Monday, August 30, 2010

Daily Herald the Brown

vol. cxlv, no. 60 | Monday, August 30, 2010 | Serving the community daily since 1891

Bookstore and Nike part ways

In welcome, Simmons calls for ‘honorable discourse’

By Brigitta Greene Metro Editor

It was with compassion, spirit and a challenge that President Ruth Simmons welcomed the class of 2014 Sunday afternoon.

With the temperature hovering around 90 degrees, students and parents opted for chairs in the shade. “I notice that from time to time some of you get up and find your way to the lemonade stand,” Simmons said to the crowd. “The next one who goes, bring one back for me, please.”

She encouraged members of the University’s “best class ever” to avoid over-committing their time — to find time to reflect. “Happily, the era of daydreaming is not over as of yet,” she said. “Find a comfortable chair. … Grow comfortable with uncommitted time.”

But she also directed the 1,503 members of the class of 2014 to contribute meaningfully to the com-

munity. “I ask that you expect and respect the fragility of the bonds of community life, and that you work with us to strengthen and restore these bonds when they are frayed,” she said.

Freedom of expression must be a part of this community, she said, and students must be prepared for and open to dissenting opinion.

She exhorted the incoming students to challenge what she deemed a modern “erosion of honorable discourse.”

“I suppose you watch, as I do, the discourse in our own country. And you must be frustrated, as I am from time to time, that we don’t seem able to reach across the aisle,” she said.

“This may be the best opportunity to enlarge what you know about the human spirit.”

Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron and Undergraduate Coun-

Stephanie London / Herald

continued on page 2

Many of the 1,503 first-year students visited Sayles Hall for the University Resource Fair as part of orientation activities this weekend.

By Alex Bell Senior Staf f Writer

that you will lose momentum,” said Provost David Ker tzer ’69 P’95 P’98, who ser ved on the search committee. But Kertzer said King’s previous success with the Sports Foundation — and his own status as an alum — places him in a strong position to attract potential donors to Brown’s various fundraising opportunities.

The University and Nike parted ways this summer — at least temporarily — after Nike was unwilling to agree to Brown’s standard agreement for its business partners.

The separation makes Brown the third university since April known to have pressured Nike to end what labor-rights activists have called worker abuse in Honduran manufacturing plants.

When it was time to renew the Brown Bookstore’s contract, the University “reiterated the Brown Licensee Code of Conduct with Nike,” Brown’s Assistant Vice President for Financial and Administrative Services Elizabeth Gentry wrote in a July 14 e-mail to the Student Labor Alliance.

“Nike decided they were not able to sign/renew their license to produce items bearing Brown’s name and logo under those conditions.” The code of conduct includes standards for environmental conduct and labor relations, among other things.

The licensing contract with Nike to supply the Brown Bookstore was cancelled effective July 1, Gentr y wrote, though the Bookstore planned to continue to sell off its remaining Nike inventory until depletion.

continued on page 4

continued on page 6

As campaign winds down, alum takes over advancement

By Sydney Ember News Editor

Steven King ’91, former executive director of the Brown University Sports Foundation, stepped into his new role as senior vice president for University advancement July 1.

King took over for Ronald Vanden Dorpel MA’71, culminating a months-long search that began last

September when Vanden Dorpel, who held the position since 2002, announced he would retire once a committee selected his replacement.

As senior vice president for University advancement, King will oversee Brown’s fundraising, development, alumni affairs and international advancement.

“For me, it’s a great opportunity to be back at Brown,” King said.

“It’s an opportunity to lead a team that can make a difference.”

The leadership change comes as the University’s ambitious Campaign for Academic Enrichment, which launched in 2002 and raised more than $1.5 billion under Vanden Dorpel’s direction, heads into its final phase before it is slated to end on December 31.

“When you come off a major campaign, there’s always concern

Brown women see ‘Windows’ of opportunity

By Ashley Aydin Senior Staff Writer

Photo courtesty of Microsoft

inside

Nine female Brown students, including every female senior computer science concentrator, enjoyed female-only events while interning at Microsoft including wine, cheese, manicures and pedicures.

News.....1–7 Sports.....8–9 Editorial....10 Opinion.....11 Today........12

www.browndailyherald.com

While some students were poring over Excel spreadsheets at their unpaid internships this summer, nine Brown undergraduates spent their summers developing code that makes programs like Excel work.

And defying the stereotype that computer science is a man’s world, all nine of the students are women.

The group, which included all seven female computer science concentrators in the class of 2011, spent the summer interning at Microsoft’s Redmond, Wash., headquarters.

Along with the rising seniors was one student from the class of 2012 and an engineering concentrator within the computer science department from the class of 2011.

Why Microsoft?

Alexandra Schultz ’11, a computer science and classics concentrator, chose her Microsoft internship over offers from Apple and Google.

“Microsoft definitely has the best (human resources) people. The process is really seamless. People were calling me to make sure everything was OK. Microsoft was super friendly,” she said.

FEATURE Schultz heard about the summer internship at the fall career fair and from the company’s recruitment efforts within the computer science department.

Fellow computer science concentrator Laura Parkinson ’11 said she also attended events on campus about Microsoft internships and knew people who were former interns there.

Arts, 5

Sports, 8

TheatrE Guide Everything the cultured Brunonian needs to know about the theatre scene.

in The news Find out what Brown athletes are making it big.

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

This was Parkinson’s second summer at Microsoft. She chose the program based on her positive experience from last year and for its proximity to her home.

“I knew that since I was there last summer, I had some say about what I would be working on this summer, and I knew the stuff I was working on was going to be cool,” she said.

Although Microsoft actively recruited from other schools as well, the company “has a really good relationship with some women in the (Brown) CS department,” said Amy Tarbox, who runs the Industrial Partners Program, which helps put students in touch with businesses for internship opportunities and fulltime employment.

Microsoft gravitates toward Brown students because of the Unicontinued on page 3

editor’s note This is The Herald’s orientation issue. We will resume daily publication on September 1.

Check browndailyherald.com and blogdailyherald.com for updates. herald@browndailyherald.com

Page 2

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

C ampus N EWS Frosh break ice, bond with ice cream and Ratty meal continued from page 1

cil of Students President Diane Mokoro ’11 also spoke, encouraging students to take advantage of every moment as an opportunity to learn and to approach the next four years with openness and a free spirit. “We chose you. Thank you for choosing us. And welcome to Brown University,” Mokoro said.

Bergeron drew connections to “The Dew Breaker,” a novel by Edwidge Danticat MFA’93. Freshmen read the novel — which chronicles Haitian expatriates living in New York in the late 20th century — over the summer, and will participate in small group discussions Monday.

The President’s welcome falls on the second of ten days of the official orientation period, which stretches through Labor Day on Sept. 6.

This year’s orientation schedule is similar to that of years past, with some changes to smaller events, said Associate Dean of Student Life Kisa Takesue ’88, who is orientation coordinator.

Events and activities are aimed at introducing new students to the

University and its community, she said, including elements of extracurricular activities, the educational philosophy of the Open Curriculum and student life on campus.

But orientation is important socially, as well, said Eleanor Smith ’11, an Orientation Welcoming Committee chair.

Parents were encouraged to leave their children following Simmons’ address yesterday afternoon.

