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PriCom to alter budget to offset aid

PriCom to alter budget to offset aid

The University will slow the rate of employee salary increases, postpone construction projects and carefully evaluate spending proposals such as one to upgrade equipment in Stephens Fitness Center in light of the volatile economic circumstances, Provost Christopher Eisgruber ?83 explained Monday night at the annual public meeting of the Priorities Committee (PriCom).Construction projects that are ?nearly complete,? such as the new Butler College and the new chemistry building, will not be postponed, Eisgruber said in an interview after the meeting.When asked about delaying the development of the Arts and Transit Neighborhood, a part of the University?s 10-year Campus Plan, Eisgruber said that the University ?ha[s] to look right now at every project.? The neighborhood, which will transform the southwestern corner of campus, was estimated in 2006 to carry a price tag of more than $300 million.The University is aiming to finalize its decision on which projects will be postponed by the end of the term, Eisgruber added.Eisgruber is the chair of PriCom, a standing committee of the Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC) that makes budget recommendations to the University president, who in turn offers a final budget to the Board of Trustees for approval.

NEWS | 11/17/2008

Chemists: Proteins may guide evolution

University researchers have discovered a molecular mechanism that may play a determining role in an organism?s evolution, according to a recent study that examined the evolution of proteins in the electron transport chain (ETC).?What we have found is that certain kinds of biological structures exist that are able to steer the process of evolution toward improved fitness,? chemistry professor Herschel Rabitz said in a University statement.

NEWS | 11/17/2008

University debuts TigerPay billing system

The University will transition to an online billing and payment system for tuition and student-account charges this winter, University bursar Maria Bizzarri said on Monday.

NEWS | 11/17/2008

Walzer, Kristol discuss Jewish political trends

In a lecture titled ?Should Jews Be Democrats or Republicans?? both participants declined to answer the question.But the two speakers ? William Kristol, the founder of the political magazine The Weekly Standard and a columnist for The New York Times, and Michael Walzer, a political philosopher and a professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study ? did share their views on Jewish political thought, with Walzer approaching the subject from a historical perspective and Kristol tackling Jewish Americans? foreign policy concerns.?The near left is where Jews should put themselves, [it] is where they belong,? Walzer said, noting that Jews have historically aligned with the political left as a result of having experienced hostility and persecution.?Self-knowledge as well as self-interest led us to defend ? civil rights and religious toleration,? Walzer said, adding that the Jews are ?probably the strongest supporters of a liberal, open society.?He noted that 78 percent of the Jewish community voted for President-elect Barack Obama.Walzer cited the history of Jewish immigration to America to explain Jewish support for the welfare state in spite of their material interests.In 1652, Jews migrated from Brazil to New Amsterdam ? as New York was known before British rule ? where they promised the colonial governor that they would care for their own poor, he said.

NEWS | 11/17/2008

Krugman: Bailout plan troublesome

NEW YORK, Nov. 13

NEWS | 11/16/2008

USG attempts to move forward with library plans

The USG is continuing its efforts to extend Firestone hours, USG president Josh Weinstein ?09 said at last night?s USG Senate meeting.

NEWS | 11/16/2008

Back from Afghanistan

A year after being appointed assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs, James Shinn ?73 is leaving Washington, D.C., to return to his alma mater as a professor.?It?s time,? he said in an interview in Robertson Hall last Wednesday, two days before he officially left the Pentagon job, which involved direct coverage of Afghanistan.Shinn spent the last five years in Washington.

NEWS | 11/16/2008

Panelists look ahead to Obama’s presidency

Though the three panelists at the Law and Public Affairs (LAPA) discussion on Friday about the 2008 election were involved in President-elect Barack Obama?s campaign, there was little self-congratulation during the discussion.On the panel, called ?Presidential Elections and the Law of Democracy? and held in Robertson Bowl 16, were Seton Hall Law School professor Mark Alexander, who was a senior adviser to Obama, and New York University School of Law professors Samuel Issacharoff and Richard Pildes ?79, who co-authored the acclaimed casebook ?The Law of Democracy.?The panelists discussed their roles in the election as well as problems with the election process.

