April 4, 2016

Founded 1876 daily since 1892 online since 1998

Monday april 4, 2016 vol. cxl no. 39

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

U. responds to inquiry on endowment staff writer

University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 released a letter in response to an inquiry from several members of the U.S. Congress into the University’s endowment spending on Thursday.

Eisgruber did not respond to a request for comment.

The 11-page letter responds to 13 questions sent on Feb. 8 to 56 colleges and universities with endowments over $1 billion.

Eisgruber’s response notes that the University endowment was $22.7 billion as of June 30, 2015, with the primary invested pool having a market value of $22.3 billion. It is composed of permanently restricted net assets, temporarily restricted net assets and unrestricted net assets. Additionally, in fiscal year 2015, the total value of investments not included in the endowment was $558 million. The investment return on the endowment in fiscal year 2015 was 12.7 percent. The University spent $320 million in that fiscal year to manage the endowment through external and internal costs.

“Princeton’s endowment is made up of thousands of accounts, some of which date back literally hundreds of years,” Eisgruber wrote in his letter.

He added that most accounts are related to financial aid or additional educational programs such as research and teaching programs, library resources and faculty positions.

“It’s a pool of money that generates resources every year that supports the kind of teaching and research we use every year that affect the quality of the the education we can offer,” Robert Durkee ’69, vice president and secretary of the University, said.

Additionally, Eisgruber wrote that the endowment covers half the cost of the University’s operating budget and helps meet high priority capital needs.

Eisgruber noted in the letter that the University’s financial aid program is entirely grant-based and is considered very generous, as students graduate with only around $6,000 in debt on average compared to national averages. In fiscal year 2015, 25.2 percent of the endowment payout was devoted to student aid, in 2013 is was 26.4% and in 2014 it was 25.1%.

In 2008, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee sent a similar bipartisan inquiry to 136 public and private colleges and universities for information regarding financial aid and endowment spending. The inquiry was sent as a response to greater congressional concern regarding endowment spending and rising college costs as a reauthorization of the Higher Education Act was presented in Congress.

According to a Feb. 2008 ‘Prince’ article, a witness who had testified before the Finance Committee had presented a proposal to require colleges and universities to spend a minimum percentage of their endowments to reduce education See ENDOWMENT page 3

RACHEL SPADY :: PHOTO EDITOR

At night, the Fountain of Freedom reflects Robertson hall and the statues in front of building.

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

Wilson School to hold exhibit on Wilson’s legacy

By Christopher Umanzor staff writer

The Wilson School will be holding a public exhibit in Robertson Hall titled “In the Nation’s Service? Woodrow Wilson Revisited” between Apr. 4 and Oct. 28 to display the complexity of the legacy of Woodrow Wilson, Class of 1879.

Elisabeth Donahue, Wilson School associate dean of Public Affairs and Communications, said the exhibit was done on behalf of the entire University, at the request of University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83.

“The content was provided by the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, which worked in collaboration with the Woodrow Wilson

School… the design was done by an outside firm,” she noted.

The exhibit looks at how Wilson was viewed by his contemporaries – many of whom were very critical of his views on race, on civil liberties and on women, Donahue said.

“Wilson was a complex man and the exhibit tries to capture that,” she noted.

According to Donahue, Wilson’s legacy has seen heightened controversy in recent years as more of his actions have been brought to the attention of the University Community.

“The conversation about Wilson’s legacy – including his legacy on race – had been started before the protest, going back many years, in fact,” she said. “When a STUDENT LIFE

STUDENT LIFE

USG discusses Passport to the Performing Arts

By Katherine Oh senior writer

KEVIN AGOSTINELLI :: CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

About 500 students participated in HackPrinceton, working on projects for 36 consecutive hours.

HackPrinceton brings in around 500 programmers, entrepreneurs

By Kevin Agostinelli contributor

HackPrinceton, the University’s biannual hackathon hosted by the Princeton Entrepreneurship Club, drew around 500 student programmers and entrepreneurs from more than 100 universities this past weekend.

Participants faced the challenge of creating functioning software or hardware projects from scratch

Washington Post blog post made its way around last summer, we had started to plan an event to address this important issue.”

Donahue also noted that the protest by the Black Justice League last November played a major role in the creation of this exhibit.

“One of the things we heard from protesting students was that it is not just a problem that Wilson was flawed, but it is a problem that he is so venerated across this campus. So the title of the exhibit – In the Nation’s Service? Woodrow Wilson Revisited – tries to get at the heart of the BJL’s protest about how Wilson is honored at Princeton,” she said.

Cecilia Rouse, dean of the See WILSON page 2

in 36 hours, with the best teams earning prizes such as printing pens and Bluetooth keyboards at the closing ceremonies on Sunday afternoon.

