Friday, September 28, 2007

The Brown Daily Herald F riday, S eptember 28, 2007

Volume CXLII, No. 78

Since 1866, Daily Since 1891

As students shy from physics and math, U. looks at reasons

By Michael Bechek Senior Staf f Writer

NEWS ANALYSIS

Shortly after the members of the student subcommittee of the Undergraduate Science Education Committee set out to gauge their peers’ experiences in the so-called “STEM” fields — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — they received a handwritten survey response that was evidently difficult to ignore.

“Math and physics professors are atrocious,” someone had written. The ink was bold and red.

There were four exclamation points.

In their official findings, student members of USEC admitted that the disgruntled response was “the most powerful statement” they received.

But the subcommittee, whose report was included as an appendix to the official report of the facultycomposed USEC, released Sept. 18, said they had found widespread concern about “the antipathy that

Bagpiper livens Green with tune

By Matt Hill Contributing Writer

Dan Grollman MSc’05 GS knows his audience well.

Standing by the flagpole outside Rhode Island Hall, the computer science Ph.D. candidate a rranged the arm strap of his instrument — a hefty bagpipe — over his shoulder and nudged his case to the side. Suddenly he exhaled into the blowpipe.

A moment later, music burst out of the drone pipes, rushing into the air and out over the Main Green.

FEATURE “I never play before noon,” he told The Herald. “It is Sunday, after all — and these are college students we’re talking about.”

Grollman is not afraid of performing — he plays on the Main Green most weekends, where anyone passing by can hear him.

“You look at their response while you’re playing,” Grollman said, indicating nearby students reading, relaxing and flicking Frisbees. “And some of them are like, ‘What’s that? Why is someone playing bagpipes?’ ” Bagpipes — or simply pipes, as players more commonly call them — are aerophonic instruments that rely on a constant reservoir of air that enters the bag through a number of internal reeds. Although historians trace the instrument’s origins to the Roman Empire, the bagpipe only gained popularity in the British Isles in the thirteenth century. It is now the official instrument of Scotland.

Grollman said a family trip to Scotland while he was in high school was his original inspiration to take up the continued on page 4

INSIDE:

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ARTS & CULTURE

www.browndailyherald.com

Brown extends aid program to Katrina-ravaged Dillard U.

currently passes as teaching in many STEM disciplines.”

Teaching was just part of the problem in these courses, the students found. There were also recurring complaints about disjointed curricula, poorly integrated laborator y components and — perhaps worst of all — students unaware of ways to get help.

The picture that has emerged from the USEC and the student subcommittee’s reports is one of a sometimes frustrating and — for some — unsupportive environment in many STEM fields. Problems with introductory courses have resulted in noticeable attrition among prospective concentrators in their first and second years at Brown.

Many students seem to repor t taking one introductory course in physics, math or chemistry, then continued on page 6

By Nick Werle Senior Staff Writer

in student loans,” Reed said in a Sept. 7 press release.

“As college prices rise, this will help students pay,” Gerson told The Herald.

In addition to raising the maximum Pell grant and lowering interest rates on loans, the bill also includes a “loan forgiveness” measure to allow more students who are paying back loans to go into the public service sector. “We’re trying to reward those who we really need in those positions,” Gerson said.

To finance the larger grants, the bill calls for cuts in subsidies that go to major national lend-

President Ruth Simmons has committed the University’s continued assistance to her alma mater, Dillard University, as the New Orleans school recovers from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Brown has provided $1.1 million in aid to Dillard and its students since the storm devastated much of the Gulf Coast region in August 2005, but Thursday’s announcement — made at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City ­— extends the partnership between Brown and Dillard into the foreseeable future.

“So many people ran down to New Orleans and did what they could and then they left. One of the important messages for us is not to do that — to be there for the duration,” Simmons told The Herald at the event. “Part of what we can do because we are longterm, stable and have this expertise, is lend that expertise to them.”

Simmons’ commitment on behalf of the University did not come with a check or fundraising pledge, but Marisa Quinn, assistant to the president, said additional funds may be raised to support the partnership.

Most of the University’s assistance has come through in-kind advice and expertise.

University Librarian Harriette Hemmasi flew to Dillard and helped the New Orleans university restore and repair books damaged by the hurricane. Richard Spies, executive vice president for planning and senior adviser to the president, has traveled to Dillard at least four times to help its administration with long-term financial planning. Simmons herself has returned to her alma mater several times since the storm, and she said she plans to visit again this year.

continued on page 4

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Chris Greenberg / White House

President Bush signed H.R. 2669, the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, Thursday in Washington.

Increased Pell grants help U.’s aid efforts

By Rachel Arndt Senior Staff Writer

On Thursday President Bush signed into law the biggest increase in college financial aid since 1944. The legislation will raise the maximum Pell grant to $5,400 and cut interest rates in half on popular Stafford student loans.

“This is significant legislation for families in Rhode Island and across the nation,” said Senator Jack Reed, D-R.I., on the Senate floor on Sept. 7.

Reed helped develop the legislation as a member of the Senate Education Committee.

Pell grants are awarded to qualifying undergraduates and range from $400 to $4,050. Un-

der the new law, the top amount will increase by 33 percent, or $1,350, by 2012 — after incremental increases each year. This will amount to an additional $7.8 million for Rhode Island students alone, said Seth Gerson, legislative assistant in the office of Jack Reed.

“The Pell grant hadn’t been raised for so many years. There was a need to raise it as fast as possible,” Gerson said.

The bill also cuts interest rates on Stafford loans from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent, making loan repayments less expensive. “Too many students graduating college are facing the daunting prospect of paying back thousands of dollars

Students quick to act for freedom in Myanmar

By Sam Byker Contributing Writer

Meara Sharma / Herald

Days after its inaugural meeting, Brown’s chapter of the U.S. Campaign for Burma organized a public show of support for Myanmar on the Main Green today.

BIRRI’s ANARCHY The father of new Latin American cinema screens his new film at Brown

5

CAMPUS NEWS

skunk on wriston Facilities Management investigates the mysterious spectre haunting campus

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OPINIONS

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

Today, as the bell atop University Hall tolls noon, members of the Brown chapter of the U.S. Campaign for Burma hope to see every Brown student standing on the Main Green in a red shirt. At 12 p.m., the students will begin a 10-minute silent march in support of protesters in Burma and former Sen. Lincoln Chafee, a visiting fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies, will address the crowd.

The campaign’s actions come at a critical time for Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. Nine deaths were officially reported Thursday — with exile groups estimating higher numbers — in the second day of violent government crackdowns against a protest movement that has swept Overheard at Brown If you could change anything at Brown, what would you change?

the Southeast Asian country.

Public dissent has been rare in Myanmar since its military seized power in 1962. The ruling junta’s isolationist policies and socialist reforms plunged the country into steep economic decline. Once a prosperous nation with the world’s largest rice exports, Myanmar now suffers from widespread hunger and disease. In 1989, the junta changed the country’s official name from Burma to Myanmar. Since the change was never voted on by an elected legislature, many international groups refuse to recognize the new name.

Current demonstrations — the first major protests since 1988 — began in August after an increase in oil and fuel prices doubled the

12 SPORTS

continued on page 4 AthLete Of The Week Star runner Jenna Ridgway ‘10 on pain, Princeton kids and pee

News tips: herald@browndailyherald.com

T oday Page 2

Friday, September 28, 2007

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

We a t h e r

But Seriously | Charlie Custer and Stephen Barlow

Today

TOMORROW

rain 76 / 58

sunny 74 / 50

Menu Sharpe Refectory

Verney-Woolley Dining Hall

Lunch — Shepherd’s Pie, Hot Pastrami Sandwich, Vegan Vegetable Couscous, Sliced Turkey and Roast Beef, Manhattan Clam Chowder, Vegetarian Cream of Potato Soup

Lunch — Chicken Fingers, Baked Vegan Nuggets, Rice Pilaf with Zucchini, Corn Cobblets, Raspberry Swirl Cookies

Dinner — Filet of Fish Florentine, Vegan Sauteed Veggies w/ Sunflower Seeds, Chocolate Cake with White Frosting

Vagina Dentata | Soojean Kim

Dinner — Paella with Mussels, Grilled Chicken, Baked Macaroni and Cheese, Spinach Stuffed Tomatoes, Sauteed Broccoli with Garlic

Sudoku Nightmarishly Elastic | Adam Robbins

Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.

Bubblygig | Joe Larios

RELEASE DATE– Friday, September 28, © Puzzles by2007 Pappocom

Los Angeles Times Daily oCrossword Puzzle C r o ssw rd Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis ACROSS 1 Flu episode 5 It may be forward 9 Great honor 14 Governess to King Mongkut’s children 15 Guernsey, e.g.

16 Threw a hissy fit 17 Abbr. on a cookie box 18 Bit of help 19 Mapquest alternative 20 Boozy Japanese woodworker?

23 Onetime David Bowie label 24 Bass ending 25 One of a slapstick trio 26 Cabin in the woods, maybe 28 Gold leaf, essentially 30 Fighter plane acronym 33 Robed Japanese monsters?

36 Tex. Instruments product 38 Baba not au rhum?

39 Largest oceanic dolphin 40 Japanese region known for its beef?

45 Purge 46 More, according to architect van der Rohe 47 L.I. college named for a prepared-food pioneer 50 Four spot?

51 Tool for a long row 52 Radar was one: Abbr.

53 Golden oldie about Japanese food preparation?

58 Monicagate snitch 59 Nobleman 60 Dick, at times 61 Peak in a Trevanian title 62 It might land you in deep water 63 Other than this 64 Test type

65 Iditarod transport 66 P & L, e.g, DOWN 1 Monopoly job 2 One way to buy 3 Smooth 4 “Mon Oncle” director 5 “Stars and Stripes Forever” solo instrument 6 Narnia lion 7 Insult 8 Permeate 9 Muesli kin 10 Café concoction 11 Unwelcome look 12 Something to bring up 13 Rushing meas.

