Volume LXXII, Number 14
PPS Students Promote Bog Turtle Bill. . . . . . . 5 PDS Summer Research Internships. . . . . . . . . 11 Audran’s Style, Strength, and Daring . . . . . . . . 24 PU Baseball Opens Ivy Play by Going 2-1 Against Cornell . . . . . . . . . . . 30 PHS Baseball Tops Hamilton in Opener. . 33
Sally Magnusson speaks at Salon on Stockton . 13 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Berkshire Hathaway Fox & Roach Realtors. . 22, 23
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Two Student Leaders, Former Govt. Official Highlight CFPA Event
Andrew Weber, former assistant secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical, and biological defense programs, and two student leaders for gun safety, Princeton High School senior Dziyana Zubialevich and Princeton University freshman Ben Bollinger, will be featured at a Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA) gathering on Sunday afternoon, April 8, at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton on Cherry Hill Road. Zubialevich was the initiator and lead organizer of the Princeton March for Our Lives rally, which drew more than 4,000 people to Hinds Plaza on March 24 to demonstrate against gun violence and show solidarity with the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Bollinger, founder and leader of Princeton Against Gun Violence at Princeton University, was a principal organizer of the March 14 walkout and demonstration at the University and of the University’s participation in the March for Our Lives. CFPA co-sponsored both the March 14 and March 28 events. CFPA Executive Director the Rev. Bob Continued on Page 10
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Wednesday, April 4, 2018
Westminster Transfer to Chinese Company Is Delayed Last week’s announcement that the transfer of ownership of Westminster Choir College from Rider University to Beijing Kaiwen Educational Technology Company is taking longer than expected came as no surprise to those who have been opposed to the move. University President Gregory G. Dell’Omo’s letter to the school community said that the $40 million deal is behind schedule, meaning Rider will continue to run Westminster for the next school year. “When we initially started this process last year, we had hoped that the transition could begin this summer,” Dell’Omo wrote. “As we progressed, it became clear that Rider will continue to operate Westminster after August 31, 2018.” Rider, which took over Westminster in 1992, made the decision to sell the prestigious Princeton choral college, along with Westminster Conservatory and Westminster Continuing Education, last year. Kaiwen, a steel company which now operates K-12 schools in China, was chosen as the new owner in February. The end of June 2018 was targeted for closure of the deal. As part of the transition process, the University sent Westmin-
ster faculty layoff notices last October. Those notices have now been withdrawn, and are likely to be re-issued at the beginning of the next academic year, Dell’Omo said in his letter. Members of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), who have been strongly opposed to the transaction, said it is telling that the letter came just before an arbitration challenging the layoff as improper. “WIthout doubt, this is because he [Dell’Omo] knew the admin-
istration would have lost their case,” the AAUP wrote in a statement on March 27. In a second and more detailed statement sent out to members, the AAUP reiterated that faculty and other groups had already been told that Rider would continue to run Westminster in the next academic year. “The timing of rescinding the layoff notices is curious,” said Elizabeth Scheiber, AAUP chapter president, in an email. “It seems like they knew or suspected that they would be rescinding layoffs but chose Continued on Page 8
Farmland Can Be Economically Viable, Says Speaker for FOPOS Meeting Not so many decades ago, the town of Princeton was surrounded by farmland. While much of that rural acreage is now home to housing developments and office parks, some open space still remains. And Friends of Princeton Open Space (FOPOS) wants to keep it that way. At the organization’s annual meeting on Sunday, April 15, Mark Brownlee of ArcheWild will address the topic with “Investing in our Land: Deriving Real Economic Value for Ourselves and our Community.” Brownlee, principal and
head ecologist of the ecological restoration company and native plant nursery, will outline the options for maintaining the parcels that remain, while possibly realizing some financial benefit. “Active land management is rapidly becoming the norm because it pays dividends,” he said. “There are options.” As the global food market has evolved over time, Brownlee explained, it has left fairly sizable tracts of land in an under-managed state. He used the Continued on Page 15
Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Cinema . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Classified Ads . . . . . . . 38 Clubs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Mailbox. . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Music/Theater . . . . . . . 25 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . 37 New To Us . . . . . . . 20, 21 Police Blotter. . . . . . . . 10 Service Directory . . . . . 40 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Topics of the Town . . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . . 6
CLEANING UP THE BATTLEFIELD: Saturday’s Princeton Battlefield Clean-Up Day, sponsored by the Princeton Battlefield Society and the Sierra Club (Central New Jersey Group), was a big success. Four teams of volunteers helped with brush, stick, bamboo, and invasive plant removal. The volunteers are shown in front of the newly-restored Thomas Clarke House, witness to the 1777 Battle of Princeton. (Photo by John Lien)
Go Orange for Animals See page 7
See our ad on page 18!
Stand up for science! Join us for a march and science education festival Visit www.njmarchforscience.com
More Bach in April Sunday, April 8 at 3pm Sunday, April 22 at 3pm Miller Chapel
See p. 25 for details.