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Monday October 7, 2013 vol. cxxxvii no. 82
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STUDENT LIFE
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By Elizabeth Paul staff writer
In Opinion Contributor Jason Choe discusses the few employment opppotunities available for freshmen, and the Editorial Board suggests that the University should not increase the undergraduate student body. PAGE 4
Today on Campus 4:30 p.m.: Maen Rashid Areikat, chief representative of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, will speak. Dodds Auditorium in Robertson Hall.
The Archives
Oct. 7, 1999
A University committee chaired by Dean of the College Nancy Malkiel proposes to abolish the use of the A+ in grading.
On the Blog A ‘poopetrator’ wreaks havoc on a Yale laundry room, leaving feces deposits in washing machines in the university’s Saybrook College.
On the Blog Intersections critic Cailin Hong reviews 16-year-old pop singer Lorde’s debut album ‘Pure Heroine.’
By the Numbers
150
Total number of students who pledged membership to the three campus sororities, following last week’s rush events.
News & Notes Northwestern corner of town is the wealthiest
the northwestern corner of the town of Princeton is the neighborhood with the highest median income in the town, according to data collected in the 2010 U.S. Census. An interactive map published by the U.S. Census website and available for viewing on Patch.com indicates median household income by color code in neighborhoods throughout the United States. The map shows the region west of Van Horne Road and north of Mountain Avenue to have the highest median income, at $151,276 per household in 2010. The Census defines household income as the income of the householder and all other individuals in the household 15 and over.
REBECCA TERRETT :: STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The Princeton University Ballet holds its semiannual ballet workshop, teaching the basics of ballet. STUDENT LIFE
U N I V E R S I T Y A F FA I R S
Muse aims to foster discussion
By Teddy Schleifer
By Ruby Shao contributor
There was no food on the menu. Instead, five thoughtprovoking questions lay on a table in the Frist Multipurpose Room. “What have you rebelled against?” one of them read. Princeton Muse is a new club that “aims to create a forum for open, meaningful conversation” by bringing strangers together for special meals and study breaks, according to the group’s Facebook page. Modeled after the Oxford Muse Society at Oxford University in England, students pair up in monthly discussions to talk personal and philosophical issues over a conversation menu from the Oxford Muse Foundation. The club is the latest student-run initiative that fosters interaction among strangers on campus, following projects like PrincetonLunch and Friendsy. Princeton Muse founders Kathy Sun ’14 and Lindie Wang ’14 first encountered the concept while studying abroad last fall. After attending an Oxford Muse event, they said they thought they could bring its success back home. “We felt like there was a very common but unspoken desire on campus to have more of these kinds of [meaningful, open] conversations,” Sun said. The group held an open house last month with minisessions to give participants a taste of the longer conversations to come. Quentin Becheau ’17 said he joined because he was drawn to the idea of genuine interaction. “As a freshman coming in, at first it’s like, [you’re] really excited about this place, and then I started realizing that people are busy and tend to have very small talks all the time. And I was just getting frustrated with having so many people with such huge potential around me, but just keeping it at a very, very shallow level, like, ‘Ah hi, how are you? What major are you thinking?’ ” Becheau said conversation flowed naturally at his first session. “In the end, we just ended up talking everything from justice to utilitarianism to our perspectives on family.” Speaking with someone you may never meet again relieves the pressure of watching what you say, according to Jacky Cheng ’14. “It was really interesting to see how someSee FORUM page 3
In spite of the University’s freshman rush ban policy, a total of 209 students participated in sorority rush activities last week, a nearly identical number to pre-rush ban figures. Similarly, about 150 students accepted membership offers, the same number as in years past. In 2011, the last year freshmen were allowed to rush, 206 female students participated in recruitment. In 2010, 210 students rushed sororities. Last year, the total number of students dropped to 74.
