Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Daily

Herald

the Brown

vol. cxlvi, no. 60

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Since 1891

Fencing raises $750,000 in bid to save squad Campus spellbound Money does not clinch

by Mocha survival, admins say mix-up By nikhil parasher Contributing Writer

The fencing team has secured over $750,000 to save its varsity program from elimination and is eyeing another $200,000 in promised pledges, according to Arnold-Peter Weiss P’15, a professor of orthopedic surgery and associate dean of admissions of the Alpert Medical School. Of the nearly 100 donors, Weiss and another individual contributed $250,000 each.

Pledges have come from team members, parents and donors, with an average of two to three donations arriving each day, said Head Coach Atilio Tass. All the pledges are contingent upon Brown maintaining the fencing program, he said.

The Athletic Review Committee reported in April that the

University cannot support all of its athletic programs due to funding shortfalls. The committee recommended the men’s and women’s fencing teams be cut due to the need for “a large investment in facilities, infrastructure and coaching to bring the fencing program to the necessary level,” as well as the “small number of fencing programs nationally.” The fate of the team will be decided along with that of the men’s wrestling and women’s skiing teams at the October Corporation meeting.

The fencing team raises about 30 percent of its own budget every year, Weiss said. Of its $100,000 budget last year, the team managed to raise $50,000.

Despite the massive fundraising effort, committee chair Richard

By Katherine Long Senior Staff Writer

year with the assumption that the “long nightmare” of the economy is ongoing, Simmons said.

Provost Mark Schlissel P’15, who joined the University July 1, also said the “period of economic uncertainty” will influence the University’s approach to expansion. The University must prioritize developing what

Students, be confunded no more.

The reading list for many classes does not, in fact, include “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”.

Many courses saw their online booklists change this summer, suddenly listing the popular novel as a required text.

Mocha creator Dave Pacheco ’07 pegged the glitch to Amazon. com. Every hour or two, Amazon sends book pricing, titles and authors to Mocha according to ISBN numbers sent by the Brown Bookstore, he said. But when the bookstore cannot find an ISBN number for a professor’s listing, it sometimes sends a string of zeros instead.

One result of an Amazon search of that string of zeros is “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” — so students who should really be buying “A History of the Modern Middle East” may find themselves investigating Muggle Studies instead.

Bookstore staff, who stock textbook shelves based off a master book list on their own system, were entirely unaware of the error. The

continued on page 3

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Herald file photo

continued on page 12

Students rallied to support the fencing team on the Main Green last semester.

Interim Simmons wary of fiscal woes to come diversity officer named

By Shefali Luthra Senior Staff Writer

The University will have to seek new sources of revenue this year after the summer’s economic downturn, President Ruth Simmons said at Tuesday’s faculty meeting. Simmons said the summer’s events — which included stock market plunges and the debt ceiling debate — increased

Professor of Anthropology Lina Fruzzetti will assume the role of interim institutional diversity officer, according to an email sent to the community yesterday by Provost Mark Schlissel P’15.

The appointment comes after Valerie Wilson, the former director of institutional diversity, left for a similar position at the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C., Schlissel told The Herald. The University will initiate a search for a permanent officer in the coming months.

Schlissel said he studied the position’s responsibilities before choosing Fruzzetti to take the helm.

“It took me a couple weeks to understand the nature of the position and identify Professor Fruzetti as someone qualified and willing to step up,” Schlissel said.

Fruzzetti was not available for comment Tuesday.

The institutional diversity of-

inside

continued on page 3

news....................2-5 Opinions.............11

With little fanfare, oncampus Inn checks out

By Sahil Luthra Senior Staff Writer

She had known for months the inn would be closing, but Jeanne Medeiros was still surprised by the error message when she tried to visit its website — especially since, at that point, the Saunders Inn at Brown was still in business.

So she made a quick phone call.

It turned out web developers had taken down the website for the inn under the impression it had already closed. Medeiros, the inn’s manager, explained that guests still needed to book rooms.

“You might as well just close our doors now,” she said.

“Wow,” exclaimed an inn staff member. “They kind of buried us before we were dead.”

Medeiros started laughing. “I

Reform

Can STEM be the new DREAM for immigrants?

Opinions, 11

says, ‘Yeah, that’s one way of looking at it.’”

The Brown Inn would shut its doors just a few weeks later. The hotel furniture would be replaced with standard dorm desks and dressers, and the 24 rooms would be assigned to students, primarily rising sophomores.

The change contributed to the University’s goal to add 97 beds on campus as recommended by the Organizational Review Committee in 2010.

Meanwhile, the Gardner House on George Street — which for years has served as the President’s guest house — has been renamed after the Saunders family.

An inn at Brown

The establishment of an inn at Brown dates back to the early

Redesign

Library website gets a cleaner look news, 12

Courtesy of Jeanne Medeiros

Vartan Gregorian does the groundbreaking for the Thayer Street Quadrangle in 1991, shortly before the Inn at Brown was established.

