USC student all wrapped up

[snopes]

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...2660467.column

Bicycle traffic was tied up at USC the other morning -- really tied up. Skull and Dagger, the school's mischievous honorary society, wrapped every rack on campus in industrial-strength cellophane, trapping hundreds of the machines (see photo).

And trapping at least one human who tried to interrupt the operation.

"This one kid came up to us and yelled, 'You can't wrap up my bike!' " a Skull member said. "He ended up getting wrapped up with his bike."

Skull's pranks are an annual tradition at USC. Last year, mock security guards asked students to take off their sunglasses, saying they were a violation of the school dress code. Another time, students were duped into swallowing goldfish as part of an audition for the (nonexistent) TV reality show "College Fear Factor."

Then there was the time that a fake funeral service was held for Traveler IV, the school's horse mascot. When his supposed successor was introduced, it turned out to be a donkey carrying a sign that said, "Traveler IV is alive. Don't you feel like an ass?"

The early-morning bicycle-wrap was aimed at freshmen and sophomores who tend to have early classes. "These freshmen came out of one dorm and they looked like they all had an 8 a.m. class and they had about five minutes to get there," said the Skull member. "One kid was so sleepy he didn't even notice his bike was wrapped. He kept trying to pull it out. Once they realized what happened, they all took off running for class."

As for the student who was himself wrapped up, he regained his freedom after about 10 minutes.

[Dr. Dave]

There is really nothing honorable about this. Some of the prior pranks listed are funny- the sunglasses, even the goldfish and horse funeral, because they play on people's gullibility, there is a funny "aha" momment, and there is no damage to anyone (maybe the goldfish one.)

This is just vandalism. It's like they could not come up with anything, so they said "let's vandalize some bikes and make people late for class, but call it a prank so we can laugh and anyone who objects."

Honor society indeed.

[bthyb]

Originally Posted by Dr. Dave

This is just vandalism. It's like they could not come up with anything, so they said "let's vandalize some bikes and make people late for class, but call it a prank so we can laugh and anyone who objects."

Vandalism is the destruction or damage of property. The bikes weren't harmed. So how is this vandalism?

It's pretty darn stupid, I agree. I teach at USC, and there's a huge bike culture - there were likely a lot of people affected by this.

[Dr. Dave]

I would consider wrapping a bike to the point it is temproarily unusable (I would give a very short period- say under 30 soconds for a bike) is intentional defacement. I consider TP'ing a person's tree vandalism also, even if it does not kill the tree.

Also, if one is doing a "prank" and someone else comes up to stop you from including their property, physically engaging and then wrapping that person exceeds the boundries of "prank."

[putitinwriting]

Originally Posted by Dr. Dave

I would consider wrapping a bike to the point it is temproarily unusable (I would give a very short period- say under 30 soconds for a bike) is intentional defacement. I consider TP'ing a person's tree vandalism also, even if it does not kill the tree.

Also, if one is doing a "prank" and someone else comes up to stop you from including their property, physically engaging and then wrapping that person exceeds the boundries of "prank."

"Defacement" involves marring or destroying something. Wrapping some plastic wrap around it doesn't qualify. I think it's pretty funny, honestly.

[Dr. Dave]

Originally Posted by putitinwriting

"Defacement" involves marring or destroying something. Wrapping some plastic wrap around it doesn't qualify. I think it's pretty funny, honestly.

If I'm every in Tallahasse, I'll drain the gasoline out of your car tank overnight before you need to go to work. I won't put anything damaging in and you can get a gas can full in about 30 minutes. If you happen to see me and try to stop me, I'll wrap you in plastic for 10 minutes.

But I'll call it a spring prank, so no worries.

Wrapping the statue on the library or the university president's lawn is funny. Wrapping a dorm full of fellow student's bikes is not.

[bthyb]

Originally Posted by Dr. Dave

I would consider wrapping a bike to the point it is temproarily unusable (I would give a very short period- say under 30 soconds for a bike) is intentional defacement. I consider TP'ing a person's tree vandalism also, even if it does not kill the tree.

Also, if one is doing a "prank" and someone else comes up to stop you from including their property, physically engaging and then wrapping that person exceeds the boundries of "prank."

I never said it was a prank - I'm just saying that vandalism doesn't apply.

[Artemis]

What about wrapping a student? I would have been pretty pissed if someone tried to wrap me up.

[bthyb]

Originally Posted by Artemis

What about wrapping a student? I would have been pretty pissed if someone tried to wrap me up.

