Thursday, April 8, 2010

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vol. cxlv, no. 44 | Thursday, April 8, 2010 | Serving the community daily since 1891

Facilities to subcontract, libraries to lay off staff By Alex Bell Senior Staff Writer

Brown will restructure the University Library and the Department of Facilities Management July 1, Director of Labor and Employee Relations Joe Sarno ’91 wrote to the two departments’ unions on March 25 and March 29, respectively. More than a dozen workers will be laid off from the library — the library union’s first-ever layoffs, according to Karen McAninch, the United Service and Allied Workers of Rhode Island business agent who represents both unions. While the much larger facilities department will only suffer one layoff — a nonunion engineer, according to Vice President for Facilities Management Stephen Maiorisi — McAninch said she was concerned with next year’s increase in subcontracting, which will eliminate the need to fill some vacancies in the department. The restructuring of the two departments is expected to save $3 million next year, according to Sarno’s

s p ot l i g h t

ZOOMING IN ON STAFF AT BROWN Monday, March 22 was a difficult day for some Brown staff members. That morning, the University sent an e-mail notifying staff that approximately 60 employees would be laid off by the end of June. Coupled with 139 staff members who have accepted early retirement packages from the University, last month’s announcement signified that Brown staff members are not immune to the University’s costcutting responses to the economic recession. The attention paid to Brown staff in the past few weeks has turned the campus’ focus to a portion of the Brown community not often given much notice. Today, The Herald sheds a spotlight on the staff at Brown. Look inside on pages four and five for the stories of these individuals.

inside

— Brian Mastroianni

News.....1–4 Spotlight..5–6 Sports.....7–9 Editorial....10 Opinion.....11 Today........12

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letters. University officials announced in March that it would lay off 60 staff members in June, while offering them severance packages, health coverage and career counseling, among other services. The University plans to subcontract custodial services for six offcampus locations, including 70 Ship St., the future site of the Alpert Medical School in the Jewelry District. “It’s our work, and there’s no justification for taking our work away,” McAninch said. She said she was skeptical about whether subcontracting the labor would really save money in the end. “It begs the question of whether it could be an anti-union thing in that respect,” she said. But Maiorisi said requiring the limited number of custodial supervisors to go so far off campus is a strain on resources, making subcontracting more economical in remote continued on page 2

ni c e c at c h

Jonathan Bateman / Herald

The baseball team lost their two games against Siena Wednesday. They play a doubleheader against Princeton at home Saturday.

University libraries face staff cuts By Anish Gonchigar Staff Writer

While many students feel like they’ve spent their entire undergraduate careers in a library, for Brown librarians such as Gayle Lynch, a senior library specialist at the John Hay Library, the libraries have been home for half their lives. Lynch has spent the past 43 years working at the Hay, archiving documents pertaining to Brown’s

history. Throughout the years, Lynch has enjoyed her work at the Hay, she said, calling Brown’s library system “one of the best departments on campus to work for.” Her day-to-day archival work includes sifting through past student and faculty publications, as well as working with University alumni to preserve Brown’s past. While Lynch will continue to be a familiar face at the Hay, by the end of June, some of her long-time col-

leagues will no longer be part of the library system. In the wake of the University’s budget crunch, some library staff will lose their jobs as part of the 60 planned layoffs, estimated to cut $14 million from the budget by 2011, according to an e-mail to The Herald from University Librarian Harriette Hemmasi. While some library staff members continued on page 4

Students weigh in on workers’ rights around, not really interacting with and saying hi to workers as they go through the dining hall.” While Durfee and Scult observe these issues, they both said inconsiderate actions are not the norm. “I don’t know if there’s a community ethos that is one way or another,” Durfee said. “I think the vast majority of the student population is respectful, but there’s a small minority that I guess isn’t,” said Rachel Bloom ’13. “And I know that the majority of people who are respectful do notice the minority.” Bloom pointed to public forums such as the missed connections Web site Spotted at

news in brief

Gala will be hard to move Though Tuesday night’s negotiations between the Student Labor Alliance and the organizers of next week’s Gala concluded on a promising note, the chances of moving the event — to honor a worker-led boycott at the event’s location — looked slim late Wednesday night. SLA members met Tuesday with members of the 2011 Class Board and the Key Society, as well as with administrators, to warn them that if they held the April 17 Gala at its currently scheduled location of the Westin Providence hotel, they would face a picket line of hotel workers, who have called for a boycott of the hotel in light of a labor dispute. SLA members met late Wednesday night to discuss an e-mail from 2011 Class Board Secretary Salsa Ahmed ’11 to members of SLA, in which she wrote that finding another location for the event would be unfeasible. SLA invited the event’s organizers to their meeting, but none could attend. President of the 2011 Class Board Neil Parikh ’11 told The Herald Wednesday night that the organizers of the event are willing to keep an “open dialogue” with the SLA, but, in a series of meetings with University administrators and general counsel, the organizers found out that in addition to the logistical difficulties of switching venues late in the game, not using the Westin would cost them their $5,000 deposit, and a $20,000 minimum fee for the event. “We really have put all our hearts and souls into finding another venue,” Parikh said. “If we could, we would move it in a heart beat.” But SLA member Sam Adler-Bell ’12 warned that Brown’s image is at stake if the Gala is held at the Westin. He said he wasn’t convinced all avenues had been exhausted, and thinks Brown should try using its “clout in the community to get out of the contract.” Parikh said he may know more after meeting with Westin management Thursday morning. — Alex Bell

Many Brown students have limited relationships with University staff. They know Gail and Jose at the Ratty, or are vaguely aware of who cleans up the trashed lounges in their dorms after a weekend night, or have made friends with the woman at the Blue Room who toasts their onion bagels. While relationships between students and Brown staff may not be perfect, the general campus sentiment aspires to respect and equality — and one group, the Brown Student Labor Alliance, campaigns actively for the rights of University employees.

Spotted at Brown A stroll past outdoor trash cans on Friday afternoon, dorm kitchens on Saturday morning or the Ratty omelet line at Sunday brunch would hint at a less than perfect relationship between those who attend the University and those who work for it. “I’ve seen people yell at the Ratty workers,” said Aurora Durfee ’10, and “everyone sees the Main Green and Wriston Quad, especially when it’s nice out, covered in litter.” “I don’t think people realize that their litter is someone else’s burden,” she added. “I see more of people just completely ignoring and not thinking about the workers,” said Matt Scult ’10. “They’re leaving trash all

News, 3

Sports, 9

Opinions, 11

Post- magazine

letter campaign Students praise President Simmons nationwide for workers’ rights response

Hard court Women’s tennis falls to three ranked teams but bests Penn

UNCOMMON DECENCY Adrienne Langlois ’10 calls out op-ed columnists for crossing the line

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE Seek revenge on roommates, be an experiment and hear the V.O.I.C.E.

By Sara Luxenberg Senior Staff Writer

continued on page 4

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

C ampus N EWS

Thursday, April 8, 2010

“Nobody from the administration bothered to, you know, tell us.” — Andy Moul, library associate specialist

Forum discusses and explores interfaith relationships By Sofia Castello Contributing Writer

The Interfaith Dating Forum, which featured a diverse panel of speakers, drew over 20 students into a conversation about pivotal points in interfaith relationships. The event, which was held in Arnold Lounge in Keeney Quadrangle Wednesday night, tackled topics that included religious ceremo-

nies, negotiations over holidays and how to raise children when the parents belong to different faiths. Panelist Carol Cohen ’83, associate dean of the college, described herself as “the Jewish girl at the church … and the priest’s wife.” “The public aspect (has been) much harder to negotiate than the private,” Cohen said. The key to an interfaith relation-

ship is “about knowing where your lines are … the meaningful lines,” she said. Panelist Ceceley Chambers, who is Jewish and married to an atheist, said she has realized in the last year that she wishes to become a rabbi. In order for her to do so, her husband must convert to Judaism. She said he is willing to consider the switch, but no matter his response, she already knows where her boundary lies. “If I was asked to choose between my husband and being a rabbi, I would choose my husband,” she said. Experience with serious romantic relationships did not dominate the pan-

el, as panelist Nathaniel Johnson ’10 addressed the topic hypothetically. “I have been and I am in many interfaith relationships, but I have yet to be in a romantic interfaith relationship,” he said. There would probably be issues with his parents if he wanted to marry “a nice Hindu girl,” he said. “There would be a long conversation.” It is also very important to clarify the difference between dating and marriage, he said. Panelist Mary Yang ’13 spoke about her experience with interfaith parents. “Just growing up with them, I could see their relationship had a

tension,” she said. In her current relationship, “the question of faith has come up as the main problem,” Yang said. Reasons for attending also varied. Audience member Mathew Reiss ’12 said, “I’m here because I’ve been dating a Catholic girl for three years, and I’m Jewish.” Christopher Huynh ’10 “was just kind of interested in seeing what interfaith dating is,” he said. Chelsea Waite ’11, one of the event’s coordinators, said the “assumptions that go along with a certain faith … are confronted when dating someone not of your faith.”

