News

New certificate program in astrobiology explores potential for extraterrestrial life

New certificate program in astrobiology explores potential for extraterrestrial life

The University has announced a new Planets and Life certificate program, which will introduce students to astrobiology, a field that explores the origins of life and the potential for life on other planets.Astrophyiscs professor Adam Burrows, director of the new program, explained that a number of students were interested in exploring the potential for life on other planets, a topic that is garnering increasing attention nationally, internationally and locally.

NEWS | 09/20/2010

University forms working group to study social life

The University announced the creation of a 13-member working group on campus residential and social life on Monday. President Shirley Tilghman charged the group with following up on the work of last year’s Task Force on the Relationship between the University and the Eating Clubs by soliciting opinions from diverse members of the University community.

NEWS | 09/20/2010

Weinstein ’09 creates CollegeOnly, a social networking site targeted at college students

It’s a familiar feeling at Princeton: Students take photos at events, only to regret them when they appear on Facebook, open to the eyes of employers. But Josh Weinstein ’09 — the former USG president turned entrepreneur — said he has a solution.Last month, Weinstein launched CollegeOnly.com, the latest in a line of social networking websites he has created exclusively for college students that combines many features of his previous projects.

NEWS | 09/20/2010

Housing Office institutes new system for lockouts

For students locked out of their room, a call to Public Safety is no longer the ticket to a quick re-entry.The Undergraduate Housing Office implemented a new lockout policy this year, requiring students to pick up a temporary loaner key from the housing office in MacMillan Building if they get locked out during regular business hours. If the loaner key is not returned within 24 hours, the borrower will be charged $75 to pay for a lock change. Students locked out after regular business hours can still call Public Safety free of charge. According to the Public Safety website, students will also be charged for after-hours lockouts beginning next semester, though administrators emphasized that this proposal is still under consideration.

NEWS | 09/20/2010

Recruiters favor students at state schools, study shows

Two hundred miles from campus, Princeton’s peers at Penn State are having a laugh — and, perhaps, a job interview.Last week, The Wall Street Journal published the results of a survey finding that top companies prefer to recruit from large state universities rather than from Ivy League schools or small liberal arts institutions. According to the 479 recruiters that responded, Princeton is not among the overall top 45 schools for recruiting graduates.The schools identified are the “top picks for graduates best prepared and most able to succeed” in entry-level positions.

NEWS | 09/20/2010

Charter will use weighted sign-in system

Seven months after Charter Club became the only sign-in club to fill to capacity in first-round sign-ins, the club has decided to change the format of its sign-in system for this February, allowing sophomores to boost their chances of acceptance by attending club events.

NEWS | 09/19/2010

Sex may reduce stress, study shows

A new study by University researchers suggests something that college students have known for decades: Sexual activity may lower stress.

NEWS | 09/19/2010

Lights, camera, action

Several students used the summer to get their feet wet in the moviemaking industry, getting a front-row seat to the acting, marketing and behind-the-scenes wrangling that goes into every film.

NEWS | 09/19/2010

Print quota cut costs by 1 percent

Paper consumption fell 17 percent and printing costs declined 1 percent during the 2009-10 academic year after the Office of Information Technology implemented a printing quota last October, OIT senior manager Leila Shahbender said in an e-mail.

NEWS | 09/19/2010

Federal law aims to ease burden of textbook costs

A new federal law requires that colleges and universities post, “to the maximum extent practicable,” the ISBNs and retail price details of all textbooks on their online course schedule, so that students can have the information they need to shop around in advance. Alternatively, according to a June announcement from the Department of Education, schools can link course schedules to a site such as an affiliated bookstore. Princeton is compliant with the law because lists are posted on Labyrinth’s website and linked to the Registrar’s site, University spokeswoman Emily Aronson said in an e-mail. But the textbook buying experience remains unchanged for students, who still have to go through Labyrinth to find ISBNs and prices for most textbooks.

NEWS | 09/16/2010

Chin ’75 discusses landmark internment trial

With Denny Chin ’75 narrating, 13 students celebrated Constitution Day on Thursday afternoon by reenacting the historic 1942 trial of Minoru Yasu, who intentionally violated a curfew imposed upon Japanese-Americans during World War II.

NEWS | 09/16/2010

Pair of newly released rankings of world’s best universities place Princeton 5th, 10th

Princeton was ranked fifth and tenth among the world’s best universities, according to two major rankings released this month. Times Higher Education put Princeton behind Harvard, California Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford, in that order, in a ranking released yesterday, while QS placed Princeton behind four British universities, Harvard, Yale, MIT, University of Chicago and Caltech. University of Cambridge had the best score in the QS ranking.

NEWS | 09/16/2010

Senior year without a carrel

Math and science majors have long done without carrel privileges. That briefly changed with the opening of Lewis Library in September 2008, when seniors majoring in the sciences could apply for one of the 44 carrels available in Lewis and Fine lib. This year, however, the University has opted to leave those carrels unassigned.

NEWS | 09/16/2010

Carter begins as inaugural director of Andlinger Center

The University appointed Emily Carter, a mechanical and aerospace engineering professor, as the first-ever director of the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment. Carter began serving in the position Sept. 1.

NEWS | 09/16/2010

New Frick opens to host chemistry research, classes

Continuing a trend of major unveilings over the past three years, the new Frick Chemistry Building has now opened and will serve as the new home of the chemistry department, housing its research and teaching facilities. Several other major construction projects have been completed on the southern end of campus in recent years, including Lewis Library in 2008 and Butler College in 2009. Over the summer, Streicker Bridge, a pedestrian bridge spanning Washington Road, was also completed and now connects the new chemistry building to science buildings across the road.

NEWS | 09/15/2010

B.o.B to headline Lawnparties, confirming speculation

B.o.B is slated to headline Fall Lawnparties, USG social chair Jake Sally ’12 said in an e-mail to the student body on Saturday evening. The announcement comes nearly two months after The Daily Princetonian reported on The Prox that the rapper would likely perform on campus next Sunday.

NEWS | 09/10/2010

Dean of the College Nancy Malkiel to step down

Dean of the College Nancy Malkiel will retire from her post at the end of the 2010-11 academic year, the University announced last week. Malkiel is widely known among current undergraduates and recent alumni as the architect of the University’s controversial revised grading policy, which limits the number of A grades that can be awarded to undergraduates in each department.

NEWS | 09/07/2010

RCAs to go on-call, patrol hallways on weekends

Starting this fall, Public Safety officers will not be the only individuals patrolling the hallways of residential colleges on weekends: Residential college advisers have been assigned to walk through the dorms, too.

NEWS | 08/28/2010

Lindenstrauss wins Fields Medal, math world's top honor

Mathematics professor Elon Lindenstrauss received a Fields Medal — one of the most prestigious awards in the field of mathematics — at the International Congress of Mathematicians, which concluded today in Hyderabad, India. The medal is awarded at the quadrennial conference to between two and four mathematicians under 40 years old.

NEWS | 08/26/2010

Princeton drops behind Harvard in U.S. News rankings

Princeton dropped to second place after Harvard in U.S. News & World Report’s ranking of America’s best colleges and universities, according to an Associated Press story posted around 4 p.m. on Aug. 16 at whiznews.com.

NEWS | 08/15/2010

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