Thursday, February 18, 2010

Daily Herald the Brown

vol. cxlv, no. 17 | Thursday, February 18, 2010 | Serving the community daily since 1891

BioMed finds growth, new home amid recession UTRAs

will not increase

By Kate Monks Senior Staf f Writer

The Division of Biology and Medicine’s annual report shows signs of growth during the 2008-09 academic year despite the economic recession, including an increased class size for the Alpert Medical School and millions of dollars in grants.

As of Dec. 1, the division had received more than $11 million in National Institute of Health grants funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, according to the report. Renovations on an existing building in the Jewelry District will be completed in 2011 to create the Med School’s new home.

But BioMed has not been completely immune from the recession, said Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences Edward Wing.

“The division is affected like the rest of the University,” said Wing.

“We have, in some cases, had to think about cutting staff.” He also said that some staff members have

By Thomas Jarus Contributing Writer

Relations, O’Hara said.

But in 2004, the administration moved to create the Senior Class Board, in order to unite the senior class before leaving and to plan their Senior Week and post-graduation events, such as reunions, wrote Junior Class President Neil Parikh ’11 in an e-mail to the Herald.

“The goal was to create a Senior Week for everyone,” O’Hara said. “They’ve done a terrific job and it gets better ever y year.”

The Senior Class Board was

The University does not intend to expand opportunities for Undergraduate Teaching and Research Awards this year, said Besenia Rodriguez, associate dean of the College for undergraduate research.

Though last year’s Task Force on Undergraduate Education recommended increasing the number of UTRAs, the economy prevented the University from executing the recommendation.

This year, the recession has prevented the expansion of the UTRA program again, Rodriguez said.

“Because of the economic climate, that’s still not really a possibility,” she said.

While the University cannot fund additional UTRAs, she said it is committed to insuring that the number of awards does not decrease. About 200 awards were available last summer, The Herald reported last February.

Though the task force pushed for more research awards, the size of the applicant pool has not grown significantly since last year, Rodriguez said.

More students attended information sessions about the UTRA program this year than last year, but the number of applicants was about the same, she said.

But the UTRA program has changed in other ways. In 2008, the creation of semester UTRAs allowed undergraduates to participate in research during the school year, Rodriguez said. Students who received these awards worked on projects that could

continued on page 2

continued on page 3

Herald file photo

The Division of Biology and Medicine has continued to grow despite the recession.

participated in early retirement.

He said that BioMed, though relying on the endowment, is also able to receive a large amount of revenue from grants, easing the financial pressure the division faces.

One of the biggest projects for

BioMed over the next two years is creating a new home for the Med School. Located at Richmond and Ship streets, the new Medical Education Building will be able to ser ve more students and allow the University to increase the Med School class size, according

to the report. This should allow the school to expand its class size from 96 medical students to 120, Wing said.

“We’re doing that in part because there’s a need for physicians continued on page 2

Class boards foster spirit, plan activities Disorderly conduct trial delayed

By Kristina Fazzalaro Staf f Writer

By Goda Thangada Senior Staf f Writer

A trial scheduled for Feb. 17 regarding Providence mayoral candidate Chris Young’s arrest at a University event has been postponed to March 10.

Young was charged with disorderly conduct following a November forum on health care reform.

Stephen Ryan, city solicitor, said he had requested that the trial be postponed because he had a scheduling conflict. Young and his lawyers, Thomas Brejcha and Keven McKenna, appeared in court as scheduled, though the trial was not held.

Brejcha flew to Providence from Chicago for the trial. He works for the Thomas More Society, a nonprofit public interest law firm specializing in incidents related to pro-life activism. A spokesperson for the society, Stephanie Lewis, said Brejcha had gone to Providence hoping the case would be dismissed as requested in a court filing.

Ryan said the defendants were notified about a week in advance, but the Web site for the Thomas More Society posted a notice on Feb. 16 that the trial would occur

inside

continued on page 2

News.....1-4 Metro.......5-6 Spor ts...7-9 Editorial..10 Opinion...11 Today........12

www.browndailyherald.com

The Undergraduate Council of Students handles student government. The Undergraduate Finance Board takes care of the finances. And a third group of organizations — the Class Boards — focuses primarily on the social aspect of Brown students’ daily lives, according to Salsabil Ahmed ’11, a member of the 2011 Class Board.

The boards’ mission is threefold, Director of Student Activities Phil O’Hara ’55 said. They

work on community building among the classes, strive to promote student-alumni relations and foster relationships between the upper and lower classes, he said.

According to O’Hara, Class Boards is a relatively new institution. “They have a ver y challenging job because before 2004, there was no organization like this on campus.”

Prior to the formation of the boards, there was no funding for Senior Week and the group responsible for organizing the week’s events was under Alumni

Film festival brings the arts to Providence kids

By Brigitta Greene Metro Editor

A tower of miniature cupcakes, flutes of sparkling apple cider, a visit from the mayor and — of course — bags upon bags of fresh,

METRO butter y popcorn. After almost a year of planning and with hundreds of kids squirming in their seats, the first annual Providence Children’s Film Festival officially kicked off Friday night at Providence’s Cable Car Cinema.

The festival, which wrapped up on Monday, featured screenings of children’s films, anima-

tions and documentaries at both the Cable Car and Rhode Island School of Design’s Metcalf Auditorium. Over 1,800 people attended the festival’s screenings and workshops, according to Brenda Shannon, vice president of the festival’s Board of Directors.

“It’s just another example of the impor tance of ar ts and culture to the city,” Mayor David Cicilline ’83 told The Herald. He presented the Festival Board with a proclamation from the city on Friday evening, calling up all the children from the audience for the subsequent photo op.

Smiling among the peace signs and bunny ears, Cicilline pushed the smallest kids to the front of

Courtesy of Avery Houser

The Cable Car Cinema hosted movies at a discounted rate as part of the Providence Children’s Film Festival over the weekend.

the crowd. Though he has no children himself, he said he has the “23,000 in the Providence school system” to keep him on

his game.

“It’s a great idea to teach chilcontinued on page 6

Metro, 5

Sports, 7

Opinions, 11

school’s out Gov. Carcieri’s ’65 budget proposal slashes education funding

Athlete of the Week Garrett Leffelman ’11 on politics, Evan Turner and basketball

weeding it out Michael Fitzpatrick ’12 asks smokers to open a window

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

herald@browndailyherald.com

Page 2

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

C ampus N EWS

Thursday, February 18, 2010

“Since 2004, no class has left without a nice little kitty.”

— Phil O’Hara, Director of Student Activities, on alumni funds

Keeping it ‘classy’ with the SAO Med School expands continued from page 1

a great success among students and administrators, Parikh wrote, and so through a joint venture between the Student Activities Office and the Alumni Relations Office, the class boards were expanded, Parikh wrote.

The boards were constituted as a Category 3 group by the UCS in April 2004, said O’Hara. They are affiliated both with the SAO and Alumni Relations, working with advisors O’Hara and Julie Schmidt, associate director of university and alumni outreach, from each organization, he added.

“I meet with them once a week and they set the agenda,” O’Hara said. “I tr y not to look over their shoulders.”

“We really try to work with the administration,” Ahmed said. “We have to make sure ever yone’s on the same page.”

Since their inception, the boards have been ver y successful in their attempts to organize events such as last Spring Weekend’s Foam Party and a concert featuring European pop group Gunther and the Sunshine Girls in 2008, said Parikh.

“All of our ideas come from students,” he said. “They wanted to bring Gunther to Brown and we found a way to do it. We’re pushing the boundaries of what you can do at Brown.”

“We tr y to go all out,” Ahmed said. “Sometimes other student groups can’t get past barriers. We

can because we have the backing of Phil, the SAO and Alumni Relations.”

The boards have also improved safety concerns voiced by the SAO, according to O’Hara. The SAO made several suggestions concerning the overcrowding at off-campus events and the propensity of Brown students left behind at these gatherings, he said.

In response to these concerns, the boards have worked to let students know the size of an event’s venue in advance and also to begin using shuttles to transport Brown students safely back and forth from events, said O’Hara.

Events sponsored by the class boards are planned both for their individual classes and for the student body at large, Parikh wrote.

Because of UFB funding policies, their events must be open to all Brown students so they generally adver tise events to all classes, though each board targets their own year, he added.

Parikh said the boards would be working on planning more events for their individual classes or offering them incentives, such as paying half-price admission fees.

