December 9, 2015

Founded 1876 daily since 1892 online since 1998

Wednesday december 9, 2015 vol. cxxxix no. 118

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } U N I V E R S I T Y A F FA I R S

U. Librarian Trainer to step down after 21 years

staff writer

University Librarian Karin Trainer, who has been in the position for 21 years, will be stepping down from her position on July 1, 2016.

“It seemed as if it were a good time to turn the reins over to a new person,” Trainer said. “I think it will be good for the library to have a new generation of university librarian in place.”

She added that it was a difficult decision for her, and she had to think about it for a long time.

Trainer, who was appointed in 1996, said she was the first

woman to hold the position of university librarian at the University. When she first became a research librarian in the 1970s, there had been fewer than five women who had ever led a major American research library, she said.

“It’s been very encouraging for me to see in the course of my library career how the opportunities for women in academic librarianship have improved,” she said.

She also noted that throughout her time as university librarian, the library has grown both in terms of digital content as well as print collections.

“There is still a lot of scholSee LIBRARIAN page 2

ACADEMICS

U N I V E R S I T Y A F FA I R S

U. study finds plants are smart, strategic

By Samvida Venkatesh staff writer

Plants are smart and change their nitrogen-fixing strategies based on their environments, a study by ecology and evolutionary biology professors Lars Hedin and Simon Levin found.

The paper, published in the journal Nature Plants, looks at plants as smart and strategic beings rather than as passive features of the environment.

“The approach we have taken, appropriating agency to plants, is a rather unique one and is one of the strengths of the ecology and evolutionary biology department here at Princeton,” Hedin said.

Levin, who has worked on this problem along with Hedin for over ten years, said that this paper is the cul-

NATALIA CHEN :: PHOTO EDITOR

The rugby team is bicycling in front of Frist Campus Center this week to raise money to travel to Ireland.

mination of much effort and hard work that began with a review paper by Hedin in 2009 that set up the question of distribution of nitrogen fixers in different biomes.

The counterintuitive distribution of nitrogen fixing plants in tropical and nontropical environments has been a long-standing question in ecology. Plants that can make their own fertilizer from nitrogen struggle in apparently ideal conditions of nitrogen-poor soils, while they thrive where they should not, in nitrogen-rich soils among many other species of legumes, which are nitrogen fixers.

This study examines the puzzle from the new perspective of plants being “smart,” Levin said. He explained that the game-theoretical apSee PLANTS page 5

U. to launch mental health initiatives

By Annie Yang senior writer

The University has implemented and gotten approval for a number of mental health initiatives, including an expansion of the UMatter program, since it joined the Jed and Clinton Health Matters Campus Program in October 2014.

The program works with universities to implement and reassess policies involving mental health, substance abuse and suicide prevention programming on campus, according to the Campus Program Framework. Member institutions are required to commit to this program for at least four years and work with the program to develop and reassess various

DANCE

initiatives in place.

Dr. Victor Schwartz, medical director of the Jed Foundation, explained that when a college joins the program, it is committing to form a campus-wide mental health task force and engage in a series of surveys which are used by the school to assess mental health and substance abuse prevention programming. The university then works with the Jed Foundation to develop a strategic plan to address gaps in programs and policies, he said.

“We continue to work with the school through four years of participation to look for further program development and make sure progress is continued and sustained,” he said.

There are currently 100 col-

leges and universities involved including the University, according to the program website.

Calvin Chin, Director of Counseling and Psychological Services, explained that the University joined the program out of its commitment to improve its services and to ensure that it is in line with best practices nationally. He added that there was no event in particular that spurred the University to join the Program.

Chin noted that the Program confirmed the importance of some of the initiatives the University had already started, including Princeton Distress Awareness and Response and the UMatter initiatives.

See HEALTH page 3

STUDENT LIFE

Whig-Clio freshmen debate proposed diversity distribution requirement

By Marcia Brown staff writer

DANIELA COSIO :: STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

The salsa club held a class for beginner and intermediate dancers in the Friend Center on Tuesday.

Four freshmen convened at the American Whig-Cliosophic Society’s annual Frosh Senate Debate on Tuesday to debate whether the University should add a distribution requirement on the history of marginalized people.

The Whig side, which argued in support of the requirement on the history of marginalized people, won the debate 20 to 17 after attendees and debaters voted.

One of the demands made by the Black Justice League during the sit-in in November was to add a distribution requirement about the history of marginalized people.

BJL members will be attending a meeting with the Task Force on General Education to discuss the possibility of this distribution requirement.

In Opinion

Today on Campus

Columnist Marni Morse argues that President Eisgruber should vocally support cultural competency training for Princeton faculty and columnist Lea Trusty discusses white representation in films. PAGE 6

4:30 p.m.: Robin Chase, co-founder of Zipcar, Buzzcar and Veniam, will give a lecture titled, “From Zipcar through Uber and Beyond: How a New Organizational Paradigm is Changing the Way We Work, Build Business, and Shape Economies.” Robertson Hall.

