March 21, 2016

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Monday march 21, 2016 vol. cxl no. 30

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U. moves to revise course evaluations

By Jessica Li News Editor

The Council on Teaching and Learning is currently working to redesign its course evaluation system, according to Dean of the College Jill Dolan.

The Council was first charged with the task in late 2015 and has designated it as a committee priority for the 2015-2016 academic year, according to its website. Members of the Council solicited student input at a closeddoor luncheon open to preregistered students in midMarch.

According to Dolan, the course evaluation system is currently being examined as all systems need periodic review. She added that the Council has been charged with looking into current practices and determining whether the system should be revised, since the course evaluation system is vital to both teaching and learning.

Dolan said that research literature in the field of course evaluations shows that responses collected are

often biased due to gender and race for various reasons.

Seeing this potential drawback, the committee is reviewing the research to see how the University’s questions might be adjusted accordingly, Dolan added.

In a 2014 paper, two faculty members at the University of California, Berkeley, argued that teaching effectiveness, as measured by subsequent performance and career success, is negatively associated with student evaluations of teaching scores.

The University wants to ensure that the course evaluations are as useful as possible to faculty, students and administrators, Dolan said.

Per current University policy, course evaluations are reviewed by department chairs and representatives.

The Dean of the Faculty and other administrators also review course evaluations when faculty are considered for promotion and merit increases, according to Dolan.

“We also want students to understand that course evaluations aren’t just See COURSE page 3

BEYOND THE BUBBLE

BEYOND THE BUBBLE

COURTESY OF NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER

Rebecca Haywood ‘90, was nominated to the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Saturday.

Rebecca Haywood ’90 nominated to Third Circuit

By Marcia Brown staff writer

U.S. President Barack Obama nominated Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Ross Haywood ’90 for a vacancy on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Saturday.

The White House Press Office deferred comment to a statement.

According to the statement, Haywood is currently serving as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of Pennsylvania, where she has served as Chief of the Appellate Division since 2010. “[Haywood] has shown unwavering integrity and

an outstanding commitment to public service,” said Obama in the statement.

Haywood graduated cum laude from the University with a degree in economics in 1990 and magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School in 1994, according to Pittsburgh’s Action News.

According to U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesperson Margaret Philbin, Haywood is not allowed to give comments on this subject.

During her time in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Haywood has been actively involved in workplace management and training, the statement read. There, she served as the coordinator

for prevention of workplace harassment from 2004 to 2010.

Haywood’s work has also included community involvement and speaking to “students and legal organizations about the law and her career,” according to the statement.

The statement also noted that Haywood previously clerked for Judge Alan N. Bloch of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, served as Assistant United States Attorney of the Western District of Pennsylvania and worked for the law firm Jones, Dan, Reavis and Pogue. The law See COURT page 3

BEYOND THE BUBBLE

U. will not discipline students for controversial opinions, Eisgruber says News Editor

COURTESY OF GOOGLE.COM

Raja Krishnamoorthi ‘95, engineer and aspiring politician.

Krishnamoorthi ’95 aims to join 115th Congress

By Abhiram Karuppur staff writer

Raja Krishnamoorthi ’95, who won the Democratic Party primary on Mar. 15, believes he has a very good chance to serve in the the U.S. House of Representatives in Illinois’ 8th Congressional District.

The 8th District includes the Chicago suburbs of Hoffman Estates, Schaumburg and Palatine. Krishnamoorthi won the Democratic primary on March 15, defeating his two opponents, Michael Noland and Deborah Bullwinkel.

According to Krishnamoorthi, he is now focused on winning the general election in November.

“So far, the dynamic has been favorable, but we can’t take anything for granted,” Krishnamoorthi said. “We have to make sure we get our message out.”

Krishnamoorthi is currently president of Sivananthan Labs, where he works on leading research teams developing semiconductor technologies, improved military technologies, solar cells and biosensors to detect weapons of mass destruction.

He was formerly the Illinois Deputy Treasurer and served as the policy director for Barack Obama’s successful U.S. Senate campaign in 2004.

See CONGRESS page 2

In Opinion Postdoctoral researcher Aaron Bornstein argues that graduate unions will help academic research, in response to the University’s amicus brief.

PAGE 6

With regard to his recent comment that the University will not penalize students for possibly holding an event commemorating Osama bin Laden, University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 explained that the University is committed to the principles of free speech and will not discipline any members of the University for their political opinions.

“We allow students, faculty and others the freedom to express their political opinions vigorously, even if those opinions are controversial or offensive to some,” he said.

In an interview with The Indian Express last week, Eisgruber noted that in accordance with principles of free speech, the University will not discipline students even for potentially holding an event to commemorate Osama bin Laden.

Bin Laden claimed responsibility for carrying out the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001 that took the lives of 2,977 people in New York City, Washington, D.C. and outside of Shanksville, Pa. “It would be very disrup-

Today on Campus

tive. People would be very angry about the statement.

But we would not discipline somebody for making statements of that nature,” he said to The Indian Express .

In an interview with the ‘Prince’, Eisgruber noted the conversation began when he met with several reporters to talk about his trip and the University’s activity in India last week. During the forty-minute interview, the Indian Express reporter referenced recent assertions by an Indian minister that no American university would allow students to conduct a meeting to commemorate Osama bin Laden.

The reporter subsequently asked whether the University would allow such a meeting and whether it would discipline a student for exercising the right to free speech, according to Eisgruber.

Eisgruber said that he answered the reporter’s questions on the basis of the University’s vigorous commitment to free speech and academic freedom.

