May 2, 2018

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Wednesday May 2, 2018 vol. CXLII no. 55

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ACADEMICS

S T U D E N T A F FA I R S

FLI students featured on ‘60 Minutes’ series

By Julia Illhardt Contributor

CLAIRE THORNTON :: THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Steinberg stressed that efforts like those of the Russian Revolution are often disappointing.

Historian Mark Steinberg discusses Russian Revolution

By Claire Thornton Head News Editor

On May 1, University of Illinois history professor Mark Steinberg stressed in a lecture that although revolutions are never perfect, the effort behind them is what matters. Through historical documents, artwork, and inspiration from philosopher Walter Benjamin, Steinberg gave the audience a unique view of the proletariat imagination behind the 1917 revolution.

Steinberg is guided by the question of what history means to people as they are actually experiencing it.

“I have become very preoccupied with the lived and experiential worlds that exist within revolutions,” Steinberg said. “We always experience and interpret the past through what we are and what we live.”

Oftentimes, the present moment feels dark and hopeless, according to Steinberg.

“Experiences in the world we live in often unfold in dark places,” Steinberg said. The Holocaust, for example, was an incredibly dark and painful experience for those who lived through it.

Steinberg stressed that human efforts like the Russian Revolution don’t end up achieving all the demands they fight for. Because of this, revolutions are often disappointing.

Steinberg most recently taught a college course about revolution

that went backwards from the Black Lives Matter movement to the Russian Revolution. He said that during class, all his students expressed the same anxieties about fighting for progress, because it can sometimes feel like all hope is lost.

“There is reason to talk about the present as the darkness of the lived moment. There is reason for anxiety, for despair, perhaps for anger about the world, about humanity, about the earth,” Steinberg said. “It is very reasonable to be depressed.”

Prime examples of disappointments can be seen in aftermath of the Arab Spring, the Occupy Wall Street Movement, and election protests in modern day Russia, said Steinberg.

Of course, the years following 1917 were full of harsh realities as proletariat leaders like Trotsky were killed and Stalin’s authoritarian regime began. Certain economics equalities were gained, said Steinberg, but not broad freedoms.

However, if Steinberg was most clear about one thing, it was that he does not care about the outcomes of revolutions. He stressed the idea that it is the job of protests to demand the impossible.

Through looking at daily papers, poems by workers and soldiers, and collectively written petitions from the years leading up to 1917, Steinberg arrived at a more personal meaning behind revolu-

On April 29, the CBS series 60 Minutes released a segment called “Why Bill and Melinda Gates put 20,000 Students Through College,” which featured the University’s making significant efforts to recruit students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.

Seven University students — Jaylin Lugardo ’20, Mason Cox ’20, Chris Umanzor ’19, Kelton Chastulik ’21, Jackson Forbes ’18, Oluwatoyin Edogun ’20, and Tylor-Maria Johnson ’19 — spoke about the experiences and challenges faced by first-generation, low-income (FLI) students on university campuses.

The interview was intense, according to Lugardo, but it was an interesting and enjoyable experience. Cox echoed her remarks.

“It was a very eye-opening experience, not only for myself but also for the other people there, and even for the people

who watched the show,” Cox said.

Cox is a columnist for The Daily Princetonian.

The University has a number of programs designed to help FLI students adapt to college and seek out academic opportunities, such as the Scholars Institute Fellows Program, the Princeton Hidden Minority Council, and the Freshman Scholars Institute. Lugardo explained that these programs were invaluable in making her feel comfortable in the University setting, inspiring her to organize the “FLI is Fly campaign,” which acknowledges what it’s like to come from extremely diverse backgrounds.

Umanzor also said that, to him, these programs help encourage FLI students who may wrongly think that the University isn’t for them.

However, students thought that the 60 Minutes episode missed or misrepresented some important aspects of the FLI student experience.

Lugardo, Cox, and Umanzor mentioned the importance of appreciating intersectionality in student identities, which the episode sometimes neglected.

“It made it seem as though you can only have one identity or the other; it didn’t really accept that intersectionality,” Lugardo added.

Umanzor also emphasized that students from first-generation, low-income backgrounds often have completely different experiences from each other.

Another problem was the identification of the Princeton FLI students as exceptions. The CBS article identified the interviewees as “Princeton’s Chosen Ones,” which the the students saw as a strange choice of language.

“We were viewed as an oddity, and it’s problematic,” Cox said. “We were fetishized in a way.”

Nevertheless, the students were proud to represent their FLI identity.

