Tuesday, October 9, 2012

daily herald the Brown

vol. cxxii, no. 81

INSIDE

Page 3

The rising sun New computers added to SunLab to aid students

Page 4

Coach departs Track and field team loses another coach this season Page 8

Aging, fading Increase in lead levels found in old Providence buildings today

tomorrow

48 / 57

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tuesday, october 9, 2012

since 1891

football

Governor’s Cup to stay in Bears’ trophy case

By Jake Comer Sports Editor

Bruno kept control of the Governor’s Cup with a 17-7 victory over the University of Rhode Island in Kingston Saturday.

Fullback Cody Taulbee ’14 ran for two touchdowns, the first pair of his collegiate career, and kicker Alexander Norocea ’14 put away a 41-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to give Bruno (3-1, 0-1 Ivy) an insurmountable two-possession advantage. The Rams’ (0-5) sole score came on a three-yard run from quarterback Bob Bentsen at the end of the first half.

“It’s always good to win that, to keep the trophy here for another year,” said quarterback Patrick Donnelly ’13.

Bruno captured the Cup last year with a 35-21 win at home, and this season’s contest boosted their overall record against Rhode Island to 69-26-2.

By the numbers, Bruno made few mistakes this weekend, with no fumbles, no interceptions, and only 35 yards given up to penalties. But Head Coach

Phil Estes said he was not satisfied. “I’m pleased that we won,” he said, but added, “We made some mistakes on a couple of plays.”

Many of these missteps might go unnoticed to the average spectator, Estes added. But with “missed opportunities like those against really good football teams, you’re going to find yourself in the loss column.”

The Bears’ offense generated only 245 yards, some scoring opportunities slipped by and running back Spiro Theodhosi ’12.5 was injured on the game’s second play. Theodhosi led the Bears in rushing yards in each of Bruno’s first three games, and Donnelly said his absence is “a big loss for our team.”

Up 14-7 at the end of the first half, the Bears managed to hang on to their early lead despite an underwhelming offensive performance. Donnelly overthrew a handful of passes, completing 14 of 28 for 125 yards and no touchdowns.

“I didn’t play as well as I should have,” / / Football page 4 he said. But

Jonathan Bateman / Herald

The football team retained the Governor’s Cup in a 17-7 victory over the University of Rhode Island on Saturday.

Taveras approval rating up despite slow recovery Nelson ’77 pledges to donate half of wealth

By Sona mkrttchian Senior Staff writer

Mayor Angel Taveras’ approval rating has risen by 10 percent, according to a poll conducted Sept. 13-22 by the Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions. This increase comes despite an overwhelming sense of pessimism about the city’s fiscal situation — 81.8 percent of respondents said Providence’s economy is “not so good” or “poor.” The poll sampled 425 voters from the pool of registered Providence voters.

Voters placed Taveras’ job approval rating at 60 percent, with only 8 percent

city & state

of respondents saying that he is doing a “poor” job.

Associate Professor of Political Science Wendy Schiller said this trend could be attributed to voters’ abilities to disassociate Taveras’ term from the city’s fiscal problems. Voters instead view Taveras as a strong force who was able to negotiate tough agreements with unions and the University in order to reduce the structural deficit he inherited when he took office, she added.

“The mayor is off to a great start, and it has been recognized by the voters,” said Maureen Moakley, professor of political science at the University of Rhode Island. “They admire his transparency and they are willing to go with anything else that he recommends.”

But despite Taveras’ efforts to reduce the $110 million structural deficit earlier this year, over 85 percent of voters still said the city currently faces serious budget problems, and almost 39 percent of voters said the city is more likely to face “periods of widespread unemployment” in the coming years than “continuous good times.”

Considering Providence’s recent financial woes, “it seems perfectly logical that very few people are expecting good times, certainly in the short term,” Moakley said.

“I’m just surprised, in fact, that 31 percent of people think they are going to have good times,” she added. “That seems like an unrealistic option.”