“HackPrinceton provides students with the unique opportunity to learn new technical skills and take advantage of mentorship and hardware resources, all while being surrounded by hundreds of like-minded students,” Zachary Liu ’18, a co-director of HackPrinc-

In Opinion Senior columnist Bennett McIntosh argues that students benefit when professors hold a range of political viewpoints, and the Editorial Board recommends changes to the thesis binding process. PAGE 4

eton and computer science major at the University, said.

Liu, who organized his fourth HackPrinceton this semester, said that he is motivated to continue improving the already successful hackathon.

“My personal goals for HackPrinceton are trying to focus even more on the attendee experience and providing the best possible outlet for hackers to not See HACKATHON page 2

Today on Campus

he Undergraduate Student Government senate discussed the Passport to the Performing Arts program during their weekly meeting on Apr. 4.

Class of 2017 senator Kishan Bhatt ’17 said that his project group had been conducting research on the Passport to the Performing Arts program for students.

He explained that the current program provides each student with two “student events” tickets, three “Princeton Passes” and three “Tiger Tickets,” depending on the type of event. According to the ODUS website, this distinction is mostly based on the price of tickets.

“A lot of folks were interested in knowing why the distribution is as it is, two, two, three,” Bhatt explained.

He noted that his group has explored the possibility of being able to use card swipes for guest attendees.

Another student suggestion was to remove the categorization to eliminate barriers and increase usage, he said. Instead of having three free events at McCarter Theater and another three at Richardson Auditorium, there could be a total of five swipes to be used in whichever manner the student

4:30 p.m.: Carnegie Mellon University Professor Douglas Sicker will give a talk titled “Rethinking the USe of Radio Spectrum: The Interplay of Technology, Policy and Economics in Emerging Radio Systems.” Sherrerd Hall, 3rd Floor Open Space

chooses, Bhatt explained.

“The overall goal is to give students a little bit more choice in what they use,” Bhatt said.

He added that student input is crucial in creating any substantive changes.

Brandon McGhee ’18, a UCouncilor who works at the ticket office in Frist Campus Center, said that he noticed that many freshmen don’t actually know what Passport to the Performing Arts program is, and that there is a need for USG to better explain the program.

“We were also thinking of using an infographic on different relevant places on campus,” U-Councilor Miranda Rosen ’18 said.

USG President Aleksandra Czulak ’17 noted that USG is working on putting together information that might be helpful for incoming freshmen, which could include an explanation about student events and Tiger Tickets. The freshman guide would be distributed to the students before they arrive on campus, Czulak explained.

Shannon Osaka ’17, Academics Committee chair, said that this freshman guide could go hand-in-hand with an academic guide that includes majorspecific advice, along general See USG page 2

WEATHER

By Marcia Brown

REFLECTION

HIGH

60˚

LOW

27˚

Rain. chance of rain:

90 percent

The Daily Princetonian

page 2

Monday april 4, 2016

Exhibit to have digital version, hashtags Osaka: OIR is analyzing WILSON calendar survey results Continued from page 1

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

Wilson School, noted the importance of student activism in creating dialogues, like the exhibit, around campus.

“I’d say that I embrace student activism; it keeps us all on our toes,” she said.

However, the exhibit and the ongoing considerations over the renaming of Wilson School and the Wilson College remain entirely separate, she noted.

“The naming decision lies with the Trustees, and we at the School will follow their decision, whatever it is,” she said. “This exhibit is meant to try to explore Wilson, his legacy on multiple dimensions, and start a dialogue.”

University Trustees will announce their decision on the renaming of the buildings named after Wilson on Monday. In December 2015, the Trustees commissioned a committee to review Wilson’s legacy.

Donahue explained that there is a hashtag, #RevisitWilson, and a Twitter feed that will be displayed on two monitors in the exhibit. There is also a website being built that will feature a digital version of the exhibit, and students can contact revisitwilson@ princeton.edu about the exhibit, she said. Additionally, visitors can leave comments on a board with cards and pens; these comments will be eventually digitized, she explained.

“This exhibit is the beginning of a dialogue, not the last word,” she said.

Donahue, however, also added that she was unsure as to how the public would respond. She added that she hopes many people see it, particularly students.

“We have built in many ways for people to share their reactions,” she said.

Sarah Prieto ’19 said she is excited about the project.

“I’m glad we will have nuanced perspectives on the issue from experts in the field! I’m excited

and I’m looking forward to it,” she said.

Brandon McGhee ’18 said he hopes that Woodrow Wilson’s legacy will be re-evaluated as a result of the exhibit.

“I’m glad that we can finally study the researched history on Woodrow Wilson’s legacy. Many times, much of Woodrow Wilson’s legacy is glorified and you never hear the other side – we can hear the entire narrative,” he said.

According to Donahue, there will be an event to launch the exhibit on Friday, April 8, at 4:30 p.m. in Dodds Auditorium, Robertson Hall, which will examine Wilson’s legacy on race. Following the launch event, there will be a reception in the Bernstein Gallery.

