Volume LXXI, Number 45
Paul Robeson House Renovation . . . . . . . . . 5 Planning Board Approves Bike Plan . . . . . . . . . . . 8 In Russia With Chekov . . . . . . . . . . 10 HiTOPS Princeton Half Marathon . . . . . . . . . 17 Princeton Pro Musica Opens New Season . . . 23 PU Women’s Soccer Hosting Monmouth in NCAA Opener . . . . . . 32 PHS Boys’ Cross Country Wins Sectional Title . . 35
Longtime Princeton Resident Addie M . Webber, 98, dies . . . . 40 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 29 Cinema . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Classified Ads. . . . . . . 41 Clubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Music/Theater . . . . . . 26 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 39 Police Blotter . . . . . . . . 6 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 41 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Wedding . . . . . . . . . . 18
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Rider Sends Layoff Notices To Westminster Faculty, Spurring Union to Take Action
With the potential sale of Westminster Choir College (WCC) still pending, Rider University sent layoff notices last week to Westminster’s teaching staff informing them that the music school could close if the transaction does not go through. Despite a letter to the University community from Rider president Gregory Dell’Omo stating that the notice was provided only “as part of a larger process intended to secure the future of WCC,” the Rider chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) isn’t buying it. The chapter responded this week with an open letter to Dell’Omo asking that the University “change direction” from a plan to sell Westminster, with which it merged in 1992, to an unnamed, for-profit company that operates K-12 schools in Asia. (See this week’s Mailbox for the full text of the letter.) At a press conference held on the Westminster campus last Thursday, Rider sociology professor and AAUP chief negotiator Jeffrey Halpern said the chapter intends to file a grievance within the next few weeks. The press conference was held following separate meetings held by Dell’Omo, Dean of Westminster College of the Arts Marshall Onofrio, Rider Board Chair Robert Schimeck, and lawyer Mark Solomon, with faculty and students. The group also met with parents of Westminster students this past Saturday during the Choir College’s parents’ weekend. Rider has posed narratives that the AAUP chapter thinks are incorrect and need to be challenged. Contrary to the University’s reports that it is seeking to sell Westminster in anticipation of a $10 to $14 million deficit, an audit “has nothing in it that says that,” said Halpern. “The giant deficit they talk about is always ‘one year away.’” As for the suggestion that Westminster has been a financial burden for Rider, “This is also untrue,” said Halpern. “It is a music school, and music schools are never going to be sources of major cash for any institution. But this is not the source of any deep deficits. In the past two years, Westminster has had a small surplus. This college is at full enrollment, and has very strong donor support. We are not in dire straits.” Another disputed narrative is that the layoff is merely a simple transition in
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Wednesday, November 8, 2017
Behrend, Deutsch, Tuck-Ponder Win School Seats Voters elected Beth Behrend with 3,199 votes, Jess Deutsch with 2,983 votes, and Michele Tuck-Ponder with 2,773 votes on Tuesday to fill available seats for three-year terms on the Princeton Board of Education, according to unofficial results at press time. Joining the Princeton Municipal Council in January for three-year terms will be Democrats David Cohen and Leticia Fraga, winning 5,604 and 5,570 votes respectively in their unopposed campaigns. Current Council members Bernie Miller and Jo Butler will be stepping down on January 1. Also-rans in the School Board race included Jenny Ludmer with 2,118 votes, Julie Ramirez with 2,051 votes and James Fields with 1,192 votes. In the race to succeed Chris Christie as New Jersey governor, Democrat Phil Murphy handily defeated Republican Kim Guadagno 48,144 to 26,014, with 93 percent of the districts having reported at press time. Five other candidates on the ballot each received less than one percent of the vote. In Princeton, Murphy’s margin of victory was 5,599 to 1,277 over Guadagno. In the 16th legislative district Democratic challenger Laurie Poppe, with 5,356 votes for State Senate unseated incumbent Republican Christopher “Kip” Bateman, who received 1,477 votes. In the hotly-contested race for two State Assembly positions, Democratic incumbent Andrew Zwicker successfully defended his seat with 5,660 votes, while Democrat Roy
Freiman won the second Assembly position with 5,480 votes. Republicans Donna Simon and Mark Caliguire fell short, with 1,259 and 1,238 votes respectively. Zwicker and Freiman won handily in Princeton voting with 5,670 and 5,480 respectively, to 1,259 votes for Simon and 1,235 votes for Caliguire. Winners in the race for Mercer County Board of Chosen Freeholders were Democratic incumbents John A. Cimino with 53,137 votes and Lucylle R.S.Walter with 52,167 votes, while also-rans included Republicans Jeff Hewitson and Michelle Noone. John “Jack” Kemler, a Democrat, was
voted in for another term as Mercer County Sheriff, defeating Republican Charles “Chuck” Farina by a margin of 54,756 votes to 23,776 votes. New Jersey voters approved both Public Questions on the ballot, one a state bond issue to provide grants to public libraries and the second allocating state revenue from legal settlements on environmental contamination to restore and protect natural resources in the state. Princeton voters voted overwhelmingly in favor of both.
With 1,620 students, 200 over capacity, at Princeton High School (PHS); John Witherspoon Middle School 100 over capacity; elementary schools full; and further growth predicted at all levels; Princeton Public Schools (PPS) are planning a facilities referendum for next year. “We need to prepare, and we need to prepare now,” said PPS Superintendent Steve Cochrane. Proposed expansion could include a three-story addition at PHS, a new community school for fifth and sixth grades at
the Valley Road site, upgrades at all six schools, a new space for administration and transportation, space for a preschool center, and possibly plans for a future elementary school. The referendum vote by the community is tentatively anticipated for September 2018, following submission of initial plans to the State Department of Education in March with construction beginning in the spring of 2019 and completed by that fall. It is driven partly by growing
—Donald Gilpin
Crowded Public Schools Prepare Referendum, Construction Plans
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DEMOCRACY IN ACTION: Princeton residents prepared to cast their votes at Community Park Elementary School yesterday morning. This year’s election included candidates for governor, State Senate, State Assembly, Mercer County Board of Chosen Freeholders, County Sheriff, Princeton Town Council, and the Princeton Board of Education. (Photo by Erica M. Cardenas)
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