“Free speech and academic freedom are essential to a great university and a scholarly community. Their benefits far outweigh any costs,”

4 p.m.: The Andlinger Center will present a seminar titled “Burning for Fusion Energy: In Pursuit of Self-heated Plasmas and Beyond.” Maeder Hall, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment.

he added.

Eisgruber further explained that the commitment to free speech he described during his interview with the Indian Express was articled in a statement that the faculty adopted last year, which he fully supports.

The statement allows students, faculty and others the freedom to express their political opinions vigorously, even if those opinions are controversial or offensive to some, according to Eisgruber.

“We believe that the appropriate remedy for bad speech is better speech, not discipline: poor arguments or false statements should be met with better arguments.

That’s the only way to get at the truth,” he said.

The question arose as a response to recent events that transpired in Jawaharlal Nehru University. On Feb. 9, 21 JNU students allegedly organized an event to commemorate the third anniversary of the hanging of Afzal Guru, a man convicted for orchestrating a 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament.

Following the event, multiple students are currently See FREEDOM page 4

WEATHER

By Jessica Li

HIGH

51˚

LOW

29˚

Partly cloudy. chance of rain:

20 percent

The Daily Princetonian

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Krishnamoorthi: U. accommodated all of [my] interests at the same time with strong engineering program and Wilson School CONGRESS Continued from page 1

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William McLeod, mayor of Hoffman Estates, noted that Krishnamoorthi’s background in government and business is very helpful since it allows government officials to recognize the effects of their decisions.

“It’s important to recognize the effects of government decisions on a small business,” McLeod said.

“Small businesses are the backbone of this country.”

Krishnamoorthi noted that he has received endorsements from many politicians, including Democratic Representatives Jared Polis ’96 of Colorado and Derek Kilmer ’96 of Washington, local community leaders and advocacy groups in Chicago and Washington, D.C. Polis said that Krishnamoorthi has an excellent chance of winning and is honored to help him however he can.

“Raja is a terrific candidate and I am thrilled to support him for Congress,” Polis said. “We need his innovative approach to help ensure that Americans have access to opportunity in an increasingly complex world.”

Sunil Bhave, a member of the District 59 School Board, explained that Krishnamoorthi is a very genuine person who is able to get along with people who have different opinions, which is a very rare quality that is needed in Congress.

“Within a minute of talking to him, you just want to shake his hand and give him a hug,” Bhave said. “He listens to what people have to say.”

Born in New Delhi, India, Krishnamoorthi moved to the United States when he was three-months-old so that his father could complete a graduate degree in industrial engineering. He grew up in Buffalo, N.Y., and moved to Peoria, Ill., where his father was a faculty member at Bradley University. There, he graduated from Richwoods High School.

He explained that he decided to apply to the University because of the strong engineering school, which was where he intended to major. He also said that the liberal arts component and the presence of the Wilson School was key, because it would enable him to take humanities and science classes at the same time.

“Princeton’s structure accommodated all of those interests at the same time,” he said. “I could not find that anywhere else.”

Krishnamoorthi originally intended to pursue Electrical Engineering, but realized early on that he wasn’t comfortable with the coursework. He recalled that during orientation week, members of the incoming freshman class were asked to raise their hands if they had enough Advanced Placement credits to qualify for advanced standing. He noted that many of the students’ hands went up, and that was when he realized how strong his classmates were.

“I didn’t have AP courses to begin with,” Krishnamoorthi said. “I realized that I wasn’t as academically prepared as some of my peers.”

Despite this disadvantage, Krishnamoorthi eventually graduated summa cum laude from the University.

Krishnamoorthi received a degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and a certificate from the Wilson School. His independent project dealt with natural gas powered engines and his senior thesis for the Wilson

School dealt with foreign directed investment in India, due to his interest in economic development.

He explained that he transferred from Electrical Engineering to Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering because of his interest in the large number of practical applications, such as combustion engines and solar cells.

“I was able to take courses where the professors and the teaching assistants were available to mentor and shepherd me through some very difficult coursework,” Krishnamoorthi added.

“They allowed me to excel.”

Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Luigi Martinelli GS ’87, who taught Krishnamoorthi f luid mechanics, said that Krish-

“[Krishnamoorthi ‘95] had a very subtle way of leading, without showing that he was doing so.”

Luigi Martinelli

Assosciate Professor

namoorthi was one of his top students, with a lively personality and leadership abilities.

“He had a very subtle way of leading, without showing that he was doing so,” Martinelli said. “He was always in a cheerful mood and very positive.”

Wes Fisher ’95, who was Krishnamoorthi’s roommate during his freshman year, said that Krishnamoorthi was very nice and polite. He added that Krishnamoorthi spent most of his time studying and was probably the hardest-working student he ever met.

“He seemed a very knowledgeable and a calm person,” Fisher said. “He was excited to get an education and learn as much as possible.”

Outside of academics, Krishnamoorthi was a violinist at the University Orchestra, a member of the Young Scholars Institute, and an interactor, or student peer adviser, in the engineering school.

After graduating, Krishnamoorthi spent two years as a strategy consultant and dealt with how a business should grow, whether through increasing revenue or cutting costs. He had always wanted to go to law school because of his interest in government and public policy.

“There’s nothing like law school that prepares you for that,” Krishnamoorthi said.

“You really learn about the bones of our legal system and the Constitution, and how the federal government operates.”

He then graduated from Harvard Law School in 2000, clerked for Judge Joan Gottschall at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois for a year, and then joined law firm Kirkland and Ellis in Chicago, Ill., as an attorney.

He dealt with many different types of law, including contract law, securities law, white-collar criminal prosecutions and bankruptcy litigation.

