February 12, 2016

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Friday February 12, 2016 vol. cxxxx no. 10

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } BEYOND THE BUBBLE

Perry arrest video released

By Annie Yang News Editor

COURTESY OF PRINCETON POLICE DEPARTMENT

In an arrest video released for the public, two patrol officers escort AAS professor Imani Perry out of her car.

According to the arrest documents and a police dashboard camera footage of African American Studies Professor Imani Perry’s arrest, Perry was speeding 67 mph in a 45 mph zone.

On Saturday, Perry wrote on her Twitter account that police refused her a phone call before her arrest, conducted a body search on her and handcuffed her to a table at the police station. The video shows that the

patrolling officer, however, told her that she can contact her coworkers after reaching the police headquarters and explained that he had to handcuff her prior to taking her into custody.

Perry did not respond to a request for comment.

While the footage for the alleged body search and processing at the station were not released, the video of Perry’s arrest is now public.

According to the arrest report, Perry was stopped for speeding on 500 Mercer Street See PERRY page 2

ACADEMICS

Pyne Prize awarded to Nelson ’16, Agolia ’16

By Maya Wesby staff writer

James Agolia ‘16 and Andrew Nelson ‘16 were named the recipients of the 2016 Moses Taylor Pyne Honor Prize on Wednesday afternoon.

The Pyne Prize is the University’s highest general distinction and is awarded to undergraduates who display excellent scholarship, strength of character, and effective leadership.

According to a press release, Agolia and Nelson will be recognized at a luncheon during Alumni Day on Feb. 20.

Agolia, a chemistry major, plans on attending medical school with the intent on becoming a surgeon and a scientist in academic medicine, according to the press release.

His former honors include the Shapiro Prize for Academic Excellence in 2013 and 2014, the Peter N. Curtin Award for Excellence in Chemistry Research and Intercollegiate Rowing Association all-academic recognition.

Agolia was unavailable to comment.

Michael Hecht ‘74, the Head of Forbes College, has worked with Agolia for three years in a chemistry research lab on research in synthetic biology and creating novel proteins that function and provide lifesustaining activity like natural proteins do.

“What’s kind of remarkable about [Agolia] is that he’s got a lot of grit… the project got harder and harder and he didn’t get discouraged,” Hecht said.

He added that Agolia had an enthusiastic approach to work,

both inside and outside of the lab.

“James is really smart. He’s a really hardworking, motivated, dedicated person with his work,” he said.

Hecht said that Agolia was dedicated to various activities such as being an RCA in Wilson College, rowing on the lightweight crew team and being in an a capella group.

“Clearly, this guy has more than 24 hours in the day… he does a great number of things in many different realms and seems to do all of them at a really high level. He’s spectacular to watch,” he added.

Nelson is majoring in German with certificates in European cultural studies, values and public life and French language and culture. He has won multiple academic honors, including the Arthur Liman Fellowship in Public Interest Law, the Guggenheim Internship in Criminal Justice and the Department of German’s book prize. Nelson is also a member of the Behrman Undergraduate Society of Fellows as well as Phi Beta Kappa.

Nelson said that the Prize was completely unexpected. He added that he did not know he was a contender for the Prize.

“To think that all of these people that I have felt so fortunate to be able to work with, and who really have made my Princeton career, had things to say about me, has really made me think about and value the work that I’ve done here… that’s definitely been the most meaningful part for me,” he said.

Nelson is a residential college adviser in Forbes College,

works at the Writing Center and also works as a learning consultant and member of the student advisory council at the McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning. He said that he enjoys spending one-on-one time with students in order to help them succeed in academic areas that may be challenging.

Nelson said that within the next few years, he hopes to work in issues that have been particularly important to him during his time at the University, including educational and community development.

He also wants to work in the criminal justice system, particularly as it applies to youth.

Hecht said that he also knows Nelson through their connection to Forbes.

“Both of them [Nelson and Agolia] are, in many ways, multidimensional people,” Hecht said.

Hecht said that one attribute both winners share is not drawing attention to themselves. He added that Agolia and Nelson’s humble, straightforward and down-to-earth natures make them fitting for the prize.

“They’re both the kind of people who are interested in other people, taking care of other people and being mentors,” he added.

Barbara Nagel, an assistant professor of German and Nelson’s thesis advisor, noted the importance of the Pyne Prize and said that Nelson is a perfect recipient.

