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Posted April 24
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It's history! . . .

4/9/02
The history department secretary prepares to take photographs of seniors as they turn in their theses. (Photo by Adena Spingarn ’03)

April 24, 2002

CAMPUS

Stan Allen *88, an educator and practicing architect in New York City, has been selected as dean of the School of Architecture at Princeton University. He will start July 1. He will succeed Ralph Lerner. Since 1990, Allen has been a faculty member in Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, and he has served as director of its master of science in advanced architectural design program. A registered architect in private practice, he is founding principal and director of Field Operations, an interdisciplinary design practice in partnership with landscape architect James Corner.

Professor of Economics and Public Affairs Ben Bernanke met with President George Bush last week, presumably to discuss his possible filling one of the two vacant seats on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors. "I did meet with the president," Bernanke told the Daily Princetonian, but "I know that he’s also talking with other people."

A group of students and faculty members who are trying to stop the university from investing in corporations that do business in Israel circulated a petition among students and faculty, reported the Prince, and picked up hundreds of signatures. The group presented the petition to the administration on April 18 after a rally. On the same day, the university received a petition from another group opposing divestment from Israel. The Resources Committee of the U-Council, which would consult with the trustees before divesting, has concluded that it’s too early to consider the issue of divestment, as the divestment campaign doesn’t meet one of the committee’s guidelines — it has failed to demonstrate "sustained campus interest."

To offset a higher yield than expected last year, Princeton offered admission to just 1,575 high school students, down from 1,677 at this time last year. Of the 14,521 applicants for the Class of 2006, 10.8 percent were accepted.

Last weekend, former and current students, mentors, and colleagues of Shirley M. Tilghman gathered for a symposium honoring their mentor, titled "Exploring Genes to Genomes." The event marked the closing of her molecular biology lab on campus

The Associated Press reported that "About 100 students said at a protest Sunday that Harvard President Lawrence Summers is not doing enough to promote diversity and is responsible for Professor Cornel West’s departure to Princeton." West *80, who recently announced he would be leaving Harvard to return to Princeton where he taught from 1988 through 1994 and served as director of the Program in African-American Studies, will likely fire a new discussion on campus on upping that program to departmental status.

Princeton researchers Joshua Plotkin, Jonathan Dushoff, and Simon Levin analyzed the genetic sequences of flu strains from the last 16 years and found patterns that could be used to predict which strain is likely to predominate in the following year. In a paper published in the April 23 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Princeton researchers proposed a mathematical method for predicting the coming year's flu strain based on the genetic sequences of the strains from previous years. Thanks to their research that could improve the choice of viral strains included in each year's vaccine, millions of people may one day have better odds of fending off the flu.

In a finding that could lead to better treatments for lupus, a Princeton biologist has pinpointed what appears to be a central cause of the disease. Martin Weigert has discovered a point at which the immune system's procedure for making disease-fighting antibodies breaks down and allows antibodies to attack the body's own DNA, which is the hallmark of lupus. Although the processes involved are complex and remain partly unexplained, the failure comes down to a relatively simple mechanism that may be an attractive target for drug developers, said Weigert. He already is developing molecules that would block the disease in mice and could be the starting-point for a drug for humans.

"Four undergraduates attempted suicide during the last academic year, compared to a national rate of 1.6 percent, according to the National College Health Assessment Survey in 2001," reported the Prince. "Twenty-eight undergraduates ‘seriously considered’ suicide one or more times, in comparison to an average of 32 students per university."

Palestinian and Israeli rally held By Melissa Harvis Renny ‘03
On Thursday, April 18, the Princeton Divestment Campaign and the Princeton Committee on Palestine cosponsored a rally to demand university divestment from companies doing business in Israel, where they presented a petition signed by more than 300 students and 34 faculty members. According to the Princeton Divestment Campaign, Princeton currently has $104.3 million invested in Israel.

Calling self-defense a euphemism for human rights abuses, Mark Buchan, professor of classics said to the group of about 100 people, "We’ve spent two weeks seeing what Israel calls self-defense. It involves bulldozing people’s houses, and not allowing the Red Cross or journalists to enter occupied areas."

But just a few feet away, the Princeton Israel Public Affairs Committee held a counter-rally that also drew close to 100 protesters, holding up signs that read, "Suicide bombing is not a human right."

Daniel Mark ’03, president of the Center for Jewish Life, spoke passionately, stating that his feelings on the subject overpowered his desire to stay politically neutral as the leader of a Jewish organization on campus.

