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Friday October 29, 2021 vol. CXLV no. 54

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STUDENT LIFE

ON CAMPUS

U. to lift international travel restrictions for winter break ON CAMPUS

By Anika Buch and Tess Weinreich

ternational Affairs and Operations Aly Kassam-Remtulla. Effective immediately, all personal international travel will continue to require Director of Student Life (DSL) approval – though separate Global Safety & Security (GSS) approval is only required for

Assistant News Editor and Contributor

Princeton travel guidelines have been revised with several notable changes, according to an Oct 27 email to all students from Associate Provost for In-

See TRAVEL page 14

IN TOWN

IZZY JACOBSON / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Zoom screenshot of Dorian Abbot and Robert George in the lecture “Climate and the Potential for Life on Other Planets”

Local Starbucks cuts James Madison Program hosts hours dramatically talk by controversial geosceintist Nassau Street store was facing severe labor shortage

By Sidney Singer and Lia Opperman

Nubia Morales ’25, a barista at the Nassau Street store, told The Daily Princetonian that the store currently has around half of its necessary staff. “I was told by my managers that we are closing early because we are understaffed,” Morales said. “Last time I checked, we had around 16 employees when we need about twice as many employees to have a fully functioning Starbucks that closes around nine.” According to Morales, in recent weeks the Starbucks moved up closing time from 7:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. to 4 p.m. before finally moving to the current hours. Morales, who has worked at other Starbucks locations before, described the Nassau Street location as “the most understaffed yet busiest location” that she’s worked at. She believes that the issue is rooted in the fact that the location is in a college town, where most of the employees

Contributors

The Starbucks on Nassau Street has drastically decreased its hours due to staffing issues within the store. Its operating hours are now from 6 a.m. to noon on weekdays, and it is closed on weekends. The previous hours were as early as 5:30 a.m. and as late as 7:30 p.m. A Starbucks spokesperson confirmed that the Nassau Street Starbucks location is operating under reduced hours because of a temporary staffing shortage, and it will return to regular hours as soon as possible. The spokesperson also suggested that customers regularly check the Starbucks app to see updates about the hours of operation. The Nassau Street Starbucks manager and the district manager deferred comment to the Starbucks Media Relations team.

See STARBUCKS page 5

MARK DODICI / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

By Andrew Somerville and Izzy Jacobson Staff Writer and Contributor

Over 4,000 attended a Zoom lecture by University of Chicago Associate Professor of Geophysical Sciences Dorian Abbot on “Climate and the Potential for Life on Other Planets” on Thursday, Oct. 21. The event was hosted by the James

tiatives and affirmative action. In Aug. 2021, Abbot, alongside Stanford Associate Professor of Accounting Iván Marinovic, detailed their views in an OpEd for Newsweek, which suggested an alternative framework to DEI called “Merit, Fairness, and Equality.” Abbot and Marinovic also compared DEI’s grouping of individuals See ABBOT page 3

In Photos: Tigers beat Crimson See page 15

IN TOWN

Town council talks liquor stores, leaf blowers at weekly meeting By Charlie Roth Contributor

BEYOND THE BUBBLE

Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions (JMP) after it was canceled by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS). Abbot sparked controversy within the MIT community because of his public statements against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) ini-

In a meeting on Oct. 25, which notably lasted over five and a half hours, the Princeton Town Council passed an ordinance banning gas leaf blowers within the municipality, alongside debating whether to allow Claridge Wine and Liquor to open on 102 Nassau

Street and rezoning areas around the Hun School from residential to educational. Approving Claridge Wine and Liquor to move from their original location in the Princeton Shopping Center to 102 Nassau Street See COUNCIL page 3

Princeton Club of New York defaults on mortgage

By Sam Kagan and Lia Opperman News Editor Emeritus, Staff Writer and Contributor

The Princeton Club of New York may soon lose its ninestory Manhattan clubhouse after defaulting on $39.3 million of mortgage debt. The building is set to be sold to the highest bidder. Boasting event spaces, athletic facilities, and two restaurants, among other amenities, the organization has lost roughly one-third of its 6,000 dues-paying members since

In This Issue

the start of the pandemic. The Club is open to University alumni, students, faculty, and administrators in addition to individuals affiliated with 15 other educational institutions. Membership dues, assessments, guest room rentals, and food and drink have historically been enough to support the Club, which opened in 1866 and moved to its current location at 15 West 43rd Street in 1963. However, the organization fell on harder times after the COVID-19 pandemic forced its doors to close for 15 months.

“While closed during the mandated closures in New York City, or only partially reopened due to the pandemic, the Club was deprived of all or most of our operating income for over a year,” wrote Club President Christine Loomis ’72 in an email to the organization’s members. In March, the Club received forbearance through September on its debt from Sterling National Bank. When it came time to pay, “the bank offered the Club a further forbearance

“PRINCETON-CLUB.JPG” BY AMERICASROOF AT ENGLISH WIKIPEDIA / CC BY-SA 3.0

See PCNY page 4

Princeton Club of New York.

SPORTS | PAGE 15

OPINION | PAGE 8

The last time the Tigers met the Bears in 2019, they defeated Cornell 21–7. On Friday, they will be looking to do it again, extending their undefeated streak to 7–0.

There is an element of the club application process that requires our attention: much like the college admissions process itself, the club application process at Princeton favors high-income individuals.

PROSPECT | PAGE 12 On National Coming Out Day, what does it take to come out and then to live unabashedly and fully?

The Daily Princetonian

page 2

Friday October 29, 2021

U. AFFAIRS

U. inadvertently releases private info of thousands of community members By Evelyn Doskoch and

Marie-Rose Sheinerman

head news editor and head news editor emerita

Private information about students, faculty, staff, and other University affiliates was inadvertently released by email to undergraduates on Thursday, Oct. 21. The information appeared as an attachment in a reply to a routine email updating students on when to submit COVID-19 tests after fall break. Twenty minutes later, University Health Services (UHS) followed up with a third message asking readers to “please disregard” the previous email. “This was sent in error,” the UHS team wrote. The spreadsheet attached to the email contained data used by the University to track COVID-19 testing results on campus, including staff members’ employment status, employee department numbers and ID numbers, and testing status for the week, whether “active” or “suspended.” The document did not contain vaccination status information or any records of COVID-19 test results. Each person listed on the document was identified by their first name, last name, and email address, with employees additionally linked to their manager and that manager’s email address. While much of this contact information is publicly available

on the University’s Advanced People Search and Residential College Facebook, some individuals opt to have themselves removed from these platforms. The document’s first tab was labeled “Everyone but Students,” and contained 6,848 names, most affiliated with Human Resources or the office of the Dean of Faculty. Undergraduate and graduate students in the testing protocol were listed in separate tabs on the document, as well as employees of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and other affiliates. A sixth tab listed 6,807 people who were marked as “inactive” in the testing protocol: a mix of off-campus individuals; those retired, on leave, or deceased; and alumni. It also noted hundreds with the affiliation status “terminated.” The testing protocol for the fall semester requires that all vaccinated community members who access University facilities submit a saliva test once a week and all unvaccinated community members do so twice a week. Within specific tabs, further personal information could be obtained indirectly. Students listed as taking part in off-campus travel over break “away from Princeton Geographic Area” were noted to have a “suspended” testing status — allowing viewers to determine which students were on and off campus for Fall Break.

Editor’s Note:

JULIAN GOTTFRIED / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

McCosh Health Center, home of University Health Services.

