Tuesday, September 13, 2011

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vol. cxlvi, no. 64

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Since 1891

Rohde ’90 to return to Little Rhody

Graduate School teams up with Teach for America

Acclaimed journalist will teach spring semester course

By Casey Bleho Staff Writer

By Hannah Lowentheil Contributing Writer

Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist David Rohde ’90 — who wrote a series of stories detailing his escape from Taliban captors — will teach an upper-level journalism class this spring in the English department.

“I hope the class will help students determine whether they want to pursue a career in journalism,” Rohde said. He said his course, ENGL 1160: “Advanced Journalism: Investigative and Online Reporting,” will teach students about the realities of his field by exposing them to diverse assignments like traditional investigative pieces and blogging. The class will also explore online journalism and how to critically consider this decontinued on page 2

Rachel Kaplan / Herald

Spectators gathered at the steps of Faunce House to watch a performance inaugurating the Year of China celebrations.

Campus kicks off Year of China celebration

By Jake Comer Senior Staff Writer

While most of Providence was still asleep yesterday morning, people across China were celebrating the arrival of the full moon and the festival it announces with dancing, theater, storytelling and pastries called mooncakes. As the same moon brightened over campus that evening, the University kicked off the Year of China — a series of activities and events that will span this academic year — with a midautumn festival of its own.

The Year of China will feature lectures, conferences and cultural events aimed at increasing awareness of Chinese history and culture. The year-long program is especially timely given China’s growing prominence on the global stage, said Chung-I Tan, professor of physics, who was chosen to lead the initiative last fall. Exposing the community to Chinese culture will be useful, he added, now that China has “entered the lives of many” across the globe.

About 20 students, ranging from first-years to doctoral candidates,

gathered in a Barus and Holley classroom Friday to meet those who will steer the Year of China.

Though nearly everyone in the room was already involved in some way with Chinese culture, Tan said the Year of China would be a good opportunity for those less familiar to learn about China not only as a nation, but as a culture and a people. Many students, he said, would benefit from a deeper knowledge of China given the increase in global connectedness. “In some continued on page 5

Bagel Gourmet brings flavor to Jewelry District

inside

Walking through the first floor of the University’s Medical Education Building, visitors would hardly know they were in the third branch of Bagel Gourmet Cafe if it were not for the distinctly familiar aroma of bagels that fills the air at the end of a corner hallway.

This Bagel Gourmet is not like the others — the cramped tables and fluorescent lighting of the Brook Street location have been replaced by curved wooden counters and warm burgundy walls that look not unlike the rest of the recently opened building.

“It’s the same bagels, and it’s the same employees,” said manager Marcelino Lozano. But he called this cafe “totally different.” This branch is noticeably larger than the Bagel Gourmet locations on Brook and Thayer streets, with plenty of places to sit.

Other changes include mounted televisions that electronically display

news........................2 CITY & State............3 editorial...............6 Opinions................7 SPORTS....................8

the menu, a computer system to replace manual cash registers and the option to call in orders or place them online.

The menu also includes some novel additions, including pastries, fruit and green salad. “We’re planning to add a few more items, like grilled chicken and French fries,” Lozano said.

It is unlikely that these changes will make their way to the Bagel Gourmets already familiar to students, Lozano said. The Brook and Thayer locations do not have as many refrigerators to store perishable foods.

The new cafe is still a work in progress. “There’s no advertising yet,” Lozano said. “We’re still figuring out how the store will be and how to run it.”

Business is fairly slow for the time being — one weekend, there were only two customers. But it is “picking up, little by little,” Lozano said. The majority of customers so far have been medical students, but

Sophia Seawell / Herald

The newest Bagel Gourmet branch takes on a more elegant look.

other members of the community have also stopped in.

Keith Butts, MD’15, said the cafe provides “lots of options,” not just for

medical students, but also for people from the BioMedical center. Butts is already a regular — “I get the cheese sandwich every day,” he said.

Moving forward

Open market

All-time low

State encourages service on Sept. 11 anniversary

Fast ’12 suggests course matchmaking

Golf gets off to a swinging start

City & State, 3

Opinions, 7

Sports, 8

weather

By Sophia Seawell Contributing Writer

Many students facing graduation struggle with the question of whether to apply to graduate school or brave the workforce.

Now, thanks to a new partnership between the Graduate School and Teach for America, some graduate students in Rhode Island will be able to do both.

