January 12, 2018

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Friday January 12, 2018 vol. CXLI no. 123

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USG election results, candidate reflections

By Linh Nguyen contributor

In the aftermath of the Undergraduate Student Government winter 2017 presidential elections, which garnered an uncharacteristic amount of controversy, the student body now asks: Where does USG go from here?

President-elect Rachel Yee ’19, who won the office in a landslide with 72 percent of the vote, expressed her desire to collaborate with her fellow presidential candidates Matt Miller ’19 and Ryan Ozminkowski ’19.

“With all three of us and the coverage that we had combined, we can make a lot more impact working together in the future,” said Yee. “It shows a very high level of dedication to run for the highest office of

USG and it shows that you really care and have a commitment to the school.”

Yee also plans on contacting candidates for other positions who were not elected “to get them involved in whatever capacity that they want to serve.”

“You have a lot of qualified candidates who end up not being able to get involved or feeling like they are locked out of the system because they were not elected,” Yee said.

When contacted by The Daily Princetonian, Ozminkowski deferred comment to his campaign manager, Zach Halem ’18, who emailed a statement.

“During the week of campaigning, Ryan and I constantly discussed how the election truly descended into a battle of ideals,” wrote Halem in the statement. “While most previ-

BEYOND THE BUBBLE

ous elections have focused on subtle differences between candidates’ platforms and experiences, this race truly asked students to reflect on their ideal campus culture and values.”

When the ‘Prince’ contacted Ozminkowski again for direct comment, Ozminkowski wrote in a text message that the original statement had, in fact, been written by both of them.

In the email, Halem emphasized that members of the Ozminkowski campaign wanted to bring “a smile, or at least a smirk, to many faces.”

“When freshmen descend through the FitzRandolph Gate during the Pre-rade, they are filled with dreams about their four short years on campus — dreams that are quickly obscured by See USG page 2

U. AFFIARS

Trump awards U. alumnus Purple Heart

By Jeff Zymeri assistant news editor

On Thursday, Dec. 21, President Trump presented U.S. Army First Lieutenant Victor Prato ’15 with the Purple Heart. Trump visited Prato at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., where Prato is receiving treatment for his injuries.

Prato, an airborne engineer, was seriously injured on Monday, Nov. 13, while deployed in Afghanistan when his convoy was struck by an improvised explosive device. He has been serving in the U.S. Army for two years, and served as a cadet in the University’s Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program.

“One of the most powerful

moments of my life watching @POTUS give the Purple Heart to this American Hero.

Amazed by the strength and resilience of the men and women in our Armed Forces,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweeted. White House social media director Dan Scavino shared a short video of Trump pinning the heart onto Prato’s shirt while Prato lay in a hospital bed.

Trump visited other service members at the medical center on Thursday, having last visited in April when he awarded his first Purple Heart to another serviceman wounded in Afghanistan. He told reporters he was going to “say hello to some of the bravest people anywhere in the world” while en route to the center.

BEYOND THE BUBBLE

2018 SINSI graduates chosen

By Isabel Ting contributor

The Scholars in the Nation’s Service Initiative Graduate Program selected four students to participate in the program next year. Dina Chotrani, Caroline Jones, Newby Parton, and Caitlin Quinn, all part of the Class of 2018, were announced as the newest SINSI scholars in the last week of November.

While not a requirement for the program, all the scholars selected this year are Woodrow Wilson School concentrators.

The SINSI Graduate Program, established in 2006, is a scholarship program that provides academic training and federal service work experience for University seniors and Masters in Public Affairs

In Opinion

students who are interested in public policy careers.

Jones, of Princeton, N.J., is pursuing certificates in Latin American studies and the History and Practice of Diplomacy.

“I wanted to work in the State Department since early high school,” said Jones. “Being a diplomat is my dream job.”

In addition to interning at CNN’s Fareed Zakaria Global Public Square as a recipient of the Ferris Grant for Summer Internships in Journalism, Jones has also worked in New York City at the State Department’s Mission to the United Nations. On campus, she is president of the Glee Club and Chamber Choir and is also a member of the figure skating team.

Parton, of McMinnville,

Senior columnist Ryan Born argues to keep exams after break, guest contributor Devin Gould highlights problems in the tax bill for students, and guest contributor Paige Allen laments the difficult campus laundry system. PAGE 4-5

Tenn., is a certificate candidate in Values and Public Life and Urban Studies. He has worked in the Disability Rights Section of the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division and intends to pursue a joint MPA/J.D. degree and career in civil rights law. He explained that he connected to the program “personally.”

On campus, he worked as a counselor for a STEM camp serving minority and low-income students and has served as president of Speak with Style, and president of a debate group.

Parton is a former editor for the ‘Prince.’

