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(Admittedly kind of sketchy) evidence of what promises to be a life-changing partnership.

(Admittedly kind of sketchy) evidence of what promises to be a life-changing partnership.

We’ve all been there – rough night, d-hall accident, fight with a puddle. And then you’re stuck with this growing pile of dry-clean-only laundry that sits in the bottom of your hamper, waiting patiently as it becomes wrinkled beyond recognition. Well wrinkles begone! Craft Cleaners and the U-Store have struck up a love affair that promises to make all of our lives a whole lot easier.

Starting this semester, you can avoid the trek to Craft and just drop by the U-Store with your dry cleaning. From there, it’ll be spirited away to Craft, cleaned, and returned to the U-Store for your convenience. You can even purchase a specialized bag for this purpose to keep your dry-cleanables separate from your washing-machinables.

The deets: pick-up occurs twice a day, Monday-Friday, at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., and your cleaning will be returned two business days later.

Also, in the category of new U-Store goodies, word has it that the Nassau Street U-Store has just received its first Brooks Brothers shipment, allowing you to be both classily preppy and clean. Happy U-Storing!

Sep 25, 2011

Craft Cleaners and U-Store Partner to Make Our Lives Easier (Looking At You, Slums-Dwellers)

By Abby Greene
Also posted in Nassau Street, Style Tagged , , , , , One comment

Congratulations! If you knew what you were doing when you signed up for housing, you made sure to mention your long-standing love of fireplaces and your strong desire to have three roommates. And now you’ve been handed a ticket to two years in Rockefeller College, home to Holder Hall and the Spoon turret rooms and easily the most desired residential college at Princeton. This is Princeton as presented in movies. But actually.

Besides “awesome,” what is it like to live there?

The résumé:

Laundry: Rocky offers basement laundry rooms in Witherspoon, Buyers, Holder and Campbell Halls. Holder Entryway 13, you’re right above the laundry room. If you’re living across the quad, you might find yourself taking a shortcut—and risk exposing yourself to the elements (you know, gently falling leaves)—instead of the long way through the basement. (ETA: No laundry in Campbell! At least not if you’re in Rocky. From Rocky ‘14 in the comments: “Campbell’s split up into two sections: the Rocky side and the Mathey side. The Mathey-Campbell side has access to Joline’s laundry rooms through the basement, but the Rocky-Campbell side isn’t connected through the basement. So, unfortunately, no laundry in Rocky Campbell.”)

Kitchens: You can do your lonely Thanksgiving meal preparation or 2 am ramen eating in the basement kitchens of Witherspoon and Holder. The Holder kitchen area is also home to a TV lounge, and its booth-style dining tables are a popular study area. You’ll often find freshmen and sophomores grimly studying at the Witherspoon dining table, which can make cooking kind of awkward. That said, a list of foods I know for a fact have been cooked in Rocky’s kitchens: A stuffed pumpkin, maple syrup snow candy, seitan, and scones. A little tolerance of gross sinks and stains, and anything is possible.

Continue reading…

Aug 27, 2011

Residential College Review: Rockefeller

By Angela Wu
Also posted in Student Guides Tagged , , , , , , , 4 Comments

In the wake of the procrastination extravaganza that was the Dean’s Date Liveblog, we here at The Ink feel a little guilty about our unintentional, but, we fear, effective, complicity in achieving the grade deflation quotas.

There's a reason the logo is orange.

There's a reason the logo is orange.

Sadly, we can’t do much to help you out with that orgo final. But we can help you bone up on your Princeton knowledge, and maybe rekindle the trivia love that got us on Sporcle’s top 25 colleges last semester.

Quiz time!

1) How many pizzas were consumed at the dodgeball tournament? How many free t-shirts?

2) What’s the farthest spot from campus Princeton’s flag flies?

3) The first Ivy Leaguers to make the cover of Sports Illustrated were from Princeton. Which team took the honor, and in what year?

4) Which Princeton building lent its name to a chemical reaction?

5) What hidden message is embedded in the bricks of the computer science building?

Or maybe the bricks are just slowly falling out?

Or maybe the bricks are just slowly falling out?

6) The statues outside Nassau Hall weren’t always tigers. Who brought them to campus, and what did they replace?

7) When was the last Cannon Green bonfire? When will it happen again?

Continue reading…

May 11, 2011

Quiz Time!

