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Thursday December 12, 2019 vol. CXLIII no. 121
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ON CAMPUS
Q&A with political activist Ralph Nader ‘55 By Sam Kagan Contributor
SAM KAGAN / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
Ralph Nader ’55 signs books in Whig Hall.
U . A F FA I R S
On Wednesday, Dec. 11, former presidential candidate and lifelong activist Ralph Nader ’55 addressed assembled members of the University community in the Whig Senate Chamber. Rising to prominence after authoring “Unsafe at Any Speed” — a highly influential text in promoting regulation of the automotive industry — Nader’s later work influenced the passage of various laws, such as the Freedom of Information Act, and reform within the Federal Trade Commission. Nader sat down with The Daily Princetonian to answer questions about his unique political ideology, the University in the 1950s, and the modern political landscape. This conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity. The Daily Princetonian: Just to start things off very easily, what sorts of things were you
involved in when you were on campus? Ralph Nader ‘55: When I was on campus [during my undergraduate years]? DP: Yes, then. RN: I learned about conformity. I learned about uniforms that people chose to wear. Full khaki pants and white buck shoes. It was a time of great conformity. And, of course, it was a time of partying at the clubs. But in between, there was a lot of serious study going on. There wasn’t much citizen action. It was before the civil rights movement, before any of the movements in the ’60s, and there was a lot of poverty in Princeton. There was an area segregated with African Americans in the back of … [the Nassau Inn]. The one thing good about it was they let you do what you wanted to do. Sure, you had the precept system. That’s one of the reasons I came here. But they had an open stack See Q&A page 2
ON CAMPUS
Future of African studies program driven by student engagement Contributor and associate news editor
Seven of the eight Ivy League institutions boast robust African Studies departments, in which undergraduate students can major. Within the Orange Bubble, such a department does not yet exist, but students and faculty are seeking to rectify this disparity. Founded in 1975, the University’s Program in African Studies (AFS) is a subsidiary certificate program supported by the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies (PIIRS). Currently offering over 20 courses with tracks in the languages of Twi and Swahili, the program is relatively small compared to its geographic counterparts — the East Asian, Latin American,
and Near Eastern Studies programs. Unlike peer institutions such as Yale and Harvard, the University’s AFS program is not a full department, and students may only pursue a certificate. Since its creation, the program has never had its own endowment and relies solely on funding provided by PIIRS. Not all international studies programs depend so fully upon PIIRS, although Emmanuel Kreike, a history professor and the acting AFS director, explained that such a structure was the program’s original goal. “Twenty years ago, the idea was that all programs in international studies would be under PIIRS,” Kreike said. Kreike claimed that this arrangement is no longer the case for many See AFRICAN page 3
SAM KAGAN / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
Ralph Nader ‘55 laments corporalization of civic life, citizen apathy By Sam Kagan Contributor
IN TOWN
Synthetic ice skating rink opens for winter in Palmer Square By Caitlin Limestahl Contributor
This winter, for the first time, Palmer Square’s festive holiday decor brings a new activity to town residents and students alike: an outdoor ice-skating rink. The Glice rink is located on Hulfish Street, directly behind Nassau Inn. The rink opened on Nov. 30 and will be open Thursdays through Sundays until the end of February 2020. Glice is a manufacturer
In Opinion
of synthetic ice — a scientific solution to the environmentally harmful effects of maintaining a rink with “real” ice. The company’s synthetic ice is made from self-lubricating polymers that imitate the glide of real ice without as many shavings. Most forms of synthetic ice are considered environmentally friendly because they reduce the amount of water and electricity needSee ICE RINK page 3
Guest contributor Gabriel Duguay explains the need for and development of the Indigeneity at Princeton Task Force and Guest contributor Stav Bejenaro outlines a plan to revitalize Charter as a co-opt. PAGE 4
Former Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader ’55 addressed roughly 70 people in the Whig Senate Chamber on Wednesday, Dec. 11, at an event hosted by the American Whig-Cliosophic Society, touching on matters of citizen activism, political power, and his time at the University during an hourlong talk. Nader, a longtime activist whose work inf luenced the passage of legislation such as the Freedom of Information Act and the Consumer Product Safety Act, sounded alarm bells about the state of modern American life in his speech. “You should know this is the smallest audience I’ve ever addressed at Princeton,” he said, “which indicates something which we can talk about during the
questions period, discussion period.” Nader went on to lament the state of activism and civic engagement on modern college campuses. Wearing a red pin that read “Axe the Max,” in reference to Nader’s campaign to stop f lying the Boeing 737 Max, the consumer advocate reprobated his college years and corporate control of America. “Corporate violence is by far the greatest preventative violence in this country,” Nader said. “I went to a high-priced trade school called Harvard Law School. They ought to have a curriculum called ‘Harvard Lawless School,’ because lawlessness is institutionalized by the rich and powerful. If they don’t write the laws to exonerate them and exempt them from criminal behavior, they have corporate lawyers who know how to get them
Today on Campus
5:00 p.m.: Fall 2019 End of Semester Showings in Dance A series of performances by students in fall 2019 dance courses, at various locations in the Lewis Arts complex. WALLACE THEATRE
free from criminal prosecution.” Later, Nader considered the role of students, encouraging young people to engage with philosophical dilemmas as he criticized the work of Jeff Bezos ’86. “If you like what you hear, or it challenges you, and you don’t read the materials that are there, whether they’re free or they’re from Labyrinth — an independent bookstore you want to support — protect it from the Amazons, usurper of mainstreet and small businesses — you’re not serious,” Nader said. “I’m not here to f latter you or to regale you, I’m here to say you’re needed.” According to the Woodrow Wilson School (WWS) concentrator, students at elite institutions too easily allow themselves to move into and work for an unSee NADER page 3
WEATHER
By Walker Stamps and Linh Nguyen
HIGH
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Mostly Sunny chance of rain:
50 percent
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Nader: Use of the word ‘spoiler’ allows losing party to scapegoat Q&A
