Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Daily

Herald

the Brown

vol. cxlvi, no. 103

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Early apps increase for class of 2016

Since 1891

Fewer EMS’d since 2008 policy change raised cost Number of students refusing care for intoxication reached new high in 2011

By Nic Cavell Contributing Writer

By David Chung Senior Staff Writer

The number of early applications to the University rose about 4 percent over last year, while applications to the Program in Liberal Medical Education jumped 25 percent, according to Dean of Admission Jim Miller ’73.

Though the deadline was Nov. 1, not all early applicants have been able to submit their applications due to ongoing power outages in New England following a storm that hit two weeks ago, Miller said.

Once all the applications have been received, he said he expects the number of early applicants to rise to just over 2,900, up from 2,796 last year.

This increase is consistent with the trend over the past five years, and the applicant pool is likely to continue to grow in the following years, Miller said.

In addition to the 25 percent rise in PLME applications, the proportion of minority applicants in that pool has risen 9 percent, he said.

The Admission Office also noted a greater number of applications from the Midwest, a result of recent recruiting efforts in the region, Miller said. International students comprised about 12 percent of the pool for the third year continued on page 3

Rachel A. Kaplan / Herald

A 2008 EMS policy sends students to hospitals, not Health Services.

A 2008 change restricting Emergency Medical Service transports to Health Services has changed the calculus for students weighing the costs and benefits of calling EMS. Since the change, the number of intoxication incidents serviced by Health Services has decreased by 29 percent. Last year, the number of students who signed waivers declining EMS care reached its highest point since 2006-2007, the first year for which data is available.

U. drops 14 places in Fulbright ranking

By Elizabeth Koh Contributing Writer

Brown ranked 17th among top research institutions for 2011-12 Fulbright award recipients, falling 14 places from last year. Brown ranked third in 2009 and 2010, according to lists released by the Chronicle of Higher Education.

The Chronicle released the list for the most recent cycle Oct. 23.

Fourteen out of 76 applicants — 18 percent — received Fulbrights in the 2011-12 award cycle. During the 2010-11 cycle, 24 out of 96 applicants received awards, and during the 2009-10 cycle, 29 received awards out of 109 applicants.

“It’s certainly something that has caught our attention,” said

Linda Dunleavy, associate dean of the College for fellowships and pre-law. “We are certainly concerned, and we want to make sure that Brown does as well as possible in these competitions.”

But the numbers published in the Chronicle account for both graduate and undergraduate applicants and do not accurately reflect undergraduate performance alone, Dunleavy added.

The 14 award recipients reported in the Chronicle’s list were all undergraduates, she said.

Still, Dunleavy acknowledged the decrease in the number of awards and applications, attributing it to a “number of possible factors,” including cuts to the Fulbright program.

Dunleavy also noted Brown’s continued success in the number of Fulbrights students receive compared to its peers.

“We’re in good company,” she said. Brown is tied with Princeton, Cornell and Penn this year.

“We’ve been doing extremely well, and this past year we didn’t do quite so well, but we’ll be back on top,” she added.

Dunleavy said the University sent 81 applications to the Fulbright program for the 2012-13 cycle.

“Ranking is all relative,” said Andrea Dillon ’11.5, an international relations concentrator who applied in the fall for a Fulbright

news....................2-3 Sports....................4 City & State............5 Editorial...............6 Opinions................7

Finals Play

Men’s water polo clinches league, falls to St. Francis Sports, 4

project.

Liebling said he learned through the Curricular Resource Center that the JCB had been interested in finding undergraduates to tackle the

By maggie finnegan Contributing Writer

continued on page 2

continued on page 4

John Carter Brown Library

Coded language, putatively written in Roger Williams’ hand, appears in this book of unknown title and authorship. In the spring, the code may be broken.

Successor

Henriques ’12 says student input needed

opinions, 7

weather

inside

Next spring, the mystery of a controversial historical figure, an aged tome and an undecipherable code will be solved — not in Dan Brown’s next novel, but within the hallowed halls of the John Carter Brown Library.

As part of a group independent reading project, a team of undergraduates will work to decode a mysterious shorthand thought to

SafeRide rolls out service updates

shorthand.

Upon seeing the book, Liebling was immediately transfixed. “The

continued on page 3

Undergrads to decipher curious shorthand of Rhode Island’s 17th century founder be written by Rhode Island founder Roger Williams.

The book containing the shorthand is part of the JCB’s collection and is subtitled “An Essay Concerning the Reconciling of Differences among Christians.” The book’s author is unknown and it has no title page, but includes a letter identifying the shorthand as Williams’.

Simon Liebling ’12 and Chris Norris-LeBlanc ’13, who are both history concentrators and Herald opinions columnists, will head the

continued on page 5

SafeRide implemented a number of changes yesterday to increase the efficiency of the BrownMed/Downcity and campus shuttle services.

The BrownMed/Downcity shuttle route was changed, and the total number of stops were cut from 19 to 14. Stops that were close to other stops were eliminated to decrease wait times. A stop at the OlneyMargolies Athletic Center was also cut, making Angell Street the route’s northernmost boundary.

Students can now track the location of shuttles online through a service available on the SafeRide website or as a free smartphone application.

The app provides a map of the three running shuttles’ locations and lists arrival times at individual stops.

The SafeRide route also has new signs displaying a unique text ID number for each stop. To find out the location of the nearest shuttle, passengers can text the ID of the stop to 41411 and receive a response with the arrival time of the next two shuttles.

The OnCall service has also moved online. Students can enter Brown ID numbers at shuttle.brown. edu to request or cancel rides.

