News

Updated: Jodi Picoult '87 to be Class Day Speaker

The Class of 2016 Class Day Committee announced Monday morning that the speaker for this year’s Class of 2016 Day will be novelist Jodi Picoult ’87. Molly Stoneman '16, a member of the Class Day Committee, noted there have only been two women speakers, including Queen Noor of Jordan ’73 and journalist Katie Couric, as well as one person of color, Bill Cosby, in the history of Class Day. “We decided that we wanted to see more of the values of our class being reflected in the Class Day speaker,” Stoneman said.

Husband of religious mentor charged with accepting bribes

Trevón Gross,husband ofQwynn Gross, a ministry fellow of Christian Union at Princetonand mentor to many students, wasrecentlychargedwith accepting bribes from an illegal Bitcoin exchange platform. Christian Union oversees the Princeton Faith and Action program at Princeton. Qwynn Gross currently leads a Christian fellowship program and a bible study group on campus.

USG discusses bike share program, Committee on Diversity and Equity

The Undergraduate Student Government Senate discussed the bike share program during their weekly meetingon Sunday. U-CouncilorEthan Marcus ’18 presented a brief update onthe new bike share program on campusand explained that the program has been going great so far, withmany new student users who had signed up for Zagster accounts.

News& Notes: U. experiences wireless network outage, residual email delivery delays may occur

The University's wirelessnetworks were down for about two hours on Sundayafternoon around 1:50 p.m.

UPDATED: Hacker, white supremacist website claim responsibility for anti-Semitic messages around U.

The University is undertaking an investigation with the Department of Public Safety and the Office of Information Technology in response to en masse anonymous delivery of anti-Semitic messages across campus between Thursday night and Friday morning. The flyer'smessageaccused the Jewish people of "destroying the country through mass immigration and degeneracy." A limited number of posters were found on different parts of the campus. University Media Relations Specialist Min Pullan said that the messages were printed out using Internet-accessible printers.

Residential college deans to assume greater role in independent concentrator advising

Starting this year, residential college deans will assume more active role in the application process for independent concentrators. According to Deputy Dean of the College Elizabeth Colagiuri, students will have to consult their residential college deans before submitting applications for independent concentrations.

Bike-share program expands reach on campus

The Zagster bike-share program added eight new bike stations and 50 new bikes around campus over spring break, according to Nate Taber, head of marketing at Zagster.

Water polo faces important road trip in preparation for national championships

This Saturday, the women’s water polo team will start their weekend by traveling to Ann Arbor, Mich., for three straight conference matchups against the University of Michigan, Indiana University and Harvard.

Career Services to begin partnership with PICS

Starting June 1 of this year, Career Services will be partnering with Princeton Internships in Civic Service, according to Pulin Sanghvi, executive director of the Office of Career Services. The PICS program allows undergraduate students to participate in eight- to ten-week paid internships in nonprofit organizations, all of which are sponsored by alumni.

Women's lacrosse faces Harvard in tough matchup

The last time the Princeton women’s lacrosse team (4-2 overall, 1-0 Ivy League) battled against the Harvard Crimson was last year’s semifinal game, which preceded the Tigers’ victory in the Ivy League Championship.

Men's and women's crew to open spring season against difficult slate

After strong performances in the fall races and months of preparation, Princeton men’s and women’s rowing both open their seasons this weekend.

UPDATED: U. to explore settlement of mental health lawsuit

The University willexplore settlement discussions ona mental health-related lawsuit with theplaintiff, who is using the pseudonym W.P., as requested by the presiding judge. According to a text order signed by Tonianne Bongiovanni, a magistrate judge at the United States District Court of New Jersey, on Mar.

U. researchers collect world's oldest ice core

A team of four University researchers and one member of the U.S. Ice Drilling Program traveled to Alan Hills, Antarctica as part of an expedition drill for the oldest ice core.The team consisted of Assistant Professor of Geosciences John Higgins, Yuzhen Yan GS, research specialist Preston Kemeny ’15, postdoctoral researcher Sean Mackay and drill operator Mike Waszkiewicz of the U.S.

OPT visa extension to allow longer stay for international STEM students

Under a newDepartment of Homeland Securityrule, some international students at the University may be eligible to work and remain in the United States for a longer time post-graduation.With the new regulation that will go into effect May 10, international students who have a degree in designated science, technology, engineering and math related fields may pursue a F1 Optional Practical Training visa for up to 24 months, Assistant Director for International Students at the Davis International Center MladenkaTomasevic said.This extends the current 17-month STEM OPT visa limit.International students comprise around 12 percent of undergraduate student body and about 40 percent of the graduate student body.

David Lane speaks on solutions to global hunger

We will need to figure out how to feed 9-9.5 billion people more nutritious food with fewer inputs, less water and pesticides and in the face of climate change by 2050, U.

Second We Speak survey to measure student awareness, experiences of sexual misconduct at U.

The second We Speak survey on undergraduate and graduate students' knowledge and experiences of sexual misconduct and awareness of University policies, procedures and resources, was distributed to all students via email on Tuesday. The survey was put together last year and this year by a smaller working group that had some student involvement, Vice Provost for Institutional Equity and Diversity, University Title IX Coordinator, and Co-Chair of the Faculty-Student Committee on Sexual Misconduct Michele Minter said.

Whig-Clio debates merits of Latkes, Hamentaschens in annual debate

Ban on tackling to have little effect on U. football team

Ivy League football coaches' proposed ban on tackling during in-season practices will not markedly affect Princeton's football team, according to Director of Athletics Mollie Marcoux.According to an article from the New York Times earlier this month, the proposal will become standard policy in the Ivy League if it gains approval from all eight schools' athletic directors, university presidents and the policy committee dedicated to this issue.The University football team, as well as other teams in the League, have already been practicing this strategy of avoiding full-contact hitting, Marcoux noted.John Kolligian, director of university health services, deferred comment about the issue to University Media Relations Specialist Min Pullan.Pullan explained that the University's football team already has a policy in place that not allow tackling to the ground in practice.Marcoux said, “The League has been practicing this [strategy] for a while, and the level of play continues to increase… it’s making us more competitive because we want to keep players healthy and ready to play the game.”“This is not a far divergence from what we’ve already been doing, it would just formalize the policy in the actual season,” she added.When asked for a remark on the issue, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications Craig Sachson deferred comment to an interviewwith Bob Surace, University head coach of football, that aired on ivyleaguedigitalnetwork.com.“Our coaches do a great job, they’re committed to player safety.

David French discusses free speech on college campuses

Free speech introduces dissent and disagreement, and can introduce critical thinking on college campuses, David French, a staff writer at National Review, said in a lecture Tuesday.French began by describing college as a place where one could explore “dangerous or contentious ideas in the classroom.” He said that during his college experience at a highly conservative college, he did not see any chastisement or rebuke of diverging thoughts on controversial issues.He added that at the time, he viewed free speech as a mechanism for having difficult and infuriating conversations, and as something that improved and sharpened the mind.French explained that upon arriving at Harvard Law School, his perception of free speech changed.

U. professor emeritus Andrew Wiles wins Abel Prize

Andrew Wiles, professor of mathematics, emeritus has won the Abel Prize from the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters for his proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem.The Academy's website explains that, "The [Abel] prize recognizes contributions of extraordinary depth and influence to the mathematical sciences." Work considered for the prize may have resolved fundamental mathematical problems, created powerful new techniques, introduced unifying principles or opened up major new fields of research."The intent is to award prizes over the course of time in a broad range of fields within the mathematical sciences," it notes.Wiles is the third consecutive Abel Prize winner associated with the University.