December 1, 2015

Founded 1876 daily since 1892 online since 1998

Tuesday december 1, 2015 vol. cxxxix no. 112

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } STUDENT LIFE

STUDENT LIFE

Whig-Clio marks USG releases eating club accessibility report 250th anniversary

By Kristin Qian staff writer

The Undergraduate Student Government released the Eating Club Accessibility Report last week, which has proposed several recommendations regarding transparency of events, eating club costs in relation to financial aid and information about eating clubs and other dining options.

The motivation for the project was to understand how eating clubs relate to other entities, in terms of their social, dining and financial aspects, Aleksandra Czulak ’17, one of the project leaders and USG Vice President, said.

Czulak said that the project started last fall when Shawon Jackson ’15 was USG president.

A survey was sent out to students in the December 2014 in conjunction with town hall meetings, and another survey

was sent out in the spring of 2015, she said.

USG used the data from a 2010 University Task Force on the eating clubs and the new information collected from the 2014-2015 surveys to understand why they were seeing the same issues and if there was anything that could be done, she explained.

“Eating clubs aren’t just an eating club entity; they affect many different parts of your life on campus,” Czulak said.

Although around 70 percent of students are involved in eating clubs, the survey revealed differences in age and year affected how students related and engaged with eating clubs, Czulak explained. She added that USG is working on increasing the visibility of eating clubs, as well as other dining options, such as independent options, residential college dining and co-ops.

In contrast to the original

University survey, the USG survey included comment boxes, Czulak noted.

“We really wanted to hear and see a holistic view of the eating clubs,” Czulak said.

She also said that the USG has worked closely this year with the Interclub Council, an organization consisting of the presidents of each of the eleven eating clubs, a graduate advisor, Spencer Jones, and a university official, Assistant Dean in the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students Bryant Blount ’08.

Blount did not respond to a request for comment.

Transparency of information, interaction between underclassmen and eating clubs Eighty percent of respondents from the Class of 2017 and 40 percent from the Class of 2018 said that they had had at See USG page 3

By Olivia Wicki senior writer

Whig-Clio’s trajectory has been marked within the past few years by its decreasing centralization and its increasing support, as an overarching political organization for different political groups on campus, Whig-Clio president Cydney Kim ’17 said.

“When Whig-Clio first started 250 years ago, or even in the late 20th century, it was actually one of the few political organizations on campus; there weren’t as many political groups as we see today,” Kim explained.

The 250th anniversary of Whig-Clio was celebrated with a gala in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 21.

Whig-Clio, or the American Whig-Cliosophic society, was founded in 1941 when the Whig Society and the Cliosophic Society merged. The Whig Soci-

ety and the Cliosophic Society were founded as separate organizations in 1765 and 1769, respectively, making the society the University’s oldest student group and the oldest political and debating association in the world.

According to Whig-Clio historical records held by Princeton’s Mudd Library and Justinas Mickus ’18, the history chair of Whig-Clio, in the 18th century, Whig-Clio was one of the main extracurricular activities on campus and played an integral role in students’ social lives as well as in fulfilling the intellectual needs of students outside the traditional classroom setting.

“Whig-Clio used to be a thing that was probably more important for the university student’s education than the University itself,” Mickus said.

However, by the end of the 19th century, the introduction See WHIG-CLIO page 2

ACADEMICS

Strauss brings wealth of policy, entrepreneurial knowledge to U.

By Abhiram Karuppur staff writer

COURTESY OF WWS.PRINCETON.EDU

Steven Strauss is a visiting lecturer in the Wilson School.

On top of advising governments on public policy issues around the world and writing numerous opinion pieces for The Huffington Post, Business Insider and Salon, visiting professor Steven Strauss played a key role in the growth of New York City’s technology and entrepreneurship scene.

“I’m pleased with the work I’ve done. I like to think I helped society and made the world a better place,” he said, adding that he looks forward to imparting his knowledge to his students.

Strauss will begin his third year as a visiting lecturer and one of the Wilson School’s John

L. Weinberg/Goldman Sachs visiting professors next September. Individuals who have held this position in the past include former New Jersey governor and ex officio University Trustee Jon Corzine and former White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten ’76.

Strauss was formerly the founding managing director of the Center for Economic Transformation at the New York City Economic Development Corporation, which is the official chamber of commerce for New York City.

He was elected to the Silicon Alley 100 in 2012. The list recognizes the top 100 people in New York City who are working to promote technology and entrepreneurship.

Dean of the Wilson School Cecilia Rouse said Strauss has been a

great asset for the students.

“We love having someone who has worked in the private and public sector to implement policy and who has that real world experience,” she said.

Former Chief Operating Officer of the World Economic Forum Kevin Steinberg said that Strauss’s background is perfect for an academic setting.

“He’s always had a very interesting interdisciplinary perspective, since he is able to straddle thinking and leadership in the private and public sector. I think a role in academia is well suited to him,” Steinberg said.

Strauss graduated from New York University in 1980 with a bachelor’s degree in economics See STRAUSS page 2

LECTURE

Slaughter ’80 lectures on value of women’s revolution staff writer

Former Dean of the Wilson School Anne-Marie Slaughter ’80 discussed the focus of the second half of the women’s revolution in a lecture Tuesday, saying that American society should place a higher value on caregiving.

“We focus more on ourselves and are missing the value of investing in others,” she said.

“Families need to have parents, and as a society, we need to value care for those we love.”

Slaughter is the President and CEO of New America, a think tank focused on public policy issues based in Washington, D.C. She was the Dean of the Wilson School from 2002 to 2009 and is currently a professor emerita of politics and international affairs.

Her 2012 article in The Atlantic, “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All,” became one of the most widely read pieces published by the magazine.

Citing her new book, “Unfinished Business: Women, Men, Work, Family,” which was published in September, Slaughter explained that investing in the next generation is essential to Americans’ survival as a race and a nation.

Unfortunately, she added, as a nation we don’t value caregiving.

“We expect women to work, but we don’t have paid leave,” she said.