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in Firestone. So you walked in, and sometimes I’d work all night after they closed down in the stacks. It was a wonderful atmosphere. The worst thing is that they smoked everywhere. You’d walk into class, and they’d be smoking. You go into exams, and they’d be smoking. And nobody dared say, ‘Don’t smoke,’ because at least half of the student body smoked. Of course it was all male at that time. The relations with females were not very healthy. It was typical male chauvinism. The food was atrocious. Absurd stuff that we called “the green death,” and veal and pork with rainbow colors. It wasn’t a healthy diet. And what will surprise you the most is when we went to Holder Hall — is that where they have the cafeteria still? DP: We have dining halls at a bunch of different places on campus. RN: Do you still have a Holder, then? DP: There is still a Holder Hall, yeah. RN: At Holder, we had this — you can’t believe this ritual. Part of it was joking, but we’d be all eating, we’re all male, and suddenly one of the classmates would bring a date in and everybody, almost everybody, not me, they would take their big spoon and go like this [imitates hitting spoon against edge of table]. It would be a crescendo of noise for about 40 seconds. And then they’d go back to eat. This poor co-ed would be coming in, sometimes they’d be forewarned, but other times it was a total shock. It was like a military ritual. I don’t know when they ended it. And then we had this Cane Spree, where the freshman class went down the Blair Hall steps and collided with the class before. So ’55 collided ’54. ’54 was known to be a very rough class. People got injured. Actually, there was a fatality back sometime in the ’20s and ’30s. I suppose they abolished it when Princeton became co-ed. So that’s a little bit of the flavor. … So that’s, you know, a thumbnail sketch. And obviously, things have improved a lot since, especially with the smoking. DP: Yeah, I’m very glad we aren’t smoking everywhere. RN: Can you imagine students today walking around like that? DP: Not at all. I have a question regarding your experiences at Princeton. Notably, I’m wondering if there’s anything that happened to you here — a class that you took, a professor with whom you interacted — that you feel substantively impacted your politics later in life? RN: I had the practice of auditing as many classes as I took for credit. So I audited this great class by H. H. Wilson, a professor of politics, who took a long time to become full professor for one reason: he actually taught politics and power. That may seem strange to you today, but it was all taught in terms of political theory — John Locke, Montesquieu, and congressional structures. The fact that he dared to connect politics with power, imag-
ine how quaint that is today, rendered him a subject of ostracism. He took a long time to go from assistant [professor] to associate [professor], even though he published, he had great student numbers in the class, he had visiting people, you know, giving lectures and demonstrations of corporate crime. That was important. H. H. Wilson, you can look him up. DP: Moving more toward modern politics, you wrote an op-ed not too long ago advocating that Democrats “throw the kitchen sink” at articles of impeachment. Now we have Articles of Impeachment out. What do you think of the release by House Democrats? RN: It was a minimalist approach that Nancy Pelosi took with two articles, one being, as you know, the Ukraine and the other being obstruction, which wasn’t total obstruction of other committees apart from Ukraine; it was focused heavily on Ukraine. She left a little door open for maybe bringing in some of the Mueller report. This was a serious tactical mistake. She did it because she wanted to protect her 12 so-called moderates who won in Trump districts and which meant giving her the Speaker’s job. She’s a very cautious Speaker. ... DP: If I may move into a different part of our modern politics. You also advocated for an Elizabeth Warren/Bernie Sanders dream ticket, and you said that you thought the two of them together would be the Democrats’ best chance at 2020. That was in June. We’ve had five months for the primary process to progress. I’m wondering if you have a preference between the two of them now, and if I might be able to pin down who you support in the 2020 race. RN: It’s who wins the primary. If Elizabeth wins the primary, obviously. And if Sanders wins the primary, obviously. Probably I think that there’s a problem with age, unfortunately. And he’s older and he’s had this heart problem. I think he’s more grounded, and I think he can actually handle Trump, probably better. Although she gets under the skin very well. They’re both good that way. I think either way, whichever one is president [or] vice president, I think it’s the strongest ticket. These people came out of working class backgrounds, right? They’ve seen it and they’ve felt it, and they’ve gone through life’s travails. DP: Gotcha. So I can’t pin you down on a preference between Warren or Sanders. RN: Well, it isn’t a preference. I like them both. It’s basically whoever wins the primary. DP: Pushing further in that regard, I’d like to turn to the reason I imagine you’re most notable in American households, that being your 2000 run for president. I have read up on that, I recognize that there exists a public perception of you as a spoiler and that you don’t prefer that title. I’m wondering more what it’s like to be perceived in that light. How does people thinking that of you affect the way that you sort of move through the political system? RN: It’s a word of political
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bigotry. First of all, it’s only applied to third party candidates, right? Republicans and Democrats don’t call each other spoilers. So it’s a word that is politically discriminatory and, by the way, all third party candidates are viewed as spoilers throughout history. It’s lucky we had some of these so-called spoilers with the Liberty Party in 1840 against slavery and the women’s rights and the labor and the farmers and without them, all these issues wouldn’t have gone front and center in the electoral arena before they were adopted by one or two of the major socalled parties. … If you have an equal right to run for election, you’re all trying to get votes from one another, so you’re either all spoilers to one another or nobody’s a spoiler, we have an equal right to run for election. But use of the word spoiler allows the losing major party to scapegoat instead of looking at themselves in the mirror. … DP: You have unconventional views on American politics. You call yourself a moral empiricist, yes? RN: A moral empiricist? Yeah. DP: I’m wondering, if granted the opportunity to sort of remake the American political system in your image, how you would go about doing that? What is wrong, and what would you do to fix it? RN: Well, first of all … number one priority in politics is shift the power, the few have too much power over the many, it’s becoming entrenched in something called the mature corporate state. That means Wall Street over Washington, turning the government to their benefit against the benefit and rights of the populace. That’s one thing that even the most progressive candidates don’t talk about. I emphasize that on my campaigns — shifting the power requires funda-
