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Articles filed under “Musings”

Some sadistic bastard, that’s who.

Princeton’s known for being a bit confusing for a freshman or any first-time visitor. When you’re at orientation, no one bothers to tell you “Richardson Auditorium” is labeled on a map as “Alexander Hall.”* Can you blame me for also mixing up “Pyne” and “East Pyne”? And who decided it was a good idea to put “1967 Hall” right next to “1976 Hall”?!

But now with the advent of two separate gargantuan donations, Princeton’s going to be christening some new buildings– a dance studio and theatre named after the Wallace brothers‘ $15 million donation, and the new psychology building designated for Peretsman and Scully‘s $20 million contribution.

Which means folks, Princeton is now going to have TWO WALLACES and TWO SCULLYS.

So to help the future freshman and any lost visitor at Princeton cope with the fact that our entire university is funded by like, ten dudes, here is a little cheat sheet.

THE UPC GUIDE TO PRINCETON’S CONFUSING PLACE NAMES

McCosh
One is: The Health Center near Frist
The other is: The halls where the English, American studies department can be found
Hint: If it’s being used as a verb (aka “McCosh’d”) it’s the health center. If it’s a giant lecture hall, it’s McCosh 50. If it’s a giant lecture hall with comfy seats, it’s McCosh 10.

Fisher
One is: A hall in Whitman College
The other is: Behind Woody Woo, Home of the Econ Department

Henry
One is: A yellow house
The other is: A junior slum hall
Hint: if John McPhee is there, it’s not the junior slums.

Oct 19, 2012

Princeton University: Where Every Building Has The Same Name

By Vivienne Chen

Also posted in Fun, In the news Tagged confusion, donations, illogical, not sure if Princeton borough or Princeton township, Scully, Wallace One comment

Spotted: this little guy, hanging out by the food/non-food/utensils collection bins at the Mathey Dining Hall this morning.

Materials used: part of a banana, some Cracklin’ Oats, two Apple Jacks.

Unfortunately, he fell down shortly after I saw him, and one of the dining staff came and wiped him into the food collection bin.

Apr 24, 2012

Banana Man in Mathey DHall

By Abby Klionsky

Also posted in dining Leave a comment

If this is your life-size inflatable basketball player, you should know that you successfully terrified me last night when I walked past your room. Congratulations.

Also, one of your co-Spelman dwellers has a life-size cutout of Justin Bieber. ‘Nuff said.

Apr 11, 2012

Dear Spelman Resident

By Abby Klionsky

Posted in Musings Tagged basketball, Justin Bieber, life-size cutouts, Spelman Leave a comment

Disclaimer: this post is intended for people who didn’t make it outside today (read: people who still have gastro, and seniors with looming thesis-draft deadlines). If you did go outside today–and enjoyed it–make sure you go outside tomorrow, too, because it’s supposed to be even nicer.

We didn’t have much of a winter to complain about this year–and hardly any snow to speak of. Still, the first really nice day of the year is always notable, and Princeton seems to carry a different air about it with spring on people’s minds. Bright green leaves will fill in bare branches soon, and shortly after the pink magnolias will bloom, filling campus with hordes of tourists and the sweet smell of spring.

For now, hanging out on the Frist South Lawn will suffice, but keep your eyes peeled for good outdoor work-spaces so you can snag them first.

Mar 8, 2012

Beautiful Day in the Bubble

By Abby Klionsky

Also posted in Goings On, Student Guides Tagged Frist Campus Center, good weather, magnolia, snow, thesis, working outside Leave a comment

You may have noticed some subtle changes around campus recently. The lines in dining halls are growing longer, sushi in Frist is harder to come by, people are becoming less stingy about sharing food. Beds in McCosh are now vacant, and students can once again return freely to the Street without fear of automatic PMC. Talk of the dreaded gastroenteritis that has most likely been plaguing your thoughts and conversations over the last month seems to have died down, and we can begin to recover our regular discussions. And diets.

These apparent returns to normalcy beg the question at the top of everyone’s mind: Have we finally entered a post-Gastro era?

Over 260 students have sought treatment for gastroenteritis at Princeton’s McCosh Health Center since the first cases were identified on January 29. For weeks, the numbers of virus-infected patients grew, eventually crowding McCosh to full-capacity the weekend of February 16, forcing the UHS to send all extra patients, no matter the ailment, directly to the University Medical Center at Princeton.

