Diane Auer Jones, a professional staff member for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and a former program director in the National Science Foundation's Division of Undergraduate Education, has been named director of Princeton University's Office of Government Affairs, effective Jan. 1, 2003. She will succeed Nan S. Wells, who is retiring after serving as the director of the office since its inception in 1979.

As a member of the Science Committee, Jones has participated in the preparation and advancement of legislation related to science, mathematics, engineering and technology research and education. She also has worked on issues related to intellectual property, technology transfer, international students and support for research equipment and facilities, working closely with staff in leadership positions in both houses of Congress and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). At NSF she served as a lead program director for the Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics Scholarships program and served as a program director for the Advanced Technological Education program and the Course, Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement program.

A summa cum laude graduate of Salisbury State University on Maryland's eastern shore with a master's degree in applied molecular biology and coursework completed toward a Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biology from the University of Maryland, Jones has served as a faculty member at The Community College of Baltimore County in Catonsville, Md. In addition to teaching a broad range of courses in the life sciences and developing degree programs in biotechnology and bioinformatics, she established and directed an NSF-funded Biotechnology Institute, founded and directed an NSF-supported Consortium for Statewide Biotechnology Education in Maryland, and served as an elected member of the Faculty Senate and chair of its Student and Community Affairs subcommittee.

She also established and directed the Upper Chesapeake Bay Water Quality Assessment Center at The Community College of Baltimore County in Baltimore; co-founded a company, Athena Environmental Sciences, Inc., that develops microbial products for use in environmental bioremediation and molecular biology research; served as a consultant to Baltimore's Applied Biotech Consortium and the Baltimore County public schools; founded and managed a gourmet food store, book store and tea room; and founded and managed a health care center, the Holistic Wellness Center, in Catonsville.

Jones' volunteer activities have included service on the board of directors of the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) Research Park, on the UMBC president's Community Advisory Board, and on the board of the Greater Catonsville Chamber of Commerce. She is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Society for Microbiology.

"Diane Jones will bring a broad range of knowledge and experience to her new responsibilities, along with exceptional intelligence, creativity, resourcefulness, energy and judgment," said Robert K. Durkee, Princeton's vice president for public affairs, who made the appointment. "She also will bring a national reputation as a leader in undergraduate science education and as an advocate for federal investment in scientific research and education; a demonstrated ability to foster communication among diverse groups of people and to generate support for key policy initiatives; and an insider's understanding of academic institutions and of the importance of federal programs that provide support for faculty and for students. We are counting on her not only to provide leadership for our efforts in Washington, but to make significant contributions to the work of the associations that represent us and to the interests of higher education more generally."

Princeton's government affairs office is located in Washington, D.C. Its director is the University's principal representative on matters related to federal policy and legislation, especially in areas involving federal support for research and graduate education; undergraduate financial aid; tax policy, including incentives for charitable giving; immigration policy; intellectual property; and other matters. The staff also includes an associate director and an executive assistant. The associate director position is currently vacant; one of Jones' first responsibilities will be to conduct the search to fill that position.

David T. Wilkinson, a professor of physics whose research helped shape scientists' understanding of the structure of the universe and whose open and friendly manner made him a beloved colleague and teacher, died Thursday after a long bout with cancer. He was 67.

Wilkinson, Princeton's Cyrus Fogg Brackett Professor of Physics Emeritus, was a key figure in making the astronomical observations that, in the 1960s, gave a solid basis for the Big Bang theory of the universe. Over subsequent decades, he conceived and guided major satellite-based investigations that yielded further dramatic insights and continue to refine scientists' picture of the universe today.

"He was a mixture of a teacher and a scholar of a caliber that we were very lucky to have," said Joseph Taylor, dean of the faculty and longtime colleague in the physics department.

In addition to his research, he eagerly engaged in mentoring students, organizing innovative classes in physics, enlisting undergraduates in research and arranging stargazing gatherings. In his most recent project, he invited amateur astronomers and other volunteers to work side-by-side with Princeton scientists in a search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

"He was an inspiring figure as a physicist as well as a friend," said Jim Peebles, a theoretical cosmologist who worked closely with Wilkinson for 40 years. "He will be missed indeed."

Wilkinson joined the Princeton faculty in 1963 after earning B.S.E., M.S.E. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Michigan. He began a search for a faint bath of energy that theorists had predicted would pervade space if the Big Bang theory were correct. The energy, called the cosmic microwave background, was postulated to be the afterglow of the initial fireball itself. The radiation was discovered in 1964 by researchers at Bell Labs who were awarded Nobel Prizes, but Wilkinson went on to confirm its existence and make increasingly subtle measurements that continue to shape cosmology.

"It really transformed the whole field of cosmology from a rather speculative and theoretical enterprise to one that has its basis in experimentally testable predictions and basic facts," Taylor said of the discovery and analysis of the cosmic microwave background.

Wilkinson's work in this area ushered in an era of cosmology that emphasized taking astronomical measurements with the kind of precision scientists expect of laboratory-based experiments, said physicist Lyman Page, a Princeton colleague. "The whole vision of doing really fundamental science from the cosmos grew out of his work," said Page.

One of the biggest advances in the field came in 1989 with the launch of a satellite called COBE, the conception and development of which was driven in large part by Wilkinson. The COBE satellite charted a sky-wide map of very slight variations in the radiation.

Peebles recalled the earliest days of planning for the COBE satellite and seeing Wilkinson on the telephone soliciting bids from aerospace companies that were needed to win a contract from NASA. "Here he is, a scientist who loves to get into the laboratory, sitting by the phone negotiating with contractors hour after hour. He had such focus and did it all so capably that COBE flew and was a spectacular success, just spectacular," said Peebles.

In 2001, NASA launched the MAP satellite, which is making an even more detailed map of the radiation. Although many scientists participated in its development, "Dave was really the father of MAP," said Page.

"He was the ideal of a scientist on absolutely every level," Page said. "He was an unparalleled statesmen for science, a promoter for the field and for good science everywhere, while at the same time never promoting himself." Wilkinson served on numerous high-level committees for planning and teaching initiatives for the National Academy of Sciences. He also chaired the Princeton physics department for three years and served on many University committees.

As influential as his own research, said colleagues, was the impact of Wilkinson's teaching and mentoring. "His former students really populate the field now," said Peebles. "Many, if not most of the people in experimental cosmology were at one time either his students or worked with him as postdoctoral fellows."

He also was an enthusiastic teacher of undergraduates, developing several new courses, including a sophomore course in experimental physics that he organized in the last couple of years before retiring earlier this year. In 1996, he received the Princeton President's Award for Distinguished Teaching.

"He left an outstanding legacy of teaching that was appreciated by the engineers and pre-med students who had to take physics and didn't think they would like it, but found it very exciting under his direction," said Taylor, who also noted that Wilkinson was the person who recruited him to Princeton in 1981.

"He was friendly and open and always had students stopping by," said Taylor. "If you wanted to talk physics, he was ready to chat with you."

A memorial service in Wilkinson's honor is being planned. Wilkinson is survived by his wife Eunice of Princeton, son Kent of San Antonio, Texas, daughter Wendy Gordon of Lambertville, N.J., stepchildren Marla Dowell of Boulder, Colo., Michael Dowell of Chicago and Janice Dowell of Bowling Green, Ohio, as well as five grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to: ISLES; or the Optical Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (OSETI) group in care of the Princeton University Department of Physics.

Last December, Princeton announced a set of programs designed to help people affected by Sept. 11 and to support New York City's renewal and recovery.

