Monday, October 24, 2011

Daily

Herald

the Brown

vol. cxlvi, no. 92

Monday, October 24, 2011

Since 1891

U. to create Corporation affirms office on ROTC, athletics recs campus for ROTC

By Shefali Luthra Senior Staff Writer

By Tony Bakshi News Editor

The Corporation instructed the University to create an office to support veterans and students interested in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at its meeting this weekend.

The Corporation also affirmed Simmons’ recommendation to maintain the University’s campus ban on ROTC programs and endorsed her recommendation that the University explore ways for Brown students to participate in ROTC programs at nearby campuses. Simmons released her recommendations in an email to the campus community Oct. 19.

Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron said the Corporation’s “thoughtful and ultimately beneficial” decision reinforced Simmons’ message of expanding opportunities for students interested in ROTC. “We should be thinking about the kind of support we offer servicemen and women on campus, and this office is an outgrowth of that,” Bergeron said.

Details of the new office have not yet been determined, but Bergeron said it will be an extension of the current ROTC liaison within the Office of the Dean of the College.

Jonathan Tollefson ’15, a member of the Brown Coalition Against Special Privileges for ROTC, said he thinks the decision to expand continued on page 3

In its first meeting since President Ruth Simmons announced her decision to step down at the end of the academic year, the Corporation approved Simmons’ Reserve Officers’ Training Corp and athletics recommendations.

The Corporation, the University’s highest governing body, meets every October, February and May. It convened Saturday to address the search for Simmons’ successor, means of “continuing the momentum” generated by the Plan for Academic Enrichment, tenure practices and ways of adapting to the University’s diminishing revenue, Simmons wrote in an email to the community.

Simmons’ recommendations on athletics and ROTC, which she released last week, closed discussions that began last year. She rec-

ommended against bringing ROTC back to campus but said the University should explore establishing more cross-curricular programs with other universities.

Simmons recommended giving the men’s and women’s fencing, women’s ski and men’s wrestling teams a year to raise funds for the program outside University resources. She also called for an increase in teams’ Academic Indices — a quantitative measure that indicates recruits’ academic aptitude — and for the elimination of 20 admissions slots reserved for recruits.

Director of Athletics Michael Goldberger said the details of implementation “need to be worked out.” But teams are “very close” to raising funds that would secure their statuses, he said. The elimination of admissions spots will be “hard, but not impossible,” he said.

Kat Thornton / Herald

continued on page 3

Members of the Corporation attended the Medical Education building’s official dedication Friday evening.

See full coverage on page 2.

Ne ws in brief

Football

Defense, QB lead Bears over Big Red By ashley mcdonnell Sports Editor

The football team defeated Cornell 35-24 with a combination of strong red zone defense and explosive offense Saturday in Ithaca. The Big Red (2-4, 0-3 Ivy) marched down the field and into the red zone six times, but the Bears (5-1, 2-1) forced Cornell to settle for field goals thrice. Co-captain quarterback Kyle Newhall-Caballero ’11.5 contributed to four of Bruno’s five

touchdowns on the day, passing for two and rushing for two more.

“Cornell moved the ball through the air very, very well,” said Head Coach Phil Estes. “When the field got short, our defense got tougher.”

Though the Bears were victorious in the end, the Big Red burst out of the gate. After a 55-yard return on the opening kickoff, Cornell started its drive on Brown’s 33-yard line and made quick work of the short field. Less than two minutes into the game, the Bears

found themselves in a 7-0 hole.

The Bears were unable to convert on third-and-one on their first drive and had to punt the ball back to Cornell. On Bruno’s next possession, the drive again seemed to stall, and the offense faced a fourth-and-five on the Big Red’s 32-yard line. But the Bears decided to go for the first and picked it up on a completion to Matthew Sudfeld ’11.5. Only two continued on page 4

Occupy spurs discourse with U.’s one percent

Corrine Szczesny / Herald

inside

Thirty students occupied the Main Green Friday night, advocating change.

news....................2-3 Sports....................4 EDItorial...............6 Opinions................7 ARTS..........................8

It was 9 p.m. Friday, and 15 Occupiers — participants from Occupy College Hill and Occupy Providence — sat in a circle around a potluck dinner discussing semantics: Were the issues they planned to present to the Corporation the next morning grievances or demands?

Occupy College Hill organized the event One Night Stand to allow for group discussion of complaints regarding University practices. The camp-out on the Main Green was scheduled to immediately precede

TransOptions Pro-Project ResLife may offer genderneutral rooms for first-years

College encourages students to take on capstone projects

News, 2

News, 3

Saturday’s semi-annual meeting of the Corporation, the University’s highest governing body.

The discussion inevitably led to a more poignant debate — what kind of collateral did the group possess to persuade the Corporation to listen?

“What power building have you done?” asked Jay Willis, a Seattle native who has been a part of Occupy Providence since its inception. “If you don’t have any weight to throw, you look silly,” Willis said.

“You mess with the guys who have money, they’re going to come down

Disaster relief trucks crowded Thayer Street yesterday after a fire broke out at Kabob and Curry. The fire, which ignited in the morning, caused “a bit of damage,” said restaurant owner Sanjiv Dhar.

Nitin Jindal, a manager at Rasoi — a restaurant in Pawtucket owned by Dhar — confirmed that the fire started in the kitchen near the oven hood. Neither Jindal nor Rasoi could confirm the cause of the fire.

Kabob and Curry was closed for the rest of the day Sunday. Dhar said he hopes the restaurant will reopen within a day or two, but is not sure that will be possible.

Clean Care of New England — a construction and emergency response company — was seen working Sunday evening to repair the damage.

Dhar said the temporary closure will not affect the restaurant’s catering services, including entree deliveries to the Blue Room, because the Pawtucket restaurant has the capacity to take on the extra business until repairs are completed.

— Katrina Phillips

continued on page 3

Unoccupy

Johnson ’14 suggests better uses of time

Opinions, 7

weather

By Elizabeth carr Senior Staff Writer

Kabob and Curry closed by fire

t o d ay

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Meet the Media: NPR,

“Creating a Spending Plan,”

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Interracial Dating Forum,

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VERNEy-WOOLLEY DINING HALL LUNCH Cheese and Pepperoni French Bread Pizza, Green Beans with Tomatoes

Gnocchi alla Sorrentina, Italian Vegetable Saute, Chicken Fajitas with Accompaniments DINNER Braised Chicken, Seafood Cavatelli, Red Potato Frittata, Vegan Acorn Squash, Pear Pie

Country Style Baked Ham, Toasted Ravioli with Italian Salsa, Cream Cheese Brownies

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The Brown Daily Herald Monday, October 24, 2011

Med Ed dedication touts U.’s growth

By Kat Thornton Senior Staff Writer

The new Medical Education Building glowed brightly against dark Jewelry District streets at its official dedication Friday evening.

