Volume LXXI, Number 3 Leticia Fraga Making Another Run for Princeton Council . . . . . 7 Thoughts on the Absurd With Kafka and Camus as Friday Approaches . . . 14 Bedlam’s Unconventional Hamlet Opens at McCarter Berlind . . . . 19 PU Opera Theater Presents Scenes from Mozart . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Stephens Stars as PU Men’s Hoops Posts Weekend Sweep . . . . . 26 Herring Writing Final Chapter to Sister Act for PHS Girls’ Hockey . . . 30
All in a Day’s Work Features Yoga Teacher Annie Isaacson . . . . . . . 9 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 23 Cinema . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Classified Ads. . . . . . . 34 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Music/Theater . . . . . . 17 New To Us . . . . . . . . . 25 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 33 Police Blotter . . . . . . . . 4 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 34 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . . 6
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Martin Luther King Prayer Breakfast Draws a Large Crowd This year for the first time, Princeton University designated Martin Luther King Day a school holiday. That gave students and faculty the day off on Monday, January 16, and many of them joined members of the local community to remember the late civil rights activist at a special prayer breakfast in the University’s Carl A. Fields Center. For more than two decades, the University held events in memory of Dr. King at Richardson Auditorium. The prayer breakfast was a first for the school, Vice President and Secretary Bob Durkee said in his introduction of the featured speaker, Princeton Councilman Lance Liverman. The standing-room-only event was also attended by Council members Jo Butler, Heather Howard, and Tim Quinn. Mr. Liverman’s talk, which earned him a standing ovation, was followed by a performance by members of the choir from First Baptist Church, led by the Rev. Donald Locklear, the church’s Minister of Music. Mr. Liverman’s focus was community. “The word means different things to different people,” he said, but “we are one community. We have more in common than we actually realize.” Born and raised in Princeton aside from a few years in Trenton, Mr. Liverman attended Princeton public schools, as have his two daughters. His father, who died when he was three, was the first African American lighting technician at McCarter Theatre, Mr. Liverman told the crowd. Though Mr. Liverman lived on Witherspoon Street across from Community Park School, he was bused to Littlebrook School to help keep the schools integrated. “I believe to truly build a great community starts in the very early years,” he said. Children must be taught early to intervene if they witness bullying, even if it is uncomfortable. “You can’t stand by and be silent.” Referring to Dr. King, Mr. Liverman read portions of his “I Have a Dream” speech delivered during the famous March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. He also touched on current events, including the possible repeal of the Affordable Care Act and the recent presidential election. “This past election left many of us feeling fearful, and fearful is the word,” he said.
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Wednesday, January 18, 2017
Charter School Controversy Intensifies
Despite impassioned appeals on both sides, along with expressed commitments to work together, Princeton Charter School (PCS) and Princeton Public Schools (PPS) remain entrenched in their opposition over the question of a PCS expansion. Princeton Charter School’s board voted unanimously last Wednesday to support their application to the State Department of Education for expansion, and Princeton Public Schools continued their efforts to block that move. A flurry of letters to local media (see this week’s Mailbox), to representatives in Trenton, and to New Jersey Education Commissioner Kimberley Harrington, who in the next two months will be deciding on the PCS application, illuminate the conflict, with PCS seeking approval to expand its enrollment by 76 students, and PPS claiming that the cost to the District would have a “devastating impact” on the public schools. PCS and PPS do seem to have found a small piece of common ground on a second part of the PCS proposal, to implement a weighted admissions lottery to increase the economic diversity of the school.
In his appeal to the Charter School Board last Wednesday, PPS Superintendent Steve Cochrane, accompanied by a contingent of supporters, asked PCS to “do the right thing for the children of this community” and withdraw its proposal. “Your proposal to expand enrollment may have been well-intentioned,” he said, “but it will have a devastating impact on the Princeton Public Schools for years to come.” The $1.2 million that the District would
be obligated to give PCS, he argued, would force the schools to cut personnel and programs. “Sadly,” he added, “many of the cuts we will have to make will come from the high school. Your expansion proposal will hurt the very school to which you send most of your students.” Mr. Cochrane went on to express his hope that PCS and PPS could come together, “that we can find creative ways to Continued on Page 8
Library Program on Circular Economy Takes Sustainability a Step Further Advocating the benefits of recycling to residents of Princeton can be like preaching to the choir. But there is more to creating a truly sustainable community than even the most dedicated recyclers may be aware. An event at Princeton Public Library Thursday, January 19, will explore a concept that takes recycling to the next level. “Beyond Recycling: Building the Circular Economy in New Jersey,” co-sponsored
by Sustainable Princeton, examines a growing business movement that uses a life-cycle approach to keep materials and resources in use as long as possible to avoid pollution and reduce waste. That means that products are designed, from the very beginning, with materials that can be repurposed and used in other products rather than tossed into the landfill. “There seems to be a lot of emphasis
THAT’S HIM: Reading over the artist’s shoulder, you know who the hero of the occasion is at Monday’s Martin Luther King Day Community Event at the Arts Council of Princeton’s Paul Robeson Center. It was a day of live performances, interactive improv, listening, learning, sharing, and making art. (Photo by Emily Reeves)
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