CNU Oddities Staff writer lists strange things to see around campus

JARRETT CONNOLLY JARRETT.CONNOLLY.20@CNU.EDU

To say CNU is a normal campus would be a lie the size of the Ferguson. Weird things are prone to happen on campus, but blink twice and you might miss these five creepy, funny, and downright odd things.

1.CNU Banana

3.Chaos Trible

Do you eat all of your meals at the dining hall? Maybe you only eat there once or twice a day or only during the weekdays. Either way, if you take your food to-go, you’re probably going through a lot of throwaway takeout boxes. Instead of using one-use takeout containers all the time, consider using the reusable to-go boxes offered in the dining halls.

You might be wondering, what to-go boxes? How do you even get one? Well, the great news is, there is already a fund on your Captain’s card for these boxes.

All you have to do is ask for a green to-go box at the front desk of either CNU dining hall. Staff will swipe your card and the built-in “Go Green” fund will pay for the box. When you’re done with the box, just rinse it off and on your next visit to the dining hall, exchange it for a new box. Alternatively, if you want to return your used to-go box, but don’t want to immediately get a new one, you can ask for a wooden coin. Hold on to that wooden coin so that next time you feel like using a to-go box, you can exchange the coin for a clean box. It’s that simple!

Sophomore, Scottie Gilg, a member of The Student Sustainability Commission, shared why she chose to ditch the single-use to-go boxes. She wrote, “I chose to switch to the green reusable boxes because I wanted to take steps to become more sustainable in college. It can be difficult to be sustainable because it is easier to use single-use items and then be done with it, but every small step and every item I reuse is taking those steps.”

If that isn’t reason enough, here’s a few other benefits of switching to reusable to-go boxes!

The reusable to-go box is sturdy and won’t get soggy

Don’t you just hate when your paper to-go container gets all soggy and disgusting? No one wants a box that leaves little wet sweat marks on every surface.

“The amount of times I have almost dropped my food when using the normal boxes because how flimsy they are is wayyy too often,” writes Gilg.

The reusable to-go boxes are similar to tupperware, so you don’t have to worry about the container falling apart with your food still inside.

The box keeps your food warm for a longer amount of time

Busy college students are always on the move and sometimes they don’t have time to eat their meal right away. When you pick up a one-use takeout container from the dining hall, the food goes cold pretty quickly. For instance, sometimes Gilg walks to work with her dining hall food, but it loses all of its heat by the time she arrives. Luckily, the green to-go boxes are made of a thick, sturdy plastic that traps heat.

Sometimes you may want a little extra food for later. Instead of worrying about overstuffing those flimsy paper to-go boxes, rest assured that the reusable boxes will hold plenty of food.

If you have been to any CNU event in the past couple of months, you’ve seen the banana. Whether she’s riding through campus or just standing there by the Ferg, you will see the CNU Banana, decked out in the banana suit and sunglasses. She’ll just appear randomly and then as quickly vanish. She’s even gotten pictures with Chancellor Trible. Unlike most cryptids, this banana is approachable and likely doesn’t bite.

2.CNU Squid

There’s no warning for when it appears, it just does. Every couple of months, CNU students walking by the time capsule will find an actual dead squid placed upon the circular capsule. The CNU Squid is a time honored tradition by random, non connected students who place a squid onto the capsule for other students to find and admire. It’s one of the most recurring pranks on campus for years now. It has also been placed in the plaza and under the bell tower.

In the past few days, hundreds of random black and white photos of Chancellor Trible with the words “Chaos Incarnate’’ have randomly been placed around campus. While a lot of them have since vanished, they were a sight to see when you would enter the Torggler and there are these photos of Trible EVERYWHERE. Who placed them there? We’ll never know. But the real question is how much in print funds were used to print those pictures?

4.Plastic Babies

When you’re in the library, desperately trying to find the words to hit the minimum pages for an essay or are in Einsteins trying to caffeinate yourself, reach under a table and see if you can find a small plastic baby. There must be hundreds of these tiny things everywhere on campus. What do you do when you find one of them? Who knows.

5. Luter 4th Floor

Who said CNU doesn’t have liminal spaces? The almost barren hallways are eerie and there’s something unnerving about Luter’s 4th floor and the general hiddenness about its existence. If you find a mirror, chant “Set the world on fire” nine times and see what happens when Captain Chris appears behind you.