According to Merriam-Webster, a prank is a mildly mischievous act. Looking back at this school year’s “pranks,” it’s safe to question whether or not Baker students actually know the meaning of the word.

So, let’s play a game to see who knows what a prank is.

Case 1: The ice cream vandals. Earlier in the semester ice cream was being thrown on the sidewalks and within the residences of Irwin and Gessner halls. Although a mess was made, the action wasn’t illegal nor did it harm anyone.

Prank.

Case 2: The April Fool’s Day fire alarm. This is definitely one event that we at Baker won’t be forgetting anytime soon. But what was supposed to be a harmless “prank” sent a few women to jail.

Not a prank.

Case 3: The fishing line scheme. Many may not have known about this, but a student strung fishing line from one part of campus to the other in an effort to try and trip some people up on their way to class. Luckily, a couple of students found it right away and put an end to it. Again, no one was hurt nor was it illegal.

Prank.

Case 4: The bent spoon and table-carving incident. Students outraged by “Trayless Thursdays” decided to rebel by bending spoons and carving stuff in the tables. Although, undoubtedly immature, it’s not illegal.

Prank.

Case 5: The Alpha Chi Omega and Zeta Tau Alpha theft. A few items including a laptop and computer monitor were stolen from Alpha Chi Omega early Monday morning. Zeta Tau Alpha was also missing a box of T-shirts the same morning. Now, no one should miss this one; it was a theft.

Not a prank.

In all of these incidents it’s safe to say that the “committers” were just trying to have a little bit of fun. But seriously, there’s a lot of ways to have fun. Do some of us really not know the difference between fun and illegal?

The following might be a legitimate thing to look into: Get rid of the LA 101, 102, 301 and 401 classes and replace them with a series of classes informing students on the differences between pranks, misdemeanors and felonies.