Tuesday, September 4, 2007

The Brown Daily Herald T uesday, S eptember 4, 2007

Volume CXLII, No. 60

Since 1866, Daily Since 1891

U. welcomes class of 2011

By Franklin Kanin Senior Staff Writer

As she welcomed 1,599 new students in a ceremony on the Main Green Sunday, President Ruth Simmons told the class of 2011 that they would change Brown — and should expect to be changed themselves.

“You must be ready to absorb what you encounter as you have never before,” she said.

Speaking about the power of education, Simmons encouraged first-years to seek out knowledge, go beyond their academic comfort zone and realize how much they have left to learn, rather than working on what comes naturally to them.

When students leave Brown, Simmons said, she hopes they can say, “I have finally learned how little I know.”

Of the 1,599 newly registered students that Simmons welcomed, 1,486 are freshmen, 56 are transfer students, eight are in the Resumed Undergraduate Education program and 49 are visiting students from other institutions.

“We deliberately shape the composition of our campus so that you can have the essential and increasingly important world experience that is dominated today not by sameness, but by diversity,” Simmons told those gathered on Sunday.

Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron and Undergraduate Council of Students President Michael Glassman ’09 also spoke at the ceremony, which kicked off a new, abbreviated Orientation schedule that continues through the first week of classes.

First-years arrived this weekend for the first three days of Orientation and, as in years past, attended mandatory meetings on alcohol policy and the University’s historic connections with the slave trade. An Activities Fair will be held Thursday and events will continue next weekend, which has been dubbed “First Weekend.”

Classes will begin Wednesday, when the traditional opening convocation for the academic year will be held at noon on the Main Green and new students will march through the Van Wickle Gates.

Carol Cohen ’83, interim assistant dean of the College and coordinator of Orientation’s academic activities, said that so far, the new Orientation schedule “has resulted in a tighter and more purposeful orientation program.”

Remaining from last year’s schedule was an “information expo” held Sunday to address parents’ and students’ questions about academic life. Also remaining from last year’s Orientation schedule are the carnival, superhero dance and Big Ma’s Talent Show, which will be held on the Main Green Friday evening.

New students descend upon College Hill

By Isabel Gottlieb Senior Staff Writer

As hordes of new students moved toward the Main Green to hear President Ruth Simmons speak Sunday afternoon, Jenna Kaye-Kauderer ’11 and her family paused under an arch in Keeney Quadrangle. She put her arms on the shoulders of her siblings as the three posed and smiled, framed by the brick archway, for their mother to snap a photo.

“We took the same family picture when my sister came (to Brown),” said Andrew Kaye, Jenna’s father.

But, he added, “my hair was very long back then.”

Orientation for new students kicked off Sunday, and College Hill was bustling with activity. Parents carted boxes and suitcases while new roommates introduced themselves. During Simmons’ welcoming speech, listeners overflowed from rows of folding chairs to sit on the ground and lean against trees, and some took pictures.

Later, unit leaders carrying signs high in the air led long lines of firstRahul Keerthi / Herald

continued on page 14

First-years and their parents lugged boxes across campus this weekend as Orientation began and new students settled in.

Brown hits 14th in U.S. News but drops happiness title

By Oliver Bowers Campus Watch Editor

Brown ranked 14th in the latest edition of U.S. News and World Report’s annual ranking of colleges and universities, up one notch from the No. 15 slot it held in 2005 and 2006.

Princeton, Har vard, Yale and Stanford universities claimed the top four spots in the ranking.

According to the Princeton Re- universities trailed Brown in the hapview, the University no longer has piest student ranking. the happiest students in the counPrinceton Review also ranked try — Brown fell to the No. 2 posi- the University as the sixth most setion in the test prep lective college in CAMPUS WATCH company’s annual the country, fifth ranking of happiest for best radio stacollege students nationwide. Whit- tion and 13th for best college theater man College, located in Walla Walla, program.

Wash., moved to the top of that list.

Vice President for Public Affairs Clemson, Princeton and Stanford and University Relations Michael

INSIDE:

3

CAMPUS NEWS

www.browndailyherald.com

continued on page 4

Activist history a highlight of this year’s TWTP curriculum

By Stephanie Bernhard Features Editor

Chris Bennett / Herald

continued on page 12

Chapman noted that it was “very nice to be recognized by our peers in the rankings,” but added that the U.S. News rankings measure only a small portion of a university’s qualities.

Several Brown students were of the same opinion when asked about the two surveys. A variety of other factors contributed to their

Over 180 first-years arrived on College Hill early for the Third World Transition Program.

Bookstore makeover A major renovation of the bookstore is on tap and will include a cafe.

8

BROWNSPEAK

Learn the lingo New to Brown? Check out The Herald’s handy guide to all things Brunonian, from a capella to ZipCars.

Over 180 incoming first-years participated this year in the Third World Transition Program, a four-day orientation designed to foster community among students of color at Brown.

Students attended workshops on issues such as racism, sexism and classism and had the opportunity to meet current Minority Peer Counselors and MPC Friends.

The program has existed since 1968 but has undergone several changes throughout its histor y, including the switch in 1975 to its current name from the Transitional Summer Program.

Over the past two years, the program’s coordinators and the MPC Friends involved in designing the workshops have refocused the program’s goals and eased into an almost exclusively student-run curriculum.

Christine Goding ’08, one of the

15

ORIENTATION

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

MEET THE FROSH As the class of 2011 arrives on campus, learn more about their achievements and today’s schedule.

program’s coordinators, told The Herald she wanted to incorporate more student leadership because it would be “beneficial not only for first-years but also for the students who are facilitating to speak about issues that they’re passionate about.”

MPC Friends — mostly upperclassmen who were MPCs as sophomores — designed and led the majority of the workshops, Goding said.

Goding said this year’s program placed “more of an emphasis on the history at Brown.” For the first time, participants took a tour of campus during which they learned about protesters and activists in the University’s histor y. Together, they recited speeches written by past students and sang songs popular decades ago.

“The point of it was to connect the history with places,” Goding said, adding that the tour allowed attendees to “honor the students continued on page 4

28 SPORTS

GAMES TO WATCH The Herald’s sports staff gives you an overview of upcoming games. Go Bears!

News tips: herald@browndailyherald.com

T oday Page 2

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2007

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

We a t h e r

sunny 84 / 58

But Seriously | Charlie Custer and Stephen Barlow

sunny 78 / 54

Menu Sharpe Refectory

Verney-Woolley Dining Hall

Lunch — Grilled Tuna Sandwich with Cheese, Pasta Spinach Casserole, Sweet Potato Fries, Turkey and Roast Beef, Sundried Tomato Calzone

Lunch — Shaved Steak Sandwich, Spinach Strudel, Mandarin Blend Vegetables, Grilled Caribbean Jerk Chicken

Dinner — Vegan Vegetable Saute with Tempeh, Sesame Chicken Strips, Sticky Rice with Edamame Beans, Boston Cream Pie

Dinner — Roast Pork Ouvert, Pastito, Carrot Casserole, Stir Fry Station, Pasta Bar, Honey Wheat Bread, Boston Cream Pie

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How To Get Down | Nate Saunders

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32 Quick attack 33 Love, to Lucia 34 Gimlet garnishes xwordeditor@aol.com 09/04/07

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09/04/07

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c ampus N ews TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2007

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Summer bike trips raise money for affordable housing

By Rachel Arndt Senior Staf f Writer

This summer, nine Brown students biked across the country as part of Bike and Build, a nonprofit organization that seeks to draw attention to the problem of affordable housing and raise money for the cause.

Six cross-country trips for Bike and Build were organized this summer, including routes from Providence to Seattle, Providence to San Francisco and Jacksonville, Fla., to San Francisco.

Each rider had to raise $4,000 before departing, most of which is donated to Providence Habitat for Humanity, said Patrick Farmer, a route leader on the trip. The fundraising methods were varied, but most riders took the “typical approach,” writing letters to friends and family, Farmer said.

There were less traditional methods as well: one student raised money by hosting a poker game, and another rode his bike around his college’s student center all day.

The money raised financed the trips, funded grants distributed to affordable housing organizations and was donated to local organizations in the name of hosts along the route. Housing organizations applied for competitive grants, and the riders decide on the recipients of those grants.

Bike and Build was started in 2002 by Marc Bush, who modeled it after the Yale Habitat Bicycle Challenge, according to Sarah Grenzeback ’07.5.5, a route leader on the Providence to San Francisco trip.

During a three-day orientation before the trips began, students researched different topics about affordable housing and worked on a Habitat for Humanity house in Providence that was financed by a

previous trip, said program director Brendan Newman. Along their ride, the groups gave presentations about affordable housing to residents of their host towns.

The trips stopped about once a week for either a day off or a “build day.” The Providence to San Francisco route, for instance, stopped in Ohio to paint and build a roof for a house. It was “pretty cool to see the house being built up from the frame,” Grenzeback said.

“When you see 30 people dressed in the same spandex uniform, it really raises eyebrows,” Newman said.

The Providence to Seattle trip stayed on a Midwestern ranch and were hosted by a pastor, “his wife and 35 kids,” Farmer said. In one town the group visited, they saw crop circles, which Farmer said the town attributes to aliens.

The same trip also encountered a group of performing drag queens along the way who “were so excited” by the group’s mission that they brought the riders on stage, Farmer said.

Both Grenzeback and Br yan Chang ’07.5 said crossing the Rocky Mountains was a highlight of the trip.

Because the trips are crosscountry — with stops as varied as Lebanon, Kan., and Casper, Wyo. — they are “American studies in the broadest sense,” Farmer said.

Grenzeback’s trip “stopped in pretty much ever y town” while they crossed Nevada, she said. One night they stayed in a city park and were woken by sprinklers at 4 a.m.

“Battle Mountain would have been completely unremarkable otherwise,” she said.

Grenzeback said the people she met on the trip were thankful for Bike and Build’s work.

It was “amazing to cross the country this way,” she said.

Chris Bennett / Herald

This summer, the Brown Bookstore launched a new service that allows students to order textbooks online.

Cafe planned in bookstore overhaul

By Chaz Firestone Senior Staf f Writer

Changes to the Brown Bookstore that will see the construction of a cafe, a revamped community outreach program and an online textbook ordering ser vice are underway and on schedule, says Bookstore Director Manny Cunard.

“We’re going to re-establish ourselves as a premier bookstore,” said Cunard, who expects the improvements to be completed by August of next year.

Cunard, who left Wesleyan University last December to become director of the bookstore at Brown, brought with him a vision of “an inviting, scholarly and general bookstore” that would better serve the shifting customer base that has caused book sales to decline in recent years, he said. To that end, he proposed a series of improvements — referred to by bookstore staff simply as “the renewal” — covering five areas: physical structure, organizational efficiency, product mix, community outreach and customer service.

The most significant and visible change will be a renovation of the

bookstore’s interior layout.

A cafe will be built on the south side of the bookstore’s main level, where the clothing shop is currently located, and a public meeting room for local book clubs and groups will also be constructed on the lower level.

The current departments — textbooks, the campus shop, general books and the computer shop — will be relocated throughout the bookstore.

“We’re going to be completely modifying the entire store,” said Cunard, who hired an architectural team out of Boston for that purpose.

The campus shop — displaced by the cafe — will join the computer shop on the second level, currently the location of the textbook department. Textbooks will move down to the lower level, the former home of the computer shop, and general books will occupy more of the first level.

Cunard said the renovations will begin after the second semester rush, around January or February of 2008.

But one change that has already been implemented is an online textbook-ordering system, which

began over the summer. Intended to be a convenient alternative to the long lines and hectic environment of the bookstore during shopping period, this new ser vice allows students to place textbook orders directly from the bookstore’s Web site.

“We’ve already received about 50 or 60 orders,” said Ed Weiss, the bookstore’s textbook manager. “It’s been pretty successful so far.”

After a user selects the desired department and course from a menu, the appropriate books pop up on screen with an “Add to Cart” option. Students can choose to order the book brand new or request a used one for a discount. Students can pay online or at the store when they pick up their packaged orders, which are ready in 48 hours.

Though technically, the 48 hours shaves two days off of the bookstore’s famously flexible 10day return policy, Weiss said they would be understanding of individual cases.

“We won’t turn our heads on that last day,” he said.

Students can open up their box before paying and exchange whatcontinued on page 4

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2007

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Brown lowest among Ivies in U.S. News rankings continued from page 1 decision to come to the University, they said.

“I saw the rankings. I did pay attention, but I based (my decision to come) on what I wanted to study,” said Eric Shu ’11, who said he was attracted to Brown because of its strong academic programs.

Sam Holzman ’11 said he too put little stock in the U.S. News rankings. “I think (prospective students) take the rating system with a grain of salt, but in the other direction,” said Holzman, noting that most students devise their own more accurate rating systems. He added emphatically, “Brown is No. 1.”

Jose Morillo ’11 said he doesn’t think some of the survey’s criteria are relevant when considering a school. “When you look into it, endowment is a bad way of classifying a school,” he said.