In addition, he did some pro-bono work and was particularly proud of helping a man who had been persecuted in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“I helped him win asylum in a really tough immigration court in Chicago,” he

said. “I really believed that had he been returned to the [DRC], his life would have been in jeopardy.”

After spending a couple of years working at the law firm, Krishnamoorthi was appointed by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to be the Special Attorney General with the Public Integrity Unit. He took this position after a former colleague at Kirkland and Ellis became the head of the Public Integrity Unit and asked Krishnamoorthi to come and join him.

Krishnamoorthi said that the Public Integrity Unit investigates corruption within the government and he had the opportunity to bring several cases before a grand jury. He was also appointed to the Illinois Housing Development Authority, which finances affordable housing in Illinois.

Krishnamoorthi’s first foray into politics occurred in 1999, when he worked on Barack Obama’s Democratic primary campaign for the 1st Congressional District of Illinois. Obama lost then, but asked Krishnamoorthi to become policy director for his Senate campaign in 2002. As a policy director, he educated Obama on various issues and formulated policy that would set him apart from his competitors.

He also helped Obama prepare for debates.

In 2007, Krishnamoorthi left Kirkland and Ellis to become the Deputy Treasurer of Illinois. He was appointed by the Treasurer, who was formerly the banker of Obama’s 2004 Senate campaign. In the Treasurer’s office, he worked on policies to manage the state’s money, such as investing the money to earn interest for the state, and managing the state’s venture capital fund, which resulted in the creation of hundreds of thousands of jobs. In return for depositing the state’s money in a private bank, the Treasurer asked the bank to help in in promoting economic development. Krishnamoorthi focused on writing the policies aimed at promoting economic development, and was impressed by the amount of money managed by the state.

“I was interested in the

“[Krishnamoorthi ‘95] cares for the people a lot, and is able to give a voice to those who don’t have one.”

Sivalingam sivananthan

President, Sivanathan Labs

sheer amount of money that f lows through the state Treasurer’s office,” Krishnamoorthi said. “The money that every state collects can be used to help taxpayers in various ways.”

In 2010, when Krishnamoorthi sought the Democratic nomination for Illinois State Comptroller, who maintains the state’s accounts and authorizes checks and payments.

He noted that he possessed a unique set of skills that would help him in this position.

“One the one hand, I was an attorney who had investigated ethics abuses,” he said.

“On the other hand, I had some financial training as the Deputy Treasurer.”

Krishnamoorthi lost to David Miller in the Democratic primary by just over a percentage point. He said

that he was able to meet great people during his bid, which encouraged him to try again for elected office. From his first run, he learned that he needed to raise more money to get his message across.

In 2010, Krishnamoorthi joined Sivananthan Laboratories as the president after meeting Dr. Sivalingam Sivananthan, the founder of Sivananthan Labs, when Krishnamoorthi was running for Comptroller. Sivananthan said that he was introduced to Krishnamoorthi at a party celebrating the passage of the Affordable Care Act, and was impressed by his engineering and law background. Sivananthan was a strong supporter of Krishnamoorthi and offered him a job serving as a president of the company.

“I asked him to join Sivananthan Laboratories, since he was interested in clean energy and small businesses,” Sivananthan said. “Also, he would be able to reach out and inspire underprivileged communities.”

Sivananthan said that Krishnamoorthi worked on a company called Episolar, which was developing lightweight infrared cameras for the U.S. military. Krishnamoorthi also worked on InSPIRE, a nonprofit organization part of Sivananthan Labs focused on training veterans and underprivi-

“[Krishnamoorthi ‘95] blends the professional side of business with the human side of caring for people ... [and] seems genuinely open to all people.”

Tim Burns

District 59 School Board Member

leged students to work in renewable energy fields.

“It was amazing to see a lawyer establish, within two years, a one-of-a-kind highend camera,” Sivananthan said. “He cares for the people a lot, and is able to give a voice to those who don’t have one.”

Just recently, a member of the Sivananthan Labs’ group of companies, EPIR Technologies, collaborated with NASA to develop X-ray imaging technology for the ASTRO-H (Hitomi) satellite, which successfully launched in Feb. 2016.

In 2011, Krishnamoorthi decided to run for the House of Representatives in the 8th District of Illinois. He noted that he jumped into the race because he wanted to defeat then Rep. Joe Walsh, a Tea Party Republican.

“He was then the Donald Trump of the U.S. Congress,” Krishnamoorthi said.

“He was a horrible guy who played on people’s fears and tried to demagogue on the issues.”

Krishnamoorthi said that his second attempt at elected office was a positive experience because the discussions he had with his opponents were civil and ideas-focused.

However, he lost the Democratic nomination to Tammy Duckworth, who went on to become the Representative for the 8th District. Krishnamoorthi then became an advisor to Rep. Duckworth.

Last year, Rep. Duckworth announced that she would step down from the House of Representatives to run for the U.S. Senate. Krishnamoorthi subsequently declared his candidacy for the 8th District in 2015, and won the Mar. 15 Democratic primary.

His campaign has mainly revolved around keeping people in the middle class and strengthening the middle class and he has advocated for a set of policies to achieve this. Krishnamoorthi wants to raise the minimum wage, pass paid maternity leave, reduce student debt burdens and focus on building a clean-energy economy.

Bhave explained that Krishnamoorthi’s honesty and integrity are evident, especially since Rep. Duckworth endorsed him. He noted that Krishnamoorthi ran a very clean campaign in 2012 and said that Rep. Duckworth has applauded his campaign this year.

“I think that says a lot, when one of your former opponents comes out and supports you enthusiastically,” Bhave said.

