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Thursday March 9, 2017 vol. CXLI no. 24
{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } STUDENT LIFE
99 RCAs chosen out of record number of applicants By Kevin Agostinelli Senior Writer
“My RCA was one of the most amazing human beings I have ever met,” said Fares Marayati ’19, “She always made herself available even in the middle of her busy schedule and we all felt like we always had someone to go to when we just needed to talk.” Marayati added that his RCA provided the supportive space to help each freshman in the advisee group grow as a person and establish “unusually close” and longlasting friendships with every ’zee. His RCA, Jordy Lubkeman ’16, was in Forbes College. Inspired by similar experiences with past RCAs, 271 students applied for 99 RCA and assistant residential college advisor positions this past winter, a sizable increase from the typical number of 240–255 applicants, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students Michael Olin said. According to Olin, approximately 37 percent of student applicants for the position of residential college adviser were offered a position for the 2017–18 academic year. RCAs from this academic year are not guaranteed reappointment, and there were approximately 50 projected new (non-returning) RCA openings. For the two-year residential colleges, which only house freshmen and sophomores, Wilson College accepted 15 RCAs and two ARCAs, Rockefeller College accepted 15 RCAs and three ARCAs, and Forbes College accepted 15 RCAs and three ARCAs. For the four-year colleges, which have upperclassmen and SCIENCE
ON CAMPUS
underclassmen, Butler College accepted 12 RCAs and three ARCAs, Whitman College accepted 12 RCAs and two ARCAs, and Mathey College accepted 12 RCAs and three ARCAs. While ARCAs are not assigned to a specific advisee group, they aid RCAs with any management duties and would potentially replace any RCAs who have to vacate the position. Olin noted in an email that the position of RCA is of “critical importance” to the University experience, especially for first-year students. During Orientation, RCAs are tasked with engaging in conversations about alcohol, sexual assault, and other campus issues with their freshman advisee groups while also planning enjoyable activities to ease the transition into the University. Because the RCA position is one of great responsibility, Olin noted that a successful RCA will possess a variety of skills, including a concern for and willingness to assist others, as well as an understanding of the experience of students from underrepresented groups and commitment to supporting the needs of those students. The ideal RCA also demonstrates the ability and willingness to help establish and maintain a safe environment and to address violations of University policy if and when such violations are observed, Olin said. He added that RCAs should also have the ability to respond to a wide variety of situations with students and make referrals to the appropriate University resources. The selection process holds similarly elevated standards, See RCA page 2
ON CAMPUS
Venter discusses genetic engineering, human longevity
GSG talks elections
By Samvida Venkatesh and Ariel Chen
The Graduate Student Government Assembly held an open meeting March 8 to discuss the results of the 2017 GSG digital election and elect representatives into the government’s remaining open positions. From the digital election, Jonathan Balkind GS, a Ph.D. student in computer science and a Wilson residential graduate student, was elected president and Akshay Mehra GS, a geoscience Ph.D. student, was reelected vice president. Seven people were elected to the GSG, all of whom ran uncontested, and three more people were elected from yesterday’s meeting for social officer, treasurer, and communications director. This year’s election boasted the highest turnout in recent memory, with 721 out of 2,682 students voting, which was 26.9 percent of the graduate student body. This year’s election also featured a SPEAR referendum to divest from private prisons which passed by 85 percent among voting graduate students. Former Academic Affairs Chair Daniel Vitek attributed this year’s high turnout of 26.9 percent to the energy from the divestment referendum. “We had a referendum this year. Usually we vote for people, but in this case we were voting for an idea,” Vitek said. In previous years, election turnouts never surpassed 20 percent with 15.9 percent in 2016 and 13 percent in
In a quote written on a chalkboard in the Caltech archives, Richard Feynman said, “What I cannot create, I do not understand.” This quote is the root of inspiration for geneticist J. Craig Venter’s research and scientific mission. Genomics is at an exciting stage today where what we understand about the genome can be applied directly to human health, Venter said in a lecture titled “From Synthetic Life to Human Longevity” on Wednesday. Venter explained that there was no point in increasing lifespan alone, but the challenge was to increase an individual’s “healthspan.” He stated that 40 percent of men and 24 percent of women between the ages of 50-74 in the United States do not reach the age of 74. A third of this population dies of cardiovascular disease and another third of cancer, leaving all other causes of death to just a third of the overall percentage, he said. Venter, co-founder of Hu-
See VENTER page 5
Contributor
IMAGE BY CLAIRE LEE
Around 70 students gathered outside of Frist Campus Center to share personal experiences and voice their opinions.
Students celebrate International Women’s Day By Marcia Brown Head News Editor
Around 70 students gathered outside Frist Campus Center on March 8 to celebrate International Women’s Day by sharing personal experiences with gender inequality and voicing their opinions on the importance of change. Anyssa Chebbi ’18, who helped organize the event, is currently taking NES 374/GSS 343: Global Feminisms: Feminist Movements in the Middle East and Beyond.
Chebbi said that members of the class originally planned to attend the Day Without a Woman protest in New York City, but later decided to instead organize a public event on campus. “We wanted to give students a space to talk about women’s issues and how they affect our daily life,” she said. “So that’s how that idea came about.” Chebbi added that she and the other planners of the event were surprised to see See WOMEN page 3
In Opinion
Today on Campus
Senior Columnist Marni Morse questions the sustainability of activism, and Senior Columnist Bhaamati Borkhetaria reflects on the value of friendship. PAGE 4
4 p.m.: Jonathan Simon, assistant professor of physics at the University of Chicago, will present “Building Quantum Matter from Light: From Topological Photonics to Polariton Blockade,” in Jadwin A10.
See GSG page 4
WEATHER
Science Senior Writer and Science Contributor
man Longevity, Inc., said that his goal was to change medicine’s approach to being proactive, predictive, personalized, and preventative by using whole genome sequencing and cutting-edge imaging and measurement technology. “Early detection is literally lifesaving,” he said, explaining that over 40 percent of people who entered his lab thinking they were healthy turned out not to be. He said that his own genome showed an increased risk for prostate cancer, which he corroborated with a measure of his testosterone levels. While men with over 22 triplet repeats of a certain sequence on their X chromosome have very low incidences of prostate cancer, Venter said he only had six, which placed him on the extremely low end of the spectrum. He said that based on his genome sequence and testosterone readings, he underwent a prostatectomy a few months ago. Early prediction of diseases like Alzheimer’s, which can be predicted
By Rebecca Ngu
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