Participants in the Rhode Island branch of Teach for America will be able to enroll part time in Brown’s Urban Education Policy program and earn a master’s degree, while maintaining their fulltime teaching responsibilities in Rhode Island public schools.

In the past, the education department’s Urban Education Policy program has only been offered to full-time students as a 12-month master’s program focusing on policy analysis, planning and development in urban public education. The new partnership allows Teach for America participants to complete the program in two years instead by enrolling in one class each semester and taking a full course load during the summer.

“The program pragmatically and intellectually complements what Teach for America is doing,” said Kenneth Wong, professor of education and director of the urban education policy program.

Brown’s focus on policy, coupled with the in-classroom experience gained through Teach for America, allows for a more comprehensive understanding of policy application and broadens career opportunities for participating teachers, he said.

“Brown has a lot of exposure to Teach for America and values the things our teachers bring to the classrooms,” said Heather Tow-Yick ’98, executive director of Teach for America in Rhode Island.

“The program really focuses on policy and analysis and can be applied not just on a national or state level but also to a school level,” said Brian Gould MAT’13, who is beginning the joint program this year. As a teacher currently working at one of Providence’s continued on page 2

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The Brown Daily Herald Tuesday, September 13, 2011

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Teach for America Information

Dr. Rosemary Thorp Development

Session, CareerLAB Library

Lecture, Watson Institute

7 p.m.

7 p.m.

Crispin Glover Screening and

Science Center Trivia Showdown,

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VERNEy-WOOLLEY DINING HALL LUNCH

Kalamata and Pepper Calzone, Apricot Beef with Sesame Noodles, Mediterranean Tuna Salad

Honey Mustard Chicken Sandwich, Vegetarian Pot Pie, Peanut Butter and Jelly Bar

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Roast Beef au Jus, Vegan Vegetable Couscous, Chicken Broccoli Pasta Alfredo

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Students attempted to purchase individuality at yesterday’s poster sale.

Program participants will teach, earn master’s continued from page 1 transformation schools — which are among the lowest-performing schools in the city — he said he hopes his participation in the joint program will help the school better understand which policies are effective and which are not, to increase student participation and achievement.

“The one thing I am really excited about is that Brown is really big about the intersection between policy and practice,” said Carina Sitkus, a Teach for America participant who was accepted into

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the education policy program this year. “We have a lot of firsthand experience about how policy can be applied in the classroom,” she said.

Of the nine applicants who applied to the graduate program who had already committed to Teach for America, seven were admitted to the Graduate School, and all seven have matriculated this year. Two of the seven have also been selected as Urban Education Fellows and will receive loan forgiveness from the University in exchange for committing to working in Rhode Island public schools for three years.

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veloping area.

In 2009, Rohde came to Brown to give a guest lecture. After the lecture, “a member of the administration suggested I consider teaching nonfiction writing at a university,” Rhode said. “I then told them I’d like to teach a class at Brown.”

Elizabeth Taylor, co-director of the nonfiction writing program, said the English Department is always looking for interesting visiting professors, but finding accomplished writers who can also teach is no easy task. “Rohde is not just going to tell war stories,” she said. He “will be a gift to students this spring.”

Rohde recalled his own time at Brown and said he is excited to return to his alma mater. “I took a nonfiction writing seminar with former Professor Roger Henkle. It was by far the best class that I took at Brown,” he said.

“He was an astonishingly insightful, kind and supportive teacher. He inspired me tremendously,” Rhode said. “The class convinced me to try to become a journalist. Many of the other students in that seminar went on to become journalists and writers as well. I will do my best to create that same type of experience for students.”

Rohde decided to teach while he was working for the New York Times, but he has since moved to Reuters.

As a prerequisite for the class, students must have completed ENGL 0160: “Journalistic Writing.”

Like all writing seminars, enrollment will be limited to 17 students.

Getting into the class is bound to be difficult, but Rohde offered advice to all students considering a career in journalism — “the key is both getting the story right and telling it wonderfully,” he said.

“Most of all, don’t get discouraged.

This a time of tremendous upheaval and change in journalism, but opportunities will emerge if you are focused and patient. Brown has produced many outstanding journalists and writers.”

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The Brown Daily Herald Tuesday, September 13, 2011

City & State 3

R.I. commemorates 9/11 attacks

By Elizabeth carr Senior Staff Writer

Organizations throughout Rhode Island commemorated the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks over the weekend, focusing less on the past and more on moving forward and building a safer world.

