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Tuesday February 11, 2020 vol. CXLIV no. 7
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SPORTS
ICC anDream over dynasty: Princeton nounces wrestling defeats 17-time champ Street Week results By Evelyn Doskoch Assistant News Editor
Spring Street Week has come to a close, after 1,041 students, who represent 77 percent of the sophomore class, sought admission to the University’s eleven eating clubs. According to a statement released by the Interclub Council (ICC), 72 percent of students who bickered at selective eating clubs (Cannon, Cap & Gown, Cottage, Ivy Club, Tiger Inn, and Tower) were admitted to a club — a five percent increase from last year, when bicker clubs accepted 67 percent. The ICC, however, has not released the total number of students who bickered, as compared to having been admitted to sign-in clubs. 62 percent of bickerees elected to double bicker, in which two clubs independently consider the candidate for admission. From data obtained by The Daily Princetonian, Ivy Club had the lowest acceptance rate among bicker clubs — about 33 percent — while Tower Club and Cannon Club were roughly tied for the highest, with about 52 percent of students admitted at each. All bicker clubs admitted less than two-thirds of students. While most bicker clubs had similar acceptance rates compared to last spring, the sign-in club Charter admitted 125 sophomores and two juniors, according to Charter president Jaren McKinnie ’21. Should all admitted students join Charter, they would more than quintuple its membership, See STREET page 2
BEVERLY SCHAEFER / GOPRINCETONTIGERS
Princeton wrestling, with its first Ivy League trophy since 1986.
By Albert Jiang Staff Writer
Over the weekend of Jan. 31, 108 students who had visited China in the preceding 14 days were asked to selfquarantine in response to the global 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak. As of Monday the approximately 125 students who had been assessed were all declared low-risk and no longer required to self-quarantine. Even so, a “small number of students” have still elected to remain self-isolated. Some students affected by the initial self-isolation policies felt the University’s decision was poorly imple-
mented and incompetently executed. In an anonymous letter to the Daily Princetonian last Tuesday, graduate students expressed frustration regarding “the University’s conduct toward the returned members during [the] implementation” of its isolation policy. “Each one of us has taken tremendous precaution to protect ourselves while staying in mainland China, while experiencing fear, pressure, and anxiety,” they wrote. “Upon our return, instead of finding ourselves protected and safe, these policies and conduct nullified all prior efforts and put us in an unsafe environment.” Addressing students’ con-
cerns, Deputy University spokesperson Mike Hotchkiss wrote to the ‘Prince’ that the individuals in self-isolation were receiving “housing, dining and academic support.” “We worked on a one-onone basis with self-isolating students to address their housing needs, utilizing a variety of University housing,” Hotchkiss wrote. Previously, Aly KassamRemtulla, Vice Provost for International Affairs and Operations, Irini Daskalaki, an Infectious Disease Physician at University Health Services, and Robin Izzo, Executive Director of Environmental Health and Safety, published a letter in the
‘Prince’ affirming their commitment to the “health and safety of every member of the University community.” Four students who agreed to be interviewed by the ‘Prince’ on the condition of anonymity described the fear, anger, and frustration they experienced, specifically pertaining to the alternative accommodations the University had provided them. They commended the University’s quick implementation of the self-isolation policy — put in place before most peer institutions in the United States — but criticized the lack of timely and See STUDENTS page 3
Princeton Town Council passes resolution on immigrant rights
EVELYN DOSKOCH / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
Eisgruber defends the University decision not to divest in fossil fuels at the CPUC meeting on Monday, Feb. 10.
Eisgruber fields Title IX, divestment questions at CPUC meeting lengthy Q&A in which Eisgruber fielded questions from the University community on Title IX concerns, construction plans, and divestment, among other topics. Prentice summarized the current operating budget of the University, emphasizing that 60 percent of the University’s income comes from its investment portfolio, managed by PRINCO. She also stated that the budgetary
allotment to student financial aid currently exceeds the amount earned yearly from student tuition, room, board, and fees. Eisgruber also spoke at length on the contents of his “State of the University” letter, describing plans for University renovations and construction in the years to come, such as the building of See CPUC page 3
The Princeton Town Council has officially condemned conditions in U.S. detention centers for undocumented immigrants while calling for a universal legal services program that would provide legal representation to such detainees. In a meeting on Jan. 13, the Princeton Town Council unanimously passed a resolution “calling upon the White House, the U.S. Congress, and the State of New Jersey to reunify migrant families, release them from detention, and afford them due process in immigration proceedings.” The resolution begins by outlining the United States’ historical acceptance of migrants and points to Princeton’s “long and proud history of welcoming immigrants of all backgrounds into our community.” It goes on to condemn what it refers to as the “inhuman treatment of migrants at our borders.” The resolution was proposed by former Princeton Civil Rights Commission member Afsheen Shamsi. Princeton is the third town
In Opinion
Today on Campus
Columnist Leora Eisenberg emphasizes the importance of documenting our friendships to remind us we are not alone in times of struggle, while guest contributor Dr. Elizabeth Haase ’85 urges the University to divest from the fossil fuel industry.
4:30 p.m.: Up to the Minute: The Iran-U.S. Crisis
PAGE 6
See WRESTLING page 8
ON CAMPUS
Staff Writer
In its Feb. 10 meeting, the Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC) heard brief presentations from Provost Deborah Prentice on the University’s budget and President Christopher L. Eisgruber ’83, who reiterated the content of his annual “State of the University” letter. This was followed by a
It took three decades, and a dream. It took Princeton’s 1993 decision to slash its varsity wrestling program. It took former Athletic Director Gary Walters’ insistence, four years later, that the team be reinstated. It took Christopher Ayres agreeing in 2006 to uproot his life and become head coach of the worst wrestling team in the country. It took Ayres’ fight for mats, for practice space, for a room of his own. It took 35 straight losses and seven consecutive losing seasons. It took Ayres’ promise to parents, recruits, and prospective hires: Princeton wrestling is going somewhere. Buy in, before hopping on board becomes hopping on the bandwagon. It took 14 years of Ayres visualizing victory and repeating his goals. It took heartbreak.
