Daily Herald the Brown
vol. cxlv, no. 116 | Friday, November 19, 2010 | Serving the community daily since 1891
Library security changed
Men’s Soccer beats bc
By Claire Peracchio Senior Staff Writer
By Qian Yin Staff Writer
In an effort to simultaneously increase safety in University buildings and streamline security operations, a number of changes are being instituted to restrict access to the Rockefeller and Sciences libraries. Starting this year, students are required to swipe their ID cards to enter the Rockefeller Library after 10 p.m., when the library closes to the public, according to David Banush, associate university librarian for access services. Card readers were installed last year on the doors of the library and a number of other campus buildings, including J. Walter Wilson, in an effort to enhance security on campus, said Mark Porter, executive director and chief of public safety. Readers were also put in place on the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center doors when it opened this year. The card readers prevent anyone who is not a member of the Brown community from entering these buildings to help ensure the safety of those inside, Porter said. He said the changes were not prompted by a change in crime patterns at the libraries. Banush said that over winter break, a card-operated turnstile system will be installed in the Rockcontinued on page 2
Corp. fellow faces new suit on day of GM IPO
Jonathan Bateman / Herald
Jon Okafor ’11 (left), Sean Rosa ’12 and the rest of the men’s soccer team will head to the second round of the NCAA tournament. See sports, page 5.
Thursday should have been a good day for Steven Rattner ’74 P’10 P’13. But on the day that General Motors’ initial public offering dramatically reduced the government’s stake in the company he helped to restructure, the former “car czar” faced a $26 million fine and a lifetime ban from the New York securities industry for his alleged involvement in a pay-to-play scandal, multiple news sources reported Thursday. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed two lawsuits against Rattner, accusing him of trading kickbacks to New York public pension fund leadership for a $150 million investment in Quadrangle Group LLC, the private equity firm
Film Festival hosts whirlwind competition By Jake Comer Staff Writer
Brown’s more adventurous filmmakers won’t get much opportunity for rest this weekend. The Ivy Film Festival’s annual 48 Hour Film Competition begins this evening at 8 p.m., when the teams of Brown students participating in the competition will be given their prompts. Then they’ll have until 8:00 p.m. on Sunday to put together what will hopefully be an award-winning short film.
“The ideal film would have a compelling story, good shots, clean audio and still follow the prompts,” wrote Travis Bogosian ’13, one of the Festival’s programming directors, in an e-mail to The
ARTS & CULTURE Herald. He added that they anticipate six teams to enter this year. In previous years most teams have had five or six members. The competition is put together by a group of Brown students that
helps organize the Ivy Film Festival each year. Festival Director Debbie Lai ’12 told The Herald that the 48-hour competition and movie screenings — this year, Danny Boyle’s “127 Hours” — hosted by the Ivy Film Festival each fall, are intended to generate excitement for the week-long Festival in the spring. A team of programming directors from the Ivy Film Festival devises prompts for the filmmakers continued on page 4
Brown pioneering contemplative studies initiative By Natalie Villacorta Staff Writer
inside
North of Pembroke campus sits a house that looks — from the outside — much like neighboring houses. But inside is a different story. The house has a laboratory in the basement and a prayer hall on the second floor. The Cheetah House, located at 185 Brown Street, was founded in 2008 for Brown students seeking a supportive environment for their contemplative practices. The house’s name comes from “citta,” the Sanskrit word for both heart and mind. “Meditation is mind training, but also the cultivation of heart qualities” like compassion and empathy, said founder Willoughby Britton. Studies show that meditation improves attention and emotional regulation, said Britton, a research associate in psychiatry and human behavior at the Warren Alpert School of Medicine. For that reason, stu-
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dents practicing meditation should have better focus and control over their emotions than other students. Britton and Professor of Religious Studies Harold Roth are leading the Brown Contemplative Studies Initiative. Brown is considered a pioneer in the newly developing field of Contemplative Studies, which is committed to the study of contemplative practices and their potential, Roth said. The goal of the initiative is to establish a center for contemplative studies where students and researchers can study and develop objective and subjective approaches to contemplative practice through a variety of disciplines including science, humanities and the creative arts. Britton is the leader of the scientific side of Brown’s initiative. Her research focuses on the effects of meditation on attention and emotion regulation. continued on page 3
that he founded. Rattner, a fellow on Brown’s Corporation and a former Herald editor-in-chief, left Quadrangle in February 2009 to head the president’s auto industry task force. In a separate matter Thursday, Rattner agreed to a $6.2 million settlement on earlier pay-to-play charges levelled by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The deal bans Rattner for two years from investment advising and securities trading. Both Cuomo, also New York’s governor-elect, and the SEC accused Rattner of employing favors — including agreeing to distribute a movie produced by the pension fund’s chief investment officer, donating to the campaign of former continued on page 2
BUGS gets campy in ‘Ruddigore’ By Ben Kutner Staff Writer
“I’m modesty personified!” quips Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd (Phil Arevalo ’11 ) in the Brown University Gilbert and Sullivan production of “Ruddigore, or The Witch’s Curse” opening Friday night in Alumnae Hall. “Ruddigore” features great singing and a strong orchestra — accompanied by the soundtrack of the audience’s
ARTS & CULTURE
Courtesy of Willoughby Britton
Max Grey ’12 meditates during a lab session of a popular course in contemplative studies. Meditation improves focus and emotional control.