There have been no major hitches so far, and the first night’s ice cream social went smoothly, Smith said.

Heidi Caldwell ’14 arrived last Tuesday to begin training for the cross countr y team. “It’s been nice to finally get into the dining hall,” she said. First-years ate in the Sharpe Refectory for the first time with their freshman units Sunday evening.

The first day’s orientation exceeded the expectations of at least one freshman. “Forced bonding never sounds that attractive,” said Maria Mastanduno ’14. “But so far, it’s been very good.”

Her father, Mark Mastanduno P’14, agreed.

sudoku

Daily Herald the Brown

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

Katie Koh, Treasurer Chaz Kelsh, Secretary

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.

Monday, August 30, 2010

“We chose you. Thank you for choosing us.”

— UCS President Diane Mokoro ’11

Brown’s libraries: There’s an app for that

By Qian Yin Staff Writer

Students no longer need to worry about going to the Sciences Library to find all the computers already taken — they can now use their smartphones to check the computer availability in any campus library before they go.

The University Library recently launched a mobile application that provides easy access to library services. Soon after, the Brown Alumni Association joined the iPhone world with a new application that keeps alums aware of news and events.

Books on the go The library’s application, MoBUL — short for Mobile Brown University Library — was released on May 21.

In addition to computer availability, the application’s features include catalog search, hours and contact information, according to Jean Rainwater, co-leader of integrated technology services at the University Library.

Users will probably find different features valuable, said Sarah Bordac, head of outreach and instructional design for the University Library’s integrated technology ser vices.

The location feature that connects to GPS on certain smartphones will be especially helpful for incoming students, who might find the campus disorienting, she said. For those who

are working on big research projects and have a lot of books checked out, the application gives users access to their Josiah accounts, enabling them to keep track of their records more easily, she said.

The mobile search feature connects users to mobile databases such as EBSCO or Google Books and allows authorized users to download journal articles, Rainwater said. “We don’t expect people to do serious research with this,” she said, “but when you are in a waiting room, it would be nice to just get started” with researching.

A new way to search books stands out among the features offered by MoBUL. Users can type in the first words of the book title and see the search in action as they type.

The application does not offer an “advanced search” feature, which is available on the library website, but it is not necessary for general searching purposes, Bordac said.

“The search is that good that you don’t miss it,” she said.

Bordac added that the search device offered by the application is meant to be a supplement to, not a replacement for, the website.

The discussion of developing a mobile application for the library started late in the fall 2009 semester, Rainwater said. As students spend more time on mobile devices such as iPhones, Androids and BlackBerrys,

the University Library wants “to be where students are,” she said.

In recent years, people have been using the library in new ways, Bordac said. For example, with the “Ask A Librarian” service available online, researchers no longer have to come to a library to ask questions. Increasingly, research can be done online, physically away from the library, she said. By offering more options through MoBUL, the library wants to “extend the service that we already have,” Bordac said.

The University Library chose to team up with a company named Boopsie, co-founded by Tim Kay ’83, which offered an attractive model with the “smart search” feature and a good price, Rainwater said. The company has plenty of experience developing mobile applications for conferences and public libraries, but this is its first project with a university library, she said.

The mobile application is one of the many projects aimed at improving research experience at the library, Rainwater said. Searching in Josiah requires adherence to rigid formats, and it does not provide information about digitized articles. The library is working on finding a way to simplify the search process, while keeping the existing infrastructure, she said.

Other recent efforts to make the continued on page 6

Monday, August 30, 2010

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

C ampus N EWS

Page 3

“We had a few events with wine and cheese and manicures and pedicures.” — Caroline Bulmer, Microsoft’s intern program manager

Female CS concentrators take Microsoft internship by storm

versity’s alumni network within the company, she said.

Schultz said Microsoft picked so many Brown students to intern this summer due to the strength of the University’s computer science department.

What Microsoft looks for “are people who are innovative thinkers … people who can think out of the box, and that’s something Brown students do really well,” Schultz said.

Applying for a Microsoft internship is a multi-step process. After an on-campus interview and submission of a resume, Microsoft selected a few applicants to be flown to Redmond for a second round of interviews, Parkinson said.

“No resume will go unread; we are pretty thorough with our interview process. So if you’re passionate about technology, we’ll be able to see it,” wrote Microsoft recruiter Yin Lu in an e-mail to The Herald.

son said.

Schultz spent her summer as a software development engineer.

What interests students in the Microsoft internship program is “real work,” Lu wrote.

“You’re putting your signature on products that millions of people use, like Windows, Xbox, Word, Excel,” she wrote.

With the economic downturn still a reality, finding internships this summer was difficult for many students.

Despite the recession, Tarbox, said the computer science industry has not been hit as hard as other industries.

“Honestly, CS hasn’t been that affected by the economic challenges,” she said.

With the industr y growing, “competition for students across the board is high,” said Caroline Bulmer, intern program manager at Microsoft. She said competition was particularly high among female students.

Making their mark Both Parkinson and Schultz worked on with many things this summer at Microsoft, including writing code.

“The first summer, I wrote the code for a feature that will be in the next release of Photo Gallery. This summer I was prototyping,” Parkin-

Girl power The company hosted many events specifically for female interns this summer.

“We had a few events with wine and cheese and appetizers and manicures and pedicures so that women could build a community together,” Bulmer said.

continued from page 1

With a shortage of female interest in the sciences, Tarbox said she hopes there will be more female interest in the computer science department at Brown. She said one of the methods of getting more women interested in computer science is the Artemis Program.

The Artemis Program, according to its website, is a free, fiveweek summer day camp at Brown geared toward Providence-area girls heading into the ninth grade. The program is usually run by four undergraduate women in the computer science department.

“We also have faculty to inspire girls. It’s a nationwide problem that more women need to get involved in the computer science field,” Tarbox said.

The library versus the field As a female concentrator in the department, Schultz said that what makes computer science so special to her is the language associated with the field.

Schultz, who is also a classics concentrator, said that learning the language of computer science “opens up a world of communicating with other people.”

“It’s really cool that language has infinite possibilities in computer science,” she said.

Both Schultz and Parkinson said they learned valuable lessons

while at Microsoft this summer. For Parkinson, it was learning to have confidence in her own ideas.

“I think I learned that you have to take a big part in shaping your work, and if there’s something you want to do then you should try for it and try to sell that idea to other people,” she said.

For Schultz, the most important lesson she learned was the distinction between computer science in the classroom and the industry.

“You get a project in school that says you need to implement certain tools. In software, in the engineering world, you need to choose what tools to implement and how to implement them, without deadlines and with vague outlines,” she said.

“It’s necessary to have the knowledge from school,” Schultz said, adding that “when you get into the industry, it’s your job to figure out how to apply that knowledge.”

According to Bulmer, usually

80–85 percent of the summer interns at Microsoft will receive offers to return to the company.

This is the case for Schultz, who is currently deciding whether to go to graduate school for classics or to accept a job offer after graduation at Microsoft.

“I know that Microsoft has the best benefits. For most people in CS, the decision is basically going to grad school or going into the industry,” she said.

Parkinson is unsure about what she wants to do after she graduates, though she said she would be open to taking a job at Microsoft.

“I’m probably going to work a while at least,” she said.

Bulmer said she hopes the partnership between Brown and Microsoft continues.

