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Physicists Peebles and Gunn win Crafoord Prize

Physicists Peebles and Gunn win Crafoord Prize

Physics professor James Peebles and astronomy professor James Gunn have been awarded this year's Crafoord Prize, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced January 27th.The professors will share the $500,000 award with Cambridge University professor Sir Martin Rees for their "contributions towards understanding the large-scale structure of the Universe," according to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences website.The prize was established in 1980 to support research in scientific fields not considered by the Nobel Prize, which the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences also awards.

NEWS | 02/02/2005

Students build bio-circuits

Four University students presented their designs for biological machines last November at MIT in a federally funded, 10-week competition in the developing field of synthetic biology.The 2004 Synthetic Biology Competition Jamboree marked the end of a contest between students from five schools ? Boston University, Caltech, MIT, Princeton and the University of Texas at Austin ? to "design and build a genetically encoded finite state machine."In other words, students designed basic processors with biological materials.

NEWS | 02/02/2005

Tilghman speaks out on Summers' remarks

In her first public remarks since the incident, President Tilghman, the only Ivy League president who is a female scientist, criticized Harvard President Lawrence Summers' comments about women in science, saying they ignore the "enormous progress" women have made during the last 25 years.Tilghman, an outspoken critic of the gender imbalance in science, said there was an "absence of good social science research that would support the view that innate differences between genders explain their differential inclusion in science and engineering."Summers touched off a firestorm of criticism at Princeton and around the country for suggesting that "innate differences" between men and women might in part explain the lack of women in top science faculties.After protests by prominent female scientists and women's rights groups, Summers pledged last week to strengthen recruitment and support of women faculty at Harvard.He appointed Drew Gilpin Faust, dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies, to set up task forces to determine how to better support women faculty.

NEWS | 02/01/2005

Gehry's science project

Just beside fine tower at the corner of Washington Road and Ivy Lane, a library is rising from the ground.Construction on the new science library, a glass-and-steel structure that may redefine campus architecture, is proceeding on schedule and slated for completion in the spring of 2007, project officials say.Last week, the University named Skanska USA to manage the construction, a $50-million contract for the company."There's nothing else like it in the world," said Skanska USA spokesperson Caroline Buquet.The Peter B.

NEWS | 02/01/2005

Dorm smoking ban approved

Vice President for Campus Life Janet Dickerson approved a ban on smoking in undergraduate dormitories Tuesday after months of discussion with student leaders.The proposal was submitted to Dickerson last fall by the Undergraduate Life Committee (ULC), a subcommittee of the USG.

NEWS | 02/01/2005

Application numbers hit all-time high with Class of 2009

Applications for undergraduate admission hit an all-time high this year, increasing 17 percent from last year's unusually low figure and two percent from the previous record."Frankly, it's a step that came more quickly than I thought it would," Dean of Admission Janet Rapelye said in an interview yesterday.

NEWS | 02/01/2005

On break, serving the community

A group of 14 students chose hammers and nails over beaches and bathing suits last week when they traveled to the Cherokee Nation, a Native American reservation in Oklahoma, for Intersession.The group, coordinated by the Student Volunteer Council (SVC), spent the week reinforcing and weatherproofing an elderly Cherokee couple's house, break trip leader Karen Wolfgang '06 said.

NEWS | 02/01/2005

Students hired for mediation

During their years at Princeton, few students can avoid a messy roommate or neighbor who constantly turns up the bass.

NEWS | 01/31/2005

As raids continue, a community responds

In the wake of another arrest of an area immigrant, a Latino advocacy group raised more than $3,000 in a fundraiser Friday to support immigrants' issues.The event, organized by the Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund, attracted more than 100 people.The money will help jumpstart an immigration information hotline and establish a database of attorneys to whom callers can turn for assistance, according to Maria Juego, chair of the fund."Anyone can call the hotline if they have a fear of imminent arrests or enforcement actions," Juega said.Just two days earlier, Sergio Valdez, a longtime employee of McCaffrey's supermarket in Princeton, was arrested at work in the latest in a series of raids.Valdez had begun the process of obtaining legal status with the sponsorship of his employer, Juega said."He had an order of deportation and was attempting to file for asylum," she said.Valdez was taken to a detention center in Elizabeth.Concern has been rising in the local Hispanic community after arrests of illegal immigrants in four cities in the last month.

