Founded 1876 daily since 1892 online since 1998
Friday february 5, 2016 vol. cxxxix no. 5
{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } ACADEMICS
ADMISSIONS
Amjad ‘16 , Kimmey ‘16 awarded ReachOut fellowships
U. receives record number of applicants
By Andrea Ayala
The Office of Admission has received and processed a record applicant pool of 29,313 applicants for the Class of 2020, the highest in the University’s history, Dean of Admissions Janet Rapelye said. The applicant pool for the class of 2020 marks an increase of 7.4 percent from last year’s pool of applicants, according to Rapelye. A total of 27,290 applications were received for the Class of 2019, of which 1,908 students, or 6.99 percent, were admitted. The application numbers are yet to be analyzed for outstanding trends and specific metrics, Rapelye said. Rapelye added that the staff of the Office of Undergraduate Admissions is currently reading and evaluating applications for the Class of 2020. The number of applications has remained relatively constant since 2010, ranging between 26,000 and 27,000. The Class of 2020’s significant increase in number of applications marks a departure from this pattern. The University has already admitted 785 students, or 18.6
staff writer
Farah Amjad ’16 and Clarissa Kimmey ’16 were awarded the 2016 fellowships from 56-81-06 ReachOut Domestic and International Fellowships. Amjad received the 195 ReachOut International Fellowship and Kimmey received the ReachOut 56-81-06 Domestic Fellowship. They will each receive a $30,000 stipend funded by alumni in the graduating classes of 1956, 1981 and 2006 for yearlong public service projects following graduation. The fellowship aims to support individuals who will fulfill the goal of serving others, fellowship founder Jim Freund ’56 said. He added that there were eight contenders for the fellowship this year. Amjad, a history concentrator from Woodland, Calif., said that she will use the stipend to partner with Sarah Sayeed ’90, who is a senior adviser in the New York City Mayor’s Office.
One of the projects she will be implementing is a “Muslim Civil Society Expansion Project” that will provide Muslim immigrants, women, and other disenfranchised members of the community access to “needed resources and networks for integration into the city,” through local faith community leaders and organizations, she explained While Amjad’s project is based in New York, it was considered to be international because of its focus on Muslim immigrants, the ReachOut board explained in a press release. Amjad explained her interest in working with Muslim immigrants and women stems from her fascination with the intersectionality of American and international law. Following her internship, she plans to attend law school and focus on human rights and international law, she added. Kimmey, a Woodrow Wilson School concentrator from WhisSee REACHOUT page 2
By Christina Vosbikian news editor
percent, from a pool of 4,229 candidates for the Class of 2020 through the single-choice early action program, representing the largest number of early-admits in the University’s recent history, according to Rapelye. The admitted students come from 33 countries and 46 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. 11 percent of the admitted students are international students and 42 percent of the admitted students are U.S. students from diverse backgrounds. Rapelye also noted that this was the first year that more women than men were accepted during early action. She also expects financial need to be consistent with that of previous years. The Class of 2019 saw 767 of 3,850 students admitted through early action, for a 19.9 percent acceptance rate. The previous year, 714 of 3,854 students were admitted through early action for the Class of 2018, for a 18.5 percent acceptance rate, compared with 18.3 percent for the Class of 2017 and 21.1 percent for the Class of 2016. Of the students offered admission for the class of 2019, 52 percent were men and 48 percent
were women, and 49 percent identified as people of color. Of those, 10 percent were AfricanAmerican, 12 percent were Hispanic, less than one percent was Native American or Alaskan Native and 23 percent were Asian. The percentages of males and females admitted were about the same as last year. Harvard College accepted 14.8 percent of the 6,173 early action applicants for the Class of 2020, marking the lowest early acceptance rate since Harvard reinstated its early action program in 2011. Yale College has accepted 795 early action applicants for the Class of 2020. Fifty-three percent of the applicants were deferred for reconsideration in the spring, and 29 percent were denied admission; 1 percent of the applications received were withdrawn or incomplete. Both Harvard and Yale have not released regular applicant pool numbers. Rapelye said she expects to release admissions decisions at 5 p.m. on March 31. Admitted students to the University’s Class of 2020 have until May 1 to respond to their offer.