An August 2012 report from the

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics placed Rhode Island’s unemployment rate as the second highest in the country at 10.7 percent. In Providence, the rate is even higher, with almost 13 percent of residents unable to find unemployment. But when these statistics were released last month, they were hailed as improvements in the state’s long and arduous economic recovery process.

“Economic development is on everyone’s minds these days in Rhode Island, for obvious reasons,” wrote David Ortiz, press secretary for Mayor Angel Taveras, in an email to The Herald. “As with the national recovery, Providence’s recovery is slow. But we are headed in the right direction.”

The Taveras / / Taveras page 4

Ai Weiwei film explores contemporary China

By Julie Yue COntributing Writer

“There needs to be a movie about this guy,” Alison Klayman ’06 remembered thinking after she met artist Ai Weiwei for the first time. A long line of students and faculty stood outside the List Art Center Thursday night waiting to learn about the artist for themselves through a screening of Klayman’s documentary “Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry.”

Both the film and the screening were unexpected successes. The documentary has received critical acclaim since premiering in January at the Sundance Film Festival. The screening, which seated a full house, was the second in a series of films sponsored by the Ivy Film Festival designed to “inspire change,” said Evan Sumortin ’13, a co-director of the festival.

The documentary provides a nuanced portrait of Ai Weiwei, a well-

arts & culture

Courtesy Of Erin Chaney

A documentary on Chinese activist Ai Weiwei, filmed by Alison Klayman ’06, drew students and faculty to a packed screening Thursday night.

known Chinese artist and political activist, and of contemporary China.

Klayman followed and filmed Ai while making the documentary, starting in December 2008 and ending in late 2011 after his detainment by Chinese officials. The film explores Ai’s rise to national fame during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, when he served as an artistic consultant for the design of the Beijing National Stadium, popularly known as the Bird’s Nest. It also delves into his conflicts with Chinese authorities, like those stemming from his investigation into the student casualties resulting from the Sichuan earthquake.

The film also features stories from Ai’s childhood and his studies in New York in the 1980s, and it includes interviews with contemporary artists, friends and family members.

Klayman first met Ai in 2008 while working as a journalist in China. Her roommate was curating a show featuring his artwork, and Klayman said she was asked to produce / / Ai page 2

By Berit Goetz Contributing Writer

Corporation board member Jonathan Nelson ’77 P’07 P’09 recently joined CNN founder Ted Turner, former member of the class of 1960, and 89 other American billionaires in a pledge to donate over half of his wealth to a charitable cause.

Nelson, the chief executive officer and founder of the private equity firm Providence Equity Partners, was announced as one of several new signatories of the Giving Pledge Sept.

18. He will donate a majority of his personal wealth to philanthropic initiatives or charitable causes either during his lifetime or at his death, according to the press release.

Conceived by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett in June 2010, the pledge invites America’s wealthiest individuals to add their names and a statement detailing their personal reasons for pledging to an online archive. The pledge is an effort to increase the dialogue surrounding philanthropy and encourage increased philanthropy in the United States, the press release said.

Signatories of the Giving Pledge espouse a wide range of philosophical approaches to giving, Nelson wrote in his pledge letter. But in his statement, Nelson expressed a concern that he shares with other pledgers about making such a pledge publicly.

He “formally and privately” committed to giving away over 50 percent of his wealth years before signing the pledge, he wrote, but ultimately decided to make / / Nelson page 2

2 campus news / / Nelson page 1

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it public in the hope that doing so would encourage others to follow suit.

Nelson’s statement echoes the goal of the pledge itself. According to the website, it constitutes “a moral commitment … not a legal contract.” The pledge does not solicit funds for particular organizations.

Rather, it facilitates the creation of a peer group of like-minded philanthropists. Signatories come together at an annual event to pool ideas about philanthropic best practices and to converse more broadly about the justifications and intent behind giving, according to the site.

The announcement comes at a time when American universities are major beneficiaries of charitable giving. An August report released by the Chronicle of Higher Education listed 54 private gifts of more than $101 million and more than 110 gifts of between $50 million to $100 million to universities and colleges since 2000.