See 60 MINUTES page 3

ACADEMICS

Yuval Levin gives lecture on decay of American institutions

By Aviva Kohn “We know that we are losing social capital, but don’t know how to replenish it,” said Yuval Levin, Hertog Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and editor of National Affairs. “Institutions are part of an answer to that question, but the crisis that we face is that we have been loosing the knack for treating our institutions as formative. In this way, we’ve come instead to treat them as performative, as platforms, stages for us to perform on.”

Levin has been a member of the White House domestic policy staff as well as the Executive Director of the President’s Council on Bioethics under president George W. Bush.

“It is an essential reason for our loss of faith, our loss of trusts in many of our key institutions. And for the loss of form and structure in our life together that has left so many Americans feeling isolated or alienated in this moment in our society.”

The rise of a performative understanding of institutions and the decline of the idea of

ACADEMICS

ON CAMPUS

Staff Writer

the formative institution can offer us a lens into the evolution of some key facets of society, he said.

Levin went on to examine the problem through four main lenses: the federal government, the university, journalism, and family.

“This institutional decay has been evident first and foremost in Congress,” said Levin.

“A lot of members of Congress have come to view the institution as a kind of platform for themselves, a way to raise their profiles, to become celebrities in the world of cable See LEVIN page 2

Hubble Fraud incident near program Nassau Hall reported manager Tommie Shelby explains gives talk prison abolition, racism See STEINBERG page 3

By Katie Tam

Contributing Writer

By Joseph Kawalec

Contributing Writer

By Sarah Warman Hirschfield

Shelby is a Harvard University Professor of Philosophy and of African and African American Studies and the author of Dark Ghettos: Injustice, Dissent, and Reform and We Who Are Dark: The Philosophical Foundations of Black

At 12:41 p.m. on Tuesday, May 1, a fraud occurred on campus in front of Nassau Hall. The incident was reported to the Department of Public Safety at approximately 1:45 p.m. the same day.

According to the email statement from the Princeton Alert system, the victim was approached by the suspect, who asked for four hundred dollars cash in exchange for a check.

The victim agreed and handed the suspect the money, after which the victim attempted to cash the check via electronic deposit. The deposit was rejected by the victim’s bank.

When the victim attempted to cash the check, the suspect immediately f led the scene on foot, heading east on Nassau

Shelby championed the idea that prison perpetuates racism.

On Monday, April 30, Mike Menzel, the Mission Systems Engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, talked about his work on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

“The James Webb Space Telescope is a successor to Hubble; it’s the next great space telescope that NASA will build,” said Menzel, who has worked on the telescope for the past 20 years. “It will be, when it launches in mid2020, the largest telescope ever put into space. It is being done so in conjunction with the European and Canadian Space Agencies.”

Menzel has 38 years of experience in the space world and See MENZEL page 3

In Opinion

Today on Campus

Contributing columnist Siyang Liu examines the cultural attributes of food and guest contributor Abby Lissanu urges the University to make study-abroad an opt-out program. PAGE 4

4:30 p.m.: Nicole Holliday, assistant professor of linguistics at Pomona College, will present “Identity, Perception, and Variation in the Speech of Black/Biracial Men.”

Associate News and Video Editor

On May 1, philosopher Tommie Shelby’s lecture on capitalism, racism, and political repression filled McCormick 101 for the second day of his three-part lecture series.

See SHELBY page 2

SARAH WARMAN HIRSCHFIELD :: THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Green Hall I-S-5

Street. The suspect was described as a black male, approximately 20 years old, 150-160 pounds, 6’3”6’5” tall, “a long face and dry lips,“ last seen wearing a red button-down shirt with blue jeans. He was also carrying a green notebook.

Assistant Vice President for Communications Daniel Day said that he has limited additional information on the case. Acting University Spokesperson Michael Hotchkiss could not provide further details as to how long the suspect was on campus before approaching the victim, or the appearance of the fake check that was used.

The Department of Public Safety is actively investigating the incident.

Anyone with additional information is asked to call DPS at 609-258-1000.

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Wednesday May 2, 2018

Shelby: Prison abolition is either pointless or revolutionary SHELBY

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Solidarity.

In his previous lecture, he analyzed Angela Y. Davis’s writings on prison abolition, in which she argues that imprisonment is morally objectionable because it functions to maximize profits, dehumanize, and constitute a form and legacy of slavery.

“The case that justice [requires] a world without prisons cannot be made … on the basis of those arguments,” said Shelby.

In this lecture, he turns to Davis’s functional critique of prisons. The function of prisons, according to Davis, is four-fold: to facilitate economic exploitation, perpetuate racism, repress political dissent, and conceal intractable social problems.