Libraries will outsource guard positions continued from page 1

locations. “This will change in future years as we get more concentrated in the Jewelry District and other areas,” Maiorisi said. Custodians currently working in the areas to be subcontracted will be moved back on campus when the changes take effect July 1. Maiorisi said the University is contractually allowed to subcontract any work as long as it is not done so arbitrarily and the union is notified. Both Maiorisi and McAninch said they plan to meet soon to discuss the subcontracting. “We go into any discussions with the union with an open mind,” Maiorisi said. “If they have a better solution, I’d be happy to listen to it.” The other letter from Sarno to McAninch outlines an increased reliance on subcontracting for library guards. Though one part-time building attendant has accepted voluntary retirement, one full-time and three more part-time attendants will be laid off. Instead, “Sterling guards will be utilized at the Sciences Library during all hours of operation, and at the Rockefeller Library after 10 p.m. to enhance security at critical times,” the letter says, noting that “additional measures will be taken to increase the security of the building.” Chief of Police Mark Porter wrote in an e-mail to The Herald that there

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The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is an independent newspaper serving the Brown University community daily since 1891. It is published Monday through Friday during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement, once during Orientation and once in July by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Single copy free for each member of the community. POSTMASTER please send corrections to P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI 02906. Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Offices are located at 195 Angell St., Providence, R.I. E-mail herald@browndailyherald.com. World Wide Web: http://www.browndailyherald.com. Subscription prices: $319 one year daily, $139 one semester daily. Copyright 2010 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.

has been no significant increase recently in major crimes in the libraries. Trish Dumin, a senior library specialist working in the Rock as a computing consultant, has worked at the University Library since 1978, with an eight-year gap starting in 1990 to serve as the union’s full-time treasurer. She said she has witnessed many incidents in which having in-house door guards has been important for handling difficult situations and for helping people on a day-to-day basis, as “ambassadors” to library guests. The letter also suggests moving Dumin’s position and that of another computing consultant out of the University Libraries and into Computing and Information Services. These employees assist staff and sometimes students with computing issues such as installations and training, Dumin said. Vice President for Computing and Information Services Michael Pickett said the details of the proposal have not yet been worked out, but the goals are to make computing consultants from various administrative departments better at their jobs by centralizing them in CIS to provide training, certification, and other support. But Dumin and her coworker stand to lose their union affiliation if they are transferred out of the libraries department, even though much of their job description could remain the same. McAninch called this a “potential

implication that there is an anti-union decision.” Dumin would have the opportunity to move into another union position through a process called “bumping” if the decision were made to move her position. Vice President for Human Resources Karen Davis said there is “absolutely nothing in the organizational review that was meant to diminish the bargaining power of the unions.” But McAninch said that come July 1, when the position eliminations take effect, the libraries union will have only two-thirds of the positions it had 10 years ago. Andy Moul, a library associate specialist at the John Hay Library whose position is being eliminated, said he was upset with the way the layoffs were carried out. He said he found out about his position’s elimination from an e-mail sent out to library employees listing the positions to be eliminated, but not mentioning names. “Nobody from the administration bothered to, you know, tell us,” he said. “Are they really concerned with what we provide, or are they just trying to fill a quota?” McAninch agreed that the reorganization of the libraries was not carried out in a respectful way. “If they’re restructuring things in the library, there are ways to do it while being respectful to people’s experience and contributions,” she said.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

C ampus N EWS

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“We stand by our record as an employer.” — Jess Pettit, HEI spokesman

Simmons praised for leadership on worker rights By Sarah Forman Senior Staf f Writer

Sixty-three students from seven universities sent a letter Tuesday to President Ruth Simmons, commending her leadership in publicly responding to allegations of workers’ rights violations by HEI Hotels and Resorts and asking her to encourage their schools to follow Brown’s example and reconsider their investments in HEI. In Februar y, Simmons sent a letter to the CEO of HEI stating that any mistreatment of employees by the company “would be a matter of deep concern and contrary to our standards of investing.” Since then, Brown has become an example of campus activism against HEI, which is accused by some of its workers of using intimidation and threats to prevent unionization. “Universities kind of copy each other and listen to each other,” said Olivia Singer ’12, a member of the Student Labor Alliance, explaining why other universities have recently rethought investing in HEI. “On this issue, we’re definitely the leaders.” Yale’s Advisory Committee on Investor Responsibility recently decided to reconsider its investments in HEI, which was “largely a result of Ruth Simmons’ letter,” said Jonathan Macey, professor of law and

chair of the committee. “The fact that she wrote the letter suggested to me that she must have some new information,” Macey said, since both Brown and Yale had decided a year ago that there was not enough substantive evidence against HEI to merit divestment. “We’re going to take a number of steps to reach out to our counterparts at Brown” to understand that information and the motivation for her letter, he said. Though Brown has not divested from HEI, and Simmons’ letter did not indicate any plans to divest, “she wouldn’t have written this letter unless she had some basis for doing so,” Macey said. Eleven Yale students signed Tuesday’s letter to Simmons, in which they wrote, “Anything you can do to encourage our own universities to follow Brown’s leadership and support the rights of HEI hotel workers will be much appreciated.” “The fact that both Brown and Yale have taken public steps and questioned HEI is really important,” said Sarah Furman, a junior at the University of Notre Dame who signed Tuesday’s letter and is a member of the unofficial student group Campus Labor Action Project at Notre Dame. “Clearly there’s something questionable about what they’re doing because these two

huge universities have already questioned them.” Furman and the other members of the group hope to meet with Notre Dame’s chief investment officer over the next week, she said, adding that she plans to use Simmons’ letter to refute his past claims that there were not any substantial complaints against HEI. “That’s one of the first things we’re going to bring up,” she said. According to a March 15 press release from the Brown Student Labor Alliance, Simmons’ letter marked the first time that any university had publicly questioned HEI’s labor practices. “We’re certainly ver y pleased with the letter President Simmons has written,” said Jesse Strecker ’10, a member of SLA. “We stand by our record as an employer,” HEI spokesman Jess Pettit told The Herald in March. He called the allegations against his company “hearsay and not truthful,” according to a Feb. 16 article in the Daily Pennsylvanian. Strecker said he was convinced that HEI has committed workers’ rights violations, adding that he and students from other schools will continue to work towards complete divestment. “A big part of what we’ll do is trying to induce other universities to follow our suit,” he said.

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Student group advocates for worker rights Long-time

employees to leave libraries

continued from page 1 Brown, where students often call out other students for mistreating the staff. Both Durfee and Bloom said their dorms’ residents have good relationships with their custodians. In South Wayland, where Bloom lives, students “generally” clean any messes they make, she said. But Bloom said there is more that Brown students can do. “I think it’s important to make sure that the people who make this experience, for us, as good as it possibly can be, have a good experience themselves,” she said. “We’re just elitist kids at an elitist school and these people are here to make our lives better or easier,” Durfee said. “We should treat them as well as we can, because they deserve it.” Students stand up While many students express hope that campus workers will be treated with respect, the Student Labor Alliance works to turn this hope into action. “Working is part of everyone’s life,” said SLA group member Rebecca Rast ’13, “and everyone deserves a just workplace.” To move toward this vision, “Brown SLA works in solidarity with workers on campus, in the greater Providence community and globally,” Rast said. “We really try to stand with workers all over the world who are connected to the Brown community.” The SLA consists of 15 to 20 members who work actively on its campaigns, and can garner the support of 30 to 40 members in one night to attend events, Rast said. “We have a pretty committed base,” said SLA member Elizabeth Caldwell ’12. A committed base is necessary for the SLA to function, as the group works concurrently on several large campaigns. Currently, they are campaigning for the University’s divestment from hotel management company HEI and for the relocation of Gala 2010, which is slated to be held at the Providence Westin hotel, where employees are on strike. Another prominent SLA campaign addresses University contracts with Nike. The University is a member of the Designated Suppliers Program, which was created by the Worker Rights Consortium and requires that each member “abide by certain codes of conduct” when choosing suppliers for universitybranded clothing, Caldwell said. Two Nike sweatshops in Honduras have

FROM THE ARCHIVES • May 1964: A 17-day workers’ strike delayed construction on University buildings, including the new Rockefeller Library. The striking workers — laborers and plasterers’ helpers — sought a wage increase of $0.50 per hour from the Associated General