President of the senate Jack Reed ’16 noted that the views purported by each side of the debate do not necessarily ref lect the views of the debaters.

Maya Aronoff ’19, arguing for the Whig side, said that exposure to these kinds of classes and therefore cultures and narratives that are different from what students have grown up with is inherently valuable in part because it increases knowledge about groups and their history.

Aronoff said that this increased knowledge makes students less likely to discriminate against those groups and act in ways that perpetuate that discrimination.

Due to Whig-Clio’s press policy, The Daily Princetonian was not able to use quotes or statements See DEBATE page 4

WEATHER

By Shuang Teng

BIKE

HIGH

53˚

LOW

43˚

Partly cloudy. chance of rain:

10 percent

page 2

The Daily Princetonian

Wednesday december 9, 2015

Committee hopes to have new librarian by Feb. 2016

EAT

LIBRARIAN Continued from page 1

.............

ALEKS CVETKOVIC :: CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

The Interclub Council and 2018 Class Government hosted an upperclassmen dining options panel on Tuesday.

arly material that is not available in any kind of digital format, and we’re very committed to continue to get material in print,” she said. “The growth of our print collections is a great satisfaction to me as is the growth of our special collections, by which I mean our collections of rare books and manuscript.”

History professor Stephen Kotkin, who is leading the search committee for the new librarian, said a committee of eight members is in the outreach phase of finding a new librarian. He said that if things go well the committee will have nominations for the position of university librarian sometime in February 2016, and that the goal is to have a new librarian

by July 1.

The committee members are from diverse sectors of the University and were appointed

by University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83, Kotkin noted. He explained that the committee’s responsibility is to bring forth finalists, interview them and make recommendations to the president and the provost, who will make the final decision.

He also noted that the committee is consulting with undergraduate and graduate students and various groups of faculty, in addition to holding open forums about the future of the library.

“We want to engage the undergraduates here. We want the undergraduates to tell us how the library is working for them and how it could do better,” he explained.

On Dec. 4, an undergraduate focus group discussed students’ ideas on the libraries and improvements they would like to see. The group discussed issues including the demand for 24-hour study spaces and collaborative group work spaces.

Deana Davoudiasl ’16, who attended the focus group, said

that there seems to be a lack of spaces to do small group work within the libraries when students want to get a group together to work on problem sets.

She noted that another issue is students not being able to fully utilize library resources, possibly because they do not know of all the resources available to them.

“I would suggest highlighting on either a digital or physical fun-fact sheet all the amazing resources that Princeton has,” she said.

In addition to responding to students’ suggestions for improvement, the new university librarian’s agenda may also include finding librarians to take over the jobs of future retiring staff, Trainer said. She noted

“You know that the work you are doing matters, that it matters to a cadre of talented students and faculty members who go out and do important things in the world.”

Karin Trainer,

University Librarian

that the library has started to see a spike in the number of retirements and that she predicts that there will continue to be a number of retirements in the several years ahead.

Reflecting on her own experience, Trainer noted that working as university librarian is so intellectually interesting and challenging because one must keep up with what goes on in the modern university.

“It’s a really invigorating and exciting kind of work,” she said.

“You know that the work you are doing matters, that it matters to a cadre of talented students and faculty members who go out and do important things in the world.”

Live.

Laugh.

Love.

Layout.

Join the ‘Prince’ design department.

Email design@dailyprincetonian.com

The Daily Princetonian

Wednesday december 9, 2015

Jed and Clinton program finds UMatter effective HEALTH

Continued from page 1

.............

“Although the planning for UMatter started years before we joined the Campus Program, we were encouraged that it fit so well within the program framework,” he said.

The UMatter initiative encourages active bystander behavior and provides students with life skills around how to manage stress, Chin said. Gatekeeper training and life skills development are both components of the Campus Program framework, he added.

He said that PDAR has trained over 700 concerned students, faculty and staff since its launch last fall on how to recognize signs of distress in others and how to appropriately respond and is eager to expand further.

Students who are interested in bringing this training to their organizations can easily request the program through the UMatter website, he said.

Another initiative is the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction for graduate students and Koru Mindfulness for un-

dergraduate students, which the University has continued to expand, Chin noted.

Both workshops involve stress management through mindfulness meditation and are intended to help students use the tools they have within themselves to manage their stress, Chin said. He noted that teaching students these skills is an important component of the Campus Program framework.

Schwartz noted that although the array of considerations as noted in the Campus Program Framework is looked at when developing a campus plan, schools are not required to fulfill every recommendation provided by the Framework.