Q&A
Farah Amjad ‘16
Clarissa Kimmey ‘16
LECTURE
Newport discusses public opinion polls, voter priorities Despite the controversy behind Gallup’s decision to move away from polling leading up to the 2016 presidential elections, Editor-in-Chief of Gallup Frank Newport argued that polling is more than just election polling in a lecture Wednesday afternoon. In light of the 2016 state presidential primaries, Newport asserted that Gallup decided to move away from focusing on polling during this election cycle in order to focus on overall public opinion. Although Gallup is known for its role in developing horserace polling, and has been one of the primary voices on election polling, in recent years it has decided to focus on issues and voter priorities instead of forecasting election results. Newport is the editor-inchief of Gallup and author of “Polling Matters—Why Leaders Must Listen to the Wisdom of the People.” His analyses on the American public’s views on elected officials and on public mood and behavior make regular appearances in his blog “Polling Matters.” “What is the role of public opinion — beyond voting —
as a measurement?” he asked. Public opinion is manifested in the vote and is essentially channeled through elections, he said. Like elections, polls help measure public opinion, and by paying attention to what people are saying in between the elections, polls allow us to better understand what the public believes in. Despite Gallup’s attempts to use fair polling methods, public reactions to their polls are frequently negative. According to Newport, individuals naturally tend to criticize poll results that do not overlap with their personal beliefs, which leads them to dismiss the poll as a whole. “Naturally, they shoot the messenger,” Newport said. Another area of contention is in methodology; some people argue that a sample cannot possible measure the entire population, or that a sample focuses too much on one specific group of people rather than the country as a whole. Many also fear that polling is imprecise and can distort certain facts. “It’s a controversial job,” Newport said. Gallup has also garnered See GALLUP page 3
AHMED AKHTAR :: ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR
In a lecture Thursday, Frank Newport commented on the controversy Gallup’s opinion polls garnered.
Q&A : Frank Newport, Editor-in-Chief of poll-based consulting company Gallup By Christopher Umanzor staff writer
Frank Newport is the Editorin-Chief of Gallup, a management consulting company known for its influential public opinion polls, and author of “Polling Matters: Why Leaders Must Listen to the Wisdom of the People.” He sat down with The Daily Princetonian before a lecture Thursday to talk about the importance of polling in politics, the role of Gallup in the 2016 election and where his love of polling comes from. Daily Princetonian: What are some of the important changes in political polling since you’ve become Editor-in-Chief of the Gallup? Frank Newport: The biggest change probably methodologically is the increasing use of cell phones in each sample which we did not have when I started in 1990, we were using the all land-line interviews so we continually changed our methodology. We made a lot of
other changes in how we do it. DP: This past month alone, polling has become sensationalized by the media, particularly in the political realm. What exactly do you see as the role of polling in politics? FN: I believe that politicians should carefully read polling and take that into account. I think the people collectively are smarter than any one politician, although a politician would most likely disagree. To be sure, we have collective wisdom, since we have 100 senators and 435 representatives, so there is some collective decision. But, I think those collective decision makers should try to take into account and understand public opinion because it will help guide them to make wiser decisions to move our democracy forward in a positive way. That’s my personal opinion. And, you know, the public is very wise. When you see people are resistant about doing something, it tells you something.
In Opinion
Today on Campus
Columnist Paul Kigawa suggestions relaxing the guidelines for summer study abroad, and the Editorial Board calls for more courses in American Sign Language. PAGE 6
10 a.m.: The Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory will hold a public tour of the laboratory. Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.
DP: How would you describe Gallup’s role in the 2016 election? FN: We will spend a lot of time in this election environment and have already tried to understand the issues that people are concerned about, how they are reacting to the candidates, what they like and don’t like about them, and how Americans respond if somebody like Cruz, like I’ve mentioned [in the lecture], says he wants to abolish the IRS, it’s important to know how the public will respond to that, and if Bernie Sanders says he will go to a single-payer system, how will the public react? We feel that’s our major function in the field. DP: So, what has been the impact of Gallup’s decision to walk out of the horse-race polling during the 2016 election? FN: That’s one of the reasons that I gave my presentation to talk about our rationale. We’re hoping people pay more attention to what we are doing, like I talked about See Q&A page 3
WEATHER
By Annie Yang news editor
HIGH
39˚
LOW
24˚
Rain and snow in the morning. chance of rain: 100 percent