The Daily Princetonian
Thursday February 19, 2015
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PAGES DESIGNED BY LIN KING :: STREET EDITOR
“CAMPUS CULTURE” This week, Street gives an overview of the vibrant student cultural groups at Princeton. We reached out to the presidents of all the groups and spoke to the first eight to respond. For a complete list of groups, visit the Student Organization Directory on ODUS’ website.
COUTESY OF PRINCETON LATINOS Y AMIGOS
Students participating in the La Posada Christmas event held on Dec. 5, 2014. Princeton Latinos y Amigos was one of the many co-sponsors of the event.
PRINCETON LATINOS Y AMIGOS
PRINCETON AFRICAN STUDENTS ASSOCIATION DANIELLE TAYLOR
JENNIFER SHYUE
Contributor
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ith about 209 active Facebook members and over 300 members on their listserv, Princeton’s African Students Association (PASA) offers an engaging community for anyone interested in Africa and the African diaspora. Seven of-
ficers, along with an additional board focused on diversity, lead PASA with the goal of making African students feel welcome. According to Olamide AkinOlugbade ’16, the president of PASA, the organization helps African students maintain a connection to their roots while at Princeton. The diversity board accomplishes this by representing broad geographical regions of Africa, such as West Africa and Central Africa, and incorporating different cultural aspects of those regions, such as food and music, into PASA’s events. “[PASA] has definitely helped me stay close to where I am from. I have been led to think about Africa while being removed from it in an American environment,” AkinOlugbade said. Recent events of PASA include “Sherehe,” a celeCOUTESY OF SANKOFA bration of African Rohey Jah ’16 models for promotional poster of the upcoming food and perforSankofa 2015 show, photographed by Injee Unshin ’15. mance culture, as
Associate Street Editor
well as bi-weekly discussion dinners that include topics such as African identity, often featuring professors in the African Studies department. Some other events throughout the year include a “meet-the-new-board” social and Sala Kale, which is the senior send-off that also serves as the end-of-year gala. One of PASA’s most high profile events is the upcoming “Sankofa: The African Fashion Show,” which will be held this Friday, Feb. 20 in the Mathey common room at 7 p.m. PASA’s future plans, according to Akin-Olugbade, involve not only celebrating African culture, but also changing perceptions about Africa. “The plans from the club involve expanding beyond a celebration of African culture and entertainment to shed light on the ways the African continent has grown as a land of opportunity for businesses and entrepreneurs,” Akin-Olugbade said. “We would like to raise awareness about the ways the African continent is rising, while changing the perceived narrative of an ever-broken continent.” With the goal of changing perceptions about Africa and fostering a community that welcomes African students, PASA encourages diversity and inclusion, while forming strong bonds between its members. “[PASA] has helped me create some great friendships with people from all over the continent,” Akin-Olugbade said.
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n some ways, Princeton Latinos y Amigos can trace its roots back to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Acción Puertorriqueña, the group she co-chaired while a student at the University. After numerous national origin-specific groups such as Acción Latina, Acción Puertorriqueña’s successor; the Cuban American Undergraduate Students Association; Chicano Caucus; and Colombian Students Association and Friends faded into obscurity, PLA was officially recognized in spring 2013 as a pan-Latino organization for undergraduates on campus. “A lot of our programming so far works on three main things,” copresident Briana Christophers ’17 said. “We have a lot of stuff on identity, then like cultural stuff, and then we try to do a lot of collaborative events as well.” “It’s really about building a community for Latino students on campus,” co-president Nicole Gonzalez ’16 said, in reference to the group’s focus on Latino identity. Two discussion groups, Mujeres and Hablemos, bring together students to discuss issues pertinent to Latina women and to students who identify as both Latino and some other identity, respectively. In terms of cultural events, PLA starts off the year with Latino Heritage Month, which runs from mid-September to mid-October and concludes with the Fall Gala. It also
sponsors movie screenings, such as an upcoming screening of the Venezuelan film “Pelo Malo” in collaboration with the Black History Month Committee, and Caja Loca, a Latin dance party in Campus Club that PLA hopes to host monthly. As for the element of collaboration, Christophers said, “Even more recently, the collaboration stuff has been becoming bigger and bigger. We’re trying to engage the broader Latino community institutionally.” PLA has been working with the Association of Latino Princeton Alumni, the Latino Graduate Students Association and Latino Princetonians, a resource group for Latino University staff. In its first years, PLA was more focused on its cultural activities. In the past few months, however, recent campus political movements have created avenues to engage in discourse with University administration, which have allowed PLA to take on the role of advocate for Latino students on campus. “Another goal … was working more with the administration to work on topics specific to — or maybe not even specific to — the Latino community but that involve [it],” Christophers said. “[To] advance the needs of our population and hopefully also those of other minority or cultural groups on campus.” “It’s really a focus on equity on campus,” Gonzalez added. “Not just for us, for all of us,” Christophers said.
