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Arson suspected in recent dumpster fires

Arson suspected in recent dumpster fires

A wave of dumpster fires seemingly caused by arson has struck campus during the past two months, including three incidents in the last five days, said Barry Weiser, Public Safety crime prevention specialist.The fires have occurred most frequently around Spelman Hall and the "junior slums" dormitories."At this time, there is what is perceived to be a problem with dumpster fires," University Fire Marshall Bob Gregory said.

NEWS | 05/09/2002

Finding a sense of strength and community at a pro-Israel rally

This past April 15th finds me at the pro-Israel rally in Washington, D.C. The first truly hot day of spring.

NEWS | 05/09/2002

Bernanke nominated to two-year seat on Federal Reserve Board

Ben Bernanke, chair of the economics department, made national headlines Wednesday when President Bush nominated him to one of seven positions on the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors.Bernanke, 48, will represent the Atlanta District on the board.

NEWS | 05/09/2002

History professors given 'Prince' award for response to Sept. 11

History professors Anthony Grafton, Hendrik Hartog and Robert Tignor received The Daily Princetonian Award at the newspaper's annual banquet Wednesday night.The professors won the award for their efforts to engender intellectual discussion after Sept.

NEWS | 05/09/2002

A different reality: Podrasky copes with having a handicap on campus

On a drizzly spring afternoon, David Podrasky '05 leads a group of 20 prospective students and their families across the University campus, guiding them through the muddy greenery.In most respects, this tour is like any other.

NEWS | 05/07/2002

Bush taps Bernanke for Federal Reserve

Ben Bernanke, chair of the University's economics department, will today move one step closer to the desk of Alan Greenspan.The White House is expected to announce officially today that Bernanke has been nominated for the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors, senior White House officials said yesterday.President Bush has decided to nominate Bernanke to one of two vacant positions on the seven-member board.

NEWS | 05/07/2002

Professors make annual trip to study Galapagos finches' beaks

Peter and Rosemary Grant would fare well on "Survivor."Living alone on a small, uninhabited island, communicating with the mainland only by radio and relying on a national park service's monthly delivery of drinking water have become second nature for this husband-and-wife research team.Since 1973, the University ecology and evolutionary biology professors have made a yearly trip to Daphne Major in the Galapagos Islands, staying anywhere from six weeks to six months each time.Part of the archipelago originally made famous by Charles Darwin, Daphne Major provided the Grants an ideal location for tracking evolutionary patterns in native animal populations.With the help of the Darwin Research Station and the Galapagos National Parks authority, they gathered data with relatively few obstacles or interruptions.Their resulting study, recently published in the journal Science, is "one of the true classics of evolutionary biology," John Burke, an Indiana University professor, said in the article.Over three decades, the Grants focused their study on two indigenous species, the cactus finch and the ground finch."They were already famous in evolutionary biology before we started our work, and they seemed to us the most suitable group of birds for our ecological and evolutionary studies," Peter Grant said in an e-mail from Switzerland.They found that the average beak size of the ground finch changed slightly according to food availability.In 1977, a major drought hit the island, and many small-seeded plants were killed.

NEWS | 05/07/2002

Fourteen years of darts on Wall Street lead Malkiel to reassert stock theory

Journalists are not monkeys, but they are pretty close. For the last 14 years, Wall Street Journal reporters have thrown darts at NASDAQ stock listings, choosing stocks to compete against the picks of professional investors.The test is an extension of University economics professor Burton Malkiel GS '64's book "A Random Walk Down Wall Street."The book states, "A blindfolded monkey throwing darts at a newspaper's financial pages could select a portfolio that would do just as well as one carefully selected by the experts."The Journal accorded Malkiel the honor of throwing the first dart and, 142 contests later, the experiment concluded last month.

NEWS | 05/07/2002

Student conservative groups decry liberalism, political apathy on campus

Though the University's long history gives it an air of traditionalism that contributes to the school's somewhat conservative reputation, conservative groups on campus disagree with the notion that Princeton is a conservative school.Peter Hegseth '03, publisher of the Princeton Tory, a conservative newsmagazine that prints several times each semester, said compared to the opinions of the average American, the views of University students are very liberal."Compared to a Harvard or a Brown, we have a conservative student body," he said, adding, however, that the leftist movements at those schools have become "very radicalized."Allison Ball '04, president of the College Republicans, agreed."Obviously a lot of the student body is liberal, and obviously a lot of the student body is apathetic about politics," she said, noting that the College Republicans have between 25 and 30 active members with an e-mail list of several hundred names.Another group, the Princeton Committee Against Terrorism, which was founded in response to the attacks of Sept.

NEWS | 05/05/2002

Parties result in 10 medical transports

Nearly a dozen students required medical transport by University and Borough authorities for intoxication during Houseparties weekend.Ten University students ? six females and four males ? were transported for intoxication, said Public Safety Sgt.

