Tag Archive: Student Life

  1. Facebook page makes Yale into one giant meme

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    Because Facebook itself wasn’t distracting enough already, a new Facebook page titled “Yale Memes” is blowing up news feeds across campus, just in time for midterms.

    The page is rolling in the likes, racking up over 600 as of early Thursday morning. It features different memes of common Yale experiences such as subpar dining options, heavy doors in Commons, questionable academic performance and, of course, Toad’s.

    We’ve included a few here, but for more of the memes, check out the page itself.

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  2. Sophomore class decides to play assassins

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    New Haven’s hottest game is back.

    In a Monday email to sophomores, the Sophomore Class Council announced the launch of assassins and urged interested students to sign up “NOW.” Tentative rules for the game include “elimination by socks,” as water guns will be prohibited this year. There will also be safe zones, including students’ dorm rooms. The grand prize: $200 of Miya’s. That’s a lot -f late-night sushi, sophomores.

    This iteration of the long-standing tradition comes just a year after the SCC had to indefinitely cancel last year’s game. The game came to an abrupt end when then-SCC representative Rebecca Miller’s ’13 email account, which contained top secret Assassins information, was hacked. Then-SCC President Omar Njie ’13 told the News that Information Technology Services had advised him at the time to tell students participating in Assassins to change their NetID passwords, and Calhoun College Master and Chair of the Council of Masters Jonathan Holloway said that stealing other students’ identities electronically consisted of a breach of Undergraduate Regulations.

    Current SCC President John Gonzalez ’14 said the council considered several options, including using a third-party website like sassins.com, to ensure the game would run smoothly this year. But he said the council ultimately decided to run the game by communicating individually with each player rather than by sending mass emails or using Google Docs.

    “Yes, we are nearing 200 players registered, but we are willing to take on the difficult task of making the game fair by putting in the time necessary to keep track of things,” Gonzalez said in an email Wednesday.

    Sophomores hoping Assassins doesn’t again suffer an untimely death can sign up for the game by sending their name, email and an alias to yalesophomoreclasscouncil@gmail.com by 11:59 p.m. Friday. Participants will be given the name of their target along with a set of rules on Saturday.

  3. Freshman creates system for screwing

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    Did you lie to your suitemate and say you found him/her a date for Freshman Screw already?

    Do you think your suitemates will do a bad job finding you a date?

    Do you even remember that Freshman Screw is this Saturday?

    No more fear — one freshman has built a digital matchmaker service that will match you with the perfect date.

    On Tuesday night, Davis Nguyen ’15 sent out an email to the freshman class inviting those frosh still looking to set up their friends to fill out a survey to enter his matchmaker service. It asks questions like “Does he/she have a race preference?” to “Does he/she want a date who wants to ‘pre-game’/hook up?” in hopes of optimizing the matching process. The survey records participants’ preferences and automatically organizes them onto a spreadsheet.

    It all started on Sunday night, when Nguyen posted on the Yale College Class of 2015 Facebook group looking to set up a few of his friends.

    “I couldn’t find dates for three friends by just talking to people, so I posted on Facebook. I left my computer for five minutes to go to the restroom, and when I got back, I had about 36 messages,” Nguyen said.

    Within a day, Nguyen had set up 42 couples after five hours’ worth of work, and before he knew it, he could no longer pair all the requests by hand. An hour after the email was sent, Nguyen said around twenty people had already submitted requests. Participants will be informed of the chosen screw date on Thursday night.

  4. Head Cheerio headed to Yale in “Glee”

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    I’m a bit of a Gleek, not in the “Ryan Murphy can do no wrong” camp, but nevertheless an avid, weekly Glee-watcher. But I’d never had more feelings about a storyline not involving Santana until tonight. Two words: Quinn and Yale.

    We got the most predictable surprise of our lives when Finn proposed to Rachel at the end of last week’s episode, titled “Yes/No.” (Glee doesn’t do subtlety.) Rachel isn’t sure of her answer as tonight’s episode begins, so she runs to Quinn for advice. Though they tend not to get along so well, Rachel and Quinn have a way of knowing when the other needs her most. Aw, female friendship! Rachel helped snap Quinn out of her post-adoption slump at the beginning of the season and tonight, Quinn tries to return the favor. She whips out her Yale early action acceptance letter, written in large Arial font, and calls it her “ticket out of here,” to show Rachel that they can be bigger than their men and their hometown. It’s a compelling case, and for Rachel, a firm believer in “shows before bros,” it should have done the trick—but alas, Rachel says yes.

    As Yalies, we don’t care about that. We care about Quinn. She’s one of us now. But could she get in IRL? It’s a big question, one so big it’s currently being tackled on College Confidential.

    “My essay about overcoming adversity while maintaining a straight A average during a teen pregnancy really turned on the admissions boards,” Quinn says after she announces her acceptance. Of course, this is could just be the Glee writers’ feeble attempt at justifying yet another absurd television college acceptance, but is it really so absurd?