Politicians and members of the Brown community praised Alpert Medical School’s development, which is advancing Providence’s knowledge district and the bounds of national medicine.

The ceremony started with a formal procession of honorary degree recipients dressed in full gowns. Herbert Kaplan, chairman and CEO of Warren Equities and president of the Warren Alpert Foundation, joined their ranks later in the night, receiving a degree of his own. Providence Mayor Angel Taveras also honored Kaplan, proclaiming Oct. 21 “Herbert Kaplan Day” and presenting him with a key to the city.

Members of the Corporation — the University’s highest governing body — and other prominent figures mingled in the building’s foyer before the dedication. It was the first time most Corporation members had seen the building.

“It’s miraculous, the transfor-

mation,” said Chancellor Emeritus Stephen Robert ’62 P’91, who said he saw the factory building before its renovation.

Chancellor Thomas Tisch ’76 opened the ceremony, thanking President Ruth Simmons, the late Warren Alpert and others who contributed time and resources to the new building.

“The students now have a home, and they call it home,” said Edward Wing, dean of medicine and biological sciences. Students can work harder and professors can teach better in the building, he said, noting the 24-hour study spaces. ­­He quoted Phillip Grupusso, associate dean for medical education, who said he feels “inspired” to teach in the facility.

The building symbolizes growth, both for the University and for the city’s economy, Wing said.

“It’s an exciting time of collaboration,” said Gov. Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14, “And it is anchored by this Med School.”

Simmons emphasized the extension of the University’s reach beyond College Hill. The presence of the mace, the ceremonial staff used to lead processions of Brown degree recipients, on the other side of the

Providence River, carries “tremendous” symbolism, she said, calling the building “a triumph for the city and state, as well as Brown.”

Simmons presented Kaplan, Warren Alpert’s nephew, with an honorary degree for the stewardship of Alpert’s funds toward the Med School.

Keynote speaker Darrell Kirch, president and CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges, spoke candidly about the need for change in the nation’s “unsustainable” medical system, which he said suffers from problems of access and equality. “We now have a responsibility to try and deal with the problems we face,” Kirch said, and the Med School and the development of the Jewelry District can be part of the solution.

“The pieces are all here, converging,” Kirch said. Now that the new building is open, the University can accelerate progress toward excellence at a time that is crucial to the country’s medical system, he said.

The Med Ed building officially opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Aug. 15. The dedication was postponed until the October meeting of the Corporation.

Gender-neutral housing gains traction

By Caitlin Trujillo Senior Staff Writer

Cr ossword

The Office of Residential Life has been working with undergraduates on a proposal to allow first-years to opt in to gender-neutral housing, said Richard Bova, senior associate dean of residential and dining services. Queer Alliance is collecting signatures for the proposal, which it expects to present to ResLife within the next two weeks. The proposal will then go to the Office of Campus Life and Student Services for approval.

The Queer Alliance is recommending ResLife include a question on the New Student Housing Questionnaire for incoming first-year students that would allow them to be assigned a roommate assignment regardless of gender. Though gender neutral rooms could exist in any first-year residence hall, the proposal specifically names Emery and Woolley halls because of their private bathrooms.

GenderAction, a subgroup of Queer Alliance, aims to offer more comfortable housing to students

Daily

the Brown

who do not fit within the gender binary, said Maddy Jennewein ’14, co-president of GenderAction. Under the proposal, the gender-neutral option would be open to all incoming first-year students. Past proposals have failed due to a narrow focus on transgender issues, she said.

The current system is “a lot of work” for students who do not identify as strictly male or female because they have to negotiate with ResLife to change their room assignments, Jennewein said. “It seems like a small thing, but it’s a big barrier if students have to pick up the phone to call ResLife to get appropriate housing,” she said.

Gender-neutral housing for firstyears was first considered in 2006, when ResLife adopted the current housing lottery system, Jennewein said. When the University approved the gender-neutral option for upperclass doubles in 2008, discussion reached the level of the Corporation. It is not clear if the Corporation would consider a proposal for implementation of gender-neutral housing for first-years, she said.

ResLife suggested GenderAc-

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tion gather names to gauge student opinion in early October, Jennewein said. The group hopes to present the names to ResLife within the next two weeks and then present the proposal with ResLife to the Office of Campus Life and Student Services, she said.

The goal is to collect at least 600 names, which would represent about 10 percent of the student body, Jennewein said. Over 400 names have been collected so far, including those of 60 alums, she said.

Emily Walsh ’13, who said she lived with a student two years ago who identified as “genderqueer and transquestioning,” signed the proposal. Though Walsh said she and her roommate lived amicably, she remembers the email that the student had sent her, letting her know that he did not identify as female.

Walsh said the situation made her wonder what would have happened if she had not been comfortable with her roommate situation. Genderneutral housing would help students who identify as transgender or gender-variant feel more comfortable, she said.

The proposal seems like a good idea for students who identify as transgender or genderqueer, so long as both roommates opt in to the living situation, said Tene Johnson ’14, who lives in gender-neutral housing this year with a male friend. But incoming first-year students might not opt in because they do not know their roommate, she said.

Ramsey Jeremie ’12 said the proposal was appropriate because transgender and gender-variant issues are often overlooked by the University. Allowing students to choose a gender-neutral living situation “does more good than harm,” he concluded.

Campus News 3

The Brown Daily Herald Monday, October 24, 2011

Funding, tenure Capstone requirement unrealized addressed at meeting continued from page 1 The weekend also marked the first meeting of the two committees tasked with choosing the University’s next president. Chancellor Thomas Tisch ’76, spokesman for the committees, was not available for comment after the meeting.

But Marisa Quinn, vice president for public affairs and University relations, wrote in an email to The Herald that the committees had “a productive session” in planning how best to involve the community in the presidential search.

The search will involve several community forums, the first of which will take place early next month.

The Corporation also addressed the issue of how best to “deploy the capacity” produced by the Plan for Academic Enrichment, said Provost Mark Schlissel P’15. Schlissel said administrators will consult faculty members and deans to brainstorm academic foci for the University.