NEWS | 05/05/2002

Historian considers Wilson's view of today's Princeton for exhibit opening

A century ago, the appointment of Woodrow Wilson 1879 as University president signaled the greatest period of reform in the University's history and brought forth a vision that has come to define the institution.At his inauguration in 1902, Wilson saw a college trailing its rivals in academic prestige and helped transform it into a university unmatched in its focus on undergraduate education.

NEWS | 05/05/2002

Dining services adds student contest winners' recipes to menu

While FristFest gatherers waited in line for free cotton candy and popcorn on the South Lawn Thursday, Rosa Poetes '05 took center stage and raised a large cardboard check as an award for her mother's Mediterranean chicken recipe.As winner of dining services' "There's No Place Like Home!" recipe contest, Poetes won $250 toward the cost of flying her mother from Germany to Princeton to sample dining services' preparation of her family recipe on May 14, when all four award-winning recipes will be served.Dining services director Stuart Orefice said the purpose of the contest ? co-sponsored by the USG and open to undergraduate and graduate students who have purchased a meal plan with dining services ? was to add variety to meals as well as gain feedback from students."It's nice to hear from our customers ? our students," he said.

NEWS | 05/05/2002

Flower Market alleviates Houseparties anxiety with expert bouquet advice

For any University student attending a Houseparties ball, Marie DePinto is the fairy godmother of flowers.DePinto, who works at The Flower Market off Witherspoon Street, offers motherly wisdom to girls on boutonniere selection and helps boys decide whether to buy a corsage or a bouquet ? corsages are out, she says: relics of the '70s."Irises, Gerber Daisies, and Orchid buds will fall apart," she said.

NEWS | 05/02/2002

Prizes, awards given to students, faculty

Princeton students, faculty and a former president of the University have been collecting a bevy of honors, gaining recognition and financial support for a wide variety of projects.History professor Peter Lake, electrical engineering professor Vincent Poor GS '76 and politics professor Howard Rosenthal received the annual Guggenheim Fellowship.

NEWS | 05/02/2002

Professors discuss unexpected results of recent French primary election

A panel met yesterday to discuss and evaluate the recent presidential primary election in France, in the second bowl of Robertson Hall.In a vote that shocked French citizens and people around the world, Jean Marie Le Pen ? the far-right candidate with a history of staunch nationalism and Nazi sympathy ? defeated the popular Socialist candidate Lionel Jospin.

NEWS | 05/02/2002

University groundskeeper Consolloy has a tale for every tree

Ask Jim Consolloy about any plant on campus. The University grounds manager since 1989, he knows the stories behind virtually every tree and shrub.He is charged with envisioning and executing beautiful landscapes ? and making sure they are protected.He said proudly that he has bought every tree since he became grounds manager."It's a living campus.

NEWS | 05/02/2002

Relationship between education, race highlighted in West saga

Cornel West GS '80's departure from Harvard University and his appointment at Princeton last month reflect new dynamics in the relationship between race and higher education, according to social scientists and professors who have followed the West story in recent months.Personal disagreements between West and Harvard president Lawrence Summers, arising from Summers' questioning West's recent scholarship, have been widely cited as a major factor driving West to leave.But David Carrasco, a Harvard Latin-American studies professor and close friend of West, said differing views on the goals of education led to West's departure as much as Summers' questioning of his academic contributions."West embraces a love of knowledge and education," he said.

NEWS | 05/02/2002

TWC director Ducree seeks to help the underprivileged

Nestled in the row of stately mansions on Prospect Street one finds the unlikely Third World Center, soon to be renamed the Carl A.

NEWS | 05/01/2002

Summer program offers help to low-income high schoolers

Instead of working this summer, 44 local high school honor students from low-income families will study for six weeks at the University.The University Preparatory Program, a three-year program initiated last year by sociology professor Miguel Centeno, provides educational resources for Mercer County high school students from economically disadvantaged families.The program serves to help these students qualify for admission to top universities, where the competitive admissions process tends to favor students with financial advantages, Centeno said."The problem is that the competition for admission has become so intense that anyone from the working class or below is working at a very serious disadvantage because of the advantages that class provides," he said.This year 21 rising sophomores, chosen on the basis of socio-economic level and performance on the Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment standardized test, will join the 23 rising juniors returning from last year.The students are taught by local high school teachers under the guidance of the University's teacher preparation program.

NEWS | 05/01/2002

Two University students to travel to Israel, discuss responses to terrorism

This summer Andrew Peek '03 and Sam Spector '03 will travel to the Middle East for an 18-day program on terrorist threats to democracy and freedom.Based in Israel, the program ? sponsored by the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy ? allows students to interact with political and military leaders from around the world.Along with 38 students from various universities in the United States and Canada, Peek and Spector will hear lectures from terrorism experts and officials from Israel, India, Jordan, Turkey and the United States.The stay in the Middle East begins a year-long fellowship sponsored by the FDD for the students to raise awareness about the threat of terrorism."I think its an incredible opportunity to be able to spend time in Israel, which is at the front lines, as far as I'm concerned, of the war on terrorism," Spector said.For both Peek and Spector the fellowship is a continuation of their University and extracurricular studies.Peek is majoring in politics with an emphasis on the Middle East.

NEWS | 05/01/2002

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