Thursday, September 8, 2011

Daily

Herald

the Brown

Thursday, September 8, 2011

vol. cxlvi, no. 61

At Convocation, a call to ‘search deeply’

By Jordan Hendricks Senior Staff Writer

As the sound of bagpipes pierced the air and a mild drizzle set in, the class of 2015 and other incoming students were called together to begin the 248th school year. After entering campus through the Van Wickle Gates, the first-year class filed onto the Main Green, awaiting welcoming remarks from President Ruth Simmons and Provost Mark Schlissel P’15.

Simmons encouraged the 1507-person first-year class to take advantage of the diversity of their classmates.

“This wealth of identities and narratives — they underline the miracle of being in a learning environment like Brown,” she said.

But she cautioned that it is “no small thing to be able to apprehend what matters in life,” and urged students to “search deeply for examples of courage and fortitude, faith and

loyalty, sacrifice and benevolence, brilliance and know-how, patience and forgiveness.”

Simmons also highlighted the changes to campus that incoming students would be able to enjoy, including the new Warren Alpert Medical School building, the recently renovated Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center and the Granoff Center for Creative Arts, as well as continuing projects like the Nelson Center for Athletics, the Metcalf Chemistry and Research Laboraties, the Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center and the Jonathan Nelson ’77 Fitness Center.

Simmons encouraged students to take the time to say a “simple thanks” to members of the Brown and Providence communities.

“You are surrounded by people who care about your success,” she said. “I hope you will have the wisdom to take the time to acknowledge

Since 1891

Emily Gilbert / Herald

At Convocation, President Ruth Simmons urged firstyears to draw on the diversity of their classmates.

A first time for everything

continued on page 3

ROTC committee issues final report

Fate of program’s 40-year ban from campus remains unclear

The committee charged with reexamining the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps’ ban from campus offered little in the way of strong recommendations in its findings released yesterday.

The findings, shared in a campus-wide email from President

Ruth Simmons, establish parameters for future discussion and action on the status of ROTC at Brown, without recommending either a continuation or an end to its long-standing ban. “We did not, as a committee, reach consensus on every point; nor did we seek to,” the report states in its conclusion.

The first two of the report’s three conclusions are from the

1969 resolutions by the University that led to the end of both the Naval and Air Force ROTC programs on campus. The first states that ROTC is not considered by the University to be a curricular program but rather an extracurricular program, and the second states that faculty members retain control over how courses should be convened on campus, according

By Ethan McCoy Sports Editor

MBTA.com

inside

The MBTA, which runs a commuter rail line between Providence and Boston, is considering service cuts and fare hikes. See page 8.

Like many adventurous Rhode Islanders, six Brown hockey players headed to the beach last Tuesday to test the choppy Atlantic Ocean churned up by Tropical Storm Irene.

But for Mike Wolff ’12, Jeff Ryan ’13, Dennis Robertson ’14, Mike Borge ’14, assistant captain Bobby Farnham ’12 and former Bear forward David Brownschidle ’11, things quickly took a scary turn: The six had to perform a harrowing rescue of three swimmers caught in a riptide at South Shore Beach in Little Compton, R.I. Though the beach was closed, the players estimated there were about 40

people on what Borge called a “secluded” shoreline. The water, they said, was relatively calm. They had not been in the water long when they swam out to a sandbar and saw two swimmers waving their arms and calling out.

The swimmers, two teenage girls, were “bobbing up and down,” Wolff said. “They were waving at us,” he said, “but we couldn’t really hear what they were saying. So we swam over, and he eventually heard them yelling ‘Help! Help! We can’t swim!’”

Wolff and Ryan hurried to the swimmers, who said they were fatigued, and grabbed hold of their continued on page 4

continued on page 2

continued on page 2

Improve

Invest

Engage

Swearer helps students revamp proposals

A call for a higher education tuition tax credit

Your opponents may have more merit than you think

Campus News, 2

opinions, 7

This article was written by Elizabeth Carr, Katherine Long, Sahil Luthra, Joseph Rosales, Kat Thornton, Natalie Villacorta and Emma Wohl Professor Emeritus of Neuroscience James McIlwain sat in front of a fireplace in the Blue Room yesterday, quietly sipping coffee and nibbling on a breakfast sandwich. Amid the throng of chattering students, he was an island of calm — casual, in a baseball hat and zip-up sweatshirt. He spread his hands, beamed and surveyed the room. “Yup,” he said, “The first day of school looks exactly the same as it has for the last 40 years.”

First-years clutched campus maps. Hoards of students — sporting T-shirts dripping from the day’s rain — stood in line at the Sharpe Refectory for buffalo chicken wings.

Classrooms were packed to the brim.

“We need a bigger room. Hopefully, there will be some attrition.

I’m sweating up a storm,” said Peter Andreas, professor of political science and international studies, after delivering the first lecture for POLS 1020: “Politics of the Illicit Global Economy” in Salomon 001.

Rachel Friedberg, a senior lecturer in economics, said the turnout for ECON 0110: “Principles of Economics” — traditionally one of the

Hockey players rescue teens at beach after Irene

Ticket to ride

news....................2-5 editorial............6 Opinions.............7 City & STatE........8

to Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron.

