April 1, 2016

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Friday april 1, 2016 vol. cxl no. 38

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } U N I V E R S I T Y A F FA I R S

6. 46 percent of U. applicants offered admission

By Caroline Lippman staff writer

The University has offered admission to 1,894 students out of an applicant pool of 29,303 candidates, marking a record-low acceptance rate of 6.46 percent.

This year’s applicant pool is also the largest the University has seen to date, breaking the record number of 27,290 set by the class of 2019.

Dean of Admission Janet Rapelye explained that the Office of Admission has been making efforts to recruit students from every socioeconomic background, which might have contributed to the large applicant pool this year.

“We’re doing more outreach to students,” she added.

Of the 1,894 admitted students, 785 were accepted in the early application process. The singlechoice early action acceptance rate was 18.6 percent from a pool of 4,229 candidates. The number of students admitted from regular admission was 1109, and the acceptance rate for regular decision candidates, including those who were deferred in early action and accepted in the regular pool, is 3.8 percent.

“The admit rate is reflecting the fact that we’ve had this large applicant pool,” Rapelye noted. She added that the expected class size for the Class of 2020 is 1,308 students.

Of the admitted students, 49.5 percent are women and 50.5 percent are men. 50.6 percent of students have identified themselves as students of color, which includes biracial and multiracial students.

Rapelye noted that admitted students come from 49 out of the 50 U.S. states.

International students comprise 11.7 percent of the accepted students, representing 66 different countries including Armenia, Bhutan, Uganda, Guatemala, Morocco and Bosnia, Rapelye said.

This is a decrease from last year’s 13 percent.

Legacy students make up 11.2 percent of the admitted students.

Athletes recruited for varsity sports comprise 11.9 percent of the admitted students.

Students who are the first in their families to attend college make up 17.5 percent of the admitted students, which marks an increase from last year’s 15 percent, See 2020 page 3

LECTURE

KEVIN AGOSTINELLI :: CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

Activist and scholar Angela Davis delivered the keynote speech for a U. conference on gender and violence.

Angela Davis discusses erasure of women’s activism

By Kevin Agostinelli contributor

Political activist, scholar and writer Angela Davis said that violence is an indication of the impossibility of imagining livable futures in a lecture Thursday.

Davis described several harrowing experiences of gender and sexual violence in the United States, including both instances that she has witnessed firsthand and others that were experienced by victims for which she has worked to defend and raise awareness.

“I … remember, as a child, a late night walk on our front door by a woman who was

f leeing a man, who I later found out had raped her,” she said.

Recalling whispered conversations in elementary school about children who were the victims of sexual assault, Davis said she found it strange that these children were perceived as partly responsible for the sexual assaults.

Davis noted that she also picked up a woman from the side of the road who had been raped in another situation.

“A police [officer] had come by, and she thought that she was going to get help from the police officer, but he had also sexually assaulted her and left her there,” she said.

U N I V E R S I T Y A F FA I R S

A Professor Emerita at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Davis was closely affiliated with the Black Panther Party through her participation in the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. She has also worked as a prominent prison reform activist with Critical Resistance, an organization which she helped found.

One of the many examples of Davis’s work to advocate for the rights of sexual assault victims featured Joan Little, an African-American woman from North Carolina who was initially charged with the murder of a prison guard while she was in jail.

See VIOLENCE page 2 LECTURE

Layden U. to reconfigure remote printer access discusses staff writer

for Information Technology Policy Nick Feamster said that the attacks were a consequence of how many printers on campus are configured.

“It’s not something that was a new vulnerability or anything like that. In fact, it wasn’t even a software vulnerability as much as printers have this feature that if you send data to a particular port, they will print it out,” Feamster said.

“The issue is basically that the Princeton network is also connected to the internet, so just as you or I would be able to send a file to a printer on the network, there was no protection in place to prevent someone who wasn’t on the campus from doing the same thing.”

Sather said that printers across campus are connected to the network in two ways. Some can be accessed from anywhere on the internet, and some can only be accessed from campus. “[The system is] much like how www.princeton.edu can be accessed from anywhere in the world and a device connected to your home network can only be accessed when you are at home,” Sather noted.

The attacks were conducted though the first type of printer, he said.

See PRINTER page 3

Grasses of Alexander Beach turned green over the warm weekend.

The Office of Information and Technology and other departments are in the process of limiting printer accessibility to users on campus in order to improve security against attacks, according to Associate Chief Information Officer for Office of Information Technology Support Services Steven Sather.

Sather added that this reconfiguration has been occurring throughout this academic year and that the transition is scheduled to be completed over the summer.

Last week, anti-Semitic posters were sent to printers at University, as well as several other colleges throughout the country.

These posters were the work of Andrew “weev” Auernheimer, a known white supremacist and computer hacker.

In an earlier interview with The Daily Princetonian, University Assistant Vice President for Communications Daniel Day said that Auernheimer’s actions did not constitute hacking in the sense that they did not breach security.