“People at Princeton know that the Moses Taylor Pyne Honor Prize ‘is awarded to the senior who has most clearly manifested excellent scholarSee PYNE page 2

Andrew Nelson ‘16

James Agolia ‘16

LECTURE

John Van Epp talks trust, commitment in relationships staff writer

John Van Epp said that trust, physical intimacy, reliance, knowing a person well and commitment are all categories that can ultimately determine the success of a relationship in a talk on Thursday.

“I think, in your lifetime right now, it’s actually more difficult to find somebody who has their act together, who seems to have a maturity and a quality about them… than it was 30 years ago; that seems crazy in my mind,” he said.

Van Epp, author of “How To Avoid Falling In Love With A

In Opinion

Jerk,” has spoken across campuses nation-wide and his work has been featured in TIME, Psychology Today and other publications. Van Epp’s Relationship Attachment Model, or R.A.M., stresses these qualities in a relationship.

Van Epp took comments from the audience on qualities that can be found in an undesirable partner, known as a jerk or “jerkette,” such as selfishness, passive-aggressiveness, impatience and “phone-aholics.” According to Van Epp’s definition, this kind of person has a core characteristic: a persistent resistance to change.

However, he said, by using

The editorial board advocates for more organized opportunities in which students and professors can interact outside of the classroom, and columnist Devon Naftzger discusses the often overlooked role sororities have on campus PAGE 4

R.A.M., people can get a proper assessment of their relationships and work to fix any lacking qualities; these qualities, even when studied individually, all have bonding elements that joins two people together. He added the system can also be used to predict the success of a marriage, and explained that two of the five aspects of a successful relationship would be “Know” and “Trust.”

In the “Know” category, Van Epp noted that knowing someone’s family background in order to analyze how they handle emotions and give and receive love can be a determinant in how people act in future romantic

relationships. He also said that how someone acts on their conscience, or how successful they are in managing and regulating themselves, can speak volumes to their impulse control.

He used psychologist Walter Mischel’s marshmallow experiment to illustrate this to the audience, and showed a video on young children participating in the experiment. An adult would leave the child alone in a room with a marshmallow and, if they waited a few minutes for the adult to return to the room, they could get two marshmallows. The catch was that the children could not eat the first marshmallow. The results from

Today on Campus 11 a.m.: University Career Services will hold Spring HireTigers Meetup to offer students, alumni and employers a chance to meet and network with each other. Frick Chemistry Building.

the experiment showed a variety of ranges in maturity and control that the children would have for the rest of their lives, and these qualities also play an important part in their handling of romantic relationships in the future, he noted.

Van Epp said that “Trust” can be defined as the feeling of confidence that one gets from assumptions about another person, but not what is known.

“I find that, today, relationships tend to get built backwards… trust develops way faster in relationships today than what people take to get to know [a person],” he said.

See LECTURE page 2

WEATHER

By Maya Wesby

HIGH

29˚

LOW

20˚

Partly Cloudy chance of rain:

0 percent

The Daily Princetonian

page 2

Friday February 12, 2016

Eisgruber ‘83, AAS faculty shows Agolia, Nelson to be honored on Alumni Day support for Perry in letters PERRY

Continued from page 1

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at 9:07 a.m. this past Saturday.

When asked for her identification, she provided her Pa. driver’s license but could not locate her registration or insurance card.

Perry was subsequently arrested at 9:33 a.m. on Feb. 6 for operating a motor vehicle with a suspended driver’s license and an active warrant that resulted from outstanding parking tickets.

The parking ticket, issued at 9:51 a.m. on Nov. 27, 2012, cites Perry as failing to park within designated stalls. She was initially charged $50, including a $25 fine, but, for unexplained reasons, failed to pay the ticket or appear in court when summoned on Feb. 15, 2013.

Although Perry’s license and ticket were from Pennsylvania, there was an active warrant for Perry’s arrest from Princeton’s jurisdiction. The warrant was approved on Mar. 7, 2013 with a bail of $130.

Perry was charged under Contempt of Court 2C:29-9. According to the Statutes of New Jersey, an individual can be charged with contempt when he or she is guilty of a crime, knowingly disobeys a judicial order or hinders the effectuation of a judicial order.

Per Police Department policy, Perry was asked to accompany the officers in the rear seat of the patrol vehicle on her way to headquarters for procedural processing.

“Unfortunately, any time we transport anyone, because you’re under arrest, or because of a warrant, we have to put you in handcuffs,” Patrol officer Michael Schubert, who stopped

Perry for speeding, explained to her in the video.

Schubert then asked whether she wants to have a friend or a family pick up her car before he asked her to exit her vehicle, according to the video. Perry answered in the negative.

