Volume LXIX, Number 51 Schools’ Green Team Launches Sustainability Initiative . . . . . . . . . . . 7 New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Performs Handel’s Messiah at Richardson . . . . . . . . 13 Jazz Legend Chet Baker, Born December 23, 1929, Lives On in His Music . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Tiger Wrestling Aiming for Another Breakthrough Performance . . . . . . . 22 PHS Boys’ Hoops Pulls Away to Opening Day Win . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Dr . David Alan Willard, Princeton University Class of 1960, Who Practiced Internal Medicine Here for More than 30 Years, Dies at 77 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 16 Cinema . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Classified Ads . . . . . . . 32 Music/Theater . . . . . . 13 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 29 Police Blotter . . . . . . . 10 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 32 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Topics of the Town . . . . 5
www.towntopics.com
University Combats Anti-Muslim Rhetoric On Multiple Fronts Hate crimes against Muslims in the U.S. have risen in the wake of recent terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, and the anti-Muslim political rhetoric has persisted. The nationwide conflict has reverberated in New Jersey, where Governor Chris Christie called on the state to turn away Syrian refugees, including children, and a Rutgers-Eagleton poll early this month said that 45 percent of New Jersey residents do not want New Jersey open to refugees from Syria. Princeton University has not been immune to concerns about Islamophobia and offensive political rhetoric. An editorial written by the campus organization Muslim Advocates for Social Justice and Individual Dignity (MASJID) in last week’s Daily Princetonian pointed out “xenophobic immigration policies, opportunity barriers, and numerous hate crimes” and called for “the university administration, faculty and students to recognize that we too are affected by the hate, violence, and mistrust being perpetrated toward Muslims and other marginalized communities across the United States.” The editorial referred to the traditional American values of religious freedom and tolerance and to progress in the cause of civil rights and diversity in this country over the past century, but went on to decry that these “landmark ideals have been shockingly and discouragingly undermined in recent months and years by the Islamophobic rhetoric of the very people we expect to defend these ideals: potential elected officials.” Many other student groups signed on to the editorial, in solidarity with the MASJID students. The concerns of MASJID were echoed last week across campus at the Princeton Theological Seminary, where students wrote a petition opposing anti-Muslim rhetoric (and specifically criticizing a call by Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. to allow arms on his campus in response to terrorist acts). Meanwhile, Princeton Theological Seminary President Craig Barnes joined more than 1600 seminary faculty and leaders throughout the country in issuing “An Appeal to Christians in the United States.”
Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Continued on Page 15
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Senate Committee Calls for a Stay on IAS Project
The State Senate Environment and Energy Committee at a hearing in the State House in Trenton yesterday listened to more than two hours of testimony from the Princeton Battlefield Society and its allies, and proceeded to call for the Department of Environmental Protection to issue a stay, pending a meeting with the committee, on all activity at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) proposed building site, “to prevent irreparable harm to the historic site where the Battle of Princeton occurred as well as damage to the existing wetlands.” Neither the IAS nor the DEP was represented at the hearing. The IAS project, construction of eight townhouses and seven single-family houses for Institute faculty on a parcel of approximately seven acres, has moved forward in the ground clearing process and many truckloads of sand have been delivered to the property, but no construction has yet commenced. More than an hour of testimony by Bruce Afran, lawyer for the Princeton Battlefield Society, and evidence from hydrologist Amy Greene, who has identified wetlands on the property, along with commentary from the Civil War Trust and local residents,
convinced the committee that “there are significant issues concerning the proper identification of wetlands at the site where the Institute proposes to build housing.” Senator Christopher “Kip” Bateman (R16), who first urged the convening of the hearing, Linda Greenstein (D-14) and Bob Smith (D-17), who chairs the committee, all signed the official letter to DEP Commissioner Bob Martin. Mr. Bateman described the testimony as “eye-opening … providing clear and indisputable evidence supporting our fight to protect this hallowed
ground. We simply cannot allow construction crews to bulldoze 238 years of history and irreversibly decimate the surrounding wetlands.” The DEP originally approved the IAS building plan, but, Mr. Afran, supported by Ms. Greene’s report, called for the DEP to reconsider their approval in the light of evidence of wetlands at the building site. The Senate committee also wants a reconsideration and answers from the DEP before the IAS project continues. Continued on Page 10
Quinn to Run for a Seat on Council, Miller Won’t Run for Council President Tim Quinn, a former president of Princeton Public Schools and the director of communications for Princeton Public Library, announced last week that he will seek a seat on Princeton Council in the next election. Bernie Miller, a Council member who has served as the governing body’s president for the past three years, said Monday that he will not stand for re-election to that position in 2016 but will continue his term on Council. Mr. Quinn, a Democrat, currently serves
as an alternate on the town’s Planning Board. In making his announcement last week, he said, “I want to help build a stronger, more inclusive and sustainable Princeton, where difference is celebrated and where all share in an abundance of municipal services and opportunities. In this stronger Princeton, newcomers will be embraced, and those, like me, who have lived here for a long time can continue to enjoy all our town has to offer.” Continued on Page 4
CHRISTMAS EVE AND CANDLELIGHT: An interactive candlelight service for children and families will take place at Princeton United Methodist Church at 4 p .m . on Christmas Eve . Tom Shelton will direct the children’s choir and Rev . Jana Purkis-Brash will tell the story of Christ’s birth . The church is located at the corner of Nassau and Vandeventer . For more information, visit www .princetonumc .org .
NICK HILTON
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