Thursday, April 10 2014

Thursday april 10, 2014 vol. cxxxviii no. 43

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Thursday april 10, 2014 vol. cxxxviii no. 43

Founded 1876 daily since 1892 online since 1998

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Announcement Welcome Prefrosh!

You can also visit us at 48 University Place to see the paper get put together.

Follow us on Twitter @princetonian

In Opinion Jason Choe shares his thoughts on how current students should make the most of the shortened Preview Weekend. PAGE 6

In Street

Margot Yale takes a look at some of the smallest departments on campus and Michael Beckman reviews BAC’s ‘House Party.’ PAGES S1-S4

Today on Campus 4:30 p.m.: Rashid Khalidi will speak on ‘The Invasion of Iraq and the Reordering of the Middle East.’ Robertson Hall.

The Archives

April 10, 1956 University administrators refuse to intervene in Whig-Clio’s scheduled speech by Alger Hiss.

Hiss had been accused of being a Soviet spy.

News & Notes New Jersey implements Distracted Driving Crackdown program

The state of New Jersey has implemented a Distracted Driving 2014 Statewide Crackdown program, ongoing until April 21. The initiative targets the use of cellphones while operating a motor vehicle.

Sixty police departments nationwide, including Princeton, have received $5,000 from the Division of Highway Traffic Safety to pay for increased patrols and checkpoints.

“The initiative includes high visibility law enforcement patrols for the purpose of attempting to increase traffic safety by targeting distracted driving, specifically the use of cell phones for talking and/or texting while operating a motor vehicle,” a press release from the Princeton Police Department read.

Texting or talking on a handheld device while driving in New Jersey is currently illegal. Handsfree cellphone use is legal, except for novice drivers and bus drivers. Motorists who violate this law can face a minimum $100 fine, and this number will increase on July 1 to a fine of $200 to $400 for a first offense and $800 for subsequent offenses.

STUDENT LIFE

PREFROSH LIFE

Despite large Class of Informal preview 2016, no room shortage hosting allowed

By Sheila Sisimit staff writer

With three rooms remaining in upperclassmen housing for the Class of 2016 one day before the official end of junior upperclassmen room draw, at least 103 students had yet to draw into a room. Most of these students will have to place into the housing draw wait list.

However, these numbers are not uncommon.

“Every year we typically have between 100-120 juniors on the wait list,” Manager of Undergraduate Housing Angela Hodgeman wrote in an email, obtained by The Daily Princetonian, to 309 juniors who had yet to draw into a

room as of 9 a.m. on Wednesday.

The Class of 2016 was unusually large, a consequence of a larger-than-expected yield, and caused issues for the University, which was forced to find new housing spaces. The third floor of Wilcox was converted into dorm rooms in the fall of 2012 to accommodate more students. Additional recreational and study rooms in Forbes and Whitman were converted into dorm rooms in order to make 51 more beds available.

However, the impact of the Class of 2016 on upperclassmen housing seems to have been minimal and numbers are consisted with years past. Last year, 99 students in the Class of

2015 were waitlisted for upperclass housing, according to an email Hodgeman sent to those students then.

“This is very normal for rooms to run out on the third day of junior draw. Every year we typically have between 100-120 juniors on the wait list,” Hodgeman added in her Wednesday morning email.

Hodgeman declined to be interviewed for this article. Mike Caddell, a University spokesman, was unavailable for comment on Wednesday evening.

But although the shortage of rooms may be a recurrent event every year, Undergraduate Housing’s response to it have drawn mixed reactions from See DRAW page 3

STUDENT LIFE

staff writer

A room in Forbes College was burglarized last Friday, according to the Department of Public Safety’s daily crime logs. Mike Caddell, University media specialist, said that the incident took place between 2:15 p.m. and 2:45 p.m. on Friday afternoon.

According to an email sent to the residents of Forbes by Zhan Okuda-Lim ’15, a residential college adviser, one of the residents of the room propped the door open when he went to take a shower.

“I propped the door open using the magnet in corner, so it still looked closed but it was actually open, and I noticed two African-American males chilling in the lounge next to my room,” one of the room residents said. “I didn’t really think that they were suspicious or anything at the time, but I didn’t recognize them.”

The student explained that he showered for around 20 to 30 minutes, and the men were gone by the time he got back.

“I noticed right away that the drawers were open, things were rearranged, they had had

contributor

The University will allow student-organized plans for informal overnight hosting to continue in order to supplement the shortened Princeton Preview for the Class of 2018, but it will not endorse these plans.

Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students Michael Olin said that while the University recognizes that the informal hosting program is well-intentioned, the formal hosting program was nevertheless cancelled for wellconsidered reasons. He said that the University, while not banning the informal hosting plans, is discouraging them.

The University modified this year’s Princeton Preview the

same day it released admissions decisions for the Class of 2018 to a one-day event in light of the recent death from meningitis of a Drexel University student who had contact with University students. A group of students reacted to the change by organizing an informal overnight hosting system through a Facebook group called “Informal Hosting for Prospective Princeton Students.”

Preview in the past years was planned as a two-night overnight program and took place on two separate occasions.

