February 28, 2018

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Wednesday February 28, 2018 vol. CXLII no. 18

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BEYOND THE BUBBLE

Gov. Murphy signs executive order to improve economy Associate News Editor

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Lucas: There’s been a lot going on to make the Street more open in ways it hasn’t been before.

Interclub Council releases ‘Welcome Letter’ to eating club members

By Claire Thorton Head News Editor

On Tuesday, the Interclub Council released a “welcome letter” reminding new and old eating club members of their responsibilities.

Signed by all the eating club presidents and ICC Chair and Colonial Club president emeritus Matthew Lucas ‘18, the letter focused on issues of safety, community, and tolerance, both in and out of the clubs. According to Lucas, this is the first time in at least six years that the ICC has released such a letter.

In an interview with The Daily Princetonian, Lucas said one goal in writing the letter was to show the

University community how much work has been accomplished by the clubs over the past year.

This past fall marked the start of regular open houses and public historical tours, according to the letter. Lucas also referenced the progress represented

by Undergraduate Student Government’s new committee regarding diversity in the eating clubs.

“There’s been a lot going on to make the Street more open in ways it hasn’t been before,” said Lucas, adding that he hopes underclass students and faculty will take a look at the letter.

According to the letter, members of eating clubs

ON CAMPUS

Kolonitsky talks Russian tradition

By Anna Vinitsky Contributor

“Sometimes rumors are more telling than the accepted reality,” said Boris Kolonitsky, professor of history at the European University at St. Petersburg, in a lecture on his personal understanding of the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Kolonitsky’s own history is closely tied to the Russian Revolution.

Kolonitsky prefaced his lecture by promising to share 10 events that shaped his professional career, thereby highlighting the close, autobiographical connection he has to his period of study.

Growing up in the Dzerzhinsky District of St. Petersburg, which Kolonitsky called “practically inside the commemoration [of the Russian Revolution]” because of the historical monuments in the area, his younger self was not always aware of the various versions of history.

However, what was common to Kolonitsky’s 10 events was his emphasis on the contradictions he encountered in the literature and stories of the Soviet period.

He approached the study of the Russian Revolution of 1917 more

In Opinion

through songs, f lags, and other visual signals, rather than through the political programs that were previously studied.

Kolonitsky is interested in using minor genres such as general and personal rumors, gossip, and newspaper clippings as historical resources.

The Soviet Encyclopedia was one of the most important readings for the young Kolonitsky, and was formative to his growth as a young historian. He emphasized that the Encyclopedia, which was written from 1925 to 1947, was a living document that contained laudatory and sharply critical entries on the same historical figure.

“Why the hell should I go to school? It’s much better to stay here and read the Encyclopedia,” Kolonitsky said, explaining that the Encyclopedia allowed him to trace different contradictions and “compare different versions of history.”

Shifting to the history of his ancestors, Kolonitsky mentioned that while he knew of different family stories, he didn’t get the whole truth, since many of his family memoirs were censored in the Soviet era.

See REVOLUTION page 3

Senior columnist Connor Pfeiffer discusses the positive impacts of Trump’s new tax code and senior columnist Thomas Clark talks about his experience as an Independent dining student at Princeton. PAGE 4

should work to uphold principles that “promote safe and welcoming environments for all members of the Princeton community.”

Among other principles, the ICC’s “Statement of Principles” says “club members need to be vigilant in creating an environment that reduces the likelihood of injury.”

Clubs often face issues of safety and security when they are open to the wider University community.

This fall, Tiger Inn’s president and safety czar stepped down amid safety concerns at their sophomore semi formals.

The ICC welcome letter reSee ICC page 3

On Feb. 27, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed an executive order, creating a Jobs and Economic Opportunity Council tasked with providing recommendations for developing the state’s workforce. The Council will analyze economic data and identify funding, both federal and philanthropic, for infrastructure development and worker training programs.

“We must make sure that state residents have access to jobs and opportunities that will allow them to contribute to our economy,” said Murphy during a press conference.

“In order to get the economy right, we need to make informed decisions about the path forward in New Jersey. I look forward to hearing the Council’s recommendations and beginning the process of building a stronger and fairer economy in our state.”