mental thinking about what it means. Obviously, some of the easy ones are public financing of campaigns, getting rid of gerrymandering, clearing the deck to obstruction to voting, voter suppression, ballot access restrictions, all that. But also there’s another dimension that almost is never talked about, which is controlling what we already own as a commons. Do you know that? Do you know about that? DP: I’m sure you know much better. RN: This is part of our common failure of all generations’ education. The secret is that the greatest wealth in this country is owned by the people. Now usually you say 1 percent, Wall Street. That’s true of a certain layer of private wealth, right, the 1 percent you know, have property and 40 percent of property values and all that. Now the people own the public land, they own the public airwaves. They own trillions of dollars of research and development from Washington. They built all the major industries: aerospace, biotech, nanotech, the computer industry, the internet, pharmaceuticals, on and on. ... DP: What if anything you think the average Princeton student is obligated to do in pursuit of the better world that you envision? RN: Well, they should do what we didn’t. And that is to cease becoming fact-deprived about the concentration of power in this country, who holds the reins, and all the various ways that they control people. … Your generation is the first generation in history that is entwined by more contracts than all young generations in the past. You can’t even list all the fine print contracts you’re entrapped by, okay? Never mind your credit card, your debit card, on and on. What Princeton students have got to
do, and I’m not up with your curriculum, but I would guess that you don’t really have many courses on corporate crime, and I would guess you don’t have many courses on Howard Zinn-type of historical accuracy. … That’s my major plea. My major plea is … that the students have got to read outside their courses. The courses, even though they don’t admit it, are very heavily vocational or obedience to myths, they’re obedience to myths. There are some exceptions, you know, obviously, in your teachers and so on, but by and large, economics is taught in a pathetic way here. Pathetic. … DP: Now I have my final question for you. We’ve talked about a lot of very serious stuff, and I wanted to end on something fun. You mentioned there was a lot of partying going on back in your day — do you have any fun stories from Prospect Avenue that you’d like to share? RN: I didn’t like it. I didn’t like the chauvinism. DP: Do you have any other general fun stories from Princeton that you’d like to share? RN: Oh yeah, we played chess and we had these long sessions sometimes [in Whig Hall] talking politics. I remember Nixon … you know, he put his dog on TV. I remember, some of the students came back and said I just saw Nixon, his speech which saved his career by the way, and one of them said “I’m feeling very nauseous.” I still remember saying that here. And we played touch football. You know, yeah, we took bike rides and hike rides outside of Princeton. We did some charity work in Trenton. DP: Thank you so much for the opportunity to interview you, it’s been an absolute pleasure. Best of luck in your talk. RN: Thank you, this was an excellent interview.
Thursday December 12, 2019
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The department currently offers 20 courses with tracks in Twi and Swahili AFRICAN Continued from page 1
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programs because they started independently or gained enough support to operate independently of PIIRS. The program in African Studies has not. The AFS program was also slower than other international studies programs in offering travel abroad opportunities. According to Kreike, the first opportunities abroad for the AFS program were offered in the 1990s, while other PIIRS programs began offering study abroad even before the AFS program began. In spite of these difficulties, the program has seen significant student-driven and faculty-supported progress towards publicity and exposure. For many years, African Studies has co-sponsored Sankofa, an African fashion show. In April, a team of ambitious students organized the Africa Summit, a two-day conference attracting speakers from the continent and hosting workshops, lectures, and events. A recent survey of 1,600 randomly-selected students conducted by the Summit’s organizers found that “there is a high level of interest” in Africa on campus. According to Bunmi Otegbade GS ’19, a Woodrow Wilson School graduate and co-organizer of the Africa Summit, the event was a way to bring increased attention to Af-
rica and to pool together various resources into one conference. “We wanted to simultaneously amplify the message that Africa is an important region for academic work and scholarly research and professional opportunity,” Otegbade said. The summit attracted over 200 attendees and hosted 17 invited speakers. Kreike credits the Africa Summit with raising awareness for the AFS program. “The Africa Summit was fundamental to the successes the program is currently experiencing,” Kreike remarked. “Being able to get a statesman, the President of Ghana, to come speak on campus is monumental.” The summit’s efforts to bring in African leaders resulted in Ghanaian president Nana Akufo-Addo coming to campus in September, at an event attended by over 600 attendees. According to Bunmi and Blessing Jegede ’21, another Africa Summit co-organizer, the event brought even more credibility and visibility to African Studies on campus. “It was basically the biggest event the program has had in a long time,” Jegede said. In addition to student-led events, the AFS program is supporting student research, allowing students to travel to Africa, maintaining its lecture series, and offering classes in Swahili and Twi — all of which comprise its core goals.
According to Kreike, classes in Swahili and Twi are unique, because they are taught by professional language lecturers trained to teach their respective languages — an uncommon feature of programs in African languages. The program is also modernizing and consolidating the myriad of African-related opportunities and courses available on campus. It has contracted Otegbade to create a new website, similar to those offered by peer institutions, which can list all opportunities to engage with African studies and activities at Princeton. With future plans to offer innovative faculty-led semesters abroad, Kreike hopes the program will grow substantially. “My experience is that students vote with their feet,” Kreike said. “There has been tremendous bottom-up support that is helping the program.” Mouhamed Ndiaye ’22, a member of the African Students Association who has taken three classes in the AFS program since starting at the University, remarked that the program focuses on students’ needs and wants and affords him the chance to engage in increasingly relevant topics in global affairs. “I know from experience that the program is very student-centered, in that if enough student voices gather around a cause or an event or a course, it will soon become reality,”
LYNH NGUYEN / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo talks as Professor Emmanuel Kreike looks on. Ndiaye said. “At the same time, the searched topics, such as gender and program is keen on communica- sexuality in Africa. Additionally, tion between [the] administration Otegbade believes future iterations and students, as demonstrated by of the Africa Summit would benefit the new initiative, ‘Fridays for Af- from alumni and donor support. rica,’ which are a series of lunches “We hope to bring on more and between Africa-focused student more people and connect with the groups and initiatives to dialogue alumni,” Otegbade said. with the AFS program.” Although the student organizers “In addition to being intellectu- find the speed of progress frustratally stimulating, [the program] of- ing at times, Jegede expressed her fers unique opportunities to delve own drive to push for long-lasting into topics that I feel are important change. in our global society,” Ndiaye added. “What I want to do is make sure In the near future, there will be an I leave Princeton different than beincreasing number of African stud- fore I came here,” Jegede said. “It ies classes and events in under-re- matters. More can be done.”