By Lauren Zumbach
Also posted in Fun Tagged , , , One comment
Reunions 2002: Keg Bed

Reunions 2002: Keg Bed

Like an atom bomb or the end of the world or the Macy’s Day Parade. Whether or not you knew it, Reunions (i.e. “the perennial Ivy League blowout kegger” referred to in a GQ exposé last year) are coming. Can’t you hear it — the pitter-patter of hundreds of alumni footsteps, canes and wheelchairs, the slurping from special edition beer cans, the loudness of Reunions’ token wardrobe?

Maybe not. Or, at least not yet, with Houseparties a few days away and all. But rest assured, the countdown has begun at www.countdowntoreunions.com, which gives an up-to-the-second reminder of the time between now and when the May-hem begins.

This screen shot will become increasingly less relevant over time.

This screenshot will become increasingly less relevant over time.

Personally, the design of the site seems all too familiar.  That font and the angular, borderless orange rectangle schema are symbols of official University webpage underdesign. I’m talking about those sites only seen momentarily in the deepest stages of room draw. Also, how did we get the web address? Not that it’s the most desireable web address (certainly not as desireable as www.pancakes.com, the homepage of PJ’s Pancake House), but the page doesn’t even mention the University.

Anyhow, Reunions are all about bold moves and in the Orange Bubble, no other reunions (lowercase) exist.  Just ask the folks over at www.princetonreunions.com, who call it “an experiment focused on age and agelessness, immaturity and maturation.”

Apr 25, 2011

Reminding You That Reunions Are Ever-Approaching

By Nathan Serota
Also posted in Alumni, Goings On, Nostalgia, Princeternet, The Street Tagged , , , , , 2 Comments
My new favorite Princeton basketball image

My new favorite Princeton basketball image

Now that you’ve watched Doug Davis’ shot from a dozen different angles (instruct me in the Douglas!) and contemplated the cool name of Ian Hummer ‘13 (objective view: fairly cool, but nothing to write home about), it’s time to get serious. NIT? Thanks, but no thanks. CBI? Don’t call us, we’ll call you. We’re talking the Big Dance, ladies and gentlemen. Or rather, the Big Dances. We’re less than 24 hours from tip-off, and the Tigers have not one but TWO teams in the NCAA tournament. We’re breaking down what to watch for, what to expect, and how to savor the sweet, sweet runs of the twin Tiger squads.

Princeton Women’s Basketball

2010-2011 Rec0rd: 24-2

Seed: #12

First Round Game: #5 Georgetown, College Park, MD @ 2:50 p.m. on Sunday

Broadcast: ESPN2 or ESPN3 Simulcast

Yeah yeah, it’s the men and their late season heroics that are getting all the attention, and the SportsCenter Top Tens, etc., etc. But we’re starting with the Lady Tigers because this tournament trip for them is about more than just beating Harvard — it’s about a chance to make a real run and maybe even win a game or two.

This is the second straight year the women have won the Ivy League and earned themselves an NCAA tournament bid, which is pretty remarkable when you consider that they had never been to the tournament before last year. But to make the jump from “great Ivy League team” to just “great team,” period, the women need to prove themselves against five seed Georgetown, playing in what essentially is a home game in Baltimore, just a bit north of their D.C. stomping grounds. And they’ll have to do it without Niveen Rasheed ‘13, who Princeton lost for the season after an ACL injury in December. Still, head coach Courtney Banghart (another cool name!) seemed cool and confident in an interview with The Trentonian: “We are in it to win the game.” The long-term chances might not be great for the women (they’re in the same region as #1 UConn…), but any win would be huge. Go get ‘em!

Princeton Men’s Basketball

2010-2011 Rec0rd: 25-6

Seed: #13

First Round Game: #4 Kentucky, Tampa, FL @ 2:45 p.m. on Thursday

Broadcast: CBS

No matter how the tournament works out, the 2010-2011 season will always be remembered for the Pump ‘n’ Jump that sent the Tigers to the Tourney. The men’s team hasn’t been to the NCAA tournament since 2004. And they face some steep opposition in four seed Kentucky. But harken to the wisdom of Kareem Maddox ‘11, Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year and personal folk hero, speaking on the Tigers’ matchup against the Wildcats: “We’ll be the wildest cats there.” And remember: the last time Princeton was a 13 seed was 1996, when the Tigers — including a sprightly Sydney Johnson, now the coach of the men’s team — stunned #4 UCLA, the defending champions. So don’t lose hope! After all, we’ve got TigerBlood.

