*snigger*

[enismirdal]

Right...

Because tomorrow is the night of the May Ball, we all get thrown out of college at 2pm tomorrow. They claim that they will then check all rooms, staircases and toilets to make sure no one is hiding out in the buildings in order to get into the May Ball without paying¹.

I personally take exception somewhat to being kicked out of accomodation I paid to occupy, for an event I am not even attending - although it does provide a good excuse to visit other people! (To the best of my knowledge, college is not breaking any laws by kicking me out as I don't have a formal tenancy agreement; it's just annoying.) Thus, I am going to make my room as irritating as possible to check.

So far my room contains one Suspicious, Body-Shaped Lump, complete with shoes poking out, along with one concealed place just big enough to hide a person (I tested it). These will be joined by a further Body-Shaped Lump and appropriate intruder-detection measures (i.e. the old hair across the crack trick). Mwahahaha - this implies that up to three people could be hidden in my room - but, of course, are not. Last thing I checked, there was no rule keeping me from having multiple Body-Shaped Lumps if I so chose...

Then, I guess, I find out just how thoroughly they really do check rooms...<sup>2

1</sup>This is a sort of trophy thing that some students like to do. The remarkable ingenuity that some of them demonstrate in order to achieve it, especially at the more famous May Balls, is rather impressive.

²Unless someone can suggest why this may be a Really Bad Idea.

Comments

[senji.livejournal.com]

It's been my belief for some years that people in situations like you are (and I was) do have a valid grievance against their college, but I decided at the time that I didn't have sufficient effort to find out how true my belief was.

Of course it all depends on what the details of the implied tenancy agreement are -- there might be a plausible argument that 2nd and 3rd years on central sites know about the kicking out already, so it's part of the implied agreement, however this argument probably doesn't apply to 1st years.

I think you need a lawyer to pontificate, though :)

[edith-the-hutt.livejournal.com]

I've often thought it was a gross breach of the pastoral care a college is supposed to provide by turning students out on the street for a night so the college is clear for a party.

[garryk.livejournal.com]

That is an incredibly cunning plan. I take my hat off (thats if i wore one) to you.

I shall be very interested to hear the result of the plan.

[(Anonymous)]

I would recommend proper trip wire activated defenses but they might be more trouble than they're worth (as well as illegal- my favourite one is frowned on by INTERNATIONAL law).
Abner

[ssotknapsack.livejournal.com]

Hehe. That's hilariously creative!

You may have to explain the "hair across the crack" thing though... :-/

[smcv.livejournal.com]

You stick a hair between a door and the door frame, or cupboard/wardrobe doors, or something like that. You're unlikely to see it if you know what you're looking for, and if someone opens the door they'll detach it in the process.

Also, Eni: go you! :-)

[smcv.livejournal.com]

By "if you know" I of course meant "unless you know". *makes coffee*

[ssotknapsack.livejournal.com]

Ahhh. Thanks very much. *doffs imaginary cap*

[melime.livejournal.com]

I personally take exception somewhat to being kicked out of accomodation I paid to occupy, for an event I am not even attending.

I would be pissed about that, too. I mean, what the heck! I've never even heard of such a thing. What is the May Ball, why can't you go, and how long do they kick you out for?

I mean, what happens to those students who don't have anywhere to go? Do they have to just find some pub to hang out in until they can go back? Are you allowed back before nightfall?

I don't know... that does seem sort of crap to me. :o

[enismirdal.livejournal.com]

A May Ball is basically a long ball/party/event thing that goes on from 9pm till 6am the next morning. The colleges really go all out on it and make you feel like a movie star for an evening (or that's the theory). Tickets to the Catz May Ball cost about £80 a head. Some people think that's good value; some don't. Depends what you enjoy, I guess.

I'm not going cos I'm of the persuasion that it's an overpriced affair and that I'd rather spend 9 hours roleplaying, sleeping or sightseeing rather than trying to work out what to do when it's 4am, I'm not quite sober, I'm freezing, it's raining and non of the band appeal to me. So I didn't buy a ticket, and thus can't go.

I'm not allowed back into college until 6am or 7am tomorrow morning. I have no idea what they do with people who have nowhere else to go - 99% of people buy a ticket, so are at the May Ball, and the second years live off-site, so don't have a problem, as they only kick people off the main site. I think if you really had nowhere else to go, they'd confine you to your room for the evening and not let you go further than the nearest toilet.

Yep, I think it's kind of crap, and it pisses me off too. It's really pretentious the way they think the Ball is so speshul that OMG no one is allowed to even *see* it unless they buy the tickets.

[edith-the-hutt.livejournal.com]

We have guests at Oblivion tonight but we still have a spare bed if you want somewhere to crash.

[enismirdal.livejournal.com]

It's OK - I sorted out to visit Abner tonight. I realised back in January I should make arrangements for crash space, so started looking at options! But thanks! :)

[edith-the-hutt.livejournal.com]

*nods* Ok.

[melime.livejournal.com]

Wow, I could see maybe moving you off campus for a few hours in the afternoon, but not for a whole night. That's just crossing the line. I guess it forces you to buy a ticket if you don't have anywhere to go.

I'm sure we have all sorts of ritzy stuff happen on campus, but we have auditoriums and "ballroooms" that are used for those. Also, I think no one really cares enough about what rich people get up to on campus to try and crash the parties. Then again, this campus is so large that it's really impossible to know all the events, so while I'm sure we have glitzy yearly events, most students wouldn't know about them.

Then again, most students here just like to have parties with kegs and couldn't be bothered to get dressed up nice for a ball anyways.

[edith-the-hutt.livejournal.com]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Ball

[melime.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info! Man, I guess if it's big enough to be on Wikipedia, it really must be something special!

[naath.livejournal.com]

It's *in* he Newnham tenancy agreement that you Will Leave for the May Ball... we sign our rights away.

[ilanin.livejournal.com]

St. John's don't force people to leave. You can stay in your room for the night of the ball. Trying to abuse this as a crashing method is viewed rather dimly by the college authorities. This has not stopped people with ground floor rooms being handed drinks, etc, by friends who are at the ball...

[enismirdal.livejournal.com]

That sounds like a much more fun and jolly way of handling it to me!

See, if they let me stay, I wouldn't spoil anyone else's fun. There may be the possibly amusing sight of an indifferent and possibly half-asleep Eni walking across Main Court at 1am, utterly ignoring the revelries, in order to do laundry, or something equally random, but if they let me get on with doing my own thing, it's essentially win-win...

[coru.livejournal.com]

LOL I love your devious idea! Hehehehehe