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Symposium offers grad students chance to present research

The Daily Princetonian

Symposium offers grad students chance to present research

For the first time, graduate students from various disciplines were able to display their research together for students at Friday's Graduate Research Symposium in Whig Hall.The winning presentation, as judged by her peers, was EEB graduate student Maria Ramos's study of the conflict between reproductive success and the ability to outrun predators in male spiders.Other entrants included Christine Percheski's "Does Mothers' Money Matter?," Nancy Khalek's "Continuity and Change in Byzantine and Early Islamic Damascus" and Nicole Avena's "Sugar-dependence in rats: similarities to drug abuse."These presenters, from the sociology, history and psychology departments, respectively, represented the diversity of the academic work sought by the symposium's organizers."There's an interdisciplinary aspect to it," said committee member Shin-Yi Lin.Karla Evans, also a committee member, agreed that an important goal was "to give an opportunity to graduate students to develop skills in presenting their work to people who are not specialists in their field . . . and to think about the significance of the work."Organizers also wanted community members to participate, and several were present, talking with students about their projects."For a lot of [graduate students], we're being funded by the public and there's really no way the public gets anything out of it, so this was a good opportunity to address that," Lin said.Avena said she appreciated the symposium because "in the psychology department we're only exposed to research in our own department . . . It's been interesting to see what other people are doing and meet people."The organizing committee began setting up the symposium over the summer, which involved fundraising and calling for students to submit abstracts, or 250-word summaries of their research, in preparation for a more thorough poster presentation.

NEWS | 11/07/2004

'An Evening for Darfur' raises funds

The Daily Princetonian

'An Evening for Darfur' raises funds

Ten campus groups will perform in Richardson Auditorium Friday evening to raise money for genocide victims in Darfur, Sudan.Amity Weiss '07 envisioned "An Evening for Darfur" more than two months ago and, with help from fellow sophomore Dustin Kahler, coordinated a committee of 11 other undergraduates to make it a reality."There's always lectures on issues, but there's very rarely anything that tries to bring in a larger part of the community," Weiss said.

NEWS | 11/04/2004

Ng leads OIT effort to protect campus computers

The Daily Princetonian

Ng leads OIT effort to protect campus computers

Mary Prabha Ng was an undergraduate English major at the University of Buffalo until she accepted a bet from her then-boyfriend over whether or not she could learn how to work with computers.Several years later, that boyfriend is her husband, and Ng is on the front line of defense in protecting the University's computer network from of hackers, viruses and worms.Her expertise and skills in developing and enhancing computer security systems led OIT to hire her last year.Ng previously worked at the Department of Defense's Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Rhode Island.There, she helped to design computer programs, research inscription methods, and enhance security systems on unarmed underwater vehicles.At Princeton, Ng focuses on protecting the University's network security, improving intrusion protection systems and performing security risk assessments.With the help of two Intrusion Prevention Systems ? which examine traffic coming into the network, ? Ng and her colleagues can detect harmful viruses and worms.The mysql-slammer worm is especially problematic because it is, as Ng explained, "very prevalent in networks.""A big thing we're working on now is spam," Ng said.

NEWS | 11/04/2004
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ACLU president kicks off pre-law conference

The Daily Princetonian

ACLU president kicks off pre-law conference

A pre-law conference kicked off Thursday with a talk by American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) President Nadine Strossen, who described her affinity for the legal profession."Since I've gotten out of law school, I did many things," Strossen said, "but . . . I really, really love being a lawyer."The half-hour talk in Robertson Hall was attended by roughly 40 people.The talk and conference was one of the first major initiatives of the Pre-Law Society, begun last year."This [conference] has been in the works for a very long time," society president and founder Derek Raphael '06 said.

