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(10/20/13 9:32pm)
Among the difficulties freshmen face when they first arrive at Princeton is meeting Princeton’s high standard for academic writing. Though we understand that Princeton’s mandatory writing seminars aim to prepare all students for this increased rigor, the Board believes that the University should provide more resources for those students who have learned English as a second language in order to help them meet this rigorous expectation.
(10/17/13 8:43pm)
Last week’s false alarm regarding a reported shooting incident on campus came just months after reports of a bomb on campus during the summer. Both events were covered extensively by the media on and off campus, and though the Board commends the Department of Public Safety and the Princeton Police Department for their thorough response to the incidents, we believe the University can take action to better inform students on how to respond to and stay safe during emergencies. Specifically, the Board believes that the University should more publicly disseminate a detailed action plan concerning appropriate action after a suspected shooting or bomb threat.
(10/13/13 8:25pm)
Last week, President Eisgruber charged a committee of nine faculty members to review Princeton’s grade deflation policy in order to determine whether the policy has had “unintended impacts upon the undergraduate academic experience that are not consistent with our broader educational goals.” The Editorial Board has repeatedly taken the position that grade deflation is detrimental to Princeton students and the overall mission of the University and is encouraged by Eisgruber’s revisiting of the policy. Today, in light of this announcement, the Board reiterates its disapproval of the grade deflation policy and proposes the potential alternative that grade distributions for courses be reported internally to Princeton students.
(10/10/13 9:10pm)
With the announcement of rush numbers this week, the Board feels that it is important to discuss the effects of the freshman rush ban. When the ban was initially passed, many observers thought that it would hurt membership in Greek organizations. The thought was that sophomores who were better established would have less of an interest in social organizations than new freshmen who were still looking for friends and for groups to join. However, with the release of the statistics for sorority rush, it is clear that this has not been the case. This year’s rush numbers are almost identical to the number of students who rushed in the years before the ban. While we have written in the past about the ban and still feel that it should be one semester rather than a year, we feel it is important to revisit this topic in light of these new numbers.
(10/06/13 6:52pm)
Last week, Yale University announced the receipt of a major donation that would help it build two new residential colleges and increase the student body by about 15% to a total of over 6000 undergraduates. The next day, President Eisgruber suggested increasing Princeton’s undergraduate student body at a Council of Princeton University Community meeting. This would be a bad idea.
(10/03/13 7:40pm)
Princeton has not admitted undergraduate transfer students since 1990. The admission office credits this decision to the 98 percent retention rate and the burden of an increasingly large volume of applications. In a solely economic sense, it is understandable that the University considers it a poor use of resources to make strained admission officers evaluate a large number of applicants for 20 or fewer spots. But the Editorial Board believes that Princeton’s institutional values provide reason to admit transfer students.
(09/29/13 7:14pm)
Princeton has long been a leader in liberal arts education, and in today’s increasingly pre-professional world, the University stands strongly behind its goal of providing all students with a broad base of knowledge. While students often bemoan distribution requirements, these courses are crucial in guaranteeing that each one of us is exposed to a wide range of disciplines and ways of thinking. Sure, the system is not perfect, but requirements ensure that, by the time we walk through the FitzRandolph Gate, we will have had at least some practice reading literature, conducting science experiments and speaking a foreign language. This is certainly a worthy goal, and the requirements do a decent job of meeting it.
(09/26/13 8:18pm)
The successful (or unsuccessful) conclusion of fall bicker reminds us that the central element of Princeton’s social experience is defined by our communal eating options. Whether on the Street or elsewhere, meal times offer us a break from our work, a chance to see friends and time to meet new people. For the first two years on campus,the requiredmeal plan allows students to foster friendships within their residential college. However, come junior year, the dining model changes — students join eating clubs, co-ops or become independent. Students who can afford the addedcost of eating clubs are able to continue this traditional communal mealtime experience. However, this benefit is not extended to every student: the roughly 30 percentof students who do not or can not join eating clubs are missing out on an integral part of the Princeton experience; they often do not have the same opportunity to expand their social horizons.
(09/22/13 7:36pm)
This October will mark the 100thanniversary of the creation of the Graduate College. In 1913, Dean Andrew Fleming West won a battle against then-University President Woodrow Wilson, who had fought to have a newly created graduate program centered within the undergraduate-dominated central campus. While Dean West’s victory created one of the most beautiful pieces of architecture belonging to Princeton, it has left a legacy of separation between the undergraduate and graduate populations—both physically and figuratively. The Board believes that this gulf is detrimental to the mission of the University and the educational enrichment of both undergraduates and graduates.
(09/19/13 10:29pm)
One of the first things students do upon arriving on campus is purchase their course books. Fortunately, Labyrinth Books has simplified this process by streamlining how University students order their course readings as well as by offering an annual University discount. Yet, some courses require students to venture to the U-Store to purchase bound photocopies of readings through Pequod, which can often be expensive and environmentally unsustainable. The Board believes that University professors and administrators should strive to minimize the use of Pequods by relying on more sustainable and affordable alternatives.