Nelson has a history of philanthropic partnership with Brown. In 2004, he donated $10 million toward the construction of what is now the Jonathan Nelson ’77 Fitness Center, which opened last April. In February 2011, Nelson funded two named professorships designed to attract world-class scholars to Brown.

One of these professorships was filled this fall by Paul Guyer, now the Nelson Professor of Humanities and Philosophy.

“Brown is fortunate to have many extraordinarily generous donors, including some who have signed

/ / Ai page 1 a short film to complement the art show.

Her goal for this film, which she said she began shortly after meeting Ai, was for the world to “get to know Ai Weiwei” and see a “slice of China,” Klayman told The Herald. The film should be a “reminder that China is a multifaceted, diverse place,” she said.

Viewers “have to clear away whatever (their) image of China was.”

Ai Weiwei “is a larger-than-life kind of personality,” Klayman said.

“Even from the very beginning, he takes up a lot of space in the room” in more than a physical sense. But she added that despite the busy life portrayed in the film, much of Ai’s daily work was spent on Twitter.

“He’s galvanizing … (and) inspiring people to participate,” she said. But

Emily Gilbert / Herald

Jonathan Nelson ’77, a member of the Corporation, joined 90 other billionaires in pledging over half his personal fortune to charity. the ‘Giving Pledge,’” wrote Marisa Quinn, vice president for public affairs and University relations, in an email to The Herald. “The success of the Campaign for Academic Enrichment, which raised more than $1.6 billion, illustrates the broad-based support and generosity of our community. These funds have enabled many campus-wide initiatives.”

Nelson’s philanthropic involvement in Rhode Island also extends beyond College Hill — he is on the board of the Newport Festivals Foundation.

The billionaire alum joins fellow pledger Ted Turner, who maintains a relationship with the University despite his senior-year expulsion.

Turner received honorary degrees

in 1989 and 1993 and an award for entrepreneurship at an on-campus conference in 2004. Two years before his election to the Board of Trustees in 1999, Turner committed $1 billion to establish the United Nations Foundation in a landmark philanthropic move.

Turner wrote in his Giving Pledge letter that it “was time for me to get out in front of the parade. … I realized that many of (my fellow billionaires) used their net worth as a way to keep score, and they enjoyed seeing where they ranked on lists put out by magazines like Fortune and Forbes.

Understanding how competitive most of these people were, I called on the media to start publishing lists of people who gave away the most.”

filming Ai just working on his computer was “sometimes kind of boring.”

Klayman said she believes working in journalism helped her approach the film objectively. She added that she prefers the film to be viewed as an objective, but meaningful portrait of an important contemporary figure who represents “the universal need for courage and freedom of expression.”

“I don’t see it as an activist film at all,” Klayman said.

The documentary was a way to go beyond short-term journalism, which Klayman said “(has) its limitations, even with the best intentions.”

During the question and answer session following the screening, Klayman discussed Brown’s influence on her work, the stereotypes she held about China before living in the country, Ai Weiwei’s current situation and his personal reaction to the film.

After a question posed by Wenli Xu, senior fellow in international studies at the Watson Institute for International Studies and a contemporary of Ai who protested with him in 1979, Klayman discussed whether the film represents too slanted a portrayal of modern China without deference for the complexities of the government and the nation’s social structures.

Many students who attended praised the film.

It was “an important film to make,” said Marisa Goldman, a Rhode Island School of Design student.

Kyle Holzgruber ’15 said he was “glad to have this opportunity to learn more about the pressing issues in China,” but, considering his time spent in Beijing, added that perhaps the film did not adequately address the government’s advancements since the 1980s.

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/ / Election page 8 voters is Wednesday. The deadline in Idaho and Oklahoma is Friday. For voters in Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon and West Virginia, registration forms are due early next week.

For North Carolina voters, registration forms must be received by Friday.

Forms from Virginia voters must be received by Oct 15.

Registration forms can be found online at the respective state’s secretary of state or board of elections website.