NEWS | 01/31/2005

Edwards tapped to lead new fellowship

Wilson School lecturer Mickey Edwards was named director of a new Aspen Institute fellowship to educate young elected officials and reduce partisanship.The Aspen Institute-Rodel Fellowship in Public Leadership will sponsor 24 officials in a two-year program designed to increase civility in public discourse and promote cooperation across party lines.Though the fellowship will primarily target politicians in local and state government, politicians from all levels of government will be eligible to participate.Edwards, who served as a member of Congress for 16 years, said he looks forward to boosting enthusiasm for public office and reducing partisanship."We will be on the lookout for young leaders who are thoughtful, reflective and not knee-jerk," he said.

NEWS | 01/31/2005

UMCP to leave Witherspoon Street site

The University Medical Center at Princeton (UMCP) will move from its current Witherspoon Street site within the next five years, following a unanimous vote by the trustees that oversee the hospital.The trustees of the Princeton HealthCare System (PCHS), which owns and runs UMCP, made the decision Jan.

NEWS | 01/31/2005

U. gives 127 acres of land to state

As part of an ongoing effort to conserve open space in New Jersey, the University recently donated 127 acres of land in Plainsboro and South Brunswick.The donation is a part of a five-year collaborative effort between the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Plainsboro Township, South Brunswick Township and the University to preserve a total of 187 acres of open space.The donated property lies within the state-designated Princeton Nurseries Historic District and adjacent to the Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park.

NEWS | 01/31/2005

Dancing the night away

Gliding across the gym floor in one another's arms, five brightly-clad couples narrowly avoided collision.

NEWS | 01/31/2005

George wins Bradley Prize

Professor Robert George and political commentator George F. Will '66 were named two of the four winners of the Bradley Prize last week, an honor bestowed annually on public intellectuals and academics by the Lynne and Harry Bradley Foundation, a prominent conservative group.George and Will, who will receive $250,000 each, were chosen from more than 100 nominees by a committee made up of conservative heavyweights such as Thomas Rhodes, president of the National Review, a leading national opinion journal; Charles Krauthammer, a syndicated columnist and past winner of the prize; Robert Bork, a renowned legal scholar; and Jean Kirkpatrick, a Regan foreign policy adviser.Michael Grebe, the foundation's president, noted that the winners were being recognized for their achievement with regard to the foundation's purpose, described on its website as "strengthening American democratic capitalism and the institutions, principles and values that sustain and nurture it."Grebe described George, the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, as a "brilliant scholar." He particularly noted George's contributions in the areas of natural law ? a theory that posits that the standards that govern human behavior are, in some sense, derived from the nature of humans ? and constitutional philosophy, along with his service in government as a member of President Bush's bioethics council.Grebe also singled out George's leadership of the University's James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions.

NEWS | 01/30/2005

New editors take over at 'Prince'

What is this?This paper is enormous! And color? What is color doing on it? Has The Daily Princetonian become some sort of wrapping paper?

NEWS | 01/30/2005

Depts. report on grading policy

Students in the chemical engineering department received a memo as they prepared for final exams, confirming that regardless of the size of the class, only 35 percent of the students enrolled would receive A-range grades."Yes, Princeton admits great students and perhaps on an ab solute scale they should all receive A's," departmental representative Jay Benziger said in the memo.

NEWS | 01/30/2005

In its 129th year, the 'Prince' unveils color broadsheet

Today's issue of the 'Prince' features color and a new 12.5x22 -inch broadsheet design, the most striking visual change to the paper in decades.

NEWS | 01/30/2005

Colonial, Terrace fill in first round sign-in

For the third consecutive year, Colonial Club filled in during the first round of sign-ins. Terrace Club also filled, with 93 new members.

NEWS | 01/30/2005

Tuition to rise by 5 percent

Tuition for both undergraduate and graduate students will rise by 5 percent for the 2005-2006 academic year to offset a projected deficit of about $5 million.In a meeting held on Jan.

NEWS | 01/30/2005

Professors criticize Harvard president's comments on gender

Harvard University President Lawrence Summers apologized for the third time Thursday after his suggestion of "innate" differences between men and women in math and science touched off a firestorm of criticism at Princeton and around the country."I deeply regret the impact of my comments and apologize for not having weighed them more carefully," Summers wrote in a letter to the Harvard community.

NEWS | 01/16/2005

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