The Traditions
Every year someone eventually comes up to us and asks, "What in the world was that group doing, yelling, or beating on?" Hopefully we will answer those questions here. The program as you, the current TEAM, will know and understand it, has come about rather recently in the cosmic sense of things. That is, within the past eight to ten years, or the average time it takes for an incoming freshman to graduate with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.

For a first time LIT, the whole experience of a typical Tuesday night meeting can be overwhelming and, in some cases, a bit weird. There are many "traditions" in WOW that have come about in as many different, and often embarrassing ways. The following is by no means a complete list of traditions, but it may help explain the chaos of randomness that permeates the Tuesday night meetings. The point is not to give you ALL the possible random acts that may occur, but rather to give you an idea of what you might expect.

The Crab Nebula:
In 1993 the spring training theme was "Planet WOW." The Opening Night Skit consisted of people dressed up as planets and other such cosmic entities with such names as "Planet Awareness," "Planet Fun," and such. Well, it hit someone that the skit might need some spicing up, so in complete secrecy, a few dedicated TEAM Members decorated a portable coat rack as "The Crab Nebula" and rolled it out during the middle of the skit. No one was expecting the event (that's why it's funny) and chaos ensued, shocking as that may seem. The Crab Nebula was so successful that it has made five appearances in Opening Night Skits and Skit Nights over the past five years.

Dead Cow:
A popular favorite which came about in the Spring of 1994 was the infamous Dead Cow. When you hear someone yell "Dead Cow!" you must immediately roll over on your back and stick your arms and legs into the air, thus forming the proper Dead Cow. How this tradition came into being is fuzzy. In recent years it has shown itself often on Tuesday nights and even Day In The Sun/Gym.

The Long White Beard:
When a WOW person has overstayed their welcome on stage and you want to let them know it stand up and act like you are pulling the long beard growing from your chin. This will tell them to shut up and sit down. Sure it usually doesn't work, but you can't blame us for trying. This idea originally was from Saturday Night Live brought into WOW in 1995.

Courtesy Clap:
Another gem from the days of dirt. This usually comes just after someone, or some group, has just pulled a lackluster attempt a saying something witty. After they have made the comment, dead silence may set in for a moment. It is during this time someone will yell, "COURTESY," then all people present clap at once. This is a nicer way of saying "Hough!" Also used when the group is too loud and rowdy and the attention needs to be grabbed. Then it is yelled, everyone claps, then you shut up and listen.

Yelling Things at the Board:
To test Board's adaptability to adverse situations, various facilitators will have their groups give auditory tests to the Board members to insure their worthiness. They don't always make sense, but as a general rule they don't have to; after all this is WOW. Just roll with it.

Skip Around the Room:
Started again from the olden days. A former Board member, Matt Brown, back in 95 was skipping challenged. Yes,it is true. He couldn't skip. Therefore he was called Skippy. With the loving TEAM that they were, they would torment him every week by making him skip, or do his impression of it, around the room. In recent years it has been revived to Triton Hurd, Evan Dumbass and Jason Ryals. Triton also picked up the nickname, and Evan did it because he is an old fogie and has to wear icy-hot on his knees to be able to walk. In 2002, there were 3 Daves on Board, so when the LITs demanded that Dave skip around the room, they all joined forces in a three person skipping frenzy. Last year we had a WOW first: a female skipper, Meghan MacDougall. This year the person skipping will be Erica Roa

I Want to Rule the World:
If you don't know what this is that is just WRONG! This was started from Day in the Sun by our faithful leader for the day, Frank. The process is simple. When someone needs an ego boost, they stand up and yell, "I want to rule the world!" Then everyone around points and yells back, "Oh Baby, Oh Baby, Oh Baby!" Also there have been other versions such as: "I want to rule the baby! Oh world, Oh world, Oh world." Or, "I want to baby the World! YOU RULE!! YOU RULE!! YOU RULE!!."

Group Wars:
On those occasions when diplomacy fails, two groups may go to war with each other. Now this is not a typical war, in so much as there is no shooting, but rather a battle of wits. Which group can outdo the other in size and scope. Practical jokes may be involved, prisoners might be taken, but a long as no one gets hurt, hey who are we to say what goes?

Feeling the Love:
This explanation is a bit long, but its worth telling. So it's Open House 1994 and someone decides that the WOW information booth should be set up at the intersection of Grand and Perimeter roads. This same naive soul decrees that there shall be a sizable PA system attached to it with a shiny chrome microphone inside the booth. As soon as Ethan and Steve realized this was available, they began to make public service announcements over the aforementioned PA system. Now if you've ever attended Open House, you realize that traffic can get a bit congested at that corner of campus. To make the drivers feel better about the wait, E and Stevis had them all "Honkin' for Love!" Of course there were many pedestrians milling about on the sidewalks who appeared to be feeling left out. E quickly rose to the occasion, by getting them all to yell, "I love!" This translates itself into Tuesday night meetings by random individuals jumping up and screaming, "I love," when the overwhelming power of WOW falls upon them. As an endnote, Sequoia Hall residents of that great year still hate us.

The PC Dance Party:
PCs like to dance. Some have even become Dance Dance Revolution masters. That is why when there are many of them together in one place they like to have their own personal dance party.

The PC Shuffle:
AKA: Rolling Thunder Cloud. This little maneuver has been around for several years now and basically consists of the Production Crew huddling in a small mass and, using tiny, loud steps, moving to another area of Chumash auditorium then sitting down and looking innocent.

The Sonic Boom:
This is something that requires a bit of coordination. On cue, everyone in the group stands up and pretends to scream, yell, and cheer, except without making noise. They sit down, and a few seconds later, they all make the noise that they would have made a few seconds before. Just like seeing a plane pass by and hearing the sonic boom a few seconds later. Get it? Got it. Good.

The Black Hole:
Sometimes, a PC who has nothing in particular to do will feel lonely, and desire the companionship of all his/her fellow PCs, especially if they all have things to do all around Chumash. So this PC stands in the front of Chumash, and yells, "BLACK HOLE!!" Then all the PCs, hearing the call, yell and run towards the black hole PC, like they were getting sucked by, I mean sucked into, uh, well, you get the idea.

There are many more traditions, much of which happens both inside and outside Chumash. We don't want to spoil the fun, so be prepared 'cause something random this way comes.