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Monday February 26, 2018 vol. CXLII no. 16
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Broken sprinkler floods Holder Hall, students forced to relocate U . A F FA I R S
By Linh Nguyen, Sarah Warman Hirschfield, Neha Chauhan Contributor, Associate News Editor, Contributor
On Wednesday, Feb. 21, a broken sprinkler forced 26 students living in two Holder Hall entryways to temporarily relocate to residential buildings and faculty housing for over a month. Alice Wistar ’20 was sitting outside her room in Holder Hall entryway 4 when she heard alarms going off from within the building. When she walked inside, the floor was wet and, she soon discovered that the water had soaked her roommate’s belongings. “Later [on Wednesday], we got an email that we would have to be relocated for up to a week,” Wistar explained. Early on Thursday, when temporary rooming assignment were actually given, affected students were advised to find a friend they could stay with considering the fact that the rooms they were initially assigned to were full. The email stated that the move would actually last four weeks instead of one. Wistar’s temporary rooming assignment was a quad, with four people already living there. This prompted Wistar to stay with a friend instead. The email instructed them to move out by Friday at 5 p.m., according to Wistar. Later on Thursday, each
COURTESY OF COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG
Entryways 4 and 5 of Holder hall were flooded by a faulty sprinkler.
displaced student was given a permanent rooming assignment for a residence on or off campus. The permanent assignments were rooms with no current occupants, meaning that students would no longer have to impose upon their friends. The flooding in entryways 4 and 5 was caused by a broken sprinkler. If the sprinkler were left unfixed, water would continue seeping down into the rooms, Wistar said. The walls would eventually be exposed to rot and mold if this were to be the case. “They will be doing pretty intense construction,
ON CAMPUS
like knocking down walls,” Wistar said. “Sounds like something they neglected to take care of for a long time.” Wistar woke up early on Friday to pack. The University sent movers to help the students construct and close the boxes. She and six other affected students were relocated to Merwick Stanworth, a faculty apartment approximately half a mile from campus. Other students moved to rooms in other residential colleges and upperclassman housing. “[The apartment] has a kitchen, washer, dryer, living room, three individual
bedrooms, and three full bathrooms,” Wistar explained, adding that the University is trying to arrange for buses to take the students to campus. Wistar is waiting for WiFi and printing access, which the University will provide. “They’re being super nice about it, but it’s really inconvenient,” she said. On Friday, Rockefeller College Director of Student Life Amy Ham Johnson checked in with the students relocated to Merwick Stanworth to see how they were doing. “We completely appreciate your patience through a very difficult situation,”
Johnson wrote. “I have told colleagues in Housing and ODUS that your flexibility has been noted. We cannot thank you enough, and we want you to treat yourselves to dinner at Winberie’s this weekend paid for by us.” Johnson and Rockefeller Director of Studies Justine Levine, in another Friday email, assured the 26 students affected that they were still members of Rockefeller College. “Even though you may be living in a space unaffiliated with Rocky for a while, you will still be a Rocky student, with access to all of the same amenities and programs. You’ll still get email from us, be invited to our college-wide study breaks and activities, and — we hope — participate in the life of the college to the extent that you are able!” they wrote. Michael Psenka ’21 was also temporarily assigned to a quad that was already fully occupied, then to a room in Witherspoon Hall. “It was all over the place,” Psenka said. “I did not feel like I had time to do much of anything else, because I was always either moving around, going to these meetings, [or] moving stuff.” Psenka received a GroupMe message around 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday from his Residential College Advisor, Kyle Berlin ’18, about the flooding. He immediately went to his dorm in Holder Hall and saw waSee FLOOD page 2
U . A F FA I R S
Fire temporarily closes Frist Campus Center, Jones Hall
By Ivy Truong
Assistant News Editor
COURTESY OF OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS
Maggie Pecsok ’18 and John “Newby” Parton ’18, this year’s Pyne Prize winners, with President Eisgruber.
An early morning fire on Feb. 24, 2018, has temporarily closed Frist Campus Center and the adjoining Jones Hall. No one was injured, according to a University statement. The fire was located in the basement of Frist. A University employee discovered it in a dryer used for towels and other linens near the loading dock. Five people were evacuated.
The fire was extinguished at approximately 5:15 a.m., roughly 27 minutes after first responders were first notified at 4:48 a.m. “There’s a bit of smoke odor lingering in the building,” said Assistant Vice President for Communications Dan Day, “but air handlers are bringing in fresh air to clear the odor out.” University officials inspected the building because of reports of water damage in the basement and an “odor
U . A F FA I R S
of smoke” throughout the building. For two hours Washington Road was closed as firefighters “staged their equipment outside the building.” Both buildings will reopen at 9 a.m., according to Day. The basement will still be closed to accommodate the work of cleanup crews. This article was previously published online on Feb. 24.
STUDENT LIFE
Journalist alumni talk This week, USG talks gun COS students civic service at Alumni Day reform, first-year advising make realContributor
Daniel Mendelsohn ’94 and Charles Gibson ’65 talked politics and referenced college-day memories onstage as they received awards during the University’s Alumni Day on Feb. 24. The James Madison Medal and the Woodrow Wilson Award, the top honors University alumni can receive, are customarily presented to one person each year at the annual Alumni Day. This year, Mendelsohn received the Madison Medal and Gibson received the Wilson Award.
In Opinion
The Madison Medal honors a Graduate School alumnus or alumna who “has had a distinguished career, advanced the cause of graduate education or achieved an outstanding record of public service.” A classics major, Mendelsohn has exemplified these criterion through his career as a writer and critic. His 2006 non-fiction memoir “The Lost: A Search for the Six of Six Million” was awarded the National Books Critics Circle Award, the National Jewish Book Award, and the Prix Medicis, a French literary award given to an author whose “fame does not yet match his talSee ALUMNI page 3
The Editorial Board argues that professor Lawrence Rosen’s use of the N-word, while pedagogically permissible, was unnecessary, and guest contributor Yeohee Im writes a letter to the editor about the meaning of consent PAGE 5
By Jacob Gerrish Contributor
Following their weekend transition retreat, the Undergraduate Student Government discussed official endorsement of the We Call BS: Princeton Rally for Gun Reform, possible revision of the first-year advising system and Princeton Preview, and review of the USG budget during its weekly meeting. U-Councilor Diego NegrónReichard ’18 and Campus and Community Affairs Chair Caleb Visser ’20 proposed that USG endorse the We Call BS:
Princeton Rally for Gun Reform, which Princeton Advocates for Justice will conduct on Mar. 14 on Frist Lawn. According to Negrón-Reichard, the rally will be non-partisan, encompassing over 25 student groups. Some USG members articulated concerns about USG sponsorship on such a divisive issue. “Is the current structure open to people with different opinions coming to discuss this?” University Student Life Committee Chair Tania Bore ’20 asked. See USG page 4
Today on Campus 4:30 p.m.: American Foreign Policy in an Era of Turbulence and Trump. Robertson Hall
world apps By Hannah Wang Contributor
Most technological breakthroughs come from the powerhouses that populate Silicon Valley, but the next life-altering app may be only a few lines of code and a mouse click away for students in the University’s Computer Science building. Every semester, students in the computer science course COS 333: Advanced Programming Techniques work in small groups to create real-world, functional, See COS page 2
WEATHER
By Neha Chauhan
HIGH
56˚
LOW
32˚
Partly cloudy chance of rain:10 percent