February 27, 2017

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Founded 1876 daily since 1892 online since 1998

Monday february 27, 2017 vol. cxli no. 16

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } ON CAMPUS

MARCIA BROWN :: HEAD NEWS EDITOR

Hordes of alumni descended upon campus on Feb. 25 for 2017 Alumni Day.

Kuczynski, Schmidt recieve alumni awards contributor

Pedro Pablo Kuczynski GS ’61, President of Peru, and Eric Schmidt ’78, former CEO of Google Inc. and the current Executive Chairman of Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company, were honored with the James Madison Medal and the Woodrow Wilson Award, respectively, at the 2017 Alumni Day. Kuczynski, who began his five-year term as Peru’s President in July 2016, earned a M.A. in Public Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He began his career at the World Bank before working for the Peruvian government in various roles, including manager of the Central Reserve Bank, minister of energy and mines, minister of economy

and finance, and chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers. He described a conversation he recently had with President Donald Trump, in which the two discussed demographics, the economy, and other aspects of Peru. “I was in the White House with President Trump and we started chatting a little bit and he said, look, how old are you? You don’t look a day over 90,” Kuczynski said to laughter. “Actually, what he said was ‘You don’t look a day over 60.’” Kuczynski then devoted the majority of his speech to discussing the challenges that Peru, as well as all of Latin America, will face in the coming years. “We’re in a period of changes in the world and in Latin America, especially technological,” he said. “Latin America, to the ex-

ON CAMPUS

tent that you can talk about Latin America as one, is undergoing change.” Kuczynski said that while many Latin Americans are economically united by the Pacific Alliance, a trade bloc consisting of Chile, Mexico, Colombia, and Peru, nations that are socially distinct and will each face a unique set of difficulties. He added that corruption was the “number one issue in the popular perception of Latin America today,” and is especially prevalent in Brazil. “The number two issue is the distribution of public services and income,” he added. “Latin America in general has a very poor distribution.” He said that Peruvians in the lowest income brackets live in poverty without basic sanitation or amenities. S T U D E N T A F FA I R S

contributor

MARCIA BROWN :: HEAD NEWS EDITOR

Junot Diaz addresses 300 people on campus on Friday, Feb. 24.

Junot Díaz speaks to 300 on activism and writing contributor

Donning dark jeans, a black hoodie, and gray sneakers, Junot Díaz relied on the simplicity of his presentation and the power of his speech in order to captivate an audience of University students, professors, and community members alike. On Friday, Feb. 24, approximately 300 people gathered to hear acclaimed writer and ac-

See AWARDS page 4

ACADEMIA

tivist Junot Díaz speak on issues including white supremacy and racism. The audience listened as Diaz discussed how to combat these societal plagues using activism. After brief remarks and introductions by PLA members, Junot Díaz took the stage. Although Díaz is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, whose novels “Drown” (1996), “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar See DIAZ page 3

The Undergraduate Student Government discussed project ideas for the eating club referendum as well as student group approvals in their weekly meeting on Feb. 26. U-Councillor Olivia Grah ’19 led the Senate in discussing ideas and responses to the referendum. The referendum, which was passed last December, called for eating clubs to release information regarding the demographics of their members and applicants. The current phase of the project involves conducting research as well as interviews with members of the Inter-club Council to create a position paper for the referendum. Grah indicated that the current demographics of interest included race, gender, and academic major. Grah also said the referendum team was considering including income as another demographic of interest. U-Councilor Pritika Mehra ’18 expressed her disapproval of this inclusion, arguing that the

wording of the approved referendum did not account for the collection of such information and that collecting income statistics could exacerbate existing labels about eating clubs. Class of 2019 Senator Andrew Ma ’19 responded to her comment, citing the importance of transparency, “Whether there is an issue or not, I think it’s better to know what the reality is,” Ma said. U-Councilor Devin Kilpatrick ’19 stated statistics could alternatively be collected about what percentage of members are on financial aid. “I think that [about income] a less contentious question that still gets at the meat of what people want to know is just to ask a simple are you on financial aid or not,” Kilpatrick said. Matthew Miller ’19 added that statistics about athlete and international membership could also be collected from eating clubs. The Student Groups Recognition Committee co-chair Emily Chen ’18 presented on the student

defector discusses experiences By Jane Sul contributor

“I do not have a left foot or a left hand,” said human rights activist and defector Ji Seong-Ho, who stood in front of an eager crowd of approximately 100 students. Ji was the final speaker at the Princeton for North Korean Human Rights Conference (PNKHR), an annual event with students from 14 participating universities along the East Coast. Ji began his presentation with a video clip of a speech he made at the 2015 Oslo Freedom Forum, which detailed his life prior to escaping the regime in North Korea. In the video, Ji recalled witnessing his own grandmother die from starvation. He also described how, in order to make ends meet, he stole coal from passing trains to trade for food, illustrating how tired

See USG page 5

In Opinion

Today on Campus

Ryan Chavez questions the Whig Clio press policy and Ryan Dukeman explores the responsibilities that come with allowing free speech.

4:30 p.m.: Center on contemporary China is hosting a lecture called “ Why China can’t change: Leadership selection and the repressive trap.”

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of law,” he said. “We should really focus, not just on institution building, but the rule of law.” Kuczynski spoke with urgency about the years ahead, stressing the need for a “social revolution in Peru” but acknowledging this would only be possible through strong economic growth. “We have 15 years. That’s it. If we haven’t turned the page on this stagnation and technology revolution in 15 years, we will simply, not fade away, but we will slowly stagnate. I don’t think that will happen; I think it’s a challenge we will face. The youth are immensely motivated,” he said. Today’s audience included a notable number of Spanish speakers and international media to cover the event. Spotted in

USG talks referendum North stats, club recognition Korean By Jason Fu

By Emily Spalding

“No running water, no safe health, epidemics,” he said. “The idea is by the end of my term in 2020 we should have everybody have running water for sewage. It will be a huge investment, it will take about 20 billion dollars.” The third issue, according to Kuczynski, is the declining volume of international trade. “Protectionism, which some see as the solution, is rearing its head and it causes this bad tendency [of limiting trade] to worsen,” he said. He spoke specifically about Mexico’s weak economic growth, which has puzzled some observers, especially considering its large population and proximity to the United States. “I think the answer may be, I’m not suggesting that it is, but it could be, the lack of the rule

Louis A. Simpson International Room 144

See KOREA page 5

WEATHER

By Audrey Spensley

HIGH

66˚

LOW

54˚

Cloudy with showers chance of rain:

50 percent


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February 27, 2017 by The Daily Princetonian - Issuu