Friday, October 7, 2011

Daily

Herald

the Brown

Friday, October 7, 2011

vol. cxlvi, no. 82

Undergrads apply to take part in search for president

Since 1891

Facilities negotiates off-campus staffing

fa r m f r e s h fa l l

By Jordan Hendricks Senior Staff Writer

55 compete for 2 spots on advisory committee

By Lindor Qunaj Senior Staff Writer

Fifty-five students submitted applications by last night’s deadline for two undergraduate spots on the Campus Advisory Committee. The committee will advise the Presidential Search Committee of the Corporation, the University’s highest governing body, on selecting the University’s 19th president.

Three undergraduate students — two of whom will be selected from this application process and one of whom will be chosen from the Undergraduate Council of Students Executive Board — will serve alongside faculty, graduate and medical students and staff.

The application, which asked students to write a 500-word essay describing what they want to see in the next University president, was emailed to the entire undergraduate body Monday morning by Ralanda Nelson ’12, president of UCS. Students were also required to write shorter responses explaining how they exhibited a set of six characteristics — including the ability “to reach out to peers and garner their opinions” and to “represent continued on page 4

Lydia Yamaguchi / Herald

Students frequent the farmer’s market on Wriston Quadrangle yesterday, where autumn foods and decorations were the main attractions.

Yesterday’s negotiations between Facilities Management and the University on a new labor contract ended with a promise of a “good faith effort” from the University to maintain Facilities Management workers’ jobs in buildings that are only used by the University, said Karen McAninch ’74, business agent for the United Allied Service Workers and a representative for Facilities Management in the negotiations.

But other issues in the contract, such as wage increases and changes in health care and pension plans, will not be finalized until Oct. 12, when the contract expires.

As the University expanded into the Jewelry District and beyond, administrators initially wanted to hire a separate management firm to staff all off-campus

By gillian michaelson Arts & Culture Staff Writer

Cultural exploration, self-discovery, immigration, transgender identity and toilet paper come together in the New England Festival of IberoAmerican Film Cinema, which runs through Oct. 9. Sponsored by the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, the festival is screening Ibero-American films in the Perry and Marty Granoff

Center for the Creative Arts and other locations on campus.

The festival features 61 separate films, both animated and live action. It includes shorts and documentaries relating to and made by

Arts & Culture members of Hispanic and Portuguese cultural communities. The films span all manner of themes and genres, including the classic

tale of self-discovery — as a roll of toilet paper wanders the house questioning its existence and a Haitian man looks for God in himself and the world — and the more realistically focused examination of some of the United States’ more harmful immigration policies.

According to Jose Torrealba, director of the festival and outreach coordinator at the center, the continued on page 5

Being sad on one of America’s happiest campuses

news....................2-4 arts......................5-6 science...................7 editorial............10 Opinions.............11 SPORTS..................12

tors, unhappiness at Brown is a much more common complaint than many students think — ­­or are willing to admit.

On College Confidential, a website that discusses admission and college life, a member wrote passionately about all the University has to offer. But it was not love at first sight.

“I was unhappy at Brown for the first semester, and it was frustrating with everyone else running around yelling, ‘I LOVE BROWN!’” a student with the username hollyert, who identified

By Joseph Rosales Senior Staff Writer

Reed McNab ’12 said she realized the Women Peer Counselor program was not what she expected on “day one of training.”

McNab, who worked as a WPC Representative last year and a WPC the previous year, spent a majority of last year fighting for improvements within the WPC program with Natalie Serrino ’12, the other WPC Rep. But their efforts garnered few results.

McNab was disappointed when she realized the Office of Residential Life “did not seem to value the W program and the ideals of the W program in the way I hoped it would,” she said.

The WPC program was founded in 1983 in a joint effort by members of the student group Brown Against Rape and Sexism and the Office of Student Life, according to the WPC job description.

“WPCs will provide relaxed, in-home counseling and information and … create a climate that recognizes sexism and promotes personal exploration of is-

Anna Gaissert / Herald

continued on page 2 Campus abounds with smiles, but there’s still room for unhappiness at Brown.

Bad egg?

Study could impact in-vitro fertilization

Science, 7

Social study D&C A compare-and-contrast of our libraries’ atmospheres

opinions, 11

Providence Equity Partners gets coal DiamonDs & Coal, 10

weather

inside

The University recently suffered a serious bruise to its ego when its ranking on the Princeton’s Review’s 2012 “Happiest Students” list took a tumble from first to third this year.

A Herald poll this spring found that 72 percent of students reported being “very happy” with their Brown experience and only 0.5 percent reported they were “very unhappy.” But what is it like to be unhappy, even temporarily, at one of America’s happiest universities?

According to many administra-

continued on page 4

Festival celebrates Ibero culture WPCs criticize program

When happiness eludes Brunonians

By Amy RASMUSSEN Assistant Features Editor

University buildings, McAninch said. The University has since chosen to staff buildings “fully used by the University for educational and administrative purposes” with Facilities Management workers and hire management firms for University-owned buildings that lease to commercial tenants, Marisa Quinn, vice president for public affairs and university relations, wrote in an email to The Herald.

The most “contentious” University building for both the current and past negotiations is 121 S. Main St., which McAninch said Facilities Management workers will likely not staff anytime soon because of the semi-permanent restaurants on the first floor. But the University promised yesterday that 200 Dyer St. will be staffed by Facilities Management workers

continued on page 4

t o d ay

tomorrow

64 / 50

79 / 58

2 Campus News calendar Today

OCTOBER 7

3 P.m.

ToMORROW

OCTOBER 8

12:30 p.m.

“Poetry and Resistance,”

Football Game vs. Holy Cross,

Smith-Buonanno Hall, Room 106

Brown Stadium

10 p.m.

8 p.m.

“Ratatouille”: Dinner and a Show,

Measure for Measure,

Arnold Lounge

Alumnae Hall, Crystal Room

menu SHARPE REFECTORY

VERNEy-WOOLLEY DINING HALL LUNCH

Rosemary Portobello Sub Sandwich, Herb Roasted Potatoes, Mediterranean Shrimp Stir-Fry

Chicken Fingers, Vegan Nuggets, Sticky Rice, Summer Squash

DINNER Vegetable Stuffed Peppers, Basmati Rice Pilaf, Chicken Parmesan, Chicken Tikka, Arabian Spinach

Grilled Caesar Chicken, Cheese Raviolis with Pink Vodka Sauce, Garlic and Butter Infused Rice

Sudoku

The Brown Daily Herald Friday, October 7, 2011

Label fosters unrealistic expectations continued from page 1 as a member of the class of 2013, wrote. “No one seemed to get it.”

‘Badge of Honor’

David Soto, director of content development for Princeton Review’s “The Best 376 Colleges,” said the company’s ranked lists, which include categories such as best college library and best food, are calculated based on a survey of over 122,000 students per year. The “happiest students” list is based on a question that asks respondents to quantify how happy they are at their school on a scale of one to five, he said.

Ranked schools are directly surveyed once every three years, Soto said. The organization works with administrators to distribute questionnaires through email. On average, about 375 students per campus return a completed survey, he said. The University was last surveyed during the 2008-09 academic year.

“Administrators view this as a badge of honor,” Soto said of inclusion on the happiest students list.

“It’s something to aspire to for all colleges.”

Black and white

Cr ossword

Students’ relationship to Brown’s cheery reputation is often a “tricky one,” said Carol Cohen ’83, associate dean of the College.

“It creates the expectation, perhaps more so than at other schools, that happiness is fully attainable and ‘maybe it’s my fault if I can’t attain it,’” Cohen said.

Such a label has caused otherwise truly happy students to question whether they are as “riproaringly happy” as they could or should be, Cohen added.

What might make it harder is the fact that Brown students actually do seem to be happier than those at other schools, she said.

Many students tend to view happiness in black and white terms, said Belinda Johnson, director of Psychological Services.

Those who already feel isolated might find themselves more so because of the perception that they are surrounded by a swarm of constantly happy classmates, said Johnson, who sees a sizeable number of students with these concerns.

“They’re thinking, ‘I’m absolutely unhappy, and everyone else is absolutely happy.’ The truth is

Daily

the Brown

probably somewhere in between,” she said.

For first-years, patience is key.

The outward appearance that everyone has a solid group of friends and is having a good time is often far from the truth, Johnson said.

“It’s really common for students to put on a good face,” she said.

“Remember that the face people put on doesn’t express everything about them.”

First-years tend to probe the question of their own happiness more often than upperclassmen, who are generally more settled in their community, she said.

Johnson said almost every student struggles with personal challenges at some point. And in some ways, that period of malcontent can be just as important as periods of happiness.

“It’s hard to grow in a substantial way without moments that feel like that,” she said.

Drinking the Kool-Aid

When students try and fail to engage in the community, constantly ruminate over their unhappiness or simply cannot stand to sit in one more class, deans may recommend a leave of absence.

Reflecting upon over 20 years of experience as an administrator, Cohen said she has never once had a student who regretted or has not had their perspective shifted by taking a leave of absence.

It is common for sophomores to wander into the Curricular Resource Center, said Peggy Chang ’91, director of the center, which aids students in the leave-taking process. Often, those students come in with the thought, “I was okay last year, but something isn’t quite feeling right,” she said.

Dorothy Thurston ’13.5 is one such student. After a gap year spent traveling, she said she arrived on College Hill to find most of her first-year classmates still on the “bender” of newfound freedom.

