Daily Herald the Brown
vol. cxlv, no. 70 | Wednesday, September 15, 2010 | Serving the community daily since 1891
BUCC praises renovations, website at meeting Taveras,
Cicilline ’83 win in polls
By Alexandra Ulmer Senior Staff Writer
The Brown University Community Council struck a grave note when discussing natural catastrophes in Haiti and Pakistan, but enthusiasm over a steadier financial situation, the launch of a new website and the recently opened Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center prevailed during its meeting Tuesday. “There is not a whole lot of interest or appetite for the large-scale review we went through last year,” said Karen Davis, vice president for human resources, at the meeting, which was held at Brown/RISD Hillel. She said there were no planned staff cuts for this fiscal year. The implementation of various recommendations suggested by the Organizational Review Committee — such as pooling together continued on page 3
By Claire Peracchio Senior Staff Writer
Few surprises emerged from Tuesday’s primaries as frontrunners and incumbents claimed victories in races to choose the party nominees that will face off in the November general election.
METRO
“Far from cutting capacity, the dean of the faculty and the Watson Institute have just given the International Relations program its biggest rise in resources in the history of these programs,” he said at the meeting. The appointment of a director is just the beginning of a process to maximize administrative coordination between the two programs,
In the race for Providence mayor, Angel Taveras, a former Providence Housing Court judge, defeated state Rep. Steven Costantino, DProvidence, City Councilman John Lombardi and local political fixture Chris Young to become the favorite to win the general election contest. Mayor David Cicilline ’83 took the Democratic nomination in the first congressional district, cruising by competitors Anthony Gemma, David Segal and Bill Lynch to attain frontrunner status in the race to replace retiring Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I. Cicilline, the openly gay mayor of Providence, has drawn support from gay rights groups and would be the fourth member of Congress to identify as gay if elected. Cicilline will face Republican John Loughlin in November. Loughlin easily defeated Kara Russo, also an unsuccessful candidate for Rhode Island lieutenant governor and the
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Katie Green / Herald
Pakistan flood relief and the University’s new website were high on the agenda of Tuesday’s BUCC meeting.
U. looks for IR, DS majors meet with new director new revenue sources By Margaret Yi Contributing Writer
By Sydney Ember News Editor
University officials are looking to identify new revenue sources to combat Brown’s budget shortfall, culminating a three-phase budget adjustment period that began in early 2009. The final phase of budget restructuring will span the four fiscal years starting July 1, 2011 and is designed to close the gap in the $95 million budget deficit that resulted primarily from the $740 million endowment decline during the 2009 fiscal year. Since the 2008-2009 academic year, administrators have taken aggressive steps to reduce the budget gap. The first phase of the adjustment included enacting wage freezes, eliminating staff positions, adjusting the pace of faculty expansion and modifying plans for key capital projects, which decreased the deficit by $35 million. Through a number of organizational initiatives designed to increase administrative efficiency, the University closed the gap by another $30 million during the second phase. The third and final stage of the budget adjustment period is geared toward generating additional revenue rather than restructuring operating costs and will complete the
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News.....1–4 Sports........5 Editorial......6 Opinion.......7 Today..........8
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The International Relations and Development Studies programs have been brought under one director, Professor of Political Science Mark Blyth, who informed concentrators of the change in an e-mail Sept. 9. Blyth held a townhall meeting for concentrators to discuss the change Tuesday night. “There is no merging of con-
centrations. IR and DS will stay as IR and DS,” Blyth said at the meeting in the Watson Institute for International Studies’ Joukowsky Forum. Concentration requirements will remain the same, he added. This move was part of the University’s broader goal of reviewing and improving the current curriculum, which dates back to 2005, Blyth said, and was not connected to financial issues.
More raves than gripes for new campus center By Alicia Chen Senior Staff Writer
Since its opening Aug. 16, the Stephen Rober t ’62 Campus Center has quickly entered the everyday routines of students as a convenient place to eat, study and socialize. “It’s a necessar y part of the Brown campus,” Sara Kinslow ’12 said. One of the new features of the renovated Faunce is the Information and Welcome Desk. Lisa Brown, the coordinator of the desk, and a team of student workers help to answer questions and provide information about the University. Though students said they were generally happy with the
space, the center leaves at least one thing to be desired — an ATM. Frequent questions include, “Where’s the CVC machine? Where’s the ATM?” Brown said. Harry Aspinwall ’11, who also works at the Info Desk, echoed these common concerns, saying “I’m looking forward to there being an ATM in here.” Visitors also come to the desk to find out about information sessions and tours, which now start at Faunce Arch, Brown said. Many students said they liked the convenience of the new Blue Room, as well as the selection of foods available. But there is still room for improvement, according continued on page 3
Max Monn / Herald
The new campus center is luring students with spacious study space and a revamped Blue Room, though lunch lines have been long.
