One of the most distinct, although relatively fringe groups at Michigan Tech is the intriguingly named Permanent Floating Riot Club. This odd club today is a small forum of all things related to nerd culture. In just one meeting, conversations have flowed everywhere from the club’s plans in the following weeks, to discussion about computer parts, to talk of the new “Star Trek” and “The Orville” series.
Another one of the most fascinating components of the club are all the different experiments and neat projects conducted, such as one coming up called Color Tour. Color Tour is where the club uses a tracer dye, a harmless dye used in scientific observations of river flow, to change the color of some of the local water features such as waterfalls. Amongst other projects, the club has annually pressed their own apple cider, developed numerous tesla coils, and built a trebuchet that stands at about 18 feet tall and will throw a bowling ball 70 yards. One of the most interesting parts of PFRC is history and origin on campus.
PFRC (pronounced like firk) has been a prominent element of nerd culture at Michigan Tech since the mid 70’s, starting in 1976 as a “Star Trek” fan club. The group was born out of necessity, as it was difficult to watch reruns of the original series of “Star Trek” since the dormitory television lounges at the time were dominated by game watching sports fans. Applying the idea of strength in numbers, this small albeit tightly knit group muscled in to occupy the television lounges and hosted discourse about their beloved syndicated show. The club was relatively fringe at the time, as science fiction had yet to really take off into the mainstream, leading to this merry band becoming much more diverse from what was originally just a way for some nerds to watch their favorite show.
Thus PFRC was born, which would expand over the years to be an outlet, as their constitution dictates, “for the promotion of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and other related sicknesses of the mind.” This can be no more evident than in their odd yet overtly unique name, which was taken from the titular group of thieves in Larry Niven’s sci-fi novella, “The Last Days of the Permanent Floating Riot Club.” As PFRC expanded, some of the people assembled from the club split off to form their own specialized groups such as the Houghton Anime Review Organization and a
Applying the idea of strength in numbers, this small albeit tightly knit group muscled in to occupy the television lounges and hosted discourse about their beloved syndicated show. The club was relatively fringe at the time, as science fiction had yet to really take off into the mainstream, leading to this merry band becoming much more diverse from what was originally just a way for some nerds to watch their favorite show. Thus PFRC was born, which would expand over the years to be an outlet, as their constitution dictates, “for the promotion of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and other related sicknesses of the mind.” This can be no more evident than in their odd yet overtly unique name, which was taken from the titular group of thieves in Larry Niven’s sci-fi novella, “The Last Days of the Permanent Floating Riot Club.” As PFRC expanded, some of the people assembled from the club split off to form their own specialized groups such as the Houghton Anime Review Organization and a
As PFRC expanded, some of the people assembled from the club split off to form their own specialized groups such as the Houghton Anime Review Organization and a role-playing gamer guild. Due to their broad range into science fiction, PFRC worked with the Michigan Tech Film Board in finding good science fiction films to show. PFRC has always been prominent, starting from a simple fan club to an expansive club spawning off shooting clubs that are growing to this day.
While PFRC has evolved over the years, it remains at its core devoutly about meeting up with people who share any relatively non-mainstream interest. The point of the club could be easily summed up by PFRC’s long standing advisor and member since 1981, assistant professor Tim Eisele: “It’s good to have a group where if you have some strange interest, people won’t just say ‘well that’s a waste of time!’“ If your interest in PFRC has been piqued, they are open up to any new members, and anyone can come to their meetings at around 7 p.m. on Saturdays at Fisher 101.
One Response
My name is jim Peters and Im one of the organizers of the Saline Celtic Festival. We are looking for trebuchet owners to give a demonstration at our festival that draws around 5000 visitors. This years event is July 7 & 8 at the Washtenaw County Fair Grounds near Saline Mi. Let me know if you are interested in bring a trebuchet for a demonstration please.