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Kotkin, Herbst win Guggenheim grants for year-long study

Kotkin, Herbst win Guggenheim grants for year-long study

Two University professors were awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship grants last week. Stephen Kotkin, associate professor of history and Jeffrey Herbst '83, professor of politics and international affairs, are two of the 185 artists, scholars and scientists from the United States and Canada to receive the grant this year from a pool of 3,268 applicants, according to the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation's website."I am thrilled to get the Guggenheim.

NEWS | 04/15/2004

One-on-one with anthropologist Rosen

As part of a new series, the 'Prince' will feature interviews with prominent people on campus. Anthropology professor Lawrence Rosen is today's feature and the fourth interview of the series.Prince: What is your favorite food?Rosen: The folks in "food technology" have a couple of great phrases.

NEWS | 04/15/2004

Students pen creative theses

Students writing creative theses often have to face the inevitable: "There's no money in poetry."For Heather Lichty '04, this unfortunate fact has led her to reassess her career as a writer.

NEWS | 04/15/2004

Departments offer open houses to attract sophs

From intimate dinners to crowded lecture halls, department open houses aid sophomores in deciding which majors to declare and which certificates to pursue. Rolling out the red carpetWhile some departments use their open houses to court sophomores, wooing them with refreshments and access to upperclassmen in the department, others treat the open house as an obligatory annual meeting and simply disseminate information about the major.Smaller departments and programs often put the most effort into their open houses, as a few additional students could make a substantial difference."Other things being equal, a student will receive more attention in a small department, so it is in both our interest and the student's interest for the small departments to put extra effort into recruiting majors," Scott Tremaine, chair of the astrophysical sciences department, said.Some departments and programs fear that they will be overlooked ? or students simply will not know about their existence ? if they do not aggressively publicize themselves."Astronomy is not a subject that forms part of the standard high school education in this country, so we find that many students don't even think about it as a possible major or possible career," Tremaine said.

NEWS | 04/15/2004

Behind the legend: Newman denies namesake tradition

In a letter to the University a few weeks ago, actor Paul Newman's attorney expressed concern over Princeton's 24-beers-in-24-hours tradition that occurs each year on April 24."Mr. Newman is disturbed by the use of his name in conjunction with this alcohol related event and he would like to bring an end to this tradition," the letter said.The attorney inquired about the origins of the tradition and urged the University to put an end to the practice, after apparently misconstruing it as a University-sponsored activity, said Dean of Undergraduate Students Kathleen Deignan.Deignan said she responded to the letter to clear up the misunderstanding."We clarified that [Newman's Day] is not sanctioned by the University and in fact we go the other way ? we try to stop it," she said.As the disputed legend goes, Newman gave a speech on campus in which he said, "24 beers in a case, 24 hours in a day.

NEWS | 04/15/2004

The quest for friends — thefacebook.com

The letter was outdated by the telephone, the telephone by email, email by Instant Messenger, and now the newest fad, thefacebook.com, is supplanting them all.As of Thursday, 1,702 University students comprise only a fraction of the 56,551 students from 16 colleges that have joined the online social networking database."Joining thefacebook.com has practically changed my life.

NEWS | 04/15/2004

Spatt '75 appointed SEC's chief economist for two-year term

While it seems inevitable that a Yalie will be in the White House for the next four years, Princetonians can still be proud that a Tiger will help guide the economy.The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has named Chester Spatt '75 as its next chief economist and director of the commission's Office of Economic Analysis.Spatt is currently the Mellon Bank Professor of Finance and director of the Center for Financial Markets at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business."I am pleased to welcome Dr. Spatt to the Commission staff at such a critical time for our financial markets," SEC Chairman William Donaldson said in a March 31 press release.