    Yes, Quinn has gaping, often horrifying character flaws. Yes, she tried to prove her child’s adoptive mother unfit so she could get her back. But her extracurricular involvement in the Glee Club and the Cheerios is significant, and the notion that her grades would have improved during the pregnancy isn’t so far-fetched considering the nosedive her social life took at the time. And because an admissions officer wouldn’t hear about her occasional dips into crazy land, a real-life Quinn could conceivably be a Bulldog.

    Of course, there were logistical flaws in the acceptance, as well. It came long after Dec. 15, evident because the Christmas episode aired over a month ago. It also came via snail mail, which hasn’t been used for initial admissions decisions in years, and on blatantly unofficial stationary. (As if Yale would ever write its name in a sans-serif font.)

    The questions we’re left with, ultimately, have nothing to do with whether she could have gotten in: What does this mean for Quinn’s character? Will Dianna Agron be back next season? And, most importantly, which a cappella group will she join? Fingers crossed for Mixed Co.!

  5. Saybrook dean to step down

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    After 13 years helping Saybrugians, Saybrook Dean Paul McKinley DRA ’96 will step down at the end of the semester, he announced in a Tuesday email.

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    In the email, McKinley said he will be taking time to decide whether to reenter the fields of drama and film, or to build upon his work as dean through writing, technology and advising.

    “I have served as Saybrook’s dean for thirteen years, doing some of the most enjoyable work in my life, chief among it getting to know so many generations of Saybrugians,” he wrote. “Now, I’m eager to start a new chapter in my life, just as you all will do when the time comes for you to graduate and start new chapters in your own lives.”

    Saybrook Master Paul Hudak thanked McKinley for his service in an email to the college that followed McKinley’s, adding that while Saybrook would miss his work as dean, it would miss his personal presence even more.

    McKinley served as the dean of Saybrook from 1997-2003 and again from 2005 to the present. In the period between deanships, McKinley spent time in the film industry and on the ski slopes.

  6. New blog hopes to give Yale men some lessons

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    Are you a man? Are you totally hopeless at all things female? A new blog might be able to help.

    By Yale Women for Yale Men is a blog started by a group of Yale women for the benefit of Yale men. The blog pursues a MENagerie of topics from how to be friends to the best places to have sex on campus. The blogs creators asked to remain anonymous, but they told Cross Campus they began the blog after one of them broke up with a Yale man after “a several month relationship… in which he did everything wrong.”

    Since it launched last week, the blog has been updated with several new posts each day. Seems like Yale men are giving the writers a lot of material.

    “We write mostly from personal experience and from those of our friends. Some of us are in long-term relationships, while others want to avoid feelings altogether,” the creators said in an email. “We feel that this allows us to write on a wide variety of issues from random hook ups to serious commitments.”

    But it’s not all your fault, Yale men. The writers said the blog is mainly about communication, something we all need to work on.

    Maybe once the guys get ByYaleMenforYaleWomen up and running, both sides can start communicating in real life.

  7. Through the Lens: 1.30.12

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    In celebration of the lunar new year last week, Yalies made and ate copious amounts of dumplings and dazzled audiences with extravagant decorations, costumes and dances that embraced Asian cultural traditions. Staff Photographer Joyce Xi reports.

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  8. So you want to go to Yale-NUS?

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    Plane tickets to Singapore are expensive, but with the right course load, you too can get a Yale-NUS education — right here in New Haven!

    Yale-NUS students will be taking a 10-course core curriculum, including four courses studying the “Great Works” of the Eastern and Western literary traditions, according to the college’s proposed curriculum. It’s really not so different from what most humanities majors at Yale do every single day. So if these students were at Yale, what would they be taking? Let’s check it out.

    To get a full Yale-NUS experience, start with Directed Studies. This is ridiculous work, but on the bright side, it covers almost the entire Western half of the Yale-NUS reading list. Even better, the program is run by Jane Levin, easily the nicest first lady of any Ivy League university (hi Mrs. Levin!).

    Next up is the Eastern tradition. Since Yale doesn’t have Eastern DS, you’ll have to mix and match a bit. Here’s your best bets:

    SKRT 130a/LING 138a: Intermediate Sanskrit I

    The first half of a two-term sequence aimed at helping students develop the skills necessary to read texts written in Sanskrit. Readings include selections from the Hitopadesa, Kathasaritsagara, Mahabharata and Bhagavadgita. After SKRT 120b or equivalent.

    HUMS 418a/RLST 130a/SAST 367a, Traditional Literature of India, China, and Japan

    Introduction to literary works that shaped the great civilizations of Asia. Focus on traditional literature from India, China and Japan. Readings range from religious and philosophical texts to literature of the court, poetry, drama and epics.

