Thursday, November 17, 2011

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vol. cxlvi, no. 110

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Krasinski ’01 shares jokes, anecdotes

By Kat Thornton Senior Staff Writer

A crowd of star-crazed fans that included President Ruth Simmons filled Salomon 101 last night to see John Krasinski ’01 crack jokes and tell personal stories in an informal hour-long question-and-answer session.

“This is insane,” Krasinski, who plays Jim Halpert on “The Office” and has starred in several films, said upon entering the packed auditorium. “I’m having an existential meltdown.”

Students gathered outside Salomon as early as 3 p.m. to get seating at the event, which started four hours later. But the line last night was nothing compared to the

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Nearly onethird of all athletes end up quitting

wait for tickets — some students arrived at J. Walter Wilson earlier than 7 a.m. Tuesday for the 12 p.m. distribution.

“It was so worth it,” said Deesha Misra, a sophomore at the Rhode Island School of Design.

The crowd was brimming with anticipation before the event began.

Two false entrances provoked applause and cheering before Krasinski made his entrance, cracking jokes as he appeared.

“I took way too many classes in here,” he said, looking around Salomon. “And a couple naps.”

After a few opening remarks, Krasinski opened the event to questions from the audience. Students continued on page 2

By Ethan McCoy and BEN KUTNER Sports Editor and Senior Staff Writer

did what she could to earn a living, making rugs in a factory and then working in a sweatshop at a luggage company. “They didn’t treat me well,” she said.

When she was 18, Silveira married her husband of 27 years and has since raised two daughters and earned her GED. She loves to draw and sew and wanted to be a fashion designer growing up. Her family still lives in Bristol, where Silveira has volunteered as a Sunday school teacher for the past 20 years.

Now, Brown is like “my own home,” she said. “I wouldn’t trade

Alex Lipinsky ’13 would not have come to Brown if not for the track and field team. On a recruiting visit in high school, Lipinsky fell in love with the school and decided to apply early decision. But three years later, he quit the team that brought him to College Hill. His story is far from unique.

Nearly one-third of the recruited athletes in the class of 2011 — 70 out of 221 — had quit their sports

by November 2010, according to a report submitted to the provost by the Compliance Office. Director of Athletics Michael Goldberger, who said the numbers are very similar year to year, provided condensed material from the report to The Herald.

“I really enjoyed it, and I was completely dedicated, but it just got to be too much,” Lipinsky said. “I wasn’t getting as much out of it as I was putting in.”

Lipinsky threw shot put and discus in high school. But after coming to Brown, he switched to the weight throw and hammer. He said despite the hard work he was putting into the new events, he “wasn’t that great,” and training alongside teammates with Olympic hopes made him realize his long-term goals did not involve throwing.

Like Lipinsky, most studentathletes who drop their sports do

continued on page 3

continued on page 2

Emily Gilbert / Herald

John Krasinski ’01 recounts a nosebleed mishap on the set of “The Office.”

Shelter Chronicling campus characters The stories behind the smiles of famous staff personalities no more

By Rebecca Ballhaus City & State Editor

As the Occupy movement blankets the nation, its vague but wide-ranging message has appealed to thousands, drawing in participants of all ages, ethnicities and backgrounds.

city & state

President Ruth Simmons isn’t the only figure on campus with a following. Brown staff cleans industri-

Feature al-sized messes, feeds college-sized appetites and makes the lives of the students who love them just a little bit better. But beyond the hellos and the daily smile, how well do students know the famous faces of Brown?

Champlin’s Champion

The whiteboard on her office

door is always covered with appreciative notes — “We love you Rose!”

“We appreciate you!” “Rose is the best!” Students in Morriss-Champlin hall know how lucky they are to have Rose Silveira as their dormitory custodian.

Always smiling and never complaining, Silveira is a beloved member of the Department of Facilities Management staff. Thirteen years of perfect attendance have made her somewhat of “a legend,” she said. “I think people think I’m a role model.”

But her work experience was not always so rewarding. At 16, Silveira had to quit high school to get a job.

Growing up poor, Silveira said, she

With its sprawling encampments, where members have been handing out both food and tents to anyone interested in spending the night, the movement has also appealed to a particularly disadvantaged portion of the 99 percent: the homeless.

But as the movement continues into its third month, encampments are making changes to deal with what is rapidly becoming a tragedy of the commons.

Of the Occupiers currently residing in Burnside Park in downtown Providence, an estimated 45 to 55 percent are homeless, media tent volunteer Rob Greyfox told The Herald in October. That percentage includes people living in communal “group homes” and those who have homes but come to the camp to eat, according to Occupier Michael McCarthy.

inside

continued on page 4

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

College Hill activists eye Occupy Harvard

By Elizabeth carr Senior Staff Writer

Protesters who descended on Harvard Yard Nov. 9 to bring the Occupation to the world’s most prestigious

Emily Gilbert / Herald

Burnside Park, home to Occupy Providence, also draws Providence’s homeless.

Post-

Sips hot toddies, puts staples in Jell-O

Post-, inside

university were met with stringent security. As a group of would-be Occupiers linked arms and tried

Risking it

Do undergrads play it too safe?

Opinions, 7

weather

Occupiers cope with homeless at Burnside

By Alison Silver Contributing Writer

to enter the Yard, police closed the gates, “crushing the students caught between the bars,” said Jeff Bridges, a third-year student at the Harvard Divinity School and a member of the media relations working group for Occupy Harvard. Students managed to get past security checkpoints and set up around 20 tents.

While the students injuried were minor, Bridges said they were “more than a Harvard student should experience trying to get into his or her school.”

Checkpoints have been erected continued on page 3

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More females quit sports than males continued from page 1 so between their sophomore and junior years, Goldberger said.

“You tend to see athletes turn in their equipment junior year,” said Lars Tiffany ’90, men’s lacrosse head coach. “If you’re not playing — and the opportunity to play is limited as a junior — that’s where you see the greatest numbers of drop-offs.”

Lipinsky said declaring his concentration put his college experience in context with broader life goals, which he realized did not include throwing hammers.