21 Linguist Chomsky 22 Qatar’s Hamad bin Khalifa alThani, for one 27 Time piece?

28 Doesn’t stay in 29 Garfield housemate 30 “When it rains, it pours” sloganeer 31 Ltd. relative 32 Fed. property overseer

34 Rob Roy refusals 35 It commonly contains nuts and dried fruit 36 Shopping area: Abbr.

37 Hawaiian tuna 41 Grand entertainment 42 Bridges of Los Angeles County 43 Looked displeased 44 “Babe” critters

48 Split 49 Kind of water 50 Aggressive one 51 Villechaize of “Fantasy Island” 53 Van Gogh subject 54 Newtonian fruit?

55 PF Flyers’ rival 56 Get exactly right 57 Some Beehive State collegians 58 Athletic supporter?

Crusader Confessions | Daniel Byers

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Classic Deo | Daniel Perez

xwordeditor@aol.com

9/28/07

T he B rown D aily H erald Editorial Phone: 401.351.3372 Business Phone: 401.351.3260

University community since 1891. It is published Monday through Friday during the aca-

Eric Beck, President

once in July by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. POSTMASTER please send corrections to

Mary-Catherine Lader, Vice President Mandeep Gill, Treasurer Dan DeNorch, Secretary

By Donna S. Levin (c)2007 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

9/28/07

The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is an independent newspaper serving the Brown demic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement, once during Orientation and P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI 02906. Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Offices are located at 195 Angell St., Providence, R.I. E-mail herald@browndailyherald.com. World Wide Web: http://www.browndailyherald.com. Subscription prices: $319 one year daily, $139 one semester daily. Copyright 2007 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.

A RtS & C ulture Friday, September 28, 2007

Anarchist director screens new film

By Andrea Savdie Contributing Writer

The father of new Latin American cinema, director Fernando Birri, screened his latest documentary, “Elegia Fruilana,” and introduced his latest book, “To Dream With Open Eyes,” at an event Monday night sponsored by Brown’s Center for Latin American Studies.

Birri is the honorary president of this year’s Providence Latin American Film Festival, which runs through Sept. 29.

Birri was born in Santa Fe, Argentina in 1925. He studied film in Rome at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia before returning to Argentina to open the first documentary filmmaking school in Latin America. While in exile from Argentina during a military regime, he traveled to Cuba and founded the International School of Film and Television.

“There’s a secret that isn’t really a secret,” Birri said. “I am part of a united group of artists that believe in an anarchist dream that there could be a better world.”

Accompanied by a translator and dressed entirely in white to match his long white beard, Birri introduced the 22-minute film “Elegia Fruilana,” which he explained was inspired by a grandfather whom he never met. Birri’s grandfather was a farmer in the Fruili region of northern Italy and an activist in the anarchist movements of the late 19th century. He emigrated to Argentina in the 1880s and became a proletariat urban worker, until he fell to death from a tower on which he was working. “The image has always haunted me,” Birri said.

“That ghostly image is what I try to express in this film.”

An elegy to work, bread, dreams, simplicity and hope, “Elegia Fruilana” is a haunting yet moving depiction of everyday life in Fruili and the experiences of those that emigrated from the region. The documentary combines various forms of artistic expression, including photography, watercolors, music and poetry.

To achieve what Birri calls a “third dimension of time,” black and white portraits are super-imposed against colorful backgrounds including watermills and fields of flowers. “For every drop of sweat, ever y tear, for ever y globule of blood: a poppy…” commands a voice-over in the film.

Birri pieces together these seemingly diverse components to evoke a feeling he refers to as hopeful melancholy. “The word elegy already connotes melancholy, but like a light that illuminates, this film also represents hope,” he said, switching to English when using the word hope and pounding his fist on the podium for emphasis.

“Hope, hope, hope!”

During the second part of the event, Birri introduced his new book, “To Dream With Open Eyes,” a compilation of the 30 lectures he taught as a visiting professor at Stanford University. “The idea of the course was to give an introduction to new Latin American cinema and place it in the context of early 20th century art,” he said.

The course was divided into three parts: an analysis of his own work, an examination of his fellow Latin American filmmakers and a study of the relationship between cinema and other forms of Latin American art including Diego Rivera’s muralism and Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s continued on page 9

‘Starving artist’ keeps tabs on her dinner and her art

By Robin Steele Arts & Culture Editor

The “starving artist” is an age-old cliche, but innovative visual artist Danica Phelps has spun this trope into a career ­— tracking her expenses and other everyday occurrences through her drawings and written records.

Phelps, who is based out of New York and received her MFA in 1995 from the Rhode Island School of Design, spoke Tuesday to an audience of Brown and RISD students and faculty who crowded into List Art Center 225.

Phelps traced the progression of her work from her undergraduate years to the present day.

Her undergraduate work included a set of old toothbrushes from friends wrapped in fabrics that somehow correlated to their former owners and a ­set of jars containing cut up romance novels, with the cover art visible.

Additional work from her undergraduate years dealt largely with issues of the magazine Hustler, which Phelps at times cut up or boiled down into a collection of flesh-colored liquids. Phelps said that she felt it was important to express humor, rather than anger, in her work, in order to “make people think about it.”

Upon graduating from RISD, Phelps took the plunge and moved to New York with $800 in her pocket, living week-to-week in a tiny room and working as a waitress. Phelps

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

said she started drawing everything she spent money on, in order to give greater meaning to the things she purchased and to keep track of her expenses. When she traveled from Europe to India for five months, she drew everything on which she spent money. “I like to draw as if I can see through things,” Phelps said, adding that she studied primarily sculpture, rather than drawing, at RISD. As Phelps started selling work at galleries, she decided she needed to price the work herself. She began putting the prices of her drawings right onto the works themselves as a “final gesture,” she said. When a work was purchased from her collection, she would trace the work and put the tracing up in the original work’s place. The tracing could in turn be sold and traced, thereby creating an endless supply in order to “flood the market” and “subvert the system,” Phelps said. One of her pieces has reached a “20th generation” tracing, she said.

Phelps also began collecting the works of other artists and incorporating them into her own pieces by, at times, affixing them directly to her own creations, she said. Additionally she created a show based on work she received from 30 different artists in exchange for her own pieces, displaying both the acquired works and tracings of her original pieces in continued on page 7

Bikes, skateboards on sale at local gallery

By Alex Verdolini Contributing Writer

Art rarely has a practical use, but at 5 Traverse, a galler y just off Wickenden Street, a new show exhibits works that are both useful and decorative.

In the galler y’s “Transportation” show, which runs until Oct. 20, bikes turn into sculpture, skateboards become canvasses and most of what’s for sale is comparatively cheap.

The “Transpor tation” show represents a break from the gallery’s previous exhibitions, which have showcased works in more formal genres — such as sculpture and painting — since 5 Traverse opened in May. But despite the non-traditional media, a sense of high art persists.

Bikes hang from the ceiling in both of the gallery’s two rooms.

Suspended on thin wires, they seem to float in midair. Their placement invites the viewer to inspect them from all angles, like pieces of unintended sculpture.

Their contours, their geometr y, the empty spaces in their frames: all of these resolve into a balanced, classical beauty.

But the skateboards are some Courtesy of Michael Teshima ’11

continued on page 7

5 Traverse is a new contemporary art gallery featuring the work of local artists.

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Friday, September 28, 2007

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Pell grants on the rise continued from page 1 ers.

“I think it’s a significant effort to increase grant aid for low-income students,” said Luke Swarthout, higher education associate for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. “This is the biggest higher education bill in at least 15 years.”

“We now have (lawmakers) paying attention to higher education issues,” said Director of Financial Aid James Tilton. “It’s very exciting.”

Cur rently the University awards about $56 million in financial aid each year. Of this, $1.9 million comes from Pell grants, according to Tilton. The increase in the maximum Pell grant “doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s really quite a significant increase,” he said.

Of Brown’s first-year class, 43 percent receive financial aid, according to an e-mail Tilton wrote to The Herald.

Tilton is also pleased with the bill’s loan forgiveness measure, which he believes will allow “students … to take public service positions.”

“This is a pretty impressive bill,” he added, but there’s still more he would like to see changed.

“I don’t want to be too greedy … I would have probably liked to have seen some deeper loan forgiveness programs,” Tilton said. “But we’re very thankful.”

“The Pell Grant is included in a student’s financial aid package

and is considered prior to determining the student’s eligibility for Brown University need-based scholarship,” Tilton wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.

But this act will not change the way the University treats financial aid, Tilton said. Brown will still award aid to all students who demonstrate need. “This really won’t change the way we do business at all,” Tilton said.

Senator Reed is also working on the Higher Education Act reauthorization bill, which would simplify the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, “improve the Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership” and teacher preparation programs, according to Gerson.

The updated FAFSA might allow students to gauge how much financial aid they’ll receive as early as 7th grade, Gerson said, and LEAP “fills the gap after you’ve gotten the maximum Pell grant.”

“I know it doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s really quite a significant increase in the Pell grant program,” Tilton said. The last time the Pell grant amount was raised was in February 2007, when the amount was increased from $4,050 to $4,310, Gerson said.

“Pell Grants have not kept up with any increases in the cost of education over the last four years,” Tilton wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. “Institutions like Brown have increased their commitment to need-based scholarships during the same period.”

enjoy the weekend

Bagpiper rocks out on Main Green continued from page 1 bagpipe. His parents took his brother and him to the annual Edinburgh Festival, where they saw the famous Edinburgh Military Tattoo, a show featuring military bands and display teams. “The general awesomeness of bagpipes — just the sound of them — really caught my attention from the get-go,” Grollman said.

Still, though he wanted to learn to play the bagpipe almost immediately upon returning home, his parents weren’t as keen on the idea. “They didn’t want me playing while I was living in their house — the pipes are, you know, pretty loud,” Grollman said, smiling. “The neighbors weren’t too keen on the idea, either. I was yelled at a number of times.”

That problem was solved, of course, once Grollman headed off to college. After learning to play in his freshman year at Yale, Grollman spent the following summer in Edinburgh, playing at every opportunity he had outside of his classwork.