Everyone had that “brighteyed, bushy-tailed look,” she said.

“Just really ecstatic, really happy. I don’t know if I fit into that.”

By sophomore year, she said “the bonanza of being a freshman … had kind of worn off.” She decided to take a leave to figure out what she really wanted from her college experience.

After several internships, Thurston said she came back with a fresh perspective — both on what

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she plans to do after graduation and on why she was initially unhappy at Brown.

“People either really drink the Kool-Aid or they don’t,” Thurston said, regarding the perception of total happiness that pervades the campus community. “I don’t think they know it’s okay to have a middle ground,” she said.

Rowan Sharp ’14 took an unusually long leave — four years.

At the University on scholarship, she said she felt uncomfortable because of the amount of wealth on campus and her own lack of direction. “I’m normally a really happy person,” she said. “When I’m not, I tend to take drastic action because it’s not normal.”

In some ways, Brown as a whole seems almost incapable of acknowledging unhappiness, Sharp said.

“There’s a certain amount of branding,” she said. “Brown, to sustain itself, builds itself up as this really ideal thing in every way.”

Coming of age

There is also the underlying pressure that college is supposed to be the best four years of a person’s life.

“The tears that have been shed in this office over that statement,” said Janet Cooper Nelson, University chaplain and director of the Office of the Chaplains and Religious Life. “Trust me. These aren’t the best four years of life.”

Cooper Nelson linked students’ feelings of malaise to the comingof-age process. A student’s discovery that their experience is not living up to initial expectations represents “a move past the idealism that was present in all those shiny admission brochures,” she said.

Happiness generally associated with Brown might stem from the sheer range of choice open to students, Chang said. But Chang pointed to a 2005 Swathmore College study that found more choices can make humans unhappier. The seemingly infinite opportunities often cause students to worry whether they have made the best choice, she said.

Behind closed doors

Both Johnson and Chang said that the isolation brought on by being unhappy at one of America’s happiest colleges is something not discussed as openly or frequently as it should be on campus.

“Conversations about what it actually means to go through the highs and lows or to struggle here are held behind closed doors,” Chang said. “I do think we need to have more collective conversations.”

Happiness can be questioned anywhere, but it is a particularly relevant issue at a school that brands itself as one of the happiest.

The Princeton Review statistic is a point of pride — it is frequently mentioned on the University website.

“You’re allowed to love pieces of it,” Thurston said, referring to the Brown experience, “And also be in hate with it.”

Campus News 3

The Brown Daily Herald Friday, October 7, 2011

Hay exhibit extracts chemistry’s secrets

By Anish Sarma Contributing Writer

When the United Nations designated 2011 the International Year of Chemistry, Lee Pedersen immediately posted the news to the bul-

Science letin board in her office. Pedersen, a physical sciences librarian with a background in chemistry, set out with Holly Snyder, curator of the History of Science Collections at the John Hay Library, to put together a chemistry exhibit for the University community.

Their effort culminated this month with “Unveiling the Secrets: The Evolution of Modern Chemistry,” an exhibit at the John Hay Library. The exhibit features photographs, published texts and letters — all taken from University collections — from the 15th century to the mid-20th century, ending with the detonation of the

atomic bomb in 1945.

“The challenge of doing this kind of exhibit is limiting it,” Snyder said.

The International Year of Chemistry honors French chemist Marie Curie, who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911 for her work on radioactive elements. Because Curie’s research made the atomic bomb possible, Snyder and Pedersen decided to end the exhibit there.

The clandestine nature of the development of the atomic bomb echoes the theme which gives the exhibit takes its title: secrecy. Unlike physics, mathematics and other fields that made advances during the Renaissance and Enlightenment periods, chemistry eschewed a tradition of publication and collaboration because many chemists were alchemists who aimed to conceal their discoveries for profit.

The exhibit pays particular attention to these misconceptions and fantastical expectations. Sec-

tions include “Alchemy as Theory: The Search for the Philosopher’s Stone” and “Phlogiston: The Heart of All Combustible Resources.”

“I was fascinated by phlogiston,” Pedersen said. Phlogiston, a substance that does not exist, was once believed to reside in all combustible materials. Early texts in the exhibit also assume that the Aristotelian elements ­— fire, earth, air and water — make up all matter.

The development of modern chemistry accelerated dramatically after the publication of Robert Boyle’s “The Sceptical Chymist” in 1661, which is featured in the exhibit. Boyle’s text challenged the Aristotelian paradigm from an experimental standpoint. Though Boyle believed in both phlogiston and alchemy, his work raised the standards for published, rigorous and experimental chemistry.

“It’s wonderful to see how meticulously they have written their continued on page 7

Alexandra Urban / Herald

Protesters occupied the Main Green, mobilizing around a variety of social issues.

Occupy College Hill enters second day

By Katherine Long Senior Staff Writer

For the second day in row, the Occupy College Hill movement mustered a presence on the Main Green. Roughly 40 supporters of the movement assembled at noon to discuss how to ensure that the interests of 99 percent of Americans will no longer be subverted by the interests of the wealthiest 1 percent.

The central topic of debate was whether the group’s members should shift their collective weight behind the larger Occupy Providence movement or continue to organize on campus.

“On one hand, we want to mobilize the not-insignificant resources of College Hill in support of Occupy Providence,” said Julian Park ’12, a member of Occupy College Hill’s media working group and a Herald opinions columnist. “On the other hand, people recognize that there are a lot of problems in our own community that we have direct control over — and then, too, a lot of elements that are related to the rest of Providence.”

He pointed to the University’s ongoing contract negotiations with Department of Facilities Management workers as an example of an issue with impact both on and off College Hill.

The Occupy movement began

with Occupy Wall Street assemblies in New York City last week. The movement has yet to articulate a specific set of demands. The movement’s unifying trait is a sense of frustration with “the destruction of a middle class, social mobility and the failing efficacy of the traditional means to security in American society,” wrote Alexander Tobolowsky GS, a participant in Occupy College Hill, in an email to The Herald.

“The reason there’s not a cohesive message is because it’s an occupation, not a protest,” Park said.

“Occupy College Hill’s members care about immigration issues, the impact of war, environmental issues, gender discrimination, sexual orientation — we’re opposed to oppression in all forms.”

But even individual members seem not to have a clear idea of what they hope the movement will accomplish. Some see it simply as an outlet in which to speak out against the status quo.

“The movement seeks to model this new way of being and talking about social issues while also expressing anger and taking action against particular examples of injustice and exclusion,” wrote Timothy Syme GS in an email to The Herald. “This is an organic movement, driven by its participants, and no one can therefore decide or predict where it will go.”

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Med professors teaching in Ghana

By Lauren Pope Contributing Writer

Timothy Flanigan, professor of medicine, recalled the enthusiasm of a Ghanian priest he met at the Sept. 20 launch of the University’s new HIV education initiative, which was born from a partnership between three American universities and the University of Ghana.

The priest, who runs a program to support people with HIV and AIDS, “was very excited to engage with the University of Ghana in community-based work,” Flanigan said. “He was very excited that the strengths of the university could reach outside of campus.”

Flanigan and two other Alpert Medical School professors —

along with professors from the Tufts University School of Medicine and Yale School of Medicine — traveled to Accra, Ghana, from Sept. 18-24 to launch the program, which aims to educate Ghanaian students and professionals in the medical field about HIV prevention and care.

The professors led workshops on HIV research with students, professionals in the field and community members.

Going forward, professors from American universities and the University of Ghana will present workshops in Accra every three months.

It is “critical for the University of Ghana to develop a strong voice,” Flanigan said. If the university can establish itself as an independent institution, it can

help move the country forward, Flanigan added.

Awewura Kwara, assistant professor of medicine, explained that the goal is to teach the country’s future medical professionals about HIV prevention and care.

Flanigan explained that HIV education and prevention efforts cannot come from Brown and the University of Ghana alone — momentum must also come from the people of Ghana.

Flanigan said he was pleased with the excitement exhibited at the program launch. “It was amazing to see the leadership rally around this program,” Flanigan said. “The kick-off was done with great pride and excitement, much more so than we do in this country, and this taught me something.”

4 Campus News

The Brown Daily Herald Friday, October 7, 2011

Labor negotiations WPCs criticize state of program proceed slowly continued from page 1

continued from page 1 once it becomes fully occupied by the University in December.

Other buildings only used by the University, such as the new Medical Education Building at 222 Richmond St., are staffed by Facilities Management workers.

For buildings with current commercial tenants that may become fully occupied, the University promised a “good faith effort” in ensuring that these buildings are staffed by University employees, McAninch said.

Yesterday’s meetings saw little progress from both sides in agreement on a wage increase. Since last week, the University revised its proposal for wage increases from 1.75 to 1.9 percent per year.

The union asked for an average 3.5 percent wage increase per year for all employees in the bargaining unit. The annual increase would be distributed as an additional $0.77 per hour for all workers instead of a percentage increase based on income in order to maintain fairness to all workers, McAninch said.

The University did not agree to the concept of a flat hourly increase, but the union feels “strong-

ly” about having a fair increase for all workers, McAninch said.

The contract currently includes language that would allow the University to change health care providers offered to employees, provided that the change in plans is “substantially comparable” to the current offerings. The union wants the contract to say that the plans must be “equal or better,” to “preserve the quality of health care plans available,” McAninch said.

Since negotiation meetings last week, the University revised its proposed health care premium increase from three annual 1 percent increases to two. The union counter-proposed that premiums remain the same due to hefty health care cost increases at the last contract renewal in 2006.

