Friday, March 19, 2010

Daily Herald the Brown

vol. cxlv, no. 36 | Friday, March 19, 2010 | Serving the community daily since 1891

Simmons Hockey’s Kellar ’97, mom warns HEI and gold-medal Olympian over rights

By Lindor Qunaj Contributing Writer

By Alex Bell Senior Staff Writer

President Ruth Simmons wrote a letter to HEI Hotels and Resorts’ CEO last month to publicly express concern over reports of workers’ rights violations, becoming the first university leader to do so, according to a March 15 press release from the Brown Student Labor Alliance.

HEI is accused of unfair labor practices, including allegedly interrogating employees about their union activity, threatening job loss for continued participation in union activity and confiscating union materials, the release said.

Writing on behalf of Brown’s Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Policies, Simmons sent a stern warning to HEI CEO Gary Mendell.

“Notwithstanding the fact that the Committee does not deem it their responsibility to opine about the method to be used in determining whether your hotel employees are represented by a particular union,” Simmons wrote, “they have advised me to state for the record that if there were to be any truth to the claims of the union and others that workers at some of your properties have been subjected to intimidation by managers due to their pro-union activities, this would be a matter of deep concern and contrary to our standards for investing.”

HEI spokesman Jess Petitt said his company takes any accusations, continued on page 3

When Becky Kellar ’97 was on the women’s ice hockey team in the mid-1990s, she was “extremely superstitious,” according to Head Coach Digit Murphy. Kellar wore the same pair of “bright green neon socks” during all of her games and most likely did not wash them for “the entire four years,” Murphy said.

He said the socks were meant to bring good luck to Kellar and the team, helping them perform well in their games.

FEATURE Although Kellar no longer wears these socks, it seems that they definitely worked. This past February, Kellar was part of the Canadian Olympic women’s ice hockey team’s third straight gold medal win, defeating the United States 2–0 in the gold medal final.

A four-time Olympian, Kellar first competed in the 1998 games in

Nagano, Japan, where the team won the silver medal. Her success continued in the Salt Lake City and Torino games of 2002 and 2006, where her team won gold both times.

Kellar’s journey to the Olympics began during her senior year at Brown, when she submitted an application for one of the eight available spots on the Canadian team.

She attended one of the three camps being held across the country, and soon afterwards, she learned that she had been selected to join the national team.

“It was pretty amazing to have made the team, especially since it was the first time women’s hockey had been added to the games,” Kellar said. Participating in the Olympics “was something I always wanted to do but never knew I could achieve.”

Kellar said her interest in the sport came from playing ringette — a game similar to hockey — as a child, before she turned to hockey at the age of 12. “I was always interested in the sport — my brother

Dean Rutz / Seattle Times

The U.S.’s Shelley Looney keeps herself and Canada’s Becky Kellar off the boards during a game January 8, 2002, in Vancouver.

played, my father was a fan and as you know, it’s a very big sport up here.”

She excelled in her sport, becoming what Murphy describes as a “phenomenally fluid skater.” As one of the top players in Ontario,

Dorms, grad school on Simmons’ agenda

By Ben Noble Contributing Writer

Large tuition increases “absolutely will not be an option” to balance the budget in the future, President Ruth Simmons told a less than half full Salomon 101 in her State of Brown address Thursday afternoon.

She also announced that the University is designing a plan to expand and overhaul student residence halls on campus. The “long-

overdue” study will be completed next year, she said.

Simmons stressed the importance of expanding graduate research and international outreach.

“When the needs are so numerous, it is understandably difficult to know where to start,” she said at the event, which was organized by the Undergraduate Council of Students.

Simmons said the University Resources Committee needed to

raise tuition in order to avoid making “more draconian decisions.”

But she assured the audience that “substantial” tuition increases will not be considered “going forth.”

She also responded to “frustration” over Brown’s place in national rankings compiled by publications such as U.S. News and World Report.

“The rankings don’t seem to give Brown credit for the excelcontinued on page 3

Brownbrokers’ minimusicals supersize fun

By Kristina Fazzalaro Senior Staff Writer

What do fat camps, elevators and Snuggies all have in common? They are all featured in Brownbrokers’ third annual Mini-Musical Festival, running Friday through Monday night in the downstairs space of T.F. Green Hall.

ARTS & CULTURE

Nick Sinnott-Armstrong / Herald

inside

Brendan DeWolf ’13 and Miranda Pool ’11 in “Paid Programming: an Infomercial Love Story,” one of this weekend’s mini-musicals.

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

www.browndailyherald.com

This year’s festival presents seven student-written mini-musicals, each lasting 15 to 30 minutes. The festival “fosters original work at Brown” in ways that other produc-

tions simply can’t, said Elizabeth Rothman ’11, who co-wrote “The Elevator Musical” with Lee Taglin ’10.

Showcasing 13 writers and 35 actors from the Brown community, the festival is a “great way to show off people that couldn’t be in one big show,” explained Nick White ’10, who is co-directing “Charlie Bit My Finger: The Musical” and “The Elevator Musical” with Liz Livingstone ’10.

The festival started in 2008 as a “fly by the seat of our pants” venture by Brownbrokers, according to continued on page 5

Kellar was recruited by the Brown women’s ice hockey team and during her recruiting trip, Kellar fell in love with Brown’s campus. “It seemed like something that was continued on page 2

Seniors struggle with theses

By Sarah Forman Senior Staf f Writer

In some departments, as many as one-third of the students who begin the laborious process of writing a senior thesis don’t finish, while other concentrations see virtually no attrition. Though most administrators and students agree that thesis writers need strong relationships with their advisers in order to complete the project, it is unclear whether the pre-thesis seminars required in some departments or the extra layers of advising in others help students write theses.

‘It wasn’t worth the stress’ The Department of Economics has seen an uncharacteristically high amount of thesis attrition this year — 11 of the 33 students who began the process have now dropped out, said Sriniketh Nagavarapu, assistant professor of economics and the honors and awards adviser for the department.

