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Wednesday december 10, 2014 vol. cxxxviii no. 122
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In Opinion Tehila Wenger explains why anger can help advance a discussion, and Coy Ozias argues that a “yes means yes” standard is dangerous for men. PAGE 4
Today on Campus 9 a.m.: University Health Services will hold a flu vaccine clinic. Vaccines are free for Princeton faculty, staff and students with a Princeton University ID. Frist Campus Center, Multipurpose Room.
The Archives
Dec. 10, 1975 Congress announced plans to subsidize public rail lines to the delight of “Save the Dinky” members, who lobbied on behalf of the Princeton Dinky amid bankruptcy concerns.
News & Notes Columbia Law School postpones exams for students traumatized by racial violence
columbia law School has given students the option to postpone exams following the grand jury decisions not to indict police officers involved in the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, The Wall Street Journal reported. “For some law students, particularly, though not only, students of color, this chain of events is all the more profound as it threatens to undermine a sense that the law is a fundamental pillar of society designed to protect fairness, due process and equality,” interim dean Robert Scott wrote in an email to students on the eve of Columbia’s exam period. Students at Columbia can opt to reschedule exams if they feel their performance will be sufficiently impaired due to recent events, Scott noted. This rescheduling is in accordance with the school’s examination policies, which covers issues such as illness, a death in the family or extraordinary circumstances, Scott told The Wall Street Journal. Scott also said in the email that Columbia arranged for a “trauma specialist” to counsel affected students. Following the decision at Columbia Law School, minority student groups at Harvard Law School and Georgetown University Law Center have requested that final exams be deferred for students. Numerous protests were held on Princeton’s campus and in the town after grand juries failed to indict police officers who killed unarmed AfricanAmericans Michael Brown and Eric Garner. University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 encouraged the campus community to contribute to the national dialogue surrounding racial violence and to develop further diversity recommendations for the Council of the Princeton University Community’s executive council during a public meeting on Monday.
STUDENT LIFE
PFA remains unified despite attempted split By Jessica Li contributor
The Christian group Princeton Faith and Action has been able to preserve its unity as one group following an initial decision by Christian Union — its national parent organization — that sought to break it into two racially separated ministries on campus. The Union’s initial decision prompted the resignation of Tim Adhikari, ministry director of PFA, on Dec. 1 and spurred a petition challenging the decision that drew over 170 student signatures. According to its website, Christian Union’s mission is to “to transform our nation and world by developing and connecting bold Christian leaders.” In early December, Christian Union announced its decision to implement a new student group almost identical to the former organization “Legacy,” in which members were typically of African-American descent. Two years ago, partly due to strong pressure from student leadership, Legacy merged with PFA in an effort to form a coalition representative of the University’s student diversity.
PFA students have near-unanimously contested the proposed division, according to Marie Brooks ’15, a student executive leader of PFA. “Students were also outraged by the fact that Christian Union leadership did not attempt to gather any student input during its decision-making process,” Brooks said. “We, the PFA student leadership, believe that this situation is indicative of a broader issue, in that Christian Union has never sought student input on decisions that directly affect students.” Brooks said that while PFA realizes the imperfections in its current model, it has a solid foundation for providing Christian fellowship for black students. Ongoing initiatives such as TruThursday, dedicated to expressing Christianity through worship, community, conversation and culture from a black student perspective, are gaining momentum in reaching out to minority students. “While the intention of PFA may be good, the timing of it couldn’t have been worse,” Eric Fung ’18, a student in a PFA Bible See PFA page 2
U N I V E R S I T Y A F FA I R S
JEFFREY WU :: STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The contractual agreement between the U-Store and the University includes a ban on the sale of pens, pencils and note cards at the C-Store, which is fully owned by the University.
U-Store, U. have agreement to restrict competition By Lorenzo Quiogue staff writer
ACADEMICS
New initiative launches on cognitive science By Ruby Shao staff writer
A new interdisciplinary enterprise called the Cognitive Science Initiative has launched this academic year as a colloquium series, lunchtime talk series and workshop on language processing open to all members of the University community. Participating faculty primarily belong to the psychology, philosophy, linguistics and neuroscience departments, and at least one scholar represents each one of the computer science, electrical engineering and molecular biology departments. Presentation titles include “Why do we punish?