Brown also made significant gains

in this year’s U.S. News rankings for selectivity and alumni giving.

Alumni donation participation climbed 6 percent this year, said Ronald Vanden Dorpel MA’71, senior vice president for University advancement, who added that this boost will not be reflected in the U.S. News rankings until next year.

This year’s U.S. News alumni participation ranking was based on the previous two years, Vanden Dorpel said.

Brown also climbed in the financial resources category from No. 27 last year to No. 24, thanks to the success of the Campaign for Academic Enrichment in boosting the University’s endowment. The $1.4billion fundraising drive reached the $1-billion mark last June.

A university’s financial resources rank makes up 10 percent of its overall ranking. Twenty-five percent is based on a survey in which each university is asked to rank itself

among its peers.

Vanden Dorpel said Brown has experienced growth in every ranking category except peer assessment.

The U.S. News ranking system stirred up controversy again this year when it declined to rank Sarah Lawrence College after the Bronxville, N.Y., college stopped requiring the SAT for admission. The report has often garnered criticism because of its inability to rank a university’s intangible elements, such as student life and the feel of the campus.

The report also drew headlines because of the record number of colleges that declined to participate. The number of respondents fell from 56 percent of schools surveyed last year to 51 percent this year, according to Inside HigherEd. Brian Kelly, the top editor at U.S. News, told Inside HigherEd that he didn’t know exactly why the drop had occurred.

Student-facilitated TWTP keeps eye on its own history continued from page 1 that came before us ... reenact the history and embody what they did, bring up their words and appreciate the efforts of past students.”

“I like the way Jhale and Christine articulate things,” said TWTP participant Max Clermont ’11, referring to the program’s two coordinators, Goding and Jhale Ali ’08. “They’re ver y good at setting the mood.”

Clermont said he enjoyed the campus tour the most of all the TWTP activities because it was interactive and unique. He said having students run the seminars and facilitate the small group discussions made him feel comfortable in the environment TWTP provided.

Besides connecting with upperclassmen, Clermont also enjoyed meeting students in his own year and making new friends before classes began. He said he has already grown close with several students.

“We bonded a lot,” Clermont said, explaining that many of the workshops required students to dis-

cuss personal and often emotional subjects that brought them closer together.

“A lot of TWTP kids are saying, ‘We wish it was only us,’ ” Clermont said. “But now there’s a whole bunch of other people, and it’s going to be hard to meet them.”

Emily Taylor ’10, an MPC living in South Wayland, said she has heard the concern that TWTP participants often don’t want to bond with freshmen who arrive after the program is over.

“It’s a valid concern,” Taylor said.

“But students of color are dispersed in the dorms, and they get to meet the people who live in the rooms next door and bond with them.”

Taylor said she regrets not attending TWTP as a freshman.

At the time, she said, she “didn’t understand the intentions” of the program. Taylor said she had experience going to school in a predominantly white community and thought TWTP was intended for students who grew up around mostly other minorities.

“But it’s more about building community among students of color at Brown,” Taylor said.

TWTP participant Shristi Pandey ’11 grew up under very different circumstances, but also found the program to be a “good experience.”

Pandey lives in Queens, N.Y., where she said she is accustomed to being surrounded by diverse groups of people. Pandey said TWTP made her “more aware” of what to expect when all of the other students arrived on campus.

But she said elements of the program were inclusive to people like her and like Taylor.

“It’s geared towards both spectrums,” Pandey said.

Goding said the diversity of perspectives­­­­­­­ — and the eagerness of the incoming first-years to share them — touched her.

“I was really impressed with the first-years and how honest they were in the workshops, and how invested (they are) in the subjects. I feel like they’re a very mature class,” she said.

Interior overhaul in store for the bookstore continued from page 3 ever used books were ordered for better-quality ones.

“If someone isn’t satisfied with a used book, we have no problem letting them find one in better condition,” Weiss said.

Lily Sorber ’10 and Rahul Banerjee ’10 both used the online system to order their textbooks, and said they have been pleased with it so far.

“It’s really convenient,” said Banerjee, whose order was filled one day after its placement on Sunday.

Banerjee said he found himself making multiple trips to the bookstore under the old system, mainly due to the difficulty of finding book lists online.

“This way, the book lists come right up,” he said. “They did a real good job with this system.”

Sorber placed her order while at home in Madison, Wis., and said she was given the option of having her books delivered to her home.

“They would have mailed the books to my house,” Sorber said.

“I was coming to campus in a few days, so I didn’t bother, but it’s a great service.”

Like most who place orders through the system, Banerjee and Sorber haven’t yet picked up their books from the bookstore, but both said their experiences had been positive so far.

“It was a lot easier for me because I didn’t have to go scrounging around the bookstore looking for hard-to-find and used books,” Sorber said.

Aside from physical changes to the bookstore, the renewal will see a re-prioritization of staff. Since operation of the bookstore and consumer traffic is seasonal, Cunard said, jobs at the bookstore tend to come with a degree of volatility. The renewal will put a greater emphasis on full-time employment to preserve jobs and, hopefully, create new ones.

The bookstore will also look to change the products it carries, moving toward a more traditional look and feel. Cunard said there may be a special area “reflecting Brown’s heritage,” which would carry items

like replicas of the Brown charter akin replicas of the Declaration of Independence. Finally, the renewal will provide additional services to the Providence community, something Cunard said has been lacking in recent years.

“The Brown Bookstore used to be a landmark that people would visit from all over the state,” Cunard said. “But the larger community doesn’t come to the bookstore that much anymore.”

The bookstore will provide public access to a meeting lounge for local book clubs, and it plans to extend the online book ordering service to the public in the spring of 2008, complete with a book delivery service.

Weiss, who has worked in the bookstore since 1988, said bookstore employees are excited about the changes.

“We’re all very positive about the renewal,” Weiss said before pointing to his “Brown Bookstore Staff” shirt that all employees wear, another of Cunard’s ideas. “We love working for Manny and are excited about the renovations.”

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C AMPUS N EWS TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2007

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Brown professor erasing tattoo regrets

By Olivia Hoffman Senior Staff Writer

For those who long to brand their lover’s name on their lower back but fear regret if the relationship ends bitterly, a new type of tattoo ink designed for easier removal — and formulated in Brown labs — may be a solution.

Edith Mathiowitz, professor of medical science, is using a method called encapsulation to create the inks, which are being marketed by Freedom-2 Inc. The inks are created by “trapping” pigment in biocompatible, polymeric beads that prevent dye from leaking, Mathiowitz said.

Tattoo artists can inject the new ink into customers’ skin using a traditional tattoo needle. But unlike traditional tattoos, those made with Freedom-2 ink can be removed in a single laser treatment.

Removal of traditional tattoo ink uses the same type of laser treatment, but achieving the desired effect requires multiple laser treatments, which are spaced months apart and are not always effective.

“When the laser is applied, it ruptures the (Freedom-2 ink) capsule, and then the body eliminates it,” Mathiowitz said.

Researchers from Duke University and Massachusetts General Hospital invented the new tattoo technology in the late 1990s, according to Martin Schmeig, president and CEO of Freedom-2. Three years ago, the founders of Freedom-2 approached Mathiowitz and asked her if she was interested in getting involved in the project.

“My first response was, ‘No way,’ ” Mathiowitz said, citing her concern about the seriousness of the project in comparison with the rest of her research.

But she changed her mind after learning that the technology would make tattoos safer and easier to remove. The possibility of developing “therapeutic applications” for the new technology correlates with her research in medical advances. “I realized that there is a chance to do something really positive,” she said.

The University and Freedom-2 solidified their collaboration in May when they entered an intellectual property license agreement.

FEATURE The relationship is beneficial on both ends, according to Schmeig, who described it as one of “great mutual respect and understanding.”

“Dr. Mathiowitz and the administration at Brown have made Freedom-2 what it is by providing us with their knowledge, their facilities and their will to help us make a product out of this,” Schmeig said. “There would be no company without Brown University.”

Mathiowitz said the funding from Freedom-2 facilitates her research and helps her compensate her graduate students. “I think this is a very good example of how interaction with companies can be very fruitful,” she said.

In the coming months, as the company puts distribution channels in place, Mathiowitz and her students will create inks that meet Freedom-2’s safety and removability standards.

Schmeig said delivering high quality inks that won’t alter the “fabulous art form” of tattooing is a priority for Freedom-2.

“We’re literally going in and asking Renoir, Monet and the great artists of the world to think about changing the materials that they use,

and that’s a big deal,” he said.

While he said the response from tattoo artists to the new ink has been “mixed,” Schmeig said most have become advocates after trying it.

Still, some favor traditional inks.

“I’m kind of loyal to the idea that a tattoo is there forever,” said Lenny Marandino ’09.5, who has two tattoos.

But he said Freedom-2 ink could be a “good option for a lot of people.”

Even though the ink is permanent, Marandino said Freedom-2’s removal process may cause many to consider it just “a step above henna.”

Schmeig became the first person to receive a Freedom-2 ink tattoo — the company’s logo on his arm. He later had the tattoo removed and said the spot where it was is “perfectly clear.”

Schmeig said he now has four other Freedom-2 tattoos with “more stylish” designs that better suit his personality. “I don’t know that I want to walk around the rest of my life carrying my company logo on my arm,” he said.

The ink will be on the market in December, said Pat Arcand, the public relations representative for Freedom-2.

Though Freedom-2 ink costs more to make, Schmeig said he does not anticipate a significant difference in retail prices of a Freedom-2 tattoo compared to a tattoo using inks currently available. “A $200 tattoo might cost $300, but the peace of mind and features you get with it make it worthwhile.”

Schmeig said he hopes Freedom-2 will broaden the market for tattooing.

“Who you are now may not be who you want to be tomorrow,” he said.

“We don’t want anyone to feel that there’s an obstacle or barrier to this great art form.”

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2007

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Brownspeak A to Z: The Herald’s freshman guide A capella: An oversubscribed on-campus vocal activity. If you live near the Wayland or Mo-Champ arches, you might want to invest in soundproofing for your room.

A.B.: Ever yone else calls it a B.A., but we know that’s Absolute Bullshit. Their degrees, not ours, that is.

A.B.-Sc.B.: The five-year program that will get you two ­— count ’em, two! — degrees before you leave. Remember, though, that one of them is Absolute Bullshit.

ADOCH: A Day on College Hill.

A lot of you probably came to this spring event right after acceptance letters went out. We eschew homework for a day and throw parties unusually large for Tuesday nights.

This is not necessarily indicative of life at Brown...

Annmar y Brown Memorial: The creepy building next door to Health Services is an actual tomb.

With dead bodies.

Arrr: Pirate a cappella. Sea shanties never had it so good.

Banner: The new computerized student record system that replaced Brown’s venerable pink-and-white course registration forms. The interface makes AOL dial-up circa 1996 look like an iPhone. LOL. Berman, Chris ’77 P’08: “Boomer” is one of ESPN’s most visible and popular stars, for those not “in the know.” He concentrated in histor y at Brown and got his broadcasting start covering baseball for WBRU-AM. (See BSR.)

Binder, Dave: A Spring Weekend tradition. He sings mediocre but endearing covers of bachelorette party favorites to hordes of drunken Brown students ever y year. (See Spring Weekend.)

Blue Room, The: Brown’s version of Blue State Coffee — only, all the proceeds go to Brown Dining Services. It’s great for a bagel or equal exchange coffee between classes. They only take flex points and cash, so Daddy’s credit card isn’t good here.

BOLT: Brown Outdoor Leadership Training is a unique opportunity to simultaneously learn how to tie a trucker’s hitch, avoid the sophomore slump and bury your poop with a trowel. Five days in the White Mountains of New Hampshire with nine total strangers, and apparently, people don’t hook up.

Brown Band: They make your high school marching band look like a militar y troupe. Sure they use profanity and their uniforms have “flair,” but they can march on ice!

Brown Daily Herald, The: The finest independent student newspaper in this fair Republic. Published since 1866, daily since 1891, The Brown Daily Herald is financially and editorially independent from the University and is always looking for new talent.

Brown Democrats: Founded by alum JFK Jr. ’83. As elections approach, membership swells.

Brown Republicans: They

could once all fit in a Perkins triple, but are a growing and increasingly vocal presence on campus.

BSR: Brown Student Radio, WELH 88.1 FM. WBRU-FM’s estranged hipster cousin broadcasts from Faunce House. The signal doesn’t really reach into most Brown dorms (they’re that underground, yo), so you’re better off listening on their Web site. (See WBRU.) BTV: Brown Television, home of elaborate student-made comedies and infinite re-runs of “Mean Girls.”

Relish the two hours a week when there’s sound.

BuDS: Brown University Dining Services tries with pumpkin carving competitions and theme days to be as adorable as its acronym.

Also, inventors of the infamous Polynesian Ratatouille.

Bus Tunnel, The: Technically the “Rumford Bus Tunnel.”

