Regarding “Some graduate schools, employers still unfamiliar with grade deflation” (Wednesday, March 25, 2009):
As one of its early opponents, I read your article about grade deflation with great interest. Unfortunately, the assurances that Princeton students received in 2004 have not worked out as promised. When the policy was proposed, we were promised that employers and admissions deans would be universally aware of it. Yet awareness remains haphazard. We were promised that peer institutions would soon adopt similar policies. Yet this has not happened.
After five years of debate on this topic, I remain convinced that grade deflation hurts Princeton graduates by forcing them to compete with students with higher grades from comparable universities. It is time the University terminate this failed experiment.
Pablo Kapusta ’05
Internship programs work to coordinate
Regarding “Internships in our service” (Wednesday, March 25, 2009):
I want to thank you for your editorial on the value of the internship programs that the University offers students. Your acknowledgement of the efforts of the various offices and programs is appreciated, and you should know that your concerns about coordination of application deadlines, employer acceptances and student commitment dates are also our concerns.
Over the past few years, the offices and programs that offer internships have worked to better coordinate their deadlines. Each internship provider, however, has its own work culture, priorities and timeline. In the case of the International Internship Program (IIP), for instance, after we hear from an employer, we give students as much time to decide as employers allow. In exceptional situations, we require students to commit within a short time because of the specific requirements of an employer.
As much as we appreciate an individual’s desire to weigh his or her options, we also have a responsibility to the internship providers, as well as to the other qualified applicants who have been placed on waiting lists.
We assume that students read the position descriptions and consult with us as they consider a position prior to applying for it. Students should be able to make “an informed decision” about accepting a position when it is offered.
There are many facets to the process of coordinating efforts when placing students in non profit and private organizations. All the offices on campus that place students in internships provide support to students making decisions. Students, too, must learn to negotiate the realities that await them in the workplace.
Luisa Duarte-Silva
Director, International Internships Program
Poor patriotism evident in “Employ American Workers Act”
Regarding “Banks rescind job offers for international students” (Tuesday, March 24, 2009):
Members of the University community should take a hard, lingering look at the political games and economic assumptions that give birth to the “Employ American Workers Act,” and other so-called patriotic provisions, which makes it harder for the 400 some-odd firms receiving TARP funds to hire skilled immigrants with H-1B visas. My preferred “patriotism” would resist the creep of rules that make American shores relatively less attractive for the best and brightest minds of any nationality. Given the immense value of our international student population in graduate and undergraduate programs and worrisome indications that EAWA is part of a larger tide of barriers, I wonder if students and faculty members at Princeton can take even more vigorous leadership in defending the interdependent openness that some of us regard as crucial for both vibrant universities and productive workplaces.
David Hsu GS
Tour guides motivated by love of Princeton
Regarding “Now that’s a campus tour” (Thursday, March 26, 2009):
Orange Key guides repeatedly appear “oh-so-chipper” about Princeton, as Dylan Shinzaki ’12 states, because they love Princeton. It’s not an act designed to mask the “real” Princeton, as the article seems to imply.
This kind of enthusiasm comes naturally. That’s why they’re tour guides. And ultimately, that enthusiasm is the most important thing a prospective student should carry away from an Orange Key tour — not the fact that Princeton students too have dirty laundry or that Princeton students too can have messy rooms. It’s no great secret that most college students on most college campuses have messy rooms (and, I must say, all accepted students do have the chance to experience Princeton dorm life during the Princeton Preview program in April).
But the fact that Princeton students really do love Princeton — that’s something really special, and that’s what makes people want to come here. I quite frankly am extremely happy to hear that tour after tour, Orange Key guides are continuing to show their enthusiasm about Princeton in the way that they are. It means they’re doing their jobs.
Emily Silk '10
Chair, Orange Key Tours
Read More
Why can’t lecturers win the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching?
Jerry ZhuLet’s acknowledge those who make “boutique teaching” possible, those who work tirelessly to make our rigorous curricula more accessible, and those who dedicate their time to advising and guiding us through all the challenges we face at this University. Lecturers should be eligible for the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching.
Let’s acknowledge those who make “boutique teaching” possible, those who work tirelessly to make our rigorous curricula more accessible, and those who dedicate their time to advising and guiding us through all the challenges we face at this University. Lecturers should be eligible for the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching.
Princeton’s administration of justice is Trumpian
Frances BroganThe disparity between the University’s approach to Giberson and its approach to pro-Palestinian protestors reflects a concerning trend of appeasing an increasingly emboldened right rather than resisting the threat it poses to academic freedom and the wellbeing of Princeton students.
Secular Opening Exercises? Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water
Frank StrasburgerThe secular makes no room for the spiritual. What Opening Exercises are meant to convey is the spirit of the institution so that it may be kept alive from generation to generation.
The secular makes no room for the spiritual. What Opening Exercises are meant to convey is the spirit of the institution so that it may be kept alive from generation to generation.