Features, 2
Sports, 5
Opinions, 7
Strut your stuff RISD student designers featured in Elle Magazine and NYC Fashion Week
the race Begins The star t of Brown’s running season brings new freshman talent
down with the book Sarah Rosenthal ‘11 argues freshman summer reading should not be required
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
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Wednesday, September 15, 2010
“This is a new era in research collaboration.” — Edward Wing, Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences
U. of Rhode Island wins grant for life sciences By Sarah Mancone Senior Staff Writer
The National Science Foundation has awarded a $20 million grant to the University of Rhode Island to lead a project in collaboration with other R.I. institutions, including Brown, for advancements in the life sciences. The grant comes from the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research and ser ves to fund the project titled “Infrastructure to Advance Life Sciences in the Ocean State,” said Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences Edward Wing. The grant totals $20 million to be given over the course of five years, $3.6 million of which will go to Brown. The award was formally announced Sept. 7 at the Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences at URI. Gov. Donald Carcieri ’65, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. and Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., spoke at the event, as did Peter Alfonso — URI’s vice president for research and economic development and principal investigator of the project — URI President David Dooley and David Bogen, assistant provost for academic affairs at the Rhode Island School of Design. Wing spoke on behalf of Brown. This is the “biggest award that URI has ever been given,” said Edward Hawrot, a professor of medical science at Brown. The project itself is meant to “improve the research infrastructure in the state,” Hawrot said, and the grant will allow RI institutions to “pursue projects that are under this theme.” These grants are “limited to a
certain number of states,” Hawrot said, and Rhode Island was made eligible in the last five years due largely to the efforts of Reed. The award is given to states that need infrastructure, Wing said, and, unlike states like Massachusetts, which have significantly more money, Rhode Island is a lot smaller and in greater need. Brown received one prior award from the program that lasted from 2006 to 2010, serving to “do much of the same things,” Wing said. What makes the current grant so impor tant is that it involves Brown and URI collaborating together, Wing added. “Neither one would get it alone,” he said. “This is a new era in research collaboration.” The project incorporates all of the institutions of higher learning in the state except Johnson and Wales University. This collaboration includes RISD, which makes “a great addition to the overall team,” Hawrot said. RISD helps to provide focus on how art and design can further enrich science, he said. “Imaging has become ver y important,” Wing said. It can be used in visualizing proteins and “projecting data from the human genome,” he explained. The current grant is directed at three research cores, two of which — the genomics core and the core for marine life sciences — are based at URI, Hawrot said. As a co-principle investigator, Hawrot ser ves as the director of the third core at Brown, which is the proteomics core. Hawrot is “one of the ver y key leaders,”
sudoku
Wing said. The proteomics core focuses on protein analysis. Hawrot said this grant money will allow Brown to create “protein profiles of organisms living in the Bay.” But grant money given to Brown will be mostly directed towards bioinformatics research, cyber infrastructure development and graduate student support, Wing said. Purchasing new bioinformatics equipment will give Brown access to high end computing, Hawrot said, and it will be “a big boost on the biology side.” “Bioinformatics is one of the areas we need to further our investment in,” he added. Brown will have to provide staff support in the area of bioinformatics and “will launch a faculty search very soon,” Hawrot said. The grant will also help fund more graduate fellowships Overall, the hiring and infrastructure growth supported by the grant could have a positive effect on “economic development both short and longer term” in Rhode Island, Hawrot said. The program will also “of fer more opportunities for undergraduates, including at Brown, for summer research,” Hawrot said. One million dollars of the grant were given to Hawrot and will be going exclusively to support computer system infrastructure, which will give Brown the “capacity to do more science” and “allow us to apply for more grants,” Wing said. “It was a big deal for Rhode Island,” Wing said, adding that “Brown was prominently featured.” “It was an important award for us,” Hawrot said.
Courtesy of Joe Carson
Elle Magazine’s anniversary issue will spotlight RISD students’ work.
RISD designers honored at NYC Fashion Week By Kristina Fazzalaro Senior Staff Writer
site. And what better place to start the search for such talent than on College Hill?
The searing yellow and bright blue of the fabric jolted viewers awake A great honor Elle wanted to give this opporas the lights went up and New York City Fashion Week began for 22 tunity to up-and-coming designhopeful Rhode Island School of De- ers as part of its 25th anniversary sign students. celebration, said The students Donna GusFEATURE were compettavsen, former ing for Elle head of RISD’s department of apparel design. Magazine’s Fashion Next Award at Lincoln Center Sept. 9. The anniversary issue, which will This competition organized by hit stores next month, will feature Elle aimed to feature “the works of the students and their designs, she fashion’s next generation of stars,” according to the publication’s webcontinued on page 4
Final phase of budget plan to span 4 years continued from page 1
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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.
efforts to realign the University’s budget within its target range. “You’ve got to start now if you’re going to have the revenue in three years,” said Beppie Huidekoper, executive vice president for finance and administration. “We either stop everything, or we find new sources of revenue.” Since the onset of the economic recession, the University has cut 200 staff positions and altered plans for capital projects, including renovating existing structures rather than constructing new buildings for the Medical Education Building and the recently combined Department of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences. Though administrators are still grappling with the budget, Huidekoper said the next stage no longer contends with reducing costs. Instead, the third phase of the adjustment period “will target investments in ways that will enhance the quality and national standing of Brown’s academic programs,” Huidekoper and Provost David Kertzer ’69 P’95 P’98 wrote in an e-mail to faculty and staff Sept. 3.
Possible investments include boosting the number of faculty, increasing financial aid, renovating dormitories, supporting new academic programs and improving classroom infrastructure, Huidekoper said. But the current financial situation has called previously reliable revenue sources into question. Before the economic downturn, the University could count on solid endowment growth and substantial fundraising draws, Huidekoper said. In the past, “we’ve been phenomenally fortunate that the growth in revenue has come from the endowment and the annual fund,” Huidekoper said. “In this market, we’re not so optimistic.” Because Brown’s endowment is significantly smaller than that of many of its peer institutions — and because Brown has fewer masters students and does not have typical revenue sources such as a business school or its own hospital — the University must identify other methods for generating additional growth. The value of Brown’s total endowment stands at just over $2 billion — around $250,000 per student,
compared to approximately $1.7 million per student at Princeton, $1.4 million per student at Yale and $1.3 million at Harvard, Huidekoper said. The Campaign for Academic Enrichment, which launched in 2002 and has generated more than $1.5 billion, is slated to end Dec. 31, presenting another obstacle to revenue growth, she said. Huidekoper said the University is considering new programs in continuing education as an additional revenue source. She said administrators are looking to adapt similar programs run by institutions such as Northwestern University and Johns Hopkins University to suit Brown. They will hold preliminary discussions with members of the Corporation during their October meeting to present possible sources for increased funds, she added. Despite optimistic projections for the next phase of financial planning, Huidekoper said the actual methods for generating additional revenue in the next four fiscal years are still hazy. “We won’t figure this all out in the next six months,” she said. “We’re better at figuring out what we want to spend it on.”