In response to the creation of the Facebook group, Olin said that he and Dean of Undergraduate Students Kathleen Deignan asked a See MENINGITIS page 5

{ Profile }

Investigation of burglary in Forbes College underway

By Lorenzo Quiogue

By Sarah Kim

Abel Prize winner Yakov Sinai: a lifetime of artful mathematics

gone through my stuff — it was clear that people broke in to my room,” he said.

The students whose room was burglarized, a one-room double, were granted anonymity because The Daily Princetonian does not report the names of victims of crimes.

The last burglary reported at a residential facility on campus happened on March 9, according to the crime logs.

A bottle of alcohol, laundry detergent, change, assorted trinkets and two watches were allegedly taken, according to the other resident, who was not present in the building at the time of the incident. However, the student noted that the burglars did not take their more valuable possessions.

“It’s kind of a funny way of theft because there were a lot more valuable things in the room that they could have taken, which could have gotten them a lot more,” the student who wasn’t in the room said.

“My roommate had his laptop, and we had other things like clothes and instruments that really could have fetched them a lot more money.”

See CRIME page 5

LECTURE

Obama advisor discusses White House science policy

Sinai advised over 50 Ph.D. students and will be teaching a math course at the University next fall.

By Elizabeth Paul

By Anna Windemuth

staff writer

The United States will suffer in the future if it does not invest in the basic research that is the foundation for applied technology, John Holdren, director of the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, said in a lecture Wednesday.

Holden explained that Obama has stood behind his pledge to restore science to the forefront of the administration’s attention, including investment in multi-disciplinary and high-risk research, support for science, technology, engineering and mathematics education reform and development of an advanced information technology ecosystem. However, Holdren said the

administration faces challenges in sustaining support for research and development amid budget cuts. These challenges are aggravated by the attacks of some legislators on basic research and climate and sustainability science funding proposals, he said.

In addition, Holdren said the administration should be more concerned with answering questions for the future, such as science education and basic research, rather than focusing on reacting to really pressing matters.

“What could we really achieve in terms of our policy of science and science relating to policy?” he said.

Holden noted that the See WHITE HOUSE page 3

PHOTO COURTESY OF INSTITUTE FOR INFORMATION TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS OF THE RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

staff writer

While mathematics professor Yakov Sinai is known worldwide for his paramount contributions in dynamical systems, mathematical physics and probability theory, his students and friends say that he is, most strikingly, a gentleman.

A few of Sinai’s major developments in math include Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy, Sinai’s billiards, Sinai’s random walk, Sinai-Ruelle-Bowen measures and Pirogov-Sinai theory.

Sinai was recently awarded the prestigious Abel Prize in mathematics by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters for the cumulative impact of his research, adding to a long list of

recognitions and accolades over the span of his 50-year career.

The committee recognized Sinai for his groundbreaking results in the field and for establishing profound bridges between mathematics and physics.

“First I was surprised, then I was very glad,” Sinai said of his reaction to the award, adding that his best student, Grigory Margulis, was the first to congratulate him at six in the morning.

Many of his former advisees, however, said they were anything but surprised.

“I was very happy that he was elected now and that justice has been done, because in my mind he definitely belongs to this category,” University of Toronto professor Konstantin Khanin said.

“I was extremely happy and

very proud that somebody whom I love, who was my supervisor, got this Abel Prize,” Tel Aviv University professor and Erdő s Prize winner Leonid Polterovich said.

“I was not very surprised because I always knew that he was on the top level.”

“I was waiting for this event already for some years,” Georgia Insitute of Technology professor Leonid Bunimovich said.

Sinai was also awarded $1 million in prize money from the Norwegian committee, which he plans on giving to his wife, Elena Vul. “She will be 80 this year so that will be my present for her 80th birthday,” Sinai said.

Sinai is the author of several books and over 250 research See MATH page 7

The Daily Princetonian

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Thursday april 10, 2014

PRINCETON FROM ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE { A LOOK AT THE LIFE OF JEFF NUNOKAWA }

Karen Ku, Shannon McGue and Joyce Lee

associate photography editors and contributing photographer

T

his is the first installation in a series that takes a closer look at the daily experiences of people in our Princeton community.

Here, we follow Jeff Nunokawa, the Master of Rockefeller College and a professor in the English department.

Jeff invited me to follow him to visit his house on a weekday morning. Finding his house, which is just across the street from campus, was not difficult. As soon as I saw the woodwork and the green shutters, I knew that this had to be the right building. If I tried, I could not have planned a better house for an English professor.

Bookshelves surrounded Jeff ’s desk. He told me to take pictures as I wanted, while he kept working.

Once, Jeff recounted, a photographer visited his house for three hours to take photos of him as he worked. I let him know that none of us planned on following him around for nearly that long.

At one point, he rose from his desk chair to take a few books down from the shelf behind him. He joked that he was setting up photos for me. He was similarly photogenic for Joyce, when she stopped by his house.

Frequently seen jogging around campus and at Dillon Gymnasium, Jeff was wearing a tank top and athletic shorts when I visited him. Karen later caught him walking back from the gym.