At the JCB, cracking the Williams code

By Alexa Pugh Contributing Writer

In the summer of 2008, the Rhode Island Department of Health informed the University that without a physician present during nights and weekends, Health Services does not qualify as an emergency medical facility and would no longer be allowed to accept transports. Before then, students who were EMS’d could be taken to Health Services to be treated by nurses on nights and weekends. Since the policy change, students EMS’d during those times have been taken to hospitals and

t o d ay

tomorrow

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2 Campus News calendar Today

November 8

4:15 P.m.

ToMORROW

November 9

“A Population Ignored,”

“Health Care in Medieval China,”

Wilson 102

Science Center 6:30 p.m.

“Where Does Democracy Thrive?”

“Emerging Writers’ Panel,”

MacMillan 117

Brown/RISD Hillel

menu SHARPE REFECTORY

VERNEy-WOOLLEY DINING HALL LUNCH

Beef and Andouille Burgers with Kaiser Roll, Savory Sauteed Spinach, Couscous Pearls

Honey Mustard Chicken Sandwich, Vegetarian Pot Pie, Marinated Beets, Butterscotch Chip Cookies

DINNER Curry Chicken with Coconut, Ginger Sugar Snap Peas and Carrots, Basmati Rice Pilaf, Raspberry Bars

Students seek to decode shorthand continued from page 1

noon

5 p.m.

The Brown Daily Herald Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Roast Beef au Jus, Vegan Vegetable Couscous, Roasted Rosemary Potatoes, Wax Beans

Sudoku

opportunity, I think, to do something hands on and original was so exciting to both Chris and myself.

But we basically just looked at each other and knew it was something we wanted to do,” he said.

Katharine Mead ’12, an American studies concentrator, will work with Liebling and Norris-LeBlanc.

The group is still interested in recruiting participants with expertise in other disciplines, she said.

“We would be particularly interested in students who would bring a more quantitative or scientific background,” Leibling added.

Edward Widmer, director of the JCB, said technology could offer the key to deciphering the code.

Widmer has already drawn on a variety of sources for help in the endeavor — holding meetings with mathematicians, JCB board members, librarians, an English professor and Barnaby Evans ’75, the founder

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of WaterFire.

“It’s a very Brown kind of approach to this project,” Mead said of the interdisciplinary strategy. She noted that the project has already garnered feedback from several professors interested in contributing.

Liebling said the participants have yet to determine the exact course of action, but he thinks it will be important to incorporate a study of shorthand’s history and previous successful attempts at deciphering codes before attacking the book itself.

A similar shorthand also attributed to Williams can be found in the Eliot Indian Bible, housed in the John Hay Library. Linford Fisher, assistant professor of history who specializes in early America, said proving Williams’ authorship will be an important component of the project.

“He’s an individual with a lot of intellectual depth and intrigue,” Fisher said of the visionary theo-

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logian. The shorthand’s meaning could be something as interesting as a diary, a comment on the book’s text or Williams’ theological musings, or as mundane as Williams’ copy of another text to practice his shorthand, he said.

Widmer said if they can prove Williams’ authorship, decoding the shorthand would be an exciting historical discovery, even if its meaning turns out to be lackluster.

“Roger Williams is an important enough person that every word he ever wrote was meaningful,” he said.

Widmer said he hopes the project will increase recognition of Williams, who played a prolific role in the history of early America and left a legacy of religious toleration and respect for minority rights.

Both Liebling and Mead are cautiously optimistic about the prospects of breaking the code. Though Liebling said he has fantasized that the annotations will lead to buried treasure under Prospect Park, he said it will be difficult to predict the likelihood of cracking the code until the project is underway.

Regardless, Liebling and Mead said they anticipate the process will be a rewarding one. “To take a shot at something no one’s ever done before, whether or not that’s successful, I think that’s a very unique opportunity for an undergraduate and something I’m very excited about,” Liebling said.

He said he also hopes the project will increase awareness about the JCB, which he considers an underappreciated resource at Brown.

The book is available online in the JCB’s archives and will be on display at the library until Nov. 30.

Campus News 3

The Brown Daily Herald Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Early Decision Applicants

UCS statements spark dialogue again

By Katrina Phillips Senior Staff Writer

Kyle McNamara / Herald

Early apps for dualdegree program decrease continued from page 1 in a row.

Interest in the physical sciences and humanities is up among applicants, while the number of students planning to study the social sciences has remained steady, Miller said. Fewer early applicants are considering the life sciences, and applications to the Brown/Rhode Island School of Design Dual Degree Program with the Rhode Island School of Design are down by about 10 percent.

Though Harvard and Princeton reinstated early application options this year, Miller told The Herald in March he was unsure if the move would lead to a drop in early applications to Brown. The University did not see an increase when the schools eliminated their early application programs in 2006.

Paul Martin, a high school senior at Riverstone International School in Boise, Idaho, said he decided to apply early to Brown after visiting last month. “Everyone was so nice,” he said. The New Curriculum and the idea of being in charge of his education factored heavily in his decision. Though he said he intends to study history and political science, he also expressed

an interest in physics.

Grant Phillips also pointed to the New Curriculum as well as an “open-minded” campus culture as major reasons he applied early decision. Though Phillips, who attends the Catlin Gabel School in Portland, Ore., said he was attracted to Brown by its proximity to RISD, he did not apply to the five-year Brown/RISD Dual Degree Program. He said he is interested in studying art, history or commerce, organizations and entrepreneurship.

Miller said the admission office does not have a target acceptance number for the early applicant pool and that the outcome will depend on the strength of the candidates.

During the past two years, the University admitted approximately 20 percent of applicants during its early decision round.

The class of 2016 has about 1,500 spots, Miller said, and he expects Brown to receive a total of around 30,000 applications this year. Last year, a record-high 30,946 students applied to the University.

Early decision applicants will hear back from the admission office near the end of the second week in December, Miller said.