Additionally, Slaughter said that the issue of caregiving is as much an issue to women as it is to men. She noted that many men wrote to her saying that they would like to spend time with their children, but cannot do so because they are expected to be the breadwinners.

“We are not giving men the same range of choices as women,” she said. “We need to let men speak for what they want.”

She highlighted her own career and family situation, focusing on her ability to bal-

KERITH WANG :: CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

Anne-Marie Slaughter ’80 spoke about her new book, “Unfinished Business,” on campus on Monday.

ance work and family life.

However, she said she realized that what she had been telling women was not accurate, and that her situation had only worked because she had money, a supportive husband and a flexible career.

In her book, she said, she

modified her stance, saying that in order to achieve full gender equality, we need to focus on changes in the workplace. Men have to be valued for taking paternity leave, and women who work in traditional roles such as teachers and nurses also have to be valued.

Dec. 1, 1969

In Opinion

The Archives

Columnist Beni Snow argues that free speech protects even unflattering thoughts, and columnist Will Rivitz recommends talking to, rather than past, our intellectual critiques. PAGE 4

The Justice Department barred prominent Marxist philosopher Dr. Ernest Mendel from speaking at the University.

“This kind of work is as hard and valuable as traditionally powerful jobs,” Slaughter said.

“We need to liberate men and women from traditional gender roles.”

Slaughter also noted that she thinks her outlook on soSee LECTURE page 3

WEATHER

By Abhiram Karuppur

HIGH

53˚

LOW

49˚

Rain likely. chance of rain:

90 percent

The Daily Princetonian

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Tuesday december 1, 2015

Strauss has “real world experience,” “interdisciplinary perspective” STRAUSS Continued from page 1

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and computer science. He said computer science at the time was a very different field than it is today.

“This was the dark ages, back when people were still programming with punch cards,” he said.

After graduating, he worked for 16 years at various investment banking firms in New York City.

He started out as a computer programmer and left the banking industry in 1996 as a managing director.

Strauss obtained a master’s degree in executive education from the London Business School in 1995, and enrolled in Yale University to pursue a Ph.D. in 1996. While at Yale, he served as a teaching fellow for two years and helped to design Yale’s first course on internet marketing and strategy.

Before completing graduate school, he said he knew he wanted to pursue a career that merged the public and private sectors.

“I had always been interested in the public sector and public policy issues,” Strauss said.

Strauss graduated from Yale in 2002 with a Ph.D. in management, focusing on marketing, microeconomics and industrial organization. He then landed a job with the consulting firm McKinsey and was based in the London office until 2006. While at McKinsey, Strauss worked on health systems reform for Europe.

“This was the period when people were moving from a blockgrant system to an actual internal market where prices were assigned to healthcare activities,” Strauss said.

At McKinsey, Strauss did some economic development work in the Middle East and regulatory work for the United States. While remaining employed at the organization, he joined the World Economic Forum in 2006 as a director

on loan, a temporary position.

At the World Economic Forum, Strauss attended the annual meetings between CEOs from around the world in Davos, Switzerland and helped to prepare and facilitate discussions. He served as an internal consultant and helped the Forum think about long-term strategies.

Steinberg said that Strauss’s most interesting contribution was the production of the forum’s first financial development index, which looked at how capital markets and financial opportunities were evolving around the world.

“Strauss did a lot of the early work on that project, thinking about how it would come together and how it could be valuable for all parties,” Steinberg said.

That project led to the first annual financial development report, which provided a comprehensive overview of global financial systems. Strauss also produced a report about capital markets and the insurance industry coming together.

Steinberg said that Strauss’s personality enabled him to succeed at the Forum.

“I always saw him as a very thoughtful leader and a strong strategic thinker,” Steinberg said.

“He was able to drive intellectual agenda and add a lot of value.”

After leaving the World Economic Forum in 2008, Strauss joined the NYCEDC as a senior vice president and a manager for New York City’s business development efforts. He said that he was recruited by the NYCEDC to look at three big-picture questions for New York City: what the city’s current financial situation was, what the city’s long-term trends were and what the city should go and do.

Strauss became the founding managing director of the Center for Economic Transformation at the NYCEDC in 2010. The purpose of the center was to promote entrepreneurship and economic di-

versification across the city.

Former President of the NYCEDC Seth Pinsky said that the Center for Economic Transformation served as a model for long-term business growth in New York City.

“We wanted to take economic development to a more strategic level and focus on developing a specific plan to overcome obstacles to growth and take advantage of opportunities,” Pinsky said.

“Steve came to the NYCEDC and created the model for this, which became extremely successful.”

Strauss led the center for one

“Steve was the genesis of the project and oversaw much of the background research that gave us the idea of going forward with the initiative.”

Seth Pinsky,

Former president of NYCEDC

year and during that time helped to launch more than 40 initiatives designed to spur economic growth. Working alongside Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Strauss designed programs to support entrepreneurship across industries like fashion, technology, biosciences and media.

“Probably the biggest most notable thing that came out of this was the recommendation to pivot New York City towards tech,” Strauss said.

He launched several programs to help transition industries like fashion, media, financial services and education technology to use a 21st century business model by 2020.

Based on Strauss’s recommendation, Bloomberg agreed to focus on growing knowledge-based

industries. Strauss and Pinsky said the most prominent initiative was the Applied Sciences NYC project, which resulted in Cornell University launching the two billion-dollar NYC Cornell-Technion campus on Roosevelt Island and New York University launching the Center for Urban Science and Progress.

“Steve was the genesis of the project and oversaw much of the background research that gave us the idea of going forward with the initiative,” Pinsky noted.

The General Assembly initiative resulted in an innovation campus, meaning a space for people to take courses in coding and product management, in the Flatiron District. Other notable initiatives included the NYC NextIdea Business Plan Competition and NYC BigApps, which was an open data program Overall, Strauss said that the NYCEDC impacted New York City by encouraging economic growth in the technology sector.

Pinsky noted that Strauss excelled at the NYCEDC because he was an organized thinker and was able to analyze and sort through data.