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Claire Huang / Herald

Students protested the University’s proposed changes to Brown Dining Services workers’ health-care plans last fall.

been flagged recently for violations of this code when workers were not awarded proper severance pay. “Nike still owes them over $2.1 million,” Caldwell said. This week, the SLA is bringing workers from Honduras to a meeting with Brown’s bookstore. “We’re demanding that they terminate their contract” with Nike until workers receive just compensation, she said. Other large campaigns in which the SLA is actively involved include United Students Against Sweatshops, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, which advocates for low-wage workers throughout the state of Florida, and Rhode Island Jobs with Justice, a coalition working toward fair treatment in labor markets throughout the state. More than just ‘making noise’ While the SLA works on many large-scale campaigns, it is also very involved in efforts for fair treatment of workers on College Hill. Last semester, the SLA worked with several on-campus organizations to ensure fair health care benefits in contract negotiations for Dining Services workers, Caldwell said. “One of the big ways that we help work with workers when there are complaints is working directly with the union,” Rast said. The SLA will often “take symbolic action,” which includes everything from getting student signatures on workers rights petitions, like it did during the dining services contract negotiations, to

raising awareness through teachins, Rast said. The SLA checks in regularly with on-campus workers unions and maintains strong “relationships with workers on campus to see if things are going okay,” Rast said. Another important SLA campus campaign surrounds the recent announcement about library staff layoffs. “We’re concerned that we don’t really know where all these cuts are coming from. We know this isn’t the end, and we don’t want this to set a precedent for future layoffs,” Caldwell said. “It’s sad that Brown is starting to cut these corners, because we can be this proud university that pays its workers well — we have been in the past,” Rast said. “The economic situation should never be an excuse for cutting corners” in the treatment of workers, Trupin added. All of the campaigns in which the SLA is involved require relationships with the student body, other on-campus groups and the administration. The group maintains a strong relationship with the Third World Center, has worked with a handful of student groups — such as in the Open the Books campaign seeking budget transparency from the Corporation — and has a “pretty sustainable” relationship with the office of President Ruth Simmons, Caldwell said. “People have a perception that we’re just making noise to make

noise,” she said. “But we are willing to work through the designated bureaucracy when it’s the right thing to do.” “And we always tr y to start there,” Rast said. Student awareness is another critical part of SLA efforts. “We want to centralize workers in our fight and not forget that we are students who have a privileged position at this university,” Caldwell said. The SLA often explores the issue that students “don’t always treat workers well,” she added. “We want to change the Brown environment so that there is more justice for workers … and equality between workers and students,” Rast said. Students inter viewed by The Herald said they knew little about the SLA’s efforts or other workers’ rights activism on campus. Scult said he remembered “signing a couple petitions in the fall,” but added that he had no other knowledge of SLA efforts. “I have no idea what they’re doing,” Durfee said of the SLA, adding that she is surprised she does not hear much about activism for workers’ rights because Brown is “such an active campus.” “I think that a lot of people are pretty much aware of poor conditions elsewhere,” Bloom said. The lack of campus activism on such issues is “more of a sense of apathy, or ‘Why should I do anything?’ ” she added.

Contractors of Rhode Island. • November 1973: Brown’s nonappointed library workers went on strike for three weeks. The day after a settlement was reached, Jonathan Farnum, assistant vice president for finance and operations and university negotiator during the strike, resigned. He “denied that the strike situation had

any influence on his decision,” according to a Nov. 20, 1973 article. • December 1973: “Go f— yourself,” said Michael Brown, the head of the University’s negotiating team as he prepared to leave a meeting between union and University representatives. The union for non-appointed library workers

refused to sign the University’s proposed contract at the Dec. 19 meeting, though the two parties reached an agreement and signed a two-year contract in February 1974. • December 1990: Following four months of negotiation and a five-week strike, the University and the library workers union signed a contract under

have been laid off, some long-time employees have taken advantage of Brown’s “early retirement option.” Even with this option, some long-time employees like Lynch decided to keep their positions. This early retirement plan was offered to Brown employees who had worked at least 10 years continuously at the University and who were turning 60 by the date the plan was offered, said Beth Coogan, a senior library associate specialist at the Rockefeller Library. “What they offered was anyone who was turning 60 by a certain date would be offered a year’s salary and $15,000,” Coogan said, adding that the plan would cover medical insurance for a certain length of time after the employee retired. Though Coogan declined the early retirement plan, she said about 20 employees in the library system had taken the offer. Among the library employees that did accept the offer was Stephen L.Thompson ’71, scholarly resources librarian at the Rockefeller Library. Thompson, who is the library’s liaison for the English and comparative literature departments, has been a full-time Brown employee since 1972. Though he has been a member of the Brown community for the past four decades, Thompson said he thought the early retirement plan “seemed like a good offer at a good time.” Janet Crager, a scholarly resources librarian, also took advantage of the early retirement option. Crager, who has been with the University for nearly 30 years, has a positive outlook on her decision. “I was thinking about retiring in a couple years anyway, and I have two small grandchildren,” Crager said. Crager said she hopes to spend her time with her family after leaving Brown and looks forward to new people and new ideas in her field.a “It’s better for someone younger to come in with more up-to-date ideas and training,” she said. At the same time, Crager said, leaving Brown is a hard decision for someone who has called it home for so long. “I feel privileged to be a part of all that — I’m really going to miss it.”

which the union would copay for health insurance and Brown would raise wages for unionized library employees. • October 2009: At 2 a.m., negotiators for Brown Dining Services workers and the University agreed to a threeyear contract about wages, health care and retirement benefits.

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F eatures

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Thursday, April 8, 2010

“I love drawing statues because of the way the light hits them.” — Stephen Gervais, library clerk

Staff members share, reflect on their experiences By Talia Kagan Senior Staff Writer

Brown employs over 3,000 nonfaculty workers. Some of them are campus legends (think of a certain card-flipping dining hall worker), some are familiar faces and many operate behind the

scenes. But who are they, what do they do and how did they end up on College Hill? In these profiles, The Herald takes a closer look at three of the personalities that make Brown tick.

Recently, he gained another title: actor. A friend cast Gervais as the lead in a documentary on Gilbert Stuart, the artist who painted the George Washington portrait that is on one-dollar bills. Gervais “already had the long hair” necessary for the role, he said. Throughout his years at the Rock, Gervais has turned away “weirdos,” witnessed student breakdowns and overheard relationship drama. Contrary to the usual Brown stereotype, he said he has only once smelled the scent of marijuana coming from an incoming student. “I’m amazed at that,” he added. But he won’t be welcoming studious Brunonians forever. Last week, Gervais was told that his University job is being terminated even though he is a union member. He said he will work at the library until July 1, but does not know what will happen to his job after that. Ger vais said he will miss working at Brown, but he looks forward to the chance to pursue new opportunities. He is joining the Providence Art Club, working on a personal Web site to feature his art and hopes to soon teach an art class at the Rhode Island School of Design. Gervais finds his hip-hop celebrity status from “SciLi State of Mind”— which has almost 6,000 YouTube views — to be a fitting end to his Brown career. Come July, Gervais said, he will walk away with a positive memory of his time at Brown. “It’s been a real pleasure sitting out here.”

Brown Dining Services Production Manager Steven Monast has worked in the Sharpe Refectory for 30 years. He has seen many modifications during his time there — for example, all four Ratty lines used to serve the exact same entrees. But some things — such as the popularity of chicken fingers — haven’t changed. As production manager, Monast oversees the catering department, creating menus and organizing catered functions. He also oversees operations at the Ratty, researches new recipes and coordinates programs with staff at Brown’s satellite eateries. Monast is the man behind many special Ratty events, such as last semester’s Texas BBQ Ratty dinner, a night complete with chili, corn bread and polyester-clad “fancy dancers.” Monast’s recipes can be adventurous. Last year, for a special luau night, he created Spam Sushi. Students were skeptical, but after trying it, “they came back,” he said. That opportunity to be creative is what he loves most about his job, he added. Monast started cooking at an early age, preparing dinner for his mom when he got home from school. Soon he got a job as a dietary aide in a hospital in New Bedford, Mass. “By the time I was 18,” he said, “I was the weekend cook.” In 1975, Monast moved to Providence where he catered at the Marriott and later worked at a nursing home. He began work at Brown in 1980 as a cook’s helper and moved up to the position of lead cook for breakfast and lunch within six years. He held that union position for 22 years, and though he enjoyed it, by the end, he was ready to leave. “My plan was to sell my house and move to California,” he said. Realizing that plan wasn’t economically feasible, he applied and was accepted to his current management role, which he has held for two years.

