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New six-course science program planned for next year's freshmen

New six-course science program planned for next year's freshmen

Next year's freshmen will have a chance to experience the genomics center's integrative approach to science through a six-course, five-department experimental sequence.The intensive program, which will combine material from first-year biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics and physics, will provide an alternative to the current prerequisites for any of the five departments.Students will take two courses each semester of their freshman year, followed by one course each semester of their sophomore year.

NEWS | 11/20/2003

New York protest draws Chinese grad students

At a recent appearance in New York City by Taiwan's president Chen Shui-bian, five Princeton graduate students joined hundreds of other students from China to protest against Taiwan ? considered a rogue province by China's government.But many of the students were also there because of a $25 financial incentive provided by a student organization ? the Association for Chinese Scholars and Students.East Asian Studies professor Perry Link said the ACSS is commonly recognized as "government sponsored."Representatives in New York's Chinese consulate education department denied a "direct connection" with the ACSS.Founded in the 1980s, there are dozens of ACSS chapters at universities across the country, including Princeton.

NEWS | 11/20/2003

Whitman project goes over budget

Now surpassing its original budget, the construction of Whitman College will cost the University a projected $110 million.

NEWS | 11/20/2003

Scientists develop new organic digital storage devices

Princeton researchers have proven that inorganic storage devices are so dead.In a paper published last week in the journal Nature, a group of scientists, including two Princeton researchers, described a new technology that could lead to a new inexpensive and effective way of storing digital data."The field it would play would be digital cameras, like flash [cards]," said Sven Moller, coauthor of the paper and a former postdoctoral researcher at Princeton.The technology is based on a newly discovered property of PEDOT, a common polymer plastic that has long been used as a coating on photographic film, according to the University press release on the research.The researchers found that although PEDOT is normally conductive, when subjected to large currents the polymer blows like a fuse and loses its conductivity.At the lowest level, all digital information is stored as a series of ones and zeros.

NEWS | 11/19/2003

University weighs expansion options

More than two years after the University purchased 90 acres of land across Route 1, the administration has yet to develop a longterm plan for its use.

NEWS | 11/19/2003

USG creates committee to review residential advising programs

The USG has established the Residential Advising Review and Recommendation Committee to review the current status and objectives of the advising programs and examining the effectiveness of the programs, said USG Undergraduate Life chair William Robinson '04, who chartered the committee.A primary focus of the committee is how well the advising programs serve minority students and promote an inclusive, diverse community, Robinson said.

NEWS | 11/19/2003

Squirrel population thinned by on-campus obstacles

Though the campus' thousands of squirrels enjoy the grounds' acorns and food throwaways, these unofficial mascots of the University face many unfortunate, fatal hazards.Bicycles, cars, and golf carts whizzing by, hawks circling above and massive trees from which to fall all provide for a grim responsibility of University groundskeepers: disposing of squirrel remains.Hundreds die on campus every year."My guess is somewhere around twice a week," Grounds Manager Jim Consolloy said of the frequency with which his staff finds a deceased squirrel.

NEWS | 11/19/2003

New campaign aimed at combating eating disorders

Jessica Brondo '04, the Women's Issue Liaison for the Undergraduate Life Committee, has made several proposals to University health education and women's groups to raise eating disorder awareness on campus.According to "Focus on Women," the USG Committee on Women's Issues 2001 report, eating disorders are prevalent at the University."It has also been estimated that 10-25 percent of Princeton women have eating disorders, although forty percent of women surveyed believed that estimate to be too low," the report states.In addition, the report suggests such behaviors may be a result from the especially high-pressured campus environment.Brondo said she has three new initiatives in mind to treat individuals currently suffering from eating disorders and to prevent future cases.

NEWS | 11/19/2003

Diplomat covers EU-U.S. crises

Foreign Minister of Germany Joschka Fischer discussed yesterday American-European relations and the need for the two countries to work together toward the destruction of totalitarian institutions."America and Europe can master the crises of the 21st century, only if we work together," he said.Wilson School dean Anne-Marie Slaughter '80 and professor Wolfgang Danspeckgruber of the Liechtenstein Institute for Self-Determination introduced Fischer, who, in addition to serving as foreign minister under Gerhard Schroeder, is the vice-chancellor of Germany.Fischer is "the quintessential foreign policy maker of Europe today," Danspeckgruber said.Fischer identified three qualifications for better trans-Atlantic relations and security.First, he said, the European Union and the United States should remain "unconditional to our fundamental values" such as democracy, free markets, and freedom.In addition, the two powers should respect international values and shared values in lieu of force, Fischer said.Finally, he said, political deterrence is necessary to destroy totalitarian organizations like al Qaeda. The EU's potentialFischer spoke of the tremendous potential of the EU in global economic and political situations.

