At least that's where they are just after 9 p.m. on the the night before Dean's Date.
One can imagine the librarians were not pleased. No word on where they are off to next.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Coming to a Trustee Reading Room near you...
Supreme Court Watch: The MSNBC short list
So say the wise ones at MSNBC:
"Obviously, folks can slice this list all they want: Five are women; one's Hispanic; one's male; and all are in their late 40s or early 50s, except two (Wood, 58, and Garland, 56). Keep an eye on Napolitano. For this pick, it would be surprising if Obama named someone he didn't either know well or trust personally. Wood, Kagan, and Napolitano all fit this bill (Wood taught at the University of Chicago with Obama, and Kagan and Napolitano already have top slots in the administration). As for Napolitano, remember that she endorsed Obama early on (despite Emily's List pressure to do otherwise). And from people familiar with the president's thinking, he's been as impressed with Napolitano as anyone in his cabinet. They click. That matters..."
Waitlisted No Longer
This admissions season, the New York Times has run a blog called "The Choice" which has included a series following high school seniors as they applied to schools and were accepted or rejected. One such student, Beth Zak-Cohen applied to Princeton and was put on the wait list. After examining all her acceptances, she decided to attend Rutgers, primarily for economic reasons.
She, however, is now one of 3.5% of the students on the University's waitlist who recently received offers of acceptance to Princeton. Read about her decision here.
Distractions Galore
Now that Dean's Date is approaching, I'm desperately trying to stay focused. But the more I try to stay focused, the more I try to distract myself. Because really, I don't want to write another conclusion. I don't even want to write another sentence. Except if I'm writing about ways to distract yourself. So here are a thousand distractions (true story) to make up for my lack of posts the past two weeks.
Jump on the Bandwagon:
tumblr: The best time to make a blog. And it's so easy to use. It's like blogging for dummies.
twitter: Because where else could you find out that John Mayer changed his pants and also give your friends a second by second update on what you're up to.
Addicting Shows:
Gossip Girl: A new episode tomorrow, before dean's date? I know I shouldn't, but...
Parks and Recreation: Okay, so it wasn't that funny in the beginning, but if you keep watching it, it gets funnier... (Or maybe it's been funny the entire time, and I just have an awful sense of humor?) An amazing cast with some really funny lines.
Shorter Study Breaks:
Aziz Ansari: Just youtube him. Okay, sure, I'm like way late in "discovering" him, but after watching Parks and Recreation and then watching him on Jimmy Kimmel, I haven't really been able to stop watching his videos. (You can also follow him on twitter!)
Human Giant: Okay, I guess just read the above.
David Blaine Parody Series: This is an oldie but goodie; I'm still surprised that so many people haven't watched it. So watch it!
SNL Shorts: Justin Timberlake hosted this Saturday, just in time for Dean's Date!
Okay, so maybe these aren't the best things to do the day before Dean's Date. But it's good to have options. And to all the engineers who don't have Dean's Date papers due, well, have fun putting off studying for exams.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Cotsen Children's Library - "Bookscape"
I'm not allowed to take photos of this place, and my writing will never sufficiently communicate how much I love this haven from the rest of campus. But E for enthusiasm?
Walk into Firestone, meander to the right short of the place where the librarians keep important stuff for adults, and one will stumble across the gem that is the Cotsen Children's Library. The rare books, shelved in a three-floor glass case to the right of the entrance, were donated to the University in 1997 by Lloyd E. Cotsen '50 - former chairman and CEO of Neutrogena.
To the left of the entrance is a gigantic blue book. Past this, one falls into something weird - relative to the rest of campus. The room is full of windows without panes, frog/butterfly wallpaper, and really soft red-orange couches. It feels like a mix between a kindergarten classroom and the toy store from Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
There's a gigantic tree you can walk into, a well that also has the Pete - Repete joke on it, and a handpuppet theater with Shakespeare's quote written on the top.
Small bookshelves, which are cute compared to the stacks beneath, hold titles like "The Golden Compass" and "Redwall" - stuff I can't read anymore because I split my time between procrastinating and staring at piles of unread e-reserves.
In the rare-books glass case, I found titles like "New England Primer" and "The Doll's Library." The books in here are available for researchers to study in the Dulles Reading Room.
The name "Bookscape" is apt - the place is a nice little getaway from the smells of the rest of campus when Dean's Date looms ahead. The small tables and chairs will remind you of the good old days when naps and storytime were a regular part of class.
Pictures online courtesy of Cotsen Children's Library: "Bookscape"
More from COS 333: MealSaver and a TigerFinder Update
The COS 333, Advanced Programming Techniques, required that students create group projects and present them at the end of the term. The result is websites and students designed by students often with the goal of filling a niche on campus. MealSaver and TigerFinder, Princeton's Maurader Map, are just two of the creations.
