Founded 1876 daily since 1892 online since 1998
Wednesday october 11, 2016 vol. cxl no. 84
{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } BEYOND THE BUBBLE
STUDENT LIFE
Hart GS ’74 receives Nobel Prize in Economics contributor
Sharon Xiang contributor
Oliver Hart GS ’74 has been awarded the 2016 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel for his contributions to contract theory, according to a press release by the Nobel Foundation. Hart was jointly awarded the prize with Bengt Holmström, economics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “Hart made fundamental contributions to a new branch of contract theory that deals with the important case of incomplete contracts,” the Royal
Swedish Academy of Sciences said in its press release announcing the award. “Hart’s findings on incomplete contracts have shed new light on the ownership and control of businesses and have had a vast impact on several fields of economics, as well as political science and law,” the press release stated. Hart’s studies focused on incomplete contracts and how they are unable to predict future conflicts. “[A] contract that cannot explicitly specify what the parties should do in future eventualities, must instead specify who has the right to decide what to do when the parties cannot See NOBEL page 2
STUDENT LIFE
296 students register to vote through U. events By Emily Spalding contributor
With the 2016 Presidential Election less than a month away, University student groups are encouraging students to engage with the electoral process through various events. On Friday, Sept. 30, Undergraduate Student Government partnered with the American Whig-Cliosophic Society, Princeton Votes, and the Interclub Council to host a campus-wide voter registration initiative. The goal was to register students as voters in the state of New Jersey, or as absentee voters in their re-
spective home states. According to Michael Cox ’17, USG Campus and Community Affairs Chair, the event successfully registered 102 students as New Jersey voters and 108 students as absentee voters in their home states. Additionally, in a separate event held at the Nassau Street Sampler on Sept. 15, there were 71 New Jersey voter registrations and 15 absentee ballot requests, Cox added. “Even though we are all on a college campus, it doesn’t mean that we are exempt from voting,” USG President Aleksandra Czulak ’17 said. “That means oftentimes you have to See VOTING page 3
ROSE GILBERT :: CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Students show solidarity with Standing Rock Sioux By Rose Gilbert contributor
On Oct. 10 at noon, nearly 20 students gathered outside Stanhope Hall in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe movement currently working to prevent the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Among those who met outside Stanhope Hall were members of the Graduate Women of Color Caucus, the Black Graduate Caucus, and Natives at Princeton. The Deputy Dean of Undergraduate Students, Thomas Dunne, was also present at the demonstration. Dunne declined to comACADEMICS
staff writer
LECTURE
Researchers at the University were recently awarded a grant from the Department of Energy to develop a sensor to detect methane leaks from pipelines, compressor stations, and other midstream infrastructure. The University will be awarded $1,188,735 over the course of three years for this project, according to Christopher Freitas, senior program manager for the Department of Energy’s Fossil Energy Midstream Natural Gas Infrastructure Program. This initiative comes from the Office of Fossil Energy as part
of the President’s Climate Action Plan Strategy to Reduce Methane Emissions. “Methane is 25 times more efficient at trapping heat than CO2 over 100 years,” Freitas said. He explained that because of the current climate issues, they are looking into research for methane mitigation and methane quantification. The grant awarded to the University falls under the category of methane mitigation, Freitas said. University researchers will be working to use a chirped laser dispersion spectroscopy system to detect atmospheric methane. This system allows for the use See ENERGY page 2
LECTURE
George, West GS ‘80 Discuss Liberal Arts Education By Coco Chou contributor
University professors Robert George and Cornel West GS ’80 discussed the goals of liberal arts education at a lecture on Oct. 10, stating that its mission is for people to pursue intellectual truths, rather than just using it as a means to an end. The audience was composed of professors, students, alumni, and academics from both on and off campus, filling up the seats
long before the starting time. The Dean of the College introduced the talk by addressing the problem of “liberal arts, as the foundation of education, being under attack.” George started with an autobiography of his family’s humble origin. Education was very important in his family. “[My parents] saw it as a ticket to social economic success,” he said. But he later came to appreciate liberal arts education’s
out to Natives at Princeton to work together to stand in solidarity with the Standing Rock protesters. Real Bird clarified that today’s demonstration was neither a simple picture nor a protest. “It’s the start of a larger movement here on campus,” he said, adding that the group will be holding clothing drives for the coming winter. “If you look at a lot of the media reports they kind of paint it as when winter comes, the Standing Rock protest will end because the Dakotas have very harsh winters,” he said. “We’re trying to help any way See DEMONSTRATION page 2
U. researchers receive Easterly Dept. of Energy funding discusses xenophobia By Betty Liu
JESSICA ZHOU :: ASSOCIATE DESIGN EDITOR
ment. The students, holding signs and posters, gathered on this date to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day and to protest the continued celebration of Columbus Day. The student organization Natives at Princeton also created a twenty-fourhour-long Snapchat geofilter, which reads “rethink Columbus Day.” According to Emery Real Bird ‘17, the president of Natives at Princeton and a student in the politics department, this particular demonstration began when Edna Bonhomme GS, a sixthyear graduate student in the history department, reached
“inherent, non-instrumental values” over its instrumentals, “the importance of not reducing your education at Princeton to purely instrumental purposes,” George said. West continued the dialogue by describing deep education as a product of learning how to die. The process of casting away and disposing one’s previous stands and ideas is the process of dying, he said. He saw it as a chance to reevaluate, sometimes leading to changes and sometimes to re-
inforcement. West acknowledged that, as humans, we will all be connected to some presuppositions and dogmas. However, he said the purpose of liberal arts education is all about the “willingness to look outside of the dominant paradigms.” George then continued with the topic of courage in liberal arts education. “Liberal arts education can only be pursued if you are open See EDUCATION page 2
In Opinion
Today on Campus
Columnist Ryan Dukeman reflects on the recent political windfall to Donald Trump’s campaign, and contributing columnist Mason Cox suggests including undergraduate members on the University’s board of trustees. PAGE 4
12 p.m.: Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Steve Pacala will give a faculty seminar “Competition, Hydraulic Damage, and the Universal Rules Regulating Plant Water Use” and lunch will be served. Guyot Hall Room 10.
By Norman Xiong contributor
New York University professor of economics William Easterly discussed foreign aid and development programs and their effects on immigration and xenophobia in the developed world in a lecture delivered on Oct. 10. The talk referenced his book The Tyranny of Experts: Economists, Dictators, and the Forgotten Rights of the Poor. Easterly’s talk emphasized the tendency of the world’s wealthy nations to use large foreign aid programs as a substitute for opening its doors to migrants from poorer nations. He proceeded to show how the increased advocacy for aid programs instead of immigration contributes to xenophobia through exaggeratedly negative stereotypes of ethnic groups. “Aid was a nice political out for the humanitarian lobby in the rich countries and the US,” Easterly said. “It did convince the humanitarian lobby in the US to assuage its conscience about the evils of racist immigration restrictions.” Using both historic and reSee EASTERLY page 3
WEATHER
By Norman Xiong
HIGH
65˚
LOW
43˚
Mostly sunny. chance of rain:
0 percent