Thursday, February 10, 2011

Daily

Herald

the Brown

vol. cxlvi, no. 12

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Since 1891

Corporation to approve 2012 budget this weekend

Ne ws in brief

‘Jockapella’ receives UCS approval

recent years.

The number of female faculty members has increased by 30 percent since the 2002-03 academic year, while the presence of various minority groups has also increased.

“The University is putting a great deal of emphasis on diversity in terms of faculty,” Wilson said.

“But you have to understand that recruiting a diverse faculty is not like recruiting a diverse group of students in the freshman class.”

Vohra said the current faculty reflects a lack of diversity in the pool of applicants. In the physical sciences, for example, he said it is “quite well-known” that there aren’t many senior women faculty members across the “university system as a whole.”

The Undergraduate Council of Students elected an Ivy Council liaison and approved the formation of four new student groups, including “Jockapella,” last night.

UCS invited its members to consider serving as the body’s representative to the Ivy Council. Leah Bromberg ’11, who currently serves on the Academic and Administrative Affairs committee, ran for the position pointing to her experiences with both UCS and Ivy Council. In addition to having attended Ivy Council conferences and summits, she was a member of the group’s policy committee last year.

Bromberg edged out Michelle Frea ’14, who promised to strengthen the relationship between UCS and the Ivy Council if elected, saying the latter does not have a large enough presence on campus.

The Ivy Council’s Ivy Policy Conference will be held Feb. 25-27 at Dartmouth.

A number of new student organizations were confirmed at the meeting as well.

“Jockapella,” an a cappella group formed by athletes from the track and field and football teams, was approved as a category one group. Though the founding members have formed a camaraderie with athletes across a number of sports through singing, they have been unable to join existing a cappella groups due to unfavorable audition and practice schedules, said Ralanda Nelson ’12, chair of the student activities committee.

“Jockapella” aims to allow athletes to further explore their interests in singing.

Chapters of Operation Smile, an international organization committed to treating cleft palates, and Generation Citizen, a non-governmental organization founded by Scott Warren ’09 and Anna Ninan ’09 that educates high school students about social change, were both approved.

The Brown Naturalist Society, a group aiming to promote appreciation of nature, was also approved by the council.

continued on page 4

— David Chung

By Alex Bell News Editor

continued on page 2

Stephanie London / Herald

Pro- and anti-gay marriage advocates overflowed from the State House yesterday as debate began on a marriage bill.

Groups rally for, against gay marriage

By CHIp LEBOVITZ Staff Writer

Same-sex marriage supporters packed the State House yesterday at a Marriage Equality Rhode Island rally.

city & state Buoyed by the election of Governor Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14, who has publicly voiced his support for marriage equality, the group is pushing for the passage of a bill introduced this January that would legalize marriage for all couples regardless of gender.

A rally against legalizing samesex marriage, hosted by the Na-

Revered reverend

tional Organization for Marriage, directly preceded the marriage equality rally. Maggie Gallagher, chair of the National Organization for Marriage, Senator Harold Metts, D-Providence, and Rep. Raymond Hull, D-Providence, were scheduled to speak at the rally.

About 300 supporters waving signs turned out to show their support for the marriage equality bill.

The total attendance exceeded the State House’s capacity, causing an L-shaped line to spill out of the State House and onto Smith Street.

Expectations for the newly sworn-in governor were high.

Supporters of the bill draped a banner inside the State House

About two-thirds of the faculty are male and about four-fifths identify as white, according to statistics published on the Dean of the Faculty’s website. The faculty continues to lack racial and gender diversity despite concerted institutional efforts in recent years to increase it.

news analysis

Ashley Aydin / Herald

inside

news...................2-4 WORLD................8-9 editorial.............10 Opinions.............11 CITY & state.......12

Making a Mark Students get involved in the political process

City & STATE, 5

continued on page 6

Faculty remains mostly male, white

By Shefali Luthra Senior Staff Writer

Reverend Janet Cooper Nelson has been the chaplain for 21 years.

See page 2.

bearing a recent quotation from Chafee: “When equal marriage is the law in Rhode Island, we honor our forefathers who risked their lives and fortune in the pursuit of human equality.”

Chafee did not attend the rally.

The rally featured speakers such as Senator Rhoda Perry P’91, D-Providence, and Rev. Eugene Dyszlewski, chair of the Religious Coalition for Marriage Equality.

The speakers sounded a consistent theme of support for equal marriage rights, reiterating their faith in Chafee’s resolve and a need to press forward.

“Don’t give up. Don’t give up.

Though males and whites dominate the faculty, the current make-up represents a significant increase in faculty diversity, according to Dean of the Faculty Rajiv Vohra P’07. Both he and Director for Institutional Diversity Valerie Wilson cited the Plan for Academic Enrichment as an engine for increased diversity in

Post-

gets laid, judges by the cover

Post-, Inside

weather

With few major capital projects left on its plate, the Corporation will meet this weekend to discuss various University policies and vote on next year’s budget.

The University’s highest governing body will review President Ruth Simmons’ budget recommendations — including tuition and student fees — based on the report of the University Resources Committee, which will be made public this weekend, said Russell Carey ’91 MA’06, senior vice president for Corporation affairs and governance.

A group of Corporation members visited Yale Wednesday to talk about university governance with their counterparts, Carey said. They took a similar trip last year to Princeton.

Members will attend a series of committee meetings today, breaking for the dedication of the Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts this evening.

On Friday, the Corporation will meet as a whole during the day before breaking into committees in the afternoon and reconvening Saturday morning to vote in University Hall.

A memorial service for Joseph Fernandez ’85, president of the

t o d ay

tomorrow

26 / 9

31 / 24

2 Campus News calendar TODAY

FEBruary 10

6:30 P.m.

ToMORROW

February 11

6:00 p.m.

Israeli Film Festival: “Precious Life”,

CSA Chinese New Year Banquet,

Avon Cinema

Andrews Dining Hall

8:00 p.m.

7:30 p.m.

East Campus Speed Dating,

Dancing with the Profs,

Barbour Hall

Alumnae Hall

menu SHARPE REFECTORY

VERNEy-WOOLLEY DINING HALL LUNCH

National Pizza Day, Cavatappi and Whole Wheat Penne, Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

Beef Stew, Vegan Tofu Raviolis with Sauce, Grilled Cajun Chicken, Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

DINNER Roast Turkey with Stuffing, Mashed Sweet and White Potatoes, Vegan Pumpkin Tofu Cheesecake

Lemon Broiled Chicken, Cauliflower Au Gratin, Rosemary Potatoes, Vegan Pumpkin Tofu Cheesecake

Sudoku

across to bear ACROSS 1 Cops, slangily 5 Peaces out 11 As yet unscheduled: Abbr.

14 Troy’s best friend, on “Community” 15 86th Street home of Caravaggio’s “The Musicians” 16 Live ___, 1985 fundraising concert for Ethiopian famine relief 17 Be a role model, as to younger siblings 20 ___ Lanka 21 Ambulance driver, for short 22 Former Oasis guitarist Gallagher 23 Headlines?

28 ___ Mawr, Pa. 30 Bills at a strip club 31 Actress Green of “Casino Royale” 32 Eye of the tigre?

33 “That’s just embarrassing...,” online 36 “Actress” who, to assuage her fear of flying before getting on planes, pumps some Britney Spears full volume 39 Reality TV show in which Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie tried to do manual, low-paying jobs, for the amusement of all 42 Iron Wok alternative 43 Element between indium and antimony in the periodic table 44 “___” McCallister (“Home Alone” protagonist) 45 Departure’s opp.