“I hope many students come to the event and ask questions of an amazing panel, which will look not only at Wilson but also at the issue of race during Wilson’s tenure as University and U.S. President,” she said.

USG

Continued from page 1

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

tips about campus resources, such as Peer Academic Advisors.

She also noted that the Office of Institutional Research is analyzing the results of the recent academic calendar survey.

“Myself, Ramie [Fathy ‘16] and a [Graduate Student Government] representative are going to be compiling results,” Osaka said.

She explained that the data for undergraduate and graduate students involved what they thought of the different calendar options and how many people were stressed about the calendar. This information will be released in the coming weeks, she added.

The senate members approved a Projects Board funding request for an event cosponsored by the College Republicans, the Princeton Open Campus Committee, the Whig-Clio and the Campus Conversations and Identities project.

Evan Draim ’16 of College Republicans said that Guy Benson, political editor of Townhall.com and Mary Katharine Ham, editor of Hot Air, will be discussing their new book, “End of Discussion,” at the Apr. 7 event.

In addition to speaking

about their research on free speech, the speakers will share their views on current happenings on college campuses, Draim noted.

Naman Jain ’17, Projects Board co-chair, noted that the funding amount exceeds ten dollars per person.

Jain said that rather than enforcing a blanket ten-dollars-per-person rule, the Projects Board hopes to encourage events that involve more active audience participation and engagement.

In order to compensate for the increased costs, events that are classic study breaks are now subject to a seven-dollars-per-person cap, Jain said.

“It’s something that we’ve been doing informally,” Jain explained. “Our ten dollars per person, even in the past, was more of a guideline and not a hard-and-fast rule. In the next academic year, we’ll publicize that on our website.”

According to Draim, the event is open to everyone in the University community and is free to the public. The speakers will be answering any questions in the audience.

Draim explained that he anticipates approximately 150 to 200 attendees. He said he had reached out to many student groups on campus, including College Democrats and the LGBT Center, and that many students had already RSVPed to the event on Facebook.

U. students win Best Overall prize for ‘Lucy’ HACKATHON Continued from page 1

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

only to learn more, but also to simply connect with other people at the hackathon,” he said.

Monica Shi ’18, another HackPrinceton co-director, did not respond to requests for comment.

After the 36 hour deadline passed, ten teams were selected as finalists and presented their projects in front of a large crowd to a panel of judges from various business and technological backgrounds.

The following projects reached this final stage: Windsong, Cliqur, Lucy, Moralit.ai, Chrono | Emergency, SafeWalk, EIR, StockTalk, EyePhone and Spin to Win. These projects involve the design of a 3-D scanner, a software to augment the emergency response model and other interesting concepts.

Later, a total of 25 accolades were given out to teams, with 21 being sponsor prizes, along with four major awards: Best Overall, Most Technically Challenging, Best Design and Most Creative. While the winners of the sponsor prizes were selected by the business sponsors themselves, the four major awards were chosen by the panel of judges.

University students Rohan Doshi ’18, Andrew Ng ’18 and Avinash Nayak ’18 won the Best Overall prize, as well as the Thiel Foundation’s sponsor prize for the “Best Hack to Continue” by creating a program called Lucy. This software would enable tens of millions of people with physical disabilities to use the Internet with just their voice, without having to rely on a keyboard or mouse.

“In the past, speech recognition has been used for transcribing text and basic operating system commands, but there hasn’t been any significant progress into developing a true solution that integrates speech with web navigation,” Doshi, Ng and Nayak explained.

“We solved this problem with Lucy.”

Purdue University students Suyash Gupta, Pranjal Daga, David Liu and Benjamin Wu also reeled in a series of prizes with their invention of a mobile app called EyePhone. This app aims at early detection of cataracts so that quick remedial measures can be taken to avoid unprecedented blindness.

The team was awarded the Most Launchable prize sponsored by the Dorm Room Fund, the PrincetonPy/PICSciE Prize for Every Day

Data for Tomorrow, the Best Mobile App prize and the Best Use of Data Visualization prize.

University of Texas, Dallas students Cyrus Roshan and Akhilesh Yarabarla was also recognized for their invention of a cheap 3-D scanner called “Spin to Win.” The scanner can take relatively small objects and scan them into a 3-D file. Roshan and Yarabarla received the Best Moonshot prize from Google, as well as the Most Technically Challenging Prize from the judges.

“Using an 10c reflective IR LED pair, Spin to Win scans a 3-D object from the side by continuously rotating it and changing the scan height,” they said. “Then we map out these points to a 3-D map using WolframAlpha and generate a file that you could use to 3-D print an object of your own.”

HackPrinceton also featured a variety of activities, workshops and speakers over the course of the weekend.