Told to self-isolate, they were four to a room
By Sandeep Mangat
Assistant News Editor
Head Features Editor and Associate Sports Editor
STUDENT LIFE
U . A F FA I R S
By Evelyn Doskoch
By Josephine de la Bruyere
Friend Center / Room 101
in New Jersey to endorse its text, following Montgomery Township and Bound Brook. Jersey City has the resolution on its council agenda, which if approved, will make it the second New Jersey city to call to end migration detention, following Hoboken. The resolution itself calls for an end to immigration detention and to unify families that have been separated. Shamsi also emphasized the need for due process, given that many detainees are unable to afford an attorney. The resolution proposes a universal legal services program to combat this issue. The resolution also calls on Princeton’s Congressional Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman and New Jersey Senators Cory Booker and Robert Menendez “to call for an end to immigration detention in the United States, the immediate reunification of migrant families, and the release of migrant children and parents from detention.” It asks Congresswoman Coleman “to take immediate action to See RESOLUTION page 4
WEATHER
STUDENT LIFE
HIGH
50˚
LOW
33˚
Rain chance of rain:
90 percent
The Daily Princetonian
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Tuesday February 11, 2020
77 percent of sophomores participate in Street Week STREET
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which currently stands at 28 students. This dramatic surge comes after Charter announced last month that it will re-adopt bicker next year, in a bid to reverse its long-dwindling membership. “We have had a number of people reach out to us since initial club placements asking to be put on Charter’s waitlist as we had hit our sophomore cap,” McKinnie said in an email to the ‘Prince.’ “We’ve also had more juniors reach out expressing interest in joining the club as well.” This year, Cap & Gown’s acceptance rate rose by 14 percentage points. According to Polly Hochman ’20, the president of Cap & Gown (Cap), 226 students bickered Cap this spring. Of these, 106 sophomores and four juniors were admitted, yielding a 49 percent acceptance rate. Last spring, just 35 percent were admitted, in a 4 percent drop from 2018. Tower admitted 114 sophomores and 5 juniors as new members this spring, according to Tower president Fergus Binnie ’21. A total of 222 sophomores and eight juniors bickered the club, yielding a 52 percent acceptance rate. Last year, 55 percent were admitted. According to multiple members of Cannon, 88 sophomores were ac-
cepted out of roughly 170 bickerees. This acceptance rate is similar to last year, when 105 of “over 200” were selected. According to a member of Cottage Club, 95 out of 195 bickerees were admitted to the club this year, with an acceptance rate of 49 percent. Last year, 88 students were admitted to Cottage, from a pool of 198. Ivy admitted 74 sophomores to the club, an anonymous source told the ‘Prince.’ The source reported that of the new members, 39 were women and 35 were men. They also estimated that Ivy admitted approximately one-third of all bickerees, bringing the total of those who bickered to around 220. Last spring, 71 sophomores were accepted. According to the list of new Tiger Inn (TI) members obtained by the ‘Prince,’ the club admitted 79 new members this spring. By a TI member’s estimate, approximately 220 students bickered in total. This acceptance rate is slightly lower than last year’s rate of 39 percent. Due to strict media rules, all non-officer club members have been granted anonymity to protect their membership in their respective clubs. The presidents of Cannon, Cottage, Ivy, and TI did not respond to requests for comment. According to data obtained by the ‘Prince,’ 521 students were admitted in total to sign-in clubs. This includes 26 groups that were created for the first ever Group Sign-In program, in which 175 stu-
HARSIMRAN MAKKAD / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
dents joined sign-in clubs as part of a group. According to Hans Imhof ’21, president of Cloister Inn, 51 sophomores and five juniors signed in to Cloister during Street Week. Colonial Club has gained 107 new members, according to a Colonial member. Quadrangle Club president Krystal Delnoce ’21 told the ‘Prince’
that 117 sophomores and 4 juniors signed into Quad. According to members of the sign-in club Terrace, 102 sophomores and 8 juniors were admitted. Under a “matching system” adopted last year, the ICC requires all students who bicker to rank two sign-in clubs as back-up choices. This measure essentially guarantees that students who bicker or
seek to sign in will be accepted into an eating club. The ICC reported that, for the second consecutive year, 100 percent of sophomore participants were placed into a club. With the exception of upperclass bickerees, all participants received club acceptances on Friday, Feb. 7 at 9 a.m., either to a selective or sign-in club.
