Created by Sarah Dajani
Columns
Manliness, feminism and chivalry
Over the past several years, we have seen the sexualization of gender expectations in both pop culture and academia. The effects of this phenomenon are most salient among young adults who, in this period of questioning and maturation, are most desirous of fulfilling the expected requirements of manhood or womanhood. ...
What doesn't kill me might maim me
Dean's Date is over. Woohoo. Now all I have to do is get through two more finals, and I'm home free. What's more, I have a nifty T-shirt to show for it. Princeton as an institution seems to think that T-shirts will make everything better. Just had to write a ...
Man vs. thermos on Dean's Date eve
Time: 2 a.m. Status: 17 pages to go, four in French. Location: Forbes kitchen. It's a faceoff. The unwashed coffee thermos stares up at me from the bottom of the sink. I have been trying to get the lid off his stupid, fat, cylindrical face for five minutes now. The ...
Putting Humpty Dumpty back together again
Facts may be stubborn things, but opinions are more stubborn still. This is especially true of personal judgments. While we take facts and experience into account, changing our minds once we make a decision about somebody's character is especially difficult. I mention this to show why the recent referendum results' ...
Unfulfilled promises at Whitman
The Whitman dining hall was members only once again last Tuesday evening, but it was no ordinary College Night. "Men should wear jacket or tie, and women should wear skirts or suits," read the printed invitations to the Whitman Senior Celebration Banquet. Nonetheless, it seemed that only a handful of ...
Sleepless in Philadelphia over the future of print
It's the first weekend in May and I'm in Philadelphia, doing one of the things professors do when not in class (rumors that we live in our offices are greatly exaggerated). Four times a year, the University of Pennsylvania Press publishes "The Journal of the History of Ideas" - a ...
For love, not money
As an alumna, a former Orange Key chair and now, a University employee, I read Adam Bradlow '11's column on the names of Princeton buildings ("What's in a Name?", April 17) with some interest. He offers a provocative perspective, but there's a more complex history behind these naming opportunities than ...
In da club
Ahhh, the last week of classes. Faces all around us shine from the bounteous promise of sun and summer. It is, nevertheless, a period of grave danger, when many suffer an inability to focus, decreased levels of study, heightened desire to play outside and occasional bladder troubles leading to urination ...
Bankers and patriots
As the Fed and the Treasury once again staff the shovel brigade behind one of Wall Street's periodic asset-bubble parades - lest the foul economic odor in its wake seep too deeply into the rest of the economy - my mind wanders back to spring 2002, when the previous asset ...
The garden on Firestone Plaza
The two places you are most likely to find me are East Pyne, where I have an office in the Department of Classics and a foot in the Program in Linguistics, and Firestone Library, where I don't have an office but whose floors feel the stamp of my feet every ...
The long and whining road
By now we've all probably heard of saveforbes.com. In case you haven't, let me give you a quick rundown: the Forbesians declared, with all the fire of Patrick Henry, "Give us a shuttle or give us ... " and here their voices trailed off as they all looked at each ...
Princeton's other side
So many things went wrong at Friday night's BlackBox, and after two attempts to present the story in news section of The Daily Princetonian, many students remain unsatisfied.To recap, a group of young men from the area attended the party and harassed several female students throughout the evening. When the ...
Don't want a daughter? Abort her!
It is well known and not disputed that, for social, cultural and economic reasons, parents in Asia use abortion as a means to eliminate unwanted female children in favor of sons. New research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and reported by Jeff Jacoby in The ...
Monday morning everyman
I plant my pen on the open page lying in front of me, my eyes narrowing in concentration. Must take notes. "Here, Norse social strictures are defined by the common literary trope of violence as the ultimate retributive force in ... " The preceptor's voice fades into a trumpet-like blur; ...
The best club not on a street
What would you do if someone handed you $5,000? Buy a boat? A Vail timeshare for the winter? A new used car, maybe? Donate it to charity? What about spend it on an eating club? The average cost of Princeton eating club is $6,300. Since we will eat for about ...
Flingin' with the pre-frosh at Penn
I escaped from Princeton on Friday night. With my thesis turned in, I was raring to hang out, dance and throw back a few drinks. But the pre-frosh had arrived, and with them, new regulations to dictate Princeton's social scene. Many of the eating clubs decided to go dry or ...
Lest we be condemned to live in paradise alone
When Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote, "Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all," he was referring to the death of a friend, not a romance that hit the rocks. This is not widely remembered in 21st century America, and I think that's a problem.Sex ...
A quiet, delicious revolution
What is healthful food? Is it a spring strawberry, fresh from a local, organic farm? A nonfat yogurt or a fortified energy bar? A food with low-calorie, low-fat, low-sugar or low-carb in the name? It's a question whose answer we constantly seek, and it's one that Dining Services is trying ...
