News

Class of 2011 comes out in record numbers for annual freshman gala

Last Saturday evening, Prospect Avenue looked a little like the East Egg of F. Scott Fitzgerald ?17?s ?The Great Gatsby.?Though Nick Carraway and his Long Island neighbors were nowhere to be found, a record number of freshmen donned tuxedos and gowns, strutting their stuff en route to the Freshman Formal.Nearly a dozen silver balloons greeted the 777 members of the Class of 2011 who made their way to the Quadrangle Club for the annual event.

Around the Ivies | April 7

Water-saving toilets added to dorms

Residents of Feinberg and Edwards halls were greeted with new, ?green? toilets when they returned to their rooms after spring break, when Facilities staff members installed dual-flushing systems designed to save water.The new toilets allow users to push the flush handle one way to use less water for liquid waste and another way to release more water for solid waste.This is one of several efforts that the University has undertaken to make dorms more environmentally efficient, having been bolstered by the encouragement of student activists and the guidance of the University?s new Sustainability Plan.

Slideshow: Asian festival at Frist

‘Save Forbes’ draws attention to transportation issues

A new P-Rides program is planned to begin next September, Director of Parking and Transportation Kim Jackson explained at the USG meeting last night.The new initiative, which will be named ?On Demand,? will begin service each evening immediately following the last scheduled shuttle bus.

Their favorite things

Upon entering certain faculty offices, guests may find themselves astounded by collections of pennies, gadgets, used books and even robots.

Weather is FUNdamental

Before I reveal the winner of the Million Fun Buck Challenge, I have two important messages. The first concerns the imminent arrival of spring, which is set to overtake the mid-Atlantic at long last following today's rain event.

Parking to decrease as construction begins

Beginning in fall 2009, sophomores hoping to bring cars to school will no longer be able to register and park their vehicles in Lot 23 due to spacing constraints.?The changes in the parking come about because we are going to be losing a number of parking lots and spacing as part of the [10-year] Campus Plan,? said Kim Jackson, director of parking and transportation.Jackson said that parking locations for faculty, staff and students will be shifting in the next few years as construction outlined in the Campus Plan begins.

Matchmaker, mathmaker

Imagine this: You?ve dressed in your best, tried hard to impress at a series of interviews, and your future is on the line.

Sunstein: Federal judges prone to conformity

Federal judges are heavily influenced by the political ideology of other members of their court, renowned legal scholar and theorist Cass Sunstein told a full house in Dodds Auditorium last night when he delivered the Fourth Annual Bernstein Lecture in legal scholarship.Sunstein said his investigation of the phenomenon began five years ago when his research assistant, while searching through environmental law cases to see how judges appointed by Democratic presidents voted, noticed that Democratic appointees were ?more environmentally friendly? if they were with two other Democratic appointees but not than with one or two Republican appointees.Sunstein added that research into other types of cases yielded similar results.?There is a dramatic shift once Democratic appointees are sitting with two other Democratic appointees,? said Sunstein, the most-cited law professor in the country.

Visa regulations pose challenge

Applying to graduate school or finding a job is burdensome enough for most seniors, but international seniors and recent alumni are faced with an additional barrier: getting a visa.

Former dean retires from Northwestern presidency

Henry Bienen, former dean of the Wilson School, recently announced his decision to retire from his position as president of Northwestern University effective August 31, 2009, a position he has held since leaving Princeton in 1994.Bienen?s long relationship with Princeton began in 1966, when he took a position as an assistant politics professor.

Gingrich: Healthcare system is outdated

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich outlined his vision for healthcare policy to a packed audience in Dodds Auditorium yesterday, criticizing the current system and proposing strategies for its overhaul.Gingrich was invited to speak at the Wilson School by former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist ?74, who introduced his fellow Republican and reminded the audience that Gingrich had been a history professor before his election to the House of Representatives and was used to giving lectures.Gingrich began with a sweeping condemnation of the current healthcare system, bemoaning its inefficiencies.Specifically, he faulted the healthcare industry for being too slow to switch to efficient technologies.?In the average doctor?s office, when a UPS person walks in, they double the amount of technology in that office,? he said.While most businesses are moving toward computer records, government healthcare still relies on paper, Gingrich said.?Paper prescription leads to 8,000 people a year dying,? Gingrich said, adding that a hospital in Georgia switched to computer prescription entry and reduced medication error by 93 percent.?Why isn?t that the national standard?? he asked.Gingrich said that rather than replacing inefficient systems, the government is instead sinking more money into them.

Senator’s daughter recounts trauma after terrorist attack

One day in June 2003, Sarri Singer was sitting by the window on a bus in Jerusalem when a suicide bomber ended his life and changed hers.She felt ?two pieces of metal [that] hit ... hard against each other and vibrate back,? she told the audience of her lecture, titled ?Healing the Wounds of Terror,? last night in Robertson Hall.The pressure from the shockwave would not allow her to put her hands up to feel her face, she explained.Singer suffered from extensive injuries, including ruptured eardrums, cut-up legs, a broken collarbone and burnt hair and was left with a burned and bruised face.

Debenedetti named new SEAS vice dean

Pablo Debenedetti, Class of 1950 professor in engineering and applied science and acting chair of the department of chemical engineering, has been appointed to the newly created position of vice dean of engineering and applied science. The new position will unify the responsibilities of the associate dean for administration and the associate dean for academic affairs, said Vincent Poor GS ?77, dean of the engineering school.

Student artwork stolen

A Public Safety report filed Tuesday reported four student paintings and drawings stolen sometime in the past week from the Lewis Center for the Arts at 185 Nassau St.

Job conditions in dining halls drive away student workers

Forbesians call for new shuttle route

Whether hiking to Frist Campus Center or the E-Quad, Forbesians face a longer journey than most. The time-consuming walk, which can be especially difficult in freezing temperatures, prompted Waqas Jawaid ?10 to create saveforbes.com, an online petition asking for a shuttle stop at Forbes.The petition is addressed to University Services General Manager Paul Breitman and the USG and can be signed by students, faculty and staff.

Hughes Medical Institute offers summer science grants

Inspiration struck Tim Branigan ?10 when he was in seventh grade. ?I was watching a melodramatic movie in my science class about a historical depiction of how Watson and Crick discovered the structure of DNA,? he explained.

Acceptance rate drops to 9.25 percent

The University has admitted a record-low 9.25 percent of the 21,369 applicants who sought admission to the Class of 2012.