“This year, we wanted to make it easier for people to do an honors thesis,” he said. The department continued on page 2

News, 3

Arts, 5

Opinions, 7

Match Day Fourth-year med school students celebrate residency decisions

Map Quest John Carter Brown Library unveils exhibit of maps from 1492 to U.S.A.

caveat credit Ethan Tobias ’12 considers the benefits of a course credit system

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

herald@browndailyherald.com

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

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Friday, March 19, 2010

“A senior thesis is a sacrifice. It is agony.”

— Professor of History Ken Sacks

Unanticipated stress leads to high thesis attrition in some depts. continued from page 1 offered a new fall course for thesis writers that was meant to be a “forum for students to develop their ideas,” to help them learn about economic research and find an adviser.

“Because the course was offered, there were a lot of people who took it,” Nagavarapu said. Normally only about 10 students attempt honors theses, and all of them finish, he added.

“They didn’t realize necessarily what they were getting into,” he said of the students who dropped, particularly because many of them lacked the statistics background they would need to complete the thesis.

In response to the high attrition rate, the department is adding a new, “strongly suggested” course for rising seniors that will meet over the summer and try to introduce them to economics research, Nagavarapu said. So far, 21 students have signed up, he said.

The honors program in the Department of International Relations has a comparably high attrition rate, Assistant Director and Concentration Advisor for International Relations Claudia Elliott PhD’99 wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. Despite a relatively rigorous application process — including a research proposal submitted junior year and course performance requirements — about one-fourth to one-third of the students accepted into the honors program drop out, she wrote.

About half of these students decide not to write theses before they start senior year.

The department added new ad-

vising and support systems for concentrators in 2007. Thesis writers in international relations do not take a preparatory junior seminar.

Caitlin Feehery ’10, who three weeks ago decided not to complete her biology thesis, said that her department and adviser did everything possible to support her and keep her in the program.

“I think I wasn’t fully aware of what I’d have to do,” Feehery said.

After completing research in an evolutionary and developmental biology lab, she discovered that she would need to learn computer programming and computational biology in order to synthesize all of her data.

“It would have involved doing a lot of extra learning in a very short period of time,” she said. “I just decided it wasn’t worth the stress.”

‘Wide and varied topic’ Thesis attrition is rare in biology, according to Marjorie Thompson, associate dean of biological sciences.

“Almost 100 percent of our concentrators who file for honors do complete,” Thompson wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.

The biology department has no pre-thesis seminar for juniors.

“I think it would be kind of difficult to tailor it to our needs, because they’re so different,” said Michael Yokell ’10, a human biology concentrator. He said that while the department did not tell students how to proceed if their thesis research did not confirm their original hypothesis, he did not think a junior seminar would have helped him with his thesis.

Tyler Lucero ’10, who is double concentrating in geological sciences

and history but will write a geology thesis, echoed Yokell when he said that a junior seminar on research methods would not have been useful to him.

“Geology is such a broad system,” he said. He thought that because students do such varied work within the department, a single course could not easily “address all the kinds of skills that might be needed” for the different types of research.

Development studies is a similarly “wide and varied topic,” according to concentrator Claire Williams ’10, but she said that the seminar she was required to take last year for her thesis was “really helpful.”

Getting feedback from someone with different research interests and backgrounds in the seminar helped Williams improve her research methods and writing, she said, especially when she had “moral and ethical questions.”

All development studies concentrators are required to write theses, though only students who write exceptional papers are nominated for honors.

Environmental studies concentrators also face a thesis requirement, though students graduating after this year will be able to choose between a series of capstone projects and papers. The department will continue to require that its concentrators take a spring course, intended for juniors, with a syllabus emphasizing methods of collecting and analyzing data in order to complete group research projects and prepare an individual research proposal.

“Ideally, you make the proposal this spring for the thesis you’ll write

A community for concentrators The Department of History will also change its requirements for seniors next year. Its junior research methods seminar will no longer be required, though Professor of History Ken Sacks expects that most prospective thesis-writers will still enroll.

Sacks, who has taught the course in the past, said that it helps students determine their interests and identify professors with whom they can collaborate to complete research.

“It is extremely rare that anyone drops,” he said of seniors who begin writing theses. But he estimated that two or three students out of the 25

who enroll in the junior seminar decide not to begin the project.

The junior research seminar helped history concentrator Evan Pelz ’11 commit to a topic and decide how to go about his research, he wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.

“First and foremost, the class forced me to think about my history classes at Brown and specific interests, and solidify what I want to write about,” wrote Pelz. He added that the class “provided a great community” for history concentrators.

Williams said that her development studies seminar also provided peer support and camaraderie that made the process much more manageable.

Sacks said that the history department will closely monitor the success rates for senior honors theses over the next few years, once the requirements change.

In the past, the honors program has been self-selecting, and students who cannot put in the time and effort required to write theses do not usually begin them.

“A senior thesis is a sacrifice,” said Sacks. “It is agony.”

“Your senior year gets very busy,” said Jordi Torres ’10, a comparative literature concentrator doing a literary translation for his senior thesis.

He said that the paper “can become a really unmanageable burden.”

For Feehery, that burden just “wouldn’t be worth it.”

Already accepted into a graduate program, she did not see the point of putting too much effort into research she “wasn’t all that interested in doing.”

“I don’t have to really pad my resume anymore,” she said. “It’s definitely not the end of the world.”

Kellar ’97 wins third gold in Vancouver

sudoku

continued from page 1

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Editorial Phone: 401.351.3372 | Business Phone: 401.351.3260 George Miller, President Claire Kiely, Vice President

in the fall,” said Noah Fisher GS, who assists Professor of Sociology J. Timmons Roberts in teaching the course.

Patti Caton ’92 MA’02, the administrative manager for the Center for Environmental Studies, said that when the thesis was required, she only knew of two students who could not complete it and therefore dropped their environmental studies concentration.