The class boards are also struggling to brand their individual classes, Parikh said. Their mission “sometimes goes against the independent culture of Brown,” Parikh said. “We have to find the unifying thread that brings them together.”

With only six years of experi-

sudoku

Daily Herald

ence, however, the class boards are still getting their footing.

“We’re not going to succeed at everything we do,” Parikh said.

“But if we do ever ything 75 percent very well, I think we’re doing a good job.”

“This is a laborator y here,” O’Hara said. “It’s about progress, not perfection.”

The class boards’ biggest obstacle is funding, Parikh said.

UFB doesn’t fund the class boards in any significant way, O’Hara said. “When the class boards star ted, they had no money.”

Although fundraising has sometimes made it difficult for event planning, one of the greatest accomplishments of the Class Boards has been to generate revenue for Alumni Relations, said O’Hara.

“When you come back for your five-year reunion, they already have a treasur y started,” O’Hara said. “Since 2004, no class has left without a nice little kitty. It’s there personally for them.”

These funds come both from fees seniors pay at the beginning of the year for their Senior Week activities and from seed money President Ruth Simmons gives the class boards each year to plan these activities, according to O’Hara.

“The integrity of this school is the undergraduates,” he said.

“And Class Boards is a jewel of an organization working to keep it that way.”

classes, creates academies continued from page 1 in the nation, but also we’re one of the best medical schools,” said Wing. “We’re in the top quarter of medical schools.”

The renovation of the building is expected to cost about $45 million and should be completed by August 2011, according to the report.

At that time, the Med School will also begin dividing all students into “academies” where they will be a part of a group of 40 students that will stay together throughout their four years in medical school, according to the report. The academy system “provides the ideal setting for small group learning and creates a sense of community.” The new building will also contain state-ofthe-art facilities for the students, including a clinical skills training suite “designed to stimulate real-life doctor-patient interaction,” according to the report.

Wing also mentioned the division’s desire to have a “close relationship” with local hospitals, including the possibility of a joint

cancer center sometime in the next five years.

Marjorie Thompson ’74 PhD’79 P’02 P’07 P’09, associate dean of biological sciences, attributes the continued growth of the division at the undergraduate level in part to the strength of its educational resources. She credited her department’s “teaching, course variety, faculty accessibility, research opportunities for undergraduates” and focus on individuals to the department’s success, she wrote in an email to The Herald.

Thompson shared Wing’s enthusiasm for the future of the division, specifically speaking about the undergraduate program.

About 15 to 20 percent of students concentrate in a biological science “and many more take our courses for the interest, courses which are not only geared for nonscience concentrators, but are welcoming and fascinating for all,” wrote Thompson.

As for the future of BioMed, “we are absolutely going to grow,” Wing said.

Young may take legal action against U. on campus ban continued from page 1 as scheduled.

Young said he hoped the case would be dismissed, but that he was considering taking civil ac-

tion against the University after the trial. He is banned from entering University buildings, a fact that is inhibiting his political campaign, he said.

Young was arrested at the Nov. 30 forum after he voiced his views on abortion to guest speaker Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I. In refusing to yield the floor during the question and answer period, Young infringed on the “rights of others to participate in this public, open forum,” Vice President for Public Affairs and University Relations Marisa Quinn told The Herald in Januar y. Young says that his behavior was civil.

Young has voiced his concerns about the University publicly on several occasions. In speeches, he has called for an investigation into President Ruth Simmons’ tenure on the board of the Council on Foreign Relations, as well as Goldman Sachs, a position which she recently ceded. He also advocates for a tax on the University’s property, though he said he stands against the tax on out-of-state students who attend school in Rhode Island.

the Brown

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On the blog today: WTF is happening on the Main Green?

Talk of the Brown What to do tonight BlogDailyHerald.com

Thursday, February 18, 2010

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

C ampus N EWS

“We are entering a very good transition phase right now.”

Researchers aim at brain-body link

By Lindor Qunaj Contributing Writer

Twenty years ago, restoring a paraplegic’s limb function would have been an idea that existed only in the realm of science fiction. But today, thanks to the BrainGate project — involving a team of researchers that includes several Brown professors — the idea is close to becoming a reality.

The primary goal of the project, which has garnered incredible media attention in recent years, is “to develop neurotechnology” that “will help people with paralysis, limb loss and neurological diseases and injuries to restore loss of communication, mobility and independence,” said Associate Professor of Engineering Leigh Hochberg ’90.

The first incarnation of the BrainGate system, which first underwent clinical trials in 2004, required a chip to be implanted into the patient’s brain and then connected to computers by a series of wires. Although the device effectively converted the patient’s brain signals into movement and allowed them to click on icons and perform a variety of functions on the computers, the technology was rather bulky, said John Donoghue PhD’79 P’09 P’12, professor of neuroscience and co-founder

of the company that created the BrainGate project.

Donoghue explained that the next stage of the research focused on developing a much smaller device. This chip would be implanted into the head, where it could wirelessly transmit brain signals to a wide range of devices. “We’re interested in developing the best possible control signal,” he said.

“One of the challenges with the systems as they exist now is that they require a switch to operate,” added Hochberg, one of the principal investigators on the BrainGate research team.

He said that current studies on functional electrical stimulation systems would be very helpful to the project. Some of this research is being conducted at Case Western University, another BrainGate collaborator.

While laboratory research may at times seem distinct from the advances in technology to outsiders, Donoghue, who is also the director of the Brown Institute for Brain Science, said they are incredibly connected.

“One piece that people don’t fully understand is how basic lab research can lead to great breakthroughs (because) sometimes it’s hard to see where basic science research will lead to,” he said. “As a consequence of the neurophysi-

ological research that was done, we got to a point where we could translate this research into a device that would allow paralyzed people to interact with the world and move again,” he said.

Another area the project is looking into is the possibility of hooking the brain up directly to muscles. In this scenario, the brain would transmit a signal to a stimulator, which would connect to a muscle and cause it to move according to the brain’s message, Donoghue said.

Donoghue, who spent the beginning of February in Australia giving various lectures and participating in a conference held by the Australian Neuroscience Society and Australian Physiological Society, said “the ultimate goal” is to get the technology to a point where “you wouldn’t notice the difference between a person who never had an injury and a person who had an injury but then had the implant.”

BrainGate is now entering its second stage of clinical trials at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Exactly how it develops is yet to be seen, but team members are optimistic.

“We have made nice advances in the research, and I’m pleased with the progress we’re making,” said Hochberg.

UTRAs: not just for science research continued from page 1 not be completed over the summer, she said.

Rodriguez said her office is also trying to attract a wider variety of students to the program. In the past, UTRAs mainly appealed to science concentrators, she said.

This year, Rodriguez said she has been encouraging students from other disciplines to apply.

She said she hopes to “increase the visibility of UTRAs among humanities and social sciences students so they’re able to see the relevance of a research project.”

Anne Fuller ’11, a psychology concentrator, participated in research for the Department of Education last summer.

She compared European-American and Chinese-American children between the ages of four and six,

examining “how they’re socialized and how they develop beliefs and attitudes about learning,” she said.

Though Fuller studies a social science, she said her experience with undergraduate research was “really good.”

“You’re doing all different steps of research,” she added.

Rodriguez said she has also worked to increase the involvement of students participating in the program. Last summer, Research Thursdays were created in an effort to unite the students engaged in undergraduate research. At these events, participants listened to faculty lectures and could discuss their work with each other, she said.

These events have been wellreceived ever since they started, Rodriguez said. “We had really strong attendance.”

Instead of having undergraduates

Page 3

isolate themselves as they work on separate projects, she said she hopes that Research Thursdays will foster a greater sense of community.

But Fuller said she participated in the program for the research opportunity, not the collaboration.

“If you weren’t interested in the research that was going on, it wasn’t really an interesting experience,” she said.

Though economic conditions have prevented the expansion of the UTRA program for the moment, the University remains committed to undergraduate research, Rodriguez said.

“We’re hoping to introduce enthusiastic and intellectually curious students into the process of a long-term research project and course development so that they get to see insight into the workings of academia.”

— Department of Education Chair Kenneth Wong

Education outreach gets new U. director

By Emily Rosen Staff Writer

Holly Harriel, Brown’s new director of education outreach and a former Rhode Island Department of Education employee, officially began her job Feb. 8, replacing Tehani Collazo who left last July. She will coordinate outreach programs between Brown and local schools.