Romasco learned her construction skills at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, where she studied fashion construction before moving into the regional theater world in Washington, D.C. After D.C., she went to New York where she made costumes for “the biggest flops of the 70s.” One memorable show she worked on was a Bob Fosse musical about the Dauphin of France. “It closed in two days,” she said. While in New York, Romasco also created dance costumes for the American Ballet Theater and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, among others. After moving to Providence with her husband years later, where all eight of her children were born, Ramasco ran her own clothing business for two years. During that time she sold clothes to Ann Taylor, Bergdorf Goodman and smaller boutiques. For

a short time, she also sold antiques and did some kitchen design. But, “I like dresses better,” she said. She returned to costuming, briefly working at Providence College and Rhode Island College before coming to Brown in May 2004, and by the following January, she was a full-time employee. The pace of costume construction is quick — the shop usually has about four to six weeks to build a show, she said. Costumes vary from altered Tshirts to a roller girl super hero costume she created several years ago. Wednesday afternoon, Romasco’s attention was occupied with the creation of a romper pattern for the Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies’ spring Festival of Dance. If the costume resembled the one-piece outfits worn by students lounging on the Main Green in the afternoon’s 90-degree weather, it was no

Rock-solid guardian He has shoulder-length dirty-blonde hair and a welcoming smile — and no, he won’t let you bring in food. He is Library Clerk Stephen Gervais, and even if you don’t frequent the Rockefeller Library, where he guards the entrance three days a week, you might recognize him from a recent cameo in “SciLi State of Mind” — a student-produced music video that Gervais found to be “a delight.” A regular fixture at the Rock, Gervais sees his job as more than just guarding. “In a way, I’m a welcomer,” he said. Gervais began working as a shelver at the Rock 12 years ago, but moved to his current position within two years. You may have noticed him sketching intricate, realistic drawings of Bernini statues and Hieronymous Bosch paintings while he sits at his desk. “I love drawing statues because of the way the light hits them,” he said. But for Gervais, art isn’t just a hobby — he is a professional. Gervais has illustrated the covers and interiors of over 15 books, including novels by best-selling authors like Stephen King and Clive Barker. Some of his work was recently featured in the book “Knowing Darkness,” a compilation of art inspired by Stephen King, and Gervais even has his own chapter. Gervais also plays lead electric guitar for a band called Pancake. On the subject of his group’s name, he is apologetic: “Sorry to say it wasn’t my choice.”

Enduring at the eatery

Talia Kagan / Herald

Brown Dining Services Production Manager Steven Monast stands next to one of the Sharpe Refectory’s 60-gallon kettles.

Today, Dining Services has a database of over 4,000 recipes its employees have tasted and vetted. Monast has created many of those — either by modifying existing recipes, or starting from scratch. One of his favorites is a salmon dish served with a reduction of balsamic vinaigrette, pear liqueur and fennel seeds that he created for the catering menu. Monast is currently working to plan the new Blue Room menu. Lately he has been busy planning Thursday’s special visiting chef dinner at the Ratty. When he first worked at the Ratty, lunch was “a single entree item with a vegetable, a starch and a vegetarian option,” he said. “It was a totally different menu.” An example of culinary change during Monast’s tenure is the process of making chicken fingers. Currently, Dining Services buys the chicken fingers pre-breaded, but back in the day, workers breaded them by hand. It was a job that took five workers five hours, Monast said. These chicken fingers — popular

enough that the Ratty goes through 800 pounds of them in one meal — are one of very few pre-prepared Ratty menu items, according to Monast. Dining Services grinds its own hamburgers, bakes its own brownies and even makes its own buffalo wing sauce. That is something many students don’t understand, Monast said. Ratty workers prepare 5,000 to 6,000 meals from scratch each day. He dislikes it when students complain about the food and asks them to be specific in their critiques. Students could ask, “Is the chicken too dry?” he said, instead of voicing their general unhappiness. But while complaints are inevitable, student reactions to Dining Services cover the entire spectrum, according to Monast. During a recent trip to Montreal, he ran into an alum wearing a Brown T-shirt. Monast told the alum that he worked for BDS, he said. “The Ratty rocks,” the alum said, before he and his friends broke into chanting: “Ratty! Ratty!”

Costuming chic Located on the Main Green, hidden amid familiar academic buildings is a world of bobbins, sequined fabric and tape measures. It is the Brown costume shop, found in Stuart Theater. This is Costume Coordinator Fran Romasco’s world. The shop is where she, alongside other staff and student costumers, creates varied costumes — from period vests to flouncy skirts — for Brown’s mainstage productions. Romasco is a draper and cutter, which means she constructs costumes rather than designs them. “It’s like the architect comes with the design, and the head carpenter builds it,” she said. “I’m the carpenter.” To create a costume, she will either come up with a completely original dress pattern, or modify an existing pattern. To put together the actual costume, she sometimes drapes fabric on a mannequin and often makes several sample pieces before arriving at the finished product.

Talia Kagan / Herald

Costume Coordinator Fran Romasco works on a romper pattern for the Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies’ Festival of Dance.

coincidence, according to Romasco. Dance show styles are often influenced by current trends, she said. “If it’s a fashionable look, it finds its way into dance.” Brown’s isn’t Romasco’s first costume shop, but what she didn’t expect to find was the level of student involvement in the shop. Six students

are employed by the University to work in the shop, and there are more who volunteer. The students are often encouraged to take a role in designing, she said. “There’s a lot of teaching involved, even though it’s not a teaching position,” she said. “And I find that very satisfying.”

Metro The Brown Daily Herald

Arts festival kicks off in Pawtucket By Anita Badejo Contributing Writer

The second annual Southeast New England Film, Music and Arts Festival kicked off last night in Pawtucket and will continue until Sunday. The festival is organized by the Southeast New England Film, Music and Arts organization, a Providence-based nonprofit and stemmed from the desire to provide Southeast New England residents with an experience not available to them before, according to Philip Capobres, the festival’s ar tistic director and co-founder. Caprobres said there had been individual festivals in the area focused on art, music or film, but not one that “really combined all three.” The festival’s ultimate goal is to “get people into different things” that they may not have other wise had an interest in, he said. One way the festival attempts to promote this goal is by featuring all three mediums of expression in the same events. For instance, Wednesday’s opening night was held at PeaceLove Studios, an art galler y in Pawtucket, but also featured live music and showings of experimental films. To select artists, musicians and filmmakers to feature in the festival, Capobres said, organizers looked for a “wide variety” without focusing on any particular criteria or genres, but rather judging candidates and submissions on their own merits. Film submissions were received from 40 countries around the world, and more than 70 international filmmakers are scheduled to attend festival events. Although music and art features are more locally focused because of the logistics involved in their organization, United Kingdombased artist Michelle Gates will display her expressionist paint-

ings at the festival. “This is my first opportunity to exhibit overseas, and what better way to start than a multi-faceted event,” she wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. For Connecticut-based ar tist Joe Niderno, the festival is a brand-new oppor tunity that allows him to show work that he only began producing a year ago. According to his Web site, Niderno is involved with a number of art forms, including painting, digital art, graphic design, art on skin and conceptual art. But his four pieces featured in the festival are oil, acr ylic and digital paintings, he wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. On being featured with musicians and filmmakers as an artist, Niderno wrote, “Great music and movies can create an atmosphere that I find to be inspiring. The proper atmosphere can help artwork achieve another level.” “I am a great believer (that) diversity is the key to enrichment, through film, music or art,” wrote Gates, echoing Niderno’s sentiments. “In saying this, they are all inter woven by a common thread, emotional expression. They complement and contradict each other, but always inspire us and challenge the way we think.” “By having more to offer, (the festival) will attract more of a crowd,” Niderno added. And attract it does. According to Capobres, around 2,000 people attended the festival’s various events in its opening year last spring. This year, festival organizers are expecting a 50 percent increase in attendance, he said. While most attendees hail from the Providence area, organizers have expanded festival promotion to dif ferent areas such as Boston. Many of the films to be featured Sunday were created by continued on page 7

“We are quite excited to be part of the knowledge district.” — Dayle Joseth, dean of the URI College of Nursing Thursday, April 8, 2010 | Page 6