The University will likely focus some of its momentum and funds on strengthening the School of Engineering and the Institute for Brain Science, he added.

Though the University has no plans to initiate another major fundraising campaign, Schlissel said administrators did “discuss priorities for raising resources” and are “definitely attempting” to raise funds for new projects.

The search for a new president will not slow the University’s initiative to develop programs and identify new priorities, he said. “We want to keep moving forward on the many projects and ideas that we’ve taken on, and then the new president will join us,” he said.

Schlissel also joined Dean of the Faculty Kevin McLaughlin P’12 in presenting multiple reports about tenure practices.

The reports were commissioned last February to specify the impact of the faculty-approved revisions to the tenure process. They were meant to address three points, McLaughlin said: the best practices for hiring and mentoring faculty, appropriate faculty tenure ratios and how administrators would ensure “quality” tenure decisions.

The documents established an appropriate tenure ratio of between 70 and 75 percent, McLaughlin said.

Currently, the University’s tenure rate falls around 76 percent, he added.

Before addressing the Corporation, McLaughlin presented the documents to the Faculty Executive Committee, the Academic Priorities Committee, department chairs and the Tenure, Promotions and Appointments Committee. The presentations mostly consisted of informing the faculty of the documents’ contents, McLaughlin said, though they did change a “couple of details” in the documents based on the discussions.

McLaughlin, Schlissel and Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences Ed Wing will present again before the Corporation at its February meeting.

Officials also presented the University’s annual financial statement to the Corporation, addressing the diminishing growth of revenue.

Beppie Huidekoper, executive vice president for finance and administration, said an important part of the Corporation’s discussion was acknowledging “this is going to be a challenging two years” and prioritizing University projects.

The Corporation also approved over $30 million worth of gifts and donations, including $15 million donated by Tisch for “University priorities.” Schlissel said the money will likely be used for academic initiatives like the School of Engineering, the Institute for Brain Science and the creation of a school of public health.

General Motors gave $1.6 million to maintain a joint research lab with the University. The University has not been “particularly successful” in generating corporate revenues, but it is something administrators hope to improve upon, Huidekoper said. Particularly, she said, Dean of Engineering Larry Larson hopes to bring in more corporate donations for engineering.

The Corporation also established a new IBM Professorship of Applied Mathematics and renamed a visiting professor to the existing IBM Visiting Professorship for Applied Mathematics.

Undergrads react to ROTC decision continued from page 1 support for ROTC is “undercutting the University’s stance against discrimination as a whole.”

“You can’t really get around the fact that participation in the military is categorically denied to transgendered individuals,” he said.

Andrew Sia ’12, a member of the Students for ROTC organization, said he was “pretty disappointed” in the Corporation’s decision not to lift the ban on ROTC. The University could have been the first in Rhode

Island to provide Naval or Air Force ROTC programs, he said. “We could have been a leader and improved our state’s relations with the military.” Sia said he approved of the decision to create a ROTC office but questioned its usefulness.

“I’m glad they’re making at least a little bit of effort with the office,” Sia said. “But if students have to travel and make a two-hour round trip to (the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) , for instance, I’d be really interested to see how the office can help students participate.”

By Tonya Riley Contributing Writer

The 2008 recommendation from the Task Force on Undergraduate Education that senior capstone projects be made mandatory for all students generated campus-wide discussion about the nature of the projects and their role in the senior experience.

The Office of the Dean of the College has yet to institute any requirements, which could take the form of senior theses, research projects, internships, art installations, performances or significant involvement in a student group or activity. Capstone projects are primarily the jurisdiction of individual departments.

Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron said many departments have independently decided to add more options for seniors. The economics department, for example, debuted new advanced seminars for seniors earlier this year, and the art history department is considering requiring a final reflective essay for concentrators.

Besenia Rodriguez ’00, associate dean of the College for research and upperclass studies, said senior

participation in capstones has increased since the recommendation.

Though the Office of the Dean of the College does not keep exact statistics, Rodriguez estimated approximately 60 percent of students complete some sort of capstone based on the information given to her office by departments.

Bergeron said ongoing discussion about capstones has led to bigger issues, including making sure concentrations “articulate something.”

Capstone projects give students the opportunity to “integrate many aspects of the Brown education,” Bergeron said. “The really critical notion is that you’re putting something together for yourself before you leave this campus,” she said.

Christina Skonberg ’12, who is currently writing a research paper examining the relationship between cattle ranching in Brazil and deforestation in the Amazon for her independent concentration in agricultural sciences and food policy, said capstones are a “great way to develop student and faculty relationships.”

Dore Levy, professor of comparative literature, said she thinks capstones can be important, but

it would be impractical to require all seniors to complete a project.

Since faculty advising students on capstones still have to teach their normal course loads and get no additional funding, the projects can create a strain on professors, she said.

In her experience, Levy said she noticed capstones tend to fall disproportionately on the professors in more popular departments or those with more popular classes.

But Jan Tullis, professor of geological sciences, said she believes that even though sponsoring senior projects is not a formal part of the teaching load, it is still a responsibility of professors and one that she thinks is an important part of teaching.

Tullis said she thinks capstones can be a “transformative experience” because they can help students make the leap from simply learning to actually “doing.” They can help students figure out how to integrate what they’ve learned in their four years, she said.

“You get to go out and practice interpreting the real world,” Tullis said. “Often textbooks present an idealized, clean version of the world, but it’s actually quite messy.”

Occupiers air grievances on Green continued from page 1 on you,” he added.

“The culture in every society is that everyone is so accustomed to not having power,” said Doug McDonald ’13, arguing that the Occupy movement is the beginning of a cultural shift that will allow the masses to find real power.

“The point of this movement is confronting these really great powers,” said Julie Pittman ’12, one of the organizers of the event.

Ultimately, the group decided it would present grievances to the Corporation in hopes of opening a dialogue about what could be done to improve the University.

The specific grievances were to be determined through discussions over the course of the night and during the next morning’s teachins.

The University’s lack of support for the Providence community was discussed as a major concern. As a nonprofit, Brown is not required to pay property taxes, and it instead contributes voluntary payments to the city. As one of the city’s largest institutions, the University would pay about $30 million annually in taxes if it were to pay in full, the Occupiers said.

“Brown makes a shit-ton of money,” said Kevin Casto ’13. The University can afford to pay taxes to a city that desperately needs the funds, he said. The local education system is particularly suffering, he noted, referencing the four elementary schools closed in May to reduce the city’s budget deficit by $10 million.

