The Daily Princetonian: January 28, 2022

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Friday January 28, 2022 vol. CXLVI no. 1

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U. AFFAIRS

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University announces largest one-year increase in graduate student stipend Princeton failed

By Lia Opperman and Isabel Yip Assistant News Editors

The University will increase graduate student fellowship and stipend rates for the coming 2022–2023 academic year by an average of 25 percent to about $40,000 for doctoral candidates, according to a statement released by the Office of Communications on Jan. 25. The change is the University’s largest ever one-year increase in graduate student stipend rates.

The University guarantees funding for all students enrolled as degree-seeking Ph.D. candidates for all years of regular program enrollment. The funding is meant

Opinion

to cover tuition fees and serve as a base stipend to cover estimated living expenses.

“Our graduate students are engaged in important learning and research, and we do not want promising scholars in any discipline to decide not to pursue graduate study because of their personal financial situation,” Dean of the Graduate School Cole M. Crittenden said. “This is important in all cases, but it is especially important for students who may be the first in their family to attend college as well as for graduate students who may have dependents.”

For the 2022–2023 academic year, the 10-month stipend

me as a sexual assault survivor.

University policy needs to change.

rate will increase for those in all four of the school’s divisions: the natural sciences, engineering, humanities, and social sciences. For those in the natural sciences and engineering, the Assistantship in Research (AR) stipend will increase from $31,720 to $40,000, the Assistantship in Instruction (AI) stipend will increase from $34,800 to $42,000, and the University First-Year Fellowship will increase from $31,720 to $40,000.

For those in the humanities and social sciences, the Assistantship in Instruction (AI) stipend will increase from $34,800 to $42,000 and

Sadie

Anonymous Student

Content warning: The following guest op-ed contains descriptions of sexual assault.

Trembling with anticipation, my eyes darted across the phone screen as I tried to remember how to read. “Based on my initial assessment, I have determined that the alleged conduct, if substantiated by a preponderance of the evidence, would constitute Sexual Assault under the University Sexual Misconduct policy.

However, pursuant to section IV of the University Sexual Misconduct policy, given that the Respondent is no longer enrolled at the University, your formal complaint is being dismissed.”

See STIPEND page 3

JON ORT / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

The Graduate College, with Cleveland Tower.

The words failed to sink in. I read the section again, and then again, before a vague meaning began to coalesce: after the excruciating process of reporting my sexual assault, my case was being dismissed by the University. Despite categorizing my allegation as a violation, Princeton refused to investigate because my perpetrator had already graduated.

Filing a report had been my desperate attempt at feeling safe on my own campus. A hearing was the only avenue available to me to have my perpetrator banned from University grounds until I graduated. I simply wished to walk to class without fearing that I might see him on one of his campus visits. To meal swap with classmates withSee SURVIVOR page 10

U. AFFAIRS

Seminary ‘disassociates’ chapel Centering ourselves: from Samuel Miller amid We have so much beautiful time protest by Association of Black Seminarians THE PROSPECT

By Mollika Jai Singh

Associate Opinion Editor

Olivia Gatwood is my favorite slam poet — and probably the only one I can name who doesn’t attend Princeton. My favorite poem of hers is “Alternate Universe in Which I Am Unfazed by the Men Who Do Not Love Me.” In the last line, Gatwood sums up her experience in this alternate universe: “I have so much beautiful time.”

Instead of, say, asking all her friends for advice or writing a self essay about it at three in the morning, alt-universeGatwood handles nonre-

ciprocal and unresponsive lovers like this: “While the boy isn’t calling back, I learn carpentry, build a desk, write a book at the desk. I taught myself to come from counting ceiling tiles.”

And, yeah, there is a boy who isn’t texting me back.

But that’s not all by which I am fazed. It never is.

Other people who do not love me If you look up this poem, you’ll find it transcribed on genius.com, which is generally reliable. But Genius will See CENTERING page 14

By Katherine Dailey Head News Editor

The Princeton Theological Seminary (PTS) announced that its main chapel will no longer bear Samuel Miller’s name after a unanimous vote on Jan. 25 by the PTS Board of Trustees, just over a week after a demonstration held on Jan. 18 by the Association of Black Seminarians (ABS) at PTS asking trustees to remove Miller’s name.

Miller, who served as the second professor of PTS from 1813 to 1849 and helped found the institution, owned slaves and was an opponent of abolition movements, according to The Princeton Seminary Slavery Audit Report. The name change comes after

extensive activism by seminary students — including a petition submitted to the Board of Trustees, some students fasting, and refusal by some students to attend chapel service until the name was changed.

The statement from the PTS Board of Trustees states, “This decision to disassociate the name Samuel Miller from the chapel is another step in Princeton Theological Seminary’s earnest commitment to greater equity, including reformation and repair of yesterday’s wrongs.”

The statement also references other changes previously implemented by the Seminary, including the renaming of the Seminary Library for Theodore Sedg-

wick Wright, the first African American graduate of the Seminary.

On Wednesday, Jan. 26, students gathered in front of the chapel, which will now be named Seminary Chapel, to react to the decision. Rev. Tamesha Mills, who serves as Moderator of the ABS, told the crowd, “Our hearts are glad today, knowing that we won’t ever have to worship in a space named after Samuel Miller.”

“We both celebrate the Board of Trustees harkening to our loud voices, and making a sound and historic decision to remove Samuel Miller’s name from this chapel,” said Candace Lovelace, the Vice Moderator of the ABS. See ABS page 4

T H I S W E E K I N F E AT U R E S | PAG E 1 3

Inside the Princeton University Band… and their plastic Santa

Adorned in flamboyant plaid orange and black suits, topped with their characteristic boaters, the Princeton University Band is not hard to spot on Princeton’s campus.

MOLLIKA JAI SINGH / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

This Week on Campus

WORKSHOP | INTRODUCTION TO R FOR POLICY: REPRODUCING BERTRAND AND MULLAINATHAN (2004), RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IN THE LABOR MARKET MONDAY, JAN. 31 @ 2 P.M., ZOOM

An opportunity to gain hands-on experience working with R, with no prior experience required.

ARTS | STUDENT-LED BALLET FOR ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS

TUESDAY, FEB. 1 @ 7:30 P.M., MURPHY DANCE STUDIO An opportunity for students to learn ballet in a casual environment, with snacks!

SPORTS | WOMEN’S ICE HOCKEY VS. CORNELL

FRIDAY, JAN. 28 @ 6 P.M., HOBEY BAKER RINK Women’s Ice Hockey faces off against Cornell.

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The Daily Princetonian

Friday January 28, 2022

ON CAMPUS

Olympian Allyson Felix discusses career, advocacy at Wintersession ‘Beyond the Resume’ event

By Naomi Hess

News Editor Emerita

Olympic gold medalist Allyson Felix gave the “Beyond the Resume” keynote speech at Princeton’s second annual Wintersession on Saturday, Jan. 22.

She spoke in conversation with Athletic Director John Mack ’00 at the event, which was co-sponsored by Princeton Athletics.

During her talk, Felix encouraged students to follow their passions and persist in the face of adversity.

“Sometimes you feel like you’re standing still, like you’re putting all this work in but you’re never seeing the result,” she said.

“I think a lot of times we feel that way, but really understand that you do have to have that patience and you do have to have that commitment and see something long-term and see it through.”

Felix is the most decorated track and field Olympian in U.S. history. She has won 11 medals at five consecutive Olympics from 2004–2020, including seven gold medals in races such as the 200-meter, 4x400-meter relay, and 4x100-meter relay. She also advocates for women’s pay equity and maternal health.

Director for Wintersession and Campus Engagement Judy Jarvis commended Felix for her accomplishments and advocacy in an email to The Daily Princetonian.

“We sought Allyson Felix to be the speaker at the Wintersession annual Beyond the Resume keynote talk because she is an incredibly talented athlete, businessperson and activist,” she wrote. “There is so much for us to learn from someone as dynamic and multifaceted as [Felix].”

“Yes, Allyson Felix has a dominant track and field resume, but she’s also decided to use her platform to advocate for so many important issues—from maternal

and infant health to equitable payment for women athletes and more,” Jarvis continued.

At her first Olympic Games in 2004, Felix won a silver medal in the 200-meter race. She waited for the opportunity to try again for an individual gold in the 2008 games, only to get a silver medal once again. Felix discussed how she realized the importance of failure in creating room for growth.

“I wish that I had known at a younger age that there’s a lesson to learn, like in every defeat, there’s something that I could get better from, and then you move forward, you don’t stay there,” she said at the event. “There is a way to demand more of myself and to get better and then also learning just to deal with defeat and that’s a part of life.

Sometimes you give 100 percent and you still fall short, and that’s okay.”

According to Felix, the 2020 Olympics were the most memorable for her out of her five Olympics because these were her first since she gave birth to her daughter, Camryn, in 2018 after a pregnancy full of difficulties related to her health and her career. After the birth of her daughter, Nike attempted to pay Felix 70 percent less than before her pregnancy for her sponsorship, sparking her to continue to advocate for more equitable pay.

Her advocacy led to public outcry and Congressional testimony, contributing to Nike ending their policies that discriminated against pregnant women.

“It was the first time that I felt like a representation for other people, for women, for mothers, and knowing that I was representing them, it gave me a whole different sense of motivation.”

Motherhood is often a taboo topic in the athletic world, according to Felix.

ASHLEY FAN / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Felix talking with John Mack ’00 at the Beyond the Resume Wintersession keynote speaker event.

“In my sport, I never saw a mother who was celebrated, who had a child and yet came back to compete. It wasn’t that it wasn’t happening, because it was, but these women, their stories weren’t being told,” Felix said.

Felix told stories of female athletes who would hide their pregnancies and attempt to secure new sponsorships, and other athletes whose contracts would be paused completely during their pregnancy.

“I feel like it’s a privilege to be able to speak for my community, to be able to fight on behalf of other people who might not have a voice or the platform. To me, it’s an honor to be able to do so and I feel like I do want to be responsible with what I have,” she said.

One student asked Felix how she balances taking time for herself with striving to achieve her goals. Felix emphasized the importance of self-care in helping her rejuvenate and recover throughout her career.

“Some of the most important training days are days when I’m resting. My body is gonna gain

so much more from being able to recover than continuing to build on and just be burned out,” she said.

Felix also launched her own women’s footwear company, Saysh, in 2021.

She closed out the talk with a message of gratitude for the opportunity to talk to the Princeton community.

“It’s just been really nice to talk with all of you guys and to connect,” she said. “You guys have such great futures and I feel really just honored to be able to share my own experiences with you because I know that you’re gonna go on to do great things.”

Students enjoyed hearing about Felix’s journey. Stephanie Yen ’24 had admired Felix ever since she heard about her from a childhood friend who ran track.

When she found out Felix was coming to Princeton, she excitedly told her friend and knew she had to attend the talk.

“I thought it was really exciting because obviously, Allyson Felix is a huge Olympic celebrity and then I was really interested

in just hearing her talk in a more casual setting,” Yen said in an interview with the ‘Prince’.

Yen appreciated how Felix’s accomplishments spanned both athletics and advocacy.

“It’s just interesting thinking about Allyson Felix as more than an athlete and all the other causes that she is passionate about,” Yen said. “I think it’s just really respectable and inspiring that she is also such a role model for female athletes and others.”

More than 300 undergraduate students, graduate students, and staff members registered for the event on MyPrincetonU, and 150 people attended, according to Jarvis. The talk was held from 6:00–7:00 p.m. on Jan. 22 in Richardson Auditorium.

The ‘Prince’ was unable to get in contact with Felix by the time of publication.

Naomi Hess is a news editor emerita who focuses on University policy and alumni affairs. She can be reached at nihess@princeton.edu or on Twitter at @NaomiHess17.

HEADLINE FROM HISTORY

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WOMEN VOTERS TO PRESENT PLAY ON LAW REFORM IN MURRAY-DODGE JAN. 28, 1937

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The Daily Princetonian

Friday January 28, 2022

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the University Fellowship will increase from $30,475 to $38,000.

The increase was recommended by the Priorities Committee and approved by the Board of Trustees in a meeting this past week.

It will be funded through a combination of sources, including central budget funds supported by the University’s endowment.

“Stipends for graduate students have increased at an average annual rate of 3 percent for more than 20 years at Princeton,” Crittenden said in an email sent to graduate students obtained by The Daily Princetonian. The stipend for the upcoming academic year

will have an almost 20 percent higher increase as compared to the previous year.

“These increases in stipend rates will ensure that Princeton continues to attract and retain the very best candidates for graduate study, regardless of background,” Crittenden said.

The University’s new stipends are comparable to other universities like Stanford University, where a Graduate Fellowship in Science and Engineering — a stipend available by nomination — offers an annual $49,640.

At Yale University, Ph.D. students receive a fellowship of $45,700 and a 12-month stipend of a minimum of $33,600 for 2021–2022.

Members of Princeton’s Graduate Student Union (PGSU) voiced support for the

increase, but also speculated about what factors may have possibly pushed the University to make the change.