1990s, when the Corporation was discussing the creation of a new quadrangle. The Committee on Facilities and Design decided it could be an opportunity to fill the need for visitor housing, said Donald Saunders ’57, former Corporation trustee and the inn’s eventual namesake.

Reside

After strain, on-campus housing meets demand News, 12

weather

By Elizabeth Carr Senior Staff Writer

the likelihood that donors will cut back funding and the University’s endowment will shrink.

The meeting, the first of the academic year, also included reports from the Faculty Executive Committee chair, provost and dean of the faculty. Each report outlined goals and initiatives the offices and committee have planned for the upcoming year.

The University must begin the

When the quad opened in 1991, the fifth floor of Building A was designated for guest rooms. The first floor housed a front desk and reception area, said Medeiros, who had worked at the inn since its opening day. But as a tax-exempt continued on page 5

t o d ay

tomorrow

65 / 62

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2 Campus News calendar Today

september 7

4 P.m.

ToMORROW

september 8

7 p.m.

Opening Convocation,

Activities Night 2011,

Main Green

OMAC

7 p.m.

10:30 p.m.

Science Center Trivia Showdown

Brown Dems Colbert and Pizza,

Science Center

Morriss-Champlin Lounge

menu SHARPE REFECTORY

VERNEy-WOOLLEY DINING HALL LUNCH

Buffalo Chicken Wings, Vegan Nuggets with Dipping Sauces, M&M Cookies

Bacon Ranch Chicken Sandwich, Baked Macaroni and Cheese, Pasta Bar, M&M Cookies

DINNER Spinach Strudel with Cream Sauce, Pasta with Eggplant and Olives, Steak Teriyaki, Fudge Bars

Cilantro Chicken, Mexican Cornbread Casserole, Fudge Bars

Sudoku

The Brown Daily Herald Wednesday, September 7, 2011

UCS opts out of Obama letter

By Joseph Rosales Senior Staff Writer

Student leaders at Georgetown University drafted a letter to President Obama and leaders of the U.S. Congress in mid-July urging them to quickly reach a deal on raising the debt ceiling. More than 130 current and former student body presidents signed the letter, but Undergraduate Council of Students President Ralanda Nelson ’12 was not one of them.

“There were some things in the letter that I wasn’t comfortable with,” Nelson said. “The wording was generally very vague and unspecific,” she wrote in an email to The Herald.

The letter referenced the deficit reduction goals set by the National

Daily

the Brown

Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform in 2010. “I didn’t feel comfortable affixing my name to the letter as the representative for the Brown undergraduate community knowing that not every student would necessarily agree with the commission’s findings and the cuts it recommended,” Nelson wrote.

Obama held a conference call with some of the letter’s signatories July 26 in the midst of the debt ceiling negotiations, one week before he signed the Aug. 2 compromise bill.

Michael Meaney, president of the Georgetown University Student Association, came up with the idea for the letter on a bus ride home from work with his friends, he wrote in an email to The Herald.

“We thought how unfortunate

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it was that people our age — the people with the most at risk should we have defaulted — had no voice in the debate,” Meaney wrote. “So we decided to take action.”

Meaney and other Georgetown student leaders reached out to over 200 student body presidents across the country, including Nelson.

Nelson contacted a few people — including UCS Vice President David Rattner ’13 and Wendy Schiller, an associate professor of political science — whom she felt would help her make a valid decision. Though UCS does not have a specific policy on involvement with national issues, Nelson wrote that she and the rest of the executive board “approach decisions such as this with the mindset that we’re speaking on behalf of all of Brown’s undergraduate students. Therefore we are necessarily careful about doing our best to reflect the diverse and varied beliefs and opinions of the students with our actions.”

But other student government presidents thought differently.

“I valued its main goal of compromise,” said Natalie Raps, Cornell’s Student Assembly president.

Raps said the letter’s “efforts of bipartisanism” weighed heavily on her decision to sign. “It worked toward reaching a common goal rather than advocating for certain ideologies,” she said. She also felt the contents of the letter would not alienate the Cornell student population.

The Brown Daily Herald Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Campus News 3

Top admins to assess U. funding, tenure Mocha book list spells continued from page 1 it already has while also considering new ideas, he said, emphasizing the importance of maintaining “momentum” on projects like the Humanities Initiative, the School of Engineering and a potential future school of public health.

The University will resume discussions this year on reinstating the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and on the recommendations made in last April’s Athletics Review Committee report, Simmons said. Both reports will be made public “soon,” and Simmons said she will make her personal recommendations regarding ROTC and athletics in time for the October Corporation meeting.

The University has submitted a report to the Corporation about the

possibility of contributing money to address the city of Providence’s budget shortfall, a proposal Simmons said Corporation members are “very cautiously” considering.

Under a 2003 agreement, the University contributes payments in lieu of property taxes to Providence, but Mayor Angel Taveras has recently called on the University to increase its share.

Schlissel, along with new FEC Chair and Professor of Medical Science Peter Shank and new Dean of the Faculty Kevin McLaughlin P’12, said it will be a priority this year to implement the new tenure and promotion procedures approved last year.