Quinn, of San Antonio, Tex., is pursuing certificates in Latin American studies and Portuguese. She spent nine months in Salvador, Brazil beSee SINSI page 3

Former NJ Governor, Brendan Byrne ’49 dies

By Jacob Gerrish contributor

On Jan. 4, 2017, former New Jersey Governor Brendan Byrne ’49 passed away at his home in Livingston, N.J. Nicknamed the “The Man the Mob Couldn’t Buy,” Byrne served two terms as New Jersey’s chief executive from 1974 to 1982. Byrne was 93 when he passed from a lung infection.

Born on April 1, 1924, Byrne grew up in West Orange, N.J. In 1943, Byrne enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps and served as a pilot for two years during World War II. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and four Air Medals, achieving the rank of lieutenant.

Following the war, Byrne attended the University for two years through the G.I.

Today on Campus 7 :30p.m.: Students in MUS219 perform full opera production of “L’Orfeo,” a retelling of the Orpheus legend. Richardson Auditorium, Alexander Hall

Bill. He majored in Public and International Affairs and went on to graduate from Harvard Law School in 1951.

After working as a private attorney, Byrne entered public service. Governor Robert Meyner appointed him as the Essex County Prosecutor in 1959. He later acted as the president of the Board of Public Utilities Commissioners and as a state judge on the New Jersey Superior Court.

In the 1973 gubernatorial campaign, Byrne ran against Republican state representative Charles W. Sandman, Jr. An FBI surveillance tape surfaced during the campaign which showed mobSee OBITUARY page 3

WEATHER

COUTESY OF THE WOODROW WILSON SCHOOL

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The Daily Princetonian

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Friday January 12, 2018

Yee gaining momentum post-election USG

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piles of work,” continued Halem in the statement.

“We all started this campaign to reignite those Prerade dreams by focusing on ideals of culture, community, and fun, and not letting our platform be circumscribed by a finite set of ideas.”

In a statement to the ‘Prince,’ Miller said that he “talked to [Yee] and congratulated her and wished her best of luck this new year.”

Of Yee’s 1968 voters, several found her goal-oriented platform to be the most impressive aspect of her campaign and have high hopes

for how she will “shape USG in the future.”

“I voted for Yee because she was the candidate that had the best vision for USG,” said David Liu ’21. “I hope that she’ll be able to accomplish her campaign goals and prove that USG does more than organize Lawnparties by working to reform UHS and CPS among other things. I have a lot of hope in her and according to the vote tallies, so does the rest of Princeton.”

Joshua Tam ’18, who voted for Miller, said that seeing Miller “so passionate about what he does really struck a chord” with him. However, Tam noted that he support Yee “wholeheartedly” and believes that “USG is in good hands.”

Nicolas Chae ’21 credited

Ozminkowski for the attention that his campaign garnered for the USG presidential elections.

“I think for once the student body was more involved with or at least knew more about the elections and none of that would’ve been possible without Ryan and his drive to make campus a more fun and inclusive place,” said Chae.

“I think his campaign is something that’s going to be talked about for several years and if it got people to laugh or be more interested in USG then I think it was a huge success.”

Other students echoed these sentiments, but also emphasized the importance of focusing on real issues.

“I think that the elections brought a lot of new energy

and turnout to USG elections,” said William Pugh ’20. “But at the end of the day, I’m glad that 72 percent of those who voted were able to look past the rhetoric, publicity stunts, and empty promises and were able to evaluate each candidate based on their platform record and actual agenda.”

Pugh is a former member of the ‘Prince’ Editorial Board.

According to Yee, she will begin preparing for her role as USG president before the end of the break.

“Since it is the third day [after the election results], I am ramping back up and setting a master objective plan for each month,” said Yee. “I’ll starting reaching out to USG members

to make sure that we’re on the same page by the time we get to our intersession training as well as reaching out to past USG presidents to more fully understand what the week-to-week is going to look like.”

Yee described herself as “excited, motivated, and happier” than she has been “in a really long time” in regards to the potential that she has to make change through her new position.

“What I would like to see happen is for the momentum that we gained during the elections to continue,” said Yee. “This election cannot be the ending point.”

The newly elected officers will officially take over from their predecessors on Feb. 5, the first day of the spring semester.

The Daily Princetonian

Friday January 12, 2018

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BEYOND THE BUBBLE

Trump administration derails NJ/NY tunnel

By Benjamin Ball contributor

Plans for a new New JerseyNew York tunnel were derailed last week when the Trump administration killed plans for the federal government to pay half the cost.

In 2015, the Obama administration had reached a deal with the governors of New York and New Jersey to split the costs for a new Amtrak tunnel. However, when the state of New York sent their financial plan for the Hudson Tunnel Project on Dec. 13, 2017, K. Jane Williams, deputy administrator of the Federal Transit Administration, sent out a letter claiming that no such agreement took place.

Williams denied that a ‘50/50’ agreement between the U.S. Department of Transportation, New York, and New Jersey for the funding of the project was ever reached.

