Princeton makes offers to 9.79 percent of applicants
by Cass Cliatt
Expands class size, financial aid: In keeping with the culmination of a five-year plan to expand the size of its student body, Princeton has offered admission to 2,150, or 9.79 percent of the record 21,964 applicants for the class of 2013. The expansion of the student body means the University’s admission rate for the class of 2013 keeps pace with last year’s 9.25 percent, even as this year marked the fifth consecutive year the University set a record for students applying for admission. The strength of Princeton’s financial aid program may be a factor in students’ decisions to attend, especially in light of the economy, said Dean of Admission Janet Rapelye.
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Encouraging aspiring poets to ‘risk something big’
by Jennifer Greenstein Altmann
Brenda Shaughnessy offers aspiring poets in her classroom a simple reminder: All poets essentially begin the same way. “Every writer, whether he’s the greatest living American poet or a total novice, has to start with a blank page,” said Shaughnessy, a lecturer in creative writing and the Lewis Center for the Arts.
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Grand master guides novices in Japanese musical tradition
by Emily Aronson
In a rehearsal room in the Woolworth Center of Musical Studies, students are blowing into their instruments, flicking hands over finger holes, shaking heads, and dipping chins up and down to create different sounds. Playing a few basic recitations absorbs all their concentration, as most in the class first picked up the instrument a few weeks prior and only a handful are experienced musicians. This immersion into new musical territory is the mission of the course “Masterworks for the Zen Flute: Music for Shakuhachi,” in which students across disciplines have the opportunity to play the shakuhachi, a Japanese bamboo flute, and to study its history and culture.
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Volunteer firefighter pilot program to roll out
The University is rolling out a pilot program in which staff members will serve as volunteers with the Princeton Fire Department during their work shifts. The one-year pilot program will include employees from the departments of facilities and public safety who already are trained as volunteer firefighters or who will receive training. The launch, which is expected later this spring, comes after more than a year of planning between University and local officials.
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Helping students see what’s at stake in language
by Jennifer Greenstein Altmann
To help her students dive into the study of 18th- and 19th-century poetry, English professor Susan Wolfson often has them scrutinize contemporary language that is not part of any poem. This semester, for example, her students discussed the difference between calling an economic program “a stimulus package” or “a bailout.” “These are not random, off-the-cuff pieces of language,” said Wolfson. “They’re carefully crafted metaphors being used to create a narrative.”
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Two win ReachOut grants for public service
by Jennifer Greenstein Altmann
Princeton seniors Mark Buettner and Vanessa Rodriguez have been awarded 2008 ReachOut 56-81 Fellowships, which provide the winners with a $30,000 grant to undertake a yearlong public service project after graduation. Buettner, who is from Kingsburg, Calif., will work with survivors of torture who now live in New York City. Rodriguez will set up a network of legal services for the homeless in her hometown of San Antonio, Texas.
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Managing editor: Eric Quiñones
Assistant editor: Jennifer Greenstein Altmann
Lead designer: Maggie Westergaard
Designer: Shani Hilton
Calendar editor: Shani Hilton
Contributing writers:
Emily Aronson, Cass Cliatt, Kitta MacPherson, Ruth Stevens
Photographers: Denise Applewhite, Brian Wilson
Web edition: Mahlon Lovett
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