The Daily Princetonian: November 25, 2019

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Founded 1876 daily since 1892 online since 1998

Monday November 25, 2019 vol. CXLIII no. 111

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BEYOND THE BUBBLE

Alagappan ’20, Malhotra ’20 win 2020 Rhodes Scholarship By Ivy Truong Head News Editor

COURTESY OF OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS

Alagappan ’20 (left) and Malhotra ’20 (right) have been awarded 2020 Rhodes Scholarship.

ON CAMPUS

Forbes offshoot of U. vertical farm to reopen this month

Serena Alagappan ’20 and Ananya Malhotra ’20 have been selected as two of the 32 U.S. students who have been awarded a Rhodes Scholarship. According to a statement from the Rhodes Trust, Alagappan and Malhotra will be part of the third consecutive class of Rhodes Scholars that are majority-minority, and roughly 50 percent of the awarded individuals are first-generation Americans. Through a multistage process, students are awarded for outstanding academics and a commitment to leadership and service. The scholarship will provide all expenses

for two or three years of postgraduate study at the University of Oxford. Hailing from Manhattan, N.Y., Alagappan is concentrating in Comparative Literature and will pursue an M.Sc. in Social Anthropology and an M.St. in World Literatures in English. According to the statement, her “writing and research explores the ways in which identity and modes of expression shape art.” When she had received the news about the fellowship, Alagappan said she was “speechless and overcome with gratitude.” “My first thoughts flew to my parents and sisters, who have always been unconditionally supportive, and my teachers See RHODES page 3

ON CAMPUS

BEYOND THE BUBBLE

By Katie Tam Senior Writer

In Opinion

COURTESY OF DAVID BOHRER / THE WHITE HOUSE

Joshua Bolten ’76 shakes hands with President George W. Bush.

Q&A with Joshua Bolten ’76, Former White House Chief of Staff By Sam Kagan Contributor

On Thursday, Nov. 21, Joshua Bolten ’76, former White House Chief of Staff under President George W. Bush and current CEO and President of Business Roundtable, spoke on campus at a public event organized by the Cliosophic Party. In his years at Old Nassau, the University trustee secured an undergraduate degree from the Wilson School, serving as president of Ivy Club along the way. After graduating from Princeton, Bolten received a J.D. from Stanford Law School. Following his conversation in the Whig Hall Senate Chamber, The Daily Princetonian caught up with Bolten to discuss campus politics, perceptions of President Bush, the reality of Dick Cheney’s portrayal in “Vice,” and more. The following transcript has been lightly edited for length and clarity. The Daily Princetonian: Welcome home. What’s it like to come home? Joshua Bolten ’76: Princeton feels very much like home, but a home that is more vibrant and interesting and engaged with the world than the home I had

Senior columnist Hunter Campbell advocates for improvements to the current system of fire safety inspections, while columnist Sebastian Quiroz argues that Tigerbook should move to an opt-in system.

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here 40-plus years ago. DP: What was “the home” like when you were here 40plus years ago? JB: It was a tight community, but much less vibrant than it is today. Less diverse and less connected to the outside world. DP: Talking just a little bit about your time on campus, you also mentioned in your talk that you were the president of Ivy Club while you were here. Could you tell me what that was like? Eating clubs were so different from the way they are today. JB: I think the eating clubs are the same in the sense that they provide a really congenial atmosphere for students to get to know each other ... in a way that’s close to family. That element is the same. Today, though, Ivy Club and all of the clubs I’ve visited seem much more alive. I think they are much improved. Those that were allmale, I think they are much improved by now having women as well. And, like I said about the campus overall, they seem much better connected to the outside world than they were when I was an undergraduate. See BOLTEN page 2

JON ORT / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Nicholas Matyas at DeNunzio Pool, shortly before he officially joined the men’s swim team.

15-year-old cancer survivor Nicholas Matyas joins U. swim team By Ngan Chiem Contributor

15-year-old Nicholas Matyas officially signed onto the University men’s swimming team on Saturday, Nov. 23, at the DeNunzio Pool during the team’s match against Cornell and Penn. Matyas, a survivor of lymphoma, is now successfully in remission. A swimmer since the age of seven, he continues to swim for his high school and club teams. Through Team Impact, an organization that “connects children facing serious and chronic illnesses with local college athletic teams,” Matyas was invited to join the University’s swim team. As a member of the team, Matyas is welcomed to attend team-related events. “It doesn’t have to be a swim meet,” Matyas’s mother, Melissa Matyas, said. “It can be a pizza party, or if the team’s going to see a football game, he’s welcomed to come.” In an email statement to The Daily Princetonian, Doug Lennox ’09, an assistant coach on the men’s swim team, wrote, “We are

Today on Campus 5:30 p.m.: My Big Fat Interfaith Thanksgiving Chancellor Green Rotunda

super fortunate to have [Matyas and his family] on our team! We are very proud of him for showing grit, courage and kindheartedness through some of life’s most challenging circumstances.” Several members of the swim team expressed their appreciation for Matyas and their enthusiasm towards his new status as a team member. “I have nothing but respect for [Matyas], and I think that he embodies everything that Princeton Swimming stands for,” John Ehling ’23, one of Matyas’s student leaders on the team, said. “I’m sure every one of us thought of Matyas during our races, which definitely helped us beat both Penn and Cornell,” Max Walther ’22, his other student leader, added. Matyas’s mother shared that he is interested in pursuing a career in the medical field. A former patient of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Matyas is “mature for his age,” according to his mother, and sees value in helping others.

WEATHER

After a brief hiatus for the summer, the Forbes Vertical Farm is set to reopen this month. The farm, which was dismantled at the end of last semester, has been rebuilt over the past two weekends in the lobby of Forbes College. The farm began in the fall of 2018 as an offshoot of the main Princeton Vertical Farming Project (PVFP), which was launched by Paul Gauthier, a former associate research scholar in the Department of Geosciences. The PVFP was founded in April of 2017 to engage University students in sustainable farming practices and provided fertile ground for research. The PVFP ended with Gauthier’s departure this past summer, and the main farm housed in Moffett Laboratory was shut down. The latest Forbes offshoot will further the original goal of demonstrating that farming can fit into the busy life of a student at the University. Gauthier now works as a Senior Agricultural Scientist for Bowery Farming in New York City. It is meant “to show students that this type of farming works, and that it tastes really good,” said Kaylin Xu ’22, who served as manager of the Forbes farm last year. “It’s also a mood-booster, to see that much green indoors,” Xu said. “I’ll walk by the lobby, and there will be students just staring at the plants.” The setup was attended by students from the Pink House, Greening Dining, and the Princeton Student Climate Initiative (PSCI), among others. Gauthier, Forbes College Dean Patrick Caddeau, and Forbes Faculty Fellow Ryo Morimoto have also assisted. While some of the equipment was stored in the basement of the college, most of it had to be lugged back from Moffett. A new automatic watering system was installed — good news for Xu, who had to carry buckets to water the plants last semester. See FARM page 2

HIGH

52˚

LOW

32˚

Partly cloudy chance of rain:

10 percent


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