Because the rooms of absent seniors are now vulnerable to all sorts of mischievous goings-on, the seniors have spent considerable time prior to Ditch Day devising ingenious and elaborate locks and obstacles for their rooms. Underclass students then try to get through these "stacks"—named for the stacks of books and furniture that were used in decades past to barricade the doors—and into the seniors' rooms.
Modern-day stacks can be far more elaborate than just a physical barricade, and often take the underclass students far away from the room itself on scavenger hunts, quests, adventures, red-herring searches, and the like.
This year's stacks, for example, will include "The Hobbit," which involves cloak-wearing plucky undergrads traversing the steam tunnels underground and a river (Millikan Pond) above; "Ocean's Eleven," which will retrace the plot of the movie, and includes a nasty "gun" battle of water pistols and water balloons, and "Gauntlet," a role-playing computer game which includes navigating a 52X48-foot maze.
And don't overlook the six-foot mechanical elephant made of hand-welded steel, propelled by eight undergrad legs pumping bicycle chains, and steered by a ship's spoked helm. Last, a visit from the crew of the Tonight Show that will be filming a segment of "Jaywalking."
Many of the Ditch Day activities have photographic potential for print and broadcast journalists, and for this reason Caltech invites the media each year to come to campus and cover the happenings. Media wishing to cover Ditch Day should arrive as early as possible. The Caltech Media Relations staff at 315 S. Hill Ave. will be available to take film crews and reporters to interesting stacks.
Contact: Jill Perry (626) 395-3226 Mark Wheeler (626) 395-8733 Deborah Hedges-Williams (626) 395-3227
Visit the Caltech Media Relations Web site at: http://pr.caltech.edu/media
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Written by Marcus Woo