And the good news for the Tigers? Well, according to the folks running the Payscale.com bracket, of all the schools in the tournament, Princeton wins when it comes to potential earning after college, defeating Georgetown in the final, $102,000 to $94,900. So, at the risk of pushing the douche-o-meter all the way up to 11, at least we’ve got that going for us.

Mar 17, 2011

NCAA Tournament(s) Preview!

By Spencer Gaffney
Also posted in Sports Tagged , , , , , , Leave a comment

If you’re sticking around Princeton for Spring Break, or at least for this weekend, you’re in luck. Shops and restaurants all around town are lowering their prices to celebrate Pi Day Princeton, a celebration of Einstein and all things geeky.

In other words, now is the time to hit up Blue Point Grill, where the 3-course prix fixe menu will run you only $31.40 on Sunday and Monday. If you’re feeling practical, and you need to dry clean a sweater, bring it to Craft Cleaners or Pristine Fine Dry Cleaning on Saturday for the lovely price of  $3.14. Labyrinth will also be offering books priced at $3.14. Basically every store in town has some bargain for Pi Day.

Pi and pie! Buy a 3 pie at Chez Alice for $3.14 this weekend! (Image source: math.hope.edu)

Pi and pie! Buy a 3'' pie at Chez Alice for $3.14 this weekend! (Image source: math.hope.edu)

Other deals around town:

  • Bent Spoon is selling pints of ice cream for $3.14 (usually $8) if you bring in a new toothbrush donation for the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen.
  • Witherspoon Grill hosts “Einstein’s Happy Hour,” 3 – 6pm, from Friday through Monday, with $3.14 draft beers and $3.14 drink specials.
  • Massimo’s has a 10% discount on any pizza slice all weekend.
  • Twist offers free cherry “pi” filling toppings and free “genius dust”, better known as chocolate sprinkles (”Einstein’s favorite topping!” which, really, are we surprised that I can’t confirm that anywhere on the Internet?)
  • The U-Store on Nassau Street has an Einstein sale–25% off everything Einstein-related. This is an ideal situation for stocking up on Christmas gifts for your family, freshmen.

Even more Pi Day deals for those in need of new glasses, pi-shaped chocolate, or 1 1/4 pounds of lobster can be found at Pi Day’s website.

Mar 11, 2011

This weekend, everything is $3.14–or something like that.

By Angela Wu
Posted in Uncategorized One comment

If the new semester has you thinking about your upcoming workload, consider this. A new study shows that college students today spend only 16 percent of their time studying or in class and lab, far less than students in previous decades. Nine percent of their time is spent on working, volunteering or club activities, and the rest (75%) is on sleeping and socializing.

As a result, almost half of all undergraduates in the country show no academic gains in their first two years of college, and student performance gains are “disturbingly low,” according to the report. Thirty-six percent of students left college without any “significant improvement in learning,” as measured by performance on the Collegiate Learning Assessment.

The CLA is a test that “gauges critical thinking and analytic reasoning,” according to The Week. That means that the authors of the study didn’t measure learning in any specific field, but rather critical thinking ability, which critics say isn’t the best measure of a college education.

The average GPA of the students surveyed might surprise you: 3.2.

From ABC News:

“These are really kind of shocking, disturbing numbers,” says New York University professor Richard Arum, lead author of the book, published by the University of Chicago Press.

He noted that students in the study, on average, earned a 3.2 grade-point average. “Students are able to navigate through the system quite well with little effort,” Arum said.

The report is based on a book called Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses. It surveyed 3,000 students at 29 unnamed universities.

Jan 23, 2011

New report: College students only spend 16% of time studying or in class

By Angela Wu
Also posted in In the news Tagged , , 2 Comments
I wish I looked that good in a cheerleading uniform...or in a tiger suit, for that matter.

I wish I looked that good in a cheerleading uniform...or in a tiger suit, for that matter.

In the distance, when the light is just right and the wind is tousling their bright blonde wigs, they really do kind of look like cheerleaders.

It also helps if you squint. A lot.

They are the men of Princeton University’s Triangle Club, and they are advertising their 120th annual original musical production by taking their playful crossdressing to the streets – and your classrooms.

According to the Triangle website, their current show, Family Feudalism, features “hot tunes, high kicks, and heraldic ha-ha’s [that] are sure to lay siege to your funny bone.”

The show is this Friday and Saturday evening at 8 p.m. at McCarter Theatre. Tickets are $10 each, unless you saved that handy 2-for-1 ticket you got in your Frist mailbox. Student Events Eligible.

