News

Alum finds stardom in a soap opera

For Princeton students, a career in law is a common ambition. But Vail Bloom '04 skipped the LSAT and found her way into a different kind of courtroom role: She plays assistant district attorney Heather Stevens on the CBS soap opera "The Young and the Restless."Bloom, who obtained a degree in architecture and was a member of diSiac Dance Company during her time at the University, became a campus celebrity her senior year when she won third place in Maxim Magazine's Hometown Hotties contest. Though she was shocked by the racy nature of her first photos, the publicity helped launch her acting career.

No changes will be made to the academic calendar

After two years of debate, the University has decided to leave the academic calendar alone.The Committee on the Course of Study had considered revising the academic calendar, by lengthening each semester by a week and altering break times to allow for a week's vacation during Thanksgiving.But neither students nor faculty could come to an agreement on how to change the calendar.

Three seniors win Rhodes scholarship

Sherif Girgis, Brett Masters and Landis Stankievech are among this year's winners of Rhodes Scholarships.

Early admission numbers jump at peer institutions

The end of early admissions this year at Princeton, Harvard and the University of Virginia has coincided with explosive growth in the number of early applications received by other elite institutions across the country this fall.Among the Ivies, Yale saw the most dramatic jump in applications, with a 36 percent increase in Early Action numbers to 4,820, up from 3,541 last year.

RCAs and alcohol discussed by USG

The USG Senate discussed the University's revised alcohol policy for the first time at a public meeting last night.

That's hot!

Korean American, Vietnamese, South Asian, and Asian American Student Associations cosponsored a study break featuring spicy Asian cuisine.

Home is where the University is

When most students think about their professors, they picture them waxing eloquent in the lecture hall or presiding over a precept.Faculty who arrive at the University, however, face a difficult choice when planning their outside-the-office hours: where to live in relation to campus.Many students say they appreciate it when faculty dwell close to the University, valuing the social and academic intimacy that's possible when they run into their professors at Starbucks or walking down Nassau Street.For professors, however, the choice of where to make their home can be fraught with complexities, including the high cost of living in the Princeton area, family connections to other locations and fear that they won't keep their jobs long enough to make it worth uprooting to a college town.Anthropology professor Janet Monge, who lives in Philadelphia, said that even with good starting salaries, the price of residing close to campus is "formidable," particularly for younger faculty members.

Manning the Helm of TigerNet discussions

Anyone who has subscribed to a TigerNet discussion group has probably heard of Harold Helm '68. It's natural to wonder why this infamous alumnus constantly bombards inboxes with verbose missives.

Students observe National Transgender Day of Remembrance

Students and local residents remembered victims of murders motivated by anti-transgender hatred during a service in the University Chapel yesterday evening.The event was part of the National Transgender Day of Remembrance, a tradition started nine years ago to honor Rita Hester, a transgender woman from Boston murdered on Nov.

Cars, K'NEX and clocks

Though mechanical and aerospace engineering (MAE) usually evokes images of complex equations and high-tech robotics, some more down-to-earth items adorn MAE professor Michael Littman's office: radios from the 1920s and World War II, a clock from a clock tower, motors, a phonograph and an antique payphone.Littman, who has taught at the University since 1979, is well-known around campus for his passion for contraptions.

Hitting the campaign trail

For most Princeton students, Nov. 4, 2008, is just another date on next year's calendar. But for Libby Hutton '09, it will mark the culmination of months of work trying to influence the course of U.S.

New bill to restrict downloads

The long process of reauthorizing the Higher Education Act came closer to completion yesterday when the House Committee on Education and Labor unanimously approved a version of the bill that could soon be voted on by the whole House, possibly in December.The act expired at the end of 2006 and, after a year of hearings and debates, seems close to being renewed.

BAC to the future

The Black Arts Company presented its fall dance show, "True Hollywood Story," yesterday evening at Theatre Intime.

Report: U. lags on Latino issues

The Latino Coalition held a packed forum yesterday in Robertson Hall to discuss ways to combat the perceived underrepresentation and fragmentation of Latinos in the University community.A report released in September by the coalition ? which includes the Chicano Caucus, Accion Latina, Cuban-American Undergraduate Student Association and the Latino Graduate Students' Association ? called for increased academic offerings in Latino studies, including a dedicated program or major.Oscar Castro '09 said that the seven other Ivies have Latino studies programs or departments, with all except for one offering a major in the program.

Alums tell a striking story

As a writer for "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," Rob Kutner '94 works feverishly every day to pump out wisecracks about the latest current events.

Chinese teachers journey from PiB to Princeton

When she was a young girl, Zheng Qu dreamed of traveling the world. Coming from a working-class family in Northeast China, however, Qu did not have the option of globetrotting.She didn't know it then, but her childhood in Shenyang, the capital city of China's Liaoning province ? specifically, the language she learned to speak growing up ? would be her passport to venturing far from home as an adult.Qu, who is in her 20s and has degrees in history, linguistics and Chinese language and literature from Beijing Normal University (BNU), was able to visit the United States for the first time when she got a job as a Chinese language lecturer at Princeton.

A performance of willpower

Inaction in Darfur related to racism, speaker says

Human rights advocate Michael Simmons spoke out against the racism that permeates popular culture and everyday life yesterday to a diverse audience in Aaron Burr Hall."Racism," he said, "is more alive than ever before."Simmons, a community organizing consultant who also works with the American Friends Service Committee and the Budapest-based Raday Salon, was active with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the late 1960s and focused his talk on racism in the United States.He discussed the effects of racism on U.S.

Frist '74 reflects on years in Senate

In his first major address at the University since leaving the Senate, former majority leader William Frist '74 (R-Tenn.) talked about his experiences in medicine and politics to a crowd in Robertson Hall last night.Frist began his talk by discussing his much-touted dualism as both a surgeon and senator.

Forbes to downsize Gatsby gala

Forbes College will raise money for charity during a "Great Gatsby"-themed party this spring and cut the event's cost, after plans for the extravagant bash ? initially given a $20,000 budget ? drew criticism that Forbes should put its money to better use."A lot of people were concerned that we were wasting money, throwing money away," said Roscoe Cafaro '09, who heads the planning committee for the event.