Daily Herald the Brown
vol. cxliv, no. 45 | Monday, April 6, 2009 | Serving the community daily since 1891
Across campus, puzzlers get down with Shortz By Emmy Liss Features Editor
The room was silent except for the squeak of markers against whiteboards. Messy letters filled the boxes, building corners with words intertwined. As white space disappeared, the crowd held its breath until, suddenly, Aaron Mazel-Gee ’09 took a step back and threw up his hands. He had finished.
By Lauren Fedor and Ben Schreckinger Senior Staff Writers
FEATURE On Saturday, the Puzzling Association of Brown sponsored its first annual Brown Crossword Puzzle Competition. Hosted by New York Times crossword puzzle editor Will Shortz, the contest could barely be contained in MacMillan 117 as students and members of the larger community flooded in to hear Shortz speak and try their luck at the student-created puzzles. The event’s organizers — Dustin Foley ’09, Joey Weissbrot ’11 and Natan Last ’12 — all came to Brown with a passion for puzzles. Foley, who designs the daily puzzle comic “Enigma Twist” for The Herald, has been making mazes since elementary school and began delving into crossword puzzles in sixth grade. He constructed the
Hang Nguyen / Herald
The Puzzling Association of Brown held its first Crossword Puzzle Competition, hosted by Will Shortz.
crossword for his monthly school paper during junior and senior years of high school. Weissbrot defines himself as more of a doer than a creator — he tackled the Times crossword every day in high school. Then, after finding out through a friend that Shortz takes a summer intern,
Weissbrot spent last summer editing and fact checking puzzles at Shortz’s home. “Will’s house is sort of the Mecca of puzzle making,” Weissbrot said. “Constructors come to his house, hang out and do puzzles.” Weissbrot met — and competed against — some of the Times’ top
puzzle makers. Last has also spent time puzzling at Shortz’s house. Until recently, Last held the record as the youngest creator of a Sunday Times crossword puzzle. To date, he has published nine puzzles in continued on page 2
Strikes at European schools sidetrack students abroad By Anne Simons Senior Staff Writer
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Protests and strikes taking place at universities across France have disrupted classes for most Brown students studying abroad there this semester. Three schools that are hosting Brown students have held almost no classes this semester, while others have seen some just a few classes affected, wrote Annie Wiart, director of the Brown in France program, in an e-mail to The Herald. The professor-led strikes oppose government reforms related to ongoing efforts to standardize higher education policies across the European Union. At Universite de Paris III, for example, where Brown students have been the most affected, strikes have been ongoing for about nine weeks during which virtually no classes have been taught, Wiart wrote. Among the 24 Brown students currently studying in Paris, seven have not been affected at all, while “most” have had one or two of their
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Students never in danger in Trinidad
five classes “partially or completely cancelled,” she wrote. Even some professors not on strike have been unable to teach because of locked classrooms and picketing students, Wiart wrote. A few students study in Lyon, where two of the three universities that host Brown students have been affected and one remains on strike, Wiart wrote. At least one school, Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Lyon, has resumed and made plans to provide a full semester’s worth of teaching by holding class during spring break and later into June, and there is hope that strikes at two Paris universities, IV and VIII, will end soon, Wiart wrote. But the three hardest-hit schools, Lyon II, Paris I and Paris III, may face “completely forfeiting the semester,” she wrote. Despite the disruptions, students should have no concerns about receiving full credit for the semester upon their return to Brown, said Director of the Office of International Programs Kendall
Shristi Pandey / Herald
The Native Americans at Brown hosted the eighth annual Spring Thaw Pow Pow in the Pizzitola Sports Center.
Drums, dancing at annual Spring Thaw Pow Wow By Hannah Moser Senior Staff Writer
The rumbling of drums and jingling of bells filled Pizzitola Sports Center this Saturday and Sunday as the Native Americans at Brown hosted their eighth annual Spring Thaw Pow Wow. Hundreds gathered to take part in the celebration that included food, booths and dancing and
continued on page 3
drumming competitions. The event, which was planned to take place on the Main Green as it was in 2008, was moved inside due to overcast weather. Peter Hatch ’11, a member of NAB and the Siletz tribe of Oregon, said the pow wow attracted 80 to 100 dancers, about a dozen vendors and seven drum groups. continued on page 3
No foul play was involved in the disappearance of two students who had been missing after failing to return home from a spring break trip to Trinidad, according to a local law enforcement official there. “They were unharmed,” the official — a representative of the anti-kidnapping unit of the Trinidad and Tobago police — told The Herald. “They were not abducted. They were not kidnapped,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “They were in fact secured and with a friend, staying at a guest house.” The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. State Department, along with local police in Trinidad, had been investigating the whereabouts of Kimberly Hays ’11 and Sophia Roy ’10 after they did not return to campus by March 30, as friends said they had planned. The girls arrived in Trinidad on March 22, according to a friend of the students. According to the local official, Hays and Roy left Trinidad for the neighboring island of Tobago and “spent some time with a friend.” During that time, they “did not communicate” with their parents, he said. The students returned to Trinidad “around the first of April,” he said, and were staying at another friend’s home on the island when they were located. The official said Friday the students were “safe” and “doing well” in the custody of U.S. State Department officials. Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services Margaret Klawunn confirmed in an e-mail to The Herald that the students were not the victims of foul play. Kimberly Hays’ father, Steven Hays, told The Herald late Thursday that the girls were safe at a hotel in Trinidad, but did not elaborate except to say that “one of them may have been drugged.” On Friday, he said the information about a possible drugging did not come directly from his daughter, Roy or the FBI, and he referred further questions about the investigation to the FBI’s Boston Field Office. Both Steven Hays and a friend of both students said the duo were returning to Providence Sunday. Kimberly Hays, reached Sunday on her cell phone, declined to comment and directed questions to the FBI. Gail Marcinkiewicz, a representative for public affairs at the FBI’s Boston office, said she could neither confirm nor deny the local police official’s account, citing privacy concerns. A U.S. State Department official in Trinidad declined to comment Friday, citing “the Privacy Act.”
