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By Brittany Urick ’10

A 4-0 trouncing of Yale Nov. 13 helped the MEN’S SOCCER team punch its ticket for Princeton’s first NCAA tournament appearance in eight years. Sophomore forward Antoine Hoppenot stole the show thanks to a hard-earned hat trick, but the win, which was televised before a national audience on Fox Soccer Channel, can be attributed to a solid defensive effort, impressive control of the midfield, and an unrelenting offensive onslaught that involved every player on the field. The Tiger teamwork, a product of veteran leadership and talented youth, has been a hallmark of Princeton throughout the season.

The Tigers began the year with high hopes, posting a perfect 4-0 record in their first four matches. Princeton hit a slump toward the end of September, however, and dropped two Ivy League contests to Dartmouth and Brown. The skid stopped when a 3-0 home victory over Columbia on Oct. 17 renewed Princeton’s confidence. One week later, the Tigers earned arguably their most remarkable win of the season when they defeated then-No. 11 Harvard, 2-1, in a double-overtime game in Cambridge.

New book: Song of Two Worlds, by Alan Lightman ’70 (A K Peters)

The author: A physicist turned novelist, Alan Lightman has worked at the intersection of science and literature. From an early age, he was interested in both science and the arts. He started writing poetry in high school, and majored in physics at Princeton before earning a doctorate in theoretical physics. Lightman taught physics at MIT and became the first person at MIT to hold a joint faculty position in science and in the humanities. Today he is an adjunct professor in MIT's Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies. Among his novels are Einstein's Dreams, The Diagnosis, Reunion, and Ghost. His nonfiction work includes the collection of essays A Sense of the Mysterious.

The book: This book-length poem narrated by a middle-aged Muslim man from his crumbling villa on the Mediterranean follows in Lightman's tradition of examining science and the humanities. The narrator has lost his faith in all things after a mysterious personal tragedy. After decades of living "hung like a dried fly," emptied and haunted by his past, he awakens one morning revitalized and begins a Dante-like journey to find something to believe in, first turning to the world of science -- and "questions with answers" -- and then to the world of philosophy, religion, and human life -- and "questions without answers." Inspired by Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore's poem Gitanjali -- which celebrates his faith in God -- Lightman reflected on his own faith "in the power of asking questions, the cleansing, almost spiritual nature of seeking truth about the world."

Jackson Greenberg ’12 plays at a recent Shape Machine show. (Courtesy Jackson Greenberg ’12)

By Katy Pinke ’10

A new jam band has been rapidly gaining popularity and acclaim in Princeton’s independent music scene. Shape Machine, born out of a summer collaboration between music majors Jackson Greenberg ’12 and Matt Wong ’10, debuted last month and will perform for students and alumni at University Cottage Club Nov. 14.

Greenberg’s primary instrument is the vibraphone, but he is also fluent on piano and drums. He began writing jazz music in high school, moved to sound design and scores for theater, and writes everything from film scores to pop songs. He has performed in international festivals with esteemed musicians and jazz ensembles, and he’s studied under well-known musicians and composers, including Orrin Evans and Alan Menken. (Audio samples of Greenberg’s work are available at myspace.com/jacksongreenberg.)

Wong began as a jazz guitarist, playing gigs throughout high school. He has backed a wide range of musical acts. Last fall, for example, he accompanied an opera-singing duo at the Mercer County Italian American Festival.

“The sound of Shape Machine is not only a byproduct of exposure to a lot of different sounds,” Wong said. “It is also a collaboration. When we came to campus in the fall, we contacted all of the musicians we knew who might be interested in our idea and held auditions.”

WWII in HD, a five-part series written by Bruce Kennedy ’92, is scheduled to begin Nov. 15 on the History Channel. The program will feature 16-millimeter color film footage from World War II that rivals the quality of today’s high definition. [History.com]

Sen. Kit Bond ’60, R-Mo., shared his views on Afghanistan in a Nov. 5 interview with The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart. [The Daily Show]

Richard K. Rein ’69, editor and publisher of the Princeton-area weekly newspaper U.S. 1, celebrated his publication’s 25th anniversary in a Nov. 11 column. [U.S. 1]

Author and graphic novelist Douglas Rushkoff ’83 wrote about his latest project — an alternate-reality video game — in a Nov. 10 post for the technology blog BoingBoing. [BoingBoing.net]

Princeton women’s basketball made a significant jump in the Ivy League standings last season — from a tie for sixth place in 2007-08 to third place in 2008-09 — and third-year head coach Courtney Banghart sees opportunities for more progress this winter.

