http://tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_087/TECH_V087_S0582_P001.pdf
fri jan 12 1968
Snow in Baker Fools Nation
By Mark Bolotin
"In the second floor shower rooms at Baker
House, they threw the windows wide open and
turned the hot showers on fuLl blast. From the
showers poured a thick plume of steam. From the
open windows came a below-zero icy blast. The
experiment was designed to determine what happens
when one meets the other."
So claimed Tuesday's edition of the -Boston
Herald-Traveler, which fell for a hoax perpetrated
by Baker residents. The front-page- story, with
Iy :h LALUu.C V, .-U LLLUUt:u UA:L O0tt/u. -+
Icy Air = Snow."
Snow dA exist
In reality,- there was a considerable amount of
snow on the floor of the john, although certainly
not the six inches claimed by the Herald-Traveler.
Despite the claims of the paper, the snow was not
artificially created by the students; it was merely
brought -in from outside to build a snowman.. Unfortunately,
the snow was too dry to pack, so the
showers were turned on very hot. (It is true that
warm water will soften snow enough to make it
packable--no hoax.)
However, with the hot showers on, it became
necessary to open a window to cool the room off.
Suddenly, the room was filled with fog, caused by
cold air meeting steam. One member of the crowd
decided that this fantastic effect would be the basis
for a great hack--a claim that they had created
snow.
The newspaper-and most of Boston--fell for it.
The paper finally realized that it had been fooled,
when besieged with complaints. Nobody else was
able to obtain snow by this method.
Latest responses -to the hoax took two extremes.
The most common reaction was the reply of one
MIT student: "Anybody knows that if you mix
hot water and cold air, the only thing you'll get is
a cold shower." Nevertheless, one perpetrator of
the hoax hoped that they might really be able to
create snow. If the room is cold enough and wihM
the right type nozzle on the shower...
Photo courtesy of Herald Traveler
Students on the second floor of Baker House
ouffoxed the Boston Herald Traveler when they
carried snow into a shower room, then persuaded
the reporter that it was artificial.
--------------
Story carried by papers
from Jersey to Georgia
News of the supposed creation
of snow in Baker House spread
far beyond Boston. The news story
was picked up by the Associated
Press wire service and carried to
newspapers and televisions across
the nation
It has been verified that the
story was repo~rbd in newspapers
in Georgia and New Jersey. Television'
stations in Atlanta, Ga.,
also presented the story.
According to Mark Rockoff '69,
a Baker resident who helped
organize the hoax, parents of several
other Bakerites called Cambridge
to report that local papers
carried the story. He added it is
'likely that the story crossed the
coutry, but that not all reports
of its coverage have reached Cambridge.