“I finally figured out what I was going to study, and I got really involved in the urban studies department,” he said. “I had decided my sophomore year that I didn’t really want to pursue throwing after college. So I kind of saw the end in sight and started to get involved in my coursework a lot more and started figuring out what I wanted to do professionally.”

Reasons for leaving a team can include changing interests, lack of playing time, injuries and coaches’ decisions. But Christopher Humm, director of sports information, said athletes do not come to Brown intending to quit.

By November 2010, there were only two recruited first-year student-athletes out of 226 total who had quit their teams.

Former basketball player Stefan Kaluz ’12 was recruited by Brown, but after a year and a half on the team, he discovered that he no longer had a passion for basketball.

“I loved playing basketball in high school and was really passionate about it,” Kaluz said. “But then once I grew as a person in college, my goals shifted to where I wasn’t as passionate about basketball and was more focused on career goals and academics.”

Kaluz said though many people he knows are happy balancing both academics and a sport, he was not.

Joseph Stall ’13 was recruited to play soccer but then cut from the team in the fall of his sophomore year, after a coaching change brought in a large recruiting class at his position. Stall said even though the decision was out of his control, it opened up a number of opportunities for him elsewhere.

“At first, it was really tough to get pulled away from that and kind of left this huge hole, but in hindsight, it was really just great,” Stall said. “I was never going to play pro, and it just forced me to move on, and it’s allowed me to try a lot of other really cool things.”

Stall said he has since joined Delta Tau fraternity, Brown Investment Group and WBRU. A Brown problem?

Do more students quit their sports at Brown than elsewhere?

“I’d say it’s a common thing just about everywhere,” Stall said. “I think a lot of kids have similar experiences.”

“For men’s lacrosse, the team is typically 40 men and the recruiting class is typically 10,” Tiffany said.

“Losing one or two men on the team for the year is usually about

average, and that’s tended to be what I’ve seen at Washington and Lee, Penn State, Stony Brook and here at Brown.”

“From my experience, I don’t see any greater attrition rates here than any other institutions I’ve been a part of,” Tiffany said. “I’ve been at scholarship schools, and I’ve been at non-scholarship institutions.”

But that may just be reflective of Tiffany’s teams.

Phil Estes, head football coach, said his team usually loses about 20 percent of each recruiting class, and Diane Short, women’s volleyball head coach, said she lost five of 11 recruits from the classes of 2009 and 2010.

Goldberger said that at Brown and across the country, more female athletes drop their sports than male athletes.

Ivy League universities cannot offer athletic scholarships, unlike most Division I schools. At scholarship schools, athletes who leave their teams may have their aid package rescinded, meaning student-athletes often cannot stay in school if they leave their teams.

“When you give an athletic scholarship, you own that person,” Humm said. “They have to play.”

Not having athletic scholarships makes it easier for Ivy League students to drop a sport.

“I definitely think a lot of Ivy League student-athletes go through this, just because of the lack of a scholarship,” Kaluz said. “The only incentive to play is if you love the sport, and some people just lose their passion.”

Krasinski ’01 recalls time at Brown continued from page 1 lined up to ask about the actor’s decision to attend Brown, which dorms he stayed in (Wayland House and Young Orchard Apartments), his favorite classes (ENGN 0090: “Management of Industrial and Nonprofit Organizations” and an introductory biology course) and his time on The Office.

“I think we all have a little bit of our characters,” he said, referring to the show’s cast. Krasinski said Steve Carell is “pretty shy” but is also one of the funniest people he knows. He said the two actors had an emotional time getting through their last filmed scene together.

“I think I just rehydrated last

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week from that,” he said.

Krasinski said he did not plan to go into acting as an undergraduate.

He entered Brown as an English concentrator after spending the first semester of freshman year in Costa Rica teaching English. The best thing about Brown was “everyone doing whatever the hell they wanted — in a good way,” he said.

Krasinski recalled the first play he acted in at Brown, in which he played a “6-foot-3 transvestite.”

“I wore high heels. So that was another phenomenal moment.”

Some students asked more personal questions, like how Krasinski met his wife, actress Emily Blunt, who was sitting in the front row.

Krasinski said the pair met at a

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restaurant, through a mutual friend.

“There’s more to it, yes, but you’re not going to get it,” he added.

Krasinski also made multiple references to the crowd tweeting his responses. “Get your Twitter out,” he remarked at the beginning of the question-and-answer session.

When someone asked about his experience at Sex Power God, Krasinski said he had not heard of the event. Later, he referred to Josiah’s by its full name. The crowd corrected him, yelling “Jo’s.”

“Yeah, I call it Josiah’s. I’m 90,” Krasinski said.

Several students asked about how Krasinski became a successful actor. He responded that though he was working in New York as a waiter when he decided to pursue acting, he had a lot of fun just living in the city and being with friends.

“Every time I went into a room to audition, it wasn’t my only thing, and people can feel that,” he said.

“I think that’s pretty much the world’s job — to dissuade you from acting,” Krasinski said. “Don’t listen to anybody.”

“You have to be courageous enough to give it a shot — and keep giving it a shot.”

When the event ended, the majority of the crowd rushed the stage to get autographs and pictures with the actor, who complied with several requests but quickly left the stage.

Campus News 3

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, November 17, 2011

Occupy Harvard may inspire campus protest Replacement continued from page 1 at every entrance to Harvard Yard since then, and police are denying entrance to anyone without Harvard identification. “(This) is clearly about public relations and not on safety,” Bridges said.

The decision to prevent outsiders from entering the Yard is based on “troubling incidents at other Occupy sites,” according to a page on the Harvard website dedicated to questions about the Occupation.

This makes Harvard “the most exclusive Occupation in the country,” Bridges said. “Sorry Brown students, Harvard won’t let you in.”

Occupy Harvard stemmed from student participation in Occupy Boston.

“As the second-largest nonprofit corporation in the world, aside from the Roman Catholic Church, there’s a

lot more Harvard can do,” he added.

The Harvard Occupiers rallied to support custodians in contract negotiations, which have since reached a “tentative agreement,” according to the Occupy Harvard website.