“We have a great program,” Bulmer said. “We hope that more Brown students will come to the program.”

Page 4

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Monday, August 30, 2010

C ampus N EWS

Facing tough times for fundraising, King fills big shoes with confidence continued from page 1 “He’s someone who already has a lot of contacts and background in that area,” Kertzer said. “He’ll be ver y effective as we move to our post-campaign period.”

While at Brown, King played varsity hockey and went on to play in the National Hockey League and for other professional hockey teams before becoming an assistant coach for the Brown men’s hockey team. In 2005, King was chosen as executive director of the Brown

University Sports Fund, where he worked closely with other advancement positions and developed a reputation as an “accomplished and talented” leader, Kertzer said. “(King) exemplifies the values at Brown that you would hope to see of anyone,” said Richard Spies, executive vice president for planning and senior adviser to the president, who led the search committee for Vanden Dorpel’s replacement.

“This is a really important job for the University at any time and particularly at this moment.”

The committee — which formed in September and consisted of Spies, Chancellor Thomas Tisch ’76, Vice Chancellor Jerome Vascellaro ’74 P’07, Chair of the Corporation Advancement Committee Anita Spivey ’74, Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Beppie Huidekoper, Kertzer and Professor of Classics David Konstan — considered candidates from other universities who held similar positions before limiting the search to people already working at the University. Though it be-

gan its search on a national scale, Spies said the committee ultimately deemed King the best candidate to take over for Vanden Dorpel.

“We said it would be a full national search, and it was,” Spies said. “Part of what you learn in that (search) is how well people internally compare,” Spies said.

King is only the second person after Vanden Dorpel to hold the advancement position, which was created in 2002 and combined the previously separate alumni affairs and development divisions. After Vanden Dorpel took the helm of Brown’s fundraising efforts, new gifts and pledges grew from a yearly average of $86 million to $227 million between 2002 and June 2009, though the average is now somewhat deflated after last year’s total topped out at $135.3 million, Vanden Dorpel told The Herald last week.

Despite sliding fundraising figures — new gifts and pledges fell almost 25 percent last fiscal year after dropping about 23 percent in the previous fiscal year — the

campaign itself has continued to pass significant benchmarks. It surpassed its initial goal of $1.4 billion in May 2009, 19 months before it was set to end and has now raised about $1.52 billion, Vanden Dorpel said. Brown’s Annual Fund exceeded its goal of $36 million during the last fiscal year, and the Scholarship Fund — which, due to continued success, raised its goal from $300 million to $400 million — has passed the $300 million mark, he said.

Because of the campaign’s success, the ultimate goal is now to raise more than $1.6 billion by the time the campaign ends, King said.

“We feel confident we can get the job done,” King said. “We all believe in what we’re doing.”

Though the economy does present an obstacle for fundraising efforts, King said he would not use the economic climate as an excuse.

“Certainly, in this environment, it’s challenging,” he said. “That doesn’t mean we’re going to stop asking.”

Want to read some more?

Do you like your news all day?

Just can’t get enough?

— this haiku brought to you by BlogDailyHerald.com

Page 5

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

C ampus N EWS

Swearer Center reorganizes staff

By Hannah Moser Features Editor

Facing budget cuts, the Swearer Center for Public Service plans to focus on its most important services and redistribute responsibilities among student workers and remaining staff.

The center’s reorganization comes after four program advisors were laid off last year. After the layoffs, their responsibilities — primarily supervising community programs — were reassigned to other center staff and student coordinators in an effort to preserve the programs, The Herald reported in April. The center decided that funding would allow one of the four laid-off employees to stay, Nozaki wrote in a May 5 email posted on the Swearer Center website.

Part of the center’s funding comes from grants and donations, most of which are specifically designated for the programs they will fund. The “biggest chunk” of Swearer Center funding comes from a center-specific endowment, which is managed by the University, said Roger Nozaki MAT’89, associate dean of the college and director of the Swearer Center.

Though the center is not part of the general University budget, the University sets a rate of payout for the endowment each year, he said.

The University’s endowment, which was once worth $2.8 billion, fell about $740 million between July 2008 and June 2009 to just over $2 billion. University administrators told The Herald in May that they expected the endowment to rebound slightly to about $2.1 billion by the end of this June.

Nozaki declined to say how much money has been eliminated from the Swearer Center’s budget.

In April, Nozaki posted a letter on the Swearer website informing the community of layoffs at the center due to the decreased budget. Four staff members were laid off, including three employees who oversaw “community programs,” such as Algebra in Motion. The other employee worked in communications and tech support for the center, according to Nozaki.

Though staff positions at the center were cut, “we were able to maintain the number of student coordinators who run those programs directly,” Nozaki said.

Many students and alumni voiced their concern for the center, some questioning what they could mean for the University’s commitment to community service and especially the Providence community. About 250 students and alumni signed a letter conveying these concerns to President Ruth Simmons, The Herald reported in April.

“I think it was great that there were so many people who thought positively about the Swearer Center … that they took time to organize and write letters,” Nozaki said.

Many e-mails and letters that the center received from alumni talked about how much they learned from working in the community “and how all of those things affected the trajectory of their lives,” Nozaki said.

“They felt very strongly that they

didn’t want Brown stepping back from that.”

Janet Isserlis, who specialized in programs addressing adult education, has been able to return as a program manager. Her job now includes fulfilling that role as well as additional student advising and support, and she has been part of the reshuffling of responsibilities that needed staff coverage after the layoffs, according to Nozaki.

Following the budget cuts, a “working group” of about 15 students, staff, community partners and alumni met four or five times in about a fourweek time frame, Nozaki said, to look more closely at “what’s important to make sure we preserve” at the center.

Rachel Levenson ’10, the lead coordinator of Brown Refugee Youth Tutoring and Enrichment and a member of the working group, said the layoffs of these employees also resulted in an unfortunate loss of “knowledge and connection to the community” that the staff members had built up over their years at the center. Though Levenson’s program is not run through the Swearer Center, it received advising help from one of the employees who was laid off in April.

Levenson said the working group reevaluated the center’s principles, resources and training.

The group agreed on three priority areas: emphasizing greater collaboration across campus with students involved in community programs not formally supported by the center, further developing student leadership and better evaluating and documenting community partnerships.

Nozaki said the center is trying to preserve “the student experience and support as much as possible.”

In the coming school year, the center will support the same number of

students and preserve the number of fellowships through the elimination of the three positions and reduction of expenditures around the office, he said.

Each community program run through the center went through a review process, including meetings with program leaders and community partners.

One such group, the Rhode Island Urban Debate League, is receiving transitional funding as it becomes independent from the Swearer Center, Nozaki said.

Nozaki said the center is not receiving the same amount of attention from concerned community members as it was when the layoffs were first announced, though people continue to express their support and ask how they can help.

“I think people understand as well that these are tough times as far as the economy and the budget,” he said.

Monday, August 30, 2010

The Herald’s Official Guide to Brown Theatre

By Anne Speyer Ar ts & Culture Editor

Brown’s on-campus theatre scene can seem like a slew of acronyms — MF, PW, BOP, BUGS, S&B — but they are acronyms worth keeping track of. It shouldn’t be

arts & culture surprising that a school that can count stars like Laura Linney ’86 and John Krasinski ’01 among its recent alums should be home to such a vibrant, creative theatrical community. Here to ensure that you never miss a show is The Herald’s guide to theatre at Brown.