Though the majority of tenure procedure has been decided, Shank said he imagines further discussions

will determine how faculty members are promoted from associate professors to full professorship.

McLaughlin said he will hold faculty forums to discuss tenure procedure and “collaborate closely” with the FEC to develop documents about best tenure and promotion practices.

He also announced a plan to use the existing meetings with divisional chairs to identify “strong areas of research that cut across disciplines,” with the idea that such discussions could then influence spring hiring. McLaughlin also emphasized “restarting the process” of the Humanities Initiative. The University received an anonymous $3 million donation in October 2010 to hire six internationally prominent scholars and host interdisciplinary research symposia.

Search continues for diversity officer continued from page 1 ficer is charged with enhancing diversity across campus by focusing on faculty recruitment and promoting diversity within academic departments and centers.

Schlissel said he wanted to fill the position by the time the semester began to accommodate the increase in activity generated by the arrival of new faculty members and students to campus.

Fruzzetti will serve in the temporary position through the fall

semester, Schlissel said, and he hopes to recruit someone for the permanent position by January.

The University has not yet begun the search for a permanent officer. When the process begins, “an array of individuals on the campus that play an important role in enhancing diversity” will interview candidates, Schlissel said.

“It’s a very important position for the University,” he said. “Brown is committed to developing … diversity at the student level, the staff level and the faculty level.”

Fruzzetti recently served on the Tenure, Promotions and Appointments Committee and on the committee that named Kevin McLaughlin P’12 the new dean of the faculty at the end of May. “We look forward to collaborating with Dr. Fruzzetti and members of the Diversity Advisory Board on these and developing efforts,” wrote Mary Grace Almandrez, director of the Third World Center and Associate Dean of the College, in an email to The Herald.

shock, inspires glee continued from page 1 online Banner course catalog pulls its reading list directly from the bookstore’s system. No copies of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” were ordered, said bookstore textbook manager Mike McDade.

At least one student was pleasantly surprised by the change to the reading lists.

“I just thought my professor had a pretty great sense of humor,” said Harry Reis ’11.5. “Me and my friends thought it was really funny.”

But an affected professor was stunned to learn of the not-sorequired reading on her book list.

“I ordered no such thing!!” Jane Lancaster, visiting assistant professor of history, wrote in an email to BlogDailyHerald.

The Brown Daily Herald Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Campus News 5

Former inn provided U. guests, families with college experience continued from page 1 entity, the inn was not allowed to compete with other hotels in the area. As a result, it instated a policy that only people affiliated with the University — such as prospective students, department guests, parents or alums — could spend the night.

News of the inn spread quickly, largely by word of mouth. Within three months, demand was so high that administrators expanded the inn to the sixth floor.

The Inn at Brown eventually became the Donald L. Saunders Class of ’57 Family Inn at Brown — though most guests simply called it the Saunders Inn. Saunders was “the initiator of the concept” but said he was surprised by the renaming. “I was honored that the University would do such a thing to honor my … contributions to Brown, financial and otherwise,” said Saunders, who has spent most of his life in the hotel business.

Despite the name change, things were run essentially as before. And the inn remained a hotel on the top two floors of a dorm in the middle of a college campus — a decidedly atypical location, and one that “adds a whole complication” to the process of running a hotel, said Jason Dexter, a former front desk assistant.

Part of the campus

Take Spring Weekend, for instance. “You could have a hundred half-naked — literally — drunk people running out of the stairwell through the lobby,” Dexter said. For a lot of parents, especially those who came with young children, the sight could come as quite a shock.

But, Dexter added, it was part of the risk of staying on campus.

The inn’s proximity to the latenight eatery Josiah’s also meant that guests might have experienced “some rude awakenings” year-round.

But for some guests, these experiences were part of the allure of the Brown Inn. For prospective students, it was a chance to see “what it’s like to be in college.” For alums, it was “this living vicariously thing,” Dexter said. “They’re not in college anymore but they can kind

of get a glimmer, remember what it was like — especially if they went to Brown, because then it’s even more attached to their heartstrings.”

Housing students and guests in the same building also required the inn to use a special key system. Guests were given cards for swipe access to the elevator, and instead of pressing buttons for the fifth and sixth floors, guests would have to insert their room keys in an elevator keyhole. Guests were also required to check out by 10:30 a.m. to accommodate the schedule followed by the Department of Facilities Management, said Elena Riverstone, a former clerk.

And as a result, students living in New Dorm did not have much interaction with guests. Charles Limido ’12, who lived below the inn last year, said his interaction was limited to the occasional elevator ride.

But most guests found the conveniences of staying on campus outweighed its disadvantages, Riverstone said. Inn guests did not have to pay for a taxi to campus and could easily attain tips for getting around the University — whether that was the location of the admissions office or a recommendation for dining out.

And though the Brown Inn was “not a four-star hotel,” it always “felt like a family kind of place,” said Judy Tripathi P’04 P’09 P’12. “For me, it was nothing but friendly and convenient,” she said. Tripathi started staying at the Brown Inn in 2000.