Elizabeth Richards, a recent graduate of the Urban Education Policy Program, served as a replacement in the interim.

Harriel was selected from a pool of 50 to 60 applicants by a committee composed of faculty and staff from Brown’s Department of Education. The Office of the President, the Office of Public Affairs and University Relations and the Swearer Center for Public Service also offered input to the committee, according to Education Department Chair Kenneth Wong, who was also chair of the selection committee.

Although Wong said that the applicant pool was very strong, he said he felt Harriel had “a really interesting mix of attributes.” Wong also mentioned that he thought it was important to take the time to select the best person for the job with the “right mix of experience.”

According to a news release from the Department of Education, Harriel, who has a master’s degree in city planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was initially an urban planner in the Boston area. She later came to Providence and worked as a geographic information system analyst for Providence Plan, applying her information technology skills to various local nonprofit organizations. For the past four years, Harriel has been working as an analyst for the Rhode Island Department of Education.

“She stands out,” Wong said, adding that Harriel’s previous governmental work, her knowledge and appreciation of data systems and her experience with nonprofit organizations all show that she brings a “broad, multidisciplinary perspective.”

One of Harriel’s primary duties is to coordinate partnerships between Brown and local public schools. Harriel said it is important to document outreach efforts and to “capitalize on social networking” in order to incorporate as much of the Brown community as possible in education outreach.

“I’m here to make sure that we are highlighting all of the good impact we are making,” Harriel said, adding that she would also like to expand education outreach efforts at Brown.

Wong noted that Brown’s numerous education outreach projects with Providence public schools involve a wide variety of departments at the University. He and Harriel both emphasized that the director of education outreach should encourage collaboration across departments and disciplines on these projects.

“This is a very important position because it (provides) a critical link between the larger community and Brown,” Wong said.

Another aspect of Harriel’s job consists of working closely with graduate students in the Urban Education Policy Program. As part of this master’s degree program, students participate in nine-month-long education-related internships, which Harriel is in charge of managing.

“This is a relationship-building time,” Harriel said. During her first week on the job, Harriel has been “meeting with students in the Urban Education Policy Program and getting up to speed with their internship placement.”

Harriel said she wants to make sure not only that students are offered the best internship opportunities possible, but also that students’ work is benefitting the institutions where they are placed.

In addition, Wong said that Harriel will be involved in the Urban Education Fellows Program, through which students commit to three years of service in Providence in return for tuition benefits. Wong said that these fellows take on a variety of jobs, both on the teaching side and on the policy side of education in low-income communities.

“She will support the work of the Urban Education Fellows and make sure they are placed in high-needs areas,” Wong said. He expects the program to grow over the next few years, he said.

“We are entering a very good transition phase right now,” Wong said. He said he expects that within about two weeks Harriel will be acclimated to the job as she continues to meet people and gets to know the community.

Harriel said she is excited to begin this job because it combines everything she enjoys doing, adding, “I would consider this my dream job.”

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

C ampus N EWS

Thursday, February 18, 2010

“We try to teach history through a civic lens.”

— Susan Graseck, Choices Program director

D eep in concentration

Peace Corps popular among Brunonians

By Brielle Friedman Contributing Writer

Stephanie London / Herald

The concentration fair Wednesday in Sayles attracted sophomores ready to fill out their forms and other curricularly-minded students.

Program releases Web feature on Haiti

By Chelsea Xu Contributing Writer

The Choices Program, an educational teaching resource run in collaboration with the Watson Institute for International Studies, has released an online feature on Haiti through its “Teaching with the News” program. The program aims to place the Jan. 12 earthquake in historical context

for secondar y schools across the countr y.

Director of the Choices Program and Senior Fellow of the Watson Institute Susan Graseck said the purpose of the news program was to “explore the past, shape the future” while developing a way to think about Haiti in a historical context. “We tr y to teach histor y through a civic lens,” Graseck said.

The news program, which provides multimedia education through short online lesson plans, interviewed Professor of Africana Studies Anthony Bogues and Visiting Lecturer in Latin American Studies Patrick Sylvain. In interviews for the news program, both professors encouraged students to think beyond the shock of the earthquake and to address the problem from a historical perspective.

The Choices Program, which also develops longer curriculum units for secondar y schools, was established in 1982. The units break down global issues into their historical and present contexts. The lesson plans and texts are purchased by secondar y schools and then integrated into classes, Graseck said. She said the different curriculum units have been used in about 3,000 classrooms around the countr y.

Professional Development Director for the Choices Program Mollie Hackett said topics for the longer curriculum units, which will include a new series on Haiti later this spring, are chosen in a variety of ways. “We normally cover issues that haven’t been settled or we feel that there is a strong need to address,” she said. The program also develops curriculum centered on historical turning points, like the Iranian revolution.

The material is presented in an unbiased, nonpartisan fashion, Graseck said. “We want the students to think about how to deal with the controversy.”

A former secondar y school teacher, Hackett said that “teachers are really looking for that spark.”

Brown will send 20 volunteers to the Peace Corps this year, making the University the 25th largest recruiter among medium-size colleges nationwide, according to a Peace Corps statement released earlier this month. Last year, the University was ranked 15th, with 24 volunteers, according to last year’s list of feeder schools.

“Serving in the Peace Corps has become an increasingly competitive endeavor,” Elizabeth Chamberlain, public affairs specialist for the Peace Corps’ Boston regional office, wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. Chamberlain said the Peace Corps received over 15,000 applications in 2009, an 18 percent increase from the previous year.

Alexander Labinov ’06, a former volunteer who spent two years in the Republic of Moldova, said that when he first applied to the Peace Corps he had an image of “going somewhere in Africa and trying to build a bridge.” While in Moldova, Labinov said he taught business seminars on microfinance to women to give them more confidence to work in a maledominated field. “I knew it would be

an experience,” he said. “And hopefully, in that experience I would have helped at least one person.”

Labinov said he thought Brown students were interested in serving in the Peace Corps because they “want to save the world.” He added that he thought such an idea “can be viewed as incredibly naive, but I think it’s just idealistic.”

Jeanine Chiu ’10, who has applied to join the Peace Corps after she graduates and is awaiting medical approval, said she was always familiar with the Peace Corps, even though she grew up in Singapore.

“The Peace Corps never had a presence there,” she said. “But I think it goes to show how widespread and well-known the program is.”

Chiu, a development studies concentrator, said the Peace Corps reinforces what she is studying at Brown, adding that she wants to put what she has “theoretically learned” into practice during her volunteer stint. She said she was especially drawn to the Peace Corps because the program “has a great focus on integrating into the community, which I think is very important in order to understand the local context, especially if your goal is to help people.”

news in brief

UCS proposes changes to election code The Undergraduate Council of Students considered changes to its election code at its general body meeting Wednesday.

The proposal would make the position of chair of the council’s Elections Board, which is currently appointed by the council’s Appointments Committee, nominated by the president and confirmed by a majority of the council. If the council ratifies the proposal at its next general body meeting, the chair would then nominate the other nine members of the board.

The proposed changes, introduced by UCS Vice President Diane Mokoro ’11, would also create an ad hoc board that would be responsible for hearing appeals and complaints filed against the elections board. According to the current plans, the board would include three UCS members, two members of the Undergraduate Financial Board and one member of the Brown University Activities Council.

The changes also include plans to use an instant runoff system, rather than a majority vote system, for internal elections.

In an instant runoff system, voters rank their preferences among candidates. If no one person receives a majority of the votes, votes for the least popular candidates are redistributed to those voters’ second choices. This redistribution continues until one candidate has a majority of the votes.

“Instant runoff is a more complicated system, but it is considered more equitable and fair,” said Clay Wertheimer ’10, the council’s president.

Wertheimer said that while the system will initially be used only for the council’s internal elections, he hopes that eventually it will be used for campus-wide elections, once the council’s online voting system allows it.

UCS Student Activities Chair Brady Wyrtzen ’11 also presented three student groups to the general body for categorization.

Right to Play was approved as a Category S, or service category, organization. The program aims to foster sports programs for disadvantaged youth. “It brings values of sports and competitive fun to people who wouldn’t normally have it,” Wyrtzen said.

The council also approved the Impulse Dance Company for Category III recognition, while the Appalachian Students at Brown group received Category I recognition.

