Contents • Collaboration brings potsherds, ruins to life • The Papers of Thomas Jefferson • Ballroom dance: A club sport • Communiversity '99 • Princeton myths -- debunked • In the news: Heather Brown '99 • Nassau Notes • People • Athletics • Employment • Calendar

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May 10, 1999 Volume 88, number 27 | Prev | Next | Index  "Existential oomph" Cross-disciplinary collaboration brings Mesoamerican potsherds and ruins to life Step into Davíd Carrasco's grand Victorian house, and one the first things he'll show you is a photo of himself and 30 prominent archeologists, historians and other scholars -- all wearing cardboard 3D glasses.      It's not the academic stereotype, but neither is Carrasco's approach to studying Mesoamerica, the portion of Central America that developed one of the world's first clusters of great cities, the Aztec and Mayan civilizations. more... Princeton myths -- debunked Princeton has many myths. Some seem the natural by-product of storytelling at a place where the institutional memory is limited by the four years it takes most students to graduate. Some are just bald-faced lies that are cheerfully repeated because the myths seem more interesting than the truth. more... 27 volumes -- and 20 more to come Little did Thomas Jefferson dream, when he donated $100 toward rebuilding Nassau Hall after the fire of 1802, that Princeton would become the home of The Papers of Thomas Jefferson.      "The Jefferson Papers was the nation's first major project in modern historical editing," says Barbara Oberg, newly appointed editor of the papers. "It has set the standard for the editions of the papers of the nation's other founders." more... Ballroom dance: A club sport May I have this dance?" Thanks to the Princeton Ballroom Dance Club, the answer is likely to be "Yes!"      The club currently boasts about 80 members, according to Eleanor Aversa '01, president of the group. "We have two beginning classes, intermediate and advanced classes, and a team that competes with other colleges," she says. Aversa and Yuliy Sannikov '00 generally instruct the beginners, while professional instructors are hired for the intermediate, advanced and team lessons, she says. more... Athletics Lacrosse. On May 1, the men trounced Dartmouth 16-1, completing their fourth perfect Ivy League season; the Class of 1999 is the first since 1963 to graduate without losing an Ivy game. The women defeated Brown 18-2, and as No.4 seed in the NCAA championship they received a bye in the first round. (Men: 8-3, 6-0 Ivy; women: 12-4, 6-1 Ivy) Outdoor track and field. The men finished first at the Heptagonal Championships May 1 and 2. (Men: 1-0; women: 1-1) People The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation has awarded fellowships to Howard Harrison and Gabrielle Snyder Beck Professor of Economics and Public Affairs Ben Bernanke for a project on "Economic Policy and the Great Depression," Assistant Professor of Music Paul Koonce ("music composition") and Professor of Anthropology Emily Martin ("Cultural Analysis of Mental Terrain in the United States"). Darin Ernst, associate research physicist at the Plasma Physics Lab, has received the American Physical Society Award for "outstanding doctoral thesis in plasma physics." Seniors Renee Hsia and Fei Fei Li have been awarded Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans. The fellowships, designated for immigrants or children of immigrants, provide half the cost of graduate school tuition and a living stipend for up to two years. Associate University Librarian for Rare Books and Special Collections William Joyce and the other board members and congressional sponsors of the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Review Board have been named recipients of the 1999 James Madison Award sponsored by the American Library Association Coalition on Government Information. • Communiversity, April 24    Photos by Ron Carter top