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#PrincetonProblems

But for all the hype it has generated amongst students, it turns out that the gastro hasn’t actually been as bad as the impression we’ve gotten here on campus, at least on a state level. According to the New Jersey Department of Health & Senior Services, the number of outbreaks in New Jersey this year have actually been fairly average. Numbers within the University community, however, have been unparalleled in recent history.

And though the rate of cases on campus now appears to be decreasing, indicating that Princeton may be on its way to gastro-freedom, I wouldn’t let down your guards quite yet. The CDC warns that a victim of the virus can be contagious for two or more weeks after recovery. What’s more, a person is capable of re-infecting himself if he doesn’t exercise proper hygiene, potentially submitting himself to repeated bouts of gastro. The very idea is nauseating.

Is there anything positive to be said of this legendary outbreak? If anything, the gastro debacle has certainly been a wake-up call to the community regarding the particulars of personal hygiene, an apparently highly controversial topic with the Princeton student body.

And, once again, we can thank the U-Store for the ever-present comfort they provide.

Screen shot 2012-02-26 at 6.08.07 PM

Feb 29, 2012

The End of an Era?

By Louise Connelly

Also posted in Goings On, Nostalgia Tagged CDC, Don't trust the sushi, Gastro, MVP, Never again, Personal hygiene, PMC, UHS Leave a comment

Awkward and selective censorship

[NOTE TO READER: THIS POST MAKES FREQUENT USE OF EXPLETIVES.]

This shit was going to happen eventually. Add it to the list of national trends trickling on to this campus (see Occupy Wall Street). On January 17th, BodyHype unleashed its own spin on “Shit girls say,” a YouTube phenomenon where in dudes in drag make videos saying, well, shit girls would say. Most would agree that “Shit Princeton Kids Say!” – a slightly less gendered adaptation of the original – does a pretty good job, hitting all the major tenets of campus life. At the moment of this post, it’s closing in on 15,000 views.

Depending on how closely we look at it, it can tell us a lot about ourselves, namely that no matter what social boundaries divide Princeton students, at the end of the day we can all bond over our common future careers in finance. Have a look at the video and a thoughtful analysis after the jump.

Feb 13, 2012

Dancers Talking Sh#t

By Nathan Serota

Also posted in Arts, Fun, Internet, Uncategorized Tagged BodyHype, Everybody poops, Extended metaphor, Gastro, Shit talking, Shit-themed 2012 Leave a comment

Other than the occasional high-profile arrest of a professor, Princeton hasn’t seemed all that gripped by the “Occupy” movements. In Cambridge, Harvard has restricted access to the Yard over “security concerns” raised by Occupy Harvard; so far no tent cities have sprung up in front of Nassau Hall. There isn’t much immediacy to the movement here on campus in central New Jersey; it’s something that’s happening out there, somewhere else.

Well, that changed for a little while on Friday night, as the “Occupy the Highway” march came through our secluded glen, Washington Post reporter in tow, on their way down to D.C. They were met by erudite, thoughtful students who shared their divergent views on economic theory and philosophy with the protestors.

Just kidding.

The conflagration began after Princeton student Whitney Blodgett started to yell at the marchers as they passed by the bar. “We’re the 1 percent!” Blodgett yelled at them, laughing and making a thumbs up sign. “Get a job!” his friends yelled in chorus.

Alcohol. Freshmen. Pseudonyms. (The reporter was initially given the name “Whetney Brockton.”) Light jeering. Yup, those are all the elements I would want present for the lead anecdote about Princeton students’ views on the Occupy movement. Fortunately, the Post was able to get a different student viewpoint, too. What did this other student, incidentally also a freshman and, according to the Post, the only person to show up in support of the march, have to say about the general sentiment on campus?

“That’s what happens when you come to a campus of ibankers,” the student, who did not give her name, said. “Princeton students are benefitting from this system, so why would they protest?”

