Category: #GreaterPrincetonNJ

The 2022 Princeton Dance Festival will feature new and repertory works by Ronald K. Brown, Davalois Fearon, Sun Kim, Michael J. Love, Susan Marshall, Rashaun Mitchell & Silas Riener, and Caili Quan, performed by students in the Program in Dance at the Berlind Theatre at McCarter Theatre Center. The range of works includes rhythm tap, contemporary ballet, popping/hip-hop, modern influenced by African dance, and contemporary dance works from a multidisciplinary perspective.

Tickets & Details

All performances are open to the public. Tickets for Princeton Dance Festival are $12 in advance of show dates, $17 purchased the day of performances at the box office, and $10 for students. Tickets will be available for purchase at McCarter Theatre Center Box Office both in-person and online. Passport to the Arts eligible for Princeton students.

Get directions to Berlind Theatre and find other venue information for McCarter Theatre Center.

Accessibility

Berlind Theatre is an accessible venue. Visit our Venues and Studios section for accessibility information at our various locations, including Berlind Theatre. Attendees in need of other access accommodations are invited to contact the Lewis Center at 609-258-5262 or email LewisCenter@princeton.edu at least one week in advance of the event date.

A staff member at Princeton University died in Green Hall on Tuesday, school officials said in an email to the campus community.

“Princeton University is saddened to inform the community that a staff member died on campus today. The death is under investigation and access to Green Hall might be limited,” the Tiger Alert sent out Tuesday evening read. “The Department of Public Safety has determined that there is no ongoing threat to the campus community.”

The death appears to be a suicide. The Middlesex County Medical Examiner is handling the review of the death.

If you or someone you know is feeling suicidal, immediately call or text 988 or 800-273-TALK (800-273- 8255). The national suicide hotline is staffed around the clock. For information about warning signs, information for veterans, and local crisis centers, visit www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org. You can also call your local police department and they will help you get the resources you need for a loved one or yourself.

Princeton University has resources available for employees and students seeking support. For employees, Carebridge counseling services are available 24/7 by calling (800) 437-0911

Student resources include:

Counseling & Psychological Services (CPS) at 609-258-3141

Office of Religious Life Deans and Chaplains at 609-258-3047

Directors of Student Life (DSLs) and Residential Life Coordinators

The staff in the Office of the Dean of the Graduate School

Editor’s note: Suicide is a public health crisis. We believe it is important to report on suicide, to name it, and to raise awareness about the issue. We do not, however, report the name of someone who has died by suicide without the express permission of the family. Some families choose to be named, while others still feel a stigma when death is by suicide. We respect their wishes in an attempt to do no harm as a journalism organization.

Fake news is nothing new. But stories full of disinformation can now reach more people more quickly via social media. Following are some times to spot fake news:

Don’t just read, share, and comment on a headline on social media. Click the link and read the story first. You could embarrass yourself by sharing something you have not actually read.

Big red flags for fake news are all caps or photoshopped pictures.

Another red flag is the lack of a byline on a story. Legitimate publications and writers put their names on their stories.

Check the domain. Fake news sites often use domain names that are similar to legitimate news websites.

If you visit a website and are bombarded with pop-ups and banner ads, it’s a good sign a story is just clickbait.

Check the about page for a news website and see if the publisher is identified. Google the name of the publication and publisher to see what comes up.

Verify an unlikely story by looking to see if reputable news outlets are reporting similar stories.

Check the date of the story. People often share outdated stories on social media.

Use a reverse image search engine to see where an image really comes from.

If you’re not sure a story is true, don’t share it.

More and more news sites are cropping up that include just a smattering of real news mixed in with lots of political propaganda.

A more difficult to recognize problem with all websites that feature “news” is paid promotions masked as news. Some websites and magazines post articles in exchange for paid ads but don’t label the content as sponsored content. This is against federal regulations. If you see a glowing story about an organization or business along with a glossy ad, you should recognize that the story is likely part of an advertising package. This would be fine if the outlet clearly labels the story, but many news outlets don’t.

This story was published by Planet Princeton as part of U.S. Democracy Day, a nationwide collaborative reporting project aimed at highlighting threats and challenges to democracy in the United States. Learn more at usdemocracyday.org. 

Every time a proposal to strengthen New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act or Open Public Meetings Act s proposed, the New Jersey Legislature kills it or simply lets it die.

