The Daily Princetonian: March 2, 2020

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Monday March 2, 2020 vol. CXLIV no. 21

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STUDENT LIFE

Plurality of Princetonians support Bernie Sanders, ‘Prince’ poll shows

By Zack Shevin Head News Editor

Progressives fared well in The Daily Princetonian’s recent 2020 election poll, in which over half of respondents indicated they were “considering” casting a vote for Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders or Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren in the Democratic Primary. On the other side of the spectrum, 88.2 percent of self-identifying conservatives reported feeling “somewhat” or “very” judged on campus for their beliefs.

The ‘Prince’ polled undergraduate students via Google Forms from Feb. 24 to noon on Feb. 28, asking about voting preferences, candidate favorability, potential general election matchups, and the general political climate on campus. The poll received 578 responses, accounting for approximately 11 percent of the undergraduate student body.

The survey listed billionaire Tom Steyer and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg as candidates, though both of them dropped out of the race in the days after the South Carolina primary.

Among respondents who either plan to vote in the Democratic primaries or “still have views on the matter” with home addresses in the United States, 38.8 percent selected Sanders as their top-choice candidate.

The next most popular choice was Warren, at 22.6 percent of respondents — nearly double where her projected national vote-share stands now, according to data from RealClearPolitics.

Of the candidates in the so-

GRAPHIC BY HARSIMRAN MAKKAD / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

called “moderate lane,” Buttigieg fared best, with 16.9 percent of these respondents selecting him as their top choice. (With Buttigieg’s exit, the Democratic field has narrowed to six candidates.)

Of the moderates still in contention, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar led the pack, with 7.4 percent of respondents listing her as their top choice. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg followed closely behind, at 6.7 percent.

Despite former Vice President Joe Biden polling second behind Sanders nationally — and winning nearly half of the popular vote in South Carolina’s primary on Saturday — only 4.5 percent of these respondents selected Biden

ON CAMPUS

as their top-choice candidate.

Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and businessman Tom Steyer were the top choice of 3.0 percent and 0.2 percent of these respondents, respectively.

Respondents were also asked which candidates they were “considering” voting for in the primary. The results to this question showed substantial overlap between Sanders and Warren voters, who garnered 62.0 percent and 60.3 percent, respectively. They were the two most considered candidates, followed

by Buttigieg with 44.0 percent, Klobuchar with 29.5 percent, and Biden with 26.8 percent Of respondents who selected Buttigieg as their top-choice can-

didate prior to his campaign’s suspension, 88.4 percent said they were “considering” at least one other candidate. Warren led the pack among these voters, with 45 percent of Buttigieg supporters also “considering” the Massachusetts senator. She was followed closely by Klobuchar and Biden — who were being “considered” by 40 percent and 37 percent of Buttigieg voters, respectively.

The single respondent who listed Steyer as their top-choice candidate did not list any other candidates they were considering.

For voters registered in New Jersey, nearly half of respondents listed Sanders as their top-choice

candidate — 49.6 percent of respondents.

Of respondents who are registered to vote in New Jersey, 16.0 percent listed Buttigieg as their top-choice candidate, in comparison to 14.5 percent for Warren.

Members of the Class of 2023 were the least likely to list Sanders as their top-choice candidate, while members of the Class of 2020 were the most likely to do so — a difference of 10.4 percentage points. First-years were also more likely than members of any other class year to list Buttigieg as their top choice, while seniors were the most likely group to prefer Biden. Class of 2021 members were most likely to list Warren as their top choice.

The “preferred candidate” responses remained fairly consistent across areas of study. When comparing top-choice responses between natural science and engineering students against humanities and social science students, the response rate for each candidate fell within one percentage point between the two groups.

Gabbard and Buttigieg received slight upward bumps among science and engineering students, while Klobuchar polled slightly better among humanities and social science students.

With Super Tuesday just a day away, the ‘Prince’ also calculated potential vote-shares for the 143 respondents registered in one of 14 states voting on March 3.

Of these students, 32.9 percent listed Sanders as their top-choice candidate in the primary; 24.5 percent selected Warren. Eighteen of these 143 students listed See PRESIDENT page 2

STUDENT LIFE

STUDENT LIFE

USG gives suggestions for Dillon Gym improvements

Holocaust survivor, French spy Marthe Cohn tells her story to hundreds

By Caitlin Limestahl Assistant News Editor

Riley Wagner (left) and Danielle Stevens (right).

MARIE-ROSE SHEINERMAN / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Marthe Cohn sat down with The Daily Princetonian to discuss her life story and how it impacts her political views today.

By Danielle Ranucci staff writer

On Thursday, 99-year-old Marthe Cohn told the story of how she changed history.

Cohn’s talk, organized by the Scharf Family Chabad House, was held in a crowded McCosh Hall 50 on Feb. 27. Pointing to medals displayed in front of her, she described how she survived the Holocaust, spied for the French Army, and obtained information that helped end World War II. The event was called “Behind Enemy

In Opinion

Lines,” sharing a title with the book Cohn recently wrote about her experience.

In 1920, Cohn was born to a Jewish family in the French province of Lorraine, near the border between France and Germany. When Cohn grew up, Lorraine was a part of Nazi-occupied France. Its people were forbidden to speak French, so Cohn was raised to be fluent in German.

