April 4, 2017

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Founded 1876 daily since 1892 online since 1998

Tuesday April 4, 2017 vol. cxli no. 35

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } BEYOND THE BUBBLE

Judges, U. prof. discuss courts under Trump associate news editor and Science Contributor

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Judge David Tatel, former Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court Deborah Poritz, and Fordham University Professor of Law Jed Shugerman discussed the issues behind the nomination and confirmation of federal and state judges and proposed solutions to break the partisan logjams in the appointment process. The conversation was moderated by Leslie Gerwin, the University’s Associate Director of the Program in Law and Public Affairs. Tatel began by discussing the increased partisanship involved in the process of nominating and confirming judges to the U.S. Supreme Court. He showed the audience a graph, which plotted the average number of “no” votes cast for each judge nominated to the Supreme Court during three periods of American history. From 1789 to 1967, the average number of “no” votes per judge was four, and Tatel noted that most judges were confirmed unanimously. This trend changed after 1968, when President Lyndon Johnson nominated Associate Justice Abe Fortas to be the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The U.S. Senate rejected Fortas’ nomination, since he had

personally advised President Johnson. In addition, Tatel said that 1968 was a pivotal year, as the height of President Richard Nixon’s “Southern Strategy” during the 1968 presidential election. These events help explain why there were four times as many “no” votes on Supreme Court nominations from 1967 to 2006. The final time period, 2006 to today, featured twice as many “no” votes as the period from 1967 to 2006. Tatel pointed out that the last three justices to be nominated and confirmed to the Supreme Court, Associate Justices Samuel Alito ‘72, Sonia Sotomayor ‘76, and Elena Kagan ‘81, were all confirmed on partisan lines. “Why do nominations go from nonpartisan to partisan?” Tatel said. “The reason, I think, is that the country no longer sees our courts as institutions that decide cases based on the law. Decisions are unaffected by the parties’ or judges’ ideology or affiliation. Courts are seen as places where judges use their ideology to get a result you can’t get in the political realm.” Tatel then spoke about his court, the D.C. Circuit, and explained that the selection of judges to this court mirrors that of the nomination process for the U.S. Supreme Court, but that there is no senatorial courtesy. He displayed a See JUDGES page 3

BEYOND THE BUBBLE

COURTESY OF PNN

Heads of the PNN Outreach Committee welcomed fourth-graders to campus on Friday.

Neuroscience Network brings young students to U. By Nouran Ibrahim science contributor

On Friday, March 31, elementary school students without any previous exposure to the field of neuroscience were guided in constructing a network of neurons using pipe cleaners. The exercise was part of an effort by University students to expose students at the Christina Seix Academy to a field often excluded to more privileged environments. The Princeton Neuroscience Network, a student-led group that fosters greater awareness and appreciation for neuroscience, held its first major outreach event on March 31. The fourth-grade students from Christina Seix Academy, a school founded to provide education to children from

COURTESY OF SHARED VALUES INITIATIVE

Michael Porter ’69 criticized environmental deregulation.

Porter ’69 advocated for environmental regulations Since the beginning of his presidential campaign, President Donald Trump made his strong anti-regulatory stance known. In his first months in office, Trump has scaled back rules in all industries, from financial to energy to firearms. Yet, the economic hypothesis of Michael Porter ’69 is challenging Trump’s actions, especially those re-

In Opinion

See PNN page 3

Karanth discusses conservation science contributor

staff writer

year, when they started the Outreach Committee of Princeton Neuroscience Network after meeting one of PNN’s cofounders, Seong Jang ‘18. “We had this vision freshman year to expose younger students to neuroscience since neuroscience had never been introduced to us as children,” Azoba noted. Since its creation two years ago, PNN has been engaging with University students through study breaks, movie screenings with professors, and research symposiums. According to Jang, however, the group felt that it was time for PNN to engage with a wider community. “We want PNN to grow from all branches,” explained Jang, referring to PNN’s events, re-

ON CAMPUS

By Jackson Artis

By Norman Xiong

low-income, single-parent households, were brought to the Princeton Neuroscience Institute to engage in a series of activities about science and the brain during the University’s first Neuroscience Fair. Heads of the PNN Outreach Committee Chi-Chi Azoba ‘18 and Selam Zenebe-Gete ‘18 explained that it was important to them as STEM students to spread awareness of neuroscience and to share the University’s many resources. “As women of color, getting students to come here and see us perform as student leaders has been empowering” Azoba explained. Azoba and Zenebe-Gete, both juniors concentrating in Molecular Biology at the University, have been planning this event since their freshman

lated to environmental regulations. The Porter Hypothesis was published in a 1995 paper in the Journal of Economic Perspectives, according to the Harvard Business School. The hypothesis posits that tighter environmental regulations actually benefit industries by creating competition and incentivizing innovation, two effects that are well-evidenced by reguSee PORTER page 2