“He was able to read through the noise and find the nuggets of information that allow you to want to diagnose what the challenges are,” he said.

Strauss left the NYCEDC in 2011 and became an Advanced Leadership Fellow at Harvard University. One of his projects dealt with how technology could be used to solve several problems associated with aging. Strauss noted that this is an extremely pressing problem, since the population of people over 85 has been growing rapidly.

“If you look at the U.S. and the European countries, the population pyramid has shifted dramatically, and as a society we are going to age a lot,” Strauss said.

Strauss’s research looked at how technology could help the elderly

lead more independent lives. He noted that the inherent problem lies with the target population of current technological products, explaining that current technologies are in many ways designed for 25-year-olds and are not straightforward to the elderly.

Strauss was encouraged to join the University after another faculty member at the Wilson School suggested he apply to be a visiting professor.

He is currently teaching a graduate-level course dealing with urban economic development around the world. Several of the issues Strauss is teaching directly reflect the issues he worked on at the NYCEDC, he said.

“Last week we talked about a large infrastructure project in London called CrossRail,” he said, referring to an underground railway line. “We focused on why the government did it and the development benefits they were hoping to get.”

He will offer a new graduatelevel course on managing and leading in the digital age in the spring. Strauss noted that the topic is relevant given that the U.S. is arguably going through a second industrial age, and that he plans to talk about the public policy implications of social media, artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles.

Rouse said that she is very excited to see Strauss launch his spring course.

“I’m looking forward to increasing our offerings in technology policy for our students, and I know that the students love interacting with Professor Strauss,” she said.

Strauss said he is excited to continue teaching at the University.

“I like that the class sizes tend to be smaller, so there’s more of a chance to get to know the students,” Strauss said. “I have really enjoyed interacting with the faculty here, and I’m very grateful to be coming back next year.”

Whig-Clio has followed trend of decentralization WHIG-CLIO Continued from page 1

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of organized athletic teams and eating clubs replaced the social need fulfilled by WhigClio, Clio Party Chair Allison Berger ’18 said.

Berger is a member of the Editorial Board of the Daily Princetonian.

“It still retains the core ideas; it still is a place where people interested in literary, political and social aspects of education gather,” Mickus said.

According to the historical records, subsidiaries of WhigClio, such as the Princeton Debate Panel, the International Relations Club and the Nassau Literary Review began to emerge as autonomous entities in the 20th century.

By 1928, the societies joined together and conducted activities in Whig Hall because the two groups could not sustain two separate societies, according to historical records. Clio Hall was rented to the University. However, the two societies were officially merged in 1941 when a joint constitution and board of trustees was established for the two groups.

Kim said that this trend of decentralization has lasted to this day, as Whig-Clio partners with new smaller organizations, including the College Democrats and the LGBTQ Center, to host different events.

“Whig-Clio does have an endowment and we’re able to provide funding for a lot of these events, so I think all of our partnerships have been very beneficial,” Kim said.

Kim added that Whig-Clio’s aims have expanded to include community outreach. She said last year’s president, Adam Tcharni ’15, began the outreach program, and he initiated an alternative breakout trip to Washington, D.C. during fall break. Kim added that WhigClio is still looking for ways to

partner with high school debate programs.

However, one of the aspects of Whig-Clio to have stayed the same since 1941 is its leadership structure, Kim said. She explained that the election process has happened at the same time of year and followed the same format. Elections happen during December and candidates for presidency and various leadership positions make their statements public in the first week of December, Kim said.

Robert Ehrlich ’79, the former Governor of Maryland and the guest speaker at the Gala, said that although he was not part of Whig-Clio as a student at the University he greatly appreciated what it stood for.

“Appreciation for the written and spoken word has been central to my success,” Ehrlich said.

Ehrlich explained he was speaking about how to not let opponents use subjective words to define you during debates. He explained that these subjective words include terms such as ‘pro-life’ and ‘affirmative action.’

He also said his speech addressed the anti-free speech movements he has been noticing as trends on college campuses, which normally have played an important role in maintaining free-speech and freedom.

“Folks from the right and left are concerned about it and they should be,” said Ehrlich.

“College should be about freedom.”

Theodor Furchtgott ’18, who organized the 250th anniversary Gala, said that Whig-Clio needs to ensure that it is a place where honest debates can occur.

“I think a lot of what [WhigClio] need[s] to do is make sure this is a place for intellectual discussion, where people feel comfortable expressing their opinions without fear of censorship,” Furchtgott said.

The Daily Princetonian

Tuesday december 1, 2015

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Accessibility Report finds eating club cost barrier for some students USG

Continued from page 1

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least one meal in one of the eating clubs during the 2015-2016 academic year. Suggestions for improvement included meal exchange programs with Late Meal and more visibility for sophomore meals in the eating clubs.

One of the goals of the ICC is to work on the relationship between underclassmen and eating clubs and identify the best practices that clubs can enact to help students access clubs, ICC president and Charter Club president Jean-Carlos Arenas ’16 said.

He added that transparency involves improving outreach in order to have underclassmen feel like they know a lot about the clubs and go into a process of selecting with the appropriate information.

Quadrangle Club president Mitch Shellman ’16 said that the ICC has been talking about being more upfront and open. Shellman explained that the Quadrangle Club has been sending out weekly updates and emails to the residential college listservs notifying students of their events.

“We try to be as open as possible, while still respecting member space,” Shellman said.

Czulak explained that one key initiative the USG Senate, University and the ICC are working on is to get key information about dining options to sophomores earlier. Instead of releasing information in January like last year, information will be available in December, Czulak said.

This way, students can go home and talk to their parents about their options over winter break instead of trying to explain over the phone in January, Czulak explained.

The USG is also working on an initiative to introduce freshmen to eating clubs outside of night hours, Czulak said. In the spring, the ICC and the USG are discussing having an appetizer sampling event for freshman on the Street, so that freshmen can go to any eating club and see the inside of eating clubs during the daytime.

This would “de-stigmatize” the idea that eating clubs are only social options during freshman year, Czulak said, noting that as freshmen and sophomores, students do not really see eating clubs as a dining option.