Arts, 4
Sports, 5
Opinions, 7
Humanity’s shores “The Other Shore,” a Buddhist play, explores the human condition
yale fails Men’s lacrosse comes from behind late in the game to overtake Yale
voucher left behind Alyssa Ratledge ’11 decries D.C’s decision to do away with school vouchers
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
C ampus N EWS
Monday, April 6, 2009
“In my family, puzzling is a competitive sport.” — Ariel Hudes ’11
It’s Shortz season: Puzzlers tussle in crossword tournament continued from page 1 the Times, which he began submitting the summer after his sophomore year in high school. Because Shortz knew both Last and Weissbrot would be at Brown this year, he suggested they meet up, start a club and organize a competition. Having “no idea how to get it off the ground,” the two went to the Student Activities Office, where someone asked if they knew Foley, Last said. The duo e-mailed him and they hit it off immediately. “Before meeting these guys, I had never met any other puzzle constructors,” Foley said.
The competition was a “great way to kick off this association,” Foley said. Though the group has not yet held regular meetings, they are interested in doing “puzzlish stuff” and hope to expand, Weissbrot added. The association’s founders created three of the four puzzles used at Saturday’s competition. All were edited by Shortz and will appear in the Times within the next two weeks, which will be Foley’s and Weissbrot’s debuts. “I’m not making any allowance because of the relative youth,” Shortz said. “The quality of their puzzles is the same as any Times puzzles.” For many of the 300 people
crammed into MacMillan on Saturday, Shortz was the main attraction. Students clapped and cheered wildly as he took the podium and screams of “I love you, Will!” punctuated the applause. Shortz spoke about his all-time favorite puzzles, many of which could be recognized from the hit documentary “Wordplay.” These included a marriage proposal Shortz orchestrated for an avid puzzler and a puzzle from Election Day 1996, whose clue, “Tomorrow’s Headline,” could be answered with either “Clinton Elected” or “Bob Dole Elected.” “In my family, puzzling is a competitive spor t,” said Ariel Hudes ’11. “And you don’t touch a crossword that doesn’t come from the Times.” Hudes had originally intended to stay only for Shortz’s opening remarks, but decided to participate in the competition for fun. Participants could compete in one of three categories — undergraduates, non-undergraduates and pairs. At the start of each round, the constructor introduced his puzzle (except for the third puzzle, an asyet unpublished creation by Times puzzlemaker Joon Pahk) before contestants flipped over their papers and began writing frantically. Though accuracy was the most important factor for winning, timing was crucial as well. As contestants finished, they were assigned numbers to mark their spots and at the end of 20 minutes, all puzzles
were collected. During the rounds, competitors were silent — those working as pairs communicated only on the grid. But as soon as time was called, contestants broke into a low roar of conversation centered on the puzzles. The five-minute breaks were spent rehashing the clues and answers. “I knew that,” one competitor groaned to a friend. “I just couldn’t figure it out.” After three consecutive rounds, the judges finished scoring all the puzzles while Shortz entertained the audience with interactive word games — a special surprise even for the organizers, Weissbrot said. Finally, the winners of the three rounds for each category were announced and the three undergraduate winners were called forward: Danny Sugar ’11, Jack Gill ’10 and Mazel-Gee. At the front of the room were three whiteboards with drawn-on crossword grids, a sight many recognized from the documentation of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in “Wordplay.” The three contestants — and each member of the audience — received the final puzzle, and the finalists filled their boards with letters as a hush fell over the crowd. Sugar filled nearly the entire top half of his board before either of the other two competitors had made a dent. But they quickly caught up and all three were neckand-neck until the last possible moment. “It really was unclear who was going to win,” Shortz said, noting how exciting it was for the audience to watch. “I was a little more nervous than expected,” Mazel-Gee admitted.
Though he does the Times crossword daily, he had never been in a tournament before and had been aiming to be one of the top 10 finalists. All of the winners in each category received books of puzzles edited and signed by Shortz. He happily personalized the inscription for many of the winners. Dan Katz GS, who is in his sixth and final year of studying mathematics at Brown, swept the non-undergraduate category, winning all three rounds. Katz is an avid puzzler and finished 18th this year at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, which Shortz hosts. “I’m always in favor of more tournaments,” Katz said. “The puzzles were great.” Shortz said he was “really pleased there are so many young people solving and making puzzles.” The turnout was “wonderful” — Brown’s tournament had 200 competitors, as compared to Harvard’s 2008 contest, which boasted only 100 solvers, Shortz said. The Puzzling Association had “no idea” what kind of turnout to expect, Weissbrot said, and was “really, really happy that so many people came.” “Overall, I thought it was great,” he said. After leaving Providence on Saturday, Shortz headed to Harvard to conduct a competition there, and will follow that with a contest at Yale. He has had summer interns from each school and was invited to host all the events. Puzzles from students at the other two schools will be published in the Times as well. Reflecting on the enthusiasm of college students for puzzling, Shortz said, “It’s good for the future of crosswords.”
sudoku
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The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is an independent newspaper serving the Brown University community daily since 1891. It is published Monday through Friday during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement, once during Orientation and once in July by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. POSTMASTER please send corrections to 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 2009 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.