“I honestly don’t see that happening,” Caton said of students leaving the honors track in order to write a standard, less demanding senior thesis. She said that of the 22 environmental studies concentrators who graduated in 2009, all 13 of the students who intended to complete honors theses did so.

“We have a lot of support for our thesis here,” Caton said, emphasizing the “close interaction” students have with their advisors and frequent, depar tment-wide deadlines.

Katie Koh, Treasurer Chaz Kelsh, Secretary

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the right fit,” she said.

Kellar said playing for the hockey team at Brown was a very enriching experience.

“It was an opportunity to play hockey every day which I wouldn’t have gotten had I stayed home,” she said. “Being on a team where you’re together for that much time really teaches you about being a good teammate and what it takes to be successful.”

At an orientation event for freshman athletes, Kellar met Katie King ’97, a fellow hockey player who would end up becoming one of her close friends. King recounted the story of her first meeting with Kellar: “My mom said, ‘You’re going to become very good friends with her,’ and I just told her, ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’ But it turns out she was right.”

King, the current head coach for the women’s ice hockey team at Boston College, is also a former Olympian. A member of the American team in the 1998, 2002, and 2006 games, she has had the opportunity to go up against her friend on many occasions. The highly competitive nature of the Olympics, however, has not changed their friendship.

“On the ice, it’s completely different. You’re playing for your country and trying to win,” King said. “But it’s always interesting to be in that situation and then after the game, you just talk about it together.”

Aside from her athletic abilities, Murphy said Kellar was highly motivated. Back in the mid-1990s, the Winter Olympics were not as popular and accepted as they are now, Murphy said.

“At the time, we were pioneers,” she said. “But now, people know about the Olympics, about being on TV.” But love of the game was more important to Kellar than fame, Murphy said.

“As a generation, kids can say, ‘I want that.’ But Becky didn’t have that — she did it because she loved it,” she said.

Murphy went on to add that as a defensive player, Kellar “didn’t get the credit she deserved” since she wasn’t the one putting up the big numbers and scoring goals. However, “she has been an incredibly important component on ever y team she’s been on,” Murphy said.

“She didn’t need the awards and accolades.”

While at Brown, Kellar was a psychology concentrator and also

played for the softball team. Juggling these multiple commitments was great practice for juggling her athletic career, education and other aspects of her life, Kellar said. In October 2004, her first of two sons was born. With the Olympics just 16 months away, she said it was “difficult to adjust.”

“It was a lot harder than when I only had to worry about myself. The biggest thing is that you’re used to just walking out the door when you need to get somewhere but when you have kids, there’s a constant juggle,” she said.

Murphy praised Kellar for this ability to effectively integrate her athletic and family lives, and said that her success will encourage other women to follow their aspirations.

“The way that she has managed to achieve being a mom and professional athlete helps role model that behavior for future generations of females,” she said.

Although Kellar said she will not compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics, she will continue playing for the Burlington Barracudas, a team in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League. “I will always play for fun, regardless of what the level is,” she said. “But my next big focus is the boys and their endeavors.”

Friday, March 19, 2010

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“It’s a time when the world is united.”

— Steven Stark P’11 on the FIFA World Cup

Brown is ‘less competitive,’ Simmons says Student and father write

guide to World Cup

continued from page 1 lence of its standards and its programs,” she said.

Simmons explained that Brown’s profile — with graduate students comprising only 27 percent of the student body — is very different from other top American universities, many of which have professional schools and considerably larger faculties and facilities.

“We have no desire at this point to be like those institutions,” she said. “Brown does not seek merely to be large.”

“But if Brown does not consider expanding modestly over the coming decade,” she added, “we will find it very difficult to achieve our goals in a feverishly competitive global environment.”

She told the audience of approximately 100 students and faculty, “Our strength derives from our interdisciplinary agility, a manageable scale, the deep engagement of faculty and students and the proven ability to innovate.”

While Brown performs “exceedingly well” in most undergraduate categories, Simmons acknowledged weaknesses in the University’s financial resources as well as research and graduate programs.

“We are less competitive,” she said. “There is just no way to move the needle on Brown’s assets, reputation and rank without committing to more research productivity.”

She also spoke of the importance of collaborative relationships with institutions outside of College Hill.

She highlighted the University’s partnership with the Marine Biological Laboratory of Woods Hole, Mass., and a venture with IBM to develop a supercomputer.

“These relationships provide opportunities for students to become familiar with the world in a way that no previous generation has been able to contemplate,” she said.

Simmons placed great emphasis on the University’s global presence as well as crafting a “meaningfully international curriculum.”

“Brown must do its part in both bringing students and scholars from around the world to Brown and in

By Ashley Aydin Senior Staff Writer

Nick Sinnott-Armstrong / Herald

President Ruth Simmons delivered the first State of Brown lecture since 2006 Thursday afternoon.

sending our students and scholars to other parts of the world,” she said. In particular, she stressed Brown’s connection with India, a nation unique “by virtue of its population size, economic potential and educational prowess.”

Simmons will be traveling to India over spring break for the first meeting of the University’s newly formed India Advisory Council.

“In order for our visibility in their country to increase, we have to be there,” she said.

Simmons later described the University’s organizational review process in response to the economic crisis that severely hurt Brown’s endowment. She said that the University Resources Committee and the Organizational Review Committee were careful to minimize the impact of budget cuts on student life.

“Nevertheless, some difficult ones will be felt,” she said.

Simmons said the University is

proceeding on schedule with its capital plan, which includes the renovation of the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center at Faunce House and the construction of the Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts.

UCS President Clay Wertheimer ’10 said attendance was “not ideal, but understandable given the weather.” A group of students relaxing on the Main Green said sunny skies and unseasonably warm spring temperatures likely deterred many from attending the afternoon event.

Simmons spoke for approximately 40 minutes and answered questions from the audience. The State of Brown address had not taken place since 2006, but Wertheimer said it was important to hold the event this year as the University conducts its organizational review.

But, he added, “I see a need for this event annually.”

