Honor Code change: From DA to Peer Representative
The Honor Committee has always believed that the Honor Code must be as clear and straightforward as possible. One particularly troublesome term in the Constitution was "Defense Advocate," which refers to a student assisting someone who has been accused of an Honor Code violation. Over the last year, several Defense Advocates, who felt that the term a poor representation of their job, approached the Committee. The title didn't stress the fact that they also help represent a student before the Committee. In addition, the term "advocate" has a legal connotation that, combined with the coincidence that Defense Advocate is abbreviated as D.A., confused some students.
The term "Peer Representative" more clearly expresses this role, and the Honor Committee has amended the Constitution accordingly. Doing so reduces confusing legal terminology and reflects people's perceptions of what this job entails. This amendment will not alter the Committee's procedure but will improve the clarity of the Honor Code.
The Honor Committee will continue to meet throughout the year to discuss potential issues for improvement. We welcome suggestions from students at all times. Honesty on campus is best fostered through an active interaction with the Honor Code.
Jim Williamson '07 Chair, Honor Committee
Color of one's skin should be irrelevant in college admission
Regarding 'Falling off the tight rope' (Monday, Nov. 20, 2006):
Jonathan Pitts-Wiley called Jian Li "naive" for suggesting that it would be fair to compare the SAT scores of applicants of different races, because "race and socioeconomic [sic] are closely joined in this country." If that's so, why resort to the crude yardstick of race? Princeton already gathers information about applicants' socioeconomic backgrounds (parental jobs and schools, the essays) and could easily gather more. Real naivete would be judging a Vietnamese or Polish applicant who came to the U.S. penniless at 14 to be more "advantaged" than a Jack and Jill member whose parents are lawyers, but that's precisely what the race yardstick would have us do.
The color of one's skin ought to be irrelevant in college admissions. I salute Li's initiative.
Joseph Barillari '04
Affirmative action should be centered on class, not race
Regarding 'Falling off the tight rope' (Monday, Nov. 20, 2006):
I agree with Jonathan Pitts-Wiley that supporting affirmative action and campus diversity is a positive step for a university. I think affirmative action should be centered on class, however, not race.
While there are significant differences between the average incomes of different minority groups in this country there are also significant differences between the average incomes of families within each minority group. Theo Huxtable's application should not be looked at in the same manner as an inner-city student who has overcome significantly more hardship.
Anita Joseph The Lawrenceville School
Leave us alone. The U. is so over you, Li.
Regarding 'Rejected applicant alleges bias against Asians' (Monday, Nov. 13, 2006):
Jian Li might want to take a course Constitutional Law before he expounds on affirmative action. Its purpose is not "to take spots away from white applicants and redistribute them to underrepresented minorities." Affirmative action programs exist both to promote the value of diversity and to right past discrimination, as evidenced in Supreme Court cases Bakke and Gratz. The Supreme Court requires that these programs must be narrowly tailored and that they not unduly burden individuals who are not members of the favored racial and ethnic groups.
Now, admittedly, going to Yale is a real bummer for Li (especially after their football loss this past weekend), but I would not say he is "unduly burdened." After all, he could have been stuck at Harvard. At least he still has the thrill of random violence swirling around him.
Li is like a bad ex-boyfriend, still calling months after the relationship turned sour, asking why we can't work it out. He looks at his new girlfriend, Yale, but he doesn't love her. Sometimes, when they are alone together, he accidentally calls her "Princeton." Other times, she comes home and catches him reading PAW online. Naked. (Note: This paragraph is a metaphor, and all allegations contained therein are about a fictional Li who does not exist and is not suing Princeton. All similarities between the two are purely coincidental, I double-dog-swear, giving rise to no causes of action).
Li, please try love the one you're with. Even if she is No. 3. And stop calling us. We're SO over you.
