Issuu

Founded 1876 daily since 1892 online since 1998

Friday october 9, 2015 vol. cxxxix no. 85

WEATHER

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com } HIGH

LOW

79˚ 49˚

Sunshine and clouds. chance of rain:

Like us on Facebook facebook.com/ DailyPrincetonian

In Opinion Guest contributor Marek Blazejak criticizes recent statements made by University professor Jan T. Gross about Poland, and the Editorial Board suggests improvements to the functionality of Career Services. PAGE 4

Today on Campus 12:30 p.m.: The Study Abroad Fair will be hosted by the Office of International Programs. Frist Multipurpose Room.

The Archives

Oct. 9, 1995

Firestone Library acquires Mexican author and statesman Carlos Fuente’s manuscripts and papers, adding to a significant collection of works by Latin American authors.

got a tip? Email it to:

STUDENT LIFE

BEYOND THE BUBBLE

Students launch petition for new co-op By Jessica Li staff writer

More than 300 students have signed a petition since it was launched last week to open a new food co-op on campus, according to Vidushi Sharma ’17, co-organizer of the petition. Sharma said that she and a few others launched the petition after seeing a shortage of accommodations for an overwhelming demand. Sharma and her team are working to circulate the petition through email listservs, she said. Sharma, a member of 2D, explained that three of the four co-ops on campus— the 2 Dickinson Street Co-Op, the Brown Co-Op, the Real Food Co-Op and the International Food Co-Op – all have waitlists that exceed the co-op capacity itself. 2D, a vegetarian co-op which only accommodates 48 members, has 100 students on its waitlist, according to Sharma. She noted that to become a member of a co-op, many students had to join the waitlist as underclassmen. Sharma also said that the absence of separate housing for Brown and Real Food is detrimental to fostering a sense of community. Kitchens in the dormitory hallways are often overcrowded, she explained, which limits membership interaction. “No student should be left unaccommodated, and no co-op should be struggling to operate in inadequately sized spaces,” Sharma said. “It’s disheartening to see that so much interest for co-ops on campus is stifled due to lack of accommodation. Co-ops also provide incredible communities of inclusive, diverse individuals.” Sharma also explained that co-ops are very economical compared to other dining options on campus, noting that she pays around $1,200 per year for meals. 2D charges $550 and Brown and Real Food charge $650 per semester for its members, while meal plans typically cost See CO-OP page 1

COURTESY OF THE LONDON EVENING STANDARD

Tomas Lindahl, a former postdoctoral researcher at the University, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry on Wednesday.

Former U. postdoc wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry By Jessica Li

staff writer

Tomas Lindahl, who worked on his postdoctoral research at the University, received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry on Wednesday for mapping how cells repair DNA. Lindahl is currently a researcher at the Francis Crick Institute and Clare Hall Laboratory in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. He won the award alongside Duke University School of Medicine professor Paul Modrich and University of Carolina at Chapel Hill professor Aziz Sancar. While at the University in the mid1960s, Lindahl discovered that RNA, a macromolecule closely related to

DNA, is vulnerable to heat damage. Lindahl conducted research under Jacques Fresco, the Damon B. Pfeiffer Professor in the Life Sciences Emeritus. Lindahl received his doctoral degree from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden in 1967. “It’s always nice at the end of your career to have recognition that what you have done is actually important,” Lindahl said in a press conference on Wednesday at the Francis Crick Institute. “It is very gratifying. We are doing basic research. We are not in it to make money. We do something constructive that we hope will really help mankind.” Lindahl was not available for com-

LOCAL NEWS

LECTURE

Wilson School professor lectures on U.S. strategy

tips@dailyprincetonian.com

News & Notes

By Maya Wesby contributor

Princeton Public Schools to start homework-free periods

Public schools in the Princeton area announced they will be implementing homework-free periods during a school board meeting last week, The Times of Trenton reported. The decision comes at a time when many other New Jersey schools are re-adjusting their homework requirements for students, through measures like homeworkfree weekends. Specifically, the Princeton plan includes a homeworkfree weekend once a semester, while also preventing teachers from assigning projects or tests right after a break. Princeton Superintendent Steve Cochrane ’81 explained that the homework-free periods would “provide our students with periods of time throughout the year when they can mentally step away from focusing on homework and projects and studying for tests.” In West Windsor-Plainsboro, no-homework nights received positive feedback from families and elementary and middle school teachers after the 2014-15 academic year, according to the Times. Cochrane also noted that the decision would hopefully “facilitate a district-wide discussion” about student homework load.