NEWS | 04/14/2004

McDonald's to pay Slaughter over $50,000

If confirmed later this spring as a new member of the Board of Directors of the McDonald's Corporation, Wilson School Dean Anne-Marie Slaughter '80 will receive $50,000 annually, plus an additional $1,000 for each meeting she attends, a spokeswoman for the company said this week.Both the annual retainer and the per meeting amounts are the standard compensation for board members and are outlined in the literature the corporation distributes to shareholders in advance of their annual meeting, spokeswoman Anna Rozenich said.In addition, she said, directors receive $1,000 for any executive meetings they attend which are not held in conjunction with Board meetings.Slaughter is traveling this week and could not be reached for comment.The company announced Slaughter's nomination on April 8, and shareholders will vote to confirm her appointment at their annual meeting on May 20.McDonald's has recently been looking to add to its board, and, in the process, to find a young, more diverse group, Slaughter said last week.To that end, the company has already brought in three new independent directors since 2003, and Slaughter will be the fourth, McDonald's Chairman and Chief Executive Jim Cantalupo said in a statement.Slaughter, a preeminent scholar of globalization and law, said she was very interested in beginning her work on the board, noting that McDonald's is a company on the "frontier of globalization"

NEWS | 04/14/2004

Laxative gives witty analysis of campus life

Campus publications often struggle to bridge the gap between humor and political commentary, but David McIlroy '06 and Freddie LaFemina '06 are attempting to do just that with their new publication, The Laxative.The title, underpinned by the motto "Comic . . . Relief," is consistent with the magazine's playfully irreverent tone.McIlroy also writes for The Daily Princetonian's 'Street' section.The Laxative, issued fortnightly, is a compilation of pseudo-serious political articles, which, while expressive of definite perspectives, are clearly sardonic ? or, fittingly, lax.The greeting on The Laxative's homepage emphasizes just this balance between humor and substance: "Each issue will feature calculated attempts to make you laugh and make you think."By both founders' accounts, the priority appears to be comedy, an element the two judge to be generally lacking in other campus publications."Our basic mission is essentially to be funny," McIlroy said.

NEWS | 04/14/2004

Caraiani wins prestigious Putnam prize at math competition

Ana Caraiani '07 earned the title of Individual Putnam Fellow and won the prestigious Elizabeth Lowell Putnam Prize at the Putnam Mathematical Competition.

NEWS | 04/13/2004

Faculty gives Malkiel's grade inflation proposal mixed reviews

Nearly a week after the University released a set of proposals aimed at reducing grade inflation, the faculty has begun to discuss the proposals within their departments in preparation for the April 26 faculty meeting.Despite the strong support the proposals seem to have garnered from department chairs, other faculty members remain divided in their opinions.Many professors expressed skepticism over whether the proposals will actually benefit students and be successfully implemented."I haven't really developed a strong reaction yet, but I think the main concern for me and the faculty I've talked to is whether the 35 percent [limit for A-range grades given by a department] recommendation is going to be workable," religion professor Jeffrey Stout said.

NEWS | 04/13/2004

University delays opening Whitman

The opening of Whitman College and the corresponding increase in the size of the University student body will be delayed by one year until 2007, officials said Tuesday.Vice President for Facilities Michael McKay said "the official cost estimate that came in this past fall was higher than originally expected.

NEWS | 04/13/2004

USG considers response to grade inflation

Representatives of the USG Senate managed to contain their objections to the University's proposals to combat grade inflation during their meeting Monday night long enough to endorse a proposal to expand student involvement in administrative committees and include more USG input when planning social events.In what USG President Matt Margolin '05 called one of the most important meetings of the year, representatives expressed frustration with the University's failure to seek student input during its review of grading policies and criticized the proposals.The group discussed ways to make sure all students' opinions are heard in the two weeks leading up to the April 26 meeting ? the earliest the faculty could vote on the proposals.If passed, each department could hand out A-range grades to only 35 percent of undergraduates in its classes."One of our goals is to find a way to empower the student voice," Margolin said.