Occupiers also criticized the University’s investment practices, expressing discomfort with the

lack of transparency. “We have no idea where that money is going,” said Becca Rast ’13.5. The University’s investment portfolio may not match up with the liberal ideals it purports to champion, she said.

The group identified the Corporation’s structure as severely undemocratic due to the lack of transparency and student involvement. “The Corporation is made up of a bunch of investment bankers and (expletive) CEOs,” Casto said.

“We need to make it clear that what they’re doing is not okay,” he said.

At 9 a.m. Saturday, Corporation members began filing into University Hall. They were greeted by about 30 Occupiers fresh from a night sleeping under the stars, fueled by a hot breakfast donated by Loui’s Family Restaurant, armed with slips listing their grievances and ready to play what Pittman called “the spot-the-Corporationmember game.”

Most Corporation members hurried past the Occupiers, but those who stopped to chat seemed interested in talking, Rast said.

“The world is far from perfect. We need your help,” said Chancellor Emeritus Stephen Robert ’62 P’91, wishing the group luck. “They’re all good questions. They deserve to be answered.”

Kevin McLaughlin P’12, dean of the faculty, suggested the possibility of a public discussion facilitated by faculty members to address the grievances. “I wonder if this is a teaching moment,” he said.

Rev. Janet Cooper Nelson, University chaplain, had expressed concern that the Occupiers might disrupt a memorial service taking place at Manning Chapel, but the protestors were careful to quietly

respect the ceremony.

“The students have been wonderful,” said James Campbell, associate dean for student life, who spent the morning on the Main Green to watch over the event.

About 50 participants from Occupy Providence marched up the hill that morning to show solidarity with the Occupiers on campus.

Many seemed hopeful about the movement’s prospects at the collegiate level.

“This is something that’s going to take a long time,” said Providence resident Michael McCarthy, adding that many of the Occupy protestors will need to return to their families and jobs. “They can’t keep it up but students can.”

The Occupiers held a teach-in during the Corporation’s meeting and formalized their grievances in a letter they ceremonially taped to the door of University Hall in what Pittman described as “Martin Luther style.”

“This is history,” she said.

“I really believe in what students are able to accomplish, but they have to be willing to do it,” McCarthy said. “They might miss handing in a paper. They might have to tell a professor they’re a part of a worldwide movement.”

Andrew Stewart, a local documentary filmmaker, joined the students of Occupy College Hill to vocalize his concern with the University’s early ties to slavery and the University founders’ associations with what is now Bank of America. He expressed excitement about the movement at Brown and across the country.

“This is definitely the last thing I ever expected,” he said. “But I think this is a beautiful thing.”

4 Sports Monday Field Hockey

Scrum-ptious

Bears still looking for first Ivy win By madeleine Wenstrup Sports Staff Writer

The field hockey team fell to Cornell Saturday afternoon in Ithaca, dropping its fifth Ivy League game of the season. The Bears (3-11, 0-5 Ivy) matched two of the Big Red’s goals, but Cornell (7-8, 1-4) pushed through and came away with a 4-2 win.

Just six minutes into the first half, the Big Red’s Brown 2 l e a d i n g Cornell 4 s c o r e r, Brittany Thompson, received a pass at the 25-yard line and charged through Bruno’s defense. Goalie Shannon McSweeney ’15 came out of the net to cut off the angle, but Thompson maneuvered around her and scored into an open net to put Cornell on the board, 1-0.

Brown answered right back.

Just 3:42 after Cornell’s first goal, forward Kit Masini ’12 received a pass that popped over her left shoulder. The pass allowed her to escape her defender and spurred a one-on-one with Cornell goalie Alex Botte, whom she beat to even the score.

But Bruno was not given much time to celebrate. The Big Red

struck again in the 11th minute after Thompson stole the ball on the Bears’ side and pushed it forward to Hannah Balleza, who then crossed it to Kat DiPastina for the score.

Cornell secured its lead with another first-half goal to go into halftime with a comfortable 3-1 lead.

“We weren’t playing together as well as we’d hoped,” Masini said. “It wasn’t clicking quite right.”

After the break, the Bears put on the pressure and went on the offensive for 11 minutes. The push paid off when Abigail Taft ’12 turned a pass from Kelley Harrison ’13 into a goal to put Brown back in the game 3-2.

“We said at halftime that we need to go back to playing our own game,” Masini said. “We came out ready to come back and to turn it around.”

But a goal by the Big Red in the last 10 minutes of play secured the win. Thompson converted a penalty corner to put the final score at 4-2.

Cornell had the offensive advantage, leading 18-10 in shots, 10-8 in shots on goal and 8-3 in penalty corners.

The Bears are back in action Tuesday when they host Holy Cross for a 4 p.m. non-conference contest.

The Brown Daily Herald Monday, October 24, 2011

Angel Mojarro / Herald

Brown’s rugby team squashed Yale this weekend 53-10.

Bruno’s defense quells Big Red rush attack continued from page 1 plays later, Newhall-Caballero connected with Jimmy Saros ’12 for a 27-yard touchdown to tie the game 7-7. By the end of the first quarter, Cornell had tacked on a field goal to take a 10-7 lead.

On its next possession, Bruno again decided to take a chance on a fourth-and-six at Cornell’s 36.

Newhall-Caballero once again

found Saros, this time for an 18yard gain and a new set of downs.

Newhall-Caballero carried the ball in himself on a two-yard run, putting Brown up 14-10.

Before the end of the half, the Bears tacked on another score on a 91-yard drive. Newhall-Caballero threw a 42-yard pass to Saros and ran for two more big gains — one for 19 yards and another for 14 yards and a touchdown. NewhallCaballero had a career-high 43 yards rushing and went 22 for 33 for 256 yards on the game.

Running back John Spooney ’14 led the team with 156 yards rushing, the first time a Bear has rushed for over 100 yards since 2009. Most of Spooney’s yardage came on an 81-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter for Brown’s final score of the day, which put the Bears up 35-16 heading into the fourth.

But Spooney also surrendered three fumbles, two of which the Big Red recovered.

On the other side of the ball, the Bears’ defense again put forth a stellar performance, building off last week’s 34-0 shutout of Princeton (1-5, 0-3). Six Bears racked up sacks on Cornell quarterback Jeff Mathews, including Matthew O’Donnell ’12, who sacked Mathews for a 12-yard loss on third down in the red zone.

“There were some great rushes by defensive ends on the edge,” Estes said. “It was just kind of changing things up, trying to put pressure on (Mathews), to have different people come from different angles.”

