Hall of Shame:SAR

2000s

"The Peeing Bandit"

Session(s):	2005.1

At Skidmore College, Session 1, 2005, there was a bandit on the loose. During the last week, a boy decided to pee all over the bathroom wall. The next day, all the guys were called to a meeting, at which the RAs proceeded to threaten the guys with horrible things if no one confessed. Shortly after the meeting, the bandit struck again, and two more bathrooms were destroyed. The RAs brutally took away quad time for all the guys. The girls were in an uproar, and rumors started to circulate that the last dance was at stake. That night, the bandit struck for the last time, but was not caught. After intensive interrogations, the RAs gave up. All privileges were re-instated, but we never found out who the peeing bandit was. It might remain a CTY mystery forever.

Superstars Game Cancelled

Session(s):	2006.2

NOTE: The shame is NOT the team, but the SHAME of the game being cancelled. The Pretentious Inuits (Saratoga Session 2, '06), captained and assembled by James B, were an all star soccer team. They were more than qualified to beat the staff for what would have the ONLY Skidmore '06(both Session I and II) student win. Inspired and brought together by RA Meng's (pronounced Mung) quest for decency, PI, as some called them, were ready for a win. But when the nurse declared playing soccer in 98 degrees too dangerous, the student-staff game was off.

Inuit's Roster:
Nevermores: Mike S., Bonny G., Anthony, Veda
The Rest: Aseem M., Sam S., 'Pip', James B., Wande O., Eric C., Ian ?, Jane C., Gaby G., Brian M., and Jarett.

GO INUITS 2007!!!!!!!!!

Near Ramen Fire

Session(s):	2006.2

At Skidmore '06 session 2, a Crafting the Essay A student - Brandon Kim, caused two fire alarms to ring. On the night of the first saturday, Putting on the Ritz Casino Night, we, the boys of Rounds 3, were leaving. He was leaning against the wall. He slid down, hitting the fire alarm. Next, on the second tuesday, he was to lazy to go to breakfast, and thus proceeded to make ramen that he bought on a sunday town trip. He left for a minute, and (nobody is actually sure) he apparantly microwaved it on high, without much water. This resulted in the entire room filling with smoke, and actually starting a fire and plasma inside the microwave, sending the fire trucks in and destroying the microwave (the cord was cut by the fire department. Until the end of CTY this year, he was known by people he had never met before as 'Ramen Man' and 'kid who burned ramen'. There have been fires at Skidmore, but RAMEN???? The dorm smelled like burnt ramen for most of the rest of the session. There have been instances where someone may have overheated popcorn and caused the firemen to arrive but for someone to get the firemen there twice in one session deserves to be in the hall of shame.

note - to top it off, he microwaved it with a fork in the cup.

From brandon kim himself- The real story went like this; A crisp and bitter morning (not unlike potato chips) I got up with a hankering for some ramen. If you were here in '06 you would know about the rabid squirrel and extremely bad cafeteria food. I just didnt care enough to go down anyway (rounds 3 wooooo!). I got my ramen and made my way to the 'wave. I had the water on and i guess i missed it when i swiped the bowl through. So, i put it in (NO FORK). Then, i went back to my room. I returned and then i saw smoke in the wave. So i shut the door and opened the wave to find smoke pouring out and i almost fainted. I opened hte door and ran for a fork for who knows what. The fire alarm rang and i dropped the fork in my mad dash out. For the record, i was to awesome to go to breakfast...not lazy

ok brandon, no one believes you. you only knew this site because i told you it existed. so there.

ookkkkaaay jerrry. your so mean to me! appreciation day >.>

hey, the ramen kid is notorious :D

Extra side note (2013.2)- To this day, CTYers are instructed to use water when making ramen to avoid starting a fire in the kitchens.

A Whole New World

Session(s):	2006.2

During Quad Time, couples liked to go to the small quad in front of Case to talk and make out and such because it's away from what was temporarily the main quad due to construction. The small quad has quite a few trees and each couple had their own tree to do their thing. Usually the RAs just walk around, shine their flashlights here and there, and just in general keep a watchful eye over everyone without disturbing them much. But during second session, two RAs decided it would be fun to surprise and publicly humiliate friskier couples by singing A Whole New World at the top of their lungs. Not only was it annoying to the couple being "serenaded", it was an annoyance to everyone else because the RAs weren't exactly the best singers.