Despite drop, support for Fulbright applicants lauded continued from page 1 to study in Chile. “I’m sure that the ranking is affected by how many applicants Brown has in a given year and how many applicants other schools have in a given year,” she said.

Students also said they feel the support the University provides has remained consistent.

“It was certainly helpful for me,” said Sam Koplewicz ’11, who is currently studying on a Fulbright in Croatia. He said the University supports applicants by revising project proposals and personal statements with advisers and other applicants. “It’s a helpful way to look at your application,” he said.

Applying for a Fulbright remains highly competitive regard-

less of the University’s standing.

“It seems that more and more people are starting to be interested in it,” Koplewicz said.

“Now that I’ve turned (my application) in to the national competition, I’m aware that it’s extremely competitive,” Dillon said, adding that she hopes to research the political ramifications of Palestinian migration in Chile.

“I have no expectation of winning one. It would be a really lovely surprise if it worked out.”

But Dunleavy said she is optimistic about the upcoming Fulbright cycle.

“We’re hopeful that this coming applicant pool will return Brown to its previous standing as a really top producer of Fulbrights,” she said. “We’re very confident that this year’s pool will do very well.”

After a roughly decade-long absence, Undergraduate Council of Students statements are making a comeback this semester.

A UCS statement, as stipulated in the council’s Code of Operations, is issued “when the council wants to formally comment” on a University issue. They differ from UCS resolutions, which are passed to recommend a policy change, in that they are broader, are established as the council’s ongoing opinion and do not expire.

UCS has passed two statements so far this semester — written by UCS Vice President David Rattner ’13 and Campus Life Chair Michael Schneider ’13 — on the proposed athletics cuts and the state of campus housing. Michael Lin ’14, chair of the Admissions and Student Services committee, said his committee is working on a statement on student concerns about the current vending system, which uses Card Value Center machines.

This sudden upsurge in statement usage is no coincidence, Rattner said. He began trying to reinstate statements after finding old records of their widespread use during a UCS archival project

he started with former UCS President Diane Mokoro ’11 last year.

Rattner said his archival search over the summer led him to discover UCS statements written during the organization’s early years in the 1980s. He uncovered a statement authored during the Cold War supporting the plan for a campus stockpile of suicide pills in case of nuclear attack. Rattner said he hopes the current UCS statements will carry more weight and that he wants “to use them as a way to reflect student opinion on major issues facing the University.”

Rattner wrote the recent statement condemning the proposed athletics cuts and approached Schneider about co-authoring a statement expressing student dissatisfaction with housing. Both statements were well-received by the council.

When UCS was deliberating his statement on housing, Schneider said there was a lively discussion on the council listserv about the specifics of the statement, but that council members generally agreed on the sentiment.

Rattner said consensus is an important aspect for any issue under consideration for a statement.

A statement is supposed to reflect the opinion of the student body as a whole and requires a two-thirds

majority vote. These requirements have led to an avoidance of controversial issues — when overall agreement could not easily be reached — such as the return of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps to campus.

Rattner and Schneider both expressed optimism about the progress of the two statements passed so far and said they thought the statements allowed student voices to be heard. The athletics debate ended with the result they hoped for, and while no Corporation decision on housing has been made public, Schneider said the statement gave “more credibility to widespread student dissatisfaction.”

Though the idea of statements is not new to UCS, Rattner said they are a new tool for the current council. “We don’t want to just release statements for the sake of releasing statements,” he added.

When an issue can be resolved with direct communication with administrators, UCS will not use statements to express an opinion, Rattner said. Statements are available as a useful alternative for larger issues that need to reach the Corporation or are not handled by a specific administrator.

“We want something that actually carries weight and has teeth,” he said.

4 Sports Tuesday

The Brown Daily Herald Tuesday, November 8, 2011

SafeRide Bears take Ivy title, look to Eastern Championships technology updated m. Water Polo

By Connor grealy Sports Staff Writer

The No. 17 men’s water polo team has had two exhilarating weekends, beginning its postseason play with positive results. The team won the Ivy League Championships Oct. 29 and 30 at Harvard and finished second in an agonizing defeat to No. 20 St. Francis College in the finals of the Northern Division Championships Nov. 5 and 6 at MIT. After suffering a slow start to the season, the team is putting together the pieces to make the final push in tournament play. The Bears trounced No. 15 Princeton 16-5 in the Ivy finals following a 15-5 win over Harvard in the semifinals.

“It was definitely huge for us to win,” said Cyrus Mojdehi ’12.

“We’ve come so far from the first time we played. To come out and win in a convincing fashion, it was a great step forward.”

The championship victory, the first for any player currently in Brown’s program, was an avenging win against a Princeton team that edged out Brown by one goal in last year’s finals.

Play by Svetozar Stefanovic ’13 (five goals, two steals, eight ejec-

tions drawn) and Henry Fox ’15 (five goals, three assists, seven steals) led to the crooked final score.

James McNamara ’14 (three goals, one assist, one steal), Chris Culin ’14 (one goal, two steals) and Nick Deaver ’15 (four assists) also contributed to the victory.

Bruno’s stingy defense in the finals was anchored by the impressive play of goalkeeper Walker Shockley ’14, who made eight saves.

After celebrating the win, the team had a quick turnaround and moved on to the Northern Division Championships.

The team cruised through the first two rounds, dismantling Connecticut College 17-3 and Harvard again 18-9 en route to the championship game.

The team’s opponent in the finals, St. Francis, was a familiar foe, and the Bears were hungry to avenge an early season loss to the Terriers.

“We lost to St. Francis earlier in the season by nine,” said captain Toby Espinosa ’12. “At the end of the game, it wasn’t really a game anymore.”