Sail Newport held its 10th annual regatta, Sail for Pride, Sunday to benefit the charities Wounded Warrior Project and Rhode Island Red Cross Service to Armed Forces Fund, according to the Sail Newport website.

The race has become “a pretty significant staple,” said race manager Anderson Reggio. “It’s something a lot of people and a lot of boats plan for every year.” While the amount of money raised by the race can “vary dramatically from year to year” — past funds have varied from $20,000 to $100,000 — Reggio estimated the race would raise $60,000 to $80,000.

Block Island held a benefit concert to support its Volunteer Fire Rescue as a part of the town’s 350th anniversary celebrations. The Volunteer Fire Rescue provides a vital service to an island unable to rely on neighboring towns for support in an emergency, said Henry Peterson, event organizer and resident of the island. “We’re all

one. We’re out here on the island.”

The concert featured Beantown Swing Orchestra, an 18-piece big band. This benefit concert had not been held before, but “we’re already talking about holding something on the Sept. 11 weekend from now on,” Peterson said.

Some events were more political in nature. The organization We Are Change held a Truth Rally in downtown Providence Friday in an attempt to “spread the truth about 9/11,” said Dan Bidondi, chapter owner for Blackstone Valley, a town that straddles Rhode Island and Massachussetts. The group believes that 9/11 was “a staged terror attack to get approval to go to war,” according to documents distributed at its rally.

“We support the military, we support the American people,” Bidondi said.

“We basically tell you the truth the way it’s supposed to be told,” he added. He said he hopes the rally will “get indictments and investigations going.”

The Center for Dynamic Learning kicked off Expressions of Courage and Conflict, a year-long project, Sunday afternoon at the Rochambeau branch of the Providence Community Library. This was the first

of four events in which community members will gather with children and military personnel to create storytelling squares that will be sewn together to form a tapestry.

On the squares, “people left messages, people put images,” said Elizabeth Cunha, director of the center.

“One young man with a friend in the military wrote how much he misses him.”

Throughout the year, the tapestry will continue to grow as community members add their own storytelling squares at future library gatherings.

The next event will be held in November at the Fox Point branch.

Serve Rhode Island gathered about 200 volunteers Saturday for a beautification project at Gilbert Stuart Middle School on the south side of Providence. The volunteers painted hallways and classrooms and cleaned the area outside of the building, clearing glass, debris, garbage and a metal fence.

“This project was done specifically as a way of promoting volunteerism in Rhode Island while promoting positive energy in commemoration of 9/11, which was a very negative experience,” said Brian Gay, volunteer coordinator of Americorps Volunteers in Service to America.

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Campus News 5

The Brown Daily Herald Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Raimondo warns of ‘death spiral’ for state pensions

By Morgan Johnson Senior Staff Writer

Calling the state’s underfunded pension system a “death spiral,” General Treasurer Gina Raimondo told state senators Monday that urgent action is needed to address the growing gap between the state’s assets and its commitments to retiring public sector workers.

Raimondo led an informational meeting Monday afternoon on the state’s jeopardized pension system. In coming weeks, the finance committees of the Rhode Island Senate and House will hold three joint hearings on the issue, likely followed by a special session of the General Assembly dedicated to considering pension reform legislation.

State and local governments face a $9.4 billion unfunded pension liability, which includes the roughly $7 billion liability of the

state-run system.

Representatives from the Rhode Island Retirement Security Coalition — a public employee union advocacy group — greeted attendees with leaflets titled, “Real People, Real Consequences.” The pamphlets contained testimonials from state employees concerned about the possibility of reduced pension benefits. Coalition members also attended the final meeting of the pension advisory group Monday morning. The group ­­— which is charged with advising Raimondo and Gov. Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14 on possible solutions to the state’s pension crisis — made no specific recommendations following the meeting.

The afternoon caucus addressed the current status of pensions in Rhode Island, as well as the various benefits and consequences of implementing changes.

“I think it’s fair to say that none

of us wants to be here right now,” Raimondo said.

She said the goal for lawmakers is to come up with a reform plan that gives public sector workers retirement security while balancing the interests of active public workers, whose benefits are more vulnerable to changes by policymakers, and retirees.

“We don’t want to be back here again,” she said.

Taxpayer contributions to the pension system have doubled since 2003, approaching $1.3 billion in the last fiscal year. “This is unsustainable,” Raimondo said.

Without reform, sustaining the pension system would divert funds from other state services and send a message that Rhode Island is not good for business, she said.

