You may have noticed us the past few weeks. Since Nov. 17, we have been congregating weekly outside of Frist Campus Center, standing in a circle and shouting echoes of what speakers say. We are Occupy Princeton.
Latin and classical Greek are not merely linguistic puzzles on a page. They develop one’s ability to negotiate real-life cultural barriers as effectively as any living language, while providing peerless access to the treasures of Western civilization.
Verbal vagueness is a time-honored college tradition. It is the overworked student’s trusty standby in those seminar sessions when everyone except the teacher knows that no one did the reading. However, there’s such a thing as excessive equivocation, and too many students at Princeton are toeing the line.
While reality television has launched many a CNR, with the rise of social media, we move away from the traditional CNR pattern to the introduction of self-made CNRs. These self-mades jolt into the public eye without so much as a Celebutante Ball or wardrobe malfunction.
As Movember illustrates, a man has much more freedom to present himself in a way that makes him physically unattractive without confronting any of the social risks that a girl who chooses not to wear makeup faces, but he also cannot talk openly about prostate cancer without making people uncomfortable.
If the University and downtown shopping venues were to work together to allow prox purchasing, they would create a mutually beneficial relationship, whereby students would have easier, more appealing access to outside food, stores would have more customers and Princeton University would create a positive, working relationship with its neighbors.
We applaud a shift away from the apathy that currently reigns on campus, and — regardless of our views on Occupy Princeton’s political goals — we are hopeful that its presence may help contribute to that shift.
Inside the interview room we were all self-assured and positive that “this” was our goal and our dream career, but outside we each expressed self-doubt and a lack of direction. It was reassuring to realize that I wasn’t alone and yet at the same time frightening. It was not the interview but the prospect of a looming decision that concerned my peers and me.
Though The Daily Princetonian’s website has seen a few redesigns and now sports has a Twitter account, the ‘Prince’ is still an entirely traditional and print focused organization. Improving web presence can’t be a side project — the ‘Prince’ needs to see itself as a news organization rather than a newspaper one.
We’ve all heard the criticisms of Greek life — they’re networks for wealthy, white students; they’re feeders into certain eating clubs; they’re havens for hazing and alcoholism. But in all the ways Greek life has been described on campus, the most limiting factor is rarely mentioned: Princeton Greek life is overwhelmingly heterosexual.
Passwords are out of control. They’re too numerous and too weak to be the all-purpose authentication mechanism. We need so many and the rules are so arbitrary that one is forced to write passwords down, re-use them, and probably create them with some kind of pattern anyway, all of which adds to the risk
I can say, without hesitation, that both were among the best intellectual experiences I’ve had in my three years as an undergraduate. And while I’m not at all qualified to comment on Professor West’s academic production or his political activities, I do want to explain, based on personal experience, how his departure will be an extraordinary loss to the academic and public life of Princeton.
The University prohibits tutoring during finals week because “tutors need to study, too.” We believe that this limitation is misguided and that tutoring services should be offered even during finals week.
When faculty members write articles, they are usually published in scholarly journals to which most people have limited access. In fact, subscriptions to some journals may cost thousands of dollars a year. If the faculty member does not reserve the right to republish the article elsewhere then only those with access to the journal can read it. This, of course, seems contradictory to the University’s goal of generating and disseminating knowledge. If our faculty’s insights are available only to the small group of people who can afford journal subscription, the value of those insights is surely limited. Knowledge in a vacuum is not valuable. Only when there is widespread access can an insight be said to have any significance to the community. For these reasons, we are glad that the University is taking steps to expand access to articles that were previously only available in journals.
Start a conversation comparing Princeton with other universities, particularly state schools, and quickly someone will mention general attractiveness and athleticism. It’s true: with exception to varsity athletes, we’re generally pretty unfit. For my freshman, sophomore and junior years, I would sporadically go to the gym, while steadily eating unhealthily and putting on the pounds. I thought I’d be healthier if only I was forced, if only Princeton had a physical education requirement like MIT. This summer, when I started regularly going to the gym with a friend, I realized that being surrounded by positive examples was more effective than any University regulation could be.
We need to expand our thinking about HIV-positive individuals beyond the context of resource-poor nations, beyond the context of an intervention case. Debates about sex education, access to testing, coping mechanisms and funding are just as relevant in our communities as they are globally.
