Author Archives: University Press Club

5:01PM – The End!

Well done folks! Another Dean’s Date conquered. In the past 24 hours, The Ink has bravely soldiered on with you in solidarity and camaraderie.

We cried over the rainy day forecast. We laughed at baby/animal videos (@LRW- shouldn’t it be lime puppies?). We consumed inordinate amounts of bacon and beef jerky. We translated ancient Latin graffiti on Butler desks. (Final verdict: after much debate spawned over the single phrase–#classicsmajorproblemsmuch– the consensus is that it should read Virum qui Princetonam petat non laudamus, or “We do not praise the man who seeks Princeton.”)

Good work team! Now go forth like an Infinitely Drunk Ron Swanson.

For the musical accompaniment, watch with this:

-VC

4:51 PM- Forbes Sweet Forbes

And just as 5 o’clock draws near, the sun comes out.

IMG-20120515-01172

THE END IS IN SIGHT!

Writewritewritewritewrite (or if you’re handing your paper in person… runrunrunrunrun!)

-EL

4:14 PM – TwoD kitchen, waiting for the bread to finish baking

Just got this PSA from Mathey’s Dean of Student Life, Matt Frawley. I’m sure the other colleges’ DSLs sent out similar messages, but in case not, here’s your warning about partying too hard tonight:

Frawley PSA--UPC blog45 more minutes. Go! Go! Go!

-AK

4:10 PM- 1915 Hall

Lemon babies are the best! Thanks EL! But, have you ever see a lemon … puppy?

Almost there, guys!!

LRW

3:46 PM- Woolworth

Less than 1.5 hours left… and we haven’t had a baby post yet?


-EL

2:45 PM – Inkspace

As the deadline draws nearer, vulgarity ensues.

CHALLENGE: I LIKE MY WOMEN LIKE I LIKE MY DEAN’S DATE…
(ongoing Facebook chain)

  • Sprawled out all over my desk
  • Preceded by dread, followed by binge drinking
  • They don’t mind if everything I say is BS
  • I get to yell really loud at midnight
  • The band plays when I’m almost finished
  • We spend 36 hours in a library together and then I never think about them again
  • Size 12
  • I do them with the footnotes
  • Always happy to ‘grant me an extension’
  • No appendix
  • either a C or D
  • with enough caffeine to stay awake so I can finish
  • bound in leather
  • you put her in a box in Corwin Hall after you’re done
  • when I’m halfway through, the Committee on Discipline sends me an email telling me to be careful

We like our women like we like our Dean’s Date: Drinking the Ink. (Got more? Put them in the comments!)

-VC

2:00 PM – CalmingManatee.com

With 3 hours left… are you freaking out? Manatees are here to comfort you!

from the Twitterverse

Cheer up! Watch me bonk my nose into glass for you!

Cheer up! Watch me bonk my nose into glass for you!

-VC

12:56 – Lunchtime = Pump-up Time

A few gems from our friends over at Buzzfeed:

Outasight believes in YOU! Finishing a paper is just as inspirational as tightrope walking and spearfishing and dramatic sports victories. Right? Right.

(Analysis and link here)

Also, just in case, you know, this day is shaping up to be a downer, check out these tips to turn it around.

ASG

12:38 – Edwards 4ever

It’s an inconvenient time for writer’s block, but I have it. So I consulted one of my favorite rappers, MF DOOM, who prescribes “nature,” “silence,” and “playing with children.”

Now excuse me while I go out in the cold rain to wordlessly interact with some townie skateboarders.

– GN

12:23 PM – The Internet

Thought Lady Gaga was the first to wear an all-meat outfit (2010VMAs)?

Think again (thanks, MTB ‘13):

Oh, and by the way: According to Us Weekly, Lady Gaga brought out a new “meat dress” on Monday in Tokyo–this time it’s vegetarian.

-AK

11:16 AM – The club, full of ballers, and they pockets, full grown.

Dixon Li ‘14 and his Dean’s Date paper: “Beyoncé and the Politics of Bling, or B(ling)eing a Woman”, which I swear was an outtake from this HairPin article: Beyoncé Songs Re-Imagined as Undergraduate Theses in Women and Gender Studies.

You can believe everything they say about us humanities kids now.

You can believe everything they say about us humanities kids now.

Favorite words in here include: “objectified,” “sartorial,” and “hustla.”

Now I want some Beyoncé.

-VC

10:30 AM- Under the covers

A way to relax = reading about porn, CM? How bout food porn?

You can devour this Dean’s Date like you can devour grasshopper shaped pancakes! amirite?

LRW

10:16 AM – Roma Library

No better way to relax in the morning than read about porn, am I right guys??? I found this article too interesting not to repost. Mind-boggling. Essential reading. Superlatives.

-CM

10:06 AM – Interwebz

How I feel at the beginning of a paper:

lalalalala I haz such gud arguments

How I feel toward the end of a paper:

GENDER PERFORMATIVITY. PROBLEMATIZE. RADICAL TRANSFEMINIST DISCOURSE.

-VC

9:49 AM-Edwards Basement

Nothing like a nice swig of beer to get you through Dean”s Date. (?)

0515120947

-AK

9:39 AM – Small World

I don’t think Firestone is ever quite so well-populated at this early (okay, actually not-so-early) hour any of the other 364 days of the year. Small World, on the other hand, is surprisingly empty, at least in terms of the student crowd. Maybe it’s because that one-hour Internet limit is like built-in Self Control. But they have caffeine! And I don’t think you could nod off through the morning rush there if you tried.

-LZ

9:12 AM – Jammin’ to Call Me Maybe in ma room

I was craving some bacon for breakfast.

Not anymore.

-EL

8:57 AM – Frist Computer Cluster

I’ve moved to one of the giant screen cluster computers
Because if I write at a screen of large proportions
Maybe my thoughts will also increase proportionally
In largeness
Greatness
Quickness
Maybe I’ll drum up more courage for this deadline
Meet this blank white space with FURY. VERBOSITY. AND CLARITY OF MIND.

Maybe I’ll be better able to view all these tumblrs in their full glory.

Everyone in Frist is like this at the moment.

Everyone in Frist is like this at the moment.

Screen shot 2012-05-15 at 8.56.24 AM

Replace “salad” with “my papers.”

Screen shot 2012-05-15 at 8.56.50 AM

An animal within an animal!! WE MUST GO DEEPER.

Screen shot 2012-05-15 at 8.57.14 AM

I am a lonely cheeto.

- AYS

7:40 AM- In bed… at least, I was

Until someone started mowing the lawn outside my window D:

Seriously, it’s Dean’s Date and some of us just got to bed. Have you no mercy?

-EL

7:03 AM – Frist Food Gallery = home

Ask, and you shall receive. Here is my pump up, happy music for the morning. And check out the lyrics – so relevant. Here are some choice snippets:

Keep on moving to the first rays of dawn/keeping it on till the sun moves on/keepin till the night time all along

Reach for the sky/keep your eye on the prize

Time to grow and be a man/want to fly high like Peter Pan/no more never never land

(Here’s what’s really going through my mind now: “Jane Addams and her feminist care ethics showed a development of a new line of philosophical thinking… I want pancakes that popcorn just wasn’t filling…ok anyways…so Jane Addams created this settlement home and included diverse voices…Where is everyone? Are you guys awake? Come on, come on. I need company. Wake up get up go…come onnnn…”)

[But actually. Where are you all? Anyone awake? Bueller? Bueller?]

-SG

5:35 AM – Frist Food Gallery (do you really think I’m going to move now?)

Good moooooooooornin’ Princeton! Rise and shine and go get ‘em!

IMG_0250

It’s now also time for a story! Quickly: once during sophomore year, a newly made friend was making small talk.

Her: “So what’s up in your life nowadays? Like, what do you think of all the time?”

Me: “Uh…”

Her: “Here, I’ll make it easier for you. What was the first thing you thought of today when you woke up?”

Me (too fast): “I didn’t.”

Beat.

Me: “…I didn’t wake up. I’ve been up. ALL NIGHT.”

_____

Ah, well. The end is in sight.

-SG

4:13 AM – Frist Food Gallery

Just a couple of announcements, ya’ll. From one hungry person to another: keep an eye out for these important milestones in our lovely morning together.

5:30 AM – Starbucks opens.

5:43 AM - Sun rise.

7:00 AM – Food gallery open.

7:30 AM – Dining halls open.

8:00 AM – U-Store open.

8:00 AM – Witherspoon’s (in Frist) and Studio 34 open.

9:00 AM – C-Store opens.

-SG

3:54 AM –  Frist Food Gallery

And a hearty amen to that

Cha’yra, you speak the truth. After the frenzied mob of the Frist, 2 am-Nachos variety came and went…well, that was effectively the end of any convenient food source in the Campus Center for the next six hours.  Things are getting real…

And here’s where The Wa+ A Good Friend becomes vital to our valiant Dean’s Date efforts. Thanks to my study buddy JB ‘13, who decided to get ‘fresh air’ and take the long walk to Wawa. She returns 30 minutes later, with 2 apples, a bag of popcorn, and the best surprise of all:

IMG_0248

It reads: “This is your official Dean’s Date Punching Bag (but not too hard). What are you punching?” Perfect. Motivation could not come in a better or zanier form. Here’s a shout out to everyone still up – you can do it!

IMG_0249

-SG

3:05 AM – You know it’s way too late when Press Club is posting Dragon Ball Z videos

This is my love note to AYS.

–VC

2:58 AM – Frist, chugging along

Hi! Turn your volume on full blast and press play:

YEAH. WAKE UPPPPPPPP

I’M WIDE AWAKE!!!!!

Haha. Alright, keep writing. You know how we do.

- AYS

2:02 AM- Forbes Study Room

Whew, finished citing a source. That was a lot of hard work… reddit break!

For all of you who are missing PFML as much as I am: http://www.reddit.com/r/princeton/comments/tn5uf/with_princetonfml_down_why_dont_we_create/

redditpfml

For all of you who want to feel guilty about procrastinating on meaningless websites: http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/tmtd4/what_are_the_most_intellectually_stimulating/

(Wait, you think Reddit is a meaningless website too? SHUN THE NONBELIEVER!)

For all of you who are clueless about your paper but think that Yahoo! Answers is too shady: http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive

-EL

1:53 AM – Having a Fever

And the only prescription is MOAR BABY ANIMALS.

VC

1:45 AM- Surfing the Web

STORY TIME! The other day, my friend and I went for a run (by run, I really mean walkrun/runwalk, but whatevs) around Princetontown.  I don’t really remember how/where/when this happened, but we somehow ended up in front of a house with a little wire fence in the front yard. Enclosed in the fence was a fuzzy white bunny, which was hopping around adorably.  We pet the bunny for a while before continuing on our way.  Anyways, the purpose of this story is to say that I could definitely use more cuteness in my life right now. In normal circumstances, I would just try to find the bunny house again, but alas Dean’s Date calls. Youtube videos must suffice.

Theme of the hour? ANIMAL FRIENDS!

1. Bunny and puppy

2. Dog and orangutan

3. Dog and cheetah

Awww.  Okay, now back to writing…

LRW

1:22 AM – More stressed than hungry, but still excited to see…

Chai and cookies! See you at 9:30.

Chai and cookies! See you at 9:30.

infini-T, you are my favorite.

