The Daily Princetonian
Thursday november 10, 2016
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PAGES DESIGNED BY CATHLEEN KONG :: CONTRIBUTOR, AND CATHERINE WANG :: STREET EDITOR
WORDS, WORDS, WORDS
STREET contributor Lyric Perot ‘20 leads this week’s theme “speech,” with a personal anecdote about language.
That’s Spanish to Me: Learning to Become Multi-Lingual LYRIC PEROT Contributor ‘20
I have never been much of a listener. So when I moved to the Netherlands, as a child it didn’t bother me that I couldn’t understand the adults I passed by on the street. At the age of four, the concept of language hadn’t really sunk in yet. As we flitted around the market before my first days at school, the sounds of another language filled my ears, but no meaning was carried with them. In the voracious and radiant world of a four-year-old, words were an irrelevant factor. Instead of listening, I watched people’s movements as they talked. I saw a woman gesture angrily to a box full of apricots as the stall owner shrank back, slightly alarmed, desperately searching the market for someone rescue him. I wondered whether he was getting in trouble for doing something wrong, and wished I could tell him usually, when you say sorry, things become okay again. But in my little bubble of English, it felt like I wasn’t really a part of this world, like I was just watching a movie, and that soon everything would go back to normal; people would make sense again. My first day of school was about as exciting as I had always imagined Disney World to be. There were so many new sites and sounds to take in. Not only was it my first year of
“real” school, which meant I would be in the same building as both of my older siblings, but there was also a whole sea of new faces for me to look and (more importantly) smile at. As the youngest in my family, I was tired of always playing with my siblings’ friends, and desperately desired to have my own. When the doors of the classroom opened, and my parents began a much too in-depth conversation for me to follow with my soon-to-beteacher, I pried my hand loose from my mom’s and ran over to the other kids. Immediately, I began chattering away in English to them, as they giggled and responded in a foreign language. It was an interaction distinct to the childhood experience; all of us constantly confused, but not caring in the slightest. Upon my return from school that afternoon, as I preoccupied myself with my brother’s new toy, my parents anxiously asked me how my first day of school had been. Without glancing up from the little plastic car my brother received from a classmate, I chatted happily about the new friends I had made and the games we played together. Pausing RITA FANG :: GRAPHICS EDITOR slightly before looking up, the little grey car still in my hands, I told Photographs and writing of students displayed on the walls of the Field Center. them, “I had fun playing. But all the other kids keep speaking Spanish used another language, Dutch. Since my mom attempted teaching to me!” With a glance at each other But to four-year-old me, only us Spanish by having us repeat uno, and slight smiles on their faces, two languages existed. There was dos, tres over and over again, Spanmy parents gently corrected me, ex- English and there was everything ish was the only other language I plaining that in this country they I couldn’t understand — Spanish. had been exposed to.
I never really realized a moment when the ‘Spanish’ became Dutch, and the Dutch became understandable, and the world of foreign languages opened up for me. Gradually, the English that I rattled off to the other kids in school was riddled with Dutch words that they could understand, and my English at home was dotted with eccentricities and Dutch vocabulary. The first word I learned from school, poppen, or dolls, soon became a staple word in my life. I would repeatedly tell my parents that I needed to tuck my poppen into bed at night, or bring my poppen with me to school. The line that had been so clear to me before, the one that kept me safe in a bubble of English while the rest of the world tumbled around me in Dutch, slowly faded away. I started to realize that my English, which I thought I knew so well, was sometimes intelligible, and my Dutch was slowly passing as native. Three months into living in the Netherlands, my parents approached me again, and inquired if I had learned Dutch yet- fully aware of the good reports from my teachers who said that I was quickly becoming fluent. Furrowing my eyebrows together slightly, unaware that I had been learning Dutch the whole time, I looked at them and responded, “No,” before declaring, “but all the other kids have learned English.”
COLUMN: A Brief Overview of “Freedom of Speech” on the University’s Campus ANNA WOLCKE Contributor ‘20
“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” – George Orwell The first amendment of the American constitution acknowledges freedom of speech as an unalienable right; a right that is fundamental to the functioning of a democratic society. According to this amendment, the government is prohibited from creating laws that suppress the people’s right to freedom of speech. What does ‘freedom of speech’ mean in a university like Princeton, which prides itself for its diversityencompassing not only culture and origin, but also thought and opinion. Moreover, how has the university upheld this right? According to University-wide Regulations, “Actions which make the atmosphere intimidating, threatening, or hostile to individuals are therefore regarded as serious offenses. Abusive or harassing behavior, verbal or physical, which demeans, intimidates, threatens, or injures another because of personal characteristics or beliefs or their expression, is subject to University disciplinary sanctions.” When Harris and Slivergate sent a letter to former President Tilghman, of the university, she denied Princeton’s policies as being restrictive and noted that no students had ever complained about them- that is up until this point. Therefore,
COURTESY OF ARCHIVING STUDENT ACTIVISM AT PRINCETON (ASAP)
Photo depicts the Nassau Hall protest in April 1978 against investment in South Africa during Apartheid.