It goes through College Hill (literally), from next to Starbucks to the intersection of Waterman and North Main streets. Don’t try walking through the tunnel. Just don’t.

Trust us.

Buxton: International House tucked away on Wriston Quad.

Star ving artist types from RISD have been known to look through their garbage, but other than tight jeans and cigarette butts, we’re not sure what else you’d find there. Did we mention the blaring techno?

Cable Car, The: Just down College Hill, the Cable Car doubles as a cafe and cinema showing great in-

dependent and foreign films. Plus, it has loveseats.

Campaign: Brown’s crusade for the minds, hearts and cold, hard cash of your parents, your grandparents and your great-aunt in West Palm Beach. Also known as “Boldly Brown.”

Campus Market, The: Small venue stashed underneath the Blue Room and clearinghouse of elderly frozen burritos and ginger beer, as well as gum, Nutter Butters and paper towels. Staffed entirely by student workers, the Campus Market has a 32 percent chance of having what you’re looking for.

But they take Flex Points.

Carberr y, Josiah: Brown’s legendary professor of psychoceramics (the study of cracked pots). He only exists on Friday the 13th. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.

He also has the only double chicken patty sandwich available at a Rhode Island fast food restaurant named after him. (See Jo’s) Carter, Amy: We know President Jimmy Carter’s daughter attended Brown. We know she didn’t graduate. The facts end there.

Cianci, Vincent a.k.a. “Buddy”: The renowned, longest-serving former mayor of Providence just got out of the slammer. First elected in 1974, he resigned in 1984 after pleading no contest to assaulting his wife’s lover with a fireplace log, hosted a radio show for a few years, was then reelected in 1990 — until he was convicted of federal crimes in 2002. Legend has it Buddy used to ride up to Brown frat parties on a white horse during his first term. He could often be seen playing cymbals with the Brown Band at football games.

your performance in a class. You can request one of those from any professor, either in addition to a letter grade, or to supplement an “S” in an S/NC class. (See S/NC) Credit/Meal Credit: Getting into Brown is only half the intellectual battle. It’s not in your upper-level bio classes that you’ll meet your greatest mental challenge; rather, it’s in deciding how to purchase food on campus most effectively.

The exchange rate for meal credits is one credit to $5.20.

Dating: If you live in Perkins, you might not date your unitmates, but you are statistically doomed to marry one of them. The rest of you are just doomed.

Due Date: It is always flexible.

Even when the professor swears otherwise. (See Extension) EMS: EMS stands for Emergency Medical Services. It also stands for Eastern Mountain Sports. Call the wrong one and instead of getting a stomach pump, you’ll be getting a thermos and a GPS system to help you stumble home.

Endowment, small: The reason behind most of the University’s financial problems ... in bed.

Extension: You will most likely ask for at least one of these in your time at Brown. Make up a good reason, and you’ll probably get it, too. Even when the professor says at the beginning of the year that he or she never gives extensions.

(See due date).

Facebook.com: Making stalking easier than ever. Most of you first-years probably went through most of high school using it.

Freaks.

Cicilline, David ’83: Providence’s gay, Jewish, Italian mayor who’s also a Brown alum. He’s trying to separate City Hall from its corrupt past (see Cianci, Vincent).

First elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2006.

Federal Hill: Providence’s “Little Italy,” they like to say. Since it’s only really one street (Atwells Avenue), it means you can get great pasta, delicious cannoli and vengeance for your brother’s murder all in one place.

CIT: The Thomas J. Watson Center for Information Technology.

If you don’t have a printer, you’ll be spending a lot of time here. But only $30 worth of time.

Fish Co: The off-campus bar with a Brown night. No fish, but alcohol if you’re legal — or look it.

College Hill: The vantage point from which you look down upon the residents of Providence — literally, but hopefully not metaphorically.

Fairly difficult to walk up, worse when riding a bike. Especially during winter.

College Hill Independent: College Hill’s weekly news rag, but more importantly the Herald’s chief kickball competitor. They certainly know how to shake their HIPS and STIR up controversy.

Concentration: In the rest of the world, this is called a “major.”

Corporation: In October, Februar y and May, the cabal of rich men and women who really run Brown meet in Sayles to decide our future. You don’t know who the members of the Brown Corporation are, and that’s probably just how they like it.

CPR: 1. Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. 2. Course Performance Report, a narrative evaluation of

First-years: Ever ybody else calls them “freshmen.”

First-year seminars: Take one while you can, you lucky bastards.

Frank ’42, Sidney E.: Liquor magnate associated with Grey Goose, Jagermeister and sexual harassment lawsuits. He only studied here for one year, but after he gave more than $100 million for financial aid and the Life Sciences building (which bears his name), the University retroactively gave him his degree.

Fraternity: These might be considered cool ... at some other schools.

Frisc: Unveiled in January, the Friedman Study Center is a 24-hour haven for procrastinators, housed in the basement of the SciLi. Front Green: Also known as the Quiet Green. A good place for reading or making out on pleasant continued on page 9

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to who’s who and what’s what on College Hill training wheels. So instead, we’ll give you a few points to ponder next time you’re obsessively hitting the “refresh” button on the forum: Are the professor quotes real? Who are those cretins in the forums? Do they even go to Brown?

behind the Clinton Foundation.

Kennedy, John Fitzgerald ’83: We’re glad he broke the family trend of Harvard attendance. Yes, he kept a pig in his dorm.

Main Green: If you haven’t figured out where this is, go home.

Leung Galler y: Pronounced “lee-ung.” The big galler y above The Blue Room, on the third floor of Faunce. Sometimes home to ballroom dancing practice.

Lincoln Field: The green between Sayles and Thayer Street.

The upper section is perfect for studying, while the lower part is often the site of football and Frisbee games. After World War II, it was the site of the Veteran’s College.

Before that, it was a swamp.

LiSci: The steel behemoth between main campus and Pembroke Campus became the Sidney E. Frank Hall for the Life Sciences last year. The Walk will someday run through it. And maybe the naked doughnut run too. (See Naked Doughnut Run).

Chris Bennett / Herald

The Brown Bear on the Main Green has witnessed decades of campus history. Most recently, a bottle of Jagermeister graced its paw after liquor magnate Sidney Frank’s $100 million gift.

continued from page 8 days.

Gate, the: The couch-infested rec room of Pembroke Campus.

Simply okay pizza becomes stellar when you can buy it with meal credit instead of actual money.

GCB: The Graduate Center Bar, an actual bar buried in the basement of Grad Center. A good place to go on a weeknight to split a pitcher of beer and a game of pool.

It’s $20 to become a member, but if you’re an illegal young’un you’ll have to stick to Fish Co. Graduate Center: Grad Center has the appeal of a sterile, riot-proof bunker — but without the sterility.

Home to many of Brown’s sophomores, this four-building sprawl has been plaguing the campus aesthetic since it was constructed, or by some accounts, assembled, from Lincoln Logs. The only valuable thing about this structure is the land it is currently devaluing.

E. Gordon Gee Lavatory Complex: For the past two Spring Weekends, a sign has graced a bunch of Port-a-Potties to commemorate Brown’s shortest-tenured president.

It is the only thing named after him on campus. Ever.

Gut: An easy class. A really easy class. If you’re looking for more free time (or just like geology), take one of these.

and living in the United States. 2.

The wee folk who work long into the night in the bowels of the Ratty to make us delicious “magic bars.”

(See magic bars) Infant Lab: Involving babies and research, it’s in the basement of the old Metcalf Chemistry Lab, across from the greenhouse, and oddly suspicious.

Inside Brown: The University’s equivalent of your grandmother’s Christmas newsletter.

IPTV: We can watch TV on our computers now. But we can still complain that there are too few channels. It’ll replace regular cable someday.

Ivy League: Now that you’re in the Ivy League, some may get you to start thinking we have rivalries with schools like Harvard and Yale. They are wrong. Harvard and Yale have a rivalry with each other in which they all wear white, frequently poke each other in the chest and make bar graph comparisons of their endowments. Cornell is the most dubious member, and we are the best.

Jo’s: Technically “Josiah’s,” the snack bar of choice for residents south of the Main Green. Located on the ground floor of New Dorm A, it’s the home of wraps, snacks, and fried foods — especially the Carberry. Mmmmm.

Hutchings-Votey Organ: Located in Sayles, it’s the largest one in the world! We suspect there are only three H-V organs in the world.

John Hay, the: One of those very collegiate libraries in which you feel like you shouldn’t touch anything. The Hay has many rare collections and is home to the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection of toy soldiers and the University Archives, for you Brown histor y buffs.

IMP: 1. International Mentoring Program to help first-year international students adjust to studying

Jolt, the Daily: You probably already know about the Daily Jolt, Brown’s own little Craigslist on

Housing lotter y: It’s a lot better now than it used to be. Trust us.

Loui’s: A restaurant you will inevitably discover at 5 a.m., and hopefully you’ll remember it, too.

Magaziner, Ira ’69 P’06 P’07 P’10: The New Curriculum was his brainchild while he was an undergraduate. Now he’s the mastermind

Magic bars: One of the few delicious deserts at the Ratty. Not to be confused with a similar concoction baked by naughty upperclassmen during Spring Weekend.

Manning Walk: The beautiful walkway from Soldier’s Arch through Sciences Park up to Barus and Holley.

Meiklejohn: Pronounced like “nickel-john,” but with an “M.” Alexander Meiklejohn was a professor of philosophy. Meiklejohns are now the upperclass counselors who dish straight truth about anything you need to know about academics at Brown.

MCM: The Depar tment of Modern Culture and Media, also the kickball roster for the College Hill ’Dependent. But no smoking allowed inside.

MPC: Minority Peer Counselor.

The counselors who are specially trained to advise first-year students on minority issues. They are assisted by MPC Friends.

Naked Doughnut Run: On the last night of reading period, dedicated scholars in the Absolute Quiet Room in the Rock and in the Sci Li get a special treat: doughnuts! Made doubly delicious by the awkward nudes that hand them to you.

New Curriculum: This is what allows you take whatever classes you want, and what allows you potentially to have zero grades when you graduate. It’s 35 years old, but we still call it new. Go figure. (See New Dorm.)

New Dorm: Not so new anymore, the former Thayer Street quad is officially called Vartan Gregorian Quad. The two buildings contain upperclassmen suites, often coveted living space for juniors.

Building A is home to Josiah’s, a campus snack bar, and the Donald L. Saunders ’57 Family Inn at Brown.

9 a.m.: Too early for class. Don’t even ask about AB hour (That’s Absolute Bullshit too).

Ninjas: Believe it or not, 18- to 22-year-olds dress up in hokey costumes and terrorize unsuspecting freshman. (See Arrr).

OMAC: Olney-Margolies Athletic Center. Where you go to try to keep off the “freshman 15.” Your high school gym had more and better equipment. But the satellite gyms in Keeney and Emer y halls and the one in Grad Center will ease the crunch of overgrown athletes keeping you off machines in the OMAC. Orientation: Used to be a week.

Is now shorter or much longer, depending on how you look at it. continued on page 10

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Brownspeak A to Z... continued from page 9 Enjoy this while it lasts. Being overscheduled will never be this relaxing again.

Or wig: Underused but beautiful music library; only open until 10 p.m.

Pacifica House: A society so secret you can visit its Web site.

Page 2: Post-’s most widely read page, because it features a nearlynaked guy and girl getting their 15 minutes of fame.

Parking Space: Something you’ll never find in Providence, anywhere.

remember.

Perkins: 1. A beloved pancake restaurant that has not yet made it east of New York. 2. A first-year dorm that is nearly as far away as the nearest Perkins Restaurant. We hope you guys brought mopeds.

Plan for Academic Enrichment: Ruth’s vaguely sinistersounding plan to ensure that your kids have a better Brown experience than you.

PLME: Brown’s Program in Liberal Medical Education lets you go straight into the Medical School without ever taking the MCATs. Only available to students admitted to PLME as high school seniors.

Chris Bennett / Herald

Patriot’s Court: An extension of Wriston Quad. A bit quieter, in theory. Otherwise unremarkable.

Pawtucket: A city bordering Providence, which is pronounced PUHtucket not PAWtucket. The locals tend to get rabid if you say it wrong. The movie “Outside Providence” took place here.

Pembroke: The northern part of Brown’s campus used to be Pembroke College, an all-female coordinate to Brown. The official merge occurred in 1970, though under-the-table sexiling had been going on for years. Legend has it that if you walk over the seal on the steps leading up to the college, your next sexual encounter will result in impregnation. Or you’ll meet the person you’re supposed to marry here at Brown. Or both. We can’t

Post-: The Herald’s witty, interesting, and beautifully designed arts and entertainment magazine.

Post- includes music, film, theater and dining reviews, inter views and scintillating feature stories.

It comes out in The Herald every Thursday.

Power Street Garage: One of the only parking locations for students, located on Power Street between Thayer and Brook streets.

ProJo: The Providence Journal.

