By Morgan Jerkins '14
Since this is the time of the year where one reflects on blessings, I began to think about all the pleasant things that Princeton offers. We have the Writing Center to help us refine our papers, the McGraw Center for academic workshops, and language tables for, you guessed it---foreign language practice. But there are a few guilty pleasures about Princeton that I am more than thankful for:
1. Quesadillas w/ Chipotle Sauce at Late Meal: I know this is going to make myself look like a glutton, but the quesadillas at late meal are out of this world! I admit, I don’t really go to late meal as much as I should. But the times that I do go, I realize that late meal has some sort of inexplicable energy that I can’t find in dining halls. One evening, I wanted to try something different than the sushi or mac & cheese that I usually purchase. I ordered the chicken quesadillas. I told the chef that I wanted sour cream and salsa on the side, but instead she gave me sour cream and chipotle. I figured I’d be daring and dipped the tip of my quesadilla in the chipotle. I swear, I thought there was an explosion going on in my mouth! Even though I’ve lived in New Jersey all my life, I’ve never tried chipotle sauce. So folks, please, even if you are ever running over time on a chem lab or plugging in the hours on a paper, please go buy the quesadillas with chipotle sauce. It is good for the soul.
2. Study Breaks: Every single day there is a study break from Thai food to frozen yogurt to Korean food and much, much, more. Perhaps I am so excited because I am only a freshman but when I talk to friends from other schools, they are green with envy about this generosity. Not only can you fill your stomach but you can also mingle with people that you may not have seen all day—or all week.
3. Princeton Men—Sorry, I had to do it. Even though it has only been two months since my debut blog post, I have matured a bit since then. Patience has taught me a lesson. Now, Princeton dating may get a lot of flack because some guys are considered “cold”, “socially awkward,” “[fill-in-the-blank]”, but I made one great observation during a formal party recently: Princeton men can really work suits. In fact, they can work just about anything. College reviews underrate Princeton guys and paint a picture of homely nerds who are completely detached from reality. Regardless, I am appreciative and grateful.
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Thank you to the Office of Sustainability, once again, for giving me something to laugh about. This time it is for taping posters made of A3 size high quality paper outside of every single person's door in Whitman and Scully who did not have the foresight to respond to an e-mail withdrawing from this otherwise automatic participation in the "Pull the Plug" campaign. Perhaps the green team just got confused and momentarily forgot that its goal is to sustain the environment rather than destroy it while invading dormitories and terrorizing students. I am not going overboard with the terror factor either. The posters threaten that any student who does not pull the plug on their refrigerators and televisions over break will have his or her name plastered on a list of shame in the entry of their dormitory. "All those who do not pull the plug in this hall will have their name listed in the entry way after recess!" Oh goody. I hope they highlight my name in pink because I have every intention of returning from break to a fridge full of cold sodas. Although I will take the time to recycle the poster.
-The Blogstress
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By Aaron Applbaum '14
In high school I had the nasty habit of leaving all my long-term assignments to the last possible minute. My work was pretty manageable; I could get away with procrastination and receive the grades I desired. I figured that my habit would naturally dissipate as my academic environment grew more rigorous. Surely, the positive influence of my responsible Princeton-peers would rub off on me and I too could be the diligent student I wished to be. I could not have been more mistaken.
The propensity to push assignments off is more ubiquitous here then at my high school (granted that my observations of students is from a sampling that constitutes but a fraction of the Princeton community). Just about everyone here seems to suffer from the same last-minute oriented disposition. The students of Princeton University seem to exhibit a very special blend of lethargy, ADD (often Internet induced), busy over-booked schedules and the proven ability to ultimately “pull it off.” I have spoken with students from every grade here and the overwhelming ethos seems to be that work is meant to be done as close to the deadline as is manageable. In the elegant and truthful words of my friend Lucas Baradello: “what is left to the last minute, will only take a minute.” Perhaps I should be disappointed that it may be too late to change. But then again, I suppose it is not wise to fix that which is not broken.
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By Brandon Davis '13
In the context of No Fat Talk Week and other initiatives that tackle our society’s unrealistic expectations for female bodies, I felt it appropriate to address this self-image issue from the male perspective.
It’s been three thousand years since the time of the ancient Greeks, but our society still worships the kouros. Maybe the Greeks had the ideal male right. Maybe we really should be tall, muscular and gruff. But at five-feet, four inches and 125 pounds, I find this Brad Pitt look just as unattainable as a slightly overweight woman might find Angelina Jolie.
