Monday, April 4, 2011

Daily

Herald

the Brown

vol. cxlvi, no. 41

Monday, April 4, 2011

Watson director Kennedy resigns

Since 1891

U. admits record-low 8.7 percent of applicants

By Lindor Qunaj Senior Staff Writer

By Shefali Luthra Senior Staff Writer

continued on page 2

Herald archives / U.S. Army

At left, undergraduates participate in the Naval Reserve Officers’ Training Corps before the program was banned from campus. At right, soldiers in Afghanistan participate in the Human Terrain System, a Pentagon program that aims to capitalize on academics’ expertise to better understand the populations of occupied countries.

As ROTC scrutinized, military funding ignored

By Sahil Luthra Senior Staff Writer

Though the possible reinstatement of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at Brown has brought debate about the military’s place on campus to the forefront this semester, the University has received research funding from the Pentagon for years without provoking such heated debate.

It has accepted roughly $10 million annually for the last four years from the Department of Defense in the form of research grants, according to figures from the Office of the Vice President for Research. Military funding ac-

counted for more than 5 percent of the total research budget in fiscal year 2010 and more than 7 percent in 2009, and Brown is among the top 100 universities in the United States in terms of military research funding.

Vice President for Research Clyde Briant said he expects Department of Defense funding — which includes funding from the Air Force, Army and Navy — to remain roughly constant for the current fiscal year.

Relevance to ROTC

Briant said he sees the issue of accepting military funding as separate from the question of

By Sahil Luthra Senior Staff Writer

Freddy Lu / Herald

Crocus buds, one of spring’s many harbingers, have cropped up on campus.

inside

continued on page 5

Power outage leaves students in the dark

Sprung spring

news...................2-5 Arts......................6 editorial.............10 Opinions..............11 SPORTS..................12

whether the University should reinstate ROTC on campus.

“As far as research is concerned, because it’s open to everyone, there’s no discrimination there,” Briant said. “So I see these as two very different matters.”

President Ruth Simmons, when she announced the formation of a committee to review the University’s policies on ROTC, cited the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the federal law that kept gays from serving openly in the military, as the impetus for her decision to convene the committee.

But ROTC was originally ex-

UNforgotten Simmons discusses slavery in address to United Nations Campus News, 3

Problems with an underground cable caused a blackout at some University buildings last night from approximately 5:15 p.m. to 7:15 p.m.

The outage affected George, Thayer and Hope streets and Young Orchard Avenue, according to National Grid spokesman David Graves. Only Brown-owned buildings were affected, since the problematic cable exclusively services the University.

The Herald received reports that Keeney Quadrangle, Graduate Center, Vartan Gregorian Quad and Wriston Quadrangle were among the affected dormitories. The Sharpe Refectory also lost power.

Graves said the Department of Facilities Management was in

charge of restoring power. Facilities staff could not be reached for comment.

Students coming to the Ratty for dinner had to write down their Brown ID numbers, because they could not swipe into the dining hall. Brown University Dining Services employee Trevor Covey ’14, whose usual responsibility is to ensure that there are enough to-go containers at the entrance, said his shift “passed a lot more quickly” as he assisted diners with the makeshift sign-in process. When the line became unmanageable, workers let some students enter for free, he added.

Several students in the Ratty cheered and applauded when the power returned. Others enjoyed the outage while it lasted. “It was like camping out,” said Angela Straccia ’14. “It was kind of fun.”

Grow up

Yu ’11 responds to int’l student project opinions,11

weather

Michael Kennedy, director of the Watson Institute for International Studies, will step down at the end of the academic year, Provost David Kertzer ‘69 P’95 P’98 wrote in an email to faculty Friday.

Kertzer and the Watson Institute’s Board of Overseers will choose an interim director while the University searches for a permanent director, Marisa Quinn, vice president for public affairs and University relations, wrote in an email to The Herald.

Four directors of the Watson Institute have stepped down in six years, which “suggests the importance of attending to some structural issues leading to so many changes,” Kennedy, who is traveling in Kosovo, wrote in an email to The Herald Saturday. “My resignation allows the University administration and Watson’s Board of Overseers to focus on those longstanding challenges.”

He also cited a desire to return to teaching as a reason for his resignation. Kennedy wrote

Last Wednesday, 2,115 applicants learned that they had been offered a spot in Brown’s most selective class ever. Including the 577 students who were accepted in December through the binding early-decision program, a total of 2,692 students from 79 countries were accepted from a record-setting pool of 30,946 — an overall admission rate of 8.7 percent, even lower than last year’s 9.3 percent.

Acceptance rates across the Ivy League hit record lows, with Harvard dipping to 6.2 percent and Yale 7.4 percent. In part due to a switch to the Common Application, Columbia saw a 33 percent increase in combined total applications to its college and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, receiving 34,929 applications and posting an acceptance rate of only 6.9 percent. This represented a significant drop from last year’s combined 9.2 percent admission rate.

At Brown, approximately twothirds of accepted students applied for financial aid, and 17 percent of admission offers went to firstgeneration college students, the highest percentage ever, according to Dean of Admission Jim Miller ’73. Nine percent of the admitted class has legacy status, a number that is “very similar to prior years,” Miller wrote in an email to The Herald. A University press release stated that the class of 2015 is “the most racially, socioeconomically and geographically diverse class in Brown’s history.”

The admitted students are “very, very accomplished in terms of the courses they’ve taken and projects they’ve pursued,” Miller said.

Among those coming from high schools that rank students, 96 percent were in the top 10 percent of their classes.

This year’s applicant pool expressed slightly more interest in the sciences, especially the physical sciences — 33 percent of students listed sciences as intended concentrations, up from 30 percent in the class of 2014.

But many students are still attracted to Brown’s liberal arts programs. According to Steve Kim, a high school senior at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., continued on page 4

t o d ay

tomorrow

51 / 47

53 / 34

2 Campus News

The Brown Daily Herald Monday, April 4, 2011

Despite efforts, Meiklejohn apps down

calendar Today

April 4

1 P.m.

ToMORROW

April 5

4 p.m.

“Tradition, Trauma, Transformation,”

“Contemporary India: A Gender

List Art Building, Bell Gallery

Perspective,” Watson Institute

7 P.m.

7:30 p.m.

“Chicanos: History, Movement &

“An Alternative Strategy to

Identity,” Alumnae Hall

Afghanistan,” Barus and Holley 168

By Jackie Choi Contributing Writer

menu SHARPE REFECTORY

VERNEy-WOOLLEY DINING HALL LUNCH

Cajun Pasta with Chicken, Tortellini Provencale, Caprese Salad, Butter Cookies

Pulled Pork Sandwich, Baked Macaroni and Cheese, Fresh Sliced Carrots, Butter Cookies

DINNER Texas Style Beef Brisket, Vegan Roasted Veggie Stew, Vegan Chana Masala, S’Mores Bars

Roasted Honey Chili Chicken, Vegan BBQ Tempeh, Apricot Beef with Sesame Noodles

Sudoku

Herald file photo

Kennedy cited “structural issues” at Watson when explaining his resignation.

Kennedy steps down as Watson director continued from page 1

Crossword

that he has “always been able to find a productive synergy” by synthesizing his obligations as a professor and scholar with his role as director of various programs, institutes and center for over 12 years. Prior to coming to the University, Kennedy served for 23 years at the University of Michigan as a professor of sociology and as the director of the school’s Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia and its Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies.

“With the changes being undertaken by the administration, and the kind of director those changes require, I believe my abilities are more useful in other arenas,” he wrote.

Kennedy will continue to serve as a professor of both international relations and sociology. He wrote he thinks focusing on teaching will allow him to resume involvement with institutes beyond the University, which he could not do as director. He plans to work with

Daily

the Brown

the Social Science Research Council, Soros’s Open Society Institute and the World Economic Forum.

