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'Beat Cal' Hung on World's Most Famous Campanile

BY JUDY SKLAR

PISA. Italy, Oct. 22 (Special to The Daily I Forty five fearless Stanford students today invaded this town, ascended its Leaning Tower, and told the world in six and one-half foot letters to "Beat Cal."

Clad as tourists, the group from the Stanford Overseas Study Center in Florence hung an 80-foot-long banner with the red letters "Beat Cal" on it from the world's most famous Campanile.

The coup d'etat in the infamous Stanford-California rivalry was termed "tutto tempo" by awed Italian onlookers. THK MOVE came as a complete surprise to the genuine tourists both on and around the tower, in the Piazza del Duomo, but especially to the tower guards who were taken entirely unawares.

It was not until after pairs of students had been lined up on each of the tower's six levels and ropes had started to be lowered that the guard stationed 100 feet from the tower base noticed anything peculiar. He was quickly pacified by Bill Reppy. one of the diversionary force posted as part of a guided tour of the tower, who explained that the ropes were to measure the 180-foot structure.

Other guards were alarmed when the ropes reached the ground and were secured there, and they started screaming "Alto!" (take the ropes up). Quick thinking students Tony Komaroff and Stafford Smith pulling on the ropes answered merely "grazie," "prego" (thank you, you're welcome) and continued to pull while the guards continued to shout.

FINALLY the guard at the tower entrance ran to the police station across the road—the Leaning Tower is in the center of Pisa and called an officer.

However, by this time the banner extending almost half the length of the tower had been lowered in full view of a bus of passing tourists, the 70 tourists in the area •surrounding the tower, horse-carts and priests who frequent the vicinity, Stanford students gleefully snapping pictures, and the enraged guards.

Making sure that there was ample time for photographs, the students then pulled the banner back up to the top. The policeman accosted the guide-in disguise, Lee Shershow, head of the ground diversionary tactics committee, and demanded an explanation.

When the guard understood the nature of the sign, which he had thought was political, Italian elections being Nov. 6, he too declared the maneuver "tutto tempo" and demanded that California be vanquished.

FOR THIS record, he requested an explanation made in the police books and in the registry of the Leaning Tower, plus the solemn promise that the next time students hung a banner they would ask permission.

The banner was smuggled up to the top of the tower in a suitcase by Pete Jurney, the two 200-foot ropes inside the coats of students Trina Johnson and John Huber. They were lowered by four people. Jurney, Huber, Dave Steinhart and Skip Matthews.

There was another group of divertors for the guard at the top and for the curious tourists who thought someone was going to scale the tower. A pair of students secured both banner and ropes at each level.

A BUS carrying 38 Stanfordites arrived in Pisa at 2 p.m., and they were joined shortly thereafter by six who came by car and one who hiked the distance from Florence to Pisa in three and one-half hours.

"Operation Tower" was completed successfully in bright sunlight by 3:30 p.m. The Lean Pi Tow Com idea was originally conceived by the Rally Commission and Olivia Barclay, a junior, before she left Stanford last year, and was arrived at independently several weeks ago by Ken Bishop, president of the Florence Center.

The banner itself, the product of 12 hours of painting and blocking, was prepared by Penny Ingram on the hall floor of the Villa in Florence.

Daily photo by Ken Veronda A NEW PACE IS WRITTEN IN THE ANNALS OF BIG CAME Italian guards thought banner carried a political slogan

https://archives.stanforddaily.com/1960/11/01?page=1

[82lsju]

[/quote]

'Beat Cal' Hung on World's Most Famous Campanile

BY JUDY SKLAR

PISA. Italy, Oct. 22 (Special to The Daily I Forty five fearless Stanford students today invaded this town, ascended its Leaning Tower, and told the world in six and one-half foot letters to "Beat Cal."

Clad as tourists, the group from the Stanford Overseas Study Center in Florence hung an 80-foot-long banner with the red letters "Beat Cal" on it from the world's most famous Campanile.

The coup d'etat in the infamous Stanford-California rivalry was termed "tutto tempo" by awed Italian onlookers. THK MOVE came as a complete surprise to the genuine tourists both on and around the tower, in the Piazza del Duomo, but especially to the tower guards who were taken entirely unawares.

It was not until after pairs of students had been lined up on each of the tower's six levels and ropes had started to be lowered that the guard stationed 100 feet from the tower base noticed anything peculiar. He was quickly pacified by Bill Reppy. one of the diversionary force posted as part of a guided tour of the tower, who explained that the ropes were to measure the 180-foot structure.

Other guards were alarmed when the ropes reached the ground and were secured there, and they started screaming "Alto!" (take the ropes up). Quick thinking students Tony Komaroff and Stafford Smith pulling on the ropes answered merely "grazie," "prego" (thank you, you're welcome) and continued to pull while the guards continued to shout.

FINALLY the guard at the tower entrance ran to the police station across the road—the Leaning Tower is in the center of Pisa and called an officer.

However, by this time the banner extending almost half the length of the tower had been lowered in full view of a bus of passing tourists, the 70 tourists in the area •surrounding the tower, horse-carts and priests who frequent the vicinity, Stanford students gleefully snapping pictures, and the enraged guards.

Making sure that there was ample time for photographs, the students then pulled the banner back up to the top. The policeman accosted the guide-in disguise, Lee Shershow, head of the ground diversionary tactics committee, and demanded an explanation.

When the guard understood the nature of the sign, which he had thought was political, Italian elections being Nov. 6, he too declared the maneuver "tutto tempo" and demanded that California be vanquished.

FOR THIS record, he requested an explanation made in the police books and in the registry of the Leaning Tower, plus the solemn promise that the next time students hung a banner they would ask permission.

The banner was smuggled up to the top of the tower in a suitcase by Pete Jurney, the two 200-foot ropes inside the coats of students Trina Johnson and John Huber. They were lowered by four people. Jurney, Huber, Dave Steinhart and Skip Matthews.

There was another group of divertors for the guard at the top and for the curious tourists who thought someone was going to scale the tower. A pair of students secured both banner and ropes at each level.

A BUS carrying 38 Stanfordites arrived in Pisa at 2 p.m., and they were joined shortly thereafter by six who came by car and one who hiked the distance from Florence to Pisa in three and one-half hours.

"Operation Tower" was completed successfully in bright sunlight by 3:30 p.m. The Lean Pi Tow Com idea was originally conceived by the Rally Commission and Olivia Barclay, a junior, before she left Stanford last year, and was arrived at independently several weeks ago by Ken Bishop, president of the Florence Center.

The banner itself, the product of 12 hours of painting and blocking, was prepared by Penny Ingram on the hall floor of the Villa in Florence.

Daily photo by Ken Veronda A NEW PACE IS WRITTEN IN THE ANNALS OF BIG CAME Italian guards thought banner carried a political slogan

https://archives.stanforddaily.com/1960/11/01?page=1