On keeping libraries open
There is a special sense of hopelessness that accompanies leaving the Trustee Reading Room in Firestone Library at 2 a.m., paper unfinished and coffee in hand.
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There is a special sense of hopelessness that accompanies leaving the Trustee Reading Room in Firestone Library at 2 a.m., paper unfinished and coffee in hand.
Tonight, I had a conversation with a stranger in a dining hall. About USG elections.
Princeton tradition defines Reunions. And although female alums are excluded from some of Princeton’s older traditions, the women on campus this weekend have formed their own legacy over the last 40 years. Princeton women, especially older alums, are resilient trailblazers —women who entered and dominated traditionally male arenas, including this campus, despite structural sexism and discrimination.
Between the raging and revelry, Reunions can also give former University students an opportunity to revisit their academics. Yesterday morning, American studies professors presented to alumni and Reunions attendees, several graduates from the Program in American Studies among them, on AMS 101: “America Then and Now.”
This semester, I’m taking an economics course for the first time. Having never so much as looked at a demand curve before a few weeks ago, it’s somewhat rough going. This past weekend, my friend and I were discussing a problem set when our other friend who had taken the course last year offered to talk us through some of the concepts. She was very helpful; she made what we were studying seem clear and simple. We told her she should tutor formally, but she explained to us that she couldn’t — she hadn’t received an A in the class.
Of all of the freshman fears I had before beginning Princeton last year, the greatest was that I wouldn’t get along with my roommate. Classes I could change, general awkwardness I could work through, but my roommate, for the most part, I was stuck with. When I first met her, I was worried — she and I had different academic interests and were from different backgrounds, races, religions and home states. Together, we thought back to our housing surveys and compared. Probably, we reasoned, the housing department had matched us based solely upon our shared love of pita chips and Taylor Swift. Other than that, we thought we had nothing in common.
Earlier this month, an independent blogger from Montana, Crystal Cox, was sued for defamation after she accused the founder of an investment group of illegal action. Under Oregon state shield laws, journalists making a similar accusation would have some protection from divulging their sources, but the judge ruled that Cox, who is not affiliated with any professional news organization, was not a journalist. Because of this, Cox did not have the same right to protect the identities of her sources as journalists do under Oregon laws.
Last Friday, in her column “Grades and Happiness,” Miriam Geronimus argued that the competitive atmosphere produced by grades, and specifically Princeton’s policy of grade deflation, is counterproductive to the very system of education. She explains that the external motivation produced by grades forces us to focus on the results rather than the product, furiously absorbing huge amounts of information only to later regurgitate and then forget. Geronimus is right that intrinsic motivation should drive education, and in proposing such a radical change to the system, she calls attention to the very real problems that exist as a result of Princeton’s hyper-competitive culture.
During the first few weeks of my experience at Princeton, I was bombarded with advice from the serious (don’t take too many classes, make sure that you get enough sleep) to the very serious (Murray Dodge gives out free cookies!). Amid the deluge of varied advice from Community Action leaders, advisers and even my preceptors, I kept hearing one piece repeated — if I was ever having trouble with a paper, I should go to the Writing Center. I was told that the Writing Center was just as good as advertised: The writing fellows could help me at literally any stage of my writing process and were open and helpful. As a first-semester freshman not in a writing seminar, I’m up for all the help that I can get. When my first paper was due, I set up a meeting at the Writing Center and have gone back for other assignments since.
When the rest of the freshman class and I arrived at Princeton just a few short weeks ago, I could not have been more excited to start the next four years. It felt like all of the University’s possibilities were open to me — the renowned professors, amazing study-abroad programs and countless student organizations.