Mathews threw for 402 yards, the fifth time in Cornell history a quarterback has thrown for over 400 yards in a single game. Two Big Red receivers, Shane Savage and Kurt Ondash, had over 100 yards receiving.

The Bears completely shut down Cornell’s rushing attack, holding them to 16 net yards on the ground.

The win over the Big Red keeps Bruno in the race for the Ivy League title. But the Bears’ two conference wins have come against struggling Princeton and Cornell teams. Next week, Bruno will face two-time defending champion Penn (4-2, 3-0) at Brown Stadium. The Quakers, who are currently undefeated and at the top of the league, will carry an 18-game Ivy win streak into the high-stakes affair.

“It isn’t about all four games we have left — it’s about the one game we play this weekend,” Estes said.

“We just need to play better than Penn this weekend. We don’t need to out-stat them. We just need to have more points when the clock hits zero.”

Emily Gilbert / Herald

Newhall-Caballero ’11.5 rushed for a career-high 43 yards in Saturday’s game.

5

The Brown Daily Herald Monday, October 24, 2011

Ne ws in brief

Runners dash for charity Seventy-six runners and walkers finished the one-mile downhill course through campus at the fourth annual Dash for Diabetes Saturday morning.

The participants — students, faculty, alums and Providence residents — raised about $3,000 this year, said Daniel Prada ’12, an organizer of the event. The student-run fundraiser has raised over $10,000 over its four-year history.

Though the run’s main goal was to raise money for diabetes research, the event was not devoid of competition. The winner, local resident Steve Brightman, 42, finished the race with a time of four minutes, 42 seconds.

“Oh yeah, I was running to win,” Brightman said.

Jaap Ruoff ’13 said he was “a little disappointed two guys beat me who were twice my age.”

Many student groups came out together in support of the cause, including the women’s lacrosse team and six students from the Latin American Student Organization.

Professor Robert Dobrzynski Jr., assistant professor of medicine at the Alpert Medical School, ran with his three young children.

The cheerful and colorful runners — some women’s lacrosse team members dressed up as crayons — met at Josiah’s after the race for prizes and a raffle.

“People stay for a good time,” said organizer Paul Shamirian ’12.

Nicole Corrao, a representative from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, gave a brief speech at Jo’s thanking the fundraisers for their work.

Aid packages remain stagnant

By Corinne Cathcart Contributing Writer

The University has been unable to increase aid packages to faculty and staff to subsidize their children’s undergraduate education due to budget concerns.

The Tuition Aid Program, a benefit provided by the Human Resources Department, currently provides up to $10,000 to faculty and staff to help pay for each of their children’s undergraduate tuitions. Because tuition costs across the country have steadily increased in recent years, the Benefits Office wanted to raise the amount of aid it doles out. But the recent economic downturn has prohibited an increase to the aid package, said Drew Murphy, director of benefits.

The office also discussed doing a “benchmarking study with peer institutions” to study similar programs, according to the Human Resources Advisory Board’s Annual Report from 2010. Though the study was put on hold due to financial constraints, Murphy said the office is still periodically checking in with peer institutions.

Kimberly Almeida, benefits financial manager, said some form of the tuition program has been around since the University’s founding and has remained largely unchanged. The biggest change occurred in 2002 when the standard rate was set at up to $10,000 per child, Murphy said.

Though the office is not able to increase the subsidy, both Murphy and Almeida said the current

program is not in danger of disappearing.

Because the rate is equalized, the benefit is not taxed, which many faculty and staff seem to appreciate, Murphy said. The benefit is also applied toward each child who attends college.

The benefit can be applied to “virtually any school,” Murphy said. “In the past few years, we have rarely had to turn anyone away,” Almeida said.

Robert Boland, professor of psychiatry and human behavior, who has a son that is a junior at Drew University, said he was glad the program was in place at the University because he had heard from colleagues at other institutions that they were not provided the same benefit.

comics Uni the Unicomic | Eva Chen and Dan Sack

— Izzy Rattner

Festival celebrates Liszt’s energy, charisma continued from page 8 composer for people who don’t listen to music much. … He gives you something to relate to,” said Dana Gooley, associate professor of music. For this reason, Gooley, who organized most of the festival, said she hopes it will inspire students from outside the department, as well as the community at large, to take interest in Liszt’s life and work.

And that was something that was all the rage in the 19th century.

Liszt’s impassioned performances had audiences in a tizzy like never before — ladies swooned, people fought over his discarded handkerchiefs and, if eBay had existed, entrepreneurs would have hawked his old cigar butts. Poet Heinrich Heine termed the phenomenon “Lisztomania.”

“Liszt made it seem okay not to seem so proper. … There was a release of a kind of Dionysian energy that Liszt seemed to bring out,” Gooley said.

Gooley said one goal of the celebration is to extend awareness and appreciation for the artist beyond his more eminent works, including exposing Liszt as a biographical subject.

After beginning his career as a child prodigy in Paris, Liszt led the life of a traveler. Though he was a devout Catholic, he fathered three children out of wedlock and never married. His charisma and kindness led him to brush elbows with many other great composers of his day and influence their lives and works.

Historians continue to explore his infamous relationship with the mu-

sical genius and anti-Semite Richard Wagner, who eventually became his son-in-law.

“He was always provoking controversy,” Gooley said.

His generosity of spirit may have gotten Liszt into trouble, but it also led him to become a great teacher.

In the later part of his life, he taught such important pianists as Hans von Bulow, Arthur Friedheim and Emil von Sauer, and was known for encouraging his young pupils to break new ground.

In that spirit, students will be able to participate in a Liszt-style master class Nov. 4, taught by renowned piano virtuoso Kenneth Hamilton.

The festival’s major event will be concerts on Nov. 4 and 5 featuring Hamilton, the Brown Orchestra, the Brown Chorus and University Organist Mark Steinbach.

Daniel Harkett, assistant professor of history of art and visual culture at the Rhode Island School of Design, will contribute to a conversation about Liszt at a symposium Nov. 4. He will be joined by Hamilton, Baker, Gooley and Susan Bernstein, professor of comparative literature and German studies, who is also an expert on Liszt. Monika Hennemann, professor in the department of modern and classical languages and literatures at the University of Rhode Island, will round out the panel.

The festival will conclude with a final performance by Hamilton Nov. 6.

“I think of (Liszt) as a very open, giving soul who gave so much to music and the arts,” Baker said.

“We’ve got to bring him to the fore.”

