Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Daily

Herald

the Brown

vol. cxlvi, no. 98

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Since 1891

After delay, Ex-prof holds forth on gender gap in politics 315 Thayer renovations will begin this week

By Eli Okun Contributing Writer

By Caitlin Trujillo Senior Staff Writer

continued on page 3

Gyuwon Cha / Herald

Jennifer Lawless ascribed the lack of women in American political office to “a gender gap in political ambition” in her lecture yesterday.

College prep: A tale of three schools

By Elizabeth carr Senior Staff Writer

had been offered in high school.

As Brown students savored their spicies with at Josiah’s last night, high school students all over the country were slaving away to finish college applications before the

The Wheeler School, a private school on the East Side, boasts academic rigor geared toward college preparation. The school’s comprehensive advising system ensures that students maximize their potential from the moment they walk through the doors, said Amy Baumgartel-Singer, director of college counseling.

During students’ first two years at Wheeler’s high school, the advising program encourages them to pursue challenging activities and courses. As sophomores, all

city & state University’s Nov. 1 early decision deadline. Students in Providence were no exception. For some, the moment represented the culmination of years of careful planning, but for others, it underscored the few preparatory resources they

n o f o i l i n g h a l lo w e e n f u n

Managing stress

The streets of College Hill may soon be populated with more environmentally friendly vehicles after the Northeast Electric Vehicle Network — a coalition of 10 states, including Massachusetts and Rhode Island — announced a plan last month to increase electric transportation by installing charging stations throughout the

city & state

Emily Gilbert / Herald

inside

news....................2-3 SPORTS....................4 CITY & State............5 editorial.............6 Opinions.............7

Northeast.

The initiative will be partially supported by a $1 million grant from the federal government, according to Chris Coil, communications director at the Georgetown Climate Center, which is working

Grant Finder Snowy Day New website assists students looking for grant funding

campus news, 2

Runners brave nature at Heps cross country meet

campus news, 4

continued on page 2

Ne ws in brief

Course preview site restored

with local government officials in energy, environment and transportation offices on the endeavor.

“At this point, it’s an initiative of the states themselves, and our role is to help facilitate that,” Coil said.

“People are very, very excited about the potential this work has,” Coil said, adding that he hopes the project will create jobs while reducing oil dependency and greenhouse gas emisisons.

The state’s small size makes it well-suited to electric vehicles, said Albert A. Dahlberg, director of state and community relations at Brown and founder of the Rhode Island chapter of Project Get Ready, a non-profit initiative that aims to prepare cities for the introduction of electric vehicles.

The course preview feature at courses.brown.edu is up and running for spring semester courses after Computing and Information Services discovered and fixed a glitch in the system yesterday. Next semester’s course data had not been processed and uploaded onto the site as intended, wrote Jerrod O’Connor, associate director of web and information services, in an email to The Herald.

Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron wrote in an email to The Herald that she was unaware the feature had been malfunctioning. Faculty members are encouraged to upload syllabi onto the site before the beginning of each semester, not during the pre-registration period, she added. But image captures of the website reveal that for at least the past three semesters, the preview pages have been available before the regular registration period, which begins for seniors today.

Course preview pages give students the ability to view course descriptions and syllabi without being enrolled in the courses. CIS, along with the Undergraduate Council of Students and the dean of the College, offers the service to help students make “more informed” decisions about their courses during registration periods, according to its website.

continued on page 5

— David Chung

continued on page 8

Lil’ Rhody to get electric car charging stations

By Sofia castello y Tickell Staff Writer

Students donned a variety of disguises over the festive weekend.

students take both the PLAN test — the preparatory exam for the ACT — and the PSAT, Baumgartel-Singer said. The school’s advising program provides individualized attention to students who desire tutoring and matches them with classes or individual tutors based on where they need help, their location and their financial constraints, she added.

During junior year, the academic program intensifies. Students are assigned to a college counselor in addition to the academic adviser they have worked

Gen Free

Rosenbloom ’13: Free to pursue happiness opinions, 7

weather

Renovations to 315 Thayer St., the future home of a 60-bed, upperclass residence hall, are expected to begin this week after budget issues pushed the project’s start date back from this summer. The hall will open to students next fall.

Stephen Maiorisi, vice president for Facilities Management, said the plans for renovating the space needed to be realigned with the project’s $8.5 million budget — approved by the Corporation in October 2010.

Facilities Management was unable to assess the costs of the renovations while students were living in the building, wrote Richard Bova, senior associate dean of residential and dining services, in an email to The Herald. The site was previously used as auxiliary housing.

Renovation plans were resolved to fit within the budget two weeks ago, Bova told The Herald, and the scope of the project did not undergo significant changes to meet the approved budget. The

The primary election was only three days away, so when a woman started running toward Jennifer Lawless in a grocery store parking lot yelling, “Don’t worry,” the then-candidate assumed it was an expression of good luck. Then the woman got close enough to finish her sentence. “Don’t worry,” she said, “you don’t look nearly as fat in real life as you do on TV.” That was in 2006, when Lawless was an assistant professor of political science at Brown and running to represent Rhode Island in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Now the director of the Women & Politics Institute at American Uni-

versity, she recounted this story during a speech in Salomon 101 yesterday as an example of the different standards applied to female political candidates.