“We have suggested [that] the school needs to examine its challenges, resources, setting and see what is relevant, but we do feel that each element of the framework [needs] to be considered,” he said.

John MacPhee, executive director and CEO of the Jed Foundation, and W. Rochelle Calhoun, Vice President for Campus Life, did not respond to requests for comment.

0101110110100010010100101001001 0100100101110001010100101110110 1000100101001010010010100100101 1100010101001011101101000100101 0010100100101001001011100010101 0010111011010001001010010100100 1010010010111000101010010111011 0100010010100101001001010010010 1110001010100101110110100010010 1001010010010100100101110001010 1001011101101000100101001010010 0101001001011100010101001011101 10100010010>1001010010010100100 1011100010101001011101101000100 1010010100100101001001011100010 1010010111011010001001010010100 1001010010010111000101010010111 0110100010010100101001001010010 0101110001010100101110110100010 0101001010010010100100101110001 0101001011101101000100101001010 0100101001001011100010101001011 1011010001001010010100100101001 0010111000101010010111011010001 0010100101110110100010010100101 0010010100100101110001010100101 1101101000100101001010010010100 1001011100010101001011101101000 100101001010010010100100101110 0010101001011101101000100101001 0100100101001001011100010101001 0111011010001001010010100100101 0010010111000101010010111011010 0010010100101001001010010010111 0001010100101110110100010010100 1010010010100100101110001010100 1011101101000100101001010010010 1001001011100010101001011101101 0001001010010100100101001001011 1000101010010111011010001001010 0101001001010010010111000101010 0101110110100010010100101001001 0100100101110001010100101110110 1000100101001010010010100100101 1100010101001011101101010010100 1010010010100100101110001010100 Dream in code?

1011101101000100101001010010010 1001001011100010101001011101101 0001001010010100100101001001011 Join the ‘Prince’ web staff 1000101010010111011010001001010 0101001001010010010111000101010 0101110110100010010100101001001 0100100101110001010100101110110 1000100101001010010010100100101 1100010101001011101101000100101 join@dailyprincetonian.com 0010100100101001001011100010101 0010111011010001001010010100100

sudo pip

install

web_staffer

page 3

Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you ...

Imma let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time! One of the best videos of all time!

- Kanye West

Buy an ad. Say what you want.

For more information, contact ‘Prince’ business.

Call (609)258-8110 or

Email business@dailyprincetonian.com

page 4

The Daily Princetonian

THE PAPER CAMPUS WAKES UP TO

Wednesday december 9, 2015

Whig argues requirement increases knowledge DEBATE

Continued from page 1

.............

from the debate, only interviews after the event.

“If you really don’t want to [take the diversity class], take a hip-hop class and [pass/D/fail] it,” Aronoff said. “That’s still valuable.”

On the Clio side, Shea Minter ’19 said that the backlash and negatives of the diversity distribution requirement are problematic.

“I think everyone here firmly believes that something needs to be done on campus, but what Sinan [Ozbay ’19] and I believe is that the majority of people are just going to see this as a requirement, an additional class they have to take, an opportunity cost but instead of a writing sem[inar] professor, or institution or subject that’s getting blamed, it’s a group of people which itself is harmful,” Minter said.

Ozbay, who was also on the Clio side of the debate resolution, was not available for comment after the debate.

Minter also said that add-

ing the diversity requirement is not enough to combat the problem of discrimination on campus, saying that the campaign needs to be more aggressive and more about sparking genuine interest than forcing people to do things.

“It kind of trivializes the issue when you’re saying we solve the issues by adding the diversity requirement and now everyone’s culturally aware,” Minter said.

Rebekah Ninan ’19, who argued for the Whig side, said the points she and Aronoff advanced are not about simply about pushing a certain ideology but are about advancing knowledge on campus in a holistic sense.

“I think that that can be seen in the fact that it’s something every student has to take, it’s not just white students learning about these issues,” Ninan said.

Opening statements for each side from Aronoff for Whig and Minter for Clio lasted seven minutes each.

Reed then opened the f loor to debate where attendees could make f loor statements, ask questions of the debaters and counter each other. The remaining freshmen debaters finished the event with Ninan and Ozbay each concluding with four-minute speeches.

The debate took place at 7 p.m. in the Whig-Clio Senate Chamber.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 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 2015, The Daily Princetonian Publishing Company, Inc. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Daily Princetonian, P.O. Box 469, Princeton, N.J. 08542.

PHOTOS!

Visit our website to view photos and purchase copies!

photo.dailyprincetonian.com

The Daily Princetonian

Wednesday december 9, 2015

page 5

Researchers apply game-theoretic approach to ecology study PLANTS

Continued from page 1

.............

proach, one typically used in economics, was used to create computational models of nitrogen fixers in the environment.