Princeton's last best hope
April Hosting has always been one of my favorite rituals at Princeton. Hordes of eager, dewy-eyed pre-frosh swarm our campus to test-drive it - and us - and determine whether this is where they want to spend their next four years. The Admission Office sure hopes so. It has arranged ...
The ideal Princeton preview
After four long months of winter, this month brings with it a number of things: blooming flowers, the emergence of Princeton's bats from their hibernation and days of much needed rain. This weekend, however, marks the coming of a new storm, as Princeton Preview showers campus with plenty of fresh-faced ...
To the prefrosh, with regards
Why, hello there, little prefrosh! Welcome to Princeton! How was your flight? Good? Delighted to hear it! Ah, but you look tired, prefrosh. Let me roll out my sleeping bag for you and get you some yummy Frist cookies to munch on. Hush now, I am going to tell you ...
Goheen '40's mission of equality is a work in progress
Following the passing of President Emeritus Robert Goheen '40, many colleagues, friends and alumni praised Goheen for ushering in a new period of progressivism by admitting 171 women to Princeton in 1969. Forty years later, it would appear as if Goheen's dream had been realized. Princeton has a woman president ...
Sex: Beautiful, meaningful, marital
Last Tuesday, The Daily Princetonian's "Intersections" blog began a weekly feature called "Sex and the Street," which spotlights the sexcapades of an "ordinary girl with an extraordinary preoccupation with sex." The post raised several points to which the Anscombe Society feels compelled to respond.The primary issue at hand is not ...
Das Gefühl für Humanität
In the last week of March, we lost both Robert Goheen '40 and Robert Fagles - humanists and Princetonians who did much to shape our community. By the time I came to Princeton in 1975, Goheen had departed. In retrospect, it's clear that he carried out a revolution. He transformed ...
Desperate measures when Red Bull isn't enough
As a senior in the religion department, I have a thesis due in 10 days, and yes, like every other senior I know - some due sooner, some later - I'm freaking out. Despite prayers that some miracle will force an extension, there are only so many hours until the ...
It happens here
In case you spent all of spring break with your head under a rock or on top of a pillow, race and discrimination just became the new buzzwords of politics. It seems that, like most important world moments without a clear orange and black connection, Barack Obama's "More Perfect Union" ...
Monumentum aere perennius
Every member of this university - and every person who has any interest at all in literature - heard with grief that Professor Emeritus Robert Fagles passed away last week. The Daily Princetonian has recounted Fagles' accomplishments - including his translations of the great classical trilogy: the Iliad, the Odyssey ...
Princeton talks, but who listens?
Spring is here, which means it's time to check how we are doing at keeping our New Year's resolutions. I don't know about you, but my own rate of success might charitably be described as "hit and miss." I still need to pick up squash again, go to more of ...
A new sound at Harvard
On Sunday afternoons, walking by Princeton's neo-Gothic chapel, I hear church bells ringing. Often I am struck by their beauty. This week, though, I've been thinking and reading more about their history and meaning because at Harvard, a different call to prayer has students up in arms. The controversy began ...
A global community
In the world known as "college," it's that time of year again. Acceptances, waitlists, you know the drill. These days, it's all electronic; send in your application online and get a response by e-mail. The stakes are high; after all, this is where you'll be spending the next few years ...
Cell phones, toilets and disembodied voices
What has my life come to? I am standing in the bathroom of Small World, staring into the toilet as intently as if it were a crystal ball. And I could really use a crystal ball at this point; I have four weeks to pick a major out of a ...
Time for a sports break
During this time of national political turmoil, periodic campus controversies and constant academic stress, it's nice to have an ever-present distraction: the world of sports. And as winter turns to spring, we are treated to some of the best sporting events of the year. They are marked by the ability ...
Boys aren't just allowed, they're needed
In the days after my last column, "How to be a feminist without anyone knowing" appeared, I experienced dozens of pleasant surprises: I had no idea that Princeton was teeming with feminists, some of them keeping their feminism secret and some of them boldly using the f-word. I was so ...
Whitman here I come!
Each spring, as the crocuses bloom from nowhere and songbirds arrive anew, hope returns to Princeton. One thing, though, threatens to stamp out the rebirth in a cold and dramatic way. It is so sinister, so depraved that the time has come to say, "Enough." That thing, my friends, is ...
Procrastination and nocturnal marathons during midterm week
Alas, here we are at one of the toughest weeks of the semester, when students catch up on reading and prepare study guides. Frist is somehow lively yet muted with the larger number of irate, exhausted students. Campus walkways and dining halls become quieter. It is at this halfway point ...
Late-night love from Frist
There is perhaps nothing that dominates the mind of the college undergraduate more than food. (All right, maybe I can think of one thing.) I suppose that this is a truth about humanity as a whole that simply displays itself most virulently among the college-age population. Despite the obvious need ...