Confronting the myth of folk retributivism” and “How representing multiple objects (and features) as an ensemble enhances higherlevel visual cognition.” The project operates with funding from the psychology department, as well as the philosophy department and the Council of the Humanities. Philosophy professor and chair of the initiative’s organizational committee Sarah-Jane Leslie said she began working on the initiative at the end of the spring semester and had long thought about uniting experts from different fields through such a project. “We have all the people on See INITIATIVE page 3
The University and the U-Store have an agreement that restricts the products that each entity can sell through their retail operations, a move that prevents competition for clients. The agreement on the University side is handled by Campus Dining and applies to such locales like the C-Store and Studio 34. The little-known agreement became known last month when a Campus Dining employee sent a letter to University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 complaining that he was reprimanded for attempting to give out pencils, pens and note cards while working a shift at the C-Store, according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Daily Princetonian. The employee, Barry Bloom, explained that he was told by Director of Retail Dining and Catering Operations Andrew Fleischer that the C-Store could not
sell pens, pencils and note of the contract, explaining cards due to a contractual that it was confidential. agreement between the CUniversity spokesperson Store and the U-Store. Martin Mbugua also conThe C-Store and Studio 34 firmed the existence of the are fully owned by the Uni- agreement but declined to versity, while the U-Store is provide any specifics. an independent corporation “We continually evaluate although it operates out of our services, and look for evUniversity property. ery opportunity to enhance But most of the details of the services where possible,” the agreement — in particu- Mbugua said. “The arrangelar, to what extent both enti- ment in place is determined ties avoid competing for cli- by a contract.” ents and what products face Fleischer said the arsuch restrictions— remain rangements in place are deuncertain. termined by a contractual Sykes confirmed that the agreement with the Univeragreement exists and ex- sity but did not respond to plained its contract with multiple requests to explain the University mentions the further. types of products that can According to Bloom, the be sold at the U-Store. Sykes C-Store used to carry pens, noted, however, that he was pencils, note cards and other not aware of University poli- school supplies but removed cies regarding its own retail them from its inventory dining outlets. three years ago. Currently, “Our agreement is with neither the C-Store nor Stuthe University directly; we dio 34 carry pens, pencils or don’t deal with the C-Store or note cards, but the U-Store Studio 34,” Sykes explained. does. “They’re really our competiBloom said that he was tors, if you think about it.” given a written warning Sykes declined to elabo- after the incident and was rate on the specific details See STORES page 2
BEYOND THE BUBBLE
Lieutenant governor discusses role in politics By Katherine Oh contributor
SHANNON MCGUE :: ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR
Kim Guadagno, the first lieutenant governor of New Jersey, spoke about the nuances of her job at a Whig-Clio event.
Kimberly Guadagno, the Secretary of State and Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey, discussed her experience serving in public office as a woman and as the first lieutenant governor of New Jersey in a lecture on Tuesday evening. The lieutenant governor position was created after a 2005 referendum and, as a result, the role was not previously outlined in New Jersey legislation. She was elected in 2009 as a running mate for Chris Christie and began her term in January of 2010. “You read the Constitution and you realize there are no obligations, other than the obvious ones — make sure the governor comes to work everyday — there are no parameters in New Jersey for what the lieutenant governor does,” Gaudagno said, “There’s no job description, no salary, no office, no personnel.”
One of her current responsibilities as lieutenant governor, Guadagno explained, is to serve as acting governor whenever the governor is out of state. Guadagno also oversees travel and tourism, which is the third largest industry in the state, and runs programs for arts, history and culture. Guadagno said that the current legislation regarding the lieutenant governorship has several loopholes such as its direct tie to the governorship. If the governor were to resign, she would not be allowed to stay on but would have to run again on a ballot with a governor. “We do not serve the term out,” Guadagno said, “I would have to, if I wanted to run for governor, declare right now, and run in the next November election even though I was elected to be lieutenant governor for a four-year term and don’t have to leave office until 2017.” Guadagno served as the
sheriff of Monmouth County in 2007, and some people argued that Guadagno should not have been sheriff because she is a woman. “Women have to be just a little bit better, or a little bit faster when you go after the jobs that people don’t expect you to take,” Guadagno said. Guadagno noted that the system of having the governor and the lieutenant governor run as a ticket is beneficial. “I believe it’s better for the people of New Jersey if the lieutenant governor can’t raise an army against the king, if you will,” Guadagno said. “If they run on separate parties, I don’t know what’s the point of having a lieutenant governor.” Guadagno is working on the New Jersey Partnership for Action, the state’s strategy for economic development. She explained that while the economy of New Jersey may not be recovering very quickly, the unemployment rate had declined significantly in See LECTURE page 3
The Daily Princetonian
page 2
News & Notes $95K theft reported at local boarding school the hun school of Princeton reported a theft of approximately $95,000 to the Princeton Police Department last week, according to a police press release. Officials believe the theft took place over the last few years, but no additional information is currently available. The investigation has been assigned to a detective for
follow-up, according to the crime log. The Hun School is an independent preparatory school founded in 1914. A case of fraud allegedly took place on Dec. 4 when a Princeton resident was called by an unknown person who claimed to be an Internal Revenue Service agent. The caller told the victim to pay $6,945 to the IRS immediately under threat of arrest. He was also told to
purchase several Green Dot prepaid debit cards and give the numbers on the back of the card to the IRS agent impersonator. The Princeton resident bought $3,000 of Green Dot cards and gave the information to the impersonator. He then reported the activity to the Princeton Police Department, which notified him that the caller was a scam. The investigation is ongoing.
Employee warned for giving out stationery STORES
Continued from page 1
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told that while he was on the clock at the C-Store, he was not allowed to provide any of these supplies to students looking for them. Campus Dining executive director Smitha Haneef did not respond to a request for comment. Bloom said that the supplies he was offering to stu-
dents were his own and that he was not attempting to sell the pencils to students. He added that he was not aware of the specific terms of the contract but that the only stationery the C-Store currently sells are letter envelopes. Bloom added that the CStore was set to be revamped over winter break and that he had already suggested to Fleischer that it once again
carry school supplies because students come in looking for them “at least once a day.” He noted he was told to start a petition. “My only intention was to help the students who needed it, especially during midterms week,” he said. “I believe that we should always be looking out for the best interests of the student, and hopefully, everything we do will have that in mind.”
