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Looking forward to a post-thesis life

Looking forward to a post-thesis life

While some students spent Sunday afternoon outside enjoying the long-anticipated spring weather, many seniors were stuck in the depths of Firestone Library, frantically adding the final pages to their theses. For most seniors, departmental deadlines are quickly approaching, with theses for history and English concentrators due on Tuesday.

NEWS | 04/04/2010

USG reexamines grade deflation

USG vice president Sam Dorison ’11 presented the USG’s new grade deflation initiative, intended to study the impact of the University’s grading policy on students’ ability to secure summer internships and full-time jobs, at the USG Senate meeting on Sunday night.

NEWS | 04/04/2010

Students march in D.C. to support DREAM Act

In the wake of recent attention surrounding immigration reform laws, students at Princeton united to form DREAM Team, an organization dedicated to building support for immigration reform at the University. The group takes its name from the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, a bill currently before Congress that would enable children of illegal immigrants to earn permanent residency, provided that they earn a bachelor’s degree or serve in the armed forces for two years.

NEWS | 04/01/2010

U. admits record-low 8.18 percent of applicants to Class of 2014

The University has admitted a record-low 8.18 percent of the 26,247 applicants to the Class of 2014, making this year’s admission process the most selective in University history. Only 2,148 students were offered admission, as the University experienced a 19.5 percent increase in applicants from the 21,963 students who applied for the Class of 2013.

NEWS | 04/01/2010

New course scheduling tool launched

University students now have access to what USG president Michael Yaroshefsky ’12 called “the Swiss Army Knife of course-selection tools.” The Integrated Course Engine, or ICE 2.0, which was launched on Wednesday, allows users to access multiple sources of information related to class scheduling all on the same webpage.

NEWS | 04/01/2010

Student-produced opera 'Rosaleen' will debut this weekend

Though her thesis is due in just four days, Alexis Rodda ’10 isn’t spending much time in her carrel in Firestone Library. Instead, the English major is working onstage at Richardson Auditorium, preparing to perform in an opera that she wrote and directed, and that is unrelated to her senior thesis.

NEWS | 04/01/2010

NJ Transit plans cut to rush-hour train service

New Jersey Transit has proposed cutting a weekday northbound train on the Northeast Corridor line that passes through Princeton Junction at 5:41 p.m. and collects passengers that take the 5:24 p.m. Dinky train from Princeton to Princeton Junction. The rush-hour train is one of four passing through Princeton Junction that is slated to be cut in May or June as part of a reduction in the state’s public transportation costs, following final approval later this month.

NEWS | 04/01/2010

Time-out, Princeton

According to estimates provided by the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students, roughly 80 to 100 students voluntarily withdraw from the University each year for psychological difficulties or conditions requiring intensive off-campus treatment. Students cited a variety of reasons for taking time off from the University, such as mental stress linked to academics, substance abuse, physical health problems and deep-seated psychological issues. They noted that academic and social pressure on campus significantly impacted their decisions and also led to a certain degree of stigma upon their return to campus.

NEWS | 03/31/2010

Students make music with video game controllers

With a joystick in each hand, Hayk Martirosyan ’13 looks like he is ready to play a video game when tinkering with his new invention. But he is actually playing an electronic instrument that he created as a midterm project with classmate Flannery Cunningham ’13, who also made an instrument for the assignment.

NEWS | 03/31/2010

After Cornell suicides, University emphasizes counseling resources

The apparent suicides of three Cornell undergraduates within one month have prompted discussion among Princeton students and health officials about the University’s own measures to address student mental-health issues.

NEWS | 03/31/2010

Sipprelle looks to unseat Holt in November election

Rep. Rush Holt — a Democrat who represents New Jersey’s 12th congressional district, which includes Princeton Borough and Princeton Township — will come up for reelection in November in what what is shaping up to be a difficult election cycle for Democrats nationwide. Though Holt won his 2008 election by 27 percentage points, the Republican Party’s likely challenger, Scott Sipprelle — who lives in Princeton Borough and set up his campaign headquarters on Alexander Road — poses a greater threat to take Holt’s seat than recent opponents, political analysts said.

NEWS | 03/31/2010

PWR plans April Fools' Day protest

Today, April Fools’ Day, members of Princeton for Workers’ Rights plan to protest the University’s alleged continued investment in HEI Hotels and Resorts by presenting President Shirley Tilghman with thank you cards every hour that commend her, the University Board of Trustees and PRINCO — the Princeton University Investment Company, which manages the University’s endowment — on their attention to ethics and divestment from HEI.

NEWS | 03/31/2010

Karp ’10 awarded Hertz Foundation fellowship

Mechanical and aerospace engineering major David Karp ’10 has been awarded a $250,000 graduate fellowship from the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation to fund up to five years of doctoral study. The “no-strings-attached” fellowship, awarded to undergraduate and first-year graduate students studying engineering or the applied sciences, can be used to fund graduate study at one of roughly 50 schools deemed “tenable” by the Hertz Foundation. Karp, who learned that he won the fellowship on Monday night, said he plans to use the funding to attend Stanford after spending a year studying in Britain.

NEWS | 03/30/2010

University plans to restructure international offices

All University offices that handle international student affairs will relocate to 36 University Place this fall, the University announced on Tuesday. The offices will be reorganized to improve coordination and offer expanded services to international students and faculty, many of which will be consolidated under the Davis International Center.

NEWS | 03/30/2010

Exercising moderation

Walter Snook ’13 has two hours of ROTC physical training each week but also exercises one-and-a-half to three hours per day on his own. “It’s a very good stress reliever,” he explained. “When you’re working out, you can let your mind go blank and let it wander to whatever you want to think about, especially if you’re doing something like running or long-distance — something peaceful.”

NEWS | 03/30/2010

Little chance of failure

If you’re a senior, there’s a good chance the last thing you want to read about is failing your thesis. But fear not: A system of checks makes it difficult for students to slip through the cracks and fail their cumulative assignments, departmental representatives said. None of the professors interviewed for this article said they could recall more than a handful of cases in the last decade in which students did not graduate on time, finished thesis in hand.

NEWS | 03/30/2010

Joining the network

As tens of thousands of high school seniors eagerly anticipate their admission decisions, 86 of them already consider themselves part of the Princeton community. One day before regular decisions are released, the “Princeton Class of 2014!” group on Facebook — a forum for members to meet future classmates, learn about the University and discuss shared concerns — already boasts roughly 86 members and 40 wall posts.

NEWS | 03/30/2010

Freshman continues lawsuit over test timing

Last September, the University denied Metcalf-Leggette’s request for double time on examinations. The University then granted Metcalf-Leggette 50 percent extended time in January, but in a recently filed amended complaint, she maintained that the additional accommodation still leaves her at “the bottom of a slanted, not level, playing field” among her peers, the Princeton Packet reported.

NEWS | 03/29/2010

International film festival expands in second year

Last summer, Fareed Ben-Youssef ’09 crisscrossed Europe, attending film festivals on a postgraduation grant from the University and viewing more than 60 films in countries like France, Italy and the Czech Republic.

NEWS | 03/29/2010

Pushed to the limit

University students experience levels of stress similar to those of other college students nationwide, as reported by a National College Health Assessment survey, John Kolligian, director of University Health Services, said in an e-mail. But some undergraduates said they believe that specific aspects of the University’s environment — from selective social groups to classroom competition — promote unhealthy levels of stress.

NEWS | 03/29/2010

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