-Shannon McGue

The Daily Princetonian

Thursday april 10, 2014

Class of 2016 had housing crunch in 2012 DRAW

Continued from page 1

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members of the class of 2016.

Katie Glockner ’16, who drew with five other students, had planned on getting two triples, but the group noticed right before their draw time that there was only one triple available.

“It was not a smooth process,” Glockner said about deciding which rooms her group would draw into. She explained that after realizing there was only one triple left, she knew that four of the members in her group would end up in a quad, and she and the last member might have to turn to the wait list.

“We had a couple of contingency plans. We had to decide whether we would be waitlisted, and 10 minutes before draw time, we knew we had to make

a gamble because there was no way we would get what we wanted,” she said. “We thought that if we were on the wait list, there might be a chance that we would be together.”

“It could have been easier if we had more of an understanding of the process.”

Katie Glockner ’16

However, she ultimately drew into the last triple with another girl who was higher in the room draw but is studying abroad in the fall.

Glockner said the Undergraduate Housing Office could make the room draw process smoother by being clearer about how the wait list actually works as well as what to do in situations where students will be studying abroad.

“Trying to figure out what to do without knowing what would happen was just tough and confusing,” she said. “It could have been easier if we had more of an understanding of the process.”

Some members of the class of 2016 turned to other measures during draw time. Jay Park ’16 was the last student on the upperclassman draw list, but opted to draw into a room in Butler.

Park is a staff copy editor for The Daily Princetonian.

“I don’t think any changes to rooms would affect students too much,” Park said.

Holdren cites energy challenges WHITE HOUSE Continued from page 1

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president’s time and energy are incredibly strained given current issues facing his administration, from Middle Eastern relations to sustaining unemployment benefits.

“It is almost a miracle if he has time left to think energy, climate change and technology,” Holdren said.

The president, he said, is fascinated by science and engineering and wants to understand, for example, why scientists have not yet successfully achieved fusion energy and how it could impact the country.

“He’s quite an extraordinary man when it comes to his ability to absorb and synthesize information about science and technology,” he said.

However, Holdren noted the challenge of “staying in one’s lane.” He explained that although Obama is deeply in-

formed about issues related to science and technology and has embraced a high proportion of the recommendations issued by the OSTP, if the president were to ask Holdren a question about the increase in Department of Energy funding for nuclear weapons, he could provide technical facts surrounding nuclear weapons

“We end up cutting back on things that should be funded at a higher level.”

Josh Holdren

but would not be in a position to advise measures that could move toward a world without nuclear weapons.

Holdren also addressed the disconnect between Obama’s verbal

support for nuclear energy and tangible progress being made to realize this technology. He cited the difficulties of having to compete with inexpensive natural gas and figuring out how to properly dispose of nuclear waste.

“The Obama administration would like to see nuclear energy playing a larger role and would like to see the benefits of zerocarbon electricity generation,” Holdren said.

Moreover, Holdren explained that the prioritization of the climate action plan has pushed more basic research into the background.

“It’s painful, because we end up cutting back on things that should be funded at a higher level,” Holdren said.

Holdren spoke on Wednesday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. in Dodd Auditorium as part of the “Speaking Knowledge to Power” symposium. The lecture was hosted by the Wilson School and the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

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The Daily Princetonian

Thursday april 10, 2014

News & Notes Lawnparties lineup called “easily the worst lineup of all Ivies” Princeton’s Lawnparties lineup is “easily the worst lineup of all Ivies,” a Columbia Lion blog post said on Tuesday.

The post listed artists playing at the spring concerts of the other Ivy League colleges and universities, except for Dartmouth, which hasn’t announced its lineup yet.

GRiZ and Mayer Hawthorne will play at Lawnparties this semester.

The University of Pennsylvania’s Spring Fling will feature Magic Man, Ra Ra Riot and David Guetta. Chance the Rapper, Diplo, Lauryn Hill and others will play at Brown’s Spring Weekend and Chance the Rapper and Diplo will also be featured at Yale’s Spring Fling.

Janelle Monáe will headline Harvard’s Yardfest. Cornell’s Slope Day will feature Ludacris. Lupe Fiasco, the Chainsmokers and Flaxo will appear at Columbia’s Bacchanal. Dartmouth has not yet announced

their lineup for their Green Key Weekend.

“I’m really excited about [GRiZ and Mayer Hawthorne] because they’re both up-andcoming, and I think, in a year, they’re going to be really huge, and people are really going to be happy they saw them at Princeton first,” USG social chair Logan Roth ’15 said following the announcement of the lineup. “The best part, of course, is that they fit into our budget, that they’re available and that they’re down to come and play.”

ART THESIS EXHIBIT

BEN KOGER :: PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Kingston Xu ’16 looks at the Visual Arts Thesis Exhibition of Cara Michell ’14 at the Nassau Street Gallery.

The Daily Princetonian

Thursday april 10, 2014

page 5

Items not expected to be Class of 2018 to be vaccinated upon September arrival recovered, residents say MENINGITIS Continued from page 1

CRIME

Continued from page 1

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“They opened and went through my backpack, and I had a laptop in there and a charger, as well as some electronics, like a Kindle,” the other resident explained. “They also took my roommate’s watches, but they moved my watch, and to be frank, my watch is a better watch, so I was very surprised that they didn’t take it too.”