Kertzer was not available for further comment because he is in London.

Kennedy joined the University in summer 2009, after Vice President for International Affairs David Kennedy ’76, who was also serving as interim director of the Watson Institute, resigned. The search for a permanent director of the Watson Institute began after former director Barbara Stallings, professor of international studies, stepped down in summer 2008.

In his email to faculty, Kertzer listed “important reforms” under Kennedy’s tenure, citing increased funding for the Watson Institute, the arrival of new scholars and changes to the international relations and development studies concentrations. International relations is one of the University’s largest concentrations.

Kennedy “has worked tirelessly to strengthen the Watson Institute and Brown,” Kertzer wrote.

Herald

www.browndailyherald.com 195 Angell St., Providence, R.I.

Ben Schreckinger, President Sydney Ember, Vice President

Matthew Burrows, Treasurer Isha Gulati, Secretary

The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is an independent newspaper serving the Brown University community daily since 1891. It is published Monday through Friday during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement, once during Orientation and once in July by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Single copy free for each member of the community.

POSTMASTER please send corrections to P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI 02906.

Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Subscription prices: $280 one year daily, $140 one semester daily.

Copyright 2011 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved. editorial

(401) 351-3372 herald@browndailyherald.com

Business

(401) 351-3360 gm@browndailyherald.com

The Meiklejohn Peer Advising Program saw a 5 percent decrease in the number of applicants this year, from 517 in 2010 to 492 this spring.

Last year, the number of applications increased 38 percent over 2009.

Of the 492 applications, approximately 350 students — the same numbers as in previous years — will participate in the program for the upcoming academic year, according to Ann Gaylin, associate dean of the College for first-year and sophomore studies.

Despite efforts to enhance the program — which include developing a sense of community within the program through a more interactive orientation, offering training for Meiklejohns throughout the year and better publicizing the program and the application process — the decreased number of applications received this year did not reflect the general trend of increased applications in previous years.

Ari Rubenstein ’11, a Meiklejohn leader, said the increased attention for the program — though this year’s applicant numbers declined, the number increased from 375 in 2009 — is partly due to stepped-up recruitment efforts that began as early as fall 2010. The application process, which began in December, is also longer. He said the excitement of giving back to the Brown community through mentoring and helping firstyears motivates students to apply to be Meiklejohns.

Noura Choudhury ’12, another Meiklejohn leader, said students who have had good experiences with their Meiklejohns during their first year provided productive feedback, thus improving program overall. For example, first-years can communicate with their Meiklejohns before they arrive on campus in the fall through the ASK Advising Sidekick tool on the Dean of the College’s website and by writing letters to their advisers during the summer.

Christina Sun ’14, a former Herald contributing writer, said the Meiklejohn program was a good opportunity for first-years to get to know upperclassmen who can offer more insight than other first-years.

“It’s nice to know that I have someone to go and talk to about anything,” Sun said.

This year, the Office of the Dean of the College and the Meiklejohn leadership program have implemented a policy for new Meiklejohns who will be away during the fall semester.

Instead of starting as Meiklejohns in the spring, their participation in the program will be deferred until the following year. Gaylin said this change was made because the fall orientation is the most important training, and beginning Meiklejohns sometimes find it difficult to connect with first-years when their initial contact occurs only in the spring term.

Campus News 3

The Brown Daily Herald Monday, April 4, 2011

Molecule could prevent Simmons delivers UN keynote address seizures, researchers find

By Max Ernst Staff Writer

Student-conducted research at the University’s Institute for Brain Science revealed that synthesis of the molecule putrescine during a seizure can protect the brain from recurrent episodes. Further research on the physiological effects of putrescine and other polyamines could ultimately lead to a treatment for epilepsy.

The study concluded that putrescine is converted into gammaaminobutryic acid — the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter that calms brain activity — and that a surge of GABA during the preliminary seizure helps prevent later episodes, said Mark Bell GS, who conducted the majority of the experiments. The research team found that it took 65 percent longer to induce a seizure in tadpoles that had been given a dose of putrescine compared to those that were not administered the polyamine, according to a University press release.

“If you block polyamine synthesis around the time of the seizure and then induce a seizure four hours later, there is no protective effect,” said Hannah Johnson ’11, a student involved in the research. “It was already known that there is a spike in putrescine after a seizure, but no one knew before if it was helping or causing more cell damages.”

“We came across the idea of polyamines in general by giving the tadpole a seizure, waiting around four hours and giving it another seizure. The animal was more resistant the second time,” Bell said. “This was a very curious find, and we wanted to explore it.”

The research team proceeded to identify beneficial polyamines by blocking several different ones from synthesis during the first seizure and found that the animal “did worse four hours later” when the polyamines were removed from the process, according to Johnson. Ultimately, the team found that putrescine was the main protective molecule responsible for limiting the severity of a seizure.

“We were hoping to see that more complex polyamines have an effect on seizures,” said Assistant Professor of Neuroscience Carlos Aizenman. “Putrescine was thought to have very little effect, but when we blocked it, we found that the simple polyamine

had the biggest effect.”

Aizenman, Bell and several undergraduates have been working on the epilepsy research since 2005 with funding from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation and Matthew Siravo Memorial Foundation. The Institute for Brain Science has played an important role recently in the development of the seizure study and similar scientific endeavors.

“The institute helps to create an environment conducive to great work and put faculty in a good position to receive grants,” said institute Associate Director John Davenport.

“The Plan for Academic Enrichment allocated seven new faculty positions to the institute, one of which was filled by Aizenman, who has directed the seizure study,” Davenport said.

Since the research team has identified how the chemical works in conjunction with seizures, further research on the subject could eventually produce a drug that could control seizures in epilepsy patients. But that is a long way off, Aizenman said.

“This is still something in the early stages,” he said. “If this holds up in different species, some other researchers could use the findings for a novel therapy to treat epilepsy.”

Although the study has not identified treatment for epilepsy, the current findings will play an important role in future medical research.

“We have been looking to better understand the underlying mechanisms, which is obviously the first step if you want to find any kind of therapeutic implications,” Johnson said.

By Kat Thornton Senior Staff Writer

NEW YORK — President Ruth Simmons spoke about remembering slavery and Brown’s recognition of its historical ties to the slave trade in her keynote address at the United Nations General Assembly’s fourth annual international slavery remembrance day March 25 in New York City.

Simmons began her speech by thanking the United Nations for recognizing the importance of “this international day of remembrance” for 400 years of international slave trading, which she called a “monumental violation of human rights.”

“I thank you for recognizing that nations cannot fully embrace principles of fairness, equality and shared governance without acknowledging the occurrence of heinous acts that violated these principles,” she said.

Simmons also called attention to the slave trade’s contemporary implications. “Invaluable” cultural connections were lost during the slave trade for the benefits of commerce, she said.

“This willful erasure has had farreaching consequences,” she said.

“Inheritors of this erasure have been left to a patchwork existence with gaping holes that cannot, for the most part, ever be filled with pieces that precisely match.”

Simmons spoke of the need for education to prevent such human rights violations from occurring again, calling universities “vital partners” in that process.

Universities “must also reveal the truth of their own histories,” she added, even if it does not accurately reflect their current principles. “The fear of the truth has no place in a university that purports to expose the truth,” she said.

Simmons cited Brown’s efforts to

Kat Thornton / Herald

President Ruth Simmons delivered the keynote address at the United Nations General Assembly’s fourth annual international slavery remembrance day Friday in New York.

uncover its relationship with slavery through the Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice, which studied the topic from 2003 to 2006.

Though this history was “largely absent from the University’s official documents,” she said the committee discovered that Brown’s founders were involved in the transatlantic slave trade.

