Friday, March 12, 2010

Daily Herald the Brown

vol. cxlv, no. 31 | Friday, March 12, 2010 | Serving the community daily since 1891

Three’s the charm in PW show

URC projects increase in fed. funding

By Heeyoung Min Senior Staff Writer

By Kristina Fazzalaro Staff Writer

The lights come up and the Prozorov house is quiet. The table is set, waiting for company. The eldest sister is writing a lesson plan for her students, perhaps, or doing the family’s bills. The middle sister lounges on the couch reading while the youngest merely stands there, a slight crease in her brow and a troubled expression on her face. She turns 20 today and is happy — but she doesn’t know why.

Nick Sinnott-Armstrong / Herald

ARTS & CULTURE There is an air of boredom, of staleness about the house. These three sisters do this every day — follow the same pattern and see the same faces in their provincial Russian village. They each have dreams of getting out, of returning to their

Lily Garrison ’10 and Evan Smith ’11 in Production Workshop’s “Three Sisters,” which runs through Sunday.

beloved Moscow. Rural life is dull and hopeless in its monotony. It can only be so long before their frustration boils over.

Director Morgan Ritchie ’10.5 said he is attempting to do the “craziest” thing that Brown’s act-

ing scene has witnessed in a long time. He’s putting on a naturalistic play — Anton Chekhov’s “Three Sisters,” which opened Thursday night at Production Workshop.

Tremendous acting, combined with a simple but charming set and

haunting music, creates an atmosphere that transports the viewer to 1900 Russia.

The three-hour play tells the story of the well-to-do Prozorov famcontinued on page 5

Driver charged in hit-and-run involving two alums

BY GODA THANGADA Senior Staff Writer

Frances Jasmin has been arrested and charged in the Brooklyn hitand-run accident that injured Erinn Phelan ’09 and her former roommate, Alma Guerrero ’09 MD ’13, according to multiple news outlets.

Jasmin turned herself into the police Wednesday following her release from the psychiatric ward of New York Presbyterian Hospital, according to reports.

Phelan remains in critical condition at Kings County Hospital.

Guerrero has been released and has returned to campus.

Before the police apprehended Jasmin, Lt. John Grimpel of the New York Police Department told The Herald the charges would change if Phelan’s condition changes. Jasmin has not yet appeared in court and is scheduled to do so soon, the Boston Globe reported.

Jasmin’s sister, Cindy, was identified early in the investigation as

the owner of the green Acura Legend involved in the accident. Cindy Jasmin, who waited two days before approaching the police, gave a press conference on Feb. 26 alongside her lawyer, Adam Thompson. “I am the owner of the vehicle involved in the accident,” Cindy Jasmin said.

“My sister was the driver of the car involved in the accident.”

Frances Jasmin’s lawyer, Renee Hill, told the Boston Globe, “My client is not a monster. She’s a young lady who’s very sorry this situation

has occurred.”

As a coordinator for the NYC Civic Corps volunteer program, Phelan worked in New York’s City Hall under Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The mayor has visited Phelan’s bedside multiple times in the last two weeks. In a statement Wednesday, he said, “I want to thank the detectives who have been working tirelessly on this case, and I want to thank the New Yorkers who continue to keep Erinn in their thoughts and prayers.’’

Atoms to autos with Brown-GM joint lab

By Emily Rosen Staf f Writer

inside

For the past nine years, Brown professors and students have been working in close partnership with one of the largest automotive companies in the world on research that has the potential to impact the future of the automobile industr y.

The General Motors/Brown University Collaborative Research Laborator y, which conducts computational materials research, was established in 2001 when GM approached Brown about collaborating.

This collaborative laborator y, located in Barus and Holley, is one of several similar laboratories at other universities around

News.....1-4 Arts...........5 Editorial....6 Opinion.....7 Today.........8

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the world. GM was interested in starting a collaborative laboratory at a university in the area and “approached Brown because of our reputation in the field,” according to Professor of Engineering Bill Curtin, who was the lab’s director at the time of its inception.

Brown submitted a proposal to GM, and after a selection process that lasted about a year, Brown made the cut.

“Their goals aligned very much with our academic goals,” Curtin said. He added that the auto company was interested in applying research conducted at Brown to projects it is working on and emphasized that this partnership was “designed specifically as a collaboration.” Scientists from GM often come to Brown to work in

continued on page 4

H O T F u sion

the laborator y, and students and professors frequently visit the company in Detroit.

Researchers at both Brown and GM attested to the benefits of this collaborative partnership.

“GM helps us identify new and exciting areas of research,” said Curtin, adding that the link to GM also allows Brown professors and graduate students to focus their scientific research on topics that have applications in industr y.

GM Laborator y Group Manager Paul Krajewski, who is the leader of the Collaborative Research Laborator y from the auto company’s side, said the program is “a ver y good model for tr ying to do research at universities” and continued on page 3

The University Resources Committee projected in a report released last month that the University’s Education and General budget, which includes expenditures on administrative, academic and student support, “would see a 5.8 percent increase in indirect cost recovery from sponsored funding” in the next fiscal year, Deputy Provost Vincent Tompkins ’84 wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.

The Division of Biology and Medicine would see a 15.8 percent growth in indirect cost recovery, he wrote. The budget increases are largely a result of increased federal funding from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Tompkins wrote.

The indirect cost recovery uses funds from external research sponsors — primarily the federal government — to “reimburse the University for overhead costs related to hosted sponsored research,” according to the URC report.

The University’s income from indirect cost recover y dropped “significantly” in recent years due to a number of changes made in federal agencies, according to the URC report.

“This flattening resulted from slower growth in federal funding, from a switch in grant-making practice that has led agencies to make

Max Monn / Herald

The Fusion Dance company delivered a high-octane performance for its 27th annual show. See page 5.

News, 2

News, 4

Opinions, 7

Blog it like it’s hot Students’ hip-hop blog comments on music and culture

pay day The Office of the Controller introduces a new payroll process

Gaga ooh-la-la Abigail Chance ’11 has a bad romance with pop’s newest feminine icon

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

herald@browndailyherald.com

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Friday, March 12, 2010

“Hip-hop touches on so many facets of our culture.”

