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Friday October 1, 2021 vol. CXLV no. 52
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STUDENT LIFE
USG removes LANY as Lawnparties headliner amid allegations of inappropriate conduct
ON CAMPUS
JON ORT / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
McCosh Health Center
USG was unaware of allegations against lead singer of LA pop band By Andrew Somerville and Sidney Singer Staff Writer and News Contributor
The Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Social Committee has announced they will no longer host band LANY at this year’s Lawnparties, scheduled for this Sunday, Oct. 3. This comes after many students expressed concern with the announcement of the headliner after allegations of predatory behavior, manipulation, and emotional abuse came to light about lead singer Paul Klein. In a Tuesday night email to the undergraduate student body, USG president Christian Potter ’22 and USG Social Chair William Gu ’23 cited student concerns as the motivating factor behind their decision. “Once made aware of the allegations against LANY after the headliner announcement this past Sunday, the USG Senate and Social Committee immediately took action and began
investigating ways to address the situation,” they wrote. “The Senate leadership decided on Monday that, due to the nature of the allegations, the appropriate solution would be to attempt to invite an entirely new main act for this year’s Lawnparties.” The email states that USG will “continue to update the student body regarding the selection of a new headline act.” They had hoped to announce the new headliner along with the announcement of LANY’s cancellation. “However, given the logistical intricacies of finding a replacement artist with short notice, we are unable to provide a definitive announcement of a new headliner at this moment,” they wrote. Potter and Gu concluded the email with their commitment to creating an inclusive environment. “We would like to reaffirm that the USG SenSee LANY page 3
McCosh Health Center reports increase in visits, telehealth calls By Janny Eng
News Contributor
As flu season approaches, a substantial number of students have been visiting University Health Services’ (UHS) Outpatient Medical Services (OPMS). Both OPMS and Counseling and Psychological Services (CPS), two of UHS’s largest services, have seen “considerable activity during these early weeks in the semester,” said John Kolligian, the Executive Director of UHS. OPMS is a team of college health professionals composed of physicians, nurse practitioners, emergency medicine specialists, and an infectious disease specialist. Over the past two weeks, OPMS and the Infirmary Service describe seeing over 1200 students for in-person health
evaluations. “The overall number of students seeking care is higher than usual,” Kolligian remarked. Though students continue to seek care for a wide variety of reasons, this academic year marks a “significant increase” in the number of telephone calls to OPMS, according to Kolligian. OPMS reports taking in over 50 calls a day, many of which involve cases of mild cold-like symptoms. In order to handle this increase in telephone volume, OPMS nurses attempt to provide diagnoses over the phone, recommending treatment and screening students for COVID-19. Additionally, OPMS reports strengthening their numbers of client service representatives and integrated nursing staff at the front
desk. On their busiest days, OPMS has over 20 healthcare professionals. “UHS is routinely wellstaffed,” Kolligian said. “The University has supported us with additional resources for staffing and other purposes.” However, some students believe there are barriers to accessing the telehealth services OPMS provides. Will Huang ’25 recently visited McCosh Health Center around midnight on Sept. 16 with a severe cough. “I coughed so hard,” Huang explained, “that I threw up.” When asked why he had not visited a doctor earlier, Huang cited what he described as a confusing array of options presented by the UHS automated phone service. “There’s so many options See MCCOSH page 3
ON CAMPUS
Divest Princeton sit-in calls for fossil fuel divestment By Paige Cromley Staff Writer
CANDACE DO / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
On Friday, Sept. 24, Divest Princeton held a sit-in in front of Nassau Hall advocating for urgent and complete divestment from the fossil fuel industry. Students gave speeches, painted signs, and sat on blankets doing homework during the event, which lasted four hours. Many of them were local high schoolers skipping class to attend.
Harmonie Ramsden, a senior at Princeton High School, was there with her sister Keegan. She was missing multiple classes by attending the sit-in on a Friday afternoon, but said in an interview with The Daily Princetonian that she believes in the cause. “I might miss an assignment, but in the long run, advocating for climate action is more important,” she said. Ramsden said there has been a local group organizing climate strikes since she was
a freshman; they used to leave at lunchtime on Fridays and rally at Hinds Plaza, but the COVID-19 pandemic put their events on hold. Now, many of their organizers have graduated and entered college. Martin Mastnak ’25 helped organize strikes at Princeton High School starting in 2019, and is now involved with Divest Princeton as a college student. He expects there to be multiple events like the sit-in throughout the semester. See DIVEST page 4
U. AFFAIRS
COVID-19
One COVID-19 disciplinary case adjudicated on campus, amid ‘very limited transmission’
TPS launches accessible transit service for disabled individuals
By Marie-Rose Sheinerman and Tess Weinreich
By Tess Weinreich
News Editor Emerita and News Contributor
As of Sept. 22, the University has adjudicated a total of one disciplinary case related to COVID-19 safety protocols, Deputy University Spokesperson Michael Hotchkiss told The Daily Princetonian. Aside from saying that it was dealt with through the “student discipline process,” Hotchkiss did not provide further details on the outcome of the case. In August, the University announced a universal indoor mask mandate with exceptions for students in their dorm rooms, while actively eating or drinking, and when
In This Issue
alone in a room or cubicle. The announcement marked a shift from a policy announced in July that said vaccinated students would not be required to wear face coverings. At the time, the University said that decisions on masking would be reviewed weekly. The last update regarding face coverings came on Sept. 10, when Dean of the College Jill Dolan confirmed that classroom mandatory masking policy would continue. When asked if a date has been set for the next update from the University regarding masking requirements, Hotchkiss said in an email that “the current masking policy will remain in effect until further notice.” “The University continues to
closely monitor the situation on campus and is prepared to adjust its mitigation strategies as needed,” he wrote. At the Sept. 20 meeting of the Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC), President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 justified the University’s current public health policies by saying that the University is looking toward peer institutions’ approaches, some of which have seen spikes in cases despite testing and mandated vaccination. “We don’t want to end up there,” Eisgruber said at the meeting. “Let’s continue this masking that allows us to have a relatively normal term with all the activities that bring us the joy and learning and
News Contributor
Wednesday, Sept. 22, marked the first operational day for Princeton Transportation and Parking Services (TPS)’s pilot service, TigerAccess. The new transit system offers curb-to-curb transportation for Univer-
sity visitors, students, and faculty members with mobility-related disabilities or medical conditions. “Think of it as a dedicated shuttle service that can make more connections than our fixed-route service can,” explained TPS director Charlie Tennyson in See TRANSIT page 5
TESSA WEINREICH / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
See COVID19 page 3
Naomi Hess ’22 exiting the TigerAccess van.
SATIRE | PAGE 14
PROSPECT | PAGE 17
Entirely fictional, not entirely funny.
Naaji Hylton ‘22 discusses music influences and upcoming Lawnparties performance.
DIVERSITY REPORT
We internally surveyed our demographics at
| PAGE 10 the ‘Prince.’ Here are our goals.
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The Daily Princetonian
Friday October 1, 2021
U. AFFAIRS
Gender and Sexuality Resource Center launches, combining Women*s and LGBT Centers By Izzy Jacobson
News Contributor
On Monday, Sept. 27, the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center (GSRC) officially opened its doors, marking the physical and ideological unification of the former Women*s and LGBT Centers. One of the top priorities for the center, located on the second floor of Frist Campus Center, is creating a co-curricular experience by leveraging the resources of the Program in Gender and Sexuality Studies and other departments. “Students who are learning these incredible theoretical ideas in the classroom could also engage in on-the-ground types of work and projects, whether that be internships or study away programs,” said Assistant Dean of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the new GSRC Director Kristopher Oliveira. “That can become something like a co-curricular transcript where students can say… I work through these things and I have a sense of organizing … of social advocacy … of what it means to address these types of issues,” he said. The launch party included food, balloons, free sweatpants, and speeches by Vice President for Campus Life Rochelle Calhoun, Dean of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion LaTanya Buck, and Oliveira. They spoke about the legacy of the two respective centers and what their fusion means for the future. “We are called to be really attentive to the nuances of the intersections of gender and sexuality,” Oliveira said in an interview with The Daily Princetonian. “In this new
structure, we’re really able to be attentive to the experiences of trans women of color, the more contemporary issues that women and femme folks and queer and trans folks face.” Manar Talab ’23 lauded this decision, claiming that the merger allows queer and trans students to utilize the affinity space “without outing yourself.” “It’s so all-encompassing; everyone can feel comfortable even if they aren’t completely comfortable with their identity,” Talab said. But some students expressed concern that uniting the two centers may diminish some voices. “It used to be the Women*s Center and now it’s gender,” Ian Fridman ’25 said. “That might take over a bit of spotlight from the necessity that we have towards creating spaces for women specifically.” The center plans to continue hosting peer-led affinity groups and mentoring programs, like “Q’necctions” and Gender Group — a program which Jaelin Haynes ’23 said she is particularly excited about. “Meeting more women on campus that are also looking for community, that’s really a great thing to have,” she said. Beyond programming, many students spoke about hanging out or studying within the space, which is complete with comfortable couches, a TV, and multicolored murals. Some, like Rodolfo Pineda ’25, expressed enthusiasm about socializing there. “We’re still acclimating as ’25s, so this is a really con-
IZZY JACOBSON / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
Kristopher Oliveira speaks at the GSRC launch.
ducive environment for doing just that — getting to meet people and then making that connection,” he said. Fridman agreed, emphasizing that the space allows students to bond over shared experiences and embrace their identities. “A lot of the people in the center have identities that aren’t perhaps as privileged and it’s likely that many of them, of us, went through a lot of things that weren’t very nice growing up, having to deal with shame, internalized trauma, transphobia, homophobia, sexism in the world,” he said. “I think it’s very important for us to be
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able to create an environment that’s welcoming to everyone and spread kindness in a world that didn’t do that for us.” The center opening comes amid a call by the Princeton Pride Alliance (PPA) to allocate more resources into the mental health and well-being of trans, queer, and femme students. In an op-ed to the ‘Prince,’ the PPA demanded more funding for therapists, staff, and various accommodations that will help serve these students. Oliveira wrote an op-ed in response, but did not directly address PPA’s demands. When asked about PPA’s
calls in an interview with the ‘Prince,’ Oliveira said that he is still gauging the needs of the community, feasibility of projects, and strength of ongoing initiatives. He has yet to connect with senior administrators about the demands. “Right now, my responsibility is to make sense of the space between what the students have asked for, and what initiatives already are on campus to figure out what that gap really is,” Oliveira said. Izzy Jacobson is a news and features contributor for the ‘Prince.’ She can be reached at ijacobson@princeton.edu and @ izzyjacobsonn on Instagram.
HEADLINE FROM HISTORY
IVY CLUB ADMITS 15 WOMEN O C T. 1 , 1 9 9 0
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The Daily Princetonian
Friday October 1, 2021
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USG to invite a new Lawnparties headliner LANY
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............. ate condemns all forms of sexual misconduct. It is our utmost priority to foster a community that is safe, just, and inclusive; Lawnparties is no exception to that,” they wrote. In an email to The Daily Princetonian, Gu explained that if they “had been aware of these allegations, [USG] would not have considered LANY as a potential headliner for Lawnparties.” According to celebritytalent.net, the booking price for LANY ranges from $75,000–$149,999. Shortly after the initial headliner announcement, several students quickly took to social media to point out that the lead singer of the group, Paul Klein, has received several allegations of predatory and manipulative behavior, and emotional abuse. Enrique Zúñiga González ’22 was one of the first students to respond negatively to the announcement on Twitter. In an email to the ‘Prince’, he criticized USG for failing to research the con-
troversy beforehand. “A simple Google Search and some comments from friends were enough to know this was messed up,” he said. He expressed his relief that USG decided to cancel LANY’s performance. “I feel like having them there would make students feel very unsafe,” he said. “Given their allegations, many of them coming from college-aged women, I think that was a terrible idea.” He added that the entire situation is emotionally taxing on many students. “Waiting for the surprise and hyping the release date was not worth this much pain caused on survivors,” he said. “Some of us have had to relive our traumatic experiences just to justify why we don’t want to have [LANY] perform at our campus.” The allegations of inappropriate conduct are compiled on a public Google document created by Twitter user @hahlys, Hailey Pryor, which outlines 12 separate allegations from fans who claim to have been involved in a harmful relationship with Klein at various points between 2014–2020.