The third conclusion states that Simmons can discuss possibilities for ROTC programs with the Department of Defense when she receives input from the Brown community in support of such programs. Bergeron, the committee’s

Opinions, 7

weather

By Mark Raymond Senior Staff Writer

Packed classes, crowded dining halls mark semester’s beginning

t o d ay

tomorrow

69 / 63

79 / 62

2 Campus News calendar Today

September 8

11 a.m.

ToMORROW

September 9

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, September 8, 2011

Classes kick off amid steady rain continued from page 1

7 p.m.

Farmers Market,

Film with Faculty: “Toy Story 3,”

Wriston Quadrangle

Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center

7 p.m.

11 p.m.

Activities Night,

Funk Nite,

OMAC

The Underground

menu SHARPE REFECTORY

VERNEy-WOOLLEY DINING HALL LUNCH

Chicken Pot Pie, Falafel in Pita, Zucchini and Parmesan Sandwich, Rice Krispie Treats

Sloppy Joe Sandwich, Vegetable Strudel, Curly Fries, Rice Krispie Treats

DINNER Cheese Tomato Strata, Falafel in Pita, Beef Strips Shish Kabob, Frosted Brownies

Roast Turkey with Sauce, Butternut Apple Bake, Mashed Potatoes, Frosted Brownies

Sudoku

University’s largest classes — was the biggest she has ever seen.

Blake Cecil ’15, who was waiting outside Salomon 101 for the introductory economics class that began at 9 a.m., had already been awake for hours. Of his roommates, he was picked to shower first that morning — which meant waking up at 5:30 a.m. But the excitement of the first day kept him awake, at least for the time being.

Like Cecil, many first-years kept up high spirits despite the rainy weather. Diego Morales ’15, a native Californian, said the gloomy start was tough, but the classes he shopped were encouraging. “My first lecture made me feel like I’m going to have a great semester,” he said.

first time.”

In one class he attended — COLT 1421Q: “Word and Image: Ekphrasis, the Iconic Narrative and the Graphic Novel” — each student was given an iPad to use for the semester and told to use the devices for anything they want. But Olsen said the professor stood out as the memorable part of the course.

“I think just being around her is going to expand my mind,” Olsen said. “I wouldn’t cancel the class no matter what subject it was with her.”

Buildings and classrooms across campus were updated over the summer vacation. New rooms to house students replaced those at the old Saunders Inn at Brown, and 25 percent of campus received a fresh coat of paint, said Stephen Maiorisi, vice president for facilities management.

Final ROTC decision still up in air continued from page 1

Crossword

“In high school, I was happy if I learned one thing a week. And then here, I just went to class and learned five things in 50 minutes,” said Celia Megdal ’15 after shopping ARCH 0678: “Underwater in the Mediterranean: An Introduction to Maritime Archaeology.”

But first-years also suffered their share of first-day woes. Swiping their Brown IDs upside down and backward — holding up more experienced patrons — they stumbled into the libraries on their first day of classes.

At the Rockefeller Library, one student mixed up “corrals” with “carrels.” “He was from the South,” the circulation desk staff member joked.

Transfer student Stephen Olsen ’13.5 said the first day of classes was “like going to school for the

chair, said that even if such discussions were to occur, it is not clear what form Naval or Air Force ROTC programs would take on campus, and that they could be part of a consortium of programs run by other institutions.

Bergeron said the committee reached a general consensus on the first two conclusions, but only a relatively small majority supported the third.

In addition to explaining the history of the University’s relationship with the military and the committee’s conclusions, the report includes polling data from alums and students showing mixed support for ROTC’s reinstatement.

While alumni polling data suggests strong support for ROTC’s return,

Daily

the Brown

student responses showed far more variation.

Stephen Brinn ’66, who supports the program’s return to campus, participated in the Naval ROTC program as an undergraduate before the ban’s imposition. “I was very disappointed when it was thrown off campus during the Vietnam period,” he said. “It was a travesty.”

Joshua Posner ’71 also supports the return of ROTC to campus, though for different reasons.

Posner was a student activist on campus during the Vietnam era and supported the effort to remove ROTC in protest of the war. He said the movement to end ROTC programs on campus in the late 1960s was largely a symbolic gesture in protest of the war rather than a strict opposition to the

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) 351-3260 gm@browndailyherald.com

ROTC program specifically. “We opposed ROTC and effectively campaigned to have it thrown off campus as a protest during the anti-war period,” he said.

Posner said that today, Brown needs to be “fully engaged with the rest of the nation,” and that not allowing ROTC on campus “contributes to the extreme stratification that is so much at the core of what’s wrong with this country,” citing the military’s cultural and socioeconomic diversity.

Julie Pittman ’12, a member of the Coalition Against Special Privileges for ROTC, leveled criticisms at the report. She said she would like to see more details about the process by which ROTC could return, and whether faculty members would be afforded a formal vote on any policy changes.

She also said the report failed to properly address the military’s discrimination towards transgender people, a policy she said contradicts the University’s code of conduct. The military considers transgender identity a mental disorder, barring transgender people from serving.