At the one-year anniversary of the tragedy, those initiatives have resulted in the awarding of 10 scholarships at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, grants for Princeton faculty and students to study issues related to the events of Sept. 11, a program this fall at Blairstown for the families of victims and a project that has exposed more than 10,000 youngsters to the arts. The University committed a total of $1 million to the programs.

John Jay scholarships:
Princeton founded a scholarship program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City to honor the memory of the more than 100 public service heroes of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center who received academic training at the college. Ten students were selected during the summer as the first recipients of the Justice Scholarship.

Support for expertise and research:
A second program was set up to provide funds to support faculty and staff who can contribute special expertise to New York's renewal, rebuilding and recovery, and to support graduate and undergraduate research related to the attacks.

Two faculty members Erik VanMarcke, professor of civil and environmental engineering, and Guy Nordenson, associate professor of architecture have received funds to undertake a study of design concepts and parameters affecting the resistance of tall structures to extreme conditions such as wind storms, earthquakes, fires and accidental or terrorist blasts. Laura Kurgan, assistant professor of architecture, received a contribution from the University last winter to help fund the production of a memorial map for the area around Ground Zero.

Arts Alive:
More than 10,000 youngsters from schools affected by the attacks attended Broadway shows such as "The Phantom of the Opera," "Aida" and "The Lion King," took in performances by the American Ballet Theatre and Blue Man Group, and visited museums that included the Rose Center Planetarium, The Museum for African Art and The American Museum of the Moving Image as part of the Arts Alive program.

In all, students from 82 schools in every borough of New York City took part in nearly 200 live arts and cultural experiences last spring, along with Princeton students who volunteered to join the youngsters.

Enough funds remain from the University's $1 million commitment to permit continuation of the Arts Alive program during the upcoming fall semester. This year's program will involve students from schools in New Jersey as well as New York City, and New Jersey performing arts venues such as the Newark Museum, Liberty Science Center and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center are likely to be included. Student volunteering will continue to be coordinated by the class of 2004, which will make a strong effort to involve members of the freshman class.

Princeton-Blairstown Center

The University is sponsoring a program at the Princeton-Blairstown Center this fall for families directly affected by the Sept. 11 attacks. The program, to be held Sept. 12 and 13, will work with family members on coping techniques and family communication skills as well as offering grief and trauma counseling.

More details about these programs are available on the University's September 11 site.

The accomplishments of Princeton's students were celebrated with the awarding of four undergraduate prizes at Opening Exercises Sept. 11.

"Among the qualities that matter to us at Princeton, none is more important than intellectual engagement and academic achievement," said Dean of the College Nancy Malkiel. "It is especially fitting that we begin the academic year by honoring a select group of undergraduates for extraordinary accomplishment in their programs of study."

Freshman First Honor Prize

The Freshman First Honor Prize is awarded each year to a sophomore in recognition of exceptional achievement during the freshman year. This year, the prize was shared by Varun Phadke and James Stillwagon.

Phadke graduated from Jamesville-Dewitt High School in Dewitt, N.Y. Born in India, he came to the United States when he was nine years old. He and his family live in Syracuse. An A.B. candidate, he plans to major in molecular biology and complete a certificate in applications of computing. Last year, he was a recipient of the Manfred Pyka Memorial Prize in Physics. He intends to serve this year as a tutor in physics and to join the Princeton Bioethics Forum.

Stillwagon, who is from Fombell, Pa., graduated with highest honors from Sewickley Academy in Sewickley, Pa. Also an A.B. candidate, he plans to major in economics and pursue a certificate in finance. He was a starter last year for the junior varsity tennis team and serves as a senior writer for the campus publication, American Foreign Policy, as a member and foreign policy chair of the Princeton College Republicans and as a member of the Princeton Committee Against Terrorism.

Next month, Phadke and Stillwagon will receive the Shapiro Prize for Academic Excellence.

George Wood Legacy Sophomore Prize

Ruth Tennen of Collinsville, Conn., received this year's George Wood Legacy Sophomore Prize, given to a member of the junior class in recognition of exceptional academic achievement during the sophomore year.

A graduate of Canton High School, Tennen is pursuing an A.B. degree in molecular biology. Her first scholarly article, on bacterial spores, was published in the 2000 Journal of Applied Microbiology. Her long-range goal is to attend graduate school in preparation for an academic career in molecular biology.

The co-winner of the Freshman First Honor Prize for her class, Tennen also has twice received the Shapiro Prize for Academic Excellence. This fall she will be an undergraduate teaching assistant for organic chemistry. She also plays the clarinet as a member of the University Wind Ensemble.

George Wood Legacy Junior Prize

This year's George Wood Legacy Junior Prize went to Adrienne Erickcek, a graduate of Loy Norrix High School and the Kalamazoo Area Math and Science Center in Kalamazoo, Mich. The award is presented each year to a member of the senior class in recognition of exceptional academic achievement during the junior year.

An A.B. candidate, Erickcek is concentrating in the Department of Physics and plans to write her senior thesis on self-interacting dark matter models. A poster based on her work as a summer intern at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics was displayed at last January's meeting of the American Astronomical Society. Following graduation, she plans to pursue a Ph.D. in theoretical astrophysics with the hope of becoming a professor.

Erickcek was a recipient of the President's Award for Academic Achievement and the Shapiro Prize for Academic Excellence. She also has been recognized for her work in physics as a recipient of the Manfred Pyka Memorial Prize, the Lucent Prize and the Kusaka Memorial Prize in Physics. This past year, she was awarded a Barry Goldwater Scholarship.

A flutist in the University Wind Ensemble, Erickcek has tutored students in physics and mathematics through Butler College and at the Frist study halls.

Class of 1939 Princeton Scholar Award

The recipient of this year's Class of 1939 Princeton Scholar Award was Peggy Hsu, a graduate of Liberty High School in Bethlehem, Pa. The award is given to the undergraduate who, at the end of the junior year, has achieved the highest academic standing for all preceding college work at the University.

An A.B. candidate, Hsu is concentrating in the Department of Molecular Biology. Her senior thesis topic is the genomic analysis of reproliferation in yeast. Following graduation she hopes to enroll in an M.D./Ph.D. program and to pursue a career in academic medicine and research.

The winner of the Freshman First Honor Prize for her class, Hsu also was a recipient of the Manfred Pyka Memorial Prize in Physics, the President's Award for Academic Achievement and the Shapiro Prize for Academic Excellence.

Hsu is co-editor-in-chief of the Princeton Journal of Bioethics and a peer health educator. She also serves as the project coordinator for the Student Volunteers Council's Katzenbach School for the Deaf Project and as co-coordinator of American Sign Language classes on the Princeton campus.

Greetings

Good afternoon. It is a great pleasure for me to extend a warm and enthusiastic welcome to all the members of the University who are joining us for the first time.

To the 1,166 members of what I am sure will become of the Great Class of 2006, I congratulate you on your excellent judgment in choosing to matriculate at Princeton. You have already passed your first important test. You hail from 48 states and the District of Columbia -- something untoward must have happened in Arkansas and New Mexico last year for those states to have failed to send us a student. Your home towns include Hana, Hawaii; Minot, North Dakota; Pascagoula, Mississippi; Osterville, Maine. You hail from 40 countries, representing every continent but Antarctica -- something untoward may have happened there too -- with hometowns like Victoria, Australia; Nairobi, Kenya; Caracas, Venezuela; and Shanghai in the People's Republic of China. You are an interesting and talented group of students, and we are proud to welcome you into our midst.