Nov 15, 2011

Wonder What Princeton Thinks About OWS? (Or, “Ask a Freshman” with The Washington Post)

By Spencer Gaffney

Also posted in In the news Tagged 1%, Good Will Hunting, Occupy the Highway, Occupy Wall Street 3 Comments

In today’s inaugural edition of Debatable (name subject to change if we come up with a better name), our man on the street tackles a burning question: what hot dog reigns supreme over Princeton University?

hot-dog-costume5 The hot dog’s got a lot going for it. No really, it does. It’s portable. Wildly customizable (crazy Chicago with its celery salt and its pickle spears!). Unofficial sandwich of baseball and camping trips.

And it’s cheap. Like, really cheap. And, because Princeton eats can get real expensive real quick, the hot dog can be the perfect meal (or late night snack) hungry students looking to chow down on the cheap (and the success of the Free Food @ Princeton email list seems to suggest that there are plenty).

Now that we’ve spoken to the merits of this noble sausage-in-roll, where’s the best place to get your mitts on one of these bad boys in town? Our committee of one counts down his hot dog rankings, using the massively unscientific method of “thinking about times he’s eaten a hot dog and trying to recall a vague sense of the experience.” Are you as excited as we are? Then without further ado…

DEBATABLE: TOP DOG IN PRINCETON

4. Footlong Dog, Chuck’s Wings

There’s nothing wrong with the footlong at Chuck’s, per se. Basically griddled and stuffed into a normal sized bun, there’s something enjoyably cartoonish about this dog. But the wiener pales in comparison to the other offerings of this Spring St. eatery, and just doesn’t hold up to the competition. Seriously, if you’re going to Chuck’s, you’re there for the wings, or you took a wrong turn.

3. Standard Hot Dog, Studio 34

Mostly I just want to talk about Studio 34, the Platform 9 3/4 of the Princeton on-campus dining world. I have never been able to find Studio 34 in less than thirty minutes, or during daylight hours [Note: I recently discovered that this is because Studio 34 opens at 8 p.m.]. But come late night study sessions (or, you know, other reasons a Princeton student might be out and about after a certain hour), the Studio magically appears from somewhere deep within Butler College. The hot dog is standard – self-serve, cooked on the sort of rotating grills you find at convenience stores, slathered in ketchup and mustard, and eaten in the tinfoil wrapping the buns come in. This one’s all about the journey.

2. Wawa Hot Dog

You never expect too much, and it’s always a little bit better than you thought it was going to be. Plus, chopped onions.

1. Olives Hot Dog

The Olives hot dog is a thing of beauty. Toasted sub roll, a split frank on the griddle, and a world of condiments. Red onion’s nice. So’s hot sauce. Go nuts and toss in some tomatoes if that floats your boat. And it doesn’t cost a whole lot — more breakfast sandwich prices than not-breakfast sandwich prices. It’s a classy hot dog. Grab a seltzer in a glass bottle by the front door or something. Eat it in the courtyard by the library if its nice out, or wrangle a seat at one of the stools along the back wall if it isn’t. A change up? To be sure. But a worthwhile one.

Sep 27, 2011

Debatable: Top [Hot] Dog

By Spencer Gaffney

Posted in Musings Tagged Hot Dog, Unscientific polls of one 3 Comments

Spotted: The next Christopher Walken lookalike lurker.

Is it just me, or is Princeton the campus of choice for strange lurers and public wankers?

From today’s Campus Safety Alert:

A graduate student reported late last evening that a man exposed himself while she was running on the tow path between Harrison Street and Washington Road at about 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 27, 2011.

Maybe we’re the only school that takes public indecency as a serious campus-wide safety threat. But here’s something else I noticed about the “crime prevention tips” section of Public Safety’s emails (thanks LW ’14):

When running in isolated areas, run with a friend.
Stay alert and tuned in to your surroundings. Be aware and prepared.
Stand tall and walk confidently; do not show fear.
Trust your instincts, and if you do not feel comfortable in a place or situation, leave.

Wait, are we dealing with flashers or mountain lions? (Seriously, compare the list of Mountain Lion Safety Tips to Public Safety’s. The resemblance is uncanny.)

Some additional safety tips substituting the word “cougar” with “creeper” after the jump.

Apr 28, 2011

Campus Flashers … or Mountain Lions?

