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The benefits of staying unemployed

The benefits of staying unemployed

University economics professor Robert Shimer, along with Massachusetts Institute of Technology economics professor Daron Acemoglu, recently published two papers that argued financially pressed workers are too willing to take low-skill and low-wage jobs.

NEWS | 09/27/2000

Pastor '03 and Tam '03 win prizes for excellence in humanities papers

The Council of the Humanities last week awarded Haarlow Prizes to two undergraduates for outstanding papers written in a 200-level humanistic studies course.Daniel Pastor '03 and Janice Tam '03 each received the $250 prize for their papers, "The Function of the Myth of Er in Plato's Republic" and "The Spiritual Rungs of Dante's Ladder," respectively.Abhi Raghunathan '02 earned an honorable mention for his paper, "The Suicide: Two Views of Ajax."To determine the winners of this award, faculty in humanistic studies nominate excellent papers written by their students during the year.During the summer, a faculty group chooses the prize recipients.This year, there were about a dozen nominations.

NEWS | 09/27/2000

Multi-university distance learning initiative expands

Another prestigious education institution will be joining Princeton, Stanford and Yale in a joint venture to develop distance-learning courses via the Internet.Princeton Provost Jeremiah Ostriker announced last week that the University of Oxford will be joining the group established to offer a variety of courses online to alumni, parents of current students, faculty and staff.Princeton Associate Provost Georgia Nugent '73 ? the University's representative to the the committee of administrators that is developing the program ? said the group will be run by a separate board of trustees made up of senior administrators and trustees from each of the participating schools.Ostriker and University trustee Heidi Miller '74 will represent Princeton.Charles Junkerman, associate provost and dean of continuing studies at Stanford, noted that the future of distance-learning remains uncertain.

NEWS | 09/27/2000

Bacteria Banter

Many readers may remember ear infections as a constant problem of their youth. They would wake up and feel that familiar pain, and a visit to the doctor would provide them with only the added discomfort of having to either swallow or chew some revolting pills.

NEWS | 09/26/2000

Students to play major role in search

While Princeton, Harvard and Brown each are engaged in presidential selection processes steeped in tradition, Princeton's search marks a significant break from Ivy League and University precedent.Entering the world of executive decisions, students will sit beside members of the University Board of Trustees on the 18-member presidential selection committee."I think what [Harvard and Brown universities] have is the more conventional model," Vice President for Public Affairs Robert Durkee '69 said.

NEWS | 09/26/2000

Graduate student group targets local Kohl's in sweatshop protest

It was, all in all, a far cry from the glory days of Princeton's anti-sweatshop movement. Where once there were terse confrontations with University administrators on the steps of Nassau Hall, now there are merely manufactured confrontations with bored suburban shoppers at a rain-soaked local mall.After a year of virtual silence, Princeton's anti-sweatshop movement made its return yesterday, five miles from campus and with barely a whimper.And, unlike two years ago, this round of protests ? which were aimed at a local megastore on U.S.

NEWS | 09/26/2000

Students form new group with anonymous grant

The Organization of Women Leaders at Princeton is still in its infancy but already has made a large impact on campus.Founded by co-presidents Nancy Ippolito '03 and Erin Culbertson '03, OWL was created to serve as a uniting force and to provide a support system for women on campus.One of the new orgainzation's most tangible successes came in the form of an anonymous donation this summer of $150,000 to be received during the next three years, according to fund-raising committee head Robin Hindery '03.Ippolito and Culbertson said they began to perceive last spring that there were too few women in student leadership positions.

NEWS | 09/26/2000

Ivy presidents value Shapiro's leadership

President Shapiro's decision to resign at the end of this year has evoked expressions of sadness from presidents of the nation's most prestigious universities.Shapiro's move also means that the Council of Ivy Group Presidents ? an eight-member organization that meets twice per year ? will lose its most senior member shortly after bidding farewell to the presidents of Harvard and Brown universities."I hate to think of myself [as] an older statesman now [in the council], but there is unfortunately a high turnover in the university presidencies these days," Yale President Richard Levin, who has held his post since 1993, said.

NEWS | 09/26/2000

Search committee to convene in October

Though still adjusting to President Shapiro's announcement of his upcoming resignation, University officials now face the task of forming the group that will select the candidates for the University's 19th president.Board of trustees president Robert Rawson '66 will lead the 18-member presidential selection committee, which includes nine trustees ? who have already been named ? five faculty members, two undergraduate students, one graduate student and one member of the University staff.According to a letter sent by Rawson, the speed with which the committee is being assembled reflects the short timetable of the search and the trustees' plan to convene the selection committee in early October.The five faculty participants will be selected through a vote of the entire faculty, University spokeswoman Marilyn Marks said.

