Winter means many things for us at Princeton: the first snow, a good excuse to skip class and, above all else, the bone-chilling, teeth-chattering ... heat of our older dorm buildings. Each year, as the outside temperature falls, the temperature inside rises and rises, until it is far from comfortable. The issues seem to all stem from the fact that the old radiators can seemingly only be on full blast or not at all.
In those buildings which have still not been renovated, there are at least three significant problems with the heat. First, rooms become unbearably hot when the heat kicks in. Temperatures often rise into the low 80s. While this may feel nice on a beach, it is far from optimal while sitting at a desk or lying in bed. Most students need to leave their windows open just to moderate their room temperature which creates the ever-enjoyable situation of 20 degree air wafting with 85 degree air.
Even more problematic is the noise created by the heating system. Only a few weeks into freshman year, we all became acquainted with the ticking or clanking of our heaters. Some have described these banging noises as the sound of a man who is stuck in the radiators and is trying to get out. But this sound is by no means universally present. In fact, some radiators emit a sound much closer to a loud whistling than banging. Besides being a nuisance, these noises are loud enough that many students are woken up several times each night.
Finally, the excessive heat generated by the radiators is incredibly wasteful. Few sane students truly desire the temperature to be in the low to mid-80s 24 hours a day. For a campus that claims to take energy efficiency seriously, this system should receive much more attention than it has.
Though the issue seems trivial at first, the oppressive heat that envelops Princeton dorms every winter is a legitimate problem. The fact that many students are woken up at night by banging and whistling only to sweat from the heat while they lie awake is pretty unreasonable. As the winter chill arrives outside the dorms, we all fear the sweltering heat that will arrive within our dorms.
Read More
Why do two-thirds of your summer research wages go to Princeton, anyway?
Isaac BarsoumThe income that students earn from employment is not “miscellaneous.” So Princeton must decide: Does it want its students — all of them, not only those who can afford it — to be able to work on the important research happening at Princeton, or be forced to go home?
The income that students earn from employment is not “miscellaneous.” So Princeton must decide: Does it want its students — all of them, not only those who can afford it — to be able to work on the important research happening at Princeton, or be forced to go home?
Seniors deserve better than Jay Shetty
Izabela Konopka and Joshua YangWe are writing to express our strong disapproval of the selection of Jay Shetty as the 2025 Class Day speaker. We deserve better than a self-help guru and repeated plagiarist who runs a “school” that an expert claims exhibits “similar patterns” to a multi-level marketing scheme.
We are writing to express our strong disapproval of the selection of Jay Shetty as the 2025 Class Day speaker. We deserve better than a self-help guru and repeated plagiarist who runs a “school” that an expert claims exhibits “similar patterns” to a multi-level marketing scheme.
The CPUC must not gut its Judicial Committee
Bill HewittEnding the Judicial Committee’s jurisdiction over initial complaints would embolden abuses of power, allowing the administration to evade accountability for University rule violations without the pressure of student and faculty authority.
Ending the Judicial Committee’s jurisdiction over initial complaints would embolden abuses of power, allowing the administration to evade accountability for University rule violations without the pressure of student and faculty authority.