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The world moves fast. Daybreak keeps you up-to-date.
Enjoy everything you need to know to stay informed — on campus and off — in this digestible, efficient podcast. Daybreak is produced by Maya Mukherjee '27, Twyla Colburn '27, Sheryl Xue '28 under the 149th Managing Board of The Daily Princetonian. The theme music was composed and performed by Ed Horan, and the cover art is by Mark Dodici.
Princeton’s Disconnect from the Working Class ft. Raf Basas — Friday, Dec. 20
For the Daily Princetonian, I’m Maya Mukherjee. You’re listening to Daybreak.
Today, we cover an opinion on Princeton students being out of touch with the working class, two Princeton students named as Marshall scholars, temporary drone bans in New Jersey, and the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cuts.
It’s Friday, December 20th.
I sat down with contributing Opinion writer Raf Basas to discuss his piece about how Princeton students are out of touch with the realities of being working class in America.
[INTERVIEW]
You can read more of Raf’s opinion at dailyprincetonian.com or at the link in our shownotes.
In university news, on Monday, Travis Kanoa Chai Andrade ‘24 and Nolan Musslewhite ‘25 were named 2025 Marshall Scholars. The scholarship allows recipients to pursue two years of graduate study at a British university of their choice. They are among the 36 winners that were chosen from nearly 1,000 applicants. Chai Andrade, a native Hawaiian, was an Anthropology major at Princeton. He said that after his scholarship, he plans to work in academia, and [quote] “bring Hawaiian perspectives to the stewardship of heritage worldwide.” Musslewhite is a History major who wants to pursue a career focused on American foreign policy in Africa.
In state news, yesterday, the Federal Aviation Administration temporarily banned drone flight in over twenty locations in New Jersey. For the next thirty days, drone operations are banned in the state. The restrictions come after a series of reported drone sightings in the state and across the northeast. In a joint statement, the FAA, along with several other government agencies, said that after an investigation, it seemed that the sightings to date can be attributed to lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned aircraft. However, they are instituting the 30-day drone ban [quote] “out of an abundance of caution.”
In national news, on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve lowered its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point, to a range of 4.25-4.5 %. In its statement announcing the change, voting members of the Fed indicated that cuts would likely slow down next year; right now, they foresee lowering the rate only twice in 2025. They also noted that unemployment rates are currently low and inflation rates [quote] “remain somewhat elevated.” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that while inflation rates have fallen, people are still feeling high prices because their wages have not risen at the same rate as prices. Powell graduated from Princeton in 1975 and will be this year’s Baccalaureate Day speaker.
Today, you can expect rain and some snow flurries, with a high of 38 and a low of 30 degrees fahrenheit.
That’s all for Daybreak today.
Today’s episode was written by me, sound engineered by Theo Wells-Spackman, and produced under the 148th managing board of the ‘Prince.’ Our theme was composed by Ed Horan, Class of ’22. For the Daily Princetonian, I’m Maya Mukherjee. Have a wonderful day.
[Theme music ends]