— Max Godnick

Metro The Brown Daily Herald

Make us your homepage: www.blogdailyherald.com Thursday, February 18, 2010 | Page 5

Governor’s budget cuts school aid

By Qian Yin Contributing Writer

Nick Sinnott-Armstrong / Herald

Shopping at farmers’ markets can be a good deal for Rhode Island residents enrolled in food assistance programs.

R.I. farmers’ market shopping is a SNAP

By Brigitta Greene Metro Editor

A first trip to the Pawtucket Wintertime Farmers’ Market can be overwhelming, especially to a shopper on a budget.

Table upon table inside the old factory’s halls are piled with golden apples, crispy leeks, sweet potatoes sprinkled with fresh mud. Vendors stand behind hundreds of miniature sample cups — jams from every corner of the Ocean State. Raspberry, strawberry, apple cinnamon, carrot cake and cream. The milk, the farmers say, is “Rhody fresh.” The cheese is stinky, but sweet.

But now, thanks to continued efforts by Farm Fresh Rhode Island and state advocacy groups, even those on the tightest of budgets can “dig in.”

Farm Fresh Rhode Island first began accepting Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits — formerly known as food stamps — at local farmers’ markets in 2007. This summer, the organization partnered with the Wholesome Wave Foundation to start the Bonus Bucks program, producing remarkable results, said Christie Moulton, outreach director at Farm Fresh.

Since early 2009, the use of SNAP benefits at Rhode Island farmers’ markets has soared, she said. Increases are thanks in part to the Bonus Bucks program, an incentive program offering up to $10 in rewards for shopping at local markets, she said.

Moulton stands at a table in the entryway of the Pawtucket market on Saturday mornings, swiping shoppers’ debit, credit and SNAP benefit cards. She hands out golden coins in exchange for payment.

Because these coins are used as currency at the market, the use of food assistance benefits is largely indistinguishable from credit or debit purchases.

The Pawtucket Market sees anywhere between about $200 to $600 in SNAP sales each week, said Jenn Baumstein ’08, food systems coordinator at Farm Fresh. This represents between about $100 and $300 in Bonus Bucks, she said.

The original Bonus Bucks funding ran out in October of this year.

But with a $5,000 grant from the

Rhode Island Foundation, Farm Fresh Rhode Island was able to extend the program to the wintertime farmers’ market. Last week, the organization received another $1,500 in funding from the Frederick C. Tanner Memorial Fund, Baumstein said.

“We’re constantly looking for more funding for the Bonus Bucks program,” she said.

Rhode Island farmers’ markets saw over $32,000 in SNAP sales in 2009, up from just under $3,000 the year before, according to data from the Farm Fresh Web site.

An increase in SNAP usage at farmers’ markets corresponds to a statewide expansion of the benefits program. In January 2009, about 93,600 individuals and 46,700 households were receiving SNAP benefits, according to Nancy Pellegrino, a program administrator at the Rhode Island Department of Human Services. By January, those numbers had jumped to about 133,200 individuals and 69,200 households — a 40 to 50 percent increase in both categories.

Tammie Watson, chef and owner of Mazie’s Organic Catering, said she accepted more SNAP benefits than any other form of payment at summer farmers’ markets this year, though she said that number has fallen off during the winter months.

Incentive programs at farmers’ markets have more than one function, Moulton said. First, incentives are aimed at increasing the availability of produce as opposed to processed or packaged foods. And secondly, incentives encourage buying local produce, she said.

“The Bonus Bucks program allows people to stretch their food budgets farther and still provide healthy foods for their family …

Farmers, after all, have to make a buck too,” a Feb. 2 blog post on the Farm Fresh Web site reads.

“The doubling of the value of the first $20 was a big incentive to buy local at farmers’ markets,” Jon Mitchell, a Providence resident who recently began receiving SNAP benefits, wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. “It’s fantastic to be able to use SNAP at farmers’ markets, and it’s just that much better for the Rhode Island food economy.”

Providence schools face a $7.1 million loss in state aid in fiscal year 2011 if Gov. Donald Carcieri’s ’65 budget proposal is approved.

The proposal reduces aid to the state’s public schools by $25.1 million compared with this year’s budget, an across-the-board cut of 3.8 percent, according to Elliot Krieger, spokesman for the Department of Elementar y and Secondar y Education.

“Continued cuts in state aid to local school districts will further compromise our district’s ability to deliver crucial educational ser vices to our students,” said Thomas Brady, superintendent of Providence Public Schools, in a Feb. 2 statement responding to the proposal.

Providence schools have already lost $5.8 million in state aid in the past two years, and are facing a supplemental budget cut of $5.3 million this year that has been proposed by the governor, according to Kim Rose, chief communications officer for Providence schools.

“The state is facing a fiscal crisis never seen before, and tough decisions have to be made,” Amy Kempe, communications director and press secretar y at the Office of the Governor, wrote in an email to The Herald.

Though the Governor’s budget reduces total education aid, it “does include funding for critical educational initiatives including $13.4 million more for school construction aid, $7.7 million more for charter schools, among other programs,” Kempe wrote in the e-mail.

“The Governor would like to see all municipal employees — including teachers — do what ever y state employee did, which is take a 3 percent pay reduction this year and a 2 percent pay reduction next year,” Kempe wrote in the e-mail. “It would save cities and towns $40 million this year and $40 million next year.”

The reduction in state funding to Providence schools is “big,” especially considering that the district has long been “underfunded in the first place,” said Philip Gould, temporar y president of the Providence School Board and a professor of English at Brown.

Gould said an important fac-

Herald file photo

Come next year, Providence schools like Hope High School may find themselves with smaller budgets.

tor that has led to the district’s current financial situation is the state’s lack of a “funding formula,” which would allow for better predictability in long-term planning. Rhode Island is the only state in the countr y that does not use a funding formula for its public schools, he said.

Establishment of a funding formula is a “real need” for the schools to make significant improvements, said Hillar y Salmons, executive director of the Providence After School Alliance.

“It’s insane that we have a year-toyear budget strategy,” she said.

The Providence school district has an especially high number of students with barriers to learning, including poverty, English as a second language and special education needs, Rose said. A funding formula is par ticularly helpful because it accounts for the needs of these students, she said.

The district is in the process of a major reform — called the “Aligned Instructional System,” Rose said. This project consists of three pieces: a new curricu-

lum, professional development for teachers and a comprehensive assessment framework. A new core curriculum for math and science was implemented in all schools beginning this fall.

A curriculum for English, language arts and social studies is currently under development, and is to be implemented next year. Teachers will receive training on instructional strategies in the summer, she said.

Salmons said she is highly supportive of this reform, which she called “ver y focused.” She said she would encourage the community to embrace changes proposed by Mayor David Cicilline ’83 and the superintendent.

Any cuts to the school system’s budget are “extremely unfortunate” when the district is tr ying to make this “turnaround,” she said.

Continued reductions in funding “run the danger of undermining that project,” Gould said.

The proposed reduction in state aid for next year “might be inevitable but is certainly tragic,” he said.

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Page 6

M etro

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Thursday, February 18, 2010

“Kids are not our normal fare.”

— Daniel Kamil, owner of the Cable Car Cinema

‘Family-oriented’ film festival draws crowd — of all ages continued from page 1 dren the art of movies at a young age,” said Deborah Gutman ’93, mother of Kaya Suner, third grader at Providence’s Gordon Elementar y School. In preparation for Friday night’s sold-out screening of the Oscar-nominated animated feature “The Secret of Kells,” Gutman and Suner had read the stor ybook version of the film the evening before.

“It’s nice to have something quality to do that’s family-oriented in Providence,” she said.

The Providence Children’s Film Festival was incorporated as a nonprofit in September. Since that time, the eight-member board has been working “tirelessly” on organizing the festival, said Abby Stranahan, its treasurer.

Originally from New York City, she was inspired by the children’s film festival there, and said she knew upon arriving in Providence that “the people and families would embrace (a similar) experience.”

“Providence just presents itself as a rich, vital, creative community,” she said.

Though many of the festival’s films are of international origin, some of the films were produced

by local filmmakers and local children. For the short film “How Birds Got Their Song,” RISD graduate and local director Jo Der y worked with children to animate the stor y.

In the coming years, the festival will tr y to incorporate more children’s productions, Stranahan said.

Local animators held production workshops for children on Saturday and Sunday on dif ferent animation techniques. The resulting shor t projects were screened on Sunday at Metcalf Auditorium.