“This is of course great news as the cost of living in Princeton is very high, and the additional support will definitely help grad students cover our expenses,” Tim Alberdingk Thijm GS said in an email to the ‘Prince.’ “I think the timing of the decision is also very notable: Columbia’s student worker union just won a tentative agreement only two weeks ago and boosted their own stipends into the 40k range, plus all the other union activity at Harvard, NYU, and MIT in the last year.”

“If a grad union 50 miles away can scare our admin into a 25% raise, imagine what a union on campus could do,”

tweeted @PrincetonGSU. Gaby Nair GS expressed a similar sentiment in an email to the ‘Prince.’

“This announcement comes during graduate student recruitment season, at a time when people are deciding where to go to graduate school — and Princeton clearly sees that it couldn’t compete with unionized workplaces unless they raised our pay,” Nair said.

At Columbia University, the Student Workers of Columbia (SWC) union spent 10 weeks on strike while in pursuit of higher wages to accommodate the cost of living in New York City and improved health benefits. On Jan. 6, the SWC and Columbia University came to a tentative agreement to implement retroactive compensation in-

creases of a minimum of four percent.

Graduate students at Harvard University have also recently negotiated for higher compensation, culminating with a three-day strike in October 2021.

Lia Opperman is an Assistant News Editor who often covers University affairs, student life, and local news. She can be reached at liaopperman@ princeton.edu, on Instagram @ liamariaaaa, or on Twitter @ oppermanlia.

Isabel Yip is an Assistant News Editor who typically covers University Affairs and student life.

She can be reached at isabelyip@ princeton.edu or on Instagram at @isaayip.

U. AFFAIRS

University to allow all upperclassmen to remain in their residential colleges, regardless of dining affiliations

By Andrew Somerville Head News Editor

All undergraduate students will have the option to live in their residential colleges for all four years, according to an email sent to all undergraduate students from Dean of the College Jill Dolan and Vice President for Campus Life W. Rochelle Calhoun.

The Council of College Heads (COCH), which includes the faculty heads of each of the six residential colleges, sent the memo to all students on Monday, Jan. 24.

In order to “further [the] commitment to creating continuous livinglearning communities for all undergraduates,” the memo states that all juniors and seniors will have the option to continue to live in their assigned residential colleges after sophomore year, a new precedent beginning in the fall of 2022. Additionally, every residential college will reserve rooms for junior and senior students who wish to stay.

Students who choose to remain in their residential college as upperclassmen are not required to purchase board plans, “but may do so if they wish.”

This means that students who seek to join eating clubs as upperclassmen

may remain in their residential colleges without purchasing a shared meal plan.

“The only meal plans that will be available for purchase by upperclassmen will be the Unlimited or Block 105 plans,” Deputy Spokesperson for the University Michael Hotchkiss said in an email to The Daily Princetonian.

Prior to this announcement, only students living in Butler, Mathey or Whitman colleges had the option to remain in their colleges for all four years, and students in First, Forbes, or Rockefeller had to change their residential college affiliation to remain in the residential college system.

According to the memo, “this shift disrupted students’ continuity of community and advising support.”

However, the memo also states that undergraduate students who choose to live outside of their college in unaffiliated upperclassmen housing will still remain affiliated with their residential college.

“The long-term goal of the program is to ensure continuity of residential community and advising resources,” the memo adds.

The newest residential colleges, New College East

THE MINI CROSSWORD

By Gabriel Robare Head Puzzles Editor

MINI #1

(NCE) and New College West (NCW), will be expected to be completely constructed and open for students to live in the fall of 2022.

“For the spring 2022 room draw, First College rising sophomores will move into NCW,” the memo states. “A sophomore class for NCE will be drawn from rising sophomores from Rocky, Forbes, and Butler, who will be eli-

gible for the NCE housing draw.”

Maya Jaaskelainen ’24, a resident of First College, says she is excited about the new facilities in NCW. “Some of the buildings in First are getting old, so I’m excited to have newer facilities,” she said in an interview with the ‘Prince’.

Additionally, rising juniors and seniors will be able to draw into the NCE,

but will have priority for their current residential college affiliation. Rising juniors and seniors in First college will have priority in NCW, according to the memo.

Andrew Somerville is a Head News Editor who has covered USG, University and COVID-related affairs. He can be reached at jas19@ princeton.edu or on Twitter @andr3wsom

CANDACE DO / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Cottage Club, one of the eating clubs at Princeton.

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PROSPECT

The Alchemist: Finding comfort in the unknown NEWS

ACROSS 1 With 2-Down, 2011 Beyoncé hit with four key changes 5 ___ Montoya, swordsman in “The Princess Bride” 7 Animal that often carries a “favorite rock” 8 Like Odin 9 I like your ___ (“Fantastic Mr. Fox” line that became a famous TikTok sound in 2021) DOWN 1 2 3 4 5

Members of a pride parade?

See 1-Across In ___ Discharge They’re found in veins

See page 6 for more

University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel ’79 fired for inappropriate relationship OPINION

Reactions: Princeton opens gingerly as COVID-19 spreads

The Daily Princetonian

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Friday January 28, 2022

Barnes: In part, it was a response to the thoughtful petition and leadership of the Association of Black Seminarians ABS

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Lovelace added that the removal of the name marked “a new day dawn[ing] over this chapel.”

Seminary President M. Craig Barnes also spoke at the event. “[The Board of Trustees] chose the term ‘disassociate’ intentionally. We cannot remove Samuel Miller from our history, nor are we attempting to. That’s part of our story,” Barnes said, going on to reference a historical audit, commissioned in 2016, which led to the approval of reparations by PTS for its role in upholding the institution of slavery after student protests.

Along with the renaming of the chapel, Barnes announced the creation of a Board Task Force, which will be made up of trustees, students, alumni, faculty, and administrators, who will work to develop “guiding principles for making decisions regarding names and other honors on our buildings and other objects of.”

Barnes also spoke on the reasons that he believed the Board of Trustees voted to remove Miller’s name.

“In part, it was a response

to the thoughtful petition and leadership of the Association of Black Seminarians,” he said. “But also, the many students of this campus, who reached across racial lines, language lines, theological and denominational lines, to join ABS in making this petition with them.”

At the event, one of two external signs bearing Miller’s name was removed by Mills and other ABS members.

The other sign, according to Barnes, will be removed by tomorrow morning, and signs inside the chapel will be removed soon after.

“We know the physical removal of Miller’s name from the chapel is just the first step,” Mills added. “There is still healing that needs to take place on this campus.

There are still remnants of slavery and racism that persist.”

Mills also emphasized the role of student activism in the removal of Miller’s name, saying, “The board voted on this decision. But if it wasn’t for the demands of ABS it would not have happened.

The board voted on this decision. But if it wasn’t for the persistence of co-laborers on this campus, this would not have happened.”

In a prayer led by PTS Korean Student Association

KATHERINE DAILEY / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Rev. Tamesha Mills speaks on the steps of the Seminary Chapel after the removal of Samuel Miller’s name.

(KSA) member Linda Kwak, first read in Korean and then in English, Kwak echoed these sentiments.

“We are thankful that some of the pain that has been afflicted in this body of Christ was alleviated. Yet we know that the work is not yet done,” she said.

Amanda Calderon, a member of El Conjunto, the Latinx student group at PTS, also said a prayer at the event, first in Spanish and then in English.

Mills also thanked other student organizations at

PTS, like the Anti-Racist Coalition, El Conjunto, the KSA, the Women’s Center, the Asian Association of PTS, the Gender and Sexuality Association for Seminarians, the Student Government Association Executive Board, the International Students Association, and Seminarians for Peace and Justice, as well as the Lutheran and Presbyterian groups on campus.

The event closed with a benediction by co-Social Justice Chairs of the ABS Laphon Flood-Francis and Do-

navan Pinner. PTS student Otis Byrd, Jr. led the singing of hymns throughout the event.

The event was held at 5 p.m. on the steps of the chapel to a crowd of about 40 people, many of whom held signs in support of the renaming.

Katherine Dailey is a Head News Editor who often covers breaking news, politics, and University affairs. She can be reached at kdailey@princeton. edu or on Twitter at @kmdailey7.

STUDENT LIFE

Princeton international students react to Biden announcement on STEM visa expansions

By Tara Agarwal

News Staff Writer

On Jan. 21, President Biden’s administration announced immigration policy and visa changes intended to attract and retain international students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the inclusion of 22 new disciplines in the Optional Practical Training (OPT) that permits students with F-1 visas earning bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees in specific disciplines to remain in the United States for as long as three years after graduation.

While the exact disciplines are yet to be released, the White House stated that “the added fields of study are primarily new multidisciplinary or emerging fields, and are

critical in attracting talent to support U.S. economic growth and technological competitiveness.”

According to the Davis International Center, F-1 visas are the most common for international students as “most students are eligible for an F-1 visa as long as they have been admitted to Princeton.”

In 2019, President Christopher Eisgruber ’83, along with several other New Jersey college presidents, wrote in a letter to the New Jersey Congressional delegation add ressing these concerns.

“Over the past several years, we have observed a disturbing increase in the number — and length — of impediments put in the path of our international students, faculty, and staff,” the letter read.

The revision of visa policies is expected to address some of these concerns.

“These actions will allow international

STEM talent to continue to make meaningful contributions to America’s scholarly, research and development, and innovation communities,” according to the White House statement.

International students across campus said in interview with The Daily Princetonian that they hope this announcement will positively impact the international student community.

Ronit Singhi ’25, who is studying at Princeton under an F-1 visa, said in an interview with the ‘Prince’ that he believes many international STEM students will welcome this change, “especially considering the particularly turbulent situation international students have had to navigate to continue studying abroad during the pandemic.” Singhi is a prospective physics concentrator from Jaipur, India.

Jenny Jiang ’25, a prospective economics student from Vancouver, Canada, said she thinks this change will attract more students to study in

the United States.

“Canada has been att racting more international students in their higher education institutions through favorable policy changes lately and I’m glad to see the U.S. taking steps in this direction,” she wrote in a message to the ‘Prince.’

Other international students emphasized that this announcement makes them hopeful for other areas of study as well.

“I hope this decision to attract more international students can also be expanded to students in the humanities,“ Gustavo Andre Blanco-Quiroga ’25 said. “The U.S. has one of the best systems of education and beyond but it must be accessible to all students.” Blanco-Quiroga is from Oruro, Bolivia.

The international student population in the United States decreased by 15 percent between fall 2019 and fall 2020, and the number of incoming students decreased by more than 40 percent.

The Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs also released

new guidance allowing for undergraduate and graduate STEM students with J-1 visas to participate in “additional academic training” or work in the United States for up to 36 months. J-1 visas are used for students in specific exchange programs or are funded by their state department for their study at Princeton, among other specific cases.

This is expected to serve as an alternative to the H-1B visa necessary for international students continuing to work in the United States. The H-1B visa, historically, is given to only a small proportion of all applicants.

The Biden administration further revised immigration policy surrounding the “extraordinary ability” (O1A) nonimmigrant status allocated to individuals who demonstrate prowess in science, business, education, or athletics such as Ph.D.s in STEM fields.

Tara Agarwal is a news staff writer for the ‘Prince.’

She can be reached at ta3150@princeton.edu.

CANDACE DO / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Davis International Center.

The Daily Princetonian

Friday January 28, 2022

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U. AFFAIRS

New study conducted by Princeton bioengineers holds promise for future artificial lung synthesis

By Mahya Fazel-Zarandi News Staff Writer

A team of Princeton University researchers recently elucidated the mechanisms involved in lung development using brown anole lizards as a model organism. Their developments represent a huge step towards the team’s continuing research surrounding lung tissue engineering and advancements.

In a study titled “Stress ball morphogenesis: How the lizard builds its lung,” published in the Dec. 22 issue of Science Advances, the research team outlines how the lizard breathes with elegant simplicity. Among biology’s most common themes is that of form and function: that the structure of an organism dictates its intended purpose. Morphogenesis is the process that causes the shape of a tissue or an organ to develop to serve its function. While scientists have known about the function of the lungs of lizards, the biological and physical basis of its morphogenesis have never been studied in detail.

In their effort to better understand morphogenesis, the team of researchers traveled to Florida to catch the brown anole lizards and create a suitable habitat system for the lizards to survive in Princeton. The team chose the brown anole lizard to focus on since the organism develops its lungs at a mindblowingly fast rate — over a two-day period. Another major reason for the selection of the lizard was its simple lungs; they are composed of only two bags that have a bumpy surface, where oxygen exchange happens.

The developing lizard lung starts as a single hollow tube and inflates to a rounded balloon-like shape. As the ex-

pansion is happening, a stiff tissue called smooth muscle wraps around the outside of the big balloon and forms a barrier. As a result, once the balloon is expanding outward, it encounters a “mesh” of smooth muscle. The balloon then grows through the gaps in that mesh because it cannot grow where the mesh itself is. That balloon forms the unique corrugated structure of the lizard lung.

This knowledge has significant transferability to humans. In fact, it lays the framework for artificial lung synthesis by mirroring an already existing natural phenomenon.

“My team is really interested in trying to come up with ways to build lungs for tissue engineering purposes,” said Celeste Nelson, the Wilke Family Professor in Bioengineering and the study’s principal investigator.

Her fascination with lungs is rooted in a personal story from her childhood.