Lauren Edwards ’12 (Photo © Beverly Schaefer)

“We’ve got a really great blend of young, athletic kids who can make plays, with older, experienced, the-time-is-now kids,” Banghart said. “The future looks really bright for this group.”

Four of last season’s top five scorers return, including Addie Micir ’11, a dangerous three-point shooter who averaged 11.8 points per game, and versatile guard/forward Lauren Edwards ’12. Edwards, a coveted recruit during her high school career in Los Angeles, excelled in the second half of the Ivy season, scoring 10 points or more in six of the last seven games and earning a spot on the Ivy League All-Rookie Team.

Center Devona Allgood ’12, another member of last year’s Ivy League All-Rookie Team, will anchor Princeton’s post play. She led the Tigers with 6.9 rebounds per game and 44 blocks as a freshman.

Senior guard Tani Brown and senior center Cheryl Stevens are the team’s captains, and the Tigers have added four freshmen to their roster: guards Kate Miller, Lauren Polansky, and Niveen Rasheed, and center Megan Bowen.

Princeton (2-6, 1-4 Ivy) vs. Yale (4-4, 2-3 Ivy) Nov. 14, 1 p.m. Princeton Stadium Princeton, N.J. TV: YES Network (Photo © Beverly Schaefer)

Winning a rivalry game doesn’t change an entire season, but for Princeton, it could provide an important boost. The Tigers are headed for their third consecutive losing campaign, and a win over Yale won’t prevent that. But beating the Bulldogs would send the seniors off with a positive memory from their final home game — and give the younger players a season highlight, too.

“The Yale game, for Princeton, always has been a big rivalry,” said head coach Roger Hughes. “It has been a game that many coaches [and] many players, many teams, many championships are benchmarked by.” Hughes is 3-6 against the Bulldogs; his 2006 team’s comeback win at the Yale Bowl propelled Princeton to a share of the Ivy League championship.

Yale, under the direction of rookie head coach Tom Williams, is looking for momentum before heading into its finale against Harvard. The Bulldogs are among the Ivy’s top defensive teams, but they dropped a home game against Brown last week, surrendering a season-worst 35 points. Despite new leadership, fans can expect to see the same style of play from Yale, according to the Princeton coaches. On offense, the Bulldogs have a dangerous passing attack led by sophomore quarterback Patrick Witt, a transfer from Nebraska who averages 165 passing yards per game. Defensively, Yale is led by experienced, disciplined, and aggressive starting linemen and linebackers (four seniors and three juniors).

Princeton FIELD HOCKEY, ranked No. 4 in the latest Kookaburra/NFHCA Division I Poll, will host Stanford in the opening round of the NCAA tournament at 11:30 a.m. Nov. 14 in Class of 1952 Stadium. (The Princeton/Stanford winner meets the winner of Boston College and Syracuse Nov. 15, also in Princeton.) The Ivy League-champion Tigers completed a perfect 7-0 league season with a 7-0 win against Penn Nov. 6. Princeton (14-2 overall) has beaten three ranked opponents and was undefeated in eight home matches. The Tigers’ only losses came at No. 1 Maryland (3-2 in overtime Oct. 7) and at Providence (2-1 Sept. 20).

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY, also ranked No. 4 in the nation, will compete for an automatic berth in the NCAA Championships at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Meet in Princess Anne, Md., Nov. 14. The top two teams in the regional race advance to the NCAA meet. The Princeton women swept the top five spots in the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships Oct. 30 to win their fourth consecutive league title. Read more about the team in a Runner’s World interview with three-time Heps champion Liz Costello ’10.

Princeton MEN’S BASKETBALL tips off its season Nov. 14 at Central Michigan, and many Tiger fans are hoping for big contributions from the team’s freshmen, including forwards Ian Hummer and Will Barrett.

This fall, in the peak season for college applications, several high school seniors who attended Princeton’s Summer Journalism Program (SJP) will be getting a little extra help as they try to earn admission to some of the nation’s best universities. SJP staff remain in contact to assist students in the college application process, and if history is a guide, the SJP graduates should fare well: Four program alumni currently are enrolled at Princeton, and others have gone on to elite schools like Harvard, Yale, and Stanford.

The nomination for our Tigers of the Week — the SJP directors, pictured from left, Richard Just ’01, Greg Mancini ’01, Rich Tucker ’01, and Michael Koike ’01 — came from a program alumna, Tasnim Shamma ’11, a Daily Princetonian senior writer who said that without SJP, she never would have applied to Princeton.

Just, Mancini, Tucker, and Koike, four friends who worked together on The Daily Princetonian staff, created SJP after graduation in an effort to diversify college and professional newsrooms by giving students from low-income backgrounds a chance to explore and study journalism in a 10-day summer seminar. All student expenses, including travel costs, are paid by donors (mostly Princeton alumni).