    Now you have to take philosophy and poli sci classes. A little Steven Smith and Jay Elliot, and you should be fine:

    HUMS 319b/PHIL 324b, Prudence and Ethics

    Prudence as a central concept for understanding action, practical reason, and ethics. Focus on the tradition that flows from Aristotle to Thomas Aquinas and their twentieth-century inheritors and critics.

    PLSC 114a, Introduction to Political Philosophy

    A study of the first and most fundamental of all political concepts, the regime or constitution. Definition of a regime; evaluation of various kinds of regimes; the kinds of citizens that different regimes produce; differences between ancient and modern conceptions of constitutional government. Readings from Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau and Tocqueville.

    And then bam! You got a solid Yale-NUS education, folks! Just take all the D.S., four semesters of humanities, Sanskrit and political science, and you’re golden like the Singaporean sun.

  9. Read Linda Lorimer’s email on the new tailgate policy

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    University Vice President and Secretary Linda Lorimer sent an email Thursday afternoon outlining a number of changes to the University’s tailgate policy. Read the full text below:

    To: Yale Students, Deans and Directors, Yale College Dean’s Office Staff, Student Affairs Staff, Masters and Deans of the Residential Colleges, Athletics Colleagues

    From: Linda Lorimer

    Subject: Changes to Tailgating Rules

    Immediately following the tragic accident at the Yale Bowl last November, President Levin constituted an ad hoc committee to review Yale’s existing tailgate rules and to focus particularly on the presence of beer kegs and oversized vehicles in tailgating areas. Associate Vice President for Administration Janet Lindner led this committee, which also included Director of Athletics Tom Beckett and Yale College Dean Mary Miller.

    After reviewing Yale’s tailgating policies and the policies of other universities, and conducting site visits to other university stadiums, the committee made the following recommendations, which the President and the other Officers have accepted:

    Kegs will not be permitted at University athletic events or functions. This policy is consistent with practices at many other universities, including Princeton and Harvard.

    Oversized vehicles, such as box trucks or large commercial vehicles, will not be allowed in University lots at athletic events, unless driven by a pre-approved authorized vendor.

    Student tailgating will end at kickoff, and all students and guests will be required to leave the student tailgating area; we hope they will enter the stadium to watch the game or otherwise they will need to leave the Bowl area.

    A new “vehicle free” area for student tailgating will be created. Students who must bring a car will be able to park in another area at the Bowl.

    These regulations will go into effect immediately.

    As the next step of the review, President Levin has asked Janet Lindner to continue working with Tom Beckett and Mary Miller, as well as experts in sports stadium safety, to review Yale’s tailgating logistics, including parking, traffic control, crowd control, tailgating locations, police, security, shuttles and signage. As part of this assessment, the committee will seek counsel from the residential college Masters and Deans; students, including graduate and professional school students; the AYA leadership and the Football Y leaders; Athletics colleagues; Yale’s General Counsel; and the Yale, New Haven, and West Haven Police Departments. Together, I am certain we can continue the tradition of tailgating at Yale in a way that is safe and enjoyable for all.

  10. Yale scientist suggests “G-spot” isn’t real

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    Yale urologist Amichai Kilchevsky published a study in the Jan. 12 issue of the Journal of Sexual Medicine suggesting that the fabled “G-spot,” the erogenous zone inside the vagina purported to provide intense pleasure during intercourse, does not exist.

    To find evidence of the G-spot, Kilchevsky ran a search of published work between 1950 and 2011 using keywords like G-spot, Gräfenberg spot, female orgasm, female erogenous zone and others that are less safe for work.

    “Objective measures have failed to provide strong and consistent evidence for the existence of an anatomical site that could be related to the famed G-spot,” Kilchevsky wrote.

    Such objective measures, the study notes, have included everything from “digital stimulation” to MRI scans over the past decade. Kilchevsky notes that “modern investigative techniques” may provide more evidence in the future. The study claims the majority of women believe in the G-spot, which Kilchevsky said is thanks to a myth perpetuated by the porn industry and the public media.

    “My view is that the G-spot is really just the extension of the clitoris on the inside of the vagina, analogous to the base of the male penis,” Kilchevsky said in the report.

  11. In crowded cities, tiny dorm rooms

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    Feeling claustrophobic in your tiny double? Count your blessings.

    A report out from Reuters this week says a company called Galaxy Stars HK will start manufacturing single-sleeper dorm pods designed to maximize the use of space in notoriously high-rent Hong Kong. The dorms are inspired by Japan’s capsule hotels; each has a three foot by four foot opening and is six feet long.

    The monthly rent for one of these capsules is HK$3,500 (around $450 USD), and includes air conditioning, power outlets, computer tables and light switches. In a country with the world’s most expensive rent, college students in Hong Kong have already expressed interest in living in these affordable yet tiny quarters.

    Singapore, too, is notorious for high-rent housing. But given that Yale-NUS College will include three residential colleges, we are hopeful that our future peers will sleep easy, or at least, not in a pod.