Slang/Jargon you Might Hear

Here's some terms you might see pop up in the blogs or hear if you visit the campus. While not canonical definitions, they should help give you a good idea of the general meaning of the word/phrase.

5^th year – a student who is taking a 9^th semester at Mudd due to scheduling

AC – pronounced “ack”, short for Academic Computing (computer lab) or Academics, usually referring to the academic end of campus as opposed to the dorm/residential end

Bio – Biology

Clinic – The act of the College outsourcing it undergrad students to a company who pays for the students to fix something for them. Often considered a timesuck due to high levels of involvement. Required to be done by CS and Engineering Majors in order to graduate.

Crack – anything addictive. Usually associated with a game, for example World of Warcraft or Civilization 4.

CS – Computer Science

DOS – Dean of Students, includes several students who help organize random events about once a week, things like a trip to Mt. Baldy or showings of movies on the giant inflatable screen with themed snack or bed races

Flame war – an argument often carried out on e-mail lists or a forum between two or more parties, often but no necessarily including personal attacks, ad hominems, and/or continuing longer than anyone not involved cares. Usually, but not required, it starts out as a civil argument.

Graduate – the goal of most Mudders to do. Afterwards they disappear into the Real World, sometimes reappearing with tales of how easy life out there is yet wishing they were still here to hang out with us.

Graduate Student – these don't exist at Mudd

Honor Code – Rule #1: Don't be a jackass. Created under the assumption that if given the choice, people will do what is right. Covers both academic and social responsibilities and fosters a strong mutual trust and sense of community between students, staff, and faculty.

Hygiene – Something many people maintain, but there are those who don't upkeep it as much as others would like. Degradation of this stat is usually from the Sleep dep status effect.

LAC – Linde Activity Center, contains lots of cool stuff including fitness center, computer lab, ping pong table, and a printer. Also the hub for intramural sports and Dean of Students (DOS)

Nerd – what everyone has at least a little bit of inside them

Northie, Eastie, Westie, Southie – Student who identifies with North, East, West or South Dorm respectively. These dorms are not positioned according to the cardinal directions, South is the north most dorm and north of West and west of North.

Mudder – a student who is currently or previously enrolled in Mudd and is associated with Harvey Mudd College.

Prank – a humorous setup organized and executed to be relatively harmless but humorous for both parties involved, the prankster(s) and the prankee(s). Must be reversible within 24Hrs and you must leave contact information. Can be on a No Prank List to pranks in general or specific pranks from being performed, but you can not do any such pranks to others.

Prefrosh – a prospective student who is not currently enrolled in Harvey Mudd but potentially wishes to in the future. Sometimes visiting from the Real World to observe or even stay the night.

Proctor – not be be confused with a Resident Assistant (RA) at other institutes, the Proctor(s) of each dorm are there to help keep the students safe, provide emotional counseling, and look out for the well being of the members of the community. They also have keys to let you into your room if you locked yourself out and are required to host a number of events for the dorm.

Prof – short for Professor, as in Prof Yong or Prof Ran. Teachers of classes, people with office hours so you can talk about homework, your best friends and worst enemies, especially when they give out tests.

Real World, the – a mythical land out there where people have jobs, earn money (usually), and are much less sleep depped.

Sleep dep – short for sleep deprived, often a result of homework, projects, all-nighters, waking up early for class, or messing around instead of sleeping.

Timesuck – A sophomore suite in East or anything that takes up a lot of time, such as Clinic.

Wank – An action. To complain.