The Mad Men of the Ivy League

Mad MenRemember a time when all you had to do to get a job was be a white male Ivy League graduate and show up? Not since 2004 have such impressive qualifications given you a shot at even the presidency, let alone any other job. In today's tough climate for the white male it's up to the AMC show Mad Men to remind us of how good things used to be. And man, do caucasians love this show.

The third season of the award-winning show premiered last Sunday, and every week for the next three months we will be transported back to the 1960s. It was a time when everyone smoked, "diversity" meant hiring Italians, getting drunk at 10 a.m. was a good day, and cheating on your wife and mistress with a prostitute was the rule. In honor of the third season of this ode to status and excess, we've put together a list to help readers put a face to an alma mater. Hopefully, it'll reinforce some stereotypes as well. Go to red spoiler alert! Read the rest of this entry »

If You’re Not a Cornellian You Shouldn’t Sport Cornell Gear

American movies and TV shows are filled with fictional Ivy Leaguers. (To name a few, Bruce Wayne of "Batman" is a Princetonian, Peter Parker of "Spider Man" is a Columbian, and Elle Woods of "Legally Blonde" is a Harvard Law student.) But, as a seeming reflection of real life, Harvard, Yale, and Princeton get the most attention; the others - most notably Penn, Cornell, and Dartmouth - are, to the chagrin of many of their alums, given the shaft.

"The Office", however, runs against the media's obsession with the H-Y-P triumvirate and features a character that bleeds Big Red blood: Cornell alum and highly successful Dunder Mifflin lackey Andy Bernard (Ed Helms). Though the show's writers have made several rather deprecating jibes at Cornell in past seasons, they've ratcheted it up to new heights in the newest episode, which aired last Thursday.

On the day after Halloween, Dwight Schrute - the Assistant to the Regional Manager - struts into work sporting a Cornell sweater. This distresses Andy quite clearly; he laughs tensely at first, and then - once Dwight is at his desk - walks over and informs him that he shouldn't be wearing Cornell merchandise. The Cornell references escalate as the episode proceeds; near the end Andy conducts an alumni interview with Dwight, who has ostensibly applied to study at the Agriculture School.

After the jump: a few quotes and a YouTube video.

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