Acting Director of the Center

In Opinion

Today on Campus

Columnist Zeena Mubarak argues for a compulsory, but shorter, We Speak survey, and the Editorial Board tackles freedom of expression and the University’s response to anti-Semitic posters found on campus. Page 4

5 p.m.: HackPrinceton will take place for 36 consecutive hours. Friend Center Convocation Room 113.

COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF ADMISSIONS

The Office of Admissions staff posed in front of a mail delivery truck just before it was loaded with acceptance letters for the Class of 2020.

ALEXANDER BEACH

ATAKAN BALTACI :: ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR

pornography

By Annie Yang news editor

In a lecture Thursday, Mary Anne Layden said that pornography, which is a visual invasion of a person’s body, is not a victimless crime.

Layden is a psychotherapist and author based at the University of Pennsylvania, where she directs the Sexual Trauma and Psychopathology Program as well as the Social Action Committee for Women’s Psychological Health.

According to Layden, selling the body is considered sexual exploitation and stealing the body is considered sexual violence.

“Sex is now a product, and the body is now a commodity,” she said. She added that sexual exploitation and sexual violence are a seamless, interconnected continuum.

Layden said that there are many studies that provide scientific evidence of the negative consequences of porn. According to Layden, brain images of porn users look similar to those of See ANSCOMBE page 2

WEATHER

By Betty Liu

HIGH

75˚

LOW

51˚

Thunderstorms! chance of rain:

40 percent

page 2

The Daily Princetonian

Friday april 1, 2016

Davis: Violence is an indication of the Layden: Pornography is impossibility of imagining livable futures the new crack cocaine VIOLENCE

ANSCOMBE

Parks in bringing justice for States, especially those of according to Layden. an African-American woman African-American men and Layden added that chilContinued from page 1 Continued from page 1 named Recy Taylor, who was women. dren in particular are vul............. ............. kidnapped and gang raped Davis also jokingly renerable to becoming “por“We built this campaign at by white men in 1944. In re- marked that she would hopes teenagers and cocaine us- nified,” having sex earlier, a time when, in the main- sponse, Davis noted how “old folks like her” would stop ers, only with less gray mat- becoming pregnant at an stream 70′ s movement, there Parks organized “the Com- having to give young activ- ter. earlier age and being more was a growing consciousness mittee for Equal Justice for ists advice, letting them cre“Internet pornography is likely to test positive for about the need to challenge Mrs. Recy Taylor,” which ate their own unique paths the new crack cocaine,” she STDs. sexual assault,” she said. quickly gathered support as they pursue social justice said.

Porn performers’ averThe officer had attempted across the United States from movements. The ability to Moreover, according to age life expectancy is about to force Little to submit to African-American organiza- carve one’s own way and to Layden, about 58 percent of 37 years, and many female rape, which prompted Little tions, labor unions and wom- bounce back from mistakes is all male pornography us- performers only have a 25 to stab him to death with the en’s’ rights groups. why young people are always ers, with an average age of percent chance of remainscrewdriver that he threatat the forefront of movements 25, had erectile dysfunction ing in a marriage for longer ened her with, according to such as Black Lives Matter, when engaging in sexual than three years, according Davis. This prompted Davis Davis said. relations with women but to Layden. and her colleagues to kick off “Abolition encourages us not while viewing pornog“This is not a victimless “Why is it so a campaign in support of Joan to think beyond retribution, raphy. crime,” she said.

Little, arguing that she killed beyond vengeance, beyond Layden said that there Strip clubs, prostitution difficult to posit the officer out of self-defense. the carceral, toward ways of are many false messages in and rape are all related to black women and Ultimately, Little became possibly eventually deposit- pornography, including the pornography, according the first woman to be acquiting gender violence into the idea that sex is adversarial to Layden. Strippers were women of color as ted of murder on the justidustbin of history,” she said. or a one-way street. She said more likely to have customexemplary? ” fication that she had killed The lecture was delivered that Internet pornography ers stalk and inf lict vioin order to prevent sexual asas a keynote speech for the results in unrealistic ex- lence on them, she said. sault.

“Gender, Violence and Anti- pectations and dissatisfacShe added that there are Davis said that this legal Violence Conference” in front tion in real life — men who often bodyguards present Angela Davis, success was a turning point, of a packed audience in the watch pornography are less at strip clubs, as they are Activist and Scholar a major sign of recognition McCosh 50 lecture hall. The likely to rate their partners sources of violence. She said for the anti-rape and anti-viconference will continue un- as attractive and are less sat- that further problems may olence movements. Up until til April 2, and will feature a isfied with their partner’s arise when men are sent that point, these movements Davis said Parks’s actions host of speakers. sexual performance. These home to vulnerable women had not received an adequate are one example of historical The conference was or- men are also more likely to without bodyguards. level of respect, noted Davis. accounts that have failed to ganized and sponsored by engage in extramarital afAbout 84 percent of sex Regarding the African- accurately keep women in the Princeton Institute for Inter- fairs, according to Layden. workers have been homeAmerican civil rights move- spotlight — especially with national and Regional Studies Married men who view less or remain homeless, ment, Davis also noted how issues relating to anti-rape and was co-sponsored by the porn are more likely to have and their death rate is more historical records have al- and anti-violence. following groups: Princeton affairs and engage with than 40 times higher than most always underestimated “What is very interesting Public Lectures Edge Lecture prostitutes, she said. About that of the general populaor erased the role that women to think about is that it was Fund, the University Center 25 percent of 19- to 21-year- tion, Layden said. About 87 play. a campaign for sexual assault for Human Values, Princeton old males who view porn percent of sex workers hope For instance, Davis said, that made it possible for what University’s Women’s Cen- say they have already em- to leave the industry, she Rosa Parks has only recently we call the ‘Civil Rights Move- ter, the Program in Law and ployed prostitutes or say added. been acknowledged for her ment’ to emerge,” she said.

