December 11, 2014 by The Daily Princetonian

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Thursday december 11, 2014 vol. cxxxviii no. 124

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U N I V E R S I T Y A F FA I R S

CPS makes changes amid criticism

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In Opinion

By Chitra Marti

Jonathan Lu argues for the implementation of cultural competency training, and Zeena Mubarak evaluates the “Tiger Microaggressions” Facebook page. PAGE 5

staff writer

In Street Street takes a look at holiday cheer across campus, Nicole Bunyan offers some tips to stay fit during the holiday season and Kristen Coke gives a glimpse into your winter break future. PAGES S1-S4

Today on Campus 7:30 p.m.: The Sinfonia orchestra will perform a winter concert. Soloes include “Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2” played by Nathan Wei ’17 and “Displaced” played by Michael Mulshine ’16. Richardson Auditorium.

The Archives

Dec. 11, 1947 The Princeton Outing Club sponsored its first winter break ski trip to Woodstock, Vt.

News & Notes Norovirus suspected in outbreak of illness at Nassau Inn The Princeton Health

Department concluded an investigation of Nassau Inn following reports of illness from Thanksgiving diners, the Times of Trenton reported. Town health officer Jeffrey Grosser said that norovirus is suspected in the majority of reported cases due to the nature of the symptoms and rapid onset of illness, although the department has not obtained confirmed lab specimens from the ill diners. Norovirus, the leading cause of foodborne disease outbreaks nationally, causes inflammation of the stomach or intestines. Grosser said norovirus can spread through consuming contaminated food and liquid and having direct contact with infected people. Officials collected information from 53 customers whose symptoms included vomiting and diarrhea. As part of the investigation, the department examined the hotel’s practices for heating food, refrigeration and cleaning. Health officers conducted interviews with employees and reminded them to wash their hands, sanitize touchable surfaces and remain home from work if they felt sick. He added that it would be almost impossible to pinpoint how the disease spread at Nassau Inn. Most people’s gastrointestinal problems faded within 24 to 48 hours, and only three people reported symptoms this week, Grosser said.

MONICA CHON:: PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR EMERITUS

Princeton University Ballet performs its winter show, “Winter Solstice,” at Frist Film and Performance Theater. They have shows at 7 and 9 pm Thursday December 11. For more photos see today’s Street.

Counseling and Psychological Services has made a number of changes to its daily practices regarding mental health withdrawal and readmission, including publishing a “Frequently Asked Questions” document on its website and changing the letters sent to students with instructions on how to reapply following a mental health withdrawal. The changes, CPS said, are a result of student feedback. The revisions come amid a year when the University’s mental health policies have been heavily criticized. The University was sued in March by a student who alleges discrimination on the basis of mental health, with

the student alleging he was forced to withdraw following a suicide attempt. The lawsuit also alleges the University violated medical confidentiality in forcing a student to withdraw by sharing information from his confidential CPS sessions with administrators. In the months afterwards, another student wrote an oped in The Daily Princetonian about her similar experience, and several Undergraduate Student Government studentadministration conversations revealed student distrust of the University’s practices. The student who wrote the op-ed also provided the ‘Prince’ with a readmission form that was sent to her and requested that she reveal detailed confidential medical information gathered during See CPS page 3

BEYOND THE BUBBLE

Rumsfeld ’54 fueled torture, Hitz ’61 says By Jacob Donnelly staff writer

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ’54, along with former Vice President Dick Cheney, created a culture within the federal government that contributed to the events recounted in the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on the use of torture in the War on Terror, former Inspector General of the CIA Frederick Hitz ’61 told The Daily Princetonian. Hitz was inspector general from 1990-98. Rumsfeld, who could not be reached for comment, is scarcely mentioned in the latest report. Of the 25 times his name appears, most refer to the Supreme Court case Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, in which he was sued in his official

capacity. According to the Intelligence Committee’s report, CIA officers allegedly used waterboarding, rectal feeding and hydration, sleep deprivation and other techniques in an effort to procure information relevant to national security from terror suspects. “They weren’t driving it in the sense that they weren’t in charge of the whole interrogation program … but what they were in charge of was the notion that the gloves came off and that we were gonna do what we felt we had to do,” Hitz said. “Dick Cheney, in anticipation of the release of this report, said he would do it all over again. Let ’em loose. Take the restraints off the interrogation process.” Rumsfeld took full responsibility See RUMSFELD page 4

PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA.ORG

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ‘54 enabled the use of inhumane interrogation techniques, according to a 2009 Senate investigation report.

{ Feature }

U N I V E R S I T Y A F FA I R S

Expert on tiny Liechtenstein plays International students face major work hurdles big role in world affairs By Durva Trivedi staff writer

PHOTO COURTESY OF WWS.PRINCETON.EDU

Professor Wolfgang Danspeckgruber grew up in Austria, going to Switzerland for graduate school.