But the teams’ second meeting was far from the previous onesided matchup. The sides played

evenly through regulation and four periods of overtime play, but the Bears fell in an epic game in the fifth overtime frame 10-9.

“The game was an hour and a half long. Three of our starters fouled out,” Espinosa said. “It was a testament to the team as a whole.

When something like that happens to a team, regularly the team implodes, and the game is over.”

The Bears relied on their defense to erase a three-goal firsthalf deficit, leaving the two teams notched at nine heading into overtime. The first two quarters ended without any scoring, leading to sudden-death play. In the fifth overtime period, the Terriers finally snuck one past Shockley for the win.

“No one thought we were going to lose until that last goal crossed the line,” Mojdehi said. “Guys who usually don’t work together played together. It was disappointing, but we learned a lot.”

“We’ve been training all season incredibly hard. You could see it in our defense the last half of the game,” Espinosa said. “Our defense is our pride. Our offense then comes from that.”

The final score does not fully reflect the strength of Brown’s play against a perennial powerhouse,

he said.

“It was hard losing, but it gives us the chip on our shoulders,” Espinosa said. “It gives us the emotional backing to say we have two weeks until Easterns.”

The Northern Championships determined seeding for the CWPA Eastern Championship Nov. 1820, the winner of which receives a berth to the NCAA Water Polo Championships. Brown will be the No. 2 seed behind St. Francis.

“We put together a nice string of wins,” Espinosa said. “They were all kind of stepping stones to Easterns and an automatic berth to the final four.”

At the Eastern Championship, Brown has been placed in a bracket with No. 19 Bucknell University, Princeton and No. 16 Navy. The Bears could get a rematch against St. Francis in the championship.

The proximity of this year’s Eastern Championship at Harvard lends a sense of comfort to a team that is without a home pool and is always stuck on the road.

“We’re road warriors,” Mojdehi said. “We’re always on the road getting cheered against, but we use that to our advantage. But having support and a fan base there will be crucial for us.”

continued from page 1 When the Alpert Medical School opened in the Jewelry District this summer, the Transportation Office recognized that the shuttle service needed to be modified for the expansion, said Beth Gentry, assistant vice president of financial and administrative services. Brown hired consultants to identify problems with the system and modernize SafeRide’s tracking software.

“Frankly, the system had not been looked at and evaluated in that way with a professional in quite a few years,” Gentry said. “It was time.”

With these modifications, the shuttle program is expected to be more efficient and user-friendly.

“I never use SafeRide because I feel like in the time it takes to wait for a shuttle I could have walked to my destination and back,” said Liz Kelley ’13. “But now that I can see exactly where the shuttles are, I’ll probably use it more. I’m lazy.”

These updates are particularly timely as colder temperatures hit Providence.

“I mainly use SafeRide in the winter because I hate walking in the cold,” said Annika Havnaer ’13.

City & State 5

The Brown Daily Herald Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Seeing high demand, public colleges may up tuition

By Sophia Seawell Staff Writer

The state’s public higher education system — though enjoying strong student demand — is feeling the squeeze of insufficient state funding and bracing for a possible new round of tuition hikes.

At 43,499, enrollment in Rhode Island public colleges and universities is at nearly its highest point ever, and tuition costs stand at record levels. The demand for public higher education has increased nationally due to its relatively low cost, said Jane Fusco, spokeswoman for Rhode Island College. “Even though our tuition has increased over the last several years, it is still far lower than many other New England states,’” she said.

The University of Rhode Island enrolled 16,562 students for its fall 2011 semester. Enrollment has increased over the last several years, with a peak enrollment of 16,628 in 2009.

At RIC, 9,044 students are enrolled this semester, according to data from RIC’s Office of Institutional Research and Planning.

This figure represents a 1.2 percent decrease from the previous year, though enrollment this semester is at its fourth highest level in the past decade. The college saw its highest enrollment in 2009.

With a current enrollment of 17,893 students, the Community College of Rhode Island is seeing its second highest semester of fulltime enrollment, according to the college’s website.

“A lot of our students and

adults are coming back to re-train and gain new skills,” said Richard Coren, director of marketing, communications and publications at CCRI. “Any time there is an economic downturn, I think we see record highs when it comes to enrollment.”

Health care-related fields, math, science, secondary education and psychology have been particularly popular in recent years, Fusco said. “These are the areas that students will be looking for training in because that’s where the jobs are,” Fusco said.

“The students tend to go where the job market is most open.”

The dual trends of high enrollment and insufficient state support are driven in part by the same factor: Rhode Island’s lagging economy. That factor also

makes Rhode Island students less able to cope with the tuition hikes that have accompanied increased enrollment.

The state Board of Governors for Higher Education recently recommended a tuition increase for next fall at public colleges and universities: a 9.5 percent tuition increase at URI, a 4 percent increase at RIC and a 7.5 percent increase at CCRI. Tuition at the individual colleges has increased by up to 47 percent over the past five years, while state funding for higher education has been cut by 30 percent.

“The Board of Governors views an increase in tuition as a last resort,” said Michael Trainor, spokesman for the Rhode Island Office of Higher Education.

“The board has an active in-

terest in looking at what other countries and states are doing to hold down the cost of education,” Trainor said. “There’s a strong feeling that the cost curve needs to be bent down in order to maintain affordability.”

CCRI decided not to increase its tuition for the 2010-11 academic year because its administrators expected Rhode Island higher education to receive $13 million in state funding, Coren said. Ultimately, these schools received only $4 million from the state to split between them.

Rhode Island is expected to face double-digit unemployment for the remainder of the decade, Coren said. “So it’s our job to do a good job presenting why higher education is important and why we need to be funded by the state.”

Health Services treats fewer intoxicated students after policy shift continued from page 1 charged accordingly.