Ivy Club president Eliza Mott ’16 said that people have misconceptions about the clubs — that they have weird admissions policies or are not welcoming to sophomores — when in reality, all the clubs ultimately want the widest variety of people.

“We all have the same goal getting rid of these misconceptions and hopefully improving the process for sophomores,” she said.

Mott noted that the ICC has decided that each club will put up information specifically about their admissions process

(whether sign-in or bicker) on their websites, but not until closer to the actual bicker time.

She added that it is definitely important to know how the process works beforehand, but that it would be better that people do not worry about it for too long.

“This year might be one of the first years that someone could just go on the website, see all the different events, and go to any of them,” Mott said.

Financial aid Another project USG is working on is to make the financial aid aspect of dining more accessible and more available to students, according to the report.

The financial cost of eating clubs was an important consideration for over 30 percent of upperclassmen in the Classes of 2016 and 2015 who did not join an eating club, according to the report. The percentage of upperclassmen indicating that financial costs were important was higher for non-eating-club upperclassmen than for upperclassmen in sign-ins, and higher for upperclassmen in sign-ins than upperclassmen in bicker clubs, the report said.

Students on financial aid get an automatic $2,000 raise in their overall financial aid package between their sophomore and junior year to cover increased expenses of whatever upper-class dining options they choose, Shellman explained.

When asked if the increased $2,000 for students on financial aid was sufficient to help cover the costs of eating clubs, upperclassmen mostly expressed that the increase was sufficient; however, approximately 25 to 55 percent of students responded with “N/A,” and the report suggests that this may be due to students not having a particularly strong opinion or felt that the $2,000 was insufficient.

Czulak said she was surprised to see that in the comments section, many students reported that a $2,000 increase in financial aid was still not enough to cover the costs of the eating club, and cost still remains a barrier for students who cannot afford it.

She also noted that many students are unaware that there are sophomore dues. She said she could see this affecting the demographics of each club. When considering the diversity of eating clubs, it is important to recognize who can afford the sophomore dues, she added.

“If a student can’t afford the sophomore dues, then it’s already limiting who’s in the club junior, senior year,” Czulak said.

There are students who bicker or sign into a club without knowing the costs of sophomore dues, and if they are successful but realize they cannot afford it, it is likely the student would just drop the club, Czulak added.

Sophomore dues are usually no more than $1,000. Then, as juniors and seniors, the whole meal plan costs closer to $7,000-$9,000, she explained.

Although there is opportunity

Slaughter ’80: “next wave of civil rights” is now here LECTURE Continued from page 1

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ciety stems from her time at the University, saying that she realized in hindsight that society at the time was very encouraging to feminists. She noted that she had the great fortune to be born when opportunities historically open to men became open to women, and that for women to excel it would be a question of wanting one’s career enough.

Slaughter said she is optimistic about attaining full gender equality, and added that during her lifetime, she experienced many unprecedented events. She noted that back in the 1970s, it was the norm for students to smoke, and a decade prior, it was ille-

gal for a white person to marry an African-American person.

“We are witnessing the next wave of the civil rights movement,” she said. “By helping women advance, liberating men and caring for others, we can support a full range of human endeavor.”

Slaughter graduated from the University in 1980 with a bachelor’s degree from the Wilson School and a certificate in European studies. She obtained her master’s degree in international affairs from Oxford University in 1982, her J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1985 and her doctorate in international relations from Oxford in 1992.

The talk was sponsored by the Wilson School and was held at 4:30 p.m. in Dodds Auditorium in Robertson Hall.

for students to bicker and sign into clubs during junior year, students normally tend to join clubs during sophomore year.

Mott said that as clubs are expensive, it is understandable that people feel the need to drop from a club if they cannot afford it. She said that she would hope that costs are not a deterrent, since this would decrease all different kinds of diversity in the club, which is not a desirable outcome.

Other Eating Options Based on the survey results, approximately 40 percent of sophomores at the time were not knowledgeable about co-ops, while 10 percent said they were.

Five percent of sophomores said they were not knowledgeable about the eating clubs, while 50 percent said they were.

Czulak said it is unfortunate that not many people know about co-op options, which is a much more cost-effective opportunity. Students seem to be more aware of the independent option, but do not realize that there are co-ops with long waiting lists and limited spots.

“There is much more demand than supply,” Czulak said.

To increase the visibility of these options, the USG is working on a website for co-op and independent options, Czulak said.

Balance between alcoholic and non-alcoholic events Responses on the balance between alcoholic and nonalcoholic social options varied, with the highest percentage of students indicating that they were dissatisfied with the balance. Levels of satisfaction were relatively the same between the Class of 2017 and Class of 2018.

Ian McGeary ’16, president of Cannon Dial Elm Club, noted that it seems like for a lot of clubs on the Street, Saturday

nights are very alcohol focused and students do not see the other side to clubs.

Cannon Club has planned several non-alcoholic events for members throughout the year, such as apple picking, pumpkin carving, writing letters to soldiers and spikeball tournaments, McGeary said. In the coming months, sophomores will also get the chance to share meals inside the club and meet with members to experience the club in a non-alcoholic setting.

Quad has hosted three entire-

“We all have the same goal of getting rid of these misconceptions and hopefully improving the process for sophomores.”

Eliza Mott ’16,

Ivy Club president

ly non-alcoholic open parties so far this year, which brought in over 300 people each, Shellman said. Every Quad event also has non-alcoholic options in addition to alcoholic drinks, he said.

McGeary said that although it is difficult to host nonalcoholic events for a large group of people, when alcohol is present at events, it should not completely be the focus, as that does not represent the true meaning of a club.

“We want to perpetuate something much more than just having alcohol on the Street. Even though there is alcohol at certain events, we want to cater towards so much more than that. If you want to partake in it, you can, and if you don’t drink, that’s totally fine,”

McGeary explained, adding that there are plenty of members in the club that do not drink who feel just as much of a member as anyone else.