46 1996 novel “Infinite ___” 50 Made to get on a knee and drink a Smirnoff 52 One who works well with others to get the job done 56 Joanna Newsom’s instrument 58 Campus across the river on Washington Street 59 WALL-E’s love 60 The desire to never grow up, to a psychologist 65 O ___

legends of the Hidden temple

by natan last ‘12

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, February 10, 2011

Chaplain looks back on 21 years By ashley aydin Senior Staff Writer

In suite 410 of J. Walter Wilson, amid colorful artwork, classic furniture and family photographs of Brown community members, sits Reverend Janet Cooper Nelson, the University chaplain.

Appointed chaplain in 1990, Cooper Nelson has been a part of the Brown community for the past 21 years. She serves not only as director of the Office of the Chaplains and Religious Life but also as a personal resource for the students, faculty and staff whose images adorn her walls.

Feature Revered reverend

“When I took this job, I was the first woman to take a job like this at an Ivy,” Cooper Nelson said.

Though she is now the authority on the University’s religious life, Cooper Nelson started her career in the secular world. Her path to chaplain began when she left her job as a history teacher.

“My brain was tired from teaching kids, and I needed a break,” she said. After leaving her teaching position, Cooper Nelson became interested in studying law and headed to graduate school on an experimental grant, she said.

When the time came to reapply for the grant, she started to consider a new path. “What about ordination?” Cooper Nelson asked herself.

Cooper Nelson started to look into combined programs at Harvard Divinity School and Harvard Law School but did not like the way the law school worked “because of its sort of ‘hazing’ process,” she said, “where students would have to stand up and read cases.”

Cooper Nelson enrolled at the Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass., while her husband worked at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. “We moved our family home,

which was just the two of us, to New Hampshire. I had to make weekly commutes. There was divinity placement in Hanover, which ultimately turned into a job,” she said.

There is not a typical process for becoming a chaplain of a university.

“People come to this position out of academic classrooms at universities, out of (non-governmental organizations), out of congregational work — which is the least likely­— and other different areas,” she said.

Nuts and bolts and faith

Being chaplain of the University is no easy role. The job is both an administrative and a spiritual vocation.

Cooper Nelson typically meets with other administrators, fulfills pastoral duties by running religious services, reads and writes articles and speaks publicly at University events and on the road, she said. She also works with other religious organizations to aid in fundraising efforts.

“There’s a big Brown family, and anyone who is in need of care gets our help,” Cooper Nelson said, adding that the Office of Chaplains and Religious Life has a wide reach.

“Our e-mail address group is close to 18,000 people,” she said.

Cooper Nelson said there is a broad interest in religion on campus.

“It’s not hard to get people to talk about the topic of religion, but that’s kind of true at Brown for anything,” she said.

“I would say 40 to 60 percent of Brown students are involved in religion, whether through fellowship groups, attending services or writing about religion for some journal,” she added.

As chaplain, Cooper Nelson said she tries to supports students in their choices instead of dictating specific solutions to them.

“We’re just going to hold the mirror up for you and make sure you’ve made a decision that reflects the values you have,” she said. “That’s our job.”

Divine Providence

A few years after she arrived as chaplain, Cooper Nelson said she talked to senior officers and deans and created student focus groups to see what could be done to increase religious diversity on campus. Cooper Nelson also created additional associate positions in her office so Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and Muslim traditions would all be represented on campus. She also established new positions in public service.

“It was a more successful design for signaling to people that the diversity of religion was a priority at Brown and would be supported,” she said. “The range of practice in each of the major strands of tradition here is very broad.”

Cooper Nelson also focuses on increasing religious literacy on campus. The Office of Chaplains and Religious Life provides invitations to students to collaborate with faculty, undertake research projects and participate in programs to increase knowledge about different traditions, she said. This semester, she is facilitating a religious literacy seminar for students seeking extracurricular learning.

“We’re endlessly teaching when we are caring and caring when we are teaching. We’re never off the hook in each direction. We’re trying to help students voice what they think and reach a place of understanding,” Cooper Nelson said.

For Cooper Nelson, the notion of religion is still complex. “I think the word ‘religion’ is a stumbling block.

People associate it with institutional failure,” she said.

Religious institutions across the world are undergoing processes of deep reform and restructuring.

“Your grandchildren will see radically different models, whether due to finance, deep moral outrage about the conduct of some communities and the people in some communities, or something else,” she said.

Corporation to review building projects continued from page 1

66 Cuthbert of “The Girl Next Door” 67 Population: ___ (Strong Badia sign) 68 Hirsute “Addams Family” cousin 69 “Shaun of the Dead” or “Dead & Breakfast,” for short 70 Bad day for Caesar DOWN 1 Offer, as a lit joint 2 Fairy king in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” 3 Small and trim, in dress sizes 4 ___ Mae, Whoopi’s “Ghost” role 5 “Conquer, ___ ya, stop your silly nonsense...” (Jay-Z in “Monster”) 6 Prefix with shop or bomb 7 ___ Zeppelin 8 The Beatles’ “___ Mine” 9 Cartoonist Avery 10 Song performed by Eminem and Elton John at the 2001 Grammys 11 Die down 12 Bobbie Sue’s partner in crime in “Take The Money And Run”

13 Suffix with hater or power 18 Web ___ (sparkling defensive play) 19 Riotous crowd 24 City near D√ºsseldorf 25 Honduran currency 26 Knievel of daredeviltry 27 “How I Met Your Mother” narrator 29 Counterspell to Lumos 34 Additive probably used by 42-Across 35 Part of a drum kit 37 “Prince ___” (“Aladdin” song) 38 Opponent of a Spartan, on “Deadliest Warrior” 39 Strong Bad refers to him as “the best lawyer soft tacos can buy” and “a cheese, or maybe an anvil” 40 Come to blows, in old slang 41 Duchess in “Black Beauty,” e.g.

42 Hit the slopes 47 Lens cover?

48 Harsh 49 Chomper in “The Land Before Time,” and others 51 “Still ___” (Hit from 1999) 53 ___ Maas, Oedipa’s husband in “The Crying of Lot 49” 54 Kind of golf tourney 55 Calc. calculation 57 Hip hop duo Dead ___ 60 Letter in the names of three Brown fraternities 61 Hamas rival 62 Relative of a do-now 63 White house defense grp.

64 ESPN show with Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon Solutions and archive online at acrosstobear. wordpress.com Email: brownpuzzles @gmail.com

Brown Alumni Association and a trustee of the Corporation at the time of his death in December, will be held Saturday at 12:15 p.m. in Sayles Hall.

In addition to the budget, Carey said discussion will likely also touch on housing and future capital projects, as well as ongoing projects such as the Katherine Moran Coleman

Daily

the Brown

Aquatics Center and Jonathan Nelson ’77 Fitness Center and the Medical Education Building.

Carey said the University’s investment in HEI Hotels and Resorts will also be on the agenda for the Corporation’s Investment Committee following the December recommendation by the Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Policy not to reinvest

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in the company.

Chancellor Thomas Tisch ’76, who leads the Corporation, said that for the past few years the body has been “operating under the shadow of convulsions of the financial markets” in its discussions of fundraising and capital projects.

“Meeting at this time is an opportunity to both step back and to look forward,” he said.

At its February meeting last year, the Corporation approved a 4.5 percent increase in undergraduate tuition and fees along with a 6.5 percent increase in the undergraduate financial aid budget.

Last year’s budget set in motion an internal restructuring that led to about 60 layoffs and 140 early retirements by the start of this academic year.

Unlike the May and October meetings, the Corporation’s February meeting does not usually include emeriti members. The 54 trustees and fellows expected to attend the meeting include a replacement for Fernandez, whose name will be announced after the meeting.

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, February 10, 2011

Campus News 3

Swearer Center brings student pay in line with labor law

By Claire Gianotti Contributing Writer

This semester the Swearer Center for Public Service will pay its program coordinators by the hour, rather than with a stipend, in order to bring its compensation polices in line with the Fair Labor Standards Act. Coordinators are paid not only because of their large time commitment, but also in the hope that the compensation will make community service “more financially accessible,” said Roger Nozaki MAT’89, director of the Swearer Center and associate dean of the College for community and global engagement.