To the 567 new graduate students, I also offer special greetings. You too are an international group of students; 39% of you come from outside the United States. You have chosen to pursue the life of a scholar, and you represent the future of the academy. I also would like to welcome the new members of the faculty, who I know will enhance Princeton's reputation for excellence in both scholarship and undergraduate and graduate education. I also welcome new members of the staff. The university works as well as it does because we are blessed with a dedicated staff that oversees everything from the explosion of floral colors in Prospect Gardens to scheduling classes and balancing the budget.

This year has brought many changes in the academic administration as well. Today it is a special pleasure for me to welcome the new Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School, Anne-Marie Slaughter, a member of Princeton's Class of 1980 and a distinguished scholar of international law. Dean Stan Allen, a scholar, a teacher and a practicing architect joined us from Columbia University this summer to lead the School of Architecture. Finally, we welcome an old friend, Dean William Russel, as he moves across Washington Road from the E-quad to assume his new position as the Dean of the Graduate School.

Last but not least a warm welcome to the returning members of the Classes of '03, '04 and '05; the returning graduate students who have spent the summer either here or away from campus pursuing their scholarly work; and all of the returning members of the faculty and staff.

Those of you new to Princeton join a university with a long and proud history that goes back 256 years. Some of the paths on which you will walk, the books you will read and the rooms in which you will study have been graced with men and women who served this university, and then went on to serve this country and the world with great distinction. Generation after generation of Princetonians have maintained this great tradition of service -- statesmen like James Madison and Woodrow Wilson, both Presidents of the United States, were followed by Adlai Stevenson, George Shultz, Bill Bradley, and by two of our newest Trustees, Senator Paul Sarbanes from Maryland and Congressman Jim Leach from Iowa. The mantle of the great 19th century physicist Joseph Henry, who founded the Smithsonian Institution, has been assumed by our own Dean of the Faculty, Joseph Taylor, a Nobel Laureate in Physics for his discovery of a new kind of pulsar. F. Scott Fitzgerald's literary legacy has been inherited by the great modern writers John McPhee and a current Trustee, A. Scott Berg. I hope each of you is inspired by those who have gone before you, and will dedicate yourself to achieving the high goals that have brought you here.

We celebrate this beginning of the academic year on a day in which the air is full of somber remembrance of the tragic events on last September 11. This evening we will come together again -- at 7 o'clock on Cannon Green - for a memorial service in which we remember the individuals who lost their lives on that terrible day. I hope all of you will join me for that occasion.

Remarks

This afternoon's opening exercises mark the official beginning of the new academic year at Princeton. When I look at the members of the Class of 2006 gathered today, and consider what is in store for you, I am filled with envy. Yes, envy - pure and simple, because you are about to embark on four years that are certain to be among the most important and exciting in your lives. During the next four years you will identify the passions that will shape your life, you will make friends who will last a lifetime, and you will make choices that will help to define the kind of person you will be. You will explore the universe of ideas, which are the true coin of the realm in a university, in a free and unfettered way that may never be available to you again. I hope you will make good use of these four years, because they will pass in the blink of an eye. If you don't believe me, just look at the faces of the seniors who know they have just nine months before they will walk out FitzRandolph Gate. What you will see there is not the specter of the senior thesis still to be written - the haunted look and nervous fidgeting that marks the true procrastinator doesn't set in until February. Rather what you will see there is the realization that they will soon have to leave this beautiful and privileged place, where they have not just been allowed to grow intellectually and personally, but have been encouraged and exhorted -- occasionally threatened -- and provided with the necessary resources.

You now have these extraordinary resources at your command -- an international faculty whose members have dedicated their lives to scholarship and research in close collaboration with students; a library and a museum filled with treasures waiting to be discovered by curious minds; state-of-the-art laboratories in which the secrets of nature are being disclosed; studio and theater spaces where the spirit can soar with invention and imagination; and of course the food in the college cafeterias that is, in the words my father used to describe my mother's cooking, filling and nourishing.

All of these resources have been assembled at Princeton to make it possible for you to obtain the finest undergraduate education in the world, and to do it in a residential community dedicated to personal as well as intellectual growth. It is our responsibility as Trustees, alumni, faculty and staff to ensure that the raw materials you need to construct your experience here are in place and in good working order. Each of you, however, is in charge of deciding how -- and how fully -- you will make use of these resources. They can be used, and combined, in an almost infinite number of ways. How you do this -- through the many choices you will make in the next four years -- will determine whether you will be able to say, as so many others have before you, "Princeton changed my life." To say that honestly will require making bold and adventurous choices in every aspect of your experience here.

In making your academic choices, I hope you will avoid the natural tendency to study only those subjects in which you have excelled in high school, or to take only those courses that your friends are taking, or those that you believe will, in some narrow way, prepare you for the job market. Our distribution requirements, our freshman seminar program, our emphasis on independent work are all designed to widen your intellectual horizons so that you will leave here a cosmopolitan (a word I take from Professor Anthony Appiah, who joined us this year) - meaning a person whose spirit is informed by a deep understanding and appreciation of the world in all of its manifold subtlety and complexity. There are colleges and universities at which you could take all of your courses in one concentrated area (molecular biology, for example), or only skim the surface of a broad range of fields. By choosing to come here you rejected these models in favor of one that seeks to produce broadly and deeply educated citizens who are capable of providing thoughtful leadership in an increasingly complex and challenging world. The most difficult political, technological, ethical and social problems facing today's world will be resolved only by intelligent and well-trained minds that can think critically and decisively using understanding that draws on many fields and yet transcending disciplinary boundaries. Let me illustrate this point with two examples that have been greatly in the news in recent months.

In my own field, molecular genetics, the successful completion of sequencing the first human genome, like all scientific progress, has created the potential for both good and ill. Whether good or ill is triumphant depends on how we as a society use the enormous amount of information that is being generated about our genetic makeup. Here, again, the issue is one of choices. We can use this information to discover cures for intractable diseases like Alzheimer's, to tailor medicines to subsets of the patient population for greater effectiveness, to prevent diseases by identifying risk factors in individuals through genetic screening and to extend not lifespan, but the quality of life, during the last decades of life. But this same information could be misused to prevent individuals from obtaining health insurance or employment, to spawn a new eugenics movement that attempts to create a master race or to develop only expensive medicines that widen the gap in medical care between the rich and the poor. To navigate a path through this potential minefield we will need talented scientists, of course. Their research will allow us to realize the exciting promise of the genome and to ensure that the public debate of the issues is based on accurate scientific information. We also will need ethicists who can fairly define the difficult moral questions that we need to address, and lawyers and policy makers who can craft legislation that protects individual rights and societal values without prohibiting promising therapies, and then interpret that law wisely. But, most importantly, we need scientists who are comfortable with ethical issues, ethicists and lawyers who understand science, and politicians with ethical sensibilities and wide ranging intellects who are capable of listening with well prepared minds and then acting on a vision that sees farther than the next election.

Consider another critically important issue: this past year the United States has been marshalling its resources to fight a war against terrorism. The horrendous events exactly one year ago, and the anthrax outbreak that came shortly in their wake, left this country feeling more vulnerable to external attack than it has since the Cuban missile crisis in the early 1960's. No one questions the responsibility of the government to protect its citizens from terrorism, but it is important that this be done in a way that respects the principles articulated in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights that define us as a free democracy. We have set very high standards for ourselves as a nation, and our standards are most severely tested by the most reprehensible enemies and the most brutal crimes. It forces us to ask questions, such as: How long is it appropriate to hold accused terrorists in Guantanamo Bay without the right to habeas corpus? Are there circumstances under which we should try American citizens by military tribunals? How should we assess the arguments for racial profiling in a society built on respect for the privacy and dignity of each individual and a presumption of innocence?

