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Shake off your New Year’s Eve hangover and say hello to 2013… and end-of-break panic. But don’t worry. Although you forgot a semester’s worth of material, breathe easy knowing that UPC’s got you covered on what’s trending in 2013. When your thesis adviser starts hunting you down or someone mentions “fiscal cliff” again, distract them with Snapchat and conspiracy theories on why Shirley T is really leaving. You’re welcome.

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Comment wars on the Prince website Bribing people with food to debate professors
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Shirley T Shirley T’s clone (the product of Shirl’s mol-bio “research”)

Inspired by The List from the Washington Post. 

Have something to add to The List? Leave it in the comments below.

Walking around campus today you might have spotted some particularly well-dressed young men and women standing around some particularly vintage vehicles. Though the models may have been noticeably more attractive than the average Princetonian, the clothes did not seem entirely out of place, something the directors must have reckoned when choosing our gorgeous campus as the backdrop for Ralph Lauren Rugby‘s 2012 fall collection.

Here’s a sneak peek at next fall’s fashions and some fangirls that found them:

Ralph Lauren

Ralph Lauren

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With no more Goldman Sachs info sessions left to mic check, Occupy Princeton has turned to occupying dining halls.

Last Thursday, members of Occupy Princeton sat in on a talk held in the Forbes dining room by Andrew Golden, who has been president of the Princeton University Investment Company (PRINCO) for 17 years.

Golden, who dubs himself the “Accidental One-percenter,” intended to discuss how he went from being a photographer with a philosophy major to a successful investor. He did not expect to spend the Q&A session engaged in a heated debate about the University’s investments in HEI Hospitality, a hotel management company accused of unfair labor practices.

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Chargin up their lazer (sic) Photo credit. Frank Wojciechowski

Princeton researchers are chargin' up their lazer (sic). Photo credit: Frank Wojciechowski

That’s right. Take that, Austin Powers.

Princeton’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering has developed a new laser that can detect and identify trace chemicals in the air, which is 1000 times more sensitive than the laser technology being used today.

With funding from the Office of Naval Research, Princeton’s engineers expect that this laser could eventually produce a remote, bomb-scanning military device small enough to be mounted on a tank. As professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Richard Miles told TG Daily:

“In general, when you want to determine if there are contaminants in the air you need to collect a sample of that air and test it…but with remote sensing you don’t need to do that. If there’s a bomb buried on the road ahead of you, you’d like to detect it by sampling the surrounding air, much like bomb-sniffing dogs can do, except from far away.”

Oh, it can also detect pollution. Technology that both the army and the peace-loving environmentalists can agree on? Science, you amaze me.

Read more about our super awesome lasers here.

Recently, bloggers have gotten ahold of President John F. Kennedy’s old college application essays, and boy, were standards different back then.

EDIT: JFK’s Harvard essay reads like this: (Source)

“The reasons that I have for wishing to go to Harvard are several. I felt that Harvard can give me a better background and a better liberal education than any other university. I have always wanted to go there, as I have felt that it is not just another college but is a university with something definite to offer. Then too, I would like to go to the same college as my father. To be a “Harvard man” is an enviable distinction, and one that I sincerely hope I shall attain.”

But wait… they found his application essay to Princeton was nearly identical.

Hey now, cut the late Mr. President some slack. It’s not like we all didn’t do a little tweaking on our Common App. (“Sure, Yale’s my top choice…”) On the other hand, he only spent 6 weeks at Princeton before going to Harvard.

Critics argue that if Kennedy applied today, he would not have been admitted to an Ivy League school with these essays. But honestly, if JFK could reapply knowing everything we do today, wouldn’t his essay be entitled “How I’m Going to Become a Pimpin’ Ladykiller/President of the United States Before My Untimely Assassination That Will Go Down in History as a Government Conspiracy”?

That’s what I called mine.

Moral of the story to Princeton students aspiring for elected office: guard your college apps.

IMG_3601lg-1Princeton Dean of the College Nancy Weiss Malkiel will step down from her administrative role at the end of this academic year, the school announced in a Wednesday press release.

In recent years, Dean Malkiel has become a lightning rod for debate over Princeton’s future due to her role in implementing the school’s grade deflation and four year college projects.

But as the official press release notes, Malkiel’s 24-year tenure as Dean of the College — the second-longest among those holding her job — has also included the introduction of many other recognizable policies and programs.  These undertakings include the Princeton Writing Program, the P-D-F grading option, current course distribution requirements, the McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning, and Princeton’s no-loan financial aid policy.

Malkiel will soon return to the History Department, which she joined as a faculty member in 1969 (her husband Burton Malkiel is also a professor at the University, in the Economics Department).   In her post-administrative career she’ll begin work on “a book about the history of coeducation at Princeton” and eventually teach a freshman seminar on coeducation.

Regardless of the endeavors that lie in Malkiel’s future, among current students she’ll likely be remembered, not always fondly, for her strong support of the grade deflation policy that seeks to limit limit the number of A’s academic departments give out each semester.