Among other grievances, the site disparages Harvard’s investment in “private equity firms such as HEI Hotels and Resorts, which profits off the backbreaking labor of a nonunion immigrant workforce.” Brown has also taken flack for its investments in HEI, and the University’s Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Policies recommended last year against reinvesting with the company.

“As institutions that educate the future leaders of our country, they ought to be setting a better example,” Bridges said.

The concerns of Harvard Occupiers are similar to those voiced by

Occupy College Hill, which urged members of the Corporation, the University’s highest governing body, to disclose investment practices and work to align investments with the University’s ideals at its One Night Stand held on the Main Green last month.

In light of the recent occupation of Harvard Yard, members of Occupy College Hill are considering a similar permanent Occupation on campus.

“I can’t say that it’s necessarily going to happen but there are people that want it,” said Luke Lattanzi-Silveus ’14. He stressed the importance of including faculty, Facilities Management workers and local community members­in any efforts to reform the University.

The Occupation would also be a great way to involve students who are currently apathetic about the movement, Lattanzi-Silveus added.

“In spite of the fact that there’s an Occupy so close, it tends to become somewhat of an abstract Occupation.

It would be interesting if there would be a concrete Occupation to point to.”

“It makes so much sense for these elite institutions to have these Occupies,” said Annie Rose London ’11.5.

“We’re really in the belly of the beast.”

“One of the main reasons we decided to Occupy Harvard was to bring attention to the corporatization of higher education, not just at Harvard but across the country,” said Harvard sophomore Sandra Korn, a member of the movement’s media outreach group. “Brown pretty much does exactly the same. I think it would be a really strong statement if an Occupation started at Brown as well.”

“I think it would be really valuable to the movement,” London said. “It’s going to happen eventually.”

Behind Brunonia: Staffers share stories continued from page 1 this job for nothing in the world.”

In 13 years, Silveira said, a student has never been disrespectful to her.

“It’s nice to have an impact on kids.

It means a lot,” she said.

In spite of having to clean up blood, vomit and other off-putting substances, Silveira takes pride in her work. In 2002, she was nominated for the Gaspar/Arzoomanian Outstanding Union Employee Award, awarded annually to a Facilities Management employee to acknowledge outstanding contributions to the University. Silveira received a $1,000 check and a plaque along with the award. It was “better than an Oscar,” she said.

Home sweet Ratty

Her greetings are always cheerful.

Her earrings match the seasons, and her smile never seems to go away.

Entering her 10th year with Brown Dining Services, Sharpe Refectory Cashier Gail McCarthy is a friend to all students who eat there.

Before coming to Brown, McCarthy worked as a waitress at Newport Creamery for 28 years. After attending high school in East Providence, she took some night classes at the Community College of Rhode Island but did not complete a degree. “I did everything wrong, and it ended up right,” she said.

McCarthy said she applied for a job at Brown when she saw an advertisement in the newspaper. “I love

it. I wish I had come here sooner,” she said.

Beyond working at Brown, McCarthy gardens and loves to walk.

One of her favorite pastimes is going to the theater.

McCarthy, an avid traveller, said her favorite destination is Aruba, where she used to go with her mother before she passed away last year.

“The one thing I miss the most in my life is my mother, and I miss her dearly,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy said she is very happy working at Brown. “I feel like I’m getting the college education I never had through the students,” she said.

Welcoming students into the Ratty every day, she gets to know students well and watches them grow.

“I really love students coming in as freshmen. They come in so young, and they leave so grown-up,” she said. “You see a big change over four years.”

Old Timer

English is not his first language, but Acacio Pina is always eager to strike up conversations with the students he encounters every day.

For the past 24 years, Pina has been the custodian in New Pembroke 4, cleaning its 24 bathrooms, among many other tasks.

Pina came to the United States in 1979 from Portugal, where he grew up. While Portuguese is his native language, and he is still learning English, Pina always makes an effort to say hello. Students said they

appreciate his constant friendliness and dedication to keeping their dorm clean.

He now lives in North Smithfield with his wife and their two daughters. He said he likes working at Brown, especially on the Pembroke side of campus.

He’s with the band

Students know Joe Marshall as the custodian in charge of cleaning Diman House. But they might not be aware that he is also a guitarist in a band that has been together for decades. Or that he played on the same stage as Bruce Springsteen while on tour many years ago.

Marshall started playing music when he was 12 years old, after his father encouraged him to take accordion lessons. One night, he saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show.

He has been a guitarist ever since.

Marshall played his first club at 16 and later became part of his current band, Mixed Emotions. Since their formation, the band has gone on tours for up to three years at a time, he said.

One tour is particularly memorable. “When I was on the road with the band one time,” Marshall said, “we were playing at the Holiday Inn in Cleveland and this guy came into the lounge.” The man told the band that there was a musician staying at the inn who wanted to play with them — that musician was Bruce Springsteen.

Springsteen was playing at a ho-

tel up the street but wanted to try a smaller setting, Marshall said. A couple of months later, Springsteen was famous.

Marshall’s band still plays concerts on the weekends. In the coming weeks, the band is scheduled to appear at several local venues.

Marshall has worked at the University for 12 years — 10 of which have been spent in Diman. Before coming to Brown, he worked at a lumber yard and a nursing home.

He responded to a newspaper ad for the custodian job, thinking he would never get it. But the next day he received a call. “So here I am,” he said.

Brown is a great place to work because of the benefits, the security and especially the students, Marshall said. “I love them,” he said. “Every year there’s different kids coming in, from different parts of the world, with different personalities. I get to know them.”

Marshall said he plans to retire in the near future. As for life after Brown, he said he hopes to play guitar and sing on a cruise ship.

in store for campus vending system

By Katrina Phillips Senior Staff Writer

The campus vending system will be completely replaced by the next academic year, announced Michael Lin ’14, chair of the Admissions and Student Services Committee, at yesterday’s Undergraduate Council of Students general body meeting.

The Card Value Centers where students must currently add money to purchase laundry, photo-copying and vending machine products will also become obsolete and be removed from campus.

The changes will begin next semester, when CVC machines at copiers and printers will be replaced. Machines at laundry and vending machines will be replaced over the summer.