“We consider it unhelpful to reference a non-existent ‘agreement’ rather than directly address the responsibility for funding a local project where nine out of 10 passengers are local transit riders,” Williams wrote.

The plan to build a new tunnel is a key component of the Gateway Program, a series of rail infrastructure improvements intended to double the number of

passenger trains running under the Hudson River and improve the systems that are already present.

The denial of any agreement comes as a surprise. Last September, President Trump met with the governors of the two states as well as several Congress members to talk about issues of infrastructure, and representatives came out of the meeting feeling “optimistic.” Prior to that meeting, the administration had spoken positively about the project.

“The president is a New Yorker. He understands the issue very well,” Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said in a hearing held last May. “Please be assured that Gateway is an absolute priority in terms of our focus.”

The agreement reached by the state governors and the federal government came out of a joint letter by then Governors Chris Christie and Andrew Cuomo to President Obama, agreeing that they would pay 50 percent if the Obama administration paid the other half. Total cost estimates for the Gateway project range anywhere between 11 and 20 billion, although Amtrak’s official website claims it is too early in the development of the project to come to a true reliable estimate.

Mobsters: Byrne, too ethical to be bought OBITUARY Continued from page 1

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sters discussing how Byrne was too ethical to be bought.

The tape was regarded as an important boost to his campaign, allowing him to best Sandman by more than 700,000 votes.

During his first term as governor, Byrne enacted policies leading to the legalization of casino gambling in Atlantic City, the establishment of New Jersey’s Department of the Public Advocate and Department of Energy, and the public financing of gubernatorial elections.

Despite campaign promises, Byrne also created New Jersey’s first state income tax. Almost immediately, Byrne’s popularity plunged dramatically, and his opponents labeled him with the nickname “One-Term Byrne.”

Due to a wide field of candidates, however, Byrne successfully obtained the Democratic nomination for governor and won by nearly 300,000 votes against Repub-

lican state senator Raymond Bateman in 1977.

Following his re-election, Byrne advocated for the construction of the Meadowlands Sports Complex, which would house the New Jersey Nets basketball team and the New Jersey Devils hockey team. In addition, with the passage of the Pinelands Protection Act of 1979, Byrne managed to preserve 1.1 million acres of forests, streams, and rivers in southern New Jersey.

After leaving office in 1982, Byrne became a senior partner at a Roseland law firm and co-wrote a weekly column in The Star-Ledger with his successor as governor, Thomas Kean. He also taught courses at the University and at Rutgers.

“My life is richer for having known him as I am sure are the lives of every person who had the privilege to meet him,” said Gov. Chris Christie in a statement.

Christie is an ex officio trustee of the University, as is tradition for every sitting New Jersey governor.

Quinn: SINSI gives new scholars career roadmaps SINSI

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fore her freshman year through the University’s Bridge Year Program, where she learned Portuguese and volunteered as an English teacher.

“I like that SINSI gives me a roadmap,” Quinn said She also interned at a newspaper in Malaga, Spain and with a public diplomacy bureau of the State Department in Washington, D.C. On campus, she works at the Writing Center.

“Right off the bat, I was really excited about [the program],” said Quinn. “It is what I envisioned myself [doing] career-wise.”

Chotrani, of Secaucus, N.J., is pursuing certificates in Global Health and Health Policy, History and the Practice

of Diplomacy, and Entrepreneurship. She has worked on affordable housing policy at the Manhattan Borough President’s Office, advanced gender equality advocacy efforts in Mexico City, and is also a student fellow in the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination’s Project on Women in the Global Community.

Chotrani did not respond to request for comment.

The SINSI program consists of a two-year MPA program with a full scholarship for tuition and living expenses at the University’s Woodrow Wilson School and a two-year fellowship with an executive branch department or agency.

Past internships have included positions at the White House, Environmental Protection Agency, Council of Economic Advisers, National Academy of Sciences, and the National Institutes of Health.

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Friday January 12, 2018

Opinion

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The struggle with laundry at Princeton Paige Allen

guest contributor

I hate doing laundry at Princeton.

To be clear, I am very grateful that we have free laundry here, a luxury not afforded to students on many other college campuses. Nevertheless, I have seriously considered taking an Uber to a laundromat to avoid doing laundry on campus. All in all, I have found the University’s laundry rooms to be far from user-friendly, and the manner in which students conduct themselves in the laundry room to be rude and inconsiderate.

Therefore, the University and the student body must work to create a more technologically updated, clean, and respectful laundry environment.

I live in a building that does not have washers and dryers conveniently located in its basement; consequently, I have to walk to another building to wash my clothes, hoping to avoid dropping a sock or bra as I struggle to get out my University ID card and open the door while carrying my laundry.

I certainly haven’t seen every laundry room on campus, but the ones I have seen are perpetually unclean. There is a layer of lint, dust, dirt, hair, and general grime on everything visible, and there are always articles of misplaced clothing atop the washers. The laundry room also has a generally unpleasant smell that started to work its way into my clothes. I’ve taken to using double the detergent and dryer sheets in an effort to make my clothes smell better and to be over 50 percent sure that my clothes are actually clean.