UTRA awards constant from last year

By Thomas Jarus Contributing Writer

Applicants for summer Undergraduate Teaching and Research Awards were informed of decisions March 12, and the number of awards remained the same as last year, said Besenia Rodriguez, associate dean of the College for undergraduate research.

In Februar y, Rodriguez said the University would not be able to expand the UTRA program because of financial constraints.

“Given the economic crisis, we are proud to have been able to keep our funding rate at slightly over 200” awards, Rodriguez wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.

She added that this number included 16 international awards for students going to places such

as Mexico, Mali, Israel, Palestine, France and Indonesia, among others.

Interest in undergraduate research among social science and humanities concentrators has increased since last year, Rodriguez wrote. Her office saw a 4 percent increase in these applications relative to those in the physical and life sciences, she wrote. Last month, Rodriguez told The Herald that her office wanted to “increase the visibility of UTRAs among humanities and social science students.”

Shannon O’Brien ’12 will spend her summer conducting anthropological research in the Oaxaca region of Mexico, she said. She said she will study “the role of language dif ference in ethnic violence” under Paja Faudree, an assistant professor of anthropol-

ogy.

Chloe O’Connell ’12 said she plans to work with a psychiatrist at Butler Hospital this summer.

O’Connell said her research will involve statistics, computer programming and computational biology. “We’re tr ying to figure out if there’s a genetic cause for schizophrenia and, if so, what it is,” she said.

The cooperation between students and their mentors represents a major part of the UTRA program, which pairs students with a faculty member.

Katie Pleet ’12, who will spend the summer researching “Internet-initiated sexual assaults of minors,” said she is “really excited to be participating in a collaborative research project with a professor.”

This year rings in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, a competition that never fails to bring out the passion that both Harry Stark ’11 and Steven Stark P’11 share for soccer. The two have collaborated on a guidebook about the World Cup that will be published at the beginning of April. The guidebook, “World Cup 2010: The Indispensable Guide to Soccer and Geopolitics,” focuses on the significance of the World Cup and how it shapes country relations.

Stark and Stark wrote a shorter version of their guidebook four years ago and released it as an e-book on Amazon as part of a program called Amazon Shorts. The Starks then received a book deal and found a publisher who was “interested in doing a more conventional book to treat soccer as an aspect of culture,” Steven Stark said.

The guidebook, Harry Stark’s first publication, consists of four- to five-page essays about this year’s 32 teams and their soccer culture, history and strategies of play. The book also focuses on the geopolitics of the World Cup. Harry Stark said that to research his book, he and his father watched soccer games on television, looked at team sheets and lineups on the Internet and read a lot about soccer as an aspect of culture in books by authors such as Simon Kuper and Gabriele Marcotti.

Stark said that he has always been obsessed with soccer and that the time he spent living in Europe has

had a huge impact on what soccer means to him.

“When I lived in Chester (United Kingdom), I talked about soccer, played soccer, studied the players and learned the local soccer language,” Stark said.

Stark said the World Cup is even more of a truly global event than the Olympics.

“Take the last World Cup final — never before has half the planet done something together,” Stark said.

Steven Stark also emphasized this point, saying that outside of the United States, the World Cup is a hallmark event.

“If you go to Italy or Bolivia or any African country, the countries shut down for a month. It’s a premiere event. It’s a time when the world is united. Over one billion people watch the final,” he said.

Steven Stark said that culture plays an important part in the book because the book identifies teams by the way they approach soccer, play it and react to it.

For example, he said there is“a lot of geopolitics when the Netherlands plays Germany. They experience the Germans as occupiers and it’s a huge aspect of how they play the game.

When Cameroon plays a colonial occupier, it’s a huge factor in how they perform. There’s always a geopolitical aspect.”

He said on paper, Spain is the best team in the world, but its various autonomous regions get in the way of its performance in matches. continued on page 4

SLA keeps the pressure on, ‘pleased’ with U.’s response continued from page 1 especially with regard to its employees, very seriously.

“We stand by our record as an employer,” Petitt said. The company has not been found guilty of any violations as of right now, he said. The charges made against HEI will go before the National Labor Relations Board in April.

“I think their interest is in hearing what the results of the NLRB hearing is,” Petitt said of the University’s motivations for sending the letter.

Petitt said, to his knowledge, Brown has not withdrawn its investments from the company or taken any other actions.

Elizabeth Caldwell ’12, a member of SLA, said students from the group met with Simmons in early February about writing a letter to the company. At that time, Simmons responded that she would talk with the advisor y committee and get back to the students in two weeks, Caldwell said.

But after two weeks, SLA members decided to give Simmons a reminder by delivering a letter reiterating their concerns to Simmons’ office. That day, administrators told the students the letter had been sent,

Caldwell said.

“When we actually saw the language of the letter, we were pretty pleased,” Caldwell said. “There was definitely a direct response to the meeting.”

Although a copy of the letter was provided to SLA, the letter was not made public until the Office of Public Affairs and University Relations released a copy of it to The Herald on Wednesday.

Caldwell said the group recently received word that HEI replied to Simmons’ letter.

Petitt said the response contained a “detailed understanding of the ongoing issues” the company has had.

He said he was not authorized to release the letter.

Caldwell said the company’s response denied allegations, but offered to meet with Simmons or Brown students to discuss the issues.

Student groups at Yale, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Chicago, Vanderbilt University and the University of Notre Dame have also requested that their administrations condemn HEI or even threaten divesting from the company, according to the respective schools’ newspapers.

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

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Friday, March 19, 2010

“I usually read the New York Times, Providence Journal or the Daily Herald.” — Annie Wick ’13

Med students get Match Day residency decisions

By Sarah Mancone Senior Staff Writer

Fourth-year Alpert Medical School students gathered with faculty, administration, families and friends in Andrews Dining Hall Thursday at noon to participate in the annual medical event Match Day, when students find out where they will be working for the next few years.

Ever y year, medical students matched into residency programs gather at a reception and are given the results of their application to the National Resident Matching Program. These results tell students at what hospital they will be working and in what specialty they will be training for the next several years.

