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Tuesday October 10, 2017 vol. CXLI no. 83
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U. posts 12.5% endowment return for FY17 By Marcia Brown head news editor
The University released its endowment returns on Monday afternoon, Oct. 9, and showed a 12.5 percent investment gain for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2017. The endowment is now valued at $23.8 billion, a growth of $1.6 billion from last year, when the University reported only a 0.8 percent return. “I have mixed feelings about it,” said Princeton University Investment Co. (PRINCO) president Andrew Golden. “We care mostly about the returns in absolute terms, as that is certainly what enables us to achieve our goals.” PRINCO manages the endowment, and will certify the results during its directors’ meeting on Oct. 19. According to a University statement, the endowment’s average annual return during the past decade is 7.1 percent, placing the University squarely in the top percentile of the 458 institutions listed by the Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service. Harvard University announced its returns in mid-September, noting only an 8.1 percent return for Fiscal Year 2017. Although that brought Harvard’s endowment to a staggering $37.1 billion,
the returns were disappointing to N. P. Narvekar, the new manager of the Harvard Management Company, the analogue to PRINCO. Columbia University and Yale University have yet to release their endowment returns, while Dartmouth College posted a 14.6 percent return, and Stanford University reported a 13.1 percent return. “On the relative front ... you can’t win every year, so to speak,” Golden continued, “and, in fact, that’s not really what this is about.” Golden, who has managed the endowment since 1995, explained that for PRINCO – and for most endowment managers – the job is to manage for the long-term, although this was not PRINCO’s strongest year in relative terms. “One year is kind of the blink of an eye,” Golden added. “Everyone who works at PRINCO cares about higher education, and this is not the same kind of [zero-sum] competition as a football game,” he said. “We think that we all do well when we all do well.” Golden said that he feels good about long-term prospects for the endowment, “in part, because See ENDOWMENT page 3
BEYOND THE BUBBLE
N.J. Senators introduce gun control legislation By Benjamin Ball contributor
Attempting to move forward in the wake of tragedy, both United States senators from New Jersey have joined forces with a group of other Democratic senators in introducing new legislation to amend the nation’s gun laws. On Thursday, Oct. 5., Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker took the leap and introduced two new pieces of gun control legislation. According to a statement made via email by Tom Pietrykoski, Booker’s press secretary, “The first would ban bump stocks and close the loophole allowing gun sales without a background check. The second would ban the importation, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possession of gun magazines that hold more than ten rounds of ammunition.” Specifically, the first bill, the Background Check Completion Act, would require a complete background check on any buyer purchasing a gun from a federally licensed dealer; the second bill, the Automatic Gun Fire Prevention Act, would “ban the sale, transfer, importation, manufacture or possession of bump stocks, trigger cranks and similar accessories that accelerate a
In Opinion
semi-automatic rifle’s rate of fire,” according to a statement put out last Thursday. The bill specifically targets accessories that increase a semi-automatic rifle’s rate of fire, though there are exemptions for legitimate accessories used by hunters, as well as for lawful possession of those items either by the government or by law enforcement. The bills come in direct response to the recent tragic shooting in Las Vegas. Bump stocks were used by the Vegas shooter, and thus the senators are pushing for the legislation in the hopes that it could prevent future tragedies from happening again. The NRA recently came out in support of the legislation as well, although it should be noted that there remain ways to increase rate of fire other than those that are banned in the bill. “As the people’s elected representatives, we have a moral obligation to put in place policies to prevent massacres like this one in the future,” said Menendez in a press release. “It’s time to close background check loopholes.” Both legislative efforts being pursued by Menendez and Booker are mainly concerned with fixing regSee SENATORS page 2
Columnist Hayley Siegel makes an appeal for basic human empathy, and columnist Ryan Born braeks down the debate around Title IX. PAGE 4
ON CAMPUS
EMILY SPALDING :: SENIOR WRITER
On Monday, October 9, Riz Ahmed spoke to a University audience in Richardson Auditorium for an event hosted by the Muslim Life Program.