These results have compelled the University to memorialize its early history and make it a “visual dimension” of the University’s “current identity,” Simmons said.

She spoke about the upcoming creation of a research center and a physical memorial to slavery on campus. She told the members of the General Assembly about the contributions the University’s Fund for the Education of the Children of Providence has made for teachers and students who may have been affected by the slave trade’s longlasting legacy.

These contributions are not intended to “make amends,” Simmons said, but rather to serve as “constant

reminders” of the values of justice and equality.

“The most important action is that which addresses the offense, cleanses the record and brings to light the truth of what has transpired,” Simmons said.

She added she hopes other universities will follow Brown’s example.

Simmons’ keynote address followed a morning of speeches from regional representatives about the living legacy of the transatlantic slave trade.

The event, held to commemorate the fourth annual International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, was titled “The Living Legacy of 30 Million Untold Stories.”

The chairs of regions from around the world made statements addressing the injustice of the slave trade and urging the United Nations to commission a physical memorial to slavery at its New York headquarters. Several cultural groups also gave performances.

4 Campus News

The Brown Daily Herald Monday, April 4, 2011

U. hires science outreach director

By Leah Bromberg Contributing Writer

Oludurotimi Adetunji embarks on his first day as Brown’s director of scientific outreach today.

The new position is “a recognition on the part of the University that we need to pay attention to outreach,” said David Targan, associate dean of the College for science education. Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron said the new position will not only expand the University’s science advising, but also help develop the outreach mission of the newly opened Science Center.

Adetunji will be joining a group of scientists at Brown who have chosen to move from career research to outreach, Targan said.

“We need more scientists. We need more engineers,” Adetunji said.

“When you look at the data, we’re producing about 50,000 engineers per year by now,” he said.

“China produces about 500,000 engineers. We need to do something to change the picture.”

Adetunji said he hopes to help Brown recruit and retain concentrators in the “STEM” disciplines — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — which he said have attracted few students recently. Women and minority students are particularly under-

represented in the “STEM” disciplines, he said.

Adetunji believes that “Brown can become a national leader” in the science communities. He said forming partnerships with faculty and students is important not only within Brown, but also within the larger Rhode Island community.

Scientific outreach to middle school, high school and community college students is crucial to the vitality of sciences at Brown, he said. Adetunji said he hopes to attract prospective students by sending Brown undergraduates out to schools as “ambassadors” in the sciences to showcase relevant research at Brown.

He plans to facilitate partnerships between Brown scientists and those of nearby universities and explore how Brown’s scientific work can benefit society. Adetunji said his other goals include writing grants, presenting work and publishing more research papers.

“You are a scientist first, but also a teacher,” Targan said. “It’s important that scientists not be isolated in our ivory towers. It’s important that scientists explain to taxpayers that their research has significance to the public at large.”

“That’s not something you can just read about on the front page of the New York Times,” he continued.

One of the first things Adetunji said he will do is to “administer a University-wide inventory.”

Brown needs a blueprint of the activities that scientists, students and faculty are starting within different departments, he said. Interdepartmental communication is fundamental to getting greater funding, especially when activities overlap, he said.

“The sciences are expensive,” Targan said. “We have funding needs for the laboratories. We can’t just operate with a whiteboard or a blackboard. We need grants to obtain the best and most cutting-edge facilities and to recruit cutting-edge scientists.”

Adetunji — a native of Nigeria — graduated from Fisk University, a historically black college in Nashville, Tenn., with a degree in physics and computer science in 2002. He received his doctorate from Ohio State University in 2008, where he worked in experimental physics. After graduating, he worked as a physical scientist for the Navy and served as assistant dean in the division of natural and mathematical sciences of the College of Arts and Sciences at Ohio State. While in Ohio, he received two National Science Foundation grants, including one for a program he developed to spread awareness about the geological sciences.

Herald file photo

The admission rate for the class of 2015 was a record low.

U. sees changes in demographics of admits continued from page 1 Brown “seemed like a place of greater appreciation for the arts than most colleges, which meant a lot to me as a musician.” Kim, who is also considering offers from Columbia and Stanford, plans to double-concentrate in East Asian Studies and Economics.

Fourteen percent of the admission offers were made to international students. China, India and the United Kingdom rank at the top of the list with 57, 34 and 33 offers, respectively. India has replaced Canada as the secondmost-represented country among admitted students. The University has increased recruiting efforts overseas in recent years, and the success of those initiatives is reflected in these numbers, according to Miller.

Domestically, California, New York and Massachusetts boast the highest number of admits, with 393, 322 and 216, respectively. The large volume of applications from California and the south and west in general reflect “demographic trends in the country,” Miller said.

Alon Sacks, from Tamalpais

High School in Mill Valley, Calif. was drawn to Brown because of its diverse community and flexible curriculum.

Though this year’s 3 percent increase in application numbers was smaller than in recent cycles, the Office of Admission has seen a 50 percent increase over the past three years, according to the press release.

The University also accepted 112 fewer applicants than last year, when 2,804 applicants received offers. Miller said this was an intentional decision meant to avoid the potential overcrowding of residence halls, particularly first-year dormitories. Last year, the University “came very close” to overfilling the rooms, Miller said.

Many students have been placed on a waitlist as well, but Miller said it was difficult to predict how many students would choose to remain on the list and how many students will eventually be accepted. Last year, fewer than six students were admitted off the waitlist, he said.

Students have until May 1 to either accept or decline admission.

The University expects 1,485 students to matriculate this fall.

Ivy League Admission Figures University

2011 Acceptance Rate 2010 Acceptance Rate

Brown

8.70%

9.30%

Columbia

6.93%

9.16%

Cornell

17.95%

18.36%

Dartmouth

9.73%

11.53%

Harvard

6.17%

7.16%

Penn

12.26%

14.25%

Princeton

8.39%

8.80%

Yale

7.35%

7.88%

Campus News 5

The Brown Daily Herald Monday, April 4, 2011

Ethics of military funding goes undiscussed continued from page 1 pelled from campus decades before “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” came into effect. In 1969, the Vietnam War loomed large over debates about ROTC’s place on college campuses, including Brown’s. The decision to ban ROTC from campus was, in part, a refutation of the military in general.

Provost David Kertzer ’69 P’95 P’98, who served on the committee that examined ROTC policy as an undergraduate, dissented from the committee’s recommendation to keep ROTC on campus.

“I have found the majority report to have grave implications for the integrity of education at Brown and, indeed, for the relation of the academic community to the larger society,” he wrote in his minority report, according to the Feb. 11, 1969 Herald. Ultimately, Kertzer’s dissent carried the day, and the faculty voted to phase out ROTC in April 1969.

A month before that vote, Students for a Democratic Society, of which Kertzer was a member, passed out leaflets to the faculty that said, “An attack on ROTC is an attack on imperialist policy,” according to the March 4, 1969 Herald.

Catherine Lutz, chair of the anthropology department and a member of the committee on ROTC, said the policy of accepting military funding has not figured in the committee’s discussion.

“We got a very specific charge from Ruth Simmons to look at ROTC and a very specific set of questions about it,” Lutz said. “So we’re not taking on the whole kit and caboodle.”

But the issue of military funding cannot be wholly separated from the ROTC debate because some believe the University should not support the military in any way and thus should not accept military funding, while others maintain that if the University accepts military funding, it should also support ROTC, Lutz said.

Still, the ROTC question is “a large enough project for now” without also tackling the issue of military funding, Lutz said. One reason military funding may not have provoked the same level of debate is ROTC’s more conspicuous campus presence, she added.

“ROTC was very visible — people in uniform on campus,” Lutz said. “Military research happens in departments, in labs, pretty much out of sight. People don’t always know what the funding source is for the different kinds of research.”

