IU on Display

They're out. They're everywhere. They're on spring break and invading IU's campus. They're getting prolonged stares and numerous smirks from students who've done it before and would prefer not to do it again. Campus tour groups.\n"We get catcalls and honked at all the time," junior Brett Armstrong said. "Sometimes my friends will join the back of the tour group and start asking me questions like 'what time is it?'"\nArmstrong, a tour guide with two years of experience under her belt, said the majority of the 55 leaders have had their friends jokingly harass them.\nAlong with having a sense of humor and an ability to adapt to any situation, tour guides are required to shadow several tours, read a book on IU's history and go through two months of training. The leaders are all undergraduates and volunteers who go through a rigorous application process to ensure they'll be enthusiastic guides. \nSarah Thompson, Office of Admissions senior assistant director, said having both professionals and students share their experiences at IU is invaluable to their program. \n"We know when a student chooses a college, the campus visit is the main determining factor," Thompson said. "It's the most powerful tool we have in terms of recruiting."\nTour leaders have had their recruitment work cut out for them these past two months, since nearly a third of campus visits occur in March and April.\nThe tour officially begins at the Office of Admissions, where students, parents and siblings file in and ask Information Specialist Beverly Byers whether they're in the right place. She's all smiles while helping them because she loves seeing families before and after they go on tours.\n"They're all so excited to visit IU and they all come back in and say how beautiful the campus is," Byers said.\nAfter students fill out an information sheet in either big bubble letters or chicken scratches, many walk up to the secretary and ask her if it's a problem that they don't know their social security number.\nFamilies then sit down for an hour-long information session. One American Eagle clad gentleman slouched in the back, twirling his rubber grip Bic pen and doodled eyeballs in his notebook while his dad read through the information booklet, trying to point out the interesting parts.\nEveryone perks up for the question and answer session. Parents ask the majority of questions, much to the dismay of their blushing children. The most popular subjects are campus security, housing, meal plans, transportation, cars, parking, coed dorms and the greek system. \nAfter the Q & A came the tour, which was led by Armstrong and junior Justin Grant. For those who were too busy trying to look cool by crossing our arms and zoning out on the IU trivia espoused at each stop on the tour, here are some IU stories that many tour guides tell: \n• The Art Museum has no 90-degree angles except for where the walls meet the floor and ceiling, which is why it's so difficult for the group to negotiate the stairs.\n• At Showalter Fountain, guides explained that during certain events students tend to pull the fish out and take them to an undisclosed location. Tour members gasp in shock, thinking they are referring to real, live fish. Guides quickly clarify that said fish are actually statues made of Italian marble.\n• People from Colorado once showed up with their canoes under the impression they could canoe through the middle of campus on the trickle of water misleadingly named the "Jordan River."\n• Wells Quad is the oldest part of campus. Maxwell Hall used to be a female dorm where the curfew was 10 p.m. Owen Hall used to be the male dorm where there was no curfew. Tradition has it that women aren't officially coeds until they sneak out to kiss under the Roswell House (gazebo) at midnight.\n• Crest toothpaste was created in the Chemistry Building. Proctor and Gamble bought the rights and funded Ballantine Hall (Ballanteen to people not paying attention), which is supposedly shaped like a toothbrush.\n• The Dunn family donated a large portion of their land to the University with two stipulations. The first was that for every tree cut down another one had to be planted. Myles Brand changed it to two. He is one of only two Big Ten presidents who live on campus and has been known to randomly hop into tour groups to listen to the stories being told about the campus.\n• The second was that the Dunn's 'sweetheart tree' was the only tree that could not be cut down because two men in the family proposed to their girlfriends and carved their initials in it, which is why the Chemistry Building is built around the tree.\n• Another morsel of romantic history occurred across the street at the non-denominational chapel, where it is rumored that a member of the Kennedy family was wed.\n"This is a really popular place right before finals for students who can't decide whether to study or pray," Grant said.\nThe most popular location for the tour group seemed to be the Wright Quadrangle, where families were shown around the dorms and then got to treat themselves to a meal at the food court. They ooh and aah at the novelty of meal cards, Sbarro's and Chester Fried Chicken. \nSenior Amanda Robbins said tour leaders do all they can to keep people interested in the campus by personalizing the tour. They'll shift positions in the group, make an effort to have conversations with everyone or quiz them on what's been said and then reward them with candy.\n"We really try to give them the sense that we are giving the tour specifically to them," Robbins said. "And you get a better appreciation for the campus the more you give tours. It never gets old -- it just gets prettier and prettier"