A crowd of around 60 attended Lawless’ lecture on why women rarely run for office, which was co-sponsored by the political science department and the Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions.

Lawless presented the issue of female underrepresentation in U.S. political office as a threepronged problem stemming from greater family responsibilities, self-perceptions and lack of external encouragement. She con-

t o d ay

tomorrow

55 / 38

53 / 37

2 Campus News calendar Today

November 1

12 P.m.

ToMORROW

November 2

5 p.m.

Politics in Rhode Island,

RIPTA Core Connector Study Open

Alumnae Hall Crystal Room

House, Brown-RISD Hillel

6 p.m.

8 p.m.

China Through the Lens Film Series,

“Regeneration,”

Martinos Auditorium

Granoff Center for the Creative Arts

menu SHARPE REFECTORY

VERNEy-WOOLLEY DINING HALL LUNCH

Grilled Tuna Sandwich with Cheese, Tomato and Feta Quiche, Corn Cobbets, Chocolate Chip Cookies

Shaved Steak Sandwich, Falafel in Pita, Mandarin Blend Vegetables, Enchilada Bar

DINNER Sesame Chicken Strips with Mustard Sauce, Chinese Fried Rice, Vegetables in Honey Ginger Sauce

Roast Pork Ouvert, Carrot Casserole, General Tso Chicken Stir Fry, Magic Bars

Sudoku

The Brown Daily Herald Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Online hub streamlines grant search By katherine cusumano Contributing Writer

Students and faculty will no longer need to complete tedious piles of paperwork to apply for University funding for academic projects, thanks to a new website launched by the Office of the Dean of the College.

UFunds, which went live in test form at the beginning of the semester, centralizes funding opportunities in one online location.

Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron said that in the past, students would “cobble together” grants from different departments and would sometimes not be aware of available resources.

UFunds provides an online hub

Bergeron said.

In 2009-10, the University laid out goals to increase University Hall’s efficiency, and a committee of students and faculty recommended reassessing the methods by which funding is dispersed after examining administrative structures.

Not only will UFunds reduce student paperwork, but it will also reduce the administrative time that goes into the process, Bergeron said.

The next goal is expanding UFunds to include other offices and sources of funding, said Barbara Sardy, special assistant to the dean of the College, who is working closely with developers of the site.

Gender impacts desire to seek office continued from page 1

Cr ossword

for funding, resulting in “greater uniformity to requests,” she said.

Currently, UFunds is only operative for the Office of the Dean of the College, which gives out research grants and funding for student projects and faculty curricular development programs.

Laurinda Custodio, executive assistant to the vice president of campus life and student services and the administrative contact for the Campus Life Fund, said she has heard from many student groups since the site’s launch who had never previously contacted the fund.

UFunds is the latest measure undertaken by a joint committee of students and faculty to coordinate discretionary funding,

ducted polls in 2001, 2008 and 2011 among professionals in fields she determined to be likely gateways to government. Based on the results, Lawless argued that the principal obstacle to greater gender parity in American politics is a chasm in motivation to enter the field.

“All of this is about political ambition — the gender gap in political ambition,” she said.

Eighty-three percent of Congress is male, as well as 88 percent of state governors, and the U.S. ranks 90th in the world in terms of female representation in its legislature.

Lawless dismantled some false assumptions about the factors underlying such statistics, noting that the public is receptive to female candidates, and those who run are just as successful as men at fundraising and ultimately winning.

“The men and women that we surveyed and interviewed on paper look exactly the same,” Lawless said, “yet 55 percent of the women compared to only 35 percent of the men had never considered running for office.”

For working women with families, “the notion of running for office becomes a pretty unattractive third job,” Lawless said. And women who choose to wait until their kids are grown start too late to attain any high office, given the career ladder nature of American politics, she said.

Daily

the Brown

Lawless compared the problem of self-perception to gender dynamics at universities. Citing a poll finding that about half of men who considered themselves unqualified had also thought about running for office, she argued that unfounded confidence can also be found in the classroom, where male students are more willing to talk about subjects they do not know well or opine on articles they have not read.

Lawless’s ultimate conclusion was that the only immediately rectifiable issue is lack of encouragement. “We have to actively recruit more women to run for office,” she said. “Having women in positions of power matters both substantively and symbolically.”

Referencing the push over the past few decades to increase the number of women in math and sciences, she argued that such a change is possible — and crucial for good government. “When you have women involved, you tend to get more deliberation, more debate and greater consensus,” she said.

Audience members questioned Lawless about the roles of socioeconomic status and education in influencing women. Caroline Sagalchik ’13, referencing Lawless’s argument that female candidates have to conform to a physical and emotional norm more than men do, asked, “Is it possible that women just have a reluctance to change their image?”

