The most visited posts in
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snapshot-2009-04-27-01-18-19

April 27, 2009 Issue

Michelle Obama ‘85 didn’t like her time at Princeton. In her senior thesis, she wrote how she always felt she was “black first and a student second” because of

a white cultural and social structure that will only allow me to remain on the periphery of society … never becoming a full participant.

Almost 25 years later, do Obama’s observations still reflect what it’s like being an African American student at Princeton? Newsweek interviewed two multigenerational black families that attended Princeton, and their experiences show what “postracialism” actually means in today’s world.

Click here for the full Newsweek story and for video of Princeton students discussing race relations on campus today.

Apr 19, 2009

IN PRINT: Black in the Age of Obama

By Brian No
Posted in In Print Tagged , , Leave a comment

The Princeton community has received two Campus Safety Alerts from Public Safety since yesterday morning about reports of lewdness and sexual contact. The first report is, well, hilarious. But the second incident, not so much.

The first incident:

In separate incidents at approximately 2 and 2:39 a.m. on Saturday, April 18, 2009, two Princeton University female students reported a male was masturbating and exposed his genital area to them while they were walking alone across campus. The first incident took place as the victim was walking on McCosh Walk toward the University Store and the suspect was on the steps between Buyers and Witherspoon halls. The victim said she also saw the suspect earlier in the evening near 1879 Hall and the School of Architecture, where he was masturbating as he walked behind her. The second victim reported that she saw the suspect near the first entry of 1879 Hall, where he exposed himself. The victim said the suspect ran toward Washington Road toward Nassau Street. The suspect did not come into direct contact with either victim.

Continue reading…

Apr 19, 2009

Dear Campus Masturbator: Please Stop.

By Brian No
Posted in Open Letter Tagged , , Leave a comment

caitlintullyPROFESSIONAL VIOLINIST IS HISTORY MAJOR, TAKES PRIVATE LESSONS WITH ITZHAK PERLMAN(!)

Name: Caitlin (Cat) Tully
Age: 21
Major: History
Hometown: Vancouver/Austin/New York
Eating club/residential college/affiliation: Whitman/ Potentially 2D…
Activities on campus: Firestone. Good conversation. Spontaneous hijinks when opportunity arises.

Who’s your favorite Princetonian, living or dead, real or fictional?
Tony Grafton, for starting the HUM sequence.

What’s the best meal you’ve eaten in Princeton?
On campus, probably challah French toast with fresh whipped cream a friend and I made for a bunch of people last year.

In one sentence, what do you actually do all day?
Try to deserve to be here.

What is your greatest guilty pleasure?
Depends on the context and when you ask.

What’s the last student performance you saw?
King Lear, Laura Fletcher’s production. And Angels in America.

Do you know all the words to Old Nassau?
If I say no is that going to come back to haunt me? I know the actions…

Continue reading…

Apr 19, 2009

21 Questions with… Cat Tully ‘10

By Brian No
Posted in 21 Questions Tagged , , , Leave a comment

towns4jpg1

While enjoying the fine Springtime weather of the past weekend, you may have noticed the throng of people gathered outside the Princeton Record Exchange (Prex, as the cool kids say) at around 10 in the morning.

Turns out these intrepid earlyish risers (for college) were waiting to get their hands on some limited edition vinyl, in celebration of the second annual Record Store Day. Said one enthustiastic record store owner when we called him up on Saturday: “It’s a national frickin’ holiday!” Not yet, good sir, but dare to dream.

Full article here

Apr 19, 2009

IN PRINT: People Still Listen to Records! And Their Stores Now Have Their Own Day!

By Spencer Gaffney
Posted in In Print Tagged Leave a comment

US-ISRAEL-ANNIVERSARY-BEINISCHDorit Beinisch, the equivalent of the Chief Justice on the Israeli Supreme Court, talked about balancing security and human rights in the age of terror.

And while the topic was no doubt fascinating, we found ourselves more distracted by some of the differences between the American Supreme Court and the Israeli model. For example:

  • The US court hears 60-80 cases in a given year. The Israeli Supreme Court hears 5000 (!)
  • US justices serve for life, while Israel has a max age (we kind of like this idea, having spent time with people in the 70 and over demographic. Good for half-moon cookies, bad for precedent augmenting legal decisions)

Full article here

Apr 19, 2009

President of Israeli Supreme Court Speaks at Woody Woo

By Spencer Gaffney
Posted in In Print Tagged , , , Leave a comment

smartu2

Yale recently launched an entire website to street safety in response to a string of traffic accidents and a year after a pedestrian Yale student was killed by a car.

Apparently New Haven drivers are so barbaric that walking Yalies, when not dodging knives wielded by crackheads, are keeping a wary eye out for their lives.

Sure, nothing ever happens in Princeton, but I’m glad to know my body won’t be meeting a fast-moving vehicle between classes.

Apr 15, 2009

Yale? I hear that place sucks.

By Will Saborio
Posted in Musings Tagged Leave a comment

You know it’s that time of year when the University erects a ridiculous circus tent on Alexander Beach, ruining pretty springtime vistas and impeding your drunken walk home from the Street. That’s right: hundreds of earnest and overeager 18 year-olds are about swarm all over campus and there’s nothing you can do about it.