As with the first example, these questions do not lend themselves to easy answers. They require careful thinking that is informed by history, the law, moral philosophy, the practicalities of the political process and the limits of scientific technology. Finding the right answers will require proficiency in languages and knowledge about other cultures and religions. In other words, in seeking answers we need to look to cosmopolitan individuals who have experienced a broad liberal arts education of the kind that you are about to pursue.

As you begin your journey, I hope you keep in mind that you are preparing yourself for an uncertain future, and that the best preparation is to develop habits of mind that lead you to test the things you think you DO know and be curious about the things you do NOT know. Your best insurance against uncertainty and complexity is to develop an insatiable appetite for new ideas and an instinct for informed fair-minded reasoning as your first line of defense. Princeton's informal motto, "Princeton in the nation's service and the service of all nations," defines our hope and aspiration that you, the Class of 2006, will leave Princeton as your predecessors have done, prepared to make a positive difference in the world.

As you look around this chapel, I hope you will appreciate that we have chosen you and your classmates with enormous care. As I said a few minutes ago, you are drawn from every corner of the globe, from different ethnic groups, different religions and different socio-economic backgrounds. Seven percent of you are the first member of your family to attend college. This range of experiences and perspectives, my friends, was on purpose! After all, Dean Hargadon could have filled the entire Class of 2006 with only males (we actually tried that for our first 220 years of our history and wisely decided to discontinue the practice). He could have chosen only students from California, only students who play musical instruments, only students who play soccer or only students who attended a private school. Had we done any of those things, Princeton would be a lesser place, and I suspect many of you would have chosen to go elsewhere. A good part of your education in the next four years will come from conversations with your classmates and other students. Each of you will bring to these conversations a unique perspective on the world. Each of you is a resource for all the others. Whether you are in a freshman seminar on poverty, a political debate over the Palestinian--Israeli crisis, or a discussion on the meaning of religious faith, you will be learning from one another in ways that may be different, but are just as important as the ways you will learn from the faculty. (I'd actually prefer that you don't repeat that to the faculty.) So just as I have urged you to be bold and adventurous in your choices of courses, I also urge you to reach out to your classmates, especially those who are different from you and from whom you have something new to learn. Please avoid the natural tendency to seek out those who are most like you. While it is a perfectly understandable reaction to an unfamiliar environment, it is also one of the most effective ways to narrow your horizons and to reduce your opportunity to become a true cosmopolitan.

Over the next four years, you will make literally thousands of choices that will not only shape your life and career, but will define the kind of person that you are now and you want to be. Some of these will be large choices: selecting a course of study, deciding whether to become involved in community service, choosing what to do in your summers. But others will be small, sometimes imperceptible, day-to-day choices about how you will interact with those with whom you share this beautiful campus. Princeton University is a human community in which every individual matters. One of our greatest strengths is our small size that makes it possible for everyone to be an integral part of the whole. From the Nobel laureate who teaches freshman biology, to the janitor who takes care of the dorms, to the dean who hears disciplinary cases, to the librarian at the information desk in Firestone, to the night nurse at McCosh, to the groundskeeper who rakes the leaves and shovels the snow, to the coach or the adviser who provides good counsel, to the electrician whose amplifier is making my voice audible to you -- we are proud of the dedication that so many bring to our community. I hope that as you go about your busy lives here you will treat each member of this community with dignity and respect. I hope you will resist any temptation to leave a mess in your hallway for someone else to pick up, to park your car illegally and block someone else's place, or to be discourteous to someone in dining services. We have a wonderful staff here at Princeton, and I hope you not only will not take them for granted, but will get to know them as the caring individuals they are. Similarly, when friends, or classmates, or others in this community turn to you for comfort and assistance, I hope you will take the time to respond as fully as you can, and that they, in turn, will do the same for you.

So, I conclude by saying that I hope each of you is filled with a sense of excitement today. I am sure that I speak for the entire university community when I say that we are eagerly anticipating the choices you will make. We look forward to witnessing and sharing in your journey to become the Great -- and cosmopolitan -- Princeton Class of 2006.

Princeton President Shirley M. Tilghman encouraged students to become more "cosmopolitan" during their years at the University in her address today for Opening Exercises.

	Students filled the University Chapel for opening exercises. Photo: Denise Applewhite

"In making your academic choices, I hope you will avoid the natural tendency to study only those subjects in which you have excelled in high school, or to take only those courses that your friends are taking, or those that you believe will, in some narrow way, prepare you for the job market," said Tilghman at the interfaith service that traditionally marks the start of the academic year.

"Our distribution requirements, our freshman seminar program, our emphasis on independent work are all designed to widen your intellectual horizons so that you will leave here a cosmopolitan (a word I take from Professor Anthony Appiah, who joined us this year) -- meaning a person whose spirit is informed by a deep understanding and appreciation of the world in all of its manifold subtlety and complexity."

She noted that the students could have chosen to attend other institutions where they could have satisfied requirements by taking courses in only one area or by skimming the surface of a broad range of fields.

"By choosing to come here, you rejected these models in favor of one that seeks to produce broadly and deeply educated citizens who are capable of providing thoughtful leadership in an increasingly complex and challenging world," she said. "The most difficult political, technological, ethical and social problems facing today's world will be resolved only by intelligent and well-trained minds that can think critically and decisively using understanding that draws on many fields and yet transcending disciplinary boundaries."

Looking out over the audience that filled the main floor and balcony of the University Chapel, she advised the students to keep open minds.

"As you begin your journey, I hope you keep in mind that you are preparing yourself for an uncertain future, and that the best preparation is to develop habits of mind that lead you to test the things you think you do know and be curious about the things you do not know," she said. "Your best insurance against uncertainty and complexity is to develop an insatiable appetite for new ideas and an instinct for informed fair-minded reasoning as your first line of defense."

Addressing specifically the freshmen, Tilghman said they had been chosen with "enormous care." She noted that they represent a variety of ethnic groups, religions and socio-economic backgrounds.

"A good part of your education in the next four years will come from conversations with your classmates and other students," she said. "Each of you will bring to these conversations a unique perspective on the world. Each of you is a resource for all the others. Whether you are in a freshman seminar on poverty, a political debate over the Palestinian-Israeli crisis or a discussion on the meaning of religious faith, you will be learning from one another in ways that may be different, but are just as important as the ways you will learn from the faculty."

The importance Princeton places on diversity was aptly represented by the Opening Exercises ceremony itself. As the classical organ prelude faded, those inside the chapel heard the growing sound of samba music. Drummers and saxophonists led the processional of University administrators and faculty members down the center aisle. The lively music contrasted with the traditional academic garb. Colorful kites on poles flew under the gothic arches. Students offered readings from a variety of faiths.

"So just as I have urged you to be bold and adventurous in your choices of courses, I also urge you to reach out to your classmates, especially those who are different from you and from whom you have something new to learn," Tilghman said. "Please avoid the natural tendency to seek out those who are most like you. While it is a perfectly understandable reaction to an unfamiliar environment, it is also one of the most effective ways to narrow your horizons and to reduce your opportunity to become a true cosmopolitan."

Princeton has a particular advantage when it comes to fostering relationships and community, Tilghman said.

"Princeton University is a human community in which every individual matters," she said. "One of our greatest strengths is our small size that makes it possible for everyone to be an integral part of the whole."

"From the Nobel laureate who teaches freshman biology, to the janitor who takes care of the dorms, to the dean who hears disciplinary cases, to the librarian at the information desk in Firestone, to the night nurse at McCosh, to the groundskeeper who rakes the leaves and shovels the snow, to the coach or the adviser who provides good counsel, to the electrician whose amplifier is making my voice audible to you -- we are proud of the dedication that so many bring to our community," she continued. "I hope that as you go about your busy lives here you will treat each member of this community with dignity and respect."

