Community also hopes to bridge town and gown relations
Regarding 'Bridging town and gown' (Wednesday, April 11, 2007):
On behalf of the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Borough Merchants for Princeton, we embrace the idea of providing more opportunities for the Princeton University community — especially the student community — to explore downtown Princeton, its shops, restaurants and galleries, the Arts Council, the Princeton Public Library and the YW and YMCAs. The idea of creating first Friday-type events is one that we are anxious to pursue with the USG and other student organizations.
We know that the USG is exploring the idea of staging a scavenger hunt early in the next academic year where participants would stop in local business establishments to pick up clues. Along the way, students would learn more about the businesses in Princeton Borough, and the merchants would learn more about the students.
These kinds of events and activities serve to strengthen the ties between the students and their temporary hometown of Princeton, N.J. We will reach out to the USG leadership to work on these and other ideas. We encourage students who are interested in working on these initiatives with the local business community to contact the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce. Karen Colimore President and CEO Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce Karen Jezierny Chair of the Board of princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce Director of Public Affairs Princeton University Kathleen Morolda President of the Borough Merchants for Princeton University
'Redneck' stereotype was insulting
Regarding 'Op Art' (Wednesday, April 18, 2007):
I was interested to see that the cartoon contained a depiction of a "redneck" stereotype. As a resident of North Carolina, I'd like to say that, ordinarily, I'd be somewhat annoyed, though I would not particularly care. It's really not that big of a deal. I thought it interesting, however, that The Daily Princetonian chose to run this cartoon just months after the "Lian Ji" controversy. Let me see if I've got my facts straight:
1. Running joke articles that contain Asian stereotypes is racist and not funny.
2. Running a serious cartoon containing "redneck" stereotypes is perfectly fine.
Normally, I would shrug this off. After all, I've got more important things to worry about. But I find it the height of hypocrisy that people were outraged over the Asian stereotypes, and I am willing to bet there would be will little-to-no protest over this article. The term "redneck," its connotations and depiction, are derogatory toward people from the rural South, and in the interest of treating all people the same, I think it's only fair that someone expresses his disapproval of the double standard shown by the 'Prince' and society in general.
The point is that I don't think a big fuss should have been made over the Lian Ji article, but there was a huge reaction from Asian groups. It's only fair that you be held accountable to the same degree for a cartoon that is offensive to many whites.
Racial humor: Either it's okay or it's not. Make up your mind. P.J. Miller '10
VA Tech cartoon focused on wrong idea
Regarding 'Op Art' (Wednesday, April 18, 2007):
I hope I will not be the only Princetonian to express how dismayed and insulted I was by this callous, insensitive and attention-grabbing cartoon.
My girlfriend is a student at Virginia Tech. She knows students who escaped with minimal physical injuries, students who were seriously injured by gunshot wounds and students who were killed in Monday's senseless massacre. From her own words, and the words of the many with whom she has spoken and mourned, the campus remains immersed in grief and tragedy, searching for answers and consolation.
As the wounds of this tragedy are but two days old and still painfully raw, it is not yet time for soapboxing or tangential politicization, nor is there any room whatsoever for advancing such an agenda by crudely rehashing irrelevant stereotypes. Notwithstanding that Wang's central argument has not been confirmed by any evidence yet discovered, the cartoon shows intolerable insensitivity to the memories of the victims and to the thousands of friends and family still trying to come to grips with these losses.
I would propose a follow-up cartoon, in which the artist portrays herself as hopelessly detached from real life outside the Orange Bubble, but her most recent work has already conclusively done that. David J. Czapka '07
Raising minimum wage not productive
Regarding 'Conservative conception of morality' (Wednesday, April 18, 2007):
I disagree with Jason Sheltzer '08's characterization of raising the minimum wage as a moral imperative.