Brown Opera Productions (BOP) A relatively recent addition to the Brown theatrical scene,

the members of BOP have put together one full-length opera each year since 2005, in addition to numerous performances of classical vocal music. Last spring, BOP took on “L’elisir d’amore,” a 19th-century Italian opera about a powerful love elixir that’s actually nothing but wine. A concert of arias and a production of the Puccini operetta, “Gianni Schicchi” are both in the works for the coming semester.

BOP operas and concerts take place in either Alumnae Hall or Grant Recital Hall and are free, no tickets required.

Brown University Gilbert & Sullivan (BUGS) The purpose of Brown University Gilbert and Sullivan is right continued on page 7

Page 6

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Monday, August 30, 2010

C ampus N EWS

Alums connect with smartphone apps U. is third to split with Nike after labor dispute continued from page 2

research process more convenient include the book locator launched last fall — which maps out thetarget book’s position in the stacks — and a service that enables users to text the title and location of an item to their mobile phones, Rainwater said.

Bordac said the department is collecting feedback from students who spent the summer on campus in order to make minor improvements to the application. The department expects to get more feedback in the fall, with the rest of the student body back on campus, she said.

“This is a work in progress, as is everything else in the mobile world,” Bordac said.

Alums connect Brown Alumni Association officially released its iPhone application, called Brown Alumni Connect, on May 28, said Todd Andrews ’83, vice president for alumni relations.

The application — whose launch date was timed with the beginning of Commencement and Reunion Weekend — keeps users updated on alumni events and campus news from

various sources, including Brown Alumni Magazine, The Herald and University press releases.

Brown is the first Ivy League school to have a mobile application for alumni, Andrews said. Since its release, more than 1,500 people have downloaded the application, he said, with many positive responses so far.

The application is part of the association’s consistent effort to “engage more young alumni” by delivering useful information, Andrews said. It was developed by start-up company EverTrue, founded by Brent Grinna ’04 during his last year at Harvard Business School.

The goal of the iPhone application is to “enhance the connectivity of alumni with each other” so that the Brown diploma is valuable even after graduation, Andrews said.

Grinna developed the application because he felt the need for universities and high schools to find better ways to engage their young alums, Andrews said.

Because the application is the first of its kind, and because Grinna is a Brown alum, the application deal is “an advantageous arrangement” for

the University, Andrews said.

Though the developers of the application expected its users to be exclusively young alums, it has been embraced by older generations as well, Andrews said. “There are people from classes of the ’50s and ’70s” logging on, he said.

Andrews said the developers are currently working on two major new features — an alumni directory that they plan to launch in the next six months and a feature that provides full accessibility to BRUnet, the alumni career network. They are also trying to make the application available on other smartphones, with an anticipated launch date for Androids set for this fall, according to Andrews. The application will be “always evolving,” he said.

The iPhone application is not the first new media object that connects alums. According to Andrews, there are 36,500 Facebook users who list the University as an affiliation and 30,000 LinkedIn users who do the same. The association also has helped establish Facebook groups centering on specific topics, such as environmental sustainability, journalism and multiculturalism, Andrews said.

continued from page 1 After the factories Hugger de Honduras and Vision Tex closed in January 2009, Nike was accused of not paying its former laborers more than $2 million in legally mandated severances.

According to an April press release from the Oregon-based athletic company, the factories were owned by two subcontractors. The release states Nike’s position that factories directly employing workers, and not Nike, are responsible for ensuring that their employees receive proper compensation. The company also maintained that apart from a onetime order at one of the plants, neither plant was used to make collegiate-licensed products.

On July 26, Nike agreed to pay the two factories’ displaced workers the $2.5 million in severance benefits they demanded, but Nike’s future relationship with Brown is uncertain.

“If they are willing to re-sign the standard Code of Conduct that Brown issues, we would probably go back to them,” Bookstore Director Steven Souza said.

Souza said he did not want to speculate as to what part of Brown’s Code of Conduct Nike found unacceptable or if Nike could abide by the code now.

Nike did not return requests for comment last week.

Brown Student Labor Alliance member Haley Kossek ’13 said

Brown’s letter to Nike came at a pivotal time in negotiations between Nike and labor unions, and the mounting pressure from universities likely helped turn the tide of negotiations in the laborers’ favor.

Kossek said the labor alliance brought two displaced Honduran workers to meet with Brown administrators in April, but were told at that time the issues were not clear-cut enough for the University to terminate its contract with Nike.

The University’s ultimate actions demonstrate its readiness to apply its Code of Conduct not only to its licensees, but also to their subcontractors, Kossek said.

“Nike was still involved because these companies were producers for Nike,” Souza said.

Kossek called the settlement a “historic victory” for labor rights and said it illustrates the power of universities to use apparel contracts as tools to enact fair labor standards.

Brown’s parting with Nike followed disagreements with the company at two other universities. The University of Wisconsin at Madison announced it would sever ties with Nike in April, and Cornell threatened in June not to renew its collegiate apparel contract with the company at the end of the calendar year if Nike did not agree to pay its subcontractors’ displaced workers.

Page 7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

C ampus N EWS

Monday, August 30, 2010

Find Brown theater on campus see the map with this story at browndailyherald.com

From opera to Shakespeare: exploring theatre at Brown this year continued from page 5 there in the name — this studentrun group has dedicated themselves to performing the comic operas of W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, or “the kings of topsy-tur vydom” as BUGS president Michael Hogan ’11 called them in an e-mail to The Herald. Recent BUGS productions have included “The Pirates of Penzance” and “Iolanthe” and shows often feature both Brown students and a few local actors.

This fall, BUGS will perform “Ruddigore, or the Witch’s Curse,” “a ghostly parody on stock melodrama,” Hogan wrote. BUGS shows are always free of charge and open to the public in Alumnae Hall.

Brownbrokers The Brownbrokers board specializes in student-written musical theater, presenting one full-length original musical every two years.

In November 2009, Brownbrokers staged “Leavittsburg, OH,” a musical written by Nate Sloan ’09 that told the stor y of an Ohio native returning home on vacation from her Ivy League school to reconcile her past and her future. In addition to the bi-annual full-length production, Brownbrokers also hosts events like the Mini-Musical Festival, featuring 15-minute-long student musicals on “of f-kilter topics” like “dolphin love affairs, kids at fat camp and viral marketing campaigns,” Brownbrokers chair Rebecca Sigel ’11 wrote in an email to The Herald. Sigel wrote that her experience as an actor in “Jesus Christ: Superhipster” “was a really fun and non-intimidating way of trying something completely random on for size.”

Productions like “Leavittsburg, OH” involve both students and faculty members from the Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies, who work closely with student writers to perfect their work and who direct the full-length musicals.

Shows can take place in Stuart and Leeds theaters or T.F. Green Hall. Tickets for T.F. Green Hall shows are available for reser vation online or at the Production Workshop box office on the day of the show, and students can buy tickets for shows at Stuart or Leeds through the theaters’ box offices.

Musical Forum (MF) Like Brownbrokers, Musical Forum also focuses solely on musical theater productions. The difference is that MF is an entirely student-run organization. Students are responsible for “every part of production — from performance, to orchestra, from set-building to stage management and from producing to directing,” Alexandra Keegan ’12, an MF board member and the director of the recent MF production of “Into the Woods,” wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.