“What might be best for a tree standing alone in the open is not at all the best for a tree surrounded by others,” he said, adding the need for nitrogen fixers to change strategies based on their en-

vironment.

Levin explained that nitrogen fixation is costly in two ways — first, the cost of producing nodules and inviting bacteria into plant roots to fix atmospheric nitrogen, and second, retaining the ability to produce nitrogen at any time.

“So the question we asked was, what would the plants do if they were smart?” Hedin said.

The answer, which combines the overarching princi-

Did you know... that the ‘Prince’ has a Facebook page?

Like our page at: facebook.com /DailyPrincetonian Procrastinate productively!

Done reading your ‘Prince’?

Recycle

ple of evolutionary strategies to current models, can lead to important understandings about climate change and the distribution of plants in the future, Benjamin Houlton GS ’05, Associate Professor of Terrestrial Biogeochemistry at University of California, Davis, said. Houlton was not involved in the study.

The study, which highlights the convergence of modern and ancient evolutionary time scales, matches many of the others that have

examined the question using different approaches, according to Houlton.

“The next step is to rigorously test this in the field before any encompassing theory can be formed,” he said.

Game-theoretical models similar to the one the study took can likely be extended to other problems, Houlton said.

Hedin noted that studies are already being based off this one, with new researchers looking at the importance

of spatial structure in the strategy adopted by a nitrogen fixer.

Efrat Sheffer, senior lecturer at the Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Sarah Batterman GS ’13, fellow at the University of Leeds, United Kingdom, were also co-authors of the paper.

The paper was published on Nov. 23.

News Editor Ruby Shao contributed reporting.

A call for cultural competency training

Opinion

Wednesday december 9, 2015

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com }

Marni Morse columnist

The fresh breath of air from Pope Francis

M

uch has already been expressed about the recent Black Justice League protest, but the backlash over the mandated cultural competency training has really surprised me. I understand that some of the demands, like removing Wilson’s name from campus buildings, are controversial to say the least. But I honestly thought that basic faculty and staff cultural competency training would not be nearly so contentious.

That’s why I was shocked when I read on the University Press Club’s live coverage that University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 “disagrees with mandatory cultural competency training.” He claimed he can’t force it on the faculty and that its effectiveness is highly questionable. And while I realize that both of these factors may be true, his unwillingness to vocally support the concept baffles me because mandatory cultural competency training is a low-cost way to potentially make a big impact on the student experience.

Cultural competency training can come in many forms. But from talking to others about their expectations and from what I know about other faculty trainings (including those involving sexual harassment), I assume it would basically consist of a couple of hours where faculty are led through exercises that help them recognize how their own backgrounds might lead to biases in the classroom. More importantly, such training would hopefully include potential ways that our professors can handle both their own biases and those of students as well. Professors wouldn’t be forced to alter their behavior but would rather simply be exposed to the tools needed to react differently should they choose to. In all likelihood, these few hours won’t even be an annual occurrence, but probably only a refresher every three to five years or so. A couple of hours every few years is a very small sacrifice in terms of time and effort.

Though I recognize that the effectiveness of such programs is questionable, I can’t help but think that they would at least make some difference, or at the very least, they couldn’t hurt.

I assume some professors have biases that this training will not do anything to check. I also believe that some professors are acutely aware of how their own identities can color their teaching and have already educated themselves on how best to minimize the effects of their own background. For both of these groups, the training will likely not be effective, though perhaps the latter group might learn a few more helpful tools. But I also assume there is a large middle group of professors; those who do not want their own backgrounds to affect the classroom, but as of now cannot avoid unintentionally doing so.

Or there are those who do not want this negative influence, are aware of it in themselves or other students, but lack the resources and knowledge to do something about it. For both of these types of faculty, a cultural competency training could drastically affect their teaching for the better.

And given the relatively low time and effort cost, if there is even a small benefit to these professors, the training will have been worth it.

President Eisgruber should not force this training on the faculty, as he has acknowledged he cannot under the current system anyway.

Princeton has a self-governing faculty and some degree of self-control is important. But, President Eisgruber could do much more to encourage passing the cultural competency training and voicing strong support would be an important start. The faculty has undertaken selfimposed training before, most recently with the sexual harassment training that Professor Ruha Benjamin highlighted during the protest. Such training is imperative both for liability issues as well as the potentially huge impact it can have on individual students. Some professors might think cultural competency matters less in certain fields, like STEM. But professor-student classroom interactions have a huge impact, so it is essential to be aware of the effects of one’s own background. And while it might impact research less heavily, professors at Princeton are both researchers and teachers. They should take their responsibilities as teachers seriously.

The Princeton Open Campus Coalition argued that “requiring cultural competency training for faculty threatens to impose orthodoxies on issues.” I fail to see how that is true when it does not impose any action other than to sit in on a training to be exposed to other ideas, something the group itself seems to support.