Lawless responded that though prospective candidates might not

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be aware of such demands, they exert a major influence. She used the paradigm of “parade wear,” in which male candidates have a simple, proscribed outfit but women lack a good option.

“There’s no equivalent to khakis and a polo shirt — ­ because until recently there wasn’t even a bathroom in the House of Representatives for women,” she said.

Sagalchik told The Herald she was inspired to ask the question because of a childhood dream.

“When I was younger, I was the kind of person that thought I would go into politics,” she said.

But because the idea of a life predicated on image didn’t appeal to her, Sagalchik “completely did an about-face,” she said.

The lecture, though, made Sagalchik reconsider. “The disparity is pretty impactful, so maybe I’ll change my mind,” she said.

Wendy Schiller, associate professor of political science and public policy, who organized the lecture and used her research funds to pay for it, said Lawless fills a gap in the discourse on women and politics on campus. Though the presidents of both the University and the Undergraduate Council of Students are female, Schiller noted that many of the department chair and faculty governance leadership positions are held by males.

“I think that there are ways in which the gender issues can be problematic in academia, but they are not easily measured,” Schiller said.

The Brown Daily Herald Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Today in Br own History On Nov. 1, 2006: At an Undergraduate Council of Students general body meeting in Petteruti Lounge, President Ruth Simmons defended the University against student allegations that administrators were losing, suppressing or discouraging student crime reports. Outside the lounge, a number of students distributed a flyer titled “Crime Statistics in the Land of Oz,” which outlined their concerns and grievances. Simmons responded, “Our goal is always for people to file formal complaints. But putting pressure on people to do this when they don’t want to isn’t appropriate.” As questions continued regarding the Department of Public Safety’s practices, Simmons told the council that she would follow up with Mark Porter, chief of police and director of public safety, on students’ concerns.

On Nov. 1, 1986: The Brown football team earned a 31-19 victory at Harvard Stadium in front of a parents’ weekend crowd for its first win over the Crimson since 1979. Head Coach John Rosenberg, a Harvard graduate, finally succeeded in his third attempt to defeat his alma mater. Wide receiver Keiron Bigby ’87 said, “We went out there, we did it for ourselves, and we did it for coach.” According to Bigby, Rosenberg wanted the win so he could be proud when attending his 20th reunion at Harvard the following spring.

On Nov. 1, 1961: President Barnaby Keeney announced the University would dispute the ban placed on Henry Miller’s novel “Tropic of Cancer”

by Rhode Island Attorney General J. Joseph Nugent, though how the ban would be tested remained unclear. Nugent’s actions to introduce censorship also elicited criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union and the Providence Journal. Earlier in the week, Nugent had called on booksellers in the state and surrounding areas to stop selling the “obscene” book, and Keeney said the University would oblige for the time being. But across the state, demand for the novel increased 20-fold, leading one bookseller to say, “Now it’s not a question of dealing with intelligent readers.

You’re dealing with idiots looking for four-letter words.”

Campus News 3 $8.5 million dorm renovation to kick off continued from page 1 late start will not delay the building’s completion, which is slated for fall 2012, Maiorisi said.

Construction crews began setting up at the site last week, but this week should mark the beginning of demolition to alter the building’s interior structure, Maiorisi said. After the demolition, crews will begin construction on stairways that will allow easier access to the building, he said. Currently, the stairways divide the building into three towers and prohibit access to the fourth floor. The building has a sloping roof that prevents students from living in the rooms on that floor, he said.

Other than minor work on the building’s exterior — such as replacing windows and adjusting the grates in the courtyard to make the front door accessible from the Thayer sidewalk — renovations will only involve the interior, Maiorisi said.

Renovations will also include the installation of new sprinklers to comply with fire codes and a new elevator, Maiorisi said.

The renovated building’s floorplans will increase the number of beds in the building to 60, with eight standalone singles and the rest confined to suites. Suites will feature between two and six bedrooms. The singles are all located

Herald file photo

Renovations should be completed in time for students to select rooms in the new dorm at 315 Thayer St. in the housing lottery this spring.

on the fourth floor along with two suites. Each floor contains a total of 15 bedrooms.

Suites will come with kitchenettes containing refrigerators and microwaves, Maiorisi said.

The Office of Residential Life solicited advice from the Residential Council on what features

and furnishings to include in the suites, Bova said.

The building’s rooms should be available for selection for the housing lottery this spring, Bova said. Because the suites come with common rooms, they will include the $1,252 additional apartment fee, he said.

4 Sports Tuesday

The Brown Daily Herald Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Men take home fourth, women falter at Heps

hopeful offerings

By james blum Sports Staff Writer

Herald file photo

Hope High School students are aided in the college process by community volunteers and Brown students in programs based out of the Swearer Center for Public Service.

See full coverage on page 1.

