REX 2012
REX (short for "Residence Exploration") is a special and exciting tradition at MIT. With all of the dorms putting on tons of events highlighting their unique cultures and traditions, REX is a great time to explore all of the many opportunities that the MIT dormitory system has to offer, and for incoming students to find a place to call home.
At East Campus, we have tons of projects and events going on all the time. Stop by the courtyard to see all the exciting events and projects going on, grab a burger (we have veggie burgers too!), dye your hair, take a tour, and relax.
Here's our schedule for REX 2012. All events take place in the EC Courtyard (between buildings 62 and 64) or in Talbot lounge (a big room on one side of the courtyard in building 62).
(You can also see the CPW 2012 schedule.)
| Saturday, 8/25 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Time | Event | Description |
| 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM | Courtyard Shenanigans | By now, our fort might be three stories tall. Come experience the dizzying drop of the fireman's pole or the surreal twisting of Teacups... on a Pendulum. (Or finish building them with us depending on how things are going.) |
| 3:30 PM - 8:00 PM | Hair Dyeing | This time, it will be a whole semester before your parents find out. |
| 4:30 PM - 7:30 PM | EC Tours | Meeting every half-hour. Look for the sign in the courtyard! Our building is like a museum: old and filled with art. It doesn't smell like a museum, though. |
| 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM | The Shenanigans Continue | Come help us build the biggest, baddest, okay, fine, maybe just most homemade, amusement park you've ever laid eyes on. No previous experience required. Going on all day, every day, probably even after REX is over. |
| 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM | Cooking with Power Tools | A standard drill chuck will accept all kitchen utensils up to 3/8" in diameter. Disconnect all power before serving. |
| 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM | Grilling | Food: empowering your awesome since 1990. Or... wait... when were you kids born? Veggie options available upon not-so-polite request. |
| 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM | Tie-Dye | We bet your orientation shirt is white. Come infuse it with AWESOME. |
| 7:30 PM - 10:00 PM | EC Tours | Meeting every half-hour. Look for the sign in the courtyard! Like engineering? We got that. History? We got that. Liberal arts? Well, we have art... |
| 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM | Hair Dyeing | What color is your hair? It could be a different color! Whoa! |
| 8:00 PM - 11:00 PM | Shenanigans, I'm telling you | We're still here building things. Maybe. We might be sleeping in our awesome fort instead. Feel free to wake us up. Or join us. |
| 8:30 PM - 10:00 PM | Math Diagnostic | The Math Diagnostic for Physics Placement is a mandatory paper/pencil test. Closed toed shoes are required. |
| 9:00 PM - 10:30 PM | Cruft Bondage | It's a well known rule on campus that you aren't allowed to tie up freshmen before classes start. So for now we'll just practice by tying up inanimate objects. (And you thought those knots you learned in Boy Scouts were only good for sailing and camping...) |
| 10:00 PM - 11:45 PM | Did you successfully wake us up? Cool, let's keep building awesome stuff. | The EC Amusement Park: entertaining freshmen since 1923. Come build with us—no experience necessary. |
| 10:30 PM - 11:30 PM | Mandatory* Swim Test | Four laps around Lake Fred. Watch out for wood screws. *Not actually mandatory. |
| 11:45 PM - 11:47 PM | Go away. | No, seriously. You shouldn't be here. |
| Sunday, 8/26 | ||
| 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM | We're not awake. | If you are, clearly you weren't up late enough doing awesome stuff. Try harder tonight. |
| 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM | Union Break | We stood at the picket lines for many a day to earn this hour of freedom. Now let's enjoy it properly with some donuts and joe. |
| 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM | Brunch | If you didn't get enough coffee half an hour ago, come have some Monster! Assorted flavors available. |
| 12:00 PM - 3:00 PM | Courtyard Construction | Didn't join in on the fun yesterday? Come build things! We have things. We like things. Things like giant seesaws and RushBeests. (No experience required -- we'll teach you everything.) |
| 12:00 PM - 3:30 PM | Hair Dyeing | Replace your head with a rainbow. It's already a rainbow? A bigger rainbow! |
| 12:00 PM - 3:00 PM | Break Up With Your High School Boyfriend or Girlfriend | Man up, pick up one of our phones, and make the call. We all know it's going to happen eventually; better now than over Thanksgiving break. Post breakup counseling is available in the form of Ben & Jerry's pints and restatement of the previous sentence. |
| 12:30 PM - 4:30 PM | EC Tours | Meeting every half-hour. Look for the sign in the courtyard! It's okay, we don't bite. Usually. We screened the tour guide apps for biters, at least. |
| 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM | Stupid Food Tricks | Do you like fireworks? What about fireworks in your mouth? Since you're only freshmen, these will even be edible fireworks in your mouth! |
| 1:30 PM - 3:30 PM | Play With Your Food | Where do you think your hamburger comes from? We'll make it hard to ignore the answer to that question. We also have really nice meat for our burgers today. |