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
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“You need to keep the faculty engaged.” — Faculty Executive Committee Chair Cynthia Garcia Coll
Corporation approves tenure process change Campus center reviewed By Ashley Aydin Senior Staff Writer
At its meeting in May, the Corporation approved a tenure motion that would allow the provost to comment on the list of nominees and make his own nominations. The approved change in tenure procedure followed a recommendation by the faculty that the Tenure, Promotions and Appointments Committee give the provost an opportunity to comment on the Nominations Committee’s list of proposed TPAC nominees and to make his or her own proposals of additional names, announced President Ruth Simmons in a Corporation summary e-mail in May. The approval stemmed from a review by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges on Brown’s tenure process. The NEASC review team found that Brown gives tenure to a higher percentage of its junior faculty than its peer institutions. The team also criticized the tenure rate for those appointed as tenure-track assistant professors. “We are a ver y well-run and established university, but they found some issues with us,” said Cynthia Garcia Coll, chair of the Faculty Executive Committee and professor of education, psychology and pediatrics. “One issue was we have a very high tenure rate,” she said. The change will make the tenure process more concrete, she said. A March 2010 repor t by Brown’s Committee of Tenure and Faculty Development Policies, formed last fall in response to criticisms by NEASC, showed that the cohort tenure rate — the
proportion of tenure-track assistant professors who eventually receive tenure — has been above 70 percent at the University since 1991. The report also highlighted a 2006 study that revealed Brown’s cohort tenure rate was well above its peer institutions’. Though some faculty members have suggested that Brown’s high tenure rate is “a reflection of the fact that we do an excellent job of hiring promising young scholars and mentoring them effectively through the probationary period,” the high rate “can nevertheless have potentially deleterious effects,” according to the report. In a May 4 faculty meeting, faculty members discussed the tenure review recommendations and voted on a motion involving new language for the method for election of tenured faculty. The previous method to elect tenured faculty involved grouping tenure candidates into as many categories as vacancies to ensure equal representation for the different departments, according to the meeting’s minutes. The amended motion, which was further changed at the meeting, stipulated changing the language of the method of election to clarify the tenure process, according to the faculty minutes. Some faculty members think that departments do not necessarily get enough information about tenure candidates “compared to our peers, and thus are less able to make rigorous and well-informed judgments,” Sheila Blumstein, professor of cognitive and linguistic sciences and a member of the Committee of Tenure and Faculty Development Policies, wrote in an
e-mail to The Herald. For example, Blumstein wrote, Brown requires “fewer letters from outside referees than do any of our peers,” adding that there was some concern there would be a decrease in faculty autonomy if the provost was too involved in the selection process. “It is essential that we can get a thoughtful set of letters from a range of faculty not at Brown about the academic reputation and potential for future productivity of the candidate, and we do a careful evaluation of the teaching ability of the faculty member,” Blumstein wrote. But the ad hoc tenure review committee felt “granting of tenure is one of the most important decisions a university can make, and the decision is a shared responsibility of the faculty and the administration,” she wrote. After considerable debate among the faculty, the motion was amended to also include that each year a ballot will be prepared with two faculty members per vacant position, who will be chosen by the Committee on Nominations in consultation with the provost after seeking nomination from the voting faculty, according to the minutes. The amended motion also stated that candidates “should be representative of the divisions of knowledge in the University and diversity in the Faculty,” according to the minutes. Professor of Sociology Ann Dill, who proposed an amendment to the original motion at the May 4 faculty meeting, said Brown is in the “middle pack of peer institutions” concerning tenure. “It’s
debatable. If it is higher, it could be argued that we’re doing a good job at recruiting people,” Dill said. There was a lot of lobbying at the meeting, Dill added. Garcia Coll said she believes the faculty satisfaction is split concerning the issue of tenure. “Some parts of the process are not working, and we want to make sure these are fixed. It was a very heated discussion,” she said. With the Corporation’s efforts to ensure Brown’s promotion and tenure process upholds standards of excellence, the administration’s relationship with faculty members has been widely discussed among the University’s governing committees. “What I think (the Corporation) can do to support faculty is to encourage measures which encourage productivity in research and excellence in teaching and good citizenship in services,” Dill said. “It’s ver y clear that you have to look at departments and programs as a whole and the different ways in which individuals contribute to the excellence of the university rather than expecting that everyone reaches a certain bar.” Despite the varied reactions to the change in the tenure process, Garcia Coll stressed that the core of any university is its faculty. “We are catalysts of everything — courses, research, theses, mentoring — and so you need to keep the faculty engaged in the processes of the university. That’s how you keep the university alive,” Garcia Coll said. The faculty will vote on the next motion based on the NEASC recommendations at the next faculty meeting in early October.
BUCC discusses flood recovery efforts in Pakistan continued from page 1 administrative resources across departments to cut costs — were also examined. The recommendations, aimed at decreasing the budget while increasing administrative efficiency, prioritized the preservation of academics, Davis added. “Many of us were hoping that by the stroke of midnight on June 30, ever ything would be done,” Davis said. “But much remains ... all of this has to be carefully tracked and followed.” Response to the University’s new, colorful and multimedia website following its launch last week has generally been positive, said Marisa Quinn, vice president for public affairs and University relations, at the meeting. “We wanted something modern and functional,” said Quinn. “We really couldn’t convey what we care about as a University with the old website.” Approximately half of all visitors to the former website would leave immediately after accessing it, but the “bounce rate” for the new page hovers at 18 percent,
she said — adding that the figure may be credited to freshmen and their parents. While most users appreciate the bright colors of the site, the most frequent complaint is a lack of a direct link to Brown Gmail, Quinn said. Comments will be reviewed at the end of the month. The new welcome page is part of a larger goal to strengthen Brown’s place on the Web — from its nearly 12,000 fans on Facebook to its roughly 6,800 followers on Twitter, the University’s online presence is growing, she said. “I said to (President Ruth Simmons), we really need to work on social networking, but I’m 46 and don’t know how to,” Quinn said about a talk with Simmons last year, which then led to student participation in the projects. Simmons also addressed student involvement in the new Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center at the meeting — “Will you tell us whether you’ve been able to shorten the lines for sandwiches?” she asked to laughs. Director of the Campus Center Dean Kisa Takesue ’88 agreed that the center has become a magnet
for students seeking food, study space or downtime with friends. “The second the door opened, Meiklejohns were holding meetings,” she said. “Even first-years who don’t know any different like it.” Existing programs at the Center including First Friday, which features food and entertainment, will resume, while new events, such as an evening when a faculty member picks his or her favorite movie to watch with students, are also planned. BUCC member Brittaney Check ’12 addressed concerns surrounding the food containers, which she said many students deem wasteful. The eater y’s use of containers is inconsistent with Brown’s environmental approach and will be further examined, said Director of Dining Ser vices Gretchen Willis, adding that bottled water has already been eliminated from the shelves. Addressing the lines for paninis or bagels, Willis said, “In case you didn’t know, you all eat at noon. Not at 11:30, not at 1:30 — at noon,” and suggested var ying
dining times to avoid the queues. Members of the council also discussed relief efforts for Pakistan’s devastating floods and the ongoing efforts in Haiti. The two disasters should push the Brown community to help and learn from the tragedies, Vice President for International Af fairs Matthew Gutmann said. Brown’s 22 Pakistani students and their families are safe, he added, and commended student efforts to assist the region, where the U.N. estimates more than 4 million people have been displaced. Areebah Ajani ’11, a member of the Pakistan Flood Relief Committee, said the group wants to “fundraise and have education going on at the same time.” A teach-in on Sept. 24 and a fundraiser on Oct. 1 are planned. “We certainly will be working hard to get you what you need to get these programs done,” said Simmons, who sent a campuswide e-mail Sept. 8 expressing the need for the campus to assist in recover y efforts. “Thank you for taking the responsibility to get this done.”
