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Monday february 27, 2017 vol. cxli no. 16
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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-
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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
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First U. psychedelic student group talks about research on psychedelics at open house.
New psychedelic group Eleusis holds first meeting to drum up interest By Sarah Hirschfield contributor
Eleusis, the University’s first student organization committed to studying psychedelics interdisciplinarily, held its first open house yesterday. The organization “seeks to remove the taboo” from psychedelics, according to Eleusis founder and Executive Director Sonia Joseph ’19. Joseph explained that over the past five years, there has been a “low-key renaissance,” in which new studies have documented the use of psychedelics, such as psilocybin mushrooms and lysergic
acid diethylamide (LSD), to treat mental illnesses. The research has implications for mental health treatment, therapy, and the academic study of human consciousness, according to Joseph. Joseph said the increased interest in psychedelics is “part of a longer conversation,” which lacks an undergraduate voice. Eleusis seeks to “bridge the gap between undergraduates and academics” regarding psychedelics. “We want to bring in people from all disciplines [to discuss psychedelics],” said Joseph, “people from anthropology, religion, public policy, neuroscience, biochemistry.” The organization will invite speakers from the New Jersey, New York City, and Baltimore areas, host group discussions, and screen films about psychedelics. Eleusis will approach the conversation from an academic standpoint, says its founder. Indeed, Joseph wants to dispel “a dangerous misconception” about the organization. “We are not involved in giving out drugs,” she said, “we are not a drug ring.” Joseph is one of the organization’s six current board members. Edgar Preciado ’18, studying Spanish and Portuguese, serves as Director of PuPolicy Change. He is writing his junior paper on drug use among Mexican Americans in the ’80s and ’90s in Los Angeles, and his interest in psychedelics comes from its potential ability to treat addiction. He noted that people in his community of Compton have had histories of substance use. “It has motivated me, personally, to study . . . the context in which drug use is more likely to happen,” Preciado said.
Students that attended the open house had a wide range of interests. Javon Ryan ’17, in the Classics Department, has been following the research on psychedelics. “As a person who has been dealing with some mental health issues of my own, I’ve been interested in the potential of these compounds to help with issues such as anxiety and depression,” Ryan said. “I’m interested in following and seeing what happens in the future with the research [from] anthropological, religious, neuroscientific, and psychological perspectives.” Many of the open house attendees are psychedelic users themselves and are interested in having a forum to discuss their experiences and best practices. “I’ve had a long and complicated history with psychedelic use,” said Joseph. “I want to take a more neutral view.” She noted the wide range of experiences that people have with psychedelics, noting that Eleusis will take a “safe, informed, rational perspective.” Of the twelve total attendees, a majority said that past psychedelic use had spurred their interest in Eleusis. According to Joseph, a number of professors at the University have expressed support. Joseph expressed concern about psychedelics’ historical image, noting that Timothy Leary and others in the ’60s marketed psychedelics as an anti-establishment drug, a sort of “middle finger to the government.” “Eventually, I think the stigma will fade,” she added. The open house took place in 1915 room at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday. Eleusis is currently recruiting board members.
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Monday february 27, 2017
Diaz: For many, university becomes our second immigration experience DIAZ
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Wao” (2007), and “This is How You Lose Her” (2012) garnered critical acclaim around the world, he made clear he would not use his talk Friday to discuss his life as a writer. “Most of you who are gathered here know me primarily as an artist, a literary artist. That came pretty late in my identity, pretty late in my life,” Díaz said. “I began — even before I was a writer, actually — began by being someone who was involved in community work, which is commonly known as activism.” As a Dominican immigrant who moved to the United States at the age of six, Díaz explained the significance of community work in his life, focusing in on how it impacted his college experience. “It’s [community work] more or less what first captivated my imagination and first commanded my commitments, specifically when I got to university,” he said. Díaz is a graduate of Rutgers University and was the first person in his family to attend college. He detailed his struggles as a first-generation student of color adjusting to a completely new environment upon arriving at college, even though he had already gone through a similar process when he immigrated to America. “I never understood how profoundly my first experience with immigration would play into entering university,” Díaz said. “For many of us, university becomes our second immigrant experience.” He emphasized the importance of forming a community in order to deal with the “challenging and deeply, deeply bewildering” presence of white supremacy, microaggressions, and racism in a predominately white academic institution. He noted there is a confusion of social and cultural capital with intelligence in the university system, and that as he went through school as a student of color, it became clear that this confusion would bring with it an uphill battle. “This was an excruciatingly painful process … you can’t deal with this kind of pain and this kind of suffering by yourself,” he said. Díaz described his development of a community within his college in order to cope with these issues, adding that it was not enough for this group to stay focused on what was troubling them. Rather, they needed to direct their attention to community work, because “what you come into contact at that moment [of helping others] is not with your pain, and it’s not with your disenfranchisement, but you actually come in contact with your agency,” he said. “One of the things that really helped us those years when we were trying to get through school, was that every single time that we would feel overwhelmed and we would feel like things were too hard and felt like we didn’t have a lot of resources, what actually ended up giving us the resources was anti-intuitive,” Díaz said. “It was, in fact, turning around and doing a little bit of work, helping other people.” He later addressed the nature of coloniality and how it impacts us, and also discussed the conflict of external versus internal activism. Following his talk was a Q & A in which students and community members asked questions dealing with topics of race and inclusivity on college campuses. He concluded the event with one final piece of advice
