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Friday March 15, 2019 vol. cxliii no. 28
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STUDENT LIFE
SHELLEY SZWAST / OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS
The new Trustee Reading Room includes more study tables, chairs, and soft seating.
Firestone renovations end, attendance soars By Marissa Michaels Staff Writer
Students have been flocking to the newly renovated spaces in Firestone Library. In February, the completion of the renovations on the Trustee Reading Room in Firestone brought about the end of the library’s official 10-year renovation project. The library website announced, “After almost a decade, the Firestone renovation project is complete!”
Over the last five years, before renovations were fully completed, Firestone saw an almost 63-percent surge in people coming to the library, according to the University’s press release. Increased attendance marks a great success for the renovation, which aimed to make Firestone a useful space for more students as one of the largest open-stack libraries in the world. According to Firestone’s website, the main goals of the project were “improv-
BEYOND THE BUBBLE
ing reader and study spaces, upgrading Rare Books & Special Collections areas, introducing sustainable building features, updating life-safety systems, and renovating graduate study rooms, exhibit spaces, and shelving areas in the library.” The goal of providing students the tools necessary to succeed was at the core of the renovation’s mission. “The project focused on creating a building that is well-suited to support modern library services
and contemporary approaches to scholarship, while also providing inspiring, f lexible study and work spaces,” the University wrote in the press release. “The renovation also incorporated a number of sustainable features, greatly improving the energy-efficiency of the building.” The renovation made Firestone more environmentally friendly by including light sensors, heat-insulated windows, and other sustainable features.
The long-term renovation drastically changed many spaces inside the library but preserved its gothic exterior. According to the press release, the challenge of the renovation was keeping Firestone, the main library on the University’s campus, open while it was undergoing construction. Now, with the completion of the Trustee Reading Room, all parts of Firestone are open for use. The library website explains the changes to the See FIRESTONE page 2
ON CAMPUS
Davis pays tribute to Marielle Franco Head Video Editor and Staff Writer
GAGE SKIDMORE / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
President Trump made the announcement at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Trump announces plans to penalize universities for not supporting free speech By Marissa Michaels Staff Writer
President Trump announced on March 2 that he will withhold federal funding for colleges that do not support free speech. Though the Trump administration has not released any further details, University faculty and administration feel confident that the move would
In Opinion
not affect the University. Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Md., Trump said, “I will be signing an executive order requiring colleges and universities to support free speech if they want federal research dollars.” Trump’s statement was met with raucous cheers from the attendSee TRUMP page 3
Columnist Morgan Lucey argues that activism is a worthy endeavor, even if it takes time to show tangible results, and contributing columnist Jasman Singh pushes for more intellectually stimulating on-campus jobs.
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Political activist Marielle Franco’s black feminism aimed to understand and transform the world. She hoped it wouldn’t just respond to one group’s needs, but to all of ours, Angela Davis said in her tribute to Franco on Thursday, March 14. A year after Franco’s assassination, Franco’s name has become a rallying cry in a polarized Brazil. At the time of her death, she had been serving as a city councillor of the Municipal Chamber of Rio de Janeiro for the Socialism and Liberty Party. She was an outspoken critic of police brutality and champion of black feminism and the LGBTQ+ community. “I’m extremely sad that I never had the opportunity to meet her in person,” said Davis, who only learned of their common aspirations, involving feminism and fighting racism, after Franco’s death. Davis is an author, professor, and civil rights activist. She is a professor emerita of History of Consciousness at University of California, Santa Cruz and the co-founder of Critical Resistance, a group dedicated to dismantling the prison-industrial complex. She was a prominent member of the Communist Party USA and the Black Panther Party, and was imprisoned for a year as a result of her in-