The event provided food and desserts — including champagne with strawberries — as well as a jazz band featuring Associate Dean of Medical Education Philip Gruppuso.

Match Day is a “big deal,” said Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences Edward Wing.

The students gathered into lines and waited until they were given the envelopes containing the decisions.

This decision determines “where you’re living, where you’re training,” said Judy Lin MD’10.

As the students received their envelopes, their anxiety soon dissipated and was replaced by cheers, claps, hugs and high fives. Not long after, many students were already on their cell phones to inform family and friends who could not be at the event about their results.

“The match was really good this year,” Wing said. Most students were placed into their first choice programs, he added.

“I’m really excited,” said Peter Davis MD’10, who was placed into a residency in pediatric neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, which he said was his first choice.

“I’m elated,” said James Miller MD’10. “The majority of the class matched where they want to be,”

he added.

Ninety-four students were placed into residencies in different states across the country and in Canada.

Out of this number, 16 were matched into hospitals affiliated with the Med School.

Mary Sutter MD’10 expressed excitement about staying at Brown for a residency in family medicine at Memorial Hospital, addingthat a lot of great students would be remaining in Providence with her.

“Our class did awesome,” Sutter said.

“It’s definitely a relief,” said Lawrence Yu ’06 MD’10. “It’s nice to get everything over with,” he added.

The most popular specialty into which students were matched was internal medicine, with 15 matching into that field. This number does not include those who will have a preliminary residency in medicine before moving on to a specialty. The next most popular was pediatrics, with 14 matches. Other common specialties included emergency

medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, radiology, psychiatry and family medicine.

“There are no real metrics to compare ourselves to other schools,” Associate Dean Gruppuso wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. “We look at the proportion of our students who are pleased, and it is very high — even though many of our students are trying to match in highly competitive specialties and programs.”

The magnitude of the excitement in the room became apparent when Wing stood up at the podium. People were so thrilled that he could not quiet them down. When Wing was able to gain the attention of the room, he expressed his congratulations to the class of 2010.

“The match this year was spectacular,” he said. This class was “one of the best that has ever gone through Alpert Medical School,” he added.

“Congratulations on the match, congratulations on your work,” Wing said as he raised a glass to toast the class.

Stark ’11 and Stark P’11 pen book on World Cup culture continued from page 3 “When you try to create a national team, it’s difficult for Spain because players from different regions don’t get along with each other, and it cripples the Spanish effort,” Steven Stark said.

With regards to the U.S. and its soccer future, Stark and Stark were both convinced that the national passion for soccer and its culture needs

to be improved.

“I think the notion that the U.S. is a nation in which we pride ourselves on a manual labor (hands not feet) is interesting,” Harry Stark said.

Stark also said that the success of the women’s soccer team has had a large impact on the popularity of soccer in the U.S. “Sports culture has continued to be male-dominated. It’s cemented in American sports. Because of sports

culture being male-dominated, any sport which women are better than men is never going to hit it off,” he said.

Stark and Stark both said that they were enthusiastic for the World Cup to take place in South Africa.

Steven Stark said that the idea that only the wealthiest nations in the world could host the cup is a ridiculous notion.

“Assuming it comes off well, it’s

going to be a wonderful thing,” Steven Stark said.

Harry Stark said that Pan-Africanism will be interesting to observe.

“It will be interesting to see the support and unity from all African teams, which I haven’t seen in the past. Home advantage is so big.

They’ll probably overachieve,” Stark said.

The Starks said they are both looking forward to seeing the distinctive cultural imprint that the World Cup will make.

“Because the World Cup follows patterns, whenever it’s on a new continent, weird things happen. It’s a thrill. A lot of countries that haven’t seen success before will rise up, which makes it more exciting,” Harry Stark said.

Stark and Stark will continue their 2010 World Cup coverage over the summer for RealClearSports.com.

news in brief

Financial Times in dining halls for a short time Pink newspapers have made their way to dining halls — for a limited time only.

The Financial Times informed Brown Dining Services of a promotion taking place on several campuses in which they offer the newspaper at no cost for several weeks, Peter Rossi, associate director of Dining Services, wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.

Student reactions varied widely.

While Nicholas Rosholt ’10 described the transition as “frickin’ sweet,” Chris Westley ’11 said he “hadn’t noticed” it was now available, despite the fact it lay on his table. Sam Woolford ’10, who also had it next to him, said he had “never read the Financial Times.”

John Prah ’12, who carried the Times to his table, said, “I’m not complaining,” and considered the move “good,” though he commented, “the Ratty needs the New York Times more regularly.”

Overall, students seemed to favor the New York Times.

“I usually read the New York Times, Providence Journal or the Daily Herald,” Westley said, and Annie Wick ’13 said of newspapers in general, “I don’t read them anyway, and I definitely wouldn’t pick up the Financial Times.

Actually, I do read the New York Times, but if I cared enough I’d read it online.”

Dining Services does not plan to offer the paper once the promotion is completed, Rossi wrote.

— Sofia Castello

Arts & Culture The Brown Daily Herald

Friday, March 19, 2010 | Page 5

Mapping the past at the JCB library

By Kristina Klara Contributing Writer

Nick Sinnott-Armstrong / Herald

The cast of “The Spider Musical, or How to Lose What You Have Before You Have It,” on stage at PW.

Mini-musicals: big things in small packages continued from page 1 Aaron Malkin ’10, a member of the Brownbrokers Board and director of the mini-musical “Fat Camp.”

Since then, the festival has grown and Brownbrokers has worked to get more of the Brown community involved. “This year we started early in November and used ‘Leavittsburg, Ohio’ (Brownbrokers’ fall musical) to parlay this event,” Malkin said.

Malkin said that using “Leavittsburg, Ohio” to garner attention for the festival was a great success and that several individuals who worked on the musical either offered submissions to the festival or helped with the production.

