The Daily Princetonian
Thursday december 8, 2016
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PAGES DESIGNED BY ANDIE AYALA AND CATHERINE WANG :: STREET EDITORS
INNOVATION
Led by Street Editor Catherine Wang ‘19, Street explores the ways that INNOVATION takes shape on Princeton’s campus.
New Keller Center Certificate innovates Entrepreneurship Education at Princeton CATHERINE WANG Street Editor ‘19
The Keller Center for Innovation in Engineering Education’s newly created entrepreneurship certificate may at first seem like an example of Princeton University’s contradictory approach to education. After all, as a liberal arts institution, the University has consistently been averse to establishing courses with a vocational tilt. It has no law school, no medical school, and no business school. Shouldn’t an entrepreneurship certificate with course offerings like “Entrepreneurial Leadership” and “High-Tech Entrepreneurship” be considered a form of vocational training? As it turns out, not quite. Back in May 2015, the Princeton Entrepreneurship Advisory Committee issued a report which recommended an enhanced presence of entrepreneurship at the University. The University responded affirmatively to this request to establish an “Entrepreneurship Council” and an “Entrepreneurship Hub” last year and an entrepreneurship certificate. PEAC defined entrepreneurship at Princeton in an innovative way, arguing that it could further the University’s existing commitment to liberal arts education. “Entrepreneurship the Princeton way should achieve the highest standard of excellence of entrepreneurial activities as a service to the nation and all nations, and enhance the liberal arts education environment through the entrepreneurial mindset,” the report read. The committee pointed out that because entrepreneurship courses are interdisciplinary, they can broaden students’ intellectual and professional interests instead of being limiting or vocational. Mung Chiang, the electrical engineering professor who leads the Keller Center and served as the chair of PEAC, said “it’s not just about vocational training. It’s much broader and deeper than that. The kind of courses we provide and the kind of courses that we encourage students to take in their core or elective courses are not just about finance and coding, but are about understanding complex broader societal issues.” Christopher Kuenne ’85, who currently teaches EGR 491: High-Tech Entrepreneurship and is the founder and managing director of Rosemark Capital Group, emphasized the unique interdisciplinary spin embedded within Princeton’s entrepreneurial education. Princeton’s peer institutions, such as Harvard, Stanford, Penn, Carnegie Mellon, and Columbia, “all have very impressive entrepreneurial programs and are staffing and building their undergraduate entrepreneurial education out of their business school heritage. This is because Princeton doesn’t have or will never have probably, a business school and because it’s in the unique position of being focused on the undergraduate with a balance between the humanities, engineering and science — we have a very exciting and unique opportunity to build a certificate program that draws from all three of these disciplines,” Kuenne noted. According to Kuenne, his course approaches the mechanics of entrepreneurship by addressing questions like, “How do you grow the enterprise? And how do you fund and finance the enterprise?” before moving into the more humanistic questions related to building a business such as, “How do you lead, manage, and motivate people
COURTESY OF KELLER CENTER
Princeton’s new entrepreneurship certificate is offered through the Keller Center for Innovation in Education, which serves as the entrepreneurial hub on campus.
to follow you? And how do you create a brand that is both emotionally and rationally motivating to the consumer?” “It’s really the sort of things you learn in Victorian novels and history classes that allow you to really understand how the humanistic urges can come together to create value through brand and culture,” Kuenne said. Kuenne’s class includes students from a variety of concentrations, including range from predictable departments like Operations Research and Financial Engineering, but also others like History and English. “The conversation is very rich because you have a philosophy major jumping in after a computer science major after a sociology major,” he noted.
“I would say that the diversity of Princeton and this duality between humanities and engineering is definitely reflected in our class conversations pretty much every class,” Kuenne added.