New nursing school in the mix By Leonardo Moauro Staff Writer

Rhode Island College and the University of Rhode Island have announced plans for a new $60 million shared nursing school facility in the Jewelry District downtown, near the future site of Brown’s Medical Education Building. The two nursing schools would remain separate, but would share the same building, said Dayle Joseth, dean of the college of nursing at URI. RIC and URI had planned to build separate nursing schools on their campuses before the Rhode Island Office of Higher Education proposed that the institutions combine their individual designs “to save $20 million of taxpayer money,” said Ray Di Pasquale, higher education commissioner and the president of the Community College of Rhode Island. Both institutions are in “dire need of upgraded facilities,” and the shared building would allow 50 additional students to attend each of the two nursing programs, he added. The 120,000-square-foot edifice would be much larger than the buildings both of the universities had initially envisioned, Joseth said. “It’s three times the size of what we would’ve had on this campus,” she added. “We could share classroom space, have our classes on different days at different times,” she said, but “I don’t think we’re going to share a curriculum. Both schools have a very different mission statement,” she said, noting that URI’s mission statement places weight on research and practice. A nursing school in the Jewelry District would also place RIC and URI students in close contact with local hospitals and the Brown medical community. Such proximity would add a cooperative dimension to the students’ education that has so far been lacking, said Joseth. Universities “tend to work in silos of our own discipline, but there are really a lot of things we can begin to work together on,” she added. “We are quite excited to be part of the knowledge district,” Joseth said, highlighting the proximity to hospitals, other educational facilities and

Kim Perley / Herald file photo

RIC and URI have announced plans for a new shared facility in the Jewelry District, near the site of Brown’s future Medical Education building.

the downtown area. Though most of the faculty at the two institutions are eager to participate in the joint endeavor, “there are some people that aren’t as enthusiastic about it,” Joseth said. The venture received a thumbs-up from Mayor David Cicilline ’83 and widespread support from “important” health care providers such as Care New England and Lifespan, said Di Pasquale. The new facility would be a concrete response to the shortage of nurses in the state, Joseth said. Every prediction claims that there will be a dire need for more nurses in the future, she added, “when we look at 2020 it’s frightening, because nurses are aging fast.” Brown’s Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences Edward Wing shared Joseth’s enthusiasm for the prospect of collaboration. “Nursing and medical education are coming closer and closer together,” he said, stating that in a hospital setting “the group takes better care of the patient than one person can.” In this regard, Brown’s Med School will “be able to have joint courses and sessions with the nurses” in order to foster the “team concept,” he added. Wing also said that the hospitals in the area would benefit greatly from a deep relationship with the nursing and pharmaceutical research that URI provides. Collaboration between the various institutions would allow them to apply for additional grants, Di Pasquale

said. “This would be a great thing for public universities and the nursing programs,” he added, and “we’re hopeful that Brown would see it in that way as well.” The Jewelry District Association, established in 1993, claims the nursing school would increase the hustle and bustle of the emerging neighborhood. “I think the school would be very helpful in generating people on the street and night-time activities as well,” said Arthur Salisbury, vice president of the association. “It will bring in a bunch of people from outside to get to know the district and eat at its restaurants,” he added. The association has not had any contact with either of the universities so far, and only became aware of the nursing school project “when it was in the paper two or three weeks ago,” Salisbury said. Though the universities’ plans will likely “complement” the association’s efforts breathe new life into the Jewelry District, Salisbury also said “one of the major issues we’d have is about the location and design of the building.” Before construction can get the go-ahead, the plan must pass through both the State House of Representatives and the Senate, Di Pasquale said. If approved, the proposal would then move to a public vote on Nov. 10, he said. Either way, “the building probably wouldn’t break ground until 2012, which still allows for a lot of planning between the two institutions,” Di Pasquale said.

Page 7

M etro

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Thursday, April 8, 2010

“(The new bridge) shouldn’t be monumental, it should be accommodating.” — William Warner, bridge architect

Plans for new pedestrian bridge approach completion By Caitlin Trujillo Senior Staff Writer

Construction on a $2 million pedestrian bridge over the Providence River is slated to begin by October 2011, said Providence Parks Department Superintendent Robert McMahon ’68. Construction of the bridge — a collaboration between the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, the Providence Parks Department and William D. Warner Architects and Planners — represents one of the final stages of the Iway project, the relocation of I-195 and I-95. The bridge will be built over the

supports left behind once the old I-95 roadbed is removed, McMahon said. The construction is expected to take six to nine months to complete, he said. A Rhode Island School of Design student suggested reusing the support structures left over from the highway, said Lambri Zerva, the Department of Transportation’s design project manager for the Iway project. The idea started to look more feasible to planners when they realized the unnecessary cost of removing the existing granite supports, Zerva said. Construction is estimated to cost

Film, art and dance festival in Providence continued from page 6 filmmakers from other par ts of Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Many festival events and screenings will take place at the Cable Car Cinema, including some free screenings of international documentaries and award-winning

short films on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Feature films will cost $5 for students and $8 for the general public, the cost of admission to the majority of festival events. Other events will take place at the Hampton Inn and Suites in downtown Providence and the Slater Mill Theater, YMCA and PeaceLove Studios in Pawtucket.

$2 million, and removing the piers would have cost an additional $2 million, he said. The state will also save money by not needing to build a foundation, he said. The narrow strip of park on the eastern side of the river will be expanded south to Point Street, and a park on the western bank will be created as well. The parks will go through a more extensive design process once construction on the bridge has progressed further, Zerva said. The bridge is still in the design phase, said William Warner, president of the architectural firm. Warner’s firm is reviewing designs and

making recommendations to the Providence River Pedestrian Bridge Committee. Warner said they are trying to take into account sustainability and comfort for pedestrians in the bridge’s design. It is also important for the bridge to complement other Providence bridges without copying them, he said. “It shouldn’t be monumental, it should be accommodating,” he said, adding that the bridge also needs to

allow boats to go underneath and be a graceful link between the two parks on the opposite sides of the river. McMahon said it was important that the bridge provide another way to cross the river and connect park spaces in the city. But he added it was important for the bridge to become more than just another route — it could also become a new central gathering point for citizens, such as for farmers’ markets, he said.

SportsThursday The Brown Daily Herald

Athlete of the week scores big By Seth Motel Senior Editor

It has been a busy several days for women’s lacrosse attacker Kaela McGilloway ’12. After a disappointing two-goal loss to No. 9 Dartmouth (8-1, 3-0 Ivy League) on Saturday, the Sea Cliff, N.Y., native led the Bears (5-4, 1-3) to a 19-4 muzzling of the Bryant Bulldogs (2-10) on Tuesday night. Her three goals and four assists gave her a career-high in points in a game. The overall team leader in points, with 27, also had the most goals and points in last week’s wins against Harvard (4-6, 1-3) and St. Mary’s of California (3-7). McGilloway’s recent 13-goal, five-assist tear has helped Brown win three of its last four games. On top of that, she just managed to fill out her forms to declare herself a human biology concentrator. For the sophomore’s outstanding production, not to mention getting her concentration forms filled out two weeks early, The Herald is naming her Athlete of the Week. Herald: Congratulations on beating Br yant this week, 19-4, to take home the Ocean State cup. Did your team get a physical cup? McGilloway: We did. It was a pretty big cup, actually. It was a big deal for Rhode Island. It was the first ever one, so everyone was excited. So where is the cup right now? I’m not sure. I think maybe in our coach’s office, but I’m not positive. Do you have any big plans for it? Are you going to fill it with milk and have cereal in it? I don’t know. The seniors are trying to get possession of it, but we’ll see.

You are one of four girls in the family. What was that like at home when you were a kid? What are the age differences? The age differences are 33, 31, 22, and I’m 20. … I grew up with a lot of role models, I guess you could say. They were always around, and as a result, that’s how I was introduced to lacrosse early on because they were playing it and I was always at their games. It’s really fun having older sisters, almost like two generations of families, ’cause you learn a lot. Did they all play lacrosse? They all played lacrosse in high school. … Two of my sisters did club in college, but I’m the only one who did it competitively. As the baby of the family, did they taunt you a lot? Did they put you through the ropes? Just my sister who is 22. She put me through a lot in high school. We would fight on the field. I think she drove me to be better, but at the same time she took a number on my confidence, probably, when I was growing up. It wasn’t until she graduated and went to college when I really blossomed. Fighting on the field, during practice or during games? During everything. We were really competitive. On Christmas, we watched a clip of our county game, and you just see her coming up behind me and decking me into the ground because I guess I annoyed her earlier on. In high school, you were a star in both field hockey and lacrosse. How did you decide what to pursue in college? I guess there are more opportunities through lacrosse. Coming from Long Island, it’s more of a hotbed for lacrosse, so you get more options. I like them equally — it was just a

matter of I wanted to come to Brown and lacrosse was here for me, so it seemed like the right fit. There’s no hitting allowed in U.S. women’s lacrosse, right? No hitting, just checking — controlled checking. What does controlled checking mean? You have to release quickly from it. It can’t be towards the face. I don’t play defense, so I don’t check as often. … Obviously, it’s not as intense as men’s lacrosse. Do you wish it were? I feel like I’m a baby when it comes to checking. When someone hits me in practice, I don’t take it well. So no, I kind of like our rules. Do you think the name “attacker” sounds too vicious? Not vicious enough? I think it’s a good description of what we do. We’re always attacking the play. That’s what the coaches say, so I think it fits for us. We’re not trying to attack people, but you never know. Are there any games left that you have marked on your calendar? Our biggest game coming up is against No. 6 Penn (9-2, 4-0), and they’re the top Ivy school, so we’re really looking forward to that. Beating them would be absolutely amazing and I think we really can this year. Going back the last 30 years, Brown has never won the Ivy Championship. What’s the deal with that? When are we going to win one — soon? Soon. This year is the first Ivy League Tournament for women’s and men’s, actually, so we can get to that if we win our next few games. And then, if we win that, we get to go to NCAA, which I think would be the first time in Brown history. We’re just trying to make history one game at a time. Hopefully, by the end of the year we can say that we have our first Ivy Championship. Do you have any intention on keeping up with the sport when you graduate? Probably not. There are not many options after college to play lacrosse. I would love to play for fun afterwards.

