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News & Notes: MCAT to undergo first revision since 1991

News & Notes: MCAT to undergo first revision since 1991

The gatekeeper of medical school, the MCAT, is scheduled to undergo its first substantial revision since 1991, according to a report by Inside Higher Ed. In 2015 two new sections will be added to the exam, one in the social sciences and one in critical thinking. While the writing section will be dropped, total exam time will increase from 5.5 to 7 hours. The changes will be some of the largest the exam has seen since its introduction in 1928.

NEWS | 02/27/2012

4 out of 5 sophomores indicate interest in joining eating clubs

As many as 1,113 members of the Class of 2014 bickered or signed into an eating club this academic year, which indicates that roughly four in five sophomores demonstrated interest in joining a club.

NEWS | 02/27/2012

U. trails peers in veteran numbers

When history professor Paul Miles GS ’99 spoke with Andrew Theen of Bloomberg News for a Feb. 15 article on veteran enrollment at Ivy League schools, he said he was not aware of the striking statistics the article would reveal: Only four veterans are enrolled at the University.Miles, a retired colonel who served in the Vietnam War and currently teaches HIS 411: War and Society in the Modern World, told Theen that although the University was a welcoming place for veterans, the school was not going out of its way to recruit them.

NEWS | 02/27/2012

Jackson GS ’86 advocates greater role for women in science

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson GS ’86 spoke Saturday about her experiences as a female scientist and her hopes for a greater proportion of women in the field.

NEWS | 02/26/2012

For FBI director, values instilled by Princeton crucial to success

FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III ’66 spoke about the importance of the values he developed during his time at the University to a full audience in Richardson Auditorium on Saturday. His talk, titled “Leadership, Humility and Service: The Princeton Tradition,” was one of the numerous events scheduled throughout the day as part of the University’s annual Alumni Day program.Mueller was awarded the prestigious Woodrow Wilson Award on Saturday, which recognizes an individual alumnus’ commitment to public service. Though Mueller said that a friend at a dinner party once joked that it was “the award given to those who cannot make it in the private sector,” Mueller emphasized that he was honored to receive it.

NEWS | 02/26/2012

USG discusses new social events calendar app

The USG discussed on Sunday night a new social events calendar application, the progress of the gender-neutral housing program and potentially moving the election of the social chair to the fall.President Bruce Easop ’13 began the meeting by discussing the USG’s “Mental Health Week,” which is set to begin Monday.

NEWS | 02/26/2012

Former students flock to campus

While alumni make a well-publicized takeover of campus each spring for Reunions week, every February since 1915 a smaller number have returned for Alumni Day for a more intimate view of the campus. This Saturday roughly 1,100 alumni, their families and guests attended a series of lectures and receptions for one focused day of alumni activities amid the general bustle of campus life.

NEWS | 02/26/2012

Students extol virtues of off-campus housing

While many Princeton students consider Forbes the most secluded residential area on campus, students who live off-campus also claim that it’s worth the walk, and, in some cases, the drive.While these students spend a lot of their time around campus during the day, after class, they retreat to various living spaces that are often very different from a typical college dorm.

NEWS | 02/26/2012

News & Notes: Penn Switches to Gmail

The University of Pennsylvania’s School of Arts and Sciences will switch from Microsoft Windows Live Hotmail to Gmail this summer, The Daily Pennsylvanian reported last week. The school’s computing department made the decision after learning that over 50 percent of Penn students forward their Hotmail emails to their personal Gmail accounts.

NEWS | 02/26/2012

Raised on the Street

For most of her time at Princeton High School, Elektra Alivisatos ’14 had little interaction with the University social scene on Prospect Avenue. The one time she tried to enter Terrace Club with her friends her senior year, she ended up in the basement of Campus Club instead.

NEWS | 02/23/2012

Virus linked to restaurants

Local health officials assessed Thursday that the norovirus that has infected more than 261 University students originated “in the community,” possibly at a local restaurant.David Henry, the Princeton Borough health officer, said the Borough “has not identified any particular restaurant.” Henry noted that cases of gastroenteritis began to appear during the University’s Intersession break, when many students eat off campus. He added, though, that finding a specific source of an outbreak is “very rare.”

NEWS | 02/23/2012

News & Notes: 41 seniors run for Young Alumni Trustee

Fourty-one seniors are running for the Class of 2012 Young Alumni Trustee, the largest number of candidates since the University began keeping records of the YAT elections in 1999. The Young Alumni Trustee is elected annually from the senior class to serve a four-year term on the Board of Trustees.

NEWS | 02/23/2012

Startup programs launched for students

Two new summer entrepreneurship accelerator programs have launched in the past few weeks, providing select students with an opportunity to collaboratively develop their startup ideas.

NEWS | 02/23/2012

Planned development of graduate student housing to include 9-acre Merwick site

The University submitted site plans to the Regional Planning Board of Princeton last week for new residential housing north of campus. The University plans to develop the 16-acre Stanworth Apartments site, with its 23 buildings built in the 1940s, and the adjacent nine-acre Merwick site as part of its Housing Master Plan to increase faculty, staff and graduate student housing by 2016.

NEWS | 02/23/2012

Aspire Campaign raises $1.64 billion

The University’s Aspire Campaign is well on track to completion, University officials said, having raised $1.64 billion — or 94 percent — of the $1.75 billion the campaign is slated to raise by this June.

NEWS | 02/23/2012

Greek life committee to delay report

The group charged with determining how to implement the University’s policy banning freshman rush will not issue its recommendations until after midterms, according to committee chair and Dean of Undergraduate Students Kathleen Deignan.

NEWS | 02/22/2012

Gender-neutral housing expands to 278 spots

Gender-neutral housing for upperclassmen has been expanded for the upcoming academic year, with a total of 278 beds in the Spelman, Scully, 1901-Laughlin and Foulke dormitories included in the revised program.

NEWS | 02/22/2012

Firestone to replace carrels

For seniors and graduate students majoring in the humanities and social sciences, an iconic piece of the Princeton experience is soon to disappear. In light of the increasingly low rate of carrel use, Firestone Library is replacing its 500 metal carrels with newer ones as part of the building’s eight-year renovation plan.

NEWS | 02/22/2012

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