David Rattner ’13, who serves as the vice president of the Undergraduate Council of Students, wrote in an email to The Herald that UCS “appreciates the work of the committee in dealing with this polarizing issue that elicits a range of opinions.

“They’ve done a great job in being able to reach what we think is a fair decision despite the outcry surrounding the matter, and we look forward to seeing how the school’s position evolves as discussions with the Department of Defense progress and the culture and policies of the military change,” he added.

Bergeron said she expects the University to reach a more binding conclusion regarding ROTC’s presence on campus later this year. “I think this issue will remain under a discussion phase for a bit longer, but there should be closure by the October Corporation meeting,” she said. “You want to give people time to consider things.”

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, September 8, 2011

Campus News 3

Calling together campus, Swearer hosts young social innovators admins open school year

By Ben Kutner Senior Staff Writer

continued from page 1 their help.”

Schlissel gave the Convocation address to the audience of faculty and new undergraduate, graduate and medical students. He pointed out that he is also beginning his first semester at Brown and offered advice on how to face the coming years.

“The literal substance of what we learn in college is rarely as important as you might think,” Schlissel said, drawing on his experience as a biochemistry undergraduate. Much of that “literal substance” was eventually “superseded by new facts,” he said, while greater lessons about life and learning remain true.

“I learned how to seek out what I wanted to know, and seek out a desired level of understanding,” he said.

Schlissel encouraged first-years to study topics in both the humanities and the sciences, emphasizing the real-world interrelatedness of the two.

Convocation marks the fourth day of a nine-day orientation schedule for first years. Colby Jenkins ’12, co-chair of the Orientation Welcoming Committee, said several orientation events this year have been “revamped” from last year.

The committee added a tie-dye event and pickup sports and expanded the traditional ice cream social to encompass the entire Campus Center, with additional food and activities, like showings of Glee and Pictionary games.

“We’ve known for years that the ice cream social was awkward,” Jenkins said.

The improvements have gone over “very well,” among both firstyears and upperclassmen who sneak into the events, he said. Over 1,200

students attended the annual firstyear dance.

Jenkins said the welcoming committee hopes its role in orientation helps first-years overcome their anxiety about making friends in the coming year. “These first two weeks really shape their friendships and shape their expectations of the years to come,” he said.

Karla Tytus ’15 said that after Simmons’ welcome, her sense of being at Brown was “a different level of realization.”

“It just got real,” she said.

Enedina Martinez ’15 arrived nine days ago for Excellence at Brown and said she has been “absolutely loving it.”

“I love how welcoming and accommodating President Simmons is to the middle class,” she said. “I feel like we’ve been invited to be a part of a big family.”

Competitions are not usually the place for second chances, and runners-up are not usually given $5,000 to improve their projects for resubmission. But 15 college students, semifinalists from the Dell Social Innovation Competition — an international competition that focuses on social entrepreneurship — found themselves at Brown this summer to participate in the competition’s inaugural semifinalist fellowship.

All entries to the competition shared the goal of enacting social change in the world, said MaryBeth Bennett, who coordinates the program.

“Our goal is to bring clean water to children living in slums,” said Anshu Vaish ’12, the fellow behind the semifinalist project WaterWalla.

After judges selected the five finalists, semifinalists were encouraged to apply for Brown’s fellowship

program. The Swearer Center for Public Service then awarded 15 fellows $5,000 for project development and training this year. The fellows are expected to resubmit their improved projects to the Dell competition in 2012.

The Swearer Center’s previous work in social entrepreneurship attracted the attention of the Dell competition, which sought a home for its first semifinalist fellowship program. The program is based on the Starr Fellowship, a social entrepreneurship initiative offered by the Swearer Center, said Alan Harlam, director of social entrepreneurship.

The competition funded four paid positions at Brown to oversee the fellowship’s development, said Roger Nozaki MAT’89, director of the Swearer Center. “A huge part of what the Swearer Center contributed was intellectual capital,” he said.

After participating in online training for several months, fellows attended the one-week pro-

Get The Herald delivered daily to your inbox browndailyherald.com/register

gram at Brown. At the close of the week, each fellow’s presentation was broadcast online.

Over 30 mentors met with fellows at the event, said student staff member Sophie Kainen ’12. Professor Emeritus Barrett Hazeltine and Bill Allen, an adjunct lecturer of public policy, participated as mentors, as did executives from CVS and Hasbro — both of which are based in Rhode Island — she said.

Vaish said networking opportunities were an important aspect of the fellowship.

“Rhode Island has been at the lead … with organizations designed to promote social entrepreneurship,” Harlam said.

“I not only got to learn from my peers but from professionals,” said Penn senior Mariama Kabia, whose project seeks to improve girls’ literacy and empowerment in Sierra Leone and West Africa. “It was such a collaborative environment,” she said.

4 Sports Thursday

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, September 8, 2011

Hockey players rescue three swimmers at R.I. beach continued from page 1 arms to support them above the water. Holding onto the girls, the two Bears swam back to more shallow waters. And then the players learned there was another swimmer in trouble.

“I put the girl down and she could stand up, and she said ‘Will

you help my boyfriend, too?’” Wolff said. “(Ryan and I) looked at each other, and we couldn’t see her boyfriend anywhere in the water.” Finally, Wolff said they spotted him past the breaking waves floating on his back.