It is nothing like communist “reeducation programs” as they imply; there is no punishment should one choose to completely ignore the entire training.

The agreement President Eisgruber made with the BJL protestors is simply that President Eisgruber “will write to Dean of the Faculty Deborah Prentice to arrange a discussion on cultural competency training,” which is essentially nothing concrete. However, President Eisgruber ought to do more: he should be actively encouraging the faculty to impose this self-required training. There is just too much potential benefit with so little cost. Why wouldn’t we at least try as a community to see if we can improve students’ educations and lives in this way, before denouncing it outright?

Marni Morse is a politics major from Washington, D.C. She can be reached at mlmorse@princeton.edu.

page 6

Dan Sullivan columnist

I

n the last week of November, Pope Francis continued to surprise the world with an unprecedented trip to the religiously conservative countries of Kenya, Uganda and — most notably — the war-torn Central African Republic. The Pope has been redefining the perception of the Roman Catholic Church in society with his striking liberal and forward-thinking statements, especially relative to the past conservatism witnessed throughout the past papacies of John Paul and Benedict. When Francis was elected to receive the highest office of the Church, he came into a Church ravaged and torn by sexual abuse cases in dioceses throughout the nation, lacking in the times and one that was turning many Catholics away from their old religion.

Francis, in the style of his Jesuit order, has brought a fresh breath of liberalism, modernity and, perhaps most importantly, humility into the Church, doing much to return it to its once-held position as an almost universally respected moral authority. He traveled to a local Roman prison to wash the feet of prisoners as part of the Catholic tradition during Holy Week, recently released his encyclical — among the most direct dissemination tools of teaching at a pope’s disposal — on the environment, calling for widespread climate change action, much of which is being discussed at the COP21 happening this week in Paris, has made sweeping pronouncements on the universal dignity of humanity — something that, under his definition of humanity, includes homosexuals once shunned by the Church. And now, in an effort to bring together the entirety of Catholics in every reach of the world, Francis traveled to an unstable area of Africa to pronounce peace, an area suffering from religious and ethnic tension, especially between Muslims and Catholics, and one that legally condemns homosexuality.

In Nairobi, he, according to the New York Times, “traveled from the airport in a simple Honda — then visited a slum long accustomed to the ribbon of raw sewage,” speaking for increased access to

vol. cxxxix

education and work; in Uganda, he spoke about the all-too-common child soldiers being forced to fight in the region. He referenced problematic corruption, urging the African leaders to “please [not] develop that taste…[for that] something that eats the inside.” The most daunting aspect of his trip — and perhaps the most profound — was his visit to Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic. The city, according to The Guardian, “has been embroiled in a civil war between a Muslim minority and a Christian majority since March 2013.” Protected by a UN security detail, he visited the Saint Sauveur camp for displaced people in the capital and visited a mosque in a “dangerous Muslim neighbourhood of the city known as PK5” where he appealed for Christian-Muslim unity. “We are all brothers,” Francis retorted, “whatever may be your ethnicity, your religion, your social status.”

The impacts of his African visit go far beyond its hopeful benefits to Kenya, Uganda and the CAR. When placed in a global context, Francis’s actions show a positive transition in the Church, one that is well-needed in a time when Church attendance is falling and belief wavering. At a time when ‘Islamaphobia’ is ravaging the United States amid fears of the ‘pervasive’ Muslim terrorists, promises of Francis that “Christians and Muslims are brothers and sisters” give comfort to me as a Catholic and in the moral stature of the Church that the currently widening strife between ignorant Christians and Muslims will in the future be able to be bridged.

That Francis’s visit was particularly to vocal and religiously conservative countries that also rank among the most homophobic of all the Church shows a positive liberalization of thought and action that has the potential to repair the Church’s image in the world. By reaching out to these countries directly, I believe he is attempting to show Catholic unity, something that was more-or-less nonexistent during Benedict’s papacy. It is a breath of fresh air that the Church is no longer remaining this conservative stalwart. And perhaps his strategy will work: as Urbain, a young man speaking to reporters in Bangui, said, “He is God’s diplomat.

Bandits don’t listen to politicians, but they will listen to him.”

Dan Sullivan is a sophomore from Southold, NY. He can be reached at dgs4@princeton.edu.

Miracle

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

Ryan Budnick ’16 ..................................................

Cartoons Editor Terry O’Shea ’16

NIGHT STAFF 12.8.15 senior copy editors Megan Laubach ’18 staff copy editors Arthur Mateos ’19 Samantha Zalewska ’19 News Zaynab Zaman ’18 Maya Wesby ’18 Design Jessica Zhou ’19

Whitewashing in films Leah Trusty columnist

I

t was only a month ago when I first watched the trailer for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” By the time the two or so minutes had passed, the grin on my face seemed permanently fixed. Almost immediately afterward, my friends from back home started to talk about it and plan when we’d be seeing it together. It’s an understatement to say the film will be dominate the season’s box office, if not the entire year — and with good reason. Star Wars has a colossal following, as perhaps the most popular, influential film series to date. And with impressive direction like J.J. Abrams, it is sure to draw in both new and old fans.