as Harris and Silvergate argue, the university represents a standing that can be summarized as “[we] believe in free speech, but…” According to them, the omission of the administration ref lected a “more profound decision to avoid the problem.” Silvergate went on to found FIRE, an organization that Harris is also a part of which is dedicated to defending American liberties on behalf of university students. FIRE gave Princeton a red speech code rating. According to their website, this speech code signifies that a university “has at least one policy that both clearly and substantially restricts freedom of speech.” In the description of this rating, the site details five other policies from the sexual discrimination and technology policies of university regula-
tion that hinder freedom of speech. Although the founding of FIRE only dates back to 1999, issues of freedom of speech amongst the student population existed through forms of student activism. According to a PAW historical timeline of student activism, in 1969 about 100 students protested against Princeton’s investments in South Africa in 1969, by demonstrating outside of New South for more than 11 hours. Following this event, five students were put on disciplinary probation, and ten students were charged with “violating the University’s policy on protests.” Furthermore, when more than 200 students occupied and made a blockade of Nassau Hall for 28 hours, 88 demonstrators were arrested and given a warning for violating university regulations. However, in 1984, Eric Frey ‘85
wrote an article entitled ‘feelings of isolation cause student apathy on campus.’ Frey writes, “activism requires a special social atmosphere which is often lacking at Princeton. On the surface the campus appears to be the perfect place to establish friendships and find cliques. But, particularly around exam periods, it is impossible not to notice what a frighteningly isolating place this university can be for many people.” Moreover, in 1988, a new organization named the Students for Social Responsibility emerged on campus as a group that took radical approaches to campus and national issues. As noted in an article from the Daily Prince, a history lecturer Louis Rose GS ‘80 who participated regularly in SSR meetings, commented that Princeton “is a conservative
place. It tends to train students to go out into the world and serve those institutions of power which maintain the current situation in this country.” More recently, according to PAW, issues of freedom of speech emerged when a student group named the Urban Congo posted videos of them drumming while wearing loincloths and face paint. This event, which occurred in 2015, was responded to with comments on Yik Yak that singled out students who had been offended by the video and stated that “students who thought Princeton was unwelcoming or racist simply should leave.” At the time, when President Eisgruber ‘83 called for a gathering in the chapel, at least a dozen students stood up and turned their backs on him while he spoke, because “students had felt Eisgruber’s initial invitation did not sufficiently address how the events on campus had created a hostile climate for many minority students.” Although Princeton did not respond to recent protests by the Black Justice League in 2015 with any punishments, the resulting conversation on campus, and creation of the Princeton Open Campus Coalition reveal that the tension between respectful conversation and freedom of speech continues to be a polemic topic on our campus. While it is largely agreed upon that maintaining respect on campus is of utmost importance, whether or not this is a serious infringement on students’ rights is a question we each have to answer for ourselves.
The Daily Princetonian
Thursday november 10, 2016
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PUB 101: Ballet Class for Beginnners
LEAH WALLACE: CONTRIBUTOR
Students of all experience levels at PUB 101 learning the fundamentals of ballet such as barre work, turns and jumps.
EMILY SPALDING Contributor ‘20
W
oh, crop.