The change is the result of the committee’s collaboration with Margaret Klawunn, vice president for student life and campus services, and Scott Martin, manager of IT support consultants for Computing and Information Services.

Lin explained in a Nov. 2 interview with The Herald that Klawunn would be petitioning the University Resources Committee for funding for the CVC overhaul. He told the council last night that the request was successful.

President Ralanda Nelson ’11 also said the Presidential Selection Campus Advisory Committee will release a letter to the community Monday detailing its priorities in finding a successor for President Ruth Simmons.

Thanks for reading!

4 City & State

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, November 17, 2011

City’s homeless drawn to Occupy encampment continued from page 1 Those numbers also include homeless people who were living in the park prior to the Occupation.

“The park’s always been a large part of the homeless community,” said John Joyce, co-director of the Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project.

“This park has been occupied before you got Occupiers.”

James and Willie Paycheck, Providence residents and brothers, set up camp in Burnside Park Oct. 15, the first night of the Occupation, having recently been evicted from their

home. When Willie first arrived at the camp, he was “struggling,” he told The Herald Oct. 20. The camp’s residents placed someone outside his tent to check in on his health and well-being.

“Now that’s what I call ‘Occupy,’” he said.

The Paychecks, like many other homeless people residing in the park, said they were drawn to the protest by its political message rather than the availability of food and lodging. And other encampments that have set up in less public areas — places that did not house many, if

any, homeless residents prior to the protest — have seen homeless people join the movement more for its message than for its resources.

Occupy Pittsburgh protesters set up camp in a park owned by BNY Mellon Bank, a “very visible, centrally located green space in downtown Pittsburgh,” said Jeff Cech, a member of the protest in that city. The political goals of the Occupy movement attract the homeless population, he said.

“We’re standing up for the people who lost their homes due to foreclosures,” he said. “We’re standing up

for people who have been wronged by the corruption and greed in our banking system and in our economic system in general,” he said.

James Holmes of New Orleans, La., said he does not consider himself an Occupy Providence member, but he sympathizes with the movement.

Holmes spends the night on a bench in Burnside Park when he visits Providence. Though he is not participating in the movement, he said, “If they’re doing the work right, I’m all for it. We need help.” But when asked if he had considered borrowing a tent from the Occupiers or visiting the food tent, Holmes was adamant: “I don’t need it,” he said.

“When I want it, I go get it myself.”

But this is not the case for all homeless people passing through the park. Until this week, a tent in the center of Burnside provided food to the park’s residents, including those who weren’t specifically part of the protest. The food tent ran mainly on donations from local restaurants and organizations. Occupiers dismantled the tent, along with media and information tents, this week to comply with the city’s routine maintenance of the park’s sprinkler system. Protesters will also have to move their individual tents to hard ground for several hours while city contractors complete the procedure.

But Occupiers do not plan to set up the food tent again after the project is finished. Not only is the tent not receiving as many donations as before, but food provisions have become more of a public service than intended, McCarthy said. Because of Burnside Park’s proximity to Kennedy Plaza, bus users began taking advantage of the free food.

“People were going to show up expecting it,” McCarthy said. “And they were going to either get violent or crawl into a tent.”

“It’s a natural progression — how to stay open and available to everyone without necessarily enabling negative or dangerous behaviors,” said McCarthy, who added he does not know how the camp plans to operate in coming weeks. “We’re go-

ing to see if we’re able to provide for each other in simpler ways,” he said.

“That’s going to be something they work on now.”

Local organizations that work with the homeless have also expressed concern. “Homeless people staying in tents in Burnside Park is probably not the best thing,” said Jim Ryczek, executive director of the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless. “It’s almost an enabling issue.”

Occupiers have been very open to working with the coalition, Joyce said. In its current incarnation, the encampment is “almost a shelter,” he said. “But they weren’t prepared to be a shelter.”

“You can’t really tell people not to do what they shouldn’t be doing, but I told the Occupation, ‘Don’t make it easy for people,’” he said. Now, Occupiers ask people requesting tents and food a series of questions before determining whether or not to offer their services. If they determine someone to be homeless, they call Joyce, who then attempts to connect that person with the services they require.

The homeless — many of whom are mentally ill — are “some of the people that the system has either failed or has not been able to pull into care,” Ryczek said. “So having them stay off the grid, per se, is not a great thing for them — the system needs to do a better job of outreaching to them where they are.”

Mental illness, coupled with the drug and alcohol problems that plague many homeless people, have also resulted in conflicts with other Occupiers, McCarthy said. At the beginning of the Occupation, “things had gotten better” in the park, he said. But as the food and lodging in Burnside have drawn people to the park in increasing numbers, more and more incidents have occurred where protesters have had to “put pressure on people not to do drugs or sell drugs in the park,” he said, adding that there has been a rash of physical fights. “Working with those folks has been difficult,” he said.

5

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, November 17, 2011

m. basketball Group seeks to up bus access for high schoolers Bears drop first two real tests at NIT continued from page 8 mond, school board member and chairman of the newly created committee charged with examining policy changes. Though Hemond was unable to attend, he said he could relate to the youth activists as a 2005 Classical High School graduate who was active in student government and lived 2.8 miles from school. “In terms of priorities, it’s something that’s right on our radar screen,” he said.

The school board ultimately has the power to change the busing policy. While he could not speak on behalf of the board, Hemond said the primary obstacle to changing the policy is funding rather than disagreement on the problem.

The school board’s policy committee is determining the funding possibilities, he said. “We have to get a sense of what we have for resources and what is the most efficient way to use those resources.”

With both the Providence and RIPTA budgets stretched thin, Youth 4 Change is looking for more innovative funding solutions.

Clausius-Parks said the organization is researching opportunities for foundation support. She pointed to a recent meeting with an executive at Citizens Bank, who she said seemed open to paying more money for RIPTA ads in order to fund discounted bus passes.

Charles Odimgbe, RIPTA’s CEO, said while he is receptive to the Youth 4 Change campaign, RIPTA is in no position to fund the change. RIPTA is currently confronting a $4.6 million operating budget shortfall. “We will do whatever thing that we could to not only give them the moral support, but also to help them, if they have any initiatives, to flesh out some of these initiatives,” he said.