As it is a big focus of the ICC to cater to sophomores at this time of year, it is important to make information available to sophomores so they have a clear understanding of the eating clubs before making their decisions to bicker or sign in, McGeary said.

Bickering, which does not have alcohol, is a process of meeting new people and promoting the side of club where you will be hanging out during the day, McGeary noted.

“It was a pretty big wake up call to see how a lot of the underclassmen feel this veil of the eating clubs,” McGeary said.

Looking forward “In general, we’ve been really fortunate to have an ICC that’s proactive,” ICC president Arenas said, adding that he is appreciative of having club presidents who have put in the time to making the club experience better overall.

Arenas noted that the ICC did not have this kind of visibility on campus before, but added that because the ICC is collaborating with class governments and with USG, the goals presented in the report will become a real possibility.

Arenas said that all the eating clubs are willing to make eating clubs accessible for everyone.

“This year we’ve seen a whole new level of collaboration,” Arenas said. “Only good things can come from that.”

The presidents of Cap & Gown Club, Cloister Inn, Colonial Club, Terrace Club, Tiger Inn, Cottage Club and Tower Club did not respond to requests for comment.

The report was released on Nov. 17.

Princeton needs anonymity in grading

It’s not about Woodrow Wilson

columnist

E

Beni Snow is a freshman from Newton, Mass. He can be reached at bsnow@princeton.edu.

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{ www.dailyprincetonian.com }

Beni Snow

veryone knows “that kid” in precept. The one who talks far too much. The one who has the answer to every question. The one who tries to influence the professor into grading tests, essays or problem sets more favorably.

We have all dealt with one during our Princeton experience.

But that shouldn’t be the case. To state the obvious, a student’s written work should be graded only on the merit of the individual piece, not prior tests or class participation.

While I do not believe that any professor intentionally lets past performance affect how he/she grades students’ assignments, unless they are completely anonymized, bias is inevitable.

What happens is that Professors fall trap to the cascade effect. They see a student turn in B+ work on their first assignment, maybe notice he isn’t the most talkative during precept, and then assume that student is mostly capable of only B+ work.

I am not saying professors intentionally try to trap people in a certain grade range.

Rather, with limited information, we are prone to subconsciously overvalue our initial observations when making future assumptions.

Granted, the student who says something intelligent in precept may be rewarded with a good grade on an assignment, motivating the student to be better prepared overall.

However, the inverse is also true, where students may feel discouraged from speaking their mind in class out of fear that it will hurt not just their class participation grade, but also their grades on all their assignments.

There is a simple solution to this issue: prevent professors from knowing whom they grade. Several professors choose to do this already, although it is currently not a university-wide policy. All that is needed is a simple system of coded student numbers being placed on assignments instead of names.

Conveniently, we, as Princetonians, already have student ID numbers, making the switch very easy.

Would this be a slight inconvenience for professors and graders? Maybe slightly, since they would then have to look up the name corresponding to the number. However, the benefits of a fairer grader scheme, via the removal of the current system, far outweigh any inconveniences.

Granted, the system would not be foolproof. Professors may eventually recognize students’ numbers, their writing style or even their handwriting. The system would not be perfect, but it would be better than the status quo.

Another advantage of anonymous grading is potentially eliminating discrimination.

Conscious or unconscious, several studies have shown that people can face discrimination on just their name alone.

For instance, in a study performed by the National Bureau of Economic Research showed employers resumes that had the names Emily and Greg and then resumes with the names Lakisha and Jamal. Despite the fact that the qualifications on the resumes were identical, the resumes from Emily and Greg were 50 percent more likely to receive callbacks than the resumes from Lakisha and Jamal.

It is not beyond reason to assume that people could face similar discrimination on submitted assignments at Princeton too. Moreover, it is possible that women receive worse grades simply for having female names, especially in fields where there is an anti-women stereotype. Other kinds of name-based discrimination that I have not even considered are also possible.

No student should receive a bad grade based on an inherited characteristic, let alone something as superficial as their name. Bad grades should be for bad work, not a perceived bad name.

Students, under such a system, may feel more open to disagree with poor grading on an assignment. Right now, it can be very difficult for a student to oppose a professor if the student has to worry about his or her future grades suffering. However, if a professor does not know which paper belongs to a student that he/she dislikes, then such problems will be minimized.

Obviously, there should be some exceptions. In a more personalized seminar-style class or for a presentation, a professor must know who they are grading. However, in a huge number of classes where grades are largely or entirely dependent on submitted assignments, such as tests, essays and problem sets, I think anonymized grading can make grades much more fair.

I don’t think my proposal is a perfect one.

But it is clear that the current system is potentially very flawed. A slight fix, that some professors are already implementing, may go a long way to prevent bias.

Opinion

Tuesday december 1, 2015

Daniel Wolt

guest contributor

I

grew up in Colorado. When I tell people this, they usually make some reference to its natural beauty, its ski resorts, or the possibility of legally purchasing marijuana there for recreational purposes. The associations that most people have with Colorado are, thus, not historical in nature. Even as I think about it now, I have trouble thinking of a major historical figure or event associated with Colorado. It is not a place with much of a history.

In this respect, my place of origin differs from that of my friend, who grew up in Athens (Greece, not Georgia). When people think of Athens, I suspect most people do think of its history: it is, after all, the place where democracy was born, where Sophocles’ “Antigone” was first performed, and where Socrates asked a few too many uncomfortable questions. This difference between my friend’s place of origin and mine is not merely abstract. If one goes to Athens today one can still see remnants of Pericles’ Golden Age on the Acropolis, along with a host of other landmarks from all different eras of Greece’s rich history. In my hometown, by contrast, one is hardpressed to find a structure that is over a hundred years old, let alone 800 or 2400.

The difference between my friend and me in this regard is representative of the difference between Americans and Europeans in general.

Americans as such do not have much of a history. The two hundred or so years that the United States has been an independent country are but a blip compared to the thousands of years of recorded Greek history. And while not all European countries have a history as well-documented as Greece’s, practically all of them can trace their origins back much further than America can.

