Volume LXXI, Number 34
Back-to-School On Pages 20-25 ABS Alumni Mourn Closing. . . . . . . . . . . . 5 PU Study on LegallyPrescribed Opiods . . . . 7 Senior Living Proposed for Princeton. . . . . . . . 8 Solar Eclipse Viewing Party. . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 PU Women’s Soccer Primed to Kick Off 2017 Season . . . . . . . . . . . 30 PHS Alum Goldsmith Starting Career With Vassar College Men’s Soccer. . . . . . . . . . . . 34
www.towntopics.com
Council Postpones Waxwood Decision To Sept. 25 Meeting The fate of the Waxwood development on Quarry Street will not be determined for at least another month, as Princeton Council has deferred action to its September 25 meeting in order to seek more input and information before making any decision. If a 2002 agreement with architect and developer J. Robert Hillier, a Town Topics shareholder, is allowed to take effect, with subsequent amendments allowed to lapse, Mr. Hillier would sell the units. If Mr. Hillier’s preferred alternate proposal, presented August 10, 2017, is accepted, then the Waxwood would continue as a rental property. Under a third alternative, Mr. Hillier would set up a fund that would help residents with down payments or foreclosures. Currently three affordable units are being rented to qualified neighborhood Continued on Page 8
75¢ at newsstands
Wednesday, August 23, 2017
Cautious Optimism About Westminster Buyer The announcement last week that Rider University is negotiating with an “international partner” to purchase Westminster Choir College and keep it in Princeton has students, faculty, alumni, and supporters of the music school hopeful that its future is secure. But they are not taking the news for granted. “We are cautiously optimistic. We just have to be careful to not count on anything until we know what the facts are,” said Constance Fee, who heads the Coalition to Save Westminster Choir College in Princeton. “The most important thing I read in the letter was that whoever these people are, this international organization would maintain the campus in Princeton. That has been our whole focus. We have no indication of what that would mean in terms of whether we are an independent institution, do we have our own board, own faculty, and programs? There is no way to know. I have to keep a rein on my hope that this might be what we know, but we don’t.”
In an effort to stem a growing financial loss, Rider’s board voted in March to sell the Princeton campus of Westminster, which it has owned since 1991. At the time, Rider president Gregory Dell’Omo said the priority was to find a buyer that would keep Westminster in Princeton, though that wasn’t the only option. Since then, the Coalition was formed. They hired attorney Bruce Afran, who filed a lawsuit in June claiming that, based on the 1991 merger agreement, Rider has no legal right to sell the music school. An amendment to the suit stated that Rider’s claimed $10 million annual deficit was not caused by Westminster. On August 17, Mr. Dell’Omo sent an email to the college community announcing that a potential buyer had been found. He declined to identify the buyer, but wrote, “After reviewing proposals over the last several weeks, the Board will now begin negotiations and due diligence with the selected potential partner.” According to Rider spokesperson Kris-
tine Brown, “This selection is the continuation of the process begun in March with formal outreach to approximately 280 entities …. As we have said throughout this process, our goal was to identify a partner that is best positioned to make the necessary investments in and build upon Westminster’s world-class curriculum and rich legacy in Princeton. Continued on Page 10
Iran Denies Graduate Student’s Appeal of 10-Year Sentence
Iranian authorities have denied the appeal of Princeton University graduate student Xiyue Wang, who had been convicted of espionage and sentenced to 10 years in prison, the University announced last Thursday. Mr. Wang was in Iran in 2016 conducting research for his doctoral dissertation in history when he was arrested and Continued on Page 4
First Results of the Readers’ Choice Awards . . . . . . . 9 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Cinema . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Classified Ads. . . . . . . . 37 Clubs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Mailbox. . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Music/Theater . . . . . . . 26 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . 36 Real Estate . . . . . . . . . 37 Service Directory . . . . . 38 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Topics of the Town . . . . . 5 Town Talk. . . . . . . . . . . . 6
CELESTIAL CONVENTION: More than 2,000 spectators came together in Palmer Square on Monday afternoon for a Solar Eclipse Viewing Party sponsored by the Princeton Public Library and Princeton University’s Department of Astrophysical Sciences. In Princeton, about three-quarters of the sun was blocked by the eclipse. See page 18 for more photos. (Photo by Erica M. Cardenas)
Refreshing Summer Drinks
Chez Alice Gourmet Cafe & Bakery 5 Palmer Square West, Princeton 609-921-6760 (p) 609-921-8877 (f) www.chezalicecafe.com
Strawberry Mint Lemonade Iced Coffee/Iced Tea Iced Latte/Iced Chai Special Summer Salad Everything made fresh from scratch