“The form of the general critique draws from Marxist theory,” explained Shelby. “These financial gains are garnered at the expense of the those outside the ruling class and are extracted through force or fraud.”

“Racism plays a crucial role.

The prison is racist,” Shelby

explained. “It perpetuates racism and creates new modes of racism.”

Lastly, prisons are an apparatus for political repression, according to Shelby. When oppressed people refuse to submit to subordination and voluntary servitude and resist, it is a function of the law enforcement to repress this.

He went on to define the general form of a functional critique, defining an institution as a set of public rules and social roles that facilitate cooperation for some purpose.

“A concealed or unacknowledged goal shared by participants in an institution is a covert purpose,” Shelby said.

He also distinguished an institution’s manifest function, or its realized official purpose, from its latent function, a causal consequence of an institution that explains the institution, but is not the official purpose. These distinctions help explain why an institution might persist despite changes in society and why it is resilient in the face of challenges.

“The manifest/latent function distinction makes sense of an institution that doesn’t appear to achieve its official

purpose,” Shelby said.

Under Davis’s view, the prisons have a covert purpose. The latent function of prison is to create and maintain various forms of oppression.

“Davis writes that prisons expanded despite the fact that they did not prevent crimes,” Shelby pointed out.

He discussed the implications of Davis’s theory if the subjection of the functional analysis was not an institution, but a set of beliefs or an ideology.

Acceptance of these beliefs is based in various social consequences, he explained.

“Ideologies foster the oppressive latent functions of prisons,” he said, citing negative stereotypes that have led to tangible social consequences for black people. “However, the functional critique of ideology cannot ground the abolition of prisons in the absence of a refutation of the public justification of the practice of imprisonment.”

Shelby pointed out that although prisons can be instances of institutional racism, the racism can be corrected without ending the practice of imprisonment. So the question of abolition will turn on

whether imprisonment has a legitimate goal that justifies its costs, criminal justice rules can justly achieve this goal, sufficient personnel can impartially follow these rules, and a feasible alternative exists that can achieve the goal with fewer costs and lesser risk.

If it turns out that prisons serve no legitimate function or that there is a better alternative that is functionally equivalent, abolition would follow. “[However,] the functional critique does not rule out an institution serving both its latent function and its manifest function,” Shelby said.

While Davis makes the radical claim that the racial disparity in the prison system is a necessary consequence of a capitalist system — specifically, one with deep roots in racism — Shelby argues that prisons are not inherently racist. Instead, in some environments, such as the current prison system, but not others, racial subjugation occurs.

Additionally, some unjust societies may be self-adjusting, maintaining their oppressive structure despite changes to the system, Shelby explained.

In this case, “prison abolition is either a pointless proj-

ect or a matter of revolutionary tactics,” according to Shelby.

He considers a “radical” prison moratorium proposal: that we admit no new inmates and release those currently incarcerated until we make our society more just.

Shelby favors a more moderate view: until we transform our society into something more just, we should only imprison those who commit serious violent crimes, such as murder, rape, and aggravated assault.

“I actually have a lot of sympathy for this position,” he said, adding that he will defend it in the next lecture.

The talk, “The Limits of Functional Critique: Capitalism, Racism, and Political Repression,” was the second of three lectures in the philosophy department’s 2018 Carl G. Hempel Lectures series, “Incarceration as Punishment?

Prison Abolition and Critical Theory,” which took place the first three days of this week at 4 p.m. in McCormick 101. A question-and-answer session takes place after each lecture, followed by a reception.

Levin: We need to approach institutions with a different mindset LEVIN

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news or talk radio, in essence to perform. What is lost in the process of that is the ability to legislate or compromise.”

Levin found a similar decay in the presidency, explaining that President Trump’s ambition seems like a desire to put himself at the center of our national consciousness and attention. He pointed out that

the judicial system is also not immune to this ambition.

“A meaningful portion of the problem we tend to describe as judicial activism is actually also a form of this broader transformation of attitude by which some judges have come to think of the bench as a stage and by their work as moralistic performance,” he said.

This focus on the self becomes a particularly acute problem in professions where

integrity is most essential, such as journalism. Levin cited low levels of reported trust in journalism, especially among populists who use the press to “stand in for the establishment that they detest.” “[Populists] put fake news at the heart of their description of the social order that they reject,” he said.

According to Levin, this lack of trust is a particular problem for journalism because trust is journalism’s

currency.

Levin, however, also notes that the press is not free from blame for the lack of trust.

“An important reason for the decline of trust in the press is the failure of many journalists to treat their profession itself as a formative of institution and an inclination instead to treat it as another platform for themselves,” he said.

