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Contractors in bribery case enter guilty plea

Contractors in bribery case enter guilty plea

Five contractors who worked on the soon-to-be-opened Lewis Library have pleaded guilty to paying more than $100,000 in bribes to a construction manager to obtain construction contracts.Four contracts were involved, valued between $660,000 and $1.9 million each, according to The Times of Trenton, which first reported on the case in July.The United States Attorney?s office has notified Skanska USA ? the construction contracting company initially hired to oversee the construction of the metal-draped science library designed by Frank Gehry ? that an employee of the company is suspected of receiving ?unauthorized payments? in 2004 and 2005, Tom Crane, Skanska?s senior vice president for communication, confirmed in an e-mail.Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for the U.S.

NEWS | 09/10/2008

Student charged with felony assault

Thomas Kneeland ?10 of Wayne, Pa., was taken into custody by Borough Police and charged with felony assault last Friday, according to the Borough Police?s online blotter and The Times of Trenton.

NEWS | 09/10/2008

Wilson students dine 'en plein air' during renovations

Wilson College residents returning to campus are adjusting to a new dining routine, as the reopening of Wilcox Hall has been delayed until late September at the earliest because of complications in renovations to the building.These students are being accommodated by other residential college dining halls until Monday, when a tent set up in the Dodge-Osborne courtyard will open as a temporary replacement for Wilcox.

NEWS | 09/10/2008

Lewis Library makes a grand debut

After six years of design and construction, the Lewis Library opened its doors today in time for the start of the fall 2008 semester.Designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry, the new 87,000-square-foot building now houses the astrophysics, biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, statistics and geosciences and map collections, all of which were formerly scattered around campus.The bold style of the building, whose massive sloping planes of sheet metal stand apart from the traditional neo-Gothic designs that pervade campus, aims to be an emblem of the University?s mission of innovation and creativity.?As a university that aspires to do everything at the highest possible level, we should be building buildings that the great architects of today are interested in designing,? President Tilghman said in an interview.?We are a university that lives on the boundary between great traditions, which we adore, and being on the forefront of discovery,? she said.

NEWS | 09/10/2008

University continues to send U.S. News peer reviews

College-bound high school seniors and their parents took note this summer when Princeton lost its first-place spot to Harvard in U.S.

NEWS | 09/10/2008

Seniors find use for old fridges

Graduating seniors leaving dorm life behind often abandon their compact refrigerators. Five members of the Class of 2009 have seen this as an opportunity to start a business reselling those appliances.Prospect Fridge and Mattress, which promises ?discount refurbished fridges of many sizes, models and brands at the lowest prices available,? according to the group?s website, was founded by Mark Smith ?09, Adam Sanders ?09, James Burgess ?09, Anthony Rossettie ?09 and Peter Lambert-Cole ?09.

NEWS | 09/10/2008

China revokes visa for Olympic gold medalist Cheek '11

Just hours before the Opening Ceremonies in Beijing, Olympic gold medalist Joey Cheek ?11 was told that his visa to attend the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing had been revoked by the Chinese government for his efforts urging China to help make peace in the war-torn region of Darfur.The 2006 speed skating champion co-founded Team Darfur, an organization of Olympic athletes who seek to draw attention to violence in the Darfur region of Sudan.

NEWS | 09/07/2008

Teen hospitalized in Frick lab accident

A summer program participant was seriously injured after ingesting liquid nitrogen in a University chemistry lab in August.The young man was sent to the hospital in critical condition, but his status was later upgraded to stable.Borough Police Lt.

NEWS | 09/07/2008

Record $54 million raised in 2007-08 Annual Giving campaign

The University received $54.1 million in the 2007-08 Annual Giving campaign, amassing the highest total since the inception of yearly fundraising campaigns in 1940.This year?s total is a $5 million improvement from the 2006-07 campaign, which was also record-breaking.This year?s campaign saw participation from 59.2 percent of undergraduate alumni.

NEWS | 09/07/2008

Committee gives green light to bridge-year program

Incoming freshmen who seek a challenge at the start of their college careers will have a new, international opportunity available to them beginning in fall 2009.The University?s ?bridge year? program, originally proposed in February, has been given the green light by the working group appointed to study its feasibility.The new offering will enable students to defer matriculation for a year to participate in community service abroad either through University-affiliated programs such as Princeton-in-Asia or through other established service organizations that meet the University?s criteria.The committee ? a 14-person body made up of students, faculty and staff convened by President Tilghman ? identified several wide-reaching goals for the program, including preparing students for life in an increasingly globalized world, working group and comparative literature department chair Sandra Bermann said.?[The program] should challenge the students to begin to understand cultures other than their own, to think in new ways, gain maturity and begin a life in which service to others is an important ingredient,? Bermann said.

NEWS | 09/07/2008

University awarded $10 million in insurance dispute

The University is entitled to nearly $10 million in insurance money to cover some of its legal fees in the Robertson case, a New York appeals court ruled on June 5.The decision requires the National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, Pa., to honor the full amount of the policy, which was purchased the same year in which two University-appointed Robertson Foundation trustees suggested the changes in the management of the Foundation?s endowment that eventually led the Robertson family to sue the University.The company had previously only been willing to pay up to a $5 million sublimit on the $15 million policy.The Appellate Division, First Department of New York?s Supreme Court unanimously denied an appeal by the company and upheld a September 2007 decision by Supreme Court Justice Helen Freedman that awarded Princeton just over $9.6 million.The company argued that the University wanted the funds to fight claims not covered under the insurance policy, but Freedman ruled that National Union had to advance costs for both covered and non-covered claims.

NEWS | 09/07/2008

Judge pushes trial date back to January 2009

The six-year-old dispute over the Robertson Foundation?s $900 million endowment will face yet another delay.

NEWS | 09/07/2008

FBI: Anthrax suspect Ivins obsessed with Kappa

Though investigators have named Bruce Ivins the sole actor in the 2001 anthrax attacks and declared the case solved on Aug.

NEWS | 09/07/2008

Andlinger ’52 gives $100 million for environmental center

The University announced four alumni donations for expanding environmental research in July, the largest of which is a $100 million gift from investment manager Gerhard Andlinger ?52.

NEWS | 09/07/2008

History professor Mahoney GS '67 dies after 46 years at University

Michael Mahoney GS ?67, a dedicated professor of the history of science who spent 40 years at the University, died Wednesday, July 23, at the University Medical Center at Princeton.

NEWS | 09/07/2008

OSHA ruling favors University on gun policy

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has ruled in favor of the University in June, after reviewing a complaint by Public Safety?s Fraternal Orders of Police (FOP) union, who claimed that the University?s policy of not allowing Public Safety officers to carry guns was an occupational hazard.FOP president and Public Safety patrolman James Lanzi originally filed the complaint anonymously in early June after publicly pushing for the University to arm trained Public Safety officers since early 2008.?I?m not surprised, but I am disappointed.

NEWS | 09/07/2008

News & Notes | Sept. 8

Students honored for academic achievementsThis year?s major academic awards, announced at the yearly Opening Exercises at the University Chapel on Sunday afternoon, were overwhelmingly claimed by international students.The Class of 1939 Princeton Scholar Award was shared by Susan Butler ?09 of Florida and Holger Staude ?09 of Germany.

NEWS | 09/07/2008

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