Further, the washers are outdated and far from

user-friendly. I’m not expecting the cutting edge in laundry technology. But with the machines we have now, there is no way to open or stop the washer, to change settings, or to add a piece of clothing if a shirt was hiding at the bottom of my laundry bag. The washers are also surprisingly small. What I think of as one load of clothing is easily two in the University’s laundry rooms.

The dryers also have their set of issues. Although much bigger than the washers, they seem to struggle with actually drying my clothes.

I’ve tried selecting different settings, putting less clothing in, and leaving clothing in for more than an hour. Yet, nine times out of 10, I open the dryer and find at least some of my clothes still damp.

But it’s not just the rooms and machines that make me dread doing laundry. How students conduct themselves while doing laundry at the University, that is, Princeton’s laundry culture, is at best lazy and inefficient, and at worst disrespectful and rude.

Recently, I saw on LaundryView, the website which allows students to remotely check the time left on laundry machines throughout campus, that plenty of washers were available. Hence, I thought it would be a good time to use a couple of washers to clean all my dirty clothes.

When I reached the laundry room, however, I discovered that of the ten “available” washers, six were sitting full of clothes with zero minutes left.

Another girl was filling three of the empty washers with her laundry, leaving one remaining washer for me. After waiting for a few

minutes to see if someone would pick up their laundry, I shoved as much of my clothing in the empty machine as possible and went to lunch. I hoped that when I returned, someone would have come to remove their clothes, therefore allowing me to wash the rest of my clothes.

When I came back, eight of the 12 washers were sitting at zero, full of wet clothes. I ended up waiting for the same girl from earlier that day to return so I could fill the machines she emptied with my remaining laundry.

Now, if someone else had been in my situation, they might have acted differently. I know some students, faced with a full washer at zero, might just pile the wet clothes on top of the washer and load it with their own. I’ve talked to several students, and this seems to be the generally accepted practice to deal with this situation. Regardless, I don’t like touching my own wet clothes, let alone someone else’s. Likewise, I would be personally offended if I walked into the laundry room to see that someone had handled my belongings without my permission.

Nonetheless, what seems worse is letting wet laundry sit for hours in a public washing machine. That’s plain rude and disrespectful to our campus community. Besides poor planning and laziness, I don’t see any reason why people can’t pick up their laundry when it is finished.

I recognize that I’m complaining about laundry as a student who is privileged enough to attend a university that provides free access to laundry machines.

I can also see how this is such a “first world problem.” But I do believe that

the administration should work to better the University laundry experience.

To begin with, laundry facilities should be available in each building. Next, the dryers should be updated to machines that actually dry our clothes, and the laundry machines should be updated to allow more laundry to be loaded in a single wash. Lastly, the University should have the laundry rooms cleaned on a regular basis. If the laundry rooms already receive regular cleaning, the cleanings need to be more frequent and more thorough.

Beyond the administration, the student body must also play a role. I don’t necessarily expect the University to suddenly have spotless laundry rooms with better machines in every dorm on campus. But what I do expect is that University students pick up their laundry when it is finished so that no one feels the need to touch someone else’s property. Both of these actions — leaving laundry in machines for too long and touching someone else’s laundry — are disrespectful. Likewise, the fact that basic respect for another student’s time and property is severely lacking in Princeton laundry rooms isn’t a “first world problem;” rather, it’s indicative of a universal crisis of character, community, and integrity.

Sure, it’s just laundry.

But how we treat each other’s laundry actually says a lot about how we treat each other as people.

Paige Allen is a first-year student from Mountain Top, Pa. She is a copy staffer for The Daily Princetonian. This article represents her views only. She can be reached at peallen@princeton.edu.

Keep exams after break Ryan Born

senior columnist

Around this time every year, it is a solemn and holy tradition for Princeton undergraduates to start complaining about a peculiarity of the University academic calendar. Exams after break?

Ew. But I argue that if you closely examine the arguments for both having exams before break and having exams after break, it is clear that having exams after break is the superior — if counter-intuitive — choice. Princeton students should not be so hasty to wish away one of the great structural advantages Princeton gives us.

I break down the arguments for exams before break into two camps: the psychological and the practical. The first argument is the main argument for exams before break: it is psychologically taxing to know how much work you have to do when you come back to school.

You are restless with anticipation and anxiety, and because of this, you can’t really take a break at all.

You cannot relax for feeling that you are supposed to be working on something. I am sympathetic to this argument and I think there is no way around the fact that this is the case.

The second argument, somewhat less common, is that it is a disadvantage

to have so much space between learning course material and taking exams.

If you learn things before break, and take exams after break, you have more review to do given that time has elapsed. I’m not sure this is actually the case. While it is true that you have to deal with a possible three-week gap in your learning process, even if you take exams directly after classes, you will still find that you have learned most material long ago and will have to do substantial review and relearning.