Public Affairs, the Wood- they would do so in the fuThis is the price of socimajor role as an investigator Despite these setbacks, Da- row Wilson School of Public ture, according to Layden. ety turning a blind eye on of sexual assault cases and vis noted how proud she was and International Affairs, About 58 percent of di- this kind of behavior, espenot only as an African-Amer- of the leaders of the modern the Liechtenstein Institute vorces are a result of the cially as the average age of ican civil rights activist.

Black Rights Matter move- on Self-Determination, the male viewing too much entry into prostitution is 13 “Why is it so difficult to ment and how hopeful she is Niehaus Center for Global- porn during marriage, years old, she added. posit black women and wom- for the future. According to ization and Governance, the Layden also said.

Women are often arresten of color as exemplary?” Davis, this movement has re- Mamdouha S. Bobst Center Layden said that pornog- ed for prostitution, but the Davis asked. ignited a valuable social dia- for Peace and Justice and the raphy also leads to lack of men who engage with them Davis also discussed the logue concerning mass incar- Program in Gender and Sexu- acceptance of a partner who are not usually arrested, inf luential work of Rosa ceration rates in the United ality Studies. might not want to engage she said. in sex. She added tangenAccording to Layden, tially that men who watch ways to “de-pornify” socia lot of pornography may ety include having authoribelieve that a woman “de- ties such as the Federal served rape” or “got what Communications Commisshe wanted.” sion enforce decency laws.

According to Layden, Layden said that it is danpornography is also patho- gerous to legalize behaviors logically problematic, with such as prostitution, as the the tendency to escalate to Netherlands did, because the point of violent snuff it gives individuals the lifilms. cense to engage in behav“The more porn you get, iors. According to Layden, the worse the outcome,” she Netherlands’ policy change said. resulted in an increase from Layden noted that men 4,000 to 15,000 prostituted exposed to more porn be- children within three years, came much more callous with an increase in sex trafthan men who were not and ficking. were also less likely to supSweden’s “Nordic model” port the Female Liberation of criminalizing the purMovement. chase of sex, however, was “After one presentation of effective, noted Layden. Acsex mixed with violence, a cording to her, the policy significant number of men worked effectively by labelsaid they thought about sex ing sex workers as victims with violence in order to and johns as perpetrators. become aroused,” Layden “When you arrest men said. and fine them, they don’t In a study she conducted, want to go to prostituted porn use of a group of stu- women,” Layden said. dents was measured in the She said in order to stop students’ freshmen and se- this cycle from continuing, nior years of college. She the first step is to stop supfound that increased porn porting companies that enviewing was correlated courage porn or over-sexuwith higher psychopathy alized images. The next step scores, she noted. is to teach children well and Women who are “por- to let them understand that nified” through males’ pornography is not equivaexcessive viewing of por- lent to love. nography also face similar “Pornography threatens negative results, according the loss of love in a world to Layden. where love brings happiLayden added that porni- ness,” she said, referencing fied women were less likely the work of Roger Scruton. to have sex and were more The lecture, entitled “The critical about themselves Hidden Costs of Porn: Porand their bodies. Young nified Life,” took place at women who use porn are 4:30 p.m. on Thursday in also more likely to be vic- McCosh 10. It was sponsored tims of nonconsensual sex by the Anscombe Society. by putting themselves in positions to be victimized,

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: The Daily Princetonian is published daily except Saturday and Sunday from September through May and three times a week during January and May by The Daily Princetonian Publishing Company, Inc., 48 University Place, Princeton, N.J. 08540. Mailing address: P.O. Box 469, Princeton, N.J. 08542. Subscription rates: Mailed in the United States $175.00 per year, $90.00 per semester. Office hours: Sunday through Friday, 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Telephones: Business: 609-375-8553; News and Editorial: 609-258-3632. For tips, email news@dailyprincetonian.com. Reproduction of any material in this newspaper without expressed permission of The Daily Princetonian Publishing Company, Inc., is strictly prohibited. Copyright 2014, The Daily Princetonian Publishing Company, Inc. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Daily Princetonian, P.O. Box 469, Princeton, N.J. 08542.

The Daily Princetonian

Friday april 1, 2016

U. saw largest pool of applicants in its history 2020

Continued from page 1

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

according to Rapelye. In addition, Rapelye stated that 63 percent of admitted students come from public high schools.