Submissions had to include a minimum of three original songs and a script, Rothman said. The entries were evaluated by Brownbrokers Board members who had not submitted their own works, Malkin said. Decisions were based on the works’ music, lyrics and themes, he added. The board also looked for works that were fun and offered musical diversity, strong characters and interesting plots and themes, Malkin said.

The result is a mix of fun minimusicals that are often ridiculous.

Plots include a sequel to the now infamous YouTube video clip “Charlie Bit My Finger,” as well as a romance between the ShamWow and Snuggie infomercial hosts. “Because they have to be so original, it’s completely outrageous,” White said.

“It’s 15 minutes of babies and murder and love and you have no idea what’s going on, but it’s great,” Rothman said.

These works are things that “you could never make a full musical about,” Malkin said. But each one does have some semblance of a message, and this year’s festival features a serious piece as well, he added.

Andrew Hertz ’04, adjunct lecturer in theatre arts and performance studies, has been a wonderful source of advice for the cast and crew, Malkin said. His classes — TSDA 0960A: “Musical Theater Songwriting” and TSDA 0960B: “Musical Theater Writing Workshop” — were amazing resources in which more than half of the musicals featured in the festival were developed, he said.

The festival was produced in just two weeks, while most musicals at Brown get a full eight weeks of preparation, Malkin said.

“It’s much more compact,”

he explained. “We just got in the space Monday and the show’s on Friday. Last night we teched seven shows in seven hours. It’s fun and hectic.”

“It mimics a musical,” White said. “In one night we can teach you the lines and block the set.”

For the writers, the process is both fun and liberating, Rothman said. “It’s about pushing those 15 minutes and saying to the audience ‘Here’s something ludicrous.’ ” “Everyone’s there to have fun,” Livingstone said. The festival also gives “people who wouldn’t normally try out a chance to get oneon-one attention. They find it more accessible because it is only two weeks,” she added.

With such a large cast and crew, friends tend to pack the theater every night, White said. Last year, 250 people were turned away, Malkin said.

“The audience is very supportive,” White said. “People know that the shows have been thrown together quick and rowdy.”

Musical diversity combined with ridiculous plot lines and good old Brown spirit promises audiences a fun and entertaining night. “It’s definitely an experience,” Rothman said.

Inscribed on the John Carter Brown Library are the words “Speak to the past and it will answer,” the message that inspired the exhibition “Map Talk: A Conversation with Maps.”

The exhibit, a collection of maps ranging from the year 1492 to the end of the American colonial period, is on display at the library through the end of May. Walking into the library is like going back in time. Rare book collections, which have survived hundreds of years, surround you. The glass cases in the reading room hold unique historical treasures — maps.

“Maps are an integral part of the expansion process” of the Western world, said Susan Danforth, curator of maps and prints for the library.

In analyzing them, we speak to the people of the past, she said. Details that were included or left out can reveal much about the cultural climate of the period in which they were made.

“Maps have a point of view,” Danforth said. “They were produced for a reason.” She said that the questions these maps inspire about the past are relevant to the way we should be thinking about the world today.

All of the maps are “examples of people trying to make sense of their world that was rapidly changing,” Danforth said, adding that the effort to understand a changing world remains applicable today.

The “Map Talk” exhibit is entirely composed of items from the John Carter Brown Library collections.

Most maps on display were originally included in books and atlases, so they are an “intrinsic part of the John Carter Brown book collection,” Danforth said.

When asked where the exhibit idea came from and how it was put together, Danforth gave a slight smile and pointed to her head. She explained that she became interested in the story of Western expansion through the materials she curates, and then found the maps that best illustrated that story.

Danfor th highlighted one unique map in particular. The map “Mountserrat Island 1673” was not crafted by a cartographer, but rather by a mariner who drew the island from the viewpoint of the sea. It is an extremely detailed piece, crafted on vellum.

Across from this map of Mountserrat in the exhibit is a later version with the disclaimer, “This plan of the island of Mountserrat … is not to be relied upon.” Though it was made after the mariner’s map, it is not nearly as accurate.

Another important map in the exhibit is an edition of Ptolemy’s geography books, the first to contain pictoral maps and the first time copper plates were used in mapmaking. Most impressively, though, the color on the map has remained intact since 1477.

The exhibit also contains the 1642 deed to Warwick, R.I., and other interesting pieces such as “German towns of the Holy Roman Empire (1493),” “Terrestrial globe (1835)” and “New England, showing Massachusetts boundaries (1678).”

Editorial & Letters The Brown Daily Herald

Page 6 | Friday, March 19, 2010

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ale x yuly

e d i to r i a l

correction A caption accompanying an article in Thursday’s Herald, (“Corp. adopts new policy for minutes,” March 18) incorrectly implied that the person pictured was a member of the Corporation. While the photo was taken at a protest at which demonstrators called on the Corporation to increase investment transparency, the individual pictured is not a Corporation member. The Herald regrets the error.

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Motion to table The tables at the Ratty are about to get a little less interesting. Because of a collaborative effort by the Undergraduate Council of Students, the Brown University Activities Council and the Undergraduate Finance Board, student groups will not receive funding for tableslips starting after spring break.

While this move promises to save paper and money, we have a few concerns — and not just because we like having things to read over lunch.

The tableslip funding cut is the first step in a larger effort to phase out the paper slips completely.

UCS, UFB and BUAC say eliminating tableslips will reduce waste and free up more money for student activities. Quite a lot of it, actually — UFB Chair Juan Vasconez ’10 estimated that cutting funding for slips for an entire year would allow $5,000 to $10,000 to be channeled to other student group initiatives.

If tableslips had a comparable alternative, this would be a no-brainer. But as things stand now, the options to reach a wide segment of campus are limited. Student groups can turn to bulletin boards, posters and the online events calendar. Posters are expensive, and bulletin boards don’t reach nearly as many students as tableslips. The online calendar’s layout is sterile and difficult to navigate, and most students are not in the habit of checking a University web page for information about events like parties.