In total, the certificate has four sets of requirements: courses, workshop, practicum, and colloquium. Five courses are required in total: two introductory courses, two core courses, and one breadth course. The intro courses are EGR 200: Foundations of Entrepreneurship and EGR 201: Intro
to Creativity, Innovation, and Design Thinking. The core courses can be picked from eight options, including Kuenne’s class. The breadth course can be taken from a variety of departments including economics, history, visual arts, politics, neuroscience, and the Wilson School. The three-to-twelve-hour workshop requirement is offered in the Entrepreneurial Hub. The practicum is intended to give students real-world experience in gaining an entrepreneurial mindset via mentorship, an individual project, and a presentation. According to the Keller Center website, “the suggested model for the practicum encourages students to go through a process of customer research/empathy, hypothesis setting and testing, prototyping and deployment.” Although students are free to seek out other experiences, the University has established programs like the eLab Summer Accelerator and the Princeton Startup-Immersion Program to fulfill the practicum requirement. The colloquium is a social space for students to “present their practicum, or a combination of their academic work and practicum, at least twice before graduation,” according to the Keller Center website. The 2016-17 school year is the first in which the certificate has been offered, with 28 juniors and seniors admitted into the program. Chiang said that the certificate students share the diversity of interest that Kuenne had noted. “They’re very well balanced, between those interested in commercial startups and non-profit startups. Balanced between engineering students and humanities and social science students. Balanced in gender and ethnicity. We’re proud of that great initial cohort,” Chiang said. Although the cap was intended to be lower for the first cohort so the Keller Center could ensure that it had enough resources and experiences to
scale up, Chiang said that “we got a very strong application beyond our initial cap and decided just to extend the cap a little. Past this first year, we will go into a steady phase in which sophomores can apply in the sprizng. And rising juniors will get one more chance right after summer.” Jennifer Lee ’17, the co-president of Princeton’s Entrepreneurship Club (E-Club) and CEO co-founder of the start-up Cartful, was one of the 28 students admitted. “As co-president of the Entrepreneurship Club, I’ve always liked the idea of building community, an aspect the the certificate is doing a good job of building. What makes the entrepreneurship certificate different and unique is the practicum component, where I got the chance to work with my co-founder, Andreas, and other Princeton students on our own startup, Cartful,” Lee said. Andreas Dias ’17 explained that he had already “ended up doing everything for the certificate” out of personal interest. Dias has been a part of Princeton’s entrepreneurial community since freshman year, working on startups, taking entrepreneurial classes, and directing teams in the E-Club. Lee said she would have fulfilled the certificate requirements anyways as well, “because of not only my interest in entrepreneurship, but also their amazing reviews.” It’s worth mentioning that almost all of the certificate’s courses received course evaluations above four out of five. Kuenne’s course, consistently rated above 4.5/5.0, is in such high demand that a selective application process is required in order to enroll. The quality of these courses is probably what created such a high volume of applications. In terms of the certificate’s development, Chiang remains focused on the near future. “We’re still early in the process, we’re less than three months into the first certificate,” he said.
“Let’s keep gathering data and evaluating, and like entrepreneurs we will pivot as needed to adjust to student needs,” Chiang said. Although Chiang did not give further details, the certificate is already ushering in changes. Throughout the summer and early fall, “all of the lecturers who teach the Keller Center courses came together to inventory all the courses we teach across all the content we teach to begin to identify where the holes are in the curriculum and how to begin to fill those. And then also how to teach this subject matter in a consistent way across courses,” Kuenne explained. The resulting report was delivered to Chiang in early October. “We will begin to launch new courses to fill some of the gaps and we will probably reshape some of the existing courses so that only two or three years from now, all the courses will fit together even more tightly than they do now and we will be able to cover this full range of content,” Kuenne said. When asked what sort of student ought to consider the program, Chiang said that all students, whether or not they had a background in entrepreneurship, were welcome to apply. “It’s a choice. A choice for those who want to be exposed to the mindset of a broadly defined entrepreneur. And now, for the first time, if you’re interested in exploring that, you can make that choice to explore the entrepreneurship mindset with the best liberal arts education in the world,” he said.
The Daily Princetonian
Thursday december 8, 2016
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Glee Club Celebrates 50th Anniversary with Russian Artist Igor Stravinsky YANG SHAO Contributor ‘20
Oct. 18, 1966 marked a special day in the annals of Princeton. Musicians on campus held their breath for the arrival of the world-renowned Russian composer, pianist, and conductor Igor Stravinsky. According to those present at the time, the 84-year-old musical giant lay down in front of the McCarter Theatre ticket booth to do stretches before walking on stage to conduct the world premiere of his “Requiem Canticles.” William Lockwood ’59, programming director for the McCarter Theatre for the last six decades, described the concert as “historic.” Lockwood explained how the 1966 program was a “symphony of sounds,” beginning with Stravinsky’s setting of “Pater Noster” and ending with the exciting premiere of his masterpiece commissioned by the University. Maida Pollock, now 90 years old, was the concert manager for the Department of Music when Stravinsky came to Princeton. She said that she is still amazed that one of the greatest musicians in the 20th century had actually rehearsed and conducted at Princeton. “The concert was fabulous,” she recalled. “[It] became a sort of thing on campus… people had to apply for tickets,” Pollock added that some audience members of the 1966 concert travelled from out of town to see and listen to Stravinsky. The challenges of coordinating a massive orchestra, chorus, and group of soloists required by “Requiem Canticles” were immense, but the efforts ultimately came to fruition. As fondly remembered by Pollock, the concert ended on a very touching note: although the audience was told not to applaud because the piece was a requiem (meaning a mass for the dead), no one could help but stand up and accredit the man behind the performance with
COURTESY OF YANG SHAO ‘20
Glee Club will perform Stravinsky - Les Noces to honor the 50th anniversary of composor Igor Stravinsky’s visit to Princeton.
