The University determined the cause of a small fire at Scully Hall on Saturday morning to be a candle, University spokesperson Martin Mbugua said on Monday. The fire was accidental, he added.
After being accused ofbranding its pledges in the buttocks with hot pokers, the Dartmouth fraternity that inspired the movie “Animal House” lost a lawsuit appeal and can no longer stay on campus, according to the New York Daily News. Dartmouth administrators announced the decision on Friday. Alpha Delta had been previously disciplined for other misconduct, including hazing and illegal distribution of substances to minors. Alpha Delta is one among many fraternity houses that have been closed in the backdrop of increasing national dialogue about sexual misconduct, racism and sexism on college campuses. Last week, a fraternity at the University of Florida was shut down following allegations of intoxicated members yelling and spitting on disabled veterans.
Municipality authorities are looking into replacing current individual parking meters with newer multi-space parking meters in the downtown area, the Princeton Packet reported. Potential plans include new parking meter implementation near University Place around McCarter Theatre. Currently, the central business district has single meters for each parking spot and each one uses coins or "smart cards," that can be loaded up with money to pay, Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert said. The newer parking meter model would employ individual pay stations for multiple parking spots and would also allow individuals to pay using credit cards or their smartphones. “Having something that interacts with smartphones is really appealing,” Lempert explained. As of September, the municipality has been conducting a trial run with the newer parking meters in the Dinky Station parking lot, Lempert said. Municipality evaluations of the technology have been positive, but some obstacles, including cooperation with American Express, still need to be addressed before municipality-wide implementation of the technology can be achieved, Lempert noted. Lempert added that a number of towns, such as DuBois in Pennslyvania, that have similar downtown geographies to Princeton have implemented the newer parking meter technologies. Currently, there are approximately 1,100 parking meters in Princeton.
Lisa Jackson GS ’86, a University trustee and the 2015 Baccalaureate speaker, has been the vice president of environmental initiatives at Apple Inc. since 2013, and served as the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from 2009 to 2013.
Mitchell Ng ’16 and Edward Xiao ’16 founded a student-run investment fund that currently manages $150,000 in assets.The investment fund, Thessalus Capital Management, focuses on exchange-traded funds and large market cap stocks to minimize risk and maintain a stable portfolio, Xiao said.“It’s about balancing risk, some high risk and high reward, as well as long-term stable investments, such as healthcare and technology, as well as [exchange-traded funds],” Ng explained.Ng said the two main goals of the fund are to generate positive returns and to beat the Standard & Poor’s 500 index.If the fund is successful, over time Thessalus will increase risk by incorporating long-short strategies similar to those of a hedge fund, Ng said, adding that Thessalus will provide seed funding for start-ups on campus.Seed funding is an early investment in a start-up that helps pay the initial costs of launching a company.Xiao said his team is not confining itself to any one sector.“We are doing what traditionally investment funds do, but at the same time we are taking on a portion that is somewhat like a venture capital business in that we are investing in very small companies like start-ups,” he said.Devansh Gupta ’16, the chief executive officer of Wolfpak & Pack Inc., will receive seed funding for his start-up from Thessalus management.Gupta's company, co-founded with Rutgers junior Felix Young, created a social networking app called Wolfpak that applies the anonymous social media concept of Yik Yak to photos and videos.
The Undergraduate Student Government senate held its last meeting of the semester on Saturday, in which it wrapped up projects and invited committee members for an end-of-the-year celebration afterward.At the beginning of the meeting, Honor Committee chair and U-councilor Dallas Nan ’16 introduced newly selected Honor Committee and Committee on Discipline members to the senate.“We had a very strong applicant pool.
The University’s yield for the Class of 2019 is 69.4 percent, according to University Media Relations Specialist Min Pullan. The yield is the highest in the University’s history. Of the 1,909 admitted students, 1,324 have committed to the University. This year's yield represents a 0.2 percentage point increase from last year’s yield of 69.2 percent. The University expects that over the course of the summer, the yield number will be reduced by 20-30 students because of “summer melt,” Pullan said.
An applicant's legacy status has gone from being an important factor in admissions to a factor that is given some consideration over the past decade, according to the University’s Common Data Set.All eight Ivy League universities now indicate in their Common Data Sets that legacy status is a factor that is considered during the admission process. “Every year we review our process.
Employees of Columbia’s Teachers College voted on April 29 to authorize a strike as a response to proposed cuts to their pension and health care plans, according toColumbia Daily Spectator. The employees, members of the United Auto Workers Local 2110 union, voted to authorize the strike by a 95 percent margin after three months of unsuccessful negotiations with Teachers College representatives. Employees held a rally in March to protest the proposed cuts, but claim that negotiations have not made any progress since then. Union president Maida Rosenstein said that the Teachers College administration proposed reducing health benefits, requiring employees to contribute to their premiums and pay higher deductibles.