Eisgruber: We’ve already broken ground on two new colleges CPUC
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several new academic buildings east of Washington Road, the demolition of Wilson College, and the construction of Perelman College. “We’ve already broken ground on the two new res[idential] colleges,” Eisgruber said. In regards to University development plans, audience members asked about the plans for Lake Campus, integration of the E-Quad with the rest of campus, and plans to redesign McCosh Health Center with a focus on a positive environment and space for student healing. According to Eisgruber, the Lake Campus south of Lake Carnegie will likely house athletic facilities, graduate student housing, and additional convening spaces, with the potential for shuttle ser-
vice support to connect the new facilities with the main campus to the north. After Eisgruber’s presentation, the f loor was opened up to audience questions. A student from Princeton IX Now, a student advocacy group “working to end sexual and interpersonal violence at Princeton,” asked what actions are being taken by the University to address students’ Title IX concerns. This comes after the nine days of student protests that took place last May, and the joint committee reports on University Title IX policy released on Oct. 24. “I was disappointed to see in your letter of priorities that the issue of sexual violence and interpersonal violence didn’t make the cut,” the student said. The student asked for information on the current status of Title IX recommendations, a potential fund for student mental health treatment, and
a redesign for student violence prevention training. Eisgruber and Vice President for Campus Life Rochelle Calhoun explained that “conversations” are ongoing regarding Title IX reform. Calhoun stated that the newly formed CPUC Subcommittee on Sexual Climate, Culture and Conduct will hopefully have its first meeting “by the end of this month.” “We’ve had some conversations [regarding student training],” Calhoun said. “I have to say that that’s one of the areas where we have to do a little more work.” The pair also suggested that it may be difficult to align University policy with what students have advocated for in recent months. “I agree with you that the level of sexual violence in our society and a lot of university campuses and on our campus is a tragedy,” Eisgruber said. However, he noted that the U.S. Department of Educa-
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tion may soon adopt Title IX regulations that prove to be “inconsistent” with ideal University policy on the issue. Another major topic of conversation between the CPUC and audience members was divestment, given that over 700 alumni and students have pledged not to donate to the University until it divests from fossil fuel companies. “No,” said Eisgruber, when asked if the University has any future plans for divestment. “The answer is right now, we do not have any such plans. … We make a difference in the world through our teaching and research and the quality of that teaching and research, rather than by taking a symbolic stance with our endowment.” Graduate student Micah Fletcher of Divest Princeton urged the president to reconsider this position, arguing that a small number of corporations are responsible for a majority of global emissions
and that investment in such companies is therefore immoral. Fletcher argued that the topic of divestment is particularly important, given that fossil fuel firms contribute to climate denialism, peer institutions have already committed to divestment, and the University is committed to net zero carbon emissions by 2046. “Why then,“ Fletcher asked, “hasn’t Princeton committed to divesting its endowment from fossil fuel firms and reinvesting in sustainable assets? ” Eisgruber expressed a contrasting opinion on the role of those corporations in the climate crisis. “I think it is, in my view, not accurate to say that this is happening because of these big companies that are somehow doing it to us. They’re responding to a set of preferences that people have and act upon.”
The Daily Princetonian
Tuesday February 11, 2020
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appropriate response to inquiries via phone calls and emails, which they said exacerbated their emotional stress. According to students asked to self-quarantine, they were communally isolated — in several cases up to four in a room in campus housing, with shared bathrooms and kitchens — which, in their view, defeated the very purpose of isolation. Furthermore, student accounts indicate that University officials either were delayed in addressing concerns from students or simply did not respond. A third-year graduate student (G3) who had visited family in China for a month described their experience with self-isolation. Having been assigned with other students to “an Annex room” for self-isolation, G3 panicked. The Graduate College Annexes are three-story houses on Dickinson Street, Edwards Place, and University Place, with single bedrooms, but shared bathrooms and common rooms, including a community kitchen and laundry facilities. The student reached out immediately to Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) regarding the high risk for cross-infection. “I did not expect [them to respond],” they wrote in a statement to the ‘Prince,’ “and indeed they did not, given they already made such a decision ignoring risks to our personal safety.” The student then proceeded to draft an email with “around 30 students and scholars” in a collectively signed request to Community Health, EHS, the Office of the Provost, the Graduate School, and University Health Services (UHS) on Feb. 2. “By that time, I was fully exhausted due to drafting and organizing, jetlag, and emotional stresses,” the G3 explained. It wasn’t until the next day at noon that Community Health and EHS responded, but only after a follow-up email was sent by the students. “They refused to provide hotel rooms or studios,” the G3 said. “We also asked for masks and disinfection materials and got ignored. They only provided food.” Even then, only some students received food — in some cases, up to three hours after “normal meal time” — according to G3. Other graduate students were never contacted by the University
about food delivery nor received any, leading many to resort to instant meals or skip meals entirely. Many Chinese students volunteered to buy groceries or meals for those in selfisolation — even individuals they did not know personally — coordinating their schedules according to the needs of students in self-isolation, G3 told the ‘Prince.’ Another student who selfisolated, a senior undergraduate who also asked to remain anonymous, had a more positive perception of the University food-delivery service. They opted-in to the offer, “which appeared to be a variety of food from Frist three times a day.” “I was very happy with the meal delivery plan and was happy the university was trying to reduce the risk of say, a student going to the dining halls,” they said. However, all the students interviewed, including the senior, found the level of support and lack of administrative transparency to be troubling. The G3 expressed outrage over Hotchkiss’s remarks in the ‘Prince’ article published on Monday, Feb. 3. “How could [the University] say that they were ‘working to fully support’ us, when they actually put some of us in danger, pushed us to move, and [refused] our request for hotel-room self-isolation, a solution we actively proposed out of our sense of responsibility to public health?” the G3 said. The senior, who was in China for the Lunar New Year, also described their initial surprise upon learning of the self-isolation requirement. The senior noted that, the call to self-isolate may have suggested that the situation was more serious than it was. Because they had not seen the State Department’s announcement, they were “shocked and confused” to receive the notification. “Peer institutions (Harvard, JHU, and MIT) had not made similar announcements at the time,” they added. “It seems like everyone is just doing the best they can, but it’s confusing when peer institutions’ policies do not match.” Still, several institutions including Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Chicago, and Columbia University announced different recommendations and requirements for registration and self isolation. Upon their return to cam-
pus, the senior was assigned to a room in upperclass housing with three other individuals. None of them knew each other. The specific room appeared to be a two-room triple with a private bathroom in f loor plans reviewed by the ‘Prince,’ even though four students were assigned to it. “I did not feel comfortable moving to this room because no matter the combination of sick/healthy individuals, it seemed to be a risky choice,” they said. “For example, if I was sick, I would very easily get others sick. Even if everyone was healthy and not carrying the coronavirus, living with four people in a triple could still lend itself to easy transmission of the common cold or f lu.” “The University seems to have tried to put those who returned from China into a riskier environment,” they added. A junior undergraduate who was in China for Lunar New Year was also communally isolated with other individuals. “Obviously, [the initial email] was personally jarring, but I knew it was the right thing to do in terms of epidemic containment,” they said in an interview. “The University had to react to and follow a poorly worded and unsubstantiated federal travel directive.” Even so, they also described their assigned living accommodations as “ridiculous.” “It was quite an emotional experience for me and maybe I’m being overdramatic, but just from a common sense perspective, self-isolation doesn’t seem to be a group activity,” they remarked. “For the amount of time it took the University to get back to me about my housing assignment, I was surprised their ultimate solution was a quad.” Additionally, affected undergraduates were expected to coordinate with their professors and directors of studies regarding accommodations and potential extensions on their own. “The University asked us to reach out to professors ourselves. It seemed to be a play-it-by-ear thing — we were just dealing with things as they happened,” they said. “Thankfully, as only one day of the semester had passed, no large accommodations needed to be made.” A fourth-year graduate student (G4) interviewed by the ‘Prince’ was in China for three weeks during the Lunar New Year. However, living off campus, the G4 decided to self-isolate at home instead of in University housing.
