News

Former ambassador Christopher Hill speaks on foreign policy

The state of world affairs will continue to be challenging for the United States to deal with, but the United States shouldn’t shy away from active participation, said Christopher Hill, former ambassador to Iraq and assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs. Hill explained that although the United States and its allies have largely succeeded in incorporating Russia into the framework of international affairs over the 23 years since the Soviet Union’s collapse, that participation is a double-edged sword in the case of the West’s reliance on Russian oil and gas. He added that Russia’s invasion of Crimea is broader than the aspirations of the Ukrainian people, which the American media commonly portrays as reason for concern, but instead extends to the question of Russia’s future role in the international community. Sanctions may not be the best approach to resolving the crisis, he said. “I remember we used to put [smart sanctions] on Milosevic, denying him a visa to go visit Disneyland and somehow change future of Kosovo,” Hill said jokingly. Hill then turned his attention to Syria, saying that the crisis in Syria is one of the most pernicious crises the world faces. Secretary of State John Kerry should not get hung up on the issue of removing Bashar al-Assad, president of Syria, Hill said.

News and Notes: Police department works on rash of burglaries

The Princeton Police Department is working with other police departments nearby to combat a recent "rash" of burglaries, Town Topics reported. Princeton Police Captain Nick Sutter confirmed thatthere have been six burglaries and one attempted burglary so far. Residential daytime burglaries have occurred over the past several weeks in Princeton.

News & Notes: Penn’s women lacrosse team allegedly wreaked havoc at bar

The University of Pennsylvania is conducting an investigation after members of its women’s lacrosse team allegedly damaged Fado Irish Pub during a party Saturday night, The Daily Pennsylvanian reported. Director of Athletic Communications Michael Mahoney said in a statement that Penn coaches and senior staff are meeting with lacrosse team members and are deeply concerned about the allegations made by the bar's manager. Fado general manager Casey Neff told The Daily Pennsylvanian that a group of about 50 people attending a lacrosse team event had shattered a glass light fixture, smoked marijuana in the bathroom and exposed a female student’s genitals to patrons. Neff also said that he does not plan on filing charges because he was not able to identify which specific individuals were responsible for the damage. Student groups affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School have already been banned from Fado due to past unruly conduct.

Do It in the Dark campaign aims to make students aware of their energy usage

All six residential colleges will engage in the Do It in the Dark Campaign, which aims to raise awareness in energy use and recycling habits, from April 1 to April 26. Wattvision, a real-time visualization of energy usage data, will monitor each college’s energy usage progress and determine a winner based on which residential college shows the most improvement in energy consumption over the three weeks.

Meadow discusses gender, transgender children

While gender boundaries are shifting, they are also becoming more intricately articulated, lecturer in the Council of the Humanities and Sociology Tey Meadow argued at a lecture on Wednesday. Meadow spoke about the emergence of a new social category, the transgender child, and explained that this social category came into existence because people began to understand gender identity as a symbolic boundary separate from both body and sexuality. Meadow explained that current prevailing theories on gender revolve around “doing a gender,” wherein gender is defined by socially constructed relationships, and mentioned the movement to “undo gender,” in which some experts propose that the entire concept of gender should be undone and rejected. However, Meadow argued that the theories relating to doing gender provide an insufficient framework for understanding gender and instead argued for the theory of “being a gender,” wherein gender is both a social assignation and a personal identity, a classification determined by society but also a feature of the self. She also said gender was broken down into three parts: bodies, behavior and identity. For parents dealing with transgender children, Meadow explained,“being a gender” has three main steps: assuming an identity, which happens at the individual level; convincing others, which happens at the interactional level; and securing recognition, which happens at the institutional level. The process starts, according to Meadow, when parents begin to notice gender problems in their children — in particular, when their children engage in play or other gender behaviors that provoke concern.

In lecture, Bernanke says he emphasized transparency while at the Fed

Ben Bernanke, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve and former chair of the economics department, was presented with The American Whig-Cliosophic Society's 2014 James Madison Award for Distinguished Public Service in a ceremony on Wednesday.Bernanke followed the ceremony by discussing his time at the Federal Reserve as well as his time in academia with economics professor Alan Blinder ’67, who served as vice chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1994-96. Bernanke said his legacy includes an increased transparency within the Fed, noting that during his time as chairman he appeared on ‘60 Minutes’ and granted requests for interviews with the media to inform the public about monetary policy. “Democratic legitimacy requires that [the Fed] explain itself,” Bernanke said.

Postgraduate fellowship to drop Princeton affiliation in name following discussion with U. officials.

The fellowship initiative founded as "Princeton in the Middle East" will change its name after a discussion with University officials who asked that it not include the "Princeton in" construction. The University called into question last month the use of the construction “Princeton in”in an independent program founded by University alumni.

News & Notes: Elements ranked 20 among U.S. restaurants

Princeton’s Elements ranks 20th of the 100 best American restaurants, according totheOpinionated About Dining’s survey. Elements is the only New Jersey restaurant on the list. Since the annual survey was created in 2012, Elements, which first opened in 2008, has consistently moved up the list.

Cartoon: Night owl/early bird roommates

Updated: On April Fools' Day, USG says Nickelback, JoJo to perform at Lawnparties

Editor's note: The email sent to the student body on April 1 announcing the USG lawnparties artists was an April Fools' day joke, USG President Shawon Jackson '15 said.