Practicing as much as possible, he developed the passion he continues to have for the bagpipe today.

Grollman said he plays a pretty standard collection of bagpipe melodies, though he tends toward “piobaireachd,” a classical style of music

native to the Scottish Highlands. But he said he finds inspiration in a wide variety of music. “Recently, actually, I’ve been listening to a lot of Celtic folk music,” Grollman said. “A lot of types of music influence me.”

Other musicians often join Grollman on the Green, including fellow bagpiper Andrew Bower, a tenth-grader at the Wheeler School.

Though Grollman practices every day on his own, he said he often joins up with Bower and other musicians, including fiddlers and harpists, to “jam out.”

“In a way, we sort of have to play outside. Otherwise, the sound doesn’t carry nearly as well,” Grollman said.

“The winter presents problems, obviously. We’ll probably head into Sayles so our fingers don’t freeze off.”

Most Brown students, Grollman said, seem tolerant or appreciative of the pipe music that has graced the Green almost every weekend this fall. He said he often gets scattered applause at the end of a song.

“Some have even offered to pay me!”

Grollman said, laughing. “Of course, I can’t accept.”

Regardless of their opinion of bagpipe music, Brown students traversing or studying on the Green can’t help but listen to Grollman’s music.

“Before now, I’d really only heard

bagpipes at funerals and my high school graduation,” Jon Hillman ’09 said. “It’s interesting to hear them in a different context.”

Jessica Gebhard ’11 and Melissa Tsang ’11 were more enthusiastic. “I love it!” Gebhard said, working on an assignment near the flag under which Grollman regularly plays. “It’s a great idea, though I’m probably in the minority liking bagpipe music.” Tsang also said she enjoyed the piping. “It’s nice music,” she said. “It goes really well with autumn.”

Grollman said he would love for there to be a Brown pipe band at some point — and hopes that his playing will stir interest in the instrument. “Not enough people play,” he said. “In all of Providence, actually, there are only two professional pipe bands. There are so many extracurricular groups at Brown — why not a pipe band?”

In the meantime, Grollman said he plans to remain a fixture of the Green on weekends, if the weather permits. “I hope it adds something to the atmosphere of the place,” he said. “I started playing in the first place because I loved the way they sounded, and if other students love them, too, I’m always glad to make their day a little brighter.”

Students mobilize for Myanmar continued from page 1 cost of transportation and left many Burmese unable to afford a bus fare.

Unrest has spread rapidly since thousands of Buddhist monks became involved several weeks ago. The devoutly religious nation holds monks in reverence, and analysts say the government was reluctant to act against them for fear of sparking a massive public outcry.

On Monday, over 100,000 people marched through the streets of Yangon, Myanmar’s capital, led by hundreds of monks in traditional rust-red robes. The next day, witnesses saw uniformed security officers deploying in Yangon’s streets for the first time since the protests began. Media outlets are reporting that violent clashes have begun and that crowds have shrunk dramatically over the past two days.

The United States already has strict sanctions in place against Myanmar, and President Bush announced Tuesday in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly that they would be tightened further. However, many analysts say only China has the power to influence Myanmar. China has been active in developing Myanmar’s extensive natural gas reserves and on Tuesday vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution that would have condemned the nation’s military government.

A movement born At the Brown campaign’s meeting Tuesday night, the energy in the room was palpable. Patrick Cook-Deegan ’08, the group’s director, concluded a brief history of the conflict by telling members, “When we wake up tomorrow, something’s going to happen.”

“I really haven’t slept at all,” CookDeegan said. “Last night around 3:30, I came up with the idea of having everyone at Brown wear a red or maroon shirt” to mimic the monks’ robes. The group quickly took to the idea and began to plan for its execution.

Cook-Deegan divided responsibilities among members. Some would table-slip, and others would distribute information on the Green or in the

Ratty. The rest would tell their friends, classmates and members of other organizations. For the past two days, campaign members have been working frantically to spread the word, and

by Thursday afternoon, the group’s tables on the Main Green and in the Sharpe Refectory had collected names and e-mail addresses from hundreds of passing students.

Even with boundless energy, starting a campus group at Brown is no easy task. The campaign joins an already-crowded field of human rights groups that includes Amnesty International and the Darfur Action Network.

Finding available resources at Brown can be difficult for new organizations, and the campaign has sought help from established groups.

Amy Tan ’09 and James Chaukos ’09 represented Amnesty International at the meeting. From the finer points of table-slipping to the inner workings of the Student Activities Office, they offered their expertise to the new campaign. “Certain things that we had to go through last year in organizing, they won’t have to go through this time because we can tell them what things to look out for — like booking space for banners, something you wouldn’t think about,” Tan said.

Students active in the campaign cite the Darfur Action Network, Brown’s chapter of the national group STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition, as a model for their work, and they’ve sought to partner with it. “I don’t think the goal is to start another STAND for Burma. There’s not time for that, and the reason that STAND exists is so that we don’t have to do that,” said Scott Warren ’09, one of STAND’s national student directors.

Many campaign members have personal reasons for caring about Myanmar. Eric Gastfriend ’10, the group’s networking coordinator, traveled to Thailand last year on a program sponsored by Brown Hillel.

“We were right on the Thai-Burmese border, and I met a lot of Burmese refugees,” Gastfriend said. “Even though they lived in bamboo huts, they said that anything was better

than Burma. ... When I got back home, I started researching it. I got in contact with the (national) U.S. Campaign for Burma.” The national organization connected Gastfriend with Cook-Deegan.

Cook-Deegan’s interest in Myanmar was sparked by a trip to Laos during the summer of 2005, where he also heard horror stories about the country. “I wanted to be able to do something about it,” he said, “but I felt that I would have a lot more leverage to do something about it if I’d gone there and experienced something.”

The next summer, Cook-Deegan biked the length of Laos in order to raise funds for a school there. After that trip, he headed to Myanmar for a month, hoping to learn more about the country. “It’s like living in ‘1984.’

You’re monitored everywhere,” CookDeegan said. “There are spies on the streets. Military people followed me around on motorcycles, knocked on my door at midnight and asked for my ID. It’s illegal for a foreigner to spend the night at a Burmese person’s house … so I had to spend the night at a bunch of roadside stands.”

During the trip Cook-Deegan talked with monks, political dissidents and dozens of ordinary people, and he came back with a drive to do something about Myanmar. He took a year off from Brown and traveled around the United States speaking at schools about his bike trip. “When I got back on Aug. 22, I started contacting (the campaign) again and working furiously, and then these protests started, and everything changed,” he said.

Cook-Deegan’s ideas are already gaining ground, said Thelma Young, the national campaign coordinator for the U.S. Campaign for Burma.

“The idea to have everyone wear red ... came from Patrick,” Young said, and the idea been spreading quickly, “even throughout Europe — a guy from Italy e-mailed me today about it.”

“The amount of awareness about Burma that’s been exploding in the United States is overpowering,” Young added. “People who didn’t even know where Burma was before now know what’s going on.”

c ampus n ews Friday, September 28, 2007

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Skunk stinks up Wriston Quad For years, the scent of food from the Sharpe Refectory has wafted through Wriston Quadrangle, allowing students who pass through to anticipate their next meal simply by smelling the air. This fall, however, students living in or passing through Wriston Quad may have noticed a new aroma intermingling with that of sizzling French fries and hamburgers — the pungent scent of skunk.

Some students around campus, and particularly those who live on Wriston Quad, have reported sighting and smelling a skunk, or possibly multiple skunks. Brittany Locke ’08 reported seeing a skunk near Barbour Hall on Tuesday and one on Wriston Quad within the past few weeks.

“We were overly excited to see it — to know that it exists,” she said.

Ali Toth ’08 said she saw a skunk outside of Goddard House and smelled it from Diman House’s first floor. “That’s probably one of the foulest odors ever,” she said.

Kelley Calkins ’10, was surprised to see a skunk within 20 yards of Thayer Street early last week. “It was mad scary,” she said. “It was definitely walking like it owned the place, and I was a little taken aback by its arrogance.”

Director of Custodial Services Donna Butler said that they had been unaware of the skunks’ presence on campus and that while there are occasionally problems with squirrels, rabbits, possums or raccoons, she had never heard reports of skunks before. She said Facilities Management would take action regarding skunks only if there were concerns or complaints addressed to custodial services. “We only react to the work order, we don’t hunt,” she said.

Butler said Critter Control, a wildlife control company, has been called to search for evidence of skunks and to set up a humane trap if such evidence is found. The animals would be captured and then released elsewhere, she explained.

“No animal is killed,” she said.

Butler said she understood why people might want the skunk to be moved elsewhere. “Whatever they emit or spray burns the eyes, takes a heck of a long time to get out of clothing. There (are) pets, so there’s a risk to the pet getting sprayed, and the cost incurred to get the dog fumigated, so to speak.”

Nonetheless, some students said they were glad to have the skunk as a part of the Brown community. “I think the excitement of having new animals around Brown outweighs the small chance that I’d actually get sprayed by the skunk,” said Brett Cropp ’08.5, who lives in Marcy House.

“And if I did get sprayed by the skunk, it would be a good experience ... I’d be a hero around these parts.”

Toth agreed. “I kind of like them. I think they’re cute and friendly, or kind of friendly as long as you don’t get too close,” she said.

Locke, however, said she would prefer that the skunk not be allowed to take up permanent residence at Brown. “It’s gross, it smells, I don’t want to get sprayed, and it pops out from everywhere.”

— Joanna Sharpless

Dorm radiators to activate around Oct. 10

By Catie Straut Contributing Writer

Beginning Oct. 10, the University will activate heating in on-campus dormitories. The schedule is similar to past years, but due to the various projects finished over the summer and warm temperatures this fall, slight adjustments have been made.

Two projects regarding heating were completed as components of a long-term plan to enhance facilities, said James Coen, director of maintenance services. The first was a major replacement of large sections of pipeline responsible for distributing hot water. The second involved changing all of the boiler controls from manual to automatic operation to improve efficiency and promote cleaner burning of fuel.