Rapelye noted that her office have taken many steps to reach out to first-generation students and students from low-income backgrounds. The effort includes working with various community based organizations throughout the country and recruitment efforts with many consortial schools and the College Boards to make the University more accessible in the application process, she explained.

This year, 21.2 percent of the accepted students indicated on their applications that they intend to

page 3

FLAG

study engineering, 43.9 percent of which are women.

The applicant pool included students from 9,876 high schools in 151 different countries, Rapelye noted. This is an increase from last year’s 9,500.

Rapelye said that 1,237 candidates have been offered a spot on the waitlist. She noted that students can choose whether they would like to remain on the waitlist, and that the waitlist may be about half of its current size by May, as some students choose not to stay on the waitlist.

“A waitlist decision is, ‘You’re admissible, we just don’t have enough beds,’” Rapelye explained, “I hope we can go to the waitlist, but we won’t know until after May 1.”

Professors to use VPN to remotely access printers PRINTER Continued from page 1

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

As an added layer of security and privacy, most printers on campus have print release stations connected to them, according to Sather. These machines require users to identify themselves with a netID and password before printing. He noted that the hacker did not print to these printers and does not have access to do so.

“It’s a lot easier if [we] don’t use a VPN, but the problem is that it’s also easier for attackers.”

Nick Feamster,

Acting director, Center for Information Technology Poolicy

Even if OIT blocks access to printers from off-campus, Feamster said that there are still ways to allow Princeton faculty, staff and students printer access from off-campus.

Virtual Private Networks can be used to connect off-campus devices to Princeton’s network, even if they are being operated from off-campus, he said.

Feamster said that there are instances where VPN access is convenient, as it allows faculty members to print from offcampus.

“I’ll print out my lecture notes from home, come in, pick them up, and walk into lecture,” Feamster said, describing a situation in which VPN access might be useful.

“This is an example where I am off-campus but send data to one of our printers to print it out.”

With the new security blocks in place, faculty members would have to use the University Virtual Private Network to print from offcampus. Feamster said he personally would have no problem doing that, but for other individuals on campus, it might be a frustrating change.

“It’s a lot easier if [we] don’t use a VPN, but the problem is that it’s also easier for attackers,” he added.

University Chief Information Security Officer David Sherry deferred comment to Steven Sather.

ATAKAN BALTACI :: ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR

A flag bearing the University’s logo on the tower in East Pyne Hall flies high in a blue, spring sky.

Opinion

Friday april 1, 2016

page 4

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } EDITORIAL

Reaffirming Freedom of Expression

P

RESIDENT EISGRUBER recently stated, “We at Princeton believe that it is a fundamental advantage for a university to be able to tolerate even offensive kinds of speech and to respond to bad arguments when they are made with more speech rather than with disciplinary actions.” His statement was made to defend freedom of expression, up to the point of protecting the right of student groups to commemorate Osama bin Laden, and this Board believes that such freedom extends to other offensive ideas and arguments.

This past weekend, a computer hacker known as “Weev” claimed responsibility for printing posters criticizing the presence of Jews in the United States and promoting white supremacy through the website of a group known as The Daily Stormer. This disturbing incident of antiSemitism was conducted through illicit access to the University network by individuals outside the University community. The University has the right and the duty to discipline students involved in criminal trespassing; however, if the controversial and upsetting ideas themselves were promulgated by Princeton students, the students should not be censored or disciplined by the University administration. While this Board disagrees entirely and unequivocally with the abhorrent ideas promoted by the group, we reaffirm our commitment to free speech and call on the individual members of the campus community to challenge these and other offensive arguments through public discourse.

The University currently holds a rigorous conception of freedom of expression in Rights, Rules, and Responsibilities which already accounts for cases in which some restriction of expression should be present. According to section 1.1.3, “The University may restrict expression that violates the law, that falsely defames a specific individual, that constitutes a genuine threat or harassment, that unjustifiably invades substantial privacy or confidentiality interests, or that is otherwise directly incompatible with the functioning of the University.” The posters do not make personal threats against specific individuals, invade privacy, or interrupt University activities. The issue of a possible “hack” and illegal access should be investigated, yet while the posters make repul-

sive claims about a class of people, they do not threaten or harass specific persons. As vulgar as its ideas may be, The Daily Stormer presents arguments for its ideas, claims it opposes violence and asserts it will permanently ban anyone who promotes or suggests violence on its site.

Princeton’s campus is meant to be a place for open discussion of arguments and ideas. Censoring or disciplining students or groups with upsetting beliefs would harm rather than help the community. Students who seek to engage others in peaceful dialogue should be given the opportunity to do so. Some may argue that the poster’s use of the swastika and other inflammatory phrases can only be intended to intimidate and attack; however, it is unclear which University authority would make a final determination on the intent and value of controversial language and imagery.

Determining the intent of a poster or of groups hosting controversial political figures, polemic artists or proposing divisive referenda is problematic, and any evaluative metric used by University authorities will likely be arbitrary. In the absence of clear threats to security or harassment, the University should not police the intentions behind intellectual and argumentative expressions.