One major issue in debating the reinstatement of ROTC is that the military would appoint officers to the faculty, Kertzer told The Herald last month. In discussing the reinstatement of ROTC, some faculty members also take issue with the fact that military officers would have the same voting status as other professors, Lynn Della Grotta ’13, a member of Students for ROTC, wrote in an email to The Herald.

“In this sense, our accepting military research funding and not

having ROTC on campus are unrelated,” she wrote. “However, if the military is supporting our research it would make sense that we would support the military.”

Letting the military into the academy

Lutz, whose research includes a look at militarization in American society, said she believes military funding has significantly narrowed the scope and types of questions asked in research. She listed hypnosis — with its potential application to interrogations — and nuclear weaponry as areas in which the military has pushed research in the past.

“The fact that the Department of Defense is the most heavily funded unit of the federal government means that we end up with a lot of knowledge that follows the money there,” Lutz said, adding that this “leaves other areas of important research — like research into alternative energy and transportation systems or tropical disease — understaffed and underfunded.”

The military also offers funding for some research in the social sciences, since it often calls on anthropologists to help understand the culture of a country where military operations might take place.

As a result, anthropologists must “walk a fine line” in deciding their level of cooperation with the military, William Beeman, a former adjunct professor of anthropology, told The Herald in 2008.

Military-funded research at Brown includes the development of a nanotechnology that would improve resistance to infrared surveillance equipment and provide shielding against electromagnetic interference.

But some military-funded projects focus on topics with no obvious connection to defense, Briant said, citing a grant of nearly $600,000 awarded to the University by the Army to study DNA replication as it relates to breast cancer.

While some military grants do not beg ethical questions, deciding to accept the military as a source of funding can still get “very murky,” said Harrison Stark ’11, who served two years ago on a Research Advisory Board committee to review ethical considerations for grant funding. Though that committee was initially formed to draft specific policies for military research funding, its goals became more vague. It shifted its focus to “facilitating open analysis and debate of these issues,” according to a report published by the committee.

Stark, a BlogDailyHerald contributor, added that while it can be difficult to turn down money, the University should prioritize academia’s “unique” freedom to critique all areas of society.

“This idea of a research university is good in a lot of ways, but the University shouldn’t be primarily a corporation first and an institution of learning and critique second,” Stark said.

But funding sources are “not

easily disentangled,” said James Simmons, professor of biology.

Simmons’ research on bats and echolocation has received various forms of military funding since the 1970s. His research is of interest to the military because it can be useful in detecting mines, he said.

In general, research can have lots of different applications, Simmons said, so it would be “counterproductive” to ignore a research area because it could be useful to the military. He believes people should resist the military’s specific actions if they are unethical rather than distrusting it as an institution in general, he added.

Ethical standards for grants

Brown does not have specific guidelines regarding military funding, Briant said, but the University does have “strong ethical considerations” in reviewing any funding source. Any research must be fully publishable, and no anonymous funding sources are accepted. There is a “stringent” set of policies regarding testing on humans and animals, and conflicts of interest are also considered, he said.

But it is unclear how the faculty in general feels about military funding, since those who oppose it simply would not apply for it, Briant added.

After the Research Advisory Board committee’s discussions on the military’s role in academia two years ago, the University has not reexamined what the committee called the “vexed” issue of military funding. With research funding outside the purview of the ROTC committee, the issue remains largely on the back burner.

James Franco to teach at NYU next year

By Kelsey Desiderio and Arielle Milkman Washington Square News, via UWIRE

James Franco showed some love for New York University at the Oscars, and now he’s coming back for more.

Next year, Franco will teach a section of graduate film students.

Higher Ed Franco mentioned the news in an email to Washington Square News, responding to a question on why he hasn’t been very vocal about his time at NYU. “I love NYU,” Franco wrote. “My fellow NYU film students are some of my closest friends. I mentioned NYU at the Oscars and on David Letterman; I don’t know how to be more vocal about it. I will be teaching NYU graduate students next year.”

Franco will teach a section of third-year directing in the fall, according to John Tintori, the chair of the graduate division of the Kanbar Institute of Film and Television.

Each of the 10 to 12 students in the class will adapt a Louise Gluck poem. Tintori said Franco has met with Gluck and has secured permis-

sion to adapt her work.

Franco said his class will develop a book of poems into a feature film, and that he will teach at NYU “probably for a year.”

“The book of poems has not been decided upon,” he said. “I love the idea of working with students, especially NYU students.”

“James’ own film work has been based on poems, or about poets, so this is a nice fit for him,” Tintori wrote in an email. “James has an amazing mind. And limitless energy.

Our students will be fortunate to learn from him.”

Christine Nguyen, a second-year graduate student in the Tisch Interactive Telecommunications Program, said she hopes Franco wasn’t hired only because of his name.

“Hopefully they’re basing this decision on the fact that he’s qualified to do it, not because he’s James Franco,” she said. “It’s not such a bad idea for NYU (to have) a celebrity or an actor teach at the school. It’s a smart move for NYU.” Andrew Scott, a Tisch freshman studying film, thinks Franco is a valuable addition to the faculty, despite the actor’s quirks.

“He’s a crazy guy,” he said. “He does what he wants.”

Become our fan on Facebook for news updates and more facebook.com/browndailyherald

www.browndailyherald.com

6 Arts & Culture

The Brown Daily Herald Monday, April 4, 2011

Artist spotlight: Michael Dawkins ’12 Exhibit a

By Kat thornton Senior Staff Writer

Michael Dawkins ’12 is not a music concentrator, but he has always made time for maintaining his virtuoso piano abilities.

If you see Dawkins play, you will be astonished by his flawless performance of a complicated classical composition. While playing “Gaspard de la Nuit” by Maurice Ravel, Dawkins’ hands fly over one another with a skillful control of the entire range of keys. Bauer’s piece varies from light, fluttering melodies to strong, hard chords. With ease, Dawkins matches the changes, moving left hand over right with grace.

Dawkins said he has been playing since he was eight years old. In first grade, he met two girls who played the piano, and he decided he wanted to be like them. He started taking classes and learned as much as he could.

He wanted to master the instrument, and he did.

Dawkins has continued to play in college because it is something he loves to do, and he does not want to lose his abilities.

“It’s like a skill you acquire — like learning to write or learning a language,” he said.

Dawkins said his favorite composer is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. “I feel that people underestimate who Mozart was,” he said. In the 1700s, “Mozart was their Lady Gaga.”

Though he said he best plays music by Franz Schubert and Sergei Rachmaninoff, Dawkins’ favorite pieces to play are Frederic Chopin’s.

“He’s an extremely gifted pianist,” said Arlene Cole, adjunct lecturer in music and Dawkins’ piano teacher.

Cole, who listened to Dawkins’ admission tapes, said he was “highly rated” by the music department before his arrival.

“He’s very talented and can play whatever (piece) he chooses to learn,” Cole said.

At Brown, Dawkins plays for the local Unitarian church and used to accompany participants of the University’s Applied Music Program. He has also helped the Music Department during previous summer sessions.

In last year’s Chaminade Music Club Competition, he won first prize with Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3.

But Cole said Dawkins’ “main focus is on school life and less on classical music.”

Dawkins said he finds it dif-

‘crowdpleaser’

continued from page 12 cies and the behaviors and activities that occur form a kind of stage for their emergent sociality, or a stage for the conditioning of the social, and how individuals function within built environments and collective spaces, like a museum,” she added.

Through its novel experiment with animals, this fascinating exhibit raises issues of order in the domestic homes while examining what happens when this order is shattered. The unique and creative use of absurdity, humor and other elements result in the exhibit Locks describes as a “crowd-pleaser.”

“Once Upon a Time” will be on display at the RISD Museum through Nov. 6.