volvement in prisoners’ rights activism in 1971. Franco believed that even with its 500-year legacy, racism can be abolished, said Davis. “She remains a beacon of hope to people around the world who deeply believe in the imminent possibility of radical transformation in Brazil, in the Americas, and all over the planet,” she said. Davis then criticized the practice of calling only U.S. citizens “American.” She noted the term follows the same colonialist logic that historically allowed the category of “human” to refer solely to humans who were white and slave-holding. If the designation “American” applied to inhabitants of all the Americas, Davis said she would be proud to call herself one, adding, “Then Marielle Franco would be my American sister comrade.” Noting that Franco was an elected official, Davis said American feminists must be more vigilant in working across multiple divides, including those between government and non-government affiliated activists. In this vein, Davis emphasized the importance of providing mass support for Senators Omar, Tlaib, OcasioCortez, and other women of color recently elected to Congress. She went on to analyze how Franco’s feminist approach helped her strategically critique police violence. “Black feminism calls upon
Today on Campus 4:30 p.m.: Excavations at a Forgotten Female Pharaoh’s “Temple of Millions of Years” McCormick 106
us to reimagine our connectedness, our relationalities, and how they might be expressed if we are not forever encumbered by the increasing obsolete structures of the capitalist nation state,” she said. The shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson helped start an important conversation about challenging the militarization of the U.S. police force, according to Davis. People witnessed police in military uniforms with military-grade weapons, moving through the streets of Ferguson in military vehicles, she said. “After the immediate outcry, they packed up the clothes and weapons that made them so obviously military,” she said, stressing that the police continued using military technology and other tools despite these surface changes. Ferguson and the emergence of Black Lives Matter shifted the focus of anti-police violence discourse away from policing individual police officers, Davis explained. She further elaborated that the problem does not reside in the attitudes of the individual police officers responsible for the violence, but in the larger embeddedness and interconnectedness of many factors. Davis says the term “intersectionality” encompasses these factors, as well as the contributions of women of color and working class women. See DAVIS page 3
WEATHER
By Sarah Warman Hirschfield and Yael Marans
HIGH
65˚
LOW
41˚
Showers chance of rain:
50 percent
The Daily Princetonian
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Friday March 15, 2019
Massie ’21: I have no idea how it’s different, but it looks really nice FIRESTONE Continued from page 1
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first-floor room. According to the library website, “The Trustee Reading Room is reopening with the original floors brought back to life, new window shades on the south wall, and an abun-
dance of study tables and chairs. There are even a few locations of soft seating.” Despite these changes, some students think that the reconstructed room feels quite similar to its original form. “I have no idea how it’s different, but it looks really nice,” Katie Massie ’21 said. In addition to the reopen-
ing of the Trustee Reading Room, Firestone has debuted more study spaces and information desks on the north side of the first floor. “It’s cool to see how everyone flocks to the new spaces pretty quickly,” Henry Slater ’22 said. “It seems like there’s not much resistance to the new. I like
that it’s on the first floor.” Students see the appeal of the new convenient spaces. “I think the biggest difference I’ve noticed in terms of the construction is that the light is very different, so the spaces feel more open and relaxing to study in, rather than being cramped f luorescent
spaces,” Massie said. The outside architectural firms involved with this project included Massimino Building Corporation, Shepley Bulfinch, and Frederick Fisher and Partners. Students can also look forward to the Tiger Tea Room, which is set to open this summer in Firestone.
CHARLOTTE ADAMO / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
T HE DA ILY
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Friday March 15, 2019
The Daily Princetonian
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Davis honored late Whittington: It shouldn’t have huge for a place like Princeton Brazilian human consequences TRUMP rights activist Franco
sion between students of differing be more of a constitutional way to opinions. go about it.” Continued from page 1 “I think Princeton as an instituIt is uncertain whether an execu............. tion does a good job of protecting tive order would target only public ees, many of whom donned Make free speech here, I would just like institutions or private colleges as America Great Again hats. the students to be more welcomwell. Trump’s desire to punish colleg- ing,” Heath said. Furthermore, Whittington exes that do not support free speech Moreover, he thinks that free pressed fear that a harsh executive falls in line with his previous state- speech is an important issue on colorder could lead to unforeseen conments. In 2017, Trump tweeted, “If lege campuses in general. sequences for the University, such U.C. Berkeley does not allow free “There’s a growing threat of vioas overly strict regulations. speech and practices violence on in- lence towards people to try and supHe said certain iterations of the nocent people with a different point press their speech,” he said. executive order could “result in the of view - NO FEDERAL FUNDS?” Outside of the Orange Bubble, University being overly aggressive Professor Keith Whittington, au- Whittington feels that free speech in trying to do everything it can thor of this year’s pre-read, “Speak needs to be better protected on colto avoid