By Olivia Wicki contributor

Professor Wolfgang Danspeckgruber, founding director of the University’s Liechtenstein Institute of Self Determination at the University, has been a fundamental agent for international conciliation surrounding self-determination and an influential mentor to the University’s students. The Liechtenstein Institute of Self-Determination supports teaching, research and publica-

tion on issues pertaining to self-determination, especially as it relates to self-governance and sovereignty in government. “I think whenever you meet Wolfgang Danspeckgruber, then you realize that he is something in the German language we call ‘Naturerreignis,’ you can’t translate it,” said Prince Stefan of Liechtenstein, the current Ambassador of Liechtenstein to Germany. “It’s a gift to the world and humanity but also a huge challenge.” Prince Stefan — who first met Danspeckgruber See DIPLOMAT page 2

International students have raised issue with the lack of support and advice from Career Services about processes needed to participate in internships in the United States, particularly because most undergraduate international students are on F-1 visas, which means they have some unique concerns with regard to job and internship searches. International students are allowed to work off-campus for up to 12 months per degree level of study — and STEM majors can extend this period for up to 17 additional months — according to federal regulations, and they have to get permission from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the form of Optional Practical Training in order to work, Associate Director for International Students at the Davis International Center Mladenka Tomasevic said. Vibhaalakshmi Sivaraman ’17 said that she has struggled in the past with understanding processes like getting approval for Optional Practical Training, which is a temporary work permit for students with an F-1 visa. Sivaraman is an international student who serves

on the Career Services Student Advisory Board, which acts as a liaison between Career Services and students. “One of the biggest differences [for international students] is that we have to apply for work permit and get an [Optional Practical Training] approved, which is a whole threemonth process,” Sivaraman said. “Essentially, that means that we have to find an internship by March, so our deadline is much earlier than other people, because otherwise we will not have a work permit by June.” Sivaraman said she tried to approach Career Services for help with the job search last year as a freshman but said she was sent to the Davis International Center instead for answers to her questions about Optional Practical Training. “I was personally not happy with the fact that Career Services and the Davis International Center were completely independent and that Career Services knew that there were a couple of clauses in place for international students before they could work, but they weren’t 100 percent sure of the process,” Sivaraman said. “We had to go to Davis to actually find out what the entire process See INTERNS page 4

The Daily Princetonian

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Danspeckgruber worked on reconstruction issues with Afghanistan president DIPLOMAT Continued from page 1

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at a meeting of the International Conference on Afghanistan in Bonn, which was organized by the Institute of Self Determination — said that Danspeckgruber creates unique and diverse platforms of discussion in the spheres of diplomacy and facilitates effective forums between European and American views. “It’s quite fascinating to see that [world leaders] always accept Wolfgang Danspeckguber as the chair,” Prince Stefan added. “He is the one who decides when someone speaks and when he has to stop.” Becoming a diplomat Danspeckgruber was born on Feb. 4, 1956, and grew up in Linz, Austria. After attending the Johannes Kepler University of Linz and the University of Vienna, Danspeckgruber then joined the Austrian military for two-and-a-half years and became an Assistant to the Commander of the Austrian National Defense Academy. During his time in the military, Danspeckgruber said that he met Prince Hans-Adam II of Lichtenstein, a distant relation of Prince Stefan, and got along very well with him. This encounter and his work in the military inspired him to pursue the path of a diplomat, he said. Danspeckgruber then continued his studies at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva. Danspeckgruber said that his idol at the time was Henry Kissinger, the Secretary of State who negotiated with the Soviets during the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Danspeckgruber, who came from a small European country, explained that he found Kissinger’s omnipotent presence in the international sphere of politics particularly inspiring. “You see a man negotiating between two great powers. That’s pretty impressive,” he said. “So my dream was always to spend some time in his vicinity.” Following in Kissinger’s footsteps as an alumnus of Harvard, Danspeckgruber became Austria’s first Karl Schrödinger Fellow and attended Harvard.

At Harvard, Danspeckgruber continued his studies and worked to organize forums on European security. During a visit to Harvard, Prince Hans-Adam II and Danspeckgruber crossed paths again, and Prince Hans-Adam II offered Liechtenstein as a location for Danspeckgruber to host a conference on European diplomacy. “The rest is history,” Danspeckgruber said. Danspeckgruber organized a conference entitled, “Emerging Dimensions of European Security,” that was held in Lichtenstein in 1989. A similar conference, also held in Liechtenstein in 1993, marked a significant milestone in Danspeckgruber’s career since it led to the recognition of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia by the United States, he said. The Godfather of Self-Determination through Self-Administration Shortly after Liechtenstein had become a member of the United Nations, Danspeckgruber said that Prince Hans-Adam II requested his help in 1994 since the induction to the UN required an independent political project that was to revolve around self-determination. Danspeckgruber then organized a colloquium at the University in 1995, “Self-Determination and Self-Administration: The UN Perspective,” and published a book in 1997 — “Self-Determination and Self-Administration: A Sourcebook” — that was based on the subject that would change the landscape of politics. Danspeckgruber co-edited the book with Arthur Watts, who was an international lawyer and legal adviser to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the British government. “I became the godfather of self-determination through self-administration,” Danspeckgruber said. Danspeckgruber continued similar projects in Europe, and his work was surrounded by the reality of the Balkan Wars, the disintegration of Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin Wall in Germany. “For me … it was quite powerful, because I lived the stability of security and coopera-