Join the ‘Prince’ design team. Email join@dailyprincetonian.com
hether you are a seasoned pro or simply a tutu aficionado, Princeton University Ballet invites you to participate in their PUB 101 beginner ballet class on Saturday, Nov. 12. The class, which will take place in New South Dance Studio from 5 to 7 p.m., is the first of two open workshops PUB holds during the academic year, with PUB 102 offered in the spring. The class is taught at the beginner’s level in the tr uest sense, as Em i ly Aver y ’17, president of PUB, ex plained, “Ever yone is welcome. Litera l ly e ver yone… That’s the best part about PUB 101.” She noted that she particu larly enjoys the bian nual workshop because “it gives people a chance to tr y bal let, to ex perience bal let in a way that they never wou ld just from watch ing… It’s total ly different to watch the moves on stage and then to tr y it you rsel f.” The class is designed to give participants an idea of what the basics of bal let are, focusing on fundamentals such as barre work, tu rns, jumps, and partnering. Aver y described the class as a space that is “more for fun than it is for cu ltivating and audition crop of
Capturing Lightning in a Bottle, Jeff Nunokawa ZACH BAMPTON Contributor ‘20
“The famous line is- my mother f i rst moved, when she f i rst moved to Hawaii she just HATED it- she used to say her line was, ‘another goddam n day in paradise, because the weather was always the same.’ Another goddam n day in paradise. I th in k that’s an old, you k now, saw. Karen! The ph rase is another ‘goddam n day in paradise’- is that an old ph rase? ” Un l ike l ightn ing, you a l most always hear Jeff Nunokawa before you see h im. Residents of Rockefel ler Col lege w i l l attest, usual ly w ith a laugh, how he f lies in w ithout hesitation, a sentient human pinbal l (i f pinbal ls cou ld earn a Ph.D. at Cornel l), grabbing some food or you r shou lder and cal ling, “Hey! How are you? ” across the din ing hal l. Like lightn ing, he branches : a conversation w ith Jeff arcs to its f inal destination w ith many false starts and discu rsive spu rs, unti l h is point f inal ly strikes home. When he ta l ks, he gesticu lates w ith h is enti re body — often implicating those w ith in a ten meter radius of h im, wh ich is close enough to put you in the danger zone. Once you can hear Jeff, you’re close enough to get h it by h is electric personalit y. As crazy as it seems, Jeff makes a point to tr y to learn ever y Rock yite’s name. Crazier sti l l, he succeeds. Despite h is erratic rants, sometimes the best part of talking to Jeff is the ex perience itsel f, bu rsting w ith creativ it y, spontaneit y, and v igor. When you pass by Jeff, it’s best to be on you r toes, as he often prompts passerbys to answer life’s question s. He loves to see how students manage “to correct for h im” year after year, such that h is antics relate a casual game of brin ksmansh ip w ith undergraduates. A few serious notes on Jeff: he grew up in Oregon and Honolu-
COURTESY OF FACEBOOK
lu and went to Yale for h is undergraduate education. It was at Yale that one charismatic English professor told h im, “Nu nokawa, you’ve done wel l. You shou ld go to graduate school.” So, natu ral ly, he did. A fter graduating w ith h is doctorate, Jeff began h is teach ing career at Princeton in 1988 and hasn’t left since. He became Head of Rockefel ler Col lege in 2006, on the adv ice of former Dean of the Col lege Nancy Ma l k iel. “She saw what I cou ld do, and I’m gratefu l for that,” Jeff said. Since 2007, Jeff has w ritten a dai ly essay on h is Facebook page : r u m inations on l i fe sandw iched by poetr y quotes. Though you can check these essays out and fol low h is page, don’t ex pect to send a friend request — he’s reached the l im it (one can on ly have 5,000 friends, according to Facebook) . When asked about h is v ie ws on li fe, Jeff sums up h is ph i losophy say ing, “what an incredible m i racle it is that people make it th rough.” To h im, we live in such a fragi le system, and yet somehow get th rough each day — “a th ing that amazes us far too little.” The mortalit y each of us faces requires us to see ever y day for what it is and
accept life’s ups and dow ns. Jef f elaborates t h is poi nt th rough the example of the George Lucas 1973 f i lm, “American Graff iti,” wh ich he cites as being one of the mov ies he enjoys the most. As Jeff ex plains, in the f inal scene, Joh n races against Bob Fa l fa, a pre-Han Solo Harrison Ford. The race takes place along Paradise Road, where at at one point, a car swer ves off m id-race and crashes into the deser t. At the end, Joh n w ins, but as Jeff notes, on ly by error. If the other d river hadn’t swer ved off, Joh n wou ldn’t have won, and he k nows it. In that moment, Joh n “sees h is ow n morta l it y,” and as Jeff notes, that’s supposed to be us ; live it up k ids, because ever yone reaches a dow ntu rn and someone new is always com ing up in the ran ks. Th is is Jeff ’s last year as Head of Rockefel ler Col lege as he w i l l retu rn to teach ing fu l l time nex t fal l. He says that he teaches each day to “rem ind you of what ever yone k nows, but frequently forgets.” He teaches to conv ince students to “ beat them dow n to a tr uce,” to consider that the “mean ing he is proposing m ight be interesting,” perhaps even “a nontriv ial m ight! ”
dancers.” Prev ious PUB 101 sessions have attracted a w ide array of students, w ith ath letes and members of other dance groups attending the workshops as ret u r n ing participants each year. Approx imately 50 students take part in each session, according to Aver y. She also mentioned that t y pica l ly more ma les par ticipate than fema les, but the gender balance is fairly even. Wh i le there has been a presence of dancers trained in other st yles l ike h ip-hop in pre v iou s sessions, no ex perience in dance is required. She attributed the h igh tu rnout of students w ith little or no dance backgrou nd to a k ind of ch i ldhood nostalgia. Aver y shared how she th in ks many students had a ch i ld hood d ream of tr y ing ba llet, or perhaps were able to do so once, but stopped by the time they were si x years old. “So it’s a little bit nostalgic in that way,” she remarked. Wi l liam Keiser ’19, the publicit y chair of PUB, sees the class as an opportun it y for peers to develop a deeper u nderstand ing of and con nection w ith bal let. “Bal let is bui lt on th is ver y simple set of r u les, and once you learn those r u les and exercises, you r appre-