Former Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) tried and failed several times to overhaul, modernize, and expand the Open Public Records Law and Open Public Meetings Act to promote more transparency in government, proposing that some amendments clarify and strengthen provisions of the laws, while others incorporate new forms of technology that have evolved since the public records law was enacted in 2001.

“The public has a reasonable expectation to transparency from government, and while New Jersey has, in the past, led the charge nationally in adopting public records and meeting laws, it’s time that we update and expand those laws to stay ahead of new trends in technology,” said Weinberg when she reintroduced bills. “In the Digital Age, our current laws governing public meetings and records requests have fallen behind the times, and have created large gaps in transparency. It’s time to correct the deficiencies in the law, and bring OPRA and the Sunshine Law into the 21st Century.”

Many Republicans voiced opposition to her proposals for changes to the laws near the end of her Senate career last year, while Democrats were simply silent. A bill Weinberg sponsored that would have revised the Open Public Records Act in meaningful ways, S-380, did not advance.

One of the proposed changes would have curtailed a provision of the law that allows public officials to shield documents by labeling them “advisory, deliberative, or consultative.” The bill also defined the term “immediately.” Certain records are to be provided to citizens “immediately” but many government agencies don’t seem to know what the term means, often delaying the release of such records such as budgets or contracts for weeks.

The bill also expanded and clarified various definitions and made changes to the duties of record custodians and the state’s Government Records Council.  It revised the composition of the Government Records Council and changed the council from being in the state Department of Community Affairs to being in, but not of, the Department of Community Affairs. The bill proposed some changes to penalty provisions and modified access to the courts. 

The bill also required the state to provide certain state agency financial information on the state’s open data website. It also established the New Jersey Local Public Finance Internet Website Development Program to provide advice and technical assistance to local government units that create a searchable local public finance Internet website. The bill required the state Office of Information Technology to develop and maintain a searchable, online database so units of local government could submit a government record for retention on that database.

More Sunshine

In the 1970s, the state enacted the open public meetings act, more commonly known as the Sunshine Law. Another bill sponsored by Weinberg would have included quasi-governmental organizations, as well as independent authorities, redevelopment entities, and improvement authorities, and would have required a public body to provide electronic notice of a meeting on its website, as well as access to meeting minutes, agendas, resolutions and ordinances. The bill also would have limited when a public body can go into closed session.

One of the strongest opponents of reforms has been the New Jersey League of Municipalities. The league, representing local officials across the state, opposes changes to the laws every time they are proposed, arguing such changes would be a costly burden on municipalities and require more staff time to comply with new provisions.

Such opposition to reform, often cloaked in concerns about costs and staff time, fails to recognize that ultimately, government officials work for and are paid by the public they serve, to conduct the public’s business. There are many good public records custodians in the state who work in earnest to fill public records requests in a timely manner and communicate delays, but often they are hampered by lawyers and politicians who seek to block or delay the release of information. The laws need to be updated to promote transparency and incorporate two decades of sweeping changes in technology. All these technological changes should also make it easier, not more difficult, for government agencies to be more transparent.

“When the Sunshine Law was written, the term ‘Internet’ hadn’t even been coined yet,” Weinberg said at the time she introduced the bills again. “The way we communicate with the world has changed so much since the original Open Public Meetings Act was enacted, and while the law may have been revolutionary for its time, the letter of the law doesn’t match the spirit of the law. Through this bill, we would be bringing the 20th Century’s most important government transparency legislation into the 21st Century, and would be able to realize the promise of open government for a new generation of New Jersey residents.”

Walter Luers, the top open public records lawyer in the state, said the push for open government Weinberg championed needs to become a reality.

“For years, Senator Weinberg worked to advance transparency in New Jersey by working on Open Public Records Act and Open Public Meetings Act reform. The Sunshine Law has not been updated since it was passed in the 1970s, and technology and the ways in which public entities operate and communicate have changed drastically since then,” Luers said. “The pandemic showed us how technology can increase access to meetings and records, especially through the use of commonly available video conferencing technology. The reforms sought by Senator Weinberg are still desperately needed today.”

Weinberg retired in January. So far no one in the Legislature has taken up her mantle on the issue. It is up to voters to demand that officials at the local, county, and state levels push for reform and provide more transparency to the people they serve. Contact your elected representatives and call on them to support transparency.

This editorial was published by Planet Princeton as part of U.S. Democracy Day, a nationwide collaborative reporting project aimed at highlighting threats and challenges to democracy in the United States. Learn more at usdemocracyday.org. Stories and editorials are being published all week to mark Democracy Day and highlight threats to democracy in the U.S.