Daily
Herald
the Brown
vol. cxlvi, no.112
Monday, November 21, 2011
Bears Relying on tuition, stampede struggling to compete into NCAA Sweet 16 By shefali Luthra Senior Staff Writer
By sam wickham Sports Staff Writer
A second-half goal from Dylan Remick ’13 propelled the men’s soccer team to a 1-0 victory over No. 9 St. John’s University Sunday, as the Bears keep rolling in the NCAA Tournament. The backline
M. Soccer was strong for the Bears (12-4-3, 4-1-2 Ivy) as Ryan McDuff ’13 and Eric Robertson ’13 played staunch defense to keep a potent Red Storm (14-7-2) attack off the scoreboard. The win ad-
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vances Bruno to the Sweet 16 of the tournament for the second year in a row. “Going to play at St. John’s is always going to be difficult,” said Head Coach Patrick Laughlin. “Being the Big East Champions, they’re an outstanding team. Playing them earlier in the year, I think we got to know them a little bit, and that was helpful for us. We knew it was going to be a massive challenge.” continued on page 9
Brook Achterhof ’14 wants to graduate early — not because she wants to be done with school, but because she does not think her family can pay for eight semesters of tuition. Her father is disabled, so her family relies on Social Security for all its income, she said. “It’s literally impossible for my parents to work harder to help me through school,” she said. Last year, the University reduced her financial aid package — a decision she challenged without
Since 1891
D a n c e r e v o lu t i o n
success. Now, though she wants to graduate in seven semesters, she does not know if she can. The decision would require her to meet several academic distribution requirements and find a compelling academic reason to leave the school, which would significantly alter her undergraduate experience. “It completely changes Brown,” she said. Multiple University administrators have recently expressed worry that increases in tuition — especially in light of the current
Sydney Mondry / Herald
continued on page 4
A variety of dancers charmed and delighted at the sold-out Fall Dance Concert, featuring everything from Indian beats to gravity-defying aerial arts.
Record-high 4 students land Rhodes By joseph rosales Senior Staff Writer
A record-high three undergraduates and an alum were awarded Rhodes Scholarships Saturday, making this the first multi-scholar year for the University since 1970. Brianna Doherty ’12, Nabeel Gillani ’12, Emma LeBlanc ’11 and David Poritz ’12 were among the 32 United States recipients awarded the prestigious scholarship, which goes to “young women and men of outstanding intellect, character, leadership and commitment to service,” according to the Rhodes Trust website. The scholarship enables recipients to attend the University of Oxford
and pursue any postgraduate degree of their choosing. “It’s a sign that Brown has arrived,” said Linda Dunleavy, associate dean of the College for fellowships and pre-law. The University sent six finalists to the various regional committees, Dunleavy said. All of the students had “confidence and maturity” that took them far in the competition, she said. The four recipients represent a “culmination” of institutional developments such as the Plan for Academic Enrichment, she said. The major difference in the University’s application process this year was the fostering of relationships between the candidates,
Dunleavy said — the finalists workshopped each other’s essays. Dunleavy also said she felt this year’s committees were more open to the University’s curriculum and what it offers students. Doherty, a cognitive neuroscience concentrator, said all the finalists in her California region held hands before the decision was announced, and she “flipped out” when she heard she won the scholarship. “I still can’t really believe that it happened,” she said. Doherty is planning to study either experimental psychology or neuroscience.
as a City & State editor by covering Providence schools and the Rhode Island pension system for a full year without succumbing to clinical depression. As editor-in-chief, Peracchio’s first order of business will be an investigative series on the 1981 election for student body president, which she believes was rigged. Brooklyn native Rebecca Ballhaus ’13 will serve as managing editor and vice president of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. A City & State editor, Ballhaus’ tenure at the metro desk continued on page 7
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Emily Gilbert / Herald
inside
From left: Tony Bakshi ’13, Rebecca Ballhaus ’13, Claire Peracchio ’13 and Natalie Villacorta ’13 swank it up at the Herald banquet Friday. Along with Nicole Boucher ’13, who is abroad, they will compose The 122nd Editorial Board.
news....................2-5 CITY & State........6-7 editorial............10 Opinions.............11 SPORTS..................12
Editors’ Note This is the only issue of The Herald this week. We will resume production Monday. Nov. 28. Happy Thanksgiving and thanks for reading.
Cold-Arted Professor travels to Arctic for creative inspiration Arts & Culture, 5
weather
Booze, bow ties and bons viveurs abound at ‘epic’ Banquet Friday
In what observers described as an “epic” Banquet for Herald staff at the swanky Cav restaurant in the Jewelry District, the paper’s outgoing leadership toasted a successful year and announced The122nd Editorial Board Friday night. Leading next year’s board will be Claire Peracchio ’13, who will serve as editor-in-chief and president of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Peracchio, a Grosse Pointe Shores, Mich., native, showed her grit and resolve
By adam toobin Staff Writer
Adam Asher ’15, the organizer of “Us Against Them,” this weekend’s Civil War-themed punk music production, does not seem like your typical punk rocker. Softspoken, cheerful and friendly, he embodies the dichotomy his production tried to demonstrate. But behind the microphone, all semblances of timidness faded away and another side of him was revealed — that natural instinct to be thrown around and beaten by your friends in a giant mosh pit as some fantastic music shatters your eardrums. Asher and his band performed “The Monitor,” the Titus Andronicus album that uses the Civil War as a mechanism for describing contemporary emotions. To increase the connection to the Civil War, Asher interspersed readings of speeches and poems from the time period between songs. The album name comes from the Civil War-era ship the USS Monitor — the first ironclad battleship of the United States Navy which revolutionized naval warfare. In “The Monitor,” many songs start and end with quotations from President Abraham Lincoln and
Herald announces 122nd Editorial Board By Juan Tien T. Juan Editor-in-Relief
Civil War punk rocks PW Upspace
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2 Campus News
The Brown Daily Herald Monday, November 21, 2011
calendar Today
NOVEMBER 21
4 P.m.
ToMORROW
NOVEMBER 22
12 p.m.
“Altered States and Dire Straits,”
“Inequality in the United States,”
Watson Institute
Brown Faculty Club
7:30 p.m.
7 p.m. “Straightlaced” Movie,
Film Screening of “Disfarmer,”
J. Walter Wilson 401
Granoff Center
menu SHARPE REFECTORY
VERNEy-WOOLLEY DINING HALL LUNCH
Gnocchi Alla Sorrentina, Chicken Fajitas, Grilled Rotisserie Chicken, White Chocolate Chip Cookies
Pepperoni French Bread Pizza, Green Beans with Tomatoes, White Chocolate Chip Cookies
DINNER Pumpkin Ravioli with Sage Cream Sauce, Roast Turkey with Gravy, Cornbread Stuffing, Apple Pie
Roast Turkey with Gravy, Broccoli Quiche, Cut Green Beans, Glazed Carrots, Apple Pie
Sudoku
Cr ossword
Sam Kase / Herald
The John Carter Brown Library welcomes undergraduates with a variety of exhibits and workshops.
JCB invites students to check it out By Alexa pugh Contributing Writer
As one of the world’s most renowned repositories of rare books, the John Carter Brown Library has stood staunch and proud on the Main Green since 1904. But undergraduates need not be intimidated, said Edward Widmer, director of the JCB — the librarians don’t bite. Since taking the directorship in 2006, Widmer, along with his colleagues and the JCB’s Board of Associates, have been interested in welcoming more undergraduates to the library. “It’s a world-class collection right here, footsteps away from Brown classrooms, and I think Brown students ought to know about these treasures,” Widmer said. Rich Ramirez ’12.5 first started exploring the JCB as a first-year, and has worked with Widmer on a Group Independent Study Project. He said he hopes other students will take advantage of both the JCB’s physical resources and the people who work there. The Watts History of the Book Program is designed to help students do just that. Named for Professor Charles Watts II ’47, the program features workshops, lectures and field trips targeted at undergraduates from both Brown and the Rhode Island School of Design. The program’s organizers aim to host at least four to six events per semester, said William Twaddell, chair of the JCB Associates Advisory Council. Through the Watts Program, Twaddell saw the opportunity
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to spark undergraduate interest in the JCB’s “mystery book” — a text of unidentified authorship and origin encoded with a mysterious shorthand thought to be the handiwork of Rhode Island’s founder Roger Williams. A group of students will look to decipher the code in a Group Independent Reading Project this spring. Students can also take advantage of more formal academic avenues that use the JCB. Stephen Foley, associate professor of English and comparative literature and acting chair of the English department, taught ENGL 1190N: “Brown: Writing the Archive,” which showed students how to find and use the information at the JCB. The library is an important part of both the University’s and the city’s history, he said. But that does not mean the JCB is reserved for history concentrators, Foley said. A new exhibit, “Drugs of the Colonies: The New American Medicine Chest” focuses on New World pharmacology, and the JCB is interested in involving students from Alpert Medical School as well as undergraduate biology and environmental concentrators, Twaddell said. Students interested in international development will also find the JCB useful, Widmer said. Following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the JCB was quick to help digitize Haiti’s historical archives and play host to the country’s national archivist. The JCB is also working on a project to digitize historical Peruvian books and will soon begin a similar effort with Brazil.