While Saturday’s unseasonable snowfall left many students shuffling in the cold between Halloween parties, the men’s and women’s cross country teams raced eight and six kilometers respectively in the swirling snow at the 2011 Ivy League Heptagonal Cross Country Championships at Princeton.

The men garnered 91 points to earn fourth place among the eight teams competing, 12 points behind third-place Dartmouth. The Princeton men took home the hardware for the second straight year.

The Brown women finished seventh in the eight-team field and tallied 153 points, 24 points behind Harvard and 104 points behind first-place Cornell. The Big Red victory ended the Princeton women’s streak of five consecutive Ivy League titles.

Midway through the men’s race, a steady rain turned to snow, which did not let up until both races were over.

“That was the most painful experience I have ever had in my entire life,” said Dan Lowry ’12.

“The cold and the fatigue were completely unreal.”

Tim Springfield, head coach of the men’s squad, said the conditions were as harsh as any he has seen at a cross country race.

“I don’t think any of us have ever had such terrible conditions before,” said Margaret Connelly ’14. “It was definitely the hardest race I had ever had.”

Though the inclement weather affected all competitors, runners responded variably to the conditions, said Mitchell Baker, head coach of the women’s team.

“Many were trying to push, and they couldn’t get their legs going,” Baker said. “They finished feeling like they had more to give.”

Connelly led the women’s team with a time of 22 minutes, 30 seconds and finished 10th overall.

Heidi Caldwell ’14 was the next finisher for Bruno in 22:38 and claimed the 14th spot in the race.

Both Connelly and Caldwell were named to the All-Ivy second team.

Connelly and Caldwell turned in strong performances, but the next finisher for Brown, Abigail Jones ’15, was almost a minute behind the duo, which hurt the team’s collective score.

Lowry, who finished the race fourth overall in 24:58, led the men’s team in the race. Matt Duffy ’12 claimed the sixth spot in the field and second for Bruno with a time of 25:10. Both Lowry and Duffy earned first-team All-Ivy honors for their performances, helping Bruno improve on its last place finish in 2010.

“They both ran really excellent races and led the team in every aspect,” Springfield said. “Those guys have been great leaders for four years, so it was nice to see them go out with very strong performances.”

Lowry said he had initially planned to stay at the back of the top group, but race conditions forced him to be more aggressive.

“There was a lot of pushing and shoving, so I just went right to the front row,” Lowry said. “The last mile you could just feel your body shutting down, and it was just a matter of making it to the finish.”

Though Springfield said the team had hoped to perform at a higher level, he was pleased with the team’s depth.

Multiple runners competed for the fifth and final scoring finish for Bruno, including Brendan Boyle ’14 and Erik Berg ’13, who finished within a second of each other.

“It was just a lot of improvement over the course of the year,” Springfield said. “I was really pleased with the amount of improvement that the squad showed.”

The men and women will next compete at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships in Buffalo, N.Y., Nov. 12. Both teams will have the opportunity to advance to the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships later this month in Terre Haute, Ind. Runners can also qualify individually for the race.

“I don’t think this race is a reflection of our ability or our fitness level,” Connelly said. “I think regionals will be a whole new start.”

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The Brown Daily Herald Tuesday, November 1, 2011

State advocates electric cars continued from page 1 “There are some (electric) vehicles on the road right now in Rhode Island, but this is a longterm project,” he said. The plan is slated to play out over 20 years.

“These vehicles right now are our only good alternative to the use of oil in the transportation sector,” Dahlberg said. “I know it will take time for consumers to get used to electricity as the prime transportation energy source. I know it will take time to build the charging infrastructure. But the era of cheap oil is over, and as gasoline prices increase over time, electricity will be more and more attractive.”

Two electric cars, the Chevrolet Volt and the Nissan Leaf, will go on sale early next year at dealerships around the state, Dahlberg added. He predicted a small group of early adopters and said he hoped the initiative would take off from there.

The Leaf, an all-electric vehicle, is said to go about 80 miles on a single charge, he said. The Volt will reportedly go 40 miles on a

charge but also has an internal combustion engine allowing gas to propel the vehicle while generating electricity for the battery, enabling it to run for about 300 miles, he said.

“People have to have confidence they can drive these vehicles everywhere,” Coil said.

Eighty percent of charging of plug-in electric vehicles takes place at home, so it is imperative that people buy their vehicle a charging system, Dahlberg said.

“Workspace charging and public charging gives people the peace of mind that they can recharge when they’re away from their home.”

The Department of Facilities Management has a fleet of six electric vehicles — more like golf carts than cars — for use around campus, mainly for running events and traveling short distances on campus, according to Stephen Maiorisi, vice president for Facilities Management.

Maiorisi said Facilities Management hopes to purchase more electric vehicles in coming years.

“We are in favor of doing that as soon as we can,” he said.

City & State 5 Students accepted at Brown by geographic origin

Kyle McNamara/ Herald

For local students, Providence more than just a college town private schools, he said.

