In the News

BOAZ BARAK, assistant professor of computer science at Princeton, and EMIL YUZBASHYAN *04, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Rutgers University, have received Packard fellowships that recognize “unusually creative researchers” in their first three years of teaching. Each of the 20 recipients receives an unrestricted research grant of $625,000 over five years. Barak is a theoretical cryptographer; Yuzbashyan’s field is condensed-matter physics, focusing on superfluidity.

Charges of serving alcohol to a minor have been filed against the presidents of TIGER INN, COTTAGE CLUB, and CLOISTER INN; in each case, a person under the age of 21 required medical attention. Borough prosecutor Kim Otis said in mid-October that he was considering charging the graduate boards of the clubs with maintaining a nuisance. Conviction, he said, would give the judge the right to close the club for up to a year.

Five clubs — Terrace, Tiger, Cloister, Quad, and Colonial — have faced charges related to underage drinking since May 2006. Otis said in an interview that he believes the clubs have made some progress — but not enough — in their efforts to keep minors from drinking. Prosecutions of club officers have not proven to be a deterrent, he said, and his goal is to involve the graduate boards because they have “the institutional memory and a stake in the future.”

Otis conceded that closing a club would be “harsh,” adding that he is not on a crusade against the clubs.

But he said he would press to make sure that drinking is “not excessive and does not put people’s lives at risk.” The Daily Princetonian, noting in an Oct. 17 editorial that the three clubs were considering going off tap indefinitely while the threat of closing loomed, warned that it would be potentially more dangerous for drinking to shift to unsupervised room parties.