While our favorite Van Pelt spot is normally quite the Rosenparty, or even a Garten of Love, it seems that more people are shacking up solo in The Hotel Rosengarten.
Tipster Isabel Friedman sends in these photos of the full house that checked in early Sunday morning. Now, we all know trudging through the snow is a cruel business—but this just looks plain torturous.
We’re only one month into school and it’s already this packed? Van Pelt, can we book our reservations for finals yet?
But, hey, if you are going to check into Hotel Rosengarten, you might as well BYO-protection.
Inquiring minds want to know, so here it is: grades are not due until January 4, two weeks from today. Good luck with all that Penn InTouch refreshing! (But seriously, shouldn’t we get an email or something when a grade is posted?)
Good morning, Van Pelters. Gossip(y) Girl(s) here.
The other day, someone forwarded us this email in which some dude (actually, a now Penn Law student and former class prez) recounts a conversation he overheard in Van Pelt. We laughed, but didn’t think much of it…until we received the email on like, twelve other listservs we’re subscribed to. When we looked back over the email, we had a number of concerns, including but not limited to: why is everyone declaring their love in Rosengarten? Also, did this guy sit there transcribing this whole exchange? Considering how quickly excited freshmen speak, we find this words per minute count to be impressive. Oh, and…to all the “Obnoxious Girls” and “Awkward Boys” out there — we salute you.
In the unlikely case that you didn’t receive the email (we simultaneously envy and pity you for not being subscribed to eight zillion listservs), the full text is below the jump.
Resourceful Lowbrow contributor Isabel Friedman hung this disco ball in Van Pelt tonight. In her words, “Sometimes you just have to remind yourself where the real party is.” Rosenparty, that is! And for this, we salute her.
How have you been coping with this most brutal of finals seasons? Let us know in the comments.
With finals starting tomorrow, Jimmy John’s is joining Huntsman, Houston and everyone else in the quest to win over the hearts of downtrodden, sleep-deprived students. Tonight, from midnight until 2 a.m., Jimmy John’s subs will be just $1. Yum.
Van Pelt was awash with romance last night. Observe the video above, in which a dapper frat bro (identified as a SAMmy senior) walks into Rosengarten on Saturday with a bouquet of roses. After scanning the room several times, the suitor takes his pick of a lady and begins, “I don’t usually do this, my name’s Charlie. What’s your name?” Smooth moves! “My fraternity is having a semi-formal…So, would you like to go?” he continues. “It’s tomorrow night…I was wondering if you’d like to go.” When she responds with a resounding “Sure,” our suitor retorts with, “Yeah? Really?! What’s your name by the way?” At this point, an onlooker shouts out, “She said yes!” and the applause begins. Apologies for the fact that you may twist your neck watching the video.
Thank you, Charlie, for making us believe real life is like a teen movie. We’ll let it slide that you asked the girl what her name was her name twice.
Please excuse us while we pull ourselves together.
There were puppies in the Rodin rooftop lounge today! There were so many of them, and they were very cute. They came from the Vet School’s VetPet animal therapy program, which according to one of the volunteers generally visits the Ronald McDonald House about once a month and brings adorableness and cheer to everyone everywhere. Whoever came up with the brilliant idea that stressed out college students could use some pet therapy deserves a promotion and a raise.
Here is what Christina Bach, who is in charge of these kinds of programs at the Vet School, had to say about the event:
“Having an animal companion around you de-escalates blood pressure, lowers stress hormone levels and gives an all-around good feeling to people. On Saturday we want to help Penn students take a break from their studies for just one hour and invite them to unwind with some animal interaction.”
And the finals perks just keep rolling in! Yesterday Wharton kids got an email detailing how Huntsman is doing their part to make sure you stay caffeinated in quiet rooms. What you need to know:
Au Bon Pain will stay open until midnight Monday through Thursday, and next Saturday too.
Free coffee will be provided on those nights, from 8 p.m. until midnight.