After Perry had exited the vehicle and walked to the patrol car to be driven to the police headquarters, she then asked if she could contact others.

“Can I text somebody before I get in the car, to let someone from the University know what’s happening?” Perry asked.

“When we get there, you can call them.You can make as many calls as you want,” the officer said.

According to the records, Perry was transported without incident. During processing at the police station, she posted the bail waiver, which indicated that she plead guilty to the parking offense and did not want to appear in court for trial. Perry was later released at 10:18 a.m. after posting full bail.

Lieutenant Jonathan Bucchere, a member of the Support Services Division at the Princeton Police Department, did not respond to a request for further comment.

Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., professor of religion and African American Studies and chair of the Department of African American Studies, said the video adds little to the understanding of the situation, nor does it contradict what Perry described in her posts.

“The question, and it should be asked over and over again, is whether or not others, particularly white motorists, are subject to the same treatment,” he said.

Glaude added that anecdotal evidence offers a number of personal accounts which suggest differential treatment.

Min Pullan, University media relations specialist, deferred

comment to the Feb. 10 statement of President Christopher Eisgruber ‘83.

According to Eisgruber’s statement, he and Dean of the Faculty Deborah Prentice had been in contact with Perry over the weekend to offer support. He added that the town has initiated an independent investigation through the Mercer County Prosecutor’s office.

The Faculty of the Department of African American Studies also recently released a letter in support of Perry, primarily in indignation at the way the Princeton police treated her: subjecting her to a pat-down by a male officer in the presence of a female officer and handcuffing her to a table while processing her at the police station.

The letter noted that although the professors were outraged, they were not surprised because incidents like Perry’s arrest occur all too often throughout the country. As the letter states, marginalized groups are disproportionately and systematically disadvantaged not only in the criminal justice system, but in many other aspects of life.

Perry closed down her Twitter account earlier this week, citing fears of “hacking” as a reason.

In statement posted on Facebook, Perry wrote that although she was pulled over and arrested for a three-year-old parking ticket, the injustice stems deeper. She writes that she does not believe that she was at fault, and that the police treated her inappropriately and disproportionately.

“I hope that this circle of attention will be part of a deeper reckoning with how and why police officers behave the way they do, especially towards those of us whose flesh is dark,” she wrote.

PYNE

Continued from page 1

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ship, strength of character and effective leadership,’” she said.

She added that Nelson has excelled in all areas, under her definitions of “excellence,” “character” and “leadership.”

Nagel is advising Nelson on his senior thesis about Swiss writer Robert Walser, and she notes that the small size of the German Department helps students get one-on-one support and advising. She said that students cannot overestimate the degree to which the community of majors teach and learn from each other.

“To me, the way that Andrew approaches his work in general and his Senior Thesis in specific exemplifies the best of what we encourage in our students: Andrew always makes a real effort to come up with genuine research questions,” she said.

Nagel said she hasn’t encountered a single written or spoken comment from Nelson that didn’t seem to be motivated by a “real,” original interest.

She added that because Nelson is concentrating in a foreign language department, his approach to the thesis and its general quality is enhanced.

“Andrew’s approach to language is never merely instrumental, but instead shows a high degree of attentiveness and care; this kind of thoughtfulness toward language is worthy of emulation – in the academic context but just as much, or even more so, in everyday life,” she said.

“The first time Andrew really came to my attention was when we were discussing one of the most famous novels of

GDR [East German] literature, Christa Wolf’s They Divided the Sky (1963),” Nagel said.

The fact that the female protagonist, who aspires to be a schoolteacher, chooses to work in a factory during the summer had understandably surprised the students, she added. She asked them what they imagined would make such a work experience worthwhile – or not.

Nagel said that most of her students did not see the value in working in a factory. However, Nelson wrote his paper on Simone Weil, a French political activist, philosopher and mystic, who experienced the life of a factory worker for a year in order to truly analyze their roles.

She noted that Nelson’s participation in the German Program’s Summer Work Program also made him stand out as a leader.

“We offered Andrew the opportunity to work for a bigger cultural institution, a newmedia company, or the Museum of Youth in Berlin,” she said.

Nelson chose the Museum of Youth in order to work with younger people, Nagel added.

This was a form of leadership — to empathize with the seemingly powerless, whether it is factory workers or young people, or the “small,” Nagel said.

When asked for advice to students hoping to win the Pyne Prize in the future, Nelson noted the importance of hard work and valuing the University’s faculty, students and general resources.

“I would just say to really value the people that you find here and the work that you do with them,” he said.

