Founded 1876 daily since 1892 online since 1998
Friday March 31, 2017 vol. CXLI no.33
{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } U . A F FA I R S
U. admits 6.1 percent of applicants By Audrey Spensley staff writer
The University offered admission to 6.1 percent of applicants in 2017 in its most selective round of admissions yet, according to a University press release. Out of of 31,056 applications, 1,890 students were offered admission to join the Class of 2021, and the class size is expected to fall around 1,308 students. “The class is extraordinary and amazing in their talents,” University Dean of Admission Janet Rapelye said. “Certainly, the quality and strength of the applicant pool is as high as it’s ever been.” According to the press release, 770 students of the 1,890 offered admission were previously offered admission in December as part of the University’s singlechoice early action process. Like regular decision applicants, early action applicants have until May 1 to accept the University’s offer of admission. “We applied the same standards in admitting each group,” Rapelye said. According to Rapelye, over 12,000 applicants had a 4.0 GPA and over 13,000 had scores of 1400 or higher on the SAT. “We could have admitted five or six classes to Princeton from the pool,” Rapelye said, adding that the admissions committee looks at more than just grades and test scores. “We have humanists, scientists, and students who will
be contributing on the athletic field, among other things,” Rapelye said. This is the first year that the redesigned SAT has been considered in admissions. Rapelye noted that the new SAT has been “so far helpful,” although the admissions committee will determine how it impacts the application process over the next three years. Rapelye also said she appreciated that the SAT retained its essay component. “This is very valuable because of the nature of the Princeton education,” she explained. Rapelye added that the admissions team occasionally downloads applicants’ SAT or ACT essays to get a better sense of their writing abilities. 50.5 percent of admitted applicants are women and 49.5 percent are men, representing a higher percentage of admitted women than in previous years. Additionally, 47.3 percent of the 24.1 percent of students who applied under the B.S.E program were women. Nearly 20 percent of the students offered admission will be the first in their families to attend college, the largest number in recent memory. Students were admitted from 49 states and 76 countries, with 12.1 percent of admitted students coming from countries besides the U.S. The most-represented states were New Jersey, California, New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, Florida, Massachusetts, See ADMISSIONS page 3
ON CAMPUS
S T U D E N T A F FA I R S
IMAGE COURTESY OF KATHLEEN MA / PRINCETON MENTAL HEALTH INITIATIVE
The new Princeton Peer Nightline will run from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
New mental health hotline launches this weekend By Jisu Jeong staff writer
Princeton Peer Nightline, an anonymous, confidential peer listening service for undergraduate students run by undergraduate students, will launch this weekend. The service will offer students a chance to talk to trained volunteer listeners who are also students, about virtually anything, via phone or online chat on Friday and Saturday evenings. PPN was spearheaded by Julie Newman ’18, Christin Park ’18, and Shana Salomon ’18, all of whom are board members of the Princeton Mental Health Initiative. The three started working on the program at the beginning
of spring semester last year. They said they were inspired by similar programs at other schools as well as, for Newman and Salomon, personal experience volunteering with a crisis and suicide prevention hotline. Newman said that being involved with the hotline “gave us the idea of how important that was to helping other people and that it would be really great if we had a similar resource on campus.” The founders of PPN said they hope the program will become an additional resource that students can use, and that the unique aspects of the program will encourage hesitant students to seek help. Salomon said she thinks one
BEYOND THE BUBBLE
benefit of PPN is that it doesn’t require users to talk to people who are familiar. “Sometimes it’s nice just to talk to someone that you don’t know ... because sometimes when you talk to someone that you know, ... it can be like a burden on the person, and you don’t want to feel that burden that you’re giving them,” she explained. She added that she thinks it will be helpful for students to be able to talk to peers, rather than counselors, about their problems, since peers will be able to “really get what’s going on on campus.” Newman, Park, and Salomon all said they were very excited about the launch of the program See HOTLINE page 3
NEWS AND NOTES
Icahn ’57 receives letter Park jailed, on conflict of interest arrested staff writer
IMAGE BY REBECCA NGU
The pilot café will run for ten weeks in Firestone’s DeLong Room.