ciation for the art form goes up tremendously,” he ex plained. He also h igh lighted the sense of com mun it y PUB 101 has to offer. “We want to show the fun side of ou r company and share what we do w ith other people, because we’re not, like, staunchy and pretentious,” he noted. Even though PUB boasts an impressive le vel of ta lent, Keiser f inds the begin ner’s class va luable to al l dancers, regard less of sk i l l. “Bal let is meant to look rea l ly easy. It’s meant to look effortless. But it’s real ly, real ly diff icu lt… The hardest classes are the simple, easy classes,” he said. “ [Bal let] is not always the most intuitive art form, so we want to demystif y it a little bit,” he added. For Keiser, it is important that the company offers th is class because “ [PUB dancers] love ou r audience and want them to be able to con nect w ith us.” The t wo-hou r class prom ises tutus and classic bal let music, and concludes w ith a pizza part y. As Aver y described of the workshop, “It’s the h igh light of the semester for so many of us, and we real ly hope that a lot of people come out and give it a shot.” No prior registration is necessar y for PUB 101.
The Daily Princetonian
Thursday november 10, 2016
Q&A WILSON COLLEGE CUSTODIANS CATHLEEN KONG Contributor ‘20
This week we honor people, without whom, Princeton University would not be able to function. Introducing the people who take out our trash, clean our floors, and stock our bathrooms: the leading custodians of Wilson College, Mohamed Flites and Cecilio Orantes. Mohamed Flites
most talking to people from any culture in the world, I get to meet them here, and from all levels of education and interests. I’m friends with Eduardo Cadava, all the people from the college, and I’m friends with people from all walks of life. I’ve developed some really good friends here, and I also taught one of our grad students here in 2013 for a semester. I taught him Algerian jokes and humor. He was writing his thesis, his Ph.D., and he wanted to learn more about Algerian humor and jokes. He received a grant to meet twice a week, and he would record everything we talked about, and I would write jokes from Algeria. We’d just talk about them and laugh about them. I had some friends go, “This is the craziest thing ever. You tell jokes and you get paid?” That was pretty interesting. Cecilio Orantes
The Daily Princetonian: Where is your hometown? MF: My hometown is in North Africa, about 60 miles south of Algiers. We live in the mountains, about 4,500 feet above sea level. Currently I live in Hillsborough, New Jersey which is around 15 miles from Princeton. DP: What are your favorite memories growing up? MF: I was kind of like a nerd. I used to stay away from people and spend time tinkering with things, and anything that broke at home, I fixed it. I was also very much into reading, and I spent most of my youth reading books. My friends and I were into books big time, and movies and camping. DP: What are your hobbies? MF: I actually have two and a half hobbies right now. Reading is still my main passion, but I do photography too. I had two photo exhibits here in Butler and Wilson in 2011 and we’re having another one in Butler College next semester. When I go home I do photography because a lot of my friends are busy with their families, and I really enjoy tree photography. The third one, which I’m just getting into, is writing. I started keeping a journal and that’s what I’ve been doing for the past couple of years, just taking notes, working on how to craft better sentences, how to write stories, just gibberish for now. Sometimes you have things that as you get older, you can’t really talk about with your friends or family, so you have to let them percolate like coffee in your head. DP: What are your thoughts about your time working at Princeton? MF: I’ve been here 14 years. I love the campus, it’s not so much the work, which doesn’t really bother me, I’ve worked all my life. I enjoy
when I went to the first grade. DP: Is the rest of your family in Guatemala? CO: My siblings and mother are there. My sister’s taking care of the farm, and I go back every year to visit. Now, we have half an acre of land for a school with two teachers close to my house and farm. We donated the land for the school, and the people around helped to do the rest. Now I have the opportunity to help these people — I didn’t have the opportunity before. I have two sons. One is 34 years old and a computer engineer; he works in New York in IBM. He worked with Toshiba too, and the two companies fought over him. My other son is a photographer and designer, and he works in Princeton. DP: What are your hobbies? CO: I don’t have many, but I have one which is a little practice in reading and learning to use my iPad. Computers I don’t really know how
CATHLEEN KONG:: CONTRIBUTOR
DP: Where are you from? CO: I was born in Guatemala, close to Guatemala City, and I have lived in the US for 35 years, close to Princeton in Lawrenceville which is around 15 minutes from the University. I came to America when I was 23 years old. DP: What are your favorite memories growing up? CO: Enjoying time with all of the animals on our family farm, especially the horses. My favorite was jumping and racing horses. We played a lot with the animals, because we were ten to fifteen kids with no schools or teachers around. The big town near us had no school either. The one school was a distance like from here to Trenton, and no one could go because it was too far. I remember I was 14 years old when they opened one school and had two teachers come. And I was 14 years old