Over the past eight years, New Jersey’s economic performance has consistently lagged behind competitor states in median household income, job growth, and GDP growth, according to the executive order.

The order also mentions “STEM education, alternative pathways to success

ON CAMPUS

AUDREY SPENSLEY :: ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

81 percent of white evangelicals voted for Trump in 2016.

Political scientist discusses shifting evangelical identity

By Audrey Spensley Associate news Editor

“Eighty-one,” said Andrew R. Lewis. “That’s the percentage of white evangelicals who voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 election. The argument is that Donald Trump doesn’t align with the values of white evangelicals, so how could this be?” Lewis is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the Uni-

versity of Cincinnati, and he began his Feb. 27 lecture at Princeton with a single number projected onto a slide.

In the lecture, “The Rights Turn in Conservative Christian Politics: How Abortion Transformed the Culture Wars,” Lewis presented findings from his research on the “refashioning,” or shift, in defining the evangelical right in American politics.

Today on Campus 12:00 p.m.: Cecilia Fajardo on “The Political body in Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960-1985” 216 Burr Hall

such as apprenticeship and vocational training, and job retraining efforts” as tools to develop the workforce.

For funding, the Council is tasked with identifying potential sources for infrastructure improvements, workforce development, and post-secondary educational initiatives.

“I know there are outside sources of funds for programs that we have left on the table for too long.

One of the elements of getting us back into that fight is to have a strong muscular Washington presence, something we haven’t had in a while. We’re about to announce shortly a new head of that effort,” Murphy said.

New Jersey’s economic growth has lagged behind the rest of the country since the Great Recession.

Under former Governor Chris Christie, the state experienced increased growth in late 2015, but the improvement was short-lived. As of December, New Jersey’s unemployment rate is down to five percent, compared to the national rate of 4.1 percent.

“It’s time for New Jersey to get back to leading by doing,” said Murphy. “Turning New Jersey around must begin with See MURPHY page 3

“This eighty-one percent number has masked a whole bunch of change that’s happening underneath the surface,” said Lewis. “The cultural landscape has really shifted.”

According to Lewis, conservative Christian influence on politics has shifted from the Moral Majority of the 1970s and 1980s to a “cultural minority” today.

This shift, Lewis argued, has centered around the language that conservative leaders use to discuss contentious issues.

“The conservative Christian right now speaks and thinks and operates in the language of rights, in the tactics of rights,” continued Lewis, “and this is a really big change.”

According to Lewis, the right had originally opposed the language that they now seem to have adopted.

“In the 1970s and 1980s, the political left had used the language of individual rights,” noted Lewis. “The conservative evangelical right had been concerned about too much rights talk.”

This shift is the central topic of Lewis’s 2017 book, “The Rights Turn in Conservative Christian Politics: How Abortion Transformed the Culture Wars.”

In the lecture, he focused on two chapters from the book: same-sex marriage and abortion.

“I’m interested in a variety of factors,” said Lewis.

“How did this change occur, where did we see it, See EVANGELICAL page 3

WEATHER

By Sarah Warman Hirschfield

HIGH

59˚

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Mostly sunny chance of rain:

0 percent

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The Daily Princetonian

Wednesday February 28, 2018

Murphy: NJ needs a strong, muscular Washington presence MURPHY Continued from page 1

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fixing our economy, making us a place that creates jobs and new opportunities in innovation and infrastructure, that treats workers fairly and makes the strategic investments that underpin and foster long-term economic growth.”

Members of the Council will include Lieuten-

ant Governor Sheila Oliver and members of the governor’s cabinet, such as the State Treasurer, the Commissioners of Education, Labor, Banking and Insurance, and the Secretary of Higher Education.

The CEO of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, Tim Sullivan, and the Director of the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University will also serve, according to the order.

ANNA VINITSKY :: CONTRIBUTOR

Kolonitsky’s family memoirs were censored in the Soviet era.

Kolonitsky: Why the hell should I go to school?

REVOLUTION Continued from page 1

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For instance, he found out only years later that one of his uncles spent time in a Stalinist camp.

He closed the lecture with a Q&A session in which audience members asked about historical re-

visionism and the different schools of historical methodology.

The lecture, “The Revolutions of 1917 in Cultural Memory and Academic Scholarship: A Self-Study of a Historian” was sponsored by the REEES Lecture Series and took place at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 27 in Simpson Room A71.