The union asked for “modest” increases on pension plans, McAninch said, while the University did not make an offer to increase the plans.

The new labor contract will affect 273 Facilities Management employees, 144 of whom are custodial workers, Quinn wrote.

The negotiations are expected to conclude by Wednesday at midnight.

Undergrads line up for say on Simmons’ successor continued from page 1 the diversity of the community in as many aspects as possible” — that had been selected by Chancellor Thomas Tisch ’76.

UCS will read all completed applications this weekend, and candidates will be notified about whether they have been invited for an interview by Oct. 10, Nelson said. Students will be evaluated on the six qualities outlined in the application, and final decisions will be made by Oct. 20.

Nelson said she was “grateful”

and “humbled” that so many students had prioritized the opportunity to weigh in on the presidential search process despite being a busy midterm week.

Katherine Haves ’12 said she applied for the position because the University has played an important role in her life. The next president should be “an absolute trailblazer” who will “try to accomplish goals that have never been set,” Haves said.

President Ruth Simmons’ successor will be named by this spring, according to Tisch.

sues most important to women,” founding members said in an April 21, 1983, Herald article.

McNab said she felt the program has strayed from the ideals of its original purpose, and WPCs are instead treated as an extra group of Resident Counselors.

“If I wanted to be an RC, I would have applied to be an RC,” she said.

Lack of training

One of the biggest issues with the program is the lack of extensive specialized training for the WPCs before the school year begins, McNab said.

Zoe Stephenson ’12, a former WPC and current Community Assistant, said she received no specialized WPC training during her Residential Peer Leader training two years ago. According to the job description, “WPCs counsel women and men at Brown on issues such as sexism, gender issues, contraception and safer sex, eating concerns, sexuality, relationships, assertiveness, sexual harassment and assault.”

ResLife added one day to the training schedule specifically for WPC training after McNab and Serrino persistently negotiated with the office, McNab said.

This year, the WPCs received two days of specialized training prior to their RPL training, wrote Natalie Basil, associate director of ResLife, in an email to The Herald.

But this is still not enough, McNab said.

“That’s a huge problem because there are about eight issues in our mission statement that we say we’re specialists in,” she said.

“When we go into residence halls, we claim that we’re specialists in these issues when we’re not, and that’s very dangerous. That’s very detrimental to freshmen.”

Sarah Forman ’13, one of the two current WPC Reps and a Herald staff writer, said though there were only two days of specific training this summer, there were still plenty of opportunities for WPCs to meet and talk about these issues during RPL training.

“It’s hard because I think I can pretty easily come up with a summer’s worth of training,” Forman said. “I don’t think that training can ever be completely inclusive.

But I also don’t think that’s what it’s supposed to do. It’s supposed to give you the tools and the confidence and the background that you can figure out an answer later.”

‘Give and take’

Most of the conversations WPCs had with ResLife last year were unsuccessful because administrators did not understand the students’ perspective, McNab said.

In October 2010, McNab and Serrino put together a report that included results from a poll administered to WPCs from two separate years and recommendations on how to improve the program as a whole, McNab said. They met with Basil and various Community Directors, but the meeting resulted in no significant changes to the program, she said.

Based on this and other interactions, the WPCs formed a steering committee led by Haley Kossek ’13 and Anna Quinn ’13 to come up with recommendations for ResLife to implement and to strengthen the program’s mission, McNab said.

Kossek and Quinn had a lot of conversations with Basil and other ResLife administrators, but no changes were implemented last year, McNab said. McNab resigned from her position as a WPC Rep in April 2011.

Though Basil received McNab and Serrino’s report, she never received anything final from the chairs of the steering committee regarding recommendations or thoughts about the WPC program, she wrote.

This year, conversations between the WPC Reps and ResLife have been less contentious, Forman said, adding that she gets asked for feedback from ResLife all the time. After fall training, she and the other WPCs filled out surveys asking how to improve the training, she said.

Forman and Lucy Stephenson ’13 also had many conversations with Basil over the summer and were able to agree on a majority of issues regarding fall training, Forman said.

“I think it’s a pretty healthy relationship,” she said. “There’s a lot of give and take. We’re asked to take on a lot of responsibility, but in exchange, we get a very powerful voice in what gets done.”

Creating community

Despite last year’s tensions between WPCs and ResLife, Molly Lao ’13, a former WPC and member of the steering committee, enjoyed the community aspect of working with very knowledgeable peers.

“It was great to know that they cared about issues revolving around body image and sexuality and so on,” Lao said.

Forman, who also sat on the steering committee, said she has seen a lot of improvements within the program. “The program has stayed as strong as it was” at its founding, Forman said. “It hasn’t sharply detoured off of what it used to be.”

Improvements with the training this year included two different reading packets for the WPCs, one compiled by ResLife and one

compiled by Forman and Lucy Stephenson, Forman said. There was also more W-specific training within ResLife along with conversations with Gail Cohee, director of the Sarah Doyle Women’s Center, and Kelly Garrett, coordinator of the LGBTQ Resource Center.

Basil said she has seen an increased interest in all the RPL programs, including the WPC program. The returner rate for all RPL programs — RCs, CAs and WPCs — is 60 percent, she said.

“Part of it is just a general happiness with the program, feeling good about the supervision they’re getting from their community directors and feeling good about the work they’re doing in the units and in the residence halls,” Basil said.

But only seven of the 22 WPCs in 2010 returned to the program this year, Basil said.

The large number of returners throughout all three programs is a “very good indicator of their satisfaction moving forward,” said Richard Bova, senior associate dean of residential and dining services.

‘Cannot stay the same’

The recommendations for what can be done to fix the program vary.

For Lao, the ambiguity of the WPC’s role is in most need of change.

“We can just make it more explicit what the WPC program does,” Lao said. “I think as soon as we’re able to more firmly establish that among everyone in general, we can find a more coherent way to deal with issues.”

Octavia Wallace ’12, a WPC, said an integration of the WPC program with the Minority Peer Counselor program would be beneficial for both parties.

The lack of continuity among administrators in the ResLife office has greatly handicapped the WPC program, Zoe Stephenson said.

Because the Community Directors tend to be involved in ResLife for a couple of years before moving on, there has never been a single person that has fully understood and advocated for what the WPC program stands for, she said.

“It’s not that they’re bad people — it’s just a bad setup,” she said.

Stephenson said she hopes the program can move away from ResLife and become more closely associated with programs like the Sarah Doyle Women’s Center.

“I think that training and vision of the WPC should go to someone whose agenda, whose paycheck and whose happiness is aligned with making the WPC a good program,” she said.

“It really cannot stay the same the way it is,” McNab said. “Honestly, the way it is, it should not exist.”

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Arts & Culture 5

The Brown Daily Herald Friday, October 7, 2011

Rock musical at PPAC takes audience back in time By caroline flanagan Arts & Culture Staff Writer

“Rock of Ages,” the hit Broadway musical that has been making headlines since it debuted in 2006, began its second national tour at the Providence Performing Arts Center Tuesday. A film adaptation is expected in June 2012.

The musical takes place in 1987 on the Sunset Strip, a famous portion of Los Angeles’ Sunset Boulevard traditionally associated with rock’ n’ roll, nightclubs and celebrities. The play focuses on a girl, Sherrie (Shannon Mullen), from a small town in Kansas, who travels to Los Angeles to fulfill her dreams of becoming an actress. There, she meets Drew (Dominique Scott), a busboy at a club called the Bourbon Room, who dreams of becoming a rock star. Encouraged by Drew, Sherrie takes a waitress job at the club, and unsurprisingly, the two almost immediately fall in love.

While Sherrie and Drew try to communicate their feelings to each another, the Sunset Strip comes under fire as German developers buy the entire block and plan to turn the colorful stretch into a strip of bland stores.

Though the plot may sound cliche, “Rock of Ages” tells this classic story by infusing it with glam rock hits from the ’80s. The story of Drew and Sherrie is told through

the music of artists such as Bon Jovi, Styx, Whitesnake and Journey — sung live by the actors, in showstopping style.

The banality of the plot might be one of the show’s weak points, but the energy of the actors brings the musical to a new level. They make full use of their space, running through the aisles and taking up every inch of the stage. In the end, “Rock of Ages” is not so much about plot but about the music it celebrates. The musical numbers are incredibly memorable and almost always done on an enormous scale. Often, actors in completely different locations are singing together, while fights, protests or rock concerts go on in the background.

Particularly memorable scenes include a rendition of “The Final Countdown,” during which police beat down protesters trying to save the strip, and the heart-warming finale done to the legendary anthem, “Don’t Stop Believin’.”

The acting and singing are spectacular, though the brilliant secondary characters often overshadow the two leads. The hippie owner of the Bourbon Room, Dennis (Matt Ban), is uproariously funny, as is his assistant Lonny (Justin Colombo).

Lonny is also the narrator of the show, combining Jack Black and Puck from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in his persona and often breaking the fourth wall and ad-

Ibero culture on screen at festival continued from page 1 festival is a diverse set of films each chosen based on their individual merit and artistic expression. He described the festival as an opportunity to gain a unique perspective on a different culture. “It is a special moment to share, experience, learn and live a different culture in your own city,” he wrote in an email to The Herald.

