In this newsletter:

• PA3 Volunteers "Spring into Service" at Special Olympics
• Princeton University Library Exhibition: "A Republic in the Wilderness"
• First Friday Lunch - Jon Guddmunsson, PhD Candidate in Physics will discuss Planck Mission findings
• First Friday Lunch - Jason McSheene of Molecular Biology
• Oral History Project: Blacks in the Ivy League

June 9, 2013: Nine PA3 volunteers enjoyed a rewarding morning of service at the Special Olympic Summer Games in Ewing. This year we worked with the youngest athletes, kids 2 ½ - 7 years old. PA3 volunteers set up stations and then guided kids through activities including an obstacle course, gymnastics, tennis, and bocce, among others, all designed to help the kids improve gross motor skills and develop foundational skills for future participation in sports.

The PA3 volunteers were (pictured left to right in the group photo) Jess Deutsch ’91, Marian Zelazny p11, Andrew Lieu ’06, Jeremy Kestler ’94, Olek Zelazny p11, Arlen Hastings ’80, Wu Suen *98 and daughter Helen Sun, and Haiyan Bian p14. 

As a follow-up to the private curatorial tour PA3 members enjoyed on April 16 (see here), please note that the Friends of the Princeton University Library will sponsor a lecture and reception to open officially the wonderful "A Republic in the Wilderness" Exhibition on Sunday, May 5.

The lecture by Professor Sean Wilentz will take place at 3:30 pm in McCosh 10 on the theme "The  First United States:  From the Revolution to the Civil War". A reception will follow from 4:30 - 6:00 pm  in the Main Gallery of Firestone Library, during which time the exhibition can be viewed. On that day, the exhibition will contain additional and very rare items, including for example, one of the earliest copies of the Declaration of Independence and a manuscript copy from 1774 of John Witherspoon's lectures on moral philosophy at Princeton.

As ten of our members discovered on the 16th, the books and artifacts on display are extraordinary and not to be missed. The event is an excellent opportunity to discover and to join the Friends of the Princeton University Library.

More information on the exhibition can be found at http://rbsc.princeton.edu/republic/.

Join us for First Fridays, a monthly recurring event for undergraduate and graduate Princeton alumni, graduate students, and parents.  On the first Friday of each month, area alumni and their guests will meet to enjoy a prix fixe luncheon buffet at the Nassau Club in downtown Princeton.  As a special bonus for PA3, a Princeton University PhD candidate will present his/her work to the group in this informal setting.  Topics vary monthly and are always interesting!

This month, we will be joined by Jon Gudmundsson, a fifth year graduate student in the Department of Physics.  Jon will talk with us about the recent cosmological results from the Planck Mission, an experiment designed to study the cosmic microwave background radiation of the universe, namely the relic radiation from the big bang.  The data reveal the structure of the universe over a vast range of angular scales and frequencies and have opened new avenues of research for astrophysicists.  Jon will discuss what we have learned from the Planck data and will describe ongoing efforts in the field.  Read this NY Times article for more information on the Planck Mission.


Specially priced at $25/person (or $30 if you choose not to pay PA3's annual dues), lunch includes the Nassau Club’s full buffet as well as a complementary beverage (wine, beer, soft drink). Pre-registration is required.

Lunch Reservation

Non-PA3 Dues Payer $30.00 USD PA3 Dues Payer $25.00 USD

PA3 welcomed Jason McSheene, a PhD candidate in the Molecular Biology department at our First Friday lunch at the Nassau Club on April 5th, 2013.  The group was riveted by Jason's description of, among other things, the development of the zebrafish embryo.  To get a sense of how this development looks, Jason recommended watching http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQNxHGpK7Wc.  He also described for the group the importance of the Nodal gene and how it is expressed in left-right patterning.  The following schematic provides more detail.



http://dev.biologists.org/content/139/18/3257/F1.poster.jpg

Jason also mentioned Professor Bonnie Bassler's fascinating work and suggested watching her TED Talk on bacterial communication at  http://www.ted.com/talks/bonnie_bassler_on_how_bacteria_communicate.html .

What a wonderful and interesting luncheon!

All alumni are welcome to a kickoff oral history event, Oral History Project: Blacks in the Ivy League, from 1-3pm on the Friday of Reunions (May 31) at Chancellor Green in the Rotunda and Upper Hyphen. Participate in the telling and recording of memories and experiences of Black undergraduate and graduate alumni and staff at Princeton (as well as at other Ivy League institutions they may have attended). Refreshments will be served.

This event is sponsored by the Princeton Area Alumni Association, the Association of Black Princeton Alumni, and the Alumni Council Committee on Princetoniana.

Contact:
Cheryl L. Rowe-Rendleman, '81 crowerendleman@rocketmail.com
Tom Swift '76 tcmswift@comcast.net

General Information: princetonareaalumni@gmail.com