that really bad thing from Freely,” was skeptical that Trump’s lege campuses. happening, which leads to its own policy would have substantial im“There’s a genuine problem on set of problems.” pacts on the University. campus free speech in the country Whittington explained that if “I think in practice, it shouldn’t at large,” Whittington said. “Lots the executive order is narrow in have huge consequences for a place of universities do not do nearly as scope, it could very well be constiCOLUMBIA GSAPP / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS like Princeton because we’re already good of a job on this as they should.” tutional, but will likely meet resisDavis was a prominent member of the Communist committed to the relevant princiHowever, Whittington worries tance in the courts regardless. Party USA and the Black Panther Party. ples,” Whittington said. that an executive order is not the “Almost anything he winds up University spokesperson Ben best way to go about solving the issuing is going to be challenged knowledge that is produced in Chang echoed his confidence in issue. in court, and so it will take a while venues outside of the universithe University’s dedication to free “Trying to have the federal before it plays itself out and even a Continued from page 1 ties.” speech in an email to The Daily government be the enforcement relatively narrow one will wind up ............. The talk, which took place Princetonian. mechanism is probably not going getting challenged,” Whittington Franco often said “I am be- at 5 p.m. in McCosh 10, was the “Of course, we remain commit- to be very helpful, [and] tying it to said. cause we are,” according to Da- keynote address for the conferted to free speech, on campus and grants is probably not going to be He suspects a broad version of vis. ence “Black Feminisms across more broadly, a message frequently very helpful. So even to the extent the order may be unconstitutional. Today’s black feminisms are the Americas: A Tribute to Poreinforced by President Eisgruber that there are genuine issues to be “You can imagine a lot of things moving towards a universal ap- litical Activist Marielle Franand demonstrated through this addressed, I don’t think that this is that are much more aggressive and proach, with an emphasis on co,” organized by the Brazil year’s Pre-Read and frequent events the right instrument for trying to ambitious that would have clear the communitarian, she ex- LAB and the Princeton Institute featuring speakers with many dif- address those things,” Whittington problems, and, presumably, the plained. for International and Regional ferent points of view,” Chang wrote. said. White House is more likely to go Davis believes feminist Studies. Other speakers includRiley Heath ’20, president of the Heath, though excited by with aggressive and ambitious,” he methodologies can be used to ed Carolyn Rouse, Imani Perry, University’s chapter of the conser- Trump’s acknowledgement of the said. understand the world in ways Aisha Beliso-De Jesũ s, Keeanga-Yavative activism group, Turning issue, agreed with Whittington’s asWhittington concluded that university-learning cannot. mahtta Taylor, Tianna Paschel, Point USA, agrees that the Univer- sessment. there may be several iterations of She said their “interdisciplin- Débora Diniz, Djamila Ribeiro, sity does a good job protecting free “It is kind of an overreach of his the executive order before it is sucarity allows us to acknowledge and Mônica Benício. speech, but noted that there is ten- power,” Heath said. “There should cessful.
DAVIS
Opinion
Friday March 15, 2019
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Activism pays off, eventually Morgan Lucey Columnist
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his past week, a group of scientists in London announced that, for the second time ever, a patient was cured of HIV. This replicated the same procedure used 12 years ago for the first patient who was cured of HIV, which involves a bone marrow transplant meant to treat both patients for cancer. Thus, both patients are considered to be in “long-term remission” for both their forms of cancer and for HIV. Though this procedure can only be done in patients with both HIV and cancer, it suggests that a more widespread cure of HIV/AIDS is possible. This announcement came decades after HIV/AIDS activism reached a peak in the 1980s with the activity of organizations like Act Up! The realized potential of a cure for HIV/AIDS represents the intense and dedicated work of activist organizations coming to fruition
in a way that will have immense impact on public and global health. As students, we are in a position to participate in this activism and must remain committed to it, even if the realization of the goal of the activism may be decades away. Act Up! was first founded in 1987 with a series of protests on Wall Street meant to stop major pharmaceutical companies from profiteering from the available treatment for AIDS, a drug known as AZT. Over the next decade, Act Up! and its various factions fought for a wide range of issues related to AIDS, including increased funding by the government to help those with AIDS through welfare methods, as well as increased dedication of resources by private pharmaceutical companies and government agencies to finding new treatments for HIV/AIDS. Small victories were achieved by Act Up! quickly, but it took decades of persistence to make lasting progress towards a cure for HIV/AIDS. The timeline of achieving major progress is on a scale of decades, not on the scale of one news cycle. Until 12 years ago, an ac-