It may be irrational of me, but I’ve often been slightly envious of Europeans for this reason.

I think there’s something valuable about being able to locate oneself within a long cultural and

historical tradition, and I feel that this is something that I, as an American, am not able to do in a very meaningful way.

It is perhaps for this reason that I was somewhat disappointed to learn of the push to change the name of the Woodrow Wilson School. Princeton may not have as long a history as Oxford or the Sorbonne, but it is a place with a considerable amount of history and Woodrow Wilson was a major part of that history. To the extent that changing the Woodrow Wilson School’s name would mean erasing that part of its history, I think it is a bad idea. This is not to say that I disagree with those who point out that Woodrow Wilson held a variety of abhorrent views and even did some abhorrent things in his capacity as president, first of the University and then of the nation. These things are true and it may even be true that Woodrow Wilson does not deserve to be honored. But I don’t think that preserving the name of the Woodrow Wilson School is about honoring Woodrow Wilson. To see why, let me return to Athens. Near the center of the city there’s a structure called the Arch of Hadrian. It is so named because it was raised to honor the Roman Emperor Hadrian when he visited the city in 131 or 132 CE. Now, Hadrian did some very objectionable things as emperor. For example, he suspected that a number of senators were conspiring against him and instead of putting those senators up for trial, he simply had them murdered. It would be odd, however, if someone were to use considerations such as this to argue for changing the name of the Arch of Hadrian. Why? Because today, at least, the name is not about honoring Emperor Hadrian, but rather about remembering a part of Athens’ history. So too, I would suggest, the name of the Woodrow Wilson School need not be about honoring Woodrow Wilson, but rather about remembering a part of Princeton’s history.

Daniel Wolt is a fifth year graduate student in the philosophy department from Colorado Springs, CO. He can be reached at dwolt@princeton.edu.

dRaining

tyler simko ’18

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vol. cxxxix

Anna Mazarakis ’16 editor-in-chief

Matteo Kruijssen ’16 business manager

139th managing board news editors Paul Phillips ’16 Ruby Shao ’17 opinion editor Benjamin Dinovelli ’16 sports editor Miles Hinson’17 street editor Lin King ’16 photography editors Natalia Chen ’18 Sewheat Haile ’17 video editors Leora Haber ’16 chief copy editors Caroline Congdon ’17 Joyce Lee ’17 design editors Austin Lee’16 Julia Johnstone’16 prox editor Rebekah Shoemake ’17 intersections editor Jarron McAllister ’16 associate news editor Do-Hyeong Myeong ’17 associate opinion editors Jason Choe ’17 Shruthi Deivasigmani’16 associate sports editors Sydney Mandelbaum ’17 Tom Pham ’17 associate street editors Harrison Blackman ’17 Jennifer Shyue ’17 associate photo editors Gabriella Chu ’18 Grace Jeon ’17 associate chief copy editors Chamsi Hssaine ’16 Alexander Schindele-Murayama ’16 editorial board chair Jeffrey Leibenhaut ’16 Cartoons Editor Terry O’Shea ’16

NIGHT STAFF 12.1.15 staff copy editors Noah Hastings ’19 Caroline Lippman ’19 Daphne Mandell 19’ Hannah Waxman ’19 News Caroline Lippman ’19 Myrial Holbrook ’19

The unfortunate, overlooked significance of Yik Yak Will Rivitz

senior columnist

I

hate to do this, but let’s talk about Yik Yak for a moment.

As many of us have seen over the past few weeks, Princeton’s local Yik Yak has exploded with denouncements of the Black Justice League’s peaceful protest outside and inside of Nassau Hall. Unfortunately, many of these yaks were quite ugly. There was a fair bit of tone policing going on, with users throwing around words like “disrespectful,” “childish” and “obnoxious” to characterize the protesters’ actions. Some are suggesting that dissatisfied students “leave” if they don’t like the University’s status quo. Worst of all, there are murmurs that the protest has soured campus perception of black students in general.

You don’t need me to tell you that many, many students have spoken out against the narrow-mindedness of these yaks. All over campus — especially on more personal, less anonymous social media like Facebook — students have loudly and proudly proclaimed their support for the Black Justice League’s actions. Especially in response to the yaks that were shared on Facebook, many members of Princeton’s community have embraced those protesting, reinforcing the message that these students are, indeed, loved.

However, less loudly discussed is the support anonymous Princetonians have shown for the sentiments expressed via Yik Yak. Just look at the number of upvotes on each yak censuring the protestors: most of the

more coherently expressed yaks are currently sitting at upwards of 50 upvotes, with the most popular one garnering over 200 votes.

And while Yik Yak isn’t a watertight example of support — total points don’t reflect number of downvotes, and we don’t know how many Yaks have been downvoted past the disappearing threshold of negative 5 points — it’s clear from the net score many of these yaks have garnered that a significant portion of campus vehemently disagrees with the Nassau Hall protests.

I don’t bring up Yik Yak to denounce the things being said on the platform, though I personally believe many of them are in fact worth denouncing. Rather, I bring these yaks up to point out the unfortunate significance of their support: their popularity shows that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of students who stand opposed to the Nassau Hall protests. I may not agree with them, but I know — from both Yik Yak and personal conversations — that they very much exist.

Here is why I bring these people up: at some point, we — that is, those who stood with the protesters on the north side of campus — are going to have to engage with those who don’t agree with us. It’s not clear when that’ll happen, and it’s not clear how that’ll happen, but we need absolutely everyone on board with our demands, arguments, thoughts and desires if we are to enact meaningful, long-lasting change in our society.

Even though President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 signed a modified list of demands, the dissent bubbling up around campus will need to be addressed at some point. This applies to discussions of racism on campus,

and this applies to discussions of racism in a broader, nationwide and international sense.

One of the most important things we have to remember about any discussion of bigotry and societal oppression we hold is that not everybody is always on the same page. Yik Yak has shown that brilliantly: many students simply haven’t experienced the kinds of education on cultural and interpersonal racism that the protesters have. This may be because they have fairly homogenous friend groups, this may be because they simply haven’t had anyone close to them who has explained how modern racism manifests, and, yes, this may be because they are white.