Affected students did not express strong opinions about the change. “I do the work that I need to do, and I happen to get paid,” said Brian Lin ’12, a coordinator for the Brown Language Arts Program, which works with elementary-age students in Providence schools.

Lin said he was unsure how the change would affect him.

Christine Joyce ’12.5, a coordi-

nator for the Swearer Classroom Program, said the only real change to her routine was that she would have to log her time hourly rather than weekly.

Every week, coordinators will now have to fill out a form to log their hours in order to receive payment. Last year, Lin said, “the checks just came.”

The Swearer Center does not expect “a major change” in funding for the center, or in the amount of compensation students will receive, Nozaki said. “At this point it is a pretty straightforward thing,” he added.

The decision is not a result of the Swearer budget cuts announced last spring, said Elizabeth Warner, director of compensation and organizational services. Instead, the change is intended to bring the University into compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, she said.

A committee convened by the Department of Human Resources, the Office of Financial Aid and the Controller’s Office met at the beginning of the semester to “clarify

student employment policies and procedures,” Warner said. The same review led the computer science department to begin paying its teaching assistants by the hour last semester.

This committee revised the student employment handbook and standardized a time-tracking sheet that can be used by all departments.

This effort will continue, Warner said, adding that the committee will work with the Dean of the College to define a new category of paid “student opportunities,” which will not be subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act. Offering “student opportunities” in addition to student employment will hopefully provide more avenues for students to be involved in campus life, Warner said.

The review “has nothing to do with money,” Warner said, and is rather in response to a need for more communication between departments regarding employment on campus. She added that the review is not likely to spur any further changes to the way money is allotted to student-run programs.

Stephanie London / Herald

The Swearer Center will pay students by the hour instead of on a stipend basis.

Psych Services reports no increase in visits from freshmen

By Miriam Furst Staff Writer

Though in a newly-released national survey college freshmen rated their emotional health at a record low, Psychological Services has not seen a significant change in visits from first-year students, Director of Psych Services Belinda Johnson said.

At the start of this academic year, Psych Services hired a new psychotherapist. The decision was partially a response to a 2009 New England Association of Schools and Colleges reaccreditation report, which criticized the University’s psychological support resources compared to those of its peers, The Herald reported in September.

The addition to the staff “has certainly improved our ability to serve students because a new position makes you more available,” Johnson said. “What will be most interesting to see in the end of the year is if we’re seeing more students than we had in previous years. It’s still too early to tell though,” she said.

Johnson added that the main

reason for hiring another psychotherapist was to increase the number of free sessions available to students from five to seven per year.

The national Higher Education Research Institute survey, based on responses from 201,818 first-year students at 279 different colleges, showed that fewer students perceived their emotional health “was in the ‘highest 10 percent’ or ‘above average’ when compared to their peers,” according to the research brief. The survey has been distributed to college freshmen for the last 45 years, said Linda DeAngelo, assistant director for research for the Cooperative Institutional Research Program at the University of California at Los Angeles, which administered the survey.

In the most recent survey, the percentage of students reporting their emotional health as above average dropped from 55.3 percent in 2009 to 51.9 percent in 2010, according to the research brief.

Freshmen are surveyed when they first enter college, DeAngelo said, so results reflect how students felt when first entering school.

“We see in our study that stu-

dents expect to be satisfied with college,” DeAngelo said. But she said many students feel pressure and anxiety about “making the most of their college experiences.” Specifically, the survey showed two-thirds of freshmen had financial concerns that had influenced their choice of school.

DeAngelo said in recent years universities have “really started to increase the wellness services they offer to students.”

Over the past five years, Psych Services has seen roughly 17 percent of the student body each year, Johnson said. In comparison, half that many students used the University’s psychological resources in 1985.

The greater availability of resources is not the only factor that has driven the increase, Johnson said. “Since 1985, culturally — not just at Brown — there has been more attention given to mental health,” she said.

Johnson said Psych Services tries to make first-years aware of available resources by participating in orientation activities and providing information to residential peer leaders.

Over the past five years, Johnson said she has not seen any major changes in the concerns students bring with them when they visit Psych Services. She said that though more students feel pressure and anxiety regarding jobs because of the economic recession, the number is not large.

Additionally, when students first go to Psych Services, they are asked whether they have seen a counselor before coming to Brown.

Johnson said they have been collecting this information for the past six years and the percentage has not changed.

Johnson said the national survey involves self-reports from freshmen about their emotional health compared to how they perceive their peers’ emotional wellbeing. The results are a measure of perceived emotional health, rather than an evaluation of students’ actual mental states.

Brown regularly tops the Princeton Review’s annual list of colleges with the “Happiest Students.”

But having the happiest students is not the same as having the student body with the highest level of emotional well-being.

“One common theme, that I would guess is somewhat specific to Brown, is that students tend to assume that everyone around them has it together, and that they are the only one experiencing any sort of distress,” said Remy FernandezO’Brien ’12, a residential counselor in Littlefield House. “This of course is not true, but it does seem to make people less likely to seek help when they could benefit from it.”

“People don’t necessarily want to specifically label what’s going on with them, but they are often motivated to make things better for themselves,” FernandezO’Brien added. “Because of this, in many cases I’ll recommend a specific person that I know, in Psych Services or another department, whom I know to be particularly helpful.”

“I do believe that Brown students are happier on average than students at other universities,” Johnson said. “So you get this phenomenon that students who are feeling bad feel cheated or are reluctant to let other students know they are feeling bad because they feel out of the ordinary.”

4 Campus News

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, February 10, 2011

Hiring of minority, female faculty progressing slowly continued from page 1 Finding a qualified female professor for the physics department is “as rare as a fang in an owl’s mouth,” said Michael Kosterlitz, professor of physics and chair of the Committee for Faculty Equity and Diversity.

Vohra also said the high number of tenured professors — 72 percent — slows down faculty turnover, making it difficult to quickly alter its composition. Consequently, he attributed the growth in diversity to increased hiring in the past 10 years, a component of the Plan for Academic Enrichment.

But both Vohra and Wilson emphasized change beyond the overall numbers, citing shifts in ethnic and gender composition in individual departments.

“In the Department of Economics, at one point we had no women at any level,” Wilson said. “Now there are two senior women in the Department of Economics, and there are extensive recruitments going on that we hope will result in the appointment of women and maybe even racial or ethnic minorities.”

Vohra said he believes the introduction of female professors into historically male departments such

Gili Kliger / Herald

as economics, physics and applied mathematics will pave the way for future female hires.

Professor of Economics Glenn Loury, who is African-American, said that although he doesn’t like to “play a numbers game” with issues of diversity, he does think increased faculty diversity would benefit students. At the same time, he said it

is important to consider the pool of applicants.

“Maybe I wish there were more black faculty around not at just this university, but at other universities of this caliber,” Loury said. “But I know how hard it is to find outstanding African-American candidates.”

Wilson added that faculty diversity is considered heavily in the hiring process. When looking for new faculty members, departments must submit recruitment plans to the Dean of the Faculty’s office and to Wilson. Both review the plans and the subsequent shortlists of applicants to ensure that departments consider diversity. An affirmative action representative also sits on every recruitment panel.

Professor of Mathematics Hee

Oh, who is originally from Korea, said her department does consider “the issue of women” when looking for new hires. But Oh, who previously worked at the California Institute of Technology, also said a lack of diversity exists at many schools.

About 18 percent of Harvard faculty members identify as minorities, while 27 percent are female, according to a report published this year.

Yale, meanwhile, reports a faculty composed of about 20 percent minorities and 33.5 percent females.