Tilghman told the freshmen that the University has high expectations for them: "Princeton's informal motto, 'Princeton in the nation's service and in the service of all nations,' defines our hope and aspiration that you, the class of 2006, will leave Princeton as your predecessors have done, prepared to make a positive difference in the world."

She concluded her address by offering a few more words of encouragement.

"I hope each of you is filled with a sense of excitement today," Tilghman said. "I am sure that I speak for the entire University community when I say that we are eagerly anticipating the choices you will make. We look forward to witnessing and sharing in your journey to become the great -- and cosmopolitan -- Princeton class of 2006."

President Tilghman's full address is available online.

I want to welcome all of you to this commemorative assembly on this historic green, where many of us gathered last fall just a few days after the tragic events of September 11. I want to say a special word of welcome to new members of our University community, and to members of the surrounding communities who have come to join with us to reflect on the attacks a year ago on thousands of innocent individuals, on our nation, and on some of the most fundamental values of our global society.

We are gathered today to remember, to reflect, and to reaffirm our individual and collective commitments to response and to renewal. We come together as a community so we can share with each other the grief and the anger that we still feel, so we can take comfort from one another, and so we can strengthen our resolve to bring those responsible to justice. We are also here to recognize our common humanity with peoples of all cultures and nationalities, and to renew our understanding of our collective responsibility for each other's well-being.

At times like this, words and music are important and bring comfort. But moments of silence allow each of us to reflect in our own individual way on these horrific events and our responses to them. Before we proceed with the rest of our program, please join me in a moment of silence.

One of our purposes today is to keep alive the memory of those who died in the World Trade Center, those who died in the planes that crashed into the towers and the Pentagon, those who died in the plane that was so courageously diverted into a Pennsylvania field, and the hundreds of police, firefighters and rescue workers who gave their lives so heroically providing help to others. We, of course, have a special place in our hearts for the 13 Princetonians among them, and we are proceeding with plans to create a memorial garden in their honor just behind this green, in the space facing Nassau Hall that lies between East Pyne and Chancellor Green. Those buildings will become a new humanities center, and we hope to have the renovations and the garden completed by this time next year.

As many of you know, Princeton's response to the attacks of last fall took many forms. Literally within hours some members of our faculty were in New York assessing the damage to buildings adjacent to the World Trade Center, while others were meeting with students or preparing programs that provided opportunities for inquiry and understanding. Students, staff members, and alumni immediately began reaching out to those in need of help, joined in the relief efforts, and developed both individual and collective responses to a broad range of intellectual, emotional, and spiritual needs.

As an institution, we developed four programs. One, Arts Alive, allowed several hundred Princeton students to provide workshops and accompany more than 10,000 schoolchildren from communities most directly affected by the attacks on September 11 to live arts and cultural experiences in New York City. Another created a scholarship program and a Princeton alumni mentoring program for students at John Jay College for Criminal Justice in Manhattan, a school that lost more than 100 of its alumni -- police officers, firefighters, rescue workers -- on September 11. A third has provided support for research by our faculty and our students into issues related to the events of September 11. And the fourth will take place in the next two days when families directly affected by the September 11 attacks will participate in a program designed especially for them at the Princeton-Blairstown Center in northern New Jersey.

At the core of each of these programs is personal engagement, and a desire both to assist those directly affected by the attacks and to contribute to renewal and recovery. Each of these programs is in some way still ongoing, and each seeks an impact that will extend well into the future. There are other programs, conferences and courses being offered this fall that have similar goals, and I encourage each of you to find your own way to contribute your particular talents and energies. To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, a Princeton honorary degree recipient, in his address at Gettysburg, it is for us the living to be dedicated to the great task remaining before us, to resolve that those who died shall not have died in vain, and that all peoples of this earth shall have a new birth of freedom, in governments of the people, by the people, and for the people.

The full text of other speeches from the Commemorative Assembly are available online.

At a commemorative assembly Wednesday evening, Princeton President Shirley M. Tilghman asked each member of the University community "to find your own way to contribute your particular talents and energies" to the ongoing challenge of responding to the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001.

Before more than 1,500 people gathered on the University's Cannon Green, faculty members, students and staff members did just that -- singing, playing music and reflecting on their individual contributions and thoughts in the year since the terrorist attacks. The program ranged from the reflections of faculty members, who used the prism of their particular expertise to focus and clarify the sweeping questions left by the attacks, to electrical shop foreman Kenny Grayson, who led the assembly in singing "Amazing Grace."

"We are gathered today to remember, to reflect, and to reaffirm our individual and collective commitments to response and renewal," said Tilghman. "We come together as a community so we can share with each other the grief and the anger that we still feel, so we can take comfort from each other, and so we can strengthen our resolve to bring those responsible to justice."

"We are also here to recognize our common humanity with peoples of all cultures and nationalities," Tilghman continued, "and to renew our understanding of our collective responsibility for each other's well-being."

Associate Professor of Architecture Guy Nordenson spoke about his experience helping to organize 100 engineers who worked for 10 days in round-the-clock shifts to assess the damage to Lower Manhattan buildings immediately following the attacks.

Nordenson said he later was impressed to see how the individual efforts of so many people could come together in a democratic way to accomplish monumental tasks, and hoped that the same strength of purpose could be applied to the problems across the globe. "Clear observation, clear thinking and forceful deliberation is, I believe, our best defense and best way forward," he said.

Princeton junior Maureen Monagle told of her experience as co-chair of the University's Arts Alive program, in which several hundred Princeton students accompanied more than 10,000 schoolchildren from New York to live arts and cultural experiences in the city, and provided workshops related to the events.

Monagle recalled in particular a Broadway performance of "The Lion King," which was attended by 100 people who lost parents or spouses on Sept. 11.

"That June night, as we watched a story about the loss of a father and the grief, guilt and ultimate understanding of his son, the impact of the play upon these children was clear," said Monagle.

She quoted from a letter from the mother of a woman who lost her husband, a New York City firefighter, on Sept. 11. "There are very few things that she has looked forward to since that day, but she was so excited about receiving tickets to 'The Lion King.' If your organization's intentions are to bring joy and awareness of good things in a sometimes-cruel world, through the magic of stage and all its counterparts, then you have achieved your goal."

Caryl Emerson, professor of Slavic languages and literatures, reflected on how the countries of Russia and Central Europe have dealt with "losing thousands of lives overnight, a horror known to all countries at war" and the often harsh responses of their governments.

"In a way both palpable and strange, America has become more loved as she has become more resented, joining the family of nations, having our sky fall in too." But having been brought closer to those weakened nations, she said, the question is "Can a powerful nation, the most powerful nation, be both firm and wise?"

Alexander Nehamas, professor of philosophy and comparative literature, linked the terrorist attacks to the many natural and man-made catastrophes that have marked human history and called on people to "calm the shrill voices that lay claim to mor-al clarity, complete knowledge and invincible superiority."

"Unexpected catastrophes will never cease and, Sept. 11 shows, they will come in previously unimaginable forms," said Nehamas. "Sept. 11, 2001, did not cleave time or history in two. It is -- appallingly -- one of innumerable horrors, past and future, each of which demands to be addressed in its own specific terms. But if we manage to see, and react to, that particular event as a part of history, then Sept. 11 may have a lasting effect: It can stand for all unexpected catastrophes, as a reminder that our certainties are transient, our powers limited, our ability to control our fate- restricted."