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Wednesday February 28, 2018

Welcome letter covered ICC rules on alcohol ICC

Continued from page 1

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leased Tuesday highlighted the ICC’s rules on sexual misconduct and harassment, possession of alcohol brought in from outside the club, and hazing.

Students receiving the letter were reminded that the 11 eating clubs prohibit sex- and gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment on their premises. According to the letter, members should work to ensure that their club “maintains an atmosphere free of any pressures on other members, guests and employees relating to sexual misconduct.”

The letter referenced New Jersey state law in stating that any form of hazing or harmful initiation ritual associated with a club is strictly prohibited.

Club members were reminded that “persons under the age of 21 are not permitted to bring alcohol onto any Club premises.” As a rule, bottles, cups, mugs, flasks, and other such containers from outside must be disposed of before a student can enter a club. The letter

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stressed that club members need to call for help for “severely intoxicated” people, and reiterated that the University does not punish those who call for help for intoxicated students.

The ICC also called on members of all 11 eating clubs to be tolerant of students whose dining preferences differ from their own.

This spring, 77 percent of sophomores bickered or signed into a club. The letter encouraged club members to “be mindful and respectful of all choices around dining.... Not all students make the same choices or have the same outcomes, and that’s OK.” Current club members were reminded that Quadrangle Club, Terrace Club, Cloister Inn, Colonial, and Charter Club still have spots available for students who wish to join. Additionally, the letter reminded current club members of the fact that there are University students who chose to be “independent,” join a food co-op, or purchase a dining hall plan their junior and senior years. The ICC letter said to “remember that there are happy, successful, proud Princetonians everywhere.

We’re not all that different.”

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Opinion

Wednesday February 28, 2018

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{ www.dailyprincetonian.com }

Good riddance to the unlimited state and local tax deduction Connor Pfeiffer

Senior Columnist

W

hen President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act into law in December, one of the most controversial changes to the tax code was the curtailment of the state and local tax (SALT) deduction. Under the old system, federal taxpayers could deduct from their federal tax bill all property taxes and either income or sales taxes paid to state and local governments. Going forward, the new law caps SALT at $10,000 per tax return, meaning that only the first $10,000 a taxpayer pays in state and local property, income, and sales taxes is deductible.

This change has garnered significant opposition in high-tax states where the new deduction cap is unlikely to capture the entire tax burden some taxpayers face from their state and local governments. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo even went as far as to say that the reforms to SALT “put a dagger in the heart of New York.” Many classmates I talked with during the tax reform debate last year also expressed concern at this change, especially if they were planning to work in New York after graduation. Reforming SALT, however, was a prudent policy change that eliminated an unfair subsidy to high-tax states and allowed lawmakers to use the savings to lower taxes for the middle class.

I applaud the President and Congress for finally having the courage to fix this en-

trenched and unfair facet of the U.S. tax code.

The heterogeneity of state and local tax burdens gave many taxpayers a larger SALT deduction than others under the old tax code. The state and local tax burden faced by Americans differs widely throughout the country. In 2012, the average total state and local tax burden in the U.S. as a share of state income was 9.9 percent, with 33 states having a tax burden below that mark. The top three most-taxed states, New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey, all had total tax burdens above 12 percent, and seven states had total tax burdens below eight percent of state income. Furthermore, seven states currently have no state income tax and two more states only tax investment and dividend income. These imbalances led to vastly different potential deductions for federal taxpayers depending on where they lived.

Before the new tax law, SALT also subsidized hightax state and local governments at the expense of the federal budget and taxpayers from low-tax jurisdictions. After accounting for population and income differences between states, the Tax Foundation concluded in a 2017 study that SALT “expressly favors higher-income earners and state and local governments which impose above-average tax burdens. The deduction’s effect is for lower- and middle-income taxpayers to subsidize more generous spending in wealthier states like California, New York, and New Jersey, reducing the felt cost of higher taxes in those states.” This subsidization effect occurs because, as the Tax Policy Center points out, any increase in deductible state

and local taxes also brings a reduction in federal taxes through SALT. For instance, if a taxpayer in the 35 percent federal tax bracket saw a $100 state and local tax increase in a given year, that taxpayer would, in reality, only “feel” $65 of that tax increase because of SALT. At the same time, the state and local governments concerned still received $100 in additional revenue.