It's going to be a Stage 4 kind of week
Midterms are upon us. Yes indeed, it's that notorious point in the semester when the weather gets just a little warmer, the sun gets just a little sunnier and the students become just a little more oblivious to both of these facts as they adopt strange nocturnal patterns and a ...
Watching the baby boomers in action: Do students think?
As I see our students walk across campus, many of them transported worlds away by an iPod plugged into their ears, I wonder what they are thinking about the world their parents' generation, the famous Baby Boomers, is concocting for them now. Does the typical Princeton undergraduate even know what ...
Drama and rumors in the invisible institution
I got my first lesson on the joys and perils of rumors as a second grader. As we lined up outside the building, preparing for another day of school, I felt an inexplicable impulse take over my entire being, as I blurted to a friend standing next to me, "Did ...
Stranger in my own political land
"Ouch! Sorry, Hillary!" my neighbor's message board declared sarcastically after Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.)'s losses in Maryland and Virginia last month. On my way to classes, I am reminded again of the overwhelming support for Obama on this campus whenever I walk by a window-sized poster of Sen. Barack Obama ...
Let's talk about sex ed
Between Jamie Lynn Spears and "Juno," teen pregnancy gets a lot of press these days. The discussion - or really, gossip - that stems from this tends to focus on the future: Will she keep the baby? Will she and the father get married? And who is the father, anyway? ...
Good public (and campus) policy
This week, Pro-Choice Vox chapters across the country are raising awareness about the national birth control availability crisis, which is felt particularly on college campuses. The Pill is the most commonly used method of contraception among women under 30 owing to its effectiveness, safety and affordability. Each year, publicly funded ...
Glitz and ghosts in the library
A student just sent me a piece that Witold Rybczynski posted on slate.com last Wednesday. The author, a brilliant architecture scholar who teaches at Penn, begins by asking "How do you build a public library in the age of Google?" Then he answers his own question, but not with an ...
A place to weather the storm
A University center supporting the chaste lifestyle would be an important addition to our campus community. The University has recognized that sexual minorities require institutional support when it established the LGBT Center. On the same grounds, and to correct in fairness the imbalance introduced by the LGBT Center's ideological commitments, ...
How to be a feminist without anyone knowing
I'm not a feminist, but..." is a phrase I hear women at Princeton say quite often. Speaking here last week, author Courtney Martin encouraged her audience to break out of that mindset and embrace a new f-word: feminism. This is a scary thought for many women who have distanced themselves ...
A failing grade for the P/D/F policy
Now in the midst of our fourth week of the semester and nearly two weeks past the deadline for altering our schedules, most students are finally locked into their course selections. Therefore, it is at around this time of year that those students with delayed reaction times begin to reevaluate ...
A decade of thanks
Ten years ago this month, I took a deep breath, walked into McCosh 62 and began speaking to 31 undergraduates about the history of English. This was a trial by fire: I was a graduate student in linguistics at Harvard and had pretty much never taught anybody anything; I was ...
Getting unlucky on Valentine's day
Marcelline Baumann '07 surveyed more than 1,000 Princeton undergraduates for her thesis to investigate their views on "hooking up" and its implications. Her results showed a shocking level of pluralistic ignorance: Princeton students often feel pressure to engage in sexual activity because they think that they will be abnormal if ...
I'd rather go barefoot
I'd rather go barefoot than wear Uggs. Admittedly, I'm male so that's not a very strong statement. Uggs are a little too girly and more importantly, so two years ago. That, and they are also made out of the skin of an animal, cruelly taken from sheep at the end ...
High-risk thinking about high-risk drinking
The phrase "high-risk drinking" seems to evoke a spectrum of responses among Princeton students. For starters, there's a good portion of the student body that is pretty much unfazed by the concept. Many of us appear to think that high-risk drinking isn't really a problem or at least not a ...
Keep grad students off the street
Construction on the new Butler College is beginning, right on the heels of luxurious Whitman. But we should take a minute to worry about what isn't being built in Princeton: housing for graduate students. This Monday, the University unveiled its new campus plan. Under this plan, no new graduate housing ...
How to beat ‘Weathervane McCain’
The only road to a Democratic victory in 2008 leads straight through the mud.The media selectively portrays Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) as a maverick straight-talking senator who can do no wrong. Of course, in reality, he’s anything but that. To win the general election, the Democrats will have to confront ...
The great Spelman heist
On Feb. 5, The Daily Princetonian reported a University decision to make Spelman 7 and 8 a part of Whitman college for next year. We are writing this editorial on behalf of over 50 independent and prospective independent students who believe that this decision is poorly thought out, unfair and ...
Where the books are
"A university is just a group of buildings gathered around a library.” — Shelby FooteThe first problem set for my class last September asked some questions about prox cards. One required students to speculate about why checking out a book at Firestone uses neither the wave of the prox that ...