"The Israeli army is the most moral army in the world!" he shouted, emphasizing that Israel places her own soldiers at risk rather than bombing suspected terrorist hideouts like the United States did in Afghanistan.

The rally highlighted the heightened sense of campus awareness on both sides of the conflict, and the passions that the Middle Eastern conflict is stirring in Princeton students and community members.

The Princeton Divestment Campaign maintains that peace cannot be achieved until what they call the "oppression and accompanying human rights abuses" of Israel to the Palestinians end.

"The human rights violations affecting three million people living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip must stop now, and we as the Princeton community ought to work to make that happen, just like we did in the case of South Africa," said Vincent Lloyd ’03, organizer of the Princeton Divestment Campaign, likening the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands to South African apartheid.

Although the rally consisted largely of the two groups trying to drown each other out with clapping and cheering, Karen Bauer GS, president of the Princeton Committee on Palestine, believes that the raised awareness of these issues can lead to a greater chance for campus dialogue and understanding.

"I see hope in being able to talk and listen to one another," she said.

Harvard professor discusses living-wage issues By Melissa Harvis Renny ’03
One year ago, a group of Harvard University students staged a 21-day sit-in to demand that the university pay a minimum wage of $10.25 per hour to all its employees. They attracted the attention of the media and the administration as they rallied around Harvard’s lowest paid employees.
Because of these students, the Harvard Committee of Employment and Contracting was formed, headed by Professor of Economics Lawrence Katz. Under Katz, the committee examined Harvard’s labor practices and determined many of them should be changed. Today, the minimum wage for Harvard employees is $11.35 per hour.
"I think that this case study will clearly show an example that while market forces are quite important in setting wages, things like management policy, union strength and negotiating tactics and political pressure, especially on a non-profit organization will have a big impact on the labor structure," Katz said in a lecture at the Woodrow Wilson School on Monday, April 8.
Katz spoke of the custodians, security guards, and dining services workers as the lowest paid members of the Harvard University community. He explained that in the past, Harvard had only hired in-house employees – employees contracted by the university and paid a certain flat rate – to fill these positions, but as the university realized they could cut costs by outsourcing – hiring employees from outside the university for less – they began to practice outsourcing more frequently.
Due to this outsourcing, he said, Harvard’s standard wages dropped, and there was a demographic shift in employees from non-immigrant high school graduates to largely immigrant non-educated employees. Katz spoke of museum security guards guarding $8-$10 billion of art who were paid only $8-$10 per hour. He claimed that before outsourcing, these guards were people who loved art and took an interest in the museum, while after outsourcing the turnover rate for these guards was so high that they weren’t considered trustworthy enough to be given a library card.
"Why in the case of janitors and security guards is playing hardball so important?" He asked, noting that at prestigious universities faculty is paid much higher than average wages, while janitors and security guards are often paid less than average.
Katz’s discussed that an in-house monopoly with no outsourcing was not the answer to the university’s problems, because often employers were dissatisfied with the quality of work if there was no competition. However, he said, unrestricted outsourcing brought down wages. As a compromise, the Committee suggested that Harvard use parity wages – a set wage paid to both outsourced employees and in-house employees.
Katz’s committee also recommended that Harvard make immediate initial wage increases, improve the quality of work life, and increase the transparency of employment and contracting practices.
Although implementing these changes will by costly, Katz claimed that in the case of non-profit institutions like Harvard, it is beneficial to keep employees satisfied with their jobs.
Katz also encouraged student activists to be media savvy and learn all they can about the university’s wage policies. He emphasized that students with the right information can effect change.
"I have little doubt that without the students there wouldn’t have been any great change in wages," he said.

PAW seeks editor
Jane Chapman Martin '89, who has edited PAW since February 2000, announced that she will step down after the publication of the July 2002 issue because of family concerns. Martin and her husband, James K. Martin '89, have two young children. The position will be formally advertised in the April 10 issue. Applicants may see the complete job description at http://jobs.princeton.edu/openjobs/.

An Alternative to Alcohol Abuse: Housing Reform in the Residential Colleges by Brian Muegge ’05

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UPCOMING LECTURES/EVENTS:
(Updated daily, Monday through Friday)

Princeton Art Museum
Princeton area events
New York metropolitan area events
Washington DC events
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Princeton area events

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Sidney Brenner, Molecular Sciences Institute, Berkeley, "Biology after the Genome Project"
April 30, May 1 and 2, 8:00 p.m. For more information email publect@princeton.edu.