Zachary Goldstein '05
Princeton may have quotas, but it aims to promote diversity
Regarding 'Rejected applicant alleges bias against Asians' (Monday, Nov. 13, 2006):
If Jian Li can argue that Princeton discriminated against him because he is Asian, surely we can make the same case about other minority groups on campus. For example, international students have consistently made up about nine to 10 percent of the undergraduate student population. As an international student, I suspect that many universities, Princeton included, have quotas on the number of international students admitted because the acceptance rate of international students is generally lower than the total acceptance rate. Perhaps one of those positions that Li refers to as being currently held by African-American or Hispanic students could have been taken by an international student. Though there have been no studies, without the quotas perhaps international students would make up a larger proportion of the student body. But does this mean international students are also being discriminated against? I don't think so. The reason why Princeton may have quotas on certain groups of students is because it aims to promote diversity. Even if some admitted students are weaker academically, they have strengths in other areas. Having the opportunity to meet and engage with diverse people benefits people from all groups defined by ethnicity, socioeconomic status etc, and this can be an education in itself.
Megan Chiao '09 Social Chair, Asian American Students Association
Golden's angry and biased book contains factual errors
Regarding 'Reporter Golden blasts unfair legacy admissions' (Thursday, Nov. 16, 2006):
Daniel Golden's angry and biased book about Ivy League admissions has many errors, one of which I would like to correct. In the 9th paragraph, The Daily Princetonian accurately reports Golden's contention that faculty children get a financial discount at the home institution and that the Admissions Committees thus feel compelled to help out fellow members of the university staff. I, however, know of no Ivy (and certainly not Princeton) where this is true: The modest contribution that the university makes toward tuition is the same regardless of the college attended.
Professor James Gould Evolutionary and Ecology Dept.
Support for 'Calendar C' exists on campus
Regarding 'Pick Calendar C' (Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2006):
I thought I was the only one who supported the "most unpopular" Calendar C until I read your editorial. Thank you!
David Weiss '07
Bring back the Rutgers vs. Princeton football games!
Regarding 'College football in New Jersey? Since when?' (Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2006):
I enjoyed reading your article about the improved condition of college football in New Jersey. Having grown up outside New Brunswick 45 or so years ago, I was used to the excitement of the annual Rutgers-Princeton football game. As a matter of fact, I remember as a teenager taking a charter bus to watch the game in old Palmer Stadium. Back in the day, as it is now fashionable to say, Princeton delivered an annual thumpin' (as "W" would say) to Rutgers. Check the record. Rutgers was good for a win about as often as Haley's Comet would make a turn around our part of the solar system. I understand the series was suspended because the teams were no longer competitive, but truth be known, they weren't very competitive the first 100 or so years, when games were running in favor of the Tigers, so why not get this great tradition back on track? Maybe Rutgers can even up the record ... game on?
Peter Lederman
'Prince' has always been biased
Regarding 'Letters to the Editor: "Prince" clearly biased' (Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2006):
Nothing new, people.
On national election night 1948, The Daily Princetonian headlined DEWEY WINNING or words to that effect. The Chicago Tribune — like the then 'Prince' editor in chief, William H. Rentschler '49, also given to wishful thinking — headlined similarly on its front page the next morning. This led Harry S (no period) Truman, by dawn confirmed as the President-Elect, to pose for an historic photo, holding up with gleeful schadenfreude the flawed "Trib" front page.
Charlton R. Price '48
Religion and the theory of evolution are entirely compatible
Regarding 'Letters to the Editor: Religion requirement is politically shrewd' (Thursday, Nov. 16, 2006)
I would not want anyone reading Matthew Connally's letter concerning requiring religion in the curriculum to come away with the impression that all Christians believe that science — the theory of evolution — and religion are incompatible. It is possible to believe that God is the originator of everything that is and still accept the idea that the universe and living things here on the earth can evolve. Evolution itself can be seen as God's creation and as a process that glorifies God.
The Rev. Dr. Stephen L. White Chaplain, The Episcopal Church at Princeton University
This election is not a political realignment
Regarding 'Casey and DeWine: A shift in politics' (Friday, Nov. 10, 2006):
I wouldn't be so sure that "values voters" are fleeing the Republican party and finding comfort in the arms of the Democratic Party or that this represents a permanent realignment. Though Senators-elect Casey and Webb symbolize a new wave of socially conservative Democrats, the Democratic Party is still the party of abortion-on-demand, embryo-destructive stem cell research and gay marriage. They also oppose school vouchers and want, generally, to drive religion out of the public sphere. This is not a party where value voters will find much comfort.
