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Professors debate stem cell research

Professors debate stem cell research

Physician and biomedical ethics expert William Hurlbut squared off against molecular biology and public affairs professor Lee Silver on the controversy surrounding embryonic stem cell research Monday in a panel moderated by former University president Harold Shapiro GS '64.Hurlbut and Silver agreed that science struggles to set a non-arbitrary line during human development to separate a mere clump of cells from a human being entitled to human rights.Hurlbut, a consulting professor at Stanford University, interpreted this arbitrariness as reason to define life as beginning with conception, which would enable the definition to encompass all the possibilities of an embryo's ontological standing.

NEWS | 04/18/2005

Protestors decry firing policies at Burger King

Matthew Nickoloff '04 and his girlfriend Leah Cornell held anti-Burger King signs Saturday afternoon by the roadside outside the fast food restaurant on Route 206, protesting Burger King's indifference to its Honduran franchise's unjust firing practices.Cornell and Nickoloff, who works for the Office of Religious Life, held posters for an hour to raise awareness for their cause.Their protest was just one of several demonstrations in the United States and Canada planned by Americans for a More Just Society (AJS). Saturday's protests in more than 15 cities were the culmination of similar protests that have been taking place nationwide since February.AJS organized these protests in response to the illegal actions of the Honduran Burger King franchise last year.

NEWS | 04/17/2005

A (drag) queen is born

Men in evening gowns and women in suits and ties strutted under the moonlight Saturday night as part of the first All-Ivy Drag Competition."Drag taps into peoples' souls and allows them to live vicariously through me for a moment," said drag queen Hedda Lettuce, one of the event's two emcees.

NEWS | 04/17/2005

Student models walk the runway for Operation Style

Beautiful models wearing the hottest designer clothing strolled down the runway Friday night.While the scene could have passed for Paris or Milan, it all took place on the Frist South Lawn at Operation Style, an annual charity fashion show.

NEWS | 04/17/2005

Shapiro to head stem cell panel

New Jersey acting Gov. Richard Codey announced plans to create an ethics panel headed by University President Emeritus Harold Shapiro GS '64 to oversee state-sponsored stem cell research in a speech at the Wilson School on Friday.Codey, a vocal advocate for state-sponsored stem cell research, said the state "cannot afford to wait" before it budgets additional money for stem cell research."Science and the benefits of this research, economically and on a human level, cannot be put on hold until New Jersey's financial stars align," he said.

NEWS | 04/17/2005

Sarbanes '54 criticizes Republicans

Senator Paul Sarbanes '54 (D-Md.) spoke about the importance of civil discourse and the open exchange of ideas to a democratic society at a banquet Friday.Speaking to members of Whig-Clio, the senator, a former Wilson School major, praised Whig-Clio for its dedication to these principles.Currently serving a fifth term, he is Maryland's longest-serving senator; he plans to retire this year.

NEWS | 04/17/2005

'Things Fall Apart' writer talks on Afro-pessimism

Chinua Achebe ? a Nigerian novelist best known for his 1958 novel "Things Fall Apart" ? spoke Friday about Western prejudice and misconceptions of Africa.

NEWS | 04/17/2005

Major choice linked to high school

Ian Segal '08 loved studying science at the Harvard-Westlake School, a prep school in Los Angeles.

NEWS | 04/14/2005

Codey to speak on stem cell funding

The public policy issues surrounding stem cell research are the focus of today's conference in Robertson Hall, sponsored by the University's Policy Research Institute for the Region.Udai Tambar, who organized the event as assistant director of the Policy Research Institute, said acting New Jersey Gov.

NEWS | 04/14/2005

Competition pits Ivies in a battle of the drag

Drag queens and kings from across the Northeast will compete for laurels in Saturday night's first-ever All-Ivy Drag Competition, held on campus and judged by President Tilghman and other administrators."Having never attended such a competition, I have no expectations, just interest and curiosity," Tilghman said.The event, organized by Pride Alliance co-Vice President Paul Pawlowski '07, will feature up to 10 students from Yale University, the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, Berkeley College in New Jersey.The contestants will perform for five minutes in cross-gendered apparel on Frist South Lawn, and then answer questions in the style of a Miss America pageant.Judges include LGBT Student Services Coordinator Debbie Bazarsky, who is helping to plan the event, as well as Tilghman, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students Thomas Dunne, Associate Director for Programs at Frist Campus Center Laurie Hall and Butler College Director of Studies Darryl Peterkin.The night will be emceed by professional cross-dressers Luster, a drag king from Ohio, and Hedda Lettuce, who is, according to her website, "the premiere drag comedienne/singer in the country." The duo will perform the opening and closing acts of the event.Princeton's representatives ? drag queen Rachman Blake '07, or "Honey Loquacious," and drag king Jennifer Ruskey '07 ? earned their spots after winning the drag ball held at Terrace Club in October.Blake "is an amazing dancer and just has the body of a goddess and is an amazing performer," Pawlowski said.

NEWS | 04/14/2005

When art meets science, the sky's the limit

There is a myth that scientists observe only the functional technicalities of their subjects ? that the hexagonal pattern on the surface of silicon, or the complex beauty of lava under a microscope, strikes only the eyes of an artist.

