Today, we delve into the trophy collection of student association GEWIS. It takes a while before the GEWIS guys realize what trading up actually means. They’re all too happy to open cabinets and drawers in an attempt to lure your Cursor reporter into accepting the most worthless junk. Or, to sound a little less disrespectful: constitutional gifts that were gifted by fellow associations at board changes. There’s a wooden Intermate wall clock (adorned with a sticker of amusement park Walibi), three movie theater chairs gifted by Japie, and an old server that once belonged to communications chapter Odin. 

According to GEWIS board members Wout de Ruiter and Bor de Kock, the future chemists at Japie are unrivaled at gifting horrible presents. Their low point: a coffeemaker filled with pasta sauce and asparagus. Still, Cursor was set on trading Japie’s cobalt blue movie theater chairs (after a quick valuation through Marktplaats). Unfortunately, up close and personal they turned out to be very, very ugly. We should have known. Value: zero. Make that negative ten. The first thing that sparks our interest is a DIY model of the Philips pavilion designed by Le Corbusier, but it’s quickly annexed by an intensely happy De Kock.

Then, something unexpectedly interesting is lifted from a box: a bright red radio-controlled speed boat. That could work. If it works, that is. Without any further ado, the GEWIS team arranges a battery for the remote and hurry to the pond at the Hoofdgebouw.

There’s no ‘unique, co-axial thrust system that propels it through the water’ (must be a marketing trick), but then the Aquasplit may not have a decent mileage yet. The boat was purchased a year-and-a-half ago for DET day - a traditional meeting of GEWIS and its Twente and Delft sister associations. But in all honesty, they admit they just wanted to use their budget for something silly.

GEWIS chairman Sako Arts is watching the trade from a distance, and he’s not too happy about it at all. “I wanted to play with it some more”, he says in an attempt to undo the trade. Eventually, he agrees to it on the condition the bright red toy won’t go to Thor: “They’ll break it”. And what’s more important: “It must be used regularly”. Who knows, maybe the boat will regain its speed.

Rector Hans van Duijn’s green toy car that we started our trading trip with will be given a spot in the extremely organized GEWIS display cabinet.

Care to acquire this cool speed boat? Send us your exchange proposal in an e-mail and you might see us soon!