Several private Rhode Island universities — including Brown — get free bus service in exchange for voluntary fees paid to the city.

RIPTA is investigating similar arrangements that would allow pub-

lic universities to tack on transportation fees to student tuition, Odimgbe said. But because public primary and secondary schools do not charge tuition, he said, there is no similar revenue stream to fund transportation.

Susan Lusi, interim superintendent of Providence public schools, supports the overarching goals of the campaign, said Christina O’Reilly, facilitator of communications and media relations for the Providence Public School District.

“The district absolutely respects and supports what Youth 4 Change is doing,” she said. Lusi is planning to walk to school in solidarity with a student who lives just within the three-mile radius this Friday or Monday afternoon, O’Reilly said.

Though the school board is the district’s policymaking body, the superintendent and her staff provide research and expertise for policy considerations, O’Reilly said.

Currently, budget constraints have forced the district to enforce the three-mile policy much more strictly, whereas students could get exceptions for long or difficult commutes in previous years.

About 98 percent of the budget is fixed, making it difficult to reallocate funds for student bus passes, O’Reilly said. Regardless, Youth 4 Change’s efforts have amplified the drive for reform. “It’s something that is certainly top of mind, and there’s heightened awareness for sure,” O’Reilly said.

At the moment, roughly 2,300 students receive free bus passes, while some others receive 10 free rides a month through a state program called Rite Care, ClausiusParks said. The total cost of obtaining free passes for all of these students would likely be more than $4 million, O’Reilly said.

Clausius-Parks said she has been impressed by the dedication of the Youth 4 Change student activists.

“This is it for them, this is about their daily lives, and the passion that comes with that is just completely inspiring,” she said.

By sam rubinroit Assistant Sports Editor

The men’s basketball team tipped off its season last week, defeating Johnson and Wales at home before suffering two losses against the University of Albany and Manhattan College on the road at the National Invitation Tournament Season TipOff Nov. 14 to 15.

Brown 86, Johnson and Wales 66

The squad opened Friday night with a tune-up against Division III Johnson and Wales and came away with an easy victory.

Point guard Sean McGonagill ’14 led the Bears with 22 points, 10 assists, six rebounds and three steals.

Though only a sophomore, McGonagill has been a leading presence for the Bears since breaking into the starting lineup last year. He led the team in minutes per game last season and played 39 minutes Friday.

“Until they tell me I have to take him out, I’m not going to,” said Head Coach Jesse Agel. “He’s in great shape, and he worked hard to be able to put himself into that position.

He had 20 and 10 tonight. For most people, that would be phenomenal, but he’s not satisfied with it.”

The Bears seized a 10-point advantage early and were able to cling to the lead for the duration of the game.

McGonagill said he was proud of the squad’s ability to maintain its composure on opening night despite having only one senior and being plagued by seniors on the Johnson and Wales team.

“I know I was nervous my first game, and I came out a little jittery, so I’m sure there were some freshmen jitters,” he said. “But they really hustled and played as hard as they could, so I’m hoping for the best.”

Tyler Ponticelli ’13 scored a career-high 17 points and had a teamleading seven rebounds. Jean Harris ’12, the Bears’ lone senior, returned to the team after a year and a half hiatus from basketball and was the thirdleading scorer Friday with 11 points.

comics Chester Crabson | Tess Carroll

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

Albany 77, Brown 68

The Bears hit the road Monday for the NIT Season Tip-Off at Syracuse’s Carrier Dome and fell to Albany 77-68.

Bruno slipped behind early and trailed 41-29 by halftime. Despite cutting the Great Danes’ lead to five with under four minutes remaining, the Bears could not overcome the deficit.

“We went down early, and we just kept fighting back,” said Matt Sullivan ’13. “We were in a close game at the very end, so I was proud of everyone for not giving up.”

Sullivan led the squad with a career-high 26 points, coming on 8-of-18 shooting from the field, 5-of9 from beyond the arc and 5-of-5 from the free throw line.

“We were just trying to find a way to stay in the game … — just so happened that I was making shots,” Sullivan said. “I was just thankful shots were going in, and it gave the team a chance.”

Manhattan 54, Brown 52

Bruno returned to action the following night against Manhattan, coming out on the losing end of a close matchup.

The two teams were neck-andneck all night. Though the Jaspers led 30-27 at halftime, the Bears took a one-point lead with just under three minutes left. Manhattan regained the advantage after sinking two free

throws late in the game, but Bruno was unable to capitalize on its opportunities to pull ahead in the closing minutes.

“We just couldn’t catch a break,” Coach Agel said. “The bottom line is, if any of our last three shots go in at the end of the game, we win and we’re looking at things a little bit differently.”

Dockery Walker ’14 scored 12 points to become the third Bear in three games to lead the team in scoring. The squad spread the ball around on offense, and McGonagill finished with 11 points and Ponticelli and Sullivan added 10 apiece.

“Anyone could lead the team in scoring,” Sullivan said. “We’ll see going forward if someone emerges as leading scorer, but I don’t doubt that we could have new leading scorers each game.”

The Bears return to action at home Saturday to face Hartford at 5 p.m.

The squad must await the results of the rest of the NIT Tip-Off games to learn where they will be playing in the tournament’s consolation round Nov. 21 to 22.

“The first road trip is always tough, especially with new guys on the team that haven’t experienced it yet,” Sullivan said. “It was a longer trip, and we usually don’t play backto-back games at the same place. I definitely think we will be more prepared going into the next round.”

6 Editorial & Letter Editorial

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, November 17, 2011

Editorial cartoon

by sam rosenfeld

Indifference during an identity crisis Since Chancellor Thomas Tisch ’76 announced the rosters of those picking President Ruth Simmons’s successor last month, we have heard complaints that the humanities are underrepresented on the selection committees. The complaints are well-founded. These objections will amount to nothing, however, if students remain largely indifferent to the presidential search process and do not direct their concerns to those in power.