MealSaver
MealSaver was designed by Dan Strife '09, David Krueger '09, Maddie Lu '09, and Evan Kelly '10 to track meal exchanges between different eating clubs. Currently Tower, Cap and Gown and Cloister have agreed to work with the program. Instead of relying on members to remember the number of uncompleted exchanges they have participated in, the site plans to record exchanges and label they by balanced and unbalanced and offers email reminders about unbalanced exchanges. Clubs will also have access to this information so that they can bill their members at the end of the term.
The link above is the demo version of the site, which members of Tower, Cap and Cloister should have access to although it is currently without balance information or shows test data.
TigerFinder
Now that you've had time to sign up for TigerFinder, but suddenly need to finish your Dean's Date papers without being found, it turns out that there are ways to disable TigerFinder as well. You can quit the application, although this will continue to display your last known location for another 5 hours. You can also make yourself invisible by clicking the eye icon on the settings page.
A final version will launch on Dean's Date and offer functionality on all major operating systems (including Mac OS X Leopard), group functionality and more locations on campus. Don't worry, your beta account will carry over.
Friday, May 8, 2009
UPDATED: Odds even BETTER the next justice will be a Princetonian
Odds are good that the next justice to the U.S. Supreme Court will be a Princetonian. At least, that is the prediction made by D.C. public policy analyst Adam Kretz and the experts in Ireland.
Paddy Power Plc, the largest bookmaker in Ireland, says the top three favorites are:
Second Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor '76 (13:8); Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Diane Wood (9:4) and Solicitor General Elena Kagan '81 (4:1)
According to Kretz's predictions last week, Sotomayor's odds were 3:2, 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Kim Lane Wardlaw 5:1 and Kagan 8:1.
Sotomayor is widely considered to be the frontrunner for the post, though there are no leaks coming from the White House on this one.
Kretz also puts the current odds at 95 percent that President Obama’s first appointment to the Court will be a woman.
Predicting the future, The Daily Princetonian first reported about Sotoymayor and Kagan's placement on Obama's short list back in early April.
Lawnparties...in the flesh
A group of undergrads assemble right behind of Quad last Sunday afternoon at the concert of hip-hop group Gym Class Heroes, which headlined the 100th anniversary of Lawnparties.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Erica Greil '10 does Jeopardy-- and wins
Your final exams and Dean's Date papers may make you feel that you're in jeopardy, but only one Princeton student can say that she is on Jeopardy this Reading Period. Erica Greil '10 competed in the Jeopardy College Championships, which were taped in March but are airing this month. (The contestants were sworn to secrecy as to the winner.)
Greil's first show aired this afternoon, when the Hastings, Minn., native faced off against Larissa Charnsangavej of Rice and Anthony Dedousis of Harvard. She was in third place at the beginning of Final Jeopardy and wagered $10,047 of her $11,600 winnings. She answered correctly, catapulting her ahead of Charnsangavej and Dedousis to take the semi-finalist spot.
The semi-final will air Wednesday, May 13.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Beyond the Wa: Witherspoon Grill
Witherspoon Grill seemed like a cheery quintessentially Princeton establishment, with patrons chatting or looking comfortable as they lunched on traditional American fare outside on the public square. Thus I determined it’d be a terrific place to bring my cousins, aunt, and uncle for lunch when they visited this past weekend. The rain shattered any ideas of having lunch outside under the sun. It also contributed to the dim lighting inside which didn’t match the late brunch atmosphere. But on to the food:
I ordered the crab cake with chopped salad from the lunch menu. The presentation was weak: the plate had a washed out appearance. The chopped salad was nothing more than glorified coleslaw—slightly larger pieces of lettuce, carrot, and cucumber lathered in a light cream sauce. The crab cake had crispy browned edges and was appropriately flakey (all seafood is bought fresh from the Nassau Street Seafood). However I could barely discern the taste of the crab under the salty mayo mixture that held it together. The side sauce, a sort of tartar sauce, lent a bit more dimensionality to the test, but I found the meal disappointing.
My aunt and uncle each ordered a mushroom omelet and one of my cousins ordered a hamburger. Again, Witherspoon Grill delivered traditional, bordering on bland, items. My youngest cousin got the best plate by far—homemade macaroni and cheese baked with breadcrumbs on top. Unfortunately, you have to be under 12 for that dish. The portions are refreshingly reasonable—you’ll leave full, but not have leftovers.
Dessert however, is worthwhile. My other cousin and I each or
dered vanilla caramel ice cream, which Witherspoon Grill gets from Bent Spoon. The presentation was sleek, but the ice cream lacked the freshness of Bent Spoon ice cream straight from the Palmer Square shop. What Witherspoon Grill finally gets right is the ‘Warm Chocolate Peanut Butter Lava Cake.’ The warmed Lindt peanut butter gushes from the center as you break into it, and the chocolate cake, high quality peanut butter, and vanilla ice cream complement each other perfectly.
If you’re interested in traditional American fare, fresh food, and don’t want many frills or surprises, Witherspoon Grill is for you. If you’re interested in creative, flavorful food, take your patronage elsewhere.
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