Regardless, though, these people exist, and, whether publicly or anonymously, they are loud in their opposition to the demands of those who occupied Nassau Hall. As such, if we are to succeed in ensuring that our protest has meaningful, positive ramifications, we will have to convince at least a fair share of these people that we are right to believe in what we do. It’ll be a protracted and almost certainly painful discussion, but it’s one that will have to happen all over this campus if we are to take baby steps towards eradicating racism in all its forms.

To change Yik Yak, we will have to change the people using it. To change those people, we will have to change the culture in which they — and we — live. To change that culture, we’ll have to work tirelessly and relentlessly towards a radical rethinking of the way we live — and that rethinking will eventually need to involve all of us.

Will Rivitz is a sophomore from Brookline, Mass.

He can be reached at wrivitz@princeton.edu.

The Daily Princetonian

Tuesday december 1, 2015

page 5

Women’s basketball wins both in Loyola Marymount tournament W. B-BALL Continued from page 6

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24-8 lead. Bernsten played a key role in the game with 21 total points, on impressive 8-11 shooting. Princeton again led in rebounds (53-27) and had a 50 percent field goal percentage.

Seattle shot 31 percent.

In the third quarter, Miller scored her 1,000th point, officially becoming the 23rd Princeton women’s basketball player to achieve the milestone. It was a special moment for the team, as the entire bench jumped in celebration. Head coach Courtney Banghart was especially proud to witness the achievement.

“For [Miller] to get her thou-

sandth point in front of a hundred of her family and friends out in L.A. where her basketball career started is quite a story,” Coach Banghart said.

“Our kids were so celebratory of that moment, which was very cool to see.”

The homecoming of two of the team’s senior players was perhaps the sweetest part of a successful weekend for the Tigers.

“An important part of our program is to bring kids home at some point during their career,” Banghart said. “We got to spend time with the Tarakchian family and the Miller family in their homes. And then we got an opportunity to travel together as team and to go on the road together. I think that’s

COURTESY OF JENNIFER POTTHEISER

Though entering without fanfare, Porzingis has left his mark in the NBA.

Porzingis mania reminds head sports editor Miles Hinson of 2012 Linsanity COLUMN Continued from page 6

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underperforming players — sad times for all.

But with Porzingis, the feel is entirely different. As a Knicks fan, I don’t expect to win a championship now. I don’t expect to win a championship in the next few years. But getting to watch Kristaps feeds me in a way that goes beyond the instant gratification of having a championship-caliber team. It plants the feeling of hope inside of me, hope that brighter days are on the horizon.

I doubt many in the country can forget the mania that was Linsanity. In 2012, Jeremy Lin put a struggling Knicks team back in playoff contention and in the world spotlight. It was a period of unbridled joy and excitement I have not felt as a Knicks fan since. In a sense, I could understand we weren’t going to win a championship.

The idea that Jeremy could lead us to the O’Brien Trophy always felt a little absurd. But to see him ignite a fire in a fanbase so hungry for players to love was an unbelievable sight to behold.

It’s hard to say the exact same feeling is felt with Porz-

ingis. Part of Lin’s mystique came from his Asian-American heritage, virtually unseen in the NBA before him. Porzingis is a big man with a soft touch and solid jump shot, fitting the mold of many a European big man before him. But to see him, at such a young

Porzingis is a big man with a soft touch and solid jump shot, fitting the mold of many a European big man before him. age (he just passed his 20th birthday), performing the way he is, it’s hard not to want to love him.

As one of the most storied franchises in the NBA continues to find its way back to relevance, the fans will see more than their fair share of suffering. That being said, having this uber-talented rookie, who shows the desire to get better and passion on the court, makes the process all the more easy.

After Drexel, each team will battle back in Jadwin SQUASH

Continued from page 6

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Spencer Anton and William Oon. But this proved to be a good springboard for the second game, where the team easily beat Navy by a scoreline of 8-1. There were a few tough games that went the distance, as sophomores Jarryd Osborne and Komron Shayegan were pushed to five

sets, and freshman Cody Cortes was defeated in five sets.

This road trip will be a short one for both teams. The men’s team will return home to host Williams, St. Lawrence and Rochester this upcoming weekend, whilst the women’s team will host Williams and St. Lawrence. All match-ups will be played at Jadwin Squash Courts starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday the Dec. 5.

important for the development of our team camaraderie and culture.”

“Of course on the court it was good to solidify two solid wins where everybody plays,” Banghart continued.

The comfortable wins over Irvine and Seattle showed that Princeton women’s basketball is building up to another strong season despite its loss to Seton Hall, in a game in which Princeton shot just 33 percent from the floor. Earlier ranked No. 24 in the USA Today coaches’ poll, Princeton fell out of the rankings with the surprising loss. The Tigers are regaining momentum and earning more votes to get back into the top 25.

“In our loss to Seton Hall, I

think we let them take us out of our rhythm,” Miller said.

Going forward, she expects to work on “playing together the way we know we can play and not letting other teams take us out of that.”

“We’re still working on getting deeper,” Coach Banghart said. “But we’re getting better

and that’s what we want from the team this early in the season.”

Princeton’s victories over the weekend should bolster the team’s confidence going into a much-anticipated home game against Michigan. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2 at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 6.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: The Daily Princetonian is published daily except Saturday and Sunday from September through May and three times a week during January and May by The Daily Princetonian Publishing Company, Inc., 48 University Place, Princeton, N.J. 08540. Mailing address: P.O. Box 469, Princeton, N.J. 08542. Subscription rates: Mailed in the United States $175.00 per year, $90.00 per semester. Office hours: Sunday through Friday, 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Telephones: Business: 609-375-8553; News and Editorial: 609-258-3632. For tips, email news@dailyprincetonian.com. Reproduction of any material in this newspaper without expressed permission of The Daily Princetonian Publishing Company, Inc., is strictly prohibited. Copyright 2014, The Daily Princetonian Publishing Company, Inc. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Daily Princetonian, P.O. Box 469, Princeton, N.J. 08542.