The hoax and the LGBT community
The widely publicized incident involving Francisco Nava ’09’s e-mail threats and faked assault is over, and it is no one’s business either to personally condemn or to vindicate him. But there is still something to learn from the initial response to these events and especially from the comparisons and implications ...
It's time we had a conversation
Today, the newly minted Alcohol Coalition Committee (ACC) is holding a workshop in Frist Campus Center to get student feedback about how the University can better deal with high-risk drinking on campus. Why should anybody care? Do we really need a forum to discuss alcohol at Princeton? Is alcohol that ...
Change we can believe in
Thank you! Thank you! Today, we gather here to witness a turning point in this campaign and a turning point in Princeton history, and to witness a victory speech much like many others I have delivered. Today — after receiving more than 74 percent of support from the school — ...
Ending the silence
If you’ve ever been in a bathroom stall on campus, chances are you’ve seen a SpeakOut sign. Intended to be both informational and thought provoking, the signs are a concrete example of our abstract goal: to raise awareness about sexual harassment and assault on Princeton’s campus. The signs are educational, ...
Those missing from Super Tuesday
Just last week was Super Tuesday, a time when many Princetonians got a chance to express their power as citizens and voted. Now that many of us have had a say in the future direction of the country, it is important not to overlook a segment of the population that ...
Jealousy and longing in Dillon Gym
Correction Appended As I prepared for my recent weeklong visit to Seoul National University (SNU), the last thing I expected was to be jealous of its facilities. The campus is spacious enough. Most of its buildings can be charitably described as functional. Offices are clean and well kept, if a ...
Making the grade
I'm writing this column as therapy, a break from grading the final exams for my course. Samuel Johnson once described a second marriage as the triumph of hope over experience, and I see a sort of parallel with teaching and then grading. Every semester begins with a burst of new ...
Give the TA a break!
I sat down in McCosh 10 Wednesday night ready to get owned by the ECO 100: Intro to Microeconomics final I didn't study much for. I had pulled an all-nighter the night before Dean's Date and just wasn't feeling it, but I figured half the class went out Tuesday night ...
Myths of January
As I've watched the political coverage of the first caucus and first primary, I've been struck by what I consider the fundamental weakness of the coverage. Here, in no particular order, are what I consider the biggest lapses so far.The Illinois Effect: I was in Iowa for 2004's edition of ...
Aristotle's (modern) politics
Aristotle wrote that you could persuade people in three ways.You could use ethos, or arguments based on the speaker's character: I'm a trustworthy and honest guy, so you should pay attention to this column.You can use logos, or an appeal to logical argumentation: In this column, I will present numerous ...
Writing in the margins
From a very early age I was taught not to write in books. Books, my father taught me, were nothing short of sacred, and were to be treated with respect. That meant no writing. The idea was later reinforced by New York's public school system, which each year handed out ...
Timeline of a tragedy
It was on a Wednesday night in mid-November when Francisco Nava '09 first told me that his life had been threatened. When he first spoke the phrase "death threat," I actually laughed a bit, assuming that he was joking about the response he had received to his article on Princeton's ...
Time for the orange and black to go green
Princeton took a big step to address its role in combating global warming by announcing a sustainability plan that matches New Jersey's emissions reduction target of 1990 levels by 2020. But is compliance with New Jersey law good enough? No. There are many ways Princeton could reduce its carbon emissions ...
Knockin' on Dillon's door
All right, Princeton, that's enough. For the last several weeks, it's been nonstop Residential College bashing. Boohoo, the nicest dorms are being gobbled faster than you can say "skewed priorities". Yeah, we get it, thanks. In case you were wondering, this fixation has caused us to completely miss other recent ...
On learning and the liberal education
I'm glad I don't go to Columbia. The rumors of inedible food and inaccessible faculty - not to mention the readily apparent lack of greenery - make Morningside Heights seem like a much less enjoyable place to be an undergraduate. Nonetheless, I don't doubt that there are certain features of ...
Touching Africa from Princeton
I magine the entire Princeton undergraduate student body being killed off in one day. Though this would be a devastating and tragic event, we don't realize that this is what happens every day in Africa. Malaria kills more than 5,000 people each day in Africa and affects 500 million Africans ...
Why we don't fight
As a pre-frosh visiting during April Hosting three years ago, I was pleasantly surprised by the civic engagement I saw on campus. For the weekend of Take Back the Night and Fashion Speaks, Princeton students seemed to dispel the stereotype of apathetic college students and embrace the opportunity to raise ...
Garbage: A family business
When you live in a city as large and overpopulated as Cairo, as I have this past semester, you see signs of poverty everywhere. Rarely, however, do you get a chance to glimpse the lives of those people who are the poverty statistics. But when you do, your way of ...
Making the connection, missing the point
I have heard it said that people at Princeton don't make friends; we make connections. This is a harsh mischaracterization. Like many exaggerations, however, it does contain a grain of truth: People at Princeton are too polite. By this I mean that, like many people, students are likely to avoid ...