Zoe Thompson said her familiarity with Providence has enhanced her Brown experience. She bikes through the city frequently and uses her knowledge of the area to encourage other students to venture beyond College Hill.

“Immersing myself in both communities at once is really neat,”

continued from page 8 to none,” she said of other public schools in the district.

“It’s a really good experience,” Barry said of attending Classical.

“It can be hard. It’s a lot of pressure.” Classical’s diverse student body makes for a more varied community than those of local

she said.

Barry said Brown’s presence is a great asset to the Providence community, adding that the school makes the city a livelier place. “It’s a college town,” she said, “But it’s bigger than that.”

— With additional reporting

by Blake Cecil

comics Cloud Comic | David Emanuel

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

Never miss a day. comics.browndailyherald.com

6 Editorial Editorial

The Brown Daily Herald Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Editorial cartoon

by lo r e n f u lto n

A flat-screen to nowhere Brown is engaged in a technology arms race. Evidence is everywhere — absurdly large flat-screen televisions, a profusion of smart boards and too many multimedia control boxes to count. Though the creation of so-called smart classrooms and smart study rooms is generally positive, questionable acquisition decisions are troubling.

Technology is rightfully a University priority. The Plan for Academic Enrichment included upgrading Brown’s technology infrastructure. The IT Strategic Plan (2008-2013) found that “achieving excellence in the use of technology in learning … requires state of the art facilities. The University’s classrooms were identified as an area where the existing environment was very much at odds with the premier position Brown aspires to among all colleges and universities.” These documents, in addition to the Libraries Technology Plan (2009-2011), make clear the scope of Brown’s ambition.

Like any teaching tool, technology ought to supplement and enrich learning, not displace it. That is why the University’s technology strategies should include detailed plans and rigorous justifications based on existing needs and education research — both are conspicuously lacking in readily available documents. Such support is particularly important given technology’s attendant downsides.

Technology writer Nicholas Carr warns of the danger of the unstudied implementation of multimedia: “Studies pretty clearly show that when our attention is divided, it becomes much more difficult to transfer information from our short-term memory, which is just the very temporary store, to our long-term memory, which is the seat of understanding.” Though he acknowledges that smart classrooms can be beneficial “in certain circumstances,” he cautions that in some situations they “actually undermine the mission of the class itself.”

Increasingly, Brown classrooms and study spaces have been technology-enabled. Fashionable teaching devices such as smart boards have proliferated. Have they served a purpose? Are they well used? It would seem that they are not. Between the Friedman Study Center and Science Center, the Sciences Library is awash in smart boards, but more often than not, student study-groups opt for traditional whiteboards instead. (Simple, cheap and durable, we think the whiteboard is on the cusp of a renaissance.) One tiny classroom in Wilson Hall with seats for just a handful of students is equipped with a massive flat-screen television. Surely viewers — seated no more than 10 feet away — could make do with a smaller screen.

Despite these questionable selections, we appreciate that technology choices are the product of careful work by the Classroom Taskforce.

Catherine Zabriskie, director of academic technology services, wrote to the Editorial Page Board, “The selection of a particular technology involves conversations with others outside of CIS — particularly students and faculty — to help us make the choice to best meet the needs at Brown. And we continue to look at the technologies we identify to make sure they serve as enhancements for teaching and learning.” This process usually gets it right, but not always.

It is important for Brown to clearly articulate its technology strategy, not only in broad strokes, but also in concrete, specific detail. In the meantime, we hope Brown’s love affair with smart boards might soon pass, paving the way for the resurgence of whiteboards.

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

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quote of the day

“That was the most painful experience I have ever

”

had in my entire life.

— Dan Lowry ‘12 See sports on page 4.

Clarification An article in Wednesday’s Herald (“Profs see declining student activism,” Oct. 26) stated that there were fewer members of the Brown Immigrant Rights Coalition this year than last year. The group is less active, but does not have fewer members.

Correction An article in Monday’s Herald (“New course tool links to Facebook,” Oct. 31) left out one of the creators of CourseKick. The website was created by Dylan Field ’13, Devin Finzer ’13 and Sam Birch ’14. The Herald regrets the error.

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Opinions 7

The Brown Daily Herald Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Our extraordinary level of freedom

By Oliver Rosenbloom Opinions Columnist For college students in 2011, it is easy to become discouraged about our future prospects. We will be entering a bleak job market, there is no guarantee that our material wellbeing will be better than that of our parents and very few people trust our institutions and leaders to solve our most pressing problems.

Despite these worrisome trends, we should in fact be profoundly grateful for our opportunity to be college students in the 21st century.

It is tempting to convince ourselves that we face uniquely difficult challenges, but in reality, we are the most fortunate generation of young people in American history.

We have far more personal choice in defining our careers, our identities and our obligations than did any previous group of young people. Perhaps our parents had greater economic certainty than we currently have. But on a more meaningful measure — that of personal freedom in shaping our lives — we are in a far more advantageous position than our parents.

