Recently in Campus News

By Giri Nathan ’13

It took an earthquake for the world to realize Haiti’s plight, but the nation is ready to re-create itself, said Raymond Joseph, Haiti’s ambassador to the United States, in a speech on campus April 6.

“This earthquake has shaken up everything, and everyone,” Joseph told a full audience at Dodds Auditorium. “You’ll never be able to put Humpty Dumpty together the same way.”

Joseph recounted much of Haiti’s troubled history, but stressed the current opportunity to rebuild anew with international attention. “I see a silver lining in it already, because for the first time, people are just focusing on Haiti,” he said.

Decentralization will be crucial to the rise of a “new Haiti,” according to Joseph. In the past, everything was concentrated in Port-au-Prince, he said, including the airport, the seaport, the University of Haiti, and cultural resources.

PAW’s March 17 print edition featured two alumni in the opera world: countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo ’04, a gifted rising star; and experimental opera performer Majel Connery ’01, the artistic director of the Chicago-based company Opera Cabal. Princeton’s opera ties also extend to campus, where an opera thesis project led by two undergraduates will come to fruition this weekend at Richardson Auditorium.

Seniors Alexis Rodda (book/lyrics) and Maxwell Mamon (music) are staging an original, full-length opera titled Rosaleen, with performances at 8 p.m. April 2 and 3. According to Rodda, the assembly of “song, dance, and drama” began a year ago and has been in intensive rehearsals for the last two months. The production features 12 University singers and a chamber orchestra.

Rosaleen follows the story of a highly educated young Victorian woman swept up in whirlwind marriage to a wealthy heir with a troubled past. Admission is free, but tickets are required. For advance tickets, contact University Ticketing at (609) 258-9220 or the Richardson Auditorium box office at (609) 258-5000.

By Giri Nathan ’13

Research on the human genome will forever change the way scientists think about race, President Shirley Tilghman said at the annual James Baldwin Lecture March 9.

“Sequencing of the human genome has revealed that the proxies we have historically used to define race — physical characteristics, geographical origins — are not irrelevant,” she told an audience at Richardson Auditorium, but they do “need to be much more nuanced.”

In her talk, “The Meaning of Race in a Post-Genome Era,” Tilghman approached race from her own vantage point: that of a premier molecular biologist. Having done significant work with the Human Genome Project, she used insights from her academic field to examine the fraught issue of race.

By Samantha Pergadia ’11

Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. spoke to a packed audience in the Carl A. Fields Center March 5, explaining his current project on ancestry and his goal to implement genetics testing into history and science curricula for inner-city schools.

He began his talk by showing clips of African American Lives 2, the second PBS miniseries hosted by Gates. The series traces and reveals the lineage of several prominent African-Americans, including Chris Rock, Maya Angelou, and Tina Turner.

A renowned race theorist known for his book The Signifying Monkey, Gates has maintained an underlying interest in genetics and lineage. Gates said that humanists face a challenge of inserting themselves into discussions increasingly based on biological data. He said it will be difficult for them to “stop just saying stupid stuff about the social construction of race and figure out what that really means at the molecular level.”

By Giri Nathan ’13

The task of setting compensation is an emotionally and ethically grueling one, according to Kenneth Feinberg, the Treasury Department’s executive-pay czar, who examined the challenges of his job in a March 2 address at McCormick Hall.

“What I find fascinating about this assignment is that compensation is a surrogate for worth — it mirrors an individual’s assertion of worth,” he said.

In his speech, Feinberg described the intricacies of his current job: setting pay for the top executives at seven companies receiving government bailout money under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). It’s a responsibility that relies partly on “an element of discretion,” he said.

By Samantha Pergadia ’11

On Jan. 12 Miriam Camara ’10 was surfing the Web when she stumbled upon news of the Haiti earthquake on Professor Melissa Harris-Lacewell’s Twitter account. Although Camara was raised in New York, her mother is from Haiti and has strong ties to the many members of her family in Port-au-Prince. “I called my mother immediately and she was in tears,” Camara said.

Camara, who lost two uncles in the disaster, worked with two other Haitian-American students, Astrid Rousseau ’10 and Emmanuelle Pierre ’10, to help plan a series of campus activities in support of Haitian relief efforts. A bake sale in Frist Campus Center raised $1,200 in three days immediately following the earthquake, and fundraising by the Undergraduate Student Government to support Partners in Health reached nearly $8,000.