In addition to a full-length musical each semester, MF also hosts musical revues and cabaret nights. MF board member Lauren Tucker ’12 wrote in an e-mail to The Herald

that “Nunsense,” the fall semester musical, is “slated to include balletdancing and country-singing nuns … not a show to be missed!”

MF shows take place in T.F. Green Hall. Tickets are free and available at the box office on the day of the show, or for advanced reser vation on the Production Workshop website prior to the show.

Production Workshop (PW) In terms of shows staged, Production Workshop is the most active student-run theater group on campus, putting on approximately seven productions each year. Plays are chosen by a board of students and can include “straight plays ... musical theatre, original work by student playwrights, wild performance installations, and just about anything else you can dream up that sounds interesting,” Abby Colella ’12, a member of the board, wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.

“PW is you. Every PW show is acted, directed and designed completely by students, and we focus on producing shows that are relevant, exciting and organic to the Brown community,” Colella wrote.

This year, PW will start their season off with “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot” by American playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis, which will run in T.F. Green Hall Sept. 17–20. PW shows are free, and while one can often get a ticket by showing up to the box office on the day of the show, it’s a good idea to reser ve a ticket online. Ticket reser vations usually happen two days before opening night, in a mad rush at midnight on the group’s website.

Rites and Reason Rites and Reason represents the theatrical side of the Department of Africana Studies. As the department website states, productions at Rites and Reason are “dedicated to giving voice to the diverse cultural expressions of the New World.”

Shows are the result of close collaboration between members of both the Providence and Brown communities and feature actors from a wide range of experience and professional background.

Last spring, Rites and Reason staged the original work “Our Hands are Sore from Praying,” written by Janine Heath ’10 and directed by Connie Crawford, adjunct lecturer in theatre, speech and dance. The theatre also hosted “The Black Lavender Experience,” a festival of plays and conversations focused on the work of queer playwrights.

Rites and Reason productions take place in the Churchill House theater and tickets are usually available from the theater on the day of the performance.

Shakespeare on the Green Shakespeare on the Green is the only theater company on campus without a fixed home — the troop often performs their productions of Shakespeare’s plays in the open air, incorporating campus geography

into their staging.

“We don’t just produce plays.

We are a community,” board chair Olivia Harding ’12 wrote in an email to The Herald, adding that the group hosts social teas, play readings and workshops and the occasional masked ball in addition to their fall and spring shows.

This semester, Shana Tinkle ’11 will direct “King Lear.” Shakespeare on the Green shows are free, nonticketed events and can take place almost anywhere on campus.

Sock & Buskin Founded in 1901, Sock & Buskin has the closest ties to the Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies­— plays are chosen by a board of both students and faculty members, and most plays are directed by professors or visiting artists. S&B shows are often the largest and most elaborate performances on campus, and S&B offers a diverse selection of five productions each year. Sam Shepard’s “A Lie of the Mind,” directed

by Professor of Theatre, Speech and Dance Lowr y Marshall, will start off the season, followed by a production of “Pippin” directed

by Kym Moore, visiting assistant director of theatre, speech and dance.

Tickets for S&B shows can be purchased online or at the Brown Theatre Box Office in the lobby of Leeds Theater. Student tickets are $7, but free tickets for first year students are often offered for Thursday night performances.

SportsMonday The Brown Daily Herald

What to watch: September

By Tony Bakshi Spor ts Editor

Fear not, first-years. While you may not be attending a sportscrazed university, there are still games to watch, underdogs to root for and stars to admire at Brown. Below, a rundown of key September home games that the Class of 2014 will want to attend: Men’s soccer, Sept. 10 and 12: Become acquainted with the men’s soccer squad at the annual Brown Soccer Classic. The Bears, who made it to the second round of the NCAA Division I Tournament last season, will square off against the University of South Carolina on Sept. 10 and Hofstra

University on Sept. 12.

Field hockey, Sept. 19: Watch Bruno take on Bryant University in an intrastate rivalry matchup. The Bears defeated Bryant 3-2 last season and will be looking to hold off the Bulldogs once more.

Women’s tennis, Sept. 24– 26: Head over to the tennis courts behind the Olney-Margolies Athletic Center (aka the OMAC) for the Brown Invitational. Keep an eye out for First Team All-Ivy selection Bianca Aboubakare ’11, who will begin her quest to position herself atop the University record books. Aboubakare starts the season with 138 match victories, the second-most in team

Monday, August 30, 2010 | Page 8

Brunonians making summer sports news

By Zack Bahr Spor ts Editor

history.

Football, Sept. 25: Bruno faces Harvard, the Ivy League Football Preseason Media Poll favorite to win the conference crown. The team will look to avenge last season’s 24-21 defeat in a historic night at Brown Stadium — the 8 p.m. kickoff time will mark the first night game in the stadium’s 85-year history.

Since the end of spring publication, current and former Brown athletes were busy making headlines.

Baseball had an Ivy Leaguehigh five players named to the First Team All-Ivy baseball squad.

Equestrian placed Liz Giliberti ’10 and Rebecca McGoldrick ’12 in the top 10 at the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association Nationals.

This was the second year that Giliberti has placed in the top 10.

David Howard ’09.5, a former standout football player, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor assault charges stemming from a 2009 incident. He currently plays for the Tennessee Titans.

Hannah Malvin ’10 and the U.S. team earned gold at the U-23 Rowing World Championships.

Malvin was a member of the Bears team that captured fifth place at the 2010 NCAA Championship.

Men’s basketball players garnered the most spots on the National Association of Basketball Coaches Honor Court. Six Bruno players were honored for their academic accomplishments.

Thomas Muldoon ’10 was named to the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association All-American team. Muldoon climbed the ranks to become the ninth-highest scorer in Brown lacrosse histor y.

Alena Polenska ’13 was named captain of the Czech Olympic Development Team for women’s ice hockey. Polenska was the second-leading scorer for Bruno in the 2009-10 season with five goals.

Kyle Rowley ’01 led the Spokane Shock past the Tampa Bay Storm to win the Arena Football League’s ArenaBowl XXIII title.

Rowley passed for 237 yards and nine touchdowns in the title game.

Catherine Star r ’05 was named assistant women’s crew coach. Starr was the team captain during her junior and senior seasons and led the Bears to an NCAA Division I National Team Championship in 2004.

Paris Water man ’11 was named to the 2010-11 U.S. National Lacrosse Team. She is the first Bear since 1998 to be a member of the team.

See your name in print. browndailyherald.com/join

Page 9

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

S ports M onday

Monday, August 30, 2010

“Our depth is our greatest strength.”

— Leslie Springmeyer ’12, field hockey player

Field Hockey

Women look to get back on track with mental, physical strength

By Ashley McDonnell Assistant Sports Editor

Last season, the field hockey team did not win any away or conference games. This season, the team is determined to correct that by getting back to the basics.

Season Preview “We’ve talked a lot about fine-tuning our basics, keeping the gameplan simple and being prepared,” said Head Coach Tara Harrington ’94.

“We’re just really fine-tuning and being sticklers about the basics of the game. That’s priority number one.”