NEWS | 09/26/2000

University confirms nuclear tests were held in Palmer Hall

The University's Palmer physics lab was the site of several decontamination efforts during the 1970s and 1990s, decades after areas of that building were used in nuclear weapons development and research, University Director of Communications Lauren Robinson-Brown '85 said yesterday.The University's name appeared twice on a U.S.

NEWS | 09/26/2000

McCosh infirmary institutes co-pay student health program to subsidize outside specialist treatment

Effective Sept. 1, University students now pay only $10 for visits to medical specialists if they are covered by Princeton's student health plan.Previously, if a student was referred to and treated by a specialist outside the McCosh Health Center, he or she would pay a deductible and 20 percent of the bill ? costs which sometimes reached $250, according to Dr. Pamela Bowen, director of health services.

NEWS | 09/25/2000

Professors ponder genetic engineering

Within the next few decades, it may be possible for parents to select children's eye-color or genetically engineer them to be more intelligent.At a panel discussion last night, University professors ? including Peter Singer, the Ira DeCamp Professor of Bioethics ? addressed such complicated issues, which arise from the upcoming completion of the Human Genome Project.Scientists announced the completion of a rough draft of the project this summer, having mapped 95 percent of the gene sequence.The objective of the panel ? titled "Sequencing the Human Genome: What's Next?" ? was to examine the scientific and ethical implications of the project.

NEWS | 09/25/2000

Students share perceptions of Shapiro's term, lasting legacy

Opening Exercises may be the only time University students have seen President Shapiro, but many have definite ? and varying ? opinions on the departing president.Some students said that with the conclusion of the capital campaign, it was only natural for Shapiro to announce his plans to step down.

NEWS | 09/25/2000

In impoverished Old Delhi and on wealthy Wall Street, a budding writer finds his voice

The crinkling of aluminum being peeled away from the plastic top of a take-out tin sounded on the other end of the phone line.

NEWS | 09/25/2000

UA freshmen witness shooting in Trenton

Two incoming University freshmen witnessed a shooting while participating in an Urban Action project in Trenton on Sept.

NEWS | 09/25/2000

Fan's car found overturned after evening football game

In a bizarre act of vandalism, a 1994 Honda Accord, parked between FitzRandolph Road and Broadmead Street, was overturned while its owner was attending the football game Saturday night, according to Public Safety Crime Prevention Specialist Barry Weiser.Township Police Capt.

NEWS | 09/25/2000

U-Council reviews Frist food prices, campus renovations

During their first meeting of the year yesterday, U-Council members centered their discussion on the Frist Campus Center, addressing both its early success and opening glitches.Campus center director Paul Breitman said he believes Frist, especially the extensive dining portion, has become an important part of campus life.Whether snatching a late lunch or staying awake with a late-night cup of coffee, more than 2,700 students pass through the "food gallery" per day, Director of Dining Services Stu Orefice said.Orefice said while students generally are excited about the campus center, two main complaints have surfaced ? the high prices in the dining area and the lack of signs giving directions.Though prices have been lowered twice in response to student criticisms, according to Orefice, several U-Council members said they had not known about the changes prior to the meeting.The reductions were instituted after the initial testing week and then following the first week of full operation, though Orefice did not specify how much prices were lowered.In addition, specials have been instituted at each of the four food venues for every meal, Orefice noted.

NEWS | 09/25/2000

Halle Berry sheds light on race and the silver screen

Halle Berry says Princeton changed her life."If you haven't heard, I was in a car accident this year," the Emmy award-winning starlet said Friday night in McCosh 50.

NEWS | 09/24/2000

University physicist says Frist site once was home to nuclear weapons research

A report issued by the U.S. Department of Energy on Friday indicates Princeton's Palmer Physics Laboratory ? now the site of Frist Campus Center ? was slated for DOE cleanup after possible involvement in nuclear weapons research for the U.S.

NEWS | 09/24/2000

Kim '01 promises to dedicate semester to improving student life on campus

PJ Kim '01 said last night he would devote his remaining semester as USG president to giving the administration a set of specific recommendations for improving student life.The combined report of five student committees ? designated the health services, athletics, student groups, performing groups and human relations committees ? will be presented to the administration after fall break, he said at last night's USG meeting.The project, called the Student Life Initiative, reflects Kim's longstanding desire to present students' opinions to the administration as a blueprint for change even after his term ends.After the report is released, Kim said, the USG will "take this out to the community, to the trustees and the administration to make sure that even though we can't see these recommendations implemented, we can at least set the stage."Also at the meeting, Kim congratulated USG student groups liaison Aime Scott '01 for organizing the Princeton Leadership Summit, a meeting of more than 200 student leaders Saturday.

NEWS | 09/24/2000

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