What about it?

Prank, no - it's mean.

Vandalism, no - no permanent damage.

[Lainie]

"Asshattery" would be a good descriptor, I think.

[Chloe]

I find the goldfish "prank" horrific. What's wrong with people?

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by bthyb

I never said it was a prank - I'm just saying that vandalism doesn't apply.

Ah, so you did.

Well, they should be locked up, then, yes?

[bthyb]

Originally Posted by Artemis

Ah, so you did.

Well, they should be locked up, then, yes?

Dunno. That would depend on the laws, how long the guy was bound, whether he wanted to press charges, etc.

[putitinwriting]

Originally Posted by Dr. Dave

If I'm every in Tallahasse, I'll drain the gasoline out of your car tank overnight before you need to go to work. I won't put anything damaging in and you can get a gas can full in about 30 minutes. If you happen to see me and try to stop me, I'll wrap you in plastic for 10 minutes.

But I'll call it a spring prank, so no worries.

No, that would be theft. If all the bike seats were stolen, that would be a closer comparison. But yes, I would say that wrapping my car in plastic wrap so I couldn't get in the doors until I cut and peeled it off would be a prank. I'd even laugh about it, probably at the same time I was cussing you for making me late. And if you did it to a good percentage of the population of my coworkers, it would do even less harm - I bet that, after the faculty found out about the prank, few students were given much hassle for being late to class.

I honestly fail to see the harm here. Did you look at the picture? A minute with a pocket knife would free your ride. Wrapping up the student? Probably over the line, but I don't know - was the student laughing about it and playing along? Either way, the bikes were just a prank in my book.

[Dr. Dave]

Originally Posted by putitinwriting

I honestly fail to see the harm here. Did you look at the picture? A minute with a pocket knife would free your ride. Wrapping up the student? Probably over the line, but I don't know - was the student laughing about it and playing along? Either way, the bikes were just a prank in my book.

I see your point. Either way, I don't think it was funny. Like I said earlier, good pranks to me involve something clever, usually relying on the gullibility of the victim, so everyone gets a laugh in the end. Or, some non-permanent, easily cleaned or removed disruption is done to "The Man"- a statue of the founder, the university president, the rivals' mascot, that sort of thing. This is just jerkish behavior to fellow students. Pretty lame IMHO.

[lord_feldon]

"This one kid came up to us and yelled, 'You can't wrap up my bike!' " a Skull member said. "He ended up getting wrapped up with his bike."

That's the part that really bothers me. I would consider that assault/battery/kidnapping (whichever one is most applicable).

[keokuk]

Originally Posted by lord_feldon

That's the part that really bothers me. I would consider that assault/battery/kidnapping (whichever one is most applicable).

The only reason that it doesn't bother me (yet) is that it seems like it didn't really bother the victim either. Since they know the group responsible, the guy who got wrapped up could quite easily press charges or pursue administrative action against the students responsible. There aren't enough details to know if he was dragged into it kicking and screaming or if he went along with it or found it funny. I'd have to know more facts before reaching an opinion.

[Cervus]

Originally Posted by putitinwriting

I honestly fail to see the harm here. Did you look at the picture? A minute with a pocket knife would free your ride.

I don't carry a pocket knife with me, or any other implement that would easily allow me to free my bike from Saran Wrap.

I don't see how this is funny; I would have been pretty pissed off if it were my bike. It doesn't matter that it's not damaged, it would be a pain in the butt to have to free a bike that I need to use as immediate transportation. I think that's what makes it not funny to me. Now, if they were bikes that had been abandoned on campus (like many are on my campus at the end of the semesters), then I would consider it funny to wrap the bike and see how long it sits there before someone finally frees it.

[Elsie]

Originally Posted by putitinwriting

I honestly fail to see the harm here. Did you look at the picture? A minute with a pocket knife would free your ride. Wrapping up the student? Probably over the line, but I don't know - was the student laughing about it and playing along? Either way, the bikes were just a prank in my book.

But I don't keep a pocket knife on me.

[putitinwriting]

Originally Posted by Elsie

But I don't keep a pocket knife on me.

My point was that you could hardly call it defacement. Plus, I suspect that the sharp edge of a key would work, too, in a pinch.

A good prank should be annoying to the victim. That's the whole point. Now, not everyone likes pranks - me, I can't stand crank calls - but just because something is jerkish, that doesn't make it not a prank.