The only thing a student can do to minimize contact with prefrosh is to not host them. It looks like many have decided to do just that, hence a somewhat urgent email today to Matheyites from Matt Frawley, Mathey’s DSL:

This Thursday over 700 pre-frosh will be arriving on campus, and though a good number of you have graciously signed up to be a host for one or more of those pre-frosh, we need MORE hosts. We are especially in need of male students to host.
…
So will this be an inconvenience? A bit.

Are you really too busy to host? Well, who isn’t!!

Nevertheless, students are giving back by hosting. Please take a moment to give serious consideration to this opportunity and help save a pre-frosh from going somewhere other than Princeton.

Thanks,
Matt

Ah, yes, appealing to our sense of civic duties as Princetonians. Sorry. Won’t work.

Apr 14, 2009

Go Away Prefrosh

By Brian No
Posted in Goings On Tagged , Leave a comment

Politico’s Arena, charting daily debates among policy-makers and scholars about recent moves in Washington, today tracks reactions to Obama’s shift in Cuba policy.

While contributors like John Kerry and Princeton professor Julian Zelizer add some fresh perspective to the discussion, Melissa Harris-Lacewell, professor of politics and African-American studies at Princeton (and prominent Twitter-er), weighs in on the debate with some, uh, “insight“:

I just returned from a week traveling and working in South Africa. After 7 days of Russian vodka and Cuban cigars it is clear to me that ideological battles should not restrict the free consumption of the best our cold war opponents export. Open Cuba!

Profound, embarrassing, it’s all the same thing.

(image source: pbs.org)

Apr 14, 2009

Deep thoughts from Melissa Harris-Lacewell

By Will Saborio
Posted in Politics Tagged , Leave a comment

nytimessmashcraftThe New York Times profiles Smashcraft Heroes, Princeton’s videogaming club. Its members? “Mostly Asian, mostly male” engineers. Classic. (Our latest 21 Questions is on Mona Zhang ‘12, the president of the club.)

The reporter describes a recent match of Starcraft against Tsinghua University in Beijing. Of course, being Princetonians, one participant felt the need to relate the game to international relations and geopolitics:

Ke Wan, a graduate student from China who is studying operations research, detailed each world’s character traits: Zergs are prolific and fast, Terrans are sophisticated strategists, and individual Protoss units are extremely powerful. Wan drew a geopolitical analogy. “Zerg is like China,” he said. “It depends a lot on its large population. The U.S. is Protoss because it emphasizes the value of the individual. And Terran is Russia or the former Soviet Union, a huge high-tech war machine.” He plays as Terran.

Read the article, reflect upon on what Princeton has become, and shed an emo tear or two for Old Nassau.

(image source: nytimes.com)

Apr 12, 2009

National Media Only Covers Embarrassing Things About Princeton

By Brian No
Posted in In the news Tagged , , , , , Leave a comment

The Prince reported this week that “tweeting” has increased in popularity recently, and has attracted the attention of a few big names on Princeton’s campus, namely Melissa Harris-Lacewell and Cornel West. Not mentioned was Peter Singer, who also updates his Twitter quite frequently.

It’s to be expected that these update-streams from noted scholars at a prestigious institution should be self-referential, yes, and perhaps even a bit introverted. But these three take it to a new level.

Continue reading…

Apr 10, 2009

The New Frontier of Narcissism

By Will Saborio
Posted in Goings On, In the news Tagged , , , , , Leave a comment
TRAILBLAZING FEMALE PRESIDENT OF SMASHCRAFT HEROES GAMING CLUB PWNS N00BS (W00T W00T!)

TRAILBLAZING FEMALE PRESIDENT OF SMASHCRAFT HEROES GAMING CLUB PWNS N00BS (W00T W00T!)

Update 4/12: Zhang and Smashcraft Heroes have also been profiled by the NYTimes.

Name: Mona Zhang
Age: 19
Major: undecided
Hometown: Gaithersburg, Maryland
Eating club/residential college/affiliation: Forbes College

Who’s your favorite Princetonian, living or dead, real or fictional?
Princeton from Avenue Q, but I don’t suppose he’s actually a Princetonian

What’s the best meal you’ve eaten in Princeton?
Dumplings made from scratch and random ramen at three in the morning

In one sentence, what do you actually do all day?
I answer emails

What is your greatest guilty pleasure?
Gossip Girl and chasing squirrels

What’s the last student performance you saw?
Various snippets of performances at the CSA banquet from Triple 8, the Juggling Club, and more

Do you know all the words to Old Nassau?
Three cheers for Old Nassau, la la la la lassau

What do you hate most about Princeton?
The sewage and maybe the cobblestone when I’m wearing girl-shoes

What’s your drink?
Coke

Continue reading…

Apr 7, 2009

21 Questions with… Mona Zhang ‘12

By Brian No
Posted in 21 Questions Tagged , , , Leave a comment

The Prince ran a story yesterday about a new novel written by Jean Hanff Korelitz, a former reader for the Princeton admissions office. The story is about a fictional Princeton admissions officer and some sort of secret she harbors.

The reporter interviewed Korelitz to ask about her connections to Princeton and to discuss her book, and he even interviewed a student who used to babysit for her kids once upon a time. But over the course of nearly 600 words, the article doesn’t mention the very minor detail that Korelitz’s husband is Paul Muldoon. Nope, not important or noteworthy at all.

(image source: ew.com)

Apr 7, 2009

Minor Detail?

By Brian No
Posted in Goings On Tagged , , , Leave a comment