Volume LXXIV, Number 10
Pages 18-24 Princeton Charter School Wins Regional Science Bowl . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Town and Gown on Alert for Coronavirus . . . . . . 7 W-J Neighborhood Plans Arts, Infrastructure Projects . . . . . . . . . . . 8 PU Glee Club Collaborates With Antioch Chamber Ensemble . . . . . . . . . 14 PU Women’s Hoops Wins Ivy League Regular Season Crown . . . . . . 28 Stuart Country Day School Hoops Falls in MCT Final . . . . . . . . . 32
Sarah Fillier Helps PU Women’s Hockey Make ECACH Semis . . . . . . 27 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Berkshire Hathaway Fox & Roach Realtors . .22, 23 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 26
Judge Grants Rider’s Motions to Dismiss Westminster Lawsuits New Jersey Superior Court Judge Robert Lougy has granted Rider University’s motions to dismiss two lawsuits challenging the University’s legal ability to move Westminster Choir College, with which Rider merged in 1992, from its longtime Princeton location to Rider’s campus in Lawrence Township. The March 2 ruling clears the way for Rider to proceed with its plan to consolidate the two schools onto one campus. But plaintiffs in the two lawsuits plan to challenge the ruling. “This is only the opening salvo in this fight,” attorney Bruce Afran, who represents the plaintiffs, said Tuesday. “We will immediately appeal the decision, most likely by Friday morning.” The nonprofit Westminster Foundation, a group of alumni, faculty, and supporters, is the plaintiff in one of the suits. The other is a group of 71 Westminster undergraduate and graduate students. Judge Lougy heard both sides’ arguments on February 14. The plaintiffs claim that Rider will not be able to provide the kind of specialized facilities, such as enough acoustically engineered practice rooms and faculty studios, on the campus. The judge’s ruling said that while the students, faculty, and alumni have standing to go to court, there is no legal claim that can be filed because Rider and Westminster are nonprofit corporations and not charities. “We think they obviously are charities, subject to New Jersey’s charities laws,” said Afran. “Because like any nonprofit school, they take charitable, tax-exempt donations and are 501-C registered charities.” Since the plan to consolidate was
Music Review . . . . . . . 14 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 35 Performing Arts . . . . . 15 Police Blotter . . . . . . . . 9 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 37 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
PU Group Calls For Fossil Fuels Divestment Responding to reports on the increasingly devastating effects of climate change, a group of Princeton University students and alumni have called on the University to withdraw its investments entirely from the fossil fuel industry. The group, which calls itself Divest Princeton, has submitted to the Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC) Resources Committee a formal proposal which calls for divestment of the University’s $26 billion endowment from all coal, oil, and gas companies. The Resources Committee, which considers issues related to the endowment and concerns about socially-responsible investing, is scheduled to meet on March 10, and Divest Princeton is hoping for a response to its demands later this month. The University does not disclose details about its specific investments, and Deputy University Spokesman Michael Hotckhkiss wrote in an email, “We do not comment on the makeup of the endowment’s portfolio.” Divest Princeton, which was created in 2019, staged a demonstration on February 13, during which about 50 protestors gathered in front of Frist Campus Center before marching to Nassau Hall to present their divestment proposal to the CPUC. Activists also circulated a petition that cur-
rently has more than 820 signatures from students, faculty, and alumni, pledging to withhold donations to the University until it divests from fossil fuel companies. Divest Princeton members also met with alumni on Princeton’s Alumni Day, February 22, handing out flyers and holding a teach-in. Another demonstration is planned for April 22, the 50th Earth Day, when Divest Princeton will team up with environmental groups on campus. “I think it’s important that the University recognize that the interests and conduct
of fossil fuel companies aligns neither with Princeton’s values nor the findings of its academic research,” said 2019 Princeton University graduate and Divest Princeton activist Lisa Sheridan. “For this reason we hope that the University will stop supplying fossil fuel companies with a social license to do severe harm to our planet and our communities.” In its petition letter to Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber, Divest Princeton emphasizes “the Continued on Page 8
Freeman Dyson Remembered By Family and Colleagues Theoretical physicist and writer Freeman J. Dyson, who for more than six decades made Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) his academic home, died February 28 at Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center in Plainsboro. He was 96. In a statement announcing Dyson’s death last week, the IAS said he “embraced the stunning diversity of the universe with unique spirit.” Dyson “generated revolutionary scientific insights, including calculations bridging the quantum and human worlds,” the IAS
statement read. “His contributions stem from his work in numerous areas, including nuclear engineering, solild state physics, ferronmagnetism, astrophysics, biology, and applied mathematics.” Commenting on Dyson’s passing, IAS Director and Leon Levy Professor Robbert Dijkgraaf said, ““No life is more entangled with the Institute and impossible to capture — architect of modern particle physics, free-range mathematician, advocate of space travel, astrobiology and disarmament, futurist, eternal Continued on Page 10
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Daylight Saving Time starts this Sunday at 2 a.m. Turn clocks ahead one hour.
HOW SWEET IT IS: A talk on the history, folklore, and science of maple sugaring was a highlight of Saturday’s Maple Sugar Brunch fundraiser at The Watershed Institute in Pennington . The event also featured taste tests and pancakes served with fresh, local maple syrup . Proceeds help support the nonprofit’s Camp Scholarship Fund . Participants share what they learned about maple sugaring in this week’s Town Talk on page 6 . (Photo by Erica M. Cardenas)
March 13-17