Wednesday, February 2, 2005

W E D N E S D A Y FEBRUARY 2, 2005

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXL, No. 6

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An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891

SICK PERFORMANCE Despite limited numbers, w. track wins New England Challenge Cup, places second twice S P O R T S 12

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THE TRANSFER EXPERIENCE Some transfer away from Brown, but those who come find a community to call their own INSIDE

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Simmons addresses transfer aid, intellectual diversity on campus

BY JUSTIN ELLIOTT CAMPUS WATCH EDITOR

President Ruth Simmons used her Spring Semester Opening Address last night to discuss freedom of expression and how the University at large, and students in particular, can improve the state of civil discourse at Brown.

Simmons also announced that a budget to be presented to the Corporation later this month includes a provision for financial aid for Resumed Undergraduate Education and transfer students, but she did not detail the plan.

“If approved by the Corporation, we will be on our way to providing … more financial aid for RUE students and financial aid for transfer students,” Simmons said after she had concluded her prepared remarks.

After her speech, which was sponsored by the Undergraduate Council of Students and delivered in a half-full Salomon 101, Simmons responded to students’ questions on issues ranging from the ROTC to the impact of faculty

sharing political opinions in class, to what role the University should play with respect to Hope High School.

Simmons began by telling the audience that one of the questions she receives most frequently when visiting Brown alums and parents around the country is, “What is the University doing about the lack of diversity of opinion on campus?” She said that students on campus of all political stripes have told her of “a chilling effect caused by the dominance of certain voices on the spectrum of moral and political thought.”

Such a chilling effect is detrimental to education and intellectual inquiry because “we are often creatures of habit when it comes to learning,” Simmons said.

“Familiar and appetizing offerings can certainly be a pleasing dimension of learning, but too much repetition of what we desire to hear can become intelsee SIMMONS, page 4

Matt Lent / Herald

President Simmons spoke last night about the need for intellectual diversity at Brown in her annual Spring Semester Opening Address.

Speech marks returning emphasis on ideology

BY ROBBIE COREY-BOULET METRO EDITOR

Audience members expecting to hear a summary of President Ruth Simmons’ recent efforts to promote the University’s capital campaign may ANALYSIS have been surprised last night when they sat down for her second annual presidential address.

Though she briefly recapped some of Brown’s recent initiatives, Simmons spent most of her speech addressing civil discourse and intellectual diversity on campus, a concern she described as “equal to that of how buildings are maintained, how the campus expands and how our various programs are funded.”

The issue “goes to the heart of what we are as a university,” she said.

Last year, Simmons took advantage of her first presidential address to outline specific projects related to the Plan for Academic Enrichment, citing plans to expand faculty hiring, improve University facilities and take steps toward instituting need-blind financial aid.

This year, Simmons’ comments addressed the ideological side of the University’s mission, as she outlined ways in which students can promote civil discourse and foster an “open campus where we feel free to pursue any avenue of inquiry that is vital to our understanding.”

Simmons urged students to actively engage in debate, thereby discouraging an environment where ideas go unchallenged and certain moral and political views dominate campus discourse.

In addition, she challenged the notion of an “entrenched liberal bias at Brown,” encouraging students to “enter the fray” and vocalize their many different opinions.

Simmons said her decision to address intellectual diversity resulted from conversations she had with parents, alums and other University supporters while traveling the country promoting the capital campaign during the past two months.

Dean of the College Paul Armstrong said he agrees a lack of diversity of opinion on campus “is a concern that many have.”

Undergraduate Council of Students President Joel Payne said the focus of Simmons’ speech may have materialized out of recent discussions she had with student leaders.

“In our conversations, we had tried to express our concerns about a growing attitude of intolerance” on campus, Payne said.

The increased attention to issues of University discourse may also reflect the

Editorial: 401.351.3372 Business: 401.351.3269

timing of the speech in relation to Simmons’ current position at Brown, Payne said.

“We’ve been focusing on improving the infrastructure, planning and services” administrators provide to the Brown community in the past few years, he said.

“Now she’s been able to reflect upon some of the campus climate issues as well.”

The memory of recent inflammatory incidents on campus — such as a hate crime last spring that sparked a student-

The faculty voted 30-26 Tuesday to require undergraduates to declare second concentrations by the end of preregistration period during their seventh semesters. The amendment to the Faculty Rules and Regulations will not affect the Class of 2005, Dean of the College Paul Armstrong told The Herald.

No deadline had previously existed, meaning students could add second concentrations just before graduating.

Armstrong, who presented the proposal on behalf of the College Curriculum Council, said students often used a lastminute declaration as a “retroactive preprofessional credential.”

Students should take more time to reflect on their choice of concentration, Armstrong said. The CCC has also debated whether students should even be encouraged to add second concentrations, he added.

Last-minute declarations have “become a problem with some concentrations, especially International Relations, which has requested relief of this kind,” according to the motion submitted to the faculty by the CCC. Armstrong fielded several challenges

BY ERIC BECK SENIOR STAFF WRITER

to the proposal. Professor of Mathematics Thomas Banchoff noted that students do not receive a second degree for a second concentration — only an indication on their transcripts that they completed its requirements.

As long as they complete the stated requirements, students should get the transcript notation regardless of when they filed the second concentration, Banchoff said.

Another faculty member said the concentrations themselves were to blame. All concentrations should be structured as sequences of courses leading to a capstone experience, making it impossible to add a second concentration at the last minute, he said.

Some faculty spoke of students who realized only at the end of their academic careers that they had completed a second concentration, but others mentioned students who tried to skirt around required courses to add one at the last minute.

Most motions brought before the faculty pass unanimously or with little dissent, but the CCC proposal went to a hand vote, a rarity for faculty meetings

Harvard University President Lawrence Summers’ recent remark that women may have less innate scientific ability than men has focused public attention on the issue of women in math and science. University administrators say Brown is working hard to close the gender gap in math and science, but some students say they have not yet seen the results.

“Nationwide, there are fewer women represented in the sciences in general and in the physical sciences in particular. That’s a historical trend. It’s getting better, but not at the same pace as other fields,” said Brenda Allen, associate provost and director of institutional diversity.

The University’s efforts to diversify the sciences include recruiting female faculty, Allen said.

About 30 percent of Brown’s current faculty is female, Allen said. Though she did not know the percentage of females in math and science, she said it was lower than in the humanities or social sciences.

David Targan, associate dean of the college and dean for science programs, said of Brown, “In general, the numbers have been very low, but there has been significant improvement.”

Allen said diversity considerations are a part of every hire.

“We work with all departments on issues of diversity. Every hiring plan is thought through to try to figure out ways to more strategically reach a diverse pool,” she said, adding that methods of diversifying pools include identifying better opportunities for advertising and contacting people who may know of minorities interested in a position.

see FACULTY, page 9

see WOMEN, page 6

see ANALYSIS, page 8

Faculty sets deadline for declaring second concentration HERALD STAFF REPORTS

U. striving to improve academic climate for women

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

THIS MORNING WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2005 · PAGE 2 Coreacracy Eddie Ahn

WORLD IN BRIEF Social security to be centerpiece of address WASHINGTON — When President Bush steps into the House chamber Wednesday night to deliver his State of the Union address, several things can be anticipated.

One is that a central component will be an appeal for passage of a Social Security overhaul that includes partial privatization of the system.

Another is that Bush will justify this approach by arguing that Social Security faces dire fiscal straits and that Washington must act now to shore up its financial structure.

Yet another is that as Bush does so, most Democrats in the chamber—and

some Republicans—will be shaking their heads in strong disagreement.

They and other critics of the president say a close reading of the retirement system’s underlying finances shows that it will remain solvent for decades.

While it does face some long-term problems, they argue that these can be addressed by relatively modest adjustments—and that Bush’s idea to allow wage earners to divert some of their Social Security payroll taxes into private accounts will make matters worse.

Jero Matt Vascellaro

see more, page 5

TO D AY ’ S E V E N TS EVADING THE STATE: HILLS AND VALLEYS IN MAINLAND SOUTHEAST ASIA (OR) WHY CIVILIZATIONS CAN’T CLIMB HILLS 4:00 p.m. (McKinney Conference Room, Watson Institute, 111 Thayer Street) — With James Scott, Sterling Professor of Political Science and Anthropology and Director, Program in Agrarian Studies, Yale University.