Although many premedical students at the University concentrate in the natural sciences, data shows that a growing number of students choose to major in social sciences instead.The past four years of premed students have seen 143 molecular biology concentrators, 76 ecology and evolutionary biology concentrators and 111 concentrators in the social sciences, including anthropology, history, psychology, sociology and the Wilson School, according toDirector of Health Professions Advising Kate Fukawa-Connelly.Premedical students are able to pursue any concentration at the University, regardless of its association to science, she said, adding that the most popularconcentration among premeds over the past four years has been molecular biology.Fukawa-Connelly said that graduates who entered medical school in the fall of 2014 represented a variety of concentrations.
When Christopher Cross ’18 saw his name on the last page of the room draw list for Whitman College, he knew the rooms would run out before his draw time.As of Wednesday, 86 undergraduate students have applied to the wait-list for the 2015-16 room draw, according to University Media Relations Specialist Min Pullan.
The economic recovery from the recession of 2008 has been the slowest, statistically, since the Great Depression, House Budget Committee chairman Tom Price said at a lecture onWednesday. Price, a former orthopedic surgeon, began his political career in 1997, and is currently the U.S.
Thirteen students were transported toeither McCosh Health Center or the University Medical Center of Princeton this past weekend for alcohol intoxication, according to University media specialist Min Pullan. The weekend coinciding with Houseparties and Lawnparties traditionally represents a spike in the number of students hospitalized for excessive alcohol intake. Seven students were transported for alcohol intoxication betweenSunday at 12 p.m.andMonday at 12 p.m.
The University announced on Monday that it received a $10 million donation from an anonymous donor to establish the Kahneman and Treisman Center for Behavioral Science and Public Policy at the Wilson School.This is the second $10 million donation in the last month.
In anticipation of renovations on the A-level of Dillon Gymnasium, work is being done now to remove asbestos in the area, Director of Environmental Health and Safety Robin Izzo said.Asbestos is a mineral that can cause cancer and lung disease.According to Senior Associate Director of Athletics David Leach, the renovations include six gender-inclusive changing and shower areas that will double as family changing areas; upgrades to the existing locker rooms, including new lockers and showers; addition of team rooms for clubs, including men's and women's volleyball; and a new hallway along the gym's west side on the A-Level.The renovations are expected to be completed in the fall of 2016, Leach said.There is a presumption that buildings constructed before 1981 have building materials that contain asbestos, and the University was aware that pipe insulation in Dillon contained materials with asbestos, Izzo explained."Some of the renovations will impact exposed mechanical spaces," Izzo said.
The University extended the deadline late last week for community members to use the campus mapping tool Campus Compass from May 14 to the first week of June.The Office of the University Architect launched the online app in an effort to gather University-wide feedback for the Princeton University 2026 Campus Plan.The interactive mapping tool asks respondents to map how they experience, use and travel around campus.
Amid debate over free speech on campus, the Anscombe Society — entering its 10th year of operation — provides a noteworthy case study in the recent history of the wider University community's engagement with alternative viewpoints.In the spring of 2005, six students founded the Society to respond to what they saw as a need for more honest discussion of the University’s casual sex and hookup culture.
The Council of the Princeton University Community discussed changes to the University's sexual misconduct policy, the Resources Committee's rejection of the Princeton Sustainable Investment Initiative's proposal, the University's mental health programs and the Special Task Force on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at its meetingon Monday. The meeting began with University vice provost for institutional diversity and equity Michelle Minter presenting proposed adjustments recommended by the Faculty-Student Committee on Sexual Misconduct, which were accepted by the council. Under the new guidelines, certain protections and rights will be provided to complainants in all stalking cases, not just those involving intimate partners. The policy was also modified to permit the University's Title IX Coordinator to balance several factors in determining whether to move forward with an investigation.
David Wildstein, a former aide to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy on Friday in connection to the Bridgegate scandal, according to a press release by the Department of Justice. Christie is an ex officio trustee of the University. Wildstein faces up to 15 years in prison and fines. Bill Baroni, former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Bridget Anne Kelly, a former Christie chief of staff, have also been indicted in connection with the scandal. Alan Zegas, Wildstein's attorney, said on Friday that Christie had knowledge of the George Washington Bridge lane closures before they happened, according to NJ Advance Media, which is contrary to what Christie has said on multiple occasions. Wildstein's guilty plea could indicate that he may be cooperating with prosecutors, according to Bloomberg.