For Tripathi, the best part of staying at the inn was spending time with her children without invading their space. Her children would often come to study in her room, and on several occasions, her family ordered take-out from Thayer Street and ate it in the inn.

And, even if only one of the children was at Brown at the time, the whole family came to stay.

Before going back to the inn in the evening, “I told my kids I was going to my dorm,” Tripathi said, laughing. “I pretended I was a student.”

“I’m going to miss it terribly,” she said. “Feeling I was part of the campus was kind of a thrill. It was sort of a privilege I didn’t feel I deserved.”

A colorful cast of characters

For Dexter, the front desk assistant, the most memorable part of working at the Brown Inn was what was always changing — the guests. Some were travel-weary and reluctant to socialize, while others were engaging, willing to treat him as more than just “the guy who works the desk.”

“It’s been a fascinating place to be employed, just from meeting great people,” Dexter said.

There was the night when Dexter’s celebrity crush came down in her pajamas and chatted with him for an hour and a half. Then there was the guest so fascinated

by Dexter’s interests in animation and programming that he promised to invest if Dexter ever started a company.

And there were some guests who could only be described as “colorful characters,” Riverstone, the clerk, said. There was the woman who, upon finding a Playboy magazine under her mattress, demanded the inn refund her stay. There was the European count who demanded a discount on a second room, only to leave, decrying Thayer Street as a “sleazy” establishment.

But some of the most meaningful memories were not of specific instances. Instead, they had to do with the inn’s familiar faces.

“You get to know people,” Dexter said. “You pretty much miss them when they’re gone, even though they’re just visiting.”

For many years, the inn held continental breakfasts, through which people who would have likely never met otherwise “actually became very dear friends,” Dexter said.

But in 2008, the inn discontinued the breakfast — one of a string of changes leading up to its gradual end.

Rumors of closing

At first, changes were only organizational. After opening as a unit of Residential Life, the inn was then deemed an auxiliary service before being reclassified and passed back to Residential Life, Medeiros said. In 2008, the inn was placed under the Office of Continuing Education.

The 2008 move was marked by other changes. Parking was no

longer complimentary, walls were repainted, bathrooms regrouted, rails put in place — but, Medeiros said, no upgrades were made to hotel furniture, no new bedspreads, no window treatment.

Riverstone said she believes the University may have been discussing the inn’s closing at that time.

Paintings taken down were never put back up. Orders for new pillows were never approved.

And every so often, Dexter said, someone would come in and say, “So I hear they’re closing the inn next month.”

Then, in February 2010, the staff read an article in The Herald that quoted then-Provost David Kertzer ’69 P’95 P’98 as saying the University was considering closing the inn to create more undergraduate housing.

“That was a rough way to find out that you’re losing your job,” Dexter said.

Shortly after the article was published, Dexter said, Human Resources met with the staff to apologize, telling them there were no official plans to close the inn.

A few months later, the inn was transferred back to Residential Life at the request of the Organizational Review Committee. In November, the ORC filed a follow-up report that said the “long term status of the Inn” was “still under review.”

Though the Inn was still selling 6,000 bed nights per year, built-in costs were increasing by 5 percent each year.

“We did a good business,” Medeiros said. “But it was getting to the point where you can only raise the rates so much.”

Finally, in late April 2011, the inn staff was officially told the news — Aug. 7 would be the last day of operation.

“It’s clearly been on someone’s agenda for a very long time,” Dex-

ter said. “It wasn’t a punch in the stomach because we had been hearing it forever. It was kind of like ‘Oh, finally.’ But to be honest a little part of me still assumed they had changed their mind.”

Checking out

The news wouldn’t be announced to the entire Brown community for another couple of months, but the staff at the inn began calling the guests who had arranged to stay in the fall. Staff members told them the news, canceled the full houses they had booked for orientation and family weekend and stopped accepting reservations for the fall.

The University announcement came through Morning Mail on June 17. Richard Bova, senior associate dean of residential and dining services, said that putting a blurb in Morning Mail is the standard way of making announcements to the Brown community. But Riverstone said she wished there had been more of an opportunity for people on campus to come say goodbye to the employees and the inn itself.

As for the staff, Riverstone said she might try to retire, while Dexter said he is contemplating a move to Los Angeles or Vancouver for various jobs, or else a return to his hometown. Medeiros said she might try to secure another job at the University.

Though some guests will still be housed in a new, down-sized Brown Inn on George Street, Medeiros said there probably would not be enough room to meet the demand, even just for department guests.

But Riverstone said she understood the University’s need to expand undergraduate housing. “The Inn has provided a real service,” she said. “I don’t think they would close it if there wasn’t such a dire need.”

The Brown Daily Herald Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Sports Wednesday 7

Soccer recovers from loss in first game with win over Bryant continued from page 12 on a team that no longer exists,” Laughlin said. “That team that they have ranked is a team from last year. We try not to worry about that, and the priority is to be sure that we are improving every game.”

