To the outside world, Firestone Library is a rather elusive entity. The same, however, could still be said of the many students who congregate at the library’s underground floors and study areas, but are still rather unaware of the many treasures it contains. The walls, hallways, and sitting areas are filled with artwork and details which help define Firestone. These many non-literary objects are allegorical to many different areas of knowledge, somehow interconnected to the information found in the myriad of texts that stack the building. They inspire some type of intellectual curiosity, interesting epiphany, or even a quick chuckle. Since pictures of the library are impermissible, here is a brief description of a few treasure spots in Firestone:
1) “Memorable Moments in Princeton History”: A display containing historical documents, pictures, and ancient college memorabilia that illustrate the university’s history. It ends with the snapshot of a 2001 issue of Esquire magazine, where Princeton students posed in designer clothes for a fashion spread entitled “This Side of Paradise”.
2) Greek Mosaic: Found at the foot of the stairs arriving at the A level, this is very noticeable but few students ever stop to read its caption. The mosaic was obtained from an excavation of The House of the Sun Dial at Daphne, in Antioch, Greece. It dates back to the 3rd century AD.
3) Statue of Edgar Allan Poe & The Raven: Located in the C level, next to the English Language Program’s offices, it is by Olof BjÖrkman. It makes reference to “The Raven”, a poem published by the illustrious American writer in 1845. If you are looking for an ominous narrative with an elaborately musical rhyme scheme, this is would be an interesting read.
4) Statue of the “Head of Balzac”: Sculpted by Auguste Rondin, it is a depiction of Honoré de Balzac, the great 19th century French writer and author of The Human Comedy –a compilation of 95 short stories, essays and novels that depict societal life in post-revolutionary France. A very extensive but multi-faceted work that should be interesting to all students of French literature.
These are only a few of the many objects which one can serendipitously come across in Firestone. Next time you talk a walk through the library, see what you come across –maybe it will spark something you’ve never considered before.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Hidden Campus -- Firestone: Exposed
20 Sweet: Mashups
Since so many mashups are being produced these days -- from incredibly catchy ones, to ones that literally hurt your ears -- it’s tough to know which ones are actually worth listening to. We thought we’d give you…well, a mashup of our favorite mashups. This list contains a variety of different types of mashups, from ones that just use two songs, to ones that use over 30 songs, to ones that sample a single song and place original vocals over it. We'd love to hear of your favorite mashups too, so feel free to post your own suggestions. Enjoy!
1. “Bounce That” – Girl Talk
2. “I F***ing Bleed Purple and Gold” – Super Mash Bros.
3. “All My Scrubs” – The Hood Internet (TLC vs. Led Zeppelin)
4. “Heart to Heart” – Milkman
5. “No Taylor No Scar” – Norwegian Recycling
6. “City is Mine vs. Brick” – Mother Earth Remixes (Jay-Z vs. Ben Folds)
7. “Sexual High” – Go Home Productions (Marvin Gaye vs. Radiohead)
8. “30’s 40’s and Funny Stories” – Jonathan Meyers ‘12
9. “Here’s the Thing” – Girl Talk
10. “The Pachelbel Mashup” – Norwegian Recylcing
11. “Club Love” – 99allins (Taylor Swift vs. Usher)
12. “Superbowl Jesus” – The Hood Internet (Kanye West vs. Wilco)
13. “Party and Bullshit in the U.S.A.” – Hathbanger (Miley Cyrus vs. Notorious B.I.G.)
14. “Riding Solo” – Jason Derulo (features “Bittersweet Symphony” by the Verve)
15. “Dirt Off Your Shoulders vs. Beverly Hills” – Mother Earth Remixes (Jay-Z vs. Weezer)
16. “Fresher Than” – Jonathan Meyers
17. “Good Morning” – Chamillionaire (features “Free Fallin’” by Tom Petty)
18. “@LaurenConrad Get Us On the Hills!” – Super Mash Bros.
19. “Circle of Fifths” – Milkman
20. “Play Your Part (Part 1)” – Girl Talk
Special thanks to Becca Lee ’12 for her song contributions. Most of these mashups can be heard on Youtube.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Ivy Watch: Building an edible car
Ivy Watch—Informative and entertaining news from around the Ivy League
Brown:
Engineers Build Edible Car
At last week’s Edible Car Competition, Brown University’s Society of Women Engineers and the Division of Engineering divided into 20 teams in an effort to assemble a functional and entirely edible car in one hour. The car parts included pumpkins, Life Savers, zucchini, and rice cakes. Food Network star Bob Blumer joined the Brown students and faculty in the competition.
Columbia:
Columbia with Lion’s Share of Flu Vaccine
In New York City, Barnard University is currently out of flu vaccine, while just across Broadway, Columbia University has an excess of it. The university has so much extra vaccine that Columbia University Health Services is holding flu shot fairs where students and faculty can receive vaccines for free. This imbalance holds true for the H1N1 vaccine as well: Although not yet available to students, the vaccine has arrived at Columbia, while Barnard’s schedule of shipments has yet to be determined.
Cornell:
Cornell Professor Appointed to Indian Government Position
Cornell University economics professor Kaushik Basu has been named chief economic advisor to India’s Ministry of Finance. In order to further improve India’s economy and alleviate the country’s widespread poverty, Basu suggests investing in free health care, education, and financial support for the poor. While working for the Indian government, Basu will take a two-year leave of absence from the university.
Dartmouth:
Dartmouth Lacks Scholars
In recent decades, fewer Dartmouth University students have applied for and been awarded Marshall, Mitchell, and Rhodes Scholarships. Compared to the 50 or so students who apply for the awards annually from peer institutions like Harvard, Dartmouth typically has 10 to 12 applicants and even fewer winners. The university ranks sixth in the Ivy League in terms of the number of Rhodes scholarships won in the last decade.