The Evil Reign of Tim (Mr. Rogers)

Session(s):

Tim, the site director in 2007, was extremely disliked in CTY because of rules that were getting stricter and stricter to the point of stupidity (and his neon green shirt). CTYers were not allowed to walk anywhere they wanted without an RA, which became frustrating when it came to buying things from the Case bookstore and during meals (everyone to wake up so the whole hall could go to breakfast together, and everyone had to be finished eating and checked in with their RA before leaving the dining hall). Other examples include that no one could take pictures of anyone else without their consent (not that it stopped anyone), the banning of Slap-Your-Own-Ass Day and Slap-Someone-Else's-Ass Day (see below) due to "third party sexual harassment" (welcome to CTY, Tim...), etc.

Perhaps the most infamous story of the evilness of the man was the case of Pat and the white lanyard. Many a student had stolen a white staff lanyard from the main office during the sessions. During the last dance of Session 2, Nevermore Pat Sullivan was caught wearing one, and suffered the wrath of Tim. Pat had not even stolen the lanyard, but was given it by another CTYer. Tim was furious. Pat said he got it from a friend. When asked who he said he "forgot". Tim, however, thought Pat was covering for someone. He said if Pat confessed, he would give him the right to go to Passionfruit.

Many campers, as well as many RAs, were in uproar. Another Nevermore, Eli Aubain, fessed up to the crime in an attempt to save Pat. Several people, including Nevermore John Grover, stayed in the office until well after lights out arguing Pat's case: when lanyards were stolen, the office was almost always completely empty, with the lights off. There was no security camera in the office, and the place the lanyards were kept was not locked; the fault was therefore also on the administration. Tim probably understood this, and how he shouldn't have been NEARLY as harsh, which is probably why he kicked out John and other Pat-supporters after a certain point. Pat "remembered" who gave him the lanyard (after confirming that, Eli confessed) but either Tim or the Administration went back on their word and didn't let Pat or Eli go to Passionfruit. The events that night greatly increased the Anti-Tim feeling on campus.

Tim had also, unfortunately, defamed the name of Mr. Rogers. Listen to his wierd, nasal voice and you'll get flashbacks to "It's a Wonderful Neighborhood" (Won't you be mine? Muahahahaha...). His creepy Rogers-esque voice and questionable behavior has convinced many that he is Mr. Rogers reincarnated in the form of a pedophile. Please, if you find yourself in close proximity to him, sprinkle him with chopped garlic and holy water. Theoretically, he should dissolve into a puddle of sweaters.

A scratched drawing on a cement pillar between Wilmarth Hall and Murray Dining Hall also appeared, depicting Tim doing obscene things...

Also, Tim tobaggans deer.
Tim can turn water into date rape.

Tim did not return as Site Director at Skidmore for the 2008 Summer Sessions. The new director (Marty) is much cooler.

Slap-Your-Neighbor's-Ass-Day Banned

Session(s):	2007.2

'Nuff said. This day was very, very amusing, but deserves a spot in the Hall of Shame. Unfortunately, many students were caught by Mr. Rogers (masquerading as site director Tim) who creepily instructed those who celebrated to go to his office. There was a line of people who had been caught gently smacking their friend's asses. I went in, defended myself (mostly by lying) and bit my lip to keep from cracking up.

Quotes from this conversation (pinch your nose while you say these, and you may get an idea of how hysterical they were).
Tim: "Do you deny that you hit someone's butt-end?"
Tim: "It's dangerous, hitting someone's butt-end. You could get them in the eye."
Me: "But aren't eyes usually up...never mind."

Die, Tim, die.

Jim

Session(s):	2007.2

Jim, also known as Jesus (not to be confused with the position of Jesus at LAN), Duckboy, Jack Black, and probably a lot of other things, was a crazy kid in Math Modeling. He became known throughout CTY for his various acts of total insanity, such as going to Drag Day wearing a towel (it is unknown if he was wearing anything under the towel), picking up a live duck and carrying it around, breaking one of the lights on Wilmarth third floor with a belt, and randomly declaring himself to be Jesus. There was a problem with all this, because he thought he was being funny, when in reality he was annoying as Hell. Seriously.

He also had a Nintendo DS, but the RAs didn't care. The DS was also a major part of the Duct Tape Incident, where Wesley duct-taped a flashlight to Jim's door and told a few people about it, then duct-taped the DS to the top of the door. (Almost everyone on the third floor stood outside Jim's door staring after that happened...) A few days later, Colton stole it.

