EVANSTON – McCormick Freshman Casey Chad said Monday that she still believes that she will spend a significant amount of time in downtown Chicago at some point this year.

“During fall quarter I just had to get acquainted with Northwestern and make friends who will come to the city with me,” Chad explained.  “Next quarter I’m going to go to the city for sure!  Well, maybe not winter quarter, actually, because it’ll be cold.  It gets really cold in Chicago, right?  But after that for sure.”

Chad said that by the end of freshman year she hopes to eat dinner in Chicago at least once a month, go to four concerts, a play, three museums, explore Boystown, get her nose pierced and sneak onto the roof of a skyscraper at midnight.

“I’ve had a lot of work in my engineering classes, but I think I can learn to manage them enough to make some trips down to the city.  I mean, I have to go; I wrote about how awesome it would be to be so close to Chicago in my admissions essay!”

As of yesterday Chad was heard saying that she was still under the impression that the L ride down to the Loop would take “30 minutes, tops.”

In related news, Medill sophomore Brad Jansen said Tuesday that he, too, swears he’ll get around to going to Chicago to have some fun sometime in the next two and a half years.

CHICAGO – Clarence MacMillan, a member of the class of 2015, tried to complete last week’s Chicago marathon while dancing. The Weinberg freshman was seen fist-bumping and electric-sliding his way through the first two miles before a fellow contestant explained about what a complete asshole he looked like.

“Everyone on Facebook was talking about signing up for Dance Marathon, I thought I would give it a shot,” he said. “They mentioned something about thirty hours, and like, come on bro, I knew I could easily beat that time.”

MacMillan’s friends noticed that something was unusual about his preparation the night before the race when instead of fueling up on carbs and getting his gear ready he begged them to “teach him how to Dougie.” Other runners were similarly confused when Clarence began practicing the Macarena in the designated stretching area. One participant in line for water even overheard the freshman asking for a six-pack of Busch Light, saying, “Come on, guys don’t dance sober!”

Adler began the marathon by awkwardly moving his feet and bobbing his head, the go-to mating call of seventh-grade boys. He proceeded to do the jerk, Cotton-Eye Joe and kick-line for ten minutes. About a quarter-mile in, MacMillan casted an invisible fishing rod, attempting to reel in a bystanding girl on the sidewalk.

Eventually, the Northwestern student was stopped by a fellow runner, Chicago resident Brian Burbank. After the situation was explained, MacMillan blushed and walked away, ending his valiant effort.

“Suuuuuuuch a freshman,” Burbank remarked.  

SKOKIE – One Northwestern freshman spent the most anticipated day of the year aimlessly wandering through the scenic village of Skokie. The hours of a.m. drinking forced David Eager to head West on Dillo Day, instead of East toward the lakefill.

“There are really only two things you need to know how to do on Dillo Day,” Mayfest co-chair Chase “Maystache” Jacksons explained to Flipside investigators. “Drink large quantities of alcohol and have the common sense to head towards music in the same direction as a shitload of people.” Eager managed to accomplish the first task so well that the second became difficult.

“I was just drinking whatever people were giving me, hopping fences, going from house party to house party. Thought I really built up my stamina from that ‘Defining Moments’ party last week. Guess not.”

Eager got separated from his friends after experiencing confusion as to where exactly Simpson Street ended. He decided to head toward the Lakefill to meet up with them, but by this point the freshman was seriously disoriented.

“I had no clue where I was, let alone which way to go. I just picked a direction and started walking, hoping I wouldn’t be late to my first Dillo Day.”

Skokie police officers found Eager in a park next to Old Orchard Mall “mostly fist pumping” in front of a swing set.

“Once I found an open patch of grass, I thought I was there. It wasn’t until my buzz wore off in the squad car that I realized something was wrong…mainly that my buzz was wearing off.”

One Skokie resident tried to aid the “clearly out of place, slightly abusive, and heavily pee-stained” NU student.

“He kept asking me where the pornographers were,” the resident informed The Flipside. “Also something about how ‘Bob’ had nothing on me. I don’t know any Bob.”

After the embarrassing rookie mistake, Eager plans to take preventative measures for next year.

“Dillo Day 2012 is going to be the best. I’m going to camp out on the Lakefill the night before. Just in case.”

EVANSTON—Hundreds of freshmen students have voiced complaints against the inadequate time professors spend on preparations for midterm examinations.  Virgins to the quarter system, their groans reached a climax on Tuesday, when French professor Jim Levenstein announced that students would begin their oral exams two weeks ahead of schedule.