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“I think anyone who loves Brown and is proud of its academic distinction ought to be really proud of the JCB,” Widmer said. The library started offering a reduced-fee membership — $15 per year — to Brown and RISD students last year. The membership includes invitations to all of the events hosted by the JCB associates, special lectures, a newsletter and free books specially crafted for members. “We’re actually losing money on the $15 associates, but it’s worth it to have students around,” Widmer said. He counts on students to ask “impertinent” questions, which are often some of the best, he said. “The more hands, the more eyes that are put in front of (the JCB’s books), the more we’ll discover,” Foley said. But until recently the need to preserve the library’s rare and valuable holdings made it difficult to open the JCB up to a wide public, since librarians had to be selective about when and for whom they could pull out the books. Digitization is changing all of that. “Now that we can scan the books beautifully, we’re really in a time of wanting to expand readership,” Widmer said. “It’s a great time to engage young readers.” It helps that students are more comfortable with these new technologies, Foley said. He said he thinks digitization will attract new audiences now that entire library collections are available at the push of a button. At the same time, he said he thinks it is important to teach young readers to value the original objects. “Even if you’re going from a splendid, high-quality digital image to a book, you have a different experience,” he said. In a way, these new technologies make the original books seem even more unique. Widmer said he hopes Brown students stay connected to the library after they graduate. A large membership spread across the United States and the world is an asset, he said. But while students are on campus, they are always welcome at the JCB, Widmer said. “The books may be old, but there’s no reason that the readers have to be.”
Campus News 3
The Brown Daily Herald Monday, November 21, 2011
Undergrads satisfied with class sizes By Anna Lillkung Staff Writer
About 65 percent of students think their classes are just right — neither too big nor too small — according to a recent Herald poll. Twentyseven percent of students, especially first-years and sophomores, reported that their classes are too large.
The herald poll Rachel Kaplan / Herald
Providence potholes plague pedestrians, prompting complaints.
Chronic potholes linked to U.’s power plant By Nora McDonnell Contributing Writer
Potholes on Lloyd Avenue, which have gotten worse over the past year, have been linked to a pipeline connected to Brown’s power plant. Though potholes are common throughout Providence, the Lloyd Avenue sinkholes continue to deteriorate, and repeated repairs have proven ineffective in preventing more potholes from emerging. A drainage pipe connected to the Brown power plant is likely causing the potholes, said Stephen Maiorisi, vice president for facilities management. There is a “major infrastructure problem with the drainage line,” said Maiorisi. “(The) pipe is somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 years old, so it’s very difficult to positively discern why it’s failing or what the cause is.” Though the pipe is connected to Brown’s power plant, the University does not use the pipe exclusively, and the Department of Facilities Management is working jointly with the city to correct the situation. “Something needs to be done to the pipe,” Maiorisi said. “We can’t
just continue to patch. … This pipe is beyond its useful life.” Residents have brought the pothole issue to the College Hill Neighborhood Association. Potholes are common, but the fact that they reappeared after repairs caused residents to voice their concerns, said Alison Spooner, president of the association’s board of directors. A concrete plan has not yet been set to address the potholes. “The city’s looking for us to help with that replacement, and we’re willing to do that,” Maiorisi said. Providence cyclists created a website Feb. 6 to document potholes across the city. “Going over your handlebars sucks!” reads the Providence Pothole Project’s Google Maps page, describing the “potholes that seem to plague our city.” The site documents two potholes on Lloyd Avenue. One, called the “Perennial Pothole,” is described as “usually always there. Sometimes enormous. Always comes back. Frequently marked with a traffic pylon.” Another, the “Sinking Hole” is “right at stop line and close to the curb” and “getting larger by the day.”
This semester’s largest class has 506 students and the smallest has one, according to Sherry Gubata, assistant registrar. Some introductory courses, such as ECON 0110: “Principles of Economics” and NEUR 0010: “The Brain: An Introduction to Neuroscience,” consistently attract more than 400 students. Bartosz Zerebecki ’15, who is taking the introductory neuroscience course, and Karla Tytus ’15, who is taking CHEM 0330: “Equilibrium, Rate and Structure,” both said they think their classes are too large. Zerebecki said he thinks firstyears are forced into taking large classes because upperclassmen have already pre-registered for smaller classes and are usually given preference when registering for seminars. Zerebecki added that he would like the University to offer more small seminars that first-years can take but are not limited to first-years. Though many of the larger classes offer smaller sections, Tytus said her class would still benefit from more sections. She said her professor does not use a microphone during lectures, making it difficult to hear. Juniors and seniors were more content with their class sizes. Rebecca Willner ’12, a classics concentrator, said she has mostly taken small classes. She said having fewer than 20 students in a class leads to a “medium of having enough perspectives,” but the amount of
Julia Xu / Herald
ECON 0110 is among the introductory courses that attract hundreds of students.
opinions is not overwhelming. Pablo Galindo-Payan ’13, an economics concentrator, said classes that need to be small — such as upper-level economics seminars — are small, but some classes he has taken worked well as big lectures. Seminars and language courses are generally restricted to 20 or fewer students, which can sometimes mean first-years and sophomores are not able to enroll. But Dominika Fiolna ’14 said she thought there was no real solution the problem. Fiolna also said her experience with smaller language classes has been consistently positive. Lynne deBenedette, senior lecturer in Slavic languages, said it is important for language classes to be small and that the University’s cap of 18 is “a workable number” for professors. Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron wrote in an email to The Herald that the University has consciously made an effort to limit class sizes. The Plan for Academic Enrichment has led to a
greater enrollment in small classes by first-years and sophomores as the University has increased the number of faculty members and more first-year seminars have been added, Bergeron wrote. Eighty-five percent of courses have fewer than 40 students enrolled, and each department chooses the maximum number of students they want to have in their classes and which students can register. Methodology
Written questionnaires were administered to 851 undergraduates Nov. 2-3 in the lobby of J. Walter Wilson and the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center during the day and the Sciences Library at night. The poll has a 3.1 percent margin of error with 95 percent confidence. The margin of error is 4.3 percent for the combined subset of first-years and sophomores and 4.6 percent for juniors and seniors. Find results of previous polls at thebdh.org/poll.
Presidential search committee opens dialogue with staff By Jordan Hendricks Senior Staff Writer
As the search for the University’s 19th president continues, University employees hope for a leader who will “inspire staff to continue to do their best work,” said Karen Davis, vice president for human resources and an ex-officio adviser to the Staff Advisory Council. Nearly 40 staff members attended forums to voice their input to members of the search committee Nov. 9. At the two forums, staff discussed qualities of President Ruth Simmons’ leadership style they hope the next president will also possess. These included communication skills and the ability to foster a sense of community among faculty, staff, alums and students. “A new leader could take us to the next level … in figuring out how
to work across some of the silos that we still have at Brown — to help bridge even further the staffstudent divide and the staff-faculty divide,” Davis said. Other important issues staff raised at the forums include balancing the growth of research and the University as a whole without cutting resources from other departments, said Eric Friedfeld, cochair for the outreach and communication subcommittee of the Staff Advisory Council and manager for technical services in the chemistry department. The new president will face a “tough balancing act,” combining growth without cutting back on staff while also helping the University build “more of a presence in a global economy,” he said. “I think that Brown also needs to remember that it’s got a lot of infra-
structure here on campus currently that we just need to make sure that we keep up and maintain,” he said. The University’s response to the financial crisis took a toll on staff, Davis said. “We’ve made a lot of progress and continue to make a lot of progress, but are potentially doing that on the backs of staff,” she said. Penina Posner ’92, senior library specialist, was unable to attend the forums held Nov. 9 but noted the importance of an “open dialogue” between staff and the new president. “Every member of the Brown community should have the equal attention of the new president,” Posner said, adding that it should not matter whether a community member is a janitor or a wealthy donor. She compared her experiences
as a undergraduate under former President Vartan Gregorian with her time working on University staff under Simmons. She said she valued Gregorian’s approachability and presence on campus as well as a focus on undergraduate development rather than profit. “The time is now for a new president to guide Brown and help Brown to be a leader within the Ivy League,” she said. Both Friedfeld and Davis praised the transparency of the search committee and the search process and felt that staff feedback was appreciated by members of the search committee. “If you really want to know what’s going on, you have an opportunity to know what’s going on,” Davis said, citing the Presidential SearchCcommittee’s website and the forums that have been held for
students, staff and faculty. “I think staff really appreciate that.” “I’m impressed that Brown even opened up these forums to get input,” Friedfeld said. Chancellor Thomas Tisch ’76 P’07, who is chairing the Corporation’s Presidential Search Committee, wrote in a statement to The Herald that the forums “have been enormously important in understanding the interests and priorities of faculty, staff, students and alums.” But Simmons’ strengths present a challenge to the committee, Davis said. “Ruth is going to be a tough act to follow,” she said. “I think staff … really appreciate her leadership and are hoping that the next leader will be able to bring much of that to the table.” —With additional reporting by Kate DeSimone
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The Brown Daily Herald Monday, November 21, 2011
U. Hall fears increasing tuition would diminish diversity continued from page 1 economic climate — could create a less heterogeneous student body. Because the University is tuition-dependent — more so than any of its peers — raising tuition is one of the only feasible ways for it to maintain its academic and infrastructural capabilities, said Beppie Huidekoper, executive vice president for finance and administration. Compared to Harvard, Yale and Princeton, a smaller portion of the University’s budget comes out of its endowment — only about 20 percent, compared to over 30 percent at Harvard and around 50 percent at Yale and Princeton. The relatively smaller endowment affords less flexibility with the size of tuition, which makes up about 32 percent of Brown’s budget. The impact of increased tuition, which rose 2.9 percent in 2009, 4.5 percent in 2010 and another 3.5 percent last spring, is something the University is “always worried about,” Huidekoper said. Both Huidekoper and Provost Mark Schlissel P’15 said they expect tuition to rise again this year, though a figure has not yet been decided. “Everyone is fully conscious of economic constraints,” Huideko-
per said. Both expressed worries that consistently raising tuition could affect middle-class students — for whom, even with financial aid, increased tuition can make it so “college becomes a stretch,” Schlissel said. And though the University looks to bolster its endowment — by investing effectively and soliciting donations — Huidekoper said dramatic endowment growth “doesn’t happen overnight.” “We have got to find some other sources of revenue,” she added. “Otherwise, we’re going to have to start cutting programs.” Achterhof said she understands the University needs tuition to function but that increases in tuition should be better balanced with financial aid. “Don’t say you’re a need-blind school and you’ll take all students if you don’t,” she said. “I love Brown, but I hate an institution that puts out a statement it can’t uphold.” Huidekoper said if tuition were not increased, the gap in revenue could result in reduced salary increases for faculty and delays in infrastructural development. Schlissel said the University would likely not be able to hire new faculty. Eventually, he said, the University could start losing faculty. “Brown would stop being Brown,”
he said. Though financial aid always increases alongside tuition, Schlissel acknowledged the rise may not be enough to keep college easily affordable. “Brown’s financial aid packages aren’t as generous (as our peers’),” he said. The inclusion of student loans may render Brown’s packages less attractive than those from schools like Princeton that have moved to loan-free aid, he said. The University will try to reduce the amount of loans students must take out, but there are no plans for the University to become loan-free, Huidekoper said. In addition to being the most tuition-dependent school among its peers — 12 schools identified by the University including Stanford, MIT and the other Ivy League institutions — Brown also has a higher concentration of undergraduates. Consequently, the University is not just tuitiondependent — it is specifically undergraduate tuition-dependent, Huidekoper said. Despite increasing at a lower rate than tuition at Harvard and Yale, tuition at Brown is higher than at Harvard, Yale, Princeton and MIT. The most expensive school listed among Brown’s peers is Columbia, whose tuition increased by 4.5 percent last year. Huidekoper, who previously
Where the $822M revenue comes from
Leor Shtull-Leber / Herald
worked at Harvard, said Brown is “very productive” with the resources it has, despite it having significantly less money than any of its peers. And though endowment-heavy schools may suffer at the hands of the stock market, both Schlissel and Huidekoper said they would prefer it if Brown were more
endowment-dependent. “We’re always attempting to grow the size of our endowment,” Schlissel said. President Ruth Simmons has also publicly expressed interest in the matter, asking at the last faculty meeting if faculty members were concerned that rising tuition could be detrimental to the makeup of the student body.