Penguiner Haan Lee

MENU SHARPE REFECTORY LUNCH — Polynesian Chicken Wings, Stir Fried Rice, Mandarin Blend Vegetables, Chocolate Frosted Eclairs, Apple Turnovers, Vegetable Egg Rolls With Duck Sauce.

VERNEY-WOOLLEY DINING HALL LUNCH — Vegetarian Cream of Tomato, Egg Drop & Chicken Soup, Italian Sausage & Peppers Sandwich,Vegan White Bean Casserole, Green Peas, Mini Eclairs.

DINNER — Salmon Provenscal, Mushroom Risotto, Steamed Vegetable Melange, Greek Asparagus, Oatmeal Bread, Lime Jello, Caribbean Rum Cake, Lamb Stir Fry.

DINNER — Vegetarian Cream of Tomato, Egg Drop & Chicken Soup, Chicken w/ Sundried Tomato & Garlic Crust,Vegan Red Beans & Rice, Red Potatoes with Chive Sauce, Italian Green Beans, Stir Fry Vegetable Medley, Oatmeal Bread, Caribbean Rum Cake

Chocolate Covered Cotton Mark Brinker

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Oro y __: Montana’s motto 6 Central American Indian 11 IRS employee 14 Station 15 See 66-Across 16 Sprinted 17 20-Across’s birthplace 20 Author born 2/2/1905 21 Moppet’s vehicle 22 Bireme propeller 24 Accumulate 26 Tech support caller 27 Proper to a fault 30 Says 32 Hemp fiber 33 Sao __ 36 20-Across novel 41 “He loves me” piece 42 Intended 44 Between 90º and 180º 48 Elf, to Santa 49 Model T contemporaries 50 Ancient: Prefix 54 Exist 55 Yearly record 57 First screenplay by 20-Across 60 20-Across novel 64 Community pronoun 65 Latin name of ancient Troy 66 With 15-Across, “Touched by an Angel” costar 67 B&O et al.

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2005 · PAGE 3

I

t’s hard for someone like myself, a transfer student from the University of Chicago, to imagine going through daily life at Brown without noticing what feels like an omnipresent population of students that once belonged to other colleges. But for most of the student population, the experience of transfer students probably seems like a distant reality.

This year’s midyear transfer orientation, which took place the week before classes started, introduced the 46 new transfers to campus, where they joined the 113 transfers from last semester, as well as the rest of the Brown population.

Of the more than 700 students who apply to transfer to Brown each year, roughly 200 are accepted to enroll.

According to Associate Dean of the College Carol Cohen, who has worked with transfer students for over 15 years, they are “an intentional population here, not just a plugging in of empty spots” left by an overestimated matriculation of first-year applicants.

Most of us chose to transfer to Brown at least in part because of its rich academic atmosphere. Drew Rifkin ’07 transferred from the University of Wisconsin-Madison last semester and is happy with his decision. Academics and the size of the school drew Rifkin to Brown. At Madison, “people weren’t involved or interested in learning,” Rifkin said. “People never spoke up in class and the classes were gigantic, so you couldn’t speak.”

Carrie Petri ’07, who came to Brown last fall from the University of Michigan, had similar reasons for transferring. “I felt like I wasn’t really that challenged by my peers or my classes,” Petri said of her experience at Michigan.

I entered Brown last fall as a junior mostly because I admire the type of students who come here. The University of Chicago offers plenty of intellectual challenge, but it lacks a student population as passionate about life outside of the classroom as Brown does. Brown also lacks the reputation of being a place “Where fun comes to die,” which is the unofficial but notorious motto of the University of Chicago.

Before our first semester begins, transfer students participate in a week of orientation activities. However, transfer orientation is somewhat different from a typical

I

T H E

t didn’t take more than a week for transfer student Elizabeth Thorndike ’06 to decide that Hobart and William Smith Colleges was not the place for her.

“I knew I had to get out pretty much right away, definitely after the first weekend,” she said.

Thorndike, disappointed by her rejection from first-choice Harvard University, was not optimistic about attending Hobart. Arriving on campus, her skepticism was confirmed.

The size and location were the most immediate factors in her decision to transfer, she said. Hobart is located in a small town near the Finger Lakes in upstate New York and only matriculates about 450 freshman a year. It was a sixhour drive from home in Needham, Mass. and an hour away from Syracuse, the nearest sizeable city.

After an intense experience in high school at Philips Andover Academy, Thorndike said she was also disappointed with the academics at Hobart.

She described it as a serious step down from Andover and she chafed against the restrictive distribution requirements.

“I felt like I was in public high school,” she said.

Though the social life was not completely barren, it was limited, Thorndike said. “The people at Hobart were snobby and all the same. There

T R A N S F E R

E X P E R I E N C E

BY JULIANA WU • STAFF WRITER

freshman college orientation. Other than the “nuts and bolts” meeting, in which registration, advising and classes are briefly discussed, transfer students spend most of their first week on campus meeting other transfers through informal social events set up by the transfer counselors, who themselves transferred to Brown.

Transfer deans and students expressed a general appreciation for the approach that the transfer counselors take towards their orientation responsibilities. Dean Cohen praised the transfer counselors for being “so amazingly on top of it,” making the effort to provide social outlets for new students to meet each other.

“I pretty much hang out with all transfers,” Petri said. “I didn’t expect that, but it was sort of hard to penetrate already existing sophomore groups of friends.”

That seems to be the case for most of us. After a semester at Brown, more than half of my friends and acquaintances at Brown are still transfer students. This probably explains why it’s so hard for me to imagine what life must be like on this campus without noticing the transfer population.

The fact that the social groups of transfer students are somewhat detached from the rest of the population is isn’t necessarily negative, according to Petri. “I like it because I feel like our common thread is just the fact that we transferred,” she said.

In addition to providing academic support through personal experiences with classes and professors, this year’s transfer counselors took personal initiatives to throw parties and show transfer students around Providence.

“They were pretty good at not sticking in too much that was kind of like freshman

year all over again,” said midyear transfer Katy Spitzer ’07.

While orientation seemed to be a generally positive experience, the transfer process is not without its difficulties. Many transfer students expressed concerns about the University’s financial aid policies.

Currently, the University’s admission office admits both freshmen and transfer students under a need-blind policy.

Applicants are considered for admission without regard to their financial needs.

However, unlike students who are admitted to Brown for their freshman year, transfer students are not eligible to receive scholarship money from the University.

Transfer students can only qualify for self-help financial aid, which typically constitutes federal and state, but not University, scholarship m o n e y , according to S e n i o r Associate Director of C o l l e g e Admissions A n n i e Cappuccino.

Since the need-blind policy came into effect a few years ago, Cappuccino said she knows that “the President and the Provosts have been interested in whether we should try

Finding the right place

BY STEWART DEARING • STAFF WRITER

was no diversity — I was really quite shocked. Everyone was from New York City or Boston and wore the same clothes.”

It was a professor at Hobart who suggested that Thorndike apply to Brown.

Once she decided to leave, professors were supportive — she was not a rarity at Hobart. “A lot of the students are from New England prep schools and transfer out,” she said.

She applied to Brown in the fall of her first year and transferred in the spring of her sophomore year.

Now a junior, Thorndike said she couldn’t be happier.

The academic freedom and student diversity are a great improvement over Hobart, she said.

“Once I got acclimated, I started to love it. Transferring was the best decision I could have made,” she said.

E

ugenie Kim’s decision to transfer from Brown to Stanford University her first year was not an easy one.

But she knew she was unhappy with the lack of diversity at Brown.

“It was a hard decision to make. Once I got into Stanford, which is where I wanted to go, I took a really long time to decide. I wasn’t sure it would actually be different,” she said.

Kim said she had been disappointed with Brown’s campus climate. “There was a homogeneity of intellectual thought on campus. I felt like I was stagnating and I wasn’t doing anything new or exciting that I wanted to be doing,” she said.