This Board is firmly opposed to the tasteless ideas promoted by The Daily Stormer’s posters, but the ideas themselves should not be censored before the University community engages with and rejects them. We believe the arguments presented by The Daily Stormer are false and poorly argued, but it is our duty to respond critically. The dissent claims there is a place in the University community for academic discourse regarding the ideas promoted by the posters; consequently, it would have to defend policing the tone of advertisements for such events.

We think this policing is wrong. We accept the necessity of being content-neutral in upholding the principle of free speech at Princeton, and we would apply the same standard to equally disturbing posters or content attacking any identity.

In general, the University should err on the side of freedom of expression, except when the expression constitutes a threat to security or clear harassment. We echo the University’s call for all its members “to display the appropriate sensitivity and to challenge expressions of

racial or ethnic bias whenever they encounter them” (RRR 1.2.1); however, engaging with controversial ideas is the only way to preserve open discourse in our community.

Dissent: The majority claims that the anti-Semitic posters distributed around campus, while tasteless, do not constitute grounds for disciplinary action since controversial and upsetting ideas should not be censored. However, this editorial ignores the uniquely harmful and hostile nature of these posters as hate speech. First, while the University should encourage academic discussion whenever possible, these posters are in no way a form of “artistic and intellectual expression.”

For example, there is a huge difference between a lecture against gay marriage, which has an educational and respectful tone, and posters around campus that read “Homosexuals are degenerates.”

The anti-Semitic flyers, by using slogans such as “White man, are you sick and tired of the Jews,” references to “degeneracy” and symbols such as the swastika, invoke hurtful imagery to incite and intimidate members of our community.

Furthermore, even if these posters are allowed in society at large, the University should uphold a higher standard of acceptable speech since it has a unique mandate to provide “an educational, working, and living environment free from discrimination and harassment based on a protected characteristic.” Due to this commitment to providing an environment free from harassment, the University should ensure that academic discussion and debate remains respectful. After all, conversation about neo-Nazism or race can occur without inflammatory and derogatory remarks that can create a hostile or alienating environment. Thus, by prohibiting these forms of expression and disciplining students caught promulgating hate speech, the University must strictly uphold its commitment to fostering respectful academic conversation.

Signed by Cydney Kim ’17 The Editorial Board is an independent body and decides its opinions separately from the regular staff and editors of The Daily Princetonian. The Board answers only to its Chair, the Opinion Editor and the Editor-in-Chief.

We should speak Zeena Mubarak columnist

R

ECENTLY THE University rolled out the second part of the We Speak survey, designed to collect data on the prevalence of and attitudes toward sexual misconduct on Princeton’s campus so that the University can more effectively respond to such cases. As well-intentioned as it is, the survey is not sufficiently randomized to ensure an accurate representation of sexual misconduct on Princeton’s campus. In order to overcome this limitation, the University should introduce a shorter but mandatory sexual misconduct survey.

Last year, over half of the student population responded to the We

Speak survey. The results of the survey were disheartening, to say the least — 20 percent of students reported that they had experienced inappropriate sexual behavior last year, 13 percent of students reported that they had experienced nonconsensual sexual contact and four percent of students reported that they had experienced nonconsensual sexual penetration.

It is entirely possible that these statistics are an accurate reflection of the rate of sexual assault on campus.

However, that is not necessarily true.

Since the sample size is self-selecting, Princeton students might have their own reasons for taking the survey, and this bias could potentially be skewing the results. For example, it seems likely that those who care most about the issue — who may personally have experienced sexual

assault or know someone who has — will be most likely to take the survey. Other factors related to students’ personal circumstances could influence them to take or avoid the survey, meaning that the results are not necessarily representative of the entire student body’s experience.

The University should respond to this challenge by introducing another survey about sexual misconduct, which would be mandatory for all students. Of course, were the survey to become compulsory, it would have to be shorter and less exhaustive, because the students taking the survey would not necessarily be interested in spending time on it and so therefore might answer untruthfully just to rush through the answers. However, the benefits of having an understanding of the entire student body’s

experience would outweigh the disadvantages of a truncated survey.

The University could easily incorporate a brief survey on sexual misconduct into either the academic check-in at the beginning of the year or one of the course evaluations given at the end of each semester.

At both of these times, students already have to log in and fill out forms, so an additional survey would not be unreasonable. Additionally, by tying the survey to either course evaluations or to the check-in at the start of the fall semester, the University could ensure that everyone is required to participate. At the same time, the survey could remain anonymous, as it is under the current system.

