campus invaded: nerf wars begin
Students hope to continue NERF battles without becoming a student club; 'Something like NERF is meant to be informal and spontaneous'
Mark Hensch
Issue date: 9/18/08 Section: News
Freshman John Oberhouse was caught in the crossfire.
Relaxing in his Niedfeldt Residence room one Friday evening, the freshman found himself in a firefight. As the fracas wound down, Oberhouse signed up for the next battle.
The NERF wars have begun, and no one in Hillsdale is safe.
"People in my dorm heard darts sticking to their doors and came to see what it was," Oberhouse said. "From there, so many of us wanted to fight we went to Wal-Mart and picked up eight more guns."
Oberhouse said NERF wars - played with foam projectile weapons - began as a stress outlet among Niedfeldt residents.
They soon began playing every Friday and establishing ground rules: one-shot kills, last team standing wins.
As more residents started participating, the students eventually had to move their game outside of Niedfeldt.
"As more guns were bought larger engagements occurred," said House Director Scott Henry, a senior. "It is a lot of fun, but it got to be too much for the Niedfeldt environment."
Oberhouse said they moved the game outdoors, then to Kendall and Lane halls.
The new location and a fixed starting time helped the group balloon to nearly 30 participants.
"Lane and Kendall provide so much more space for games," Henry said. "There are lots of tactical positions inside the wide halls and tiny hiding places."
Oberhouse said they take care to clean up their messes.
"We do not want to leave darts in some teacher's room and get banned from playing in Lane or Kendall," Oberhouse said. "As such, we leave any playing area better than we find it."
Their responsible attitudes attracted the attention of Dean of Men Aaron Petersen, who met with representatives in the hopes of establishing an official NERF club. But the students declined his offer.
"The majority of the players decided to keep the NERF games unofficial," Henry said. "It is in my opinion better this way as something like NERF is meant to be informal and spontaneous."
Oberhouse agreed.
"The point of NERF wars is to blow off steam," Oberhouse said. "The big message here is that with us Hillsdale students can work out, have fun and meet people all at the same time."
Relaxing in his Niedfeldt Residence room one Friday evening, the freshman found himself in a firefight. As the fracas wound down, Oberhouse signed up for the next battle.
The NERF wars have begun, and no one in Hillsdale is safe.
"People in my dorm heard darts sticking to their doors and came to see what it was," Oberhouse said. "From there, so many of us wanted to fight we went to Wal-Mart and picked up eight more guns."
Oberhouse said NERF wars - played with foam projectile weapons - began as a stress outlet among Niedfeldt residents.
They soon began playing every Friday and establishing ground rules: one-shot kills, last team standing wins.
As more residents started participating, the students eventually had to move their game outside of Niedfeldt.
"As more guns were bought larger engagements occurred," said House Director Scott Henry, a senior. "It is a lot of fun, but it got to be too much for the Niedfeldt environment."
Oberhouse said they moved the game outdoors, then to Kendall and Lane halls.
The new location and a fixed starting time helped the group balloon to nearly 30 participants.
"Lane and Kendall provide so much more space for games," Henry said. "There are lots of tactical positions inside the wide halls and tiny hiding places."
Oberhouse said they take care to clean up their messes.
"We do not want to leave darts in some teacher's room and get banned from playing in Lane or Kendall," Oberhouse said. "As such, we leave any playing area better than we find it."
Their responsible attitudes attracted the attention of Dean of Men Aaron Petersen, who met with representatives in the hopes of establishing an official NERF club. But the students declined his offer.
"The majority of the players decided to keep the NERF games unofficial," Henry said. "It is in my opinion better this way as something like NERF is meant to be informal and spontaneous."
Oberhouse agreed.
"The point of NERF wars is to blow off steam," Oberhouse said. "The big message here is that with us Hillsdale students can work out, have fun and meet people all at the same time."
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