Following Raimondo’s remarks, Joe Newton, a senior consulting actuary for Gabriel Roeder

Smith & Co. specializing in public sector pensions and benefits, presented data on possible reform options.

“There are only three levers you can pull,” Newton said. In order to close the gap between its current assets and its commitments to pensioners, the state could increase taxpayer contributions to the pension system, reduce the cost of the benefits the system pays out or increase the system’s investment earnings — a tall order in volatile economic times.

Continuing without reform would lead to decreased benefits, salaries and services, as pension contributions drain resources from other areas of the state budget, he said.

One possibility is to reduce or suspend cost-of-living adjustments, inflation-indexed increases in retiree benefits. A five-year suspension of these benefit increases could dramatically reduce costs, though

the idea is very unpopular among public sector employees, Newton said.

Re-amortization, which would extend the time Rhode Island has to fund its pension liability while increasing the system’s total cost, is also under consideration. “Reamortization needs to be part of the solution, but not the only one,” Newton said.

Raimondo described Rhode Island’s pension problems as uniquely difficult compared to other states. “We have a relatively old population,” Raimondo said.

There are slightly more retirees than current employees in the pension system. The failure of contributions by active employees to keep pace with benefits paid out to retirees is causing the system to “bleed cash,” she said.

Raimondo predicted that a comprehensive reform package would be ready by October.

Year of China kicks off at Faunce High hopes despite early losses for Bears continued from page 1

sense, China and the U.S. cannot be separated,” he said. “Everything is intertwined.”

Noah Elbot ’14, who spent three months in China last summer, said people in China respect Brown, but the University community does not reciprocate.

“Here I don’t feel much of a presence,” he said.

But Monday evening, a crowd of students waited in front of Faunce House for the mid-autumn festival to begin. Members of Chinese cultural organizations on campus strung red and white paper lanterns on the Faunce patio. Some milled about in traditional Chinese dress, while others caught up or issued directions in Chinese.

One person stepped up to a drum, and the crowd pulled back

to make room for four lion dancers. The lions danced, fought, acted intoxicated, recovered and nibbled at the students circled around them.

A masked character fed the lions lettuce from a cafeteria to-go box, which they regurgitated onto their audience before turning the stage over to the student performers who retold the traditional story behind the mid-autumn festival.

“It’s a very beautiful love story,” said Shumin Yao GS, president of the Chinese Student and Scholar Association, before the event. She explained that the love story reflects the mid-autumn festival’s significance as a time for families to come together. Because more and more students are coming from China to the University, she said it is important not only to foster respect for Chinese culture here on campus, but also to give these students the

connection they need with their home country.

After a modern retelling of the traditional love story, students devoured mooncakes, the primary reason a number of the students said they had come to the festival.

But Zaixing Mao GS said the reverence surrounding the cakes — sweet bean paste in an airy pastry wrapping that symbolizes wholeness and reunion — goes beyond their taste.

“It is really kind of like Thanksgiving,” Mao said, referring to the festival. “But right now we’re abroad, so we can’t gather with our family.”

The Year of China will officially launch Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. in the Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts, where artist Cai Guo-Qiang’s exhibit “Move Along, Nothing to See Here” will open.

comics Fraternity of Evil | Eshan Mitra, Brendan Hainline, and Hector Ramirez

continued from page 8 seniors, who were key to Bruno’s attack.

“We’re definitely in a position where we need to figure out where the offense is coming from,” Mercado said.

He also stressed team chemistry, a sentiment reiterated by his top goalkeeper, Shockley.

“We have a very cohesive group here, so I think we’ll come together as a team,” Shockley said.

The season is young, and the Bears still have high hopes for 2011, but they stressed not looking too

far ahead.

“Before we start thinking about championships or beating this team or that team, I think we need to kind of take care of ourselves,” Mercado said. “We need to get on the same page defensively, and offensively, we need to spread the wealth around a little more where we’re a little less predictable, so it’s hard for teams to stop us.”

“Our goal is to win an Eastern Championship, but there’s an Ivy League Championship and a California tournament in October that we want to do well in, ” Shockley said. “We just want to win.”

6 Editorial Editorial

The Brown Daily Herald Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Editorial comic

b y lo r e n f u lto n

Institutional diversity As members of the class of 2015 may be noticing, Brown is fortunate to attract a diverse student body. Unfortunately, this diversity is not mirrored among the faculty. As The Herald reported in February, roughly one-third of Brown faculty are women, and one-fifth are members of racial minorities. These statistics are upheld with the newest round of faculty hired for the 2011-12 academic year, and the discrepancies are more significant when further categorized by discipline.

