October 20, 1997 Volume 87, Number 7 | Prev | Next | Index
Princeton University Office of Communications, Stanhope Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544
Six weeks on Sumatra
By Caroline MoseleyStudents help initiate habitat research with goal of saving tigers from extinction
This past summer, Shallin Busch '98, Andy Goodman '99, Sarah Henry '99 and Sadie Ryan '98, along with Hans Hull '97, spent six weeks at a research station in the Bukit Barisan Seletan National Park on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Their mission: to help halt extinction of the endangered Sumatran tiger, and by extension, tigers worldwide. Accompanied by Associate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Andrew Dobson, the team had two goals: to help initiate research at the brand new field station and to map a study grid of the area to begin to establish what habitat is necessary to support tigers.
Cotsen Children's Library
By Mary CaffreyPermanent interactive exhibit presents books as "passports to other times, people"
On October 31 Princeton will open the Cotsen Children's Library, which comprises one of the world's finest historical collections of children's books as well as an interactive exhibit designed to inspire children to read.
Medicine in modern West
By Caroline MoseleyDiseases are more important than doctors," declares Professor of History Gerald Geison, whose course on Diseases and Doctors in the Modern West examines disease patterns and the role of healers in Western Europe and the United States since the 17th century. The course thesis ("with occasional digressions," Geison admits) is that prevailing disease patterns influence medical theory and practice rather than vice versa.
Congress adds $5 million to fusion funding
On September 24, the House-Senate Conference Committee on Energy and Water agreed on an appropriation of $232 million dollars for the U.S. fusion energy sciences program in fiscal year 1998, which began October 1. This level represents a net increase of $5 million for fusion research over the FY 1997 budget, and it includes funding for magnetic fusion energy research at the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab (PPL), provided by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).