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Look at our little Tiger go! (source: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/37343.html)

Look at our little Tiger go! (source: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/37343.html)

As discussions keep going strong about last week’s Elena Kagan ’81 nomination, the White House has announced that it will publish Kagan’s undergraduate thesis from Princeton’s Department of History.  This announcement was made after the right-wing site RedState had illegally posted her “socialist thesis” last week; apparently, Kagan (and not ‘ole Nassau) holds the copyright for her undergraduate work.  Her graduate thesis from Oxford will also be released.  A White House official explained:

In addition to requesting an expedited release of the documents from the Clinton White House detailed in [White House counsel Bob] Bauer’s letter, the White House will make available copies of Kagan’s theses from Princeton and Oxford. These documents were not specifically requested by the Judiciary Committee in the questionnaire, but demonstrating our commitment to transparency, they will be made available to the committee and the public regardless.

The thesis can now be accessed online: read away, if you have a few days to spare (as we all clearly do during exam week. Duh.). Or check out the Prince’s Cliff Notes version from earlier in the month if you’re a tad short on time. Read Politico’s full story on the theses releases here. For a more sympathetic take on how college kids are supposed to write theses that are naive and inflammatory (and not meant to be read out of context), head over to Slate, where Christopher Beam wrote a great piece yesterday about how “college is all about screwing up.” Sweet music to our ears, Chris…

from ivy-style.com

from ivy-style.com

The most recent issue of the Princeton Alumni Weekly has two articles that shed some light on what life at Princeton is like.

  1. According to some pre-frosh, the world outside Fitzrandolph Gate thinks we are “squares,” with “windswept hair,” “weird shorts,” and “boat shoes and everything.” This may in fact be true.
  2. More serious, but also true: From navigating financial aid applications without a Social Security number to being unable to study abroad, undocumented students at Princeton face more obstacles to graduation than a few pesky Dean’s Dates. Yet they’ve gone on to great things. The Princeton DREAM team, which began at a dinner at Professor Patricia Fernandez-Kelly’s home, recently organized a week of events to raise awareness of the plight of thousands of undocumented students in the United States. The team supports the DREAM Act, which would offer a path to citizenship for eligible undocumented youth who complete a college degree or two years of military service.

Read these articles and more in the Princeton Alumni Weekly.

PRINCETON BOROUGH — The election of President Barack Obama has forced the issue of race into the forefront of American politics, yet it is unclear what the implications will be.

At a symposium held at Princeton University last week, Princeton professors debated whether his presidency would ultimately decrease racism and improve the lots of African Americans.

Since the election, many black activists have denounced Obama for failing to address racial inequalities, while Fox News and talk show radio pundits have accused Obama of black supremacy. But history professor Kevin Kruse said ignoring race might be the best strategy for Obama to take.

“In the end, President Obama’s greatest accomplishment on civil rights might be that he has no accomplishment at all,” Kruse said.

Read the full article at nj.com.

High school seniors: If you don’t get the thick envelope, don’t feel too bad. Princeton is a trade school. …There is only Yale? Take it from Season 2 of Gossip Girl.

Fun fact: The teacher out to ruin Blair’s Yale dreams? That’d be senior Laura Breckenridge ’10. Oh, Princetonians! Always trying to deflate everyone else’s grades, too!

From the video:

“Maybe in time, I’ll get in trouble for not inflating grades like everyone else, Ms. Waldorf, but until then, I’ll give them based on merit.”

Sound familiar? But here’s the thing. At Princeton, grade deflation won’t stop you from getting into Yale — at least according to Yale Law School dean of admissions Rangappa ’96.

Princeton Preview 2010

Princeton Preview 2010

Remember when you were a high school senior, waiting nervously for that acceptance letter from Princeton? Well, it’s that time of year again. On April 1st (that’s this Thursday), at 5:00 p.m. EST, Ivy League applicants will receive their acceptances and rejections.

So, what are high school students and their parents thinking about this admissions season?

The Princeton Review released its annual College Hopes and Worries Survey on March 24.

With the Great Recession ongoing, the major worry is money.

  • 86% of applicants and their parents said financial aid is “very necessary.”
  • 68% said that the recession has affected their college decisions.
  • Due to the economy, 51% said they were applying to “more ‘financial aid safety’ schools,” 25% to “schools closer to home” and 24% to colleges “with lower sticker prices.”
  • 39% said their biggest worry was that they “will get into first-choice college, but won’t have sufficient funds/financial aid to attend.”

But if money wasn’t an issue?  What would be their dream college? Princeton ranked 4th among students, behind Stanford, Harvard and NYU. Among parents, we did a little better, ranking 2nd only to Stanford.

Steve Forbes, Boxer. Not a graduate of Princeton University.

Steve Forbes, Boxer. Not a graduate of Princeton University.

Forbes Magazine recently named Princeton one of the world’s most beautiful college campuses. And, frankly, we’re inclined to agree with them. It is really pretty here, especially now that the weather’s getting nice and the snow is melting. So, thanks for the shout out Forbes!

Here’s what the mag had to say:

This classic American campus is “straight out of central casting,” says architect Natalie Shivers, who has been guiding the prestige Ivy Leaguer through an ambitious expansion plan. Princeton’s style is pure Collegiate Gothic; most of it executed in gray stone covered in, yes, ivy. As imposing as these old stone structures are, the campus keeps life on a “human scale” by preserving green spaces and “walkability,” says Shivers. “Everything on campus is within a 10-minute walk.” Sinuous footpaths, archways, plazas–all are designed to inspire spontaneous discussion and learning.

What’s this? You have a video for us? Aww, you shouldn’t have!

(Note: after watching the video, they actually shouldn’t have. The music is super cheesy and the thesis seems to be that Princeton is special because we have arches and courtyards. But watch it anyways after the jump!)

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