ORANGE PAN-HELLENIC ASSOCIATION LIN KING Street Editor
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n the context of an American university, the words “Greek culture” may denote a number of things, but for the members of the Orange Pan-Hellenic Association (OPA), it means exactly that — Greek culture, including music, food, theater and, of course, language. OPA was founded in 2011, and according to president Stephanie Leotsakos ’16, the club had only 5 core members organizing campus-wide events in the beginning. “Due to the free Greek food and desserts that were offered at many of our events (traditional dancing workshops, cooking demonstrations, cultural
fairs), our club gained visibility and listserv subscriptions,” she said in an emailed statement. The group has now expanded to include 35 active members and six officers, with 70 signed up on its listserv. Leotsakos explained that since the group hosts three weekly Modern Greek language tables (Tuesdays 6 p.m. in Forbes Dining Hall, Wednesdays 6 p.m. in Rockefeller Dining Hall and Friday 1 p.m. in Mathey Dining Hall), most of its active members are Greek or Greek-American. While most of the language table participants are native speakers, Leotsakos added that there are also enthusiastic frequenters who are invested in learning the language. However, Leotsakos stresses that all interested in Greek language or culture are welcome. “[OPA] is open
to everyone — we make our events open to undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and staff, even the local non-university community,” she said. “We maintain a separate listserv for non-student members for our events open to the public. Our larger-scale cultural events draw more non-Greeks than Greeks.” In addition to language tables, OPA also organizes Greek concerts, incorporates a traditional dance group and participates in various cultural events on campus. For one, a Greek cooking event is in the works for the spring semester. The group also organizes numerous Greek arts events. “We are very excited about an upcoming concert that we spent almost a year planning. OPA has invited renowned Greek lyricist Lina Nikolakopoulou to come to
Princeton for a concert dedicated to her most enduring works on Sunday, March 1,” Leotsakos said. Another performance arts event, a master class with Greek actress and vocalist Martha Frintzila, will be hosted on Monday at 7 p.m. in the Taplin Auditorium in Fine Hall. “These opportunities to collaborate with talented musicians and share that with the Princeton community are particularly rewarding,” Leotsakos said.
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Lyricist Lina Nikolakopoulou, who will be performing in the Tarlin Auditorium in Fine Hall on Sunday, March 1.