Yet even with all evidence indicating the movie will be a solid addition to the saga, some fans were unhappy. Any trailer will have its fair amount of critics; however, the most shocking criticisms were over the newfound diversity in casting.

I was happy to see a black man in a lead role. Although I am sure most of the cast is white, the fact that a central character, as well as other supporting roles, is black is a step in the right direction, especially for a series that started with virtually no people of color.

However, many others did not share this opinion. The YouTube comments section was filled with racist sentiments. Soon

there was a “BoycottStarWarsVII” hashtag trending on Twitter, with users crying out against deluded ideas of white erasure and anti-white propaganda. As if adding actors of color to still predominantly white films will challenge white representation, as well as the power it represents, they grow fearful when these actors take on more central roles that break commonly held stereotypes. It is clear that these people represent the fringe fan community, but the very fact that their bigotry was trending on social media speaks to the strength of this radical minority.

Initially, I wanted to be more surprised by the backlash against increased Hollywood diversity. Who could possibly think that the casting of a black lead be equivalent to white erasure? But I recalled similar sentiments that were expressed when it was rumored that Idris Elba would take on the role of the next James Bond. Anthony Horowitz, the author of the James Bond novel “Trigger Mortis,” labeled Elba as “probably a bit too ‘street’” for the role. Others claimed that the new Bond should be “suave,” implying it was a quality that Elba lacked. The debate became so heated that Elba had to formally declare he was not exploring the role, and that if he had, it would have long ended.

Part of me sympathizes with these opinions. Hollywood can make it challenging to envision people of color in prominent roles when it so consistently churns out allwhite, male-centered films. However, it appears that we do not hold the same standard when it happens in reverse. White actors

fill countless roles that call for characters of colors.

For instance, “Gods of Egypt” is expected to open in late February, in which there are no people of Egyptian or Arab descent.

Because who is more fit to play the role of an Egyptian deity than Gerard Butler, Geoffrey Rush or Nikolaj Coster-Waldau? This is not a new trend. Emma Stone played a part Chinese, part native Hawaiian in “Aloha.”

Ben Affleck played Tony Mendez, a Latino CIA Operative, in “Argo.” From the very beginning of film, this whitewashing has occurred with no complaint.

I think we seriously need to evaluate the role of race and film. Historical accuracy and modern representation calls for more casting of minorities. There are multifaceted narratives that Hollywood continues to ignore — the black narrative, the Latino narrative, the transgender narrative. There is no one story for any of these, but fact that almost none are being portrayed in film is deeply concerning.

And while there is merit to the idea that certain roles may benefit from actors of certain backgrounds playing them, this merit stems from portraying these often-neglected narratives. Do not cry foul when a black man plays a stormtrooper in a fictitious universe where one would expect multiculturalism, but not when an Irish man plays an Egyptian.

Lea Trusty is a politics major from Saint Rose, La. She can be reached at ltrusty@princeton.edu.

The Daily Princetonian

Wednesday december 9, 2015

page 7

After CWPA title, Tigers Women’s swim team wins with strong knocked out of NCAA second and third day performances M. WOPO Continued from page 8

.............

Nelson said. “I wish I was able to give the guys the experience of playing in the Final Four that I had my freshman year. I hope the guys remember the feeling of losing that game and flying home in the seasons to come. With that memory in mind, they’ll need to work even harder to ensure they win CWPA and then the play-in game two weeks later.”

The Tigers qualified for their NCAA spot after clinching a close 7-6 victory over John Hopkins University (21-10 overall).

This marked the fourth time the Tigers have claimed and won the CWPA title. Princeton entered the tournament seeded ninth, making Princeton the only non-California team in the varsity top 20. This appearance also marked the fifth time the Orange and Black have qualified for the NCAA tournament — Princeton finished third in 2009 and 2011.

In spite of the tough loss, the Tigers have much to be proud of as they look back on the 2015 season. “Any year that we win CWPA championships is a successful year. The prior two years we had very good seasons but weren’t able to put it all together when it mattered in the championship game,” said Nelson. “I’m proud of this team for doing well all year long and continuing that success

into the postseason. This team did very well adjusting to the roles we needed everyone to fill.

We were successful all year long because the guys quickly understood their roles and quickly excelled in them.”

In addition to excelling as a team, many individuals on the Princeton roster were also recognized for their individual contributions to the team’s success. Sophomore goalie Vojislav Mitrovic set a new Princeton record this season with 293 saves, surpassing the 1997 mark of 266 saves. Mitrovic and Nelson both made the All-CWPA tournament first team while Jeremic, sophomore attacker Jordan Colina and senior utility Jamie Kuprenas made second team honors.