Beyond the intrinsic value of experiencing another’s culture, Torrealba was eager to have the festival at Brown and other nearby universities because these centers of learning are filled with individuals willing and able to turn a cultural exploration into an educational experience. Several faculty members made the festival part of their course curriculum to take advantage of its guests and exchange experiences with the students, he wrote.

One of the films being shown at the festival is Laura Amelia Guzman and Israel Cardenas’s “Jean Gentil.” This remarkable work explores one man’s quest to find himself, God and a place to belong.

The main character, Jean Remy Gentil, is a Haitian professor in the largest city of the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo. At the start of the film, he finds himself jobless and destitute, desperately searching for a new home in an

unfriendly environment.

Gentil’s search across both the Dominican Republic and Haiti showcases the intricacies of the countries’ diverse cultures, as well as some of the most beautiful jungle and seascapes the island has to offer. The movie shows the truth of the island, revealing its colors and unique shades that are often missed by outside observers, Guzman said.

One of the most interesting aspects of the film is the concluding shot of Port-au-Prince immediately after the 2010 Haitian earthquake. Guzman described the decision to use the shot as an “almost accident.” The original intent of the filmmakers was to use final views of Santo Domingo to bring the story full circle, but the original set of shots taken were not of a high enough technical quality to use in the film. Just as the directors decided to try to get another shot of Santo Domingo, the Haitian earthquake struck, and they decided instead that an appropriate conclusion to Jean’s story would be the depiction of the devastation of Port-au-Prince.

This film and the others at the festival present numerous opportunities to gain a new understanding of Ibero-American culture and cultural identity through one of the most accessible forms possible — movies.

Courtesy of Jeff Busby

“Rock of Ages” tells a classic tale to the pounding beats of 1980s glam rock at the Providence Performance Arts Center.

dressing the audience.

Matt Nolan shines as the selfabsorbed rock star, Stacee Jaxx, who, hated by his band, is preparing to start his solo career. He tromps around the stage in tight-fitting, bright, glittery clothes, a cowboy hat and a long blonde wig. He may well have stepped right out of “This Is Spinal Tap.” “Mama” Justice (Amma Osei), a strip club owner, seems to embody “Chicago” Matron “Mama” Morton with her strong personality and equally commanding gospel voice.

“Rock of Ages” is a comedy as much as a musical. The humor is certainly lowbrow at times, but it fits well with the characters and the tone of the show.

“Rock of Ages” is colossal in scale. Audience members can tell as soon as they sit down and see the stage crowded with colorful billboards and provocative ads that they are in for something impressive. The flashing lights and almost constant presence of a live rock band make the show feel like a nostalgic concert from the ’80s.

It helps that the audience is usually active as well, standing up, cheering and singing along with the beloved soundtrack.

“Rock of Ages” is a massive production that uses humor, nostalgia and, of course, rock to create a memorable and entertaining theater-going experience. It is a must-see for fans of the ’80s and glam rock.

Sinful production ‘measures’ well By alexandrA macfarlane Staff Writer

Turning both “head tricks” and “bed tricks,” “Measure for Measure” is offering audiences a stark new look at the classic Shakespeare play in Rebecca Maxfield’s ’13 production, running this Friday through Monday in the Crystal Room in Alumnae Hall.

The play opens with the Duke (Nick Lourie’14) conferring his authority upon Angelo (Ningfei Ou ’15), one of his councilors, as he leaves the kingdom. The set is sparse, with actors using furniture already in the room and few props, focusing attention on the story line and acting.

As the play continues, Angelo reveals himself to be a cruel leader and attempts to make an example of Claudio (also played by Ou), condemning him to die. Only his sister, the virtuous nun Isabella (Elexis Trinity ’13), can save him by offering Angelo her virginity.

The once virtuous judge Angelo becomes a hypocrite, embodying a central theme of the play — the tension between innocence and corruption. “Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall,” says Escalus (Isabella Giancarlo ’14), underscoring the dramatic conflict facing each character.

The cast members reveal themselves as true actors of the drama.

Caught between integrity and vice, half the actors play more than one major role. With these multiple parts, cast members portray char-

acters at either ends of this tension, caught between virtue and lechery.

“There’s so much in ‘Measure’ about multiple capacities or multiple personas,” Maxfield wrote in an email to The Herald. Because of this duality, she chose actors like Alejandro Garcia Morales ’15 to begin in the role of Pompey, pimp and bartender, and finish as the executioner, Friar Peter, she wrote.

Maxfield also chose to explore the character of the Duke to a greater extent than most productions. In the story, the Duke never really leaves but stays on as the “mysterious puppet-master figure” who controls the major plotting of the play, she wrote.

Instead of the usual ending where he proposes to the nun Isabella, Maxfield makes the Duke “offer her his worldly authority, because he’s seen her ideas about justice develop — they strike a balance between the Duke’s previous lax rule and Angelo’s severity,” Maxfield wrote.

Indeed the Duke does act as a kind of manipulator for both the humor and drama of the plot. He organizes a “bed trick” in which Angelo is duped into having sex with his fiance (Chloe-Alcestes

Anastasiades ’15), believing he is taking Isabella’s virtue. He also plans a “head trick,” sending Angelo the head of a dead pirate so Claudio can keep his life.

The play was produced by the Program in Renaissance and Early Modern Studies. “I sought to produce it independently precisely because Shakespeare on the Green wasn’t interested in exploring the themes I saw in it,” Maxfield wrote.

The actors themselves are mostly first-years and sophomores, who bring fresh new talent to the show. Despite this, the cast seems to have found a sense of cohesion. Throughout rehearsal, problems and mistakes were confronted with laughter and goodnatured camaraderie.

The end of the play leaves the audience with the humor of black comedy and the seriousness of virtue and sin. As the quotable Lucio (John Oberbeck ’14) puts it, “When maidens sue, men give like gods.”

Fresh interpretation and focused acting make for a dramatic take on Shakespeare.

Got tips?

herald@browndailyherald.com

6 Arts & Culture

The Brown Daily Herald Friday, October 7, 2011

Suzannah Weiss / Herald

Antique stores around College Hill abound with unique knick-knacks.

Courtesy of Michael Mount

Photos from Michael Mount’s ’12 journey across the Pacific Crest Trail are on display now at the Granoff Center.

Granoff displays Appalachian adventure By marshall katheder Arts & Culture Staff Writer

Michael Mount ’12.5 is hungry.

Everything at his disposal, including food, exists in his 10-pound bag. It’s June 2010, and his slight frame faces the chilling edge of the Arctic Circle. He slogs on, numb-footed in spiked shoes, wielding a small hand ax. Since April he has been heading north, walking more than 1,000 miles to arrive here — to scale yet another mountain, 1,000 miles high. The toothy earth below opens its jagged jaws, gaping icily.

Mount took a semester off in spring 2010 to walk the 2,663-mile long Pacific Crest Trail through the highest peaks of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges, from Mexico to Canada.

And in 2008, he took a gap year

before attending Brown to hike the 2,181-mile Appalachian Trail across the eastern portion of the United States. On both excursions, he kept a journal and took pictures with a disposable camera.

The images and words from both excursions are now on display at the Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts.

“The photographs reflect a motif of loneliness, of powerlessness — from the vastness,” he said. “It’s very much referential to nature.

There’s not very many people in them. The images have a low resolution, a washed-out aesthetic.

It’s such simple technology, it’s just colors.”

The collection vividly depicts the harrowing quality of the traversed landscape. A wafer-thin Mount is dwarfed by the rambling, hostile expanses of the American

wild. Growing up in North Carolina, Mount recalls many summer nights spent under the stars, his body plunked in countless rivers — the beginning of his engagement with nature.

But the scale of both these expeditions was unprecedented for Mount. “It’s like being part of a mirage landscape, feeling like an ant in a picnic blanket. You can’t see the end,” Mount said, “From the highest peak, you can’t see more than a hundred miles ahead of you on a clear day.”

The Appalachian Trail, which he climbed during his gap year “was a gamble before college. I thought, ‘If I’m going to sell myself to an institution, this is my one shot for adventure,’” he said.

The evidence of Mount’s adventure is on display through Oct. 14.

East Side antiquing: time capsules for the community

By Suzannah weiss Arts & Culture Columnist

Time should not be measured in numbers alone ­— objects reveal the workings of time in where they go, where they came from, what they look like and how they are used. A century-old item in a recently renovated building is enough to remind us that time is not in constant motion, and the past is not done passing.

Yet the first month of the semester has, in fact, lapsed. It may be October, but it’s okay to admit you’re still decorating your room — hey, we’ve got stuff to do!

And the items you want — along with the knick-knacks you don’t and won’t ever need — may be closer to campus than Bed, Bath & Beyond.

Oddly enough, Red Bridge Antiques and Ferguson & D’Arruda just opened right across from each other on Wickenden Street, making for a total of four antique stores — and several craft stores — on the street. Why this sudden influx? Perhaps because people are willing to sell anything and everything in this economy.

Replete with gaudy jewelry, portraits of random colonial dudes, a dish of Werther’s Originals and storage boxes fresh from a recent move-in, Red Bridge is a replica of your pack-rat grandmother’s house. An air of nostalgia extends from the elegantly painted ceramic teapots in the display window to the huge plastic dog keeping guard in the back.

Ferguson & D’Arruda, currently moving in right across the street, looks more like an ancient collection in an art museum — minimalist and full of reds. Woven tapestries adorn the walls.

This store also contains a bowl of candies.