The event’s keynote speaker was Mike Caprio, an innovation consultant at the American Museum of Natural History and the lead organizer of the Space Apps NYC group, a local chapter of the NASA International Space Apps Challenge. Caprio discussed his own experience in space hacking and encouraged the packed crowd in Friend Center foom 101 to register for the 2016 Space Apps Challenge that would take place between Apr. 22-24.

Caprio estimated that this year’s Space Apps Challenge would have around 20,000 participants, with all involved given a unique opportunity to work with NASA on very relevant issues.

“Essentially, NASA provides these challenges and says, ‘Hey these are things we don’t have the time or resources to work on; will you please help us solve these problems?’” Caprio explained.

HackPrinceton began on Friday and ended on Sunday. The event was co-sponsored by companies D. E. Shaw and Co., Linode, Capital One, Schlumberger, the Thiel Foundation and Wolfram.

The event was also sponsored by the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the Department of Electrical Engineering, the Department of Computer Science, the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, the Keller Center for Innovation in Engineering Education and the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students.

Monday april 4, 2016

Endowment covers half of U. operating budget ENDOWMENT Continued from page 1

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

costs for their students.

“We really welcome the opportunity to answer the questions and shed some light on how endowments are used,” Durkee said. “We welcomed it eight years ago, and we welcome it this time.”

Eisgruber addressed the University’s response to Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Texas Congressman Kevin Brady, chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means and Illinois Congressman Peter Roskam, chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee.

“We appreciate the substantive and timely responses we have received from colleges and universities,” Lauren Aronson, spokeswoman for the Committee on House Ways and Means, wrote in a statement. “As we hear from more schools, we’ll continue to learn about how they use their tax-exempt status and spend their endowments in light of rising tuition costs.”

According to Aronson, the Committee only requested the information from 56 institutions this year because of the higher endowment threshold of $1 billion.

In 2008, the Committee requested information from 136 colleges/universities because the endowment threshold was lower.

“The last time around, one of the lessons from the responses was that the universities with more substantial endowments are able to provide more generous financial aid and do,” Durkee said.

“One of the starting questions was whether the universities should be encouraged or required to give more financial aid when they have more endowment resources, but the answer is that those are the universities that do provide more generous financial aid.”

Durkee said that the grantbased financial aid policy that the University and its peers have adopted is one example of the generous financial aid.

Eisgruber wrote in his response that students receiving Pell Grants increased from 7.2 percent in the Class of 2008 to 18 percent in the Class of 2018 in part due to the level of need-based aid the University could supply.

Durkee noted that an example of an educational practice that requires significant resources is the senior thesis, which was not mentioned in the response.

“It’s a very expensive educational practice to require every senior to write a thesis because of the faculty time involved and the research resources required; that’s a very expensive way of providing an undergraduate education, but it pays enormous dividends on undergraduate experience,” Durkee said. “We can do that because of the resources we have, and other places might like to do that, but they don’t have the financial capacity to do it.”

According to a previous ‘Prince’ article, Congressman Tom Reed was working towards legislation that specified how much universities with endowments above $1 billion should spend.

“The details of the proposal are still fluid because we are waiting on additional information from the Ways and Means Committee regarding endowment spending,” Reed’s Communication Director Brandy Brown said.

Brown added that she can’t make accurate comparisons between 2008’s proposal and today’s proposal without those responses.

Reed’s proposal currently suggests that endowments totaling over $1 billion have a 25 percent progressive payout in the form of grants to working-family students in order to cover the cost of attendance.

Working families are defined as having income between 100 to 600 percent of the federal poverty line (does that make sense?), currently $24,300 per year for a family of four. Institutions would be penalized with a loss of tax-exempt status if they are non-compliant for three years.

Durkee emphasized the resources endowments can provide.

“I think Congress doesn’t always

The Daily Princetonian

focus on the fact that the earnings of these endowments are, in fact, what is allowing these universities to be among the best in the world,” he said.

Durkee added that when surveys name the best universities in the world, most of the top schools are American universities with the most substantial endowments.

“That’s an important message,” he said.

According to Eisgruber’s letter, the University determines what percentage to pay out of the endowment through the Board of Trustees’ decisions, and the policies that govern this determination are reviewed on a regular basis. He wrote that these decisions are based on “intergenerational equity” which focuses on the “highest possible levels of quality and affordability for the current generation” and future generations, as well as planning for budget planning and stability.

From 1979 to 2009 the target range for the spend rate was 4 to 5 percent, but effective July 1, 2015, the Trustees increased it to 6.2 percent, according to Eisgruber’s letter.

“This information will guide our efforts to reform our broken tax code and help ensure our policy decisions serve the best interests of students and families,” Aronson added. “We’ll continue to speak with university officials about the path forward.”

Aronson said there are no other details to announce at this time.

“One of the things that I hope comes through our response and other responses is that universities do use their endowments to support financial aid and also they do use them to support the full range of teaching and research programs,” Durkee said.

Many of the 56 colleges and universities are members of the Association of American Universities.

