As both a Princeton graduate and former elected member of Princeton Township Committee, I find it unfortunate that the relationship between the University and the community has become more strained than at any time in memory.
Ninety-four percent of the time in American politics, the candidate who raises the most cash wins. Writing in Rolling Stone magazine, Matt Taibbi argues that the presidential race has become a ritualistic contest between “1 percent-approved,” corporate-funded candidates, who aren’t necessarily right for the job. And this time, he thinks the public might just not let it “fly.” I don’t share his optimism. Money is not the only problem. Partisanship and meaningless rhetoric plague the American political system. The crowds have been duped before. And they probably will be again.
The past two years have been a period of change for the Wilson School?s undergraduate program.
The first week of classes is ceremoniously dubbed “syllabus week” at many other schools. Simply go to class, pick up an unnecessarily printed copy of the syllabus, hear a few words from the professor and leave before the hour is up. Then, drink all week long. We can’t exactly afford such a leisurely transition back, particularly as our semester is only 12 weeks long as opposed to the typical 16-week schedule. Material starts right away, and reading and problem sets are assigned, some of it already due by the end of the week.
We draw our content from a wide spectrum of interests; in the past week alone we have published articles on topics ranging from cyber-bullying to healthy eating to funding for clubs. Furthermore, commentary need not manifest itself in five-paragraph essay form. This semester we hope to include more creative commentary as well, whether through satire or generally less-argumentative prose. We want to encourage dialogue, whether about our generation’s use of social media or mental health concerns on campus. You can do more than contribute to the conversation; you can start it.
I have just made a politically incorrect joke about being Jewish, and the person on the receiving end is uncomfortable. It’s a moment I’m familiar with, being both a person of the type who makes politically incorrect jokes and not a person that “looks” Jewish or has a Jewish name. So I do damage control: “It’s okay,” I say. “My mom’s Jewish.” To which the response is usually, “I didn’t know you were Jewish!”
Members of the Class of 2014 and 2013 who joined Princeton’s five sign-in and six bicker clubs saw multiple changes in the eating club selection process this year. Many of the clubs overhauled some of their long-standing policies in an effort to improve the sign-in and Bicker process. The clubs hoped to attract more members and make the process less stressful with friendlier and more efficient policies.
Imagine one destination where every Princetonian’s research was accessible. Imagine a news feed for the published work of Princetonians. Imagine every syllabus, every document of lecture notes for all of our classes accessible in one place, with links to their resources available to everyone in the University community. And beyond that, a place where students can publish class work that is deemed exemplary. It would be an intranet for our collective scholarly products.
Any professor here will agree that it is a problem when Princeton students, the country’s best and brightest, are flocking to finance and consulting jobs in droves. The situation at Princeton has become such that students think it is the norm and, more so, expected of them to apply for these jobs. The culture is one in which obtaining positions at top firms acts as a way to measure your success as compared to one’s classmates.
As we enter into independent work and thesis season, our dependence on computers increases. The Office of Information Technology handles a vast array of technological problems on campus, including helping students with their individual computer problems. However, the current walk-in system needs to be revised to create better access to OIT’s services.
The recent Internet outage has taught me that we need more connectivity, not less.
Each meal plan should reflect what individuals signed up for. The unlimited diner wants the freedom to swipe in and out of dining halls without worrying about keeping track of meal swipes. The current break system accommodates that. All I ask is that it also accommodate us block-plan holders, who would like to use our set number of meal swipes when we choose.
Whenever I bumped into a few friends at the dining halls, the Street would always be a main topic of conversation. It turns out that a good percentage of my friends are choosing to go independent or co-op, causing me to wonder why there weren’t any similar opportunities for the hundreds of other sophomores who may not be interested in joining an eating club and would rather become independent or join a co-op. And then I realized that students interested in alternative options should be taken into consideration by those who make events catering to the social needs of all kinds of Princeton students.
The idea of a trip to New Hampshire reminded me of Bill Bryson’s article about the ill-omened forests near Hanover, described as “some kind of Bermuda triangle of the deciduous world.” I brushed these grim thoughts off and kept packing. Future events proved me wrong. The Bermuda-triangle hypothesis was, in the end, borne out by our experience: Even though we did not get lost in the woods for good, we did spend close to five hours in a car in the middle of the wilderness on our way from the Sunapee Ski Resort to Hanover.
Last week, in the midst of an impressively boring, white bread town in the south of Connecticut, a student of Ridgefield High School created an anonymous Twitter account that sparked an uprising against cyberbullying. The student had attempted to take up a growing trend of anonymous Twitter accounts meant to victimize other students in the high school, the likes of RHSrumors and RHSbabewatch. But this particular student, in a disgusting attempt to “outdo” the rest with the worst account yet, created RHSf*goftheday and, since its foundation last Monday, my often apathetic hometown has been immersed in activism and outrage.