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on how to wrestle with the issues to which he spoke. “This is a psychological game. But this game can be beat … You beat it once when you were little, when you didn’t have shit. Now you’ve got everything … Your only job, really, is to believe. Good luck,” he said. Díaz took time afterwards to sign books and pose for pictures. Samuel Vilchez Santiago ’19, co-president of PLA, described his motivation to bring Díaz to campus. “After the Trump election, [PLA] decided that we needed to bring more known Latino public figures to campus so that we can start creating a bigger conversation with our Latino community but also with our allies,” Santiago said. The other PLA co-president, Kauribel Javier ’19, explained how PLA “jumped at the opportunity to bring him here.” On a personal note, Javier spoke of her encounter with Díaz’s work in school. “He was the first time that I ever saw my Dominican identity represented in a book … so I felt a very special connection to him,” she stated. Javier also spoke to the importance of having groups like PLA and Princeton University Latinx Perspective on campus. “I think it’s also important to diversify what it means to be Latinx at the university level,” Javier said. “Because I think a lot of the time people just see as us this, like, panethnic organization, which is what [PLA] is, but I think it’s also important to emphasize that we come from different countries and that shapes our experiences.” Ana Cristina Alonso Soria, a first-year graduate student at the Wilson School, has lived in Mexico for most of her life and attended the event because she is “really interested in the way Junot Díaz has … explained through his literature what it’s like to be an immigrant with Latin origins.” She noted that Díaz’s speech “was really illuminating and fascinating,” and that she “certainly did not expect him to be so direct in terms of, like, activism and the entire process that he has gone through.” Soria also admires Díaz for “trying to discover his own identity and how he has embraced … being a part of the larger academic community [while] also retaining his roots.” Adalberto Rosado ’19, a member of PLA, noted his personal connection to Díaz’s work. “I’m Dominican as well, so a lot of what he wrote in his book ‘Drown,’ or all three of his books … really resonated with me,” he said. Rosado also spoke to the positive impact bringing speakers like Díaz to campus can have on the entire school. “I think things like this should be more mainstream. I think that having people like him come kind of help us to see how places like Princeton are not perfect … and ways that Princeton can be a little messed up, but also ways to improve it” Rosado said. He added that this kind of event “really helps to see how can we make this place more welcoming, how can we make this place a better living environment for everyone.” The event, titled “Activism and Academia: A Conversation with Junot Díaz,” was part of the Campus Conversations on Identity series and was co-sponsored by Princeton Latinos y Amigos and the Carl A. Fields Center for Equality and Cultural Understanding, among others. The event took place in McCosh 50 at 4:30 p.m.
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Monday february 27, 2017
Schmidt: Sometimes, things on internet not true AWARDS Continued from page 1
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the crowd was a child waving a small Peru flag over the balcony of Richardson Auditorium. After the speech, the audience participated in a question-andanswer session with Kuczynski. One alumnus asked about a book by Kuczynski originally published by Princeton University Press in 1977, titled “Peruvian Democracy under Economic Stress: An Account of the Belaúnde Administration, 1963-1968,” asking how the concepts he discussed in the book apply to his current role. Kuczynski expressed optimism about the economic future of Peru. “Growth comes from investment and the investment rate in Peru is the highest in Latin America,” he said. Another alumnus asked what responsibility the Latin American community feels towards the current political situation in Venezuela, as well as how Peruvian foreign relations with the United States could change under the new administration. “The US focuses on areas that cause trouble, right, like the Middle East,” Kuczynski responded. “It does not spend much time
on Latin America. It’s like a dog that’s sleeping on the carpet.” “In the case of Venezuela, it’s a huge problem,” he added. “What’s happening now is that we have to get all countries to be aware that a problem for one significant country is a problem for everybody.” In response to a question regarding the environment, Kuczynski said, “we’re completely committed to reducing deforestation in the Amazon,” which was met with applause from the audience. The James Madison Medal, established in 1973 by the Association of Princeton Graduate Alumni (APGA), is “presented each year to celebrate an alumnus or alumna of the Graduate School who has had a distinguished career, advanced the cause of graduate education or achieved an outstanding record of public service.” “I’ll have to find a good book on President Madison,” Kuczynski joked. Madison is considered the first alumnus from Princeton to pursue non-theological studies and was the nation’s fourth president. The next award, the Woodrow Wilson Award, was introduced by Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs Cecilia Rouse.
