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USG holds first Senate meeting with new officers

USG holds first Senate meeting with new officers

Katherine Oh

The Undergraduate Student Government discussed what it has done so far, appointed a number of non-voting and voting members and discussed communications efforts during its first meeting of the year on Sunday. USG president Ella Cheng ’16 began themeeting with the president's report, which was a brief overview of what USG has been working on so far.

NEWS | 02/08/2015

News & Notes: Harvard professors banned from sexual relationships with undergraduates

Jasmine Wang

In response to school-wide Title IX policy changes on the issues of sexual and gender-based harassment across the nation, Harvard banned its professors from having sexual relationships with undergraduates this week. The Faculty of Arts and Sciences, which oversees Harvard undergraduates, emphasized that the rule regarding teacher-student relationships needed to be clearer — specifically, the language now explicitly forbids undergraduates and professors from engaging in romantic or sexual relationships. The restrictions also apply to lab workers and dissertation advisees. Under the previous policy, Harvard’s policy was more vague, only specifying that relationships with “one’s students” are inappropriate — suggesting that relationships between professor and student were prohibited if the student was in a professor’s class, but not necessarily otherwise. The University, along with its peer institutions, was also found in violation of Title IX regulations last year in November. The University and the Office for Civil Rights implemented a resolution agreement in order to review the revised policies to ensure compliance with Title IX.

NEWS | 02/05/2015

Panel discusses issues in wake of Charlie Hebdo attack

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Panel discusses issues in wake of Charlie Hebdo attack

Ruby Shao

Professors in the French department discussed the humor found in Charlie Hebdo, a French satire magazine, at a panel discussion on Thursday night. "It is very literally adding fuel to the fire.

NEWS | 02/05/2015

Student grocery delivery service begins pilot program

Zaynab Zaman

The Special Occasions Agency and University Student Life Committee recently partnered to pilot a new grocery delivery service on campus this week, according to Special Occasions chair Jean Wang ’16. The program is geared toward students in independent housing, allowing them to place online orders to the SOA and then receive their groceries shortly thereafter. The only grocery store currently available to order from is Wegmans, mainly because Wegmans offers a comprehensive list of products on its website, Wang explained.

NEWS | 02/05/2015

Shepard '87: Ethnobotanist, anthropologist, two-time Emmy winner

Christina Vosbikian

Not many botanists can claim to have won two Emmy Awards, but GlennShepard’87 can. Shepard, an ethnobotanist and medical anthropologist whose research focuses on the indigenous peoples of South America, once worked with the Discovery Channel on a film that ended up winning two Emmys.

NEWS | 02/05/2015

N.J. Gov. Chris Christie target of new federal investigation

Pooja Patel

New Jersey Governor and ex officio University trustee Chris Christie and members of his administration are the targets of a new investigation by federal prosecutors, the International Business Times reported on Thursday. The Governor’s Office did not respond to a request for comment. The charges were brought after former Hunterdon County Assistant Prosecutor Bennett Barlyn was allegedly fired shortly aftervoicing objections to the decision of his superiors to dismiss his investigations into and indictments against political allies of Christie. Barlyn filed a whistle-blower lawsuit and has told media outlets that he was given no reason for the dismissal, although he alleges that his superiors, who were appointed by Christie, fired him unjustly. Investigators are still in the "exploratory stage," according to the International Business Times, and it is unclear whether criminal charges will be filed. Meanwhile,Christie has been emphasizing bipartisanship in his public speeches not only in New Jersey but also on the national stage and many have speculated that he could be considering a run for the U.S.

NEWS | 02/05/2015

News & Notes: Two Harvard students expelled for sexual misconduct

Do-Hyeong Myeong

Two Harvard students were expelled for sexual misconduct on Dec. 10, according to a Feb. 4 article inThe Harvard Crimson. Harvard’s Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Michael Smith announced the dismissal in a monthly faculty meeting on Tuesday.According to Smith, one student had been the subject of three sexual harassment complaints, and the other was the subject of one. Complaints for both students were reviewed under Harvard’s former sexual harassment policy and procedures, and the school’s Faculty Council voted to dismiss both students in December. The identities of the students remain anonymous. Harvard revised its sexual misconduct policy on Monday.

NEWS | 02/04/2015

Eating clubs form Community Service Interclub Council

Jacob Donnelly

The eating clubs collectively announced the formation of the Community Service Interclub Council on Wednesday. Kate Gardner ’16 of Tower Club and Kevin Larkin ’16 of Colonial Club were appointed co-presidents. The council is the third organization in which all of the eating clubs designate representatives, beside the Interclub Council and the Graduate Interclub Council.

