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Thursday October 11, 2018 vol. CXLII no. 84
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IN TOWN
Dohm Alley lacks funding, support By Hannah Wang Staff Writer
A little over a year since its first art installation, the onceinconspicuous passageway between Starbucks and Landau on Nassau Street has both established itself as a creative establishment and failed to secure the funding necessary for more exhibits. The site — Dohm Alley — is a reliable hangout on sunny days, where people pose for photographs underneath the foliage-adorned moon gate or simply enjoy themselves outside. “We have plans for audio and video installations that will teach pedestrians something new in the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee,” said Peter Soderman, professional landscape designer and cofounder of the project “Design @ Dohm Alley,” which brought together the group of artists who worked to voluntarily transform the passageway. Town residents and workers from nearby businesses said they feel Dohm Alley has a lot of potential to add culture to its strip of Nassau Street. “You don’t ever think to do something with an alleyway,” said Princeton resident Donna Anderson, 53, who had stopped inside the alley to read one of the bas-relief poems mounted to the walls. “It’s such a beautiful space, and everything they’ve chosen to put here is perfect — the plants, the sculptures, even this wooden bench.” “I’m surprised it’s not busier over there,” said Samantha Hershey, a barista at the adjacent Starbucks. “There’s a lot to look at … Maybe if they
HANNAH WANG :: PRINCETONIAN STAFF WRITER
Dohm Alley’s current exhibits are the same ones it opened with.
switched up the art every once in a while, there would be more interest.” Soderman explained that a key component of his vision for Dohm Alley was to display an ever-rotating collection of curated multimedia artwork. But
ON CAMPUS
because of a lack of funding, the Romantic Poets installation that heralded the launch of the alley last year is still the one on display today. Expensive technical elements that were meant to form an integral part of the exhibit, such as a large
flat-screen TV and a full sound system, remain absent and unpurchased. According to Soderman, Dohm Alley relies only on volunteers, donations, and grants to keep itself up and running. “Because we currently lack
ON CAMPUS
the funds to move forward and build on what we’ve started, the alley remains a mute Rosetta Stone,” he said. Kevin Wilkes ’83, president of Princeton Future, architect, and other co-founder of “Design @ Dohm Alley” — the Princeton Future initiative that is sponsoring the project by soliciting funding from local art patrons and organizations — noted that it is usually a challenge for nonprofits to raise enough money for their own initiatives. Princeton Future describes itself as “a nonpartisan group of volunteers from the Princeton area who are dedicated to protecting and enhancing the quality of life in our unique, historic community and region.” “I don’t think there is any nonprofit in the world that is able to just sit back and watch an abundance of money flow in for all the initiatives that it hopes to accomplish,” Wilkes said. Wilkes said Dohm Alley is the third project that he and Soderman have worked on together. They created Writers Block Garden in 2004 and Quark Park in 2008, both of which were temporary installments in a vacant lot behind the Hulfish Street Parking Garage. He said that the kinds of project he and Soderman envisioned are only possible in Princeton. “Princeton is such a special community, a gifted and talented community, and so much of what we have done, we would not have been able to do elsewhere,” Wilkes said. He said that he does not know how long it will take beSee DOHM page 2
ON CAMPUS
MacArthur Fellows Sly, First stage Brangwynne discuss of Maya Lin collaborative research installation Staff Writer
KATIE TAM :: PRINCETONIAN STAFF WRITER
The Writing Center continues to unpack and adjust to its new space.
Writing Center relocates to New South Building By Katie Tam Staff Writer
Since the beginning of this academic year, the Writing Center has operated from its new location on the second floor of the New South Building. The Writing Center, which was previously located in the basement of Whitman College, relocated to New South at the end of August after a temporary placement in Green Hall over the summer. Deputy Dean of the College
In Opinion
Elizabeth Colagiuri notified the Center of the relocation shortly after Commencement. According to Genevieve Creedon, associate director for the Writing Center, the move was to accommodate 40 or more additional students in the Class of 2022 in the dorms of Whitman. This was confirmed by Colagiuri. “The Writing Program was the only academic unit housed in a residential building, so the swap makes sense on that level,” Creedon wrote in an email See WRITING page 5
Columnist Daehee Lee highlights the values of being a political moderate, while contributing columnist Ethan Thai argues that technology will allow for stronger accountability in the future. PAGE 6
On Thursday, Oct. 4, associate professor of chemical and biological engineering Clifford Brangwynne and mathematics professor Allan Sly were both named 2018 MacArthur Fellows for their work in cellular compartmentalization and probability theory, respectively. Informally known as the “Genius Grant,” the MacArthur Fellowship is awarded to 25 individuals in the United States every year for their “extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits,” as well as “a marked capacity for self-direction.” Each fellow receives $625,000 with “no strings attached” from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. First and foremost a physics engineer, Brangwynne was recognized for his work at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass., where he researches the processes that drive the organization of membraneless organelles by using principles of “soft matter” physics, or the physics of easily deformed objects, and cellular biology. His work at the lab aims
Today on Campus
to advance scientific understanding of various diseases and develop techniques to treat them by synthesizing self-assembling biomaterials. Brangwynne called the MacArthur Fellowship a special award since it aims to raise awareness of creativity in the sciences and to dispel the notion that art and science are two very separate disciplines. He noted that the nature of his own work is quite interdisciplinary. “Making progress in biology and understanding how biological systems work requires people coming together from different disciplines,” Brangwynne explained. Named a Sloan Research Fellow in 2014, a National Institutes of Health New Innovator, a Searle Scholar in 2012, and a Helen Hay Whitney Fellow from 2008 to 2010, Brangwynne has received numerous accolades for his contributions to biological engineering. Even so, he said that “there aren’t many awards” like the MacArthur Fellowship. “[There] are no strings attached, and that freedom is amazing … I’m hopeful [the funds] will unleash new creative ideas in me,” BrangwynSee MACARTHUR page 3
4:30 p.m.: Mu Sochua, deputy leader of Cambodia’s opposition party and a lifelong advocate for democracy and women’s rights in Southeast Asia, will speak on “Democracy in Peril.” Robertson Hall
complete By Linh Nguyen & Sarah Hirschfield
Senior Writer & Associate News Editor
The curved grass hills outside of the Lewis Center for the Arts aren’t just ordinary hills — they’re the carefully sculpted first half of artist Maya Lin’s outdoor installation for the University. The first half, referred to by the University Art Museum as a “folded earth piece,” was completed this past June, while the second half of Lin’s outdoor installation piece — a water table — is set to be completed in late spring before Reunions, according to art museum Campus Collections Manager Lisa Arcomano. The earth piece is a set of sloping hills that seem to swirl together in front of the Lewis Center. The hills are intentionally subtle, so much so that most people who pass by do not recognize that it is meant to be an art installation, but instead assume it to be part of the natural landscape. In contrast, the water table will be made of granite and carved to form an “oblate spheroid” with a 12-foot diameSee LIN page 2
WEATHER
By Hannah Wang
HIGH
77˚
LOW
56˚
Thunderstorms chance of rain:
90 percent