The Daily Princetonian
Thursday February 19, 2015
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CONTINUED FROM S1: STUDENT CULTURAL GROUPS
THAIGERS
PEHCHAAN JENNIFER SHYUE
LIN KING
Associate Street Editor
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ehcha an” means “identity” in Urdu, and an on-campus sense of Pakistani and Pakistani-American identity is precisely what the student group Pehchaan seeks to build. “Pehchaan represents Pakistani and Pakistani-American students on campus,” treasurer Haider Abbas ’17 said. “But more than that, it’s about bringing Princeton students together on topics that are mutual between Pakistani students and all the other students from all over the world on campus.” Founded in 2009 with the goal of creating a more cohesive community of Pakistani undergraduate and graduate students on campus, Pehchaan now has about 25 active members who regularly attend the biweekly meetings, though there are between 70
and 90 Princeton students and community members on Pehchaan’s listserv. One of the group’s most popular events is Basant, the spring kite-f lying festival Pehchaan hosts every year in April. Last semester, Pehchaan also co-hosted Sufi Night with the Muslim Students Association. Today, on Feb. 19, Pehchaan and Princeton Traveler are screening the documentary “Rediscovering Pakistan: The Untold Tale” and sponsoring an event with Moin Khan, the documentary’s maker. In the future, according to Abbas and president Ali Hayat ’16, Pehchaan hopes to put on a Pakistani Awareness Week that would include the cultural events the group has hosted in the past, as well as talks with speakers like Maleeha Lodhi, the permanent Pakistani representative to the United Nations, and journal-
Street Editor
ist Ahmed Rashid. Another larger goal, Hayat said, is to “incorporate larger numbers of Pakistani-American students, because I think that’s a potential source for membership that we haven’t fully explored in the past.” Ultimately, Pehchaan aims to foster a sense of community on campus but also to provide a space in which Princeton students can learn more about Pakistan. “As one of six students who’s from Pakistan who study here, I think, willingly or unwillingly, I’m a representative of my country and its culture and its values, and I think, especially now, given that there’s an image that already exists, a lot of work needs to be done to rectify that image,” Hayat said. “My main motivation is to reconcile my own image [of Pakistan] with the image that a lot of people have and try to bridge them together.”
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ew student organizations are founded based on a pun discovered over a casual dinner conversation, but THAIGERS, the Thai students’ organization founded in 2013, is a happy exception. “We were just playing around with puns that we could use as the name, if we were to start an organization for Thai students,” co-founder and co-president Bee Xuto ’16 said in an emailed interview. “We’ve pretty much stuck by the original goals we set out when THAIGERS was founded, which were to promote Thai culture [and] awareness on campus, and to be a platform which could better unite the Thai students on campus and to warmly welcome new Thai students,” Xuto said. “Oh, and to get to eat awesome Thai food.” Less than two years after its founding, THAIGERS now has five officers and 10 very involved members, including three graduate students. “Most of the regular members are Thai … and we tend to speak Thai to each other quite
a lot,” Xuto explained. While this is in line with the group’s missions to foster a community for Thai students on campus, THAIGERS also does not neglect its goals of sharing Thai culture with the Princeton community. Their inaugural event, “Pad Thaigers,” attracted over 100 attendees. In addition, the group cohosts and participates in numerous cultural events throughout the year, including TASA’s “Night Market” during Preview weekend. “Our booth always sells out very fast,” Xuto said. “People just can’t get enough of ’em Thai food, you know?” Looking into the future, Xuto said on behalf of cofounder and co-president Pai Pangsrivongse ’16 that their joint goal is to ensure the continuance of the THAIGERS community after the two of them graduate. “When we first entered Princeton, there wasn’t really a network or support system for Thai students. Most of the
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The THAIGERS’ official logo.
Thais didn’t know each other,” he said. “Now though, with THAIGERS events and a Thai Language Table in Forbes every Friday dinner … the Thai underclassmen and upperclassmen are much closer.” According to Xuto, there are only 12 students of Thai or part-Thai origin on campus right now. Given the relatively small number, Xuto explained that he and Pangsrivongse are proud to see how their work has brought together this community. “Also, our name still remains pretty badass. We’re pretty proud of that,” he said.