NEWS | 11/16/2008

Attorney alums are fearful for the future

The recent collapse of two major West Coast law firms and a series of layoffs at firms nationwide have left many lawyers wondering whether their industry will be next to suffer as clients reduce legal counsel expenditures in the face of a struggling economy.On Nov.

NEWS | 11/16/2008

Economy stalls ‘science park’

The University has delayed the sale of a tract of land on Route 1 in South Brunswick to a local real estate developer that had planned to build an office park there intended for scientific research.Eastern Properties, a real estate company based in Cranbury, has decided to move forward with the construction of the complex at a slower pace because of difficult economic circumstances, Princeton Forrestal Center director David Knights said.The planned development, called Science Park at Princeton Forrestal, will be located on the west side of Route 1, north of the Forrestal Village shopping and office complex.The souring national economy has played a major role in the delay, Knights explained, adding that the University does not intend to sell the land to Eastern Properties until the company appears ready to develop it.?We never sell any land until the developer has everything lined up,? Knights said.Princeton Forrestal Center, a branch of the University that manages and develops land along a stretch of Route 1 southeast of the main campus, purchased the land that Eastern Properties plans to develop in 1986, Knights said.Eastern Properties president Joseph Stern and his son and partner, Zev Stern, declined to comment, citing a policy of not speaking to the media.South Brunswick Mayor Frank Gamabatese said in an interview with The Newark Star-Ledger that a development plan approved by South Brunswick Township requires the University to begin development of the property by December 2009.Gambatese explained that the proposed development would generate $5 million annually in property taxes for South Brunswick.While Knights expressed confidence that Eastern Properties would eventually follow through on the development, he cited expensive credit and a cautious business atmosphere as reasons for postponing construction.?They?re a father and son team.

NEWS | 11/13/2008

Vanity Fair editor: GOP exploits media

Even as the field of journalism faces financial difficulty and accusations of bias in its political reporting, Todd Purdum ?82, the national editor and political correspondent of Vanity Fair, argued for its continuing significance Thursday afternoon in a lecture in McCormick Hall.Purdum described his experience as a magazine writer in this election as watching events unfold ?from a middle distance perspective, between ?this just in? and ?this is history.??His position has given Purdum a unique perspective on the campaign, the candidates and the overall role of the media.?I have come to believe that Republicans are just better at exploiting the so-called mainstream media,? Purdum said.

NEWS | 11/13/2008

University Art Museum chooses curator

Despite his notable contributions to the University Art Museum over the past three years, Bryan Just didn?t expect his recent promotion to the position of curator and lecturer in the art of ancient Americas.?It was a pleasant surprise, actually,? Just said.Rebecca Sender, current acting director of the Art Museum, said in a University statement that she is ?delighted? to announce Just?s appointment.?Bryan?s passion for objects and for teaching is infectious,? Sender said.

NEWS | 11/13/2008

Why is it so hard to wreck a nice beach?

I discovered last week that I can read my columns in German, courtesy of German Google and its automated translator.

NEWS | 11/13/2008

Octogenarian alum gives it all to Grosse

President-elect Barack Obama?s promises of change may have won him the election over Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), but older, experienced conservatives have not lost their foothold everywhere in America.Palmer Heenan ?43, the 86-year-old Republican mayor of Grosse Pointe Park, Mich., has served 13 consecutive two-year terms in office and said he plans to keep on going ?as long as the people want me, as long as my health is good and as long as I can recruit people to work.?And it seems like he may do just that.

