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Friday September 15, 2017 vol. CXLI no. 66
{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } U . A F FA I R S
U. to begin reviewing transfer student applications this fall By Shriya Sekhasaria News Editor Emerita
The University will make its transfer application available early in the fall of this year, according to its undergraduate admissions website. Transfer students will be admitted to the University for the first time in 28 years starting in fall 2018. The transfer program looks to enroll a “small group of exceptionally well-prepared transfer students from a range of backgrounds.” Applications from U.S. military veterans and students from low-income backgrounds and community colleges are particularly encouraged to apply. The University decided not to admit transfer students in 1990 as a result of a high general admission retention rate of 98 percent and an increasingly large volume of applications that strained admissions officers to evaluate several applicants for 20 or fewer spots, according to an editorial published by the ‘Prince’ calling for the admission of transfer students in 2013. The decision to now admit transfer students is an attempt at attracting “students with diverse backgrounds and experiences, such as military veterans and students from low-income back-
LUKE GAMBLE :: THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN
Morrison Hall, home to Princeton’s Office of Admission, will resume review of transfer student applications this fall following a 28-year hiatus on student transfers.
grounds, including some who began their studies at community colleges,” according to the University’s strategic planning framework. The framework, adopted early last year, called for the start of planning a transfer admissions program with the goal of “meeting Princeton’s responsibilities for leadership in research and education.” The transfer admission program expects applicants to
STUDENT LIFE
be prepared to “thrive in our diverse and rigorous learning environment,” according to the admissions website. It will include an individualized holistic review of applicants’ talents, achievements, and potential to contribute to learning at the University. The student’s academic standing at the time of entry will be determined by University faculty and college deans after an evaluation of
transfer credit. Most transfer students will be expected to begin their sophomore year at the University. However, in some cases, they may be required to enter as first-years or permitted to enter as juniors. Transfer students will be able to enroll only in the fall term, according to the University’s admissions website. This is similar to the policy for first-year students at the
BEYOND THE BUBBLE
U . A F FA I R S
University. The University was the only one of the eight Ivy League universities to not admit transfer students. Harvard typically enrolls 12 transfer students each from its average pool of more than 1,600 applications. Yale receives more than 1,000 transfer applications for between 20 and 30 spaces, yielding a transfer acceptance rate of two to three percent. Dartmouth typically admits between 15 and 25 transfer students from a pool of over 700. Brown admits between 100 and 200 from a pool of almost 1900. Penn and Columbia each admit less than 10 percent of their transfer applicants. Cornell admits about 550 transfers each fall and 100 in the spring. The University’s strategic planning process began in January 2014. The resulting framework will be reviewed annually by trustees and administrators to evaluate progress towards its goals, including the transfer admission program. Other announcements in the framework included planning for 125 more undergraduates per class, construction of a seventh residential college, growth of the University’s international programs, and building an interdisciplinary program and new facilities in environmental studies.
Citizen Scientists attend Iran denies UN treaty negotiations Wang’s Senior Writer
Members of Princeton Citizen Scientists attended the second and final round of negotiations at the United Nations General Assembly over an international treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons. The negotiations concluded with a vote and final text on July 7. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which passed with a vote of 122 to 1, with one abstention, “prohibits a full range of nuclear-weaponrelated activities,” according to the UN News Centre. Specifically, the treaty prohibits the production, stockpiling, and use of nuclear weapons and other nuclear explosive devices. According to the UN News Centre, the treaty will be signed on Sep. 20, 2017, and will go into effect “90 days after it has been ratified by at least 50 countries.” Notably, many countries that currently possess nuclear weapons did not participate in the talks. The United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, and North Korea did not join the talks, and all have signaled their intent not to sign the treaty. In particular, the U.S., U.K., and France cite nuclear weapons as being “essential to keeping the peace in Europe and North Asia for
over 70 years.” Sebastien Philippe GS, president of the Princeton Citizen Scientists, said that the treaty addresses issues such as nuclear security and human rights that the group has been concerned with since it was founded in November 2016. “There is a strong group within Princeton Citizen Scientists that works at the intersection of science and international security and centers around the issue of nuclear security,” Philippe said. “Some of us were really involved in this for research and wanted to contribute to the debate and try to write proposals, working papers, and so on.” He hopes negotiations will result in a ban on weapons that can have “humanitarian impacts of massive proportions” by holding nuclear weapons to the same legal standard as other instruments of mass destruction that have already been outlawed. Although no nuclear-armed nation can be counted among the over 120 states participating in the negotiations, Princeton Citizen Scientists stated in a press release that a treaty would affect these nations’ behavior “through normative pressure.” “If these countries choose their nuclear weapSee SCIENTISTS page 2
appeal of conviction By Marcia Brown Head News Editor
The appeal of U.S. citizen Xiyue Wang GS of a conviction and 10-year prison sentence for espionage was denied by Iranian authorities yesterday. In a University press release, it was emphasized that Wang “was not involved in any political activities or connected to any government agencies; he was simply a scholar conducting historical research.” A fourth-year graduate student, Wang has been detained in Iran since summer 2016. Now 37, Wang was in Iran as a doctoral candidate in the history department under Professor Stephen Kotkin, “studying Eurasian languages and regional governance practices across multiple Eurasian countries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.” According to the University, Wang was also in Iran to study Farsi. This development in Wang’s status comes as tensions between the U.S. and Iran remain anything but cordial. While the Trump administration agreed in July to re-certify that Iran is complying See IRAN page 5
PHOTO COURTESY OF ELLE STARKMAN/PPPL OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS
The Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory was honored this summer for its success in diverting waste from landfills and increasing recycling.
PPPL receives EPA award in waste management By Jacob Tyles Staff Writer
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory with the Federal Green Challenge Region 2 Award in Waste Management on July 12. The laboratory was able to divert 3,766 tons of waste from landfills, increase its recycling rate by 13 percent, and save about a quarter million dollars in taxpayer money over the last fiscal year. PPPL is a Department of Energyfunded National Laboratory, one of eight run by the Office of Science.
In Opinion
Today on Campus
Columnist Hayley Siegel calls out liberal hypocrisy on religious freedom and guest contributor Jonathan Lu stresses the need for student advocacy. PAGES 6-7
12-3 p.m.: Learn about student organizations at the activities fair. Dillon Gymnasium
The award is part of the EPA’s larger Sustainable Materials Management program, which challenges federal facilities throughout the country, like PPPL, to demonstrate environmental stewardship by annually reducing waste, purchasing environmentally safer products, and reducing overall carbon footprint. The EPA also participates in this program, offering a “lead by example” attitude in environmental care. This is reassuring to environmentalists, especially in the midst of the current administration’s proSee PPPL page 3
WEATHER
By Allie Spensley
HIGH
LOW
82
64˚
Cloudy chance of rain:
15 percent