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(11/12/15 6:39pm)
Recent emails sent by Vice President for Campus Life W. Rochelle Calhoun reminded the student body of the resources available from UHS’s Counseling and Psychological Services and encouraged students to “function as a community of care and responsibility” in looking out for one another’s well-being. The Editorial Board commends Vice President Calhoun for the tone of these messages and recognizes the excellent work of CPS, the UMatter campaign, University administrators and many individual students in addressing mental health issues at Princeton. Nevertheless, there is more we can do: the Board suggests a number of measures to help create a safer and more comfortable work environment and to raise awareness about the availability of mental health resources at the University.
(11/08/15 12:54pm)
This Monday marks the start of the second half of the fall semester. For many students, the weeks between fall break and winter break are associated with paper deadlines and winter formals on Prospect Avenue. Deadlines and festivities aside, the entire Princeton community will experience increasingly cold and wet weather in the coming weeks. Poor drainage on campus exacerbates the effects of rain and snow on the experiences of students and faculty, alike. The Editorial Board recommends that the University take action to decrease flooding on or near high-traffic sidewalks and walkways on campus.
(10/29/15 7:35pm)
On Sept. 20, the Undergraduate Student Government’s University Student Life Committee and the Princeton Hidden Minority Council hosted a winter coat giveaway at Campus Club. The USLC had collected between 50 and 60 coats to distribute during the giveaway; however, according to USLC chair Kathy Chow ’17, at least 100 students arrived at Campus Club between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. to claim coats. Students reported arriving at Campus Club when the event was scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m. to find no coats left for collection. The Editorial Board applauds the organizations and individuals who organized the event for their good intentions and notable effort; however, in light of logistical challenges and demand which outstripped supply, the Board recommends improvements to future winter gear collection and distribution drives. Accordingly, the Board also calls on the University community to contribute to future winter gear collection efforts.
(10/25/15 12:51pm)
According to the latest announcement by the Interclub Council and the Community Service Interclub Council, Princeton’s 11 eating clubs will participate in an initiative called ‘Trick-or-Feed’ during this year’s Princetoween, which falls on Oct. 29. In order to enter an eating club on Thursday night, students must have a special Trick-or-Feed sticker which can be acquired at Frist Campus Center or the Bendheim Center for Finance.
(10/22/15 1:29pm)
Each day, engineering students make the long trek from their residential colleges to the Engineering Quadrangle for class. Students often have classes from morning to afternoon, sometimes with no more than 30 minutes between each class. Given that the closest dining hall — the Center for Jewish Life — is at least 10 minutes away, many students with meal plans are left with insufficient time before their next class to eat lunch. As a result, many students elect to spend their own money at the E-Quad Café. The Board believes that the University should support students who cannot easily access dining halls during lunchtimes and recommends that the E-Quad Café accept late meal swipes during normal lunch hours.
(10/18/15 8:32pm)
The Department of Public Safety recently announced that it will allow sworn officers to access rifles in case of an active shooter on campus. Under the University’s new policy, Public Safety officers would not carry firearms on them at all times. Instead, rifles would be kept in an armory and public safety cars and, only if there is an active shooter, be accessible by sworn Public Safety officers who have completed New Jersey State Police School. The Board applauds Public Safety’s decision as one that will make campus safer in the future.
(10/15/15 6:30pm)
Earlier this month, students circulated a petition to bring a new co-op to campus. This echoed the efforts of a similar petition distributed in 2014 that called for a new vegetarian co-op. Co-ops, seen as an economical alternative to dining options such as eating clubs, have become increasingly popular in recent years. In light of this petition, the Editorial Board calls for the University to provide the space and resources for the creation of a new co-op.
(10/11/15 6:15pm)
In the midst of the semester, balancing multiple heavy workloads is difficult for students; however, the challenges of maintaining this balance begin earlier than the first day of class. Specifically, choosing the correct combination of classes is often an unduly difficult task due to class scheduling conflicts. Undergraduate courses are not scheduled evenly throughout the day; rather, a majority of classes begin during the 11 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. scheduling blocks. To increase the range of classes students can accommodate in their schedules, the Editorial Board recommends redistributing a portion of the undergraduate courses to other, less-trafficked scheduling blocks throughout the day.
(10/08/15 7:10pm)
University students are fortunate to have Career Services as a resource when searching for jobs and internships. The office does a praiseworthy job of matching academic interests to career interests, preparing students for interviews, attracting top employers and much more. Nonetheless, the student body’s poor understanding of Career Services’ policies undermine Career Services’ mission to educate, engage and empower students. The Board believes that Career Services should do more to address job offers that violate its on-campus recruiting policies, better communicate policies and events to students and increase the number of in-person appointments.
(10/04/15 6:00pm)
Last week, the University released the results of the WeSpeak survey. In the survey, 34 percent of undergraduate women reported being victims of sexual misconduct broadly defined, while 27 percent of undergraduate women reported unwanted sexual contact or assault. To address the unacceptable pervasiveness of this disturbing problem, we must both double down on our commitment to swift and proportionate punishment for offenders and look for new ways to combat misconduct. In light of the survey results, the Editorial Board recommends implementing mandatory bystander intervention training for leaders of student organizations. Additionally, the Board calls upon all Princeton students to take action on an individual basis to discuss and address these problems.