The Cable Car charged a reduced admission fee for tickets for the festival, and profits from sales went to covering costs and toward programming for the future, Stanahan said. All screenings at Metcalf Auditorium were offered free of charge.

“Kids,” said Daniel Kamil, owner of the Cable Car, “are not our normal fare.” He said the festival amazed him in its seamless execution, “from the soup to the nuts.”

“Ever ything went extremely smoothly, without a hitch,” said Karina Wood, a member of the festival committee.

Courtesy of Avery Houser

Local children and adults enjoyed films and animation and production workshops at this weekend’s Providence Children’s Film Festival.

“We’re incredibly thankful to the RISD Museum for providing space for workshops for free,” Sta-

nahan said, pointing as well to the generosity of local arts organizations including the Rhode Island

Council for the Humanities and the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts.

make it your homepage www.BlogDailyHerald.com

SportsThursday The Brown Daily Herald

Thursday, February 18, 2010 | Page 7

Athlete of the Week Leffelman ’11 scores career high

By Dan Alexander Sports Editor

Heading into last weekend, Garrett Leffelman ’11 was averaging 4.9 points per game. But in the Bears’ Friday night game against Dartmouth, he scored the team’s first 14 points.

The next night against Harvard, he had a career-high 16 points.

For his performances — and not because it’s his birthday today — The Herald has named Leffelman Athlete of the Week.

Herald: When you scored the first 14 points of the game against Dartmouth, did you have a count in your head of how many you had?

Leffelman: It wasn’t until the time out in the game happened and we came back to the huddle and I looked up at the scoreboard and I saw it was 14-8, and I saw 14 next to my number, and I was like, ‘Wow, what just happened?’

What are you studying at Brown?

I’m double-concentrating in economics and political science.

Which way do you lean on the political spectrum?

I’ll probably get grilled considering the readership of the BDH. I consider myself a moderate conservative.

How do you like being a conservative on Brown’s campus?

I think it’s the best of both worlds because we need more bipartisanship and we need to work with both sides. And I think that part of my education is learning from my classmates, and those classmates having different views — sometimes wildly different than my views — helps me understand where they’re coming from and helps me understand how compromises could work. Like I said, I’m not far right-wing, so it’s not like a hatred thing.

Do you ever get in any heated political conversations in class?

To be honest, I don’t want to stick my neck out there too far. I would say that I’ve had more — we have good political debates within our team in a more, I guess, unprofessional environment, just talking to each other. I find that those are a lot more rewarding than just arguing back and forth across a classroom.

That’s a whole different kind of locker room talk.

Jonathan Bateman / Herald

Garrett Leffelman ’11 is The Herald’s Athlete of the Week.

That’s one thing that we enjoy most on the basketball team. We have so many different guys with different views — guys way to the left of me, a few guys to the right of me. And so, just learning from everybody, I find really interesting.

Where are you from?

Naperville, Ill. What high school did you go to?

St. Josephs High School in Westchester(, Ill.) I commuted about three hours round-trip every day to go to St. Joe’s, and I don’t live anywhere near it.

Why did you decide to go there if it was so far from home?

It’s a national basketball powerhouse. I knew I would be playing with great people.

Who were the best players on your team?

Evan Turner at Ohio State, Demetri McCamey at Illinois, Jonathan Peoples at Notre Dame, Tony Freeman at Iowa.

Do you still stay in touch with any of your high school teammates?

Evan’s my best friend, so every time I come home and he’s home, we always hang out.

Do you ever beat him in oneon-one?

Yeah.

Often?

I can remember the very first time I did. It was before school. We used to come in and shoot and play

before school, and I hit a fade-away three from the corner, and he was so mad because I had finally beaten him. But after that, you know, I beat him every once in a while — I’d say maybe 25 percent of the time.

Is it fun to get to watch him on national TV sometimes?

Yeah, it’s great. If I could see every game, I would.

Does he stay up on what

you’re doing here?

Yeah, he does. Every once in a while, I’ll get a late-night text saying, “Hey, I saw you guys on (ESPN’s) BottomLine tonight. How did you play tonight?” Or, “I looked up your stats, keep playing well.” It’s really nice because he’s obviously a bigger star than anybody could ever be at Brown and certainly than myself. So it’s cool to know that my best friend — even though he’s risen that high — he still looks back and is seeing how I do.

Did you get a text from him after this weekend?

I did, actually.

What did it say?

He was just saying, this is your best weekend of the season, keep it up. And I was like, I’m glad somebody noticed.

Evan is getting some talk as a potential Player of the Year this season. When he goes to the NBA, do you think he’s going to hook you up with any cool gifts?

I would hope so, yeah. I would almost expect it at this point. You know what, the perks that come with the NBA, he definitely deserves, and I wouldn’t expect anything from him.

But you know, if he could hook me up with some tickets from time to time, that would be good.

news in brief

Squash teams wrap up season The No. 14 men’s and No. 10 women’s squash teams both split their final two matches of the regular season on Saturday.

The women’s team opened its final weekend of competition by losing its last conference match, 7-2, to No. 9 Dartmouth.

But a few hours later, the Bears bounced back with a 7-2 win over No. 12 Mount Holyoke.

The men’s team started the weekend with a 9-0 loss to No. 7 Dartmouth.

However, they also ended the regular season on a strong note by beating No. 19 Tufts, 7-2.

The men’s team next plays against Bates on Friday in the College Squash Association Nationals hosted by Yale, and the women next play on Feb. 26 in the Howe Cup National Championship, also hosted by Yale.

— Jesse Frank

Page 8

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

S ports T hursday

White wins snowboarding gold

By Steve Kelley The Seattle Times

WEST VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The gold already was assured.

Shaun White could have played it safe.

He didn’t need to drop his new toy, his new trick, at the end of his second and final run.

He didn’t need to throw his tired body into the air, rotate 3 times, flip twice and land perfectly. He didn’t need his Double McTwist 1260.

But playing it safe isn’t in White’s nature. And it’s practically against the rules of the halfpipe.

So, with 4,400 fans huddled in this makeshift stadium at Cypress Mountain waiting to see something that has never been done in this sport’s brief Winter Olympics history, White delivered.

After Scotty Lago’s final run guaranteed White a gold medal, White stood above of the crowd, looked down the 550-foot barrel called the halfpipe and took the ride of his life.

As he pushed himself up the wall one last time, it didn’t look as if he had enough speed. White practically willed himself into the wall, found just enough air, spun and flipped himself into something spectacular.

It was one of the great encores of all time.

“I just felt like I didn’t come all the

way to Vancouver not to pull out the big guns,” White said. “I put down the tricks I worked so hard on.

“It was the savvy thing to do.

Saucy. Keep it weird. My coach at the top, ‘Don’t do this unless you’re going to stomp it.’ ” Oh, yeah, he stomped it.

A half-hour earlier White made sure he would repeat as gold medalist by completing a remarkably clean run.

He landed back-to-back double corks and earned a score of 46.8. He topped that, with a 48.4 on his final, groundbreaking run.

White is a carrot-topped individualist who, along with many of his snowboarding colleagues, represents the new spirit of the Olympic Games.

White is exactly the kind of athlete who would have made the stuffedsweatered, old-guard officials of the International Olympic Committee — think Avery Brundage — harrumph with the disgust.

He is a creative, flipping, twisting, aerial contortionist. And he is contagious. Instead of being intimidated by his tricks, his opponents are inspired by them.

“I think he’s one of the greatest athletes in the world, not just in our sport,” said Louie Vito, who finished fifth.

In five months, largely because of White, the double cork has gone from being an oddity to a necessity.

On Wednesday night, White just took the trick a little further.

Completing one of the most remarkable days in the U.S. Winter Olympic history, he won gold and Lago bronze in the halfpipe. Finland’s Peetu Piironen was the silver medalist.

White has corked his sport. After last year’s Winter X Games, he understood that new tricks had to be added to keep halfpipe fresh. He knew he had to force the sport into taking even more chances. The red-haired devil became even more daring.

He took his sport to new places and his competitors enthusiastically followed. A year ago, competitive corks didn’t exist. On Wednesday night, double corks were the rage.

Watching him compete live in the halfpipe, was like watching Usain Bolt run the 100 meters or Dwyane Wade slam on some unsuspecting center.

On his finals’ runs White rose as much as six feet higher than some of his competitors. And once he was in the air, he seemed to hover.

