Four more weeks of class and then the year is over! Although this does mean that the vast majority of us will soon be separated from Dear Old Penn, we do have something to look forward to at the end of next week: Spring Fling! So put on a smile for us. Can you do that? No? Fine, be that way. But at least go to some of the awesome events on campus this week.

Flash Mob Pillow Fight
Who: Everyone
When and where: Monday, 11:55 a.m.; The Compass
Why: Huh? Who organized this? Why? Alright, we’ll stop asking questions because we’re too confused. But don’t hit us too hard tomorrow!

Read the rest of this entry »

Remember when Princeton totally zinged us during Homecoming? Well they were probably trying to retaliate after last year’s game, when school buses full of kegs and Penn students took their campus by storm.  Unfortunately for the Tigers, our debauchery seems to have had a far more lasting effect than temporarily interrupting students in the library. The Daily Princetonian reports:

Public Safety and police officers [are] enforcing a new rule, which went into effect this fall, that limits tailgating to three hours before and one hour after sporting events. Tailgating during games has been banned.

This is a real tragedy for early risers and those of us who tailgate without ever intending to watch the game! Here’s where Penn comes in:

The University instituted these regulations after last year’s home football game against the University of Pennsylvania, when tailgaters started two bonfires and left “excessive amounts of trash” on the lot by Broadmead Street, near Princeton Stadium, University spokeswoman Cass Cliatt ’96 said.

The “excessive amount of trash” situation makes us look like total jerks. After all, aren’t we supposed to be really Green? The bonfires, on the other hand? Those sound pretty bad ass.

We’re going to count this as yet another win against Princeton, at least until next year when the game is away and the rules are a total drag.

Before noon, the crunchier among us (not to mention the hungrier and the broker-and-seeking-free-food) convened for the greenest thing Penn’s seen since that girl spilled her Gia salad all over the sidewalk on Spruce. Today marked the launch of the Climate Action Plan, Penn’s latest and greatest effort in sustainability, and we were there to witness it! Sadly, Mother Nature did not quite return the favor to Penn. Due to inclement misting, the launch festival was relocated from College Green (clever!) to Bodek Lounge (not so clever).

Displays included a transportation booth, a sustainable farming booth, a free apples…er, Bon Appetit company booth, and one of those show stealing mini models of a park. As we were ogling the tiny plastic trees, a crowd started forming toward the front… A-Gut was about to give a speech about the planet!

Introduced as the “spirit behind the Climate Action Plan,” Amy G filled us in on details of the initiative, repeatedly invoking the phrase “Less is More.” She concluded by saying that while Penn will continue to “bleed red and blue,” it will from this point forward “dream a green dream” as well. Aw.

Photos from the event, after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s face it. The majority of us spend way more time on campus than we should. We’re in a city, for Pete’s sake! A city with lots of fun goings-on around every turn. So in an effort to bring Philly to you, we’ll be posting weekly weekend roundups, chock full of events that make crossing the Walnut St Bridge (or 41st St) totally worth your while. Enjoy the first edition, and be sure to check back for more!

(Asterisk denotes 21+ venue)

This week, NY Magazine gave our city a shout-out in the Travel section. Sure, the article, “Make a Craft Beer Run to Philadelphia” is geared towards weekend get-away-ers, but leaving University City counts for us. This weekend we’re particularly interested in checking out Tria’s Fermentation Class*, stopping at Monk‘s* to try Russian River beer, which apparently has a cult following and cannot be found (on the East Coast) anywhere but Philadelphia, and getting an order of craft beer truffles at Verde.

But there’s far more to do this weekend than grow your beer-belly! You can also grow your food belly, right off campus at White Dog Cafe’s Dance of the Ripe Tomatoes Block Party! At this celebration of sustainable and humane farming, which starts at 6 p.m. and goes until 9 p.m., $25 will get you delicious food, one draft beer, lots of cool speakers, and live music!

When you’re done there, head to the North Star Bar, where WXPN will welcome Roman Candle*. The latest album from this Chapel Hill, N.C. band, Oh Tall Tree in the Ear, was named a “modern rock masterpiece” by Paste Magazine. If folk isn’t your style, try anti-folk by hitting up Johnny Brenda’s* instead (also at 9 p.m.), where Jeffrey Lewis will perform with Akron/Family. None of these bands will provide adequate dance music, so if that makes you feel sad, check out Making Time at Pure, a dance night we once called the place to be “If you’re clad in American Apparel and ready to ‘FREAK OUT LIKE CRAZY PEOPLE’.”

The weekend isn’t over yet! Find out what else you should be doing, right after the jump! Read the rest of this entry »

Come next May, Franklin Field will be filled with approximately 35,000 discarded plastic bottles. No, it’s not becoming a temporary landfill. Instead, outgoing seniors will be the first class to graduate in 100% eco-friendly garb.

Each cap & gown will be made of 23 or so recycled plastic  bottles that would otherwise be sitting in a landfill.

Is it a response to our not-so-green rankings? Or maybe Harvard’s recent fashion line? Who knows, as long as it doesn’t resemble something straight off the Derelict runway, we’re okay with the change.

The company making them, Oak Hall Cap & Gown, claims the gowns are “virtually indistinguishable in color, feel or fit from traditional polyester material.”  No word yet on what they will cost but the company will donate to the University’s Green Fund for every gown purchased. Commencement with a conscience?

The Green.

Rankings, rankings rankings. We’ve been up, we’ve been down…and now we’re sort of in the middle. Fortunately, this ranking has nothing to do with bragging about how smart we are.

Penn ranks #45 in Sierra magazine’s “Cool Schools” 2009 rankings, which evaluate how environmentally friendly a school is.

Frankly, we can’t say we’re shocked we didn’t make the top ten.

When it comes to being eco-friendly, Penn beats Princeton, according to the just-released College Sustainability Report Card. In other words, things are just as they should be.

Penn boasts a respectable 6 A’s, whereas Princeton has only 3 A’s AND an embarrassing D! And Princeton is in New Jersey. I mean, how hard does the Garden State Ivy have to try to NOT be green? True, Harvard takes the cake from all the Ivies with 7 A’s, but c’mon, their endowment is bigger than the GNP of most small countries.

And props to College OTR for noticing this!