NEWS | 04/14/2005

University expects subpoena Monday

The Office of the General Counsel expects to receive a subpoena Monday from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) asking the University to disclose the identities of 25 students accused of music copyright infringement, University spokesman Eric Quinones said.As part of its latest campaign to curb piracy on college campuses, the music association filed lawsuits Wednesday against 25 University students ? and a total of 405 students at 18 colleges ? accused of illegally downloading music on the Internet2 network."The judge who received the filing from the RIAA issued an order granting the RIAA's request to deliver subpoenas to the University," Quinones said.The industry trade group had notified Princeton in late March that it planned to sue 39 students, but RIAA president Cary Sherman said in a conference call earlier this week that no more than 25 lawsuits would be filed against students at any one school.One of the 39 originally notified Princeton students, a junior who asked not to be identified, said Thursday night that he still did not know if he would face litigation.The University will wait for the RIAA subpoena to arrive before it notifies the 25 students, Quinones said.The RIAA's lawsuits targeting Princeton students ? collectively known as BMG Music et al.

NEWS | 04/14/2005

Service award honors couple

Community House has recognized Sharon Bailey '75 and her husband John Bailey with a Legacy of Service Award for launching educational and mentoring programs three decades ago.Sharon Bailey, who studied anthropology and teacher preparation at Princeton, volunteered at Community House as an undergraduate and became its director after graduation.

NEWS | 04/14/2005

Committee to reconsider calendar

The academic calendar will be reviewed this fall by the Committee for the Course of Study, a group of about a dozen administrators and students that oversees changes to the curriculum."It has been about 15 years since the issue had been raised, and it seemed as though it was time to review where we are," President Tilghman said in an email on Wednesday.Dean of the College Nancy Malkiel, who chairs the committee, said that given the length of time since the academic calendar was last discussed, it was "appropriate to open a general discussion next year about whether that calendar still serves us well in accomplishing our educational objectives."The committee will focus on three parts of the calendar: semester length, the timing of the exams and whether fall break should coincide with Thanksgiving."We're one of the few schools that have this schedule structure, so it begs the question about whether or not we should look at changing it," said Undergraduate Life Chair Tom Brown '07, one of the students who raised this issue with the administration.Harvard, the only other Ivy League school on the same schedule as Princeton, will hold a faculty vote later this spring on whether to revamp their current calendar and curriculum.

NEWS | 04/13/2005

Applied math track planned

The Department of Mathematics announced last week that, beginning with the current sophomore class, math concentrators will have the option of pursuing a new track in applied mathematics.Though the applied math track will not be officially available until the 2006 fall semester, several classes from the new curriculum developed by math faculty will be available to students this fall.The math department has traditionally offered only a pure mathematics track to undergraduates, as well as a certificate in Applied and Computational Mathematics."[The math department] is looking to give people more ways to be math majors," said Robert Calderbank, professor of math and electrical engineering.Calderbank, director of the Program in Applied and Computational Mathematics (PACM), said the applied math track will be more of a modification of the rules currently in place than a separate concentration."We want to say that there's a certain number of [pure math] courses you'd have to remain true to in the applied math track, but we'd like to see a certain number of courses with an applied flavor," Calderbank said.Paul Nelson '06, a math concentrator, said that a junior seminar on the wavelet series piqued his interest in applied math.

NEWS | 04/13/2005

Tilghman to speak at NYU graduation

President Tilghman will speak at graduation day at New York University after being selected to receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree."Shirley Tilghman is a leader in science and in higher education, and she was chosen to be a recipient of an honorary degree because of the outstanding example she sets in pursuing knowledge and fostering academic excellence," said NYU spokesman John Beckman in an email.NYU graduation ceremonies differ from those at most universities in that there is no keynote speaker.

NEWS | 04/13/2005

Facing the fire

Delwin Olivan '08 might be facing a multi-thousand dollar lawsuit, but he's going to have to wait a day or two to find out.Olivan is one of 39 University students awaiting word of whether they are the latest targets of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in its efforts to curtail file-sharing on college campuses across the country.Tuesday's announcement that the RIAA is suing 25 University students is leaving targeted students wondering whether they should settle, and other file-sharers wondering if they are next."They're trying to get publicity and make an example out of some people," Olivan said in an interview with The Daily Princetonian.

NEWS | 04/13/2005

Felten wins EFF award

Computer science professor Edward Felten was recognized with the Pioneer Award on Wednesday night honoring his work as a free speech activist and his scientific research in the high-tech and Internet world.The Pioneer Award, given annually by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) since 1991, is presented in recognition of "significant and influential contributions to the development of computer-mediated communications or to the empowerment of individuals in using computers and the Internet," according to an EFF statement."It was a great honor to receive this award," Felten said in an email.

NEWS | 04/13/2005

RIAA to sue 25 Princeton students

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) will file federal copyright lawsuits today against 25 Princeton students accused of illegally trading files on the Internet2 network, industry president Cary Sherman announced Tuesday.A total of 405 students at 18 colleges nationwide will be targeted for lawsuits as part of the industry trade group's latest campaign to curb file swapping on college campuses, Sherman said in a conference call.The RIAA sent 39 "pre-subpoena" notices to Princeton in late March, but indicated Tuesday that it intends to sue no more than 25 students at any one college."There are 14 lucky students who will have escaped a lawsuit and 25 who will be sued," Sherman said.University spokesman Eric Quinones could not confirm whether any of the 39 targeted students had been notified as of Tuesday."When we received the notices of pending subpoenas last month, we did notify all of the students associated with the computers where the alleged acts of infringement occurred," he said in an email.

NEWS | 04/12/2005

Whig-Clio votes to back ROTC

Members of Whig-Clio debated the future of Princeton's Army ROTC on Tuesday night, a week after a petition signed by 250 students called on the USG to take action against the group.Following the debate, audience members voted that Whig-Clio should support the resolution that "ROTC should stay on campus in its present form" by a vote of 48 to 17.

NEWS | 04/12/2005

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