Just before the first presidential debate of 2004, the atmosphere in the Frist Campus Center multipurpose room and the first floor TV lounge resembled the quiet anticipation preceding a championship game.
Over 100 people are crowded into a committee room of the N.J. State House, sitting in rows of wooden chairs, standing in the back and even lining the hallways.
After nearly six inches of rain fell Tuesday night as the remnants of Hurricane Jeanne doused campus, the University began Wednesday to clean up.Unsuspecting students found themselves drenched in a matter of seconds as heavy rain fell at sporadic intervals."I came out of lecture at 2:30 p.m when it just started . . . In the minute [I walked] from Frist to [my dorm], my clothes were soaked completely through," Brian Muegge '05 said.Even the best-prepared students could not avoid the standing water and runoff on campus.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported a 30-year historical average of 3.32 inches of September rainfall for the Trenton area.
When students take a course with a great professor, word will always get out.Whether through the Student Course Guide's reviews, a professor's popularity or word of mouth, some courses which began with modest enrollments may double or even triple in size.One such course is COS 109: Computers in Our World.
Imagine, for a moment, explaining to a six-year-old boy ? his name is Danny ? what it means to be the provost of Princeton University.You explain that it's "sort of like being the vice president of the University.""So, what do you do?" he asks."Well, I help the president," you reply after a pause, trying to keep things simple as possible.Danny looks at you, wide-eyed and smiling.
A student ? who refused to be named, so we will call him Peter '05 ? knows there are no shortcuts to the top.Last week he climbed the new ellipse dormitory.
Explaining Thanksgiving Day to foreigners can be tricky business. For Julia Philip '06, the problem was finding the correct props."I was trying to find a picture of a pilgrim, and I couldn't," she said smiling.
At 9:45 p.m. one night last week, Christine Galib '08 went to Frist Campus Center to satisfy a late-night food craving.
With one trip to the U-Store, one walk through the aisles and one swipe of his credit card, Alex Lenahan '07 purchased his books for this semester.
Mechanical and aerospace engineering professor Naomi Leonard '85 was named a 2004 MacArthur Fellow for her work on constructing underwater gliders that survey the ocean.A MacArthur Fellowship, commonly referred to as the "genius award," includes a $500,000 "no strings attached" grant for five years.Leonard's work, focused primarily on how to program the gliders to efficiently survey the ocean, was funded by the Office of Naval Research.The vehicles can be used both to predict the weather and in a military context."We could understand what an environment is like quickly and determine if it is safe for people," Leonard said.
Ipek Yosmaoglu, a Turkish citizen, applied to the University's graduate school before Sept. 11, 2001.
NEWARK ? Kit Toller '08 stood in busy Penn Station here holding a decaying, rain-soaked Kerry/Edwards campaign sign he had just been using as a makeshift umbrella."Next time, I'll bring a rain jacket," he said.Toller and several other students traveled through a torrential downpour to Newark on Tuesday to hear Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards speak at a rally before hundreds of supporters.Recent polls showing a tighter race than had been expected in New Jersey, a traditionally "blue" ? Democratic-leaning ? state, gave particular political importance to Edwards' visit.
The new Borough plaza, located next to the public library in downtown Princeton, is scheduled to be completed after fall break.The plaza, funded in part by the University, remains nameless at this point.
"In vino veritas," the saying goes. Yes, in wine there is truth, but for students in Bartending 101, offered by the Princeton Bartending Agency, wine also offers friends, instruction and lots of cash.The question is: Does the course offer real alcohol?According to Mia Boserup '05, manager of the bartending agency, colored water, not real alcohol, will be used in the course this year.She declined to comment on whether or not real alcohol was used in past years.
When Carlos Gorbea '98 reads about a soldier dying in Iraq, he searches for the details that might save his life.News of a fallen soldier has always affected Gorbea, who grew up in a military family.
The University announced Monday that it has hired John Kolligian to fill the vacant director of counseling and psychological services post.Marvin Geller retired from the position in 2003 after 35 years on the job.In January, the University created a committee chaired by Vice President for Campus Life Janet Dickerson to search for a suitable replacement, University Chief Medical Officer and selection committee member Daniel Silverman said.A consulting firm was also hired to aid in the search.
Great ideas come to people in the strangest of ways ? some occur while shaving, others in the middle of a long run.
Dean of the College Nancy Malkiel issued updates on the implementation of the anti-grade inflation policy ? passed by the faculty last April ? at this year's first meeting of the Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC).The meeting, open to all members of the University, also covered Greek life issues and the first annual Pre-Rade.Students began the discussion by asking whether the new grading principle would hurt their chances at employment or admission to graduate school."I expect to send out thousands of letters to graduate institutions and employers showing how Princeton grades are real grades, unlike the inflated grades of our peer institutions," Malkiel said.In the report, Malkiel laid out her schematic for practically enforcing the new grade inflation policy.Beginning next academic year, she said, the percentage of A's awarded by each department and certificate program will be made available to both the University and the public at large.USG president Matt Margolin '05 said he assumed the University had a plan to counter the potential loss in student interest in departments publicized as awarding too many A grades.Malkiel said that, in addition to devising the peer review system, she met with each of the departmental chairs.
Is your economics professor who can't seem to communicate outside of the supply-demand graph equally as competent an instructor as your fluent Italian literature professor?
There is no hiding in the office of Cornel West GS '80.Hundreds of faces, unmoving yet alive, peer at anyone who enters the room from the covers of books and recordings.From Chekhov to Coltrane, Kafka to Chuck D, Andre 3000 to Arthur Miller, the religion professor has arranged the works that line his walls to face outward, so that from every angle he is surrounded by his "soul mates."West achieved this effect in his office in 1879 Hall by filling his mahogany shelves first with rows of books arranged as usual, then adding an outer layer of portrait-bearing covers."They challenge me, they keep me honest, they help me aspire to high standards of integrity," West said of the figures, all chosen because of their "unique fusion of Socratic questioning and prophetic witness against the backdrop of tragicomic hope."West's office is one example of how Princeton's luminaries decorate their workspaces.
