News

PPPL researchers receive grant to use supercomputer

PPPL researchers receive grant to use supercomputer

Abhiram Karuppur

Researchers from the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory won a grant to use 80 million processor hours on the nation’s fastest supercomputer to conduct simulations of various phenomena.The researchers include University Astrophysical Sciences Professor Amitava Bhattacharjee GS ’81, PPPL physicist William Fox, University research scholar Yi-Min Huang and PPPL graduate student Jonathan Ng.In addition to the PPPL team, University Astrophysical Sciences Professor James Stone also won 47 million processor hours to pursue a project titled "Magnetohydrodynamic Models of Accretion Including Radiation Transport," and Geology Professor Jeroen Tromp GS ’90 GS '92 received 80 million processor hours to pursue a project titled "Global Adjoint Tomography."Bhattacharjee said that he plans to use the supercomputer to conduct simulations of high-energy-density plasmas.

NEWS | 02/08/2016

Students respond to U. professor Perry's arrest

Jessica Li and Myrial Holbrook

In response to African American Studies Professor Imani Perry’s arrest on Saturday, some University students are collecting stories from students, alumni, staff and faculty who have had experiences plagued by racism with the Princeton police department, according to Asanni York ’17. York said that this effort has the aim of urging the University to issue a statement supporting Perry, he said. He explained that the University, which he noted prides itself on diversity and inclusion, needs to look at the fact that though Perry is a black woman with a distinguished background, she still experiences the troubles that face other black women at the hands of police brutality and at the hand of a police state. "The police department is already threatening Professor Perry and the University needs to stand in solidarity with her," York said. York added that the students are issuing statements on Facebook, sending emails to campus listservs and tweeting to raise awareness. Perry was arrested on Saturday, Feb.

NEWS | 02/08/2016

COS 126 ratings improve after switching to online lectures

Jessica Li

After traditional, in-class lectures were replaced by ones held online, lecture ratings for COS 126: General Computer Science improved from 3.3 to 3.8, according to Professor of Computer Science and COS 126 course head Robert Sedgewick.COS 126 is the largest course in the University by annual enrollment, with 318 students having completed it in the fall semester and 405 students currently enrolled for the spring semester, according to the Office of the Registrar.COS 126 lectures, coined as 'flipped lectures,' have been offered exclusively online since this past fall semester, according to Sedgewick.He also noted that COS 126 achieved an overall course rating of 4.3 on a 5.0 scale, the highest recorded rating in the history of the course.

NEWS | 02/08/2016

Student-faculty relationships to be prohibited under new U. policy

Caroline Lippman

Any kind of romantic relationship between members of the University where one has supervisory status or direct power over the other is forbidden under the revised University policy on faculty-student relationships, even if the relationship is consensual, according to Dean of the Faculty Deborah Prentice. Revisions to "Rules and Procedures of the Faculty" and the corresponding section of "Rights, Rules, Responsibilities" were approved at the faculty meeting in December. According to Prentice, the Faculty Advisory Committee on Policy drafted the changes at the recommendation of a committee of faculty formed in the fall of 2014 to address sexual misconduct policies at the University. She also noted that peer institutions such as Harvard put out new policies in the last academic year and that the decision to make changes to the University’s policy on consensual relationships was not a response to any incidents or violations at the University but rather in response to peer institutions changing their policies. Dean of the College Jill Dolan, who also served on the FACP that drafted the policy changes, deferred comment to Dean Prentice. Dean of the Graduate School Sanjeev Kulkarni, who was also involved on the committee that drafted the changes, declined to comment. Prentice noted that the policy’s former language was vague and ambiguous. "We thought that it needed greater clarity than it had about what kinds of activities were and were not okay," she said. The former language in "Rules and Procedures of the Faculty" stated that consensual sexual relationships between students and faculty members are a serious violation of the faculty member’s professional responsibility to the student.

NEWS | 02/08/2016

Updated: Number of bickerees, acceptance rates increase across clubs

Katherine Oh

According to the statistics from the Interclub Council, provided to the Daily Princetonian by ICC president Jean-Carlos Arenas '16, the six bicker clubs received 705 applications in total this year, a slight decrease from 716 applications last year.