MARCIA BROWN :: HEAD NEWS EDITOR
Eric Schimdt addresses crowd on Alumni Day on the role of technology in society.
tually revolutionized society. “My favorite, in 2007, Steve Ballmer assured the public there is no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share,” he said. “Every time there has been an attack on science, science has won,” he added. He also spoke about the power of new applications in medicine, particularly in using data to model DNA, and the coming advent of driverless cars. “Humans fall asleep or get drunk,” he said. “Computers generally don’t have this problem.” “The application of these [new] technologies will be the primary way society gets stronger, better, more dynamic,” he added. Schmidt acknowledge the potential drawbacks of such rapid change. “Cyberwarfare will be real going forward. Good and bad people are online, so conflicts will move online,” he said. “It’s the easiest option.” “We have the luxury of choice, of how we want to work with these systems,” he added. The question-and-answer ses-
sion reflected many alumni’s concerns about the social consequences of rapidly expanding technology. In response to questions about proliferating “fake news,” Schmidt stressed the importance of fact-checking and judgment. “Our society has to learn that sometimes things you read on the Internet are not actually true,” he said. “Europe, for example, has a group that fights misinformation by published corrected information,” he added. Two audience members posed concerns about excessive time spent on technology and how that impacts emotional help. “Research shows that children should not have access to technology until they’re two to five,” Schmidt said. He also suggested turning the phone off for dinner. In response to a question about his philanthropic interests, Schmidt said his charity work has focused on the environment and oceans. He, along with his wife Wendy, also established the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Transformative
Technology Fund in 2009 to fund the advancement of science and engineering studies and technologies at the University. He served as a University trustee from 2004 to 2008 and is currently a trustee of the Institute for Advanced Study. He has been involved in science and technology public policy through his membership on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and as a fellow of National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. According to a University press release, “The University bestows the Woodrow Wilson Award annually upon an undergraduate alumnus or alumna whose career embodies the call to duty in Wilson’s speech, ‘Princeton in the Nation’s Service.’” Schmidt ended his speech on an optimistic note. “The energy [at the University] is incredible,” he said. “It’s so much stronger than it was when we were here, and we turned out fine.”
MARCIA BROWN :: HEAD NEWS EDITOR
Audience member waves Peru’s flag during Peruvian President Kuczynski’s address.
As chairman of the holding company Alphabet, Eric Schmidt manages and advises the leadership of all of the corporation’s businesses, including Google. He concentrated in electrical engineering at the University before earning a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of California-Berkeley. His remarks expanded on Kuczynski’s reference to a technological revolution, one which Schmidt believes will be a paradigm shift in the way that societies function. “Humans will share the spotlight with machines that exist as partners in a really much more hybrid world in a way that is both fantastic, incredibly interesting and incredibly challenging,” he said. Much of Schmidt’s talk dealt with how technology has already changed the world. He stated that computers used today are 10 million times more powerful than the computer he was using in the 1970s, at the same cost-adjusted price. “One of the most interesting questions that we’ve been asking for the last decade was, could we achieve the ubiquity of technology? Could we literally get technology in the hands of all? And I’m very proud to say that we can say yes to that,” he said.