So, the psychological argument is superior to the practical argument for having exams before break. Now, let’s turn to the arguments for exams after break. The first, and probably one of the most important arguments: having what is essentially an extra three weeks to your reading period is huge. If you seriously need the time for whatever reason, you have it. With three weeks of free time, you can come back from just about anything during the semester; whether it’s a sickness, a sport, or doing the Prospect Eleven as often as possible for a semester. Whatever it is, you can make up for it.

Why would you ever want to trade this ace in the hole away?

Second, as much as it’s nice to have a break after

exams — which we do anyway, called Intersession — it’s also nice to have a break before exams. Princeton semesters are tough.

Are you really spending enough time on yourself during a semester? Probably not. Take a load off for a few weeks, come back to Princeton and papers and exams refreshed and rejuvenated from your trips to Montreal and Mexico.

Maybe just as important, right now, the gap between Thanksgiving and Christmas Break is three weeks long. Moving exams and reading period to before break will make that gap up to seven weeks long.

That is a long time.

Third — and this is the primary reason that the administration does this to begin with — having exams after break helps give us a longer summer break. Imagine you adjust the Princeton schedule to have exams before break.

One possibility is that you just begin the semester earlier. This will chew up more of summer break.

You may find that instead of being able to take a two-month, or ten-week internship with say, J.P. Morgan, then going home for a month and a half to relax and actually have a break before school, you would take an eight-week internship and drop back into school in a matter of a few weeks. Hard to call it a summer vacation if

vol. cxli

Sarah Sakha ’18

editor-in-chief

Matthew McKinlay ’18 business manager

BOARD OF TRUSTEES president Thomas E. Weber ’89 vice president Craig Bloom ’88 secretary Betsy L. Minkin ’77 treasurer Douglas J. Widmann ’90 Kathleen Crown William R. Elfers ’71 Stephen Fuzesi ’00 Zachary A. Goldfarb ’05 John Horan ’74 Joshua Katz Kathleen Kiely ’77 Rick Klein ’98 James T. MacGregor ’66 Alexia Quadrani Marcelo Rochabrun ’15 Richard W. Thaler, Jr. ’73 Lisa Belkin ‘82 Francesca Barber trustees emeriti Gregory L. Diskant ’70 Jerry Raymond ’73 Michael E. Seger ’71 Annalyn Swan ’73

141ST MANAGING BOARD managing editors Samuel Garfinkle ’19 Grace Rehaut ’18 Christina Vosbikian ’18 head news editor Marcia Brown ’19 associate news editors Kristin Qian ’18 head opinion editor Nicholas Wu ’18 associate opinion editors Samuel Parsons ’19 Emily Erdos ’19 head sports editor David Xin ’19 associate sports editors Christopher Murphy ’20 Claire Coughlin ’19 head street editor Jianing Zhao ’20 associate street editors Lyric Perot ’20 Danielle Hoffman ’20 web editor Sarah Bowen ’20

you don’t have one. This does assume that we start the spring semester at the same time as we do now, but a longer winter break with a schedule change is always in the cards.

Finally, having exams after break means you face a significantly easier fall semester, because it becomes a less accelerated schedule. You may have noticed that Princeton’s 12 week semesters are shorter than other schools, which contributes greatly to their increased difficulty vis-àvis other schools. Colleges on the semester system usually have semesters of 16-18 weeks. We are learning 16 weeks of material in 12 weeks, and that makes a big difference. That’s why this school seems like it comes after you. Currently, the lengthy break for Christmas and the other breaks during the fall semester help expand the semester and give you some more breathing room. I have always thought that the fall is much, much easier than the spring because the breaks act like shock absorbers to absorb any sudden inf luxes of large assignments. Winter break helps contribute to that, and I’m not sure that’s something worth losing. Of course, some schools do get longer winter breaks for extra space between semesters, but I do think that you can have too much of a good thing.

head copy editors Isabel Hsu ’19 Omkar Shende ’18 associate copy editors Caroline Lippman ’19 Megan Laubach ’18 head design editors Samantha Goerger ’20 Quinn Donohue ’20 cartoons editor Tashi Treadway ’19

NIGHT STAFF copy Alex Wilson ’20 Anoushka Mariwala ’21

Five weeks of break leaves me with too much time doing nothing.

In sum, there is a real psychological problem with having exams after break. I feel it too. But there are so many practical benefits for the rest of the year, so many concrete advantages that it seems downright silly and short-sighted to trade a few weeks of psychological relief for extra time to work, an easier semester, a longer summer break, and a less rapid pace in the fall. It’s not worth complaining or changing; just keep exams after break.

Ryan Born is a junior in Philosophy from Washington, Mich. He can be reached at rcborn@princeton.edu.

