By Mia-Margaret Laabs

Marching Band Member Hacks into Harvard

   "What is the cleverest band in the world?" 
On Wednesday, according to the Website of a 
Harvard organization, it was the Columbia 
University Marching Band (CUMB). 
   On Wednesday morning, an anonymous CUMB 
student "out-pooned" the Lampoon, the semi-
secret Harvard social organization which used 
to occasionally publish a so-called humor 
magazine. 
   The student hacked the Lampoon Website, 
changing some of the questions required for 
entrance to the site, and redirecting the 
link for an alumni bulletin board to the 
Columbia Marching Band home page. 
   "I am a CUMBer out seeking cleverness in 
the Ivy League," wrote the hacker in a 
message posted to the bulletin board. "I read 
through all the entrance questions and wanted 
to add a few, knowing that if anyone, you 
guys could surely handle a good prank, or in 
this case a mediocre one."
   The CUMB, organizers of the bi-annual 
orgo night, has earned a reputation 
throughout the years of throwing pranks. 
According to members, the marching band has 
dressed up in Yale uniforms and woke up the 
Princeton campus in the early morning. It 
also repainted Cornell's Red Sea, a pool on   [IT'S NOT A "SEA", it's a "C"!]
the football field blue before a game.        [Not a pool! Just a letter painted on the field!]
   "Traditionally, the band does crazy 
things," a CUMB member who wished to remain 
anonymous said. She added that CUMB has 
accumulated a collection of stolen Ivy League 
paraphernalia, including UPenn sweaters and 
Harvard ties, part of the Crimson band's 
uniform. 
   Before Wednesday's hack, the Lampoon 
required visitors to know such obscure facts 
as the main course at initiations (lobster) 
or the last name of the Castle's architect 
(Wheelwright) to enter the Website. 
   Those questions remain, but the site now 
includes questions like, "What is 6 + 2?" 
   "I heartily encourage you guys to come up 
with some clever retaliation. Sincerely, an 
anonymous member of the Columbia University 
Marching Band," wrote the hacker. 
   In response to the invasion, Lampoon Ibis 
and senior Erik J. Kenward said, "Things are 
kind of shutdown here. We're in mourning 
because Dan Quisenberry died, and we're 
hoping that this is a sign that he's out 
there somewhere."
   Despite the prankster's efforts to 
redirect the Lampoon's Web link to the CUMB 
page, the entire Columbia Website was down 
for most of the day. 
   The Lampoon did not admit to having a part 
in this. 
   "We may or may not have had anything to do 
with it, but we're still going to go ahead 
with our plan to blow up the Internet," 
Kenward said. 
   Allegra A. Blackburn-Dwyer, BC '00, head 
manager of the Columbia Marching Band, said 
she was unaware of the hack. 
   "At this time, I would have to say that 
it's just a rumor. Other than that I don't 
have a comment," Blackburn-Dwyer told the 
Crimson on Wednesday. 
   Yesterday, Blackburn-Dwyer told the 
Spectator that she found the prank cute, 
while emphasizing that it was an act of a 
single member and not the band. 
   The Lampoon's Website is managed by a 
group called Fatwire. Roger E. "Ari" Kahn, 
chief technology officer at Fatwire, 
explained that there were no security 
breaches with the actual computer that hosts 
the Website. 
   The Lampoon Website has an alumni section 
on which graduates of the organization can 
post articles and communicate with each 
other. 
   "Somebody got one of those passwords, and 
instead of posting 'Hi, how you doing?' they 
posted a message titled 'Security evaluation' 
and in addition to that being a title, made 
the web site transfer to the band home page 
after three seconds," Kahn said. 
   In another message posted to the bulletin 
board, the hacker provided a clue to the 
whereabouts of the Lampoon's Ibis, a metal 
bird that used to sit atop the Castle, the 
organization's clubhouse. 
   The Ibis, a victim of pranks throughout 
the years, was once stolen by the Crimson and 
dedicated to the Moscow University "as a 
goodwill gift from America's most respected 
univeristy," according to a CUMB member Mike 
Shirladi, SEAS '00. 				[The interview was conducted by email! How could she spell my name wrong?]
   He explained that the bird was 
subsequently returned, but was stolen many 
times and has not seen since its most recent 
abduction 1996. 
   In the note to Lampoon, the CUMB hacker 
left a note on the bird's whereabouts. 
   "I heard it's in the Harvard Band's bass 
drum. Trust me, go get a sledgehammer," the 
hacker wrote.