Paul Sigmund, professor emeritus in the politics department, died at the University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro on Sunday from pneumonia, his family confirmed.
The Alpha Delta Phi fraternity, a nationally chartered organization, has established a local affiliate at the University and has 13 members, according to the ADPhi national fraternity website. Jake Scinto ’16, the president of the fraternity's Princeton affiliate, explained he got the idea to form the organization from visiting his brother, who is a member of the fraternity's chapter at the University of Connecticut. “I went down and visited him, and I met a lot of different people from all over the country and the whole national organization, and I had always wanted to be a part of it, but I couldn't think of a way to contribute to it,” he explained. Scinto and his roommate, Henry Pease ’16, whose brother is a member of ADPhi at Dartmouth, then decided to get in touch with the national charter of the organization in late October to look into establishing a local chapter. Bill Bronson, the director of ADPhi, explained that the fraternity had been at the University in the 19th century, so the creation of the local affiliate was actually a “restart” for the organization. “[The national organization's board] seemed really excited about the whole thing, and they were really a huge help to us.
Assistant psychology professor Alin I. Coman has published a one-year studyinPsychological Science,a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, assessing the effects of wartime atrocities on people of different social groups.
Netzitzot, a new nonprofit venture cofounded by Maya Rosen ’17, is selling tzitzit online that are specifically tailored to women. Tzitzit are specially knotted ritual fringes worn by some adherents of Judaism.
More than a year after the municipal consolidation of Princeton Borough and Princeton Township, a survey by Rutgers-Eagleton shows that nearly half of New Jersey residents are not in favor of consolidating municipalities. According to the poll, 46 to 48 percent of state residents oppose their town consolidating with a nearby municipality, an eight percent increase from 2010. The township and the borough of Princeton merged in 2013; after the merging, the town saw a drop in crime rate, budget and tax savings and increase in bond rating. In an interview with the Princeton Packet, Anton Lahnston, former chairman of Princeton’s Consolidation Study Commission, explained that the reason for opposition could be found in residents’ suspicion about change and distrust in local government. The poll surveyed 816 state residents between March 31 and April 6.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is launching an investigation into Harvard for alleged misconduct in handling sexual assault cases, the Huffington Post reported Monday. Among the accusations were Harvard allegedly failing to move a sexual assault perpetrator from the dormitory in which the victim lived, and that Harvard’s sexual assault policy is outdated and discriminatory. The Huffington Post had previously reported on March 31 that a group of Harvard students had asked the OCR for a review of Harvard’s legal compliance with Title IX and the Clery Act.
At the University, Bryan Bunch ’09 was one of the only open libertarians on campus. He was “not your stereotypical student,” one of his friends said. Bunch also never joined an eating club, instead opting to live and dine in Mathey College for all four years, in one of the first classes that allowed students to live in their residential college as upperclassmen.
Although economics professor Paul Krugman announced his decision to join the City University of New York faculty on Feb.
Evan Thomas, former editor-at-large at Newsweek who has taught journalism at the University for seven consecutive years, will be leaving Princeton at the end of the academic year.
Comedian John Hodgman will perform at the Comedy Show on Friday night during Houseparties, the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students announced Monday in a Facebook post. Hodgman, a Yale graduate, is best known for his gig on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and for his role as the PC in Apple’s “Get a Mac” advertising campaign with Justin Long as the Mac.
Beth Lew-Williams, who will join the University next year, will become the first professor in Asian-American history.
With 155 new members in the Class of 2016, the Wilson School has seen an increase of 76 percent in its student body in two years.
Katherine Pogrebniak ’14, a computer science major, was named valedictorian on Monday at a faculty meeting.Alexander Iriza ’14, a mathematics major, was named the Latin salutatorian. Both Pogrebniak and Iriza were nominated by the Faculty Committee on Examinations and Standing.Pogrebniak, who is from Jacksonville, Fla., and Iriza, who is fromAstoria, N.Y.,were informed that they had been nominated for their position on April 18. Both students said that they received an email asking to meet with Dean of the College Valerie Smith. “I would have never expected that that was why I was being called in,” Pogrebniak said.
Members of the USG discussed University mental health policy in light of recent wider public discussion of the subjectat their weekly senate meeting on Sunday.U-Councilor Zhan Okuda-Lim ’15 noted that the Mental Health Initiative board was hoping to write an editorial to publish in The Daily Princetonian within the next week to express the USG’s position on mental health policy.
Nine students were awarded the 2014 Spirit of Princeton Award, which recognizes students who have made positive contributions to the University community. Ray Chao ’15, Estela Diaz ’14, Sara Figel ’14, Jenesis Fonseca-Ledezma ’14, Adam Mastroianni ’14, Matthew Vengalil ’14, Benedict Wagstaff ’14, Tiana Woolridge ’15 and Trap Yates ’14 were selected from a group of students who were nominated by members of the University community. The Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students uses the award to recognize students whose contributions to the arts, community service, student organizations, residential living, religious life and athletics go unrecognized by the University at large, according to the award's website. Deputy Dean of Undergraduate Students Thomas Dunne said that the students were chosen by a selection committee made up of undergraduate students, alumni and administrators from campus life.
Rino Rappuoli, global head of vaccines research for Novartis Vaccine and Diagnostics, posed the possibility of a meningitis-free world in a lecture last Thursday. Rappuoli, developer of the Bexsero meningitis B vaccine that is being administered by the University, walked the audience through the immunological history of the meningococcus bacteria and the discovery and usage of Bexsero. He opened up the lecture by explaining the chemical and biological structure of the meningococcus bacteria. As soon as they enter the blood system, the bacteria multiply rapidly and pass the blood-brain barrier, which separates blood from brain fluid, causing inflammation of the meninges, Rappuoli said.
A total of 607 students participated in a public health study conducted by University researchers from April 17-23.
USG will not be offering summer storage to students this year, USG president Shawon Jackson ’15 announced in an email sent out to students on April 21. “After considering the effort we'd have to put into the program and knowing that Princeton Student Agencies offers a similar service in a similar price range, we voted against continuing it,” Jackson said in an interview. Aaron Ave ’15, the student director for Moving and Storage within PSA, said that the service PSA will offer is identical to what USG provided in the past. “We’re just taking over [USG's] portion and adding it on to our existing services,” Ave said, adding that this is PSA’s first year offering summer box storage.
Tobias Kim ’17 died while abroad in Argentina on Friday. He was 19. Kim was visiting his mother's family in Argentina, according to an email sent by Kim's former high school to alumni on Friday evening.
Jonathan Ma ’15, Justin Ziegler ’16 and CJ Harris ’17 have been elected presidents of their respective class councils, and Benedict Wagstaff ’14 was elected president of the Class of 2014 Alumni Council officers, USG president Shawon Jackson ’15 announced in an email to students Friday evening. “It was a good election, and we had good voter turnout overall, I believe,” chief elections manager Amara Nnaeto ’17 said. Additionally, the referendum to separate the class governments from the senate passed with 1661 votes in favor and 277 opposed. "I'm pleased that [the referendum] passed," Jackson said.