After he went to the Monty Python daily, he started throwing rocks at people while yelling "CONFESS, I SAY! CONFESS!! I AM WITHOUT SIN!". The next day, he got into a rock-throwing fight with Colton, and Jim was kicked out. Colton, who was also an absolute asshole, was kicked out as well, making it a too-sweet-to-believe two for one deal. It led some people to believe that the third floor was cursed (Colton, Jim, and Will, who was kicked out for hitting Rohan with a chair, were all on the third floor, and all on different halls.). When Jim was leaving, he was going completely insane because he couldn't find his DS. Colton might still have it.

[Edit] Colton does not have the DS.

I was getting a drink trying not to blatantly stare when he got pulled aside by an RA, I forget who.-Sarah W

I heard that kid didn't shower...I could be confusing him with someone else, though... -Shannon K

He didn't shower. He actually bragged about how long he had gone without showering. (I think it was something like a month.) -LordZeebmork

If this is No Shower Kid, he was given just enough money to buy shampoo and wash his clothes, but instead chose to spend it all on soda. From then until the day he was kicked out, he walked around with a liter coke(or at least I think it was coke) bottle which he refilled every meal. -Byron

Yeah, that sounds like Jim. He carried around (and refilled) soda bottles most of the time, and according to someone in his class, he had empty Coke bottles piled around his desk. -LordZeebmork

The Dump on the Second Floor

Session(s):	2007.2

The boys living on the second floor of Wilmarth Hall woke up to an unpleasant surprise one day, when they found human feces on the floor of the bathroom. Of course, no one would confess, and all of the kids who shared the bathroom were forced to clean it up by the RA. Most of these kids found some excuse out of the duty (pun intended), except for the very unfortunate Peixuan Guo. Pei, a nevermore, sadly cleaned it up, but not without complaining of course. The students on the second floor decided to ban together to try to find the real perpetrator, by means of a chant similar to "Who took the cookie from the cookie jar?" It went...

"Who took a dump on the second floor?"

"John took a dump on the second floor!"

"Who, me?"

"Yes, you!"

"Couldn't be!"

"Then who?"

"Harry!"

"Harry took a dump on the second floor!"

and on and on, they ran through all of Wilmarth, breaking furniture on the third floor while trying to find the infamous crapper. The criminal was never caught, and justice was never served. To this day, it is still a mystery as to who took a dump on the second floor.

McClellan 3

Session(s):	2008.2

McClellan 3 was nearly certainly the worst behaved hall ever. Presented here are just some of the hall's exploits.

The night of the first Friday, after casino night, was fight club. Because all the RAs on the floor were cleaning up from Casino night, students decided to have fight club in the common area. There was a referee, and when asked, claimed that an RA had participated in fight club earlier that morning. After about 10 minutes of wrestling, with everyone on the floor at least watching, the same RA walks in on fight club, and is so surprised by it that he simply stares at it for about half a minute before he can collect his wits and stop it. After breaking up the fighting, he goes halfway down the hall to get a drink, and comes back to a restarted fight club, to which he said "I turn around for 5 seconds and you start fighting again?"

After he cited us perhaps splitting our heads open upon the wooden couches as a reason to stop fight club, several mattresses were brought out, originally to pad the couches, but then were just jumped upon until the other RAs returned.

The following day, the entire floor had a 'talk' with Chris Hazard. It is a testament to how much leeway Marty gave students that this was the only punishment administered, although town trip privileges were threatened. However, nothing as dangerous was attempted for the rest of session.

In the second week, Dante had his head shaved, much to his mother's displeasure. As a result, administration banned head shaving without written parental consent for the rest of the session.

Dammy was the subject of many incidents. He was one of a few who shaved Dante's head, and was taped to a chair. Also, on the last Wednesday, the shelves and food in the refrigerator were removed and replaced with Dammy. Stefan, after being told for at least 10 minutes that there was a bud light in the refrigerator, finally went to check it out, and was instead greeted by Dammy jumping out at him. Dammy also did his laundry after lights out in the bathroom sinks because the RAs objected to him going down to the laundry rooms after lights out. He also blew out an outlet trying to plug in a vacuum cleaner.

