'Nass' obscured staff turmoil with deceit

Nassau Weekly editors, who said Thursday that a majority of the staff had resigned and the magazine had folded, have acknowledged that they fabricated the story to prevent The Daily Princetonian from covering a dispute within their staff.

Staff members said they were "lying compulsively" in interviews Thursday night because they believed the 'Prince' would not "get the facts straight," in a statement on the magazine's website.

Though they also claim on their website that no members of their staff have resigned, publisher Kristina Witt '03 maintains that she was asked to resign.

Two other editors said they resigned earlier last week and have since rejoined the staff. Whether other editors threatened resignation during this dispute is unclear.

Witt said in an e-mail Saturday that her relationship with the Nassau Weekly remains uncertain, and her name is not listed in the online staff list.

The staff dispute was prompted by an article about the 10 most beautiful undergraduate women, proposed by two of the magazine's three editors-in-chief, Adam Nemett '03 and Alex Rosenfeld '03.

The two said they were selecting the women and writing the piece, which is scheduled to appear in the Nassau Weekly's May 9 issue.

The debate became public when Witt sent an e-mail to dozens of friends protesting the article and soliciting submissions to the magazine from those who found the idea offensive.

Nemett and Rosenfeld promptly asked Witt to resign from the magazine, the two editors said.

Rosenfeld said he asked Witt to resign because he believed she personally attacked him, misrepresented the situation and inappropriately discussed the story with non-staff members.

During a staff discussion, editors agreed they should devote space in the May 9 issue to counterpoint pieces, Nemett said.

Rosenfeld said he would not change the tone of the piece, Witt said.

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"Alex definitely acknowledged my objections but specifically said, 'Even if this article hurts a certain section of the community, it doesn't deter my desire to do it,' " Witt said.

Ari Samsky '03, the newspaper's third editor-in-chief, said he sided with Witt.

"[Rosenfeld] wasn't willing to compromise about how he wrote his article," Samsky said. "He was really adamant. He wanted it to be something you'd find in Maxim."

Samsky said he opposed the idea and considered resigning, in part because of the article.

"My primary objection to it is that it's been done before," he said. "I do find it offensive and anti-woman."

Literary editor Katy Niner '03 said the section for dissenting opinion in the same issue was not enough to allay her misgivings about the list.

"Fundamentally, I don't think it should be printed," she said. "I don't think our campus needs any more concrete examples of female reduction and female stereotyping."

Many staff members said the debate about the top 10 list did not fall strictly along gender lines.

Clay Bavor '05, the magazine's business manager, said he planned to contribute to a counterpoint piece.

He added that the staff debate was lively and open and that he was satisfied with the compromise the staff reached.

"The discussions we've had have been some of the most intellectually fulfilling discussions I've had at Princeton so far," Bavor said.

Rosenfeld and Nemett said their project has evolved from an entertainment piece to an examination of the controversies surrounding beauty.

"We're very much a school that strives for excellence," Rosenfeld said. "We're so quick to reward athletics or academic achievements, but it seems hypocritical that we're so reluctant to acknowledge girls for their beauty."

Nemett said he hopes the article will spark debate on the subject of beauty.

"At a certain level, we understand where the opposition is coming from, but because there seems to be so much to talk about it, it seems even more reason to write the article if people are getting this excited about it," he said.