Levin broke the university down into three main purposes: professional development, moral activism, and liberal education.

In today’s America, Levin sees the moral activism aspect of the university as “increasingly not educative, but coercive.”

This integration of politics in traditionally non-political aspects of life has resulted in a “flattening of the topography of social life.”

“Every institution is becoming an arena for the same kind

of combat,” he said.

According to Levin, the family unit is also affected. He emphasized that the current social crisis “that is facing our society begins there.”

The family has come to be used as a platform for political activism, according to Levin.

Such deterioration of key institutions suggests that people have either forgotten or ignored the purpose and necessity of institutions. A solution, Levin suggests, would be to first approach institutions differently.

“It is a problem we can start to address by approaching the institutions around us with a different frame of mind,” he said.

The lecture took place at 4:30 p.m. on May 1. It was the second of three lectures by Dr. Yuval Levin sponsored by the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions.

AVIVA KOHN :: THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Yuval Levin discussed bioethics through four main lenses: the federal government, the university, journalism, and family.

The Daily Princetonian

Wednesday May 2, 2018

page 3

Steinberg: There is reason for despair about the world STEINBERG Continued from page 1

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tions everywhere.

During his talk, Steinberg stressed the motif of flight, often alluding to the German philosopher Walter Benjamin’s famous idea of the “angel of history.” According to Benjamin, revolution is a leap through the open air of history.

Through his research, Steinberg concluded that the defining image of the Russian Revolution is not the sickle and hammer that ordinarily comes to mind, but an angel. He pointed to murals created in Russia in the years directly leading up to 1917, one of which eventu-

ally loomed over Lenin’s grave.

Steinberg said that if we want to better study revolutions and better judge our own attempts at reforming society, we must not get hung up on the results of our efforts.

“We need to take the darkness of reality and the outcomes of revolutions seriously,” but ultimately must appreciate the continual brilliance of humans’ refusal to accept the status quo, said Steinberg.

The lecture “From Necessity to Freedom: How a Utopian Impulse Carried Me Beyond the Disenchantment of Outcomes” was hosted by the program in Russian and Eastern European studies and was held at 4:30 p.m. in the Louis A. Simpson Building.

Menzel: JWST will rewrite astronomy MENZEL

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has worked as Deputy Program Manager for the Hubble Space Telescope.

Menzel began by paying homage to Hubble, which has been operating in space for 28 years. Launched in 1990, Hubble is a 2.4-meter telescope that works in visible and ultraviolet light, has had five successful servicing missions, and houses eleven unique science instruments, according to Menzel.

The Hubble telescope has also produced iconic images of astronomical events and structures. The telescope has taken high resolution images of star-forming regions and protoplanetary disks, the first images of an exoplanet, and ultra deep field image of our universe.

Menzel described how he viewed the project as a systems engineer, taking the audience through each step of the process. These steps included figuring out the science objective, formulating mission requirements, designing and analyzing the system, taking risk management, technology development, and leading a verification effort into account.

He started with the scientific goals of the project, explaining how he had to talk to different astronomers to figure out what they wanted the JWST to be able to do. These goals include observing stars and galaxies that have been around since the Big Bang and understanding how planetary systems evolve. A more recent goal that was added to the project is the discovery of new exoplanets, including those that may sustain life.

“It was very fortunate that what we designed JWST to [do] could also help us to study the 15,000 or so exoplanets that have been discovered,” Menzel said. “In particular, many of us, or at least myself, hope that James Webb may arguably be capable of detecting some biomarkers on these

planets.”

These biomarkers are differences in dips of wavelength that appear when a planet passes in front of a star, and could be indicative of an atmosphere around the planet.

Menzel said that, moving forward, it is necessary to move on from gathering information about the scientific goals of the mission.

He went on to describe the four major types of requirements that need to be considered, which include spectral coverage, radiometric sensitivity, field of regard, and finally resolution and image quality.

Finally, he described the system design of JWST, which takes into account that James Webb needs to be an infrared telescope that works in cryogenic conditions.

“To make it less noisy than our own solar system, James Webb has to be 50K or below,” Menzel said, explaining why the cryogenic conditions are necessary. “If I really want to build a big telescope, making it big is [only] part of it.”

Much of the construction and testing has already been completed.

“The James Webb Space Telescope will be one of the premier astronomical tools of the next decade,” Menzel said.

“It has the potential to address some of the most fundamental questions before us.”

The mission is required to last for 5 years, but the telescope is built to last for 10 years, with hopes that it may last as long as 20 years.