Shaun White gave us another glimpse of greatness Wednesday night. Even though he didn’t need it, he dropped a Double McTwist 1260 on 4,400 Shaun-loving fans.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Need to air your grievances? www.DiamondsAndCoal.com s p o rt s i n b r i e f

Bruno on the Vancouver ice Former Brown w. hockey players on Olympic ice Women’s hockey alum Becky Kellar ’97 is taking the ice in Vancouver this month to play in her fourth Olympic Games as a member of Team Canada, shooting for her third gold medal. The blue-liner won a silver medal at Nagano in 1998 in women’s hockey’s first year as a medal sport before taking the gold at Salt Lake City in 2002 and Torino in 2006.

Canada won all three of its preliminary-round games in dominant fashion, steamrolling Slovakia, Switzerland and Sweden with a combined score of 41-2. Their next game will come against an opponent that has yet to be determined in the classifications on Saturday.

As one of the seven players who graduated between 1994 and 2003 to suit up in the Olympics, Kellar is the last active link to a rich Olympics tradition for Brown’s program. In 2006, Katie King ’97, Kathleen Kauth ’01, Pam Dreyer ’03 and Kim Insalaco ’03 all suited up for the bronze-winning United States team.

A member of the United States team this year, Karen Thatcher, played for the Bears in her freshman season of 2002-03 before transferring to Providence College.

League-leading Cornell basketball, hockey suffer weekend losses It was a rough weekend for Cornell, as the two most highly touted Big Red teams each suffered tough losses.

The men’s basketball team’s two-week stay in the ESPN/ USA Today coaches’ poll, its first appearance in the national rankings in 59 years, ended abruptly when Penn scored the first 15 points of the second half on Friday to break open what had been a one-point lead at halftime and cruised to a 79-64 victory. The then-No. 22 Big Red shot 33 percent from the floor in the second half while allowing the Quakers to shoot a sizzling 65 percent.

Cornell then won a dogfight with Princeton, 48-45, the following night to regain first place in the Ivy League, but Princeton and Harvard both lurk within a game of the Big Red in the standings.

The men’s hockey team was not so fortunate. After a 5-3 win over Brown on Friday, the Big Red squared off with its co-leader in ECAC Hockey, Yale. The Bulldogs rallied for a 2-1 win when Sean Backman scored the game-winner in overtime, spoiling the 52-save effort by Big Red goalie Ben Scrivens.

Cornell beat Colgate on Tuesday to tie Yale for the conference lead, but the Big Red have lost to the Bulldogs twice this season.

Ivy quick hits — Princeton freshman Eliza Stone won a gold medal in the women’s saber at the Junior Olympics in Memphis on Saturday, beating out 111 competitors in the under-20 event.

— The Spanish Association of Basketball Coaches visited Columbia on Feb. 10, watching a practice and touring the facilities as part of a week-long tour of the New York area, according to Columbia Sports Information.

— Dartmouth held a forum on spectator standards on Jan. 26, featuring a panel including Jim Yong Kim ’82, the school’s president. Kim urged attendees to be “creative, funny and effective” in cheering on the Big Green, but he warned that “you have to make sure you don’t cross the line of threatening or offending anyone,” according to Dartmouth Sports Information. On Dec. 2, Dartmouth fans allegedly shouted anti-Semitic insults at Harvard’s Franklin Cohen during a squash match.

— Andrew Braca

wanted: Opinions Columnists get your voice heard and your words read herald@browndailyherald.com

World & Nation The Brown Daily Herald

Thursday, February 18, 2010 | Page 9

Internet not yet the answer to spiraling textbook costs

By Susan Snyder The Philadelphia Inquirer

PHILADELPHIA — As a freshman at Temple University, Gian Hunjan shelled out $500 per semester for textbooks at the bookstore, all new.

Now a senior, he buys most of his books used, or forgoes them altogether and looks up material on the Internet instead.

He wishes more books were available online.

“I think ever y student would, especially if they’re cheaper,” the finance major said.

But most students still prefer print to digital, and even if they didn’t, textbook publishers and authors have made very few titles available online.

At the University of Pennsylvania, for example, only 31 of the 1,578 course titles registered with the bookstore were available digitally, eight of which were sold by the bookstore.

But that could change with the advent of the tablet-style Apple iPad and with students throughout the region buckling under heavy book expenses on top of pricey tuition. A small but growing number already are buying digital texts, many of which are half the price of books.

Experts expect students to have more choices as campuses, professors, and companies look for new ways to make texts available and more affordable.

Students spend more than $1,100 a year on textbooks and supplies, says the College Board.

Textbook publishers and book authors are grappling to find a fair method that makes use of technology and satisfies students.

“It’s like the Wild West. Everybody’s trying something new,” said Steven Bell, associate university librarian at Temple. “What’s the pricing model that’s going to work?”

Don’t look yet for a groundswell toward digital books. According to the national Student Public Interest Research Groups, 75 percent of students still prefer print.

Ed Hille / Philadelphia Inquirer

Vinny Vella, a LaSalle University sophomore, holds two textbooks he’s rented this semester, February 5, 2010.

He prefers holding a book in his hands. “I really don’t enjoy reading on the screen for too long. It hurts my eyes,” said Vella.

“The critical mass just isn’t there yet,” said Bell, who added it’s also not clear whether students will buy the e-reading devices to make digital books more palatable.

CourseSmart, founded three years ago as a joint venture of five large college textbook publishers, hopes to change that. It offers about 9,000 book titles online at about 50 percent of the cost of print, said Frank Lyman, executive vice president.

Sales grew 400 percent from 2008 to 2009, he said, declining to release exact numbers.

“It is in the hundreds of thousands of students using it — not yet millions,” he said.

He expects Apple’s iPad to increase that interest.

“It will capture the imagination of yet another group of students who will ask, ‘Why aren’t I using digital textbooks?’ ” he said.

Don’t count on La Salle University sophomore Vinny Vella. He prefers holding a book in his hands.

“I really don’t enjoy reading on the screen for too long. It hurts my eyes,” said Vella, of Kresgeville, Monroe County.

The communication major began renting books this semester as an alternative. He rented a textbook for his art class, priced new at nearly $200, for less than $60.

At Princeton University, students this school year were given Kindle devices loaded with all material for three courses in a pilot project to lower paper usage. Some students found the devices difficult to use and slow, according to the Princetonian, the student newspaper.

Nicole Allen, textbook advocate for the Student Public Interest Research Groups, believes textbooks should be less expensive for students than the price CourseSmart offers. A 50 percent cut is barely below the cost of rentals or used books, she said. Her group is advocating for professors at campuses nationally to use “open textbooks” — free digital versions — whenever possible.

“We just want to make sure that open textbooks are on the table,” she said.

At Rutgers University’s New Brunswick campus, students last year got about a dozen professors to sign a pledge to use more af-

fordable book sources, said Lindsey Swoap, 19, a sophomore from southern Virginia.

The American Federation of Teachers passed a resolution in 2009 in support of open textbooks.

Allen’s group pushed for legislation that will take effect July 1 requiring schools that receive federal funding to give students advance notice on books needed for the semester so they have time to shop around. It also prohibits book companies from “bundling” textbooks and supplemental materials, and requires price disclosure to faculty.

Professors say they hear concerns from students frequently about cost and are interested in helping address the issue.

Jean-Claude Bradley, a Drexel University chemistr y professor and E-learning coordinator for the College of Arts and Sciences, said he avoids requiring a textbook when possible and makes as much material as possible — including tutorials, recorded lectures, readings, and games — available for free online.

Authors are sympathetic, too.

“I have no desire to cost these kids one cent more than they need to pay,” said Kate Nelson, an instructor in Temple’s Fox School of Business, who recently completed the fifth edition of a textbook on business ethics. “I am for whatever gets knowledge out there as cheaply as we can get it out there.”

At Temple, a committee of professors is looking at ways to make the best curriculum materials available at the most reasonable cost.

Several professors are planning a pilot project for open textbooks produced by the staff and available for updating.

Meanwhile, the rental market is growing.

Students can rent books for varying prices, depending on the length of the rentals. They can highlight and write in the books, which some renters actually like because someone else has already told them the most important elements, said Michael Geller, vice president of marketing for BookRenter.com.

The California company offers more than three million titles.

“If the textbook is priced over $25, there’s a 96 percent chance we have it,” he said.

Among its customers in January were students at 572 schools in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey — Rutgers, Penn, Temple, and Penn State among the largest users, Geller said.