The reasons for the discrepancies, such as tenure policy and limited diversity within the hiring pool, are numerous and in many ways not immediately controllable. In fact, many other Ivy League schools face a similar problem, and Brown’s numbers fall in the middle of the pack for minority representation among faculty. Moreover, the breakdown among professors of color can often be skewed, with black or Hispanic faculty making up a smaller percentage than Asian faculty.

But this is not merely a question of numbers. According to an article from Inside Higher Ed, a study done among community college students by three professors of economics showed that students of color were more likely to stay in class and earn better scores when instructed by professors of color. Though the authors call for more research to be done before drawing definitive conclusions on the matter, the study further demonstrates the importance — for professors and students alike — of increasing racial diversity within the faculty.

It is reassuring to know that Brown takes this issue seriously and that, thanks to President Ruth Simmons, the University has had an Office of Institutional Diversity in place for the last eight years with input regarding faculty hiring. Other schools have taken additional approaches to recruiting diverse faculty, such as Penn’s decision to set aside special funding to hire and retain women and minorities in tenured positions, and Brown may want to consider adopting similar tactics.

As the Office of Institutional Diversity looks to hire a new permanent director, we encourage not only an emphasis on recruiting faculty of color but attention to Brown’s initiatives to supply professorial candidates later down the line. It is crucial to provide support for Brown’s programs, such as the Leadership Alliance and the Mellon Mays Fellowship, which provide underrepresented minority students with research experience and guidance for applying to graduate programs.

Consciously supporting institutional diversity has allowed the numbers to rise over the last decade, though progress is slow. But a commitment to improving this aspect of the University and nationwide trends in academic diversity is likely to prove fruitful in the long run.

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

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Opinions 7

The Brown Daily Herald Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Correct market forces, don’t ignore them

By Hunter Fast Opinions Editor The recent attempt by students to form a market for seats in courses with capped enrollment (“Econ caps spur black market controversy,” Sept. 12) elicited a response from the University administration that was grossly insufficient in its redress of the factors that compel students to offer cash for course registration. The University is right to oppose these black markets, since such trade runs counter to the idea that all Brown students should have equal access to the University’s academic resources regardless of how much disposable income they have.

But banning cash-for-registration deals by appealing to the Academic Code without providing better alternatives only serves to drive such transactions out of public view, rather than out of existence. Without better ways to reallocate registrations to satisfy the largest number of students, the threat of retribution will drive those determined to acquire seats in capped courses through payment onto anonymous forums, of which Brown has plenty.

Moreover, the idea that market forces are somehow not at play here is patently false — wherever there exists the potential for trade to benefit all parties involved, there exists the potential for a market to come into existence to generate that benefit. That is to say, people generally attempt to transact with others to get what they want without regard for the legality of these transactions. The collapse of the Soviet economic system and the failure of

the prohibition of drugs to significantly reduce usage rates are paramount examples of this phenomenon in action.

Since it is undesirable for the quality of one’s experience at Brown to become a function of one’s wealth, what can then be done to ensure that this is not the case? To answer this question, allow me to introduce the example of Alice, Bob and Catherine, three Brown students each enrolled in capped courses that they would rather replace with a different one. Alice is presently enrolled in ECON 1485: “Social Security Reform,” but has de-

Alice’s, they would all be happier academically, but none of them has the knowledge of the others’ preferences necessary to initiate the transaction. It is at this stage that the University could be doing much better in terms of fulfilling its students’ academic desires. Given the profusion of online services that Brown maintains for its students to manage their academic lives — Banner, Blackboard and Mocha, to name a few — could Brown not add an online clearing house that efficiently matches students with available seats in their desired courses?

Given the profusion of online services that Brown maintains for its students to manage their academic lives — Banner, Blackboard and Mocha, to name a few — could Brown not add an online clearing house that efficiently matches students with available seats in their desired courses? cided that she would rather interact with robots than economists, and would therefore like to take CSCI 1480: “Building Intelligent Robots.” Bob is taking Alice’s desired computer science course, but as a senior, he often looks back wishing he had taken more humanities courses, and is particularly interested in RELS 0250: “Good and Evil,” but it is — alas — full. Catherine, one of its enrolled students, considers a knowledge of the Social Security program vital for being a wellinformed American voter, and thus wants to move to Alice’s economics course.