The We Speak survey is an admirable attempt by the administration to understand the climate of sexual

vol. cxl

Do-Hyeong Myeong ’17 editor-in-chief

Daniel Kim ’17

business manager

EDITORIAL BOARD chair Cydney Kim ’17 Allison Berger ’18 Elly Brown ’18 Thomas Clark ’18 Paul Draper ’18 Daniel Elkind ’17 Theodore Furchgott ’18 Wynne Kerridge ’16 Jeffrey Leibenhaut ’16 Sergio Leos ’17 Carolyn Liziewski ’18 Sam Mathews ’17 Connor Pfeiffer ’18 Ashley Reed ’18 Aditya Trivedi ’16

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

misconduct on campus. However, as long as it remains a voluntary survey, it can only provide an incomplete picture. The self-selecting nature of the survey respondents is a fatal flaw in its design. While the in-depth nature of the survey ensures that it still has a place on campus, the addition of a much shorter survey to be taken by all students on campus would help the administration and the rest of the Princeton community have a fuller understanding of the reality of the true experiences of the student body as a whole. Policies should be created or refined with an accurate understanding of the scope and nature of sexual misconduct on campus.

Zeena Mubarak is a Near Eastern Studies major from Fairfax, Va. She can be reached at zmubarak@princeton.edu.

Playing defense: Why AB vs. BSE is a lose-lose game Victoria Gruenberg

contributing columnist

I

AM tired of reading New York Times Opinion articles titled some permutation of “The Humanities Are Important.”

This is a weird feeling for me to have. I love the humanities and I do find them important. If nothing else, I am an English major in a family of medical professionals, so compelling arguments for why the study of literature is worthwhile can be really important for my psyche. When I was a freshman, that kind of article would convince me that I should actually try to do my reading for the HUM Sequence for a hot second.

So I do not mean to make a case for ending “Yay Humanities” opeds. It is still important for some 18-year-old drowning in Heidegger to hear that sentiment, even if she doesn’t listen to it and takes COS 126 the next semester instead.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she’ll remember that there are a number of intelligent people who won’t think she’s patently insane if she earns her bachelor’s degree writing literary criticism.

My case, rather, is for refocus-

ing the conversation. The humanities are important – cool.

However, that claim only gets us into neutral territory. Let’s talk about what they affirmatively do.

Like almost any other argumentative adjective, importance operates in relative terms. You’ve heard the proverb that there is no joy without sadness; well, empirically, there is no significance without insignificance. So even if storytelling is the fabric of human history, even if every known culture produces art and even if we as a country spend trillions of dollars on movies every year, none of those facts really mean anything. They certainly prove that the humanities exist, but without another thing to compare them against, arguing for their significance doesn’t do much. It’s like a game where one team plays eternal defense — no one ever scores.

Here enters the unspeakable foil spirit of the humanities — the Will Turner to its Jack Sparrow, Luke Skywalker to its Han Solo, Horatio to its Hamlet — the sciences. The two often end up working together, and either might be the protagonist depending on your tastes. But it seems like everyone picks a favorite. And if you do have a favorite, you clearly

must find one “better” (or “more important”) than the other one.

But is that really the case? Tastes are subjective. Telling yourself you must study financial engineering to live an “important” life is like deciding you must prefer Luke over Han to be a “better” person. An objectively important life does not exist.

The more conversations I have about the unconditional value of any field of study, the more I hear opinions.

I have had a lot of those conversations and here is my verdict: everyone I know thinks their major is useless. The chemistry majors are convinced they will rot in labs for no pay, Woody Woo majors tell me they don’t know what they’re actually majoring in and even computer science majors battle bouts of dark and profound distress about living fulfilling lives. And then — here’s the kicker — each student is also convinced there is at least one other department that calls their concentration a waste of time.

I can walk through every single concentration listed on our website and tell you a version of this story.

And sure, no matter how many departments I can cover, this is subjective data corrupted by my preferences in friendships and a complete lack of scientific method.

But there is something to be said for a bunch of independently conceived stories with the same ending. Trust me on this one: narrative trends can tell you something quantifiable without numbers.

I am writing this column because every semester around midterms and finals, lunch conversations and social media threads turn towards how difficult it is to complete a problem set or how many pages are due this week. These academic spitting contests remind me of these neutral New York Times Op-Eds. True, a handful of my BSE friends seem willing to listen to the struggles of my AB friends, and vice versa, and that makes me hopeful. But that understanding has got to continue and grow past our liberal arts environment.

Princeton classes across all departments, from math to anthropology, are notorious for getting caught up in theory. As the students of these fields, it’s our turn to convert that theory into action. I want to read articles about my classmates creating theatre companies like Trusty Sidekick, which uses performance to accelerate the development of children on the autism spectrum. I also want to read about my engineering

friends in the National Academy of Sciences making technological advances in prosthetic limbs. And I want to root for both teams.

Intellectual breakthroughs are limited by apologies. No muse descends upon the chosen ones who dedicate their lives to the correct field and endows them with automatic bravado. Everyone starts staring into the void wondering what they’re going to make from it.

While those studying humanities are obviously anxious, scientists are insecure too, and the social scientists freak out about being in the middle. If we’re all playing defense, who’s playing offense?

No one writes articles about the importance of data or scientific experiment; we as a society have decided to take that for granted.

At some point, it’s time to do the same with arts and letters. All of it’s important. None of it’s important.

Mainly, that conversation is not worth as much of our attention as we’re giving it. It’s time to take ownership. Instead of defending what we think is important, let’s actively do what we think is important.