Dammy was also the subject of the 'Strawberry Shortcake Plot', a creation of RA Joel. In the morning, Dammy agreed with his RA, Stefan, that, given good enough behaviour, he would be treated to strawberry shortcake after quad time. After quad time, Stefan deployed hall member Dante to stall Dammy while he gathered the rest of the 13 person hall to tell them the plan. Stefan announced that, as his peers, the 13-person hall would vote on whether or not Dammy got the Strawberry Shortcake. The first 6 people, including Dammy, voted yes, and the the last seven voted no. After the voting, the Strawberry Shortcake was eaten in front of Dammy, who was so devastated that he was rolling on the floor, after trying to attack Joel and Stefan and being restrained by Dante and Daniel.

Third floor RAs decided to administer physical punishment such as pushups and wall sits, which lead to push up contests. RAs would also ask CTYers to swear so they could administer punishment.

On several separate occasions, a fire alarm was pulled, at least once in close proximity to a dance, so many boys were forced to stand outside wearing nothing but a towel/sheet. The only funny part is that this must've annoyed the campus security, who aren't beholden to CTYers, or the RAs for that matter. It is suspected that the campus security are scientologists, as they appeared under a CTYer's window as soon as he started visiting sites critical of Scientology on his iTouch, but not in the week and a half before, when he was using wifi just as much.

CTYers constantly talked about sex with the RAs, who didn't try to deter it at all. Someone from McClellan 3 bought condoms during one of the town trips.

Stefan's room was tea bagged at one point. It was his own fault for going on and on about how he only had 31 dollars in it.

There is a vent that connects all three floors of McClellan, which was constantly being yelled down, primarily in the form of Dante swearing and people rickrolling other CTYers on the other floors (rickrolling was no stranger to any of the floors, but it was most significant on the third one).

CTYers Tetsu, Dan W., Dan B. were flashed excessively by a group of girls who were on campus for no discernible purpose. An explicit report was given to an RA, who seemed surprisingly interested by it...

Dante spent most of his time walking around half naked, which spread, and there were several people walking around in only their boxers by the end of session. Dammy took mooning people, and when he left (at the same time as everyone else, surprisingly), he mooned the RAs, so the last they saw of Dammy was his butt.

Dante also stuck a fork up his butt.

On the last Thursday, there was a 14 person ISO, which is the largest one known of (but feel free to edit this if you've had larger).

Note that the largest reported ISO to date at Skidmore was during 09.2, on Wilmarth 2, at 20 people. It was held on the night after the last dance in Lowell (LOL) and Dan (Ginger)'s room (a triple.) However it was broken up by SRA Fat Bastard, also known as Mike Katani, at about 2 in the morning. Sleepovers were banned for the entire session, apparently due to many students stating on the end of session review forms that they didnt feel they got enough sleep. Please note that Mike was walking around the Wilmarth building for upwards of 4 hours, starting at 10 pm, for no other purpose but to bust sleepovers.

During Session 2, 2011, an iso was busted by RA Josh. It is believed to have had 32 people, the new record.

A certain RA had his twenty first birthday on his day off (note that drinking age is 21 in New York). He came back totally wasted, or so we supsect (nobody actually saw him get back, he just locked himself in his room).

Towards the end of session, two signs were posted over the two doors that lead to McClellan 3; "Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate," and the english equivalent "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here." These are from Dante's Inferno.

The members of the various halls on Mac 3 were: Stefan's hall: Dante, Tetsu, Daniel, towel whip boy, Dammy, TDL, and a bunch of asians who never caused any trouble. Other halls: Sam ?, Matt Simon, Ilya M., O.J., Chris Min, Ian ?, Philip Lowe, and other non-memorable people. Second floor: Dan B. (who, despite spending large amounts of time on third floor, was never punished) (Dante, Tetsu, Dammy and Sam were allegedly asked to not come back the following year)

Rick-Rolling Canon

Session(s):	2009

At the third and final dance, the RAs who make the playlist (Stefan, Jeremy, Greg) added their own personal surprise. First session, it was during "Forever Young." Second session, it was during "Build Me Up Buttercup." 30 seconds of Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" was played in the middle of the canon song. During both sessions, this caused many dancers to walk outside and stop dancing, and led others to go to the DJ table and complain, or even cuss out the RAs. They just took more pleasure from our complaints, and laughed as we walked out. After the short rick-roll, the songs were played from where they stopped, and the rest of the dance went smoothly. This was generally a jerk-move by the RAs, and Stefan refused to apologize afterwards.