Also, in anticipation of tomorrow’s rainy forecast:

After the cookies. I mean, GN said that Dean's Date = dietary freedom..

After the cookies. I mean, GN said that Dean's Date = dietary freedom..

Of course these updates got me checking all my other favorite Nassau spots’ Facebook pages, and LO AND BEHOLD:

YES.

YES.

Princeton (Township), I love you.

- AYS

1:15 AM – Feeling Awkward in the Study Lounge

WARNING! NOT (REALLY) SAFE FOR WORK:  I might have just written the most sexually explicit academic essay in Princeton history.

CHALLENGE: Usurp my wordle with your own outrageous paper of the evening.

-VC

1:04 AM-Edwards

In case you have very good self control and are not checking email (although why are you reading this blog…?), the Press Club is passing along Dean Dunne’s friendly reminder about academic integrity and the Honor Code. COD-UPC blog-AK

1:00 AM- Physically = Frist TV Area, Mentally = closer and closer to sleepppp

Like a cold during finals week or a fly in your corned beef sandwich, the Frist piano player always seems to appear whenever you least want him/her to.  Fortunately, though, holed-up paper-writing residents of our commonly misspelled campus center won’t have to deal with extra musical (or not) clammer tonight.

Behold!

SDC10118

And a closer look reveals….

SDC10120

“Unfortunately the piano is not working properly. Please refrain from use.”

Whether an intentional trick on the part of a curmudgeon or a serious piano problem (piano disease?), I’ll take it! Praise Zeus!

LRW

12:31 AM- Forbes Study Room

Going on Facebook and seeing posts from non-Princeton friends is starting to become really depressing.

DEAN'S DATECurse you, Princeton, and your ridiculous schedule for making us have finals while everyone else is already out for the summer!

At least one Rutgers kid is sort of sympathetic toward us? (Thanks best fran.)

-EL

11:30PM – Whitman Breakfast/Dinner/Exclusive Thing
My friend and I just had a brilliant idea.
THE DEAN’S DATE SELF-IMPOSED DEADLINE DONATION CHALLENGE
Inspired by this little alarm clock, the SnūzNLūz, which for every time you hit snooze, donates a certain amount of your own money (from your bank account) to the hated charity of your choice.
http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/snuznluz.shtml
So you have multiple things due on Dean’s Date, and you need to make some deadlines to get it all done.
RULES:
1) Pick a time in which you MUST finish a certain thing. Say 12am midnight tonight.
2) For every 1 minute you go over your self-imposed deadline, you must donate $.10 to a charity that you hate. So 1 hour (60minutes) is $6.00 to
For example (from ThinkGeek)
Are you a butcher? Donate to PETA!
Are you a land developer? Donate to the Wilderness Society!
Enjoy your freedom? (Blue state version) Donate to the GOP!
Enjoy your freedom? (Red state version) Donate to MoveOn.Org!
Are you a hippie? Donate to the American Coal Foundation!
Are you pro-life? Donate to Planned Parenthood!

Personally? I’m setting myself up to donate to the National Organization of Marriage. Get at me Robbie George.

12:10 AM – Firestone Trustee Reading Room

The caffeine from the 2013 Starbucks Study Break is wearing off…just in time for the Dean’s Date Fairies to deliver a much-needed sugar boost! God bless you, people who feed me.

(Though, to the fairy that pegged me in the right shin with a Milky Way: Imma get you.)

-SG

12:02 AM-Firestone, C-Floor still

All the overhead lights spontaneously turned off thirty seconds ago in the room I’m in. Just in time for the Dean’s Date Fairies to come by!

-AK

11:49 PM – Marquand

Among the many who are not thrilled to be in the library on dean’s date eve are those who are actually there for work work.  Here is a small taste of what they have to deal with.

IMG959365

This message contributed (with some frustration, but no hard feelings) by your friendly Marquand desk workers.

-NP

11:30PM – Whitman Breakfast/Dinner/Exclusive Thing

My friend and I just had a brilliant idea.

THE DEAN’S DATE SELF-IMPOSED DEADLINE DONATION CHALLENGE

Inspired by this little alarm clock, the SnūzNLūz, which for every time you hit snooze, donates a certain amount of your own money (from your bank account) to the hated charity of your choice.

Inspired by this little alarm clock, the SnūzNLūz, which for every time you hit snooze, donates a certain amount of your own money (from your bank account) to the hated charity of your choice.

So, you have multiple things due on Dean’s Date, and you need to make some deadlines to get it all done.

THE RULES:

1) Pick a time in which you MUST finish a certain thing. Say 12am midnight tonight.

2) For every 1 minute you go over your self-imposed deadline, you must donate $.10 to a charity that you hate. WARNING: This will add up.

For example (from ThinkGeek):

  • Are you a butcher? Donate to PETA!
  • Are you a land developer? Donate to the Wilderness Society!
  • Enjoy your freedom? (Blue state version) Donate to the GOP!
  • Enjoy your freedom? (Red state version) Donate to MoveOn.Org!
  • Are you a hippie? Donate to the American Coal Foundation!
  • Are you pro-life? Donate to Planned Parenthood!

Personally? I’m setting myself up to donate to the National Organization of Marriage. Get at me Robbie George.

-VC

11:15 PM-Firestone, C-Floor

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a Macintosh Classic II. Guess I should come down to the C-Floor more often?

The note on top says: "Prof. John V. Fleming/C-II-J/Firestone Library"

The note on top says: Prof. John V. Fleming/C-II-J/Firestone Library”. Professor Fleming gave the Baccalaureate Address in 2007.

That book next to the Mac is a copy of The Holy Bible. Still not sure what either of those is doing on the C-Floor, but given the label, the computer at least is supposed to be here.

-AK

11:08 PM – Friend Center, because papers are our friends! THEY ARE FRIENDS.

Midnight nears. You’re heading into the thick of the crunch. The heart of the fray. The eye of the storm. It’s early enough that the caffeine from your free Starbucks run hasn’t yet worn off, but late enough that you need to get down to business. Dean’s Date requires strategy. This is no joke. In the pre-12 a.m. phase, while our mental capabilities remain relatively intact, you must seize the moment. Minimize time waste, distraction (apart from this blog, duh), and later distress by maximizing FOCUS. What do you need?

You need staticky color noise.

Picture 23

Comes in shades of white, pink, and brown.

You need fake rain.

Picture 24

This site may be redundant if it's actually raining outside. Is it? I don't know. #librarylife

You need a personalized chorus of nature sounds.

I recommend a mix of Snowstorm, Lemur, and Whip-Poor-Will.

I recommend a mix of Snowstorm, Lemur, and Whip-Poor-Will.

You need Zen. Breathe. Write. Let it flow.

(The time for pump-up playlists comes later, when we’re struggling to stay awake. Submit your music sites in the comments! PLEASE.)

- AYS

10:32 PM – Firestone Trustee Reading Room

Tip: There’s no use in coming to Firestone now. Every seat (and more importantly, every outlet) is occupied by students who look like they’ll fight to the death to stay glued in their spots. In any case, this is what focused and not-on-Facebook looks like….

Scholars in solidarity

Scholars in solidarity

…Until the Marching Band storms in. They’re making the rounds across campus in a beloved (?) Dean’s Date tradition.

And here they are at 9:39 at Frist (h/t AK ‘14). Note the reactions on a scale of amused to perturbed to downright angry.

One more still, 10:32 at Marquand (h/t EC ‘12)

-SG

10:27 PM – Edwards still

My vice.

This year I learned that the pressures of Dean’s Date obliterate any and all religious/dietary convictions. Though I spend most of my life piously eschewing cow meats, all these hours alone in front of a glowing computer screen have left me wanting something to chew on, something small but substantive to stave off the hunger pangs. So I thought: why not an intensely flavorful, low-calorie, heavily processed and dehydrated meatstuff? An impulse purchase of “Spicy Sweet” beef jerky ensued. I gnawed at the meat strips with much guilt and glee this afternoon. Vaguely sensing that this was my gateway drug into red meat proper, but not really too concerned, I later bought and devoured another packet after dinner, this one a subtle variant: “Sweet & Hot.” Only after confessing my sins to UPC alum BKN ‘10, who in abject horror, directed me to the nutrition facts, did I realize I had consumed roughly 132% of my daily recommended sodium intake. If nothing else, let this serve as a cautionary tale for all you mindlessly munching your way through Dean’s Date. Now excuse me while I consume several gallons of water.

- GN

10:04 PM – My Inbox

Another taste of what’s to come, thanks to a soon-to-be winged friend:

Dean's Date

- LBC

9:54 PM- Forbes

So PrincetonFML has been down for days—what is up with that? Are you dying without your daily dosage of FMLs? I feel your pain. That’s why I went around campus tonight and collected some anonymous FMLs from other students. Nothing like other people’s misery to alleviate your own, amiright?

More stuff due for Dean’s Date than I had for my JP. MLIA.

Got the flu 48 hours before my 25-page research paper is due… Still haven’t started. FML.

I found out that I have no housing for Reunions, and I didn’t get any USG storage. FML.

Two sculpture projects due Thursday. I only have half an ear [sculpted]. FML.

I have 20 pages of terrible essay. FML.

Keep chuggin’ along, Princeton; you can do it!

-DB

9:45 – Dillon Ghost Town

Too swamped to make it to the gym tonight? Don’t worry. Apparently so was everybody else. Screen Shot 2012-05-14 at 9.33.52 PM-ECS

9:35 PM – Facebook

A GLORIOUS update to the Princeton “Latin Graffiti” translation mystery from EL’s post earlier:

Reads: Virium qui Princetonam petat non laudamus.

From Chris Cochran ‘14, bonafide Classics Major:

It’s either gobbledygook or really really bad Latin. [The previous] translation cannot be correct. Virium is genitive and cannot be the object of laudamus. Qui should be the subject of petat, but has no clear antecedent. Princetonam is a very poorly formed neo-Latin word but is nevertheless accusative and is properly the object not the subject of petat. My best guess would be to say that the author of the graffito confused vis, viris with vir, viri and that it should read “Virorum qui Princetonam petat non laudamus”. That change would give it grammatical meaning. The next question is what “Princetonam” means, since it doesn’t follow any of the standard conventions for neo-Latin word formation. It is clearly feminine (unless the author has been really strange and in inventing a new word has also chosen to make that word one of the few masculine first declension nouns), but could either be a substantive adjective referring to a person, i.e. “female Princetonian”, or it could modify the implied “Universitas”. If the author intended the “Universitas” reading, however, it would make more sense to use “hominum” instead of “virorum” since there would be no reason to stress biological sex, but then the author clearly has forgotten a lot of other subtleties of the Latin language. Therefore, this is my best guess of a translation: “We do not praise him among men who is inclined to seek Princetonian women.

There you have it folks.

-VC

9:33 PM – Debugging the blog instead of doing my Paper

Never mind the little person behind the curtain.

-VC

9:14 PM – outside of Woolworth

Coming soon to a study space near you:

Screen Shot 2012-05-14 at 9.16.23 PM-ECS

9:05PM – Page 8/10 on my 2/3rd Dean’s Date Paper

UPDATE ON THE BUTLER GRAFFITI IN LATIN. Classics Major claims it reads: “We don’t praise the strength the Princetonian seeks.” Mysterious. Are they referring to the Prince or to the average Princeton student?

