The Brown Daily Herald F riday, O ctober 17, 2008
Volume CXLIII, No. 93
Horowitz lambastes Islam in near-empty MacMillan By Ben Schreckinger Contributing Writer
David Horowitz opened his lecture on terrorism — part of “Islamofascism Awareness Week,” a program of the David Horowitz Freedom Center — with a joke. “I hope you checked your pies at the door,” he quipped, recalling the incident in which New York Times Columnist Thomas Fried-
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man was pied as he began his lecture in Salomon 101 last spring. Three uniformed of ficers at the back and three at the front of the largely empty MacMillan 117 and Horowitz’s own private bodyguard made any pies-to-the-face unlikely. Horowitz, a Jewish writer and activist who holds adamantly procontinued on page 6
On the Corp., ‘dead white males’ or diverse perspectives? Breaking down Brown’s highest governing body By Franklin Kanin News Editor
The 53 people who make up the Corporation, Brown’s highest governing body, convened on College Hill yesterday, as they do three
times a year, to review the University’s priorities and meet with top administrators behind closed doors. But its makeup is largely unfamiliar to most on campus. The governing body, comprised mostly of alums, is roughly twothirds male, and its youngest member is 37. Among its membership Meara Sharma / Herald
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Members of Shakespeare on the Green perform an all-female rendition of “The Taming of the Shrew.” Performances are today and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m., in the garden behind the Modern Culture and Media building at 135 Thayer St.
Chinese enrollment up significantly over last year No progress By Ellen Cushing Contributing Writer
The University has seen a significant rise in its number of Chinese undergraduates. According to Dean of Admission Jim Miller ’73, there are 26 Chinese students in the class of 2012, up from just six for the class of 2011 and four for the class of 2010. This number includes only those who are Chinese nationals and covers
students from Hong Kong but not from Taiwan. This increase is a function of a drastic rise in the number of applicants to Brown from China, Miller said. This year, the University received 261 applications from Chinese students, more than five times the number of applicants four years ago. Students and administrators attribute the rising demand to a number of factors.
First, as part of its recent internationalization initiative, the administration has made a concerted effort to increase Brown’s connections and reputation abroad in general, according to Vasuki Nesiah, director of international affairs. “To ensure that Brown students have a more internationalized education, a lot of work has been focused on bringing more international perspectives to the classroom,” she said. Nesiah said that the University
has been building relationships with China in particular. In 2006, President Ruth Simmons visited the country and returned vowing to work to create a greater international presence. This shift has also come as part of a larger trend among Chinese students, many of whom are increasingly choosing to attend college abroad. “There’s a growing awareness about continued on page 4
Maeda speaks of authenticity By Paula Kaufman Contributing Writer
Technology is an important tool for asking questions and expanding dialogue, the Rhode Island School of Design’s new inaugurated president John Maeda told a Brown audience yesterday, but it should be humanized if it is to be effective. Maeda, who has degrees in engineering, design and business, spoke to a full MacMillan 117 yesterday as part of the Computer Science Department and Center for Vision Research’s distinguished lecture series. Maeda, known for works that synthesize art and science, talked about using technology to create ways to communicate with people. The trick, he said, is humanizing the technology so that people feel like they can connect with it. Along those lines, Maeda brought giant screens to RISD’s campus that allow students to dis-
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ARTS & CULTURE
play art on them at any time. “Students have trouble sleeping, right?” Maeda said. “I want a student at 1:30 in the morning to be thinking and send in a piece of art.” Such screens are revenue-generating mechanisms at other schools, but RISD’s screens are free for all to use. Maeda said he regularly posts images. Maeda’s art is also publicly accessible. Some pieces, like an online calendar he created, invite viewers to participate. With each click, the image changes. His piece “Darfur” requires the viewer to scroll down — and down. The word “Darfur” repeats itself in a seemingly infinite list, with each letter of the repeated words representing one of the 400,000 people who have died in the east African genocide as of May 2006. “Scroll your browser and everything will look the same. You will
A ‘WELCOME SHOCK’ Did you see weird happenings across campus yesterday? Don’t worry, it’s just performance art
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continued on page 4
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CAMPUS NEWS
Courtesy of risd.edu
RISD’s new president, John Maeda, told his MacMillan 117 audience that technology needs to be humanized.
Jose the plumber? Though they can’t vote, international students are closely following the election
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OPINIONS
Actual responsibilities Matthew Corritore ’09 thinks community organizing isn’t just for “touchy-feely” liberals
195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island
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in firebomb investigation By Chris Duffy Contributing Writer
More than seven months after a firebomb attack on a Hillel staffer’s home shocked the Brown community, law enforcement officials say the investigation is at a standstill. “The perpetrators have never been caught,” Special Agent Maureen Robinson of the FBI’s Boston office said, “and the motivation for the crime was never determined.” The attack occurred early on a Saturday morning last March, when two Molotov cocktails — glass bottles filled with gasoline and rags — were thrown at the offcampus residence of Yossi Knafo, the Jewish Agency emissar y to Brown/RISD Hillel and an Israeli national. According a Providence Police Department incident report, the first bottle exploded on the outside of the house, lighting the siding on fire. The second bottle was thrown through Knafo’s bedroom window on the second floor but did not explode. The investigation was initially conducted jointly by state and local police, DPS and the FBI, Robinson said. Both PPD and DPS officials declined to comment on the investigation. A police report provided to The Herald by PPD had not been updated since March. continued on page 4 athlete of the week Football’s Dougherty ’09 set a new Ivy League record in passing yards
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