tion in 1975 when I was a young military trainee in Austria with the Helsinki process,” he said. “This project, the Liechtenstein Program on Self-Determination, was quite successful.” Prince Hans-Adam II offered Danspeckgruber an endowment to institutionalize his projects surrounding self-determination in 1999, Danspeckgruber said, and he agreed. Under an affiliation with the Wilson School, the LISD officially opened on Dec. 10, 2000. A Diplomat in Cooperation with the United States and Afghanistan Following the establishment of the LISD, Danspeckgruber said he was invited by the Indian government to Delhi. While he was in Kashmir, he said he was compelled to also visit Pakistan, and he happened to be in Islamabad in March 2001 when the two giant Buddhas of Bamiyan were detonated by the Taliban. “We were the first ones to have a meeting up here on the emerging security challenges of West South Asia,” Danspeckgruber said, referring to the LISD, noting that the meeting took place two weeks after 9/11. “I began teaching my big class on theory of international diplomacy on Thursday,” he recalled. “That was the only time that I taught a class, when in the first lecture, students were crying. I will never forget that.” Danspeckgruber said that he received a call from Washington the Friday after 9/11 that would change his career path once again — he was offered the chance to train future Afghan leaders on how different groups of people can live together peacefully. “I got deeply involved in the efforts of reestablishment of Afghanistan,” Danspeckgruber said. “One of my students became the first member of Karzai’s team.” Hamid Karzai’s personal flag hangs in Danspeckgruber’s office. LISD: promoting a new generation of leaders As a faculty member of the University, much of Danspeckgruber’s focus has been on students, he said. Since his first conferences in the early 1990s, he said he has consulted with

PHOTO COURTESY OF BBC.COM

Professor Danspeckgruber supports “learning by doing” and is known for his dedication to students, whom he sees as the future generation of leaders.

and sought students’ input. Danspeckgruber said that he advocates “learning by doing.” “The essence of LISD is to work with some of the most salient and difficult problems of the world. And really to try to make the world a better place,” he said. “To do so, not just to help, but really to educate the future generation of leaders. That’s our big difference to Brookings and other institutions.” He added that the most important tool for the new generation of leaders is technology. “There are different qualities you have to have, and they all begin with this here,” he said, pointing to his phone. “It changes time, information, involvement, whatever happens between you and I here, can be seen in Hong Kong in real life, which was never the case before.” Danspeckgruber has also

been known for his messiness — his office desk was highlighted by the BBC in 2008 in a slideshow, “In pictures: Your chaotic work spaces,” about the messiest workspaces in the world. “This made me really famous in several embassies,” he said. “This image was used as a screen saver.” His office was finally cleaned this summer by his staff, and Danspeckgruber said he now has trouble finding his things. “He’s like one of those machines that you see that has a million wheels and cogs all turning in different directions and producing things. And that’s what he’s like,” Ambassador Robert Finn GS ’78 said. “He’s a wonderful person and he’s wonderful with the students because he brings in so many things. He’s not just subject oriented. He has a much wider vision.”

Finn was an Associate Research Scholar in the LISD in 2012 and the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan from 2002-2003. He taught a class in the fall of 2008 with Danspeckgruber called, “Topics in International Relations – Defense Policy Analysis,” and edited his report, “Building State and Security in Afghanistan,” which was published in 2007. “He is many ways one of the most enthusiastic and dedicated professors that I have ever seen. He brings an enormous amount of energy, but also, I think has an ability to really extract the best out of people and really challenge the way people think to construct solutions,” his daughter, Carolina Danspeckgruber ’08, said. “He’s really keen to help empower the young and create environments for students to feel that they are able to help shape global diplomacy on a day-to-day basis.”

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Thursday december 11, 2014

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Reentry form for students on mental health leave asks only if patient safe to return CPS

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sessions with a private treatment provider during her year off. This information would have to be provided in order to be readmitted to the University, the form said. In addition to her op-ed, she published a letter in which her college dean listed treatment recommendations to which she would have to adhere in order to be readmitted. Since then, CPS has published a “Frequently Asked Questions” document on its website, which currently serves as an unofficial document for students considering withdrawal. Speaking about the FAQs, USG U-Councilor and Mental Health Initiative Board chair Zhan Okuda-Lim ’15 said the administration had made striking progress and shown a significant willingness to work with students to promote transparency. “I have never seen the administration publish something so quickly on an issue so important,” Okuda-Lim said. The document says that “in almost all cases, it is the student who has decided that taking time off is the best option.” The two main reasons for this are that the student either wishes to pursue more extensive treatment, or the student has been unable to

