Topics in Brief
A Community Bulletin

At its January 22 meeting, the Princeton Regional Board of Education did not, as expected, vote on whether or not to accept the Uniform State Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between education and law enforcement officials. At the meeting, several school board members, as well as residents, spoke out against the document, which describes the laws and agreed protocols and procedures between the school district and local police departments, covering such items as drug and alcohol violations, harassment, and weapons offenses. In other news, an agenda item that provided for a partnership between Heartland Payment Systems and the Board of Education, and the issuance of a “one-card” ID/library debit card to students in the district, passed unanimously. Nancy Schreiber, co-president of the Princeton Regional Education Association, spoke briefly during the open forum at the end of the meeting, saying that, despite several recent meetings, a number of ongoing issues between teachers and the district have yet to be resolved. (EG)

Toni Morrison, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author and professor emeritus in humanities at Princeton University, lent her support to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama (D-Ill) Monday. The endorsement marked the first time Ms. Morrison, who warmly dubbed President Bill Clinton as the country’s first black president, lined up behind a candidate. In a statement posted on Mr. Obama’s website, Ms. Morrison said that her endorsement had “nothing to do with age, experience, race, or gender.” She added in her letter “I would not support you if that was all you had to offer or because it might make me proud.” Ms. Morrison said her endorsement was not a knock against Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), who is battling Mr. Obama in the Democratic primary. Ms. Morrison’s endorsement of Mr. Obama was made in the final week leading up to February 5, when a bulk of the nation’s delegates, including New Jersey’s, are up for grabs. (MH)

Princeton University reported Saturday that its trustees had approved a 3.9 percent increase in student fees while also approving an almost 7 percent increase in the undergraduate scholarship budget to ensure that the increase in fees will not affect any student on financial aid. For students not on financial aid, the trustees sought to keep the rate of increase consistent with the expected rate of increase in the incomes of these students’ families. The increase is the lowest hike since the 2001-02 academic year, according to the school’s website. The projected budget increase in the financial aid program from just over $81 million this year to $86.7 million next year will continue “significant enhancements” the University has made over the past 10 years, including replacing all required loans with grants that do not need to be repaid. This year the average grant for a freshman on financial aid is more than $31,000. These efforts have dramatically increased the economic diversity of Princeton’s student body. Of this year’s freshman class, 54 percent, or 671 students, are on financial aid. That percentage is a striking change from the class of 2001 — the last class admitted before the enhancements to the aid program — when 38 percent of the freshmen were on aid. The school’s undergraduate charges next year will include: $34,290 for tuition, a 3.9 percent increase from $33,000 in 2007-08; $6,205 for room, up 3.8 percent from $5,980; and $5,200 for board, an increase of 4 percent from $5,000.

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