The assembly also included invocations by the Rev. Deborah Blanks, associate dean of religious life and of the Princeton University Chapel, and Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins, president of the Princeton Clergy Association, and a benediction by the Rev. Thomas Breidenthal, dean of religious life and of the chapel. Nina Langsam, a senior, read from the Book of Lamentations in the Bible. Scott Miller, a graduate student, read the Walt Whitman poem "On the Beach at Night, Alone." The members of the University Chapel Choir and other campus singing groups performed under the direction of Penna Rose, director of chapel music. The University Chapel Camerata played the postlude.

The program concluded after darkness fell with a second rendition of "Amazing Grace" performed on the bagpipe by sophomore Whitney Kalmbach and then with a moment of silence broken only by the sound of crickets.

The full text of the remarks and reflections is available online. The live Webcast is available on the WebMedia service's special events archive page.

Faculty members of the Woodrow Wilson School analyzed the ways in which Sept. 11 has affected civil liberties, foreign policy and the relationship between the United States and Europe at a panel discussion held on the first anniversary of the attacks.

Titled "Legacies of Sept. 11: Priorities and Challenges," the discussion and its simulcast filled four rooms in Robertson Hall.

The events of Sept. 11 have made the United States acutely aware of its vulnerability to terrorist attacks, said Aaron Friedberg, professor of politics and international affairs. He pointed out that the magnitude of death and destruction on Sept. 11 "raised the standard for future terrorists. Those who want to make an impact will feel they have to kill thousands."

Other speakers included Anne-Marie Slaughter, the new dean of the Wilson School and the panel's moderator; Jeffrey Herbst, professor of politics and international affairs; Kathleen McNamara, assistant professor of politics and international affairs; Alan Krueger, the Lynn Bendheim Thoman Class of 1976 and Robert Bendheim Class of 1937 Professor of Economics and Public Policy; and Frederick Hitz, lecturer of public and international affairs.

The panel was held in memory of Joshua Rosenthal, who earned his master's degree from the Wilson School in 1981 and who perished in the attacks.

Full coverage of the panel is available on the September 11 Web site.

Princeton University scientists have taken a major step toward identifying the "genetic signature" of stem cells, discovering a subset of genes whose products may give these cells their unique traits.

The results promise to become an important resource to biologists as well as medical researchers who are trying to harness stem cells as therapies for neurological diseases, birth defects, heart disease, blood cancers and many other disorders.

In two papers published this week, Princeton biologists identified 283 genes that are common to several of the most important types of stem cells, as well as about 4,000 genes that are active in the surrounding tissues that nurture stem cells and give them cues about how to behave. Databases of these genes have been published online and are freely available to anyone.

"The question we have been asking is: Can we identify the molecular parts list, or toolbox, that the stem cell has at its disposal?" said Ihor Lemischka, the senior author of one of the papers. "We found that there is a core set of molecular machinery that might be responsible for regulating the activities that make stem cells unique."

Currently scientists identify stem cells by the way they behave and by chemical markers on the cell surface. However, the genes that give rise to these characteristics remained largely unknown. A comprehensive catalog of stem cell genes could refine the identification process, as well as reveal the mechanisms that make the cells function as they do.

Read the full story in the news release.

Laurel Harvey, a member of the Princeton administration since 1981 and most recently associate treasurer and director of the Office of Risk Management, has been appointed to a new position, general manager for administration, in the office of Senior Vice President for Administration Charles Kalmbach.

"As someone new to the Princeton administration, I am absolutely delighted that Laurel was willing to take on these new senior-level responsibilities for the effectiveness and well-being of our administrative staffs," Kalmbach said. "She complements my newness with a wealth of experience at Princeton, and brings both an exceptional ability to work collaboratively with faculty, staff and students, and a demonstrated capacity to manage change, improve process and increase the level and the quality of the services we provide. She will be an invaluable partner in the effort of our administration to increase Princeton's readiness for change and to make our University an even better place for all of our people to work."

As head of the Office of Risk Management for the past six years, Harvey has been responsible for all risk management and insurance functions, for the financial management of the University's employee health and disability plans and the student health plan, and for oversight of the Office of Environmental Health and Safety. For the past year she has also been responsible for co-leading the Administrative Process Team (APT), which brings together representatives from a range of offices to improve major University processes.

In her new position, she will continue to co-lead the APT and will retain oversight of the Office of Environmental Health and Safety. In addition to her other new duties, she also will assume new management responsibility for helping to ensure that all University departments are in compliance with applicable laws, regulations and internal policies. This will require the development of new information and training programs, internal consulting services and periodic auditing, in active consultation with a number of other University offices.

A 1977 graduate of Middlebury College with a master's in business administration from the University of Rochester, Harvey began work at Princeton in the Office of the Treasurer as the manager of planned giving. She later became associate director of investments and then held several positions in the former Office of the Vice President for Finance and Administration before returning to the treasurer's office in 1995.

What is the value of a human life? About $1.54 million, according to economists Orley Ashenfelter of Princeton University and Michael Greenstone of the University of Chicago. At least, that is what it appears to be in the context of setting public policy about highway safety.

The federal government's 1987 decision to let states raise their speed limits to 65 miles per hour on some roads had major effects, including reduced travel times and increased highway fatalities. It also gave economists a rare opportunity to put hard numbers on the elusive and delicate question of how much monetary reward society would demand in exchange for the loss of some lives.

In fact, governments deal with such quandaries routinely, especially when the question is reversed: How much expense is society willing to incur for each potential life that could be saved? Widening a dangerous road, for example, may save some lives, but how much are taxpayers willing to spend to do it? Economists have often sought to pin down the numbers behind what they call the "value of a statistical life," but have been hard-pressed to find real-life situations that provide all the necessary data.

Ashenfelter and Greenstone found what they needed in interstate highway data. Studying the years from 1987 to 1993, the economists found that, on average, people drove about 2 miles per hour faster on roads with a 65-mile-per-hour-limit than they did under the old 55-mile-per-hour limit. They then calculated the cumulative amount of time saved from faster driving and estimated how much that time was worth to society based on average salaries.

Their analysis also showed that, taking into account an overall trend toward fewer traffic fatalities, the number of highway deaths increased by as much as 35 percent on roads with the increased speed limit. The researchers then simply divided the dollars saved by the number of lives lost and arrived at the figure of $1.54 million per life.

The research is not meant to be a method for valuing any individual life, as courts must do in the case of lives that have been lost. For loved ones, that value can be infinite. For society as a whole, however, the value of a statistical life -- an unspecified life that may be lost -- is very important. "People say you can't put a value on a life, but we do it all the time," Ashenfelter said. "We are going to make decisions and the question is: How well informed are they going to be?"

A working paper detailing Ashenfelter and Greenstone's work is available online in Acrobat (.pdf) format.

A report recommending changes that Princeton should consider as it implements a plan to strengthen and expand the University's residential college system was presented to the Board of Trustees Sept. 20.

The Report of the 21-member Four-Year College Program Planning Committee proposes modifications in advising/staffing, programming, housing and dining to convert the University's current system of five two-year colleges into a system of paired two- and four-year colleges that will, in the words of the report, "create more interaction for first- and second-year students with upperclass students, graduate students and faculty."

As previously announced, Princeton plans to construct one new college and to reconfigure two others to implement a system of three four-year residential colleges and three two-year residential colleges. It is expected that the first year of operation of the first two four-year colleges, Whitman and Mathey, will be the 2006-07 academic year.