If Red Bridge is your grandma’s living room, Benefit St. Antiques is the dining room she keeps in better shape to entertain house guests. It looks more like a home decorating store than an antique shop. Whatever it is, it carries both the classiest and priciest of its peers. Have you ever lounged in a room with a moose-print armchair and a monkey print seat? Here you can.

Further east on Wickenden, Curiosities is the place to get

your eccentric friend a cheap and silly birthday present. One could spend hours in this tiny hole in the wall before seeing the breadth of what covers the shelves. Fortunately, cheesy signs such as “Don’t Be Smug, Buy a Mug” and “Just Say No To High Prices” — attributed to one by the name of Curious Cat — help draw your attention to specific items such as worn-but-not-torn clothes and key-shaped hair clips.

It’s also the only antique shop with a Halloween decoration display.

What Cheer, on the other hand, is anxious for Christmas, with a Santa statuette greeting visitors as they walk into a hall so narrow that those with backpacks must walk single file to avoid knocking anything over.

This South Angell Street and Wayland Square store wins the award for charm. It calls its vintage photographs “ephemera” — slightly more sophisticated than the choose-your-own-relatives gimmick employed by Curiosities to entice customers to buy photographs of random people.

Many of What Cheer’s photographs look like they belong in your grandparents’ high school yearbooks. Did they even have yearbooks back then? Others are artful Rhode Island relics, like the self-explanatorily titled “Providence Boys w/ Kittens.”

The shop also features a room full of records, a postcard collection organized by U.S. state and books from the 1960s and 1970s with titles like “It’s Fun to Fondue.” It also features something that may not exist anywhere else: a shelf full of “cinnamon and sugar shakers.”

Though not an antique shop per se — I don’t think anyone has figured out how to classify it — Friend’s Market on Brook Street deserves honorable mention. Along with onions, candy bars and everything else in the world, there’s also quite the collection of quirky dishware.

Oh, one more thing. A word of advice before you frequent any of the above establishments: As humans, we tend to forget that buying something we don’t need, even at the highest discount, is still more expensive than buying nothing at all. Do with that what you will.

Science 7

The Brown Daily Herald Friday, October 7, 2011

Hay celebrates year of chemistry New methods hatched for egg research continued from page 3

papers,” said Satya Reddy P’98 P’00 P’01, adjunct professor of chemistry for research. He hoped the exhibit would inspire his graduate students, who have the advantages of computers, to pay the same care.

When considering some of Boyle’s disproved theories, Snyder said it is important to “understand the limits of what knowledge was available.”

Because of Curie’s prominence as a woman in science, Pedersen and Snyder made an effort to include more female chemists. “It’s clear that women played a really key role in chemistry,” Snyder said.

She noted that some of the earliest chemists were bakers, cloth-dyers and, Pedersen added, perfumers.

Pedersen and Snyder were ultimately disappointed by the sparse number of chemistry texts written by women in the collection.

Chemistry is a “weak spot” in the University’s library collections, Snyder said.

Professor of Chemistry Paul Williard P’11 said library resources are “one of the hidden treasures at Brown.”

“Not everything is online,” said Tovah Reis, who used to work as a librarian at the Medical School.

By Adam Toobin Contributing Writer

David Deckey / Herald

The exhibit highlights the John Hay’s extensive collection of manuscripts.

The exhibit could draw attention to the collections at the University, she added.

“Not a lot of us know about this,” said Natalie Uduwela ’12, who stumbled upon the exhibit after a class in the Hay. Sedik Mohammed ’15, who saw an announcement for “Unveiling the Secrets” in Morning Mail, thought the exhibit was “informative” but added that “old manuscripts, especially about chemistry,” might not interest every student.

This is the library’s third science-oriented exhibit since 2009,

when the bicentennial of Charles Darwin’s birth and the International Year of Astronomy were celebrated. The cross-disciplinary nature of the exhibit appealed to both Pedersen and Snyder. “It was a great journey for me to learn the roots of my own field,” Pedersen said. Snyder, who disliked chemistry as a school subject, said she developed an appreciation for it through the project.

The exhibit will run until Oct. 31, after which the works on display will return to the library collections.

A new method for testing the genetic makeup of an egg may provide clues as to why some develop after fertilization and others do not, a finding with possible implications for in vitro fertilization, according to a paper published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

While using these findings for in vitro fertilization appears feasible, it is “a long way off,” said Adrian Reich GS, a co-author of the study.

Researchers from the Department for Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry studied RNA — genetic material that codes for proteins — in human eggs before fertilization. RNA begins to function in an egg immediately after fertilization, but before the cell starts to divide. The researchers believe RNA significantly impacts the egg’s early development.

In the past, it has been difficult to obtain any kind of information about female eggs without destroying them in the process.

This research shows that eggs’ polar bodies — essentially biologically useless genetic copies of the egg — have similar RNA to their sister

eggs. This innovation makes it possible to investigate the polar bodies for information about the actual eggs without harming them.

Theoretically, clinicians performing in vitro fertilization will be able to test the polar body of an egg for indicators that suggest the egg will grow successfully. This research does not reveal those indicators, but it provides scientists with a method for investigating RNA’s effects.

Reich authored the paper with Gary Wessel, professor of biology, and Peter Klatsky, a research fellow in the Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry department.

In the current in vitro fertilization process, clinicians collect around 10 pre-eggs, called oocytes, fertilize them and wait two to three days to decide which to implant. On average, only three or four of them will successfully fertilize, and clinicians then have to choose one to implant without very much information. Many times, they choose eggs that look “the prettiest, even though many times the ugliest embryo grows into a happy and healthy baby,” Reich said. This study may help improve the process.

Ground vapors may pose health risk With altered genes, plants adjust to climate

By David Rosen Contributing Writer

By Katherine Long Senior Staff Writer

Newly discovered links between a plant’s genetic variations and climate change may­reduce the agriculture industry’s reliance on pesticide use, according to a paper by researchers in the University’s Schmitt Lab published yesterday in the journal Nature.

The study, which examined variations in the plant Arabidopsis thaliana, took roughly five years to complete and involved 9,420 specimens grown in England, France, Spain and Finland, said Alexandre Fournier-Level GS, the first author of the paper. Researchers used genetic analysis and visible indicators of a plant’s fitness to show that local genomic adaptation is definitively shaped by variations in climate.

Climate-specific adaptations give some plants “home-court advantages” compared to plants of the same species grown elsewhere.

“We already know that a plant that comes from the north does better in the north, and a plant coming from the south does better in the south,” Fournier-Level said. “But is this true on the genomic level? That’s what we wanted to find out. And yes, it is.”

The study also proved that benefi-

cial adaptations do not, as previously believed, always spread to an entire population — a difference in understanding adaptation that FournierLevel said was “fundamental.”

Specimens with genotypic advantages live side-by-side with specimens whose genes are unaltered.

If those two plants breed, they can create a hybrid adapted to a broader range of conditions — “and then it’s all peace and love in the plant kingdom,” he said.

Fournier-Level said the results could be especially important for farmers looking to grow crops in climates rendered increasingly diverse by carbon emissions.

“Right now, if a farmer wants to grow corn from Mexico in Montana, that farmer needs to artificialize the environment with fertilizer and pesticides,” he said. But the study suggests that farmers may instead be able to grow corn that has genes specifically adapted to Montana, increasing crop yield without the use of potentially harmful chemicals.

Fournier-Level pointed out that this study is only preliminary: The theory has yet to be tested on crops.

Farmers need to “move beyond selecting plants for yield- and pest-related traits” before improvements in industrial agriculture can be made, he said.

Most homeowners don’t worry about their houses’ foundations unless their basements flood.

But Professor of Engineering Eric Suuberg and Kelly Pennell, assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, are drilling holes in basement floors of homes in Somerville, Mass., to determine if residents have something else to be concerned about: subsurface vapors.

For the past five years, the researchers worked with graduate students to better understand vapor intrusion — the process by which harmful subsurface chemicals in the soil and groundwater diffuse into residential and commercial structures.

These contaminants migrate from the soil and groundwater through the concrete foundations and joints of buildings. While the chemicals are only found in low concentrations, their long-term carcinogenic effects worry researchers and policymakers alike.

Many states have begun to update their vapor intrusion guidelines and reevaluate brownfields — sites that were once used for commercial and industrial activities — that were previously thought to be clean and safe. “The vapor intrusion problem may af-

fect about a quarter of the estimated inventory of 500,000 U.S. brownfield sites,” Suuberg said in a Sept. 9 webinar.

“This isn’t just a problem in Rhode Island, it’s a national one and an international one,” said Pennell, who recently left Brown to join UMass Dartmouth’s faculty but continues to lead the research.

The problem is caused by the contamination of sites with volatile organic compounds. Two classes of these compounds account for most of the contamination — chlorinated hydrocarbons, which are contained in dry cleaning chemicals, and petroleum hydrocarbons, which are contained in gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

But many variables affect the rate of vapor intrusion, including building foundations and the local geology, making it hard to predict which sites are at risk for contamination.

Further complicating the research, many of these chemicals are contained in household products, so some of their indoor air presence cannot be attributed to vapor intrusion, Pennell said.

About five years ago, the two professors began to use three-dimensional computer modeling to better account for these variables and site-specific conditions.

Recently, they have begun to conduct field studies of contaminated residential sites in Somerville, collecting soil vapor, indoor air and ground water samples.

Pennell said she and Suuberg are also focused on making their research practical, helping to direct site investigations and develop better regulatory guidelines.