Riz Ahmed talks about role of identity, representation in media By Emily Spalding senior writer
“It’s not just my Emmy, it’s yours as well. But I’ll keep it at my house,” British actor, rapper, and activ ist R iz Ahmed said to a sold-out audience on the afternoon of Monday, Oct. 9 at an event hosted by the Princeton Universit y Muslim Life Program. Ahmed recently won the 2017 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series for his role as Nasir Khan on HBO’s show “The Night
Of,” mak ing h im the f irst Muslim and Asian to w in in this categor y. A lso know n for his roles in f ilms such as “Nightcrawler,” “Rogue One : A Star Wars Stor y,” and “Jason Bourne,” Ahmed spoke about his identity as a South Asian Muslim and how that has shaped his career in the arts. “Your unique stor y is going to form the basis of your unique contribution, and I think often when you don’t see yoursel f ref lected back in popular culture, literar y culture, v isual arts,
f ilm, telev ision, music, it’s ver y easy to think the specif icit y of your ex per ience precludes you from participating in that conversation,” said Ahmed, explaining how his background has impacted his career. “I think what people real ly connect w ith is the honesty of someone k ind of sharing their truth, even if they can’t relate to the texture of their ex perience,” he added. The event began w ith a conversation w ith See AHMED page 2
BEYOND THE BUBBLE
Director of European Space Agency lays out plans for interplanetary exploration By Allie Spensley senior writer
By Alexandros Papamatthaiou contributor
“Let’s to go the Moon in a new way,” said Dr. JohannDietrich Woerner, Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA), in a lecture on Oct. 6 about the advancement of space exploration and ESA’s goals to venture farther into the universe. Woerner invited the audience to imagine a “Moon Village,” an open system involving participants and projects from many different countries. The idea illustrated his belief that the motivations and methods of space exploration are changing in response to increased privatization of the industry, with regional space agencies adopting a more globally interconnected approach. ESA, the European equivalent of NASA, is an intergovernmental organization of 22 member states dedicated to space exploration. Woerner, former president of the German university Technische Universität Darmstadt, has served as head of the agency since 2015. In this capacity, he has led the organization to view space exploration as collaboration for a com-
mon cause. Frequently referring to ESA astronauts as “Europeans,” instead of by their individual nationalities, he talked about the importance of international cooperation in space exploration and upcoming ESA missions co-organized with the American, Canadian, and Chinese space agencies. “Space should not be political,” Woerner said. “It’s possible for space to bridge all earthly crisis.” ESA’s major projects lie in the fields of navigation, telecommunication, science and exploration, and robotics. The agency has developed the European Exploration Envelope Programme, a unified vision for Europe’s space exploration that focuses on the Moon and Mars. Upcoming investigative missions involve exploration of the dark universe, the Sun, exoplanets, Mercury, and gravitational waves. Part of the difficulty of spearheading an organization like ESA is dealing with negative press, Woerner explained. He mentioned widespread public anger over the failed landing attempt of a Mars probe, even though the main purpose of the mission was to learn how to
Today on Campus 4:30 p.m.: Director of the European Iran Research Group Rouzbeh Parsi and Lead Researcher for the Iran Social Survey Kevan Harris discuss contemporary events in Iran in the light of the recent reelection of its president Hassan Rouhani. Robertson Hall, Bowl 016
improve landing procedures. Woerner said that every decision ESA makes is based on a calculation of the probability of failure and the level of risk involved, whether it’s something as small as a simulator, or as important as the safety of humanity. He emphasized the importance of refusing to limit goals or to view Mars as the “ultimate goal” of space exploration. “We should never talk about ‘ultimate goals.’ We never know what humans can do in the future,” Woerner said. Matt Kolodzik ‘20, a mechanical and aerospace engineering concentrator, said that he was interested in Woerner’s overall outlook on space exploration. “He did a good job of balancing politics versus the reality of the technical side of things,” Kolodzik said. “The big thing in the U.S. is space exploration and privatization. He was able to strike a really good balance about what his agency does directly while maintaining a certain amount of respect for the industry.” Hemani Kalucha ‘19, Director of Infrastructure for the Princeton Rocketry Club, invited Woerner See ESA page 3
WEATHER
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Partly Cloudy chance of rain:
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Tuesday October 10, 2017
Ahmed among few Asians, Muslims to win Emmy for acting AHMED
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A h med and st udent moderators, fol lowed by a Q &A w ith the aud ience. Two M LP members, Robia A mjad ’18 and A n har Karim ’18, moderated t he d isc u ssion w ith A h med. A mjad and Karim began work ing to bring A h med to campus over a year ago. Karim ex plained how he felt a con nect ion w it h A h med t h rough h is rel igiou s and ethn ic identities, as wel l as artistic interests. Karim said that he felt inspired seei ng someone who looked like h im featu red prom inent ly in the arts and mov ies, compel l ing h im to bring A h med to campus. He added that he thought many Un iversit y st udents wou ld feel sim i larly. One question regardi ng t he Un iversit y ’s suppor t for m i nor it y st udents led A h med to d raw on h is persona l