Firestone patrons welcome new Tiger Tea Room By Rebecca Ngu staff writer
Firestone Library began piloting a new café called the Tiger Tea Room on March 27, offering community members a more relaxed space to consume food and beverages and to hang out. The café, held in the renovated DeLong Room, is a response to popular demand for easily accessible food and beverages inside the library. The pilot café will run until early June, and community feedback is encouraged in the meantime. Patrons have eagerly welcomed the cafe and expressed hope that it will be-
come a permanent feature of the library. “We want to keep students here [in the library]. If you’re here, you’re here,” said Cristian Vasquez, director of Retail and Catering Operations. He noted that the stream of customers has been steady since the café’s Monday opening, and appeared optimistic that the café is “going to work out.” After the 10 weeks, the café planners will decide whether to convert the pilot into a full-fledged café with longer hours and a more established location. The café has integrated itself quietly into the DeLong See TEA page 3
On March 27, several Democratic senators sent a letter to investor and business magnate Carl Icahn ’57, requesting he clarify his role as special advisor to President Donald Trump and respond to questions about conflicts of interest. This expression of concern over Icahn’s role in the administration follows an ongoing effort to establish a conflict of interest that is created by this informal advisory position. Icahn is the majority shareholder of Icahn Enterprises, a conglomerate valued at over $6 billion that owns companies in the automotive, energy, and mining sectors. In particular, Icahn has 82 percent ownership stake in CVR Energy, an oil refiner valued at $1.6 billion. CVR has called for changes to the federal Renewable Fuel Program, which was expanded in 2007, to take the burden of blending biofuels into gasoline off of refiners and to instead place it on marketers. The regulatory change would have saved CVR $205.9 million last year. Earlier this month, six senators wrote a letter to White House Counsel Donald F. McGahn II, expressing concern about Icahn’s role as special advisor on regulations to the
President. “We are concerned that his substantial and widespread private-sector investments present perverse incentives for Mr. Icahn in his role as a special advisor to the President,” the senators wrote in the letter. Quoting an ethics watchdog, the senators noted that Icahn’s involvement with the Trump administration is “the purest definition of a conflict of interest that you can get.” Icahn has dismissed the idea of a conflict of interest, stating that his role as advisor and views on regulations are to serve the entire industry, not only his companies. After Icahn met with Trump in February about changing the Renewable Fuel Standard, an EPA regulation that requires oil refiners to blend their oil with renewable fuels, CVR shares rose 6 percent. Icahn has called the regulation “natural stupidity.” In a letter directly to Icahn, senators wrote that he should be classified as a “special government employee,” or SGE, which would subject him to a number of rules, including prohibiting him from participating in matters in which he has a financial interest without written authorization. An SGE can be a personal friend or unpaid See ICAHN page 2
In Opinion
Today on Campus
Contributor Emily Erdos makes the case for a journalism certificate, and the Editorial Board recommends improvements to U. grading policies. PAGE 4
4:30: The Princeton Environmental Institute presents Land Beneath our Feeat with Gregg Mitman in Bowen Hall Room 222 from 4:30-5:30.
By Claire Lee staff writer
Former President of South Korea Park Geun-hye was arrested and jailed on Friday in Korea on charges of corruption that led to her removal from office three weeks ago. In November, a group of University students held a demonstration regarding the scandal. The group read its “Declaration Regarding the State of Affairs in the Republic of Korea” in front of Nassau Hall, demanding the former president’s impeachment. Park, 65, is the first leader since the country’s transition to democracy to be sent to jail, according to The New York Times. She is also the first child of a former president to win the presidency, as well as the first female president of South Korea. After months of widespread protests in the country, the Constitutional Court of South Korea ousted Park on March 9. Prosecutors had accused Park of forcing business into donating money to foundations under her control. She had also been accused of allowing her longtime confidante, Choi Soon-sil, inappropriate influence in state affairs. Park was found to be conspiring with Choi to collect tens of millions of dollars from businesses in South Korea, including millions in bribes from SamSee PARK page 2
WEATHER
By Sarah Hirschfield
HIGH
48˚
LOW
42˚
Rain showers chance of rain:
10 percent