Over the long term, this system meant that state and local governments could raise taxes without taxpayers feeling their full effect, courtesy of the federal government. Because of the differences in total tax burden between states, high-tax, high-income states disproportionately benefited from this subsidy. As state and local tax rates increased, SALT deprived the federal government of more and more revenue from taxpayers in these jurisdictions. Consequently, federal tax rates were higher for everyone, including citizens of low-tax states, to fund these implicit subsidies for high-tax state and local governments.

The new reforms to SALT created a fairer tax code and made important tax cuts possible. The savings from reforming SALT will provide almost $1 trillion in additional revenue in the first decade, allowing for significant reductions to and simplification of individual tax rates. Additionally, the $10,000 cap changed SALT from an unlimited deduction that disproportionately benefited wealthy taxpayers into a policy that helps middle-class Americans.

Every state levies property taxes, and states with lower property taxes often rely on other revenue sources, such as an income or sales tax.

U.S. taxpayers can now de-

duct all property, income, and sales taxes paid to state and local governments up to the cap, no matter how their state chooses to collect its revenue. With middle- and low-income taxpayers benefiting most from the property tax portion of SALT under the old system, the new SALT protects most of that deduction for many taxpayers while maintaining a cap to prevent states with higher taxes from continuing to disproportionately benefit from the policy at the expense of the rest of the country. These changes create a more equal SALT deduction that no longer implicitly penalizes Americans living in low-tax states.

Critics of the state and local tax deduction cap often focus on the immediate effective tax increases some taxpayers in high-tax states will face once they are unable to deduct significant portions of their state and local tax burden from their federal tax bill.

This argument ignores the reality that SALT has been subsidizing rising state and local taxes in many jurisdictions for decades while taxpayers in low-tax states pay for it through higher individual tax rates. The solution to this problem is not the continuance of an unfair system, but rather for high-tax states to fully weigh the costs and benefits of tax policies for their citizens. If legislators in Albany or Trenton want to increase state spending and pay for it with tax increases, it should be New Yorkers and New Jerseyans, not Texans and Floridians, who pay for it.

Connor Pfeiffer is a senior in the history department from San Antonio, Texas. He can be reached at connorp@princeton.edu.

Thomas Clark

Senior Columnist

A

web application called “Alcohol for Guest Swipes” was a short-lived idea I had for a design project in COS 333: Advanced Programming Techniques. More useful than Tigerbook, more certain to get you in the administration’s crosshairs than “Passes for Late Meal” — what more could you want? As an independent, the thought of where my next meal is coming from is never too far from my mind, and I’ve come to appreciate creative solutions to the problem. Despite the apprehensions I had upon first going independent, I’ve found that the independent life is not particularly onerous, and that its positive aspects far outweigh the negatives.

Initially, my motivations for going independent were a mixture of ideological and financial. Despite the many positive sides of eating clubs, I felt uncomfortable perpetuating what I saw as an exclusive and divisive social system, funding excessive drinking, and participating in parties that I didn’t find wholesome.

On the financial side, the average eating club costs around $10,000 a year for membership and dues, while the typical coop costs between a tenth to a fifth of that. Spurred by fru-

fellows, and undergraduates from diverse disciplines.

I shouldn’t downplay the ways in which being independent has also been a humbling experience. Rather than having anything of social worth to offer to underclassmen, I’ve been the one asking them — everyone from people I meet in classes or extracurriculars to my Outdoor Action frosh to my RCA friend — for dining hall guest swipes and relying on their generosity. During events like Reunions, Lawnparties, or formals, I’ve had no obvious place to be to enjoy the action. But rather than consider this a negative aspect of the independent life, I have come to view these social hurdles as having had a positive impact on my character. I’ve learned not to take too much for granted and to be grateful when I have opportunities like eating a meal at Prospect House, being invited to a professor’s home for dinner, or even being treated to late meal by an underclass student. I’ve learned to be at peace with some luxuries always being out of reach and to see the joy in simple and inexpensive pursuits.