ex per iences. The question touched on h i ring professors from more d iverse backg rou nd s, and offering more assistance in adjusting to the col lege env i ron ment. “I do th in k that that feel ing of being insideroutsider, someone who has access to d i fferent worlds and social circles but doesn’t fu l ly belong to any one of them, is a sometimes con fusing, sometimes lonely place to be, but it is a lso an incredibly ferti le place,” A h med ex plained. A native of Wembley in the Un ited K ingdom, A h med attended Ox ford Un iversit y and in itia l ly st r uggled to f i nd h is place there. However, he ex plained that th is adjustment was u ltimately reward ing for h im. “Someth i ng that I’m not i n favor of is e ver yone hav ing their ow n designated enclave,” he said. “You k now, where Mu sl i m st udent s ju st hang out w ith Mu sl im st udents.” He ex plained that h is interaction w ith d iverse
cu lt u res has def ined h is worldv iew. “My ow n ex perience is that to be k ind of pinba l led arou nd bet ween d i f ferent world s, not f u l ly belong to any of them, and to k ind of live in th is k ind of no man’s land, has act ua l ly been — yeah, ch a l leng i ng, lonely at times, con fusing ... but rea l ly a blessing,” he said. A nother area the ta l k foc u sed on was how A h med’s identit y in f luences h is selection of roles and artistic projects. A h med ex plained t h at he h as stopped tr y ing to please ever yone when mak ing these k i nd s of choices. Instead, he asks h im sel f t wo quest ion s when considering a new project. “‘What is the th i ng that I w ish ex isted that doesn’t ex ist, and am I one of the people that can help bring it to existence? ’ … You do that [ask those questions], it k ind of cuts out most st u ff [in the decisionmaking pro ce s s ] ,”
A h med sa id. “ Th at ’s been a rea l ly helpfu l f i lter for me.” A h med’s attit ude has i mpacted h is a r t ist ic st yle, helping h im redef ine what it means to be mainstream. “I don’t feel l i ke I have to go out of my way to, l ike, ‘th row the f ist up,’” he ex plained. “I feel l ike I just have to not apologize … or h ide who I am. A nd I th in k in doing that, you r job is done.” Fol low i ng A h med’s ta l k, aud ience members ex pressed g ratit ude at the priv i lege of hearing h is insight. “It’s a specia l pr iv ilege to be able to engage [w ith] artists th is way,” said Imam Sohaib Su ltan, the Un iversit y ’s Mu sl im Li fe Coord inator and Chaplai n. He a lso spoke to the importance of hav ing g uests l ike A h med at the Un iversit y. “As someone who d irects the Mu sl i m Li fe P rog ram, for me it ’s about getting st udents to see the varied Muslim
ex per iences across the world, so that when people go out in the world, whether they are in the arts or in academ ia or in pol ic y-mak ing, they u nderstand th at Mu sl i m s come from such d i fferent ex per iences,” he said. The event took place at 4:30 p.m. in R ichardson Aud itoriu m.
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Katz: Real problem is lack of public discourse on violence SENATORS Continued from page 1
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ulation pertaining to gun control and making it more effective. But according to Stanley Katz, professor of public and international affairs at the University, legislation may not be quite enough. “What I concluded when I studied the problem, and it was a long time ago, made me despair of effective control,” Katz remarked. “I do believe it is a public education issue; I don’t think we do a good job of that to the extent that it’s perceived as an ‘NRA problem’ or a problem political theory or rights. I think we’re not addressing the important issues, and so I would hope we find better ways of creating a public discourse on violence in American society. I think that’s the problem.” Sebastian Quiroz ‘20, vice president of the Princeton College Democrats, was skeptical about the legislation, but expressed hope for its success. Although he supports both bills, he is concerned that they deal only with very specific cases and do nothing to address private purchases of firearms or with handguns. “I do think limiting access to bump stocks in general and other devices like that is important,” said Quiroz. “As far as the background checks … [this legislation] is not a universal background check. It doesn’t include checks for gun shows and other sorts of purchases like that. So while I do think it’s a step in the right direction, I don’t think we’re anywhere where we need to be in terms of regulating access to firearms.” The Princeton College Republicans and the Office of Senator Menendez did not respond to requests for comment.
Tuesday October 10, 2017
Mars is not ‘ultimate goal’ for ESA exploration ESA
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to speak on campus after meeting him over the summer. “I think that talking to people from other countries is so important, having that perspective of somebody that’s not doing U.S. aerospace is so important,” Kalucha said. “Meeting real people who
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are such important leaders in the aerospace industry reminds you that this is real, and it’s more than physics p-sets and failing your lab. There’s this thing that you are passionate about and it’s still out there, it’s just [about] getting out of Princeton’s bubble and seeing real-life applications,” she added. The lecture, sponsored by the Princeton Rocketry Club, was held in Friend Center 101 at 4:30 p.m.
