For this week's installment of 'A Glimpse Within,' we asked several members of this year's freshman class to reflect on their Princeton experience so far.The date was Sept.
When people think of One Nassau Hall these days, many already see an empty chair.And President Shapiro's announcement that he will resign at the end of the year has spurred administrators, faculty, town officials and student leaders to envision their ideal candidate to sit behind that hallowed desk.The next president will face different challenges ? overseeing the 500-student increase, the addition of a sixth residential college and the growing integration of the Frist Campus Center into student life.And students, faculty and administrators agree the president will be called to lead a continued push toward a more diverse student body and staff.The University already has begun this drive with the hiring of two African-American women ? Janet Dickerson, vice president for campus life and Lauren Robinson-Brown '85, director of communications ? in the past year.
University economics professor Robert Shimer, along with Massachusetts Institute of Technology economics professor Daron Acemoglu, recently published two papers that argued financially pressed workers are too willing to take low-skill and low-wage jobs.
The Council of the Humanities last week awarded Haarlow Prizes to two undergraduates for outstanding papers written in a 200-level humanistic studies course.Daniel Pastor '03 and Janice Tam '03 each received the $250 prize for their papers, "The Function of the Myth of Er in Plato's Republic" and "The Spiritual Rungs of Dante's Ladder," respectively.Abhi Raghunathan '02 earned an honorable mention for his paper, "The Suicide: Two Views of Ajax."To determine the winners of this award, faculty in humanistic studies nominate excellent papers written by their students during the year.During the summer, a faculty group chooses the prize recipients.This year, there were about a dozen nominations.
Another prestigious education institution will be joining Princeton, Stanford and Yale in a joint venture to develop distance-learning courses via the Internet.Princeton Provost Jeremiah Ostriker announced last week that the University of Oxford will be joining the group established to offer a variety of courses online to alumni, parents of current students, faculty and staff.Princeton Associate Provost Georgia Nugent '73 ? the University's representative to the the committee of administrators that is developing the program ? said the group will be run by a separate board of trustees made up of senior administrators and trustees from each of the participating schools.Ostriker and University trustee Heidi Miller '74 will represent Princeton.Charles Junkerman, associate provost and dean of continuing studies at Stanford, noted that the future of distance-learning remains uncertain.
Many readers may remember ear infections as a constant problem of their youth. They would wake up and feel that familiar pain, and a visit to the doctor would provide them with only the added discomfort of having to either swallow or chew some revolting pills.
While Princeton, Harvard and Brown each are engaged in presidential selection processes steeped in tradition, Princeton's search marks a significant break from Ivy League and University precedent.Entering the world of executive decisions, students will sit beside members of the University Board of Trustees on the 18-member presidential selection committee."I think what [Harvard and Brown universities] have is the more conventional model," Vice President for Public Affairs Robert Durkee '69 said.
It was, all in all, a far cry from the glory days of Princeton's anti-sweatshop movement. Where once there were terse confrontations with University administrators on the steps of Nassau Hall, now there are merely manufactured confrontations with bored suburban shoppers at a rain-soaked local mall.After a year of virtual silence, Princeton's anti-sweatshop movement made its return yesterday, five miles from campus and with barely a whimper.And, unlike two years ago, this round of protests ? which were aimed at a local megastore on U.S.
The Organization of Women Leaders at Princeton is still in its infancy but already has made a large impact on campus.Founded by co-presidents Nancy Ippolito '03 and Erin Culbertson '03, OWL was created to serve as a uniting force and to provide a support system for women on campus.One of the new orgainzation's most tangible successes came in the form of an anonymous donation this summer of $150,000 to be received during the next three years, according to fund-raising committee head Robin Hindery '03.Ippolito and Culbertson said they began to perceive last spring that there were too few women in student leadership positions.
President Shapiro's decision to resign at the end of this year has evoked expressions of sadness from presidents of the nation's most prestigious universities.Shapiro's move also means that the Council of Ivy Group Presidents ? an eight-member organization that meets twice per year ? will lose its most senior member shortly after bidding farewell to the presidents of Harvard and Brown universities."I hate to think of myself [as] an older statesman now [in the council], but there is unfortunately a high turnover in the university presidencies these days," Yale President Richard Levin, who has held his post since 1993, said.
Though still adjusting to President Shapiro's announcement of his upcoming resignation, University officials now face the task of forming the group that will select the candidates for the University's 19th president.Board of trustees president Robert Rawson '66 will lead the 18-member presidential selection committee, which includes nine trustees ? who have already been named ? five faculty members, two undergraduate students, one graduate student and one member of the University staff.According to a letter sent by Rawson, the speed with which the committee is being assembled reflects the short timetable of the search and the trustees' plan to convene the selection committee in early October.The five faculty participants will be selected through a vote of the entire faculty, University spokeswoman Marilyn Marks said.
The University's Palmer physics lab was the site of several decontamination efforts during the 1970s and 1990s, decades after areas of that building were used in nuclear weapons development and research, University Director of Communications Lauren Robinson-Brown '85 said yesterday.The University's name appeared twice on a U.S.
Effective Sept. 1, University students now pay only $10 for visits to medical specialists if they are covered by Princeton's student health plan.Previously, if a student was referred to and treated by a specialist outside the McCosh Health Center, he or she would pay a deductible and 20 percent of the bill ? costs which sometimes reached $250, according to Dr. Pamela Bowen, director of health services.
Within the next few decades, it may be possible for parents to select children's eye-color or genetically engineer them to be more intelligent.At a panel discussion last night, University professors ? including Peter Singer, the Ira DeCamp Professor of Bioethics ? addressed such complicated issues, which arise from the upcoming completion of the Human Genome Project.Scientists announced the completion of a rough draft of the project this summer, having mapped 95 percent of the gene sequence.The objective of the panel ? titled "Sequencing the Human Genome: What's Next?" ? was to examine the scientific and ethical implications of the project.
Opening Exercises may be the only time University students have seen President Shapiro, but many have definite ? and varying ? opinions on the departing president.Some students said that with the conclusion of the capital campaign, it was only natural for Shapiro to announce his plans to step down.
The crinkling of aluminum being peeled away from the plastic top of a take-out tin sounded on the other end of the phone line.
Two incoming University freshmen witnessed a shooting while participating in an Urban Action project in Trenton on Sept.
In a bizarre act of vandalism, a 1994 Honda Accord, parked between FitzRandolph Road and Broadmead Street, was overturned while its owner was attending the football game Saturday night, according to Public Safety Crime Prevention Specialist Barry Weiser.Township Police Capt.
During their first meeting of the year yesterday, U-Council members centered their discussion on the Frist Campus Center, addressing both its early success and opening glitches.Campus center director Paul Breitman said he believes Frist, especially the extensive dining portion, has become an important part of campus life.Whether snatching a late lunch or staying awake with a late-night cup of coffee, more than 2,700 students pass through the "food gallery" per day, Director of Dining Services Stu Orefice said.Orefice said while students generally are excited about the campus center, two main complaints have surfaced ? the high prices in the dining area and the lack of signs giving directions.Though prices have been lowered twice in response to student criticisms, according to Orefice, several U-Council members said they had not known about the changes prior to the meeting.The reductions were instituted after the initial testing week and then following the first week of full operation, though Orefice did not specify how much prices were lowered.In addition, specials have been instituted at each of the four food venues for every meal, Orefice noted.
Halle Berry says Princeton changed her life."If you haven't heard, I was in a car accident this year," the Emmy award-winning starlet said Friday night in McCosh 50.