According to Schmidt, in the coming years there will be more smartphones than toothbrushes. “There are 4.2 million toothbrushes in the world. There will be more smartphones than toothbrushes. This is concerning to me,” he noted. “Four billion YouTube videos viewed every hour,” he added. “It would take Hollywood 43,000 years to create the content uploaded to YouTube in one year.” “[The computer science concentration] didn’t exist when I was here,” he said. “And it is now the number one major and has 40 percent female students.” Although he couldn’t concentrate in computer science, Schmidt said his time at the University changed the way he thinks about the world. “What I learned, and what I believe, is that critical thinking and science actually matter, that it is possible to invent something which can completely upend the conversation, that the abundance of information we’re seeing today is a good thing,” he said. “It’s incredibly powerful.” Schmidt spoke out against critics who have a negative perception of the Information Age. He cited several examples of media outlets decrying the possibility of new technologies, from rockets to computers, that even-
MARCIA BROWN :: HEAD NEWS EDITOR
Peruvian President Kuczynski and Woodrow Wilson School Dean Cecilia Rouse speak at Alumni Day.
Monday february 27, 2017
Eleusis gains recognition after position clarified in face of heavy criticism USG
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group Eleusis, formerly known as the Center for Interdisciplinary Psychedelic Study. Eleusis, which states its mission as to “[remove] the psychedelic taboo in favor of developing a neutral, informed, and interdisciplinary mindset, through academic discussion in a variety of domains”, failed to achieve student group recognition in last week’s meeting. Class of 2018 Senator Eli Schechner ’18 expressed his concerns about the legitimacy of the group, citing the University’s stance against the usage of illegal drugs. Chen stated that she had attended several of Eleusis’s meetings, and clarified the group’s position:
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“The group will be based off on discussion and research, not actual practice. It does not condone the use of illegal substances in any way,” Chen said. After further deliberations as well as a re-vote, the Senate voted to approve the group’s recognition. USG Treasurer Alice Shim ’19 presented the USG budget for the spring semester. The budget includes allocations for various projects, including the USG Movies Committee and the Undergraduate Student Life Committee. The Senate subsequently approved the budget. U-Councilor Wendy Zhao ’19 presented a recap of the Council of the Princeton University Community’s meeting, where President Eisgruber presented his annual letter.
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Ji reports travelling 6000 miles on wooden crutches to escape N. Korea KOREA
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his daily life made him. Ji explained how he lost his limbs; he was jumping from one train car to the next, when he lost consciousness and fell to the tracks. When he woke up, he saw that he had lost three fingers and one leg. Some students in the audience wept as he described the gruesome details of his accident and the harsh reality of his life. After the video, he began his 40-minute speech by describing the reality of life in North Korea. “We learn that every human being has dignity, but I witnessed people being treated like f lies,” he said. “Right this minute, there are so many North Koreans who want to escape North Korea and many North Korean women in China who want to escape human trafficking,” he said. Ji discussed the North Korean government’s complete lack of support for disabled citizens who do not receive adequate medical attention. “In North Korea, the state had no system set to take care of citizens who went through an accident or physical disability,” he said. “I had no choice but to leave North Korea, cross the Tumen river, and go through the escape of 6000 miles on wooden crutches.” In 2006, Ji managed to successfully f lee the coun-
try with his brother. He crossed three borders before f lying to South Korea, where he finally received a prosthetic arm and leg through government aid. After going through this ordeal, he realized he wanted to defend individuals who face what he did in North Korea. “I want to be an advocate for North Koreans,” said Ji. However, becoming a human rights activist was not something he had always intended on doing. In South Korea, Ji had to adapt to a new way of living. Moreover, the knowledge that his father had been captured by officials in North Korea and tortured to death burdened him. According to Ji, one of the biggest problems defectors face is a “psychological longing for their family members.” Often, defectors cannot bring elderly members of their family due to the arduous nature of the journey. In other cases, like Ji’s, some family members make it to South Korea, but others are caught or perish during the journey. Ji has also overcome other challenges. “I thought I had suffered enough ... and instead of living or working for others I thought I had every right to live comfortably for myself,” he said. However, he began to reconsider these notions in early 2010 after graduating from college. He was invited to speak at churches and
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schools in Arizona where he entered a “great state of personal shock.” While sharing this information about his past, Ji said he realized that what he had experienced and witnessed were indeed “systematic crimes.” He referenced the Holocaust to show parallels between recent history and the current human rights violations in North Korea. “In Germany, there were people who were conscious [about the situation] but because these people were silent, evil was able to be carried out,” Ji said. “I felt as if I myself was somehow criminally responsible for seeing this happen and remaining silent,” he said. When a student asked what exactly young college students should do to help, Ji’s eyes lit up. He talked for several minutes about undeveloped but promising ideas, ranging from creating a weekly radio program to organizing more symposiums. After the talk, he handed out business cards to students, encouraging them to email him if they were interested in joining his efforts. The lecture took place on Feb. 25 in Dodds Auditorium as a part of the PNKHR Conference.
