Staff
RA stands for residential assistant. They act as counselors would at any other camp; they live with their charges, eat with them, and keep 'em in line. RAs are in charge of weekly and daily activities, and organize Mandatory Fun. Many of them are former CTYers themselves, and some later become TAs/instructors.
TA, LA, and PA stand for Teaching Assistant, Lab Assistant, and Program Assistant respectively. These are the people who help the Instructor teach classes, and are often in charge of Study Hall and grading papers. Though the three terms all mean the same thing, each site only uses one term.
Instructors are the teachers of classes, which seems obvious. Instructors often change every year; however, some come back year after year, much like some RAs and TAs (Pomm and Timmer of Number Theory at Lancaster are a prime example).
At each site, there are usually several RAs, TAs, and Instructors that are loved and/or loathed (and therefore also loved) by all.
Contents
Lancaster
Adam Roush
Adam Roush is an extremely well-known and well-loved RA at Lancaster. Having gone to one session of CTY as a student and several as an RA, and expressing a desire to become a TA in the furture, Adam may never leave.
He is best known as the RA of First Dietz, a one-year hall in '04 that nonetheless has a large following to this day. Indeed, he was the catalyst for the creation of the ever-popular Tunak Tunak Tun dance. Speaking of dances, he has (in the past few years) provided input for the Rocky Horror Picture Show tribute that takes place at the Second Saturday dance each year.
Adam also has mystical and superhuman powers. Indeed, at the Second Friday dance at second session '06, he broke up a group of girls who were inappropriatley dancing (aka grinding train)...with his mind.
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He is also well known for pre-emptive finger wagging towards innocent girls with pure intentions who would never even THINK of breaking any PDA rules. He was, understandably, the nemesis of Nixon.
Roush is also reknowned for his prowess in the fields of banjo and MC-ing. Specifically in comparison to his evil, evil foil, the student talent show MC.
Frank Wang
FRANK WANG = GOD
Frank Wang is a a former CTYer and RA at Saint Marys 05.02 (05.01?) and Lancaster 06.1 and 06.2. He is known for being strict, but with a humorous and cuddly side that comes out very occasionally. He is also well known for, halfway through the first session of '06, demanding that all students pronounce his last name as "Wong" not "Wang". After the first sleepover at Lancaster 06.1 Frank banned sleepovers for the rest of the session because one the the people sleeping over "felt uncomfortable". No one knew who this was (thought I, Kevin Lee, suspect it was Jared). Many people who slept over were interrigated in Frank's room to figure out what was going on.
Frank also ran a system where he would raise a finger each time he was annoyed with the students. If he reached 3 fingers everyone would have lights out early for the rest of the session. In CTY 06.1 Frank got to 2.5 fingers and according to my sources he never got to two fingers during the secound session. This prooved an effective means of making his students behave because prior to this we would always misbehave in hall meetings. He was a "Princeton Gangsta" who would always be strict on his residents. We were not allowed to use the microwave without RA suppervision and on the first night he caught me with my lights on. In fact one kid (Thomas "TJ" Gamper) feared Frank Wang so much that he had to go to the bathroom so badly after lights out that he urinated into his trash can rather than face Frank Wang and ask him if he could go use a urinal.
He's a good singer and yells a lot. People often mistake him for being angry even though he is just naturally loud.
Frank Wang became a mild cult figure in both 2006 sessions, spawning many "Frank Wang jokes" such as "Frank Wang only swung his lanyard once. The world didn't need another Grand Canyon." He was often referenced in Acting Improv.
Frank Wang now has his own entry in the Nomore-Nomicon. He is apparently an alien.
He also banned pelvic thrusting on his hall second session '06.
He also followed the Hager. Speaking of which, does anyone have a picture of him while he was looming over Schnader on the porch railing?
FRANK WANG'S SCREEN NAME (AIM): PIRATEJOKESTER
Frank as Godzilla/Himself in Acting Improv
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Carlisle
Ian Hull
Ian Hull is an RA at Carlisle. Declared legally dead five(?) times, he is famous for his injuries. This fame partially comes from the activity "Ian's bizarre medical stories" offered each session at carlisle. Since 05, Ian has offered another activity in which campers dye his hair (pink. blue, violet) and ultimately make him beautiful.