-VC on behalf of EL

8:59 PM – Friend Center

For those feeling discouraged about the night ahead, might we suggest a piece of well-timed Princeton sentimentality? UPC generally doesn’t reblog from the Prince, but in the spirit of Dean’s Date solidarity, check out this goodbye column by Camille Framroze ‘12. It’s garnered over 200 likes on Facebook already, and inspired an outpouring of Orange and Black love from the depths of our stressed-out undergraduate student body:

Picture 19Picture 21Picture 22

Princeton love. The night is young. It’s only 9 pm, and we’re at the #bestdamnplaceofall. Let’s go, y’all, we can do this.

- AYS

8:40 PM-Butler Library

If you’re slaving away in a carrell right now, take comfort in the fact that generations of Princetonians before you may have slaved away in that very carrell. While we may never know their identities, at least in Butler library, we know what they were thinking at the time.

Fuck orgo

Fuck orgo

Oh, you sad, sad pre-meds.

YOU CAN DO IT!

A pleasant surprise.

Notice how right underneath this single ray of optimism are the words: “SAVE ME!” (”Me first!”)

All that despair :(

All that despair :(

Another pre-med? Or what I’ll feel like at 5 a.m.

Virium qui Princetonam petat non laudamus

Virium qui Princetonam petat non laudamus

And an appeal to our readers who know Latin: post the translation of this graffiti in the comments! Google Translate isn’t helping.

-EL

8:33 PM- Late Meal

Three minutes after Late Meal opened, and the sushi is already gone.

This happened last semester too, y0u’d think they’d see a pattern and increase their order.

0514122032

-AK

8:22 PM- Starbucks

Any non-juniors may want to consider an alternate caffeination station, at least until 2013 free coffee hours end at 10pm.

DSC_0703

Coffee mayhem. It’s an only slightly more civilized prelude to the 2am feeding frenzy in Frist.

-LZ

8:11 PM- Whitman College

Any non-Whitmanite planning on sneaking into the aforementioned breakfast tonight at 10 better think again. Now, on top of Whitman’s exclusive “college nights,” it looks like they have constructed a special barricade to keep out intruders, just one step short of building a moat.

Whitman

(but seriously, with evidence of Reunions all around us, it may be so hard to concentrate, but also so motivational. Persevere!)

- LBC

7:32 PM- the dark depths of Patton’s basement

Looking for something cheerful?  Truly, nothing beats Princeton’s hour-by-hour weather forecast for the next 21.5 hours. Just a peek:

Preview of “Hourly Weather Forecast for Princeton - weather.com”

Nice and cheery, ain’t it?  Seriously, y’all, we are literally missing nothing by being trapped indoors until 5pm tomorrow.  (Also, extra-credit points if you contribute sunrise pictures to weather.com’s Princeton uploads page at around 5:42am tomorrow).  Time to hole up in your room and stock up that mini-fridge! Keep calm and carry on.

~JMB

7:16 PM- Whitman Lounge

DEAR ‘PRINCE‘ : We’d like to claim rights to the illustrious P.G. Sittenfeld (now Cincinnati City Councilman Sittenfeld!), the author of your favorite Dean’s Date poem that you post every year, who sits on our Alumni Board. Press Club lore has it that we made him cry on his Roast.

Dear P.G.: We love you, but you’d think after being subjected to brutal investigative journalism from a bunch of newbie freshman into the depths of your personal life, you’d know better than to run for public office.

This the face of the future US president.

Denial! NBD.

-VC

6:14 PM- Outside Wilcox

Are you in desperate need of study space? Is the library too crowded? We’ve got you covered.

IMG-20120514-01168

(It’s a shame they took the Student Colony down before Dean’s Date.)

-EL

6:07 PM- Firestone, Level 3

Everyone copes with stress differently: Some people pig out, others watch TV, and still others… draw portraits on the walls of Firestone? I’m no artist, but I’d say this kid’s got talent. Hopefully, he can produce as fine a Dean’s Date paper as this drawing…

Firestone

-DB

5:54 PM – Spelman

Uhhh…

carrels??

OK Princeton, I get that humor is all about the right timing, but sending this right as we head into Dean’s Date crunch was kind of too ironic for me to handle. We just finished our JPs! And started our 24-hour push! Hope was in sight! I refuse to think about this.

Denial! NBD.

My life is just my papers, coffee, THIS LIVEBLOG, and the next 23 hours. Let’s gooo.

- AYS

5:51 PM – My Inbox

Dear Claire Fowler,

Just had to personally thank you for your email notice about carrels – rather, my “Firestone Library Assigned Space” – earlier this afternoon. Obviously, there’s nothing I’d rather think about on Dean’s Date Eve than applying for the privilege of locking myself in my own personal thesis jail cell in the bowels of Firestone for much of next year.

Cheers,

The Class of 2013

-LZ

5:46 PM – Roma Library

If you survive Dean’s Date, you might get to witness some of the events on this TIMELINE OF THE FAR FUTURE! A few notables:

  • 11 million: “The moon Phobos collides with the surface of Mars.”
  • 1.3 billion: “Eukaryotic life dies out. Only prokaryotes remain.”
  • 1065 years from now: “Assuming that protons do not decay, estimated time for rigid objects like rocks to rearrange their atoms and molecules via quantum tunneling. On his timescale all matter is liquid.”

At least we’ve all got something to look forward to!

-CM

5:30 PM – 1981 Hall, Whitman

Desperately need help writing that paper? LOOK NO FURTHER THAN ESSAYTYPER.COM.

Essay Typer to the rescue!

Just put in your general topic (examples: “African American studies”, “economics,” “Freudian psychology”) and START TYPING ANYTHING. Seriously. IT’S MAGICAL.

Actually, it’s just Wikipedia. But I tried it with my gender and sexuality studies paper, and I’m not going to lie, it was sounding pretty good up to a point!

For those with more STEM-based final projects, may I suggest to you HackerTyper.net?

-VC

5:14 PM – Edwards Basement

My reaction to public study space filth used to be absolute disdain, but apparently I’ve since overcome my self-righteousness and general sense of hygiene: somehow I’ve managed to lockdown a cluster computer for the last few days through a strategic mix of water bottles, gum wrappers (no, not the chewed thing itself), books, and my actual physical presence in the chair. The last one proves most effective. And so, with this space securely mine, these papers will end exactly where they began. I’ll be here most of the hours between now and 5 PM,wit a nap-sleep in between and maybe a pitstop at tonight’s Whitman Midnight Breakfast (starts at 10:00 PM — only open to current residents and the Whitman diaspora, suckas).

- GN

5:00 PM – Outside East Pyne

Those clouds, today’s weather, and the cigarettes outside Marquand and the Architecture library are not accidental. We all know what time it is. Break out the sweatpants, run from Whitman Library: Dean’s Date is upon us.

Lucky for you, we here at The Ink have a tradition of recording, in up-to-the-minute fashion, the final twenty-four hours before our dreaded 5 o’clock Tuesday deadline. That’s right, as in semesters past, we’re taking our collective despair to the internet. We’re “liveblogging” Dean’s Date. Never felt more alone? Crazy guy on C-Floor Firestone starting to seem like your only friend? Fear not. We’ll be updating this post with news and happenings from around campus, thoughts and comments on this communal descent into insanity, and a year’s supply of quickmemes, hashtags, and, as always, YouTube clips.

So take a minute from your Dean’s Date ego – we all know someone’s more screwed than us – and realize that you don’t have to suffer alone. Check back with us throughout the night. We have some tricks up our sleeve to get you to that deadline. Carpel tunnel kicking in, coffee like water, C-Store swipes on C-store Swipes: Dean’s Date begins now.

-NDS

Thanks for following along with us! The meeting has ended, and so our liveblog closes here too. We hope you enjoyed our coverage.

————————–

6:09pm

Sorority member on committee, closing out the meeting: The way that the report is written, “I don’t feel uncomfortable talking to freshmen… I don’t feel that my ability to interact with freshmen, in a friendship context, is inhibited in any way.”

6:07pm

Audience question on liability: If a Greek organization is found to have committed a violation, who gets in trouble? Just the people who were there?

Deignan: We would look to see what the evidence shows about who was responsible for organizing the event or attending/participating in the event.

Response: But does knowledge of the event constitute a violation.

Deignan: I think we would stop short of saying knowledge of the event but I certainly hope that those of you who come by knowledge of the event would do your best to persuade others not to do what they’re about to do. We would hope those who played a part accountable.

6:04pm

Committee: You can have casual, informal conversations with individual freshmen about rushing. But you can’t solicit–you can’t hold information sessions, etc.

6:02pm

Audience: How can freshmen make a more informed decision about joining an organization if they can’t go to any events?

Deignan: I don’t think they’d have any less information than they do under the current system–we’re not necessarily saying they know more than they do now. But this wasn’t the charge of our committee.

6:00pm

Audience: Is there a statute of limitations on the policy? Can we be charged for things that happened long ago?

Deignan: There is no statute of limitations on any of the violations in RR&R. “I would say, however, that the further away people get from an actual event, the more difficult it becomes to investigate–people’s memories aren’t as good, information isn’t as accessible.”

5:58pm

Audience: Is there anyone that we can call to clarify the policy or ask specific questions?

Deignan: We’re all happy to answer questions. We’re going to make sure that the Directors of Student Life know the policy very well.

Response: Will there be some sort of assurance given?

Deignan: Absolutely, as long as you follow through with the event you described as you described it.

5:53pm

Breakthrough: apparently Greek members can encourage freshmen to join their organizations as sophomores (e.g. “You should totally think about rushing next year” is appropriate). Many ‘ooooooh’s from the audience.

5:50pm

Student asks about promoting a non-Greek event to his/her fellow Greeks via Listserv (e.g. inviting fraternity members to a non-Greek charity event). If freshmen are also at this open, public event, is that okay?

EDIT–Deignan thinks it’s okay.

5:47pm

Question: A student reports that an organization is primarily social I know so because of X, Y, and Z. A host of other students say that that isn’t true. Does one student’s experience of that being primarily social count as clear and persuasive evidence?

Answer: Not at all.

5:41pm

Committee member on groups: There needs to be some officership or financial structure. It needs to have a sustained identity over time. “61 Patton does not count as group because when we leave the room we’re not the 61 Patton Crew.”

5:35pm

Audience member: sororities and fraternities could completely undermine this policy by sending a hundred calls or emails to Public Safety–a culture of suspicion could turn against the school.

Committee member, in jest: “I did that once to protect my drug trafficking and it didn’t work.” — to raucous laughter.

5:33pm

Question: There are organizations that have social events but don’t have exclusive membership or whatnot, e.g. a capella groups, dance groups. How is it determined that an organization is primarily social or not?

Deignan: No organization recognized by the school is covered by this policy.

Response: Could I reform as an a capella group (”say, Shere Flan”) and fill it up with my fraternity members?

Deignan: Well, you would have to go through the USG’s process for becoming an official student group.

Response: Suppose I did that.

Deignan: You would have to convince them that you were taking members solely based on talent.

Response: Ok.

5:29pm

Deignan: “We don’t believe that if there’s an inadvertent violation–an accidental encounter… we said that, not only do we think that that should result in a lesser penalty, that shouldn’t result in any penalty.”

5:27pm

Committee member: You’re being paranoid if you’re afraid of letting freshmen into your room for non-Greek interactions.

5:26pm

Committee member explains that they’re still okay with interaction between freshmen and upperclassmen–but they need to “Make it about the freshmen. Make it about you.”