Not everyone’s independent experience is the same. Some independents do struggle with nutrition. Some independents do find it more rare to enjoy a sit-down meal in good company than to subsist off of scavenged pizzas and Panera.

There have been days when I’ve eaten less in quantity or less healthily than I would have liked. I don’t fault anyone for

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Marcia Brown ’19 business manager

Ryan Gizzie ’19

BOARD OF TRUSTEES president Thomas E. Weber ’89 vice president Craig Bloom ’88 secretary Betsy L. Minkin ’77 treasurer Douglas J. Widmann ’90 Kathleen Crown William R. Elfers ’71 Stephen Fuzesi ’00 Zachary A. Goldfarb ’05 John Horan ’74 Joshua Katz Kathleen Kiely ’77 Rick Klein ’98 James T. MacGregor ’66 Alexia Quadrani Marcelo Rochabrun ’15 Richard W. Thaler, Jr. ’73 Lisa Belkin ‘82 Francesca Barber trustees emeriti Gregory L. Diskant ’70 Jerry Raymond ’73 Michael E. Seger ’71 Annalyn Swan ’73

142ND MANAGING BOARD managing editors Isabel Hsu ’19 Claire Lee ’19 head news editors Claire Thornton ’19 Jeff Zymeri ’20 associate news editors Allie Spensley ’20 Audrey Spensley ’20 Ariel Chen ‘20 associate news and film editor Sarah Warman Hirschfield ’20 head opinion editor Emily Erdos ’19 associate opinion editors Samuel Parsons ’19 Jon Ort ’21 head sports editors David Xin ’19 Chris Murphy ’20 associate sports editors Miranda Hasty ’19 Jack Graham ’20 head street editor Jianing Zhao ’20

Living the free food life gality (I’m the kind of person who cuts index cards in half to get more life out of them), I eventually came to see that the hunt for free food, if done right, need not detract from my social and intellectual life.

One immediate difference I noticed was the joy of cooking with friends, with its greater privacy and opportunity for serious conversation. Preparing and consuming food took on a slow-paced and intimate atmosphere compared to the hubbub of dining halls or clubs at mealtime.

Realistically, cooking every day is not a feasible option.

As a result, being independent has encouraged me to attend lunch and dinner seminars on topics as diverse as the linguistics of “Game of Thrones,” technology policy, Homer’s “The Iliad,” Soviet dissident literature, William Shakespeare, philosophy of language, U.S. constitutional law, the politics of gender identity, and nuclear proliferation. Not only have I been able to mostly subsist off of the largesse of Princeton’s numerous learning initiatives and its seemingly endless catering tabs, but I have also been able to learn a thing or two about topics completely unrelated to my concentration and coursework. If I had a meal plan or a club membership, I may never have overcome the inertia and convenience of eating all my meals in the same place with the same friends. Yet over the years, I’ve become more comfortable breaking bread with graduate students, visiting

vol. cxlii

joining a club, which for many becomes an important locus of support and community.

Yet too many people view independent life as bizarre or unrealistic. With a small critical mass of friends to join you, a willingness to meet new people, and the initiative to organize and build up your own community, the independent life is both feasible and rewarding.

Common misconceptions paint the social life of the independent student as lonely or lacking community. Yet on a quiet night, as I wander amongst the abstract labyrinth of Spelman Halls, I look up and see the various light-filled rooms where I’ve enjoyed many an evening gettogether or home-cooked meal with dear friends; I think that although the center of gravity of my social life may be somewhat far-removed from the elegant facades of Prospect Avenue, I nonetheless feel rooted in a community of support and common interests.

On weekend nights, thoughts of passes and lists are nowhere on my mind, though I may stay up till the wee hours deep in conversation over a bottle of wine. The social events I attend tend to be smaller and more subdued, but I’ve had the good fortune to meet many new people and enjoy the type of conversation that I’ve rarely had at pregames or in eating club basements.

“Alcohol for Guest Swipes” may never have materialized, but I seem to have found ways to feed myself without

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violating the law. All in all, being independent has been a surprisingly important part of my Princeton experience; it has colored the way I look at friendship, festivity, and frugality. Eating clubs will probably continue to be the dominant social and culinary apparatus at Princeton for the immediate future, with 77 percent of sophomores participating in bicker or sign-in.