The University’s Faculty and Staff Assistance Program offered free counseling services in the wake of the earthquake. According to Alison Nelson, director of benefits, at least 10 staff members used the counseling services. “There were those looking for ways to assist relatives and friends, and many employees who were distraught and in tears over this situation,” Nelson said. Haitian members of the University community formed a committee for support and communication. “The emotions are now best characterized as a strong determination to go to Haiti and support the rebuilding process,” said Pierre Joanis, director of labor relations.

A period of downward mobility lies ahead for Americans, veteran journalist Robert Samuelson warned during a March 1 lecture at the Lewis Science Center. Samuelson, a columnist for Newsweek and The Washington Post who writes about economic issues, said the “era of good feeling” about U.S. economic prosperity since World War II is likely coming to an end. And while there has never been a period in which the living standard of one generation of Americans was not better than the previous one, Samuelson said, that may not be the case for our children and grandchildren.

Per-capita income will continue to increase, Samuelson said, and “we will remain an extraordinarily wealthy society.” But after-tax income may stagnate, he said, citing a projection that if health-care costs continue to rise the way they have been, they will consume about half of the increase in per-capita income by 2030.

Michael Steele, the Republican National Committee chairman, in his Feb. 22 conversation with Professor Eddie Glaude Jr. *97. (Photo by Beverly Schaefer)

By Brittany Urick ’10

The Center for African American Studies hosted a conversation between Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, and Professor Eddie Glaude Jr. *97 Feb. 22 in McCosh 50. Packed with students and members of the community, the lecture hall became a forum for debate toward the end of the hour, as both Glaude and audience members challenged Steele on how he reconciles his conservative stance with the economic inequality and dearth of opportunity facing black Americans today.

Steele brought a sense of humor to the discussion but fiercely defended his views, which he attributed to the values of sacrifice and self-sufficiency instilled by his mother.

“The promise of this country wasn’t what was promised to her,” Steele said. “It was what was promised to me. She found a way to help me realize it.”

On the topic of bipartisanship, Steele said the concept, as many envision it, is “a fiction.” While achieving consensus in a tension-filled political climate is important, finding common ground in order to move forward does not require giving up what one believes, he said.

The blanket of snow that remains in Scudder Plaza complements the white facade of Robertson Hall in this photo, taken Feb. 17. (Photo by Marianne Nelson)

By Brittany Urick ’10

While resourcefulness and networking are two skills any Princeton student hopes to hone before leaving campus for the real world, Genevieve Ryan ’11 mastered them prior to becoming a Tiger. As a teenager, Ryan, with the help of a few influential Washingtonians, authored “The American Presidents,” a song designed to help children remember the occupants of the Oval Office. The tune has received national recognition in the last few years.

“People don’t know as much about our government as they should, especially about its leadership, so I think [the song] is a fun and educational way to learn about the highest office in our country,” Ryan, a Maryland native, said about her creation.

Ryan, who is majoring in politics, began the project at age 12 when her father asked her to memorize the presidents as a Father’s Day gift. She constructed a series of couplets to the melody of William Tell Overture to help her remember the proper order. Her parents, impressed by her ingenuity, encouraged her to further develop the song as the American equivalent of a popular British tune that lists the order of the country’s kings and queens.

This week’s snowstorm gave Princeton students a rare day off from classes Feb. 10, and members of the Princeton Tower Club took advantage, turning the club’s front lawn into a snowball free-for-all. (Photo by Zachary Ruchman ’10)

By Katy Pinke ’10

In March 2009, VH1 television contacted the Princeton debate team. The network was planning to shoot a new week-long program called “The Great Debate,” and the producers wanted to do an “All Stars vs. Ivy Leaguers” episode. The show would premiere in early July as a miniseries in which D-list celebrities debate issues related to pop culture.

Anthony Loring ’11, Charlie Metzger ’12, and Jim Hao ’12 were selected to represent the team in this uncharted forum for debate. Once the three students had agreed to participate, they were provided with a list of topics and possible points and counterpoints.

Their topic: “Which is the better Hulk?” The intimidating opposition — wrestling superstar Hulk Hogan — positioned himself in favor of … himself. The Princeton debaters, on the other hand, argued resolutely for the superiority of a comic-book superhero, the Incredible Hulk.