CHINESE STUDENTS ASSOCIATION FRENCH SOCIETY GRACE REHAUT
VICTORIA SCOTT
Staff Writer
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eaded by copresidents Brian Chen ’16 and Julie Kwong ’16, Princeton’s Chinese Student Association (CSA) is one of several distinctive and impactful cultural groups on campus, but it strives to make its own unique mark on Princeton through exciting and inclusive programming that incorporates everything from fun food-themed study breaks to community service work. The club’s ultimate goal is to celebrate Chinese culture in all its various forms. Anyone can get involved in CSA and attend events, but the club is run by a small executive board and a larger freshman board in the fall that coordinates with the executive board to plan club programming. The intense level of planning that happens behind the scenes in CSA allows the club to host frequent and diverse events for general members to attend. Recently, the club has also taken a turn toward the philanthropic, sponsoring a trip to a local Chinese school to engage rising juniors and seniors in conversations about college and future goals. CSA
Staff Writer
is hoping to pursue more com- the deal, the event will include munity service projects in the performances from student future, expanding its aim of groups and a keynote speech honoring Chinese culture to from Dante Basco, a prominent the field of volunteering as voice actor known for voicing well. As far as other future the characters of Prince Zuko projects, CSA is also hoping to in “Avatar: The Last Airbender” begin offering Mahjong nights and Jake Long in Disney Chanfor all interested students to nel’s “American Dragon: Jake come and enjoy the tradition- Long.” Basco will be speaking, al Chinese multiplayer tile taking questions, and hosting game. For those interested a meet-and-greet following the in getting more connected to banquet. The event is from 6-8 Chinese culture, CSA is the p.m. and tickets will be on sale perfect place to do this — the at a table in Frist from 2-3:30 group itself is close-knit, and p.m. and 8:30-10 p.m. through “the food is amazing,” ac- Feb. 20. cording to Chen. Meanwhile, this Saturday is CSA’s Lunar New Year Banquet, a semiformal event at the Fields Center that will feature banqu e t-s t yle food from students’ favorite local Chinese COURTESY OF CHINESE STUDENTS ASSOCIATION restaurants. To sweeten Promotional poster for CSA’s Lunar New Year Banquet.
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he French Society is one of the newest student groups to be formed at Princeton. Its mission: to cultivate passion for all things French in the student body, from casual “Amélie” viewers to native speakers alike. “The French Society is actually quite new. It was created in very early December [of 2014],” co-president Walid Marfouk ‘17 said. “It was initially a project that Ruben, Quentin and I had for quite some time. We finally got around to it last semester.” Even though the club has only existed for three months, its membership is already substantial and growing. “There are about 56 members in the club,” Marfouk said. “Each of the members have some kind of relationship with French culture but mainly a general interest in French culture from a lot of people.” Although most of the members have been exposed to French, knowledge of the language is not a requirement to join. “Not all the people in the French society are actually French. There are not many French people at Princeton,
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The Met Opera, where French Society held a trip to see ‘La Bohème.’
so maybe [there are] 12 to 15 actual French people in the Society and everyone else is a francophone,” Marfouk said. According to Marfouk, the Society is working on many projects for this spring, having already kicked off the semester with a group trip to New York City. “We recently went to the Met Opera to see ‘La Bohème.’ We have organized dinner debates in the Rocky-Mathey Common Room. We are working with graduate students to show a French movie in Rocky Theater once a week,” Marfouk said. On Wednesday, Feb. 18, the French Society will host an event to introduce the club to
Princeton and increase awareness of the club. “We are also organizing a discussion with the former French minister of culture on Tuesday. We are trying to get interesting speakers, and as many off-campus events as possible,” Marfouk added. The French Society will certainly be a bright, new presence to the vibrant student cultural group community on campus. The club encourages students who have a love for French culture to join, regardless of French language experience. “The society is open to anyone with interest in France and French culture,” Marfouk said.
