February 24, 2016

Page 1

Founded 1876 daily since 1892 online since 1998

Wednesday February 24, 2016 vol. cxl no. 19

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

U. affiliates sign letter against Uribe By Andrea Ayala staff writer

Twenty-two University affiliates have signed a letter addressed to Dean of the Wilson School Cecilia Rouse and President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 to protest the talk by Álvaro Uribe Vélez, former president of Colombia. The signatories include University professors, postdoctoral fellows, lecturers and other faculty members, as well as Ph.D. candidates who are “from Colombia, do research on the country and/ or are concerned with its political events.” In total, 77 scholars and students from a number of institutions including Yale, MIT, Universidad de los Andes and University of Oxford signed the letter. “We regret that the Woodrow Wilson School, an institution committed to rigorous scholarship and critical thinking, has announced Uribe’s presence in a way that overlooks Mr. Uribe’s government’s abuses of human rights and the weakening of the democratic process, and is silent on the scholarship that highlights its legacies,” the letter reads. According to the BBC, under Uribe’s administration the country’s Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad, which was supposed to answer only to the president, is known to have murdered over 2,000 innocent civilians. Furthermore, the signatories object to the “deceptive and biased announcement that has been used to publicize” the talk, according to the letter. Maria Paula Saffon Sanín, a lecturer in the Politics Department, said she drafted the letter with some of her

colleagues when she heard about the talk. She noted that what she found to be problematic about the talk was not that Uribe would be speaking at the University, but rather that the Wilson School took a favorable stance when advertising Uribe’s presidential term in Colombia and that they didn’t consult any of the faculty who specialized in Colombia when framing the talk. “If you’re going to invite a controversial figure, that’s fine, that’s part of freedom of speech and we all agree with that, but you have to keep all perspectives equally balanced,” Sanín explained. She said it is a concern, especially for Colombians and people who specialize in Colombian politics, that both Harvard and Princeton, the leading institutions in the United States, have not taken these protests seriously. “It is disappointing that Mr. Uribe will evidently be treated as a guest of honor at Princeton University, an institution that claims to cherish human rights, justice, and democracy,” the letter read, “we are concerned that Princeton be a tool for politicians and governments seeking to legitimate violations of human rights and weakening democracy and the rule of law.” “People who support his [Uribe’s] government will promote these events, and if universities don’t react, they end up giving [Uribe] a platform that legitimizes his government in the end,” Sanín commented. In November 2010, Uribe visited Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government to attend a meeting hosted See LETTER page 3

SHADOW

ANNA BERGHUIS :: STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

During the late afternoon, lights in the Frist lecture hall cast a shadow of the speaker. U N I V E R S I T Y A F FA I R S

Princeton Preview to be overnight event once again By Caroline Lippman staff writer

Princeton Preview will once again be an overnight event this spring for the first time in three years, according to Dean of Admission Janet Rapelye. Princeton Preview is an annual event for all of the admitted students and their families to visit the University and attend panels, classes and open houses hosted by different student organizations or academic departments. This year, Preview will occur on April 11-12 and April 20-21. Students will check in on Day One from 8-11 a.m. and Preview will end by 11 a.m. the next day. “For the past two years, we had

moved the scheduling of Princeton Preview to a one-day event in an abundance of caution because we had meningitis on our campus,” Rapelye explained, adding that shortening Preview to a one-day event was a campus-wide decision to protect both incoming and current students. Deputy Dean of Undergraduate Students Thomas Dunne said that the overnight component of Princeton Preview will provide an opportunity for prospective students to have more social interaction during their visit and experience co-curricular life at the University. “One of the things that’s been missing that we’re really happy to have return is an opportunity for

students to get a better window into the full life of Princeton students,” Dunne said. Rapelye said that the overnight component of the event will allow for a full day’s and a full evening’s worth of activities. There is now freedom to program a myriad of new possibilities for Preview’s scheduling. Rapelye noted that there will be some more flexibility in terms of when the This Side of Princeton Arts Showcase can be held, whereas the past two years it had to be scheduled to end in the early evening to account for families’ travel needs. She also said that residential colleges will be able to host See PREVIEW page 2

LECTURE

ACADEMICS

De La Bruyère awarded David-Weill scholarship staff writer

Emily de La Bruyère ’16 was awarded the 2016 Michel DavidWeill Scholarship. The scholarship is used for a master’s degree in international security at Sciences Po, in Paris, according to the Sciences Po website. The annual David-Weill Scholarship is given to one American student at one of the 30 top U.S. universities based upon criteria of literacy and scholastic achievements, capacity for critical analysis, demonstrated history of leadership, and proven commitment to the community. De La Bruyère, a concentrator in the Wilson School pursuing a certificate in Chinese language and culture, is captain of the University varsity crosscountry team, runs track, works at the Writing Center and is a peer academic adviser. De La Bruyère explained that

after her time at Sciences Po, she plans to join the military, possibly as a marine. “[Sciences Po] is going to be a phenomenal program, I’m really excited for this, you get two years in France at a great school,” she noted. “I’ve always been very interested in foreign countries,” she said, explaining that, growing up, she already had a love for travel and a curiosity about different countries. When she came to the University, there were formal and direct academic frameworks through which she could study international relations from a problem-solving standpoint. She noted that at the University you can address, in time, these problems in ways that are deeply rational and logical but also very personal. Between her junior and senior year, de La Bruyère said took a year off to do See WEILL page 3

CATHERINE WANG :: CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

Former President of Colombia Álvaro Uribe Vélez delivered a lecture on Tuesday at the WIlson School.

Uribe discusses security under his presidency, guerilla movements By Catherine Wang contributor

Colombia saw poverty reduction, economic growth and increased protection for liberty during his presidency, said Álvaro Uribe Vélez, Former President of Colombia, in a lecture on Tuesday. Uribe served as president of Colombia from 2002 to 2010. According to Uribe, during his term his government pri-

marily focused on improving security, investment and social cohesion. Uribe said that 63 percent of voters reelected him in the first round of 2006 elections as a result of the parallel success of his investment and social policies. These policies enabled him to reduce poverty from 50 percent to 33 percent while increasing domestic investment from $20 billion to $70 billion during his time in office, he added.

In Opinion

Today on Campus

Columnist Zeena Mubarak comments on the dangers of the cultural insensitivity exhibited by Raks Odalisque, and Columnist Beni Snow questions the University’s different attitudes towards illicit substances. PAGE 4

4:30 p.m.: The Sawyer Seminar Series will hold “The Concept and Practice of Sovereignty in the Early Rise of the Manchu Empire,” led by Nicola Di Cosmo of the Institute for Advanced Study. 216 Aaron Burr Hall.

However, Uribe also noted that many of his difficulties with security came from leftist movements which affected not only Colombia, but also neighboring countries such as Venezuela. “I have divided Latin America between rightist and leftist governments. We have to consider what are progressive and what are aggressive democracies. Venezuela does not have security, investment or social cohesion,” See URIBE page 3

WEATHER

By Maya Wesby

HIGH

60˚

LOW

50˚

Rainy :( chance of rain:

90 percent


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.