News

New director joins McCarter Theatre

Timothy Shields, recently named the new managing director of McCarter Theatre, will take the helm in January with plans to focus on increasing attendance in spite of the recent economic downturn.?The challenges are always ones of trying to be relevant to a broader audience,? Shields explained in an interview.

Daily Princetonian Video: Alan Blinder '67 and Harrison Hong on the financial crisis

Veteran administrator Harmon '78 leads alumni outreach

Justin Harmon ?78 has returned to Princeton as director of development communications after spending the last eight years at Wesleyan University.Harmon was Princeton?s director of communications from 1987 to 2000, when he left for a position at Wesleyan.

Professor gets $2.5 million grant

Molecular biology professor Ileana Cristea has been named one of the three inaugural recipients of the $2.5 million Avant-Garde Award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), which is part of the National Institutes of Health.The award grants each recipient $500,000 annually over the course of five years and is aimed at encouraging research into high-impact HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment in drug abusers.Cristea?s research focuses on virus-host interactions for Sindbis fever using a methodology she developed that ?allows tracking of protein localization and elucidation of interacting partners? and can be applied to HIV as well, a NIDA statement said.Cristea, who joined the University in February 2008, will use

Panel advises campus conservatives

Students packed into Robertson Bowl 001 on Tuesday evening to hear two Rhodes scholars and other conservative alumni discuss how to stay true to conservative beliefs amid a general campus atmosphere that they said is too liberal.The discussion, moderated by politics professor Robert George, included Rhodes scholars Sherif Girgis ?08 and Christian Sahner ?07, Cassy DeBenedetto ?07, Daniel Mark ?03 GS and Cason Cheely ?03.The panel members gave advice on how to overcome the ?double standard? of being conservative in a liberal campus environment, including the social concerns they faced when they arrived at school.

Alums face hazy future after Lehman Brothers collapse

Just three weeks into her full-time job, Anita Gupta ?08 sat at her desk Monday and wondered how she would continue to pay the rent on her newly leased New York City apartment if she suddenly became unemployed in the wake of one of the largest Wall Street shakeups in decades.After graduating last spring, Gupta joined the ranks of more than 100 University alumni employed at Lehman Brothers, the financial firm that officially filed for bankruptcy early Monday morning after failing to find a buyer.Over the course of the weekend, employees said, it gradually became clear that no potential buyer would be willing to merge with the firm without assistance from the federal government.

Students fear Ike’s destruction

For students hailing from coastal Texas, the start-of-classes malaise that often supplants the elation of Lawnparties weekend was overshadowed by far stronger anxieties about the state of their homes after the destruction unleashed by Hurricane Ike.The tropical cyclone made landfall early Saturday morning on the island of Galveston as a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

Municipalities divided over debt issues

Monetary disputes between Princeton Borough and Princeton Township have exploded in the past month, as the Borough has sought to receive reimbursements from the Township for costs that the Borough bore in administering agencies that serve both communities.The Princeton Packet reported that in July, the Borough had received a $1.68 million payment from the Township.

Joint Borough-Township meeting reveals residents' discontent with recreation facilities

Princeton residents expressed frustration with the current status of Princeton?s recreation facilities and urged both municipal governments to take action at a meeting with Borough and Township officials last night.Teri McIntire, a Township resident, told members of the municipal governments to ?step out of the sandbox, stop kicking sand at each other and get [park improvements] done.??We have 6-year-olds peeing in the bushes,? McIntire said, noting the need for restrooms in Princeton parks and the deteriorating condition of Community Park Pool.