Penn, Stanford University and Cornell all published reports in 2009, finding percentages of minorities in the teens and percentages of females in the twenties. An article in Princeton’s alumni magazine reported a similar race and gender distribution.

Both Vohra and Wilson ex-

pressed hope for future increases in faculty diversity, though Wilson said she believes there will always be a “lag” between student and faculty diversity. According to statistics published this fall, 52.2 percent of undergraduate students are female and 45.8 percent identify as white.

The graduate school and Alpert Medical School reported similar gender and race distributions.

Wilson also said diversity in the faculty encourages students to follow their passions. “Having a scholar of color or a woman scholar in these classes really demonstrates to students the universality of knowledge and the potential of every individual to aspire to those fields to which they are best suited,” she said. “There’s no such thing as a field that is only for this person or that person.”

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, February 10, 2011

City & State 5

Undergrads take action in state political campaigns By casey bleho Staff Writer

Students pride themselves on getting involved off College Hill, and during the midterm campaign season last year, they did just that, lending support to state candidates and getting a real-world introduction to the political process.

“People are intrigued and will listen to you because you’re young and bright-eyed. Catch them offguard, and they’ll listen,” said Libby Kimzey, campaign manager for state Rep. Teresa Tanzi, D-Narragansett, Wakefield and Peace Dale. Kimzey, who took a leave from the University and

moved in with Tanzi to assist her campaign, did not provide a graduation year.

Both the Brown Republicans and the Brown Democrats have been active volunteers for their respective candidates, said Terrence George ’13, president of the Brown Republicans. “Politicians know we are a somewhat reliable source for volunteers,” he said, so “we are treated with respect.”

Because students help candidates during their campaigns, they know politicians will consider their views when formulating policy, said Katerina Wright ’11, president of the Brown Democrats. Rhode Island’s small size

Read Post- magazine Thursdays in the Herald

means state government is highly accessible to students, she said.

Tanzi said her campaign shows the potential for student impact.

Tanzi, a resumed undergraduate student from Wakefield, took a leave from the University in 2008 to start a family and later successfully ran for the state House of Representatives.

“Without a doubt, students were the backbone of this campaign,” she said, adding that while she had plenty of offers from paid

consultants seeking to provide campaign advice, her campaign needed volunteers.

Anna Quinn ’13 helped Tanzi’s campaign garner absentee votes from Brown students. Quinn said her campaign experience showed her that “anyone can be involved.”

Political participation gave her “a sense of ownership in my representative on a state level,” she said.

Aaron Regunberg ’12 worked as an East Side field organizer for Providence Mayor Angel Tav-

eras during his campaign. “We knocked on every door on the East Side three to four times,” Regunberg said. After the election, Regunberg was named a member of Taveras’s transition team for issues related to education.

“With the right legislature,” students can “absolutely” have clout when it comes to the political process, Tanzi said. “If they’re willing to put in the time and the energy and are willing to testify, the sky is the limit.”

6 City & State State leaders look to reform heathcare continued from page 12 nesses by driving up health care costs.

“I’ve spoken with small business owners who say they can’t hire new employees because of this,” Robitaille said.

But Ted Almon, president and CEO of Claflin, a Warwick-based medical device company, said exchanges will benefit small businesses.

“The exchange opportunity provided in the federal legislation is perhaps the most significant opportunity that we’ve had to really bend the cost curve in the future of health care,” Almon said.

He said the exchanges will make providing insurance affordable for businesses, while giving workers additional flexibility.

“Small business, ultimately, through the use of this tool, will be able to make a defined contribution on behalf of their employees — but their employees would

then be able to use the exchange to select appropriate coverage within that budget,” he said.

Almon said he thinks the exchange itself should be simple and user-friendly. He said the General Assembly should focus on the exchange’s structure and authority, without getting into operational details.

Also last month, freshman state Rep. Daniel Gordon, RLittle Compton, Portsmouth and Tiverton, introduced a bill that would prevent the government from requiring Rhode Islanders to purchase insurance and from levying a fine if they refuse to do so, thereby nullifying a key component of the reform law known as the individual mandate. Under the federal Supremacy Clause, states cannot nullify federal law.

Challenges to health care reform’s individual mandate are pending in federal court and will likely go before the Supreme Court.

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The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, February 10, 2011

Students bring science concepts to life continued from page 12 ample, she said, they understand physics but struggle with the math behind it, such as unit conversions, fractions and ratios. But “they’ll pick it up once they are taught,” she added.

Williams called her experience with students “mentoring, with science on the side.” The program is a science enrichment program in which Brown students mentor and tutor roughly 40 to 50 underprivileged students from several high

schools in Providence. Each mentor is assigned to five high school students, teaching basic science skills and helping with schoolwork or college preparation.

The group also plans “exciting lessons,” such as chemistry of food or a Halloween lesson on sugar, Williams said. She added that the program tries to expose high school students to college life and promote the study of science at college. They hope to present students’ science projects at the Science Center this semester to

“make more people at Brown know more about it and (get) the word out about what we do,” Williams said. “It is a fulfilling and wonderful experience to teach students who incredibly deserve” the opportunity, she added.

Mark Sabbagh ’12, who participates in the program, called the experience “incredibly rewarding” for the student mentors. “We fall between teacher and friend,” he said. It is “less of teaching,” he said, but really about “being with them.”

Gay marriage advocates find hope continued from page 1 Let your voice be heard at the State House today,” said Rep. John Edwards, D-Tiverton and Portsmouth.

Students were also in attendance, including members of the Brown Democrats and queer alliances.

Jean McCabe ’14 said she was confident about the future of gay rights in Rhode Island. “I think that this is the year we’re probably going to get marriage equality,” McCabe told The Herald. ”It’s only a matter of time.”

“It’s a matter of fairness and justice,” said Rachel Cocroft, a local supporter of equal marriage rights.

“I hope it brings Rhode Island into

the 21st century.”

Twenty to 30 anti-gay marriage advocates were peppered through the crowd. One such advocate, Jackie Archambealt, told The Herald she was there to “support traditional marriage.”

“I’m a born-again Christian, and the definition of marriage should be the way that God intended it to be: between a man and a woman,” she said.

Other counter-protesters included remaining members of the anti-gay marriage rally and former Providence mayoral candidate Chris Young. “Same-sex marriage violates the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States — the establishment clause,” Young told The Herald. “The gov-

ernment may not redefine the religious meaning of our belief.”

Kyle Marnane, a volunteer for Marriage Equality Rhode Island and a student at Johnson and Wales University, has been working for the organization since October. “Hopefully this shows the General Assembly that marriage matters,” Marnane said, “and that marriage equality needs to happen now.”

The legalization of gay marriage is not the only bill dealing with the issue that has been introduced to the General Assembly. Another bill has been put up for consideration that would put legalization on the ballot in November.

“We do not want (a referendum) to happen,” Marnane said.

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, February 10, 2011

City & State 7

Citizens flood State House for gay marriage hearing

By Kat Thornton Senior Staff Writer

Gay marriage supporters and opponents alike gathered at the State House yesterday for the House Judiciary Committee hearing on two bills regarding same-sex marriage in Rhode Island.

The first bill would legalize same-sex marriage, while the second would put to vote next year a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Three hundred people signed up to give testimony at the hearing.

Beforehand, the line to enter the building reached onto the sidewalk outside the north entrance of the State House, and space for hearing attendees had to be expanded to the second and third floors.

The hearing began with debate between state legislators, led by state Rep. Edith Ajello, D-Providence. Ajello, whose district includes College Hill, was recently named chair of the House Judiciary Committee.

State Rep. Jon Brien, D-Woonsocket, called for the issue to be put to a public vote because it is “larger than this body.” He added, “No one group has a fundamental right” to define marriage for the state.