Even so, the G4 criticized the University for its emails and preparation, saying that it could have been “more timely,” given the school’s intersession break. When the G3 revealed their self-isolating practices to their housemates, some asked G3 to move out into a hotel. “Scared and offended, [I] explained that I would need food delivery and reimbursement from the University,” they explained. “I showed them the screenshots of University instructions for self-isolating students and proved [to exceed the University’s] requirements.” “Dealing [with my] housemates at this sensitive moment was emotionally challenging. I was actually very fearful that they would protest to the University and ask me to move to the assigned Annex,” they added. However, when G3’s housemates became aware of the situation, they brought water and food and offered to provide any assistance or support they needed. Despite the challenges, G3 remarked, “It is all worth it. I’m grateful to have them as my housemates.” The G3 also anecdotally conveyed the struggles of other graduate students. “One grad student, who works in a lab and chose to continue voluntary self-isolation, was required by her boss to go back to work,” they explained. “But her lab mates were very unhappy. They did not dare to challenge the boss directly but rather pushed her to continue self-isolation. So now she is under [opposing] pressure from both her boss and her lab mates.” In their Feb. 5 letter to the ‘Prince,’ Kassam-Remtulla, Daskalaki, Izzo — the University administrators — acknowledged the challenges of self-quarantine for students, while thanking the campus community for their efforts “to be supportive, respectful, and inclusive” of those affected. Addressing the concerns regarding housing arrangements, the authors wrote that asking self-quarantined individuals to share bathrooms and kitchens was an approach that is “a common practice in public health emergencies and necessary given the limited housing availability on campus.” The G3 expressed their disappointment with the letter, accusing the University of intentionally “avoiding their mistake[s]” regarding the risk of cross infection in the assigned housing with shared bathrooms. “They are either not pro-
fessionally qualified for their positions — namely not [being] aware that the virus spreads through droplet, touch, and stool — or not responsible, or both,” G3 rebuked. “‘Common practice does not justify anything. It’s out of luck that the cross infection did not happen earlier. It only shows that the University has been risking some of its members’ personal safety for [a long time].” In a phone interview with the ‘Prince,’ Michael Levy, Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, corroborated this statement, saying, “The issue is, ‘common practice’ … doesn’t mean it’s a good practice.” “If you’re going to isolate people, isolate them,” he added. Levy further stated that, in his opinion, the University’s implementation of self-isolation was “done very poorly” and the housing arrangements were “problematic, to say the least.” In a subsequent email statement, he explained that because 2019-nCoV has a basic reproduction number (R0) of at least 2.2 — that is, the number of additional cases one infected individual would on average cause — “true isolation is a powerful tool.” Although Levy acknowledged that the University’s overarching intent to isolate was “a rational thing to do,” he added, “‘dorm-room’ isolation is troubling. Putting four people together in a dorm room seems like feeding the Minotaur.” The junior had a final message to the University community at large. “In the same way that people from China are the most likely to transmit the disease, they are also the most affected by it. Please remember that at the center of all your rightful fears and wariness are real people,” they wrote in a statement to the ‘Prince.’ “If there’s one thing I hope readers take away from this, it’s not any of the issues I had with Princeton’s response ... but how infinitely better it is to be here than the real center of the epidemic. People who have friends and family trapped in cities in lockdown.” The G4 added that people can be cautious without holding grudges. “Given that this tragedy has happened, we are all in this together. It is during times like this that one should remember that we are vulnerable individually, only stronger in solidarity.”
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The Daily Princetonian
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Tuesday February 11, 2020
Q&A with Robert Doar ’83 of American Enterprise Institute By Josephine de la Bruyere Head Features Editor and Associate Sports Editor
A leading conservative scholar of poverty, Robert Doar graduated from the University in 1983 with a degree in History. In the 37 years since, he’s worked for the Washington Monthly and the Harlem Valley Times. He worked in the New York State and New York City governments, serving most notably as commissioner of New York City’s Human Resources Administration under Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He then joined the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington, D.C. think tank of which he now serves as President. Doar sat down with The Daily Princetonian to answer questions about his time at the University, his political ideology, and current events. This conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity. The Daily Princetonian: Let’s start off simply: can you tell me a little about your time here as an undergraduate and what you did on campus? Robert Doar ’83: I was a history major and I loved being in the history department. I do wish I worked a little harder in academics, but I was a JV basketball player. I got to spend a lot of time observing Coach Carril, who was a really remarkable teacher and leader, and a demanding person in values of integrity and hard work. Those were the high points of my time on campus. DP: Tell me about your intellectual formation. Were you a conservative as an undergraduate? RD: No. I was definitely not a conservative. I think if I was anything, I was probably a liberal. My dad had worked for Robert Kennedy and I was a great admirer of his. I was fairly certain at the time — and I subsequently came to a different view — that the classic democratic approach to issues concerning low-income Americans was a better approach than the conservative one. DP: What changed your opinion? RD: It was the experience of New York City in the ’70s and ’80s and early ’90s. I grew up in Brooklyn, and, well, we just never got better. Crime got worse. Schools got worse. Poverty didn’t get any better… I went into public service in the wake of Bill Clinton’s passing welfare reform, and I
implemented it in New York City, along with many others. The success of that experience led me to believe that public policy on low-income Americans that was focused on helping people get into work and not helping them feel as if they were entitled to benefits without any reciprocal responsibility was a better way to help people and help their children. DP: Journalism today faces the threats both of falling revenue and of regular political attacks. President Trump, for one, regularly decries established outlets as ‘fake news’ and even joked with President Putin at the G20 about getting rid of journalists. Tell me about why you chose to work in journalism after college, and why — or whether — you think it’s important now. RD: Well, I think journalism is really, really important. And I think the drying up of newspapers all over the country is a tragedy… The coverage of town halls and community and civil society at the local level is not as strong. Newspapers play an incredibly important role in bringing people together. We have a scholar at AEI, Ryan Streeter, who has a piece featured in AEI Today this morning about neighborhoods. Neighborhoods have lots of institutions that make them strong, but one of them is often a local newspaper. The absence of that is something that I think is going to be a real problem. DP: How about the second half of that question? There exists new, increasing distrust and rejection of mainstream media. What do you think that means for democracy and for civil discourse? RD: Well, Jo, I’m not sure that’s all that new… The attitude about various media outlets by people based on their political views is not that new. To be fair, though, I don’t like the rhetoric of the President. Not only because it’s unpleasant and bad — which it is. But it also, more importantly, it has an effect in the world, where people now all of a sudden think that the President of the United States thinks that totalitarian regimes, people shutting down newspapers, those are all okay… But still, let’s not panic. The world of ideas and public discussion is still alive and well in the United States.