Harvard:
HUTV Gets $12K
The Harvard University Undergraduate Council granted Harvard Undergraduate Television (HUTV) $12,000 to support the 12 campus TV shows it manages. Of the unprecedented $12,000, $9,000 will go towards new video equipment, and the rest will cover the operating costs for all 12 shows.
UPenn:
Library Utilizes Texting
On October 1, the University of Pennsylvania’s libraries launched their new texting services to improve communication between students and librarians. The texting capability was an addition to Penn Libraries’ existing chat and instant-message services. Although only 34 text messages have been received since the service’s inception, Penn’s librarians believe it will be the most effective form of communication.
Yale:
Memorial Service Held for Narcisse
This past Saturday, a memorial service was held on Long Island for Yale University sophomore Andre Narcisse who was found dead in his dorm room November 1. Narcisse was a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy, and Reverend Robert Thompson, the school minister, spoke at the reception. The cause of death is still unknown.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Figures of Speech: Welcome back!
"Is Israeli-Palestine Peace Possible?"
Tuesday, Nov 10, 4:30 PM – 1 hour – Lectures
East Pyne 010
Dr. Gershon Baskin, the Israeli CEO and founder of the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI), will discuss the challenges our world faces regarding the on-going conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
Full Court Press: the Supreme Court, the Media, and Public Understanding
Wednesday, Nov 11, 4:30 PM – 1 hour, 30 minutes – Lectures
Dodds Auditorium, Robertson Hall
This event will be a panel discussion with the following panelists:
- Jeffrey Toobin, staff writer for The New Yorker; CNN senior legal analyst; author of "The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court"
- Dahlia Lithwick, Slate.com senior editor and legal correspondent
- Adam Liptak, Supreme Court correspondent, The New York Times
- Emily Bazelon, Yale Law School senior research scholar affiliated with Center for Law and Media; Slate.com senior writer and editor
- Moderator: Paul Starr, Stuart Professor of Communications and Public Affairs in the Woodrow Wilson School; Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs, Princeton University
Productive Scholar: Introduction to Matlab
Thursday, Nov 12, 12:00 PM – 1 hour – Lectures
Frist Multipurpose Room A
May Jean Cheah, a graduate student in Chemical Engineering, will teach you some nifty tricks in MATLAB to show you what a an amazing tool it can be. Get over your fear of "programming" and go to this useful workshop!
Princeton Price Comparison Round 2: School Supplies
Evening, everyone. Welcome back from Fall Break! Tonight, we’ve got round two of the Princeton Price Comparison. Last week, we compared prices of various junk food products sold at the Wawa, CVS, and U-Store to determine the cheapest vendor. Results were inconclusive, so we’re hoping that we can gain some valuable insights this week.
We’ve got a slightly modified format for tonight: we’re comparing the prices of school supplies, but, since the Wawa only really sells basic food and drink, we’ll only be comparing the prices of the CVS and U-Store.
But first, let me address, a commenter’s question from last week: “For food items, how does the U-store membership factor in?” Membership is a slightly tricky issue. There’s a $25 up-front fee to join, but once you’re a member, you’re entitled to 10% off most store items. Basically, it becomes economically sensible to become a U-Store member if the amount you spend on your purchases, in our case food, with 10% deducted plus the $25 cover charge would be less than what you would pay full price.
You’re probably wondering whether it’s even worth becoming a member with a $25 cover charge. Lucky for you, I’ve done the math. Basically, it’s only worth becoming a U-Store member only if purchase $250 or more worth of merchandise. But I digress… on to this evening’s business.
1 Subject notebook
CVS – 5.19
U-Store – 3.50
Advantage: U-Store
10 no. 2 lead pencils
CVS – 1.49
U-Store – 1.50
Advantage: Even
100 index cards
CVS – 2.19
U-Store – 1.00
Advantage: U-Store
Portfolio 3-star folder
CVS – 2.69
U-Store – 1.50
Advantage: U-Store
Weekly Planner
CVS – 4.39
U-Store – 8.95
Advantage: CVS
Stapler
CVS – 9.49
U-Store – 12.25
Advantage: CVS
Interesting. The U-Store appears to have CVS licked in the majority of categories and by a decent margin. But if you look closely, you’ll notice an interesting trend. On “smaller” products (such as paperclips and pencils), the U-Store clearly has better prices. On most “bigger” products (planner and stapler), however, CVS’s prices are so much lower that they offset the U-Store’s better “small product” prices. From this, we can draw our first conclusion from the study:
It’s probably better to purchase “smaller” school supplies (paperclips, notebooks, pencils) at the U-Store than at the CVS.
Yea! We’ve made some progress! Of course, we don’t know entirely for sure because of the small sample size. But hopefully, as more products are tagged and surveyed, we can start to get a better idea for general trends. Until next week…
Burstein, partner marry in Connecticut
Executive Vice President Mark Burstein and partner David Calle were married Friday in Darien, Conn.
The ceremony was officiated at Darien's Town Hall by Justice of the Peace Mary Pugh.
As executive vice president, Burstein is the University's chief administrative officer, and his office oversees campus life, facilities, human resources, audit and compliance, university services as well as safety and administrative planning.
Burstein is also chair of the board of directors of the Victory Group, which provides support for gay and lesbian political candidates. He is also a trustee at Vassar College, his alma mater. He received an MBA from Penn.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
"Not a Princeton Type"
Justice Antonin Scalia on his Princeton application (4:49):
"I didn't feel discrimination ... Only once did I, and I'm not sure it was. I applied to get into Princeton, and you had to have an interview with a Princeton alumni, and I was just not a Princeton type, let's face it. I'm not sure it was Italian-American or New York, one or the other."
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