In the following years, fewer students have received treatment for intoxication. Students have expressed concern over the cost of hospital treatment for intoxication and a desire for on-campus care.

According to the administration, before the change, students were receiving care when they did not truly need it, and the costs of bringing a doctor to campus during nights and weekends outweigh the benefits.

Though EMS does not charge patients for ambulance transportation, the policy change means those patients must now be transported to a hospital. Because they are no longer under Brown’s inpatient care, patients are instead subject to a health insurance co-pay, according to EMS Service Chief Amy Sanderson.

Alex Eve ’15 was EMS’d this semester shortly after arriving at Brown. In addition to the cost of inpatient care at Rhode Island Hospital, he said he was charged EMS expenses by the hospital because

Brown EMS was busy with other calls.

“I wasn’t aware of the additional charges,” Eve said. “(Acute intoxication supervision) seemed like it was advertised as a free resource.”

“It was a pain ... and a learning experience about being held responsible for your actions — in a bad way,” Eve said.

Edward Wheeler, director of Health Services, said the 2008 change was caused by the state’s ultimatum. “It reflects their policies, not those of the University.”

But Margaret Klawunn, vice president for campus life and student services, said the University would have eventually implemented the changes anyway.

“The way it was set up, it was not a current model of care,” Klawunn said of Health Services’ handling of intoxication incidents. With no doctor to supervise students, there were liability issues, she said.

“Most of those who did go through Health Services inpatient were people who didn’t need medical care,” she said. In 2008, the University was conducting an external

comics Cloud Buddies! | David Emanuel

Chester Crabson | Tess Carroll

review of Health Services. The review eventually led to a consensus that Health Services should reduce its involvement with cases of student intoxication, Klawunn said.

Following the review, Health Services began to reduce its support for intoxication incidents. While walkins were accepted 24 hours a day for the 2008-2009 school year, in 2009 Health Services began closing at 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday. In 2010, the Inpatient Unit closed its doors for all nights and weekends.

In the same period, the total number of students treated for intoxication has steadily declined.

In 2007-2008, the year before the policy shift, 193 students received treatment for intoxication. Last year, that number was 136.

Meanwhile, signed refusals — people who decline EMS treatment — reached their highest number last year.

Students expressed a desire for a middle ground between refusing care and facing the costs of hospital treatment.

When Justina Lee ’15 was EMS’d for intoxication, she said she was not

asked if she wanted care and that she believes she did not need it. “It would be better if there was some option available at Brown,” she said.

“It cost so much money and was so inconvenient,” Lee said of her hospital treatment.

Eve also said he did not think he needed hospital care and was ready to attend an early morning running practice the next day, he said.

“I was pushed into a situation

where I had to pay,” Eve said.

“Especially in the moderate case, where students may or may not need to go to the hospital, people will think twice about calling EMS,” he said.

But a physician could not be hired to staff Health Services during nights and weekends because of the prohibitive cost, Klawunn said.

“It’s impossible to meet all needs.”

6 Editorial Editorial Bikes burst the College Hill bubble Despite the hostile looks that some student bikers report receiving from Providence drivers, we find it hard to believe that there are many people who truly think biking is a bad thing. Biking is an environmentally friendly alternative to motor vehicle usage and is well-suited to student travel. It is more efficient than walking, and bikes can be used to carry schoolbags and groceries. Its health benefits are also significant, and these benefits contribute to lower costs: A recent Environmental Health Perspectives study estimates that nearly $4 billion could be saved if just half of all short trips were made on bike, rather than by car, in the Midwestern United States.

But why is biking important at Brown, where only about 10 percent of students have cars on campus, and transporation alternatives are more likely to be walking or using public transit? On an individual level, many students find that bikes are a great way to cut out travel time from off-campus housing and while running errands. Biking at Brown can also create habits that stay with students beyond their university years. But bikes at Brown play a more discrete function as well: They get students out of the bubble.

Dan Rejto ’12 is a member of Bikes at Brown, a student group that offers free repair assistance, workshops and two-day-at-a-time bike rentals to the Brown community. He said most students who rent bikes seem do so for trips, such as group trips to museums off College Hill. “I think Brown students should travel more off campus,” he said.

“And I think the best way to do that is by bike.” Brown students are proud to have everything we need within walking distance and more than enough going on around campus to occupy us year-round. But there are some real benefits to seeing more of the city: great restaurants, arts events, beautiful trails, farmers’ markets and volunteer and internship opportunities around Providence may seem a world away to students whose Providence experience is limited to the occasional College Hill-Providence Place mall commute.

By purchasing bikes or making use of resources like the Bikes at Brown rental services, students can broaden their experiences of Providence and help increase the visibility of bikes on campus and in the city. A bike share program would make bikes even more widely accessible. And as Providence considers the possibility of a city-wide bike share program — a recent Providence Bike Share Feasibility Study suggests that, despite barriers like the steep ride up College Hill, a bike share could be implemented in Providence — we hope students and administrators will be among the first to support continued research and commitments to encouraging a bike-friendly Providence.

Finally, we offer a friendly reminder to wear those helmets, stop for stop signs and know the rules of the road.

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

Letters, please!

The Brown Daily Herald Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Editorial cartoon

by lo r e n f u lto n

quote of the day

“This is definitely beyond

”

what you have in your dorm.

— University Librarian Hariette Hemmasi See lab on page 8.

Correction An article in Monday’s Herald (“Hip-hop jam showcases break dance movement,” Nov. 7) incorrectly referred to a participant in the event as Sam Rosenberg, and the name of a group as G818ers. In fact, the participant’s name is Sam Rosenfeld ’12 and the name of the group is GR818ERS. The Herald regrets the errors.

letters@browndailyherald.com

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

Managing Editors

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Opinions 7

The Brown Daily Herald Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Apple polishing the alma mater

By Suzanne Enzerink Opinions Columnist “If apple polishing the shrewd professor has got you where you are today, how much more simple to apple polish a young innocent into leading you to the altar — the getting of a husband should be mere child’s play.”