persistent laughter. “Ruddigore” is “a parody on melodrama,” explained Director Kris Bergman ’11, campily listed as “Gilbert” in the program. “The real message is not to take oneself seriously,” Arevalo said. The cast of “Ruddigore” certainly does not seem to take themselves seriously, apparent in the overly dramatic facial expressions and the wide range of hilarious accents — some of which are apparently confused as to whether or not they should be British. “Ruddigore” is far more over-thetop than any other Gilbert and Sullivan show, explained pit orchestra conductor Matthew Jaroszewicz ’12, adding that Ruddigore has “more songs in a minor key,” giving a dark continued on page 4
Lead threat
Football star
Open books
Children in Rhode Island affected by lead in old houses
WR Alex Tounkara ’11 emerges as a deep threat
Chris Norris-LeBlanc ‘13 suggests Brown share its resources
News, 2
SPORTS, 5
Opinions, 7
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
C ampus N EWS
Friday, November 19, 2010
“This is the very definition of hubris.” — Stephen Walt, Harvard professor, on the U.S. presence in Afghanistan
ID-operated turnstiles Janus Forum debates nation building to be installed at Rock By Joseph Rosales Contributing Writer
continued from page 1 efeller Library. Those who do not have Brown card access will be asked show identification to be admitted by the staff at the circulation desk, he said. Banush said turnstile systems have been used at a number of other institutions including the University of Rhode Island, Harvard and New York University. Since the summer, building attendants no longer sit at the front desk at the Rockefeller Library, Banush said. The elimination of the building attendants was part of an organizational review process to lower University costs that took place last year, he said. The building attendants were primarily hired to ensure that materials from the library were not removed in any unauthorized way, Banush said. Other ways of preventing unauthorized removal of library materials, including installing alarms on the gates, have made the building attendant positions less critical to the operation of the library than they had previously been, he added. Hernan Cumplido, a Sterling security guard working at the Sciences Library, said he is concerned that without an attendant at the front desk, anybody is able to enter the library, which might make staff and students might feel less secure. But Banush said that people entering the library are required to either swipe in or sign in at the front desk, and the staff working at the circulation desk help monitor
and regulate access to the library. He added there are also security cameras in the lobby. In addition, a Sterling security guard now patrols the building during all hours of operation, Banush said. Joseph Sarno, director of labor and employee relations, said the University eliminated the attendant positions without any involuntary layoffs. Among the former building attendants at the Rockefeller Library, one part-time attendant accepted voluntary retirement, one full-time attendant decided to pursue her education and two part-time evening attendants were transferred to the SciLi to work the same hours. The SciLi is keeping the building attendant at the front desk and will not use a turnstile system, due to the different setup of the library, Banush said. He said a turnstile system needs a person to monitor it, but in the SciLi no staff works on the first floor except for the building attendant. Banush said the University has informed neighborhood users of the libraries that the doors are locked after 10 p.m. and has not received any questions or concerns. According to Allison Spooner, president of the College Hill Neighborhood Association, the organization has not received complaints about the libraries’ locking the doors at 10 p.m. “Building security remains a priority across the University,” said Marisa Quinn, vice president for public affairs and university relations.
sudoku
Both speakers introduced themselves as the “underdog,” but neither stepped back from his stance regarding nation building in Afghanistan during Thursday’s lecture at Salomon Hall. Harvard Professor of International Affairs Stephen Walt began his lecture by quoting the Marxist maxim — Groucho Marx, that is — that “politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.” Walt used this theme throughout much of the night. He referenced historical cases of nation building, including failed attempts by the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and France, saying that “no matter who’s doing it, nation building fails more often than they succeed.” Walt went on to say that he understands the U.S. is very keen to help
suffering countries, but was quick to warn that “the costs often outweigh the benefits.” Walt argued that the U.S. government is engaged in “a massive social engineering project” with a nation completely different from America. U.S. troops go into Afghanistan with very little knowledge of the people’s culture and beliefs and expect to be able to change their political system, Walt said. “This is the very definition of hubris,” he added. James Dobbins, former United States ambassador to the European Union, emphasized the good that has come from the United States’ nineyear stay in Afghanistan. The country has seen economic growth, a higher life expectancy, a lower infant mortality rate and an increase in education, Dobbins said. But while these signs show the country is stepping in the right direction, the initial goals have not been
reached, Dobbins argued. According to Dobbins, the U.S. doesn’t try to intervene to make poor countries rich, but rather to try to make violent countries more peaceful. “In the end, the only way it will end is through some negotiated accommodation,” he said. Walt mentioned that though he is not against trying to help nations succeed, the lack of manpower, the incompetence of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the weak security force make the U.S. government’s goals regarding Afghanistan difficult to reach. Walt finished by quoting a Chinese official who said, “You’ve spent the last 10 years spending a trillion dollars on Iraq and Afghanistan. We’ve spent the last 10 years building our future.” Walt added on to this reference, saying, “I think we ought to be mindful of that.” The lecture, titled “Nine Years Later: Nation Building in Afghanistan,” was sponsored by the Janus Forum.
Lead poisoning affects R.I. youth, study finds By Caroline Flanagan Contributing Writer
Instances of lead poisoning are concentrated among children under six living in Rhode Island’s lower-income neighborhoods and neighborhoods with older houses, according to a study conducted by members of the Department of Community Health. Patrick Vivier, associate professor of community health and pediatrics, led the study in collaboration with other members of the department. The researchers used data from a Rhode Island Department of Health database to create a map of lead poisoning cases among children under the age of six between 1993 and 2005. They then formed a commis-
sion with Attorney General Patrick Lynch to study the problem. The study focused on children because — although lead poisoning can affect anyone — it can cause serious damage to a child’s developing brain, even at low concentrations. When examining the data, the researchers paid particular attention to neighborhoods with higher poverty levels and higher concentrations of houses built before 1950. Before the 1950s, homeowners were unaware of the dangers of lead poisoning and often used lead paint on interior walls. The study found disparities between rates of lead poisoning in children living in houses built before the 1950s and those living in houses built within the last 50 years. “The most important finding of the study is really the extent to just how concentrated health problems can be. In certain cases no kids had poisoning, while in others, half of the kids were poisoned. There were unbelievable disparities,” said Vivier. Families living in old houses can reduce the risk of lead poisoning by making sure that dust does not collect and there is no peeling paint. But many lower-income families cannot afford to take extra measures to en-
sure paint upkeep and safety. “It’s not just a question of poverty,” said Vivier, “Where you live really determines whether you’re at risk. If you’re living in a house built in 1920, and there’s been peeling paint, your kids are still at risk.” The study has helped the commission target neighborhoods to try to eliminate problems with lead. A group called ClearCorps is overseeing the cleanup process in Rhode Island, and millions of dollars have already been allocated to reduce lead poisoning, Vivier said. He said he hopes the tactics used in this study can be used in other studies to examine the distribution of other health problems and possibly help combat them. He was particularly impressed with how well ever yone on the commission worked together. John Logan, professor of sociology, and Scott Bell, professor of geography at the University of Saskatchewan, also contributed to the study. “The study was a nice collaborative effort,” said Vivier, “It’s terrific to have students, faculty from the public health department, faculty from the sociology department and members of the state government working together to solve a problem.”