Chiu: I paid 13 dollars to hang onto a wall ICE RINK Continued from page 1
CAITLIN LIMESTAHL / DAILY PRINCETONIAN
Nader noted the crowd size was quite small NADER
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scrupulous world of business. A recent investigation by The Daily Princetonian found that a higher percentage of WWS students enter finance and consulting after graduation than all but three other A.B. majors. “The problem with people today at ... the best law schools is that they do not have an adequate estimate of their own significance of life,” Nader remarked. “They’re willing to sell their talents for lucrative compensation and represent corporate [interests], become cogs in the corporate, military-industrial, pharmaceutical, health machine. And that’s where most of your graduates go. They’re going into the corporate world. The corporate world has turned our
democracy into grotesque, inverted, totalitarianism.” Kris Hristov ’21, a Wilson School concentrator himself, found Nader to be engaging and thoughtprovoking. “I thought it was fantastic, personally,” Hristov said. “Obviously the rhetoric was a little stronger than what most people were expecting. But the fact that he engaged with civic virtue ... [and] talked about the blatant problems was very good.” Hristov is a staff writer with The Daily Princetonian. After the talk, Nader sold books and handed out a collection of his writings. Among the papers were a list of “The Concord Principles,” “25 Ways the Canadian Health Care System is Better than Obamacare,” “Land of the Lawless,” and “An Open Letter to Harvard Law Students.” The latter two pieces were
packed together with a title page that read, “Please read these articles before the Harvard Law School curriculum culture envelops you. Thank you. — Ralph Nader.” Whig-Clio president Grace Collins ’21 noted that the Society’s decision to host Nader, with support from the Projects Board of the Undergraduate Student Government and the Program in American Studies, was a consequence of his unique message and emphasis on individual activism. “He’s a very participatory-focused person ... I think he’s not only an engaging speaker, but he talks about engagement, he brought information for us,” Collins said. “I feel like we talk some about the free speech issue, we talk about censorship ... but we don’t talk about ... the bigger problem, which is that people, for the most part, choose not to engage with things at all,” Collins said. “It’s not that they’re silent — it’s that they’re apathetic, or they choose not to be informed.”
ed to keep a traditional ice rink running. “Princeton’s merchants have really stepped it up this year,” said Mayor Liz Lempert in an email to The Daily Princetonian. “The downtown is looking especially magical with the holiday lights and decorations and the ice skating rink on Hulfish. The outdoor rink is a first for Princeton and a wonderful addition to the town.” “There are a growing number of great places to shop and dine, and we’re all hoping that the local merchants will have a great season and that everyone coming to town — residents and visitors alike — will have a fantastic, memorable experience,” she added. Some University students have noted that the synthetic ice results in a noticeably different skat-
ing experience as compared to traditional rinks. “The Glice was so bad,” said Isabella Pu ’23. “It’s just not as slick. You really can’t glide on it. I feel like if you’re bad at skating, the ice is more conducive to having a good time because it’s harder to lose your balance, but then again, it’s harder to actually skate.” “The rink is really small, though, so even if they did have real ice, it would be hard to actually skate,” Pu added. “I don’t even know how it’s more eco-friendly. How is plastic more ecofriendly than ice?” Her opinion was echoed by novice ice skater Darren Chiu ’23, who skated for the first time in Palmer Square last weekend. “It wasn’t as great as I expected,” said Chiu. “I paid 13 dollars to hang onto a wall.” The cost is $10 in cash or $12 with a card to skate at Palmer Square, and rental skates are also available.
Oop s, sorly, Dos theeS butherr u?
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U. graduate student discovers method to detect developmental disorders in embryos By Allie Mangel Contributor
University researchers proposed a new tool for researching cell signaling and regulation in developing embryos in a study published on Dec. 3 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Aleena Patel, a chemical and biological engineering graduate student, was the paper’s first author. In an experiment co-led by University professors Stanislav Shvartsman GS ’99 and Rebecca Burdine, Patel discovered a way to harness the power of cancer-related mutations to amplify the activation of light-sensitive enzymes during embryonic development. This technique could allow scientists to more precisely understand developmental regulation and its associated defects. Embryonic growth is controlled by a network of highly regulated interactions between proteins. These interactions dictate which parts of an embryo will develop into which structures in the adult organism. The exact process by which this communication occurs is a central object of study in current molecular biology research. “We, as developmental
biologists, are interested in understanding how something that is as simple as a single cell can, in a relatively short amount of time, become something as complicated as a fully developed organism,” Patel explained. The researchers chose to study one piece of this network that is common to almost all organisms: the extracellular receptor kinase (ERK) pathway. If protein interactions do not occur in the right pattern during development, the ERK pathway can cause mutations throughout the embryo that are associated with a whole class of developmental defects. “There’s a lot of work we’re doing to try to understand where these mutations are coming from,” Patel said. To study the role of the ERK pathway during development, the researchers used light to activate an enzyme unique to this pathway at different times and for different time intervals. This light-activation technique has been used in other studies and produced significant results, but Patel encountered a problem when applying it to the zebrafish embryo: the activation effect was not strong enough to study. Patel’s novel response to this issue was to use mu-
tated forms of this enzyme that can cause very prominent effects, even cancer, in zebrafish. These mutations made the light-sensitive molecule more powerful and its light-based activation more effective. “You can think of it in two ways,” Patel clarified. “You can think of it as ‘We used the cancer mutation to optimize this tool’ … or you can think of it as ‘We used a new technology to harness the effects of a very misbehaved molecule.’” Patel’s method was successful not only in zebrafish, but in fruit flies as well. This suggests that the technique can be applied to study both invertebrate and vertebrate systems. According to Burdine, using mutations to control light-sensitive enzyme activity is “a new concept” in the field of developmental biology. Patel’s technique will allow scientists to map ERK pathway signals and their effects during early and late stages of development, even down to the minute. This mapping may provide significant insight into the causes of developmental diseases and defects. “We can think of everything that’s happening in embryogenesis as a domino effect,” Patel described. “Having the ability to tip
ZACH GOLDFARB :: PRINCETONIAN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Alenna Patel, a graduate student in the chemical and biological engineering department, was the first author of this paper.
those dominoes with light gives us much better, precise control over this whole entire network.” Patel emphasized that two undergraduates, Andrew Wu ’21 and Sarah McGuire ’18, worked in the lab as well, the latter using the research for her senior thesis. She also praised the experiment as “a nice example of collaboration between departments” that is possible at Princeton, as it drew researchers and resources
from both molecular biology and chemical engineering. In fact, although the study is a contribution to developmental biology, Patel admitted that this was not her original field of study. “I feel like I’ve done important things in developmental biology, even though I knew very little about it when I first came,” she remarked. “It’s nice to know that you can start at humble beginnings.”