Krishnamoorthi noted that many of his policies have bipartisan support, and he wants to work to find common ground. He explained that there are many Tea Party Congressmen who support expanding solar energy.

“Some folks believe that solar energy has become a liberty and independence issue in the Southwest and Florida, because they can cut the cord with their utilities,” he said. “It has the promise of combatting climate change and creating jobs.”

One of the most prominent issues that Krishnamoorthi has focused on is protecting Social Security and Medicare, since there is a very large elderly population in the 8th District. Another important issue is equal pay, as Krishnamoorthi noted that there are many women who feel that they are underpaid compared to their male colleagues.

Max Richtman, the CEO of the National Committee to Protect Social Security and Medicare endorsed Krishnamoorthi after he reached out to them. Richtman noted that after reviewing Krishnamoorthi’s positions, the NCPSSM endorsed him.

“He felt very strongly about this country having a commitment to seniors,” Richtman said. “He said that we need to pay special attention to women’s Social Security benefits, because they are often lower than their male counterparts.”

Richtman was also impressed by Krishnamoorthi’s dedication to helping veterans get jobs and his experience in solar technology.

Tim Burns, a member of the District 59 School Board, said that although Krishnamoorthi is a progressive, he appeals to moderate voters in the 8th District. Burns added that Krishnamoorthi knows what the people need, and is focused on how to care for people.

“He blends the professional side of business with the human side of caring for people,” Burns said. “He seems genuinely open to all people.”

Krishnamoorthi noted that he spends most of his time campaigning during the day or working. He enjoys spending time with his two kids and wife and watching sports.

McLeod noted that one of Krishnamoorthi’s strong points is his personality and experience and his ability to look at every side of an issue.

Most importantly, McLeod noted that voters should keep in mind who the best person is to be making decisions when something unexpected comes up.

“I want Raja to be there when something totally unexpected comes up,” McLeod said. “It’s not just about who agrees with me the most, but who do you want there when there’s an important decision to be made.”

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Midterm evaluations are U. S. Attorney for W. Pa encouraged, Dolan says Hickton: Haywood “an COURSE exceptional nomination” Continued from page 1

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‘popularity’ surveys or consumer reporting,” Dolan said. “While it’s important for students to get a sense of how their peers have experienced a course, it’s equally important for the evaluations to promote conversations between students and instructors about teaching and learning.”

During the process of reviewing the course evaluation system, members of the Council on Teaching and Learning will also consult student members of the Committee on the Course of Study and the Committee on Examinations and Standing, according to Dolan.

Because of student input collected through student representatives and work sessions, the Council has encouraged teaching faculty to include mid-term evaluations in each course so that adjustments can be made while the class is in process, Dolan said.

Many classes, including COS 126, EEB 211 and CHM 303 have released midterm evaluations the past semester, according to enrolled students.

Economics professor Harvey Rosen, who chairs the CTL, did not respond to requests for comment.

African American Studies professor Ruha Benjamin, member of the Council on Teaching and Learning who have led conversations with students to collect input with Rosen, did not respond to requests for comment.

Shannon Osaka ’17 and Ramie Fathy ’16, current and

former chairs of the Undergraduate Student Government academics committee, did not respond to requests for comment.

Sonia Howlett ’18 said that she does not believe that the course evaluation system is biased, although it could emphasize the opinions of people who care deeply about the course or the professor.

“It seems that when people don’t like things they tend to be more passionate about complaining than people who do like it. So you might get an undue emphasis from the lovers and the haters,” she added.

Maggie Pecsok ’18 stated that she believes the questions tend to elicit inf lated responses because many students don’t want to be “rude.”

“Perhaps the question ‘would you recommend this class?’ is kind of biased and maybe a better question would be ‘what would you tell other people about this class?’ Or they could just give a list of adjectives and ask ‘how would you describe this class?’ and let you pick several adjectives,” she said.

Pecsok also said that it is disappointing that the current course evaluation system doesn’t leave room for rating the course’s work load.

The last major change in the University’s course evaluation system occurred in Dec. 2008. During that time, the University introduced a new online questionnaire.

After conducting its studies, the Council will present an advisory memo to the Committee on the Course of Study at the end of the academic year.

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firm is currently known as Jones Day. Henry W. Putnam Professor Emeritus of Religion Albert J. Raboteau, who Haywood conveyed through a spokesperson as her favorite professor while a student at the University, congratulated Haywood on the nomination.

“I am delighted that Rebecca … has been nominated by the President to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals,” he said, “I am honored to have taught her during her time at Princeton and am f lattered to learn that I was her favorite professor.”

U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania David J. Hickton noted he supports Haywood’s nomination in a written statement to the ‘Prince.’

“The President has made an exceptional nomination,” Hickton wrote. “Rebecca Ross Haywood is a lawyer of unparalleled legal ability and judgment; she is also a wonderful person.

She will make an outstanding judge.”

Robert Casey, U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, also issued a statement endorsing Haywood’s nomination.

Haywood is 47 years old and currently resides in Pittsburgh’s North Hills, a northern suburb of Pittsburgh.

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Eisgruber: remedy for bad speech is better speech, not discipline FREEDOM Continued from page 1

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facing disciplinary actions.

Among them, three JNU students, were arrested on charges of sedition in connection with the event. Since the three were arrested, many students and activists within and outside of India have expressed support for the demonstrators.

A small demonstration took place in mid-February at the University during which multiple graduate students denounced the arrest of the JNU protestors.

As a response to foreign criticism, and in particular to a remark by U.S. Ambassador to India Richard Verma that advocated free speech in February, many Indian officials have made analogies to a hypothetical commemoration of Osama bin Laden.