“My grandfather only had one lung,” Nelson explained.

“He lost a lung after serving in the military.”

As a kid, Nelson said she found it strange how her grandfather could still survive with one lung while not being able to do more intense physical activities, like running around.

When graduate student Michael Palmer GS ’21 joined Nelson’s lab, he had a strong interest in evolutionary biology and differences in tissue structure across different classes of vertebrates. His focus: chicken and lizard lungs.

“I am interested in studying diverse lung structures in order to better understand what’s possible within the field of lung development,” said Palmer, who earned his Ph.D. in Chemical and Biological Engineering.

PHOTO COURTESY: CELESTE NELSON

The team deviated from convention in their approach, inspired by the evolutionary similarities across different species, especially as it pertains to the structure of the lung.

In addition to outlining the process of lung development in lizards, the research team also tested the physical nature of the process using a computational model.

The model was developed in collaboration with the lab of Andrej Košmrlj, Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

In the end, using their findings of how the lizard forms its lung and the computational model that they had developed, the team was able to produce a model of the lizard lung system that works outside of the living organism. To model the balloonlike structure, they used Ecoflex, thin silicone elastomer

sheets which are commonly used in the film industry. The team was challenged to find a material with roughly the same mechanical properties as the developing lizard lung.

Once the team succeeded at overcoming this challenge, they then 3D-printed muscle cells on top of that structure in a mesh pattern, similar to what smooth muscle looks like in the developing lung.

And there it was: a physical model of the lung similar to the one found in the living anole lizard.

“What I think is the most exciting part about this project is just that it combines so many different aspects of biology and engineering,” said Palmer. “On the one side, you have the pure developmental biology trying to understand how the structure forms and then we coupled that with computer-based simulations to better understand the physics. Finally, we used

bioengineering to create a system that recapitulates the biology, but in a laboratory setting.”

“So many fields intersecting,” Palmer added.

Nelson reflected on the increased relevancy of the team’s work amid the pandemic.

“Since we’re in the middle of a pandemic, I think most of us are paying more attention to our lungs now. Before, they were rather unappreciated, despite being these fascinating structures,” said Nelson.

Her lab’s ultimate goal, which Nelson anticipates will probably take 20 or more years, is to build a fully-functioning lung inspired by nature.

Mahya Fazel-Zarandi is a staff writer for the ‘Prince.’ She can be reached by email at mahyaf@ princeton.edu or on Twitter @ MahyaFazel.

U. AFFAIRS

Eating clubs prepare for partially in-person Street Week

By Annie Rupertus News Staff Writer

Princeton’s eating clubs will offer bickerees a variety of in-person and virtual options for this spring’s Street Week amid a return to campus marked by developing regulations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recruitment events are set to begin on Tuesday, Jan. 25, even as the University’s 20-person capacity restriction has been extended until at least Feb. 15.

“In light of current circumstances, we will be taking a hybrid approach to Street Week,” Interclub Council (ICC) President Schuyler Kean ’22 wrote in an email to the Class of 2023 on Thursday, Jan. 20.

“By offering a combination of in-person and virtual components, we aim to provide an experience that

everyone can participate in equitably given the current guidelines and personal comfort levels around COVID-19.”

Kean’s email also referred students to the ICC website for further eventspecific details.

“We are currently working to plan a hybrid Bicker,” Tower Club President Savannah Hampton ’22, who also serves as ICC Vice President, wrote in an email to The Daily Princetonian. “Our plans work to follow University COVID guidance with an emphasis on community health while also prioritizing the importance of an in-person Bicker for bickeree/member experience.”

In an email to club officers seen by the ‘Prince,’ Tiger Inn (TI) Vice President and Bicker Chair Demetra Yancopoulos ’22 also em-

phasized the importance of in-person Bicker both for prospective members looking to gain an understanding of the club environment and for club members hoping to determine which bickerees are the best fit for the club.

Potential bickeree Dariya Brann ’24 said she’s grateful for the opportunity to participate in Bicker in person.

“I’m glad we’re getting even a part of it in person,“ she said. “I would have been really disappointed if it was all virtual and I know my friends feel the same way. But I’ve also heard from some juniors that bickered last year that virtual bicker wasn’t too bad, so I guess it would have been okay either way.”

TI plans to host in-person Bicker with a maximum of 20 people in a room at a

JON ORT / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Eating clubs line Prospect Avenue.

time, in accordance with University guidelines, though Yancopoulos noted in the email the club’s commitment to accommodating those “who would prefer to be outdoors, off the TI premises, or fully remote during bicker.”

Presidents of Bicker clubs Cap and Gown Club, Cottage Club, and Ivy Club did not respond to requests for comment. Cannon Dial Elm Club President David Hoffman ’22 responded to a ‘Prince’ comment request with a partial transcript of the film Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2.

Charter Club Vice President Caroline Kirby ’23 laid out a plan for in-person events in an email to undergraduates on Friday, Jan. 21, including outdoor events and masked, smallgroup indoor gatherings with virtual options available. The email also noted that outdoor events require a negative COVID-19 test within the last 48 hours.

Charter utilizes “selective sign-in,” according to its recruitment website.

The remainder of the sign-in clubs — Cloister Inn, Colonial Club, Quadrangle Club (Quad), and Terrace Club — will each host a range of events throughout Street Week for potential members. Presidents of all four clubs did not respond to requests for comment from the ‘Prince.’

Cloister Vice President Hadley Clayton ’23 shared in an email to undergraduates on Thursday, Jan. 20 that Cloister will offer a combination of outdoor events, Zoom events, and indoor events in small pods.

“Space is limited due to COVID restrictions so sign up as soon as you can,” she

wrote.

Colonial’s Activities Chair Ryan Cho ’23 sent an email to undergraduates on Sunday, Jan. 23 with sign-up links to their upcoming events, which include some that are in person with limited capacity.

Quad will host events in a variety of formats as well, according to an email sent to undergraduates

by President Juan Nova ’23 on Wednesday, Jan. 19.

One event in particular requires prior registration, while another offers both in-person and virtual options.

An email sent to undergraduates on Saturday, Jan. 22 by Brendan Zelikman ’23, Terrace’s social chair, advertised the start of Terrace’s Street Week, with the first event on Sunday, Jan. 23 requiring a negative COVID-19 test “per University protocol.” The club’s following five events will all be hybrid or virtual, with the exception of in-person house tours.

According to the ICC website, bicker registration will be available from Sunday, Jan. 23 at 12 p.m. through Saturday, Jan. 29 at 11:59 p.m. According to an email to the Class of 2024, prospective members will have the opportunity to rank clubs between Tuesday, Feb. 1 at 8 p.m. and Thursday, Feb. 3 at 8 p.m., with club placements to be released at 10 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 4.

Annie Rupertus is a firstyear from Philadelphia and a News Staff Writer who covers Undergraduate Student Government for the ‘Prince.’

She can be reached at arupertus@princeton.edu or @annierupertus on Instagram and Twitter.

The Daily Princetonian

page 6

T his Week in Photos

Friday January 28, 2022

By Candace Do and Abby de Riel Head Photo Editor and Staff Photographer

A busy dinner at Whitman dining hall Sunday night before the first day of classes.

People gather outside Labyrinth Books, where many students are buying their books during the beginning of the term.

On the eve of the first day of classes, dining options remain grab-and-go, leaving dining halls roped off and empty.

Night descends on the Whitman College courtyard on the eve of the first day of classes.

A quiet walk near Whitman College as the spring semester begins.

The Daily Princetonian

Friday January 28, 2022

page 7

“Stocking Up”

By Juliet Corless Associate Puzzles Editor

ACROSS

1 Chuck ___ of “Gossip Girl” 5 Dangerous toy 10 ___ Lee of Marvel Comics 14 Majorca, por ejemplo 15 Whiteboard reset 16 Headlight?

17 “I mean, sure” 18 What Jesus walked on in the Bible 19 Classroom Apple 20 Audio saving device 23 “Cheerleader” artist 24 Ginger ___ 25 French gratitude 29 Slim-fitting suit part, perhaps 34 Pen name?

35 Puzzle starting points, often 36 Motel alternative 37 Sty sound 38 Book type 42 Yearbook memo: Abbr.

45 Sort 46 Heavy reading 50 Versatile card in blackjack 51 Martial arts move 54 Filet, for example 56 Devils’ org.

57 Most commonly used English word, on a car 58 What September means ... and a hint to 20-, 29-, 38- and 51-Across 63 Wound sign

66 67 68 69 70

Absorb, say “Be that ___ may” Glass part “Coffee ___?”

Valentine phrase, with “be” 71 “The ___” (“How to Save a Life” band) 72 Understand 73 Roman Cath. title 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 21 22 26 27 28

DOWN

Habitat Embarrassed Like an inclined plane “For Pete’s ___” Cordial goodbye Teeth straighteners Cat in Caracas ___-friendly Pi Day celebrant, perhaps Hobbit homeland What 24-Across can be found on ___ mode Nonverbal greeting Mrs. Gorbachev CPR administrator Diamond stat The Reds, on scoreboards Turn-off

40 41 42 43 44 47 48 49 51

Inventor Whitney Copy keystroke Possesses Standardized college entrance exam “___ whiz!”

Cell division Resounding Helter ___ Jamaican music genre

52 53 55 59 60 61 62 63 64

Sleep signs Zinger response The Beatles’ “___ Road” John’s problem?

Curry coach “See ya soon!”

Soccer’s Mia Sunscreen inits.

Saturn or Mercury, but not Neptune 65 Santa ___

30 Bi- or tri- follower 31 Starfleet’s George and James 32 Having five sharps 33 Messenger molecule 37 “Fine, I’ll do it!”

39 Insta post HANNAH MITTLEMAN / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

MINI #2

ACROSS

1 I saved ___! What did you ever do? (classic Wes Anderson line) 6 I sure hope not 7 Squad

The Minis MINI #3

ACROSS

1 Pew research subject?

6 One might have a partner in it 7 Financial guru Suze 8 Is imminent 9 Resident of 123 Sesame Street

8 Spooky 9 Musical based on the opera “La Bohème”

DOWN

DOWN

1 Artist who rapped “Only thing worse than death is a regret-filled coffin”

1 Certian winter-olympics athlete 2 What “it” and “do” don’t do

2 404 Not Found, e.g.

3 þ

4 Savory

4 Language from which “kayak” comes

5 Something “common” that doesn’t always feel so common

5 Fuhgeddaboutit

3 Who says?

By Gabriel Robare Head Puzzles Editor

Scan to check your answers and try more of our puzzles online!

Friday January 28, 2022

Opinion

page 8

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com }

Our commitment to in-person teaching Dean Cole M. Crittenden, Dean Jill Dolan, and Dean Gene A. Jarrett Guest Contributors

The following is a guest contribution and reflects the authors’ views alone.

O

ver the last week, several undergraduate and graduate students have written to senior academic administrators and the medical staff at University Health Services (UHS) to express their concerns about the University’s decision to proceed with in-person teaching and learning as we begin the spring semester. Some have also signed a petition requesting remote options for teaching and learning throughout the full spring semester. We have heard these concerns and would like to use this space to respond and provide additional context around our commitment to maintaining inperson instruction for the spring.

This commitment is informed by the significant educational benefits associated with this mode of learning; the success we have already had over the fall semester with our mitigation efforts; and recommendations based on up-to-date modeling of infection rates that were made by the University’s public health team, which includes clinical and faculty experts. We have benefited from the fact that our spring semester starts later than most of our peers. Additionally, the University’s phased return of undergraduate students and staff following the winter break

has allowed us to begin the semester with confidence in our ability to support all students and faculty.

The petition submitted to us claimed that “fully vaccinated and boosted students on our campus have had severe infections that required emergency care.” In fact, in our two years of managing this pandemic, we are not aware of a single undergraduate or graduate student infected with COVID-19 and placed in isolation by Princeton’s Global and Community Health who has needed significant medical intervention, emergency care, or hospitalization for acute COVID-19. According to UHS, only one student over the past two years was sent to the emergency room for COVID-19, and that student was sent directly back to our campus for isolation, without any medical intervention.

The nurse practitioners at UHS follow every single Princeton student – undergraduate and graduate – who they know is isolating for COVID-19, whether that student is on our campus, in another state, or in another country.

We expect the increase in COVID-19 infections on our campus due to the omicron variant to be temporary. As we have already announced, faculty have full discretion to switch to remote formats of instruction temporarily if they must isolate or if a critical mass of students in a class they are teaching must isolate.

But in light of our vaccination and booster requirements, our masking requirements, and our

current twice-weekly testing requirements for all students, we continue to believe that our mitigation efforts are sufficient to continue with the in-person learning that is so central to our mission. To date, we have found no indications of on-campus spread of COVID-19 in environments where all present are appropriately masked.

We remain fully committed to residential, in-person teaching for all students this semester. At the same time, we will be following the data closely as the semester proceeds. As is always the case, students who have specific needs about which they would like to speak to a medical practitioner may reach out to UHS directly. The Office of Disability Services is similarly available to all students with questions about disability accommodations. Undergraduate students may also contact their residential college staff about any additional concerns; graduate students may be in touch with their departments and programs and with the Office of the Dean of the Graduate School.

