Volume LXXVII, Number 9
Toni Morrison Exhibitions Put Creative Process On Display . . . . . . . . . 5 Vigil, Chapel Remembrance Commemorate Ukraine War Anniversary . . . . . . 8 Updates to Environmental Resource Inventory Presented At Information Session. . . 10 PU Glee Club Presents Annual Nollner Memorial Concert . . . . . . . . . . 14 Wise Children’s Wuthering Heights Comes to McCarter . . 15 Stone Stars as PU Women’s Hoops Rallies Past Harvard On Senior Night . . . . . .24 PDS Girls’ Hockey Edges Summit to Advance to State Semis . . . . . . . . 30
John Keats Lives On in PU Professor Susan Wolfson’s New Book . . . . . . . . . .13 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . 20-21 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 22 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 33 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 11 New To Us . . . . . . . . . 23 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 32 Performing Arts . . . 16-17 Police Blotter . . . . . . . 10 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 33 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Taste of Hopewell/ Pennington. . . . . . . . . 19 Taste of Princeton . . . 2-3 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
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Eisgruber Visits Council For Annual Dialogue About Town and Gown Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber delivered his annual update on the University to Princeton Council at its meeting Monday evening, marking the 10th year of what has become something of a tradition. Echoing some of the issues put forth in his recent State of the University letter to faculty, students, and staff, Eisgruber spoke briefly about the campus since returning to full, post-pandemic enrollment. A continued commitment to diversity, increases in stipends and financial aid, engagement with the town, and the value of a liberal arts education were among the topics he spoke about before listening to comments and concerns from members of Council. Eisgruber expressed his gratitude to the town for its work with the University during the pandemic. “Obviously, we’re not completely out of it yet,” he said. “On the other hand, I’ve been very happy over the last week to watch the numbers dropping in Mercer County and New Jersey, and it’s great to be able to collaborate in the way we did. So thank you for that.” The addition of two new residential colleges and the largest incoming freshman class in University history are among the achievements of the past year, Eisgruber said. More students from low- and middle-income backgrounds are enrolled. Students who use the University’s Pay with Points program, which allows those with unlimited meal plans to use some dining points at selected off-campus locations, have brought “fresh enthusiasm for interacting with the town,” he said. “I think they’re also very interested in engaging with the town in other ways, including volunteer efforts.” Among Eisgruber’s concerns for the future is the effect of technology on attention spans. “One of the most profound questions right now is how you take the ethos of a liberal arts university and project that into this rapidly evolving technology we are dealing with right now,” he said. “Distraction has risen to the top of my list.” Councilwoman Leticia Fraga thanked Eisgruber for listening to concerns from the governing body over the years, and making good on them. As an example, she recalled describing to him the Habitat for Humanity project to build two Continued on Page 7
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Wednesday, March 1, 2023
Trash Cart Rollout Causes Some Confusion Between a delay in delivery of new trash carts and a flyer with the wrong date for pickup of the old ones, the mid-February debut of Princeton’s new trash collection system did not go as smoothly as planned. Several complaints were lodged on the app NextDoor from residents who claimed they were not aware of the new program, despite information in the town’s newsletter, stories in the local press, on flyers, and on social media. Princeton Councilwoman Eve Niedergang, who serves on the Infrastructure and Operations Committee and is liaison to the Princeton Environmental Commission, has been busy posting information to explain the program and correct some misperceptions about its purposes. “I’ve been very active on NextDoor in the past few days, to repeat the facts about the program,” she said Tuesday morning. “It was significant to me that no one came onto the Council meeting last night to complain. So hopefully, the information is getting out there.” The new system is “part of a larger effort to make more fiscally and environmentally responsible changes to how the
town approaches waste management,” reads a press release compiled by Taft Communications, the town’s communications consultant, and issued by the municipality after the rollout. Each household has received one 64-gallon trash cart, designed to save labor by the use of robotic arms. Carts are equipped with a chip linking them to a specific address. Residents who feel they need an additional cart can order another one for $300 a year; those who want a
32-gallon cart as a second receptacle can get one for $150. Households experiencing economic hardship can submit a request for a reduced fee. Responding to concerns about those costs, Niedergang said, “We’re very sensitive to the fact that for some families it would be a challenge, but hopefully we are providing an incentive for people to recycle more, and think about how they purchase items.” The press release from the municipality Continued on Page 7
University Grad Students Take Steps To Form Union; Administration is Silent
On February 24, just nine days after a rally calling for fair wages, more affordable housing from the University, and the right to form a union, the Princeton Graduate Students United (PGSU) announced that a majority of Princeton University’s more than 3,000 graduate students had signed union cards. The University’s graduate student workers can now file for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board since more than 30 percent of graduate
students have signed a union card, but PGSU leaders are going for larger percentages before taking the next steps. “Right now we’re at a majority,” said union representative Aditi Rao, a graduate student in classics. “We’d love to be at a super majority, which is to say we would love to have 67 percent of the graduate body sign their union card. At that point it would be very clear to us and to the University that the grounds are clear for a win.” Continued on Page 9
SOAKING IN SUCCESS: Members of the Princeton High girls’ swim team celebrate in the pool last Saturday after PHS defeated Chatham 91-79 in New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Group B state final at the Gloucester County Institute of Technology. The Tigers ended the season with a 14-0 record as they earned the program’s first girls’ state title since 1993. For details on the meet, see page 27. (Photo provided by Carly Misiewicz)
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