(10/01/15 6:00pm)
Princeton is well-known as a dynamic research university that focuses on undergraduate education. The University’s faculty members are not only experts in their respective fields but also educators who share their knowledge and expertise with students. In order to facilitate the learning experience, several departments throughout the University have begun to implement alternatives to the traditional in-class lecture, including innovative learning methods such as video lectures, online discussion boards and beginner’s precepts. Princeton prides itself on the diversity of its student body, not just in the geographic sense, but also in terms of intellectual interests. In this same spirit of academic diversity, the Board encourages departments to expand the use of these innovative learning methods.
(09/27/15 10:26am)
Last semester, the unsigned editorials featured on this page have discussed issues such as electing Honor Committee representatives, encouraging students to take the WeSpeak survey and altering the academic calendar. The Daily Princetonian Editorial Board, a group of 16 undergraduates, was collectively responsible for writing these pieces. The members of the Board are not the editors of the various sections of the ‘Prince.’ Instead, they constitute an independent group of undergraduate students charged with determining the position of the newspaper as a whole. Today, instead of taking a stance on an issue, we would like to explain the editorial process and invite interested freshmen, sophomores and juniors to apply to join the Board.
(09/24/15 8:25pm)
In a Letter to the Editor on September 7, 2015, Luke Koppisch, Deputy Director of the Alliance Center for Independence noted that while Princeton seeks robust academic freedom, it also requires that all of its members show each other mutual respect and understanding. Koppisch went on to criticize Peter Singer, the Ira W. Decamp Professor of Bioethics, for publishing views Koppisch likened to hate speech. He isolated Singer’s publications as endorsing non-voluntary euthanasia of severely disabled infants and the elderly.
(09/20/15 7:00pm)
The start of classes is an exciting time, offering students a chance to meet new people, reconnect with old friends and explore varied interests. But for some students, this is overshadowed by schedules not yet finalized due to University policies related to add/drop period for non-freshman, precept selection and access to course syllabi. The Board proposes three reforms to the start of the fall semester: allow upperclassmen to add or drop courses when Academic Year Sign-In begins, improve the process of precept selection and require that professors post course syllabi on Blackboard two weeks prior to the start of classes. We believe these changes will ease students’ transition to the fall semester and create more choice and flexibility.
(09/17/15 6:15pm)
Last Thursday, about 1,000 freshmen returned from Outdoor Action and Community Action and began to settle into their dorms, joining those who chose not to do a pre-orientation program. For freshmen, their mandatory University meal plans were effective immediately, ensuring they would have access to meals for the ensuing days of hectic orientation programming. Non-freshmen, however, have experienced firsthand key flaws and disparities in the meal plan system that the Editorial Board believes the University must address. Currently, non-freshman residential college meal plans begin on the Monday before classes start, three days after freshmen meal plans, creating a host of problems for many groups of students. This Board believes that the University should move back the start of general meal plans from Monday to Saturday, benefiting both students who would prefer to move into their dorms during the weekend and their families. Additionally, we propose similar reforms to benefit OA and CA leaders, as well as early arrival groups such as performing arts groups, the Honor Committee, student government, college councils and others.
(05/10/15 5:30pm)
This academic year, Princeton’s undergraduate student body voted in a series of contentious referenda. While Undergraduate Student Government elections are governed by campaign finance regulations outlined in the USG Elections Handbook, students involved in referendum campaigns are only bound by Princeton’s “Rights, Rules, Responsibilities,” as well as New Jersey law. As a result, referenda become an electoral free-for-all during which student advocacy organizations have the ability to spend unlimited funds in support of their causes without listing their donors.
(05/07/15 6:20pm)
Commencement marks the end of of the undergraduate careers of Princeton seniors and includes four days of events for the members of the graduating class and their families. This is a time for great celebration that is meant to be shared with friends and relatives; however, given the differing capacities of the events’ various venues, seniors are given limited numbers of tickets for invitees. The number of allotted tickets is the same for all seniors, and those who want more are not allowed to buy them. The Board believes that the University should create a formal system for commencement ticket redistribution.
