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Q&A: Park Yeonmi, North Korean defector and human rights activist

Q&A: Park Yeonmi, North Korean defector and human rights activist

Claire Lee

Park Yeonmi is a defector from North Korea and a human rights activist. She is the author of the book "In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom." Park sat down with The Daily Princetonianafter a lectureon Saturday to talk about herexperiences afterleavingNorth Korean and herplans for activism.Daily Princetonian: How did you first decide to open up and share your story with the world?Park Yeonmi: I think that was when I was in Dublin [at the One Young World 2014 Summit], when I spoke there.

NEWS | 02/14/2016

News&Notes: Antonin Scalia, Supreme Court Justice, dies at 79

Daily Princetonian Staff

Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, a native of Trenton, N.J., died Saturday at a resort in West Texas. Though the causes of his death were not immediately released, a spokeswoman for the United States Marshals Service stated that nothing indicated that anything other than natural causes was at play. Scalia was the longest serving Justice of the Supreme Court and often considered a "conservative champion," according to a 2012 Daily Princetonian article. Some of Scalia's notable rulings include a dissenting opinion inObergefell v.

NEWS | 02/14/2016

Terrace most popular fourth year in a row, Quad receives significant increase in membership

Hannah Waxman

Terrace Club received the highest number of sign-ins for the fourth year in a row, while Quadrangle Club received an increase of nearly 342% in new members from last year.The Interclub Council had agreed not to publish the first round sign-in numbers two weeks ago, but four out of the five presidents released first round numbers following the conclusion of the second round on Feb.

NEWS | 02/14/2016

USG to work on residential housing project to make room draw information more transparent

Katherine Oh

The Undergraduate Student Government Senate discussed residential programming to make information about room draw more available to students during their first weekly meeting on Feb.

NEWS | 02/14/2016

North Korean defector Park Yeonmi discusses her experience in North Korea

Claire Lee

North Korean defector and human rights activist Park Yeonmidiscussed living in isolation under the North Korean governmentat a conference on Saturday hosted by Princeton for North Korean Human Rights.“I never heard about Beethoven, I never heard about Shakespeare.

NEWS | 02/14/2016

John Van Epp talks trust, commitment in successful relationships

Maya Wesby

John Van Epp said that trust, physical intimacy, reliance, knowing a person well and commitment are all categories that can ultimately determine the success of a relationship in a talk on Thursday. “I think, in your lifetime right now, it’s actually more difficult to find somebody who has their act together, who seems to have a maturity and a quality about them… than it was 30 years ago; that seems crazy in my mind,” he said. Van Epp, author of “How To Avoid Falling In Love With A Jerk,” has spoken across campuses nation-wide and his work has been featured in TIME, Psychology Today and other publications.

NEWS | 02/11/2016

James Agolia '16, Andrew Nelson '16 win Pyne Prize

Maya Wesby

James Agolia '16 and Andrew Nelson '16 were named the recipients of the 2016 Moses Taylor Pyne Honor Prize on Wednesday afternoon. The Pyne Prize is the University's highest general distinction and is awarded to undergraduates who display excellent scholarship, strength of character, and effective leadership. According to apress release, Agolia and Nelson will be recognized at a luncheon during Alumni Day on Feb.

NEWS | 02/11/2016

Track teams to compete in Fastrack National Invite

David Xin

This Friday the men and women’s track and field team will be traveling back to Ocean Breeze Park for the Fastrack National Invite.

NEWS | 02/11/2016

News&Notes: Graduate students to be awarded the 2016 Jacobus fellowship

Daily Princetonian Staff

Four graduate students were named as the recipients of 2016 Porter Ogden Jacobus Fellowship on Wednesday.Joshua Bennett GS, Kellen Funk GS, Carlee Joe-Wong GS and Rajesh Ranganath GS are the winners of this year's fellowship, the University's top honor for graduate students.

NEWS | 02/11/2016

Imani Perry arrest video released, U. and AAS faculty express support

Annie Yang

According to the arrest documents and a police dashboard camera footage of African American Studies Professor Imani Perry's arrest, Perry was speeding 67 mph in a 45 mph zone. On Saturday,Perry wroteon her Twitter account that police refused her a phone call before her arrest, conducted a body search on her and handcuffed her to a table at the police station.

NEWS | 02/11/2016

Potential NJ Transit strike to interfere with Spring Break travel

Jessica Li

A coalition of 17 rail unions plan to go on a strike during the weekend of March 12th if a contract settlement cannot be reached with New Jersey Transit, according to Dean Devita, chapter secretary-treasurer at the National Conference of Firemen & Oilers. The potential strike dates overlap with the first weekend of the University's spring break for this year’s academic calendar.

NEWS | 02/10/2016

Apartheid wall seeks to trigger political awareness

Hannah Waxman

The Princeton DREAM Team, a student organization focused on immigrant rights advocacy, partnered with the Princeton Committee on Palestine to create a two-sided Apartheid wall between McCosh Walk and Frist Campus Center on Monday.One side of the wall represents the US-Mexico Border Fence and the other the Israel Apartheid wall that runs along the West Bank of Palestine.

NEWS | 02/10/2016

Tax court judge rules against U. motion to dismiss tax exemption lawsuit

Marcia Brown

New Jersey State Tax Court Judge Vito Bianco ruled against the University’s attempt to dismiss a lawsuit that challenges its tax-exemptions on 19 buildings, including Frist Campus Center and McCarter Theatre, due to procedural issues this past Friday. The ruling comes with a series of past rulings that are part of the legal battles over the tax-exempt status of certain University properties and the University’s own tax-exempt status as an educational nonprofit.rkee University General Counsel Ramona Romero deferred comment to University Media Relations Specialist Min Pullan. Pullan deferred comment to a statement, which noted that the judge ordered the plaintiffs to file a list of the specific properties their lawsuit concerns within the next 30 days. “As with any complicated lawsuit, it’s not uncommon for there to be various motions along the way that attempt to clarify which issues are on the table,” Vice President and Secretary Robert Durkee ’69 said. Bruce Afran, legal counsel for the four plaintiffs who are town residents, described the motion as the University's 'last ditch' effort to obtain dismissal of the cases after seven unsuccessful rulings in court. “The University is now zero and seven.

