Seems legit. A familiar master’s portrait went up in Timothy Dwight’s dining hall over the weekend. But strangely, the subject bears a closer resemblance to TD senior Alex Werrell ’13 than to any previous serving TD master. Perhaps current TD Master Jeff Brenzel just looks different in colonial regalia.

From one man to another. At Yale Hillel’s annual Hanukkah banquet, Yale Journalism Initiative Coordinator Mark Oppenheimer ’96 GRD ’03 imparted a few words of wisdom to President-elect Peter Salovey in his keynote address: “There are two ways to win my favor. One is to pull out of that Singapore deal. The other is to grow back the moustache.”

Will we survive 2012? Yale College Dean Mary Miller thinks so. In a special report to CNN, the Mayan expert aimed to dispel the widespread “hoopla” about the impending apocalypse, declaring that she is “confident that December 22 will see the dawn.”

You can quote him on that. Fred Shapiro, associate librarian at Yale Law School, has released his seventh annual list of the most notable quotes of the year. The winner? Former presidential candidate Mitt Romney. His “47 percent” and “binders full of women” comments took the top two spots on the list.

And back to Singapore. The National Coalition Against Censorship joined the American Association of University Professors in expressing concern that Yale-NUS College would undermine Yale’s commitment to academic freedom. In response, Yale-NUS faculty members released a Sunday statement responding to AAUP’s letter and encouraging AAUP members to contact Yale-NUS faculty directly.

Obama nation. Yale and Harvard scientists have identified a new lizard species that they say was likely wiped out during the asteroid collision that killed the dinosaurs. The catch? They named the species Obamadon gracilis, a nod to President Barack Obama. No word on how the president feels about sharing a name with an extinct lizard.

THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY 1961 Harkness bellringers announce they play Christmas songs on Harkness Tower.