The Brown Daily Herald M onday, J uly 21, 2008
Volume CXLIII, No. 60
U. to offer Farsi courses in the fall
Since 1866, Daily Since 1891
Well, there are some requirements...
sp l ittin g f or B ei j in g
Summer reading, writing required for incoming freshmen
By Gaurie Tilak Staf f Writer
Want to study Farsi — a language spoken by millions of people in Iran and across the world — while at Brown? Before this year, you’ve had to go beyond the course catalog. But with a recent anonymous gift from an Iranian alum, the University will be able to offer classes in Persian language and culture for at least the next three years. Two year-long courses, in basic and intermediate modern Persian, will be offered beginning this September, said Merle Krueger, associate director of the Center for Language Studies. Beginning in fall 2009, a higher-level course will be offered as well. The donor, who asked to remain anonymous, was born in Iran and moved to the United States at age 15. Farsi is her first language. “Given the political break between Iran and the United States, I believe that the only way to bridge the cultural gap between the two countries is through education,” she wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. She added that she was already involved with an exchange program that brought Iranian scholars to the United States to promote cultural understanding. “I was happy to help with this,” the donor wrote. “Learning Persian is important for U.S. students’ understanding of the Iranian people.” Assistant Provost Shelley Stephenson said the University began seeking donations to support the program in early 2007, The Herald reported in April 2007. Last
By Christian Martell Staff Writer
Jacob Melrose / Herald
Gymnast Alicia Sacramone ’10 has been named to the U.S. Olympic team, along with steeplechaser Anna Willard ’06 and rower Portia Johnson McGee ’01.
See Sports page 12
In a trend, 21 grads awarded Fulbrights By Emmy Liss Senior Staf f Writer
Jacob Izenberg ’08 always wanted to go to medical school, but first he planned to take a year off and hoped to live in a foreign country. He found “the ideal way to go abroad,” he said — a Fulbright grant. Izenberg is one of 21 recent Brown graduates to receive a Fulbright scholarship this year. The Fulbright Program asks students to design an independent project studying, researching or teaching in one of more than 140 countries. Approximately 1,500 grants are awarded annually to students from the United
continued on page 4
States, according to the Institute of International Education’s Web site. With his grant, Izenberg is going to Malaysia, where he will look at the differences between public and private health care. He will visit private and government hospitals, health facilities and clinics across the countr y, studying how the systems are dif ferent. He hopes to collect data from doctors and patients in the system, and ultimately write about what he learns. Linda Dunleavy, associate dean of the College for fellowships and pre-law, said the grant has become increasingly popular in the past three years;
last year, 25 students received Fulbrights. Now, she said, more students know about the opportunity, and “success breeds success.” This year, 58 students applied, yielding a 36 percent acceptance rate. In recent years, Brown students’ acceptance rate into the program has been one of the highest in the countr y. Dunleavy attributed the University’s perennial success with Fulbrights to “the character of Brown students.” “The Brown cur riculum encourages students to think independently and take risks,” continued on page 6
Zager ’10 remembered for love of learning By George Miller Senior Staff Writer
In elementary school, Scott Zager ’10 stole a physics textbook. It belonged to his brother, high school student Nick, but Scott was so intrigued by it that he wanted it for himself. “He would read textbooks like a beach novel,” Scott’s mother, Gina Zager, said. “He read the dictionary to learn new words.” Zager’s parents told their son he would have to return his brother’s book and save up money to buy his own. They were surprised when he actually did. Zager died May 26 at age 19, months after being diagnosed with testicular cancer. Friends and family remembered him as thoughtful of others and brilliant in and out of school. Samantha Scudder ’10 went to high school in Illinois with Zager before they both came to Brown, and called him one of her closest friends. When Zager first found out
Ju
V
O
L
U
Ly
ME
21, 20
9
0
IS S
8
U
E
about his cancer in December 2007, near the end of the fall semester, he didn’t tell her for a couple weeks. He didn’t want to interrupt her studying for finals, Scudder said. “He never wanted to bother anyone, even when he was sick,” she said. Zager’s illness forced him to finish that semester’s work from Illinois. Even as he was leaving campus, he didn’t want to pack up his room, assuming that he would be back after the winter recess, his mother said. Zager saw missing school as the worst part of the disease, she said, adding that he never turned angry or asked, “Why me?” Zager concentrated in math at Brown, though he was also interested in philosophy, physics and programming — “geeky kinds of things,” his girlfriend, Emilie Yeh, a rising junior at Johns Hopkins, told The Herald in May. Zager’s enthusiasm for studying impressed Assistant Professor of
postClass of 2012: Ask not what Brown can do for you, but what you can do for Brown
www.browndailyherald.com
3
METRO
Philosophy Joshua Schechter, who taught Zager in PHIL 1300: “Philosophy of Mathematics.” Although Zager was a first-year when he took the class in fall 2006, “he didn’t strike me as a freshman,” Schechter told The Herald in May. Zager even worked as a programmer for his high school, Scudder said, working on its Web site with her. He owned many computers, and his devotion to the machines — named Caspar, Crayon, Melchior, Enoch, Pontifex, Lappy and Solomon — was “kind of obsessive,” Scudder said. “Scott was always trying to learn as much as he could in the hopes of being able to discover something on his own,” said Glen Hamman, a high school friend of Zager. Zager’s wake was held May 28 and his funeral May 29, at the St. Raphael Church in his hometown, Naperville, Ill. Gina Zager expressed thanks for the outpouring of letters from
Playing hard to get The governor vetoed a plan to award Rhode Island’s electors to the presidential popular vote winner
5
CAMPUS NEWS
The Class of 2012 may prove to be the University’s most diverse class yet. But no matter where they hail from, all incoming first-years have the same summer assignment: to read “The Places In Between,” a book by Rory Stewart, and write a letter to their academic advisers based upon it. In “Places,” Stewart, a Scottish journalist, recounts his experience traveling through a post-Sept. 11 Afghanistan. Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron chose the book. “This book will get them thinking about their own journey,” said Ann Gaylin, associate dean of first-year and sophomore studies, who is new to the University this year. The book was much welcomed by Virginia native Misha Desai ’12, who said “Places” is one of his “favorite books of all time.” Having read the book about two years ago, Desai said he views Stewart as a “19th-century hero in the flesh” and even tried contacting him by sending letters to his home in Kabul, Afghanistan, asking for advice on what to study in college. Desai’s question may be answered sooner than he expected — with Stewart scheduled to speak on campus in October. “It’s moments like that when I know I picked the right school,” Desai said. Ora Star Boncore ’12, also from Virginia, said she wasn’t surprised at being assigned summer reading because it’s something she’s lived with since the fourth grade. Even so, she was “a little confused” about how discussions would be organized without requiring students to enroll in a particular class. But Boncore, like the rest of her class, received a copy of the book in July, along with a letter from Bergeron explaining that discussion sessions led by faculty would take place during the week of Orientation. continued on page 6
Scott Zager ’10
PRE-SORTED
the Brown community at the news of Scott’s death, including those from faculty and President Ruth Simmons. “It reinforces what an incredible kid he was,” she said.
Endangered species Three U. buildings top this year’s Providence Preservation Society endangered properties list
195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island
STANDARD u.s. postage paid permit no. 2475 Providence, r.i.
11
OPINIONS
Brown by ebay James Shapiro ’10 says that if legacy admissions are about money, an auction is the way to go
News tips: herald@browndailyherald.com