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Students express concerns about free speech in USG forum

Students express concerns about free speech in USG forum

Christina Vosbikian

The Undergraduate Student Government sponsored an open forum about freedom of expression on campus in Frist Campus Center on Sunday. The panelists included Dean of the FacultyDeborah Prentice, mathematics professorSergiu Klainerman and University general counsel Ramona Romero.

NEWS | 04/26/2015

8 students receive 2015 Spirit of Princeton Award

8 students receive 2015 Spirit of Princeton Award

Melissa Curtis

Eight students received the 2015Spirit of Princeton Award, including Joanna Anyanwu ’15, Christina Chica ’15, Azza Cohen ’16, Brandon Holt ’15, Joseph Laseter ’15, Janie Lee ’15, Hannah Rosenthal ’15 and Paul Riley ’15.The award is an effort of the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students to acknowledge achievements in different areas of campus life, including athletics, community service, the arts, student organizations and religious life.

NEWS | 04/26/2015

Divestment referendum fails to pass by slim margin

Daily Princetonian Staff

The divestment referendum did not pass, with 52.5 percent of students voting against divestment and 47.5 percent voting in favor of it. The referendum called on theUniversity to divest from companies“that maintain the infrastructure of the Israelioccupation of the West Bank, facilitate Israel’s and Egypt’s collective punishment of Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, or facilitate state repression against Palestinians by Israeli, Egyptian, and Palestinian Authority security force.” Though 2,200 students participated in the election and voting process, only 2,032 students voted on the referendum. Princeton Committee on Palestine board member Katie Horvath ’15 explained that, although the movement for divestment had been significant, she was not surprised at the outcome of the referendum. “We knew from the outset that this was going to be an uphill battle, and we had done our research and looked at the previous divestment movements at Princeton,” Horvath said. She added that she was pleased to have lost by only 102 votes, because with more outreach and slightly increased support, the referendum would pass in a similar scenario.

NEWS | 04/24/2015

News & Notes: Princeton High School students stage walkout to support teachers' union

Jasmine Wang

Hundreds of Princeton High School students supported teachers in a contract dispute by walking out of classon Thursday, according to the Times of Trenton. The contract dispute is between the local school board and the teachers' union Princeton Regional Education Association. Andrea Spalla, the school board president, said that the issues in dispute could not be publicly talked about and that progress has been made to address them. OnDecember 1, PREA members responded to the contract dispute by deciding to end voluntary participation in uncompensated extracurricular activities that extend beyond the school day. PHS student Harrison Bronfeld, who helped organize the walkout to support the teachers, said that the studentsdesired a resolution to the issue. “Discourse and respect for a diversity of opinions is valued in the PHS community,”PHS principal Gary Snyder said regarding students’ decision to participate in the walkout. The PREA and the school board are scheduled to meet onMay 4.

NEWS | 04/23/2015

McDermott discusses the changing nature of depictions of the Hindu goddess Durga

Jacob Donnelly

The changes in the face of the goddess Durga during the Bengali festival Durga Puja are reflective of changes in the broader face of Indian society, Rachel McDermott, professor of Asian and Middle Eastern cultures at Columbia,said at a lecture on Thursday. The Durga Puja is the Bengali version of Navratri, or the nine nights festival, in which the slaying of the demonMahishasuraby thegoddess Durga is celebrated, McDermott explained.

NEWS | 04/23/2015

Princeton Medical Institute conducts clinical trial for drug to potentially treat Alzheimer’s disease

Nahrie Chung

Researchers at the Princeton Medical Institute, as well as at other institutions, are investigating a novel drug to fight Alzheimer’s disease in a phase-II clinical trial called the NOBLE study.Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative illness that affects more than five million adults in the United States.

NEWS | 04/23/2015

TigerHub and ReCal take the spotlight during course selection

Kristin Qian

During the course selection period for fall classes, many University students have moved away from defunct course-scheduling applications like the Integrated Course Engine and easyPCE andhave started using newer applications like TigerHub andReCalinstead.As of Thursday, Polly Griffin, the University registrar, said that93.9 percent of active students had built a course plan on TigerHub, the University’s course-scheduling portal.