Wednesday december 10, 2014
Parent group sought to separate by race PFA
Continued from page 1
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course, said. Fung said that he believed that in the wake of a recent outburst of civil rights controversies, Christian Union’s decision would have been perceived in a negative light. “We are very thankful that the leadership listened to the unified student voice and that they are now beginning to engage students in conversation on issues of race and Christianity on this campus,” Brooks said. In response to the initial announcement, students organized a petition to Christian Union asking that PFA be allowed to stay united as one group without subsidiary organizations based on race, represent the “diverse and unified kingdom of God through the expression of multiculturalism in
praise, worship and the sharing of the gospel” and be able to further its desire for racial reconciliation. Matt Bennett, founder and president of Christian Union, issued a statement Tuesday morning to all PFA members agreeing to all items of the student petition. He also said that Christian Union would plan on having regular meetings with student leaders as part of the agreement. “We never intended to split PFA,” Bennett said. “We would love every student who is involved in PFA to remain involved and had hoped that an additional ministry would benefit to students who are not yet in PFA and have different needs and preferences.” Bennett said he and his colleagues were deeply grieved that students perceived their decision as an attempt to split the multicultural community cherished by its members and supported by the
Union. “Splitting this community was not and will never be our intent,” Bennett said. “We now understand that students see restoring Legacy as doing that, so we have ceased any efforts to encourage the restoration.” Bennett also expressed that similar disputes have never occurred before in other Ivy League schools. Brooks explained that it is difficult to predict the consequences that might have been experienced had the decision by Christian Union been enforced. She added, however, that many students probably would have left PFA altogether while refusing to implement a separate ministry. Tim Adhikari did not respond to multiple requests for comment. It remains unclear at the time whether he will be reinstated as ministry director.
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A copy of the resignation email sent by Tim Adhikari on Dec. 1 resigning from Princeton Faith and Action in light of disagreements with its parent organization, the Christian Union.
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Wednesday december 10, 2014
The Daily Princetonian
page 3
Interdisciplinary approach successful, organizer says Guadagno notes reaction INITIATIVE to being female sheriff Continued from page 1
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the ground here at Princeton, but it seems like we just didn’t have that official way of bringing everyone together, so it seemed like a good time to start trying to make that happen,” Leslie said. Leslie also praised the relevance of so many different disciplines to the field. “The idea of just trying
“It seems like we just didn’t have that official way of bringing everyone together.” Sarah-Jane Leslie
chair of committee
to approach these questions from the perspective of one single discipline seems like missing out on so many of those resources that are available to help tackle the issues,” she said. Prospective neuroscience concentrator Dominique Fahmy ’17 said she had barely heard of the initiative but thought that it sounded like
a good idea. “I’m mostly interested so far in cognition from a philosophical and linguistic perspective, but I think it’d be really interesting to bring in all of these other disciplines and see how everyone thinks about cognition and see how we can integrate those things together,” Fahmy said. She noted that while every department approaches cognition differently, each perspective is valid considering the complexity of the phenomenon. Assistant Professor of Psychology Casey Lew-Williams, who joined the organizational committee after Leslie reached out to him, said the interdisciplinary nature of the events provides unique advantages to both speakers and audience members. Lew-Williams said he has benefited professionally from giving talks in cognitive science, which require him to package his material for a broader audience and respond to questions about his work from people outside of psychology. The interdisciplinary approach toward cognitive science has produced major advances since the field emerged in the 1950s, Lew-Williams said, citing the joint examination of humans and computer science as an example of how humans have learned about their cognitive capacities.
Philosophy major Sean Oh ’16, who is pursuing certificates in computer science and neuroscience, said he first heard of the initiative from an email to the Princeton Neuroscience Institute email distribution. He compared the event he attended to a typical lecture. “The initiative just gives you an overview of every-
“The initiative just gives you an overview of everything that’s out there.” Sean Oh ’16
philosophy major
thing that’s out there, and it’s up to you to go out and find the connections yourself,” he said. “It’s not that each lecture touches on, ‘Okay, here’s the neuroscience component, and here’s the philosophical component.’ ” Oh said he would like the initiative to include more opportunities for student involvement, such as implementing a structure that encourages active participation.
The initiative does not currently have official status at the University, but Leslie said she hopes to offer an undergraduate certificate in cognitive science, and potentially a graduate certificate, in the next few years. She cited preliminary conversations with the Office of the Dean of the College, which has expressed support and encouragement for the endeavor. Leslie suggested that a cognitive science certificate could supplement students’ course of study in the upcoming neuroscience concentration and other disciplines, adding that the high attendance at initiative events and her conversations with attendees indicate enthusiasm for such programs. Lew-Williams said he hopes the initiative will ultimately provide small grants and fellowships for undergraduates and doctoral students who want to conduct research across departments. “Ideally, it would be in a situation where this student might be co-advised by people in two different departments, just to guarantee that it will generate new and exciting research,” he said. Leslie said that since the initiative has met with overwhelming enthusiasm so far, student interest will largely drive the project’s future development.
LECTURE Continued from page 1
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recent years, from 9.8 percent to 6.5 percent. Guadagno and the New Jersey Partnership for Action works to encourage businesses to stay in the state and create more jobs. “We’re not going to win every fight, we don’t win every fight, but we want to be
in every fight and that’s the benefit of having a governor like Chris Christie,” Gaudagno said, “He’s raised the profile of New Jersey in a way that allows us to at least get a seat at the table at some of these businesses.” The lecture was held at 7:30 p.m. in the Whig Hall Oakes Lounge as the last lecture of the American WhigCliosophic Society’s guest speaker series.