Victoria Gruenberg is an English major from Winter Park, Fla. She can be reached at veg@princeton.edu.

Friday april 1, 2016

The Daily Princetonian

page 5

Track continues season at Men’s tennis to open Ancient Eight invitational in Orlando, play, eyeing first league title since 1988 aiming to bolster record M. TENNIS Continued from page 6

TRACK

Continued from page 6

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Harris took first place in the pole vault, and finished third in the 100m hurdles.

Ronde leapt to 5.30m in the long jump, finishing in tenth.

Seniors Taylor Morgan and Kerry Krause competed for the women’s track and field team on day one of the Nike Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays at the University of Texas on Wednesday.

Morgan placed 18th in the heptathlon, while Krause placed 28th.

Both the men and women have a busy week this week, sending athletes to four separate meets across the country: day two of the Texas Relays in Austin, the Florida Relays in Gainesville, the Stanford Invitational in California and Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

McCord is looking for-

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

ward to the outdoor Ivy League Championship and the NCAA tournament.

“Our goals this year are the same as they are every year.

We aim to win the outdoor Ivy League Championship.

After we accomplish that goal, the next step is to qualify as many athletes as possible for the NCAA national championship in Eugene, Ore. I’ve been once before in my Princeton career and there’s nothing better than competing at the highest level of the sport.”

As a senior, one of his central focuses is to lead his team in accomplishing its goals. “As an senior on the team, I’m trusted to be a leader to the younger guys and set an example on and off the track. I’ve been on the team for a long time and have a lot of wisdom to impart to the freshman and sophomores on the team who are new to Division I track and field.”

the ECAC championship in February and four consecutive wins over ITA-ranked teams including No. 24 Penn State. The steady progress has placed Princeton at No. 34 in the ITA rankings behind only Columbia in the Ivy League.

Leading the charge will be junior captains Josh Yablon and Tom Colautti, both of whom have had excellent results on the court. Yablon is enthusiastic about the team’s prospects: “Our goal is always to win, and this is the best chance we’ve had in awhile. It all starts this weekend with Brown first, and then we look to Yale.” Because the productivity comes primarily from sophomores and juniors, each player returns with a renewed sense of confidence and most importantly, plenty of high-quality match play experience. Yablon notes that seniors Mohamed El Tonbari and Florin Radu, although not showcasing their talents on the court, have maintained a healthy off-court presence,

providing the needed guidance and wisdom they’ve accumulated over their respective tenures.

Sitting atop the number one singles spot is sophomore Diego Vives, who defeated Leonard Stakhovsky of Penn State, registering his first victory over an ITA-ranked opponent in four tries. Like many lefthanders, the Chilean uses a combination of a big serve and an explosive forehand to maintain an aggressive game.

With this powerful and reliable one-two punch, it is no wonder why breaking Vives’ serve has posed such a daunting challenge to those on the other side of the net.

Hailing from New York City, Jimmy Wasserman is the lone newcomer to the squad this year. Boasting a number 33 ranking spot for his recruiting class in May 2015, Wasserman brings a breadth of tournament experience which has helped his transition to the college level. Pairing with Vives at the number two doubles spot and seeing occasional singles play, he has displayed the capacity and attitude neces-

sary for further success. Tom Colautti discussed Wasserman’s contributions to the team this year: “Jimmy is a funny guy, always bringing something interesting to the conversation off the court. I expect good things and for him to start in the future.”

Captains Yablon and Colautti join forces at the number three doubles position, where they have achieved much success in past years.

Yablon attributes their rise to one of the best three doubles teams in the country to their chippy and feisty spirit on the court. Doubles pairings are subject to change depending on matchups, and Pate has experimented in recent days, but the leadership these two bring will definitely serve them well as they await their Ivy League counterparts.

With a group of players that bring a wide range of playing styles and personalities, the Tigers are in a prime position to make a run at the title that eluded them for far too long. The pursuit starts this weekend, with the action commencing at 1 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.

pun

david shin ’18

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Friday april 1, 2016

Sports

page 6

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } MEN’S TENNIS

Men’s tennis team prepares to make historic run for Ivy League title

By Hamza Chaudhry contributor

The Princeton men’s tennis team begins Ivy League play this weekend with matches against Brown on Saturday and Yale on Sunday. With a strong and now seasoned starting cast, the team is poised to capture its first Ivy League Championship since the 1988 season.

Last year, the tennis team began its campaign by blistering through the likes of Penn, Brown and Yale with convincing 6-1 team victories, which included a clean sweep of all six singles positions against the Bears and the Bulldogs. Following this exciting start, the team tripped up against its tougher slate of opponents, losing a manageable matchup against Dartmouth before faltering

to Harvard and eventual Ivy League champion Columbia.

Though the losses were disappointing, the Tigers contested several tight three-set matches, proving they can compete and push the best in the league to their limits.

With a win over Cornell, the squad finished with a 4-3 Ivy League record and earned an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament, its first in 17 years, where they unfortunately fell to a dominant University of Minnesota opponent.

