To bring this back to DSM, a sculpture of a Gömböc rests in the lobby of Lobachevskiy Hall, the mathematics building. Every May, the Gömböc is hauled out of the lobby, set at the foot of the Science sculptures, the Gyroid and the Trefoil, and it is the student's challenge to somehow get it over to the Fountain of Knowledge in front of main administration.

There is usually a lot of spinning involved.

Jan Orlahn: It may be stereotypical to have a volus as Student Treasurer, but hey, they've got to learn financial skills from somewhere...

Shizuru Viola: Shizuru Fujino was Student Council President in Mai-Hime. Since Hayashimizu has taken the Student Council President slot for DSMP, Shizuru needed a role that reflected her level of competency among the student body. Since the Resident Advisors needed some form of organization to take the load off Dean Montaigne, a perfect position was in place for Shizuru Viola to take over.

Atsunobu Hayashimizu: Atsunobu Hayashimizu was the student council president for Full Metal Panic! and Full Metal Panic! Fumoffu. As here, he had quite the way with logical argument, and could also be counted on to direct Sosuke's actions to more ... effective tasks. He can also translate between thug and mercenary.

"WHAAAAT?!!!": In the anime, of course, this line would be preceded with a wide shot of Hannibal Hamlin Hall from across the Common. At which point, the entire image would shake at Kaname's outburst.

Sosuke's suit: Interestingly, it looks a lot like the Jindai High male uniform. Go figure.

Kaname's alarm clock: Yes, Kaname's alarm clock is that annoying in the anime. Sadly, it usually proves to be necessary to wake up Kaname that way. Kyoko Tokiwa was the one who recorded the message.

"Maybe they're up on the lido deck!": Full Throttle was a popular action movie from the 2200's, sponsored by Corley Motors.

The snow forts: The snow forts on the Common are derived from the circular bunker forts seen in Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo Reach (as seen in Blood Gulch and Hemorrhage), save with a low-level "sniper" tower on the far edge of the bunkers.

M7057/Defoliant Projector: The flamethrower from Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST. Toasty!

Professor Charles Moore: Professor Moore is one of the professors of the History department. With a tendency to think outside the box, and being a former actor, his classes are quite well-regarded. He also gets mistaken often for "Dr. Johnny Fever" on 103.3 WBCX (New Avalon's All Rock Station), which confuses him because he's never met the man. His students do say they sound a lot alike, however...

Professor William MacGregor: Professor MacGregor is one of the other main professors of the History department. He is full of good humor and a strong Scots burr, and has a background in standup comedy. We're pretty sure that the giant bear rug that he was wearing as a cloak for the snow battle is a synthetic replica. Pretty sure.

referees ruled that the faculty captains were far too invested in the thing: Professor Moore and Professor MacGregor have a rivalry that gets played up between their respective classes (since they tend to swap off on different periods of Galactic and Planetary History as the terms progress). The unofficial student zeitgeist recommends that one takes both teacher's courses, in order to get a fully rounded perspective on certain historical events. The overall History Department is 85% certain that the whole thing is an act between the two professors. The remaining 15% tend to default to Professor Emeritus Kesselring to drag the two yahoos back into line.

Onager: The onager was a Roman siege engine, that was much smaller than a standard catapult or trebuchet, and therefore ideal for the snow battle's purposes.

Sheryl Nome: Sheryl Nome is one of Kate's old contacts in the music biz, a Rock and Pop Idol known as "The Galactic Fairy". Originally from New Japan, she has somehow managed to avoid that world's infamous Relentless Publicity Machine Turnover and maintain reasonable staying power. Part of this is due to the iron control she maintains over all aspects of her performances (regardless of what managers and the record companies might like), while still being able to adapt and improvise in case of the unexpected. She even programs her own holographic special effects!