Rattner ’74 accused of trading favors for kickbacks
Daily Herald the Brown
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continued from page 1 New York Comptroller Alan Hevesi and hiring a fundraiser associated with Hevesi — to gain the fund’s business. Responding to Cuomo’s charges on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Thursday, Rattner called the corruption investigation “the most painful episode I’ve ever been through in my professional life.” “I have indicated that I am open to a reasonable settlement in order to move on with my life,” he said. Cuomo’s insistence on excluding
Rattner from the state’s securities industry stemmed from Rattner’s repeated refusal to answer prosecutors’ questions during a Sept. 16 deposition, according to the Wall Street Journal. Rattner invoked his Fifth Amendment rights 68 times during the testimony, the Journal reported. While Rattner’s case is still ongoing, Quadrangle reached a $7 million settlement in April on charges that it gained millions of dollars in investments from New York’s Common Retirement Fund through illegal fees.
Friday, November 19, 2010
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
C ampus N EWS
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“You start to see your thoughts as more external.” — Kyle Brine ’13, on meditation
Study compares effects of meditation, dance and music continued from page 1 Recipe for focus Britton wondered whether other high-focus practices — such as music, dance, theater and writing — would yield the same benefits as meditation. Having spent over 7,000 hours of her life meditating, she wanted to know if this time could have been spent playing the guitar instead of sitting quietly, cultivating breath awareness. Practices like meditation, music and dance require sensory motor integration, a focus on body sensations. Such activities tune the prefrontal cortex of the brain. The prefrontal cortex modulates attention and controls the amygdala, a structure related to emotion. When the prefrontal cortex is properly functioning, the amygdala is inhibited. If not properly functioning, the disinhibited amygdala can cause emotional overreactions and — over time — emotional disorders like anxiety and depression. Thus, people who have strengthened their prefrontal cortex through body-based attention training should have better focus and control over their emotions. Britton wondered if all bodybased attention training has the same effects on attention and emotional regulation. If so, musicians, dancers and meditators should all reap similar benefits. Brains in the basement To answer this question, Britton embarked on a years-long study. Over the past three years, Britton’s lab has studied students of music, dance and contemplative studies at Brown. Students of contemplative studies had participated in a minimum of three weekly hourlong meditation labs. Study participants completed two hours’ worth of questionnaires that asked about their moods, family psychological history, how much music they listen to and much more. They then underwent two hours of neuropsychological testing in the basement lab. The tests were designed to assess the functioning of three areas of the brain involved in attention and emotion regulation — the prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortex, the hippocampus and the amygdala.
To assess the prefrontal cortex and cingulate cortex, students completed what Britton called the “tedious” sustained attention to response test. To test the hippocampus and amygdala, students were exposed to emotionally loaded photographs and words, which they rated according to valence — pleasant to unpleasant — and physiological response — such as a cringe of disgust in response to a picture of a dead body or a burst of happiness in response to a picture of a smiling child eating ice cream. Before coming to the lab for testing, students recorded their sleep for two consecutive nights using a cell phone-sized recorder. With two electrodes attached to the back of the head, the electroencephalogrambased recorder measured and recorded the electrical activity in the brain. Britton said she is curious about the effects of attention training on sleep. In a previously published study, she found that multi-practice meditation resulted in decreased sleep propensity — a lower tendency to sleep. Two hundred and eighty-eight students have volunteered their time, around 100 of whom are meditators. Ninety participants are students from meditation lab courses, and about 15 are advanced meditation practitioners who serve as a reference group. Because Britton’s lab receives no funding from the University, Britton rewarded participants with homecooked cupcakes and soup. Many undergraduate students who work in the Britton lab do so as volunteers. Britton says a lack of opportunities for clinical research in Psychology on campus has led to a lot of interest in her lab. Annie Brown ’12 started working in the lab after attending a summer program in India where she taught neuroscience to Buddhist nuns and monks. In return, they taught her the Buddhist philosophy of the mind. She said she was amazed by the amount of overlap between scientific and Buddhist understandings of the mind, and decided to switch from a concentration in neuroscience to one in “contemplative cognition.” Because contemplative studies is not an official University department, Brown created an independent concentration. She is one of three
head examiners in the lab, helping run the neuropsychological testing. Brown said the lab, besides conducting “phenomenal” research, is also a great community. “Because of our practice … we are approaching science contemplatively, and we are creating an intentional community of people who not only care about their work, but also care about each other,” she said. Britton found that the three groups — meditators, musicians and dancers — all demonstrated similar improvements in attention, but experienced different changes in emotion regulation, anxiety and depression. Britton has not yet published findings from this study, as she continues to collect data from students. “College courses are not equal when it comes to emotional wellbeing,” she wrote in an e-mail to The Herald, referring to the varying benefits of dance, music and contemplative classes. “Some may help with depression and stress, and some may make (them) worse!” Respiren, respirez, breathe This year, Britton added a fourth group to the study — students in language acquisition classes. Language acquisition — like music, dance and meditation — requires sensory motor integration training. “Simplemente respiren,” instructs
Victoria Smith, senior lecturer of Hispanic studies to her basic Spanish students. For a few minutes during class, students sit motionless with their eyes open or closed, hands relaxed in their laps, just simply breathing. Some of these students are subjects in Britton’s study. Smith is also part of the contemplative studies faculty. She said she incorporates contemplative practices in her class because she finds many students are too anxious and agitated. Smith says breath awareness practices slow the mind and allow students to “develop a witnessing state to (their) mental weather,” helping them to reach their learning and creative potential. Most students in Smith’s class enjoy the opportunity to press the pause button on life. “It’s nice that a professor takes time out of a class to realize that we’re all really stressed, especially in one that moves as quickly as Spanish,” said Nuni Montaigne ’12. Contemplative practices in Spanish class have sparked Montaigne to finally pursue meditation, which she said kept coming up in her life and conversations at Brown. Several other students have acted upon Smith’s encouragement to continue practicing outside of class, promising that even five minutes of sitting quietly daily helps with stress.
Kyle Brine ’13 began meditating two years ago. He said meditation is a part of his day separate from his busy life. When he returns from it, his problems don’t seem like such a big deal, he said. “You start to see your thoughts as more external, and with that, all of your problems.” For students not involved in the Britton study or in classes that incorporate contemplative practices, there are other opportunities to reap the benefits of meditation. They can practice on their own, as suggested by Smith, or join the Brown Meditation Community, which meets throughout the week in Manning Chapel. Tyler Keith ’10.5, who leads the group on Tuesdays, said meditation helps him maintain “basic sanity” because he has learned not to be overtaken by his mind and emotions. Zach Schlosser ’10.5 also spoke of how contemplative practices have helped him overcome anxiety, unhappiness and confusion. Both Keith and Schlosser live in the Cheetah House and have been on contemplative retreats. But as the final results of Britton’s study may tell, students may not even have to practice meditation to reap its benefits, but instead can spend their time dancing, learning a new language or playing a musical instrument.
