Princeton Alumni Weekly | The Weekly Blog

 

The author: A psychology professor at Claremont Graduate University, Crano is an expert in the field of social influence — particularly the impact minorities have on the beliefs and actions of the majority. He also researches drug prevention and recently was named by the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime to serve on a committee that will develop global drug-prevention standards.

 

The book: The author looks at how the “weak influence the strong [and] how the minority changes the majority” and provides guidance for persuading other people of your opinion when you don’t have the power in a relationship. Crano outlines “rules of influence” — including the need to be persistent, consistent, unanimous, and flexible — that will “help you win when you don’t control the game.”

 

Bill Webster ’73 has done his best to turn “getting the band back together” into a Princeton Reunions tradition. In 2008, the trombonist worked with the Alumni Council to create the Battle of the Alumni Bands, a free concert held on the Friday afternoon of Reunions. On June 1, the event will mark its fifth anniversary, hosting a lineup of musicians whose class years span four decades.

 

“The concept for Battle of the Alumni Bands is [for each group] to do a 20-minute set — about six songs — so it’s pretty easy to get it together and play in front of your classmates,” Webster told PAW’s Fran Hulette. “You forget what a rush it is playing for people.”

 

Webster’s inspiration came from personal experience. As an undergraduate — and in the decade following graduation — his band, Webster’s Unabridged, played its blend of Big Band and rock music for alumni audiences at Reunions. Webster continued to reassemble his bandmates at major reunions, a tradition that provided some memorable highlights. Through the Battle, Webster has helped other alumni bands create their own memories on stage.

 

 

Video: Sounds of Reunions

Chris Hipser ’11’s overview of musical gatherings includes footage from the 2011 Battle of the Alumni Bands.

 

 

Last Call at the Oasis, a documentary about water scarcity featuring recent PAW profile subject Jay Famiglietti *92, “wraps a lot of bad news into a slick, informative, fast-moving package,” according to a recent review. [New York Times]

 

Former Princeton president William G. Bowen *58 published a vigorous defense of a liberal education, which he believes has never been more valuable than it is today. [The Atlantic]

 

Scholastic Parent and Child named Huffington Post columnist Lisa Belkin ’82 one of the 10 most influential people in family life. [Scholastic Parent and Child]

 

Economics grad Jonathan Lea ’09 has turned his attention to the sweet science of kettle corn in a new business venture. [New Jersey Monthly]

 

Inventor Michael Tseng ’05, a Princeton electrical engineering alumnus, earned second prize in Walmart’s “Get on the Shelf” contest for his PlateTopper airtight food cover. [Huffington Post]  

 

Architect Talia Dorsey ’98 led the proposal for a $6 million renovation of the historic Empress Theatre in her native Montreal. [Montreal Gazette]

 

The men’s lacrosse team ended its season yesterday with a 6-5 loss to the University of Virginia in Charlottesville the first round of the NCAA playoffs. Princeton had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds, but Virginia midfielder Chris LaPierre used his chest to block a shot by Forest Sonnenfeldt ’13 to seal the victory. Players other than goalies rarely use their bodies to block shots going 90 miles per hour, but LaPierre’s play was a fitting end to an intense contest in which both defenses imposed their will on offenses that averaged about 12 goals a game. Virginia, the defending national champion, was seeded fifth in the tournament. Princeton was unseeded.

 

 

Despite the loss, Princeton head coach Chris Bates called his goalie Tyler Fiorito ’12 “the best player on the field.” The Ivy League Player of the Year was exceptional. He made 12 saves, several of them from close range, and played well outside the cage by picking up four ground balls. Chad Wiedmaier ’12, a first-team All-Ivy League selection in each of his four years at Princeton, blanketed Virginia’s Steele Stanwick, limiting the best offensive player in the sport to a goal and an assist.

Even that lone goal wasn’t Wiedmaier’s fault, though it may have been the biggest play in the game. Fiorito made a save with about 30 seconds left in the second quarter and heaved the ball to Tom Schreiber ’14 in Princeton’s offensive end. But Virginia forced a turnover, and LaPierre scooped up the ground ball near his team’s bench. He threw a 70-yard strike to Stanwick, who caught the pass about six yards from Princeton’s goal and flicked it past Fiorito to give Virginia a 5-2 lead with five seconds left in the first half.     

As six boats traveled 2,000 meters in the men’s heavyweight grand final of the Eastern Sprints on Sunday, Harvard opened up a sizeable lead on most of its competitors – not a surprise, considering the Crimson eight was undefeated on the year and had won the last two Sprints titles. The surprise was that Brown would not fall off of the pace. Brown – which had lost three of its six races this season, including one against Harvard – edged the Crimson by 0.3 seconds, taking the Sprints title and surprising many rowing enthusiasts.

 

As a Princeton sports junkie, I was captivated by this result as well, though for a slightly different reason: Brown’s victory denied Harvard the Ivy League heavyweight rowing title. With wins in Sunday’s other races, men’s lightweight and women’s crew, Harvard increased its conference championship count to 10. One more title – say, in men’s heavyweight crew – and the Crimson would have had 11, topping Princeton.

 

But the Bears pulled off the upset, and Harvard finished with 10 championships, tied with the Tigers. It wasn’t quite the dominant performance of last year – when Princeton claimed 15 titles and nobody else had more than seven – but if finishing first in 30 percent of sports marks a decline, the athletic department is in pretty strong shape. (The rest of this year’s list: Cornell 6, Yale 3, Brown 2, Penn 2, Dartmouth 1, Columbia 1.)

 

Three of this year’s titles, in fact, came in sports that were not among last season’s 15: men’s fencing, men’s squash, and men’s lacrosse. In other words, Princeton won at least one championship over the last two years in more than half of the 33 Ivy League sports. (And remember that these standings do not include non-championship sports such as men’s and women’s water polo, in which the Tigers reached the NCAA Championships this season.)

 

Princeton will sit atop the unofficial all-sports standings for a 26th straight year, though Harvard will make it much closer than usual (less than 10 points, if my math is correct). To make a run like that, which started before I was born, a program needs a deep base of talent across all teams. Here is the complete list of Ivy League sports in which Princeton teams finished last this year: football (tied with Columbia, which the Tigers beat) and wrestling (tied with Harvard, which the Tigers beat).