Princeton University Vice President and Secretary Durkee responds to the Princeton Private Prison Divest coalition, Guest Contributor Alis Yoo asks us not to jump to conclusions in the Rockville case, and Contributing Columnist Jessica Nyquist looks back on grade deflation.. PAGE 4

Often, one of the biggest challenges conservationists face is the conflict between local communities and the surrounding wildlife — especially in a country with a billion people. Conservation biologist Krithi Karanth, explaining her work at a lecture Monday, has devoted her life to addressing this problem in India. “I got a first-hand view of how amazing it is to watch animals and be outside in nature,” Karanth said. She explained that her childhood experiences with wildlife and wildlife reserves inspired her work today. “I had a very unusual childhood,” Karanth said. “My dad was a wildlife biologist and he started taking me to the jungle when I was a year old.” Karanth explained how she would spend hours with her father watching wildlife from his Jeep while studying. Karanth also said that she learned patience and witnessed the uglier sides of conservation. For example, Karanth explained how an angry group of local people destroyed a research facility in response to a poacher’s arrest. This confrontation, she said, is an example of how conservation affects local communities. Initially, the confrontation actually deterred Karanth from conservation work. Luckily, Karanth said, she eventually returned to the cause. Now, her work is devoted to providing safe habitats for animals. After doing research, Karanth saw shockingly uneven facts. First, in

locations such as Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, and India, less than 3 to 5 percent of land is set aside for animal life. “Our battle to save nature is on the front lines in places like this,” she said. Karanth talked about how her colleagues working in the Amazon and in the African continent have the luxury of fighting for 10 to 15 thousand square kilometers of land for the animals. Karanth was fighting for merely hundreds of square kilometers in the areas in which she worked, mainly in India. “What’s interesting is those areas we do have [in India] are very fragmented, very distant, and still are holding 70 percent of the world’s tigers, 50 percent of the world’s elephants, and a whole lot of other species,” she noted . Karanth’s work often deals with conflict between humans and wildlife. Specifically, Karanth said her main opponent to animal conservation is frequently to the desire communities have to retaliate against animals destroying their crops and housing and even occasionally injuring and killing humans. According to Karanth, there are 81,100 incidents of animals harming humans or otherwise interfering with humans’ lives reported in India. Karanth said that this number accounts for only 30 percent of the actual number of incidents in India. What’s more, only 5.3 million dollars are allocated for compensating those individuals who fall victim to these incidents, she said. Karanth cited the overwhelming amount of bureaucracy and paper-

Today on Campus 6 p.m.: Spiritually Fly: Accept Your Body, Embrace Your Flow, Free Your Spirit. Faith Hunter, yoga teacher and lifestylist will lead a talk and gentle yoga workshop. Carl A. Fields Center.

work as the main cause of a reluctance to report incidents and thus a desire on the part of communities to take matters into their own hands. As a result, Karanth has set in place a variety of measures to calm the people down and lessen their hurt and anger. Karanth combats this issue mainly through a program of her creation called Wild Seve. On behalf of affected communities, the program will respond to incident reports and file the necessary paperwork for compensation in an effort to increase report percentages and decrease the number of personal retaliations. When asked about the efficacy of this program, Karanth explained that all anecdotal evidence has pointed to the organization’s success. People reporting incidents now frequently refuse to make any decisions without having consulted Wild Seve first, she said. Karanth also mentioned a program in which she helps relocate willing families in an effort to establish wildlife reserves. The program has helped over 1,500 families resettle and acclimate to a new community, she said. She emphasizes, however, that conservation efforts should not negatively impact humans for the sake of animals, but instead make the situation advantageous for both parties. “Going forward, the challenge is fostering tolerance and sustaining wildlife,” she said. Karanth’s lecture, titled “Conserving Wildlife Amidst a Billion People: Challenges and Solutions,” took place at 4:30 p.m. in 10 Guyot Hall as part of the EEB 522 seminar series.

WEATHER

By Abhiram Karuppur and Ariel Chen

U . A F FA I R S

HIGH

71˚

LOW

49˚

Thunderstorm chance of rain:

80 percent


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