THE WASHINGTONIAN
Doar graduated with a degree in History in 1983.
DP: You talked earlier about the importance of local town halls and of local government, and you moved on from journalism to work in policy at the local level in New York City and New York State. Local politics often get sneered at in favor of more high-profile jobs. Should they? RD: That’s a great question. I’m a big believer in people who go to public policy schools focusing on the state and city levels because you can do a lot more, quickly. If you’re really smart and really hardworking, those entities need you. We’ll give you responsibility and authority quickly, and you’ll be able to have an impact. If you go to Washington, it’s kind of a maw. You’re caught up in that for a long time before you can have any real effect. Remember that we live in a Federalist society and a Federalist country… The network of people working at lower levels of government makes a difference in the quality of life for American citizens in a way that people in Washington don’t. DP: You’re the president of AEI, but you’re primarily a scholar of poverty. That’s an issue which has taken center stage in the Democratic primary this year. What’s your take on liberal ideas — like universal basic in-
come — for tackling poverty? RD: The first thing I’d say — and this might make some people uncomfortable — is that compared to where we’ve been in the past, our country right now is in a pretty good time. Child poverty is at an all-time low. African-American child poverty is at historic lows… So when politicians, for whatever reason, campaign with ideas to make dramatic, significant changes based on the idea that everything has failed? I just think they’re wrong. The conservatives that still quote President Reagan saying “we fought a war on poverty and poverty won” are wrong. The liberals saying that we live in a broken, racist, discriminating, brutal society towards low-income Americans are wrong as well… When the Democratic candidates describe the current state of the economy, I don’t really recognize it. DP: You weren’t always a conservative, but AEI is obviously a conservative think tank — and conservatism has evidently changed a huge amount since, say, the 2012 Obama vs. Romney election. Where do you think that a traditional conservative fits into the modern landscape? RD: So, Jo, this is a very, very tough question for all of us at AEI.
We believe in open markets, and free trade across countries around the world. We think that helps Americans the most economically. And we believe that President Trump was elected in part because of his opposition to free trade agreements, and has implemented policies, including tariffs, that go against that. Another policy is entitlement reform. Republicans and conservatives have always felt we ought to be concerned about the debt and the deficit. President Trump is not concerned about that… AEI scholars are going to continue to raise the issue of the long-term consequences of not facing up to this, the issue of the costs of the commitments we made. Third is the foreign defense. President Trump came in, talking about neo-isolationism and withdrawing from the world. He’s done some things that have concerned AEI scholars. Other things he’s done have indicated that maybe he’s listening a little more, or willing to acknowledge that America has a role to play in the world. And we at AEI will fight that out... Above all, we at AEI remain consistent to our principles of free markets, free people, limited government, economic opportunity for all, and a strong American role in this world. So we are — a lot of us are — a little bit discombobulated. DP: Is there a book you think that everybody should have to read? RD: I’m a big fan of All the King’s Men. I think All the King’s Men is a beautiful novel about politics and humor and people. I really love that book… When I was at Princeton, I took a wonderful series of courses in American literature. We read everything from Twain to Poe, to F. Scott Fitzgerald and Hemingway all the way to Updike. I think a good way to understand American history is not only through the history books, but also through the great novels. I think we should be broadly aware of the writers of fiction in the United States. DP: We’re about out of time, so we’ll stop there. Thank you so much for taking the time to sit down with me. RD : Oh, my pleasure. Thank you.