NEWS | 04/23/2015

First class of neuroscience concentrators express excitement, concerns

Zaynab Zaman

The curriculum for the new neuroscience major is noticeably different from the curriculum for the certificate, students interviewed said.Those interviewed said they were excited about having the option for a neuroscience concentration but noted that it has been difficult to prepare for the concentration since they have only known about its existence for less than a year.Seventeen members of the Class of 2017 have decided to major in neuroscience this year, according to Co-Director of the Program in Neuroscience Asif Ghazanfar.

NEWS | 04/23/2015

Wilson School sees big drop in sophomore concentrators, economics receives most in social sciences

Jessica Li

Three hundred sixty-three sophomores declared concentrations in the social sciences as of Wednesday, compared to 393 at the same time last year. The most dramatic change was the decline in Woodrow Wilson School enrollment, from 155 last year to 109 this year. Wilson School departmental representative David Wilcove deferred comment to undergraduate program administrator Jan Burch, who declined to comment. Charles Kanoff ’17, who is concentrating in the Wilson School, was also considering ecology and evolutionary biology, A.B.

NEWS | 04/22/2015

Princeton Board of Health raises minimum age to purchase tobacco to 21

Melissa Curtis

The Princeton Board of Health adopted an ordinance on Tuesdayraising the minimum age to purchase tobacco and other smoking products to 21. Princeton is the seventh town in New Jersey and the first in Mercer Countyto have implemented such an ordinance.The statewide minimum age to purchase tobacco in New Jersey is 19. The adoption of the ordinance follows arecommendation by the Board of Health last month by approving the introduction of the ordinance. Mayor Liz Lempert said she supported the new ordinance. “The longer you can put off someone taking their first puff the more likely it will be that they’ll never start,” Lempert said. The feedback Lempert has received on the anti-smoking measure has been highly positive, Lempert said. “I think it’s more that we’ve tried to be practical in Princeton and a leader in the state when it comes to creating a smoke-free environment in our parks and outside of our municipal buildings,” Lempert said. In 2013, the town of Princeton enacted a ban on outdoor smoking on municipal property, including municipal buildings, parks, pools and town-owned recreation areas, becoming the first town in Mercer County to do so.

NEWS | 04/22/2015

Neuroscience has 17 concentrators in inaugural year, other sciences largely unaffected

Jacob Donnelly

Seventeen sophomores signed in to the new neuroscience concentration this year, according to Asif Ghazanfar, co-director of the Program in Neuroscience. It was hard to have any expectations for enrollment because sophomores did not have the chance to plan how they were going to fulfill the concentration’s prerequisites in their freshman year, Ghazanfar said. “[The sophomores] I met with, basically, were very, very thankful, because they were trying to figure out some other kind of route to pursue their neuroscience interest,” Ghazanfar said. The Program in Neuroscience asked incoming sophomores which department they would have joined.

NEWS | 04/22/2015

Schneider ’17, Jayanti ’17, Schneider GS to represent U. at international computing competition

Zoe Toledo

Eric Schneider ’17, Siddhartha Jayanti ’17 and Jon Schneider GS will represent the University at the upcoming Association for Computing Machinery International Collegiate Programming Contest in Marrakech, Morocco this May. ACM is an educational and scientific computing society comprised of computing educators, professionals and students. The contest allows hundreds of teams, each consisting of three students, to work together and solve a series of problems with mathematical algorithms. A total of 2,534 universities and 38,160 contestants from101 countries participated in the regionals-level competition.

