Volume LXXII, Number 42
Meet the Faces of Real Estate Page 47 Filmmaker Sam Russell Kicks Off New Exhibit at TCNJ . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Joyce, Mencken, and McQueen Stage a Rally for An Enemy of the People . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Ordinance Introductions, Discussions at Council Meeting . . . . . . . . . . 16 McCarter Theatre Presents Detroit ’67 . . . . . . . . 19 PU Women’s Hockey Starting 2018-19 Season This Weekend . . . . . . 38 Undefeated PHS Field Hockey Advances to MCT Quarterfinals . . . . . . . 40
“Frankenread” Honors Bicentennial of Shelley’s Frankenstein . . . . . . . 15 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Berkshire Hathaway Fox & Roach Realtors . .30, 31 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 35 Classified Ads . . . . . . 46 Clubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Dining & Entertainment . . . 33 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Music/Theater . . . . . . 20 New To Us . . . . . . . . . 36 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 45 Police Blotter . . . . . . . . 4 School Matters . . . . . . . 8 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
www.towntopics.com
University Gives $50,000 Toward Construction of Lytle Street Homes
When Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber met with Princeton Council last February for what has become an annual gathering, members of the governing body took turns telling Eisgruber their most pressing concerns and priorities. Councilwoman Leticia Fraga thanked Eisgruber for contributions by University students and staff on local projects such as Send Hunger Packing Princeton (SHUPP) and the Latin American Defense and Education Fund’s (LALDEF) community ID program. She suggested that the University might want to continue that support by helping with Habitat for Humanity’s construction of a new home in the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood. The announcement last Thursday that the University is contributing $50,000 and some “sweat equity” to Habitat for Humanity toward construction of two homes came as welcome, and surprising news. “That was the only time I mentioned that to them,” said Fraga. “So when months later, the announcement was made, I was very heartened to hear it.” The University’s Student Volunteer Council within The Pace Center for Civic Engagement has worked with Habitat for Humanity since 2016, but student involvement with the organization actually stretches back further, particularly to an international “blitz build” in Mexico where 300 home were built in one week, said Kristin Appelget, the University’s director of community and regional affairs. “This allows students to continue this long-standing involvement within walking distance of campus. Members of faculty and staff are also going to be involved.” Appelget said that the Princeton Varsity Club, a group of student athletes who help with service work, is also getting involved in the project. “They have a program called Weapons of Mass Construction, and the current assistant director of the group was a Princeton student herself and was a student athlete,” she said. “She actually participated in a Habitat build, so now she’ll be working on a project right in town.” Fraga, who is involved in LALDEF, said Pace Center students were the first to volunteer when the organization first started issuing community ID cards and needed help. Continued on Page 8
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Wednesday, October 17, 2018
Niedergang, Williamson, Wu Run for Council
Democrats Eve Niedergang and Dwaine Williamson and Republican Lisa Wu are heading into the final three weeks of their campaign for two available positions on Princeton Council, as current members Heather Howard and Lance Liverman prepare to step down at the end of the year. Currently all six Council members are Democrats, and there has been no Republican candidate for Council since 2015. In the Democratic primary election in June Niedergang and Williamson won the most votes in a field of five candidates, and Wu was unopposed in the Republican primary. Niedergang and Williamson are running a joint campaign with the theme of
“A Princeton for All,” promising to bring to Council “fresh ideas and powerful voices.” They share goals for a Princeton that is welcoming and inclusive, embracing “people of all backgrounds and abilities”; fiscally responsible, with “prudent stewardship of public spending and critical assessment of government priorities” as “key to holding down property taxes”; committed to affordability, where “people from all backgrounds and means can share in the many community advantages”; and dedicated to sustainable growth and “to preserving a vibrant Princeton that is attractive to businesses and residents.” Niedergang has lived in Princeton since 1985 with her husband and two children.
She has been a Princeton community leader and volunteer for more than 25 years, with leadership roles in the PTO and the Friends of the Princeton Public Library. She previously worked at ETS and then as a consultant in educational testing. Since 2016 she has been the coordinator of volunteers at The Watershed Institute. Dwaine Williamson, an attorney in private practice with a background in finance and experience in land-use law, has lived in Princeton with his wife and three children since 1988. He serves on the Princeton Planning Board and the Advisory Board of the Witherspoon-Jackson Development Corporation, and has volunteered with many community organizations over the past 20 years. “We will continue to reach out to all Princeton residents to find out what their concerns are and to knock on doors in every neighborhood. We welcome questions and comments through our website princetonforall.org,” said Niedergang. Continued on Page 7
Blinder: As Economics and Politics Collide, America Suffers the Effects
FALL FUN: The Arts Council of Princeton and the Princeton Shopping Center hosted Finding the Great Pumpkin on Saturday afternoon, where kids of all ages created artwork inspired by the season, enjoyed face painting, listened and danced to music by Alex and the Kaleidoscope, and learned why pumpkins are orange in a hands-on activity with students from Princeton University’s Graduate Molecular Biology Outreach Program . Participants share their all-time favorite Halloween costumes in this week’s Town Talk on Page 6 . (Photo by Charles R. Plohn)
Describing economics and politics as two widely disparate civilizations, Alan S. Blinder, Princeton University economics and public affairs professor and former vice chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, says that both fields have a lot to learn from the other. Speaking to an audience of about 200 on Saturday morning in Princeton University’s McDonnell Hall, he recommended combating economic illiteracy as a first step in closing the gap. Blinder shared ideas from his recent book Advice and Dissent: Why America Suffers When Economics and Politics Collide, presenting his “lamppost theory” to describe the dysfunctional relationship between politicians and economists. “Politicians use economists the same way a drunkard uses lampposts, for support rather than illumination,” he noted. On the Princeton faculty since 1971, Blinder, a former member of President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisors and now a regular columnist for The Wall Street Journal, has spent considerable time in both civilizations and knows them both well. He continued, “If each side Continued on Page 10