Van Epp: Today, relationships tend to get built backwards LECTURE Continued from page 1

.............

He noted that relationships must undergo an incubation period of about three months before people begin to reveal who they really are, rather than what they portray themselves as.

Van Epp also briefly explained the category of “Touch,” which includes intimacy. He added that when “Touch” is reserved for more advanced and longterm stages of a relationship, other qualities of a relationship are consequently strengthened.

“As you develop a relationship, what you emphasize for the first year [or] two years in that relationship and what you build on, have permanent, lasting impact for the majority of

people. That’s the trend,” he said.

He added that holding off on sexual involvement can improve the overall qualities of a relationship.

“You begin to build relationships that actually benefit you and your own life, you find that you grow from them,” he said.

Even if a relationship doesn’t work out, it is possible to walk away from it feeling like it has made a positive change in one’s life, he noted.

“These are relationships that are not the norm of how people date today,” Van Epp said.

The lecture, titled, “Follow Your Heart Without Losing Your Mind,” was open to the public and took place on Thursday in McCosh 10. The event was sponsored by the Anscombe Society.

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Friday February 12, 2016

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News Notes

Four U. graduate students to be awarded Jacobus fellowship on Alumni Day ceremonies

By Daily Princetonian Staff

the University of Pennsylvania and a master of arts in theater and performance studies from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom. He is currently a doctoral candidate in English.

Bennett’s dissertation centers on the affective economies, as well as the literary imagination, that have emerged from African American experiences of being treated as the socio-legal equivalents of nonhuman animals.

“In addition to my desire to eventually become a university professor, I also hope to continue my career as a poet, performance artist and arts educator after graduation,” Bennett said in a press release.

Beyond the classroom, Bennett aspires to substantially contribute to the field of African American letters and hopes to be both a scholar of the black

Four graduate students were named as the recipients of 2016 Porter Ogden Jacobus Fellowship on Wednesday.

Joshua Bennett GS, Kellen Funk GS, Carlee Joe-Wong GS and Rajesh Ranganath GS are the winners of this year’s fellowship, the University’s top honor for graduate students. The award will support students’ final year of study at Princeton and is awarded to students whose work has exhibited “the highest scholarly excellence,” according to the University.

The fellows, all of whom came to pursue a doctoral degree at Princeton in 2011, will receive their awards at the Alumni Day ceremonies on Saturday, Feb. 20.

Bennett earned an undergraduate degree in English from

literary tradition and a practicing poet.

Funk, who earned his undergraduate degree in history from Bob Jones University and a juris doctorate from Yale, is a doctoral candidate in history.

Funk’s dissertation explores the origins of legal trends, which largely began in 1850 when a commission of New York trial lawyers drafted a code that reoriented legal practice toward their interests. He will continue pursuing law as a career.

“Upon completing my dissertation studies in the summer of 2016, I will begin a series of clerkships in the federal courts,” he said in the press release.

Joe-Wong, who earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in applied and computational mathematics from Princeton, is a doctoral student in the Program in Applied and Com-

putational Mathematics. Her research focuses on smart data pricing, which aims to better manage traffic on wireless networks by incentivizing users to change their data usage behavior to reduce network congestion.

“My experience in co-founding a startup, conducting user pricing trials with industry partners, and submitting proposals to funding agencies have provided further inspiration for solving problems that have practical impact,” she said in the press release.

She is a co-founder of mobile data company Datami, and hopes to pursue a career in academia as a professor.

Rajesh Ranganath earned his bachelor’s and master’s degree from Stanford University in computer science. As a PhD candidate in the University’s

It’s amazing!

Computer Science Department, he works on developing new statistical methodologies to make them more accessible to non-statisticians and addresses problems in clinical medicine.

He hopes to secure a position as a professor so he can develop new statistical methods and advance clinical medicine using statistics on large datasets, Ranganath said in the press release, adding that he wants to “nurture the growth of new statisticians and data scientists as a professor at a research university.”

Sanjeev R. Kulkarni, Dean of the Graduate School, noted that the Jacobus Fellowship winners are all outstanding students and scholars.

“We’re proud to have them as Princeton graduate students and honorific award recipients,” he wrote in a statement.

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Opinion

Friday February 12, 2016

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{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } EDITORIAL

Strengthening student-professor interactions

P

rinceton University prides itself on its undergraduate focus and especially on the incredible availability of its world-renowned faculty to work with undergraduate students. With a studentfaculty ratio of 6:1, students have a remarkable proximity to some of the most outstanding minds in today’s academic disciplines.