I wonder if I’m the only man though who glances at the covers of GQ or Men’s Fitness with hopelessness and helplessness. Men are taught how we should look just as much as women are – Disney teaches girls that they need a prince; Disney teaches boys they have to be the prince. And let’s face it: most of us are no Prince Charming.
There are, of course, plenty of advantages to being fun-sized. Just last Christmas, my nineteen-year-old self entered the MoMA for free on a ticket priced for sixteen-year-olds and under. No fake ID necessary.
Still, the little perks of being little hardly make up for a general feeling of inadequacy. It’s very hard to get any respect when you look like a seventh grader. Not to mention the actual seventh grader’s more serious self-esteem issues.
Our society makes many small prejudices that generally go unquestioned – against extra-buff athletes or tiny, blonde sorority girls in precept, for example. With the mini-controversy this No Fat Talk Week has created, I hope we can expand the debate about body issues and self-image to include the rest of us misfits as well.
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Public Safety is searching for a man who stole an iPhone from a student's room in Wright Hall Monday morning while that student was taking a shower, Public Safety officials said.
The male student left his room at about 9:30 a.m. to take a shower and returned 15 minutes later to find someone leaving his unlocked dorm room with his iPhone.
The suspect is a Hispanic or Latino man, 20-24 years old and was seen wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt and brown pants, according to a Campus Crime Alert sent by Public Safety. The man had short hair and was 5’3” to 5’4” tall.
“Detectives are actively working it and hope to get some feedback from the community,” Public Safety Capt. Donald Reichling said in an e-mail.
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By Morgan Jerkins '14
As I sat in Frist 302, I saw Dr. Cornel West and Rabbi Webb walk in together with friendly countenances. I knew that this event was going to involve unity and cordiality. Jacob Loewenstein ’11, the Vice President of Chabad, set the tone with his quirky rules, such as calling out instead of raising hands. Dr. West and Rabbi Webb faced each other for a few seconds until Dr. West took it upon himself to start the lecture. A late-night conversation around a dinner table inspired Dr. West to fully convey how his whole being derives from the “prophetic, Judaic tradition.” Rabbi Webb, his “Jewish brother” represents the wisdom, knowledge, and connection of Judaism.
Rabbi Webb began his speech with the definition of a Hasid while Dr. Cornel West looked on, enthralled, and nodded his head with each statement that Rabbi Webb made. Their voices projected sheer enthusiasm, passion, and experience. Their gesticulations helped me to see the progression and fluidity of their dense philosophies. What kind of human being would you like to be? Dr. West looked out into the audience as he posed this inquiry. It was the only question that was not met with an astute response. When the Q & A began, the audience hesitated to ask a question; with impeccable timing, Loewenstein justified this silence by stating that the audience was overwhelmed with the wisdom of the two speakers.
Not only did I did learn about the idea of catastrophes within the works of Kafka and Shakespeare, the vicissitudes of life, and Yiddish proverbs, I felt enlightened as a human being. I do not need to reiterate how powerful Dr. West and Rabbi Webb are as speakers, but I will write this: I was not just sitting in on a lecture, I was on a journey.
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By Suchi Mandavilli '14
A few days before Elizabeth Edwards died, her daughter Cate Edwards ’04 told her the good news of her engagement to longtime boyfriend Trevor Upham ’03. Upham, a physician, and Edwards, an anti-discrimination lawyer, started dating at Princeton and continued their relationship after graduation.
Elizabeth Edwards died Tuesday after a six-year battle with breast cancer. At Elizabeth Edwards’ funeral service Saturday, Cate delivered a eulogy in which she called her mother a “lighthouse to all,” and Upham acted as a pallbearer.
The couple got engaged after spending Thanksgiving weekend in the Edwards’ home in Chapel Hill, N.C. According to People’s report of a close friend, “Elizabeth was thrilled.”
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Over the next 10 days, the Prox will be recapping one year in Princeton sports from the 1950s. Why? Well, as we near the end of 2010, why not take a look back 60 some odd years and see what sports looked like before many of our parents were born. We start, unsurprisingly, with 1950.