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Monday february 27, 2017
Opinion
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A circle of debate Ryan Chavez columnist
F
ree speech and its implications seem like fashionable topics for op-eds lately. Debate over free speech is simply unavoidable, from fires in the streets of Berkeley, Calif. to renaming residential colleges in New Haven. That’s all without mentioning the dialogues surrounding fake news, social media, and the activities of the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. However, as much as the public is talking about it, it must be noted just how complicated free speech is. The speech rights enshrined in the First Amendment and the plethora of jurisprudence the court has produced around it represent a convoluted and complicated doctrine of what exactly speech is, and how it should or should not be protected legally and otherwise. Nevertheless, two things are immutable within an open society committed to propagating a marketplace of ideas: free press and rigorous debate. Publishing statements and providing coverage of all sorts of public discourse has held an integral role in maintaining open democratic societies. Whether holding presidential debates or attending White House press conferences (questionable as some in recent times may be), the fourth branch is indispensable to American democracy. While it is not my intention to offer an in-depth societal argument
about global free press here, there is something that strikes me as problematic closer to home — here in the Bubble — which pertains directly to debate and public discourse. There is presently an indefensible and illiberal press policy of the Whig-Cliosophic Society for its Senate debates. I had the pleasure of attending the most recent debate held on Tuesday, Feb. 21 regarding sanctuary cities in which Nicholas Wu ’18 and Diego Negron-Reichard ’18 debated Nicholas Sileo ’20 and Theodore Furchtgott ’18 over the motion, “This house regrets sanctuary cities.” The debate was lively, well-attended, and a good showing of skill in reasoning and oratory. It was a lovely presentation for the Society in front of some of the pre-frosh on campus for Tiger Tuesday. That night’s debate was informative, provided a balanced insight to a pressing modern issue, and was a prideful show of Princeton students’ ability. I would happily bring up points stated and what precisely was informative about the debate, but unfortunately due to the policy of the Society, I cannot. Before the debate began, the Senate President Sinan Ozbay ’19 made clear that the WhigCliosophic Society’s policy was that debates are “closed press,” meaning that there can be no direct quotes taken from the speeches made on the floor or by the primary speakers for either party. This policy has limited the News Section of the ‘Prince’ to using only “interviews after the event” to provide coverage on debates.
This is a both strikingly illiberal and bad policy. The Whig-Cliosophic Society, similarly to the Yale Political Union, Columbia Political Union, and other similar debate forums at universities across the Ivy League, should be hubs of intelligent public discourse both regarding their campus communities and political issues more broadly. Why, then, would Whig Clio want to prevent the dissemination of that discourse through press? Surely if a speaker is taking the floor at a debate they are willing to state their positions and put their argumentation up to the scrutiny of the forum. Why then should that scrutiny stop within the walls of Whig Hall? The fact that these student speakers are participating in the debate for a particular side is public knowledge and even advertised for the event. Concern for privacy and therefore safety via anonymity cannot rationally be the reason for this policy. Even if the debate were on the most polarizing of topics, this line of reasoning is a non-starter because the identity of speakers is clearly published and their position made known. Perhaps there might be backlash towards a speaker’s personal position if a particularly abhorrent statement is made, but is that not more reason to allow the press to cover these debates to the fullest? Why should the judgment of a speaker be withheld from the public if that judgment offers further insight to public discourse? The policy certainly is not a protection of
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free speech within the Senate debates, it only puts a damper on it. Furthermore, free speech is worthless when no one is listening. When no statements leave a room that has less than 50 people in it, has anything even been said at all? Even when thinking of these debates solely in the context of reaching the entire undergraduate student body, these Senate debates are sadly ineffective as a public forum. The current press policy only shrinks their exposure. When people see these debates, they might actually even consider attending them. There is no denying that publicity for debates can only help them gain popularity. The roster of participants in debates should be constantly infused with new topics and new faces who are informed and opinionated about these topics. Changing the press policy of Whig-Clio Senate debates could help revitalize their status as public forums. I would personally suggest at the very least holding a debate on the press policy. Because if the current policy continues, the forum that is the Whig-Clio Senate debates will continue to be exactly what it is now: a circle of debaters reaching only each other. Ryan Chavez is a sophomore at Princeton University and can be reached at rdchavez@princeton. edu. The sentiments expressed in this column ref lect the personal views of the columnist alone, not those of the International Relations Council, of which Chavez is president.