“JWST will re-write the books on astronomy and engineering of future space observatories,” Menzel said. “I consider myself very lucky to be a part of this team and this program, and to have the pleasure of sharing our work with you.”

The talk “The James Webb Space Telescope,” which was hosted by the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department, was held on Monday, April 30 at 7:30 p.m. in room 105 of the Computer Science building.

Some students believe interview misrepresented FLI student experience 60 MINUTES Continued from page 1

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“By me voicing loudly my lack of shame in the FLI identity, I can make sure that there are changes that are made for the people who shouldn’t hav e to be as loud about that identity,” Lugardo said.

Umanzor also noted that, though the episode made strides for FLI students on campus, the University can still do

better when it comes to supporting FLI students.

“The University should always be held to a higher standard and should continue to explore ways that other Universities have sought to integrate students from FLI backgrounds,” Umanzor said.

Lugardo expressed similar sentiments.

“Changes cannot be made as quickly as I want them to be, and the changes that I want, I might not be able to see in my

time here,” Lugardo said. But, she notes, changes are occurring.

Already, the University tries to be receptive to the reforms encouraged by students and has taken massive strides towards creating a more diverse and welcoming institution and community for FLI students.

“Community is where it’s at, and community is where it should be,” said Cox.

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Opinion

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Adding soy sauce makes it Asian, right?

Siyang Liu

Contributing Columnist

T

he restaurant was modern chic. Not only was it was illuminated entirely by dim “mood lighting,” the water was also served in prim little mason jars, and the menu had not a single capital letter, only variations of the same aesthetically pleasing, gentle font. It was my first Asian fusion restaurant. As I scanned the menu, the only hallmarks of purported “Asianness” were buzzwords such as ‘bok choy,’ ‘soy,’ or sometimes just the adjective ‘Asian’ itself. The entire food cultures of various Asian countries were condensed to a few descriptor fragments that sounded vaguely exotic — but not too exotic.

Though interesting in the-

ory, Asian fusion restaurants are problematic in practice because they perpetuate the conflation of distinct Asian cultures. Korean, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Vietnamese, Indian… they all fall under the catchall phrase of “Asian.” Yet Asia is a large continent comprised of numerous distinct countries, each with its own rich and vibrant cuisine. It is therefore wildly inappropriate to lump them all together and market them as one entity, since doing so demonstrates complete disregard and lack of respect for non-American cultures. Thus, the concept of Asian fusion food does not lend itself to any sort of authenticity. Rather, it is a part of a larger trend of mainstreaming foreign dishes; they must become “westernized” before they are acceptable. People don’t go to Asian fusion restaurants to taste real culture — they go to feel like they’re experiencing the exotic nature of “Asian food” in an

upscale, sophisticated setting without truly stepping out of their comfort zone.

So why are these cultural foods so frequently whitewashed? Why must chicken come in a signature shade of orange for it to be Chinese, and why are sushi rolls named after U.S. states? Why does adding soy sauce to something automatically qualify it as “Asian?” Perhaps because it’s only then that the cultural cuisine reaches a comfortable medium of being somewhat adventurous but not too unfamiliar — redesigned for the American palate. Foods that truly feel foreign are unfortunately often treated with a mix of fear and disgust; from personal experience, for example, ingredients in Chinese cuisine that are more obscure in American dishes, such as chicken feet or lotus root, often elicit strange looks or even derision.

Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be this way. The unfamiliar

vol. cxlii

can become familiar with a willingness to learn and an eagerness to try something new.

Disgust is not an inevitable emotion: in fact, it is largely a learned concept. In order to reduce the whitewashing and irresponsible consolidation of different cuisines from countries all around Asia, we must actively maintain an open mind to change our perception of which foods are “disgusting” or “weird.” Instead of going to an Asian fusion restaurant, do some research and find a local restaurant that serves authentic cuisine. Take a chance — order something you haven’t tried before. Only then will we open up a whole new expanse of delicious, satisfying cultural foods — something far better than the illusory sense of authenticity from Asian fusion.

editor-in-chief

Marcia Brown ’19 business manager

Ryan Gizzie ’19

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

Siyang Liu is a first-year student from Princeton, NJ. She can be reached at siyangl@princeton. edu.

How can we make study abroad the new normal?

Abby Lissanu

Guest Contributor

P

rinceton University is world-renowned.

Our endowment, at $23.8 billion in 2017, is bigger than the GDP of Iceland in 2016. Our students are increasingly diverse and hail from all 50 states and many different countries. Our alumni include presidents, astronauts, authors, and royalty.

Yet, even at a school with so many resources, students aren’t always making the effort to engage critically with the world around them. Specifically, very few students study abroad during their four years at Princeton. Why is this the case?

