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A balancing act: Exerting influence in and out of academia

A balancing act: Exerting influence in and out of academia

John McPhee '53 could not stay away from Old Nassau forever. After graduating, he had established himself as a prolific nonfiction author of books and articles before accepting an invitation to serve as the University's Ferris Professor of Journalism in 1975.McPhee has maintained a dual identity of teacher and writer, striking a balance that other professors active in the world outside FitzRandolph Gate have found one way or another.Though he said in an interview that he still thinks of himself as a writer at heart and never harbored any other career goals prior to teaching here, he has been pleasantly surprised with the life of an educator.

NEWS | 04/23/2002

Muldoon resigns as CWR director

In his poem, "Why Brownlee left," creative writing professor Paul Muldoon writes, "Why Brownlee left, and where he went/Is a mystery even now./For if a man should have been content/It was him."Muldoon will step down as director of the University's creative writing program on July 1.

NEWS | 04/23/2002

Brand '02's thesis predicted Venezuelan government crisis

While many senior theses represent interesting and sometimes personal issues, most do not find themselves as headlines in the evening news.

NEWS | 04/23/2002

Buddhist monk helps meditation group to find inner peace on Thursday nights

Soothing music played from a portable MP3 player as lights were dimmed and shades drawn in the religion department lounge.

NEWS | 04/23/2002

Greek scene draws varied numbers, university responses at other Ivies

A recent increase in Greek life at the University has led the administration to take an introspective glance at the role of Greek life on campus.In attempting to identify the successes and failures of fraternities and sororities, University officials may need to look at Greek life beyond Fitzrandolph Gates.All schools in the Ivy League have experienced a tension similar to that of Princeton in balancing Greek life with other social outlets on campus.The number of students involved in Greek life at Brown and Columbia universities is on par with the percentage of University undergraduates participating in fraternities and sororities.Roughly 800 students participate in fraternities or sororities at Columbia, said sophomore Michael Lee, president of Sigma Nu fraternity at Columbia."The school owns most of the houses," Lee said, "and everyone seems to know at least one other person in each fraternity or sorority."Columbia's urban setting, however, offers a significant alternative to these instutions."The entire city is open for students to take advantage of," Lee said.

NEWS | 04/23/2002

Hargadon meets with USG Senate to discuss anti-intellectualism

Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Fred Hargadon discussed several issues during the Sunday USG Senate meeting.

NEWS | 04/22/2002

USG elections conclude; several races undecided

The results of USG spring elections for class officers and U-Council were announced yesterday after slightly more competitive races than usual for each office.The election also yielded a new USG social chair, Timothy Skerpon '03, who ran uncontested for the position.Overall voter turnout was 46 percent, or 2,111 votes.

NEWS | 04/22/2002

Sexual harassment show fosters discussion of workplace issues

The Cornell Interactive Theater Ensemble led a forum on sexual harassment for about 50 students, faculty and administrators Thursday in Woolworth Center.CITE, founded in 1992, is a professional acting company dedicated to fostering discussions about human issues in the workplace with a participating audience, according to the group's website."We thought theater would be a good way to draw people in and think critically about the issues," Sexual Health, Assault, Advising, Resources and Education coordinator Thema Bryant said in an e-mail.The presentation began with a two-person skit about a fictitious University department chair and another female employee who felt she had been sexually harassed by a tenured professor.The conflict in this presentation was clear, but the solution and analysis of who was at fault was uncertain.

NEWS | 04/22/2002

Campaign-less elections mark alumni appointments to the board of trustees

This month is election season for alumni positions on the University Board of Trustees. But there has been no campaigning, endorsements or any of the other features of a typical election.

NEWS | 04/22/2002

Abercrombie recalls T-shirts after protest

A controversial new line of Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirts, which bear stereotypical depictions of Asians, has sparked protest from Asian-American groups nationwide, including organizations on the University campus.The T-shirts which carry slogans such as "Wong Brothers Laundry Service: Two Wongs Can Make It White," were pulled from store shelves and the company's website Thursday after Abercrombie received a flood of complaints."Many people look at the T-shirts and think they're funny," said Jamie Chan '03, former president of the Asian-American Students Assoc-iation.

NEWS | 04/22/2002

Number of 'pink eye' infections rises, may be spreading to other universities

McCosh Health Center continues to see a higher number of conjunctivitis cases than normal, Health Services Director Pamela Bowen said.