On Monday, the Bears demonstrated the current team’s balanced offensive attack, as three different Bears — Sean Rosa ’12.5, T.J. Popolizio ’12 and Thomas McNamara ’13 — scored in the victory over the Bulldogs. Bruno returns five of its six top scorers, including Rosa, winner of last season’s Heinz

Kubel Award for the team’s best offensive player.

Though the team features a number of scoring threats, Laughlin said he prides himself on building a fortified backfield. Last season, the defense allowed only one goal in its first nine games.

The players returning to the back line include First Team All-Ivy defender Dylan Remick ’13, as well as Eric Robertson ’13 and McDuff, all of whom played in every game last season without missing a start.

“If you’re not giving away goals or making chances for the other team, you are going to be in a good place to compete in games,”

Laughlin said. “That was one of our strengths, and that has been one of the men’s soccer program’s greatest strengths for a long time.”

One developing story as the squad returned from the offseason was the battle for the starting goaltending position. The team said goodbye to First Team AllIvy goalkeeper Paul Grandstrand ’11, who set a single-season school record with 11 shutouts. Four players have been competing for the starting spot, but in the Bears’ first two games, Laughlin gave the green light to newcomer Alex Carr ’15, a former member of the New Zealand Under-20 national pro-

gram.

“He’s a very experienced player,” Laughlin said. “Is he the permanent goalkeeper? I don’t know.

We have four guys in there, and they’re all really competitive, so it’s a position that we are constantly evaluating and looking at.”

The Bears return to action at home this week as they host the Brown Soccer Classic, facing George Mason (3-2-0) Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Temple University (1-0-0) Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Laugh-

lin said he hopes there will be an impressive turnout as the Bears begin their quest for an Ivy League title and a spot in the NCAA tournament.

“The students give us energy,” he said. “When they are at the games and cheering, being loud and encouraging us, it really makes a difference. With that kind of home field advantage, Stevenson Field becomes a difficult place to play, and that’s the 12th man that we need.”

10

The Brown Daily Herald Wednesday, September 7, 2011

EDitors’ note

Editorial comic

b y a l e x y u ly

The start of something Welcome back, dear readers.

We missed you, we missed the Blue Room muffins and we even missed Providence. Though it rained yesterday, the gloom was no match for the beaming faces of the class of 2015, the light of knowledge and the blazing sun on Brown’s crest.

Before Convocation and shopping period give way to Halloween organ concerts and midterms — and eventually Latin carol services and Naked Donut Runs — we hope you find time to read The Herald.

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quote of the day

“Preseason rankings are based on

”

a team that no longer exists.

— Head soccer coach Patrick Laughlin See struggle on page 12.

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Opinions 11

The Brown Daily Herald Wednesday, September 7, 2011

STEM degrees for green cards

By Chip Lebovitz Opinions Columnist

Mid-September last year, members of Brown’s activist student body took to the Main Green in what was the first act in their three-month-long campaign to rally support for the DREAM Act. The proposed federal DREAM Act would have provided undocumented immigrants with U.S. residency in exchange for their academic achievement, specifically graduation from college. It provided an opportunity for the children of illegal immigrants who arrived in the country before the age of 16 to avoid prosecution for an action they likely did not commit, being born outside the United States. The DREAM Act failed in the Senate, but that does not mean the cause is lost. Immigration campaigners should avail their energies on a new initiative: STEM degrees for green cards.

The idea’s basic premise is that one of the many drags on our economy is a distinct lack of labor for growth industries like computer technology. In a recent article for The New Republic, Felix Salmon explains, “We’re suffering from high unemployment, but that’s partly because people can’t get to those jobs that are available.” As Salmon goes on to point out, we have people who can fill these jobs. Highly skilled immigrants are not employable due to onerous visa policies. Giving out a green card to any foreigner who completed a graduate STEM — science, technol-

ogy, engineering and math — degree would solve this job disconnect.

Our current immigration policy has misdirected incentives — admitting roughly four times the number of legal immigrants for family reasons than for employment reasons. STEM degrees for green cards helps rectify that problem by incentivizing highinterest educational fields.

To reframe the debate another way, 30.3 percent of engineering degrees awarded in 2007 went to temporary U.S. residents according to a study by the University of Chi-

engineering is a stagnant industry. It is obviously not — just look at Apple’s third quarter 2011 net profit of $3.25 billion for proof. If more evidence on the need for more skilled labor is required, maybe Silicon Valley venture capitalist and Hewlett-Packard board member Marc Andreessen can convince you otherwise.

He writes, “Many people in the U.S. and around the world lack the education and skills required to participate in the great new companies coming out of the software revolution. This is a tragedy since every company

If they desire to live in the United States and achieve a STEM degree, these students deserve the opportunity to bring their talents to the U.S. in exchange for residency. cago’s National Opinion Research Center.

Why risk losing nearly a third of an industry’s potential workforce?