Barry Toiv, AAU’s vice president for public affairs, said that member universities all intend to respond.

“As for the next steps, we will need to wait to see what the committee does with the responses,” he said..

In March, a proposed bill in Connecticut intended to create a tax for Yale University’s $25.6 billion endowment met a negative reaction from citizens, affiliates of Yale and other lawmakers, according to Durkee. Yale is also one of the 56 universities named in the congressional inquiry.

page 3

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 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.

Opinion

Monday april 4, 2016

page 4

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com }

Trump is not the only extremist Jacquelyn Thorbjornson

contributing columnist

T

he University group Muslim Advocates for Social Justice & Individual Dignity (MASJID) has circulated a petition that calls for the Princeton University Board of Trustees to condemn New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s endorsement of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

I don’t support Trump, either, and I agree with the MASJID when they cite his “abhorrent policies” that degrade and dehumanize members of certain groups – groups to which many of my closest friends on this campus belong. A shiver runs down my spine when I envision him in the Oval Office. I don’t support Trump. But I support Chris Christie supporting Trump.

In fact, I support Chris Christie’s support of Trump far more than I support this petition. This petition is not something I can support, not because of incompatible political views, but because it is internally contradictory and is more of a threat to the very values it espouses than the act which it criticizes.

By calling for the Board of Trustees to condemn Christie’s endorsement of Trump, the writers of this petition are asking a governing body with its own mission and objectives to take up the objectives of the petitioners and, more worryingly, take a distinct position in the political arena. If the group is concerned that Christie, an individual member of the Board, took a political stance that does not necessarily align with the beliefs of members of the University community, how can they at the same time call for the entire Board of Trustees to take a political stance on the same issue? If it is simply the concept of Board members assuming political positions that is bothersome to this group, then this petition is completely paradoxical.

I argue, though, that this group’s main criticism is not that a member of the Board announced his political views, but rather the political views themselves. If Christie had endorsed Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton, would we be having this same discussion? I doubt it. This petition is little more than an attack against an individual who holds views that contradict those of a group on campus.

The petition asks the Board to “reaffirm” its “commitment to Princeton University’s values of inclusiveness and diversity,” by calling upon them to publicly condemn someone’s opinion.

The group espouses values of tolerance and acceptance of diverse perspectives, yet simultaneously denounces a view that it doesn’t share.

The crux of the issue, however, is not even the group’s disagreement with Christie’s political view or its letter of denouncement. The issue is that this group believes their opinion to be so absolute that no one should or can disagree – lest they be publicly condemned by the Board of Trustees.

Calling the Board of Trustees to condemn Christie’s endorsement is in itself a form of extremism, insofar as it posits that no University representative should express their opinion unless it aligns completely with the views of the student body.

I further argue that this petition is a form of extremism because it intends to set a precedent for our community that opposing views of persons in positions of power are not only discouraged from being expressed, but condemned by a University body when they are expressed.

This conflict is the antithesis of the very values the petition cites: “A commitment to welcome, support, and engage students, faculty, and staff with a broad range of backgrounds and experiences, and to encourage all members of the University community to learn from the robust expression of diverse perspectives.”

If we as a community are truly committed to creating and maintain an inclusive, tolerant atmosphere, we must be willing to allow ALL others to express themselves completely. Even – and especially – when we disagree.

Jacquelyn Thorbjornson is a freshman from South Thomaston, Maine. She can be reached at jot@ princeton.edu.

EDITORIAL

Improve thesis binding process

T

he last major academic hurdle that many Princeton seniors must clear to graduate is completing their senior thesis. The senior thesis consists of original research and a significant written component and serves as the culminating experience of a student’s time at Princeton. Despite the important nature of the senior thesis, the thesis binding process has significant flaws. The Board recommends that each department implement two changes to improve the thesis submission process: set the deadline for binding of the thesis after the due date of the thesis itself and subsidize the cost of binding for students on financial aid.

As the system currently stands, some departments require seniors to deliver bound copies of their thesis to their department and thesis advisor on their department’s due date. Because of the time it takes for an order to be processed, many students must actually finish writing their thesis at least two days ahead of time, creating an earlier de facto thesis deadline. Not only does this add stress at a crucial point in a student’s career, but it may well detract from the finished product.

Instead of focusing on revising and editing, a senior’s focus is on the banal intricacies of getting their thesis bound before the deadline.

We recognize the importance of some departmental preferences for ultimately receiving a more durable bound copy and of the practicality of submitting a printed copy on the deadline itself. Advisors are under time constraints to return each thesis and many prefer to read a hard copy. The Board

vol. cxl

proposes that these departments resolve these competing concerns through a simple solution: require seniors to turn in their printed theses on the due date, but in a lessformal binder of some sort. At a later time, to be determined by each department in the same way as the deadlines themselves, bound copies should be due. This saves each advisor the hassle of reading the thesis electronically or printing it out and does not cost seniors multiple days of valuable thesis revision.