“It’s not fair,” moaned freshman Nadia Horner, a student of Professor Levenstein. “just as I’m totally getting into the class and learning some new things, he tells us we have to perform our oral tomorrow in front of everyone.”

Other departments also have early examinations.  Those enrolled in Introduction to Christianity are required to present a report on European missionary positions to the department chair in two days. Students taking Genetics and Evolution must prove their knowledge of unzipping genes to a panel of elderly male teachers tomorrow.

However, many see the underlying problem not in premature examinations, but a general lack of respect for freshmen by university faculty.  This can cause inadequate preparation and poor technique instruction. “Professors just give us the shaft for the exams,” gasped Kam Sutra (WCAS 2014), “I wouldn’t mind them coming early if they touched on our needs.  They see a freshman student as merely another notch on their desks before they leave. They give the seniors all their attention.”

“Sometimes I feel like an object,” moaned Ben Dover (Medill 2014), “they just keep going and going without even looking at us, then they leave without talking to us and don’t even say good-bye.”

When asked what advice the University has for freshmen, Megan Elektra, an academic advisor, offered the following tips: “Go to office hours, where you can get one-on-one time.  Study more.  Study all night long.  Study until you scream.”

“Remember: the professor is the dominant player in the relationship.  Satisfy his or her needs, and he or she will satisfy yours.”

EVANSTON—After weeks of posturing and discussing getting laid, Weinberg Freshman Alan Simpson discovered Thursday that his shit literally does not stink. The revelation came as a shock to many who knew him.

“I was just about to flush the toilet, when I thought, ‘Hey, that’s weird’,” Simpson said. “So I got a little closer, and sure enough, it didn’t smell bad, like, at all.”

Simpson’s roommate, Robert Talley, was caught by surprise.

“For the first couple weeks, he just seemed like your typical freshman douche, you know?” Talley said. “He was always talking about his father’s law practice and this girl who he almost fucked. I just thought he was full of it, but now I guess I have to get him credit – he is just naturally awesome.”

Although Simpson’s condition is rare, it is still sometimes seen in Americans, although it is most common among the French. Stanford gastroenterologist Stephen DuPont said that Simpson’s case is not isolated.

“For the most part, this is an incredibly over-diagnosed condition,” DuPont said. “For every 10,000,000 Americans who believe that their shit doesn’t stink, only about one can say that scientifically.”

DuPont even cited several specific examples of people who at first may have seemed like irritating blowhards, but actually were validated by their non-odorous feces.

“People like Sarah Palin, Martha Stewart and even Kevin Federline all seem like pompous windbags, but you really have to take a scientific look at their shit,” said Dupont. “And when you do, you realize that it actually smells kind of like cinnamon.”

Simpson reported that the discovery has provided his social life with a significant upgrade. “Dude, totally. At this point, I’m just rolling in it. I knew I’d end up being the Big Man on Campus, I just didn’t realize it would only take me three weeks.”

For Talley, Simpson’s roommate, the revelation has been difficult to accept. “I still keep having this overwhelming desire to call him a fucking douche and punch him in the nose. I keep reminding myself that his shit really doesn’t stink.”

EVANSTON—In a rare turn of events, new student Antonio DiMarco actually knows the subject in which he wishes to obtain his degree, making him the first student in the history of Northwestern’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences to enter the university without the “undecided” tag. “I don’t understand what the big deal is,” DiMarco explained to a group of Medill reporters (who will probably all change their academic focuses before the year’s end), “I’ve always liked philosophy and that’s what I want to study.”

Rumors started swirling over the summer that DiMarco could declare his major before setting foot in Evanston. Even more heads turned when DiMarco posted a topic in the Northwestern 2014 Facebook group: “yo guys any other philosophy majors in da house?!?!?!?” “I didn’t think he could do it,” said WCAS senior Joe DiMarco, Antonio’s brother, “after all, I’ve seen so many eager freshmen try and fail, jabbering on and on excitedly about their engineering career paths only to realize that their schedules will suck. My psych class last year was basically made up entirely of those guys.”

The insanity reached a fever pitch the first day of orientation, as throngs of interested onlookers congregated around the icebreaker for DiMarco’s PA group to hear his long-awaited answer to the question of “Name, Hometown, Major?” They were not disappointed.

DiMarco has said that he enjoys his newfound celebrity, but that being the only freshman who made up his mind also has its drawbacks. “I need to come up with a clever one-liner to use at parties,” he noted, “because I can’t do any of that snarky ‘I’m majoring in undecided!’ stuff.” DiMarco explained that although this particular hill will be hard to climb, he is not worried. “After all,” he said, “I am a philosophy major. It shouldn’t be that hard to come up with some jokes.”