An email from Dean Elmore

From ---@bu.edu
To ---@bu.edu
Subject Message from the Dean of Students
Sent Tue, 19 Sep 2006 15:41:02 EDT
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Dear Students:

I offer you my belated, but heartfelt welcome to Boston University. To those of you returning to us you have my equally heartfelt welcome back.

We are off to a fantastic start of the academic year. A few weeks ago, led by several returning students, more than 600 first-year students came back early to Boston University in order to do more than 15,000 hours of community service in and around the Boston area. They also ensured that they would know what their service meant by committing themselves to more than 5,000 hours of education about the issue areas for which they completed this service. They do themselves and the University honor with their good works. We can all take pride that so many of our students represent themselves and the University so well. It is this spirit that makes it possible for us to have a wonderful and vibrant community.

But that's not what I'm here to talk to you about. I just received an exciting email in my inbox. It promised that if I took the following quiz, I would learn amazing things about myself. The quiz is reprinted below. Whatever you do, DO NOT CHEAT or else your wish will not come true!

CHINESE HOROSCOPE THE YEAR OF THE IRON DRAGON WISHING YOU PROSPERITY AND GOOD FORTUNE IN THE CHINESE NEW YEAR FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS DO NOT CHEAT OR IT WON'T WORK AND YOU WILL WISH YOU HADN'T TAKE 3 MINUTES TRY THIS - IT WILL FREAK YOU OUT. THIS GAME HAS A FUNNY/CREEPY OUTCOME DO NOT READ AHEAD, JUST DO IT. IT TAKES ABOUT 3 MINUTES - WORTH A TRY 1st GET PEN AND PAPER 2nd WHEN CHOOSING NAMES, MAKE SURE THEY ARE REAL PEOPLE THAT YOU ACTUALLY KNOW 3rd GO WITH YOUR FIRST INSTINCTS !!!! very important for good results. 4th SCROLL DOWN ONE LINE AT A TIME DON'T READ AHEAD otherwise YOU WILL RUIN THE FUN. 1. ON A BLANK SHEET OF PAPER, WRITE NUMBERS 1 THROUGH 11 IN A COLUMN ON THE LEFT 2. NEXT TO THE NUMBERS 1 & 2 WRITE DOWN ANY 2 NUMBERS YOU WANT. DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE NUMBER? 2. NEXT TO THE NUMBERS 3 & 7, WRITE DOWN THE NAMES OF TWO MEMBERS OF THE OPPOSITE SEX. CAUTION: DO NOT LOOK AHEAD OR IT WILL NOT TURN OUT RIGHT! 4. WRITE ANYONES NAME NEXT TO 4,5,& 6 (LIKE FRIENDS OR FAMILY) DON'T CHEAT OR YOU'LL BE UPSET THAT YOU DID 5. WRITE DOWN FOUR SONG TITLES IN 8, 9, 10, & 11. 6. FINALLY, MAKE A WISH ARE YOU READY? HERE IS THE KEY TO THE GAME. 1. THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT LIKE YOU IS FOUND IN SPACE 2. 2. THE PERSON IN SPACE 3 IS THE ONE YOU LOVE. 3. THE PERSON YOU LIKE BUT YOU RELATIONSHIP CANNOT WORK IS IN SPACE 7. 4. YOU CARE MOST ABOUT THE PERSON YOU PUT IN SPACE 4. 5. THE PERSON YOU NAME IN NUMBER 5 IS THE ONE WHO KNOWS YOU VERY WELL 6. THE PERSON YOU NAMED IN 6 IS YOUR LUCKY STAR 7. THE SONG IN 8 IS THE SONG THAT MATCHES WITH THE PERSON IN NUMBER 3 8. THE TITLE IN 9 IS THE SONG FOR THE PERSON IN 7. 9. THE 10th SPACE IS THE SONG THAT TELLS YOU MOST ABOUT YOUR MIND. 10. AND 11 IS THE SONG TELLING HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT LIFE. 11. NUMBER 1 IS YOUR LUCKY NUMBER.

Finished? If you're anything like me, you were astounded by the results of your survey. What's even crazier is that President Brown and I wrote down each other as our lucky stars. But this isn't just about the quiz. Below the quiz is this message.

SEND THIS MESSAGE TO AT LEAST 5 PEOPLE IN THE NEXT 1 HOUR FOR YOUR WISH TO COME TRUE IN A YEAR. SEND THIS MESSAGE TO AT LEAST 10 PEOPLE IN 1 HOUR FOR YOUR WISH TO COME TRUE IN SIX MONTH. SEND THIS MESSAGE TO AT LEAST 20 PEOPLE IN THE NEXT 1 HOUR FOR YOUR WISH TO COME TRUE IN THE NEXT 1 MONTH. IF YOU SEND THIS MESSAGE TO AT LEAST 40 PEOPLE IN THE NEXT 30 MINUTES, YOUR WISH WILL COME TRUE IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS. BUT IF YOU DON'T SEND IT TO ANYONE, YOUR WISH WILL NEVER COME TRUE!

So there you have it. By my calculations, by sending this email to the entire student body, my wish should come true in about four tenths of a second. So if you hear that Anthrax is coming to BU Central, then you'll know who to thank.

With best regards,



Kenneth Elmore
Dean of Students