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Monday december 8, 2014 vol. cxxxviii no. 116
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U N I V E R S I T Y A F FA I R S
U N I V E R S I T Y A F FA I R S
No charges filed in TI sex scandal
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In Opinion
By Chitra Marti
Tiger Inn alumni criticize the club in light of recent reports of sexual misconduct, and the Editorial Board reflects on the recent USG election. PAGE 5
staff writer
Today on Campus 4:30 p.m.: Jim McGreevey, who was the governor of New Jersey from 2002 to 2004 and has received a Master of Divinity since his tenure as governor ended, will give a public lecture titled “Prisoner Reentry: Breaking the Cycle.” McCosh 50.
The Archives
Dec. 8, 1994 A Chronicle of Higher Education article found that donations made by parents of applicants could have an effect on the admissions process, though University administrators disputed the claim.
PRINCETON By the Numbers
63.8
Percentage of votes received by Ella Cheng ’16 in the runoff election for the USG presidency.
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News & Notes
Columbia graduate students trying to form a union
Columbia graduate students are attempting to unionize, in an effort to gain greater recognition and rights, according to The Columbia Spectator. More than 100 of the graduate students rallied on Friday in an effort to have Columbia recognize their union, and more than 1,700 student workers have signed cards since September in support of the cause. The union would be a subsection of the union that represents clerical workers at Columbia, Barnard and Teachers College — the United Auto Workers Local 2110. The graduate students’ union is called Graduate Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers. Protestors brought a letter to Columbia president Lee Bollinger on Friday asking for better job security and wage security. The organizers of the union have said that they will attempt to gain certification as a union from the National Labor Relations Board if Columbia does not recognize them as part of the United Auto Workers Local 2110.
COURTESY HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
Film director Christopher Nolan will speak at the Class of 2015’s Class Day ceremony on June 1.
Christopher Nolan to speak at Class Day, June 1 By Grant Golub contributor
Acclaimed British-American film director Christopher Nolan will be the Class Day speaker this year, the Class of 2015 Council announced Friday. Nolan is widely known for directing “Interstellar,” which was released last month, as well as the latest “Dark Knight” trilogy, “Inception” and “Memento.” He has been nominated for three
Academy Awards. He graduated from University College London with a degree in English Literature. According to an email sent to the senior class, Nolan has been making films since he was 7 years old and is known for his “unconventional story lines” and “innovative filmmaking.” “While his films have entertained us and captivated us for the past 20 years, they have, more importantly, made us think,” the Class
Council wrote in the email. “Regardless of our majors and our interests, we all share several things in common: our purpose, our passion, and our mission to do things differently.” The three members of the senior class who are part of the Class Day committee that chose Nolan as the speaker included Adam Tcharni ’15, Evan Coles ’15 and Hanna Kim ’15. “We wanted someone who See CLASS DAY page 4
STUDENT LIFE
In light of most recent USG election, women leaders discuss gender disparity By Christina Vosbikian contributor
The gender disparity in visible leadership positions at the University, as well as the general challenges women face in pursuing leadership positions, were discussed at a Women’s Mentorship Program panel on Friday. Politics professor Tali Mendelberg, who moderated the discussion, explained that the event was motivated by
the recent Undergraduate Student Government presidential election, in which the unique pressures women face during campaigns became central topics of discussion. Speakers included former USG vice president and former USG presidential candidate Catherine Ettman ’13, former USG presidential candidate Molly Stoneman ’16 and recently elected USG president Ella Cheng ’16. Cheng is also a former staff
STUDENT LIFE
Gender-neutral housing on the rise, according to USG panel By Shriya Sekhsaria contributor
Gender-neutral housing at the University has been on a steady rise since it was implemented in 2008, according to an Undergraduate Student Government panel discussion on Friday that discussed the current policies and practices regarding gender-neutral housing. The panel, which only had five people in the audience, included Associate Director for Student Housing Lisa DePaul, Director of Housing Dorian Johnson and Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Students Bryant Blount ’08. Based on data gathered in