Arts & Culture The Brown Daily Herald
Friday, November 19, 2010 | Page 4
Prompts to projects, 48 ‘Rude Mechanicals’ take the stage hours to make a film By Kristina Fazzalaro Senior Staff Writer
continued from page 1 participating in the competition. These prompts designate locations, lines of dialogue or other aspects of the film that must be incorporated by the team. “It’s important to have good prompts, since they ultimately structure what the filmmakers will be creating,” Bogosian wrote. But from there, the rest of the creative process is up to the teams. Everything that goes into the making of a film, including scripting, shooting, set design and editing, must be done within the 48-hour competition period. Films can be no longer than five minutes, with up to another 30 seconds for credits. The programming staff will watch and discuss the entries and award one film the Jury’s Choice Award. Its makers will receive $250 and VIP passes to the next Ivy Film Festival, which will take place April 18-24. The winning film will also be screened at the Avon Cinema as part of the spring Festival. The Ivy Film Festival will also feature other films by student filmmakers in a number of categories, such as international, documentary and feature-length, to be judged by the programming directors. There will also be screenings of professional films — “Waiting for Superman” was shown at last year’s festival and “No Country for Old Men” was featured in 2007. Each year, the programming directors also give more specific awards where they find special recognition is due, for such cat-
egories as “Best Cinematography” and “Most Original.” This year they hope to present an award to a film that best displays or articulates a socially conscious theme, wrote Lelia Ledain ’11, one of the Festival’s directors, in an e-mail to The Herald. There is also an “Audience’s Choice” award, which goes to the film that receives the most votes from viewers once the entries are posted on YouTube. The Ivy Film Festival’s first 48 Hour Film Competition was in 2007. Forty-eight-hour film competitions have been conducted since 2001, when a handful of film aficionados in Washington came up with the 48 Hour Film Project, which organizes competitions like this weekend’s. Last year the organizers of the Project facilitated such competitions in 76 cities around the world. “48-hour competitions have become increasingly popular events, what with the availability of cheaper cameras and simpler editing tools, so it’s only fitting that our festival would have one,” Bogosian wrote. Bogosian’s team’s entry, “Blue State Romance,” won the “Jury’s Choice” award last year. “I Play for Laina,” directed by Gabriel Doss ’10 and Jovan Julien ’10, won the “Audience’s Choice.” These and all the award-winning films from previous competitions are available on YouTube. Ledain wrote that the Festival can be a valuable experience for student filmmakers. “We offer opportunities for filmmakers to learn from each other,” she wrote.
From shrews to gentlemen, tyrants to jesters, all of Shakespeare’s favorite characters — and a few new additions — make an appearance in Shakespeare on the Green’s indoor production, “The Rude Mechanicals,” which opens tonight at the Underground. Featuring eight Shakespeare-inspired scenes, “The Rude Mechanicals” showcases both the hilarious and the dramatic, weaving together a near-flawless production of laughs and laments. The show opens with a scene from “The Taming of the Shrew,” in which the marriage of Kate (Christina Sauer ’14), the shrew, is announced by her joyful suitor, Petruchio (Danny Garfield ’13). If looks could kill, he would surely be six feet under by the force of Sauer’s glare. “Kiss me Kate!” he says, pulling her to him quickly. No sooner does he release her than she wipes his kiss away. Next up is the hilarious comedic sketch “Shakespeare’s Who’s On First.” Starring Nicola Ryan ’13 and Will Ruehle ’13, the scene’s playful adaptation fuses an old joke with older English to the delight of audience members. Commissioned to find athletes “fit to play this raucous
sport before the king,” the two characters go about setting the primary, secondar y and tertiar y positions — first, second and third base — amid cresting comedic frustration. Audience members must laughingly agree to “give thee bloody teeth” if a verily true answer is withheld. Who hath the primary position? In the next scene, from “Measure for Measure,” the fate of pious Isabella’s (Siri Olson ’14) brother lies in the philandering hands of Angelo (Emma Johnson ’14). If Isabella renounces her vows and sleeps with him, Angelo will release her brother. Johnson’s Angelo is superb — unexpected from a female in an overtly masculine role. Her strut is slow, deliberate and menacing toward the conflicted Isabella. A romantic scene from “Henry V” follows in which Henry (Gordon Sayre ’12) is determined to woo the beautiful Katherine (Emily Oliveira, a RISD sophomore), princess of France. Henry paints himself as the humble suitor whose ability to woo is sorely lacking, but his sincerity and sweet words ensnare both Katherine and the audience nonetheless. Rooting for the underdog has never been such fun as Sayre presents a charming, comedic — though undoubtedly determined — suitor. Continuing the pattern of sur-
prising the audience with emotional twists and turns, “The Rude Mechanicals” continues with a tragic scene from “Richard III” in which Richard (Harry Aspinwall ’11) attempts to seduce the grieving Lady Anne (Sophie Netanel ’11.5) at the funeral of her husband — whom he has had murdered. Aspinwall’s Richard is appropriately sinister to Netanel’s blind fury. It is a battle of words and wills between these two hard-headed characters with an outcome sitting grimly on the horizon. The concluding sketches are equal in their hilarity. In “Shakespeare’s Editor” the audience learns that Hamlet’s famous line “To be or not to be?” was a shortened soliloquy “Bill” (Andrew Favaloro GS) only agreed to on the condition that his two “Cockney gravediggers” made the final cut. And in an excerpt from “The Tempest,” the audience is treated to a drunkenly brilliant scene between a jester, a butler and a son of a witch. The production also features a scene from “A Winter’s Tale.” Together, the scenes featured in “The Rude Mechanicals” are delightfully diverse, amusing and riveting. Fine acting and classic text — with the occasional twist — make for a splendid evening.
