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University expects financial stability despite lower endowment returns

University expects financial stability despite lower endowment returns

Despite the recent economic downturn, the University community has little reason to worry about its endowment and capital campaign money, Provost Christopher Eisgruber ?83 and Vice President for Development Brian McDonald ?83 said Tuesday.The endowment grew 5.6 percent in the last fiscal year, compared to 24.7 percent the year before.

NEWS | 10/21/2008

Fleischmann ’86 eschewed Wall Street

At a time when his classmates were flocking to Wall Street, Andy Fleischmann ?86 realized that he wasn?t interested in that career path.

NEWS | 10/21/2008

Google CEO Schmidt '76 to join Obama campaign

Google CEO Eric Schmidt ?76 will join presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on the campaign trail, making his debut at a panel discussion on the economy today in Florida.Schmidt has advised the campaign on technology and energy issues, supporting policies to improve technology in society, The Wall Street Journal reported.Though Google has a vested interest in issues being discussed in Congress, Schmidt told the Journal that he is supporting Obama in a personal capacity and that ?Google is officially neutral.?On Capitol Hill, congressmen are discussing measures that would limit companies? abilities to target specific consumers through online advertisements.

NEWS | 10/20/2008

Tigers walk for fitness

The Princeton Start! Walking Program held its second annual event last Friday featuring an information fair on healthy living and a one-mile fun walk.

NEWS | 10/20/2008

Raven: Population size creates resource crisis

The rapid growth of the human population in the last half century has led to significant environmental damage that needs to be addressed by a global push toward sustainability, Missouri Botanical Garden president Peter Raven said in a lecture Monday afternoon in McDonnell Hall.

NEWS | 10/20/2008

Endowment returns 5.6 percent

The University endowment earned a 5.6 percent return for the 2007-08 fiscal year and grew from $15.8 billion to $16.4 billion net of spending, Princeton University Investment Company (PRINCO) President Andrew Golden said in an interview with The Daily Princetonian on Monday evening.Since the University closed its books for the past fiscal year at the end of June, however, the endowment has shrunk as a result of what Golden called ?unusually volatile? markets.

NEWS | 10/20/2008

University's lead negotiator leaves to resolve World Bank disputes

Any Princetonian who walks by 179 Nassau St. is likely to point out the red doors of Thomas Sweet, the ice cream parlor on the first floor of the wooden three-story building.

NEWS | 10/20/2008

Professor examines challenges to Korean economy

The current American economic crisis is having a negative impact on the Korean economy and is one of the reasons the dollar-won exchange rate has fluctuated wildly in recent weeks, Korean economics professor Sung-In Jun said at a sparsely attended lecture in Aaron Burr Hall on Monday afternoon.Those monitoring the exchange rate ?don?t even have time to go the bathroom? because the exchange rate changes so rapidly, Jun said.Jun discussed the relationship between the current financial crises in the United States and Korea as well as their similarities to Korea?s financial crisis in the late 1990s.The lecture, titled ?An Introduction to Korean Financial Industry: Challenges and Responses,? was the second in a three-part series on ?The New Korean Economy? directed by Un-Chan Chung GS ?78, former president of Seoul National University and a visiting fellow at the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies.Jun, a professor at Hongik University in Seoul, explained that ?foreign investors who invest heavily in Korean stocks are selling stocks and leaving the country,? creating a ?vicious cycle? in which lack of confidence in the Korean financial market causes people to withdraw money, which then causes the won, Korea?s national currency, to depreciate.There are, however, internal factors influencing the current economic situation in Korea, Jun said, emphasizing the lack of diversification in financial holding companies, ?misbehavior? within financial firms, the lack of coordination among government agencies and the ineffectiveness of the market-sustainability package released by the Korean government last week.Following the lecture, Hyun Song Shin, a University economics professor, offered comments on Jun?s presentation, and the audience had an opportunity to ask questions during a reception.Shin compared the current economic situation to the crisis in 1997, when the exchange rate jumped from 800 to 1,600 won to the dollar.

NEWS | 10/20/2008

Report finds New Jersey voting machines flawed

In two weeks, New Jersey citizens will flock to the polls to fulfill their democratic duty, but they may have good reason to question the results tabulated by voting machines in some districts, according to a report compiled by computer science professor Andrew Appel ?81.The report, titled ?Insecurities and Inaccuracies of the Sequoia AVC Advantage 9.00 DRE Voting Machine,? is the first independent audit of the voting machine model currently used in New Jersey.