During her first semester at Brown, her enjoyment of the new experience and region waned, replaced by disappointment with both the social scene and the academics, especially the Department of Physics. She began to consider transferring early in the spring semester.

For many students, the first choice wasn’t a perfect fit

to do more for financial aid for transfers.” Despite discussions and proposals within the administration, however, no decisions have been made about expanding full financial aid to transfers.

About the disparity in the financial aid policy, Spitzer said, “It kind of does make you feel like you’re a second-class citizen.”

Rifkin echoed the sentiment. “There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be getting equal opportunity to financial aid,” he said.

Some students’ displeasure with the transfer aid disparity has prompted them to take action. Some transfer students created a group on TheFacebook.com called “Need-Blind Ineligible.” While the group’s name is technically inaccurate, it has served as a forum for members to express their anger at the University, which, according to the group’s facebook profile, “apparently didn’t see (us) as a good investment.”

Financial issues aside, most of us are satisfied enough with our experiences here to stay and very few feel that it was the wrong decision. “Most years there are none, but I would say if you take a cut of five years there might be three or four (transfers who decide to leave),” Cohen said.

Brown’s high retention rate reflects the student body’s satisfaction with the school, but a small number of students do transfer out.

Sarena Snider left Brown after her first year because she was unable to explore more career-oriented academic options.

Snider attempted to create her own major involving psychology, communications and marketing, but “(the University) would not allow me to create a major that was more pre-professional in nature.”

Snider, now a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania, appreciates the array of academic options that Penn offers through its business, law and medical schools.

David Tannenwald, who also left Brown after his first year, felt that the University had too much of a liberal political bias.

“Some of my professors did go a little far in expressing their views in class and it did affect how they presented the material,” Tannenwald said.

Tannenwald has spent time away from see TRANSFERS, page 8 She also wanted to be closer to her hometown, Los Angeles. “A lot of transferring might have to do with the fact that the culture is so different on the two coasts,” she said.

Professors at Brown were shocked by her decision to transfer, Kim said. Her academic advisor was understanding, but most professors questioned her choice. “They weren’t hostile about it, but they were confused,” she said.

Kim was drawn to Stanford because of its excellent reputation in the sciences and its social life. The transition was surprisingly easy because of Stanford’s unique housing system for freshman and new students, she said. “I thought I would have a lot of trouble, but I actually felt like I fit in right away,” she explained.

While Kim said there was nothing inherently wrong with Brown, she thought that Brown students were more like-minded than Stanford students.

“Especially politically, people at Brown tend to think the same way. At Stanford, people are pretty liberal too, but I find there’s a huge range of topics that people are interested in,” she said.

Happy at Stanford, Kim said she does not hold a grudge against Brown for not being what she wanted. “If I had gone back to Brown instead of transferring, I would have adjusted and I would have been fine, but I am really happy here. I think this is the right environment for me,” she said.

PAGE 4 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2005

Simmons continued from page 1 lectually debilitating,” she said.

As for concrete actions the University will take to improve civil discourse, Simmons pointed to the forthcoming Brown University Community Council, which will be composed of faculty, students, staff and alumni and will serve as a “standing platform” to discuss “issues of importance to our community.”

She also announced the creation of a fund that will be devoted to bringing a wider variety of speakers to campus and will be open to requests submitted by students and faculty.

Simmons posed several questions she said should be addressed without hesitation, such as whether Brown is “suppressing expression, limiting debate (and) fostering hostility to particular ideas and different perspectives.”

She asked, “Why do so many hold up Brown as an example of the way that universities today circumscribe free expression?”

Simmons said a reasoned challenge to a perspective is “the most important obligation of scholarship” and the duty to enter debates lies with students themselves.

“Unchallenged opinion is a dark place that must be exposed to light,” she said.

Connecting Brown’s experience to political and intellectual discussion on a national level, Simmons addressed “to what extent … the erosion of civil discourse in the country at large (is) responsible for our own concerns about freedom of expression.”

She pointed to the “painfully truncated debate around the war in Iraq, the public policy debates around affirmative action (and) indeed every major national issue in recent times” as exposing anew “the extent to which public discourse in American society has lagged behind other advances.”

Difficulties with civil discourse arise in part, she said, because “we rarely learn how to exercise this most important of constitutional rights.” Simmons laid out eight “rules of engagement” to make a better environment for the discussion and debate of ideas.

She encouraged students to “avoid personal attacks,” “accord respect for the right of all interlocutors to respond” and “recognize that arguing a position in opposition to your own is a legitimate and desirable strategy of debate.”

She added that through the new Community Council, “Our aim is to model … the kind of civic debate and conflict resolution we would like to see in the country at large.” To that end, Simmons said she would ask see SIMMONS, page 9

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

WORLD & NATION WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2005 · PAGE 5

Toy maker says soldier in kidnap photo appears to be a doll

BY MONTE MORIN LOS ANGELES TIMES

A militant group’s claim that it had kidnapped a U.S. soldier in Iraq and planned to behead him was suspected of being a hoax Tuesday, after a California toy manufacturer said photos of the purported captive on an insurgent Web site appeared to show one of its collectible dolls.

A group calling itself the Mujahedeen Brigades posted a photograph that appeared to show a stern-faced U.S. soldier sitting at gunpoint before a black banner with Arabic script. The posting called the soldier “John Adam.”

U.S. military authorities said aspects of the photograph raised doubts: The soldier’s vest, for instance, resembled no such equipment issued by the Army, and the claim on the Web site about the kidnapping appeared to contain misspellings.

Nevertheless, they asked for a full accounting of military personnel in Iraq.

“No units have reported anyone missing,” Staff Sgt. Nick Minecci of the military’s press office in Baghdad told The Associated Press.

In the grainy photograph, the figure appears dressed in desert camouflage and leans stiffly against a concrete wall with his hands behind him.

He wears a bulky vest and green kneepads. The see KIDNAP, page 8

Social Security to be centerpiece of address

BY KEN FIREMAN NEWSDAY

WASHINGTON — When President Bush steps into the House chamber Wednesday night to deliver his State of the Union address, several things can be anticipated.

One is that a central component will be an appeal for passage of a Social Security overhaul that includes partial privatization of the system.

Another is that Bush will justify this approach by arguing that Social Security faces dire fiscal straits and that Washington must act now to shore up its financial structure.

Yet another is that as Bush does so, most Democrats in the chamber — and some Republicans — will be shaking their heads in strong disagreement.

They and other critics of the president say a close reading of the retirement system’s underlying finances shows that it will remain solvent for decades.

While it does face some long-term problems, they argue that these can be addressed by relatively modest adjustments — and that Bush’s idea to allow wage earners to divert some of their Social Security payroll taxes into private accounts will make matters worse.

The question of whether Social Security truly faces a crisis is central to the emerging political fight over its future. As a predicate for selling private accounts—and the resulting trade-offs in reduced guaranteed benefits and higher government debt—to a skeptical public and Congress, Bush must persuade them that the system’s fiscal problems are so severe that only a major overhaul will suffice.

As a consequence, the president can be expected to spend considerable time and effort Wednesday night making that case.

“He will speak in very clear and direct terms about why we have a problem, why it needs to be discussed now,” said one senior administration official. “Some want to say that we really don’t have a problem, that it’s

being over-hyped, that … this could be easily fixed with just this, that and the other. Obviously (we) disagree.”

Bush won’t lay out a detailed legislative proposal, but he will offer clues on how the private accounts would work, including how they would be restricted to a limited menu of investment options, the official said.

The facts underlying the debate have been laid out by the Social Security trustees and the Congressional Budget Office. They say that the retirement system currently runs a surplus — about $68 billion annually — and will continue to do so for at least 13 years, swelling a trust fund designed to provide a cushion for future benefits.

But late in the next decade — 2018 according to the trustees and 2020 according to the budget office — that surplus will become a deficit. One main reason is the retirement of the large baby-boom generation, which will steadily reduce the ratio of active workers to retirees.

That ratio, which was 5-1 in 1960 and more than 3-1 in 2003, will decline to about 2-1 by 2030, according to the Social Security Administration.

