Newspaper: BEACON-NEWS
Date: 10/18/1997
Day of Week: Saturday
Section: NEWS
Page: A4
Headline: Early-morning high jinks a tradition for homecoming
Byline: Ann Donahue
Credit: STAFF WRITER
AURORA -- It's a long-standing tradition.
One evening each fall, teen-agers set an alarm clock to wake them in the
early morning -- usually about 3 a.m. Sleepy-eyed, they pull on sweats and
throw on a baseball cap to hide disheveled hair. A quick honk from a
friend's car is the signal to tiptoe outside into the brisk air, armed with
a family-sized package of toilet paper.
It's high school homecoming, and it's time to pull a prank on the
underclassmen's parade float. A little toilet paper here, some silly string
there, and the float becomes just a little more decorative than the
creators intended.
Papering floats, trees and the like is as much a part of high school as
trying to earn varsity letters and suffering anxiety over the senior prom.
Early Friday morning, the tradition turned tragic when three Waubonsie
Valley High School students were killed in a car crash.
MINOR INFRACTION
Allison Matzdorf, Jenni Linn Anderson, and Jennifer Roberts were doing what
many do in high school -- ducking outside in the early morning hours,
despite the constraints of curfew, to wreak a little good-natured havoc.
"I want to stress that these kids weren't doing anything wrong ...that's
part of high school," Aurora Police Lt. Michael Gilloffo said. "They had
their seatbelts on. There is no evidence of alcohol. These were good kids."
Curfew in Aurora extends from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday through Thursday. On
Friday and Saturday nights, it starts at midnight. The law makes exceptions
for sanctioned school or church events, with the mostly harmless T.P.
ritual falling into a somewhat gray area.
"When you start to shift the focus of this tragedy by looking at a minor
infraction, you're looking in the wrong direction completely," Aurora
Police Chief Larry Langston said.
"The focus in this situation needs to be on the defendant."
Randy J. Visor, 28, of the 1600 block of Solfisburg Avenue in Aurora, was
charged Friday with four counts of reckless homicide involving alcohol,
high speed and disregarding a traffic light. Anna Louisa Pryor, a
27-year-old mother of three who was traveling with Visor, also was killed
in the crash.
"It's just tragic," Gilloffo said. "I feel so sorry for these parents."
SCHOOLS WORRY
Throughout the suburbs, worries about the annual homecoming toilet paper
tradition can amount to a headache for schools.
Officials from Waubonsie Valley's Friday night football opponent,
Streamwood High School, believe they have come up with an innovative way to
reduce the chance of early-morning high jinks becoming a part of homecoming
week.
Streamwood Assistant Principal Sandy Newbold said that, while the school
doesn't have a parade or floats to celebrate their homecoming, they still
allow the toilet paper to unfurl, but under watchful eyes.
"Our kids do toilet paper the school," she said. "It's supervised but not
recognized."
About 100 students out of the student body of 2,100 participate in the
controlled chaos, Newbold said. She added that students must allow enough
time to clean up the mess in order to be home before curfew.
"It does cause some negative p.r. in the neighborhood," Newbold said. "We
would prefer it does not happen."
Streamwood Police Officer Gary Gordon said the practice of supervising the
high jinks did have a plus side to the high school's homecoming two weeks
ago.
"We think by them doing that, it releases a lot of their energy so we don't
have to chase them through the night," he said.
The deaths of the three Waubonsie Valley girls struck a chord with Gordon.
"It's a tragedy in itself," he said. "As parents and police officers, we've
got to go back out there and make sure it doesn't happen again."