Even before becoming a spy, Cohn used her German fluency to resist the Nazi reSee COHN page 4

Columnist Braden Flax argues that, in light of the Young Alumni Trustee election, students ought to scrutinize decisions the university has made in recent years and question whom these decisions truly serve, and columnist Sebastian Quiroz proposes an app to identify and reserve available study spaces on campus. PAGE 5

Stephenson ’20, Wagner ’20 named ReachOut fellowship recipients

By Anne Wen staff writer

Danielle Stephenson ’20 and Riley Wagner ’20 were awarded the Princeton ReachOut 56–81–06 fellowships for year-long public service projects. The two students will join a long list of alumni who have conducted public service projects immediately after graduation.

The fellowship, now in its 20th year, is the only University award completely funded by alumni volunteers. Typically the fellowship funds medical and legal projects

ranging from promoting bail reform to supporting youth in the criminal justice system, but the two recipients this year work in the fields of the arts and engineering.

According to Jean Telljohann, co-chair of the fellowship selection committee, Stephenson stood out for her music involvements on campus and ability to juggle multiple part-time jobs, including her work with kindergarten students. For Wagner, the selection committee valued his work with Engineers Without Borders.

See REACHOUT page 3

Today on Campus 4:30 p.m.: A book sale and signing of the authors’ book, “Border Wars: Inside Trump’s Assault on Immigration,” will follow the discussion.

Friend Center / Room 101

WEATHER

BRAD SPICHER ’20 AND MALIKA OAK ’20 / OFFICE OF COMMUNICATION

In their March 1 meeting, the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) engaged in discussions with representatives of DIGSAU, an architecture firm working with the University on Dillon Gymnasium’s expansion and renovation.

According to their presentation, some of the goals of Dillon Gym’s renovations are to “expand the availability of recreation spaces and activities for campus and community use, improve the experience of all Dillon Gymnasium users, and develop a hub for campus wellness to benefit all Princeton students and University community members.”

The Senate suggested new features and improvements they would like to see at the gym, including better ventilation and lighting throughout the building, larger spaces for rock climbing, revamped squash courts, more prox-accessible entryways, and bigger rooms for fitness classes, yoga, and strength and conditioning exercises.

Sustainability Chair Claire Wayner ’22 suggested soundproof rooms to address the current isSee USG page 3

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Monday March 2, 2020

The single respondent who listed Tom Steyer as their top choice candidate did not list any other candidates they were considering PRESIDENT Continued from page 1

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Buttigieg as their top choice.

The ‘Prince’ also asked respondents to list their “least favorite candidate running for the 2020 Democratic nomination.�

Nearly half of respondents listed Bloomberg as their last choice.

The next-most-listed candidates were Sanders and Gabbard, with 16.9 percent and 12.1 percent, respectively. Klobuchar received the fewest number of “last choice� considerations, with only six students considering her their least favorite choice.

Students were also asked to predict who they expected to win, regardless of their preferred candidate. Sanders supporters were confident, with 88.3 percent of respondents who considered him their top choice predicting his victory. Despite accounting for less than five percent of total respondents, 37.5 percent of Biden supporters predicted that the former Vice President would secure the nomination. Nobody predicted a Klobuchar or Gabbard victory, while 4.5 percent of respondents — and 9.5 percent of Buttigieg voters — predicted victory for the former mayor. đ&#x;“ˇ Students were also asked about political views on campus. Of 578 total respondents, 340 described the University’s student body as “somewhat liberal.â€? While 111 respondents considered the student body “very liberalâ€? and 92 considered it “moderate,â€? only six percent of respondents described the student body as “conservative.â€?

Twenty-eight of these respondents referred to the student body as “somewhat conservative,� while seven considered campus “very conservative.�

Students were also asked to identify their political views in relation to the average American. Forty percent of students self-identified as “very liberal,�

34.4 percent identified as “somewhat liberal,� and 16.8 percent identified as “moderate.� 7.8 percent of students described themselves as “somewhat conservative,� while just six respondents considered themselves “very conservative.�

Among self-described conservatives, only 11.7 percent of respondents said they “do not feel whatsoever judged� for their political beliefs by other students.� Forty-nine percent of these students reported feeling “somewhat judged,� while 39.2 percent reported feeling “very judged.� For individuals who reported having a favorable view of President Donald Trump, 90 percent reported feeling “somewhat� or “very� judged — with over 45 percent feeling “very judged.�

Among self-described moderates, 47.4 percent of respondents reported feeling “somewhat� judged, while 12.4 percent said they felt “very judged.�

Overall, a majority of students reported not feeling whatsoever judged for their political beliefs.

Among self-described liberals, only 3.3 percent of respondents GRAPHIC BY HARSIMRAN MAKKAD / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN reported feeling “very judged.�

The poll also asked students percent, -58.5 percent, and -33.6 slight decrease in favorabil- candidates, the Indiana mayor Bloomberg. However, 13.8 perto mark whether they held a fa- percent, respectively. ity among Hispanic, Latino, and received the highest percent of cent of respondents said they vorable, unfavorable, or neutral đ&#x;“ˇ non-white students, Buttigieg hypothetical matchup votes. “would be unlikely to vote at allâ€? view of the seven Democratic Some candidates’ net favor- and Klobuchar experienced two Among all candidates, Bloom- in a Bloomberg-Trump election, candidates, Trump, and for- ability ratings differed substan- of the largest declines. Among berg received the smallest vote compared to 4.2 percent and 2.2 mer President Barack Obama. tially between white respondents non-Hispanic, non-Latino white share in a hypothetical election percent of respondents for SandTo determine net favorability who do not identify as Hispanic students, Buttigieg and Klobu- against Trump, with 70.1 per- ers and Warren, respectively. scores, the ‘Prince’ subtracted or Latino and all other respon- char received net positive favor- cent of respondents saying they For the 69 students registered the percentage of “unfavorableâ€? dents. ability ratings of +19.2 percent would vote for Bloomberg. to vote in so-called swing states responses from the percentage Among non-Hispanic, non- and +33.3 percent, respectively.