Even after the system starts running a deficit, it will still be able to make all promised payments to retirees for many years by drawing on the trust fund. But at some point, that reserve will be gone; the trustees put it at 2042, while the budget office, using a less conservative model for economic growth, places it 10 years later.

At that point, Social Security will be able to pay only 78 percent of its promised benefits, unless something is changed.

Does this constitute a crisis that demands immediate action? Bush says yes.

“If you’re 20 years old, in your mid-20s, and you’re beginning to work, I want you to think about a Social Security system that will be flat bust, bankrupt, unless the United States Congress has got the willingness to act see UNION, page 8

PAGE 6 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2005

Women continued from page 1 “We go out of our way to make sure that we have the most diverse pool of applicants that we can possibly get,” she said.

The University’s Target of Opportunity program, which allows departments to bypass the normal hiring process and specifically solicit “extraordinary” candidates, frequently brings in minorities, Allen said.

As the University tries to attract women to join the faculty, it also works to keep women in math and science as undergraduates.

“The pipeline for faculty members needs to be increased. That means you have to start at the colleges to encourage women and make it a user-friendly, conducive area to study,” said Sheila Blumstein, professor of cognitive and linguistic sciences.

Some students say they have encountered a culture in the sciences — particularly the physical sciences — that is discouraging to women.

Women who come to Brown thinking that they want to concentrate in areas such as physical sciences or computer science often find the climate of roundthe-clock intensity unwelcoming, said Kathryn Spoehr, professor of cognitive and linguistic sciences.

Blumstein said, “I think the questions that we’ve been trying to answer are, what are the reasons (that women are less likely to participate in math and science)?

Could it be the fact that the departments are largely male?

Could it be the way the interactions in labs and classrooms occur? Is it simply that women have had less exposure than men, and the expectations are set low from high school on?”

Jenny Paul-Rappaport ’05.5, who transferred to Brown from Occidental College to study physics, said she has found that most of her physics professors at Brown “had little interest in teaching and very little interest in

encouraging students. I’d come to office hours when I was excited about the material, and they were totally uninterested. Several comments have been made about how my questions have been stupid.”

“I had a professor specifically use me as an example because he knew I didn’t know the answer as I had gone to him in office hours the day before. He knew I didn’t understand it, and he used me as an example in class. It was humiliating … I had never seen him call on any men like that. If they didn’t know the answer, he would just move on,” she said.

“There is no reason why physics can’t be a fun, encouraging thing. It is an amazing field, but the professors make it frightening,” she said.

Suz Tolwinski ’05, a physics concentrator, said “it is pretty easy to sense if a professor is uneasy that there is only one woman in the class. For some, there is no issue at all, but for others, you can tell they are a little uncomfortable.”

Tolwinski, who said she is the only female physics concentrator in her graduating class, said she has been the only woman in several of her physics classes.

“It never really bothered me until last year when there were a couple incidents in my classes that made me aware that this was an issue and made me start thinking about my dual identity as a physicist and a female,” she said.

In one such incident, Tolwinski offered a question that challenged the professor and the class. After exploring the question for the rest of the class, the professor thanked a male student sitting near her for thinking of the question, Tolwinski said.

Not all students say math and science professors are unwelcoming.

Alison Hwong ’05.5, a neuroscience concentrator, said she has found the department of neuroscience “a bit unique in that the department is very cooperative and encouraging.”

“The neuroscience depart-

ment is very much about collaboration. It is a very friendly department, and they are really encouraging people to study neuroscience,” she said.

One reason Hwong thinks the department of neuroscience is so successful in creating an open environment is that it has worked to make its introductory course, BN 1: “The Brain: An Introduction to Neuroscience,” very friendly and accessible, she said.

“They’ve put some really stellar professors teaching introductory neuroscience, and they’re consistently teaching that course,” she said.

Administrators say the University is working to improve the culture in math and science.

“On the classroom level, after class, at office hours, at labs, both men and women need to play close attention to this issue,” Targan said.

Allen said the Office of the Dean of the College is leading “curriculum transformation workshops,” which bring faculty together to look critically at the relationship between diversity and curriculum, pedagogy, labs, and climate. Last semester, the workshop focused on the humanities and social sciences. The physical and life sciences are targeted for this semester, she said.

“The workshop will give faculty a chance to come together as science faculty, think about what some of the issues are and collectively think about some strategies for beginning to deal more concretely with these issues,” Allen said.

Blumstein agreed about the importance of changing the culture of some departments.

“It appeared as though there was a greater attrition rate for women in the sciences than for men. I think one way to deal with this is to try to change the culture with study groups or make the methods the faculty uses a little broader,” she said.

But Paul-Rappaport said she does not think change can come see WOMEN, page 7

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2005 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 7

Women continued from page 6 so easily.

“In general, it’s a boys club, and they like it that way. A lot of them are very traditional, and while they are told that women coming into the field is a good thing, I don’t think they see it that way,” she said.

Blumstein said bringing more women into departments can help to change the culture.

“It doesn’t take a lot of people to start to change a culture. It requires that people who had not have had much exposure working with people who are different from them find out that they’re part of the group, change the dynamics of the group and can improve the group,” she said.

Another difficulty facing women in math and science is what Spoehr calls the expectation to be a “superwoman.”

There is a lot of pressure on the women faculty in a department to be strong and not call upon male department chairs or senior faculty, she said.

Students face the same burden, Paul-Rappaport said.

“I felt like there was an expectation that I had to be at the top of the class to show that I deserved to be there. There were male peers in my class who were doing average, and it never seemed like there was anything wrong with that,” she said.

The Women in Science and Engineering program is designed to provide support for women in math, science, and engineering, said Targan, the program’s director.

Tolwinski, who is a WiSE affinity group leader for physics, helped coordinate an open forum Jan. 28 to address concerns of women in math and science.

Attended by about 30 people, including undergraduate and graduate students and faculty, the two-hour session allowed both male and female students to voice their concerns.

“I think people have a lot of things to say about this and most of the time it is kept quiet and hush-hush. Providing an opportunity in which a lot of people who have these feelings can get together and talk about them opened a can of worms,” Tolwinski said.

WiSE, which is funded by the Office of the Dean of the College, external grants and individual departments, tries to nurture a positive culture for women, Targan said.

Katharine Wilson ’99 GS ’01, WiSE program coordinator, said some 800 to 900 students each year join the group’s mailing list and attend at least one event.

Some 175 people participate in the program’s peer-mentoring program, she said.

Paul-Rappaport said her experience in physics has made her abandon the field. Instead of attending graduate school for physics, she plans to study public policy, she said.

“The reason why I transferred to Brown is because Brown has a great department. I was really excited, and I came in with a good level of support, confidence and ambition to do this hard science track. After seeing the culture, I felt badly enough about myself and my skills. I just got shot down numerous times,” she said.

But not everyone share PaulRappaport’s experience.

“I love (physics). I do think that as I become increasingly aware of these issues, my personal enjoyment of the field is sometimes compromised by women’s issues — not enough for me to quit the field, but enough for me to question whether I want to continue,” Tolwinski said.

Allen said it is unrealistic to expect improvement for women immediately.

“Issues of diversity aren’t at any level of comfort yet. I think Brown is putting forth a good effort to identify its problems and deal with these issues. But these are hard problems, these are historical problems and these are complicated problems,” she said.

“We will take the effort to diversify one hire at a time. We have to see every success in bringing greater diversity to any department as movement toward a larger goal,” she said.

Targan said leadership is a key to improving diversity at Brown.

“We have leadership from the top that is stating that (diversity) is an objective of the academic enrichment program — a program we are laser-focused on.

Leadership from the top is wellknown to be the most significant factor,” he said.

The issue of women in math and science received increased attention after Summers, the president of Harvard, claimed at a speaking event Jan. 14 that women have less innate science ability than men.

“Larry Summers has a tendency to put his foot in his mouth,” Spoehr said, calling the comment “foolish.”

Targan said, “It is really a sign of a negative climate for women when the leader of an institution hasn’t really bothered to find out about gender equity. That sets the tone that it is unimportant … It is unfortunate when a leader is so misinformed and part of the problem.”