Monday, April 6, 2009
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
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Pow Wow in the Pitz continued from page 1 Vendors sold food such as corn cakes and “Indian tacos,” a modern pow wow staple. Other booths offered clothing and traditional crafts. Each drum group sat around a large common drum and provided the music for the dancers who competed in different events over the weekend, including contemporary fancy shawl dances and more traditional dances. A hand drum competition was also held on Sunday. Elizabeth Hoover GS served as the Head Lady Dancer and it was her responsibility to lead the other women onto the dance floor. She participated in the fancy shawl dance and wore an outfit that she said took her a few years to make. The hummingbird beadwork and neon green fabric reflected a more contemporary Native American style developed in the 1950s, Hoover said. Pow wows have become a seasonal tradition for many Native American families. Hoover has been attending pow wows since she was a child and Katherine Cachimuel, a high school student from Boston, said she and her family attend one almost every seasonal weekend as vendors. The NAB Spring Thaw event is quickly becoming part of many people’s traditions. “People know us because we’ve been here for eight years,” Hatch said. The cultural event attracted a diverse crowd, from people who had attended pow wows throughout
their lives to people who had never seen one before. Though the dance competition required registration to participate, “Intertribal” dances were held throughout the weekend and were open to all in attendance. “Probably the predominant number of people would be from the real local tribes and then a lot of other people have moved to this area or have driven down just for this occasion,” said Hoover, who helped NAB organize the first pow wow in 2002. “This is a way to bring the local people here on campus and have an event for them ... and then at the same time it’s a way of educating the Brown students who are here about contemporary native culture.” Paasheshau Papoose Driver, a cultural teacher who has been attending pow wows her entire life, said pow wows are celebrations of “unity, sovereignty and those things that were attempted to be taken away from our people 500 years ago.” A Narragansett Piquat tribe member, Driver said she was raised to pass on her tribe’s oral culture. “I like (to answer) questions ... there are stereotypical things. I like to correct them.” Many members of the 500-strong crowd that passed through Pizzitola this weekend were simply curious. Rachel Hunter ’12 and her friends saw an announcement about the pow wow and went by “just to see what it was all about” and ended up staying longer than they had planned. “It was good people-watching,” said Hannah Rose-Mann ’12.
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“This semester has been kind of a roller coaster.” — Meredith Weaver ’10
Students abroad to get credit, despite strikes continued from page 1 Brostuen. Students have been consulting individually with the leaders of Brown in France to ensure they have enough class hours and assessments to receive full credit, he said. Measures such as following an accelerated schedule in the latter part of the semester and taking courses offered by Brown directly should make up for students’ cancelled classes when necessar y, he said. In Paris, Brown in France has hired instructors to teach two credit-bearing courses students can take to help make up credits lost to the strikes, Wiart wrote, while students in Lyon have the option of taking two special eight-week classes organized by professors at Institut d’Etudes Politiques for students of some American universities. “Brown is making sure that students get good quality courses, worth full Brown credit,” Wiart wrote. But students whose host universities have been affected said the strikes have caused uncertainty. Tanya Bogaty ’10, who is taking classes at Paris III and IV, wrote in an e-mail to The Herald that some of the classes she had planned to take did not meet for “weeks in a row.” Sometimes professors would post that information ahead of time, she wrote, but often students had to attend class to find out if the profes-
sor would show up. Meredith Weaver ’10, studying at Lyon II and IEP, wrote in an email to The Herald that she had one class that did not meet between Jan. 22 and March 3 and another that met five out of the first eight weeks. All together, there have been seven weeks where at least some classes didn’t meet, she wrote. Because of the strikes, she has had to take different courses than she originally planned, she added. As a result, students have had to take special steps to ensure they can receive credit. “Because the situation varies so much from student to student it has been really important to communicate with the office about what is happening,” Bogaty wrote. “We have to keep logs of which of our classes are meeting and for how many hours per week,” wrote Dustin Sposato ’10 in an e-mail to The Herald. Despite the complications, Wiart and Brostuen both expressed hope that students are taking in the experience of the protests. “They’re living French history,” Brostuen said, adding this is a “very interesting time to be in France.” “We’re encouraging everyone to get a real taste and appreciation of what is happening in France right now,” Wiart wrote. Students reported mixed feelings about the strikes. “It’s hard to complain about spending spring in Paris without
much in the way of class or homework,” Sposato ’10 wrote. “But even though it means we may have more free afternoons, everyone I’ve talked to here is anxious for the strikes to end.” The situation “means we’ve had very limited French university experience,” he wrote. “It’s been difficult to deal with the uncertainty about whether I will get enough credit and the lack of routine from week to week,” Bogaty wrote. “It’s disappointing that instead of being fully immersed in the French university system I am having classes with other Brown students,” she added. “This semester has been kind of a roller coaster,” Weaver wrote, saying that the uncertainty caused by the strikes is frustrating. “I have seen a side of France that I did not expect.” “I have been told that the roots of this movement were growing last semester. If this is truly the case, I think Brown should have warned students of the possibility,” Weaver added. Brostuen said Brown officials saw no reason to expect strikes apart from a general histor y in France of strikes and protests. But overall, Weaver’s experience in France so far has made her appreciate Brown more, she wrote. “Suddenly Banner and the occasional class during reading period don’t seem so bad,” she wrote.