NEWS | 04/22/2002

Young author Foer '99 illuminates his place in the literary world

In the words of Professor Gideon Rosen, one of author Jonathan Safran Foer '99's thesis advisors, "Foer was obviously a writer from the start."Foer's book "Everything is Illuminated" ? based on his creative writing senior thesis ? hit stores this month.

NEWS | 04/22/2002

GOP candidate withdraws from primary following investigation

Amid allegations of corruption and illegal campaign contributions, the leading Republican contender for New Jersey's Senate seat has dropped out of the primary race.James Treffinger ? whose campaign manager is Charlie Smith '86 ? withdrew four days after federal agents seized financial records from his office.

NEWS | 04/22/2002

Friends, family, colleagues gather to honor Tilghman's contributions to science

The contents of the program for a symposium titled "Exploring Genes to Genomes" would have excited any molecular biology enthusiast.

NEWS | 04/21/2002

Range of sources provides finances for campus construction

Seldom has there been so much discussion about campus construction. The University Board of Trustees on April 13 selected Porphyrios Associates ? run by architecture school alumnus Demetri Porphyrios GS '80 ? and Einhorn Yaffee Prescott to design Whitman College.Shortly after, undergraduates and graduates were making presentations of their designs for the University's sixth residential college at the Prospects2 competition held in the architecture school.Aside from these brief spurs of excitement, campus construction ? building new structures and renovating old ones ? is an on-going process.

NEWS | 04/21/2002

Harvard committee considers radical grading system changes

A report recommending Harvard College radically change its numerical grading scale and overhaul its honors system to combat grade inflation was debated in a closed meeting of the Committee on Undergraduate Education (CUE) yesterday.After months of debate and discussion among the faculty, the Educational Policy Committee (EPC) drafted the report based on the reviews of grading practices that each department had submitted in February.The recommendations ? which include possibly eliminating honors tracks in concentrations and adding statistical information to student transcripts ? will likely be discussed by the entire Faculty at a meeting in May.Dean of Undergraduate Education Susan Pedersen called the proposal a "draft" last night.The recommendations include reducing the current 15-point grading scale to an eight-point scale, with equal numerical differences between each grade.

NEWS | 04/21/2002

Online voting errors complicate elections

The spring USG elections were complicated by two errors on the voting website this weekend that temporarily omitted a candidate's statement and picture and left some candidates off the ballot.For a short period after voting began early Friday morning, the online ballot did not allow students to vote for Milo Adams '04 for social chair of his class or for Aaron Bianco '05, a candidate hoping to be elected to the U-Council."We stopped the voting after a little more than an hour," USG president Nina Langsam '03 said.Soon afterward, Langsam sent a campus-wide e-mail that notified students who had voted between midnight and 1:30 a.m.

NEWS | 04/21/2002

New Jersey legislators gather to discuss trust in government, other key issues

At a gathering of New Jersey legislators Friday in Dodds Auditorium, participants gave a positive report of the level of public trust in government.Organized by the University's community and state affairs office, the annual meeting is a chance for local politicians to interact, cement ties with the University and compare notes on an important theme in public service.This year's event ? titled "In Government We Trust?" ? provided ample opportunities for those assembled to showcase their rhetorical skills.Reed Gusciora, a Democrat who represents Princeton's district in the state assembly, quoted Winston Churchill's observation that "democracy is the worst institution, except for all the others."Gusciora said when Democrats were in the minority, they found it easy to criticize the waste and inefficiency Republicans allowed.

NEWS | 04/21/2002

Campus EarthWeek activities raise environmental awareness

Although today is officially Earth Day, campus organizations began activities and events to increase student awareness of environmental issues more than a week ago with the University celebration of EarthWeek.EarthWeek began last weekend with a conference called "Approaches to Environment-alism," co-sponsored by Princeton Environmental Action and the Princeton Conservation Society, which held several lectures and discussions about the environment and conservationism."We have more events, and a greater variety of events, than we have in years past," said S.

NEWS | 04/21/2002

Student arrested for stealing injured person's golf cart

A University student was arrested Thursday for allegedly stealing a golf cart issued to an injured student, according to a Princeton Borough Police Department press release.Marcus Ford-Bey '04 was caught driving a Textron E-Z-GO electric-powered golf cart at 2 a.m.

NEWS | 04/21/2002

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