The redeeming value of “the Summers debacle,” Tolwinski said, is that it gave people the chance to address the issue of women in math and science. She organized the WiSE forum after hearing about Summers’ comment, she said.

Targan, who participated in a Jan. 25 Democracy Now radio program discussing Summers’ remark, said it has helped bring everyone together to look at the status of women in math and science.

“This is the first time that the issue has been raised to this level of attention. We have all come together with a focus on one problem that some of us have been working on for decades,” he said.

Miller continued from page 12 ther north of the Tarheel State you get, the more the refs look the other way for your oppo-

nent. With BC over 700 miles from Durham, I hope the Eagles won’t be looking to the zebras for help anytime soon.

So, Eagles fans, this is the best thing I can say to you.

Enjoy the run while it lasts, bask in the glow of every victo-

ry, because next year, you get to see what REAL college basketball is all about.

Sports Editor Ben Miller ’07 considers Maryland’s mascot, a turtle named Testudo, intimidating.

PAGE 8 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2005

Union continued from page 5 now,” he said Jan. 11.

Bush’s critics ridicule such rhetoric as factually wrong — and politically motivated. They say Social Security will never be truly bankrupt because there will always be a dedicated rev-

enue stream — the payroll tax on wage earners and their employers — to fund it.

And they say future shortfalls can be corrected by a relatively modest combination of fixes, including raising the amount of income subject to the payroll tax, a small and gradual increase in the tax itself, and minor trims in benefits for affluent wage earners who retire in the future.

To illustrate what they call the undramatic nature of the problem, they say that merely raising the payroll tax from its present rate of 12.4 percent (split between employers and workers) to 13.9 percent would put the system in balance for another 75 years. Or keeping the rate steady while raising the amount of yearly income subject to the tax from the current $90,000 to

Kidnap continued from page 5 barrel of an American automatic rifle is pointed at his head, but no one is pictured holding the weapon.

An executive for Dragon Models USA Inc. said the soldier looked exactly like a foot-tall G.I. Joe-type doll the company manufactured for sale at U.S. bases in Kuwait.

“This looks like our doll,” said Liam Cusack, a company spokesman. “We don’t want to say 100 percent that it is our doll, but it does bear a striking resemblance. We’re hoping that this is actually a hoax.”

Cusack said the doll appeared to be the black version of its “Cody” action figure, one of several thousand sold to U.S. military bases in Kuwait about three years ago. The dolls are minutely detailed and frequently used in dioramas of war scenes.

Cusack said he was alerted to the photograph Tuesday morning by a retailer who saw the photo on a news Web site.

Cusack said he had not had contact with the U.S. military about

$140,000 over the next decade would erase 43 percent of the deficit.

“We can solve this long-term challenge without dismantling Social Security—and without allowing this administration’s false declaration of a crisis to justify a privatization plan that is unnecessary,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said earlier this week. the matter.

“I don’t even know how to contact them,” Cusack said.

If in fact the photo is a hoax, it would be the second such sham that has received widespread attention in the media.

In August, television stations around the world broadcast a video of a 22-year-old San Francisco man who faked his own beheading. The man, Benjamin Vanderford, said he had circulated the video to show how easy it was to fabricate execution videos.

The Mujahedeen Brigades claimed responsibility for two abductions last April. One involved three Japanese, who were later released, and the other a Brazilian engineer. It was unclear Tuesday whether that group, or someone else, was behind the apparently fake photos.

To date, only one U.S. soldier has been confirmed taken hostage by insurgents: Pfc. Keith M. Maupin of Batavia, Ohio. Maupin was shown in a hostage video in April. A second video in June purported to show his execution, but the military still lists him as missing.

Analysis continued from page 1 led campaign critiquing administrators’ handling of disciplinary infractions — may have also inspired Simmons’ comments, Payne said.

Armstrong said Simmons’ shift from concrete to more ideological efforts to improve Brown highlighted the dual responsibilities inherent in her role as leader of the University.

While she must operate as an effective chief executive and fundraiser, Simmons must also advance the University’s profile by being an educator and “spokesperson for our vision and ideals,” Armstrong said.

Simmons’ remarks expanded on themes she addressed in her 2001 convocation speech — her “first important address” as president, according to David Greene, vice president for campus life and student services.

Thus, last night’s talk does not represent a change in priorities so much as a reiteration of some of the broader themes she hopes will characterize her presidency, Greene said. These themes include the “need to hear discordant notes” when debating any issue, he said.

While resistance toward unpopular views is certainly an issue on campus, Greene said he has witnessed “some very strong student voices” during his time at Brown. There is often a “real variety of opinion” over many issues, he added.

Armstrong, who also teaches courses in the Department of

Transfers continued from page 3 school working for John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign and working at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University as a research assistant. Currently applying to colleges, he is looking for a school with “a more open political atmosphere and a stronger sense of community” than he feels Brown offers.

Often my transfer peers and I have shared with each other a common apprehension we felt about leaving our old college experiences behind for new ones at Brown. We understand the sacrifices that are involved in either leaving Brown or entering it in the middle of our college years, but most of us also appreciate the incredible opportunity that we are getting to have a second chance at college, at Brown.

While Snider and Tannenwald were unable to find their ideal college experience at Brown, both spoke positively about the University.

“I really miss this desire to learn for the sake of learning.

People are a little bit more competitive at Penn,” Snider said.

For Tannenwald, the decision to leave Brown was difficult. “In the event that I don’t get into the schools I apply to, I’ll definitely come back,” he said. “Undoubtedly I know I could have a good experience there.”

English, said debates in his classroom often involve “a lot of intellectual conflict.”

Christopher McAuliffe ’05, president of the College Republicans, said it is “an empirical fact” that many students and faculty “gravitate toward the left.”

But “if there is such a thing as a bias … that would be more in the form of institutional barriers that have been set up on campus over the past few decades,” he said. McAuliffe cited as an example the Third World Center, an organization he described as having “a very explicit political aim.”

While the speech was framed in a manner that emphasized academic discussions, Simmons’ comments also pertain to more “mundane interactions” at Brown, Greene said.

Her messages of respect and tolerance can also be viewed in the context of poor treatment toward dining hall employees and student workers, which was a growing concern for administrators last semester, he said.

The address came as the University is accepting applications for the Brown University Community Council, an organization Simmons said she hopes will provide “a standing platform for the debate of issues of importance to our community.” The council will include students, faculty, alumni and staff members.

The formation of the council underscores a concerted effort on behalf of Simmons “to make that other side heard,” Payne said. “You can’t have a debate if one side is dominating the airwaves.”

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2005 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 9

Faculty continued from page 1 in recent months.

Amendments to the Faculty Rules and Regulations go into effect immediately upon approval, meaning current seniors who had planned on filing a second concentration this semester would be barred from doing so. But Armstrong told The Herald after the meeting that he would instruct the University registrar, Michael Pesta, to wait until the fall to instate the rule.

“Grandfathering would make sense,” Armstrong said.

“Whenever you implement something new, you want to grandfather it.”

In a report, President Ruth

Simmons continued from page 4 faculty leaders to produce a report for the Community Council that will explore “the climate for open debate on the campus” and suggest any remedies for improving students’ “perceived sense of freedom … with regard to expression and debate.”

In the question-and-answer session following the speech, Danny Doncan ’05 asked Simmons about the impact of faculty sharing their opinions and political positions in classes.

Simmons said though freedom of expression must apply to all, including faculty, “there is a relationship of power that exists in the classroom.” She said her advice to professors would be “to ensure that every student feels empowered to enter into debate.”

“One thing that’s very hard for us to do as faculty is really (to) withhold enthusiasm for a subject. … I remember when I was first starting as a faculty member, I discovered that the more I talked in class, the less the students did.”

Sushil Jacob ’05 asked Simmons about the University’s position on Ward 7 City Councilman John Igliozzi’s proposal that the city break up Hope High School and Brown

Simmons updated the faculty on her winter western fundraising swing. She said she was “heartened by the interest of supporters in giving unrestricted support,” donations that can be used as the University sees fit.

