Founded 1876 daily since 1892 online since 1998
Monday december 7, 2015 vol. cxxxix no. 116
{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } STUDENT LIFE
Czulak ’17 wins USG presidency By Andie Ayala staff writer
Undergraduate Student Government vice president Aleksandra Czulak ’17 won the 2015 USG presidential runoff with 56.9 percent of the vote, according to chief elections manager Sung Won Chang ’18. Her opponent, USG Social Committee chair Simon Wu ’17, obtained the remaining 43.1 percent of the vote. Wu led the first round of elections on Dec. 30 with 45 percent of the votes, while Czulak took 38.8 percent and Grant Golub ’17 took 16.3 percent of the vote. Golub is a former staff writer and former staff copy editor for the Daily Princetonian. Chang explained that the two presidential candidates faced off in a runoff, because according to the USG election handbook, if neither of them had more than 50 percent of the vote, there would have to be a second election between the candidates with the highest percentage of votes. Czulak noted that her victory signifies the first time that two women have been consecutively voted as the USG president, as she will follow current USG President
Ella Cheng ’16. Cheng is a former staff writer for the ‘Prince.’ Czulak said that her first step as the elected USG president will be to bolster mental health and academic support for the student groups on campus. She explained that while she had written a lot of points about the role of committees from the USG perspective on her campaign website, it became apparent to her in the process of going door-to-door and talking with students that student groups were not giving enough mental health and academic support to students. She said that she intends for USG to collaborate with resources such as the McGraw Counseling Center and Counseling and Psychological Services in pursuit of this goal. She added that she will start planning now with the USG committees about her plans for the following semester, even though she will not be taking office until February. Wu said that even though he wasn’t elected as president, he will continue trying to find ways to make USG more accessible and relevant in people’s lives. “I support Aleks a hundred See PRESIDENT page 4
NEW LEADERSHIP
ANNA MAZARAKIS :: STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Do-Hyeong Myeong ’17 and Daniel Kim ’17 were elected as Editor-in-Chief and Business Manager, respectively, of The Daily Princetonian’s 140th Managing Board. They will take over leadership at the beginning of next semester. ACADEMICS
U. agrees to allow reversal of P/D/F for required courses By Caroline Lippman staff writer
Students will be allowed to reverse a pass/D/fail grade option for a course that could be used to fulfill requirements for a concentration or a certificate, according to Undergraduate Student Government academics committee chair Ramie Fathy ’16. Students would be able to reverse these P/D/F designations once they have chosen their concentration and/or certificates, Fathy said. Fathy will communicate
with administrators to finalize an implementation date for the change, according to USG president Ella Cheng ’16. Cheng is a former staff writer for The Daily Princetonian. The committee, which organized the initiative to reform P/D/F policies, proposed several changes to the University’s current P/D/F policy on Friday to the Committee on Examinations and Standing, academics committee member Erika Kirgios’ 17 said. The proposal was based on data from a survey administered to the student body over
the Thanksgiving break, which received over 2,000 responses. Kirgios noted that the survey revealed that 22 percent of students have chosen not to pursue a potential concentration or certificate because they used a P/D/F grade in an introductory course and could not use that credit to fulfill higherlevel course requirements. “The students definitely wanted the policy to change,” Fathy explained, noting that the results show student interest in a new P/D/F policy. Kirgios added that the See PDF page 7
LOCAL NEWS
COURTESY OF PRINCETONUSG.COM
Aleksandra Czula ’17 was elected as the next USG president. STUDENT LIFE
USG Senate discusses P/D/F, holiday buses senior writer
The Undergraduate Student Government is discussing a complete reversal to the pass/D/fail policy in which students would be allowed to reverse a choice to take a class with a P/D/F option, academics committee chair Ramie Fathy ’16 said at the weekly senate meeting on Sunday. He noted that the committee also included an alternative in which students could reverse a P/D/F option only if the course was used for a concentration or a certificate program. “A lot of students have said that they didn’t have enough information about whether to P/D/F by the ninth week of
classes,” Fathy said. He added that students also said they wanted to use the P/D/F option for introductory language classes, which students must currently take for a grade. USG president Ella Cheng ’16 noted that the USG could push for professors to publish midterm grades for higherlevel classes, not just 100- or 200-level classes. Cheng is a former staff writer for The Daily Princetonian. U-councilor Brandon McGhee ’18 said that the Thanksgiving buses this year were a success, with tickets selling quickly due to high demand. He noted that USG implemented a wait-list and that there were 48 people on the second See USG page 2
COURTESY OF PRINCETONFOUND.COM
The Princeton Public Library’s new executive director Brett Bonfield will take over in January.
Bonfield named executive director of Princeton Public Library By Jessica Li senior writer
New executive director of Princeton Public Library Brett Bonfield plans to spearhead educational initiatives for privacy protection, solicit input from the community and collaborate closely with the University. Bonfield’s appointment by the library’s Board of Trustees marks the end of the tenure of current PPL director Leslie Burger. Bonfield will assume the position
when Burger steps down in January. Burger announced her plans to retire in July, leaving a vacancy for this permanent position that drew 25 candidates, according to NJ.com. Members of the PPL Board of Trustees did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Burger did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Bonfield graduated from Rutgers University and previously served as a librarian at the Whar-
In Opinion
Today on Campus
Guest contributor Allie Burton ‘17 responds to the assertion that BSE students cannot be “woke,” and the Editorial Board recommends increased communication between course instructors and the McGraw Center. PAGE 8
7 p.m.: Former United Nations Envoy for the Middle East Peace Process Robert H. Serry will speak on IsraeliPalestinian relations. Dodds Auditorium.
ton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University and St. Joseph’s University. He is currently the director of Collingswood Library in Camden County. Bonfield noted that in spite of changes in technology, libraries have not lost their unique function in communities. According to Bonfield, though users may not be coming in to locate the reference number of a particular book, more have been See LIBRARY page 5
WEATHER
By Katherine Oh
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55˚
LOW
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Mixed clouds and sunshine. chance of rain: none