“The kid looked kind of lifeless,” Wolff said. “I thought it was a dead body.”

With Wolff and Ryan in shal-

lower water with the two girls, the four other players immediately began swimming in the direction of the boy.

Robertson, who is a certified lifeguard and worked at an indoor pool in British Columbia, reached him first and propped his body up with his face out of the water. Robertson tried to communicate with the boy, but he was unresponsive.

“He was out of it for sure, but he was conscious and breathing,” Robertson said. “He had swallowed a lot of water and was not in the best shape at all.”

When Brownschidle, Farnham and Borge reached Robertson and the boy, they were able to move the boy onto a boogie board, which they had brought with them that day to ride the waves. Wolff took the surfboard the group had also taken along

and paddled out to meet the others while Ryan waited with the girls. But a riptide threatened to thwart the rescue effort. “The riptide absolutely shot me out there,” Wolff said.

“None of us are college swimmers or anything like that, and we had been swimming for a while now, so all of us were really tired.”

After about three minutes of swimming parallel to the shore to get to calmer waters, the group finally was able to turn toward the beach.

Ryan was able to come meet the group and pull them into the shallow water where they could stand.

He and Robertson then carried the boy to shore.

But when the group finally reached the beach, the players said no one else on shore had realized what was going on.

“We were all standing there, panting and out of breath, and the lady next to us is still sitting there reading her book,” Wolff said.

The players found the group the teens had come to the beach with, and told the boy’s mother that she needed to take him to the hospital.

“He was still really pale and looked like he was going into shock,” Ryan said.

The boy and his mother left immediately, and the players were never able to even learn any of the teens’ names. The group has not heard from any of the three victims they rescued, or their families.

“It’s crazy to think that something like that would happen and how lucky we were,” Farnham said.

“All of us were there and everyone contributed.”

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, September 8, 2011

City & State 5

Board of Regents rejects R.I. gay couples not choosing civil unions Cranston charter school continued from page 8

continued from page 8 perintendent are appointed by the mayor. Smith said this makes it more difficult for opponents to the proposed school because the Providence school board and superintendent, who must approve a potential mayoral academy, function as a “rubber stamp for the mayor.”

Taveras, who submitted an enthusiastic letter of support for the Cranston academy to the board a week before the vote, is preparing for the possibility of a mayoral academy coming to Providence.

“The mayor looks forward to meeting with (Education) Commissioner (Deborah) Gist and Achievement First to discuss the situation and explore our options moving into the future,” David Ortiz, the mayor’s press secretary, said.

Maryellen Butke, the executive director of RI-CAN, an advocacy group dedicated to education reform, expressed disappointment in the vote but said she hopes it will provoke Rhode Islanders to tackle education reform more proactively. “The vote was a rallying cry for support,” she said.

“We have to get everyday voices in the mix.” She added that she feels the debate has been dominated by adults seeking to preserve the status quo in public education.

Achievement First is also in the process of examining its options for the future. Reshma Singh, senior director of Achievement First’s Rhode Island expansion, told the Providence Journal that she was encouraged by Chafee’s letter and that the company would discuss the possibility of opening a school in Providence.

But the governor’s eleventh hour appeal to the board has attracted criticism. “Eleventh hour?

More like eleventh-and-a-half hour,” Smith said. “It only confused the issue.”

Chafee has been wary of supporting charter schools in the past. In January, he called for a “thoughtful pause” on opening new charter schools in order to analyze performance data on existing charters. His letter to the board has led some to call his platform inconsistent, a charge which his communications director denies.

“We have taken a thoughtful pause, and after listening to all sides, meeting with different people and stakeholders, community support for a mayoral academy in Cranston was lacking,” Hunsinger said. She said that the governor views charter schools as a tool to improve public education, and that he is still open to the possibility of bringing mayoral academies to the state.

of interest in entering into civil unions is more a result of practicality than a political statement. A same-sex couple living in Rhode Island can choose to marry in a neighboring state, like Massachusetts, with ease, rather than choosing a civil union in Rhode Island. “We have better options close by,” Schwartz said. “Why would we do something that doesn’t respect us as a couple?”

The civil unions law also includes an amendment permitting religious organizations to refuse both to perform civil unions and

to recognize them, another reason for the law’s lack of support among activists and same-sex couples. It also allows private religiously affiliated organizations, such as hospitals and schools, to deny rights normally given to spouses in civil unions, Sullivan said.

Schwartz said he worries that the legalization of civil unions will lull gay marriage activists into complacency, adding that the subtle legal differences between civil unions and marriage lead people to assume the same rights are afforded to each. These assumptions slow efforts to push

comics Cloud Buddies! | David Emanuel

for same-sex marriage, he said.

The Queer Political Action Committee plans to coordinate with Marriage Equality Rhode Island and other gay marriage advocates to decide how to proceed. Schwartz said the group is currently creating a guide to educate voters on which Rhode Island politicians support or oppose LGBT rights, including marriage.

“There’s a ton happening,” Sullivan said of his organization’s current activities. The group plans to fight the religious-affiliated exemption amendment while continuing to push for marriage equality.