A Gabbard-Trump general — which the ‘Prince’ defined as of “favorable� responses.

Latino white respondents, For Hispanic, Latino, and non- election yielded the highest per- states that yielded a voting marAt +73.7 percent, Obama Bloomberg had a -63.7 percent net white students, these ratings centage of “undecided� respon- gin of less than 1.5 percent in the enjoyed the highest net favor- favorability rating, a rating that dipped below zero, with But- dents, while all but 1.7 percent 2016 general election — over 95 ability. Of all of the 2020 candi- fell to -81.9 percent among La- tigieg and Klobuchar receiving of respondents had their minds percent of respondents said they dates, Warren had the highest tino and non-white respondents, ratings of -10.1 percent and -4.5 made up for a now-impossible would have voted for Buttigieg net favorability at +43.8 percent, coming within 10 percentage percent, respectively.

Buttigieg-Trump matchup. against Trump. followed by Sanders at +34.7 points of Trump’s net negative Of the 509 students who reIn a general-election matchup By the definition employed percent and Klobuchar at +12.9 favorability. Sanders and War- sponded “yes� or “maybe� when featuring Sanders or Warren as here, Florida, Michigan, New percent. ren both experienced a favor- asked if they plan to vote in the the Democratic nominee, 11.8 Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Trump received the most ability boost among Latino and 2020 general election, Trump re- percent of respondents said they Wisconsin qualify as swing negative net favorability rating, non-white respondents, climb- cieved a net favorability rating of would vote for Trump — the states. at -85.6 percent. Of the Demo- ing from +25.4 percent and +39.2 -86.6 percent highest percentage compared to In comparison, 91 percent of cratic figures listed, Bloomberg percent among non-Hispanic, In a general election matchup matchups between Trump and respondents registered to vote in was viewed most unfavorably, non-Latino whites to +48.4 per- between Trump and Buttigieg, all other candidates. Compara- swing states said they would vote at -72.9 percent. Gabbard, Steyer, cent and +54.8 percent among all 85.4 percent of these students tively, only 8.5 percent of respon- for Biden, 90 percent for Warand Biden all received negative other respondents. said they would vote for But- dents said they would vote for ren, 81 percent for Sanders, and net favorability ratings of -64.3 While Biden experienced a tigieg; of all the Democratic Trump in a matchup against 72 percent for Bloomberg.

Monday March 2, 2020

Phelps ’22 discussed dining accessibility USG

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sue of early morning group fitness classes disturbing students in nearby residential halls.

Clair Wayner is an Opinion columnist for The Daily Princetonian.

Senator Tom Salotti ’21, a member of the club squash team, spoke to the experience of playing on the current squash courts.

“The squash courts are pretty shitty,” Salotti said. “Clearly not a lot of money is invested in them anymore. When it gets humid out, the doors will expand and you will get stuck in the squash court.”

He emphasized his hope for the courts to be improved — not done away with.

“I think that taking away the squash courts would be the final blow to club squash, especially when Varisity’s in season we can’t use their courts at all,“ he added.

“So I’m hesitant to say we turn that space into something completely different.”

Salotti is a Head Sports Editor for The Daily Princetonian.

DIGSAU representative Elizabeth Kahley asked for thoughts on spaces that could encourage student presence in Dillon Gym for recreation and general wellness outside of fitness activities.

“I’m always surprised to see students studying in the tables outside of the locker room,” UCouncilor Julia Garaffa ’23 said.

“I think it would be nice to have a social area, because people just have to study all the time here, so giving [students] a really comfortable space to do that would really bring them to the gym.”

The issue of sports equipment storage and accessibility was raised, with Olivia Ott ’20 suggesting that students be able to

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access the storage room without having to go through campus recreation. Personal locker size and item storage was also discussed, with Garaffa noting that in her experience, there isn’t enough room for a coat, backpack, and sports bag to fit in the lockers.

Other items on the meeting’s agenda included hearing updates from task force representatives.

Senator Bradley Phelps ’22 of the Community Dining Task Force said he met with the President of the Princeton Merchants Association (PMA) and spoke to Mayor Liz Lempert about moving forward with the task force’s goal of making community dining more accessible for lower-income students.

“He’s [PMA President Jack Morrison] really committed to it, and they’re willing to spend resources to make our project work. The community is really behind it. I also spoke with the mayor, and she really wants this to happen, so it sounds like we’re going to actually be doing some presentations in the next few months to these individual groups to secure their support.”

It was also announced that the Mental Health Task Force’s Mental Health Guidebook will be published on Monday, March 2.

Near the end of the meeting, President Chitra Parikh ’21 and U-Councilor Allen Liu ’22 gave a presentation on a future “Ideas Incubator” that will help students unaffiliated with USG introduce ideas for campus change and assist them throughout the processes. The USG member “matched” to the student would help organize meetings with appropriate departments and department members to turn the student’s idea into action.

