Hall-rific behaviour from freshers

A number of freshers’ pranks have been causing controversy in halls this year.

New students have reported cases of stolen alcohol, trolley racing in corridors and rude behaviour towards resident tutors.

The highlights of the past week have been showcased on the ‘Warwick Uni Freshers 2013-14 – OFFICIAL’ Facebook page.

In one case, Whitefield residents woke up to find an uprooted tree in their kitchen on the morning of Thursday 3 October.

One Whitefields resident, who wished to remain anonymous, explained how it happened: “The windows have chains to stop them opening too far. They [the culprits] broke that chain so they could open the window and throw it in.

“You’ve got to remember that…pretty much everything [at Whitefields] can be broken easily. In the past 10 days we’ve had the maintenance guy in six times.”

Sanitary pads, thought at the time to have been used, were also stuck to windows and tampons had been posted through letterboxes at Whitefields.

A victim of the jovial joke remarked: “The tree had me in stitches.

“I couldn’t stop laughing as it was just so unexpected.

“However, the sanitary towels were pretty disgusting, although it was ketchup in the end so it wasn’t too bad.”

When asked if they retaliated they replied: “Indeed. There was some revenge… urination through their letterbox.”

The miscreants were thought to have been the occupants of a rival flat.

However, a few days ago, a truce was called after a meeting with their resident tutor.

An anonymous student said: “I think things will calm down now. People actually have work and can’t just party the whole time. Plus we’ve already been warned by our wardens to stop.”

However, another student who also wished to remain anonymous, said: “…it wouldn’t surprise me if [the rival flat] did hit us again. Our flat is very much of the mind-set that we won’t do anything but we will retaliate if necessary.”

Jamie Hardwick, a first-year English Literature undergraduate living in Jack Martin, said: “I heard from some older students that there is a culture of one-upmanship on campus with each year competing against the one that came before it.

“They said that as far as they knew, the recent stunts are nothing new.”

However, students living in Westwood accommodation seemed to be less affected by the general behaviour of freshers.

Alice Griggs, a first-year English Literature undergraduate living in Westwood, said: “We’ve been egged but that’s the worst we’ve had as who can be bothered with Westwood?”