Additionally, the Board is concerned by the lack of funding available for thesis binding. Two bound copies of a thesis can cost around $100, which may be a financial barrier for some students. Especially considering the general availability of funds for thesis research, we strongly encourage the University to subsidize the cost of thesis binding for students with a demonstrated need. Again, this would reduce seniors’ stress at this key time and allow them to focus on their theses instead of worrying about how to pay for binding.

The rigorous nature and length of the senior thesis sets the Princeton undergraduate experience apart. But, even given its central role, the senior thesis process still has flaws that create unnecessary stress. By extending the due date for bound copies of theses and providing funds to cover the cost of binding these copies, the University can improve this culminating experience.

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.

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

slumping towards spring

treasurer Michael E. Seger ’71

Valerie Wilson ’18 ..................................................

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

NIGHT STAFF 4.3.16 staff copy editors Samuel Garfinkle ’19

I

On cognitive dissonance

’m pretty sure libertarians are wrong. Neo-cons too – in fact, I find neoconservative foreign policy downright immoral. The religious right would be better called the religious wrong, reform conservatives are rearranging the deck chairs on the Hindenburg and don’t get me started about the Trump Nation. But I’m an equalopportunity naysayer – on “my side of the aisle,” the technocratic and neo-liberal left perpetuates inequality and runs roughshod over civil liberties, social justice movements often run disturbingly authoritarian and depressingly sectarian and the scientific illiteracy of the anti-vax and anti-GMO left literally pains me. Everyone’s wrong somehow.

Yes, those characterizations are broad strokes. But I’m not here to argue for or against any particular political or moral philosophy. I probably wouldn’t convince you anyway – I’m a chemistry major, so what do I know? And if I took 800 words to argue against a specific part of a specific worldview held by a specific person – perhaps even your most dearly treasured belief, dear reader – I could indubitably poke a hole in it. Perhaps you’d learn something – perhaps we both would. Because when I mean “everyone’s wrong somehow,” I’m not too confident to include myself in that unhappy count.

If I’ve learned anything in the past four years, it’s that the only way you can learn is to consider the possibility that you’re wrong. And that’s why I was so disturbed when I read a Wall Street Journal column last week accusing academic search committees of changing the search criteria to prevent conservative faculty candidates from being selected, or of explicitly refusing

Bennett McIntosh columnist

to consider libertarian candidates. The statistics on academic political leanings are unsurprising in their tilt, if not their magnitude: Just 12% of all faculty, and a mere 5% of humanities and social sciences faculty, identify as right-of-center.

It’s worse in specific disciplines – by one estimate, 0.03% (yes, you read that right) of social psychologists are right-of-center.

Statistics alone don’t say much. It’s certain that academics are a self-selecting bunch, and a liberal might be far more likely than a conservative to pursue the academic study of social psychology.

But the cycle feeds on itself, and if conservatives feel alienated from academia, then academia will inevitably become even more ideologically homogenous, even as colleges make admirable efforts to expand diversity by other metrics.

And if the accusations of intentional ideological discrimination are true in even one case, then this is even worse – colleges are intentionally denying themselves the opportunity to learn.

When writing a paper about the ethics of genetic modification last semester, I met up for coffee with professor Robert George, who you might describe as Princeton’s token conservative professor. This is the same Robert George who in ’92 advised and in ’16 endorsed one Ted Cruz, and yes, I’m as opposed as any other good liberal to the specter of a Cruz presidency. But discussing ethics and biotechnology and religion with him made me see the world in a way I hadn’t before and made me consider different approaches to answering the great moral questions of our time.

But here’s the thing. If, before and after our conversation, you asked my views on genetic modification, or abortion, or really just about anything except the quality of Prof. George’s humor (excellent, by the way), you would have found that I had changed exactly zero of my positions.

None. But because I had the chance to figuratively hold a foreign philosophy in my head – take it for a spin, see how its logic works – I became a better writer, a better thinker and, hopefully, a better person.

The elites and liberals of this country (overlapping, but by no means identical categories) have struggled to understand, account for and react to the rise of Donald Trump. Thinkers from David Brooks to John Oliver have in the past months realized that they fundamentally misunderstood and underestimated (misunderestimated?) the sector of the American public that supports Trump.

And this shows the danger of ideological homogeneity, of close-mindedness.

Maybe if we’re exposed to more alien viewpoints – from professors whose worldviews are shaped by racism or sexism we’ll never know first-hand, but also from professors whose philosophy is based on precepts outside of the prevailing liberal ideology, on logic too-seldom seen first-hand within academia — we’ll spend less time fighting straw men and more time approaching mutual understanding and problem-solving.

Even if we don’t change our minds, we must have the grace and wisdom to at least consider that we are wrong – or else we cannot hope to be correct at all.

Bennett McIntosh is a chemistry major from Littleton, Colo. He can be reached at bam2@ princeton.edu.