The mail-in deadline for Rhode Island has passed, but those looking to vote in the presidential or vice presidential election may register at their polling places on election day.

the brown daily herald tuesday, october 9, 2012

Child poverty rate rises to one in five

By ISABELLE AUBRUN Contributing writer

More than one in five children in Rhode Island are living in poverty, according to a recent report from Rhode Island Kids Count, a multi-issue children’s advocacy group. The statement is a compilation of U.S. Census Bureau statistics and Kids Count’s own data from the past five years.

Rhode Island has the highest rate of child poverty out of the six New England states and ranks 27th in the nation. Since Kids Count began keeping records in 1995, the state’s poverty rates have fluctuated between 14 and 21 percent. In 2008, at the start of the nationwide recession, 15.5 percent of Rhode Island children were living in poverty. That rate has climbed steadily to reach its current 21.9 percent, the report shows. This 6.4 percent increase of children living in poverty is greater than the national 4.3 percent average increase.

“Children most at risk of not achieving their full potential are children in poverty,” Elizabeth Burke Bryant, the executive director of Kids Count, told The Herald. “They are more likely to have health and behavioral problems, lack access to high-quality educational opportunities, become teen parents and earn less or be unemployed as adults,” she said.

Children living in poverty are predominantly concentrated in urban centers, with two-thirds living in the “four core cities” of Pawtucket, Central Falls, Woonsocket and Providence, according to Bryant. And it is in these areas that Kids Count focuses the majority of their efforts, she said.

Brown Sociology Professor John Logan, an expert on urban, race and ethnicity and family sociology, echoed Bryant’s views in citing the recession

and lack of jobs as the leading causes for Rhode Island’s urban-based poverty.

In the last 50 years, Providence has undergone a deindustrialization from its heyday as a manufacturing center, Logan said. And whereas certain cities like Boston rebounded by focusing on technology and health care, Providence never experienced such an economic recovery. No steady industry replaced the old one, Logan said.

Rhode Island, and more specifically its urban centers, would need to restructure the internal economy to have the job base necessary to pull residents out of persistent poverty, Logan said. But “no one expects much of a recovery,” he added.

The best solution, both Bryant and Logan said, is to treat the symptoms of job scarcity and financial weakness.

Kids Count works to implement and sustain various statewide incentives to support impoverished children.

Bryant cited maintaining reliable health insurance for children as one of Kids Count’s chief priorities. Rhode Island’s health insurance program is ranked 10th-best in the country, Bryant said. With the statewide program, two-thirds of Rhode Island children receive health insurance through their parents’ work. The one-third of children whose parents cannot provide health insurance receive regular care through Rite Care, Rhode Island’s Medicaid/Children’s Health Insurance Program-managed health care program for low-income children and pregnant women. So even when hard times hit, all children have the necessary access to regular health care, Bryant said.

The Food Stamp/Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, an initiative designed to help low-income fam/ / Child page 4 ilies, has been

campus news 3 Computers added to SunLab lobby

By Alexia Ramirez Contributing Writer

The computer science department began installing 10 new computers in the lobby outside of the SunLab at the end of last week. The computer increase is in response to rising student enrollment in the department’s courses, said Tom Doeppner, vice chair and associate professor of computer science.

It has become increasingly difficult to schedule class lab sessions because of the high demand for the limited number of computers available, Doeppner said.

Ethan Langevin ’14, head teaching assistant for CSCI 0170: “Computer Science: An Integrated Introduction,” said the number of students enrolled in introductory courses has increased in recent years, causing the department to struggle to find sufficient space.

Since the 2005-06 academic year, the number of students enrolled in computer science courses has increased from 1,052 students to 1,593 students for the 201011 academic year, according to University registrar numbers. The University registrar was not able to provide enrollment numbers for individual classes.

The TAs will schedule student use of the new computers and implement wait lists, if necessary, Doeppner said.

He added that the location of the new computers in the lobby should not alter the dynamic of classes and lab sessions themselves, but will definitely change the atmosphere of the lobby.

To combat the overcrowding, the department will also continue to offer

Alexandra Urban / Herald

Ten new computers in the SunLab are intended to alleviate the high demand for computers in class lab sessions.