Arts & Culture The Brown Daily Herald
Monday, April 6, 2009 | Page 4
Travel to ‘The Other Shore’ By Adam Lubitz Contributing Writer
The audience travels along with the cast of Gao Xingjian’s “The Other Shore” through various settings and quirky vignettes. Some characters gamble, others play tug-of-war as the production rides with its audience to the other shore and back. In Buddhism, the “other shore” signifies the place of enlightenment. At the Leeds Theatre, members of the cast both construct a river with their bodies and cross over it. Audience and actors alike are submerged into a dreamlike world that drifts between different characters and a number of narratives. Entering the theater, the audience is literally greeted by the performers. The cast runs through warm-ups onstage, and, while stretching and doing light calisthenics, welcome their friends and acquaintances to the theater. The atmosphere is so relaxed that when a cast member changed the track playing from the boombox, a friendly dispute arose about one song’s merits over the other’s. This initial interaction, which lacks both script and fourth wall, establishes that the audience is to travel with the players in this production, rather than merely spectate. Rafael Cebrian Aranda ’11 poignantly announces, “Our play starts with a game.” The ensemble cast proceeds to demonstrate how folks
playing with a simple thing like a rope can be the manifestation of myriad and distinct interpersonal relationships. Love (physical and romantic), fighting, excitement and tensions of all kinds are successfully carried forth by a cast that is not timid, to say the least. Multiple roles are shared, and quite often the performers must become the center of attention and then swiftly return to participating in the ensemble. This feat is carried off professionally by the undergraduate cast and it is a great pleasure to watch a play with actors in such fine tune with each other and the overall tenor of the production. Of particular note was the dummy-ventriloquist duo portrayed by Matt Bauman ’10 and Michelle Ilutsik Snyder ’09.5 — as well as Chris Smothers ’10 — whose focus and placid stage presence underscored the meditative elements of the show nicely. Every performance attested to a cooperative and instructive rehearsal style, most appropriate in a collegiate theatrical setting. Xingjian’s “The Other Shore” puts the human condition on display. Originally written as an acting exercise, the play invites the audience to learn to use words, anger, suspicion, mob mentality and blame as they witness the performers discover speech. The play’s avant-garde nature and individualistic focus were deemed threatening by the Chinese govern-
a rt s i n b r i e f
Production Workshop’s New Deal Production Workshop, Brown’s only completely studentrun theater organization, is changing its show selection process. PW has seven available slots to fill each year with student productions: three slots first semester, three second semester and one during Commencement. In the past, PW has had a rolling submission process where shows were picked for production one at a time. The new submission process — which the PW calls the “New Deal” — will now only accept proposals three times per year and will select from each pool of submissions to fill two to three shows at a time, depending on the season. PW’s Fall Season will consist of two productions during first semester. Winter Season will combine the third slot of the first semester with the first and second slots of second semester, for a total of three slated productions. The Spring Season will comprise two shows: the third slot of second semester and one Commencement slot. With these changes, the PW Board intends to allow more time for show production and the creative process. Since a few shows are chosen at once, people involved will know ahead of time whether their show will be in production or not. In an informational meeting last week, Max Posner ’11 said this change will enable directors to “truly dream up their projects.” Posner also said the PW Board hopes its New Deal will encourage a larger volume of proposals, since it will allow people to plan their semesters around PW shows with greater ease. Along with these changes in the submission process, PW will implement a buddy system wherein students planning to submit scripts for consideration will be assigned a PW veteran to help with the proposal process. April 29 will be this year’s deadline for Fall 2009 proposals. The Fall season has two slots offered, one the weekend of Sept. 25 and the other the weekend of Oct. 16. All students are eligible to submit show proposals to the PW Board. — Alexys Esparza
ment. The regime banned the play in 1986, along with several of Xingjian’s other works, motivating him to leave China and begin his life in France as a political refugee. The show’s director Kym Moore, a visiting assistant professor of Theatre, Speech and Dance, utilizes the individual talents of her performers to great success. Tightrope walking, tap dancing and even a jump from a supine to standing position are all incorporated, but with the discretion of a seasoned eye for the stage. Moore, who has directed “The Other Shore” in an undergraduate setting before, commented that this incarnation is completely different, no doubt due to the inclusive rehearsal style. “(The Other Shore) was a phenomenal collaboration,” Moore said. She added that whenever she or the cast experienced an inadvertent success in rehearsal, “I’d pull it out, and we would turn it into something.” The combination of Brunonian creative talent and Moore’s dramatic instincts lent itself very well to the musical writing style and eclectic tone of the piece. Aided by a flexible set and excellent lighting, the cast consistently produces evocative stage pictures for the audience. “The Other Shore” is under two hours, but it’s unlikely you’ll be checking your watch; I know I didn’t. “The Other Shore” can be seen at Leeds Theatre April 9-12, at 8pm on Thurs-Sat, and 2pm on Sun.
W hat is s l a v ?
Justin Coleman / Herald The Slavic community at Brown celebrated their culture Saturday with the Slavic Festival, featuring student performances, dancing and traditional food.