continued from page 1 to some. “I hate how the focaccia sandwiches stop at two,” Lingke Wang ’12 said. The lines can also extend out into the seating area during peak hours, especially now that the eater y ser ves offerings from Kabob and Curry in the evening. At lunch, Sara Kinslow ’12 said, she “went to the Blue Room, and the line was way too long.” The Center has also proved to be an extremely popular study and meeting spot. “I’m noticing it’s been a great space for studying. I’ve seen study groups, people coming in by themselves and studying,” said Brown. “The Leung Gallery is very quiet,” remarked Wang. “Sometimes I study there.” The overall design and layout of the new campus center has been enthusiastically accepted as well. “It’s a space that we probably have needed for a long time,” Brown said. Small conveniences have made a big impact on students. “The hand blow dr yers are pretty sick,” Laura Ucik ’13 said. “That new water bottler filler is also pretty sick,” Aspinwall added. Brown also noted that “the new hydration stations are pretty popular.”
Primary results U.S. Congress, Dist. 1 David Cicilline 37.2% Anthony Gemma 23.1% David Segal 20.1% William Lynch 19.6% Mayor of Providence Angel Taveras 49.4% John Lombardi 29% Steven Costantino 20%
Langevin holds on to 2nd district continued from page 1 campaign manager and fiancee of mayoral candidate Chris Young. Unopposed Democrat Frank Caprio took the Democratic nomination for governor, a victory ensured when Attorney General Patrick Lynch ’87 withdrew from the race in July. Caprio faces Republican John Robitaille, a former communications adviser to Gov. Donald Carcieri ’65. In the second congressional district, Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., soundly defeated primar y challengers Betsy Dennigan and Ernie Greco. Businessman Mark Zaccaria earned the Republican nomination in the second district, outpacing three challengers to become the GOP’s choice to oppose Langevin.
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Wednesday, September 15, 2010
“This piece chosen for Elle was my degree project.” — Tracy Wilder, finalist and jewelry designer
RISD students compete in magazine show continued from page 2 said. “It was just RISD they partnered with, which was a great honor,” Gustavsen said. But selecting the 22 designers was no quick and easy feat. During the application process, which spanned nearly a year, designers first answered a written application and submitted visuals of their work, Gustavsen said. Then, fashion news editors from Elle visited RISD to interview the designers and examine their proposed pieces. The competition was not restricted to apparel designers. Students from both the textile and jewelry departments were encouraged to enter as well to demonstrate “a more accurate array of disciplines,” she said. “They got very intimate knowledge of the designers’ work,” she said. “They were totally engaged with the students throughout the process.” The student designers said they felt at ease with Elle’s interviewing process. When the magazine’s fashion news editors visited RISD to interview designers, “it was great to talk to them individually to get their feedback,” wrote finalist and jewelry designer Tracey Wilder in an e-mail to The Herald. “They actually spent a lot of time talking to everyone and made the interview a lot less stressful by being so personable.” In the end, the finalists included four jewelry designers and three textile designers. The remaining 15 finalists came from the apparel department, Gustavsen said. “To have their work shown at this level is a great honor,” Gustavsen said. She added that the exposure from the competition alone will be a great boon to the designers’ careers. Gustavsen said she could not be more proud of her designers. “It was a team effort of the faculty to help the students in the past year,” she said. Sewing together the seams The fashion show took place amid much anticipation from members of the RISD community, the featured designers and professionals in the style world. The designers
were competing for several monetary awards given out by Elle, Maybelline and Kate Spade. Judges included designers Nicole Miller and Tommy Hilfiger and other big names in the industry. A people’s choice award is also being conducted through Elle’s website, where individuals can vote for their favorite designer. Winners from the event included apparel designer Jessica Castellano, who won $25,000 from Maybelline, David Yoo, who also won $25,000 compliments of Elle and Caroline Hust who won $10,000 and an internship with Kate Spade. The winner of the $10,000 People’s Choice Award will be announced next month. Gustavsen said she was impressed by the “continuity of high quality” put forth by the designers, as well as their creativity and ingenuity. She said she was particularly pleased by the professionalism of the designers throughout the competition. “The grace with which they’ve dealt with the competition is great,” Gustavsen said. “They’ve been very supportive of each other.” “Everyone was really willing to help,” said Castellano. “We all got better together.” Slime and chiffon At the event, apparel designer Jenny Lai’s work was the first to take to the catwalk. With a bright pop of color, her designs energized the audience right from the beginning of the show, she said. Featuring bold yellows, blues, purples and reds, her pieces played with new ways of presenting traditional designs. “It was really cool just to see all they did for us and the work they put into showcasing our work,” Lai said. Elle organized the staging, the hiring of models and the styling of the clothing, she said. In fact, the show was the first time many of the designers got to see their completed looks after Elle had styled the models, Lai said. Lai, who graduated in May, will be leaving for Amsterdam soon to complete an internship with Viktor and Rolf and several other fashion houses throughout Europe, she said. Wilder’s jewelry pieces were a
stark contrast to Lai’s work. The sterling silver jewelry she made was delicate and flowed naturally over the model. “The piece chosen for Elle was my degree project,” she wrote. Wilder wrote that her design was inspired by the unusual combination of slime mold and her unique look on things. “I feel that the way slime mold grows is a good representation of this weaving motion that represents the way I think,” she wrote. Wilder is currently working in Virginia Beach as a metal smith while she begins to sell her jewelry online, she wrote. Heeyoen Uee, a textile designer with a distinct point of view, used a technique called digital printing when designing the pieces featured by Elle, she said. “It’s like paper printing, but on fabric,” Uee said. After scanning one of her paintings or drawings into a computer, Uee selected her fabric, which consisted mostly of cottons and silks for the show. She would then print her design onto the fabric. “When I first used the technique, I was amazed,” she said. “I love to do fine arts and fashion design,” Uee said, adding that she generally does not like making three-dimensional works of art. Uee discovered textile design in her sophomore year and said she thought it was the perfect combination of her two passions. Castellano, an apparel designer, was another designer combining two of her greatest loves in her works. Her clothes are both hard and soft, edgy and romantic. Using a variety of textiles, including silk chiffon and leather, Castellano said she wanted to convey a sense of conflict in her pieces stemming from her dual passions of fashion and music. Castellano, who said she considered a career as a concert pianist, said her collection represents her struggle to choose between music and fashion. “Of course I would love to style my own line, but I’m going to save it for now,” she said. “I’m working for Victoria’s Secret now. I’m hoping to learn a lot from them and then when I’m confident enough, pull out the money and start a line.”