We’re glad that UCS, UFB and BUAC are trying to increase funding for student activities and contribute to broader efforts to reduce campus paper consumption. Still, representatives must keep in mind that a successful event depends on turnout as well as money. Tableslips give student groups an easy way to get the word out to a wide audience.

What’s more, many freshmen and sophomores rely

heavily on tableslips to find out about events. Since underclassmen may have less developed social networks, they’re less likely to get invited to events on Facebook. Before UCS, UFB and BUAC remove the paper slips completely, they should ensure that students have a reliable alternative for finding out about events.

The push to end funding for tableslips now is in part motivated by a desire to get incoming freshman next fall to adjust to a new system. We’d just like to be more certain that a new system will work as well.

The new campus center, which is slated to open next fall, could possibly serve as a central location for event postings. But the fall is a long way off, and even when it arrives, UCS should take time to gauge the new building’s impact on campus publicity efforts. In the meantime, UCS might want to begin the phase-out by reducing funding for table slips, rather than cutting it completely. UCS should also get more creative with event notification mechanisms that already exist online. For example, the council could send out a bi-weekly Facebook event digest. Student groups could create Facebook events and submit them to UCS. UCS could then send campus-wide emails — one for weekday events, one for weekend events — with links to each invitation.

We admit it — eventually, we’d love to see those paper slips gone from Ratty tables (especially the ones that have little bits of food stuck to them). But UCS and BUAC have some more work to do before they take events paperless. We’ll look forward to clear tables only when we know our weekend planning isn’t at stake.

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

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Opinions The Brown Daily Herald

Friday, March 19, 2010 | Page 7

Time for credit ETHAN TOBIAS Opinions Columnist On more than one application for summer internships, I was asked to list the number of course credits I had completed in various subject matters. The question was startling, and on the online forms I was filling out, there was no room for me to explain.

All I could do was hope that when I wrote three credits in biological science, the person reading knew I meant three courses. While Brown’s courses only carry a single credit (with a select few classes worth half a credit or two credits), many other institutions award three to six credits for their courses. In so doing, those universities can discriminate how much credit they award based on the number of hours a student would typically spend working each week. The more hours one works, the more credits one earns.

So how do Brown credits stack up against these much higher values? Well, on first thought, it should not really matter. Since Brown already acts as if any course is the equivalent of four credit hours, twelve credits elsewhere should be the same as three at Brown.

Not so fast — how can every class at Brown have the same value? The truth is that comparing courses is like comparing apples and oranges. For one person, two hundred pages of reading each week is a cinch, while for others it will mean hours upon hours in

the basement of the SciLi. And while I was often in organic chemistry lab until the last minute, many of my peers had clocked out an hour or two earlier.

The truth is that no two students will have to spend the same amount of time each week working on the same class. Some students would breeze by with five or six courses, while others would have a full workload with just three or four.

Since courses at Brown offer such a diversity of types of work and assignments and since students differ a tremendous amount in their innate abilities, the university has decided to value each course equally as a sin-

compare coursework completed at Brown to coursework completed by students at other universities. Since colleges typically reward three to six credits for a typical semester long course, Brown’s use of a single credit system might create some disadvantage to an uninformed admissions officer.

The potential for disaster is compounded by the fact that students may routinely “translate” their grades by multiplying by four in order to avoid confusion. This practice (and I have heard of people doing it) will hurt students who do not multiply their credits. While one student might write that she has completed four credits in chemistry, the

Instead of courses being worth one credit and students needing 30 to graduate, courses would be worth four credits and students would need 120 to graduate. gle credit. By valuing the courses this way, Brown sends a clear message that courses representing a wide array of disciplines from literary arts to computer science challenge students in many different ways as they explore the possibilities of the open curriculum.

However, not everyone is quite as acquainted with the way Brown rewards credit. Admissions officers at graduate schools, study abroad programs and internships, as well as future employers, will inevitably

application of a peer to the same program might say sixteen, leading to an unfair advantage.

This entire scenario can be avoided with a single quick fix that will have absolutely no negative effects on Brown academics. Instead of courses being worth one credit and students needing 30 to graduate, courses would be worth four credits and students would need 120 to graduate.

By making this one switch in the way the internal and external academic transcripts

award credit, the University would clarify a potentially confusing point on the academic transcript without compromising its equal valuations of every course. In fact, it might even increase the boldness of Brown’s current equal valuation of courses since in a four credit system it is easier to make the case that a course could have been valued otherwise but was not.

Multiplying course credits by four is not unprecedented. Just a few years ago, Brown arbitrarily multiplied the course code numbers by ten which presumably increased the possibilities in course listing. This small change simultaneously increased individual class prestige by raising seemingly introductory hundred level courses (where the phrase 101 comes from) to thousand level status ridding any doubt about their advanced nature.

Finally, administrators at other universities, study abroad programs and internships will have a standard metric through which to judge Brown students against everyone else.

There will be no doubt for someone looking at an internship application, who might wonder whether three credits in biology means three courses or just one. Without sacrificing any of the academic integrity of the open curriculum, this simple transformation will eradicate any ambiguity about how course credits correspond to credit hours.

Ethan Tobias ’12 is a biology concentrator from New York.

He can be reached at ethan_tobias@brown.edu

Go team?

BY NIDA ABDULLA Opinions Columnist It’s no secret that Brown lacks school spirit when it comes to athletics. If you want to see school spirit, you’re better off going to an a cappella show than a football game. In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve never been to a football, basketball or softball game. I have been to a men’s ice hockey game — but that was because I knew someone in the band, and they were skating that night. Every semester I resolve to go to at least one game for each sport, but by the time the game rolls around my resolve has become watery, and I’d rather read a book for class.

Out of my various friends, only one has ever expressed interest in going to a game with me on a Friday or Saturday night. Last week, when I announced that I was going for a game that night, I was told that the team sucks… but have fun! I know that I will feel a little bit awkward if I go by myself (although this is not as much of a deterrent as the first two).

More importantly, I can’t imagine playing for a school whose students look down on me or don’t respect the sacrifices I make.