tual cure for HIV/AIDS was inconceivable, though therapies that could successfully control the symptoms and increase the lifespan of people affected had been developed. And until this past week, replicating that procedure of 12 years ago also seemed unrealistic. It took decades for the activity of Act Up! to even achieve the beginning stages of a cure for HIV/AIDS. This is not to say that they were not successful or efficient in their method; rather, it confirms that even if activism rarely achieves its goals quickly, continued effort, even over decades, is worth it. I am not calling for everyone on this campus to participate in HIV/AIDS activism. This is a worthwhile cause, but it is not the only one by any means. Whichever issue one chooses to fight for, it is necessary to accept the fact that the goal may not be achieved instantaneously, even if initial efforts require massive amount of time and energy. Continued, steady effort over longer periods of time will prove to be more successful. For example, environmental activists have also fought
Putting the Bee in Beer Sydney Peng ’22
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for the development and enforcement of important legislation for decades. Some of these groups achieved results quickly, evident in the passage of the Clean Air Act of 1970 at the beginning of the modern environmentalist movement. Even so, many violations of the Clean Air Act have occurred since, and successful enforcement typically requires activism in the public sphere. When Volkswagen violated the Clean Air Act in 2015, it was largely public calls for punitive action that brought the issue to court. As students at the University, we are in a position to participate in this form of activism. We have resources provided by the University, in funding and available platforms, but we also have resources provided by the students — an incredible amount of passion, intelligence, and varying perspectives. These alone are powerful and can lead to the same realization of goals that Act Up! achieved this past week — even if this comes 20 years in the future. Morgan Lucey is a senior neuroscience major from Scottsdale, Ariz. She can be reached at mslucey@princeton.edu.
vol. cxliii
editor-in-chief
Chris Murphy ’20 business manager
Taylor Jean-Jacques’20 BOARD OF TRUSTEES president Thomas E. Weber ’89 vice president Craig Bloom ’88 secretary Betsy L. Minkin ’77 treasurer Douglas J. Widmann ’90 trustees Francesca Barber David Baumgarten ’06 Kathleen Crown Gabriel Debenedetti ’12 Stephen Fuzesi ’00 Zachary A. Goldfarb ’05 Michael Grabell ’03 John Horan ’74 Joshua Katz Rick Klein ’98 James T. MacGregor ’66 Alexia Quadrani Marcelo Rochabrun ’15 Kavita Saini ’09 Richard W. Thaler, Jr. ’73 Abigail Williams ’14 trustees emeriti Gregory L. Diskant ’70 William R. Elfers ’71 Kathleen Kiely ’77 Jerry Raymond ’73 Michael E. Seger ’71 Annalyn Swan ’73 trustees ex officio Chris Murphy ’20 Taylor Jean-Jacques’20
143RD MANAGING BOARD managing editors Samuel Aftel ’20 Ariel Chen ’20 Jon Ort ’21 head news editors Benjamin Ball ’21 Ivy Truong ’21 associate news editors Linh Nguyen ’21 Claire Silberman ’22 Katja Stroke-Adolphe ’20 head opinion editor Cy Watsky ’21 associate opinion editors Rachel Kennedy ’21 Ethan Li ’22 head sports editor Jack Graham ’20 associate sports editors Tom Salotti ’21 Alissa Selover ’21 features editor Samantha Shapiro ’21 head prospect editor Dora Zhao ’21 associate prospect editor Noa Wollstein ’21 chief copy editors Lydia Choi ’21 Elizabeth Parker ’21 associate copy editors Jade Olurin ’21 Christian Flores ’21 head design editor Charlotte Adamo ’21 associate design editor Harsimran Makkad ’22 cartoon editors Zaza Asatiani ’21 Jonathan Zhi ’21 head video editor Sarah Warman Hirschfield ’20 associate video editor Mark Dodici ’22 digital operations manager Sarah Bowen ’20
NIGHT STAFF copy Daniel Rim ’21 Jordan Allen ’20 Jeremy Nelson ’20 design Isabel Hsu ’19
Opinion
Friday March 15, 2019
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Why we’re striking Lisa Sheridan, Nourhan Ibrahim, Jeremy Zullow Guest Contributors
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oday, March 15, young people around the world are participating in strikes for climate action. We, along with others in the Princeton community, will be joining them. Princeton students have a determined history of environmental and energy action, working with the University to lead by example as a sustainability-oriented campus, and independently advocating for action beyond our campus. Students have worked at the town and state level on solutions aligned with the global goal of keeping temperature rise below 2º Celsius. Students have also sought to foster conversation across a range of environmental perspectives, giving rise to a range of green groups on campus such as the Princeton Student Climate Initiative, the Princeton Conservation Society, and the newly formed Princeton Environmental Activism Coalition. We are striking together
