CJL enforces positive Jewish pluralism
Regarding 'Letters to the Editor' (Tuesday, April 3, 2007):
No doubt the pro-Chabad camp has proven itself successful at plastering The Daily Princetonian with its rhetoric. In its view, this is an issue of religious freedoms — a particular religious group is being denied expression on campus. This is a red herring.
Here's the real deal: Jewish life at Princeton has historically (at least for the last decade and a half) been organized around our campus Hillel house, the Center for Jewish Life (CJL). The CJL, and Hillel as an international organization, has a policy of supporting any form of Jewish expression — secular and religious alike (including Chabad).
The CJL currently has many affiliate groups each representing a different "face" of Judaism. During my time at Princeton, Chabad never sought to become one of these affiliate groups because it disagreed with the basic ground rules by which all CJL groups abide: No wide-ranging fundraising and alumni solicitation, no serving large amounts of alcohol at events and adherence to the appropriate-use guidelines for all University spaces and the CJL building. For whatever reason, Chabad found these simple ground rules too burdensome.
Now the issue at hand: If the University chose to recognize Chabad as a chaplaincy, it would privilege one particular expression of Judaism, one particular "face" of Judaism, to the detriment of the spirit of Jewish pluralism that has existed at Princeton for so many years.
Readers should not be deceived into thinking that this is an issue of religious freedom. It is not. It is, however, an issue of Jewish pluralism, of whether it is possible for Jews of different stripes to sit down together and participate in a cooperative, collaborative enterprise like Hillel. I believe this goal can still be achieved. Joseph Skloot '05 Former CJL President
Cartoon can be seen as poking fun at students
Regarding 'Letters to the Editor' (Thursday, April 5, 2007):
I completely agree with Stuart Lange '07's statement that "the life of a Princeton senior at this time of year is difficult, as I know from experience, but it is nothing compared to the life of a soldier, who must risk his life every day in the service of his country."
Instead of finding Stephen Hsia's cartoon inappropriate in comparing the two, however, I saw it as suggesting that perhaps Princeton seniors take our own lives and theses too seriously. We face nothing compared to the trials soldiers face in Iraq, as illustrated by Hsia's comparison of a weary, tired soldier and a clean-cut Princeton student with laptop, soda and books. Hsia may have been trying to put things in perspective and suggesting that rather than complaining about our own trials at Princeton, we should be thankful for our opportunities here that the soldiers in Iraq have fought for us to have.
Having said that, I do not know Hsia's original intention when he drew the cartoon, but I just wanted to point out that the cartoon in itself was not necessarily distasteful — perhaps each person interprets it in terms of what they are looking for. Felix Huang '07
Princeton provides alcohol at some events
Regarding 'Overcoming the academic-social divide' (Friday, April 6, 2007):
Jason Sheltzer '08 is wrong about one thing in his column. Girl Talk is not "an awful indie-electronica DJ." He's fantastic. Oh, yes, and he is wrong about the alcohol policy, too. Princeton regularly serves alcohol at events where students are present who are under 21. Rocky and Mathey host events that serve wine to those over 21, even though there are plenty of underage students there. So, two things ... he's wrong about two things. Michael van Landingham '08
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Why do two-thirds of your summer research wages go to Princeton, anyway?
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The income that students earn from employment is not “miscellaneous.” So Princeton must decide: Does it want its students — all of them, not only those who can afford it — to be able to work on the important research happening at Princeton, or be forced to go home?