a long, thunderous applause. This Sunday, the Glee Club will be performing Stravinsky once again at their concert, specially dedicated to the 50th anniversary of Stravinsky’s visit to Princeton. The performance will be held in Richardson Auditorium. It will open in a conscious effort to recreate the beginning of the 1966 concert with “Pator Noster,” and will end with “Les Noces,” a work premiered in 1923 in the prime of Stravinsky’s career. Gabriel Crouch, the director of the Glee Club, explained that he chose “Les Noces,” because of the strong tradition of piano playing in the musical world. According to Crouch, the four piano parts have been historically per-
formed by master pianists, such as Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, Lukas Foss, and Roger Sessions. The piece provides a wonderful platform for So Percussion, the musician group in residence at the University’s Department of Music, which has been hailed as one of the best percussion ensembles in the world. The performance will also feature four amazing young pianists – recent Princeton graduates and current students Darya Koltunyuk ’15, Paul von Autenried ‘16, Min Joo Yi ‘16, and Seho Young ’19, to showcase their talents. Crouch admits that “Les Noces” is nothing like Glee Club’s previous repertoire. Each season, the Glee Club creates music originating from a different
part of the world. “I want students to spend their four years in the Glee Club experiencing as great a diversity of great music as I can possibly provide,” he explained. With “Les Noces,” he believes he has pushed students, and even himself, beyond their comfort zone. According to Crouch, it is at times like this that they make great art together. Indeed, Glee Club members have noted that the unconventional rhythms and countless challenging Russian vowel sounds of “Les Noces” make rehearsals a much more mechanical procedure of one drill after another. Students have described the process as a literal workout of the musical muscles.
However, as Crouch had hoped, many surprised themselves by appreciating the beauty beneath the seeming craziness in this piece. Minseung Choi ’17 said he was able to discover “motifs and themes that kept coming back to put a smile in your mind.” As a tenor, Choi is going on stage for the third and final time, as a student conductor this Sunday. He will be conducting a Lithuanian piece “Tykus Tykus,” which further highlights the broad range of music Glee Club members are exposed to in their singing experience. Eli Berman ’20, a bass and potential music major said that he likes the piece as a composer. He is also excited about the anniversary occasion and getting to perform with So Percussion, saying “this is partly why I came to Princeton… to work closely with musicians and learn about musicians’ interaction with their institution.” Amber Lin ’19, soprano, looks forward to hearing all the instruments and voices come together. “It’ll definitely be an exciting concert to listen, because there is such a wide range of sounds,” she remarked. When it comes to the long anticipated performance, Crouch said that he is most looking forward to the expression on his students’ faces. He explained that at the end of the day “Los Noces” is about a wedding, thus celebrating youth and the beginning of life. Paralleled with the requiem chanting the repose of death, the fiery energies of “Les Noces” mark an exciting revival of Stravinsky’s role in Princeton’s musical history. His legacy will be experienced and enriched by the young voices of the Glee Club, as people like William Lockwood — who will be sitting in an audience seat — relive their memory of “Stravinsky in Princeton.” Stravinsky — Les Noces will take place on Sunday, Dec. 11 at 3:00 p.m. Richardson Auditorium. Cost: $15 general / $5 students.
Q&A Student Entrepreneurs: Zibity, Box Power and Agitators for Humanity ANDIE AYALA Street Editor ‘19
The Street decided to interview students working in the E-Lab about their innovative ventures. From more convenient mac apps, to solar power systems, to devices that control mosquito growth, these University students ex-
plain where they got their ideas from and what they’ve learned from their journeys of innovation.