Brown and Tufts choruses join forces BY Caitlin Trujillo Contributing Writer
Over 100 powerful voices filled Sayles Saturday night as the Brown University Chorus, in tandem with their guests — the Tufts University Concert Choir — put on a memorable and passionate performance. The show began with the Brown Chorus performing two British folksongs arranged by John Rutter — “O Waly, Waly” and “Dashing Away with the Smoothing Iron.” Though united by the theme of love, the songs differed tonally. The Chorus sang “O Waly, Waly” with a soft sweetness devoid of melodrama, conveying the laments of troubled love with a pensive and subtle sadness. “Dashing Away with the Smoothing Iron,” conversely, was joyous in its celebration of love and charming in its liveliness. The Chorus shifted to a more somber tone in the next portion of the show, which featured selections from Ildebrando Pizzetti’s “Requiem.” As the ominous Latin hymns intensified, Sayles filled with thick sound, creating a soothing ambience that was both haunting and uplifting. The Tufts choir also performed religious music, singing Bach’s “Lobet den Herrn” in spirited and exultant tones. The singers were clearly enjoying themselves, gesturing animatedly with their bodies as well as their voices. Their next piece, the world premiere of a Travis Worthley selection called “The Human Secret,” further emphasized physical movement.
This song, according to the show’s program, is meant to discuss man’s perpetual search for meaning. The choir used stomping throughout the piece to symbolize this daily march of humanity, Andrew Clark, the Tufts conductor, told The Herald. “The Human Secret” was dark and ominous. Soprano Robyn Goodner, a Tufts sophomore, sang a strong solo, forcefully conveying the vulnerability of the human condition. Near the end, the singers’ voices softened but retained their strength, indicating the song’s resilient hope that though the answers to life may never be certified, the search is worthwhile in and of itself. The two choirs finally came together for the last piece, selections from Rachmaninoff’s “All-Night Vigil.” Sung in Russian, the piece started quietly and then built in strength. Again, a multitude of voices resounded in Sayles with powerful religious fervor before ultimately receding. The night ended with a jaunty “Praise the Name of the Lord,” a lively chant compared to its fellow hymns. Clark and Brown’s conductor, Frederick Jodry, senior lecturer in music, began arranging the concert in December, though the two choirs had never performed together until Saturday night. Jodry told The Herald that he and Clark discussed the musical details of each choir’s individual performance as well as the particulars of the final Rachmaninoff piece. The conductors chose to have their choirs collaborate on this piece
because it sounds better with a large group of singers, Jodry said. They chose Sayles for its acoustics, Jodry added, and the singers’ voices certainly resonated in the large space. Clark told The Herald Sayles was different than the space his choir is accustomed to, but that they all thought it was beautiful once they had the chance to sing in it. The proceeds of the collaborative show will help fund the Brown Chorus’s trip to Prague and Vienna in May. On Sunday, Brown returned the favor by performing with the Tufts choir on its campus. Audience member Ben Bonyhadi ’11 thought the Rachmaninoff pieces that were first performed were stronger and should have come last, but he found the concert impressive on the whole. “I was very pleased,” Bonyhadi said. “It might’ve jumped around a little too much, but overall, it was very enjoyable.” The directors and singers also enjoyed the experience and were pleased with the two choirs’ first attempt at collaboration. “It was really fun to sing with new people,” said Camile Rodriguez ’11, a member of the Brown Chorus. According to Jodry, this type of collaborative concert was not the first in which Brown has participated, nor is it likely to be the last. “It’s fun to hear other groups,” he said. “It’s fun to see what other universities have to offer.”
SportsMonday The Brown Daily Herald
M. lax comes from behind for a win over Yale By Elisabeth Avallone Spor ts Staf f Writer
With ten minutes remaining in the third quarter, the No. 9 men’s lacrosse team trailed Yale, 9-6. But with seven unanswered goals and strong fourth quarter play, the Bears came from behind for a 13-9 victory this Saturday, their eighth consecutive win. With the win, Brown improved its record to 9-1 overall and 2-0 in the Ivy League. “Yesterday was a great team effort,” said quad-captain Kyle Hollingsworth ’09. “It was the first game this season that we have really been down, and it was great to see our team overcome that adversity.” Leading the Bears’ attack was Thomas Muldoon ’10, who led the team with four goals, advancing his point streak to 29 games, the sixth-best active streak in the country. Andrew Feinberg ’11, Brown’s leading scorer of the season, contributed three goals and an assist, while Hollingsworth and Brady Williams ’09 each added an additional goal and two assists. In the net, All-American quadcaptain Jordan Burke ’09 anchored Brown’s defense with 15 saves, including three saves in the fourth quarter, when he held Yale (4-5, 1-3 Ivy) scoreless. “Yale played a really tough game yesterday, and it took us a while to get it together,” Muldoon said. “But when we play as a team and play our game, I truly believe that we can’t be stopped.” Midway through the first half, Brown was seemingly controlling the game as two goals by Muldoon and a goal each by Feinberg and Rob Schlesinger ’12 pushed the Bears to a 4-3 lead. A goal by Hollingsworth with 7:47 left in the half widened the lead to 5-3, but Yale countered with four unanswered goals in the closing minutes of the half to take a 7-5 lead over Brown. The Bulldogs’ scoring streak continued, as they secured an 8-5
Justin Coleman / Herald
Men’s lacrosse came from behind in the fourth quarter to beat Yale.
lead early into the third quarter. Muldoon cut the lead to 8-6 with his third goal of the day, but that was countered with another Yale goal. But Williams’ goal with 5:55 on the clock would be the first of seven consecutive goals for the Bears, and Brown entered the fourth quarter trailing 9-7. An unassisted goal by Collins Carey ’10 midway through the fourth made it a one-goal game and with 9:20 left to play, Feinberg tied the game at 9-9. Minutes later, quad-captain Jack Walsh ’09 gave Brown the lead off a feed from Williams, followed by an unassisted goal by Reade Seligman ’09. Feinberg’s third goal of the game and Muldoon’s fourth cushioned
Brown’s lead, for the 13-9 win. “I am really proud and impressed with the mental toughness of our team,” said Head Coach Lars Tiffany ’90. “We faced a determined and excited opponent, who gave us everything they had, and we not only withstood them, but also, despite being down three goals in the third quarter, continued to believe in who we are. We continued to play Brown lacrosse and our style of game, to keep fighting the battle.” The Bears will face off next Saturday against Penn at 1 p.m. on Stevenson Field. “Every game means the world to us, and we will do everything we can to beat UPenn next weekend,” Muldoon said.