The meeting was held in Lewis Library 138 at 7 p.m.

CAITLIN LIMESTAHL / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

USG members hear a presentation in their March 1 meeting.

Wagner ’20: at Princeton, you have everything except time REACHOUT Continued from page 1

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Stephenson, a French and Italian concentrator, will implement a music education curriculum with Los Angeles’s BEST Afterschool Enrichment program.

“I thought about how my Princeton professors instructed me in music, and I wondered how I could magnify that teaching and focus less on individual achievements,” Stephenson said.

Stephenson’s classical training in music fostered an appreciation for the arts, but songwriting and composition cemented her passion.

Last year, she self-released a solo album, “Water Signs,” that has been streamed over 50,000 times on Spotify. At the University, she sings with the University Jazz Vocal Collective, Sensemaya Afrobeat All-Stars, and the Tigressions.

As Stephenson considered options after college, she knew she wanted to launch a project that would teach kids how to write their own music.

“I studied music classically and always sung in choirs or

played the clarinet and piano.

When I learned GarageBand, I realized I could be independent and make music with my friends — that’s when I realized I could be both independent and collaborative,” Stephenson said.

In her project, Stephenson will teach kids aged 5–12 GarageBand software. The LA BEST enrichment program traditionally supports kids from low-income backgrounds.

“I saw a lack of music education in Los Angeles in public school compared to wealthier students in other public schools,” Stephenson said.

Stephenson added that free access will open doors for the students, similar to how GarageBand fostered her love for music creation.

At the University, Stephenson holds a part-time job working with kindergarteners. She chose this student demographic because she believes younger children are blank slates. By the time kids reach middle school, they have developed their interests and personalities further.

“Working with kindergarten students is an equally

daunting and magical opportunity,” Stephenson said.

“My study of languages allowed me to fully appreciate the beauty of cultural differences, and LA is such a multicultural city,” Stephenson said. “I want to uplift the perspectives and languages of the students, and I’m excited about this project because it’s so centered on collaborative exploration.”

Wagner, a concentrator in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering department, had just walked out of the shower when a phone call gave him the good news.

“While I love research, what really called me to this fellowship was action-oriented and hands-on-the-ground work. That’s typically harder to find in a research setting, and the fellowship gave me an opportunity to help me develop the goal,” Wagner said.

In Argentina, Wagner will work with Ingeniería Sin Fronteras (ISF), the Argen-

tinian version of Engineers Without Borders, on a water distribution system in the community of San Antonio de Copo. Although Engineers Without Borders has been around the United States for decades, ISF started in 2012.

Wagner will work with the organization’s water and energy projects in a community facing water shortages.

ISF works closely with the local school community, and Wagner will have high school students join in on the construction of a water project to improve their technical skills.

“With an NGO, it’s hard to see what needs to be done until we’re actually on the ground. But once we’re there, I can see what needs to be done and optimize my impact,” Wagner said.

Argentina holds a special place in Wagner’s heart. In high school, the United States Department of State offered Wagner his first scholarship to travel abroad to Argentina.

His visit to the country started an international journey that diversified Wagner’s perspective beyond small town Virginia.

Next year, Wagner wants to give back to a country that has a deep personal impact.

Having studied abroad in Spain, his Spanish skills will also assist him in his travels across Argentina, where he especially looks forward to exploring the country’s food.

“At Princeton, you have everything except time,” Wagner said. At an information session about the fellowship, a past recipient told Wagner the ReachOut fellowship offered the gift of time.

As he prepares to leave for Argentina, Wagner is excited to break away from the pressures of the University and explore similar projects in a foreign country. In the long term, he said he aspires to work with renewable energy, hoping to develop novel solutions to address climate change.

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Monday March 2, 2020

Cohn: he told me where the remnant of the German army was hidden in ambush ... and that’s how I got all these medals COHN

Continued from page 1

............. gime. Along with a farmer named Noel Degot, she and her older sister Stéphanie assisted people who wanted to escape to unoccupied France.

One day, however, Stéphanie made the mistake of sending Degot a letter that contained her maiden name.

That letter was discovered by the Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo), a division of the Nazi secret police.

On June 17, 1942, the SiPo broke into Cohn’s house and arrested Stéphanie.

“They took her to their offices and questioned her. She refused to answer any questions, because anything she would have said would have been a penalty to the rest of the group,” Cohn said.

Two hours later, the SiPo returned to Cohn’s house and arrested her father in order to put further pressure on Stéphanie to give information about their resistance operations.

“Even with the presence of my father, she refused to give any information,” Cohn said.

Although Cohn’s father was eventually released, her sister remained in prison for a month. Then, she was transferred to a camp called Route de Limoges, south of the French town of Poitiers.

Cohn and her family were able to arrange for her escape, and Cohn snuck to the Route de Limoges to relay this message to Stéphanie.

Stéphanie told her she was the only person providing medical assistance to a group of imprisoned children. Since there was nobody else in the camp who could carry on her work, Stéphanie refused to escape.

“I reminded her that her mother needed her as much as the children,” Cohn said.

“And she answered me, ‘Don’t you realize that if I escape, you are all going to be arrested?’ I had never thought about that.”

After that meeting, Stéphanie was transferred to two other torture camps. In September of 1942, she was deported to a then-unknown destination. She was never heard from again.

