Princeton Today: Privacy and National Security

Snowden
Snowden

National Security Agency Inspector General George Ellard will visit the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University today for the talk “Privacy and National Security.”  The event will be held in Robertson Hall, Room 016, and is free and open to the public.

Earlier this year the National Security Agency’s top watchdog slammed Edward Snowden for allegedly failing to follow official protocol in relaying his concerns about wayward intelligence gathering, and also faulted Congress for not vetting the details of post-9/11 surveillance programs.

Ellard has claimed that Snowden would have been given the same protections available to other employees who file approximately 1,000 complaints per year on the agency’s hotline system. He has alleged that a complaint would have prompted an independent assessment into the constitutionality of the law that allows for the bulk collection of Americans’ telephone metadata, and that the review would have also shown the NSA was within the scope of the law.

WEATHER

Heavy rain with a high of 40. Rain is expected to continue Wednesday and turn to snow in the evening. A flood watch is in effect for Mercer County.

EVENTS TODAY

Japanese Taiko Drum Performance – Princeton University students in the course “Japanese Taiko Performance” will perform original compositions at 12:30 p.m. in the Woolworth Center, McAlpin Rehearsal Hall. Free.

Armenians in Jerusalem – Robert Ervine of St. Nersess Armenian Seminary will give a talk “Like a Tree Planted by the Waters: The Deep Roots of Armenians in Jerusalem” at 4:30 p.m. in Jones Hall, Room 202. It is the second lecture in The Near East and the World Seminar Series “Christianity and the Near East: Past, Present … Future?”

Ideas of Order: A Close Reading of Shakespeare’s Sonnets – Shakespeare’s sonnets are the greatest single work of lyric poetry in English, as passionate and daring as any love poems we may ever encounter, and yet, they are often misunderstood. Author former and Harvard University president Neil L. Rudenstine will discuss his close reading of the sonnets and his latest book. Ideas of Order reveals an underlying structure within the 154 poems that illuminates the entire work, and provides a guide—for first-time readers as well as scholars—that inspires a new understanding of this complex masterpiece. 6 p.m. Labyrinth Books, 122 Nassau Street, Princeton. Free.

Winter Solstice – Princeton University Ballet presents “Winter Solstice” at 7 p.m. at the Frist Film and Performance Theater. Free.

Medication for ADHD:  From Myths and Controversy to Understanding and Informed Decisions  – Medication is probably the best known treatment for ADHD but it is also the most controversial. Best Selling author and psychologist Ari Tuckman will discuss what it means to treat a psychological condition and specifically what it means to take medication that influences your thinking. Other tools and strategies will also be discussed. 7 p.m. John Witherspoon Middle School,  217 Walnut Lane, Princeton.

Mercer County Community College Chorus Free Winter Concert – The MCCC Chorus, directed by Timothy Smith, will present a program entitled “Christmas Cometh Caroling,” which includes a variety of works by composers J.S. Bach, Alfred Burt, Christina Rossetti, Gustav Holst, and others. 7 p.m. Kelsey Theatre, 1200 Old Trenton Road, West Windsor.

Peter Singer on Effective Giving – Ethicist Peter Singer will give the talk “Effective Giving.” He will describe a new movement called “effective altruism,” an unsentimental view of charitable giving, focused on donating “to organizations that will do the most good with its resources, rather than those that tug the heartstrings.” This event is sponsored by the Princeton chapter of Giving What We Can. at 7 p.m., Frist Campus Center, Room 302, Princeton University.

COMMUTE

As of 8 a.m., Quaker Road is closed due to flooding.

Systemwide cross honoring of NJ TRANSIT passes/tickets is in effect for today due to impending Nor’easter.

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One Comment

  1. I hope there are protests against NSA. But if you want to hear Orwellian double-speak – do attend the presentation.

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