NEWS | 02/10/2016

Agolia ’16, Nelson ’16 win Pyne Prize

Daily Princetonian Staff

University seniors James Agolia '16 and Andrew Nelson '16 were named winners of the 2016 Moses Taylor Pyne Honor Prize on Wednesday, according to a University press release.The Pyne Prize isthe highest general distinction given to undergraduate students.Agolia and Nelson will be recognized with the prize during Alumni Day on Feb.

NEWS | 02/10/2016

Christie drops presidential race after N.H. primary

Claire Lee

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie dropped out of the presidential race on Wednesday after a sixth-place finish at the New Hampshire primary with 7.4% of the vote, according to Time Magazine.Christie is an ex officio member of the University's Board of Trustees.Christie had over 100 endorsements from New Hampshire state legislators and the Union Leader, a newspaper for Republicans in state politics.

NEWS | 02/10/2016

Charter decreases sophomore dues, Quad seeks to assist students in finding financial aid to cover club costs

Maya Wesby

In an effort to make the club more accessible,Charter Club announced early Tuesday that the club’s sophomore spring semester dues have dropped from $785 to $300, while the Quadrangle Club seeks to help students in finding financial assistance to cover club costs after it’s sophomore dues have risen to $800 instead of an earlier announced amount of $500 over the weekend. Charter juniors can choose to become social members, as opposed to paying for full membership, for the spring semester for $785, according to Lorena Grundy ’17, president of Charter. Grundy said she had spoken with several students and learned that the expensive dues were preventing them from signing in to Charter. “We really wanted to give sophomores and juniors who are considering joining Charter the opportunity to experience Charter without breaking the bank so that they can decide if Charter’s right for them,” she said.

NEWS | 02/09/2016

U. to launch search committee to hire Dean for Diversity and Inclusion

Andie Ayala

After having introduced the position of Dean for Diversity and Inclusion in December 2015, The Office of the Vice President for Campus Life is now reviewing applicants for the position, according to Vice President for Campus Life Rochelle Calhoun.The position description articulates that a successful candidate must hold an advanced degree, have at least seven years of progressive responsible administrative experience and have demonstrated understanding of the importance of a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment in a university setting.The position of Dean for Diversity and Inclusion was recommended by the Report of the Special Task Force on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, which was released in May 2015.

NEWS | 02/09/2016

Perlmans emphasize the importance of music education

Kristin Qian

Violinists Itzhak and Toby Perlman said that society is not complete without the arts, emphasizing the importance of nurturing extraordinarily talented students from a young age, during theinaugural conversation in the Class of 2016’s "Last Lecture" seriesTuesday.Itzhak Perlman, an Israeli-born violinist, have played with many major orchestras around the world and awarded 15 Grammys.

NEWS | 02/09/2016

Task Force seeks expansion for American Studies Program

Betty Liu

At an open meeting held by the newly formedTask Force on American Studieson Monday, students and administrators discussedpossible ways to expandthe Program in American Studies to include Asian American Studies, American Indian Studies and American Jewish Studies, among other disciplines. The Task Force has been charged with preparing a report on how the University can best respond to opportunities and challenges in the field of American Studies and is seeking as much feedback from as many students as possible, according to Anne Cheng, professor of English and director of the Program in American Studies. "Part of the mission of the Task Force in American Studies going forward is to think about American Studies as a home for a fuller range for race and ethnicity studies and to do so in a way that integrates those fields into the Princeton curriculum," said Cheng. Cheng also said that that Task Force is meeting several times a month and is in the process of gathering information by speaking to graduate students, undergraduate students and other faculty to propose a plan for expanding the American Studies Program. "Our goal is to really think about how to do that at Princeton in a way that is integrated into Princeton’s curriculum at large so it’s not an isolated, segregated field of knowledge," Cheng said regarding the Task Force's proposal for how to expand the American Studies Program. The Task Force is still in the process of drafting a proposal, but their goal is to finish this document and submit it to University President Christopher Eisgruber '83 by the end of the semester, Cheng said. The Task Force is being created to identify ways that Princeton can better respond to opportunities and challenges in the field of American Studies, according to a statement by Eisgruber on the University'sStrategic Planning website. Hendrik Hartog, professor of history and co-director of the Program in American Studies, noted that the Task Force is part of the University’s Strategic Planning process.

NEWS | 02/09/2016

PPPL researchers receive grant to use supercomputer

Abhiram Karuppur

Researchers from the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory won a grant to use 80 million processor hours on the nation’s fastest supercomputer to conduct simulations of various phenomena.The researchers include University Astrophysical Sciences Professor Amitava Bhattacharjee GS ’81, PPPL physicist William Fox, University research scholar Yi-Min Huang and PPPL graduate student Jonathan Ng.In addition to the PPPL team, University Astrophysical Sciences Professor James Stone also won 47 million processor hours to pursue a project titled "Magnetohydrodynamic Models of Accretion Including Radiation Transport," and Geology Professor Jeroen Tromp GS ’90 GS '92 received 80 million processor hours to pursue a project titled "Global Adjoint Tomography."Bhattacharjee said that he plans to use the supercomputer to conduct simulations of high-energy-density plasmas.

NEWS | 02/08/2016

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