Sebastian Hallum Clarke ’19, Zibity Clarke is the founder of Zibity, a software company that offers free mac apps, which harness the power of the cloud to make life with mac
computers easier. One of his most popular applications is MacDropAny, which enables users to sync folders on their computers with the cloud. The Daily Princetonian: When did you first start developing this idea? Sebastian Hallum Clarke: I started when I was 12, just play-
ing around with some ideas. I released the product on my website and without any advertising, it got picked up in some tech website and spread around the world. So I was never really expecting it. DP: How do you manage the company on your own? SHC: I give away my apps for free, and if people like them, they can send me a donation, and that’s been surprisingly successful, and I use it to partially fund my studies here in Princeton. I have had to, as the business has grown, provide customer support — and that can be fairly time consuming. Basically, people email me with questions about how to do certain things, and I’ve got to respond to those. DP: What has inf luenced the development of this project the most? SHC: The most successful things I’ve produced have been the products where I’ve really emphasized with the end user. I see a problem that one of my friends is having or I help my grandparents with a technical challenge when they just can’t make something in particular work. I’m able to use my technical skills to deliver a solution to that makes it easier.
Aaron Schwartz ’17, Box Power Box Power is an idea that was initially developed during a Princeton EPICS design in response to the Haiti earthquake of 2012 when a team of professors and students developed a rapidly deployable energy system to be used in disaster relief scenarios. It has since been entered as a Keller Center’s Incubator Team to be further commercialized as the world’s first community scale distributed energy utility, managed by Angelo Campus ’16 and Aaron Schwartz ’17. The Daily Princetonian: What surprised you about the process of managing this innovation? Aaron Schwartz: How much this initial idea of commercializing self-containing systems has changed and iterated throughout time. When we started, we wanted to essentially provide power to very specialized areas, such as cellular telecom powers and rural health clinics. Since then we have really transitioned into being a more broad-based rural energy provider that’s necessarily limited to certain applications. DP: What has been the hardest part about developing the business? AS: The loose ends that trying to start a business. It’s been incredible how many different little things can really get in the way and take up a lot of time. Whether that
be figuring out how to incorporate as a business, learning about patents and IP, thinking about how to reach out to investors — all of these things, when looked upon as independent of all the others seem like something that can be taken up without too much research, but, when taken together, I think almost all of these unknowns make it a huge challenge to move forward without prior experience. DP: Have you been able to incorporate your academic studies to this idea? AS: Both Angelo and I have found ways to incorporate it into our academic work — whether that is in EGR 598, which both of us were in last semester or our theses. My thesis is based upon mathematical modeling of isolated micro-grids. Anaya Joshi ’19, Agitators for Humanity Agitators for Humanity aims to provide people that live with less than $2 of income per day a cheap, eco-friendly, sustainable and healthy alternative for mosquito control. The technology disturbs the water that mosquitoes breed in, which prevents them from further spreading diseases. The Daily Princetonian: When did you start thinking about this innovation? Anaya Joshi: I came up with this idea when I was a senior in high school. We were learning about motors, and I had read an article about mining in South Africa. There are these huge ditches that don’t get filled and they collect rainwater. As a result, towns people are affected by diseases like malaria. Something just cliqued that the mosquitoes are only there, because the water isn’t moving, so if there was something that could move it then that could be a feasible solution. DP: What has been the most exciting stage of developing your idea? AJ: From the technical aspect, the most exciting thing was to test them in indoor controlled conditions, to see that the agitators had between a 80 to 90 percent effectiveness rate. DP: How do you manage your time between working on this project and your classwork? AJ: That’s something that I constantly struggle with. The thing is that working on this project makes me happy, and it’s something that I like to do. During breaks is when I really focus on this project. The Keller Center has a really great space and really great mentors that keep me on track.