Endowment reaches total value of $23.8 billion ENDOWMENT Continued from page 1
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we’re long-term.” He noted that he works closely with administrators and the Board of Trustees to establish and support long-term goals, and support the work the University does best. “We do perform well and that performance has enabled us to create a financial aid program that’s second to none and pay for a lot of other forms of excellence and research and teaching – all while spending it in appropriate amounts,” Golden explained. The University statement noted that 80 percent of its financial aid budget is covered by endowment funds. The Board of Trustees approved an 8.7 percent increase in undergraduate financial aid, to a total of $161.2 million, in the University’s operating budget, part of the University’s effort to increase the student body’s socioeconomic diversity. “Over the past 10 years, [our investment returns] have been somewhat low, but that includes a global financial crisis the likes of which we had not seen since the 1920s and 1930s,” said Golden. “I think I’m pretty confident that as the global financial crisis rolls off, we’ll see higher performance.” Global business cycles aren’t the only challenge Golden has faced in the past decade. Congress and some U.S. senators have been criticizing colleges and universities with endowments greater than $1 billion for not spending enough of their returns. Last April, for example, Congress requested infor-
mation from the University about its spending of endowment returns. The U.S. Senate Finance Committee even proposed legislation requiring that colleges and universities spend a minimum percentage of their endowments. In reference to tax policy on endowments, Golden emphasized having an eye for the long-term. “It’s not something you want to yank around each year,” Golden said. Additionally, Golden explained that compensation packages for the PRINCO team, including himself, are based on long-term performance, just like the endowment’s goals. Many universities now run their endowments through separate companies like PRINCO and HMC, largely so universities don’t have to report compensation information on Form 990s, which are public documents. “A lot of compensation is tied to how well we do, but it focuses on a multi-year period,” he said. “Otherwise, it would be focused on folks thinking about short-term investing instead of long-term issues.” The endowment is composed of permanently restricted net assets, temporarily restricted net assets, and unrestricted net assets – and has thousands of accounts dating as far back as the University’s founding. Most accounts are dedicated to financial aid purposes. The University set another record this year in annual giving, raising $74.9 million with 56.8 percent of alumni participating. While unrestricted gifts from annual giving go directly into the operating budget, restricted gifts add to the endowment.
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Opinion
Tuesday October 10, 2017
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A letter to the Princeton community Hayley Siegel columnist
D
ear Princeton community,
Amidst the ongoing speculation about the nature of The Daily Princetonian’s choice to reorganize its editorial board, I think it’s time to recognize that we, the student body of opinionated liberals and conservatives, are more alike than we would think. None of us — even the most constitutionally minded — are immune to making off-the-cuff, overlypartisan infractions against free speech that serve more as libelous attacks than beacons of clarifying political rhetoric. In short, we all, liberals and conservatives alike, should shoulder the blame for why our society has become so reactionary and fractionated. We cordon ourselves off based on arbitrary divisions that we believe allow us to correctly decide if the sharing of “hate speech” is morally right or wrong, to the point where we reach a politicized stalemate that resolves nothing. Instead, in an eagerness to assert our side’s political dominance and demonize anyone who disagrees with us, we overlook the fundamental impression that words can leave on our consciences and hearts as members of the human race, regardless of our political identities. We’re ignoring the glaring reality that words can be acts of violence used against us all. Thus, I hope to provide a firsthand account that sufficiently evinces why — the First Amendment aside — it’s vital that we pay attention to how we use and share our language with one another. In looking back on my first few pieces that I wrote for the ‘Prince,’ I concede that they may have found a more logical niche in the Tory environment, given the right-leaning subject matter. However, it
was never my intention to become a conservative, or even a politicized, voice on campus. Unfortunately, due largely to the unsolicited support my work received from people who might identify as “arch-conservatives,” I was bombarded with a slew of derogatory responses from none other than those proclaiming themselves to be enlightened “proud liberals,” “minority feminist defenders,” or “pro-Hillary Democrats” in their social media profiles. I was stunned that those people — and paradoxically enough, the very people I had thought were “my crowd” and whose acceptance I had been seeking — would so boldly point fingers at me and call me a “racist” and an “embarrassment to Princeton.” But worst of all were those who threatened that I should “stop writing” if I didn’t want to “regret my having published such trash.” At first it was easy to discount my detractors as extremists whose intentions were not so much to forward their own political stance as they were to juvenilely hurt my feelings. There was a cushion between myself and my computer screen that made me feel safe. In fact, I was perfectly satisfied in standing by my convictions, until I realized that many of those people sending me hateful rants and ill-wishes were familiar faces. They were fellow students in my precepts, people I had casually spoken to in the dining halls, friends of friends, and even other ‘Prince’ columnists. Considering the smothering pall of negativity surrounding my work, I decided I would switch tactics. I know that I stunned some of my former supporters in a bid to overtly garner approval from what I assumed was a reliable readership comprised of millennial lefties. I’ll be honest and say that I wrote about whatever I thought would be “woke” and