NEWS | 02/07/2016

U. Professor arrested for an outstanding parking ticket

Myrial Holbrook

Imani Perry, theHughes-Rogers Professor of African American Studiesat the University, was arrested in the borough of Princeton for an outstanding parking ticket from three years ago on Saturday,according to Perry'sTwitter account. Perry wrote that the police allegedly refused to allow her to make a call before her arrest, conducted a body search on her and handcuffed her to a table at the station.She noted that although she was shaken by the incident, but that it has renewed her commitment to the struggle against racism and carcerality. Perry did not respond to requests for comment. The Princeton Police Department did not respond to requests for comment. Section 39:4-139.10 of title 39 of the 2013 New Jersey Revised Statutes state the penalties for failure to pay parking judgements include suspension of the driver’s license or the registration of the vehicle. Section 39:4-139.10a of the same statute states that if the court fails to issue a warrant for the arrest of an individual for parking violations or order a suspension of the individual’s driving privileges, the matter shall be dismissed and not reopened. Eddie S.

NEWS | 02/07/2016

Wilson Legacy Committee gathers diverse opinion from scholars

Marcia Brown

The University Board of Trustees’ Woodrow Wilson Legacy Committee solicited papers from nine scholars who are experts on the history of Woodrow Wilson, class of 1879, about his contributions and legacy in education and public service. The nine scholars are historians James Axtell, Kendrick Clements, Nathan Connolly, John Milton Cooper Jr.

NEWS | 02/07/2016

Cheng '16 looks back on her year in office

Katherine Oh

FormerUndergraduate Student GovernmentpresidentElla Cheng '16said that the past year in USG was highlighted by revision of the P/D/F reversal policy, efforts to spread awareness about financial aid andanalysis of studentneeds through the 'What Matters' survey. Cheng is a former staff writer for the Daily Princetonian. According to outgoingacademics committee chair Ramie Fathy ’16, the USG academics committee pursued many projects driven by student interests, particularly administrative changestothe P/D/F policy. “When I came into the committee it was very different.

NEWS | 02/06/2016

Bicker ends, fewer bickerees across eating clubs

Katherine Oh

The number of bicker participants decreased this year compared to last year for multiple eating clubs, Cannon Dial Elm club president Ian McGeary '16 said. "Our total bicker number was lower and a lot of the other clubs saw that too," McGeary said. The decrease might be attributed to more upperclassmen choosing to be independent or on an upperclassmen meal plan, McGeary added. McGeary said that a total of 171 students bickered for Cannon this week, a decrease from 200 bickerees last year.

NEWS | 02/05/2016

U. receives record 29,313 applicants for Class of 2020

Christina Vosbikian

The Office of Admission has received and processed a record applicant pool of 29,313 applicants for the Class of 2020, the highest in the University's history, Dean of Admissions Janet Rapelye said.The applicant pool for the class of 2020 marks an increase of 7.4 percent from last year's pool of applicants, according to Rapelye.A total of 27,290 applications were received for the Class of 2019, of which1,908 students, or 6.99 percent, were admitted.The application numbers are yet to be analyzed for outstanding trends and specific metrics, Rapelye said.Rapelye added that the staff of the Office of Undergraduate Admissions is currently reading and evaluating applications for the Class of 2020.The number of applications has remained relatively constant since 2010, ranging between 26,000 and 27,000.

NEWS | 02/04/2016

Farah Amjad ’16 and Clarissa Kimmey ’16 awarded ReachOut fellowships

Andie Ayala

Farah Amjad ’16 and Clarissa Kimmey ’16 were awarded the 2016 fellowships from 56-81-06 ReachOut Domestic and International Fellowships.

NEWS | 02/04/2016

Frank Newport of Gallup discusses public opinion polls, voter priorities

Annie Yang

Despite the controversy behind Gallup's decision to move away frompolling leading up to the 2016 presidential elections, Editor-in-Chief of Gallup Frank Newport argued that polling is more than just election polling in a lecture Wednesday afternoon. In light of the 2016 state presidential primaries, Newport asserted that Gallup decided to move away from focusing on polling during this election cycle in order to focus on overall public opinion.Although Gallup is known for its role in developing horse-race polling, and has been one of the primary voices on election polling, in recent years ithas decided to focus on issues and voter priorities instead of forecasting election results. Newport is the editor-in-chief of Gallup and author of "Polling Matters—Why Leaders Must Listen to the Wisdom of the People." His analyses on the American public's views on elected officials and on public mood and behavior make regular appearances in his blog "Polling Matters." "What is the role of public opinion — beyond voting — as a measurement?" he asked. Public opinion is manifested in the vote and is essentially channeled through elections, he said.

