THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN lost a treasured alum yesterday, as did the New York Times and lovers of political journalism everywhere. R.W. Apple Jr., once a member of Princeton's 1957 class, died of thoracic cancer, the Times announced. The Prince today pays a worthy tribute.

Joining Apple's mother as the only ones ever to call him Raymond, the Prince runs an above-the-fold obit: "A man of the Times." Apple was chairman of the Prince in 1956, but just briefly. Poor grades got him kicked out of Princeton for a second time, and he never returned. (Apple eventually picked up his BA from Columbia's School of General Studies—which, according to this Spectator article, appears to be a haven for dropouts.) But the Prince dregs up what it can of Apple's time on campus, spent almost exclusively in the Prince building. The obit recounts how Apple's aggressive chops got him—and the Prince—a world exclusive on the death of Albert Einstein. Kindly, the Prince reprints that article and an image of the front page. (That's quite an exclamation point in the banner headline: "EINSTEIN DIES!")

In an old-boys-network moment, the Prince also recounts how Apple beat out Robert Caro—of "The Power Broker" and "Master of the Senate"—for the Prince chairmanship, and they reprint the article announcing his election. Was Apple's notorious ego behind making that article the lead story? Anyway, from the obit:

The next year Apple faced Robert Caro '57 in the election for 'Prince' chairman. The two had long battled for dominance as the star reporter of their class, Milton said.

Both were skilled and dedicated, but in the first round of voting the 'Prince' staff elected Apple by a very close margin, Richard Kluger '56, the previous chairman, said. "Each of them was a very high-powered young guy."

With most of the Ivy papers now gearing up for their own elections in the coming months, it should be heartening to know that in the Ivy League, even the losers get to write history.

A TALE OF two protests: At Columbia, students stormed the stage to interrupt a speech by the founder of the Minuteman Project, while at Penn, students took to the streets to protest . . . protests.

Holding signs such as "Don't waste paper" and "I will not make a sign," the six Penn students marched through campus and generally left everyone "befuddled," the Daily Pennsylvanian reports. And as if things couldn't get more absurd, there's this:

Raviv said the group was told to quiet down as they walked over the Compass, where Sociology professor Samuel Preston was delivering a 60-second lecture as part of a series organized by the School of Arts and Sciences.

What? Where's the story on that? But don't worry, the Columbia protest had its moments of absurdity, too:

"We were aware that there was going to be a sign and we were going to occupy the stage," said a protestor who was on stage and asked to remain anonymous. "I don't feel like we need to apologize or anything. It was fundamentally a part of free speech. ... The Minutemen are not a legitimate part of the debate on immigration."

Is it even physically possible to be on stage and remain anonymous?

MONEY MATTERS AT Penn, Brown, and Yale! With investment returns of 12.5 percent last fiscal year, Penn's endowment grew to $5.3 billion, the DP reports. That return was handily beaten by Harvard (16.7 percent) and Yale (22.9 percent), but don't worry, the DP says "officials are confident Penn is catching up to these institutions." Despite all evidence to the contrary!

Yale President Richard Levin warns the YDN that his stellar returns may not continue. This results in the headline: "Endowment growth may start to slow." But isn't Levin's warning just an attempt to tamp down expectations?

Also, Brown is very happy about its alumni fundraising totals, the Daily Herald reports.

FOLLOWING THE YDN'S revelation of, let's say, buoyant grades at Yale, the Prince reports that grade-capped Princeton students are (surprise!) not happy with their deflated GPAs. Specifically, 75 percent told the student government that Princeton's grade-deflation policy is having a "negative effect on the University's academic environment." This is from an anoymous comment on the survey:

"My grades are much lower than those of my friends from other schools. Why would an employer hire a Princeton grad with a [GPA of] 3.5 instead of a Harvard grad with a [GPA of] 3.8? Are we arrogant enough to believe grades from Princeton mean something more than other schools?"

—Ivy Infusion has a whole department dedicated to relations with "Business." Send comments, insights, and other conspiracy theories to ivyinfusion@gmail.com.