in Princeton to show solidarity with young people around the world and to make an emphatic demand for action. We strike for the planet, and we strike for our future. Today is about launching new dialogue on the urgency of action and communicating the importance of climate action to our generation. It is about intersectionality, because climate change costs and impacts vary across communities and will disproportionately affect ours and future generations. The global movement is inspired by 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who gained an international following last year for starting a school strike outside the Swedish Parliament in order to demand political action to reduce carbon emissions. At the UN Climate Summit, Thunberg told leaders that youth will not “beg the world leaders to care for our future” and that “change is coming whether they like it or not.” Today, we must look beyond the environmental impacts of our personal choices to consider the responsibilities we have as a community of young people and as members of an
academic institution. More importantly, we want to elevate our voices and reaffirm our role as change agents — as Princeton students, and as members and allies of frontline communities who disproportionately bear the brunt of climate change and its injustices. Although its impacts are felt by every person, members of disadvantaged communities worldwide bear the greatest burdens, despite contributing a disproportionately small amount to the problem. While we are committed to working locally on enhancing sustainability and resiliency practices in our community, current projections indicate that local action must be complemented by national and international efforts to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions. The most recent United Nations climate change report indicates that we are running out of time to avert the gravest global consequences: it would take significant emissions cuts through 2030 to stay under 1.5º warming and would require a transition to a carbon-neutral planet by 2050 to stay under 2º warming. Understanding the science of climate change
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necessitates rapid, large-scale action in order to minimize risks from climate change. We are already experiencing climate change, and we understand that impacts will worsen and compound if inaction persists. Hurricanes are becoming more extreme, as Hurricane Harvey’s deluge, for example, was made three times more likely and 15 percent more intense due to climate change. The past five years have been the five hottest years on record, and 2018 was one of the warmest on record for our oceans. We have lost much of the world’s coral reefs and face the possibility of losing the rest. Recent warnings have raised the spectre of mass extinctions, and many species are already in precipitous decline. Among all the frightening news, there is clear hope. We know what action is needed, and we know it is still possible to limit severe impacts of climate change — but only if we act quickly. This is a historic moment where youth will reset the dialogue on climate change and assert the urgency of collective action. Our strike, and the thousands of other strikes in
over 100 countries, is a call to action for young people and a recognition of the power we have to enact change. Whether you are able to strike for climate action today, there will be many ways to contribute going forward. Have conversations with friends and family about the unequivocal science of climate change and talk about solutions. Climate change is too serious to be ignored. So join the conversation, and let’s talk climate. Lisa Sheridan is a senior from Northern Ireland, studying ecology and evolutionary biology. She can be reached at lmas@princeton.edu. Nourhan Ibrahim is a junior from Parsippany, N.J., studying ecology and evolutionary biology. She can be reached at nsi@princeton.edu. Jeremy Zullow is an alumnus of the Wilson School from Marlboro, N.J. He can be reached at jzullow@princeton.edu. Princeton Climate Strike sponsored by Princeton Environmental Activism Coalition Princeton Muslim Advocates for Social Justice Princeton Student Climate Initiative
Opinion
Friday March 15, 2019
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Making campus jobs more meaningful Jasman Singh
Contributing Columnist
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e can and should do more when it comes to offering our students research opportunities. The cutting edge of research shouldn’t just be available to Ph.D.s, graduate students, and faculty. Rather, there should be more of an active effort to recruit undergraduates into these positions. I don’t say this because I am envious of research in higher education — it’s a well-known fact that undergraduates have access to as many, or even more resources, than grad students here — but because I see a waste of resources in putting the majority of our students in nonacademic campus jobs. Research offers the easiest
way to target jobs by student interest, so I offer that as a concrete example. One way we can make research on campus more transparent and more accessible to undergraduates is by creating a database of available research opportunities with sponsoring faculty. Typically, the onus has been placed on the student to reach out to faculty members that they have an interest in conducting research with, but we can do a better job of fostering research on this campus. Instead of making students cold-email professors, we can create a University-wide list of professors conducting research. That list could brief ly summarize what kind of research is being offered and what kind of educational background — classes or skills — is required. A widely accessible list of such opportunities would not only be conducive to more research on campus, it very well could provoke it.