Other students use older methods.

Morgan Zalot, 20, a Temple senior from Northeast Philadelphia, purchases her texts from Amazon, then sells them back. Last semester, she put out $150 to $200 for books and got about $100 back.

“I usually don’t stick to the edition that the professors ask for,” she said. “A lot of times they ask for the most recent, but you really don’t need the most recent.”

For a history course, she looked up material online instead of buying the book: “Histor y never changes.”

UCSD condemns party mocking Black History Month

By Larry Gordon Los Angeles T imes

LOS ANGELES — University of California, San Diego leaders and civil rights activists have condemned a student party that mocked Black Histor y Month with a ghettothemed “Compton Cookout.”

Campus administrators said Wednesday that they were investigating whether the off-campus party, held Monday, and its Facebook invitation violated the university’s code of conduct and whether its sponsors should be disciplined.

Members of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity were identified as among the organizers, but the fraternity president has criticized the event

and said his club did not sponsor it.

In an e-mail to students and staff, UC, San Diego Chancellor Mar ye Anne Fox said the party showed “blatant disregard of our campus values.” She said the university would hold a teach-in next Wednesday “to discuss the importance of mutual respect and civility.”

Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Penny Rue said the probe would examine whether the fraternity was involved and whether it should face sanctions. She said it was premature to discuss discipline for individual students but said she wanted partygoers to understand how much pain they had caused,

especially to black students.

Rue said she did not know how many people attended the event.

Promising a taste of “life in the ghetto,” the Facebook invitation contained many racist stereotypes.

For example, it urged women to dress as “ghetto chicks” who “usually have gold teeth, start fights and drama, and wear cheap clothes.”

It said the menu would include chicken and watermelon.

In an e-mail Wednesday, Garron Engstrom, president of Pi Kappa Alpha, emphasized that the party was neither planned nor endorsed by the social club.

“The fraternity regrets the display of ignorance and error-ofjudgment made by any individual

members who may have attended or were associated via social-media with the racially-offensive party,” he wrote. “These actions are in direct violation of Pike’s code of conduct, and appropriate disciplinary actions will be taken.”

History professor Danny Widener, who directs the university’s African American studies program, said he was outraged but not surprised by the party. He said black students comprise less than 2 percent of undergraduates at UC, San Diego, which he described as inhospitable to them.

“The campus climate is one in which you are constantly regarded as a statistical anomaly at best,” he said.

Widener also criticized Fox’s response as “tepid” and urged strong action against the party organizers, including expulsion if they are found to have used UC computers or facilities to send the invitation.

Chris Strudwick-Turner, vice president of the Los Angeles Urban League, also urged a tough response.

“If campus climate is important, a message needs to be sent that this is not acceptable,” she said.

In Sacramento, Democratic Assemblyman Isadore Hall II said leaders of the Legislature’s black, Latino, Asian Pacific Islander, gay and women’s caucuses would gather outside the Capitol on Thursday to condemn the party.

Editorial & Letters The Brown Daily Herald

Page 10 | Thursday, February 18, 2010

R ichard S tein and paul tran

e d i to r i a l

Beyond the numbers

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

Managing Editor Chaz Kelsh

editorial Arts & Culture Anne Speyer Suzannah Weiss Arts & Culture Features Brian Mastroianni Features Hannah Moser Metro Brigitta Greene Metro Ben Schreckinger News Sydney Ember News Nicole Friedman Sports Dan Alexander Asst. Sports Andrew Braca Asst. Sports Han Cui

Deputy Managing Editors Sophia Li Emmy Liss

Editor Editor Editor Editor Editor Editor Editor Editor Editor Editor Editor

Graphics & Photos Graphics Editor Stephen Lichenstein Alex Yuly Graphics Editor Nick Sinnott-Armstrong Photo Editor Max Monn Asst. Photo Editor Jonathan Bateman Sports Photo Editor production Copy Desk Chief Kelly Mallahan Jordan Mainzer Asst. Copy Desk Chief Marlee Bruning Design Editor Anna Migliaccio Asst. Design Editor Julien Ouellet Asst. Design Editor Neal Poole Web Editor Post- magazine Editor-in-Chief Marshall Katheder

Senior Editors Ellen Cushing Seth Motel Joanna Wohlmuth

Business General Managers Office Manager Shawn Reilly Claire Kiely Katie Koh Directors Sales Kelly Wess Finance Matthew Burrows Client Relations Margaret Watson Alumni Relations Christiana Stephenson Managers Arjun Vaidya Marco deLeon Aditi Bhatia Jared Davis Trenten Nelson-Rivers Alexander Carrere Kathy Bui

Local Sales National Sales University Sales University Sales Recruiter Sales Special Projects Staff

Opinions Opinions Editor Michael Fitzpatrick Opinions Editor Alyssa Ratledge Editorial Page Board Matt Aks Editorial Page Editor Debbie Lehmann Board member William Martin Board member Melissa Shube Board member Gaurie Tilak Board member Jonathan Topaz Board member

When enrollment data surfaced for the class of 2012, Brown struggled in terms of diversity. In particular, Brown’s enrollment of black students ranked secondto-last among Ivy League schools — only 6.7 percent of the class of 2012 is African-American. A disappointed Herald editorial last February noted a more disturbing long-term trend: While almost every Ivy League school had seen an increase in African-American enrollment over the past two decades, Brown’s number had stayed constant.

Recently, Brown’s admission office has proactively sought to recruit a more diverse student body. Some of the earliest results of these enhanced efforts — data for applicants to the class of 2014 — suggest that the trend may soon start to change. The Herald reported last week that applications from first-generation college students increased 40 percent over last year, while applications from Latino students grew 42 percent and the number of African-American applicants jumped 48 percent.

We were absolutely elated to see such staggering improvements in such a short period of time. Diversity is one of the hallmarks of a vibrant, empathetic and intellectually stimulating institution, and we applaud the Admission Office’s aggressive efforts to respond to the discouraging data of past years. The increase in first-generation college students shows that Brown is interested not only in racial diversity, but in diversity of socioeconomic status and family background.

In an interview with the editorial page board, Dean of Admission Jim Miller ’73 said that he was considerably disheartened by the low minority enrollment rate for the class of 2012. Miller deserves praise for leading what he described as a “targeted effort” to recruit first-generation and minority students. This year the University increased mailings, spent significantly more time in minority and underprivileged communities, and emphasized Brown’s robust financial aid and the support for students available through the Third World Center.

The University’s participation in the QuestBridge consortium — which assists low-income students in securing admission and scholarships at top schools — also helped diversify the applicant pool. In addition, we commend President Ruth Simmons for sending a letter to prospective applicants describing her own college experience as an African-American woman and a first-generation student.

Of course, Brown is not the only school actively seeking students who will provide both talent and diversity.

An article in USA Today last week highlighted some of the ways other schools are recruiting Hispanic students in particular. The University of Pennsylvania now conducts information sessions in Spanish, and Bryn Mawr College recently created a Spanish-language version of its website. These bilingual efforts are important to appeal to parents who may be more comfortable communicating in Spanish.

Miller noted that Brown’s Admission Office is also a bilingual operation. It has hired numerous admissions officers fluent in Spanish and assigned them to areas of the country with large Latino populations. It also adds small, handwritten paragraphs in Spanish to select acceptance letters. However, considering what other schools are doing on this front, we hope that the University will expand its efforts.

Presently, though, the challenge is ensuring that this year’s increase in minority and first-generation applicants translates into enrollment. As the Herald reported last year, Brown’s African-American population is relatively small mainly because few accepted African-American students matriculate. We know that Brown is a great place to go to school for students of all backgrounds, and we hope that the Admission Office conveys this message especially clearly to potential members of the class of 2014.

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

Thursday, February 18, 2010 | Page 11

Financing culture SARAH YU Opinions Columnist I had been making my rounds as a responsible member of the Hong Kong Students’ Association last week, attempting to get the word out about our latest event. I was surprised at the number of my friends who questioned or declined my invitation on the basis of “not being from Hong Kong.” I felt a little confused at these comments. A gathering of just “people from Hong Kong,” I surmise, would be a small, somewhat pitiful group of around fifteen, grumbling about the lack of good Hong Kong food in the Providence area. In other words, we would not exactly be taking advantage of the Brown experience.