Ian is also the tech god for talent shows, and knows his way around the ATS: not an easy feat. It is his job to make sure that to warn people and make sure no one touches the death machine located in the tech room above the catwalks.
Jacob the Jeweler
Resident Advisor Jacob Brabender Weisfeld, Captain Groundbat himself, who resided over the Philosophy B and Exit B boys (Session 2, 2006). His nickname was born of the minds of a few hip-hop savvy campers shortly after his hosting, along with Pat Curran, of the discussion group Hip-Hop: East Coast v. West Coast. It stems from famed jewelery seller Jacob Arabo and is a sarcastic jab at his purported high authority on all matters hip-hop. The Jeweler was a notorious "Space Nazi", and was also known for his anti-making-out tactics that involved performing pop songs at a high volume. Jacob will be forever remembered in the hearts of a few for his affirmations of rapper Snoop Dogg's wholesome, commodified family-friendliness as well as rapper Tupac Shakur's gentle, ballet-dancing demeanor. It should be known that the nickname Jacob the Jeweler is not pejorative but affectionate, in a completely sexual way.
Pat Clark
A quite awesome RA/TA with a twin who was once an RA. He has TAed Pop culture, The 60's, Modern Europeon History and Dissent. At one time there was a hall of shame article about him as the "TA from Purgatory", and making inapporpriete jokes. when asked about it, he said that he had simply made a Micheal Jackson joke that, "was only a bit off color, not wholey inapropriete".
Pat is very awesome, and is a cool guy and a good TA.
Bret Kramer
Bret lives in a cardboard box under a bridge during the year. Every June, Galen tracks him down, dowses him with mouthwash and a delousing powder, makes him shave, and drives him to Carlisle.
He is also said to live on the blood of young, crabby, sometimes spoiled, and always naive children. Yummy!
Bret always laughs heartily during the American Pie line "I saw Satan laughing with delight" at dances.
Bret is also somewhat infamous for his talent show act at Carlisle in 2000 Session 1, in which he put milk and a turkey sandwich into a blender, blended it, and then drank the resulting goo. It was truly disgusting to behold, and has inspired numerous followup acts by other staffers in subsequent years.
In seriousness, Bret has been working for CTY for many, many years, having started as an RA and worked his way up to his current position of Site Administrator at Carlisle. He's quite brilliant at the job, and clearly loves working with students and staff alike. We can only hope that he continues to work with CTY for years to come.
Los Angeles
The Borings
Current CTY LMU students and alumni know the three Boring brothers as virtually inseparable from the CTY identity. Chris, Jesse, and Jason Boring are the most respected and legendary RAs to have been employed at the site, and are known for running the best activities, many of which are long-running. Examples include Sparkleball and More Active Than Sleep But You Probably Won't Break a Sweat. Along with their "adopted brothers and sisters," RAs Tom Ryan, Jake Benninger, Jess "Stumpy" Bonnlander, Nate "Hairy" Stern, and Mary Rieg, the Borings have dominated the site since 2001 and remain a student favorite.
Famous Boring moments include Jesse's bedtime song written for his hall in 2003 ("Sleepytime in Jesse's Hall"), the painful waxing of Jason's leg in 2005, and Mary accepting an annual challenge to eat a snail, slug, or worm.
In one year, Jesse Boring and his hall participated in the talent show, and as part of the act Jesse ripped off his CTY shirt in truly macho style, then one of Jesse's hall poured cereal and milk into the hollow between Jesse's ribs and ate it. As any LMU student knows, most of the female population of CTY LMU is in love with the Boring brothers. A girl from Latin class, Jen, was in the hospital, so Mary Rieg's hall (the Latin girls) serenaded Jesse's hall with songs like Tearing Up My Heart by NSync in exchange for the shirt Jesse had ripped off as a get well present for Jen. Later Jesse sprayed the shirt with his cologne as a bonus. Strips were torn from the shirt and every girl from Latin Session 2 2004 has a piece of Jesse Boring's shirt with his cologne (Curve for Men, if you want to know) on it.
Jesse was unable to attend CTY 2005, but Tom ran an activity, "Jesse Boring Worshipping", in order to generate interest for Jesse's surprise visit.
In 2006, Sessions 1 & 2, only Jason was an RA. Jesse and Chris couldn't do it. Neither could Tom Ryan, and everyone was sad.
In Jesse and Jason's free time, they operate www.wwzmd.com.