A few caveats, before discussing this issue any further. With “study abroad,” I define this term as an accredited, academic program of study during either the academic year or summer.

This necessarily excludes other important overseas experiences, such as Bridge Year, working abroad through the International Internship Program, or conducting thesis research abroad. Furthermore, the Office of International Programs is quite understandably reticent to give out official statistics on study abroad at Princeton.

However, through other data sources, I found that Princeton was nowhere near the top 25 schools in study abroad participation.

There are many different impediments to studying abroad.

For some, attending Princeton is the top priority. Even professors have been heard to discourage studying abroad since “you’re already at the top university in the world, so why go elsewhere?” For others, the cost can be prohibitive, although the University does cover most

fees with financial aid. Importantly, many students may also worry about studying abroad based upon their own identity.

Studying abroad as a straight, white male connotes certain privileges that may elude individuals in under-privileged groups — minorities, LGBT, differently abled, low socioeconomic status, etc. Finally, junior year is very significant for undergraduate social life.

Between joining eating clubs to declaring one’s major, many students find their niche right at the time when they could be studying abroad.

Social psychology offers some theories as to why the above obstacles have decreased the rates of studying abroad.

For example, undergraduate students can be extremely ambiguity-averse. Many would rather participate in the routine academic and social calendar of the University than the uncertain life they would face overseas. Furthermore, we know that people like to follow their peers and feel like they fit in. Thus, since so few people are studying abroad, this has become a self-reinforcing cycle, in which the norm of a “typical student’s experience” excludes studying abroad.

Of course, the challenges listed above are not a full accounting of all potential obstacles. But given the extensive benefits — including language exposure, gaining a global perspective, and improving employability prospects, among others — I believe it is the University’s responsibility to encourage studying abroad.

First of all, I propose that the University makes studying abroad an opt-out decision.

That is, the University should think about making the default option studying abroad,

particularly for concentrations that touch on international affairs, such as Politics, Woodrow Wilson, any of the regional studies majors, and language certificate programs. As such, students would have to intentionally choose not to study abroad, and University systems would be reset such that study abroad is the new normal.

There is some evidence that changing the default option can influence decision-making behavior. For example, in a seminal study on organ donation, Eric J. Johnson and Daniel Goldstein found that making donation the default increased participation by 16.3%. In the University’s case, by creating a new reference point, students would expend less cognitive effort worrying about the uncertainties of study abroad.

Rather, students would hopefully change from not wanting to “miss out on Princeton” to not wanting to “lose out” on the experience of being overseas.

Moreover, they can rely upon the credibility of Princeton to know that the University is setting a good default option for them. And there is precedent for this decision. For evidence, one must only remember 2016, when the University created a new default by changing from opt-in to mandatory pre-orientation programs for all firstyears.

I would also create a broad campaign, including posters and emails, to change perceptions of what kinds of students study abroad. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh found that many students who study abroad scored high on indicators of academic motivation, i.e. the desire to work hard, do things well, and take on academic challenges. Thus, reframing study abroad as some-

thing that the smartest, most motivated University students do could incentivize students who like to take on challenges and strive to emulate their accomplished peers.

Finally, I would suggest arranging support groups for under-privileged students studying abroad. Many Princetonians may never have left the United States or had a passport before coming to college, which makes study abroad an even more lifechanging experience. However, it is important to recognize the different challenges that a diverse set of students faces when studying abroad and to provide those students with the appropriate support channels.

It will take time to see if these policies work to change the norms surrounding the Princeton college experience, unless the University decides to fully mandate study abroad programs. Measuring study abroad rates before and after these policy changes, and seeing how results play out by race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, ability, and nationality would be the most helpful markers of success. But particularly now, in an era of political leadership in which nationalism and xenophobia run rampant, empowering a generation of young people to go and see the world for themselves is more important than ever. I truly believe this could be one important step towards fulfilling the University’s updated motto more fully: “in the nation’s service, and in the service of humanity.”

Abyssinia Lissanu is a graduate student at the Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs from Somerset, Ky. She can be reached at alissanu@princeton. edu.

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Opinion

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Heritage by inspection Ethan Thai

Contributing Columnist

A

s I walk through the tourist-heavy north side of campus, there’s always a decent chance that my ethnic identity will invite people to speak to me in languages that I am unable to understand. The interaction typically starts with an inquisitive remark in a foreign language and ends in an embarrassed shake of my head.

Every once in a while I get a pitiful laugh in response and a look that implies, “It’s a shame that he can’t even converse with his own culture.”