Own what bandwagon you jump on
Walking to the Street a few weekends ago, you may have noticed a gigantic screen listing the names of people who are committed to owning what they think. A crusade against "character assassination" and "acts of ethical and intellectual cowardice," ownwhatyouthink.com is a petition created in response to the gossip ...
A problem hiding in plain sight
On the most superficial level, the democratic primary is about whether we'd rather have a female president or a black president. Either way, it will be a breakthrough. Of course, there's always the chance that we'll end up sticking with the status quo and elect Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), but ...
Preppier than thou
The highlight of our spring has come and gone. I'm talking about Lawnparties: I Pledge Allegiance to the Preppiness Spring '08. For one (sort of) sunny weekend we threw aside our individuality in a fit of conformity like little minions of Chairman Malkiel - I mean Chairman Mao. But like ...
The incredible vanishing approval rating
The campus elections these past two weeks have been quite an eye-opener. At times, I've wondered whether the national campaign and international scene were being played out on smaller scale within the Orange Bubble. And no, that I've frequently been reminded of the ongoing Democratic fratricide, Zimbabwean tyranny and President ...
Until proven guilty
Because Malik Little '11, until recently a freshman at this university, has been charged with numerous felonies, it is proper for - one might say incumbent upon - the administration to ban him from this campus. The crimes he is alleged to have committed are grave, and if he is ...
When the ties that bind also separate
Earlier this year I was walking around campus with a friend when we passed an acquaintance. We were invited to a small get together and entered a cozy common room. As we awkwardly shook hands with everyone asking the obligatory questions of "what residential college are you in?" and "what's ...
Like a bump on a Public Safety crime log
Frist Campus Center, April 21, 8:40 p.m.A University student associated with the USG reported an amendment missing from constitution. Officer dispatched to location. Upon arrival, student found missing amendment on computer. Disgruntled officer advised student to look harder in the future. Report filed; case closed.East Pyne Courtyard, April 22, 8:02 ...
Into the Tigers' lair
On April 16, a friend and I boarded a flight from South Korea to San Francisco, Calif., and then transfered onto a plane that would bring us to New York, N.Y. We spent a total ofroughly 20 hours in flight. Why would two Korean high school students suddenly leave school ...
Point-Counterpoint: Politics and the Beijing olympics
Point: Boycotts don't work By Lily Shen '11 The media has recently buffeted Americans with the calamitous Olympics torch relay and all sorts of protests that came with it. Politicians are tripping over each other in their eagerness to condemn China, call for boycotting the opening ceremony and claim the high moral ...
The reaction to the TI suit silences survivors
The collusion continues. Italy, 1992: An 18-year-old girl alleges that she was raped by her driving instructor. The case goes up to the Italian Supreme Court, where it is dismissed. Why? The plaintiff wore jeans, so she must have helped him take them off. Since she helped in removing the ...
Major stress, minor consequence
A couple days ago I received an e-mail from the Registrar's office reminding me: "You have not yet declared your major." I turned to my roommate. "Have I missed the deadline?" I expected the next e-mail to come at that very moment telling me "How can you still have no ...
By the numbers
Last weekend my wife observed, quite correctly, that our CD collection has gotten totally out of control. It has long since overflowed the shelves and there's no organization either, with odd combinations like Simon and Garfunkel between Hildegard von Bingen and two versions of Bach's B Minor Mass. We could ...
The myth and the journey
I suppose congratulations are in order, but I also imagine that you have already been congratulated, so forgive me if I don't tell you how brilliant and fortunate you are. I do however, want to extend my best wishes; I hope that you will enjoy Princeton this weekend, that you ...
What's in a name?
Now that the winter snow has melted away, many students are finally able to crawl out of their dorms and wonder around the gothic wonderland we all call home. It is these buildings - Forbes College, Icahn Laboratory, Rockefeller and Whitman colleges - that will probably serve as the lasting ...
God and guns gaffe changes the game
Campaigns are defined by one sentence or moment that encapsulates an essential theme about the candidate. "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it," Michael Dukakis in a tank and "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?" all come to mind. ...
Hypocrites without borders
The activist in me was, er, activated when I was about 13. A vile gym class teacher had decided that the day's torture would entail all the boys sumo-wrestling each other shirtless. Naturally I objected to this humiliating ritual. I was a fat, prepubescent teenager, and the idea of having ...
That funny little r-word
Recently, a beleaguered friend of mine loudly exclaimed, "I totally got raped by my history test." An awkward laughter trickled from the crowded lunch table. He began to regale us with the story of an impossibly hard exam. But before he concluded his saga of desperation, I rudely interjected and ...
Muchas gracias, Ballet Folklorico de Princeton
Rushing to the nearest airport upon the adjournment of a retreat in South Carolina, I was elated to discover that, for some reason, my flight to Newark was neither canceled nor even late, an entirely unanticipated event. Miraculously, I would make it back to Princeton after all, in time for ...