NEWS | 02/04/2016

Q&A: Frank Newport, Editor-in-Chief of Gallup

Christopher Umanzor

Frank Newport is the Editor-in-Chief of Gallup, a management consulting company known for its influential public opinion polls, and author of "Polling Matters: Why Leaders Must Listen to the Wisdom of the People."He sat down with The Daily Princetonian before a lecture Thursday to talk about the importance of polling in politics, the role of Gallup in the 2016 election and where his love of polling comes from.Daily Princetonian: What are some of the important changes in political polling since you've become Editor-in-Chief of the Gallup? Frank Newport: The biggest change probably methodologically is the increasing use of cell phones in each sample which we did not have when I started in 1990, we were using the all land-line interviews so we continually changed our methodology.

NEWS | 02/04/2016

Former U. professor resigns from teaching position following allegations of sexual misconduct

Caroline Lippman

Former molecular biology professor Jason Lieb resigned in January from his position as a Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of Chicago after allegations of sexual misconduct. Lieb, who joined the University’s faculty in July 2013 and served as the director of the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, resigned from the University seven months later in February 2014. The reasons for his resignation were unspecified at the time.

NEWS | 02/03/2016

U. dietitian Mirota seeks to inspire healthy eating habits on campus

Abhiram Karuppur

Campus Wellness Dietitian Melissa Mirota seeks to help the University community make healthy diet choices as a food consultant across dining halls.Since she joined the University’s campus dining staff in 2014, Mirota has worked with the dining staff to develop menus and has been in charge with activity tables and food allergy programs.“She thinks about how might the food program nourish our campus community to be their healthy best both on and off campus,”Executive Director of Campus Dining Smitha Haneef said.Mirota’s job involves working with dining staff todesign and finalizecampus dining menus that adhere to the“Culinary Principles,” a criteria developed by the Culinary Institute of America and the Harvard School of Public Health to encourage healthy and sustainable eating.The principles recommend plant-derived foods, which are rich in nutrients and environmentally friendly, she explained. “The nutrition education that I do is based off of the culinary principles,” she explained.

NEWS | 02/03/2016

Campus Dining implements changes in Forbes Dining Hall following Food Waste Awareness Week

Maya Wesby

Changes have been implemented in the Forbes College Dining Hall to reduce the food waste following last December’s Food Waste Awareness Week. The Food Waste Awareness Week initiative took place between Dec.

NEWS | 02/03/2016

Student-produced show Princeton Tonight to debut in February

Christopher Umanzor

Several Princeton students will be launching a student-produced television show, titled‘Princeton Tonight,’ in late February.The show will feature guests in a talk show style format and will be programmed forthe University’s local cable channels, available in New Jersey on Comcast and Verizon networks.“Princeton Tonight is Princeton University’s first completely student-run broadcast television program,” showrunnerJordan Salama’19said.

NEWS | 02/03/2016

Thinking about Names and Classics

Erica Choi

As a Classics major here at Princeton, at times I have wondered whether my education has given me a limited or narrow worldview.

NEWS | 02/03/2016

U. strategic planning framework includes student body expansion, transfer admission program reinstitution

Zaynab Zaman

The University announced its strategic planning framework, recently adopted by its Board of Trustees, on Tuesday. The framework will focus on the University's commitment to research and the liberal arts, with an emphasis on diversity and inclusivity, affordability and service, and includes plans to accept transfer students, expand student body and create a seventh residential college. “The vision that is expressed in the strategic framework document is one that I own wholeheartedly and am delighted to have the Trustees putting forward,” University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 Eisgruber said. The framework identifies the University’s strategic priorities, such as expanding the student body and developing new facilities to better support engineering and environmental studies.In light of the University's mission as a residential liberal arts research university, priorities such as expanding the Graduate School are also being considered. Among other plans, the report states that the University will institute a small transfer admissions program for the first time since 1990, in order to attract students of diverse backgrounds, including military veterans and low-income students who may have begun their post-secondary careers in community colleges.

NEWS | 02/02/2016

Butler's iSpace seeks to encourage innovative ideas

Samvida Venkatesh

The new Butler College Innovation Space, or iSpace, aims to be a hub for budding entrepreneurs, Butler College Director of Studies Matthew Lazen said. The iSpace is located in the basement of Wu Hall and was officially inaugurated last November. The walls of the space are covered with whiteboards, and the movable tables can also be written on with dry-erase markers so that spontaneous ideas can be jotted down, according to John Danner, a lecturer in the Department of Electrical Engineering who was involved during construction process.

NEWS | 02/02/2016

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