The student said that DPS officers came to the room shortly after the burglary but added that the DPS officers had not gotten back to them yet about the case. Caddell explained that the case was still open and is currently under investigation.

The residents added that they did not expect their belongings to be recovered, and

one of them explained that recovery is unlikely because the perpetrators are unknown and there are no cameras in Forbes, as far as he is aware.

“Honestly, I don’t think it’s going to happen. There’s no security footage or anything, and they were wearing common clothes,” the other resident said. “It really could have been anyone,” he added.

In the email, Okuda-Lim reminded everyone to keep their doors closed and locked, especially when no one is in the room. He also noted that the two men seemed to have been let in by a student and reminded the students not to let anyone in that they do not recognize.

The resident added that the incident was also reported to the Forbes College Office, which is also investigating the case. The Forbes College Office declined to comment.

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couple of directors of student life to reach out to and meet informally with the students who had organized the informal hosting program.

“They’re not sanctioning the plans necessarily, but they’re not trying to get us to cancel them either,” Lorena Grundy ’17, one of three administrators of the Facebook group who met with a director of student life, said.

Grundy explained that the director of student life had advised her that the hosts be extra careful in this unofficial arrangement and that visiting prospective students avoid high-risk behaviors.

“They were concerned about the meningitis issue, as we all

are,” Grundy explained. “We talked about how important it was for us to make sure that the prefrosh stayed safe, like not sharing water bottles. We did specifically talk about the Street and how important it was not to go there.”

She added that the University also wanted people to know that staying at a hotel was an available option.

“I know that the Admissions Office is offering to help students who need assistance to stay in a hotel or make room arrangements,” Olin said.

In an interview in late March, Dean of Admission Janet Rapelye said that admitted students would be put in hotels in Philadelphia or Newark if necessary.

Loren Reinoso ’16, who has signed up as one of the potential hosts, said that he under-

stood why the administration was skeptical, but said that he was happy and grateful that the plans were not stricken down.

Grundy recounted her posi-

“If I were in that position, I would want to take advantage of the unofficial housing.”

Richard Peay ’17

tive Preview experience in explaining why she started the plans. She also said that in putting the plans into action she

was not trying to circumvent the University’s decision to alter Preview.

“I think Princeton understands that they made the announcement at a very late time, at a time when most people had already booked flights for overnight stays,” Richard Peay ’17, another potential host, said. “If I were in that position, I would want to take advantage of the unofficial housing.”

Forty-three University students, including Peay and Reinoso, have currently expressed interest in being hosts, and 18 prospective students have signed up in search of hosts.

Preview is scheduled to take place on April 10 and 28.

The members of the incoming Class of 2018 will be vaccinated against meningitis B upon their arrival on campus.

Opinion

Thursday april 10, 2014 Barbara Zhan columnist

Colleges and the liability dilemma

F

or the past six months, a Yale junior has been threatened with suspension because of her weight. At 92 pounds and 5 feet 2 inches, Yale Health officials considered her unhealthily underweight, according to an op-ed she wrote for The Huffington Post titled “Yale University Thinks I Have an Eating Disorder. Despite her arguments that her weight had been stable for years and that she is small by genetics, Yale Health had been requiring weekly weighins and encouraging her to gain weight, she wrote. Although she said she began “stuffing herself with carbs and junk food daily to gain weight”, she only gained two pounds, which was not enough to satisfy Yale Health. Only after publishing the op-ed, writing a letter to the university president and finally getting a chance to meet with a different health professional at Yale, was she able to limit her weekly weigh-ins to once per semester. Afraid of the liability issues that would result from keeping a student with an eating disorder, Yale straightforwardly looked at her body mass index, determined it was lower than was considered normal and asked that she either gain weight or be placed on medical leave.

Similarly at Princeton, a student who attempted suicide in 2012 was banned from his classes and evicted from his dorm room, essentially forcing his withdrawal from the University, according to a recent lawsuit filed by the student against the University. The student was deemed unlikely to “pose an imminent risk of harm to himself or others” by the hospital that treated him but ultimately had to withdraw under administrative influence. In the suit’s complaint, he stated that forcing his withdrawal would produce emotional distress and make his condition worse, but “instead, Princeton sought to protect itself from adverse publicity or liability.”

These students’ stories are examples of the recent controversies concerning universities and their treatment of mental health. In trying to protect themselves from liability issues stemming from students with mental health problems harming themselves or others, universities often overlook the nuances of each specific case and end up making decisions that exacerbate the students’ problems. As soon as universities identify a certain degree of mental trouble through bright-line measures, they take steps to protect themselves and their reputations, rather than acting to help the student.

This is not to say that universities should treat serious mental health issues lightly. In some cases, students present demonstrated danger to themselves or others and should be asked to leave campus. In the Virginia Tech shooting, the student perpetrator had several counseling appointments before the incident indicating continuing problems. One counselor marked “troubled: further contact within two weeks” in the form that rated the severity of his condition, and the student indicated in a second phone conversation with counselors that his depression was persisting, but then refused to follow up. However, the Virginia Tech case shares little in common with the ones mentioned above. Several different medical professionals indicated that the Virginia Tech student was a potential danger to himself and those around him. The Yale student had only consulted with one professional who refused to consider her weight history, and the Princeton student consulted with a hospital that concluded that he was not a danger to himself nor anyone else.