The documentary "But You Speak Such Good English," by Marjan Safinia and Parisa Taghizadeh
April 30, 7 p.m., Betts Auditorium

Geneive Abdo, journalist: "Islam versus Islam in Iran and Egypt"
May 1, 4:30 p.m., Robertson 015

Myron Orfield, executive director of the Metropolitan Area Research Corporation: "Regionalism as a Tool for Economic Growth and Social Justice"
May 1, 4:30 p.m., Dodds Auditorium, Robertson Hall

Michael Novak, of the American Enterprise Institute: "On Two Wings: Humble Faith and Common Sense at the American Founding"
May 1, 4:30 p.m., 104 Computer Science Building

Avital Ronell, professor of German, comparative literature, and English at New York University: "Proving Grounds: Nietzsche and the Technology of Testing
May 2, 4:30 p.m., McCormick 101

Roundtable discussion on The French Presidential Elections: The Threat of Le Pen. Participants: Ezra Suleiman, professor of politics at Princeton; Pascal Tiche, journalist for Liberation; Jean-Louis Turlin, journalist for Le Figaro; Sophie Meunier, Center of International Studies at Princeton; and Nicolas Jabko Center of International Studies at Princeton
May 2, 4:30 p.m., Bowl 2, Robertson Hall

James Axtell
, the William Kenan Jr. Professor of Humanities at the College of William and Mary: "The Dream Realized: President Wilson on Princeton Today"
May 5, 3:30 p.m., Betts Auditorium, School of Architecture.

Five French films
will be shown on campus starting March 28 as part of a film series sponsored by the Department of French and Italian. The films will be screened at 8 p.m. on five Thursdays in March, April, and May at the Stewart Film Theater, 185 Nassau Street. All the films have English subtitles. For more information, contact Rachel Gabara at (609) 258-6127. "Voyages" by Emmanuel Finkiel, May 2

Conference on The New Era in World Politics After September 11
May 3, 12:30 - 5:30, Dodds Auditorium, Woodrow Wilson School.

Charles Falco
, University of Arizona, "Through a Looking Glass: The Art of the Science of Renaissance Painting"
May 7
, 8:00 p.m. For more information email publect@princeton.edu.

Charles Falco
, University of Arizona, "The Art and Science of the Motorcycle"
May 8
, 8:00 p.m. For more information email publect@princeton.edu.

Charles Elachi, director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory: "Space and Earth Exploration 2010: Opportunities and Challenges"
May 8, 8 p.m., Reynolds Auditorium, McDonnell Hall

Art Museum
Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m. Closed Mondays and major holidays.
Public tours, Saturdays, 2 p.m.

  • "Anthony Van Dyck: 'Ecce Homo' and 'The Mocking of Christ.'" March 9 through June 9.
  • "Guardians of the Tomb: Spirit Beasts in Tang Dynasty China." Through Aug. 31.
  • "Klinger to Kollwitz: German Art in the Age of Expressionism." Through June 9.
  • "In the Mirror of Christ's Passion: Prints, Drawings and Illustrated Books by European Masters." Through June 9.
  • "New German Photography." Through March 24.
  • "Anxious Omniscience: Surveillance in Contemporary Cultural Practice." Through March 31.

Firestone LIbrary exhibits
"Seamus Heaney: Irish Poet in Greece" through April 20

Reunions 2002, May 30 - June 2, 2002

Reunions 2003, May 29 - June 1, 2003

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New York area events

"Lilies/Pale Yellow" (2001) by Anne-Marie Belli ’84

Watercolors by Anne-Marie Belli ’84 are on view at the New Jersey State Museum at 205 West State Street in Trenton, New Jersey, through May 12, 2002.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


IN SHORT ORDER
evenings of abbreviated art
Size does matter.
Wip Productions' festival lets audiences avoid three-hour maudlin melodramas, stoic ramblings, and interpretive dance and blesses them with a variety of brief performances from some of the best young talent New York has to offer. Rosario Vaina '96 is producing and appearing in the show.
Performers include comics Demitri Martin (from Letterman and Late Night with Conan O'Brien) and Laurie Kilmartin (from Comedy Central's Premium Blend); Muscians Kate Schutt and Sam Bisbee; author Kip Conlin (Hey, God : Adult Letters to God and the upcoming I'm Okay, I'm Okay) and many others.
Wip Productions is dedicated to providing emerging artists with an opportunity to share their work in relaxed settings. This will be the fifth production from this exciting new production company. The group's mission is to produce fun and lighthearted shows that examine wit and irony in our everyday experiences.
In Short Order will be performed May 2, 9, 16, and 23rd at RM (Rubber Monkey, located at 279 Church Street @ White St. All performances are at 8:00 pm, the bar opens at 7:30 pm. Admission is $12. For reservations, call 212-592-3291.