Rhodes scholars thank U. for support continued from page 1 Gillani, an applied math and computer science concentrator, said he felt “very blessed and very inspired by the community at Brown.” “Everyone had a hand in this,” he said. Gillani said the application process helped him focus his goals and decide to pursue two master’s degrees in education and computer science. LeBlanc, who graduated with a degree in sociology last year and is currently pursuing a master of fine arts degree at Southern New Hampshire University, said the University’s strong support was key to her success. Dunleavy and the Brown Rhodes and Marshall committee did everything from
essay feedback to mock interviews, she said. LeBlanc said she plans to study anthropology at Oxford. Poritz said winning the Rhodes Scholarship “marked the end” of an “exhilarating process” that was much more intense than that for the Truman Scholarship, which he also won. He said both Dunleavy and James Green, professor of history, were incredibly helpful throughout the application process. He initially planned on pursuing a master’s in Latin American studies but is also considering a master’s in business administration, he said. Dunleavy said she hopes this year’s success staves off the “unattainable” mystique of the Rhodes Scholarship. “It’s the beginning of a new day at Brown,” Dunleavy said.
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Professor explores Brown officials join trade mission artistic high Arctic By Nicole grabel Contributing Writer
By aparaajit sriram Contributing Writer
It seems counterintuitive that a sound artist would seek out one of the quietest places on earth for inspiration. But that is just what Ed Osborn, assistant professor of visual art, did this fall when he ventured to the high Arctic.
artS & Culture It was a fulfillment of a longtime passion — the exploration of a space long seen as off-limits but now accessible and in need of a narrative, he said. Osborn participated in Arctic Circle, a program seeking to bring together creative practitioners of all types aboard an Arctic-bound vessel to create “a nexus where art intersects science, architecture and activism … to engage in the central issues our time,” according to the program’s website. For 18 days, during the months of September and October, Osborn journeyed with 19 fellow participants representing a cross-section of visual, sound and performance artists and writers. The vessel carried the artists from the northernmost part of Norway to Svalbard, an archipelago within the Arctic Circle. Osborn, who teaches classes on electronic media and sound in art, decided to focus his work in the icy expanses of Svalbard on capturing the place in the language of sound and moving images. A region thought of as “a huge social anomaly” in its emptiness and often caught up in the “fabulous claims of a faraway place,” the Arctic needed the verisimilitude it deserved, Osborn said. But the contours of his project only took shape as the journey progressed. Without exact plans beforehand, Osborn allowed the space to inspire and define his work. Known to take a minimalist approach to art, he said he decided to focus on the intense solitude and silence that surrounded him and shape a project without “anything decorative.” He proceeded to record hours of sound — “water, waves, ice and ambient noise including footsteps and voices from other travelers,” according to an article published on the Brown website. He plans to compile these materials into a two-channel audio installation that will be part of a larger audio-video work. “It’s not just quiet like you think of here, like when you go into the woods — it’s really, really super quiet,” he said. One instance that shaped Osborn’s conception of the space was an exploration of an abandoned Soviet mining town that led to surprising inspiration. “We were walking through there, people were talking and suddenly you could hear their voices bouncing off buildings, which is a totally normal thing to hear, but after being in absolute quiet in the wilderness, it was a shock. It was unnatural,” he said. He also created a video record
of his journey, which he hopes to distill into the multichannel video component of his installation. Holding true to his minimalist style, he let the landscape speak for itself. “There are all these readings of how nature looks or how the natural terrain around here looks,” he said of lands unlike the Arctic Circle. “Pictorial history, visual history, a lot of social history — it’s all very complex. There’s a lot less of that here.” Osborn did not take part in the program on a whim. He has long harbored a passion for the almost vacuum-like quiet, the icy whiteness of the arctic regions of the earth. He has always been fascinated by the almost “imaginary” or “fabulous,” as he calls them, narratives associated with the space. One specific narrative associated with the Arctic is that of the Koestler broadcasts, a series of descriptive broadcasts first dispatched in 1931 by Arthur Koestler, a writer who flew over the Arctic onboard a Zeppelin and described what he saw over the radio. “The story goes that he spent a lot of airtime describing things in ways that only a writer could do it. Whether this actually happened or not, I don’t know,” Osborn said. “There’s this kind of blank space about what’s the story of this description. It could be that it was a story of a far away place that gets embellished, but it could be this other thing too.” Inspired by the broadcasts, or at least the idea of them — whether they happened remains uncertain — and the idea of sound being tied to a space through radio, Osborn sought to bring his sound expertise to the landscape and fill in the gaps that Koestler could not from the sky. But the experience of an arctic expedition is more than simply doing what one comes to do. Along with his work, Osborn developed a strong camaraderie with his fellows on board. Naturally, there was constant collaboration as everyone sought fodder for their works from others on board. Cultural connections were forged as well, over mealtime discussions and quick-footed escapes back to the warmth of the vessel. The group comprised creative people from all over the world, hailing from areas like Palestine, Australia, Taiwan, the Netherlands and the United States. All came with work on their mind, but they left with a sense of weathered solidarity, he said. Art-seekers can expect to see a lecture presentation of Osborn’s work next spring and a gallery showing of his work at the Wheeler School next fall. There is also the possibility that his installation will find at least a temporary home in the Perry and Marty Granoff Center, as well as the chance that the two-channel installation will be broadcast on radio. Whatever the case, Osborn said, “I need to make sure I’m ready to show my work.”
Representatives from the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, nine New England businesses, Rhode Island College and Brown recently returned from a nine-day trade mission to Israel, where they worked to forge ties with their counterparts in the country. Gov. Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14 — whom representatives from Brown have accompanied on fact-finding missions to Houston, Baltimore and Pittsburgh — had originally planned to lead the trip but was forced to cancel due to the state’s contentious pension reform debate. Katherine Gordon, managing director of Brown’s Technology Ventures Office, represented the University on the trip, which occurred Nov.
4-12. She said the mission offered a chance for Brown to further its research interests by collaborating with Israeli institutions. “Increasingly, it’s a global world,” she said, adding that partnering with other universities allows researchers to “tackle a problem in a multifaceted way.” Though it might take a while to see the positive effects of these partnerships, they will come, she said. The governor’s absence detracted from the success of the trip, Gordon said. While more official meetings might have taken place had the governor come, “I would say threefourths of the things would remain the same,” she said. Avi Nevel, president and owner of Nevel International helped organize the mission. Too many meetings had been scheduled by the time Chafee withdrew to call off the entire mis-
sion, he said. Though the governor’s presence would have been helpful, “at the end of the day, the companies came to develop business,” he said. This was the first time Rhode Island representatives have traveled to Israel on a trade mission. The trip consisted of multiple meetings between Rhode Island and Israeli businesses, academic institutions and government officials. Many were one-on-one meetings between Rhode Island and Israeli companies, Nevel said. Perhaps more than anything, these meetings showed how many opportunities there are for Rhode Island businesses in Israel, he added. “People were amazed how much business potential was there.” Chafee will reschedule his trip in the near future, according to an October press release from the governor’s office.