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USG releases climate progress report by Sustainability Task Force By Marie-Rose Sheinerman Assistant News Editor
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“Choosing a plant-based diet or following a more plant-based diet will dramatically lower water use, land use, antibiotic use, carbon emissions, deforestation, and fossil fuel use,” he wrote. “It is something everyone has a choice about at every meal. It can be a very impactful change that does not need to cost any extra.” The report comes on the heels of a proposed USG referendum that would establish a standing sustainability committee. Claire Wayner ’22, a co-author of the report and a Sustainability Task Force member, said she views getting the referendum on the ballot as the Sustainability Task Force’s single greatest accomplishment. “I’m pretty hopeful and confident that we will permanently modify the USG constitution to include a standing sustainability committee,” she said. “This shows that sustainability is as important to the student body as academics and student life … [and] ensures that a sustainability chair will be included in conversations about planning events and other initiatives.” Wayner, a columnist for The Daily Princetonian, published a column earlier this week advocating for a student “utilities” bill to discourage wasteful energy consumption. The aim of the report is to share information discussed at the Princeton Student Climate Forum, held on campus in October 2019 and hosted by the Princeton Student Climate Initiative (PSCI), with the student body. In April 2019, PSCI passed a USG referendum with 95 percent voter approval, which called the University to undertake “swifter climate action.” The report was compiled by Wayner and Amy Torres ’22 in collaboration with PSCI, USG, the Office of Sustainability, and the University’s Engineering and Campus Energy department. The report found that since 1990, the University’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have seen a 43 percent increase, due to the growing campus and student population size. Of these reported emissions, 67.9 percent comes from the energy plant’s burning of natural gas and heating oil, 1 percent from University transit vehicles (e.g. Tiger Transit
buses), and 31 percent from electricity purchased from the local electric grid. Currently, the University only tracks its Scope I and II GHG emissions, but the USG task force is actively working with the Office of Sustainability to begin tracking Scope III emissions as well. The report enumerated the University’s emissions reduction goals. In 2008, the University adopted plans to reduce emission levels to their 1990 level by 2020. Ted Borer, the director of the University’s energy plant and one of the report’s contributors, wrote in an email to The Daily Princetonian he believes that though the University can meet this goal, it will “take a lot of work.” “It will be a challenge, especially if we have an extremely cold winter or [an] extremely hot summer,” he explained. “For the past decade, we have been able to achieve a generally decreasing carbon footprint each year, even as the campus grew substantially. But the past two winters have included some unusually cold periods in which we had to burn a lot more fuel. This resulted in higher emissions than the previous winters.” In 2017, the CO2 Task Force, a group of faculty and administrators, established an additional goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2046. Thus far, the University has invested $40.1 million toward building efficiency upgrades, including retrofitting over 102,000 lighting fixtures to LEDs, which cost $15.1 million and now saves 6080 megatons (Mt) of CO2 per year. The energy plant has also gone through an additional round of efficiency upgrades, which save 7160 Mt of CO2 per year, at a capital cost of $4.1 million. Lastly, the University has a 27 acre solar field, resulting in 3100 Mt of CO2 saved per year. The field provides up to five percent of the University’s total electricity demands. In working towards 2046 carbon neutrality, the University aims to emphasize “reducing fossil fuel consumption in favor of renewable energy.” Projects currently being started or planned in coming years include converting all buildings to a hot water heating system coupled with geothermal storage and electric heat pumps, installing an additional 13 MW of solar panels, investing $50
million over the next 10 years into more efficient heating/cooling systems in buildings, and purchasing off-campus renewable energy through the electric grid. The final part of the report focused on what students can do to contribute to “reducing our campus energy usage.” Recommendations included turning off the lights in spaces not in use, closing dorm windows when heating or air conditioning is on, unplugging chargers and personal appliances, washing clothing with cold water, air-drying clothing when possible, and reducing the number of appliances used (e.g. reconsidering whether a dorm room needs a mini-fridge). The report also recommended setting rooms with thermostats to the “Tiger Zone,” which is 68°F in winter and 78°F in summer. Wayner said the most important of these recommendations are those that relate to heating and cooling of spaces, because “that is the largest energy consumption [source] by far, as opposed to something like leaving an iPhone charger plugged in.” As for communal spaces, the report recommended asking Facilities to turn the lights and heating off in rooms that are not being used and taking advantage of communal spaces for studying to reduce personal energy usage in dorm rooms. “We’re asking students on campus to be the energy enforcers, monitors, eyes and ears, because Facilities can’t be at all places at all times,” Wayner added. Thomas Nyquist, the University’s executive director of Engineering, encouraged students in an email statement to the ‘Prince’ to “call 609258-5890 to report energy wasteful situations in University buildings.” Borer wrote that one important recommendation missing from the report related to the environmental impact of students’ dietary choices. “Choosing a plant-based diet or following a more plant-based diet will dramatically lower water use, land use, antibiotic use, carbon emissions, deforestation, and fossil fuel use,” he wrote. “It is something everyone has a choice about at every meal. It can be a very impactful change that does not need to cost any extra.” Associate News Editor Linh Nguyen contributed reporting.
PHOTO COURTESY OF PRINCETON FACILITIES DEPARTMENT
Princeton Power Plant.