Constitution should reflect the people’s beliefs, argues politics professor

The Constitution should represent democratically endorsed political ideas and beliefs, and if we enforce inherited rules on which the polity no longer agrees, the Constitution can become a cage that binds citizens, politics professor Keith Whittington argued in a lecture on Tuesday. Whittington is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Politics and director of graduate studies of the Politics Department at the University. Whittington introduced the larger context behind his argument by discussing the work of University of Texas Law School professor Sanford Levinson, using Levinson’s work to highlight the persistent theme in political thought that the Constitution needs overhauling.

Tiger Inn members elect four new officers following 21 Club scandal

Tiger Inn elected four new officers on Monday to replace the four officers who resigned on March 10 following an unauthorized party. Oliver Bennett ’15, the vice president prior to the incident, was elected president.

Christie’s approval rating dips post-Bridgegate

New Jersey Gov. and ex-officio University trustee Chris Christie’s approval rating is at an all-time low of 41 percent, according to a March 11 Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll. Emails and text messages between Christie aides Bridget Anne Kelly and David Wildstein surfaced in early January, which suggested that the aides orchestrated the closure of lanes in September 2013 on the George Washington Bridge, the world’s busiest bridge, causing gridlock. The bridge connects Manhattan to Fort Lee, N.J., whose mayor, Mark Sokolich, had previously declined to endorse Christie for reelection and whose state senator, Loretta Weinberg, opposed a judge Christie had nominated for the New Jersey State Supreme Court.Christie apologized in January for the incidentbut has denied personal involvement. Wildstein has said he had told the governor about the lane closures. A lawyer for Sokolich said in a statement on Feb.

Jadwin Hall being renovated to improve energy efficiency

The University is reassessing the efficiency of Jadwin Hall, which houses the physics department, as part of an effort to reduce its greenhouse gas emission rates to 1990 levels by 2020. The University’s greenhouse gas emission totaled 95,455 metric tons in 1990.Emissions rose by approximately 20,000 over about a 20-year period, reaching a high in 2008. One major renovation that recently took place in Jadwin was the replacement of air handling systems and duct work.

A tale of two presidencies

University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 has begun to set an ambitious agenda for his term as the months wind down through his first academic year in office.He has, for example, announced a review of the grade deflation policy, suggested that the University will look into reversing its policy on accepting student transfers,and hinted at a potential expansion of the student body that could accompany a new residential college or an expansion of Forbes College. Eisgruber’s agenda, set so early in his presidency, is in contrast to the agenda set by his predecessor, former University President Shirley Tilghman early in her term.

"Key meeting" set for this week to discuss Reunions in light of meningitis outbreak

Following the University's decision to cancel overnight stays for Princeton Preview, theAlumni Association is scheduled to meet later this week for a "key meeting" that will discuss whether changes should be made to Reunions this year in light of the meningitis outbreak, according to Associate Director for Reunions Mibs Mara. Mara declined to comment further until the meeting has taken place. In response to the outbreak of meningitis, which began in March 2013, the Centers for Disease Control and theand the New Jersey Department of Health advised members of the University community to increase hygienic practices and avoid sharing items such as drinking glasses and utensils, but did not advise the University to curtail any of its events or activities. No changes were made to Reunions last year, even though the situation at the University was officially designated as an outbreak less than two weeks before Reunions was set to start. The University recentlyannounced that it will cancel overnight staysduring Princeton Preview for the health safety of newly admitted students.

Appellate Court affirms decision to allow U. Dinky plans in latest lawsuit

The Appellate Court of New Jersey affirmed the Department of Environmental Protection’s decision to approve the early termination of a public easement allowing University construction plans on the Dinky Station on March 18. As part of the University’s$330 million Arts and Transit Neighborhood, the Dinky train station is set to operate 464 feet south of its former location in the fall of 2014, an encroachment that required NJ Transit’s approval under the 1984 station purchasing agreement.

Princeton professor to run for 12th District Congressional seat

The field of Democratic candidates for New Jersey's 12th District Congressional seat has recently expanded to include Dr. Andrew Zwicker, aphysicist and head of the Science Education Program at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. Zwicker filed Mondayto run in the district Democratic primary against State Senator Linda Greenstein from Middlesex, State Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman from Mercer and State Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula from Somerset.

News & Notes: Princeton is “best deal of the century”

Co-founder of the National Institute of Certified College Planners Ron Them said the University is “the best deal of the century” in a Bloomberg article this week. The article says that Princeton is the school that offers the cheapest financing to parents to supplement need-based aid by offering 1.2 percent, no-fee loans to families with annual incomes up to $500,000.

Satisfaction with academic, peer advising on the rise

Although freshmen most often turn to University friends for academic advice, recent survey data from the past three fall semestersshows that underclassmen have expressed increasing satisfaction with the academic advising system. According to the data presented by Senior Associate Dean of the College Claire Fowlerat the March 10 Council of the Princeton University Committee meeting, an average of 50 percent of freshmen and 47 percent of sophomores agreed or strongly agreed that they had made the most of the advising opportunities available to them in the fall. Fowler said the survey itself will help students take advantage of academic resources in the future. "By doing the survey, you have to be exposed to all the forms of support available, because we ask you about them," Fowler explained.