The most basic aspect of the game does not even pertain to field hockey itself. The basics start with “controlling our fitness and strength,” the coach said.

“We’re preparing mentally and physically for each game,” said forward Leslie Springmeyer ’12. “We’re going to prepare mentally on the bus” to away games, with the hope of improving on last year’s 0-8 away record.

Because each team member has been training hard this summer, both physically and mentally, Springmeyer said she had confidence in all her teammates.

“Our depth is our greatest

Jesse Morgan / Herald file photo

Forward Leslie Springmeyer ’12, who recorded 10 goals and nine assists last season, is one of many returning veterans for the field hockey team.

strength, definitely,” Springmeyer said. “We have confidence in our subs when they come into the game.”

The team’s confidence does not stop at its substitutes for the forwards, midfielders and fullbacks, though — the team also has “really great depth” when it comes to goalkeepers, according to Harrington.

Lauren Kessler ’11.5, Alexis Au-

rigemma ’13 and Caroline Johansen ’14 all have a shot at playing this season, she said.

“It’ll be practice by practice, game by game” when determining which goalkeeper to play, Harrington said.

“They’ve been encouraging each other every practice.”

She said members of the Class of 2014 will have the opportunity to

play.

“I suspect you will see several in and out of the starting lineup, with all of them gaining playing time throughout the season,” Harrington said. She mentioned forward Torie Stearns ’14 and midfielder Avery Burns ’14 in particular, saying Stearns is “fast and feisty” and Burns has “a very good presence in the middle of the field.”

The upperclassmen have strong returners, led by captains Katie Hyland ’11, Cassie Puhalla ’11 and Tacy Zysk ’11. Hyland was on the field this summer as she trained with the USA Field Hockey High Performance Team, a training center that selects athletes for the national and regional teams.

“She’s the girl with every shot, every pass, and she just plays with a lot of heart,” Harrington said of Hyland.

All three captains have been “focused on being prepared, scraping it out, getting after it and winning.”

The team still has improvements to make, according to Springmeyer and Harrington.

“Transitioning and more urgency” are what the team needs to improve on the most this year, Springmeyer said. “We’re hoping to get more of those 50-50 balls. We want to surprise our opponents this year and come out strong.”

Harrington said that the team needs to focus “hard on scoring” so that they can “put lots of goals on the board.”

The first game of the season is Saturday in Iowa against Miami (Ohio). The first few games will be challenging and will prepare the team for their conference games, according to Harrington. The first conference game is at home Sept.

18 against Columbia.

“We want those Ivy wins, we want an over-.500 season,” Springmeyer said. “I think we’ll be a lot better this season.”

Editorial & Letters The Brown Daily Herald

Page 10 | Monday, August 30, 2010

HEY FRESHMEN! Like what you see? Want to write, copy edit, take photos, design, blog, develop business plans, opine and more?

Want to join the oldest, largest student group on campus — its independent newspaper?

Come visit us at the Fall Activities Fair on Thursday, Sept. 2 to learn more.

Info sessions will be held on Monday, Sept. 6 and Tuesday, Sept. 7 at 8 p.m. at 195 Angell St. (between Thayer and Brook, near Tealuxe) for anyone interested in joining The Herald.

For more info, e-mail herald@ browndailyherald.com or visit www. browndailyherald.com/join 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 Emmy Liss Joanna Wohlmuth

editorial Anne Speyer Suzannah Weiss Sara Luxenberg Brian Mastroianni Brigitta Greene Ben Schreckinger Sydney Ember Zack Bahr Tony Bakshi Ashley McDonnell Erika Mueller

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

Graphics & Photos Graphics Editor Stephen Lichenstein Graphics Editor Alex Yuly Photo Editor Stephanie London Photo Editor Max Monn Photo Editor Hilary Rosenthal Sports Photo Editor Jonathan Bateman Production Kelly Mallahan Julien Ouellet Gili Kliger Katie Wilson Neal Poole

Copy Desk Chief Design Editor Asst. Design Editor Asst. Design Editor Web Editor

Post- magazine Editor-in-Chief Sam Carter Editor-in-Chief Kate Doyle Editor-in-Chief Marshall Katheder

Senior Editors Ben Hyman Seth Motel

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 Opinions Editor Michael Fitzpatrick Opinions Editor Alyssa Ratledge Editorial Page Board Matt Aks Editorial Page Editor Anita Mathews Board member Tyler Rosenbaum Board member Melissa Shube Board member Gaurie Tilak Board member

Gili Kliger, Leor Shtull-Leber, Katie Wilson, Designers Nicole Boucher, Sydney Ember, Kelly Mallahan, Copy Editors Alex Bell, Night Editor Senior Staff Writers Ana Alvarez, Ashley Aydin, Rebecca Ballhaus, Alexander Bell, Nicole Boucher, Fei Cai, Alicia Chen, Kristina Fazzalaro, Miriam Furst, Jessica Liss, Sarah Mancone, Ben Noble, Claire Peracchio, Lindor Qunaj, Mark Raymond, Luisa Robledo, Caitlin Trujillo Staff Writers Anna Andreeva, Anne Artley, Shara Azad, Casey Bleho, Sofia Castello, Amy Chen, Sarah Forman, Miriam Furst, Max Godnick, Thomas Jarus, Sarah Julian, Julia Kim, Emily Rosen, Bradley Silverman, Qian Yin Senior Sales Executives Katie Galvin, Liana Nisimova, Isha Gulati, Samantha Wong Sales Associates Roshni Assomull, 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, Leor Shtull-Leber 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, 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

abe pressman

e d i to r i a l

Welcome, 2014 After months of anticipation and dozens of premature posts on Spotted at Brown, this week marks the first when no one can deny that you are all in fact Brown University students. While we know that you are readying yourselves for Unit Wars, the midnight organ concert and Wednesday at Fish Co., we want to welcome you by providing a few pieces of advice on the exciting year ahead.

For starters, take advantage of the smaller-sized classes that are geared towards you. A wide range of First Year Seminars are being offered, and many are fascinating enough to make seniors wish they could be ’14s for a semester. Large lecture courses may be inevitable this first year, but tr y to balance your schedule with a class in which your absence would be noticed. Smaller seminars are a great way to get to know classmates with similar interests, become comfortable engaging in discussions, and form a relationship with a professor.

Now, about getting to know professors — it can be difficult, so don’t get discouraged if you go the entire year without being invited to a professor’s house for a stimulating conversation over tea. Instead, keep an eye out for faculty members conducting research that interests you. Put those Facebook stalking skills to good use and peruse Brown’s online research director y (research. brown.edu) to get ideas.

If you find approaching professors a bit intimidating, talk to some upperclassmen. Your Meiklejohn advisor or the Residential Peer Leaders in your dorm are great resources. And while making friends with your fellow freshmen will be your focus for the next few months, try to join a student group that allows you to connect with people in the classes above you (such as The Herald). Upperclassmen tend to have pretty clear hindsight, and they’re usually not afraid to give their opinions — whether you want to know which section to take or who

makes the best pizza on Thayer Street.