By Brittany Urick ’10

Retired Canadian Sen. Roméo Dallaire spoke about conflict prevention and peacekeeping in a Nov. 9 lecture at Dodds Auditorium. Dallaire highlighted serious threats but seemed to express optimism for the future when mentioning the U.N.’s efforts to reform conflict resolution strategies. He also praised the ever-growing worldwide NGO community, which he called “the conscience of humanity.”

Dallaire, a former lieutenant general who served as force commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) during the 1994 genocide, is intimately familiar with the daunting challenges that weak peacekeeping mandates can pose. He refused to abandon his post during the genocide despite the refusal of the U.N. and the international community to intervene to halt the violence.

David Lieb ’03, left, and Andy Huibers ’92 of Bump Technologies. Lieb will be on campus for a Nov. 12 panel discussion at the Friend Center. (Courtesy Bump Technologies)

Two of the Princetonians highlighted in PAW's Nov. 4 story about alumni and students who have developed iPhone applications will participate in a Nov. 12 discussion of "iPhone apps: The new high-tech gold rush?" in the Friend Center Auditorium at 5:30 p.m.

David Lieb ’03 of Bump Technologies, the startup that created the popular Bump app for sharing contact information, and Matthew Connor ’11, an undergraduate who has developed an app that helps diabetics manage their health, will join two other panelists -- Sharon Fordham, chairwoman of Skyworks, which develops games for the iPhone, and Ken Kay, CEO of ici, a publishing, social-networking, and blogging platform for mobile devices.

The event is sponsored by the Keller Center for Innovation in Engineering Education, Jumpstart New Jersey Angel Network, and Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP.

Princeton’s 1883 squad, left, notched the Tigers’ 10th straight win over Rutgers in a 61-0 blowout. The Scarlet Knights would gain the upper hand in the 1970s. At right, a statue in New Brunswick commemorates the first game. (Photos: Athletics at Princeton: A History; courtesy Flickr.com)

College football was born in New Jersey, 140 years ago today, when a team from Princeton traveled to New Brunswick to challenge Rutgers. The rules from that first contest differ greatly from those used today. Each team fielded 25 players who advanced the ball by kicking it or batting it with their hands (catching the ball was permitted, but running with it was not). The home team won, 6-4. Princeton topped Rutgers in a rematch one week later, the season’s only other game.

In a span of 111 years, the Tigers and Scarlet Knights played 71 times. While Princeton had a 53-17-1 record in the series, Rutgers dominated the later years, winning nine of the last 13 games. In 1980, PAW covered the final installment in football’s oldest rivalry. See story below.

From PAW, Oct. 20, 1980

Going Separate Ways

Rutgers 44, Princeton 13

By Martin E. Robins ’64

If the Brown game was a fork in the road, then the last game in the Rutgers series was a freeway interchange where the Scarlet Knights were jockeying for a spot in the fast lane, while the Tigers were exiting to the slower pace of secondary highways. Outdistancing Princeton 44-13, Rutgers ran up the highest point total and widest victory margin it has ever enjoyed in the 111-year history of college football’s oldest rivalry. In so doing, it vindicated Nassau Hall’s decision to let the two teams go their separate ways.

(Photo courtesy Wikipedia)

Princeton (2-5, 1-3 Ivy) at Penn (5-2, 4-0 Ivy) Nov. 7, 3:30 p.m. Franklin Field Philadelphia, Pa.

Princeton’s 17-13 win over Cornell Oct. 31 came with a pair of important firsts: the Tigers’ first Ivy League victory and their first come-from-behind win. The fourth quarter was particularly rewarding, head coach Roger Hughes said: “We had a big fourth-down stop to get the ball back. We were able to run most of the time off the clock in our four-minute offense, and our quarterback [Tommy Wornham ’12] and our wide receiver Trey Peacock ’11 were able to make some explosive plays, which we hadn’t been able to do so far.”

Peacock caught three passes, two of them on touchdown plays. His 78-yard game-winning catch and run was the longest passing play in five years for the Princeton offense.

This week, the Tigers face a hot Penn team that has won five consecutive games and looks poised to challenge Harvard for the Ivy championship. A Princeton win could cripple the Quakers’ Ivy ambitions, but according to Hughes, the Tigers are not motivated by a chance to play the spoiler role.

“The Penn-Princeton rivalry has always been a big game … so I don’t know if the spoiler role has anything to do with it,” he said. “Our kids like to play each other, and our kids know that it’s a high-energy, very physical and emotional game when we get together.”