Session(s):	2019

Remember when Albert got kicked out lmao

2010s

John the TA

Session(s):	2010.1

John the TA for Game Theory, was probably one of the worst sports in the history of the staff. What made him infamous was his CTYi behavior at the staff-student games. Not only did he suck majorly, but he would say the bitchiest things to the students. This led to emperor Young Guang to yell in his face at the top of his lungs the stall count making him f*ck up the throw, even still he said "get the f*ck out of my face bitch". This also led to Young tackling him during soccer game to which Stefan the ref overlooked. Stefan also gave a red card to John on the sidelines at half time of the soccer game, and as of now John is prohibited from participating in any further student-staff games.

He was also quoted as saying "That's what you f*ckin' get" after punching emperor Max Hengeveld in the face on his follow through after he was marking him with the brutally annoying "crotch mark"

Naughty Catholic Schoolgirl Day BANNED

Session(s):	2010.1-2

Naughty Catholic Schoolgirl Day, a favorite of boys and girls alike, was banned in 2010 for both sessions. Paying homage to the forbidden tradition, first sessioners wore all black on the second Monday in mourning. Second sessioners found out the tradition was banned a few days before the session started and were outraged. Anticipation built until the first Sunday night when in the hall meeting announcements there was a section warning campers to respect the spirit in which traditions were created, not explicitly banning NCSD. However, the infamous Mike Cattani, DRL, took Aaron and Sophia aside to warn them that the tradition was indeed forbidden. Sophia then went around Howe-Rounds to tell everybody that NCSD had been officially changed to RASK (Random Acts of Senseless Kindness) Day. Naughty Catholic Schoolgirl Day will most likely continue to be banned in years to come, but we can all cherish the memories of short plaid skirts and tight button-ups forever. R.I.P., NCSD. We'll miss you dearly.

The Caffeine Talk

Session(s):	2011.1

On the Monday of the second week, the students were informed that weekly activities were cancelled, and everyone would be attending a mandatory assembly, although nobody knew what is was about. Upon filing into the auditorium, the students were greeted by a badly made powerpoint, and a speaker who started by saying, "I know that at camp things can be exciting and we like to try new things. However, it's important to proceed with caution." This talk, however, was not about the birds and the bees, but was about caffeine. The students were all told about the dangers of consuming caffeine, including dehydration, heart attacks, yawning, both insomnia AND more sleep and increased pee volume. When the speaker (who seemed very unprepared) was asked about the statistics of people who get heart attacks from caffeine consumption, the speaker responded with, "The number of people who make good decisions regarding caffeine and get heart attacks is smaller than the number of people who make bad decisions about caffeine and get heart attacks." Afterwards, it was revealed through rumor that the talk had been in response to certain students having an energy drink chugging contest. Needless to say, it was a waste of a perfectly good weekly activities period.

The Skidmore Eleven

Session(s):	2012.1

On the night of Wednesday, July 11th, a large number of CTYers snuck out of the dorms to fool around campus. Eleven of these people were caught. One group (Nick Richardson, James Yu, Ryan Guo, Marion Anderson, and one other (who wishes his name to be kept away from here)) was on top of the Tang. They were caught by an RA and a TA who were star gazing on the lower roof. Another group (Luke Comp, Zoe Steinsnyder, Charlotte Rupp, Miriam Pierson, Sawa Patch, and another unmentioned) were caught by the duckpond. All of those caught were ushered away in the early morning and told that they were being expelled from campus. This wasn't the worst, however. The students were then told that they were being confined to the dorms, and that they would not be able to say goodbye to their friends and teachers before they left. Additionally, the non-nevermores were told that they would probably not be allowed to apply the next year, and three of the students who were planing to do a double session were told that they would not be able to do so. Naturally this caused something of a stir among the general CTY population. Everyone was really upset pissed. Khirstine Yu and Shoshi Finkel (by the suggestion of Ryan Guo) started petitions to allow them to say goodbye and to let the non-nevermores come back next year. However, when the RAs found out abut these petitions, Khirstine had to go to the Main Office for a good talking to. At least that is what most had thought. In actuality, Khirstine used the problems resulting from the petitions to get into the Main Office during class time. There, she had a "reasonable discussion" with the site director and counselor, where they discussed certain terms of the Skidmore elevens' privileges; in particular, saying goodbye to the campers in flesh. After two hours, Khirstine was sent back to class on the condition that she told no one of the new decision yet. Thus, the fury was reaching critical point when the hour of the slideshow rolled around. Everyone sat down, ready to fight for Justice. Before the slideshow commenced, Site Director David stood up, spoke to the SRA Kenny, and then announced that the Skidmore 11 would be allowed to have meals and quad time with the rest of the CTYer's, but were not allowed to participate in class, the dance, or Passionfruit. They would still be in disgrace, but if the non-nevermores wrote heartfelt letters of apology to the program, they would be allowed to re-apply. This satisfied the campus' thirst for blood, and the protests were put on hold. By request of the Skidmore 11 (many of whom were glow-stringers), the students at the dance glow-strung even harder than normal. Two members of the Skidmore 11 (James Yu, and Nick Richardson) were allowed to attend LAN 12.2 and were allowed to fully participate in the talent show, Passionfruit, and the dances. It should be noted that the rumor that a higher up JHU administrator was on campus during that week is true. His name is Mike Chin.

