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Friday February 28, 2020 vol. CXLIV no. 20
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STUDENT LIFE
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Princeton Debate Panel, formerly incarcerated people debate suffrage
MARK DODICI / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
Students at the well-attended debate look on as Lewis Conway delivers the final remarks for the pro-enfranchisement team.
By Ezra Zimble Staff Writer
On Thursday night, Princeton Debate Panel (PDP) members and formerly incarcerated individuals debated whether individuals serving sentences in the United States should be able to vote. Two teams, each comprised of PDP students and members of the Rikers Debate Project — a group founded in 2016 that teaches competitive debate skills at several prisons — debated the question. The event was held in the Whig Senate chamber, and Parimal Garg, Deputy Counsel
to Governor Phil Murphy, moderated. Following an introduction from Whig-Clio Senate President Xiao-ke Lu ’23, Angela Cai ’09, a Rikers Debate Project board member and former PDP president, addressed the audience, which included dozens of students. Cai recounted the organization’s founding in response to Department of Justice abuse investigations at Rikers Island, which “elucidated … the lack of programming for individuals who were incarcerated there.” Last October, the New York
ON CAMPUS
City Council voted to shutter the jail complex at Rikers Island, long notorious for its harsh conditions and grievous abuses. The organization started as an idea to use a debate team to give prisoners “some modicum of educational programming,” she added. Today, the Project teaches at prisons in New Haven and Washington, D.C., as well as several facilities on Rikers Island. The PDP-Rikers teams were assigned sides by a coin toss. The government team — consisting of Rikers Debate Project member Lewis Conway and PDP members Julia Chaffers ’22 and Terrell
Seabrooks ’21 — argued for allowing incarcerated individuals to vote. Chaffers is a senior columnist for The Daily Princetonian. The opposition, arguing against the motion, consisted of PDP’s Greg Weaving ’22 and Rikers Debate members Camilla Broderick and Felix Guzman. Conway, Broderick, and Guzman are formerly incarcerated individuals. In their arguments, the teams raised issues of racial inequality, human dignity, retributive justice, and the possibility that incarcerated voters would lean
Democratic if granted voting rights. Both sides acknowledged the profound racial disparities that characterize the American criminal-justice system. After Chaffers and Seabrooks spoke in favor of the motion, and Broderick and Guzman in opposition, the floor opened to students in the audience. Those who spoke elaborated on points raised by the speakers or shared new arguments and observations. Subsequently, Conway and Weaving delivered the two team’s closing remarks, respecSee DEBATE page 2
ON CAMPUS
Experts discuss COVID19 outbreak in panel Senior Writer
As coronavirus (COVID-19) erupts into a global health crisis and strains the global economy, governments across the world are adopting measures that they hope will combat the virus’ spread. On Thursday, a University panel convened to discuss what those measures might be. Speaking in a nearly full Friend Center Room 101, the panel, which included a physician, two pathology experts, and several University faculty members, discussed a variety of possible steps. Hosted by the Wilson School and the Institute for International and Regional Studies and moderated by Miguel Centeno, Vice Dean of the Wilson School and the Musgrave Professor of Sociology, the event began with a description of the virus and possible measures to limit its impact. “Strengthening health systems. That is one of the things that can make us prepared for these emergencies,” said C. Jessica Metcalf, Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Public Affairs. Metcalf explained that the global spread of the virus is affected in part by governments’ ability to detect infectious cases and manage them through con-
tainment, isolation, quarantine, and contact tracing. More than 82,000 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in at least 48 countries, and nearly 3,000 deaths have been reported. The virus has sparked sharp declines in the global stock market: the S&P 500 dropped 4.4 percent Thursday, marking its worst loss on a single day in nearly nine years, while Dow industrials fell almost 1,200 points. Newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 have appeared in Brazil, Algeria, and India, while the number of cases continues to rise in Europe and East Asia, disrupting major economic activities in the process. Experts have warned that the virus possesses an increasingly high potential to become a global pandemic. Metcalf’s colleague, Professor Bryan Grenfell, the Kathryn Briger and Sarah Fenton Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Public Affairs, added that the time of year, which influences climate and human behavior, also impacts global spread. Focusing on the University’s response to the virus, Irini Daskalaki, a medical doctor and Physician Coordinator for Global and Community Health at University Health Services, shared ways to prevent the spread of viruses on campus. See CORONAVIRUS page 3
DAVID VELDRAN / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
Ambassador Christian Wenaweser speaks to a group of students and faculty.
Lichtenstein’s permanent representative to the UN critiques body’s current state By David Veldran Senior Writer
Ambassador Christian Wenaweser, the most senior national ambassador at the United Nations, spoke to University students about the current state of multilateralism on Thursday. The seminar was titled “75 Years of United Nations: The Importance of Rule of Law For Multilateralism.” Wenweser — Liechtenstein’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations — discussed nuclear proliferation, climate change, and a United States he
views as indifferent to international institutions. Wolfgang Danspeckgruber, professor at the Wilson School and founder of the Liechtenstein Institute for Self-Determination, introduced Wenaweser as an “institution within an institution who has been … tagged as one of the stalwarts and promoters of transparency and justice.” Among Wenaweser’s most significant accomplishments, according to Danspeckgruber, was his role in the Rome negotiations, which formed the International Criminal Court.
In Opinion
Today on Campus
Elijah Benson argues that students should study the history of regions beyond the U.S. and Europe, and guest contributors from the senior class question the selection process for Class Day Speaker. PAGE 4
8:00 p.m.: Theatre Intime presents the Freshman One Act Festival. featuring plays directed, acted, and produced by the members of the class of 2023. Murray Theater
Wenaweser discussed the United Nations’ role broadly, as well as its impact on specific issues, such as war and aggression, nuclear proliferation, climate change, and cyber warfare. “This is a special moment in a way in the history of the U.N.,” Wenaweser observed, noting the upcoming 75th anniversary of the United Nations’ founding. He cautioned, however, that the present was not a time for self-congratulation, but rather for reflecting on the state of the institution, which he believes to be cause for some See AMBASSADOR page 3
WEATHER
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