Fifteen Minutes: Searching for Sin ... in Canaday!?!

For centuries, adventurers have pursued excitement in the arenas of treasure hunting, big game hunting and deep-sea exploring. However, one first-year has taken up another noble pursuit. Jonathan M. Guberman '03 of Canaday F searches for sins. It started about one month before winter break, when Guberman was crossing the hall to hang out with the guys. He noticed the word "greed" written in faint orange marker on the doorjamb. He asked his neighbors about the word, but they knew nothing beyond that it had been there for a while. Guberman thought nothing of it and continued with his normal daily activities.

A few months later, Guberman was talking on the phone, pacing the hallway, when he noticed that the fuse box was partially open. For reasons that remain unknown, perhaps the hand of God, he opened the box. Written on the inside of the fuse box door were the words "gluttony" and "wrath." He was intrigued, but a quick search revealed no clues. Once again, he laid the matter to rest. Guberman had a chance encounter with a couple of former Canaday F residents and asked them about the sins. They knew nothing of the subject. Enter Clint T. Kenley '03, a blockmate of Guberman. Kenley, a Montanan and hunter, overheard the conversation and was enticed by the mystery. After a tour of the discovered sins, Kenley "felt a strong connection with the perpetrator." Standing in the entryway, contemplating his freshly-acquired knowledge of the sins, he was suddenly drawn to the fire extinguisher. The extinguisher showed no directly apparent blemishes. But Kenley's intuition made him look closer, and as he moved, the sunlight illuminating the glass on the extinguisher's case revealed the word "sloth" etched into the glass. It was scratched out and barely visible. It sent a chill up his spine.

The current total remains at four sins. Guberman and Kenley have begun to speculate about the authenticity of "gluttony," as it was found in the same place as wrath and with an exclamation mark next to it. They also believe it may be in different handwriting. Guberman explains, "it seems more like the mocking work of a copycat." Kenley concurs, "this isn't our man. He wouldn't strike twice in the same place. He is a calculating perpetrator that works out of passion."

Although these sin-seekers believe the graffiti is the work of a deranged psycho single resident, they concede that it may be a joke based on the success of the movie Seven. They also surmise that the culprit is a current student or recent graduate. The two hunters plan to continue the search for sins and sinner.

-S. E. Silver