Students soldier through political camp By Sandra Yan Contributing Writer
NORTH KINGSTON—This generation has the tools necessary to change the world one life at a time, said former Democratic Presidential Candidate Howard Dean, the kickoff speaker at the Second Annual Rhode Island Student Political Boot Camp. Speaking to an audience of about 100, Dean spent the majority of an hour discussing the effect the multicultural, under-35 generation has on politics. Dean is widely recognized for helping to raise the profile of grassroots campaigning and believes that though “young people are not intrinsically political,” they will play a role in President Obama’s reelection. “This is local stuff,” he said. “Find a local campaign that’s going to mean something to these young people. And while they’re at it, they might as well vote for the president.” Dean then fielded questions from the audience, which included topics such as his transition from physician to politician and the future of U.S. politics. The boot camp event was held at the University of Rhode Island Nov. 18-20. Each day featured such lu-
minary keynote speakers as former United States Representative Robert Weygand and current Rhode Island State Senator Dawson Hodgson. More than 150 students from over 15 different schools registered for the bipartisan event. The goal was to “empower students with the skills necessary to make the change they want to see in their community,” said Scott Andrews, a senior at the University of Rhode Island and executive director of the steering committee. Daily workshops covered topics such as persuasive communication and the use of media for advertising. There were two breakout sessions as well, designed to give students “an opportunity to form connections and build a network with people who want to get involved with specific issues,” Andrews said. The first was designed for students from across the state to meet, and the second aimed to allow students to develop plans to get involved in issues. There was also a job and internship fair on the last day, and organizations such as Marriage Equality Rhode Island, Common Cause and Democracy Matters handed out business cards. Overall, the event encouraged students in the under-35 genera-
tion, which has been noted for its political apathy, to participate in democracy, an “event that occurs every day of (our) lives,” said Weygand. “Why does that woman from Afghanistan walk 80 miles to vote when we can’t even get people out on a Tuesday night?” He asked audience members to sit down if they answered no to a series of questions, including whether they could name their state representatives. The results were telling — only a handful of students remained standing after all the questions had been asked. This year’s boot camp attracted more students than last year’s and also had more schools represented. “More students attended the whole political camp rather than a day or two or for a particular speaker,” said Matt Gunnip, a second-year graduate student at Rhode Island College. Many students left the political camp with a new awareness of politics. “It was an eye-opening experience that made me more passionate to get into politics. I would definitely go next year,” said Rebecca Mears ’15. Dean summed it up with, “You have the extraordinary luxury of carrying on this experiment that’s been going on for 235 years.”
6 Arts & Culture
The Brown Daily Herald Monday, November 21, 2011
‘The sky is falling’: Exhibit drops laughs, fear on museum-goers By kah yangni Arts & Culture Staff Writer
The idea behind the Rhode Island School of Design Museum’s latest exhibit, “Chicken Little and the Culture of Fear,” began with the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The artist, Nancy Chunn, was living in New York City at the time and, like the rest of the country, was struck by the event. She was also impacted by the media coverage in the weeks and months that followed — images of billowing smoke where the towers had been and bodies falling through the air. Three years later, she began painting “Chicken Little and the Culture of Fear.” Chunn took the classic story of Chicken Little — a hen who believes the sky is falling when something falls on her head — and uses it to tell the story of our modern culture of fear. The “Chicken Little” series is a narrative, following Chicken Little through 11 different scenes, including the walk from her bathroom, a harrowing road trip and a short stint in jail, focusing on a specific type of cultural fear related to each of these locations. Each scene is split into dozens of paintings that unite to create one location in Chicken Little’s journey. Chunn populates the paintings with a cast of interesting, appropri-
ated characters and visual cliches — the Monopoly Man wielding a pitchfork and rolling a dice against the backdrop of the Goldman Sachs building, a grim reaper driving an oil truck with “DIE!” on the license plate and a smiling blonde woman in a bomb-covered wheelchair. It is Chunn’s visual invention — the sheer number of ways that she is able to convey our media’s apocalyptic thinking — that makes the exhibit both accessible and smart. But the show is also artistically beautiful, blending the care of a fine arts effort with an illustrator’s humor. Chunn takes trademark characters and, through her use of color and composition, successfully balances each scene, giving the viewer a sense of the overwhelming nature of fear culture while retaining control of her medium as art. Pop blues, salmon pinks and moody purples glue the scenes together, allowing Chunn to convey both diversity and unity. Chunn’s use of the cartoon is interesting instead of cheap, each style responding to the specific kind of character she depicts. A self-proclaimed “content artist,” she created this show’s specific style by compiling clip art and stock photos. Chunn tackles issues of representation, challenging the apparent simplicity of the cartoon image. “Cartoons can be quite damag-
Courtesy of Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York
Nancy Chunn’s exhibit “Chicken Little and the Culture of Fear” intertwines a classic tale with the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
ing and sick,” Chunn said. “There’s a fractured sense where we’re laughing and screaming at the same time.” The individual paintings are not organized beyond their classification in a specific scene. During her Nov. 17 Artist Talk, Chunn said that the organization of the paintings mostly reflected composition and color concerns. There is no order — each individual painting is meant to be read as a sound bite.
And like sound bites, each painting melds with the next to contribute to a general sense of panic, though each painting on its own appears shallow. When the media crushes theories of our world’s problems into hundreds of 10 second snippets, we are left with an interesting dual problem. We are incapacitated by both the spread of existing problems and our lack of real, actionable knowledge about any one of them. We know both too much and not
enough. Chunn said she hoped the show would make students giggle and laugh and then call their congressmen. Her point seems to be that the cause for fear does exist. The idea, though, is to get enough beyond our fear to take action. “It’s a weird world out there, kiddo,” she said. “Chicken Little and the Culture of Fear” is on display at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum through April 15, 2012.
The Brown Daily Herald Monday, November 21, 2011
Campus News 7
The shady bunch: Herald welcomes 2012 leaders continued from page 1 was distinguished by a noble, but ultimately failed, attempt to orient the section mostly toward Rogue Island Jitney coverage. Ballhaus’ plans for The Herald include the introduction of far more comics about Beertato. They will all run on the front page. Nicole Boucher ’13, of Hartford, Conn., will also serve as managing editor. As News editor this spring, Boucher spent the majority of her time conducting pre-dawn Skype interviews with sources on the other side of the globe. Disoriented by the time zone difference, Boucher was compelled to move to Copenhagen, where she has spent the semester undercover on assignment for The Herald. The loud-mouthed Boucher plans to bring the noise to The Herald’s placid newsroom. Anthony Bakshi ’13, who hails from Marlboro, N.J., by way of Outer Siberia, will serve as a senior editor. Bakshi put in two semesters as a Sports editor before coming this fall to the News desk, where he directed coverage of President Ruth Simmons’ thrilling overtime call to accept the recommendations of the Committee on ROTC and her decision to step down as Brown’s captain at the end of this season. In 2012, Bakshi will remove the crust from the pizza at The Herald’s weekly staff meetings. He declined to comment for this story. Natalie Villacorta ’13, of McLean,
Va., will also serve as senior editor. Villacorta, a senior staff writer, languished for a year at the University of Virginia before realizing that Herald editorships are reserved for Brown students. Her coverage of meditation’s effect on women’s sexual health has been described as “stimulating.” Villacorta will guide The Herald’s nascent Science section, using it as a platform to promote Intelligent Design and the Ptolemaic view of the Solar System. The 122nd Editorial Board announced an abundant crop of leaders for 2012. Taking up the reins at the News desk next year will be the quadfecta of David Chung ’14, Lucy Feldman ’14, Greg Jordan-Detamore ’14 and Shefali Luthra ’14. Chung, who is notoriously disagreeable and hails from Seoul, applied for the position of News editor last year and was Zlisted. Feldman, of Portland, Ore., brought courage and an iron stomach to the public masturbation beat this semester, a role she claims she’s been destined for since childhood. Jordan-Detamore, of Philadelphia, doesn’t just know every reporting trick in the book but also intends to write a book on reporting tricks. If you live on campus, he knows the dimensions of your room. Hailing from Los Altos, Calif., Luthra, whose dedication to journalism is rivaled only by her dedication to baking, is known to her colleagues as the less
Emily Gilbert / Herald
From left: Brigitta Greene ’12, Nicole Friedman ’12, Anne Speyer ’12, Sydney Ember ’12, Dan Alexander ’12, Ben Schreckinger ’12 and Julien Ouellet ’12 become old news as they announce The 122nd Editorial Board.