Summer research positions are one thing, but there’s more we can do in the way of incentivizing research through the year as campus jobs. My goal here is not to create research for research’s sake, but to spur intellectual thought through meaningful campus employment that aligns with student interests. Current campus jobs are predominantly more conventional ones, like working the desk at Frist or washing dishes at Forbes. I’m not saying that we completely do away with the conventional either, because that’s simply impractical. Someone has to wash dishes and someone has to staff the information desk, but it doesn’t have to be everyone. With over 2,500 students holding campus jobs and an undergraduate population of 5,260, we have a huge participation rate in the campus jobs program. We’re privileged to be members of an academic institution that
can meet the financial commitments required to host this extensive of a program, but that doesn’t mean we can’t tweak it and make it even better. Campus jobs are already being paid for by the University, so money wouldn’t come out of the professor’s pockets and departments would still maintain the same grants they get to hire fellows or interns. Rather, these opportunities would be a chance for a student to learn about the nature of a field and then contribute to the work being done. We have assembled the most diverse pool of talented students and I refuse to believe that they provide the greatest benefit to our community in that capacity. I don’t even really believe that all these jobs should be research-oriented. Let’s pay musicians to make music, or pay writers to write, or pay activists to be more active. Students have passions, side hobbies, and aspirations —
all activities that could become more feasible through University sponsorship. When I say this, I mean that it’s easier for a student to be more politically involved if their job has a correlation to legislative research — perhaps as an intern for Princeton’s assemblyman. It’s easier for a graphic designer to hone their skills by working with companies in the Keller Center devising marketing material. Campus jobs should be more productive uses of time than the conventional ones because our students have so much talent and so little time. It makes sense to use that time as productively as we can, not just for ourselves but for the development of a more robust community — one where students are placed in roles that best suit them rather than roles that best suit no one. Jasman Singh is a first-year from East Windsor, N.J. He can be reached at jasmans@princeton.edu.
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Opinion
Friday March 15, 2019
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The double-edged sword of Tiger Confessions Ben Gelman
Contributing Columnist
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he rise of Tiger Confessions since last October has generated plenty of discussion around campus, as the Facebook page’s popularity seemingly exploded over winter break with no signs of letting up. Many have contributed to the important conversation of how this page, which now boasts over 6,000 posts, is affecting Princeton’s culture and how we should respond. These discussions have included an interview with the founder, known by the pseudonym Ty Ger, in The Daily Princetonian, and a recent op-ed by Managing Editor Samuel Aftel. It is known that the Tiger Confessions page is completely anonymous for both posters and administrators, and this may be the most consequential element of the page. As Aftel noted in his column, “the anonymous platform’s popularity bespeaks the performative invulnerability and emotional repression of the University’s
social culture. It seems that many Princetonians find Tiger Confessions a more effective source of therapy and community facilitation than their classmates, not to mention other in-person, non-anonymous University resources, such as RCAs or Counseling and Psychological Services.” While it’s certainly true that the page offers a space for free expression that may not otherwise be possible, the anonymity is a doubleedged sword; the Facebook page offers students the opportunity to voice their grievances and express repressed emotions without consequence, which can be an extremely cathartic and helpful, but also harmful in some cases. The positive side of these anonymous posts is that they allow for students enduring difficult issues to discuss their concerns without fear of judgement or personal consequence. Posts about weighty topics such as mental health, racism, sexual assault, and suicide are not hard to find on Tiger Confessions, proving that there is a demand for emotional support that is not being met by other services such as RCAs and Counseling and Psychological Services.