— Sean McGrath ’11, hip-hop blog writer

Juniors’ hip-hop blog Offices turn to Facebook for promotion covers music, culture

By Jessica Liss Contributing Writer

By Casey Bleho Contributing Writer

Thought up last spring and launched over the summer, BenzAndABackpack.com — a comprehensive hip-hop blog created by Peter Drinan ’11 and Steven Aguiar ’11 — has already gained a sizable following on campus and beyond.

Inspired in part by the Kanye West song “Breathe In, Breathe Out,” the blog looks to find common ground between both commercialized and underground hip-hop artists and groups, Aguiar said. To do so, each member of the five-part Brown and Rhode Island School of Design writing team brings a “compilation of styles” to the table, Aguiar said.

Essentially, the blog looks to offer a comprehensive, intelligent approach to both the culture and musical style, considering not only the types of music available but the cultural implications of that music as well. “Hip-hop touches on so many facets of our culture, so I look a lot at this,” writer Sean McGrath ’11 said.

“That’s the whole point,” said Brian Alexander ’11, who works on promotion for the blog. “We look at being all-encompassing and unbiased. At getting people exposed to all aspects of the music and engaged in an intelligent way.”

As writer Jonathan Weidman ’10 explained, “I think the goal ultimately is to present the culture

without any of these labels. We focus on quality, not discrimination.”

Though “Benz and a Backpack” is used as a means of bringing hip-hop culture and discussion to College Hill, the bloggers said it is also an important promotional tool for upand-coming, underground artists.

“People want exposure, and it’s cool to see what they have to offer and be a part of what they’re doing,” Alexander said.

Drinan and Aguiar developed the idea for the blog after working together on the WBRU show “360 Midnight Madness,” Aguiar said. They were looking to create more of an analytical and connected approach to the music they presented on that program, he said.

“They would just post track lists,” Drinan said. “We thought this was deficient. We write articles, put some thought into what is being said.”

The group is looking to develop the blog further and make it more of a presence on campus.

They want to “help to transform the scene at Brown a little bit,” McGrath said, mainly through on-campus events, parties and music shares — the first of which will be held March 18.

The group’s ultimate goal is for the blog to gain more credibility and popularity as a source of music and discussion, not unlike that of an online magazine, Drinan said.

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Multiple Brown offices and departments are turning to Facebook to advertise and promote opportunities and events, finding that the site’s capacity as a means of communication extends beyond social networking.

The Office of Continuing Education began advertising on the site in fall 2008 as it became “clear that Facebook had reached a critical mass,” said Geoffrey Chisholm, the office’s director of marketing.

According to the Web site, Facebook currently has over 400 million users.

Chisholm is now managing 12 Facebook campaigns promoting programs including the University’s Summer Study Abroad, Summer@Brown and online courses.

Although advertisements allow for limited text and optional images, which appear on the right side of the page, they are “a great way to reach Brown students with information about new programs and remind them about upcoming deadlines,” Chisholm said.

The Office of Continuing Education extended the application deadline for Summer Study Abroad on March 2 and was able to quickly and conveniently notify the student body that same day through Facebook, Chisholm said.

Academic depar tments have

also used Facebook to advertise classes. Wendy Chun, associate professor of modern culture and media, created an ad last semester for her course MCM 1201C: “Imagined Networks, Glocal Connections.” The ad coincided with the class topic and linked directly to the course syllabus and class materials, Chun said.

The goal was “to reach a larger and different group than if you just put it on MyCourses,” Chun said.

The advertisement was “aimed towards more people than would normally take an MCM course,” she said.

Facebook allows advertisers to target users by hometown, age, school, graduating class and interests to ensure effective marketing to relevant audiences, according to Chisholm.

Chisholm has found advertising through Facebook to be cost-effective. While advertisers are charged per click, students do not need to click on the ad to get the message.

Facebook functions as a “bulletin board,” reminding students of relevant opportunities and deadlines, Chisholm said.

“We viewed it as an alternative to doing some print ads,” Chun said.

But students interviewed by The Herald said they were unaware of the advertising campaigns.

“I haven’t noticed them and have not heard anyone talk about them,” Emma Whitford ’12 said.

In the case of Chun’s course,

students reported they had heard about the class by “word of mouth” rather than the ads, Chun said.

While office and department ads have attracted little notice, many students reported using Facebook groups and pages. On the Brown Athletics Facebook page there is information about upcoming events, including times and ticket prices, as well as links to news updates and articles on the official Web site, according to Marketing and Promotions Coordinator Patrick Walker.

With Facebook, he works toward “creating awareness among students, faculty, and local community members,” Walker said. In addition, the Department’s Facebook activity “promotes school spirit and helps to get the word out,” said hockey player Marc Senecal ’13.

Walker attributed an increase in student attendance at athletic events this year to the one-year-old Facebook page.

In this age of new technology, departments are beginning to create pages for administrative purposes, where faculty can post announcements, Chun said. While her department’s digital media classes do not require student participation through Facebook, some courses are beginning to use the site as an integral extension of discussion, she added.

“Ten years ago, e-mail was innovative,” Chisholm said. “Now it’s standard.”

U. funds ‘exceptional’ research for 12 profs

By Anita Badejo Contributing Writer

Twelve University faculty members recently received 2010 Richard B. Salomon Faculty Research Awards, according to the Office of the Vice President for Research.

The awards “fund exceptional faculty research projects,” and were established in 1995 with funding from former University Chancellor Richard Salomon ’32, Vice President for Research Clyde Briant wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. Since 1999, the awards have been funded by the University, Briant wrote. This year’s awards ranged in size from $13,000 to $15,000, according to the award’s Web site.

According to Briant, the University grants 10–16 Salomons each year, which are “intended to acknowledge (the) excellent in research across all disciplines.”

“The awardees are women and men who are mostly at the early part of their careers, doing exciting research in areas that have the potential to make important contributions in their fields,” Briant wrote.

Assistant Professor of History and Africana Studies Francoise Hamlin said she will be using her Salomon to fund a new research project titled “Coming of Age in the Movement” in order to study the trauma experienced by children during the civil rights movement.

While conducting past research on the civil rights movement in Mississippi, Hamlin said, she began to realize that the way in which it affected young people was largely unexplored.

“We celebrate them as pioneers and heroes, but we don’t really consider the toll it took on them,” she said.

On a similar note, Assistant Professor of Judaic Studies and Anthropology Marcy Brink-Danan is also using her Salomon Award to further research in an area she’s found hasn’t received much consideration, she wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.