These are the words that Israel Kapstein ’26 PhD’31, an English professor at Brown, addressed to the students of Pembroke College in May 1939. The occasion was his election as favorite professor by the Pembroke student body, and the Evening Bulletin reported that he was honored by being married to the entire senior class in a mock ceremony. Indeed, the picture accompanying the article shows a broadly smiling Kapstein in a suit, followed by a host of equally elated young women in veils. The wedding seems an appropriate award, as the article reports that Kapstein “advocated marriage rather than a career” as the appropriate next step for young women in his commencement speech that same day.

A speech like this would be unthinkable nowadays. Universities, Ivy League universities in particular, were long the prerogative of young men. Therefore, on the 30th anniversary of the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women, the University should be commended for its longstanding dedication to equitable education. A look at the history of women at Brown provides a window

into the significance of the initiatives that have been formed. From a male bastion that was highly opposed to coeducation of male and female students at such an “inflammable age,” to use the words of University President Ezekiel Robinson 1838 in 1886, the University transformed into an institution that truly accepts that, as Sarah Doyle so eloquently put it, “The woman’s sphere is one of infinite and indeterminate radius.”

As are the radii of all groups that have found themselves in a marginalized position.

cial, postethnic and postgender are thrown around like faits accomplis, it is tempting to forget that not 50 years ago — Pembroke College was only integrated into Brown in 1971 — the University’s landscape was entirely different. Perusing the archives results in astonishing looks into a world of constrained feminine movement that seems so far removed from the current situation it is almost foreign.

The songbook for the Women’s College, published in 1928, featured songs like “Get Me a Man for Prom” and “Poor Old Senior.”

Perusing the archives results in astonishing looks into a world of constrained feminine movement that seems so far removed from the current situation it is almost foreign.

Of course, there are still areas that need to be addressed — for example, the male-to-female or white-to-people-of-color ratio — but the advance has been enormous. This goes for all categories of difference and helps to explain why the Pembroke Center has been able to broaden its focus. On a leaflet that was distributed prior to its opening in 1981, the center is introduced as a facility that will address “questions relating to sex roles and the status of women and men in society.” Currently, the center dedicates itself to the exploration of all categories of difference across disciplines and in transnational context.

In this time where words like postra-

The latter laments the fate of the senior women who cannot find a man because boys “like ’em young” and traded their girls for younger models. The most interesting line is perhaps that “the girls at home / they laugh and crow / ‘She got an education / but she couldn’t get a beau.’” The song illustrates the ideology that domestic bliss was incompatible with participation in the public sphere.

This also extends to newspapers, in which Pembroke women were continuously cast in traditional feminine roles. A 1937 article centered on a ball that had taken place, and the article exclusively discussed the physical appearance of the women by summing up the

outfits of a dozen women in a fashion that would not be out of place on E!’s red carpet shows. Juliette Bignet of Providence, chairman of the Ivy Night committee, was described as “attractive in black chiffon with a bright colored modernistic flower design” while Eleanor Murphy ’37 P’64 of West Warwick, president of the senior class, “stood at the end of the line gowned in St. James rose marquisette with very full skirt and tiny puff sleeves.”

Other articles showed the women practicing a dance for the May festival, having a pageant for “inanimate pets.” One particularly entertaining headline reads “Pembrokers go Sleighing — 16 on Ride Take Advantage of Snow as Excuse to Consume Hamburgers.” A photo that does show young women browsing an academic schedule is accompanied by the title “Study — But Mostly in Expression,” and the subscript typifies them as nonchalant, plainly worried and fairly bewildered. Any positive reference to academic attainment is erased.

The initiatives of the marginalized groups themselves and the willingness of the University to cooperate in founding organizations to address difference have to be credited with the radical change reflected in these articles and the situation today. Happy 30th to the Pembroke Center!

Suzanne Enzerink GS is a master’s student in the American studies program.

All sources used here can be found in the archives of the Sarah Doyle Women’s Center.

A university-college, if you can keep it

By Reuben Henriques Opinions Columnist It’s said that a woman approached Benjamin Franklin at the close of the Constitutional Convention and asked him whether the government he and his compatriots had just founded was to be a monarchy or a republic. “A republic,” Franklin replied, “if you can keep it.”

Franklin’s cautionary words emphasize that democracy is not a one-way street: Institutions that allow for participation depend, for their effectiveness, on people actually participating. If those in power begin to shirk their responsibility to the people in whose interests they govern, it is as much our fault for letting them get away with it as it is theirs for doing so. Citizenship, as we all learned in our civics classes, carries with it not just rights, but responsibilities.

As it is in our national community, so too is it in our campus community, which is why the paltry attendance at a recent open undergraduate forum to solicit opinions on our next president was alarming. As reported in The Herald, though the event was optimistically booked in Salomon 001, only about 15 people turned out to speak with members of the Presidential Search Committee of the Corporation and the Campus Advisory Committee. If you disregard the members of the Undergraduate Council of Students in the audience — a group that surely has no dearth of opportunity to have their voices heard about the problems facing Brown — the number of new voices brought into the conversation at last week’s forum is even

smaller.

The low turnout was especially disappointing because the conversation was a surprisingly fruitful one. After affirming the importance of community input by noting that Dartmouth President Jim Yong Kim ’82 was originally nominated through a similar forum, Chancellor Thomas Tisch ’76 and the other committee members in attendance engaged in a substantial back-and-forth with students about the personal characteristics they would like to see in the next president, as well as their broader hopes for Brown’s future.

who seems more concerned with getting his or her name in print than interacting with undergraduates. We have fumed at the injustice of the University’s labor practices and complained that the concerns of our favorite identity group are given too short shrift.