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

6 Editorial & Letter Editorial

The Brown Daily Herald Monday, October 24, 2011

Editorial cartoon

by andre w antar

In defense of law school As The Herald recently reported, seniors considering law school are increasingly concerned that the investment may no longer pay off (“With downturn, some grads reconsider law,” Sept. 28). Today’s law degree recipients often graduate with enormous debt only to face a job market depleted by the recession. A Northwestern Law study concluded, for example, that “some 15,000 attorney and legal-staff jobs at large firms have vanished” since 2008.

Such facts understandably give pause to those considering a legal career. And it certainly is not easing applicants’ nerves to read newspaper articles relating tales of forlorn law graduates struggling to find any job, let alone one that takes advantage of their legal education.

But to those seniors tired of being cross-examined by friends and family skeptical of the law degree, rest assured: Law school remains a great post-graduation option.

Students at top-tier law schools, where Brown graduates generally matriculate, have been largely immune to the recession’s worst effects.

As Ross Cheit, associate professor of political science, told The Herald, “Demand for Yale Law School graduates doesn’t really change with the economy.” The same can be said about other top law schools.

Yet the downturn in legal job prospects raises issues that should concern any potential lawyer. Legal jobs are evaporating, but law schools are not responding by reducing class sizes. The reason is simple — schools profit from law degree candidates at a higher margin than virtually any other degree. In this regard, top tier schools are no different from their lower-ranked peers. Brunonians considering law school would therefore be wise to approach their search with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Ideally, a third party would help applicants concerned about relying too heavily on information provided by self-interested law schools.

Sadly, the U.S. News and World Report rankings can be extremely misleading and are open to manipulation. The rankings are “based entirely on unaudited surveys conducted by each law school,” meaning that crucial data is published without independent verification. Even accurate data can be deceiving. When reporting the percentage of graduates employed after nine months, for example, schools do not need to filter out jobs that do not require a law degree. For applicants, it is not useful to know that almost 100 percent of graduates find employment — they need to assess whether or not they will be able to find the kind of work that pays off six-figure student loan debts.

The American Bar Association, which maintains reporting guidelines used in U.S. News rankings, must reform this process in a meaningful way. Continuing to foster an environment where many end up hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt because they were misled about the costs and benefits of law school is morally reprehensible.

Luckily for Brown students, the College offers numerous advising services that help potential applicants make informed decisions about whether law school is a good choice. It is also encouraging that the number of law school applicants dropped significantly last year.

Hopefully, that means students are doing a better job realistically evaluating the costs and benefits of law school.

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

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

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letter to the editor Trustee Cohen part of a long tradition To the Editor: The story about Corporation Trustee Steven Cohen P’08 (“SEC again probing Corporation trustee,” Oct. 21), the latest Wall Street celebrity on the board, reminds me of a gibe I heard from a colleague in 1975: “Brown leads the Ivy League in felony indictments and

convictions,” referring of course to Judge Otto Kerner ’30, Charles Colson ’53 and E. Howard Hunt ’40.

Douglas Turner ’54 Note: Cohen has not been charged with or convicted of a crime.

quote of the day

“Brown makes a shit-ton of money.”

— Kevin Costa ‘13 See occupiers on page 3.

CorrectionS An article in Friday’s Herald (“To the beat of drums, a night at Burnside Park,” Oct. 21) incorrectly stated that the three editors spent Wednesday night at the park. They spent Tuesday night through Wednesday morning there. The Herald regrets the error.

A photograph accompanying an article in Friday’s Herald (“Multiplicity mystifies in PW’s ‘Dr. Faustus,’” Oct. 21) should have been credited to Evan Thomas. The Herald regrets the error.

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Opinions 7

The Brown Daily Herald Monday, October 24, 2011

Give back, vote, but don’t Occupy

By Garret Johnson Opinions Columnist

Watching the Occupy College Hill movement, one cannot help but sympathize with the protesters’ cause. Who doesn’t want to support a group aimed at fighting for social justice, as the Occupy parent organization describes itself as doing on its website? Who doesn’t wish that the lower 99 percent of America had more power?

The problem is that seven people canceling their accounts with Bank of America (“Occupy protesters close bank accounts,” Oct. 18) will do absolutely nothing to change corporate America’s stranglehold on our political system. Even the efforts of the 2,000 people who started the movement in lower Manhattan last month will be in vain. In the square where Occupy protesters march, Wall Street executives have responded by sipping champagne and watching the representatives of the 99 percent with amusement.

What is the solution? What should you do if you want to fight social injustice?

Stop Occupying and give back to your community. Brown students’ time would be far better spent volunteering at local free clinics and soup kitchens than waving signs at Kennedy Plaza. As economically advantaged members of society, we can make a direct impact on the disad-

vantaged by giving a little of ourselves to them.

While the progressive prep school graduates were huddled on the Main Green discussing inequality and injustice, many local organizations were looking desperately for volunteers. Rather than pursuing abstract ideals of social justice that will ultimately only be realized by people in positions of power, why not do a little good immediately?

As for ending corporate America’s control of Washington, next November will be a far more opportune time than this

ey from Wall Street executives in 2008 than John McCain did.

There is also the much talked about relationship between Wall Street and the University. Our president is a former Goldman Sachs board member. The CEO of Bank of America is a graduate of Brown. And many Brown alums go on to work at financial institutions located on or near the hated street in New York.

Brown’s connections to Wall Street are neither bad nor good, but they must be acknowledged. We cannot gripe and moan with integrity about the huge wealth pres-

Stop Occupying College Hill now. Go out and Occupy the lives of the people for whom you are marching.

October to settle that score. At the end of the day, Brown students will not be able to vote on financial reform legislation in Congress.

The 2012 elections are just around the corner, and every American student at the University will have the chance to vote against politicians owned by Wall Street.

For many Brunonians, this may even mean voting for the dreaded Republicans.

Wall Street owns Democrats, too. In fact, President Obama received far more mon-

ent on Wall Street and corporate America when some of this University was built on that wealth. Much of Brown’s endowment comes from rich alums who give back to their alma mater from their personal fortunes, which are made possible by our current system.

The point is that social justice will not be realized by 19-year-olds smoking cloves and yelling chants on Prospect Street.

Bank of America’s board members will not recoil in terror when they see — or rather,

if they even notice — that seven Rhode Islanders are no longer their customers. The power of these protests is, sadly, limited.

In a perfect world, college students’ yelling would evoke a prompt and effective response from our political leaders.