Brink-Danan — whose project is titled “Local News, Global Jews: An Ethnography of European Jewish Journalism” — is conducting the first ethnographic study of Jewish journalism. She wrote that she

hopes “this project will tell us more about the ways Jews, and other minorities, make decisions about how to represent themselves in the public sphere.”

Mark Zervas, assistant professor of biology,received a Salomon Award to conduct new research on the creation of lateral versus menial dopamine neurons using mouse genomics.

Zervas was particularly excited to have received the award, saying “this is one of those experiments that I’ve wanted to do for a long time, but it’s hard to justify parting with money to do those experiments.” His Salomon will allow him to “push a research avenue forward” that he may not have been able to otherwise, he said.

All three recipients expressed praise for the University in investing in faculty members through the awarding of Salomons.

To Hamlin, the award is a “demonstration of faith,” while Zervas said it “reflects a certain type of commitment from the University to promote very fundamental but very human health relevant sorts of questions.”

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“Naturally, I’m surprised, thrilled, delighted.”

— Gordon Wood, professor emeritus of history

History’s Wood wins book award CIS moves to new online

By Goda Thangada Senior Staf f Writer

The New York Historical Society has awarded its annual book prize to Gordon Wood, professor emeritus of histor y, for his recently published book, “Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789–1815.” As Wood’s work, which was published in October, begins to win accolades, he faces a familial rival — his daughter Amy’s first book, “L ynching and Spectacle: Witnessing Racial Violence in America, 1890–1940,” is up against “Empire of Liberty” for the Los Angeles Times History Book Prize.

“Naturally, I’m surprised, thrilled, delighted,” Wood said about the Historical Society’s prize.

“It’s not something I expected.”

Beyond the citation, the prize also includes a $50,000 award and the opportunity to be honored with a series of formal events, including a black-tie dinner and seminars with other historians and the society’s donors in March.

“The book is really an extraordinary work,” said Louise Mirrer, president of the society. “It’s an important story that speaks to tensions that existed at the nation’s beginning. It gives you the full flavor of the personalities and philosophies of the men who participated in the birth of the nation.”

Wood told The Herald last fall that his book described the tumultuous process of democratizing America. “Many revolutionaries were disillusioned with what they had wrought,” he said. “They were surprised by how popular and vulgar society had become. It took a new generation of leaders to come to terms with it.”

For Wood, the prize is yet another feather in his cap. Previously, he has won the Pulitzer Prize and Bancroft Prizes for works on the American Revolution and its after-

math. Though “Empire of Liberty” spills into the Federalist period, it picks up some of the same themes about the conflict between the visions of early American leaders and the realities of the era.

“It’s also kind of a life-work,” Mirrer said. “Here, he’s cr ystallized an awful lot of his thinking about the illusions that the founding fathers had.”

Wood’s book is part of the Oxford series on American histor y, many other volumes of which won praise as well as prizes. “They choose the ver y best people to write about the time period,” Mirrer said.

Because a committee of historians and history buffs read every book that fits the criteria for judging, Wood’s competition was essentially every other history book published in 2009. Not only was “Empire of Liberty” an important scholarly work, it was also accessible to general readers, which has been a major priority for the Society since Mirrer became president, she said.

“We love history,” Mirrer said.

“We want as many people as possible to feel the same way about it.”

In the last five years, under Mirrer’s leadership, the New York Historical Society has grown to be one of the mainstay historical societies in the nation, Wood said.

“We want to be an institution that is open,” Mirrer said. “We reinterpret history. We’ve tackled a lot of topics that other people wanted to sweep under the rug.”

Wood said the academic reviews for “Empire of Liberty” likely won’t be out for several months. Still, comments from peers have been pouring in. “Some people have different agendas and don’t necessarily like everything I say,” Wood said.

“I’m old enough so that I don’t get so moved or depressed by reviews.

It’s too emotionally scarring to take

every critical review seriously.”

The press, however, has been responding positively to his work.

As one of five authors nominated for the L.A. Times prize, along with his daughter Amy, Wood will fly out to California for a “Hollywood Style” ceremony in April.

In her book, Amy Wood, assistant professor of histor y at Illinois State University, examines the visual culture of lynching and white supremacy. “My book tries to understand the nature of racial violence,” Amy said. “It tries to understand how lynching became socially acceptable.”

She also examines the appropriation of lynching photography by the NAACP and the sensationalization of the imagery in Hollywood films like “Birth of a Nation.”

Her interest is in visual culture and American studies, and only incidentally in history, she said.

“I fell backwards into history,” Wood said, “The humanistic questions that I was interested in were actually really historical questions.”

Though her father was influential as a scholar and as an adviser, Amy said her book was very much her own.

“I really was ver y intent on finding my own way in my work and profession,” she said. “But he would talk to me about writing, about what makes good histor y and what makes good history writing.”

Her book is “shorter and more imaginative,” her father said, adding that he hopes she wins the award.

“She’s thrilled to her toes.”

Wood, who will be leaving his office at the end of the year after retiring last June, is still busy compiling a Library of America volume on John Adams and editing a collection of his own essays.

“I have no idea what’s in the cards for the future,” he said.

Atoms to autos with Brown-GM joint lab continued from page 1 that people are being productive now that the partnership is firmly established and researchers on both sides have “gotten past the learning cur ve.”

Since its establishment, the laborator y has been working on various projects involving lightweight materials, and recently initiated a project related to batteries. Professor of Engineering Allan Bower, who is Brown’s head at the laborator y, said the collaborative labrator y’s research aims to “develop lightweight materials to improve fuel efficiency” and to study materials used in batteries to improve batter y life and look at “how and why batter y materials fail.”

The research on lightweight materials focuses on aluminum and magnesium, two materials GM is particularly interested in studying.

Both of these metals are lighter

than steel, and if cars could eventually be made of lighter materials, they would be more efficient and consume less gasoline.

According to Curtin, the problem is that aluminum and magnesium are both fairly weak materials, so researchers are studying ways to strengthen these metals by adding other materials and then modeling the behavior of these new materials using molecular dynamics, physics and materials science.

Curtin noted that this research is an example of how “fundamental science feeds into engineering.”

David Cipoletti GS, who is in his fourth year of working in the laboratory on lightweight materials research, said that it is interesting to “see how industr y works and how research is done from an industr y standpoint.”

