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Ricks: War's flaws have many roots

Ricks: War's flaws have many roots

Though President Bush and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld '54 have made mistakes in the planning and execution of military operations in Iraq, they are not solely responsible for the war's failure, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and Washington Post staff writer Thomas Ricks said in a lecture yesterday.Speaking to an audience of over 100 in Robertson Hall, Ricks argued that the war represents a failure of American institutions on multiple levels ? primarily a failure of the United States' Middle East policy.

NEWS | 12/05/2007

Vander Ploeg wins Marshall Scholarship

The University's sole 2008 Marshall Scholar is Sarah Vander Ploeg '08, a Wilson School major and opera singer who is heavily involved with campus musical groups.Vander Ploeg will use the prestigious prize to study at London's 600-student Royal College of Music next year.

NEWS | 12/05/2007

Science program's popularity grows

Three years after the University launched the integrated science sequence, the program has seen participation nearly double as more students choose its interdisciplinary offerings over more traditional science classes."We are looking for, and attracting, students who are deeply interested in the sciences," physics professor William Bialek, who teaches part of the sequence, said in an email.

NEWS | 12/05/2007

Proxes usable for buying textbooks

Students will be buying textbooks in a whole new way next semester at Labyrinth Books. After filling out a course slip and receiving the books from Labyrinth staff, students will be able to pay with their proxes.Since last month, Labyrinth Books and the Nassau Street U-Store have been accepting payment via Paw Points, which are stored on students' proxes, and Tower Cards, which charge costs to academic departments, University Services General Manager Paul Breitman said.

NEWS | 12/05/2007

HIV policy tightened in China

A new Chinese government policy requiring HIV testing for foreigners entering the country and citizens who have been abroad for over a year is eliciting doubt among faculty and students as to its probable efficacy in preventing the spread of the AIDS virus.Put into effect on World AIDS Day, Dec.

NEWS | 12/04/2007

Universities to spend billions on expansion

The University's plan to add between 1.5 and 2 million square feet of new structures to campus over the next 10 years is just one of the five major expansion projects currently underway in the Ivy League.

NEWS | 12/04/2007

Anthropologists condemn Defense Department project

Something has been bothering anthropology professor John Borneman lately.He is concerned that, as the Defense Department steps up efforts to make strategic use of anthropologists during military conflicts, his discipline may lose the capacity for independence and objective research it requires in order to survive."Could this be the end of anthropology as we know it?" he asked.Though Borneman's fear may seem far-fetched, he's not the only one worried.

NEWS | 12/04/2007

Borough, Township debate landfill

Princeton Borough and Township officials sparred over the ownership of a landfill during a joint meeting at Borough Hall last night.The dispute was over 127 acres of land in the northeastern corner of the Township.

NEWS | 12/04/2007

U. to subsidize birth control

The University began to subsidize the cost of oral contraceptives for students on Dec. 1, after legislation withdrawing federal subsidies for campus health centers caused the price of contraceptives at colleges to skyrocket and triggered a national uproar earlier this year.The subsidy reduces the price of oral contraceptives on campus from $15 per pack to $6, Interim UHS Director Janet Finnie said.

NEWS | 12/04/2007

Weinstein wins by a landslide

USG vice president Josh Weinstein '09 won an overwhelming victory in the race for USG president, garnering more than 80 percent of the 2,500 votes cast in polling that ended yesterday at noon.Weinstein follows the path of his predecessor, Rob Biederman '08, in springboarding from vice president to president despite campus-wide controversy.Photos of Weinstein wearing black face-paint and dark clothing posted on ivygateblog.com, which covers Ivy League news, provoked concerns about whether voters would be concerned by the possible racial connotations of his costume."There are some people who seek to use race as a weapon to divide us," Weinstein said.

NEWS | 12/04/2007

U. refuses to commercialize study abroad program

This summer, officials associated with study abroad programs at several U.S. colleges and universities were revealed to have accepted free trips and other gifts from foreign study providers in exchange for pushing undergraduates toward certain programs.Companies that organize study abroad programs were documented as offering school administrators trips to visit their overseas campuses, providing office services to campus study abroad offices and giving bonuses and commissions on student-paid fees to school officials, according to an article in The New York Times. Some universities charged students full at-home tuition, paid a fraction of the money to an outside provider or overseas university and then pocketed the difference.But Princeton officials say the University does not accept such offers, and it does not conduct itself in the manner described by the Times."Princeton has no exclusive relationships for study abroad with any provider, nor does the office receive money or perks as a reward for sending students to particular programs," Nancy Kanach, associate dean of the college and director of the study abroad program, said in an email.Critics say such exclusive relationships with providers limit student options and drive up costs, asserting that some schools require students to use one of several approved providers or agents.