The ‘Prince’ has not attempted to independently verify the allegations in the Google document. Pryor is a student at Fordham University in New York City. She decided to compile the allegations because she wanted “to do anything [she] could to educate people on this band’s intentions.” All of the fans on the document were completely anonymized, with names and locations of events omitted. Pryor first became aware of allegations against Klein in August 2020 and received several allegations from fans across the country in December 2020. Since then, Pryor says that she has continued to update the document as more information becomes available, and made the document public in July 2021 when the group announced that they would be going on tour. “I wanted to make sure that their fans, especially young women, knew what this band was capable of and how to stay safe around them if they still planned on going to this tour,” she wrote in a message to The Daily Princetonian. In a message to the ‘Prince’ Julia Nees ’25 responded to the announcement with mixed emotions.
“Although I’m glad LANY isn’t performing anymore, I wish the USG would’ve been more transparent from the beginning about their efforts in getting a new performer,” she said. “I am still disappointed that not enough research was done about them beforehand, as it took students literally minutes to find the allegations.” Hannah Faughnan ’23 organized a petition which went live early Tuesday afternoon calling for the cancellation of LANY’s performance and more transparency in the selection process of Lawnparties performers. At the time of publication, the petition received 783 signatures in approximately nine hours. In an email to the ‘Prince’, Faughnan stressed that “there is still an ongoing fight to amend the system that allowed for this to happen in the first place.” Lawnparties student opener Naaji Hylton ’22, professionally known as J. Paris, was unaware of the decision until tonight’s email. “I wish I would have known earlier, they definitely could have told me about it,” he said. “I’m still planning on giving a great show one way or another. But, I think, I have more space to perform with students being happier about whoever is going
to perform,” Hylton said. LANY did not immediately respond to request for comment. Associate News Editor Naomi Hess ’22 and Assistant News Editor Ashley Fan ’24 contributed reporting to this piece. Sidney Singer is a news contributor for the ‘Prince.’ She can be reached at Sidneysinger@princeton.edu or on Instagram at @Sidneysinger. Andrew Somerville is a staff writer who corresponds with and covers USG happenings and other campus news. He can be reached at jas19@princeton.edu. Editor’s Note: The headline was changed to avoid confusion and specify the allegations against Klein. Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect that the ‘Prince’ has not sought to independently verify the allegations against Paul Klein and to remove a description of specific allegations.
Students discuss mask mandate policies Kolligian: UHS has seen considerable activity during COVID19 early weeks Continued from page 1
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MCCOSH
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… and none of them are the front desk. It’s very unclear how to make an appointment,” Huang said. Previously, Huang had tried to call the number on the sign in McCosh’s entrance but had to dial through the infirmary when no one picked up. After asking the infirmary to transfer him to the front desk, Huang says the infirmary instead instructed him to go buy Robitussin. Even though Huang followed their instructions, his cough did not improve. “They told me I was fine,” Huang said after he visited McCosh. “I am clearly not fine.” Dominic Riendeau-Krause ’25, Huang’s roommate, said he has been sick for about a
week and a half. He is “fairly certain” Huang got him sick. Regarding his experience with McCosh, Huang stated, “The system is not geared towards someone that has a common cold … it’s a ‘You don’t have COVID, you’re good’ type of situation.” In his response to the ‘Prince,’ Kolligian noted that the “highly trained [telehealth] nurses conduct telephone triage to recommend the most appropriate method for evaluating, treating, and caring for patients with health concerns, while promptly screening and identifying students with potential COVID-19 symptoms.” Janny Eng is a News Contributor for the ‘Prince.’ She can be reached at je3398@princeton. edu.
THE MINI CROSSWORD By Rishi Dange Staff Constructor
MINI #1
growth that we want from a college campus.” According to the University’s COVID-19 dashboard, campus risk level is currently classified as “low to moderate.” When asked by the ‘Prince’ if the University’s previous statement that there has been no detected on-campus transmission remains accurate, Hotchkiss said on Sept. 22, “Based on contact tracing, there are indications of very limited transmission in a variety of campus settings.” “We have not seen indication of any clusters of cases on campus,” he added. The undergraduate positivity rate for the week ending in Sept. 24, according to the University’s COVID-19 dashboard, was 0.08 percent, and the undergraduate student vaccination rate stands at 99 percent. The ‘Prince’ spoke to several students about their views on
the extended mask mandate. “I feel safe enough where I think we should be able to take the mask off, specifically because all the data points to us being able to do so,” Grace Houlahan ’25 said, referring to the dashboard statistics. “I think if we’re not going to take the mask mandate off with those statistics, we’re never going to be able to take them off,” she added. Other students, however, favor the University’s continued mask mandate, arguing that the advantages of masking outweigh the risk posed by infection. “I think there is a feeling of security that comes with masking,” said Edward Yang ’23. “Even if COVID rates were low, I’d rather not get put into an isolation dorm.” Students who voiced support for continuing the current mask mandate also cited the prevalence of the Delta variant of COVID-19 as a cause for their concern. “I do definitely think masks
MORE ONLINE
are essential, especially right now that there are more variants of COVID that are a lot more contagious than the previous ones,” Ivania Asencio ’23 said. For Asencio, a classroom without masking would make her feel “very uncomfortable,” she said. “I haven’t gotten COVID thus far, and I think masks are a big reason for that,” she said. “It’s common courtesy for people who may be immunocompromised; you never know what other peoples’ health status is.” Tess Weinreich is a news and features contributor for the ‘Prince.’ She can be reached at tw7353@princeton.edu. Marie-Rose Sheinerman is a senior writer who has reported on COVID19 policy, faculty controversy, sexual harassment allegations, major donors, campus protests, and more. She can be reached at ms78@princeton.edu or on Twitter at @rosesheinerman.
SCAN TO READ MORE!
NEWS
New student initiative spreads awareness on marijuana criminal record expungement in New Jersey Marie-Rose Sheinerman, Senior Writer
NEWS 1 6 7 8 9
ACROSS Signs with eight sides Close pal, to today’s youth Out of a slumber Fix a dress again, maybe Wipe out
1 2 3 4 5
DOWN Not be greedy, in a way ___ of Terror (ride at Disney’s Hollywood Studios) Largest city in Nebraska Toll roads, for short “___ after class”
See page 6 for more
Princeton Town Council meeting discusses Witherspoon Street construction, parking issues Charlie Roth, Contributor
NEWS
Vote100 partners with Representable in anti-gerrymandering campaign Alexa Marsh, Contributor
The Daily Princetonian
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Friday October 1, 2021
Mastnak: We are sending a clear message to the U. that we won’t stand for investment in fossil fuels DIVEST
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“An event like this is sending a clear message to [President Christopher] Eisgruber and the Trustees that we as students and members of a generation inheriting an earth that’s already been greatly harmed won’t stand for investment in fossil fuels,” he said. Harvard recently announced it would allow its remaining in-
direct investments in fossil fuels to expire, which some, such as Nate Howard ’25, see as a sign that complete divestment is possible for the University. The fact that other schools like the University of Cambridge and Rutgers University have already divested “makes Princeton look bad. We’re really dropping the ball,” Howard said. Howard explained that he thinks the information released about the University’s dissocia-
tion plan has been “very vague and intentionally confusing.” Last May, the Board of Trustees announced that the University would dissociate from the thermal coal and tar sands segments of the fossil fuel industry, as well as companies that promote climate misinformation. The Board also announced it would set a target date to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the University portfolio. Following a “series of con-
CANDACE DO / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
Protestors lead a chant on the steps of Nassau Hall.
versations with internal and external experts” on dissociation, a panel of faculty has been formed to advise the University on how to determine which companies fall into the categories previously described by the Board as warranting dissociation. The Faculty Panel on Dissociation Metrics, Principles, and Standards — which includes professors with expertise in environmental studies, ethics, economics, public policy, and engineering — will produce a written report for University decision-makers, and will be encouraged to update the broader community periodically while its work is in progress. “An administrative committee will use the findings of the faculty panel to propose for Board approval a set of actionable criteria for dissociation and a process for implementing them, now and in the future,” according to a University web page. In response to the protest, Deputy University Spokesperson Michael Hotchkiss explained the University’s divestment policies went beyond what the Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC) recommended. “It’s important to note that the Trustees used recommendations from the CPUC as the basis for their deliberations leading up to the May
announcement, ultimately adopting a set of policies that are more aggressive than those recommendations and grounded in Princeton’s history as a world leader in conservation and climate science research,” Hotchkiss wrote in an email to the ‘Prince.’ Still, students within Divest Princeton have expressed frustration with the pace of action. This administrative committee aims to complete its work by the end of the academic year. “We need a more urgent timeline,” said Hannah Reynolds ’22, Co-Coordinator of Divest Princeton. “Nothing’s changing. They’re not actively divesting, just continuing to review.” Reynolds is a Senior Columnist for the ‘Prince.’ Events like the sit-in help keep pressure on the University by “reminding the administration that we’re still here and not going away,” Reynolds said. Howard also said he sees it as a kick-off function for the semester, and said he hopes it helps get first-years and sophomores engaged with Divest Princeton. Paige Cromley is a sophomore who writes for the News, Features, and Arts & Culture sections of the ‘Prince.’ She can be reached at pcromley@princeton.edu.
Eisgruber, other NJ college presidents urge Congress to double Pell grants BEYOND THE BUBBLE
By Desmond Lam
News Contributor
On Sept. 22, President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 and Rutgers University President Jonathan Holloway coauthored a letter to the New Jersey Congressional Delegation urging them to double the maximum Pell Grant. A total of 44 presidents of New Jersey colleges and universities signed the letter. The Pell Grant is a federal program that provides financial assistance for low- and middle-income students. According to the letter, 7 million students, including more than 150,000 New Jersey students, receive Pell Grants each year. For those students, a majority of whom are Black and Latinx, the Pell Grant en-
ables them to pursue higher education and receive college degrees. “A college degree is a hugely important tool of social mobility that opens a wide range of opportunities for careers that can transform the lives of students and their families,” the letter reads. However, when Congress introduced the Pell Grant, it covered nearly 80 percent of the cost of attendance at a public four-year college. Currently, the maximum Pell Grant is $6,495, which is less than 30 percent of the cost of attendance. “Doubling the maximum Pell Grant will help more students from low- and middleincome families to get to and through college. That helps everyone: by cultivating tal-
ent from every sector of society, we make our state, and our country, stronger and better,” the letter states. Eisgruber argued for the importance of Pell Grants in an email to The Daily Princetonian. “I support the doubling of Pell because I know that a college education is a rocket booster for students from low-income and middleincome families,” he wrote. “Increasing the Pell grant will enable these students to get the educations they deserve, and it will enable our campuses and our country to benefit from the talent they bring.” Low-income Princeton students recognize the value of the Pell Grant. In a post for the President’s blog, Cassidy
Barnes ’22 wrote about how the Pell Grant changes the lives of students. “For many students, it’s federal financial aid in the form of the Pell Grant that makes their college career possible,” she wrote. “If Congress doubled the Pell Grant maximum amount … over 80 percent of [public four-year] universities would become affordable to those with Pell Grants, as compared with 25 percent now.” In an interview with the ‘Prince’, Sebastian Aguilar ’25 expressed his gratitude for the Pell Grant. “As a Questbridge Scholar, I received the maximum Pell Grant. My parents can’t afford all of my education expenses, and the Pell Grant is giving me the opportunity to get an
education at Princeton,” he said. Aguilar also commented on Eisgruber’s letter in favor of doubling the maximum Pell Grant. “I think that President Eisgruber is doing a really good job by advocating for this policy because it helps so many students. It shows that he cares about what disadvantaged students are dealing with,” he said. Editor-in-Chief Emma Treadway ’22 contributed reporting to this piece. Desmond Lam is a news contributor for the ‘Prince.’ He can be reached at dl2015@princeton. edu.