Several other students were noted as having a “suspended” testing status due to illness or another medical reason. The spreadsheet also noted students’ “affiliation” status with the University, which for the vast majority of students was marked as “Active.” In a number of cases, however, students were indicated to be “Inactive,” “Prospective,” or “Applied.” In the case of two students — one whose status was “Inactive” and another whose status was “Applied” — the document showed that their reason for absence from the testing protocol was that they were “Not on campus.” Also listed on the spreadsheet were 679 affiliates: University chaplains, employees of Princeton University Press, ROTC officers, and users of departmental or library comput-

ers, among others. At 6:53 p.m., students received a follow-up email from the “UHS COVID Testing Team” asking students to delete the spreadsheet received earlier that afternoon. “A spreadsheet containing limited information on a number of members of the University community was inadvertently distributed by email to some undergraduate students earlier today,” Deputy University Spokesperson Michael Hotchkiss wrote to the ‘Prince.’ “The file does not contain information on testing compliance or personal health information, other than listing the ‘sick or other medical reason’ selection some individuals made when filling out the Testing Absence Form.” “We’re working to understand the situation fully and determine whether additional

steps are necessary,” Hotchkiss added. “We regret this error.” This story was last updated on Thursday evening. Marie-Rose Sheinerman is a senior writer who has reported on COVID-19 policy, faculty controversy, sexual harassment allegations, major donors, campus protests, and more. She can be reached at ms78@princeton.edu or on Twitter at @rosesheinerman. She previously served as an editor of news and features and now assists with content strategy. Evelyn Doskoch is a Head News Editor who has reported on University affairs, COVID-19 policy, student life, sexual harassment allegations, town affairs, and eating clubs. She can be reached at edoskoch@princeton.edu or on Twitter at @EvelynDoskoch.

The piece titled “USG removes LANY as Lawnparties headliner amid allegations of inappropriate conduct” and published in the Oct. 8 print issue has been updated to reflect that the ‘Prince’ has not sought to independently verify the allegations against Paul Klein and to remove a description of specific allegations.

HEADLINE FROM HISTORY

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FOOTBALL SHATTERS SATURDAY SILENCE: QUIET CAMPUS AWAITS PUMPKIN OCT 29, 1965

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The Daily Princetonian

Friday October 29, 2021

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In addition, public support was expressed for turning Witherspoon Street into a purely pedestrian zone COUNCIL

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drew public criticism from other local businesses. Among the detractors were owners of Hamilton Jewelers, Labyrinth Books, and the Princeton Arts Gallery. “A liquor store at this location will actively detract from the Princeton experience, particularly on this block of Nassau Street,” wrote Hank and Andrew Siegel, owners of Hamilton Jewelers, in a letter to the Council. As the nearly two-hour debate continued past midnight and multiple council members raised their voices at one another, the council voted to table the decision until the next meeting, citing that they felt more information and attention to the issue was needed. “This has really gone off the rails … this is exactly why we should not be doing it this late when everyone’s tired,” said Councilwoman Mia Sacks on the choice to revisit the issue later. The ordinance to ban gas leaf blowers in the municipality, however, was met with unani-

mous public support. Not only do they believe this will have large benefits for the environment, but the Council, in its ordinance negotiations, had involved the affected landscaping workers — a significant choice, according to resident Phyllis Teitelbaum. “If Princeton passes this ordinance, you will be in the trend [of banning gas leaf blowers],” she said. “But Princeton has done something unique. We involved our landscapers.” “Not a single other municipality has included landscapers in its planning of a gas leaf blower ordinance,” Teitelbaum continued. “Some of the provisions in the proposed ordinance are ones that were actually suggested by the landscapers themselves.” A Spanish interpreter was provided for this portion of the meeting. After over an hour of public comment — all in support of the ordinance — the council voted unanimously to pass it. The council also discussed rezoning residential areas around the Hun School in Princeton to allow more space to be used for educational purposes. However, neighbors of

the school expressed concern over the decision. Namely, residents were worried about potential construction that they believed would happen if the rezoning passed. Richard Goldman, the attorney for the school, argued that the rezoning request was strictly so that the school could use the existing property for educational purposes, with no current plans for construction. He did not rule out future construction. After almost 90 minutes of debate, the council reached a standstill. After a vote of three yeses, one no, and two abstains, the Council failed to reach a majority Unsure as to how to proceed, the municipal attorney Trishka Cecil said she would look into what would be done. Cecil believed that either the yes vote wins as a plurality, or that the decision would be deferred to Mayor Mark Freda. Freda stated during the meeting that he would vote no on the rezoning. Regarding the ongoing debate over construction plans on whether to pedestrianize Witherspoon Street, Naomi Hess ’22 detailed her experienc-

es with the current sidewalks, which are narrow and hard to navigate in her wheelchair. “I just want to make sure that you consider accessibility in these renovations,” she said. Hess is an Associate News Editor for The Daily Princetonian. The council agreed that this should be a priority and asked to speak with her again on the issue in-depth. Furthermore, additional public support for turning Witherspoon Street into a purely pedestrian zone was

expressed during the meeting. The council, while in favor of increasing pedestrian space on Witherspoon, in a previous meeting was hesitant to accept fully pedestrianizing the space. The Council will next meet on Monday, Nov. 8. Charlie Roth is a news contributor for the ‘Prince.’ He can be reached at charlieroth@princeton.edu or @imcharlieroth on Twitter or Instagram.

CHARLIE ROTH / DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Zoom screenshot of Princeton Town Council meeting on Oct. 25.

Abbot spoke about his research on climate change and planetary visualization ABBOT

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by race to the “ideological regime obsessed with race” that came to power in Nazi Germany 90 years ago. Department Head of EAPS Robert van der Hilst explained his personal view of the OpEd in an email to The Daily Princetonian. “Dr. Abbot’s opinions and expressions are well within his right to speak freely, although I think the use of deeply offensive analogies stifles the respectful dialogue that we so badly need,” he wrote. In an email to the ‘Prince,’ however, Abbot justified the publication of his beliefs. “I am extremely worried about our ability to do effective science in [an] atmosphere [of] ... illiberalism, intolerance, and censorship,” he wrote. “As a tenured professor in a relatively protected position, it is my duty to speak out in favor of a free society because so many others cannot.”

Abbot was offered the opportunity to speak at MIT in early 2020, prior to the publication of the Op-Ed. Upon hearing of his invitation to speak, members of the MIT community, including Ph.D. student Lyssa Freese, took to Twitter to react. Many people claimed that Abbot’s views do not reflect those of the EAPS department. “I’m in shock that a department that consistently makes statements about trying to make efforts in DEI would continue forward with this,” she said in her Tweet. After concerns about Abbot were brought to his attention, van der Hilst consulted MIT students, faculty, and administrators before ultimately deciding to call off the event. On Sept. 30, he decided to cancel the Carlson lecture altogether. “I felt that with the current distractions we would not be in a good position to hold an effective outreach event,” van der Hilst wrote to the ‘Prince.’ “This particular decision was very contextual, very much hinged to the nature of a par-

THE MINI CROSSWORD By Sebastian Hayden Staff Constructor

MINI #1

ticular lecture. Dr. Abbot was never disinvited or canceled and remains welcome to lecture at MIT.” Abbot expressed disappointment in the EAPS department for the cancellation and described his expectation of how MIT would respond to people attacking him on Twitter. “I thought [van der Hilst] would say something like: … ‘We’ve informed the relevant people of the penalties they would face for disrupting an academic lecture, and we’re happy to have you,’” he wrote. “I would have never thought this kind of thing could happen in America,” Abbot added. In response to the Carlson lecture being canceled, Abbot wrote a column for Common Sense with Bari Weiss in which he called out MIT for “cav[ing] in” to pressure from “Twitter mobs.” After the lecture cancellation, the JMP invited Abbot to give the same lecture via Zoom on Oct. 21, the day the Carlson lecture was supposed to be hosted by the EAPS depart-

ment. Director of the JMP and McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence Robert P. George gave an introduction at the lecture, explaining the unique nature of Abbot’s invitation. “We at the Madison program, consider this disinvitation by MIT to be chilling to academic freedom and free speech,” he said. George also called the topic of Abbot’s Op-Ed in Newsweek “a controversial subject on which reasonable men and women of goodwill disagree.” The topic of the lecture was entirely on Abbot’s research regarding climate change and planetary visualization, and he did not mention the canceled Carlson lecture or any other controversy. The consequences of this decision, however, span far past just this event. The New York Times, CNN, and NBC all regarded this controversy as reflective of a larger debate on freedom of speech in academia. David Romps, former Director of Berkeley Atmospheric