During that year, freshmen were not allowed to rush, and sophomores had already had the opportunity to rush during their freshman year. This was thus the first year since the rush ban was announced that current sophomores did not have the opportunity to rush their freshman year. While, historically, only about 30 sophomores have participated in rush and freshmen have comprised the majority of the rush class, this year’s rush classes are comprised solely of sophomores, juniors and seniors. See GREEK page 2
Eisgruber set to meet alumni abroad
senior writer
Alumni around the world who don’t already know the new University president, Christopher Eisgruber ’83, will have at least 13 chances to meet him, beginning Monday night. Eisgruber will travel the globe this year as he formally introduces himself to the University’s 88,000 alumni at dinner receptions. These will begin with an event in New York City on Monday evening, followed by events in East Asia during fall break, the West Coast during Intersession and Europe in early April. On shorter trips, Eisgruber will meet alumni in Washington, D.C., Miami and Chicago. Eisgruber will deliver formal remarks at each of the events, either in
a speech or an interview. Former ABC World News anchor Charlie Gibson ’65, a University trustee, will interview Eisgruber in New York, and top political reporter Todd Purdum ’82 will talk with him in Washington. While the University president frequently travels to meet alumni, Eisgruber’s first-year schedule is a heavier load than most years, according to Margaret Miller ’80, the Alumni Association’s assistant vice president for alumni affairs. She explained that it’s traditional for Princeton presidents to embark on these introductory tours. “This is a way for the alumni to start to get to know him, and it gives the alumni an opportunity to say what they think,” Miller said. Most alumni have not seen Eisgruber publicly, since his work as provost had
an internal focus, Alumni Association president Nancy Newman ’78 said. Because he is largely unknown, she explained, alumni are especially eager to meet the new University president. At talks Eisgruber has delivered since being named president, such as one given at Reunions, the alumni who wanted to hear him speak couldn’t fit into a room, Newman said. According to Brian Biegen ’04, the head of New York City’s regional alumni association, 1,700 alumni — a quarter of all University alumni in New York City — have registered to attend Monday’s event. “This is overwhelmingly large. We didn’t think we were going to have this many people,” Biegen said. Events in other cities are likely to See WORLD page 2
Where in the world is Christopher Eisgruber?
Chicago May 6
Seattle Jan. 27 San Francisco Jan. 29
New York City Oct. 7
Los Angeles Jan. 30
London Apr. 7 Paris Apr. 8
Beijing Nov. 1
Washington D.C. Nov. 20 Miami Mar. 6
Tokyo Oct. 29
Seoul Oct. 30 Hong Kong Nov. 4
JESSIE LIU :: PRINCETONIAN DESIGN SENIOR STAFF
In the coming academic year, Eisgruber is set to introduce himself to 88,000 alumni at dinner receptions across the globe. STUDENT LIFE
Kugelmass ’14 proposes Transparency Committee By Anna Mazarakis staff writer
U-Councilor Elan Kugelmass ’14 proposed creating a threemember “USG Transparency Committee” at the weekly USG meeting on Sunday evening. Responding to criticisms he said he’d received from students about how many of the USG’s projects take place outside of the Senate meetings, he said the proposed three-member committee would be an “experiment” with the role of distributing USG information
to students who request it. The role of the committee would not overlap with that of Richard Lu ’16, who currently serves as the USG communications director, Kugelmass said. The role of the communications director is to present high-level pitches in a “favorable light,” Kugelmass wrote in his proposal, while the Transparency Committee would provide minimally-filtered information, including minutes, conversations or other documents. Lu, however, said he didn’t
think there was any aspect of the Transparency Committee’s proposed role that the communications director couldn’t fulfill as well. “I don’t think that everything I say about the USG has to have some kind of twisted, ulterior motive to it just because of my role as communications director,” Lu said. Though a few members of the Senate said this committee would address a problem that does not exist, Kugelmass said the committee would also have a say in establishing the crite-
ria for Executive Session, the portion of the weekly meeting that is not open to the public. “I think it’s a horrendously overused tool in the USG,” Kugelmass said. “It’s a great opinion that we hide a lot of stuff behind closed doors that really doesn’t need to be there. I hope that if the Transparency Committee is established, it will take an active role in helping us figure out what ought to be behind closed doors and what ought not be there.” The Senate will vote at its See USG page 3