Max Monn / Herald
Professor of Political Science Mark Blyth discussed changes to the IR and DS programs with students in an open forum on Tuesday night.
Blyth discusses changes to IR and DS programs Tues. night continued from page 1 Blyth said. To assist him in this task are Assistant Director Claudia Elliott in IR, new Programs Coordinator Sherita Allen in IR and Visiting Fellow and Undergraduate Adviser Cornel Ban in DS. Blyth said he hopes to address many of the problems IR and DS students currently have, such as advising. Because these concentrations are not departments, concentrators suffer from a lack of advisers and permanent faculty. And particularly for IR concentrators, the large student-to-adviser ratio makes productive and engaging advising time hard to come by, he said. Blyth said he also envisions a much better website for both programs. He plans to hire a permanent Web staffer to do a “complete makeover” of the websites. In particular, Blyth is interested in implementing a Web resource that can address the problems students have with meeting concentration requirements. As interdisciplinary programs, IR and DS draw their concentration courses from a variety of departments, which creates problems when departments decide to remove or add certain courses. “We are hostage to what other departments offer,” Blyth said. To reduce this unpredictability, Blyth wants to merge the program websites with Banner so students are constantly informed of course changes and will know whether a certain class will satisfy concentration requirements. Blyth said this automation of the website will significantly cut down on administrative time, allowing advisers to spend more quality time discussing academic and intellectual matters with students and not merely talking about requirements or signing declaration forms. To facilitate the ongoing transition, there will be a committee to collectively address and discuss issues in both programs. Associate Dean of the College Kathleen McSharry is staffing The Future of International Studies at Brown, a committee which will include Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron, Direc-
tor of the Watson Institute Michael Kennedy, Ban, Elliot, Blyth and other faculty members. Bergeron has also selected two student representatives for the committee — IR concentrator Michael Ewart ’11 and DS concentrator Christina Kovacs ’11. Blyth said he hopes including people from a variety of academic and intellectual backgrounds will help inform the decisions of the committee. The committee plans to meet a total of six times throughout the semester. Members will begin by reviewing the current state of education in the programs, and will specifically go over the 2008 report from the Task Force on Undergraduate Education, McSharry said. But before the committee meets, McSharry wants to have a student-run meeting to receive more student feedback on this change to the IR and DS programs. Responses from faculty members have been positive, but students present at the meeting seemed somewhat skeptical of the improvements this change will make. Many believed that the advising process needs a huge overhaul. “I wish it were more personal,” said IR concentrator Helene Vincent ’11.5, noting that because there are so few advisers, she receives broad advice that doesn’t necessarily pertain to her interests. Potential IR concentrator Marc Monsod ’13 agreed. “It’s not as accessible as I would like it to be,” he said. “I feel I haven’t fully reaped the rewards of advising.” Another DS concentrator also expressed the need for the programs to offer more courses within the concentration to prepare concentrators for a thesis, which is required of all DS concentrators. Blyth said he believes that future student forums and committee meetings will address these concerns. These capacity and administrative problems are not specific to the IR or DS programs, added McSharry. There is a “deep, structural issue” because the number of social science concentrators is increasing around the nation, while the size of the program faculty does not change, McSharry said.
SportsWednesday The Brown Daily Herald
Wednesday, September 15, 2010 | Page 5
Cross Country
M. Golf
Squad prepares for upcoming challenges
Young team learns lots at Naval Academy
By James Blum Contributing Writer
For many of the men and women who participated in the Boston College Invitational on Saturday, the starting gun signaled both a new season and the beginning of their Brown running careers. The freshmen who ran gained important experience and proved themselves capable of competing at the collegiate level. On the men’s side, Nathan Chellman ’12 guided the freshmen as they ran their first collegiate eight-kilometer race. Considering that high school races are only 5k, Assistant Coach Jill Miller wrote in an e-mail to The Herald, “each of them showed tremendous toughness and potential.” Andrew Perilli ’14 was the first underclassman finisher for Brown with a time of 25 minutes, 58 seconds and was closely followed by Brendan Boyle ’14 with 26:13. Regarding the longer distance, Perilli wrote in an e-mail to The Herald, “the last mile was very tough and it was a true test to keep everything together.”