MORE ONLINE

Sciences Center (BASC) at the University of California, Berkeley, resigned after his colleagues refused to host Abbot. He claimed on Twitter that “excluding people because of their political and social views … reduces the opportunities for learning and collaboration” within the sciences. “There are very few faculty willing to openly defend academic freedom right now, let alone resign an important directorship in support of it,” Abbot wrote to the ‘Prince.’ “If we had a few more leaders and administrators like Professor Romps, we wouldn’t be having a crisis of academic freedom in our universities.” Andrew Somerville is a staff writer who corresponds with and covers USG happenings and other campus news. He can be reached at jas19@princeton.edu. Izzy Jacobson is a news and features contributor for the ‘Prince.’ She can be reached at ijacobson@ princeton.edu and @izzyjacobsonn on Instagram.

scan to read more !

FEATURES

Tiger Tots: Yisroel, Shua, Sarale, Yosef Webb PROSPECT 1 6 7 8 9

ACROSS Suffix added to “arachno-” to mean someone afraid of spiders Spooky, like a foggy night Demon’s opposite Frightening Naval officer: Abbr. DOWN

1 2 3 4 5

Two ___ in a pod Consequently Instrument of cathedrals and haunted houses Casket stands Slippery, as a moray

See page 7 for more

‘The French Dispatch’ is totally camp — but that’s what makes it so great NEWS

Amherst College ends legacy admissions policy, sparking conversation at elite institutions

page 4

The Daily Princetonian

Friday October 29, 2021

Robins: Pre-pandemic, the life of the club was in the physical clubhouse. It was where events took place and where people gathered. PCNY

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… but for only one month and with punitive interest rates and conditions,” Loomis noted. “We could not accept these terms, and the bank declared us in default.” Unfortunately for the Club, the University has not expressed any desire to provide assistance. While a number of other Ivy League alumni clubs maintain monetary ties to the schools they serve — the buildings for the Cornell Club and the Penn Club are owned by their respective institutions — the Princeton Club of New York has no financial relationship with Nassau Hall. Nevertheless, Bloomberg News reported that the “storied club” sought to “enlist [the] University’s help.” Tom Bailey ’94, the Club’s media contact, further indicated that the organization plans “on reaching out” to other affiliated schools. “We have been in contact to explain the current situation,” he said. Douglas Robins ’23, a member of the Club, believes that losing the building would be exceptionally detrimental. “Pre-COVID … the whole life of the club was in the physical clubhouse,” he said. “That was where events took place, that was where people gathered.” “One of the selling points of our school is that we have the best alumni network in the country,” he later continued. “I think that we should have spaces to facilitate that, and I think it’s wrong for Princeton not to financially support the Princeton Club.” In an email to The Daily Princetonian, a University official downplayed the importance of the Club, choosing instead to promote the region’s Alumni Association. “The Princeton Association of New York City — the University’s largest regional alumni association — provides a steady, diverse slate of programming throughout the year for the more than 9,000 alumni residing in the region,”

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the official wrote. “These events provide a range of opportunities for Princetonians to connect, learn and serve. Most PANYC events are either free or low cost and are held in many locations. In addition, our New York City area alumni benefit from easy access to campus events.” The fate of 15 West 43rd Street will likely be sealed soon as Sterling National Bank hired Newmark Group Inc. to auction the Club’s debt by the end of November. While a buyer would have the power to work with the Club to achieve financial solvency, leniency is far from guaranteed. An unfriendly acquisition could leave the Club without a home. “We had hoped to dissuade the bank from taking this step,” Loomis wrote, “offering several friendly prospective note-buyers who were interested in investing in our Club and community. But the bank has insisted on running a process without our input. Sterling has rejected our proposed solutions for new investment in the Club so far … To the extent members of our community are interested in participating in this auction, we encourage you to reach out to us.” If the Princeton Club is forced to vacate its space, the University would be the only school in the Ivy League that does not provide access to an alumni clubhouse for its members. Cornell, Harvard, Penn, and Yale all own Manhattan spaces comparable to the current Princeton Club while individuals affiliated with Columbia, Dartmouth, and Brown may join the clubhouses for Penn, Yale, and Cornell respectively. Lia Opperman is a news contributor for the ‘Prince.’ She can be reached at liaopperman@princeton.edu or @liamariaaaa on Instagram. Sam Kagan is a Staff Writer and News Editor Emeritus at the ‘Prince.’ He also leads the surveys team. He can be reached at skagan@princeton.edu.

The bank has insisted on running a process without our input. Christine Loomis ’72 Princeton Club President

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Friday October 29, 2021

Morales: I was doing the work of two to three people in an average shift STARBUCKS Continued from page 1

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are either high school or college students, and therefore have limited work availability. “Since we close at noon now, we have enough people, which should be the standard for every day,” Morales added. “I was doing the work of two to three people in an average shift.” She also explained that Starbucks is a place where many visitors come for free WiFi and to have study space. She believes people are missing these perks due to understaffing. “Unfortunately, we have had to tell students that we’re planning on closing when they’re planning to stay there and study for hours,” Morales said. Morales stated that the store manager confirmed that this change will definitely stay in place for three weeks, and she said the manager hopes the hours will gradually increase after that. “It all depends on getting more employees,” Morales said. “But at the end of the day, this is a bigger problem than just that.” Many Starbucks stores across the country have announced changes in hours amid a national labor shortage. In the wake of the pandemic, 78 percent of restaurant operators claimed that they do not have sufficient staff to operate their restaurants normally in a National Restaurant Association survey. Morales stated that she has considered quitting and that many other employees also be-

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lieve that the benefits of working there no longer outweigh the cons. “[The Starbucks employees] are taking control of the fact that corporations no longer can use our need for income to treat us horribly and pay us less,” Morales said. Student opinions of the reduced hours have been mixed. “I honestly feel bad for them,” Nick Masters ’25 said in a message to the ‘Prince.’ “I understand how understaffed they are and how crazy stressful it was for not only the employees but the managers ... Honestly, good for them for finding something to save their employees.” Fatima Diallo ’25 expressed an opposing view. In a message to the ‘Prince,’ she said the change in hours was “ridiculous, honestly.” “Doesn’t [Starbucks] know they’re serving a college town?” she questioned. Morales called for more compassion for Starbucks employees. “It has been very stressful for us, so just please treat your baristas with kindness,” she said. “We are all working together to make sure our hours go back to normal,” she said. Sidney Singer is a news contributor for the ‘Prince.’ She can be reached at sidneysinger@princeton.edu or on Instagram at @Sidneysinger. Lia Opperman is a news contributor for the ‘Prince.’ She can be reached at liaopperman@princeton.edu or @liamariaaaa on Instagram.

It has been very stressful for us, so just please treat your baristas with kindness.