Monday, April 6, 2009 | Page 5
Ben Singer ’10: The Tar Heel Plan
Facing mounting political pressure to jump-start the nation amid a historic recession, President Obama announced yesterday his decision to bet the entire Ben Singer U.S. economy on High Notes the University of North Carolina men’s basketball team winning the NCAA tournament. The Tar Heel Plan, as it is known, originated from the president’s obsession with March Madness combined with the realization that he had assembled “the best basketball-playing cabinet in American history.” Among its hallowed ranks are Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, a former co-captain at Harvard who played professionally in Australia, National Security Advisor James Jones, a 6’4’’ former forward for Georgetown University and the president himself, who struggled to make his high school team despite a self-professed “devastating” jump-shot. The idea for the plan dawned on the president while he was filling out his inaugural bracket during a cabinet meeting three weeks ago. Some perceive the president’s Tar Heel plan as a hasty departure from his previous strategy of a congressional stimulus package and investment in long-term infrastructure. Amid allegations that the plan is a risky gamble, especially given
UNC’s early exit from the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament at the hands of middling Florida State University, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke held a conference explaining his support for the President’s proposal. In the question-and-answer portion of the conference, Bernanke was asked specifically why the Fed gave up on pursuing a multi-faceted strategy of using more of the tools at its disposal, such as the discount rate. But Obama has continued implementing his plan. Just last Monday, the president delivered an ultimatum to Detroit automaker giants General Motors, Ford and Chrysler to clean up their acts in preparation for the Final Four and national title game, which the Motor City hosts tonight. In the wake of Obama’s recent ultimatum, some have come out in greater support of the President’s economic agenda. Chief economic bracketology expert Dick Vitale said of the Obama plan, “It’s freaking awesome, baby! UNC’s gonna put Barry O.B. on the map!” before returning to film an endorsement for Hooters’ barbecue wings.
Ben Singer ’09 thinks the Spartans will bankrupt the nation.
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Editorial & Letters The Brown Daily Herald
Page 6 | Monday, April 6, 2009
e d i to r i a l
Taken
The campus was in for a shock last Wednesday evening. Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services Margaret Klawunn and Dean Katherine Bergeron sent out an e-mail announcing that two Brown students were missing — they had not returned from spring break, and the University was working with friends, family and law enforcement to locate them. No names were provided, nor any identifying information. The announcement did, however, include detailed contact information for psychological counseling services to deal with potential grief. This was a dire suggestion. Arriving only four days after the break, it prompted students to worry about friends and acquaintances — were they all okay? And if so, then who was missing? It also set off a flurry of local and national coverage: The message claimed to be preparing students for distressing media reports, but the coverage that followed invariably traced back to the message itself. It was a bad miscalculation; even media vultures won’t swoop down on a “co-eds in peril” story unless it has some meat on it, and that’s what the e-mail provided. Soon enough, the tension was defused. On Thursday evening, another email assured us all that the students had been found. The next day, The Herald reported that the two had been vacationing on the Caribbean island of Trinidad, a country noted by the State Department as a dangerous vacation destination. A missed flight seems to have been the extent of their tribulations. Naturally, we’re relieved that the students are safe and thankful for the efforts of the government officials and Brown staff who helped to locate them. But we’re also conscious of one thing that hasn’t come to light — a single piece of hard evidence justifying Wednesday’s e-mail. Before uncovering anything other than circumstantially troubling evidence, the University made a choice that broadcast the students’ situation to the student body and subjected their personal affairs to unnecessary scrutiny from their peers and the media. When an announcement of this kind can be expected to advance legitimate safety interests, the risk of alarm or embarrassment should not be a deterrent. But in this case, there could not have been a reasonable expectation that such an interest would be advanced. Even if the students’ situation had been desperate, no harm could have come from waiting for actual information before breaking the news to the community at large. We hope there won’t be a “next time.” But if there is, University officials need to think hard before they speak.
F ranny C hoi
Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.