But for those who didn’t join a club or those who find that the clubs are not all that they are hyped up to be — don’t fret. It’s okay to forge your own path; it’s okay to be independent.

Thomas Hikaru Clark is a senior in the computer science department. He can be reached at thclark@princeton.edu.

The Daily Princetonian

Wednesday February 28, 2018

Lewis: Conservative Christians now speak in the language of rights EVANGELICAL Continued from page 1

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and in many senses, what are the effects of this big change?”

For Lewis, the most important issue in the language of conservative politics is not same-sex marriage but “the politics of abortion.”

“The politics of abortion has been central to teaching conservative evangelicals about the value of rights politics,” Lewis said.

He argued for two major effects. First, abortion

has consistently focused on the language of human rights, on the “right to life.”

Yet evangelicals were slow to join Catholic antiabortion protest groups in the 1960s and 1970s, Lewis said. When evangelicals did get involved, they “tended to use the language of morality, not rights.”

“The data, qualitative and quantitative, shows that the language of human rights actually won out,” Lewis said.

Second, he argued, abortion “inf luences the way that evangelicals think about their values.”

According to Lewis, politicians use contentious issues like abortion to expand their reach into other issues.

“Abortion becomes the mechanism to engage in issues, whether that’s in health care or free speech or religious freedom,” Lewis said.

“This issue matters to [conservatives]. It’s stable.

It’s strong. If you look at data on other issues, it’s ranked pretty highly,” he added. “So it’s a good thing for leaders to tap into, and they do.”

The lecture, sponsored by the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions as part of the America’s Founding and Future series, was held in Lewis Library 120 on Wednesday, Feb. 27 at 4:30 p.m.

The next lecture in the series, “Speak Freely: Why Universities Must Defend Free Speech,” will be on

page 5

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Sports

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{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } MEN’S RUGBY

Men’s rugby aims for strong start to spring season against Georgetown

By Chris Murphy head sports editor

It has been nearly three months since the men’s rugby team last competed on the pitch. But this Friday, the long wait will finally be over, as the Tigers prepare to take on the Georgetown Hoyas in Princeton’s first match of the spring season.

Rugby remains one of the few sports on Princeton’s campus that plays both a fall and spring season. This means that the team has one of the shortest off-seasons on campus. With only two months separating the end of fall season and the preseason practices of the spring, the Tigers had no time to waste when it came to off-season preparation and conditioning.

“Led by our two captains, seniors Billy Haynes and Mark Goldstein, our team has worked hard over the winter,” commented head coach Richard Lopacki. “It’s been great to see good numbers at all our lifting and training sessions for the last few months.”

The spring season will mark the eighth and final season for a very strong senior class. Haynes and Goldstein have led the way as key players and captains over the last year. Additionally, the team hopes to see the return of seniors Nezim Mmegwa and Adrian Odunayo; both players have been core components of the Tiger teams these last few seasons and are looking to return from injuries sustained in the fall to close out their campaigns on a high note.

Many of the upperclassmen have been encouraged by the way the team has grown over the last few seasons as well as the rapid progress the team has made in this off-season alone.

“It’s been really rewarding to see how the team and program have evolved in just a

few short years,” noted Goldstein. “This has definitely been the most productive offseason we have had in my four years, and I am excited to see how that transfers over to the pitch this spring and beyond.

Some of the younger players still learning the game have progressed quickly this year and I’m looking forward to following their progress as an alum as well.”

The spring season serves as a unique opportunity for the Tigers to combine some of the older, more developed talent with underclassmen who have made tremendous strides during the fall and winter. This spring will be no different; the Tigers will be playing their A-side from the fall but will also be featuring some newer talent as well.

Lopacki stated, “Some of our newer players will be getting their very first A-side start on Friday night, and I’m really excited to see them in action against a top team.”

Friday night’s showdown against the Hoyas will be a chance for the Tigers to match up against another strong team from a different conference. With such a condensed schedule in the fall, Princeton usually doesn’t play nonconference opponents until the spring slate. Now, it will have a chance to pit its skills against one of the strongest teams from the Chesapeake Conference. The team will be looking to build off a strong ending to the fall season, when, despite losing many starters to injuries, it rattled off three wins in its final three matches. When asked about the fall season, Goldstein added, ”I think our team showed a tremendous amount of character in those last few games playing shorthanded, with a lot of younger guys stepping up into key roles.”