Cohn later discovered that her sister had been sent to Auschwitz.

The Nazi occupation of France meant that the rest of Cohn’s family was at risk of being arrested. However, they were able to escape with the help of a man named Mr. Charpentier. He provided them with forged papers that identified them as Germans.

“I told him, ‘You cannot do that, Mr. Charpentier, because they’ll take your wife and little boy.’ And he an-

swered me, ‘If I cannot help you, I cannot live with myself,’” Cohn said.

According to Cohn, when she asked him how much the paperwork would cost, Mr. Charpentier started crying, and told her, “I do not want any money. I want to save you.”

With the help of his identity cards, Cohn and her family traveled to Arles.

From there they moved to Marseille, where Cohn attended the Red Cross school and studied to become a nurse.

She later moved to Paris, where she met her fiancé, Jacques Delaunay. He was a medical student who fought in the French resistance. One day, Cohn learned from Delaunay’s mother that he had been executed by the Nazis in October 1943.

Cohn joined the French Army in November 1944.

When she first presented herself for duty, her commander did not take her seriously, she explained, because she had blonde hair and blue eyes.

“He thought I had no substance,” Cohn said.

She offered her services as a nurse, but the commander told her that he had no need for nurses. He could, however, use a social worker.

Because he gave Cohn no instructions on how she was to carry out her new role, she decided to visit the French soldiers in their foxholes and bring them supplies.

One time, on her way to the foxholes, Cohn encountered Colonel Pierre Fabien.

Fabien was a prominent figure in the French resistance.

In 1942, he had killed a German in a metro station, thus perpetrating the first of a series of assassinations of German officials in occupied France.

When he met Cohn, Fabien asked if she would be willing to answer his phone during his lunch break. She agreed, and he brought her to his home, where he showed her around and told her what she could do while awaiting phone calls.

“He said to me, ‘I am sorry. I have nothing for you to read. There are only German books here.’ I answered, ‘That’s quite alright. I read German f luently.’ He got extremely interested, and he asked me if I spoke German as well as French,” Cohn said.

When she replied in the affirmative, Fabien asked if she would be willing to be transferred into the intelligence service of the French First Army. Cohn agreed.

“He left. I sat on a chair, and I wondered [...] what predicament I had put myself in,” Cohn said.

In January 1945, she was assigned to the Command-

BRAD SPICHER ’20 AND MALIKA OAK ’20 / OFFICE OF COMMUNICATION

Cohn’s awards, displayed during the talk.

ers d’Afrique, who were stationed near the Vosges Mountains in France and were overseen by Colonel Georges-Régis Bouvet.

During this time, the Germans were fighting in Alsace to keep the Allies out of Germany. Bouvet assigned Cohn to interrogate Nazi prisoners of war to gain information on their troop movements.

“I never tortured anyone,” Cohn said. “I followed the conventions and treaties. I was able to get the information, and I can boast about it, because in one of these medals on the table [the Croix de Guerre], in one of the citations, it says that I provided the colonel with very precise information which would later confirm the retreat of the Germans from Alsace into Germany.”

After this first achievement, Cohn made more contributions to the war effort.

While the Allies were pushing into Germany, Cohn was ordered into enemy territory to gain information.

She spied on the activities of civilians in a town called Freiburg and on the soldiers at the nearby Siegfried Line — a defensive line built alongside the German border, opposite France’s Maginot Line.

For her mission, Cohn had been instructed to create her own cover story, because her commanders thought it would be more convincing than one given to her. Cohn decided to pose as a German nurse from Alsace who was searching for her missing fiancé.

On her way to the Siegfried Line, Cohn joined a group of Germans headed in the same direction. Due to her blonde hair, blue eyes, and fluency in German, they believed her story.

One of her group-mates was a Schutzstaffel (SS) officer. He had been wounded while fighting in Russia and was now assigned to the Siegfried Line as a noncommissioned officer.

“As we walked, suddenly that noncommissioned officer fainted. I was a good German nurse. I took care of him. When he regained consciousness, he was so grateful that he invited me to come and visit him at the Siegfried Line, and he gave me his phone number,” Cohn said.

She did not take him up on his offer at first. However, three weeks later, when she learned on the German radio that the Allies were going to invade Freiburg, Cohn went to obtain information from the SS officer.

However, there were very few troops at the Siegfried Line when she reached it.

“I discovered that it had been completely evacuated,” Cohn said. “Knowing it was true, I also knew right away that if our Allied armies had not to fight against the Siegfried Line, they could much faster occupy the rest of Germany and terminate the war.”

She hurried back to tell her commanders. However, when she reached Freiburg, she was blocked by a tank.

The Allied invasion had already begun.

Although Cohn’s German looks had served her well in espionage, they now endangered her life. The soldiers in the tank could easily mistake her for an enemy and kill her.

“How was I going to explain to the people in the tank that I was a friend and not an enemy? I had no document, nothing to prove who I was,” Cohn said. “So I went in the middle of the street and I raised my right hand as high as I could, and I made the ‘V,’ the victory sign, of Winston Churchill.”

The tank halted. Cohn spoke with the men within and demanded to be taken to French headquarters as quickly as possible. There, she told her commander about the abandoned Siegfried Line.

He didn’t believe her at first, thinking the Germans

were setting a trap.

“He sent a patrol to the Siegfried Line, which came back hours later and said, ‘It’s true, the Siegfried Line is completely evacuated,’” Cohn said.