Mental health, and consequently, university actions, can’t be dealt with in a binary manner. Each case has its own best course of action, whether that means suspension or monitoring. However, applying suspension as a blanket treatment to signs of mental stress, regardless of the circumstances or severity, is not the solution. In fact, it may hurt more than it helps. The Yale student said that she felt pressure from her school-appointed counselor to overeat and risk developing a binge eating disorder just to assure officials that she did not have a nonexistent one.

When the fear of liability goes too far, universities begin protecting themselves instead of helping the students.

Instead of using bright-line tests such as a BMI below a certain threshold or the instance of a suicidal action, universities should adopt a more holistic approach.

Perhaps universities can call upon the judgments of multiple professionals instead of just one and consider the judgments of outside professionals, as in the case of the Princeton student, especially when their judgments disagree. Mental health issues operate on a spectrum, and the best course of action should be chosen accordingly – on a case-by-case basis instead of a blanket suspension.

Barbara Zhan is an Operations Rsearch and Financial Engineering major from Plainsboro, N.J. She can be reached at barbaraz@princeton.edu.

page 6

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com }

Making the most of shortened preview Jason Choe columnist

W

ith the first Preview happening this Thursday and the second one in a few weeks, Preview is certainly hovering in the minds of students and faculty alike.

In particular, the administration’s decision to shorten the two Preview “weekends” into Preview “days” has resulted in the need to rearrange schedules and programs in order to accommodate as many events as possible within the greatly reduced span of time that prospective freshmen will be on campus. The pros and cons of the administration’s decision have already been covered fairly extensively, and it seems prudent, instead, to reflect on the ways that the previews can be successful regardless of the relatively late change that shortened Preview so much.

USG has already taken steps to make the preview days as indicative of Princeton spirit as possible, arranging such events as the PreP-Rade to cheer on the pre-frosh. In addition, the usual key events — namely This Side of Princeton, the activities fair and the keynote speech hosted in Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall — will still be taking place.

In fact, the main opportunities that visiting potential freshmen lose out on are chances to sit in on multiple classes over the course of several days, but even this shouldn’t be seen as a particular loss. For instance, through online resources such as Coursera and even YouTube, anyone — pre-frosh included — can

easily access recordings of video lectures, which provide a reasonable, if not perfect, sense of the academic teaching style of many Princeton lecturers. It is likely reasonable to say that such knowledge — the feel of a class rather than the class material itself — is, in truth, the main takeaway that pre-frosh get from visiting classes. I doubt that second semester high school seniors are likely to be particularly interested in learning about Lagrange multipliers or other concepts that they won’t need to study until they actually enroll in Princeton.

Another component that is lost by shortening Preview to only a single day is the chance for pre-frosh to get to know members of their fellow class better, but even this is rectified by the fact that much of the same introductory processes — Hi! I’m (insert name here), from (insert region of hometown), interested in studying (insert major) — are repeated all over again during orientation week that precedes the start of the fall semester.

In addition, it can be argued that having prospective freshmen only visit for one day limits their ability to comprehensively tour the campus, but three days really makes no difference either (I recall still getting lost on my way to the Dinky as I prepared to head back to Newark Airport and home) — anyone who claims otherwise must be rather well-endowed with orienteering capabilities. Besides, those who decide to matriculate will have plenty of time to get to know the layout of campus.

So what can’t a one day preview do that a three-day preview can? The

list is rather short and predominantly consists of offering pre-frosh the chance to experience “dorm life.” But just because they aren’t spending the night doesn’t mean that hosts can’t still give a tour of the dorm facilities.

As the saying goes, life is what you make of it, and just because Preview has been shortened doesn’t mean that we can’t work to make it as great as ever. The administration, in seeking to hold the same events as usual, and USG, in starting new, promising traditions, are both working toward a common goal of sustaining Preview’s highlights regardless of the length of the program. In fact, the people who might miss out the most are the hosts, who don’t get to spend as much time with those cuddly prefrosh (have you seen the picture on the back of the t-shirts given out to hosts?).

But that doesn’t mean that hosts are limited to interacting with their charges for only one day — they can easily exchange contact information and continue to guide their respective pre-frosh through the entirety of their college decisions processes.

Preview may indeed be shortened, but instead of being seen as a limitation on the program as a whole, it can be seen as a chance to provide an equally positive, albeit highly-condensed, Princeton experience for the visiting pre-frosh, and it is up to the students, hosts and non-hosts alike, to ensure that the visiting prospective members of the Class of 2018 get the most out of their visit.

Jason Choe is a freshman from Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. He can be reached at jasonjc@princeton.edu.