The Daily Princetonian
Thursday december 8, 2016
UNFAMILIAR STREET
The Rose City: Toulouse, France LYRIC PEROT
ASK THE SEXPERT This week, we discuss pap smear. Dear Sexpert,
Staff Writer ‘20
Introductions have never been my strong suit. I get so caught up in meeting someone new that small, yet significant, details like someone’s name fly past me. It may seem counterintuitive, but something about meeting new people makes me more aware of myself. I think about every movement I make, the tone of my voice, whether or not I come across as confident and authentic. This was my introduction to the “Rose City.” I had just arrived in Toulouse, France, and was excited to embrace the adventure of traveling by myself, determined that I would enjoy this experience. The family with whom I would be living for the summer had taken me with them into town on errands, and suggested that while they finished up start exploring Toulouse on my own. I nodded politely, grabbed my purse (as well as my courage), and made note of the fact that their house was right across the river, so I wouldn’t get lost. And with a wave and a partly nervous, partly enthusiastic smile, I headed off. I thought if I kept moving forward I would find my way. But Toulouse is a very big city. After taking a few steps away from the family I hesitated at the end of a small, attractive looking street, grappling with the decision of whether to wander and explore, or simply stay on course and return to the house. The street wasn’t much of a street really. It was more like a little alley, too small to be placed so comfortably next to the much larger and more highly trafficked main road. With little more than enough room for one car to bump slowly down the cobblestones, the alley-street created a sense of intimacy among the houses. It were as if each house whispered comments between them, leaving no activity that took place on the street below unnoticed. The houses appeared old and a little past their prime, but their worn-down facades elicited a shabbiness in the most lovely way possible, like the wrinkles of an old woman, marking a life welllived. It was oddly quiet on the street. My sneakers made many a sound, and the silence in between these sounds made me aware of the invisible wall separated us — me, the houses, the street — from the two lanes of traffic
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My best friend just went in to McCosh for her routine Pap smear. Is this is something that I might need to get as well? I am not sure what a Pap smear is, what it detects and whether I should get one. -Happy Pappy
COURTESY OF BLOGSPOT
A street in Toulouse which is similar to one that writer Lyric Perot writes about.
whizzing through the city directly behind me. An old man, leaning heavily on his cane, opened a door and emerged from one of the houses. He patted his pockets to make sure he had his keys. His house was made of a light red brick, with bright blue shutters pulled open to the world. But the paint on the shutters was peeling, revealing a deep green, and the places where bricks were chipped and missing. A woman waved to him from her window as he passed, a silent greeting as she lifted dripping plates out of the sink and placed them on the drying rack. Watching this couple, I felt oddly aware of myself at that moment, as if I were walking into someone’s house for the first time. I took a first step into the alley, then another, passing by the old man’s house, leaving the bustle of people behind me as my feet collided rhythmically with the uneven stones beneath my feet. How beautiful it was here, surrounded by color and silence. Flowers adorned boxes on the windows, and light danced along the cobblestones in
front of me, highlighting the path I should follow. As the sun began to drop behind the buildings, it illuminated the red of the brick, lighting up the world with a warm pink glow. All around me a rosy haze arose, radiating even as night began to fall. The alley was short, not much longer than the length of a large coach bus, and my time there was quickly over. As I turned the corner to leave the small street behind, I stopped suddenly, receiving strange looks from fellow travelers on the road. As I so often am, I was again too caught up in the initial moment of meeting to notice or care to remember a name. Not this time. Turning around, I looked for the white letters embossed on the building on the corner of the street with the pink haze, my head moving in every direction to find the name, any name, to connect to this place. It was only when I stopped moving that my eyes fell upon the street name: Rue des Gestes. The Street of Gestures. The street that showed me what it means to watch the light dance on bricks turning the world a different color.
Dear Happy Pappy, Thank you for your question. It is great that you and your friend can talk openly about sexual health. No matter your sexual history, speaking with a healthcare provider will help you determine when is the best time to start getting a Pap smear and help answer any other questions you might have about your sexual and reproductive health. Staying proactive about preventative care and asking questions is important. A Pap smear, Papanicolaou test, or Pap test is used to detect cellular changes or abnormal cells on the cervix. These cells run the risk of becoming precancerous or cancerous. Pap smears can detect non-cancerous changes as well. The United States Preventive Service Task Force recommends the Pap smear test for women starting at the age of 21 and then every three years regardless of sexual activity. Recommendations were recently updated since the USPSTF has found that women under the age of 21 are less likely to be diagnosed with cervical cancer and if abnormal cervical cells are present, they are more likely to resolve on their own. To schedule a Pap smear or talk with a provider about other sexual and reproductive health questions, make a Sexual Health and Wellness appointment online or call 609-2583141. Since a Pap smear detects changes to cells in the cervix, let’s review what cervical cancer is and how it de-
velops. Current research shows that certain high-risk strains of human papillomavirus are the main cause of cervical cancer. HPV is typically transmitted through skin-to-skin contact. Skin-to-skin contact occurs when an infected site of an individual’s skin (e.g., the genitals of an individual with HPV) comes into direct contact with the skin or a mucous membrane (e.g., mouth, eyes, anus, genitals, etc.) of an uninfected person’s body. A Pap smear is a useful tool for identifying abnormal cells early so that treatment can occur to prevent the development of cervical cancer. Results of a Pap smear are straightforward: a “negative result” is also described as normal; this means that no abnormal cells were detected. In the event that abnormal cells are found, it may be recommended to do further testing. Depending on the result, follow up testing may include an HPV test. Although HPV is the most common cause of cervical cancer, testing positive does not mean that the cancer will develop. In most cases it takes years for abnormal cells to develop into cervical cancer. The immune system will fight HPV and the abnormal cells can resolve themselves on their own. Thank you for your question! It’s important to talk openly about health especially since many of your friends and classmates are experiencing similar things at a similar time. Sincerely, Sexpert Interested in Sexual Health? The Sexper t is always looking for members of the community to join the team of sexual health educators who, along with fact-checking from Universit y health professionals, help wr ite these columns. Email sexper t @ dailypr incetonian.com for more infor mation and questions about sexual health.
