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E-PrinceAt a time when millions of workers aspiring to the bourgeois fantasy of having a stable income are unable to fulfill their primary needs, there has never been a more potent time for the uniquely Princetonian ritual of Bicker to ...(back to the article)
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are pickups/initiations are any diff for bicker clubs vs sign-ins?
Brilliant.
Princeton Bicker & Bickerees = pwned
Good work. I wonder how many commenters will suggest you take prozac or a stick out of your ass as usual.
I see someone just got a new thesaurus
melodramatic.
As a non-club member but perfectly happy Princetonian, I was so irritated to read yet another one-sided rant about the bicker process and eating clubs. And so I clicked on the author’s name to discover that such rhetorical critiques of everyone and everything are seem to be the standard—albeit very well written. Here is a sampling:
“Death of a Salesman”: In search of a “real” social life, one goes abroad to have the revelation that banking is not the best path, and thank God Princeton offers alternatives! (This is the most even-keeled of the articles, notably one of the earliest.)
“Hypocrites without Boarders”: One can have a love-hate relationship with activism. Result= all Princeton demonstrations are self-aggrandizing. (I somewhat agree.)
“The Remains of the Day”: A critique of the “mini-democracy”of Princeton student government. “Princeton students who have never been out of the country, whose friends have always been white and heterosexual and who fear godlessness everywhere vote under ragtag, meaningless one-liners such as "loves God and Country," "not a socialist" and "because my parents said so."” Hmm maybe, but they don’t win…
And now THIS, “Let Us Eat Cake”: A loose, rhetorical comparison of bicker and the selfish elitism of Wall Street, with no mention of any obvious pros to legitimize the claim. Let’s break this down:
Comparing those who can still “dish out extravagant amounts of money for wine, women, and song” during the economic crisis to Princeton club members is a gross oversimplification. Without going into details about the abundant financial aid that is available to those who need it when entering a club, it suffices to say that where Wall Streeters depend of the social hierarchies of financial networking, club-members do not. And, do you honestly believe that members think of later economic gain over a dynamic social life when they bicker? The Princeton alumni network alone carries such great weight already.
The author declares: “It’s still all about the irresponsible, smug, gleeful festivities that reek of elitism. The mess left behind, the detritus strewn all over the place, with full awareness that in the morning somebody — someone else — will clean up after them.”
Again, not to mention the fact that new club members (or officers) are required to rotate rounds of cleaning on any open night, I would like the say that there is far more to the eating clubs than their function as a social scene. In my own experience, club member friends are consistently involved in campus activities or community service. And so, if doing service with your friends (or club) means that you are more likely to coach a youth team or be able to alternate tutoring weeks for a young student, so be it.
There is much to be critical of regarding the eating clubs: the various TYPES of bicker, all of which could use amendments, or their level of involvement with the University. Even their recycling could use some work! But such a generalized article simply feeds to the alternate stereotype that all those NOT in clubs are bitter about being excluded from the system. To par down the reasons for people’s social choices in college (excluding all the GOOD that influences people) undermines your own argument.
Finally, you are right that: “This isn’t high school anymore, and there is a real world with consequences beyond FitzRandolph Gate.” But if you are going to advocate the acceptance of “diversity” you must also acknowledge that, included in that respect, must be some tolerance for those who are, quite simply, social beings who enjoy life more when they are constantly surrounded by those they know well. Again, assume what you will about who these choice friends will be and what they represent. But respect that the choice to join a club is a pragmatic choice for many, not for financial elitism, but because they feel more involved, connected, balanced, or happier in the midst of such an academic powerhouse as Princeton. And in the end, THAT is what one’s pursuits in the “real world” are all about.
Absolutely brilliant. Especially the part about leaving detritus around with full knowledge of the fact that someone else will have to clean it up. This crap happens all the time and it is a disgrace. Somehow people think that because club members are immature that means they can't also be elitist. Woodrow Wilson was right. Selective clubs are the worst thing that has ever happened to Princeton.
Pick-ups are generally equally loud, fun, and enthusiastic regardless of sign-in/bicker status, though there is a little more (unavoidable) collateral damage with bicker clubs thanks to all the rejected bickerees who get to listen to the noise. Initiations, meanwhile, run the whole gauntlet - each one has its own take on it.
Ultimately, sorting the clubs into bicker/sign-in stereotypes is simplified BS. For example, I'd argue that Colonial and Tower probably have more in common than Colonial and Terrace, despite the fact that the latter two are both sign-ins.
You should look at the club and its culture, not whether it's bicker or sign-in, if you want to understand what being a member is like.
@again, one-sided:
an informant on the prince staff let me know that you are indeed on the prince staff. Why write an article underneath one of your colleagues articles?
Just write your own defense of tower if you want
hosed