NEWS | 02/04/2015

USG winter break referendum receives overwhelming student support

Ruby Shao

An Undergraduate Student Government referendum seeking an extended winter break received support from 96.2 percent of voters, or 2,015 out of 2,095 undergraduates who voted. The turnout was almost exactly 40 percent of the undergraduate student body. USG president Ella Cheng ’16 said the referendum results would certainly bolster efforts to lengthen winter break. “It basically provides us undeniable proof of student opinion in predominately one particular direction, which is always good for us,” she said, adding that USG members will discuss the results in upcoming meetings with administrators. University spokesperson Martin Mbugua said the faculty committee that controls the calendar will take the referendum into account going forward but that there will not be sufficient time to lengthen winter break for the 2015-16 academic year.

NEWS | 02/04/2015

Sittenfeld ’07 declares Senate candidacy for Ohio’s 2016 race

Christina Vosbikian

Alexander “P.G.” Sittenfeld ’07, the youngest city council member in Cincinnati history, recently declared his candidacy for the position of U.S.

NEWS | 02/04/2015

Residential college adviser acceptances released

Corinne Lowe

Roughly 40 percent of students who applied to become residential college advisers for the 2015-16 year, including both returning and new applicants, were offered positions on Wednesday, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students Michael Olin said.Between all the residential colleges, there were 51 positions left open by graduating seniors, Olin said.

NEWS | 02/04/2015

Brown, Dartmouth change alcohol policies following binge drinking incidents

Annie Yang

Dartmouth recently banned hard liquor from its campus, and Brown banned alcoholic events in residential areas. Liquor with more than 15 percent alcohol will be prohibited from Dartmouth beginning on March 30.

NEWS | 02/03/2015

News & Notes: Princeton House Behavioral Health employee charged with sexual assault

Daily Princetonian Staff

An associate at Princeton House Behavioral Health was charged with sexually assaulting a patient, the Princeton Packet reported. The Mercer County Prosecutor's Office announced the arrest of Jonathan Hodges, 36, on Monday. Hodges faces one count of second-degree sexual assault and will appear in Princeton Municipal Court on Feb.

NEWS | 02/03/2015

U. faculty codevelop free online course on Bitcoin

Jessica Li

Three University faculty members, a former University postdoctoral fellow and a professor from the University of Maryland will be teaching “BTC-Tech:Bitcoinand Cryptocurrency Technologies,” an unofficial, free online course open to University students and the general public during the spring semester. Bitcoins are units of a digital currency which operates free from a central bank and are encrypted. According to the class Piazza page, the course starts on Feb.

NEWS | 02/03/2015

Over 1,000 students enrolled in 60 Wintercession courses

Olivia Wicki

More than 1,000students enrolled in over 60 courses during the 2015 Wintersession program, but participation may have been affected by the University closing on the Tuesday of the Intersession break due to inclement weather. Wintersession classes are personal enrichment classes offered by the Undergraduate Student Government at the end of January. “I think that participation rates were affected on Tuesday when there was a good amount of snow on campus," former USG president Shawon Jackson '15 said.

NEWS | 02/03/2015

Town planning board to review proposal for 7-Eleven on Nassau Street

Aana Bansal

The town planning board is expected to review a controversial proposal on Thursdayto open a 7-Eleven convenience store at the vacant West Coast Video property.The town council voted 4-3 in December to pass an ordinance requiring businesses bordering residential zones to be closed between 2 a.m.

NEWS | 02/03/2015

Priorities committee announces budget for 2015-16 academic year

Corinne Lowe

There will be a tuition increase of 3.9 percent for the 2016 fiscal year, the University’s Priorities Committee announced in its annual operating budget report released on Monday.The increased budget also includes a 7.4 percent increase in the University’s financial aid budget to $140.2 million for next year.

NEWS | 02/02/2015

Student referendum calling for extended winter break goes live

Linda Song

An Undergraduate Student Government referendum calling for a three-week winter break during the 2015-16 academic year opened for voting online on Monday.

NEWS | 02/02/2015

FDA approves Bexsero for use in 10- to 25-year-olds

Zaynab Zaman

The Food and Drug Administration recently approved Novartis’ meningitis B vaccine, Bexsero, which had been used to vaccinate University students. The vaccine is now approved for use in 10- to 25-year-olds in an effort to prevent the disease from spreading. Seven students and one visitor were diagnosed with and survivedmeningitis B in 2013.

NEWS | 02/02/2015

Institute for Advanced Study scholar discusses role of nationalism in Balkan Wars

Durva Trivedi

The Albanian conflict and nationalist ideologies both played key roles in bringing about the Balkan Wars, Nader Sohrabi saidin a lecture on Monday. Sohrabi is a scholar of Ottoman and Iranian history currently conducting research at the Institute for Advanced Study. Sohrabi explained that, within scholarship on Turkish nationalism, there are two popular views with regards to Balkan history: orthodox and revisionist. According to the orthodox view, the Ottoman Empire broke downbecause of the irrational nationalism of the Committee of Union and Progress, a well known political organization in the region. According to the revisionist view, however, Turkish nationalism is an entirely new idea — a product of the republic — while the empire’s identity was religious, local, hybrid and Ottomanist. “I counter both,” Sohrabi said.“I claim here that CUP is going somewhere that is close to an assimilationist stance.

NEWS | 02/02/2015

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