Remote Access, which allows students to work on assignments and labs on their personal computers. Doeppner said students are encouraged to use this tool through the software and instruction made available to them. While numbers of students using Remote Access have increased in the past two years, they have not matched the registration surges for computer science courses, Langevin said.

The value of peer camaraderie and easy access to the TAs continues to make SunLab computers preferable to Remote Access, Doeppner said.

Many students said they find it a little strange to have computers in the lobby but are happy the department is trying to accommodate the increase.

More computers are required to solve the

overcrowding issues, but this addition and improving Remote Access installation will both help, said Najib Ishaq ’16 .

These 10 new computers are “an experiment,” not a permanent solution, Doeppner said, adding that he hopes they will help alleviate the problem for this semester. Based on how helpful the computers are, the department will be able to reevaluate the best course of action for the future, whether that is more computers or a new space, he added.

Langevin expressed excitement about the increased popularity of computer science courses.

“Hopefully, we can come up with a more permanent solution so new students can have access to the same resources we did,” he said.

4 sports tuesday / / Football page 1 “we ran the ball very well,” with Taulbee and running back Mark Kachmer ’13 rushing for a combined 120 yards.

The Bears came out on top, and URI never had the advantage, but the Bears relied on their defensive squad to stay one step ahead of the Rams.

“Once again, the defense did a good job,” Estes said.

In the wake of Bruno’s domination of Georgetown, when the Hoyas managed only one first down in the second half, the Bears’ defense came out hot again Saturday. Co-captain and defensive back A.J. Cruz ’13 said the defense wanted to hold the Rams to fewer than 100 yards rushing and 300 yards overall. And they succeeded, with URI running for 91 yards and registering only 284 total.

Estes said defensive backs Cruz and Emory Polley ’14 played “very well.” The duo broke up three passes between them,

/ / Taveras page 1 administration is looking to expedite Providence’s economic recovery by investing in infrastructure development — through measures like adding a $40 million roads bond to the Nov. 6 ballot and installing cargo cranes in the Port of Providence — to attract businesses and investment to the city, Ortiz added.

When voters were asked about the problem of unfunded pension liabilities in the state, 48.5 percent said they supported the elimination of cost-ofliving-adjustments in municipal pension plans — a strategy Taveras used earlier this year to reduce Providence’s

city & state

/ / Lakes page 8 Herbert allowed the researchers to determine ancient ocean temperatures, which is the “specialty of our lab at Brown,” Herbert said. Ocean temperatures are correlated with atmospheric pressure, which helps determine where storms originate.

Researchers can determine ancient ocean temperatures because the chemical composition of algae living in ancient oceans directly corresponds to past ocean temperatures. When the algae die, they fall to the bottom of the ocean “layer by layer,” Herbert said. By examining the chemical composition of the layers, the researchers can essentially “map out” the ocean temperature changes overtime, he noted.

“Mud is an archive,” Herbert said. The sediment cores are stored in “mud libraries,” one of which is housed by Texas A

and the Rams threw for 193 yards. “(Cruz and I) studied a lot of film together,” Polley said. “We’ve played those receivers before, too, so we know what they’re going to do in certain situations.”

He added that the defense owed much of its success against the Rams to pressuring the quarterback and forcing turnovers.

And Bruno came through at key moments when URI could have closed the gap. Co-captain and defensive lineman Ross Walthall ’13 stalled a run on fourthand-one at the Bears’ 24-yard line in the fourth quarter, and Polley snagged the game’s only interception a few minutes later.

“Most of the credit for the win goes to the defense,” Donnelly said.

But defense alone does not win football games. The Bears will have to streamline their offense and turn more possessions into points as they head into the second half of the season, Estes said.

From here on out, the team only plays

conference foes.

“The competition gets better and better,” Estes said. “With Harvard playing the way they are, you can’t afford to have a letdown and get yourself behind the eight ball.”

Next Saturday’s game at Princeton will be Bruno’s third in a row on the road, but Donnelly said the Bears are not especially affected by the game location.

