2008 Woodie Awards
Joke's on the alumni magazine in two separate pranks
Two groups of alumni place pranks in the Macalester alumni magazine as photos of an exposed scrotum and a faked wedding are printed
By: Michael Barnes
Issue date: 4/28/06 Section: News
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It is all the buzz among young alums, “Who is the guy with his you-know-what hanging out?” And it is nothing but frustration for staff in College Relations, “Who is the guy making fun of Macalester?”
His name is Taavo Smith '03, a former member of the Macalester student group Bad Comedy who has decided to carry on the tradition of beneath-the-belt humor—this time, quite literally.
As part of a prank, Smith decided to drop his zipper and hang his scrotum into view during a picture taken at an “ugly holiday sweater party,” held in December, said host Abbey Borkin '03.
The photo was printed in the Spring 2006 issue of the Macalester Today.
According to Smith, no one else was in on the joke at first, until the photographer noticed Smith's genitals in a series of smiling photos and started laughing. The group of alumni attending the party in Chicago enjoyed the prank and laughed together, Smith said.
Then they decided to go one step further and send the photo to the Macalester Today, the alumni magazine published quarterly by the college.
They call it a “hairy bean bag.”
That's the term Smith and other alumni are using to describe his “exposure” in the photograph, which was published without the editors noticing the small fleshy spot on the right side of the group picture. As far as the average reader was concerned, the photo captured a happy moment among recent college graduates, gathering for an evening of Christmas cheer.
But when calls from alumni started coming in, the joke turned into a more serious issue for members of the College Relations department at Macalester.
“The joke is on the serious legitimate readers of the magazine,” Director of College Relations Doug Stone said. “It's one thing to have a sense of humor; it's another thing to be disrespectful.”
His name is Taavo Smith '03, a former member of the Macalester student group Bad Comedy who has decided to carry on the tradition of beneath-the-belt humor—this time, quite literally.
As part of a prank, Smith decided to drop his zipper and hang his scrotum into view during a picture taken at an “ugly holiday sweater party,” held in December, said host Abbey Borkin '03.
The photo was printed in the Spring 2006 issue of the Macalester Today.
According to Smith, no one else was in on the joke at first, until the photographer noticed Smith's genitals in a series of smiling photos and started laughing. The group of alumni attending the party in Chicago enjoyed the prank and laughed together, Smith said.
Then they decided to go one step further and send the photo to the Macalester Today, the alumni magazine published quarterly by the college.
They call it a “hairy bean bag.”
That's the term Smith and other alumni are using to describe his “exposure” in the photograph, which was published without the editors noticing the small fleshy spot on the right side of the group picture. As far as the average reader was concerned, the photo captured a happy moment among recent college graduates, gathering for an evening of Christmas cheer.
But when calls from alumni started coming in, the joke turned into a more serious issue for members of the College Relations department at Macalester.
“The joke is on the serious legitimate readers of the magazine,” Director of College Relations Doug Stone said. “It's one thing to have a sense of humor; it's another thing to be disrespectful.”
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