‘Ruddigore’ embraces melodrama continued from page 1 and somber effect to the music. The audience follows Rose Maybud (Herald opinions columnist Sarah Rosenthal ’11), the town beauty of a village in Cornwall, who is waiting for a man to come along and sweep her off her feet. Enter Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd, the Baronet of Ruddigore. Due to a curse placed on all of the Baronets of Ruddigore — which forces them to each commit one daily crime until the day they die — Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd assumes the identity of Robin Oakapple after faking his own death in order to be rid of the curse. When “Robin” enters, he is already love-stricken with Rose, but he is far too timid to make a move. Rose, who also loves Robin, cannot act first because she lives by a book which prescribes all social formalities — preventing woman from showing their feelings first. “Here I find it doesn’t do to speak until you’re spoken to,” Rose declares as she points dramatically to her book. The awkward tension in their duet early in the show, “I know a youth,” first elicited laughter from the audience. The dominance of love over the constraints of social norms is a major theme in “Ruddigore.” As one character says, “For where true love is, there is little need for prim formality.” Robin turns to his foster brother, the charismatic Richard Dauntless (Rob Volgman ’14), who falls in love with Rose rather than help
his brother. The plot becomes even more convoluted with the introduction of the hilariously wicked Sir Despard Murgatroyd (Nate Stetson ’11). “Avoid an existence of crime, or you’ll be as ugly as I,” sings Sir Despard to a group of frightened townspeople. As the current baronet of Ruddigore, Sir Despard is subject to the curse — when it is revealed that “Robin” is truly Sir Ruthven the Baronet, the curse reverts to him and Despard runs off to live a life free of crime. Once it is revealed to Rose that “Robin” is actually Sir Ruthven, she quickly leaves him. The most notable feature of the production is its eccentric and funny characters, from Mad Margaret (Maya Stroshane ’11) to a group of ghosts who play Robin’s disgruntled ancestors. The singing is generally in tune. Rosenthal’s soaring soprano is wellembellished by her extremely quick, operatic vibrato. Arevalo strongly incorporates emotion into his singing, although a few of his lower notes become muddy when the orchestra is in full-blare. Several numbers, such as “When the night wind howls” and “There grew a little flower,” are stolen by Sir Roderic (Bryan Tyler Parker ’11), a ghost with an extremely powerful baritone and a positively wicked laugh. Stroshane also stands out as Mad Margaret, with a strong voice and fantastic command of body language. At certain moments, the singers fall out of sync with the orchestra but quickly recover. The sparse choreog-
raphy, often exaggerated, adds to the parody-esque feel of the production. “The integration of music and acting was much tighter than it had been before,” said Arevalo, acting in his third BUGS production. The characters seem to become more comfortable in their roles as the production goes on. They begin the first act somewhat unsure of themselves but the laughter of the audience helps to alleviate any stiffness by the second act. Bergman and music director Meghan Kelleher ’12 explained that they attempted to make the show as funny and appealing as possible. According to Bergman, Gilbert and Sullivan productions are often associated with an old, stuffy air — “Ruddigore” premiered in 1887 — but they wanted to modernize the show. “(We would) search through lines and make every line as relevant as possible, given when it was written,” said Kelleher. Audience members couldn’t help but laugh when a character continuously refered to himself as “Dick.” Audience members will find the experience to be very welcoming and user-friendly, beginning with the “Glossary of Recondite Terms” in the program. “Melodrama is silly,” explained Kelleher. Whether you go to Ruddigore for the silliness, the singing or the great set-design, it’s all there. “Ruddigore” will run Nov. 19-21 in Alumnae Hall at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. on Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday.
SportsWeekend The Brown Daily Herald
Friday, November 19, 2010 | Page 5
m. soccer
Bears victorious in NCAA homestand
By Zack Bahr Sports Staff Writer
The temperature was cold, but emotions were hot Thursday night at Stevenson Field, as No.22 Brown (12-3-3) defeated No.25 Boston College (10-5-5) in the opening round of the NCAA Division I men’s soccer tournament. Midfielder Jon Okafor ’11 and forward Austin Mandel ’12 led the way for the Bears, notching a goal apiece in the 2-1 victory. The Bears, who finished their home season undefeated, came out with tenacity and found the back of the net early on against the Eagles. Starting at the midfield line, Okafor weaved past a number of BC defenders before whipping a shot past goalkeeper Justin Luthy into the lower right corner of the goal 11 minutes into the game. The defense held strong for Brown with its foursome of Ryan McDuff ’13, David Walls ’11, Eric Robertson ’13 and Dylan Remick ’13. The defenders were able to take away several shot opportunities for BC. Remick also had several close headers and shots on the offensive side that just couldn’t find the net. “We are very confident in our defense. We are a very solid unit and we will try and build,” Walls said before poking fun at his First Team All-Ivy teammate. “We have a fairly decent goalkeeper as well.” Perhaps a little better than decent, goalkeeper Paul Grandstrand ’11 recorded four saves for Bruno in a game that became physical for him in the second half. Eagle midfielder Colin Murphy came sliding cleats high at Grandstrand, who was on the ground with ball in arms. Murphy, who lay on the ground after the collision, received a yellow card on the play. Mandel was in fine form for the Bears. Despite wearing a concussion cap, Mandel touched in a pass from midfielder Thomas McNamara ’12 to give Bruno the lead just two minutes after a game-tying goal by midfielder Kyle Bekker. Midfielder Jay Hayward ’12 rattled the left goalpost when he ricocheted a blazing free kick restart in the 76th minute. “We tried to get our feet on the ground early,” said BC Head Coach Ed Kelly. “We knew that they were a team that comes out strong. They were just better athletes than us.” With less than five minutes remaining, Bekker rocketed a shot from 25 yards out across the goal into the right side of the net. Bekker then made a celebratory lap past the Brown bench, circling his arm through the air and receiving a yellow card from the referee and boos from the nearly 1,000 Brunonians in the stands. Bekker later got in a heated debate with the head referee in the final minutes of the game over a handball and was given a second yellow card, knocking the goal-scorer out of the game. “He had to go and mouth off
again,” Kelly said of Bekker. “Now he has to sit out and I don’t know how he thought that was going to help us.” The head referee, Erich Simmons, was the same official who gave out a record number of yellow cards during Brown’s game against Harvard earlier this year. Head Coach Pat Laughlin, who is normally reserved on the sidelines, gave the assistant ref an earful on a couple of no-calls. “You know, it’s tough out there.” Laughlin said. “It’s a very physical game and it’s a tough job for the ref. I just thought that some things should have been called.” “To go up against an (Atlantic Coast Conference) team after being knocked out by one last year is very exciting,” Laughlin said, referring to Brown’s second-round loss to the University of North Carolina last year. “It’s an NCAA game. It’s win or go home.” “Win or go home” is a message that rings loud and clear for the seniors on the Brown sideline. In the single-elimination tournament, every game could be their last. “This team has been together for a long time,” said defender David Walls ’11. “We don’t know where this journey is going to take us, but we are excited.” Defender Ian Smith ’11 echoed the feeling. “We play for a national championship,” Smith said. “We are here playing for each other.” Brown will head to the University of Connecticut to take on the Huskies in second-round play. Kickoff is set for Sunday at 1 p.m.