Now and then, we can even be enticed to share our opinions directly with the powers that be. It helps if the avenue for complaint is trendy enough — 30 people turned out to set up tents and post a Martin Luther-style list of demands at Occupy College Hill last month.

It also helps to have resume-padding potential — 55 students filled out an impressive-

But to complain of a University run by forces outside our control, while at the same time failing to take advantage of existing opportunities to influence University decision-making, is disingenuous. The blame for abdication of duty lies at our doorstep, not Brown’s.

The issue of how to properly balance the University’s research and teaching, for example, was a major focus of the discussion.

Though panel members pushed back some against students’ concerns, they were nonetheless receptive to fears that undergraduates might become increasingly marginalized.

It is not that students are indifferent about such campus issues. These very opinion pages bristle constantly with criticisms of everything from Brown’s residential facilities to its advising to its military involvement to its investments. More informally, we have all had conversations in which we or our impassioned friends have raged against a professor

ly thorough application in hopes of attaining one of two undergraduate spots on the Campus Advisory Committee. Sitting in the basement of Salomon on a Wednesday afternoon certainly offers less cachet, and no one is going to give you a pat on the back for your participation. But unglamorous as it may be, it is nonetheless a meaningful way to demonstrate our passion for our school and take part in shaping its future.

We are understandably wary of a University run by a Corporation that seems distant and removed from student interests. And the seriously disproportionate representation of science faculty at the expense of those from

the humanities on the Campus Advisory Committee is cause for concern that important voices are not being heard in this year’s presidential search. Students feel — and rightly so — that because we are stakeholders in this University, the institution ought to be responsive to our needs. But to complain of a University run by forces outside our control, while at the same time failing to take advantage of existing opportunities to influence University decision-making, is disingenuous.

The blame for abdication of duty lies at our doorstep, not Brown’s.

Unfortunately, the undergraduate open forum last week was, according to the presidential search website, the only one scheduled so far. I hope the committee will arrange more as the presidential search process continues, and if they do, I implore students to take an hour out of their day to participate in these important conversations about what Brown is and should be.

Until then, the Presidential Search Committee of the Corporation and the Campus Advisory Committee are accepting comments via email at president_search@brown. edu. Committee members have demonstrated an eagerness to listen to our perspective as current students. We owe it to the next generation of Brunonians to take 10 minutes — or 20 or 30 — to sit down, write an email and share our thoughts about our next president.

After all, the university-college is ours. If we can keep it.

Reuben Henriques ’12 hopes that the search committee’s taking candidate suggestions by email means we might have a dethroned Nigerian prince as our next president. He can be reached at reuben_henriques@brown.edu.

Daily Herald Campus News the Brown

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

New website Rock to house Digital E-book monitoring Scholarship computer lab speeds Library growth builds

By Izzy Rattner Contributing Writer

The University is moving ahead with plans to install a Digital Scholarship Lab in the Rockefeller Library by next fall.

The idea for the lab stemmed from a 2010 collaborative project between Professor of Italian Studies Massimo Riva, Professor of Computer Science Andy Van Dam and University Librarian Harriette Hemmasi called “Garibaldi on the Surface.” The project, which involved a digitized form of the 1860 Garibaldi Panorama painting on a touchscreen surface, was “the genesis of this whole idea,” Hemmasi said.

The project centers around a wall, roughly 16 feet by seven feet and constructed from at least 12 high-definition panels totaling 25 million pixels. While the computers controlling the panels will be touch screen, the main panels will not be.

The wall is “easily four times higher resolution than the best projector” said John Huffman, manager of the Center for Computation and Visualization user services and applications. Huffman also said the wall will have high pixel density — roughly five times that of a projector, even on the large surface area it will cover.

The lab’s room will serve multiple functions. Several computers will be able to be plugged into the wall at one time to allow for collaborative work that can be shared and compared internationally. A screen of such size and quality will make it easier to view large images — such as a photo of a planet — by limiting “panning and zooming,” Huffman said. The lab will also be able to display detailed maps with layered information.

Hemmasi said the Rock is an ideal location for the lab because the library is open 18 hours a day and not owned by any department. Students and faculty will both be encouraged

to use the room, which could be used for classes but, like other small workrooms in the library, will also be open for individual work. The lab will be in the Serials Workroom, which will be slightly expanded to fit at least 20 people.

Huffman developed many of the lab’s technical aspects. He described the big high-definition wall as a “natural fit for the libraries,” adding that it will complement other technology on campus such as the Cave, the University’s virtual reality lab.

Provost Mark Schlissel P’15 called the proposal for the lab a “fantastic extension of the capabilities of the library,” adding that he had “never in his life” seen something like it.

A dozen faculty members from various fields were interviewed over the summer and agreed the possibilities for collaboration through this space were significant, Hemmasi said.

This project is one way in which the University Library is working with Computing and Information Services to remain an effective workspace in light of new technologies.

“The nature of the Library is really changing, and this new room is one of the ways the library is changing,” Schlissel said. “It’s reimagining itself from a place people go to touch things with their hands and assimilate them with their eyes to a … place to access and manipulate information.”

Funding came in large part from the family of Sidney Frank ’42 and other anonymous donors. The total cost is not yet known but will come primarily from the cost of equipment and not from construction, Hemmasi said.

“Now, if you go to a computer lab on campus, mostly you’re going to find what you have in your dorm,” Hemmasi said. “This is definitely beyond what you have in your dorm.”

By Sona Mkrttchian Contributing Writer

Unbeknownst to most users, the University Library has been monitoring the use of e-books since January and purchasing only those that are most popular. The pilot program, run in conjunction with ebrary, an e-book vendor, aims to expedite the process of growing the library’s collection.