Ayres: There are some old-school guys against it. Are you kidding? WRESTLE Continued from page 8
to hold a permanent spot on a men’s wrestling roster. “It was an incredible experience,” Pang said. “I wouldn’t trade it for the world. It was hard — I lost a lot. But I also grew a lot. And the men with whom I wrestled are still among my closest friends. I’ve been to many weddings, I’ve been to many bachelor parties.” What does she think of Yancopoulos’ addition to the team? “I’m so excited for what Demetra has in front of her,” she said. “But honestly, I never thought it would take 15 years for there to be another girl wrestling for Princeton.” Ayres wishes it hadn’t. “When you see girls’ wrestling,” he said, “you wonder why it took so long. This is something that was supposed to happen. And sure, there are some old-school guys who are
probably against it. But are you kidding?” Yancopoulos knows that her appearance on Princeton’s roster — and her likely upcoming appearance in a televised exhibition match — could ruffle some feathers. She knows too that it could also inspire a legion of fans. That doesn’t fluster her. “When I look at it logically, I know I’m doing something big,” she said. “But I don’t ever really think about that. I just put my head down. I go to practice, I train, I do the work that’s required of me. I don’t think too much about what it means that I wrestle. I just love it, so I do it.” Why does she love it? Perhaps because that ruthless, relentless seventh grader never really disappeared. “Wrestling is a sport where you have no one to blame but yourself; no one to pat on the back but yourself,” Yancopou-
los said. “It makes every time you fail motivate you a lot more. It makes every time you succeed feel a lot better. You push yourself to the absolute extreme. If you lose, you didn’t just miss a shot. You’re getting your face slammed into the mat by someone else, and everyone is watching.” Yancopoulos doesn’t particularly want to shoulder a movement. She doesn’t particularly want to start a revolution. She just wants to do what she’s good at. She just wants to get better at it. She wants no special treatment. Lucky for her, Ayres isn’t giving any. “She’s phenomenal. She’s great for the team, she’s inspiring, she’s positive, she’s at a really high level,” he said. “But listen — she needs more consistency in the positions that win matches. And I think she maybe needs some work on her turns.”
Opinion
Thursday December 12, 2019
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Introducing the Indigeneity at Princeton Task Force Gabriel Duguay
Guest Contributor
The Indigeneity at Princeton Task Force was convened by the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) this fall with the broad goal of reconciling Princeton University’s situation on the historic territory of the Leni Lenape with its current practices, which include very low Indigenous enrollment, limited opportunities for the study of Indigenous issues, and no formal land acknowledgement. We write to update the community on our work and to articulate the steps that the University must undertake to rectify these injustices. By raising these issues publicly, we hope to amplify our voices. It is clear from our over forty meetings that broad awareness of the current state of Indigeneity at Princeton is greatly needed to make significant progress. Low Indigenous enrollment at Princeton is an inequitable and shameful phenomenon that has persisted for decades. In an article appearing in the ‘Prince’ in 2000, A-dae Romero ’02 identified that there were “as few as 10 [students] who identify themselves as part of the Native community.” Articles drawing attention to this phenomenon appeared again in 2004, 2010, and 2017. Native American students and alumni have repeatedly raised these concerns both privately and publicly to the administration, yet there are currently two active members of Natives at Princeton. We wonder how Princeton can win a national award for diversity and inclusion in this light. Princeton is the only Ivy League university without an academic program in Native American or Indigenous Studies. Princeton has the resources to attract top-rate Indigenous senior faculty and could, within a short time frame, become a leading institution in this important discipline. Indigenous scholars are highly influential truth-seekers who have contributed significantly to dialogue surrounding climate change, gender and sexuality,
and American history. This fall, over 70 Princeton students are enrolled in courses explicitly centered on Indigenous topics, yet the University has no tenuretrack Indigenous faculty to teach these courses. Moreover, perusing the database of junior papers and senior theses brings up thousands of titles for the terms “Native American” and “Indigenous,” yet the University has no department to assist these students with Indigenous Studies research methodologies. Given the lack of Indigenous representation in the students, faculty, and curriculum, we should not be surprised that many Indigenous students who are accepted choose to go elsewhere. To resolve this, the Advancement Office and Office of the Provost ought to designate an endowed fund for an Indigenous Studies professorship and program during the upcoming capital campaign. As members of the Undergraduate Student Government, we have examined ways in which the University can expand its commitment to support Native American and Indigenous students. This semester, we met with the Office of Admission and Office for College Opportunity, as well as Steven Abbott, Associate Director of Admissions at Dartmouth College. Based on these conversations, we believe that the Office of Admission should dedicate a full-time admissions officer to the recruitment of talented Native American and Indigenous students. We believe this action must be taken because Princeton has significant work to do if we are to create and support a healthy Indigenous community on campus. Princeton is lagging far behind its peer institutions in commitment to creating a healthy Indigenous community on campus, and we believe this should not and does not have to be the case. Princeton’s current system fails to adequately recruit Indigenous students, prevents many talented future Indigenous leaders from receiving the benefits of a Princeton education, and denies our campus the benefit of their
knowledge, life experience, and diverse perspectives. Princeton does not have a robust Indigenous community, especially when compared with the thriving communities that exist at peer institutions. There are several reasons, historical and contemporary, that have contributed to these imbalances. A significant factor is Princeton’s lack of a dedicated admissions officer for Indigenous students. Princeton’s current geography-based approach allows for admissions officers to gain knowledge of specific schools and regions. However, this system is not conducive to the formation of long-term expertise or relationships with tribal education departments, Native American college access programs, and Native students. Princeton absolutely has the power to correct this issue; we believe that following in the footsteps of peer institutions such as Stanford (Sharen Kickingwoman, Blackfeet and Gros Ventre), Duke (Stephen McLaughlin), Dartmouth (Steven Abbott), Yale (Debra Johns), and the University of Pennsylvania (Tina Fragoso), among others, and creating a dedicated admissions officer for Indigenous students will support the creation of a more significant Indigenous presence on campus. The Office of Admission should aim to significantly increase the Native population at Princeton, especially as new residential colleges are built. An internal advocate can ensure that dynamic strategies are used to attract applicants and consult with other universities specifically on this subject. As citizens of sovereign tribal nations embodying a political — rather than a racial or ethnic — identity, recruitment of Native American students must look fundamentally different than recruitment of other minority groups. Native American students have different needs, concerns, and questions than non-Indian students, both with respect to the admissions process and to university life; in order to successfully recruit these students, the Office should have a point person for those
questions. Moreover, relationships are a critical factor. If Princeton is truly committed to creating a diverse campus, the University should demonstrate to Native American students that it truly wants them here. This can be done to some effect with items such as a Natives at Princeton admissions resource or a “Native American Research at Princeton” pamphlet, which a full-time officer could develop. We believe that these are important initiatives, but we also want to emphasize that face-to-face interactions are critical to building trust in Indigenous communities. Having the same person working with a variety of partner organizations, some of which are outlined in this letter, will place Princeton in a positive light to key influencers, who help many students decide where they will apply. The full-time officer could also work to create a fly-in program in partnership with outside organizations based on the Dartmouth College or Amherst College model. The Office of Admission should look to form long-term partnerships with organizations such as the Indigenous Scholars of Promise program, College Horizons, American Indian Science and Engineering Society, Intertribal Youth Summit, United National Indian Tribal Youth, and the Santa Fe Indian School Leadership Institute Summer Policy Academy. Signed, The USG Indigeneity at Princeton Task Force Gabriel Duguay ’22, Jessica Lambert ’22, Katharine Schassler ’21 Gabriel Duguay is a sophomore from Truro, Nova Scotia, and the Undergraduate Student Government Indigeneity at Princeton Task Force Chair. Jessica Lambert is a sophomore from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, a citizen of the Choctaw Nation, and president of Natives at Princeton. Katharine Schassler is a junior from Chatham, New York. They can be reached at gduguay@princeton.edu, jessicalambert@princeton.edu, and kds3@princeton.edu, respectively.