Sarah Sakha ’18
editor-in-chief
Matthew McKinlay ’18 business manager
BOARD OF TRUSTEES president Richard W. Thaler, Jr. ’73 vice presidents John G. Horan ’74 Thomas E. Weber ’89 secretary Betsy L. Minkin ’77 treasurer Michael E. Seger ’71 Craig Bloom ’88 Gregory L. Diskant ’70 William R. Elfers ’71 Stephen Fuzesi ’00 Zachary A. Goldfarb ’05 Joshua Katz Kathleen Kiely ’77 Rick Klein ’98 James T. MacGregor ’66 Alexia Quadrani Jerry Raymond ’73 Randall Rothenberg ’78 Annalyn Swan ’73 Douglas J. Widmann ’90
141ST MANAGING BOARD managing editors Megan Laubach ’18 Grace Rehaut ’18 Christina Vosbikian ’18 Head news editor Marcia Brown ’19 news editors Abhiram Karuppur ’19 opinion editor Newby Parton ‘18 sports editor David Xin ‘19 street editor Jianing Zhao ‘20
Mardi ‘Great Pun’
photography editor Rachel Spady ‘18
Nathan phan ‘19 ...........................................
web editor David Liu ‘18 chief copy editors Isabel Hsu ‘19 Samuel Garfinkle ‘19 design editor Rachel Brill ‘19 associate opinion editors Samuel Parsons ’19 Nicholas Wu ’18 associate sports editors Miranda Hasty ’19 Claire Coughlin ’19 associate street editor Andie Ayala ‘19 Catherine Wang ’19 associate chief copy editors Caroline Lippman ’19 Omkar Shende ‘18 editorial board co-chairs Ashley Reed ‘18 Connor Pfeiffer ’18 cartoons editor Tashi Treadway ‘19
NIGHT STAFF 2.27.17
Hate speech free to be challenged
Ryan Dukeman ‘17 Senior columnist
O
n last week’s episode of “Real Time with Bill Maher,” the host — a liberal comedian known for his blunt bludgeoning of the right and controversial statements about Islam — invited Breitbart editor and conservative provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos to be his opening guest. Maher used the entire interview to hammer home the single point on which the two admitted they can agree — that free speech is good, even when hateful, inaccurate, stupid, controversial, or evil. This is a point with which essentially everyone does, and should well, agree. But it was not necessary to interview the intentionally-unnuanced Yiannopoulos in order to
make that point. By doing the interview, Maher only served to make “mainstream” the ignorance and bigotry on which Yiannopoulos thrives. There are many other controversial thinkers and speakers, including ones here at Princeton, with whom Maher could have had a genuine and fruitful conversation about the value of dissent and disagreement, even on (in fact especially on) deeply held beliefs about identity and moral values. By not challenging Yiannopoulos on any of his ridiculous claims, Maher needlessly gave a platform to the type of fact-free trollish provocateurs who already dominate too much of our discourse in the Trump era. I understand that “Real Time” is not intended to represent the pinnacle of journalistic ethics. But it was hard not to cringe at the ease with which Maher let Yiannopoulos get away with mak-
ing comments that would shock any reasonable person. Yiannopoulos’s hate speech went unchallenged by Maher, in segment after segment, from claiming transgender people are sexual predators to saying that Islam is a threat to civilization to defending pedophilia. Instead of making a challenge, Maher preferred to pivot again and again back to the one shared point he and his guest were there to make: that it’s good that Yiannopoulos has the freedom to say such abhorrent things. Maher’s stunning degree of laziness is doubly challenging because it was not necessary. Yiannopoulos was not a necessary guest. Many serious political and academic thinkers, public intellectuals, politicians, and even celebrities could have spoken far more eloquently, and with much greater nuance than Yiannopoulos, about the value of dissent and
free speech. The difference is that they would have done so without the hypocrisy of praising child abuse while being a childhood abuse victim, or vowing, as a gay man, not to hire an LGBT person, and expressing his disapproval of immigrants as an immigrant himself. African American studies professor Cornel West GS ’80, for example, is already a regular guest on Maher’s show, and also routinely overflows McCosh 50 when he co-hosts events with Robbie George on exactly this topic. Were Maher’s point simply to promote the value of free speech, even at its extremes, then it was clearly unnecessary to actually host and broadcast those extremes to hundreds of thousands of viewers. But of course, there is always the incentive of the boost in ratings that Yiannopoulos provides. This is, of course, the entire problem with media
copy Marina Latif ’19 Emily Spalding ’20 Arthur Mateos ’19 Sarah Deneher ’20
provocateurs, as Maher himself pointed out — that the “left always takes the bait,” e.g. that the UC Berkeley protests against Yiannopoulos made him arguably a household name. This is a phenomenon Maher has himself engaged in to bolster the success of his own show on countless occasions. Maher makes a point of phrasing his arguments in the most blunt, quippy, and quotable ways, so that they have the greatest chance of making it into a soundbite on cable news shows and Facebook newsfeeds the next day. But it is wrong to do so in light of the views this particular guest has espoused, views that anyone with basic decency, of any partisan affiliation, would see as repugnant and untrue. Ryan Dukeman is a Wilson School major from Westwood, Mass. He can be reached at rdukeman@princeton.edu.