As a frame of reference, 8k is about 5 miles and in order to finish in 26 minutes, a runner would have to average 5:14 per mile. The fast times run by the men show that they are “far ahead of where we expect freshmen to be at this point in the season,” Miller wrote. Alyse Rocco ’12 led the women’s team and, although there were fewer freshmen competing, Aleyna La Croix ’14 and Megan Palmer ’14 were among those who gained valuable experience. They posted times of 19:27 and 20:09 respectively for the 5k race. To ground these times, it requires a 6:26 per mile pace to finish the 5k — 3.11 miles — race in 20 minutes. With the first meet behind the team, Miller wrote, “the main focus is on high-quality workouts and keeping everyone healthy.” As with any sport, success requires both solid fitness and sound strategy. On this, Miller wrote, “we have a lot of room for tactical and mental improvements.” Since it is still early in the season, there is plenty of time to strengthen
football
Mix of young and old the recipe for special teams BY Maria Acabado Contributing Writer
The Brown football team looks forward to their first game against Stony Brook on Saturday, though the team fell short to the Seawolves last year. In last year’s game, a missed kick would have made the difference between a gutting loss and a hard-earned win.
Pigskin Preview Part two of three
“We’re going in with high expectations,” wide receiver Nathan Lovett ’12 said. “We feel good, and we’re really excited to get out there and start playing again.” Last season’s record reveals several losses that could have been wins had the Bears’ kicking been more effective. Last year, Brown lost to Penn, even though the Bears had the chance to win in regulation. A missed field goal pushed the game into overtime, where Penn secured the victory. This year, however, high expectations have fallen upon the shoulders of kicker Alex Norocea ’14, who says he is “looking forward to being a four-year starter.” Norocea said the Bears are optimistic and “hoping for
a different turnout” this year. Norocea said he feels the pressure, but is “ready to deliver for the team and bring an Ivy League championship here.” Norocea also has support from Lovett, who earned Ivy League Special Teams Player of the Week last season for his exceptional punting against Penn. “We lost a lot of good talent last year ... but there’s also a lot of young talent who has the opportunity to step into big shoes and show everybody what they have,” Lovett said. Included in that group of young talent, Norocea feels he has “adapted well so far” with regard to college footballs and thinner posts, and additionally with the team. Veteran players have been supportive, and “the team is working really cohesively together, hoping to bring success,” Norocea said. “There’s no big star this year. (We’re) more like a unit.” With a renewed sense of optimism in the team’s kicking situation, the Bears are poised to better last year’s third place finish in the Ivy League. Said Lovett, “We want to go undefeated on the season, but we’re looking to be successful and contend for an Ivy League championship.”
browndailyherald.com/sports
the foundation on which later success can be built. “Everybody is here because they want to run and push themselves,” La Croix wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. This motivation will be important as the teams prepare for the Iona Meet of Champions on Saturday. This competition will include more members of both teams, and the squads should be close to full strength, according to Miller. This race’s location — Van Cortlandt Park in New York, N.Y. — is strategically important as the Ivy League Heptagonal Championship is held there later in the season. Running the Iona meet now allows the new runners to “visualize the course that they will run at Heps,” Miller wrote. Although the search continues for a new men’s distance coach, Miller wrote, “we are hopeful to have someone in less than 2 weeks.” At that point, the Iona Meet of Champions will be over, and the team will be preparing for the Paul Short Invitational at Lehigh University.
By Sam Rubinroit Contributing Writer
Bruno traveled to Annapolis, Md. last weekend for the U.S. Naval Academy Invitational held at the par-71 Naval Academy Golf Course. The team shot a two-day score of 613 (306–307), placing them 12 in the 16-team field. While the University of Delaware earned the victory with an astounding 569, Bruno took note of more than just golf. “It’s a pretty impressive place,” Head Men’s Golf Coach Michael Hughes of the Naval Academy said. “If you’ve ever been down there, and I would encourage people to visit there, you go to bed at night feeling pretty safe and secure knowing that these young men are protecting our country.” The Bears entered the tournament with a young team, featuring
two freshmen, two sophomores and one senior. JD Ardell ’13 and Peter Callas ’14 were Brown’s top finishers at 153 overall, while Michael Amato ’11, Jack Mylot ’13, and Kyohei Itamura ’14 all came in at 157. Itamura shot the low round for Bruno on Sunday, shooting a three-over 74. For a team as young as Brown’s, the only way to improve is to gain experience in tournaments, Hughes said. “We’re off to a pretty good start for a young team,” he said. “I think we’ll get progressively better as these young guys start learning the ins and outs of college golf and mixing curriculum and D-I sports together. I’m hopeful we play well down the stretch.” The Bears return to action close to home next week in the Adams Cup, held September 20–21 at the Newport National Golf Club.
Editorial & Letters The Brown Daily Herald
Page 6 | Wednesday, September 15, 2010
l e t t e r to t h e e d i to r
Climate change still real despite scandal To the Editor: I appreciate Dominic Mhiripiri’s anxiety about scientists who try to falsify their data and manipulate their results. However, I do not believe that the scientific integrity of a few individuals was Mhiripiri’s main concern in his column (“Climategate was no fluke,” Sept. 7). I gathered that the main point of the column was to challenge the accuracy of the scientific study of climate change based on the misconduct of a few individuals and to characterize this field as “highly secretive.” Starting with the first misconception, summaries of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports are available online for anyone who cares to read them. Mhiripiri also plays the tune that climate change is a murky business and the science is not supported by clear evidence. It’s true that certain details of climate change are complex and obscure, but the larger picture is very simple and well understood. Carbon dioxide is one of several gases that keeps in some of the Earth’s heat and makes it a livable temperature for humans. Human activities have
greatly increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to a point that exceeds by far anything in the last 650 thousand years. Similar to adding another blanket, this increase in carbon dioxide has and will continue to increase Earth’s average temperature. As a result, a great deal of polar ice will melt and thus raise the sea level. Considering the large number of people who live very close to the current sea level, this has catastrophic implications. Just ask the residents of New Orleans how it was to have their city flooded. Another result of this climate change will be increased desertification. Farming a desert has never been easy, especially now considering the increasing scarcity of fresh water. The science is simple: global warming is real and is very bad news. It is important to ask questions, and data manipulation is never acceptable, but it is propagandistic to use this so-called scandal in an attempt to throw into doubt a thorough and empirically supported field of science. Benjamin Howard ’11 Sept. 8
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
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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 Isha Gulati Local Sales Arjun Vaidya National Sales Rajiv Iyengar 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
