Recently in Alumni News

The WMAP spacecraft, shown in this NASA rendering, has measured the oldest light in the universe for the last nine years. (NASA/WMAP Science Team)

From WMAP's beginning -- and in a preceding project, the Cosmic Background Explorer -- Princeton scientists played an important role in the measurement of background radiation, the oldest light in the universe. Key contributors include the late astrophysics professor David Wilkinson (WMAP's namesake), the late physicist Robert Dicke, current professors David Spergel ’82 and Lyman Page, and senior research physicist Norm Jarosik.

This fall, 54 Princeton students are spending time in prisons – not as inmates, but as tutors and teachers. They’re working with the Petey Greene Prisoner Assistance Program, founded by Jim Farrin ’58 and Charles Puttkammer ’58 in 2008, which organizes Princeton students to help inmates learn basic academic skills.

Petey Greene Prisoner Assistance Program co-founder Jim Farrin '58. (Courtesy Jim Farrin '58)

In both the Albert C. Wager Youth Correctional Facility (ACW) and Garden State Prison, undergraduates tutor inmates in reading, writing, and math. Some also have taught courses in health, art history, economics, and poetry. ACW has 1,200 male prisoners, ages 18 to 30, in low- to maximum-security cells; the Garden State facility has fewer hardcore prisoners. Participation in the program helps inmates get into credit-bearing programs in the future.

Princeton economist Burton Malkiel *64 shared strategies for getting the economy back on track. [Fox Business]

Steve Forbes '70 and former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker '49 sat down to discuss causes of the financial crisis. [Forbes.com]

W.S. Merwin '48, the new U.S. poet laureate, "brings a strong environmental viewpoint to his new post," according to a recent profile. [Los Angeles Times]

European basketball standout Judson Wallace '05 is taking his talents to the Canary Islands. [ACB.com]

A recent Q&A with Jodi Picoult '87 and Jennifer Weiner '91 covered the controversial topic of how women authors are perceived by book critics. [Huffington Post]

At the start of the school year, Harvard economics professor N. Gregory Mankiw '80 shared his "advice for students of all ages." [New York Times]

The NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions has penalized Princeton University for a major violation involving impermissible payment for a women's tennis player's educational expenses. According to a Sept. 8 NCAA release, an alumnus provided approximately $33,000 for tuition and books for one varsity player over the course of three semesters in 2007-08. Neither the player nor the alumnus were named.

Two penalties were levied by the committee: public reprimand and censure; and vacation of the student-athlete's individual records for the three semesters in question -- fall 2007, spring 2008, and fall 2008. Because the violation was limited in scope and self-reported by the alumnus and the University, the committee "imposed only minimal penalties," the NCAA release said, and chose not to put the women's tennis team on probation. This was Princeton's first major infraction case, according to the Public Infractions Report.

President Tilghman responded to the ruling in a Princeton release. "We looked closely at the circumstances surrounding this isolated and inadvertent infraction and at the relationship between the alumnus and the student's family, and we are convinced that even though the alumnus is a long-time supporter of tennis at Princeton, he was acting only with the interest of helping a family friend pursue an educational opportunity for which her parents were not willing to provide financial support," Tilghman said. "We do not believe that this should have been characterized as a major violation, but we certainly regret the infraction and remain firmly committed to complying with all NCAA rules."

President Shirley Tilghman never got to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the ninth annual Princeton Night at Boston’s Fenway Park Aug. 5. Foul weather delayed Tilghman’s flight to Boston, putting the guest pitcher in a time crunch to make a connection for her overseas flight later that night. Told that she would have only five to 10 minutes to spend at the game, Tilghman remained at Boston’s airport and caught her international flight.

In spite of the inauspicious prelude, the Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-2, and now sport a record of eight wins and only one loss on a Princeton Night.

Pictured above holding Tilghman’s souvenir Red Sox jersey is Ted Gallagher ’67. Red Sox president Larry Lucchino ’67 is directly behind Gallagher wearing a Class of 1952 reunion jacket. Also in ’52 jackets, and shown to the right of Lucchino, are Dick Kazmaier ’52 and Gary Walters ’67, Princeton’s director of athletics. Lanny Springs, class secretary for ’67, provided the photo but like Tilghman was delayed by bad weather. He reached the park in the bottom of the first inning.

At Fenway, Lucchino hosted nearly 40 friends, ’67 classmates, and other Princetonians. By Fran Hulette

With a 63-37 vote Aug. 5, the Senate approved former solicitor general and Harvard Law dean Elena Kagan ’81 as the next associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

When Kagan joins fellow alumni Samuel Alito ’72 and Sonia Sotomayor ’76 on the high court, it will be the first time since 1842 that three alumni have served together. Kagan is the 12th Princetonian in a line of justices that stretches back to George Washington’s presidency. Below, a look at the University’s other 11 justices.

(Photo courtesy Harvard Law School)

A recent feature story went inside the “batlab” with Brown University professor James Simmons *69, whose insights in bat navigation have influenced advances in sonar technology. [Providence Journal]

Cedar Crest College president Carmen Twillie Ambar *94 and Shenandoah University president Tracy Fitzsimmons ’89 were featured in a recent story about college presidents who juggle work demands with young families. [The Chronicle of Higher Education]

Princeton economics professor Alan Blinder ’67 co-authored a new study that uses models to show that government interventions during the last three years helped to avert massive unemployment and deflation in the U.S. economy. [New York Times]

Starbox creator Mattie Brickman ’05, center, with actors Emma Worth ’05 and Daniel Kublick ’08 in Bryant Park. (Photo courtesy Mattie Brickman ’05)

Audience members attending Starbox, a performance event in Manhattan’s Bryant Park premiering Friday evening, July 23, have to get in line for the free show. But they won’t know whether the person standing next to them is another audience member or one of the 28 actors in the performance piece, written by playwright Mattie Brickman ’05 in conjunction with art.party.theater.company. The audience members will eavesdrop on the scripted conversations of actors while they wait their turn to enter the Starbox, where a celebrity awaits. Meanwhile they will find themselves in the circus that follows a celebrity stampede, says Brickman.

The actors — including Daniel Kublick ’08 and Emma Worth ’05 — will play other people waiting in line to see the star, such as out-of-towners, Twitter girls who are obsessed with figuring out who is in the box, a man coming home from a scaffolding gig, and the star’s entourage of agents, stylists, journalists, and production assistants.