Friday January 12, 2018

Opinion

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{ www.dailyprincetonian.com }

On being prude

Leora Eisenberg columnist

I only learned what “Netflix and chill” meant after I once suggested to a guy I liked that we do so sometime.

He quickly texted me back to say that he was shocked by my honesty. “You’re usually pretty shy,” he said. “Are you sure?” I couldn’t understand why he was so hesitant.

“What do you mean?” I responded. “I’m only inviting you to watch a movie.”

My friends, wondering if I lived under a rock, later informed me that “Netflix and chill” means something quite different from what I thought, and helped me compose a mortifying explanatory text. No one quite understood how I didn’t know such a basic euphemism for sex. Sure, some people are out of the loop — but I know what shows were popular and what music tops the charts. But then I remembered: most people aren’t prudes.

College is a space where we talk about sex all the time.

We’re at a time in our lives when we have the freedom to date and experiment with relationships, so it’s only natural to discuss it. But it sometimes feels as if these topics follow us beyond orientation and SHARE sessions to lectures and innocent conversations with friends. Of course, many of us love Sex and the City-style brunches where we debrief on our latest bad date with our best friends — but, sometimes, that’s all that some of us are comfortable with talking about.

The thing is that I’m one of these people: I’d call myself a prude. Talking about sex with people who aren’t my best friends is uncomfortable. As a straight girl, I’m really shy around guys. I generally learn slang pertaining to dating and sex only once I’ve misused it. I lack a general comfort around the topic that most people seem to have. I’m constantly made fun of for my ignorance, especially in college.

Many don’t realize how many prudes there are on campus. And if you are a

“prude,” it might be embarrassing to say that some topics make you uneasy for fear of people taking you less seriously . . . . And let’s face it: they probably will. But countless people have confided to me that they’re embarrassed to talk about their sex and dating lives. In some cases, it’s because they’ve never had sex and feel as if everyone else on campus has, and in others, it’s because it’s just not something they want to share — and that’s absolutely fine. Some people, like me, are really shy around the sex they’re attracted to, which makes it all the more difficult to begin a relationship or talk about any of the things that seem like such natural conversational fodder. Just like we are sensitive to peo-

ple’s identities, backgrounds, and abilities, we have to be sensitive to their intimacy boundaries too.

It’s important to make a disclaimer, however, that there are times when bringing up the topic is appropriate. Orientation and SHARE are just a few example of times when it’s critical to talk about condoms, hotlines, and consent. When you are in a trusting relationship, you should feel comfortable to raise the topic with your significant other. Hopefully, your friends are supportive and candid enough to discuss any issues with you as well.

But just because you want to keep your (and others’) private life private doesn’t mean that there’s anything wrong with you. “Prude” shouldn’t

be an insult.

We strive to make campus an accepting place for people of all sexual orientations, ethnicities, and religions, and our attitudes toward those with a spectrum of ideas regarding sex should be no less open. Do you judge people for their virginity?

Do you resent conversations with those who turn red at the mention of dating? Are you exasperated at others’ bashfulness around the sex they’re attracted to? Examine your answers to these questions, and remember that this shyness is a harmless personality trait. You certainly wouldn’t treat someone differently because of their gender identity or race, so why would you treat someone differently for being a

prude?

And if you are a “prude” — that is, if you’re shy or intimidated by the idea of everyone besides you having sex (which just isn’t true) it’s important to remember that you’re not alone. Just because other people are comfortable talking about it and doing it does not mean that you have to be. Just because you’re shy doesn’t mean that there isn’t somebody out there who can appreciate that quality in you.

It’s hard to feel surrounded by talk of hook-ups and conquests, but remember that at least you know what “Netflix and chill” means.

Leora Eisenberg is a sophomore from Eagan, Minn. She can be reached at leorae@princeton. edu.

mind reading period nathan phan ’19

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The Republican tax bill is a disaster for millennials Devin Gould

guest contributor

The Republican tax bill that President Trump signed into law just before Christmas is a disaster for millennials.

While the wealthy and major corporations get a massive tax cut, millennials will get saddled with a new inflation tax, trillion-dollar deficits, and higher healthcare and housing costs. If Democrats want to win back Congress and the White House, they need to talk to millennials about repealing the Republican tax bill and replacing it with programs that truly help young people get an affordable education, earn a livable wage, and save for their future.

The tax bill is a truly massive giveaway to corporations and the wealthy. According to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, members of the top 1 percent will get

a cut worth $51,000 on average next year. Once the tax plan is fully implemented in 2027, a majority of people in the bottom two quintiles of the income distribution will face a tax increase while most people in the top 1 percent get a tax cut.

You read that correctly: the Trumps and other wealthy families will get a tax cut while you and your family will get stuck with a higher tax bill.

Millennials will get saddled with a new inflation tax that grows over time.

