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Author Archives: Angela Wu

CASHMERE! THIS IS CASHMERE! from telegraph.co.uk.

Earlier this year, as USG campaigns raged on and the campus discovered its newest way to procrastinate (Ok, this is before Robot Unicorn Attack.), we realized that, well, Princeton’s needs are humble.

Two-ply. Or even, maybe, softer one ply? I don’t know, I’m just tossing out ideas here.

But why should our demands be so humble? Think of our futures–earlier this week the Daily Princetonian reported that a full third of Princeton students go on to work in finance. (But not for the money–because they’re “genuinely interested!”)

And so today, I introduce to you: cashmere toilet paper. That’s right, future Masters of the Universe. That’s for you.

The supermarket won’t reveal quite how much cashmere goes into each roll, but insists it is a “significant” amount. No cashmere fibres themselves are included in the manufacturing process. Rather, the paper is covered in oil extracted from the hairs of the cashmere goat.

Carla Smith, buyer for Waitrose, said: “Cashmere provides that stamp of quality to any fashion garment from a designer suit to the finest luxury knitwear. It’s indulgent, it’s stylish and it’s helping provide that extra softness to our new premium bathroom tissue collection.”

from thecenter.fsu.edu

from thecenter.fsu.edu

Congratulations, freshmen and sophomores! Did you wander into Frist today hoping for your paycheck, only to find a thick envelope stuffed with fancy embossed paper telling you that your stellar grades “may have earned you a nomination for membership in The National Society of Collegiate Scholars?”

Yeah, you and a few hundred other people.

For $75, you can join the Princeton chapter! And, you know, put that on your resume? I guess? You’ll also get a “personalized diploma” (Is there any other kind?) from the society. Which is, cool? …Yeah, it better be MADE OF GOLD.

If you’re going to fork over the money, here’s the only reason you have: discounts!

Among the fancy sheets of paper you might have thrown into your recycling bin is a listing of a few “Scholar Exclusive Discounts.”

  • 25 percent off textbooks from Pearson Textbooks. OK, that’s pretty sweet. I mean, if you don’t already get your books from Amazon, for half the price.
  • 5 percent off at Barnes & Noble (with a super double-discount of 10 percent that you can get three times throughout the year!) Or you could, you know, become a B&N member and get 10 percent off…all the time. (And 40 percent off bestsellers! No, seriously! Get in on that!)
  • 10 percent off participating Motel 6 establishments in the U.S. I don’t really have anything to add to that one.
from centraljersey.com

from centraljersey.com

Princeton’s biggest crisis since concrete curbs has hit our dear Nassau Street.

You know that sign in front of Zorba that lists the specials of the day–the one that always seems to include steak for breakfast? Or the really colorful blackboard-y one in front of Twist with the health benefits of yogurt written on it?

Yeah, not allowed.

Last Tuesday, the borough’s zoning officer said at the borough council meeting that these signs are a Serious Problem–and are taking advantage of an ordinance that allows signs only for special circumstances, according to the Princeton Packet.

But these signs have been around forever, you say. I’ve been here for seven semesters and I’ve always seen the psychic sign! Hell, it’s even convinced me to get my palm read a few times!

So what happened? Why now?

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from princeton.edu

from princeton.edu

“This is Zach –”

“— and this is Willie, and to get started, can we have a suggestion of anything, anything at all!”

So began Zach & Willie, the theater-program thesis production of Zach Zimmerman ’10. For the first half of the show, Zimmerman and Willie Myers ’11 performed a series of improvised scenes based on the suggestion of one audience member. The word offered: “toothbrush.”

In the next moment, Zimmerman and Myers were two students shaving at the sink and discussing their big dates.

“We embrace whatever we feel the scene looks like, and come up with characters,” Zimmerman said. “It’s sort of organic in that sense. You’re building a reality.”

To read more, see the Princeton Alumni Weekly.

Images from princeton.edu and rodneyramosproductions.com

Surprisingly, this is only partly Jim Leach. But I imagine it's pretty close. (Images from princeton.edu and rodneyramosproductions.com)

President Tilghman might need to step it up.

Former Iowa Rep. James Leach ’64, chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, received the Woodrow Wilson Award on Alumni Day last weekend. In his speech, he remembered former University president Robert Goheen ‘40 as the Best President Ever. Ever ever.