Caleigh Forbes, Gili Kliger, Julien Ouellet, Katie Wilson, Designers Rajan Mittal, Raaj Parek, Dan Towne, Copy Editors Ashley Aydin, Sydney Ember, Caitlin Trujillo, Alexandra Ulmer, Night Editors Senior Staff Writers Ana Alvarez, Ashley Aydin, Rebecca Ballhaus, Alexander Bell, Nicole Boucher, Fei Cai, Alicia Chen, Kristina Fazzalaro, Sarah Mancone, Claire Peracchio, Lindor Qunaj, Mark Raymond, Luisa Robledo, Caitlin Trujillo, Alexandra Ulmer 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, Anne Simons, 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, 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, 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, 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, Juhee Kwon, Matthew Lim, Sara Luxenberg, Alexandra McFarlane, Joe Milner, Rajan Mittal, Lindor Qunaj, Kate-Lyn Scott, Carmen Shulman, Rebecca Specking, Dan Towne, Carolina Veltri
A L e x yuly
e d i to r i a l
Full house As in previous years, an on-campus housing crunch has forced several groups of students to start the fall semester living in lounges or kitchens converted to dorm rooms. Given this situation, some might be wondering why more students are not living off campus. Although the Office of Residential Life and the off-campus permission process have faced criticism lately, it’s important to recognize that the issue is more complicated than one might expect. This year’s overflow does not appear to be the direct result of too few students being allowed to live offcampus. The Herald reported last week that approximately 40 upperclassmen initially planned to move out of the dorms but later changed their minds. Additionally, Senior Associate Dean of Residential and Dining Services Richard Bova told the editorial page board that 116 additional students were granted off-campus permission over the summer but decided instead to stay in the residence halls. Factor in ResLife’s commitment to make on-campus housing available for all undergraduates, and the result is that some students are temporarily forced into suboptimal arrangements. We support ResLife’s policy of guaranteeing the availability of on-campus housing, which crucially provides students with a sense of stability and security. And we think the office generally shows a lot of patience for individuals making last-minute plans regarding offcampus housing, leaves of absence or study abroad. Nonetheless, our hope is that both staff and students alike continue to try to prevent hectic months in August and September. ResLife should look to streamline the off-campus permission process and notify students about the status of their request earlier during the previous year. An
off-campus apartment can be difficult to arrange for those who receive permission while they are away from Providence over the summer. Similarly, upperclassmen should make a concerted effort to finalize plans as soon as possible. Although ResLife provides an on-campus “safety net,” those who take advantage of it just before the year starts are probably inconveniencing a group of sophomores. Of course, we sympathize greatly with those who are starting the year in converted kitchens or lounges. In past years, ResLife has been able to move most of the students living in temporary spaces into traditional rooms. Still, the prospect of a mid-semester move is no doubt stressful, and the University must go the distance to make sure that these students are living comfortably now and can transition smoothly when the time comes. Recently, there has also been discussion of a dorm construction project. President Ruth Simmons mentioned the expansion of student residence halls as one of her priorities in last year’s State of Brown address, and Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services Margaret Klawunn told the editorial page board that the push for a long-term solution continues to be an area of focus for the administration. We are eager to watch these plans move forward. Finally, it’s worth noting that students already have a lot of input into Brown’s housing policies. The Residential Council advises ResLife on housing issues, and we encourage anyone with good ideas for improving housing at Brown to get involved.
Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.
correction A caption in Monday’s paper (“Statuesque,” Sept. 13) incorrectly identified the location of WaterFire as the Seekonk River. The celebration, in fact, takes place primarily on the Providence River. The Herald regrets the error.
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
Wednesday, September 15, 2010 | Page 7
How Proust did not change my life BY SARAH ROSENTHAL Opinions Columnist “Overzealous First-Year Reads Most of Summer Reading Assignment” said the headline in The Herald’s less hard-hitting and significantly less funny competitor, The Brown Noser. Ha ha, good one! Actually doing the summer reading assignment! Then again, maybe when a policy has become a complete joke, it’s time to reassess. Mandatory summer reading was instated in 2007, my freshman year. The class of 2011’s assignment was called “How Proust Can Change Your Life,” a self-help book on how to become a sad, asthmatic, Jewish, homosexual shut-in with mommy issues. And, oh yes, Proust was arguably the greatest writer of the 20th century, but that’s not the sort of thing you can learn from a massmarket paperback (eternal fame and literary genius, yours for only $10.08 on Amazon. com!). As exactly the sort of overzealous firstyear who actually slogged through the entirety of “How Proust Can Change Your Life,” I can assure you that my Brown experience would have been just as valuable without Alain de Botton’s insights. Maybe I’m biased because I didn’t enjoy the book. (Neither did most other people in my seminar, despite the able efforts of our professor.) Other assignments, like the class of 2012’s “The Places in
Between” and the class of 2014’s “The Dew Breaker” look significantly more interesting to me. But that’s the crux of the problem. Whether a book looks interesting to me, or you, or Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron, shouldn’t matter. Forcing the entire freshman class to read and discuss one book may have its uses, but it’s completely antithetical to Brown’s philosophy, and it’s a
Web page on “Our Philosophy,” “The curriculum should encourage individuality, experimentation and the integration and synthesis of different disciplines.” Does summer reading, which seems trite and useless even in high school, fit any of those goals? Let’s examine a case. In The Herald’s 2007 summer issue, my fellow ’11ers gave “Proust” such enthusiastic praise as “looks kind of interesting,” and “it’s only one book,”
Forcing the entire freshman class to read and discuss one book may have its uses, but it’s completely antithetical to Brown’s philosophy. bad way to introduce the newest members of the University to who we are and who we want to be. Students are attracted to this school because of the New Curriculum and the accompanying promise that we won’t be forcibly molded into so-called “perfect students.” High school seniors who believe that someone else can dictate what knowledge is personally valuable for them can apply to Columbia, the University of Chicago or any number of excellent schools with a strong core curriculum. But that’s not what Brown is supposed to be about. According to the University admissions
while professors and administrators expressed fears that no one would actually read it (“Summer reading, so far, gets positive reviews,” July 15, 2007). Their fears, at least according to the article, were misplaced, but for all the wrong reasons. The then-prefrosh interviewed said that they would read the book and thought others would too, but because they were “intimidated” and didn’t “want to come in looking like an idiot,” not because they had any intellectual investment in it. Doesn’t exactly sound like it’s promoting individuality, experimentation or even thought. Period. And then there’s the seminar experience.
