Nassau Notes

Program in Theater and Dance

Works by faculty, student and guest choreographers in the Program in Theater and Dance will be featured in a free performance at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 8, in the Hagan Dance Studio, 185 Nassau St. Choreographers will include Ze'eva Cohen, Dyane Harvey, Regina Nejman and Rebecca Lazier. Junior Kristen Arnold (pictured) will perform and will have her choreography showcased.

Audience is invited to join in 'Messiah' sing

The University community is invited to celebrate the holiday season by singing Handel's ''Messiah'' at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 6, in the University Chapel.

Audience members will sing the Christmas portion and other selected choruses. Scores may be borrowed at the door.

The conductor will be Penna Rose, director of chapel music. The group will be accompanied by interim University organist Joan Lippincott, strings and trumpet.

Tickets are $5 for general admission and free for students.

Journalist to discuss 'iron triangle'

Anne Marie Squeo, defense industry reporter at The Wall Street Journal, will speak on ''The Iron Triangle: The Cozy Relationship Between the Pentagon, Congress and the Defense Industry'' at 4:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 6, in 16 Robertson Hall.

Her discussion will focus on the ties that bind the three sections of the U.S. military and military policy protocol. She states that although Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld came into office with the agenda to break this bond and re-engineer the military into a leaner, swifter force, a combination of occurrences -- including Sept. 11 -- derailed much of his efforts. The result is a war involving ill-equipped troops and defense scandals, she said.

Squeo has been with The Wall Street Journal since 1999, covering the business of the defense industry. She has reported on the nation's biggest weapon makers, the executives that head these companies, new technologies being developed, their impact on the execution of warfare and the Pentagon's purchasing practices. In 2000, she was among a small group of journalists awarded the Pulitzer Prize for a series of stories about the remaking of the U.S. military for the 21st century.

The lecture, sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, is part of the series, ''Journalists Writing the World,'' moderated by Professor Gary Bass.

Memorial service set for Alan Ebersole

A memorial service for Princeton sophomore Alan Ebersole will be held at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 6, in the University Chapel. A reception and buffet dinner will follow in Butler College's Wu Dining Hall.

Residents and staff members of Butler College, where Ebersole lived, are creating a scrapbook that will be presented to his family at the reception. Anyone interested in contributing can use stationery provided on the piano in the Wu Hall lounge or can send remembrances or photos to Betty Stein at <bstein@princeton.edu> or Stacy Chen at <stacyc@princeton.edu>.

Ebersole, a member of the University's men's swimming and diving team from Vicksburg, Miss., died in October in an accident while swimming in the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast. He was 20 years old.

Lecture series scheduled on role of failure in success

The role of human error and failure in engineering design will be the topic of a series of lectures at 8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, Dec. 7-9, in McCosh 50.

Henry Petroski, the A.S. Vesic Professor of Civil Engineering and professor of history at Duke University, will speak on ''The Design of Everything: From Success to Failure'' as part of the University's Public Lectures Series.

Petroski is the author of ''To Engineer Is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design'' (1985), which was the basis of a BBC television documentary that aired on PBS. He maintains that failure, real and perceived, drives invention and the evolution of technology.

Using examples from Band-Aids to bridges, the three lectures will illustrate the predictive value of this theory of design and the role of even minor failures in determining the development of large-scale technologies.

Petroski's talks are designated as the Louis Clark Vanuxem Lectures and will be available for online viewing a week afterward at <www.princeton.edu/webmedia>.

McCarter Theatre Center

The McCarter Theatre Center will ring in the holiday season with its annual production of Charles Dickens' ''A Christmas Carol'' from Dec. 7 through Dec. 24. Broadway veteran David Cromwell will play the role of Ebenezer Scrooge, and Danny Hallowell will be Tiny Tim. For show times and ticket information, call the McCarter box office at 258-2787 or visit <www.mccarter.org>.

Vietnamese official to speak

Ambassador Ton Nu Thi Ninh, vice chair of the foreign affairs committee of the Vietnamese National Assembly, will deliver a lecture on ''Building a Strong Vietnam-U.S. Relationship: Unlikely Partners?'' at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 8, in 1 Robertson Hall.