”

Nubia Morales ’25 Barista at the Nassau Street Starbucks

The Daily Princetonian

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The Daily Princetonian

Midsemester in Photos

Friday October 29, 2021

By Angel Kuo, Zoe Berman, Natalia Maidique, Isabel Richardson, Shirley Xue, and Fiona Galvis Staff Photographers

A bright blue morning sky stretches over the University Chapel.

This week’s Tigers in Town formed quite the line along the sidewalk outside Small World Coffee as people waited for their lattes and cold brews.

Students grab free ice cream from Bent Spoon as part of a Tigers in Town event hosted by USG during midterm week. Princeton football won Saturday’s Homecoming game, beating Harvard 18-16.

Students decorate pumpkins and other fall crafts at Fall Fest to welcome the beginning of fall.

As midterms pile up, some doggy distractions were brought to the Frist lawn to have some fun away from work.

Late afternoon blue sky peeks out over a cover of clouds.

The Daily Princetonian

Friday October 29, 2021

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Out the Window By Luca Morante and Ana Pranger Staff Constructors

1 6 9 13 14 16 17 18 20 21 23 25 26 33 35 36 37 40 41 42 44 48 49 52 58 59 60 62 63 64 65 66 67

ACROSS First name for a Number 1 One actress? Green prefix 2 Reading material? 3 “Uncle!” Granny 4 Baseball family name Have ___ (speak 5 casually) 6 Landmark 1857 plaintiff D.C. one-percenter? 7 Modern display of force 8 Cried like a baby Prod.’s colleague on set 9 Bedrock mantra 10 Vegan’s ask, perhaps Drummer Schock of the 11 Go-Go’s 12 15 “___ gov’nor!” Curvy, slangily 19 Revise 22 Qatari VIP 24 Close consideration 27 Dispatched à la Prague 28 Brian formerly of Roxy Music 29 Ryder of Heathers fame Betray a lover’s 30 confidence 31 Torque symbol Magritte suite “___the Sheriff” 32 (Bob Marley tune) Noble gas you might see 33 outside a baron a car 34 Yesterday in Rome 38 “I love you,” in Lima 39 Recipe amts. 43 Sine qua ___ 45 Himalayan horrors 46

DOWN Syphilis or sycosis, homeopathically U.S. Representative Hastings (1936-2021) Lollard’s leader, archaically That: Sp. “Go away!” They may be justified by means 2006 McQueen movie? Member of the Iroquois Confederacy Formal agreement Soothing succulent A ton Many a shelter pup Wing it Marina Abramović, for one “Odds are...” Punjab capital Pompeii covering Thomas Jefferson, for one When many enter fifth grade Urkel catchphrase “____ five!” (stage manager’s call to an act on deck) Like Cheerios or horse feed Demand Oneself, quaintly

47 50 51 52 53 54

Soaking wet US Open winner Osaka Alternatives to sticks Deontologist Immanuel Furies Itinerary unit

John Fogerty’s, to fans Take baby steps Economist’s joy, perhaps No Ice Tedium

55 Tax nos. 56 Cicero companion Marcus Tullius 63 “Artemis Fowl” author Colfer 61 Perceive

“PALM READING” BY MARGARET K. HOFER / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

The Minis

MINI #2

MINI #3

By Sebastian Hayden Staff Constructor

ACROSS

1 Threatening word at a doorstep on Halloween

ACROSS

1 Candy bar at a doorstep on Halloween, e.g.

6 Extremely, in slang

6 Feature on a Ruffle

7 Dazzling display

7 Woman’s name lent to a bygone internet “list”

8 Lincoln’s in-laws

1 First Greek letter in “Thucydides”

9 Fathers, in France

2 Military info-gathering 3 “I forgot to put up the spider webs? Guess ___ without them this year.” 4 Wearing a costume, maybe 5 Kit ___

8 Old Testament hymn

9 Its tenth month is octubre

DOWN

1 “The Sound of Music” Family 2 Instruction before “repeat,” in an expression 3 Horror story author Allan Poe 4 Nimble 5 Is filled with

Scan to check your answers and try more of our puzzles online!

Friday October 29, 2021

Opinion

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{ www.dailyprincetonian.com }

Competitive clubs: How Princeton’s selective extracurriculars favor the wealthy Genrietta Churbanova

Assistant Opinion Editor

rinceton is an incredibly competitive institution. During its most recent application cycle, the University accepted only 3.98 percent of applicants. But, as most undergraduates come to realize during their time at Princeton, competition does not end with admission. Princeton’s extracurricular clubs are notoriously competitive as well. Everything from dance teams and a capella groups to entrepreneurship organizations and consulting clubs require applications or auditions. Given that Princeton’s clubs are drawing from an applicant pool made up of some of the most motivated young adults in the country, getting into one of these exclusive groups can be quite a feat. In an ideal world, clubs would not require applications. The unfortunate reality is, however, that the number of applicants often exceeds the quantity of available spots in a student group. Little can be done to change that. But there is an element of the club application process that requires our attention: much like the college admissions process itself, the club application process at Princeton favors high-income individuals. There is no denying that the college application process favors the wealthy. More disposable income means greater access to expensive extracurriculars, private schools, and wellfunded public schools. The same factors that make high-income students more likely to be admitted to competitive colleges also increase their chances of being welcomed into highly selective extracurricular groups. Low-income students are less likely to participate in costly after school activities, resulting in what “The Atlantic” refers to as “the activity gap.” The schools low-income students attend are less likely to offer niche extracurriculars, such as active school papers and programming clubs. In short, low-income students have, on average, less exposure to the kinds of activities

offered at Princeton than their higher-income peers. But does prior experience in the extracurricular in question benefit club applicants? In their advertising, many of Princeton’s clubs claim that no experience is necessary to join. Students habitually complain that such statements are false and only make stomaching club rejections more difficult. I am not here to evaluate whether such claims are true or false. What I will argue, however, is that even when clubs genuinely are not concerned with applicants’ prior experience, the club application process nonetheless favors applicants with certain skill sets — skill sets that well-funded public schools and private schools tend to emphasize. Take for example Model United Nations. I spoke with Sophia Richter ’23, captain of the Princeton Model United Nations Team (PMUNT), to gain insight into PMUNT’s application process. When asked what makes for a successful PMUNT applicant, Richter answered: “We are definitely not looking for experience. We take people every single year who don’t have any Model UN experience and sometimes don’t even really know what Model UN is. We are much more looking for people who are good speakers, who understand policy well … We also look for people who seem like they are leaders.” The skill set expected of PMUNT applicants — public speaking and leadership ability — is significantly easier to develop at the type of schools highincome students tend to attend. Such schools tend to have smaller class sizes, which increases students’ chances to speak up in class. Such schools also foster leadership skills via their broad club offerings. This is not to say that lowincome students cannot be effective public speakers or leaders regardless of past experience. I am simply pointing out the unfortunate reality that high-income students are more likely to attend high schools that encourage the development of certain skill sets, public speaking and leadership among others. Thus, academic clubs’ application process often favors high-income students. But what about competitive creative clubs,

such as a capella and dance groups? Simply put, the skills artistic groups seek in their applicants are expensive to develop. For example, an hour-long music lesson in the US costs above $60 on average. It is precisely these costly lessons that help applicants get into groups such as the Princeton University Orchestra. On the same note, a naturally talented singer who has taken years of expensive singing lessons likely has an advantage over an equally talented singer with no formal training during an a capella audition. The same principle can be applied to dance lessons and athletic coaching. So what can we do to make access to extracurriculars more equitable at Princeton? The answer is different for every club; dance teams will obviously have different considerations than consulting clubs. But PMUNT offers a good example. According to Richter, “in the first round [of PMUNT tryouts], the first portion is country speeches, but the second portion is actually a game that tests critical thinking. It has absolutely nothing to do with policy or really Model UN. That gives a real advantage to people who don’t have experience to show their ability to come up with creative solutions.” Including a nontraditional element, such as a game, in the application process can alleviate the stress of applications and allow students of all backgrounds a more equal chance to shine. As for artistic clubs, making the audition process more equitable provides more of a challenge. But groups that do not do so already could offer a handful of training sessions before formal auditions, during which applicants would be taught the fundamentals of the artistic form they are interested in. The majority of clubs’ application cycles have come to a close this semester, but another application cycle looms around the corner. For those readers who have the power to make the club application process more equitable, I urge you to take the time and effort to do so. Genrietta Churbanova is a sophomore from Little Rock, Ark. She can be reached at geaac@princeton.edu.