Other representatives countered Brien with the reasoning that marriage equality is a civil rights issue that the government has the power to legislate in order to protect the rights of minority groups such as gays.

“The system has been set up to protect the rights of minorities,” said state Rep. Michael Marcello, D-Cranston. “It is only through the system that we protect everyone’s rights.”

Brien responded that samesex marriage should not be considered an issue of civil rights because sexual orientation is a matter of choice, while race is not.

State Rep. Charlene Lima, DCranston, compared same-sex marriage to female suffrage. She said that in the past, a woman’s right to vote would not have passed in a public vote because it was an “emotional issue.”

Ajello later stopped the discussion to open the floor for citizen testimony.

After each testimony, representatives asked the speakers questions.

A lawyer who supports gay marriage said she has seen samesex couples face challenges in attaining the same legal protection they would receive from marriage.

Because same-sex couples can’t marry, it is more difficult for them to take a leave of absence from work if a partner is ill or to adopt children.

Noah Bareto, an eighth grade student at Cole Middle School in East Greenwich, spoke in favor of the bill. Bareto said he has not seen a difference between children raised by gay parents and children raised by straight parents. “It’s not going to affect our lives if someone else is happy,” he said.

Many people consider “gay” a synonym for “bad,” he said, but he does not agree with that sentiment. “In the Bible they ate children. We don’t eat children,” he added.

Other gay marriage advocates cited potential economic gains from legalization. According to a representative from the Williams Institute for Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy, legalizing gay marriage could bring the state $1.2 million in the next three years.

Sally Lapides, co-founder of Residential Properties Ltd. in Providence said legalizing gay marriage would encourage more people to live in Rhode Island.

Same-sex marriage opponents called for a public vote and urged the committee to vote against the bill because it constitutes a redefi-

nition of marriage.

The bill would “hurt our children’s futures,” said lawyer Joe Cavanagh. He said marriage “between a man and a woman” has been the traditional definition “since the beginning of the world.”

“Same-sex marriage is an oxymoron,” he said.

Other opponents claimed

legalizing gay marriage would hurt future generations because children would grow up without fathers.

Listeners outside the hearing differed on their views of the proceedings. Lauren Bonetti, a same-sex marriage supporter, said she is optimistic the bill will pass this year.

Linda Green, who opposes legalization, said she wishes this were not a legal issue. She said she did not want to appear hateful toward the gay community, but claimed the bill’s passage would negatively redefine families.

“Where does it end?” she asked. “Where do we draw the line?”

8 World & Nation

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, February 10, 2011

Suleiman warns of coup as tensions rise in Egypt

By Timothy M. Phelps and Kim Murphy Los Angeles Times

CAIRO — Egypt’s government and protesters edged closer to violent confrontation Wednesday as demonstrators escalated their tactics and the vice president warned of a coup if the unrest continued, saying protests must end or “the dark bats of the night” would emerge to terrorize the nation.

Labor unrest continued to plague the nation for a second day, threatening to merge the political goals of the opposition with the more focused economic issues that have long plagued Egypt. And violence spread to a normally peaceful desert oasis 500 miles southwest of Cairo, where police killed four people.

Protesters in the central square, re-energized by massive crowds Tuesday after turnout began to flag on Monday, promised the biggest demonstrations yet on Friday, this time nationwide as well as in multiple locations in Cairo. On Wednesday, they defied the Egyptian army by occupying the street in front of parliament, creating a second front in downtown Cairo.

Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman, in comments to Egyptian newspaper editors published Wednesday, warned sharply that demonstrations could not continue. Suleiman, who until now has presented himself as a soft-spoken voice of reason in discussions with opposition leaders, sounded rattled as he warned of tougher measures.

The protests are “very dangerous for society, and we can’t put up with this at all,” he said. “We don’t want to deal with Egyptian society with police tools.”

He said he foresaw “the dark bats of the night emerging to terrorize the people” if the situation is not resolved. If protests against President Hosni Mubarak’s leadership continued, he said, the likelihood is that “a coup happens, which would mean uncalculated and hasty steps, including lots of irrationalities.”

A coup could come from within the regime, the army, the police or intelligence services — which he used to lead — or the opposition, Suleiman warned.

Middle-class Cairenes in particular were terrified by the withdrawal of police from the city 11 days ago, resulting in the mass release of prisoners and reports of people from poor neighborhoods marauding at night in wealthier areas. Many have spent nights outside guarding their homes and businesses with metal bars and sometimes guns.

While fewer people have been out patrolling the last two nights, Suleiman’s comments about “bats” appeared calculated to stir up those fears.

The army has taken over security from the police, but has focused on the protests, not police work. It has been highly praised by the opposition since it moved into Cairo and other urban areas, but Wednesday that relationship seemed to change as the Muslim Brotherhood, the largest opposition group, accused the army of arresting and torturing protesters headed to Tahrir Square.

“We appreciate the Egyptian army’s role in protecting protesters,” said Muhammad Mursi, who has met with Suleiman to discuss the crisis, at a news conference.

“But in some places, protesters are being taken to military camps and they are being tortured like those from the (police intelligence) tortured people in the past.”

He said 70 to 100 people had been tortured “very badly” by the army.

Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit also seemed to signal a crackdown could be coming, and added that he was “amazed” to hear of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s call for Egypt to immediately scrap its harsh “emergency law” aimed at maintaining civil order.

“How can you ask me to sort of disband that emergency law while I’m in difficulty? ... Allow me to have control to stabilize the nation, to stabilize the state, and then we would look into the issue,” Aboul Gheit said.

In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley suggested Aboul Gheit should not be taken aback by U.S. calls for democratic reform.

“With all due respect to the foreign minister, he should not be amazed — if that’s the word that he used — at our call for rescinding the emergency law,” Crowley said at a news briefing. “We have been calling for that for years, if not decades.”

On Wednesday, about 500 protesters blocked the street in front of parliament, some of them having camped there overnight after Tuesday’s massive gathering in Tahrir Square, four blocks away, spilled over. The government has promised not to forcibly remove demonstrators from the central plaza, but the occupation of new territory increased pressure on the army to act.

The army blocked off Kasr El Ainey Street, the major road into downtown from the south, because it runs by parliament, creating massive traffic jams even beyond

Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times

A group of protesters established themselves in front of the Egyptian Parliament building Wednesday in Cairo, Egypt.

the normal tie-ups.

“It’s not OK what you are doing here,” Gen. Hassan Ruwaini of the military police told protesters. “If you want to protest, go to Tahrir.”

The army has pledged not to attack peaceful protesters — at least in Tahrir Square — and it is a rare time in modern Egyptian history when people feel free to disregard military orders.

“We are not leaving, he is leaving,” chanted 150 young men behind their barricade. It was not clear if they were referring to Mubarak, the usual focus of that slogan, or the general.

The frustrated officer pulled back from the confrontation, at least for a time.

The parliament has been a major focus of opposition’s ire because of rigged elections and one-party rule. Members of parliament were told to stay home Wednesday, and the building was closed off.

A correspondent for Al-Jazeera television reported Wednesday night that the army had entered the parliament building for the first time in modern history to protect it.

Tahrir Square was surprisingly

full of demonstrators Wednesday, which was not scheduled as a major day of protest, a sign of continuing vitality within the movement to remove Mubarak from power. In another escalation, the opposition called for protests in multiple locations in Cairo on Friday, the Muslim day of prayer.

The protesters were defiant after Suleiman’s warning about a possible coup if protesters don’t back down, and vowed instead to expand their protests.

“What Suleiman said was something aggressive, and that means already they have a decision about what to do against us, and they will do it in these next two days,” said Mohammed Taman, a spokesman for a coalition of five main youth groups attempting to coordinate the protests.

Taman emphasized that none of those purportedly representing protesters in talks with the government were legitimate. “This is very bad, several times on TV they said these guys represent us. This is false. There is no one representing us,” he said. “If there is someone from the government who wants to negotiate with us, they should come here.”

