Well, Spring 2012 is over. Now that the snow has melted Now that summer is here, we can finally drag our pale hollowed carcasses out of Bobst and remember what the sun feels like. We’ll be tanning in the park all next week—come say hi.

Again, we need to thank you for reading. If it wasn’t for the tips, links, photoshops, tweets, and comments, we’d be so lost. We at NYU Local appreciate everything you do, always and forever. Stay safe over summer—we’ll be back.

But hey, in the meantime: whether you’re coming back in the fall, transferring, or—eep—graduating, you might get a little bored. (“Call Me Maybe” won’t last you until September.) So to keep you occupied over summer, here are a few links to our favorite stories from this past semester. Starting with…

NYU Local’s Occupy Wall Street coverage started off with a bang this semester with a ridiculous story of intrigue, email threads, and a gradually-escalating sense of “Huh? Is this really happening?” Things got more prosaically real with police brutality, Trayvon Martin protests and our coverage of Cooper Union protests. The teensy trillion-dollar student debt issue elicited more protests.

We went a little nuts for Lil B, who inexplicably decided to speak at NYU. We wrote about it and got photos and video. EIC Myles Tanzer interviewed the student who booked him. (Vice President Joe Biden spoke at the law school too.)

Controversy sparked when it came out that the NYPD was spying on Muslims at NYU. The ‘Chick-Fil-Gay’ debate painfully asked us to decide whether waffle fries were worth bigotry. (Jury’s out. Kinda.)

Snackman lives. Lana Del Rey Gifs haunt us. A Tisch sophomore was in The Hunger Games. NYU College Republicans know how to linkbait. (Or maybe that’s us.)

The Republican primaries axed Santorum, Gingrich, Ron Paul (nope! still running!), and left Mitt Romney the presumptive candidate. For future generations: Gingrich was the guy who wanted to build a moon base (while in Florida), and Santorum was the guy who said a lot of dumb stuff. We’re pretty sure who’s going to win, though.

Staff lists: 100 Things We’d Rather Spend Our Money On, 50 Best Gallatin Interdisciplinary Seminars They Just Haven’t Thought Of Yet.

We know what we did last spring break. We’d rather not remember freshman year.

Senior Ian Hartz explored ancient NYU traditions, because we had those at some point. Aaron Marks profiled Korean Campus Crusaders for Christ. Rachel Kaplan checked out the Crazy Piano Guy in the park. We broke the news that Justice Sonia Sotomayor would be speaking at commencement.

The inevitable NYU expansion continued with the newly-announced Center for Urban Science & Progress (CUSP, get it?), while the superblocks continue to be an interminable warzone of neighborhood politics. Mayor Bloomberg and the New York Times endorsed the 2031 plan—the residents, uh, did not. Repeatedly. Students protested in Bobst and Stern, and professors wrote a heated letter. (EIC Zoe Schlanger was on it.)

(Oh and in case this post isn’t enough: here is the ULTIMATE DISTRACTION POST. Caps necessary. May Bobst have mercy on your souls.)

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Be sure to browse the rest of the site for lots more. Also, make sure to follow our Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook—we’re pretty much always on, so drop us a line.

And hey, if you’re interested in contributing next year, we’re always accepting applications to join our staff.

Enjoy the break!