evil twin. Elizabeth “Baby, You Can Drive My” Carr ’14 and Kat “In The Hat” Thornton ’14 will direct City & State coverage next year. Carr, of St. Louis, will bring the skills and aesthetics of Rory Gilmore to a far better newspaper. Thornton, of Boise, Idaho, will bring both her news sense and her ever-present entourage to the City & State desk. Aparna Bansal ’14, of New Delhi, and Katrina Phillips ’14, from all over, will run the Features section. Bansal’s planned feature on the fire at Kabob & Curry is going to require countless meals at the Thayer St. restaurant, but she’s up to the task. Phillips, who has established contacts within the graveyard and herbalist communities, made her name by exposing a violent Providence mugwort-dealing ring in The Herald’s pages. Sarah Mancone ’13, of North Smithfield, and Emma Wohl ’14, of Tucson, Ariz., will take over the Arts & Culture section. Mancone, the artsy one, would win the annual Herald Super Smash Brothers Tournament if one were ever held. Wohl, the cultured one, is an expert on both Brown’s place in academia and Officer Chuck’s life story. Sports editors Ethan McCoy ’14, of Melrose, Mass., and Ashley McDonnell ’12, of Cheltenham, Penn., and Assistant Editor Sam Rubinroit ’14, of Malibu, Calif., are all sticking around next year. McCoy, who exploited his mother’s pottery class connections to get ahead at The Herald, plans to show up even earlier for Happy Hours in 2012. McDon-
nell will be bringing her game face, which is scarier than any 300-pound lineman. Rubinroit remembers his interviews of Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach T.J. Sorrentine more fondly than his interviews of Jerry West, Deion Sanders and Shaquille O’Neal combined. As design editor and assistant design editor, respectively, Kyle McNamara ’14 and Julia Shube ’14 will bring their keen eyes for layout to The Herald’s pages. McNamara, of Alva, Fla., earned his place as a Herald staff writer at the scene of a bloody accident, a situation his colleagues deemed fitting. Shube, of Montville, N.J., has developed over the course of a semester the one true mark of a great designer: an insatiable curiosity to find out what’s on page one. The Herald’s picture-perfect photography leadership will remain in place next year. Emily Gilbert ’14, of Summit, N.J., and Rachel Kaplan ’14, of Fairbanks, Alas., will stay on as photo editors, Glenn Lutzky ’12, of Ardsley, N.Y., will stay on as assistant photo ed, and Jesse Schwimmer ’14 of Montclair, N.J., will stay on as sports photo ed. Schwimmer was asked not to comment for this story. Olivia Conetta ’14, of Roslyn, N.Y., will be next year’s copy desk chief. Her colleagues are waiting with bated breath for her to unveil next semester’s hairstyle. Jared Moffat ’13, of Jackson, Miss., will take on the role of opinions editor. The Herald is also proud to announce its newest roster of staff writers: Hannah Abelow’14, Math-
ias Heller ’15, Dan Jeon ’14, Hannah Lowentheil ’14, Sona Mkrttchian ’15, Margaret Nickens ’15, Kate Nussenbaum ’15, Sophia Seawell ’14 and Adam Toobin ’15 all made staff writer so far this semester. Sam Knowles ’13 will continue as editor-in-chief of post-, The Herald’s sassy weekly magazine. He will not be taking meetings. Jenny Bloom ’12, of Scarsdale, N.Y., will take over as editor-in-chief of BlogDailyHerald, the jewel in the crown of The Herald’s burgeoning web empire. Matt Klimerman ’13, of New York City, will stay on as the blog’s managing editor. On the heels of 2011’s “White Out for Diddy” campaign, Bloom and Klimerman are planning to get blackout next Spring Weekend. The Herald also announced its newest business leaders Friday. Danielle Marshak ’13, of New York City, will move up from finance director to serve as general manager and treasurer of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. She plans to install an elliptical machine in the GM office. Siena deLisser ’13, of Florence, Italy, who served as student group sales director in the spring, will serve as general manager and secretary of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. DeLissser hopes to bring the Italian penchant for sound business management to The Herald. Nikki Khadloya ’13 will serve as alumni relations director, Julia Kuwahara ’14 will serve as sales director, Angel Lee ’14 will serves as business development director and Sam Plotner ’14 will serve as finance director.
8 Arts & Culture
The Brown Daily Herald Monday, November 21, 2011
Hip-hop kings share the Diverse dancers take to the stage throne in Boston concert By sammy feldblum Contributing Writer
Long ago, in the era after the deaths of giants Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac, the hip-hop world was looking for a new master of ceremonies to step into the void and take over as king. Jay-Z wanted to be that emcee. His diss track of New York-area rivals “Takeover” was designed to be just that, and included a prescient warning to competitors: “Don’t throw rocks at the throne.” At the time, he may or may not have been the king he claimed to be. Now, with “the baddest chick in the game wearing his chain,” as part owner of the soon-to-beBrooklyn Nets, having sold over 50 million albums worldwide and with a personal net worth of more than half a billion dollars, he certainly is. So when he decided to team up with Kanye West for their recently released album and tour “Watch the Throne” — which continues tonight at Boston’s TD Garden — hip-hop fans were understandably very excited. West, while disliked by many for his narcissism, has an impressive track record himself — all five of his solo albums went platinum and he has won 14 Grammy awards. West stands at the forefront of a new generation of hip-hop, in which more musical elements are being incorporated into a genre striving for growth. “Watch the Throne” features kings of eras past and present in hip-hop, a duo with enough talent to sleep walk through the record and still make a classic. From the first song, “No Church in the Wild,” West’s influence is apparent in the album. The beats on “Watch the Throne” are a far cry from more traditional boom-bop hip-hop instrumentals, instead incorporating the same genre-stretching heavy electronic tones that defined West’s previous release, “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.” Because of this more unorthodox style, the album takes a few more listens than other works in Jay’s and Ye’s canons to get comfortable enough to bob your head. But Jay-Z and West, swagged out as they are, make it work. West generally delivers the wittier punchlines: “Prince William ain’t do it right if you ask me, if I was him I would’ve Married Kate and Ashley.” But while the beats smack of his influence, and while he delivers the more memorable lines, Jay-Z’s presence on the album remains enormous. He seems to have settled into a more staccato flow than in works past, losing some of the whackiness in his delivery, but he remains the progenitor of the album’s ethos. More than anyone else within
hip-hop, Jay-Z has made it. He is Stringer Bell had Bell’s vision come true: from crack sales to rap to owning everything. In his own words, “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man!” And if this album has a unifying theme, it is a celebration of this success. In “Made In America,” we hear a story of African-Americans ascending to the proverbial top of the world. In “N***** in Paris,” we celebrate this success with the emcees. While Jay-Z was rising to the top of the rap game, though it was indeed a money-machine, it was not yet the cultural force that it has since become. Then, a great rapper could become king of hip-hop. Now, he (or she, or even phe, though certainly not yet) can become more. It seems important, further, that Jay-Z — and now West — were able to ascend to the peak of American life in an inherently, or at the very least historically, black medium (apologies to Professor of Africana Studies Tricia Rose for any issues that statement might raise). The flipside of all this is that, the two having now reached such lofty heights, they seem less hungry to prove themselves. Consequently, there are moments in “Watch the Throne” that feel complacent. The songs “Lift Off ” and “Welcome to the Jungle” come to mind. It’s hard, in many cases, for rappers to maintain their hunger when their lives become so different from where they began. They lose some of their original motivation. West, to me, seems forever motivated by his rabid narcissism, his blessing and his curse. Jay-Z, since feigning retirement in his classic “Black Album,” seems to be motivated by a vague desire to stay on top of the game — a desire, I suppose, which motivates every rapper to some degree. Unfortunately, his success may be his undoing, for he has little left to gain or lose in this area. “The Nets could go 0-82,” he raps, “and I’d look at you like this shit gravy.” Nevertheless, both artists are great at what they do, and it is important to note that there are several tracks on the album that are simply cold. The aforementioned “N***** in Paris” is extremely catchy. The same is true of the other single from the album, “Otis.” Other tracks are hidden gems: “Gotta Have It,” produced by the Neptunes, is a banger. Bonus track “The Joy,” produced by Pete Rock, should only be held with oven mitts. “New Day,” in which West and Jay-Z advise their sons on how to live life, is gold as well. All in all, the album is neither of the artists’ best work, but the fact of the matter is that West and Jay-Z couldn’t flop if they tried. As Mel Brooks once put it, “It’s good to be the king.”
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By sophia seawell Staff Writer
As students who tried to purchase tickets may know, the annual Fall Dance Concert sold out — and with good reason. The production did not fall short of expectations, showcasing a diverse and talented group of choreographers and dancers. The highlight of the show, which was sponsored by the Department of Theater Arts and Performance Studies, was an aerial arts piece titled “Position, Obsession.” Set to the eerie sounds of CocoRosie, two performers — Doug McDonald ’13 and Andrea Dillon ’11.5 — spun and dangled from each other’s limbs, climbing and falling over themselves in an effort to beat the other to the top. Their performance told the story of the god Saturn, who “eats his children out of fear that one will dethrone him,” according to the program. The emotion the performers conveyed, combined with the difficulty of their art and its visual effect, caused the crowd to gasp and clap several times. Another high point of the evening was “Dynamique a Quatre,” which combined ballet, modern, jazz and hip-hop into a unique style. The music, smooth, jazzy and sexy, went perfectly with the choreography. Cameron Donald’s ’14 solo embodied the energy, confidence and diversity which made the piece so strong. “Dynamique a Quatre” was also one of the few pieces to use lifts, which added to the variety of the piece. Traditional dance also had its moment in the spotlight. Members of Badmaash Dance Company performed a Bhangra dance, which originates in India and Pakistan. Dressed in vibrant
costumes, the dancers were energetic and engaging. The choreography successfully mixed the traditional aspects of the dance with more current music and moves, prompting a very enthusiastic response from the audience. Badmaash members also performed a piece called “Tut-Adavu,” putting a modern twist on the traditional Indian dance Bharatantyam. With techno music and black and silver costumes, the performance had a futuristic feel to it that complemented the traditional style of dancing. The result was visually striking, and the precision and enthusiasm of the dancers made the piece a powerful one. Contrasting with the traditional ethnic dances were several modern, abstract performances. A piece called “Hyperpnea” explored the way breath influences movement. The heavy beat of the music provided a metronome for the timing of complex, acrobatic movements. A major theme of the piece appeared to mimic electrocution, with dancers writhing and jerking violently on the floor. Though a very impressive and complex piece, it was perhaps too intense for the audience to relate. On the other hand, “Watch” was a very relatable piece. Before the performance began, video clips of the World Trade Center falling on Sept. 11, 2001, and President John F. Kennedy being shot were screened behind the dance floor. The rest of the piece centered around a small television in one corner of the floor — with slow, dramatic movements, dancers crawled away from the TV, only to eventually make their way back, enthralled by it. The dance effectively captured the emotions of shock and disbelief that come with watching the news on televi-
sion but also portrayed the chaos of individual reactions. At the end of the piece, the dancers draped themselves over the television, becoming one with it. “Topical Heat” immediately stood out among the other dances as performers slowly crawled out from under the curtain, mouths gaping as they climbed over one another. With painted faces and quick, jerky movements, the dancers looked like creatures returned from the dead. The complementary music, costumes and choreography gave the piece, which involved mimicking cannibalism, a very clear, animalistic point of view. “This is the fall venue for student choreography,” said Tori Wilson ’14, a Body and Sole representative. “This particular show is incredibly important — students as dancers and artists and choreographers can only grow if there’s an opportunity.” To participate in the Fall Dance Concert, choreographers must present their piece early in September, Wilson said. They are expected to seek advice from professors and faculty in the meantime and present the improved piece again in October. “Even from the last showing, pieces have grown and changed so much,” Wilson said. “It’s a very diverse and very cool show.” This year there were “a lot more submissions than we’ve had in the past,” Wilson said, which made the process more competitive. “It was very difficult to make these decisions — everyone clearly worked very hard.” Most participants in the Fall Dance Concert were members of existing dance groups on campus despite her attempt to recruit independent dancers, Wilson said.