| 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM | Egg Drop | It's like middle school science class, only now you're at MIT. Level up, baby. |
| 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM | Orientation Kick-Off! | The plan: all the freshmen try to kick each other off our three-story fort. May the strongest frosh survive! |
| 3:00 PM - 7:00 PM | Construction Never Sleeps | So neither will we! Thank God for all this Monster. Treadmill Mario needs testing! |
| 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM | Advanced Standing Exam | True intelligence does not require a chair. |
| 3:30 PM - 7:00 PM | Hair Dyeing | I made a bad decision about changing my hair color! I made a bad decision about not changing my hair color! It doesn't matter, we will make it any color you want. |
| 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM | Boffers | Angry at someone back home? Angry at your roommate already? Stressed about the Math Diagnostic? In true EC tradition, come take it out on other people. Protective equipment not provided. |
| 4:30 PM - 7:00 PM | EC Tours | Meeting every half-hour. Look for the sign in the courtyard! If your tour guide isn't entertaining, well, there's an amusement park in the courtyard. It balances out. |
| 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM | Burgers and...more burgers | We have all of this Really Nice Meat today. Come help us savor it. Vegetarian options available by request through our toll-free help line. |
| 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM | Shield Building | A coded message from our advance scouts says West Campus is attacking at 1600 hours Tuesday. Come prepare defenses to protect the glory of East Campus! |
| 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM | Soldering Seminar | Whether you can pronounce it correctly or not, come learn how to melt little bits of metal to other bits of metal. It's like welding, but makes things light up. |
| 8:30 PM - 11:42 PM | Constructin' | Come master the skill of Engineerin' in twenny minutes flat. Or, at least, learn how ter use a power drill. |
| 9:00 PM - 11:00 PM | EC Iron Chef | See if you have what it takes to stay on top in the wild jungle of a cook-for-yourself dorm. Be warned: Your guide's name? Fuzzy. |
| 10:00 PM - 11:42 PM | LED Throwies | Part 1: Do a cool electronics project. Part 2: Please, God, make that "art" at the end of our courtyard a little less mind-blowingly hideous. |
| 11:42 PM - 11:49 PM | Why are you here? | Shoo, before I grab a flyswatter. Which will probably take the form of a 2x4. |
| Monday, 8/27 | ||
| 10:30 AM - 11:00 AM | Union Break | We haven't started working yet, making it the perfect time for a union-mandated break. Dunks is calling! |
| 10:55 AM - 11:00 AM | Very Brief Build Period | Come help us build awesome things in the courtyard for 4 minutes before the, uh, very mandatory Convocation. |
| 12:00 PM - 12:30 PM | President Johnson's Convocation and Welcome | President Robert Johnson officially welcomes you and your family to the EAsT camPUS community. Come celebrate the greatness that is EC! |
| 2:00 PM - 2:30 PM | Building and eating awesome stuff | Six hours until the party: keep helping us salvage whatever structures (or "structures") we have. We'll feed you tasty meat and not-meat while you're at it if you didn't get enough at the brunch. |
| 2:25 PM - 2:30 PM | You should probably actually go to the Math Diagnostic. | We know it's hard to tear yourself away from your newfound bliss, but it's only an hour and a half. Come back soon! |
| 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM | Cards Against Humanity | It's to Apples to Apples as EC is to [redacted]: more awesome but might horrify your parents. |
| 4:15 PM - 5:15 PM | EC Tours | See our awesome murals, hear tales of yore, and wander the sacred grounds of Ole East Campus. The walls might not even fall off on you because in theory they did renovations this summer. Leaving every 30 minutes from the courtyard—look for the sign. |
| 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM | Decorate the courtyard | We have a party coming up, and we want the Courtyard to look its finest. Help us paint signs, make lights, hang lights, really whatever. We're not terribly picky... |
| 4:45 PM - 5:30 PM | Hair dyeing | We've been dyeing your hair since noon, and we'll keep dyeing it now. It will be a whole semester until your parents find out! |
| 5:15 PM - 5:30 PM | Courtyard Constructing/Panicking | Guys, if the Frosh Wash isn't working by the time the party starts, we're going to blame you. Get over here. The grills are ablazin' so don't worry about dinner. |
| 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM | Get Pumped! | The East Side Party starts in an hour! Woooooo! We could probably use a hand or two or two hundred, so come to the EC Courtyard and don't miss the first bass drop. |
| 8:00 PM - 1:00 AM | EAST SIDE PARTY | Come to the East Side, where the beat of the bass never dies. Hold on to the Merry-Go-Die, get soaked by the Frosh Wash, and wrestle in substances never before wrestled in. And as you dance in the smoke, the lights, the thumping dreamscape of an unstoppable party, you too will taste the sweet nectar of freedom. |
| 10:00 PM - 1:00 AM | PARTY PARTY PARTY | Missed the opening beats? It's never too late to join us as we dance, ride, wrestle, and scream the night away. Game's on 'til 1 AM. |