Rhode Island’s largest daily newspaper. They get very excited when big things happen in this tiny state.

It’s not exactly the New York Times, but it’s cute that the ProJo recycles all the Times’ stories anyway.

Providence Place Mall: One of the crowning achievements of

Satellite fitness centers in Keeney and Emery are less intimidating than the athlete-studded OMAC gym — and help stave off the freshman 15.

the previous mayoral administration (see Cianci, Vincent), this sprawling shopping center provides almost ever ything you need in a 15-minute walk from campus. As long as everything you need can be found at chain stores, a multiplex and a food court.

Queer Alliance: The current name of the LGBT student organization. One of the most visible student groups on campus, it focuses on making Brown a more positive space for queer students by providing a variety of education and social programming. And one or two huge, risqué, highly publicized parties that are sometimes attended by Fox News producers (for the totally clueless, yes, we mean Sex Power God).

Ratty: “The Sharpe Refectory.”

According to legend, the full name got shortened to “Rat Factory,” and lazy Brown students took the name a step farther. It has road signs for easy navigation, but watch out for bottlenecks and congestion. Love it, it loves you.

RC: 1. The black sheep of the cola family. 2. “Resident Counselor,” the dedicated individual who will guide you through Orientation, help you adjust to college life, and give you free condoms, then persuade you not to vomit on yourself (or your roommate) after your first trip to Wriston Quad.

Reading period: Ten days off between when classes end and final

exams begin. You’re supposed to finish up your work but you’ll end up going to classes your professors refused to cancel.

Registrar: Michael Pesta. Nice guy. Hopefully, thanks to the new computerized system for course registration (See Banner), the office won’t take a week to process your course selections or confuse your registration at least four times while you’re here.

Rhode Island: Officially the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Lil’ Rhody is the smallest state in the nation with the longest name, and your home now. continued on page 11

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

... a guide to University lingo continued from page 10

B.S. , and that’s why those degrees are Bull Shit. (See A.B.).

RIPTA: The bus. You can ride it for free now!

S/NC: The option to take any class “Pass/Fail.” One of the beauties of the New Curriculum. (See New Curriculum).

RISD: Rhode Island School of Design. Brown students can, at least in theory, take advantage of classes at RISD, but the lack of storage space and RISD’s wildly different schedule hinders most Brown students from heading halfway down College Hill. But those who make it into classes at RISD find them well worth the trouble.

Rock, The: The John D. Rockefeller Jr. Librar y. The main humanities library on campus where students spend more time hitting the books than they ever thought possible, probably more because they get lost in the cryptic, dimly lit stacks than because they’re motivated. Bathroom-wall graffiti from this building propagated a serious anti-sexual harassment movement a few years back, so respect it. Be warned of the ear-piercing, closingtime bell — if you’re there to hear it, you’ve been working too long.

Roommate contract: This document governs your interactions with your bunkmate-to-be and lays down important ground rules concerning his or her interactions with others. Sounds positively Big Brother, but can make a difference in your life if you take the time to look at it, fill it out, sign it and turn it in. (See Sexile.)

Sc.B.: Everyone else calls it a

SciLi, The: The Sciences Library. Fourteen stories, color-coded according to the pH system, of books primarily in foreign languages. You’re supposed to have sex on the 13th floor before you graduate (we hear there’s a nice view of the city up there). The top of the SciLi is the highest point in the state of Rhode Island. Also home to the Friedman Study Center (see Frisc).

Seekonk: A beautifully trashy municipality directly across the border in Massachusetts, with three multiplexes, strip malls, suburban paranoia and every chain store you could ever need. Only 10 minutes away by car/cab.

Sexile: A merger of the words “exile” and “sex.” What happens if you have a roommate who wants to invite a special friend over to spend the night. You end up sleeping on the floor in the lounge. If you even have one.

Simmons, Ruth: Brown’s 18th president and the first black president of an Ivy League school. She has a cult-like following among students and her Plan for Academic Enrichment will give this year’s first-years ever ything we never had. (See Campaign.)

Spoons: The Assassins-type game every freshman unit ends up playing. You can identify first-years for several weeks because they’re carrying around plasticware.

Spring Weekend: In a good year, the much-ballyhooed Spring Weekend means big-name bands playing on our ver y own Main Green, couches on Wriston, lots of drinking and canoodling. It was outside for the first time in a few years this spring, so expect rain this year.

Stadium: It’s over a mile away.

Isn’t that a bit ridiculous? Also where poor, poor sophomores used to get stuck parking, until these spaces were eliminated, preventing them from parking altogether.

Ha ha.

Stockpot: This monthly newsletter from BuDS is perhaps the only campus publication to rival The Brown Daily Herald in journalistic ambition and integrity.

SunLab: Located on the first floor of the CIT, the SunLab is filled with Sun workstations for computer science students. Good luck tr ying to get a computer on the night before a big project is due. Or Friday and Saturday night, for that matter.

T.A.: Teaching Assistant. They teach some intro-level language classes, as well as some courses

www.browndailyherald.com

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Brownspeak A to Z continued from page 11

in math and other departments.

Some are helpful. Some are useless. Some will end up dating your roommate.

Thayer Street: Serving as the DMZ between Brown and its realworld neighbors, this avenue was formerly home to a plethora of eclectic shops and a roving motorcycle gang. Now it’s a glorified food court. But Chipotle is coming soon!

Tom & Tom: The “Juice Guys” of Nantucket Nectars fame are indeed dedicated Brown alums.

Tom Scott started a TV network two years ago called Plum TV that broadcasts only in upscale vacation spots, and one of the two Toms comes back every year to talk to Professor Barret Hazeltine’s management classes.

Trolley, The: A bus disguised to look like a trolley, run by RIPTA, which goes from Thayer Street to Kennedy Plaza and Federal Hill.

Turner, Ted: Started his college career at Brown before getting thrown out for (depending on whom you believe) either poor grades or “fraternizing” with a female student back when those things were against the rules, wink wink. And look at him now!

UCS: The Undergraduate Council of Students, which tries really, really hard to be an effective student governing body.

Underground, The: An on-campus bar, located in Faunce House. It used to be easy for under-21s to get

drinks here, but after an administrative crackdown and an unpleasant debacle involving local high school students, there’s not much of a reason to go here instead of the GCB. During the week, it’s the Hourglass Cafe, where proceeds go to Oxfam.

Not open a lot.

Unitcest: A merger of the words “unit” and “incest.” It’s when you hook up with someone in your unit.

Yep, this is why “It’s Complicated” exists on Facebook.

University Hall: Come here to meet with deans or visit Ruth during her office hours. The oldest building on campus, it’s on the National Register of Historic Places, and at least one slave contributed to its construction.

Van Wickle Gates: So important that they’re only open twice a year.

V-Dub: The Verney-Woolley Dining Hall. The junior member of Brown’s dining halls, it’s smaller, more intimate, and features a Now That’s What I Call Music! soundtrack.

Watson Institute: The Thomas J. Watson Jr. Center for International Studies. Home of the international relations concentration and worldrenowned research. Former Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chafee ’75 and former ambassador to the United Nations and Herald editorin-chief Richard Holbrooke ’62 are fellows here.

WBRU: 95.5 FM, one of the largest radio stations in southern New England and the oldest college radio station in America. Run entirely by

Brown students. Purported to be “the original alt-rock.” We’re not arguing.

Wickenden Street and Wayland Square: These are two commercial districts within walking distance that aren’t Brown-related.

Wickenden is famous for its head shops, pubs and an exotic accessories store. Wayland is known for its bookstores. Pick your poison.

Or mix and match.

Williams, Roger: Founder of this great state, proponent of religious freedom, and now a giant statue in Prospect Park.

Wood, Gordon: A Brown professor, Pulitzer prizewinner, wellknown in the field of American history. Spring 2008 is slated to be his last teaching on campus, so enroll in his Era of the American Revolution class as soon as preregistration rolls around. Referenced in “Good Will Hunting” during the bar scene with the Harvard jerk, when Will says, “That’ll last until sometime in your second year, then you’ll be in here regurgitating Gordon Wood about the pre-revolutionary utopia and the capital-forming effects of military mobilization.”

Writing Fellows: Writing Fellows suck the pain out of throwing together a paper the night before it’s due by labeling said effort a “draft” and requiring that it be “edited” by a fellow student with “superior” writing talent.

ZipCar: Short-term rental cars available in the Minden lot, as long as you’re over 18. Kind of lamelooking but actually pretty useful.

And no, that ID you use to get into

U. welcomes almost 1,600 new students continued from page 1

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If freshmen weren’t thrilled about dressing up as their favorite superhero and dancing Monday night, they could attend “games night” in Faunce House’s Petteruti Lounge, hosted by the Orientation Welcoming Committee.

Tonight, first-years can participate in “Orientation Idol,” judged by faculty members, Glassman and members of the dining hall staff.

“They’ve cooked up a bunch of random activities to get us to meet each other,” said Jenny Molyneaux ’11, a first-year from Austin, Texas, who arrived on campus Sunday morning and moved into New Pembroke 4. But, she said, it seems to have worked well overall.

Molyneaux said she likes that Ori-

entation has been relaxed and there have not been too many required events.

Though the new schedule still needs to be formally evaluated, Senior Associate Dean for Student Life Allen Ward said Monday afternoon that things are going well.

Many students moved in early on Saturday, which Ward said gave them an opportunity to settle in. “People had all day to move in. They didn’t have any formal Orientation events they had to get to, so it was a relaxed atmosphere,” he said.

Ward said he has received positive feedback from parents and students about Orientation activities, especially the information expo.

New York native Erin Alpert ’11 said she liked the humorous approach organizers took in the alcohol awareness talk, where students were asked to turn to the student next to them and describe an alcohol-related experience of their own. Overall, Alpert said she has been pleased with Orientation. “It’s interesting,” she said. “They have a lot of different options and activities.”

Another new addition to Orientation was a Monday seminar in which students discussed their required summer reading, “How Proust Can Change Your Life: Not a Novel” by Alain de Botton. While previous classes have had recommended reading, this year’s class was required to read the book and write an essay to be read by their academic adviser. The exercise will help advisers identify weak writers in need of coursework

to meet Brown’s writing requirement, which mandates proficiency by graduation.

Bergeron referenced the reading in her welcoming remarks on Sunday, urging students to use their time at the University wisely. She said students should ask themselves “not what you think you will do with your time at Brown, but what that time ought to be doing for you.”

Bergeron told first-years not to think of their time at Brown in terms of what accomplishments they can check off, but “to take the time to reflect expansively on your experience each step of the way — to think about what you have done, what you are about to do, and why.”

Glassman reminded new students of the power Brown gives them to influence their own experience and the University as a whole.

“Undergraduates are the heart of this place,” he said.

Glassman said Brown not only lets students choose what classes they will take but really lets them shape their whole college experience. “Brown is all about letting you carve your own path,” he said.

At the close of her speech, Simmons told the entering students to “work until it hurts and play until you can laugh no more.”

“This is truly a time of pain, laughter and learning, for they go together well,” she said. “Welcome.

Welcome to this funny, miraculous, challenging, wonderful world. I am so pleased that you are here.”

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

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Incoming first-years descend on College Hill as Orientation kicks off continued from page 1 years into the Sharpe Refectory for an early dinner.

“The pasta’s not so good,” Leonardo Moauro ’11 said of his first Ratty meal. “It’s missing salt.”

It might be worth noting that Moauro hails from Italy — most other first-years interviewed by The Herald seemed to approve of Ratty fare. Though unimpressed by the food, Moauro said all other aspects of moving in to Perkins Hall have been going very smoothly. He had “no complaints” about his roommate, another international student from London.

Other roommate pairs were excit-

ed to find out how much they had in common. Rebecca Kaufman ’11, who is from New York, and her roommate, Tarah Knaresboro ’11, who is from San Jose, Calif., said they are “practically the same person.”

In the short time they have known each other, Kaufmann said the two found out they shared interests such as “drinking coffee, chewing gum, cracking our backs, international things, neuroscience, ethnic food and snowcones.”

“And they are both messy,” added Knaresboro’s father.

Aside from the four flights of stairs leading up to their Keeney double, the two said their move went smoothly. Like many freshman, they

said they were welcomed warmly to Brown.

Students on the Orientation Welcoming Committee walked around campus in brightly colored T-shirts, helped carry boxes and answer questions. Kristobal Sanchez ’09, an OWC member, stood on the Main Green directing lost families for most of Sunday afternoon.

“The strangest question I got was, ‘What is the statue in the middle of Main Green?’ ” Sanchez said, referring to the Henry Moore sculpture in front of the Faunce steps. “But mostly people ask where the bathrooms are.”

This year’s shortened Orientation schedule has changed the dynamic

of the incoming students’ first days on College Hill, Sanchez said. “A lot of events lead into the first week of classes, so the freshmen have to juggle (Orientation) and classes,” he said.