Coach Billy Pate remarked after the NCAA loss, “We built a really good foundation and the future looks really bright.” So far this season, his forecast has held true. The Tigers have played phenomenally. Highlights so far have included winning See M. TENNIS page 5

COURTESY OF PRINCETON ATHLETICS

The Princeton men’s tennis team looks to embark on a record-setting Ivy League season this weekend.

TRACK

Track and field team enjoys success at Black and Gold Invitational

By Miranda Hasty contributor

COURTESY OF PRINCETON ATHLETICS

Track and field had a string of strong performances at Orlando.

Bad weather resulted in a delayed start to the Black & Gold Challenge at the University of Central Florida in Orlando two Saturdays ago for men and women’s track and field teams. The Tigers nonetheless pulled out an impressive performance.

Sophomore Kennedy O’Dell and senior Brielle Rowe earned the first and second place titles in f light one of the discus and finished eighth and ninth overall.

More than one second ahead of the rest of the competition, the 4x100m relay time of freshman Charles Volker, freshman

Josh Billington, senior Dan McCord and sophomore Carrington Akosa won the event at 40.56.

Indoor Ivy Hep champion junior Ray Mennin won the 400, while sophomore Josh Freeman followed shortly after in fourth place.

Sophomore Mitchel Charles was the runner-up in the discus, and teammate sophomore James Burns won section 2 of the 110m hurdles and was sixth overall. Burns also threw a PR in the discus.

McCord is proud of his team’s recent performance.

“It was a great start to the season after winning the indoor Ivy League championship,” McCord said.

“Our 4x100m relay with Charlie Volker, Josh Billington, Carrington Akosa and I posted the number one time in the league, running 40.56, which is also the fourth fastest time in school history. Also many of our 400m runners opened led the season well especially Ray Mennin, coming off his indoor 400m title.

He ran a smooth 47.9 after a hard week of training in Orlando, Fla.” On the following Friday and Saturday, the women’s team sent junior Allison Harris and senior Sara Ronde to the University of North Florida Spring Break Invitational in Jacksonville.

See TRACK page 5

WOMEN’S TENNIS

Women’s tennis to take to the road against Brown, Yale

By David Liu sports editor

Princeton women’s tennis (9-7 overall, 1-0 Ivy League) has caught fire as of late with wins over the University of Houston, Rice University and Penn. The run earns them the No. 59 spot on ITA’s Division I rankings. This weekend the Tigers will put the streak to the test against Brown (12-6, 0-0) and Yale (6-8, 0-0).

The Tigers will head into Brown with the confidence of winning their first Ivy League game of the season. Though the win over Penn — the Tigers’ eighth consecutive win over the Quakers — was far from unexpected, Brown and Yale will be making their season Ivy League debuts this weekend and pose potential threats to rising Princeton.

Of the two, the Brown Bears pose a greater challenge for Princeton. At the team’s peak, the Bears concluded February on a six-game winning streak.

In March, however, Brown posted a modest 3-3 record.

The trip to Rhode Island will give the Tigers the op-

portunity (and challenge) of improving on the road, where they have only been 3-3 on the road. On the other hand, Brown boasts an impressive 8-1 home record to challenge the Tigers.

The Brown squad features reigning Ivy League rookie of the year Alyza Benotto. The Los Angeles native recently received the No. 94 individual ranking from the ITA. Despite Brown’s impressive home record, Princeton maintains a three-year streak of victories over the Bears. In fact, last year, the Tigers won by a score of 5-2 at home.

Turning to Yale, Princeton has already established its dominance over the Bulldogs this year with a 4-0 sweep at the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships in early February. In the championship’s consolation game, the squad of senior Amanda Muliawan, sophomore Katrine Steffensen, junior Sivan Krems and junior Caroline Joyce defeated Yale in four quick singles matches.

Similar to the Bears, Yale accumulated a streak of its own,

Tweet of the Day “I’ve stopped the dreaming, I don’t do too much scheming these daysss” AJ Glass@ AJ_Glass), junior running back, football

spanning five games from mid-February to early March.

The run included dominant wins over Fairfield University and Long Island University.

Against Princeton, Yale will prepare for a clash in the doubles matches. On the Bulldogs’ side, the duos of Madeleine Hamilton and Tina Jiang, Ree Ree Li and Carol Finke and Sherry Li and Caroline Lynch have all caught fire as of late.

In particular Li and Lynch developed a nine-game doubles winning streak earlier in the season.

On the Princeton side, the Bulldogs will face a formidable challenge in Amanda Muliawan and Dorothy Tang, Emily Hahn and Katrine Steffensen and Caroline Joyce and Nicole Kalhorn.

Of note for the Bulldogs, Sherry Li has been undefeated in singles matches against Princeton her entire career.

Following this weekend’s road trip, the Tigers will return for a three-game homestand. The lineup includes highly-anticipated matchups against rivals Dartmouth, Harvard and Columbia.

COURTESY OF PRINCETON ATHLETICS

Women’s tennis will embark on a road trip against Ivy League rivals.

Stat of the Day

40.56 seconds The Princeton men’s 4x100m relay team won their event in 40.56, the fourth best time in school history.

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