NEWS | 12/03/2007

After 'blackface' discussion, BSU endorses Weinstein

The Black Student Union decided to endorse Josh Weinstein '09 for USG president late Sunday night despite concerns raised last week by the release of photos showing the candidate in a costume considered by some to be racially insensitive.The endorsement comes after the group held an open forum Saturday afternoon with Weinstein, currently USG vice president, and his opponent, U-Council chair Sarah Langberg '09, to discuss the implications of the photos and the USG's overall representation of minority students' issues.

NEWS | 12/03/2007

Fighting snow and hypothermia, rugby team bikes to Ireland

The temperature was 23 degrees on Sunday at 3 a.m., and light snow was falling.But that didn't stop Mike Smith '10 from stripping down to a pair of underwear and getting on a bicycle stationed in front of Frist Campus Center.It was all for a cause, though: getting his team, the Princeton Rugby Football Club, to Ireland for spring break.Over nine-and-a-half days of biking ? which began last Thursday at 11 a.m.

NEWS | 12/03/2007

OIT considers modern e-mail clients

Amid grumbles from scores of students and faculty members, the University is considering shifting from the webmail client it has used for several years to a more modernized email program.The University currently uses Sun Java System Messenger Express 6.2, an application last updated in 2004 and far behind current technologies.

NEWS | 12/03/2007

Popular vote bill advances in N.J.

A New Jersey Assembly committee advanced a bill on Nov. 19 that would require the state's electors to cast their 15 Electoral College votes based on the winner of the national popular vote.This move "could encourage more attention to New Jersey by presidential candidates," said Brandice Canes-Wrone, professor of politics and public affairs in the Wilson School.

NEWS | 12/03/2007

U. to keep its current calendar

The faculty unanimously approved the 2011-12 academic year calendar at yesterday's faculty meeting, prompting one professor to request that the administration report on the status of the proposed calendar changes that took center stage last spring.Possible calendar alternatives put forth last year included extending the first semester's duration from 12 to 13 weeks, eliminating Fall Break and classes during midterm week, extending Thanksgiving and winter breaks and having fall term examinations before winter break.Dean of the College Nancy Malkiel, who chairs the Committee on the Course of Study that led the review of the current calendar, emphasized that there had been a stark lack of agreement regarding the issue of calendar revision."What became very clear to us is that there is no consensus on the part of faculty and no consensus on the part of students that there is an alternate calendar that is preferable to the calendar we have now," she said.

NEWS | 12/03/2007

Weinstein wins USG presidency

Current USG vice president Josh Weinstein '09 has defeated U-Council chair Sarah Langberg '09 in the USG presidential election. ? More to come.

NEWS | 12/03/2007

USG discusses redesigning Point

In the middle of the voting period for the USG's top officer positions, the USG Senate met last night for its weekly meeting, discussing the Point web portal and plans for food service in Dillon Gym, among other issues.Point, which underwent a partial redesign last spring, is again a target for improvements, USG webmaster Bruce Halperin '09 and information technology committee chair Phil Stern '09 said.Though the site conveys basic information, such as event listings and dining hall menus, a series of focus groups found that the site should be reorganized to better communicate important information.

NEWS | 12/02/2007

Let it snow

Last night's snowfall leaves a light dusting on dorms in Rocky College. Though it was the second snow of the year, it was the first time snow has stuck to the ground.

NEWS | 12/02/2007

The myriad faces of Princeton

Decades ago, as a teenager in southern Kentucky, Gale Cherry picked up a hitchhiker who wanted a ride to Princeton.After driving for a few minutes, though, Cherry realized that the traveler was bound not for her own small Kentucky town of Princeton but for Princeton, N.J."This was before we knew there were other counties in the world," Cherry said in her pronounced southern drawl.

NEWS | 12/02/2007

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