If Alice were to take Bob’s seat, Bob were to take Catherine’s and Catherine were to take

While a trade between Alice, Bob and Catherine would not be obvious to a regular observer, a computer armed with information about the course preferences of all students could be easily programmed to generate an allocation of seats that satisfies the largest possible number of students by taking situations like that of Alice, Bob and Catherine into account. Such a service would be secure — black markets with anonymous actors carry a large risk of fraud — and efficient — optimal trades could be generated and implemented in seconds. Most importantly, with a system that is sufficiently easy to use, there would be no need to trade registrations for

cash because a computer would perform the switch for free with no need to trust a counterparty to maintain their end of the bargain.

Indeed, an extensive knowledge of microeconomics would be essential to create such a system, which is why I am personally shocked that the Department of Economics has so happily abdicated this role — one afforded to it by the utility of the economic discipline — in favor of a simple ban.

This is not to say that students do not have their own obligations and roles to play in this matter. For instance, the interactivity of large courses can often be enhanced by sitting in the front row, which grants numerous opportunities to ask instructors questions that can stimulate discussion. This is also not to say that an online clearing house run by the University is the only — or even the best — solution to the problem that the administration could implement. Departments that find themselves unable to offer a large enough array of courses to their students may consider hiring more faculty. Individual classes that have become too large for discussions to be feasible could make attendance at sections run by TA’s mandatory.

In short, while it is good to be proactive in one’s education, the existence of black markets in course registration is a pressing issue that the University is uniquely equipped to confront. Continued failure to do so will only exacerbate the problem.

Hunter Fast ’12 is a computer scienceeconomics concentrator who shares Alice’s eventual disappointment that robots will never be intelligent enough to independently form goals.

A different kind of diversity

By Garret Johnson Opinions Columnist The Brown website describes its campus as a “vibrant, diverse community.”

But the truth is that the Brown campus is one of the least diverse places in the United States. The sheer homogeneity of the school is overwhelming. It is evident in almost every serious discussion and every poll taken of the student body, and will be made even more obvious by the upcoming national elections.

For years, Brown has been known as a liberal bastion where conservative views are not welcome. Even President Ruth Simmons has admitted to a “chilling effect caused by the dominance of certain voices on the spectrum of moral and political thought.” The astonishing lack of political diversity at Brown leaves the University without a true debate on important issues.

Admittedly, the amount of socioeconomic and racial diversity on campus is impressive. Brown boasts students from all 50 states and close to 100 countries. We have student groups for Christians, Muslims and Jews. Admission offers are made without considering financial need. But according to a Herald poll, 86.1 percent of Brown students supported Barack Obama in the 2008 elections, compared to just 53 percent of voters nationwide. There is not much room for a campus-wide debate if nearly nine in 10 students support the

same presidential candidate.

The numbers do not tell the whole story. There is also a general attitude at Brown that there are only two acceptable political views: liberal, or very liberal. This intolerance of conservative political views reached a fever pitch March 23 when the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property came to College Hill to protest Rhode Island’s proposed legalization of gay marriage. The group held signs, played bagpipes and

The students may have thought terrorizing the protesters and vandalizing their property was funny. The University never apologized to the protesters for the broken property, nor did it reprimand the students involved. But to anyone observing the events of March 23, supposedly liberal and accepting Brown students seemed hypocritical, seeking tolerance of different nationalities and skin colors, but not of different political views.

To make matters worse, students are

There is also a general attitude at Brown that there are only two acceptable political views: liberal, or very liberal.

handed out pamphlets with their arguments against gay marriage.

To say that Brown students reacted fiercely would be a gross understatement.

While the society members stood on the Main Green and exercised their First Amendment right to free speech, Brown students surrounded the group. One student spat on one of the protesters. Another ran through and ripped a large “Traditional Marriage” banner. Others were seen giving the middle finger to the protesters.

not the only members of the Brown community who seem to hold uniform opinions on news and politics. The Department of Political Science is dominated by liberals. In fact, when Steven Calabresi, a renowned law theorist, joined the department as a visiting professor, his conservative political views were novel enough to warrant a news story in The Herald. The addition of new ideas to the university should be commonplace and treasured, not newsworthy.

Beyond learning from professors, Brown students also frequently attend lectures from notable politicians, theorists and activists. Last year alone, the University welcomed Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., public health activist Paul Farmer and neurosurgeon and reporter Sanjay Gupta. All three of these men are either self-proclaimed liberals or have donated to liberal politicians in the past. None of the well-attended lectures last year were given by conservatives. Without a change in policy of some kind, we will continue to be a liberal bastion. The lack of true debate on campus will continue to detract from Brown’s prestige.