An influential member of Vietnam's lawmaking body, Ninh has sought to develop and enhance her country's relations with North America and Western Europe. She travels frequently to the United States and Europe, interacts with senior government and business officials both at home and abroad, and at times represents Vietnam at international conferences to discuss issues of global importance with world leaders. Also a seasoned diplomat, Ninh previously served as Vietnam's ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg and as head of mission to the European Union in Brussels.

Ninh's lecture will address a wide range of crucial issues in Vietnamese-U.S. relations, including trade conflict, human rights, educational exchange and cooperation in fighting terrorism. It is sponsored by the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies.

Winter Holiday Festival set for Frist on Dec. 8

The Frist Campus Center will host its annual Winter Holiday Festival from 3 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 8. The festival will feature live music, a diverse collection of winter holiday desserts and drinks and a community knitting project as well as an opportunity to learn about winter holidays from around the world.

Knitters of all skill levels are invited to stop by on the 100-level to contribute to a community knitting project or to start their own. A representative from Pins and Needles, a local knitting and needlepoint store, will be on hand to provide instruction and advice to novice and experienced knitters.

Live music will begin at 4:30 p.m. on the 100-level with a classical duo performance from the Princeton University Orchestra followed by the Klezmocrats at 5:15 p.m.

The interfaith holiday display will showcase artifacts from numerous traditional winter holidays around the globe including Christmas, Chanukah, Diwali and Ramadan. The artifacts will be on display for public viewing from Dec. 6-10, and members of the Religious Life Council will be on hand to answer questions on the day of the festival.

The Winter Holiday Festival is sponsored by the Frist Campus Center/Center Stage, Religious Life Council, Pace Center for Community Service, Athletes in Action, International Center and Community Based Learning Initiative. For more information, including a schedule of events, visit the Frist Campus Center Web site at <www.princeton.edu/frist>.

'Memory, Salvation and Perdition' is topic for talk

Professor Miroslav Volf of Yale Divinity School will deliver a lecture on ''Memory, Salvation and Perdition: The Importance and Ambiguity of Memory'' at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 9, in McCosh 10.

The lecture is the third event in a three-year series offered by the Center for the Study of Religion, featuring speakers who combine strong interests in public affairs with rich understanding of theology, theological ethics, philosophy of religion and religious history. The series is sponsored by the Reynolds Trust.

Volf is the Henry B. Wright Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School and director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture. He has published and edited nine books and more than 60 scholarly articles. Most of his work addresses the intersection between faith and aspects of contemporary life, such as economics, politics and interfaith relations. His book ''Exclusion and Embrace,'' in which he reflects on conflicts raging around the question of identity, won the 2002 Grawemeyer Award in Religion.

University Art Museum

''Trawler and Telegraph Pole,'' a 1926 watercolor by Edward Hopper, is among the works on view through Jan. 9 at the University Art Museum. The major exhibition, titled ''West to Wesselmann: American Drawings and Watercolors in the Princeton University Art Museum,'' presents a survey of American art from the 1780s to the 1980s. It features 77 of the more than 1,300 American drawings and watercolors that are part of the University's collection.

U-League applications for 2005-06 due Jan. 15

The University League Nursery School is accepting applications for the 2005-06 academic year until Saturday, Jan. 15. Scholarships are available for all programs.

Located at 171 Broadmead in Princeton, the school provides a variety of programs for preschoolers on a cooperative basis. Its offerings include two-, three- and five-day morning nursery school for children ages 2-1/2 through 4, as well as extended noncooperative care for children ages 3 and 4.

For additional information or for a tour, call Cindy Williams, director, at 924-3137.

Nominations sought for teaching awards

The Office of the Dean of the Faculty invites members of the University community to submit letters of nomination for the 2005 President's Award for Distinguished Teaching.

The awards, presented annually at Commencement, are intended to recognize excellence in undergraduate and graduate teaching by Princeton faculty members. All current full, associate and assistant professors, lecturers on continuing appointment, senior lecturers and lecturers who have served at least half time for three or more years are eligible for nomination.

Signed letters of nomination should be sent by Friday, Feb. 4, to the Office of the Dean of the Faculty, 9 Nassau Hall.