Political discord inspires concert continued from page 1 others such as William Lloyd Garrison and Walt Whitman, but Asher made an effort to include the likes of President of the Confederate States of America Jefferson Davis and General of the Army of Northern Virginia Robert E. Lee. “You hear about the south as a crazy group of rebels, but they had very clear reasons for what they were doing,” Asher said. “Robert E. Lee was not an evil man, he just had very close ties to his state.” During the Civil War, a nation almost destroyed itself because it could not figure out what it was — pro-slavery or anti-slavery, a nation with a strong federal government or sovereign states, northern and southern or American. In various ways, every person has to deal with that conflict within himself or herself — figuring out just who they are. Asher decided to do a concert featuring Titus Andronicus and the Civil War, not only because “It’s just awesome music,” but also because he said he saw a lot of
themes of the Civil War in politics today. He mentioned the debate over the debt ceiling and current low expectations for the Congressional Super Committee’s resolution on deficit reduction plans as particularly disenchanting. “Maybe there won’t be an armed conflict, but there are these two different sides with different ideas for America,” Asher said. He paused and then added the line from “Four Score and Seven,” a song from “The Monitor” that gave Asher the title of his show — “It’s still us against them.” “The Monitor” has received almost universally positive reviews and has made Titus Andronicus a household name among the indie-punk crowd, but in many ways Asher and his group outperformed these seasoned punk rockers. Unfortunately, the Brown students in the crowd refused to do their part and dance like they were soldiers in McClellan’s army about to fight at Antietam — the way the crowd handles itself at a normal Titus performance. Despite a brief mosh session by five
freshman boys, who seemed more lost than anything, and a few illicit beers during Saturday’s show, the crowd underperformed. With a better audience, the combination of Cody Fitzgerald ’15 and Nicholas Ebisu ’15 on guitar, Phillipe Roberts ’15 on drums, Adam Green ’14 on the crowd-favorite bagpipes and Asher himself on bass and vocals, could give Titus Andonicus a run for their money. Asher was surprised when Production Workshop’s Upspace accepted his application for this performance in early October, but after a month of weekly practices, he said he knew the group was ready. For most of their sevensong set the group stayed pretty close to the original Titus recording, but Asher’s voice added a unique flair to the songs. Patrick Stickles, the lead singer and songwriter of Titus Andronicus is known for his perpetual scream, but Asher preferred to sing instead of yell. Stickles would be hardpressed to say this difference in any way diminished the essence of the album.
The Brown Daily Herald Monday, November 21, 2011
Sports Monday 9
Football finishes second Men’s soccer triumphs over St. John’s in Ivy League standings continued from page 1
continued from page 12 the day, while Newhall-Caballero threw for 262 yards and three touchdowns. Newhall-Caballero ends his Brown football career as one of the league’s top all-time quarterbacks, ranking 12th in Ivy League history in touchdown passes with 39 and rounding out the top 10 in completions all-time with 517. Defensively, the Bears held strong, posting 15 tackles-fora-loss, five of which were sacks. Defensive end Clayton McGrath ’11.5 — who led the Ivy League in tackles-for-a-loss last season — spearheaded the effort with three on the day. Outside linebacker Daniel Smithwick ’12 and defensive lineman Kyle Rettig ’12 were the top tacklers of the day with nine apiece. The Bears maintained their two-touchdown lead going into the fourth quarter, but things started to fall apart from there. The Lions sacked Newhall-Caballero, who fumbled the ball at Brown’s 46-yard line. Brackett and running back David Chao then made quick work of the short field, racking up yardage with a ground attack. Brackett crossed the goal line on a two-yard run to cap the drive, cutting the Bears’ lead in half, 21-14. Bruno started the next drive at its own 17-yard line but was pushed back all the way to its own five after surrendering another sack. After a punt, the Lions had only 40 yards between them and the end zone, and again they took advantage, tying the game at 21. Kicker Alex Norocea’s ’14 43yard field goal attempt with under two minutes remaining in regulation fell short. Columbia also attempted to kick a field goal in
the final seconds, but cornerback A.J. Cruz ’13 managed to block it and forced the game into overtime. On the first play of extra time, Newhall-Caballero found wide receiver Jimmy Saros ’12 in the end zone for a touchdown. The Bears’ defense had Columbia at fourth and one but was unable to stop the Lions, who converted to pick up a new set of downs and eventually a touchdown of their own to tie the game at 28. In the second overtime, Brackett did all the work, rushing for a nine-yard gain and then the remaining 16 yards for the score. On their possession, the Bears managed to convert on fourthand-four but were stopped on a later fourth down by a Lions goalline stand, securing Columbia’s 35-28 win. “Columbia did a great job of hanging in there, and in the end, they won the football game,” Estes said. “We had a chance in overtime, and then they were able to come back and score. We ended on the one-inch line. I think we got the ball over, but the referee didn’t see it, and we ended up losing the game.” Estes said he was not satisfied with a second place finish in the league. “The fact that we ended up in second place doesn’t give me any pleasure at all,” he said. “We were at least a 9-1 team, maybe even 7-0 (in Ivy play), but the record is what it is.” On the whole, Estes said he was proud of the team’s accomplishments this year. “I’m proud of this football team and the seniors and their leadership,” he said. “I just wish we could have had a better finish than we did.”
The two sides battled to a 0-0 double overtime draw Oct. 4, and the teams’ parity stretched into the first half of play as both enjoyed even possession of the ball. Bruno’s first chance came in the 13th minute when Kevin Gavey ’13 forced a save from the St. John’s keeper with a headed effort on net. St. John’s applied pressure of its own, recording six shots in the half to the Bears’ four. “St. John’s is very quick and they have a lot of small players that are technically excellent,” Laughlin said. “They’re a passand-move team, and we knew we needed to stay organized and condense the space. We did a real good job of limiting their chances and trying to hit them
on the counter.” The Bears did just that, finding the back of the net on a counterattack only three minutes into the second half. Remick sprinted 80 yards up the field to overlap Ben Maurey ’15, who dished the ball outside to Remick on the wing. Remick struck the ball on frame, and a deflection off a Red Storm defender sent the goalie the wrong way as the ball flew into the net to give the Bears the 1-0 lead with the entire half to play. After keeping the Red Storm at bay for the next 20 minutes, the Bears caught a break with 12 minutes left on the clock. St. John’s midfielder Chris Lebo was sent off after a brash challenge on T.J. Popolizio ’12, reducing the Red Storm to 10 men for the rest of the game. The Bears had
comics Chester Crabson | Tess Carroll and Marcel Gout
Dreadful Cosmology | Oirad Macmit
Fraternity of Evil |Eshan Mitra, Brendan Hainline and Hector Ramirez
Women’s rugby knocks off Army continued from page 12 win on a penalty, that’d be cheap,’” VanderPloeg said. Ekpo and Martin both went on to record their second scores of the day. When the final whistle blew, Brown had earned a decisive 36-17 victory. “Winning this year meant a lot for the seniors,” VanderPloeg said. As first-years, the current seniors had also beat Army, and VanderPloeg said it felt like their rugby
careers had come “full circle.” In recent years, the team has been successful in the tournament, making the Final Four three out of the past four years. Last year, after a grinding firstround game against the University of Michigan, the Bears were upset by the University of Virginia in the round of eight. But this year, the top seed could potentially provide an easier road to the final four and a coveted national championship.
to play lock-down defense to see the game out. “It was one of those situations where you don’t want to get too comfortable,” Laughlin said. “You think, ‘They’re down a man, it’s going to be no problem now.’ But St. John’s kept pushing all the way to the end. … They completely went for it, and made it difficult for us.” The Bears will wait a week to travel to the West Coast to face the winner of St. Mary’s College of California (9-6-5) and University of California at Irvine (16-5-1) Sunday. But for now, the team is enjoying its privileged position. “It’s exciting to still be playing,” Laughlin said. “To be one of the 16 teams that are left in the country — that’s a pretty awesome feeling.”