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Washington DC area events

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Other regions



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ALUMNI

New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer ’81 has mounted an unpopular crusade — exposing Wall Street firms that duped investors. USAToday.com reported: "New York’s crusading attorney general is taking on some of the nation’s most powerful Wall Street firms in an effort to protect individual investors from long-standing but until now generally ignored conflicts of interest between analysts and investment bankers. … The Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to join the investigation into allegations that Wall s Street analysts publicly promoted stocks they knew were flawed to get investment banking fees." Spitzer, a Democrat, is up for reelection this year.

Black Entertainment Televisions’s founder and chief executive officer Robert L. Johnson *72 has been selected as the 2002 Humanitarian of the Year by the T.J. Martell Foundation for Leukemia, Cancer, and AIDS Research. Johnson will be honored at the T.J. Martell Foundation’s annual gala on June 11, 2002, at the Hilton New York. Johnson, who founded BET, the nation's leading 24-hour television network providing entertainment, news, and public-affairs programming for the African-American audience, has established himself as an industry pioneer and one of the nation's most successful and respected entrepreneurs.

Democrat Dan Ballou ’87 is trying to unseat South Carolina Representative Gary Simrill, who has won the Rock Hill-based S.C. House District 46 for 10 years. According to the Charlotee Observer, "Ballou says it’s time to get serious about education in South Carolina and that York County needs strong leaders who do more than toe the party line."

Members of the Missouri House of Representatives have called on the University of Missouri, Kansas City, to fire Harris Mirkin *67, a political science professor, because of his writings about pedophilia and homosexuality, reported the Kansas City Star. Mirkin has argued that "the topic of sexual relations involving children needs open discussion, not just emotional reactions that call all such relationships evil," reported the Star.

The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research named Victoria Kaspi *94 among the top 20 leading scientific minds in Canada age 40 and under. According to the Montreal Gazette, Kaspi is "an astrophysicist with neutron stars in her eyes who left a secure position at the renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology to teach at McGill."

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SPORTS

Women's softball wins first Ivy title since 1996
Princeton's softball team won its first Ivy League title since 1996 after sweeping a doubleheader from Brown at home on April 21 thanks to two home runs from Melissa Finley `05. The Tigers also swept a doubleheader from Yale at home on April 20 after Kristin Del Calvo `04 slammed three home runs.
The wins gave the Tigers a 13-1 mark in the conference and earned them the Ivy League's automatic bid to the NCAA regional tournament, which will be played May 16-19.

Women's lacrosse clinches Ivy title, awaits Maryland
The Tigers used four goals each from seniors Lauren Simone and Charlotte Kenworthy to roll over Dartmouth 15-3 at home on April 20. The win earned Princeton at least a share of the Ivy title and extended its winning streak to 13 games - the longest in the nation. The victory also assured them an NCAA tournament bid.
Princeton goalie Sara Kolodner `05 stopped Dartmouth with a career-high 13 saves and improved to a perfect 12-0 in goal as a starter.
Princeton (13-1, 6-0 Ivy) is ranked #1 in the country and will face seven-time defending national champion Maryland at home on Wednesday, April 24, at 7:30 p.m. In 1994, Princeton defeated Maryland in the NCAA Finals to win its first national championship.

Men's lacrosse keeps NCAA hopes alive with 12-7 win over Cornell
With their backs against the wall and one of the country's top teams on the other side of the ball, the defending men's national champions kept their hopes of repeating alive by handing fifth-ranked Cornell a 12-7 thumping at home on April 20.
A Cornell win would have ended the Tigers's string of seven straight Ivy titles. If Princeton (6-4, 3-1) beats Dartmouth on the road on April 27 and Brown on May 4 in Providence, the Tigers would earn the Ivy League's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Princeton scored five goals in a 4:16 span of the third quarter to break open a tight game against Cornell. The win gave Princeton coach Bill Tierney the 200th win of his collegiate career. He won 166 of them at Princeton. Scott Farrell `02 was named the IvyLegueSports.com Player of the Week for his defensive efforts in the win over Cornell.