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Opinion
Thursday December 12, 2019
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A Charter for the future Stav Bejenaro
Guest Contributor
Recent decades have seen an overall decline in eating club participation and a growing share of Princeton’s student body opting to go independent and join coops. These trends are driven both by a growing inclination towards self-sufficient and communal modes of living and by the eating clubs’ financial barriers to entry. While more students are choosing to be independent, difficulties remain for those who do so on a campus where time is short and stress is high. Co-ops provide an elegant solution: sharing both the workload (cooking, cleanup, etc.) and the food produced among a community of students. Since the establishment of Two-Dickinson in the ’70s, the number of co-ops has grown to five, plus Forbes’ Pink House, which considers itself “a living and learning community,” adding up to fewer than 200 spots for students. These co-ops range in size, but they share a common method and goal: shared responsibilities, a welcoming and warm community, and affordable dues. The average co-op costs $600 per semester, yielding a yearly cost that stands in stark contrast with the nearfive-figure cost of most eat-
JON ORT / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
ing clubs. And yet, the demand for co-ops far exceeds the number of available spots. All of Princeton’s officially recognized co-ops have a lottery system to determine who gets these coveted spots, and conversations with some co-op leaders reveal that the waiting list for an individual co-op, which might have only a dozen spots open up every semester, can be several hundred people long. Demand is high, and it’s only growing. The University, however, has expressed no intention of expanding Princeton’s eating club in-
frastructure to catch up to this demand. Simultaneously, many students are choosing to forgo joining eating clubs because of the high cost of membership. It is not uncommon for students or their families to take out loans to cover the cost of an eating club. Even among students receiving financial aid packages that include a full food allowance, which could cover nearly the entire cost of joining an eating club, it is often a much more viable financial decision to cook for oneself or join a co-op, putting those extra several
thousand dollars of the eating allowance into saving or other expenses. Because of this, eating clubs — despite their diversity and financial aid efforts, which provide a small share of students with aid that ranges in the hundreds of dollars, not the thousands — have failed to be truly diverse and inclusive spaces. It is because of these two trends — a growing demand for co-ops, and the eating clubs’ financial barriers to entry — that a group of students (including myself) has decided to act. When we heard that the Board of Gov-
ernors of Charter Club was soliciting proposals to take the club in “a bold new direction,” the idea emerged: let’s keep the best of what it means for Charter to be an eating club, such as the beautiful social space, and shift to a co-op dining model in which members distribute cooking and other responsibilities — allowing us to cut the cost of membership to a fraction of what it currently is. The preliminary numbers we were given confirmed our intuitions: turning Charter into a co-op eating club is indeed a bold idea, but it is also viable and financially feasible. We believe this is the solution that answers both the demand for more co-op style dining and for lower barriers to entry for eating clubs — while also positioning Charter to be ahead of the curve for the future of dining at Princeton. The Board of Governors now has the power to issue a new charter for the eating club. It has a momentous opportunity to show the vision and foresight to seize on the direction in which Princeton’s campus is heading and to change Charter to fulfill the student body’s desire: an affordable, truly inclusive co-op eating club. Stav Bejenaro is a sophomore. He can be reached at bejerano@ princeton.edu.
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Sports
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{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } WRESTLING
“I just want to wrestle”: meet Demetra Yancopoulos ‘22 By Josephine de La Bruyere Features Editor
Demetra Yancopoulos ’22 wants you to drop the modifier. She’s the second female wrestler in University history to earn a spot on Princeton’s varsity roster. She’s one of only two female wrestlers training for NCAA Division I programs today. She’ll likely be half of the first-ever Ivy League female wrestling match. Yancopoulos — five-footfour, 120 pounds, every inch of her muscle-bound — knows she’s making history. She knows she’s at the forefront of a movement. She knows it’s an important one. But enough with that f-word trailing her every move. Yancopoulos just wants to wrestle. Before she was 19 years old and a Division I pioneer, Yancopoulos, a Yorktown Heights, N.Y., native, was 12 years old and a recess soccer star. Routinely and ruthlessly, she showed her playground rivals who was boss — and recognized an alarming trend. “Every time I’d beat a boy,” she said, “he’d tell me, ‘Yeah, you’re good. But you’d never be able to start on a guys’ soccer team.’” This did not sit well with her; Yancopoulos decided she had a point to prove. So seeking a sport that would allow her to compete head-on with boys (and following in the footsteps of her eldest brother), Yancopoulos tried out for her middle school’s all-boys wrestling team. She passed a New York State fitness test, made the roster,
spent a month learning the basics of wrestling, and suffered three humiliating defeats. Her dad and two elder brothers urged her to quit the sport. They told her (jokingly, she stresses) that she was bringing shame upon the family. In her fourth bout, something changed. Yancopoulos routed her opponent, bloodied his nose, and watched as he started throwing up on the side of the mat. She was hooked. She won every match in which she competed for the next two years. But Yancopoulos’ victory tour ended her first year of high school, when she moved to the varsity level, started competing against 14- to 18-year-old boys, and, in her words, “got wrecked — a lot.” She finished the season frustrated, yearning to compete and to dominate on the level she knew she could. She started training at Westchester County’s GPS Wrestling Club and made the sport her priority. It paid off. By the end of her junior year, Yancopoulos had served as the captain of her high school’s boys varsity wrestling team and earned All-American status at Fargo Nationals, the country’s most prestigious high-school wrestling championship. A caveat: by the end of her junior year, Yancopoulos had also torn her right ACL, her right meniscus, and her right ACL again. She’d undergone two major knee surgeries — one successful, one failed. She was facing a third. She spent her senior year preparing for, then recovering from, that surgery. She rockclimbed. She researched car-
JOSEPHINE DE LA BRUYERE / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
Head coach Christopher Ayres and Demetra Yancopoulos.