“You’ve just got to have that mentality,” he said. “Just got to play anybody, anytime, anywhere.”

Though the Bears’ defense may have carried the day against URI, Cruz said he is confident in the offense as well.

“We’ve got a lot of good players,” he said. “We’ve got the players and the skill. … Patrick is an incredible quarterback.”

But “we’ve got to be able to put it all together,” Cruz added. “We were fortunate to put together a victory with what our coach would say was not our best performance.”

budget deficit. Only 20.5 percent of voters said they were dissatisfied with the agreement reached between the mayor and unions that suspended COLAs and moved retirees onto Medicare.

“People understand that (municipal pension plans) are completely unsustainable,” Moakley said. She added that when the country is in the midst of a recession, voters would like to see retirees making concessions.

Among services rendered by the city, voters were most dissatisfied with the public school system. About 40 percent of respondents indicated they were not happy with the state of the schools in their neighborhood.

Facing challenges common to urban school districts — such as chronic

absenteeism and startling degrees of underperformance relative to state proficiency levels — the Taveras administration has worked to develop charter schools and facilitate a coalition between the district and teachers’ unions since coming into office, Ortiz wrote.

But Schiller said Taveras — whose mayoral campaign focused heavily on the importance of education reform — must first resolve the city’s financial problems before moving on to any other issues.

“Once he gets that house in order, he can make marginal changes — provide opportunities for people who want their children to get a good education in the Providence school system,” she said.

and M, Thomas said.

But ocean temperature wasn’t the only factor in determining ancient storm tracks.

“The ocean and the atmosphere talk to each other,” Herbert said. So while Herbert was focusing on ocean sediment, collaborators at other institutions were examining pollen content and plant species present in ancient land sediment.

When the researchers shared data, the results were not what they expected.

While the data collected along the California coast clearly correlated with Pacific Ocean temperature changes, the data from the Great Basin region “was the exact opposite,” Herbert said. “It’s a different system, and that was kind of a surprise.”

With the Pacific storm track idea eliminated, researchers looked for an-

other storm track that could have created the ancient lakes and found the Tropics storm track to be the most logical answer.

Today, the occasional summer rain in Utah and Arizona comes from Tropic storm systems, Herbert said.

“We eliminated one possibility and are now pointing our finger at the Tropics,” Herbert said.

Examining drastic shifts in ancient weather patterns sheds light on the implications of modern climate change.

“Most people don’t realize that climate change like temperatures patterns will change things a lot more than just temperature itself. It will change rainfall and ecosystems — water is about as important as it gets,” Herbert said. “It’s underappreciated that climate change is not just about getting warmer and warmer — it’s about changing where it’s wet and where its dry.”

the brown daily herald tuesday, october 9, 2012

track & field

Team loses third coach in six weeks

By James Blum Sports Staff Writer

Track and field coach Reuben Jones will leave Brown for a coaching position at Columbia, becoming the third track and field coach — including program director Michelle Eisenreich — to leave Bruno in the past six weeks. Jones was temporarily coaching both the jumping and sprinting squads after former sprinting and hurdling coach Marc Mangiacotti departed at the end of the summer to coach at Harvard.

Jones joined the team’s staff September 2010 after coaching at Coastal Carolina University and the University of Virginia. During his time with the Bears, he helped guide two student-athletes to school records: Evan Weinstock ’14 in the decathlon and Peter Rhodes ’15 in the heptathlon. Weinstock and Rachel Biblo ’11 won Ivy League titles in their events during Jones’ tenure.

Many athletes are sad to see him leave, said Hannah Wallace ’13, a polevaulter. Brienna Crimmins ’14, another member of the jumps squad, echoed Wallace’s sentiment, saying Jones helped many of her peers grow as student-athletes.

“I think we all grew together, and he became like a friend within that time,” Crimmins said.

Jones called the squads together last Monday to explain that he accepted a job at another institution, Crimmins said.

Though his parting comes on the heels of Eisenreich’s departure, Crimmins said the two events were unrelated.

“It was not at all connected with Coach Eisenreich leaving,” said Tim Springfield, interim director of track and field. “I want to stress that Reuben is leaving Brown on very good terms.”

