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Monday February 12, 2018 vol. CXLII no. 6
{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } U . A F FA I R S
STUDENT LIFE
Bicker, sign-in club results announced By Nick Shashkini Contributor
COURTESY OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY CAMPUS PLAN 2026
The new residential colleges will be located south of Poe and Pardee Fields.
Architecture firm chosen to design new residential colleges By Ariel Chen Associate Science Editor
The University has initiated plans to build two new residential colleges south of Poe and Pardee Fields, hiring architecture firm Deborah Berke Partners for the project. The planned colleges will allow the University to increase the size of future undergraduate classes “in a way that preserves the distinctive character and value of the Princeton experience,” according to the University’s Strategic Planning Framework. The first of the new residential colleges will allow the University’s under-
graduate enrollment to increase by 125 students per class. New buildings will include room for “at least 500 beds, social spaces, a dining hall, and a kitchen/servery that could also support a second [residential] college,” as stated on the Berke Partners website. According to the University’s campus plan, the colleges are scheduled to be constructed within the next 10 years. The project will be led by firm partners Deborah Berke, dean of the Yale School of Architecture, and Maitland Jones ’87, along with firm principals Arthi Krishnamoorthy and Noah Biklen.
“‘Our goal here is to design residential colleges that the students can occupy and make their own,’” Jones wrote in a statement on the firm’s website. “‘This requires a balance of spaces that are specific and have a distinctive character with those that are f lexible and adaptable.’” President Eisgruber approved of the choice, referring to Deborah Berke Partners as an “‘outstanding and inspired choice to design Princeton’s next residential colleges,’” according to an article by the Office of Communications. See COLLEGE page 3
BEYOND THE BUBBLE
The admissions process for bicker and sign-in eating clubs took place last week, with 1,016 sophomores participating, representing 77 percent of the Class of 2020. This represented a 1 percentage point decrease from last spring’s participation rate of 78 percent, according to a press release by the Interclub Council of the Eating Clubs of Princeton University. The official ICC data does not list individual acceptance statistics from the selective clubs, therefore the data was provided at the discretion of each individual club or its members. Out of 209 students who bickered Ivy Club, 71 or 34 percent were admitted, according to Folasade Runcie ’18, the club’s president. According to Rachel Macaulay ’19, president of Tower Club, 178 students bickered at the club and 125 were admitted, representing an acceptance rate of 70 percent. The club did not hold bicker for upperclassmen this year. Several Cap & Gown Club members told The Daily Princetonian that 267 students bickered at the club, with 97 sophomores and 6 juniors accepted. All club members were granted anonymity because they are not allowed to discuss club matters. This translated to an acceptance rate of 39 percent. Cottage Club president William Haynes ’18 declined to share admission statistics with the ‘Prince,’ but a club
member estimated the number of students that bickered this year at 208, with around 80 students accepted. The presidents of Cannon Dial Elm Club and Tiger Inn had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication, but their members shared estimations of statistics under the condition of anonymity. For Cannon, 185 students bickered and 110 were accepted, representing an acceptance rate of 59 percent. In the case of TI, approximately 180 students bickered, and 79 were accepted, of whom 41 are female and 38 are male. This makes for an acceptance rate of 44 percent. All bickerees used the ICC website to apply, and they were informed of the results by 9 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 9. Students joining sign-in clubs also used the ICC website to join a club. In all, 881 sophomores or 67 percent of the class were accepted to either a bicker club or a sign-in club after this year’s process, representing a 2 percent decrease from last year. For students that did not join an eating club this week, the ICC portal will continue to be available for registration in open sign-in clubs through Feb. 17. According to the official statistics, 202 sophomores signed in early to one of the five sign-in clubs (Charter Club, Cloister Inn, Colonial Club, Quadrangle Club, Terrace Club), which was a 30 percent decrease from the 287 sophomores who joined sign-in clubs last spring. See CLUBS page 5
STUDENT LIFE
International student enrollment USG discusses mental declines in US, continues to rise at U. health at first meeting of Contributor