The other major field of research in this laborator y is batteries, which is of special interest to GM due to the upcoming release

of an electric vehicle called the GM Volt. However, Bower noted that the research is also “concerned with long-term battery issues.” Cipoletti added that the laborator y is interested in “how long batteries will last with each charge and how long batteries will last in general.”

Cipoletti also noted that batter y research is an especially “hot topic right now,” and said improvements in batteries could lead to a move away from gasoline-powered cars.

Funding for research in the collaborative research laborator y is provided by GM, and over a period of 10 years, Krajewski estimates that approximately $5 million has been contributed to the laboratory at Brown. Soon, a contract for the next five years will be negotiated and settled, Bower said.

“We want initiatives like this to keep going for ward,” Krajewski said.

authorization system

By CC Chiang Contributing Writer

Computing and Information Services is spearheading an ongoing project to replace WebAuth with the Shibboleth System, opensource software that allows users to sign on to multiple Web resources with a single login.

Shibboleth, a name taken from the Old Testament, gives faculty and students more convenient access to online resources by eliminating the need for multiple usernames and passwords.

Login information will be saved in a University-owned storage system, “keeping authentication at home,” said Steven Tompkins, associate director of student and identity management systems.

The new system will allow users with authenticated Brown logins to access Web resources on campus and on InCommon, a federation of education and research institutions focused on sharing online resources, with a single sign-on, said Steve Carmody, IT architect. According to Carmody, since the system’s inception in 2002, Shibboleth has spread to 2,500 campuses in 30

countries.

According to Carmody, one advantage Shibboleth offers over WebAuth is that it works across borders. “The world is changing, and many students and faculty regularly work with external parties in research and teaching,” he said.

Since its implementation at Brown in 2008, Shibboleth has impacted the University community in many ways. Brown Morning Mail began using Shibboleth early this year, while other campus systems are scheduled to migrate from WebAuth to Shibboleth in the future.

Carmody also said Shibboleth offers cost advantages because it does not require license fees. In addition, CIS is implementing the new system itself, saving the cost of commercial support.

According to Carmody, there is no fixed date for phasing out WebAuth. Tompkins said CIS is currently working with early adopters within the University to explore new ways to leverage Shibboleth, such as by incorporating it into transcript ordering services, the Critical Review and future versions of Banner.

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Friday, March 12, 2010

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Payroll changes set to streamline procedures for University employees

By Ashley Aydin Staf f Writer

The Office of the Controller introduced a new payroll initiative Feb. 25 for University employees designed to improve access to payroll information. The initiative,

“Pay Check+,” will be used to deliver payroll checks, direct deposit notices and W-2 tax forms to students, staff and faculty, according to the Office of the Controller’s Web site.

Pay Check+ is part of the “Going Green” initiative, which aims to

reduce the use of paper at Brown.

Donald Schanck, assistant vice president and University controller, wrote in an e-mail to The Herald that employees still have the option to continue receiving their check and deposit notices with paper, but can discontinue it if they choose to use Pay Check+.

“We looked for smaller projects that could offer benefits to employees and streamline inefficient administrative processes,” Schank wrote. “Pay Check+ provides both employee and administrative benefits.”

The initiative will provide online access to payroll information including payroll stubs and pay deductions, as well as enable employees to view 36 months of payroll histor y, Schanck wrote.

Pay Check+ will also offer an online calculator for W-4 tax forms, which will help employees calculate their take-home pay. Along with the W-4 calculator, Pay Check+ will include a calculator to estimate how much employees will take home if there are changes in payroll deductions made to the employee’s gross pay.

Schanck wrote that with Pay Check+, W-2 forms, which are used to file income reports for tax purposes, can be accessed and downloaded into a number of different tax software products for filing tax

Min Wu / Herald file photo

“Pay Check+,” a new initiative to improve access to payroll information for University employees, was introduced Feb. 25 as a part of “Going Green.”

returns, making it easier to duplicate copies should an original form get lost.

The major advantage of the new system is its “off-site disaster recovery option” if there are malfunctions on-campus, Schanck wrote.

The processing of Pay Check+ involves Automatic Data Processing, Inc., which will help provide the online payroll availability.

“They will process the direct deposit transmittal through their partner bank and return checks and deposit advices to us for normal distribution,” Schanck wrote.

With the involvement of the outside company, there will be new costs, though Schanck wrote that the costs would be minimal considering the savings from eliminating paper supplies and reducing staff needs that will result from the initiative.

“We are encouraging all employees, including students, to enroll in direct deposit,” Schanck wrote.

“Pay Check+ will save me from

taking trips to get my paycheck,” said Claire Huang ’13, who works as a cashier for Brown University Dining Ser vices. “I like doing things online. It’ll be easy to keep track of how much I earn.”

The program also ensures that employees are reimbursed on pay day even when they are not on campus.

“For students receiving checks between semesters or over the summer, this eliminates a major worr y about where their check is mailed and eliminates misplaced checks,” wrote Schanck.

Students will be able to access the program by using their Brown username and password, even if they are not on campus.

Schanck wrote that brochures will soon be included with student checks, and there will be information sessions for all employees later this month. The Of fice of the Controller expects to begin the program with April payrolls, he wrote.

Federal stimulus funds support faculty research continued from page 1 a greater number of smaller grants, and from a tendency by some agencies to target offers of support to well-established investigators,” the report reads.

But in the federal stimulus package’s first year, 47 projects at Brown were supported with more than $33 million in grant funds through the stimulus, according to a Feb. 17 University press release. “Brown faculty made very strong efforts to apply for these funds and were very successful,” Tompkins wrote.

The 5.8 percent growth in the Education and General budget — from $16.1 million in the current fiscal year to $17 million for the next

fiscal year, according to the URC report — accounts for much of the growth in the University’s overall budget, according to Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Beppie Huidekoper. There was “hardly any growth overall if you take out the sponsored funding,” she said.

Vice President for Research Clyde Briant estimated that researchers at Brown will be the beneficiaries of “more than $6 million in additional indirect cost recovery over the next two to three years as a direct result” of the federal stimulus, according to the URC report.

— With additional reporting by Sydney Ember

Arts & Culture The Brown Daily Herald

Friday, March 12, 2010 | Page 5

Annual show presents a Fusion of styles

By Alexys Esparza Contributing Writer

The Fusion Dance Company weaves together various forms of dance and musical styles in its 27th annual show, which opened Thursday night in Alumnae Hall and runs through Sunday.