“There remains phenomenal interest in the Plan for Academic Enrichment,” Simmons said. Donors are also intrigued by the story of Sidney Frank, who contributed $120 million to the University last year, she added.

“Everyone seems to have read about Sidney, and there are lots of questions about him — and from him,” Simmons said.

Simmons also said some alums were concerned that Brown is too politically correct and does not attract a diversity of opinions, an issue she addressed later Tuesday in her

address to students. She said current students’ concerns about the campus’s climate were more influential than those of alums, however.

Simmons said she had had a series of meetings with Gov. Donald Carcieri ’65 and Providence Mayor David Cicilline ’83 to discuss how Brown’s growth plans might coordinate with those of the city and state.

She added that Rhode Island Education Commissioner Peter McWalters had approached her about the University’s involvement with plans to revitalize Hope High School. “I agreed to work with the commissioner, the mayor and (Providence) Superintendent (Melody Johnson) to identify new opportunities,” Simmons said.

But she added, “I’m not certain what this will lead to.”

run one of the new, smaller schools.

Simmons said she did not think the University was equipped to run a secondary school.

“First of all, a lot of people believe it’s easy to run a school,” she said. “It isn’t.”

She added, “The thing that concerns me most about people with ideas of how to reform the school is that they don’t understand that, fundamentally, bringing in outsiders to run the school is not the answer.”

Brian McGuirk ’06 asked Simmons about bringing ROTC back to campus, saying he thought Brown students could have a positive impact on the military. Simmons referred the question to Dean of the College Paul Armstrong, who has researched why the faculty originally voted ROTC off campus in the early 1970s.

Armstrong said the faculty was unable to accept the Department of Defense requirements that ROTC instructors have faculty status and that ROTC military science courses confer Brown course credit. He said these issues were unchanged today, adding that there are currently six Brown students who participate in ROTC through Providence College.

In response to a question by Mike Thompson ’07 about Brown’s long break and the idea of a potential winter term,

Simmons said that it would be very complicated to arrange such a term.

“Most of all I’d like to hear what students think about” the issue, she said.

“You can start the semester earlier and have a longer semester … and of all the options that would probably be the one I would prefer.”

Thompson, a transfer student who said he was involved in discussions with the administration last semester about transfer financial aid, told The Herald after the speech, “We’re just amazed we have money … we were delighted.”

With regard to Simmons’ announcement of the new lecture fund, Etan Green ’08 told The Herald he thought it was significant that the three most visible speakers last semester were Howard Dean, Noam Chomsky and Jesse Jackson.

Green wondered if the new fund would work.

“With the significant leftist leanings, will anyone take advantage of (the fund), and will anyone show up?” he said.

Ben Creo ’07, UCS appointments chair, told The Herald he was excited about the new Community Council.

“I think the Community Council was one of the best ideas given tonight,” Creo said, “and I think President Simmons is very passionately behind it, and with that in mind, I think it will do great things.”

B R O W N

D A I L Y

H E R A L D

OPEN HOUSES c o m i n g

s o o n

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

EDITORIAL/LETTERS WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2005 · PAGE 10 S T A F F

E D I T O R I A L

An opportunity wasted President Ruth Simmons is one of Brown’s greatest assets. Some students say she influenced their decision to attend the University, and Brown owes much of its presence on the national radar to her.

It’s a shame Simmons can’t be a more visible presence on campus as she undertakes grueling fundraising campaigns on the road. The president, we’re sure, is disappointed, too. But Tuesday night, when Simmons made one of her most prominent on-campus appearances of the year, the Spring Semester Opening Address, it was the students who were conspicuously absent.

Salomon 101 wasn’t empty. But, as optimistic as we’d like to be, it was more half-empty than half-full. When Simmons delivered her first presidential address last year, substantially more students showed up. Tuesday night, she preached to many empty seats. Simmons used her speech to announce a new lecture fund and offer concrete support for RUE and transfer student financial aid — things that should interest a large portion of the student body. But former members of the Undergraduate Council of Students had to step up and ask a few of the questions in the Q-and-A session.

Simmons said a number of students have told her they are concerned with the lack of intellectual diversity at the University.

We’re concerned with the lack of intellectual curiosity. When big names come to campus, Salomon is packed to the gills, but can we really complain about the lack of a large lecture space if our president can’t fill the one we have? On some campuses she visits, Simmons is regarded as a celebrity. Here, we seem to have started taking her for granted.

Nevertheless, Simmons’ message cannot be ignored. Students must be willing to engage in debate and try arguing from a perspective opposite to theirs. If disparate voices can’t be heard, they must be sought out. Without discourse, views become entrenched.

We hope President Simmons will continue the nascent tradition of an address to the students. But should she if people aren’t going to turn out to see it? We say yes — the address is an important forum for students to hear what is on Simmons’ mind. She is the face of Brown to those outside the University. A forum to ask questions of the president face-to-face is too good an opportunity to have end, even if, for now, it’s not an opportunity seized by many.

When Ruth Simmons speaks, people listen. Shouldn’t we?

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD EDITORIAL Jonathan Ellis, Editor-in-Chief Sara Perkins, Executive Editor Dana Goldstein, Senior Editor Christopher Hatfield, Senior Editor Lisa Mandle, Senior Editor Meryl Rothstein, Arts & Culture Editor Melanie Wolfgang, Arts & Culture Editor Justin Elliott, Campus Watch Editor Robbie Corey-Boulet, Metro Editor Stephanie Clark, Features Editor Kira Lesley, Features Editor Te-Ping Chen, Opinions Editor Ari Savitzky, Opinions Editor Chris Mahr, Sports Editor Ben Miller, Sports Editor PRODUCTION Peter Henderson, Design Editor Katie Lamm, Copy Desk Chief Lela Spielberg, Copy Desk Chief Matt Vascellaro, Graphics Editor Ashley Hess, Photo Editor Juliana Wu, Photo Editor

NICK SCHADE

LETTERS Student supports J-term proposal To the editor: I second Joshua Lerner's request (“A winter break J-term?”, January 31) that the University support programs for academic enrichment during winter break. I, too, participated in the Breaks Projects organized by the Swearer Center and found the week-long intensive collaboration with peers here in Providence to be a worthwhile, rewarding experience.

But I think Brown could go further. A winter session with varied course offerings and programs would enable students to explore an area of interest with a rigor and intimacy unequaled in the regular academic year.

The University of Delaware offers a wide array of winter programs for its students, on campus and abroad. Our peer institution Cornell offers threeweek courses, this year held from January 3rd through the 21st.

Brown ought to take the lead in providing creative academic opportunities for its students during winter break. If bitter January can't close classrooms in Ithaca, I imagine we could keep them open here.

David Beckoff ‘08 January 31

LETTERS@

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OPINIONS WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2005 · PAGE 11

The benefits of living on Benefit St. GUEST COLUMN BY SAMANTHA PLESSER My name is Samantha Plesser and I refuse to grow up. I’m showing symptoms of an epidemic that is sweeping across college campuses throughout the nation. They can kick me out of here in May but I won’t go without a fight. I am looking for … gasp … gainful employment for next year, but still in the internship mentality, i.e. working for the experience and not for the dollars. When I see the question, “What is your salary requirement?” on my job application, I think a moment and then usually write: “I would like to work for you so much that money is not an object.”

Only after speaking with my parents did I realize that the question was not so much a test of dedication to the company as a logistical query. Apparently a company pays you for working. I’m not independently wealthy and I have this residual notion that my parents will pay for everything until, well, I die.

At least I thought so until I moved off campus. A few miles away from the Brown safety net, my beliefs began to unravel.

Sadly enough, I have never been alone — ever. I have always had companionship of some sort: my fawning and overindulgent parents (hey, I’m an only child and they’re divorced), my close friends, my not-so-close friends, doctors, therapists, clothing-shop salespeople. I

jumped at the chance to be a grown-up, fully expecting that I would play house as my mom and dad operated behind the scenes.