The study is supported by Brown’s Superfund Research Program, a group that studies the health and environmental effects of hazardous waste sites.

Got something to say? Leave a comment online!

Visit www.browndailyherald.com to comment on opinion and editorial content.

8 Sports Friday

The Brown Daily Herald Friday, October 7, 2011

Bruno prepares for Bruno aces Holy Cross matchup opponents TENNIS

continued from page 12 and was the team’s leading receiver with 62 yards and a touchdown.

The team rushed for a season-high 221 yards on the day.

Newhall-Caballero said he is not sure whether the Bears will show a balanced approach like they did last week or not. “We’ll kind of see how it goes early in the game and adjust to what they’re showing us.”

Regardless of how the Bears choose to get the ball down the field, Spooney said speed will be key.

“Defensively, they’re definitely beatable,” he said. They’re “slower than what we’ve seen with URI.” Linebacker Matthew O’Donnell ’12 leads Bruno’s defense with 30 tackles, 18 of them solo. On the other side of the ball, junior defensive back Tom Mannix has been a wall for Holy Cross’ defense with 35 tackles, 30 of them solo.

In addition to the Crusaders’ talented players, the Bears will have to overcome their mistakes.

When Brown played Harvard, Bruno’s five turnovers made the difference in the 24-7 loss. Though the Bears defeated URI, they com-

mitted 12 penalties, costing them precious yardage at key times.

“The biggest thing for us is to cut down on some of the dumb penalties,” Estes said. He cited a personal foul against kicker Alex Norocea ’14 for a late hit and a penalty the Brown sideline received “for talking too much” as two of many preventable penalties. “We need to cut that down, otherwise it’s going to come back to bite us,” he said.

The Bears will likely take the field Saturday without tight end Nicholas Faber ’12. Faber was taken off the field and loaded into an ambulance last Saturday after landing on his head in the fourth quarter. Estes said there were no fractures in his neck and he did not suffer a concussion. But he does have a broken jaw, according to Newhall-Caballero, which may mean he cannot play in the upcoming game. Tight end Alexander Harris ’13 will replace Faber in the starting lineup, if necessary.

Spooney said the team hopes to limit mental errors in the final conference game and keep the momentum rolling from the URI win.

Kickoff at Brown Stadium is set for 12:30 p.m.

on home court

By Hak Rim Kim Contributing Writer

The men’s tennis team won 30 of 35 matches at the Margaux Powers Memorial Tournament hosted by Brown last weekend, finishing with a 20-2 overall record in singles action and a 10-3 overall record in doubles action.

Boston College, Stony Brook and Georgetown all traveled to Providence to participate in the tournament.

Five players went undefeated for the Bears. Andrew Yazmer ’12 and Tom Deighton ’13 went 5-0, while Mike Hill ’13, Timmy Klanke ’13 and Daniel Hirschberg ’15 had 4-0 records.

The squad dominated Georgetown with an impressive record of 12-1. An undefeated 13-0 record against the Hoyas was within grasp, but Nick Newhouse ’14 and Jacob Laser ’15 fell 9-8 (5) in a tiebreaker in the No. 4 doubles match.

Sam Fife ’14 said he also struggled in his match but managed to eke out the win.

“On Friday, against the player from Georgetown, I was not playing like myself,” Fife said. But he said he “was still able to barely escape with a victory.”

“The next day against Stony Brook, I felt more confident with

Jesse Schwimmer / Herald

Soufiane Azargui ‘14 won both his singles matches at last weekend’s tournament.

my shots and was able to be more aggressive,” he added.

Bruno won 11 of 13 matches against Boston College and Stony Brook, giving a glimpse of the potential the team has when playing on form. With most of the Bears participating in their third tournament this season, the team has shaken off its rust and is continu-

ing to build its confidence. The Bears have been supported by strong play from experienced players, including Soufiane Azargui ’14 and Brandon Burke ’14.

The squad hopes to keep up momentum when it travels to Ithaca, N.Y., next weekend to play in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regional Championship.

M. soccer winless last weekend continued from page 12 the game, and whoever does better in those crucial moments of games is going to win. This weekend, Columbia just did better than us in those moments.”

After a scoreless first half, the Lions got on the board just minutes after halftime off a header by Henning Sauerbier. But the Bears responded with a goal from Sean Rosa ’12.5, tying the score 1-1, where it stood at the end of regulation.

Neither team was able to find the back of the net in the first overtime, but in the 102nd minute, Columbia’s Will Stamatis flicked in the golden goal.

“On the road against a tough Ivy League opponent, we should have been more concerned about coming away with at least a tie,” said Ryan McDuff ’13. “I think we exposed ourselves a little bit too much, which led to their second goal in overtime.”

This is the first loss the Bears have suffered at the hands of the Lions in over a decade.

“They have gotten a lot better in the recent years,” McDuff said.

“We have had a history of beating them going back too many years,

and it is a tough place to play.”

Brown 0, St. John’s 0

Three days after returning from Columbia, the Bears again visited the Big Apple Tuesday to face No. 9 St. John’s (7-2-2), battling to a 0-0 tie in another double-overtime thriller.

“I thought the guys really bounced back well,” Laughlin said.

“We traveled to New York Saturday, came back late Saturday night after a double-overtime loss, got on a bus again on Monday night and played Tuesday night at St. John’s, which is one of the most difficult places to play in the country. I thought the guys did a great job to not give up any goals and come out with a draw after 110 minutes of soccer.”

Despite the impressive performance against a talented Red Storm squad, Laughlin said his team needs to step up if it wants to reach its full potential.

“Things happen over the course of a season that sort of define a team,” he said. “I think we’re still in that process of figuring out who we are and working on getting better each day.”

Nonetheless, McDuff said the matchup against St. John’s was

a “cornerstone game” because it proved that, after the loss to Columbia, the Bears could still compete with any team in the country.

“Our goal all year has been to win the Ivy League,” he said.

“I think we put a lot of pressure on ourselves going into the game against Columbia, and it showed in our play. Against St. John’s, we started relaxing, and we didn’t have that pressure on ourselves to win every game. We’re going to believe that we’re the underdog going into every game so that we can come out with that mindset and win.”

The Bears return to Stevenson Field Saturday night for their league home opener against the reigning Ivy League champion Princeton. After going undefeated in conference play last year, the Tigers lost their 2011 opening matchup against Dartmouth.

Because there is such parity in the division, Laughlin said he is optimistic about his team’s chances.

“In this league, one game doesn’t decide the season,” Laughlin said. “The league is so competitive that you are going to see a variety of teams competing for the title this year. Are we one of them? We won’t know that until the games come.”

Sports Friday 9

The Brown Daily Herald Friday, October 7, 2011

Appreciating the ‘tragic figure’ that is Tony Romo continued from page 12 But Romo has the fourth-highest quarterback rating of all time.

Seriously, look it up. He’s well ahead of Dan Marino, John Elway, Michael Vick, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and even legendary Cowboys Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach.

In this week’s loss to the Lions, Romo had 331 yards passing and three touchdowns. Even during his worst stretch in the Lions game, beginning with his first interception, Romo was 11-20 with an average six yards per completion. Certainly not good numbers, but I wouldn’t call them awful.

Lost in the story of Romo’s collapse was the fact that he played with a cracked rib and a punctured lung. The same cracked rib and punctured lung he played on last week as he helped the Cowboys grind out a win against the divisionleading Washington Redskins. The same cracked rib and punctured lung he sustained in the middle of a furious game against the suddenly impressive San Fransisco 49ers. The game that Romo demanded to return to when his team was down 10 in the fourth quarter. The game that Romo won nearly single-handedly with a spectacular throw to a rookie that previously had never caught a ball in an NFL game. The game that Dallas won in overtime.

There’s no denying that Tony Romo has been a part of more lategame collapses than any other active quarterback in the NFL, but there is a reason Tony isn’t sitting on the bench and eating Doritos yet. He’s actually been one of the 10 best quarterbacks in the league this year. In fact, Romo has been one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL since he became a starter four years ago. He has just had horrendous luck in terms of when he begins to throw interceptions.

This is the real reason that the relationship between Cowboys fans and Tony Romo is like that couple that just won’t break up because they are too afraid to be alone. Romo will win a game and cook the Cowboys fans a lovely, ro-

mantic dinner, then two days later he’s throwing four interceptions, forgetting that it’s the fans’ anniversary and taking them out to Chili’s for dinner. One minute, they are screaming at each other about how much they hate the others’ parents.

The next, they are making out in the corner of a party for a comically long period of time.

Tony’s become a tragic figure, a guy who honestly tries his best and does pretty well. The problem is that all of his screw-ups are so much bigger than the things he does right. He’s under the most scrutiny of any quarterback, but even when he plays injured to try to help his team, he gets nailed for a loss that was also a by-product of bad defense and a terrible running game.

He might have once been the womanizing quitter that I painted in the beginning of this column.

But the Tony Romo I saw last Sunday was not the same guy. The man I saw was getting pain-numbing shots on the sideline because he was playing injured. That same guy threw for over 250 yards and three touchdowns in just over half of the game. He’s the guy who’s quietly been the best quarterback in football that everyone calls a loser. He’s also the guy who lost the game.

There’s the real tragedy of Tony Romo. He’s the guy who’s worked hard to make himself better. He’s the quarterback who does all the things you want him to do. The problem is that he cannot get out of his own way and now he has become synonymous with the athlete who cannot win the big games. But he is not giving up, and the laws of probability owe him some favors.