PRIVACY AND NATIONAL SECURITY
EFFECTIVE GIVING CHRISTOPHER FERRI:: CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
George Ellard, the Inspector General of the National Security Agency, delivered a lecture titled “Privacy and National Security.”
Done reading your ‘Prince’? Recycle
SEWHEATE HAILE :: STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Professor of Bioethics Peter Singer discussed how to donate in order to effect change in Frist Campus Center on Tuesday night.
Guilty until proven innocent Coy Ozias
C
Coy Ozias is a freshman from Christiansburg, Va. He can be reached at cozias@princeton.edu.
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{ www.dailyprincetonian.com }
Unapologetically upset
contributing columnist
hristian conservatives on the far right from the late Baptist minister Jerry Falwell to Sarah Palin, former Governor of Alaska, have been working to curtail sex on college campuses since the 1960s, with few results. But the liberal, feminist campaign against sexual assault has had more of the staunching effect on college students’ sexual behavior. For decades, the Christian right has preached biblical admonitions condemning premarital sex. Purity rings, exhortations about STDs and a push for abstinence have long been conservatives’ siren calls to hormone-laden college students. It does not appear that this group has been influenced by conservatives’ message. The Obama administration, along with women’s rights organizations and anti-patriarchal groups, have been a vocal force against campus sexual assaults. These groups say that 20 percent of female college students have been sexually assaulted. They demand that colleges take measures to end these attacks. The Obama administrations has ordered colleges to beef up their policies for punishing sexual misconduct or risk losing federal funding. Under Title IX, colleges have been compelled by the Obama administration to adopt adjudication processes that are meant to replace the criminal justice system. Under this new process, schools are required to use a “preponderance of evidence” standard to determine the alleged guilt of an offender in cases of sexual assault. This standard of proof is much easier to reach than the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard, the highest standard of proof and the one used in criminal cases. The University resisted to lower its own standard from “clear and persuasive” until last month, after it was charged with violating Title IX and agreed to accept the preponderance of evidence standard. Andrew Miltenberg, a lawyer for several male students who have been accused of sexual assault, stated that “schools [are] treating young men as presumptively guilty, while bowing to pressure from the national dialogue.” Under these new University rules, men are guilty until proven innocent. Sexual assault and rape are wrong. Perpetrators should be punished. But the adjudication process should be fair for the accused as well as the victims. What is happening now is that many male students who thumbed their noses at the Christian right’s warnings of sin, disease, pregnancy and eternal damnation are now unsure and cowed about sexual contact with females because of these new University policies backed by the federal government. Normal, consensual, heterosexual sex on campus has become dangerous for males. The rule used to be “no means no.” That has changed. The new rule is “yes means yes.” The burden of “affirmative consent” has been placed solely on the male. A male must get consent from the female at every stage of their sexual encounter. However, even if he does get consent, he is still at risk if it is determined that the female was under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Even if he himself is intoxicated, it is now his responsibility to assess the intoxication of his partner. The female has none of this responsibility. If a female says that she was raped or assaulted the next day, the male student can face expulsion, even if the sex was consensual and not forced. At Occidental College – according to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a legal advocacy group representing a male student accused of sexual assault – a female student texted a male friend and asked him if he wanted to hook up. Both of them had been drinking. She next texted her female friends and told them she had the intention of having sex with him. Then, she texted the man and asked him if he had condoms. She met him. She willingly had sex. The next day, she accused him of rape. The male student was expelled from Occidental College. He was charged with violating Occidental’s “written incapacitation standard,” which says a female cannot make an informed and rational decision to engage in sexual activity if “she lacks conscious knowledge of the nature of the act or is physically helpless.” The police investigation determined that “[w] itnesses were interviewed and agreed that the victim and suspect were both drunk[.] [H]owever, … they were both willing participants exercising bad judgment[.] … It would be reasonable for [the male student] to conclude based on their communications and [the accuser’s] actions that, even though she was intoxicated, she could still exercise reasonable judgment.” This decision ended police involvement in the case. However, Occidental undertook its own investigation and found the male student “responsible” under the preponderance of evidence standard (a mere 50.01% certainty). FIRE Senior Vice President Robert Shibley said, “By classifying sex while drunk as rape and stripping students of due process protections, Occidental and the federal government have rendered vast numbers of students unwitting rapists — and ensured that being accused is nearly the same thing as being found guilty.” These cases have had a chilling effect on campus sexual behavior. Colleges need to take the protection of females on campus seriously. Colleges need to squash any form of rape culture. But males need to protect themselves as well. Will males begin to ask for written consent from potential female partners? Will they videotape this consent with a time stamp? Will male students ask females to take a breathalyzer test to ensure they are not incapacitated before having sex? Jerry Falwell abhorred the sexual revolution of the 1960s. As he looks down from the Big House in the sky at current University sexual policies of 2014, he is probably smiling.