5:23pm

Audience member: There’s an undercurrent that the university is “out to get” Greek members–even if they’re not looking to use the presence of Greek members as evidence, they might use it as reason for suspicion. Brings up that he hasn’t felt like he’s had any opportunity to give feedback.

Committee member explains that, during the construction of their recommendation, they couldn’t reveal their thinking process then solicit comments then go back to improve the report because they couldn’t let President Tilghman know before their recommendation–needed to reveal all at once.

5:20pm

Hearing Dean Deignan say “Theta” brings some laughter to the room.

5:18pm

Audience member brings up that, if there are deficiencies in the policy, it should be revised before further action is taken against Greek organizations.

5:16pm

Good quote from Deignan regarding grey space: “There are a million different permutations of any violations of Rights, Rules and Responsibilities. We’re simply trying to give you some examples.”

5:15pm

Deignan again on the email point: “I do not know where that rumor came from… The university does not look at emails.” She explains that it is technically university domain but that is not their policy

5:14pm

Committee brings up email evidence a few times. Audience member: So we’re being asked to hand over our inboxes now? Committee: absolutely not; we’re just describing situations in which others send in emails.

5:11pm

Audience: we’re worried about the grey space in the policy. Committee (again): there needs to be clear and persuasive evidence.

5:09pm

People are very concerned about being charged and found guilty in the face of very little evidence. Committee member: “This policy is not going to get anyone innocent caught.” Another explains that students seem to be scared that they will be punished simply for being members of Greek organizations–but this policy doesn’t aim to do that; things shouldn’t be different than they are now for current members.

5:06pm

Just about a thousand questions fired in from the audience, mostly regarding what defines sponsorship by a Greek organization. General committee response: if there isn’t clear and persuasive evidence, you won’t be charged as guilty.

5:03pm

Great quote from an audience member in regards to how parties will be identified as Greek: “How do you know I’m not just popular?” Committee response: you won’t get charged because you look like you’re in a sorority–there needs to be clear and persuasive evidence (e.g. Greek letters on the door).

5:02pm

Committee member points out: You can have the same parties (”informal gatherings”) that you’ve been having during Frosh week, but you can’t make it about your fraternity or sorority.

4:58pm

Things are getting testy in here. Jumping between questions–everyone wants to make a few points.

4:55pm

A sorority member points out that most Greek events are casual and informal, while the policy generally looks at formal and explicit events. “Can their not be informal gatherings in the same way?”

Deignan: “If you have an event in your room, you have a level of control over that.” If a few Greeks are gathered, they need to ask themselves if this is a casual gathering or is this an event that the sorority is hosting? If it’s a sorority event, they need to figure out how to exclude freshmen.

4:53pm

A Greek member asks about how a freshman would be punished if they stumbled into a booth or table at a public philanthropic event, sponsored by a Greek organization. The committee generally agrees that this would not be a violation (as “no reasonable person would see this as a violation”).

4:50pm

Professor William A. Gleason explains, roughly: We were thinking about how to separate out freshmen from attending rush events and the easiest way was to ban them from all events–we didn’t want to get into the issue of carving out specific exceptions, because it’s much simpler and cleaner this way.

4:47pm

Another follow-up: ‘But if a girl can’t join a fraternity anyway, why should she be prohibited from attending as a date?’ The committee’s response revolves around the unfairness of banning gay dates from attending.

4:45pm

The meeting has opened up for questions. The first (paraphrased): ‘Why did you decide to ban all freshmen from all events? Greek Organizations are gendered by nature–why not let females attend fraternity events and vice versa?’

Response: ‘Gender neutrality was a significant issue for us. We thought that the purpose of events might change from year-to-year: could be a rush event one year and something different the next.’

4:40pm

Dean Kathleen Deignan opens up the meeting by asking for a show of hands of whoever has read the committee’s report–looks like just about everyone. She then makes a few remarks about the committee’s task and objective: define terms (solicitation of freshmen, rush, etc.) and outline appropriate punishments.

One major goal: to be as clear as they can be in defining the parameters of prohibited activity.

4:34pm

Rough estimate: 40-50 students in attendance.

4:28pm

Welcome to our liveblog! The room is starting to fill up. No sign of administrators yet. A bright-yellow flag of Thetarade tank-top opposition sits in the front row. Just a few more minutes now–stay tuned!

————————–

Last Monday, Dean Deignan laid out the details and the rationale of the new freshman rush policy. Today, the committee will invite students to an open forum where they can offer feedback and ask questions. We imagine it’ll be fairly active. So if you’re unable to make your way to Frist 302 at 4:30, fear not — we’ll be liveblogging all the lurid details in this here blog post. See you in a few hours …. keep your trigger finger on the refresh button.

9:18 AM – The Aftermath

Like you, we were so caught up in the post-Dean’s Date rush we forgot to actually finish the blog. We sincerely hope you had better things to do last night than ponder our disappearance.

At this point, there’s not much left to say except congrats: you’ve conquered the monster once again. In celebration, a look back, courtesy of some Dean’s Date all-stars last spring.

Screen shot 2012-01-18 at 9.18.32

–LZ

4:00PM- Heading over the McCosh courtyard

Free giveaways (yeah right, I’ve never gotten one). Food. Fun. Jeff Nunokawa. Be there. Ciao.

–VC

3:20 – Classroom in Lewis (yup, snagged it)

In the spirit of the two most motivational things on the planet (cute animals and the promise of sleep, obviously), I bring you a message from Shironeko, the world’s most relaxed cat:

Shironeko

YOU CAN DO IT! And in less than two hours, you too can pass out amongst more alert friends.

– ASG

2:41 PM- The Wa

We Princetonians often have terrible eating habits—no real surprise there. I just chatted with Lominy who worked at The Wa from 1-9:30 p.m. yesterday. Check out what he had to say:

Did you notice Princeton students buying a lot of food last night?

They buy a lot of stuff. They eat a lot, too. With the sandwiches, they put a lot of ingredients on…. They ask for like all kinds of peppers or all kinds of condiments. It makes our job harder because everything just falls apart.

Did you get grossed out?

Yes, yes.

Was this just last night?

No, almost every day.

______

You are what you eat?

–DB

2:37PM-My room

My roommate’s stack of books, piled precariously high on top of our mini-fridge for the past week, has still not fallen.

IMG_0237

Titles of note: “Hamas and Suicide Terrorism”

“The New Oxford Annotated Bible”

“Inside Al-Qaida and the Taliban”

“The Historical Figure of Jesus”

“Allah, Liberty, and Love: The Courage to Reconcile Faith and Freedom”

–AK

1:25PM – bed

Baby animals, meet Bent Objects.

Warning: more violence and innuendo than you’d expect from inanimate household products.

–VC

1:06 PM – Somewhere in the depths of Firestone

“Having caffeine in you is like being drunk but also smart. Drunk-smart. You know what I mean? It’s like being drunk off your own intelligence.”

Optimism or insanity?

Speaking of which, it is likely that somewhere in the last 24 hours your computer screens have started to look a little less like that Word doc, and a little more like this.

T minus 4 hours !!

- LBC

12:52 p.m.-Forbes Library

Just woke up from a glorious 2 hour nap after sending in my paper!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For all of you still typing away, here’s a public service announcement from your friendly neighborhood blogger. DON’T DO THIS:

dean's date

–EL

12:37 pm — Chancellor Green

There’s no shame in procrastination, unless of course your Dean’s Date paper actually is going to save us all from the apocalypse or cure cancer.

But for the rest of you, if judgmental glances from the guy sitting next to you are keeping you from enjoying lemon baby, sleeping kittens & the like, try stealth procrastinating with Vanishd, which lets you browse behind a Word document, PowerPoint, or other innocent cover. Note: try not to laugh out loud at what appears to be a blank Excel spreadsheet, then we’ll just think you’re crazy.

–LZ

12:04 pm — Wallace Library

The key to the last 5 hours of Dean’s Date is tricking yourself into thinking that what you’re doing actually matters. That you’re on a really important mission. A mission far more important than getting a passing grade (or, let’s be real, turning in the paper.)

So go ahead and pretend that your lab report is about the next apocalyptic strain of influenza. Have you just spent the last thirty hours coding? You’re saving the world from Skynet, even if no one knows it yet. If you don’t finish that Gender Studies paper, a sloth somewhere dies. Raise the stakes!

To that end, some epic songs to get you going.

AW

12:00 PM- Still…floor.

I love sloths.

LW

11:50 AM – Whitman Library

At this point, everyone on campus looks like they’re about right here (ripped from a real essay):

Citations

While I’m posting, I may as well give the U-Store some love for the delicious iced tea and high-strength cough syrup they sold me last night. A plug for the store that serves all purposes, straight from their post in the aforementioned Prince article’s comments section (i.e. the early action piece). Caption credit goes to Nick Martin: “amidst a sea of diatribes against low admissions rates and reverse racism, the u-store gets in some quality ad time.”

U-Store comment

-CRM

11:34AM-My floor

Who needs caffeine when you can have an endless supply of encouraging compliments?

http://www.ilikeyourjacket.com/

fav: They should name an ice cream flavor after you

LW

10:58 AM – My bed…sort of

On the topic of babies (is it bad that lemon baby feels like it just happened?), don’t you wish you could hold up under pressure as well as this one?

– ASG

10:46AM-Edwards


Andrew Bird is the best soundtrack. He’s a sort of funky-indie instrumentalist with some vocals, a little blue-grassy, and most of all, chill
Andrew Bird channel

–AK

10:35 AM – AMAZED AT RUBE GOLDBERG

STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING. Watch this. I kid you not, it’s the best 2 minutes you’ll ever waste:

For anyone trying to read a textbook at breakfast and eat at the same time, this is ABSOLUTELY necessary, unless you need to turn more than one page. (Just get me a hamster, don’t ask questions.)

–VC

10:27 a.m. – OIT

Last night’s slushy downpour seemed a depressingly appropriate soundtrack for our collective mindset. And though the forecast today is still looking pretty bleak (literally, below, and figuratively), all our favorite caffeine refueling stations are open and there are still six and a half hours to hit those page limits. We just might pull this  off.

Unless, of course, you’re one of the three people who came into the tech clinic with computers that won’t even turn on.

See? It could be much, much worse.

–LZ

10:18 a.m. – edge of delirium

Good morning!  (although I’m guessing it’s not)  Oh what a lovely day for… finishing your papers in a dark cave.

-NP

9:53 AM – still stuck between Adrienne Rich and Gayle Rubin

Like the seventh Harry Potter movie, we’ve decided this blog is so massive that it requires a second installment. AND NOW FOR THE THRILLING CONCLUSION.

Is it just me, or is every conversation I have from now until Intersession some version of this?

–VC

7:25AM – my room, in the dark

It has come to my attention that it has been 14 hours and this has not occured.

Wrongs have been rectified. Also, Owls are the new cats of the internet.

–VC

5:57 am — 2D Kitchen

First things first, Justin Bieber is now a brunette, guys.

Also, the sun is coming up at 7:19 am, which is about an hour and 20 minutes away. So those are two things you should be keeping in mind at this hour.

AW

5:36 AM: In room… so… close… to… bed…

It’s the worst of times that brings people together. (Ignore the cheesiness of that line, it’s late… I mean, early?)