Peloton instructor Tunde Oyeneyin speaks on career, gain, loss BEYOND THE BUBBLE
By Christofer Robles News Contributor
Media mogul Tunde Oyeneyin spoke to the University community on Sept. 28 about her experiences making difficult life choices, dealing with grief, and finding strength and community. Oyeneyin, a Texas native of
COURTESY OF GRACE ZHUANG ’23
Nigerian descent, currently coaches spin classes on the popular fitness platform Peloton and is the founder of the SPEAK Movement, which seeks to spotlight people who have thrived in the face of adversity. “The beauty of uncertainty is infinite possibility,” Oyeneyin explained as she recounted her journey from makeup artist to
Tunde Oyeneyin, Theresa S. Thames, and Jessica M. Ward.
spin instructor. She said she had felt the need to justify the risky career move in spite of her dissatisfaction as a makeup artist. “When I see you young people here, I imagine the uncertainties you might face each and every single day, and I invite you to have the audacity to surrender,” she suggested. “When I was in
my final years in the cosmetic world, I was pouring from a half empty open spout, with the goal of pouring from a full cup. My cup is now so full that I do not pour from my cup, I pour from the overflow.” Associate Dean of Religious Life and of the Chapel Rev. Dr. Theresa S. Thames and Associate Director of Athletics/Director of Campus Recreation Jessica M. Ward moderated a discussion with Oyeneyin, asking about her interactions with grief and community both before and during the pandemic. Oyeneyin shared her story of loss, having had three immediate family members pass away before she turned 30, and offered advice to those who have faced similar experiences as a result of COVID-19. “I am who I am as a result of my experiences … I say it a lot in class, we do not get to choose what comes at us, but we do get to choose how we react,” she said. In speaking of loss, Oyeneyin
explained her goal as an instructor was to teach how to gain, not how to lose. “I am not selling weight loss,” she noted. “I am selling a lifestyle. I am selling confidence. What I gained was far superior. I gained a sense of who I am.” The night concluded with a Q&A and some time to meet and take a picture with Oyeneyin. “I was really able to learn a lot from this experience. Tunde is wonderful,” said Promise Ekpo Osaine GS after the event. “I am a Black woman from Nigeria, the same country that she is from. So seeing her today has really inspired me. She made me realize that uncertainty is a moment of infinite possibility.” This event was hosted by the Office of Religious Life and Campus Recreation at McCosh Hall and occurred at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 28. Christofer Robles is a news contributor for the ‘Prince.’ He can be reached at cdrobles@princeton.edu or @christofer_robles on Instagram.
The Daily Princetonian
Friday October 1, 2021
Tennyson: Users can track their ride, similar to Uber and Lyft TRANSIT Continued from page 1
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an interview with The Daily Princetonian. The regular TigerTransit buses are outfitted to be fully accessible. However, Director of the Office of Disability Services Elizabeth Erickson wrote in an email to the ‘Prince’ that there are times when relying on TigerTransit “is not possible or practical” for individuals with disabilities. “For various reasons, some individuals will benefit from a service that enables them to be picked up and dropped off at specific buildings,” Erickson said in the email. “TigerAccess will enhance Princeton’s already robust transportation system by personalizing service to individuals who have difficulty using the current shuttle system,” she continued. There is currently one van in circulation, which will operate within the same area and hours as TigerTransit buses. Users are asked to schedule trips 24 hours in advance to ensure the van’s availability, but TigerAccess will complete last-minute requests if the time slot is available. To schedule a ride, users can submit a request form listed on the Transportation and Parking Services website, or through the TripShot app. “The app just empowers the user to be a bit more nimble with their requests and then be able to track their ride kind of similar to the way you would think of an Uber or a Lyft,” Tennyson said. Discussions about having such a service at the University started several years ago, according to Erickson, and was previously considered at an advisory committee for the Office of Disability Services (ODS). “This has been kind of an evolving conversation on campus, this kind of service,” Tennyson said. A report issued by the campus mobility framework (a year-long TPS research initiative addressing campus-wide movement) in July 2020 identified a dedicated point-topoint transportation system as one of several accessibilityrelated recommendations. According to Tennyson, this report laid the groundwork for TigerAccess’s development, which began in earnest in late spring of last year in cooperation with ODS and other campus partners. “A number of different groups that engage with students all helped us
form this advisory group that met for two to three sessions of planning where we made decisions about the parameters of the service and how it would look at least in its inaugural year,” Tennyson said. Currently, the vehicle holds up to three passengers (two in the case that one is using a wheelchair or mobility device), and is service dog friendly and wheelchair accessible by lift or ramp. Additionally, when servicing visually impaired riders, drivers will announce stops as the van approaches its destination. TPS also consulted with several students with mobility challenges, including Naomi Hess ’22, who uses a motorized wheelchair to navigate campus. “I’m so glad to see it come to fruition,” she said. “I think the ability to get around campus is so important for users and people with disabilities and the service is so incredible because it can increase access where formerly it was very difficult.” “I know that I will use it in inclement weather situations where it might be difficult to use my wheelchair and this service is so easy and simple, I think it’s really fantastic,” Hess continued. Hess is an Associate News Editor for the ‘Prince.’ Others, such as Gabby Graves-Wake ’25, intend to use the TigerAccess van on a more regular basis. “I’m a manual wheelchair user. So that kind of changes things,” she said. “Princeton’s quite hilly and if you look at some of the roads or the sidewalks there are lots of little cracks and weird angles that make it a lot of effort to push around. So I intend to drive whenever I can.” TPS intends to reconvene with stakeholder groups and offices that assisted in developing TigerAccess on a monthly basis to respond to feedback to continue to adjust the new service to riders’ needs. Students can find more information on the service and request a ride by contacting TPS or visiting their website. Tess Weinreich is a news and features contributor for the ‘Prince.’ She can be reached at tw7353@princeton.edu.
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The Daily Princetonian
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Ditto
Friday October 1, 2021
By Sebastian Hayden and Rishi Dange Staff Constructors
ACROSS
53 ___ sequitur 1 User-edited reference 54 Like tires that need to be 5 Every Princeton AB replaced student has to write one 55 Lighters, razors, and 11 Item used in a sales pens exercise in “The Wolf of 57 Islander or Canadien Wall Street” 61 Debtor’s letters 14 “Your guess ___ good as 62 Agree ... or what the mine” starred clues do, in a 15 Capital southwest of way Miami 64 What to do in Aspen or 16 Actress Longoria Jackson Hole 17 *Famous anti-racist 65 With San, world’s fifth author and professor smallest country 19 Grande, for one 66 Fibs 20 What you do to your 67 FDR successor shoelaces to take your 68 Clobbers shoes off 69 It might be rigged 18 21 Words preceding “will always love you” DOWN 22 22 Mosque prayer leader 23 Mountain ___ 1 2012 Nintendo console 24 25 *Small Apple device 2 ID no. for a book 26 27 Skrillex genre 3 Mario’s vehicle 27 31 Fitting, as a nickname 4 “Why? Because ___” 28 32 Milk’s favorite cookie 5 Text eliciting a response 29 of “Np” 33 “War and Peace” author 30 6 Maori dance frequently 39 Country where Biden is done before rugby games 34 pres. 7 “That’s easy. ___ could 40 *From Tel Aviv or Haifa 35 have gotten it!” 41 Suffix with hero or 36 8 Wall St. “500” nectar 42 They come with strings attached? 44 Old civilization of 30down 45 Reggae relative 46 Crystal healing practitioner
9 Setting for the Mahabharata 10 Traditional Okinawan weapon 11 “This event will be outdoors, weather ___” 12 Water brand sourced from Lake Geneva 13 Tennis champion Osaka
MINI #2
37 38 40 43 44 47
What parallel lines never do Little devils Language of Western Britain Mustachioed surrealist Arrange, as hair Astronomical bear Yields results Home of Machu Picchu Trendy milk type for lattes Tiktok user, often “WandaVision” actress Elizabeth Eleven, en El Salvador Anno Domini : La. :: In the ___ of our Lord : Eng. Volunteer’s words Related Elderly Bilbo Baggins actor Refuses
48 “If only!” 49 Crannies’ partners 50 Letter-shaped building support 51 Top-level 52 Advice for a sprained ankle 56 “Auld Lang ___” 58 Luke Skywalker’s sister 59 Pattern on peacock feathers 60 Possible state of an object in Newton’s First Law 62 Text msg. format 63 Greek goddess of dawn
The Minis MINI #3
By Rishi Dange Staff Constructor
ACROSS
ACROSS
1 Lets go of
1 Dinner breads
6 Season 1 throwback, e.g.
6 UFO pilot
7 Banish
7 South American animal with a lengthy neck
8 Ownership question 9 Less bananas?
DOWN 1 Barrymore and Brees 2 Singer and songwriter Bebe ___ 3 Hunter in the night sky 4 Heartbeat 5 Smile with mocking intentions
8 Place, as with a thumbtack 9 Learns, as from the grapevine
DOWN 1 Destructive character in a 2012 animated classic 2 Skateboarding jump 3 Jungle vine 4 King Julien in “Madagascar,” e.g. 5 Takes, as a picture
Scan to check your answers and try more of our puzzles online!
Friday October 1, 2021
The Daily Princetonian
T his Week in Photos
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By Samantha LopezRico, Candace Do, Isabel Richardson, Natalia Maidique, Zoe Berman, and Guanyi Cao
Students gather outside Nassau Hall for the Divest Princeton sit-in.
A group of Princeton alumni set up camp to watch the Princeton vs. Stetson football game on Saturday.
Children play in a parking lot near the Lewis Center for the Arts at sunset.
The women’s soccer team meets in a quick circle before starting the second half of their game against Yale Saturday night. The score was still 0–0 at this point.
Alexander Hall at sunset.
Friday October 1, 2021
Opinion
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{ www.dailyprincetonian.com }
Princeton’s queer community is often biphobic and transphobic. Where do we go from here? Hannah Reynolds Columnist
A
fter coming out as openly queer, I had a partner inform me that she would only continue to date me if I specifically identified as a lesbian, constantly questioning my queerness (and interest in her) because I had dated men in the past. I was told that I wouldn’t be “enough of a woman” to date women-lovingwomen if I cut my hair short, that I’d be too much of a man if I didn’t painstakingly remove my body hair. This is just one example of the biphobia, transphobia, and general bigotry that I have experienced within the LGBTQIA+ community while on campus over the past four years. These experiences demonstrate that the gatekeeping and exclusion by other queer students and allies can be the most detrimental experiences queer people encounter at Princeton. I know countless peers who have struggled with similar feelings of isolation, especially within those who identify with particularly marginalized identities within the LGBTQIA+ community. Precarity, isolation, suppression of identity, and feelings of difference are often normalized parts of existence as a queer person in today’s world. Homophobia and transphobia endure to this day. But in spaces that are markedly progressive and accepting, gatekeeping of queerness is unacceptable. As Princeton students — whether queer or allies — we must foster a safe and accepting community for people of all identities, rather than contributing to the selfdoubt and isolation one already often experiences as part of the LGBTQIA+ community. I have never felt particularly secure in many integral aspects of my identity, but for as long as I can remember, I’ve known that I was queer. However,
my queerness — in terms of both gender and sexuality — was something I did not have the opportunity to explore until college, given the precarity of growing up in a small, mostly conservative, rural town as a queer kid. For years, I went through mental gymnastics and internalized self-hatred in order to persuade myself that queerness was a choice. At the start of my Princeton career, I continually suppressed the question of queerness that had remained at the back of my mind for much of my life, going through the motions of gender role conformity and heterosexuality in hopes of “fitting in.” Even as I was attempting to conform to cisheteronormativity, living in Princeton provided me with the first opportunity I had ever had to safely explore questions of gender and sexuality that I had bottled up my whole life. Coming to Princeton was the first time I had close friends who were openly lesbian and bisexual. It was the first time I learned about progressive politics and found myself in a left-leaning community. It was the first time that I wasn’t around fundamentalist Christians insisting that homosexuality was an irredeemable sin. I was finally in an environment where queerness was generally accepted, at least to an extent. So when I finally opened up to the people close to me at Princeton about my queerness, I was appalled by the exclusion and doubt I experienced at an interpersonal level, even within the queer community itself. The example I described earlier is just one of many. When I told my so-called “ally” of a boyfriend at the time, for instance, that I thought I might be bisexual or pansexual, he told me he was disgusted by the thought of me with another woman and that my sexuality was something he refused to accept. A gay friend sent me a Kinsey Scale test and maligned
me for not obtaining the result “exclusively homosexual” like she had. Another time, a peer asked why anyone would identify as transgender when they could “just be gay.” Throughout my time at Princeton, I have often felt pressured to justify my queerness in order to continue belonging. Over and over and over again, I have been made to feel as though I didn’t belong in the queer community at Princeton because nothing felt quite right. I knew I wasn’t straight and I wasn’t cisgender, but I never felt like I could decisively define my sexuality and gender identity in terms of specific labels. It took years of trying to fit in, alongside seemingly perpetual discomfort with my gender and sexuality, in order to realize that I didn’t need to define myself in terms of any one ‘letter’ in the LGBTQIA+ acronym in order to belong in the queer community. I could just be queer. Even within communities which are supposed to be accepting of queerness, those who do not conform to accepted labels and stereotypes often remain excluded and isolated from the spaces they belong to just as much as anyone else. So much of the queer experience is already colored by internalized hate and doubt, coupled with external acts of homophobia and transphobia. Belonging in the queer community is not contingent on alignment with specific labels or gender presentation. Moving forward, it is crucial to have open dialogue about sexuality and gender identity within the queer community, and we must be willing to listen to experiences other than our own. No one should experience feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt prompted by their own community. Hannah Reynolds is a senior in the Anthropology Department from the Finger Lakes in Upstate NY. She can be reached at hannahr@ princeton.edu.