By Hilary Bartlett '12
Though the tradition of sportsmanship and excellence remains unchanged, Princeton athletics in 1950 barely resemble the Princeton athletics of today. Though certain sports teams like football and basketball were comprised of committed athletes in 1950 as they are today, Princeton also fielded teams in smaller, lesser-known sports on a much more casual basis. In many ways these teams operated similarly to Princeton’s current club sports, which have informal practices and fewer competitions.Sports like polo, riflery, cricket, and box lacrosse cropped gained University support in an era of Princeton athletics defined more by the “casual, all-around sportsman,” than the highly-competitive, single-sport athlete.
1950 marked the first full year of competition for Princeton’s budding rifle team, for example. The squad competed in “postal matches,” according to a 1950 issue of the Daily Princetonian, which means that all firing was done on the team’s home range and results were communicated to opposing teams by mail to determine the winner. Harvard was the only Ivy League school to outshoot the Tigers at the William Randolph Hearst National Rifle Matches, where Princeton placed 18th out of 73.
In more conventional college sports, however, 1950 was a very successful year for Princeton. George Chandler ’51 captained the Princeton Football team to an undefeated season in which Princeton won the Lambert Trophy as the top team in the East and was named the national champion by leading polls. Dick Kazmaier ’52, the future Heisman Trophy winner, was named an All-American for the 1950 season, and Princeton head coach Charles Caldwell ’25 was elected National Coach of the Year.
Men’s basketball won the Eastern Intercollegiate Championship in 1950 and to demonstrate the team’s balanced play, for the first time in history the entire starting line-up won the B. Franklin Bunn Trophy, the annual award presented to Princeton’s most outstanding player. Princeton’s 1950 offense became the highest-scoring unit in school history with 1307 points in 23 games and its five starters were known as the “iron-men” for their strong play.
As I was rummaging through Daily Princetonian archives, I found a letter written to the editor by the “iron men” that requested “the Undergraduate body to refrain from booing opposing teams and referees at basketball games.” Though the level of competition in college sports across the country has increased since 1950 and Princeton itself has moved away from cultivating the “casual, all-around sportsman,” Princeton’s 1950 men’s basketball team exemplifies the combination of athletic excellence and sportsmanship that Princeton will forever strive to instill in its student-athletes, regardless of the decade.
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By Caleb Kennedy '14
Five Columbia students were recently busted by the NYPD for allegedly running a drug ring on campus. The narcotics task force that brought them down, entitled Operation: Ivy League, alleges that the frat boys sold undercover authorities $11,000 worth of marijuana, cocaine, Aderall, and LSD. Chris Coles, Harrison David, Adam Klein, and Jose Stephan Perez are all 20. Michael Wymbs is 22. Authorities say these deals went down at the Columbia fraternities Alpha Epsilon Pi, Pi Kappa Alpha, and Psi Upsilon. Their specialty was LSD painted onto Altoids and SweetTarts.
The five were arrested this morning for possession of half a pound of marijuana and $2,000 in cash. NYPD also arrested five of the dealer’s alleged suppliers, one of whom allegedly plotted to kidnap and torture rival cocaine dealers.
In response to the drug raid, one Columbia fraternity has updated a posting of their agenda to include "Don't sell drugs out of the frat house,” with a note attached adding, "Adam should have followed this rule."
This comes following the October bust of two 18 year Georgetown students for allegedly attempting to create a meth lab in their freshman dorm and distribute the drugs. Authorities said they found such items as dry ice, ammonia, lighter fluid, and a turkey baster in the room and described the scene as "potentially highly flammable and explosive."
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Dear Angela Hodgeman and the Office of Sustainability,
On Monday, December 20th between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.: There is no way in hell University personnel and students will enter my room to do a sustainability survey. The staff will check each room (except mine) for energy savings. All surveys will be visually performed and no personal belongings will be touched. Except for my stuffed animals, which you and your sustainability cronies will probably molest. Furthermore, there will be NO PENALTIES OR FINES for anything visually observed during the survey. Except the trauma my clan of radioactive hermit crabs will feel when you separate them from their mommy. You say my presence will not be necessary during the survey? Well, your presence will not be necessary in my room, thank you very much. Actually, you know what? How's this for a deal. If I let you into my room to judge its sustainability, then you let me into your room to do the same. And have no doubts that I will be judging you personally for each plastic bag, each gratuitous rubber band and can of soda I find in the joint. If you do not wish for me to personally enter your room and adjudicate on your private space, you can opt out. But I hope you don't. Please email iseestupidpeople@princeton.edu - stating your building and room number and that you wish to have your abode skipped over – If you email by 12 p.m. morning of Friday, Dec 17th, I will not enter your room and hide under your bed. If you have any questions, please contact sustainordie@princeton.edu.