Opinion
Wednesday december 10, 2014
Tehila Wenger
associate opinion editor emerita
C
hristian Wawrzonek wrote a column last week proposing that anger is a counterproductive response to bring to any campus discussion about gender issues. This was in reaction to the latest exposé of a blatantly sexist club culture at Tiger Inn. There is an almost wincing hesitation in his piece that made me initially reluctant to write a response: Anyone who publicly identifies himself among the “we” of a group on campus with a tendency to “shout down feminists” deserves an appreciative round of applause for broaching the issue in a mature and respectful way that nevertheless exposes him (as he knows all too well) to an onslaught of knee-jerk ad-hominem attacks. Still, he invited the shouted-down (and shouting) feminists to have a real conversation, so it’s only common courtesy to respond in kind. Several of Wawrzonek’s points indicate that after a thoughtful contemplation of gender issues, he still hasn’t quite grasped that foreign “female perspective” he describes so empathetically. Take his explanation of why men and women don’t see eyeto-eye on catcalling. In his adopted women’s shoes, he supposes that “having to deal with constant superficial attempts at flattery and kindness as attempts to gain sexual favors would become exhausting and annoying.” This is true, but so far from being the worst consequence of street harassment, that it is almost beside the point. Being called “sexy baby” on the street is not merely annoying because of its smarmy insincerity. It is a threat.
If Wawrzonek had ever sat in a selfdefense seminar where instructors advise him to carry a whistle wherever he goes, check behind his car before opening the door and always invite a trusted friend of the opposite gender on night walks, he would be much less likely to find sexualized comments from strangers neutral, flattering or casually irritating. They are a frustrating and too often frightening reminder that the object of the catcall is perceived as a vulnerable member of the “weaker sex.” Sometimes the threat is explicit and intended. Sometimes it’s buried under a veneer of misguided humor or friendliness. The message is always there. In attempting to disassociate catcalling from sexual assault, Wawrzonek misses the power dynamics guiding both. Sexual assault statistics make me feel insecure. So does the 20-year-old stranger making remarks about my appearance on the street corner. And yes, both make me angry. Which brings us to the other point I had trouble digesting in Wawrzonek’s column. He calls anger an unhelpful and self-perpetuating obstacle to real conversation on these issues. He asserts that given the dramatic differences in men and women’s experiences, “you can’t expect men to understand this disparity if many don’t even realize it exists.” He uses this understanding gap to explain why women should not let male insensitivity upset us. But I am upset, and I have not yet heard a compelling argument for reevaluating this reaction. I am upset that there are people (Wawrzonek’s division of feminists and anti-feminists along gender lines is utterly false) who fail to “understand” my experience of street harassment, and I am equally, if not more, upset that there are people who “don’t even
vol. cxxxviii
realize it exists.” I don’t think this is an inappropriate or unproductive reaction. My anger is what motivates me to try to change the current social reality. Anger is what Wawrzonek is responding to in his piece. He may not like it, he may even feel repelled by it, but he acknowledges it and it’s making him join the conversation. True, flaring up when the man selling me tissues at the C-Store calls me “sweetie” is probably not helpful for the greater cause of equality. I recognize that and renew my resolution not to bite his nose off every time this occurs. Nose biting in general is a very poor tactic for spreading feminist gospel. Hearing about the sexist shenanigans on the TI listserv makes me want to scream with nauseous rage. There are multiple ways for me to channel this anger. Some are obviously unproductive. If I happen to lose my temper arguing over victim blaming with an insensitive acquaintance, I recognize that there is probably no constructive value to that interaction. The emotion behind the pointless shouting, however — that is what we cannot afford to lose. The day I can listen to a friend’s story of how she was sexually harassed in a club without feeling and expressing fury that we live in a society where this is “normal” is the day I stop fighting for a different kind of society. I suspect Wawrzonek agrees that the other society — the one where women enjoy equality, security and respect — is the ideal. In the interest of achieving it, I propose a deal: I’ll stop screaming if you stop telling me to calm down. And let the healing begin. Tehila Wenger is a politics major from Columbus, Ohio. She can be reached at twenger@princeton.edu.
Secret Santa
Marcelo Rochabrun ’15 editor-in-chief
Nicholas Hu ’15
business manager
138th managing board news editor Anna Mazarakis ’16 opinion editor Sarah Schwartz ’15 sports editor Andrew Steele ’16 street editor Catherine Bauman ’15 photography editor Benjamin Koger ’16 video editors Carla Javier ’15 Rishi Kaneriya ’16 web editor Channing Huang ’15 chief copy editor Chamsi Hssaine ’16 design editors Austin Lee ’16 Shirley Zhu ’16 prox editor Urvija Banerji ’15 intersections editor Jarron McAllister ’16 associate news editors Paul Phillips ’16 Angela Wang ’16 associate opinion editors Richard Daker ’15 Prianka Misra ’16 associate opinion editor for cartoons Theresa O’Shea ’16 associate sports editors Jonathan Rogers ’16 associate street editors Lin King ’16 Seth Merkin Morokoff ’16 associate photography editors Conor Dube ’15 Karen Ku ’16 Shannon McGue ’15 associate chief copy editors Dana Bernstein ’15 Jacob Donnelly ’17 Alexander Schindele-Murayama ’16 associate design editor Helen Yao ’15
Ryan Budnick ’16
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editorial board chair Jillian Wilkowski ’15
NIGHT STAFF 12.9.14 news Warren Crandall ’15 Zaynab Zaman ’18 senior copy editors Joyce Lee ’17 Natalie Gasparowicz ’16 contributing copy editor Megan Laubach ’18 design Sara Good ’15 Morgan Taylor ’15
Who’s to blame and why it matters Newby Parton
contributing columnist
A
