Oh hey, 12-page Mirror. What's up? You're looking pretty fine these days. No, don't blush -- sure, you might have gained a few pages, but I like some curves on my paper. Gives me something to hold onto, know what I mean? You know what, we should play pong some time. More »
These days it seems like no matter what sport you choose to follow, you're going to be bombarded with a whole host of statistics. Two weeks ago, the entire country knew Memphis couldn't hit a free throw for its life or, as it turned out, for the national championship. Baseball is starting to run out of catchy acronyms and is resorting to terms like VORP and WARP-3, which sound more like Star Trek characters than ways to track star players. More »
Talk of pong inevitably leads to talk of basements and vice versa. So when it comes to pong-worthy basements, how do each of the houses stack -- and rack -- up? More »
Hey prospies -- this one's for you! Before you start literally queuing up when a brother tells you your ninth in line tonight, let Grace Kang shed some insight on what it takes to get on a pong table in the first place. Don't worry about skills; we don't expect you to have them. More »
When I first heard bands talk about album sales, marketing and music as a business like accounting rather than an immeasurable art, I was a bit taken aback. Obviously, there is an industry behind music that makes it possible for bands to get their albums and concert tickets into the hands of hungry fans, but I thought that was something that managers, agents and record label executives dealt with while the bands lived solely in a creative world filled with nothing but muses, energy, starlight and magic. More »
Judge, judge, judge. Judgement is inevitable when you hear the loud clacking and see the hip-swinging of a girl in high heels. You think it looks uncomfortable or assume that she's just looking for attention. More »
Risking the wrath of her editor (henceforth rightly referred to as a divinity), Jean Ellen Cowgill refuses to psychoanalyze pong. She does, however, psychoanalyze her refusal to psychoanalyze. So go figure. More »
You know what? I'm sick of this newspaper highlighting the scoundrels of this community and not giving any love to those who do extraordinary but very simple things. Today, April 18, 2008, I am writing the first ever "Praise Blotter," here in The Dartmouth, America's oldest college newspaper since 1799. I have been walking around all week with my very pretentious moleskin notebook ($19.99, Dartmouth Bookstore) noting all of the great things that happen on this campus. Here are the best of the best. More »
If you're superficial, beer goggles are your worst enemy, but if you're horny, they're your best friend. But is this basement phenomenon for real? Or is it just a convenient excuse for lowering standards and giving into our basest desires? Sandra Himen explores the science behind the social lubricant. More »
Let me preface this by saying that pong is not a great date, or even a good date. However, in the primal, instant gratification-seeking world of Dartmouth, pong does not only technically count as a date but is the ultimate uniting force of this campus. More »
Since when do wooden paddles, plastic balls and cups of Keystone equal a date? Is this what Dartmouth students deem romantic? Really? Since when did being asked to play pong become viewed as an invitation for a date? Although Dartmouth is limited in venues for dating, this doesn't mean it's okay for guys to get lazy and begin slacking in the creativity department. I've interviewed several students and the consensus is all the same: Playing pong is not considered a date, and the fact that people even get that notion is a pathetic sign that they've been in Hangover, (cough, cough) I mean Hanover, for one too many terms. More »
Monica Martin de Bustamante '08 and Annie Stanley '08 finished their last season with the varsity women's soccer team earlier this year. Now they're looking for new outlets for their competitive spirit -- enter the Class of 2008 pong tournament, no boys allowed of course. How did you come up with this '08 pong tournament idea?Monica: We were playing pong in KDE basement and just kind of throwing out ideas of what would be fun to do with the Class of 2008 girls Spring term and then thought of this. We talked to a lot of '08 KDEs, and everyone seemed really excited about it, but no one wanted to organize it. More than anything else it was just that someone needed to plan it. Annie: We were originally going to find some sort of committee to arrange or fund it but then figured we'd just do it ourselves. M: It's kind of like reliving your sophomore summer.A: Except this tourney is not house-related.M: Because throughout four years, you finally meet people that are not in your house or on your team and the Masters tournament is completely affiliated. A: So you just have to be an '08 girl to play in this tourney.How did you start organizing it?M: Well, we Blitzed out and we got a really good response -- about 80, 81 teams, so 162 girls.A: It's a pretty good showing. M: The opponents are all done randomly. We found a number randomizer on the Internet and used it to put everyone on the bracket.A: There are a lot of girls. We don't even know most of the people.What round are you up to?M: Right now we're on the second round and the tourney goes throughout the entire term. You have two weeks to play the game with your opponents and you decide if you play a game of one tree or best out of three with shrub. A: And the final fifth, sixth and seventh rounds are going to be played Senior Week on a random day. M: Someone who lost is actually trying to get the GDX pit for that day! She said she still wants to be really involved.A: We just update the bracket.Are you guys competing too?M: Yes! We will be playing next week. Hopefully Tuesday. Are there prizes?M: We're probably going to make some T-shirts at the end.A: We don't know about prizes yet.M: But definitely something for the winners.A: Bragging rights.Are you guys doing this because you're not taking classes senior spring or something? M: No. I'm taking two engineering and one Italian class, both major classes. A: Well, I'm only taking two classes.M: I couldn't fit a B.E. in engineering in four years with soccer and another major so I'm doing it in five.Will you live on campus next year?M: Well, wonderful ORL decided that fifth-year engineering students can't live in campus housing. For the B.E., you're an undergrad still but the College doesn't recognize you anymore as a student so they leave you to fend for yourself.But you're still going to hang out?M: I should say 'No, I'm going to try to be a real student,' but I'll probably hang out.Do people bring up the tournament with you guys all the time?M: It generally comes up, or people Blitz us to tell us their issues and ask like what they should do. Annie and I talk about it whenever we get the results.A: But Monica sends out all the Blitzes --M: So most people send their questions to me.People are taking this so seriously?M: Yeah, we have deadlines for each round and sometimes people Blitz us for extensions. General thoughts about pong? I've just started playing this year.M: Really? I feel like I've liked the game since my recruiting trip.A: Yeah, we always played since we had older people that were in sororities, so it was easier to get into [pong] because they taught us how to play. It's also competitive, so -- M: This is our new sport.A: Or we pretend it is.M: Coach is not going to like that. A: Well, maybe she doesn't read this far in The D.More »
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