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PRINCETON DANCE FESTIVAL: AN INNOVATION OF MOVEMENT DANIELLE HOFFMAN Contributor ‘20
“It is one of our goals to offer our students a diverse range of dance perspectives and traditions to wrestle with physically and artistically,” said Susan Marshall, director and professor of dance at Princeton, in reference to the Princeton Dance Festival. This diversity of perspectives and traditions was most evident through the performance, which took place on Dec. 2, 3, and 4. The Princeton Dance Festival, which featured almost 40 students, was comprised of three works from guest choreographers and three works by members of Princeton’s dance faculty as a component of the fall dance courses. The show featured a wide array of performances, as many of the dances differed stylistically, musically, and thematically. In some of the works, dancers moved in unison, performing sharp, synchronized movements, while in others, dancers drifted in and out from structured, collective movement to free, individualized improvisation. Lighting, live music, props, and costumes played crucial roles in various pieces as the dancers interacted with these elements in ways that framed and largely influenced the movement of the pieces. As Marshall noted, “In this year’s program the work of contemporary artist Olivier Tarpaga is deeply informed by West African music and dance, while the work of ballet and Broadway dancer/choreographer Francesca Harper builds on her history with innovative choreographer William Forsythe and involves segments of structured improvisation.” The various forms and perceptions of movement explored by the Princeton Dance Festival are largely a reflection of the creative processes of the pieces, which seem to be embedded in a collaborative approach that breeds diversity and innovation. According to Elena Anamos ’19, “Being a part of PDF has definitely
changed the way I approach movement and choreography. It’s interesting to observe how a choreographer involves dancers in their creative process. A lot of the choreographers for this PDF show involved the dancers a lot — mostly through improvisation — and it was interesting to see the dancers’ individual styles affect how the pieces looked when they were finished.” Anamos danced in guest choreographer Olivier Tarpaga’s piece, entitled “Fly like a butterfly, Sting like a bee.” The piece featured live music and hanging lanterns that the dancers began interacting with towards the end of the piece, causing the lanterns to swing and collide with one another as the movement and music grew and reached a climax. In reference to what the process was like for Tarpaga’s piece, Anamos commented, “my choreographer had us each make our own phrase of movement and then he took the pieces he liked and added them into the dance so the finished product actually had a lot of movement that we made ourselves.” Guest choreographer, Francesca Harper, arranged the piece “Skin Code,” which student Clark Griffin ’18 danced in. According to Griffin, the creation and rehearsal process was very interesting and collaborative. He noted that Harper “asked us to bring a piece of writing about some kind of adversity we faced about assumptions put on us.” Griffin adds that the movements in the final dance were based on the stories included in these writing assignments. “We took some of those gestures from those phrases and we matched them together,” he added. Harper’s process of choreography speaks to how many of the dances in the Princeton Dance Festival arose from discussion, experimentation, individualized reflection, and exploration of bringing the personal aspects of dancers together. “There’s more of a marriage between the choreographer’s and the dancer’s creative energies. It’s not so one-sided a lot of the time these days. The line between them [dancer
COURTESY OF ELENA ANAMOS ‘19
Students in the Hagan Dance Studio at the Lewis Center for the Arts practicing movements for the Princeton Dance Festival.
and choreographer]is blurred more,” Griffin said. In addition to choreography, innovation was also essential in the development of staging. Tina Fehlandt, dance faculty member, staged “Polka,” which was originally choreographed by Mark Morris in 1992. When staging the piece, Fehlandt posed the question, “how do you bring something forward and make it fresh and have meaning on, and for, a generation of people who weren’t born when it was created?” Through this question, Fehlandt highlighted the tension that exists between staying true to the original intention of the piece and making the dance meaningful to the people participating in the dance.