2014, there are 529 genderneutral housing spaces on campus, 208 of which come from the 52 quads present in Spelman Halls, while the remaining 321 spaces come from a combination of upperclassmen housing and residential colleges. Gender-neutral rooms are marked with an “e” for “either” or an “a” for “any” during the room draw process, while rooms that are not gender-neutral are marked as “male” or “female,” according to DePaul. Wilson and Rockefeller Colleges cannot currently provide gender-neutral housing, DePaul noted, as they do See HOUSING page 2
writer for The Daily Princetonian. Mendelberg began the discussion by noting that while women have come a long way in gaining ground in the political arena, there is still much progress to be made. Systematic change, she said, stems from local- and community-based progress, like greater women’s representation in university student governments. See LEADERSHIP page 3
No criminal charges will be filed in last October’s reported distribution of a photo featuring a sex act that took place at Tiger Inn. The Princeton Police Department announced in a press release on Friday afternoon that it had found no evidence to support criminal wrongdoing and closed the investigation. The investigation included interviewing all involved parties. The incident was reported to police on Nov. 20, almost a month after the email was sent, and labeled an “Invasion of Privacy” investigation. In the University’s daily crime logs, maintained by the Department of Public Safety, it was reported as a potential sexual assault case. “All we can say is that no one
wants to pursue the case, and there are no criminal charges,” Sgt. Steven Riccitello said. “We interviewed all parties involved.” The Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office was also consulted in the matter, the release said. Riccitello later added that the photo did not explicitly depict any intimate body parts engaged in a sex act. TI graduate board members Hap Cooper ’82 and Eric Pedersen ’82, and current TI president Oliver Bennett ’15 did not respond to requests for comment immediately following the announcement. Pedersen and Cooper did not respond to additional requests for comment over the weekend. The police announcement came the same day as over 100 TI alumni who graduated in the 1990s published a letter in The See TI page 2
STUDENT LIFE
In USG runoff election, Cheng ’16 defeats Gansa ’17 By Grant Golub contributor
University Student Life Committee chair Ella Cheng ’16 won the Undergraduate Student Government presidential runoff election with 63.8 percent of the vote, according to an email sent by outgoing USG president Shawon Jackson ’15 on Friday afternoon. Her opponent, Will Gansa ’17, took the remaining 36.2 percent of the vote. Cheng will start her year in office at the beginning of the spring semester, in February. Cheng is also a former staff writer for The Daily Princetonian. Voter turnout was 15.2 percent higher than the voter turnout during the general election with 3,116 students casting votes, while the general election only drew 2,704 voters. The runoff election between Cheng and Gansa was announced Nov. 28 after none of the three candidates in the presidential race won the majority of the vote. In the first election, Gansa received 43.85 percent of the popular vote, while Cheng received 31.63 percent. Molly Stoneman ’16, the current USG vice president, came in third place with 24.52
percent of the vote and was eliminated from the race. After her elimination, Stoneman endorsed Cheng and urged her original supporters to vote for Cheng, explaining that Cheng was the best choice to help move USG and the University forward. “This is a strong vote of confidence from the student body that students still believe in USG,” Cheng said about her win. “This shows that students care about our future.” In her campaign platform, Cheng said she wanted to switch USG’s focus from programming to policymaking because of her belief that the change would bring the organization’s focus back to students. “I want to have more projects that students feel directly impact them,” she explained. After she and Gansa were declared the two remaining contenders, she unveiled new items for her platform, including direct rebuttals to Gansa’s buzzword proposals, which included a mysterious concept, “bike reform,” riper fruit and waffle fries. Cheng noted that the election seemed to have highlighted student discontent with USG and included propositions such as See USG page 4
A NEW REGIME
BEN KOGER :: PHOTO EDITOR
Anna Mazarakis was elected Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Princetonian’s 139th Managing Board, and Matteo Kruijssen was elected as the Business Manager. They will begin their terms next semester.