Kat Thornton / Herald

A pianist for eight years, Dawkins was a “highly rated” applicant to Brown and plays for the local Unitarian church.

ficult to balance school with piano practice, but he finds days to work intensely on piano and other days to focus on home-

work. Though he said he could not imagine his life without classical music, he is looking to play more jazz music in the future.

The concept behind this exhibit exposes different aspects of humans’ relationships with nature and their environment. Its use of animals in a suburban space brings viewers to question the effects of domesticity in a shocking and innovative way.

Advertisement

8 Sports Monday

The Brown Daily Herald Monday, April 4, 2011

W. lax overwhelmed by Big Green Men’s lacrosse drops heartbreaker to Tigers continued from page 12

the Bears claw back against their ranked opponent.

Though much of the game was back-and-forth, Stanford claimed a 32-18 edge in shots taken and a 25-19 advantage in ground balls won.

“I think it was a really good learning lesson for us against a top-10 opponent,” said Head Coach Keely McDonald ’00. “We really got a feel for what that kind of game feels like and that every single play in that game is going to make a difference, and I think those are tremendous lessons for us.”

Dartmouth 17, Brown 5

The Big Green took an early lead and never looked back Saturday in Hanover, tallying scores twice in the first two minutes to grab a 2-0 lead. Though Waterman struck with two goals of her own in the next 10 minutes, tying the score, Dartmouth set off on a six-goal scoring run, giving themselves an 8-2 lead with five

minutes to play in the first half.

Two goals from Hudgins and Waterman stopped the Big Green’s onslaught and cut the lead to four.

Not to be slowed down, Dartmouth added three quick goals with two minutes left in the half to give the Big Green a commanding 11-4 advantage going into the break.

“Lacrosse is a game of runs, and we definitely need to respond to those and step up as a unit not only to limit runs but to go on runs too,” McDonald said.

Dartmouth’s scoring runs only continued in the second half, as the Big Green added six more goals over the first 20 minutes to extend their dominant lead to 174. Julia Keller ’12 capitalized on a feed from McGilloway with six minutes left in the game, bringing the final score to 17-5.

“All of us are extremely disappointed and unhappy with our performance,” Waterman said.

“We wanted it so badly, and it’s not translating to how we played … We want everybody on the team to be giving it their all and

giving it their best, and we didn’t feel like we had that.”

Bruno will enjoy a five-day respite before continuing its grueling stretch of games against Harvard Friday at 6 p.m.

The game is an important one for the team, not just in their pursuit of an Ivy Championship, but also in the pursuit of a cure. The night game represents the second annual “Lacrosse for Lupus” event and is dedicated to finding a cure for the disease.

Though the team has philanthropic goals for Friday, they are not losing sight of the task on the field. After facing off against the Crimson, the Bears also welcome No. 3 Duke University to Stevenson Field Sunday afternoon.

“We are preparing not just for Harvard but for us to work on some of the things we need to work on after Dartmouth,” McDonald said. “We are focusing on us and on being ready and prepared for the big weekend we have coming up against two great teams with two great opportunities to win.”

continued from page 12 traveled to Durham, N.C. to take on defending national champion Duke in a rematch of last year’s thrilling 11-10 Blue Devil win. Hawley and Feinberg again spearheaded the Brown attack with multi-goal performances, but Duke proved too much to handle, outshooting the Bears 42-23 en route to a 12-7 victory.

Midfielder Teddy Daiber ’11 scored the game’s first goal, but the 1-0 advantage was Brown’s only lead of the game. After Duke took the lead, Hawley scored two consecutive goals to tie the game at three goals apiece in the second quarter, but the Blue Devils put home three unanswered tallies to take a 6-3 lead into the half.

Hawley’s third goal of the day cut the lead to 6-4, but Duke answered back with two scores of its own to take an 8-4 advantage early in the third. The pattern repeated as Feinberg’s next goal for Brown was immediately answered by two Duke scores to stretch the Blue Devil lead to 10-5 going into the final quarter.

“In the third quarter, we kind of fell apart mentally,” Brown said. “I feel like we had almost five penalties in that third quarter. We had a bunch, and they just kind of built a lead that we couldn’t really equal.

And they really out-hustled us. They got the tough ground balls that we should have gotten.”

Feinberg and Alex Jones ’13 found the back of the net for the Bears as the two sides traded scores in the fourth. At the final whistle, the scoreboard at Koskinen Stadium showed a 12-7 Duke win.

Princeton 5, Brown 4 (4OT)

Eager to bounce back from the

Duke loss and capture its first Ivy win of the season, Brown got off to a strong start Saturday at Princeton.

Parker Brown and Hawley put home goals less than two minutes apart in the first period to give the Bears a 2-0 lead. But Bruno was unable to sustain its early burst, and the Tigers scored three unanswered goals to take a 3-2 lead at the half.

After Princeton extended the margin to 4-2, Brown finally broke down the Tiger defense and tied the game at 4-4 to force overtime.

Hawley scored his second goal of the game in the third quarter before Parker Brown found the equalizer with just over seven minutes left in regulation. Goalie Matt Chriss ’11 held the Tigers without a score for the final quarter-and-a-half, registering 16 saves in regulation in an especially strong performance.

In overtime, Chriss and the defensive unit kept up its stalwart effort, but the offense was unable to breach Princeton’s defense on the other end. For three four-minute overtime periods, the teams remained deadlocked. Finally, with just under three minutes left on the clock in the fourth overtime, Princeton got the game-winning strike when sophomore midfielder Tucker Shanley snuck one past Chriss to give his side the 5-4 win.

“It just comes down to our offense needing to score more,” Parker Brown said. “Our defense — especially Matt Chriss with 20 saves — is playing unbelievable, and the offense just isn’t stepping up. We need to be able to score more than four goals, no matter who we’re playing.”

Now 0-2 in conference play, the Bears have dug themselves an early hole. But all is not lost — last year, a 4-2 conference record earned Bruno a share of the Ivy League title.

The road will not be easy, though.

The squad is next in action Tuesday night at Bryant University (3-6) and will then take on a formidable string of opponents in No. 13 Penn (5-3, 2-1), No. 15 Yale (5-2, 1-2), Providence College (3-5), No. 7 Cornell (7-2, 3-0) and Dartmouth (4-4, 1-1) for the final stretch.

“Every Ivy game is a must-win because of how strong the conference is this year,” Parker Brown said. “We can’t overlook Bryant by any means, but Penn, Yale, Cornell, Dartmouth the next four Saturdays — we could be playing for three more weeks, or we could be playing for six more weeks, and these games will really determine that. … Every team has got something to prove to each other, which is why this last stretch is going to be particularly tough.”

#winning = following @the_herald

Higher Ed 9

The Brown Daily Herald Monday, April 4, 2011

Higher ed ne ws roundup

comics

by Sahil Luthra senior staff writer

Columbia votes to reinstate ROTC Columbia’s student senate voted to reinstate the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps last Friday in a 51-17 vote. Following the vote, Columbia would discuss the details of a possible ROTC branch on its campus if the military were to express interest in opening one, according to a Friday article in the Columbia Spectator.

Columbia banned ROTC during the Vietnam War and decided to discuss a possible reinstatement of the program after “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was repealed in December, the Spectator reported. Columbia’s decision comes on the heels of Harvard’s decision last month to reinstate ROTC. Student Affairs Committee chair Tao Tan called Friday “a great day for America,” according to the Spectator article. “We have put behind us a painful disagreement of our past and have taken a step forward toward our shared future,” Tan said.

Some members criticized the senate for acting too hastily. “There was a lot of pressure coming from the administration to get this done,” senate member Sean Udell told the New York Times. “To me, what this says is that there’s an agenda here.”