These posts also have the ability to offer insight for other Princeton students into what kinds of problems their classmates are dealing with, something that can only serve to make us more sensitive to each other’s needs and personal difficulties. This is an undeniably valuable characteristic of Tiger Confessions. On the other hand lies the dark side to the anonymity that Tiger Confessions offers. As is the case anywhere on the internet, anonymity gives people the ability to post content they would otherwise not want attached to their name, and this content can often be harmful. Tiger Confessions is often the site of political debates that start after someone posts an intentionally edgy, controversial, or stereotypically unpopular opinion, often in a fashion that exhibits how the poster has no real intention of promoting a meaningful conversation. Posts in Tiger Confessions about how annoying it is that liberals get triggered so easily, or random posts about specific political policies, while certainly not the end of the world, are not substitutes for real political discussions. When such subpar politi-
Screen Time
Jonathan Zhi ’21
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cal commentary becomes ubiquitous through the popularity of Tiger Confessions, it creates the impression that actual discourse between students of different political leanings is really occurring, something that would be truly valuable. In reality, however, all that’s happening is nameless people shouting their opinions into the digital void. The anonymity of the group precludes any type of real conversation from happening because nobody feels obligated to defend what they say and, consequently, their own reputation. A more significant danger of the page lies in the possibility for invasion of privacy. While posts complimenting people on their attractiveness can be flattering or fun between friends, they have the potential to create feelings of discomfort if one does not appreciate strangers commenting on their appearance on a platform that the whole school can see. This practice can easily turn into something malicious. A post about a nameless, attractive student that describes their appearance and when and where you saw them could make it easy for others to identify the subject of the post, something this
person did not ask for and may not want. In fact, a similar phenomenon was noted by a confession on Feb. 24, in which the poster told of how Tiger Confessions was used by someone to further his unwanted advances on a female student he had met at an eating club. It is not for any one student, including myself, to make the judgement of whether or not Tiger Confessions ought to exist. If anything, the page seems to be becoming more popular, with Ty Ger even feeling the need to recruit more admins. The page will live and die by our collective decisions to post, comment, and read. The solutions to the issues I have raised may lie somewhere between simply living with these negative consequences, more censorship by admins, a removal of anonymity from the page, or shutting it down completely. Tiger Confessions is merely a vehicle for our thoughts. As such, it is our responsibility to decide the culture of the page and to determine what kinds of online content we promote as a student body. Benjamin Gelman is a firstyear from Houston, Texas. He can be reached at bgelman@ princeton.edu.
Friday March 15, 2019
Sports
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{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } BASKETBALL
Ivy basketball preview: Men’s, women’s basketball seek NCAA bids this weekend By Jack Graham
Head Sports Editor
The days are getting longer, the weather warmer, and the basketball games more meaningful. March is upon us, and that means one thing — the Ivy League basketball tournament. On Saturday at 3 p.m., third-seeded men’s basketball (16–11, 8–6 Ivy) will tip off against Yale (20–7, 10– 4) in the semifinals. Topseeded women’s basketball (20–9, 12–2) will do the same against Cornell (12–13, 6–8) at 6 p.m. on Saturday. Here are previews to keep you occupied until then. Men’s Can Princeton figure out how to beat Harvard and Yale? Princeton went 0–4 against Harvard and Yale
in the regular season. Inconveniently for the Tigers, those teams are the top two seeds in the Ivy tournament. Neither of Princeton’s losses against Yale, led by Ivy League Player of the Year Miye Oni, were particularly close. Last weekend, Yale stif led Princeton with its long, athletic defense and knocked down threes all night, with several bench players pitching in. The Bulldogs won 81–59 to win a share of the Ivy League regular season title. Princeton did play that game without sophomore guard Ryan Schwieger, who emerged late in the season as the Tigers’ most dangerous scoring threat. After cycling in and out of the rotation throughout the season, he scored 20 points or more in three of his last
four games and earned an Ivy League Player of the Week honor. He missed both games last weekend with a concussion, and his status for the tournament will likely be unclear until Saturday. Without Schweiger’s outside shooting, Princeton may not have the offensive firepower needed to top the Bulldogs. Princeton had the second-lowest points per game total in the Ivy League, and the worst threepoint shooting percentage. They’re shooting an abysmal 27.9 percent from three in conference play. Two of Princeton’s guards, senior Myles Stephens and firstyear Jaelin Llewellyn have three-point percentages hovering around 25 percent. Llewellyn’s struggles behind the arc aren’t atypi-
JACK GRAHAM / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
Jose Morales and Princeton head to New Haven for the Ivy tournament this weekend.