Thursday, April 8, 2010 | Page 8

Jonathan Bateman / Herald

Lacrosse attacker Kaela McGilloway ’12 scored career high points and dreams of beating Northwestern.

What’s something that a normal Brown student doesn’t know about a lacrosse game? I don’t think they think that women’s games would be as exciting as men’s games. I think women’s games are more exciting for the beauty of our plays instead of just hitting and stuff. Is it more of a team game than men’s? Not necessarily. … For women’s, when you play with your whole team and everybody gets a touch of the ball, it’s definitely more rewarding. UConn (women’s basketball) won its 78th straight game (Tuesday). What do you think about that kind of dominance? Is that good or bad for a sport? More power to them. They’re a great program. Obviously, you want some underdog to come up and beat them, but I mean, if they’re that prepared and that good, I would say

keep going. That’s great. There are powerhouses in lacrosse, too, like (No. 1) Northwestern, and I think it really elevates the game. Why is Northwestern (9-0) so good in women’s lacrosse, women’s golf, women’s tennis? I don’t know what they’re feeding them over there. They’re incredible. They’re just all athletes and they have a great sense of the game. I think they just finish their game plans and do the little things right. To be honest, I think if everyone just perfected the little things, they could beat them. But I guess everyone’s still trying to do that. One of these days? I would love to play Northwestern (in the) next few weeks. I think we could hold our own against them. And they haven’t even won 78 in a row. They’re not invincible. Exactly. So you never know.

Page 9

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

S ports T hursday

W. tennis

Women’s tennis drops three matches, wins one By Han Cui Assistant Sports Editor

The No. 62 women’s tennis team had a tough spring break schedule, facing three higher ranked teams — No. 13 Miami, No. 41 Florida International and No. 28 Princeton, last year’s Ivy League champion. In the end, the Bears could not pull any upsets, though they came close against Florida International. They lost their competitions to Miami, Florida International and Princeton, 7-0, 4-3 and 5-2, respectively and dominated Penn, 7-0. No. 13 Miami 7, Brown 0 The Bears traveled to Florida to start their spring break against Miami. The Hurricanes dominated the Bears in every category in straight sets. “We played well in doubles,” said Head Coach Paul Wardlaw P’13. “The transition to outdoor courts was definitely a factor too. Miami was too strong of an opponent.” No. 41 Florida International 4, Brown 3 The team tried to regroup the next day against Florida International. Because the two teams split the singles matches, doubles proved to be the deciding point. After the first doubles tandem dropped their match, 8-5, to their No. 53-ranked opponents, the second doubles team of Julie Flanzer ’12 and Misia Krasowski ’13 put the Bears back in the game, winning 8-4. But the Panthers came through in the final doubles match and defeated the Brown pair, 8-3, to win the decisive doubles point. “We played well enough to win the matchup,” Wardlaw said. “That was one of my more disappointing losses because we kind of let it slip away.”

Brown 7, Penn 0 After the tough loss to the Golden Panthers, the Bears returned home to prepare for the Ivy League opener against Penn. Against the struggling Quakers, who were 4-9 in the season heading into the April 2 matchup, the Bears did not let up and took every opportunity to score. After taking all three doubles matches, the women went on to win all six single matches. Catherine Stewart ’12 closed out the No. 5 singles match and the final match of the day, 10-3, in the third set. “We were confident going in against Penn,” Wardlaw said. No. 28 Princeton 5, Brown 2 The Princeton Tigers came to Brown last Saturday on a five-game winning streak, having just defeated Penn and Yale, 7-0 and 6-1, respectively. They extended their winning streak to six after winning all three doubles matches and four of the six singles matches against the Bears. Bianca Aboubakare ’11 and Marisa Schonfeld ’11 earned the two team points for the Bears after they won the No. 2 and No. 6 singles matches. Flanzer came close in the No. 4 singles match, splitting the first two sets, but eventually lost the final set, 10-3. “It was a winnable game,” Wardlaw said. “We got off to a slow start on doubles, but we had some good wins in singles.” With a 1-1 record in Ivy League play, the Bears will travel to New York this weekend to face off against Columbia on Friday and Cornell on Saturday. “Both teams will be tough,” Wardlaw said. “Cornell is the stronger opponent. We will have our hands full since teams always perform better with home advantage.”

Thursday, April 8, 2010

“The transition to outdoor courts was definitely a factor.” — Paul Wardlaw, women’s tennis head coach

Donahue leaves Cornell hoops By Andrew Braca Assistant Spor ts Editor

Steve Donahue, who led the Cornell men’s basketball team to three consecutive Ivy League titles and a trip to the 2010 NCAA Sweet 16, accepted the head coaching position at Boston College, the schools announced in separate press releases on Wednesday. Donahue’s 10 seasons were among the most successful in Big Red history. Taking over a team with just two winning seasons in the 12 years prior to his arrival, he posted a 146-138 record to place third on the school’s career wins list. His 78 Ivy League victories rank 10th all-time in conference history and top all Cornell coaches. He is one of only eight coaches to win three Ivy League titles. The 2007-08 and 2009-10 NABC District Coach of the Year and the 2010 Clair Bee National Coach of the Year, Donahue will move up to the Atlantic Coast Conference to replace Al Skinner at BC. In 13 seasons at the helm, Skinner led the Eagles to a 247-165 record, seven NCAA Tournament berths and one NIT appearance. Cornell will begin a national search for Donahue’s replacement immediately, according to a Cornell Sports Information

press release. The new coach will face a major rebuilding process, as the Big Red will graduate nine seniors this May, including four starters. Harvard Head Coach Tommy Amaker in midst of contract extension negotiation Another highly regarded men’s basketball coach will not be leaving the Ivy League: Tommy Amaker, who led Har vard to a school-record 21 wins this season, is working with the school on a multi-year extension, according to a statement released by Harvard Sports Information. Amaker led the Crimson to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament, its first postseason berth since 1946, and was named a finalist for the Ben Jobe Award, presented annually to the top minority coach in Division I college basketball. In other Ancient Eight coaching news, Colleen Quinn Fink was named Penn’s head field hockey coach, and Cornell’s Rob Koll was named InterMat Wrestling’s Head Coach of the Year for leading the Big Red to a second-place finish at the 2010 NCAA tournament. Danis ’04 named Brown’s lone representative on ECAC All-Decade team

Yann Danis ’04 was named the goaltender of the ECAC Hockey men’s All-Decade team last month. Danis earned first team All-American honors after a 2003-04 season in which he set ECAC records for single-season save percentage (.948) and career shutouts (13), and tied Kevin McCabe ’77 for the most career wins by a Brown goaltender, with 43. Princeton, Gillette stadium have big events in future Following Princeton’s 9-7 victor y over Brown on Saturday at the New England Lacrosse Classic in Gillette Stadium, both the Tigers and the stadium are headed for special events. No. 4 Princeton will travel to East Rutherford, N.J., on Saturday to play in the Konica Minolta Big City Classic, the first event that will be played in the new Meadowlands Stadium, the future home of the New York Giants and Jets. The Tigers will take on No. 3 Syracuse, after games pitting Delaware against Hofstra and No. 1 Virginia against No. 2 North Carolina. Gillette will host the 2011 NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Quarterfinals and the 2012 NCAA Division I, II and III Championships. Har vard will ser ve as the host school for both events.