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

Cloud Buddies! | David Emanuel

Missing Middlebury student home safe Pathik Root, a junior from Middlebury College, returned home Saturday night after being detained in a Syrian prison for several weeks, according to an article in the Boston Globe yesterday. Root was reported missing on March 18.

Root had been studying abroad in Egypt but was evacuated during the January protests, according to the Middlebury Campus. He returned to the Middle East in early March to study Arabic at Damascus University.

Root witnessed a protest in the city on March 18. When he took his phone out to take a picture, he was detained by the secret police and thrown into a van, according to the Globe article. Root told the Globe he was mistaken for a CIA official or a journalist, though he repeatedly said he was a student.

He was held in a prison for over two weeks, during which time he was only allowed out for bathroom breaks and was given only bread, potatoes and water, according to the Globe. Though he was not tortured, he heard screams from prisoners in adjacent cells.

Coordinating via a Facebook page, Root’s family and friends reached out to government officials and media sources to publicize Root’s disappearance. His family confirmed March 26 he had been detained by Syrian police , according to the Middlebury Campus.

Middlebury President Ron Liebowitz emailed the student body early Friday morning with the news that Root had been released, according to a story on the Middlebury website.

“This experience, as bad as it was, has in no way dampened my interest in these countries, in their cultures and their people,” Root told the Globe. “There’s a big difference between the government and the people.”

Dot Comic | Eshan Mitra and Brendan Hainline

Gelotology | Guillaume Riesen

10 Editorial & Letter Editorial

The Brown Daily Herald Monday, April 4, 2011

Editorial comic

b y a l e x y u ly

Coca-Cola presents: your thesis Things are heating up — but not too much in Providence, unfortunately. This past weekend, Congress continued a hotly partisan battle over federal spending for the rest of this year, providing a preview of the even worse fighting over next year’s budget yet to come. As lawmakers continue to skirmish, university administrators and scientists foresee a gloomy future ahead for federal science agencies’ budgets.

In February, the House announced a proposal for federal spending during the rest of the current fiscal year that cuts $1.6 billion from the National Institutes of Health’s budget and allots the National Science Foundation $139 million less than President Barack Obama requested.

In light of the federal financial situation, the University is looking to corporate sponsors for funding instead, The Herald reported March 23. Brown already has partnerships with General Motors, IBM and Microsoft and will likely forge ties with corporate sponsors to fund research in engineering, computer science, medicine and public health.

The state of the federal budget leaves the University in an understandably difficult position. Private industry and government dollars are the two primary sources of funding for scientific research, making corporate partnerships a logical place to turn to when federal agencies cannot provide more funding.

Ties to industry often provoke a knee-jerk reaction of suspicion, considering recent national news like GlaxoSmithKline’s cover-up of the drug Avandia’s harmful effects. It is important to note that academic ties to industry normally come under fire when individual researchers fail to disclose their financial conflicts of interest and that the University plans to seek corporate sponsors, which foster partnerships of a decidedly different nature, to fund research.

That said, we caution the University to remember that corporate partnerships are not a straightforward substitute for federal funding. The scientific community generally sees the government’s role as financing basic science research, while industry is more likely to favor projects with clearly foreseeable practical applications and profits. Scientific knowledge should not languish in laboratories — but will corporate sponsors invest their funds in research that is risky, not immediately lucrative or without a clear and specific application for the sake of expanding scientific knowledge? As one administrator and faculty member said in last month’s Herald article, “The University wants to contribute to knowledge growth.” This is ideally the goal of an academic institution, which fundamentally clashes with the principal interest of a private, profit-driven corporation.

Furthermore, we were disappointed to see a certain disregard for undergraduate learning in administrators’ remarks in last month’s Herald article. Their comments focused on corporate sponsorships’ potential to expand the University’s research profile. This implied a separation between Brown’s role in producing knowledge and teaching and specified no commitment to ensuring that undergraduates would benefit from such collaborations. One major draw of building stronger ties to corporations is the potential to provide undergraduates with research experience, internships and job opportunities after graduation.

Undergraduate learning and success should not be secondary to, and are not separate from, Brown’s goals as a research institution, and we urge administrators to consider the partnerships they plan to establish as a prime opportunity for enriching the undergraduate experience.

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

t h e b r ow n da i ly h e r a l d Editors-in-Chief

Deputy Managing Editors

Senior Editors

Sydney Ember Ben Schreckinger

Brigitta Greene Anne Speyer

Dan Alexander Nicole Friedman Julien Ouellet Business

editorial Kristina Fazzalaro Luisa Robledo Rebecca Ballhaus Claire Peracchio Talia Kagan Hannah Moser Alex Bell Nicole Boucher Tony Bakshi Ashley McDonnell Ethan McCoy Tyler Rosenbaum Hunter Fast Michael Fitzpatrick

Arts & Culture Editor Arts & Culture Editor City & State Editor City & State Editor Features Editor Features Editor News Editor News Editor Sports Editor Sports Editor Asst. Sports Editor Editorial Page Editor Opinions Editor Opinions Editor

Graphics & Photos Abe Pressman Graphics Editor Alex Yuly Graphics Editor Stephanie London Photo Editor Hilary Rosenthal Photo Editor Nick Sinnott-Armstrong Photo Editor Jonathan Bateman Sports Photo Editor Production Dan Towne Gili Kliger Anna Migliaccio Katie Wilson

Copy Desk Chief Design Editor Design Editor Design Editor

General Managers Matthew Burrows Isha Gulati

Office Manager Shawn Reilly

le tter to the editor Ignoring news contributes to culture of pain To the Editor: In light of the volume of rhetoric on the IsraeliPalestinian conflict that is published in The Herald, I was disappointed to open the paper on March 24 to find that a significant piece of news, the renewal of terrorist attacks on the civilian population of the state of Israel, was ignored. The bomb that exploded in the center of Jerusalem March 23 claimed the life of a women and injured about 30 individuals.

The deceased, Mary Jean Gardner, a Christian missionary from Scotland, was in Jerusalem studying Hebrew. At the same time, there has been a renewal of rocket fire from the Gaza strip deep into the south of Israel. All peace-loving individuals

denounce such attacks as terrorism. We commend the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority for his quick denunciation and would have hoped to have seen the same noted in The Herald. Granting that The Herald is primarily a local newspaper, we are left to wonder how the opinions and letters to the editor are so far removed from the news that is actually reported on. Continuing this policy of publishing opinions and ignoring facts contributes to the culture of hatred and pain and is counter to the mission of our University community.

Mordechai Rackover Associate University Chaplain for the Jewish Community

quote of the day

“I see these as two very different matters.”

— Vice President for Research Clyde Briant, on military funding for research and reinstating ROTC

Directors Aditi Bhatia Danielle Marshak Margot Grinberg Lisa Berlin

See rotc on page 1.

Sales Finance Alumni Relations Special Projects

Managers Hao Tran National Sales Alec Kacew University Department Sales Siena deLisser University Student Group Sales Valery Scholem Recruiter Sales Jared Davis Sales and Communications Lauren Bosso Business Operations Emily Zheng Business Analytics Nikita Khadloya Alumni Engagement James Eng Special Projects Arjun Vaidya Special Projects Webber Xu Special Projects Post- magazine Kate Doyle Editor-in-Chief BLOG DAILY HERALD David Winer Editor-in-Chief Matt Klimerman Managing Editor

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 11

The Brown Daily Herald Monday, April 4, 2011

A multicultural babysitting experience Sarah Yu Opinions Columnist When I first came to Brown as an international first-year, I arrived on campus weary and jetlagged from 24 hours of traveling. I proceeded to spend the next few days absorbing information about my new surroundings and playing icebreaker games with my international orientation buddies.