The Daily Princetonian
Monday february 27, 2017
page 7
Tigers extend winning streak to 15 games with wins over Columbia and Cornell M. BASKETBALL Continued from page 8
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the field all season, shooting 41.9 percent, this was a good weekend. With these two wins, Princeton maintained its lead in the Ivy League over Harvard by two games. In addition, the win over the Big Red clinched a share of the Ivy League regular
season title for the Tigers — the 27th in school history and the first since 2011. The 15-game winning streak that Princeton continued this past weekend is the longest winning streak since the 1998 season when the Tigers had a 20-game winning streak until they lost to Michigan State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In an interesting twist of fate, Princeton’s current
head coach Mitch Henderson ’98 was a captain of that team, which was the last Princeton men’s basketball team to win a game in the NCAA Tournament. Henderson was able to lead that time to a five seed in the Big Dance and a No. 8 ranking in the AP and Coaches Polls. Henderson’s time on the court may be done, but perhaps he can coach the Tigers to another run to the tournament.
T HE DA ILY COURTESY OF GOPRINCETONTIGESR.COM
Whatever your talent, the ‘Prince’ has a place for you.
Princeton men’s basketball led a stunning victory over Cornell.
Sports
Monday february 27, 2017
page 8
{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } MEN’S BASKETBALL
Tigers secure share of Ivy League title By Owen Tedford contributor
The men’s basketball team came into this weekend looking to continue its undefeated season in the Ivy League and to extend its unbeaten streak to 15 games. Two tough opponents in Columbia (11-14, 5-7 Ivy League) and Cornell (7-20, 3-9) lay in its path though. Both of these teams played Princeton (19-6, 120) close at home earlier this season. On Friday night, the Tigers took the short trip up to New York City to face the Lions in Levien Gymnasium. After a close first half that ended with Princeton leading by five, 27-22, the Tigers were able to pull away in the second half to win by 19, 64-45. Strong individual performances from sophomore guard Myles Stephens who had 16 points and seven rebounds and sophomore guard Devin Cannady who had 18 points were key to Princeton’s victory. In addition,
senior forward Pete Miller led the way on defense with eight rebounds and one block. Miller has been a key contributor on the Tigers’ defense all year that has allowed an Ivy Leagueleading low of 61.8 points per game. On Saturday night, Princeton went up to Ithaca for the Big Red’s Senior Day. The game followed a very similar pattern as Friday night’s game with the Tigers leading by one at halftime, 35-34. In the second half Princeton broke away again to win by 15, 75-60. Once again Cannady led the way for the Tigers doing a bit of everything with 26 points, five rebounds and two steals. Cannady was on fire from three-point range this weekend shooting 6-11 against Columbia and 6-10 against Cornell, which gave him a shooting percentage of 57 percent from beyond the arc this weekend. Even for Cannady who has been hot from deep in
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Princeton men’s basketball continues relentless streak in the Ivy League.
