The old college try, in a kitchen

This was a kitchen, not a home, invasion. Members of USC’s Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity “detained a student who was found deliberately making a mess in their kitchen” around 4 a.m., campus police said. The fraternity “declined criminal prosecution” when the student agreed to clean up the disaster site.

Oh, yes. The officers determined the mad chef was “a member of another fraternity.”

No doubt he returned to his own house, having passed his initiation rite.

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No defense for low grades here

William Freeman of Altadena found a school where the counselors evidently have a tough hands-on policy (see photo).

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Public service announcement

The big football game is here and this column is making its annual warning to fans in the mood to party: Make sure you attend a Super Bowl celebration and not something with a similar name (see photo).

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Guide to Dining Adventurously (cont.)

In Mission Hills, Michael Clark noticed a company’s handwritten request that implied that its employees don’t eat supper in a very lavish facility (see photo).

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Humor that wears well

Barry Nackos of L.A. saw a sign for what sounds like a great place to find a clown suit (see photo).

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Don’t look down on Signal Hill

Perhaps it doesn’t evoke romantic locales the way the “We’ll always have Paris” line does in “Casablanca.” But in “There Will Be Blood” you can hear this piece of dialogue: “What are you doing in Signal Hill?”

The question is uttered by suspicious oilman Daniel Day-Lewis to a visitor to Lewis’ drill site in Southern California. As if no one would visit Signal Hill just for the fun of it.

Then again, for a town that had one of the country’s greatest oil strikes, Signal Hill (population 10,951) hasn’t gotten much respect. It didn’t even get its own ZIP Code until a few years ago.

“There Will Be Blood” has been nominated for best movie. But whether it wins or not, Southern Californians can be sure of one thing. They’ll always have Signal Hill.

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miscelLAny

USC basketball star O.J. Mayo accepted free tickets to a Denver Nuggets NBA game from a pro player, which was a violation of National Collegiate Athletic Assn. rules. Commented reader Janice Hough: “Apparently the Trojans have warned him that in the future he can only accept free tickets to amateur events -- like Clippers games.”

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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES, Ext. 77083; by fax at (213) 237-4712; by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A. 90012; and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.