Overall, the orientation was entirely enjoyable, and it was easy to feel comfortable at Brown — fellow first-years were eager to chat, mentors wore brightly colored T-shirts to be more recognizable from a distance and the group activities were not unbearably corny. I appreciated the efforts of the coordinators of the three-day orientation — the International Mentoring Program — to really assist incoming first-years and transfers in getting used to Brown, and I committed to the group as a mentor for the next two years.

I realize that my own experience as an international student is not necessarily typical — after all, I had gone to schools where classes were taught in English my whole life. The possibility that my positive attitude toward the program and international orientation is a complete anomaly struck me as I read The Herald’s coverage of the program (“U. to increase international student support,” March 8). The article interviewed three first-years from China who agreed that Brown lacked “sufficient support services” for incoming first-years “even during the (International Mentoring Program) orientation.” The three

interviewees raised concerns to The Herald and to the Undergraduate Council of Students that more help needed to be provided to international first-years.

First of all, I was alarmed — during my two years as a mentor, none of my mentees had approached me to say the program was lacking. Did the incoming international firstyears really have so little faith and trust in us mentors to help them in their transition into the Brown community? Were we really doing such a consistently poor job at being welcoming, accommodating and helpful?

tion. I remember signing up for a cell phone contract at the AT&T store during a mentor-led trip to the Providence Place Mall and opening a bank account after standing in line for a little over 10 minutes at the orientation bank fair on campus.

The International Mentoring Program is what its name suggests — a mentoring program. Student volunteers try to create a safe atmosphere for incoming students to familiarize themselves with on-campus resources and to ask questions to upperclassmen who had gone through the same transition experi-

I do not wish to sound like a jaded old senior who starts off her bitter commentary on the younger classes with ‘in my day,’ but I do remember being a little more independent during my own first-year orientation.

I suddenly felt guilty that perhaps my two years’ commitment as a mentor had not helped my mentees but had merely left them bewildered, distraught and probably feeling unable to be open with me and ask for the help that they needed. I briefly contemplated sending an email to all 20 of my past mentees, apologizing for any absenteeism or negligence I had displayed — but then I continued to read the rest of the article.

Now, I do not wish to sound like a jaded old senior who starts off her bitter commentary on the younger classes with “in my day,” but I do remember being a little more independent during my own first-year orienta-

ence. The program pairs mentors with small groups of new students to create a close-knit environment for the entire academic year, which, surprisingly enough, almost exactly resembles one of the recommendations made by an interviewee in the article.

It does not offer personalized logistics planning, it is not a catered travel agency and it is certainly not a babysitting service. The program does not have the means to conduct tours of Providence or airport pickup services — but the mentors are more than capable and willing to answer students’ questions about how to use Rhode Island Public Transit Authority services, where to sign a cell phone

plan contract and how to get to Brown from the airport.

Many of the suggestions made by the article are either impractical given the program’s budget and resource constraints or are already offered by the program. It is good to see that international students are taking the initiative to work with the University to increase support in areas that are beyond the current scope of international orientation as offered by the program.

But more importantly, I would keep urging students to take the simpler path of actually making use of readily available resources on campus, such as their mentors. Unfortunately, these resources will not guarantee incoming students a hassle-free, instant acquisition of a cell phone and bank account. But I am confident that admitted Brown students are smart and independent enough to work things out after a nod in the right direction.

After all, college is a time for students to learn how to be adults for the first time, and the choice that international students make to study abroad should be particularly telling of our desire for an experience that allows for more independence. Culture shock, language barriers and living away from home are all difficulties to overcome — but these are opportunities for all of us to grow up.

Sarah Yu ’11 invites all international firstyears to actually attend international orientation and yearlong International Mentoring Program events before making suggestions for improvement to the University and The Herald. She can be reached at xia_yu@brown.edu.

Immigration policy as a caste system

By Hector Najera Opinions Columnist Last fall, the DREAM Act, which would have provided a path to citizenship for undocumented students, was defeated by Congress despite the appeal of students from across the country, including some from the Brown community. It seems fruitful, therefore, to explore the legal structure in which these DREAMers exist.

Today, citizenship in the United States, as in other countries, is part of a legal framework that establishes privileges and responsibilities for people. There is no application process — individuals are born into citizenship. From the onset, the core of American citizenship has been the set of political rights it confers on the holder, namely the right to vote and to own property. Intent on protecting the integrity of citizenship, Congress has found ways to classify and limit the privileges and responsibilities of non-citizens. Insofar as it is a state-sanctioned classification of people, it resembles the casta — Spanish for caste — system of colonial Latin America. The fundamental difference is that the colonial casta system was based on race, while the contemporary conception of citizenship is based on physical boundaries. Nevertheless, race and jurisdiction are both human constructs used to include and exclude people from formal society.

In colonial Latin America, the Spanish and Portuguese established the casta system, which institutionalized the accepted social

hierarchy of the times. In the Spanish colonies, the structure attempted to limit and categorize the mixture between the three main races — Spaniards, indigenous people and blacks. At the top were Spaniards, and within this group, the peninsulares — Spaniards born in the Iberian Peninsula — were above the criollos — Spaniards born in the Americas. In descending order were indigenous people and blacks. Intermixing among these led to the creation of other racial classes, such as mestizos, castizos, mulattoes and cholos.

testimony of blacks was devalued because of their race. As R. Douglas Cope notes, the right to bear arms was a mark of status — one that was denied to non-Spaniards. The list goes on.

The caste system today is similarly supported by laws and traditions. Admittance to the highest tier is determined by jurisdiction instead of race. Of course, a casual review of American history reveals that for a long time, jurisdiction did not automatically confer property or voting rights to women, blacks or

The question, understandably complex, is whether a society committed to the pursuit of equality can rest upon this modern-day caste system called ‘immigration policy.’

These classifications could easily become intricate. Here is an example: Mixture between indigenous and black yields a “wolf,” mixture between “wolf ” and black yields a “chino,” mixture between “chino” and indigenous yields a “cambujo,” mixture between “cambujo” and indigenous yields a “tente en el aire,” and so on.

To be clear, these distinctions were not absolute, especially regarding the lowest classes.

A person may at one time claim to be indigenous to receive special consideration from the courts, while at another time, this same person could claim to be mestizo to avoid a certain tax. The bottom line, however, is the fact that the hierarchical classification was sanctioned by the state. The highest offices were reserved for peninsulares. In courts, the

Native Americans. As in colonial Latin America, however, there are several legal classes of people. At the top are citizens, whose rights are irrevocable and who are eligible for the highest office in the country — the presidency. Under citizens are Lawful Permanent Residents, which may include entrepreneurs, specialists and refugees. Although this group enjoys most rights, they cannot vote. In addition, although they can become citizens, they are not considered “natural-born citizens” and are thus ineligible for the presidency. Under Lawful Permanent Residents are temporary residents, such as tourists and students.

Below these are illegals, which may include farm workers, cooks and servants. It is possible to move up these castes, but connections to a current citizen matter. Aside from refu-

gees, the closer a person is to a citizen — preferably an offspring — the better his chances.

And, of course, a sizable bank account is indispensable for engaging with the increasingly costly American legal system.

There is something perverse about the ability to wield force. A parent slapping a child, a muscled man hitting a small woman or a policeman immobilizing a protester — when one party has superior age or muscle, or a gun, the force they wield can be overwhelming. As Ayn Rand observed, the state by definition has a monopoly of force within a determined territory. So when it comes to enforcing caste systems, the state has guns at its disposal. Force keeps caste systems in place.

This is where DREAMers find themselves — at the bottom of a carefully established modern caste system. In the eyes of the state, it does not matter if an illegal alien is an inmate at Rikers Island or a student at Brown — by virtue of lacking citizenship, he is undesirable and must be expelled from this society. Granted, he retains very limited rights during the process of expulsion. Nevertheless, Chinese exclusion, the repatriation of Mexican-Americans during the Great Depression and the 2006 “Operation Return to Sender” are examples of the state’s commitment to enforcing the caste system. The question, understandably complex, is whether a society committed to the pursuit of equality can rest upon this modern-day caste system called “immigration policy.”