At breakfast the next day, Cohn’s commander asked if she would go back to being a social worker.

“I told him, ‘No, my mission terminates the day of the armistice,’” Cohn said.

Cohn said she never thought about the danger she faced in her espionage work.

“I had only time to think about my mission and that I don’t get caught. My security, that’s all I thought. I had no time for anything else. I didn’t even think about my family during that time,” she said.

As the Allied army prepared to continue their offensive into Germany, Cohn went ahead of them and encountered a Nazi colonel.

She told him that she had fled from Freiburg when the French invaded and feigned distress at the Germans’ plight.

“The colonel told me, ‘Don’t be so afraid. The war’s not ended.’ And he told me exactly where the remnant of the German army was hidden in ambush in the Black Forest,” Cohn said.

Immediately, she traveled to Switzerland and relayed the information to the French Army. Due to her efforts, the French Army avoided the ambush and gained a tactical advantage that contributed to their eventual victory against the Germans.

“And that’s how I got all these medals,” Cohn said.

During her time on campus, Cohn also sat down with The Daily Princetonian for a Q&A, where she delved into her views on modern politics, the Trump Administration, and how to preserve memory of the Holocaust.

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In trustees we trust editor-in-chief

Jonathan Ort ’21

BOARD OF TRUSTEES president Thomas E. Weber ’89 vice president Craig Bloom ’88 secretary Chanakya A. Sethi ’07 treasurer Douglas Widmann ’90 trustees Francesca Barber David Baumgarten ’06 Kathleen Crown Gabriel Debenedetti ’12 Stephen Fuzesi ’00 Zachary A. Goldfarb ’05 Michael Grabell ’03 John G. Horan ’74 Joshua Katz Rick Klein ’98 James T. MacGregor ’66 Betsy L. Minkin ’77 Alexia Quadrani Marcelo Rochabrun ’15 Kavita Saini ’09 Richard W. Thaler, Jr. ’73 Abigail Williams ’14 trustees ex officio Jonathan Ort ’21

144TH MANAGING BOARD managing editors Benjamin Ball ’21 Elizabeth Parker ’21 Ivy Truong ’21 Cy Watsky ’21 Sections listed in alphabetical order. chief copy editors Lydia Choi ’21 Anna McGee ’22 associate copy editors Celia Buchband ’22 Sydney Peng ’22 head design editor Harsimran Makkad ’22 associate design editors Abby Nishiwaki ’23 Kenny Peng ’22 head features editor Josephine de La Bruyère ’22 head multimedia editor Mark Dodici ’22 associate video editor Mindy Burton ’23 head news editors Claire Silberman ’22 Zachary Shevin ’22 associate news and features editor Marie-Rose Sheinerman ’22 associate news editors Naomi Hess ’22 Allan Shen ’22 head opinion editors Rachel Kennedy ’21 Madeleine Marr ’21 associate opinion editors Shannon Chaffers ’22 Emma Treadway ’22 editorial board chairperson Zachariah Sippy ’22

Braden Flax Columnist

R

ecently, The Daily Princetonian reported that over two dozen members of the class of 2020 are running for the position of Young Alumni Trustee (YAT).

Yet, it doesn’t seem that many other people are paying this process much mind.

Perhaps this is for the best, since so little is commonly known about how the University works and what the concrete implications are of electing someone to a Board of Trustees, however wellmeaning and qualified the candidate. It is, however, worth considering why we know so little about the operations of an institution that determines not only our education, but in many respects, other facets of our lives.

First, it is worth considering the constituencies to which the University is ostensibly responsible. One would think, for instance, that its day-to-day operations could be managed by campus workers, faculty members, and ourselves, the students whose

education the institution is sworn above all other matters to facilitate. Campus workers allow the campus to function in innumerable ways; the role of faculty, moreover, is selfevident.

All three of these constituencies are most crucial in making the University what it is, and in turn, these constituencies rely most directly on the good will and constructive objectives of the University. Our very livelihoods, currently and in the future, are predicated on the resources and reputation of the institution. Lastly, the University is responsible to an entire society from which it cannot be disentangled.

Unfortunately, the University’s treatment of these core constituencies does not match what we deserve. One need only recall the recent closing off of Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC) meetings to unapproved questions in order to understand this point.

How is it, one may wonder, that a University, which less than two years ago played host (somewhat begrudgingly, I must presume) to a town hall at which its workers protested their systematic abuse, could possibly have the gall to engage in such evasion of discourse? And this,

from a President who recently assigned a book for summer reading entitled Speak Freely!

Indeed, we may speak freely in the classroom, so long as that doesn’t inspire us to ask uncomfortable questions about the harrowing details of the stories told by the people who make the campus run, in all the ways that are the most vital and the least recognized. True to technocratic form, the concerns of students and the predicament of the workers can be dismissed with just one policy.

Two birds, one stone.

Of course, the plight of campus workers has not been the only concern of an increasingly restless student body. What of the criminal history checkbox that remains a blot on the undergraduate application? In spite of vigorous opposition to it, the University responded not with compromise, but rather by digging in its heels; now, the box has been added to the graduate school application as well!

When enrolling in a supposedly world-class space of higher learning, we were promised the best. But along with the very peak of intellectual production, the administration could not help but to add a complimentary middle finger, all the while mouth-

ing the self-serving words of civic engagement and while thwarting the efforts of its most dedicated practitioners.