Faculty with questions about inperson teaching and learning may reach out to the Office of the Dean of the Faculty.

We wish all members of the University community a successful start to the spring semester.

Cole M. Crittenden is the Acting Dean of the Graduate School. Jill Dolan is the Dean of the College. Gene A. Jarrett is the Dean of the Faculty.

Princeton’s commitment to inclusion must extend to athletics AJ Lonski

Guest Contributor

Content Warning: The following article contains descriptions of homophobia and sexism.

The following is a guest contribution and reflects the author’s views alone.

P

rinceton is supposed to be a place where everyone is welcome. People here frequently talk about their commitment to diversity and inclusion. That’s why, when I first committed to Princeton for varsity wrestling, I was ecstatic. But as it turns out, the commitment to diversity and inclusion often doesn’t extend to Princeton’s varsity sports teams. In order to ensure everyone feels welcome, that culture has to change.

I started wrestling at the age of seven. My father, a former Princeton wrestler, encouraged me to try the sport. I quickly fell in love with it and found myself competing in tournaments across the country. There’s a certain magic to competing on your own, without the added complexity of a field full of teammates.

But that magic was clouded by the culture of toxicity and intolerance that surrounded me throughout my wrestling career.

Growing up, my private coaches regularly used homophobic slurs to berate those who were not performing up to their standards. My high school teammates did the same. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I was scared to speak out — worried that the backlash would make an already brutal sport that much more difficult.

Even as a varsity captain of a nationally ranked program, I knew I could not approach the subject of the toxic culture without being made fun of by teammates and coaches alike and facing the risk of being outed. My teammates and coaches would often make up scenarios where an LGBTQ+ individual was discovered on the team — and how they would try to push them away from wrestling by any means possible. It felt like I had to choose between my passion and my identity.

That’s why wrestling at Princeton was such a dream come true.

My very conservative, private

Catholic high school had numerous nationally successful athletic programs, but intolerance and bigotry were espoused by both faculty and students. Princeton had both an excellent athletics program and many inclusive places on campus — such as the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center (GSRC). The thought of interacting with open-minded and kind people at Princeton kept me excited throughout my senior year of high school.

After arriving on campus, I realized that this was not the environment that I had envisioned — at least not on the wrestling team.

The first thing I noticed was the casual use of homophobic slurs, which only got worse when members of the team drank alcohol.

Moreover, constant jokes were made at the expense of minority group members of the team.

Women involved with the wrestling program were disparaged constantly.

The drinking culture became another point of exclusion. My freshman year, another freshman on the team voiced that they disliked drinking alcohol. The upperclassmen on the team never let him live it down. When I, myself, declined to drink the day after I had a moderate amount of alcohol, I was mocked mercilessly.

The emphasis placed on the “team culture,” of which alcohol was a major part, meant that my social interactions with the team were often forced and uncomfortable.

I often left events and gatherings early because of how anxious I felt.

One of the most salient memories I have from my time on the team occurred in the locker room, before practice. When an upperclassman was addressing the wrestling team, the topic of LGBTQ+ athletes came up. Rather than expressing acceptance, he stated, “The day that there is a gay person on this team is the day that the wrestling program has gone to s***.” Hearing that intolerant sentiment was heartbreaking, but not surprising.

Unfortunately, I faced direct discrimination as well. At Princeton, I have disability housing due to my sleeping disorder, anxiety disorder, and depression. When my teammates saw my Whitman single — they became fixated

on their belief that I “had lied” in order to receive better housing accommodations. Despite my protests, my teammates never acknowledged my disability. I felt distant, excluded and uncomfortable — just the things I had hoped Princeton would cure.

Most students have lots of choice when it comes to which communities they want to be a part of on campus. Athletes don’t — team culture is tight-knit.

When that culture is as exclusionary as my experience demonstrates, it becomes a straightjacket for athletes that break the norm. The culture can’t be blamed on any specific person — it’s the result of a collective lack of will to do better. Despite the overwhelming discomfort I felt each day at Princeton, I maintained my silence. I participated in a culture that disappointed me deeply.

After COVID-19 sent the Princeton population home in March 2020, I realized just how unhappy I had been on campus. So, I left the team at the end of July 2021. While I gave up the opportunity to compete for an excellent D1 athletic program, my mental health was more important.

This fall semester, my quality of life improved dramatically.

I found friends that care about my wellbeing and make me excited to get up every morning. I am so thankful for the inclusive and kind friend group that I have become a part of. Both individual faculty members and members of the GSRC and SHARE groups have helped improve my mental health beyond what I used to think was possible.

But athletic culture at Princeton remains an ongoing problem.

On the wrestling team, there have been steps in the right direction, including the creation of a women’s wrestling program. While I was ultimately not the person who could bring about the cultural change that the team so sorely needs, I am hopeful that in the future every Princeton athlete will have the benefit of an inclusive and understanding environment.

AJ Lonski is a junior from Franklin Lakes, N.J. concentrating in Neuroscience. He can be reached at alonski@ princeton.edu.

vol. cxlvi

editor-in-chief Marie-Rose Sheinerman ’23 business manager Benjamin Cai ’24

BOARD OF TRUSTEES president Thomas E. Weber ’89 vice president Craig Bloom ’88 second vice president David Baumgarten ’06 secretary Chanakya A. Sethi ’07 treasurer Douglas Widmann ’90 assistant treasurer Kavita Saini ’09

trustees Francesca Barber Kathleen Crown Suzanne Dance ’96 Gabriel Debenedetti ’12 Stephen Fuzesi ’00 Zachary A. Goldfarb ’05 Michael Grabell ’03 John G. Horan ’74 Rick Klein ’98 James T. MacGregor ’66 Julianne Escobedo Shepherd Abigail Williams ’14 Tyler Woulfe ’07 trustees ex officio Marie-Rose Sheinerman ’23 Benjamin Cai ’24

146TH MANAGING BOARD managing editors Omar Farah ’23 Tanvi Nibhanupudi ’23 Caitlin Limestahl ’23 Zachariah Wirtschafter Sippy ’23 Strategic initiative directors Accessibility Education Isabel Rodrigues ’23 Evelyn Doskoch ’23 José Pablo Fernández García ’23 Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Financial Stipend Program and Belonging Rooya Rahin ’23 Mollika Jai Singh ’24 Melat Bekele ’24 Sections listed in alphabetical order.

head cartoon editors Inci Karaaslan ’24 Ambri Ma ’24 associate cartoon editor Ariana Borromeo ’24 head copy editors Alexandra Hong ’23 Nathalie Verlinde ’24 associate copy editors Catie Parker ’23 Cecilia Zubler ’23 head web design and development editors Anika Maskara ’23 Brian Tieu ’23 associate web design and development editor Ananya Grover ’24 head graphics editors Ashley Chung ’23 Noreen Hosny ’25 instagram design editor Rowen Gesue ’24 print design editor Juliana Wojtenko ’23 head enterprise and investigation editor Evelyn Doskoch ’23 head data editor Sam Kagan ’24 head features editors Alex Gjaja ’23 Rachel Sturley ’23 associate features editor Sydney Eck ’23 head news editors Katherine Dailey ’24 Andrew Somerville ’24 associate news editors Kalena Blake ’24 Anika Buch ’24 Miguel Gracia-Zhang ’23 Sandeep Mangat ’24 newsletter editors Kareena Bhakta ’24 Amy Ciceu ’24 Aditi Desai ’24

head opinion editor Genrietta Churbanova ’24 columnist editor Kristal Grant ’24 community editor Rohit A. Narayanan ’24 associate opinion editors Won-Jae Chang ’24 Mollika Singh ’24 head photo editor Candace Do ’24 associate photo editor Angel Kuo ’24 Isabel Richardson ’24 head podcast editor Hope Perry ’23 associate podcast editors Jack Anderson ’23 Eden Teshome ’25 head prospect editors José Pablo Fernández García ’23 Aster Zhang ’24 associate prospect editors Molly Cutler ’23 Cathleen Weng ’24 head puzzles editors Gabriel Robare ’24 Owen Travis ’24 associate puzzles editors Juliet Corless ’24 Joah Macosko ’25 Cole Vandenberg ’24 head satire editor Claire Silberman ’23 associate satire editors Spencer Bauman ’25 Daniel Viorica ’25 head sports editors Wilson Conn ’25 Julia Nguyen ’24 associate sports editor Elizabeth Evanko ’23 associate video editors Daniel Drake ’24 Marko Petrovic ’24

146TH BUSINESS BOARD assistant business manager Shirley Ren ’24 business directors David Akpokiere ’24 Samantha Lee ’24 Ananya Parashar ’24 Gloria Wang ’24 project managers Anika Agarwal ’25

John Cardwell ’25 Jack Curtin ’25 Diya Dalia ’24 Jonathan Lee ’24 Juliana Li ’24 Emma Limor ’25 Justin Ong ’23 Xabier Sardina ’24 business associate Jasmine Zhang ’24

146TH TECHNOLOGY BOARD chief technology officer Pranav Avva ’24 lead software engineers Roma Bhattacharjee ’25 Joanna Tang ’24

software engineers Eugenie Choi ’24 Giao Vu Dinh ’24 Daniel Hu ’25 Dwaipayan Saha ’24 Kohei Sanno ’25

THIS PRINT ISSUE WAS DESIGNED BY Dimitar Chakarov ’24 Ariana Di Landro ’25 Brooke McCarthy ’25

Esha Mttal ’23 Annie Rupertus ‘25 Juliana Wojtenko ’23

AND COPIED BY

Tiffany Cao ’24 and Jason Luo ’25

Opinion

Friday January 28, 2022

page 9

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com }

Princeton students fail at self-governance Rohit Narayanan

Community Opinion Editor

T

elevision shows always seem to perpetuate a myth about Ivy League institutions as hotbeds of scheming, power-hungry students, when the reality is that most students spend their time here just trying to keep their heads above water. If a screenwriter wanted to include a Princeton Undergraduate Student Government (USG) election in a show, there would be campaigns, scandal, intrigue, maybe even murder. We’ve just finished a USG election. Most students probably couldn’t even tell you it happened.

Elections at this school are downright sleepy. They’re uncompetitive, non-substantive, and barely interesting enough to attract a glance from the average student. They serve to elevate the same types of people to office year after year. Even if we accept that USG representatives are generally qualified, the lack of a serious election puts a major dent in their ability and incentive to be as vocal in representing student opinion as they should be.

The same cycle seems to repeat itself over and over again.

A massive field of high school student council presidents with aesthetic posters and bland platforms throw themselves at the student body during election season of freshman year. A few win seats as Senators or members of Class Government and never face a seriously contested election again. Sure, sometimes two people within the Student Government community face off for a single seat, but if an outsider tries to challenge someone, they’re usually swiftly crushed.

It’s not because the insiders

have rigged the game to their own advantage. To continue winning, they don’t have to. The rules of campaigning are simply too limiting for an outsider to run a serious campaign. Candidates aren’t even supposed to mention their candidacy before the campaign period, which only lasts one week. They’re allowed to put up posters, but only small ones, scattered among the crumpled graveyard of announcements on lampposts that no one reads. For the privilege of emailing the student body, candidates must include a disclaimer at the bottom, giving students a platform to report if they’ve been assailed unsolicited by their possible elected representative — if, God forbid, that should happen. There was a debate between the two candidates for President last December, but few people watched, and little was done to highlight the differences between the candidates.

None of the USG’s election rules are bad in isolation. After all, no one — myself included — wants candidates to be filling up full bulletin boards or spamming the listservs endlessly. But together, they suck the energy out of the election — forcing candidates to run cookie-cutter, non-impactful campaigns. By going to such lengths to not annoy the student body, the USG guarantees that the student body won’t pay attention. They’re the rules of a middle school student council election — providing the facade of an election without providing for the contingency that anyone might have anything of much importance to say.

This all comes down to a fundamental debate about what the USG should be. The United States spent its founding years in a bitter debate about what the point of elections was. As envi-

sioned by George Washington and James Madison when they wrote the Constitution, elections are meant to choose the best people who will then make the decisions, not to shape the decisions themselves. But Thomas Jefferson had a different vision — one where elections do not just elevate the best people, but rather reflect a desire for certain principles.

In the first version of democracy, elections are dignified and meritocratic. The trains run on time. But the people become apathetic and the chasm between the governing and the governed grows. In the second version, elections are partisan and messy.

Qualified people are thrown out in favor of people who are loved only for their loyalty to a certain political philosophy. But, on the other hand, those elections genuinely reflect the dreams and desires of the people.

There is a fair argument that the US has veered too far in favor of the second version — representative but dysfunctional.

Perhaps we need to focus our elections more on electing people we trust and less on electing people we agree with. But the USG seems to have fully adopted the first version — effective, but aloof — which makes no sense.

The USG doesn’t have any trains to run. It is not supposed to be an efficient governing body. It is supposed to be, at its core, a union for students — a burning manifestation of student anger and desire. And for it to be that, we need more vibrant elections.

The USG can do a lot to bring about a more active election.