UPDATE: As of April 11th, 2013, many non-nevermores of the Skidmore Eleven have confirmed the acceptance of their petitions and their return to CTY 2013 and future sessions.

UPDATE: During site director David's opening-of-session talk, the Eleven were mentioned as one of the few times he has ever cried in the past few years. Similarly, towards the last few days of the session, CTYers were continually reminded by the RAs to not sneak out, as Mike Chin was present on campus again. Some RAs explicitly referred to the Eleven, while others simply reminded CTYers that sneaking out was against the rules. A fourth dance (albeit being only forty-five minutes long), called Dave's Rave, was organized for SAR.12.2, SAR.13.1, SAR.13.2, and SAR 14.1 and was held after evening classes on the last Wednesday. It is widely suspected but not confirmed that 'Dave's Rave' was organized to 'exhaust' campers the night before the last night in order to prevent an incident like the Eleven from happening again. During this short dance, not all canon was played due to the lack of time. However, songs such as Bulletproof, Nightswimming, and Raver's Fantasy were played, ending with Tunak Tunak (due to it being David's favorite canon song).

RA Paul Pierce

Session(s):	2012.1, 2013.1

Legendary NBA Forward Paul Pierce was an RA at Skidmore for 2012 and 2013. However, this 10-time all-star had a reputation for trash-talking students, playing dirty in staff games, heartlessly busting ISOs not even on his floor, and being extremely insecure when campers approached him. When campers affectionately called him Paul Pierce, Pierce took serious offense and took every possible opportunity to punish such campers, though he didn't have the power to actually do anything.

Blurred Lines

Session(s):	2014.2

During the final dance, SRA Kenny played Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines, a song encouraging date rape which most people consider to be highly inappropriate. Over half the CTYers wallked out of the dance gym, and more than one person actually became upset because the song brought back traumatic memories. Partway through the song, a protest began, with angry CTYers reentering the gym and sitting or lying down right in the middle of the dancing mob and chanting "Fuck this song! Fuck this song!" Ash Vlahos angrily complained to several RAs and TAs, and Neil Hooker and Jay Coon-Retelle spoke directly to Kenny, but the song was played through to [almost] the end.

Couch Flipping

Session(s):	2015.2

One night after lights out, a group of students led by Christophe Theodore took the couches from the study room on Wilmarth 2 and put them in the basement. During the next quad time, some other people went looking for the couches and found them in the basement, they then proceeded to bring them back up to the study room. The students who took the couches to the basement initially were not happy with this. So, a couple days later the students devised a plan to flip some of the furniture on Wilmarth 2 90 degrees. The plan was executed that same night. The students gathered in the basement and then walked up to the the second floor. All of the furniture in the study room was flipped, along with one whole couch (yes, the big one) and some of the cushions on the second couch. Most of the students got away but pretty much everyone was caught later that night.