All University professors engage in teaching as well as research, and students interact with their instructors in various class formats such as precepts, seminars and lectures, but oftentimes the most valuable interactions come from outside of the classroom.

Professors are not just technical experts; they are also individuals with tremendous experience in academic life and passions for intellectual pursuits. Students seeking out professors beyond the lecture hall can expand their knowledge of class material, discover new interests, bear witness to relevant wisdom about finding a career path and receive advice for navigating University life. While University professors already hold office hours for facilitating student-professor interactions outside of class, the Editorial Board proposes better

promotion of that system as well as popularizing programs that support meals between students and professors.

Many professors currently list the times they are available to meet on their syllabi and mention this information during their first lectures, but after that, office hours often become just a tool used only for getting help on incomplete assignments or addressing other problems.

Students would benefit from being reminded by their professors of the times and places they are available throughout the year, not just when midterms or big assignments are looming.

Since many students might be hesitant to go to office hours because they are unsure what to talk about, professors should encourage students to take advantage of office hours even if they don’t have questions about the course material or a specific assignment. The Board further encourages residential college advisers and the Undergraduate Student Government to help students take advantage of office hours by encouraging students to partake of this resource.

In addition to office hours, meals are often a great way to get

to know a professor better. The University has several resources to facilitate these encounters, but these are generally disparate and little known. One such resource is the Princeton Home Dining program organized by the Office of the Vice President for Campus Life. This program, funded by a generous alumnus in 2011, provides funds for inviting a professor to a meal (or even just coffee) at any dining location on campus. This is an ongoing program that can readily foster conversations between professors and students, but it seems that few students are aware of this opportunity.

Similar opportunities seem to be available at some residential colleges, but these again are not uniformly available and tend to be irregularly publicized. Residential colleges have sponsored nights on which students can invite professors to dinner at their college dining hall, but these events are sporadic and vary per college. Another unique example is that Whitman College provides meal passes for professors invited to dinner at the college on any night, if prior coordination is arranged. Even some eating clubs extend the

privilege of allowing members to invite a professor to a meal, but this is not the case for all clubs. We urge the Office of the Vice President for Campus Life, residential colleges and eating clubs to better promote these programs throughout the year on their respective websites or through listservs so that students are able to take advantage of this opportunity.

These suggestions can bolster the efficiency and availability of the opportunities provided by the University, but it is ultimately up to the students to seek out these encounters. We encourage students to take advantage of these important ways of flourishing at Princeton. While the University already supports a helpful system of student-professor interactions, reinforcing the practice of these interactions, especially outside the classroom, would yield a more engaged and cohesive University community.

The Editorial Board is an independent body and decides its opinions separately from the regular staff and editors of The Daily Princetonian.

The Board answers only to its Chair, the Opinion Editor and the Editor-InChief.

vol. cxxxx

Do-Hyeong Myeong ’17 editor-in-chief

Daniel Kim ’17

business manager

EDITORIAL BOARD chair Cydney Kim ’17 Allison Berger ’18 Elly Brown ’18 Thomas Clark ’18 Paul Draper ’18 Daniel Elkind ’17 Theodore Furchgott ’18 Wynne Kerridge ’16 Jeffrey Leibenhaut ’16 Sergio Leos ’17 Carolyn Liziewski ’18 Sam Mathews ’17 Connor Pfeiffer ’18 Ashley Reed ’18 Aditya Trivedi ’16

NIGHT STAFF 2.8.16 staff copy editors Noah Hastings ’19 Isabel Hsu ’19 Sarah Kim ’17 Nina Rodriguez ’19

Don’t rush to judgement: a take on sororities Devon Naftzger contributor

I

n the aftermath of bicker, I find myself reflecting on how socially tumultuous sophomore year is for Princetonians. This is particularly true for many Princeton women who go through Greek life recruitment first semester (due to the administration’s freshmen rush ban) and eating club bicker second semester of the same year.

At the same time, many social outlets on campus, particularly sororities, are mocked as being superficial and trivial and as a result, their merits are dismissed.

That perspective compels me to identify the lesser-known reasons that make organizations like sororities so valuable to me and the 389 other Princeton women who participate in them. Trivializing the University’s legitimate social organizations is insular yet unfortunately common and I think it’s time for the freshman rush ban to be lifted from sororities.