Recently, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression gave the University the lowest rating in its scoring scheme for free speech protection. In its report, FIRE underscored three facets of the University’s speech-related policies that are detrimental to the freedom of expression.

All three excerpts enumerated disciplinary measures for speech code violations.

In response, Eisgruber explained that the section of Rights, Rules and Responsibilities cited by FIRE deals with speech targeting individuals, such as threats or

harassment. He further noted that the faculty statement on free expression distinguishes between arguments and opinions, which are protected, and “genuine threats and harassment,” which are not.

Eisgruber said that he has received a few supportive notes and comments from Indian academics and alumni following his interview with The Indian Express.

Anandabazar, a widely circulated Bengali daily, published an editorial praising the University and President Eisgruber on his statement last Saturday.

Ritwik Bhattacharyya GS, an organizer and participant in the University’s JNU protest, stated that he is very happy that President Eisgruber has taken a principled stand on this issue publicly.

This is not an easy position for Eisgruber to take, Bhattacharyya said, as he recalls multiple instances of belligerent pro-U.S. demonstrations on various college campus that ensued the Sept. 11 attacks.

“Since American universities are often held up in India as model institutions, I hope that politicians in India who are too keen to curtail the freedom of speech of ordinary Indians and happy to victimize students for speaking their mind would learn to appreciate what President Eisgruber has said and amend their views,” Bhattacharyya said.

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Opinion

Monday march 21, 2016

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LETTER TO THE EDITOR

O

Graduate unions would help, not hurt, academic research

n Feb. 29, Princeton University and eight peer institutions submitted an amicus brief to the National Labor Relations Board, advising the board to refuse a request made by Columbia University postgraduates to form a union. The arguments in this brief are both wrongly motivated and wrong on the facts. The authors claim that unions would threaten a “graduate student/university relationship … not driven by economics.” If fostering such a relationship is indeed their interest, then the signatories would do well to retract this brief and instead follow the lead of their forward-looking peers, who accept their responsibilities as employers.

From my experience, over six years as a graduate researcher and teacher at NYU and two more as a postdoc at Princeton, I find it difficult to justify the assertion that economics does not “drive” the graduate student/university relationship. Economic factors are a constant, and sometimes debilitating, influence on early-career academics. As a result, economic factors even constrain who has the choice of risking an academic career in the first place.

That postgraduate diversity is lacking is plain: the University’s own most recent report, covering academic year 2015-2016, shows postgraduate diversity is even lower than that of the undergraduate body.

One contributing factor is sheer economic infeasibility. Many potentially impactful researchers underperform, drop out or never even begin because financial considerations can make academia more an indulgence than a viable career.

The idea that economic factors limit diversity in academia is uncontroversial: the University and peers have for some time accepted this premise with regards to undergraduates. Bachelor’s degree completion rates are lower for students who do not have outside financial resources. To the extent that elite universities have improved diversity in their undergraduate bodies over the past several decades — and they have, though painfully slowly, from a criminally low starting place and with a great distance left to cross — one factor has been the removal of financial disincentives. They realize that making academia attainable for those who can’t afford the sticker price requires more than eliminating tuition and fees. It’s also necessary to provide stipends to undergraduates without access to the resources necessary to support themselves while fully immersed in studies. In other words, Princeton and its peers have embraced that the undergraduate/university relationship is driven, in part, by economics.

It seems natural to extend this understanding to postgraduates. Most elite research universities offer “full funding” packages, which include healthcare benefits, tuition remittance (a strange sleight of hand in departments where no one actually pays tuition), access to housing support (sometimes) and, critically, a monthly stipend. These stipends are usually contingent on the successful performance of research and/or teaching duties — though universities often employ remarkable legal contortions to avoid referring to the stipends as “wages” or “salaries.”

Unfortunately, regardless of how the remuneration is classified, “full funding” almost never amounts to sufficient resources to live while performing the work. At NYU, “full funding” meant a base stipend of about $26,000, on which to live within commuting distance of downtown Manhattan (with essentially no housing support).

Most graduate students I know have taken side jobs and sought various other income sources, myself included. During my six years of Ph.D. work, I supplemented this income, not just with fellowships and extra teaching beyond that required for my base funding, but also via a variety of tertiary employment, such as tutoring, programming, fact-checking, typesetting, even furniture moving. I lived with three roommates and kept fairly minimal expenses.

All in all, though, my situation was relatively comfortable because I was also able to draw on savings, built up while working in software before entering academia. I’m not sure whether I would have made it through without that safety net.

Indeed, more than a third of Ph.D. candidates take on debt during their supposedly “fully funded” graduate work. In half of these cases, this debt exceeds $30,000. That statistic obscures those who take on other part-time work — ranging from software to stripping — to avoid falling into debt.

Despite the clear financial hardship required to pursue a Ph.D., the tradeoffs

Aaron Bornstein

guest columnist

might not seem extremely onerous, but for two additional factors. First, non-academic income is discouraged. The very idea that a graduate researcher would spend time on another job, in addition to their research work, is often anathema to faculty. I know of few instances in which a graduate even informed their advisor about side work. I certainly didn’t. (One can imagine sympathetic responses in many cases, but lessthan-helpful reactions are not uncommon: I watched one colleague, when vocalizing her anxiety about rising rents, be told by a senior faculty member, “Why don’t you just ask your parents for some help?”) Professors routinely and proactively discourage graduate students even from teaching any more than the minimum required — let alone taking on work outside of the University.

On its own, this demand is not unreasonable: research work is meant to be concentrated, requiring effort and focus well above and beyond that of a typical 40-hour work-week. One Caltech professor wrote a now-infamous memo lambasting his graduate researchers for failing to work nights and weekends. This case is extreme only in that the demand was so brazen. Outside work can dilute the necessary effort.