concentrate on coursework. However, previously confidential letters published by the University in the context of the mental health lawsuit show that the lines between a forced and a voluntary mental health withdrawal are blurry. In one of those letters, Vice President for Campus Life Cynthia Cherrey gave the student who attempted to commit suicide two options: withdraw voluntarily or be forced to withdraw. A withdrawal in those conditions would be counted as a voluntary withdrawal. Fewer than five students have been forced to withdraw in the last ten years, the document says. Students are only required to withdraw if “the student’s safety or the safety of others is at extraordinarily high risk, and no reasonable modifications or accommodations while the student is in residence can adequately reduce that risk,” the document says. Of about 100-200 students who withdraw each year from the University, approximately 35 withdraw for mental health reasons, the FAQs say. Of these, only three to five are “strongly counsel[ed]” to withdraw and the rest do so voluntarily. The document also describes the exit and readmission evaluations filled out by doctors when students exit or reenter the University for mental health reasons. These

evaluations, Chin said, are not about specifically treating the student, but about assessing the seriousness of the situation and forming further treatment recommendations to guide the student and the dean through the withdrawal and readmission processes. Chin added that administrative evaluations are completed at the request of the deans and releasing comments from the evaluations requires a specific consent form. He explained that they need a specific consent form because everything done at CPS is covered by confidentiality. “Information will be sent to the deans as a result of the [exit and readmissions] evaluations,” Chin said. “This is one of those exceptions that doesn’t meet the usual criteria [for confidentiality] — a unique service that Counseling Services does for the deans.” Typically, confidentiality is only broken in the case of severe risk of harm to oneself or others, Chin said. The FAQs are also in the process of being transformed into a more official and informative document, Chin said. “We want to anticipate any question that anyone might have about CPS, the different services it offers and what confidentiality means here,” Chin said. Okuda-Lim said the FAQs may be modified, in response

to an Undergraduate Student Government referendum urging the administration to publish its policies for mental health withdrawals and readmissions. The referendum passed in a general election by the undergraduate student body with 95.5 percent support in November. The administration does not have to adhere fully to the referendum, but OkudaLim said discussions regarding its provisions are already in place. The Mental Health Initiative Board recently met with Senior Associate Dean of the College Claire Fowler and has upcoming meetings with several other administrators to discuss how best to comply with the referendum’s requests. “All of us – students, administrators, other members of the University community – realize that doing nothing is not an option. We have to make progress moving forward,” Okuda-Lim said. In addition, the letters sent to students with instructions on how to reapply following a mental health withdrawal have been reduced from six pages to one, with a section asking for an outside therapist’s recommendation rather than specific medical information. Chin said the form previously asked for much more specific information and that there were ambiguities about

what information would be kept confidential. In an oped last year, a female student wrote she was concerned she would have to release her private medical information in order to be readmitted. “We want to make it clear that students have a right to privacy and a right to the confidentiality of their sessions,” Chin said. The form now simply asks the student’s outside treatment provider to indicate whether or not the student is safe to return to the University and provides a full page for the provider to give clinical recommendations to enhance the student’s capacity for success upon his or her return to the University. Chin also noted that the letter sent to students who have just left the University has been changed. The letter previously contained instructions from CPS for ongoing treatment and information about the required readmission evaluation, as published in the female student’s op-ed. The purpose of the readmission evaluation is to give information to deans about the student’s progress and potential future treatments, Chin said, and students are given two special consent forms: one so their private treatment provider can complete the treatment provider form and one so the information from the readmission evaluation

can be shared with deans. “[It’s about] making the process more humane,” Chin said. The student who wrote the op-ed said she was highly encouraged by this, especially as she applies for readmission this month. In previous interviews, she had said she thought the University had pure motives but was simply misguided when it came to helping students through mental health issues. This, she said, is a step in the right direction. “The fact that they are trusting the student’s primary treatment provider is so huge,” she said. “It really is all about the tone.” When she opened the letter, she began crying out of relief, she said, as she was previously worried that the University would have demanded to know more of her confidential medical information. She also added that she hopes this means students will reciprocate this trust towards CPS. “We expect that all students will be readmitted,” the FAQs say. “In our experience, the overwhelming majority of students who take time off and make progress in addressing their issues while away, return and successfully complete their degrees.” Okuda-Lim credited the filing of the lawsuit, the op-ed in the ‘Prince’ and other students who came forward with the push for action.

The University has revised its readmission forms following widespread criticism of its mental health policies this year (right). Gone are detailed requests for confidential medical treatment information (left).

THE PAPER CAMPUS WAKES UP TO

The Daily Princetonian

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Hitz ’61: CIA not qualified interrogators Davis International Center handles OPT RUMSFELD Continued from page 1