Undone

adam mastroianni ’14

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vol. cxxxviii

Marcelo Rochabrun ’15 editor-in-chief

Nicholas Hu ’15

business manager

BOARD OF TRUSTEES president Richard W. Thaler, Jr. ’73 vice presidents John G. Horan ’74 Thomas E. Weber ’89 secretary Kathleen Kiely ’77 treasurer Michael E. Seger ’71 Craig Bloom ’88 Gregory L. Diskant ’70 Richard P. Dzina, Jr. ’85 William R. Elfers ’71 Stephen Fuzesi ’00 Zachary A. Goldfarb ’05 John G. Horan ’74 Rick Klein ’98 James T. MacGregor ’66 Betsy J. Minkin ’77 Alexia Quadrani Jerry Raymond ’73 Annalyn Swan ’73 Douglas Widmann ’90

138TH BUSINESS BOARD business manager Nicholas Hu ’15 head of advertising Zoe Zhang ’16 director of national advertising Kevin Tang ’16 director of recruitment advertising Justine Mauro ’17 director of local advertising Mark Zhang ’17 director of online advertising Matteo Kruijssen ’16 head of operations Daniel Kim ’17 head of finance Charles Zhou ’16 comptroller Denise Chan ’17 accounts receivable manager Eugene Cho ’17

NIGHT STAFF 4.9.14 news Loranzo Quiogue ’17 Chitra Marti ’17 Senior Copy Editors: Elizabeth Dolan ’16 Sunny Zhang ’16 Natalie Gasparowicz ’16 Staff Copy Editors: Elizabeth Bradley ’17 Marlyse Vieira ’17 Caroline Congdon ’17 Lily Lesser ’17 Contributing Copy Editors: Jacob Donnelly ’17 Jennifer Shyue ’17 design Gerry Lerena ’16 Anne Lovett ’17 Sean Pan ’16 Debbie Yun ’16

Shruthi Deivasigamani

senior columnist

L

Last Sunday, news broke that a sophomore at Princeton was suing the University for disability discrimination after it allegedly made him withdraw from school following a suicide attempt. The decision to essentially kick the student out of the school came after the student apparently took 20 pills of Trazodone, an antianxiety medication, before checking himself into the hospital.

Princeton has historically had a convoluted relationship with mental health. Last year marked the first Mental Health Week on campus, where various events about stress, depression and therapy — among other things — attempted to open up a dialogue on campus about this often taboo topic. Despite this, Princeton — along with some other Ivy League schools, including Brown and Yale — has faced criticism for having a harsh policy regarding suicide and depression.

Essentially, if the mental health of a student approaches suicidal ideation, the student may be forced to withdraw.

In a case such as this one, the rationale behind kicking a student out for mental health issues can take one of two forms: to protect the school’s name or because it’s — according to the University — in the student’s best interest. For the sake of argument, let’s assume that the school is doing this to save the student rather than its own reputation.

I’ve met quite a few people at Princeton thus far that, at one point in their academic careers,

Taking time off decided to voluntarily take time off. Usually it’s for a year, but sometimes it’s for a semester. The cited reasons span across the spectrum: health issues, financial burden, overwhelming stress, to work, to qualify for the Olympics. Taking time off of school once you’ve already begun is a big decision, but if it’s voluntary, it’s usually not too big of a deal. The student has weighed the pros and cons extensively and is making a decision that they feel is going to be best for them in the long run. As adults — young adults, but adults, nonetheless — we reserve the right to determine what is and what isn’t in our own best interest.

If, however, students are being forced to leave, they are being thrust into a decision without fully accepting all the nuances that come with it. For instance, they won’t be able to graduate on time with their peers. Any post-secondary education plans are further pushed back. They lose an entire semester’s worth of classes and work.

Having to deal with this situation is in and of itself enough to spiral someone into a crippling depression.

Add, however, to this equation the fact that the reason the student is being kicked out in the first place is because of the crippling depression.

Surely that will only exacerbate the problem and in the end be worse for the student. It’s easy to say that depression at college is spurred by any number of things we experience here at college: academic pressure, social pressure, homesickness, isolation, feelings of inadequacy. It’s easy to say that removing people from an environment particularly toxic to them should help them get

better. If a student agrees, then by all means they should take a voluntary leave of absence.

However, not all students see time off as a light at the end of the tunnel. The reason that this isn’t always the case is because the support system people build in college is usually comprised of their friends, classmates and roommates.

Removing them from such an support system might be singlehandedly snipping away the one source of comfort they did have while they were struggling with their problems and would further exacerbate any feelings of isolation or helplessness, both very prominent symptoms of suicidality and depression.

Universities, when dealing with cases of suicidal or depressed students, should adopt a more student-centric policy. Efforts should be made to show students all the benefits of taking time off, but they should never feel as though they are being forced into it. If a student doesn’t want to leave, measures should be taken to accommodate them the same way measures are taken to accommodate a physical illness such as a sensory or physical handicap. Students should be allowed a lighter workload or be mandated therapy.

Princeton has made some important strides in mental health over the past few years, but this case in particular sheds light on a darker practice that needs some looking over. Students should be allowed to make decisions for themselves because sometimes, the alma mater just doesn’t know best.

Shruthi Deivasigamani is a sophomore from Cresskill, N.J. She can be reached at shruthid@princeton.edu.