But as the protesters know and despise, this world is far from perfect.

We were all taught growing up that actions speak louder than words. But, as is often the case in academia, obtuse ideals about social justice and society’s responsibilities have caused us to lose track of our own hands-on abilities.

But you can just keep protesting. Keep up your yelling about the 99 percent versus the 1 percent, because divisive rhetoric is exactly what we need right now. Keep claiming that you have no power in this world, while in fact you have the power and the time to actually do good.

Rather than talking about the lives of poor people, go and make their lives better. Be a friendly face at a women’s shelter.

Donate your change to a halfway house.

Read to the children at an emergency room. I promise you that they will appreciate those efforts much more than all the time you have spent shouting at stockbrokers.

Stop Occupying College Hill now. Go out and Occupy the lives of the people for whom you are marching.

Garret Johnson ’14 is a biochemistry and molecular biology concentrator who enjoys Occupying Chipotle.

‘Miss Representation?’

By Suzanne Enzerink Opinions Columnist

Why is President Ruth Simmons consistently referred to as the University’s first female president by non-campus media, or its first African-American president, when up until her ascent, it had sufficed to simply write “President” without the addition of “white” or “male”? The answer is, of course, that both women and people of color have been grossly underrepresented in positions of visibility and power. The question is whether this emphasis on difference from the norm is productive. In the short run, it might be useful, whereas the ultimate goal is a society in which gender or race does not correlate with visibility or power.

It is not that the media emphasizes the president’s gender or race in a negative way — the fact that it is considered so noteworthy that it is automatically included in virtually all reports is enough to see that it is an exception to the normative structures. “Miss Representation,” the documentary by Jennifer Siebel Newsom that was screened on campus Oct. 20 by the Ivy Film Festival as part of its “Films For Social Change” series, points to the positive effects of these categorizations in that “you can’t be what you can’t see.”

Placing emphasis on women in positions of power can both encourage emulation

and make it possible to begin with.

In the film, Geena Davis shared an anecdote that can be seen as a metaphor for the current state of affairs. Waiting for a traffic light, right after the exquisite “Thelma and Louise” was released, a car pulled up next to her. A gaggle of young women opened the sunroof, waved at her in recognition and simply yelled, “Woohoo!”

This deceptively simple seal of approval signals the acknowledgement of Davis as a role model and a visible presence, but that

power. In political positions, women will not achieve parity for another 500 years at the rate things are progressing now. The documentary is important in that it calls for a reeducation of both boys and girls, as boys too are conditioned to adopt thinking patterns that are not of their own making. The fact that only a handful of male students attended the screening is exemplary of the current mindset. Cultural productions that center on women are only of interest for women, whereas the

Placing emphasis on women in positions of power can both encourage emulation and make it possible to begin with.

Davis’ Thelma is hailed as such a liberation points to the fact that the portrayal of empowered women is an anomaly. The passion of the exclamation is the result of an absence of other things to be passionate about. It is at once a symptom of the problem itself and a way of working through it, as the identification of the women with Davis leaves them feeling empowered, euphoric almost.

This is an important antidote to the national epidemic of self-objectification, in which girls have internalized the expectations fostered by the media and therefore cannot envision themselves in roles of

majority of productions revolve around men, yet are expected to be of interest to everyone.

The absence of real life examples only contributes to this experiential gap. “Miss Representation” closely echoed the sentiment of former Dean of the Faculty Rajiv Vohra P’07, as noted in The Herald this February (“Faculty Remains Mostly Male, White,” Feb. 10), that “the introduction of female professors into historically male departments such as economics, physics and applied mathematics will pave the way for future female hires.” While the student body gets an A+ for diversity from Colleg-

eProwler.com, and both the Undergraduate Council of Students and the Graduate Student Council have an almost equal number of male and female students as officers, white men still dominate the ranks of full professors. The University has made great progress already by encouraging applications from female scholars, but is still a long way from achieving parity.

But in order to completely overcome differences in power, in the end, the binary logic “Miss Representation” adheres to will have to be imploded. It is not the physicality as such that divides us. It is about how our brain conceives and is conditioned to conceive of our own bodies and those of others, and it is this interior process that translates itself into differential and unequal power structures in a variety of categories. Women can look to other women for inspiration and support, but true success will only be achieved when there is complete equity in which women can look up to both women and men based on their professional or personal merit, rather than having to strategically align themselves exclusively with other women to combat the power structures that disadvantage them. Only then can the ideal of a high school girl featured in the documentary be realized — a climate in which “it’s all about the brain, not about the body.”

Suzanne Enzerink GS is a graduate student in American studies and can be reached at suzanne_enzerink@brown.edu.

Daily Herald Arts & Culture the Brown

Monday, October 24, 2011

Classic rock: Festival honors Liszt

Artist of all crafts poses grand questions

By Alexa pugh Contributing Writer

By ben kutner Senior Staff Writer

Laurie Anderson spoke with the kind of voice one uses with babies — and a nearly full Martinos Auditorium listened with an infant’s delight.

Anderson has found success as a spoken word poet, film composer, author and performance artist. She kicked off a weekend of Providence appearances organized by FirstWorks with a talk on Friday afternoon about her career, concerts for dogs and bigger themes of art and life.

A smattering of Brown and Rhode Island School of Design students filled the hall along with local residents, some taking notes between the bursts of laughter elicited by Anderson’s poignant wit.

Anderson’s multimedia piece, “Delusions,” was presented Saturday at The Veterans Memorial Auditorium. The show is comprised of 20 pieces built around the question, “What do you do when you don’t know what you’re doing anymore?” Anderson said.

Anderson told anecdotes spanning her career, most of them entertaining and endearing. While waiting to receive an honorary degree from RISD in 2008, she conceived of a concert solely for dogs after speaking with fellow recipient Yo-Yo Ma. Her plans came to fruition on the steps of the Sydney Opera House in 2010.

“As fellow creatures, they really appreciate a lot of the same things that we do,” Anderson said.

Describing her writing process for an opera based on “Moby Dick,” Anderson advised the audience to never again attempt to adapt a masterpiece. “This book does not need to be a multimedia show,” Anderson joked.

While describing several chapters of “Moby Dick,” Anderson floated in and out of character with such ease that it was hard to delineate where character and lecturer began and ended.

Anderson opened the floor to questions, comments and “ramblings” at the end of her lecture, with several audience members particularly interested in advice for aspiring artists.

