September 13, 2018

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Thursday September 13, 2018 vol. CXLII no. 65

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ON CAMPUS

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The Office’s Ellie Kemper ’02 to give Class Day speech

By Ivy Truong and Claire Thornton Associate News Editor and News Editor

COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS

As an undergraduate, Ellie Kemper ’02 was an active writer and actor with the Triangle Club and played field hockey for the University’s 1998 National Championship-winning team. BEYOND THE BUBBLE

Actress Ellie Kemper ’02 has been selected as the keynote speaker for the University’s Class Day ceremony on Monday, June 3, 2019, according to a University statement. Every year, a committee of graduating seniors selects the keynote speaker. Kemper was a cast member on “The Office” and currently stars on the Emmy-nominated Netf lix show “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.” She has received two nominations for the Primetime Emmy Awards for that leading role. She also had leading roles in films, such as “Bridesmaids” and “21 Jump Street,” and has guest-hosted “The Ellen Degeneres Show” and co-hosted “Today” on NBC. She is also a writer and will publish a collection of personal essays in October.

“For many of us in the Class of 2019, Ellie Kemper has been a part of our lives since childhood, when we would gather with family and friends on Thursday nights to watch ‘The Office,’” Class Day co-chair Jordan Salama said in the statement. “Today, she continues to command a strong and funny presence in Hollywood with her unique voice, and we could not be more pleased to welcome her as a testament to Princeton’s everlasting commitment to the arts.” Kemper is a former member of Quipfire!, an improv comedy group at the University. Jonah Herzog-Arbeitman ’19 has been a member of the group since his first semester at the University, and told the ‘Prince’ Wednesday that Quipfire! members have expressed support for bringing Kemper to campus for big events. See KEMPER page 5

U . A F FA I R S

Lawmakers, U. professors look ahead to a Supreme Court with Kavanaugh Contributor

On Wednesday, June 27, 2018, Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement from the Supreme Court, effective July 31, 2018. On Monday, July 9, President Donald Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh to take Kennedy’s place. On the same day, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker released a statement announcing his opposition to Kavanaugh’s nomination. Booker said he was concerned about Kavanaugh’s views regarding Roe v. Wade, the Affordable Care Act, and the rights of workers to organize for better wages and working conditions. Because of this, Booker urged young people to oppose Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Court. In a July 20 statement to The Daily Princetonian, Booker wrote, “This is not a partisan moment or a political moment — it is a moral moment. And for the millions of college students across the country, the stakes

of this moment are incredibly high. If you are a person who believes in your individual freedoms — to control your own body, to access affordable health care, to marry who you love — do not be silent.” Booker continued to state that the greatest historical movements were led by youth, referring to the Freedom Riders, Tiananmen Square, and the current student activism in the United States regarding gun violence. “Stand up with us, fight with us, work with us, struggle with us. Join with others and raise your voices in a chorus of conviction that will ultimately help us stop this Supreme Court pick. You have the power to influence the outcome of this moment in our history,” he wrote. In his July 9 statement against the nomination, Booker argued that a Supreme Court with Kavanaugh as a justice could lead to a conflict of interest regarding the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections.

“The fact that Judge Kavanaugh has a long-established view that a President should not be subject to civil litigation or criminal investigation while in office means that President Trump has just nominated a justice who has already reached conclusions on these serious questions,” Booker said. “That should raise enormous red flags.” In June, Booker gave the Class Day address for the Class of 2018. In a law review article from 2009, Kavanaugh advocated that civil suits and criminal investigations be suspended while a president is in office. Supporters of the judge have pointed out that Kavanaugh was indicating his view of what was good policy, noting that an investigation distracts the President from important political issues. Kavanaugh’s supporters argued he was not indicating his view of what was legally permissible. However, comments that Kavanaugh made in 1998 suggest he believes See SCOTUS page 2

Sekhsaria ’18 turns senior thesis into $2.5 million start-up Lumhaa Staff Writer

Shriya Sekhsaria ’18 used her lifelong interest in collecting memories as inspiration for her senior thesis. This summer, she took that interest a step further by turning her thesis into a startup company called Lumhaa with the help of the Keller Center. Lumhaa is about recording and sharing memories through a virtual platform. Users can create virtual “memory jars” via text descriptions, audio or video recordings, and images. Memories can be shared or kept private, and they can be tagged

In Opinion

with locations, dates, and emotions. Today, Lumhaa is worth an estimated $2.5 million, according to a VC firm’s July estimate. “My interest in collecting memories started when I was really little,” Sekhsaria said. She explained that by age three or four, she would regularly approach strangers to ask them to share their memories with her. Sekhsaria is a former head news editor for The Daily Princetonian. Sekhsaria began creating memory jars in India the summer after her freshman year in college. Her focus for the summer was to write a book about

The Asian American Students Association welcomes first-years with a message of unity as well as recognition for Asian-American students on campus, and guest contributor Max Parsons ’20 challenges managing editor Sam Parsons’s column on protecting legal immigration channels.

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The University will be the only Ivy League university to require a graded writing sample.

U drops SAT/ACT essay requirement, will require graded writing sample By Ivy Truong and Benjamin Ball

STUDENT LIFE

By Neha Chauhan

COURTESY OF U. OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS

terminally ill children in India who were below the poverty line, in order to raise money for their treatment. When some of the children she was working with passed away, Sekhsaria created memory jars for them and mailed them to their families. The jars contained notecards upon which she wrote short stories, quotes, and drawings about and from the children. “I knew I didn’t bring them back, but that was my way of immortalizing the kids,” Sekhsaria said. Sekhsaria continued her work after seeing the impact See LUMHAA page 5

Associate News Editor and Staff Writer

On July 5, the University dropped the need for applicants to submit an essay score from the SAT or ACT. Beginning this 2018-2019 application season, applicants will, instead, have to submit a graded high school writing sample, preferably a work either of English or history. In a statement, the University said that this new policy shift “aims to alleviate the financial hardship placed on students, including those who have the opportunity to take the test without writing during the school day and for free.” In an interview with The Daily Princetonian, Dean of Admission Janet Rapelye explained that this change is one of many that the University has made in order to encourage applicants from

Today on Campus 5-8 p.m.: Nassau Street Sampler. Princeton University Art Museum

a broader range of socioeconomic backgrounds to apply. She noted that, although some students are able to take either standardized test with the writing section included through their high schools, other schools may not offer the writing section at all. “For those students, if they came to our page and looked at the requirements for the Princeton application and saw that writing was required, they might just keep going and not apply,” Rapelye said. Taking either test with the writing section costs more than taking the test without the writing section. The ACT with the writing section costs $16.50 more than without it, and the SAT similarly costs $17 more with it. According to the statement, University officials See SAT page 7

WEATHER

By Katja Stroke-Adolphe

HIGH

74˚

LOW

64˚

Cloudy chance of rain:

20 percent


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