That question dovetails perfectly into addressing the prominent counter-argument to the STEM proposal: There is no labor shortage. Best exemplified in a 2010 Center for Immigration Studies report, the anti-immigration party line states that because U.S. engineering employment has been constant over time, there are no jobs that need to be filled. If there were jobs, then employment numbers would be rising.

That argument of course misses Salmon’s whole point about a skill gap and assumes

I work with is absolutely starved for talent.”

Let’s not forget that the STEM degrees for green cards plan also hits close to home. According to Brown’s Admission Office, 10 percent of undergraduates come from abroad.

They are undoubtedly talented students. If they desire to live in the United States and achieve a STEM degree, these students deserve the opportunity to bring their talents to the U.S. in exchange for residency.

Furthermore, it in essence repackages the thrust of the DREAM Act that students from the Brown Immigrant Rights Committee and President Ruth Simmons fought for.

While the plan only provides residency, rath-

er than citizenship, don’t forget that “foreign students” is an inclusive term and does not discriminate based on how a person entered the country. Although slimmed down and refocused, STEM degrees for green cards promises the same residency for education trade-off that the DREAM Act did.

That basic aspiration can be achieved.

The STEM degrees for green cards proposal is part of the bipartisan-backed Startup Act, the Kauffman Foundation’s model bill designed to reboot the economy. If the dogmatically conservative House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., and Senator John Tester, D-Mont., can support this program, then it should be able to pass through both chambers of Congress. The partisan gridlock that doomed the DREAM Act may be circumvented.

It was painful to see the efforts of the DREAM Act supporters go to waste. Political realities have forced immigration reform advocates to scale back their ambitions.

STEM degrees for green cards is the first step in what will be a long battle to achieve real substantive immigration reform. It is a smart policy that embodies the American dream, boosts our economy and provides opportunity for our fellow students here and across the country.

I can only hope that this September may yet again be interrupted by pro-immigration reform advocates. It may be wishful thinking, but it’s important to understand that every dream has to STEM from somewhere.

Chip Lebovitz ’14 is an economics and history concentrator from Gladwyne, Pa.

Even on liberal campuses, you’re not as free as you think

By Oliver Rosenbloom Opinions Columnist

The prevalence of restrictive speech codes on college campuses is an underreported travesty of our time. The modern university ought to be a bastion of intellectual freedom where every idea is protected, and the college experience should empower individuals to learn how to deal with adult freedom responsibly.

But unfortunately American colleges and universities do not actually protect individual liberty. Though most schools claim to value free speech, very few schools uphold this fundamental right that most Americans take for granted.

This summer, I worked at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a non-profit organization committed to protecting and sustaining individual rights on college campuses, including freedom of speech, freedom of religion and due process.

I learned that only a small percentage of universities fully protect the free speech rights of their students. The vast majority of students attend schools with unconstitutional or immoral restrictions on student expression.

Oppressive university speech restrictions may not receive the media attention they once did, but they are still the norm on campus. The foundation has conducted research on the speech policies of about 390 institutions. A vast majority of the schools surveyed have repressive speech codes, which are defined as policies that unduly restrict speech that is protected by the First Amendment.

About two-thirds — 261 schools — received “red-light” designations, meaning that they have at least one policy that “clearly and substantially” restricts student expression. Only 14 schools earned a “green-light” rating for fully protecting student expression.

Speech restrictions can be found in a variety of university policies, including harassment, diversity and multiculturalism policies, guidelines on religious and political speech and university honor codes.

These speech restrictions are often laughably vague. Case in point: Middlebury College states that “behavior unbecoming of a Mid-

gal implications. It is blatantly unconstitutional for public universities to enact speech policies that violate the First Amendment.

Private universities have the right to limit student speech as long as they are honest and transparent about their policies. However, private universities that promise to protect student expression — and like Brown, almost all do — and then enact oppressive policies have violated their promises, exposing their universities to breach of contract lawsuits.

Universities across the nation betray the First Amendment and their professed ad-

Though most schools claim to value free speech, very few schools uphold this fundamental right that most Americans take for granted. dlebury student, or continued behavior that demonstrates contempt for the generally accepted values of the intellectual community may result in disciplinary action.”

The majority of schools have policies that, if applied consistently and uniformly, would subject a significant amount of student expression to discipline. Even Brown’s policy states that “suggestive jokes of a sexual nature” constitute sexual harassment when they “make people uncomfortable.” Though I brought this policy to the attention of the Office of Institutional Diversity, whose representative took these concerns seriously, no action has yet been taken.

There are not only moral arguments against such speech restrictions, but also le-

herence to free inquiry with these restrictive speech codes. Administrators often justify these speech codes on the grounds of civility, tolerance and cultural sensitivity. These are all admirable goals, but it is counterproductive and immoral to stifle speech in an attempt to create a respectful environment.

Using speech codes to publicly silence socially unacceptable speech will not create a genuinely tolerant campus because such views would only be expressed in private, where they would not be challenged rationally. When public speech is stifled, bigots do not have to expose the folly of their ideas to close public scrutiny.