athlete of the week
Tounkara ’11 tearing it up on gridiron By Ethan McCoy Sports Staff Writer
One of the biggest concerns for the football team going into this season was at the wide receiver position — who would step up to fill the shoes of the prolific duo of Buddy Farnham ’10 and Bobby Sewall ’10? In his first varsity season, Alex Tounkara ’11 has answered that question, exploding onto the scene as one of the most dangerous deep threats in the Ivy League. The senior ranks second in the Ivy League in receptions (56) and receiving yards (773). For his strong play and accomplishments all season, and for his remarkable football journey, the Herald has named Tounkara athlete of the week. Herald: Before this season you hadn’t had much varsity experience. What was it like to step right into a starting role and contribute since the very first snap? Tounkara: That’s the thing about college football. Everyone that’s here at these schools was the best in high school, was a great athlete, so they prepare you as soon as you are a freshman. Practice is as intense as it can be and you learn from the best. I had Buddy and Bobby in front of me, who showed me a lot of good things, and going up against the first team defense two straight years, that made me play a lot harder. You grew up in Belgium and moved to the United States with just your brother when you were 14. What was this transition like? It was kind of a trip because even though he was my older brother, I was taking care of him all the time so I feel like I grew up a little early and
missed out on a couple things, but it was good for me. I needed something like that, and it sprung my life into this whole crazy thing where I ended up at Brown, which is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. What sports did you play as a kid in Belgium? (Laughs) I played nothing but soccer until I came to the states. Never tried anything else. Do you still follow soccer today a lot? Oh yes, I love it. The World Cup — I filled out a bracket on ESPN. com and was in the 99th percentile (laughs). I love soccer. I always keep in touch. You didn’t start playing football until your junior year of high school. Could you tell me about your first experiences with the sport? It was kind of funny how I fell into it, because I walked into my high school and they encouraged students to have extracurriculars, so they asked me if I wanted to play a sport. Being naive, I said sure, I’ll play whatever ... so the guidance counselor I had at the time took me to the football office. At first, it was kind of nerve-racking. It’s football, so everybody thinks they’re the best and everybody talks trash, and com-
ing from Belgium and having never played the game before, I wasn’t used to that. It took me some time to adjust. Here’s the situation. You’re in the NFL and there are no penalties for excessive celebrations. You score a touchdown. What’s your best touchdown dance? (Laughs) Oh my goodness. It’d probably be a combination of about 10 celebrations. The first would be the Paul Raymond (’07) “put the team on my back” because my freshman year after Paul scored a touchdown, he would point at his jersey number on the back. That’s how I would start. And then I’d probably continue on to the “Dougie,” and somehow Jonah Fay (’12) would be there and we’d do some ridiculous dance together. What are you going to remember most about Brown when you graduate? My teammates. I’ve met so many different guys that I’ll never forget, from Paul Raymond freshman year doing the craziest things to Bobby Sewall and Buddy Farnham going to the NFL, and then Jonah Fay, Emory Polley (’14) ... . The guys that I’ve met — I think that’s the biggest thing that I’ll always remember from Brown. To read more of the interview, go to browndailyherald.com.
Editorial & Letters The Brown Daily Herald
Page 6 | Friday, November 19, 2010
l e t t e r to t h e e d i to r
Student interests aligned with library workers’ To the Editor: Reading The Herald’s article covering the library workers’ contract settlement last week (“Libraries union approves four-year contract,” Nov. 10), we can’t help but be struck by Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Beppie Huidekoper’s closing comment: “I want to add that Brown is so fortunate to have such a dedicated community. These are extremely challenging times and Brown’s employees have been terrific at working together to ensure that Brown’s students get the best experience possible.” This statement concludes two months of contract negotiations, during which the University has conjured up an imagined zero-sum formulation, pitting students and workers against each other in a competition for resources. Ludicrously, Huidekoper and fellow administrators publicly imply that there are only two line items in the University’s budget — compensation for workers and student services — and whatever benefits one group necessarily hurts the other.
But any casual observer of University goings-on could begin to list off the many other expenditures that the University deems worthwhile, and that, unlike workers’ wages and livelihoods, are never accused of directly trading off with crucial components of the student experience at Brown. Huidekoper insults the student body’s intelligence by implying that we would be fooled into thinking that the University’s anti-worker contract proposals were somehow put forward with students’ best interests at heart. Curtailing workers’ control over their hours, increasing their healthcare costs and trying to undermine their bargaining unit have nothing to do with “ensur(ing) that Brown’s students get the best experience possible.” Indeed, to the contrary, the interests of students and the interests of workers are now and have always been aligned.