to use, but recently I went to a class, and I’m learning more computer skills. And I want to buy a laptop and practice some, little by little, because I’ve never practiced, and maybe it can help me improve my writing in English too. I learn more, word by word, everyday. I learn from everyone on campus little by little. DP: What is the funniest experience you have had on campus? CO: I have a funny and crazy story. One morning I was cleaning when a girl screamed, like “Ahh!” She said, “Cecilio! Come here please! In the sink, I was trying to brush my teeth but there’s a little fish in there!” I said, “No, it’s not a fish.” You know the big centipedes? It was a big one, and she thought it was a fish. I said, “No, it’s a centipede!” and I used a small paper to take it outside. She said she didn’t want to touch it, she was so scared of it.
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ASK THE SEXPERT This week, we discuss coming out. Dear Sexpert, I think I am ready to come out. I’m in a relationship on campus and it’s getting serious. I celebrated National Coming Out Day last month with my partner, but it was more intimate and private. After coming back from fall break, I realized that I want to be able to talk about my relationship and sexual identity with my family. Especially with upcoming breaks at home, I feel like I am hiding this part of myself and just want to get it over with. How should I go about telling my family that I am gay? — WantdaWorld2Know Dear WantdaWorld2Know, It’s great that you want to be honest and share this part of yourself with your family. Coming out is a personal choice that can be both intimidating and rewarding, and there is no right or wrong way to do it. Deciding whether to come out or not could vary depending on who you are planning to tell and your relationship with them. Either are valid choices. However, before having the conversation with your family, it might be helpful to explore your options in terms of whether to come out or when and how to do it, and elicit additional support from others. Here are a few tips and strategies to consider: Focus on your safety. Before making your decision about coming out, reflect on whether there are any emotional or practical reasons the risk of telling your parents might be too great. You don’t mention your living situation or if you depend on your parents for financial support. If either is true and you’re worried their reaction might impact your living or financial situations, you may want to consider waiting to tell your parents until you have other security. Think about your reasons. Asking yourself why you would like to come out and what you are expecting from your parents might help you determine the best strategy to do so. Once you have your reasoning, it could be easier to plan out what you would like to say. Practice. You will have another three weeks on campus before Thanksgiving break, so planning the conversation ahead of time will help both you and your family. Try role playing this conversation with some of your closest friends on campus. Alternatively, try writing a letter where you outline things that are important for you to say. What do you want them to know about you? You may also wish to have some educational materials or websites for them to answer their questions, or to
provide support (such as PFLAG). Think about their response. It could be helpful to think about some of the good or bad responses you may hear. Remember: people’s reactions are more about themselves than you. It may take some time for them to fully understand and accept your news. It is important to think about what you will do to help deal with hard responses. You may also feel safer if you have a backup plan (e.g., transportation, housing) in case your family’s response is unsupportive. Think about timing. Find an appropriate time when you and your family are able to have a calm, private, and thoughtful conversation. This should be a time that your only audience is the people you would like to share this information with and there are no time constraints or interruptions to the conversation. Think about who will support you no matter what. If the conversation doesn’t go as planned, who can you turn to for support? Maybe a sibling, your partner, roommate or friends on campus, counselor, advisor, etc. Their support can help to increase your comfort and security. There are many resources online and on campus that can help you think through this conversation. Consider visiting the Coming Out Center or using the Trevor Project Coming Out Guide. If you need more specific advice about your situation, visit the LGBT Center in Frist Campus Center, or make an appointment with a counselor at Counseling & Psychological Services. The LGBT Center is also offering a program, “Hey Mom, I’m Gay,” on Dec. 1 at noon, where LGBTQIA community members can get together and discuss the benefits and potential risks of coming out. In all, this conversation is about you: your experience and safety. There is really no one right way to come out, and you can’t control the reactions of anyone else. People choose to come out in their own way at their own time. Your experience will be unique. The most important thing is to be honest with yourself. Regardless of whether, or how, and when you choose to come out, allow yourself a moment of reflection and give yourself credit for the strength to connect with your family in a new way. Good luck! — The Sexpert Interested in Sexual Health? The Sexpert is always looking for members of the community to join the team of sexual health educators who, along with fact-checking from University health professionals, help write these columns. Email sexpert@dailyprincetonian.com for more information and questions about sexual health.