Within the current economic context, however, the constraint gives rise to a stark contradiction: researchers are expected to work more than full-time hours, discouraged from seeking additional income that would require any more of their time, but are not provided sufficient financial support to meet their basic needs. This is one reason why gradate degrees are taking longer and longer to complete; a motivationdegrading, career-threatening and potentially financially ruinous stretch that is, again, endured largely by those who had fewer fiscal resources to begin with.

The sheer endurance required to perform meaningful graduate work is the second factor that makes the fiscal tradeoffs untenable. A Ph.D. is not a short stop; graduate and postdoctoral terms most often stretch the better part of a decade, if not more.

They encompass one’s late 20s and 30s, a time when most might be building critical early-life savings and starting families — difficult, if not entirely infeasible, on earlycareer academic salaries. In Princeton, daycare alone can run over $2,000 per month.

That single expense is the lion’s share of a postdoc’s salary. Even for those without families, an academic career path entails a decade or more of below-sustenance income, as well as very little control over location and almost no job security.

These tradeoffs — and the very notion that the work performed could be classified as wage labor — are sometimes refuted by uniformly characterizing all postgraduate work, from the first year of a master’s, on through the several years of postdoctoral employment, as “training.” In this way, the costs borne are cast as an “investment” in one’s own future earning potential. The tenuousness of this investment is increasingly suspect: it is widely accepted that universities are producing too many Ph.D. students for the jobs available, in part because graduate students and postdocs are inexpensive for the University to produce and hire. As the Economist disapprovingly noted, “universities have discovered that PhD students

are cheap, highly motivated and disposable labour.” In other words, universities do not pay full price for their graduate students or postdocs.

Forcing some of those costs back onto the University will require leverage. Creating that leverage is exactly the point of a union.

With collective bargaining, graduate and postdoc unions have won their members enormous increases in financial support, reduced teaching obligations, expanded medical care and a grievance process for arbitrating exploitative practices. The concern advanced in the amicus brief, and in other communications from the filing universities, is that a graduate union capable of winning these sorts of concessions would damage research by fostering an antagonistic relationship between faculty and their research staff. Of course, if you believe that the demand for fair treatment would result in antagonism, perhaps that says something about the current conditions.

But we don’t have to resort to speculation.

We know that graduate unions do not harm academic research because there are already graduate unions at peer universities in this country and abroad. Highly productive research universities, from Berkeley and NYU, to the University of Toronto, or Oxford and Cambridge, have graduate unions.

At Stanford, postdoctoral researchers recently organized to win transit subsidies and an increase in their minimum wage, previously set at the national-standard NIH stipend level and unadjusted for the massively above-median cost of living in Silicon Valley. (One could make a similar case regarding the northeastern metropolitan corridor in which Princeton is located) Johns Hopkins recently doubled its minimum yearly postgraduate salary to $50,000. No one could seriously argue that improving the economic conditions of their workers has reduced the research productivity of these institutions.

What is clearly harming research productivity are the cold economic constraints that threaten to make academic careers simply unviable. Partly for the reasons I described, graduate attrition rates are increasing, rapidly. When graduates leave because they accept the economic undesirability of academic work, the market is, literally, influencing the graduate/university relationship — by severing that relationship entirely.

As someone who hopes to someday enjoy the privilege of employing graduate researchers and teachers, I want to be able to draw my collaborators from the broadest, deepest, most diverse possible pool of talent. I want my colleagues to be provided for so that they can pursue our work unencumbered by basic questions of sustenance and security. I want them to be represented, so that their concerns are heard and their needs are met. As someone who cares deeply about the viability of science and of academic research more broadly, I think the only path forward is to confront with open eyes the ways in which economics is shaping — and threatening — academic research. If Princeton and its peers genuinely wish to resist the influence of economics on the graduate student/university relationship, they should begin by accepting that this influence already exists.

Aaron Bornstein is a postdoctoral researcher at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute. He can be reached at aaronmb@princeton.edu.

vol. cxl

Do-Hyeong Myeong ’17 editor-in-chief

Daniel Kim ’17

business manager

140TH MANAGING BOARD managing editor Caroline Congdon ’17 news editors Jessica Li ’18 Shriya Sekhsaria ’18 Christina Vosbikian ’18 Annie Yang ’18 opinion editor Jason Choe ’17 sports editor David Liu ’18 street editor Harrison Blackman ’17 photography editor Rachel Spady ’18 video editor Elaine Romano ’19 web editor Clement Lee ’17 chief copy editors Grace Rehaut ’18 Maya Wesby ’18 design editor Crystal Wang ’18 associate opinion editors Newby Parton ’18 Sarah Sakha ’18 associate sports editors Nolan Liu ’19 David Xin ’19 associate street editor Danielle Taylor ’18 associate photography editors Ahmed Akhtar ’17 Atakan Baltaci ’19 Mariachiara Ficarelli ’19 associate chief copy editors Megan Laubach ’18 Omkar Shende ’18 associate design editor Jessica Zhou ’19 editorial board chair Cydney Kim ’17 cartoons editor Rita Fang ’17

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 Widmann ’90

RITA FANG :: CARTOON EDITOR

The Daily Princetonian

Monday march 21, 2016

page 7

Wrestling ends season, Princeton sends off seniors with Harner named All-American strong performance in NCAA WRESTLING Continued from page 8

.............

Abidin; though Laster had previously squeaked out a victory over Abidin earlier in the season, Abidin was able to get the better of the Princeton wrestler and eliminate him from the consolation round.

