April 17, 2017

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Founded 1876 daily since 1892 online since 1998

Monday April 17, 2017 vol. cxli no. 44

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Writing Center sees sustained growth in appointments STUDENT LIFE

By Sam Oh staff writer

Freshmen often enter the University believing that they know how to write somewhat decently. As a result, it’s a big shock when their first paper is returned and it’s not the ‘A’ grade they’re accustomed to receiving. That’s often when freshmen frantically book an appointment at the Writing Center, part of the University Writing Program that was established in its current form in 2001 to help students learn the rigorous standards of academic writing that the University expects through freshman writing seminars and the Writing Center. Since its establishment, making an appointment – especially while enrolled in the mandatory freshmen-year writing seminars – has become a rite of passage and appointment numbers are growing each year, according to the Writing Center. But teaching students to write requires self-discovery, Writing Center fellows attest. They call it a “cooperative learning environment” with students, where the journey is about learning new ideas within a variety of disciplines, while simultaneously developing a solid thesis or well-written paper. The Center works to help writers grow in the long term, beyond the current assignment at hand, by providing budding writers with feedback and analysis. “I have learned a lot from my experience at the Writing Center,” said Katherine Tyler ’18, a head fellow at the Writing Center. “One of the best parts of working at the Writing Center is that students bring in material from all different classes

and disciplines – I have worked with first-year students in Writing Seminars and graduate students in science disciplines.” “Our main goals are to empower students to learn tactics that will help them grow as writers for the long term,” said Gen Creedon, associate director of the Writing Center. “Of course, we are also engaged in helping them in the short term on each particular assignment. We look at a wide range of papers across disciplines at any stage in the writing process, from inception through to final drafts. Our hope is to help make the writing process less of an isolated event.” Since 2001, the center has grown in terms of scheduled appointments and visits. According to Creedon, the Writing Center has jumped from 2,000 scheduled conferences at its beginning to 5,500 conferences today. These 5,500 appointments have been made by approximately 1,750 individuals. While the statistics do not contain specific data about the average individual who visits the Writing Center, the average student visited the center three times. In the past three years, however, the top 100 most frequent users have each attended between nine and 44 appointments each year, according to the Writing Center. “The Writing Center builds on drafting, so you’ll see many students come in two or three times per assignment,” Creedon said. “It really varies. If it is a semester-long project, students come in multiple times, but if it is a short essay, people often stop by once.” According to further statistics released by the Center,

GRAPHIC BY MARCIA BROWN:: DAILY PRINCETONIAN

The data shows that the vast majority of writing center users are freshmen

See WRITING page 3

STUDENT LIFE

STUDENT LIFE

USG proposes expansion USG issues report on Eating Clubs of Honor Committee transparency per referendum staff writer

The Undergraduate Student Government discussed two separate amendments for the Honor Committee Constitution and the USG Senate Constitution in their weekly meeting on April 16. Honor Committee Chair Carolyn Liziewski ‘18 presented a proposal to amend the Honor Committee Constitution by expanding the membership of the Committee from 12 to 15 students. Liziewski emphasized that this amendment was necessary to reduce the burden on Honor Committee members working on existing cases. “It has sort of become the norm now that students are working on two reports at a time, which when you add that to campus and academic commitments, is really an impossible task,” said Liziewski. The three additional members to the Committee would include two freshman representatives. Liziewski indicated that increasing first-year representation would help build institutional memory. “The earlier we can get a student on the committee at their time in Princ-

eton, the more they learn about the Committee, and the better equipped they are to become a leader of the Committee,” she explained. Liziewski added that the amendment would take into effect immediately, with one of the new candidates being appointed next weekend and the other two being appointed next fall. The Senate voted to approve the Honor Committee amendment. Class of 2019 Senator Andrew Ma ‘19 presented a separate amendment to the Senate Constitution. The amendment would raise the threshold for the confirmation of Honor Committee members to a supermajority from a simple majority of the Senate. Ma said that given the impact the Committee has on student life, the change is critical. “The Honor Code belongs to all of us, and it is important that we have a higher threshold for agreement to ensure that the members are very qualified and also in line with the student body’s opinion, which the USG represents,” said Ma. Additionally, the amendment would also have the voting session for prospecSee USG MEETING page 4

By Jason Fu staff writer

In a report issued to the student body on April 12, the Undergraduate Student Government Referendum Response Team made five recommendations intended to promote eating club transparency, inclusivity, and diversity. The Referendum Response Team consists of U-Councillor Olivia Grah ’19, Senator Andrew Ma ’19, Senator Eli Schechner ’18, and Public Relations Chair Maya Wesby ’18. Wesby is a former chief copy editor and senior news writer for The Daily Princetonian. The report was prepared in response to a referendum held in winter 2016, in which Leila Clark ’18 collected petition signatures to call for the collection and publication of demographic information including race, gender, and major from eating club members as well as those applying to selective Bicker clubs. The referendum was voted upon by the student body and passed with 68.9 percent of voters supporting and 31.1 percent of voters opposed. Since its creation, the referendum has met resistance from several eating club officers as well as the Interclub

Council, an organization comprised of the 11 eating club presidents which oversees eating club policies. President of the ICC and former Colonial Club president Christopher Yu ’17 previously said that the eating clubs historically had not collected demographics and did not intend to in the future. Among the report’s recommendations is the creation of a permanent Subcommittee for Eating Club Transparency and Inclusivity on the USG University Student Life Committee. According to the report, the subcommittee would be tasked with identifying and addressing opportunities for collaboration between the USG and the ICC in order to achieve its goals of increasing eating club transparency, inclusivity, and diversity. The recommendation stipulated that the subcommittee would consist of members of the ICC, the USG Senate, and the sophomore, junior, and senior class governments. Additionally, at least 10 percent of the subcommittee members would not be affiliated with any eating club. Ma said that the subcommittee would be creating initiatives similar to last year’s

In Opinion

Today on Campus

Columnist Bhaskar Roberts defends a white artist’s right to paint Emmett Till, and the Editorial Board recommends a series of improvements to the major declaration process and the A.B. departmental experience in general. PAGE 6

5-6 p.m.: Wilson College Signature Lecture Series presents “How to Sustain an Activist Life,” McCosh 50.

Taste of Prospect, an event hosted by the ICC that allowed freshmen to visit and familiarize themselves with the clubs. He emphasized that one of the primary goals of the subcommittee would be to increase students’ exposure to eating clubs prior to sophomore year. “I do think that part of the reason people voted in favor of this referendum is because they want more information for their decision-making process,” Ma said. Grah added that the subcommittee would also focus on strengthening the relationships between the eating clubs and diversity centers on campus. “The benefit of having USG now involved in the process is that the subcommittee would be focused on [that] and would have USG resources, because while the ICC is looking to make clubs welcoming to all people on campus, it also has so many other things under its purview. So here’s USG, able to provide a helping hand in pursuit of this goal,” Grah said. Another recommendation by the report states that the subcommittee will continue to pursue demographic See REFERENDUM page 7

WEATHER

By Jason Fu

HIGH

72˚

LOW

43˚

Partly Cloudy chance of rain:

10 percent


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