Instead of on Zoom or in a remote classroom, debates could be held in the middle of a dining hall. Candidates could be grilled by moderators on past errors of judgment and asked to debate

their policies with students who disagree with them. That means political parties, mudslinging, and the perpetual campaign. It means that the qualified candidates are sometimes going to lose to a student who promises to filibuster every meeting with administration by singing a song about divestment. But it’s worth it.

Things can’t go on like this.

Look at how the USG has dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Each round of regulations is made by the administration in a black box with no input from students whatsoever. As students vent their anger over the ever-changing regulations on social media and in the pages of the The Daily Princetonian, the USG’s job is to provide a platform for the legions of Princeton bureaucrats via a town hall after the decision has already been made. There are genuine divisions among the student body over pandemic regulations: some want us to loosen restric-

tions and others to tighten them up. Can we judge the popularity of those positions by their representation on Student Government? No, such issues wouldn’t even come up in an election.

I don’t want to say that the USG is ineffective. It isn’t. A lot gets done behind the scenes. If there was a way to preserve the USG’s non-turbulent leadership while also reviving the student voice, that would be ideal. But fundamentally, the student voice is more important than the Community Dining Program.

Princeton prides itself as an incubator for future leaders. What does it say about us if we can’t get interested in running our own school?

Rohit Narayanan is a sophomore electrical and computer engineer from McLean, Va. He is the Community Opinion Editor at the ‘Prince.’

You can ratio him on Twitter @Rohit_Narayanan or pitch him stories via email at rohitan@princeton. edu.

CAROLINE SHÜCKEL / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

USG Council members vote to confirm new committee members.

There is no outgrowing gun violence Rooya Rahin

Editorial Board Chair

Ana Blanco

Guest Contributor

Julia Elman

Guest Contributor

Content Warning: The following column contains descriptions of gun violence. To speak with Counseling and Psychological Services, please call (609) 258-3141.

The following is a guest contribution and reflects the authors’ views alone. For information on how to submit an article to the Opinion Section, click here.

I

n her recent column on gun violence, columnist Andi Grene remarked, “We are no longer K-12 students, and are therefore no longer the most common targets [of school shooters] … We are both too young and too old to find ourselves equipped with the necessary sense of urgency [to combat gun violence].” We agree that apathy towards gun violence must

be combatted, but Grene’s belief that college students are “too old” to feel the urgency of gun violence is reductive.

Given the current state of gun violence in the United States, we find it difficult to believe that any person could fully remove themselves from gun violence or its related trauma. We have to place the blame where it belongs: disillusionment due to a lack of action, desensitization to gun deaths, and collective trauma.

From homicides to unintentional shootings to suicides, an average of 316 people are shot every day in the United States. Gun violence affects some groups disproportionately: Black Americans are more likely to be victims of gun violence than white Americans. Additionally, Black Americans are three times more likely to be shot by police than any other population.

The issue of gun violence does not pass college students by.

Outside of school shootings on college campuses — which do occur — young adults are at risk

of being shot in malls, movie theaters, grocery stores, clubs, and so many other places where senseless gun violence has occurred over the last two decades.

In today’s America, no one is too young or too old to be a potential victim.

For every stage in our lives, there is some memory of gun violence from the news burned into our minds: Sandy Hook, Pulse, Parkland, Virginia Tech.

For some young people, America’s gun violence problem has them questioning their futures: Should they have children? Is it safer for them to move abroad?

To imply that gun violence is an issue that we have outgrown dangerously ignores its continuous impact on our mental health and our perceived safety within the spaces we inhabit.

The argument that students are apathetic about school shootings because of their age also disregards the fact that many college students and young adults are survivors of gun violence. This includes community members at Princeton.

RISA GELLES-WATNICKN / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Students gather to advocate for gun-control laws as part of a national walk out.

Our peers have connections and communal ties to shootings all over the country, including the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting in 2018 and the STEM School Shooting in 2019.

On Valentine’s Day, it will be four years since the Parkland shooting and the ensuing March For Our Lives nationwide youth protest movement. But despite tireless advocacy by our generational peers, in these past four years, no substantive piece of gun sense legislation has been passed by Congress.

We are tired that calls for the protection of life through common sense gun laws continue to be met with silence and political bickering. Additionally, research shows that children and teens face desentization to gun violence after media exposure, which can have lasting effects on their mental health. In the age of digital activism and being bombarded by news and media 24/7, these trauma responses are necessary to continue to function on the daily.

Despite this desensitization and the lack of concrete implementation of gun control at the federal level, many groups of survivors, family members, and community members continue to lead and work for anti-gun violence organizations, such as March For Our Lives, Everytown for Gun Safety and the Koshka Foundation. On campus, Princeton Against Gun Violence exists to foster conversations on gun violence, celebrate victories at the state and local level, provide a safe space to process the grief of gun violence, and organize in response.

Putting all of the emotional labor onto victims or those who have been traumatized is not only unsustainable for a movement but also unfair to those who are screaming into the void advocating for greater gun con-

trol. In a society where so many are traumatized by gun violence and the barriers to change are so great, no one individual can be blamed for lack of action.

There is no outgrowing gun violence — it is unfortunately an ever present reality that has the potential to affect any of us at any stage in our lives. In spite of the continuous setbacks to concrete federal reform, we cannot stop fighting for comprehensive gun sense laws because, whether we like it or not, gun violence is an inescapable reality that affects us all.

All our fellow students should grant themselves the space to process any emotions they may feel towards gun violence and to continue to advocate towards its reduction. Whether by joining Everytown’s mailing list and signing on to their numerous letters to Congress, donating to the aforementioned organizations, joining anti-gun violence groups on campus, or going to a protest or voting for progun control politicians, there is something each of us can do to decry gun violence’s pervasive and looming presence in our lives.

Rooya Rahin is a junior from Highlands Ranch, Colo. concentrating in Politics. She is the Chair of the 146th Editorial Board of The Daily Princetonian. You can reach her at rrahin@princeton.edu.

Ana Blanco is a junior from Miami, Fla. concentrating in the School of Public and International Affairs.

She is co-president of Princeton Against Gun Violence. You can reach her at ab53@princeton.edu.

Julia Elman is a junior from Arlington, Va. concentrating in the School of Public and International Affairs. She is co-president of Princeton Against Gun Violence. You can reach her at jelman@princeton.edu.

Opinion

Friday January 28, 2022

page 10

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com }

‘By exempting older students, the University neglects the very factor that makes sexual misconduct so common in the first place: the power that those in positions of authority hold on campus.’

SURVIVOR Continued from page 1

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out finding him at his old eating club. To go to the Street without running into him with his friends.

After I filed my initial report, the Department of Public Safety instituted a short-term Persona Non Grata, notifying my perpetrator that he would be arrested for trespassing if he set foot on campus.

However, this only lasted for 90 days, as a longer Persona Non Grata could only be granted by University administration after a hearing.

I am not attempting to try my case in the court of public opinion. I deserved to be heard and taken seriously with a chance at justice through a University investigation. I was denied that opportunity because of an unjustifiable loophole. No one else should have the same thing happen to them. ** The University is skirting accountability when it denies students an investigation of graduating students, exiting faculty, and alumni.

The dismissal of my report was justified by one bullet point line from the University Sexual Misconduct policy. “At any time prior to the hearing, the University may dismiss a formal complaint if,” the policy states, “The respondent is no longer enrolled or employed by the University.”

According to my initial consultation with the Office of Gender Equity and Title IX Administration, the hearing process can last for as many as six months. Effectively, any student harassed or assaulted in the six months before a perpetrator graduates may not have enough time to see their case to a conclusion before the University washes its hands of the matter.

This same exemption also applies to those no longer “employed by the University.”

Princeton claims to hire faculty and staff who educate and up-

lift students. It’s absurd that professors may not face any consequences if they have sex with their students, as long as they do it during their last semester working at the University.

The danger of sexual misconduct at the hands of alumni also lurks ominously below joyous celebrations and gatherings.

During Reunions, legions of older adults come to campus and mingle with young undergraduates while being supplied with copious amounts of alcohol, creating the perfect environment for an increased number of sexual assaults. “Reunions are a significant time of concern,” one Sexual Harassment/Assault Advising, Resources and Education (SHARE) office staff person told me. “They bring with them a multitude of risk factors for sexual misconduct.” Since Princeton doesn’t investigate cases where the perpetrator is no longer enrolled, the University skirts liability if an enrolled student is assaulted by an alum during Reunions. This school disturbingly invites back alumni in grandiose revelry, yet refuses to hold them responsible for the harm that they cause. ** By exempting older students, the University neglects the very factor that makes sexual misconduct so common in the first place: the power that those in positions of authority hold on campus.

I first met my perpetrator at a recruitment event for his eating club.

Already intimidated by the seniority of the older students, my perpetrator loomed even larger to me as a member I had to make a good impression on. At the time, I was impressed by his leadership as a senior and flattered when he started talking to me – a lost sophomore still finding her place on campus, having yet to have had a full academic year in-person.

As a campus leader, it had been my perpetrator’s responsibility to ensure

the safety of younger students, especially around alcohol. As someone who had also ostensibly received additional SHARE training from the University, it had been his responsibility to respond appropriately to instances of sexual harassment and assault. Because of this, I constantly deferred to his judgment, believing him to be more knowledgeable in anything involving alcohol and consent.

When I became heavily intoxicated on the night of my assault, I deduced it was somehow my own fault that my body was unable to handle the alcohol he had continued to feed me. In hindsight, I wish I could tell myself not to automatically assume that those older and in power “know better.” ** By creating a narrow and limited window for reporting sexual assault, the University ignores commonly delayed reporting times, at times exacerbated by the complexity of interpersonal relationships.

The morning after my assault, I woke up on the floor of my perpetrator’s bedroom. Lying in the morning light, I slowly came to the inconceivable realization that my bra, leggings, and underwear were all missing from my body. Searching my dazed brain, I could find no concrete memory explaining when exactly they had come off.

As I continued to regain consciousness, I realized that I had passed out during the night in a puddle of my own vomit. Raising my head, I numbly picked out grains of regurgitated rice from my long hair. At that moment, I was still so mentally and physically disoriented that I didn’t have enough time to get dressed before stumbling to his bathroom to throw up yet again. A toilet, no underwear, alone.

On that cold February night, while I had lain there on the floor unclothed and covered in vomit, my perpetrator had climbed directly above

me to sleep soundly in his bed, cocooned in warmth.

I shared with the University all these details (and many more) nine months after they occurred, only for them to brush off my pleas for support and a shred of justice.

I can’t adequately express the anguish and regret I feel for not reporting sooner, when there was still enough time to bind the University to the responsibility of investigating. If I had reported in the immediate days following the assault, I would have still had a chance at a hearing before my perpetrator’s graduation freed him from any accountability.

But the reasons I didn’t immediately come forward aren’t uncommon.

In the classic “rape myth,” strangers emerge from shadowy alleyways and hold victims at knifepoint to commit assaults. This narrative clouds the reality that most assailants are familiar individuals in our everyday lives, just as my perpetrator was. He remained in my life until he graduated — the day the University granted him a free pass from all of his actions toward me.

Throughout our entire relationship, I was not yet in a position to face certain realities, and was nowhere near a position to report or even acknowledge what had happened to me that night. When I was finally able to say something a semester later, it broke me to report someone who had once consumed so much of my life. And it broke me even further to be dismissed by an institution that had claimed to exist for my benefit.

Tragically, my experience is not an uncommon one on this campus. According to the 2017 We Speak survey, 27 percent of female undergraduates at Princeton were sexually harassed or assaulted in a single academic year. We are all around campus: in your precepts, extracurriculars, eating clubs, and zee groups. And it’s crucial to recognize that for every survivor, a perpetrator exists among

us: in our friends, hookups, fraternities, student leaders. This hard truth demands us all to reflect critically on our own actions and on the actions of those we choose to include in our lives. ** “Don’t wear revealing clothing.” “Don’t get drunk.” “Don’t go out alone.”

On top of a misogynistic culture that puts the onus completely on feminine and femme students to “prevent themselves from being assaulted,” the University implicitly sends students this ludicrous message: it’s your own responsibility to make sure that your rapist is an underclassman or a junior, not a senior.

Because if it’s the latter, you’re on your own.

The Sexual Misconduct policies, separate from Title IX, are completely constructed by the University. Princeton has every power to amend them to allow for the investigation of recently graduated students. They’re simply choosing not to.

Sadie is a pseudonym used by a current Princeton undergraduate student. The ‘Prince’ made the decision to publish this op-ed anonymously due to privacy and safety concerns for the author.

Editor’s Note: In the process of publishing this piece, the ‘Prince’ took several steps to corroborate the author’s account of her interactions with the University, including reviewing the author’s written communications with Department of Public Safety, Title IX, and SHARE administrators. The ‘Prince’ did not independently verify Sadie’s allegations of sexual assault.

If you or a friend have experienced sexual misconduct and are in need of assistance, Princeton has a number of resources that may be of use.

You can also reach SHARE, Princeton’s Sexual Harassment/Assault Advising, Resources and Education service at 609-258-3310.

ABBY DE RIEL / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

An anonymous student recounts their personal experiences attempting to seek justice after an assault and the ways in which she feels the University failed her.