American society demands far less of young adults than it used to, allowing us more freedom to construct meaning in our own lives. The most obvious example of the change in demands on young Americans is the abolition of the draft. Young adults used to be asked to sacrifice their formative years to combat. Even in the years without a

draft, young Americans still had to live with the very real fear that an international crisis could force them into national service.

We face no similar demands and have full freedom to explore our individual identities, beliefs and career paths. Instead of being forced to make life-threatening sacrifices for the good of the country, we are encouraged to focus only on personal fulfillment.

Put more bluntly, our worries seem petty when compared to the concerns of previous generations of college-aged adults. My dad, like so many other college students of the late

can political system intervened to force them to make personal sacrifices.

In comparison, the American nation asks almost nothing of our generation of college students. We get to spend our formative years studying, partying and investigating potential career interests. Instead of imposing onerous burdens on us, American society actively supports this lifestyle of complete personal freedom and individual exploration by encouraging college attendance.

We should all be grateful for the obvious truth that we get to spend time in college in-

American society demands far less of young adults than it used to, thus allowing us more freedom to construct meaning in our own lives.

1960s, did not have complete freedom to focus on his own personal development, free from societal expectations of service. As a draft-eligible male, he faced a less-than-ideal choice — either serve in an unjust and dangerous war or use deception to dodge the draft.

The nation put intense pressure on my father and his entire generation, asking them to risk their lives and carry intense moral burdens. Many Vietnam-era college students live with either the knowledge that they served in an unjust war or the misgivings associated with dodging the draft. Far from having the unfettered freedom that we have to pursue any life path, the external force of the Ameri-

stead of in a war zone — or living with the fear that our college career will be disrupted by military service. Yet there are also less obvious ways in which we enjoy unprecedented freedom.

The concepts of civic duty and national service are no longer as burdensome and restrictive of personal liberty as they used to be. Politicians, community leaders and the media still tell us that there is value in serving others. But this call to service is normally made in the context of personal fulfillment, not selfless sacrifice.

While we are encouraged to help society, we are told that we can find personally rewarding ways to do this. There is no demand

for us to make personal sacrifices and selfless decisions. Instead, we are told to pursue our passions and find a way to incorporate service to others into these individual pursuits.

For example, in his State of the Union address, President Obama encouraged young people to serve their country by becoming teachers. While choosing a career in teaching may entail an economic loss when compared to other careers, it still appeals to many people’s sense of personal fulfillment. And this sacrifice pales in comparison to the level of sacrifice that politicians and society in general used to demand of Americans.

Recognition of our unique level of personal freedom should not be confused with accusations of selfish or greedy behavior. In fact, the vast majority of Brown students freely choose to sacrifice time and energy to serve others. I am not condemning the moral behavior of our generation and elevating that of past generations. I am merely acknowledging the unprecedented level of freedom the current generation of college students enjoys.

Society no longer demands intense personal sacrifice from us. We have been given the opportunity to define our own conception of national service and incorporate it into our lives as we see fit. In order to handle this unprecedented level of freedom in a responsible manner, it is vital that we take time to express gratitude and acknowledge our fortunate position.

Oliver Rosenbloom ’13 is a history concentrator from Mill Valley, Calif. He can be contacted at oliver_rosenbloom@brown.edu.

Gadflies, occupations and the marketplace of ideas

By Jared Moffat Opinions Columnist With the most sincerity I can summon, I admire and applaud the beautiful people of Occupy Providence, a community composed of the kindest hearts and most resilient spirits.

When I see the leadership that has emerged from within Burnside Park, I laugh and I cry because I wonder how Congress can be filled with such halfwits while the true visionaries of our generation are shouting chants in the streets and serving soup to the homeless — yes, Garret Johnson ’14, you can actually do both at the same time.

I must confess that I write this as someone who feels a bit ashamed of the fact that I have not sacrificed more of my time and energy to make Occupy Providence the robust force that it is. I suspect many onlookers feel this pang of conscience, too. Maybe it is people like me who will deserve blame if this movement does not ultimately achieve its lofty aims. But, at the risk of sounding presumptuous, I want to put these concerns aside for now because the tension between real Occupiers and supporters on the sidelines could be resolved if we part-time activists had something to do when we cannot take part in the occupation. Here is my proposal: Everyone, spread your wings and be a gadfly.

The gadfly is the image Socrates offered of himself in an attempt to defend his honor from charges of impiety and corruption of the youth in front of the Athenian assembly, the dimwitted horse in Socrates’ metaphor.

Jesus, Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.,

too, are exemplars of the gadfly — someone who challenges social authority and exposes institutionalized hypocrisy.

Gadflies play a vital role in society. In practice, our social structures inevitably produce leaders who presume a sense of authority and influence how the followers talk, think and ultimately behave. Gadflies — armed only with skepticism and inquiry — challenge this hegemony and keep fascist tendencies at bay.