NEWS | 11/13/2008

Tiger could be Obama’s chief techology guru

News outlets and political blogs have placed three Princetonians on the shortlist to be the nation?s first chief technology officer (CTO), a new cabinet-level position to guide federal technology policy and implementation in President-elect Barack Obama?s administration.Amazon.com CEO Jeffrey Bezos ?86, Google CEO Eric Schmidt ?76 and computer science professor Ed Felten have all been floated as possible CTOs for the BlackBerry-carrying Obama, whose campaign?s success was bolstered by online fundraising and social networking and who has been lauded as the most technologically aware president ever elected.Other candidates floated include Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Google Vice President Vint Cerf, Stanford Center for the Internet and Society founder Lawrence Lessig and Obama?s former Harvard Law School classmate and campaign adviser Julius Genachowski.Schmidt, who just finished his tenure as a University trustee this year, is currently serving on Obama?s transition advisory board and has already been in contact with Jason Furman, Obama?s policy director, to petition for the creation of jobs in the alternative energy sector, according to The Wall Street Journal.But Schmidt, who could not been reached for comment for this article, has said numerous times that he is not interested in leaving Silicon Valley for Washington, D.C.?I love working at Google, and I?m happy at Google, so the answer is no,? he said in an interview on CNBC last week when asked whether he would like to become the nation?s first CTO.Bezos could also not be reached for comment.Felten told BusinessWeek last month that Obama?s team had not approached him about potential involvement in the new administration, but he told The Daily Princetonian in an interview this week that he does find the new position appealing.?I think a position like this is hard to say no to on some level,? he said.

NEWS | 11/13/2008

Billington ’50 awarded engineering’s top honor

Civil and environmental engineering professor David Billington ?50 was awarded the highest honor in the engineering industry, the Distinguished Award of Merit from the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) this week.Billington, the Gordon Wu Professor of Engineering, has taught at the University for 47 years.

NEWS | 11/13/2008

Borough approves contract with NJ Transit

The Princeton Borough Council approved a contract with New Jersey Transit on Wednesday for the Free B Shuttle service, despite controversy among Borough administrators regarding the project?s implementation.The shuttle service, which provides transportation from locations in the Borough to the Dinky Station, has been in operation since last spring and has been partially funded by the University. With last night?s approval, NJ Transit will donate a shuttle and provide funding for half of the operating expense of the shuttle over three years, up to $60,000.The plan is ?tentatively agreed to? apart from drug and alcohol testing standards for the vehicle?s driver, Borough Administrator Robert Bruschi said at the meeting.Though the plan has gone forward for now, councilmen David Goldfarb and Andrew Koontz noted their concern about the cost-effectiveness of the service.?The total cost of the service is roughly the cost of providing everyone who is riding it with a free taxi from their house to the Dinky,? Goldfarb said.Koontz voiced concern over ridership levels, noting that the shuttle currently averages fewer than two people per circuit and that Americans tend to be suspicious of free transportation.Bruschi opposed charging for the shuttle, explaining that if it were not free, it would be required to conform to commercial driving regulations that currently do not apply.Councilwoman Margaret Karcher supported Bruschi, citing successful free shuttle services at Colorado ski resorts.But Goldfarb also faulted the Free B system for what he said was confusing advertising.The advertisements for the shuttle do not note that the vehicle only goes in one direction along its circuit, he said.?It was never clear to me how you were supposed to get from point A to point B,? he noted.Goldfarb also questioned the clarity of published graphics describing the proposal.?The written description that we have written up here in 10 lines is a much better description than any of the graphics we have,? he said.Bruschi disagreed with Goldfarb?s assessment.

NEWS | 11/12/2008

Township mayor to retire after 13 years in office

After serving 22 years on the Princeton Township Committee, including 13 years as mayor, Phyllis Marchand is stepping down.?It?s been wonderful, very hectic,? Marchand said, ?and I think now is the time for me to slow down a bit, maybe audit some courses at Princeton University ... it?s time for a younger generation to take over.?During her tenure as mayor, the Township saw significant building changes, including the building of a new hospital for the University Medical Center at Princeton and the construction of more affordable housing units.Marchand also pointed to the new municipal building as a positive development.

NEWS | 11/12/2008

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