The Mad Spooner

Session(s):	2015.2

During the fourth morning of CTY session 2, 2015, a plastic spoon (a different type than those used for blamo) was found taped to RA Aaron's door, on Wilmarth 1. That night at the hall meeting, Aaron asked if anybody in his hall was responsible. Nobody admitted guilt. After asking once, Aaron did not bother to keep inquiring, because at the time, it was seen as a joke. That night nothing else happened. On the sixth morning of CTY, more spoons had been taped to Aaron's door, as well as to the doors of campers in his hall. By this time, it was no longer considered a joke by Aaron, as well as his hall. He once again asked for someone to confess...nobody did. At that point, the person responsible, as well as a motive, remained a mystery. The next night, things got even weirder, when the Mad Spooner taped yet more spoons to Aaron's door, dental floss connecting door handles to other door handles, and messages written a scotch and masking tape, which were posted in the bathroom closest to Aaron's room, as well as other bathrooms in Aaron's hall reading "ARE YOU THE MAD SPOONER?" and "YOU'RE ALL BUFFOONS COMPARED TO SPOONS". The morning they were discovered, there was still no suspect, some thought it was another RA on Wilmarth others thought it was a group of campers from another hall, and others believed it was somebody in Aaron's hall. The reign of terror inflicted by the Mad Spooner culminated that evening, when upon return from dinner, nevermore Ethan Unger found a spoon taped to his bed post, indicating the Mad Spooner had snuck into his room. RA Aaron then decided the Mad Spooner must be stopped. Later that night, on his way to bed, Aaron captured surveillance video on his cell phone while hiding behind a wall, and extending his phone out just enough for the lens to face into the hallway. It showed a camper (who will be kept anonymous because he was never formally proved of being the Mad Spooner by the Administration) from RA Dan's hall (also on Wilmarth 1) creeping around, looking at enterances to various dorms in Aaron's hall. He was not carrying any spoons in the surveillance, and no new spoons were found the next morning. Later that day, Aaron showed the footage to some members of his hall, who then told Aaron they had seen that same kid entering a maintaince closet several times. RA Aaron and one member of his hall then went to that closet to find a box of 750 plastic spoons. The box was immediately confiscated by Aaron, bringing the Mad Spooner's reign of terror to an end. The suspect never confessed, and no motive was ever known for the spoon attacks on Aaron's hall.

Dabgate

Session(s):	2016.1

During the last week of 16.1, two prominent dabbers, Gabe Ruoff and Brian Yang, were caught having an ISO on Wilmarth 3. A JHU admin named Rachel found out about the ISO after seeing evidence of it on Gabe's Snap Story 10 feet away from the site director's office. The two were pulled out after the rave to talk to Site Director Julie and RA Will about the consequences of their actions. This particular session, CTY Saratoga administration had cracked down on even small ISOs due to so many people getting caught that year. Gabe and Brian were banned from the first half of the final dance. In retaliation, everyone organized a chant during Bulletproof against the ban. During the quiet part of Bulletproof, Emperor Byron shouted, "Who is this for!", and everyone else shouted: "GABE AND BRIAN" several times before the song continued as normal.

Update: Eric and Randy were also caught having an ISO during the same night and got banned as well but no one found out in time to add them to the chant during Bulletproof.

Missing Royalty

Session(s):	2017.2

The morning of passionfruit, the tradition of announcing the positions for the next year at passionfruit was broken. Both incoming empresses for 18.2, Amy Hidalgo and Ella Parker were at an ISO with Kat Krespi, Kaiti Filippou, Kelly Kong, Christina He, Elan Peng, and Katya Piskun, that had accidentally slept through multiple alarms and thereby missed passionfruit. They frantically tried to find an RA to take them, even considering sneaking out, as Skyler Bennett and others at passionfruit attempted to convince RA's at passionfruit to let them come for the speech portion. RA Olivia agreed to take them, but DRL Adrienne wouldn't allow her to and made them return to their rooms. However, they were able to livestream some of the speeches to their dorm room. Announcing positions and buttwrestling the royalty had to take place at morning quad.

Playlist Battle

Session(s):	2018.2

There was a lot of dissatisfaction with dance playlists throughout this session. At the first dance, many squirrels decided to T-pose in the center of the gym during Ghostbusters to protest. For the second dance, the empresses gave control of the dance playlist to another nevermore with an extreme fondness for rap music, which led to even more dissatisfaction, this time from everyone outside of his friend circle, and some people inside his friend circle. As a way to try to make the playlist good for everyone, one of the emperors made his own playlist, and got it almost universally approved, but in doing so, the RAs in charge of the dance committee refused to accept it because they deemed it to be made too late, and instead used their own playlist (later confirmed to be the RAs just playing what they wanted on the spot), and refused to let anyone, including the royalty, view it, further escalating tensions.

Alberto

Session(s):	2019.1

A kid named "Alberto", and a couple of other kids got kicked out of camp when they had an ISO (Illegal Sleepover) and the RAs entered the room. It was not the ISO that got them kicked out, but the fact that they had had also snuck out to the case quad, and the fact that one of them tried to escape through the third-floor window. Later, as an act of protest against the staff for not allowing him to say goodbye, students played the song G-Wagon, which he had performed at the talent show earlier in that session.