Sports

Tuesday december 1, 2015

page 6

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Tigers pick up three straight wins over break

By Berthy Feng contributor

TIFFANY RICHARDSON :: SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

The Tigers found success against both Rider University in New Jersey and out west in Los Angeles.

COLUMN

The Princeton women’s basketball team, in a resounding rebound from its 64-71 loss to Seton Hall a week earlier, earned three convincing wins over Thanksgiving break.

Last Tuesday, Princeton (5-1 overall) defeated Rider University 78-59. Senior guard/ forward Annie Tarakchian hit three three-pointers and finished with a game-high 21 points. The Tigers beat the Broncs with 46 rebounds and just four turnovers.

Over the weekend, the Tigers traveled to Los Angeles to compete in the Loyola Marymount Thanksgiving Classic. The trip had special significance because it brought seniors Michelle Miller and Annie Tarakchian back to their home state, giving them the chance to play in front of family and friends.

“It was a lot of fun for Annie and me to go back home to L.A.,” Miller said. “It’s weird to think about it being the last

time I’ll ever play there, but it was definitely a fun ending to my basketball career at home.”

On Friday, Princeton dominated UC Irvine 83-42, pulling the Tigers to a 2-0 series record against the Anteaters. The two teams first met in 2009. The Tigers raced to a 6-0 lead, maintaining their edge through the entire game. Miller scored a game-high 21 points, on 8-of-14 shooting. Tarakchian secured a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds, already her third double-double of the season. The team hit 51 percent of field goal attempts overall, compared to 23 percent by Irvine. Princeton also led in rebounds 54-33.

The next day, Princeton won the championship game against Seattle University 85-48. While the Redhawks came close with a six-point deficit, Senior guard Amanda Berntsen scored nine-straight points around three minutes into the opening period, taking Princeton to a convincing See W. B-BALL page 5

SQUASH

Kristaps and me: learning to love the Knicks again

By Miles Hinson sports editor

Take a flashback with me for a moment. It’s 2013, and your favorite Sports Editor is riding on Cloud Nine after his beloved hometown team has had their best season in years. The New York Knicks — a longtime source of shame for many in the Big Apple — had absolved themselves of the previous decade’s disappointments. With a record of 54-28, and a longoverdue trip to the conference semifinals, the team had finally become something that all of us could look upon with pride.

For those of you who have watched the Orange and Blue in the following two years, you understand the agony I’ve felt.

Watching our team succumb to injuries and poor coaching, to fall back down to the dredges of the NBA, was probably worse than taking my first math midterm at Princeton.

But today, I want to talk about a man. A man that has given me hope in the future.

The man who has taught me how to love basketball again.

His name is Kristaps, Kristaps Porzingis. A string bean of a power forward straight out of Latvia that has taken the NBA by storm, he looks to be the most promising Knicks rookie in recent memory. He entered the league without much confidence from his fan base — indeed, there was a well-circulated video on the

internet of a young Knicks fan beginning to sob upon Porzingis’s selection in the NBA draft.

But young Kristaps has risen to the challenge. He averages 13.7 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game — stellar numbers for a player new to the rigors of the world’s best league. He has incredibly defensive instincts, a swiftness of feet not seen in most big men and the ability to stretch the defense (shooting 30 percent from behind the arc). He has almost every tool a coach could ask for in a young big man.

Porzingis, however, despite his litany of physical skills, has been more than just an excellent player. His rise to success speaks to something that Knicks fans have historically had such a dearth of — feelgood stories.

Knicks fans (and, I imagine, sports fans in high profile cities like Chicago, Miami and L.A.) tend to have a “win-now” kind of mentality. The idea of going through a long period of rebuilding, drafting the right people and signing middle-ofthe-road free agents, tends not to be the game plan. It’s far more a New York attitude to swing for the fences and sign the biggest name possible at the moment. This approach, while on occasion producing quality teams (see the Amar’e Stoudemire-Carmelo Anthony duo) has more often than not given Knicks fans overpaid and See COLUMN page 5

Tweet of the Day “Always thought Kobe’s retirement would look a lot more like the end of Network” tom noonan ’14 (@gonebynoon), men’s basketball

KIRA IVARSSON :: STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

The men’s and women’s squash teams head into Philadelphia having won their most recent matches.

Both men’s, women’s squash prep for Philadelphia road trip to face Drexel

By Tom Pham associate sports editor

Both the men’s and women’s squash teams will travel to Philadelphia in the next two days as they face off against host Drexel University. The men’s team plays on Tuesday, before the women’s team faces-off against Drexel on Wednesday.

The women’s squash side started the season in dominant fashion as they easily beat George Washington University in all nine games.

The 9-0 road victory for the women’s team will prove to be encouraging as the season goes on, showing both domi-

nance and grit. The women dominated the No. 3 to No. 9 games, with all of the Tigers players sweeping the matches in three sets, with great debuts for freshmen duo Isabel Hirshberg and Kate Feeley.

Especially dominant wins included junior Alexandra Toth, who won 11-2, 11-5 and 11-3, and senior Tara Harrington, who won 11-3, 11-5 and 11-4.

The determination of the team showed up in its No. 1 and No. 2 players, as both sophomore Olivia Fiechter and junior Maria Elena Ubina bounced back from dropping sets to claim resounding victories. Fletcher dropped her

Stat of the Day

5 players The field hockey team had five players named to the NFHCA DI All-Region Team.

first two sets 11-9 and 11-6 to Anna Porras, who was ranked 13th in the nation last year, but she stepped up her game when she faced a sweep, winning the remaining three sets on the trot to round off a 9-0 victory for the women.

However, the men’s squash side have won one and dropped one so far this season, losing 5-4 to Franklin & Marshall before bouncing back at beating Navy 8-1 at home.

The first loss to Franklin & Marshall was close, but was encouraging nonetheless, as three freshmen got their debut wins in Clark Doyle, See SQUASH page 5

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