| Tuesday, 8/28 | ||
| ONLY 24 HOURS UNTIL THE HOUSING LOTTERY CLOSES | Apparently they're calling it the First Year Residence Exchange this year. Whatever. It's important. Now that you're stuck in this hell-hole of a school, try to at least make your dorm tolerable. | |
| We just went to sleep, but ONLY 18 HOURS UNTIL THE HOUSING LOTTERY CLOSES | This really doesn't need a description. | |
| 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM | Core Blitz | How hard is your core? (Please don't actually come to the courtyard now. We are definitely not awake. You probably shouldn't be either. Weren't you at the party?) |
| 11:25 AM - 11:30 AM | Union Break | What do they expect? We can't start work without donuts and coffee! |
| 12:30 PM - 4:00 PM | Water War Prep | Join us as we prepare to defeat the villainous West Side! Weapons require testing, defenses need to be made, and flags of honor must be sewn! To the courtyard! For glory! |
| 12:30 PM - 6:30 PM | Play with our toys! | We built all these rides and toys for you to play on/with. The party is technically over, but the fun hasn't stopped. Come by EC to hang out with our RushBeest, get soaked by our Newton's Cradle, launch things with our Ballista, tag our Giant Wall, and try to beat our Treadmill Mario. We're open all day. |
| 12:45 PM - 3:45 PM | EC Tours | East Campus is full of Back In The DayTM. We have so much history it hurts. Come discover East Campus with us. Tours: meeting every half-hour. Look for the sign in the courtyard. |
| 12:45 PM - 3:00 PM | Foooooood | Get your Rush burgers here! And Rush fake-burgers! Just whatever you do, don't ask us about the potato salad. |
| 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM | "Extra Fizzy" | There are several ways to dissolve CO2 into sugar water. Most of them take longer, are less effective, and aren't as terrifying as our method. |
| 1:30 PM - 6:30 PM | Hair Dyeing | You're freshmen. You don't need real jobs any time soon. Just go for it. (We'll pause for the Water War.) |
| 1:45 PM - 6:30 PM | Ride our rides! | Was the line too big for the Teacup Pendulum last night? The Merry-Go-Die too terrifying in the dark? Stop by the courtyard today for your last chance to play on our creations before they make us take them down. |
| ONLY 12 HOURS UNTIL THE HOUSING LOTTERY CLOSES | We should be getting up right about now. And you should be exploring all the dorms, because, well, see the title. | |
| 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM | Water War Prep | A new message from our advance scouts has confirmed West Campus is attacking at 1600 hours. Come prepare last-minute defenses to protect the glory of East Campus! |
| 5:00 PM - 5:30 PM | Play in the Frosh Wash! | Like a car wash, but with a higher change of getting soap in your mouth. Better say some nasty words so you deserve it. |
| 5:15 PM - 6:30 PM | Our Favorite Anime Music Videos | Relax after the Water War with some of our favorite Anime Music Videos. Projected onto our giant movie screen on our even more giant fort. |
| 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM | Oooobleck | Thought you had to be a saint to walk on water? Come close with oobleck, EC's non-Newtonian fluid in residence. I bet it can dance better than you! |
| ONLY 6 HOURS UNTIL THE HOUSING LOTTERY CLOSES | Did we mention that where you live is important? It should at least feel decent because we all know nothing else at MIT does. | |
| 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM | EC Tours | Tired of taking tours on foot? Too bad! We can't find our Catbus. Leaving every 30 minutes from the courtyard. Look for the sign. |
| 8:30 PM - 9:00 PM | Naptime on the Fort | Sleepy? Have a Monster! Then dye your hair awesome colors. Nap time? Who are we kidding? |
| 9:00 PM - 11:00 PM | Soldering Seminar | Whether you can pronounce it correctly or not, come learn how to melt little bits of metal to other bits of metal. It's like welding, but makes things light up. |
| 9:00 PM - 1:00 AM | Hijinks and Ballyhoo | How on earth does spell-check not have an issue with either of those words? Come to the EC courtyard to build things with leftover wood, spray paint things that aren't our Giant Wall, and eat ridiculous numbers of chocolate chip cookies. |
| 9:30 PM - 10:30 PM | Recreate the Dead Sea | You already know about how easy it is to float in the Dead Sea. What they didn't tell you was how it holy-flying-spaghetti-monster BURNS any open wounds or scratches or just-shaved patches of skin. Come try it for yourself without leaving Boston! |
| ONLY 4 HOURS UNTIL THE HOUSING LOTTERY CLOSES | I'm running out of things to say. Just don't forget about the Housing Lottery. | |
| 10:30 PM - 12:30 AM | We Still Care | Need some last-minute help about your housing decision? Just want to chill with us and eat whatever food we have left? Come on by! If we don't have any food left, we might eat you! |
| Wednesday, 8/29 | ||
| ONLY 2 HOURS UNTIL THE HOUSING LOTTERY CLOSES | Almost there! Which is good because I'm getting bored of typing all of these. | |
| ONLY 1 HOUR UNTIL THE HOUSING LOTTERY CLOSES | Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah. | |
| 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM | Union Break | The Housing Lottery is closed. We're definitely owed overtime. Let's plan our next strike over some good ole Dunks. |
| 12:00 PM - 1:45 PM | Courtyard Destruction | Rainbow hair! Burgers! Destruction of the amusement park (hopefully also amusing)! |