Such instances of academic mendacity can be multiplied, more or less infinitely, and this is not just a manifestation of a few incidents of poor judgement. Instead, it speaks to an impenetrable organizational structure that drowns out our voices and obscures its functions from our view.

The names on our buildings are frequently those of plunderers and slaveholders, and our geographic expansion is a displacing imposition on the surrounding town.

When considering if this is done on our collective behalf, ponder what say you had in it, how aware you are of the mechanisms at play, and ultimately, how implicated we could possibly be in how the University treats others, given how unresponsive it is when engaged directly by us.

The inevitable question then, when all is said and done, is the following: if not ours, whose interests does the University serve?

The YAT election might not answer this question, but it should inspire us to ask.

Braden Flax is a junior from Merrick, N.Y. He can be reached at bf lax@princeton.edu.

Solving the problem of finding study spaces Sebastian Quiroz Columnist

L

ast week, a friend and I looked for a place to study that wasn’t a library. As we found, they’re difficult to find. Though classrooms, common areas, and even dining halls are always available, there’s no way to know whether they will be unoccupied.

After walking around campus for nearly an hour, we lamented that we wished there were an online system to see what classrooms and other spaces are available.

Here’s where an app would come into play. Given that classrooms are centrally reserved for classes, this information is already available to distribute to students. We can already look on the registrar’s page to determine if the space we hope to use is reserved for

a class.

The app that I propose would streamline that process.

Rather than having to search by department, by class or, worse, manually through all possible options (this semester alone, the registrar lists 1,559 classes), we would have a system where we could search for rooms by building.

Moreover, the app would display non-academic reservations. For instance, during finals period, many student groups reserve classrooms in Frist Campus Center for their members to have a place to study together. These reservations would appear on the app.

For student groups who wish to be anonymous, there could also be an option for groups to not be identified. It is entirely possible for it to simply say “reserved.”

The app would be only for reference. That is, it wouldn’t

have a function to reserve the space in advance. One could argue that without the reservation function, we wouldn’t actually solve the problem. After all, if we can’t know with certainty that the room is unused, we might still waste time searching. I disagree.

Imagine that a student is looking for her favorite classroom but finds another student already using it. If the reservation functionality were built into the app, she would be able to reserve it on the spot and then kick out the other student. I think we should be concerned by an app that would afford us that power.

Even if the functionality required students to reserve spaces well in advance, it would remain problematic.

Let’s say, as an example, that students had to submit their reservations at least three hours beforehand. If you want

to reserve a space at 7 p.m., the latest you would be able to do so would be at 4 p.m. that same day.

That stringency would prevent us from being able to walk into a classroom, perhaps with friends, and study communally. Discovering an open space adds spontaneity and fun to a process that can otherwise be monotonous and dreary.

The app I envision would not eliminate that spontaneity. Even if the room were not officially reserved, it would not necessarily go unused.

There would still be some exploration involved in finding a classroom — but that exploration would become more efficient.

Sebastian Quiroz is a senior from Deltona, FL. He can be reached at squiroz@princeton.edu.

head sports editors Tom Salotti ’21 Alissa Selover ’21 associate sports editors Josephine de La Bruyère ’22 Emily Philippides ’22

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Sports

Monday March 2, 2020

page 6

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Women’s basketball earns regular season Ivy League title after beating Brown and Yale

By Jack Graham Sports Editor Emeritus

Before the 2019-20 season, No. 21 Princeton women’s basketball set lofty goals — winning the Ivy League title, advancing to the NCAA tournament, and winning a game, or more, once they got there.

They also talked about how they planned to achieve those goals, with new head coach Carla Berube emphasizing winning games with a stif ling defense that would shut opponents down and create offensive-end opportunities for Princeton.

Twenty-five games in, the team has remained true to its word. The Tigers (24–1, 12–0 Ivy) used dominant defensive performances to beat Brown and Yale this weekend and secure the regular season Ivy League title.

“This was something we put in our goals, to win the Ivy League championship,” Berube said. “They worked every single day since we started workouts in September, and I’m really excited for them.”

For senior forwards Bella Alarie and Taylor Baur, both of whom were honored before Saturday evening’s game against Yale

Men’s Track & Field

during Senior Day festivities, the trophy represented the third time the duo finished atop the Ivy

first half. The Tigers took a 37–12 lead into halftime and cruised to a 81–39 win.

“We had really active

held on later that night to hand Penn its fourth conference loss, the Tigers were guaranteed to win

BEVERLY SCHAEFER / GOPRINCETONTIGERS.COM

Women’s basketball team celebrates their Yale win with trophy and pieces of the net.

standings during their four years at Princeton.

“It’s really special, especially as a senior,” Alarie said. “You give so much to the program, so you want to succeed and leave a legacy behind.”

Friday evening’s game against Brown was effectively over shortly after it started. Princeton scored the first 14 points of the game — more than Brown would score the entire

hands, people were getting touches on the ball which led to steals,” Alarie said. “When we’re all connected as a defensive unit, and our help is there, and we’re being as active as possible, I think it makes it really hard for the other team to score.”

At that point, Princeton had clinched at least a share of the Ivy League title with its 11th conference win. But after Yale

Weekend Review

The men’s track and field team secured a team victory today at the Indoor Ivy League Championships with 173 points, well ahead of second-place Harvard (116 points) and third-place University of Pennsylvania (91 points).