vol. cxlv

editor-in-chief Emma Treadway ’22 business manager Louis Aaron ’23

BOARD OF TRUSTEES president Thomas E. Weber ’89 vice president Craig Bloom ’88 second vice president David Baumgarten ’06 secretary Chanakya A. Sethi ’07 treasurer Douglas Widmann ’90 assistant treasurer Kavita Saini ’09

trustees Francesca Barber Kathleen Crown Gabriel Debenedetti ’12 Stephen Fuzesi ’00 Zachary A. Goldfarb ’05 Michael Grabell ’03 John G. Horan ’74 Rick Klein ’98 James T. MacGregor ’66 Abigail Williams ’14 Tyler Woulfe ’07 trustees ex officio Emma Treadway ’22 Louis Aaron ’23

145TH MANAGING BOARD managing editors Harsimran Makkad ’22 AG McGee ’22 Kenny Peng ’22 Zachary Shevin ’22 content strategist Omar Farah ’23 Sections listed in alphabetical order. head cartoon editors Sydney Peng ’22 Akaneh Wang ’24 associate cartoon editors Inci Karaaslan ’24 Ambri Ma ’24 head copy editors Celia Buchband ’22 Isabel Rodrigues ’23 associate copy editors Catie Parker ’23 Cecilia Zubler ’23 digital news design editor Anika Maskara ’23 associate digital news design editor Brian Tieu ’23 graphics editor Ashley Chung ’23 instagram design editor Helen So ’22 print design editor Abby Nishiwaki ’23 newsletter editor Rooya Rahin ’23 head features editor Alex Gjaja ’23 Rachel Sturley ’23 associate features editors Annabelle Duval ’23 Ellen Li ’22 Tanvi Nibhanupudi ’23 multimedia liason Mark Dodici ’22 head photo editor Candace Do ’24

head podcast editor Isabel Rodrigues ’23 associate podcast editors Jack Anderson ’23 Francesca Block ’22 head video editor Mindy Burton ’23 associte video editors Uanne Chang ’24 Daniel Drake ’24 Marko Petrovic ’24 head news editors Evelyn Doskoch ’23 Caitlin Limestahl ’23 associte news editors Bharvi Chavre ’23 Naomi Hess ’22 Marissa Michaels ’22 head opinion editor Shannon Chaffers ’22 associte opinion editors Won-Jae Chang ’24 Kristal Grant ’24 Mollika Singh ’24 head prospect editors Cameron Lee ’22 Auhjanae McGee ’23 associte prospect editors José Pablo Fernández García ’23 Aster Zhang ’24 head puzzles editors Gabriel Robare ’24 Owen Travis ’24 head sports editor Emily Philippides ’22 associte sports editors Ben Burns ’23 Sreesha Ghosh ’23

145TH BUSINESS BOARD chief technology officer Pranav Avva ’24 assistant business manager Benjamin Cai ’24 business directors Gloria Wang ’24 Shirley Ren ’24 Samantha Lee ’24 David Akpokiere ’24 lead software engineer, system architect Areeq Hasan ’24 project manager Ananya Parashar ’24 business-tech liason Anika Agarwal ’25

software engineers Rishi Mago ’23 Joanna Tang ’24 Dwaipayan Saha ’24 Roma Bhattacharjee ’25 Giao Vu Dinh ’24 Eugenie Choi ’24 Daniel Hu ’25 Kohei Sanno ’25 business associates Jasmine Zhang ’24 Jonathan Lee ’24 Caroline Zhao ’25 Chief Technology Officer Emeritus Anthony Hein ’22

THIS PRINT ISSUE WAS DESIGNED BY Jessica Cui ’24 Annie Rupertus ’25 Ariana Di Landro ’25 Juliana Wojtenko ’23 Brooke McCarthy ’25 Esha Mittal ’23 Noreen Hosny ’25 Thanya Begum ‘23

AND COPIED BY Isabel Rodrigues ’23

SYDNEY PENG / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Done reading your ‘Prince’? Recycle!

Friday October 29, 2021

Opinion

page 9

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com }

We’re not supposed to like the Supreme Court Abigail Rabieh

Contributing Columnist

he Supreme Court of the United States began its new term on Monday, Oct. 4 – a term which is guaranteed to be full of provocative cases and rulings. These upcoming cases deal with everything from challenges to Roe v. Wade (1973) to questions regarding the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and whether state aid can go to religious organizations. The Court is not only facing challenges in the courtroom. The American public is increasingly unhappy with its decisions, and criticism is only on the rise. According to a recent Gallup survey, approval rating of the Court is at just 40 percent, an all-time low. This comes after several controversial rulings. In late August, the Court did not block a controversial Texas abortion law, it struck down a federal eviction moratorium, and allowed colleges to mandate vaccines. 37 percent of Americans believe the Court is too conservative, while 20 percent believe it is too liberal. Even more concerning, only 54 percent of respondents had a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in the Federal Judiciary. This lack of confidence in the Supreme Court reflects a worrying trend. The Supreme Court interprets the law as it should be applied based on the Constitution. If the public does not trust these rulings, America’s entire legal tradition begins to crumble. As Senator Lisa Murkowski noted, “the public needs to be able to trust that the judiciary will be that independent, unbiased check.” Responsibility for this distrust does not lay with the court, however. It is instead our own perception of the Court’s function and duty that requires adjustment. The idea of a Supreme Court was established in Article III of the Constitution, which says that the “judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court.” At its

core, judicial power means to interpret the law and apply it to cases where the law is in dispute. That is what the Supreme Court does: it interprets the law of the land — the Constitution — and applies it to the cases that come before it. But how does the Court interpret the law? This is a question with which many legal scholars and historians struggle. I believe that justices should set rulings based on their interpretation of the Constitution, and, in attempting to interpret those words, should look to the intentions of the framers for guidance. This view is not unique. On Sept. 22, the James Madison Program hosted a Zoom webinar in honor of Constitution Day and the late Justice Antonin Scalia, asking: “What Does it Mean to Interpret the Constitution?” In his lecture, featured speaker Donald L. Drakeman GS ’88 argued that it is the duty of “the law-maker” to lay aside his own opinions and interpret the meaning of the law based on the views of “the lawgiver.” He argued that when a case reaches the Court, the law has already been set. It was set long ago, by the delegates at the