He added that “we have one request, and we insist on it: Mubarak must leave.”

While not necessarily throwing in their lot with the opposition, workers seemed to take advantage of the chaos to issue their own demands.

In downtown Cairo, Ministry of Health employees joined the protesters outside the parliament.

A few blocks away, journalists were on strike for better pay at the magazine Rose El Yussef and condemned their editors for lavish lifestyles and supporting Mubarak.

Hundreds of workers and employees at the Egypt Telecom Co. protested outside company headquarters downtown, demanding better salaries and working conditions. There are ongoing strikes and protests by workers at the Egypt Railway Co., the Omar Effendi public retail stores and the Petrotrade petroleum company.

Several other protests by public workers are taking place in the governorates of Giza, Suez, Helwan, Kafr El Dawar and Kafr El Zayat.

While the majority of laborers are calling for better contracts, working conditions and pay raises, they have also chanted slogans that salute the protests in Tahrir Square.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik is carrying out his duties from the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s headquarters near Cairo Airport after demonstrators prevented him from entering the Cabinet building.

In New Valley, a western province, security forces reported that the first sizable anti-Mubarak gathering in the region resulted in clashes between protesters and police Tuesday and Wednesday.

Four people were killed and several were wounded by gunshots.

Protesters in the city of Port Said set the City Hall building on fire after saying the city’s governor ignored their complaints for subsidized housing facilities.

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, February 10, 2011

World & Nation 9

House panel plans to overturn EPA’s finding on climate change

By Renee Schoof McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — Republicans on the House of Representatives energy committee on Wednesday aired their proposal to block the Environmental Protection Agency from reducing greenhouse gases and to reverse the agency’s scientific finding that climate change is dangerous.

While the plan might be blocked in the Senate or vetoed by President Barack Obama, the comments during Wednesday’s hearing were a fresh indication of the depth of opposition in Congress to action on reducing U.S. carbon pollution.

Supporters of the measure to revise the Clean Air Act to take away the EPA’s authority to regulate this type of pollution said that curbing emissions would be too costly.

The EPA’s planned regulations “would boost the cost of energy, not just for homeowners and car owners, but for businesses both large and small,” said Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., the author of the legislation. “EPA may be starting by regulating only the largest power plants and factories, but we will all feel the impact of higher prices and fewer jobs.”

The EPA’s main plan so far is to write regulations that would set standards for heat-trapping gases emitted by new or upgraded power plants and refineries. The standards would be met mainly through efficiency improvements.

Congressional opponents of EPA action haven’t offered an alternative plan to cut emissions.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson testified that the agency would estimate the costs after it wrote the regulations. The Clean Air Act requires the agency to show that its plans are cost-effective and technologically feasible.

Jackson said Congress would be wrong to overturn the EPA’s 2009 “endangerment finding” that green-

house gases are a threat to American health and welfare.

“Politicians overruling scientists on a scientific question — that would become part of this committee’s legacy,” she said.

She cited the National Academy of Sciences, the government’s chief science advisory body, which has reported that “there is a strong, credible body of evidence, based on multiple lines of research, documenting that the climate is changing and that these changes are in large part caused by human activities.”

Scientific organizations have said in recent years that global temperatures are rising as a result of the accumulation of heat-trapping gases, mostly from fossil fuel use, and that the risks to the planet will increase if these emissions aren’t cut.

Upton has said that global temperatures may be rising but he’s not convinced that human actions are the cause.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that the EPA must regulate greenhouse gases under the law if it found they endangered human health and welfare.

Then-EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson recommended in a letter to President George W. Bush in 2008 that the administration impose curbs similar to the ones the agency now plans.

“The latest science of climate change requires the agency to propose a positive endangerment finding,” Johnson wrote. Committee Democrats released his letter Tuesday.

The Bush administration in the end rejected greenhouse gas regulations and didn’t allow the EPA to make its endangerment finding public.

Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., predicted that Obama would veto the bill if it cleared Congress and that he and other opponents of the legislation would have enough votes to sustain the veto.

The American Lung Association on Wednesday released a letter to Obama and Congress from more than 1,800 doctors, nurses and other medical professionals urging them to reject Upton’s bill.

Committee Republicans pressed Jackson for more information about the costs of greenhouse gas curbs.

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, challenged her to refute his assertion

that millions of jobs and hundreds of billions of dollars per year would be lost. “This regulation is going to skyrocket electricity costs,” said Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill. Barton and other Republicans cut off Jackson repeatedly, speaking over her attempts to reply. She told the panel the benefits of Clean Air Act regulations historically outweighed the costs by large amounts.

At a briefing before the hearing, Dick Munson of Recycled Energy Development said greater efficiency could cut emissions profitably. Recycled Energy Development installs equipment to capture waste heat in order to make power without additional fuel. Munson said the EPA’s rule would “drive the installation of proven technologies that will enhance American competitiveness.”

comics BB & Z | Cole Pruitt, Andrew Seiden, Valerie Hsiung and Dan Ricker

Dot Comic | Eshan Mitra and Brendan Hainline

10 Editorial & Letter Editorial The trouble with the double degree

Editorial comic

As seniors settle into their last semester, many are double-checking their requirements to make sure that, come May, they will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in hand. While some expect to receive degrees from multiple departments, a small contingent will earn both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree through the University’s concurrent degree program. Not widely publicized, this track allows students to complete both degrees in four years.

As the system currently operates, candidates may apply during their junior year for the joint degree at the discretion of their respective department and the Graduate Council and must demonstrate academic excellence in a minimum of 34 courses over eight or nine semesters.

Offering hard-working students the benefit of an advanced degree is commendable, yet the concurrent degree program was instituted in the 1960s before the adoption of the New Curriculum, and in some ways appears to stand in contrast with Brown’s current philosophy of liberal learning.

The most stringent stipulation is that candidates must have completed 10 courses outside their area of study by the time they wish to apply.

“Area of study” is defined broadly, and in fact often is distinguished at the level of sciences and humanities. This means that a student seeking a bachelor’s and a master’s in English, for example, may have to take at least 10 courses in life or physical sciences by the end of her junior year.

This can impose serious burdens on students who might prefer to spread such classes over their senior year as well, and it might discourage some others who would be reluctant to take so many extra classes without being certain of admission to the program. On the other hand, if the student took a fifth year at Brown to pursue her master’s, she would be free to structure her undergraduate course of study according to the freedom allowed by the open curriculum, restricted only by the requirements within her concentration department.

According to Stephen Lassonde, deputy dean of the College, at the time the concurrent degree program was instituted, “the philosophy was to reward students who had already studied broadly.” Yet we see in this an inconsistency with Brown’s current educational philosophy. Given that students gravitate to Brown for its commitment to liberal learning at the undergraduate level, it seems both unfair and illogical to stipulate that those with a focused academic interest must spend valuable credits taking courses in other departments in order to even apply for an advanced degree. We would like to see these contingencies reevaluated and conformed to the mold in which the New Curriculum has been cast.

It is also important that students be aware of their options in pursuing degrees at Brown. Lassonde said that he is receiving “inquiries from increasingly younger students,” some before they have even step foot on campus, yet typically fewer than 10 students graduate each year with a concurrent bachelor’s and master’s degree. On the one hand, said Lassonde, students should avoid “credentialing, rather than broadening and deepening their education,” but they must also receive proper advising far enough in advance, because students who only start to consider applying in their junior year are “having to make real trade-offs.” Students should work closely with their advisors and departments when considering possible degree tracks, and do so early on. When commencement rolls around, we hope to see students become graduates knowing that they made the most of their time here.