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Tuesday February 11, 2020
The Daily Princetonian
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Fraga: I feel this resolution truly reflects our values and who we are RESOLUTION Continued from page 1
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cut funding to the border militarization and detention in the congressional appropriations process.” The resolution also calls for the State of New Jersey to “protect the rights and safety of all detained migrants” and “fully fund a universal legal services program” to guarantee due process. At the conclusion of the resolution, the Council directs the municipal clerk to send a copy to various Mercer County freeholders, New Jersey assemblypeople, state
senators, Princeton’s representatives in Congress, and President Donald Trump. Town Council member Leticia Fraga told centraljersey.com, “I feel this resolution truly ref lects our values [and] who we are as a community when it comes to protecting our neighbors.” Councillor Fraga did not respond to a request for comment. Shamsi shared that the driving force behind the resolution was her personal experience as a migrant refugee. As a child, she lived in Kuwait, but after Saddam Hussein attacked her hometown, her family f led. “That two-week drive to
Pakistan was the scariest journey of our lives,” she wrote in a guest column for NJ.com. She continued, “it is desperation and fear that compels families to take on the unknown dangers of the road,” and thus “they should be treated with dignity and humanity at our borders.” Shamsi likened the state in American detention centers to concentration camps in Nazi Germany, calling them both “breeding grounds for disease.” Shamsi concluded her oped with a call to all Americans. “I don’t believe for a minute that we as United States
citizens are powerless to do anything about this — this is an issue for every mother, father, child, grandfather, grandmother.” She urged all readers to “call on all of our elected officials ... to represent our voices.” On a call with The Daily Princetonian, Shamsi elaborated that stories of immigration are important because “they humanize the experiences of those who don’t have a voice in our community.” She said, “it is important to understand why people are migrating from circumstances of persecution in their country of origin ... in a time where there is so
much fear around immigration.” Shamsi is hoping to expand her advocacy, though she heard many “opine that it is not the town’s place to comment on federal matters.” Shamsi, however, is optimistic, saying that “she has been pleasantly surprised by the impact the resolution is [having].” She is in conversation with the executive director of an unnamed national non-profit, who is “on board” with the resolution. Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert did not respond to a request for comment. The council meeting took place at Witherspoon Hall at
ISABEL TING / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
Spectators are seen reading, socializing or enjoying beverages as they listen to music in Hinds Plaza.
Tuesday February 11, 2020
Opinion
page 6
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Keeping mementos of your friendships Leora Eisenberg Columnist
One of my best friends likes taking videos of me when I’m not paying attention, especially when he knows that I am about to do something dumb. Take, for example, the time when he convinced me to play a video game for the first time in my life. I thought that I would have a “safe space” to learn to play Smash Brothers. In reality, he was videoing my struggle with the gaming console. I only figured it out when I looked over at him and realized that he had stopped playing altogether and was holding back laughter. Over the course of our friendship, he has made a tremendous amount of these videos — and while most of them involve pranks he’s played on me, some are heartwarming videos that he’s taken as mementos of our friendship. This ritual used to drive me crazy, but now it’s become a hallmark of our relationship, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. When I was studying abroad — very far away in Moscow — it was nice to have these videos on my phone:
they provided me with a reminder of my friendships at times when I felt so very alone. And now that I’m entering the twilight of my undergraduate career, I feel similarly: I’ve begun to keep them in a folder on my phone (and computer) to make sure that I can watch them whenever I feel lonely, which is likely to be the case in a matter of months. For the past four years, I’ve done my best to keep mementos of the relationships I care about — and while that often means doing traditional things like printing off photos at CVS, it also has meant making collages of birthday cards, printing off meaningful emails to put into scrapbooks, and treasuring three-dollar drugstore gifts with my life. Freshman year, I would have thrown it all away, but now that graduation has nearly become palpable, I cling to every piece of these relationships in the hope that I’ll rely on them for comfort someday. In a way, this is a coping mechanism. When abroad, watching videos that my friend had taken kept me from feeling completely alone; now, back at Princeton, wearing earrings that another friend gave me for my birthday reminds me that she cares about me when I’m having a bad day. Reminders of your close relationships
editor-in-chief
Jonathan Ort ’21
BOARD OF TRUSTEES president Thomas E. Weber ’89 vice president Craig Bloom ’88 secretary Betsy L. Minkin ’77 treasurer Douglas Widmann ’90 ANTAN O / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
are, in a way, just as important as the relationships themselves: in the person’s absence, a memento serves to remind you that they are there. This is critical for Princeton students: when we go abroad — for a semester or for a summer — so many of us are thrust into a completely new environment. Knowing that someone cares about us is often what makes the difference between a good and a bad experience. But this isn’t limited to going abroad: being on campus is hard, too, and it’s here that we often need to be reminded that we are loved and cared for. Now that I’m on the precipice of graduation, I know that I’ll need these mementos more than ever. Wherever I end up, I’ll likely be
very far from the friends on this campus, my friends off this campus, and my family around the world — and will need to remind myself of their presence. And for that reason, I’ve stopped minding that my friend takes videos of me when I’m not paying attention. Even if I end up saying something dumb. Leora Eisenberg is a senior from Eagan, M.N. She can be reached at leorae@princeton. edu.