“It’s been a season of broken streaks and of record performances...there are seldom any wrestling seasons in Princeton history that can match this one in success.”

Harner was able to advance to the quarterfinals, first eliminating Arizona State’s Joshua Dasilveira in a thrilling sudden-death matchup and later taking down higherranked Maxwell Huntley of

the University of Michigan.

However, in his quarterfinal matchup, Harner drew firstranked J’Den Cox of Missouri.

Cox took Harner down 6-0 and would go on to seize the 197-pound championship.

Harner would rebound with a win over Oklahoma State’s Preston Weigel in his Round of Twelve matchup to claim All-American status. He is only the ninth wrestler in Princeton history to do so, and the first since Greg Parker, who reached the national championship match in his historic 2003 season.

Though the Tigers weren’t able to secure any championship titles in their NCAA run, they have capped off one of the most monumental and important seasons in Princeton history. For years, the Tigers have struggled to replicate the success and glory of the past; this year, anchored both by veterans and a crop of talented new wrestlers, they re-established themselves as a strong program. We look excitedly to next year’s wrestling season, where the Tigers have the chance to improve even further on this year’s success.

Women’s Water Polo prepares for first conference game W. W-POLO Continued from page 8

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game at eight apiece. Sophomore utility Haley Wan would later seal the match with a goal with two minutes of playing time remaining.

Princeton would continue its strong performance, defeating Whittier, 12-8.

However, the match proved much closer than the score line would indicate. Indeed, the Tigers traded blow for blow for much of the match.

However, a defensive shutout in the final eight minutes of the game allowed the

Tigers to ice the game.

Notable performances came from Wan, who contributed four goals and two assists, and freshman attack Eliza Britt, who added two goals and three assists to the tally. She also won all four sprints that match.

Princeton’s only loss of the invitational came from Loyola, who narrowly beat the Tigers, 6-7.

With conference play creeping closer, fans of Princeton water polo will have plenty to look forward to as the team faces longtime rivals Indiana University and the University of Michigan.

W. B-BALL Continued from page 8

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quarter on a seven-point run that started with a layup by junior guard Vanessa Smith and a three-pointer by senior guard Michelle Miller.

The Tigers took the first five points of the second quarter to create more distance, but WVU responded with five consecutive points of their own. A massive threepointer by West Virginia’s senior guard Bria Holmes gave her team its first lead of the game. Wheatley retook the narrow lead with a jumper, but WVU got the last shot of the period and ended the first half with a one-point edge.

West Virginia gained steam in the second half, starting with a 9-2 run.

Princeton then retook the lead on a 9-0 run. However, the Mountaineers squeezed in one more 8-0 run in the third quarter to gain a seven-point lead. A layup by senior guard Taylor Williams and another layup by Tarakchian closed the gap at the end of the quarter.

Entering the final stanza, WVU led by three points, so the game was still too close to call. A big three-pointer by sophomore guard Chania Ray ushered in a 9-0 WVU run, giving the Mountaineers a double-digit lead for the first time. Tarakchian, going for her big shots, dampened WVU’s momentum with a three-pointer and assist with Vanessa Smith.

“We had to be aggressive on the offensive end, so when I found daylight, I took the shot,” Tarakchian said.

The teams exchanged points for a bit before a three-

pointer by sophomore guard Tia Weledji pulled Princeton to within five points. Another Wheatley layup put the game back within reach with just under a minute to go, but Princeton could not get the five points needed to tie up the game. West Virginia once again created a 10-point margin with 23 seconds left. Princeton’s junior guard Taylor Brown finished the game with a layup.

“When it comes to an end it just doesn’t feel real. I’m excited for them to now progress on their journey and show what they got because we got a feisty group. ” Annie Tarakchian, Senior Guard

The Princeton team has every reason to be proud.

The Tigers stuck to what they do best on offense and greatly improved their defense from the Penn game on Mar. 8.

“We zoned them most of the game just because of their athleticism, and we had practiced that all week,” Tarakchian said.

The Princeton defense forced WVU to 28.1 percent shooting in the first half.

The Princeton offense put up 42.6 percent shooting overall.

If anything, it was WVU’s impressive offense in the second half that changed the game. The Mountaineers improved to 51.7 per-

cent shooting in the second half and stepped up their defense to disrupt Princeton’s plays. Several long shots gave WVU its edge.

“They hit a few big shots and went up by ten,” Tarakchian said. “They had one more run than we did.

I think if you gave us five more minutes, we could have gone on our own run, but they hit a couple more shots than we did.”

“Our defense was pretty solid the whole way through,” she continued.

“Good teams and good players like that will hit big shots when they need to, so kudos to them.”

And so the game that no one thought Princeton would play turned out to be an exciting and competitive matchup. For the seniors, it was a chance to cap off an incredible career and give it their all one more time.

This senior class has earned two Ivy League Championships and three trips to the NCAA Tournament. And of course, it gave Princeton the greatest season in Ivy League basketball history, with an undefeated record and the first NCAA Tournament win in program history. These accomplishments culminated in another record-breaker: the first at-large bid in the Ivy League.

“When it comes to an end, it just doesn’t feel real,” Tarakchian admitted, but for her, excitement still lies ahead in seeing how far her younger teammates will go.

“I’m excited for them to now progress on their journey and show what they got because we got a feisty group,” she said. “It’ll be fun to watch in these coming years.”

Sports

Monday march 21, 2016

page 8

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Women’s Basketball loses close fight against WVU in NCAA tournament

By Berthy Feng Contributor

In an upset-filled March Madness, it seemed for much of the first-round matchup that Princeton (11th seed) would pull off the upset against West Virginia University (6). Despite valiant offensive and defensive efforts by the Tigers, WVU eked out a 74-65 win.