cal for a rookie, but Stephens’s are more puzzling, given that he shot 41 percent from three last year. Princeton will need some of those shots to start falling to have a chance this weekend. Making the Ivy tournament at all is an accomplishment, given the trials this year’s Princeton team faced. The Tigers played most of the Ivy season without star guard Devin Cannady, who eventually left the team to take a leave of absence from Princeton. Their three-point shots haven’t fallen all year. Several underclassmen have been thrust into major minutes. Nonetheless, the Tigers will have the opportunity to compete for an NCAA tournament bid this weekend. If Princeton can get past Yale in the first round, it will play the winner of Harvard and Penn on Sunday. Women’s Will Princeton repeat as Ivy tournament champs? Princeton women’s basketball has appeared in both the Ivy tournament championship games. In the inaugural tournament, Princeton fell to Penn in the final. Last year, the Tigers avenged that loss with a blowout 63–34 win over the Quakers to earn an NCAA tournament bid. A third meeting between the two in the final wouldn’t surprise anyone — Princeton and Penn split the regular season Ivy title and hold the top two seeds. The Tigers and Quakers split their regular season matchups. Penn won the first game 66–60 in early January, and Princeton won 68–53 at the Palestra in Feb-
ruary. Led by Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year Eleah Parker, Penn has the best defense in the Ivy League, allowing just 53.7 points per game. To set up another Princeton-Penn clash, the Tigers will first need to get by Cornell in the semifinals. Princeton won both its games against Cornell but nearly blew a big lead in its 68–64 win over the Big Red in February. Princeton will be led by junior forward Bella Alarie, who this week won her second consecutive Ivy League Player of the Year award. If the league had a Most Improved Player award, she might have won that as well. She averaged 23.0 points per game this year, up from 13.3 last season. Her 10.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game were also career highs. When Alarie is really on her game, like when she posted 45 points against Cornell and 41 against Dartmouth, Princeton is tough to beat. Sophomore guard Carlie Littlefield joined Alarie on the All-Ivy first team. Extras Location: This year’s New Haven venue represents the first time the Ivy basketball tournament won’t take place at the Palestra. The tournament will rotate across Ivy League campuses until 2025, including a 2021 stop at Princeton. How to watch: Both men’s semifinal games will be broadcast on ESPNU, and the men’s final will be broadcast on ESPN2 on Sunday at noon. The women’s semifinals will be broadcast on ESPN3, with the final on ESPNU 4 p.m. on Sunday.
MEN’S LACROSSE
Men’s lacrosse to face Penn after Rutgers loss By Tom Salotti
Associate Sports Editor
Men’s lacrosse (2–3) was defeated by Rutgers (4–3) last weekend 9–8. The Tigers will head to Philadelphia to face Penn (2–3) for their first Ivy League game of the season. Princeton and Rutgers go way back — the first time the two teams played each other was in 1888 (Princeton won that game 5–1). Last Saturday, the team traveled to Piscataway to face off against the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers outscored the Tigers in the first two quarters and by halftime led 9–3. In the first quarter, Princeton’s senior midfielder Charlie Durbin and sophomore attacker Chris Brown each had a goal, keeping the Tigers only one behind the Scarlet Knights. The quarter finished 3–2. In the second, Rutgers opened the scoring with a goal two minutes in. First-year midfielder Alexander Vardaro responded for Princeton at 11:28, bring-
ing the team within one, 4–3. Vardaro has scored at least one goal in every game this season. Rutgers took off, responding with five goals in the remaining minutes and shutting Princeton out to end the half 9–3. Junior attacker Michael Sowers opened the second half scoring with his first goal of the game at 10:31. With five minutes to go in the third quarter, Brown hit his second one of the game. A minute and a half later, Sowers had his second of the game, too, bringing Princeton within three of Rutgers and the score to 9–6. The Tigers’ defense prevented Rutgers from scoring any goals in the third quarter — the Scarlet Knights only had one shot on target, which was saved by junior goalie Jon Levine. In the fourth, Princeton once again shut out Rutgers. The Tigers inched closer to tying the game with goals from Durbin with five minutes left and Brown with two minutes left. Brown’s goal made it a one-point
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Princeton first played Rutgers in 1888, when it won 5–1.
game, with Rutgers leading 9–8, but Princeton was unable to capitalize on shots by first-year middie Beau Pederson and Durbin in the final seconds. The game finished 9–8 in Rutgers’ favor. Last season, Princeton
defeated Rutgers 15–14 in an OT thriller at home. This coming Saturday, the team will travel to Penn for its first match of Ivy League play. The last time the two teams played in Philly, in 2017, the Tigers dominated the Quakers 17–8. Last sea-
son, though, at home, Penn defeated Princeton 14–7. The two teams tied in the first and third quarters of that game, but Penn outscored the Tigers 3–0 in the second and 6–2 in the fourth. The face-off against Penn is at 3:30 p.m.
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Men’s basketball shot 27.9 percent from three in conference play, the lowest in the Ivy League.