Friday January 28, 2022

Satire

page 11

{www.dailyprincetonian.com }

Princeton to withhold admissions decisions to reduce student anxiety Hannah To

Staff Writer

The following content is purely satirical and entirely fictional.

Last Friday, Princeton University Admissions announced that during the regular decision admissions cycle, they would be “stopping the release of any data and information at all during the admissions process — including students’ actual admissions results.”

During the early admissions process, the Office of Admissions announced that they would stop reporting admissions data in an effort to reduce applicants’ anxieties.

“We are committed to reducing admissions-related anxiety for students from all backgrounds, and the best way to do so is not to give students any information on admissions at all,” wrote the Dean of Admissions in a press release.

“In the spirit of continuing to be student-centered in our admissions, we have decided to stop releasing any information at all during our regular decision cycle. We believe that knowing whether or not a student gets into the uni-

versity raises anxiety levels of prospective students and families, and also discourages future applicants,” the statement continued.

Students expressed overwhelming relief at not having to deal with their admissions results.

“This is a bit confusing, but I ultimately agree with the University’s decision. I think not knowing whether I got into Princeton would have reduced my anxiety about getting into Princeton,” said Addison Mission ’23.

“I appreciate Princeton’s efforts to accommodate students from all backgrounds.

Now I, like all other applicants, will have no idea about whether or not I have been admitted,” said current applicant Noah Dea. All future admissions letters will simply state, “Congratulations! On behalf of Princeton University, I am delighted to acknowledge your application.”

Hannah To is a senior in the economics department and a staff writer in the Satire section. She wishes Princeton never told her whether she was admitted or not.

She can be reached at hto@princeton.edu.

THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN STAFF / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

In new COVID-19 protocol, UHS will offer 10 free inflatable hamster balls to positive students Emma Moriarty

roommates isolating in the same space, this new policy aims to provide a COVIDThe following content is safe solution for showerpurely satirical and entirely ing, brushing teeth, and fictional. utilizing shared spaces.

An anonymous COVIDpositive student explains, “I’m actually quite excited about the Zorbs! COVID or not, my roommate won’t leave me alone, so I’ll finally be able to get some space.”

The balls are equipped with a small latch which allows water to enter while in use during a shower or brushing teeth. However, as the University declined to purchase the upgraded Zorbs with built in latrines, non-positive roommates are required to exit their rooms while positive students use the restroom.

One disgruntled student shared, “I never realized MICHAEL BARERA / CC 2.0 how many times a day my COVID positive students play soccer in Dillon Gym in their new University-provided hamster balls. roommate takes a dump.

Staff Writers

To help prevent the spread of COVID-19 for those who have to isolate within their dorms, students are now required to use personal, human-sized

hamster balls when in common spaces.

Following several students’ concerns about transmissibility among negative and positive

Like, seriously.”

The Isolation Team assures that the Zorbs are research-backed and safe for all users: “The balls were piloted with faculty and staff and have been a resounding success. The lack of transmission despite rampant positivity rates in this group has allowed us to conclude that, when sharing common areas, our University-sponsored Zorbs are highly effective.”

Hamster balls will be available during Frist’s normal operating hours. Balls can be collected by nonpositive peers and hoisted up through the windows of positive students.

Emma Moriarty is a senior in the School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) and a staff writer for the Satire section. She can be reached at em50@princeton.edu.

Princeton announces “B Best Initiative,” retiring the A grade Andrew Johnson Staff Writer

The following article is purely satirical and entirely fictional.

In light of concerns about grade distributions that unfairly reward scant A’s, Princeton is boldly eradicating the A and A- in favor of 15 levels of B. Defending the change, Dean of the College Jill Dolan cited a “startling” report showing a .01938 increase in average GPA since the University’s founding in 1746.

“This kind of grade inflation is quite frankly unacceptable. If students wanted to get an A, they should have gone to Harvard,“ she wrote.

The shift is also intended

to promote a less competitive environment and reduce academic pressure on students.

“Now you don’t need to worry about getting good grades, because you can’t!” she said.

The B+ will be reserved for select overachieving students. BSE students will be eligible to earn a B pi, worth 3.14, with additional decimal points available in proportion to the collective number of hours they spend completing and complaining about weekly problem sets. All math department grades will be given a 20 percent curve down, but only when the entire class submits the exact same work on a midterm or final exam.

This change is perfectly

timed to impact departmental standing, graduate school acceptances, internships, and job applications.

During the meeting — to which ‘Prints’ reporters gained access by holding up an empty red solo cup to the door of Nassau Hall — a top administration official was caught on a hot mic musing to a colleague, “I don’t understand how these students expect to get A grades simply due to their intelligence, creativity, and years of hard work.”

When contacted for comment, Dolan expressed her sincere hope that students embrace the initiative. She also said she wished that the student body enjoyed a slightly above-average holi-

day break, as opposed to the superior holiday they felt they had earned.

Andrew Johnson is a sophomore contributing writer for

Satire and The Prospect from Ridgewood, N.J. eagerly awaiting his 4 B+’s for the fall semester.

He can be reached at andrewjj@ princeton.edu.

MARK DODICI / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

1879 Hall and the lawn in front of Frist Campus Center.

Satire

Friday January 28, 2022

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{www.dailyprincetonian.com }

Professor incorrectly used right to free speech, claims Princeton Closed Campus Coalition Andrew Johnson Staff Writer

The following content is purely satirical and entirely fictional.

The Assistant Vice Chair of the Astrophysical Sciences Department spoke a little too freely when she released a memo stating that the Earth rotates around the Sun, according to a statement from the University’s newest debate society, the Princeton Closed Campus Coalition (PCCC).

“It is extremely irresponsible for an educator to promote his personal agenda that everything in the world revolves around the Sun,” said PCCC spokesperson Jane Doe ’22. “How can the Aristotelians on this campus express their traditional geocentric values in such a toxic atmosphere? This Copernican tyrant wishes to silence all who even

question the whole ‘existence of gravity’ narrative.”

“I just don’t know how we are supposed to protect the diversity of thought in the free marketplace when titans of academia are unfairly influencing students by expressing their thoughts,” said PCCC member John Smith ’23.

Following his interview with The Daily PrintsAnything, Smith reportedly asked to speak to the manager of the marketplace of ideas.

When The ‘Prints’ asked about the Assistant Vice Chair’s reaction to the controversy, she emphasized that taking a stand on fundamental issues like Earth’s orbit, gravity, and other observable phenomena was “literally my job.”

Smith reiterated his disagreement and warned of a slippery slope.

“They can attempt to

hide behind the guise of academia, but we know what world these professors want to create,” Smith said. “If we accept their heliocentric dogma,

will they try to indoctrinate us with critical germ theory next?”

Andrew Johnson is a sophomore staff writer for

Satire and The Prospect and contributor to the free marketplace of ideas. He can be reached at andrewjj@princeton.edu.

CC0

When The Daily PrintsAnything asked about the Assistant Vice Chair’s reaction to the controversy, he emphasized that taking a stand on fundamental issues like Earth’s orbit, gravity, and other observable phenomena was “literally my job.”

Cartoon

Wordle Hell

By Inci Karaaslan, Head Cartoon Editor

Cold(ture) Shock

By Elizabeth Medina, Staff Cartoonist

Friday January 28, 2022

Features

page 13

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com }

Inside the Princeton University Band… and their plastic Santa

By Julie Levey and Tori Tinsley Assistant Features Editors

Adorned in their flamboyant plaid orange and black suits, topped with their characteristic boaters, the Princeton University Band is not hard to spot on Princeton’s campus. Whether they are storming the athletic fields, clustered in a dining hall, or performing their traditional song set in the library during finals period, the Band pops up everywhere.

Amidst the University’s intense intellectual environment, the Band provides an outlet for entertainment and comedic relief – a sentiment so critical to the Band’s identity that it is echoed in their constitution. As Article 0: The Purpose of the Band states, “The Princeton University Band exists primarily for the enjoyment of its members and for the entertainment of the University community.”

At an Ivy League institution where student groups often have high barriers of entry and demand significant commitment from their members, the Band stands apart.

Inherent in the Princeton Band’s mission is inclusivity and, perhaps ironically for Princeton, low expectations – something that band members believe is more easily achieved given the Band’s identity as an untraditional marching band.

In fact, it isn’t a marching band at all; rather, it’s a scramble band. Instead of marching between songs, “we will run around and literally scramble around either doing jumping jacks or running around chas-

ing each other,” explained Thomas Hontz ‘22, the band’s conductor.

According to the Band’s Drum Major, Henry Erdman ’23, scrambling is “a cross between a fire drill, a Black Friday sale at Macy’s, and a final bell of school all on the field in front of the fans. It’s just a really fun time.”

This gives the band a fun, happy-go-lucky image to the student body. Christian Hernandez ‘22, who enjoys watching the Band at football games, thinks that they “represent the quirkiness of Princeton.”

Colby McArthur ‘24 said that compared to his high school’s competitive marching band, the Princeton Band is “a lot more chill.” Even for students who have other time intensive campus commitments – be it extracurriculars, research, campus jobs, or other activities – “the Band will always have time for you,” according to Hontz.

McArthur echoed this sentiment. “[The Band is] very fun and it’s kind of liberating in a way that a lot of clubs at Princeton aren’t,” he said.

The Band’s flexibility with students’ other obligations is reflected in the time commitment expected from its members.

While the Band practices twice a week, rehearsals are always optional, and Band members can perform at games regardless of their attendance at practices.

Hontz recalls he was welcomed into the Band with open arms even before he matriculated into the University.

“My brother, who was a year older than me at the time, was already here… he had joined the Band.”

Hontz remembers that when Band members found out he was coming to visit, they said to his older brother, “Oh, your brother’s coming down for a game? Cool. Give him a uniform.”

He continued, “I got to play trombone with the Band before I was even officially a student here.”

“I personally am a champion of groups that have low commitment, don’t have auditions, or aren’t extremely selective,” said Hontz. “And I love the inclusive nature of [the Band].”

Part of what makes the Princeton Band so inclusive is that there is no expectation of musical talent from members. Anyone is welcome. As Erdman says, to become a part of the band, all you have to do is “show up!”

“Even if you’re at a football game… you walk over to us and we’ll throw you a plaid jacket and a piece of trash and you can bang on it, or an instrument,” Erdman added. “All you gotta do is show up.”

The Band certainly practices what they preach. In early October, the Band emailed the campus community inviting anyone – with or without musical experience – to join them on an all-expenses-paid trip to Brown University for a football game. Alaina Joby ‘24 was one of the students who took advantage of this opportunity, even though she’d never played with any band before.

“I was in their “Garbussion” section hitting a plastic flamingo with a drumstick,” Joby recalled.

“I loved the weird looks we got from people.”

The Band’s “Garbus-

sion” section – a playful combination of the words garbage and percussion – is designed for those who can’t play instruments or choose not to. Members can play what Erdman calls “non-traditional percussion instruments,” and often bang on stop signs, street signs, and toilet seats. The biggest fan favorite among the many “Garbussion” options may be the famous plastic Santa.

While the Santa’s true origin story is a mystery to Band members, McArthur explained the presumed roots of the Santa. “I think at some point, someone donated a plastic Santa, and it’s really loud when you hit it with a baseball bat. So they started using it as an instrument and I guess it caught on and now it’s just become kind of a very iconic thing about the Band.”

“It’s kind of a meme at this point,” said Chloe Holland ‘22, President of the Band. She also shared that Band members and the broader student body alike enjoy hitting it. “It makes a really satisfying sound…

It’s cathartic, I think.”

Creative elements – like the now-iconic plastic Santa – are decided upon by the Band as a whole. “It’s very much a group effort from all the band members,” said Erdman. “We have a couple meetings where we get together and we’re like ‘alright what do we think is funny?’”

Beyond sports game appearances, the Band have held flash mobs in the dining halls this semester.

Leaders have hinted at a potential April Fools and Valentine’s Day march for the spring semester.

Recently, the Band reinstated their famed tradition of playing at the library on Dean’s Date, the night most final papers are due, after a pause during three semesters of virtual finals. For Hernandez, the tradition motivates him not to procrastinate.

“I do appreciate when they go around on Dean’s Date and make noise,” Hernandez said. “I make sure to finish my Dean’s Date assignments because of the Band — I don’t want to hear them while I’m trying to submit something!”

Holland has a message for all Dean’s Date crammers. “If you’re choosing to be in Firestone when we’re there,” says Holland, “that’s your own fault.

We’re not trying to bother anyone. We’re just trying to spread a little bit of cheer to the campus.”

And indeed, both Band members and non-members alike report that the Band does succeed in its mission. Through their comedic performances, appearances at games and around campus, and inclusive membership policy, the Band strives to infuse Princeton’s culture with a dash of humor and fun.

As Hontz says, “That’s how I think music should be.”

Julie Levey is an assistant Features editor for The Daily Princetonian. She can be reached at jlevey@princeton. edu.

Tori Tinsley is an assistant Features editor and a staff copyeditor for The Daily Princetonian. She can be reached at ett2@princeton. edu.