UNFAMILIAR STREET:
Lispenard Street, NYC HEATHER GRACE Contributor ‘18
I left a post-reunions Princeton on an early morning Dinky in the first week of June, bringing with me a small green suitcase and a day-old hangover. I caught the train into New York, having absolutely no idea what I was doing and halfway wishing I were on a flight home to Florida instead. Scheduled to start my summer internship in SoHo the following week, I was just as doubtful as I was nervous; hopping into a subway car and journeying out of Penn Station and into an unfamiliar direction, towards an unfamiliar street. Fearfully gripping the grimy subway handrails, I asked a family of three if the train would be stopping at Clark Street in Brooklyn Heights. The doors closed decisively behind me as they hummed in hesitation. When I did miraculously arrive at Clark Street 20 minutes later (having managed to pick a 2 train at random), I proceeded to carry all of my bags over my head through the turnstile, not yet aware of the “You Actually Can Go Through the Emergency Exit” option offered in the New York subway system. I then followed walking directions to my building, where I got stuck trying to wheel my suitcase through the revolving door. Having finally emerged from my first day in New York, I was confident that my summer in “The City” would be — if I may use an adjective that I often credit myself with coining up
with — “struggly.”And struggly it was. Within a week, I had experienced catcalling, accidentally taken the J train into Williamsburg and gotten lost inside of a bi-level [by this, do you mean two-level?] Duane Reade trying to buy paper towels. And then I found Lispenard Street — a road that spans the two blocks between Broadway and West Broadway just south of Canal Street, where I was interning at an art-advising firm. For fear of getting stuck underground or taking the wrong train (again), I routinely arrived 30 minutes early to work. On these days, I would wait inside the Starbucks near the corner of Lispenard and Broadway, anxiously sipping my grande iced mocha as the minutes passed. A few weeks in, I had willfully mastered the subway system and was able to commute in a more timely fashion, walking up to street level just 10 minutes before my 11:00 a.m. start time. From the Canal Street station, I would round the corner onto Lispenard, where there were hardly ever any pedestrians, besides me and a small army of mailmen who oversaw the post office loading dock. And this scarce company on Lispenard Street was sort of amazing. In all of the craziness of rushing around New York City (usually in the wrong direction), there was rarely any quiet. And so these few minutes of my daily commute became the best few minutes of my day, when I could amble along for two whole blocks without being run over by a disgruntled businessman or bicycling delivery person. That
HEATHER GRACE :: CONTRIBUTOR
Lispenard Street is a road located just south of Canal Street that spans the two blocks between Broadway and West Broadway.
is — until the end of Lispenard, where I would turn left towards Canal Street and the relative calm of distant car horns would immediately turn into throngs of confused tourists, aggressive handbag vendors, and well-dressed young adults (the kind that would probably have great Instagrams). But despite how much I valued my daily walks along Lispenard Street, that’s really all I ever did there. Aside from the Post Office, there’s a pub on the corner next to the subway entrance and an animal hospital a few doors down. A nice-looking nail salon that I had told myself I would eventually go to, but never did. There’s a La Colombe coffee shop that usually had a line out the door (the reason why I never went
in) and a barbershop across the way, its windows filled with posters that had faded to a sickly green from sun exposure. Closer to Broadway are an arrayed series of art galleries with matteblack stairs that neighbor stretches of scaffolding and neon graffiti. And of course, a rack of shiny blue Citi Bikes that lines the street. For me, walking out of the office and onto Canal Street at the end of the day was similar to what you might experience inside one of those giant walk-through bird aviaries: constant chirping and a simultaneous fear of an unsolicited visitor landing on your shoulder. Even though the “We Buy Gold” guy eventually recognized me enough that
he no longer waved me into their store and I had become pretty good at avoiding eye contact with the purse saleswomen, it was still a relief to take that first step onto Lispenard, my bird-free shortcut back to the subway. Though I loved working in Manhattan for those few months, it was certainly a big change in speed from Nassau Street, where I’m accustomed to where everything is and don’t have to hold my breath for any inexplicably unpleasant odors. I guess Lispenard Street was like a lull in a very chaotic ongoing conversation that was my daily life in New York City; a respite that took me back to the calm of the Orange Bubble, or at least a smelly, gray one.