NEWS | 04/13/2004

Watch your back: Death Ball strikes campus

One minute, Nick Levy '07 was casually walking back from class. The next, a tennis ball was flying in his direction, and Jesse Palermo '07's careful ambush ended successfully with the unsuspecting Levy hit in the back.Surprise attacks like this, however, were just part of the game in Death Ball, an activity created and played amongst a group of freshman in the weeks following Spring Break.Death Ball is a unique game that combines tag and hide-and-seek with the throwing of tennis balls, appropriately called Death Balls.Jayk Dorler '07 and a couple of friends in Forbes College created the game to foster greater student interaction."I started it as a way to bring a lot of my friends that didn't know each other particularly well together," Dorler said.While most of the players in the game's first installment lived in Forbes College, there were some as far away as Rockefeller and Mathey Colleges.As the game progressed, people got to know each other through emails, stories and even attempts at elimination. RulesThe rules for Death Ball are complicated.

NEWS | 04/13/2004

English department fired manager

Two English department officials confirmed the existence of further spending irregularities in their department on Monday and said that the department's manager for nearly 20 years was dismissed in October for the inappropriate use of department funds.On Thursday, the University confirmed that former department chair and current Butler College Master Lee Mitchell was suspended as a member of the faculty for inappropriate use of University funds.Multiple attempts to reach the former department manager, Beth Harrison, by telephone and email, failed Monday.

NEWS | 04/12/2004

Candidates discuss service, controversy during college years

Princetonian Senior Writer Melisa Gao sits down with Young Alumni Trustee candidates Eli Goldsmith, Rishi Jaitly, and Corey Sanders. Eli Goldsmith As president of the Class of 2004 since his freshman year, Eli Goldsmith had no trouble finding his niche at the University.He hopes to continue his service to his class as its Young Alumni Trustee.He pointed to the weekly meetings of the Honor Committee, which he chaired, as the most intellectually and ethically challenging aspect of his time at the University."Picture the most heated precept you've been in, with a subject about which you're extremely passionate," he said.

NEWS | 04/12/2004

Baehr '05 seeks seat on Borough Council

Evan Baehr '05, president of the College Republicans and former editor-in-chief of the Princeton Tory, will run for a seat on the Princeton Borough Council this fall, the Borough Republican Committee announced Monday."I saw a unique opportunity for somebody who has their hands in several different communities in the Borough to bring a fresh new perspective to the table," Baehr said of his motivation for running, citing his familiarity with the University administration, student status and longterm relationships with some Borough residents.If elected, Baehr, a Wilson School concentrator, would be the first Republican candidate to win a seat on the six-person council since 1991.In the past, "we've always run people who have been in town, who are property owners, citizens who have lived here a while," said Pat Strazza, chair of the Princeton Borough Republican Committee.Strazza said the Borough Republicans were ready to experiment with Baehr, who he described as young and dynamic.According to Mayor Joe O'Neill, Baehr picked the right year to put himself in the running.

NEWS | 04/12/2004

On campus, Lichty '04 raises her son

Heather Lichty '04 steps out of 1F Magie ? one of Princeton's brown brick and cinderblock apartments squatting on the edge of Lake Carnegie ? with a slight look of panic on her pale face.

NEWS | 04/11/2004

Symposium examines China's potential

Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations Wang Guangya stressed China's desire for peace in foreign affairs at the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies' inaugural China Symposium Friday."The peaceful rise of China with its 1.3 billion people will be neither a threat nor a hindrance" to other nations, Guangya said.

NEWS | 04/11/2004

Konoe scholarships aid Japanese students

Though Prince Fumitaka Konoe '38 was the son of Japan's prime minister, his peers at the University nicknamed him 'Butch.' Admitted to Princeton in 1934, Konoe led an unassuming life as an undergraduate.Robert Root, dean of the faculty at the time, described Konoe as "less than an earnest student but a likeable boy."Though Konoe never graduated, he left an indelible impression on many of his peers. Konoe Scholarship rootsBenjamin Coates '39, was one of those peers impacted by the Japanese prince's presence on campus.

NEWS | 04/11/2004

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