>
> So what do other schools do?  I know about RPI's famous waiting line, which
> has given rise to legends like the group of students who claimed first place
> in line by pitching a tent the day after the Engineers won the 1985 NCAA
> championship and camping out there for five or six months.  An excellent
> example of either spirit or desperation :-)
> --
If I remember correctly, tents were not allowed (there is an overhang
on the student union which provides some shelter).  The legend that I heard
goes as follows:
 
Many of the student apartment complexes at RPI end with "wyck" in honor
of the Dutch heritage of the area and the school's founder.  Supposedly,
one year some young genius (read: wiseass) created a structure out of
balsa wood and plastic wrap and named it "Saranwyck."  The only problem
is that such a structure is highly flammable and it burned
down...luckily without loss of life.  Thereafter, tents were banned.
 
Of course, as you get older the memory plays tricks.  Perhaps it was
just open flames that were banned.  After the number of nights I spent on
that damn line you'd think I would remember (word of advice to the
up-and-coming....spending the night before a major exam on the hockey
line is very ill-advised).   Would a fellow RPI alum or student care
to enlighten us?
 
Jon Greene
RPI '82   Cornell '84
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Data General, Westboro, MA