Second Dance in the Case Center

Session(s):	2019.2

Normally, the gym that the dances are held in is booked before CTY begins. However, it was booked before CTY could reserve it for the nights of the dances. The first week dance and Dave's Rave were unaffected by this, but the second dance in particular was hit bad. The dance planning committee had to find another space to host the second dance, so the case center was chosen. Unfortunately, as "Ghostbusters" played, it soon became apparent that this dance would not be the same. While the normal dance for "Ghostbusters" involves running across the gym, in the case center, the dance was closer to walking.

The outside of the dance was not much better, as the area allowed for students was severely restricted. RAs at tables blocked the stairs to lower sections of the pavement outside the case center.

Many of the other dances went well, be it with some audio issues. However during "Sweet Caroline," "Mr. Brightside," and "American Pie," the audio cut out completely in some parts. During these cut outs, many people knew the lyrics and sang them while the music was absent. The music came back on later in all songs.

Space within the case center was also an issue. Dances such as "Bohemian Rhapsody" created issues due to the dance involving a circle of all students. The limited space cause students to seep into the hallway and other areas while others were stretched around the brick pillars. The rave also had space issues as students were only able to form into two lines. Three ravers (Cole Witko, Eric Yamaguchi, and Josh Tanksley) were allowed onto the stage during the rave, but still had their glowsticks tangle occasionally.

Update: The last dance was held in the far 2/3 of the basketball gym where basketball students vs. staff game is played. For the first half of the dance, the lights remained on, as there were some issues turning them off. The rave was pushed back from after "Time Warp" to after "Tunak Tunak Tun" due to these issues. There was still a bit more light than usual, during the rave, but it did not affect the viewing much.

2020s

Saratoga Springs CTY 2022 Sessions 1 and 2

Session(s):	2022.1, 2022.2

It was a loathesome summer <3333 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0t7_BUEnqc

Popped the Question

Session(s):	2022.1

In 22.1 and 22.2 (and in the past, of course), Howe-Rounds has been known as the dorm with air conditioning, and at times, what can be considered North Pole like levels of cold air breezing through the hallways and into dorm rooms, waking up unsuspecting campers in the middle of the night, shivering underneath multiple blankets. This prompted an unsuspecting member of Howe-Rounds to pop a certain question at a routine Massive Hall Meeting on a regular Thursday. This unknown camper, in front of the entirety of CTY, asked (not a direct quote) "It gets very very very cold in Howe-Rounds. Is there any way we could turn off the air conditioning?" This question prompted loud boos and heckling from male campers who work hard to survive every night in sweltering hot temperatures. The admins quickly mentioned this point to said camper, and the discussion ended.

No Fly Zone

Session(s):	2022.1, 2022.2

Due to the insane strictness of the admins after COVID, a rule was put in place for after- and before-meal quad time so balls, frisbees, and other equipment would not pass the pathways. It was called the "No Fly Zone," and you had 3 chances for your ball to cross the paths. If it crossed a fourth time, you had to sit out for 10 minutes, have your equipment confiscated, and sometimes miss a bit of the dance. RA's would yell "No Fly Zone" at disregarding campers, and while some RA's would actually enforce the strikes, some would aimlessly warn students with no intention.

Dance Mishaps.

Session(s):	2022.2

At the second dance, Stairway was cut short (less than halfway through) to play a remix of the Cha-Cha Slide.

Similar to 19.2, the last dance was unfortunatley also held in Case Center. Just like prior dances, they ran out of cups for water halfway through the dance, so some people resorted to using plates for water or simply putting their heads under the stream. But, there were also some water fountains. Unfortunately, none of them worked and they wouldn't let campers go upstairs to the working ones.

The Toilet Paper Vandal

Session(s):	2022.2

At the last massive hall meeting, RA Jerrod announced the vandalization of a Wilmarth bathroom in his hall. Mass amounts of toilet paper and paper towels were thrown into a toilet, stopping its function. Although Jerrod presented this case as heartwrenching, it just felt like a normal occurrence. The vandal was never found, as CTY ended the next day anyways.

No Activities – COVID Testing!!

Session(s):	2022.2

Following the town trip of session 2, activities were canceled on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday for supposed COVID testing. This was a disappointment to many campers, especially since it was the last week of camp, nevermores had signed up for thier last activities without knowing it. Activity time mostly ended up being dorm time (and kickball if you were in Nate's hall), since there ended up only being COVID testing on Monday.