to post more information about both of these.

Sad Goodbye

Unfortunately, that also means that my time running The Spirit of WTF is coming to a close. Over the past two years, I have spent many hours pouring over the archives in the Dana Porter Library, digging up UW pranks and other historical nuggets. It has been fun, and I’ve discovered that while school spirit has been sequestered for a long time, there have been many outbursts of elaborate and fantastic pranks.

Starting in May, I will no longer be in the Waterloo area and won’t have access to the archives. I will also no longer be a student, so hearing about any new pranks would also be difficult. Therefore, it is with sadness that The Spirit of WTF will become dormant starting at the end of April.

I plan on doing a site overhaul in June, where I will restructure the site for easier browsing, a la The IHTFP Gallery. After that, the site will remain up, and available, but there will no longer be any new updates.

It’s been an interesting 2 years and I’ve certainly learned a lot about UW’s history. If you are interested in this topic, I recommend that you check out The Warrior Wiki, which is a new wiki project run by students in order to make UW’s history more accessible.

Just in case anyone decides that they are interested in carrying on The Spirit of WTF going into the future, feel free to let me know at spiritofwtf@gmail.com and we’ll see about a hand-off of the site. There are still many other pranks out that I have not been able to fully research.

With all that said, it’s been a fun two years. Remember to study hard, and play hard.

So long, and thanks for all the pranks!

-Michael Overmeyer

Concrete Fountain Design Document

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 14:21:57 -0400

We have also recently come into possession of the Design Report of the concrete fountain erected in Suds (POETS equivalent at U of T).

It’s a humorous read, modelled in the fashion of any true Engineering report. It includes safety concerns, implementation details, and technical specification of the concrete mix used. Throughout the document are lighthearted jokes and statements of admiration for our prank rival.

You can read the full document here.

Sword in the Stone Invoice

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 14:21:00 -0400

We have recently had the invoice given to EngSoc for the Brute Force Committee’s Sword in the Stone come into our possession. Here it is:

$700 to produce the sculpture. That’s certainly cheaper than the cost of many of the other art pieces around campus (even if it didn’t last as long).

We’ve also determined from the design document for the UW Fountain in SUDS, that the inner sanctum of the statue contained a bottle of beer, a package of Twinkies, and a calculus textbook.

Still no word on where the sword ended up…

POETS is Foiled!

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 22:11:58 -0400

As well as being covered in sod, and covered in sand, POETS has also had every surface covered in aluminum foil.

Just in time for Halloween, this prank occurred in the early morning of October 31, 2004.

The Spirit of WTF has not been able to determine those responsible, but one could easily hazard a guess that it was the handiwork of the infamous Non-Existent Action Committee.

Here is the video of Plant Ops using a gasoline chainsaw in...

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 13:15:09 -0500

Here is the video of Plant Ops using a gasoline chainsaw in order to cut down the giant Christmas tree left by NEAC. November 28, 2011.

Full post here

NEAC Christmas 2011

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 13:12:00 -0500

On the morning of November 28th 2011, all the good little boys and good little girls walking through the front foyer of CPH were greeted by a massive Christmas Tree. Held up by a wood base and supported by bungee cords, the tree was so tall, that it even went through the ceiling tiles.

The tree was the handiwork of UW’s engineering prank group, The Non-Existent Action Committee.

At the base of the tree sat a sign that read “Have you been a good boy or girl? Take a gift!”

One eyewitness said: “Upon opening one of the smaller boxes, I discovered that it was some sort of sleeve for a penis, that had tentacles etc on it. (I am 100% Serious, I think the box was in Chinese)”

Unfortunately, members of Plant Ops were not filled with the holiday spirit and decided that the tree must come down. Using a gas-powered chainsaw indoors, they hacked away at the tree and eventually felled it.

POETS gets beached!

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 09:03:01 -0500

[Sorry about the late posting -Editor]

On the morning of November 22, the Non-Existent Action Committee, uWaterloo’s most mysterious prank group, sneaked into POETS and turned the engineering bar into a beach.

Complete with sand toys, beach balls, inflatable rafts,and even a palm tree, the stunt lifted the spirits of the students who happened across it.

This is not the first time that NEAC has chosen POETS as a target. Previously they have covered every surface with turf (twice!), and wrapped the entire bar in tinfoil. With so many successful attempts, we have to wonder how they continue to get in. :P

[All photos by Michael Seliske]

IRS 2013: What about Software? And those others?

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 19:58:00 -0500

Where was Software Engineering? Or Chemical? Or Nano?

Software: We are told that Software Engineering had planned a class-to-class campaign to announce that “Coding is Art” and therefore Software Engineering really ought to be a part of the Faculty of Arts. Unfortunately, the snow day put an end to that. Instead we were given this silly video.

The others?: We never saw or heard anything of Nano Engineering or Chemical Engineering in the pranks department. Let us know if you know better.

IRS 2013: Computer Engineering

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 19:49:02 -0500

Computer Engineering decided that Sticky Notes were their medium of choice and took to covering the office waiting area in between EIT and E3 with them.

They didn’t quite get away from the apparent theme this year, and made their own modest pile of balloons as well.

They also took a page from Mechatronic Engineering’s newspaper and covered the windows of the EIT-E3 and DC overpasses to spell their program name.

IRS 2013: Electrical Engineering advertises a sale

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 18:06:36 -0500

Covering the university admin’s latest cost overrun in shrink wrap (and sticking “For Sale” signs on it) was certainly the most political of the pranks this year.