I am the son of a Vietnamese father and Indonesian mother. My complexion displays languages I cannot speak; my features, lands I have never walked. Despite the fact that both of my parents are immigrants, English is the only language that f lows over our dinner table. I could point out their

home nations on a map, but ask me anything beyond wikipediable information and I would be at a loss. The most defining label I have, my first and middle names, Ethan Henry, is devoid of reference to the culture and traditions of my ethnicity.

Of course, my story is veiled behind my appearance, which speaks another tale entirely. In a society fastened to the association of ethnicity and ideals, the only expectation I can fulfill on first glance is one based off my Southeast Asian image and assumed heritage. Between my visiting relatives expressing their surprise at my cultural unawareness to new friends noting my “Westernization,” I exist within the conf lict of my presumed heritage and true identity.

Heritage has traditionally played a significant role in the construction of identities, histories, and customs of ancestors transcribed into a person’s actions and appearance. The foods that compose a typical dinner, the religion that constitutes one’s faith, and the languages that shape

one’s words are all usually attributed to what has been passed down from our predecessors. However, in a land constructed by immigrants and interwoven with diversity, backgrounds of all types have mixed to produce a wealth of new meanings and effects of heritage. This ever-changing understanding and impact of ancestry has created a complex relationship between the mold of identity and the guidance of heritage.

As the barriers defining the two ends of the hyphen in Asian-American yield to assimilation, many people diverge from the origin countries that shape their identity. Cultural traits and established practices are lost in the translation from East to West. Have we severed our ties to our heritage?

Despite this disconnect between homeland and character, heritage continues to inf luence my life and the values I try to embody.

This is because heritage is a connection that envelops more than the cultural remnants of a departed country.

Rather, it encompasses a set of beliefs and principles that

were forged by the experiences of my ancestors.

Both of my parents were thrust into an environment of unfamiliar cultures, devoid of people similar to them. My mother grew up in a small Ohio town. Her family left behind a life of comfort and stability and the discrimination my grandfather faced as a Chinese Christian in Indonesia for greater economic opportunities and religious freedom. My dad and his family f led an uncertain future in rising communist Vietnam.

They were thrown from ship to ship and island to island before finding a foster home in the heart of Massachusetts.

While my father never imposed the traditional means of addressing him and other elders upon me, the ideal of respect was passed through his unceasing work ethic and caring authority. My grandmother had never taught me Indonesian, but the story of her arguing for discounts on bruised fruit at the grocery store to save a few precious dollars showed me the importance of frugality. I may not be able to pronounce or

the princeton yodeling kid grace koh ’19

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even identify half the dishes my father’s parents make, but their experience of surviving off rations at an Indonesian refugee camp following an escape from Vietnam instilled the importance of always ending a meal with an empty plate. Neither of my parents enforced the strict family structure they had both grown up in, but the understanding of being in a land they could not call their own and among people they could not relate to drew the paramount significance of family. That is my heritage and the foundation for my identity.

As we celebrate a multitude of cultures this Asian American Heritage Month, let us not forget that heritage itself embraces not only traditions instilled but also stories created. While I may not have a strong affiliation to the customs of my family’s homelands, the values formed by my ancestors in and out of those cultures have shaped who I am today.

Ethan Thai is a first-year from Chandler, Ariz. He can be reached at ehthai@princeton. edu.

Wednesday May 2, 2018

Sports

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{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } SOFTBALL

Following loss to Penn, softball team continues inconsistent season

By Samantha Shapiro Staff Writer

Softball suffered a rough weekend against its matchup versus Penn, ending the weekend with three consecutive losses. On Friday, Princeton battled back-and-forth with the Quakers, eventually losing 12–11. The Saturday matchups were not quite as close; the Tigers lost 9–2 and 3–2 in the first and second games of the doubleheader, respectively. Reflecting on the weekend, first-year Gianna Mavica said, “Getting swept by Penn obviously wasn’t great, but there were some good things going in that series. Although we struggled defensively, offensively we started to string some hits together.”

Softball has endured a tumultuous season marked by inconsistency. The team has an 7–11 Ivy League record, never experiencing a losing or winning streak greater than three.

Currently sixth place in the Ivy League standings, the team is out of contention for the Ivy League Championship Series, which will be played between the teams with the two best records.

The Tigers’ best matchup was against Yale in mid-April, when they walked away 3–0 on the weekend. The weekend after, softball went 1–2 with Columbia.

“I think our pitchers carried us in the Yale series. They really

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Eliminated from playoff contention, the softball team hopes to close out the season on a high note against Cornell this weekend.

figured it out and found a way to exploit Yale’s weaknesses,” observed Mavica. “Columbia was an offensive powerhouse that we had trouble keeping up with.”

