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Update Dec 14, 2011: I apologize for not disclosing my involvement with Occupy Princeton in this post. In the interest of full disclosure, I have been attending the General Assemblies and support the movement but was not a part of these mic checks. As a blog, not a newspaper, there is room for some opinion on the Ink and for writers to report on issues they are connected to. However I absolutely should have disclosed my affiliation and I apologize.

We know, we know. Princeton is apathetic. Politically, we are unengaged. Well, Occupy Princeton doesn’t seem to have received the message. Having held General Assemblies on Frist North Lawn since November 17, they occupied JP Morgan/Chase and Goldman Sachs info sessions Wednesday and Thursday nights. Their message? That sending roughly 10% of our graduates into finance goes against our motto “in the nation’s service and service of all nations.”

Dressing in business attire, about 20 students infiltrated the two info sessions, looking like they were interested students. At the end of Wednesday’s session, senior Derek Gideon yelled “Mic check!” and followed with Occupy Princeton’s speech call-and-response style. Senior Sandra Mukasa led Thursday’s mic check.

In an email sent to Occupy Princeton after the Wednesday info session, Derek told the occupiers who had been unable to attend:

The mic check at the end was awesome- the look of shock on their faces was priceless, especially as we all walked out and they realized more than half of us were protestors- and then I heard the woman leading the session declare, “Well, it’s getting close to 7…”

Though they realize they are unlikely to change the minds of anyone at the info sessions, Occupy Princeton hopes to start a discussion on campus by disrupting and bringing publicity to the info sessions. Occupiers told the Prince:

“Our goal is to open up a discussion at the University level,” said Luciana Chamorro ’12 …. “The idea is that it will spread.”

“My personal goal is to raise awareness,” occupier Robert Joyce ’13 said. “We’re young. These are some formative years. We’re around very smart people and this is our chance to challenge our views.”

The question is, on a campus known for its political apathy, will they get a positive response? Though, with about 50 people in the group, I guess they’ve proved that we’re not all Whitney Blodgetts.

The next General Assembly is Tuesday. Find the words from the mic checks after the jump.

Continue reading…

Occupy Princeton Mic Checks JP Morgan/Chase and Goldman Sachs

By Miriam Geronimus
Posted in In the news Tagged , , , , , 8 Comments

Last Friday, when the Occupy the Highway march came through Princeton, freshman Whitney Blodgett yelled four simple words:“We’re the 1 percent!” It was an almost painful caricature of the apathetic and elitist Princeton student. But as if on cue, Occupy Princeton held its first General Assembly this afternoon on Frist North Lawn. It turns out, there are some radicals in our midst.

IMG_0120

Over 50 students — undergraduates and grad students — as well as a Princeton High School student and an adult community member gathered in front of Frist (watch the videos here) at 4:30. Here are some key quotes:

“We have no leader. Everyone is equal in being able to describe how they feel and how they can take action” — Edna Bonhomme, grad student

“This is our time to stand in solidarity and proudly engage in peaceful civil disobedience.” — Polly Korbel, junior

“Growing up we were taught to question everything except our right to positions of power…. There is this perception that because we are very smart and work hard, we deserve more. All of us at Princeton have extraordinary privilege, whether we were born with it or not. I ask you, does a Princeton degree really make you better?” — Brandon Davis, junior

“I am so happy to see you all here tonight after two years of being on this campus and feeling like I was the only one who cared.” — Polly Korbel, junior

Student after student spoke to voice their concerns about:IMG_0123

  • economic inequality
  • treatment of University workers such as janitors
  • the University’s investment in HEI Hotels & Resorts, which has been accused of abusing its workers
  • immigration and the lack of financial aid for undocumented students (support the Dream Act here)
  • LGBTQ rights and the need to extend gender neutral housing beyond Spelman
  • human trafficking
  • environmental injustice
  • the criminal justice system
  • the lack of a support group on campus for survivors of sexual assault

The rest of the world may see Princeton as part of the 1% and we certainly do create our share of Ibankers. But we are home to the 99% as well. The next General Assembly will be Tuesday.

Nov 18, 2011

Occupy Princeton No Longer Remains Silent

By Miriam Geronimus
Posted in Goings On Tagged , , , , , Leave a comment
From www.collegeessayorganizer.com

From www.collegeessayorganizer.com

A whopping 3547 students applied Early Action to Princeton this year, according to the Prince. That’s up from 2,275 Early Decision applicants in 2006 (Though this is not a fair comparison since Early Action is not binding and the number of high school graduates has risen since 2006).

As we all know from when we applied, Princeton has been without an Early Action or Early Decision Program since the 2007 application cycle, when it eliminated Early Decision in an effort to increase socio-economic diversity by making the application process more fair. At the time, President Tilghman told the Prince that “Early Decision was advantaging those who were already advantaged.” Harvard and UVa eliminated their Early programs around the same time.