Unicomic| Eva Chen and Dan Sack
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The Brown Daily Herald Monday, November 21, 2011
Giving thanks
Editorial cartoon
by sam rosenfeld
What we’re thankful for Chocolate milk, Officer Chuck and post-midnight pizzas, Alice, drifting missions?, snowstorms, shotguns, Meeting Street, frat tabs, nerds, words and big birds. Comma headlines, our readers, spinach, Steve and Becky, “decision”-making, evolution and bifurcation, roasts, BlogDailyHerald, exercise balls, Louis, the no-longer-bare Bear’s Lair and weapons of sass destruction. Snow what and the seven noozepapers, Freud, the “French,” getting robbed, semicolons and em-dashes, real talk, SSWs, All City Towing, Zarvox the Phaser, thesauruses, people who bring a lot to the table, The ’Mont and the other ’Mont, the naked masturbator(s), Occupiers, our amazing staff, peanut m&m’s, “Kiss Me” radio, lotteries, props, Marisa Quinn, the Blue Room and post-. Herald Happy Hour, ball sports, Zone bars and milk, gold paint, longhorns, logs, Nice Slice’s marinated tomatoes, deformities, Matt and Laurie, sample cups, liaisons and buddies, not being racist, journalism as therapy, dragoning, fancy tights, chips and guac, the Sub, bros, needing pens back, full color, Kleenex, frozen bananas, jello shots, social chairs, apples, kerning, Gchat, the snarky SafeRide operator, ladies’ night, locker room conversations, recycling, 195 Angell, mochas, ka-boom babies, Sven Twintee, Yuan Na’in-Tien and Juan Ateen. Cold beahhhs, Banquet, The 122nd Editorial Board, David Kertzer, late night Scouting, people who bake for us, people who bake with us, Ross Cheit, anonymous tipsters, new staff writers, Gail Schmitt, Philip Greene and Stanley Hanson, coups d’etat and spicies with. Wassadeal. The Herald’s 121st editorial board has a lot to be thankful for. Thanks for reading.
letter to the editor Pet ownership should not be taken lightly To the Editor: Although it may be fun, cool and “a big pull for the ladies,” pet ownership should not be taken lightly (“Partygoers beware, a Greek gator lurks,” Nov. 16). I volunteer at a rescue that takes in those “definitely spur of the moment” pets when people, often students, are through with them. I can hardly describe the shape some of the animals are in after students let them go or leave them in their rooms once they have left. Pets, and especially exotics like rabbits, hedgehogs and amphibians require special care, food and habitats. One person quoted in the article said, “I’m sure (the seller) got rid of it because it was so heinously mean.” No, not mean, scared to death! “Sometimes
Kugel was messy. When the suitemates returned one night after a fire alarm, they found Kugel, an African pygmy hedgehog, had defecated and urinated all over,” said one person in the article. The poor thing was probably traumatized by the event. The “best way to have a pet is when you’re a senior and you’re eligible to live off campus,” said an administrator. “Find a landlord who is pet-friendly, and have your dog with you.” That is fine, but plan to take that dog with you when you leave Brown and go on to your next adventure. Pet ownership is for the life of the pet, not just for your fun and amusement while at college. Dorothy Hitt
quote of the day
“Cartoons can be quite damaging and sick.” — Nancy Chunn See risd on page 6.
t h e b r ow n da i ly h e r a l d Editors-in-Chief
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Clarification An article in Friday’s Herald (“Muslim chaplain embarks on the Hajj,” Nov. 18) stated that the Hajj took place for five days at the sacred mosque in Mecca. Most of the religious pilgrimage takes place on the outskirts of Mecca, not in the mosque itself.
Correction An article in Friday’s Herald (“Comeback propels Bears to NCAA round two,” Nov. 18) credited T.J. Popolizio ’12 with the Bears’ second goal. In fact, Austin Mandel ’12 scored the second goal. The Herald regrets the error. C O R R E C T I O N S P olicy The Brown Daily Herald is committed to providing the Brown University community with the most accurate information possible. Corrections may be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication. C ommentary P O L I C Y The editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial page board of The Brown Daily Herald. The editorial viewpoint does not necessarily reflect the views of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Columns, letters and comics reflect the opinions of their authors only. L etters to the E ditor P olicy Send letters to letters@browndailyherald.com. Include a telephone number with all letters. The Herald reserves the right to edit all letters for length and clarity and cannot assure the publication of any letter. Please limit letters to 250 words. Under special circumstances writers may request anonymity, but no letter will be printed if the author’s identity is unknown to the editors. Announcements of events will not be printed. advertising P olicy The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. reserves the right to accept or decline any advertisement at its discretion.
Opinions 11
The Brown Daily Herald Monday, November 21, 2011
Litter in the ivory tower By Garret Johnson Opinions Columnist
Most Brown students probably missed the recent article in the Providence Journal about Edward Bishop ’54 P’86 P’91, a 79-year-old Brown graduate who resides on College Hill. In short, the article explained that Bishop spends his weekend mornings picking up the remnants of Brown students’ weekend nights. Bishop strolls up and down the streets surrounding the University, collecting crushed cans of Narragansett Light, soiled plates from Josiah’s and who knows what else. He told the Journal that he “suspect(s) that all the kids at Brown had others pick up after them.” Besides being an unfortunate quote for Brown and for its students, this article highlights everything that many people hate about academia and the ivory tower of the nation’s top universities. We are viewed as elitists who preach environmentalism and sustainability to the masses but cannot even make the effort of putting our beer cans into a recycling bin. Brown has frequently been called one of America’s most socially conscious universities, and our student body is certainly known for its environmentalism and focus on sustainabil-
ity. But the sight of Wriston Quadrangle on Saturday mornings is enough to make visitors wonder if Brown students are familiar with the concept of a trash container. Though a few beer cans in the bushes is certainly not enough to merit Al Gore’s attention, the thought of an elderly alum picking up our cans is not helpful to our image as a school. And, try as we might, we cannot blame the administration. I have yet to see Dean
beer bottle on the street. No one likes a hypocrite. Obviously, this problem is not exclusive to Brown. There are probably hypocritical environmental activists at every school in the country. But that does not mean that we should not try to change the way we are perceived. We should. And as I see it, Brown students have two options: Stop preaching environmentalism or stop littering.
There is almost nothing more disgusting than a college student wearing a “Save the Whales” t-shirt as he drops his glass beer bottle on the street. No one likes a hypocrite.
of the College Katherine Bergeron dropping a Bud Light outside of Spats. And as far as I know, President Ruth Simmons always recycles her booze containers. But in all seriousness, the administration has gone to great lengths to make nonlittering easy. We have no one to blame but ourselves. There is almost nothing more disgusting than a college student wearing a “Save the Whales” t-shirt as he drops his glass
But as we all know, Brown students will always be among the most vocal supporters of environmentalism. Our student body will always — and should always — be a part of this crusade. The fight against pollution and climate change is an important one. But now it is time to stop saying one thing while doing another. Bishop told the Journal he thinks “the country is going to hell” and that “people don’t have much respect for the environ-
ment anymore.” The sad thing about these statements is that Brown students claim to care so much about the environment. There are student groups devoted to the environment. There is an academic department devoted to the environment. But the fact remains that even with all of our knowledge and passion about the issues facing the environment, our campus looks like a wasteland on the weekends. No amount of abstract preaching will physically remove the garbage from the quads. Discussing a tax on carbon dioxide emissions may be a riveting topic for a seminar, but we have an opportunity to make an immediate impact on the environment by picking up after ourselves. The next time you finish your Keystone on Patriots Court, don’t forget about the recycling bins that are all around you. Don’t forget about the fact that whether you are an environmentalist or not, you represent a school that is known as a bastion of ecoactivism. And for every can that Bishop has to pick up on Sunday morning, Brown looks less like a leading institution of higher learning and more like a group of hypocritical hipsters. Garret Johnson ’14 is a biochemistry and molecular biology concentrator from Boxford, Mass., who closely follows the drinking and littering habits of the administration.
