Student Guide 2007

VIRAL VIDEO IMMORTALITY

There was a time when an embarrassing moment in life was merely something that tarnished your reputation among some friends, and cost you a few others. These days, you have to be sure no one has a camera around. Thanks to websites such as YouTube and eBaum's World, any social faux pas can be instantly shared with millions of sarcastic bloggers online, who are all anxious for their next target of ridicule. With all the alcohol and digital cameras floating around university campuses these days, it is important to keep the following cautionary tales in mind:

THE STAR WARS KID In 2002, a boy made a video of himself wielding a golf ball retriever like a light saber. It was a private video made for fun, but when some malicious classmates posted it online, the clip became the first viral-video phenomenon. The video is estimated to have been downloaded over 900 million times and has been parodied on a variety of television shows including Arrested Development. The boy was forced to drop out of school due to constant persecution and later sued the students responsible. Even more tragically, George Lucas never cast him in any of the prequels.

THE PARIS HILTON SEX TAPE There is a reason Paris Hilton is famous and it isn't the result of her family tree or The Simple Life.

IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING Last October, Aleksey Vayner – a student from Yale – included a video portion to his resumé when applying for a few investment-banking positions. Vayner's video outlined his philosophy for success and showcased how he applied it to weightlifting, tennis, ballroom dancing and karate. The clip was heartfelt, but also pretentious, absurd and unintentionally hilarious. The resumé was posted online, became a huge hit with webheads and was even parodied by Michael Cera. Vayner, meanwhile, was humiliated, rejected and had all of his references demand to be removed from his resumé because of constant harassment.

THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE FOOTBALL RIOT Last year, overwhelmed police officers were only able to arrest two students after a post-game riot at Pennsylvania State and there was concern that no one else would be prosecuted. That is until the authorities discovered the subtly titled Facebook group “I Rushed The Field After The OSU Game (And Lived!).”

AFRONINJA Mark A. Hicks was a successful stuntman working in Los Angeles with over 40 film credits and 60 commercials to his name. Then one day he failed to land a back flip while recording a video audition. He was not seriously hurt and landed the flip on the next take, but the footage of his fall was soon discovered and posted on YouTube under the title Afroninja. The clip was quickly passed around the net and featured on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Once he was recognized, Hicks' stunt career was ruined. He has recently regained some credibility by recreating the botched stunt for an HP commercial, but sadly it was not enough to get him hired as Chris Tucker's stunt double on Rush Hour 3 after fulfilling the role on the first two entries. Actually... that might have been a good thing.

THE MICHAEL RICHARDS TAPE One day Michael Richards was one of the most beloved American comedians for his immortal performances as Kramer on Seinfeld. The next day he was the country's most infamous racist. All thanks to two and a half minutes of footage captured on a cellphone camera and shared with the world.

PHILIP BROWN

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