Thank you,
The Blogstress
The email sent at 10:43 AM on Dec. 9
Subject: Sustainability Audit
This email is being sent on behalf of the Office of Sustainability. Please do not reply to this email.
Dear Undergraduates,
On Monday, December 20th between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.: University personnel and students will enter all rooms in your building to do a sustainability survey. The staff will check each room for energy savings. All surveys will be visually performed and no personal belongings will be touched. Furthermore, there will be NO PENALTIES OR FINES for anything visually observed during the survey. Your presence will not be necessary during the survey. If you do not wish for University personnel and students to enter your room for this sustainability survey, you can opt out. Please email sustain@princeton.edu - stating your building and room number and that you wish to have your room skipped over – If you email by 12 p.m. morning of Friday, Dec 17th, the staff and students will not enter your room for this survey. If you have any questions, please contact sustain@princeton.edu.
Thank you,
Princeton Sustainability Office
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Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net
Happy almost Thursday, go kill some puppies in bio-degradable bags! It's not being mean, it's being green.
-The Blogstress
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Personally, I'm all for shooting a few back with my professors. Nothing like a round of Bacardi 151 to take the edge off grade deflation. But Jacques Berlinerblau, associate professor of biblical studies at Georgetown University, stands between Professor West and my game of flip cup. On Dec. 5, Berlinerblau wrote a helpful blurb for the Chronicle of Higher Education, absolutely not based on personal experiences, outlining the dos and donts of professorial drunkenness. He warns his colleagues:
"Students are better at this game than you are. Getting Professor X to do vodka shots will be an awesome, transformative, even educational, experience for them. For you, it will be the single most humiliating experience of your career. And if you disregard my advice, rest assured that picture of you holding a red plastic cup in one hand and a copy of Kingsley Amis’ Lucky Jim (upside down) will be posted to YouTube."
Berlinerblau suggests that professors refrain from drinking with their own graduate students, although randos they might meet at the zoo are fine. Also, when possible, drink heavily at other universities rather than your own. But seriously, professors, how do you want to be remembered by your students? The guy who made each two hundred person lecture for thirty years buy his book from which he assigned a 10 page long reading, or the super fun professor who drank beer before liquor before grading a paper?
-The Blogstress
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By Kash Rajagopal '14
The college application process seems remarkably straightforward: craft your personal statement into a ticket to one of the nation’s most prestigious universities. The essay is a window into your soul…really just a simple litmus test by the ad-coms to ensure you’re sufficiently accomplished, but humble, well-balanced but impassioned. Naturally, your essay should aim to be poignant but certainly never mawkish, and show how you, young wunderkind, have grappled with life’s unanswerable questions. Cheers!For the few that don’t find this request particularly transparent, www.EssayExchange.org provides some clarity. The website serves as an application essay bazaar, where students can learn from successful essays. For a meager $7.50, students can read previous essays accepted by Ivy League schools, Stanford, and MIT. Its founders, Harvard Business school alumni, wanted to “level the playing field” in a world of $40,000 private tutors and test-prep agencies. However, CEO Rory O’Connor wants to inform colleges around the country about his website and collaborate with them to ensure students don’t Turnitin to a plagiarism hotspot. O’ Connor believes his blossoming website may just revolutionize the college admissions process.
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By Catherine Ku '14
The Harvard Corporation, the governing body of the Cambridge school, has added term limits and additional members in the first major reform since its founding in 1650. The changes come in response to faculty and alumni accusations of a lack of communication between the corporation and the Harvard community.According to a report of the Governance Review Committee, the body will increase the number of members from seven to 13 and institute a term limit of six years with a maximum six-year extension. Numerous committees will also be formed from the corporation to expand the “breadth and depth” of particular issues.
While Harvard’s corporation will remain the smallest of that of its peer institutions, the changes will make the it more similar to the other governing bodies.
By comparison, Princeton’s Board of Trustees numbers anywhere from 23 to 40 members with three categories of trustees. The Board elects Charter Trustees and Term Trustees to terms of 10 and four years, respectively while alumni elect 13 Alumni Trustees to four-year terms. A member of the senior class and a Graduate School alumnus are also included on the Board.