And finally:

IRS 2013: Mechanical Engineering Girls

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 17:35:00 -0500

The 4 girls of Mechanical Engineering 2013 would like to remind you that they exist. See? (In CPH Foyer)

IRS 2013: Management Engineering helps you out

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 17:28:33 -0500

We all know how tight budgets can be once tuition payments are due. Perhaps that’s why Management Engineering decided to set up this Thrift Shop in the CPH Foyer.

Each of the items had a price tag, and there was a box on the table to accept payment.

Actually we’re not that this is a prank at all and not just another get rich quick scheme. Well, not that rich as most items were marked less than $2.

Hopefully this provided a nice windfall for a poor student needing a change of wardrobe.

IRS 2013: Civil Engineering

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 17:12:00 -0500

The Civil Engineers were perhaps the most prolific pranksters this year.

(though we’ll have to count once the dust settles)

Full of Hot Air

The Civil Computer Lab (E2 2340) was made brighter when it was filled with hundreds of balloons.

Getting Thirsty

The Civil Engineers pulled a similar prank on their classroom of CPH 3607, replacing balloons with hundreds of cups of water.

Sweet Rewards

As a reward for following hints placed around, you were lead to the assignment dropbox on the the third floor of CPH. The Civil Engineers were kind enough to leave a bowl of Rockets candy for those who made it.

Abstracting Art

In the central column of RCH, the Civil Engineers produced what can only be described as abstract art. Made of a bunch of cardboard boxes suspended from the upper handrail, it has remained over the weekend as a (minor) spectacle for all to see.

Set in stone

This concrete slab was found in the CPH foyer. It solidifies the slogan of the Civil Engineering Undergraduates: “Civils always win!”

IRS 2013: Mechatronics

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 18:18:23 -0500

The windows of E5 were covered with newspaper to spell “Mechantronics 2013”. Enough said.

IRS 2013: Environmental Engineering's Crush?

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 17:38:51 -0500

Arriving even later than the Geological Engineers, Environmental Engineering wasted no time in setting up a small shrine to one of their professors: Dr. Bryan Tolson.

There was also another poster proclaiming “All Hail Tolson”.

IRS 2013: Geological Engineering: Puns, Sentiment, and Gift

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 11:31:00 -0500

Geological Engineering slept in and was late to the party. However, that didn’t stop them from pulling a number of pranks.

Department takeover

Geological Engineering decided that they had had enough of Civil and Environment claiming E2, and decided to claim it for their own.

Dirty Minds:

Taking advantage of perhaps the world’s most mineral, Geological Engineering students know that they aren’t the only ones on campus with dirty minds.

Whoever owns that phone number is going to get a lot of calls in the near future…

Thank You Door

In order to thank their favourite professor and Chair of Geological Engineering, students decorated the door to his office and added their own rendition of him.

Puns

Geological Engineers pulled out their puns once again and put signs up around campus:

There were also a number of puns littered around the 2nd floor of RCH, including:

“Don’t take your education for granite.”
“Do you have the SOILution?”
“No cheating! Mine-d your own business.”
“You better do fracking well on this exam!”
“Friday mornings are sodalite-full :)”
“You’re so gneiss sometimes I take you for granite.”

Gift it forward

As a nice gift to the rest of the Geological Engineering program, these to-be-grads covered the assignment drop boxes up.

This means that the assignments are not due until next May (right?).

Unfortunately, by the time we noticed it, someone who was unconvinced had torn the wrapping off.

IRS 2013: SYDE's Carnival

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 10:52:19 -0500

This prank was perhaps the most elaborate prank of IRS 2013. Students from Systems Design set up a “carnival” in the top floor of Engineering 5.

It took up most of the top floor and included many of the things that any respectable carnival has.

Games:

A Fun House:

Full of streamers, walls covered in mirrors, and cartoon cutouts.

And of course, lots of balloons and a creepy clown (made of sticky notes).

There was also a game where you have to guess each professor by their associated picture:

There was even a “train” made of chairs tied together and a tape track laid out around the entire carnival :)

We loved this prank. SYDE has certainly outdone themselves this year. (But we really liked last year’s too)

IRS 2013: Electrical Engineering's sign

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 10:20:00 -0500

We’re starting with Electrical Engineering since they were the eager beavers that put up their prank first. Thursday morning, they affixed this high quality LED sign to the Engineering 5 overpass.

Since there are no power sources on the overpass (unless you want to sketchily splice into the Fluorescent bulb sockets), an extension cord was run under the walkway all the way back into E5, where they securely fixed it to the outlet so that pesky Plant Ops couldn’t ruin their fun.

They made the very smart move to add a sign to the back of their panels explaining when they were going to take them down. This is generally a good practice when pulling pranks, especially when your prank costs as much as this one. It just takes one person to not understand and ruin a perfectly awesome prank.

The panels from behind.

All’s fair in IRS pranks?

IRS 2013 Begins!

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 08:23:00 -0500

For the Spirit Of WTF team, today is like Christmas, Hanukkah, Halloween, and Columbus Day all rolled into one.

The Engineers will get their Iron Rings today, and they celebrated with good ol’ fashion drunkenness and prank-pulling. It’s our favourite time of year.

We’ve been up all night taking photos and will be posting them over the next few days.

Hang tight, they’re coming. But if you demand instant satisfaction, follow our twitter account, where we’ll be live-tweeting the pranks as they are found/reported. Alternatively, refresh yourself with the shenanigans of last year’s IRS stunts.