NEWS | 11/04/2004

Student puts science in global perspective

The Daily Princetonian

Student puts science in global perspective

Jordan Amadio '05 is a physics major. He loves science, but his interests do not end there. Amadio spent last summer traveling throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, getting a glimpse of life in a very different world, one which he knows can be aided by the miracles of the science he studies.But "science and engineering students aren't given a societal perspective," Amadio said, which is why he has become a leading force behind a new University program called the Global Science Initiative.The initiative came about through a "convergence of people with similar aspirations," Amadio said.The backers include President Tilghman, who has been involved with practical implications of science throughout her career, and Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science Maria Klawe.In addition to administrators, students, faculty and outside organizations are contributing ideas for the initiative.There are three components to the initiative, Amadio explained: a University-led component, a student-led component and a component led by outside partners.The University-sponsored component, called the Global Science Program, is led by professor Wole Soboyejo of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.Plans for the program include new courses stressing science from a policy perspective, new science-based study abroad opportunities and partnerships with both the Woodrow Wilson School and the engineering school, Amadio said.In partnership with the Tanzanian NGO Aang Serian, the program will sponsor the Tanzania Village project, which will educate local peoples about the relevance of science to their lives and focus on health, nutritional and environmental issues.The University will provide financial support to Aang Serian and will get students involved in planning curricula and teaching, largely during the summer.Amadio has spearheaded the student-led component of the initiative which he hopes will form an independent organization called the Global Science Corps, "a Peace Corps for scientists and engineers."The last component of the initiative will incorporate scientific organizations outside the University.

NEWS | 11/04/2004

'Super Size Me' star Spurlock describes his greasy adventure

The Daily Princetonian

'Super Size Me' star Spurlock describes his greasy adventure

"Super Size Me" filmmaker Morgan Spurock spoke at the University on Thursday. The film follows Spurlock as he eats nothing but McDonald's food for 30 days.Speaking to a large Princeton audience at McCosh Hall six months after his movie's release at the invitation of the Student Health Advisory Board, Spurlock described his adventure to documentary stardom.He said he got the idea for "Super Size Me" on Thanksgiving Day of 2002 as he was lying on the couch watching television.At the time, two obese girls were suing McDonald's for causing their health problems, and Spurlock watched as a reporter interviewed a McDonald's spokesperson for the evening news.The spokesperson denied any link between McDonald's and obesity, calling fast food "perfectly healthy.""I said, come on," Spurlock told the McCosh audience.

NEWS | 11/04/2004

Scholars develop algorithm to investigate cancer genetics

The Daily Princetonian

Scholars develop algorithm to investigate cancer genetics

Researchers from Princeton's Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics and Computer Science Department have developed a new tool to systematically identify the chromosomal alterations that cause cancer.Olga Troyanskaya, assistant professor of computer science at the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Chad Myers GS and fellow researchers created a computer algorithm that works to measure gene expression and pinpoint where chromosomal amplifications and deletions that cause cancer occur."Most types of cancer involve cells growing too fast according to some capacity and not dying when they are supposed to," Myers said.

NEWS | 11/04/2004

Primus lectures on future of U.S. economy

The Daily Princetonian

Primus lectures on future of U.S. economy

Just a few hours after the outcome of the presidential election became clear, congressional economist Wendell Primus, a Democrat, faced a tough task as he spoke Wednesday on the likely legislative changes that will occur in the United States over the next few years.Primus currently serves as the minority staff director of the Joint Economic Committee for Congress.

NEWS | 11/03/2004

Sophomores Ebersole, Huang remembered

The Daily Princetonian

Sophomores Ebersole, Huang remembered

Several sophomores took a break from their studies on Wednesday to honor the memories of Melissa Huang '07 and Alan Ebersole '07.The officers of the Class of 2007 handed out small orange and black lapel ribbons, much like the well-known cancer awareness ribbons, in Frist Campus Center from 1 to 4 p.m."We wanted people to look up from their studies and realize that there is more going on in the world," Class of 2007 President James Williamson said.The tragic deaths of Huang in early September and Ebersole over Fall Break left many students shocked.

NEWS | 11/03/2004

Bush wins as campus stays sharply divided

The Daily Princetonian

Bush wins as campus stays sharply divided

As news of Sen. John Kerry's concession of the election to President Bush spread across campus Wednesday, students contemplated the idea of a second term with disbelief, despair or uninhibited elation.Declaring the end of a bitter election that remained unresolved well after the polls closed, Bush said on Wednesday, "America has spoken, and I'm humbled by the trust and the confidence of my fellow citizens."Early Wednesday morning, results in a handful of states ? including pivotal Ohio ? remained unclear, meaning neither candidate held an electoral college majority.

NEWS | 11/03/2004

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