Tuesday December 3, 2019 vol. cxliii no. 114
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U . A F FA I R S
New Dean of Admissions Richardson ’93 talks on her passion for education By Vedika Patwari staff writer
COURTESY OF ALONSO NICHOLS / OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS
Karen Richardson ’93 is the University’s Dean of Admission.
Last April, Karen Richardson ’93 was announced as the University’s new Dean of Admission. As a first-generation college student herself, Richardson expressed her commitment not just to admitting a diverse student body but also to ensuring that all students have the resources they need to succeed in competitive college campuses such as Princeton. Richardson remarked that when she was an undergraduate, acclimatizing to the University was “not always easy.” Though Richardson grew up half an hour away from campus and her older sibling graduated from the University in 1988, she says that the University often felt like it was a “whole world away.” She remembering having been supported by the freshman summer ori-
entation program, through which she arrived on campus a few weeks early and made a core group of friends. “Many of the people who were in that freshman summer orientation program are some of my closest friends 25 years later,” Richardson said. Richardson, who majored in Politics, said she wanted her thesis to be related to education and specifically to the concept of how, in her words, “sometimes you have to treat people differently in order to treat them fairly.” Her thesis advisor was former McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence Walter Murphy. “It was definitely an experience to work with Professor Murphy,” Richardson said. “To me, it was one of the highlights of my Princeton career.” While her advisor wanted her to look into gifted and
talented programs, Richardson was more interested in bilingual programs. She wrote her thesis, entitled “Bilingual Education in the United States: The Importance of Socialization in the Instruction of Linguistic Minorities,” on the legislative history of bilingual education programs. Richardson also served as a residential college advisor at Forbes. She recalled, “One of my favorite things was that I was an RCA my senior year.” Richardson’s interest in education was further fostered during her undergraduate years. Over the summers, she worked at the Princeton Blairstown Center, which works with atrisk youth in the tri-state area and pursues outdoor education and social-emotional learning. Richardson said that a program offered See DEAN page 2
BEYOND THE BUBBLE
Jeff Bezos ’86 loses, then regains, title of richest man in the world for the second time in two months By Bharvi Chavre Contributor
On Nov. 15, Microsoft founder Bill Gates temporarily replaced Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos ’86 again as the richest man in the world with a net worth of $110 billion. In October, Bezos briefly fell to number two on the list before regaining the number one spot. Bezos first topped the Bloomberg Billionaires Index in October 2017. The 48 percent increase in Microsoft sales in 2019 played a major role in Gates’ shortterm lead. Microsoft also beat Amazon for a $10 billion, 10-year contract called the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) with the Pentagon. This contract will allow Microsoft to manage the military’s cloud computing systems, and it will responsible for storing sensitive military data. This contract is one of the first steps the Pentagon has
taken to modernize its technology, and the bidding began in 2018 alongside IBM, Oracle, and Google. According to reporting from The New York Times, Microsoft’s win was a surprise, as key experts believed Amazon would earn the contract. However, Amazon has been often criticized by President Donald Trump and by Republican congressmen. Bezos’s wealth has also been impacted by his public divorce this January, during which his wife, MacKenzie Bezos, gained sole ownership over 25 percent of the couple’s stake in Amazon. The divorce decreased his personal stake in the company from 16 percent to 12 percent. Pursuant to their settlement, Jeff Bezos retains all the voting rights associated with his initial 16 percent share in the E-commerce giant. As of Nov. 30, Bezo’s net worth is $112 billion, while Gates is trailing behind with $111 billion.
COURTESY OF GRANT MILLER / GWBPC FORUM ON LEADERSHIP, THE GEORGE W. BUSH PRESIDENTIAL CENTER
Bezos is now the richest man in the world according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
ON CAMPUS
Humanities Council hosts ‘Being Human’ festival Staff Writer
ZACHARY SHEVIN / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
As part of the festival, 20 Nassau Street will host “Prescription Vegetable?” that will explore food as an entry point for human connection.
In Opinion
Senior columnist Kaveh Badrei examines the role of two University alumni in the recent impeachment hearings, while editorial assistant Madeleine Marr argues that the University should expand affordable child-care options for professors. PAGE 4
The Princeton University Humanities Council, in partnership with the Program for Community-Engaged Scholarship (ProCES), is currently hosting the program “Being Human: a Festival of the Humanities.” Last year, the University became the first American university to host the British festival, which is led by the School of Advanced Study at the University of London. According to the Humanities Council, the festival, whose theme this year is “Discoveries and Secrets,” will host about 20 activities in total and “reveal untold stories, hidden histories, and mysteries of our towns or cities.”
Today on Campus 6:00 p.m.: Hinduism at Hogwarts | Yoga Wisdom & Harry Potter McCormick Hall 106
The programming kicked off on Oct. 11 with “Belonging(s) in Movement,” a performative celebration of indigenous and immigrant tales from the Americas. The festival will run through Dec. 19. All events are free, and most are fully open to the public. Kathleen Crown, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Humanities Council at the University, expressed enthusiasm about hosting the festival in an email to The Daily Princetonian. “What’s exciting and new for the Humanities Council about being part of the international Being Human festival is the grassroots nature of the program,” she wrote. “We are putting the University’s excellent humanities researchers See HUMAN page 3
WEATHER
By David Veldran
HIGH
39˚
LOW
27˚
Sunny chance of rain:
0 percent