News

Sunstein: Federal judges prone to conformity

Federal judges are heavily influenced by the political ideology of other members of their court, renowned legal scholar and theorist Cass Sunstein told a full house in Dodds Auditorium last night when he delivered the Fourth Annual Bernstein Lecture in legal scholarship.Sunstein said his investigation of the phenomenon began five years ago when his research assistant, while searching through environmental law cases to see how judges appointed by Democratic presidents voted, noticed that Democratic appointees were ?more environmentally friendly? if they were with two other Democratic appointees but not than with one or two Republican appointees.Sunstein added that research into other types of cases yielded similar results.?There is a dramatic shift once Democratic appointees are sitting with two other Democratic appointees,? said Sunstein, the most-cited law professor in the country.

Visa regulations pose challenge

Applying to graduate school or finding a job is burdensome enough for most seniors, but international seniors and recent alumni are faced with an additional barrier: getting a visa.

Former dean retires from Northwestern presidency

Henry Bienen, former dean of the Wilson School, recently announced his decision to retire from his position as president of Northwestern University effective August 31, 2009, a position he has held since leaving Princeton in 1994.Bienen?s long relationship with Princeton began in 1966, when he took a position as an assistant politics professor.

Gingrich: Healthcare system is outdated

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich outlined his vision for healthcare policy to a packed audience in Dodds Auditorium yesterday, criticizing the current system and proposing strategies for its overhaul.Gingrich was invited to speak at the Wilson School by former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist ?74, who introduced his fellow Republican and reminded the audience that Gingrich had been a history professor before his election to the House of Representatives and was used to giving lectures.Gingrich began with a sweeping condemnation of the current healthcare system, bemoaning its inefficiencies.Specifically, he faulted the healthcare industry for being too slow to switch to efficient technologies.?In the average doctor?s office, when a UPS person walks in, they double the amount of technology in that office,? he said.While most businesses are moving toward computer records, government healthcare still relies on paper, Gingrich said.?Paper prescription leads to 8,000 people a year dying,? Gingrich said, adding that a hospital in Georgia switched to computer prescription entry and reduced medication error by 93 percent.?Why isn?t that the national standard?? he asked.Gingrich said that rather than replacing inefficient systems, the government is instead sinking more money into them.

Senator’s daughter recounts trauma after terrorist attack

One day in June 2003, Sarri Singer was sitting by the window on a bus in Jerusalem when a suicide bomber ended his life and changed hers.She felt ?two pieces of metal [that] hit ... hard against each other and vibrate back,? she told the audience of her lecture, titled ?Healing the Wounds of Terror,? last night in Robertson Hall.The pressure from the shockwave would not allow her to put her hands up to feel her face, she explained.Singer suffered from extensive injuries, including ruptured eardrums, cut-up legs, a broken collarbone and burnt hair and was left with a burned and bruised face.

Debenedetti named new SEAS vice dean

Pablo Debenedetti, Class of 1950 professor in engineering and applied science and acting chair of the department of chemical engineering, has been appointed to the newly created position of vice dean of engineering and applied science. The new position will unify the responsibilities of the associate dean for administration and the associate dean for academic affairs, said Vincent Poor GS ?77, dean of the engineering school.

Student artwork stolen

A Public Safety report filed Tuesday reported four student paintings and drawings stolen sometime in the past week from the Lewis Center for the Arts at 185 Nassau St.

Job conditions in dining halls drive away student workers

Forbesians call for new shuttle route

Whether hiking to Frist Campus Center or the E-Quad, Forbesians face a longer journey than most. The time-consuming walk, which can be especially difficult in freezing temperatures, prompted Waqas Jawaid ?10 to create saveforbes.com, an online petition asking for a shuttle stop at Forbes.The petition is addressed to University Services General Manager Paul Breitman and the USG and can be signed by students, faculty and staff.

Hughes Medical Institute offers summer science grants

Inspiration struck Tim Branigan ?10 when he was in seventh grade. ?I was watching a melodramatic movie in my science class about a historical depiction of how Watson and Crick discovered the structure of DNA,? he explained.

Acceptance rate drops to 9.25 percent

The University has admitted a record-low 9.25 percent of the 21,369 applicants who sought admission to the Class of 2012.

Panel examines international health crisis

Eminent leaders in various scientific fields shared their views on the partnership between academia and industry as well as the ways both the public and private sectors can promote global health at a symposium yesterday afternoon in Dodds Auditorium.Wilson School professor and former Sen.

Students win first Adam ’07 award

The state of Pennsylvania will be greeted with two creative minds from Princeton this summer.Halcyon Person ?10 and Samuel Zetumer ?09, the two winners of the newly established Alex Adam ?07 Award, will each be awarded up to $7,000 to complete a creative work this summer.

Marshall ’91 predicts digital media takeover

Josh Marshall ?91, creator of the center-left political blog Talking Points Memo (TPM), answered questions from history professor Anthony Grafton about his publication and the evolution of news from paper to the digital realm.Grafton introduced the site as a ?hybrid, the Prius of media organizations? that combines traditional reporting with opinion journalism and muckraking to make ?real interventions in politics.?Marshall said that TPM relies on its close communication with its relatively small readership, which provides constant, up-to-date, ?frontline intelligence? and allows the site to compete with other news organizations.The site admits to having a Democratic perspective, a quality that draws criticism from those concerned with ?straight? journalism.

Borough picks Wilkes '83 for open council post

At a meeting last night, the Borough Council unanimously chose Kevin Wilkes ?83 to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Councilwoman Wendy Benchley.

University explains failure to report STD diagnoses

The University responded to reports of McCosh Health Center?s failure to report statistics about the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) on campus to the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS), saying the lack of disclosure came about because McCosh officials believed that reporting of those illnesses by an outside diagnostic company complied with applicable state regulations.McCosh had actually been in violation of a 2003 state law that required reporting of STD cases by both diagnostic laboratories and healthcare providers.The issue was first raised in an article published in the March issue of The Princeton Tory and written by former Tory publisher Matt Schmitz ?08.

News and Notes

Harvard Management Company, which manages Harvard?s $34.9 billion endowment, has named a new president and chief executive.

Election of delegate to GSG invalidated

The Graduate Student Government (GSG) informed the Lawrence Committee last Thursday that the committee?s newly elected non-voting delegate to the GSG, Keren Leiby, was not eligible to serve in the position according to the GSG constitution.Leiby, a Center for Jewish Life administrator, was elected March 24.

Reflections on Goheen’s ‘cool leadership’

The late 1960s were not an easy time to be the president of the University. The war, and the efforts of some to stop it, fractured the Princeton community in a way that people can?t imagine today.

Goheen, Class of 1961 Launch New Careers

Monday, June 10, 1957