Specifically, the committee proposes that all juniors and seniors remain affiliated with a residential college, either the one they entered as a freshman or one to which they move after sophomore year. This association would be promoted by a continuing relationship with college deans and directors of studies, a limited number of meals, participation in programs and access to facilities. The committee also calls for enhanced academic advising for all students in the colleges; the creation of a position, perhaps called "director of residential life" in each of the six colleges; the residence of 10 graduate students in each college to provide academic, cultural and residential programming; the location of more teaching in the colleges; and improvements in facilities and the quality of food. The report now will be reviewed and discussed by a wide range of University deliberative and consultative bodies.

"I believe that we are embarked together on a process that will add greatly to the experience of all Princeton students -- most immediately, of course, for those who elect to reside in residential colleges during their junior and senior years, but also, as your report makes clear, for all undergraduates and for a significant number of graduate students," wrote President Shirley M. Tilghman in a letter accepting the committee's report. "We are building on the strong base of residential life that has historically characterized Princeton to achieve even more effectively our goal of providing the broadest and most rewarding educational experience for students both in and out of the classroom."

The committee's key recommendations are outlined in a news release and appear in full in the text of the report.

NASA has selected a consortium of research institutions to develop new generations of materials that could revolutionize civil aviation and space travel. The award will establish an Institute for Biologically Inspired Materials to investigate and design materials that simulate repair mechanisms used by biological organisms to heal wounds.

The institute consists of Princeton University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Northwestern University, the University of California at Santa Barbara, and ICASE, a research institute operated at the NASA Langley Research Center in Virginia. In addition to conducting basic research and technology development, the institute will initiate an education and training program in collaboration with the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.

The participants met for an initial workshop and planning session September 25 on the Princeton University campus.

The institute's mission is to increase fundamental understanding of natural phenomena and translate its findings into new materials that mimic the extraordinary structural and self-repairing properties of biological substances such as bone or sea shells. These biologically inspired materials could adapt to changing conditions and are expected to help make airplanes and spacecraft lighter, stronger and more reliable.

"Our goal is to bring more 'smart' functions into spacecraft materials," said Ilhan Aksay, a Princeton professor of chemical engineering who leads the institute. "Some of these functions already exist in biology."

NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, will fund the project with at least $3 million a year for up to 10 years. The researchers also expect to develop partnerships with businesses that will translate laboratory discoveries into readily available products for American industry. NASA selected the consortium's proposal from among more than 100 initial submissions.

The program in bio-inspired materials is part of a broader effort by NASA to expand its relationship with academia by establishing seven university-based institutes, each of which will develop an area of technology of "long-term strategic interest to the agency and the nation." While two of the NASA institutes will focus on bio-inspired materials, the other five will work in areas such as propulsion or reusable launch vehicles.

The full story is available in the news release.

Princeton University has named David Botstein, a renowned geneticist, educator and pioneer of the Human Genome Project, as the new director of the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics.

Botstein will succeed Shirley M. Tilghman, who was the founding director of the institute and became president of the University in 2001, and James Broach, who is interim director. Botstein's appointment will begin July 1, 2003.

"It is an exciting moment for the institute, as the doors open this fall, to have a director of such distinction," said Tilghman. "David Botstein is one of the nation's most distinguished scientists and has a great love of undergraduate teaching as well as a wonderful track record of training graduate students."

Princeton established the genomics institute in 1999 and is now completing construction of a building for it, the Carl Icahn Laboratory. The institute's mission is to build on the recently completed genome projects and investigate how networks of genes work together to create complex biological systems.

Botstein, who is the Stanford Ascherman, M.D., Professor of Genetics at Stanford University, is uniquely positioned to lead that effort, said Tilghman. He has made fundamental contributions to modern genetics, including the discovery of many yeast and bacterial genes and the establishment of key techniques that are commonly used today. In addition, in 1980, Botstein and three colleagues proposed a method for mapping genes that laid the groundwork for the Human Genome Project.

Botstein said he is attracted to Princeton by the opportunities for both research and teaching. "The emergence of the data from the Human Genome Project completely changes the way biology can and will be done," said Botstein. "The question of what kind of preparation young people should have in order to enter into this exciting new world requires serious thought."

The full story is available in the news release.

If it seems that rock concert tickets have become substantially more expensive lately, that's because they are. Ticket prices have been escalating for the last five years, and the plateau is nowhere in sight, said Princeton economist Alan Krueger.

In a Sept. 23 lecture "Rockonomics: Economics and Public Policy in the Rock and Roll Industry," Krueger described his study of the economic causes and effects of the rising cost of concert tickets. Krueger is the Bendheim Professor of Economics and Public Policy, director of the Princeton Survey Research Center and professor of economics and public affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School.

Using box office information maintained by Pollstar, an organization that provides concert tour schedules, box office results and other music industry-related data, Krueger discovered that in the last five years concert ticket prices have grown by 61 percent, while the Consumer Price Index (the measure of the price of all consumer goods) increased by just 13 percent. Further, the cost of concert tickets now outpaces the other entertainment sectors -- movies, sporting events, theater -- by about 30 percent.

In 2001, the average concert ticket price was about $40, with the average high-end cost close to $60. But Krueger noted that the range is great, and many artists cost much more. He gave the example of Paul McCartney, whose recent tour put fans out of pocket by $250 per ticket.

"There is a very skewed distribution of income for bands," said Krueger. "The top 5 percent of artists in 1982 generated 62 percent of the revenue. Today, they're generating 84 percent of the revenue. More people are paying more to see the best."

According to Krueger, a key reason why the "best are pulling ahead of the rest" is because they reach a large number of people around the world. "The price of consumer audio equipment has been falling like a stone," he said. "That means the top musicians can sell music to billions of people." And in the music business, being well known means being in demand.

It is not just the new, popular artists such as Britney Spears and *NSYNC that are selling tickets at higher prices than ever, but also well-established performers such as the Rolling Stones and Madonna. Krueger said he was interested to learn that Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band has the same price range wherever he performs, and that this year his concert tour ticket price is $75. "That's kind of a throwback to the days when high and low prices were the same," he said.

Krueger was sometimes surprised by other information his study unearthed. He discovered that female bands command the highest prices in the industry. "I study the labor market, and you usually don't find females having higher salaries than males," he said. Mixed sex groups commanded the lowest average ticket price.

Another discovery was that across the genres, jazz and pop tickets cost more than reggae or folk. Also, older acts tend to have higher prices because they have a loyal fan base, typically made up of older audiences with more disposable income, said Krueger.

Krueger also delved into possible causes for the significant ticket price increases since the 1980s -- which spiked in the past five years -- especially when sales have been flat for about 12 years. He offered four explanations, some with caveats, that he said are all part of the story.

The first is that, according to the music industry professionals Krueger interviewed, production costs have increased. Elaborate stage sets and pyrotechnics are the norm, but Krueger admitted to being skeptical about some of the "facts." "Depending on who you talk to, *NSYNC's last stadium tour took as many as 53 tractor trailers," he said.

The second factor may be music industry consolidation, Krueger explained, but he admitted to a growing suspicion that this reason was "overrated." Even with 76 percent of the total revenue of the top artists being handled by the biggest four promoters --C lear Channel Communications being the most dominant -- Krueger has gained insights from further research to suggest that other factors may be more significant.

Krueger's third main explanation deals with the status of complementary goods, such as album sales. According to Krueger, the bounty from these goods has been drying up. "There was a 10 percent decline in album sales last year, and a 7 percent decline before that," he said. Krueger pointed to the practice of downloading music from the Web as having a major impact on album sales. "Jazz and blues fans tend to buy more music, while there's more piracy with rock and pop," he said. According to Krueger, this trend explains why jazz and blues concert prices have grown more slowly (23.4 percent) than rock and pop (74 percent).