frican-Americans suffer severe discrimination from policemen and prosecutors, and I believe more University students should take an active role in fighting it. But I did not participate in the walkout last Thursday, because I am not angry at the grand jury’s verdict in the Michael Brown case. The grand jury’s decision to acquit Officer Darren Wilson was consistent with both the forensic evidence, which shows that Brown had scuffled with Officer Wilson and was moving toward him when shot, and the testimony of half a dozen African-American witnesses who appeared before the grand jury to corroborate Wilson’s account of events. The grand jury also heard testimony from witnesses who claimed that Brown was attempting to surrender, but their accounts conflicted with each other. The Washington Post, a newspaper not known for a conservative bias, reports that these conflicts made it “difficult to parse who saw what and who saw anything at all,” adding that eyewitnesses are notoriously unreliable. Further, their testimony that Brown was shot in the back does not stand up to the blood spatter evidence or the
analysis of the bullets’ trajectory. In spite of all the evidence supporting Officer Wilson, the student walkout participants chanted “Hands up, don’t shoot!” to affirm Brown’s alleged passivity and staged a 45-minute “diein” to protest the four-and-a-half hours that Brown’s body spent lying on the street. But police negligence was not a factor in that long delay. Rather, Brown’s body could not be moved until evidence had been collected from the scene, and St. Louis County detectives on duty were responding to a gun threat at a hospital that morning. Because lives were still in potential danger, the investigators had to conclude that the hospital was reasonably secure before starting their thirty-minute drive to Ferguson. By the time they arrived there, the crowd had already grown violent. According to a St. Louis County newspaper, “commanders in charge stopped the investigation at points and directed investigators to seek cover” because protesters were throwing objects and screaming, “Kill the police.” It was the crowd’s violence, not police negligence, that dragged the investigation out for so long. I normally imagine students here to be informed when they speak vocally on an issue, so I am disappointed by our community’s distortion of the timeline and
insistence on ignoring physical evidence in favor of the witnesses who tell the story we have decided to hear. But I am mostly disappointed because the Brown case is a bad example for the real and awful racial bias that minority communities face in the American law enforcement system. According to the Black Agenda Report, 60 percent of incarcerated Americans are racial and ethnic minorities. This reflects a systemic police and prosecution bias, not a higher propensity to commit crimes. For example, the same report notes that African-Americans “are 13 percent of America’s population and 14 percent of the nation’s drug users but are 37 percent of persons arrested for drugs and 56 percent of the inmates in state prisons for drug offenses.” Many people have lost their liberty to this bias, and some have lost their lives. Take the case of Eric Garner, whose death at the hands of police officers was captured on video. Garner was resisting arrest, but nonviolently, when Officer Daniel Pantaleo grabbed him in a chokehold. Officer Pantaleo was not trying to kill Garner, but the NYPD had banned chokeholds like his for a reason — they kill people. Officer Pantaleo ignored Garner’s repeated cries of “I can’t breathe” for 19 seconds, and Garner ultimately died. A grand jury failed to indict the officer.
The Garner case is a clear example of unjustified force that led to death of a black male. It played a small role in Thursday’s walkout, but only as an afterthought. (The grand jury did not reach its decision until after the walkout had been planned.) Instead, the face of the protest here was Michael Brown, and he is dividing campus rather than joining us together. Using the Brown case to evoke an emotional response to race relations is a two-way street. Those who are upset about the events will press for change, but many people who are not sympathetic to Brown will not be sympathetic to the larger cause. I have spoken to students who either do not acknowledge law enforcement’s racial bias or do not understand its extent. In their minds, the problem cannot be too bad if our best example exalts a criminal who fought an officer for his gun and presented a real threat to his life. For readers who believe this way, I implore you: Look beyond the Brown case. Look at the data at large, and look at Garner. For readers who are already angry, please, let us choose a less polarizing face for our protests so that we can unite more people in the struggle toward racial equality. Newby Parton is a freshman from McMinnville, Tenn. He can be reached at newby@princeton.edu.
The Daily Princetonian
Wednesday december 10, 2014
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Manning discusses cheerleading, quirky teammates, Powder puff football ON TAP
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different culture. I think people are surprised when they hear Princeton and cheerleading put together. One is seen as very academic and maybe the other not so much. But some of the most inspiring and impressive students I’ve met here are girls on my team. And they’re just rock stars academically. DP: What would you say is the best thing about cheerleading? MM: Definitely the diversity of people it brings together. Some of the girls on my team are my closest friends, and I don’t know if the same group of people would be together if we weren’t on the team. DP: What would you say is the most trying part of cheerlead-
ing? MM: Cheerleading is definitely a contact sport. It’s all body to body, all the time. If you don’t catch someone, they’re on the ground. So it’s really intense physically. This year, our biggest challenge has been that we don’t have any guys. They’ve all graduated or are injured. So we’re pushing to get more muscle under our stunts. DP: What would you say to your male classmates to get them to consider joining your team? MM: It’s the best way to pick up girls. There are lots of great male cheerleader pick-up lines. Boys pick up weights; men pick up girls. But honestly, it’s a really physical sport for guys. You do a ton of lifting. A lot of people don’t realize that when they think of male cheerleaders. DP: When did you start cheer-
leading? MM: I started at the beginning of high school. But formerly I had done gymnastics. So that was really transferrable. DP: Can you point to a particularly embarrassing moment that has befallen you or a fellow cheerleader? MM: This is a story of a former teammate, so nobody here now. In a competition, a girl had a hairpiece tied into her ponytail. While she was doing a jump, the giant hairpiece fell out and remained on the mat for the entire routine. She was pretty horrified by that. DP: In cheerleading, success isn’t as immediately apparent as it is in other athletic endeavors. What goals do you guys set for yourselves? MM: Our immediate goals are based on very specific stunts.