See M. BASKETBALL page 7
WOMEN’S SQUASH
Squash takes fourth at Howe Cup Championship
By Miranda Hasty
associate sports editor
The women’s squash team (12-5, 5-2 Ivy League) competed in the CSA Howe Cup national team championships this past weekend, Feb. 24-26, at the Jadwin squash courts. The Tigers picked up an early victory against fifth-ranked Yale (12-6, 4-3) on Friday but faced disappointing defeats the two following days against topranked Harvard (15-0, 7-0) and third-ranked Trinity (15-3). Princeton ended the weekend by taking fourth place. The fourth-seeded Tigers
opened their tournament quarterfinals with a 6-3 victory over the Bulldogs. Sophomore Kate Feeley started off the competition, putting the first point up on the scoreboard for the Tigers with three 11-8 matches at the No. 9 spot. Sophomore Isabel Hirshberg and freshman Morgan Steelman then added two more wins to the tally at the respective No. 6 and No. 8 spots. Yale tied the match at 3-3 with wins against Princeton seniors Alexandra Toth, Maria Elena Ubina, and Gabriella Garr, but junior Olivia Fiech-
ter, junior Kira Keating, and sophomore Samantha Chai responded with a set of counter victories to seal the 6-3 team victory. The Tigers hoped to carry the momentum into the next day’s match but were not able to top the Crimson in the semifinals, falling 1-8 on Saturday, Feb. 25 evening. The team put up a valiant fight, however, with commendable performances from Feeley, Hirshberg, and Steelman. Feeley picked up the sole victory of the afternoon for the Tigers, defeating Har-
vard’s Eleonore Evans 7-11, 119, 11-5, and 12-10 at the No. 9 spot. Meanwhile, Hirshberg kicked off her match at the No. 6 spot against Katie Tutrone at 13-11, but soon narrowly lost the subsequent three games. Steelman followed a similar pattern, dominating the first match at the No. 8 spot but falling short for the remaining three, and the Tigers concluded the match with just Feeley’s point. But the Tigers weren’t finished yet. A battle for third place in the Howe Cup was set for Sunday, Feb. 26 against
Trinity after Saturday’s loss. The Bantams lost their semifinal match against No. 2 Penn, but had already defeated the Tigers 1-8 last Saturday. Feeley completed a weekend sweep with a five-game win over Karolina Holinkova, and Steelman clinched the second victory of the match 11-8, 11-5, and 11-8 against Anna Kimberly Trinity was able to ultimately able to claim third place honors at 7-2, despite hard-fought competition from Ubina, Fiechter, and Keating, leaving Princeton at No. 4.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Men’s Volleyball split weekend, Tigers claim second spot in EIVA By David Xin Head Sports Editor
The men’s volleyball team split the weekend, winning their game against Harvard but falling to Sacred Heart. The Tigers, now 4-2 in the EIVA, are tied for second with Sacred Heart, while Penn State currently sits at the top of the table with a 6-2 record. Princeton started their road trip on Feb. 24 at Cambridge, where they faced off against Ivy League rival Harvard. The Princeton squad, which has not won in Boston since 2010, knew they would be facing tough opposition, and that is exactly what they got. The Orange and Black opened the game strong, securing the first two sets easily. However, the Crimson quickly responded and returned the favor by grabbing two sets for themselves. The Tigers soon found themselves playing in a crucial fifth set. Showing their resilience, the Princeton squad managed to fend off a strong Harvard rally to win the set 15-10.
With this crucial win, the Tigers moved to 4-1 in conference play. The freshman class, who have been crucial to Princeton’s success, had a big showing in the Tigers matchup against the Crimson. Outside hitter Parker Dixon led the offense with 18 kills, and his classmate middle blocker George Huhmann spearheaded the defense with his tally of seven blocks. Freshman outside hitter Greg Luck also made a huge splash, recording 10 kills and six digs. The Tigers left Boston with their first win since 2010 and continued their road trip with a match against Sacred Heart. While the Princeton squad had the better record coming into the game, the Pioneers had shown they were a dangerous opponent, beating a formidable Penn State squad 3-1. Princeton jumped off to a fantastic start, grabbing the first set easily with a 25-18 victory. However, Sacred Heart would quickly rebound. The pioneers hit
Tweet of the Day “In all aspects of life, trust the process” Dorial Williams(@ DWilliamsPU), Defensive Back, Football
a remarkable .500 in two of the final three sets. Sacred Heart would clinch the next three sets to hand the Tigers a 1-3 loss. Notable efforts came from Dixon and junior Kendall Ratter who, combined, had 26 kills. Senior setter Jonah May would pace the offense with 39 assists in a tight match against an efficient Sacred Heart squad. The loss drops the Tigers to second place in the EIVA standings with a 4-2 record. Despite ending the month of February on a sour note, the Tigers have plenty to be proud of looking back. Indeed, the young Princeton squad seem to have already found their rhythm early in conference play and have shown that they are competitive against the toughest teams in the league. The Tigers will continue conference play Mar. 3 and 4, with back-to-back games against Charleston. With a potential top spot on the line, these next two matchups will certainly not be ones to miss.
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Princeton men’s volleyball spikes its way to cinch a spot in the EIVA.
Stat of the Day
15 wins The men’s basketball team extended their winning streak to 15, which included 12 Ivy conference games.
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