“PRINCETON BAND AT THE TAILGATE” BY JOE SHLABOTNIK / CC-SA 2.0

Princeton Band at a tailgate in New Haven prior to a Princeton-Yale football game.

the PROSPECT. The Daily Princetonian

page 14

Friday January 28, 2022

ARTS & CULTURE

Loving yourself more than your work

By Hope Perry | Head Podcast Editor

I love when my accomplishments make other people happy: like when I did well on the midterm exam I studied hard for last semester and my professor praised my performance, or when one of my friends told me I should ask for a promotion and I received it. These are things I ostensibly did for myself, but I cared more about how the people around me reacted to what I did than about actually doing those things.

I desperately want to be good enough, even though nothing I do ever feels good enough. But when I’m trying as hard as I can, the small moments when other people recognize my effort provide me with just enough joy to keep going.

Inversely, I think my worst fear is probably disappointing other people.

In journalism, connecting with your readers and listeners matters. But this can also be a double-edged sword for the people, like me, behind the work. If people don’t like what you’re doing — if you don’t have enough listeners or aren’t meeting a certain benchmark — that can profoundly impact the way you feel about your work.

In podcasting, that’s all the more so. This past year, I let my fear of losing a show take over my life. I erased boundaries between my professional and personal lives. I picked up extra shifts to make the people around me happy.

These are people who care about me; if they had known that I cried while offering to cover for them, I know they would have been upset — and rightly so. There was no good reason for me to feel like it was necessary for me to do that. But, I felt like if I worked harder I could make the show better, and then I’d be able to keep working on it.

“Mom, if I take a break, I could lose one of the only things I enjoy doing,” I cried while on the phone. “This is the worst I’ve ever felt.” I was desperate to continue working on the show with

the people I loved — all while trying to pass my midterms. Everything was spiraling out of control. I felt like I was failing everyone and everything at the same time.

“Hope,” she said, “It sounds like you love the show more than you love yourself.”

Sure enough, halfway through my semester of overwork and isolation, my friends figured out what was going on and forced me to step back. I found taking better care of myself made the show better.

I’ve come to realize that for me, there’s an element of shame that acts as a barrier to taking care of myself. I’ve internalized the idea that I don’t deserve rest — that if I’m not constantly working, I’m not living up to the expectations other people have of me. But I’m learning that

these things are not true: Success is subjective.

I don’t want to fail — but I don’t want to succeed if it means destroying my personhood in the process.

Reflecting on this situation from the fall, I think there are a lot of things that should have been handled differently. For starters, I shouldn’t have felt like asking for breathing room would mean risking the end of a project I cared so deeply about. We have to allow for more grace and flexibility in our workspaces — for the simple reason that we are human.

I know that I’m not the only person at Princeton who pushes herself to the brink of success to make other people happy. And I know, on an intellectual level, that I am more than the things that I do. But in a world where what you do and who you are on a piece of paper postgrad seems to supersede everything else, it’s hard to remember this. I’m not done learning this yet, and I’m sure that there will be times this semester when my friends will send me this piece to remind me of my own lessons. I hope that recognizing my own tendencies will be one step towards working in a way that’s more sustainable.

The bottom line is that I really do love my job, but the job and my love for it are more than the stories I get to tell. Mostly, it’s about the people I cover the stories with. I know that the way to make them happiest isn’t to work so hard that I’m causing myself harm. Instead, it’s to take care of myself and to create an environment where they feel cared for so that we can work together.

Hope Perry is the Head Podcast Editor at the ‘Prince’ who has covered USG, University COVID-19 policies, and U.S. politics. She can be reached at hperry@ princeton.edu or on Twitter @hopemperry. This piece reflects the author’s views alone.

HOPE PERRY / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

“I just love, and I hope for the best.”

CENTERING Continued from page 1

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really disappoint you if you’re looking for “Alternate Universe in Which I Am Unfazed by the Men Who Do Not Love Me.” (And aren’t we all looking for that universe?) The Genius transcription ends with a horrible mistake. It reads, “I have some much beautiful time.” But, you know, I think it still captures the spirit.

In an alternate universe in which I am unfazed by the men who do not love me, I’d like to think I am also unfazed by someone, even myself, making a public grammar-related oversight. In that universe, I am also unfazed by the professors who would leave a passive-aggressive Canvas submission comment if I left that line in an essay. In that universe, I am unfazed by the professors who do indeed leave passive-aggressive Canvas submission comments when I submit midterms not up to either of our standards because I’d been sleeping through the afternoon all week. In that universe, I am unfazed by the professors who do not love me, by the administrators who claim to love me but don’t, or by my friends who do the same.

Learning how to love Weeks ago, a friend was reflecting on the treatment of the character Eric Effiong in the Netflix original “Sex Education” and said, “Black queer men deserve more than men who do not know how to love them.” Later, as they wallowed in relationship troubles of their own, I said right back to her, “Black queer women deserve more than women who do not know how to love them.” And last night, as I wallowed in something like relationship troubles, she said to me, “Brown queer women deserve more than men who do not know how to love them.” And it’s true.

I deserve more than that. We all do.

The poem “Alternate Universe in Which I am Unfazed by the Men Who Do Not Love Me” appears in Gatwood’s book, New American Best Friend. I bought myself this book some time over the summer,

and in September, I gave it to someone who was a dear friend. In the front of the book, I wrote a note that included something like “Thank you for being my New American Best Friend.” But who I thought would be my best friends in September aren’t really my best friends now. That’s just how it goes. I don’t think I know how to love that person, anyways.

But it just so happens that we are all learning how to love. Another friend — I am so grateful for all these friends — says it is silly that people expect thousands of horny adolescents with no adult social skills to get along for four-plus years and earn a degree.

It just so happens that we are all learning how to love each other, so I hesitate to turn on my read receipts or turn off text notifications when I know that — when I don’t really know how to love anyone, either. I just love, and I hope for the best.

Only minutes and so much beautiful time The other weekend, I attended something like a costume party where I planned to dress as Gatwood. I only had minutes to get ready. I found myself back in my room an hour after the party had already started, after a long, unexpected conversation with a friend — one that we’d both needed. (I like to think Gatwood would be late to a party to make time to talk to a friend, too.) That friend often tells me and others, “Center yourself.”

In the minutes I allowed myself to get into costume, I knew the banal jeansand-a-flannel would not cut it. As I sent a text that asked How bad is it that I am this late? I thought about that temporal last line of “Alternate Universe.” I eyed the watch that had been sitting on my desk since August, grabbed a bottle of ugly green chrome nail polish, and drew an infinity sign over the digital display.

Watch on, costume complete.

Days later, I’m still putting on that watch when I get out of bed. I think to myself, I have so much beautiful time, because I am unfazed. And, sometimes, I even believe it.

What we deserve No one knows how to love at this age, but we all deserve friends and lovers who know how to love us. And the environment we are in — this often-gloomy, often-harsh school — is not a loving place, either. But this does not absolve us of trying to learn. With all our beautiful time, we can ask for what we want, listen to what our friends need, spend time making mistakes and then doing better.

Sometimes I wish figuring ourselves out could be painless and quick. But as we say when we create art, it’s all about the process. Deviating from what we sketched out for ourselves and getting messy is just how we create our lives.

Here is more of what Gatwood says she does in the alternate universe, with all her beautiful time: “Left over from the other universe are hours and hours of waiting for him to kiss me, and here, they are just hours. Here, they are a bike ride across Long Island in June. Here, they are a novel read in one sitting. Here, they are arguments about God or a full night’s sleep. Here, I hand an hour to the woman crying outside of the bar. I leave one on my best friend’s front porch, send my mother two in the mail.”

Tonight, I will not have a full night’s sleep. But maybe in the morning I will be unfazed, I will read for pleasure, I will give my mother an hour or two, I will learn carpentry and build a desk and write an essay — one in which I am less fazed than I am in this one — at that desk.

Mollika Jai Singh is a sophomore who grew up in San Diego and is based in Rockville, Md. She loves making friends, reading and writing poetry, and cross-stitching very slowly.

At the ‘Prince’, they are a co-Director for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging and an Associate Opinion Editor. To talk anything ‘Prince’-related or otherwise, say hello @mollikajaisingh on social or at mjsingh@princeton.edu.

The Daily Princetonian

Friday January 28, 2022

Living, when surviving Throughout my years, I’ve had the opportunity to live, and other times, I’ve had the task to survive. I was reminded of this while traveling home for the holidays. Scrolling through Twitter while waiting in an airport terminal, I stumbled across a short essay by Jonny Sun that reminded me of this distinction. The former allows — encourages — flourishing, while the latter necessitates endurance, at the cost of pretty much everything else.

I first came to know this distinction at the kitchen table. I remember biting into the first of a small pack of off-brand Oreo cookies moments before receiving the news that my dad had been diagnosed with cancer about a year earlier. Like the sweetness of the cookies cutting through that news in my memory, the delay was meant to lessen the blow of the actual diagnosis taking place within days of my maternal grandma’s death. There was hope in that delay — hope that still lived at the kitchen table.

What sucks about cancer in the family is that it takes over every corner of a child’s world, in spite of a mother’s every effort to lessen the shock, the worries, the uncertainties.

Suddenly, you feel pitied by everyone, for reasons that you don’t fully understand as a child. Then, as you grow older and the cancer persists and returns and finally kills, you slowly begin to understand — I see now how it shifted my life, noticing the things of childhood I lost out on and the things of adulthood I gained prematurely. And then you try to make peace.

At least, you try to. But there are reminders.

Our current pandemic existence has been one such reminder, particularly about questions of time and survival.

Time is weird. It speeds up and slows down, and the same moment can feel eternal in the present before it suddenly seems brief once it becomes the past.

I remember time feeling eternal as a child.

I’d lie awake at 4 a.m. on Christmas morning, unable to sleep any longer out of excitement.

Each minute I spent waiting until I gave up on letting my parents sleep in until a reasonable hour felt like an eternity. As I passed from third to fourth, then fifth, then sixth grade, the time I spent waiting for my dad to no lon-

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By José Pablo Fernández García | Head Prospect Editor

ger be sick seemed equally eternal. It felt like my whole life, and in those years, there was no end in sight. This coming summer will mark a decade since his death, and those four years in which I knew he was sick now feel like a blink in time.

As my patience with pandemic existence has eroded, I’ve kept turning back to how I try to make sense of that time in my life defined by a sick dad. It feels oddly familiar. Persisting month by month, week by week, day by day at the whims of a constant, resurging virus makes time slow down. It’s the lack of an end in sight that does so. You don’t know if you’re still at the beginning or if you’re almost near the end, so you intimately feel the passage of each day. You try to feel each day’s full worth.

And yet, 21 months already doesn’t seem like that much time to me; at least, not in the face of 21 years. Each individual day can still feel slow, but now that I’m older, it takes more days for it to feel like a long time, like an eternity.

everyone’s voices when conversation turns to pandemic existence.

The other difference is that now I can recognize this distinction between surviving and living in a way that my younger self simply didn’t have the language for. In my mind, this also gives me a choice I couldn’t fully access as a child: the choice of living amidst survival.

While the darkest times of this pandemic existence — the strictest isolation, the initial grave worry over getting sick or worse, and so on — have required existing in survival mode, I’ve also managed to find moments to be alive since then.

This past semester has afforded me so many of these moments, really. Meals with friends.

The retreat I find in going to Rojo’s for coffee.

The joy of reading something for a class that expands my understanding of myself and the world. The recklessness and risk of confessing feelings. The boost of achieving something, small or large. The pride in publishing a fantastic essay after many rounds of editing with its writer. The comfort in writing my own essays.

All these moments, in a time of survival, have helped me maintain hope, to keep dreaming, to keep seeking out opportunities.

These moments, to me, are living, when surviving can seem like the limit while experiencing a pandemic.

Truthfully, despite spending a number of days thinking about this, I wasn’t sure how to write about it until Joan Didion’s death led me to discover a quote from a commencement speech she once delivered: “I’m just telling you to live in it. Not just to endure it, not just to suffer it, not just to pass through it, but to live in it. To look at it.

To try to get the picture. To live recklessly. To take chances. To make your own work and take pride in it. To seize the moment.”

Reading this, like reading Sun’s essay, was like reading what I’ve felt this past semester and discovered earlier in my life. It’s also what will carry me into a new year — one in which I’m determined not just to survive, but also to live.

“While the darkest times of this pandemic existence — the strictest isolation, the initial grave worry over getting sick or worse, and so on — have required existing in survival mode, I’ve also managed to find moments to be alive since then.”

Still, what remains the same is the waiting.

Waiting is hard. This past year has been full of waiting. People waited for the vaccines to arrive, for the pandemic to end, for life to restart. Fundamentally, there’s been a wait for relief, and that’s what’s so exhausting. It’s exhausting because waiting for relief is ultimately a sign of surviving, not of living.

In the medical context of disease, survival can quite literally mean to simply not die.

However, there’s also a layer of survival between life and death — a place where hope and dreaming and opportunity all go dormant as endurance and waiting and complacency take hold.

I didn’t realize this as a child, but looking back, it becomes all too clear that this is what I felt. Today, I sense it in my life again, but differently. Back then it was a deeply personal, internal feeling, while today, I can see it in nearly everyone’s faces and hear it in nearly

José Pablo Fernández García is a junior from Ohio and a Head Prospect Editor at the ‘Prince.’ He can be reached at jpgarcia@princeton.edu.