According to a recent study conducted by the National Science Foundation, the number of international students residing in the United States and studying with student visas declined by 2.2 percent at the undergraduate level and 5.5 percent at the graduate level from 2016 to 2017. A more detailed look at the data reveals that within science and engineering fields, the number of international undergraduate students actually increased by 0.2 percent, while the number of international graduate students decreased by 6.0 percent. Within non-science and non-engineering fields, the number of international undergraduate students decreased by 3.8 percent, and the number of international graduate students decreased by 4.6 percent. This overall decline is a recent trend that appeared after years of steady growth in international student enrollment, which may ref lect widespread and newfound apprehension
In Opinion
of the current political climate and immigration policies under the Trump administration. In 2015, international students comprised 36 percent of all science and engineering graduate students in the United States and received over 50 percent of all doctoral degrees awarded in scientific and engineering disciplines. Given these fields’ reliance on robust numbers of international students, continued decline could result in adverse consequences for U.S. education and academia. In a companion study conducted by the Institute of International Education, individual universities reported inconsistencies in the overall decline in enrollment rate for the 2017–18 academic year. Forty-five percent of universities reported declines in the number of international students, while 31 percent reported increases and 24 percent reported no changes at all. The universities listed in the study cited the American political scene, the high cost of education in the United States, complications
A concerned parent and an upset alumnus engage in the national conversation over Professor Rosen’s classroom blasphemy. PAGE 6
with visas, and revisions in other countries’ international study scholarship programs as potential contributors to the decline. For example, the number of students from Saudi Arabia, a country whose scholarship programs have undergone significant changes, fell by 18 percent. In previous years, Saudi Arabia sent the second highest number of science and engineering undergraduate students to the United States. At the University, the number of international students has been growing steadily over the past few years. During the 2015–16 school year, there was a total of 1,831 international undergraduate and graduate students studying at the University, whereas during the 2016–17 school year, there was a total of 1,884 international students on campus — a seven percent increase in the number of undergraduate students and a 15 percent increase in the number of graduate students. The top five countries from which the University receives its international students are ChiSee STUDENTS page 4
new administration By Claire Thornton and Jeff Zymeri Head News Editors
The first Undergraduate Student Government meeting under the administration of president Rachel Yee ’19 took place on Sunday, Feb. 11, at 2 p.m. in Lewis Library 120. The new officers of USG began by introducing themselves and presenting one goal they each have for the year. Yee explained that the general public might not know how much work USG really does and resolved to work on altering this perception in the future. “I’m very glad that we had our first meeting and that we had almost all of our members present,” explained Yee. “I also think there were a lot of good ideas expressed.” Shortly after introductions, USG parliamentarian Jonah Hyman ’20 gave a presentation regarding USG history and constitutional knowledge. Among other things, Hyman covered how USG was recognized by the University, who the USG voting members are, and what powers USG has as a voting body. The first order of new business was funding for the USG Mental Health Initiative Board. The amount of funding requested was $4,302. The bulk of
Today on Campus 4:30 p.m.: Council of the Princeton University Community Meeting, a chance for a discussion with President Eisgruber about current plans and projects. The meeting is open to all members of the University Community. Friend Center 101
the funding was to finance the Neil Hilborn performance to be held at Richardson Auditorium on Feb. 13. The funding was approved unanimously. In an email advertising the event, MHI explained that “this event will be an opportunity for all of us to work towards destigmatizing some of the mental health issues facing so many members of our student body.” “I am project leader of the mental health project team, and I really do think we have a lot of traction, and I also think we have a lot of administrative buy-in and support,” said Yee. “I think that there’s a really positive outlook in terms of getting things actually institutionalized so they will still be here after we are done with the project for many years.” Yee added that there’s an immediate and obvious need for both destigmatizing mental health as well as providing resources for it. USG also addressed the issue of allowing online voting for confirmation of subcommittee members in order to make the process more effective. Future USG events were also advertised during the meeting. An example was the Speed Dating with USG event to be hosted at Whig Hall.
WEATHER
By Hannah Wang
HIGH
44˚
LOW
21˚
Partly cloudy chance of rain:
20 percent