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U. to expand substance-free housing

U. to expand substance-free housing

With room draw approaching, four residential colleges have decided to expand substance-free housing options in certain dorms to meet increasing demand from underclassmen.The staff at each college ? including masters, assistant masters, deans and administrators ? held meetings earlier this year to determine the exact location and number of rooms they would designate substance-free.Butler College's substance-free living area will move from 1922 Hall to Lourie-Love.

NEWS | 02/10/2005

Bradford hurt in house fire

Wilson School professor and Associate Dean David Bradford remains in critical condition after being taken to Temple University Hospital early Tuesday morning.Bradford suffered third degree burns "to a large portion of his body" in a fire in his home on Pine Street, near Rialto's Barbershop, according to a statement from the Princeton Borough Police Department.Bradford's wife called 911 Tuesday around 1:00 a.m.

NEWS | 02/09/2005

Seniors gear up for Annual Giving

By Arielle Gorin princetonian staff writerYsa Rodriguez '05 spent an hour Tuesday night learning how to convince her friends to pay the University more money.Rodriguez, who chairs the Annual Giving 2005 committee, is among 150 seniors kicking off the AG project this week.

NEWS | 02/09/2005

Tri-Delta charter revoked

The national organization of the Delta Delta Delta (Tri- Delta) sorority will withdraw the charter of its Princeton chapter at the end of this academic year, effectively shutting down the sorority on campus.According to Michelle Shimberg, the national president of Tri Delta, the official date of revocation is May 11.Shimberg said that Tri Delta has been working with Princeton's chapter closely in hopes of making internal improvements."The chapter did not score at a level that puts them in accredited status," she said.

NEWS | 02/09/2005

Into the woods

They cross frozen streams and pine forests, navigate past barbed wire and "No Trespassing" signs and brave snow banks and torrential downpours.

NEWS | 02/09/2005

Dining halls to serve late-night desserts

Several residential colleges are providing late-night snacks second semester to satisfy the nocturnal cravings of underclassmen and enrich students' social experience."Harvard has a similar program and it seems to work well in providing a late night study space as well as a 'community' space within the residential setting where students can gather for informal quiet conversation," Dean of Undergraduate Students Kathleen Deignan said in an email.On recent nights, hungry up-campus students could munch on cookies, apples, coffee, hot chocolate, three kinds of cake and make-your-own peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the Rocky Dining Hall."I think it's a great idea because I know a lot of students go to the U-Store at night.

NEWS | 02/09/2005

Stem cell initiative proposed

Molecular biology labs at the University may receive a financial boost if New Jersey votes to pass a $380 million state initiative.

NEWS | 02/08/2005

Cyanide death likely a suicide

County officials confirmed Tuesday that their "working assumption" is that a sophomore who was found dead in her dorm room in September died by suicide.Though the Mercer County medical examiner determined in September that Melissa Huang '07 died after ingesting cyanide, the manner of her death remains an open question nearly six months later.Though "all of the factors point to [her death] being a suicide," according to county assistant prosecutor Angelo Onofri, he cautioned that the case will not be closed ? and a manner of death announced ? until results from a state computer crimes lab are available.In January, Huang's personal computer was sent to the New Jersey State Police High Technology Crimes and Investigations Support Unit for analysis "just to determine if there's anything that may help shed some light on the case," Onofri said.He declined to comment on what, if anything, the State Police are looking for on Huang's computer or why the computer was taken in January, three months after her death.

NEWS | 02/08/2005

Plans for Ivy Club renovation underway

Ivy Club received preliminary approval last week for a 5,300 square foot expansion that would increase its floor space by almost 25 percent.

NEWS | 02/08/2005

Bush's proposed budget may affect funding

President Bush's proposed 2006 federal budget calls for the elimination of certain loans for higher education and limited increases in research funding, both of which could affect universities across the country.Congress began deliberating Tuesday on the budget, which would cut more than $1.2 billion in Perkins loans, a type of low-interest loan available to undergraduate and graduate students.The cut will likely have little effect on Princeton students, according to undergraduate financial aid director Don Betterton, because aid is primarily provided through University grants."Since we don't give initial student loans, the University only has a modest amount of loan activity compared to other schools," he said.But the University does provide some aid in the form of federal loans, he said.

NEWS | 02/08/2005

Taylor to continue fight for Hubble

Following NASA's announcement Monday that it will scrap plans to re-service the Hubble Space Telescope, physics professor and Nobel laureate Joseph Taylor called the decision "a great pity for astronomy."The decision came despite the unanimous recommendation from a 20-member NASA assessment committee ? of which Taylor was a member ? that the Hubble be serviced."NASA in particular, the agency that had commissioned the study and the report, decided that it didn't like the recommendations and has not followed the advice that we provided," Taylor said."Consequently, the president's budget does not have funding in it for the Hubble servicing."Taylor, who won the 1993 Noble Prize in Physics for his discovery of a new type of pulsar, said he was surprised by the announcement's timing.Sean O'Keefe, a NASA administrator who recently resigned, has been outspoken in criticizing the report on the grounds that the proposed mission would be too risky."I thought that they'd wait until a new administrator was chosen before making a decision," Taylor said.Acknowledging safety concerns, he said NASA is performing comparably dangerous operations, such as flights to the International Space Station."Our committee pointed out that the difference between safety issues of fixing Hubble and each trip to the International Space Station was very small, and that there was clearly a big difference between the safety of 25 missions to the space station as opposed to one to Hubble," he said.The cost of the job has also been a thorny issue.A National Academy of Sciences committee led by Taylor recommended that the Hubble be serviced.