6 Editorial & Letter Editorial

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, September 8, 2011

Editorial comic

by sam rosenfeld

Cleaning up after Irene In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Irene, it seemed that the storm had been hyped up. After all, many of the direst predictions failed to come true — particularly massive flooding in the New York metro area.

But it quickly became clear that the storm had indeed wreaked havoc on many northeastern communities. The devastation in places like Vermont and upstate New York was especially severe. Indeed, the New York Times reported that Irene “will most likely prove to be one of the 10 costliest catastrophes in the nation’s history.”

It is a relief that Irene did not do more damage to Rhode Island, which escaped with less harm than some of its New England neighbors. Even though Irene was downgraded to a tropical storm Aug. 28, the recovery effort will still prove costly for the Ocean State.

On Saturday, after viewing financial predictions that he believed exceeded local and state response capacity, Gov. Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14 announced his decision to request a Major Disaster Declaration for Rhode Island following the storm.

Flooding is responsible for the most damage and expense. This is not the first time that Rhode Island has seen flooding — floods in the spring of 2010 were reported to leave over 3,000 people temporarily unemployed and to have caused $100-$200 million in damages.

While Brown students have consistently demonstrated a commitment to global disaster response, the impact of flood damage surrounding Rhode Island might be harder to see at first glance.

But as volunteers who assisted debris removal after the 2010 floods will recall, the impact of flooding can be both emotionally taxing and financially devastating for families already living on the edge.

Students can help with everything from removing debris to disseminating information. We encourage students to contact Serve Rhode Island, a service organization helping with the response, to find out how to work with others in the community to help offset the toll of the floods. In particular, students can help Serve Rhode Island’s ServeCorps Disaster Team that specializes in disaster preparation, response and recovery in Rhode Island. Call (401) 331-2298 ext.

112 or email disaster@serverhodeisland.org for more information.

Historically, in addition to contributions from student efforts, the University has made significant official contributions to response efforts in Rhode Island. Following the spring 2010 floods, it responded by providing grants to relief agencies, assembling volunteers, assisting employees impacted by the floods and supporting students in research related to recovery.

But there are ways to make Brown’s commitment to response even more effective. As the rains throughout New England this week remind us, perhaps the biggest takeaway from the recent storm is disasters are not at all rare. Preparation is the key to successful response. Brown should take a more proactive approach to disasters, institutionalizing disaster-related research, providing resources or a liaison through an administrative or student group effort for general disaster relief, doing reconstruction and offering humanitarian aid. What is more “Brown” than bringing together innovation, planning, collaboration and community engagement to help proactively manage some of the most trying — yet natural — situations faced by people everywhere?

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

Managing Editors

Senior Editors

Sydney Ember Ben Schreckinger

Brigitta Greene Anne Speyer

Dan Alexander Nicole Friedman Julien Ouellet

editorial Kristina Fazzalaro Rebecca Ballhaus Claire Peracchio Talia Kagan Amy Rasmussen Tony Bakshi Alex Bell Ethan McCoy Ashley McDonnell Sam Rubinroit Anita Mathews Tyler Rosenbaum Sam Carter Hunter Fast

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

Graphics & Photos Abe Pressman Graphics Editor Emily Gilbert Photo Editor Rachel Kaplan Photo Editor Glenn Lutzky Photo Editor Jesse Schwimmer Sports Photo Editor Production Dan Towne Anna Migliaccio Katie Wilson Leor Shtull-Leber

Copy Desk Chief Design Editor Design Editor Assistant Design Editor

Business General Managers Matthew Burrows Isha Gulati

Office Manager Shawn Reilly

Directors Aditi Bhatia Danielle Marshak Margot Grinberg Lisa Berlin

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 Rajiv Iyengar Special Projects Arjun Vaidya Special Projects Webber Xu Special Projects Post- magazine Editor-in-Chief Sam Knowles Editor-in-Chief Amelia Stanton BLOG DAILY HERALD David Winer Editor-in-Chief Matt Klimerman Managing Editor

letter to the editor A proposal for a novel fiscal measure To the Editor: President Ruth Simmons seeks new sources of revenue. Would it not be nice for the faculty and administrators to volunteer to take a reduction in pay?

Such a happening might even demonstrate such

respect for the University and commitment to its lofty goals that alumni and other supporters would be moved, stunned actually, to increase their contributions.

David Curry ’51

quote of the day

“We’ve known for years the ice cream social

”

was awkward.

— Colby Jenkins ’12, Orientation Welcoming Committee co-chair See Convocation on page 1.

Join The Herald! Info sessions on Sunday, Sept. 11 at 6 p.m.

Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m.

Thursday, Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. at our 195 Angell St. offices 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 7

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, September 8, 2011

Free to learn

By Ethan Tobias Opinions Columnist

Welcome to Brown, first-years, and congratulations for making the foresighted decision to invest in your future. By now, you have cracked open a textbook or two, shopped several classes you never plan on taking and made some invaluable connections at Ratty lunch. Every step taken is an opportunity to learn anew and prepare yourself for, dare I say it, life after college, but luckily, by attending Brown — or any college for that matter — you have prepared yourself to be among this nation’s most productive citizens.