Additionally, since much of the Orientation programming now occurs after returning students have moved in, the events are more open to the entire campus. “We’re not policing events to be exclusively freshmen,” Sanchez said. For example, “the ice cream social (on Saturday night) had free food, so a lot of upperclassmen came.”

Sanchez said he was able to pick out the upperclassmen from among the crowds of freshman be-

cause “they just seem a lot more confident.”

Upperclassmen scavenging for free food did not dim the beginning of the college experience for Jordan Apfeld ’11. Apfeld, who is from Tennessee, said with resounding enthusiasm that his first day on campus was “great.” A sophomore helped him move into his Wayland House room, and Apfeld was soon busy meeting his unit.

“I am stunned at how outgoing everyone was,” Apfeld said. “I expected people — because it’s such a good school — to be introverts, but everyone’s interested in everyone.”

Apfeld said he has met many people because everyone has been keeping their doors open. He said he and his friends walked through the halls saying hello to their unitmates, often finding that talking about music was the best way to start a conversation with a stranger.

The new freshman will have even more opportunities to interact with an activities fair, Orientation dance, scavenger hunt, movie showings and activities like guided runs, yoga and kickball games.

As their children were kept busy, parents of first-years were a little more reflective.

“It’s hard to let go, but you’ve got to,” said Josephine Ondrade P’11. She and her husband Joe sat on a bench outside Poland House in Keeney and watched their daughter Samantha — their first child to go to college out of state — walk away with some new friends.

Joe Ondrade said his daughter was excited, but he and his wife were “emotional wrecks.” However, he added, “she’s independent and mature, so we know she’ll be okay.”

Their photo at Keeney over, Halley and Owen Kaye-Kauderer stepped away from Jenna. When asked how they felt about their older sister moving away, the two younger siblings replied “sad” in perfect chorus.

But their father laughed and said, “They wish they were going too.”

join the herald news photo design opinions comics web copy-editing business sports sept. 9 sept. 11 sept. 17 9 p.m.

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Tuesday, September 4, 2007

President Ruth Simmons said the class of 2011 will “change” Brown. They are already an accomplished group:

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The youngest person in the United States certified in green building techniques.

An international student who published a book on Ottoman art.

2011

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

An origami master whose work is featured in art galleries.

A young woman who creates fiber arts with the hair from her goats.

10a

An international student who published a book on a collection of inkstones.

An international student who published a book on the island of Samos.

A banjo player who has performed nationally with Mike Seeger, Bob Carlin and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.

A young woman who slept on her roof through 100 Minnesota winter nights to raise money and awareness for homelessness.

A playwright whose work has been produced by major theaters in Chicago and Washington, D.C.

A student who founded a scholarship for Indian university students.

An American Idol contestant.

An accordian-playing pilot instructor from Missouri.

11a

Advising Group Meetings

12p

1p

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3p

A United Nations NGO Global Citizenship Leader.

An Illinois playwright whose work appeared at the International Thespian Festival.

A founder of a nonprofit facilitating first-time home ownership for African Americans.

4p

5p

6p

Banner Registration

7p

An Intel Applied Math Scholarship winner.

A Make-A-Wish Ambassador.

A poetry-slam competitor.

Individual meetings with advisers Pre-med Planning

An Illinois scientist who has completed research in Chicago, Croatia and South Korea.

A young woman who assists her Native-American tribe by monitoring salmon migration each spring.

An Iowan harpist.

A mathematician who authored an original proof of the Pythagorean theorem — as a high school freshman.

8p

9p

A Romanian physics expert who enjoys heavy metal in his free time.

Source: Office of Admission Web site

10p

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Class Meeting III: Sexual Assault

Dining Tour

Women in Science & Engineering Scavenger Hunt Themed Ratty Tables Walk to Prospect Park

Capture the Flag Orientation Idol

Organ Concert

World & Nation TUESday, September 4, 2007

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the brown daily herald

Congress mulls options amid mortgage troubles

By Jonathan Peterson Los Angeles Times

Washington Post / Peter S. Goodman

Once a textile worker, Regina Whitaker got an associate degree in biotech and now works as a lab tech at Targacept, a biotech start-up in Winston-Salem, N.C.

U.S. factories adapt to the new world manufacturing economy

By Peter Goodman Washington Post PITTSBORO, N.C. — Until the late 1950s, the low-slung brick building in the center of this minuscule town was home to the Kayser-Roth hosiery mill. Some 400 workers tended to clattering looms, churning out pantyhose.

“It was the best employer in town,” said Nancy May, a former worker.

The hosiery mill is gone now, along with much of the Carolina textile industry — a casualty of the global reordering that has concentrated production in Asia and Latin

America. But the old brick building is still here and still making products — albeit modern varieties that could scarcely have been imagined a half-century ago: Today, the site is occupied by a biotechnology company, Biolex Therapeutics.

Inside, 90 workers harness expensive laboratory equipment and a plant called duckweed, a bane to local ponds, to develop a drug for a serious liver ailment. Even the lowest-paid lab technician takes home far more than the seamstresses earned. If the start-up succeeds, its product will be substantially more lucrative than pantyhose.

As lawmakers pursue legislation

aimed at softening the blow from factory closures, and as the downside of trade emerges as a talking point in the 2008 presidential campaign, it might seem that manufacturing is a dying part of the U.S. economy. But the retooling of this old brick building on Credle Street underscores how, despite its oft-pronounced demise, American manufacturing is in many regards stronger than ever.

The United States makes more manufactured goods today than at any time in history, as measured by the dollar value of production adjusted for inflation — three times as continued on page 18

WASHINGTON — As mortgagerelated turmoil weighs down the U.S. economy, members of Congress are considering a range of measures aimed at easing the current problems while also preventing such a crisis from recurring.

Lawmakers are pushing regulators to police the mortgage business more vigilantly. They are preparing legislation that would overhaul standards for all home loans, imposing new regulation on brokers, independent lenders and investors who purchase mortgagerelated securities.

And they are urging a broader role for the giant, federally chartered mortgage finance companies — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — in helping refinance delinquent mortgages.

The political realities were dramatized last week when President Bush, who has not encouraged an activist federal response to the mortgage crisis, called for a series of measures to stem mortgage defaults and help people hold on to their homes.

Bush’s proposal included a new program that would help once-credit worthy borrowers refinance their adjustable rate mortgages, even if they were in default. The loans would be insured by the Federal Housing Administration.

Members of Congress, who return Tuesday from their August recess, will be pushing their own agenda for change.

“The mortgage crisis is going to get worse — and until the mortgage

crisis is solved, the credit crisis will not be over,“ said Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., reflecting the rising level of concern on Capitol Hill.

Lenders warn that a government overreaction to problems in the mortgage industry could backfire, drying up credit at a time it is sorely needed and putting loans out of the reach of worthy borrowers.

Lawmakers will be considering three aspects of the mortgagerelated mess.

One is the credit crunch. A sharp decline in capital available for investors is jeopardizing economic growth. The Federal Reserve has tried to ease concerns by making cash more available, but some lawmakers believe the response is not sufficient. They want Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to inject billions of dollars into the marketplace.

Another is predatory lending.

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., soon will introduce a bill mandating a range of borrower protections. The bill would place mortgage brokers under the supervision of federal regulators and hold investors in mortgage-backed securities partially responsible for problems that might arise with loans they own.

The third is soaring home foreclosures. Foreclosures in California surged to a record 17,408 for the three months ended June 30, up nearly 800 percent over the same period last year. A more modest proposal by Schumer to give housing advocates $100 million to counsel troubled borrowers and help them avoid foreclosure is contained in an appropriations bill the Senate will consider soon.

Blasts mark the start of In Iraq on Monday, Bush touts war gains Panama Canal expansion

By Lucy Conger and Chris Kraul Los Angeles T imes PANAMA CITY, Panama — Lofty rhetoric, followed by explosions that blew off parts of a hillside, marked the beginning of a multibillion-dollar expansion of the Panama Canal on Monday.

The $5.25 billion expansion will accommodate a new class of ships capable of carrying more than twice the number of containers as the vessels that currently transit the waterway. Completion is set for 2014 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the inauguration of the original canal.

Overwhelmingly approved by voters in October, the expansion is the canal’s bid to capture a bigger share of global container trade, much of which bypasses it because the supersized cargo ships can’t fit its locks.

The project is also intended to co-opt proposals for competing waterways, including one in neighboring Nicaragua, analysts said.

Present for the ceremony was former President Carter, who authorized the transfer of the canal to Panama in a treaty he signed in 1977 with Panamanian strongman Omar Torrijos. Torrijos’ son, current Panamanian president Martin Torrijos, lauded Carter’s courage and praised him as “an esteemed friend

of Panama.”

After a two-decade transition, the canal was turned over to Panama on Dec. 31, 1999, as was the canal zone, a corridor measuring 10 miles wide and 50 miles long. The Panama Canal Administration has drawn praise from international observers for its management of the canal since the turnover.

When complete, the expanded canal will accommodate ships capable of carrying 12,000 containers, up from a maximum 5,000 containers.

A five-mile bypass on the Pacific side of the current canal is a central part of the expansion. So are two new sets of locks that will measure 1,400 feet long and 180 feet wide. The current locks are nearly 1,000 feet long and 110 feet wide. The new locks also will have a 50-foot draft, compared with the current 39 feet.

One innovation of the new design is that 60 percent of the water used to fill the locks will be recycled using special catch basins to be built with German technology. Currently, all the Gatun Lake water used to fill canal locks is flushed out to sea.

Francisco Miguez, coordinator of the expansion plan, said in an interview that the project would generate 8,000 direct jobs and another 35,000 indirect jobs among related supply and service companies. Panama will supply all the required labor, Miguez said.

By Michael Fletcher and Ann Scott Tyson Washington Post

AL-ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq — President Bush, making an unannounced visit to this isolated and well-fortified air base in Anbar province, said Monday that continued gains in security in Iraq could allow for a reduction in U.S. troops and called on the Iraqi government to follow up with progress toward rebuilding and political reconciliation.

During eight hours on the ground here, Bush received an update on the war from Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker. He then met with Iraqi political leaders and Sunni tribal figures who have allied themselves with U.S. forces.

“Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker tell me if the kind of success we are now seeing continues, it will be possible to maintain the same level of security with fewer American forces,” the president said.

Bush’s trip — his third to Iraq since the war began in 2003 — comes at a pivotal moment in the debate over the future of the conflict. Petraeus and Crocker are scheduled to testify before Congress next week on the war’s status since Bush ordered 30,000 additional troops into the country earlier this year. Their testimony

is to be followed on Sept. 15 by a White House report to Congress assessing progress in Iraq.

Bush has argued that the strategy he announced in Januar y, which took the U.S. force in Iraq to more than 160,000 troops, is showing signs of success and deserves more time. In Washington, he is widely expected to continue pressing that view in his report to lawmakers.

Monday’s gathering, essentially a U.S.-Iraqi war council of top leaders on both sides, was convened in a Sunni-dominated province where fighting is on the wane. Administration aides said the choice of location was intended to signal that gains here could be replicated in other parts of the country.

Bush said that he and other members of his national security team “came here today to see with our own eyes the multiple changes that are taking place in Anbar province.” Last summer, he recounted, he was told that Anbar was lost.

But Iraqi citizens “refused to give in,” and as a result the province is far calmer today, he said.

(Speaking with reporters on Air Force One as it flew from Iraq to an economic summit in Australia, Bush stressed that any drawdown of troops was conditioned upon continuing improvements in security. No decision had been made on a reduction, he said. But security had improved to the point

that he could “speculate on the hypothetical,” he said.)

Bush’s trip was conducted in strictest secrecy until he landed, making headlines around the world.

Several influential Republicans have joined Democrats in recent months to demand that Bush begin withdrawing U.S. troops. Pointing to a recent Government Accountability Office draft audit as well as a recent intelligence estimate on Iraq, they say that despite some modest security improvements, the troop increase has not been followed by political reconciliation.

In addition, the critics say, while violence is down in areas that the additional troops targeted — mainly in Anbar and Baghdad — it has increased elsewhere in Iraq.

During the visit, Bush affirmed that the United States would not abandon Iraq but warned that progress in reducing violence here must be solidified with political action by the central government.

Bush acknowledged that “the challenges are great” and that the pace of progress overall remains “frustrating” both for Iraqis and for Americans.

In a meeting with a group of cheering Marines before he departed, Bush said that stability in Iraq would deny terrorists a base from which they could “plot and plan attacks on our homeland.”

Any pullout would not be based on fear or politics, he said.

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2007

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Despite doom and gloom, U.S. industry is booming continued from page 17 much as in the mid-1950s, the supposed heyday of American industry.

Between 1977 and 2005, the value of American manufacturing swelled from $1.3 trillion to an all-time record $4.5 trillion, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

With less than 5 percent of the world’s population, the United States is responsible for almost one-fourth of global manufacturing, a share that has changed little in decades. The United States is the largest manufacturing economy by far. Japan, the only serious rival for that title, has been losing ground. China has been growing but represents only about one-tenth of world manufacturing.