Furthermore, this election was not really a vote for Democrats as much as it was a vote against Republicans and the perceived failures of the war in Iraq. The Democrats did not run on much besides not being Republicans. When nothing wins, it does not mean a political realignment is taking place but rather that the voters are sending a message to the Republican Party to shape up. It should be noted that these losses were average losses for a 6-year midterm election. Average. This is not the stuff political realignments are made of.
David Colquitt '09
Denying same-sex marriage is more political than just
Regarding 'The public meaning of marriage' (Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2006):
Sherif Girgis '08's argument is not only invalid, as Sara Viola '08 showed in her letter, but also unsound.
One of the ways Girgis justifies state intervention in marriage as beyond politics is by invoking marriage as "a pre-political institution — as universal human experience indicates." But throughout most of the ancient world, marriage was seen as a socio-political contract between the patriarchs of two households. Even in modern times, the status of miscegenation has been used as a political tool to entrench racism on one side and mobilize for equality of civil rights on the other.
Foremost, Girgis relies on the conclusions of the research group Child Trends to claim that households with one male and one female parent are more suited to parenting — his reading of "two biological parents." However, one can see upon examining this source, that this reading is at best sloppy, and at worst disingenuous. Child Trends explicitly uses "biological" to contrast with households with remarried parents, and in fact none of the group's research in this field even pertains to the households of same-sex partners. Moreover, there has been significant research that indicates that same-sex parents are just as adept at rearing happy, healthy children as opposite-sex parents — see, for example, the findings of Ellen Perrin, MD, presented at the American Academy of Pediatrics Conference and Exhibition, 2005.
That the foundation of Girgis' argument is based on misreading shows, I think, that his interest in denying marriage to loving same-sex couples is more political than it is just.
Sam Fletcher '08
Student who collects SAT scores in spare time is not worth it
Regarding 'Rejected applicant alleges bias against Asians' (Monday, Nov.13, 2006):
Another Princeton student, regardless of race, who has a perfect SAT score and spends his free time collecting SAT scores would have contributed little to the campus. Princeton's admissions encourage diversity in thought, opinion and action, and if that means selecting students of different background despite academic "weaknesses," then so be it. It's part of what makes Princeton such an amazing place.
Amit Mukherjee '10
How could abortion not be compared to killing a child?
Regarding 'Letters to the Editor: Rhetoric depicts the truth as much as abortion photos do' (Thursday, Nov. 9, 2006):
Sara Viola '08 was correct to point out that abortion is not infanticide. Take, for example, a common procedure for third-term abortions: Intact Dilation and Extraction (Intact D&X). Intact D&X involves delivering a (often viable) fetus feet-first and collapsing its skull with a suction machine before its head leaves the womb. This clearly falls short of infanticide by a whole three inches! Whatever was Tom Haine '08 thinking when he compared abortion to killing a child?
Michael Fragoso '06
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It’s time to step it up on diversity and inclusion
Christofer RoblesOver the last five years, Princeton never achieved parity in diversity and inclusion for Black students. Now, the University faces a conservative culture and federal government hostile to anti-racism. Now, more than ever, Princeton cannot abandon its students.
Over the last five years, Princeton never achieved parity in diversity and inclusion for Black students. Now, the University faces a conservative culture and federal government hostile to anti-racism. Now, more than ever, Princeton cannot abandon its students.
Class of 2029: Reject selective views of free speech
Charlie Yale and Siyeon Lee"Let us make an appeal to the entire Class of 2029: You can care about viewpoint diversity and free expression even if you don’t read the Tory. As liberals and progressives, you can understand that free speech is an issue that affects everyone."
"Let us make an appeal to the entire Class of 2029: You can care about viewpoint diversity and free expression even if you don’t read the Tory. As liberals and progressives, you can understand that free speech is an issue that affects everyone."
For a more effective USG, train newly elected members on the bureaucracy
Luqmaan BambaFor student representatives to make the change we can through the systems we have, we need a more onboarding process that prepares us to navigate these byzantine processes.
For student representatives to make the change we can through the systems we have, we need a more onboarding process that prepares us to navigate these byzantine processes.