Since the school was founded in 1919, UCLA has been locked in one of the fiercest college rivalries in the country. The rivalry is never more evident than when the time comes for the battle for the Victory Bell, the annual award given to the winner of the football game between the two schools. This year, students from both campuses feel the spirit of the rivalry more intensely than ever. This fervor often incites students to pull pranks on the opposing school, whether it involves UCLA students pouring blue paint over the Tommy Trojan statue or USC students burning “USC” into the lawns on the UCLA campus. In recent years, however, both universities have adopted a zero-tolerance policy for mischief and have clamped down on any incidents. Consequently, students feel less involved in the rivalry than they once did. “This is a different era,” said John Sandbrook, special assistant to the executive dean of the UCLA College. “The rivalry was 10 times more intense than it is now.” This is because only one team from the Pacific Coast Conference was allowed to attend a bowl game, and usually the game between the Bruins and the Trojans decided that position. Furthermore, both the Bruins and the Trojans used to play their home games at the Coliseum. Nowadays, multiple Pac-10 teams can play in the postseason. The Bruins and Trojans also play their home games in different stadiums. The animosity between the two schools may have subsided, but the success of this year’s teams has elevated the game’s significance. The series of pranks and retaliations initially began after the 1941 match between UCLA and Washington State. A band of six Trojans stole the key to the UCLA Rally Committee’s truck while the UCLA Victory Bell was being loaded into it. The Trojan thieves were then able to drive away with what was rightfully Bruin property. USC students hid the bell for a whole year in various locations. At one point, it was allegedly concealed in a haystack. Eventually, the undergraduate presidents of both universities met and agreed that the winner of the annual football match would be allowed to keep the Victory Bell for one year and paint it in the school colors. Since then, there have been numerous pranks. Among the most memorable incidents was in 1958, when a group of Bruins plotted to drop manure on the Tommy Trojan statue. There were about 100 USC students guarding the statue, so the Bruin faithful rented a helicopter to complete the prank. In 1962, the Bruin KELPS managed to foil a prank attempted by the Trojans. The KELPS were a spirit organization with the sole purpose of carrying out pranks against USC, and Trojan students had come to UCLA to distribute fliers degrading the KELPS. The KELPS retaliated by shaving one letter of “UCLA” onto each of the heads of the Trojan pranksters. The Trojans were subsequently painted blue, fed breakfast, and tied to a flagpole before the police rescued them. The last major trick played against UCLA was in 1989, when USC students released hundreds of crickets into Powell Library during finals week. The Trojan pranksters posted signs on the wall that read, “Hope you enjoy studying today, Bruins. USC beat UCLA. Signed, the Trojan boys.” After 1989, there has been a decline in the frequency of pranks, partially due to the painstaking efforts of the Community Service Officers, the university police and the Undergraduate Students Association Council. USAC has established a special task force to guard the Bruin Bear every night during the rivalry week. This may have been in response to the incidents when Trojans painted the Bruin Bear red or poured manure over it. Every year, to prevent such incidents from recurring, the Bruin Bear goes into “hibernation” – the university protects it with blue tarps. Some students think the pranks should be allowed because they are an integral part of the rivalry. “Pulling pranks allow people to show their school spirit,” said Suzie Sandoval, a third-year biochemistry student. Others think that the pranks must be stopped. “Pranks just encourage hatred,” said third-year Melissa Bahmanpour. “They only make an enemy out of the other school.” Even though pranks may engender animosity between the two crosstown rivals, people still believe they make the rivalry more exciting, partially because they are humorous and partially because it is impossible to predict when or where they will happen.
BEAT ’SC BONFIRE: The Beat ’SC bonfire and rally takes place at 8 p.m. at Wilson Plaza tonight. Members of the Bruin football team and the UCLA spirit team will be in attendance, and the honorary grand marshall of the event is UCLA men’s volleyball coach Al Scates. The bonfire and parade will also feature dozens of student-built floats, marching groups, prominent alumni guests and celebrity dignitaries. They will parade through Westwood and end the night in Wilson Plaza, where the bonfire will take place.