While the season has come to a close, Princeton will be looking to replicate its success this season and progress further as a team in future years. “I expect Princeton to win the CWPA championship every year. While the seniors won’t be around, next year’s team is still going to be very strong,” Nelson said. “Someone once asked me how I don’t begin to fret when we’re in tight situations. The answer is simple: you place complete faith and trust in your teammates that you will win together. I hope next year’s team will continue to be close as a team, and if they trust each other I know I will be a happy alum watching them win the 2016 championship.”

Bowl season, the NBA on Christmas approach COLUMN Continued from page 8

.............

to Fox or CBS on a Sunday night, you’re guaranteed to find more than a few games that will shape who makes the NFL Playoffs and who ultimately might get a shot at the Vince Lombardi Trophy come Super Bowl Sunday.

Granted, it must be stated that your excitement over the final stretch of the regular season depends on whom you support. If you’re a New England Patriots fan, and success has been a way of life for your team, maybe you find this time of the year pretty chill. I, for reference, am a die-hard fan of the New York Giants.

The Giants, year-in and yearout, have been mired in the depths of mediocrity, yet due to the lackluster performance of their division (the NFC East), they always have a chance to get into the playoffs. Have they failed the last three years? Perhaps. Did they bring home that Super Bowl victory? Yes sir. The Giants are one of the best examples for why I love rooting for the middle of the road teams — you’re never quite too crushed if they f lop, but they always have the chance to pull off the victory that will make your entire year.

Bowl season: Oh boy.

Where to even start? I had a chance to write about the history of bowl games around this time last year, but I didn’t really get the chance to express the sheer amount of joy this amount of football brings to me year in and year out. From the day Princeton sets us free (Dec.

18), hardly a day goes by in December without a different bowl game adorning my television. Indeed, with the adjustment to the playoff system (as this year’s Citrus Bowl and Cotton Bowl determine which teams enter the BCS Championship Game in January), the football-related intensity hits a fever pitch.

But even as a lover of America’s sport, not much can top my excitement for…

NBA on Christmas Day: My parents told me around the age of nine that Santa Claus wasn’t real. But as a diehard NBA fan, the lineup each and every Christmas makes me start to believe that there really is a man out there whose sole goal is to bring me joy on Dec. 25.

Every year, the NBA decides to put its best rivalries on display on Christmas Day, making for 12+ hours of unadulterated basketball goodness. I must lament, however, that after last year’s debacle of a season, my New York Knicks were no longer deemed worthy to adorn this hallowed Christmas schedule. (And the Lakers are? This is absurd.)

But I digress. From LeBron James and Steph Curry duking it out in prime-time Christmas to the Houston Rockets and the San Antonio Spurs battling it out to see who really runs Texas, there’s not much I can say I don’t absolutely adore about the NBA on Christmas Day. So there you have it. For all you sports lovers out there — these last few days of the semester may be the most tedious, but rejoice, knowing there is indeed light at the end of the tunnel.

(if(equal? web love) (join the ‘Prince’ now) (join anyway)) Join the ‘Prince’ web and multimedia team.

Email join@dailyprincetonian.com

SWIM

Continued from page 8

.............

performance, with the 200 freestyle relay placing third and the 400 medley relay winning fifth. Freshman Isabel Reis won fourth in the 200 individual medley, while senior Elizabeth McDonald nabbed fifth in the 50yard freestyle. Despite this, the women’s team trailed Pittsburgh and Villanova after the first day of competition. The women’s team proved its tenacity on the second

and third days of competition.

Bolstered by first place finishes

by Morgan Karetnick in the 100-yard butterfly and Isabel Reis in the 200 butterfly, the women’s team seized the lead on the second day of competition.

Princeton swimmers placed in almost every event, showing the team’s emphasis on versatility.

Four Tigers were finalists in the 200 backstroke, with sophomore Lindsay Temple placing second by only .02 seconds. Likewise, four out of the top six finishers in the 200-yard breaststroke

were Princeton swimmers, with freshman Lindsay Swartz claiming third place. Equally as significant for the Princeton win were strong runner-up performances in the 400 and 800yard freestyle relays.

The Tigers’ impressive performances in the invitational and early-round Ivy League competition set a strong precedent for Princeton confidence and success later in the season. Princeton will next host Harvard and Yale for the annual Harvard-YalePrinceton meet.

T HE DA ILY

Enjoy drawing pretty pictures?

Like to work with Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator or InDesign?