NEWS | 04/22/2015

More sophomore enrollment in language concentrations, humanities remain dominated by history concentrators

Do-Hyeong Myeong

The Spanish and Portuguese department experienced a significant increase with 16 new concentrators this year compared to three sign-ins last year, according to Spanish and Portuguese department representative Germán Labrador Méndez said. He said that this year’s increase in Spanish and Portuguese majors could be explained by the ongoing internationalization of the University campus, noting that many of the concentrators the department received this year speak multiple languages or have international backgrounds. He also explained that the increase in enrollment reflects the growing importance of the Spanish language in the United States. “Spanish is really getting important in the States,” Méndez said,"especially in real life and in future jobs in the field of medicine, in the field of law, in the field of international relations or in the field of business." The department’s interdisciplinary nature suits many students, whether they are interested in the sciences, humanities, arts or politics,Méndez added. Mary Hui ’17, an aspiring foreign correspondent, explained that the Spanish and Portuguese department’s small size and flexibility, as well as her love for Spanish language, convinced her to join. “Originally, I was thinking about [being a] politics major with a Spanish certificate, but I realized it wouldn’t be enough [for me to master the language],” Hui said.

NEWS | 04/22/2015

News & Notes: Animal rights advocates urge legal action against Harvard's New England Primate Center

Daily Princetonian Staff

The advocacy group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to the Worcester County District Attorney's office last week, urging it to pursue criminal charges against the Harvard researchers responsible for the care of primates that were allegedly mistreated, the Harvard Crimson reported on Monday. Harvard’s New England Primate Center is facing scrutiny after reports that several of its monkeys have died from inadequate care.

NEWS | 04/21/2015

U. announces appointment of Graduate School associate dean for diversity and inclusion

Jessica Li

The University announced its appointment of Dale Trevino as the Graduate School's associate dean for diversity and inclusion last Friday.

NEWS | 04/21/2015

Associate dean of the college for programs of access and inclusion appointed

Melissa Curtis

Khristina Gonzalez was appointed associate dean of the college for programs of access and inclusion last Thursday. The appointment comes at the same time as a similar appointment of an associate dean for diversity in the Graduate School. Gonzalez is the former associate director of the University's Writing Center and oversees the Freshman Scholars Institute, among her various roles at the University.

NEWS | 04/21/2015

Newly elected Greek governor lectures on strengthening democracy, challenges as a woman

Katherine Oh

The new administration of Attica, Greece, aims to establish a new plan to resolve the economic and political crisis faced by the region, Attica governor Rena Dourou said at a lecture on Tuesday. Attica is the largest region in Greece and includes the capital, Athens.

NEWS | 04/21/2015

Though search continues, Asian American Studies professorship still vacant

Christina Vosbikian

The University has been unsuccessful in hiring an Asian American Studies professor, though the search is continuing, professor of English and African American Studies Anne Cheng '85 said. The search, which has spanned candidates in multiple disciplines, launched in November 2014.

NEWS | 04/21/2015

Former U. President Bowen GS ’58 discusses details of divestment

Jacob Donnelly

Divestment is a complicated issue, but universities should resist efforts to have outside agendas forced upon them through divestment, former University president Bill Bowen GS ’58 said at a dinner discussion on Monday. The action of divestment is too blunt to account for nuances and lets people engage in a form of activism that is "too easy" as opposed to the hard work of bridging divides and effecting real change, Bowen said. Bowen recalled that during his University presidency from 1972 to 1988, some members of the campus community had wanted the University to divest from a towel company that had engaged in questionable labor practices.

NEWS | 04/20/2015

News & Notes: NJ Transit may halt bus between town, local hospital

Do-Hyeong Myeong

New Jersey Transit recommended discontinuing the bus service between the town and the University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro due to low ridership, The Times of Trenton reported on Monday. The specific route that is affected is the 655 Princeton-Plainsboro route. New Jersey Transit officials announced Monday that the agency faces a budget gap of about $60 million for the 2016 fiscal year, and that to close the gap, the agency is considering discontinuing some of its routes. The Tiger Transit route that runs between the hospital and the University would be unaffected. In addition to discontinuing and reducing bus routes, New Jersey Transit alsoproposed increasing the fares up to 9 percent. If approved, this would be the first fare increase in five years. Public hearings on fare increases and service reduction are scheduled from May 16-21, prior to the final decision of the agency’s board of directors in July.

NEWS | 04/20/2015

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