Brown’s presidential search is led by two groups. First, there is the Presidential Selection Committee, which is chaired by Tisch and comprises members of the Corporation, the University’s highest governing body. Second, there is the Campus Advisory Committee, comprising administrators, three undergraduate students selected by the Undergraduate Council of Students, a graduate student and six professors appointed by the Faculty Executive Committee.

Critics of the process note that all three student representatives are social science concentrators, no members of the Corporation are involved in humanities careers, and only one professor represents the humanities. The FEC was tasked with appointing six professors from all four academic disciplines — physical sciences, life sciences, social sciences and the humanities — as well as a medical faculty member.

So, only one discipline was allotted more than one professor slot. Still, there are a lot of questions that remain unanswered. Why are none of the four students from humanities backgrounds? Why would UCS exclusively take students studying economics or commerce, organizations and entrepreneurship when Corporation members already disproportionately represent the financial industry?

These are all important questions, but it seems that students are largely disinterested in putting pressure on administrators to get answers. The presidential search committees have hosted eight forums designed for undergraduates to voice their opinions on what the greater student body wants in the next president, but the forums have been sparsely attended thus far. Fewer than 20 undergraduates attended the first forum.

Our institution is at a crucial moment in defining its identity. We have stepped away from the undergraduate focus that makes our University so unique and have taken large steps toward becoming more of a research university in the vein of our peer institutions. Some students agree with this statement and others do not. Yet it is certain that our next president will play an utterly integral role in determining whether this trend continues, or whether we return to our roots.

We do not expect to see as much enthusiasm for these issues as for, say, the appearance of John Krasinski ’01 at Brown — though we love Jim’s pranks on Dwight just as much as the next editorial page board.

But it is dissonant to complain about how our university continues to refocus away from humanities and less lucrative undergraduate concerns while simultaneously ignoring forums explicitly held to allow students to voice these grievances. If we want to ensure that the administration and the Corporation reclaim our University’s core values, or at least take undergraduate opinions seriously, we need to show up in droves to give them reason to do so.

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

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

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Managers Justin Lee Collections Collections Sam Plotner Nicky Robbins Invoice Staff Kevin Lynch Daniel Slutsky Analytics Jared Davis Sales and Communications Alumni Engagement Nikita Khadloya Emily Simmons Ad Relations Human Relations James Eng Angel Lee Business Development Owen Millard Business Development Gregory Chatzinoff Web Relations Post- magazine Editor-in-Chief Sam Knowles Editor-in-Chief Amelia Stanton BLOG DAILY HERALD David Winer Editor-in-Chief Matt Klimerman Managing Editor

letter to the editor Setting the record straight on EMS To the Editor: Regarding Ethan Tobias’ column (“Is Health Services healthy?” Nov. 14): Rhode Island pre-hospital regulations require that all emergency patients be transported to a Hospital Emergency Facility. This regulation governs all ambulance services licensed in the State of Rhode Island. Permission for transports to non-hospital facilities is granted only to non-municipal services, including ours, who transport patients for pre-scheduled primary care appointments that are not defined as emergency care.

Alcohol intoxication is always considered an emergency situation and falls under the Impaired Consciousness protocol in Rhode Island regulations.

The only definitive care for impaired consciousness

is transport to a Hospital Emergency Facility where comprehensive evaluations can be performed and advanced interventions are available if needed. Emergency Medical Services makes careful evaluations to determine if the Impaired Consciousness protocol should be followed.

Water consumption is not an appropriate treatment for impaired consciousness due to the fact that impaired persons may not be able to protect their own airway. Intoxicated persons who drink water and go to bed are at a much higher risk for vomiting and aspiration, which is what EMS strives so hard to prevent.

Amy Sanderson EMS Manager and Service Chief

quote of the day

“I took way too many classes in here

”

— and a couple of naps.

— John Krasinski ’01 on Salomon 101.

See krasinski on page 1.

Correction An article in Wednesday’s Herald (“Recycling program to expand under relaxed restrictions,” Nov. 16) incorrectly stated that examples of plastics 1-7 such as Solo cups, plastic bags and Styrofoam will be recyclable under the new law. In fact, these are examples of plastics 1-7 that will still be unrecyclable under the new law.

The Herald regrets the error.

Letters, please! letters@browndailyherald.com

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Opinions 7

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, November 17, 2011

BUSUN and the art of simulation

By Lucia Seda Opinions Columnist

You may have noticed the swarm of seemingly younger-than-average students taking over the Main Green this past weekend. Judging from the neat display of blazers, folders and nametags, you may have thought it was yet another job recruitment event or career fair aimed at those 2012-ers seeking to be employed right after college.

Chances are that, unless you knew what was going on, your first guess would not have been that 800 high school students were gathering at Brown for the 15th annual Brown University Simulation of the United Nations conference.

BUSUN is a student-run Model UN conference that takes place every year on Brown’s campus during the second week of November. For three consecutive days, the participants, who this year hailed from as close as Barrington, Rhode Island, and as far as Cork, Ireland, temporarily ditched their uniforms and casual garments to don the robes — as they had to dress in Western business attire for the duration of the conference — of delegates. As with other Model UN conferences around the world, BUSUN aims to reproduce the structure of the UN and is thus a superb exercise in role-playing.

But is it just inane role-playing?

The answer is more complicated than a yes or a no. Perhaps it’s due to the fact that I’ve been reading about mimesis, sim-

ulacrum and other sorts of mind-boggling Theory with a capital T for one of my courses that I’ve become more observant of imitation, copying and what’s real or not. As an outsider to Model UN who did BUSUN for the first time this year, I was initially amused by the idea of putting on my professional face and overseeing a group of high school students as they compiled the newspaper publication for this year’s conference. I am in no way trivializing the experience, but I must say that the performative aspect of this conference secretly enthralled me and ultimately brought me to it.

port that model to the classroom?

One weekend as a committee chair at this year’s conference was enough to convince me that the simulation model really works. It’s the learning tool at the core of Model UN conferences, but it doesn’t have to exist solely within those limits. Roleplaying teaches us much more than how to be convincing actors — it compels us to engage with real issues and craft our own interpretations of them. It can be argued that its effectiveness equals, or even surpasses, that of committing to memory a stream of facts that will only be filed and forgotten in the deepest recesses of the already satu-

Role-playing teaches us much more than how to be convincing actors — it compels us to engage with real issues and craft our own interpretations of them.