How to be productive

“How we spend our days is how we spend out lives, so each day choose carefully to produce what you find most valuable.”

By Gabriel Robare | Senior Writer

I often consider a day’s work and a life’s work to be something different. In your life, you might want to be a senator, or save the world, or write the next great American novel. I have big plans, places to go, a long road ahead. We might feel the things we do each day are productive only if they get us toward some bigger goal.

But individual days are too small to hold big plans. They’re packed tight with little things.

I read books, I play basketball. I take a walk, I write a few paragraphs. I shoot the breeze, I pour a drink. I eat my dinner, I clean the bathroom.

These little things can feel like nothing — especially the ones that don’t contribute to any long-term plans. They don’t feel productive. They are just what we do.

But these “just what we dos” that make up our days are productive. They produce our life. They are our life. There will never be one fine morning where we find that we have achieved our wildest dreams. Annie Dillard in her great book “The Writing Life,” wrote, “How we spend our days, of course, is how we spend our lives.” Life is made up of days — a life’s work is a day’s work.

This isn’t to say you shouldn’t chase your big goals. But you have to do that chasing carefully, gingerly. Productivity, as we usually think of it, is dangerous. Left untreated, productivity as we know it is a crushing sickness.

Productivity is a destructive goal, until you realize that your own health and happiness is something you can produce. That is the central problem of productivity — that we categorize taking care of ourselves among our “unproductive” actions. Thinking this way can destroy you: it destroyed me, as I’ve written before in my defense of doing less.

Without this caveat, productivity leads us toward a tired, sad life. Productivity is a destructive goal unless and until you recognize that your own health and happiness is something you produce.

This semester, think about what you produce.

You produce papers and problem sets, of course, but you also produce knowledge and an ability for empathy. You produce the unexplainable worth of paying attention to the world. You produce a smile on your mother’s face. You produce a floor that’s swept and mopped, on a good day.

You produce quiet in your soul and loudness in the room. You produce a thesis, and you produce a healthy body.

So how to be productive? Pay attention to what you produce each day. How we spend our days is how we spend our lives, so each day choose care-

fully to produce what you find most valuable.

Then, if you feel like you’ve chosen right — that you have produced your own joy, among other things — you will be productive.

In 1964, Philip Larkin published a short poem called “Days.” It begins, What are days for?

Days are where we live.

They come, they wake us Time and time over.

They are to be happy in: Where can we live but days?

Between the first day of classes on Jan. 24 and Dean’s Date on May 3, this semester will last exactly 100 days. If you have a good, long life, you might have 30,000 days to live (around 82 years).

In the end, to ask how to be productive is to ask how you want to spend your days. Days are where we live. And, if we are to believe Annie Dillard, to ask how you want to spend your days is to ask, in Mary Oliver’s words, “what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life.”

I can’t answer that question for you — but to ask how to be productive is to ask that question. What do you want to produce? Do

you want to produce marginal utility under the capitalistic system? Do you want to produce your own happiness, or the happiness of friends and family? Do you want to change the world? Or do you want to be changed by the world around you?

The end of Larkin’s poem understands this problem. Asking “Where can we live but days,” he continues, Ah, solving that question Brings the priest and the doctor In their long coats Running over the field.

I am not a priest nor a doctor. I do not know how to be productive. But I know that I have only a hundred days this semester, and perhaps thirty thousand days in all. And I know that I can live nowhere else but days — they are my life. They are to be happy in. To be productive is to choose intentionally how to spend your days. To be productive is all in a day’s work.

Gabriel Robare is a Head Puzzles Editor. He is also a Senior Prospect Writer and a News Staff Writer. He can be reached at grobare@princeton. edu or on social at @gabrielrobare.

GABRIEL ROBARE / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

The writer’s desk.

Friday January 28, 2022

Sports

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Five Princetonians to compete in Beijing Winter Olympics

By Wilson Conn

Head Sports Editor

After seven Princetonians competed in Tokyo in the Summer Olympics last year, Princeton is sending another strong contingent to the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing.

Three Princeton graduates, one current student, and one former student have qualified for the Games, representing the largest group of Tigers to compete at a Winter Olympics in school history.

Starring on the snowboard for Team USA will be former Princeton student, Chloe Kim. The Torrance, Calif. native burst onto the international stage when she won the gold medal in the Women’s Halfpipe competition at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Kim was just 17 at the time.

Since then, Kim has won two more golds in the SuperPipe at the Aspen Winter X Games, one in 2019 and the other in 2021. Kim was admitted to the class of 2022, but has since taken two leaves of absence to train for competitions. She attended Princeton during the 201920 school year, but has since said she likely won’t return, according to The New York Times.

Joining Kim on Team USA will be Charlie Volker ’19, best known for his football talents during his time at Princeton.

The Fair Haven, N. J. running back rushed for 1,849 yards

and 32 touchdowns as a Tiger, while also running varsity track at Princeton. Volker transferred these skills to become a bobsledder after graduating.

Last year, The Daily Princetonian’s Daybreak spoke to Volker about his journey to the Olympics.

“Making the team means that I’ve achieved a life long goal of competing at the highest level,” Volker told the ‘Prince.’ “When the football door closed, I was a bit lost.

The sport of bobsled was a natural fit for me and like Princeton, I’ve met tons of great people and learned so much in such a short time.

I’m super grateful for this opportunity and can’t wait to represent at the games!”

Another Princeton graduate will be joining Volker on the ice track at the 2022 games. Nathan Crumpton ‘08, who triple-jumped for the Princeton track and field team and was a Second-Team All-Ivy selection during his senior season, will be representing American Samoa in skeleton at the Olympics. The 36 year-old began competing in skeleton in 2012, after a brief stint as a bobsledder, and he finished the 2021 season as the 26th-ranked competitor in the sport globally.

Notably, Crumpton becomes just the 140th person to ever compete in both the Summer and Winter Olympics; just last summer, he represented American Samoa in the 100 meter race in Tokyo.

Finally, two women’s hockey players, Claire Thompson ’20 and Sarah Fillier ’24, will be making their Olympic debuts with Team Canada at the games. Thompson won gold with Canada at the World Championships in 2021. During her Princeton career, Thompson managed 31 goals and 56 assists as a defender.

Fillier, meanwhile, is a forward; she has scored 44 goals and notched 70 assists in two full seasons with the Tigers.

Kim and Volker will be the second and third Princeton-

ians to ever compete in a nonhockey sport in the Winter Olympics. The first Princetonians to compete, Gerald Hallock III ’26 and Robert Livingston ’31, won silver with the US men’s hockey team at the 1932 games in Lake Placid, NY. Since 2000 though, three of the four representatives have been women’s hockey players, the most recent being Caroline Park ’11, who played for the united Korea team at Pyeongchang 2018. The only non-hockey Princetonian to compete before Beijing 2022

was Joey Cheek ’11, who won a combined three medals in speed-skating at the 2002 Salt Lake City and 2006 Turin games before attending Princeton.

Stay tuned for Olympics coverage from the ‘Prince’ sports as the Games begin on Feb. 4.

Wilson Conn is a Head Sports Editor at the ‘Prince.’ He can be reached on Twitter @wilson_ conn and via email at wconn@ princeton.edu.

SHELLEY M. SZWAST / GOPRINCETONTIGERS.COM

Claire Thompson ’20 on the ice.

Andrei Iosivas: Breaking Records Beyond the Orange Bubble

By Julia Nguyen

Head Sports Editor

In just one weekend, Andrei Iosivas ’23 broke Princeton records in the Heptathlon and earned the highest mark in the nation for this season.

The Heptathlon, which consists of the 60 meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, 60 meter hurdles, pole vault and the 1000 meter run, tests the strength, mobility, speed, and endurance of each athlete. “[Breaking records] has always been at the back of my head. I knew what I could do athletically — it was just about putting the pieces together. I don’t mentally … go into meets thinking ‘oh, I’m going to … make this mark’ or ‘I’m going to run this time.’ I go into it with the mindset that if my training is where it is, I should be able to perform well,” he told the Daily Princetonian. “And so I never really go into things overthinking; I just let them happen.”

Iosivas’ mindset has served him well in his track career.

At the Wesley A. Brown Invitational on Jan. 21—22, Iosivias earned 5715 points across all seven events, surpassing his personal

records in five. Duane Hynes ’09 held the record for Heptathlon since 2007 with a score of 5640.

Beyond the Orange Bubble, Iosivas has made his way to the top, surpassing the national record previously held by BYU’s Dallin Vorkink’s 5500. He now holds the top score for the Heptathlon in the nation for this season.

Unlike most track athletes who train year-round for their events, Iosivas spends half the year focusing on football. A key player for the Princeton football team as a wide receiver, Iosivas earned Second-Team All-Ivy this past season. He was third in the Ivy League in receiving yards.

Iosivas first stepped on the football field at the age of six and hasn’t stopped playing since. Despite not having as much film for the recruitment process as other players, he received an offer from Princeton after attending a football camp.

“I got an offer from Princeton because of camp,” he explained.

“The [Princeton] coaches really liked me and gave me an offer, even though I didn’t have that much film … That was one of the reasons I committed — because we really bonded, and they’re like

a family oriented team.”

Committing to Princeton for football opened the door to continue his track career. At the age of nine, Iosivas’ uncle — Tom Hintnaus, a former Olympian — introduced him to track. As a freshman at Punahou School in Honolulu, HI, he made the varsity team. But, according to Iosivas, he only started to perform at a national level in his senior year of high school. Still, his performance in his final year of high school was enough to catch Assistant Coach Robert Abdullah’s attention.

As a first year student at Princeton, Iosivas walked onto the track team after the football season came to a close. Since joining the track team, he has earned various awards and honors, including being named Ivy League Champion for Heptathlons in both 2019 and 2020.

But Iosivas’ success in both sports does not come without struggles. Between football and training for track, he has only one to two weeks to recover mentally and physically.

“Transitioning from football to track has been hard, especially switching the mindsets. When

GOPRINCETONTIGERS.COM

Andrei Iosivas, center.

I’m in season for football, Iosivas said. “The only thing that is on my mind is football. Once that’s over, it’s hard to transition to track just because I thought so much about football from summer to the [end of the] season,” Iosivas said.

For Iosivas, the mental transition is much easier compared to the physical transition.

“My friends on the track team, they helped me get back into it [mentally]. And, once I see my goals in front of my face, it’s easy in that sense as well,” he said.

“The physical aspect is kind of hard though,” he continued.

“I always get nicked up during football … that really affects the way I train for track. So I’m always … a little bit behind with training and endurance when it comes to the track season.”

Beyond the injuries accumulated from the football season that prevented him from fully training, Iosivas says the different types of training between the two sports can present a challenge, too. With such a short gap between the two seasons, there isn’t enough time for him to build the strength required for events in the Heptathlon.

Iosivas utilized his gap year from 2020 to 2021 to become stronger. “During football season, I usually lose weight because … we aren’t really lifting to build muscle … then, during track, you’re running all the time. So, that gap year really helped me build a base to be stronger … and to take myself to the next level.

And, so now that I have that base, I just basically squatted, benched, and ran a lot, and I think that has helped me in track with the transition,” he said.

Although he sometimes feels at a disadvantage when it comes to training for track, Iosivas emphasized how thankful he is to have the opportunity to play both sports. And, despite feeling slightly behind, Iosivas continues to excel in his events. He shares that his favorite events within the Heptathlon are anything that involves speed and power, such as sprints and the long jumps. On the other hand, he struggles the most with longer distance events.

“There’s the 1000 meter run and, like, my muscles — I get a lot

of lactic buildup, which makes it really hard for me,” he remarked.

As for training with the team, his days look a lot different than from his teammates who specialize in specific events. Rather than constantly working on a specific technique, his daily practices often consist of working on two events, and his days are usually longer.

As he put it: “It’s more like a crash course rather than really diving into specific events.”

Since the Wesley A. Brown Invitational, Iosivas has taken the week off of training due to a slight injury he sustained during the 60 meter dash. While Harvard-YalePrinceton (HYPs) is quickly approaching this weekend, he will not be competing. Instead, he will be on the sidelines, cheering on his teammates while he finishes his recovery. “I think our team is doing really well … We have a national caliber team, so I’m really excited to see how this weekend plays out,” Iosivas said.

His encouraging words are a direct reflection of the supportive nature of the team dynamic.

“In track, it’s like you just want to dominate your opponent in your event, but also as a team,” he said. “It’s just the fact that everyone does different stuff and comes together is something really cool that I have experienced on the track team. It’s a different type of care. You know what I mean? You bond just because you guys care about each other, even though you guys aren’t doing the same thing.”

As the season progresses, Iosivas is excited to see the team continue their level of success.

He is hopeful that the team will make it to nationals — perhaps even earn a spot on the podium.

As for himself, the goal is to earn a medal at nationals. More generally, however, Iosivas is simply excited to compete after two years without track.

“I want to do well for myself. I want to prove to myself that I am this athlete that I think I am, and I want to make people proud of me.

I just got to perform.”

Julia Nguyen is a Head Sports Editor at the ‘Prince.’ She is from Boston, MA and can be reached via email at sports@dailyprincetonian.com.