“If you don’t like the design, you go back and look at it again,” Anderson said, describing her early trial and error attempts at sculpting. She offered insights about her artistic process and used photographs of her work to teach and to inspire. “The biggest question is, ‘What do you want?’” she said.

Thx 4 readn

Lydia Yamaguchi / Herald

A new dance studies program will fund scholarship regarding the movement of the body.

Dance scholarship program expanded By amy chen Staff Writer

In collaboration with Northwestern and Stanford universities, Brown announced Oct. 11 the creation of a new dance studies program that incorporates doctoral fellowships and summer seminars for the expansion of research and scholarship in the field of dance studies.

The “Dance Studies and/in Humanities” arts program is funded by a $1.4 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and will cover two-year appointed fellowships for two or more individuals between 2012 and 2016.

Fellows will be equipped with the tasks of teaching an introductory course on dance studies and another course in their specialty area, said Rebecca Schneider, chair of the theater arts and performance studies department.

“Because dance doesn’t have a literary- and object-based history, it’s a very embodied practice,”

Schneider said. “The question is ‘What’s dance research?’ Scholarship has not developed as much for dance.”

Dance studies focuses on “how movement means and travels, and practices get in the body. It’s seeing the texts of sources on bodies,” Schneider said.

Though many scholarships are available only to students of theater, this program will provide students in other areas of art with access to scholarships as well, she added.

Jarrett Key ’13, a concentrator in theater arts and public policy, said the program is a great opportunity for the University.

Brown’s focus on dance scholarship is manifested in the Bryson Dance Collection, currently housed at the John Hay Library.

Over 2,000 rare arts items, such as class pictures and journals, are on display. “Here is a perfect example of how scholarship is becoming part of the research,” said Sam Jam-

brovic ’12, a performance studies concentrator. “I’m very interested in the body as an archive for history of society, the way it reveals society and how it’s affected by others,” he said.

The arts program could also pose challenges for the University. Since scholarships on dance have not been studied or recorded earnestly until now, librarians will have to learn how to catalog this material, Jambrovic said.

The three directors from the universities — Schneider, Susan Manning from Northwestern and Janice Ross from Stanford — will read applications from post-doctoral fellows. They will be in charge of selecting fellows they feel appropriate for their university.

“We have the right to tailor to the needs and strengths of each university. We will make it even and rank the short list we will bring out,” Schneider said.

“We are already building upon a strong program,” she added.

The term “rock star” invokes a variety of images — Bono trotting the globe dispensing humanitarian aid, Mick Jagger with a woman on each arm, Jimi Hendrix and his trademark bandana. But Franz Liszt? Many will be surprised to discover the famed composer and piano virtuoso is widely considered the first embodiment of the rock star persona. This is but one of the intriguing qualities the Department of Music is celebrating in its month-long bicentennial festival, “Visions of Liszt.”

“The life and music of Franz Liszt is the best-kept secret in the arts, and it shouldn’t be,” said Cecil Lytle, professor emeritus of music at the University of California at San Diego. A preview screening of his film “Liszt in the World: A Documentary in Search of the Interior Life and Music of Franz Liszt (1811-1886)” kicked off the festival Oct. 17. Lytle introduced his film with a titillating performance of “Bagatelle without tonality,” one of Liszt’s last — and, according to Lytle, least appreciated — compositions. Before Liszt, atonal compositions were nearly unheard of.

“At the end of his life, he was composing truly avant-garde music that was really ahead of his time,” said James Baker, chair of the music department. Liszt pushed the boundaries of piano technique further than they had ever gone before.

But he also sought to communicate to the common patron. In addition to emotional performances and composing, he pioneered the concept of conveying dramatic ideas through sound, spawning the genre of the symphonic poem.

“Liszt is actually a very friendly continued on page 5

Gabriel Kahane ’03 titillates on banjo, piano By katherine long Senior Staff Writer

Gabriel Kahane ’03 is ambivalent about the banjo. “I’m just a dilettante,” he said ruefully, “Although a banjo definitely has the element of surprise.”

But this was an understatement.

In addition to songs from his most recent album, Kahane performed two songs on the banjo from his upcoming musical “February House” in Grant Recital Hall last Thursday. Commissioned by the venerable Public Theater in New York City, the songs showed a new side to the twangy, boot-scootin’ instrument. His banjo was ethereal and lilting, complementing what he calls his “inescapably sincere” voice in a way that was otherworldly and vaguely unsettling.

The concert was regrettably underattended — only 13 people

were scattered throughout the huge-by-comparison recital hall. But Kahane said during his tour, he has “played in just about every conceivable bizarre situation — rock clubs, concert halls, synagogues, suburban coffee shops — so Brown just gets tacked onto that list.”

Older than his red jeans and multicolored Vans make him seem, Kahane, by his own admission, defies the notion of genre. “Gabriel Kahane is not part of a scene,” reads the biography on his website. His music ranges from minimalist guitar with crooning lyrics in the style of Elliott Smith to complex piano lines and operatic arias.

Kahane’s rise to notoriety started after the composition o f “C r a i g s l i s t l i e d e r,” a n unconventional 16-part song cycle for voice and piano based on personal ads he found on

Craigslist.com. His self-titled debut LP, released in 2008, garnered praise from the New York Times, Pitchfork and Prefix Magazine, among others. He was recently named the composerin-residence of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and has collaborated with Sufjan Stevens and Rufus Wainwright. “Gabriel Kahane is an NPR programmer’s wet dream,” Pitchfork reported of his first album.

His s ophomore e f for t , “Where Are the Arms,” is a gem of an album, a different facet glimmering in each eerily refulgent listen. The occasional Schoenberg-esque atonalities and rollicking triplets evoke a man on edge, struggling to keep his balance in a shifting world.

Kahane’s musical pedigree — his father is the renowned concert pianist and conductor Jeffrey Kahane — means that his sheer

musicality is unsurprising but still very much appreciated. His voice is an obstacle to those for whom earnest warbling is anathema but is nevertheless well-suited to the album’s restrained orchestration, and the lyrics are crystalline snapshots, perfectly articulated moments winking in the sun.

Fred Jodry, director of choral activities, organized the recital and a master class earlier in the day. He asked Kahane to attend because not only is Kahane an alum, but he is also “an amazing example of what you can do with music after college. Plus, he’s a great cook.”

“It was an incredible reminder — and I say this in no way blowing smoke up the University’s ass — how amazing an institution Brown is,” Kahane said of the master class. “I hope that I can take back to Brooklyn with me the kind of optimism and idealism that I felt being around the students.”