Fusion was founded in 1983 by Paula Franklin ’86 because she wanted to see more diversity on campus, Danielle Dunlap ’10 said during the show. The company continues to resist conformity in their routines, encouraging diversity both on and off the stage.

“There’s not a cohesive feel to the show,” Christina Santana ’11, codirector of Fusion, told The Herald.

“With new members, every year the show is slightly different.”

The show opened with an enthusiastic 1950s-style piece set to “The Nicest Kids in Town,” from the musical “Hairspray.” With the help of poodle skirts and cardigans, the company came out strong in this piece, instantly creating a highly energetic, fun atmosphere.

Directly following the opening number, the company showcased their versatility in a piece that slowed down the tempo a bit and created a more intimate atmosphere with only four dancers on stage. The quartet incorporated both softer, fluid movements and hip-hop-inspired movements, blending the two quite nicely.

Continuing the modern dance feel, the next number was a captivating duet set to Radiohead’s “Packt like Sardines in a Crushed Tin Can.” Dan Lurie ’11 and Joelle Murphy ’11 worked very well together, performing a powerful piece filled with sweeping and strong motion.

A short duet interlude entitled “Freak” picked the pace back up and transitioned into a more hip-hop-oriented dance number set to Beyonce’s “Sweet Dreams.”

In these pieces, and throughout the show, Fusion set a well-organized pace, alternating between the slower, melodic and the faster-paced pieces.

A great example of this controlled and varied pacing came in the middle

of the show with an all-girl number composed of four songs, including “Make It Rain” by Usher and Monica’s “So Gone.” As the songs in the number changed in tempo, so did the dancers’ movements, creating a piece that was varied in sight and sound.

In the latter half of the show, a powerful duet took the stage, dancing to Marketa Irglova’s song “The Hill.”

With flawless partner lifts and graceful movements, Danielle Lo ’13 and Stephen Ursprung ’10 commanded the stage with passion.

One of the highlights in the show was the senior performance piece, “You are Dismissed,” which blended dance styles, including boy band moves set to ’N Sync and Lady Gagaesque routines set to “Bad Romance.”

Exuding attitude and confidence, the seniors kept the energy level very high throughout their piece.

In the final number, the whole company came onto the stage with a burst of energy, dancing to Ke$ha’s “TiK ToK,” and creating a communal party-like atmosphere among the dancers and the audience. The piece

Max Monn / Herald

The Fusion Dance Company presents an eclectic mix of dance and musical styles at its show, which runs through Sunday.

was extremely energetic and fun, a great way to end the show.

Alyssa Thelemaque ’12, the group’s publicity chair, said she wants

the audience to come away from the show feeling that “dance is accessible to them too, because dance is for everyone.”

‘Three Sisters’ features Russian drama and poignant performances continued from page 1 ily and their acquaintances, slowly coming to terms with the changes wrought by modernity.

“I decided to do it because it’s one of my favorite plays,” Ritchie said. “I love Chekhov and I wanted to do a more naturalist piece — something young actors could really sink their teeth into.”

From the opening scene to the closing curtain, “Three Sisters” guarantees audiences a sincere and poignant performance from each cast member.

The three sisters — Olga, Masha and Irina, played by Caroline Straty ’10, Lily Garrison ’10 and Emma Watson ’13, respectively — draw audiences in during the opening scene and never let them go.

Straty’s portrayal of Olga, the eldest sister, brings together the perfect combination of strength and warmth as she tries to guide her younger siblings through the trials of life and love. Garrison’s Masha is the one audiences love to hate, as lounging about while her town is on fire and having a clandestine affair with the new military officer contribute more to the hate than the love. But wait until her husband appears; her decisions will be more understandable then. And Watson’s young and naive Irina appears both powerful and helpless. She is determined to return to Moscow, to work for her living, to be happy. But no matter what she does, she is left dissatisfied.

The three may appear static at first, but their complexity and contradictions keep audience members on the edges of their seats. The characters are full of shades of gray, and it is these shadows that make “Three Sisters” truly come to life as the audience discovers the characters’

desires, relationships and motivations.

The costumes complete this effect. Costume designer Alexander Crane ’13.5 relied on pieces from the Army and Navy Store, Salvation Army and Main Stage theater to put together an ensemble that truly captures the time period.

“It’s like a scavenger hunt,” Crane said, remembering the hours spent searching for dresses, shoes and wedding rings.

Ritchie stressed the characters’ multidimensionality. “ ‘Three Sisters’ is a show that is done a lot,” he said.

“People get very attached to these characters as being representative of one characteristic, but there’s ... more complexity.”

Max Posner ’11, who plays the sisters’ brother Andrey, added that though “Three Sisters” is a play often covered in literature classes, “from an intellectual point of view, acting in this play is useless. I can’t play a broken shell of a man.” Instead, the actors had to discover aspects about their characters’ humanity extending beyond their conventional symbolism, oftentimes glossed over in academia.

“Each of the sisters is perceived as possessing one characteristic,” Garrison said. “You have to find the bridge between yourself and your horrendously bitchy character.”

At Irina’s 20th birthday party, the women meet the new colonel battery commander, Vershinin, played by Evan Smith ’11. Once they discover he is from Moscow — the big city — they assail him with questions.

Having lived in the city for so long, though, Vershinin appreciates the family’s country lifestyle.

Vershinin also has an obsession with the future. He imagines a place that is truly happy, unlike the Russia

he knows today. He is an idealist, believing a utopia could truly exist in the next two or three hundred years.

Vershinin’s intelligence and charm sweep Masha off her dissatisfied feet. Her husband Kulygin, played by Justin Kuritzkes ’12, leaves something to be desired in the intelligence category. Kulygin’s comical ignorance allows the audience to forgive even his neglect of Masha’s obvious displeasure.

Another unhappy couple is Andrey and his zany, fast-talking and controlling wife, Natasha, played by Jessica Goldschmidt ’10.5. The two start off happily in love, but their relationship deteriorates.

“There’s so little eye contact with the spouses,” Goldschmidt said. “It definitely says something about their relationships.”

Posner’s Andrey is one of the most complex characters. He wants

so badly to accomplish something but cannot escape his life in the village, or get the upper hand in his marriage. Posner does a wonderful job encapsulating his character’s simultaneous frustration and resignation.