Certain rooms are being made into quiet study rooms between the hours of 8 a.m. and 11:45 p.m. (JMHH 245, 250, 255 and 260 on 12/11-12/13, 12/17 and 12/20-12/22; JMHH 240, 245, 250 and 255 on 12/16; JMHH 350, 355, 360 and 365 on 12/14, 12/18 and 12/19).
And, as usual, only Wharton students can book their own private study rooms in Huntsman. LAME.
Well guys, it has been quite a semester over here at UTB. We’ve kept tabs on elections and squirrels and the Button. We’ve made sure you know about fro-yo and coffee and tacos. We even taught you how to find a little love on this big campus of ours. And we have our fantastic fall UTB editors, Charlotte Borgen and Ben Rosen, to thank for all that and more.
But with the end of classes comes a changing of the guard, so we are pleased to announce Hillary Reinsberg as the first ever UTB Managing Editor. Though currently studying abroad in Berlin, Hillary will be stateside next semester and remain on board as Managing Editor through the entirety of 2010.
Since we, like you, are sadly in official finals mode, we’ll be posting sporadically from now until the 22nd. Keep sending us tips and musings — the more you send us, the more we write, the more you read and the more you can procrastinate. So do it. And check back often.
Finals really, really suck. In an effort to mitigate said suckiness, Penn likes to hook students up with the occasional freebie. Houston isn’t the only place to find perks — hit up these spots starting today and continuing through the 22nd:
Mark’s Cafe, Van Pelt: Extra shot of espresso free (plus now they’re open until 2 a.m.!)
Accenture Cafe, Towne Building: Extra shot of espresso free
Houston Market, Houston Hall: Free small soda with any purchase between 4 and 8 p.m.
Burger Stop, Food Court at Commons: Late night breakfast from 8 p.m.-midnight (not free, but we hope they have home fries)
And we’re not quite sure what this means, but Einstein is hosting a “Red Bull Energy Break: Drop in and unwind in a bean bag with Wii video games and plasma TVs! Starting at 3 p.m. on 12/14 and 12/15.” So, you know, there’s that.
Though the Compass myth only applies to the first round of midterms, we think it’s funny that it’s covered right before finals begin. Good luck studying, folks (and thanks to Jayme van Oot for the tip)!
Houston is always one of our favorite study destinations during finals, as it’s open all day and all night (24 hours, kids), and offers plenty of free snacks and tutoring. But this semester Houston has really outdone itself. The theme? Harry Potter! (Maybe they read thisNY Times op-ed?)
Not only is there a nifty display (complete with a Gryffindor scarf, goblets, a chess set, a broom, an owl and a mock Hogwarts — see photo after the jump), but there will be two screenings of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince this Sunday (one at 3 p.m. and one at 7:30).
Starting Sunday and continuing through the 21st, Houston will begin its 24-hour finals schedule and begin doling out free goodies. Know about any other finals perks? Let us know.
This was the view from under the Button this morning (Don’t even ask why we were there. Okay you got us. We were taking this picture!) before the library opened at 10:00 a.m. Maybe the early bird gets the best study carrel, but come on. It’s a Saturday!
Though we prefer Fisher Fine Arts (and some other folks do, too), a hell of a lot of people dig Van Pelt (Rosenparty, anyone?). As such, we must inform you that Van Pelt is switching into finals mode.
As of tomorrow, VPizzle will be open until 2 a.m. every day until December 22nd. Mark’s Café will continue to close at midnight, but will stay open until 2 during reading days and final exams. And, as always, Rosengarten will be open 24 hours a day. Let the studying commence (ew).
Penn InTouch is currently unavailable, no doubt due to thousands of undergrads trying to access their transcripts in hopes of seeing their spring grades. The powers that be seriously need to come up with a better system.
Penn InTouch is currently unavailable, no doubt due to thousands of undergrads trying to access their transcripts in hopes of seeing their spring grades. The powers that be seriously need to come up with a better system.