Community without peril
I've been speaking with students about campus drinking lately. Some of these conversations took place at the workshops sponsored by the Alcohol Coalition Committee. Because those conversations piqued my interest, I've been informally quizzing students I come into contact with about drinking - especially high-risk drinking - at Princeton.While different ...
Obama and Palestine
While the U.S. presidential election is being followed closely all around the world, Palestinian appetite for news of this country's election is insatiable. The feelings of Palestinians in the streets of Ramallah or the Gaza refugee camp is that the policies carried out by the resident of the White House ...
A habit you can't shake
The first step is admitting you have a problem.Luckily, I don't.I didn't always turn to foreign substances when I needed to take my mind off stress and work. But seriously, like, Princeton is so hard. It's like totally the hardest thing ever. And I can't slow down or I won't ...
Cheap sunglasses, cab drivers and community in Cairo
Cairo, Egypt and New York, N.Y.: two of the biggest economic and cultural centers of the world. One represents thousands of years of Middle Eastern history, while the other symbolizes the height of American wealth and business enterprise. A million factors distinguish these two cities, and while it is nearly ...
The ponderous laundress
8 a.m.: Sleep button.8:10 a.m.: Sleep. Button. 8:20 a.m.: Slee ... Off. 9:19 a.m.: Shit. Lecture in eleven minutes.9:20 a.m.: Weather.com: 45 degrees, Feels Like 31 degrees. Must dress warmly.9:21 a.m.: Stand in front of dresser, heaving open all drawers that still have something in them. Scavenge wardrobe options. 9:22 a.m.: ...
A missive from the Faction
The Revolutionary Orange Faction doesn't accept applications ... or commitments. Only oaths sworn in blood and branded onto our members with scorching-hot dishes. Every year, there are many who learn what it truly means to be a PUDSter - and who realize that it is not for them. These unworthy ...
There are roses too
Writing columns for The Daily Princetonian can be tricky. Sometimes I find myself impassioned by outrage and the requisite 750 words flow freely from my fingers. Other times, coming up with something to write about is more of a chore. There are a certain number of ready topics: grade deflation, ...
Sounds of a loud Argentine conversation
On April 1, drumbeats pierced the air and scampered up the sides of apartment buildings before evaporating into the hot morning breeze above Buenos Aires. Drummers of all ages paved the streets with their steady, simple rhythms that beckoned the streams of people who followed. Drums, trumpets, whistles and megaphones ...
The secret history of the word 'tool'
At Princeton, the art of apparent effortlessness is prized above nearly all else. We strive for grace, coolness, sprezzatura, but in doing so we are not permitted to seem to be striving at all. The ultimate insult in this exaltation of nonchalance is to be labeled a "tool." The term ...
After the surge, then what?
About one year ago the U.S. and Iraqi governments shifted strategies in Iraq. More than just a troop surge, the new counter-insurgency strategy radically changed our presence and mission; whereas once we sat in massive compounds with most of our forces safely "behind the wire," we now aggressively patrol the ...
Awareness and action on prison reform
Two weeks ago I packed my bags, jumped on the Dinky toward Newark Airport and headed to California for spring break. While there I explored her towering cities, long rolling beaches, beautiful mountains, sprawling highways and ... prisons. Under the auspices of the Pace Center’s “Breakout Trips,” I traveled to ...
Boys are needed, but are they capable?
In Chloe Angyal '09's column "Boys aren't just allowed, they're needed," she expressed hope that men at Princeton could be feminists too. Having played around with the idea of adopting feminism myself, I find it difficult to believe that this is possible. Men have proven to be incapable of being ...
Making sure spring break matters
This Spring Break, 12 other Princeton students and I flew to New Orleans with the desire to make a difference in Melia, one of the city's neighborhoods. This trip was sponsored by the Student Volunteers Council (SVC). We each paid $250 for housing and food and sacrificed a spring break ...
Tear down this wall
History buffs will recall the story of the Hatfields and McCoys. These were the American South's version of the Capulets and Montagues, two families that feuded for generations until neither had any idea how the feud began. The town of Princeton is living its own version of such a feud: ...
Please stow complaints in the overhead compartment
Traveling back to campus after spring break is always depressing, but it's not the end of the world. I imagine it's nowhere near as emotionally draining as standing next to your spouse while he explains away his penchant for high-class hookers as "private failings," though it is a little worse ...
I hate mom (and the government)
To provide a proper backdrop for my lecture on the government's role in the economy in ECO 100: Introduction to Microeconomics, I always preface it with the question: "Who in this class has a mother?" In a good year, as much as 25 percent of students raise their hands. The ...
The bleeding edge
"There's no other major item most of us own that is as confusing, unpredictable and unreliable as our personal computers." - Walt Mossberg, The Wall Street JournalEvery year, a handful of students ask for advice about what they should buy to replace ailing computers. The best I can offer are ...