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Opinions The Brown Daily Herald
Monday, April 6, 2009 | Page 7
Opening independent concentrations for questions NICK WERLE Opinions Columnist A lot has changed since I applied to Brown as a biochemistry concentrator. Back then I planned to take four years of Mandarin so that I could have a competitive advantage as a scientific researcher. Back then I thought I would be a neurosurgeon when I grew up. And not one of those things is true today. I’ve never taken a single class in biochemistry or Chinese and I can’t think of something I want to do less than study for the MCAT. But there is one thing I specifically intended to do, back when I was working my way toward senioritis, that I have completed: an independent concentration. I’m happy — and honestly a little surprised — to be able to say that I will be the first “Modern Critical Philosophy” concentrator. The College Curriculum Committee subcommittee on independent concentrations tentatively approved my concentration the week before spring break, and after I make a couple of minor changes to my proposal I will be in the clear. Generally, the independent concentration proposal process was a good experience, even if it felt like I had a fifth class for the first half of this semester. Before proposing, my idea for a concentration felt pretty contrived, and I wasn’t sure if the only justification for its independence was my own gimmicky enthusiasm. But after spending weeks writing and revising my proposal, I felt like “Modern Critical Philosophy” was at least as justifiable a concentration as Commerce, Organizations and Entrepreneurship. I then ran the gaunt-
let of advisers, Curricular Resource Center coordinators and Associate Dean of the College for Upperclass Studies Karen Krahulik. Then, finally, I submitted my proposal to the independent concentration subcommittee. And that was it. After e-mailing my proposal to Dean Krahulik, who was quite helpful through this whole multi-year process, I had nothing else to do. It was a shock to find out that I would have no opportunity to speak to any of the members of the com-
flect an existing field of study. Though it will include courses from multiple departments, “the concentration must articulate a coherent field of study, with a disciplinary focus and cohesive connection between its various components,” according to the CRC’s independent concentration guide. Articulating the subtleties of this coherence is the most difficult part of the application. And through no fault of their own, professors from starkly different disciplines
Since the committee meets in secret, there is no opportunity for students to defend their own work in front of the committee and correct any misperceptions about their proposal.
mittee that would be evaluating whether my academic plans were worthy of the University’s sanction. While the membership of the independent concentration subcommittee changes annually, it is always composed of a group of faculty members, a student program coordinator from the CRC and the dean currently in charge of the program. While these faculty members are surely great researchers and (hopefully) dedicated educators, there is no way of knowing whether their areas of expertise overlap with any of the concentrations in question. By their very nature, independent concentrations are specific and frequently technical. Indeed, the most important requirement for a potential concentration is that it must re-
may not always be able to appreciate these nuances. My concentration, for example, carefully stakes out a position between traditional Anglo-American analytic philosophy and modern continental critique. I wonder how a committee member who is unfamiliar with both schools of thought could either independently evaluate my claims about the materials or understand the exact relation of the proposed concentration to existing ones. Because students prepare their proposals with help from faculty advisors in their own fields, it may not be immediately apparent if something in the proposal is unclear. My biggest concern when submitting my proposal was that there would be a simple misinterpretation of my concentration. And since the committee meets in secret, there is
no opportunity for students to defend their own work in front of the committee and correct any misperceptions about their proposals. As a result, some unintentional misreading of a technical disciplinary argument might metastasize and cause the committee to reject a concentration proposal or demand unnecessarily radical revisions. Neither of these things happened in my case — I just need to get a letter of support from a professor in the philosophy department — but it was a big concern. From my conversations with other students in the independent concentration program, I gather that this is a common worry. I think the whole process would be well served by opening at least some of the committee’s deliberations to the students whose work is being evaluated. Just as other large academic projects — theses and dissertations, for example — benefit from an in-person defense, the independent concentration program could work much more smoothly and produce much less anxiety for students if there were an opportunity for students to answer questions. This could also save the committee members some time, since they would no longer have to reconsider proposals rejected due to confusion. Obviously, applicants shouldn’t be present for the whole meeting since the committee should be able to speak candidly about any proposal it is considering. But it couldn’t be that much of an imposition to allow students an opportunity to answer questions that might otherwise lead the committee to prolong an already lengthy and difficult process.
Nick Werle ’10 is (officially) a modern critical philosophy and physics concentrator from Port Washington, New York.
Hey, Senator! Leave them kids alone! BY ALYSSA RATLEDGE Opinions Columnist For 1,700 poor elementary school students in Washington, D.C., the best chance for a quality education ended last week. Despite entreaties from Education Secretary Arne Duncan and even President Barack Obama himself, the Senate used the omnibus spending bill to eliminate the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program by the 2009-10 school year. Implemented by a Democratic D.C. mayor in 2004, this program allows public school students in D.C.’s most troubled schools to apply for scholarships to attend charter and private schools of their choosing. Why would Senate Democrats and teachers’ unions so vehemently oppose a plan that aims to improve education access and outcomes for the poorest students? Because for them, this is a first step towards the mortal sin of school choice. There is no substantial data on the efficacy of this particular program, but the anecdotal evidence of success, found everywhere from the Cato Institute to the New York Times, indicates that something remarkable has taken place. Students who would otherwise face great barriers to educational success are excelling far beyond expectations. Because they are no longer trapped by their geography and socioeconomic status, they finally have the opportunity to access the type of education that many people in the United States take for granted. Consider this: The average annual income
for families of enrolled children is $22,736. Such families don’t have the option to “vote with their feet” and improve their children’s prospects by moving to an area with better schools. They don’t have the disposable income to hire private tutors or enroll their children in expensive after-school activities. What they do have is the opportunity to apply for a scholarship — yes, a school voucher — that gives the poorest children in some of the poorest neighborhoods in the country
But “fixing” public education, especially in economically depressed areas, isn’t easy; if it were, Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton would have done it. Since Carter created the Department of Education, average per-pupil spending in American public schools has gone from $2,307 to $8,701. We haven’t seen a 377 percent increase in education quality. Throwing money at the problem hasn’t solved it. School choice is no panacea. It doesn’t help attract better teachers to low-income areas. It
What message does ending the school voucher program send to these children — you know first-hand what a good education feels like, but because you can’t afford it, you don’t deserve it anymore? an educational lifeline. Eliminating this program preserves private schools as a privilege available only for the affluent. That seems directly at odds with Democrats’ claims for more universal access to education. I understand why many liberals are opposed to school vouchers. Their philosophy dictates that — rather than allow children to opt out of failing schools and enroll in schools that offer a comprehensive, worthwhile education — the government ought to fix the schools in question. According to them, sound public schools are the most equitable solution to education inequality.
doesn’t force parents who are disinterested in their children’s education to take an active role. Teachers will still struggle to find ways to instill a love of reading in children whose families own no books and will still fail at disciplining children who have no rules at home. Schools will still face the specter of violence on one hand and lawsuits on the other. Allowing some students to escape the inevitability of an inferior or nonexistent education doesn’t fix the overarching problems with today’s public education system. All it does is give those children who need it most a chance to do better. But isn’t that a laudable goal?