attract positive buzz: blame Trump, out myself as a feminist, etc. It was naïve to pretend that my new liberal stance would not receive criticism and attacks from conservatives. In retrospect, I was foolish to think that I could pull a total overhaul of my public persona from one extreme to another and miraculously gain a following of sheep-like champions. Thus, unsurprisingly, the new me was met with even more inappropriate vitriol. Ironically, however, this time the diatribes were posted by the very same commenters who had originally lauded my early work. Finally, I’m ready to be open about what was said. Someone — clearly male — commented on my last article suggesting that I was so idiotic that I didn’t deserve to get into Princeton; in his words, “she doesn’t have much of a brain” and instead has only “withered lady parts.” Silly as it sounds, the threatening, sexist tone of the comments that I received obliterated any barriers I had constructed in my mind between my understanding of my personal character and the feedback my work was receiving. Needless to say, reading those words over and over made me so nervous that I spent an evening in McCosh. I tried really hard to laugh them off and pretend as though I were above being offended, without realizing, plain and simple, that I had every right to be hurt. I sat for an hour and cried and decided that I would quit The Daily Princetonian. I didn’t want to embarrass myself, and more importantly, I didn’t want to embarrass my editors, the ‘Prince,’ Princeton University, and my family. This train of thought quickly spiraled into an unhealthy feeling of self-hatred that’s prevented me from being able to confidently write an opinion or want to publish for the
last week. It’s clear that we all have the capacity to be overly sensitive “snowf lakes” and that we’re all equally prone to becoming offensive in our defenses of our political beliefs. In essence, we are all able to impinge on other’s rights and disempower them, spreading messages of intolerance. We’re often too busy justifying the correctness of our own opinions to recognize the true physical, mental, and most importantly, emotional impact that our Twitter rages and angry emails and Facebook unlikes can have on others. That is to say, it’s not the liberals who are right for policing any non-liberal speech nor the conservatives who are right for defending all forms of speech, offensive or not, at any cost. Neither approach seems to have had any positive impact on our society, and has instead led to even greater and more ridiculous partisan fights. I know that I’m not the only victim of such politically motivated, comical ad hominem attacks coming from fellow opinionated people. I’ll also be the first to admit that I am guilty of wrongfully and senselessly attacking others — from President Eisgruber to President Trump — based solely on my guttural, animalistic reactions to their political positions. This verbal, quick-fire titfor-tat needs to stop. In such a divisive age, what we need now more than ever is to exercise our ability to look beyond our often self-defining political, ethnic, and socioeconomic divisions. In our words of disagreement, we can at least choose to exercise a little human empathy for our neighbors and fellow community members to maintain cordiality. Hayley Siegel is a sophomore from Princeton, N.J. She can be reached at hsiegel@princeton. edu.
Reverting Title IX is a mistake Ryan Born
columnist
A
fter the recent ad hominem attacks I received in response to my last column, I have decided to write on something less controversial: Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’ recent revocation of part of the Obama administration’s Title IX guidance. Oh, wait, sorry: I meant more controversial. What exactly did DeVos do? She has moved to rescind certain guidelines. Specifically, she is choosing to get rid of guidelines proffered in a Dear Colleague letter (DCL) on Sexual Violence, issued by the Office of Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education in 2011; the letter established the following guidelines for Title IX compliance: a preponderance of evidence standard in sexual assault cases (one need only be 50.01 percent certain that the accused is at fault), the right for accusing students to appeal “not guilty” charges, and the end of cross-examination of accusers. Not only do I believe that DeVos’ revocation of the DCL a step backwards, but I feel that new campus sexual assault guidance (whether through executive, legislative, or university action) should be stronger than the old DCL guidance. In this piece, I will examine the effects of the DCL revocation on Princeton, then I will argue against Jessica Nyquist’s position that DeVos’ revoca-
tion of the DCL is a victory for “fair trials” in sexual assault cases. Let’s evaluate the change in the DCL guidance on Princeton’s campus. This is somewhat difficult, since the change has not actually affected Princeton at all. According to Princeton’s Title IX Coordinator Michelle Minter, “In 2014, Princeton reached a voluntary resolution agreement with OCR, which included the preponderance standard of evidence. The September 2017 guidance specifically indicates that such voluntary resolution agreements remain binding. Therefore, the new guidance will not have an immediate effect on Princeton.” It is important to realize that the DCL guidance is accordingly still in effect at Princeton for the time being. However, this topic remains important to consider given that new guidance may compel Princeton to adopt a different set of policies. I will argue against the idea that revoking the DCL is a victory for “fair trials” in sexual assault cases. In a recent article, my peer Jessica Nyquist argues that DeVos’ move to increase the burden of proof in sexual assault cases above preponderance is a good move and helps protect the right to fair trials in these cases of extreme importance. I agree with Ms. Nyquist that Article IX did not necessarily promote fair trials. However, I disagree with her that the problem is that preponderance is too
low a standard of evidence. The remainder of this column will argue that sexual assault trials are biased in favor of the accused. That is, the accused are treated most leniently before, during, and after the trial; accordingly, the preponderance guidance is instrumental to a fair trial for the accuser. Firstly, we must note that accused and convicted rapists are often treated very leniently in sentencing. Brock Turner comes immediately to mind, but it also takes only a quick Google search to find many more examples. For those reading this in print and not online, that last sentence has seven hyperlinks. Secondly, we must note the huge difficulty in even getting a trial or an accusation through in the first place. One of the most disturbing sexual assault statistics? According to RAINN, out of every 1000 rapes, 310 are reported to the police. 57 of these reports will lead to an arrest. 11 cases will get referred to prosecutors. Seven will lead to a felony conviction, and only six rapists out of 1,000 will ultimately be incarcerated. To put this in perspective, out of every 1,000 assault and battery crimes, 627 are reported to police, 255 reports lead to arrest, 105 cases get referred to prosecutors, 41 cases will lead to a felony conviction, and 33 criminals will be incarcerated. Rapists are difficult to bring to justice for their crimes, and increasing the standard of evidence only makes this more