The Daily Princetonian

Thursday april 10, 2014

page 7

Sinai taught in Soviet Union, advised students before winning Abel Prize MATH

Continued from page 1

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papers, some of which he published with his wife, whom he met at Moscow State University and who is also a mathematician.

A family of academics Sinai’s academic legacy reaches as far back as his grandfather, who was the head of the Department of Differential Geometry at Moscow State University, the institution from which Sinai obtained his undergraduate, master’s and doctorate degrees and eventually became a professor in 1971. He was named a senior researcher that same year at the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics near Moscow.

Sinai’s parents were both microbiologists, and his stepbrother was a very successful mathematician, strongly influencing Sinai’s academic path.

“My father wanted me to be an engineer,” Sinai explained of his early career prospects. “He thought that engineering was easier to apply to a job.”

Instead, Sinai pursued dynamical systems and was advised by Andrey Kolmogorov, a famous mathematician and Wolf Prize winner. The two developed the Kolmogorov entropy theory together while Sinai was a graduate student.

Sinai joined one of Kolmogorov’s seminars as an undergraduate and was later invited to become one of his advisees. Undergraduate students who showed academic promise were automatically inaugurated into the graduate program, Sinai explained.

“I could not solve the problems which he gave to me and he was very unhappy with me, but then later the situation changed,” Sinai said of his advising experiences with Kolmogorov.

Teaching in the Soviet Union Like all professors at Moscow State University, Sinai did not have a personal office, but shared a small room with about 10 other mathematicians, according to Polterovich. Polterovich, who would

meet in Sinai’s office with Sinai and the rest of his advisees, noted that topics discussed by Sinai ranged from mathematical physics to geometry.

“Students got the opportunity to learn about each others’ projects, which was pretty important because Sinai was a very broad scientist,” Polterovich said.

Khanin said that although it was harder to gain access to papers and research materials, the Moscow mathematics community always had a large number of visitors and was not isolated in the field. Sinai also travelled to Western countries during his professorship at Moscow State.

Technische Universität München professor Herbert Spohn said he met Sinai during a 1975 conference on statistical physics at which Sinai spoke.

Spohn, a German mathematician and mathematical physicist working with topics including kinetic equations and disordered systems, noted that Sinai was already very famous in the field and added that such conferences were truly exciting scientific exchanges, enabling a key form of communication among scientists that was not facilitated at the time.

However, when Sinai was awarded the Boltzmann Medal in 1986 for his work in statistical physics, he was not allowed to go abroad to accept the prize because international travel was heavily restricted during the Communist regime, according to Bunimovich.

Despite ideological exchanges, the top mathematical institutions in Moscow in the late 1970s and ’80s had virtually no Jewish professionals due to the communist regime’s anti-Semitic policies, which prevented the acceptance of new Jewish professors, Polterovich explained. Therefore, many of Sinai’s seminar participants could not work in academia, but pursued engineering or researching.

“Sinai’s seminar served for us as a door into the scientific world,” Polterovich said. He also noted that although it was common for bosses at that time to be “rude, harsh and oppressive” towards

subordinates, Sinai was uniquely friendly.

Challenging Seminars and Lectures Sinai ran two influential seminars on dynamical systems and on statistical mechanics, Polterovich said. He added that Sinai often invited speakers and discussed problems for weekly two-hour sessions that often went overtime, and would spur discussion by asking the speaker questions.

“Participants learned actually from these questions often more than from the talk itself, but somehow Sinai did this in a very friendly and polite manner,” Polterovich explained.

The seminars always featured lively discussions among many

“I was not very surprised because I always knew that he was on the top level.”

Leonid Polterovich erdös prize recipient

bright people, Bunimovich recalled. Bunimovich, who later garnered acclaim for his work in dynamical systems, said that at the very beginning he was embarrassed and couldn’t understand a thing.

“A lot of problems were solved right there,” he explained. “It was the place where the most interesting parts of our lives happened.”

Sinai’s seminars had a uniquely pleasant atmosphere, Polterovich recalled, and Sinai’s charisma was a driving force towards this quality.

“He was a handsome man in an excellent physical shape, so he was doing some sports, had impeccable manners and highly developed social skills. These features were combined with a kind, friendly and human approach to people,” Polterovich said.

University of California at Irvine professor Svetlana Jitomirskaya said she recalls taking a probability and statistics class with Sinai, where all examinations were conducted orally. Jitomirskaya said she often opted to take her exams early, as she would be questioned by Sinai instead of a random examiner and knew she could study his favorite material to prepare.

During one of these exam sessions with Sinai, Jitomirskaya answered all of his questions on probability without difficulty.

As he was about to inscribe “excellent” in her grade book, however, he remembered to ask her a basic question about statistics, since the class involved both topics. Jitomirskaya said she had not studied the material because she had previously noticed Sinai’s much stronger enthusiasm for probability.

“At that moment, perhaps of all the stress of almost succeeding, I somehow completely blanked, with the only thought rushing through my mind being ‘Here goes my A,’ ” she recalled.

Sinai lifted his pen again and wrote “excellent.”

“I am sure you will learn it very fast when you need it,” he said.

Jitomirskaya explained that this episode definitely played a role in her motivation to become Sinai’s student, as he showed her respect long before she deserved it.