The point is, I let a girl at the Writing Center have some of the food my friend had brought down from the Whitman breakfast. In return, she spent nearly an hour reading my essay and helping me restructure it.

So thank you, Sarah Pak ’15! There aren’t enough blue-sprinkled whale cookies to express my gratitude.

Also, she reminded me that there are far more scarier things than 5 p.m… like Mitt the Ripper.

–EL

3:47AM-2D Dining Room

Oh hey. Here’s that online game you didn’t know you wanted to play.

Have fun! I’m glad you finished all your work and have time to play games, and that’s why you’re awake and reading this blog at 4 am.

AW

3:47AM-Edwards, but of course

So the kid across from you has fallen – and not, gracefully, at that. He’s slumped forward on the wooden desk, face planted into keyboard (those facial dents…yikes) and lips squashed so un-becomingly in polar directions. You spot an ever-growing drool pool…

It’s that time now when the ranks start to thin. Weaker souls, perhaps, but you’re not an entirely unsympathetic peer – oh, no, not at all. In fact, you think to yourself that this poor soul could use a little something that would make him more comfortable or at least save a bit of dignity. “How,” you muse, “can I be of service to this young man?”

Enter: The Ostrich Pocket Nap Pillow. Designed in 2011 by the European company Kawamura Ganjavian, this pillow provides a bit of privacy and a whoooole lot of comfort. Sure, it looks silly, but at least the user can hide his face from curious onlookers.

From the website: “OSTRICH offers a micro environment in which to take a warm and comfortable power nap at ease. It is neither a pillow nor a cushion, nor a bed, nor a garment, but a bit of each at the same time. Its soothing cave-like interior shelters and isolates our head and hands (mind, senses and body) for a few minutes, without needing to leave our desk.”

There’s some pretty wacky things out in the market, but this looks pretty tempting at the moment…doesn’t it?

– SG

3:09AM-My Room

Firestone, why did you close at 1:45 when we all thought we had until 2am? Not that it would have made much difference…

Newest preferred method of exercise: Racing, zig-zag style, through the stacks on the third floor of Firestone. Just make sure security doesn’t see you or they’ll stare you down.

– AK

2:39 AM – Still in Edwards basement, keeping warm by the laundry machines…

Oh HEY Triangle Drag Dean’s Date Fairies! Yeah, we saw you making rounds by Wu several hours ago…are you guys still around? Candy, back rubs, hugs, and extra thick socks would be welcome. You know where to find me.

Thanks to Morgan Young ‘15 for the video!

– SG

2:30 AM – Little Hall

Dean’s Date’s as good a time as any to fall into a musical fugue state. Last year this time, it was a Clams Casino mixtape, but this time around, I’ve fixated on a single song. “I’m gon [write] homey until my heart stop.” Yes, that old gem has been on repeat for several hours. Although the boundaries of the hours are starting to dissolve — time is taking on a new form, and the more meaningful metric is now the number of iTunes plays (quickly approaching a hundred). Prufrock may have measured his life in coffee spoons; I’ll measure mine in 50 Cent verses.

Let us know about your Dean’s Date tunes. Just in case I decide to change the song.

– GN

2:05 AM – 1915 Dorm Room

If you’re cursing your parents for not teaching you Proust when they had the chance, at least they never force-fed you lemons and posted your (adorbs) squirming face on youtube.

That said, it’s lemon baby time!!!

-LW

2:05 AM – Edwards basement

Public Service Announcement, ya’ll: BACK UP YOUR WORK! Save your papers to your USBs, send your problem sets to your emails. Just do it now okay?

And as a reward, here’s a PSA, Jay-Z style, that should pump up the rest of the night (erm…morning) for you!

-SG

1:18 AM – 2D Dining Room

We were looking for Roger Wang ’11’s inspirational 2011 video of Ladytown, “the Frist classroom/discotheque that worked hard and partied harder,” but it looks like it’s been taken down by Youtube.

So instead, we present to you this somewhat less-inspiring Spongebob Squarepants rendition of Eye of the Tiger. Because it’s about that time of night, and you need to know you can go on.

Go on.

AW

12:25 AM – Cellular device, aka primary channel of social interaction now

Q

But really…it’s 20 minutes past…and the dread/inspiration/motivation is just. not. there. When, folks, when?

-SG

12:15 AM- Forbes library

In case anyone missed this in Yaro’s email, this kid is truly inspirational.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=BdCHgzU9beA#t=24s

–DB

12:09 AM — 2D Dining Room

Overheard at 2D: “Maybe we should go work outside on the porch, so we don’t fall asleep?”

AW

12:03 AM – Lewis Library

It has recently come to my attention that this photo was posted on Facebook with the caption, “Real thugs don’t sleep.”

Coffee

This is awkward, because this is actually exactly where I am at the moment, and I have personally consumed the contents of two of the Small World coffee cups.

We have turned around and met our paparazzi. I have to say that I’m flattered. This is the first time I have ever been called a thug.

- LBC

11:15PM – Patton Hall Basement

Awash in dreams of a post-Dean’s Date universe with rainbows and kittens and puppy dogs and sunshine? (And maaaaybe a little sleep, after which sentences like that would surely never occur?)

After 5pm tomorrow, I plan to be reincarnated as this British girl, who suffers from a rare, undiagnosed ailment that makes her sleep for weeks at a time.  NEW. LIFE. GOAL.

(Props to Ann-Marie Elvin for the link)

-JMB

10:47PM – Firestone Lobby

If you’re holed up outside the library, you missed an excellent, 10+ minute performance by the Princeton University Band. I wish I knew their route so I could tell you where they’re headed next, but I’m sure that the blasting tubas and banging drums will alert you of their presence. In case you have you have your own music turned up so loud that you missed them—but are sad about that—I’ve got a short clip for you here:

Princeton University Band in Firestone on Dean’s Date Eve

And, of course, a picture: IMG_0200–AK

10:19 PM – Butler basement

Cramming fifty pages worth of essay into twenty-four hours may sour the Princeton experience a little bit, but let’s not forget how lucky we are to be here. On that note, it’s worth checking out the Prince’s early action article—not for the article itself, but rather for its 160+ comments. Some are thought provoking, some are comical, some are genuinely absurd, but all (okay, most) are entertaining in one way or another.

A short preview:

“I [sic] just sucks that you work so hard compared to other people who play xbox while you study calculus.” –Deferred student

“what did I do wrong? screw this racist university” –Fellow deferred student

“No[, Princeton is not racist]. I have an asian friend here with a 2000.” –Current student

etc.

-CRM

9:45 PM- Patton Hall

Fact: the discovery of FREE PASTRIES AND SMALL WORLD COFFEE (and spiffy free orange and black mugs, though they’re probably out of those by now) at Wu/Wilcox made me dance like this guy. Quite a sight to be seen, let me tell you!

Wu’s open til 11p, so stop by for some quality caffeination…because Dean’s Date Eve is no excuse to stop being a coffee snob, after all!

-JMB

9:38 PM-Firestone

The collected purchases from a late meal/C-store run. Fuel for the night, though I’m sure this supply will run out soon.

IMG_0166

If you’re looking to get sushi at late meal, don’t: they were out a while ago

IMG_0163–AK

9:20 p.m. – U-Store

Bottoms up Princeton!

-NP

9:01- Forbes library

Text from a lonely and desperate friend in one of Forbes’ study rooms. She needs to work on her come-hither messages.

I’m so alone…..

But that’s probs a good thing

I keep smelling vinegar…..

Stress heightens your senses?

–DB

8:59 p.m.Writing Center

At 10, Forbes is going to have its Forbes Freakout. You’ve probably never heard of it. That’s because it’s more exclusive than the Whitman midnight breakfast. We’re going to burn drafts of our Dean’s Date papers on the terrace and then trash the golf course.

Hey Whitman Whales,

--EL

8:26- Wu Dining Hall

While I can't speak for Forbesians, those at Wu tonight have the option of making smart Dean's Date choices.

In order to optimize studying efficiency, this is what your plate should look like at dinner (according to Livestrong.com):

Study food

But I'm not going to lie, mine was something more along the lines of this:

luckycharms

We'll have to see what kind of stamina this provides. Though on a night like tonight I think we all are in need of a few lucky charms...

-- LBC

8:08 PM - cyberspace

Facts of procrastination in flowchart form:

Click for larger image.

Other Flowcharts that I find amusing (this is a sick obsession and I need to stop before I lose another hour of my life):

Can we date?

Self-referential flowcharts.

Songs like Hey Jude and Total Eclipse of the Heart in flowchart form.

But my favorite pump up Dean's Date music rendered in flow chart has to be:

why not?

why not?

--VC

7:49 PM - Forbes Dining Hall

I know Dean’s Date is making me lose my mind, but was it just me, or did Forbes serve purple potatoes for dinner tonight?

Purple Potatoes?

--DB

7:47 PM – Wilcox

Spotted upstairs in Wilcox. The room is, of course, occupied by a few fratters.

Wilcox sign

-CRM

7:24 PM- Frist Gallery

This just might be a record. Two hours in, and PrincetonFML is down. Guess you're all just going to have to hang out here...

Screen shot 2012-01-16 at 7.19.34--LZ

7:17 PM- Writing Center, Whitman

12 spots on the Writing Center sign up sheet which went up exactly at 7pm. The crowd waits ready to pounce like the line outside of Best Buy on Black Friday.

writingcenter2Writing Center

Thanks to KD '12 for the pics and tip!

--VC

6:40 PM-Firestone, 3rd Floor

Mass-exodus to dinner. Computers, textbooks and notebooks stay out, laying claim to all available flat surfaces like chairs do in rare parking spots on snowy days.

Claiming sace

--AK

5:45 PM- Forbes basement

When you can’t find an empty study room, you make your own. Props to whoever took the initiative to carry the extra desk and chairs from the study room into the Forbes dance studio. Extra points for decorating their space with empty ramen cups, goods from Wawa, and a comfy recliner.

IMG-20120116-00941

--EL

5:14 PM --  my room (intentionally lowercased like bell hooks. #GSS reference)

Nothing like a little Cyndi Lauper meets Grade Deflation to start your Dean's Date off well.

--VC

5:00 PM -- Ivy Crypt (aptly named, feeling pretty zombielike already)

Another Dean's Date, another of year of broken promises of time management; reading period always feels so long, until it isn't. Now there are exactly 24 hours until the hour of reckoning. As per biannual tradition, The Ink will be up all night, feeding you distracting and nourishing nuggets of reporting and commentary at irregular intervals, all the way to the finish line. Check back often. Check back whenever you feel like your sleepless brain has turned to slurry. Check back whenever your caffeine-induced clarity finally fades away. Check back whenever you feel like you can't write anymore. Check back whenever you feel you could probably write a little more, but would rather hear about how I can't write anymore before going back and writing a little more.

Raw and honest dispatches from a campus collectively descending into delirium. Frontline reporting at its finest -- we've got papers and problem sets too, and we're putting them on the line for your sake. Press Club in the [procrasti]nation's service, and in the service of all [procrasti]nations.

Godspeed.

-- GN

Have any tips for us? Drop us a line at pressclb@princeton.edu

5:00pm– It’s done!

Paper turned in with 9 minutes to spare.

Solid.

