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Monthly Archives: February 2010

from matthewzapruder.files.wordpress.com

So there’s this thing called the Prox Hop.

Maybe you’ve seen it. Sometimes the prox is in the front pocket, and sometimes it’s in the back pocket. But it inevitably requires an awkwardly lifted leg, some bump and grind against the wall, or in my case, a running start.

And now, lucky Inkblots, you can hear me do the prox hop!

Last semester, my friend Aku Ammah-Tagoe ‘11 interviewed me for a radio piece she was putting together for her audio journalism class with Dan Grech ‘99, a Press Club alum and a former reporter for Public Radio’s Marketplace. Specifically, she recorded my running start, jump and the successful beep of an unlocked door. The show the class produced, called Back Story, will be airing on WPRB on Feb. 7 and 14 at noon.

From the PAW:

“Princeton students have plenty of inner conflict — there’s no shortage of drama here,” Ammah-Tagoe said. “But also there are great stories [about] people who are doing things that are unexpected, interesting, surprising, and really cool.”

Individual stories will also be posted on the Princeton Alumni Weekly’s blog here. What you can expect besides my prox hop adventures: a dramatic tale of SAE hazing, sprint football’s losing streak and Smashcraft Heroes.

My favorite quote, from the SAE story: “So the stripper takes the belt, and she just, you know, beats me.”

Feb 4, 2010

Hear the Back Story

By Angela Wu

Posted in Goings On Tagged Back Story, Dan Grech, Princeton Alumni Weekly, SAE, Smashcraft Heroes, sprint football, WPRB Leave a comment

You don't mess with these guys: Muldoon (center) with his rock band, Rackett. [source: www.myspace.com/rackett

As Cornel West receives his fair share of air time for his outspoken criticism of Obama, it’s worthwhile to remember that our favorite snazzily-dressed Tigertown celebrity has some pretty stiff competition for the coveted position of Princeton’s most intriguing faculty member. Case in point: Paul Muldoon, whose roles as a professor, poet, and rock band leader were highlighted in this great profile piece from the Worcester Telegram.

Feb 4, 2010

Princeton’s Premier Personality (and no, it’s not Cornel West)

By Julia Bumke

Posted in Faculty, Goings On Tagged Paul Muldoon, Rackett, Small World One comment

When Ross Ohlendorf ‘05 isn’t pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates, he’s raising longhorn cattle at his family’s ranch. And when Ross Ohlendorf ‘05 isn’t raising longhorn cattle at his family’s ranch, he’s interning at the U.S. Department of Agriculture or giving interviews to Sports Illustrated. Ross Ohlendorf ‘05 does not mess around. Clearly.

Ohlendorf’s duties (after his morning workout) range from branding to feeding to measuring horns to naming the calves to photographing animals for the ranch’s website. It’s not always pretty, he says while searching for Big Chief: “My arms were covered in manure this morning.”

The Pirates’ ace spent the first two months of his off-season in a very different job, one that smelled a lot better and required him to wear a shirt and tie. He was an intern for the United States Department of Agriculture in Washington.

An ORFE major who rocked the SATs (shoutout to my College Confidential homies) and apparently served up a blistering thesis, Ohlendorf put his skills to the test “doing cost analysis of regulatory programs that identify and trace diseased animals and plants.” What now, A-Rod?

One of the cattle in his herd is named Big Chief. Ross Ohlendorf, you are our Big Chief. Keep juggling your absurd achievements — keep making us proud.

The many faces of Ross Ohlendorf:

Face #1: All business

Face #2: On the mound

Face #3: Down and dirty (Technically his dad, but whatever)

(image sources: http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/11/28/alg_ohlendorf.jpg, http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/03/12/sports/12yankees.span.jpg, and http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/images/200909/20090906wp_ohlendorf_500.jpg.)

Feb 4, 2010

Sports Illustrated tells us what we already know: Ohlendorf ‘05 is the man

By Giri Nathan

Posted in Alumni, Goings On, In the news Tagged Big Chief, cattle ranch, College Confidential, ORFE, Ross Ohlendorf, Sports Illustrated Leave a comment

Do you like the New York Times? Do you like hearing really, really interesting people speak? Well have we got the lecture for you.

The University Press Club is excited to bring New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn M.P.A. ‘88 to Princeton. They’ll give a lecture titled “Half the Sky” at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow, on Thursday, February 4, in Dodds Auditorium in Robertson Hall. (That’s Woody Woo, in case you were wondering.)

And if that’s not enough, they’ll stick around for a book signing of their new book “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.”

