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The Daily Princetonian

Making the Grade

When University politics professor Robert George started the notoriously difficult course, POL 315: Constitutional Interpretation, last semester, he issued a warning to his students: "I grade according to a rigorous standard."And George ? a staunch opponent of grade inflation and grade compression ? did not waver from this commitment, to many students' displeasure."I spent four times the amount of time studying for the course, but only received half the grade as any of my courses last semester," recalled John Ophardt '03, one of 73 students in George's course last semester.Studies, like the one done at Princeton in 1998, have shown that grade inflation and grade compression have persisted at universities during the last 30 years.

NEWS | 02/18/2001

The Daily Princetonian

GSG seeks graduate alumni trustees

The Graduate U-Council presented a proposal this week to the Council of the Princeton University Committee to include young graduate alumni on the University's board of trustees.This proposal has been endorsed by both the Graduate U-Council and the Graduate Student Government and is now under consideration by the board of trustees.Karthick Ramakrishnan GS, a member of the GSG and the originator of the proposal, said he believes that young graduate alumni will "provide both the necessary skills and energy, as well as a general concern with the overall University community."He cited the increased participation of graduate students in various campus affairs in the past few years as evidence of wider integration."In addition, graduate alumni and enrolled graduate students will have a greater sense of institutional loyalty because they are being incorporated into the governing decisions of the institution," he said."This is an important way to capture the loyalty and talent of the 18,000 graduate school alumni," he added.Four seats on the 40-member board are reserved for young undergraduate alumni, a policy that was initiated in response to the 1969 student protests.

NEWS | 02/15/2001

The Daily Princetonian

Type Casting

It felt like one of those interminable lines in Disney World where you wait for an hour outside and then move slowly through a dimly lit passageway for another hour until you finally reach the attraction.But instead of licking ice cream cones, the people leaving the ride are smoking cigarettes.The dimly lit passage is filled with banners marked with names of different beers instead of TV screens with Christopher Lloyd preparing you for your ride back to the future.And you arrive at an audition that might let you experience the "real world," instead of reaching a boat that will carry you past singing dolls in a small world of fantasy.The real world?

NEWS | 02/15/2001

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The Daily Princetonian

Study shows that blind auditions may benefit female musicians

Attempts to conceal the identity of musicians auditioning for spots in orchestras can significantly increase the rate of success for women, according to a study co-authored by Wilson school professor Cecilia Rouse.Rouse and Claudia Goldin ? a professor of economics at Harvard University and one of Rouse's former thesis advisers ? co-produced the study, which was published in the September-November issue of The American Economic Review.The country's top orchestras have long been thought to discriminate against women in hiring, and in the past many renowned conductors have even asserted that women are unsuitable to play in orchestras, according to Rouse."It is hard to say why, but I can say that there were many orchestral leaders on record for saying that they would not hire women," Goldin said.Director of the University Orchestra Michael Pratt said he has not witnessed this sort of discrimination during his time at the University."I have always been amazed that there would be any conductor a fool enough to reject a candidate because she is a woman," he said.In the late 1960s and early 1970s, there was a "democratization of the hiring process," according to Goldin.

NEWS | 02/14/2001

The Daily Princetonian

Police, administration respond to initiation weekend hospitalizations

Borough Police are investigating several incidents that occurred last weekend, in which 11 students were treated at McCosh Health Center and four at Princeton Medical Center and Capital Health System Fuld Campus in Trenton for severe intoxication and alcohol-related injuries.One 20-year-old male student was taken from Cottage Club to Capital Health System after police found him lying unconscious on the floor and vomiting.

NEWS | 02/14/2001

The Daily Princetonian

Open casting call to be held for Russell Crowe film about life of John Nash

As Russell Crowe smiles at the camera while walking down McCosh Walk next month, you could be doing the same right next to him.Open casting calls for Universal Picture's "A Beautiful Life" are scheduled to take place tomorrow and Saturday at the University.The film, which will be directed by Ron Howard and will star the burly Australian Oscar nominee along with Ed Harris and Jennifer Connolly, will be shot on campus and in surrounding areas beginning Mar.

NEWS | 02/14/2001

The Daily Princetonian

Princeton Surveys to Examine Expansion of Physical Facilities

Princeton is studying the possibility of expanding its present enrollment and physical facilities to accommodate a vastly increased number of applications expected to flood the nation's colleges in the immediate and near future, the university announced yesterday.Such an expansion, if realized, might radically alter the conception of a Princeton education with its avowed devotion to a small residential college environment and a carefully drawn student body.In a report to the Board of Trustees, released yesterday, President Dodds stated that Princeton must consider its obligation to the nation.

NEWS | 02/14/2001

The Daily Princetonian

Can a Princetonian enter the 'Real World?'

Nadya One, J-Dog, Oh Righteous One, Hoochie One, Hoochie Two, Drama Queen, Glamour Queen and Screamer are Princeton's latest hopefuls for MTV's next season of "The Real World."The eight self-proclaimed "craziest and most eccentric" freshmen on campus plan to audition for the show early tomorrow morning, according to group organizer Shawn Sindelar '04."We're going into it just as who we are.

NEWS | 02/14/2001

The Daily Princetonian

Renaissance man: Professor emeritus Charles Issawi remembered

Throughout his lifetime, near eastern studies professor emeritus Charles Issawi's colorful pursuits and passions made him the portrait of a true Renaissance man.By the age of five, Issawi spoke three languages ? English, French and Arabic ? and devoured English literature at his boarding school in Alexandria, Egypt.Later in his life, Issawi memorized entire pages of Shakespearean plays and romantic poetry and recited his favorite verses aloud during long walks in New York, where he taught economics at Columbia University.Even after retiring from Princeton ? where he taught from 1975 to 1986 ? the talented researcher of Middle Eastern economics and history published seven books, including his 1999 autobiography "Growing up Different: Memoirs of a Middle East Scholar.""He was a man of wide culture and civilization," said near eastern studies professor Abraham Udovitch, who served as the department's chair during Issawi's Princeton career."He was imbued with his own culture and devoted to it, but he didn't find any contradiction between that and being a man of the world," Udovitch said.Issawi ? born in Egypt to parents of Lebanese, Syrian and Greek ancestry ? died Dec.

NEWS | 02/14/2001