Hector Najera GS is a graduate student focusing in education.

Daily Herald Sports Monday the Brown

Monday, April 4, 2011

w. lacrosse

Bruno falls to two ranked opponents

By Sam Wickham Sports Staff Writer

By Amy Chen Staff Writer

Riding a two-game win streak going into spring break, the women’s lacrosse team (5-4, 1-2 Ivy League) fell to ranked opponents No. 9 Stanford University and No. 18 Dartmouth last week. Scoring streaks from both the Cardinal (9-1) and the Big Green (6-2, 3-0 Ivy League) at crucial points in both games were too much for the Bears’ offense to overcome.

Tri-captain Paris Waterman ’11 and Bre Hudgins ’14 led the team in scoring over the two games, netting three and four goals, respectively.

What happens when you throw some chickens, cats, a group of parrots and perhaps even a deer into a home? “Once Upon a Time,” the unique media exhibit at the Rhode Island School of Design museum, juxtaposes the absurd with the realistic to examine questions of daily life and domesticity.

arts & culture

Stanford 12, Brown 8

Bruno snatched an early lead in sunny California with a goal

by Danielle Mastro ’14 just 1:30 into the game. But Stanford struck back quickly, netting two goals in the next four minutes to reclaim a 2-1 lead. Both teams continued to trade goals over the following seven minutes, as goals from Lindsay Minges ’13 and Hudgins sandwiched another Cardinal goal, bringing the score to 3-3 midway through the first half.

“Overall, I was pretty impressed with the way we came out,” Waterman said. “Stanford is a top-10 team, and we were really on a mission to win and win big … I think if we could have stuck to our game plan for the full 60 minutes … the outcome would have been different.”

Stanford broke free of the goal swapping over the next 10 minutes, rattling off a four-goal scoring streak to push its lead to 7-3

‘Once Upon a Time’ rethinks the natural

Jesse Schwimmer / Herald

Bre Hudgins ‘14 had four points against No. 9 Stanford, but it was not enough as the women’s lacrosse team fell to the Cardinal and to Dartmouth over the break.

with five minutes to play in the half. Another from Hudgins late in the half brought the score to 7-4 and closed out a tight first period.

It was Stanford’s turn to strike first in the second half, as Rachel Ozer tallied an unassisted goal five minutes into play. Bruno’s point leader Kaela McGilloway ’12 responded twice over the ensuing seven minutes, netting goals

around another Stanford strike to keep Stanford’s lead at three, 9-6. Hudgins cut the lead with a goal a minute later, but Stanford again came on strong late in the half, scoring three in a row to establish a 12-7 lead. A final goal from Mastro with four minutes to play was not enough to help continued on page 8

Organized by German artist Corinna Schnitt, the exhibit features a 25-minute video projection with a 360-degree view of a neat domestic room. The space is furnished with all the elements of a common living room, including soft pillows, a sofa, a carpet, curtains, tables and a nice, cozy fireplace.

“The issues raised in the works presented … are timeless and important fundamentals involved in how we operate and make sense of the world around us,” Sabrina Locks, curatorial assistant for contemporary art, wrote in an email to The Herald.

A camera in the center of the room shows visitors what happens in the exhibit. As the camera turns, the audience sees different animals begin to appear — kittens, parrots, rabbits, deer and cows emerge in the previously mundane scene.

Viewers have to be patient as the camera slowly pans around the living room. But the wide shots fuel a sense of expectancy and curiosity — viewers are constantly wondering what they will witness next. An elk

this time? And how will it interact with those little chicks scrambling across the now-dirty carpeted floor?

The absurdity and ridiculousness of the scenes partly reflect the important element of humor that characterizes this exhibit. This raises the basic question of what happens when the most natural species are thrown into an artificial environment.

Of course, viewers don’t expect to see animals sitting properly on the sofa — yet, they don’t really know what to expect. As a result, it’s easy to be caught off-guard by the chaos that results from their interactions with each other and with objects in the room.

The scene is only one part of the exhibit. The sounds from the video add a different dimension to the humor and extent of the chaos.

“I love that you can hear the sounds of the goats, chickens and cows from the ‘Once Upon a Time’ in the neighboring galleries and that this adds a strange surrealism to the piece being situated where it is in the museum,” Locks wrote.

She wrote that she believes this exhibit explores the question of domesticity and its role in the study and behavior of species as a whole.

“The piece is a metaphor about cohabitation and domestication — of the innate and physical effects of individual natures in conflict or play, as well as the environmental changes that take their toll where this kind of restrained nature is played out,” Locks wrote.

“The struggles between the specontinued on page 6

m. lacrosse

Bears drop two of three over break, fall to 0-2 in Ivy League

By Ethan McCoy Assistant Sports Editor

Jonathan Bateman / Herald

The men’s lacrosse team had a busy but overall disappointing week over spring break. After a thrilling comefrom-behind home victory, the team twice came up short on the road in a tough three-game stretch. Bruno (3-5, 0-2 Ivy League) overcame a two-goal deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat the University of Vermont (4-5) March 26, but then lost two tight away matchups to No. 3 Duke University (8-2, 2-0 ACC) and Ivy rival Princeton (2-5, 1-2). In the key conference game against Princeton Saturday, the Bears fought back from two goals down to tie the game at the end of regulation but fell 5-4 in a quadruple-overtime marathon.

“We just haven’t made the big plays we need to make,” said attacker Parker Brown ’12. “I don’t think it has anything to with our composure or our preparation or the way we practice or the amount of work we put in. During games, we just haven’t stepped up and scored goals.”

David Hawley ’11 went on an offensive tear over the break, scoring 11 goals in three games, including a crucial six in men’s lacrosse come-from-behind win against the University of Vermont.

Brown kicked off its spring break

Brown 12, Vermont 10

schedule with an out-of-conference matchup against Vermont at Meister-Kavan Field. After a sluggish start, Bruno kicked into gear for a come-from-behind 12-10 win. The Bears were led by a career-best performance from David Hawley ’11.

Hawley, who usually plays midfield, exploded for six goals in his first game at attacker. Tri-captain Andrew Feinberg ’11, who moved back to midfield, was also a key contributor in the new-look lineup, assisting on three goals while scoring two himself to add to his team-high 19 tallies on the season.

The Bears quickly found themselves in a 4-1 hole after a shaky first quarter. Feinberg notched his first score of the game early in the second, but a Catamount goal right before the half extended Vermont’s lead to 5-2 at intermission.

But Bruno came out with its guns blazing in the third quarter and scored five consecutive goals — including two from Hawley — to turn the tables and gain a 7-5 advantage.

“I think it showed a lot of leadership on our seniors’ part and our coach’s part to get us back into the

game in the third quarter,” Brown said.

The team could not sustain the momentum, though, and Vermont went on a run of its own, closing out the quarter with four unanswered scores to regain the lead.

After Hawley and Feinberg scored quickly to tie the game, Vermont attacker Geoff Worley responded, only to see his team’s lead vanish a mere seven seconds later on another Hawley goal. The deadlock held for the next eight minutes, but with 4:21 remaining Hawley brought home his sixth and final score of the day to put Brown up for good.

Parker Brown put the game out of reach with an insurance goal in the final two minutes, and the Bears walked away from the wild game with a win.

“It was a good feeling to have a come-from-behind win finally,” Brown said. “We’ve lost those close games so far this year, so it was a nice win.”

Duke 12, Brown 7

Fresh off the victory, the Bears continued on page 8