Shopping period dispatches. Yesterday was the start of shopping period, which meant students across Yale rolled out of bed and hit the books. As always, the experiences were memorable. Professor Richard Yang warned his “Intro to Programming” class that the course was not for students who “refuse to think logically” or “hate computers.” And Professor Richard Bribiescas casually renamed his class, known officially as “Human Evolutionary Bio & Life History,” to “Womb to Tomb.”

Director’s cut. The popular course PHYS 101 “Movie Physics” has been canceled this year “due to a variety of recent developments,” according to a Monday email from Professor Stephen Irons. No word on the specifics, but looks like throngs of nonscience majors will need to search elsewhere for their science credits this spring.

Beer-induced warfare. In “Theory & Practice of Negotiation,” Professor Adam Kinon discussed an extended example of a negotiation: putting a beer pong table in the common room. Possible solution? Fist fight.

A judicial remark. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas LAW ’74 may have broken his seven-year streak of silence during oral arguments yesterday when he leaned over the bench to make a crack at Yale Law School, his alma mater. As the justices heard an argument about Louisiana’s delay in paying for counsel for a death penalty defendant, Justice Antonin Scalia noted that one of the lawyers graduated from Yale Law School. Clarence then, allegedly, took this opportunity to remark that graduating from the Law School may indicate more incompetence than competence. Ouch.

Want to impress Linda Lorimer? The Center for Engineering Innovation and Design is hosting a logo and name competition for its new cafe, which will open Jan. 22 on the first floor of the Becton Center. The selected name and logo will be featured prominently in the cafe and printed materials about the space, and winners will receive gift cards to the cafe. The contest is open until 5 p.m. on Jan. 25.

The digital age. The Yale Drama Coalition has unveiled a new website that intends to give undergraduate productions an online space to communicate with the Yale community. Even better: The website features an image of a llama wearing a hat. “It’s the drama llama,” YDC webmaster Stuart Teal ’14 explained. “It’s just a big inside joke.”

THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY 1918 Professor John C. Tracy is chosen to lead the New Haven War Bureau. He will take a six-month leave of absence.

 

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