ORFE department welcomes new building

Though the new home for the operations research and financial engineering (ORFE) department and the Center for Information Technology Policy (CITP) was scheduled to hold classes this fall, the building?s construction has not been completed in time.?Even though [we] moved into the building last week, offices and hallways are cluttered with boxes, and the classrooms, studios, labs and lounges are not finished yet,? ORFE professor Rene Carmona said.Though classes and seminars could not be scheduled as planned for the building this fall, Carmona said that faculty are looking forward to ?the tremendous potential for change offered by the new synergies and interactions which the new building will enable.?Despite the delay, the University has secured funds from a soon-to-be-disclosed donor, ORFE professor and department chair Robert Vanderbei explained, adding that the donor and the building?s names will be revealed soon.Located between Mudd Library and Wallace Hall, the 46,000-square-foot structure will house offices for faculty and graduate students, research studios, conference rooms, a large lecture hall and a number of smaller classrooms.Carmona noted that this construction comes at an opportune time, as there have been unexpected increases in the number of ORFE majors over the past few years.?A good number of incoming freshmen had heard about ORFE while in high school,? Carmona said, explaining that ?some of them chose Princeton because of [the program].?Erhan Cinlar, ORFE?s founding department chair, said in an e-mail that the ?growth in the size of the faculty and research staff? was another reason for the new building.Cinlar lauded architect Fred Fisher for doing a ?superb job? in creating a design that satisfies the need for both ?private research space? and interactive commons areas.

Lance GS ’82 runs for seat in Congress

New Jersey State Senator Leonard Lance GS ?82 has been in the state?s service since 1991, but come November, the Wilson School alumnus hopes to finally be in the nation?s service.Lance, a New Jersey native who received his MPA from the Wilson School, was first elected to the State Senate in November 2001, after serving on the General Assembly since 1991.

Campus patrols get new three-wheelers

Officer Luke Miller used to cover his walking patrol zone about twice each shift. Now he can make that trip five or six times and respond to emergency calls more quickly on a T-3 Motion personal mobility vehicle.Public Safety purchased two T-3s last spring to help officers cover the campus while remaining approachable and environmentally friendly.

Man struck and killed by NJ Transit train

Shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday, New Jersey Transit (NJT) train 7887 on the Northeast Corridor Line scheduled for arrival in Trenton at 1:32 a.m., ?struck and fatally injured an adult male trespasser on the track west of the Princeton Junction station,? NJT spokeswoman Courtney Carroll said.The train engineer saw the trespasser, 28-year-old South River, N.J., resident Kevin Greim, standing on the tracks, Carroll said, explaining that the engineer then proceeded to blow the horn and initiated emergency procedures but was unable to stop in time.

'Girls' Night Out' gives frosh preview of the Street

Rather than putting on makeup or pre-gaming, about 30 freshman women prepared for their first night at the eating clubs last Thursday evening by asking for some friendly advice.

U-Store offers more food, technology

Three flights of stairs no longer impede students from satisfying their late-night snack cravings at the U-Store, and the completion of renovations this summer has made the store a consolidated, 24-hour establishment that U-Store president James Sykes said he believes is much more focused on student needs than it was in the past.In an interview, Sykes said that he is most excited about the added convenience that the U-Store will give students this year.

New Muslim, Hindu advisers seek to mentor

Following announcements made last year and over the summer, three religious leaders on campus ? Coordinator for Muslim Life Sohaib Sultan, Coordinator for Hindu Life Vineet Chander and Chabad chaplain Eitan Webb ? have begun their first weeks in their University-appointed positions.Sultan?s appointment follows the departure of the first Muslim chaplain, Khalid Latif, two summers ago.

Organization advocates against same-sex marriage

In an effort to fulfill what they perceived as a need for a national conservative organization devoted solely to marriage issues, politics professor Robert George and conservative author Maggie Gallagher founded the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) in 2007.

Spring SCORE to open at 7:30 a.m.

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Butler construction on schedule, half done

Less than a year from its scheduled completion, construction of the new Butler College is halfway done, and the college is on schedule to open next fall, project manager Bill Zahn said during a media tour this summer.

Lupe Fiasco to perform at Lawnparties

Grammy-winning rap and hip-hop artist Lupe Fiasco, best known for his hit song ?Superstar,? will be the headline act at Lawnparties this Sunday.After signing with Atlantic Records in 2004, the Chicago native got his first big break in the music industry with a verse in Kanye West?s hit single ?Touch the Sky.? He has since gone on to record two solo albums, collaborating with stars like Jay-Z, Soundtrakk and Fall Out Boy?s Patrick Stump.The concert, which begins at 3:30 p.m.