But if the big picture is brighter than many realize, American manufacturing is nevertheless undergoing fundamental change that is exerting enormous pressure on workers.

Imports are rising, now representing a third of all manufactured goods consumed in the country, up from 10 percent in the 1970s.

American exports are rising even faster than imports, but companies face intense price competition, with China, India, Brazil and dozens of other low-wage countries now part of a global marketplace for labor and materials. Manufacturers are redesigning production lines to make them more efficient, substituting machinery for people wherever possible.

So while American manufacturing is not declining, manufacturing employment has been shrinking dramatically. After peaking in 1979 at 19 million workers, the American manufacturing workforce has since dropped to 14 million, the lowest number since 1950.

A stark educational divide has emerged on the factory floor, as skills and training separate winners from losers. In 1973, more than half of all American manufacturing workers failed to complete high school, and only 6 percent attended some college, according to the National Association of Manufacturers. By 2001, nearly half completed high school and one-fourth attended some college.

North Carolina encapsulates the forces remaking American manufacturing. Between 2002 and 2005,

the state lost 72,000 manufacturing jobs, about three-fourths in textiles, furniture-making and electronics, according to the North Carolina Commission on Workforce Development. At the same time, the state has become a rising powerhouse in lucrative new manufacturing sectors such as biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and sophisticated textiles.

As they grapple with change, North Carolina’s workers and factory owners are helping answer a pressing question: What does the future hold for manufacturing in the United States?

“We didn’t see it coming,” the furniture man grimly declared.

Michael Dugan once ran Henredon Furniture Industries, which operated a plant in Spruce Pine, a former mining town in the rugged mountains in the western part of the state. There the company made handcarved wooden bedroom furniture, once employing more than 1,000 people. Many lacked high school diplomas and some were illiterate, yet the factory provided a way for these workers to support families and to acquire modest homes and cars. It paid roughly $14 an hour, plus health and pension benefits.

Henredon’s four-poster beds retailed for about $5,000 in the early 1990s, Dugan recalled. A few years later, similar models started showing up from the Philippines for less than $2,000. Now they can be found for $799, produced by workers in southern China who earn as little as 40 cents an hour.

Henredon first trimmed its workforce. Three years ago, it shut down the plant, eliminating the last 350 positions and adding to a wave of layoffs in surrounding Mitchell County, which has had roughly one-fifth of its jobs wiped out since 2000, according to the Employment Security Commission of North Carolina.

Many of the storefronts in Spruce Pine’s brick downtown are empty.

Restaurants and shops have closed, succumbing to a dearth of local spending power.

“The kids are moving out,” said Brenda Smith, a youth pastor at a teen center. “They can’t find anywhere to work. There’s Wal-Mart, and that’s about it.” continued on page 19

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

As N.C. lost textile trade, high-tech moved in continued from page 18 For 26 years, Phillip Wilson worked at Henredon as a master carver. Now, on most days, he wakes before dawn and drives to his new job — the 5:30 a.m. shift as a prison guard at the medium-security Mountain View Correctional facility. His pay is down 15 percent, forcing him into a second job at a used-appliance store to make ends meet.

Throughout the state, and indeed the nation, laid-off factory workers are typically able to find new jobs but mostly for lower pay. A June 2002 study published by the North Carolina Justice and Community Development Center found that workers who lost manufacturing jobs in 1999 and 2000 were earning 72 percent of their previous salaries six months later.

Furniture-making is typical of the manufacturing sectors that are shrinking in the United States. For many, labor represents a relatively high proportion of total costs, making them vulnerable to foreign competition. If factories cannot automate, they die.

The textile industry has been particularly aggressive in replacing people with machines. A half-century ago, a typical North Carolina textile worker operated five machines at once, each capable of running a thread through a loom at 100 times a minute. Now machines run six times as fast, and one worker oversees 100 of them.

With machines increasingly occupying the center of production, manufacturers want highly trained, literate workers at the controls. To meet the demand and help workers secure jobs, North Carolina has beefed up course offerings at its community colleges.

Three years ago, it set up Bionetwork, a training program based in community colleges, to feed workers into the state’s growing biotech sector.

“All of the skills are closely tied to the workplace,” said Norman Smit, Bionetwork’s recruitment director.

Smit seeks students from declining areas of manufacturing. Given intensive training and a willingness to adapt, a textile or furniture worker can become a better-paid biotech technician, he says. As proof, he points to Regina Whitaker.

Ten years ago, straight out of high school, Whitaker went to work at a yarn texturing plant in Yadkinville, in the Piedmont region. Her mother had worked there for 30 years.

From midnight until 8 a.m., Whitaker tended to whirring machinery, alternately wishing for another job and worrying that she would actually have to find one: Her company was opening plants in China and Brazil and laying people off in Yadkinville.

“I couldn’t see spending my life there,” Whitaker said.

In January 2003, she enrolled in the first associate degree classes offered in biotechnology at Forsyth Technical Community College. Now 28, she graduated in July 2004 and was hired as a lab technician at Targacept, a biotech start-up in Winston-Salem that was spun off from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco. Where the tobacco giant had researched the use of nicotine to make people crave cigarettes, Targacept is focusing on the nicotine receptors in the brain to develop drugs for Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia.

Whitaker said her salary is “significantly more” than the $13.40 an hour she made at the yarn factory.

“I’m not struggling now,” she said. “Before, it was paycheck to paycheck.”

Glen Raven Custom Fabrics was another Carolina textile operation whose future seemed in doubt. In the early 1990s, the company was still concentrated on products under siege from foreign competition — pantyhose, luggage fabric and yarn for apparel. Throughout the Carolinas, other textile companies were vanishing.

Glen Raven managed to endure and prosper by refocusing on specialty industrial fabrics for outdoor furniture, boats and awnings — expensive goods that require customization, high-end machinery and technical expertise.

Economists suggest this is the future for successful U.S. manufacturers: zeroing in on high-value products that tap America’s technological advantages to offset high labor costs.

This strategy has fostered a boom in exports of American-made industrial engines and machinery, aerospace continued on page 22

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2007

a p e mbrok e w e lcom e

Chris Bennett / Herald

A student talks with members of the Orientation Welcoming Committee at the Morriss-Champlin arch.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

moving in , m e e ting R U T H

Chris Bennett / Herald

Outside co-ed fraternity Zeta Delta Xi on Patriots Court, microwaves and toasters await customers.

Rahul Keerthi / Herald

President Ruth Simmons speaks with parents during Orientation.

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2007

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Average wages of factory workers much higher in high-tech fields continued from page 19 gear and pharmaceuticals.

North Carolina has embraced this approach, aggressively pushing biotechnology development. In the past decade, the number of biosciences firms in the state has jumped to 386 from 131, and the number of workers has more than doubled, from 20,000 to 47,000, according to the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, a government arm that promotes the industry.

At Research Triangle Park, a sprawling complex outside Raleigh-Durham, Biogen Idec has established one of the larger biomanufacturing facilities in the United States, making sophisticated pharmaceuticals. Entry-level workers with the necessary training earn $27,000 to $35,000 a year. Experienced production workers can make considerably more.

For Glen Raven, the focus on hightechnology production has turned its factory floors into lonely expanses. In Norlina, N.C., a red-brick factory just down Route 1 from the town’s lone traffic light, 225 people once made pantyhose, pushing baskets of nylon across the floor by hand. Now, 156 workers man computers that control acres of robotic arms and bobbins pro-

ducing yarn.

The refashioning has positioned Glen Raven to profit from what many portray as the mortal threat to the Carolina textile industry: China now buys growing volumes of the company’s products. Last year, North Carolina exported $52 million of textiles and fabrics to China, a fivefold increase from 2003.

Chinese factories increasingly use Glen Raven’s fabrics to make sun umbrellas and upholstery for lounge chairs, sending many of these finished goods back across the Pacific to the United States.

The workers at these Chinese factories typically make less in a month than the price of a sun umbrella at an American retailer. Glen Raven’s success allows the company to pay its American workers $10.50 to $22 an hour, plus benefits. Even at those wages, labor represents only 5 percent of the overall cost of turning fiber into fabric.

Put another way, the efficiency of the machines that have eliminated jobs at its plants has allowed Glen Raven to pay the remaining workers enough to afford cars, health care and homes.

Some of those homes boast patios and lawns now shaded by sun umbrellas made in China using fabric woven just down the road.

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Tuesday, September 4, 2007

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

and so it b e gins . . .

Chris Bennett / Herald

A student sits on the Main Green in the hours before President Ruth Simmons’ Sunday afternoon address.

Chris Bennett / Herald

Underneath Soldiers’ Arch, a Meiklejohn peer adviser gives his advisees directions.

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2007

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

MLB division races tightest in years

By Dave Sheinin Washington Post

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All these floundering division leaders, all these out-of-nowhere surges, all these left-for-deads transforming themselves into somehow-still-alives, and — let’s be honest here — all this rampant mediocrity across the baseball landscape. ... Don’t knock it. Embrace it. Labor Day has come and gone, there are less than four weeks left in the regular season, and we have on our hands what could be one of the great stretch drives in history.

Entering play Monday, baseball’s division leaders led by a combined 23 1/2 games, with no team holding a lead of more than 6 1/2 games.

Theoretically, at least, every division race is still in play.

How rare is this? Consider: At the end of play on Labor Day last year, the combined lead of the six division winners was 43 1/2 games; you have to go back to 1997 to find another instance in which the six division races, combined, were closer at the end of play on Labor Day. In the National League, no fewer

than nine of the 16 teams were either leading their division or were within five games of the lead entering Monday, including four of the five teams in the NL West.

But even in the AL, where the Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians and Los Angeles Angels were leading by a combined 18 games, there is no one celebrating yet. A year ago, the Detroit Tigers held a five-game lead at the end of Labor Day, but wound up losing the division by a game to the Minnesota Twins.

And that’s not to mention the wild card — the maligned-at-thetime Bud Selig invention that arose as a response to the 1993 San Francisco Giants’ winning 103 games but missing the playoffs. Most years, the wild card is the avenue of last hope in September for many secondand third-place teams — such as the aforementioned 2006 Tigers, who stumbled down the stretch, lost their division lead, but rode the wild card all the way to the World Series.

But this year, with so many teams in the division-title races, it is almost an afterthought.

“You play as hard as you can and

try to win the division,“ said veteran New York Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon. “And if you get to the end and you fall short, you just hope it’s good enough to win the wild card.

That’s how you have to look at it.“ In the AL, it has taken at least 95 wins to earn the wild card in each of the last six seasons. But this year, in a reflection of the parity across the game, the Yankees, who lead the AL wild-card race, are on pace for only 90 wins. Even in the wake of their sweep of the East-leading Red Sox last week, which pulled them (briefly) to within five games of the lead, they were keeping one eye on the wild-card race.

“You’re going to be reminded of what other (teams) are doing ... but when you simplify it, it all comes down to what you do,“ Yankees Manager Joe Torre said. “You’re going to wind up getting what you’re due.“ Still, you won’t hear Torre say the Yankees are content to let the Red Sox take the division title and accept the wild card themselves.

Torre said something to that effect late in the 1997 season when the Baltimore Orioles were running away with the division, and he still bristles at the memory of the airingout he received from owner George Steinbrenner.

Meantime, in the National League, where the division leaders led by a combined 5 1/2 games entering Monday (including a tie in the West between San Diego and Arizona), mediocrity reigns supreme — to the benefit of everyone.

Entering Monday, the team with the best record in the league — the New York Mets (76-60, .559) — was on pace for only 91 wins. Should the Mets stumble even a little, we could see an entire league fail to produce a single 90-game winner — something that has never happened in the division-play era.

The NL Central is a particularly fascinating case study in mediocrity.

In August, the St. Louis Cardinals had what was by all measures a very mediocre month, going 15-13.

Yet they gained four games on the division lead — because the Milwaukee Brewers, who led at the start of the month, went 9-18. At one point last week, the Cincinnati Reds were closer to first place than the Yankees.

The process of eliminating pretenders has begun in earnest (goodbye, Atlanta Braves!), but at the top, there are no sure things this month, no teams that feel safe in their lead.

In recent days, the Mets endured a five-game losing streak that reduced their lead, temporarily, from seven games to two. The Red Sox lost four straight. Both teams, however, rebounded quickly.

The Mariners, who led the AL wild-card race as recently as last week, entered Monday having lost nine straight — which might spell playoff-race death in most seasons.

But this year, not so. The Mariners entered play Monday two games back of the Yankees in the wildcard race — and they happened to open a three-game series at Yankee Stadium. By the end, they could be holding the wild-card lead again.

If there is anyone who deserves to feel the slightest bit safe, it’s the Los Angeles Angels. They have been alone atop the AL West since May 9, have held at least a share of the lead since April 25 and have seen their chief competition, the Mariners, implode in the wake of a three-game sweep at the hands of the Angels last week. The Angels’ lead entering Monday was 6 1/2 games, the biggest it has been since June 25.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Haas overtakes Blake in 5 sets at U.S. Open

By John Jeansonne Newsday

NEW YORK — Another headliner taken off the U.S. Open marquee.

