National Media Only Covers Embarrassing Things About Princeton

The New York Times profiles Smashcraft Heroes, Princeton's videogaming club. Its members? "Mostly Asian, mostly male" engineers. Classic. (Our latest 21 Questions is on Mona Zhang '12, the president of the club.)

The reporter describes a recent match of Starcraft against Tsinghua University in Beijing. Of course, being Princetonians, one participant felt the need to relate the game to international relations and geopolitics:

Ke Wan, a graduate student from China who is studying operations research, detailed each world’s character traits: Zergs are prolific and fast, Terrans are sophisticated strategists, and individual Protoss units are extremely powerful. Wan drew a geopolitical analogy. “Zerg is like China,” he said. “It depends a lot on its large population. The U.S. is Protoss because it emphasizes the value of the individual. And Terran is Russia or the former Soviet Union, a huge high-tech war machine.” He plays as Terran.

Read the article, reflect upon on what Princeton has become, and shed an emo tear or two for Old Nassau.

BKN
(image source: nytimes.com)

21 Questions with... Mona Zhang '12

Update 4/12: Zhang and Smashcraft Heroes have also been profiled by the NYTimes.
TRAILBLAZING FEMALE PRESIDENT OF SMASHCRAFT HEROES GAMING CLUB PWNS N00BS (W00T W00T!)

Name: Mona Zhang
Age: 19
Major: undecided
Hometown: Gaithersburg, Maryland
Eating club/residential college/affiliation: Forbes College

Who's your favorite Princetonian, living or dead, real or fictional?
Princeton from Avenue Q, but I don't suppose he's actually a Princetonian

What's the best meal you've eaten in Princeton?
Dumplings made from scratch and random ramen at three in the morning

In one sentence, what do you actually do all day?
I answer emails

What is your greatest guilty pleasure?
Gossip Girl and chasing squirrels

What's the last student performance you saw?
Various snippets of performances at the CSA banquet from Triple 8, the Juggling Club, and more

Do you know all the words to Old Nassau?
Three cheers for Old Nassau, la la la la lassau

What do you hate most about Princeton?
The sewage and maybe the cobblestone when I'm wearing girl-shoes

What's your drink?
Coke
More...

How often do you cook?
Random holidays here and there

What's your favorite medication?
Caffeine

What's hanging above your desk and/or bed?
An outdated Harry Potter calendar that I haven't bothered to replace--that and a quill

Where do you do your best thinking?
On the floor

When's bedtime?
3am, but 7am when OSL finals are on

New Butler or Old Butler?
FORBES.

What do you think of Dean Malkiel?
Who?

Where is the worst place on campus?
I think parking lots are really ugly. The one behind New South isn't very pleasant.

Who is your mortal enemy?
Sida Huang '12

When's the last time you used cash?
Today at Witherspoon for a large cafe mocha with whipped cream :)

In 25 years, I will be…
unemployed or a pro-gamer

Where do you go to study alone?
I bring all my books to the hammock on the Forbes terrace, but then I just fall asleep.

What makes someone a Princetonian?
The requisite genius and laziness behind every Princetonian's intellectual facade

(image source: dailyprincetonian.com)