trustees Francesca Barber David Baumgarten ’06 Kathleen Crown Gabriel Debenedetti ’12 Stephen Fuzesi ’00 Zachary A. Goldfarb ’05 Michael Grabell ’03 John G. Horan ’74 Joshua Katz Rick Klein ’98 James T. MacGregor ’66 Alexia Quadrani Marcelo Rochabrun ’15 Kavita Saini ’09 Richard W. Thaler, Jr. ’73 Abigail Williams ’14 trustees emeriti Gregory L. Diskant ’70 William R. Elfers ’71 Kathleen Kiely ’77 Jerry Raymond ’73 Michael E. Seger ’71 Annalyn Swan ’73 trustees ex officio Jonathan Ort ’21
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From apartheid to the climate crisis: Divestment at Princeton Dr. Elizabeth Haase Guest Columnist
35 years ago, my eyes were opened to the power of financial protest to shape the world. As an undergraduate at the University, I was part of the last wave of students who pressured the University to divest from South African investments. Our movement was part of a sustained, global campaign to end apartheid. We marched, and we chanted, “Princeton divest, oh yeah! Just like the rest, oh yeah!” We were briefly arrested, and in 1985, I wrote an op-ed calling on the University to divest. This experience convinced me that Margaret Mead was right: a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Now an alumnus, I am again moved to action, this time to support Divest Princeton, a group of students who are pressuring the University to remove fossil fuel assets from its $26 billion endowment. Others, including Desmond Tutu, have made the link between the struggle for justice in South Africa and the struggle to stave off the worst impacts of climate change. Why is divestment necessary? The world is experiencing a climate emergency, with ten years to cut carbon emissions by 45 percent to prevent true catastrophe. Only a massive disruption of current practices, including business practices, will bring that change quickly enough. As Margaret Salamon explains in her book, Facing
the Climate Emergency: How to Transform Yourself with Climate Truth, this disruption requires an emergency psychology akin to that of a world war. We must act, all together, right now, no matter what it takes. Fossil fuel companies’ campaigns of misinformation and denialism have unconscionably manipulated public perception and heightened climate risks, as explained by Nathaniel Rich in Losing Earth: A Recent History. Decades of these sinister practices have already cost millions of lives and destroyed communities and cultures around the world, disproportionately affecting those who are least responsible for the current crisis. The fossil fuel lobby continues to spend hundreds of millions of dollars per year to block or delay climate-motivated policy. Fossil fuel emissions are fueling the droughts and floods that lead to illness, refugee crises, and threats to US security. More directly, fossil fuel particulates are unequivocally associated with respiratory illness and neuropsychiatric disorders that negatively impact the health of all young people, including Princeton students, right now. Some will say the University should use its influence to remain in the conversation with fossil fuel companies. But if preserving the planet is our intent, we must acknowledge divestiture has worked and stockholder pressure has not. Supporting companies that consistently distort the truth in order to obtain massive subsidies and market gain unavoidably supports
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the pre-eminence of these companies over others. Students are told their divestment demands politicize the endowment. But the energy industry’s lobbying campaign, which has trafficked blatant lies and distorted the conversation around climate change, has undeniably been political all along. Climate change is evidentiary. Investing in politicized, non-scientific positions that destroy life cannot be justified on a campus committed to truth. All universities, Princeton included, fundamentally seek to promote higher ideals, the pursuit of truth, and the promotion of hu-
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man well-being, as reflected in the informal motto taught to every student on entry, “Princeton in the nation’s service and the service of humanity.” Failure to address the climate crisis has been declared a violation of fundamental human rights. The Dutch Supreme Court recently affirmed that the Netherlands has an obligation to stop the catastrophic effects of climate change, which threatens the lives and well-being of its citizens and others around the world. The health impacts of climate change for young people include cognitive damage, rising rates of psychiatric disorders, and increasing stress in every system
necessary to thrive. Continued investment in fossil fuels actively undermines the intellectual and personal future of the students Princeton and other universities seek to foster, as well as our human and natural communities. To President Eisgruber and to all other universities entrusted with the welfare of our young people: Supporting fossil fuel companies is a political position that harms your students. Divest of fossil fuel assets, and of companies that invest in them. Dr. Elizabeth Haase ’85 is a psychiatrist and a founding member of the Climate Psychiatry Alliance.
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Tuesday February 11, 2020
Sports
page 8
{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } WRESTLING
Tigers’ win snaps Cornell’s 92-match win streak in Ivy League competition WRESTLING Continued from page 1
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It took hope. It took an Olympic year, took four of no. 20 Cornell wrestling’s top athletes off the roster to chase their gold-medal dreams. It took bonus points from no. 3 sophomore Patrick Glory. It took grit and drama from no. 5 sophomore Quincy Monday. It took senior Kevin Parker and no. 23 sophomore Grant Cuomo turning tossups into routings. It took the surprise return (first reported by this newspaper) of no. 4 senior superstar Matthew Kolodzik. It took no. 25 sophomore Travis Stefanik putting his team on his shoulders and his opponent on his back. It took three decades and a dream. And — take it from Ayres — “it wasn’t pretty.” But on Sunday, Feb. 9, for the first time in 17 years and 92 matches, Cornell wrestling lost in Ivy League competition. On Sunday, Feb. 9, for the first time since 1986, no. 9 Princeton wrestling won an Ivy League Championship. “Yeah,” said Ayres. “That feels pretty good.” If the Big Red had history on its side heading into Sunday’s dual, the Tigers — 11 spots higher in the national rankings and with a roster spearheaded by four top-five wrestlers — had numbers on theirs. They knew, still, that victory wouldn’t come easy. Cornell’s no. 5 Chas Tucker would pose a
formidable threat to Princeton’s unranked 133-pound junior Ty Agaisse. And Cornell’s no. 4 197-pound Ben Darmstadt could whittle down the Tigers’ advantage with a victory against no. 3 junior Patrick Brucki. The meet would be decided, then, by five weight classes: 141, 165, 174, 184, and heavyweight. None of those Princeton wrestlers — save no. 23 165-pound Cuomo — enjoy national rankings. All of them — including Cuomo — have struggled for the past two months with consistency. “Yeah,” said Ayres before the match. “I’m nervous, to say the least.” The Big Red won the coin toss to start the meet at heavyweight; true freshman Aidan Conner took the mat. An early takedown by Cornell’s Brendan Furman set the tone. He logged six swipes-worth of back points in the second period alone and closed out the match with a 9-0 major decision. 4–0, Cornell. Next up was Glory, who’d detailed his strategy in a prematch interview. “We want to go in with high intensity,” he said. “We want to go in there with a little bit of swagger. We want to go out there big guns swinging. What’s the best way to say it? Guns loaded.” He fired on all cylinders, logging three takedowns, two swipes of back points, and riding time on his way to a 9–0 victory over the unranked Dom Lajoie. Team score: 4–4. Facing no. 5 Tucker at
133-pounds, Agaisse trailed 5–2 at the start of the third. A father — orange shirt, orange pants, orange hat — leaned to his son in the stands. “If he can keep this to a regular decision,” he said, “that’ll be a very good thing.” Agaisse fell as expected but managed some impressive damage control, limiting Tucker to a 9–3 decision. Sophomore Marshall Keller dropped the second of the meet’s tossups 8–4 to the unranked Noah Baughman at 141, allowing the Big Red to storm its way to an 11–4 team lead. The tide had turned in Cornell’s favor. But walking onto the mat was the one wrestler — on Princeton’s roster, certainly, and in the country, maybe — who could be trusted to turn it back. For the unenlightened: Facing North Carolina State on Jan. 11, senior 149-pound captain Mike D’Angelo suffered a season-ending injury. 149-pound Matthew Kolodzik was halfway through his Olympic year. He had just one more opportunity to qualify for Trials. But if he gave up his redshirt, re-enrolled at Princeton, re-donned his singlet, and won a national title? He’d receive an automatic bid. To him, to D’Angelo, and to Ayres, the decision was simple. Matthew Kolodzik was back. His 4–2 win over the unranked Hunter Richard took the team into intermission. The Tigers trailed 11–7. They didn’t panic.