The Harvard Corporation’s division into committees reflects Princeton’s current structure. Currently, the Board divides into ten subcommittees, which address issues ranging from student life to university resources. Additional committees are created when the need arises.
Harvard hopes the new changes will lead to increased transparency and flow of ideas between the governing body and the University.
“The fact is that all parts of the University have been asked to look themselves in the mirror, reassess how they might do their job to the optimal degree, and it’s only natural that we should do the same thing,” Corporation senior fellow Robert D. Reischauer said.
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By Nathan Mathabane '13
I entered the lower levels of Firestone Library for the first time today. I’ve always heard people say “Oh yeah, I’ve spent most of the day deep in Firestone,” but until today I could only imagine what they meant. If there’s one thing that I will take away from this day spent in the depths of the library, it is this: Firestone is one of the most outrageous buildings I have ever entered. From the miles of ancient tomes that stretch throughout its bowels to the hundreds of cozy blue cells that form a prison-like matrix across the B and C floors, Firestone’s accoutrements surely mark it as a ludicrous lair of learning. There are nooks and crannies in that place that probably have not felt the tread of a human foot for decades. My friend and I joked that we could likely fall asleep in some remote region of the library and not be discovered for hours. How crazy is that?
Aside from the sheer area of the library, its age and upkeep further add to its absurdity. Some of the doorknobs were obviously installed more than half a century ago, in addition to some of the curiously faded pictures on the walls. I passed by an elevated view of 19th century New York and couldn’t help but wonder, “Why the hell is this here?” The number of oddities one encounters is endless. In the span of just 10 minutes, I faced fluorescent light tubes, wooden swords, and even an abandoned drinking fountain. Yes, this drinking fountain was just hanging out on the floor in some forsaken hallway, who knows why.
All of these pointless discoveries have brought me closer to our University library than I ever thought possible. I went from viewing Firestone as some place of dread which swallowed undergraduates into its stone-cold maw to seeing it for what it really is: an epic architectural marvel which has been provided for our use. So, the next time that you find yourself in Firestone, take some time to look around. You might never leave.
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Linking to WikiLeaks could cost you a government position. Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs (SIFA) forwarded an e-mail to their students Dec. 2 with a warning. Posting WikiLeaks on social media sites manifests an inability to potentially keep government secrets. The Office of Career Students received this warning from an alumnus and consequently notified the student body.
The e-mail said, "The documents released during the past few months through Wikileaks are still considered classified documents. He recommends that you DO NOT post links to these documents nor make comments on social media sites such as Facebook or through Twitter. Engaging in these activities would call into question your ability to deal with confidential information, which is part of most positions with the federal government."
I've always considered government positions rather tempting. Bureaucracy is sexy. Lord knows, my Inbox is flooded every day with fantastic offers from the White House. So hopefully The Prox doesn't count as a social networking site and I will not have to give up all my job offers. I suppose we will see soon enough!
So here goes...
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By Jacob Reses '13
Last year, I schlepped my Xbox 360 with me to school, figuring that I might turn it on occasionally for a round of Call of Duty with friends from home over Xbox Live. By the end of the year, though, I’d barely gotten any use out of the thing. It served as little more than an extra DVD player in my quad’s common room.
Given that the Xbox seemed to have had no impact on my productivity, I figured that I’d be safe bringing along my Wii this year. No dice. Word to the wise: If you want to get any work done here, it’s a bad idea to have easy access to pick-up-and-play Nintendo games. Unlike a lot of games on other platforms, which ostensibly demand longer play sessions, Nintendo’s efforts are deceptive time sinks. You go in thinking that you’re going to play one four minute level of Mario Bros. or one round of Wii Sports, and before you know it, you’ve been spending hours in front of the TV, having moved on to Mario Kart and Smash Bros.
I’ve been too busy for the last two weeks to allow myself to indulge too much, but now I’ve got my roommates hooked. One of them has spent ten hours and nine minutes on the machine in the last two days according to the Wii’s message board, and that figure is sure to go up before tomorrow.
Please, do yourselves a favor. Don’t ask for a Wii this holiday season. It’ll only cause you pain and suffering (and lost sleep). Get a 360 instead.
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By Morgan Jerkins '14
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