–VC

4:20pm–More sloths


If we’re on the topic of cute sloths, then here is a video of one that fell out of a tree next to my friend while in the rainforest in Panama this semester. Turn on the volume to hear him talk to the sloth and make sure to keep watching till the sloth starts climbing the ladder. (Hopefully you will have more persistence as you finish up your papers than this sloth did climbing a ladder — good luck! You’re almost there!!)

Yes, this is what EEB students do when studying abroad while we take classes at Princeton.

- MG

3:48pm–Cute animal time

Ah!  So.  Thus far we’ve brought you kitties, more kitties and Howard Dean.

Now onto other phylogenic species, courtesy of Youtube:

BABY SLOTHS!

-LRW

3:18 pm — Nap time

Humans are the only animals that willingly deprive themselves of sleep, says Eve Van Cauter, a sleep researcher at the University of Chicago. “You cannot put a rat in front of the television, give him the remote and tell him, ‘you have to stay awake,’” she says.

“Dying to Sleep,” by Tina Hesman Saey, Science News

—AW

3:15 pm – Green library at its most crowded and stuffy

Ok, so the witching hour is approaching – almost there! – and you, like me, may be starting to feel that combination of desperation and delirium that makes bad ideas sound really really solid. In case you’re in the market for some inspiringly bad ideas: http://shitmystudentswrite.tumblr.com/

Also, this. It may not give you paper ideas, but it’s worth it.

-ASG

2:15 pm – Also in bed (ahem.. different one)

What I’d rather be doing:

Just like to point out, at around 4:25: slender Homer man looks back, and…keeps going.

-SG

1:55pm – Still in bed.

If I had the time/smarts to actually run some data analyses on the past few semesters of Dean’s Date Liveblogs, this would be more accurate. But from just browsing years past this is the sense I get:

–VC

1:00pm – Mah bed

Kitty massage: I can haz wun?

–VC

12:24 PM — The Internets

Screen shot 2011-05-10 at 3.03.47 AMI dare you to play this game.

—AW

11:58 AM – Second floor Frist

While waiting for a draft by the Frist 200 level printers, I was staring off into space because, well, it’s been a long night, when something straight out of Jaws interrupted my print queue reverie. Yes, that would be the giant shark hanging just beyond the glass. You’ve probably seen it before – let’s be honest, it’s kind of hard to miss – but if you’re like me, you never really stopped to ponder precisely why a twelve-foot, 300-pound, fiberglass shark is dangling from aircraft cables, waiting to terrify unsuspecting passers-by.

So naturally, because it’s not like I have a paper to write or anything, I made a couple phone calls. Jaws Jr. is actually a tiger shark (it all makes sense now, right?), brought to Frist by Assistant Vice President of University Services Paul Breitman. When Frist first opened in 2002, Breitman was the director, and he and fellow Princetonian JP Miller were in charge of the new campus center’s décor.

“We had a sabertooth tiger, tiger lilies, and we wanted to see how far we could take the ‘tiger’ theme,” Breitman said. Obviously, tiger shark was next on the list.

Where does one get a 300-pound shark? Miller was vacationing in Florida when he found a shop that sold replica fish. $2,500 later, the shark was on its way to Princeton.

“We hung it so you might see it glancing up from the first floor, and just around the corner on the second so it would jump out at you as you walk by,” Breitman said. “It’s the whole idea of serendipity at Frist – you always know you’ll find people there, and there’s always something happening.”

So much meaning in a fiberglass fish. But on a more serious note, he (she?) needs a name … leave suggestions in the comments.

-LZ

11:50 AM – At my desk

In honor of all the Dean’s Date screaming that happened last midnight, I present to you another Dean’s scream:

Holder may Howl and Whitman may Whail, but nothing quite beat’s Howard Dean’s “Byahhhhh!!!” Also the remix in this video: gold.

–VC

11:03 AM – Panic

I woke up half an hour ago to my roommate’s voice, “Do you need time to finish? Hello? Didn’t you have another paper?”

Thank God for her, but right now I’m freaking out a little bit, and by that I mean A LOT. So what am I doing on the liveblog, you ask? I don’t know. Deriving some kind of twisted pleasure from chopping away even more at the little time I have before the deadline. Feeling bad that our technical difficulties prevented us from posting more last night. Wishing that I could just print out my paper and indulge in the simple joy of ripping it into a million pieces…

JOY

Godspeed to everyone, and if you managed to snag some of those 5 a.m. surprise pancakes, I’m jealous. I should have stayed up. FML.

- AYS

10:43 AM – Third floor of Frist

Dear piano player down on the first floor of Frist pounding out some angsty concerto: EVERYONE IN THIS BUILDING HATES YOU. Sound travels, kid. Play out all that Dean’s Date aggression in a practice room somewhere.

–JMB

10:18 AM – Mathey Dining Hall

Wondering what you’ve been doing for the past 10 hours? Let me introduce you to a new term, ‘baxtrapolate.’

Verb: Derive requirements from a predetermined solution; make shit up.

More ways to spruce up your essays here

-SG

5:10 AM – Getting closer to delirium

Dear Emily Myerson ‘12:

You were working in Frist a few hours ago. I was sitting near you. You claimed you saw not one, but TWO mice scamper along the walls/chairs. Everyone around you said you were crazy and going insane from Dean’s Date work and that you should go to bed.

I want to tell you. I just saw a mouse. It was small and brown and darted out from under my seat.

YOU HAVE BEEN VINDICATED.

Or maybe… I’m going crazy too. AHHHH…

–VC

4:55 AM – Back at the dorm

Oh, we’re halfway there…

With 12 hours to go, it’s been awhile since we’ve added anything to your playlist. Added bonus: the video is definitely appropriately bizarre for this early morning hour.

-LZ

4:05 AM– And we’re back!

For those of you who are still awake, you may have noticed we were having some technical difficulties. It’s going to be okay. We have returned from the Twilight Zone.

I’m claiming credit for resurrecting this blog. #selfimportance.

–VC

2:02 AM — Amidst the Disappointed Crowds of Frist A-Level

When I arrived at the Frist free food table ten minutes ago, expectant and hungry, I thought I’d be ahead of most other people. What did I see?

a.) A table laid with a bunch of heartbreakingly empty plates. I’m talking squeaky clean. Not a crumb to be seen.

b.) This:

Apparently the 2 a.m. hunger swarm hit early tonight. One bystander said that the Frist people had put out hot dogs and chips around 1:40 – “Everything was gone in, like, four minutes.”

Other kids were talking about heading to Studio ‘34 in Butler. Some crowd members were already streaming towards the C-store.

– AYS

1:59 AM Three Hours Later…

SG introduced us to the sleepy kitten at 10:53 pm. Let’s just keep up the kitten theme, tonight–let me introduce you to the sleeping kitten.

Just like the guy sitting next to you at McGraw. Completely asleep, surrounded by books …kind of cute? Sorry, that’s the Dean’s Date Goggles talking. Back to work with you!

—AW

1:51 AM: Ode to the Vault

Earlier tonight, AW clued you in to the more conventional caffeinated campus options. But now that we’re rapidly approaching the witching hour, it’s time to share the greatest carbonated secret Princeton holds:

kaBOOM!

kaBOOM!

Vault Energy Drink!

Roommate Steve, who dedicated Ink readers may recall from blog posts past, once crunched the numbers on this stuff and figured out it was something like four times more caffeine per dollar versus Red Bull. In my younger, more impressionable underclassmen days this bright green elixir in a textured, ergonomic bottle got me through many a late night (and more than one Dean’s Date). And there’s something fun about the randomness of the beverage, like you unlocked some sort of secret caffeine cheat code. As far as I know, this citrus soda-cum-energy drink is only available in the vending machines in Holder. And so, repetitive as it may seem, I suggest you retrace your steps howl-wards — trust me, you won’t regret it.

—SKG

1:42 AM: Hey Princeton!!! 1 am U-Store Edition

Hey girl clutching three bottles of Fuze, cheese, and crackers! Who are those drinks for?
They’re to get me through the night. I’ve been drinking caffeine all day, so I wanted to get something healthier.

How much work do you have left?

I have one paper to write, two to edit.

That’s not too bad! When are you going to sleep?
I’m…not going to sleep.

Hey guy at the microwave! What are you getting tonight?
Caffeine and this weird rice stuff that I got over there.

How much caffeine have you had already?
About 2 equivalent standard cups.

So is this your Dean’s Date Dinner?
It’s breakfast, because I skipped breakfast today.

OK. You’re replacing your breakfast with dinner. So it’s just like, your third meal of the day.
Yeah. I guess it’s a dinner?

Like a late–
Late dinner?

Late, late dinner.
It’s a portion of food for the arbitrary need of humans to eat in cycles.

Hey girl holding lots of pens! Are those for your frantic paper writing?
I don’t have any Dean’s Date papers. But I’m studying for finals.

Oh. Do you feel left out?
I think I’ve got enough finals to make up for it.

Hey girl buying candy! What’s that in your hand?
A [coffee-flavored] Monster. I actually wanted the Illy, but they ran out of it. So I’m getting this.

It looks like poison.
Yeah. I need to stay up.

—AW

1:35 AM: Almost asleep …

You know that you really, really don’t want to start studying for Molecular Biology when the back of the Tide bottle seems interesting.

Is "sudsing" a real word?

Is "sudsing" a real word?

But, really, why do you need high efficiency detergent?

Since HE washers work differently, they require a specially designed detergent like Tide HE

-using traditional detergent in an HE washer can cause excess suds. Excess suds could lead to washer problems. And just using a smaller dose won’t solve the problem. Tide HE is a special low-sudsing formula. Only the use of an HE detergent ensures the proper performance of your washer.

-since HE washers use less water to clean, the washer is dirtier. Tide HE has special dirt-capturing ingredients to suspend dirt and dyes in the water, which helps keep them from redepositing on your clean laundry.

Hm. Good to know. At this point, I’m starting to believe that all humans are basically robots —and thus basically washers and driers— and so I must ask: where’s my high efficiency caffeinated detergent to put into my high efficiency brain with a minimum of suds? Maybe it’s in this fruit.

- (a very sleepy) LRW

1:19 AM — LGBT Center

The famed Dean’s Date Fairies are in the LGBT Center’s Rainbow Lounge. There is a joke in here somewhere.

Candy from strangers is only a good idea on Dean's Date.

Candy from strangers is only a good idea on Dean's Date.

–VC

12:58 AM — Frist

Several people close to me have received troubling text messages from someone who will be known only as P ‘14. This freshman appears to be descending into madness as we speak, and his messages serve as a window into his fragile psyche. I have transcribed them below. Be warned, what you are about to read may disturb you:

It is the german working spirit which is however nothing but bad air, but a smelly furt, in my nostrils right now. – 12:08 AM

Sanity is for the masses. My ego is unfolding into the limitless, my will strays into the infinite. I am a fatality. I am exaggerated lonliness. Ben, where are you? Luther has betrayed us! - 12:17 AM

Life is an artistic show. You know it! “when socrates and plato started talking abou truth and justice they were not greeks any longer, but jews” - 12:22 AM

Don’t be scared my friend. The romans submitted to the authority of greek thought but we won’t. We wont. Our eyes are undistorted by tradition. They are washed clear by tears. We no longer have to listen to the poetry of the dead. We no longer need to wear the costumes of the dead. 46 hypes on lookbook! Hello modernity! – 12:27 AM

Yes i am dying an agonizing death upon the cross of thought - 12:57 AM

These bizarre ravings were entirely unprompted. They were responses to basic requests, such as “come to frist bro” or “just come [name redacted] you need help”. We at The Ink pray for his well-being, and can only hope that P’14 manages to regain his sanity by 5 PM.