Since the 1980s, tax credits and other tax benefits have gone up with inflation. The Republican tax bill institutes a new, skimpier inflation measure that erodes the value of tax credits. The inflation tax will be small at first but will grow and hit hardest right as millennials are trying to settle down, buy a home, and start a family. The highly regarded

T HE DA ILY

Penn-Wharton budget model estimates that the inflation tax will lead to revenue falling by $900 billion by 2040.

The tax bill undermines Obamacare and makes health insurance less affordable. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicts that the tax bill will increase premiums by 10 percent and decrease the number of people without health insurance by 13 million in 2027. Millennials struggling through low wages and student loan payments will be squeezed yet again to pay for higher health insurance costs.

The Republican tax bill also blows a massive hole in the deficit to pay for a corporate tax cut. The official price tag for the tax bill is $1.46 trillion over ten years but the centrist Center for a Responsible Federal Budget predicts that the final cost of the tax bill will be well

over $2 trillion after taking into account new loopholes and budget gimmicks. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that economic growth will make up for less than a third of the deficit-busting costs of the Republican tax bill.

It is possible, however, that large deficits from the tax bill will increase interest rates and slow economic growth. High interest rates push up mortgage costs and will make owning a home less affordable at just the time when millennials are looking to settle down.

Republicans in Congress are already talking about using deficit as an excuse to undermine programs like Medicare and other earned benefits. While working millennials pay for quality, universal coverage Medicare for our parents’ generation, House Speaker Paul Ryan wants to privatize the system and give us a vouch-

er. Does that seem fair to you?

But not all hope is lost.

Repealing the Trump tax cuts for the wealthy would pay for the kind of changes that will truly help millennials: tuition-free community college, expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit, making healthcare more affordable, and much, much more. Millennials, along with African-American voters and women, were key to electing Doug Jones as the first Democratic senator from Alabama in 25 years.

Democrats can win across the country if they run on a platform of strong, substantive proposals to help millennial voters.

Devin Gould is a second-year Master in Public Affairs student at Princeton. This past summer he was a graduate research intern at the nonpartisan Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.

Revealing the truth, one news story at a time. join@dailyprincetonian.com

Sports

Friday January 12, 2018

page 6

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Tigers open season against ranked opposition, grab historic win over No. 8 Stanford

By David Xin head sports editor

The men’s volleyball team began the new year with a challenge. Traveling to Santa Barbara and Los Angeles, the Tigers faced four nationally ranked teams to open the season.

Despite the daunting opposition, the Princeton team showed their perseverance with several strong performances including a historic win against No. 8 Stanford, showing the strength and potential of their young squad.

In the season opener, the Tigers faced off against University of Southern California. Despite eventually losing 1-3, the match proved to be much closer than the score line would indicate.

The Tigers pushed the Trojans early, forcing several match-points before conceding the first set 28-26.

Each of the following sets would also be hotly contested with the third falling in Princeton’s favor 27-25.

A late push in the fourth saw the Tigers attempt to extend the match, but USC would hold on claim the first victory of the new year.

Next, the Princeton side faced off against No. 2 Long Beach State in their first match of a doubleheader that day. The Tigers would play No. 8 Stanford later

in the evening. The Long Beach State 49ers were the highest-ranked opponent Princeton would face this season and showed their dominance by sweeping Princeton 3-0.

Despite the tough loss, Princeton quickly rebounded, knowing they would need 100 percent to beat Stanford that evening. And they did exactly that. In a shocking upset, the Tigers, playing without senior AllEast middle Junior Oboh, posted a 3-2 victory over the Cardinals. The result is historic for the Tigers, who have never defeated a team higher than rank No. 10 since they became a varsity program in 1997.

The Tigers open the match on the right foot by edging out Stanford 28-26 in a grueling first set. From then on, the two teams would trade blow for blow, forcing a decisive fifth set.

Despite trailing 9-5 early in the last set, the Princeton side quickly regrouped after a timeout. The Tigers managed to claw back to claim match point. The Cardinals managed to fend this off once, but a crucial kill by sophomore middle blocker George Huhmann give Princeton another chance. A Stanford error then sealed the win for the Tigers.

The exciting win high-

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The Tiger’s win over the Cardinals was the first win against a team ranked higher than No. 10 .

lighted the young volleyball squad’s potential. The Tigers were led by its trio from the class of 2020. Huhmann and outside hitter sophomore Parker Dixon recorded 14 and 13 kills respectively.

However, it was classmate outside hitter Greg Luck’s

Winter break review

Welcome back, Tigers! Here’s all you missed in sports while you were away.

Men’s basketball: 4-2 over winter break The men’s basketball team had a busy winter break, with six games and a road trip of over 10,000 miles.

The Tigers played games against Cal Poly and Southern California to start the break, winning both to add an impressive USC win to their non-conference resume. Then, they traveled to the nation’s 50th state where they played in the Diamond Head Classic over Christmas. The Tigers took fifth in that tournament after going 2-1 with back-to back-buzzer beater games against Middle Tennessee and Akron.