The Daily Princetonian

Monday april 4, 2016

page 5

Barowski qualifies for Olympic Trials Men’s Track looks to continue strong showing amid strong Princeton performance M. TRACK Continued from page 6

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

Relays, the men’s team exceeded expectations. Junior Ray Mennin sits atop the headlines with his 400 m personal record of 47:03. The time earned Mennin a tenth place finish in a highly competitive field. Menni then pivoted into the 4x400 m where he, along with senior Daniel McCord, junior Jabari Johnson and sophomore Joshua Freeman, helped Princeton claimed fifteenth overall.

Junior Jared Bell also received attention at the Florida Relays for finishing second in the discus throw. Bell’s first-attempt of 52.26 m was behind only the top throw of 53.5 m.

Jumping back to the west coast, Princeton’s delegation at the Stanford Invitational earned success in the long distance events. On one hand, sophomore Noah Kauppila led the Tigers for the 5k with a time of 14:07. Behind him were freshmen Jeremy Spiezio and Steven Sum. Turning to the 10k, senior Michael

Sublette recorded a personal record of 29:37.

Perhaps the most dominant performance for the Tigers came in Pennsylvania at the Muhlenberg Invitational. In contrast to the weekend’s other competitions, Princeton was the teamto-beat at Muhlenberg. All in all, the Tigers won six of the competition’s events, including several 1-2 finishes.

To begin, freshman Cole Bransford continued the team’s success in the 400 m with a personal record of 49.42. Then junior Brent Alberton won the 100 m with yet another personal record of 10.85. Subsequently, sophomore Spencer Long and junior Greg Leeper came in first and second in the 400 m hurdles.

The combination of junior Bryant Switzer, Albertson and sophomores Mike Seaton and Max Schwegman rounded out the track with a win in the 4x100 m.

Looking ahead, the Tigers will stay at home for three weekends before taking on the highlyanticipated Penn Relays and Ivy League Heptagonal Championships.

Men’s Volleyball seek away wins to close season M.VOLLEYBALL Continued from page 6

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

playoff hopes. The Tigers (3-8) currently rank seventh in the EIVA standings and had to beat St. Francis (64) to claim the fourth place position to qualify for the playoffs. While it seems unlikely, the Tigers will still be looking to end the season on a strong note.

“Obviously that would be the ideal way to finish off our conference play,” Ratter stated. “But even if we fall short at the end of every-

thing, we still want to play well and fight hard to send our seniors off on a season they can be proud of.”

The Tigers will end the season with three road games. Princeton will face three more EIVA opponents, including Ivy rivals, Harvard. “All of the games we have left are against very good teams, and they are all going to be tough battles if we want to come out on top” Ratter said. “The Harvard match is always an exciting rivalry, as they are the only other EIVA opponent who is also in the Ivy League.”

Done reading your ‘Prince’?

Recycle

W. TRACK Continued from page 6

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

later go on to place third, notching a score of 43.46 on her fourth attempt.

These results bode well for the Tigers, who will continue their season at home next Friday and Saturday.

The Princeton squad will be hosting the Sam Howell Invitational, giving the team an opportunity to showcase their abilities in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.

The Tigers will have the chance to race against tough competition including Ivy rivals Harvard, who claimed the top spot in

“While the meet show-

cased high level competition all around, the highlight of the Stanford meet for the Princeton side had to be senior Cecilia Barowski’s Olympic Trial qualifying time in the 800 m. Her time of 2:02.62 saw her lead the field from start to finish.”

the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships. Princeton managed to claim the fourth spot in that competition.

The Tigers will undoubtedly try and replicate and improve upon last year’s showings. Last season the team managed to claim six wins in the second day of competition alone, which included four individual wins and two relay victories.

With the remarkable showing this weekend, fans of Princeton track and field will have plenty to look forward to as the season progresses.

Sports

Monday april 4, 2016

page 6

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } MEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

Princeton track and field divides across country to find success

By David Liu Sports Editor

Over fifty men on Princeton’s track and field team traveled across the nation this weekend.

The competitions included the highly competitive Texas Relays, Florida Relays, Stanford Invitational and Muhlenberg Invitational. Out of these competitions, Princeton emerged with a new set of personal records and experiences for the Heptagonals.

Starting with the prestigious Texas Relays, the star was senior pole vaulter Adam Bragg, who broke Princeton’s outdoor pole vault record with a jump of 5.50 meters. Surrounded by the amazing Texas weather and some of the nation’s top pole vaulters, Bragg placed fourth representing the Orange and Black.

Looking back on the event, the southern California native

explained that he had been anticipating the Texas Relays since the beginning of the season. After putting forth the preparation for the record, Bragg reflected, “I think it gave me more insight. I am very confident in my progression so far. I am very comfortable and positive. It reassured me that I am doing things right.”