These changes required a time

buffer in the heating changeover schedule in case of any difficulties or malfunctions. According to Coen, the dates set to begin heating buildings were “pushed back a little bit” from last year in order to provide more of a time buffer in case of any malfunctions. “I didn’t want to over-promise in case there were some complications with getting the (central heating) plant back on line,” Coen said.

The two major changes are part of the initiative to conserve energy within the heating system. Schedules have also been created for all of the buildings in the automatic heating system to show when they are being occupied, allowing a setback of temperature to be instituted during the times when they are empty.

Director of Sustainable Energy and Environmental Initiatives Christopher Powell explained, “We’ve ad-

justed the systems so that if there’s a need for heat, it’s available.”

The dates chosen to begin heating depended on the pipe system specific to each building, the function and times of occupancy and the weather forecast. Dorms, scheduled to be activated between Oct. 10 and 13, are heated first because of nighttime occupancy. Buildings such as Hunter Laboratory, which operates on a two-pipe system, are activated earlier along with the dorms because of the delays their piping systems can cause. Barus and Holley and the Prince Engineering Laboratory, two buildings which require internal cooling all year in addition to the automatic heating system, are the last to be heated at the end of October because of the complicated process involved in maintaining the cooling system while activating the heat.

U. considers outsourcing student e-mail

By Leslie Primack Contributing Writer

Three weeks into school, Rajan Kothari ’11 had already filled his Brown e-mail account.

“I was attempting to send MP3 files as attachments, but after three e-mails, I got an error message,” he recalled. Before he could send another e-mail, he had to sift through his inbox, deleting about 20 messages.

“There was a lot of space that needed clearing. That was just a hassle.”

Kothari is one of many Brown students frustrated with the University e-mail system’s meager 50 megabytes of online mail storage.

“It’s definitely something people call the Help Desk about,” said Timothy Thorp, manager of communications and education at Computing and Information Services.

In less than a year, though, the storage space for Brown’s e-mail system may increase. Michael Pickett, the vice president for computing and information services, described plans still being discussed to expand Brown e-mail’s storage capacity and to possibly outsource the e-mail sys-

tem to a provider like Google, Microsoft or Yahoo.

Outsourcing Brown e-mail would allow students to keep the same account the rest of their lives, avoiding the potentially messy business of transferring their e-mail when their Brown account expires after graduation. Storage capacities would skyrocket to between two and three gigabytes, Pickett explained. And the University would save money by circumventing the need to buy online storage space directly.

“These are things that we would be very seriously considering,” said Pickett, who is currently attending a conference where he debated the use of commercial servers for student accounts.

Some students have already opted to have their e-mail forwarded to an outside account, giving them increased storage while maintaining their college e-mail address. As of mid-August, 849 undergraduate students had their Brown e-mail handled by a third party server, the most popular being Google’s Gmail, with 651 student users, Thorp wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.

Thorp explained that e-mail in their Brown inbox is lost when the transfer occurs, unless the student saves the messages locally in an application such as Microsoft Outlook or Macintosh’s Mail program before making the switch.

“I think that that step can be intimidating to just a normal computer user,” he said. The CIS Web site does preface this option with the ominous phrase, “advanced users only,” but Thorp urged students to visit the CIS Help Desk if they need assistance forwarding their e-mail.

Pickett himself uses Gmail and agrees that “there is an awful lot to be gained by it,” but he emphasized that users can lose privacy by switching over to an external server. According to Pickett, servers such as Gmail make money by scanning private e-mail for keywords, then tailoring their advertising to each user.

“If, for example, you are sending e-mails about bicycling, you might see ads for great bicycle accessories,” explained Pickett. Though most universities negotiate with the servers to protect their students from e-mail monitoring, once the student graduates he will start to see targeted ads popping up in his account. Pickett also mentioned the possibility of an outside server going out of business, causing users to lose all of their stored e-mail.

The University is in the process of buying additional storage, though how much and when is still unknown, Pickett said. After that, Pickett said he hopes to outsource e-mail to an outside server, but first the University must understand the risks involved.

“The speed of implementation depends on the concerns of the University community,” said Pickett, adding that students might see this transition in a year or two. “We’re keeping an open mind on this,” he said.

Page 6

Poor putting brings down m. golf in Newport continued from page 12 less, he was not satisfied with his performance.

“I definitely could have played a little better,” he said. “I need to improve my putting a little bit.”

Hoffman finished behind Haertel with a score of 241 (78-82-81) to place 60th individually.

“My putting the past couple of days has been horrendous,” he said.

“I was not making four-foot putts and not making longer putts.”

John Giannuzzi ’10, Ryan Larson ’08, and Michael Amato ’11 rounded out the Bears’ performance. Giannuzzi recorded a score of 247 (8181-86), Larson finished with a score of 249 (83-82-84), and Amato shot a 259 (87-88-84).

“I don’t think the team played as well as we’re capable of,” Haertel said.

According to Hoffman, the Bears’ disappointing results so far this season have come as a surprise. “We thought we’d come out swinging strong,” he said. “Unfortunately, we haven’t been playing well.”

The Bears will compete next on Oct. 6 and Oct. 7 in the MacDonald Cup at Yale University, and they hope to make a stronger showing there.

“All...of us know what we have to work on in the next 10 days,” Hoffman said.

Friday, September 28, 2007

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

U. studying reasons for math, physics discontent continued from page 1 never taking a class in that department again.

The degree to which the University and the STEM depar tments are directly responsible for problems with retention is an area of disagreement, according to conversations with students, faculty and administrators. Skeptics cite strong evidence that growing STEM attrition at Brown is part of a nationwide issue — one that has attracted the attention of the federal government. Believers point to introductory courses that students always seem to complain about, arguing that there are things departments could and should be doing better. But the matter’s importance is without question.

Two of USEC’s main conclusions were that advising and undergraduate research funding are currently inadequate. The committee’s main recommendation was the immediate creation of a physical space on campus to serve as a science resource center, a central location where students — especially those in their first or second years — could easily find advising, learn about research opportunities and get academic support.

It would also help “catalyze” the responses to the committee’s other recommendations. Chief among them would be increasing the number of — and stipend for — Undergraduate Teaching and Research Assistantships, developing interdisciplinary science courses

and more aggressively pursuing students interested in STEM fields in the admission process.

To be sure, there is a sizable group of students who successfully complete a STEM concentration at Brown without encountering any major hurdles or who aren’t especially affected by the problems they do encounter. There is also a sizable group of students who report entirely positive experiences in some of the fields most heavily criticized by their detractors.

Brenda Rubenstein ’07, one of USEC’s student members, said most survey respondents fit into one of two camps: those who were content with STEM fields and those who were “completely unhappy.”

The first camp comprised students who were very determined to complete a STEM concentration and were mostly insulated from the kinds of things — lackluster teaching and uninteresting labs, for example — that might push others away. The second group included students who had taken introductory physics or math, as well as many pre-medical students.

Most of the discontent, Rubenstein said, was in the math, chemistr y and the physical sciences.

Students generally reported positive experiences with biological sciences, computer science and geological sciences, while engineering was somewhere in between.

Having been herself a determined science student — Rubenstein graduated this past spring

with a degree in chemical physics and applied mathematics and is about to begin graduate work at the University of Cambridge — Rubenstein admitted that not all students had the experience that she did.

“Across the board, intro classes were rated pretty poorly,” she said.

The problems students cited were “primarily” related to poor teaching, she said.

“None of the professors want to teach these courses,” she said. She said departments have in the past tried to improve some aspects of the introductory courses, but that “frankly, they’re at the point where they don’t care anymore.”

Marc Mayes ’09, another of USEC’s student members and a Herald contributing writer, said he had himself been “a little dissatisfied with teaching quality” as a freshman, which had inspired him to apply to be on the committee.

Mayes said the curriculum of MATH 0190: “Advanced Placement Calculus (Physics/Engineering)” — one of the courses he took as a freshman when he thought he might want to concentrate in engineering — was a sort of “parts bin” that seemed like a jumble of individual, disconnected topics.

“Studying sequences and series next to vectors is like tr ying to study 18th-century literature and Camus in the same class,” Mayes said.

Now a geochemistry concentrator, Mayes said the most important evidence speaks for itself. “I haven’t taken another engin class,” he said. “I haven’t taken another math class.”

Kevin Liou ’10 said he has similar feelings about CHEM 0330: “Equilibrium, Rate and Structure,” a course he was required to take as a student in the Program in Liberal Medical Education.

“All the material just seemed random,” he said. “You could know all the material in one chapter and never see it again.”

He added he was in line with “90 percent” of his peers in finding the laboratory component of that course not to be valuable and that it made him not want to pursue science research.

Now, Liou said, he takes “basically no science.” This semester he is taking courses in psychology, Chinese, public policy and history of art and architecture.

But, he said, “I was a bio person in high school.”

Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron, who assembled USEC in October 2006 “to look broadly at the quality and effect of our science curriculum,” according to the committee’s charge, said she understood the importance of introductory courses in retaining students in those fields.

“Entry-level courses in any discipline have an incredible gateway power,” she said. But she hesitated to say whether it was a possibility that current introductory STEM courses had a negative effect on retention. She said increased efforts to recruit STEM-inclined students and convince them to matriculate at Brown could be productive and emphasized that STEM retention is a broad and complicated national issue.

But Karen Fischer, professor of geological sciences and chair of USEC, said the committee had determined from surveys of onetime prospective science concentrators that they were motivated to leave STEM fields in part by

factors other than the subject matter itself.

“Part of their lack of interest in the material came not from the intrinsic merit of the material,” Fischer said, “but from their experiences (in the course).”

Chung-I Tan, professor of physics and chair of the department, agreed with Bergeron that there seemed to be broader reasons for STEM attrition that were not necessarily specific to Brown. He said fewer students seemed to be attracted to physics now than in the past.

“At some point, the pipeline seemed to — not dry up, but decrease,” he said.

But, he said, he doesn’t think his department’s teaching is at fault for the smaller numbers.

“We have always put emphasis on teaching introductory physics, to do the best we can,” he said.