Unofficial social pressure is more effective at rooting out hateful ideas than any

speech codes. Those with hateful or insensitive beliefs are not usually received well on college campuses. The social consequences they face may lead to self-reflection and a genuine change of heart, while a speech code encourages the bigot to stick to his beliefs instead of critically examining them.

In addition, it is anti-democratic to allow one group of people to define the limits of civility and sensitivity. These limits constantly change, both within individuals and across generations. There is no guarantee that the campus orthodoxies of today will always hold sway. While conservatives used to rule the academy, today the prevailing standards on college campuses align with liberal beliefs about race, gender, class and sexual orientation.

Even if you share these specific political beliefs, you should not support the silencing of opposing beliefs. Power changes hands, and prevailing orthodoxies often evolve or transform into something wholly new. Protecting the speech you dislike today establishes a principle that will help protect your own speech tomorrow.

Finally, it is worth remembering that there is immense educational value in allowing full freedom of expression. Being forced to hear different and unpopular opinions exposes us to new perspectives and forces us to justify our own beliefs. Censoring student expression does not only harm the silenced student. It also undermines the educational experience for the entire college community by shielding us from this opportunity for intellectual growth and challenge.

Oliver Rosenbloom ’13 is a history concentrator from Mill Valley, Calif.

Daily Herald Campus News the Brown

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

After strain, on-campus housing meets demand

By Abby Kerson Staff Writer

After three consecutive years of overcrowding, administrators expect no significant need for temporary housing this semester, said Richard Bova, senior associate dean of residential and dining services.

Last fall, 74 students received temporary housing assignments.

This year, only three have been temporarily placed on campus so far as an emergent and short-term measure, Bova said. These students are expected to move within the next week.

Strain on campus housing decreased partly due to the closing of the Saunders Inn, which added 46 beds to the system, Bova said.

The Saunders Inn, a 24-room hotel located in Vartan Gregorian Quad, closed Aug. 7 and was re-purposed for student undergraduate housing beginning this semester. About 75 percent of those beds went to sophomores and 25 percent to juniors, Bova said.

Another reason for the decline is a change in the way rising juniors are handling the off-campus housing process, Bova said. Last year, many rising juniors who applied for offcampus permission later changed

Number of beds short on first day of fall classes

The University Library unveiled a redesigned website last Thursday, introducing a cleaner and more accessible home page. The search bar is now larger and centered at the top of the page, and there are fewer links clustered in the middle of the site.

“It was time for a change,” said Sarah Bordac, head of outreach and instructional design for the library.

The website was last redesigned in 2007. Designers used the same template as the University’s home page, which debuted its redesign last fall, though they also looked to other sites that present large collections of information.

Though the library kept many of the same features, like the search bar,

Bears struggle in first game, fall to Friars

By Sam rubinroit Assistant Sports Editor

Anna Migliaccio / Herald

their minds, leading to overcrowding, Bova told The Herald last spring.

Though he said this is “always a constant problem,” last year’s applicants are “getting the message that if it is offered to you, you should take it while you have it.” The problem is “less intense” this year than it has been in the past, Bova said.

The office also sent a summer email to sophomores and juniors to preemptively prevent students from signing leases to live off-campus before getting permission from Residential Life. Students who do so make it more difficult for the office to predict the number of students who will require on-campus housing.

The waitlist for off-campus permission has been exhausted, Bova said, with about 1,275 students currently living off campus — a figure similar to last year. There are a few who are currently assigned housing and have also signed a lease, but he said they “had been warned multiple times.”

Although very few common spaces are being used as rooms this semester, some were converted as a safety measure for the first day of classes, Bova said. This happens every semester to prepare for any last-minute issues that may arise, such as students who decide to return on short notice and students granted off-campus permission who

ask to live on campus.

The number of common spaces converted in preparation for this semester was “not as great as last year,” Bova said. These rooms will be converted back to lounge spaces with the removal of the normal room furniture over the next two weeks, he added.

Last year many lounges were unavailable, including North Wayland House 101, according to an April 11 article in The Herald. The lounge is now open, according to Krutika Parasar ’12, one of the Residential Counselors for Wayland. “We are really happy to have the lounges back to use for programs and activities,” said Parasar.

U. Library launches more user-friendly website

By Caroline Flanagan A&C Staff Writer

Soccer

it changed the way the home page organizes links and displays information. Search results now display not only books but articles, e-books and other relevant library resources.

Previously, students had to search for media separately.

A new box shows computer availability in both the Rockefeller Library and the Friedman Study Center. “Now students won’t have to walk all the way to the library in the cold only to find that there are no computers left,” said Arlando Battle ’12, who worked closely with the digital technologies staff members who designed the site.

The “Ask a Librarian” area, where users can start an online conversation with a librarian, now allows students to more easily specify which librarian they would like to speak to and

at what time. “There’s not really new content, but the change in how we present the content improves the way you find content that already existed,” Bordac said.

Students often ask librarians how to access licensed resources from offcampus, Bordac said. Though that information was on the library’s site, students overlooked it.