Unemployment among college graduates is significantly lower than among their high school counterparts, and starting salaries for those with a bachelor’s degree are often much higher. A college education may be just about the best thing a young person — or frankly anyone — can get in this country to help insulate himself or herself from the harsh employment market and the prospect of a double-dip recession.

A college-educated citizenry would also benefit the American people as a whole. The more Americans are employed and the more Americans earn, the more taxes the government receives, the smaller the deficit is and the more programs can

be funded. With long-term federal deficits on the mind of every politician these days, it is about time the U.S. Congress made college tuition tax-deductible. By making college more affordable today, the government is expanding the tax base of the future.

Too many students work to finance their education just to watch more and more of their money go to Uncle Sam, yet they never get to see a dime of it themselves. Parents, too, are asked to contribute

ebrate. With the markets still rattled from the U.S. credit downgrade and the uncertainty abroad, a big infusion of cash into the American economy, coupled with a significant and meaningful investment in education, could just be the big idea to get our economy rolling again.

Universities, for their part, could use any extra revenue generated from the program, since more students could pay full tuition. They could keep vital research, programs and student activities funded in

It is about time the U.S. Congress made all of college tuition tax-deductible.

to their children’s education, but after income tax, state tax and property tax, what could any but the most affluent parents still have to give? And for the less well-todo, imagine that paying back student loans were tax-deductible. How much more quickly would graduates, weighed down by hundreds of thousands in debt, be able to get back on their feet and prosper?

A tuition tax deduction would immediately put money in the pockets of millions of American families. It would be the same thing as a second stimulus masquerading as a tax deduction — a would-be cause for both liberals and conservatives to cel-

this budget-cutting era. No longer would Brown have to consider which sports teams to cut or how many workers to lay off. This would truly be a win-win scenario.

How would we pay for such a bold endeavor? A back of the napkin estimate is that if 25 percent of tax deductions are lost tax revenue, if the average education is $30,000 per year and if there are 10 million college students, then we are talking about a $75 billion program. That is nothing compared to the exorbitant sums the government already spends. In 2011, the Department of Defense received over $500

billion.

Even if the government just gave out the whole cost of tuition to students and made college free, the approximate total of $300 billion would be less than 10 percent of the whole government budget of $3.7 trillion to be spent next year. Financing a secondary education, the most important tool for success in the 21st century, would far exceed any immediate cost and represents a much better investment in America’s future than defense spending or — sadly and unfairly to seniors — Social Security or Medicare.

A free college education is not exactly an innovative idea. In many European countries, college is already free or highly subsidized, and in some countries, like Denmark, students are actually paid to go to college.

A free primary education has been an unshakable hallmark of the American education system for centuries, and yet after investing in students for 13 long years, our country fails to provide the culminating support that would provide the greatest economic security for emerging adults.

A high school education is no longer sufficient in the information age. It is time America were as wise as a first-year at Brown and invested in college education.

It’s a bold idea that just might work.

Ethan Tobias ’12 thinks that $300 billion is chump change but paying $3 for a cup of coffee is absurd. He can be reached at Ethan_Tobias@brown.edu

Productive debate among reasonable people

By David Hefer Opinions Columnist

This fall, you’ll find yourself engaged in familiar conversations. You’ll be lounging on the Main Green or trying to get the Keeney hallway to stop spinning for just one second when a friend will say, “Those idiots in Congress ought to x!” or “The average person needs to realize that z!” What these conversations have in common is their normative element: We are not talking about the way the world is, but about how it should be. Normative conversations have the potential to do great good.

Hopefully, we reach some conclusion, and if we’re really motivated, we’ll get out there and do something. This fact makes normative conversations some of the most important you’ll have. Their conclusions have the potential to change the world in a way that a discussion of the primacy of signifier versus signified doesn’t.

The importance of normative issues demands of us a careful eye when we tackle them. Their emotional significance makes us prone to bad reasoning. After all, we undoubtedly feel more strongly about workers’ rights than about whether “Crank: High Voltage” or “The Transporter” is the better Jason Statham film — for the record, the former. Furthermore, Brown is, overall, a liberal school. This results in more homogeneity of opinion than in the general public, so dissenting voices may not

be fully represented. With this in mind, we must correct for error wherever possible.

One of the largest and easily remedied sources of error in these debates is the primacy of wanting to win over wanting to understand. We should be charitable and argue against our opponents on the terms they set. It is too easy to build straw men that can be knocked down in a single blow, rather than considering our opponents’ arguments in full force. This will both make you less dogmatic — if you walk a mile in their shoes, you might learn something —

bling, “Not me.” I want my message to make you slightly uncomfortable because that’s the only way for me to effect change.

This leaves me the unenviable task of naming names. As an example, let’s look at an exchange that occurred last semester on the touchy issue of abortion. I ask the authors not to take it personally. I want to call out everybody who agrees with the authors’ reasoning, not just the authors themselves.

