Volume LXXI, Number 18 Storytelling App Brings Marshlands to Life . . . . 5 Princeton-Based Ikon .5 Wins National Award . . 7 Dream a Little Dream With Bing Crosby and the Beatles . . . . . . . . . . . 13 PU Ballet to Feature Rarely Heard Cole Porter Score . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 PU Orchestra Season Finale Celebrates Hindemith, Mahler . . . 17 Joseph Kovacs, Concertmaster of the Original PSO, Dies . . . 34 PU Women’s Lacrosse Earns 4th Straight Ivy Crown . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 PDS Boys’ Tennis Places 4th in Mercer County Tournament . . . . . . . . 30
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IAS Looks to Its Past While Facing Threats From Current Climate Though it may seem far removed from the noise of the contemporary world, the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) has a long history of combating threats to its scholars and their work. Recent executive orders by President Trump attempting to enforce travel bans and immigration orders have prompted the mobilization of an IAS History Working Group that recently published articles to provide illuminating historical reflections on the current political climate. “Knowledge of this history,” one article stated, “should serve as a call for vigilance in the face of policies such as travel bans and immigrant deportations, as well as attempts to curb scientific inquiry and cut funding to arts and humanities and endowments that now threaten the autonomy of research and the pursuit of a dignified human life.” The article, titled “The Institute’s
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Wednesday, May 3, 2017
Resistance Grows as Houses Face Demolition
The future of the Veblen house and cottage in the Herrontown Woods nature preserve remains in doubt, as the Mercer County Recreation Commission prepares for demolition and the Princeton-based Friends of Herrontown Woods (FOHW) continues to seek support from the Town Council and others to take over the property and make needed repairs. Mercer County, owner of the houses and 82 acres of land that were donated decades ago by renowned mathematician Oscar Veblen and his wife, is concerned about the condition of the houses and the cost of repair, and dubious about their historical value. “The county has no interest in rehabilitating the buildings using county funds,” said freeholder Andrew Koontz. “The buildings continue to deteriorate and they remain a liability. Proceeding with demolition would be our only option.” County Director of Communications Julie Willmot, writing on behalf of County Executive Brian Hughes, cited a cost estimate between $600,000 and $900,000 to fully rehabilitate the buildings and make
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them accessible to the public. She noted that the county had considered a proposal from FOHW to repair and maintain the buildings, but claimed that “the planning and fundraising that have been done have fallen far short of what is necessary for the county to allow work.” Though acknowledging that the people who lived in and visited the buildings are important historical figures, she stated that the county does not deem the struc-
tures themselves to have historic value and that the county was unwilling to set the precedent of transferring public lands to a nonprofit organization. Claiming a failure of communication and clash of perspectives between the county and the town of Princeton, Stephen Hiltner, who founded FOHW three years ago, hopes to save the Veblen houses and marshal the resources of the FOHW Continued on Page 8
PDS Announces STEAM Initiative For New Curriculum and Facilities Princeton Day School (PDS) is planning an ambitious initiative to introduce a new STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics) curriculum and construct a new STEAM facility for the 2017-18 school year. The new program will focus on “integration, collaboration, innovation, and creativity,” with an interdisciplinary emphasis, blending traditional and projectbased approaches to help students “to
see, interpret, and understand fundamental concepts and to solve real-life problems,” according to a May 1 PDS press release. Next year’s new STEAM curriculum will include Freshman STEAMinar, providing a baseline of literacy in STEAM disciplines for all ninth graders; a completely redesigned computer science curriculum from Introduction to Computer Science to Continued on Page 4
Georgia McLean Coming Up Big for PHS Girls’ Lax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 21 Cinema . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Classified Ads. . . . . . . 35 Clubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Music/Theater . . . . . . 16 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 34 Police Botter . . . . . . . 10 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 35 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . . 6
TOWN-GOWN CELEBRATION: Tens of thousands of local residents and visitors of all ages gathered downtown on Sunday to enjoy the Arts Council of Princeton’s 47th annual Communiversity ArtsFest. Participants share their favorite things about the festival in this week’s Town Talk, and more photos are featured on page 24. (Photo by Charles R. Plohn)
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