A 'free for all' at Princeton

Last spring, 10 Princeton students were arrested for stealing from the U-Store. Hearing about these thefts prompted John H. Schmid Jr. '45 to write a letter to the editor of the Princeton Alumni Weekly in which he said the following: "Aren't the admission standards today far more stringent and demanding than in my day? Why did this happen? Surely some explanation (and/or) investigation is needed."

I thought I'd attempt to shed some light on Mr. Schmid's inquiry. I would like to begin by considering just how much free stuff is doled out here.

I'm pretty sure that if I were permanently banned from the dining halls, I could still manage to nourish myself with free food from study breaks alone. I've also noticed that I have accumulated almost an entire wardrobe's worth of free Princeton T-shirts from the likes of Cane Spree, football games, and various other class and residential college events. Not only that, but I can keep all of these T-shirts clean for free, too, as we are not charged to use the washers and dryers. Free printing, free beer — the list goes on and on.

I bring up all of these amenities because they are by no means the norm for the college experience. At most other schools — including those where tuitions are equally astronomical (yes, I know that at $40,000 a year, technically none of this is really free) — students still don't have it nearly as good.

While we regularly stuff our faces with free Papa John's and Hoagie Haven, students at other schools say the idea of receiving free grub sounds entirely foreign.

"I don't think I've eaten a single bite of free food since I've been at college," Addie Burton, a freshman at Lehigh, tells me.

While we convert our Cane Spree T-shirts into raggedy, neglected workout clothes, students at other schools say they would covet free college gear.

"I've only gotten one free T-shirt since I've been here," says Ramsey Reid, a sophomore at Tulane. "And it was the ugly shirt they give to students who visit Tulane after they've been accepted."

While we believe quarters have no purpose outside of drinking games, students at other schools are forced to reserve a laundry fund.

"My friends back home hate that I get free laundry," says Jessica Gutierrez '07. "They constantly have to hoard quarters."

And those quarters add up.

"It ends up costing me $5 every time I want to do laundry," Reid says.

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And yet almost all of the Princeton students I spoke with confessed that they take the perks here for granted — and I will readily admit I do the same. All of which raises the question: What are the unintended consequences of being the recipient of so many free goodies? Have we become spoiled?

"I think it cultivates a sense of entitlement," says Danny Shea '07. "It feeds the I-don't-wait-in-lines/do-you-know-who-my-father-is attitude."

In a blurb in the June 7 issue of Newsweek about last spring's string of thefts, Mercer county prosecutor Marc Citron said, "Some of the students feel that they are so privileged that they have the privilege [to steal]." He has also said that the convicted students were unapologetic during court appearances.

"These are like pre-white collar crimes," says Rachel Axelbank '06.

Perhaps we budding Martha Stewarts should think twice before we grab a second free T-shirt just because it's there. If freebies increase our sense of entitlement and erode our sense of value and gratitude, then we're actually receiving them at a high cost. P.G. Sittenfeld is a sophomore from Cincinnati, Ohio. He can be reached at pg@princeton.edu.