Fortunately, there are several easy solutions to this pressing issue. First, the University should make a well-publicized effort to hire professors with a wide range of political views — liberals and libertarians, conservatives and communists. And the University absolutely must achieve a balance in the speakers that it invites to campus. Brown should welcome Newt Gingrich as warmly as it would Nancy Pelosi. With these changes, conservative and moderate students will flock in greater numbers to Brown, and the University can correct what has been a major shortcoming for generations. Students of all persuasions, backgrounds and views will feel welcome, and the University will have achieved a much greater level of diversity.

Garret Johnson ’14 is a neuroscience concentrator and former sports writer for The Herald.

Daily Herald Sports Tuesday the Brown

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Golf

Golf teams get into the swing of things

By Connor Grealy Contributing Writer

Emily Gilbert / Herald

The men’s water polo team started its season 2-4 but is still receiving votes in the Division I Top 20 rankings.

m. Water polo

Top teams drown Bears in openers

By Ethan Mccoy Sports Editor

The men’s water polo team faced stiff competition at both the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Princeton Invitationals, and after a number of close matches, Bruno’s record stands at 2-4. Despite the results, Brown currently sits just outside the NCAA Division I Top 20 rankings, having received four votes in last week’s poll.

MIT Invitational

The Bears went 1-1 at the MIT Invitational Sept. 3, dropping a tight matchup to No. 18 California Baptist University (3-2) 10-6 before rebounding with a 9-5 triumph over host MIT (1-6).

“It’s always interesting to play a ranked opponent as your first game,” said Head Coach Felix Mercado. “Obviously, we wanted to win the game, but we had other things that needed our attention, as far as seeing how well we played together.”

The game was tight throughout, and the team saw stellar performances from a pair of sophomores.

James McNamara ’14 — who was named Northern Division player of the week — led the way with two goals and five steals, while Walker

Shockley ’14 made eight saves in net.

“I thought we were solid,” Mercado said.

“Ultimately, it came down to a couple mistakes we made offensively that Cal Baptist capitalized on,” he said. “After watching the game film, all of our mistakes are very fixable.”

Against MIT, Bruno built a 6-2 lead by the half. Despite some late noise by the Engineers, it was not enough to catch the Bears. Svetozar Stefanovic ’13 and Cyrus Mojdehi ’12, both of whom recorded hat tricks, led the attack.

“In the last four years, all but one of our games against MIT has been decided by one goal,” Mercado said. “To give up only three goals throughout the first three quarters was pretty impressive, so I was happy with our defense.”

“All in all, I think we did okay,” Shockley said. “We have to brush up on things a little bit, but once we get everything sorted out, we have a really talented team.”

Princeton Invitational

The Bears then traveled to Princeton, N.J., for the Princeton Invitational. Bruno went 1-3 on the weekend, dropping games to No. 19 St. Francis College 11-7 in double

overtime, No. 14 Santa Clara University 6-5 and No. 17 Princeton 11-6. The one victory came in the weekend’s final game, an 8-6 win over George Washington University.

Against St. Francis (3-4), the Bears led by a goal in the final quarter, but conceded a late tying goal in regulation. In the two overtime periods, St. Francis scored an additional five times to Bruno’s one to pull away.

The Bears hung with Santa Clara (4-3) all game, but could not find the equalizer they had given up against St. Francis and lost by a goal. In the Princeton game (5-0), the Tigers’ attack exploded in the second half, scoring five goals to Brown’s one to expand a one-goal lead at halftime into an 11-6 win.

But Brown finally found its victory against George Washington (3-5) behind a strong defensive performance highlighted by Shockley’s six saves in net.

Season outlook

Despite the final scores, the squad is looking toward a productive season. Mercado said that the team has to step up and replace the offensive production of last year’s continued on page 5

Despite disappointing finishes last year, the men’s and women’s golf teams entered this season with high expectations. The men’s team has already turned the corner on last year’s season by posting its lowest score in school history at the Navy Invitational last weekend.

Though both teams seemed to sputter down the stretch in the spring season — with the men finishing seventh and the women sixth at the Ivy League Championship last spring — both hope to bounce back this season.

Strong first-years

The women’s team is looking forward to strong play from its first-years. Anchored by the senior trio of captain Megan Tuohy ’12, Carly Arison ’12 and Heather Arison ’12, some of the new class will be expected to compete immediately.