difficult. Thirdly, I argue that fears of a lack of “fair trials” for the accused are rooted in deep-set fears of being falsely accused of rape. Rape is one of the most heinous crimes in society. Conviction as a sex offender is a life-ending offense, for good reason. I believe that the fear of lacking a “fair trial” is a response to a perceived ease of accusation. In a 2005 journal article published with the Vanderbilt Law Review, Nicholas J. Little argues in Part Vagainst the “Bogeyman of False Allegation.” False accusations of rape are no more likely to occur than false accusations of other major crimes, and false accusations also tend to be made by young women, whose accusations are dealt with rapidly and efficiently by police and prosecutors. Hence, it is perfectly reasonable to suggest a preponderance standard for rape cases, as it is clear that false accusations are no more dangerous than in other cases. Given that most sexual assault is unreported, we should assume that more sexual assault than is reported occurs. Given that most sexual assault does not go to trial, we should assume that more sexual assault ought to go trial. Given that most false sexual assault accusations are exceedingly rare, we ought to assume that most sexual assault accusations did indeed occur, or at least occurred as often as any other major crime. Given that investigators usually weed
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out false accusations rather easily, we should assume that the false accusations that do occur will indeed be found out. Hence, it is not the case that Title IX trials are unfair towards the accused, but rather that they are unfair towards the accuser. I am unfortunately limited in the scope of my article, but I leave you with my main premise here: Sexual assault victims deserve as much care, protection, and sympathy as we can possibly provide towards their allegations. From this perspective, reverting Title IX is a mistake. Ryan Born is a junior in Philosophy from Washington, Mich. He can be reached at rcborn@princeton.edu.
Tuesday October 10, 2017
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Paying tithes to the Second Amendment Lou Chen
A
columnist
lmost two years ago, I exited my COS 109 class and opened my phone to find a f lurry of texts. 14 people had been killed in a mass shooting that took place in my hometown of San Bernardino. Six months ago, I exited my MUS 206 class and opened my phone to find a f lurry of texts. Three people had been killed in a shooting that took place at North Park Elementary School in San Bernardino. Students were evacuated to Cajon High School, my alma mater, which is less than a mile away. A week ago, I woke up and opened my phone to find a f lurry of news alerts. 59 people had been killed in a mass shooting that took place at a Las Vegas country music festival. Among the dead was a student at California State University San Bernardino, where both of my parents teach and many of my friends attend.
Ref lecting on these three separate tragedies, I cannot help but think of a comment made by then-presidential candidate Jeb Bush in response to the October 2015 Umpqua Community College shooting: “Stuff happens.” Faced with a barrage of criticism from the media and the political community, he later backpedaled and claimed that he was referring to tragedies in general, not just gun violence. But Jeb’s words weren’t that outrageous. If anything, they were ref lective of a far more uncomfortable truth that many of us are unwilling to accept. Let’s begin with a smaller truth: realistic gun control can only do so much, and it’s not a lot. Stephen Paddock, the Las Vegas shooter, didn’t possess a criminal record or a documented history of mental illness, so all of his gun purchases were legal. And although the NRA recently endorsed an effort to regulate bump stocks, which Paddock used to modify one of his rif les into a makeshift
machine gun, it’s worth remembering that the Orlando, San Bernardino, and Sandy Hook shootings were all committed with semiautomatic weapons. New York Times columnist Bret Stephens, in a recent op-ed, put it best: “The more closely one looks at what passes for ‘common sense’ gun laws, the more feckless they appear. Americans who claim to be outraged by gun crimes should want to do something more than tinker at the margins of a legal regime that most of the developed world rightly considers nuts … There is only one way to do this: Repeal the Second Amendment,” wrote Stephens. But that brings us to an even more immutable truth: the Second Amendment is not going anywhere. Public opinion is staunchly against its repeal — a 2016 Gallup poll revealed that only 23 percent of Americans are in favor of a law that would ban the possession of handguns, except by the police and other authorized persons. And Australia’s gun
buyback program is a laughable fantasy within the context of the United States, no matter how much liberals get excited at the prospect. Can you really imagine that people who sleep with their guns by their bedsides would willingly give them up for any amount of money? And, if you can’t, are you willing to live in a society in which the government sends armed troops into people’s homes to forcibly take away their guns? Jeb Bush was right. These shootings are just stuff. To endow them with more significance is to imply that something can and will be done to prevent them. But stuff— we shrug off stuff. Stuff happens. And stuff will continue to happen, whether it’s next year, next month, next week, maybe even tomorrow. When you look into the eyes of those who have lost friends or family to gun violence, be honest. Tell them that their loved ones died in service of the greatest cause of them all — keeping sac-
rosanct the Second Amendment. Tell them that they died so that others may reserve their unalienable right to shoot and kill. After all, the Second Amendment is just one of the many gods that we, as members of this great and free nation, must worship. When a child expresses fear at having to go to school, or a parent bids their children good-bye without knowing if it might be the last time they see them — these are genuf lections we make to the Second Amendment. And every precious life we lose to gun violence is a tithe we pay to it. The Second Amendment is a Shylockian god, asking only for a few pounds of our f lesh. Yet with every pound we give, we grow heavier — until there is nothing left to give. Lou Chen is a music major from San Bernardino, Calif. He can be reached at lychen@ princeton.edu.