Nevertheless, as the conference progressed and the team of reporters for the BUSUN Buzz took their roles to heart, I saw another interesting pattern emerge in my committee: Despite the artificiality of the setting, there was real reporting taking place, along with real learning. And then it dawned on me that maybe the whole reason why Model UN is built around the simulation model is because such a model has been proven to be an adequate preparation for the real.

So my next thought was: Why not ex-

rated brain of a Brown student. But that is not to say that role-playing should displace other traditional forms of learning. In fact, what you would call a “convincing” performance is one that reveals a truthful appraisal and internalization of the facts. Performance, in a way, is the next step in the information-processing continuum.

And at BUSUN, that was exactly the case. The conference provided all delegates with a forum in which they could engage with a situation, discuss it, dialogue with allies and enemies, practice diplomacy, re-

port honestly and accurately in the case of press corps members and, above all, deliver a convincing performance. The delegates also learned how to act as representatives of their respective countries or organizations, speak in public and explore situations from conflicting viewpoints. Listening, debating, negotiating — all the skills that we celebrate in leaders today — were, and still are, at the heart of BUSUN. While it is true that role-playing contains an element of lighthearted play and amusement, the truth of the matter is that it can teach us more than what we sometimes like to acknowledge. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to have more role-playing exercises in class every so often, both to dramatize a particular situation as well as to demonstrate our full understanding of it.

All I’m saying is this: Let’s give roleplaying a shot at being a useful tool for learning in academic settings. Let’s not dismiss it as something trivial and inconsequential. Just as there is more to role-playing than whimsical divertissement, there is more to BUSUN than high school students acting as delegates for 72 hours. It may be a fictional scenario — with its own outrageous moments that made it all the way to the BUSUN Twitter page — but the learning is very much real. And, who knows, maybe this copy of the real — this simulacrum — is, to paraphrase Jean Baudrillard, the real truth at the end of the day.

Lucia Seda ’12 thoroughly enjoyed all the Model UN puns at BUSUN 2011. She can be reached at Lucia_Seda@brown.edu.

Safety net syndrome

By Nikhil Kalyanpur Opinions Columnist

I was recently contacted by an acquaintance still in high school for some advice on her application to Brown. I am sure you clearly recall stressing over the many generic questions that the supplemental application loves to throw around. But the class of 2016 has to answer the following: “If I could do something with no risk of failing, I would …” with 25 words or fewer.

I came up with several theories that may explain why Brown would ask such a thing before I started to ponder the bubble that is College Hill. Soon I realized few actions we take here have severe or binding consequences that cannot be corrected, and our academic system, despite its many benefits, helps promote our secondguessing nature.

A lack of purpose or sense of direction is the existential crisis most of us regularly flirt with as students. In high school, it was relatively hard to be fazed by these issues. Our goals were fairly clear and set in stone. We aimed to get into a top-tier college, and we knew that if successful, that would validate many, if not all, of the decisions we may have regretted during the

preceding four years. Even if we did not quite meet the target — only a few of the readers will know what this feels like — we still had this overarching purpose to guide us during high school.

Few would deny that college is a different ball game and that Brown’s curriculum is unique. As open-ended as it may be, my experience has taught me that during the application process, the Office of Admission tends to value those students

opportunities it offers to switch around, but it begs the question of what the consequences would be if we were slightly more restricted.

I have written about the beauty and lusciousness associated with being able to study what you want whenever you want on numerous occasions. But we need to consider whether we would have still managed to get by while studying what was initially expected of us. With most

Soon I realized few actions we take here have severe or binding consequences that cannot be corrected, and our academic system, despite its many benefits, helps promote our second-guessing nature. who want to enter college with a definitive focus. Nonetheless, the focal point of our education is up for grabs once we set foot in Providence.

How many students do you know who dropped premed or engineering? How many students do you know who casually pick up an economics concentration on the side? Why are these circumstances so common? Of course, we must laud our liberal, requirement-free education for the

situations, our academic regulations act as safety nets that simply nullify most real ramifications.

The simplest example is the fact that we need only 30 course credits to graduate, giving us the option to drop two courses in a mere eight semesters and still comfortably graduate. If you do drop these classes, it is guaranteed that it will not show on your transcript. Though these measures can provide great respite from

anxiety, they encourage the idea that our academic decisions have little long-run effect and drive many students away from facing any real intellectual struggles before they graduate.

Not even when declaring a concentration are we faced with dire consequences.

We meet with an adviser and write a couple of long-winded, mostly fictional paragraphs about why we need to study our chosen concentration. But we each know that when the going gets tough, we can still pull out and switch concentrations up until the last semester.

I am not trying to completely degrade the benefit of the doubt our system provides. Reasons to drop a class or concentration are usually legitimate. Yet there are several scenarios that arise where it pushes us to take the easy route out as opposed to the eye-opening challenging curriculum it was set up to be. And our capacity to constantly control our studies can often hold us back from fully committing and realizing our potential in a particular field. I still view the Open Curriculum as the providing most empowering education, but its benefits can also lead to some pitfalls.

Nikhil Kalyanpur ’13 is an Environmental Studies concentrator who can be reached at nik.kalyanpur@gmail.com

Daily Herald City & State the Brown

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Youth group seeks free bus access Federally subsidized permanent housing opens for ex-convicts By eli okun Contributing Writer

For Brown students, a school ID is a ticket to anywhere in the state.

But Providence public high school students get no free pass from the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority.

Students who live within three miles of their school must pay $62 a month to ride RIPTA buses. Youth 4 Change, a Providence youth activism organization composed of student and adult representatives from four youth organizations, wants to increase underprivileged students’ access to public transportation.

Though organizers acknowledge that funding additional free services is an uphill battle, both activists and policymakers agree on the need for change.

Paige Clausius-Parks, network director for Youth 4 Change, said access to busing became a larger problem in 2009, when a state audit of the health care system eliminated funding provisions in many plans that gave public high school students free monthly bus passes.