NEWS | 10/20/2008

University expands scope of race relations prize

The Princeton Prize in Race Relations will be expanded to consider high school students from 23 regions for the 2008-09 school year, the University announced Friday.Students from Denver, Detroit and Pittsburgh will now be eligible for the prize, which is granted by the Princeton Prize Committee to students who have demonstrated commitment to improving race relations within their schools and communities.?We want to reach out to every school, community group, church and faith-based institution in these regions,? Henry Von Kohorn ?66, chair and founder of the Princeton Prize Committee, said in an interview.The three new cities will join Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Memphis, Miami, Nashville, New York City, Philadelphia, Princeton, Rochester, N.Y., San Francisco, Seattle, St.

NEWS | 10/19/2008

Video: Rep. Rush Holt learns Econ. 101 at McCain protest

Congressman Rush Holt (D-N.J.) listens in on the "I could be McCain's Econ 101 Teacher" by James Coan '09, before giving a speech on energy policy and the environment last week.

NEWS | 10/19/2008

Cartoon exhibit on display at Firestone

As he showed a slide of the Washington Post cartoon ?Nixon Hanging between the Tapes? from 1974, David Greenberg pointed out that President Nixon was uniquely well-suited for caricature because of his ?bushy eyebrows, Pinocchio-like nose and 9-o?clock shadow.?In fact, he said, ?political cartoons tend to be most effective when they are negative in portrayal.?A historian and journalism professor at Rutgers, Greenberg demonstrated to an audience of community members in McCormick 101 on Sunday afternoon how political cartoons are a medium for rampant partisanship and controversy.?It is meaningless to talk about them giving offense,? he said.

NEWS | 10/19/2008

Transportation experts criticize Dinky plans

Bringing the Dinky to Palmer Square might not be a far-fetched idea, a Princeton graduate alumnus and a Princeton professor say.Chip Crider GS ?79 and Program in Transportation director Alain Kornhauser, a professor of operations research and financial engineering, have each proposed an automated transit system in which a set of rail cars would be programmed to go to certain destinations.Kornhauser said in an interview that he envisioned the Dinky as a ?horizontal elevator,? shuttling passengers between Princeton Junction and Palmer Square.?Conversion to an automated operation ? would offer frequent on-demand service at all times,? Kornhauser wrote in a letter to Town Topics in May 2007.

NEWS | 10/19/2008

Professor and screenwriter recount 2000 election controversy

A discussion between Danny Strong, the writer of the Emmy Award-winning film ?Recount,? and politics professor Melissa Harris-Lacewell, drew a crowd of students to Frist Campus Center on Friday evening.The movie, which was screened in the Frist Film and Performance Theatre before the discussion, documents the story of the 2000 presidential election controversy through instances of chaos and political corruption during the battle between then-Vice President Al Gore and then-Texas Gov.

NEWS | 10/19/2008

Labyrinth: Professors’ textbook needs raise costs

Correction Appended

NEWS | 10/19/2008

The 'Prince' Elections 2008 Calendar

A comprehensive guide to The Daily Princeotnian's coverage of the national elections this fall.

NEWS | 10/16/2008

New site Unigo provides student reviews of colleges

Harvard may have beaten Princeton out of the number one spot on the U.S. News & World Report?s Best Colleges list this year, but Princeton is making a comeback in a different way.Princeton is now the most viewed college on unigo.com, a free website launched in September designed to connect students to colleges.

NEWS | 10/16/2008

Did my laptop write this itself?

Who would do better on your midterms: you or your laptop? Well, your laptop would have instant access to billions of pieces of useful information ? the dates of every Civil War battle, the conjugation of the German verb for ?to bleach,? the most stable conformational isomer of trans-1-ethyl-2-methylcyclohexane ? but only you would be able to walk to the exam room, turn over the test when it?s time to begin, read the questions and hold a pencil to write down the answers.

NEWS | 10/16/2008

Pinning down support for Obama

Behind a door on Nassau Street covered with campaign posters is a group for supporters of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) who hope, with every stamp of a colorful design on a round metal button, to help usher their candidate into the White House.

NEWS | 10/16/2008

Gardner '69 fund brings magicians to campus

Students entering Rocky dining hall for lunch Thursday had no idea that they?d be stepping into a scene out of ?Harry Potter,? as roving magicians sponsored by the David Gardner ?69 Magic Project performed their illusions for students in the dining hall and other places around campus.Lynn Shostack, Gardner?s wife, began the Magic Project shortly after Gardner?s death from muscular dystrophy in 2001.

NEWS | 10/16/2008

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