Sweet Dreams Anne Zou ’20
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The dinner table: Food for thought Sabrina Sequeira columnist
F
or some, a lack of family dinners seems foreign. For others, it ironically feels like home. I distinctly remember a day in my sophomore year of high school, when my teacher asked my class of around 20 students, “How many of you eat dinner with your family every night?” Two or three shy hands wriggled their way up. I was shocked to learn that so few people sit at a table alongside their siblings and parents, waiting to hear the day’s stories, school nightmares, or promotion announcements. In my home, dinner never fails to serve a plateful of new tales. But not every teen grows up with these nightly experiences. Likely due to technology and poor scheduling, many teenagers are distanced from their families, which can harm not
only their relationships with parents, but their wellbeing. My classmates in that class in high school weren’t alone. According to a 2012 study at Columbia University, 43 percent of teenagers do not have dinner with their families at least five times a week. I understand that some families can’t share meals each night due to scheduling restrictions. But I feel that teenagers’ absorption of technology is largely to blame for the lack of family dinners. As youth, we become fascinated by the world at our fingertips, neglecting that which lies in the kitchen downstairs. Sure, the former yields an immediate social satisfaction — but, I would argue that the latter breeds a family dynamic that transcends the limits of dinnertime. An obsession with technology harms us on many fronts, most notably affecting our
happiness. Researchers at Johns Hopkins, for example, have found that Facebook usage is negatively associated with well-being. Another study suggests that those who have fewer family meals show higher rates of depression and suicide involvement. Together, these results demonstrate that an obsession with social media and the negligence of family meals can adversely affect our mental health. Certainly, when we are on our phones at the dining hall, we can connect with distant relatives. But when we are at home, we are also apt to spend time on this technology rather than with our families. The neglect for family meals is also rooted in the American fascination with a fast-paced, busy lifestyle. Surely, job and school commitments may render our schedules inflexible, but often our daily routines are filled with social arrange-
ments that could be postponed. Within these tightlypacked schedules, we should remember to shape out a timeslot for family. At Princeton, where almost all students live on campus, distance from home already limits the opportunities for new memories and unity within the family. The study by Columbia University indicates that teenagers who have frequent family dinners are nearly one-and-a-half times more likely to say they have an “excellent relationship” with their parents than those who do not. So, when we come to school, if we come from a familial culture in which household dinners are tradition, the family dynamic is already better equipped to withstand the distance in order to maintain strong ties. The importance of dinners in creating these ties can even be seen at Princeton. Here, we
engage in a similar culture in the dining halls as some of us do at home — when we enter, we immediately search left and right, high and low, for a familiar face, someone with whom we can share our meal. Just as we create memories over the dinner table here, we should look back on our moments with our parents and siblings, and remember the legends of the dinner table. Over Thanksgiving break, encourage a family meal on a day that isn’t marked on the calendar. Create a healthy habit worth savoring. Make conversation the main dish. In putting down our devices, not only can we prove to our parents we aren’t addicted to technology, but we can also forge meaningful ties and traditional familial values that are timeless. Sabrina Sequeira is a first-year from Springfield, N.J. She can be reached at sgs4@princeton.edu.