(05/03/15 6:00pm)
Princeton Preview has come and gone, and the University is preparing to welcome the Class of 2019 in September. For incoming freshmen, orientation week is a turbulent transition into a new social scene, and residential college advisers serve as guides to University policy and culture, including sexuality on campus. Next fall, RCAs will distribute a copy of “You’re So Sexy When You Aren’t Transmitting STDs,” a comic book meant to provide freshmen with information about consent and safe sex. Additionally, all freshmen will watch the play “The Way You Move,” which addresses campus sexual climate. While presenting this material engagingly is commendable, the University fails to treat the subject matter with the gravity it deserves and to include those who choose abstinence.Sexual well-being is no joking matter. Sure, people have different views about sex, but a hand-drawn comic book with frivolous characters like “Dick McClean” and “Captain Buzzkill” — not to mention a cover adorned with penises growing on vines — is simply no way to discuss weighty matters like STDs or the psychological effects of sexual intimacy. During freshman week, the University treats other serious subjects — such as academic integrity, alcohol use, mental health and eating disorders — with due sensitivity, respect and gravity. Why not sex? Scrap the tasteless cartoons. A more concise but engaging booklet with simple, medically accurate diagrams would provide all the necessary information in a more dignified manner.A second problem with the comic book is its complete neglect to mention abstinence, let alone offer any strategies for maintaining abstinence if students so choose. Though the book explicitly addresses those who “have had sex, are having sex, or plan to have sex,” the fact that the book — with a condom taped to it — is mandatory handout material sends a message biased toward facilitating or even encouraging sexual activity. This fails to convey the full range of attitudes toward sex on campus and excludes students committed to or considering abstinence — whether for health reasons, moral reasons or both. Leaving off the gratuitous condom and including a section devoted to abstinence would remedy the problem.Besides the comic book, the mandatory orientation week play could also be improved. Currently titled “The Way You Move,” the play has been edited to focus increasingly on sexual assault in recent years; in last year’s revision of the play, however, the openly abstinent character was eliminated. Increased discussion of sexual assault in the play is valuable, but it does not require the removal of a character whose message is supportive toward a significant portion of the student body. Restoring this character would reduce the likelihood of alienating abstinent students, thereby increasing the likelihood that they will be receptive to other key messages in the play. Besides simply being more welcoming, both the play and the comic book could steer students who are considering abstinence toward resources like Counseling and Psychological Services, the Office of Religious Life or Peer Health Advising.Since all freshmen are to receive the informational materials and to attend the play, the University should attend to the various needs of the incoming class, not just those planning to be sexually active. Treating sex seriously and incorporating abstinence into the freshman week curriculum that the University is now preparing would create a better, more inclusive environment for the incoming Tigers of 2019.Cydney Kim ‘17, Kevin Wong ‘17, and Andrew Tsukamoto ‘15 abstained from the writing of this editorial.DissentWe disagree for three reasons: (1) the objective of sex education is to educate incoming freshmen about sexual health and safety; (2) the programming employed by the University only needs to promote this objective; and (3) given the role of the University, distributing condoms to incoming freshmen is appropriate. Furthermore, we find the arguments made by the majority to be riddled with moral bias and to be devoid of objectivity.The University offers educational programming about sexual safety and health to promote communal health and well-being. Abstinence is not a matter of sexual health; rather, it is a matter of personal choice and morality. Since the relevant University interest is health, it would be unnecessary for the University to distribute materials related to morality. Condoms are a mechanism to promote sexual health; they facilitate and encourage safe sex on a campus where many students are sexually active.We recognize that the University must provide programming that is both informative and engaging. We agree that it would be imprudent to create comics about certain campus issues; however, we believe the comic book to which the majority has referred strikes the balance well. The majority fails to offer any reason beyond morality for always presenting sex education in stark medical terms. Would a sheet of statistics distributed in September spur this sort of discussion? We think not.For these reasons, we respectfully dissent.Signed by Daniel Elkind ‘17, Mitchell Johnston ‘15, Daphna Le Gall ’15, Jeffrey Leibenhaut ‘16, Carolyn Liziewski ‘18, Sam Mathews ‘17, Connor Pfeiffer ‘18, Aditya Trivedi ‘16 and Jillian Wilkowski ‘15TheEditorial Boardis an independent body and decides its opinions separately from the regular staff and editors of The Daily Princetonian. The Board answers only to its Chair, the Opinion Editor and the Editor-In-Chief.
(04/30/15 6:22pm)
Princeton Preview is the University’s premier outreach event for admitted students. Prior to the meningitis B outbreak that occurred a year and a half ago, Preview was a three-day event that included extensive exposure to student life and overnight stays in the University’s residential colleges. Last April, we agreed with the University’s decision to shorten Preview to a daylong program in response to the meningitis outbreak. However, given that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now consider the University’s meningitis B risk equivalent to that of other colleges, the Editorial Board advocates that the University return to its overnight model for Preview.
(04/26/15 4:50pm)
Last week, The Daily Princetonian reported on an initiative by Princeton Hindu Satsangam and a number of both Hindu and non-Hindu students to advocate for the creation of a Hindu prayer space on campus. Though the University Chapel hosts Hindu events and Murray-Dodge Hall, which houses the University’s Religious Life offices, contains an interfaith prayer room, supporters of the proposal have pointed out that the establishment of a space geared specifically towards Hindu worship would offer a meaningful recognition of Princeton’s large Hindu community. Additionally, a new Hindu prayer space would contribute to the mission of fostering diversity and cultural awareness which lies at the core of the University’s educational goals. The Editorial Board endorses this initiative and commends the students who have expressed interest in a prayer space for their efforts to enhance Hindu life at Princeton.