December 17, 2003: Features

Princeton around the clock

Slices of life when class is out

MORNING

Photographs by Denise Applewhite

Catesby Perrin ’04, left, and Steve Porter ’04 catch up on the news in their Pyne Hall suite before class. Like many students, they supplemented their University-issued furniture: for each student, a bed, desk, chair, dresser, and, in renovated dorms, a bookcase. Adam Rockman, undergraduate housing coordinator, has seen students move in with home-entertainment centers, plasma-screen TVs, an eight-piece leather sectional sofa with recliners, and a homemade bar, with stools.

On a typical morning, the dining hall in Rockefeller College prepares breakfast for about 300 underclassmen. It’s no surprise that students tend to eat late; while the dining hall opens at 7:30 a.m., it’s busiest around 9. The variety of food has grown over the years: In addition to the standard breakfast cereal, pancake, and muffin selections, dining-hall staff make omelettes to order, every day.

Slices of life when class is out

AFTERNOON

Photographs by Frank Wojciechowski

Just before the men’s rugby kickoff against Yale November 15, the Tiger starters have a final moment of reflection in their pregame huddle. Like all rugby games, this one was fierce, but Princeton won 36–10. Rugby came to Princeton in 1931, when it was introduced by two British graduate students. Today Princeton has about 35 players, says cocaptain Mark Baur ’04. “Although the sport appears at first glance to be more about brawn than brains, intricacies in the laws of the game make rugby as much a cerebral game as any,” he says.

The 100-plus undergraduate and graduate-student members of the Princeton University orchestra rehearse every Monday and Wednesday, for almost two hours. Guest conductor Hobart Earle ’83, conductor of the Odessa Philharmonic, prepares the orchestra for the semester’s last concerts. Top campus musicians – most of whom do not pursue musical careers – practice many hours each week.

Slices of life when class is out

NIGHT

Photographs by Ricardo Barros

Students burn off stress and calories at the 8,000-square-foot Stephens Fitness Center in Dillon Gym, which opened in 2000. Busiest on weekdays from 4 to 8 p.m., students, faculty members, and others work out here – in total – more than 1,000 times on an average weekday, less frequently on weekends. The most popular equipment is cardiovascular: elliptical cross-trainers and treadmills used by students who watch TV or read while they’re helping their hearts.

The rush hour at the Princeton WaWa is 1:30 to 3:30 a.m., when students take breaks from studying or, in this case, other activities. While this is a typical crowd, it’s not quite typical dress: The photo was taken early Friday morning before students left for fall break, and many displayed an early start on celebrating Halloween.