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in 2004 in his capacity as Secretary of Defense for prisoner abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison in 2003, and a Senate investigation released in 2009 said he approved 15 “enhanced interrogation techniques” in 2002 as part of a “get tough” approach to interrogations. “Rumsfeld’s authorization of aggressive interrogation techniques and subsequent interrogation policies and plans approved by senior military and civilian officers conveyed the message that physical pressures and degradation were appropriate treatment for detainees in U.S. military custody,” the 2009 report said. “What followed was an erosion in standards dictating that detainees be treated humanely.” Mike Madden of Salon alleged that Rumsfeld “began laying the groundwork for detainee abuse years before Abu Ghraib,” claiming that Rumsfeld wrote at the bottom of a memo about sleep deprivation, “Why is standing limited to 4 hours?” As recently as 2011, Rumsfeld told Fox News that “no one was waterboarded at Guantanamo by the U.S. military. In fact, no one was waterboarded at Guantanamo, period.” “There was a clear policy orchestrated at a high level within the Bush administra-

tion, which allowed [the CIA] to commit systematic crimes and gross violations of international human rights law,” United Nations special rapporteur Ben Emmerson said in a statement on Tuesday. “The individuals responsible for the criminal conspiracy revealed in today’s report must be brought to justice, and must face criminal penalties commensurate with the gravity of their crimes. The fact that the policies revealed in this report were authorised at a high level within the US Government provides no excuse whatsoever.” The report says Rumsfeld was briefed about the CIA program for the first time on Sept. 16, 2003, and also that Rumsfeld did not allow the CIA to transfer prisoners held at off-site prisons to the military base at Guantanamo base in 2006. Hitz said he had difficulty understanding the CIA’s place in an interrogation program. “[T]he CIA in recent years has had no involvement with interrogations, hostile interrogations … ever since the Vietnam War, because we had gotten into such difficult straits then, and for us to come back, even making allowances for the fact that 9/11 was a horrific event, is not something we had done in recent years,” Hitz said. “The only thing CIA really brought to the program was the fact that we could prevail upon our friends to give us space somewhere, whether it was in the

middle of Poland … or wherever it turned out to be. We didn’t have any recent experience on the whole question of these interrogations.” Hitz said he also didn’t believe claims that the Senate Intelligence Committee had downplayed the value of the information interrogators received. “I’m sure we got some,” he said. “For the pain and damage it’s done to our good name, we didn’t get enough. There’s just no way to do it. You have to know how to interrogate. Especially in a foreign culture. In an Islamic culture. I’m sure you saw some of the stories about [Ali] Soufan, the American of Lebanese descent [and FBI agent who almost prevented the 9/11 attacks] … The FBI has to be good at [interrogation] because they can’t get courtadmissible evidence as a result of torture.” Hitz added that the entire program was “a disaster waiting to happen.” “You’ve got a situation where Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was waterboarded 38 times, and there’s no way in this world you’ll ever be able to bring that into court,” he said. “We gave that up and gained the opprobrium of the world. … He could barely breathe, and that’s the way we’re going to get the truth? I don’t think so.” Associate news editor Paul Phillips contributed reporting.

INTERNS Continued from page 1

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was.” Sivaraman said that someone at Career Services warned her in January about the Optional Practical Training timeline. Otherwise, she said, she would not have known in time. However, she said she had to “go back and forth between Career Services and Davis International before [she] could understand the process.” “We sometimes have students that realize a week before starting that they actually need [Optional Practical Training], and then it’s too late,” Tomasevic said. Sivaraman said she has felt that Career Services is sometimes not as effective as it could be in alerting international students to some of these issues. Associate Director, STEM of Career Services Satomi Chudasama said that Career Services has a longstanding and cooperative relationship with the Davis International Center. “Davis International Center staff are legal experts, so we

want to share our knowledge and expertise on career development and job searches,” Chudasama said. “We make sure [international] students have attended [Optional Practical Training] seminars, and if not, we definitely recommend it.” Tomasevic also said that both the Davis International Center and Career Services have strong communication and a great ongoing relationship but that they do specialize in different areas. “Career Services can’t really help with [Optional Practical Training], so when it comes to anything immigration-related, they don’t have that expertise,” Tomasevic said. Domagoj Babic ’16, also an international student who has reached out to Career Services in the past, said that he has been sent to the Davis International Center to address his concerns. “I asked them somewhat about [Optional Practical Training], but they sent me to Davis International Center, because they know more,” Babic said. “[Career Services] told me

they know little about master’s programs abroad.” He noted that he understands that the Davis International Center has more resources for international students and said that his experiences with Career Services have been positive overall. Chudasama said that all the counselors in Career Services who work with students are comfortable and qualified to work with international students but added that Career Services is always looking to hear what students have to say. “We welcome all kinds of suggestions students have, so we would be happy to listen to student comments and suggestions,” Chudasama said. Sivaraman said that, while she thinks Career Services can do a better job of understanding and responding to the unique needs of international students, she has also seen progress. “I think the difference this year is that, because a couple of us have raised this point, it seems like Career Services is doing more events in collaboration with Davis International Center,” Sivaraman said.

News & Notes Harvard law students request postponement of exams, following Columbia action Students at Harvard Law School have written a letter requesting that final exams be postponed for those who protested the grand jury decisions in Ferguson and New York City, the Boston Globe reported. Grand juries had decided to acquit Daniel Pantaleo and Darren Wilson, both Caucasian police officers, of blame in the deaths of African-Americans Eric Garner and Michael Brown, respec-

tively. Garner died after being placed in a chokehold and Brown died after he was shot six times in a suburb of St. Louis. The coalition wrote in their letter that they cannot walk away from their pain or ignore a call to act against an event that threatens their families and their sense of justice. “Unless you act now, you will allow the systematic underperformance of a great many students of color and allies on this campus on their exams,” the statement reads.