Athletes come to Brown for Brown. The University doesn’t give out athletic scholarships, so athletes choose Brown for the education

and prestige, just like you and me. Athletes will turn down scholarships at other universities to come to Brown, just like you and me. Some of us look down on athletes because we assume that they probably weren’t as qualified to get into Brown as the rest of us were.

But why are we so haughty about getting into Brown? The folks in admission tell us that a sizable percentage of applicants to Brown could have succeeded academically.

excellent swimmer or a star basketball player to the mix? You could argue for the importance of academic talents over non-academic talents, but then you’re discounting the value of artistic endeavors like theater, music and visual art.

Also, we might disdain the athlete culture — the wild parties, the alcohol — but I hear the Manhattan crowd gets pretty wild too, so it’s not like we can claim the moral high ground.

I can’t imagine playing for a school whose students look down on me or don’t respect the sacrifices I make.

It’s not like we were smarter than everyone else. Athletes, like us, got in because someone in admissions saw something special.

Usually, we are proud of what makes us and our peers special — talents that we have for an academic discipline, environmental activism, dedication to community service, overcoming adversity to get into Brown, being an outstanding leader — why not add being an

Most of us can’t imagine what it would be like to be an athlete at this school. We moan about getting up for a 9:00 a.m. class, but some athletes are up at 5:30 a.m. Many of us fret about the amount of reading we have to do, but take for granted long Saturday and Sunday afternoons to get it done. Athletes don’t have the kind of time that I have as a non-athlete. For example, one of my friends

is going to Texas next weekend for a golf tournament, and she has to miss Monday’s classes too.

If ours was a school where athletes and non-athletes mixed and socialized freely, we might hear some whining and complaining from athletes about this lack of time. However, I’ve never heard a peep from any of them.

Either athletes are extraordinarily long-suffering people, or I don’t hang out with any athletes long enough to hear them complain.

In the two and a half years that I’ve been at Brown I have made one athlete friend, and that’s because she reached out to me. Then again, I wouldn’t call the athletes at Brown very approachable, friendly types. They tend to set themselves apart, as if the rest of us aren’t cool enough for them. We’re not, I know, but sometimes it is okay to pretend.

Just pencil it in right now — one game.

Reach out to the athletes in your classes, even if they’re always sitting with their friends. Make them feel like an important part of this school. It might make the difference between losing and scoring the winning point, if they feel like Brown, including its students, is worth fighting for.

Nida Abdulla ’11.5 hopes to go to more sporting events in the future.

She can be contacted at nida_abdulla@brown.edu

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Today The Brown Daily Herald

3

Father and son team up for soccer guide

Dining halls add new newspaper

Rebel Spring Games.

Gymnastics will compete at Towson at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Men’s and women’s track and field will travel to Northeastern this weekend. The men will compete in the Northeastern Invitational and the women will compete in the Husky Spring Open all day Saturday.

Women’s crew will compete against URI at home at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

Equestrian will co-host a show with Roger Williams at Windcrest Farm all day Saturday.

c a l e n da r

A diamond to the money that will be saved from tableslip elimination after spring break.

Maybe we’ll have enough for Cancun by the time the next break rolls around.

A diamond to the Brown University Mediation Project, “the best-kept secret at Brown.”

After Sex Week, there’s sure to be a lot more BUMPing and grinding on campus.

Softball diamonds for pitching a perfect game on Sunday!

4:00 P.M. — Dharma Mittra Yoga Beginners’ Class, Brown-RISD Hillel

Coal to the East Side neighbor for whom pool construction “means our summer is ruined.”

We always liked the chance to cool off when

7:00 p.m. — “Nashaa,” SASA Annual Culture Show, Salomon 101

7:00 p.m. — Flashing Lights: La Vie en Vogue, Andrews Dining Hall

menu

Dinner — Stuffed Shells Florentine, Grilled Salmon with Minted Pea Puree, Pasta Bar

Coal to the University for seeking “funding for the ‘four F’s.’ ” No … One of the F’s is not FishCo, even on St. Patrick’s Day.

A diamond to the Statehouse for proposing the RISD police be named “peace officers.”

We know they’re hipsters, they know they’re hipsters. It is so not a big deal.

9:00 p.m. — Brownbrokers’ Third Annual Mini-Musical Festival, T.F. Green Hall

Lunch — Chicken Fingers, Vegan Nuggets, Baked Potato Bar

things got too hot.

A diamond to attempts to “stimulate” a kinkbased conversation. After female orgasms got us excited, Sex Week was a great finish.

tomorrow, March 20

Lunch — Vegan Vegetable Couscous, Hot Pastrami Sandwich, White Pesto Pizza, Manhattan Clam Chowder

68 / 45

A diamond to the Corporation for deciding to seal its minutes for just 25 years. We’re looking forward to learning the truth about Hot Ham on Bulky Roll 25 years sooner.

Today, March 19

Verney-Woolley Dining Hall

64 / 43

d i a m o n d s a n d c oa l

Coal to the robbery of “screws” from the Sciences Library. The SciLi was already missing a screw. No need to rub it in.

Sharpe Refectory

to m o r r o w

Friday, March 19, 2010

s p o rt s a ro u n d t h e b e n d Men’s tennis will host two games Saturday against Boston College and Connecticut.

Women’s crew will compete against URI at home at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Men’s lacrosse will compete against Harvard Saturday at 3 p.m. on the Crimson’s turf.

Women’s swimming and diving team will compete in the NCAA Championships in Columbus, Ohio, all day Friday through Sunday.

Softball team is in Kissimmee, Fla. this weekend to compete in the

4

to day

Want more diamonds and coal? Check out a retro-diamond on BlogDailyHerald.com, and write your own at DiamondsAndCoal.com.

comics Cabernet Voltaire | Abe Pressman

Dinner — Pesto Pasta and Seafood Medley, Grilled Chicken, Risotto Primavera

crossword Dot Comic | Eshan Mitra and Brendan Hainline

Excelsior | Kevin Grubb

Fruitopia | Andy Kim

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