The founding fathers of the United States envisioned the independent media as a mechanism that would ensure a place for the gadfly. But for all their wisdom, they could

tion is that becoming a thorn in the side of these media firms, calling out the hypocrisy of government and challenging the moral appropriations of corporate America — for instance, the claim that corporations are people — are all fundamentally crucial tactics that we can pursue even when we do not have time to help out the little village in Burnside Park.

But do not get me wrong. The occupation is the lifeblood of this movement. The expansive community of Occupy Providence is the crucial space in which we can, in the words of Gandhi, “Be the change you want to see

In practice, our social structures inevitably produce leaders who presume a sense of authority and dominate how the followers talk, think and ultimately behave.

Gadflies — armed only with skepticism and inquiry — challenge this hegemony and keep fascist tendencies at bay. not have anticipated that today, the lion’s share of our national media — movies, newspapers, television, magazines, radio, etc. — would be consolidated in the hands of only six corporations. Almost without exception, the content produced by these media conglomerates lacks the bite of the gadfly that our sluggish political institutions so desperately need. And even worse, these mainstream media outlets inculcate a sense of passivity and fatalism that makes us suspicious toward those who decry social injustice and proclaim that a better world is possible. In short, the media brainwashes us. My conten-

in the world.” Following the leads of Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Boston, Occupy Providence is becoming a public forum in which various members of the community can share their experiences and hammer out concrete ways to make their city, state and world more humane places to live. The occupations across the globe are becoming a manifest correction in the marketplace of ideas that corporate media have done much to undermine.

This idea of the gadfly is therefore meant to complement, not compete with, the occupation. The subservience and attachment

of the corporate media to the powers that be have poisoned the legitimacy of political debate and present an insurmountable obstacle to meaningful social reform. Their idioms and habits of mind seep into every crevice of our world, stifling our political imaginations and turning us against one another.

Many critics of the Occupy movement sneer at protesters’ apparent inability to articulate answers to the problems they identify. But the naysayer’s smugness is misguided, because the absence of solutions to these crises reflects, more than anything else, a failure of leadership and a failure of our democracy. It is not our job as ordinary citizens to tell politicians how to run society — that is what they are elected and paid to do. It is our job to expect them to do their jobs justly and wisely, and when they do not, it is our job to get mad as hell until things improve.

Just as the human body increases its temperature to destroy infection, our collective agitation will suffocate the sycophants and hypocrites. So go forth, massive base of the Occupy movement, and leave comments on online stories, write letters to the editor, call the news station, support political watchdog groups and independent media, rebuke the mega-corporate mainstream media, question authority, expose the hypocrisy and weaknesses of our broken system, demand answers to the tough questions from those with power and those who seek it — and whenever you can, pay a visit to the People’s Park.

Jared Moffat ’13 is a philosophy concentrator from Jackson, Miss. He wants to ask President Obama how #OccupytheWhiteHouse is going.

Daily Herald City & State the Brown

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

R.I. natives stick around for studies

For some local undergrads and applicants, College Hill sits a little too close to home

By Morgan Johnson Senior Staff Writer

Herald file photo

Students at Hope High School are not required to discuss college options with a counselor at any point.

Schools differ on college prep continued from page 1 with throughout high school.

That spring, students and their families begin to meet with a college counselor to explore the students’ interests and prospects for admission. Baumgartel-Singer extolled Naviance, an online datamanagement system that helps parents and students research college options.

“I think that parents are very involved in an emotional way,” Baumgartel-Singer said.

Students begin visiting colleges their junior year of high school.

About 80 college representatives visit campus throughout the year, and the school takes part in a college fair held every April for independent schools in Providence.

Seniors are expected to meet with their college counselors once a week in order to stay on top of their application process.

Ninety-nine percent of Wheeler graduates immediately go on to college. The other 1 percent attend college after taking a gap year or post-graduate year to strengthen their athletic or academic profile, Baumgartel-Singer said.

“We have a fully developed program that can help students manage the stress of the process,” she said.

Exploring aid

At Classical High School, a public exam school located on the West Side of Providence, the college preparation process is similarly intensive. In January of students’ junior years, the advising team lays out a month-by-month plan for researching and applying to colleges, said Louis Toro, Classical’s head of guidance.

Toro said he spends a lot of time working with families on their financial aid options, especially since the economic downturn. “We actually fill out (Free Application for Federal Student

Aid) forms for our students and families because there are some students who can’t go to H&R Block,” Toro said.

Colleges have been offering less generous financial aid in recent years, but Toro said he still urges parents to investigate expensive private schools that may be better able than public schools to offer financial aid and scholarship money. “There are dozens and dozens of kids each year who end up going to a private school that’s cheaper than (University of Rhode Island) and (Rhode Island College),” Toro said.

Classical attracts a number of representatives from colleges around the world and, like Wheeler, participates in the Providence Independent School College Fair.

Striving to be prepared

For a student at Hope High School, an East Side high school, the experience of applying to college is very different. Frequently, when students visit counselor Jimps Jean-Louis to learn about attending college, they find they are unprepared — often they have not taken the right classes or have not achieved the necessary grades.