Studying might be one of the last things on your mind right now, with the Monday Night Fever orientation dance looming and your roommate hanging a Justin Bieber poster dangerously close to your side of the room. Still, it’s a good idea to tr y out a bunch of study spots around campus. Various parts of the libraries, nearby coffee shops and hidden corners of other academic buildings all provide a choice of different atmospheres. “Studying” will mean many things to you as you ride out the ups and downs of a semester, so we recommend finding one spot that’s more social, another that’s good for quiet reading, and another still for, shall we say, impending deadlines.

When you’re not planning out your study schedule, plan out your eating schedule. As you become more familiar with your gastronomic choices around here, you should also get to know your resources for sizing up daily offerings. There’s always the Brown Dining Ser vices website and the back page of the print edition of The Herald.

We like to check out The Herald’s blog (blogdailyherald.com), which weighs in daily on the epic Ratty vs. V-Dub question and also crucially provides the Free Food Digest. And if the thought of that wildebeest stampede that killed Mufasa in “The Lion King” still gives you nightmares, avoid going to the Ratty right at noon.

Exciting as these first few weeks can be, they can also be tough, but that’s no reason to lose your bright-eyed enthusiasm. Brown’s students are known as the happiest for countless reasons, and you’re on the verge of discovering many of them for yourself.

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

Monday, August 30, 2010 | Page 11

Facing up to Facebook SARAH ROSENTHAL Opinions Columnist Welcome, first-years! Congratulations on being so awesome. You had the lowest admit rate, the best grades and SAT scores, even halos polished super-shiny by virtuous extracurriculars, and Ruth will no doubt praise you to the skies for it.

But being a freshman can be scar y. In addition to rigorous academics and the inevitable commitment to various activities that you’ll drop by sophomore year, you will be thrust into many uncomfortable social situations over the next few weeks as you try to figure out who your friends are. Facebook can be a useful tool in this process, but it’s a double-edged sword, and one that is constantly changing the college experience. At no time is this more acute than during freshman orientation.

There was a time in the not-so-distant past when a “facebook” was a physical object freshmen-to-be would receive in the mail.

It had only a single one-inch by one-inch photo of each student, along with his or her name and hometown. No favorite quotes. No thousand-plus pictures of your roommate and her high school friends making kissy faces at a camera. Back in the day, you had to wait to find out whether your future friends would go slightly out of their way to step on a crunchy-looking leaf, or if they had a desire to punch slow-moving people in the back of

the head. No more.

Does this glut of information make the entry into college life more or less intimidating? That depends on the person, but it has definitely created a new reality, with its own negative and positive effects on social mores.

Con: Facebook takes away the fun and spontaneity of small talk. The more ubiquitous Facebook becomes, the more likely it is that

older students feel that they have a duty to the incoming freshmen to initiate them into the many wonders, mysteries and quirks of this place we call Brunonia. (Just kidding, freshmen, no one calls it that.) This is usually done through an “ask a Brown student” thread in the “Brown Class of 20XX” group, which many upperclassmen join totally of their own volition, without even the promise of free food! They will answer any and all

Does Facebook’s glut of information make the entry into college life more or less intimidating?

the answers to the Freshman Orientation Trifecta — “So, what’s your name? Where are you from? What do you think you’re going to concentrate in?” — are already common knowledge thanks to the magic of stalking.

Nonetheless, he will desperately try to act as if he doesn’t already know about your prom date and your Labrador and your preference for Miller Light. On the other hand, small talk was never that fun or spontaneous to begin with, so that’s not much of a loss.

Pro: Facebook injects you right into the comforting, pillowy bosom of the Brown community, thanks to the enthusiastic upperclassmen determined to let you know how much we all love this place. Every year,

questions you might have with alacrity, and on Brown’s physical campus you will find that most upperclassmen are just as friendly and forthcoming in the flesh.

Con: Facebook encourages the creation of pre-conceived notions about your classmates. When it came to the Class of 2011 group, I was a creepy lurker, reading almost every topic but never adding my own comments, for fear that I would be judged. There were always the same 10 or 20 people who commented on everything, and I still remember many of their names. Mostly I “judged” them as friendly extroverts, but it’s never safe to assume that you know anything substantive about anyone from Facebook. Don’t write

people off because they like country music (eww!), and don’t assume you’ll be friends because they, like you and everyone else at Brown, have listed “The Great Gatsby” as one of their favorite books.

Pro: Facebook’s unique advantages make it a genuinely useful means of social interaction when you’re occupying that liminal space between acquaintance and friend. Anyone with even passing knowledge of the site realizes that “friendship” is not necessarily meaningful, but writing on someone’s wall or sending him or her a message when you’re not yet at the level of a phone call or a lunch date at the Ratty is an increasingly acceptable way to break the ice. Some people moan that the sentence-long dispatches that define social networking make the art of conversation as obsolete as a paper-and-ink facebook, but they also help the shy and minimize the pain of potential face-to-face rejection. If you want a real friendship, Facebook is obviously not the way to go — but it can be a good way to start.

Whether you view Facebook’s ubiquity as encouraging or depressing, abstention from the site is ever rarer among college students today. So, class of 2014, happy friending, happy stalking and once again, congratulations on being the best class of all time — until the class of 2015 is admitted.

Former Herald Opinions Editor Sarah Rosenthal ’11 is stalking freshmen as we speak.

Getting our money’s worth Manas Gautam Opinions Columnist It is that time of the semester: the fresh start where we find ourselves running from one class to another tr ying to figure out our schedules before the Banner registration system closes. This fall, registration for courses starts on Aug. 31 and ends on Sept. 14 . We can change a course from the traditional ABC grade option to Satisfactory/ No Credit (S/NC) until Sept. 28 and to audit until Oct. 8. I believe that students are not allotted enough time to change their grade options, and that we are not truly valuing our education if we don’t see a problem with this.

A Brown education is about freedom: the freedom to define our own educations and to find the tools to further our interests. The (notso-)New Curriculum has empowered us to do just that. Yet, as my fellow upperclassmen might agree, we find ourselves going through challenging times as the semester progresses and have no freedom to change our course grade option from grading to S/NC or audit before the final examination period. We have to drop the course or risk our GPA (which does not officially exist, even though our future employers might believe otherwise).

Students encounter challenging situations as the semester progresses. We may

get sick or lose a loved one. For classes that are too time consuming, the freedom to change a course’s grading option all semester long can alleviate this temporar y distress and can allow students to better assign priorities to their problems. If a particular course turns out to be uninteresting or some other courses start demanding more effort, a perennial grade change option can improve efficiency and work quality in

be much bolder in their educational pursuits.

In turn, this will also help students to truly delve into topics that they find interesting.

It is understandable that this option might allow some students to take the easier way out when they face too much pressure. However, such students will be conscious of the impact of their decision after the problem gets resolved and they realize that a pass is not the same as an A. Also, not all changes in grading

For classes that are too time consuming, the freedom to change a course’s grading option all semester long can alleviate this temporary distress and can allow students to better assign priorities to their problems. the classes that one deems more important.

Allowing grade change options to continue all semester may also give an incentive to students who want to take five courses or an advanced, graduate level course. The stigma of getting bad grades forces students either not to bother taking tougher courses or to take them S/NC or audit them from the very beginning, which reduces the seriousness of the students’ participation. However, if students feel that they always have the fall back option of changing their grade option, they’ll

options need be in the S/NC direction. Some students might even prefer to change their grading option back to ABC before the reading period if they feel that their performance is deserving of a good mark.