NEWS | 02/08/2005

McCurry '76 says Iraq limits Bush's agenda

Mike McCurry '76, a former adviser to John Kerry and Bill Clinton, said at a Wilson School panel Monday that the president's missteps in Iraq would constrain his options during his second term."Spreading freedom is a noble cause," McCurry said.

NEWS | 02/07/2005

University reports rise in endowment

The University's endowment grew by about $1.2 billion during the 2003-04 fiscal year, according to a report released in late January by the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO).That represents an increase of 13.7 percent for the University ? less than Harvard University's 17.5 percent growth and Yale University's 15.5 percent growth.Princeton's endowment now stands at $9.9 billion.

NEWS | 02/07/2005

Tilghman renews pledge to hire women

President Tilghman renewed her pledge to support women faculty in science and engineering at a faculty meeting Monday, in the wake of the controversy surrounding Harvard president Larry Summers' recent comments.The remark, Tilghman's second public statement on the subject, came toward the end of a meeting that addressed a range of issues including the chemistry department's expansion plans and a planned revision of University course offerings.Presiding over the meeting, Tilghman was asked to comment on the controversy by Maria Klawe, dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science.Though Klawe did not mention Summers by name, she referred to "a certain president of another school who is prepared to sacrifice his career for the sake of [certain statements regarding] women engineers."Summers recently came under fire for suggesting that the lack of successful women in scienceand math-related careers might be due to "innate" differences between the genders.In response, Tilghman said she could "say with absolute confidence that the ground at Princeton is extremely fertile for talented women scientists, mathematicians and engineers" starting their careers."We're prepared to be the Ellis Island," she said, suggesting Princeton could serve as a haven for female academics in the sciences.Graduate school dean William Russel, a chemical engineer, reported earlier in the meeting on the chemistry department's plans to expand, including the possibility of a new building.Russel said the department is striving to "launch itself into the upper ranks [of chemistry departments] nationwide." In particular, the department is looking at what subfields of chemistry will be most important in the future and which of the University's other departments might be "critical partners" in interdisciplinary efforts, he said.Russel explained that plans for a new building are still in the "information-gathering stage," but that a conceptual design of the building was outlined in the late 1990s.A more detailed report on the chemistry department's efforts is expected later in the spring.Other issues raised during the meeting included the creation and removal of courses in various departments ? which were all approved unanimously ? as well as this year's record number of undergraduate applications.Dean of the College Nancy Malkiel, who presented the proposed curriculum changes, said that the number of proposed new courses was normal but the large number of proposed deletions ? 31 ? was "perhaps less usual." She explained that such deletions become necessary every five or six years, due to events like the departure of faculty members.Tilghman then asked Dean of Admission Janet Rapelye to report on the record-high number of applications to the University this year.

NEWS | 02/07/2005

As volumes go digital, Firestone here to stay

Despite rapidly accelerating moves toward digital reference systems at the University and nationwide, Firestone Library won't be replaced anytime soon.Google announced plans in December to digitize portions of several library collections, including those at Harvard University, Stanford University, Oxford University and the University of Michigan.

NEWS | 02/07/2005

A lost brother

It's early morning as Miles Cava '07 churns out laps alongside his Princeton teammates in DeNunzio Pool.

NEWS | 02/07/2005

Apple computers gain popularity

The "cool factor" of Apple computers, with their sleek design and eye-catching ads, has barely chipped away at the market dominance of PCs nationwide.

NEWS | 02/06/2005

Defying trend, University supports ROTC

Yale Law School announced Feb. 1 that it will prevent military recruiters on campus starting this spring.The decision follows a Jan.

NEWS | 02/06/2005

'Frat' founded to promote health, inclusion

With its tongue-twisting Greek name, Epsilon Upsilon Omicron (EYO) might sound like the latest fraternity or sorority to arrive on campus.

NEWS | 02/06/2005

State weighs amendments to death penalty procedures

LAWRENCEVILLE ? Nine University students joined community members and religious leaders for a public hearing on proposed changes to the state's lethal injection regulations in a full conference room Friday.Held by New Jersey's Department of Corrections (DOC), the hearing provided concerned citizens a chance to speak about the proposals before the DOC votes on whether to approve or change them.The first proposed amendment would allow media access to death row prisoners in the three days prior to execution.

NEWS | 02/06/2005

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