This is Princeton’s 23rd Ivy League victory in school history, as well as its ninth since 2010. Notable individual performances include senior Joey Daniels’s win in the 60m hurdles with a time of 7.77s, which not only set a new school record but also a meet and conference record; sophomore Andrei Iosivas also came out on top in the heptathlon with a total score of 5523, and was named the Most Outstanding Field Performer at the meet’s conclusion.

Other first-place finishers include sophomore C.J. Licata in the shot put (18.55 meters), senior Justice Dixon in the 200 (21.66s), junior Jeffrey Hollis in the high jump (2.14 meters), and junior Sam Ellis in the 1000m (2:25.65).

the title outright.

Saturday’s game against Yale started much less smoothly for the newly-crowned Ivy League champs. It took Princeton nearly six minutes to make its first field goal, and Yale started the game on a 10–1 run. But just like the previous time the teams met, in which Princeton overcame a 12–0 deficit to win by 16, the Tigers bounced back quickly.

Princeton managed to cut the deficit to 16–14 by the end of the first quarter and held Yale to just 3 points in the second quarter to take a 27–19 lead into halftime. For the second time this weekend, the Tigers’ top-ranked scoring defense held their opponent to under 50 points, and Princeton won 64–49 before receiving the Ivy League trophy at midcourt.

Alarie led Princeton in scoring against Yale with 19 points, putting her three shy of matching the Princeton all-time scoring record, held by Sandi Bittler ‘90.

Through 25 games, the team boasts one of the most impressive resumes in school history. They currently have the 10th best RPI in the country and were predicted to receive a No. 6 seed in the latest installment of ESPN Bracketology, which would be even higher than the No. 8 seed received by the undefeated 2014-15 team.

But with two regular season games, the Ivy League tournament, and the NCAA tournament looming, the triumphant Tigers still have their work cut out for them.

Players of the Week

Softball @ George Washington Tournament in Washington, D.C. Softball had a busy weekend at the George Washington Tournament in Washington, D.C. On Friday, the team had two very close wins against Georgetown University and Towson University, with scores of 7–6 and 4–3, respectively. In the game against Georgetown, junior Mackenzie Meyer had three runs while junior Hannah Lutz had three RBIs. On Saturday, the team faced Georgetown again but lost 5–2 after the Hoyas’ pitchers allowed only six hits all game. On Sunday, the team started the morning off with a stinging loss to their hosts. The Tigers tied the game in the sixth inning and went ahead 5–4 in the final inning before George Washington scored three runs to finish the game 7–5. Princeton finished the day with a win over Morgan State, pulling away from a tie game in the eighth inning to win 11–9.

Women’s basketball vs. Brown and Yale: W 81–39, W 64–49 After their decisive wins against Yale and Brown this weekend, the women’s basketball team secured the regular season Ivy League title, with an Ivy League record of 12–0. The game against Brown on Friday evening was a blowout win for the Tigers, after scoring the first 14 points of the game and taking a 81–39 win. Saturday’s Yale game required the Tigers to bounce back, after Yale took a 10–1 lead. But bounce back they did. The Tigers were leading by halftime and won 64–49. As a part of Senior Day, senior forwards Bella Alarie and Taylor Baur were honored before the Yale game Saturday evening. Alarie went on to have a particularly impressive game, scoring 19 points against Yale. This 2019-20 team is strong as ever heading into the final games of the regular season, the Ivy League tournament, and the NCAA tournament.

Ice hockey’s Sarah Fillier, sophomore forward, secured a 3-2 Princeton win against Quinnipiac when she scored the winning goal with 8:32 to go in the second overtime. The team is now headed into the ECAC semifinals.

Baseball vs. Penn State: L 1–18, L 3–4, L 1–13, L 2–4 Princeton baseball had their 2020 opening series against Penn State Feb. 28 – Mar. 1 at the USA Baseball Complex.

It was a tough series for the Tigers, with the Penn State Nittany Lions coming out on top all four games. The Tigers only had one scoring run in their opening game from sophomore Nadir Lewis, who also added one hit and a stolen base. Game two was the first of a double header on Saturday, and it brought the Tigers’ hopes back into the series. Penn State came out with an early two runs on the board in the first inning before junior Sy Snedeker had a three run home-run in the fifth to give Princeton the 3–2 lead. The Tigers wouldn’t score again, with the Nittany Lions gaining a run in the sixth and tenth innings. The Nittany Lions didn’t hold back in the second game of the double header, scoring seven runs in the first inning, one in the second, and five in the fifth compared to Princeton’s lone run in the third inning. An RBI double from first-year Noah Granet put the Tigers on the board. The fourth and final game of the series was a close battle between the two teams. Neither team scored until the fourth inning with Princeton putting one run on the board and Penn State gaining three. Down 2–4 in the eighth inning, senior David Harding had a double that allowed Snedeker to score, but a final strikeout would give the Nittany Lions the sweep.

Senior Joey Daniels won the 60 hurdles with a time of 7.77 seconds, which is a new school, meet, and Ivy League record.

Tweet of the Day

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“First-place finish √ ✅School record √ @IvyLeague record √ What a performance by Joey Daniels in the 60 hurdles as he wins the event in 7.77!”

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Princeton Track/XC (@PrincetonTrack), track

Three Princeton men’s swimmers — Raunak Khosla, Derek Cox, and Dylan Porges — earned first-place finishes in their respective events during the Ivy League Championships.