From the PAW:

Before delivering his Wilson Award lecture, Leach recalled one of his first experiences at Princeton, a reception for freshmen held at the home of President Robert Goheen ’40 *48. Goheen welcomed each young man individually, offering personalized words of encouragement with every handshake. When Leach reached the front of the line, Goheen said, “Jim, pleased to meet you. I hope you continue with your math and your wrestling.”

Leach’s father, duly impressed, told his son that the Princeton president was “the greatest man in the United States of America.”

TIGER MAGAZINE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF MYRA GUPTA WANTS TO KNOW–IS IT SEX?

21Qs picName: Myra Gupta
Age: 19
Major: Anthropology…?
Hometown: Greenwich, CT
Eating club/residential college/affiliation: Tower/Whitman/Pi Sigma Alpha Tao (PSAT)

What’s your favorite newspaper? The New York Times

What’s the funniest joke you’ve ever heard? Okay, so there’s this great one I have, but it’s mostly funny because it’s about weasels. So these two weasels are unwinding at a local bar after a tough day, they’re having a few drinks, chatting, eating some nuts, typical weasel behavior. But one of the weasels isn’t holding his liquor well, and turns to the other and says: “I slept with your mother.” The other weasel ignores him, trying not to make a scene, but he repeats: “I slept with your mother!” The whole bar goes quiet, things get really tense. The other weasel turns to him and says, “Dad, go home, you’re drunk.” Endjoke.

What’s your favorite Tiger Mag article? Difficult to say, I love all my children equally, but I’m going to have to go with “Is It Sex?” (Warning: It is definitely rated NC-17)

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JESSICA LANDER ‘10 BUILT THAT SQUIRREL. AND THAT WHALE. AND THAT STEGOSAURUS. “WITH FRIENDS,” SHE INSISTS–SHE’S HUMBLE, TOO!

IMG_2978

Name: Jessica Lander ‘10
Age: 22
Major: Anthropology
Hometown: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Eating club/residential college/affiliation: Brown Co-op

Why are you so good at making snow sculptures?
An artist mother, some Swiss ancestry, and a lot of determination.

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The Housing Department just sent out an email asking students to “refrain from building any snow enclosures on campus.”

Picture 7At the Ink, we think igloos are important for a few reasons.

  1. Safety. Safety always comes first. With the recent unexpected weather, you never know when you might get stuck in a blizzard. White-out conditions. You’re in Mathey Courtyard–you think. You could be as far as the Junior Slums. You’d never know, not now. Then you start to think, I’m not going to make it. A single tear trickles down your cheek, and freezes. And suddenly you stumble upon an igloo. It’s small, but it’ll do. You crawl through the entrance–and it’s warm. It’s so warm. The storm moves on, and you crawl out into the sun. You’re in between Witherspoon and Alexander Hall, it seems–not far from where you thought you were.
  2. I just want to say that I have been in that igloo on Alexander Beach, and it is very cozy. Igloos are cozy, and they are fun.
  3. We haven’t yet seen Princeton’s full snow fort-building potential. And how many chances do we get? I’d like to see something like this:

    from blogs.woodtv.com

    from blogs.woodtv.com

from prayingtodarwin.wordpress.com

from prayingtodarwin.wordpress.com

“CLASSES CANCELED ENTIRE DAY.”

This is my first ever snow day. And it feels good.

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from matthewzapruder.files.wordpress.com

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.”

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.

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Emma Brown at Brown orientation, surrounded by giants. (From flixster.com)

Emma Watson at Brown orientation, surrounded by giants. (From flixster.com)

After only a two percent increase in applications for the Class of 2013, Princeton University has been pushing its hefty financial aid package–and it’s working.

The 19 percent jump in applications to Princeton this year was greater than that of Harvard (5 percent) and Yale (Not really a jump, more like a…tiny step backward.), prompting Bloomberg News to proclaim to the Internet: “Princeton Surge Beats Harvard, Yale as Applications Soar.” Hahaha, we won!

But why the competition? Why not some Ivy League bonhomie? Why must we always be bickering like over-privileged siblings in a race to be Mom’s favorite? Am I even allowed to use bicker in this context this time of the year?

So instead, let’s talk about Brown.

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