Get there early – seats will be limited.

The Louis R. Rukeyser ’54 Memorial Lecture Series seeks to promote interest in the pursuit of journalism and to raise awareness of the role of the media in society. The event is also sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson School.

Feb 3, 2010

New York Times columnist/Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists to give talk at Woody Woo tomorrow

By Will Saborio

Posted in Goings On, In the news Tagged lectures, Louis R. Rukeyser '54 Memorial Lecture Series, New York Times, Nicholas Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn, University Press Club, Woodrow Wilson School Leave a comment

So Obama’s approval rating has seen better days. What’s Cornel West got to offer the Commander in Chief?

Well, besides having a slick set of clean duds every morning.

Check out one of Dr. West’s more recent public appearances in this video put out by the BBC. The professor encourages President Obama to not “simply be the friendly face of the American Empire.” West even goes so far to ask him, “How deep is your love for poor and working people?” He insists, “Don’t be seduced by the elites.”

And the professor begs for democratic policies in place of technocratic ones, splicing in images of afflicted Americans. But in spite of the tough criticism, or, as he calls it, “loving pressure,” he does offer Obama a fair consolation prize: “I applaud your brilliance; I applaud your charisma.”

Feb 3, 2010

Cornel West Dishes it to Obama

By Woody Hines

Posted in In the news, Politics Tagged Barack Obama, BBC, Cornel West, Obama Leave a comment

Dining Twitter

We don’t know what exactly it is about Twitter that is so mystifying and bemusing and sometimes just downright funny. But here’s evidence that it is.

The Princeton Dining office has an account, as we’ve showed you before, which posts mainly about… Well, one thing: The fact that hot pizza has just arrived at Studio 34, with varying numbers of exclamation points to show how excited they are about their current batch.

Which is funny, kind of, because a quick biased survey of a few upperclassmen friends shows that no one knows where Studio 34 is. Which begs the question: Where’s all that pizza going?

But because we feel kind of bad about the whole thing, Princeton Dining, if we should ever find Studio 34, we’ll gladly invite you to a slice. That’s a standing invitation.

And while we’re on the subject, follow us at @UnivPressClub. Because, come on, we’ve only got 27 followers. Throw us a bone, man.

(And Princeton Dining too, just in case you’re ever wondering about the pizza.)

Feb 3, 2010

That’s some hot frickin’ pizza some people are excited about

By Will Saborio

Posted in Goings On, Musings Tagged hot pizza just arrived, pizza, Princeton Dining, Studio 34, Twitter One comment

Enjoy it, Cornell. We've been here before.

After the boys from Ithaca crushed their Crimson cousins Saturday night by a score of 86-50, Cornell moved into the top 25 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll for the top teams in college basketball.

This is a big deal for Ivy League basketball. The Ancient Eight haven’t had a ranked team since back when I was in the second grade, otherwise known as the 1997-1998 season.

(And who was that team? The Princeton Tigers of course.)

It’s been a good run for Cornell basketball. They’ve made the NCAA tournament the last two years, and it looks like they’ll be headed back to the big dance.

We’re actually a little intimidated. Basketball used to be our thing, our defining sport. Cornell has now officially seized that mantle. And we can’t even take comfort in our new(er) sport of dominance, lacrosse, because Cornell bounced us from the NCAA tournament last year.

So instead we’ll do what we always do in these situations: hearken back to our glorious past, and remind the young up and comers who still stands dominant in the annals of Ivy League Basketball history (other than Penn).

(This also gives us the opportunity to make fun of Harvard’s impressive ZERO men’s basketball Ivy League titles. And making fun of Harvard always makes us feel better.)

Full feel-good historical standings after the jump!

Feb 2, 2010

Cornell Basketball in Top 25 (Princeton Still Better Historically)

By Spencer Gaffney

Posted in In the news Tagged Cornell, Cornell Basketball, Harvard's Futility, Princeton Basketball 3 Comments

Dean of Admissions at Yale Law School Asha Rangappa ‘96 said in a comment on the New York Times’ Choice blog today that the much-debated grade deflation policy won’t affect the admission chances of Princeton grads. The comment follows the Times’ Sunday article about grade deflation at Princeton.

Rangappa said that admissions officers consider students’ GPAs within the context of their own schools, and that the top law schools are generally less interested in absolute GPAs to inflate their rankings.

For students concerned about their GPAs, Rangappa’s comment might come as a relief. To Dean Malkiel, it might be a satisfying I-told-you-so.

The comment in full after the jump.

Feb 1, 2010