October 13, 2017

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Founded 1876 daily since 1892 online since 1998

Friday October 13, 2017 vol. CXLI no. 86

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } U . A F FA I R S

STUDENT LIFE

5000 U. affiliates get flu shots By Allie Spensley assistant news editor

Roughly 5,000 University community members have received free influenza vaccinations as part of FluFest, University Health Services’ seasonal flu shot program. The necessity of immunization may be particularly high this year, since the unusually severe flu season in Australia indicates similar problems might occur in the United States. “By making FluFest such a prominent event in the life of the campus, UHS hopes to promote a positive perspective on campus regarding immunizations and evidence-based prevention of communicable disease,” Irini Daskalaki, an immunologist at UHS, wrote in an email. Because college students live in such close quarters, they are more susceptible to the spread of respiratory infections such as the common cold and influenza. All students were encouraged to take advantage of the free immunizations in an email from UHS Executive Director John Kolligan. Roughly 45 percent of students and 40 percent of faculty members received shots at FluFest, according to Daskalaki. The influenza virus is unusual because its virus particles contain genetic information in eight segments — which gives it an advantage in adapting to host environments — and because it has a broad host range, meaning it can infect and spread across both mam-

mals and birds, according to molecular biology professor Lynn Enquist. Viral infections in different animals can lead to a rearrangement of the eight viral segments, which in turn creates fresh variations of the flu each year. New seasonal strains arise, and new vaccinations are necessary, since last year’s immune defenses are unable to recognize the current year’s virus. This genetic flexibility means that vaccine developers must predict what kind of virus will spread in the new flu season, a process that is less than perfect. Recent estimates place the effectiveness of last year’s vaccine between 40 and 60 percent. However, measures of vaccination success are difficult to interpret, Enquist explained. “Does a vaccine that is 40 percent effective mean that 40 of 100 vaccinated people are completely protected and 60 are not? Does it mean that all vaccinated people have 40 percent protection? How do you measure protection? No disease, reduced time that you are ill?” Enquist asked. Enquist suggested that a vaccine’s effectiveness should be viewed in terms of a population rather than individuals. Even if protection is not perfect and some individuals become infected, reducing the transmission of the virus limits infection in the broader population, and fewer people get sick. This is especially true when all or most of a population See FLU page 2

ON CAMPUS

ISABEL HSU :: CHIEF COPY EDITOR

Tower Club is one of 11 eating clubs, which are all part of the new meal exchange system.

U. makes dining hall, club meal exchange electronic By Mallory Williamson contributor

As part of a one-year Campus Dining pilot program, beginning Oct. 9 meal exchanges between the University dining halls and eating clubs will be

entirely electronic. Meal exchanges between students who are both members of eating clubs will continue to operate on paper. In previous years, students on residential dining plans had

ON CAMPUS

to fill out paper forms in order to eat at one of the 11 eating clubs without added expenditure, and vice versa. Princeton’s Meal Exchange program, designed to allow See MEAL page 2

ON CAMPUS

Mankiw, Rosen discuss Jade Bird controversial econ paper performs at U. contributor

REGINA LANKENAU :: CONTRIBUTOR

Gina McCarthy plans to fight the new administration’s reversal of her work.

Former EPA admin talks climate change, Trump By Regina Lankenau contributor

“We can be upset about what’s going on in Washington and have disagreements with what’s happening, but we have to maintain a tremendous sense of hope,” Obama-era Environmental Protection Agency administrator Gina McCarthy said during her lecture, “The Future of EPA and Our Planet,” on Wednesday. McCarthy, an environmental health and air quality expert, was the spokesperson and driving

In Opinion

force of Obama’s climate change and global warming initiative. Among her many accomplishments, she finalized the Clean Water Act and spearheaded the Clean Power Plan and Clean Air Act to fulfill the United States’ goals for coal reduction as outlined by the Paris Agreement. Speaking to students and community members alike in the packed Sir Arthur Lewis Auditorium, McCarthy began by addressing the elephant in the See EPA page 3

Contributing columnist Jon Ort tells students to look up from technology and contributing columnist Dora Zhao recommends a campus event. PAGE 6

Who you believe deserves a hefty paycheck depends on what political party you’re in, according to economist Gregory Mankiw ’80. In a Whig-Cliosophic Society-hosted conversation between Mankiw and economics professor Harvey Rosen, the two long-time friends discussed Mankiw’s recent paper “Defending the One Percent.” Mankiw explained the importance of “deserving” in modern politics: that although people are okay with singer Taylor Swift making millions, many believe it is unfair for bankers to make a similar salary. Deserving, as Mankiw explained, is something that economists and politicians alike need to gauge. Both professors served as chairs of the President’s Council of Economic Advisors. Mankiw served from 2003 to 2005, Rosen in 2005. Rosen introduced the lecture by reciting his long history with Mankiw. Mankiw was a student in Rosen’s microeconomics course in the 1970s and soon after served as Rosen’s research assistant. “I had just started out

teaching and began to think that all undergraduate researchers were geniuses,” said Rosen, laughing. “After Greg, however, it was all downhill from there.” Their relationship continued outside the classroom as Mankiw’s career as an economist progressed. When former U.S. President George W. Bush selected Mankiw to chair his economic council, he invited Rosen to the council. As the conversation continued, the two waxed nostalgic about how the field of economics has changed dramatically over the past few decades. Rosen explained that he now devotes an entire lecture to the economics of discrimination, a field devoted to explaining unequal outcomes people of similar economic backgrounds experience as a result of non-economic factors such as race or sex. The field did not even exist until the 1970s, when Rosen was working on this Ph.D. Both Mankiw and Rosen were skeptical about the field of behavioral economics. The subject has gained special attention over the past week after University of Chicago professor RichSee ECON page 4

Today on Campus 12:30 p.m.: Speak with program providers and university representatives from around the globe, Princeton students who have studied abroad, and OIP staff members at the Study Abroad Fair in Frist MPr

By Emily Spalding senior writer

Clad in metallic silver booties and outfitted with a beautiful acoustic guitar, London-based singersongwriter Jade Bird took to the stage of Richardson Auditorium to perform her music and engage in dialogue on Wednesday evening. Accompanied by George Henry Davis 1886 Professor of American History Sean Wilentz, 19-year-old Bird discussed her career, upcoming album, and how her past has shaped her into the artist she is today. Bird’s sound has echoes of country, blues, soul, and pop, with inf luences from artists like Chris Stapleton, The Civil Wars, and Patti Smith, all musicians she described as having an impact on her growing up. Rolling Stone has described her music as “a young Londoner’s spin on modern Americana and stripped-down soul.” In addition to her impressive vocals and guitar prowess, Bird is deeply inSee BIRD page 3

WEATHER

By Kevin McElwee

HIGH

66˚

LOW

58˚

Cloudy chance of rain:

20 percent


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