He added that PHYS 0070: “Analytical Mechanics” and PHYS 0080: “Introduction to Relativity and Quantum Physics,” the department’s highest-level introductory sequence, have recently been rated well in intra-departmental surveys and that he has “yet to hear somebody say something negative.” The professors now even teach conferences themselves, he said.

Tan said most introductor y physics courses were “a lot of work” but said there was a “mature body of knowledge” in physics that “any serious student” needs to learn.

Most physics courses rotate to a different professor about every three years so that no course becomes “stale,” he said, adding that the faculty worked hard at teaching despite their many other responsibilities.

“Some are natural teachers,” he said. “(For) most, it’s a result of effort.”

Fischer cautioned against focusing too much on the negative responses of many students toward introductory courses, saying there were in fact “a whole variety of curricular issues” cited in survey responses and that there are ideas for fixing them. She added that “departments in general are cognizant that good teaching isn’t static.”

She cited as a success stor y ENGN 0030: “Introduction to Engineering,” which had replaced various laboratory experiments with design projects. Students found them to be “tremendous learning experiences,” she said, and also “just fun.”

As a result, she said, retention went up, as measured by enrollment in intermediate-level engineering courses.

“I think it’s important not to take away too negative an impression,” she said. “Cer tainly the (USEC) repor t overall doesn’t want to make it seem like there’s a dire problem.”

Mayes said improving introductor y courses was important and that asking faculty “what they want to teach” might improve course offerings overall.

“The challenge is to not make the grunt classes ‘pills,’ ” he said, meaning courses which are forcibly swallowed to fulfill a requirement. “Or horrendous experiences,” he added.

Tan was humble but optimistic about the state of introductory STEM courses.

“I think we all recognize there are probably things we can do better,” he said.

c ampus n ews Friday, September 28, 2007

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New exhibit focuses on Mesoamerica The Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology will open a new exhibit, “Facing Mesoamerica,” on Friday.

The collection on display includes objects originating from ancient Mesoamerica, a region that encompasses much of modern day Central America. The pieces date from 300 B.C. to 900 C.E. “Facing Mesoamerica” features items that display the human form in various ways, including figurines, sculptures and polychrome depictions. The exhibit will explore the concept of “portraiture” from a non-Western perspective and the state of Mesoamerican archaeological research, as well as invite an ethical discussion of collecting, displaying, and curating these pieces of material culture, according to exhibit curator Cassandra Mesick GS. “I anticipate it will alert students, local scholars and the general public to the pre-Columbian collections at the Haffenreffer, which seem to be ever-expanding,” Mesick said.

The exhibit is the brainchild of Mesick, Haffenreffer Deputy Director and Chief Curator Kevin Smith and Associate Curator Thierry Gentis.

The idea for the display originated from a plan for Mesick, an anthropology student, to guest curate a case of Mesoamerican pieces.

However, Mesick found the museum’s collection of Mesoamerican pieces to be so large that she worked closely with the museum staff to organize the full exhibit.

The exhibit is being funded by the Haffenreffer Family Fund and the Board of the Friends of the Haffenreffer Museum. These groups were coordinated by Shepard Krech III, a professor of anthropology.

“As Brown looks to develop a focus on Mesoamerican research, I hope ‘Facing Mesoamerica’ will highlight the museum as another resource at the University available to interested graduate students and interested undergraduate students,” Mesick said. “Ideally, the exhibit would encourage interest in this field at Brown, even amongst people with no background or prior interest in pre-Columbian history.”

The exhibit will open Friday, September 28th at 5:30 p.m.

— Michael Smith

Simmons pledges aid to Dillard continued from page 1 “If somebody needed a confocal microscope and help finding scientists with interest in that, we can help them,” Simmons said. “I always promote the idea that we should share what we know how to do. Otherwise we are squandering our greatest resources.”

Brown and Princeton University first partnered with Dillard, a historically black college, in September 2005 to ensure that the school had the resources needed to repair the damage suffered during the storm and in its aftermath.

“These universities are not going to come back to their full strength for many, many years, just as New Orleans is not going to come back to its full strength,” she said. “I think about what if this happened at Brown. ... It’s almost building from scratch.”

Simmons said she wanted to honor the presidents of Xavier and Dillard universities at the most recent Commencement to remind those present that “this has not gone away.”

Reviving New Orleans universities is essential to the city’s future, Simmons said. “When you travel to New Orleans, it’s like entering a devastated city as if it was completely destroyed by war. ... Then you come to this oasis, which is the Dillard campus,” she said.

When asked how long the partnership would last, Simmons said it was “hard to say.”

Yesterday’s announcement, Spies said, signifies that “rather than seeing this as a short term thing to get them

through the immediate aftermath of the storm, this is really a longer-term effort. ... They had so much to do, and still do, and Dillard is certainly not a rich institution. They cannot just grab all of the resources they need.”

The announcement was one of three that came during a working session on education at the Clinton Global Initiative, the third annual conference sponsored by the William J. Clinton Foundation to bring together global leaders from government, the non-profit sector and the corporate world to address issues of international concern and gather concrete commitments to tackle specific projects. In the first 24 hours of the three-day event, over 100 commitments had been made, including a $40 million commitment from pop singer Shakira for child education in Latin America and $4 billion from Standard Chartered Bank for renewable energy.

The Dillard commitment may not be the only outcome of the event for Brown. Simmons told The Herald that conversations she had while in New York may lead to an environmental initiative and a program to bring African women leaders to College Hill.

Still, in the middle of a three day whirlwind during which unusual partnerships and lofty projects are launched, Simmons emphasized that the University’s philanthropic focus is on sharing what it knows how to do — educate.

As he presented Simmons with a Clinton Global Initiative certificate recognizing her commitment, for-

mer Harvard president Lawrence Summers applauded the commitment as an effort to use the University’s strengths for social good.

“It is, I believe, highly significant in pointing to the importance of universities in these times when they have been highly fortunate in how their endowments have performed, to reach beyond the academy to make a difference not just for their students, but for the world,” he said.

“This is the first example of a highlevel, relatively wealthy academic partnership formed to bridge the gulf between rich and poor institutions as a response to great tragedy,” Summers said.

Indeed, the resources available to Brown and Dillard are vastly different. Dillard, with a 100-member faculty and just over 1,100 students before Hurricane Katrina hit, has a $40.8 million endowment, according to its Web site. The school suffered more than $350 million in damage from the storm, according to a Brown press release.

In addition to providing institutional support for Dillard University, Brown offered $1.1 million in scholarships to students from Dillard and two other schools affected by the hurricane out of a $5 million fund set up by liquor magnate and philanthropist Sidney Frank ’42 to assist in hurricane recovery.

Last year’s Clinton Global Initiative raised $7.3 billion in less than 72 hours for a host of socially responsible causes.

— With Herald staff reports

Artist speaks Gallery opened in May on drawing showcases local artists her own life continued from page 3

continued from page 3 order to document the transaction.

“You guys should trade with each other,” she advised the students in the audience.

Phelps also became concerned with travel ­­­­— specifically walking — in her work. At one point she documented a 28 day walk from Los Angeles to San Francisco through her drawings. Her series “Walking 9-5” paid homage to the eight-hour work day by turning it into a spatial measurement, as Phelps walked eight-hours daily from her home in Brooklyn to see how far she could get. In “Bill Trip” she visited all the places around the country where she sent her bills, which took her everywhere from the Midwest to Las Vegas. Extending her portrayal of everyday activities, her 2003 exhibit “Integrating Sex into Everyday Life” includes drawings of intimate moments with her lover. These days she has a team of assistants helping her create a massive series of multi-colored stripes which represent financial gains and losses.

Phelps’ 50-minute talk concluded with a question-and-answer session in which she discussed her artistic influences and dealing with art critics. With the prevalance of economic transaction in her work, it was perhaps inevitable that one student would ask, “Are you financially secure these days?”

“No,” Phelps replied with a laugh.

of the most interesting pieces.

Most of them are longboards, and they’re hung vertically on the wall, with their undersides facing the viewer.

Mara Cowan ’07.5, assistant gallery director, said she and the owner, Jesse Smith, bought the boards and “handed them out” to a group of artists — most of whom are members of the Dirt Palace, a local feminist art collective. The artists were then free to work with the boards in whatever way they wished.

The results were wildly divergent. One piece, executed on a longboard in pen and ink, features faces — mostly in anime style —­ looking strangely at the viewer.

Dir t Palace member Xander Marro adorned her board with a playful mix of cur vy abstract forms and human elements — a high-heeled foot, a human eye, a fleet of Valentine’s hearts. On Samantha Pierce’s board, three stylized breasts float in the air, framed above and below by matching fronds.

Arley Rose Torsone’s board depicts a woman’s lower body, in profile, clothed in nothing but a thong. A Post-It note stuck to the wall beside the board explains, “So when big tough guys flip the board to hold it, it will make them look like this.”

Another board, the only standard-length board in the show, was screen-printed in black and

white with the image of a snarling wolf. According to the Dirt Palace Web site, the artist, Pippi Zornoza, is a “jack of all trades,” whose accomplishments include starring in the “the cult movie classic, ‘Die You Zombie Bastards.’ ” With the exception of Zornoza’s, all the skateboards are for sale — and at surprisingly low prices. Cowan said that the gallery bought each board for $195 and plans to sell them for $210.

“So it’s, like, $15 for the artwork,” she said. “Which is a pretty good deal.”

“We hoped to access a different group of artists and a different group of consumers,” Cowan said of the “Transportation” show. And by her account, the gallery succeeded. At the opening, she said, there were “maybe thirty bikes” chained up outside the galler y and people “drinking well into the street.”

“I’m really impressed that the cops didn’t come,” she said.

If the gallery’s guestbook is any evidence, 5 Traverse has catered successfully to varied audiences.

The director of the Newport Art Museum wrote his name on one page — and on another, there’s an entry by “Willa Truelove, no address.”

But there’s one population that 5 Traverse hasn’t reached.

“We really want more students to come down,” Cowan said. Perhaps the useful, affordable art on display there will serve as some incentive.