Irina’s love interests — the moody Solyony and the young, affable Baron, played respectively by Gerrit Thurston ’13 and Ned Riseley ’12 — both deliver strong performances that highlight Irina’s despair. Both men may love her, but she cannot commit herself fully to either, for her one true desire is to get to Moscow.

“My soul is like a locked piano,” she says, “and the keys are lost.”

In effect, all of the characters are in a similar boat. Trapped in this small town where change is simply an illusion and dreams fade with each passing day, the characters can only reiterate that they will return to Moscow. But will they ever?

Jonathan Gordon ’13 plays Chebutykin, the doctor who lives with the Prozorovs and acts as the girls’ loving grandfather, constantly doting on them. But even he, who is always smiling, has to question this world full of sadness and empty dreams.

Despite the heavy nature of the play, Ritchie was determined to infuse the acts with just the right amount of comic relief. “It was very important to me that we found the humor and the lightness, what you can admire about the characters,” he said.

Ritchie’s success came from a “super-collaborative effort from top to bottom,” he said. “Everyone’s important — Brown’s the kind of place where you can get eight random people in a room and have them be fantastic.”

“This show requires a lot of effort and a lot focus,” he added. “We got a great cast and I’m blown away every day.”

Editorial & Letters The Brown Daily Herald

Page 6 | Friday, March 12, 2010

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

Don’t discontinue first-pick contest — improve it To the Editor: A recent article (“First-pick contest causes controversy,” March 8) mentioned the possibility that the competition will be discontinued.

I strongly believe this is unnecessary. As one of this year’s entrants, I write to suggest improvements for future years.

Live voting at the screening makes it too easy and tempting to cheat. If this is to be continued, there should be some way to prevent repeat voting. Possible solutions include requiring writing one’s Banner ID, or stamping each person’s hand after he or she returns the ballot.

Many complaints are about the degree and style of campaigning.

While this aspect reflects the competitors’ commitment, quality of the video should be the larger determinant. To help retain primary focus on the videos, there could be a requirement for every student to log in and watch the entire video before he or she is provided access to voting on the site, ensuring informed voting.

ResCouncil should also establish

rules on acceptable vote-getting methods, clearly defining what does and does not constitute as bribery.

As a high turnout is desirable, ResCouncil could publicize the competition more, such as sending a mass e-mail when voting opens. A reasonable incentive to participate could be offered, such as entering all voters in a raffle for Spring Weekend tickets, regardless of which video they chose.

ResCouncil has done well in not overly stringently applying the rules, as they need not be set in stone.

However, applied correctly, these proposed rules would help greatly in upholding the spirit of the competition and satisfying the student body. My friends and I greatly enjoyed making our video and attending the screening, as I’m sure did others. The first pick competition, with some improvements, can still serve its purpose well.

Tanya Nguyen ’13 March 9

Letters, please! letters@browndailyherald.com

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

Managing Editor Chaz Kelsh

George Miller

editorial Anne Speyer Suzannah Weiss Brian Mastroianni Hannah Moser Brigitta Greene Ben Schreckinger Sydney Ember Nicole Friedman Dan Alexander Andrew Braca Han Cui

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julia streuli

e d i to r i a l

Time for a change In an age of constant advancements in Internet technology, we’re glad to see Brown make efforts to upgrade its Web-based services. During the past year, the University has abandoned outdated systems in favor of newer, more efficient ones.

Computing and Information Services switched the school’s e-mail servers from Microsoft Exchange to Google’s Gmail service, a move that will save the University millions of dollars and greatly increase inbox capacity. More recently, CIS announced plans to launch the Brown Course Scheduler, a Mochainspired update to the sterile and convoluted Banner system that will allow students to browse and register for courses through a more user-friendly interface.

We applaud the University for working to improve its Web presence, adapt to advancements in technology and respond to concerns raised by students and faculty. The Herald reported Friday that members of Brown’s administration and information technology staff will now turn their attention towards revamping the University’s main Web page — a plan we strongly endorse.

Many people find the current homepage difficult to navigate, a problem that Director of Web Communications Scott Turner acknowledged in an interview with the editorial page board. The aesthetics and practicality of the sliding montage on the homepage are debatable, and the overall layout could certainly be more welcoming. Indeed, Brown currently trails the rest of the Ivy League in the number of “unique web visitors” per month, according to a March 5 article in The Herald.

The homepage is often the first introduction to Brown for prospective students and parents, so it’s crucial to have a Web site that is visually appealing and easy to use. The other recent online changes involving e-mail and course registration were adaptive fixes. But we hope that the University will use this

opportunity not simply to correct current problems with the Web site, but to design something innovative and distinctive — in other words, something that will still be cool and navigable in five years.

Although the University has already hired an external consulting firm, the redesign team should still enlist the vast creativity of Brown’s students and faculty. We suggest that the University announce a design competition. Students, interested faculty and staff members could submit designs and the winning entry would be the starting point for the new Web site. This sort of competition would give the University access to a wealth of ideas and talent while also allowing community members to have a voice in the redesign process.

Innovation has arisen from collaboration with students in the past. Input from the students who originally designed Mocha was crucial in the creation of the course scheduler, CIS Vice President Michael Pickett told the editorial page board. In fact, those students were asked to design the new system and make Mocha’s features compatible with Banner, though they ultimately declined because of time constraints.

We’re excited about the progress the University has made in improving its Web services and we look forward to seeing the design process play out. The only other suggestion we’d make is to avoid any videos of students singing about why they chose Brown. For some reason we just can’t figure out, Yale’s admission office tried to do this. The result was a 17-minute production that can only be described as frightening. They’ve set the bar for Web-based outreach pretty low, and we know Brown’s new homepage will exceed it easily.

Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board.

Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.