James Blake’s engagement on Flushing Meadows’ showy tennis stage Monday was canceled after one week, the result of a wild-andwooly five-set tiebreaker loss to veteran Tommy Haas.

Another brick in the wall sealing off American men from tennis’ most exclusive neighborhood, where major-tournament contenders reside. As the No. 6 seed, Blake’s 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-0, 7-6 (7-4) loss goes down as an upset by the No. 10 Haas. Worse, it serves as the latest discouraging mark on Blake’s record of semi-early departures in Grand Slam events.

His best result in 23 majors remains a pair of U.S. quarterfinals losses the past two years; yesterday’s fourth-round ouster left him one match short of that, and a clear notch below his high point in the men’s world rankings, the No. 4 he achieved last November.

Still only 27, Blake hardly is in peril of abject mediocrity. But both he and Arthur Ashe Stadium’s excitable crowds — squarely in his corner and led on by the usual group of Blake friends leading football-like cheers — are sorry to see him go. And a bit surprised, too, given that Blake appeared to have control after three sets against Haas and, after several frightening hairpin turns in the action, had Haas cornered with three match points.

Haas, serving at 4-5 in the fifth, escaped each time, once with a cross-court volley and then with two service winners. Then, at 3-3 in the tiebreaker, Haas alternated two exact drop shots with two precise lobs, barely lifting the last one over the scrambling, leaping Blake after Blake somehow had kept the ball in play as long as he did.

“The second lob, I felt, OK, let’s try it again,” Haas said. “If I’d lost that point, I think the crowd

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would’ve gone absolutely ballistic and that might have given him an extra edge, the adrenaline to maybe ... who knows? I mean, it’s over.“ Not until they had played 3 hours, 17 minutes, though, and the sudden-death ending was held in abeyance when Haas, then Blake, challenged the final two points.

Haas questioned whether Blake’s backhand down the line stayed inbounds at 6-3 in the tiebreaker (the Hawk-Eye replay confirmed it did), then Blake asked for a review of Haas’ deciding ace (which proved to be on the line).

“This one will sting for a while,“ Blake said. “I will say that years ago when I was so bummed that I lost the USTA National 18-andunder, my coach and I talked about how, as you get better and better, it stings more and more when you lose.

“It hurts right now to lose in the fourth round of the U.S. Open.

Maybe it wouldn’t hurt so much if I kept losing first rounds of New Haven, or here, or other places.

When the stakes are higher, that means you’ve done something that you should be proud of, when you reflect on it. I hope in days to come, weeks to come, years to come, I am proud of the efforts I put in.

“I’m not going to hang my head too low about losing to some great players.”

Always philosophical, the onetime Harvard student this summer released an autobiographical book demonstrating his ability to separate tennis and his comeback to the sport from suffering a broken neck, losing his father to cancer and having his career threatened when Zosters disease temporarily paralyzed half his face in 2004.

“I really don’t think,“ Blake said, “many people can relate to playing in front of 20,000 people and on national TV, hearing the crowd go crazy. But they can relate to family tragedy and cancer and injuries and illnesses, things that go on where everyone’s life is a bit of a bumpy ride.“

MLB races won’t cool off in fall after hot summer continued from page 28 The Yankees The New York Yankees, at the All-Star break, were a .500 team that trailed the Boston Red Sox by 9.5 games and the AL Wild Card by eight games. Since the All-Star break, the Yankees have the best record in the Major Leagues. They now stand 14 games above .500 and lead the AL Wild Card race.

The catalyst for the suddenly-positive outlook in the Bronx has been the influx of young prospects.

The 21-year-old phenoms Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain are tremendous additions to the pitching staff, and 22-year-old Ian Kennedy has replaced the old and inef fective Mike Mussina in the rotation. The Bronx Bombers are the most exciting team to watch this September.

Yes, the summer was packed with action, yet more drama awaits. There are still 14 teams within five games of a playoff spot — this should be interesting.

Ellis Rochelson ’09 can’t wait to eat a Ratty veggie burger again.

Field hockey starts year with road loss at Vermont continued from page 28 Brown trimmed Vermont’s advantage in shots to 7-5 in the second half. The Catamounts still managed to score twice in the period, on goals by senior Kelly McClintock at 40:33 and junior Maegan Luce at 59:34, but Dhir answered Vermont’s third score 1:01 later, tallying the first goal scored against Catamounts sophomore goaltender Kristen Heavens this season.

“The goal I scored was definitely (about) me having confidence with the ball,” Dhir said. “One of my goals for the game was, if I did have a one versus one against the goalie, with that I would pull the goalie away from the goal (and) just put the ball behind her or around her instead of dribbling right towards her and having her cradle the ball.

I’m glad that I did it, but it definitely wasn’t enough.”

“We have very strong forwards,” Harrington said. “Sandhya Dhir actually had our goal, and Andrea Posa (’08), who is one of the captains of our team, played very well.

We also had a freshman (Tacy Zysk ’11) start at left wing. … They did a great job looking back when they got them the ball, and they did a great job defensively, helping us bring the ball back. We did have a

few missed opportunities in front of the net, which could have made a big difference in the final score, but we’ll learn from that.”

Harrington and Dhir each commended Hodavance, who also stopped a penalty stroke on the afternoon.

The Bears turn their attention next to their first Ivy League opponent. Brown hosts Dartmouth this Saturday at noon on Warner Roof.

“This week is all about preparing for Dartmouth and having positive energy and a positive focus as we go forward,” Harrington said.

The game was also Harrington’s head coaching debut. Harrington joined the field hockey staff as an assistant coach in 1998. She replaces Carolan Norris, who was named an associate athletic director at Brown in May. Harrington said she believes in her players’ ability to improve for the upcoming games.

“We’ll certainly take lessons from the UVM game and change some things around as we prepare to take on Dartmouth, but this is a great group of kids (who are) great field hockey players and very confident in what they do,” she said.

“We’ll learn from it, and we’ll be better for Saturday.”

www.browndailyherald.com

E ditorial & L etters Page 26

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2007

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Staf f Editorial

Brown will change you It’s been a hectic few days for first-years. You’ve been shuttled to lectures on sexual assault and drunkenness, introduced to roommates and residential counselors and unpacked your entire life into one tiny dorm room.

But what President Simmons, Dean Bergeron and your parents have told you is true: Brown will change you. No matter how frantic the flurry of settling down and beginning a new phase of life, don’t lose sight of the opportunities that are now yours as a Brown student.

It sounds trite, but regardless of what U.S. News and World Report might say, a Brown education is indeed a powerful asset.

Though you’ll all traverse College Hill and eat in the Ratty, each of you must decide for yourself: How will you be changed?

All the cliches you’ve heard are true — college is really what you make of it, and you’ll learn as much outside the classroom as within it. So be ambitious, whether that means starting a rock band or working on a local political campaign. These are important, if not essential, parts of the proverbial “college experience.”

Join clubs. In fact, at Thursday’s Activities Fair don’t be afraid of signing up for too many of the overly specialized, niche groups you’ve never been exposed to (after stopping by The Herald’s table, of course).

Be diligent and persistent during shopping period. Even if a class appears to be full on the Banner Web site or demands “pre-requisites,” keep in mind that at Brown academic interest always trumps official rules. Tackle material you’ve never seen, like Egyptology or Japanese court poetry, because being Boldly Brown is about taking risks. This is a chance to push your boundaries while you still have the comfort of Brown’s safe, nurturing bubble ­— an environment that distinguishes these college years from the rest of your life.

Of course, with the privilege of a Brown education comes a responsibility to still engage with the world around you. Taking part in community service or aspiring to a career in public service are obvious ways to do this, but they’re by no means the only ones.

Forcing yourself to pop that Brown bubble on occasion will serve you, and this community, well. Whether it means stopping by an art exhibit on the trek back from Bed Bath & Beyond or tutoring local adults in literacy, engage — and do so critically.

Your four years at Brown could lead to a future of working micro-finance in Tanzania or biking across Bangladesh. You may write screenplays, teach history or trade debt securities. But the analytical and critical thinking skills you’ll gain here really will be the greatest benefit in any profession, relationship or future pursuit.

When you go home for Thanksgiving and, well, for the rest of your life, people will ask how often you went to naked parties and if professors even give grades at Brown. It may be annoying, but think of it as an advantage. You’re getting the best of both worlds: a top-rate education at a famously unique university. There’s no chance you’ll come out the same.

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O pinions TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2007

page 27

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

To the American Left: What can Brown do for you?

BY MAHA ATAL Opinions Columnist In her May 25 column, “All talk and no action,” Katie Lamm ’07 reflected on a common stereotype of Brown — that it’s a hotbed of liberal activism. Lamm arrived in the fall of 2003 expecting four years of passionate left-leaning political debate. What she found was general apathy on major policy issues, punctuated by occasional outbursts of “Bushhating” as a show of the broad, vague liberalism assumed to be cool on campus.

My experience has been similar, but I’m less inclined to blame students for the vacuity of political conversation. Instead, I wonder if the woolliness of what it means to be a liberal at Brown is indicative of the woolliness of liberalism in America.

Our politics are at a crossroads. Both political parties know they occupy untenable ground, but neither one knows where to turn next. The Democrats have been essentially the party of the New Deal — of big government spending on social programs — since 1933. Even as they have supported balanced budgets, the party’s professed values have gone unchanged. Today, Social Security and Medicare are collapsing, but the Democrats are too married to those systems to devise sound replacements.

Meanwhile, the Republican Par ty is headed for its own crisis of values. After the stunning defeat of Barry Goldwater in the 1964 presidential election, the Republican Party retreated into think tanks to develop neoconservatism, the basic value system of the present-day GOP. But neoconservatives are now finding that the post-Cold War world doesn’t support their views as well as the previous era did.

The groups the current parties represent no longer have much in common. Without

their belief in American exceptionalism and the evangelizing power of democracy, what do social conservatives share with Republican war hawks and big business? Without their faith in the welfare state, what do firstgeneration blue-collar immigrants share with the Democratic intellectual elite?

The smarter pundits predict restructuring on both sides of the aisle. Thomas Friedman sees new Democrats as made up of the educated classes: pro-business, pro-globalization and pro-environment. He calls this platform “Geo-Green.” David Brooks sees the new Republicans as a party of a broadly defined middle class: social conservatives who are

the new playing field, he is decidedly left of center, and the number of liberals I know who wish he’d run as a Democrat is astounding.

Pro-education, pro-gay-rights, pro-civil rights, pro-environment, but also pro-business, proglobalization and tough on unions and other pet old-Democrat causes — this is the stance of the new Left. It’s also my hunch that this is the kind of liberalism endorsed by most students at Brown. If it doesn’t look or sound like the tree-hugging Brown stereotype, it’s because liberalism has changed.

Unfortunately for Bloomberg and American voters, the party heads haven’t quite cottoned on to geo-green yet. The restructuring

Our politics are at a crossroads. Both political parties know they occupy untenable ground, but neither one knows where to turn next. pro-local and skeptical of authority, whether corporate, federal or international. In its foreign policy, the new Left is multilateral, and thus non-interventionist when allies cannot be had. The new Right is isolationist, but when foreign involvement is necessar y, they’d rather America go it alone.

A good indication of this new landscape is the recent debate over New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg’s potential run for the presidency. Bloomberg does not fit neatly into either of the old political categories, which is why he vacillated between the old parties and has now become an Independent. But on

of the GOP in 1964 is still our best model of how to achieve such transformation. What sealed the deal for the Republicans was an exodus of intellectuals from the Democratic Party who developed the new principles of neoconservatism. Since then, the right has maintained its think tanks, and kept them developing new ideas. Which means, firstly, that no exodus of dissatisfied rightists will provide new principles to the new Democrats, and secondly, that the new Republicans already have a host of thinkers on which to rely.

The Democrats have no such think tanks, and new value systems need to be developed

in an intellectual lab, where individuals are close enough to leadership to understand policy problems and smart enough to have solutions, but removed enough from practical politics to take risks on new ideas. For the Left in America, Brown — with all its woolliness — might be just the right lab environment.

Another stereotype of Brown is that it’s the slacker Ivy, the school for JFK Jr., but not Jack or Bobby. I encourage Brown to embrace that comparison. Brunonian liberals — think Ira Magaziner ’69 P’06 P’07 P’10 — have been the originators of ideas, not the main party poster children. Because Brown is not Harvard or Yale and not expected to produce stable, consistent ballot-box material, Brown is the kind of school that can take a risk in developing the New Liberalism.

I propose that we turn some official funds toward that goal and establish a think tank, perhaps run out of the Watson Institute for International Studies and the Taubman Center for Public Policy, to redefine the Left’s vision in America. I am aware of the criticism such a plan is likely to attract: that Brown’s responsibility is to educate its students, not engage in lobbyism, but I’d say that’s naïve.