Proust, Afghanistan, evolution and Haitian refugees are all topics worthy of significant study and reflection, but someone stewing in resentment over the choice of book is unlikely to get there (not like this is from personal experience or anything). Moreover, the presence of that sullen someone, not to mention the inevitable ingratiating suck-up and the know-it-all That Guy, will only detract from the discussion for those who actually did enjoy the book — especially in the first week of freshman year, when every interaction is fraught with meaning and judgment. Thankfully, the administration has discontinued the devious and unfair practice of screening first-years’ “private” essays to their advisers on the summer reading to pick out poor writers. And if there’s one upside to summer reading, it’s that it provides a surefire conversation starter during those awkward first few days of freshman year. However, it would be a lot better if said conversation didn’t center around how much everyone hates the book. Let first-years find their own interests and their own voices, rather than what they think professors want to hear. That will teach them a lot more about what it means to be a Brown student than any book could.
Former Opinions Editor Sarah Rosenthal ’11 is still in search of the time she lost doing her summer reading.
Rx for Brown: a healthy dose of active cynicism CHRIS NORRIS-LEBLANC Opinions Columnist I know you read that headline and prepared yourself for a moralizing diatribe where I attack your apathy while rationalizing my own. I could tell you to be cynical about the food in the Ratty, but I know that you already are. I could tell you to be cynical of our investment transparency policies (or lack thereof), but maybe you have no interest in hearing why you should. At least for the moment, I am willing to lay down my leftist propagandasword in favor of what I consider to be a more pressing and important first step. Everyone, this is a desperate call not even for pointed cynicism, but for any cynicism that sees itself through to some real world consequence. Don’t get me wrong; there are a million things about Brown that I like, and I don’t want to work towards a campus full of snarky and disaffected students. I have made great friends, have taken some amazing classes and maybe most importantly, have been introduced to a myriad of frameworks in which to think about the world. However, even though Brown has many incredible attributes for which I am indelibly grateful, it is far from a perfect place. Maybe my reasons for thinking so are very different than your own, and maybe down the road we can sit down and figure out exactly why, but right
now I am not interested in that. Rather, I want to talk about the apathy that seems endemic to our student body, an apathy from which I certainly am not exempt. Many a day I have chosen to sit in my room, numbing my brain with Reddit or Slashdot while there is really great work happening less than a mile away. Why, you ask, is this such a sin? Here, I think it’s important to bring praxis into the discussion. What is the point of our accumulated knowledge
So, fellow Brunonians, if food at the Ratty is so bad that a sizable percentage of the campus is always complaining, why don’t we do something about it? We are 8,261 strong, yet I have never seen more than several hundred students stand up for any particular cause. There is power in numbers, and I encourage you all to remember that at the end of the day, there is no Brown University without us. We populate the classes, pay for tuition and services, work as TAs and lab assistants.
I am not worried about my own political agenda nearly as much as our collective ability to make this school what we want it to be.
and intelligence if it is being spent solely for the sake of academia? Why bother staying up late to read that book about Po-Mo deconstructionist thought if its stake in the world at large ends as soon as you close the cover and flick off your light? By this, I don’t mean that we should consider a day wasted if we don’t exclaim “This is Sparta!” before we go to bed at night. I only mean that I know I could be doing better, and looking around at the average Brown student, it seems to me that this is the case for many of us.
Without us, this school is an empty shell. Just imagine a situation in which 8,261 people went knocking on President Ruth Simmons’ door in University Hall. Maybe we would show up at around 10 a.m. while she was still waking up and enjoying her morning coffee, and tell her that something about our University is completely unacceptable. Take for example the 1968 student walkout, when students of color at Brown decided that the pace of diversification was too slow. This effort was massive, unified and led to
the creation of the Third World Center, as well as a new set of guidelines for admissions to follow to better diversify our community. Powerful stuff, right? Today, I am not worried about my own political agenda nearly as much as our collective ability to make this school what we want it to be. Sure, my vision of Brown 50 years from now may look different than yours. However, I fear that until we realize our power as a student body, like the class of 1968 and so many others before us, the administration will continue to forge on with any and all plans to turn Brown into what they want and casually ignore opposition from all sides. Furthermore, I think this is our own fault and that we can decide to change it tomorrow. So, everyone, let’s start this year off right. Let’s stop asking and start demanding. Let’s stop thinking about how things might change and start showing up for any debate, action or speaker that might interest us. Let’s make sure that if there is any campaign for change on this campus that we are behind, our collective weight is ready to be thrown at our opposition. Most of all, let’s give the University a reason to listen to its students and create consequences for them if they don’t.
Chris Norris-LeBlanc ’13 is a mathematics and history concentrator from Pawtucket, RI. He may be contacted at christopher_norris-leblanc@brown.edu.
Today The Brown Daily Herald
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RISD students go to Fashion Week
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Men’s golf heads to Naval Academy
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
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t h e n e w s i n i m ag e s
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Today, september 15
tomorrow, September 16
4 p.m. — Climate Change: The Evidence and Our Options, MacMillan 117
5:30 P.M. — Paige Hicks ’11 Memorial Service, Manning Chapel
6 p.m. — Religious Literacy – What is it and why is it important?, Salomon 101
5:30 P.M. — Brown Bookstore Forum with Samuel Zipp and Robert Self, Brown Bookstore Community Room
2 comics
Cabernet Voltaire | Abe Pressman
menu Sharpe Refectory
Verney-Woolley Dining Hall
Lunch — Polynesian Chicken Wings, Vegan Stir Fry Veggies with Tofu, Lemon Cookies
Lunch — Italian Sausage & Peppers Sandwich, Vegetable Strudel, Lemon Cookies
Dinner — Sustainable Salmon Alla Griglia, Vegan Ratatouille, Macaroon Bars
Dinner — BBQ Chicken, Apricot Beef with Noodles, Macaroon Bars
Dot Comic | Eshan Mitra and Brendan Hainline
crossword
Fruitopia | Andy Kim
The Adventures of Team Vag | Wendy Kwartin
Bat & Gaz| Sofia Ortiz