A document titled “Liberal Learning at Brown” on the Dean of College’s page lists evaluating human behavior, experiencing scientific inquir y, collaborating fully, expanding reading skills and applying what one learns as some of the goals of a liberal education. Allowing the continuous grade

change option would certainly foster multidisciplinar y pursuits. Furthermore, students would be able to discuss ideas with their professors, which can spawn research projects, papers and perhaps even a company. This would be achievable due to fewer grade-related interactions with the faculty and more creative interactions with them.

In all these scenarios, students are making their own decisions. After all, it is our education. We paid for it. Every one of us, from incoming freshman to seniors to alums, feels lucky to be at Brown. We worked hard in high school, developed our interests and understood Brown’s important role in furthering our education. In this race for achieving our personal goals, we have truly forgotten that we are customers at Brown. We give our personal merits less credit than luck for allowing us to be here. We didn’t win our acceptance in the lotter y — we earned it.

Banner is simply a tool. What good is a system if it is restraining us from the academic freedom promised to us? If my argument makes sense and calls out to you, please write to the University Registrar explaining the validity of such an option that will be useful to us and the future generations of Brown students.

Manas Gautam ’12 gives lessons in fishing and can be reached at manas_gautam@brown.edu.

Today The Brown Daily Herald

3

Computer science and a mani/pedi

8

Today, August 30

tomorrow, august 31

2:30–4:30 PM — (Freshmen) Lawn Games on Lincoln, Lincoln Field

8–9:30 PM — (Freshmen) Community Values Thinking Otherwise, Pizzitola Sports Center

4–5:30 pm — (Freshmen) Academic Expo 2010, Sayles Hall, Main Green

10–12 AM — (Freshmen) Science Center Trivia Showdown, 3rd Floor Sciences Library

The question of what Brown is — what defines this place — is constantly evolving, anyway. Your class is emblematic of the changes that have swept the University in recent years. You are more diverse and more international than ever before. You and your peers sent more applications than could fit in one building. At The Herald, we’ve had our eyes on the transformation of this campus for 120 years. As you think about how you will spend the next four years, we encourage you to read our newspaper every day to learn the latest on University initiatives that are likely to have dramatic effects on your time here.

As you begin your first year here and we — The Herald’s editorial leadership — begin our last, we are all too aware of our looming departure. But for now, we are still having the time of our lives bringing you the news every day. You keep reading, and we’ll keep writing.

George Miller ’11, Editor-in-Chief Chaz Kelsh ’11, Managing Editor Emmy Liss ’11, Deputy Managing Editor Joanna Wohlmuth ’11, Deputy Managing Editor Ben Hyman ’11, Senior Editor Seth Motel ’11, Senior Editor

comics

Lunch — Closed

Dot Comic | Eshan Mitra and Brandan Hainline

Dinner — Closed Dinner — 4:30–7:30 p.m., open to freshmen

a c r o s s to b e a r “Across to Bear” is a weekly feature by Jonah Kagan ’13 and Natan Last ’12 — crosswords made by Brown students for Brown students. Send ideas, comments or complaints to brownpuzzles@gmail.com, and check blogdailyherald.com for solutions. Look for “Across to Bear” weekly in this space.

Dick in a Box Jonah Kagan '13 ACROSS

1. "The schoolweek's almost over!"

5. When in Rome, 601 8. Slur speakers 14. Frank diarist Frank 15. Skosh 16. Keeney materials 17. Lady Gaga hit with the lyrics "Let's have some fun this beat is sick / I wanna take a ride on your disco stick" 19. "Waiter! Monsieur!"

20. Write quickly, as a computer program 21. Surpress, as an uprising 22. Fashion designer Marc and others 23. It comes straight from the horse's mouth?

25. Mammoth protrusion 28. Now and ___ 29. High-five loving "Scrubs" surgeon 30. Sexy foreign exchange student in "American Pie" 31. Give a hand 32. Tenth: prefix 33. Type of treatment 34. Prevent from getting some action, or what can be found in each corner of this puzzle 36. Beat to a pulp 39. Songbird 40. Backstreet Boys member McLean and others 43. Many a muslim 44. Make advances with one's phone?

45. Unexciting 46. Had a cry 47. Jug handle, in archaeology 48. Italian bowling game 49. Mil. deserters 51. 2009 Ke$ha hit 53. Neighborhood 55. "Oh baby just ___!" (bedroom exclamation) 57. More repulsive

1

2

3

5

4

6

7

15

14 17

11

12

13

26

27

41

42

Dr. Bear | Mat Becker

21

22

23

28

24

25

29

31

30

32

33

34

35

38

40

39

43

44

46

45

47 49

53

10

19

18

37

9

16

20

36

8

48

50

54

51

Bat & Gaz | Sofia Ortiz

52

55

56

57

58

59

60

61

62

© 2010

58. Wall-E's love interest 59. Get beaten to a pulp, say 60. "___ late to apologize" (One Republic lyric) 61. Pirate's place 62. Italian designer Schiaparelli

DOWN

1. With 37-Down, "Sup?" in Spanish 2. Italian dumplings 3. Called on in prayer, as a spirit 4. Eat, like a predator 5. Brown frat in Olney House 6. Disney movie starring the Jonas Brothers 7. Suffix with cyan8. Pellet shooter 9. "Dies ___" (hymn) 10. Musician known for his mashups 11. Obstruct

12. Fight ender, for short 13. Fed. ID 18. Some appliances 21. Four times a day, on an Rx 22. Airplane announcement: abbr.

24. Pot brownies, e.g.

26. Sex, to a nun 27. Kit ___ 29. ___ House (group responsible for Sci Li Tetris) 30. "The Fairly OddParents" channel 32. ___-do (dance move) 33. What many computer algorithms do 34. "So looking forward to it!"

35. It'll make you go 36. Dir. from here to LA 37. See 1-Down 38. Finishes moving into one's dorm, say

40. What underage college students make sure to avoid 41. Show in which Wee Man might kick Steve-O in the nuts 42. ___ and Him (Zooey Deschanel's band) 44. AIM aliases 45. Fifth or handle, e.g., for 40-Down 47. Old Oldsmobile 48. Designer denim co.

50. I can believe it's not butter 52. Furniture store whose products are named in Swedish 53. 5-Across - 549 54. Mo. to get free candy 55. "___ Miz" 56. Weed, to the Beats

Page 12

Few of us can picture Brown before President Ruth Simmons took the University’s helm, or a campus without construction’s incessant noise. Our newsroom aims to link our University’s past with its future.

And though our school may keep changing, you can always count on The Herald to tell you what’s driving that change.

Verney-Woolley Dining Hall

Lunch — 11–3 p.m., open to freshmen

92 /69

e d i t o r s ’ n ot e

menu Sharpe Refectory

90 / 64

Monday, August 30, 2010

Returning to campus this week, we see 1,503 new students unloading cars, carrying suitcases, meeting new friends and looking lost. As you try to find your way, we encourage you to explore everything our school has to offer you. Only by keeping an open mind can you take full advantage of the many opportunities of the next four years. Though we are reluctant to repeat this cliche, it is completely accurate: This place can be as much or as little as you make of it.

c a l e n da r

to m o r r o w

A freshman’s guide to sporting events

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

1

to day

The Adventures of Team Vag | Wendy Kwartin