Hope students are not required to meet with a counselor to discuss college options at any point during their high school experience.

They face a broader set of challenges. For many of them, English is a second language, Jean-Louis said. Few have parents who attended college, so even if students come from families that support higher education, parents may not be able to advise them in the process, he added.

Talent development programs at schools like URI accept students into the school but require them to complete a summer program before their freshman year to prepare them for the rigor of the college academic experience. Such

programs are particularly helpful for students who are interested in higher education but are academically unprepared, Jean-Louis said.

Students also have the option of taking courses at Rhode Island Community College to prepare for a four-year university, he added.

Ninety-six percent of students who apply to college from Hope are accepted, Jean-Louis said, adding that many of them go on to URI or RICC. The University College Advising Corps, based out of the Swearer Center for Public Service, is also central to helping students through a process they may otherwise be unprepared for, Jean-Louis said. The program — part of AmeriCorps, a national organization of community volunteers — provides students with college counseling services and is also responsible for Algebra in Motion, Brown SAT Prep and the College Guidance Program, which allow Brown students to volunteer at Hope.

The organization works with students during the fall of senior year and requires “having all hands on deck to make sure that students are doing the straightforward elements,” said Ralph Johnson, manager of the program. The advisers — all AmeriCorps volunteers — make sure that students are taking the SAT, requesting recommendations from teachers and writing admissions essays and remind students of important deadlines.

A recent Stanford University study found students with access to college counselors are 14 percentage points more likely to attend college, said Kate Trimble, associate director for the Swearer Center. Advisers are “opening up the menu of possibilities to high school students,” she said.

“I think we’re doing a good job,” Jean-Louis said. “We have some smart kids out there.”

Students from Providence’s Classical High School are all too familiar with competitive admissions processes. The public college preparatory school accepts only 30 percent of about 1,000 applicants per year and counts Providence Mayor Angel Taveras among its alums.

This year, two Classical students are hoping the odds of the admissions game will again be in their favor as they join the many high school seniors vying for a spot in Brown’s early admitted class. Kieran Barry, who attended the Summer@Brown pre-college program, is one of them.

“I had a lot of schools that I really liked, but Brown was always the top choice for me,” Barry said.

He said his frequent trips to campus to visit his brother, a junior, and interactions with current students contributed to his decision.

“I’m in a big Brown clan,” said Zoe Thompson ’14, a Classical alum. Her family’s strong connections to Brown made her feel part of the community since birth. Both of her parents attended graduate school at Brown and her mother is Marjorie Thompson ’74 PhD’79 P’02 P’07 P’09 P’12 P’14, associate dean of biological sciences.

“I have a huge family, so I love being close to home,” said Zoe Thompson, who frequently leaves campus to visit home Sunday nights. “Going far away would be pretty scary,” she said.

Barry said staying close to his family, particularly his younger brothers, is a strong incentive for submitting an early application to Brown. “I want to stay close enough that I can be a part of their lives,” he said.

But for other Providence natives, proximity to home can be a deterrent to applying early decision to Brown. “I never considered applying early here,” said Liliana Gutmann-McKenzie ’14,

who enrolled after applying regular decision. Initially, the short distance from her home to the University campus outweighed the school’s positive attributes in her decision-making process, she said.

Gutmann-McKenzie said an early action policy, which allows students to apply in the fall but does not require them to attend if they are admitted, might have persuaded her to apply to Brown early. “Early action gives people a good option to get apps done early and have a little peace of mind throughout the process,” she said.

Alex Rapport ’15, who applied regular decision, said Brown was too close to home for him to consider applying early decision. “I did not see it on my radar,” he said, though he eventually decided Brown’s location was not a sufficient deterrent to his application.

“No one wants to stay here,” Barry said of his high school classmates and Providence. He said he sympathizes with the desire to experience uncharted territory by attending a more distant school, but his interactions with Brown and Rhode Island School of Design students convinced him he could live on College Hill.

“A lot of kids want to explore other options,” Zoe Thompson said of Classical students who choose to forgo Brown’s early decision program. “They apply regular decision just to see where they can get into.” As the only early applicant from her graduating class, Zoe Thompson did not even visit other campuses when making her decision.

She said she believes attending Classical, a top public school in Providence, gives students an advantage in gaining admission to Brown. Students have access to more than 20 Advanced Placement classes, making it comparable to private schools in the area like the Wheeler School and Moses Brown. “Others have little continued on page 5

Brown makes a conscious effort to recruit high school students from Rhode Island, according to Dean of Admission James Miller ’73.

“We do recruit students … in the same way that we recruit students from across the country,” Miller wrote in an email to The Herald.

Though the University does not reserve a certain number of spots for local students, Miller said these students are an important presence on campus.

“Brown is an integral part of the community, and we believe we have compelling obligation to educate the best and brightest students from the state,” he wrote. “And hopefully, to help produce the next generation of Rhode Island’s leaders.”

— Sophia Seawell