One of these days, the chips are going to fall your way, Tony. And I’m going to be watching and cheering you on when they do.

Sam Sheehan ’12 would like to give Tony Romo a big hug.

Talk sports with him at sam_sheehan@brown.edu or follow him on Twitter @SamSheehan.

comics Chester Crabson | Tess Carroll

Cabernet Voltaire | Abe Pressman

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

The Unicomic | Eva Chen and Dan Sack

10

The Brown Daily Herald Friday, October 7, 2011

Diamonds & Coal

Editorial cartoon

by lo r e n f u lto n

A diamond to Occupy College Hill, which brought its fight against the hegemony of America’s wealthiest 1 percent to the Main Green for the second day in a row yesterday. With a tax hike threatening to raise off-campus rents, and the Undergraduate Council of Students planning a statement on the “embarrassingly substandard” state of dormitories, occupying College Hill has become a dirty job, but somebody’s got to do it.

Coal to Providence Equity Partners, the private equity firm led by Corporation Trustee Jonathan Nelson ’77 P’07 P’09 that pitched a tent on Lincoln Field this week for what a company representative called “a private event.” Looks like the 1 percent has decided to fight back.

A cubic zirconium to the Department of Facilities Management, which is finishing $200,000 worth of renovations to the limestone base of the 107-year-old Carrie Tower and plans to spend another half million on the belltower itself. Finally, resources are committed to give Brown’s underserved hunchback population the on-campus housing it deserves.

A diamond to the Graduate School, which unveiled an innovative dual degree program for doctoral candidates Wednesday. As soon as the University wins its lawsuit to recover the Civil War-era Tiffany silver sword that mysteriously disappeared from the Annmary Brown Memorial, the Grad School can also unveil its much-anticipated duel degree program.

A cubic zirconium to David Targan, associate dean of the College for science education, who referred to Assistant Professor of Biology Casey Dunn’s CreatureCast video podcasts “science you learn on your iPhone.” So that’s what everyone’s been doing in lecture.

A diamond to the football team, which beat URI at the homecoming game Saturday to take home the Governor’s Cup. The only problem is that protesters, upset over the decision of Gov. Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14 to support in-state tuition rates at public colleges for undocumented students, berated him Wednesday with shouts of “You are the governor, not a dictator!” and signs attacking “Santa Claus Chafee.” With this many low blows, the governor may want his cup back.

Cubic zirconia to the undergraduate-led Collegiate Consulting Group and Sustainability Consulting Partnership. Finally, all the spreadsheets and PowerPoints of real-world consulting without all the money.

Coal to the University, which is considering axing popular campus security firm Green Horn Management when its contract expires later this year. If GHM had read Juvenal, perhaps they would have thought to ask themselves, “Who will guard the guards?”

A diamond to former Chilean President and Professor-at-Large Ricardo Lagos, who recounted to The Herald the story of “Lagos’ Finger,” the historic moment in which he appeared on Chilean television, turned, pointed with his index finger into the camera and berated then-dictator Augusto Pinochet. Lagos, of course, hails from Santiago.

If he were from Providence, it would have been a different finger.

quote of the day

“Trust me. These aren’t the best four years of life.”

— Janet Cooper Nelson See happiness on page 3.

Corrections An article in Thursday’s Herald (“Graduate School to pilot dual degrees,” Oct. 6) incorrectly identified the dean of the Graduate School. Peter Weber holds the position. The Herald regrets the error.

An article in Thursday’s Herald (“Tax hike may increase off-campus rent,” Oct. 6) incorrectly spelled the last name of a reporter. Aasha Jackson contributed reporting. The Herald regrets the error.

Clarification Due to an editing error, an article in yesterday’s Herald (“UCS mulls statement on housing,” Oct. 6) stated that the Undergraduate Council of Students approved a name change for Sports Corps and a change of Right to Play’s group constitution. The change in Right to Play’s group constitution realigned the group with Sports Corps and changed its name accordingly.

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

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

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Opinions 11

The Brown Daily Herald Friday, October 7, 2011

A novel solution to the textbook problem

By Young Seol Opinions Columnist

The steadily rising cost of textbooks is a problem that plagues all students. Opinions columnist Jan Cao ’13 recently argued against costly textbooks (“Calculus and pirates,” Sept. 28), citing students’ “right to knowledge.” And while Cao says, “I will not go so far as to suggest that we should all download free economics textbooks and Harry Potter movies from the Internet without feeling guilty,” there is the implied suggestion that such behavior would be acceptable if it were accompanied by a feeling of guilt, as justified by “a balance between the right to knowledge and education and the protection of intellectual property.” Indeed, she equates the Pirate Party’s rise in Germany with Europeans’ “greater civil rights and liberties.” Such logic is problematic for three reasons.

First, Cao’s assertion that education is actually a right goes sorely unsubstantiated. After all, rights are valuable because they represent something so fundamental to human worth that they must be universally respected. Granted, individuals have a right to information to some extent. For example, the American justice system provides Miranda rights protections because of the probable due process violations that would result if we placed the onus of knowing criminal law on the accused.

But inherent to discussions of textbooks is the context of higher education. And while peoples’ lives would most certainly

be improved with more education, to claim college education as a fundamental right is not a trivial matter.

Second, the actual discrepancies being discussed cannot be ignored. Affordable alternatives to Cao’s expensive options exist. Students may rent textbooks or borrow them from their schools’ libraries or through systems like interlibrary loaning.

Cao lambasts high tuition for being another barrier to education but fails to consider alternatives like state schools or community colleges. Hence the “right to knowledge

ing a dearth of their services and counterproductively raising the access barrier for such rights. Rights-based arguments are simply economically insolvent. If anything, we should encourage competition by not fixating on a small, widely used set of textbooks.

That being said, students have legitimate complaints about the rising cost of textbooks. Though we may not have an absolute right to cheaper textbooks, there is an intuitive unfairness that we as students and consumers of education that have already paid

If we pay for a service, we should not be obligated to also pay for the goods necessary to render that service, because of the expectation that the latter costs are included in the former. and education” that Cao advocates is actually the right to own a textbook instead of borrowing it, or the right to attend a top private educational institution instead of a publicly funded college. Such tenuous distinctions clearly cannot qualify as rights. Should Brown be compelled to accept every student who applies?

Third, even if higher education were a right, what can it justify? Perhaps there is an argument for increased government subsidies, but since when has rights protection justified coercion of the private sector? The government upholds due process by providing public defenders’ offices, not by mandating that private law firms charge less. Proliferation of such practices would quickly drive private entities out of business, creat-

tuition can be further required to pay for expensive textbooks. If I were to take a taxi, surely I should not expect to have to compensate the driver for his gasoline on top of the cost of the trip. If we pay for a service, we should not be obligated to also pay for the goods necessary to render that service, because of the expectation that the latter costs are included in the former.

So here is an idea. Brown should buy enough textbooks for an entire class and lend them to students, defraying costs if necessary through tuition increases. Of course, the general student body should not be forced to pay for textbooks for less popular courses. But we can limit what courses Brown provides the textbooks for — and the costs that it would subsequently pass on

to students — through student body referendums or special administrative panels.

Ideally, we would subsidize textbooks for courses among all fields such that students will benefit equally, but we could consider allowing students to opt out of the program, thereby avoiding fees at the expense of having to buy their own textbooks.

Internalizing the cost of books within the cost of tuition allows greater access to education. Poorer students — whose tuition will be more subsidized by financial aid — will effectively pay less for their textbooks than richer students. Additionally, students will be free to take whatever courses they want, without the perverse incentives of textbook price discrepancies encouraging humanities over the sciences. Any problems with information asymmetry, as exists with insurance, can simply be solved by eliminating any option to opt out.

Having the University rather than students buy textbooks also lowers costs overall. First, the University has more leverage to secure deals with publishers. Second, the University becomes more sensitive to price, thereby incentivizing cost-averse behavior.

No longer will professors force students to buy the newest editions at vastly higher prices when earlier editions would suffice.

At the end of the day, it does little good to complain about tenuous rights violations in an attempt to rationalize our behavior.

Instead, let’s be proactive and look for solutions that we can all work together on and benefit from.

Young Seol ’14 is a chemistry and economics concentrator from Iowa City, Iowa.

He can be reached at j_young_seol@brown.edu.

Rock beats SciLi

By Chip Lebovitz Opinions Columnist

A recently completed Macroeconomics exam forced me to go underground last weekend, squirreling away in a library cubbyhole to simultaneously pound out problem sets and practice exams. I ended up studying in both of campus’ two main libraries, the Rockefeller Library and the Sciences Library. So with an even-keeled mind, I’m going to lay down the gauntlet: The SciLi is the social student’s library of choice and the Rock the studying student’s preferred destination.

But first let’s take a couple steps back and add some caveats before delving into this divisive issue. Realistically, the competition between the Rock and the SciLi is probably the most overrated thing to come to Brown since Sean Combs. The main source of its manufactured air is the hyperbolic rhetoric tour guides lend to the rivalry. That doesn’t mean that I’m pointing the finger at you Mr. or Ms. Tour Guide.

A campus tour is long and demanding and pontificating about a library rivalry not only convinces parents that Brown fosters fastidious study habits but also saves the trouble of explaining all the hexes and plagues that haunt you for walking through

the Van Wickle Gates at the wrong time.

Snarky sniping aside, all myths start from some kernel of truth, and the tale of two libraries is no different. In fact, a rational analysis about the cultures and features of the two libraries is important when gauging the type of studying that can be accomplished in each.