ASIAN AMERICAN STUDENTS ASSOCIATION HARRISON BLACKMAN Associate Street Editor
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t Cornell University, students have had the opportunity to pursue the academic program of Asian American Studies since 1987. On the other hand, while Princeton has certificate programs in African American Studies, Latino Studies and American Studies, it currently does not have a program in Asian American Studies. This is what the Asian American Students Association seeks to change. “We work closely with the Asian American studies professors (currently Professor [Anne] Cheng and Professor Beth Lew Williams) to provide student input in the on-
going push to create an Asian American studies certificate program,” AASA co-president Cailin Hong ’17 said in an emailed statement. “Our primary focus now is having a solid core of 2-3 courses in Asian American studies offered consistently each semester,” she said. “Despite the decades-long challenge, we hope to help Princeton catch up with the rest of the country and play a role in Asian American studies more broadly.” Hong is currently an Associate Design Editor for the Daily Princetonian. According to Hong, the political group traces its beginnings to the 1970s, when
Peter Kwong, the director of the then-named Third World Center (today known as the Fields Center), started holding dinners with AsianAmerican students. The earliest documentation of AASA’s official presence is from 1984. “Our objective is to facilitate conversations about the Asian American identity on campus and bring awareness to AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) political issues,” Hong said. The group hosts a variety of events, including an annual “café night” held at Café Vivian at Frist Campus Center to dispel misconceptions about Asian-Americans. The group also engages in activism and service outside of campus. “This year we edited personal statements for Hmong students at a Teach for America school in Wisconsin,” Hong said. AASA has also worked
with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund to conduct poll-monitoring that helps prevent voting discrimination in New Jersey. According to co-president Belinda Chen ’17, the group currently has a core membership of 20 members, a broader affiliation of 60 members and 200 students on the AASA listserv. “The perennial challenge is to get more students to understand and engage in our political advocacy and we’re huge supporters of the post-Ferguson movement to increase racial awareness, sensitivity and competence at Princeton,” Hong said. “The biggest challenge we’ve had is really challenging the image of AASA as an East Asian cultural group [and not as a political group for Asian Americans].” AASA continues to be a
pioneer in the field of Asian American studies. According to Hong, the group recently launched “Unfound,” the only undergraduate Asian American studies research journal
in the United States. “We’re really proud of the progress we’ve made in Asian American studies and with the activism we’ve led this past year,” she said.
COURTESY OF ASIAN AMERICAN STUDENTS ASSOCIATION
The Daily Princetonian
Thursday February 19, 2015
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THIS SIDE OF:
RUNNING AT PRINCETON HARRISON BLACKMAN Associate Street Editor
COURTESY OF JOSH UMANSKY
I Talk About When I Talk About Running”: “All I do is keep on running in my own cozy, homemade void, my own nostalgic silence. And this is a pretty wonderful thing.” This quote holds true for me, except for the fact that I usually listen to music while I run, so my cozy, homemade void features corny 90s alt-rock, but the idea is there. Running allows me to recharge my brain when my frenetic Princeton schedule sends it spinning. This past semester, my knee injury returned. The spiritual uplift of running was reduced to staring at the bubbles of the hydrotherapy tub in the physical therapy room of Dillon Gym. I came to associate the bubbles with a sort of “runner’s purgatory,” a place where good runners go to wait for their chance to go to heaven, the ability to run again. Unfortunately, the conditions for my injury are inescapable. My body is not built to run, and the injury will likely return, wax and wane over the course of my life. I began running again in December, but the same questions haunt me: Am I too old for this? Will my injury return, and when? In the meantime, setting out on the towpath on a bright weekend morning, feeling the wind at my back, is still a fulfilling experience. To run at Princeton is to cast aside all the little things, all the deadlines and papers, and feel the blood coursing through my veins. It is to celebrate the life I’ve lived and recognize the privilege and wonder of this place.
ASK THE SEXPERT This week, she discusses group sex. Dear Sexpert, I currently have the opportunity to get in on a foursome with some friends. I’m not sure how it would all work out, but I’ve never done this sort of thing and wanted to get some more info before I make a decision. I’m really interested, but can you tell me about any precautions I should take in foursomes, threesomes or whatever? Thanks,
-The More the Merrier
Dear Merrier, Group sex can be intimidating for sure. First off, there are so many varieties that it can be hard to feel prepared for everything. Any number of people can be involved, and there may be different relationships among the participants. For example, one arrangement for group sex is couples getting together. This, as you can imagine, can create emotional and physical complications and may require the setting of
boundaries (what is and is not okay) prior to engaging in activities, to increase comfort and establish expectations. On that note, the most important part of group sex is consent. Agreeing to participate in group sex, in general, does not mean agreement to participate in all sexual acts. At any point in the activity, each involved party should be able to consent or refuse participation. Group sex inherently triples, quadruples or further multiplies the number of consenting individuals, and thus should equally multiply the number of times you ask. The key thing to keep in mind with group sex, as with any sexual encounter, is that consent can evolve and change at any point, so continually check in with your partners. Another important element is the use of protective barriers, like condoms and dental dams. Risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs) increases with the number of partners and opportunities to come in contact with bodily f luids. Remember to apply a new barrier when switching partners — do not reuse barriers.