NEWS | 11/19/2003

Scholar discusses role of competing clerics in Iraq

A successful Iraqi democracy will in large part depend on which Islamic Shi'ite leader garners the most support in the coming months, said the eminent Islamic scholar Roy Mottahedeh in a lecture last night.Comprising nearly 60 percent of the Iraqi population, the Shi'ite community is not unified in support of any religious cleric.In southern Iraq, where the Shi'ite community is most concentrated, Ayatollah Ali Sistani seems to have the most support among the more liberal, educated, and middle-class Shi'ites.

NEWS | 11/18/2003

Baine '71 explores legal limitations on press freedom

"Would the press leak a classified plan to track down Saddam Hussein? What about a memo indicating that the top Defense official does not believe Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction?"Kevin Baine '71, a lawyer who devotes much of his practice to First Amendment and media litigation, posed these questions yesterday in Robertson Hall in the third lecture of the series, "Secrecy, Security, and Self-Government."Sponsored by the Wilson School and the Program in Law and Public Affairs, Baine's lecture centered on the legal boundaries of unauthorized disclosure in the press."The fact that there is uncertainty among legal boundaries for leaking secrets is not a bad thing," Baine said.

NEWS | 11/18/2003

Nye, Shapiro win top alumni honors

Joseph Nye '58, dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and University president emeritus Harold Shapiro GS '64 will be honored by the University on Alumni Day next February for their professional accomplishments.On Feb.

NEWS | 11/18/2003

Two years in Brazil bring new perspective

Before Josh Probst '06 even arrived at Princeton as a freshman in the fall of 2000, he knew he would not be coming back the following year.Probst, originally a member of the Class of 2004, has spent the past two years fulfilling a promise he made to himself a long time ago: to voluntarily spend a portion of his life in the service of his church, acting as a missionary in the developing world."I really feel that I owe so much to God . . . [Taking] two years of my life [to be a missionary] wouldn't be really sacrificing anything but gaining something," Probst said.After completing his freshman year at the University, Probst set out to spread the gospel ? one of approximately 60,000 missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. A new way of lifeProbst's assignment to the LDS Church's mission in Brazil meant he would have to learn Portuguese, the nation's official language.He and his fellow young missionaries ? most of whom were under the age of 25 ? underwent two months of training in S

NEWS | 11/18/2003

John Andrews '65: Study of Shakespeare provides life's work

It's surprising that John Andrews '65, who has edited editions of Shakespeare's plays and several scholarly journals, wasn't always a Bardophile.

NEWS | 11/17/2003

A different kind of grilling: Professors invited to lunch

As part of its increasing effort to improve intellectual life on campus, the undergraduate U-Council is dubbing this week ? Nov.

NEWS | 11/17/2003

Prague to Princeton, University to celebrate Czech food, cinema

A five-day festival celebrating Czech cinema and food will seek to educate the University community on what organizers see as a little-known but incredibly rich culture.Initiated by members of last year's freshman seminar titled "Prague, Vienna, and Cultures of Central Europe," the week began last night with a viewing of a documentary highlighting the seminar's trip to Czechoslovakia.Associate Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures Mirjam Fried and her seminar students realized the importance of gaining firsthand exposure to Czech culture last year when they journeyed to the country as part of their course work."The Festival became part of the planning for the trip itself," Fried said.

NEWS | 11/17/2003

O'Connor makes first visit to campus

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor praised the late Justice John Marshall Harlan '20 last night for the "legacy of respect" he built during 16 years on the nation's highest court ? years defined by a states' rights advocacy O'Connor has inherited.As an audience including Harlan's daughter, two federal judges and three New Jersey Supreme Court justices looked on in Richardson Auditorium, O'Connor highlighted the pragmatic aspects of her predecessor's record in the inaugural Harlan Lecture in Constitutional Adjudication of the Program in Law and Public Affairs."In his respect for tradition, the individual liberties of all people, the federal system of government, the separation of powers and the craft of constitutional adjudication itself, Justice Harlan is a model for all of us who have been given the delicate task of interpreting the Constitution," said O'Connor, the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court.At times, it was hard to escape the parallels between the judicial philosophies of Harlan and O'Connor.

NEWS | 11/17/2003

Increased African studies explored

Interest in the study of Africa ? both on campus and through study abroad ? has grown significantly in recent years, demonstrated by the University's increased funding of the African Studies program and the growth of faculty and student involvement in the area.By founding the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies, which provides added resources to the African Studies Program, the University demonstrated administrative interest through funding, program director Emmanuel Kreike said.The additional monetary support follows the steady increase in the number of faculty members in the African Studies program, which has grown from 12 in 1997 to 22 this year, Kreike said.The growth did not necessarily result from a centrally planned effort, Kreike added."Individual departments on their own added African specialists," he said.

NEWS | 11/17/2003

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