– GN


12:37 AM– Whitman Whailed

Holder, meet your match (wailing starts at around 0:19).

–VC

12:28 AM– Holder Howled

IMG_2709

IMG_2703-ECS

12:01 AM – Cellular Devices

The creator of ‘Dean’s Date (It’s kinda like Friday)’? None other than Kellen Heniford ‘14, a self-described ‘dork’ and ‘nerd.’

I called her shortly before she was heading to bed to talk artistic inspiration and advice for staying awake. Excerpts from our conversation appear below:

SG: Tell me about this project.

KH: I was at dinner with a friend in Wilcox and I said the words, ‘Everybody’s looking forward to the summer.’ It made me think immediately of the Rebecca Black song, and I thought, ‘Dean’s Date, Dean’s Date.’ I began working on lyrics and finally the video.

SG: So this was last week?

KH: Yup. I was procrastinating during Reading Period working on this.

SG: What does your Dean’s Date workload look like and how much progress have you made?

KH: I’m pretty on top of things. Right now I have to finish a 2 page response, then I’m going to bed.

SG: Lucky you. Any words of advice to your not-so-fortunate peers?

KH: One of the best ways to stay awake is to listen to obnoxious music over and over…

SG: Um…does your song count?

[long pause]

KH: Rebecca Black might be a good way to go.

11:52 – En route to Frist

Spotted on Alexander Green:

Princeton sophomore bounding along the sidewalk on a late-night run, sans shoes.

Fellow tigers, I fear for our collective sanity. It’s not yet midnight and we’re already starting to see the crazy coming out. If you find your own mind slipping, here’s some advice from Allen Ginsberg:

“Follow your inner moonlight; don’t hide the madness.”

Or maybe just stick to laying off the caffeine pills/getting some sleep.

-LZ

11:31 pm — Still Youtube!!!

You knew it was coming. I’ve been hearing “Dean’s Date, Dean’s Date” jokes all day.

We found this Rebecca Black parody on Youtube–and we’ll have more from its creators soon.

Three a.m., still awake in the morning
Chillin’ in Frist, Gonna take another shot
Five hours of energy: still not enough
Just dozed off, the time is goin’
Tickin’ on and on, everybody’s rushin’
Look at who’s asleep in McGraw
Gotta get this done, I see my friends

AW

11:22 pm — Youtube!!!

See the band do a fist-pumping New Jersey tribal ritual get ready to rush into Firestone earlier tonight, at Blair Arch.

AW

10:53 PM — Mendel Music Library, Woolworth

Screen shot 2011-05-09 at 11.05.57 PM

Everyone in this library looks remarkably like this kitten…I can’t find a single person who isn’t struggling not to fall asleep sitting up. Incidentally, the song in the video is by lovely Princeton local (and Princeton’s Lewis Center staff member!) Sarah Donner. (True or false: I might have gone to a computer cluster expressly to watch said video because my WORTHLESS LAPTOP has YouTube blocked via SelfControl until 3am. The things we do for the love of procrastination!) ~JMB

10:52 PM — Edwards

More music suggestions for your Dean’s Date Eve: art director Brian Gossett, who made the beloved Take Ivy mixes (Ivy League-themed playlists! Something to listen to while wandering around Princeton landmarks!) has a lot more playlists at his blog, Since78.

The best part? You can download them all. Check out the Los Angeles-themed playlist, the hipster kid mix (literally), and the ULTIMATE workout/dance mix (That’s for you, Ladytown!)

—AW
10:42 PM — Still Fristing Away

Musical distraction = paper-writing action.

Musical distraction = paper-writing action.

Also Re: Anonymous commenter’s request -

I’m hitting that spot where I just can’t keep focus on my paper. I call this writer’s A.D.D. I’m hyperaware of everything around me. Someone makes a comment on late meal ending or the basketball game outside or how the room is kind of hot, and I’m distracted for twenty minutes. I keep retyping the same words over and over. Like I start a sentence, and then I erase it and start again, and then I press backspace and start again, and then I start again, and again, and then –

Yeah. Anyway. For anyone suffering from similar symptoms, I’ve found the ultimate solution. Check out this goldmine of mashups! Hit play on the streampad bar at the bottom of the screen and relegate all your A.D.D. tendencies to the magic of jumping from Adele to Jay-Z to Lady Gaga to Britney every 15 seconds or so. I swear it works. Let your ears do all the distraction action. Settle in. Groove. And watch your word count grow.

– AYS

1o:39 PM — Frist

Anonymous commenter asks for music suggestions. Right now it seems like I’m tending far more carefully to my iTunes queue than to my papers, so I might as well help out. I prefer instrumental stuff when I’m slaving away at papers — no words to distract you from the words you’re supposed to be putting on the page — so I’m currently getting a lot of mileage of Clams Casino. He’s the mastermind behind some of Lil B’s finest beats. Got this huge, watery sound that puts me in the zone; you can (legally) snag the whole mixtape here.

See also: “I’m God”, “Numb”

(EDIT: A previous version of this post stupidly attributed Lil Wayne’s “A Milli” to Clams Casino, which is obviously false, because that was all Bangladesh. Dean’s Date must be addling my brain — what I meant to say is Soulja Boy’s “2Milli.” Slightly less impressive, yes. But dude is still arguably the architect of the entire “based” sound, so I’m not complaining.)

– GN

10:14 PM – Firestone

Spotted: the Band brings a rowdy rendition of 99 Luftballoons to Firestone Lobby. (Thanks to AW for the heads-up!) ~JMB

photo2

10:07 PM – 1937 Hall

Aaaaand the children of Wilson/Frist get their ears played off by the Band. Lovely. How is it possible that the Marching Band manages to penetrate EVERY SINGLE study space it’s possible to use for dean’s date? No matter how much I try to burrow into a panic-stricken paper-writing cocoon, they will ALWAYS find me. And will then proceed to make my brain pound more than it already does on a lovely combo of caffeine pills and Dayquil. ~JMB

10:00 pm – En route to Firestone

The Princeton University band began playing at Frist at 9:45 pm, interrupting a crowd of 60 some students watching the Celtics vs Heat game in the TV lounge (surely there are some things that can tear us away from our work!). They passed Marquand, and are on route to Firestone.

Quick poll: PU Band – A rowdy distraction, or welcome study break?

-SG

9:34 PM – 1915 Hall

Is it going to be okay?

YES! Says this dude.

He believes in you.

Why is it that thumb-ups (or thumbs-ups? Thumbs-up?) are so comforting?

-LRW

9:35 PM – Blair

Because it's never too early for Cute Overload

Because it's never too early for Cute Overload

It’s always a dilemma, sleep on Dean’s Date. All-nighter? Get a blasphemous eight hours in the hopes that even if you write less, it will actually make sense?

According to one tipster, the real Dean’s Date rockstars know the only way to go is pulling an all-nighter on Sunday and shifting your sleep schedule so being nocturnal tonight feels normal. We applaud the dedication and serious strategizing, but we sorta wish she would have filled us in earlier…maybe next year?

-LZ

9:20PM – on Facebook

File this post under “More Ways To Procrastinate”: If Famous People Had Facebook.

If you’re one of those people with self-control who deleted their Facebooks (and are reading the liveblog!?), don’t worry, we’re bringing the (fake) Facebook to you:

EDIT: An even better preview.

EDIT: An even better preview.

POL and WWS majors may enjoy President Obama’s facebook feed.

ENG and PHI folks might like existential philosophers flaming and trolling each other.

And the rest of us Princetonians can get a kick out of Harry Potter and other Hogwarts profiles.

Enjoy.

– VC

8:50 PM – Hot Spots Everywhere

Overheard in Frist: “My advice for pulling an all-nighter? Know your poisons. Get coffee, candy, whatever you need to stay awake. That, and willpower.”

In honor of such ingestible advice, The Ink has compiled a helpful list of on-campus convenience stores – be sure to stock up on brain food before they close!

  • Witherspoon Café in Frist – 12:00 AM
  • Café Viv – 12:00 AM
  • Studio 34 – 3:30 AM
  • U-Store – 4:00 AM
  • C-Store – 2:00 AM
  • Wawa – Open 24/7

-SG

8:37 PM — Small World Coffee

Caffeine is the theme of the hour–probably because a cup of coffee now will keep you thinking (and hopefully typing) till about 2 am.

Some fun caffeine facts:

  • Your liver is the primary caffeine-processing organ.
  • Caffeine has a pretty short half-life–it takes about 5 to 7 hours for your body to eliminate half of it.
  • The British drink 196,000,000 cups of tea a day.
  • Caffeine works by tricking your body into thinking it’s not tired. When your body is tired, you release adenosine–caffeine works to block adenosine receptors, so you never get the message.
  • Top sources of caffeine in the U.S., in order: coffee, soda, tea, chocolate.

If you’re looking for a quiet place to simultaneously write and caffeinate, head down to Small World, where according to the baristas, one poor soul ordered a four-shot iced joe this evening. The place is practically empty.

photo

(Sources: All over the Internet)

AW

8:09 PM — The Depths of Frist

Going off of LZ’s friendly tip for caffeine access optimization, don’t forget the announcement we got in our inboxes this morning:

I thank the gods of Red Bull for this Dean's Date gift.

I thank the gods of Red Bull for this Dean's Date gift.

Yesss, the U-store knows what we want need.

– AYS

7:51 PM — USG Office

If you’re going to be writing into the wee hours of the morning, it’s time to start planning your optimal caffeine strategy. Luckily, the USG is one step ahead and stocked up on free coffee to keep you going all night long – if you don’t see your favorite flavor, check the drawer on the upper left.

You can thank me later.

–LZ

7:41 PM — The Post-Dinner Procrastination Hour

What? You’re already looking for something to do that’s not your Politics paper? OK. Along with intense investigative reporting from Dean’s Date hotspots, we’ll be giving you tools for procrastination throughout the night.

Start with this website. I don’t know what this is, but I think you’ll love it. Directions: click squares and make music. (Though there is a method to the madness!) Start it now–you’ll need these trippy tunes in that 30 minutes before the birds start chirping, so you might as well start making music now.

Screen shot 2011-05-09 at 7.43.44 PM

—AW

7:33 PM — having Chametz

A late shoutout to the Passover crowd and The Lonely Island fans (TURTLENECK & CHAIN, Lonely Island’s new album, comes out TOMORROW! Get ready for more Andy Samberg.)

Also– Michael Bolton really likes Jack Sparrow.

–VC

5:31 PM — The foot of my bed

First order of Dean’s Date business:

As if I'm going to be sleeping in it tonight...

As if I'm going to be sleeping in it tonight...

Folding the heaps of laundry on my bed. (It’s good to know that I’ve found more productive ways to procrastinate than CollegeProblems.)

– VC

5:oo PM — My room

You’re looking tired. So are we — this little blog post is nothing if not a gesture of solidarity. As per tradition, we here at The Ink are about to chronicle the madness that’s going to ensue over the 24 hours, serving up our usual mix of objective observations, bleary-eyed musings, (attempts at) humor, and the occasional dose of random amusing Internet fare. Oh, and we’ll be writing our papers, too, but journalistic duty comes first.

