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Wednesday april 1, 2015 vol. cxxxix no. 37
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STUDENT LIFE
Big Sean to headline Lawnparties
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Sunny skies through day. chance of rain: none
In Opinion Imani Thornton reflects on the line between Princeton pride and zealotry and Reva Abrol discusses weak civic engagement on campus. PAGE 6
By Jessica Li staff writer
Today on Campus
Students gather in Frist Campus Center to hear the headliners of Lawnparties being announced.
Grammy-nominated rapper Big Sean will headline spring Lawnparties, Undergraduate Student Government social committee chair Simon Wu ’17 announced in Frist Campus Center Food Gallery on Tuesday night. Hip-hop singer Luke Christopher and pop singer Alus from Montville, N.J., will provide the opening acts, he added. Big Sean’s most recent album, “Dark Sky Paradise,” topped the Billboard 200 chart earlier in March. He signed with Kanye West’s GOOD music in 2007 and has collaborated with multiple artists including Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne and Justin
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
4:30 p.m.: The 17th Karmapa, a high-ranking Tibetan Buddhist monk, will be on campus to discuss gender, politics and the environment from a Buddhist perspective. University Chapel.
The Archives
April 1, 1998 The opening of Scully Hall was delayed until mid-October due to faulty structural planning. Crews struck an unexpected layer of soft firmament and had to eliminate plans for one of the floors.
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JACOB DONNELLY :: CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
U. offers admission to record-low 6.99 percent By Do-Hyeong Myeong
Follow us on Twitter @princetonian
News & Notes U. has third-lowest admissions rate among Ivy League schools
Only two Ivy League universities’ admission rates were lower than that of the University’s as of Tuesday night, although Harvard’s admission rate had not yet been released, Business Insider reported. Columbia accepted only 6.1 percent of its applicants to the Class of 2019, and Yale accepted only 6.49 percent. The University accepted 6.99 percent. The University’s admission rate was a decrease from 7.28 percent for the Class of 2018, while Yale’s rose from 6.26 percent. Columbia’s declined from 6.94 percent last year. Brown stayed roughly constant from last year at around 8.5 percent, and the University of Pennsylvania stayed constant at 9.9 percent. Dartmouth accepted 10.3 percent, a decline from 11.5 percent last year. Cornell University’s admission rate was the highest reported so far at 14.9 percent, up from 14 percent last year. Cornell also saw the highest number of applications at 41,907. Dartmouth received the fewest at 20,504, followed by the University at 27,290. However, the number of applications to the University was the highest in the University’s history.
senior writer
The University has offered admission to 1,908 students, or 6.99 percent, of the 27,290 applicants for the Class of 2019. This makes it the most selective admission year the University has seen to date. The number of applicants for this year was also the largest, breaking the record number of 27,189 set by the Class of 2015. The increase in selectivity is partly because of the larger applicant pool, and partly because the University offered admission to more applicants
from early action round than last year, Dean of Admission Janet Rapelye said. The Office of Admission’s effort to reach out to prospective applicants might have influenced in the increase in applicant pool, Rapelye added. The University’s generous financial aid and the Office of Admission reaching out to more first-generation students earlier in their high school careers might have influenced more qualified first-generation college students to apply to the University, she explained, noting that her office is working with more than 300 programs and community-based organi-
zations such as Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America and QuestBridge. Of the 1,908 admitted students, 767 were admitted through the early action applications in December. The number of students admitted from regular admission was 1,141, and the acceptance rate for the regular admission applicants, including students who were deferred in early action, was around 4.9 percent, Rapelye said. The number of early applicants wsa 3,830. The class size is expected to be 1,310 students for the Class of 2019, similar to last See ADMISSIONS page 5
Bieber. He was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Rap Song category in 2013 for “Mercy.” Luke Christopher, a Los Angeles native, debuted in 2012 with his mixtape “Tmrw Tmrw” and has since released another, “Tmrw Tmrw Pt. II.” Alus declined a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in 2012 and signed with Water Music Publishing. Her debut album, “Alustrious,” was released in 2014, and she recently released a hip-hop single, “Ordinary Girl.” The two opening act artists came as a part of the package offered by Big Sean’s agent. “[Big Sean was selected] See LAWNPARTIES page 4