Alicia Chen, Brian Mastroianni, Claire Peracchio, Anne Speyer, Night Editors Senior Staff Writers Ana Alvarez, Alexander Bell, Alicia Chen, Max Godnick, Talia Kagan, Sarah Mancone, Heeyoung Min, Kate Monks, Claire Peracchio, Goda Thangada, Caitlin Trujillo Staff Writers Anna Andreeva, Shara Azad, Nicole Boucher, Kristina Fazzalaro, Miriam Furst, Anish Gonchigar, Sarah Julian, Matthew Klebanoff, Sara Luxenberg, Anita Mathews, Mark Raymond, Luisa Robledo, Emily Rosen, Bradley Silverman, Anne Simons, Sara Sunshine Senior Sales Staff Katie Galvin, Liana Nisimova, Isha Gulati, Alex Neff, Michael Ejike, Samantha Wong Design Staff Rebecca Ballhaus, Caleigh Forbes, Gili Kliger, Leor Shtull-Leber, Katie Wilson Web Staff Andrew Chen, Warren Jin, Claire Kwong, Michael Marttila, Jeffrey Matteis, Ethan Richman Photo Staff Qidong Chen, Janine Cheng, Alex DePaoli, Frederic Lu, Quinn Savit Copy Editors Nicole Boucher, Sarah Forman, Claire Gianotti, Christine Joyce, Sara Luxenberg, Abigail Kersen, Alexandra Macfarlane, Joe Milner, Lindor Qunaj, Carmen Shulman, Carolina Veltri

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Opinions The Brown Daily Herald

Friday, March 12, 2010 | Page 7

We’ve got it good mIKE JOHNSON Opinions Columnist As a columnist, I read The Herald’s Opinions page to see what my colleagues have to say. As a student, I read the Opinions page because, well, it’s darn good theater. Column after column exposes a perceived injustice on campus, and the timeless practice of rhetoric oozes from the pages like hollandaise off of a poached egg.

These columns get my blood pumping every morning, and sometimes I’m moved to the point of pulling a Joe Wilson in the middle of the V-Dub. But here I’m going to buck the trend, and talk about how great Brown is, because as one of the happiest students in the country, according to the Princeton Review, I like it here — a lot.

Brown is a very accepting campus — we have Sex Power God, for goodness sake — and tolerance and openness seep from students on a daily basis, as if we were all made of sunshine. We have fervent debates between two sides which may seem irreconcilable, and we may never see where the other side is coming from, but we all agree and accept the fact that these debates can only happen here, at Brown.

The administration is actually helpful, unlike at other universities. After many appeals, the University now listens to our elected bodies and takes our concerns into

account. In recent cost-cutting endeavors, the University strayed from cutting varsity sports in favor of streamlining other areas, in an effort to protect the student body.

There are other schools that haven’t been as lucky, losing big-name sports such as track or soccer.

As vice president of the Brown University Band, I’ve had many opportunities to work with our athletic department, and they’ve been incredibly helpful and courteous towards not only us, but to visiting bands as

nipiac, this is a crime against humanity.

We found ourselves the targets of increasingly derogatory slurs, which do not bear repeating here, but were extremely disrespectful and classless, and were usually aimed at select individuals in the Band who I assume looked like easy prey. The girls in the Band were harassed, and the boys in the Band were derided. Joining in on these insults were the most unlikely of people, including school-sponsored mascots, parents and other members of the Quinnipiac community.

Brown is a very accepting campus — we have Sex Power God, for goodness’ sake.

well. The culture of dialogue and tolerance we appreciate at Brown isn’t present at other schools, as evidenced by the Band’s recent away trip to Quinnipiac University and Princeton.

Quinnipiac is one of the most intolerant places you could ever spend a night. As most Brown students are aware, the Band is an irreverent, loud and sometimes obnoxious organization that supports all things Brown. Apparently, to the students of Quin-

As the game continued, these taunts and intimidations turned violent. One student was escorted from the building for physically striking a trumpet player’s instrument while she was playing it. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured, but it’s the most unsafe I’ve ever felt, and I’ve walked through some pretty dark alleys.

At Princeton, the community was much more welcoming, but the administration was still very insensitive to the needs of its stu-

dents and those visiting. The Band found itself forced into the back corner of the rafters of their arena, with the excuse “Oops, we doublebooked your section.”

When we tried to appeal to someone higher in the hierarchy than the security guard, we were refused. When the friendly Princeton community tried to assist by moving to different seats, they were refused. The Princeton Band, which is one of the friendliest groups we’ve worked with, could only shrug their shoulders and say, “They do this all the time.” Would either of these mind-numbing and inexplicable situations have occurred on College Hill?

It’s important that, while we enjoy getting frothy at the mouth over the latest Corporation meeting, we must realize they’re actually not all that terrible and anti-fun. More often than not, the University acts with the interest of all students at heart, not just those who attend Brown.

Consider it a blessing that we actually see our president around campus, rather than sitting in her ivory tower. Appreciate that she seems to genuinely like working here, interacting with students and the community.

Revel in the fact that visiting students need not submit to draconian sign-in policies just to enter the dorm after we treat them to the splendor that is Ratty brunch. Realize that man, do we have it good.

Mike Johnson ’11 is ever true.

Lady Gaga — a feminist icon?

ABIGAIL CHANCE Guest Columnist I have to admit, somewhat shamefully, that I’ve been seduced by the Ga. At first it was easy to write her off simply because of the mainstream popularity of her unapologetically catchy anthems and her provocative costumes. However, given a closer look, there seems to be something much more to this new pop sensation that has taken over the music industry — and campus dance parties — by storm.

Is she a feminist icon? I wouldn’t exactly take it that far. Nevertheless, as an openly queer woman who critiques double standards, restrictive gender roles, and the “unnatural” pursuit of the feminine ideal in her music and “performance art,” she has instigated several important discussions about gender and sexuality in mainstream culture. By embodying the very thing she is critiquing, she is both empowered and objectified, celebrated and criticized within feminist and queer circles.

Unlike other celebrities who project “unattainable sensuality,” Gaga positions herself somewhere between “the desirable and the grotesque” with her own “ideal” looks (blonde, thin, big breasts) and outlandish costumes, a la photographer Cindy Sherman.

In the past, Gaga has avoided associations with the term feminism, even by perpetuating the negative, man-hating feminist stereotype in some of her earlier interviews. Although historically it has had limiting definitions, today feminism is multi-faceted and constantly evolving, and should not be reduced to a stereotype or confused with misandry. In one

interview, Gaga adamantly espouses feminist ideas, critiquing the double standard in the music industry, but then exclaims, “I’m not a feminist — I, I hail men, I love men. I celebrate American male culture, and beer, and bars and muscle cars...” Her statement is outrageous and clearly not the voice of a feminist role model; however, it is important to note that this reduction, not only of “American

Although this is further perpetuating the negative stereotypes of the already controversial topic of female bisexuality — that men are for relationships and women are simply for fun or “experimentation” — does she really need to prove her sexuality to be part of the “team”?