Two steps forward, one step back
The insurgents bet that they were thinking longer term than the sated masses. After all, they thought, the battle to reshape the Street would last decades: Students only stay for four years, and new freshmen would have no conception of what normal once was. New students would arrive on a ...
A scarlet letter
"A DORMITORY FIRE SAFETY INSPECTION WAS CONDUCTED IN YOUR ROOM TODAY, AND AN UNAUTHORIZED HEAT PRODUCING APPLIANCE WAS DISCOVERED. THIS APPLIANCE (HOT POT) WAS CONFISCATED. YOU WILL RECEIVE AN E-MAIL FROM THE CHIEF FIRE INSPECTOR LATER IN THE WEEK."I tear the vermillion slip of paper from my desk, fiercely scanning ...
In search of conservatism
Like many freshmen, I left the comfortable world of my quaint suburban hometown and came to Princeton ready for intense intellectual development. I imagined attending the lecture of a famed conservative scholar and walking away with new ideas that challenged my left-leaning assumptions and reaffirmed my belief that intellectual stimulation ...
USG Agenda: Twofold, not two-ply
Brandon McGinley '10's column last Thursday and this Monday's Daily Princetonian editorial highlight several key issues the USG faces. The USG sympathizes with McGinley's sentiments, and we thank him for showing concern and recognizing the need for action. The USG also believes, however, that the organization's main challenges are not ...
Apologia pro studio suo
My roommate will hate me for writing this, but it really should be said. Every student on this campus ought to take the four-course Humanities Sequence (HUM 216-219), Princeton's best method of introducing its undergraduates to 26 centuries of the Western canon.The Humanities Sequence is easily the most efficient and ...
You shouldn't have to bicker your major
"The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs." When we hear that phrase what should come to mind is the embodiment of Princeton's motto to serve this nation and all nations. That is how the school began, and that is what it should always be.On Feb. 25, The Daily ...
True change from the USG: Yes we can?
During my three semesters at Princeton, I have paid very little attention to the USG. Its plans and projects have rarely, if ever, had a significant impact on my social and intellectual life. On Monday, a sadly amusing news story confirmed my doubts about the effectiveness of our student leadership.The ...
The 40-year residential college
I'm not very good at staying informed about current events. For example, only recently did I learn that "Super Tuesday" is not, in fact, a limited-time special at Taco Bell. Also, as you may discover if you continue reading this column, I am not a particularly scrupulous fact-checker. So it ...
Slouching toward Whitmania
My grandfather has a neat reformulation of Lord Acton's dictum that "power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." His idea is that power does not corrupt but instead reveals; having power doesn't make you evil as much as having power gives you the ability to do what you ...
Lost minutes and unsaved lives
The events at Northern Illinois University (NIU) earlier last month remind us of the tragic reality and possibility of violence in educational communities. The shootings at Virginia Tech less than a year ago offered a valuable lesson in prevention and preparedness that NIU took to heart by implementing alert systems ...
An authentic Arab leader
The Wilson School has done well by inviting Jordan's King Abdullah II to speak about the Middle East. At a time when there are so many pundits trying to tell us what Arabs think, this is a rare opportunity for the Princeton community to hear an authentic Arab voice.The occasion ...
The deeper human meanings of Wall Street: Some eccentric thoughts for Princetonians
A goodly number of Princeton students plan to work on Wall Street. Virtually all of these students would attribute "the Street's" current wild ride to some usual configuration of purely economic factors. This is what they learn in their classes on business and economics. Yet if they were to look ...
Death of a salesman
There are roughly two reasons why I decided to study abroad. Firstly, I needed a real social life - getting drunk in the kitchen of what was basically a smelly, poorly decorated bungalow was getting as stale as what was charitably designated "garlic bread" in said bungalow. Deep inside, I ...
Context and continued dialogue on Spelman 7 and 8
Several students have voiced concerns about one of the changes to room draw this year. We are writing to provide some additional context to the decision to allocate Spelman 7 and 8 to Whitman College next year. We also want to ensure that the student community is aware of the ...
Staying green until the revolution
The University's plan to make Princeton a sustainable campus is very exciting. It ties in beautifully not only with current concerns about global warming and the general trend toward sustainability, but also with the "Aspire" capital campaign and the new 10-year Campus Plan. But in all honesty, the plan must ...
Pakistan's make-or-break moment
The stunning and humiliating landslide defeat of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's PML-Q Party - known as the "King's Party" - on Feb. 18 came as a massive surprise to Pakistani society and most international observers. The defeat was so resounding that even 22 high-profile government ministers were denied re-election by ...
Point-Counterpoint: Should we block JuicyCampus' URL at Princeton?