Sororities may not singlehandedly cure gender inequality and the depression that pervades our student body, but I fail to see why the administration won’t recognize the largest women’s group on campus that primarily serves as a network of sup-

port for its many members. All three chapters are affiliated with their respective national organizations, which hold all members to higher behavioral and safety standards than the University does via bylaws and membership review committees. Princeton’s three sororities are not like the rowdy, hazing sororities depicted in movies and banning freshmen from them is only detrimental. Stifling the friendship and mentor-type relationships, especially those between upperclassmen and underclassmen, that sororities help foster makes adjusting to college an even more difficult and isolating process.

However, sororities don’t serve solely a social purpose. Academically, sororities function as a support group as well, providing reading groups and class advice from older members. It’s not a coincidence that 85-percent of Fortune 500 executives and all but three U.S. Presidents since 1825 were involved in Greek life.

The first female senator and first female astronaut were sorority women too. If the University wants its graduates to become successful business leaders, politicians or pursue virtually any job involving people skills, then activities focused on networking should be given equal,

if not more, resources – or at the very least, official recognition.

Classroom learning is obviously important, but personal growth and development of leadership skills are just as important for most, if not all, career paths and should not be disparaged.

A study by the University’s Steering Committee on Undergraduate Women’s Leadership emphasized that women are less likely than men to be presidential candidates for student groups and “social networks tend not to be very fluid on this campus, and opportunities to move into visible leadership posts are in short supply...” This is not the case for sororities where the entire executive boards and officer structures are always comprised of women leaders.

Many Princetonians make friends through common activities or sports, but unlike other campus activities that unite people who exhibit a common skill, people who join a sorority have different talents. As opposed to groups where athletes only hang out with athletes or singers only mix with singers, the only characteristic that unites sorority women is a common interest in being social. The diversity of my sorority members’ interests enriched my college experience because if

I didn’t have a sister to support, I might never have attended water polo games, ballet and diSiac performances, arch sings, philanthropy fashion shows and so on.

At the same time, I have always had a group of sisters in the audience at my violin performances, crew races and any activity that I have pursued. I sought a group that would connect me to others based on what we value, not what we do, and I only wish I could’ve accessed that inclusivity even earlier in my college career.

Denying freshmen this opportunity for a support system is counterproductive. Freshman year is a difficult adjustment for many students and without providing an outlet for formal biglittle mentorship, study groups, networking opportunities or social guidance, Princeton can be intensely isolating. As detrimental as the correlation may be, social affirmation often directly impacts personal happiness for many students here. One way to make sophomore year less stressful for women is to allow sorority recruitment to happen freshman spring, which would give students the summer to regroup regardless of the outcome of recruitment. Friendships would blossom earlier as a result of the process and, as was the case with

many of my friends, students’ happiness levels would dramatically increase. Perhaps if sorority recruitment were moved to freshman year, there would be less substance abuse and regrettable nights on Prospect Avenue as a result of mentorship and supportive peer oversight.

At the very least, sororities should be recognized as official organizations by the University and freshmen should be allowed to attend Greek philanthropy events like fundraising 5Ks and profit-shares in town. Speaking of fundraising, the University administration should be further incentivized to support such events, as Greek-involved alumni nationally give four times as much as non-Greek alumni.

Social involvement doesn’t matter to every student here, but in such an academically intense environment, providing purely social outlets for those who are interested is a vital step in creating a healthy college environment. The largest women’s organizations on campus should be recognized and mobilized as the powerful resource that they are.

Devon Naftzger is a politics major from Lincolnshire, Il. She can be reached at naftzger@princeton.edu.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

In response to “What it will take to bring down ‘The Wall’” Princeton Committee on Palestine guest columnist

B

etween October and December 2015, 142 Palestinian civilians were killed by Israeli Defense Forces. Of those 142, 27 were children. In the same time period, 15,620 were injured by the IDF. Among those, over 1,500 were injured by live ammunition and over 3,000 were injured by rubbercoated bullets. This was in the span of just two months. And this is nothing new. Palestinians have been subject to the terror and reign of an illegal military occupation since 1967. That’s 41 years — 41 years at the mercy of an occupying force. 41 years of being told that they can’t decide their own fate. 41 years of risking violence merely by remaining in their homes.

Quite frankly, it is disappointing that Tigers for Israel would denounce the wall constructed by Princeton Committee on Palestine in conjunction with Princeton

DREAM Team. In a letter to the editor published on Wednesday, TFI claimed that “PCP builds walls on the Frist lawn that physically and emotionally divide campus.” It is nonsensical that TFI would take this position on the display while defending the Israeli apartheid wall itself, a structure that does just that. The aim of the campus installation is to show that the wall inside the West Bank is not only divisive, but perhaps the most recognizable symbol of the occupation and of the crippling lack of selfdetermination given to the Palestinian people.