Advising Sinai advised over 50 Ph.D. students over the course of his career and was known for introducing them to insightful challenges.

“I spent half of my life working with each of my students because we were working on problems which were interesting for both of us,” Sinai explained.

Sinai was always surrounded by students, according to Khanin, who said that Sinai was not only well established at an early age but also had the charisma to attract students. Khanin explained that Sinai would provide enough guidance to ignite enthusiasm in his students, but also gave them the freedom to form their own origi-

nal ideas.

“He naturally had this ability to inspire young people and to get them into research,” Khanin said.

“He was caring but he was not over-caring.”

Polterovich said that Sinai was a very gifted supervisor, approaching students of varying levels with patience and flexibility.

“Some [students] were probably with less potential at the beginning but somehow he had the key to develop a person,” Polterovich said. He also said that Sinai only co-authored a paper with a student if he had written the majority of it.

“Sinai took care of students in various stages of their lives, which included, for instance, finding help with finding jobs,” Polterovich added, noting that finding jobs was a particularly difficult feat in Russia.

Jitomirskaya was one of Sinai’s advisees at Moscow University a few years before he moved to Princeton in 1993 and said that he advised an incredible number of students.

“Still, he managed to give quite a bit of attention to everyone and he managed to put his students on totally different roads,” Jitomirskaya explained.

Jitomirskaya also said that Sinai was an engaging professor and that he was always very polite to his students.

“He is a real gentleman. He always showed respect to his students even when they did not deserve it,” she said.

Although Sinai’s projects were very challenging, Jitomirskaya said, her initial struggles helped prepare her for the field’s inevitable obstacles and improved her resilience.

Sinai at Princeton Sinai transitioned to teach mathematics at the University in 1993 following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Sinai will be teaching MAT 385: Probability Theory next fall.

Sinai said that he visited several times before committing to a teaching position and that the University offered considerably

better academic resources than other prospects.

“I had many friends here and the scientific climate here was very good,” Sinai said.

Alex Kontorovich ’02, an assistant professor of mathematics at Yale, who took Sinai’s probability class and later wrote both his spring junior paper and his senior thesis under Sinai’s guidance, said Sinai was a caring adviser with striking humility.

“If there’s something that you don’t understand then it’s my fault, not your fault,” Kontorovich recalls Sinai saying during his lectures. Kontorovich also said he wanted to work with Sinai because Sinai was a fantastic lecturer who made everything exciting and interesting.

Sinai remains a senior researcher at the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics and won a number of prizes during his time at the University, including the Wolf Prize in Mathematics, the Nemmers Prize and the Leroy P. Steele Prize for Lifetime Achievement. Sinai also holds several honorary degrees and became a Moore Distinguished Scholar at the California Institute of Technology in 2005.

Sinai is a remarkable example of scientific longevity, Posterovich said, as he maintains a youthful curiosity, great technical skills and continues to produce superb mathematics.

According to the famous theoretical physicist and mathematician Freeman Dyson, there are two kinds of mathematicians: frogs and birds. While frogs reside in the mud and enjoy scoping out details, birds spend their time in the air, unifying different concepts under a mathematical umbrella.

Bunimovich said Sinai is clearly a bird.

“He opens up so many new directions,” Bunimovich explained.

“A new, interesting approach in mathematics is as important as fresh air.”

When asked about his advice to young students striving to make a difference in the world, Sinai’s answer was simple: “Always do what you like.”

Sports

Thursday April 10, 2014

page 8

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com }

Princeton Athletics TROUBLE IN THE REALM? 150

120

Current Ivy League All-Sports Championship Standings

133.5 115 91.5

73.5

Princeton is at serious risk of losing the unofficial Ivy League all-sports championship for the first time in 28 years.

Princeton has a streak of 42 years with at least one team or individual national championship. The last year with Gary Walters ’67 as athletic director has not yielded any so far.

Note: Standings are through the winter season. Schools are awarded points based on the placement of their teams in the final Ivy League standings or at championship competitions.

First place gets eight points, second gets seven, and so on, all the way down to a single point for eighth place.

Princeton’s

42-Year

National Championship Streak YEAR-BY-YEAR BREAKDOWN

Fencing

Individual

Field Hockey Lacrosse Rowing

Individual

Squash

Individual

Swimming

Individual

Track

Individual

Note: For track and swimming, a relay is considered an individual championship. For rowing, a single boat winning is considered an individual championship.

Championships Year

1

2

3

4

YALE

DARTMOUTH

0

CORNELL

30

COLUMBIA

BROWN

60

PRINCETON

65

PENN

64

84.5

80

HARVARD

POINTS

90

Championships

5

Year

1

2

3

4

Championships

5

Year

1972

1986

2000

1973

1987

2001

1974

1988

2002

1975

1989

2003

1976

1990

2004

1977

1991

2005

1978

1992

2006

1979

1993

2007

1980

1994

2008

1981

1995

2009

1982

1996

2010

1983

1997

2011

1984

1998

2012

1985

1999

2013

1

2

3

4

5

EDDIE OWENS AND HANNAH MILLER :: ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR AND SENIOR DESIGNER

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