vol. cxlv
editor-in-chief Emma Treadway ’22 business manager Louis Aaron ’23
BOARD OF TRUSTEES president Thomas E. Weber ’89 vice president Craig Bloom ’88 second vice president David Baumgarten ’06 secretary Chanakya A. Sethi ’07 treasurer Douglas Widmann ’90 assistant treasurer Kavita Saini ’09
trustees Francesca Barber Kathleen Crown Gabriel Debenedetti ’12 Stephen Fuzesi ’00 Zachary A. Goldfarb ’05 Michael Grabell ’03 John G. Horan ’74 Rick Klein ’98 James T. MacGregor ’66 Abigail Williams ’14 Tyler Woulfe ’07 trustees ex officio Emma Treadway ’22 Louis Aaron ’23
145TH MANAGING BOARD managing editors Harsimran Makkad ’22 AG McGee ’22 Kenny Peng ’22 Zachary Shevin ’22 content strategist Omar Farah ’23 Sections listed in alphabetical order. head cartoon editors Sydney Peng ’22 Akaneh Wang ’24 associate cartoon editors Inci Karaaslan ’24 Ambri Ma ’24 head copy editors Celia Buchband ’22 Isabel Rodrigues ’23 associate copy editors Catie Parker ’23 Cecilia Zubler ’23 digital news design editor Anika Maskara ’23 associate digital news design editor Brian Tieu ’23 graphics editor Ashley Chung ’23 instagram design editor Helen So ’22 print design editor Abby Nishiwaki ’23 newsletter editor Rooya Rahin ’23 head features editor Alex Gjaja ’23 Rachel Sturley ’23 associate features editors Annabelle Duval ’23 Ellen Li ’22 Tanvi Nibhanupudi ’23 multimedia liason Mark Dodici ’22 head photo editor Candace Do ’24 head podcast editor Isabel Rodrigues ’23
associate podcast editors Jack Anderson ’23 Francesca Block ’22 Katie Heinzer ’22 head video editor Mindy Burton ’23 associte video editors Uanne Chang ’24 Daniel Drake ’24 Marko Petrovic ’24 head news editors Evelyn Doskoch ’23 Caitlin Limestahl ’23 associte news editors Bharvi Chavre ’23 Naomi Hess ’22 Marissa Michaels ’22 head opinion editor Shannon Chaffers ’22 associte opinion editors Won-Jae Chang ’24 Kristal Grant ’24 Mollika Singh ’24 head prospect editors Cameron Lee ’22 Auhjanae McGee ’23 associte prospect editors José Pablo Fernández García ’23 Aster Zhang ’24 head puzzles editors Gabriel Robare ’24 Owen Travis ’24 head sports editor Emily Philippides ’22 associte sports editors Ben Burns ’23 Sreesha Ghosh ’23
145TH BUSINESS BOARD chief technology officer Pranav Avva ’24 assistant business manager Benjamin Cai ’24 business directors Gloria Wang ’24 Shirley Ren ’24 Samantha Lee ’24 David Akpokiere ’24 lead software engineer, system architect Areeq Hasan ’24 project manager Ananya Parashar ’24 business-tech liason Anika Agarwal ’25
software engineers Rishi Mago ’23 Joanna Tang ’24 Dwaipayan Saha ’24 Roma Bhattacharjee ’25 Giao Vu Dinh ’24 Eugenie Choi ’24 Daniel Hu ’25 Kohei Sanno ’25 business associates Jasmine Zhang ’24 Jonathan Lee ’24 Caroline Zhao ’25 Chief Technology Officer Emeritus Anthony Hein ’22
THIS PRINT ISSUE WAS DESIGNED BY Thanya Begum ’23 Dimitar Chakarov ’24 Juliana Wojtenko ’23 Mark Dodici ’22 Jessica Cui ’24 Abby Nishiwaki ’23
AND COPIED BY Celia Buchband ’22
JON ORT / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
The Pride flag waves in front of Palmer Square Park on Saturday, Jan. 12.
Done reading your ‘Prince’? Recycle!
Opinion
Friday October 1, 2021
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{ www.dailyprincetonian.com }
How to navigate campus life at Princeton Julia Chaffers
Senior Columnist
S
o you’re here for your first full year on campus. As a member of the only class to have experienced this, I am here to offer some advice as a somewhat wise senior. Zoom University was challenging for a host of reasons, but an on-campus year offers its own kind of adversity. You may have noticed in the first few weeks how Princeton can pull you in many different directions as you attempt to juggle classes, extracurriculars, and just being a functioning human being. If you approach each of these spheres of campus life with an open mind and a priority on your wellbeing, you’ll be able to weather the first few months of an inperson Princeton. Let’s start with academics.
Princeton courses are hard, regardless of discipline, and if you’re just checking boxes and aiming for grades, you will burn out. In order to avoid such a fate, you have to set your own metrics for success and establish your own goals. Most importantly, have an open mind about your studies. I was looking at a spreadsheet of prerequisites I made my freshman year, and history, my major, was nowhere to be seen. I didn’t take a history class here until the fall of my sophomore year. But the classes I took my freshman year helped steer me towards what I love to study — even the classes I didn’t like. Within a class you dislike, there’s often a kernel of something that sparks a new interest. Follow that spark. Over time, you’ll narrow down your interests and find the major that best suits you. Take the classes that draw your interest, not the ones you think you ought to take. You’ll likely stumble into the discipline
that really compels you. The same can apply to your distribution requirements. Maybe you’re a humanities major and the thought of taking a quantitative class gives you panicked flashbacks to high school calculus (like me). Or maybe you’re a scientist who finds a literature class irrelevant to your main focus. Try to tie your distribution class to what interests you and then set your own standard for what success in that class means. Perhaps instead of getting an A, your goal is to learn a new approach to your research interest. For example, to satisfy one of my science requirements, I took a freshman seminar about cognitive bias, which connected to my interests in race and public policy. The most important piece of advice I have — and the one that took me the longest to learn — is that you should work to get to know your professors. That is the advantage of having inperson classes again — it is
much easier to connect with a three-dimensional person than a small Zoom box. If you can, seek small seminar classes where you can differentiate yourself from the anonymity of lecture. Last semester, I was in a three-person seminar. It was a bit anxiety-inducing at first, but we were able to have more engaging and indepth discussion than I’ve had in any other classes. If you’re in large classes, attend professors’ office hours, ask about their research, and ask questions during class. Now for everything that happens outside the classroom. Being on campus means extracurriculars have come back to life. It also means that there are many new potential demands on your time. Perhaps as you walked through the rows at the Involvement Fest in Dillon Gym you were overwhelmed by the sheer number of groups and their enthusiasm. The key to extracurricular life is that the activities you do should be
MARCIA BROWN / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
an outlet, not a stressor. Look for ways to find community with other students. Look for chances to express your non-academic side. Most importantly, don’t spread yourself too thin. A little trial and error is good, but don’t be afraid to scale back to 2-3 clubs as the semester goes on. I’ve found that dedicating myself to a few activities I’m really passionate about is much more fulfilling than being half-checked into several. It will take time to figure out which those key extracurriculars are, but when you feel overwhelmed, take a step back. A similar approach applies to social life at Princeton. Everyone is thrown from the small pool of their hometowns into the big sea of campus life. You aren’t alone if you feel overwhelmed or like you have more acquaintances than true friends. Like all adjustments to college life, friendships take time and patience. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there, knowing that everyone else is also feeling things out. At the same time, don’t run your social battery down day after day; everyone needs a good recharge. Above all, take care of yourself. If you’re tired, go to sleep. If you’ve been in the library all day, take a walk outside. We all have a finite supply of mental and physical energy. The more you put on your plate, the less of yourself you can apply to each commitment. Everyone’s balance looks different — focus on finding the right balance for you. Don’t be afraid to hit pause and gather yourself. You can only enjoy all that Princeton has to offer if you do so. Julia Chaffers is a senior history concentrator from Wellesley, Mass. She can be reached at chaffers@princeton.edu.
Reckoning with our ranking
Mohan Setty-Charity Columnist
N
umber one, once again! Aren’t we? Every year, organizations and companies rank colleges and universities that they consider “best” in the country. For the 11th consecutive year, U.S. News and World Report has ranked Princeton as the #1 school in the country. Rather than looking at this number as the end of the story, we should not only continue to focus on and celebrate the things that we are doing well, but also consider what we can do better. U.S. News’s ranking system is considered by some to be one of the most reliable out there, and is based on graduation and retention rates, undergraduate academic reputation, faculty resources for 2020-21 academic year, financial resources per student, graduation rate performance, social mobility, graduate indebtedness, student selectivity for the fall 2020 entering class, and average alumni giving rate. The calculation of the rankings shifts slightly from year to year. Because of the pandemic, metrics like average class size, faculty salaries, and student indebtedness indicators are now based on two-year averages, instead of just one. Let’s be honest: some of these factors are important
for prospective and current students, but many of them don’t matter as much to our student experiences. In my time here, I don’t think that I will get the chance to work with the majority of the departments. Although certain programs may be buoying Princeton in the rankings, they will have little effect on my student experience here. Beyond this, there is a lot that schools can do to artificially elevate their positions in the rankings. By setting specific class size limits, or setting specific quotas for applications, schools can adjust their projected scores. Although this is not enough on its own, this means that schools can start to improve their ranking, and the ranking may continue to grow in the future. Even more so, there exists a somewhat controversial method of the peer assessment survey, where “expert opinion” factors in, and top academics can state their beliefs about who deserves to go to the top. This does not occur on many of the other ranking systems, leading some people to question whether it is actually helpful in determining the best schools. However, other companies and organizations calculate their rankings differently, leading to a reshuffling at the top of their tables. Forbes ranks Princeton in third place, while
Niche ranks Princeton in fifth place. Because of the different factors involved in each of these rankings systems, it makes sense that none of the rankings are the exact same. However, some of these factors really force the rankings to lean toward certain schools. For example, social mobility is deemed an important factor in the U.S. News Best National University Rankings, but so are low acceptance rates. This means top schools considered to be good for fostering social mobility are, given their low acceptance rates, inaccessible for many students. So, is Princeton the best
school in the country? Yes. Am I biased? Perhaps, but so is everyone else, including the organizations who produce these rankings. Other rankings, such as the Washington Monthly, put out rankings in response to the U.S. News and World Report, trying to bypass the “easily manipulated measures of wealth, exclusivity, and prestige.” While at the top of these rankings are still other extremely selective schools, Princeton does not fare so well, largely due to a poor service rank. But similar to the rest of the rankings, this is not necessarily the reality of our situation; even so, we can always aspire to do
better. We are tremendously privileged to attend a school that allows us to make a real difference in the world, and can use this opportunity to do something good. Princeton’s ranking gives us opportunities that others do not have. Take these opportunities with open arms, and help Princeton remind our community and the world of the actual reasons that we are special. Mohan Setty-Charity is a sophomore from Amherst, Mass. He can be reached at ms99@princeton.edu.
COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS
Morrison Hall.
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Diversity
Letter from Tanvi & Emma By Tanvi Nibhanupudi | Chairperson of the Inaugural DEIB Board Emma Treadway | Editor-in-Chief of the 145th Managing Board
The Daily Princetonian
Prolific political columnist Molly Ivins said, “It is the stories we don’t get, the ones we miss, pass over, fail to recognize, don’t pick up on, that will send us to hell.” In our news coverage and our commentary, diversity is crucial. Whose perspective are we leaving out? Whose story has not been heard? Does our work support anti-racism and inclusivity? We must refuse the single story narrative, as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie tells us in her TED talk. And we must lift up the voices of those who have been voiceless for so long. Although media as an institution is characterized by its quick tempo, that does not mean we should be careless in our approach. For every news report, every opinion column, and every podcast, we should consider our work with intentionality and diligence. We should develop the habit of asking who we are including and excluding from the conversation — our journalism and our character will be better for it. In 2021, we focused on the inclusivity of our community and coverage. Newsrooms have been historically male and white, and ours was no exception. With the start of the 145th Board, we committed to this goal and formed the inaugural Diversity, Equity,
Friday October 1, 2021
Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) board. Including members from most sections of the ‘Prince’, the board took steps to integrate DEIB in every facet of our organization. This report is one of those steps. We put together this report in order to critically analyze the demographics and experiences of our community. In late spring of 2021, 223 members of the ‘Prince’ community completed a comprehensive survey. We used this data to host a staff-wide town hall in fall 2021 and set goals for our organization moving forward. As you will see below, we have a long way to go, but we hope this report and our efforts thus far will serve as a foundation for future boards and future journalists. We are grateful to Ana Pranger, Anika Maskara, Benjamin Cai, and Mollika Jai Singh for their tireless work on this report. We are also thankful to Anita Ortiz ’93 for her guidance and mentorship, and to The Daily Northwestern and The Daily Bruin for conducting surveys that served as models for this project. Finally, we appreciate the countless ‘Prince’ members who contributed their time and energy to making this project possible.
Diversity Race
At the ‘Prince,’ compared to Princeton overall, Asian and white undergraduates are overrepresented. In the 2020–2021 academic year, the racial breakdown of undergraduates at Princeton was 29 percent Asian, 10 percent Black, 12 percent Hispanic, 39 percent white, 6 percent Multiracial, and 4 percent Unknown. The racial breakdown of editors and staffers are fairly similar; however, there is no representation of Native Americans or Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islanders in the masthead. Looking at the racial breakdown by time at the ‘Prince’, it is evident that with more recent recruitment cycles (3+ academic years to 1 academic year), fewer white individuals have been recruited to the ‘Prince’, indicating a more diverse breakdown of incoming classes of ‘Prince’ staff.
Socioeconomic Status
61.1 percent of ‘Prince’ student respondents receive financial aid. At the University, approximately 61 percent of undergraduates receive financial aid. All undergraduates in the Class of 2023 with household incomes of up to $180,000 per year qualified for financial aid. 18.5 percent of ‘Prince’ student respondents identify as FLI (First Generation Low Income). In 2021, 22 percent of those that the University offered admission to identified as FLI. 16.5 percent of ‘Prince’ student respondents identify as a legacy student. Only 11.3 percent of students in the Class of 2024 as a whole have parents who are Princeton alumni. At the ‘Prince’, about 60 percent of students attended public school. In the Class of 2024, 62.8 percent of students attended public schools. At the ‘Prince’, 57.9 percent of respondents’ annual household income is above $125,000.
Friday October 1, 2021
Report The Daily Princetonian
&
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Inclusion Belonging Diversity represents what backgrounds we bring into the newsroom. Inclusion and belonging show what experiences we have within the newsroom. Diversity is meaningless without equity, inclusion, and belonging. In the data and anecdotes below, we offer insight into what inclusion and belonging mean in the newsroom.
Inclusivity of Coverage
Internally, despite more women editor positions, the team feels overwhelmingly white. I can imagine that a Black student would feel weird talking to the news editor, managing editors, and editor-in-chief about issues related to their identity, considering that no one identifies as Black and it’d feel like the all-too-familiar explanation they’re raised to do. [I] just haven’t seen as much reporting about the trans experiences / antitrans aspects of being a student at Princeton; it’s still a relatively hostile environment. I feel like there is not a lot of BIPOC representation, specifically black and brown. I also feel like every time I tried to get more involved, there was a lag time, so I always missed out on some hidden project.
The majority of respondents ‘somewhat agree’ that ‘Prince’ coverage on race, LGBTQ+, and disability is comprehensive and sensitive. However, the majority of respondents are ‘neutral’ towards how comprehensively and sensitively the FLI experience is covered.
Goals 1.
Develop affinity groups that are led by staffers, with the goal of creating community around identity and empowering staffers to take on leadership roles. These affinity groups will have Slack channels to allow for low time-commitment fostering of community as well as social events to encourage inclusion for all staffers.
3.
2.
Develop guidelines that reconsider our notion of ‘objectivity’ and its relationship to fairness. These guidelines may include standards for choosing which pieces to cover, as such conscious choices do affect the fairness of our reporting.
Extend sourcing resources to staffers through the form of a ‘Prince’-wide sourcing spreadsheet. This enables staffers to gain access to sources outside of their social groups and enables us to track how often we interview the same sources from specific groups.
It’s precisely this delay — ideas like “maybe another time” or “when there’s a better fit” — that continues to marginalize the communities we’re trying to tackle. I think it’s in part due to the social issues beyond the Orange Bubble relating more to other communities this year, but I think the ‘Prince’ can improve with regard to the Hispanic/Latino.a.x community.
Friday October 1, 2021
Opinion
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Add/drop needs to change in order to truly serve students
RITA FANG / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
Ava Milberg Columnist
A
dd/Drop period sounds great in theory: students have the chance to shop around for classes, so they can truly figure out what courses work best for them in terms of scheduling, workload, and subject matter. Rather than stick to the courses they chose based on a brief description and sample reading list, students have the chance to essentially try classes on for size. However, in practice, the two-week add/drop period maintains various hurdles that make it difficult for students to switch around their classes and limits the benefits to students. Add/drop should be changed so that students
can truly use the policy to explore different classes and improve their schedules. While students have free rein to switch in and out of classes as much as they like during this time, they are expected to keep up with each course’s curriculum. Should you switch into a class a week after it has begun, you may have hundreds of pages of readings to catch up on or a problem set to make up. Understandably, teachers want to get started with their course material, so they can make the most of the semester. However, the full workload that persists throughout the add/drop period can discourage students from really trying out different classes and tweaking their course load. Faced
with the challenge of catching up on up to two weeks of readings and various other assignments, students often resort to sticking with classes that are not the best fit. Other students who shop around during add/drop are inundated with work as they try to get up to speed with the rest of the class. For the add/drop period to truly serve its purpose, the drawbacks of joining a class a few days late must be reduced. Various policy changes could promote a more productive add/drop period. One possibility would be prohibiting professors from assigning graded work during this period, so students would not feel that they are missing out on consequential assignments by joining a class a few days
Cartoon Well... By Paige Min, Staff Cartoonist
late. Alternatively, the University could institute a shorter add/drop period but insist that professors issue a lighter workload during that time, so students have an easier time switching between courses. By reconfiguring the add/ drop period in a way that reduces the disadvantages of actually adding and dropping different classes, students would hopefully feel encouraged to try out different classes and find ones that truly are the best fit. Under a more flexible add/ drop period, students may be more likely to experiment with more challenging courses or courses on unfamiliar topics. Designing an enriching course load rather than a merely convenient one has
many subsequent benefits for students. When students take classes that they find interesting, the work is often more engaging, making them more likely to perform well. Additionally, students who are more interested in and inspired by the course material are more eager to contribute to class discussion. University administration should change the structure of the add/drop period so students can optimize their course load and their education. Ava Milberg is a sophomore from New York City. She can be reached at amilberg@princeton.edu.
The Daily Princetonian
Friday October 1, 2021
Clean Air
By Adam Wickham, Staff Cartoonist and Head Cartoon Editor Emeritus
Spot the Difference By C Leane, Staff Cartoonist
Crushed It
By Arianna Borromeo, Staff Cartoonist
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Satire
Friday October 1, 2021
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Eating clubs to require PUID, positive COVID-19 test for entry
The following articles are purely satirical and entirely fictional.
Liana Slomka
Contributing Writer
To prevent the spread of COVID-19 on campus, the Interclub Council (ICC) has announced that only Princeton students who show their PUID and a positive COVID-19 test will be allowed into the eating clubs. “We want to be sure that our parties are safe and responsible,” said a spokesperson for the ICC. “So from now on, we will only be admitting students who have tested positive within the
last 48 hours.” Students who present a symptom check showing a temperature above 100.4F will be given a rapid test at the door. COVID-positive club officers will enforce the policy, removing students who have not violently coughed in the past three minutes. Officers on duty will also be watching for any signs of a sense of smell or taste. Partiers who are even slightly fazed by street beer will be asked to leave. Healthy students turned
away at the door will be welcome to attend the outdoor mosh pit portion of the event, provided they plan to FaceTime their friends into class the following day. Liana Slomka is a junior Ecology and Evolutionary Biology major and contributing writer for the Satire section from Atlanta, Georgia. She can be reached at lslomka@princeton.edu.
ETHAN MCALPINE / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
Tiger Inn, one of the Eating Clubs on Prospect Avenue.
Frosh survey finds everyone on this campus has had sex except for you Liana Slomka and Josh Wells Contributing Writers
LAZARENA LAZAROVA / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
Released last week, The Daily PrincetOnion’s Frosh Survey highlighted an important insight into the academic and social lives of the Class of 2025. According to survey data from the entire first year class, the ‘Prince’ has determined that everyone on this campus has had crazy, wild sex except for one specific person: you. The survey uncovered many trends in the student body. Athletes, for example, are more
likely to engage in sexual relations on weekends, and firstborn children are more likely to sexile their roommates. One thing remains clear — you are the only remaining person at Princeton University who has never had sex. Including math majors. When asked her thoughts about the University’s only virgin, Assistant Director of the Office of Religious Life Rev. Dr. Meredith K. Byers responded with just one word: “prude.” Off the record, your residential college adviser said that at
the next study break, everyone will be given condoms except you. Liana Slomka is a junior Ecology and Evolutionary Biology major and contributing writer for the Satire section from Atlanta, Georgia. She can be reached at lslomka@princeton.edu. Josh Wells is a sophomore SPIA major and contributing writer for the Satire section from Southampton, England. He can be reached at jw76@princeton.edu
Frosh has startling insight: “God Is Dead”
Daniel Viorica
Contributing Writer
Authorities report that an undergraduate at Princeton University has had an insight that may ripple across the intellectual world for centuries to come: “God is dead.” “One night I was lying in my room, and it just came to me,” said Jason Antideus ’25, a student living in Butler College’s Monastery, “that God is just like, dead, man. And that, what’s more — if you really think about it, we killed him. With like, technology and iPhones and stuff. It’s depressing shit, man!” Antideus, a prospective philosophy major, has had a history of startling insights. “In middle school, I said this thing that I guess was really smart. ‘You shouldn’t violate the categorical imperative, you idiot!’ And it
spiraled out from there,” he said. In high school, Antideus debunked long-held postulates left and right: “Boom, boom, boom. All these doctrines were just gone, all because of me. I think it’s a big reason why I got in here. That — and I volunteered a lot at my local no-kill shelter.” A professor in the philosophy department, who requested to remain anonymous, gave her thoughts on the breakthrough at hand. “This really opens a lot of doors for us in the philosophy department. We are so lucky to have a luminary like Jason here on campus with us. ‘God is dead.’ Wow. Who could have thought of that?” she said. As far as his next steps, Antideus plans to “return to the grind.” “I have this ‘History of German Thought’ class,
DEPOSITPHOTOS
that’s just, like, killing me,” he wrote in a GroupMe DM to The Daily PrincetOnion. “We’re reading this guy — Neechy [sic], maybe? — and I don’t know, he doesn’t seem super important, so I might
just skip it.” The Department of Religion has declined to comment for this article.
and is from the mountains outside Albuquerque, New Mexico. He can be reached at viorica@ princeton.edu.