Clausius-Parks said the change forced nearly all students within a three-mile radius of their schools to pay the additional fee. As a result, bad weather sometimes became an insurmountable obstacle for

By Adam toobin Staff Writer

Lydia Yamaguchi / Herald

Youth 4 Change aims to improve RIPTA access for high school students.

students trying to get to school.

“It was definitely an unintended consequence,” she said.

Students need bus passes for unlimited access to school resources, including after-school activities, which are increasingly crucial for college applications, Clausius-Parks said. She added that the policy constitutes an unfair financial and logistical burden on families, especially those with multiple children and those near the edges of the three-mile radius.

The campaign held its inaugural event last Tuesday at the Salon on Eddy Street. At the meeting, Youth

4 Change sought to increase public awareness of the issue, which the organization’s youth leaders have been researching and working on since October 2010.

“This is a large effort, and it’s not going to be just Youth 4 Change that has the answers — it has to be the whole community,” ClausiusParks said.

Three members of the Providence School Board attended the event. They left impressed by the campaign launch and inspired to address the issue, said Nick Hecontinued on page 5

Rachel A. Kaplan / Herald

Engineering students work on an assignment in Prince Laboratory. The school received two federal grants this month.

Engineering school awarded $12 m

By Austin Cole Contributing Writer

The School of Engineering won two federal grants totaling over $12 million this month. The first, financed by the Department of Energy, is

campus news worth $6.17 million over three years and will be shared with the University of Rhode Island. The second, a $6.25 million grant awarded jointly with California State University at Northridge over five years, is funded by the Army Research Office.

The grant from the Department

of Energy will be used to study how lithium-ion batteries — the types of batteries in electric cars — can be made longer-lasting and less expensive.

The Army grant will be used to see if scientists can manipulate metals’ atomic structures.

The two grants reflect the University’s increased commitment to engineering, which includes the recent construction of the School of Engineering, according to James Rice PhD’11, the engineering school’s state agencies liaison.

Though it is too early to tell whether the new School of Engineering will increase the flow of fed-

eral funding to the University, the attention garnered by the change will help the school, said Larry Larson, dean of the School of Engineering.

The transition from an engineering department to the School of Engineering has “raised our visibility nationally and internationally” and fed enthusiasm about engineering at Brown, Larson said. Large grants like these are typical but necessary for the University’s engineering research, he said.

Though the amount is “not as big as it sounds,” the grant is essential because all engineering research is funded by external sources, Larson said.

Ex-convicts will be offered federally subsidized permanent housing in Rhode Island for the first time starting this month. When Open Doors, a local non-profit organization dedicated to helping former prisoners reenter society, opens its new housing facility this month, 19 homeless ex-convicts will move into their first permanent home since leaving prison.

Finding a place to stay is a pressing concern for people coming out of prison, said Sol Rodriguez, executive director of Open Doors. Homelessness exacerbates problems associated with ex-convicts, such as persistent unemployment, drug use and recidivism. People returning from prison often suffer housing discrimination, which prolongs homelessness.

Every year, 1,200 people leave state prison and return to Providence, according to a report released by Open Doors in 2005.

Two hundred of these people will be homeless, and many others will have to live illegally or in overcrowded apartments, the report states.

Government-subsidized housing programs are legally allowed to turn away prospective residents with criminal records. In 1996, Congress passed a series of restrictions on access to public housing for ex-convicts. The statute bars convicted felons from receiving subsidized housing for 10 years. It also prohibits anyone convicted of a sexual offense or of drug manufacturing from living in public housing. Open Doors cannot accept sexual offenders or convicted drug manufacturers as a result of this law.

Rhode Island has seen homelessness increase 20 percent over the past two years, according to press release from the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless. Due to the recession and the slashing of services aimed at keeping people in their homes, locals have been driven to the streets in record numbers.

Organizers at Open Doors hope that offering housing to people with criminal records will help keep them from returning to jail. Recidivism is common in Rhode Island. In 2004, 3,324 offenders were released from the Rhode Island Department of Corrections. Of that group, 32 percent returned to prison within one year, and 46 percent were convicted of additional crimes within two years.

Twelve out of 15 formerly incarcerated respondents said they felt at risk of recidivism or relapse into drug use, according to the 2004 Open Door study. The same number of respondents said their

housing situation contributed to this risk.

People returning from prison often find themselves in homeless shelters or transitional housing. Ex-convicts can enter these programs, but they continue to face discrimination due to their criminal records.

Open Doors’ new facility will provide permanent housing, which allows people with criminal records to complete the process of rehabilitation without having to worry about where to sleep every night, Rodriguez said.

Open Doors has secured enough funding from various government sources to keep their new building open for 15 years.

The organization will also provide employment services from their new location and continue to promote financial and computer literacy, mentoring, support for alcohol and drug abusers and voter registration. Housing is just one important part of returning to society, Rodriguez said. “If a tenant moves in and suddenly loses employment and can’t pay the rent, we have an employment office,” she added.

Though Open Doors’ facility does not have as many restrictions as other publicly funded housing developments, not everyone with a criminal record qualifies to live in the new building. Applicants must have an individual annual income below $23,000.

Open Doors will offer rooms to people who have consistently participated in their programs and have some kind of income.

The rooms will be a reward for demonstrating a concerted effort at rehabilitation, Rodriguez said.

Open Doors vouches for all of its residents, so the applicants have to go through an extensive vetting process. Some of its new residents have been homeless for up to six years.

Obtaining government support for this project was a long and arduous task, Rodriguez said. Since it is the first housing of its type, policymakers were less willing to contribute taxpayer money. “Given the population, we couldn’t find anyone who was willing to take a risk on them,” Rodriguez said. It took Open Doors five or six years to secure all the funding necessary to open the building to its new residents.

It acquired an old ice cream factory in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Providence and converted it into housing. The basement of the building will serve as the organization’s new headquarters. The decade-old organization received two grants from the Environmental Protection Agency for the project, allowing it to reach LEED Gold building standards, which certify an environmentally sustainable structure.