Nov 18, 2010

Triangle: Staying Sassy While Minding Their Manors

By Sarah Vitali
Also posted in Arts, Fun, Goings On Tagged , , , Leave a comment
If you, like me, are a senior looking for an eleventh hour SA, might I suggest MUS 259/LAS 259: Caribbean Music from Contradanza to Reggae, Salsa and Beyond

If you, like me, are a senior looking for an eleventh hour SA, might I suggest MUS 259/LAS 259: Caribbean Music from Contradanza to Reggae, Salsa and Beyond?

So, as most of you already know, today was the first day to cruise next semester’s course offerings.

Now you can stop focusing on those worn-out current courses and start looking ahead to the future!

6 weeks down, 6 to go.

You can do this, I swear.

Happy Fall Break!

Nov 4, 2010

Course Offerings Ho!

By Sarah Vitali
Posted in Uncategorized Leave a comment
Runyan

Jon Runyan

Even before the events of this past week, the U.S. Congressional race between Democratic incumbent John Adler and Republican challenger Jon Runyan wasn’t lacking for a compelling storyline.

Adler is a fast-talking lawyer trying to hold on to his seat in South Jersey’s right-leaning Third District; Runyan, the man seeking to unseat him, was until recently a Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle (who held the dubious distinction of being ranked as one of the NFL’s dirtiest players).

But over the past few days Adler, not Runyan, has taken heat for his allegedly unsporting behavior.  Last Friday, the Cherry Hill Courier-Post charged that operatives tied to Adler recruited a bogus “New Jersey Tea Party” candidate to appear on the ballot and siphon away votes from Runyan. Adler denied the allegations; Runyan went on the attack.

It all came to a head last night at the Cherry Hill Jewish Community Center, where the candidates debated for the first time since the Courier-Post story broke.  Read what happened in the New York Times.

(photo: Master Sgt. Dwayne Gordon, Wikimedia Commons)

Oct 12, 2010

IN PRINT: Dirty Jersey Politics

By David Walter
Also posted in In Print Tagged , , , , , Leave a comment

Oh my.

I knew things were heading south for Jane when she started talking. Top Model Jane doesn’t talk! Up until tonight’s episode, the show’s fifth, she’s been edited as a complete non-entity, a near-mute. Want proof? Someone on the Internet — not me, I swear — has strung together every single moment of screentime Jane’s gotten so far. If you have a minute and twenty-five seconds to spare, check out Jane’s episode three contributions in their entirety:

“Glorified extra” about sums it up.

But there Jane was, in tonight’s opening scene, no less, combining tonguetwists and lungbreath and repeated, vigorous jawflapping to produce the units of language most commonly known as “words.” Words! Unfortunately, these words were, “My father is a pulmonologist.” Then, in a confessional: “Growing up I was very fortunate. I haven’t had the struggles that other people have in their backgrounds. [What about Dean's Date, Jane?  What about Bicker?].”

Continue reading…

Oct 7, 2010

Top Model Recap: Plain Jane

By David Walter
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged , , , , , , , , , , One comment

In his first major endorsement as USG President, Michael Yaroshefsky ‘12 emailed the student body today to express his strong support for the Princeton Charter Club.

The announcement appeared at the bottom of a seemingly unrelated communication announcing a new student life survey.  Somewhat curiously, Yaroshefsky’s endorsement was written in invisible ink, and only became visible after this reporter highlighted the entire field of text:

yaro

What, you may ask, is this organization with which Yaroshefsky has so emphatically cast his lot?  According to its official website, Charter, one of Princeton University’s ten storied “Eating Clubs,” is “a place to relax and be among friends; it is clean and comfortable; it provides good food and a pleasant social atmosphere.”

In the past, USG executives have often shied away from such formal (and emphatic) endorsements.  Last year, a political scandal erupted after then-President Josh Weinstein ‘09 incorrectly implied in an email that President-elect Connor Diemand-Yauman ‘10 supported Vice Presidential candidate Mike Weinberg ‘11 in Weinberg’s race against Nick DiBerardino ‘11.

It’s currently unclear whether today’s endorsement will provoke a similar firestorm.

Continue reading…

Feb 16, 2010

Today in Politics: Yaroshefsky ‘12 endorses Princeton Charter Club

By David Walter
Also posted in In the news Tagged , , , , , Leave a comment