All three reinstated Early programs last year, after it became clear that other Universities weren’t following suit and Princeton was losing students to other schools with Early programs. But the new program is non-binding, so that students can compare financial aid packages. Perhaps this is the best of both worlds — allowing students to pick Princeton as their first choice, relieving some applicants’ stress when they are admitted early, but not disadvantaging low SES students. Or perhaps this is just PR. What do you think?

Nov 12, 2011

3547 Early Action Applicants!

By Miriam Geronimus
Posted in In the news Tagged , , , Leave a comment

Alas, it is that time of year again — midterms. If you’re not procrastinating at one of tonight’s great performances, you’re probably studying. And for that, Princeton has no shortage of spaces — libraries, residential college libraries, lounges… you name it. When I get stuck studying all day, I like to change it up a bit and find different study spaces every few hours. By at least breaking up the environmental monotomy, I give my brain the illusion that I’m not doing the same thing all day. And my latest favorite study space is the renovated Julian Street Library in Wilcox.

IMG_0118 IMG_0119

Renovated over the summer, I just discovered this library’s new look a couple weeks ago (as a senior from Rocky, who now lives in Spelman, I don’t go to Wilson much). Whether you want to work (or nap) on a couch or at a table, this place has you covered. And with the blueberry blue walls and couches, it’s hard to get too depressed about those midterms…

What’s your favorite study space? Let us know!

Oct 22, 2011

Where do you study?

By Miriam Geronimus
Posted in Goings On Tagged , , , Leave a comment

If you have wandered through the basement hallways of Bogle Hall in the past week, you might have noticed a new display screen. This screen may not be able to tell you how much energy you use individually, but it can tell you how much energy Butler College is using. And some funny patterns show up if you look at Friday.

Butler College energy use in kilowatt-hours on Friday Oct 7, 2011

Butler College energy use in kilowatt-hours on Friday Oct 7, 2011

Notice any gaps? Perhaps between midnight and 4:00 a.m.? And then again between 4:00 and 8:00 a.m.? Apparently everyone in Butler went to sleep at midnight Thursday night …. or went to the Street. And came back around 4:00 a.m.

The main purpose of the display, however, is not to tell us what we already know: that students head to the Street Thursday nights. It is to give us real-time electric, heating and cooling data, and long-term electricity patterns for Butler. A similar display screen is in Frick. And there are some funny energy conversions:

On Friday, Butler used 3,161 kilowatt hours of energy. That equals:

  • 2,254 pounds of carbon
  • 90,312 laptop hours
  • 5,537 hamburgers

-5-8-7-6

Oct 8, 2011

How much energy do you use?

By Miriam Geronimus
Posted in Goings On Tagged , , Leave a comment
www.projectcarousel.org/

www.projectcarousel.org/

Over the past year, Princeton has come under attack for animal rights violations in psychology and neuroscience labs, many of them related to watering schedules of primates. Now a group called Stop Animal Exploitation Now! claims that the University continues to mistreat monkeys in neuroscience labs, according to pictures of abuse supplied by a Princeton worker. The United States Department of Agriculture will investigate the claims. (Earlier USDA investigations found six violations of monkey treatment last spring and 11 in 2010.)

But, apparently, we are not the only Ivy to be failing animal ethics. A recent report from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine ranked Ivy League schools by their treatment of research animals. Princeton tied with Yale for second worst. Columbia ranked highest for their treatment of animals. Penn trailed behind with a “Research Misconduct Score” more than double Princeton’s and Yale’s…. At least we’re not Penn?

Oct 1, 2011

Animal cruelty in Princeton labs again?

By Miriam Geronimus
Posted in In the news Tagged , , , , One comment

Picture 2

Well, think again.

The referendum failed in a vote of 1014 to 699, as we reported yesterday. However, Dining Services is still considering offering an alternative to Sabra hummus.

“We will continue the conversation with the students and hope to include faculty and staff opinions as well,” Stu Orefice, director of Dining Services, told the Prince yesterday.

By creating buzz about Sabra both on campus and in the national media, PCP may have succeeded in its goal, despite the results of the election. After all the national media attention, the University may ultimately decide that it does not want to appear anti-Palestinian.

Or the University may simply value offering options to students, irrespective of the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

Or it may do nothing.

But whatever the eventual result, PCP, headed by Yoel Bitran ‘11, plans to continue the debate in the hope that they will convince the University to offer an alternative hummus brand. Bitran tells us,

We will take the 699 votes in favor of the referendum to Dining Services. Hopefully, we will be able to convince them that this is enough of a demand for an alternative Hummus to merit providing one at least in some retail locations. We will continue to raise awareness and ask students to personally boycott Sabra and other products linked to Israel’s human rights abuses.

We’ll let you know what happens as this story continues to develop.

Dec 4, 2010

So you thought the hummus debate was over?

By Miriam Geronimus
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Have you been staring at your textbook for too long? Gazing blindly at your computer at a blank document that is supposed to be an essay? Dreaming about Thanksgiving break? If you want a quick break that you can pretend is studious, look no further: molecular animation! These animated videos of cellular life are super trippy. They may not help you study for your MOL 215 midterm, but perhaps they’ll give you a new-found appreciation for the cell.