The SciLi’s hot spots are in its basement.

Long communal tables with multiple computers ring a central staircase. There are

All that interaction doesn’t even take into account the lobby area, which mimics a dining hall and may actually embody a real world Facebook. There are so many people there, and quickly scanning the room is like checking your top news feed.

Oh look, Jim and Amy are arguing over coffee — looks like someone’s relationship is complicated: That’s so interesting.

Maybe I should check it out — 30 minutes wasted.

Realistically, the competition between the Rock and the SciLi is probably the most overrated thing to come to Brown since Sean Combs.

areas separated by target decibel levels.

Prime real estate spots are group study rooms that you often have to reserve in advance. The upper floors are primarily deserted with the occasional student looking to study in a quiet place.

In a sense, all of the SciLi’s main attributes contribute to a more social setting.

The study rooms are group study rooms meant to inspire cooperation. It’s hard to not know someone in the SciLi, and odds are you’ll likely be drawn into a conversation at least once per visit.

Just compare the SciLi waiting area to that of the Rock. The Rock’s entrance is barely used — non-peak hours see fewer people there than in a Russian Lit class.

The barren foyer is symbolic of the Rock in general. It’s just inherently more diffuse.

People are spread out throughout the five floors at desks in the stacks, and a significantly smaller portion of students work in the first floor’s more public setting. Finally, for those who’d rather be working in a vacuum, there’s always the absolute quiet room — though I hear that one’s a bit over-

rated. Regardless, working in the stacks is especially quiet. The average stack student is quite irascible, becoming irritated at the sound of footsteps.

The basic overview of the two libraries shows that the SciLi is better for group work and the Rock for individual efforts.

The problem with this analysis is that being better for group work is not exactly unique to a library. Anyone can find the same atmosphere the SciLi provides at Smith-Buonanno Hall or J. Walter Wilson.

The SciLi’s glut of computers can be recreated if everyone brings their laptop. In essence, the SciLi is a glorified Smitty-B with books or a poor man’s Blue Room.

That’s not to say the SciLi doesn’t have any value. The fact that it’s open 24 hours is a plus for those who study late, though I’d wonder if diminishing marginal returns might kick into play for those studying until 6 a.m. But not all studying is about relying on other people. A quiet, calm environment is ideal for achieving studying’s end.

To put it a different way, when studying for an exam, it’s nice to have some quiet time with your thoughts, sans distractions. The Rock, with its post-Zombie apocalypse levels of quiet, provides that in spades.

Chip Lebovitz ’14 directs desperate Republicans to Sam Plotner if they still need another presidential candidate. He can be reached at charles_lebovitz@brown.edu.

Daily Herald Sports Friday the Brown

Friday, October 7, 2011

Tony’s terrible tragedy

Football

Holy Cross last station before Ivy play resumes

By Ashley Mcdonnell Sports Editor

Coming off a resounding 3521 victory over the University of Rhode Island to reclaim the Governor’s Cup Saturday night, the football team will host Holy Cross Saturday in its final nonconference game of the season.

“We know we’re facing another really good team,” said co-captain quarterback Kyle Newhall-Caballero ’11.5. “It’s a really good test for us before we get into league play.”

Recent matchups between the Bears (2-1, 0-1 Ivy) and Holy Cross (2-2) have been close. In 2010, the Crusaders edged out Bruno 17-13 in Worcester, Mass.

The season before, the Bears eked out a 34-31 victory on a field goal in the game’s final seconds.

This year’s contest should be another tight matchup. Despite falling 39-32 last weekend to No. 7 University of New Hampshire (3-1), the Crusaders generated over 500 yards of offense and hung with a top-10 FCS team.

By Sam Sheehan Sports Columnist

Emily Gilbert / Herald

Kyle Rettig ‘12 and Clayton McGrath ‘12 look to inspire another large turnout as the Bears take on Holy Cross tomorrow.

Head Coach Phil Estes said quarterback Ryan Taggart is Holy Cross’ most potent weapon. Taggart threw for 412 yards and two touchdowns and was the leading rusher with 55 yards against UNH. Overall, he is the secondbest rusher on the team with 118 yards total, behind starting running back Reggie Woods. “(Taggart’s) offense does a very good job of keeping you offbalance,” Estes said. “He does a good job of finding open receivers.

We’re going to have to find a way

to disguise coverages to confuse the quarterback, but also we have to do a good job of breaking their protection.”

But Brown’s Newhall-Caballero has also been a force on offense this season. Against URI (1-3), he threw for 203 yards and had four touchdowns, two in the air and two on the ground. He has been named Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week two of the past three weeks.

Every time Newhall-Caballero has faced Holy Cross, it has been a

quarterback battle, he said.

“Most of them have been aerial shootouts,” he said. “They execute.

It’s just a matter of us executing better than them.”

Against URI, the Bears struck a consistent balance between the passing and rushing attacks. Running back John Spooney ’14 ran for a career-high 97 yards, and fellow back Mark Kachmer ’13 was a weapon both as a rusher and receiver. He ran for 37 yards continued on page 8

equestrian

Team hopes to gallop to nationals

By Dan jeon Contributing Writer

Emily Gilbert / Herald

Eric Robertson ‘13 and the Bears look to rise to the occasion Saturday night.

M. Soccer

Bears find worms in Big Apple

By Sam Rubinroit Assistant Sports Editor

The men’s soccer team endured two matchups decided in double overtime in New York City, falling to Columbia 2-1 before battling No. 9 St. John’s to a 0-0 draw.

Columbia 2, Brown 1

The Bears (5-4-1, 0-1 Ivy)

opened conference play Saturday on the road against Columbia (4-51, 1-0) on a tough note, suffering a 2-1 loss in double overtime.

“The Ivy League is such a competitive league that every win is going to be very tight,” said Head Coach Patrick Laughlin. “There are going to be moments that decide continued on page 8

The equestrian team is heading into the season with high hopes after winning the Ivy League Championship last year and placing just short of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association Nationals. This season, the team will have one goal: making it to Nationals .

Equestrian involves competing in various horse shows and accumulating points throughout the season.

“We go to a horse show, and we’re given a random horse to ride on,” said Allison Dungey ’13.

In the shows, riders are scored on showmanship, proper handling and technique.

“It’s all about looking good as you’re on your horse,” said Laura Kirk ’14.

There are different divisions in equestrian, ranging from walk-trot for beginners to the open class for more advanced riders.

“It’s not about being the best, but you need to be the best for your tier,” Kirk said.

Dungey and Kirk compete in the intermediate fences and walktrot, respectively. Both riders have been significant contributors to the team’s past success and its Ivy League championship titles.

Dungey and Kirk emphasized

the occasional difficulty of riding a different horse each show.

“They have personalities that are very distinct from each other,” Kirk said. “Sometimes, you have to show them you’re in charge.”

Led by Head Coach Michaela Scanlon, the team will open its season with a show against Johnson and Wales Oct. 8 in Rehoboth, Mass. The Bears will be pitted against other Rhode Island schools throughout the fall season, such as Roger Williams and the University of Rhode Island, a perennial rival. During its fall campaign last year, the team breezed through the competition, placing first in five of six shows.

At last year’s Zone Championships — the final hurdle the team faced before the IHSA Nationals — the team placed third overall, behind Mt. Holyoke and the University of New Hampshire, which was one place shy of qualifying for nationals. The team, inspired by last season’s disappointing finish, will be working hard throughout the year to ensure its spot at this spring’s championships.

Dungey and Kirk pointed to Rebecca McGoldrick ’12 and Lindsay Wong ’13 as the two most skilled riders on the team, both of whom will be competing for the title of the top rider in the region.

The captain of collapses. The man who is constantly redefining chokes.

The best loser in the history of the NFL. Tony Romo’s been called all of these things, and not without reason. The embattled Dallas Cowboys quarterback found himself on the receiving end of pundit and fan ire this week after throwing three interceptions to help the Detroit Lions mount a comeback win last Sunday. With the Cowboys holding a staggering 27-3 lead with less than 26 minutes left, Romo and the Cowboys’ offense took to the field aiming to deliver the back-breaking touchdown that would effectively seal the game.

Then Romo threw a pick six.

And just like that, his Pandora’s box opened yet again.

The rejuvenated Lions offense marched all over a previously staunch Cowboys defense. Calvin Johnson showed why they call him Megatron, catching two touchdown passes as a part of the Lions’ roaring comeback.

Meanwhile, Romo threw two more picks, one of which was also returned for a touchdown. The cherry on top of the “Oh god, is Tony really doing this again?” sundae was his baffling call on the Cowboys’ final chance of the game.

On a fourth-and-20, Romo threw an under route pass to Felix Jones that was only good for seven yards.

Game over. Yet another Romo meltdown completed.

America loves it! Why feel bad for Romo? The guy is the quarterback for the second-wealthiest sports franchise in the world. Before he got married this spring, Romo went through model girlfriends like Kleenex. That marriage, by the way, was to a former beauty pageant winner. (He apparently loved being a stereotype.) Romo also caused some controversy when he was dating Jessica Simpson and a picture surfaced of the couple in Mexico right before a big playoff game.

Romo’s career can be summed up in one picture of him sitting dejectedly after muffing the hold for a game-winning field goal in the 2007 playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks. A womanizing, overblown, spoiled young kid who just cannot get his football act together. Bench him, Dallas! Bench that bum! continued on page 9