And then girls also have individual goals for their tumbling and their jumps, just to develop those specific skills. As a team, we work on things like being synchronized, or working on condition and flexibility. General things like that. DP: Who would you say is your quirkiest teammate? MM: There are so many. I would say senior Autumn Waryjas. She’s small but mighty. And hilarious. DP: Last spring, you had a chance to step on the other side of the sidelines. How intense was the level of competition at the 2014 Powder Puff football game? MM: Extremely intense. I have been teased for my level of aggression during that game. But no regrets. It was awesome. I loved getting to be on the other
side of things. DP: Which eating club are you in? MM: I’m in Cottage. DP: Are the members there beautiful in appearance only, or do they also have beautiful personalities? MM: Of course. The people are great. Every time I walk in there, I feel like I’m home. DP: If you could bring three things on a deserted island, what would they be and why? MM: Number one would be a working iPhone. Am I allowed to say I have service? Just because that thing is my lifeline every single day. Number two would be my mom, because she always knows how to fix any situation and provide regardless of what’s there. And number three… I would say my Pom Poms. Super vital to have
those. DP: Last year, you were featured in a ‘Prince’ article entitled “Coolest Dorm Rooms.” What interior design philosophy do you bring to a fairly bleak room space? MM: I actually can’t take any credit for that. My mom is an interior designer. She came up to campus and kicked me out of the room. She made it look awesome. So I can’t provide any insight into the design behind that. DP: If the four fingers and thumb on one of your hands were drink dispensers, which drinks would they dispense? MM: Milkshake. Vanilla milkshake. Dr. Pepper. Root beer. Shirley Temple. And water. Oh wait. Sweet tea! Let’s kick out root beer, and put sweet tea first. It’s because I’m up here. I haven’t had it in so long that I’m deprived.
A look at the Bowl Championship Series BOWLS
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lege football teams, implements a playoff system. It won’t, however, be the same kind of free-for-all — and won’t have the same potential for Cinderella scenarios — we expect from March Madness. There is still a selection committee that has chosen four of the best teams in the country to play in this weekend’s semifinals (The University of Alabama, The Ohio State University, Florida State University and the University of Oregon); moreover, there will still be six “lesser” bowl games, none of which will have any bearing on who is crowned national champion. The question remains, what prompted the use of the bowl system in the first place? Doesn’t it intuitively make less sense for a committee to decide who’s the best, rather than for the teams to duke it out between each other to determine supremacy? As with many questions involving college sports, the answer boils down to the good oldfashioned pursuit of money. The first bowl game, hosted in 1902 between the University of Michigan and Stanford University, certainly didn’t generate too much of
a windfall. Dubbed the EastWest Bowl (and eventually renamed the Rose Bowl in 1923), it was initially part of a plan to attract more tourist dollars. As the size of attending crowds grew, other regions in the country decided to try to copy the success the organizers in Pasadena were having with their bowl game. Near the end of the 1930s, the United States had witnessed the birth of many other now-household Bowl names: the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, the Cotton Bowl in Dallas and the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. Bowl games still had a little way to go before they took on their modern day form. We can see the acceleration of their growth in the 1960s, as directors were offering larger and larger sums of money for teams to play in their bowls. With the prevalence of television coverage, this willingness to pay for the best talent led to everincreasing revenue. By the 1980s, bowl games took on one of their most prominent modern-day features: heavy corporate sponsorship. Bowls began to sell their naming rights, and thus there arose titled bowls such as the Sunkist Fiesta Bowl and the FedEx Orange Bowl. The BCS National Championship Game, which determines the national col-
legiate football champion, is certainly not immune to this trend: Companies pay well into the tens of millions of dollars to have their names plastered on one of the most anticipated events in American sports. Given the lucrative system the BCS had going on, the exact reasons for the switch to the playoffs are still not quite clear. It’s certainly possible that the intensity of a playoff system, similar to the Super Bowl, could gain much more viewership. One top BCS official denounced the idea of multiple bowls with multiple winners, saying that it’s far less intriguing when you see many teams getting a trophy and a pat on the back at the end of the year. Though there will continue to be bowls outside of the four-team playoffs, the BCS has made clear where the country’s focus is going to be come this January. I can’t really say I’m against the playoff system. After years of agonizing over which station to f lip to, I can now firmly say that there will be only three games this year that will truly leave me glued to the TV. So rest up everyone, and enjoy a well-earned break. I hope you join me this winter in marveling at the intense spectacle that is top-level college football.