The Tigers finally returned east and took on Penn in their Ivy League opener, but Princeton dropped the game against the Quakers 76-70. Post-break, the Tigers are 7-8 on the season, 0-1 in league play and getting ready for the heart of their Ivy League schedule.

performance that took over the match. Luck posted career highs in kills, digs, and blocks while hitting an efficient .452. He recorded 21 kills, 10 digs, and six blocks in the Princeton win.

The Princeton team would end its trip to the west coast

by falling 0–3 to No. 11 Cal State-Northridge.

After an exciting trip, the Tigers will return home for their debut in Dillon Gymnasium today, Jan. 12. Princeton will face Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne at 7 p.m.

Performances of the week Devin Cannady — 21 points Despite losing to the Quakers in the first Ivy League match of the season, junior Devin Cannady put up a noteworthy performance. Cannady led the Princeton offense with 21 points, shooting 54 percent from the field. In addition, his 21 points put Cannady past the 1000-point mark, making him the 33rd Tiger to have scored 1000 points for Princeton.

Men’s hockey: 0-2-2 over winter break Princeton men’s hockey had a brutal winter break schedule as they faced teams ranked No. 1, No. 5 and No. 17 by the NCAA over a four game span. Princeton hosted No. 1 St. Cloud for a double header before New Years, where they tied back to back games in thrilling 3-3 and 2-2 contests. The Tigers hit the road to start 2018 where they lost 7-1 to No. 5 Cornell and 4-0 to No. 17 Colegate. The men are now 3-7-2 in ECAC league play as they get ready for an upcoming road trip to Dartmouth and Harvard this weekend.

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Men’s volleyball: 1-3 to start the season Men’s volleyball opened their season last week and kicked off along west coast road trip against some of the nation’s best teams. The Tigers lost to No. 12 USC and No. 2 Long Beach State before defeating No. 8 Stanford 3-2 to earn their highest ranked win in over 20 years. The Stanford game was an early season highlight for the Tigers, who then headed to take on No. 11 CSUN in their final game of the California trip. Now 1-3, the Tigers prepare for their home opener against IPFW. Wrestling: Midland Championships and Matches in Indiana Princeton continued their tour of the Big Ten over winter break, first competing in the Midlands Championships hosted by Northwestern and then in West Lafayette, Indiana against ranked Purdue and Michigan. Princeton finished eighth in the Midlands Championships, earning 73 points across the two days of action. Then, they suffered tough losses to Purdue (29-17) and Michigan (28-10) dropping their record to 0-5 in single team matches. The Tigers head home to face Rider and Franklin & Marshall this weekend, hoping to get their first win of the year.

Bella Alarie —18 points 7-11 FG%, 12 rebounds, 8 blocks Sophomore Bella Alarie recorded her fifteenth career double-double in Princeton’s victory over Ivy League rival Penn.

In addition to her efficient scoring, Alarie also made her presence felt on the defensive end, grabbing 12 boards and blocking eighth shots — one shy of the Princeton record held by Ellen DeVoe ’86.

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Women’s basketball: 5-0 over winter break Like the men’s team, the women had a busy winter break, playing five games and winning all five. The Tigers opened winter break with a win at Wagner, then traveled to Gainesville, FL to play in the Gator Holiday Classic. There, they won both of their games against Chattanooga and St. Joe’s. Heading back to NJ, they took on UMBC on New Year’s Eve, earning a dominating victory to close out 2017. The Tigers picked up 2018 right where they left off, earning a statement 70-55 victory over Penn to open Ivy League play. The Orange and Black are now 11-3 and 1-0 in league play looking to sweep this week’s home games against Cornell and Columbia.

Women’s hockey: 2-1-1 over winter break A big winter break for women’s hockey, who improved their record to 6-10-4 with a couple of home victories. The team went 1-0-1 against Boston University to close out 2017, winning 4-1 in the first meeting and then tying the Terriers 1-1 in the second. Then, Princeton defeated No. 5 Cornell 5–2 in their best performance of the season this past Friday. The Tigers followed that up with a thrilling but disappointing 3–2 loss to No. 4 Colgate as the Tigers aimed for back to back victories over ranked opponents. Up next for the Tigers are two more home games this weekend against Brown and Yale.

Tweet of the Day “Congratulations to Devin Cannady on being named to the Lou Henson Award midseason watch list!”

Princeton Basketball (@ Princeton_Hoops),

Stat of the Day

1018 points Devin Cannady scored 21 points against Penn to become the 33rd member of Princeton’s 1000-point club.

Greg Luck — 21 kills, 10 digs, 6 blocks Princeton’s historic win over No. 8 Stanford saw a series of heroic performances from the Tigers.

However, it was sophomore outside hitter Greg Luck who put his stamp on the match. Luck spearheaded the Princeton offense with a career-high 21 kills.

In addition, Luck also registered career-highs in digs and blocks.

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