Harvard Law School spokesperson Robb London said that the school has in a place an exam deferral policy that allows any request for deferral to be considered individually. The coalition noted that the law school did delay exams in 1970 for students who participated in protests against the Vietnam War. The New York Times reported on Dec. 8 that Columbia Law School is allowing students to defer their exams. A similar movement is going on at Georgetown University Law School.

CORRECTIONS Due to an editing error, Newby Parton’s column published on Dec. 10 ran with the wrong headline. The headline should have read “Michael Brown should not be the face of our protests.” Due to a reporting error, the Dec. 10 article “Princeton Faith and Action prevails over attempts to split group by race” misquoted Eric Fung ’18. His quote referred to Christian Union’s intentions. The ‘Prince’ regrets the errors.

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@Princetonian BEN KOGER :: PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld ‘54 walked through the P-rade last year at his 60th Reunion.

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Let’s talk about ‘Tiger Microagressions’ Zeena Mubarak

contributing columnist

n Dec. 5, a few Princeton students revived an old Facebook page that started last semester called “Tiger Microaggressions.” The purpose of the page is to call out the microaggressions Princeton students face on a daily basis in an anonymous and safe way. The term “microaggression” in its modern use was popularized by Columbia professor Derald Sue to refer to “brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory or negative racial slights and insults toward people of color.” It has now been generalized to include other minorities as well. Calling out these microaggressions could be hugely beneficial for Princeton’s campus. Unfortunately, the current page is severely undermining its own cause by mixing the harmless with the offensive. Most of the microaggressions featured on the page are screenshots from Yik Yak, the popular social media app that essentially allows you to send anonymous tweets to others in your immediate vicinity. Those messages, called “yaks,” are then voted on by other users. The tone taken on the app is generally very lighthearted, but the anonymity gives some users the ability to make racist or sexist comments that they would not admit to offline. Tiger Microaggressions has highlighted some of these. For example, a recent post featured a yak that responded to the recent election of Ella Cheng ’16 as USG president with, “Not only do we have a female president … She’s Asian too … Could this get any worse?” This yak clearly targets Cheng on the basis of her gender and race. It is aggressive and uncalled for. However, the potency of such yaks is severely diluted when other less inflammatory statements are presented on the same page in the same manner. Let’s look at another election yak featured on the page. Someone posting as “#thanksella” yakked, “Just ate an unripe fruit.” This one is clearly a reference to Cheng’s opponent Will Gansa ’17 and his popular campaign promise to personally ripen all campus fruit. Although it does lightheartedly target Cheng, it is clearly because of a desire to support Gansa, rather than to comment on any part of Cheng’s identity. Unless any support for Gansa must be considered racist and sexist, I personally don’t see how this can be a microaggression. There are two obvious solutions for this problem. First, whoever is running the group can be very careful about which stories and screenshots are featured on the page. As a minority student on campus, I do want people to be aware of my experience and the things that can make students like me feel unwelcome. However, I do not want these concerns showcased alongside harmless jokes as though the two are in any way comparable. Another possible tactic is simply to post explanations of why each story or screenshot was chosen. If the purpose of the page is to educate people about the experiences of minority students on campus, then there should be some sort of discussion. Obviously, presenting the stories without context is powerful and, in particularly egregious cases, it serves to raise awareness by showing the blatant racism and misogyny that still exists on this campus. However, in cases in which the offensive nature is less than obvious, the lack of context only serves to confuse. A reader is left wondering why the post is considered a microaggression, which is harmful because some might come to the conclusion that microaggressions simply do not exist and that minority students are only deliberately misconstruing certain jokes. I am not claiming that the posts whose inclusion I do not understand are all 100 percent innocuous, but that is how I see them. Perhaps there is a very strong reason for the inclusion of the “Just ate an unripe fruit” post, but personally, I will never know it. I know that I could simply ask a question in the comments. However, questions to minorities are often, no matter how sincerely they are meant, met with a request to “educate yourself.” As a minority, I do understand that answering questions about your identity can get wearying, but with neither an explanation for the posts nor a valid outlet for discussion, a page like Tiger Microaggressions is not meeting its full potential.