THREADS
At the beginning of my senior year in high school, I injured my knee and missed the entire season. I managed to
run a final race in the spring, but losing a year was a catastrophic disappointment at the time. A part of me had passed on, while my friends continued to have the same exhilarating fun. I was left proverbially in the dust. It was this feeling of loss that motivated me to pursue club running in college. By my freshman fall I had recovered and joined the Princeton Running Club, whose great community of people helped me adjust to college and provided a stable social group. I was back — but there were signs that I had changed. On a beautiful fall day at the regional meet hosted by University of Delaware, I felt content, but there were lingering doubts about my ability to continue competing. The meet was just like in high school — except everyone wanted to be there, which made it more fun. Even as nostalgia swept over me, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was getting too old for this, that competitive running in this format was for the young and the restless of high school, and that my time had passed, that I needed to move on. After running at Nationals in Hershey, Pa., I felt like I had finally resolved the pain of missing my final high school season. I had overcome the injury and returned stronger than before. The doubts that had characterized my time at the regional meet seemed to evaporate. But whereas in high school running felt like an escape because of the company of other people, I found that Princeton’s grueling regimen of work, social activities and irregular sleep schedules encouraged me to run whenever I had the chance, often alone. I still wanted to be a part of Running Club, but my schedule and exhaustion led me to run by myself. In these long, contemplative runs on the towpath to the edges of Lake Carnegie and beyond, I realized that I could achieve solace and spiritual peace on the trail. In the words of Japanese author and runner Haruki Murakami in his memoir “What
weekly glimpse at campus fashion
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hen i was applying to colleges, I was looking for a place that would be good for running. Don’t get me wrong — I was interested in academic rigor, good food and all those good things you find in brochures, but the opportunity to run recreationally was essential. During my college visits, I ran on a trail that displayed images of the planets at proportional distances from one another at the University of Wisconsin; I ran beside an endless strip mall near the University of Virginia; and I ran concentric laps around Duke University’s East Campus. I didn’t want to simply take the word of admissions offices when they say that there are good places for students to run on campus — I wanted to experience it for myself; like seeing, running is believing. Princeton is a good place for runners. Like a peaceful island nestled in the shadow of Route 1, Princeton’s quiet, sprawling neighborhoods are optimal for exploring. Adjacent to the Delaware and Raritan Canal, the tow path offers a pastoral running experience along Lake Carnegie, with a canopy of trees that transports the runner to another time and place. Moreover, Princeton offers numerous opportunities to be with a team, even if you aren’t on varsity. While TeamU nobly harnesses running for fundraising, Princeton Running Club offers dedicated runners a chance to revive their high school cross country and track careers — something as a freshman I desperately wanted. I loved running in high school, and I held cross country in the highest regard. There are few times in your life when you can run with your friends, laughing about all sorts of jokes even after your coach has imposed dreaded mile repeats. Aside from the fun and intensity of physical activity, I adored the beauty of running on autumn days when the leaves were falling, of joking around with friends during dreaded mile repeats, of that thrilling moment when I finish a 5K race on varied terrain. I wanted to experience all these things again in college.