Senate Democrats have laid their cards on the table: Ideology is more important than the future of D.C.’s poorest children. D.C. School Chancellor Michelle Rhee and Duncan, people on opposite sides of the educationreform spectrum, have both expressed their dismay at the idea that low-income children flourishing under the scholarship program will soon be forced back into failing public schools, a difficult transition with detrimental consequences. It is hard to switch schools anyway, but to be forced by the federal government to accept a lesser education because of your economic station? What message does that send to these children — you know first-hand what a good education feels like, but because you can’t afford it, you don’t deserve it anymore? People at Brown spend a lot of time discussing how to convince more minority and low-income students to apply, but education starts earlier than that. If children can’t get a passable education from their neighborhood public school, they shouldn’t be condemned to stay there, languishing, for 12 years. When children have been given equal access to schools where they can thrive, regardless of their parents’ income level, they shouldn’t have that taken away from them to protect the sanctity of a public school ideal. Obama has said that he plans to fight Congress to prevent the program from expiring next year. Let’s hope he does.
Alyssa Ratledge ’11 went to public school, but she can vouch for vouchers.
Today The Brown Daily Herald
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Brown, Tufts choruses team up
5
M. lax roars past Bulldogs
to day
to m o r r o w
56 / 43
48 / 34
Monday, April 6, 2009
comics
the news in images Cabernet Voltaire | Abe Pressman
5 Enigma Twist | Dustin Foley
c a l e n da r Today, April 6
Tomorrow, April 7
6 PM — Beyond Sexy: A Pole Dancing Workshop, Instruction by the Poler Bears, Harkness Lounge
7 PM — The Obama Effect: Global Reactions to the New American President, MacMillan 117
9 PM — “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” panel discussion, Barus and Holley 168
8 PM — Holy Sh*t, an open mic about spirituality, Petteruti Lounge
menu
Pass/Fail | Steve Larrick and Alex Rosenberg
Sharpe Refectory
Verney-Woolley Dining Hall
Lunch — Chicken Fingers with Dipping Sauces, Spinach Pie
Lunch — Cavatini, Vegan Stuffed Peppers, Sauteed Zucchini and Onions, Raspberry Swirl Cookies
Dinner — Beef Pot Pie, Chicken Milanese, Tomato Rice Pilaf, Peas with Pearl Onions, Carrots in Parsley Sauce
Dinner — Teriyaki Chicken, Sweet and Sour Tofu, Chinese Fried Rice
RELEASE DATE– Monday, April 6, 2009
Los Angeles Times Puzzle c r o sDaily s w oCrossword rd Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 Narrow-necked pear 5 James who robbed trains 10 Wine glass part 14 Pasty-faced 15 Laud, as virtues 16 Drive-__ window 17 “Pow!” relative 18 Immune system agent 19 Litter’s littlest 20 *Shari Lewis puppet 22 ’50s first lady 23 50-and-over org. 24 Open-bodied truck 26 Moon mission name 29 Photo enlargement 30 No-goodnik 31 Really punch 32 Hosp. scanners 35 Extinguish, with “out” 36 “Shh!” (and a hint to the feature shared by the answers to starred clues) 39 Legal Lance 40 __ away: hide on a ship 42 Hit, in billiards 43 Paquin and Nicole Smith 45 Jeff Gordon was its 1993 Rookie of the Year 47 Cavern 48 Sold for a big profit, as tickets 50 Gucci of fashion 51 Brit’s boob tube 52 *Act all innocent 56 Miscellany 57 Soft-tipped pen brand 59 Civil War color 60 Dole’s 1996 running mate 61 Give up 62 This, in Tegucigalpa 63 Draws away from shore 64 Force units 65 Swedish auto
DOWN 1 Cry loudly 2 On-the-job protection org. 3 Pillow covering 4 Drummer’s crashers 5 Rockers __ Tull 6 Many a security guard 7 One of AA’s twelve 8 Sun, in Spain 9 Building addition 10 Layer 11 *Duster’s find at a crime scene 12 Tennessee-born country singer Ford 13 Like a subdued trumpet 21 Biblical spy 22 Paw’s mate? 24 Transmission stuff 25 Opera box 26 Mont Blanc’s range 27 Protruded-lip expression
28 *Precariously situated 29 More azure 31 Cheerleading unit 33 “Let’s leave __ that” 34 Mediocre 37 Pilate’s “Behold!” 38 Late 41 Trounces 44 Annoying people 46 James Bond, e.g. 47 Piercing looks
48 Stir the fire 49 Paparazzi target 50 __ and kicking 52 It can be chronic or shooting 53 Bear among the stars 54 __ Hari 55 “We’re not serving liquor,” briefly 57 Bk. introduction 58 Make, as a wager
The One About Zombies | Kevin Grubb
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
pa i d a dv e r t i s e m e n t
xwordeditor@aol.com
By Elizabeth A. Long (c)2009 Tribune Media Services, Inc.
04/06/09
04/06/09
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