(09/15/13 9:17pm)
Over the past semester, the unsigned editorials featured on this page have discussed issues such as the nascent Eisgruber presidency, Lawnparties as a benefit concert and University insurance coverage of sex-reassignment surgery. The Daily Princetonian Editorial Board, a group of 13 undergraduates, was collectively responsible for writing these pieces. The members of the Board are not the editors of the various sections of the ‘Prince.’ Instead, they constitute an independent group of undergraduate students who are charged with determining the position of the newspaper as a whole. Today, instead of taking a stance on an issue, we would like to explain the editorial process and invite interested freshmen, sophomores and juniors to apply to join the Board.
(09/12/13 8:39pm)
Following a trend started in the world’s major cities, at least 33 U.S. colleges now offer some form of bike-sharing program. The Editorial Board believes a bike-sharing program would be beneficial for the Princeton community and recommends that the University build out its own program in accordance with best practices drawn from cities and other college campuses. These benefits include facilitating student mobility, sustainability gains and, possibly, a reduction in bike theft.
(01/08/12 11:00pm)
Michael Yaroshefsky ’12 was just a sophomore when he ran for his first term as USG president. He had a proven record of accomplishment as IT chair of the USG and a desire to serve Princeton students. This experience, combined with his realistic policy proposals and a well-thought-out platform, led this board to endorse him in both of his campaigns. Now, two years later, we reflect on how he carried out those goals and the impact that he has had as president.
(12/15/11 11:00pm)
In a recent email to residents of certain dorms on campus, the University announced plans to update security throughout campus by replacing the traditional locks on dormitory doors with keypads. Beginning in the fall, this new system will allow students to open their doors with a prox along with a PIN. These doors would also automatically lock when closed and sound an alarm if the door is taped open.
(12/13/11 11:00pm)
With fall semester final examinations approaching, a review of current final examination policies is in order. In particular, the policy concerning the rescheduling of final examinations — which permits rescheduling for athletic conflicts but not for any other conflicts with University-sponsored extracurricular activities — needs revising. This policy must be changed to ensure uniformity and fairness.
(12/11/11 11:00pm)
As was reported last month in the 'Prince,' Princeton is a primary investor in HEI Hospitality, LLC, a group that owns luxury hotels and resorts around the country. The company has come under fire for numerous abuses against employees, including allegations of denying breaks to workers, retaliating against workers who have attempted to unionize or have tried to bring the company’s abuses to light and discriminating against workers on the basis of age. Princeton is not alone in its dealings with HEI Hospitality — Yale, Harvard, Brown, the University of Pennsylvania, Notre Dame and the University of Chicago all are major investors — but while some of our peer institutions have made pledges not to reinvest with the company in light of these allegations, Princeton has made no such commitment. We believe that they have a responsibility to do so.
(12/08/11 11:00pm)
Cannon Dial Elm Club opened its doors to 138 new members last Saturday, increasing the number of eating clubs on Prospect Avenue to 11. Cannon, as the new club is informally called, has reopened as a bicker club: Each year, new members are selected in a competitive process by the existing body of members. While Bicker has traditionally been held at the start of the spring semester, Cannon chose to hold it partway through the fall semester instead, thereby selecting its new class before other selective clubs have even held their Bicker processes.
(12/06/11 11:00pm)
Princeton has a reputation for political apathy that is perhaps unique among our peer universities. While elsewhere our fellow college students spend much of their time politically engaged with the wider world, we pass our years within our Orange Bubble, part of a campus culture that largely insulates us from involvement with the political issues that grip the nation. Recently, as part of a movement sweeping college campuses across the country, a group of Princetonians founded a local chapter of Occupy Wall Street, called Occupy Princeton. We applaud a shift away from the apathy that currently reigns on campus, and — regardless of our views on Occupy Princeton’s political goals — we are hopeful that its presence may help contribute to that shift.
(12/04/11 11:00pm)
The Peer Tutoring Program offered by the residential colleges constitutes an invaluable academic resource at Princeton. While not all students employ it, those who do consult with an academic tutor stand to benefit considerably in their studies. Princeton should indeed be commended for the strength of its program and for freely providing these services to students. Currently, however, the University prohibits tutoring during finals week because “tutors need to study, too.” We believe that this limitation is misguided and that tutoring services should be offered even during finals week.
(12/01/11 11:00pm)
Recently, the University has announced and begun implementing a new open-access policy for faculty publications, in which the University and faculty members reserve the right to republish scholarly articles after submitting them to journals. The Editorial Board applauds the decision, as we believe it will lead to a wider dissemination of important scholarly work, and urges the University to follow through on this plan by establishing a free online journal to facilitate distribution of faculty scholarship.