Daniel Viorica is a writer with Satire and The Prospect,
Admissions office replaces “Why Princeton?” supplement with “Why not Yale?” Spencer Bauman
Contributing Writer
Following years of boring, repetitive, and strikingly unoriginal essays from prospective students, The Office of Admission
announced changes to the writing supplements required for applications in the upcoming cycle. The Class of 2026 will have to think “critically” and “so far outside the box, that you can’t even see the box”
if they want to impress the admissions committee this year. Instead of asking “Why Princeton?” applicants must now grapple with a more nuanced question: “Why not Yale?” The Daily PrincetOnion
CLAIRE SILBERMAN / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
sat down with Dean of Admission Karen Richardson ’93 to ask about the recent developments. “We’re trying to weed out the kids who ‘could have been happy anywhere,’ so this year we really want to know what ticked you off in New Haven,” Richardson said. “If you’re struggling with the prompt, just take your Yale supplement and throw ‘not’ in front of every verb.” This announcement comes days after the University announced the removal of the graded written paper from the application process. “You think we have time to read your repulsive AP Lit essay about ‘Frankenstein’?” Richardson said. Forty thousand applicants and you really think your
essay on symbolism in ‘The Great Gatsby’ is what sets you apart?” Dean Richardson left the PrincetOnion’s interview, returning to her office to shred some “What brings you joy?” and “What song represents the soundtrack of your life at this moment?” essays that had already been submitted. “We don’t read that nonsense either,” she yelled, already halfway out of the conference room. Spencer Bauman is a firstyear intended economics major from Boca Raton, Florida. He is a contributing writer for the Satire section.
the PROSPECT. Friday October 1, 2021
The Daily Princetonian
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ARTS
New arts co-op Princeton Makes welcomes local artists looking for community By Auhjanae McGee
Head Prospect Editor
AUHJANAE MCGEE / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
Patrons survey the art at Princeton Makes on its opening day.
Bernadette Suski-Harding loved to knit — at least, until she adopted her now-14-year-old daughter. Knitting and a then-two-year-old child were not exactly compatible, so the former took a backseat. She wanted to maintain some other creative outlet, however, so she thought she’d try playing with wire and pearls. Now, her wired creations are being sold at Princeton Makes, a new local arts cooperative. “I like to play with textures,” Suski-Harding told The Daily Princetonian about her art. “Wire, pearls, silk ribbon, wool — different textures. I like to combine things and see what are some kinds of interesting, new things I can come up with.” Suski-Harding is just one of 28 artists whose work is being sold at Princeton Makes, located at Princeton Shopping Center. The co-op held its grand opening on Sept. 18, complete with live music and refreshments. Community members arrived and perused the space, stopping at the diverse displays of jewelry, textiles, photos, and paintings. Princeton Makes is the brainchild of Jim Levine, former interim director of the Arts Council of Princeton. Levine wanted a studio space outside of his home for his stained glass art, so he came up with the idea for a co-op where artists have the opportunity to use studio spaces and sell their work on consignment in exchange for picking up weekly shifts working the shop. He then shared the idea with local artists, mostly by word of mouth. And while the pandemic has been detrimental for many local businesses, Levine believes it actually helped Princeton Makes gain traction. “[Princeton Makes] gives people an opportunity to connect with other artists. People who had spent 12 months or 15 months working by themselves were looking for an opportunity to work with other artists,” Levine said. Suski-Harding said she has enjoyed her experience with the co-op so far because of the ways it has already connected the community. “This space has been transformed so beautifully,” she said, surveying the studios and art displays with a smile. “It’s amazing to me how it looks now. I just think it’s such a cool idea, like you walk into this place, and there’s all these different things made by local people … It’s a great way to support local businesses.” Spriha Gupta, a mixed-media artist whose work is inspired by nature and personal experiences, liked the idea of artists working together and expressed excitement about sharing the space with other creatives. “So far, [the experience has] been really good!”
Gupta told the ‘Prince.’ “I feel like everybody’s been very friendly, sociable, and everybody is all about sharing space ... You know, it’s all been good vibes.” Gupta had met Levine prior to the co-op’s inception through volunteering at the Arts Council. Once she became aware of the co-op through an Instagram post, she reached out to him. “You know, what I love about Jim is he’s very direct, and he’s very casually like, ‘Pick up the phone, call me.’ And he just told me, ‘This is what we’re doing. And if you’re interested, get in touch, and let me know.’” After retiring, Levine was looking for some way to connect the local arts community and start a business. His background is in human resources, and he mentioned that working for a large company allowed him to get an idea of all its different functions. But he cited his time directing the Arts Council as being particularly helpful to learn the general management skills needed to oversee Princeton Makes. In his human resources days, “I was a smaller cog in a much bigger company,” he said. “And here, it’s a bigger cog in a much, much, much smaller company. So it’s a lot of fun.” The Arts Council’s mission is to bring the arts and arts education to the greater Princeton area via affordable and accessible workshops and classes. It was during his time overseeing the general functioning of the Arts Council that Levine realized the need for studio space in Princeton. Lenora Kandiner, a member of the co-op who makes polymer art, also met Levine through the Arts Council, but got involved with Princeton Makes by word of mouth. “I live in West Windsor, and a friend of mine who lives in Princeton said, ‘You know, you may not have heard about this, but there’s this artists’ co-op. It’s starting, and you might be interested,’” Kandiner told the ‘Prince.’ Kandiner said she got involved with Princeton Makes because she hopes to sell her work. She used to sell privately, but now Princeton Makes is the only place consumers can find her creations. She also shared that she enjoyed having artists around to collaborate with, like Suski-Harding and Gupta. “I’m the kind of artist who thrives on interactions with others,” she said. Not only do the artists involved with the co-op have diverse backgrounds and work with diverse art forms, but they also find that they are personally impacted in different ways by the creative process. For Kandiner, she finds that her creations require that she be both technical and artistic. She began
creating and selling polymer-based jewelry over 30 years ago, when she worked as a computer software sales representative. Now, even though she no longer works in sales, she finds that she still uses “both sides” of her brain. Her polymer cane slices, for example, require that she understand both vertical and horizontal dimensions of the clay in order for the slices to come out correctly. “Visualizing a pattern that’s going to go through that way,” she explained, referencing the vertical construction of the cane, “and that you’re going to slice, that’s definitely a left-sided brain activity. Whereas most art … uses the right side of the brain.” For Suski-Harding, her wired jewelry allows her to be creative and try new things — a much-appreciated break from her primary job as a freelance writer. “That’s the business side of paying the bills,” Suski-Harding said, referring to her writing, “and this is more the heartfelt, art-y, side of it, where you get to create things and combine things in unusual ways.” Gupta spoke extensively about the role of storytelling in her art and how it is her form of self-expression. She honed in on one of her series, called “Candor,” which she said is about being true to oneself. The series features works in vibrant shades of pink, purple, and gold, with lots of texture, which Gupta said can come from materials like cheese cloth and coffee filters. “We wear layers, so many layers in society, right? Because there’s peer pressure, or you’re supposed to look a certain way, or you’re supposed to say certain things. And I’m so tired of that. I’m like, stop wearing so many layers, just be yourself!” she said. As of right now, the front selling space of Princeton Makes is full, but there are plans to open up more space in October. People interested in getting involved with the co-op can email Levine, but should be aware that co-op members must commit to working in the store for at least four hours per week. As for the future of the co-op, Levine said he envisions the space having events, including poetry readings and artist talks. “Once we get our feet on the ground for running the store,” Levine said, “then we’ll see if we can branch out into doing more events with the space that we have.” Auhjanae McGee is a Head Editor for The Prospect who often covers media and Princeton culture. She can be reached at ajmcgee@princeton.edu, on Twitter at @auhj_marie, or on Instagram at @marionettes_jubalee.