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Sports
Wednesday december 10, 2014
page 6
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On Tap
On Tap with...Macy Manning
Examining the history of the bowl system By Miles Hinson
By Andrew Steele
staff writer
sports editor
We’re quickly approaching your favorite sportswriter’s favorite time of the year, and it doesn’t have that much to do with Christmas (though high on my list is Christmas dinner — the thought of a home-cooked meal has carried me through these last two weeks). December, as some of you may know, is bowl season for college football. Each and every year, some of the best teams in the country were chosen to duke it out in one last game. For two weeks, college football fans across America were treated to an all-youcan-watch bonanza that ultimately culminates in the BCS National Championship in early January. Unlike in most sports, the participants in the championship match were decided not by playoffs but by a selection committee, whose chosen teams would automatically be thrust into the game. So it was in years past. This year shall be the first that the Bowl Championship Series organization, which organizes the postseason games for the premier col-
The first Egyptian pyramids were constructed in the 27th century B.C. along the mighty Nile River. As recently as last month, Princeton cheerleading constructed pyramids of the human variety along the sidelines of Powers Field. For the past three years, junior Macy Manning has been a member of the cheer squad. We at The Daily Princetonian had a chance to sit down with the Fayetteville, Ark., native to discuss her craft and her ideal deserted island. The Daily Princetonian: Where are you from and what’s the best part about being from there? Macy Manning: I’m from Fayetteville, Ark. It’s a big Southern college town. The best part about being from “Fayville” is that it’s the home of the Razorbacks. We’re big on college football. And despite what people think, in Arkansas, we do wear shoes and I do have all my teeth. Just wanted to dispel that misconception from the beginning.
BEN KOGER :: PHOTO EDITOR
DP: Not asking you to speak for all Arkansans, but who, would you say, is your state’s favorite son: Sam Walton, Johnny Cash
AROUND I V I E S
Junior Macy Manning is a member of the cheerleading team and a native of Fayetteville, Ark.
or Bill Clinton? MM: Definitely Bill Clinton, especially after being up here. The first response that I usually get when I say I’m from Arkansas is usually, “Oh, Bill Clinton!” He’s pretty much the only person people remember. DP: Have you noticed particular differences between people on either side of the MasonDixon Line? MM: I’ve gotta be careful here. I think the biggest difference is just the pace. It feels like here, everybody’s more rushed and always has somewhere to be. But down south, people like to slow it down. And I don’t want to offend anyone, but manners are more emphasized back home. DP: What drew you to Princeton? MM: I applied to a bunch of different schools, but, ultimately, visiting here I fell in love with the campus. Plus, I loved all the people I met. The campus and the people were the biggest draws for me. DP: Do you find there are any stereotypes about cheerleading you have to explain away? MM: Maybe back home more so than up here. It’s definitely a See ON TAP page 5
THE
See BOWLS page 5
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1.
Last year was hailed as the Ivy League’s best-ever postseason. Harvard headlined a quintet of five tournament teams that earned a combined eight wins. Conference play still seems a distant prospect, but the 14-game gauntlet of league play opens for the eight sides in only one month. Let’s see how this resurgent conference stacks up. Harvard (7-1): Senior combo guard/forward Wesley Saunders ranks among the nation’s best players, as reflected by his being named to the Naismith Trophy Top 50 watch list. The Crimson’s performance in last year’s NCAA tournament provided some of March Madness’s most thrilling moments. Can this year’s team advance to Sweet Sixteen? It’s not outside the realm of possibility.
2.
Yale (8-3): Rebounds per game of 37.5 make the Bulldogs the Ivy League’s best rebounding team. Junior guard Justin Sears, a first-team all-Ivy selection last season, has pulled in an impressive 8.8 boards per contest. Their most recent loss, an 85-47 routing at the hands of Florida, should have been expected. Otherwise, Yale has shown an ability to win in a variety of ways, which will be necessary against its slate of conference opponents.
3.
Columbia (5-2): While the Lions haven’t been particularly explosive offensively — their 59.0 points per game average is the Ivy League’s lowest — their defense has been stifling. Opponents have shot 37.0 percent from the field and a mere 23.9 percent from three-point land. Senior forward Alex Rosenberg and junior guard Maodo Lo are two of the league’s elite scorers and should help rally the Columbia offense in the coming weeks.
4.
Brown (5-6): In each of his first two seasons, junior forward Cedric Kuakumensah earned Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year honors. The 6’9” big man is perhaps the conference’s best-ever shot blocker, having broken the league’s single-season records both his freshman and sophomore years. The graduation of senior guard Sean McGonagill will leave a substantial hole in this offense. Cornell (5-4): Surprising the preseason pundits who picked the Big Red to finish dead last, this Cornell squad has managed some impressive early season wins. Its defensive rebounding has been among the Ivy League’s best, while opponents have shot inefficient marks of 37.0 from the field and 31.5 from beyond the arc.
5. 6.
Princeton (3-6): A lax perimeter defense has allowed opponents to shoot a 44.7 percent from beyond the arc, by far the worst mark in the Ivy League. This squad has more potential than some of their losses indicate. Guard combo Spencer Weisz, a sophomore, and Amir Bell, a freshman, have been effective despite their relative inexperience.
7. 8.
Dartmouth (2-4): The Big Green does not return any all-Ivy selections, making this team somewhat at a loss for production. Junior guard Alex Mitola is a precise shooter who ranks among the school leaders in converted three-pointers. Following Mitola’s lead, Dartmouth shoots a solid 45.8 from the field, although its shooters have taken a league-low 310 shots.
Penn (2-5): Not long ago, Penn was the premier basketball school in the Ivy League. The Quakers graduated their lone all-Ivy selection from last season in forward Fran Dougherty. Penn’s shooters convert 46.9 percent of their field goal attempts. On the other end of the floor, however, this team gets consistently outrebounded by opposing offenses.
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