ment. The Royal Swedish Academy of Science did not respond to a request for comment. A native of Sweden, Lindahl extensively researched the mechanisms of DNA repair that have profound implications for cancer treatment and aging. Before Lindahl’s research, the orthodox view among the scientific community held that DNA was a highly stable molecule. However, Lindahl showed that by itself, the DNA molecule would degrade so rapidly that it could not have sustained life on earth. Lindahl subsequently became first to isolate a mammalian DNA ligase, a critical enzyme in bridging fragSee PRIZE page 2

COURTESY OF WALKABLE PRINCETON

Tickets for the NJ Transit trains departing from Princeton Station have increased since Oct. 1.

NJ Transit’s fare hike put into effect, draws criticism By Nahrie Chung staff writer

New Jersey Transit has increased bus and rail fares across the state an average of 9 percent since Oct. 1, NJ Transit spokesperson Jim Smith said. Smith said the fare hike, which is the first in five years, had been intended as a last resort, noting that the transit agency had to close a gap in its budget. “Prior to going into the adjustment, we identified over $42 million in cost savings and efficiencies,” he said. “We had to resort to the fare ad-

justment.” Some service lines, including the 655 bus from Princeton to the University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro, were discontinued altogether. In response, the University made the decision to add a Palmer Square stop on one of its TigerTransit lines that already included a stop at the hospital, Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert said. TigerTransit buses exist for all members of the University community and offer rides for free. While commending the University’s efforts to provide

an alternative, Lempert noted that public transportation is a responsibility of the state government. “The state needs to step up and think about its priorities,” Lempert said. “Transportation and keeping up with transportation infrastructure is an essential service provided by the state government, especially in a place like New Jersey, where you have so many people who are going daily back and forth either to New York or Philadelphia, passing through the state.” Lempert acknowledged See TRANSIT page 3

Wilson School professor Admiral Michael Mullen spoke on the values that the United States should have when interacting with other countries, whether for war or diplomacy, in a Thursday lecture. Mullen, a retired U.S. Navy admiral and a veteran of the Vietnam War and the Gulf War, is a Charles and Marie Robertson Visiting Professor at the Wilson School and is the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “It’s a multi-polar world now, we’re much more interdependent than what we used to be. We can’t do it alone like we used to be able to,” he explained, referring to a “strategic narrative” that the United States needs for a future focused on prosperity and security. He recommended these ideas to a Navy captain and a Marine Corps colonel, who later researched a strategy for the country in terms of its place on the world stage. The conclusive paper was later published by The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. The paper found that the United States, spearheading the international community, had to shift its political and economic focus from containment to sustainment, a transition that would be necessary in a world of mass demographic shifts and the destruction of

natural habitats, he noted. “So how do we create a world that’s at seven billion people today … so that people actually can prosper?” he said. Part of the solution, he explained, lies in a U.S. focus on education, a thriving economy and hope – citing that these qualities were lacking in countries with recent political turbulence. “We have to hang our hats on our values … life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, equality, justice, freedom, human rights, democracy, etc.,” he said. “And I think in everything we do, we need to keep those values in mind.” Mullen noted that part of the value discussion is also a discussion of principles that we care about, principles that are important, among them listening to the needs of other nations, listening to the concerns of the U.S. public and developing an appreciation of culture and history, which Mullen has seen prevalently abroad, but not within the United States. “That’s not an American trait, but it is something that we, I think, owe [in interactions] with individuals from all over the world,” he added. “Another important principle … is a lack of respect for other people around the world. There’s no one I’ve ever met who doesn’t want to be respected. We have a tendency to overlook that too often as well.” Mullen went on to discuss how the dynamic of political See LECTURE page 2