The program allows the University to gather data on how people use e-books — whether users flip through pages, print full books or read texts online cover to cover, said David Banush, associate University librarian for access services.

The Library pre-loaded over 1,000 titles into the Josiah catalog in January, Banush said. Though these e-books are available to users, the library does not purchase them until a user performs certain actions, such as continuously interacting with the text for over 10 minutes or printing material from it.

As of Nov. 4, 1,092 of the 1,150 titles available have been viewed.

Thirty percent of those viewed were purchased.

Titles are added to ebrary every day, but the library pre-sorts through them before offering titles that “a library like Brown would collect,” Banush said.

Within the confines of the pilot program, selections have been made available to four disciplines, including anthropology — the only department informed of the program. Faculty and students in the three other disciplines received no direction or information about the program. Banush requested that the names of those disciplines not be published because the pilot program is ongoing. The Library is interested in the different types of data it will collect by controlling

the experiment, he said.

Andrew Scherer, assistant professor of anthropology and archeology, directly requests books for the library to purchase, a lengthy affair because all purchases must pass through the library’s budget process. He said he tries to order books in the e-book format even when ordering them through the traditional system. “It’s a much better format because students can access the books more rapidly,” he said.

But there is a “managed risk” involved with the program, Banush said. Currently, the library processes requests for new texts on a case-by-case basis, but this step is cut from the e-book program, where purchases are automatic.

Banush said the Library is well within its budget.

The program allows the Library to collect data not made available by the analysis of traditional services. The reports show when someone has looked at an e-book, a statistic that cannot be measured for regular books, Banush said.

Ebrary has been providing the library with weekly usage reports since January. The reports also reveal use by department, finding that most purchases are made in the anthropology department, Banush said.

While anthropologists are more likely to “be tied to the print,” members of the other sciences rely more heavily on webbased journal articles, not books, he said.

The Library wants to let the program “run its course” before making any decisions about continuing the service, Banush said.

The nature of the Library is changing, he said. “We’re very much in a transition phase of uncertain duration where we’ll have to provide some mix of traditional and new services.”

Spain engineering program initially attracts no applicants

By Maggie Finnegan Contributing Writer

No students applied for the spring semester of a new study abroad program at the University of Cantabria’s School of Engineering by the Oct. 24 deadline, according to Kendall Brostuen, director of international programs and associate dean of the College.

The University announced the program, the first designed specifically to accommodate engineering concentrators, at the start of the semester. Despite the initial lack

of interest, there has been significant enthusiasm for the fall 2012 semester.

The fall program spans a full academic year — from late August to early June — while the spring program begins in early February and lasts until June.

The program, located in Santandar in the Cantabria region of Spain, is open to declared engineering concentrators who have completed HISP 0110: “Intensive Basic Spanish” or HISP 0200: “Basic Spanish II” or who can demonstrate equivalent profi-

ciency. Students must have a grade point average of 3.0 or higher, and priority is given to applicants to the full-year program.

“The program is appropriate for students who are in civil engineering, environmental engineering and even mechanical engineering,” Brostuen said.

Students in the program will be required to take four engineering courses in English and one mandatory Spanish language course each semester. Students will receive four course credits upon successful completion of the semester.

Upon completion of the fall or spring programs, students are eligible for a six- to eight-week summer engineering internship in the Cantabria region. The University of Cantabria will place students at a number of Spanish firms or public works projects.

The internship aspect of the program gives students the opportunity to work for a small stipend.

“Students looking ahead to next year should really give it some thought,” Brostuen said. “Every student that is qualified we’ll work to accommodate.”

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entrepreneur community

By Palak Walia Contributing Writer

The Brown Entrepreneurship Program launched a new website this fall to build the entrepreneurship community at Brown and help form relationships between start-up companies and students.

Browninnovation.org, spearheaded by Aaron Clayton-Dunn ’13, is a resource for students as well as local and alumni entrepreneurs.

The “Student Venture” section of the site allows students to share projects and recruit helpers. The “Internship and Jobs” section displays positions offered by local and alumni startups. The site also provides a database of entrepreneurs’ information and profiles.

“Start-ups don’t usually have resources to find people and reach out to them,” Clayton-Dunn said.

Clayton-Dunn added that he wants the site to show students that entrepreneurship is a feasible career path, he said.

The best way to learn about creating a startup is to work for one, said Shahid Mallick ’14, co-president of the entrepreneurship program.

“There is an ever-growing need to connect with entrepreneurs,” he added.

While affiliated with the Brown Entrepreneurship Program, browninnovation.org is an independent site, Mallick said. In the future, it may be embedded on the program’s website.

Clayton-Dunn’s site differs from BRUnet.com, a networking site for students and alums, because it connects students with each other as well as with local entrepreneurs, Mallick said.

Clayton-Dunn’s site also facilitates personal relationships, while the entrepreneurship program’s website lists events but “isn’t effective at connecting person to person,” said Elizabeth Weber ’14, the program’s co-president. “The site will really develop a hub of entrepreneurship community,” Weber said.

Dylan Field ’13 co-founded CourseKick, a new application for Brown students that integrates the course registration process with social media. He has used ClaytonDunn’s site to publicize open positions for the venture. Field has also used computer science department listserves to publicize Coursekick, but he said browninnovation.org provides a directory for all students at Brown, not just CS students.

Currently the site is focused on cornering the Brown market and connecting students before expanding to local entrepreneurs, Mallick said.

Clayton-Dunn said he hopes to make the site searchable with an improved design by next fall.

“I really want to see it expand to New England and other universities,” Mallick said. “The site has a lot of potential. It could become big across the country.”