Tuesday October 10, 2017
Sports
page 6
{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } MEN’S TENNIS
Wasserman’s sweep of awards highlight Tigers’ weekend ByChris Murphy
Associate Sports Editor
Two weeks ago, junior Jimmy Wasserman had a rough weekend at the Ivy Plus Invitational. This past weekend, he redeemed himself with an incredibly successful performance at the Farnsworth Invitational at the Lenz Tennis Center. Wasserman took home first place in both events he competed in: the B singles bracket and the C doubles bracket. He won in doubles on Saturday and followed that up with a win in singles on Sunday. After the match, Head Coach Billy Pate remarked that the team members “were very pleased” with Jimmy’s championship win. Coming into Sunday’s B flight singles final, Wasserman had defeated four opponents, all in straight sets. Standing between him and the championship was Lars Schouten of Marist College. Wasserman won the first set 6-4 after fending off a late charge from Schouten. But Wasser dominated the second, and ultimately deciding, which ended in a 6-2 set victory. With the win, Wasserman was also able to avenge senior teammate Diego Vives, who was unable to compete against Schouten during
the quarterfinals of the B flight bracket on Saturday due to an injury. While unable to get a Tiger vs. Tiger final, Coach Pate expressed that he was thrilled that Wasserman rebounded from the Ivy Plus Invitational with a fantastic singles performance. All of this came after Wasserman already had earned some hardware at the Farnsworth Invitational. On Saturday, Wasserman and his teammate freshman Noah Agarwal emerged victorious from the 16team C doubles flight. Agarwal and Wasserman were challenged by Balaji Lakshmanan and Xandy Hammit of Drexel University in the final round. The match was a nailbiter, going all the way to the decisive 15th, set where Wasserman and Agarwal won and secured the C doubles flight title; they ended with an ultimate 8-7 record. “Jimmy and Noah really had a great tournament in doubles in winning their flight,” noted Coach Pate. “We also had some positive singles performances from everyone playing.” Indeed, many of the Tiger players had great performances in this past tournament, the final one before regionals.
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Jimmy Wasserman brought the Tigers’ Tennis team to victory this weekend at the Ivy Plus Invitational.
Freshman Kabir Sarita finished second in the C singles flight, and made it to the quarterfinals with Vives in the B doubles flight before cutting the match short due to Vives’ injury. Pate said on Saturday that it “appears that [Vives] will be out for a few weeks.” Despite the injury, spirits were high among the Tiger players and coach. Pate remarked on
Saturday that they’d “had a very solid two days at [their] Farnsworth event and it’s been really valuable for the four guys playing to get a heavy volume of match play.” Things only got better for the Tigers on Sunday. “Overall, it was a productive weekend for us,” said Pate, adding that he hopes that everyone will be healthy and ready to play by regionals.
The Tigers won’t play another match until the ITA Northeast Regional on Oct. 18. The tournament this year will be in New Haven, Conn. and will continue through the first day of midterms week. Until then, let us wish Vives a fast recovery and hope that the Tigers carry positive thoughts from the successes at Farnsworth into the next week of practice.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
Princeton women’s tennis pair plays in the All-American Championships
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Kalhorn and Schrage represented Princeton at the All-American Championsips this past weekend.
By Owen Tedford Staff Writer
Last Tuesday, the women’s tennis team had a lone double pair compete in the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships hosted at the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
This doubles pair consisted of junior Nicole Kalhorn and freshman Stephanie Schrage. The pair played the No. 26 pair of Anna Rogers and Claudia Wiktorin, hailing from North Carolina State. The Princeton players fought hard in
Tweet of the Day “Courtney O’Brien netted two goals for @PrincetonWSoc within 56 seconds of each other, including a kick finish against Brown. #NCAASoccer” NCAA Soccer (@ NCAASoccer, Soccer
an 8-6 defeat in their first round of the qualifying doubles draw. The match was tied before the pair from NC State won three of the last four games. Kalhorn and Schrage have played as doubles partners once before, joining forces
at the ITA Hall of Fame Grass Court Invitational earlier this season, where they went 1-1, winning one game 8-5 and losing another heartbreaker 8-7. Princeton’s season so far has been one of tremendous success, especially when the Tigers played at home two weekends ago. Over the course of this weekend, Princeton went 10-1 in doubles and 15-5 in singles, a mightily impressive record against foes from Temple, Cornell, and Penn. The early stretch of the season was marked by noteworthy play from freshman Nathalie Rodilosso. After coming in as a highly regarded, four-star recruit, she finished second in the B Flight at Penn’s Cissie Leary Invitational, her first tournament for Princeton. She followed this up with a strong performance at the Princeton Invitational, with a 2-1 record in her singles matches and a 2-0 record in her doubles matches. Looking ahead, Princeton will be participating in the ITA Northeast Regional at the Hamlin and
Stat of the Day
38 yards
Freshman CJ Wall returned a 38-yard pass off an interception against Georgetown for a touchdown on Saturday, was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week.
Hecht Tennis Centers at Penn next week; the tournament starts on Wednesday, Oct. 18 and will run through Monday, Oct. 23. Last year, the Tigers didn’t have any participants in the tournament from the women’s team, so having players make an appearance is a step up from previous seasons. Many of the Princeton players will be looking to show what they’ve got, especially considering how young the roster is. Out of the nine players on the Tigers’ roster, there are only four upperclassmen, two seniors and two juniors, playing with three sophomores and two freshmen. Both freshmen have already made great impacts on the team. Along with Rodilosso, Schrage has demonstrated impressive play; her high point so far was beating the No. 64 player in the country, LSU’s Ryann Foster, at the ITA Hall of Fame Grass Court Invitational. Keep an eye on both next week at the ISA Northeast Regional and going forward as Princeton Tigers.
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