The wall shows all of campus how the narrative is already skewed.

In their letter to the editor, TFI alleged that PCP is “perpetuat[ing] one-sided, misleading narratives.”

This is not only accusatory, but also inaccurate, ignoring the fundamental asymmetry of IsraeliPalestinian relations. The real-life wall will ultimately annex 9.5% of the West Bank into Israeli territory. According to TFI, it is misleading to point out that the apart-

heid wall, along with checkpoints, roadblocks and more, contribute to the “bantustanization,” or fragmentation of the West Bank, which cripples the Palestinian economy.

In doing so, TFI renders IsraeliPalestinian dialogue unproductive by imposing a fundamental power gap. Under this system, Israel holds all of the cards, appropriating Palestinian natural resources and destroying civilians’ mobility, access to power and self-agency. Furthermore, Schechner compares the wall to the American institution of the Transportation Security Administration, yet this analogy couldn’t be more inane. The TSA does not consistently hold all Arabs for hours at a time. It does not routinely turn people away for no reason. It does not restrict movement within the United States itself. It does not keep you from moving from Princeton to Trenton. It does not make roads only meant for use by Americans.

The occupation hurts all parties, but the perpetuation of a narrative of Israeli victimhood while Palestinians suffer under the control of

Israeli security forces is dishonest and hypocritical. PCP condemns terror attacks in no uncertain terms, but it is inaccurate to argue that the wall serves to reduce them.

First, and foremost, the claim that the wall is the reason for a reduction in suicide bombings in Israel is flawed. According to Haaretz, a leading Israeli paper, “the main reason over the past year is the truce in the territories.” Proponents of the wall often cite the 2003 fall in suicide attacks inside Israel as evidence of its success, when in fact the wall was only 20 percent complete by this point, and was just 50 percent complete by 2006. Rather, the drop-off in terrorism is attributable to a unilaterally-declared Hamas ceasefire in the West Bank beginning in 2004-05. The relationship between the erection of the wall and fewer terror attacks is correlational, not causal. Determined terrorists have still found ways to bypass the wall since its inception.

If the wall doesn’t increase security, what does it do? It enforces a system of collective punishment

against Palestinians that renders efforts at “trust-building” supported by TFI impossible.

TFI has done nothing to advance productive discourse with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Their op-eds — including the most recent one against the wall display — counter-protests and negative campaigns are reactionary, solely a response to PCP activism and programming. Such an approach, intentional or otherwise, has only served to solidify the status quo, justify the disenfranchisement of Palestinians and exclude Palestinian voices from the dialogue.

Rather, PCP formally invites TFI to condemn the occupation and work towards dismantling its systemic, collective injustice — including the wall. Such action is the only path to sustainable peace for Israelis and Palestinians alike.

Signed, The Princeton Committee on Palestine Sarah Sahka recused herself from the writing of this article.

Friday February 12, 2016

The Daily Princetonian

Spring-ing into the semester

page 5

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Sports

Friday February 12, 2016

page 6

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } TRACK AND FIELD

Track and field to compete at 2016 Fastrack Invite

By David Xin associate sports editor

This Friday the men’s and women’s track and field team will be traveling back to Ocean Breeze Park for the Fastrack National Invite. Princeton will face many veteran teams there as well as a number of Ivy rivals, making it the perfect preparation for the Ivy Heptagonal Championships just over two weeks away.

Both teams should have plenty of confidence as they head into the meet. Although the season has just started, both sides are showing great promise already.

On the men’s side, the Tigers won a close match-up against Navy and followed that performance with another HarvardYale-Princeton title. Indeed, the Princeton won a remarkable 25th consecutive HYP victory this season. The Orange and Black dominated fellow Ivies Yale and Harvard by winning 13 of 17 total events. Most recently, the Tigers came in fourth of nine teams in the Villanova Invitational, where the Princeton squad managed to claim the 60m and 200m dash as well as 4x400m relay.

The women’s team had a similarly successful start to the season. In its annual tri-meet against St. John’s University and St. Joseph’s University, the Tigers racked up 141 points along their way to winning eight events. Princeton then placed third of eight at the Sykes and Sabock Challenge Cup, where sophomore Ashley Forte won the 600m and junior Katie Hanss and sophomore Melinda Renuart won the 800m and 3,000m respectively.

As the season progresses,

both teams will be hoping to replicate past successes while also improving on last year’s accomplishments.

The men’s track team reclaimed the Ivy League Indoor Heptagonal Championship last season. The Tigers had a strong showing, helping them claim their first title since 2012. Over the course of the meet, Princeton was the only team in triple digits, claiming 161 points.