Editorial & Letters The Brown Daily Herald

Page 10 | Thursday, April 8, 2010

ale x yuly

e d i to r i a l

STEM and roots

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

Deputy Managing Editors Sophia Li Emmy Liss

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

Arts & Culture Editor Arts & Culture Editor Features Editor Features Editor Metro Editor Metro Editor News Editor News Editor Sports Editor Asst. Sports Editor Asst. Sports Editor Asst. Sports Editor

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

Senior Editors Ellen Cushing Seth Motel Joanna Wohlmuth

Business General Managers Office Manager Shawn Reilly Claire Kiely Katie Koh Directors Sales Kelly Wess Finance Matthew Burrows Client Relations Margaret Watson Alumni Relations Christiana Stephenson Managers Local Sales Arjun Vaidya National Sales Marco deLeon University Sales Aditi Bhatia University Sales Jared Davis Recruiter Sales Trenten Nelson-Rivers Maximilian Barrows Business Operations Business Analytics Jilyn Chao Credit and Collections Danielle Marshak Special Projects Alexander Carrere Staff Kathy Bui Opinions Michael Fitzpatrick Alyssa Ratledge

Opinions Editor Opinions Editor

Editorial Page Board Matt Aks Editorial Page Editor William Martin Board member Melissa Shube Board member Gaurie Tilak Board member Jonathan Topaz Board member

Marlee Bruning, Gili Kliger, Designers Nicole Boucher, Victoria Hartman, Sara Luxenberg, Copy Editors Brigitta Greene, Hannah Moser, Talia Kagan, Brian Mastroianni, Caitlin Trujillo, Night Editors Senior Staff Writers Ana Alvarez, Ashley Aydin, Alexander Bell, Nicole Boucher, Alicia Chen, Kristina Fazzalaro, Sarah Forman, Talia Kagan, Sara Luxenberg, Sarah Mancone, Heeyoung Min, Claire Peracchio, Goda Thangada, Caitlin Trujillo Staff Writers Anna Andreeva, Shara Azad, Rebecca Ballhaus, Fei Cai, Miriam Furst, Max Godnick, Anish Gonchigar, Thomas Jarus, Sarah Julian, Julia Kim, Anita Mathews, Lindor Qunaj, Mark Raymond, Luisa Robledo, Emily Rosen, Bradley Silverman, Anne Simons, Qian Yin Senior Sales Executives Katie Galvin, Liana Nisimova, Isha Gulati, Samantha Wong Sales Associates Roshni Assomull, Anthony Calcagni, Brady Caspar, Anna Cook, Siena deLisser, Begum Ersan, Tommy Fink, Ryan Fleming, Evan Gill, Rajiv Iyengar, Debbie Lai, Jason Lee, Katie Lynch, Sean Maroongroge, Zahra Merchant, Edjola Ruci, Webber Xu Senior Finance Associates Jason Beckman, Lauren Bosso, Mae Cadao, Margot Grinberg, Sajjad Hasan, Adam Fern Finance Associates Lisa Berlin, Mahima Chawla, Mark Hu, Jason Lee, Nicholas Robbins, Daniel Slutsky, Emily Zheng Design Staff Caleigh Forbes, Jessica Kirschner, Gili Kliger, Leor Shtull-Leber, Katie Wilson Web Staff Andrew Chen, Warren Jin, Claire Kwong, Michael Marttila, Ethan Richman, Adam Zethraeus Photo Staff Qidong Chen, Janine Cheng, Alex DePaoli, Frederic Lu, Quinn Savit Copy Editors Nicole Boucher, Zoe Chaves, Greg Conyers, Sarah Forman, Claire Gianotti, Aida Haile-Mariam, Victoria Hartman, Tiffany Hsu, Christine Joyce, Mrinal Kapoor, Abby Kerson, Matthew Lim, Sara Luxenberg, Alexandra McFarlane, Joe Milner, Rajan Mittal, Lindor Qunaj, Kate-Lyn Scott, Carmen Shulman, Rebecca Specking, Dan Towne, Carolina Veltri

Anyone who follows national politics closely probably doubts that Congress will achieve bipartisan consensus on a major issue this year. Nonetheless, there has been some discussion that Congress may soon turn its attention to the nation’s immigration system. If it does, there is at least one reform that’s highly relevant to students and universities and is worthy of broad-based support. In a March 19 op-ed in the Washington Post, Senators Lindsay Graham, R-S.C. and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. presented an outline of immigration reform legislation. Their proposals include offering permanent resident status to any foreign student who completes a PhD or master’s degree in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM). “It makes no sense to educate the world’s future inventors and entrepreneurs and then force them to leave when they are able to contribute to our economy,” Schumer and Graham argue. We strongly agree. Under current law, if foreign-born STEM graduate students want to work in the United States after receiving their degree, they must find a sponsoring employer and apply for an H1-B visa. Unfortunately, the number of available H1-B visas is capped. Many heads of major technology companies — including Microsoft founder Bill Gates — have argued for relaxing limitations and making it easier for these students to stay, according to The Hill’s Hillicon Valley blog. Opponents of immigration reform are likely to claim that any proposed legislation will result in Americans losing jobs to immigrants. But that criticism doesn’t necessarily apply to this particular provision. Indeed, because of their training, STEM graduate students have a unique capacity for innovation and entrepreneurship that can benefit the American economy and create jobs. In

2002, the Public Policy Institute of California collected information on first-generation immigrants in Silicon Valley and found that 52 percent of those sur veyed had been involved with founding or running a start-up company. Despite this logic, some members of Congress might still worr y that critics on the right could characterize the change as harmful to American workers. But last year Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. — one of the most conser vative members of the House of Representatives — introduced legislation that would exempt STEM graduate degree recipients from visa quotas. Flake nonetheless received a perfect 100 rating from the American Conser vative Union. Moreover, he hails from a border state where residents are extremely passionate about immigration issues. If Rep. Flake supports easing restrictions on STEM graduate students, then the idea should at least be palatable to most of the American political spectrum. The real worr y is not that STEM graduate students might take jobs from natural born citizens here in the United States, but that technology companies might move their research and development operations overseas. A March 17 New York Times article highlighted this emerging trend, citing companies that are building labs in Xi’an, China. Xi’an “has 47 universities and other institutions of higher learning, churning out engineers with master’s degrees who can be hired for $730 a month.” It’s clear that America has to do more to remain competitive in the global economy, and the scientists and innovators educated here must be enticed to stay.

Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.

C O R R E C T I O N S P olicy The Brown Daily Herald is committed to providing the Brown University community with the most accurate information possible. Corrections may be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication. C ommentary P O L I C Y The editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial page board of The Brown Daily Herald. The editorial viewpoint does not necessarily reflect the views of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Columns, letters and comics reflect the opinions of their authors only. L etters to the E ditor P olicy Send letters to letters@browndailyherald.com. Include a telephone number with all letters. The Herald reserves the right to edit all letters for length and clarity and cannot assure the publication of any letter. Please limit letters to 250 words. Under special circumstances writers may request anonymity, but no letter will be printed if the author’s identity is unknown to the editors. Announcements of events will not be printed. advertising P olicy The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. reserves the right to accept or decline any advertisement at its discretion.

Opinions The Brown Daily Herald

Thursday, April 8, 2010 | Page 11

Of scandals, religion and forbidden sex DOMINIC MHIRIPIRI Opinions Columnist It is somewhat very reluctantly that I find myself penning an article related to religion. Not that I consider it to be an unimportant issue unfit for community-level conversation at Brown, or that I lack interest in the tried, tested and yet still unexhausted “theories” and “proofs” that are replete in many a religious discourse in the college setting. I have followed quite a number of these discussions and in fact, I do struggle with difficult questions and experiences of my own as a result of having particular religious beliefs in a culture different from mine. Rather, I’m reluctant because newspaper commentary by itself is not a sufficient tool to address religious issues and bring the oftenneeded tolerance and understanding to very diverse communities like Brown. People, out of ignorance or sheer apathy, are often reluctant to engage discussion of religion and approach tolerance and compromise (the inflammatory graffiti left by a stranger on the door of my Keeney dorm room in response to a Christian sticker plausibly backs this assertion). The ongoing worldwide controversy surrounding the Roman Catholic Church and the reaction it has provoked, however, leave me with no choice but to make a clarification that the papacy is independent and not representative of the entire Christian religion. Its failures, like its successes, should be treated in view of that distinction.