“We have a strong freshman class coming in this year, and that — in addition to the experience on this team — will be exciting to watch,” Carly Arison said.

The new class of recruits features four new players — Cassandra Carothers ’15, Michelle Chen ’15, Kanika Gandhi ’15 and Stephanie Hsieh ’15.

Following a round of qualifying play this weekend, the women’s team looks poised to start off its season well at the Yale Intercollegiate Sept. 17 and 18.

Last season, the team was competitive in every competition during the season and won the Northern Illinois Invitational.

Setting a record

“I have great confidence in our team this year. There is more depth and a lot of talent,” said men’s Head Coach Michael Hughes, referring to the strong group of underclassmen who will be expected to step in immediately. In his sixth year as head

coach, Hughes said his team is taking the final steps in a transition to be competitive against top-tier teams.

Led by the experience of captain J.D. Ardell ’13 and Jack Mylott ’13, the team returns a roster filled with more experience than the untried team of last year. Peter Callas ’14 and Kyohei Itamura ’14 also add depth to a talented team. But there is one name missing from the scorecard this year that will be sorely missed: former captain Michael Amato ’11.

Hughes’ lofty expectations for the men’s team were immediately realized this weekend. The team recorded Brown’s lowest round ever, a combined 283 strokes, shattering the previous record by 11 shots.

“I didn’t think we would play this well so quickly,” he said.

“We’re compounding good shots with good shots instead of our rounds falling apart.”

The performances of Justin Miller ’15 and Itamura highlighted the round. The teammates were in the red for the day, carding respective scores of two-under and one-under par.

The weekend was a show of resilience for a team that, in the past, seemed to crumble when things went wrong, Ardell said.

A poor round on Saturday could have ended in a discouraging start for the squad, but the team instead rebounded and ended the weekend on a high note.

“It has been a while since we’ve hopped on the plane and felt we performed well,” Ardell said.

The team is performing up to its potential, but it will be facing off against stiff competition Sept. 19 and 20 at the Adams Cup of Newport, where it will match up against some of the premier programs in the country, including the University of Georgia and Texas Tech University.

“There are no excuses now,” Hughes said. “This team is not a pushover.”

Cross Country

First-years struggle to keep up in early-season test

By James Blum Sports Staff Writer

Many of the cross country team’s young runners got their first shot against college competition at the Dartmouth Invitational in Hanover, N.H. Though the Bears struggled in their first college meet, they remain optimistic about the rest of the season.

The women finished fourth out of five teams with 106 points, narrowly edging out Middlebury College by one point. Leah Eickhoff ’15 led the Bears, finishing the

2.9-mile course in 17 minutes, 37 seconds — good for ninth place on a course she said had to be altered due to recent flooding in New Hampshire.

“In the first college race, you can’t have really high expectations,” Eickhoff said. “You just try to do your best and know you have way more to go.”

“I’m having a lot of fun with it,” Eickhoff said. “Team chemistry is really good, and I love the coach.”

Alexandra Conway ’15 finished next for Brown and 16th overall in 17:51, followed by Abigail Jones

’15, who came in third for Brown and 29th overall with a time of 18:20.

“We ran our healthy first-years and a few middle distance women and a couple of underclassmen that we wanted to give a little bit of confidence to in a low-key setting,” said Mitchell Baker, head coach of the women’s cross country team.

“Everyone felt like their training was already translating into more control and poise.”

The men finished in last place of the four teams competing at the meet, 25 points behind third-place

Middlebury. Kyler Evitt ’14 finished the 4.5-mile course first for Brown and 22nd overall in 23:22.

The first freshman to finish, Mark McGurrin ’15, came in four spots behind Evitt with a time of 23:35.

“I don’t feel like I was quite totally ready to race,” McGurrin said, though he added that he ran better than he had expected.

“I’m very pleased with their attitudes and their willingness to work hard,” said Tim Springfield, head coach of the men’s team. “I also know they have a very long ways to go. I’m not upset about that, but

that’s just the reality.”

With the first meet under their belts, the men and women look ahead to the Sept. 17 Iona Meet of Champions in New York City.

“This is like top squad trial one,” Baker said. “Then a couple weeks later, we’ll try to narrow it down.”

“My goals for the team are to train really consistently and train at a higher level than we have in the past and to race really consistently and to execute really well,” Springfield said. “I don’t know what that means in terms of what place we’ll end up at the championship meet.”