Runner-up Cornell managed to claim only 98. The Orange and Black hope to add another win this season, which will make it the 23rd consecutive season in which Princeton has finished either first or second at the Indoor Heptagonal Championship.

The women’s team won third place last season in the Heptagonal Championship. Despite claiming the top spot on the leaderboard early, the Crimson and Lions rallied to take the first and second spots respectively. Still, Princeton displayed a strong performance with wins coming in several events. The Tigers claimed the top two spots in the 5,000m. Princeton’s other two wins came in the 800m and 500m runs.

In addition to Ivy League success, both teams have also enjoyed accomplishments in the NCAA as well. Together the men’s and women’s squads qualified 22 athletes to NCAA regionals. The men’s team sent two to the NCAA championships and the women’s side sent four. The Tigers are hopeful that this year will produce similar results.

After, the Fastrack National Invite this Friday, the Tigers will hold the annual Princeton Invitational in Jadwin Gym before traveling to Ithaca the following week for the Heptagonal

OLIVIA TOBEASON :: STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

The women’s track team will face a strong national field at the Fastrack Invite this weekend.

JACK MAZULLO :: SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Men’s track hopes to continue early-season successes when they travel to Ocean Beeze Park.

W O M E N ’ S W AT E R P O L O

Women’s water polo kicks off season

By Miles Hinson sports editor emeritus

After experiencing a season featuring tight wins and a trip to the NCAA tournament, the women’s water polo team will begin their quest for glory once more. This weekend, they will open the 2016 season at home as they take on California Baptist University, Villanova University, California Lutheran University and Iona College at the Princeton Invitational.

After going 31-5 in the previous season, the Tigers certainly have every reason to feel confident heading into this weekend. Adding to a positive outlook for the weekend is the fact that they had a perfect record against California Baptist, Villanova and Iona in their contests last year.

Indeed, having had the chance to play against top-tier opponents also bodes well for the Tigers this year. Playing powerhouses such as Stanford and UCLA in the NCAA tournament goes a long way in terms of helping a team develop into a championshipcontending squad.

“We had a great season last year – beating Indiana at the CWPA Championships to go to NCAAs at Stanford was so

exciting,” senior utility Pippa Temple explained. “Getting to play such high quality games on the west coast really helped us improve as a team and show us that we can compete at the same level as all of those top teams.”

However, the women of Nassau do not enter this season without important questions to answer. Among the most pressing is how to replace some of their strongest talent from the 2014-2015 season. Leading scorers Ashley Hatcher ’15 and Jessie Holechek ’15 have graduated, and star goalie Ashleigh Johnson ’16 is currently taking the year off as she attempts to grab a spot on the USA women’s water polo team for the 2016 Olympics.

One of the first things that one notices when seeing the new roster is its youth: over half of the team is comprised of underclassmen. Temple, however, expressed full confidence in the team’s younger members as they head into their first test of the season.

“We did lose quite a big class of seniors from last year, but the underclassmen have stepped up so much already.

They’re filling some pretty big shoes and I am so impressed.

The freshmen are already con-

Tweet of the Day “Coldplay writes their own stuff which makes it even more impressive that their stuff sounds like it was written by the new Twitter algorithm.” tom noonan (@ gonebynoon), sophomore forward, basketball

tributing in big ways,” Temple said. “We have two of them starting the first game tomorrow. The sophomores all had great years last year and I can’t wait to see how having one year of experience under their belts will help them progress this year.”

In particular, sophomore utility Haley Wan will be a player to watch out for. As a rookie, she led the team in assists and blocks. She was tied for fourth on the team in goals scored on the season, along with sophomore two-meter Chelsea Johnson.

On the whole, despite losing a cast of strong upperclassmen, the Tigers’ goal has not wavered, and this weekend could prove to be a sign that they’ll come out as strong as ever.

“I think our goal for this weekend is to show teams that we may have lost a lot of people, but we’re still here to compete and we’re still going to be a big threat,” Temple said. “We have a small team this year (14 people) but it’s full of a lot of very talented players.”

The Tigers are set to play California Baptist at 2:00 p.m. at DeNunzio Pool. The game can be viewed via the Ivy League Digital Network.

DANIELA COSIO :: STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

The women’s water polo team gears up for the season as they prepare to host the Princeton Invitational this weekend.

Stat of the Day

13 of 17 events The men’s track team won 13 out of 17 events against Ivy League rivals Harvard and Yale.

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