By Vivienne Chen

Also posted in Fun Tagged campus safety alert, creeper, indecent exposure, mountain lions, not the sexy type of cougar, Public Safety, survival tips Leave a comment

Orange Bubble Syndrome is something that many of us take for granted. We get stuck in a cycle of rotating between weekends at Prospect, weekdays at Firestone and occasional excursions for late meal at Frist. We micromanage our days in GCals of rainbow-colored sleep deprivation. We might stop once in a while to read something from ~~the Prince~~ UPC, complain about P-Safe’s lockout policy, scoff at Dean Malkiel’s dog or laugh at the bicker plans for Cannon Club.

Read the news? Uhhh. I'll pencil that in someday, okay?

But where is the globally aware citizenship that all the admission brochures advertised? Where are the scholars in the nation’s service and in the service of all nations (aside from sharpening their get-recruited-for-I-banking skills in Robertson or Tower, that is)? A Prince column earlier this week (okay, we do read them too) called for more campus dialogue on current events. The Middle East is erupting. Japan is in shambles. Basically, 2011 thus far has reached a point where I expect a new revolution or disaster every time I refresh the NYT homepage.

I know, I know. We’re busy. We’re tired. We work really hard. Sometimes it is easier to just sit in Whitman dining hall, discussing the merits of different types of fruit-cereal-froyo combinations (banana, Smart Start, vanilla. Win!) instead of debating the pros and cons of intervention in Libya.

In the last week or so, though, I’ve become increasingly convinced that it’s actually easier than you think to break out of the Orange Bubble. Meaningful campus dialogue can exist! Even when it’s not awkwardly facilitated by Sustained Dialogue! Here, I give you five reasons why we can and should think outside the bubble:

1.) IT’S SO EASY.

Mar 28, 2011

Sometimes, The World > My Grades

By Alice Su

Also posted in Alumni, Goings On, Politics Tagged awareness, baller alumni, Egypt, food, getting over our grades, Haiti, Japan, Libya, orange bubble, reading the news, what matters Leave a comment

Hey, future class of 2015:

Decision Date (March 30) for Princeton and other major universities is drawing ever closer.

So, how are you feeling? Maybe you think you’re already set thanks to a good legacy background or some killer athletic prowess. Or maybe you’ll be sitting at your computer in four days, nail-bitingly paranoid: what if my school tells me I’m accepted but then realizes they rejected me? You mean like University of Delaware’s computer glitch this year? Or the colossal mishap of University of California, San Diego that affected 29,000 applicants?

Oops, yeah, don’t think about that.

Maybe you found some spelling mistakes in your college apps (personal story). Maybe your parents are already suing your pre-school for ruining your chances of getting into an Ivy League school.

But I’m here to tell you that it’s going to be okay. Take a deep breath. Do yourself a favor and don’t log on to College Confidential forums for a while.

And if it helps, the Princeton Tiger knows how you feel:

Mar 26, 2011

2015 Admissions Decisions near: Did you check for typos?

By Vivienne Chen

Posted in Musings Tagged applications, class of 2015, college admissions, paranoia, The Princeton Tiger, tigermag Leave a comment

Check out all that cretin ivy (image source: ee.princeton.edu)

Oh, sorry, that’s “New Ways to Procrastinate.” In case you were running out of brief (?) diversions to get you through the upcoming week, or simply looking for new websites to add to your Self Control app, here’s a good one that can keep you going for a while. (If you don’t believe me, just check out today’s Tower Talk e-mails — 49 e-mails later, it’s still funny. Sort of.)

Just type in your name, a friend’s name, perhaps a mortal enemy’s name, and let the little website do its work. What you get out? Hilarious – and often terrifyingly accurate – anagrams of what you put in.

Take, for example, a small controlled experiment done on the site to elicit its true feelings about the Ivies. Inputs of each university’s name yielded the following:

Princeton University: “I spurn cretin ivy” (Possibly Princeton students’ favorite activity…)

Harvard University: “Try hard an’ survive” (At least that’s what “The Social Network” would have us believe.)

Columbia University: “Evil scum in obituary” (Really? I’ll have to start reading the obits more often.)

Mar 7, 2011

Weepy Castrations Rat Now

By Abby Greene

Also posted in Internet Tagged anagrams, Ivy League drama, names, procrastination, self-control Leave a comment

The most visited posts inthe past two weeks:

Articles filed under “Musings”

The most visited posts in
the past two weeks: