Friday, February 27, 2009

Daily Herald the Brown

vol. cxliv, no. 26 | Friday, February 27, 2009 | Serving the community daily since 1891 SPOTLIGHT

The East Side’s untold story

By Sophia Li Features Editor

By Jenna Stark News Editor

The rough face of the stone wall bordering the Olney-Margolies Athletic Complex and surrounding facilities has endured more than 150 years of chilling Providence rain, of Brown’s intermittent expansion, of the curious eyes of the neighborhood’s residents.

Since its construction in the 1820s, it has witnessed change, from the abolition of slavery to the admission of women to the University, and has even resisted attempts to tear it down.

But buried in time, along with its history, is what formerly stood inside the eight-foot wall’s perimeter. The Dexter Asylum, completed in 1828 and named for the philanthropist Ebenezer Knight Dexter, whose will stipulated its creation, was a testament to its time. A working farm, it housed continued on page 4

Courtesy of the John Hay Library

The Dexter Asylum was built in 1828 to support Providence’s poor.

White People Talking seeks to broaden race discussion

By Nicole Friedman Senior Staf f Writer

inside

Race and identity have inspired a lot of dialogue among Brown students in recent years, but a new discussion group on campus plans to approach those topics with an unusual tack directed specifically toward white people.

The new group, called White People Talking, will have its first official event today. Though students of any race can attend the workshop — which asks “What is White?” — the talk will focus on “asking the really fundamental questions” of white identity and how white students view themselves racially, said Dan Beckman ’10, co-founder of the group.

The idea for the group grew out of informal weekly discussions that Beckman and Owen Hill ’10, organized last semester.

The two were introduced by a mutual friend who knew both were interested in creating “a space where white people were comfortable speaking in productive ways about race,” Beckman said. He and Hill corresponded over the summer and began holding Friday discussion groups in Hill’s dorm room.

“Race talk shouldn’t be limited to students of color,” said Hill, adding that his long-term goal is

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Pushing U.’s global profile, Kennedy ’76 wears two hats The University’s broad plans to improve its image abroad and bolster the study of international issues on campus are moving forward despite slow progress on some initiatives due to the economic crisis.

As part of the internationalization effort, which began in 2006, the University has embarked on a number of new programs and is working to provide more opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to incorporate international aspects into their academic experience.

A signature priority of President Ruth Simmons, internationalization has been added to the original goals of the Plan for Academic Enrichment and has advanced despite the fact that the man hired to spearhead it, David Kennedy ’76, was needed in a second, challenging administrative job as interim director of the Watson Institute for International Studies.

Kennedy, the vice president for

international affairs, said internationalization is right on track. “It’s still on,” he said. “We expect to continue as we’ve been planning in the international area.”

Since its inauguration, the initiative has launched the International Scholars Program, which will award up to $5,000 each to 14 students to conduct research abroad this summer.

It has also created the Brown International Advanced Research Institutes, a summer program that brings together faculty and postdoctoral students from around the world for workshops in various international fields.

The advanced research program, which ran a pilot program last summer, held “intensive workshops” in the fields of international law and global governance, archaeology, development studies and Latin American studies.

“It’s a very exciting project,” Kennedy said.

The drive to give Brown an intercontinued on page 2

‘Alcove’ to ‘Zymurgy,’ poet Ashbery delights

By Ben Hyman Ar ts & Culture Editor

to create a “white allies” program to complement the Minority Peer Counselor program run by the Third World Center.

“The idea is to expand the MPC discussion to the white community without MPCs having to go confront white people,” he said.

White students may lack the language and self-awareness, Hill said, to speak about race at the same “level of discussion” as minority students who have been more encouraged to discuss racial identity.

“The first step is to start to talk about this,” he said.

Andrew Migneault ’11, a white student who attended the Third World Transition Program two years ago as a freshman, said he was glad to hear that a campus group was “looking for the opportunity to let whites talk about racial issues.”

He said it was “naive” to assume that only students of color have conflicts about their ethnicity.

In addition to workshops on the last Friday of each month, White People Talking will continue its “more intimate” Friday discussions, said Cr ystal Vance ’11, who will be one of the facilitators of today’s event, which will be held from 4 continued on page 3

Esteemed American poet John Ashber y probably echoed the late-Februar y feelings of many members of last night’s sizable Salomon 101 audience with the first line of his poem “Alcove.”

“Is it possible that spring can be once more approaching?” he

asked.

In a lecture presented by the Literar y Arts Program, Ashber y read from his recent published and unpublished work. Though the 81-year-old poet walked haltingly, his reading style was ver y brisk and colloquial, with a hushed, speech-like quality.

Ashber y is regarded as one of America’s greatest living poets.

His 1975 collection “Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror” won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, and he is also the recipient of Guggenheim and MacArthur fellowships.

Ashber y is a familiar figure at colleges and universities, and continued on page 2

Reverse-auction utility buying saves U. cash

By Anne Simons Senior Staff Writer

Kim Perley / Herald

Brown will now purchase electricity and heating fuels through a reverse auction system to save energy and money.

Even the cloud of economic uncertainty and hardship can have a silver lining. Brown will be able to save about $15 million over the next five years in heating and electricity costs, thanks to a new purchasing strategy powered by online technology.

The University has recently developed a new, multi-year strategy to procure electricity and heating fuels, purchasing them years in advance using a reverse auction system and spreading out the financial risk, according to Chris Powell, director of sustainable energy and environmental initiatives. The method will allow continued on page 2

Arts, 5

Sports, 7

Opinions, 11

Rich Drama ‘Bad Money’ examines the modern significance of currency.

w. hockey all-stars Nicole Stock ’09 and Erica Kromm ’11 received all Ivy honors

Brown TOgether Tony Hartmann ’11 on how to bring the Brown community together.

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

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Friday, February 27, 2009

“For me, it’s always been the last word in the dictionary.”

— Poet John Ashbery, on the word “zymurgy”

Poet Ashbery’s reading Reverse auctions save money, energy impresses Salomon continued from page 1

continued from page 1 not just because his poems are widely read and studied. In 2007, the campus television channel mtvU named Ashber y its poet laureate. Excerpts from his work were featured on the station and its Web site.

The poems Ashber y presented at last night’s reading traded in striking, unexpected images, like “spiffy white legs” and “different-seeming buzzards.” The film world emerged as a theme in several of the newest poems, one of which consisted entirely of a litany of B-movie titles.

Ashber y provided little in the way of context for his poems, aside from their titles and, occasionally, a few words explaining an obscure word or reference.

Before reading one work, “Zymurgy,” Ashber y said that the title came from his memor y of a two-volume dictionar y. The spine of the second volume read “Pockmark to Zymurgy.”

“I’m not sure what it means, exactly,” he said, getting a laugh from the audience. “For me, it’s always been the last word in the dictionar y. I feel that’s all I need to know about it.”

Afterward, audience members stood in line to have books signed by the poet.

Lisa Donovan GS said she was pleasantly surprised by the quality of Ashber y’s reading.

“I had heard that he was a bad reader, and he was a good reader,” she said.

“It’s definitely encouraged me

Min Wu / Herald

John Ashbery, American poet.

to read his earlier works and see his evolution,” said Timothy Nassau ’12, who had been unfamiliar with Ashber y’s poetr y.

For Professor of Comparative Literature Forrest Gander — who said Ashber y’s influential poetr y “changed the art in English” — listening to the writer read his own work was ver y dif ferent from the individual reading experience.

“The way he reads is very flat.

It’s so understated,” Gander said.

“When you read the work, it’s much more like a roller coaster in terms of tone and pitch.”

“It was tremendous,” said Jacques Khalip, assistant professor of English. “It was a great experience.”

The next Literar y Arts Program-sponsored reading, on March 5, will feature Australian novelist Peter Carey.

And, just for the record ­— zymurgy is the study of fermentation and wine brewing.

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Facilities Management to spend millions below its budget for the next five years, effectively returning $15 million to the University, he said.

Powell described the process as a “reverse eBay.” Brown negotiates the terms of contracts ahead of time with companies it expects to be top bidders. Then, an online reverse auction is set up through World Energy Solutions Inc., a company based in Worcester, Mass. A starting price is established and each company bids progressively lower to compete for the contract, Powell said, adding that the process gets exciting in the last few minutes of the auction window, just like with normal auctions.

The reverse auction — a proactive measure, given the current economy — is transparent and fair, Powell said.

Many companies might otherwise assume that Brown has an “incumbent” supplier of electricity or heating fuels and stay out of the bidding process because of that, he said. Using the auction format brings more bidders to the table, which will benefit the University, he said.

“Because we work with a number of different energy suppliers, we’re able to help Brown University build a marketplace by going out and getting different suppliers to and using this online auction process,” a spokesman for World Energy said. “It really creates an competitive environment

where suppliers bid in real time.”

“It’s very 2008 and 2009,” he said.

The auction for the University’s electricity for the next five years took place early last December, Powell said. The contract, which secured electricity for less than today’s standard rate, began Jan. 1, he said.

The auction for heating fuels took place shortly after and the University locked in fuel costs lower than the current standard for the next three years, Powell said. Brown’s recent switch to natural gas instead of heavy fuel oils for heating — a move made in part to reduce the University’s carbon footprint — allows for the purchase of fuels up to three years in advance, instead of just one, Powell said.

In the past, Brown purchased fuels and electricity on a year-to-year basis. Natural gas for this winter’s heating were purchased in June and cover the University’s energy use through May, Powell said.

Being able to secure electricity and energy pricing for several years in advance provides budget certainty in an uncertain economic climate, Powell said. Given the “gyration in energy cost,” it is not only cheaper but more secure for the University to purchase fuel for several years out, he said.

“When the University is trying to cut administrative costs, that’s part of the target,” he said.

In general, officials lock in about 85 percent of the University’s heating costs ahead of time because they “don’t put all of (their) eggs in one basket,” Powell said. That means that this winter the University has been able to take advantage of low prices for natural gas for 15 percent of its heating costs, which though not a lot, has been enough to help out, he said.

So far, the reverse auction process has only been used to secure fuels for the University’s Central Heat Plant, which heats about two-thirds of the buildings on campus, Powell said.

In the future, Brown will also use the process for individual buildings’ heating because even small chunks can get better rates than the local standard rate, he said.

Also playing into the University’s reduced heating costs is the work done over the summer to replace steam traps and other related equipment, he said. Even though this winter has been colder than the last, Brown has been using less energy and water, saving money and reducing the school’s environmental impact — a “win-win” situation, he said.

Powell said he was asked to speak to the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Rhode Island, whose members are looking for ways to emulate the strategy. The Rhode Island School of Design has already shown interest in adopting such a plan, he said.

Internationalization not done yet continued from page 1 national flair has also been boosted by new alliances with international universities. Most recently, the University formed a memorandum of understanding with the Instituto de Empresa in Madrid, a top-ranked business school. More of these partnerships, which create “opportunities for graduate students,” are in the works, Kennedy said.

“The economic crisis makes it even more important that we collaborate,” he added. “No university can do it alone.”

The internationalization effort uses a “Johnny Appleseed approach,” said Provost David Kertzer ’69 P’95 P’98.

The initiative is meant to “spread its seed” to all aspects of the University, he said.

Members of the Internationalization Committee, which designed the original goals of the initiative and hired Kennedy away from Harvard Law School to lead it, said the program is moving forward in accordance with its initial goals, if at a slower pace than expected.

“A lot has been accomplished,” said Michael Steinberg, a former committee member and the director of the Cogut Center for the Humanities. “The internationalization initiative is part of the University’s core mission.”

“I think that the mandate for internationalization at Brown remains as strong or stronger than ever before,” said Associate Professor of Anthropology Daniel Smith, another committee member.

The program is “bringing together

things we’re already doing and making those things more cohesive and more coherent,” he added.

But the program has slowed its pace since the economic crisis began, Smith said. “The original lofty ambitions of internationalization as had been conceived in 2006, 2007, have not materialized as quickly or as grandly” as expected, he said.

“There are all kinds of things going on, but perhaps not at the scale that people hoped for,” he added.

Kennedy said the initiative would slow, given the economic climate.

“We’ll need to move more slowly than we hoped, and we’ll need to look for more resources more aggressively,” he said.

In addition to his role as the vice president of the internationalization initiative, Kennedy stepped into the role of interim director of the Watson Institute in July 2008 after former director Barbara Stallings announced she would step down from the position.

“He essentially has two full-time jobs right now,” Kertzer said, adding that the committee charged with appointing a new director of the Watson Institute is currently “deep in the search.”

“I’ve been busy,” Kennedy said, adding that his role as vice president of international affairs “helped me understand more deeply what Watson has to offer” and has “been helpful for the Watson as we go through strategic planning.”

In addition to his administrative responsibilities at Brown, Kennedy also taught at Harvard Law School as

Courtesy of Brown.edu

David Kennedy ’76, vice president for international affairs.

a visiting professor last fall. Kennedy taught a course called “Law and Development,” which he also taught in the fall of 2006, that met once a week during the semester, according to the school’s Web site.

Kennedy’s lingering teaching commitment at Harvard was part of a “disengagement process” from his former job, Kertzer said.

The class was “in the works before I got to Brown,” Kennedy said. He admitted that managing his schedule was “a hard juggle.”

Philip Terrence Hopmann, professor emeritus of political science and a former director of Watson, said heading the institute was a demanding job.

“From my experience, the director is not an eight-hour-a-day job,” he said.

“It’s far more than eight hours a day, five days a week. It would be hard to do outside teaching.”

While Kennedy has not yet taught a course at Brown and does not plan to teach next fall, he said he would “love to teach an international law and global governance course” in the future.

Friday, February 27, 2009

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Page 3

“Washers and dryers cannot miraculously make those human byproducts disappear!” — Community Assistant Wudan Yan ’11

Feces found in Harkness washer Alicia Chen Contributing Writer

Quinn Savit / Herald

Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist Julia Preston of the New York Times told immigrants’ stories at the Watson Institute for International Studies.

Journalist: Immigration a ‘forgotten priority’

By Brigitta Greene Senior Staff Writer

There are days when Julia Preston receives three — even four — e-mails from illegal immigrants.

“Please help,” they often read. “I’m desperate. I’m writing from a detention center. ... I have no one else.”

Immigration reform, the Pulitzer-prize winning New York Times journalist said, will be a profoundly difficult issue for President Obama.

Her lecture, entitled “Immigration: President Obama’s Forgotten Priority,” at the Watson Institute for International Studies’ Joukowsky Forum provided an overview of immigration policy in the Bush era and highlighted current challenges facing the country.

Preston, who has worked at the Times since 2005, specializes in issues of immigration and Latin America. She recently co-authored the book “Opening Mexico” with Samuel Dillon.

Her lecture, hosted by the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, presented what she felt were the results of Bush-era policies, including personal stories of the struggles of immigrants and their families.

“The immigration crackdown has created populations living in the shadows with diminished rights,” she said. In their new state of vulnerability, increasingly afraid to participate in local communities, immigrants will fulfill the societal role that conservative philosophy dictates for them, she added. Factory raids and police crackdowns have left many illegal immigrants afraid to leave their houses and unable to negotiate higher wages.

Now, in a hurting economy, immigration issues are less likely

to take precedence in Congress, she said.

In response to a question from the audience, Preston — who rarely takes a position on federal legislation — said she would endorse the passage of the Dream Act, a federal bill that addresses immigrants who entered the country as small children.

She gave the example of a young girl from San Antonio.

Valedictorian of her high school and graduate of a private college, the 23-year-old was pulled over at a traffic stop this week and is now on her way to being deported from the country. Her e-mail to Preston was like many the journalist had seen before. There is not much a journalist can do, Preston explained.

“All I have to say is, ‘Thank you so much for writing — let’s stay in touch.’”

After her recent story about a federal pilot program offering a path to naturalization for illegal immigrants by joining the military, Preston received many e-mails asking for more information. “I never thought I’d find myself in the position of being a recruiter for the U.S. Army,” she said.

Preston lastly spoke about the her role as a reporter. “It’s a combination of intuition, being around for a long time and keeping your ear to the ground,” she said.

“It’s always good to hear impressions from people not immediately involved in the politics,” she said of talking to students. “You learn a lot from the questions.”

Preston’s reporting is “a mustread,” said Professor of Anthropology Matthew Gutmann, director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies.

“She has very rich stories to tell,” he added.

Claudia Davidson ’11, a resident of Harkness House, found an unwanted surprise in her laundry earlier this month. As she wrote in an e-mail that night to all residents of Harkness, she had “found human feces” on her sheets after using a basement washing machine.

Grotesque as her misfortune was, the presence of feces in Harkness washers was not an isolated incident. Just a week before, on Jan. 29, fecal matter was found in a different washer and dryer in Harkness’s basement laundry room, according to Harkness Community Assistant Wudan Yan ’11.

Following the Jan. 29 incident, Yan sent an e-mail to all Harkness House residents with the reminder: “Washers and dr yers cannot miraculously make those human byproducts disappear!”

Davidson said she believes there were vestiges of feces in one of the washers at the beginning of the school year. But Yan said it was not clear whether Davidson’s discovery was the result of a new incident or a problem of old fecal matter circulating through the piping system.

Richard Hilton, assistant director for operations for Residential Life, confirmed that the contaminated units were cleaned. Regarding the problem, he said, “I think that peo-

Quinn Savit / Herald

Feces have mysteriously turned up twice in the Harkness laundry room.

ple need to be considerate of everyone in the Brown community.”

Since Feb. 6, when Davidson found her sheets soiled, there have been no new laundry room issues, Yan said, adding that some Harkness residents originally believed it was another house playing a prank on them, even though no evidence has been found.

“They didn’t tell us how to handle this in training,” Yan said.

Some residents are still skeptical that the feces problem has been solved, Davidson said.

Davidson, who hasn’t done her laundry in Harkness since the incident earlier this month, had another theory. “I think what’s happening is someone is pooping in their pants and someone is washing their underwear in the machines and the poop is ending up in there,” she said.

White People Talking discusses race continued from page 1 to 6 p.m. in the Morriss-Champlin lounge.

Beckman said white students often speak about race in the abstract, especially in classroom settings, but the group hopes to focus on “the personal and the intimate as much as possible.”

White People Talking is currently unaffiliated with the TWC,

though Vance is an MPC and the group’s coordinators have consulted with MPCs and students of color on how to effectively lead discussions about race, Vance said.

Due to what he called a “bad coincidence,” Friday’s workshop was accidentally scheduled at the same time as a TWC event commemorating the 1968 student walkout, which ultimately led to the creation of the MPC program and TWTP,

Beckman said.

The scheduling conflict is “precisely the message we don’t want to send,” he added.

Though it was too late to move the workshop once the overlap was discovered, the coordinators emphasized on the workshop’s Facebook event page that White People Talking wants to be “a complementary presence on campus in solidarity with the TWC.”

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Friday, February 27, 2009

“It’s clear that the wall was a social barrier, a visual barrier.”

— University curator Robert Emlen, on the Dexter Asylum’s wall

Buried in time: The Dexter Asylum revisited continued from page 1

and fed the poor, elderly and ill of the city of Providence until its sale to the University in 1957.

Poor farms “were the humane, up-to-date, progressive thing to do in the 18th and 19th century,” said Robert Emlen, University curator and senior lecturer in American civilization. “The idea was to not force people to beg in the streets.”

Because of its proximity to campus and the imposing stone barrier that enclosed it, the Asylum captured the imaginations of many students, faculty and staff.

“Kids used to sneak in there once in a while and see what was going on,” said Peter Mackie ’59. “It was a mysterious place for people.”

The Asylum finally shut its doors in 1957, its gardens replaced by playing fields. In the following 50 years, Brown’s construction projects transformed the area bounded by Hope Street, Stimson Avenue, Angell Street, Arlington Avenue and Lloyd Avenue. A hockey rink, intramural soccer fields, baseball diamonds and other recreational and athletic arenas now crowd what was once farmland.

And it may become home to the Nelson Fitness Center and the University’s new swim center once Brown is able to raise the funds it needs.

The future of the property that once housed Providence’s impoverished remains unknown. But the story of the Dexter Asylum’s past endures, its wall a lasting testimony to the busy, productive institution it once encircled.

Life on the other side From the Asylum’s records, life within its tall, granite wall appears to have been quiet, if restrictive.

Records of the institution’s rules and regulations established in 1857 describe the residents’ tightly controlled days.

The inhabitants were allotted half an hour for breakfast and supper and an hour for dinner. Male and female nurses had to be present at meals to maintain order.

Meals were taken away from residents who were late — not that the Asylum’s menu was tempting or even varied. A diet table adopted in March of 1869 lists “white bread and butter and tea” as supper fare five days a week.

At the height of its occupancy, the Asylum’s 39 acres housed about 150 inhabitants who raised cows for their milk and farmed fruits and vegetables to sell.

“The place was essentially selfsustaining,” said Mackie, a sports archivist at the John Hay Library.

“It was a little city in there.”

But residents could be forced to leave for violating the Asylum’s rules, he said.

“Men and women couldn’t fraternize,” Mackie said. “They couldn’t leave without permission.”

The stories of the men, women and children who lived in the Dexter Asylum remain shrouded in the past, obscured by gaps in the historical record.

Courtesy of the John Hay Library

The Dexter Asylum stood within the eight-foot stone wall that now surrounds the OMAC.

The Asylum’s records “had more information about their farm animals than the people there,” said Kathryn Kulpa ’86, who processed the Rhode Island Historical Society’s materials on the Asylum as a student intern in 1991.

There were genealogies of cows, Kulpa said, but the records about the residents’ medical care were “pretty spotty.”

Many photographs of the Asylum left today only show its staff members. “They were trying to protect the privacy and the dignity of the people who live there,” Emlen said.

While the purpose of the wall surrounding the Asylum’s grounds is unknown, Emlen said there were two possible explanations.

“If you have a farm, you don’t need an eight-feet tall wall,” he said.

“It’s clear that the wall was a social barrier, a visual barrier.”

According to Emlen, the wall may have been built “to protect the people from the outside from having to look at a bunch of wretched inmates.”

Another possibility, he said, “is that it protected the people on the inside from having the indignity of having people stare at them.”

“I think it’s sort of a matter of how you view the poor farm,” he said, “as a benefit or as a great embarrassment to the city of Providence.”

Willing the Asylum’s creation Ebenezer Knight Dexter certainly intended the Asylum to benefit his native city. He donated the land, including his own Neck Farm, “to ameliorate the condition of the poor, and to contribute to their comfort and relief,” he wrote in his will before he passed away in 1824.

His will stipulated that the city construct buildings on the property to accommodate and support Providence’s poor within five years of his death.

But in his will Dexter also insisted that the city build “a good permanent stone wall” around the property within 20 years of his death.

The wall was to be at least three feet thick at its base, two feet deep into the ground and at least eight feet tall, the will stated. Ultimately, it took eight years and over $23,000 in stone and labor to complete it.

Tales as tall as the wall itself

sprouted over the years. There were stories about people who climbed the wall and walked the Asylum’s entire perimeter on top, Mackie said.

Others recalled taking a ladder and lunch to picnic on the wall, one alum wrote in the April 1963 issue of the Brown Alumni Monthly. According to the article’s author, one professor’s daughter even rode her bicycle on top of the wall.

“Other persons recall the smells of Dexter Asylum: the pervading aroma of spring plowing and spring manure, and the later scent of celery,” he wrote. “The pigs were fragrant, too, and many a child was taken in on a walk to see the piggery.”

Within the aging walls Even as the Asylum’s legends accumulated and its stone wall endured, the institution itself became more and more outdated.

The idea of a working farm to support the poor was receding by the end of the 19th century, according to Emlen. “By the 1920s I don’t know that anyone was doing their own farming there,” he said.

While the land once produced tomatoes, cucumbers and milk, freight trains from the South “undercut the vegetable market,” the Providence Sunday Journal reported in October of 1946.

“Thirty-nine acres of uncommonly valuable land on the residential East Side goes virtually unused at Dexter Asylum,” said the caption of the photograph that accompanied the 1946 article.

The city of Providence expanded, and residential neighborhoods eventually surrounded the Asylum’s grounds.

“By the 50s, the whole concept of a poor farm was an anachronism,” Mackie said, partly because the state government had assumed the responsibility of providing social programs for the poor.

The Asylum lingered because the city was not permitted to sell it under the conditions of Dexter’s will, Emlen said. Toward the end, about 20 people were running it for the benefit of six or seven residents, he said.

But Brown was unwilling to let the land languish. In 1956, nine years after the city of Providence began its legal battle to obtain permission

to sell the land, President Barnaby Keeney made the University’s interest in buying or renting the property public.

The summer of 1957 brought triumph. Judge Patrick Curran of Rhode Island’s Superior Court ruled that the city could sell the property it had inherited, under the pretext that the Asylum had ceased to fulfill its stated purpose of benefiting the poor.

But Curran ruled that Providence’s obligation to support the city’s poor as Dexter had intended did not end with the property’s sale.

“The question is, ‘How do you do it in the 21st century?’” Emlen said.

The city created the Dexter Donation, Emlen said, a fund whose money is distributed to assist the needy in Providence.

“It’s not the old-fashioned way, which is to give someone a bed or a meal,” Emlen said. Instead, the fund provides economic stimulus to revitalize neighborhoods and “help people get back on their feet.”

Building Brown The stage was finally set for an event that would transform the face of College Hill. The University had been struggling to find a location for its athletic facilities closer than Aldrich Field, situated two miles from campus.

Bidding began in the morning.

Of the five offers, Brown’s was the highest, by about $250,000. The University paid $25,643 per acre of land — a grand total of $1,000,777.

That afternoon, University Hall’s bell — at the time reserved for momentous occasions — rang loudly, resounding with the campus’s jubilation.

“It was a ver y, ver y exciting time,” said Mackie, who was a junior at the time of the property’s purchase. “It was the best money we ever invested.”

University officials began dreaming up plans for its momentous acquisition almost immediately.

“We’ll Be in by Next Autumn,” announced the headline of an article in the November 1957 issue of the Brown Alumni Monthly. At the time, the layout of the future athletic facilities and the cost of developing the land were still unknown, according

to the article.

The athletic director at the time, Paul Mackesey ’32, presented the blueprints for the property’s development the following February. The University’s grand plans prioritized the building of fields for sports other than baseball and the construction of a hockey rink, according to March 1958’s Brown Alumni Monthly. They also envisioned the rest of the new Aldrich-Dexter Field: an athletic complex that would include a gymnasium, a swimming pool, a field house, soccer and lacrosse fields, tennis courts and a track.

But the fruition of the University’s dreams was limited by the size of its wallet.

Each of the buildings that were eventually constructed was connected to a capital campaign, Mackie said. For example, Meehan Auditorium was part of Brown’s bicentennial celebration, he said.

“They’ve done the whole thing piecemeal,” Mackie said, “in my view, without a coherent plan.”

Meehan was supposed to be faced in brick, and the OMAC still lacks the space for stands for track meets, Mackie said. The Pizzitola Center’s basketball arena was also scaled down, according to Mackie.

“The history of all of these buildings is that we’re a day late and a dollar short,” Mackie said.

A shaky future Brown’s struggle to realize its ambitious building plans in the face of hard economic times continues.

Construction on the Nelson Fitness Center, a project first announced in 2004, was originally slated to begin last summer, and the fate of the swim center was put on hold while the University worked to raise the necessary funds.

But last weekend, the situation changed. The Corporation accepted $14.75 million — more than half of the $25 million swim center’s cost — from the estate of Raymond Moran ’41 in the name of his late sister.

Though the bequest will allow the University to begin more detailed planning of the project, it is uncertain when an architect will be selected because of the swim center’s connection to the Nelson Fitness Center, said Richard Spies, executive vice president for planning and senior adviser to the president.

“Since those programs will be in the same complex, we don’t want to move too quickly with one without knowing what’s going to happen to the other,” Spies said.

Conversations with the $50-million fitness center’s donors are currently going on, Spies said. In the past, the University has compromised on how to utilize Dexter’s property, modifying and scaling down projects to complete new buildings. But now, Brown is trying not to think of its decision as a choice between the two projects, according to Spies.

“We need a terrific fitness center and we need a pool, and the athletic department needs a lot of other things,” Mackie said. “The wish list is endless.”

Arts & Culture The Brown Daily Herald

Friday, February 27, 2009 | Page 5

‘Monologues’ debuts tonight at List

By Monica Carvalho Contributing Writer

“Twat.”

“Poonani.”

“Vajayjay.”

“Marshmallow.”

“Little sugar box.”

“Poon!”

The cast members of “The Vagina Monologues” walk through the aisles of List 120, collecting props and costume items as they spout off this list of slang terms for “vagina.” They are rehearsing their lines and warming up for a full dress rehearsal of the controversial play, which opens tonight in List 120.

At random, one of the girls breaks out into the chorus of “Let’s Talk About Sex, Baby” and the other girls join in for the lines “let’s talk about you and me.”

The play was written by women’s rights activist Eve Ensler and is based on real interviews Ensler conducted with women about their experiences and their vaginas. Ensler wanted to make the vagina a more comfortable topic to discuss in society, especially for women. The Eve Ensler character in the play refers to her inter views with women as “vagina inter views” and tells the audience that she later transformed these from interviews into “vagina monologues.”

The play opens with an explanation from Eve Ensler’s character — played by Olivia Harding ’12. She tells her audience that the show is set up as a series of these “vagina monologues,” which differ in tone, mood and style of address. All of the play’s characters are females of varying ages and ethnicities.

“I bet you’re worried,” Ensler says in this opening. “I was worried.

I was worried about vaginas.”

Throughout her initial monologue, Ensler talks to the audience, preparing them for what they are about to hear and easing them into a discussion of that taboo word: vagina. As the monologues progress, various women fearlessly and explicitly discuss vagina-related subjects and experiences that are often muted.

In one monologue, a loud and feisty young woman paces across the stage in her black combat boots and talks about how her vagina is “angry.” It is angry about all of the uncomfortable products society forces women to shove up there, including tampons, douches and the cold metal instruments in the doctor’s office.

In another, an elderly woman reluctantly talks about the first and only time she got wet “down there” and tells the audience that her vagina is now “closed due to flooding.”

The play continues with other monologues, periodic interjections

by Ensler and facts about vaginas.

A narrator speaks between monologues, contrasting “happy” facts

with “not-so-happy” ones. For example, at one point she notes that the number of ner ve endings in the clitoris far surpass those of the penis, but later cites harrowing statistics about genital mutilation among women.

Harding told The Herald that some of the notes she received in rehearsal –– things like “chocolate is better than sex” and “move vagina chair stage left before vagina is a village” –– epitomized the level of comfort the cast has achieved in discussing these topics as well as the comfort that they are trying to inspire in their audience.

“I don’t think I’ve ever received notes like that,” Harding said, laughing.

Annie Rose London ’11, another cast member, described the process of auditioning for “The Vagina Monologues” as “super fun,” with a big smile on her face. She said the “interviewers” asked her a series of questions such as, “If your vagina could talk, what would it say?” and then walked her through how her specific character would develop an answer to such a jarring and unusual question.

“Also, it’s fun to say ‘vagina’ until it doesn’t freak you out anymore,” London said.

Ensler’s character says “vagina” over and over, trying to emphasize its absurdity as a word. The point she is trying to make, it seems, is that no matter how comfortable you are with the word — or the concept — of “vagina,” the pure awkwardness of its syllabic construction makes it a word that will always remain unpleasant to say.

To emphasize this point, Harding rehearses her line, “Darling, stroke my vagina” in a mock-sexy voice. She is practicing the way she will make an unsuspecting audience member uncomfortable on the night of the show, and pointing out that this phrase, because it includes “vagina,” is difficult to detach from its sarcastic, less-thanserious tone.

The cast of “The Vagina Monologues” brings the wit and emotion of Ensler’s play to life in a way that will both amuse and shock their audience. All of the actresses are comfortable in their roles and truly embody the women whose personal stories they share.

“The Vagina Monologues” is an excellent way to end V-Week with a bang. And who knows? Maybe you’ll learn a little something about that “totally unsexy” thing that nobody likes to talk about: the vagina.

Directed by Nicole Damari ’12, “The Vagina Monologues” opens this weekend and will be performed Fri., Feb. 27 and Sat., Feb. 28 at 8 p.m. in List 120. Tickets are available today in the Blue Room for $4 and at the door before each performance for $5.

Perishable Theatre’s “Bad Money” is set in a “relatively little place that used to be part of something big,” the show’s program says.

‘Bad Money’ well spent at Perishable Theatre

By Adam Lubitz Contributing Writer

The audience is first greeted with a monolithic mural of currency. Images of jumbled monetary symbols are plastered across this looming inevitability. The money’s “good”or “bad”-ness is subject to much debate as the play unfolds.

“Bad Money,” which opened last night at the Perishable Theatre, is set in an emerging market in a “relatively little place that used to be part of something big,” according to the show’s program. It’s also the type of place where — due to the elementary and literal English fluency of many characters — something being “the shit,” actually means it is bad.

Agnetta, played by Nicole Solas, fled with her mother to the U.S. under troubled monetary circumstances years ago. The ensuing

years, which include her mother’s death, are narrated by the alwaysflustered Auntie, who is “dialing and dialing” her niece in the States with congratulations, condolences and comic effect. As the play opens, Agnetta has returned to this unspecified, “relatively little” place on assignment from her employer, as it is now showing potential for growth or, in other words, oil.

This new setting is ripe with local color. Mansur, a local and associate of Agnetta’s, has a cousin in every corner of this backwater community. The pair uses this network of connections to every financial advantage.

From peddling “BackBlerry” cell phones under the table to idealizing the Euro, these folks’ quest after the almighty dollar almost as often as they misuse their indefinite articles. A young secretary and native of the mythical setting, played

with facility by Beth Alianiello, refers to the Euro as “The Chanel of currency” and much is made about money’s “look.” Indeed, the paper on which it is printed has no value, but it seems that much of a currency’s clout springs from its aesthetic qualities — an interesting commentary on what really supports a faith-based monetary system.

D’arcy Dersham, the show’s dialect coach, told The Herald she found a “cross between Romanian and Russian,” creating a non-geographically specific way of speaking for the characters. The accent comically complements the indecipherable local idioms in the script and, when dropped, tastefully informs listeners of a reversion to the speaker’s native tongue.

A supporting cast shines with continued on page 6

Page 6

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

A rts & C ulture

Friday, February 27, 2009

Currency play currently plays at Perishable continued from page 5 diverse and energetic characters.

Patricia Thomas sympathetically enacts Auntie, who balances a frantic disposition with a resigned acceptance of the imperfect world in which she lives. Mansur, brought to life by Alexander Platt, reassures the audience most convincingly that wherever there is a demand, supply can be arranged — especially, as he repeatedly insists, when “I have cousin” in a convenient position.

Solas’ Agnetta convincingly endures an inner struggle. She must choose whether or not to compromise her national loyalty and become an accomplice to the exploitation of her homeland’s financial structure.

According to Solas’ portrayal, it appears as though her personal conflict is just this cut-and-dry. She offers an almost mechanical series of reactions from this character, whose childhood home is rapidly becoming her paycheck — so much so that it’s difficult to tell if this is due to the farcical nature of the circumstances themselves or an over-rehearsed actress’ loss of authenticity.

Director Vanessa Gilbert said, “A lot of (writer Meg Miroshnik’s) plays deal with fairy tale structure.”

Complete with a wicked though still human Auntie, a piratical yet charismatic American and impossibly identical cousins, the play is whimsical and endearing. Though the show philosophizes briefly about what legal tender “is,” the production certainly doesn’t take itself too seriously. An audience member expecting a lesson on history or economics will be disappointed, but it is refreshing to see a show whose

subject matter is culturally relevant and does not preach at its viewers a distinct wrong and right.

As an interesting additional note, Gilbert added that the actors learned how an oil rig works in order to familiarize themselves with the world of the play.

The audience must be careful not to confuse the monetary misadventure in “Bad Money” with the current financial crisis. Miroshnik started writing “Bad Money” in 2007.

The show was later workshopped at Brown’s New Plays Festival in spring 2008 and programmed for Perishable in May, Gilbert said. That same year, Miroshnik moved from the Brunonian master of fine arts playwriting program to that of Yale with mentor Paula Vogel, a professor of Literary Arts.

Miroshnik said, “I wanted to represent a character’s relation to money different than I’d seen before,” and Agnetta’s love-hate experiences with cash stalk deftly behind the rather straightforward setpiece.

Her comedy is sincere and wellcrafted with numerous rapid-fire “who’s on first” type bits, which are easily swallowed due to the alwayslooming language barrier. She added that the mythical econo-landscape of the show is “loosely based on Azerbaijan,” a country which secured its own access to “good money” in 1994 when it signed a 30-year contract with several multinational oil companies.

“Bad Money” plays at the Perishable Theatre Feb. 26-28 and March 5-7 at 8 p.m. and March 1 and 8 at 3 p.m.

SportsWeekend The Brown Daily Herald

s p o rt s i n b r i e f

Skiers take third in Regionals Women’s skiing The women’s skiing team cruised to a thirdplace finish at the Eastern Collegiate Ski Conference Regional Championships over the weekend at Waterville Valley in New Hampshire. The Bears placed fourth in the slalom on Saturday and third in the giant slalom the following day.

Slalom Krista Consiglio ’11, 1st place, 1:38.97.

Elisa Handbury ’10, 17th, 1:46.86.

Blaine Martin ’11, 19th, 1:47.42.

Anna Bengtson ’09, 25th, 1:50.27.

Kia Mosenthal ’12, 46th, 2:27.41.

Giant Slalom Emily Simmons ’12, 3rd, 2:18.74.

Consiglio, 4th, 2:19.65.

Martin, 19th, 2:23.77.

Bengtson, 24th, 2:25.14.

M. lax’s Carey ’10 leading team early

By Elisabeth Avallone Sports Staff Writer

stitions or rituals?

Yeah, I take a nap in the locker room before every game. You know, just go to sleep for about 45 minutes.

Earlier this week, men’s lacrosse attackman Collins Carey ’10 scored three goals and one assist to help the Do you have a lacrosse idol? defending Ivy Champion Bears edge Ryan Cassil (’09) and the Baby out Lehigh, 13-12. Carey has set the Rhino (Brennan Bailey ’12). bar high for the rest of the season, already encroaching on his four-goal How do you feel the team fared record of last season. against Lehigh?

For his outI thought ATHLETE OF THE WEEK getting the standing play, The Herald has win was the named Collins Carey our Athlete of most important thing. We definitely the Week. could have played better, but overall it was a good result.

Herald: When did you first start playing lacrosse and why?

What do you look forward to most Carey: I started playing in fifth this season, both individually and grade. My parents didn’t like baseball as a team?

Individually, I just hope to do the and hated going to watch my games, so they handed me a lacrosse stick best I can to help the team. And as a and said, ‘Here, try this out.’ I’ve been team, we’re hoping for another Ivy playing ever since. title, to make it to the tournament and ultimately to the Final Four.

What is your favorite part of playing Brown lacrosse?

The No. 14 Bears will face off How close the team is. against No. 13 Hofstra this Saturday Do you have any pre-game super- at Brown’s Meister-Kavan Field.

Sports Staff Reports

As the end of the winter season and the beginning of the spring overlap, five Bruno teams will host a total of eight home games this weekend, including two home openers and two home finales.

Seven seniors will play their final games at Meehan Auditorium when the men’s hockey team (320-4, 3-14-3 ECAC Hockey) takes

The Bears will cap their season by competing at the USCSA Nationals in Winter Park, Colo., Mar. 3 to 7.

W. Lax wins season opener

Nunn, 5 G, A. Kaela McGilloway ’12, first career goal, A. Katelyn Caro ’12, first career goal.

Alexa Caldwell ’11, three caused turnovers.

Molly McCarthy ’10, three caused turnovers.

Isabel Har vey ’12, three saves.

— Sports Staff Reports

Justin Coleman / Herald

Collins Carey ’10, an attackman on the men’s lacrosse team, scored three goals against Lehigh this week.

Overlapping seasons pack athletic calendar

Overall Consiglio, 2nd, 150 points.

Simmons, 8th, 60.

Martin, 17th, 24.

Handbury, 27th, 14.

Bengtson, 28th, 13.

Women’s lacrosse The women’s lacrosse team won its season opener on Wednesday, beating Sacred Heart, 10-6, in Fairfield, Conn., on the strength of a 2911 advantage in shots. After the Pioneers took a 2-1 lead, Jesse Nunn ’09 scored four straight goals and the Bears never looked back. Six players scored for Bruno, who will host Hofstra on Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Berylson Family Fields.

Friday, February 27, 2009 | Page 7

Justin Coleman / Herald

Matt Mullery ’10 was named to the Ivy honor roll.

Top athletes grab Ivy awards this week Two members of the women’s hockey team earned All-Ivy Honors, as goalie Nicole Stock ’09 was named to the AllIvy Second Team for the second year in a row and Erica Kromm ’11 received an All-Ivy Honorable Mention.

Stock, the team captain and a Herald sports staff writer, finished the season with a .921 save percentage and 1,026 saves, good for a school record. Kromm, a defenseman, scored three goals and notched four assists this season to earn her first All-Ivy selection.

Stock finished the season on a high note, making 46 saves in a 3-0 loss to Princeton and 32 saves in a 3-1 win over Quinnipiac, earning her a nomination for ECAC Goaltender of the Week. In addition, Jenna Dance-

wicz ’11, who scored a goal against Quinnipiac, was nominated for ECAC Player of the Week, and Jacquie Pierri ’12, who notched an assist in the victory, was nominated for ECAC Rookie of the Week.

Season Stats Stock: .921 Sv. Pct., 1026 saves, 3.11 Goals Against Average Kromm: 3 G, 4 A, 7 Pts. Dancewicz: 8 G, 4 A, 12 Pts. Pierri: 0 G, 2 A, 2 Pts. Men’s hockey Assistant captain Matt Vokes ’09 had a strong weekend for men’s hockey.

He was nominated for ECAC Hockey Player of the Week after tallying an continued on page 8

on Colgate (10-16-6, 5-11-4) on Friday and Cornell (17-6-4, 12-5-3) on Saturday at 7 p.m. in the regular season finale.

The Bears will look to build on the momentum they picked up last weekend when, after losing 4-1 to Princeton on Friday, they upset Quinnipiac, 3-2, the following day. Ryan Garbutt ’09 and Sean continued on page 8

Page 8

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Friday, February 27, 2009

S ports W eekend

W. and m. icers, m. hoops, w. water polo win Ivy honors continued from page 7 assist in a 4-1 loss to Princeton on Friday and scoring the game’s first goal in a 3-2 win over Quinnipiac. In that win, Mike Wolff ’12 scored his first career goal, for which he earned a nomination for ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week, and Mike Clemente ’12 made 25 saves to get a nomination for ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week. Clemente also recorded 43 saves in the loss to Princeton.

Season Stats Vokes: 9 G, 14 A, 23 Pts. Wolff: 1 G, 1 A, 2 Pts. Clemente: 12 Games, 690 minutes, 401 saves, .920 Sv. Pct., 3.04 GAA. Women’s water polo After an outstanding performance at the Princeton Invitational, Sarah Glick ’11 of the women’s water polo team was recognized as the Collegiate

Water Polo Association Player of the Week. In four games over the weekend, Glick compiled 13 goals, eight assists and 15 steals to lead the Bears to a 2-2 record. She has 16 goals for the season.

Men’s basketball Once again, Matt Mullery ’10 of the men’s basketball team was named to the Ivy Honor Roll. In Brown’s 70-57 loss to Columbia on Friday, Mullery had a strong game in the post, finishing with 21 points, six rebounds and four blocks. He followed with 11 points and five rebounds in a 85-45 loss to Cornell.

Season Stats: Muller y: 16.0 points per game, 5.8 rebounds per game, 1.8 blocks per game, .582 Field Goal Percentage — Sports Staff Reports

Justin Coleman / Herald

Transition games for Bears continued from page 7 McMonagle ’10 each notched two points and Mike Clemente ’12 made 25 saves between the pipes.

Although the Bears are in last place in the conference, all 12 men’s teams automatically make the playoffs, which will start next weekend.

The women’s basketball team (3-21, 1-9 Ivy League) will take the court in the Pizzitola Center for the final time this season for games against Princeton (9-14, 4-5) on Friday and Penn (6-17, 3-6) on Saturday at 7 p.m.

The Bears will look to rebound from two tough losses last weekend, 88-57 to Columbia on Friday and 6858 to Cornell the following day. Shae Fitzpatrick ’10 led Brown with 25 points over the two games, followed

by Sarah Delk ’11 with 20 and Amy Ehrhart ’09, a former Herald sports editor, with 17. Betsy Jacobson ’11 snagged 11 rebounds.

Both the men’s and women’s lacrosse teams debut at home on Saturday.

The 14th-ranked men’s team will

www.browndailyherald.com

take on No. 13 Hofstra in a highly anticipated matchup at 12:30 p.m. on Meister-Kavan Field. The Bears picked up a 13-12 win over Lehigh on Saturday in their season opener.

Andrew Feinberg ’11 tallied three goals and two assists, Collins Carey ’10 also picked up a hat-trick and added two assists and reigning Ivy League Player of the Year and second team All-American Jordan Burke ’09 notched seven saves.

Hofstra slipped past No. 20 UMass on Saturday, 11-10.

The women will also host Hofstra, facing off at 3 p.m. at the Berylson Family Fields. In their season opener on Wednesday, the Bears beat Sacred Heart 10-6, behind five goals and an assist by Jesse Nunn ’09.

The men’s tennis team (9-3) will host a doubleheader on Saturday, facing Binghamton at noon and UConn at 5 p.m. Last weekend, the Bears dropped a 7-0 match to No. 32 Virginia Tech on Saturday before turning around to beat Georgetown by the same score the following day.

Bruno’s hopes may hinge on whether captain Chris Lee ’09 can return from a back injury.

Commentary & Letters The Brown Daily Herald

Page 10 | Friday, February 27, 2009

l e t t e r to t h e e d i to r s

Volcanoes pose a real danger In his response to Tuesday night’s speech to a joint session of congress by President Obama, Bobby Jindal ’91.5 ridiculed an alleged $140 million appropriation “for something called ‘volcano monitoring.’” Yup, the governor of hurricane-ravaged Louisiana mocked federal spending on natural disaster mitigation.

Here’s a tip for future Brown

grads who share Jindal’s ambitions of eventually running for national elected office: Take Geo 22. Or 220.

Or whatever you kids are calling it nowadays. Just take it. Please! It’s a really good class and Jan Tullis is awesome. And, it will teach you what volcanoes are, and why it is sometimes (often?) a good idea to check up on them at regular intervals.

abe pressman

To the Editor:

Matthew Gelfand ’08 Feb. 25

A little elitism goes a long way ANISH MITRA Opinions Columnist

t h e b r o w n d a i ly h e r a l d Editor-in-Chief Steve DeLucia

Managing Editors Michael Bechek Chaz Firestone

editorial Arts & Culture Editor Ben Hyman Hannah Levintova Arts & Culture Editor Features Editor Sophia Li Features Editor Emmy Liss Higher Ed Editor Gaurie Tilak Higher Ed Editor Matthew Varley Metro Editor George Miller Metro Editor Joanna Wohlmuth News Editor Chaz Kelsh News Editor Jenna Stark Sports Editor Benjy Asher Sports Editor Andrew Braca Asst. Sports Editor Alex Mazerov Asst. Sports Editor Katie Wood Graphics & Photos Graphics Editor Chris Jesu Lee Graphics Editor Stephen Lichenstein Eunice Hong Photo Editor Kim Perley Photo Editor Justin Coleman Sports Photo Editor production Kathryn Delaney Copy Desk Chief Seth Motel Copy Desk Chief Marlee Bruning Design Editor Jessica Calihan Design Editor Anna Migliaccio Asst. Design Editor Julien Ouellet Asst. Design Editor Neal Poole Web Editor

Associate Editors Nandini Jayakrishna Franklin Kanin Michael Skocpol

Senior Editors Rachel Arndt Catherine Cullen Scott Lowenstein

Business General Managers Office Manager Shawn Reilly Alexander Hughes Jonathan Spector Directors Ellen DaSilva Sales Director Claire Kiely Sales Director Phil Maynard Sales Director Katie Koh Finance Director Jilyn Chao Asst. Finance Director Managers Local Sales Kelly Wess National Sales Kathy Bui University Sales Alex Carrere Recruiter Sales Christiana Stephenson Credit and Collections Matt Burrows Opinions Opinions Editor Sarah Rosenthal Editorial Page Board James Shapiro Editorial Page Editor Nick Bakshi Board member Zack Beauchamp Board member Sara Molinaro Board member Post- magazine Arthur Matuszewski Kelly McKowen

Editor-in-Chief Editor-in-Chief

Jessie Calihan, Joanna Lee, Designers Sydney Ember, Casey Gahan, Seth Motel, Copy Editors Nikki Friedman, Britta Greene, Hannah Levintova, Sophia Li, Hannah Moser, Night Editors Senior Staff Writers Mitra Anoushiravani, Colin Chazen, Ellen Cushing, Sydney Ember, Lauren Fedor, Nicole Friedman, Britta Greene, Sarah Husk, Brian Mastroianni, Hannah Moser, Ben Schreckinger, Caroline Sedano, Melissa Shube, Anne Simons, Sara Sunshine, Staff Writers Zunaira Choudhary, Chris Duffy, Nicole Dungca, Juliana Friend, Cameron Lee, Kelly Mallahan, Christian Martell, Heeyoung Min, Seth Motel, Jyotsna Mullur, Lauren Pischel, Leslie Primack, Anne Speyer, Alexandra Ulmer, Kyla Wilkes Sports Staff Writers Nicole Stock Senior Business Associates Max Barrows, Jackie Goldman, Margaret Watson, Ben Xiong Business Associates Stassia Chyzhykova, Misha Desai, Bonnie Kim, Maura Lynch, Cathy Li, Allen McGonagill, Thanases Plestis, Corey Schwartz, William Schweitzer, Kenneth So, Evan Sumortin, Haydar Taygun, Webber Xu, Lyndse Yess Design Staff Sara Chimene-Weiss, Katerina Dalavurak, Gili Kliger, Jessica Kirschner, Joanna Lee, Maxwell Rosero, John Walsh, Kate Wilson, Qian Yin Photo Staff Qidong Chen, Janine Cheng, Alex DePaoli, Frederic Lu, Quinn Savit, Min Wu Copy Editors Sara Chimene-Weiss, Sydney Ember, Lauren Fedor, Anna Jouravleva, Geoffrey Kyi, Frederic Lu, Jordan Mainzer, Kelly Mallahan, Allison Peck, Madeleine Rosenberg, Luis Solis Web Developers Jihan Chao

Aside from fraternities, sororities and program houses, Brown offers very few opportunities for individuals looking to form official group bonds that will last a lifetime. A number of our peer schools have long-standing traditions of like-minded individuals coming together to form organizations dedicated to preserving the ideals of their universities while simultaneously serving networking functions.

Harvard’s final clubs, Princeton’s eating clubs and Yale’s and Dartmouth’s secret societies all mark the existence of a long-term commitment to excellence and brotherhood beyond Greek life in the Ivy League.

Brown desperately needs a little splash of elitism. The other day, as I walked by the men’s bathroom in the basement of the Rockefeller Library, I noticed a picture of the Brown Republican Club of 1916; there were so many members, the picture was about three feet wide. Fastforward 93 years and the roll has declined to about ten dedicated members.

In a little under a century, Brown changed from a university resembling an old boy’s club to a liberal, progressive mess. Changes in national laws regarding race, gender, and other matters have affected every university, but our aforementioned peers have more successfully preserved their aristocratic, elitist roots.

Brown would benefit from a having a culture of respect for natural aristocracies, elites and individuals dedicated to secretly preserving the University’s age-old ideals. Clubs and societies provide networking opportunities for individuals looking to do more than just secure a job after graduation.

Yale’s Skull and Bones secret society has an alumni network that rivals those of entire universities. Harvard finals clubs and Princeton’s eating clubs also give students the chance to interact with some of the wealthiest, most elite individuals in the country. An important advantage of embracing this culture might be an increase in the University’s long-term standing.

Brown might enhance its elitist culture by lowering the acceptance rate, and perhaps reducing the size of the undergraduate population. This would increase the value of every seat at Brown and would also enhance the University’s international image.

Brown can still continue its program of academic en-

richment with an open curriculum while simultaneously remaining selective. Individuals are naturally drawn to things they can’t have, especially if those things are valued highly.

By fostering a culture of elitism on campus, Brown would undoubtedly attract more wealthy and powerful applicants.

This might dramatically increase donations and the size of the endowment. As the endowment continues to shrink, being part of an exclusive society with access to its own financing is more important than ever.

While institutions of this nature already exist at Brown, they mostly go unnoticed by the greater campus community. Most Brown students are rather nonchalant about the existence of organized elites on campus, and many often rebuke them as “non-Brown.” While this certainly rekindles the argument about what “being Brown” really means, completely ignoring Brown’s historically elite nature is foolish and misguided. Secret societies, final clubs and other selective organizations may actually increase social mobility among students by allowing those who don’t come from wealthy or powerful families to share an inextricable bond with students who do.

Elitism is a fundamental Ivy League value. No other collection of universities in the world boasts the same degree of exclusivity. Brown students who despise elitism had other options, of course. Most of the disciplines offered at Brown, with the exception of Egyptology and a few other particular specialties, can be found on campuses across the country. Students can even escape a core curriculum if they’re willing to trade down a tier or two. Choosing Brown means choosing to be elite, in some way or another.

Embracing elite culture can also benefit Brown students who are not interested in joining Greek societies or University clubs constrained by UFB financing. Highly selective clubs give ambitious students, namely those involved in large organizations at Brown, an opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals who can help them throughout their lives.

Currently, such opportunities are scarce. While societies exist at Brown, they are written off by a large segment of the student population. Brown has strayed far from its elitist roots, into the dirty sea of “progressivism.” Brunonians would be well-advised to reconsider their reactions. Before knocking elitism, look around: You’re part of it.

Anish Mitra ’10 is an economics concentrator from New York City. He can be contacted at anish_mitra@brown.edu

correction An article in Thursday’s Herald (“Moderate Party may get R.I. recognition,” Feb. 26) reported that five of 38 state senators and 13 of 75 representatives are Republicans. In fact, there are four senators and six representatives who are Republicans.

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Opinions The Brown Daily Herald

Friday, February 27, 2009 | Page 11

Tips for a more cohesive community at Brown TORY HARTMANN Opinions Columnist Ever since I came to Brown, I’ve felt that our community was missing something: a student center. I know I am not alone in this sentiment because the University added the renovation of Faunce House to its Plan for Academic Enrichment. Nevertheless, there are a few community spaces that many Brown students do not take advantage of. If we utilize these resources to their full potential, we do not need to wait for the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center at Faunce House to open its doors in order to feel a real sense of community on campus. There are also some minor changes that could be implemented to make our preexisting community centers better at ser ving their purpose and the student population.

A good friend of mine works at the Hourglass Cafe, a venue that a number of Brown students have probably never visited. It’s a shame that more people do not go to enjoy this wonderful spot on campus.

First of all, there is no cover charge to enter and hear live musicians play. Second of all, it is conveniently located in Faunce House, so there’s no need to call a taxi or trek down the hill in hopes of enjoying good music. It’s also a wonderful place to enjoy some delicious coffee, tea and dessert, and all the money raised goes to Ox-

fam America.

Though it’s the perfect place to unwind on weekday nights, I didn’t even think of going there until I was invited to go see a band performing live for Brown Student Radio. The Hourglass Cafe should definitely be a stop at least once in your Brown career. It’s too bad that Brown students don’t get together often in community spaces to hang out and meet new people,

policies that inhibit people from using our already existing facilities. For instance, the Bears Lair has arcade games, foosball, ping-pong and pool. But many of these activities come at a price.

It’s somewhat ridiculous that Brown owns three pool tables but, in order to use them, students must pay 50 cents and bring their own pool balls. According to the student facilities Web site, the Univer-

If we utilize existing resources to their full potential, we do not need to wait for the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center at Faunce House to open its doors in order to feel a real sense of community on campus.

but the Hourglass Cafe is a perfect venue to change that.

Ever y weekend, the Hourglass Cafe becomes the Underground, a great place for students who are tired of frat parties and are too young to go to the Graduate Center Bar. The live music played at the Underground has, in the times I’ve been there, made for energetic dance parties.

Although Brown students are not always aware of the resources available to them, the lack of community feel is not entirely their fault — it’s also due to certain

sity generously provides the cues.

It would make much more sense if students were able to use the tables for free and if the University provided pool balls for the tables that they already own. I don’t know about you, but I definitely didn’t think to pack pool balls when I left for school last fall.

If the University is afraid that students will steal the balls from the facility, then we could simply have the student who is already hired to sit at the desk of the Bears Lair take a student’s ID card or a deposit in

exchange for the pool balls. With this precaution, students would be unlikely to tr y to steal from the facility.

People often complain about the Bears Lair. Either they think it’s too dark and depressing, or they think the presence of sweaty students on the ellipticals is unappealing. But there are definite benefits as well, and we should give it a chance.

For instance, the Bears Lair boasts many arcade games, which according to Ricky Gresh, director of student activities, Brown rents from a private company. Accordingly, if students wish to see a specific type of game, the University has “the advantage of rotating in any of their inventor y of games without having to buy them.”

Therefore, if students have a game they wish to play that the University does not provide, it sounds as though it would be quite simple to obtain.

The new student center at Faunce will certainly be a welcome addition to the Brown community. Nevertheless, we do not have to wait to experience the benefits of nice community spaces; instead, we can head out to the Underground, the Hourglass Cafe and the Bears Lair and enjoy the facilities that we already have.

Tory Hartmann is a political science concentrator from Somerset, New Jersey. She can be reached at victoria_hartmann@brown.edu

Textbook trading: the way to save

BY MARCUS GARTNER Opinions Columnist Ever y semester, students spend an exorbitant amount of money on textbooks. In an attempt to alleviate this burden, the Brown Bookstore sells used books at a considerably lower price than brand-new books.

The bookstore also buys back textbooks from students at the end of each semester.

However, students typically receive next to nothing compared to the books’ original prices, especially when new editions are published, rendering old editions obsolete.

The bookstore’s effort to reduce textbook cost is greatly appreciated by all, but we have wrongly come to accept the fact that we will be spending a couple hundred dollars on books each semester.

While the bookstore can offer cheaper used books and book buybacks, it is running a business, and the profit it gains by transferring books from student to student is essential. Students are paying for these transfers to take place. Why should they have to pay for something they can do on

their own?

Books should be recycled continually through students to save money. Students should be able to barter their textbooks and avoid having to buy and sell books continuously.

The hard part under the current system

for a book valued at $100. However, this trade-off is much better than selling the book back to the bookstore, getting a fraction of the money back and buying the $100 book.

Ideally, students would be able to barter all of their old textbooks and acquire

A textbook trading event could eliminate the middleman and the hole in every student’s wallet at the beginning of each semester.

is finding people who need your old books and who have the new books you need. But a textbook trading event held at the beginning of ever y semester could fix that. The event would eliminate the middleman and the hole in ever y student’s wallet at the beginning of each semester.

Some students might not feel comfortable trading a book they bought for $160

Speak your mind.

all the textbooks they need without even opening their wallets. Of course, students seeking new or rare books would have to turn to the bookstore or the internet to purchase them, but professors might be less inclined to assign (barely) new editions when there are so many old ones readily available.

The success of the event would ulti-

mately rely on how many students participate. Having a large number of attendees would be essential to having a wide variety of textbooks available for trade, but organizing areas for the trading of specific books could help students find appropriate matches quickly. If the textbook trade becomes widespread, the bookstore may have to downsize its textbook supply, but the benefit to students would be worth it.

Assuming students spend about $300 on their first sets of books and a couple hundred more during their four years on books that could not be found at the trading event, they can save hundreds or even thousands of dollars by trading books rather than purchasing them ever y semester.

Students may think they are getting a good deal buying used books and selling them back, but in reality they are spending money that shouldn’t have to be spent.

Marcus Gartner ’12 is a computer science concentrator from San Jose, California. He can be reached at marcus_gartner@brown.edu

letters@browndailyherald.com

Today The Brown Daily Herald

the news in images

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“The Vagina Monologues” ends V-Week

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to day

to m o r r o w

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Collins Carey ’10: Athlete of the Week

Friday, February 27, 2009

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d i a m o n d s a n d c oa l A diamond to the adventurous students who whimsically chose Iceland as their spring break destination. It takes courage to close your eyes, bang on the keyboard with your fists and realize you’ve typed “REyKjav;ik.”

We’re delighted to bestow our annual coal upon Recyclemania, the absurd college competition Brown never wins. But watch out, Ivy League, we’re way into waste reduction this year. (Hint: it involves putting it in a Harkness washing machine and hitting “Bright Colors.”)

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Speaking of “Boldly Brown,” a diamond to the University for scrapping original plans for a “Mind Brain Behavior” building. Now future students won’t have to study in something called the “M-BooB.”

c a l e n da r Today, February 27

Saturday, February 28

4 PM — “What is White?” MorrissChamplin Lounge

8 PM — “Cabaret,” Stuart Theatre

4 PM — “Student Activism: Past, Present & Future,” Third World Center, Smith-Buonanno 106

8 PM — “The Vagina Monologues,” List 120

menu Sharpe Refectory

Verney-Woolley Dining Hall

Lunch — Chicken Jambalaya with Bacon, Roasted Herb Potatoes, Tomato Basil Pie, Blondies

Lunch — Chicken Fingers, Baked Vegan Nuggets, Peanut Butter and Jelly Bar

Dinner — Clam Strips on a Bun with Tartar Sauce, Manicotti Piedmontese, Italian Meatloaf, Birthday Cake

Dinner — Salmon Teriyaki, Tortellini Italiano with Sausage, Fresh Vegetable Melange

Coal to Avon Cinema, which has canceled midnight showings due to an unsurprising lack of ticket sales. What do you expect when you charge $10 for a French movie called “I’ve Loved You So Long” that isn’t even porn?

A diamond to embattled Governor Donald Carcieri ’65, whose popularity hit a new low in a poll. Don’t worry — in this state, it won’t show up on your transcript.

Coal to administrators for prioritizing the construction of a new pool. We’re pretty sure that’s not what the Corporation means when it says to liquidate risky investments.

Speaking of water, a diamond to the pipe that burst in the LiSci this week and soaked into the first-floor drywall. We hear that breakthrough led to an article in the Journal of Holy Sh*t My Lab is Flooded.

Coal to the panelist at a forum on the economy who predicted housing prices would take four to six years to recover. When houses on College Hill cost $10, it’s a buyer’s market.

A diamond to the new discussion group that calls itself “White People Talking.”

But since when is the Corporation new?

Coal to the Chapin House residents who left a hallway full of “chicken bones, beer cans and other garbage,” according to this week’s crime log. “Boot and rally” has a whole new meaning when you pregame with KFC.

crossword comics Cabernet Voltaire | Abe Pressman

Enigma Twist | Dustin Foley

The One About Zombies | Kevin Grubb