Her visibility as an openly queer artist is still (unfortunately) a huge step in mainstream society. She is first and foremost a pop star,

By embodying the very thing she is critiquing, she is both empowered and objectified, celebrated and criticized within feminist and queer circles.

male culture,” but also of the very movement that allows her the freedoms she has today, is (probably) tongue-in-cheek and should be taken with a grain of salt. She is a young performer, a character and notoriously known for mocking interviewers.

Regarding her sexuality, Gaga told a gay magazine in 2008 that she identified as bisexual. Since then she has been more cautious about labeling herself because of the way the media spun her sexuality. Recently she has been criticized within the queer community for saying that her “attraction to women is purely physical” (Rolling Stone, June 2009) and admitting she’s had nothing more than a sexual relationship with a woman.

not an activist. Just as it is unproductive to impose a feminist label on her, she should not be held up to the same expectations as an LGBTQ role model.

Luckily, with maturity, Gaga seems to have begun to understand her position and the power of her voice in mainstream pop culture.

In the past, she left her intended visual and musical messages unclear and up for (mis) interpretation, especially by young women who understood her explicit, sexy image in the context of the restrictive, heteronormative mainstream culture (i.e. sexual attractiveness to men).

In a recent Los Angeles Times interview, Gaga finally discussed her self-identified, femi-

nist leanings, including general gender and sexuality issues as well as the conscious performance in her own work. Gaga explains the significance of some of her visual and musical messages, including the bisexual references in “Poker Face” and her message about “how the entertainment industry can, in a metaphorical way, simulate human trafficking — products being sold, the woman perceived as a commodity” in her “Bad Romance” music video. Gaga exclaims, “Being a woman in the pop world, sexuality is half poison and half liberation” as she both takes advantage of and critiques mainstream culture.

If one is looking for empowered women in the industry, it is true that there are others who deserve more attention, such as Tori Amos, Ani Difranco and Annie Lennox, who address issues of gender and sexuality without showing off their asses. Furthermore, as a friend of mine pointed out, appropriating feminine grotesque/femme fatale as a commodification of female sexuality is not original, and has already been done by individuals such as Madonna and Peaches. The lack of positive portrayals of female sexuality in pop culture is clearly a problem, but is Lady Gaga really filling the void? Our standards have to be much higher than that.

So let me ask the question again: is Lady Gaga a feminist icon? I don’t think so. She is definitely not a Riot Grrrl, but she has successfully infiltrated the mainstream, which has had several (positive and negative) implications for gender and sexuality in pop culture.

Abigail Chance ’11 is a gender and sexuality studies concentrator and FemSex facilitator. She can be contacted at abigail_chance@brown.edu.

Today The Brown Daily Herald

2

Brown advertises with Facebook

overtime victory over Hartford on Wednesday, yielding a 1-1 record on the young season.

The baseball team will continue its road trip this weekend when it travels to the University of South Carolina for a three-game series, starting tonight at 7 p.m., then Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

The softball team will compete in the Hampton University tournament Friday through Sunday.

c a l e n da r Today, March 12

tomorrow, march 13

6:00 P.m. — Haitian Film Festival: How to Conquer America in One Night, Dany Laferriere, MacMillan 117

7:00 P.M. — Sights and Sounds, List 120

8:00 P.M. — Brown University Orchestra to perform Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Sebelius; Sayles Hall

8:00 P.M. — Fusion Dance Company’s 27th Annual Show, Alumnae Hall Auditorium

Verney-Woolley Dining Hall

Lunch — Bulgar-Stuffed Pepper, BBQ Beef Sandwich, Grilled Key West Chicken, Butter Cookies

Lunch — Chicken Fingers, Vegan Nuggets, Nacho Bar, Sticky Rice, Butter Cookies

Dinner — Toasted Ravioli with Sauce, Pasta and Seafood Medley, Chocolate Cake

Dinner — Fillet of Sole, Red Potato Frittata, Orange Beef Pad Thai, Chocolate Cake

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Friday, March 12, 2010

Page 8

d i a m o n d s a n d c oa l Diamond to the Providence-based company that produces patches capable of dispensing three drugs simultaneously. We have that, too — we call it a Spring Weekend concert.

A diamond to Vlad the bat, whom Assistant Research Professor of Neuroscience Seth Horowitz MS ’93 PhD ’97 called “the meanest bastard I’d ever met” — if only so the laser-wielding bat shows mercy when he finally escapes from the lab.

A diamond to Wesleyan for producing Spring Weekend ’09 sensation Santigold and expected 2010 sellout MGMT (oh, and Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron). Letting you have Ruth for a few hours might be the least we can do.

Coal to GOP gubernatorial candidate John Robitaille, who said he was “not used to speaking to such a small group” — you obviously have not spent enough time with the Brown Republicans.

video wasn’t more popular at the first-pick contest.

An admiring diamond to Cornell’s men’s basketball team, which might get a No. 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament. We’re just happy when one of our teams gets a No. 11 seed in an Ivy tournament.

A diamond to the University for securing federal funds to renovate the greenhouse in time for Snoop Dogg’s arrival on campus. We just want to make sure we have the chance to grow him some ... flowers. Speaking of which, someone should let Snoop know that though we’re special, we’re not that type of brownie. (But we do have a new joint degree program.)

A very sunny diamond to the newly opened Faunce steps. Coal to this weekend’s rain.

Want more D&C? Check out a retro-diamond from 1998 at blogdailyherald.com, and write your own at diamondsandcoal.com.

Speaking of politics, coal to Providence mayoral candidate Chris Young, who says he might file a lawsuit against the University for violating his constitutional rights. Sounds like somebody’s just bitter because his

menu Sharpe Refectory

to m o r r o w

New payroll initiative for U. employees

s p o rt s a ro u n d t h e b e n d Women’s lacrosse will kick off its Ivy League season against Princeton on Saturday at 1 p.m. at home.

Fencing will host the NCAA Northeast Regional all day on Sunday.

Men’s ice hockey will compete in the ECAC Quarterfinal Series hosted by Yale starting Friday at 7 p.m.

Men’s lacrosse will travel to St. Joseph’s for a 1 p.m. game Saturday. The Bears came off an

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to day

comics Cabernet Voltaire | Abe Pressman

crossword Island Republic | Kevin Grubb

Dot Comic | Eshan Mitra and Brendan Hainline

Fruitopia | Andy Kim