The Daily Princetonian
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, sisters Cassandra James ’23 and Kate James, who is a first-year at Cornell, started an organization called Saturnia Arts that matches artists with people who want art, whether for themselves or others. The Daily Princetonian sat down with them to discuss where the idea for Saturnia Arts came from, how they got started, and their journey since then. The Daily Princetonian: What’s the story behind Saturnia Arts? How did you come up with the idea and how did you get started? Cassandra James ’23: I think it was last year. I was doing school from home, and Kate was still a high school senior at that point. We had friends who were struggling really really hard with mental health issues, given the pandemic situation. I think there’s sort of that feeling when you’re watching somebody in that situation that you just feel so helpless, and you wish there was something you could do. Kate is an artist, and I’m a writer, and so the two of us were like, how can we get art to people? Because we know that art just brings people joy — that it can brighten people’s days even for a moment — but we had the restrictions of the pandemic, so how can we send people art in a way that’s safe? So we sat down at our kitchen table, and we came up with a Google Form. And we said, if people fill out the Google Form, then we can have artists volunteer on one end and people sending in requests on the other end, and we can pair them up. That was how Saturnia was born. Our logo is a moth, and it’s a Saturnia moth ... Saturnia moths are a symbol of endurance through struggle. Our whole thought was [about] how to bring hope to people in the pandemic, in any way that we could. And even though it’s a relatively small way of doing it, that was our pull. Kate James: It works on both sides, too. As an artist, I knew that I wanted to be making art that was joy-filled. When I heard people wanted to hear messages like that, it encouraged me to work through my art and create things that were about light, and joy, and peace, and comfort, instead of dwelling in those more negative feelings during the pandemic and making art about that. So as an artist, I feel like it’s also been very fulfilling. DP: What is your mission with Saturnia Arts? CJ: In one sentence, it’s “spread joy through art.” Our larger mission is just to reach the community. Obviously the pandemic situation has changed now, we’re not necessarily all in quarantine like we used to be, but I think people are still struggling with that feeling of “How do we get back to normal life? What does this look like?” I mean, I know I’ve been feeling it. It’s been harder to be in large groups of people than it was before. It’s harder to go back to normal schoolwork and normal activities. So I think Saturnia can also fill in that gap, and as everybody transitions back into this new normal, Saturnia is still a source of light, encouragement, and hope for people. Our artists can basically communicate to the people that are requesting art: “There is someone out there who loves you enough, who is willing to take the time to make something for you, to see you, to understand what you need, and to create art.” KJ: And that need doesn’t really go away, even after the pandemic. A lot of us still check our emails in the morning, and to see a piece of art made for you first thing in the morning, it’s a beautiful way to start fresh, pandemic or no pandemic. DP: What are your plans for the future with Saturnia? CJ: We just launched our beautiful new COURTESY OF CASSANDRA JAMES
website, saturniaarts.weebly.com, and that’s our first foray into trying to get Saturnia to extend beyond the Princeton community. We’re starting to extend it onto other campuses. Kate is taking it to Cornell. We’re trying to get it to Rutgers as well. We’re going to try to spread it out into other Ivy League schools and then continue to spread it out from there. Our goal is basically to reach any community where people might want to put in requests, if that’s nursing homes, if that’s college campuses, if that’s schools. I think our plans for the future as of right now are basically just extending our reach and making sure that people know about Saturnia. DP: What was the process of creating your website, and what was your primary platform before? CJ: This is a fun one. Kate and I, neither one of us had any website building experience. So this was a wonderful case of YouTube University, of going online and teaching ourselves to build a website. And we did it! We learned how to do it. Before that, we were just on Google Forms, but we found that that wasn’t necessarily functional. It works for college students, but some older folks who were filling out the forms were kind of struggling with the technology barrier, so we wanted to have a website that was more streamlined for them to access it. That was kind of the goal with the website. The two of us sat down, watched a bunch of YouTube videos, taught ourselves how to use Weebly, and we built our brand new beautiful website. KJ: We were on Instagram and Facebook, and we’re still on them, but the website just
Saturnia Arts founders give behindthe-scenes look at their organization By Cathleen Weng Senior Writer
helps to have one link that has the forms all included that we can send to people. DP: Website-building aside, what else have you learned from running Saturnia? CJ: This is not necessarily a tangible thing, but especially in the pandemic, where ... the issues we were dealing with on a day-today basis were so overwhelming, it was bad news every time we opened our phones. I think that time taught me that you don’t realize how powerful the tiny things you do for other people really are. The smallest little doodle on a napkin can make somebody feel loved and change their entire day, their entire week, maybe even their entire month. In a time where it feels like it’s a really big problem, we need big solutions, yes that’s true, but we can also think about “What are the little things we can do for people? What little compliment can we pay someone? What tiny boost of encouragement? What word of compassion can we give to other people?” And I think, attached to that, I think people talk a lot about the power of art, and the power of art to touch people, but I think Saturnia has shown me that in a very literal, physical way, how art can really move people, and make people feel heard, and seen, and loved, in a way that they might not get anywhere else, in a time where it might feel like they’re totally alone and isolated, and no one is listening or seeing them. KJ: I got to see that in such a dark time with no one around: the idea that someone can voice the smallest thought, like, “I’m lonely today,” and someone will spend hours on a piece, obsessing over that one thought of theirs. I could see in the emails that I was receiving that amount of care, to a passing feeling that someone had, mattered, which was encouraging to me. DP: What was the hardest part of creating and running Saturnia, and what part has
Friday October 1, 2021
COURTESY OF CASSANDRA JAMES
been the most rewarding? CJ: I think the hardest part was on the technology side and figuring out how to streamline this process. There are a lot of steps in pairing people together. We have to basically compile spreadsheets of everyone who signed up to volunteer, and then everybody who requested art, and then pair those people up, keep track of what’s coming in, who hasn’t fulfilled their requests yet, who has. Keeping all of that information straight was very difficult. I think the most rewarding thing is seeing the impact it’s made on campus. I’ve had total strangers I’ve never met before in my life come up to me and be like “Oh my goodness, wait, are you the one who’s working for Saturnia? I’ve seen your name on the listservs, and I requested art, and it totally made my week. Thank you so much.” Hearing that positive feedback, hearing how our little 2 a.m. doodles and midnight poems can impact people has been enormously, enormously rewarding. KJ: I think the hardest part for me is when I’ve made a piece of artwork, and when I go to hit send — surrendering the control, like “Is this exactly what they need? I should’ve spent longer on this,” and just being like, “This is just fine, and I’m sure they’re going to love it,” just as a creator because you’re dealing with someone’s raw emotion that they’ve vulnerably put into an email. I really want to bring forth something that I’m proud of and that I think they’re going to love. The best part is still just the emails afterward. Also, seeing a face on a Zoom call and being like “Oh my goodness, I made art for you! How are you doing?” is really exciting. DP: And if people want to get involved, how can they help out? CJ: The easiest way to do that would be to go on our website. Under our volunteer tab, you can sign up there to make art, or writing, or music, or dance, or whatever you like to create — and big, big emphasis on no experience required. We have gotten everything from a doodle of a unicorn on a piece of notebook paper, all the way to a finished masterpiece made from a sculpture. So no experience required. All that really matters to us is your heart to give other people joy and encouragement and compassion and love. So whatever you produce with that heart, that’s what we’ll take. DP: Is there anything else you’d like readers to know? KJ: I think if you are an artist and you’ve made work, don’t be embarrassed to come and ask for artwork. Because a lot of the time, as artists, when we’re pouring our hearts out, it can be nice to have something come back. I know as an artist, a visual artist, I like receiving poetry and words that I can hang onto just because I don’t produce work in that way. CJ: One thing, which is more on the functional side, we’re just encouraging people to spread the word about the website, to request art for other people. If you have somebody in mind, if it’s your grandmother, your neighbor, the mailman, whoever, definitely request art for other people. Additionally, you can volunteer, but you can also join our staff. If you would like to make art full-time with us for the semester, you can email us at saturniaarts@gmail. com and sign up to join our staff. And we have a lovely staff. It’s a mix of Cornell, Rutgers, and Princeton students. They’re all absolutely wonderful people. Huge shoutout to our staff because this would not be possible without them. It truly would not. They have saved us on more than one occasion. They are incredible and their heart for other people is astounding. So if you would like to join a team of fabulous people who have a heart for spreading joy through art, definitely join the staff. Cathleen Weng is a senior writer for The Prospect who often covers music and culture. She can be reached at cweng@princeton.com or on Twitter and Instagram at @cathleenweng.
Friday October 1, 2021
Naaji Hylton ’22, known professionally as J. Paris, is the opener for Lawnparties. Hylton is a rapper inf luenced by hip-hop and pop from Tampa, Fla. He studies neuroscience and is an Assistant Residential College Adviser (ARCA) in Butler College. The Daily Princetonian sat down with Hylton to discuss the event and his music. The following was edited lightly for clarity and brevity. The Daily Princetonian: You said that your inf luences include the Weeknd, Drake, Travis Scott, and others in hiphop and rap — and maybe other artists as well. How have those artists influenced you and why those in particular? Naaji Hylton: Yeah, I didn’t really start listening to too much music, I think, until like the middle of high school. Spotify came out and it was starting to get really popular and you know, yeah, the ad-supported one — you’d have to buy every song. Drake was dominating the charts at the time. I always listen to Drake. I [have] always loved his music. It has a special place in my heart. It would always be played in one of my uncle’s cars. He took me out every Friday and I’d have to listen to that. Then, [there was also] just, like, listening to the Weeknd as I got older. I really like his music. I like the style. Other influences [include] Travis Scott, PARTYNEXTDOOR — I’m really into production. Travis Scott has amazing production on his tracks. And so I’d always admired that, maybe not necessarily performatively, but production-wise. Take his collaborations with Mike Dean, Kanye West, for instance. I’ve always admired them from a production standpoint. They’ve been pretty big influences for me. DP: They’re musicians as well as rappers. NH: Yeah, exactly. DP: So you sort of alluded to this in your answer there. But what got you into making music originally? What made you want to make your own music? NH: My brother used to rap and stuff, and I’d see him do it. And, you know, I always looked up to my brother. He would have sessions and have me record for him or edit some of his stuff. He eventually went to the military, and I didn’t really have that sort of rap influence in my life anymore. And I didn’t really listen to much rap. So it was pop for a while. But I think hearing rap on the radio every once in a while, and really liking Drake stuff, I kind of got back into it over time. At the start of high school, you know, you’d have people at the lunch tables, and everyone [at] my lunch table would like rap, freestyle rap, and make jokes at each other and stuff. I think doing that over time grew on me. I practiced and, yeah, just fell in love with it. DP: You hear it on the radio and think “I could do that.” NH: Yeah, no, not at all … something like that. DP: Similar to how you got into music — I’m curious. Your stage name, J. Paris. Where does that come from? What’s the meaning behind that? NH: The J is from Naaji. Paris like Hilton, like Naaji Hylton. It’s just my name. It’s another way of saying it. DP: Who are you trying to reach with your music? What are you trying to say? And who are you trying to say it to? What’s the goal when you make a song? NH: I like making music that’s universally appealing. It can kind of talk to the soul, right? The stuff that — it doesn’t really matter who you are, where you’re from — everyone can kind of relate with. I have people reach out to me from all over the world. And it’s not necessarily that they’ve been in the same exact situations
The Daily Princetonian COURTESY OF NAAJI HYLTON
Naaji Hylton ’22 discusses music influences and upcoming Lawnparties By Gabriel Robare Prospect Senior Writer
— they’re not from America, they’re not from Florida, or they’re not, you know, doing the same things that I do. But at the same time, what I’m talking about — like happiness, heartbreak, love, anguish, love, fear, anxiety — these are emotions that everyone can relate with. I’m making music about those things that connect us all as humans. DP: Have you been able to perform for other Princeton students before in an environment like this? How is that going to feel, to be able to communicate those raw emotions to people who are going through the exact same experiences — that real empathetic experience, where you’re on stage speaking to other Princeton students, people very similar to you? NH: Yeah, it’s gonna be definitely pretty interesting performing for my peers; I pretty much didn’t tell people I made music until this year. I told my friends, and then my friends … told their friends, and starting this year, a lot of people knew. Before, I was actively not telling people that I made music. But this year I started
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being more open about it, if it came up in conversation. I’m still backtracked with my last release to fully commit to other performances. With the Lawnparties thing — I figured it’d be pretty cool to do. So I was like, all right, I’ll do that. DP: Have you ever performed in front of an audience this large? NH: No, definitely not on this scale. I’ve had other smaller things, but this is definitely going to be the largest. This is probably my first real performance. DP: What are your goals for your career in music? In five, 10, 20 years, what’s your best-case scenario? NH: For the past few years, and even still a little bit now, and going into the future, I’ve just focused so much on quality — trying to make something that I feel is objectively good. That has been super important to me. People have reached out like, “It’s cool. You make really good music now. It can be on the radio. It has been on the radio. You need to start promoting it and talking to labels.” The first few steps might be finding a good deal that works with me, my environment, my situation, and just getting it out there. The content’s there, the quality is there. I haven’t really made that push for, like, putting it out to people. It’ll get as big as it can get. It’s not like I’m necessarily searching to be the largest artist of all time, but at the same time, I know my music is really good. I know it appeals to a wide demographic and I know a lot of people really like it and that makes me really happy. So I’m just excited to see how far I can go. DP: At the end of the day you have to be your own biggest fan. NH: Yeah. DP: If you could make or produce a song with anyone, who would it be? NH: If I could make a song with anyone, it probably has to be — it has to be Drake. It has to be. I can’t say anyone else. Drake’s my biggest influence. He’s my favorite rapper. In terms of production, Mike Dean or Kanye. I mean, it’d be crazy to like, you know, work on something produced by Kanye, or co-produced by Mike and Kanye. They have amazing stuff. If you listen to “Donda,” you listen to “The Life of Pablo” — it’s amazing, the production quality. You can tell Mike was working his butt off. DP: What do you want the audience to be feeling when they leave your show? NH: I definitely want to give an amazing show. I would really love if when I finished my set, people thought, “Wow, that was fucking amazing.” If that was their core response then I’d be pretty happy. I want to create art. In shows it’s about getting people really hype and bringing the energy there but at the same time, I still love the artistic environment I like to create in my music. So if I could do a combination of that and have them leave thinking, “Wow, this was extremely entertaining. It got me super hype, super excited, but also that was an artistic environment that I was allowed to experience.” That’d be amazing for me. DP: Anything else you’d like to add? NH: I’m just excited to perform for everyone. I’m excited to give a good show. I think it’ll be pretty good. And I’m practicing to make sure I can have some good content out for you guys. Gabriel Robare is a Senior Writer for The Prospect, co-Head Editor of the Puzzles section, and a Contributing News Writer at the ‘Prince,’ who often covers literature and the self. He can be reached at grobare@princeton. edu, and on Instagram and Twitter at @ gabrielrobare. He previously served as an Associate Sports Editor.