While the wearer of a condom may be relatively protected when switching partners, the other participants are still at risk of exchanging bodily f luids and contracting STIs. Try color-coding condoms and dental dams for specific partners to prevent mix-ups. Furthermore, remember that everyone enters a sexual situation with different expectations (regardless of the number of people involved). Open and honest conversation is the only way to accurately communicate expectations. In addition to all these things, be sure you feel emotionally prepared to experiment with group sex, if you decide that is what you want. Who said three’s a crowd?
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Name: Edric Huang (Staff Writer for Street) Year: 2018 Major: Woody Woo or English (Undecided) Style summarized: Comfort and minimalism but with an occasional slight edge Where are your clothes from?: Kenneth Cole Peacot with Bib, Coal beanie from UO, Calvin Klein Jeans, Vasque Hiking boots from REI Style
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The Daily Princetonian
Thursday February 19, 2015
Q&A The
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return of Tarana a cappella Interviewed by
EMILY TANG
STREET’S
TOP TEN
Staff Writer
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ounded in 2011, the South Asian a cappella group Tarana just retu rned from a t wo-year hiatus. This spring, the audition-free Tarana is gearing up for a new season and held an open house on Feb. 11. Street sat dow n with Nusrat Ahmed ’17, the president of Tarana, to talk about the group’s recent revival. Daily Princetonian: So Tarana recently came back after a hiatus. Could you give us some background on that? Nusrat Ahmed: Actually, it started in 2011, but it took a break because everyone who founded it was a senior and had different priorities. I knew the founding members, even though I was never part of the club. Some of the songs that they sang before include ”Yeh Dooriyan” and “Saathiya.” I liked the idea of the club and I decided to revive it. DP: Tell us a little bit more about the group — the story behind Tarana, your goals and aspirations. NA: So there are lots of ethnic a cappella groups that are doing very well in the college scene. For example, the a cappella scene in African R&B is amazing. But, at the same time, a lot of it is extremely exclusive. There is a rich South Asian culture here at Princeton, because the population of South Asianers is so large. I just wanted to make a group where
the community could join together. We welcome anybody who loves ... a cappella, music, South Asian culture, or even just hanging out. Even if you have zero percent experience, you can still join our completely non-exclusive group. DP: So someone who does not want to sing can still join the club? NA: Definitely! I like to make it clear that we are a family before we are an a cappella group. We want to make this as inclusive as humanly possible. If you want to hang out with us, that’s awesome! DP: What does the name Tarana mean? NA: Tarana is the Persian word for “song,” but we won’t be singing in only one language . We will primarily sing South Asian music, but some of it might be Western-fused. The songs we choose will be very diverse. Everything will be from many different languages — South Bengali, the language of Bangladesh; Urdu, the language of Pakistan; Hindi; Tamil; Telugu; and also some mixtures of Western American music.
music to its core, and then separate it into individual parts. DP: What does your practice schedule look like as of now? NA: We are going to have three practices every week, one that will be one hour long and two that will be one and a half hours long. A lot of it is not confirmed yet. We do have a board which currently consists of me as the president, Anjali Taneja as the vice president, Samhita Karnati as the assistant music director, Rabia Khan as the secretary, Tanvee Deokule as the social events chair, Divya Rohira as the social media chair and Soumya Sudhakar as the treasurer. DP: What do you envision for the upcoming semester? NA: Right now we really want to focus on making Tarana a very safe space, because we are essentially the guinea
pigs right now. It will be a lot of experimenting, and most of us are beginners. Tarana does eventually want to perform on campus, in arch sings, in events, as well as outside of campus. Mainly for now, we are celebrating South Asian culture on campus, teaching everyone about it, also learning ourselves along the way. That means that you should be expecting lots of mixers, lots of social events and lots of showcases from us in the near future! We want to eventually follow in Penn Masala’s footsteps. They are a very famous Hindi a cappella group from the University of Pennsylvania. DP: How about in the long run? NA: Hopefully, we’ll be able to have larger performances and also compete in different competitions. We also want to make an album and a YouTube channel!
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Ways to Stay Warm
Put on a scarf, hat and gloves. Put on long johns.
Cuddle.
Cuddle some more.