Raising the minimum wage is one of the most counterproductive ways of helping the poor. By pricing them out of the labor market, it condemns the least-skilled, least-educated, workers, who are often minorites, to a life of unemployment and dependence on government programs. Sheltzer should instead focus his efforts on a safety net that does not reduce job opportunities for the least fortunate and, very importantly, on the adoption of voucher-based public school reform. Instead of throwing more money at a dysfunctional system (and inadvertently sending a message that a school has to be really, really bad to receive funding), we should allow public schools to compete against one another and thus give them an incentive to improve. Marek Hlavac '08
After VA Tech, U. should come together
Regarding 'Korean students afraid of backlash on campus' (Wednesday, April 18, 2007):
In the wake of the Virginia Tech tragedy, this article falls into a predictable trap prescribed by media — incorporating the issue of race and "otherness" at a point in time when the University community should be focusing on the root issue at hand: the loss of innocent lives and the vulnerability of the human condition.
The article's cataloging of reactionary comments by undergraduates and recent graduates is banal and perhaps superficial in its understanding of the issues underlying the concerns that have been expressed by Princeton students. It also does little justice to the strength and spirit of diversity and acceptance in the Princeton community.
As evidenced in the vigil and the events on campus, the University community has already embraced this opportunity to unite in this time of sorrow. Rather than simply highlight fear, the article could have instead served as a steppingstone towards facilitating productive conversation about issues such as race, identity and culture on campus.
I admit that as an alumna, I am now far removed from the heart and soul of campus life. I encourage the discussion that has been spurred by the Virginia Tech tragedy to continue beyond the expected, toward a productive dialogue that reflects the true spirit of Princeton. Azalea Kim '05
Bad BSE advice
Regarding 'Letters to the Editor' (Thursday, April 19, 2007):
While I am glad Dan O'Shea '09 feels that he benefited from his decision to take sophomore-level BSE departmentals as a freshman, his recommendation for others to do so is ill-advised.
Princeton asks a lot of its first-year engineers, who typically face seemingly impossible coursework including multivariable calculus, linear algebra, mechanics, electromagnetism, chemistry, computer programming and the writing seminar. The 20 plus hours a week they spend in lectures, labs and problem sessions — and let's not even start with what's required outside the classroom — is staggering compared with many of their AB counterparts' carefree 12-hour weeks dotted with precept reading on Alexander Beach and the occasional 10-or 20-pager here and there.
The last thing an already overextended freshman needs is a technical, sophomore-level engineering course. Instead, advisers should encourage trying out electives in the humanities or social sciences as my freshman adviser, an MAE professor, recommended. You only have one freshman year at Princeton; get a feel for all it has to offer. Sandeep Murthy '06
Athlete profile was misleading
Regarding 'Profiles: Morgan, Dunne to display their prowess on the dodgeball court' (Thursday, April 19, 2007):
I believe that the athlete profile of Kyle Morgan '07 is misleading. Long before I defeated Kyle in a shootout in the finals of the 2007 Tiger Inn Fifa Tournament, I knew that he was unable to win under pressure. Kyle has a shocking history of underperformance. Just ask his broomball squad. Nathan Kaplan '07 Dodgeball Analyst and Kyle Morgan Antagonist
Right to bear arms
Regarding 'Courage under fire' (Friday, April 20, 2007):
I would certainly agree that limiting a mentally unstable person's access to firearms is needed, but David Smart '09's proposal to inform universities of which students own guns is insane. I do not want Princeton to know how many, if any, hunting rifles I own or if I have a concealed weapons permit.
They can and have the right to ban guns on campus. It's their property, but they do not have the right to know about a student's brace of antique dueling pistols. That is a ridiculous invasion of privacy into a legal activity in which a citizen of age can participate. Students can have all the abortions they want and the University doesn't need to know about them, so why should a student not be able to peacefully retain a firearm off campus? Both actions should remain legal and private.
Tragedies happen; it is a simple fact of a complicated world. In the days following the VA Tech shooting, 200 people were killed in one day by bombs in Baghdad. Both events are tragedies, but to what extent are they preventable? What is not needed are more regulations concerning firearm ownership, even of handguns which are, yes, designed to kill people. Michael van Landingham '08
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Why do two-thirds of your summer research wages go to Princeton, anyway?
Isaac BarsoumThe 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?
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?