Although she staged a performance by someone else, Fehlandt said she preferred not to show her dancers videos of previous iterations, because she didn’t want them to replicate it exactly the same. “I don’t show them the video until I’ve already taught them the movement and they’ve internalized it so that they can find a path to the movement themselves,” Fehlandt explained. The Princeton Dance Festival exemplifies the way dance can function as an explorative and innovative endeavor. This is apparent in Harper’s piece when the dancers begin verbalizing phrases to accompany their movement. It is apparent in Fehlandt’s piece when the dancers perform sequences
of unison movement, yet all project their own, slightly nuanced way of moving. It is apparent in Tarpaga’s piece when the dancers begin moving through and interacting with hanging lanterns, sharing the stage with live musicians. As Marshall noted, the students “learn about artistic processes and innovation and the role of uncertainty in any creative undertaking.” A dance is a project with problems that are worked through accidents, failures, and collective problem-solving. Shared Marshall, “The act of making a dance come together is an experience in moment-to-moment experimentation, evaluation, risk-taking, and discovery.”
The Daily Princetonian
Thursday december 8, 2016
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First Annual Envision Conference Celebrates Innovation of the Future ZACH BAMPTON Staff Writer ‘19
This past weekend, the University’s resident futurist club hosted its first annual conference. The purpose of the group, named Envision, is to bring together cutting edge researchers and innovators to collaborate and celebrate the progress of science. Over the span of three days, Envision showcased breakth rough technologies and aspiring designs, from virtual reality art to genetically modified ants. According to Envision, some of these projects will impact us in the near future, while others may not come into fruition until the end of our lives. According to Riva-Melissa Tez, co-founder of Permutation Ventures and a panelist on a discussion on the nature of artificial intelligence, thinking about these future issues is important because “the extent of our f lourishing depends on the current limit of science.” Co-founder Luca Rade ’19 explained that preparations for the event began in April 2016 when the group first met with E-Club’s leadership. Rade described Envision as a group that didn’t just ask “how can we innovate with technology,” but rather, “how can we innovate for humanity using technology.” Envision seeks to promote innovation in the long-term on a societal scale instead of the short-term and individual level, he said. “All ambitious projects and v isions still require many small steps and hard work to be realized,” Rade commented, emphasizing the use of Envision as a forum for these ideas.
COURTESY OF FACEBOOK
Left: Student experiences virtual reaility with a headset. Right: Participants in Envision prepare to eat after a day of panels.
Over the course of the weekend, Envision brought in student volunteers to staff the conference. One volunteer, Abby Breitfeld ’20 revealed she wanted to help staff because of the limited access opportunities it provided. Breitfeld, a prospective STEM major, got to “attend a panel on space exploration” where her favorite company, Breakthrough Starshot, presented their designs for an ultra-fast space probe. Both Rade and Breitfeld remarked on the wonder and optimism inherent in panelists and presenters. Part of the conference focused on readily accessible technology or near-future innovations. The con-
ference began with a guided tour of the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab, and ended with the keynote speaker Andrew Zwicker, the Head of Science Education. PPPL is focused on “plasma physics and controlled nuclear fusion research,” which could potentially provide for the energy needs of the future. Another f lagship section of the conference was Envision Entrepreneurship, a pitch competition for five startup ideas draw n from a pool of over 50. During this part of the event, graduate students from various universities presented their ideas, which ranged from a smart microbial battery to a hy pothetical system to produce
ox ygen on Mars for fuel and human consumption. The competition was presided over by a set of judges ranging from Peter BruceClark, co-founder of Permutation Ventures, to Shahram Hejazi, University professor of Entrepreneurship. Each presenter outlined the purpose, practicality, and profit of their designs, and responded to a battery of questions from the judges. The pitch competition brought out ideas that address the problems of today in bold, new ways, and f low almost directly from the question of “what if? ” The winning team, Astromech, was awarded $2,000 for their space debris
collection device. An additional aspect of the Envision conference was the theoretical, ethical debate over ideas or technology on the scientific horizon. Although most of the conversations being had w ith Envision were STEM related, one of the founding goals of Envision was to foster a collaboration between the sciences and the humanities to conceptualize the ethical implementation of technology. For example, the panel on artificial intelligence consisted of expectations across several disciplines, including philosophy, game theory, cybersecurity, and futurism. During this panel discussion, Andrew Critch, a researcher at the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, commented “if you don’t understand AI, you won’t understand this century.” He added that the coming of an advanced system that is able to exceed human capability will fundamentally reshape life as we know it. One major concern, however, among the group discussion on AI, was whether a super intelligent entity would share our values. To that end, Sarah Schneider, professor at the University of Connecticut, remarked, “we should try to work for a positive end.” Historically, the focus of AI research has been on making it faster and more adaptable, yet the panelists called into question the responsibility of researchers and activists to make sure the technology also grows ethically. The trade-offs with AI are immense; according to Critch, “if super intelligence is good, we get more of [medicine, technology, diplomacy, philosophy, etc.]. If it goes badly, then we may face existential risk.”
