Thursday, February 16, 2006

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2006

Volume CXLI, No. 17 JUMPING FOR JOLT post- examines the University’s only legitimate forum for expression — the Daily Jolt INSIDE

www.browndailyherald.com

An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891 DIAL A DEAN University administrators regularly receive calls from students’ parents, especially around lottery season FEATURES 3

DIETERS IN DIAPERS Christina Ma ’09 decries the burgeoning number of youngsters worrying about their weight OPINIONS 11

TODAY

TOMORROW

partly cloudy 50 / 39

showers/wind 50 / 21

ResLife approves revisions to lottery

ABSOLUT QUIET

Under new system, process shortened to just three nights BY STEPHANIE BERNHARD SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Jacob Melrose / Herald

Students relax at the Absolute Quiet Room at the Rockefeller Library, which, along with the surrounding areas, was renovated over winter break.

In an effort to simplify the housing lottery, the Office of Residential Life announced Wednesday the approval of several changes to the process, the most notable of which will shorten it to just three nights. This year, the lottery will take place on March 20, 21 and 23. In past years, the lottery has been spread out over four weeks. In addition, all units of housing — including apartments, suites, doubles and singles — will be available at once. This change replaces the prior lottery structure, under which different segments were divided by type of housing. Instead of dividing up the three lottery nights by housing type, ResLife plans to separate students by lottery number. Once ResLife knows how many groups are applying to the housing lottery, administrators will assign each group a number. The system will

Proposed program takes multidisciplinary approach to sciences Providing research experience, increasing diversity among program’s goals BY COOPER LEHER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Integrative Science and Engineering Program proposed at last week’s faculty meeting aims to create a new University program emphasizing multidisciplinary science. The proposal, written by the Science Cohort Committee, puts forth a plan to educate undergraduates in topics where traditional departments, such as chemistry, biology, engineering and physics, overlap. If the proposal is approved, 60 students will be admitted to the new program each year. High school seniors will apply to the program separately from students applying to the general undergraduate program, much like the current Program in Liberal Medical Education.

Once enrolled, students will first take three introductory courses focusing on multidisciplinary science, taught by pairs of professors from different scientific disciplines. After completing this sequence, students will take two advanced courses that further emphasize a multidisciplinary education. Professor of Computer Science Thomas Dean, also the chairman of the Science Cohort Committee, said he hopes that the new program, if approved by a full faculty vote, will invigorate both Brown’s science departments and the University as a whole. “The benefits are not just for the sciences,” Dean said. He added that the program will “create a livelier environment and increase interplay” among all academic departments. Professor of Physics Chung-I Tan,

THE HERALD POLL

Over one-third of students polled have no opinion of UCS BY ANNE WOOTTON METRO EDITOR

About 35 percent of undergraduate students chose “Don’t Know/No Answer” when asked in a recent Herald poll if they approved of the Undergraduate Council of Students. This percentage of null responses was markedly higher than in any other question on the poll. “Clearly there’s room for improvement,” said Michael Thompson ’07, chair of the UCS Communications Committee. “The fact that many don’t have an opinion about UCS is unfavorable to (UCS) — (students) don’t know or care enough about UCS to have an opinion,” former polling consultant Rachel Braun P’06 wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. Braun, who currently teaches

statistics at the Edmund Burke School in Washington, D.C., helped develop The Herald poll. 53.5 percent of respondents said they approve of the job UCS has done this year. But the poll’s 4.6 percent margin of

Editorial: 401.351.3372 Business: 401.351.3260

see POLLING, page 8

who has participated in discussion of the proposal for over a year, agreed. “Enhancing one part of the University will enhance them all,” he said. Tan also believes that the program would increase the University’s appeal to exceptional high school science students who might otherwise ap-ply to traditionally praised science schools such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the California Institute of Technology. The program will require all students to complete a traditional concentration in the sciences, such as physics, chemistry, biology or engineering. “Students will have some real expertise in a particular discipline,” Dean said. In addition to classes, the program will emphasize research by offering its students two fully funded summer see SCIENCE, page 8

still be based on seniority, with rising seniors receiving the best numbers and rising sophomores the worst. All groups with numbers in the top third will be called the first night; groups with numbers in the second third will be called the second night; and groups with numbers in the last third will be called on the final night. Under the new system, every participant will know exactly when his number will be called, so students will only have to attend one night of the lottery. “In the past, first-years would go into every segment of the lottery, and the first segments were just not realistic for them,” said Rosario Navarro, assistant director of ResLife. “Now you know when you’re going, and you have a realistic perception of what’s open to you,” Navarro said. Another significant change involves special interest housing options, such as same-sex or substance-free halls, which have been separated from the traditional housing lottery. Students who wish to live in special interest housing must apply before the lottery. In the past, rising sophomores with very high lottery numbers would often end up in special interest housing even though they had never requested it. “It just hurts the community when people live there and don’t follow the rules,” said Justin Glavis-Bloom ’07, chair of the Residential Council’s Lottery Committee. Glavis-Bloom said the changes to the lottery were “pretty drastic” but “won’t affect the outcome all that much.” “I think it will be an overall better experience, but it will require more planning and be more stressful when you’re there,” Glavis-Bloom said. In offering advice for students applying to the lottery, Glavis-Bloom stressed the importance of planning in advance. “Do your research,” he said. “If you come into the lottery with a good plan, you’ll find something you like.” ResLife will hold information sessions about the new lottery system on Feb. 21, 23 and 28. More information about the sessions and the lottery is available on Web sites for ResLife and ResCouncil.

UCS addresses elections, code review and plus/minus proposal BY KRISTINA KELLEHER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

During its general body meeting last night in Peterutti Lounge, the Undergraduate Council of Students announced the creation of an Election Review Commission, proposed a resolution opposing the addition of pluses and minuses to the University’s grading system and announced a plan to revise the UCS code. In a meeting that lasted less than an hour, the first major item on the agenda was the Election Review Commission, which was created to reform UCS election procedures. The commission will be comprised of three UCS members and eight students who are not members of the council, according to UCS Vice President Zachary Townsend ’08. “A lot of people were upset that we had an internal election for president,” said Townsend, who went on to explain that an

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

Min Wu / Herald

UCS members (from left to right) Sarah Saxon Frump ’07, Zac Townsend ’08, Cash McCracken ’08 and Deanna Chaukos ’08. internal election was what the UCS code called for under the circumstances even though that might not be the best method of replacing a president mid-term. see UCS, page 4 News tips: herald@browndailyherald.com


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