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Wednesday March 9, 2021 vol. CXLV no. 16
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NEWS
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Designed by: Srija Patcha ’23
Princeton fined $54,000 for prohibited export of animal pathogens By Albert Jiang
News Editor Emeritus
Last month, the University entered into a $54,000 settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry & Security (BIS) over the improper export of “various strains and recombinants of an animal pathogen” over a five-year period. According to University Deputy Spokesperson Michael Hotchkiss, the issue was discovered during a 2018 training session conducted by the University “to support compliance with export control regulations.” “Princeton independently identified this issue and brought it to the attention of [BIS] in a voluntary disclosure,” Hotchkiss wrote in a statement to The Daily Princetonian. The items involved were controlled for “Chemical and Biological Weapons reasons” and thus required a BIS license to be exported to overseas research institutions, which the University had failed to obtain. In a BIS press release, Jonathan Carson, Office of Export Enforcement special agent in charge of the New York field office, wrote, “These laws are
meant to keep the potential building blocks for chemical and biological weapons from proliferating across the globe.” In a charging letter issued by the BIS in January, Director of the Office of Export Enforcement John Sonderman alleged 37 counts of “Export Control” violations from “on or about” Nov. 11, 2013 to “on or about” Mar. 5, 2018. The settlement agreement was signed by Sonderman and Dean for Research Pablo G. Debenedetti in January and finalized on Feb. 1. Debenedetti deferred comment to Hotchkiss. The animal pathogens and genetic elements were valued at approximately $27,000 and were shipped to a total of 15 countries, including Belgium, Canada, France, and the United Kingdom. “Each of the shipments supported U.S. governmentfunded research that facilitated the dissemination of research materials to the scientific community,” Hotchkiss wrote. “Princeton believes that most, if not all, of the exports would have been licensed if licenses had been sought at the time of export,” he added.
MARK DODICI / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
In addition to the civil penalty, the University was also ordered to complete two audits — one external and one internal. For the external audit, the University will be required to hire an unaffiliated third-party consultant “with expertise in U.S. export control laws.”
The University is currently implementing “enhanced compliance training and an audit of its exports,” according to Hotchkiss, and now “regularly obtains export licenses for animal pathogen exports.” The University will also be required to submit two
reports “describing enhancements to its compliance” with regulations due after 12 and 24 months, respectively. If the University fails to complete the audit and submit reports in a timely manner, BIS could issue an order denying all of the University’s See NEWS for more
NEWS
USG amends budget to add allocations for Tigers in Town, sustainability By Andrew Somerville Staff Writer
On March 7, the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) approved an amendment to their spring budget that allocates funds to the recently created Tigers in Town initiative and additional sustainability programming. Tigers in Town is a social initiative that encourages student groups to host events in partnership with local businesses. The budget amendment reflects USG’s plan to host their own events using the initiative. These events would be open to all undergraduate students, according to USG President Christian Potter ’22. All student groups on campus are able to hold events with Tigers in Town, either using their own club funding or requesting fund-
In Opinion
ing from the USG Projects Board. “Clubs that have sufficient enough funding internally have been reached out [to] by ODUS already to host their own Tigers in Town events,” said Lehman Montgomery ’22, chair of Campus and Community Affairs (CCA). The amendment also reflects a new allocation to the sustainability committee. For the USG budget to be amended at any point, threequarters of the members must vote to put the budget under review. After this vote, the Senate has 30 days to approve any amendments to the budget through an additional majority vote. In this instance, the USG budget was placed under review unanimously, and the amendments were approved
The Daily Princetonian Editorial Board speaks to the process of electing members to the University’s Board of Trustees.
ANDREW SOMERVILLE / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
unanimously as well. The Senate also hosted a guest presenter from the Office of Information Technology (OIT) to discuss feedback and programming for the remainder of the semester. Joe Karam, manager of the Network Switching and Routing office, said that OIT
In Puzzle
has set up a feedback survey for students to submit feedback about technology accessibility given the remote nature of the semester. The survey will become available in mid-March, he said. The Senate also unanimously approved the appointment of 10 new mem-
bers to the Diversity and Equity committee. Senate meetings — open to all members of the undergraduate student body — occur via Zoom at 8:30 p.m. ET each Sunday. The link can be found in the weekly USG newsletter, which is sent to See NEWS for more
Need a break from midterms studying? Play this Tuesday’s crossword, “In Medias Res.”