Now don’t laugh, but in the past few weeks, I have overpaid the cable company by 200 dollars. I just kept sending them bills, as I was concerned that because they had not received the first one I sent they were going to cut off my cable. I didn’t really open the envelopes either. I saw the familiar COX logo and assumed, justifiably so in my opinion, that it was another bill to be paid. It dawned on me only later that the cable company probably sends its customers mail other than bills. I have also assembled a Dirt Devil, which took me three hours — a long time considering that the box promised “no assembly required.” I even balanced my checkbook, realizing in the process that without a calculator I really do not have any idea how to subtract or perform the ancient art of long division.

Yet so far this little experiment has been something of a success. True, I am on the phone with my mother a lot asking her to explain things to me, invoking her usual response: “Wow, you are really an idiot, aren’t you Samantha?” Aside from the usual cooking disasters, I have responded marvelously to my brand new kitchen. When I was moving in, I firmly

My neighbors are graduate students and RISD professors, established older people of 25 and above. Living with “adults” has made me act more like an adult myself.

I’m no Rosie the Riveter yet, but I’m on my way. insisted on getting a George Foreman grill to replace the trusty, crusty companion I had last year in New Dorm. I could not understand why my mother refused to invest in such a needed device. A few days ago I realized, as I took the grill out of the bag, that I had an oven, the Foreman’s larger, more useful and more established older brother. Ah, the benefits of having appliances that are actually nailed into the ground.

My neighbors are graduate students and RISD professors, established older people of 25 and above whose lives seem pretty figured out compared to my cataclysmic existence, in which decisions include “what class should I take” and “should I do my homework or go to the bar.” I’ll admit that when I knocked on their doors to introduce myself and see if they wanted to hang out and watch “The Simpsons,” freshman-dorm style, there were some strange looks. Yet living with “adults” has made me act more like an

adult myself. I’m no Rosie the Riveter yet, but I’m on my way.

It’s a little strange being alone but I definitely enjoy the freedom to walk around naked and sing Cyndi Lauper songs. I miss the sense of camaraderie I felt with my friends within knocking distance down the hall, but on the other hand, now I see people when I want to see them. I think that as a senior at Brown I made the right decision to give off-campus life a go. Off-campus living is hard, harder than I thought it would be, but I’m glad I took the plunge.

I’m planning my first dinner party here at the new place. A little housewarming, if you will. Just because my parents don’t have kegs at their parties doesn’t mean I can’t have one at mine, right?

Samantha Plesser ’05 is the class of 2006’s more useful and more established older sister.

NICHOLAS SWISHER

The Inauguration: from pound cake to Hillary Duff The presidential inauguration should stand as a declaration of the success of our political process, yet recent inaugurations display the absolute worst excesses of American politics.

The second Bush inauguration was the most expensive in the history of the United States: a four-day, $40 million spectacle that included nine official black-tie balls, fireworks, a parade, several private parties, and a rollicking “youth concert” featuring Hillary Duff.

A few days before the event, Laura Bush told reporters, “[Inaugurations are] a ceremony of our history. They’re a ritual of our government. I think it’s really important to have the inauguration every time.” I agree. As Donald Kennon, chief historian of the U.S. Capitol Historical Society, says, “The presidential inauguration is the transcendent public ritual of American representative government,” one that “lends a reassuring sense of stability, continuity and permanence.”

Nevertheless, such “ceremonies of history” did not always cost upwards of $40 million. Lamentably, apart from the

35-word oath of office, the Constitution says little as to what purpose the inauguration ought to serve. However, I sincerely doubt our founding fathers would agree that a Hillary Duff concert hosted by the Bush twins is a pertinent celebration.

And despite recent campaign finance reform efforts, we hear little about the unrestricted donations that fund such festivities. Unlike presidential campaigns, which can only be supported by limited donations from individuals and political action committees, the Presidential Inaugural Committee is allowed to accept unlimited contributions from corporations and unions.

Companies that made six-figure donations to the Bush inaugural fund include the Bank of America Corp., Bristol-Myers Squibb and Ford Motor Co. Undeniably, the nature of such unfettered donations produces ethical dilemmas. Recently, Brian Ross, ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent, aptly referred to the celebration as an “Ethics-Free-Zone.”

The price of security for various inaugural festivities increased dramatically in

Bush’s celebration is reminiscent of Ronald Reagan’s first inauguration which writer Kitty Kelley, in her biography of Nancy Reagan, described as a mass display of “bright, shiny, new, noisy wealth.” Regrettably, inauguration parties have become less a symbol of democratic successs and more a symbol of capitalist excess.

the wake of Sept. 11. Washington D.C.’s mayor Anthony Williams estimates that it cost the district $17.3 million in taxpayers’ money to pay for the security of this year’s presidential inauguration. Of that cost, $11.9 million was divested from D.C.’s Urban Area Security Initiative federal grant. While it is imperative that we have sufficient protection for government officials, had the inauguration been less excessive, the cost of security would have been much less. The funds from the UASI grant could have been used to bolster D.C.’s fire, police, or transportation departments. Maintaining vigilant protection of the general public is far more important than funding security for an unnecessarily extravagant celebration.

The Bush administration’s surfeit is even more egregious considering our country is at war. The $40 million spent on Bush’s inauguration would have purchased approximately 700 armored Humvees for our troops in Iraq.

Admittedly, private donations and defense spending are two very different things; however, such comparisons reveal the true extent of Bush’s expenditures.

So much for our president celebrating his election with a degree of frugality to show respect for the cost of war, both in financial and human terms.

In contrast, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt celebrated his 1945 inauguration with cold chicken salad and pound cake. While he held lavish galas in earlier years, such events were to raise money for charity.

Yet unnecessary inaugural spending is not solely a Republican trend — Bill Clinton spent $33 million on his first

inauguration. However, his second inauguration cost only $23.7 million; Clinton decided to cut back the cost of his inauguration in the middle of an economic boom, no less.

That Bush was willing to spend so much on frivolity during a time of war, during a period in which large parts of Southeast Asia require our monetary assistance, and one in which we are running a huge budget deficit, speaks largely of the character of this administration.

Bush’s celebration is reminiscent of Ronald Reagan’s first inauguration, which writer Kitty Kelley, in her biography of Nancy Reagan, described as a massive display of “bright, shiny, new, noisy wealth.” Regrettably, inauguration parties have become less a symbol of democratic success and more a symbol of capitalist excess.

Private funding for such events raises a host of ethical dilemmas, and public taxation for such a gala would be unjust and contrary to Republican economic tenets. Inaugurations, as demonstrated so well by the Bush administration, have become morally bankrupt events, disrespectful to the values held by most Americans. For all these reasons, it is imperative to curtail the inappropriate and unchecked spectacles that are modern Presidential inaugurations.

It is time for Americans to reclaim this ceremony as a solemn affirmation of the duties of President, rather than an ostentatious carnival of glut.

Let them eat pound cake.

Nicholas Swisher ’08 spends $40 million a year on aftershave.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

SPORTS WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 2, 2005 · PAGE 12

W. track performs well despite limited squad A.D. search begins to gather steam

BY KATIE LARKIN SPORTS STAFF WRITER

Competing with a limited squad due to sickness, the women’s indoor track team was still able to enjoy considerable success over winter break.

The women placed first of five teams in the New England Challenge Cup on Jan. 16. They scored 219 points, beating second place finisher Rhode Island College by 33 points.

At the meet, the Bears posted nine

Dan Grossman ‘71

In Saturday’s dual meet with Cornell and Harvard, Ashley Wall ’05 took first in the long jump with a mark of 5.52 meters.Wall also scored points in the high jump.

individual wins, with a key performance by triple-jumper Brittany Grovey ’06.

Her jump of 39-6 missed the Brown field house record by one inch, and qualified her for the ECAC Championships.

Also posting first place performances in the meet were Jaylon White ’05 in the 55-meter dash, Smita Gupta ’08 in the 1,000-meter run and the 4x400-meter relay squad of co-captain Kelly Powell ’06, Laura Snizek ’07, Fara Kitton ’05 and Natasha Barrett ’07. Julie Kosmosinski ’05 posted her first collegiate track win with a victory in the 3,000-meter run.

“The NECC was something we were pleased about. Naja Ferjan (’07) and a few others on the team were sick, but we still managed a win,” said Head Coach Robert Johnson.