The spring season is loaded with key dates and matches

COURTESY OF JAMIE DENHAM ‘20

Lopacki: Some of our newer players will be getting their very first A-side start on Friday night.

for the Tigers. During the final months of the semester, the Tigers will take on Yale in the annual Koranda Cup showdown and will also be hosting the annual Rickerson Cup, which features some of the best teams from New Jersey and the surrounding area. In just a few weeks, the team will also be traveling to Ireland as part of its traditional spring break tour. The tour is a big highlight for all of the players and one of the capstones of each spring season. “We are all looking forward to our Ireland developmental tour over

spring break in Galway,” said Lopacki. “It will give us all an opportunity to build our skills and understanding of rugby in a country well known for its rugby prowess.”

For the seniors, the spring also offers a final chance to leave behind a legacy and reflect on how the team has grown over the past four years. Reflecting on his time as a player, Goldstein stated, “We really pride ourselves on being a fun and inclusive group, and I am proud that we have managed to continue that tradition while also be-

ing competitive on the pitch.”

He added, “There’s a lot I’m going to miss about Princeton ugby, but nothing more so than match days with the guys. Laying it on the line for 80 minutes as a team and celebrating together afterwards is a really special experience and I’m looking forward to making the most out of those days I have left as a senior.”

You can catch the Tigers in action this Friday at 7:30 p.m. against the Hoyas down at Finney and Cambell Field, right across from Jadwin Gymnasium.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Women’s basketball stays atop Ivy League standings with weekend split

COURTESY OF CHRIS MURPHY

Senior forward Leslie Robinson led the Tiger offense with 15 points.

By David Xin head sports editor

The women’s basketball team split its weekend

matches against Dartmouth and Harvard to maintain its top spot in the Ivy League standings. The Tigers defeated Big Green to start

Tweet of the Day In honor of me losing on Q4 on HQ on a daily basis, I’ll pose this trivia question: What is the only team in the nation to have 4 players in the top 25?

Princeton Hockey (@puhockey)

the weekend, but fell to the Crimson, ending their sevengame winning streak in the Ivy League. Despite the loss, Princeton still managed to secure a spot in the upcoming Ivy League tournament.

It must beat either Brown or Yale in one of its two upcoming games to enter as the top seed.

Princeton opened weekend play with a strong start against Big Green. Combining an efficient offense and tenacious defense, the Tigers built an early lead in the first quarter. The Tigers shot an impressive 58.2 percent from the field, a season best, which included some impressive shooting from beyond the arc early. While Dartmouth would come back to end the quarter 11–9, the Orange and Black would distance themselves in the second quarter.

An impressive 14–0 run put Princeton in control of the game. Hot shooting from three-point range proved crucial as the Tigers knocked down seven threes in just the first 20 minutes. With a 40–27 advantage heading into halftime, Princeton never looked back and secured a crucial away win that guaranteed them championship play. The Tigers went on to defeat Big Green 79–67.

Senior forward Leslie Robinson led the Tiger offense with 15 points, nine assists, and eight boards. Junior guard/forward Sydney Jordan added 14 points to the Princeton effort with a near perfect record, shooting seven of eight from the field.

The next day, as they headed into the game against Harvard, the Tigers knew they were in for a tough time. The

Stat of the Day

4 Number of Princeton Men’s Hockey players (Max Veronneau, Ryan Kuffner, David Hallisey, and Jackson Cressey) in the NCAA top 25 of points per game.

Crimson are 11–0 at home and had just beaten secondranked Penn. Princeton put up a strong effort, keeping the game close for the first half. The teams went back and forth through the beginning of the third period, but a 10–0 run by the Crimson gave it a 14-point advantage that would prove to be insurmountable.

The Crimson shot 51 percent from the field and, more impressively, 55.6 percent from three-point range. Harvard sank 10 three-pointers in its 72–58 victory.

The Tigers will face Brown this Friday and Yale on Saturday at home to end regular season play. A win against either team will give the Tigers the top spot in the tournament. Tipoff against Brown is 6:30 p.m. in Jadwin Gymnasium.

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