Academic institutions, even private ones, have a public, social role. Society supports our right as young people to take four years developing our minds on the assumption that we’ll give it back to society in the life achievements college prepares us for. Why can’t we give some of it back “in kind,” with the most valuable gift academics have to offer — our ideas?

Such a policy center would inject some life back into our politics and give the Democrats something tenable to stand for. More importantly, it would give apathetic students something more than Bush-hating to wear as a political badge.

Maha Atal ‘08 embraces her woolliness.

Cries and whispers into La Notte

BY AARON CUTLER Opinions Columnist News filled the summer. Karl Rove and Alberto Gonzales resigned. Barry Bonds broke the home run record and Michael Vick went to jail. The iPhone debuted. The events that captured me most, however, were quieter: on a Monday in August, both Ingmar Bergman and Michelangelo Antonioni died.

The 89-year-old Swede and the 94-year-old Italian were two of the greatest directors in the history of cinema — working most prominently in (although far from limited to) the 1950s through 1970s, they teamed with Bunuel, Fellini and the French New Wave artists to bring a dynamic European consciousness to American shores. They taught us that the movies could be intelligent, could think and feel and ask questions and yet still move.

Working with sources ranging from classical farce to Kierkegaard, Bergman brought his own struggles with man’s place in the cosmos to each of the close to 60 films that he directed over the course of a near-60-yearcareer. Many would recognize the image from “The Seventh Seal,” his most famous film, of Death shrouded in black playing chess by a beach, but few appreciate how funny the film is. For every bleak question or moment of abstract symbolism in a Bergman film, there are scenes of warmth and humor — see the bed-swapping in “Smiles of a Summer Night,” or the carnival-esque feasting in “Fanny and Alexander.” In large part this sprang out of the

communal atmosphere in which he worked: he would shoot at least a film a year, often using the same actors, with a crew of 18 that included a pastry cook.

I worry, though, that the hubbub over Bergman might cloud Antonioni’s star. Bergman was and still is more popular, in part because he made more than twice as many feature films, but also because his particular brand of soul-searching narcissism appealed more to American intellectuals. Yet Antonioni’s

drain pipes and ordinary objects to show how little people mattered in relation to everything else. The thought isn’t easy to swallow, but it’s what made Antonioni modern. Along with his interest in disaffection, his rich color schemes in films like “The Red Desert,” long takes and lingering, hypnotic camera movements have influenced contemporary artists ranging from Sofia Coppola to Wong Kar-Wai. Both men brought other art forms to their movies. Bergman directed more stage produc-

Bergman and Antonioni taught us that the movies could be intelligent, could think and feel and ask questions and yet still move. project (after early, lovely, more realistic fare) was in some ways harder. From the selfish metropolitans of “L’Avventura” to the swinging hipsters of “Blow-Up,” the director chronicled boredom. He dispassionately centered on selfcentered people who, with the rise of technology, had made themselves irrelevant and now sought only to kill time — “The Eclipse” ended with a seven-minute montage of street signs,

tions than he did films — including a “Hamlet” on motorcycles and a “Peer Gynt” that played in New York — and his theatrical training is reflected not only in his use of an unofficial repertory troupe (it’s fun to count how many times Liv Ullman and Max von Sydow are paired), but also his trust in them. The most erotic scene in the movies comes in “Persona,” as the camera sits and watches Bibi Andersson

tell a story. Bergman said that God’s greatest gift to artists was the human face.

Antonioni, by contrast, took ideas from fine art. He used a remarkable stable of actors, from Jeanne Moreau to Jack Nicholson to John Malkovich, but his meticulously crafted, beautiful compositions showed them as part of larger societal and natural surroundings, sundappled afternoons and early-morning fog. If Bergman’s gift was close-ups, then Antonioni’s was landscapes, and the term “action painting” was applied to his work more than once.

Both men worked productively late into their careers — Antonioni’s 1995 film “Beyond the Clouds” is startlingly gentle, and Bergman’s 2004 “Saraband,” with its raw emotional violence, is one of the scariest films I have seen. If the men shared a message, it revolved around despair in the existential sense: man may be alone in the universe, but he can still make art. Camille Paglia wrote an essay in Salon last month arguing that the art film is dead, but I disagree. Repertory houses may have fallen by the wayside, but Americans are film-savvier than ever, as the DVD market assures us that the films Bergman and Antonioni made live on.

At the end of “The Seventh Seal” a group of deceased people link hands and dance off merrily into the afterlife. When a film artist leaves us, I sometimes think of him as joining that chain. Robert Altman, who died last year, surely has a place, as do these two. They’ve earned it.

Aaron Cutler ‘08 hopes Rivette and Godard both stay healthy.

S ports T uesday Page 28

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2007

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

MLB summer riddled with milestones, controversy Hey, Brown fans of Major League Baseball, it’s good to be back. I hope you all had awesome summers. I know I did, largely because baseball was more exciting this summer than it has been in years.

Milestones were reached, competiEllis Rochelson- tion was fierce and MLB Exclusive David Wells actually said the words “I may not look sexy, but I feel sexy.”

Wow. More importantly ...

Bonds finally hits 756 In an event that’s been anticipated and ultra-publicized for years, Barr y Bonds finally surpassed Hank Aaron for the lead on the career home run list. The feat was largely tainted, of course, by the overwhelming (yet circumstantial) evidence that Bonds used steroids. I know I speak for many people when I say: Thank goodness it’s over. I’m sick of talking about steroids and how Bonds is a jerk to the media and how Jeff Kent thinks Bonds is a racist. Bonds had his moment in the sun and now I’m ready for him to retire and let Alex Rodriguez break the record. Fun Fact: A-Rod has 509 home runs.

If he hits his season average of 44 home runs for eight more years (he’s currently 31), he will have 829 home runs before we know it.

All hail the future king!

Craig Biggio gets hit 3,000 In June, the Astros’ second baseman became the ninth player in histor y to get 3,000 hits with the same team. This feat is significant in that it essentially punches his ticket to the Hall of Fame. Personally, I think he makes for a lame Hall of Famer — no MVP awards, no batting titles, only one 200-hit season and a .234 average in the postseason. Not an overwhelming career, not underwhelming ... just whelming. He stayed healthy and consistently above-average for 20 seasons. So, meh. Congratulations, Craig. I guess.

Games to watch: a packed schedule for Bears fans Coming off one of the best spring sports seasons in recent memory, Brown’s fall sports season is ready to swing into action. There will be a full plate of events happening all over College Hill in the next few months. Here’s a primer for the fall season.

legiate will be an early indicator of whether they have what it takes to return to the top. Brown hosts the individual-ranking tournament, and past tournaments have included schools such as Boston College, Marist College and Lafayette College.

Men’s Soccer vs. No. 5 Santa Clara University, Sept. 7, Stevenson Field

Field hockey vs. Princeton, Oct. 13, Warner Roof

The men’s soccer team kicks off its season Friday by hosting the Adidas-Brown Classic. The Bears will face Santa Clara University at 7:30 p.m. A victory over the Broncos, who are fifth nationally in the preseason rankings and reached the NCAA quarterfinals last year, would promise strong results for the rest of the season.

Last fall, the field hockey team started out 3-0 in Ivy League play, one of its best starts ever. Then, it traveled to Princeton, also unbeaten, and lost 6-1. The loss sidetracked the Bears’ season, and they dropped their last four league games. Brown should be eagerly looking forward to the Oct. 13 match-up against the Tigers, the defending conference champions. Princeton, led by sophomore Sarah Reinprecht, who plays for the national under-21 team, will be strong again this year. The Bears lost will be led by co-captains Ani Kazarian ’08 and Andrea Posa ’08.

Goalkeeper Kristen Hodavance ’08 played every minute of every game last season and will give the Bears experience in the net.

W. soccer vs. No. 9 Boston College, Sept. 6, Stevenson Field

The women’s soccer team had an impressive season last fall, finishing 9-4-4. But since then, the Bears’ two best players, Jill Mansfield ’07 and Kathryn Moos ’07, have graduated, both of whom won a bevy of postseason awards. The Bears’ Thursday game against No. 9 Boston College should be telling, especially since Brown upset the then-No. 13 Boston College last fall.

Can the relatively young Bears repeat the success of last season, or will they fall to one of the nation’s top teams looking for revenge?

Football vs. University of Pennsylvania, Oct. 27, Brown Stadium

The Bears will clash with the Quakers on Oct. 27 in a game that should determine whether Brown is a contender for the Ivy League title. Penn was picked to finish second in the Ivies in the conference preseason poll. Last year the Bears traveled to Penn and beat the hosts 30-27 on a field goal in overtime by All-Ivy kicker Steve Morgan ’08. While retaining their

Ashley Hess / Herald File Photo

Rhett Bernstein ‘09 and the men’s soccer team will kick off the season by hosting a tournament at Stevenson Field this weekend.

heralded kicker, the Bears lost current New York Giants linebacker Zak DeOssie ’07, so the team will be looking for contributions from new sources. Spurred by a vocal Parents Weekend crowd, look for Brown to score a victor y in this pivotal matchup.

fall, the Bears will face off against Stony Brook University, Central Connecticut State University and the University of Portland. Last year, the Bears finished the competition with one win and two losses, but they are looking to sweep all three teams this time around.

Volleyball, Brown Invitational, Sept.

21-22, Pizzitola Center

Men’s Tennis, Northeast Intercollegiate, Sept. 14-16, Varsity Tennis Courts

The volleyball team will have an early test of stamina this season, competing in two weekend tournaments before hosting the annual Brown Invitational on Sept. 21 and 22. In their first home event of the

This season should be an interesting one for the men’s water polo team. The team, which finished 1810 last season, might have a difficult time improving on that record without a home pool — the Smith Swim Center is still closed for repairs — and former Head Coach Jason Gall, who left for California State University-Bakersfield. New Head Coach Felix Mercado, who previously coached the men’s and women’s club teams at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will have a chance early this season to dissuade doubts about the team.

—Herald staff reports

Field hockey falls to UVM in season opener, turns to Ivy opener

By Andrew Braca Sports Staff Writer

Mark Teixeira trade On July 30, Teixeira was traded from the Texas Rangers to the Atlanta Braves. Most significant effect: My prediction of Mark as American League MVP doesn’t look too good anymore. Atlanta’s benefits are obvious — it traded its backup catcher and some minor league prospects for a proven power threat at first base. Teixeira produced immediately, hitting homers in his first three games as a Brave. Texas general manager Jon Daniels was happy with the deal too — Teixeira’s contract was over after 2008, and the Rangers likely wouldn’t have been able to afford him after that. Trading him ensured that they didn’t lose him for nothing. New catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia has the longest last name in major league history and is a highly regarded hitting prospect. It will be interesting to monitor Salty’s progress next year.

Ashley Hess / Herald File Photo

continued on page 25

The men’s tennis team hopes to reclaim its status as Ivy League Champions after last season’s disappointing results. The Bears captured Ivy titles the two previous years, and the Northeast Intercol-

M. water polo vs. No. 20 Santa Cruz, Sept. 9, MIT pool

Sandhya Dhir ‘08 had the Bears’ lone goal in Saturday’s 3-1 loss to Vermont.

In its season opener Saturday, the field hockey team fell to the University of Vermont, 3-1, in Burlington.

Despite the outcome, the performance did offer some encouraging signs as the Bears turn their attention to their Ivy League opener this Saturday against Dartmouth.

Against the Catamounts, the Bears played much better in the second half than in the first. They also responded fairly well to the challenge of opening their season facing a more experienced team with three games already under its belt. The Catamounts had shut out their first three opponents, including 17th-ranked Providence College.

“I think one of the reasons it was tough for us was just because this was our first time out there (this year),” said Sandhya Dhir ’08. “(We were) playing with different people in different spots. It’ll just take some time for everyone to understand everyone else’s (abilities). I think UVM had a slight advantage, this being their (fourth) game and our first, but it’s not an excuse by any means for the way we played.”

Brown got off to a slow start in the first half, when the Catamounts

outshot the Bears by a margin of 12-4. But Brown goaltender Kristen Hodavance ’08 made six saves in the period to keep the Bears close, holding Vermont scoreless until three minutes before halftime, when senior Danielle Collins scored a goal to give Vermont the lead.

Both Dhir and Head Coach Tara Harrington ’94 attributed the rough start to nerves, as well as the fact that six of the team’s starters, including two freshmen, had never started before at the collegiate level.

Things changed in the second half, when the Bears began to overcome their nerves.

“I think the kids started to get a little bit more confident, to step up a little bit more,” Harrington said. “They started to get into the flow of our game plan, and (they were) passing the ball and moving the ball a little bit more out of the backfield with better consistency.

We were also doing a great job on our counterattack when we were forcing UVM to turn over the ball.

We were making smart passes to utilize the speed of our forwards and really getting the ball to them to create some danger in UVM’s defensive circle.” continued on page 25