On Jan. 21, the women competed at the Go Rhody Invitational in Kingston, R.I. The team took second of nine teams in the competition, bested only by the University of Connecticut, 201.50144.67.

Johnson was pleased with the team’s effort, citing the performances of Grovey in the triple jump, Tiffany Chang ’08 in the pole vault, and co-captain Jill Lynch ’05 and Jennifer Donahue ’05 in throws as the day’s highlights.

This past Saturday, the Bears traveled to Cambridge, Mass. to compete against league rivals Harvard and Cornell. The women placed second, beating Harvard but losing to the perennially powerful Big Red by 38 points.

Ashley Wall ’05 scored points in both the long jump and the high jump, taking first in the long jump with a mark of 5.52 meters. The Bears dominated the pole vault, with Chang clearing 3.45 meters for first place and Keely Marsh ’08 and Janea Russ ’06 placing third and fourth, respectively. In the triple jump, Grovey again took first place, while teammate Dominique Bosa-Edwards ’05 placed second. Lynch and Donahue performed well in the throws for the second time in as many meets. Ferjan took top honors in the 800-meter run and Lauren Hale

’07 took third in the 60-meter dash.

Johnson hopes for even stronger performances from his team for the rest of the season, mentioning the improvement of the previously sick Ferjan, Powell, and Akilah King ’08.

“At this point in the season, we’re really coming together as a team. Our biggest weaknesses are in the hurdles and middle distance because we don’t quite have the depth we need there. We have the people to get it done, it’s just a matter of putting it together,” Johnson said.

The Bears will return to the University of Rhode Island for a dual meet this Saturday.

IVY LEAGUE “BASKETBALL U.” POWERPOLL

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA (26) 9-7, 2-0 IVY 215 POINTS / PREVIOUSLY #2 BROWN UNIVERSITY 8-8, 1-1 IVY 172 POINTS / PREVIOUSLY #3 PRINCETON UNIVERSITY (1) 10-6, 1-1 IVY 170 POINTS / PREVIOUSLY #1 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 12-5, 3-1 IVY 142 POINTS / PREVIOUSLY #4 HARVARD UNIVERSITY 7-10 / 2-2 IVY 95 POINTS / PREVIOUSLY #7 YALE UNIVERSITY 4-11 / 0-2 IVY 75 POINTS / PREVIOUSLY #5 CORNELL UNIVERSITY 7-10 / 2-2 IVY 74 POINTS / PREVIOUSLY #6 DARTMOUTH COLLEGE 4-13 / 1-3 IVY 30 POINTS / PREVIOUSLY #8

Voting for the PowerPoll is conducted by a panel of 28 voters, consisting of the four senior Basketball U. staff members and three members of the media from each school. http://www.basketball-u.com/

For BC men’s hoops, the real test comes next year For all the Boston College hoops fans out there who are basking in the glow of their team’s 19-game winning streak, I just have one piece of advice for you: enjoy it while it lasts, because next season the big, bad Atlantic BEN MILLER MILLER TIME Coast Conference is coming to get you.

Sure, what Boston College has done this season is impressive. After all, they knocked off the defending NCAA Champion UConn Huskies on Jan. 5 and beat No. 24 West Virginia by 20 points on Jan. 16. But how can that possibly compare to traveling down Tobacco Road to play in the newly rejuvenated Dean Dome or in the Pizzitolasized Cameron Indoor Stadium? That doesn’t even begin to include playing at the University of Maryland, College Park’s Comcast Center, where the students are known to be so rabid that the school had to ban the playing of Rock and Roll Part II. To understand the rocky road that BC is in for next year, just look at their schedule this year. Their biggest win so far was over then-No. 9 UConn. While the Huskies are a good team, the departures of Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon have left UConn as just a shadow of

what they were last season. Assuming that the rankings stay the way they are — which of course they won’t — the only other team on BC’s schedule ranked in the top 10 is No. 8 Syracuse.

For comparison, look at the University of Virginia. In a span of 14 days they had to play the then-No.4 Wake Forest, at then-No. 10 Georgia Tech, and at then-No. 5 Duke. That doesn’t even include the fact that later in the month they will take on UNC, Maryland, and Wake again. With a top tier team on the agenda every weekend, it’s little surprise that UVA is 1-7 in the ACC, having recently been obliterated 110-76 by the Tar Heels.

No matter how you look at it, the ACC schedule is brutal. Not a single team is under .500 overall, and every team has played at least three other teams in the AP top 25 already. Most have played more. Wake Forest has already taken on six of college basketball’s elite squads and they will take the court against Duke tonight. On the flipside, look at the Big East. Three teams sit under .500, including 9-11 Providence College, whom the Eagles narrowly defeated 78-75. That wasn’t the first time this season that the Eagles needed last minute heroics to pull out a victory. Earlier in the year they needed

two overtime periods to defeat Yale 8280 on their home court, a far-fromimpressive victory over a team that is 411, and at 0-2 in the Ivy League, will most likely be challenging for the title of league doormat.

In all fairness to the Eagles, it is difficult to stay undefeated this far into the college basketball season, but don’t expect them to finish out the season without at least one trip to the loss column. The best teams on their schedule are still to come, with dates on Feb. 19 against No. 8 Syracuse University and No. 15 University of Pittsburgh on Feb. 28. But during that same stretch, they also have two games against Rutgers and Seton Hall, two teams that have fewer wins combined than the Eagles.

All of this talk about matchups and records hasn’t even begun to touch on the culture of the ACC. Many prominent coaches such as Gary Williams at Maryland and Herb Sendek at North Carolina State University have seriously questioned the calls that go in Duke’s favor late in games. Williams has also lashed out at the league for its apparent favoritism toward the North Carolina schools (Duke, UNC, Wake Forest, NC State). The way Williams tells it, the farsee MILLER, page 7

BY ANNE DUGGAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The departure of former Athletic Director Dave Roach in July and the subsequent search for his replacement have spurred the Department of Athletics to reexamine its role in the overall image of the University.

The search committee for the new athletic director, which first convened in October, has spent the better part of the past three months compiling and organizing the desired criteria for the candidates.

Luiz Valente, who chairs the search committee and is an associate professor in the Department of Portuguese and Brazilian Studies, guaranteed the naming of a new A.D. by July 1.

“We aren’t looking for just a manager. We are looking for someone who has a vision for the athletic division,” Valente said. “The vision has to fit the parameters of the Ivy League and of Brown. It has to find its way into the plan for academic enrichment. We feel the role for athletics is there, hidden, and the next athletic director has to be able formulate a vision that fits the plan.”

Valente said the committee itself is not sure what the role should be. They are looking for a candidate who will come with direction and innovative ideas.

“What is lacking is a clear vision. What the vision is, we are waiting for the next person to tell us,” Valente said. The vision will be important as the University moves out of the quiet phase of its capital campaign and as planning begins for a new fitness facility.

David Greene, vice president for campus life and student services, said he has many goals in mind for the new athletic director, including retaining high-profile coaches.

“We want someone who has a real vision for athletics, cares about providing great experience of students overall, (and) cares about competitive teams, but also cares about intramurals and recreational,” Greene said. “(We want someone who) helps athletics fit within the mission of the university, supports coaches and helps them excel and formulates where Brown athletics can go.”

A new athletic director should also bring better communication within the department as well as between the department and the rest of the campus, integrating athletics more into the Brown experience.

“We need someone who can bridge the gap between the athletic department and campus,” Valente said.

Working with the Atlanta-based search firm Baker-Parker and Associates, the committee received around 200 applications. While Baker-Parker helps with background work like generating applications and checking references, it is the committee that ultimately holds power over the search. Having narrowed the field to 15, the committee is currently interviewing candidates. Valente would not reveal the names of people under consideration.

“We are also looking at some non-traditional people. People (who) are neither athletic directors nor assistant athletic directors, but who have been involved in college athletics in one way or another,” Valente said.

The committee hopes to wrap up the preliminary interviews at the end of next week, then narrow the pool to three or four candidates by late February or early March, Valente said. Those candidates will then visit Brown for an intense two-day whirlwind of meetings with students, teachers and administrators.