Page 8

Football takes on Rhody this weekend continued from page 12 In the first two games, Brown has seen 100-yard receiving games from three players, as tight end Colin Cloherty ’09 caught eight passes for 171 yards in their week one win over Duquesne.

In order for the offense to reach its full potential, Brown will need a solid start from quarterback Michael Dougherty ’09, who, after a strong first start, was erratic against Harvard. Dougherty completed 18 of 44 passes, throwing for 249 yards and two touchdowns, but also three interceptions in the fourth quarter which stymied Brown’s comeback attempt.

“I think there are a few balls that Michael would like to have back,” Estes said. “But he’s going to get better each and every game. There’s nothing better than the classroom of the real game, which you can’t simulate in practice.”

After a 28-21 loss in last year’s Governor’s Cup, Brown wants to re-gain the honor of being named Rhode Island’s best college football team. In the 91 games played between Brown and URI, the Bears are currently 66-23-2, dating back to 1909. Despite coming off the disappointing loss to Harvard, the Bears are ready.

“You have to put (the loss) behind you,” Tracey said. “Maybe on Sunday you’re a little upset, but come Monday you’ve got to move on. We’re extremely excited about and going for the Governor’s Cup.”

Friday, September 28, 2007

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Athlete of the Week: Ridgway ’10 on running continued from page 12 It does hurt, but the better the shape you get in, the less it hurts. I mean, the races are always going to hurt, but in a race, there’s so much adrenaline, that it’s like a thrill. You don’t really focus on the pain because it’s over before you know it.

We train really hard. There’s a lot of satisfaction just out of coming out of achieving set goals … and just having the whole team work together.

We’re not alone.

What are practices like?

We usually have substantial workouts a couple of times a week, which can be tempo runs, for anywhere from six to eight miles. Or we can do some sort of intervals on the track.

So that’s two times a week.

Three days a week are just recovery runs and they range from six to eight miles. Saturdays, we usually

do a long run. My longest run has been 14 miles.

How many miles a week do you run?

I’m between about 60 to 70 miles a week now.

Wow. Aren’t you tired?

Yeah. It does get tiring, so we have get a lot a lot of rest as a team.

Our coaches are always asking us how much sleep we’re getting, just making sure we’re living an athletic lifestyle, because I don’t think you can really function doing what we’re doing and living a typical college lifestyle — staying up late and all that stuff. We have to be pretty righteous in our lifestyle, during the season at least.

What you do you like best about your team?

The practices where we’re just

doing recovery runs are very social, we’re just running and not going hard, so it’s just kind of like hangout time, on the run.

Do any funny moments stand out?

My teammate at (Indoor Heptagonal Championships), at the Armory in New York City, was racing the (3,000 meters), and the top six score. There was a girl from Princeton, who was also a freshman last year and who’s a very good runner.

She was trying to pace off (my teammate) and trying to stick with her through the whole race. And in the end — you know, sometimes you run so hard that you actually lose control of your like … (laughs) — and this girl started peeing during the race and it was like, splashing back on my teammate.

(My teammate) didn’t end up quite beating her, but she has vowed

to beat her because she got peed on.

Those Princeton kids. Geez. Anyway, what do you like to do when you’re not running?

I’m from Santa Barbara, so the beach. Anything outdoors-y, hiking, biking. Hanging out with friends, just anything active.

Would you ever run a marathon?

Yeah, I definitely would like to after I’m done competing in college.

All right. Respond to this statement: Running is not a sport. Have you that gotten that before?

Yeah. I think it’s the purest sport there is. (Laughs) It’s just pushing your body to the absolute limit. It’s the purest, you don’t need anything but a pair of shoes. You don’t even need a pair of shoes. You don’t need any equipment, and it’s simple.

Field hockey loses to UMass-Amherst in close contest continued from page 12 heels a little bit,” Harrington said.

“It was a fast-paced game. … I think we just got caught in a little lull, but we called a timeout (to) sort it out.

(The players) collected themselves, kicked it back into gear, went right back down the field and continued to compete until the end of that game.”

Brown struck back to tie the game on a penalty corner less than three minutes after the onslaught ended, with 21 minutes left in the game. Jackie Connard ’10 passed

the ball to the top of the circle, Sara Eaton ’09 settled it and Sacco unleashed a shot that ricocheted off UMass goalie Sarah Williams’ pads and into the cage at 47:08.

“Tying the game was a really great feeling because we needed it,” Sacco said. “We were playing so well during that game and everyone was doing what they were supposed to be doing. We thought that tying the game up gave us that chance of being able to get the win. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen, but there were definitely positive things that happened during the game.”

Sacco’s blast turned out to be Brown’s only shot of the second half. The UMass attack slowed down as well, but the Minutewomen seized their opportunity.

With 9:22 left in the game, Lauren Gillespie tipped in a pass from Jamie Bourazeris for the gamewinning goal.

Harrington said the team’s strong play could mark a turning point for the Bears.

“Something’s starting to click for (the players),” she said. “They did well against a great team yesterday. There is a confidence that

we’re going to go for ward from yesterday and build upon that for the second half of our season.”

Sacco agreed that the game built confidence. “The way we played yesterday definitely shows us that we have plenty of (ability) to improve over the rest of the season,” she said. “I think that over the coming games you’re going to definitely see some great things happen with our team.”

On Sunday, the Bears will look to continue their solid play on a trip to Piscataway, N.J., where they will face Rutgers University.

Friday, September 28, 2007

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Anarchist director Birri screens new film continued from page 3 literature.

Birri explained the significance of his book’s title by recounting a story from his time teaching in Cuba. Before visiting professors left the school, students would ask them to leave graffiti on a wall. Film director Francis Ford Coppola took up practically an entire wall with the phrase, “Art never sleeps.” When it came time for Birri to leave, he responded to Coppola’s line in small letters, “But it dreams with open eyes.”

Towards the end of the event, Birri requested opinions, questions and even insults. An audience member asked if any of the photographs in the film were of him as a child, to which Birri joked, “I’m old, but not archaic!” When a woman congratulated him for the masterful way in which he combined the old black and white photographs with the other components of the film, Birri answered with his usual humble response, “Thank you, but it’s in your eyes.”

“For a long time, I haven’t

believed in the division between genres,” he said. “For practical reasons, I had to call the film a documentary, but I believe new film is a mixture of forms and genres. The genre has a name — Docfic!”

Birri’s first attempt at making a film about Argentine immigrants and their anarchist movements in the 1880s, entitled “The Illness of America,” was forced to stop production for political reasons. He only succeeded in making “Elegia Fruilana” because of the stubbornness of many people, he said.

“These 22 minutes of film you just saw have taken many years of resistance, but that is not personal. All Latin American filmmakers have this problem.”

“The struggle has always been against the major players in Hollywood. It’s a David and Goliath type struggle,” Birri said. “There is a great wall of heavy rocks protecting the kingdom, but lizards go in between the rocks and arrive at the other side.”

“The moral of the story is: let’s all be lizards!” he concluded with a bow.

happy birthday confucius

page 9

E ditorial & L etters Page 10

MonDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2007

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Staf f Editorial

Diamonds and coal A massive diamond to the University’s enhanced performance in this year’s Trojan sexual health survey. If we keep it up for more than four years, we should probably check with a physician.

An anonymous diamond to the Herald editor who appeared in this week’s crime log for kindly hosting a large, noisy crowd. You almost certainly won’t be the last.

Coal to Ahamadinejad. Now stop that nuclear power business of yours.

A cubic zirconium to Columbia’s President Lee Bollinger. We admire the chutzpah it took to call a man who may or may not have nuclear weapons a petty, cruel dictator to his face. But we’re pretty sure Ruth would have been nicer about it.

A coal to skunks. As though the smell on Wriston Quad could be any worse come Sunday morning.

Possibly the only diamond we’ll ever give to President Bush.

Even though we’re fairly certain you have no idea where Brown is, we appreciate the effort — for praising our crew team, using the word “winningest” and autographing that Pell grants thing.

A cubic zirconium to UCS President Michael Glassman ’09.

You repressed this underling revolt without having to call in the National Guard — but if you keep it up, you may have a lot more time to work on that farm of yours.

Coal to night football games. Nice idea, but we can’t ever seem to win them. Go Bears!

A diamond to the University’s heat activation plan for campus buildings. Given how hot it’s been the past few days, turning on radiators anytime soon sounds like it might incite heat stroke in Grad Center.

Coal to the new DVD library that recently opened in the Frisc.

Come on guys — 100 titles and no adult section?

A diamond to the career fair. Sure, we may not have any interest in being employed by an investment bank — but we do love wearing business casual and scooping up playing cards, stress balls and other swag emblazoned with ambiguous corporate logos.

T he B rown D aily H erald Editors-in-Chief Eric Beck Mary-Catherine Lader

Executive Editors Stephen Colelli Allison Kwong Ben Leubsdorf

Senior Editors Jonathan Sidhu Anne Wootton

editorial Lydia Gidwitz Robin Steele Oliver Bowers Stephanie Bernhard Simmi Aujla Sara Molinaro Ross Frazier Karla Bertrand Jacob Schuman Peter Cipparone Erin Frauenhofer Stu Woo Benjy Asher Amy Ehrhart Jason Harris

Arts & Culture Editor Arts & Culture Editor Campus Watch Editor Features Editor Metro Editor Metro Editor News Editor Opinions Editor Opinions Editor Sports Editor Sports Editor Sports Editor Asst. Sports Editor Asst. Sports Editor Asst. Sports Editor

photo Christopher Bennett Rahul Keerthi Ashley Hess

Photo Editor Photo Editor Sports Photo Editor

pete fallon

Letters Quigley ’10 still wrong on gay marriage To the Editor: In his recent column (“On the machinations of ‘sophisters, economists and calculators,’ ” Sept. 26), Sean Quiqley ’10 rails against gay marriage, attempting to articulate arguments not based on “deep-seated homophobia.” However, he completely ignores relevant facts and reaches illogical conclusions.

First, he sums up his sentiment: Quigley opposes gay marriage because it “(violates) the cultural understanding of marriage that predates recorded history.”