This one depicts white blood cells attacking diseases.

Continue reading…

Watching cells can be super trippy

By Miriam Geronimus
Posted in Fun, The INKternet Tagged , , , , , Leave a comment

That’s right, TED is coming to Princeton. Nerds, get ready to salivate.

For those of you who don’t know what TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is, the nonprofit was founded in 1984 to bring people together to share ideas. Basically, they host talks by people with really cool ideas that might change the world. The annual TED conference, held every spring in Long Beach, California, is the main attraction.  The annual TEDGlobal Conference, which is held ever summer in Oxford, England, began in 2005.

Here’s one of my fave TEDtalks from this summer’s Global Conference. Eben Bayer explains how his company makes biodegradable “plastic” from mushrooms.

But wait, you ask, what about Princeton? TEDx is an offshoot of TED at the local level. And TEDxPrincetonU is happening December 3. Details after the jump.

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TEDx at Princeton!

By Miriam Geronimus
Posted in Goings On Tagged , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Spreading cancer. Courtesy of allthingsbeautiful.com

Spreading cancer. Courtesy of allthingsbeautiful.com

Enter any molecular biology department and you’re bound to find someone working on cancer. Various treatments exist and many cancers are no longer considered fatal, but there are still plenty of questions.

There’s one less question as of last Tuesday (well, ignoring the fact that this answer brings lots of new questions with it).  A new discovery by Princeton molecular biologists and chemists may pave the way for revolutionary new cancer treatments.

So what did they figure out? Quiescent or dormant cells have long been considered inactive. But according to the team’s paper, published in the latest edition of the journal PloS Biology, this isn’t actually true.

The team focused on fibroblasts, structural cells that connect cells and help heal wounds. Among other activities, they found that quiescent fibroblasts use the pentose phosphate pathway, which is necessary for creating DNA and RNA.

“The thing that’s really exciting is that if you inhibit the pentose phosphate pathway in quiescent cells, they die. And this is a big deal because they’re like little supermen,” MOL professor and coauthor Hilary Coller told centraljersey.com.

Why does this matter? Cancer uses quiescent cells. Details after the jump.

Continue reading…

Let’s Kill Those Cancer Cells!

By Miriam Geronimus
Posted in Faculty, In the news Tagged , , Leave a comment
http://accidentalmind.org/

http://accidentalmind.org/

A hotbed of research exists around aging in the world of molecular biology. Researchers focusing on cancer, fertility and general mortality look at everything from individual cells to sea urchins, trying to understand how aging works. Princeton MOL professor Colleen Murphy is no exception.

In an article published yesterday in Cell, Murphy and colleagues found aging and fertility connections between the worm C. elegans and humans. That’s right: women age like worms.

Well, to be more specific, reproductive aging occurs far before other aging in both female humans and C. elegans. And in both species, this decrease in fertility is due to a decrease in the quality, not quantity, of their eggs.

Murphy found that the protein TGF-beta (transforming growth factor beta), which is also found in humans, causes eggs to degrade in C. elegans.

For those female students planning to have both a career and families, this may be good news. Murphy foresees further research on C. elegans leading to fertility treatments:

“The dream would be that you could give a woman in her early 30s a supplement or a drug to keep her oocytes healthy as long as possible,” she said. “We have treatments now that extend life span, but nothing extends our reproductive span,” she told the New York Times.

However, don’t get too excited yet. Murphy also looked at mutant worms with low TGF-beta levels. Reproduction in these worms did continue into old age, but there was an unforeseen consequence — death. Worms were still reproducing at 13 days — which is old for an organism that lives 2-3 weeks — but their bodies were no longer healthy enough to lay the fertilized eggs.

“It’s like an 80-year-old woman trying to have a baby,” Murphy said in a press release.

Oct 16, 2010

Aging like worms

By Miriam Geronimus
Posted in Faculty, In the news Tagged , , , , , Leave a comment
quincyfire.blogspot.com

quincyfire.blogspot.com

Apparently our campus has become a lot more sexually healthy over the past year. The Trojan Sexual Health Report Card, created by Trojan® condoms, Sperling’s BestPlaces and Rock the Vote, is an annual ranking of sexual health at American colleges and universities. Last year Princeton ranked 61st. This year we rocketed up to 8th.

So what makes a school sexually healthy? A recent Prince column suggested that there is sexual harassment on the Street. And fellow New Jersey school Rutgers is ranked as the 9th most sexually healthy university — but a gay Rutgers student recently committed suicide after his roommate streamed a video of him having sex. It appears that sexual harassment and homophobia are not considered in the rankings.  What is?

Sperling’s BestPlaces assigned each college or university a GPA based on scoring from 12 categories. See the categories after the jump:

Continue reading…

Sexy health Princeton style

By Miriam Geronimus
Posted in In the news Tagged , , , , , Leave a comment