Constitutional Convention and the amendments which have followed. “What was left for the Supreme Court to do was to clear up any disputes about the language,” he said, “so that the intention of the lawmaker may prevail.” If the intention of the authors is ignored, the Supreme Court ends up acting as a policy-making body. That is the last thing we want. Professor Drakeman noted some reasons for this: a small group of people is “unlikely to make sound and durable policy choices.” If this power were given to the Court, hugely important political decisions would be made based on whatever political party happened to be in power at the time. There is a reason that the founders and authors of the Constitution did not give political power to the Court. On its website, the Supreme Court outlines its duty of “ensuring the American people the promise of equal justice under law.” To do this, the Court must interpret the Constitution, and this means looking at the words of the Constitution in the context of the intentions of its framers. We must understand the

function of the Court in this way, as a body interpreting the Constitution, and not as a group of political figures who decide what is in the best interest of citizens. The Court often rules on cases in ways specific to the precise laws they deal with in order to avoid creating precedent in difficult political matters. This avoids political implications outside of individual cases. For example, in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, a samesex couple sued a bakery for violating Colorado’s nondiscrimination law when the baker refused to bake a cake for their wedding on religious grounds. The Court ruled in favor of the baker, but not in an opinion which suddenly allows for lots of discrimination on the basis of religious freedom. Instead, the Court found that before the case had reached the federal level, Colorado commissioners who had dealt with it revealed an “anti-religious bias,” which the Court believed impacted the decisions on the case. Thus, they overturned the ruling. The grounds were casespecific, meaning that the case

PHOTO COURTESY OF JOE RAVI / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

had almost no implications for any other situations. The Court makes decisions like this so that it does not become a playground for political matters. Had the Court decided, in a broad ruling, that it was totally constitutional for private citizens to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people on the basis of religion, we would be living in a very dangerous and unjust world. Congress is where laws get passed. The Supreme Court decides whether those laws are constitutional. And this is not always what we want, but it is — or should be — what the laws dictate. So, when the Supreme Court rules on divisive issues in the coming months, I encourage us all to look at these rulings based on their legal implications, not on if they are what we want for our country. Do I think that a continued eviction moratorium because of the impacts of COVID-19 would be beneficial to many? Yes, I do. But are the CDC and Biden administration the appropriate branch for creating such a law? No, certainly not. As the majority opinion that came from the Court says, “if a federally imposed eviction moratorium is to continue, Congress must specifically authorize it.” It is not the Supreme Court’s job to uphold unconstitutional acts, regardless of their impact on the situation. Instead of focusing our energy and activism on criticizing Court decisions, we, as Princeton students, should work to impact governmental bodies that are focused on promoting the greatest good for citizens and actually changing democracy. Productive political change occurs in representative bodies such as Congress or state and local governments. The Court decides what the law means. If we want different societal goods to be reflected in laws, we should not look to the Court for fulfillment. Abigail Rabieh is a first-year columnist from Cambridge, Massachusetts. She can be reached at ar5732@princeton.edu.

Caught the Princeton Plague? Good luck. Brittani Telfair

Columnist

have had enough negative experiences at McCosh Health Center to write two or three columns. Despite positive and kind interactions with some of the staff, others have made me feel disrespected and dismissed. I remember one of the most striking interactions very vividly, although it happened about a year ago: while a doctor examined me, I grimaced and cried out in pain. After the exam was done, she smilingly apologized that the episode was “a little uncomfortable.” I was too shocked to say anything other than an automatic “It’s okay” in reply; it was as though my pain had not been real to her, in a way that now reminds me of Professor KeeangaYamahtta Taylor’s article on the history of the cruelty exercised against Black Americans seeking healthcare. On other occasions at McCosh, I have had my voicing of medical concerns met with dismissive looks and assertions that nothing is wrong — as if I just don’t know what’s happening with my body. The breaking point for

writing this article was twofold: first, Ashley Olenkiewicz’s recent rosy article about McCosh, and second, McCosh’s utter failure to handle the “Princeton Plague.” I agree with Olenkiewicz that students with alcohol poisoning should make full use of McCosh’s services; however, it would be an oversight to behave as though McCosh is beyond reproach. Currently, McCosh is not providing students with adequate, thoughtful service. As Janny Eng reported, there has been a significant rise in the number of students seeking care. Subsequently, in my view, the standard of care has lowered. I called McCosh on Tuesday, Oct. 12 to attempt to seek assistance for sinus congestion, headache, and coughing up a small amount of blood. A receptionist took note of my symptoms, asked several basic COVID-19 diagnosis questions, and told me to expect a call back in a few hours, as the nurse had many people to respond to. I subsequently gave up on dealing with McCosh and instead sought care from an external provider that was much more prompt and helpful. What does an hours-long

wait time to get so much as a potential diagnosis back — with the slim possibility of even a telehealth visit — communicate to students? In my mind, it suggests that our health doesn’t matter terribly much, which is something that the exhausting nature of midterms week already posits. So long as students don’t have COVID-19, we don’t seem to warrant attentive, in-person care. The way McCosh is functioning is inexcusable: it’s doing the bare minimum. Another student, Will Huang ’25, previously told the ‘Prince’ that he spent an extensive amount of time trying to get an appointment before being told over the phone to buy Robitussin to treat his severe cough. He said he was not able to get in-person care until he coughed so hard that he vomited. Effectively, McCosh would only see him when it became undeniable that something was seriously wrong: far after the point when he should’ve been provided with care. One could say that McCosh should be given the benefit of the doubt and might just be overworked, but this is no excuse. Princeton has no shortage of resources with which to provide adequate care to

students. Beyond funding, however, University Health Services must treat the students it does see with more sensitivity. This is especially important regarding how it treats students of color. There needs to be a reckoning with the historical and current racism of the medical profession in order to improve care, and it has to be more substantive than a few anti-racist training sessions. It doesn’t matter how many personnel McCosh has if they fail to treat every student with respect. I’m not saying that stu-

dents shouldn’t seek healthcare when they need it, nor am I pretending to have all the solutions; I’m just questioning the efficacy and availability of the resources the University has provided us with. We deserve better, and for the sake of our collective health we need better. Brittani Telfair is a senior from Richmond, Va. majoring in SPIA and pursuing a certificate in African American Studies. She can be reached at btelfair@princeton.edu or @ brittanit10 on Twitter.

JON ORT / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

McCosh Health Center.

page 10

The Daily Princetonian

Cartoon

Friday October 29, 2021

Drained Social Battery By Gaea Lawton, Staff Cartoonist

Jumping the Shark

By Hannah Mittleman, Contributing Cartoonist

Brain on Break

By Sandy Lee, Staff Cartoonist

Rapunzel

By Ellie Makar-Limanov, Contributing Cartoonist

Relax

By Elizabeth Medina, Staff Cartoonist

Continued on page 11

Satire

Friday October 29, 2021

page 11

{www.dailyprincetonian.com }

U. announces names of two new res colleges, but with 50 year expiration date in case they regret it later Andrew Johnson

Contributing Writer

The following content is purely satirical and entirely fictional. On Sept. 29, in a lengthy and vague email to the campus community somewhere in your inbox, President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 announced that Residential Colleges 7 and 8 had finally gone to the highest bidders, but with the understanding that our potentially unenlightened time may have tainted the decision. “Times are changing pretty fast and stuff, so the board thought it best to give the next generation of Princetonians, ZACHARY SHEVIN / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN 50 years from now, some opResidential College 7’s name will be re-assessed every five decades, portunity to revisit and clean just in case they mess it up pretty badly the first time.

up the University’s legacy a little bit. Just in case,” Eisgruber wrote. “Perhaps nothing, even names upon stone, should last forever, and certainly not bidding wars that determine how we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he continued. “We think that this is the best decision for our community and will make our lives much easier.” Jill Dolan, dean of the college, praised Eisgruber’s approach as “innovative” and “forward-thinking.” “I think this has finally given our University the chance to lead on an issue,” she said. “Students should recognize that naming buildings morally is hard, and we are all just trying to do our best in the

context of our ignorant culture,” Dolan said. With the new residential colleges opening next school year, the naming committee was under time pressure to come up with something quick. “Living with a ‘Seventh’ and ‘Eighth’ College is the last thing we want,” Dolan said. “How are you supposed to chant that at Clash of the Colleges?” The Bezos and Cruz residential colleges will open to students in the fall of 2023. Andrew Johnson is a sophomore contributing writer for Satire and The Prospect from Ridgewood, New Jersey currently studying “Undecided.” He can be reached at andrewjj@princeton.edu.