There are many issues with this statement. For one, it is crazy to think that the government is responsible for legislating and enforcing culture. Let’s not forgot that we’re supposed to be a country accepting of all cultures, not just those that define marriage as between a man and a woman. Furthermore, it is backward to desire to return to cultural norms established before written history: progress is usually made in the forward direction.

I wonder if Quigley also believes that other historical cultural norms should be enforced today. Does universal suffrage “violate the cultural understanding” that power lies in the hands of white male property owners?

Quigley goes on to call marriage laws “the legal facilitation ... of an institution into which men and women have entered for nearly all of human existence.” Here,

he conveniently forgets that homosexuality has existed longer than the institution of marriage — longer even than primates, in fact. Even before marriage laws, homosexuals were entering into long-term monogamous relationships. Perhaps they could not do so openly (in some cultures), and it seems this is the historical precedent Quigley is relying on. Why did these historical homosexuals hide their sexuality? Rampant homophobia, presumably. What this argument boils down to, then, is an appeal to the homophobia of our predecessors.

Apparently, Quigley believes advocators of marriage equality have the ultimate goal of “the eradication of all ancient customs and traditions.” I would like to qualify that statement and say that we would only like to eradicate those ancient customs that reek of prejudice and injustice. Like-minded advocates took on the issue of slavery in centuries past, but many injustices remain.

I have no problem if Quigley wants to practice ancient customs like animal sacrifices (although others might take issue with that), but if he thinks he can curtail other people’s rights in the name of ancient cultural precedent, he is sorely mistaken.

Henry Harrison ’09 Sept. 26

Business Mandeep Gill General Manager Darren Ball Executive Manager Dan DeNorch Executive Manager Laurie-Ann Paliotti Sr. Advertising Manager Susan Dansereau Office Manager

production Steve DeLucia Catherine Cullen Roxanne Palmer

Design Editor Copy Desk Chief Graphics Editor

post- magazine Hillary Dixler Melanie Duch Taryn Martinez Rajiv Jayadevan

Managing Editor Managing Editor Managing Editor Features Editor

Chaz Kelsh, Steve DeLucia, Designers Jake Frank, Jennifer Grayson, Seth Motel, Elena Weissman, Copy Editors Senior Staff Writers Rachel Arndt, Michael Bechek, Irene Chen, Chaz Firestone, Isabel Gottlieb, Nandini Jayakrishna, Franklin Kanin, Kristina Kelleher, Debbie Lehmann, Scott Lowenstein, Michael Skocpol, Nick Werle Staff Writers Amanda Bauer, Brianna Barzola, Evan Boggs, Aubry Bracco, Caitlin Browne, Joy Chua, Patrick Corey, Catherine Goldberg, Olivia Hoffman, Cameron Lee, Hannah Levintova, Abe Lubetkin, Christian Martell, Taryn Martinez, Anna Millman, Marielle Segarra, Meha Verghese Sports Staff Writers Andrew Braca, Han Cui, Kaitlyn Laabs, Kathleen Loughlin, Alex Mazerov, Megan McCahill Business Staff Diogo Alves, Beth Berger, Timothy Carey, Jilyn Chao, Ellen DaSilva, Pete Drinan, Dana Feuchtbaum, Patrick Free, Sarah Glick, Kent Holland, Alexander Hughes, Claire Kiely, Soobin Kim, Katelyn Koh, Darren Kong, Christie Liu, Philip Maynard, Ingrid Pangandoyon, Mariya Perelyubskaya, Viseth San, Paolo Servado, Kaustubh Shah, Saira Shervani, Yelena Shteynberg, Jon Spector, Robert Stefani, Lily Tran, Hari Tyagi, Lindsay Walls, Benjamin Xiong Design Staff Brianna Barzola, Chaz Kelsh, Amanda Lawrence, Philip Maynard, Alex Unger, Aditya Voleti, Wudan Yan Photo Staff Stuart Duncan-Smith, Austin Freeman, Tai Ho Shin Copy Editors Ayelet Brinn, Rafael Chaiken, Erin Cummings, Katie Delaney, Jake Frank, Jennifer Grayson, Ted Lamm, Max Mankin, Alex Mazerov, Ben Mercer, Ezra Miller, Seth Motel, Alexander Rosenberg, Emily Sanford, Sara Slama, Jenna Stark, Laura Straub, Meha Verghese, Elena Weissman

Correction An article in Thursday’s Herald (“W. crew team recognized at White House,” Sept. 27) reported that President Bush met with the women’s rowing team Sept. 21 after meeting with the University of Oregon baseball team. In fact, Bush met with the Oregon State University baseball team. In the same article, it was reported that the U.S. Marine Corps Band played the University’s alma mater, “Ever True to Brown.” In fact, “Ever True to Brown” is Brown’s fight song, not the alma mater.

An article in Wednesday’s Herald (“U. of Florida tasing incident garnering national attention,” Sept. 26) reported that over 200 students at the University of Florida participated in an organized a two-day sit-in protest held last week after a student was tased by police. The sit-in was only during a police press conference.

C O R R E C T I O N S P olicy The Brown Daily Herald is committed to providing the Brown University community with the most accurate information possible. Corrections may be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication.

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O pinions

Friday, September 28, 2007

page 11

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Overheard on College Hill

By Spencer Amdur and Jacob Izenberg

If you could change anything about Brown, what would you change?

Phillip Gara ’08

As a med student, I feel we need a facility of our own. Right now they’re putting us in Biomed Center, which is predominately an undergrad building, and a building for research. We don’t have, as many other medical schools have, a building that we can actually call our home, where we have classes and labs. Right now, the 2nd years are put in Smith-Buonanno. We have one lecture hall and everyone else is an undergrad. It doesn’t feel like it’s an actual medical school. I guess they’re working on that in the Jewelry District right now, but as of right now, if I could just somehow speed that process up to just have some sort of building for Brown Medical School.

I would change student organization funding. I would make it easier for student organizations to get funding at earlier entr y levels. I’ve seen a few student organizations, or even student institutions, get funding cut. This isn’t necessarily a student organization, but intramural sports has had its funding cut in half, basically. I think that it’s an institution that should get adequate funding — it’s important to campus life, and for the University, it’s sort of nickels and dimes to be cutting that sort of thing.

I think I would have people participate more during class and especially in sections and seminars. I feel like a lot of the time people don’t feel like they want to contribute to the conversation and just allow the professor to speak and don’t really engage in the class. I think when you get kids involved it’s a lot more of an exciting environment and you learn a lot more.

Leona Rosenblum ’09 Roslyn Bogan ’08

I would improve the transfer program, the transfer orientation and integration. Perhaps I’d create transfer units or group transfers together so they can have a network when they first move on to campus.

Elizabeth Zerofsky ’07 GS

I was a PLME, so I was an undergrad here at Brown as well. One of the biggest gripes I had as an undergrad was review sessions, as random as that sounds. Review sessions held by professors are never prepared. You always just go there and they ask if anyone has any questions. One person has a question that half the class doesn’t even care about, but yet they spend 20 minutes on that topic. If professors could just get it that a review session should be a review session. They should just run A-Z, an overview of what you need to know, but I’ve never seen that happen here.

(not pictured)

Brian Huang ’06 MD’10

Brown should have more funding available for students to pursue unpaid or minimally-paying summer internships and projects. 35 BIAPs for a population of 6,000 undergrads is verging on the absurd — and not everyone wants to sell their soul to Goldman Sachs! If Brown really wants to become more competitive among the Ivy League, it should look to the sorts of financial resources that other universities who charge $40,000 per year make available to their students.

Ending China’s support for Burmese oppression

BY Patrick cook-deegan Guest Columnist During the past week, huge political protests have rocked Burma (Myanmar). On Monday and Tuesday, over 100,000 peaceful protesters took to the streets of Rangoon, Burma’s biggest city, demanding an end to the brutal military regime that has oppressed the Burmese people for 45 years. On Tuesday, thousands of monks, accompanied by students and workers, again took to the streets shouting “Democracy! Democracy!” The protests are being dubbed the “Saffron Revolution” by the press, in reference to the color of the monks’ robes.

The wave of protests, which started over a month ago, was sparked when the government decided to raise gas prices 500 percent overnight. Originally, the protests were small and led by an older generation of student leaders; some monks joined the protests as well.

In a miscalculated move, the regime arrested and tortured several protesting monks. In response, monks around the predominantlyBuddhist country organized and subsequently demanded an apology. The regime refused to apologize, and protests erupted with new force last week. In the past week, the monks have been joined by tens of thousands of laypeople.

They are demanding the release of all political prisoners (including Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi), and substantive political dialogue with the military regime. The regime yesterday threatened to break up the peaceful protests with characteristic force.

In 1988, similar widespread peaceful demonstrations took place throughout the country in response to an economic meltdown. The military dictatorship responded with brutal

violence, killing more than 3,000 people in the streets and imprisoning 10,000 others. At this time, when the Burmese people peacefully stood up to tyranny, the international community shrugged its shoulders and offered little support. Following the uprisings in 1988, a new military junta took over, but nothing changed; the government continued its oppressive tactics.

Although similar to the 1988 protests, the current demonstrations are different in a number of critical ways. First, the protests are currently being led by monks, rather than

ain, Canada and France have all warned the government against using violence and called for reconciliation. Nobel Peace Prize recipients have led the charge calling for more sanctions on Burma, and action by the UN Security Council. President Bush, in his address to the UN yesterday, called for new sanctions on Burmese leaders and, more importantly, for every government around the world to use economic and political leverage to encourage change in Burma.

Finally, Burma’s main political ally, China, is in a much different position than it was in 1988.

The international community must press China to use its leverage to push for a peaceful transition to democracy in Burma. students. Monks are greatly revered in Burmese society, and the government is less likely to use force on monks. An attack on monks could escalate the protests further.

Second, the onset of modern technologies has allowed the world to more effectively monitor what is going on. Although Burma has sealed the country to most foreign journalists, Burmese journalists and citizens are risking their lives by sneaking videos, text and photos to exile groups through cell phones and the internet.