Opinion

Thursday december 11, 2014

page 5

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com }

A case for cultural competency training Jonathan Lu

contributing columnist

t the Council of the Princeton University Community meeting on Monday, University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 led a conversation on the measures that the University can take to curb the racism experienced by students of color on a daily basis. Several students challenged Eisgruber to make a statement on the set of student proposals, which include required cultural competency training for all faculty; additional distribution requirements on identity and diversity; and conversion of African American Studies, African Studies, Latino Studies and Latin American Studies into majors. Eisgruber’s main response was that such measures should not pass without a decision made by the faculty. He was concerned that these might impinge on the faculty’s right to academic freedom, a key consideration given our University’s emphasis on intellectual thought. I won’t speak to the suggested changes to the Princeton curriculum, but I argue that cultural competency training and the University’s values as a liberal arts institution are by no means mutually exclusive. As defined by the National Education Association, “Cultural competence is having an awareness of one’s own cultural identity and views about difference and the ability to learn and build on the varying cultural and community norms of students and their families. It is the ability to understand the within-group differences that make each student unique while celebrating the between-group variations that make our country a tapestry. This understanding informs and expands teaching practices in the culturally competent educator’s classroom.” Cultural competency training would probably take the form of an orientation program or session. Hospitals and education organizations constantly draw on trainings of this nature in order to provide effective services. Eisgruber framed the call for required cultural competency training as an attempt to mandate civility in intellectual discourse. This would censor faculty

from making potentially offensive arguments or claims. However, it isn’t clear that cultural competency conflicts. By definition, cultural competence relates to human-human interactions, such as teaching, as opposed to the material being taught. Students and faculty can still engage with racist texts and stereotyped theories — what matters is how faculty interact with students while engaging with this material. Cultural competence does not delegitimize material; instead, it emphasizes communication. Cultural competency training — as well as the other proposals for legitimizing diverse perspectives — is, in addition to being a means to support students of color, also a means to improve student education as a whole. In that sense, it is completely in alignment with the University’s academic values. Cultural competency stems from a philosophy of cross-cultural communication and diverse ways of knowing. As an example: Young, white Teach For America teachers teaching low-income minority students in New Orleans often have trouble teaching because they fail to recognize their students’ cultural backgrounds as legitimate. The way that knowledge is delivered is flawed — it becomes a static object for teachers, the power-holders, to impart onto their students. A better teaching style recognizes the diverse resources among students themselves and elevates students to scholars who theorize. This doesn’t ruin the professor’s authority or respect. Rather, cultural competency emphasizes students’ legitimate stake in questioning and engaging with the material. Cultural competency can be labeled “civility,” but it really is about improved communication and critical thought. Thus, it clearly satisfies the University’s values because it improves the quality of undergraduate teaching and education. One professor in the audience voiced concerns about the effectiveness of such training. She stated that she had attended an LGBT competency training earlier this year that provided her with no useful knowledge on how to better communicate with her students of such identities. To be sure, cultural competency trainings must be rigorous and immediately

practical. Such training definitely exists: Professionals in health care, primary and secondary education and social work constantly draw upon this training when working with individuals of different backgrounds. Thus, concerns about effectiveness should inform, not impede, the planning of cultural competency training. Finally, Eisgruber shied away from creating a “litmus test” for how committed faculty are to supporting students of color. Namely, if the training had an opt-out option, students might end up labeling faculty who opt out as culturally insensitive. This speaks to two necessities. First, the training should be mandatory, as diversity training is for any residential college adviser. Second, training should be so effective and worthwhile that the only legitimate reason to object to it is to, indeed, be culturally insensitive. Most importantly, as advocates emphasize, students of color at the University experience an ingrained, institutional racism that perpetrators are unable to recognize. Therefore, we should err on the side of too much change rather than not enough. Required cultural competency training represents a step in the right direction, and I’m glad that Eisgruber and his cabinet have agreed to take on cultural competency training. But as everyone at the CPUC meeting agreed, such a proposal is far from enough. Both professors and, even more so, students need to stay open and engage with those of different backgrounds. The institution should work with student organizations to support this by creating spaces where students from all different backgrounds can interact and learn from each other. We have the Fields Center, the Women’s Center and the LGBT Center; we have hosted events and panels. But it’s not enough. The conversations that happen in these spaces need to go beyond — to the general University community. We need to engage with and benefit from the diversity within our University. Cultural competency training is but one step in that direction. Jonathan Lu is a freshman from Fremont, Calif. He can be reached at jhlu@princeton.edu.

vol. cxxxviii

Marcelo Rochabrun ’15 editor-in-chief

Nicholas Hu ’15

business manager

BOARD OF TRUSTEES president Richard W. Thaler, Jr. ’73 vice presidents John G. Horan ’74 Thomas E. Weber ’89 secretary Kathleen Kiely ’77 treasurer Michael E. Seger ’71 Craig Bloom ’88 Gregory L. Diskant ’70 Richard P. Dzina, Jr. ’85 William R. Elfers ’71 Stephen Fuzesi ’00 Zachary A. Goldfarb ’05 John G. Horan ’74 Joshua Katz Rick Klein ’98 James T. MacGregor ’66 Betsy J. Minkin ’77 Alexia Quadrani Jerry Raymond ’73 Annalyn Swan ’73 Douglas Widmann ’90

138TH BUSINESS BOARD business manager Nicholas Hu ’15 head of advertising Zoe Zhang ’16 director of national advertising Kevin Tang ’16 director of recruitment advertising Justine Mauro ’17 director of local advertising Mark Zhang ’17 director of online advertising Matteo Kruijssen ’16 head of operations Daniel Kim ’17 comptroller Eugene Cho ’17

Nolan

Grayson Shepperd ’16 ..................................................