Kate Hadley ’12.5 Haley Kossek ’13 Julian Park ’12 Lenora Knowles ’11 Alex Dean ’14
t h e b r o w n d a i ly h e r a l d Editor-in-Chief
Managing Editor
Deputy Managing Editors
Senior Editors
George Miller
Chaz Kelsh
Emmy Liss Joanna Wohlmuth
Ben Hyman Seth Motel
editorial
Business
Arts & Culture Editor Anne Speyer Arts & Culture Editor Suzannah Weiss Features Editor Sara Luxenberg Features Editor Brian Mastroianni Metro Editor Brigitta Greene Metro Editor Ben Schreckinger News Editor Sydney Ember Sports Editor Tony Bakshi Asst. Sports Editor Ashley McDonnell
Production Copy Desk Chief Kelly Mallahan Asst. Copy Desk Chief Joe Milner Asst. Copy Desk Chief Dan Towne Design Editor Julien Ouellet Asst. Design Editor Gili Kliger Asst. Design Editor Leor Shtull-Leber Asst. Design Editor Katie Wilson Web Editor Neal Poole
General Managers Office Manager Claire Kiely Shawn Reilly Katie Koh Directors Sales Kelly Wess Finance Matthew Burrows Asst. Finance Danielle Marshak Client Relations Margaret Watson Christiana Stephenson Alumni Relations 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 Business Operations Lauren Bosso Business Analytics Jilyn Chao Margot Grinberg Credit and Collections Special Projects Alexander Carrere Staff Kathy Bui Opinions Opinions Editor Michael Fitzpatrick Opinions Editor Alyssa Ratledge Editorial Page Editor Matt Aks Tyler Rosenbaum Editorial Page Editor
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BLOG DAILY HERALD Managing Editor Matt Klimerman Managing Editor Anne Simons Managing Editor David Winer
Graphics & Photos Graphics Editor Stephen Lichenstein Graphics Editor Alex Yuly Photo Editor Stephanie London Photo Editor Max Monn Photo Editor Hilary Rosenthal Jonathan Bateman Sports Photo Editor Jesse Morgan Asst. Sports Photo Editor
erik stayton and evan donahue
d i a m o n d s a n d c oa l A diamond to the Admission Office for finally switching from paper applications to online material. It’s about time you caught up with the technological advancements made by the porn industry. A diamond to Cosa Nostra. Though it replaced Meeting Street pizzeria Via Via IV, insiders tell us that it will be “the same type of business.” As long as it’s all in the family! Coal to Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron’s “fireside chat” with UCS. Great — now we can’t stop picturing FDR with big hoop earrings. Diamond to the taekwondo team for taking home top honors at a regional competition last month. But coal to the student who said joining the team was “definitely the best decision I’ve made freshman year.” Talk about damning with faint praise.
Diamond to the student who had his “virgin Word! experience” at the Friendship Cafe. You should check out the Friendship-With-Benefits Cafe. Cubic zirconium to the researcher who spent over 7,000 hours of her life meditating and wondered if that time could have been better spent on other pursuits. Having spent similar hours at The Herald, we can tell you nothing is worth it. Nothing. Coal to Loko-hating officials for insinuating we can’t handle four beers plus caffeine. You’ve obviously never spent time in a newsroom. And on that note, a diamond to tonight’s Herald Banquet. “Diamonds and Coal” is written by Herald staff. Write your own at diamondsandcoal.com.
Cubic zirconium to the alum who helped rescue the trapped Chilean miners. We thought it was too soon for diamonds or coal.
Hans Gao, Nora Orton, Julien Ouellet, Julia Shube, Designers Olivia Conetta, Max Ernst, Mrinal Kapoor, Amy Rasmussen, Copy Editors Ashley Aydin, Claire Peracchio, Anne Speyer, Night Editors Senior Staff Writers Ana Alvarez, Ashley Aydin, Rebecca Ballhaus, Alexander Bell, Nicole Boucher, Fei Cai, Kristina Fazzalaro, Sarah Mancone, Claire Peracchio, Lindor Qunaj, Mark Raymond, Luisa Robledo, Caitlin Trujillo Staff Writers Anna Andreeva, Anne Artley, Anita Badejo, Casey Bleho, Amy Chen, Alicia Dang, Sarah Forman, Miriam Furst, Max Godnick, Thomas Jarus, Abby Kerson, Julia Kim, Kristina Klara, Leonardo Moauro, Emily Rosen, Bradley Silverman, Anne Simons, Alexandra Ulmer, 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, Mae Cadao, Adam Fern, Krystle Onibokun Finance Associates Lisa Berlin, Mahima Chawla, Mark Hu, Jason Lee, Justin Lee, Kevin Lynch, Jennifer Morgan, Sam Plotner, Nicholas Robbins, Dan Seder, Daniel Slutsky, Emily Zheng Design Staff Rebecca Ballhaus, Caleigh Forbes Web Staff Warren Jin, Claire Kwong, Adam Zethraeus Photo Staff Alex DePaoli, Emily Gilbert, Katie Green, Freddy Lu, Glenn Lutzky, Evan Thomas Copy Editors Ted Burke, Corinne Cathcart, David Chung, Olivia Conetta, Carrie Craven, Max Ernst, Jenny Kaplan, Abby Kerson, Juhee Kwon, Claire Luchette, Sahil Luthra, Shefali Luthra, Katie MacDougald, Alexandra Nuttbrown, Elizabeth Orr, Katrina Phillips, Amy Rasmussen, Winnie Wang, Emma Wohl Editorial Page Board Members Anita Mathews, Melissa Shube, Gaurie Tilak
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
Friday, November 19, 2010 | Page 7
Brown’s safety net Hunter fast Opinions Columnist Nov. 9 marked the end of pre-registration for spring courses, in which many students scrambled for places in limited-enrollment classes. However, a number of students were unable to sign up because of Brown’s reinstatement of a policy barring those with significant unpaid balances from preregistering. This policy, suspended during the recent recession, needlessly endangers students’ academic futures and leaves students’ families more vulnerable to the lingering effects of the economic downturn. The lapse of the moratorium on registration holds is motivated by the belief that the financial crisis is generally over and that all is now well in the economic universe. This is demonstrably false. Unemployment is still high and many families are still struggling to pay down old consumer debt. The recession has ended by technical definition, but a period of joblessness can affect personal balance sheets for years. But Brown too is under budgetary stress, and therefore has to find another way of enforcing tuition payments. As Michelle Uhrick ’11 points out (“When is a university just a university?” Nov. 15), Brown already uses its power over students’ diplomas and transcripts to influence their economic decisions in many ways. If the University can withhold a degree in order to compel students to live in the dorms, then it
can just as easily use such tactics to discourage late payments. After all, a student who has already paid for several semesters’ tuition has made a significant financial commitment to the University that can be viewed as a type of collateral. In this case, if a student is late in making payments, Brown could simply hold his academic records — ergo all of the tuition he has paid thus far — and cover the bal-
a relatively high interest rate and generate a profit over the long run by pocketing the difference. There is also the problem of differing levels of collateral among different class levels. A junior has obviously paid much more tuition than a second semester freshman, meaning that the freshman faces less of an incentive against default, and is therefore a greater financial risk to the Univer-
If the University can withhold a degree in order to compel students to live in the dorms, then it can just as easily use such tactics to discourage late payments.
ance of his account while charging some level of interest above that of conventional student loans. Obviously, there are a few complicated aspects of this arrangement that would have to be taken into account. For instance, Brown is a sufficiently large institution that it can cover overdue payments, but doing so would still make a dent in its operational cash flow that would need to be recovered. Fortunately, the aforementioned financial crisis has brought with it record low interest rates of which Brown can easily take advantage. From this, it becomes apparent that Brown can borrow cash at very low interest rates, charge overdue accounts
sity. Though it would be unfair to prevent students of lower semester levels from borrowing from the University in times of personal financial stress, Brown could charge underclassmen higher interest rates to correct for this additional risk. Generally speaking, any program that involves lending out money is open to potential losses, but most associated risks can be controlled by adjusting interest rates accordingly. Furthermore, any student who borrows from the University in this way faces the threat of losing access to all of his credits at Brown until he pays the balance, which would serve to minimize even further expected losses.