Krueger's fourth hypothesis is that ticket prices had been too low to begin with. Krueger has a plan to test this reasoning -- this Thursday he is conducting a survey of fans at the Rolling Stones concert at Madison Square Garden to find out to what extent ticket scalping gets closer to the real market value of concert tickets. On Oct. 6, he'll conduct the same survey at Bruce Springsteen's concert in Philadelphia.

Why live in a glass house? For diatoms -- tiny ocean-dwelling organisms that live in exquisitely ornate glass cases -- the benefit turns out to be enormous.

	The tiny diatom.

In a paper published in the Sept. 13 issue of Science, Princeton scientists show that diatoms probably depend on glass to survive because the material facilitates photosynthesis. However, their study suggests that this domestic arrangement has a much bigger beneficiary: the entire planet, which owes its present-day, oxygen-rich and carbon-poor atmosphere in part to diatoms and their effective use of glass.

Diatoms are one-celled organisms that are so prolific they account for a quarter of all the photosynthesis on the planet. In photosynthesis, organisms use sunlight and carbon dioxide to make sugar and oxygen.

"These guys proliferated at a time when atmospheric carbon dioxide took a big dive" 40 to 60 million years ago, said geochemist Allen Milligan, who conducted the study in collaboration with Francois Morel, director of the Princeton Environmental Institute.

The low carbon dioxide levels, while good for us today, posed a serious problem for plant life: how to perform photosynthesis when one of the raw ingredients is in short supply. Milligan and Morel found that diatoms solved the problem by encasing themselves in glass, which has chemical properties that help them concentrate carbon dioxide inside their vessels. With this device, diatoms flourished and now play an important role in keeping carbon dioxide levels low.

Diatoms have been a source of fascination since the first microscopes of the 1600s allowed scientists to sketch their intricate glass cases in pen and ink. The tough porous shells also have a variety of commercial uses. Swimming pool owners commonly use diatomaceous earth, which is rich with old diatom shells, to filter contaminants from pool water. In the 1860s, Alfred Nobel invented dynamite by using silica from diatoms to stabilize nitroglycerine into a portable stick.

"What we didn't know was what good this glass wall is to the diatom itself," said Milligan.

The full story is available in the news release.

Bonnie Bassler, a biologist whose research has revealed surprisingly sophisticated methods of communication among bacteria, has been awarded a 2002 MacArthur Fellowship.

Bassler is among 24 scientists, artists, scholars and activists who each will receive $500,000 no-strings-attached grants over a five-year period from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The fellowships, known informally as the "genius grants," recognize people who have "shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits, and a marked capacity for self-direction" in their fields.

In its announcement, the MacArthur foundation cited Bassler for research that "reveals new insights into the basic biology and ecology of bacteria, findings that may have direct application in the future treatment of disease."

Also among this year's MacArthur fellows are: Ann Blair, who received a doctoral degree from Princeton in 1990 and is now a professor of history at Harvard University; and Charles Steidel, who received a bachelor's degree from Princeton in 1984 and is now a professor of astronomy at the California Institute of Technology.

For more information, see the news release. See the MacArthur Foundation Web site for further information about the fellowships and this year's other winners.

Richard Challener, a specialist in American diplomatic and military history and a professor at Princeton for 51 years, died Sept. 23 after a long battle with cancer. He was 79.

"Dick Challener was a splendid and supportive colleague, a devoted institutional citizen and a wonderfully stimulating teacher who engaged, challenged and widened the intellectual and personal horizons of generations of Princeton students," said Nancy Weiss Malkiel, professor of history and dean of the college.

"Losing him at a moment when America's relationship to the rest of the world is of such pressing public concern is especially poignant; his warmth and humanity, his balanced judgment and wise insight, will be sorely missed," she said.

For more than a decade, Challener and Malkiel taught "U.S. History from 1945 to the Present." The course was extremely popular, regularly attracting more than 300 students.

A member of Princeton's class of 1944, Challener's own studies were disrupted by the events of history. He served in the U. S. Army from 1943 to 1946 in the 102nd Infantry, Company A, 1st Battalion. He saw combat in the European theater and was awarded the Combat Infantry Medal and the European Theatre Medal. In 1984, he was awarded the Distinguished Civilian Service Award by the U.S. Army.

After the war, Challener returned to Princeton to graduate in 1947. He joined the history department as an instructor in 1949 and earned his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1952. He became a professor in 1964 and retired in 1993, but continued to teach for another seven years as a professor emeritus. He taught courses in American diplomatic history, 20th-century American history and Canadian history.

Challener twice chaired the history department and he also chaired the Committee on Canadian Studies. From 1958 to 1966, he was assistant and then associate dean of the college, and from 1986 to 1988 he was clerk of the faculty.

In honor of Challener's service to Princeton, flags on campus were lowered to half-staff for three days following his death.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to the Princeton University Department of History to support undergraduate thesis research in American diplomatic history and Canadian studies.

A memorial service for Challener is being planned for 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 27, in the Princeton University Chapel.

The full story is available in the news release.

"Ideas do not clash in that they don't fight each other," he said. "But religion is prone to provide an identity for people. Therefore if someone attacks your religion, they attack your identity, and that leads to intolerance."

Soroush's address kicked off the two-day conference, "Understanding and Responding to the Islamic World After Sept. 11," which brings together an international gathering of scholars and journalists -- many from the Islamic world -- and the Princeton community.

The author of 30 books, most in Persian, Soroush is the director of the Institute for Epistemological Research in Tehran. He is currently on leave to teach in the United States; this spring he was a visiting professor at Harvard Law School and a scholar in residence at Yale Law School. Soroush received both a traditional Islamic education in Iran and a secular education, culminating in a doctoral degree from Tehran University and a master's degree from Chelsea College, London.

In his address, Soroush categorized two types of Islam found in the world today: nonpolitical and political. According to Soroush, the nonpolitical describes traditionalist Islam, while the political refers to modernist (or liberal) Islam as well as fundamentalist Islam. He argued that the differences in the self-perception and world view of each of these groups must be understood by the West in order to pursue dialogue instead of conflict.

According to Soroush, traditionalist Muslims are "otherworldly," focusing on the next life and salvation. "They only think of the independence of Islamic culture and protect themselves from other cultures," he said. "To them, the West is corrupt and has nothing to offer."

Soroush explained that the modernist Islamic outlook is to respond to and engage with Western ideas in areas such as ethics, philosophy and science. The impetus is to "look to the West as a place from which to borrow ideas and then to refine them, but not to confront with the identity of the West."

Like traditionalist Islam, Soroush explained that fundamentalist Islam also focuses on the next life. But fundamentalists perceive the West as "confronting them not as a body of ideas but as an identity that is claiming hegemony."

Soroush argued that over the centuries, the "face of the West" began to look increasingly "militant" to the Islamic world. He cited the fragmentation of the Ottoman Empire, the two world wars, the creation of Israel, the West's self-interested pursuit of oil and involvement in various political events as reasons for making Muslims "more sensitive and assertive about their identity." Soroush said that it is this need to assert identity that leads to fundamentalism in the Islamic world and in the West.

"It is the responsibility of the West to emphasize the idea of dialogue, to come to terms with and understand Muslim thinkers who are looking for the balance between identity and truth," said Soroush. "Western governments need to be more ethical and not put national interests at the top of the agenda. They need to respect the dignity of others."

The conference runs until 6 p.m. today and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday in 50 McCosh Hall. A complete agenda is available online. The conference also is being Webcast.

It is sponsored by the Council on Regional Studies, Center of International Studies and Bobst Center for Peace and Justice.