Cuddle. ;-)
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6 8 10
Steal a black North Face from Charter.
Stand like penguins, in a group.
Stand like tourists, in a group.
DP: Who chooses the songs? Do you arrange your own music? NA: We do have a music director and an assistant music director, who are in charge of coordinating all the parts and organizing the songs. Picking songs is a group effort. We all make the music together, try to bring the
Verify that you are non-essential personnel.
Never, ever go outside.
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SHALL WE DANCE? Tango Beginners’ Series SUNNY HE
Contributing Photographer
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CAMPUS PICKS EVENT: CSA’S LUNAR NEW YEAR BANQUET Fields Center Saturday, 6 p.m.
Are you ready for Lunar New Year? Are you a fan of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and “The Legend of Korra”? Do you like Chinese food? Then come on down to CSA’s Lunar New Year Banquet, featuring a talk with Dante Brasco, the voice of Prince Zuko in “Avatar: The Last Airbender.” Additionally, slam poet Namkyu Oh ’16 and dance companies Triple 8 and Princeton University Ballet (PUB) will perform. The semi-formal dinner will feature food from local Chinese restaurants.
his week, street brings you a peek at the Pinceton Tango Club’s Beginners’ Series, which has been taught by Robin Thomas every Monday since Feb. 2. Classes run from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. and are followed by guided practice from 10:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. The series is free for Princeton students, $5 for non-Princeton students and $10 for general admission. No previous experience or partner required to pop a rose between your teeth and master the sexiest dance around!
ART: ‘BENCH,’ A SENIOR ART SHOW BY CHRIS ST. JOHN
Lucas Gallery at 185 Nassau Street Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, 4 p.m. Have you ever wondered how seating and projection contributes to the art gallery experience? You’re in luck, because the art show of visual arts major Chris St. John ’15 explores “the effects of projection, seating and spaces in a contemporary gallery space.” The exhibition is free and open to the public.
CONCERT: GLEE CLUB PRESENTS THEATRE OF VOICES Taplin Auditorium in Fine Hall Friday, 7:30 p.m.
It’s not often that students have the opportunity to workshop a masterpiece of modern vocal music. This Friday, Grammywinning vocal ensemble “Theatre of Voices” will present and perform Karlheinz Stockhausen’s “Stimmung,” a piece that revolutionized classical music in 1968 by its novel use of overtones. Tenor Wolodymyr Smishkewych and sound engineer Ian Dearden will lead the discussion. Get excited!
HEADLINERS AND HEADSHAKERS headlines you didn’t read this week DAILY PRINCETONIAN STAFF
10 bridges around Princeton functionally obsolete, Bridge Year not affected Scheide ’36 bequeaths 2,500 rare books to Firestone, also bequeaths 10,000 extremely common Dan Brown novels Tea With Strangers launches, fills with strangers quickly
launch, Crunchbutton prepares for late meal feels threatened PRINCETON POST OFFICE TO MOVE TO NASSAU STREET, UPS STORE DOESN’T FEEL THREATENED nor Harvard considers implementing ho code, cites admiration for Princeton’s academic integrity
DANCE: SPRING DANCE FESTIVAL Berlind Theatre Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m. Sunday, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Are you ready for spring? Are you ready for spring dance? Are you ready for spring dance festival? Featuring 50 performances from students in the Program in Dance, the Spring Dance Festival is performing various repertories by big names such as Zvi Gotheiner, Stephen Petronio, Jodie Gates and Director of the Program in Dance Susan Marshall. The Festival will also premiere new works by Marjani Forté and David Neumann.
CONCERT: PPE PRESENTS LIGHTS, PIANOS, ACTION Frist Film/Performance Theatre Thursday, Friday and Saturday 7:30 p.m.
This isn’t your average piano concert. The Princeton Pianists Ensemble’s spring show features music from movies ranging from “Forrest Gump” to “Frozen,” played by groups ranging in size from two to 10. There will be piano battles, there will be lights, and there will be lots of dextrous multi-hand action — and it’s all free!