NIGHT STAFF 12.10.14 news Ruby Shao ’17 senior copy editors Tyler Starr ’16 Caroline Congdon ’17 Do-Hyeong Myeong ’17 Jennifer Shyue ’17 staff copy editors Belinda Ji ’17 design Hannah Miller ’16 Morgan Taylor ’15

Zeena Mubarak is a freshman from Fairfax, Va. She can be reached at zmubarak@princeton.edu.

Study abroad chronicles: journey over destination Azza Cohen columnist

here’s a poem I always turn to before taking a trip somewhere: “Ithaka” by Constantine P. Cavafy. The poem presents a rethinking of “The Odyssey” by creating the nostalgia Odysseus feels for his home but urging the reader to feel this nostalgia for the journey itself. “Keep Ithaka always in your mind/ Arriving there is what you are destined for/But do not hurry the journey at all/Better if it lasts for years…” As I reflect on my study abroad experience, this is definitely the lesson I will take home: Wherever you go, whatever you do, cherish the journey over the destination. The months melt to weeks, which melt to minutes; every cool experience Prince-

ton can offer will feel like it passed far too quickly. We are incredibly fortunate to have an ever-ready feast of domestic and international travel opportunities at our fingertips: study abroad, the International Internship Program, Breakout trips, classes with a fall or spring break trip, thesis funding, residential college trips to see Broadway shows, intensive language classes and more. There is no way to taste every piece of Princeton fruit, but there is a way to spend more time admiring the existence of the tree. For those of you weighing whether to study abroad, I encourage you to strongly consider it. Experiencing another university’s academic system and social setting not only complements the Princeton experience but also enhances it. There is much about the University I didn’t appreciate until leaving, and I have even more enthusiasm about coming back. We only have one chance at an undergradu-

ate experience, so why not essentially double it by sampling life at a different university? Some argue that Princeton is such a unique, precious opportunity that going away for a semester or a year is wasteful. In missing a semester, however, I have refueled the freshman fire of curiosity and excitement that is too easily doused by junior year. But this column isn’t only about studying abroad. This is about reminding ourselves to prize the journey over the destination — whether it’s through a study abroad program or an average Thursday on Nassau Street. This sentiment extends beyond sparkly travel opportunities; it is equally relevant to our days on campus. We can begin treating our New Jersey days as journeys, as if Princeton is a sort of globe. It is easy to go through the week and see the weekend as the destination, go through a reading with dinner after as the destination, go through a problem set with sleep as

the destination, go through a class with the distribution requirement as the destination or go through a day wishing it would end. We all have those days and those classes and those problem sets. We don’t have to enjoy every minute of every lecture. I don’t. We do, however, have the opportunity to make the best of it. I have learned to treasure my days abroad — not only because of fresh classes or the refreshing campus culture but simply because it’s a happier, healthier outlook. I read “Ithaka,” as always, before boarding the plane to London, and I’m going to read it as I return to Princeton. It’s easy to mistake Princeton-as-destination as the dream fulfilled when education-asdestination gives us the mindset that our Princeton experience is a journey in itself. Azza Cohen is a history major from Highland Park, Ill. She can be reached at accohen@princeton.edu.

Sports

Thursday december 11, 2014

page 6

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com }

Princeton Tigers: KINGS OF THE JUNGLE 41

METHODOLOGY After losing the unofficial all-sports championship to Harvard last year, Princeton has retaken the crown for the fall season thanks to strong performances by all seven fall sports (men’s water polo was not included, nor were any sports in which all eight schools do not compete at the varsity level). A champion team earned eight points, second place seven points, etc. Ties were broken by reference to head-to-head record.

YALE

PENN

PRINCETON

25 DARTMOUTH

19 COLUMBIA

HARVARD

BROWN

POINTS

Fall Ivy League All-Sports Championship Standings

CORNELL

STATISTICAL HIGHLIGHTS As is evident by the above graph, several Princeton teams and individuals managed impressive performances. Here are some results that stand out in the Ivy League and nationally.

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

20:24.30

SOCCER

Sophomore Megan Curham’s first-place Ivy Heps 6K time Ivy League Men’s and Women’s Offensive Players of the Year

4.5

TACKLES FOR LOSS

goals scored

14.5

Co-Defensive Player of the Year

SACKS

4.5

TACKLES FOR LOSS

Sophomore

tied for 9th highest NCAA D1 total

Women’s forward

Mike Zeuli Senior LB

11.5 All-Ivy Honorable Mention

goals scored Tyler Lussi

Rohan Hylton Sophomore LB

SACKS

FOOTBALL tied for highest NCAA D1 total

Cam Porter Men’s forward Senior

ANDREW STEELE AND HANNAH MILLER :: SPORTS EDITOR AND SENIOR DESIGN STAFF

Tweet of the day

Friday

“UPSET ALERT: No. 1 Kentucky trails at halftime to Columbia, 25-23. We repeat: Kentucky trails at halftime to COLUMBIA.”

Men’s hockey will take on non-conference foe Mankato, Minnesota. Check back for a series preview.

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