Men's golf captures third straight Ivy League crown

The men's golf team earned its third straight Ivy League championship at the Metedeconk National Golf Club in Jackson, New Jersey on April 21 with a two-day team total of 894.
James Milam '02 shot a two-over par 218 to claim the individual title. Creighton Page '05 placed second with a 222 score. The team earned an automatic bid to the NCAA regional, which begins May 16.

Women's water polo falls in Southerns, prepares to host Easterns

Senior Cassie Nichols's seven goals were not enough against Michigan in the finals of the Southern Divisional Tournament this weekend at Villanova, as the Tigers lost a heartbreaker 10-9.
Princeton defeated Gannon (14-7), Mercyhurst (18-5), and George Washington (16-3) to get to the finals.
The Tigers will now host the 2002 women's water polo Eastern championships in DeNunzio pool from Friday, April 26, through Sunday, April 28. The champion of the eastern tournament earns a berth in the NCAA championships to be held on May 12-13.
Princeton, the 3rd seed will face Harvard on April 26 at 3:20 p.m. and Bucknell on April 27 at noon. Michigan is the top seed and Hartwick is the 2nd seed. Hartwick defeated Princeton, 11-9 in the semifinals of the ECAC championships nearly two weeks ago.

Baseball takes three out of four games from Columbia
The Tigers (16-18, 11-5) are still in the hunt for the Ivy League title this season after taking three out four games from Columbia in New York this weekend.
Princeton pounded 12 hits and scored 11 runs in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader en route to an 11-4 win. But Columbia used a late-game rally to win the second game 6-5 and avoid the sweep.
On Saturday, April 20, the Tigers cranked out 27 hits in their 7-6 and 14-9 wins.
The Tigers went into the weekend series tied with the Lions at the top of the Gehrig Division standings. The two teams now each have five losses, but Princeton holds the edge with four more Ivy games played. The Lions meet Cornell next weekend in Ithaca before closing out the Ivy portion of their season on May 4-5 with a home-and-home four-game series vs. Penn.
Princeton travels to Cornell for a pair of games on May 3 before returning home to close out the four-game series on May 5. The Tigers are at home against Monmouth on Wednesday, April 24 at 3 p.m.

Gary Walters ’67 to stay at Princeton
Princeton Director of Athletics Gary Walters '67 announced on April 16 that he had withdrawn himself from consideration for the vacant AD position at UCLA, where he was on a shortlist of possible candidates. He called going through the selection process for the position "edifying," but in the end the three-time letter-winning former point guard could not leave his alma mater.
"(Princeton) is a university with a magical name that has a unique place in the past and present of intercollegiate athletics. I'm looking forward to further strengthening Princeton's commitment to the ideal of the scholar-athlete," said Walters in a written statement.

Women's golf finishes third in Ivies; Avery Kiser '05 wins individual title
Avery Kiser '05 won the individual title at the 2002 Ivy League women's golf championships with a three-round total of 226 at the Trenton Country Club on April 21. Princeton relinquished its Ivy title to Yale, finishing 17 strokes back with a team total of 980.

Crew teams split the weekend
Men's heavyweight crew's varsity 8 lost the Compton Cup to Harvard on April 20, its first loss of the season. The freshman 8 won its race in 6:04.
Women's open crew took the Eisenburg Cup by beating Yale on April 20. Men's lightweight crew took the Platt Cup by beating Cornell and Rutgers on April 20.

Men's track and field tops four-team field at home
Dwayne Banton `05's first place finish in the 100m in a time of 10.86 seconds helped the Tigers finish first in a meet featuring Iona, Manhattan, and Rutgers. Princeton took the meet title with 211 points. Rutgers (159) was second, followed by Manhattan (83), and Iona (58).
Tyler Bengtson `04 finished second in the Sam Howell Decathlon with 6946 points, setting a new personal record and qualifying for the IC4As. Bengtson's score is the highest in the Ivy League this season.
Canino `05 takes pole vault as women's track revs up for Penn relays
Freshman Chelo Canino cleared 11'6" to take first place in the pole vault competition as the Tigers competed at the Lafayette Invitational on Saturday, April 20. Princeton will compete at the Penn relays next weekend, with events starting on Thursday, April 25.

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