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

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The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, February 10, 2011

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b y a l e x y u ly

le tter to the editor After fire, new sailing facility badly needed To the Editor: Thank you for the terrific article on the fire at the home of Brown sailing. Now that the disaster has at least been reported in The Herald, we can begin efforts to raise awareness and commitment across the University to build a Brown-owned waterfront sailing facility, comparable to other schools’. A place where

all students, not just the sailing team, can go anytime.

Now we can editorialize on the need and value for something Brown should have replaced when the first Brown-owned sailing facility, acquired in 1937 as a gift from the class of 1908, was destroyed.

James Mackey IV ’87

quote of the day

“Same-sex marriage violates

the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States ­— the establishment clause.”

— Chris Young, former Providence mayoral candidate

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Opinions 11

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, February 10, 2011

(Some Of) The British Are (Sort of) (Still) Coming!

By Stephen Wicken Opinions Columnist During the break, dear reader, I chanced across an astonishing car commercial.

You might have seen it. The one where the Dodge Challenger defeats the Redcoats, heralding the dawn of a new nation that gets “two things right: cars and freedom.”

“Auto-industry bailout!” I spluttered. “PATRIOT Act!” Before I knew it, I was thrown headlong into a gentle transatlantic tiff with my American in-laws.

A while ago, the Yanks had a “revolution,” if that’s the right term for a group of middle-aged white men refusing to share their slavery earnings. A lot of perfectly good tea was ruined. The British took the hint, for the most part, and toddled off to conquer most of the rest of the world with gin and tonics and silly moustaches.

Eventually, we reunited when America popped in for the last five minutes of two World Wars, and things settled down into a tense but durable friendship, like that of two bandmates who remember that they wouldn’t be where they are without one another, but still think the other’s solo projects are crap.

In the past few years, however, things have changed ever so slightly. President Obama had Bush’s bust of Winston Churchill removed from the Oval Office because it was intimidating his speechwriters. Global energy giants and irresponsibility enthusiasts BP became ‘British’ again when something very, very bad happened, despite the fact that Halliburton was in-

volved and therefore it was almost certainly Dick Cheney’s fault.

We’ve even taken over the superhero arena, installing British actors as Superman, Batman and Spider-Man, prompting one Hollywood casting director to suggest that American men aren’t manly enough for such roles. Probably should have thought twice before you changed the rules of rugby and starting playing in leggings, eh?

And now, it seems, we’re coming for your universities. Or at least, a few more

erosion. Groin! Every time.

Under the British system one can, if one is so inclined, blind oneself to enormous chunks of human thought and endeavor at a very early stage. At sixteen, I bid adieu giddily to maths and the sciences to focus on the humanities and social sciences, and rarely have I been as happy since. I am, of course, now innumerate. Around 17, one picks a subject to study at university and applies to universities to study it. Stick with it for another three years and before you know it, you’re a notional expert. You can

Global energy giants and irresponsibility enthusiasts BP became ‘British’ again when something very, very bad happened, despite the fact that Halliburton was involved and therefore it was almost certainly Dick Cheney’s fault.

of us are applying to Brown, according to a recent article in The Herald (“Academic freedom a plus for Brits,” Jan. 31). Lock up your teapots: Brits are bursting forth from the gulags and making for the nearest Urban Outfitters in unprecedented numbers.

It’s true that the differences between the British and American education systems are surprisingly marked. As the earlier article notes, students in Britain start specializing much earlier. Your intrepid correspondent ditched geography, for example, at the age of 14, despite the inevitable homonymic hilarities that come with the adolescent study of such fascinating topics as coastal

get most of the way toward qualifying as a doctor or lawyer in Britain before you can order a beer in the U.S. Before you reel in horror, there is something to be said for this approach. Those who view the value of university education purely in terms of training the workforce appreciate the efficiency of being able to churn out engineers, for example, at 21. And even the majority of students who don’t end up directly translating their degree expertise into an occupation benefit from the opportunity for immersion in a discipline. This is especially the case at Cambridge and Oxford, where students

are taught primarily in one-on-one or very small group meetings.

There isn’t much I would change about my undergrad experience. I wouldn’t trade the time I spent reading in pubs and on riverbanks for all the language labs and coffee shops the Ivy League can throw. Of course, due to educational choices made during my adolescence, I’m not capable of adding up how many labs and workshops that would be. By my 21st birthday, I had forgotten more about Nietzsche than Nietzsche learned about me in his entire life, and I enjoyed forgetting it all tremendously. There is a reason why British universities are still turning out, for example, the better PhDs in subjects like European history — that relentless focus produces detailed, sometimes definitive, work.

Nonetheless, the liberal arts curriculum as practiced at universities like Brown leaves me feeling jealous. I very much like the idea of following one’s intellectual nostrils without giving up on all other scents.

One’s interests change. Imagine having to listen to the same music from 16 to 22. By graduation, you might have soured a little on Weezer. It might have been nice to mix up all that European political philosophy with the occasional interpretive dance workshop and actually get academic credit for it.

So take your time, follow your nose and enjoy your academic freedom. Or your academic Dodge Challenger. Just keep Weezer off the stereo. It’s still too soon.

Stephen Wicken GS is a fifth-year doctoral candidate in history. He can be reached at stephen_wicken@brown.edu.

Rethinking the higher education paradigm

By Oliver Doren Opinions Columnist Look around. Wherever you are on campus, you are most likely surrounded by a fairly diverse group of students who are unique in any number of ways, from ethnicity to sexual orientation to intellectual passions. Brown’s cosmopolitan character is refreshing, and the pattern of growing diversity in American colleges is perhaps the greatest achievement of education in the last century.

But it has its limits. The new frontiers of exclusion in this country — at least in higher education — are no longer principally confined to matters of race or religion — they are socioeconomic. As much as we and elite universities like us pride ourselves on our inclusivity, it is an irrefutable fact that the strongest internal correlation among students is that of economic background. A simple statistic from a recent Princeton study says it all: Of all students in the top 146 universities in America, only three percent come from the lowest income quartile — 77 percent come from the highest.

This is an unsustainable state of affairs, one that raises a pressing question: How can we oversee the redistribution of intellectual capital from the educated elite to the masses? For the beginnings of an answer, we can look to the great equalizer of our

time: the Internet.

In 2002, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology began an “OpenCourseWare” initiative to publish educational materials from all of its courses online, for free. Nearly ten years later, MIT “OpenCourseWare” hosts over 2,000 classes, many of which feature an organized course plan complete with full, in-class lectures by MIT professors, notes, homework, exams and hours of instructional solution videos worked out by graduate students specifically assigned

charge and accessible to anyone.

Ultimately, this broad-based dissemination of high-quality educational material means that basically anyone in the world with a library card and an Internet connection can receive a truly world-class education.

These new academic media seem to underscore the long-standing inefficacies in contemporary higher education. While Khan’s informal lessons are not in any position to replace the traditional classroom

It’s time that we make a concerted effort to share knowledge with the world, rather than foment it in secrecy behind walls that are $55,000 high.

to “T.A.” the online version of the course.

Meanwhile, in a converted walk-in closet just outside of Silicon Valley, Sal Khan — a former hedge fund manager and graduate of both MIT and Harvard — is recording a lecture on thermodynamics. He will soon upload it to KhanAcademy.org, where one can find 2,100 other lessons just like it, ranging from statistics to organic chemistry to the Napoleonic Wars. Like the MIT initiative, Khan’s teaching is entirely free of

model, they teem with a refreshing sense of childlike enthusiasm that may be in short supply in a lecture of two hundred that is taught by a tenured professor a few years past his prime.

In the face of the looming higher education bubble, in which students are seeing a rapidly increasing cost compared with decreasing returns for a college degree, these legitimate, free online resources are preserving the viability of the future of higher

education. In a society where education is not a virtue, but merely a quantifiable commodity in the professional’s repertoire, they are reclaiming it for the intellectually curious and the passionate.