Join the ‘Prince’ design team! layout@dailyprincetonian.com

Wednesday december 9, 2015

Sports

page 8

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } M E N ’ S W AT E R P O L O

Men’s water polo falls to UCSD at USC

By David Xin contributor

JASPER GEBHARD :: STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

The No. 9 men’s water polo team traveled out West to USC to face off against UCSD for a spot in the final four at the NCAA tournament. Unfortunately, the Tigers fell to No. 10 UCSD.

This past Thursday, Dec. 3, the men’s water polo team traveled to USC’s Uytengsu Aquatic Center for an NCAA play-in game against the University of California San Diego (UCSD). The ninth-ranked Tigers lost to the No. 10-ranked UCSD Tritons 127, concluding the season with a tough loss. Princeton closed out the year with a 22-5 record overall along with a Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) title.

The Tritons started the game strong, scoring on their first possession after winning the opening sprint. UCSD would then find the back of the net another

three times before the Tigers answered. After a timeout in the second quarter, senior center Thomas Nelson put Princeton on the scoreboard. The Tritons continued to pull away despite notable pushes by the Princeton squad to narrow the lead. Notable performances included two goals and two drawn ejections by Nelson, three goals by junior utility Jovan Jeremic and eight saves by sophomore goalkeeper Vojislav Mitrovic. The Tritons finished fourth at the NCAA tournament.

“It’s very disheartening to fly all the way out to LA, prepare for two days for the play-in game and then lose and miss on the chance to partake in the Final Four,” See M. WOPO page 7

SWIMMING & DIVING

Swimming & diving triumphs at Big Al

By Michael Gao contributor

Buoyed by impressive performances by the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams, Princeton edged out seven other teams to place first at the threeday Big Al Open meet, hosted in DeNunzio Pool. The men’s team scored 1100.5 points, beating out runner-up Pittsburgh at 818 points, while the women’s team also scored a narrow victory over Pittsburgh, 994 to 931 points.

Princeton also defeated fellow Ivy League members Brown and Dartmouth in the invitational, which also served as Princeton’s regular season dual meet against these teams. Combined with previous wins over Penn and Cornell, the Tigers’ win this weekend moves both the men’s and women’s teams to 4-0 against Ivy League opponents.

The men’s team led the invitational wire-to-wire, nabbing a first-place position on the first day that it never relinquished

during three days of competition. Four Tigers nabbed individual titles. Hu Van-Wright broke two school records in the 100-yard backstroke and 100yard freestyle en route to firstplace finishes in both events, while also placing first in the 50yard freestyle. Sophomore Corey Okubo won narrow victories over freshman teammate Cole Buese in the 200 backstroke and senior teammate Teo D’Alessandro in the 200 individual medley on the first day and churned to a dominant win in the 400 individual medley on day two. Sophomore Ben Schafer clinched a title in the 100 butterfly, while senior Bryon Sanborn out-touched fellow Tiger Jack Pohlmann to win the 100 breaststroke. Equally as impressive was Princeton’s commanding performance in all five relay events (200 medley, 400 medley, 200 free, 400 free, 800 free), which the men’s team swept.

The women’s team also had an impressive first day See SWIM page 7

JACQUELINE LI :: STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Over the weekend, both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams came out on top at the Big Al Open meet, hosted in DeNunzio Pool. Both teams are now 4-0 against Ivy League opponents.

COLUMN

Column: What To Look Forward To

By Miles Hinson sports editor

COURTESY OF FANSIDED.COM, EDITED BY NATALIA CHEN

The end of the calendar year has a lot in store for sports fans: productive ways to spend the holidays include the end of the NFL regular season, Bowl season and the NBA on Christmas day.

Tweet of the Day ““I didn’t say any of that” - Confucius, probably” Paul Tupper (@ tupp_23), junior outfielder, baseball

Dearest Princetonians, you have reached, if you will, the home stretch of your regular season. With classes just a week and a half away from winding down, you may, as I do, begin to wonder in vain why we have been allotted merely two weeks of rest and relaxation instead of three, as has been the case in years past. How, you may ask, will be the most productive way to spend your holidays? Preparing for Dean’s Date? Getting a head start on your upcoming exams?

If you are a truly diligent student and put these things on your winter break to-do list, my hat is off to you. If

Stat of the Day

2 records This weekend at the Big Al Open meet, Hu Van-Wright broke two school records.

you are like me, however, and procrastination is a way of life, you may find alternate ways to pass the time. Look no further, dear reader, than holiday sports, the merriest time of the year.

Why does this time eclipse all others, you may ask?

Three main reasons stick out for me — the end of the NFL regular season, NCAA football bowl season, and last, but certainly not least, NBA Christmas Day. In order: The end of the NFL regular season: when you only have 16 games in your entire season, every win and loss is crucial for trying to extend your season into January. If you turn your channel See COLUMN page 7

Follow us Check us out on Twitter on @princesports for live news and reports, and on Instagram on @princetoniansports for photos!