bon sequestration. She worked on her studio art concentration. She got into Princeton. One thing she didn’t do? Wrestle. “I’d been cut down by the sport a lot of times,” she said. “I just needed some space away from it.” But by the time she arrived on campus last September, Yancopoulos had two functioning knees, a new campus to which to adjust, and a burning desire for some organized physical activity. Come winter, a friend put her in touch with head wrestling coach Chris Ayres. He asked if she’d be interested in wrestling with his daughter, Chloë Ayres: high school junior, captain of her school’s
varsity boys wrestling team, Fargo All-American, and New Jersey state champion. “Screw it,” Yancopoulos said. “I’m down.” She spent the last months of her first year making her own schedule and relearning her sport. She spent the summer afterward injured again with a torn MCL meniscus. Upon her return to New Jersey this fall, however, Yancopoulos was healthy, ready to dominate, and all-in on Princeton wrestling. She told Ayres she wanted a more rigid training regimen. He thought about it. On Nov. 19, as Yancopoulos headed out of practice, he — ever-casual — asked her if she wanted to be a full-fledged member of his team.
She paused. “Sure.” Suddenly, all at once, Princeton men’s wrestling had a girl on its roster. “She’s passionate, and she wants to be great at it,” Ayres said. “Why shouldn’t she be a part of this? She’s a model for these guys — a model of getting what you want and doing what you want even when it’s not the most comfortable of situations.” Besides, explained Ayres, there was precedent. Audrey Pang ’05 had sent shockwaves through even the non-wrestling world when, under former Princeton wrestling coach Michael New, she became the NCAA’s first woman See STORY page 5
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Men’s basketball loses at the buzzer to Monmouth By Elan Zohar Staff Writer
On the night when former Princeton basketball star Devin Cannady was in attendance to watch this year’s team, his absence on the f loor was most apparent. Cannady hit a gamewinning fadeaway threepointer for Princeton at Monmouth just last year. Now, 381 days later, the Tigers would lose in similarly heartbreaking fashion. Following a desperation three-pointer at the buzzer by Monmouth’s Ray Salnave, the Tigers fell to the Hawks, 67–66. The loss means Princeton (1–7) has yet to win a game at home this season. It also marks the second time in the last four games that Princeton lost on a buzzer beater — the other was against Arizona State at home two weeks prior. If there was ever a time for the Tigers to prove that they can overcome adversity, now is the time to do it. “I think there are enough errors being made for us to look at the games and say ‘We’re not unlucky.’ They were two really unfortunate things that happened, but we’ve got to learn how to string together more meaningful minutes,” head coach Mitch Henderson ’98
said. The Tigers, who were sixpoint favorites entering the game, established themselves early and burst out of the gates with an 11–3 run, shooting well and keeping a stout defense. They were not able to stay hot for long, though, and Monmouth clawed back with the help of Princeton’s awful shooting from behind the arc. At the half, the Hawks led 35– 24, finishing on a 15–5 run. Princeton simply could not score, as they shot 35 percent from the field and 1 for 15 from beyond the arc at the half. The second half did not seem to go much better for the Tigers — they were not able to narrow the margin and found themselves down by 14 points with ten minutes remaining. Henderson called for a fullcourt press defensively, and within four minutes, the Tigers were only down by three. “I was proud of the way we fought back,” Henderson said. “Our defense was excellent for about fifteen minutes, and we gave ourselves an opportunity to win the game.” Senior center Richmond Aririguzoh emphasized how the added defensive intensity was integral to the Tigers’ comeback.
Tweet of the Day “TIGERS WIN! Early Third Period Goal Holds Up! Princeton 2, AIC 1” Princeton University Hockey (@PrincetonHockey)
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The Tigers huddle before starting the second half against Monmouth.
“We relied on our defense,” Aririguzoh said. “If you look at the way we played in the first half versus the second half defensively, it was just a completely different game. The biggest thing is consistency — how can we do that for 40 minutes?” After a few minutes of high-intensity basketball from both teams, junior guard Ryan Schwieger was fouled in a tie game with 4.2 seconds to go. Despite returning from injury, Schwieger provided important minutes down the stretch and made both free throws to put Princeton up
by two. In the final 4.2 seconds, Monmouth was able to relay the ball from their own baseline and find the game’s leading scorer, Salnave, for a contested threepointer near the top of the key, which he sunk at the buzzer. Although the Tigers have lost seven of their first eight games to start the season, Coach Henderson pointed out that there is still a long way to go, including Ivy League play. With the help of the seniors, Henderson believes they have what it takes to turn their season around.
“I’m very positive on the team, and as long as Richmond and his senior classmates are focused on what it takes to win, we can do anything. I really believe that in college basketball, it’s about the older kids,” said Henderson. The coach is not the only one who still believes in the team’s potential. “I keep asking our guys, ‘Do we need to lower our expectations?’ and they all say no,” said Henderson. The Tigers have four more games, three of which are at home, before league play starts on Jan. 4 against the University of Pennsylvania.
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Princeton’s Travis Stefanik debuted on the Intermant national wrestling rankings at No. 18 after a pair of wins this weekend