U. to replace CPS with ‘more board games’

Daniel Viorica

Contributing Writer

The following content is purely satirical and entirely fictional. The University has recently announced that Counseling and Psychological Services (CPS) is to be replaced with “a larger, more robust collection of board games.” A University spokesperson shared their views with The Daily PrincetOnion. “CPS was an interesting experiment in our institution’s continual fight against mental health, but the time has come for it to be phased out, making room for exciting new strategies,” the spokesperson said. “Our fervent belief is that the best way to recover from a week-long midterm bender is a nice, relaxing afternoon of Risk.” Studies show that students

are 90 percent more likely to pass their School of Public and International Affairs classes after devoting significant time to Catan, and Ultimate Werewolf was shown to eliminate insomnia entirely. “Truly, the new path to better mental wellbeing isn’t therapy, or even mindfulness,” the spokesperson continued. “It’s Yahtzee.” The transition is ongoing and will be swift. Already, the second floor of McCosh Health Center is being emptied out and replaced with large, pastel-colored “Play Rooms,” each with murals of rainbows and signs reading “Everything is Great! :)”. The 24 hour CPS emergency help line is now re-routed to the Hasbro sales counter. A high score board has been erected in hopes that the program can “decrease stress through friendly competi-

tion.” Any student who removes a board game from a ‘Play Room’ will receive academic probation. Second offenses will lead to expulsion, or harsher consequences on a case-by-case basis, according to the Committee on Discipline. While institutional responses are resoundingly positive, citing that board games are “cheaper” and “more agreeable” than mental health professionals, students were less enthusiastic. Several plan to boycott the socalled ‘Fun and Games Health Initiative.’ One student, Angie Scrabbler ’23, was not enthused. “CPS has always been helpful to me. What am I supposed to do now, confess my existential dread to a Pictograms partner?” she asked. Despite these efforts, the

Cartoon Rejected Sorting Algorithms

By C Leane, Staff Cartoonist

Air Traffic By Hannah Mittleman, Contributing Cartoonist

University’s stance is firm. “This will be better for all of us in the long run,” the spokesperson reiterated. “Keep playing dominoes. Trust me.” When The Daily PrincetOnion reached out to CPS for comment, they were confused

and replied: “Wait, what? We’re getting fired?” Daniel Viorica is a writer with Satire and The Prospect, and is from the mountains outside Albuquerque, New Mexico. He can be reached at viorica@princeton.edu.

ZACHARY SHEVIN / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Board games are available for free to all undergraduates, whether or not they’re on the student health plan.

Instant Serotonin

By Anika Asthana, Contributing Cartoonist

the PROSPECT. The Daily Princetonian

page 12

Friday October 29, 2021

ARTS & CULTURE

For all the queer tigers, but especially for myself By José Pablo Fernández García Associate Prospect Editor

I was recently at a small party when I found myself rushing to the bathroom, sensing that the tear in the corner of my eye was ready to burst. I shut and locked the door as fast as I could, and after a single deep breath I felt myself cry in a way I hadn’t in a long time. But then, I took another deep breath, wiped everything away with a few squares of toilet paper, and returned to my friends to say, “I’m all good” when asked how my night was going. One might think I’d just gotten the news of a loved one dying or that something else equally terrible had happened. But, in fact, all it took to release that outburst of longstanding pain was seeing a friend of mine happily standing next to his visiting boyfriend after drinking maybe a bit too much beer. Just a couple weeks earlier, I was walking across campus when the chorus of Conan Gray’s “People Watching” caught my attention more than it usually would: “But I wanna feel all that love and emotion / Be that attached to the person I’m holding … But for now, I’m only people watching.” I think the reason these lyrics pierced my attention so much is because of the amount of couples I’ve noticed during my campus walks: couples walking hand-in-hand, couples sitting together, couples taking photos for their engagement or their wedding. And none of these couples I’ve noticed have been two men. For most students on most days, a couple taking photos might be nothing more than a slight inconvenience — if that at all. For me, these past couple weeks, they’ve been reminders that I’ve spent my entire life “people watching.” For too many years, I did so from the contradictory, simultaneous comfort and anguish of “the closet.” For the past four years, I’ve done so while struggling — at times deeply so — to even just imagine a future in which I could be one half of one of those campus couples. Four years ago, there was no chance of me finding a boy, asking him out, dating, celebrating anniversaries, and so on: I couldn’t even manage to say the words “I’m gay.” Those few

small words — no more than five letters and an apostrophe — created such a knot in my stomach and a tightness in my throat that the first couple people I came out to received hand-written letters or texts. First, a letter to a close friend. Next, one to a high school mentor. Then, I tried calling a cousin, and unable to push those words out of me, I paused our conversation to text her instead. Eventually, I needed, for my own sanity, to come out to my mom: another letter. The anticipation and anxiety of saying those words to her were so strong I not only wrote her a letter, but I left it on the kitchen counter for her to find while I was away and totally isolated at a days-long Kairos retreat that’s typical at Jesuit Catholic high schools like mine. In the few years since I left that letter on the kitchen counter, a part of me expected this all to become easy — that who I am would become easy to share instead of easy to hide. But still, I can’t count the number of times I’ve stepped back from saying “I’m gay,” one way or another. In turn, there’s a certain loneliness that grows out of all these experiences. At first, it’s a loneliness of feeling like you’re all on your own with no one to turn to because that’s something you twist yourself into deeply believing while first coming to terms with being gay. Later, without much notice, it seems to morph into a loneliness borne of familiarity. So many years spent feeling alone is desensitizing. It gets you acclimated to turning inwards over and over again, even when you know you’re surrounded by family and friends who would move mountains just to help you with absolutely anything. It’s this loneliness that came rushing out of me that night in the bathroom. In some weird way, the very visible reminder that it won’t always be a lonely experience was too aggravating to bear after all the loneliness I had been feeling. At the same time, I think there might’ve been some sadness — or, simply, frustration — mixed in as well. It’s a sadness and a frustration borne out of just how difficult it can feel, on the very worst days, to figure out how to lead a life you didn’t view as normal or expected or possible when first growing up and learning about the world. There’s the

sadness and frustration built up over years of seeing everyone around you flirt and date and get together and have years-long relationships, while for you, it’s still not easy to even say or assert who you are all the time. However, for all the loneliness, sadness, or frustration, I would like to believe that there was some sense of relief in my tears that night — of hope, even. In fact, I refuse to believe otherwise. If anything, I refuse because, despite all these negative emotions and experiences I’ve accumulated over the years, I have indeed seen myself grow, if only a few baby steps at a time. As I walked home from that party later that night, I remember stopping to look up at the starry night sky. Those stars, and everything else that night, reminded me of a similar night my freshman year. After a couple months of befriending a boy and then spending more and more time with him, I had somehow pulled myself together to ask him out. The stars were exceptionally bright that night. We stayed friends. At first, this hurt. A lot. Over time, however, I grew to look at this entire experience with joy and hope. At first glance, it may sound like a story of rejection — and it is. But now, I also see it as a sign of me being able to imagine myself as half of one of those campus couples I’ve been noticing. In fact, he was the first boy I ever had the chance to ask out, and it felt like the world was opening up for me. It still feels that way. I’m not sure how I’ll grow to see this recent night and my crying in that bathroom. Currently, it’s still a mixed bag as I continue to grapple with everything. I do, however, know that I’ll try to hang on tightly to the relief and hope while letting go of everything else. It’s what has gotten me through everything before. Maybe, going forward, all this will also help me feel the knot in my stomach and the tightness in my throat finally disappear when I go to say the words, “I’m gay.” José Pablo Fernández García is a junior from Ohio and Associate Prospect Editor at the ‘Prince.’ He can be reached at jpgarcia@princeton.edu.