U. removed statement following concerns of Wi-Fi radiation safety By Catherine Offord contributor
The Office of Environmental Health and Safety removed a statement from its website about the safety of radiation from Wi-Fi in June 2014 in response to activist pressure. The statement, which reflected the University’s position on the hazards of exposure to wireless radiation and authored in 2007, disappeared from the website after the University deemed it to be out of date. The move took place against a backdrop of activist concern about Wi-Fi safety
in schools across the country and in Europe and was triggered by a series of emails from individuals outside the University who had viewed the University’s statement on radiation safety. The process began with an email in February 2014 from a woman concerned about WiFi safety who had two young children, Sue Dupre, the University’s Assistant Director of Environmental Health and Safety, said. The woman was not affiliated with the University. “She contacted us and everybody in our office, See WI-FI page 3
BEYOND THE BUBBLE
Miss America 2014 discusses personal journey, cultural standards By Shriya Sekhsaria staff writer
As the first Indian-American to win the Miss America crown in 2014, Nina Davuluri said at a lecture on Tuesday that the Miss America Organization is often misunderstood. “It felt so timely for this organization to finally reach out to a new demographic of young women that’s representative of what America is today,” Davuluri said. “I grew up watching Miss America on TV, really legitimately feeling like I could never be in this role because I didn’t fit that stereotype. I didn’t fit the stereotypical blond hair,
blue-eyed girl. I didn’t have a normal talent.” She explained that as the only Indian girl in her classes at school, she constantly found herself correcting stereotypes about her background. She became the first person to perform a Bollywood dance at the pageant, she said, noting that she chose to do so because the dance represented a huge part of her identity and culture. “I remember having tears in my eyes at the last bit of my performance because I felt like that was my crowning moment, for me to showcase who Nina was,” she said. Her diversity-centered
platform was a project she had been working on officially for seven years, she said, adding that she invested so much time in the Miss America organization because she believed that someone ethnic would soon win the competition. Davuluri said that while there was a lot of backlash on social media when she won, there was also a lot of support from the younger generation. “I can honestly say that for every one negative comment, tweet or post I received hundreds, if not thousands, of words of positive encouragement and support See LECTURE page 4
GRACE JEON :: SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Miss America 2014 Nina Davaluri spoke about culture and identity.
BEYOND THE BUBBLE
Q&A: Miss America 2014 Nina Davaluri talks gender, ideal lifestyle By Skriya Sekhsaria staff writer
Miss America 2014 Nina Davaluri spoke about her journey to the crown in a lecture entitled, “Celebrating Diversity Through Cultural Competency” on Tuesday. Following the lecture, The Daily Princetonian sat down with Davaluri to discuss gender stereotypes, the ideal lifestyle and her journey so far.
The Daily Princetonian: What would you say sets Nina Davaluri apart from everyone else? Nina Davaluri: I have to be honest, I haven’t been asked that question. And I can say what I hope sets me apart is that I really think that people really resonate with my story and my message. And that’s why I’m here today … to share that, be-
cause even today, there are so many people who connect and have very similar stories to mine. And to be able to share that and advocate for cultural competency and my stories of assimilation and growing up Asian American and second generation and what all of that means is really something that’s been incredible for me to spread. So I hope that people view me as a
symbol and an inspiration to embrace their culture and their heritage and be proud of it. DP: What according to you is the ideal lifestyle for a woman, especially in terms of eating habits and fitness regime? ND : There is no ideal lifestyle for anyone in terms of fitness and all of that because what I always told
the young girls, especially even on my own journey to health and fitness, is that people really have to learn to be balanced. Not only physically, but I mentioned mentally, emotionally and socially and spiritually. And there are going to be days where you’re going to, you know, where you want to have the cheesecake. And that’s okay … because See Q&A page 2