In light of this, the policy of preventing anyone with an outstanding account balance of $1,000 or more from taking part in pre-registration is overly vindictive. When students are unable to make payments, it is not because they are attempting to game the system somehow. People sometimes have difficulty in securing student loans, and unforeseen circumstances can often seriously affect families’ ability to pay tuition bills on time. A bureaucracy exists to align financial aid awards with ability to pay, but it is often unable to react as quickly as the situation requires. When considering problems of tuition in economic terms, it is important to be cognizant of the structural advantages that Brown has over its students. However, because Brown is perfectly capable of collecting collateral from students with outstanding balances, these advantages can sometimes work to the benefit of students in need. Instead of forcing students to wait in limbo while unable to sign up for limitedenrollment courses that are often needed to graduate, Brown should use its power to give students who have fallen behind on payments the time to catch up. Not only could the University potentially profit from such an arrangement, but in the current economic situation, it is the only compassionate thing to do.
Hunter Fast ‘12 is a computer scienceeconomics concentrator from Bloomington, Ill. He can be reached at hunter_fast@brown.edu.
On sharing resources BY Chris norris-leblanc Opinions Columnist As Brown University is an internationally acclaimed institution, we the students graduate with a number of opportunities and privileges not afforded to the majority of the world’s population. The diploma, possibly the most ponderous of these privileges, is not easy to conceptualize sharing with a large group of people for obvious reasons. Although realistically we cannot hope to share a lot of our privilege with the world without a great deal of high-level systematic change, we can work to concretely and practically “spread the wealth” to the Providence community. If we think about our education in the way it was originally conceived — a way to better understand the world around us and subsequently enter it as agents of positive change — we can much more easily envision the various paths to sharing this privilege. In theor y, the accumulation and analysis of different bodies of knowledge leads to this understanding. If we cannot open up our school and classrooms to the community right away, I would argue that an easy first step would be to share some basic resources that we have in abundance — namely, our books. The sharing of our libraries could be useful for community members in many ways, first of which is the access it would afford to materials not easily found other wise. Second, it would give community
members a quiet and comfortable space to do work. Finally, on a less academic note, it would offer a new way for the Providence citizenr y to engage with an other wise insular community. Now instead of walking in and out of the Brown University bubble, community members might actually feel like our campus is a part of their city. It is important to recognize that this idea is not without precedent. At Cornell University, public school teachers from Ithaca are allowed full librar y access for
University has a whole librar y, “The Tamiment Librar y,” open to the public and completely free of charge. Amidst all of these various attempts at other universities, I have been unable to unearth information about any programs at Brown University to share our libraries with the community. As it stands, Brown will allow an individual with “special research needs” to use our libraries for $400.00 per year, but this is seemingly the only program we have.
If we cannot open up our school and classrooms to the community right away, I would argue that an easy first step would be to share some basic resources that we have in abundance; namely, our books.
the lofty sum of $0.00. At Columbia University, there is a program in place whereby books can be loaned if they cannot be found at the public institutions in New York City. Perhaps even more impressively, the “Open Collections Program” at Harvard University is a large-scale effort to digitize selections from their libraries and make them available to anyone with an Internet connection. Additionally, New York
Rather than framing this as a critique of Brown, I would like to pose it as an easy and well-supported first step towards sharing some of our privilege and connecting with the community. In this vein, I propose that this program start by opening the libraries to middle school students, high school students and teachers in the city of Providence. In this way, our vast academic resources could
begin to be shared with the people in our community who need them the most. An increase in relations between Brown and the Providence community could also open the door for a lot of other great sharing to occur. I envision homework help sessions, talking groups and a general push to create a system where students at Brown regularly plug into Providence in a variety of ways. Before moving for ward, it is important to situate this proposal in a larger framework and explain why this sort of thing is even important. Quoth our mission statement, “The mission of Brown University is to ser ve the community, the nation, and the world by discovering, communicating, and preser ving knowledge and understanding in a spirit of free inquir y ...”. In order to fully ser ve our community, we must not only discover and preser ve knowledge, but also communicate it. I can think of no better starting point to more effectively work towards this goal than opening up academic spaces to the community around us, and in turn hope that this creates a better running dialogue and open discourse between Brown and Providence. Who knows, maybe when all is said and done, this could be the start of a much bigger shift in the pursuit of symbiosis and equality.
Chris Norris-LeBlanc ’13 is from Rhode Island, and can be contacted at chris.norris.leblanc@gmail.com.
Today The Brown Daily Herald
5
Men’s soccer defeats Boston College
7
c a l e n da r 4:30 P.M.
ToMORROW
november 20
4 P.M.
IFF Presents 127 Hours: A Free
Classical Indian Music Concert,
Screening, Avon Cinema
List Art Building, Room 120
8 P.m.
5 p.m. 2010 Fall Dance Concert,
Studio Voice Recital,
Ashamu Dance Studio
Grant Recital Hall
menu SHARPE REFECTORY
VERNEy-WOOLLEY DINING HALL LUNCH
Red Potato Frittata, Vegan Brown Rice, Onion Rings, Vegan Roasted Vegetable Burrito
Chicken Fingers, Vegan Nuggets, Steamed Vegetable Melange, M&M Cookies
DINNER Stuffed Shells Florentine, Roasted Vegetable Pizza, Mussels in Marinara Sauce
Ginger Chicken Pasta, Grilled Chicken, Pound Cake with Peaches and Whipped Cream
crossword
46 / 36
52 / 30
Friday, November 19, 2010
1 november 19
to m o r r o w
Book-sharing for a better community
t h e n e w s i n i m ag e s
Today
to day
5 comics Dot Comic | Eshan Mitra and Brendan Hainline
The Misadventures of Blockhead | Adam Petchers and Co.
BB & Z | Cole Pruitt, Andrew Seiden and Valerie Hsiung
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