Desire paths, ‘Walden,’ and walking without a path

By Gabriel Robare | Senior Writer

Just south of Prospect Garden and just north of First College, around the art museum construction site, there’s a beautiful phenomenon of the human condition. There are sidewalks that cross this area in an X-shape. These sidewalks connect First College to Frist Campus Center and McCosh Hall headed northeast, and Rocky, Mathey, and the U-Store headed northwest. It’s in the dead center of campus and an important pedestrian thoroughfare. There’s a fence around the construction site that blocks the paths. So instead, many people just walked around it. People still have to get where they’re going, and a college student has neither the time nor reverence to find an indirect route that stays on the sidewalk. So they — we, I should say, as I walk this way, too — just walked or biked or scootered along the edge of the fence. Over time, we all decided to walk in the same place, making a new path of the same size, in the same direction as the old sidewalk. After the old sidewalk was blocked off, we all made a new one together. In the field of urban planning, this is technically called a desire path. Desire paths arise when preplanned walkways are inadequate or have gaps — such as the fence around the construction by Prospect Garden. Desire paths are often paved over when they’ve been used enough; many of the diagonal paths crossing quads on campus may have once been desire paths. All my classes are in either McCosh Hall, Robertson Hall, or 1879 Hall, and I live in 1939 Hall. So I walk along these desire paths every day and have spent a lot of time thinking about them. I often think of a certain paragraph as I’m walking — a lot of which I’ve committed to memory by coming back to it so much. It’s near the end of Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden.” If you haven’t read it (and it’s well, well worth the read if you haven’t), Thoreau writes about how he lives in

a secluded cabin in the woods for two years to live life to the fullest. At the end of the text, he chooses to leave the woods: I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one. It is remarkable how easily and insensibly we fall into a particular route, and make a beaten track for ourselves. I had not lived there a week before my feet wore a path from my door to the pond-side; and though it is five or six years since I trod it, it is still quite distinct. It is true, I fear, that others may have fallen into it, and helped to keep it open. The surface of the earth is soft and impressible by the feet of men; and so with the paths which the mind travels. How worn and dusty, then, must be the highways of the world, how deep the ruts of tradition and conformity! I did not wish to take a cabin passage, but rather to go before the mast and on the deck of the world, for there I could best see the moonlight amid the mountains. I do not wish to go below now. This, I would think, would have us think negatively about desire paths. Are we all but sheep, walking along the same paths? Are we just moths taking the shortest, most direct route to the flame in McCosh Hall? If Thoreau was on campus with us, he might tell us that instead of all walking on the same path, we should all take a different winding route through the field. But I think that would be a simplified and incorrect reading of this paragraph — and indeed a simplified and incorrect way to look at the world. In my life, I like patterns and routines. The world is complex and unpredictable, so I like to make plans and systems to handle it. I believed this to be one of my core projects, at the firm core of my integrity. If I chose an adjective to describe myself, I would say I was an organized person. But I realized this was not quite accurate. It is not that I like patterns and routines: I like making patterns and routines. I like to cobble

together order where there once was chaos. I am not an organized person. I am an organizing person, present tense. Having patterns and having routines is pleasant, safe, and easy — but also final, thoughtless, and uninteresting. What I really like, then, is to be presented with disorder and to create order, because it takes thought and action. After I find the solution I may rest in a moment of clarity — then find another route to chart. In other words, I make desire paths. I strike out into the field of the world and tread deliberately till I feel the path form beneath my feet. Once it starts to feel “worn and dusty,” I turn toward thick vegetation again. Thoreau didn’t mean to say that either wellworn paths nor the empty wilderness is better. What is better is neither the untrodden path nor the trodden one — it is the making of the untrodden path into the trodden one that is best. We should look cautiously on the paths that already exist, for it is better to create our own. That way, as Thoreau writes, we can “best see the moonlight amid the mountains.” Here on campus, we’ve been knocked off course. We can’t walk the same sidewalk we’ve been on — and campus today, thanks to factors too many to name, is different than ever before. One could say that we’re forced onto a new path, made to walk through the mud and grass because our old, easy sidewalk has been taken away. But I think Thoreau reminds us that being forced off the sidewalk is an opportunity to create a new path. Together, walking through the grass, we find a route where none was given. Together, we choose the path we desire. Gabriel Robare is a Senior Writer for The Prospect, co-Head Editor of the Puzzles section, and a Contributing News Writer at the ‘Prince,’ who often covers literature and the self. He can be reached at grobare@ princeton.edu, and on Instagram and Twitter at @ gabrielrobare. He previously served as an Associate Sports Editor.

The Daily Princetonian

Friday October 29, 2021

page 13

TIGER TOWN TREATS

By Maria Khartchenko Contributing Writer

We tried six local pizza places so you don’t have to Welcome to another installment of Tiger Town Treats, a series from The Prospect where we compare different snacks from local establishments and bring our reviews to you. Conte’s Pizza What I Ordered Small plain cheese pizza

Most Popular Pizza Most popular pizza: Pepperoni, Onion, and Garlic Pizza, or Sausage Mushroom Pizza

Staff Recommendation

Maria Khartchenko is a Contributing Writer for The Prospect at the ‘Prince.’ She can be reached at mk38@princeton.edu, or at @masha.khart on Instagram.

Pepperoni, Onion, and Garlic Pizza

D’Angelo Italian Market

Vibe

What I Ordered

Conte’s Pizza is at least a 20-minute walk from most dorms on campus, so I did not go there in person. Instead, I ordered a pie through GrubHub to The Daily Princetonian newsroom.

Address: 339 Witherspoon Street Price: $10.60

Today, I’ll be reviewing six different pizza places near campus. To compare them fairly, I ordered a plain cheese slice (or a whole pie, at places that only offer that option) from each place. The restaurants are, in alphabetical order: Conte’s Pizza, D’Angelo Italian Market, Jules Thin Crust Pizza, Nomad Pizza, Pizza Den, and Proof. At each restaurant, I asked the workers what their most popular pizza type was, as well as their personal recommendations (interesting flavor combos await!). I also voted which pizza place, in my opinion, has the best crust, the best “American-style” pizza, the best amount of cheese for cheesy-pizza-lovers, the best sauce, the best ambiance, the most “Instagrammable” vibe, and the best selection of toppings.

Plain Cheese Slice

Since this is a market and not a typical restaurant, it would be unfair to compare its ambiance to that of other restaurants. Nevertheless, the tables were

Final thoughts

Jules Thin Crust Pizza What I Ordered Plain Cheese Slice

Staff recommendation Bruschetta or Pesto

Address: 35 Spring Street Price: $3.15

Final thoughts

What I Ordered A Margherita pie

Jules is probably the most Instagrammable place on this list, along with Nomad: the slices are (usually) served on wooden platters, and the place has a very good ambiance, often playing 2010s music. The walls are tiled, and the large windows allow you to see locals walking their dogs up Witherspoon. I also love the interesting selection of toppings: mushrooms and arugula, pesto, potato carbonara, etc. It can get somewhat busy around dinner time, but the line moves quickly.

Jules, as per its name, has a soft, thin crust, and the pizza itself is not too oily. It has a wide variety of pizza options, both with vegetables and meat. There is also a gluten-free crust option, only 50 cents more expensive than non-gluten-free pies. Personally, I really like Jules!

Pizza Den What I Ordered Plain Cheese slice