The Daily Princetonian
Thursday november 10, 2016
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Princeton Tonight: University’s Student-Run Broadcast Television Show COCO CHOU Contributor ‘20
From the simple idea of taking advantage of the Princeton University Broadcast Center studio, to creating the University’s first and only student-run broadcast television show, Princeton Tonight has added a new light to cable TV throughout central New Jersey. The show first debuted in February 2016 by students Jordan Salama ‘19 and Ryan Ozminkowski ‘19, and primarily features guest interviews and original comedy sketches. Past guests include Dave Coulier, Mike DelGuidice, and Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture Kahlil Muhammad, among many others. As the head writer, Salama oversees all the content creation of the show with his writing staff before they can be produced. All ideas for the segments have to be developed and survive the writing team before going on to the production team. According to Salama, for their interviews, “We work together as a team to do research on the guests coming, and think of fun questions and lots of lighthearted materials we can ask, depending on who they are and what they do.” In terms of picking and choosing the types of questions they ask their guests, the team decides to make some questions more humorous while writing others as more informational, depending on the professions of the guests. For example, Salama states that performers or actors are most likely to be asked humorous questions. Additionally, Salama explains the
COURTESY OF PRINCETON TONIGHT
importance of communication skill in contacting guests, as he says that he sends out invitations to the guests’ agents, along with offers to give a tour of the campus. “When we’re contacting guests, we want to make sure that we are professional in the way we’re dealing with them,” stated Salama. “These people are entertainment professionals, and though we are students, we’re running a television show as if it’s a professional television production.” When looking for their talents on the team, “We look for somebody who has good improvising skills,” Salama said, “because a lot of what we do is being able to go off of what somebody else is saying, and make a joke about it or come up with a follow-up question.”
Marcelo Jaimes-Lukes ’19 is the show’s host who does all the featured interviews, which are “the most famous guests we have on the show and the funniest guests we have,” according to Salama. Jaimes-Lukes acknowledged that chatting in front of a camera is certainly slightly different, because “you definitely have to make an effort to engage people in a way that you don’t necessarily always have to when you’re just having a conversation with anyone else.” In terms of interviewing guests, Jaimes-Lukes thinks that the most critical quality as a host is “to be able to just have a conversation, as opposed to talking to someone who’s ‘differ-
ent’.” He continued, “Just being able to talk to someone, laugh with them, joke around, and having a good time is the most important.” Especially regarding celebrity guests, Jaimes-Lukes noted, “They may have a certain amount of celebrity, but they’re still a person. They have a life.” He added, “Treating them like they’re just someone who you’re interested in learning about is the most important. So wouldn’t say it’s that much different.” “When Marcelo did an interview with Gaby Moreno [Latin Grammy Award-winning singer], he had to be able to come up with good questions about new information she brought to the table that we didn’t know about
before,” Salama commented. In agreement, Jaimes-Lukes stated “it is important to be able to go off of their energy.” Improvisation skill is also needed in segments other than interviews. “For Sonya, who did our On The Street comedy segment1, …when they came up with ridiculous answers, she had to come back with a follow up joke or question,” Salama said. Similarly for sketches, he stated, “if something comes up that takes the sketch in a different direction than planned, we need to make sure that all of our actors have those skills to make good comedy, to make things funny.” As a talk show, excelling in language skills is extremely crucial in the success of the program. Dialogues and conversational rhetoric are especially important, not only in the guest interviews but also in other sketches and acting segments. When asked about the desired effect of the show’s segments, Salama replied that the primary goal is humor and entertaining the audience, while maintaining a professional stance and atmosphere. “We try to use the most professional language possible, while we’re going about making the show and performing on the show,” Salama noted. Princeton Tonight’s Season 2 premiered on Oct. 30, 2016. It is also on YouTube in the following link: https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=g912gpkct1o [do you guys want the link to be in the paper, or make it a hyperlink? - Maya] Note: In the Season 2 Episode 1, On the Street segment, Sonya Isenberg ‘20 madeup fake accomplishments by fake professors and talked to campus members to see if people would believe her.