“We’re in the meat of our lineup now,” Ayres told his team. No. 4 Monday tied up the score 10–10 with a hard-fought decision over Cornell’s Adam Santoro at 157. No. 23 Cuomo dominated Jakob Brindley 8–1; Parker made a good case for a national ranking at 174 with a 10–3 drubbing of Andrew Berreyesa. Princeton led 16–10. Two matches remained. Next up, at 184, was Stefanik. A win for him — any win, with any margin — would make a Cornell victory impossible. A loss would put the stress on Brucki. 34 years of hopes and dreams rested on Stefanik. He’s had standout moments this season, but his fair share of failures, too — his shoulders seemed an unlikely set to count on. “Travis Stefanik,” said Ayres in an interview last month, “has not figured himself out yet. With that kid, we just keep waiting for a breakthrough.” With 28 seconds to go in the match a breakthrough — and victory — seemed unlikely. The score stood tied at 4–4. Stefanik was on the ground, Cornell’s Jonathan Loew scrambling above him for control. It happened quickly, all at once. 17 seconds to go: Stefanik got in on the leg. 13 seconds to go: in on the headlock. 11 seconds: he hit the cradle. One swipe; two swipes; three swipes; four. 10–4, match score; 19–10 team score. A dream had toppled a dynasty. The Princeton bench ex-
ploded. Kolodzik jumped into Keller’s arms. Sophomore Forest Belli jumped into Grant Cuomo’s. Stefanik jumped into associate head coach Sean Gray’s, then assistant coach Nate Jackson’s. Ayres threw a wheelbarrow — yes, you read that right — across Jadwin Gymnasium. “Blood, sweat, and tears,” said Stefanik, on the verge of them himself. “I came here for this. I came to Princeton to win championships — not just Ivy League championships, but national championships. This is for everyone.” “I don’t know that I’ve ever been that excited in somebody winning,” Ayres said. What was Kolodzik thinking? “I wasn’t thinking. I don’t think anybody was. We were just so, so crazy hyped.” Even an 11–4 defeat of Brucki by Darmstadt couldn’t hamper Tiger joy. “We’re all brothers,“ said Kolodzik. “We make sure we do our job, and we make sure we have the guy next to us. Everybody on the team stepped up. But in the final analysis, this is all about Coach Ayres. He’s the guy who made it happen.” So how will Ayres — the visionary, the wheelbarrowthrower, the guy who made it happen — celebrate? “I’m going to go hang out with my family,“ he said. “There’s some alums here and there’s some kids I coached.” He laughed. “We’re gonna go have a little fun.”
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Men’s basketball beats Columbia, falls to Cornell in first conference loss By Jack Graham
Head Sports Editor Emeritus
An unusual weekend of Ivy League play left Princeton men’s basketball in the same place they started: tied with Yale atop the Ivy League standings with a Valentine’s Day date with the Bulldogs looming. After a blizzard in Ithaca forced the Tigers to postpone their New York back-to-back by one day the team split the games, falling to Cornell 73–62 on Saturday before rebounding with a 81–74 win over Columbia. Despite losing for the first time in the Ivy League, Princeton remained tied for first in the Ancient Eight after Yale fell to Harvard. Princeton entered Saturday afternoon’s game against Cornell as a favorite against a team that had only earned one Ivy League win. But the Tigers struggled on the offensive end from the beginning of the game. The Big Red started on a 14–4 run, and Princeton managed just nine points in the first ten minutes of the first half. The Tigers finished the first half with nine turnovers and just a 36.4 shooting percentage, as the Big Red took a 35–22 lead into halftime.
Things didn’t get much better for Princeton in the second half, as Cornell extended its lead to as many as 18 points and held a commanding 61–47 lead with 4:37 remaining. Defensive pressure, along with a string of Cornell turnovers and missed shots, helped Princeton go on a quick 8–0 run to cut the deficit to six with two minutes remaining, but the Big Red stabilized to hold onto the lead and run out the clock. Cornell’s Jimmy Boeheim led the game in scoring with 24 points, and Josh Warren added 18. No Princeton player scored more than 13 points. The Tigers managed to solve their offensive issues relatively quickly, scoring 81 points and shooting 54.7 percent from the field to take down Columbia. Princeton’s scoring was distributed throughout the lineup, with five players scoring double-digit points. Sophomore guard Jaelin Llewellyn had 19 points and junior guard Ryan Schwieger had 18, followed by senior center Richmond Aririguzoh with 16, sophomore forward Drew Friberg with 11, and junior forward Jerome Desrosiers with 10. The Tigers also had to survive a heroic effort from Columbia guard Mike Smith,
who played all 40 minutes and scored 30 points on 14–25 shooting. The teams were evenly matched for most of the first half, but Princeton went on an 8–0 run in the final 2:43 to take a 39–31 lead into halftime.
Princeton never trailed in the second half, but a string of points by Smith brought Columbia within four points with seven minutes remaining. The Tigers managed to avoid turnovers and sunk free throws to secure the 81–74 win.
The Tigers will be back in action next weekend at Jadwin Gym against Yale and Brown, as they look to solidify their position in the top half of the Ivy League standings midway through the conference schedule.
JACK GRAHAM / DAILY PRINCETONIAN
Junior Jerome Desrosiers against Lafayette on Nov. 13, 2020
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