Friday October 1, 2021
Sports
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{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } FOOTBALL
Football focused on details ahead of Ivy PREVIEW: League opener against Columbia
By Sreesha Ghosh and Matt Drapkin Associate Sports Editor and Contributor
In their first conference game since Fall 2019, Princeton football (2–0) will take on Columbia (2–0), on Saturday, Oct. 2. The Tigers shut out their first two opponents of the season for the first time since 1965: 32–0 against Lehigh and 63–0 against Stetson. Though the team has made the game look easy so far, the matchup on Saturday is likely to prove a challenge. The Daily Princetonian spoke to head coach, Bob Surace ’90, about the team’s much-awaited return to Ivy League play. “The best part [about coming back] is always the people. We’re in a relationship business at the end of the day, and although we adjusted the best we could, it’s not the same when you’re on Zoom, and it’s not the same when you’re thousands of miles away from each other,” he said. Surace’s team is likely to agree with him — 17 seniors and 10 juniors on the football team chose to take a gap year during the pandemic when the 2020 Ivy League season was canceled. Now, they’re back and ready to make up for all the time they’ve lost. “I think they were just so happy to be back,” Surace said. “I don’t think any of them ever took playing for granted
WILSON CONN / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
The football team in their game against Stetson.
— but when something’s taken away that you really enjoy doing, and you get to do it again, there’s a greater appreciation for that.” “We opened up later than some of the other teams, so I had our team go to the first open event on campus — the women’s soccer game back in early September, and to see that team smiling and playing with joy made me feel really good,” he added. “So the best part is definitely seeing the joy my own players have when they come out to practice and they’re all together.” Both the Tigers’ offense and defense are on a roll, with offense scoring an average of 47.5 points per game, and de-
fense having yet to allow a single point. But Surace takes nothing for granted. “I thought in both games against Stetson and Lehigh, we came out with a lot of energy. We’ve executed well and we’re getting closer to being precise. But as we head into league play this week against Columbia, we have to tighten some things out and be a bit more exact with what we’re doing,“ he said. “I saw our effort and our energy — and we just have to keep growing, and focusing on the things that demand more precision.” Historically, games against Columbia have been close calls. This time two years ago,
Princeton defeated Columbia 21–10, but not without a fight. “Going up against Columbia, through the years, and more so recently, since Coach Al Bagnoli took over the program, have been mostly physical onescore games,” Surace said. “So it comes down to the details, it comes down to the small things: executing in third downs, red zones, special teams. In a 60-minute game, you don’t know what three or four players are going to make the difference, but you do know that it’s going to come down to a few plays against them. Typically, our games against [Columbia] have been nail biters and re-
ally competitive challenges. We’ve won some, lost some. The ones we’ve won, we’ve won by a margin, because of those details.” Sreesha Ghosh is an Associate Sports Editor at the ‘Prince.’ She can be reached at sreeshag@princeton. edu or on Twitter at @sreeshaghosh. Matt Drapkin is a contributor to the ‘Prince’ sports section. He can be reached at mattdrapkin@ princeton.edu.
MEN’S SOCCER
Men’s soccer suffers hard-fought loss to St. John’s By Ben Burns
Associate Sports Editor
A late scramble to a loose ball by St. John’s forward Micaah Garnette gave St. John’s (7–2–0) the only goal of the game in the 79th minute, lifting the Red Storm to a 1–0 win over the Princeton Tigers (3–4–0) on Tuesday night. The match was physical throughout, with the referees letting the teams play for the most part. Each team was able to get a number of runs towards the 18, but once in the box, found it difficult to remain on target. The Tigers attempted 11 shots, with four reaching the keeper, while the Red Storm attempted only seven with three on target. Princeton senior defender Alex Charles picked up the only card of the match, a yellow for a slide tackle trying to stop a counter with the goalie pulled in the 88th minute. The game started off slow for the most part, with neither team seeing a truly dangerous chance. Princeton got the first scare in the 31st minute when St. John’s midfielder Einar Lye found defender Johan Aquilon streaking down the right wing for a shot that skittered on the ground wide left. Princeton created a chance of their own two minutes later, when senior midfielder Kevin O’Toole beat his man, put a cross into the box, and had it knocked on goal by a Red Storm defender, forcing a
GREG CARROCCIO / GOPRINCETONTIGERS.COM
tough save. Each team had a couple more chances, but none succeeded. Princeton controlled most of the half, and attempted seven shots to St. John’s three. They also attempted five corners, while St. John’s only had one. The second half was more balanced. St. John’s got off to a quick start, getting two chances in the box four minutes into the half, but had them both blocked.
The Tigers’ best chance of the half came in the 65th minute when junior forward Daniel Diaz-Bonilla laid off a pass to sophomore forward Walker Gillespie, who gained space and hit a curling shot that forced St. John’s keeper Luka Gavran to make a diving stop to keep it scoreless. However, St. John’s finally broke through 14 minutes later. Red Storm midfielder Atila Ashrafi tried to pass
off a ball that missed his intended man, and the Tigers tried to box out and allow senior goalkeeper Jack Roberts to grab it. But St. John’s defender Lucas Bartlett had a different plan and tapped the ball to Garnette, who chipped it into an open net for his first career goal. Princeton pressed the attack in the final 10 minutes, but came up empty. Sophomore midfielder Malik Pinto nearly had the equalizer
when found the ball on his foot with seconds left off a deflection, but Bartlett intervened again, deflecting the shot to allow time to expire. The red-hot Red Storm takes on the UConn Huskies this weekend, while the Tigers look to bounce back Saturday at Dartmouth. Ben Burns is an Associate Sports Editor at the ‘Prince.’ He can be reached at bwburns@ princeton.edu.
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Friday October 1, 2021
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Last Week In Sports
Staff writers Nolan Musselewhite, Julia Nguyen, and Wilson Conn as well as Head Editor Tom Salotti, recap the Tigers’ wins and losses last week.
Princeton dominates Stetson in first home game since 2019 After a nearly twoyear absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Princeton football (2 – 0) welcomed fans back to Powers Field on Saturday with a thunderous 63–0 victory over the Stetson Hatters (2–1). Senior quarterback Cole Smith had two rushing touchdowns, 225 passing yards, and four touchdown passes. “Last week, it felt good to get a win but there were a lot of points left out there on the field,” Smith said in an interview with the ‘Prince.’ “Even early on, with a couple field goals, we wanted to make those touchdowns, and we came out swinging pretty good in the second quarter, and things started hitting.” The Tigers were also able to pressure the opposing quarterback
throughout the game, coming up with multiple sacks and two turnovers. “Everybody is winning one-on-one matchups,” said junior defensive lineman Michael Azevedo. “We had seven sacks today, and allowed negative rushing yards. That all comes down to the guys up front being able to do their job because the guys at the back are doing their job. We’re getting sacks because we have great coverage, but at the same time, we have great coverage because we have great pressure.” “Having another goose egg is awesome, but obviously we need to clean up a few small things, myself included,” Azevedo added. “But, we feel confident going into the next one. Every week is important in the Ivy League.” WILSON CONN / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
Field hockey splits games against Penn, Rutgers In their Ivy League opener on the road against Penn, Princeton field hockey returned to campus with an exciting 5–1 win under their belts. A goal late in the first period by first-year midfielder Beth Yeager, assisted by junior midfielder Sammy Popper, gave Princeton a 1–0 lead. First-year midfielder Peggy Winterborn also scored, impressively slip-
ping the ball into the cage without assistance. Sophomore forward Bridget Murphy, who had just recovered from an injury from their season opener against UNC, added to the scoreboard without hesitation as well. Junior striker Ali McCarthy scored twice in the last period after a goal from Penn. The Rutgers Green Knights beat the Tigers 3–1
Sunday at home. After an early goal by first-year midfielder Beth Yeager — scoring the first goal of the game for the second game in a row — Rutgers came back, tying the game 1–1 at the half and pulling ahead to 3–1 in the third quarter. The Tigers will host Yale on Friday at 5 p.m. and UConn at noon Sunday.
Men’s tennis plays at the Orange & Blue Classic Men’s tennis had a solid showing over the weekend at the Orange & Blue Classic in Charlottesville, VA, held at the Boar’s Head Tennis Club. Sunday’s play saw a doubles win from senior
Bill Duo and junior Thomas Bosancic, along with singles wins from senior Damian Rodriguez and first-year Filippos Astreinidis out of nine total matches Sunday. The team fell short of
the winning cup but looks forward to more competition come fall with injuries cleared and training in full swing.
WSOC shuts out Yale in Ivy opener, defeats Bucknell On Saturday night, women’s soccer hosted the Yale Bulldogs in their Ivy League home opener. The bleachers at Sherrerd Field were full of energy as the Tigers earned themselves a 4th shutout of the season, winning 4–0. While neither team scored in the first half, Princeton returned to the field after halftime with enough ferocity to score four. Goals were scored by senior forward Gabi Juarez, sophomore for-
wards Jen Estes and Alexis Hiltunen, and first-year forward/midfielder Ella Midura. On Tuesday, the team came up with another win, defeating the visiting Bucknell Bison 6-1. The team currently holds an impressive 8–1–1 overall record this season. They will be playing Dartmouth in Hanover this Saturday.
Tom Salotti is a Head Sports Editor at the ‘Prince.’ He can be reached at tsalotti@princeton. edu.
Julia Nguyen is a staff writer for the News and Sports sections at the ‘Prince.’ She can be reached at trucn@princeton.edu or on instagram at @ jt.nguyen.
Wilson Conn is a staff writer for the ‘Prince’ sports section. He can be reached at wconn@ princeton.edu or on twitter at @wilson_conn.
Nolan Musslewhite is a contributor at the ‘Prince.’ He can be reached on Instagram at @ nmussle.
NATALIA MAIDIQUE / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
Sophomore women’s soccer player Jen Estes celebrates after scoring at the game Saturday night. Princeton beat Yale 4–0.
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Friday October 1, 2021
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{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Women’s volleyball sweeps Penn Tigers take home opener to keep six-game winning streak rolling
COURTESY OF GOPRINCETONTIGERS.COM
Juniors Olivia Schewe and Lindsey Kelly celebrate.
By Lizzie Evanko
sports contributor
On Friday, Sept. 24, the Princeton University women’s volleyball team won 3–0 (25–18, 25–16, 25– 8) against Penn in their home opener. The match, which was the first Ivy League game and win for the Tigers, sets them on a six-game winning streak. In the first set, a kill from junior right side hitter Avery Luoma began a four-point run, giving the Tigers an 11–6 lead. Junior libero Cameron Dames served an ace to reach game point at 24–16.
The Tigers were able to finish the set with a final score of 25–18 from a kill by Luoma. In the second set, Penn pushed close behind, down 12–10 to Princeton. But junior outside hitter Elena Montgomery took a six-point service run, putting the Tigers ahead at 18–10. Two kills from junior outside hitter Melina Mahood produced a 21–13 lead, and a kill from junior middle blocker Olivia Schewe assisted a four-point run to a 25–16 win. In the third set, the Tigers built a strong 9–0
lead, as a result of a service run by junior setter Lindsey Kelly, including an ace. Following a timeout from Penn, the two teams went back and forth leaving Princeton up 17–8. A kill from Mahood sparked an eightpoint run by Dames, who finished the set on an ace, ending the game with an impressive 25–8 win. Despite Penn’s best efforts, Princeton secured a 3–0 match sweep. Luoma and Montgomery led the match with 11 kills each. “I was really happy with how consistent we were this week-
end,” Montgomery told the ‘Prince.’ “Even with the pressure of it being our first Ivy game, we stayed calm and collected the whole time. We’ve been putting in a lot of work during our pre-season, so I’m so excited to see what we can accomplish.” Schewe and senior middle blocker Julia Schner had seven kills each. Schner also made a career record number of seven blocks, and Kelly had a match-high of 34 assists and 11 digs. Dames made nine digs and tied with Luoma for a match-high
of two aces each. “We’re really excited to be back on the court after a year off,” Mahood said. “Competition is always tight in the Ivy League, so we’re taking it game by game and trying not to get too ahead of ourselves. I think we’re trending upward so far but we’re just glad to be playing again.” The women’s volleyball team will play Dartmouth at home on Friday, October 1 at 7 p.m. Lizzie Evanko is a contributor to the sports section. She can be reached at eevanko@ princeton.edu.
WILSON CONN / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
Powers Field during the game against Stetson this past Saturday.
inside:
Read a preview of football’s Ivy League opener against Columbia this Saturday at Palmer Stadium
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