In a March column, Sarah Gassel ’12 urges us to compare the fate of an abort-

Think of it this way: Though you may be right, you are not incontrovertibly right; there is always room for reasonable disagreement. If you can dismiss your opponents’ view without breaking a sweat, you are not doing them justice. and will make your argument stronger. If you can show that — even on their own terms — your opponents are wrong, so much the better for your position. Think of it this way: Though you may be right, you are not incontrovertibly right. There is always room for reasonable disagreement.

If you can dismiss your opponents’ views without breaking a sweat, you are not doing them justice.

Now, when someone comes around shouting accusations of this nature, it is natural to nod in agreement while mum-

ed fetus to that of a murdered infant (“The case for infant rights,” Mar. 18). As she says, “Just as no one had the ethical right to take my life as a newborn … my mother could (not) choose whether or not I was to live while I was in the womb. Both abortion and infanticide would result in my non-existence on this earth — are they truly separate practices?” Though I am trying hard to follow my own advice, I am hardpressed to find any other argument for the fetal right to life in her article. We need look no further since we are looking at her

article specifically and not the arguments against abortion in general.

Her line of reasoning should have been that pro-choicers are clever enough to realize that their position allows infanticide, and so they must have some reason to think the two really are different or that infanticide is not as bad as it might seem.

This could have led her to Judith Thomson’s argument that rights to one’s body trump another’s right to life or Peter Singer’s argument that fetuses are morally irrelevant, neither of which she confronts.

Susannah Kroeber ’11 and Alyssa Ratledge’s ’11 reply (“Pro-lifers fail to provide alternatives,” Apr. 6) hardly fares better.

They rightly recognize Gassel’s failure to be charitable, but they do not apply the same standards to themselves. They should have thought that pro-lifers are probably not maliciously plotting to antagonize low-income women, so there must be something more going on. Just by reading Gassel’s column, we know she believes that the right not to be killed is more important than a woman’s right to her body. If you thought people were being systematically murdered, others would understand or even join when you hurled vitriol at the murderers. Kroeber and Ratledge don’t attempt to undermine the argument that leads to picket lines at clinics.

In short, it’s better to think your opponent is ineloquent than stupid.

David Hefer ’13 is a philosophy and math concentrator who just wants everybody to get along. He can be reached at david_hefer@brown.edu

Daily Herald City & State the Brown

Thursday, September 8, 2011

School board vote leaves possibility of new charter in Providence

Field hockey

New coaches, goalie look toward promising season

By Ashley McDonnell Sports Editor

Each season, teams change — seniors graduate, first-year recruits arrive and, sometimes, new coaches are hired. But the field hockey team has undergone a more significant overhaul this past summer than usual, hiring Head Coach Jill Reeve and Assistant Coach Jillian Brown and adding eight first-years to round out the roster at 20.

One of those rookies is Shannon McSweeney ’15, the team’s lone goalkeeper. Last season, the squad had three goalies, none of whom were graduating. But before McSweeney arrived, all three left the team to pursue other interests at Brown, according to tricaptain Leslie Springmeyer ’12.

“It’s kind of funny, though, to think that last season they had three goalies on the team, and you would think the coach wouldn’t recruit another goalie,” McSweeney added. “It was strange fate that she decided to recruit another goalie.”

Springmeyer said the team normally recruits one goalie a year, because often one of the returning keepers opts to leave the team due to scheduling conflicts.

Losing all three was unexpected, but the team is impressed with McSweeney, Springmeyer said.

Before coming to Brown, Reeve was head coach at Miami University in Ohio for seven years, “building the program from

the ground up,” she said. The season before Miami hired her, the Red Hawks had a 1-17 record. In the next two seasons, Reeve led the Red Hawks to a combined 17 victories.

The Bears, for their part, have struggled in recent years.

They went 5-12 in 2009 with an Ivy League record of 0-7 and an away record of 0-8. Last season, the team improved marginally to 6-11 overall, with a 3-4 conference record.

But Reeve does not want to measure the Bears’ success this year in the black-and-white terms of wins and losses. “I’m mostly focused on growing the team in their technical strengths,” Reeve said. “I’m not really focused on the outcomes right now. It’s hard to predict what will happen.

There’s a potential to have a really successful season.”

Springmeyer said the players reached the same conclusion, deciding “to look at each game individually, instead of looking at the overall record,” she said. “Any team will start digging itself in a hole if it does that. We’re going to put losses in the past, even wins in the past. We’re not going to let outside factors influence us.”

Right now, the team is 1-1, after a 5-0 loss on the road to the University of New Hampshire (4-0) and a 3-2 victory at home over University of California at Davis (2-2).

Between the two halves of the UNH game, Reeve said she saw

By Katherine Long Senior Staff Writer

already had substantial support in the General Assembly before Fox backed the bill. “There was no reason for Fox to change his support,” he said. “It was in my mind sort of a betrayal.”

But since the law went into effect, few civil union ceremonies in Rhode Island have occurred.

“Only 10 couples have taken advantage of civil unions,” said Ray Sullivan, the campaign director of Marriage Equality Rhode Island. He said the figure pales in comparison to the number of same-sex marriages that have taken place in New York, where one out of four marriages have been between same-sex partners since the state began recognizing gay marriages July 24.

In the past, other states have initially adopted civil unions before approving gay marriage, but Schwartz said the civil unions bill could halt progress toward legalizing same-sex marriage in Rhode Island.