Thirdly, the international community is paying close attention to the situation. Brit-

Two decades ago, China followed the Burmese crackdown with its own suppression of pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square. Now, China is paying special attention to its global image given its rise on the international stage, particularly with the Olympics coming up next summer. The last thing China wants is for the Olympics to be overshadowed by the human rights abuses of Chinese-backed regimes.

China is also Burma’s leading arms supplier and most important economic partner.

Unfortunately, China has paralyzed the United Nations Security Council, vetoing a resolution that would have given the Secretary

General more power in his dealings with the Burmese regime. However, in some cases, China has been willing to use its political leverage to deal with rogue regimes, as in the case of North Korea. China is also willing to change its international political position, given enough international outcry. China recently voted in favor of allowing UN peacekeepers into Darfur, after the international community put blame on China for its role in the genocide. Burma’s regime has destroyed twice as many villages in eastern Burma as have been attacked in Darfur; the international community should pressure China to make a similar statesmanlike compromise on Burma.

The world, and particularly the United States, needs to hold China responsible for the outcome in Burma. The international community should make it very clear that the military regime will not be allowed to kill off civilians with the tacit support of China.

China could in fact benefit from the situation by using their sway with the military regime to press for peaceful reconciliation, boosting their international image. The international community must press China to use its leverage to push for a peaceful transition to democracy.

This week, world leaders have gathered in New York for the UN Summit. The coinciding of the Burmese demonstrations and the UN Summit provides a unique opportunity for the UN to take a stand for its founding ideals — democracy, freedom and human rights. For the sake of the Burmese people, let us hope they act soon.

Patrick Cook-Deegan ’08 is the northeast regional coordinator for U.S. Campaign for Burma. He has been featured on Radio Free Asia, NPR and Abroad View online magazine.

S ports W eekend Page 12

Friday, September 28, 2007

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Bruno takes on Runnin’ Rhody Saturday for state supremacy

By Benjamin Asher Assistant Sports Editor

After battling the Crimson under the lights at Harvard Stadium to a heartbreaking 24-17, it would be understandable if the football team suffered a letdown this week. But with the Governor’s Cup at stake in Brown’s annual intrastate rivalry against the University of Rhode Island at Brown Stadium on Saturday, the Bears will be just as excited to play as they were in last week’s historic showdown.

The match up will be the 92nd installment of the battle for supremacy in the Ocean State.

The Rams started off their season with four consecutive losses, most recently to Hofstra University, 37-24. In those four games, the URI offense has depended largely on its running game, rushing 225 times while attempting only 84 passes.

Rhody’s offense features a dangerous triple option formation, which the Bears have been preparing for in practice all week. The triple option gives the quarterback the choice between running the football himself, pitching to his tailback or handing off to a fullback coming up the middle.

The Rhody running game is something the Bears have grown accustomed to seeing each year.

Last year, the Rams rushed 59 times for 234 yards. Rams quarterback Derek Cassidy ran more than three times as many rushes, 23, than he completed passes, seven. Those stats are not lost on Head Coach Phil Estes.

“We have to play our responsi-

Poor putting brings down m. golf in Newport

By Erin Frauenhofer Sports Editor

interception in the Bears’ win over Duquesne University.

Last weekend, the Bears’ offense suffered a blow early when tri-captain running back Dereck Knight ’08 left the game with an injury. With Knight’s status unclear, Brown may have to rely on backup running back Jonathan Edwards ’09.

“We’re very confident in Edwards,” said tri-captain guard A.J. Tracey ’08. “Jonathan is a great back and can definitely fulfill the role of running back.”

Last weekend’s game also saw big plays from wide receivers Paul Raymond ’08 and Buddy Farnham ’10, who each gained over 100 receiving yards against Harvard.

The men’s golf team competed Tuesday and Wednesday at the 14th Annual Adams Cup of Newport, placing 15th overall. It was the first time the Bears participated in the prestigious 15-school tournament, which was hosted by the University of Rhode Island at the par-72, 7,244-yard Newport National Golf Club, and they were disappointed with the last-place finish.

“We’ve had two not-so-good tournaments,” said Chris Hoffman ’09, referring to the Bears’ 13th-place finish at the Hartford Invitational earlier this month. “None of us have played to our expectations.”

The Bears shot a team score of 968 (320-321-327), trailing first-place finisher Wichita State University. The Shockers posted a total of 890, besting second-place University of Southern Mississippi by 11. The Golden Eagles finished with a score of 901, while URI and the University of Maryland tied for third with 902 totals.

According to Larry Haertel ’08, the course conditions posed a challenge to the Bears.

“It was windy out there, and the course was setup pretty tough,” he said.

Haertel finished with Brown’s best individual score, 233 overall (79-76-78), for 42nd place. Neverthe-

continued on page 8

continued on page 6

Ashley Hess / Herald

The Bears defense, led by linebacker Eric Brewer ’08, has been stout against the run in 2007.

bilities,” Estes said. “We have to stop the fullback run, in order to get to the quarterback, and hit the quarterback.”

In their first two games of 2007, Brown’s biggest defensive weakness has been allowing big passing plays, such as Harvard’s 41-yard completion late in the second quarter last week, which put the Crimson on the Brown 5-yard line and set up their go-ahead touchdown.

The Rams’ heavily run-oriented offense may play into the hands of Brown given the strengths of the Bears’ defense so far. The defense has held its opponents to under three yards per carry this season.

That being said, the Rams’ triple option presents a challenge that the Bears defense has not seen since

last season.

“What we’ve been doing is stopping a one-back offense, or sometimes a two-back offense,” Estes said. “In this game, if we stop one phase of the run, they have two more options.”

The defensive effort has featured great plays from tri-captain linebacker Eric Brewer ’08, who has made 16 tackles this season, and linebacker Frank Nuzzo ’09, who leads the team with 17 tackles in the season, including a sack against Harvard. The secondary will hope to see the continued strong play of cornerback Darrell Harrison ’08, who made nine tackles and an interception last week, and safety Jose Yearwood ’08, who has 11 tackles this season, as well as an

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W. x-country’s Ridgway ’10 a serious but “social” runner

By Stu Woo Sports Editor

Last week, the women’s cross-country team raced its top runners for the first time this season at the Iona College Meet of Champions. None was faster than Jenna Ridgway ’10, who finished fourth at the race with a time of 21:48.9.

The Santa Barbara, Calif., native sat down as our Athlete of the Week and shared her stories of inspiration, pain and Princeton kids.

Herald: When did you start running?

Ridgway: I started running fresh-

man year in high school, but I never did cross country until my senior year in high school. I started out with track and was more of a middle-distance runner — I did the 800 (meter race)

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK and the mile — and then, from there, pretty much increased my distance.

In cross country, it was the first time doing the three-mile distance, and then now in college, I do 6K in cross country and 5K in track.

Why did you start running?

Why did I? I guess in junior high — we didn’t have a team or anything

— but in P.E., we would do the halfmile or mile a couple of times a year and I would also try to beat the guys. I found that I was pretty good compared to the rest of the girls at running and thought I could achieve in track.

Did you beat the boys?

Yeah, (laughs), most of them.

I guess the question now is — and be honest here — do you enjoy running?

I do, I do really enjoy running.

Doesn’t it hurt after awhile? continued on page 8

Field hockey drops another, but moving forward

By Andrew Braca Spor ts Staf f Writer

On Wednesday evening, the field hockey team suffered a 2-1 loss at home to the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Despite losing their eighth straight game of the season, the Bears’ play was a big step in the right direction.

Victoria Sacco ’09 scored her second goal of the season for Brown (0-8), who held its own against the Minutewomen (5-5). The Minutewomen nearly upset No. 4 University of Connecticut on Saturday.

“Last night was by far the best that we’ve played this season,” said Head Coach Tara Harrington ’94.

“We kept plugging away with our game plan and sticking to the basics and doing the fundamentals well.

… The kids felt good about their performance. We certainly never feel good about losing, but we felt like there was a spark there that had been missing.”

Much of the game was a defensive struggle played in the midfield.

Brown managed to get off only five shots, but the defense held firm in limiting UMass to only nine shots.

“Our defense played very well all over the field, from our forward line to our back line,” Harrington said. “We’ve really been working on the organization of our defensive backfield, our body positioning (and) footwork. (Against UMass) it really clicked. All of those things happened all over the field, from our for wards in recover y, right back to our sweeper. To see that was terrific.”

The teams had a combined total of only seven shots in the first half, but the Minutewomen managed to break through. Erin Parker got a pass from Katie Kelly in front of the goal and fired a shot into the back of the cage at 20:57. The tally gave UMass a one-goal advantage it would carry into the intermission.

UMass came out hot in the second half, taking four penalty corners and launching five shots during a three-minute span that started seven minutes into the second period. Lauren Kessler ’11, making her first collegiate start in place of Kristen Hodavance ’08, saved three consecutive point-blank shots to keep the Minutewomen off the board.

“We got caught back on our continued on page 8

Ashley Hess / Herald File Photo

Julie Mandolini-Trummel ’08 helped Brown to its second win of the year against URI.

Volleyball sweeps Rhody, 3-0 The volleyball team broke out of an early-season slump in a big way Wednesday night. The Bears (2-8) trounced the University of Rhode Isla nd 3-0, sweeping their way to victory in Kingston with game scores of 30-21, 30-24 and 30-26.

Julie Mandolini-Trummel ’08 earned 14 kills and Katie Lapinski ’08 once again led the defense with 26 digs. Natalie Meyers ’09 also contributed heavily with 43 assists and 10 digs.

Brown dominated the Rams (8-8) in the first game, led by Brianna Williamson ’11, who had six kills in the game. In the second game, Brown jumped out to an early lead and held off a Rhody comeback to take a 2-0 lead. In the third game, Brown fell behind 23-20 but went on a 10-3 run to close out the victory.

The Bears will travel to New Haven, Conn., on Saturday to take on Yale in Brown’s Ivy League debut. The Bulldogs have claimed conference titles two of the past three years.

— Peter Cipparone