“We went through a process of pulling out specific pieces and mixing it up like a jigsaw puzzle. I don’t think our site looks like anyone else’s, but there are some elements that are similar,” said Jean Rainwater, head of the library’s integrated technology services.

Benjamin Tyler, the library’s digital imaging specialist, was responsible for programming the website. The library also conducted usability tests

and sought advice from students.

Designers have received mostly positive feedback, Bordac said.

“They’ve really improved it a great deal,” Robert Lee ’13 said. “It’s a cleaner layout and not as cluttered.

It seems like they’re pushing the ‘Ask a Librarian’ chat, which is great.”

“All the information you need is right in front of you. It’s very well thought out,” said Linda Peterson, senior library specialist.

But not everyone was so positive.

Yeshi Milner ’12 said that she misses the second search bar on the home page that allowed students to search for off-campus sources.

The designers plan to keep updating the website based on feedback they receive. “It’s not done yet,” Bordac said. “Of course it will never really be done. It’s an ongoing process.”

Coming off of an impressive 2010 season that lasted until the third round of the NCAA Tournament, the No. 11 men’s soccer team (1-10) stumbled out of the gate with a loss to Providence College (3-1-0) Friday, falling to the Friars 1-0 at the Ocean State Soccer Classic.

But even with a squad depleted by injuries, the team bounced back Monday, defeating Bryant University (0-2-0) 3-0.

“In the first game, I think some of the seniors put pressure on themselves to perform since we did have some guys who were important to us leave last season and because we’ve had some injuries,” said co-captain Ryan McDuff ’13. “In the second game, it was a very relaxed atmosphere, and guys were talking about just going out and having fun rather than putting pressure on themselves to win.”

The Bears made a remarkable run last season, earning their 25th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and upsetting the University of Connecticut on their way to the Sweet 16. Eight starters and eight seniors returned this year for Head Coach Patrick Laughlin’s second campaign.

Nonetheless, Bruno entered the new season with a heavy burden to bear — an 11th place ranking in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America preseason poll. After a dramatic run, teams often find themselves with an inflated ranking based on their performance the previous year, and it can often be difficult for a squad to meet the expectations that come with the bloated standing.

“Preseason rankings are based continued on page 7

Big donations encourage hope for fencing program continued from page 1 Spies, executive vice president for planning and senior adviser to the president, noted other aspects of maintaining a varsity program that are not necessarily covered by donations.

When people think of fundraising, they think only about “the cost of the salaries and other expenses related to coaching staff and travel and so on,” Spies said. There are also other costs, including those associated with the teams’ facilities and administrative staff.

The committee recommended the teams not be reinstated through independent fundraising, citing the “strain on every resource in Athletics” in a statement on its website.

“All of the things that are required for an intercollegiate athletic program are stretched very thin, and the more teams you have, the harder it is to support any of them,” Spies said. “Even if somehow magically there were no direct costs to the program itself, there would still be a significant resource requirement to support those teams.”

But Weiss said he disagrees.

“In the end, if you have a program, and it’s underfunded, and you go out, and you raise a bunch of money for the entire athletic department, whether it’s fencing or another team, you’re not going to be underfunded anymore,” he said. “So I find it a bit of a hollow argument.”

Weiss has two sons starting at

Brown this fall, one of whom is a fencer who applied early decision.

“He gets to Brown, and all of a sudden the program’s cut,” Weiss said. “You can imagine how difficult that was for him to hear about after he already made a decision.”

He said he is hopeful that President Ruth Simmons is listening to other members of the Brown community besides the committee.

“There was a pretty big outcry, and I think the president is a thoughtful individual, and she’s taken everybody’s opinions into account.”

Men’s team captain Andrew Pintea ’12 said much of the campus has been supportive of the fencers.

“Even if they’re not a fan of sports, they sympathize in the way that they know this is important to us,” Pintea said. “They know this is a

huge part of our lives, and they can realize how much it would hurt to have that taken away from us.”

He said he is hopeful about the team’s future. “We are as optimistic as we can be, given the situation,” Pintea said. “We think we’ve done just about all we can to convince Ruth Simmons and the Corporation that we should be allowed to continue. That said, obviously we’re not happy about the situation.”

The fencing teams are not the only ones garnering sympathy from students and alumni — the wrestling and skiing teams are also fighting to survive. Weiss said he has been in close contact with the wrestling and skiing teams, which have also made substantial fundraising progress. The three teams

are working together as one unit to save their respective programs.

“We’re not trying to just save our sport — it’s a bigger solution,” Weiss said.

Part of the solution can include distributing the fundraised money to other sports, Weiss said. “If the Athletic Department as a whole is underfunded,” he said. “We’re willing to put some of our money into that pot to solve the bigger problem, not just the fencing problem.”

“Brown can be made a better university by not cutting, but by making what we have better,” Weiss added. “I don’t buy the argument, and neither do the other teams, that cutting three sports is going to solve the problem for the rest of the University. All it’s going to do is cut three sports.”