A strong wave of Catholic sex scandals has swept across Europe and the United States, drawing much controversy within both religious and non-religious circles worldwide. The scandal has assumed such enormous proportions that it clouded the worldwide Easter holiday mood and threatened the legacy of one of the most powerful and influential men in the world — Joseph Alois Ratzinger, otherwise known as Pope Benedict XVI. I should address in passing the underpinning issue behind the controversy, namely the alleged cover-up of hundreds of sexual abuse

recently to hear people talking about losing respect for “the Christian faith” in the wake of recent problems engulfing the “Holy” See. The Catholic Church is indeed the biggest religious body in the world; its history and heritage are equally enormous, spanning centuries, civilizations and empires since the first century. Its pontiffs have shaped history and commanded the adoration and reverence of both ordinary men and the most powerful leaders on the planet. Ratzinger’s more charismatic predecessor, the famous John Paul II, stands in recent memory as a towering,

In spite of such commanding size and influence, the Catholic Church is neither the flag bearer for the Christian faith, nor the complete definition thereof. cases over many years and the pontiff’s shockingly indifferent stance in the scandal’s aftermath. Sexual assault is no laughing matter. A global clerical sexual abuse epidemic is completely unconscionable, and both Ratzinger (as the figurehead of such an extremely powerful organization) and the entire bureaucracy below him should be held accountable. However, within the ensuing anger and criticism directed at the Catholic establishment (and quite justifiably so), we should draw an important line between the Catholic Church and other Christian groups. Catholicism is easily approximated to the entire Christian religion; in fact, it has not been uncommon

modern epitome of the authority and universal influence that is the Pope of Rome. Yet in spite of such commanding size and influence, the Catholic Church is neither the flag bearer for the Christian faith, nor the complete definition thereof. Understanding this distinction should be the first step towards attaining religious tolerance within diversity. Catholicism is rooted in human tradition that has perpetuated over the centuries. Perhaps the most fundamental difference between it and other Christian groups lies in the tradition of the “infallible,” global authority of a deified human figure — the pope. While

common logic would dictate that churches based on Christian teachings should follow the Bible — the true authority of the religion — Catholicism establishes itself as an authority above the Bible, with the pope as its “unfailing” leader. The “Holy Father” is regarded as an equivalent of God on earth, as a representative or “vicar of Christ” — assertions for which there is absolutely no Biblical basis. In fact, what makes Ratzinger’s current scandals ridiculously logic-defying, yet somewhat very amusing, is his erstwhile portrayal as infallible and the inevitable consequential effect it had on revering faithful worldwide when the veneer of godliness encountered a rough brush with “sinful” reality. The Catholic Church also stands apart from Christian groups as a religiopolitical organization. The sovereignty of the Vatican state, and the pope’s assured place as a fixture of influence and an international diplomatic entity are consequences of the implicit statehood of the Vatican. No Protestant group is recognized as a political entity, nor do they have geopolitical influence on the same magnitude as the Catholic Church. Christianity is very diverse and complex, and while Catholicism reigns supreme within it, many other Christian groups exist outside of it. Before we at Brown or those beyond assign blame or praise while discussing religious affairs, we should probably build an appreciation of such important distinctions first.

Dominic Mhiripiri ’12 is an applied math-economics concentrator from Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe. He can be reached at dominic_mhiripiri@ brown.edu

Something to think about Adrienne Langlois Opinions Columnist Time to get meta. What’s the opinions page for, anyway? To summarize the words of many recent critics, not much. On March 15, the Washington Post’s own blogger, Ezra Klein, criticized the policy of many newspapers (including the Post) of publishing commentaries from politicians and Washington insiders, noting that “with the rise of the Internet,” politicians “can put their opinions online.” Three days later, Andrew Sullivan of The Atlantic took Klein’s argument further, calling it “a case for abolishing op-ed pages altogether. Before, of course, they abolish themselves by irrelevance.” Faced with the charge of irrelevancy from Sullivan and others, columnists, editorial writers and cartoonists are responding. In March, Milt Priggee, a syndicated editorial cartoonist, drew a provocative cartoon about the healthcare debate which ran online on Daryl Cagle’s Political Cartoonists Index. The cartoon pictured an angry mob around a tree, marked as healthcare reform, with a noose dangling from its branch. Holding the other end of the rope, a man asks a member of the mob, “If this is Waterloo, then where is the (n-word)?” The cartoon, which Priggee did not submit for print publication, received many comments debating the use of the controversial term, as well as Priggee’s clear reference to racism in the healthcare debate. In response, Priggee wrote, “How can an editorial cartoon be too provocative when the very essence of an edito-

rial cartoon is to provoke…?” Indeed, provocation seems to be the name of the game among all commentators lately. On March 28, The Eagle, American University’s campus newspaper, ran a column by sophomore Alex Knepper that responded to recent allegations of homophobia and sexism regarding a candidate for student body who had posted an online message with a jokey statement about getting “booty.” In the column, Knepper called the complainants, many of whom were members of feminist and gay rights groups, “a sniveling

described the hostile treatment he received during his interviews, lamenting the “media storm” and sound bite culture that prevented him from expressing his opinions in full. When angry comments, protests and interviews become the normal responses to commentary, something is clearly wrong with the system that disseminates it. Both Priggee and Knepper seem to recognize this as they criticize different aspects of the media, but they also contribute to the hostile environment with their own antagonistic tactics. Clearly, fighting fire with fire isn’t working.

When commentators take that extra step beyond a controversial argument with a personal attack, vitriolic tone or controversial term, they cross the line from provocative to offensive. bunch of emotional cripples” and declared date rape to be “an incoherent concept.” The column ended with the allegation that “feminists don’t understand history, psychology, biology or sexuality.” In response, Women’s Initiative, a campus feminist group, collected the hard copies of the newspaper and dumped them at the newspaper’s office. A forum was organized to discuss the “Knepper question” as angry comments piled up on the column’s online version. The incident quickly made its way into the national media due to its volatility. Knepper was invited onto several television shows to explain his views. In columns for the Frum Forum and Newsbusters, Knepper grimly

So should commentators stop being provocative? Not at all. I actually agree with Priggee’s charge: The goal of all commentary should indeed be to provoke. Where we differ, however, is in my definition of the word “provoke.” Far too many commentators — from cartoonists to columnists to pundits of all ages and backgrounds — have confused the need to provoke with a need to offend. When commentators take that extra step beyond a controversial argument with a personal attack, vitriolic tone or controversial term, they cross the line from provocative to offensive. Crossing this line alienates many people whose opinions are relevant to the debates in which commentators seek to foster

dialogue. That’s not to say that making an offensive argument doesn’t leave any room for productive dialogue; in the aftermath of the media attention to both situations, both Knepper and Priggee have indeed sparked many less volatile conversations. But in their initial onslaughts, they sacrificed the potential to make a truly powerful argument. Such an argument provokes without making personal attacks, without resorting to gross generalizations or hyperbole. It pushes, pulls and stretches the opinions of its readers, but never shoves. It makes its proponents nod instead of wince, and its opponents pause rather than immediately fire back. Most significantly, it is convincing, and it is precisely this quality which makes it far more subversive than a so-called “provocative” piece. An argument that simply offends misses out on the opportunity to do what all commentators hope to do — to change the way people think. Yes, getting people with opposing opinions to respond to one another is an important step of the journey, but it’s not the first step. The first goal of commentators should not be to make people talk, but think. Returning to these goals will make all pieces, online and offline, more relevant and more useful. If we as commentators dedicate ourselves to making arguments that are more provocative in their ideas than in tone, we can save ourselves from irrelevance and give our readers — and ourselves — something much more valuable to think about.

Adrienne Langlois ’10 knows some people may think she’s a boring old fart, but quite frankly, doesn’t care.

Today The Brown Daily Herald

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Library guard, now hip-hop celebrity

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c a l e n da r tomorrow, April 9

6:30 p.m. — The Creative Impulse: How the Hell Do I Write This Song?, Grant Recital Hall

12:00 P.M. — What Can I Do With a Degree in English? A Brown Degree Days Event, Department of English Barker Room

7:00 p.m. — The Making of a Scientist: Documentary Film Tells All, Barus and Holley 166

Dot Comic| Eshan Mitra and Brendan Hainline

menu Verney-Woolley Dining Hall

Lunch — Chicken Cutlet Parmesan Sandwich, Falafel in Pita, Raspberry Turnovers

Lunch — Italian Sausage and Pepper Sandwich, Enchilada Bar, Swiss Fudge Cookies

Dinner — Dinner Special, Visiting Chef Series: Siena Restaurant

Dinner — Dinner Special, Visiting Chef Series: Siena Restaurant

Frutopia | Andy Kim

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5 comics

7:00 p.m. — Sak Pase?! We are Haiti, Salomon 101

Sharpe Refectory

68 / 51

58 / 41

Thursday, April 8, 2010

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Thursday, April 8

to m o r r o w

Pawtucket festival celebrates the arts

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

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to day

Island Republic | Kevin Grubb

Hippomaniac | Mat Becker

Classic Deo | Daniel Perez

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