STREET’S TOP FIVE: MOST UNDERRATED HUMAN INNOVATIONS SANTIAGO AGUIRRE Contributor ‘18
We live in wonderful times. We can talk with anyone on the planet in mere seconds, get to anywhere in the world in less than 24 hours, have troves of items shipped to us in a few days. All these wonderful achievements of innovation are great milestones in human development, but somehow, only a few developments other than medicine, engineering, and science have made the “Innovation Hall of Fame.” The moon landing, the transistor, and penicillin are some of those products of innovation that have greatly changed our daily lives, but what about the more obscure that we couldn’t imagine life without? It is time to pay homage to the little things that make life bearable but don’t get the publicity they deserve, because they are taken for granted. 1. Toilet paper. Every year, the campus political debate shifts to the hot button issue of two-ply vs. single-ply. Even though I am a firm opponent of the singularity of plies in my hygiene products, one thing is for certain: I am eternally grateful that I don’t have to clean my business with foliage or my hands. It seems hard to imagine, but toilet paper wasn’t available in industrial quantities until 1857 when Joseph Gay-
TASHI TREADWAY ‘19 :: GRAPHICS EDITOR
foodstuffs. Kitchens in Princeton and around the world are grateful because now they can nip into that mint can of Instant Soup from six months ago without the fear of getting botulism (yay!). On the other hand, frat bros can rest assured that the 30 rack they bought eight months ago for the Kappa Phi football tailgate party is perfectly safe to drink and the taste of their “brewski” will remain true and fizzy. 3. Salt Mines. We use salt everywhere: in our food,
TASHI TREADWAY ‘19 :: GRAPHICS EDITOR
etty invented modern toilet paper. In addition, we can all be thankful for splinter-free (ouch) toilet paper which was introduced to the market in 1930 by Northern Toilet Paper. All toilet paper trivia has been kindly provided by the Toilet Paper Encyclopedia. 2. Canned goods. At first glance, most Princeton students will think “Hey, I don’t really get my food out of cans!” However, unbeknownst to some, cooks in Dining Halls, independents who have determined not to go grocery shopping, and frat bros everywhere would have a much harder time preparing food if canned goods ever disappeared. A method originally developed by the French Army in the early 19th century, canned goods revolutionized the world by allowing for long-term storage of
on icy roads, and when preventing our enemies from growing crops. However, nowadays, no one ever thinks of salt as a scarce item or an expensive luxury purchase for that matter. One can enter a dining area anywhere in the world and find little salt shakers on tabletops, from Princeton to Europe, the Middle East, and beyond. But this wasn’t always the case. In the early days (referring to the era of Roman Legionaries, and not Granddad in his glory days) salt was so valuable that it was used as a currency. It was so treasured, that words such as “salary,” still allude to its significance today. 4. Printing Press. How else would you get your fix of J.K. Rowling, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Snooki and all the other great thinkers in human history other than through
RITA FANG ‘17 :: GRAPHICS EDITOR
the written word. Invented by Johannes Gutenberg under the Roman Empire, the printing press enabled mass communication through the distribution of texts — a development that changed the modern day as we know it today. While audiobooks and kindles have gained prominence, it didn’t change the way that people thought — as the
printing press did. 5. Gin and Tonic. Craftily created around 1825 by British soldiers, the gin and tonic is a staple at restaurants and bars worldwide. The soldiers who initially thought of the idea were stationed in India, where they were trying to quench their thirst and improve the taste of their malaria med-
ication, which supposedly consisted of concentrated quinine extract. Surprisingly, the cocktail is not considered a superfood with the likes of kale and quinoa — after all, it managed to fight malaria, and perhaps may even address scurvy, with the simple addition of lime juice and twist!of lime juice and twist!