There is immense potential to be found in this latest iteration of distance learning that MIT, Khan Academy and others have helped to build. As an institution that has often been at the forefront of revolutionary ideas in education, Brown University needs to embrace the egalitarian spirit of free and accessible education for all. It’s time that we make a concerted effort to share knowledge with the world, rather than foment it in secrecy behind walls that are $55,000 high.

It is in our mission to serve “the community, the nation and the world by discovering, communicating and preserving knowledge and understanding in a spirit of free inquiry.” What better way to do so than to create an “OpenCourseWare” initiative here at Brown?

The logistics of an initiative of this magnitude are by no means trivial. The program will be costly — MIT “OpenCourseWare” runs at about $3.5 million per year — and, in the midst of a budgetary and financial crisis, it may be some time before anything worthwhile is implemented. But establishing an online platform for free and accessible learning should be a top priority for the “the rebel Ivy” as we move ahead into the future.

Oliver Doren ’14 is from Miami, FL.

Daily Herald City & State the Brown

Thursday, February 10, 2011

R.I. firms commit to installing car-charging stations

By Hannah abelow Contributing Writer

Project Get Ready Rhode Island, an initiative devoted to promoting plug-in electric vehicles, celebrated its one-year anniversary last week by announcing the pledges of 14 Rhode Island-based companies to install charging stations for electric cars.

Albert Dahlberg, professor of medical science, founded the Rhode Island branch of the Project Get Ready initiative of the Rocky Mountain Institute, a Colorado think tank, The Herald reported last February.

In the last year, Project Get

Ready’s volunteers have devoted their efforts toward increasing the number of charging stations around Rhode Island. “Even though the vehicles won’t be available in Rhode Island until the end of this year, it’s important to start building up the infrastructure,” Dahlberg said.

The number of charging stations in Rhode Island has been rising since the first was unveiled in West Warwick last August.

Governor Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14 attended the event and expressed an interest in “looking at how the electric vehicles could be integrated into the state fleet,” Dahl-

berg said.

Ryan McGee GS, who has coordinated significant research undertaken by students for Project Get Ready, emphasized the significance of Chafee’s statement. “The previous administration had been totally silent on electric vehicles,” McGee said. “We had already established relationships with City Hall but this is our first high-visibility relationship at the State House.”

Until now, Project Get Ready has depended on student research and corporate leadership rather than federal or state support, Dahlberg said. McGee said an aim of the ini-

tiative is to attract more members of the private sector, and he hoped the announcement would help “maintain their momentum.”

Since the project’s beginning, students have taken an active role in the research necessary for Project Get Ready to establish the needed infrastructure. This fall, one student researched the geographical distribution of Toyota Prius owners throughout the state. The project is now using this research “to figure out where early adopters for electric vehicles are likely to live,” McGee said.

According to McGee, some

classes at Brown have also moved toward “active participation” in the project, including courses offered in commerce, organizations and entrepreneurship and environmental studies. Kurt Teichert, a lecturer in environmental studies and manager of environmental stewardship initiatives, offered a seminar last fall in which students discussed different vehicle technologies, including plug-in electric cars.

“The intent is to have students provide some of the research for Project Get Ready to better understand how this market is going to develop,” Treichert said.

Mentors seek to boost R.I. tackles health care reform passion for the sciences

By JU MYOUNG KIm Staff Writer

Each week, students devote hundreds of hours to teaching and mentoring Providence’s disadvantaged youth. But these volunteer tutors are facing a problem that even the most dedicated may be ill-equipped to handle.

National science tests show large disparities in Rhode Island, according to the most recent report from the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Test scores are much lower among minority students than among white students, among disabled students than among non-disabled students and among impoverished students than among the better-off. Rhode Island tested lowest in the nation in 2009 for Hispanic eighth graders, with 74 percent scoring “below basic,” according to the report.

The low scores show that “the need to transform our schools is urgent,” Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Deborah Gist said in a Jan. 26 Providence Journal article.

Though the report provided numerical evidence of the score disparity, attempting to close the gap is not a new goal for many Brown tutoring programs.

“There are so many factors involved,” said Karen Haberstroh, assistant professor of engineering and director of STEM Outreach, a

group that sponsors a number of programs bringing together graduate students, high schoolers and their teachers to boost students’ understanding of and passion for science.

In one of these programs, Physical Processes in the Environment, graduate students bring weekly inquiry-based science lessons to students in Providence elementary and high schools. Graduate students work “very intensively” to change students’ perception of science and to encourage them to pursue it at the university level, Haberstroh said.

Last summer, the program sponsored a collaboration between Providence teachers and University professors and graduate students. They worked to develop class curricula making science more appealing and interactive.

The teachers “have been fantastic and so supportive” of the program, Haberstroh said.

“The students are very behind the grade level,” said Daniel Prinz ’13, a student mentor for Algebra in Motion, a Brown organization that tutors Hope High School students in math. “That’s why we go out everyday.”

Katie Williams ’11, a student mentor in Brown Science Prep, said that students struggle the most with basic concepts. For excontinued on page 6

By Bradley silverman Staff Writer

Rhode Island policymakers are hammering out the details of how to implement the health care reform bill Congress passed last March.

State Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed, D-Newport, introduced a bill Jan. 28 to establish a health care exchange in Rhode Island.

“The exchange will create a health benefit marketplace that is fair, competitive, transparent and understandable to individuals and small businesses,” Paiva Weed said in a statement. “It will also have the important job of getting federal subsidies to the people who need them.”

The health care reform law mandates that each state set up a health insurance exchange by 2014 or allow the federal government to create one if they refuse to comply. An exchange is a set of standardized health plans, offered by private insurers, from which individuals may purchase coverage. They are intended to inject competition into the marketplace, lower costs and extend coverage to those currently uninsured.

Low-income citizens will receive federal subsidies to purchase insurance under the reform law.

At a January ceremony in downtown Providence, Gov. Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14 signed an executive order establishing the

Rhode Island Health Care Reform Commission. He named Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts ’78, who once worked in the health care field and has long advocated for reform, as its chair.

“I really think the creation of this new entity … is really an exciting moment,” Roberts said.

She said the exchange should address three critical issues ­­— “affordability, quality and sustainability.”

The commission will serve to make recommendations to the governor and offer legislative proposals to the General Assembly.

It replaces a task force Roberts established earlier to investigate the problems facing Rhode Island’s health care system. In that role, she clashed with former Gov. Donald Carcieri ’65, a staunch federal reform opponent.

“We have been in the past a national leader in health care and health care reform,” Roberts said.

“That has not necessarily been our position over the past few years, but I think it will be a real goal of this group and this administration to put us back in the forefront.”

Deborah Faulkner, a consultant to the Rhode Island Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner, served on Roberts’ task force and will play a role on the new commission as well.

“It will create a shop exchange­ — that is, a place for small employers to identify options for health insurance and potentially

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purchase through it,” Faulkner said.

There are many questions over how the exchange will operate — what authority it will have, which plans will be offered and who will be allowed to participate. Other remaining questions include whether it will be sustainable, how it will interface with the state’s Medicaid program and which state government agency will be responsible for overseeing it, Faulkner said.

“Does (the reform law) go beyond what’s envisioned in the (Affordable Care Act) to serve beyond small groups, larger groups, municipalities?” she said. “Those are the kinds of questions that many folks have raised. Who are its primary customers?”

John Robitaille, a Republican who narrowly lost the race for governor last year, said the health care law’s requirement that individuals purchase insurance is unconstitutional.

“You can’t require people to purchase a product,” he said.

Had Robitaille won, however, he would have been charged with implementing the law. He said he would like the exchange to provide consumers with information about different insurance options.

He added that he hopes it does not become a bureaucracy, preferring instead something like a website.

He also said the law hurts busicontinued on page 6