The other Academy Awards By Suzanne Enzerink Opinions Columnist
As J. Walter Wilson turned into pandemonium when anxious students queued to get tickets for John Krasinski ’01 and Harvard students flocked to catch a glimpse of dropout Mark Zuckerberg the week before, it once again became apparent that celebrity attracts as much attention on Ivy League campuses as any other place. The infusion of celebrity in the academy also extends to the educational level. While this has certain benefits for the visibility — and also for the curriculum in most cases — of a school, the value awarded to status and fame when deciding who to hire risks instilling wrong expectations in students, who might see a shortcut in popular appeal or even provocativeness. The mix between university and fame is not always an easy one. While well-known students might have to deal with eager admirers following them around campus, for professors, it can be an equally mixed blessing — it might attract more students to class, but it is also harder to be taken seriously for one’s academic work or to convince others that academic merit rather than glamor or appeal brought on the appointment. But in some instances, as several people at home in academia noted, scholars also actively seek celebrity to improve their bargaining position. In one astonishing case, an assistant professor at the University who had gained traction via much-debated statements in mainstream
publications was hired as a full professor by another university, skipping the step of associate professor entirely. Courting controversy equaled celebrity, leading to a significant increase in status and pay. The discussion started in one of my graduate seminars, where the merit of titles such as “What Was African American Literature?” by Kenneth Warren and “Why I Love Black Women” by Michael Dyson came under scrutiny. Are these titles inspired by the need to adequately encompass the content or by the desire to
enough. The question is whether he or she is a prominent academic for his or her scholarly work, an academic celebrity who has more news coverage than book titles or a celebrity-turned-academic? For this coming spring semester, the professors seem to fall into the first category. The University will have courses taught by Patrick Kennedy, David Rhode ’90 and long-time faculty member Chinua Achebe. All three are well-known and esteemed in their respective fields, and the fact that they will heighten the University’s profile is a mere
The value awarded to status and fame when deciding who to hire risks instilling wrong expectations in students, who might see a shortcut to an academic career in popular appeal or even provocativeness to heighten their profile. satisfy a bookseller’s adage that “the best book is a book that sells”? Of course, the two motives cannot be separated as easily, but the tension is undeniable. A provocative and bold statement or question is more likely to be picked up by those outside of the academy, but also more open to criticism from intellectuals in the same field who will be able to give a nuanced assessment of the argument. And often the titles are much more vexing than the books themselves, which also points to an increasing tendency to overstate or simplify to stand out. Of course, there are many forms of celebrity within academia, often innocent
added bonus (“High profile, high prestige: U. courts celebrity profs,” Sept. 22). But the rise of the academic celebrity is not without problems. With a significant shortage of academic jobs and hundreds of graduates applying to the same vacancies — let alone tenure-track opportunities — a problem exacerbated by the economic downturn, standing out is crucial. To get noticed by potential employers, publications in popular magazines or newspapers that come up when your name is typed into Google can seem very appealing. But to start the discussion, it is necessary to popularize or mainstream the academic content so that it becomes
understandable and attractive for a wide audience, and it is here that many cross the line from verifiability into controversy. Several graduate students indicated that they believe university presses will favor something that will spark discussion. While they are often subsidized, they indeed still seek to publish a few books a year that will transcend the microcosm of academia and reach an audience beyond the few hundred scholars that will be interested in it for professional reasons. To this extent, a catchy title, topic or a wellknown name on the cover will do wonders. But the majority of books published still adhere to traditional academic standards. The misperception of the graduate students can thus be said to be a direct result from the high visibility of celebrity or controversial publications. This is when the academic celebrity becomes a dangerous phenomenon: The perceived state of the academic world by the students no longer corresponds to reality, which could lead to a rise in work that favors the potential to sell over originality. This is not to say that celebrity and academia cannot or should not mix. Honorary degrees and the presence of renowned faculty members enrich debates and learning. It is to say that academia should not turn into another Academy Awards, in which marketing often takes precedence over quality. Independent productions might not reach the largest audience, but they are no less inspiring — rather the opposite. Suzanne Enzerink GS is a master’s student in American studies and very much enjoyed John Krasinski’s ’01 talk.
Daily Herald Sports Monday the Brown
Monday, November 21, 2011
Football
Bears fall to last-place Columbia By ashley mcdonnell Sports Editor
The football team ended its season on a disappointing note Saturday, falling on the road to previously winless Columbia 35-28 in double overtime. Despite the disheart-
Brown 28 Columbia 35 ening loss, Bruno (7-3, 4-3 Ivy) still finished in a three-way tie for second place in the Ivy League, thanks to Harvard’s demolition of Yale 45-7 and Penn’s upset loss to Cornell. The loss to the Lions (1-9, 1-6) follows last week’s upset home loss to Dartmouth on Senior Day. “It’s too bad that the last two games of the year, some people will look at as our defining mo-
ments,” said Head Coach Phil Estes. “These two games leave a bad taste in your mouth that you have to sit with for a year before you get a chance to redeem yourself.” The game started off grim for the Bears, with quarterback Kyle Newhall-Caballero ’11.5 throwing his first of three interceptions on the opening drive. But on the ensuing Lions’ drive, cornerback Mel Farr ’12 forced a fumble that was recovered by linebacker Matthew O’Donnell ’12. O’Donnell then ran the ball back 17 yards down the sideline for the touchdown to give the Bears an early 7-0 lead. On Brown’s next possession, tight end Alex Harris ’13 fumbled the ball, which Lions’ defensive back Ross Morand scooped up and returned 26 yards, setting up a first-and-goal at the 10-yard line for Columbia. After a pass inter-
ference call against the Bears, Columbia quarterback Sean Brackett ran the ball across the goal line himself for the score. Brackett had a five-touchdown day — four on the ground and one through the air. The Bears turned the ball over a total of six times, which, coupled with penalties, cost the Bears the game, Estes said. “It wasn’t anything that Columbia was doing — it was more what we were doing or not doing,” he said. “We just shot ourselves in the foot too many times.” But things were looking good at the half. A pair of touchdown passes to wide receiver Matthew Sudfeld ’11.5 gave the Bears a 21-7 lead going into halftime. Sudfeld caught five passes for 60 yards on continued on page 9
Alyson Goulden / The Columbia Daily Spectator
Wide receiver Matthew Sudfield ’11.5 snared two touchdown grabs, but Bruno’s season ended in a disappointing double-overtime loss to Columbia.
gymnastics
Bears look to build on past years’ success By maddie berg Contributing Writer
Courtesy of Ed Pepin
The women’s rugby team defeated No. 1 Army to hoist the Northeast Rugby Championship trophy Nov. 6. The victory will give the Bears a number one seed in the National Tournament this spring.
W. Rugby
Bruno upsets defending national champs By David rosen Contributing Writer
The women’s rugby team upset No. 1 Army — the reigning national champions — 36-17 to win the Northeast Rugby Championship Nov. 6. The victory earned the
Army Brown
17 36
Bears the first seed in this spring’s upcoming national championship tournament. “Army has been one of our big rivals for a while,” said inside center Michele VanderPloeg ’12. The team saw themselves as the underdogs going into the match, said Head Coach Vanessa Heffernan. “This was a year of transition. A lot of seniors graduated
last year,” she said. Brown’s scrum stepped up and were pivotal in the team’s victory. Though many of the Brown players are young, they managed to win many scrums during the match and control possession of the ball, VanderPloeg said. Heffernan also noted the size differential between the two sides, which makes the Bears’ scrum play especially impressive. Army struck first with a try and claimed a 7-0 lead. They were then in striking distance of adding to their lead, but All-American Shakeela Faulkner ’12 retrieved a bobbled ball and ran it back 80 meters for the Bears. After a conversion from team captain Chelsea Garber ’12, the game was tied at seven apiece. Before halftime, Patricia Ekpo
’15 — one of the team’s rising stars — put Brown up 12-7. “We have a lot of speed on the outside,” Heffernan said, and Army was unable to contain Faulkner and Ekpo. At halftime, Brown switched its defensive strategy, which Heffernan said threw Army off. While Army scored twice early in the second half, the defense buckled down and the Bears had the momentum for the remainder of the match. After Blaine Martin ’11.5 equalized the score at 17 apiece, Garber, who was previously tripped as she was about to score, converted a penalty to put Brown up 24-17. But the team did not let up there. “Everyone was like, ‘if we continued on page 9
After a frustrating end to an otherwise successful 2010-11 season, the gymnastics team has ambitious, yet plausible, goals for the upcoming year. “We just missed going to (United States of America Gymnastics) Nationals, which is a big deal, and we are really hoping to get there this year,” said co-captain Lilly Siems ’12. According to Siems, cocaptain Katie Goddard ’12 and Head Coach Sara Carver-Milne, the team has improved each year since this year’s seniors began on the team as first-years in 2008. This upward trend culminated in last year’s promising season, during which the team broke the school’s previous records in the balance beam, uneven bars and vault and nearly broke the school’s all-around record. In addition to these team accomplishments, a number of individuals also broke records and won awards. “It was just an incredible building season,” said Carver-Milne, who is entering her 11th season with the team this year. Carver-Milne said missing Nationals was a disappointing finish to the encouraging season. “We were right in it last year, and then at the very, very, very last meet we got bumped out by a hundredth of a tenth,” she said. But Carver-Milne said this experience pushed the team to work harder to get to Nationals this year. “They are more experienced. They are hungry. They know what they can achieve. They’ve seen it first hand. So they’ll get there,” she said. The team also hopes to win the Ivy League championship, in
which they placed third last year. “We are right there. It’s just a matter of putting it together on that day,” Carver-Milne said. In order to achieve these goals, the team has prioritized consistency and handling the pressure of meets. This is especially important for the two new firstyears, Danielle Hoffman ’15 and Allison Rubenstein ’15, who are not used to competing at a team level. Hoffman and Rubenstein will be replacing two graduated seniors from last year’s squad. But, according to their captains and coach, they will only be assets to the team. “The freshmen are incredible,” Goddard said. “They picked up on everything right away.” “By the time we get to senior year, we are a little banged up and tired,” Siems said. “So we really do rely on the freshmen to compete for us.” The older members of the squad are also promising. The captains’ leadership helps the team focus and behave as a cohesive group, Carver-Milne said. “They watch each other. They won’t let anything slide,” CarverMilne said. “They are going to listen to their bodies. They are going to stay focused and driven.” Injuries may pose a major challenge for the team, but this year, the team hopes a practice schedule including more conditioning will prevent injuries from being as detrimental as in years past. In order to succeed this season, the team has to remember that “every meet counts,” said Carver-Milne, starting with the team’s first competition against the University of Bridgeport and Rhode Island College at home Jan. 22.