Generalizing to the wider track and field population, Bragg explained that Princeton’s coaches strategized the busy weekend schedule to increase team experience. Bragg explained, “I think the coaching staff took this weekend to go and look for the best places to put up the best performances, to seek the areas where we’re going to have the highest levels of competition.

Everybody performed as well as we could hope for.”

Turning to the more heavily Princeton-represented Florida See M. TRACK page 5

JACK MAZZULO :: SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Multiple athletes had new PR’s this weekend including Adam Bragg, who broke the Princeton pole vault record.

WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

Tigers compete in Stanford and Muhlenberg Invitationals

By David Xin Associate Sports Editor

COURTESY OF PRNCETON ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS

Tigers had strong showings at Stanford and Muhlenberg Invitationals.

This Friday and Saturday, the women’s track and field team participated in the Stanford and Muhlenberg Invitationals. The Princeton squad continued its strong performance, showing a seamless transition from the indoor season.

While the meet showcased high level competition all around, the highlight of the Stanford meet for the Princeton side had to be senior Cecilia Barowski’s Olympic Trial qualifying time in the 800 m. Her time of 2:02.62 saw her lead the field from start to finish. In addition to securing

a spot for July, the time also set a new Princeton and Ivy League record. Indeed, no other runner had beaten the 2:03 barrier before.

This has certainly been a project long in the works for Barowski, who has made qualifying for the Olympic Trials her goal even before the season began. After finishing sixth at the NCAA championships with a time of 2:06.81, Barowski accomplished that goal with gusto.

Other notable performances from the invitational include senior Emily de la Bruyere’s win in the women’s 5000 m Friday night. After holding steady in the pack for the first half of the

race, de la Bruyere picked up the pace to claim first place with a time of 16:04.19.

In addition to the Stanford Invitational, Princeton was also represented in the Muhlenberg Invitation in Allentown, Pa. Here the Orange and Black also enjoyed strong performances from many members, showcasing the depths of the Princeton squad.

Junior Ariel Becker took third place in the javelin throw with a mark of 37.74.

Sophomore Kennedy O’Dell added to the Princeton tally by placing in two of her three events. O’Dell took second in the shot put with a throw of 12.13 and would See W. TRACK page 5

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Men’s Volleyball falls to EIVA conference rivals Penn State and St. Francis to conclude home play

By David Xin Associate Sports Editor

This Friday and Saturday, the men’s volleyball team hosted conference rivals Penn State and St. Francis.

The back-to-back match ups marked the last two home games of the season for the Tigers as they sought to break their recent losing streak. Despite notable performances and a strong effort from the Orange and Black, the Princeton squad fell to both their opponents, losing 1-3 to the Nittany Lions and 2-3 against the St. Francis Red Flash.

Princeton opened this week’s competition with a match against nationally ranked Penn State. While the challenge seemed daunting, the Tigers’ enthusiasm wasn’t dampened. After losing the first set, 25-23, the Tigers bounced back in the second set. Led by sophomore outside hitter Kendall Ratter, who recorded a ca-

reer-high 23 kills, Princeton claimed the second set, 25-21.

Despite the Tiger comeback in the second set, the Lions showed their composure and experience by taking the next two sets, 25-17 and 25-19.

While it certainly was not the result the Tigers were hoping for, the Princeton effort showcased many of the squad’s strengths. “I think that our team played really solid defense and brought a lot of pressure from the service line,” Ratter said.

“We talked before the match about how, if we can slow down their offense with some digs, it will take the wind out of their sails for the rest of the match.”

More importantly, the team wasn’t discouraged by the loss and continued to remain optimistic. “The team is very much energized by the way we played in last night’s match, and we are definitely looking to play out the remaining matches

Tweet of the Day “If anything is possible, is it possible for something to be impossible?”

AJ Glass (@ AJ_glass), Running back, Football

with a lot of intensity and fire,” Ratter said.

The Tigers continued the campaign the next day with a game against St. Francis.

Again, the Princeton side seemed to get off to a slow start. St. Francis seemed to have iced the game after winning both of the first two sets with a score of 25-22.

However, this did not appear to affect Princeton’s game ,as the Tigers returned the favor by winning two sets of their own and forcing a fifth set.

Yet the Tigers fell just short of a fairytale comeback to close their last game. Despite a career-high 17 kills from sophomore middle blocker Mike Fuerst and a combined 25 kills from senior outside hitters Devin Stearns and Zach Shaw, St. Francis claimed the final set and the win with a 15-11 victory.

These losses have put a major dent in Princeton’s See M. VOLLEYBALL page 5

KIRA IVARRSON :: STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Tigers will look to end the season on a high note after losses this weekend.

Stat of the Day

2:02.62 Cecilia Barowski’s 800 m time qualified her for Olympic Trials and set a new Ivy League record.

Follow us Check us out on Twitter on @princesports for live news and reports, and on Instagram on @ princetoniansports for photos!