Business and economic interests not in conflict
I am dismayed by the views expressed in the article "Slick Money: The Controversial Role of Corporate Funds in University Labs" in the March 5th issue of the Prince Magazine.
The article notes the danger that corporations will "use Princeton research not only in the interest of profit but profit at the expense of the global climate." Nonsense. The fundamental cause of industrial pollution is that business leaders often fail to incorporate environmental costs into their decisions. BP-Amoco's support for the Carbon Mitigation Initiative (CMI) tries to do exactly the opposite, investing in the environment in order to prevent future environmental costs from overwhelming the fossil fuel business.
Rather than a conflict of interest, BP-Amoco's funding of the CMI shows a congruence of interests, between scientists eager to reduce pollution for the sake of humanity and industry leaders also eager to reduce pollution for the sake of their business.
Greenhouse pollution will make fossil fuels an increasingly less viable energy option. Any early attempt to reduce this imminent pollution, whether through carbon mitigation or other technology, serves both the environment and the economy. Profitable environmentalism is in society's interest. It is nothing to be despised.
Princeton University already has administrative mechanisms in place to ensure that conflicts of interest do not arise. There is no reason to assume that these conflicts become any more likely in the presence of the corporate funding he condemns than in that of government funding which he seems to prefer.
Instinctive anti-corporatism will not build the environmental-economic partnerships that responsible environmental protection requires. CARLOS RAMOS-MROSOVSKY '04
Clarifying University-community relations
The March 7th article "University funds part of local school renovation" states that "as a non-profit corporation, the University is not required to pay property taxes," but "each year . . . the trustees approve a sizeable donation to both the Borough and the Township." Neither statement is quite correct.
The University is a tax-exempt, charitable institution, but not all its properties qualify for tax-exemption under New Jersey law. In addition, some properties that might qualify for this exemption have been left on the tax rolls voluntarily for various reasons. As a result, the University, which is the largest taxpayer in both Princeton communities, pays more than $5 million per year in property and sewer taxes to the Borough and the Township; sewer taxes are paid on both exempt and non-exempt properties.
The University does make donations to the Borough and Township municipal governments and to other community organizations which are not part of the local government structure. Some donations are annual, while others are one-time. A few are determined by formula or agreement, although most are not pre-determined. These donations generally do not require trustee action but are part of a trustee-endorsed policy of being a good neighbor and helping to sustain an array of community services that are very important to our students, faculty and staff. Pam Hersh Director of community and state affairs
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Princeton is more than prestige and aesthetics. The pre-frosh experience must reflect that.
Sasha Malena JohnsonFrom the acceptance letter to Princeton Preview, perhaps Princeton is too removed in the way it treats its pre-frosh and too reliant on visuals and prestige during the period after Ivy Day. Princeton should prioritize efforts to connect with prospective students in written communication and work on making Princeton Preview more socially and intellectually engaging.
From the acceptance letter to Preview Days, perhaps Princeton is too removed in the way it treats its pre-frosh and too reliant on visuals and prestige during the period after Ivy Day. Princeton should prioritize efforts to connect with prospective students in written communication and work on making Preview Days more socially and intellectually engaging.
By erasing Hamas and the Oct. 7 attacks, PIAD’s proposal is unproductive and deeply unsettling
Judah Guggenheim“But the PIAD proposal gives no indication as to how boycotting or divesting from Israel will lead to a better future for Palestinians, because it never addresses what that future will actually look like.”
“But the PIAD proposal gives no indication as to how boycotting or divesting from Israel will lead to a better future for Palestinians, because it never addresses what that future will actually look like.”
Princeton, turn construction efforts to our education
Abigail Rabieh“It’s too easy to leave Princeton without the transcendent liberal arts education that the University extols when the only intellectual guidance comes in the form of general platitudes and an inconstant and inadequate advising system.”
"It’s too easy to leave Princeton without the transcendent liberal arts education that the University extols when the only intellectual guidance comes in the form of general platitudes and an inconstant and inadequate advising system."