What, then, is being a “cultural group” really all about? Isn’t it to spread and promote cultural experiences, instead of to immerse a select and exclusive clique in the culture that they are already familiar with?

I would assume that a Brown student should have enough agency and charisma points to be able to organize social get-togethers with peers from the same place of origin and/or language abilities without the aid of being a formalized Undergraduate Council of Students student group. Being a UCS student organization, writing and signing our own constitution as a part of the application process and agreeing not to “dis-

criminate on the basis of race, color, religion, age, national or ethnic origin, disability, status as a veteran, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or sex” implies that we, as student organization leaders, are in a position to be responsible to the student population.

I’m not saying that any groups do violate this area of the UCS constitution, and there are certainly no groups at the Activities Fairs that would stop any student from signing up for their mailing lists, for example. But if students are feeling any degree of symbolic

Board provides $90 in social funds, and $200 in automatic baseline funds per semester, and the student groups themselves have virtually free reign in deciding how these funds are spent. Category III groups are even able to make presentations at UFB meetings for supplemental event funding, provided that they are events and activities for Brown students. The categories also delineate student groups’ privileges to free use of media services, room bookings and funding, among other important aspects of running an organization.

If students are feeling any degree of symbolic pressure against attending a cultural group’s event because of feelings of non-belonging and discomfort, I would assert that student groups need to do a better job at being more welcoming. pressure against attending a cultural group’s event because of feelings of non-belonging and discomfort, I would assert that student groups need to do a better job at being more welcoming.

Student organizations at Brown are registered with the Student Activities committee of UCS, and are financed by the activities fee in all students’ tuition. For Category II and III groups, the Undergraduate Finance

In all matters of equality in these accounts, does it not seem a little unfair if groups receive a similar degree of University support to hold a public lecture series and to hold monthly dinner parties for fifteen members?

If some student groups are less proactive than others in reaching out to Brown students at large, and seem to be less inclusive, to the point where membership is based on something like citizenship, should they still

have access to the same privileges? After all, if funding comes from a common source to which all students contribute, shouldn’t the benefits from these funds, at least in theory, be available to all students?

The UCS Student Activities Committee doesn’t yet seem to have holds on community outreach and “openness” requirements for student groups, but perhaps this should be a new area for UCS to assess. Student organizations that require students’ funds should be based on positive contributions to the Brown community at large.

Baseline funds and social funds should not be the right of a student group, but only distributed to those who show need. Supplementary funding and recurring annual funds should also be applied for on the basis of need, where student groups should demonstrate to UFB or any other funding office that they will be using these funds to cater to Brown students at large.

Brown students should be able to — and comfortable enough to — let ourselves roam liberally into any cultural show, food-making tutorial or national holiday celebration that we’ve had the fortune to fund. So throw open your doors, cultural groups and give our student activities fees the multicultural experience they deserve.

Sarah Yu ’11 will be crashing a Hanuri party sometime this semester. She can be reached at xia_yu@brown.edu.

Thank you for not smoking

BY MICHAEL FITZPATRICK Opinions Editor The first time I smelled marijuana smoke, I distinctly remember thinking what an odd odor it is. Wood smoke has a crisp, full odor.

Cigarettes give off a fainter aroma, light, but sharp. Marijuana is more difficult to describe: sharp like a cigarette, but distractingly sweet-and-sour. It’s an unpleasant odor that many students, myself included, will encounter for the first time at college. I just wish we could stop encountering it.

I don’t usually like to comment on the subject of drug abuse, specifically because I do not have particularly strong views on the matter. I do not smoke, snort, inhale, chew or inject drugs myself, yet I would be hardpressed to prevent another human being from engaging in recreational drug use if he or she so desired. It’s your freedom, and I have no right to infringe upon it.

However, I feel compelled to inform a few students around campus that common courtesy still applies when you’re stoned.

Specifically, I’m talking about controlling your marijuana smoke. I may not have the same appreciation for that pungent aroma that the smokers have come to know and love, but that does not mean that I need to be desensitized to the byproducts of your recreational drug use.

To be clear, there comes a point when one no longer wants to know that you’re smoking pot all the way down at the end of

the hall. What you put into your body is your business, but what you put into the air is everyone’s business.

A friend of mine (who has asked to remain anonymous) has been grappling with the constant presence of pot smoke in her residence hall since the beginning of the semester. At first, she made a sincere effort to ignore it: She closed her door and even resorted to opening her window on at least one occasion. I don’t know if anyone remembers this, but the air temperature has been dipping below freezing for the past several nights. Given the choice, she would rather

a few nights with friends in other residence halls. She claims the smoke is so dense that the smell of it is beginning to collect on her clothing and in her hair, a fact that some of her friends have begun to notice.

My friend spoke with her community assistant regarding the problem. The CA suggested that she confront the source of the smoke. This relatively straightforward approach has thus far resulted in little more than a few menacing leers in passing in the hallway.

Fortunately for her, an alternative housing option presented itself, which (in her

What you put into your body is your business, but what you put into the air is everyone’s business.

sacrifice all of the heat in her room than deal with the obnoxious stench of marijuana smoke. I would rather she not have to make that choice at all.

But the unfairness does not stop there.

Even moderate exposures to the smoke cause her to feel nauseated and lightheaded, symptoms that her friends share when they come to visit her. She has trouble concentrating through the haze, which makes it nearly impossible for her to study or read in her own room. She has been forced to spend

mind) seems to be the only viable solution at this point. I can hardly blame her. If the smoke were as thick as she claims, I would seek out other living arrangements as well (preferably on a substance-free floor).

But what else can she do? Her CA was unable to solve the problem, and she’s too afraid to confront the smoker again, let alone make a report to the Department of Public Safety or the Office of Residential Life. She just can’t live there anymore.

Perhaps the question should not be,

“what else can she do?” Rather, it should be, “what can the pot smokers do?” Obviously, they could open up a window. Sure, it’s frigid out there, but cigarette smokers at Brown have been braving the winter cold to get their nicotine fix, thanks to the Universitywide ban on smoking in residential and dining facilities. If cigarette smokers can venture out into arctic conditions to light up, surely the marijuana aficionados of Brown would be willing to crack a window? They could also shove damp towels under their doors to keep their precious smoke inside.

That’s really all it takes to keep a friend and hallmate comfortable and warm in her own room.

To the (approximately) 32 percent of Brown students who use marijuana, all I ask is that you exercise some kind of smoking etiquette when you get high. Don’t let your smoke waft throughout your building. Take precautions to keep it contained in your room, or release it in some way that won’t bother your fellow residents. And if you’re politely asked to stop, please stop.

To the other 68 percent of Brown students, all I have to say is this: Thank you for not smoking.

Michael Fitzpatrick ’12 is a psychology concentrator from San Antonio, Texas. He can be contacted at michael_fitzpatrick@ brown.edu.

Today The Brown Daily Herald

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New R.I. budget slashes ed. funding

Squash teams finish up season

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Thursday, February 18, 2010

t h e n e w s i n i m ag e s

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inside

In today’s PostBrown goes looking for love, Presidents bro out, Trinity Rep gets Shakesperean and the Hardy Brothers take us all to Sex Ed. Plus: Los Campesinos!, pets in dorms, chick flicks for the YouTube generation and brunch. Yum!

5 c a l e n da r Today, February 18

tomorrow, February 19

12:00 P.M. — Brown Bag Series In Archaeology: “Archaeology versus the Volcano,” Rhode Island Hall, Room 108 7:00 P.M.— Professor Rashid Khalidi: “The Uncertain Future of Palestine,” Macmillan 117

12:00 P.M. — Framing Haiti: A Brown University Teach-In, Sidney E. Frank Hall Life Sciences

comics Cabernet Voltaire | Abe Pressman

12:15 P.M. — The Engineering and Art of Photography, Barus and Holley, Room 190

menu Sharpe Refectory

Verney-Woolley Dining Hall

Lunch — Eggplant Parmesan, Beef Tacos, Pumpkin and White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Lunch — Sesame Chicken, Mediterranean Bar, Pumpkin and White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Dinner — Spanish Chicken, Mexican Cornbread Casserole, Brazilian Chocolate Cake

Dinner — Marinated Beef, Vegan Vegetable Vermicelli with Garlic, Brazilian Chocolate Cake

Dot Comic | Eshan Mitra and Brendan Hainline

crossword

Fruitopia | Andy Kim

Hippomaniac | Mat Becker

Island Republic | Kevin Grubb