The Princeton women’s basketball team, playing in the St. John Arena at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, made an impressive start. Senior guard/ forward Annie Tarakchian opened the contest with a wide-open layup, followed by a jumper by senior forward Alex Wheatley. The Mountaineers responded with a three-pointer meant to prevent an extended

Princeton run, but Wheatley came back with back-to-back two-pointers.

“We knew we had to stick to our game plan and stay to our principles to play a 5-vs-5 game,” Tarakchian said. “Our game plan was to stay to what we do best and use our discipline and the strength in our skill set to combat their athleticism.”

In retrospect, the first three minutes typified the overall nature of the game.

Princeton would go on a run, only to have West Virginia regain momentum with a big shot. Tarakchian and Wheatley were both explosive on offense and accounted for many of Princeton’s points, but their plays in the paint were challenged by West Virginia’s shots beyond the arc.

Princeton led the first See W. B-BALL page 7

JAMES SUNG :: CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

The Tigers end a terrific season that included the first at-large bid in the Ivy League Conference.

WRESTLING

Wrestling caps historic season with strong showing

By Michael Gao Contributor

KATHERINE TOBEASON :: STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

A strong showing in the NCAA was the perfect way to end a historic season.

What a season it has been for the Princeton Tigers men’s wrestling team.

This year, the Tigers have established themselves as a strong wrestling program to be respected and feared. It’s been a season of broken streaks and of record performances. From stopping a 24-game losing streak against Penn, to placing second in the Ivy League for the first time since 1986, to scoring a 5th place finish in the EIWA championships – the best in 38 years – there are seldom any wrestling seasons in Princeton history that can match this one in success.

Though Princeton has sent wrestlers to the NCAA championships every year, the confidence and preparation of this year’s group was extraordinary. Juniors Jordan Laster and

Ray O’Donnell each obtained seeds by virtue of their strong performance in the EIWA championships and sophomore Jonathan Schleifer received an at-large bid. Rounding out Princeton’s quartet of wrestlers was junior Brett Harner, the 197-pound EIWA champion who entered the championships ranked 11th in the nation. With the exception of O’Donnell, all of them had had at least one year of experience wrestling in the NCAA championships.

Princeton’s wrestlers faced strong competition from the nation’s best contenders, but all four put up spirited fights against their opponents.

Schleifer encountered tough opponents in Appalachian State’s Nick Kee and then a surprisingly-upset third-ranked Blaise Butler of University of Missouri in the consolation round; though he fought

valiantly against both foes, nearly besting Kee in his opening round match, Schleifer ultimately went 0-2 and was eliminated. Though Laster and O’Donnell each lost their opening round bouts, they both scored decisive victories in their consolation round matchups and earned a chance to enter the Round of Twelve.

Ultimately, however, both would fall in tough matches in the consolation rounds before being able to enter. O’Donnell would jump out to take the lead against Wyoming’s Tyler Harms with a takedown, but would eventually be taken down himself and eliminated.

Laster would defeat his next opponent, Brock Zacherl, coming back from an early takedown and earning him two matches won in his NCAA run.

The next round, however, he took on Nebraska’s Anthony See WRESTLING page 7

W O M E N ’ S W AT E R P O L O

Tigers grab two road wins, narrowly lose to Loyola

By David Xin ASsociate Sports Editor

This past Friday and Saturday, the women’s water polo team continued their season in California, taking part in the annual Loyola Marymount University Invitational. The Tigers started competition strong with two wins over Azusa Pacific University and Whittier College. Princeton fell on the second day of competition to hosts Loyola Marymount in a heartbreaking 6-7 loss.

This was one of the few losses the Tigers suffered this season. Indeed, the Princeton squad has shown a remarkably strong performance this year, dropping only three games total. The Orange and Black will need this consistency as they open conference play in the following weeks.

“The season is going very

well so far. We’re really gelling as a team and our hard work is paying off,” said senior utility Pippa Temple.

“We’re 11-2 right now, with our losses being very close games. I’m excited to see how we progress as a team with tough games coming up.”

Perhaps as testament to the team’s chemistry, the Tiger’s record is even more remarkable when one considers the heavy losses the team incurred due to graduation last year. In fact, the Princeton squad lost six seniors, including their two top scorers. However, the Tigers have not let that become an excuse for failure, but rather an inspiration for success.

“One of our goals for the season is to not let other teams underestimate us. We only have 12 players this year - the smallest team since I’ve

Tweet of the Day “To my team: You trusted me from the first minute. And thus, I pushed you relentlessly and loved you hard. Thanks for the journey, Tigers.”

Courtney Banghart (@ Coachbanghart), Head Coach, Women’s basketball

been at Princeton,” stated Temple. “Yes, we lost a large class from next year, but the underclassmen have stepped up big time. We have some huge games against Indiana and Michigan coming up, and they’ll be some of our top competitors at the Eastern Championship in April.

We want to show those teams that we may have lost some bodies, but we are still a tough team who won’t go down without a fight.”

The Princeton squad showed their fighting spirit in all three games last Friday and Saturday. The Tigers clinched a close win, edging out Azusa Pacific, 9-8. The Tigers opened strong with a 3-1 lead and maintained a healthy three-point-lead into halftime. However, it would be Azusa Pacific that came out fighting after the break, eventually tying the See W. W-POLO page 7

KIRA IVARRSON :: STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Women’s Water Polo haved only lossed three games this season.

Stat of the Day

38 years The wrestling team’s fifth place finish in the EIWA Championships was the best showing in 38 years.

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