YESA few examples of the juicier posts on juicycampus.com include bicker hosing surprises, biggest tool, loosest vagina, smallest dick and the real reasons people took years off. Pretty funny to us, but pretty humiliating for the subjects of interest.The University should ban this website. JuicyCampus stoops below the debauchery and ...
Michelle's foot meets her mouth
In January 1980, Jimmy Carter was "far ahead" of Ronald Reagan in the race for the White House; 10 months later Reagan won 45 states. In July 1988, Michael Dukakis was beating George H.W. Bush by 17 points; Bush eventually won 426 of 538 electoral votes. In June 1992, H. ...
The end of the struggle for Kosovo
Kosovo celebrated its greatest historical achievement over the weekend: its newly declared independence from Serbia. Most of Europe and many other countries throughout the world have extended formal recognition to Europe's newest sovereign state. Kosovo's independence was long expected and inescapable. But it is still a reason to celebrate: There ...
Learning Arabic as a first language
Since I am a Princetonian studying in Cairo, part of my mission here is to improve my Arabic. Arabic is one of Princeton’s most popular foreign languages, studied by Arab Americans, Wilson School students aspiring to be State Department officials and those who simply want to learn more about Arabic ...
Double standards on a divided campus
In his Feb. 13 column, Jacob Denz ’10 took advantage of tragic events in the recent history of the University and the Anscombe Society, twisting them to score political points. I would like to respond to some of Denz’s more extravagant claims and present a case — based on reasoned ...
Impossible is a lot of things
Marion Jones had to give up her five Olympic medals and is set to serve six months in jail for perjury. Roger Clemens may be indicted, and if the U.S. Attorney decides to send the case before a grand jury, who knows where he’ll end up? Barry Bonds’ home run ...
Scandal at the prox reader
You who are no longer willing to submit to unfair rule, arise! The time has come to end the injustices, to throw off the shackles, to reform the bitter monopoly that nourishes us all. Look toward the future, friends, and lend me your stomachs for the fight to change the ...
Point-Counterpoint: 'Endless Checkpoints'
Point: A slanted perspective Recently, an exhibit titled “Endless Checkpoints” opened on the 100-level of Frist Campus Center. The exhibit purports to display the way in which Palestinians suffer due to Israeli military checkpoints. The exhibit accuses Israel of “apartheid” and of preventing the formation of a Palestinian state. The ...
Rethinking Greek life on campus
Bicker week is over. Let the gossiping cease and the thoughtful examination on which Princetonians pride themselves begin. (Juicycampus.com fans, I’m talking to you!) Now that the air is thick with words like “associations” and “connections,” it is as good a time as any for the administration to reexamine its ...
Fides quaerens intellectum
Fides quaerens intellectum is a theological method of inquiry in which faith seeks intellectual underpinning for itself. Much of modern economics is also taught and practiced this way.Just as Catholic priests must publicly profess their belief in the virgin birth, whatever their private thoughts on it may be, so must ...
The Perfect Political Disaster
This was finally supposed to be the Democrats’ year. Every single indication and bit of conventional political wisdom suggested that the Republican presidential candidate might as well not run. An economy with high-profile difficulties, an unpopular though increasingly successful war and a widely reviled president all spelled disaster for the ...
Class tells
One of the many things we find hard to talk about — not only here in Princeton, but nationally — is class. That helps to explain why we do such a bad job when we try to talk about the social mission of elite universities. Take Drew Faust — the ...
Necessary improvements to Dillon
Princeton is the nation's best university. Our professors are second to none, our student body is unparalleled and we have one of the most beautiful campuses in the nation and the world. Sadly, however, not every single facility on this campus is up to snuff, and no building disappoints its ...
Symbols of change
"Barack Obama is my n—-a," was the way one Iowan voiced his support for the Democratic Illinois senator to a campaign volunteer, a friend of mine, before flashing a genuine smile and thumbs-up. As one may (or may not) expect, this particular supporter was young, male and ... white. Similarly, ...
Lessons from New Hampshire
For five days, Manchester, N.H. felt like the center of the universe. Because open-seat races in both parties frame the presidential race in 2008, New Hampshire was the perfect political storm. Democratic and Republican upset victories in Iowa meant that the nomination process was contested. Because the primary is open ...
Brilliant students?
Princeton students are brilliant.This at least is what we are told, and since it benefits my ego, let's assume that it is true.What we aren't — at least not always — is well-informed. To be fair, most of us know a lot about our respective fields of interest, and most ...
Standards of intolerance
I'm a free speech absolutist. I believe that entirely free discourse and the ability to say things that are offensive, idiotic and insulting is one of the cornerstones of American Democracy and a free society. I believe this regardless of who is insulted; I believe that David Horowitz, Stephen Walt ...
Princeton the third wheel
So our obvious rivals are Harvard and Yale, the other two of the HYP tradition. Standing at number two and number three on the U.S. News and World Report college rankings, they're our targets for everything academic and athletic. We travel in frenzied hoards to the football stadium in orange ...