On the season overall, Mavica noted a general trend. “I think a weakness of this year was putting together our best game. We seemed to have strong defensive games and strong of-

fensive games, but had few completely strong games.” Mavica also spoke to the proximity and close-knit nature of the team, remarking on the strength of the dynamic.

This year may have been a “growth year” for the Tigers. The Tigers will lose three seniors at the end of this season, but the team is bolstered by a strong, rising underclassmen presence.

In the latter half of the season, first-year Mackenzie Meyer has shone, currently with seven home runs, the most on the team. First-year Allie Reynolds has also been a crucial presence for the Tigers, leading the team in pitching throughout the season with 125.1 innings pitched.

Softball will finish its season at home this weekend against Cornell. Cornell will be an in-

teresting matchup for the Tigers. Cornell has performed comparably to Princeton, as it also has seven Ivy League wins so far. Cornell is coming off an out-of-conference loss against Syracuse, but a conference win against league competitor Columbia.

“We want to close the season in the best way,” said Mavica.

“We want to sweep them.”

BASEBALL

Swept by Yale, baseball continues skid

By Tom Salotti Staff Writer

Baseball lost to Yale (20–17 overall, 14–4 Ivy) in all three games last weekend, its last at home.

The series sweep ended a bruising stretch for the Tigers in which they played nine games in nine days, with series against Columbia, Harvard, and Yale. Princeton went just 2–7 during that stretch, dropping the final six games.

On a sunny Saturday morning, the Tigers (10–23, 7–11) fell to the Bulldogs 2–1. Yale scored at the top of the fourth inning for the first run of the game. Junior Joseph Flynn’s ground ball earned Princeton its first run at the bottom of the sixth. The Tigers’ defeat was sealed after Yale’s Griffin Day hit one over the fence at top of the seventh inning to give the Bulldogs a one-run lead they would not relinquish. Princeton senior Ben Gross pitched seven innings and struck out eight batters, and sophomore pitcher Eli Kimbell struck out six hitters in two innings.

In the afternoon, Princeton lost 6–0 in the second game of the double header.

Despite hits from junior Jesper Horsted and a stellar performance from sophomore pitcher James Proctor, the Tigers were unable to put any runs on the scoreboard, losing to Yale by six.

On Sunday, the team was unable to make a comeback

from the previous day’s shortcomings, losing to Yale 8–3 in its last home game of the season. Senior Asher Lee-Tyson hit one to left field in the bottom of the first inning, earning the Tigers their first run. Yale scored one in the top of the third. Sophomore Conor Nolan responded with a home run in the bottom of the third, scoring two runs for Princeton. Yale would go on to score eight and win the game.

Last weekend’s disappointing results put Princeton near the bottom of the table: sev-

Tweet of the Day “Welcome to the “window” Eric Robinson #NHLplayers #hobeybakerrink #notabigdeal #cbj” Princeton Hockey (@PUHockey)

enth place in the Ivy League, in front of just Brown (10– 24, 5–13). The Tigers are now mathematically eliminated from a spot in the Ivy League Championship Series, where the top two teams in the conference play for the title. Yale currently has fourteen wins and Harvard (20–19, 10–8) has eleven. Even if Princeton won all of its remaining games in the conference, the maximum possible number of wins would be 10.

The Tigers have won three and lost three of the threegame series played against

each conference opponent.

Princeton bested Cornell (11– 18–1, 6–9), Brown, and Columbia (16–24, 11–7) this season, while falling to Penn (13–24–1, 7–10–1), Harvard, and Yale.

The Tigers do have a chance, however, of surpassing their seven conference wins from last season.

On Thursday afternoon the Tigers will head to nearby Monmouth University 19–20 overall, 9–6 conf.) for a friendly game against the Hawks.

Last year, Princeton lost 4–8 at Monmouth. The year before that, the Tigers lost 3–7 at

home. Should the Tigers win this Thursday’s game, they will break their four-year losing streak against the Hawks.

This weekend Princeton will head to Hanover, N.H., to play its last games of the season against conference foe Dartmouth (12–20–1, 8–6–1).

Last year, the Tigers won one 4–2 and lost one 6–7 against the Big Green in Hanover.

The year before that, Baseball hosted Dartmouth at Clarke Field, where they won the first 2–1 and in the second clutched the win in the 10th inning 9–8.

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Baseball continues on their rough patch as their losing streak increases to 6.

Stat of the Day

11 goals Number of goals scored in the past week by junior midfielder Elizabeth George, Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week for Women’s Lacrosse.

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