Schwartz suggested the lack

The Rhode Island Board of Regents sent education activists back to the drawing board last Thursday when it rejected a controversial application for a semi-public Cranston charter school. The application, submitted by the nonprofit Achievement First, proposed creating an elementary mayoral academy — a charter school supported by the mayor — in Cranston’s Edgewood neighborhood, the school would be funded by state and local governments as well as private donations.

Supporters pointed to Achievement First’s strong track record in raising test scores among minority and low-income students. Both Providence Mayor Angel Taveras and Cranston Mayor Allan Fung voiced their support for the mayoral academy.

But opponents of the proposed academy — ­ including teachers’ unions, school administrators and some parents — ­ charged that charter schools often divert resources from public education and cited evidence that charters fare no better on average than public schools in their educational outcomes. The proposed school would not be unionized.

The board’s decision came mere hours after they received a letter from Gov. Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14 indicating that the governor could offer his support if the school were located in Providence rather than in Cranston. The letter encouraged Achievement First to re-apply for a location in Providence.

“I don’t think people in Providence have any idea what the mayoral academy is, or what it means in terms of funding,” said Anna Kuperman, a teacher at Classical High School in Providence.

Kuperman, a founder of the Coalition to Defend Public Education, has been a vocal opponent of mayoral academies — semipublic charter schools like those Achievement First operates. She said her “little coalition” plans on engaging in outreach and public education campaigns similar to those that preceded the recent board vote. The coalition’s efforts, she said, generated enough community comment to postpone the vote more than once.

Steve Smith, the president of the Providence Teachers Union, said the union will be “working all fronts — political fronts, organizing in the community, engaging the media” to prevent a mayoral academy from opening in Providence. Unlike in Cranston, where the school board is elected, Providence’s school board and su-

continued on page 5

continued on page 5

Herald file photo

Tri-captain Leslie Springmeyer ’12 scored in the squad’s 3-2 win over UC Davis.

tremendous improvement. In the first half, the Wildcats scored four times. After the half, the Bears allowed only one goal. The team then carried over that improvement to the game against UC Davis, which was tied 2-2 until the team’s lone junior, Kelley Harrison ’13, scored a game-winning unassisted goal with 5:49 left.

“Right now we’re a little bit careful on both sides of the ball, and we need to upgrade that and unleash what we have to offer,” Reeve said. “Holding back is very limiting. That’s one piece we need to get better at immediately.”

Despite letting in five goals on 28 shots in her first college game, McSweeney said she found the experience exciting.

In the first two games, the other seven first-years also saw playing time, according to Reeve.

She said she wants the team to play a high-paced game, which means there has to be a constant and quick substitution rate. She said the strategy has worked well so far because of the team’s depth.

“I see lots of greatness in this team,” Reeve said. “My challenge is to get them to see that greatness in themselves.”

MBTA considers fare Few gay couples opt for newly legal civil unions hikes, service cuts By hannah abelow Contributing Writer

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority announced a plan in August to reevaluate its services and fares due to a budget shortfall that has worsened in recent years.

Lydia Rivera, the MBTA’s press secretary, said the agency is examining services and determining whether increasing fares or adopting other measures would be appropriate. A fare increase could take effect in 2012, she added. But she emphasized that the agency has not decided the specifics of any possible cuts.

Rich Davey, the agency’s general manager, told the Boston Metro in an Aug. 22 article that though “it would be undesirable to cut services, it’s something we have to consider.” He hinted that any changes would likely be in place after 8 p.m. or on weekends and said he hoped to avoid cutting service during peak times.

The transit authority currently operates a commuter rail line from Providence to Boston that runs

approximately every half-hour during weekdays and every few hours on weekends. Potential fare and service changes would likely affect Brown students, many of whom travel to and from Boston regularly.

Sophia Staley ’14, who takes the train to Boston and back about once a month, said she felt that if these changes were to take place, she would certainly “travel less frequently.” But, she added, “A hike of, say, $5 would not keep me from taking the train to Boston several times a year.”

Chenowyth Pinter ’14, who takes the train to Boston once every two weeks to visit her godfather, said she was dismayed at the prospect of any changes to the system. “Part of the reason that it’s so good and that I go so often is that the trains run so often and are so cheap. I think that’s why a lot of students use the system,” she said.

The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority also recently announced a plan to consider service cuts of up to 30 percent due to budget constraints.

By Morgan johnson Senior Staff Writer

Though a law allowing same-sex couples to enter into civil unions has been on the books since July, few couples have taken advantage of the new option, and the change has spurred little fanfare in the gay community.

After months of legislative wrangling over a possible bill to legalize gay marriage, House Speaker Gordon Fox, D-Providence, recommended halting progress on a gay marriage bill in favor of one to legalize same-sex civil unions. Fox, who is openly gay, said he chose to back civil unions after concluding that a gay marriage bill had little chance of passing in the state Senate.

Marriage Equality Rhode Island and Brown’s Queer Political Action Committee both spoke out against Fox’s decision. Gabe Schwartz ’13, a co-director of Queer Political Action Committee, said several bills, in addition to the marriage equality bill, were being considered, and civil unions