DISCUSS WITH THE PRINCE: STUDENT’S FAVORITE QUOTES ESIN YUNUSOLGU Contributor ‘19
In line w ith the theme of speech th is week, The Street inter v iewed st udents about quotes that inspi red and motivated them. Catalina Vives, 2019
Lillian Wilkins, 2019
“The only way to move fast is to move fast.”
LW: I don’t k now if th is qualif ies as a quote but there is someth ing my dance teacher wou ld always say. I actual ly recently used it too in a rehearsal that I was leading! ...In tap dance, sometimes there were moves we str uggled doing real ly fast, and she [my dance teacher] wou ld say th is.
“Life’s not about how hard of a hit you can give... It’s about how Darius Avens, 2018 many you can take, and “God does not play still keep moving for- dice with the uniward.” verse.” - Einstein Daily Princetonian: That’s deep! C V: But it’s tr ue! It’s li fe. It’s not actual ly how much you can accompl ish, but how much you can hand le and how you deal w ith di ff icu lties li fe th rows at you.
DP: Do you th in k by “God,” he meant “God,” as we use it in a religious contex t? DA: Actual ly, wh i le many people take th is to mean he was rel igiou s, he later said he d id n’t
believe in a personal God. It’s actual ly about how he thought the random ness of quantum mechanics to be incompatible w ith h is belief that the un iverse was completely governed by some u ltimate set of physical laws. DP: So he believed in a un iversa l order beyond quant u m mechan ics? DA: I th in k it’s prett y interesting that a man who was able to predict th ings like grav itational waves decades before their detection based on pu re theor y was unw i l ling to shake h is in nate belief in un iversal order, despite the ev idence to the contrar y. Emily McLean, 2020
“I just felt like running” - Forrest Gump.
DP: That’s interesting! Why do you th in k it was the f irst quote
you thought of? EM : I just real ly like the movie ; it brings back good memories. There’s someth ing free-spi r ited about the quote. Ethan Sterenfeld, 2020
Laura Zecca, 2020
“The only place where the word success comes before work is the dictionary.” DP: Does th is quote motivate you to work for you r goals? LZ : It’s not that th is quote motivates me, but it is good to remember that I shou ldn’t ex pect success if I don’t work for it.
“They agreed that it was neither possible nor necessary to educate people who never questioned anything.” Catherine Song, 2020 - Joseph Heller from “If you can drea m it, Catch-22. you can do it! ” - Walt DP: Why do you th in k th is one Disney stood out to you? ES : I just th in k it captu res the essence of education : cu riosit y. It’s good to ask questions ; it is how we improve as human beings. A lso, I loved the mov ie as a whole, so the quote was memorable.
DP: Oh that was ver y qu ick! ...A nd enthusiastic! CS : Yes! I th in k it’s super empowering. Princeton was one of my d reams! It is a ver y optim istic thought but motivates me to set goals.
CAMPUS PICKS DANCE EXPRESSIONS AFTER HOURS PERFORMANCE Wilson Black Box Thursday, 7:30 PM & 10 PM; Friday, 7:30 PM Saturday, 7:30 PM & 10 PM
eXpressions Dance Company presents its “After Hours” show, an exploration of unique human narratives played out away from the public eye - after hours. The performance features live music from Pure and La Vie en Cello. There will be free refreshments from Milk & Cookies for all shows. Tickets are $8 PUID and $ General. eXpressions will donate $1 from every ticket purchased to the Princeton Clay Project.
EVENT HACKPRINCETON
Friend Center Friday, 5:00PM - Sunday, 3:00PM HackPrinceton is a 36 hour long hackathon that brings together over 600 designers and developers from across the US to build inventive hardware and software projects. Participants will be able to learn new technological skills through workships and mentorship, and there will be prizes, games, free swag, amazing guest speakers, and more. No experience is necessary to apply!
PERFORMANCE THEATRE INTIME PRESENTS: CALIFORNIA SUITE Theatre Intime Friday, 8:00PM; Saturday, 8:00PM; Sunday, 2:00PM
Four scenes. Five couples. One hotel room. Neil Simon’s classic comedy of divorce, tennis, sleeping in late, and losing the Academy Award. Tickets are $8 students, $10 staff/faculty/ senior citizens, and $12 general admission. Come see the talent of Theatre Intime!