In addition to Playfair and Convocation, House Wars is an Orientation event in which all freshmen can participate and share as a common Carnegie Mellon experience.

This year, House Wars was unusual in more ways than one. One of the most obvious differences was that instead of being held out on the Cut, first-years and their Orientation Counselors (OCs) and Resident Assistants (RAs) "battled" beneath the two large tents stationed next to the College of Fine Arts and Baker Hall. The Orientation staff decided to make this change because of the rainy weather. Four years ago, rain and House Wars was a deadly and expensive combination for the grass on the Cut.

Although the rain died down as House Wars went on, students still ran back and forth between the two tents, playing games such as toss-the-textbook, limbo, and Carnegie Mellon trivia. Orientation Leaders (OLs) ran the games and scored the teams from each dormitory, and the Head Orientation Counselors (HOCs) later averaged the scores from each house's teams to determine the top four scoring dorms.

Amidst much cheering, the HOCs announced the final four dorms: Donner, Hamerschlag, Morewood Gardens, and New House.

Without any knowledge of what the final event would be, each of the four dormitories selected ten residents to participate. Unlike in years past, House Wars 2005 did not conclude with a tug-of-war. Deemed too dangerous by Orientation staff members because of injuries in past years, this year's House Wars ended with a surprise event: pass-the-orange.

Pass-the-orange is certainly safer than tug-of-war, and is easier to explain than it is to play. The idea is to place an orange under the chin of the first participant, and then for the orange to be passed from neck to neck and back again in the fastest time. Although some students tried to come up with a foolproof strategy, such as New House's residents who hugged each other tightly while passing the orange to prevent it from falling to the ground, oranges slipped from the neck-grasp of at least one participant from each dorm.

After the semi-finals, New House and Morewood Gardens were left fighting for the House Wars trophy. In the end, Morewood was victorious. In the past four years, including 2005, every dorm that made it to this year's House Wars final round has won the House Wars trophy one time. West Wing, Resnik, Doherty, and the Intersection won an additional recognition for having the highest participation rates during Orientation events throughout the week.

	story images

Terry Boyd, CFA freshman and Scobell House resident, puts on his fightin' face while getting ready to battle against the opposing houses in the 2005 House Wars!	Students from Mudge House make their way to the "battle grounds" beneath the Orientation tents.
Hamerschlag built their own banners to show off their pride.	The shoe race was a fast-paced event that put teams up against each other to see which team's participants were quickest at finding their own shoes and putting them on before running back to the line to tag the next person.
Donner House's residents were among the most energetic House Wars teams.	A New House team competes in the watermelon challenge that involved carrying a soap-covered watermelon down the line and all the way back again without dropping it in the fastest time.
House Wars' limbo event certainly brought out some of the best freshmen limbo talent!	Another fact-paced competition at House Wars was the "egg carry." To avoid eggy messes, ping pong balls were actually used.
The SCHWA boys show their brute strength as they try to keep themselves balanced on a small wooden platform.	This first-year from New House races to put on his shoes.
These guys from Donner use their shirts as a unique tactic in preparation for handling a slippery watermelon.	The vicious chanting from each house continued non-stop throughout the entire House Wars.
Two Morewood freshmen clutch an orange with their necks and each other with their arms during the House Wars finals.	Two New House residents try to concentrate on passing their team's orange.
CFA junior Alicia Pompei, the HOC in charge of Morewood Gardens, is hoisted up with the House Wars trophy in hand in celebration of Morewood's win.	The girls of Morewood 7E pose for a photo while waiting for their turn at the "textbook" heaving event, which actually involved throwing phonebooks.
Two of the Morewood finalist participants celebrate their victory with a hug.

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