Though you probably didn’t need a new form of procrastination, our liveblog should have special appeal. Aside from Facebook (which, for your sake, should be SelfControlled into oblivion by now) or Princeton FML (which descends into all kinds of inanity on this day), we’re the only people on the Internet experiencing the same misery that you are — and in real time, no less. This is frontline reporting, or the closest thing to it in the Orange Bubble.

So check in with us periodically, but for now, go scurry off to that soul-crushingly blank Microsoft Word document. I know I’m about to. I wish you way more than luck.

– GN

Have any tips for us? Drop us a line at pressclb@princeton.edu

5:00 PM — Everywhere

Brian Wilson, after pitching the winning game of the 2010 World Series, expresses all your emotions perfectly in a single sentence.

Congrats guys, another Dean’s Date managed. Now please, for the sake of your sanity, either go to bed or start having fun.

– WAS

4:47 PM — Underneath the invisibility cloak

Did you see us make it disappear? We thought we’d do Princeton a solid and rid it of one more procrastination tool during the final stretch, so we put the invisibility cloak over the Dean’s Date post. Some may call this a “technical glitch.” Semantics…

If you missed it, keep clicking the refresh button to see if the magic happens again…

SJP

4:42 PM — McCosh Courtyard

pant

There is currently an insanely long line for these sweatpants stretching from the mouth of the cathedral to (last I checked) to around Murray-Dodge. Good luck if you’re planning on getting a pair. I just did. They are silky smooth.

WAS

4:34 p.m. – Carl A. Fields Center

Ready, and…SUBMIT!!!

See you all at McCosh in 30!

-SG

4:26 PM — Mile 26

As we head into the final painful stages of sleep deprivation and prolonged mental activity, we can use some tips from others trained to push their bodies to the breaking point—marathon runners. While DCW may insist on a divide between the cool sporty kids and the dorks who wear their allnighter badges like Olympic Gold medals, I maintain that we share some common ground with our athlete friends.

Here’s what Mary Wittenberg, president and chief executive of the New York Road Runners, the group that puts on the ING New York City Marathon, has to say about competitive marathon runners:

“Mental tenacity — and the ability to manage and even thrive on and push through pain — is a key segregator between the mortals and immortals in running,” Ms. Wittenberg said.

You can see it in the saliva-coated faces of the top runners in the New York marathon, Ms. Wittenberg added.

“We have towels at marathon finish to wipe away the spit on the winners’ faces,” she said. “Our creative team sometimes has to airbrush it off race photos that we want to use for ad campaigns.”

If you’re covered in slobber and waiting for your towel at the end of this finish line, you’ve done us proud. Keep kicking.

SJP

3:19 PM — Cafe Viv

So I was looking for a little inspiration (for this blog post, not for my actual Dean’s Date papers, mind you – I am an upstanding follower of the honor code, and let’s face it, if you’re still looking for inspiration at this point you have no business being on a blog site.  Just kidding, we want you here anyway.)  A little poking around the dark recesses of the Internet brought out this gem: EssayGenerator.

Type in any phrase, and it gives you a more or less grammatically correct, albeit very short, essay on the subject of your choice.  Fun!  Let’s see what it has to say about Dean’s Date…

The beginning is shockingly good – as in, start worrying about the artificial intelligence revolution because this thing reads minds.

Some highlights:

“Underestimate dean’s date at your peril.”

“As soon as a child meets dean’s date they are changed.”

“Though I would rather be in bed I will now examine the primary causes of dean’s date.”

Don’t let me get your hopes up, though.  It goes downhill pretty fast:

Let us consider the words of that silver tongued orator, that most brilliant mind Elijah Bootlegger ‘A man must have his cake and eat it in order to justify his actions.’ [2] I argue that his insight into dean’s date provided the inspiration for these great words. To paraphrase, the quote is saying ‘dean’s date wins votes.’ Simple as that.

The question which we must each ask ourselves is, will we allow dean’s date to win our vote?”

It sure doesn’t have my vote…and neither does this essay machine, for that matter.

Two hours – it’s go time.

-LEZ

3:10 PM– Second Floor Frist

As the final hour draws ever closer…

  • Still have a bajillion words/pages to write?
  • All the nearby print stations are broken?
  • Operating on less than .5 hours of sleep?
Embrace it.
Embrace it.

–VC

3:03 pm – Delirium is a funky place

If you’re like me, you’re anal about saving your work. You ‘save as’ your essays multiple times, hoping that the extra copies will ensure that the labor of your love/desperation won’t suddenly get up and disappear.

Sounds good and all, but the problem with this approach is that you get a folder full of papers titled:

‘Yoga in Prisons’
‘Yoga in Prisons, second draft’
‘Yoga in Prisons, updated for reals this time’
‘Deans Date copy’
‘FINAL JRN paper!!!’
‘NO PICK THIS ONE. FINAL FINAL COPY’
‘JRN story HERE LOOK HERE’

Don’t ask me why I don’t use the streamlined system of titling them ‘Draft 1,’ ‘Draft 2,’ and so on. I assume my mind doesn’t think in such ordered terms early Tuesday morning. I like my titles to have Punch. Energy. Pizzazz!

So anyways, here’s what happens. I open ‘FINAL JRN paper!!!’ ready to edit and submit. Shocked to find gaping holes (read: at least 5/18 pages) in essay. Wonder, “OMG, did I fall asleep and not finish the paper like I thought I did? Did I really not finish it? I DELUDED MYSELF into thinking I finished?!?” Panic ensues as I frantically start writing, anything- anything really, to fill up the space.

Twenty minutes later, for some reason, I go through my notes, and revisit my alternate drafts. Realize that ‘FINAL JRN paper!!!’ is not, in fact, the final one. ‘Deans Date copy’ is. Everything is there.

All is well.

-SG

2:33 PM — Firestone Trustee Room

Guys, you’re so close! But, I know the last stretch can be grueling. Are you lacking motivation? Let this guy rev you up.

If HE can do it, YOU CAN TOO.

– WAS

2:30 pm –Back to the hallway with the Turkish Alphabet poster.

So, when professors say that we must include our signature of the Honor code with the electronic copies of our papers, they mean that we can sign in Paint, right?

Right.

Here are some of my greater samples.

signatures2

–LRW

2:17 PM — The Internet

Like us on Facebook. Don’t pretend like we’re not friends by this point, we’ve been up all night together.

– UPC

1:33 pm — In my room (uh, still…)

The only workouts I ever manage to squeeze in on Dean’s Date are a few chairside jumping jacks to break up the blood clots in my legs.

Thankfully, a tipster sent in this video from the Princeton Crew Team.  It’s a first-person view of some strenuous-looking speed gauntlet, and it’s pretty (vicariously) invigorating.

Sayeth our tipster: “You feel like you’re actually getting dizzy with him in the beginning, and if you go to 1:18, the guy FALLS and skins his hands. I feel like I just exercised.

– DCW

1:21 p.m. – The minds of LMNT

It was the A-Teens last night, LMNT today. I fear that I will forever be known as the girl-who’s-obsessed-with-teeny-bopper music, but please, this is as good a day as any for flashbacks to my junior high glory days.

I couldn’t find the official music video, but this is so much better. How old are these kids, anyways?

*TRIVIA: LMNT, pronounced “element,” was chosen as a band name because the musicians liked the symbolic meaning. The four basic substances that make up the universe – earth, wind, fire, and water – are completely different, yet coexist in harmony…wait for it…just like the band members themselves!

Gotta love diversity.

-SG

1:00 PM — Cafe Viv

Time’s getting pretty tight, but can you spare three seconds? You’re here, so I’m guessing yes.

For extra giggles: Open the video in YouTube and keep pressing ‘2.’ Repeat ad nauseam.

Try not to fail as hard this Dean’s Date.

– WAS

12:55 — Still in bed, still working, still living, still blogging

According to Brian No ‘10, while the liveblog post may have 1,250 views, the homepage here at www.universitypressclub.com has over 2,100.

“So, like, wouldn’t it be accurate to say that something along the lines of half the school has read the liveblog?”

I guess so, Brian.

AW

Continue reading…

gabeNEWLY-MINTED DAILY PRINCETONIAN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF GABRIEL DEBENEDETTI ‘12 MAKES A NEWSPAPER ON THE REG, LAUGHS/CRIES IN THE FACE OF DEADLINES, AND, YES, READS THE INK(!)

Name: Gabriel A. Debenedetti
Age
: 20
Major: Politics, with a certificate in American Studies
Hometown: Princeton, NJ
Eating Club/Residential College/Affiliation: Ivy Club / Rockefeller College

What was your initial reaction when you found out about the position? I was thrilled, of course! Then, quite quickly, that turned into confusion when my glasses were knocked off in the celebratory mob and I couldn’t see a thing.

Who’s your favorite Princetonian, living or dead, real or fictional? F. Scott Fitzgerald ‘17 is most certainly up there, and Hobey Baker ‘14 is as well.

What’s the best meal you’ve eaten in Princeton? This is difficult, because I’ve lived in Princeton for essentially my entire life. But let’s go with the first time I had the filet mignon at the Witherspoon Grill while celebrating my birthday with my family — I’m not sure how many years ago that was. At least five.

In one sentence, what do you actually do all day? On a given day, I wake up, think about making a newspaper, do reading, go to class, work on making a newspaper, go to lunch, go to more class, work more on making a newspaper, go to dinner and make a newspaper (not always in that order).

What is your greatest guilty pleasure? Reading The Ink in the Prince office.

What are your plans for the Prince? Of course, I have many long-term and short-term plans for the Prince, but one of the overarching themes of these plans is pushing the paper into a new and exciting age of comprehensive, high-quality journalism of, for and about the Princeton community. This needs to happen both online and on paper. Let me know how we do.

Do you know all the words to Old Nassau? I think so, but don’t test me.

What is your biggest fear? That this town ceases to have newsworthy things occurring every day.

Continue reading…

photokkidiaZIMBABWEAN RHODES SCHOLAR KHAM KIDIA ‘11 REFLECTS ON DISEASE, AFRICAN HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS, AND THE INHERENT DANGERS OF PRINCETON REUNIONS.

Name: Khameer Kishore Kidia
Age: 22
Major: French and Italian
Hometown: Harare, Zimabwe
Eating Club/Residential College/Affiliation: Tower/Forbes

What was your initial reaction when you found out about the scholarship? I felt a little dazed but deeply privileged and honored. The Zimbabwean Committee is a little more humane than the American one. They send you home and wait five to six hours, during which your family sits in silence with you in a room (as though there has been a death), and then they call.

Who’s your favorite Princetonian, living or dead, real or fictional? Jack Donaghy

What’s the best meal you’ve eaten in Princeton? Two words: Tomo. Sushi.

In one sentence, what do you actually do all day? I think probably more than anything, I listen to people repeat the things I say to them; either in what they assume is a correct imitation of my voice or in a purposefully melodramatic affectation that sounds something akin to a cross between a dying old lady and a mule.

What is your greatest guilty pleasure? Whatever I happen to walk out of the Wa with after 3am.

What are your plans for the Rhodes? To read for an M.Phil in Medical Anthropology for two years at Oxford, likely focusing on the institution of systems of health care and medical education in Zimbabwe.

Do you know all the words to Old Nassau? No, but I vow to learn them before I graduate.

What is your biggest fear? Catheterization. Don’t ask.

Continue reading…