Springfield added that he was with Jones when Columbia called him “out of the blue.” Though the process was rapid, with less than a week between the initial contact and the extension of an offer, Jones was “very upfront with me and with the administration,” Springfield said.

“They made him an offer that he just couldn’t refuse,” said co-captain Nathan Elder ’13.

While Jones’ departure exacerbates the coaching shortage facing the track and field teams, Springfield said he views this potential “excuse for us to fall apart”

/ / Child page 3 in higher demand in recent months, Bryant said. The rise in popularity can be attributed to new restrictions with the Rhode Island Works cash assistance program, she added. Those who once qualified for cash assistance are now only eligible to receive state funds for a 24-month period. Kids Count is currently working to inform lowerincome families of their eligibility for assistance programs, Bryant said.

The organization is enjoying a lot of success with these short-term projects, in providing nutritious food and health care to children and their families and in their community outreach programs, Bryant said.

Kids Count also seeks to implement state legislation to prevent adults

as a “cause for us to pull together.” He said he has so far been very impressed with how the athletes are handling the challenge.

“Our team is so positive and so closeknit that a bunch of leaders are going to start shining through, and we are going to lead our own way,” Crimmins said.

“So it’s not something that is going to be completely disadvantageous.”

Wallace characterized Jones’ leaving as a “bump in the road,” but said the team is “going to be stronger and better at the end of the day.”

The teams are currently without permanent sprinting, jumping and throwing coaches. The appointment of a new sprinting coach should be announced within two weeks, Springfield said.

“We don’t have a track and field competition until there’s one in December, and then they repeatedly start coming in January,” said Springfield. “It’s a long ways off, and so we’re not in any kind of desperate situation.”

It is still undecided whether other coaches will be brought in to help the new sprinting coach, Springfield said.

Given the size of the squads, the hope is to get both new throwing and jumping coaches, Crimmins said.

Springfield said he understands the temptation to see a connection among the three coaches’ departures. But he added that it is more accurate to view these events as “unique opportunities that just kind of fit the individuals.”

“There’s no consistent reason for why everyone has left,” Elder said. He went on to say that they left for a variety of reasons including financial reasons, to coach “at a different level” and for personal reasons.

“I’m well aware of what it might look like from the outside,” Springfield said.

“But that’s not what it feels like from the inside.”

Crimmins said that coaches leave for a myriad of reasons but that it ultimately comes down to the same explanation that most people give when changing jobs: “They are leaving for other opportunities,” she said.

Crimmins, Elder and Wallace all separately said that they are confident in the teams’ ability to come together and achieve their goals.

“It doesn’t change much from when I woke up this morning and where I think we’re headed for this year,” Elder said.

from raising children in poverty and to prevent poor children from eventually becoming low-earning adults themselves, she said.

The Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit are the two most effective tax reduction laws in Rhode Island, Bryant said. The Child Tax allows parents to reduce their federal income tax by up to $1,000 per qualifying child, and the Earned Income Tax allows qualifying families to retain more of their earned annual income.

Kids Count works to inform Rhode Island’s families living in poverty of their eligibility for such reductions based on their income level and children per household.

“Children that are living in poverty today are going to be tomorrow’s leaders in this state,” Bryant said.

sports tuesday 5

the brown daily herald tuesday, october 9, 2012

w. soccer

Ivy leader Princeton shuts out Bears

By Bruno Zuccolo Contributing Writer

The women’s soccer team lost its third consecutive Ivy League game at Princeton Saturday, conceding two late goals and falling 2-0.

The Tigers (7-3-1, 3-0 Ivy) dominated the action, registering nine shots on goal to the Bears’ (6-4, 0-3) three.

In the first half, the Tigers outshot the Bears 13-4, but Amber Bledsoe’s ’14 five saves kept the game within reach for the Bears.

With the game tied late in the second half, the Bears still had an opportunity to get their first Ivy win of the season. But the Tigers offense surged

in the final 15 minutes, with midfielder Rachel Sheehy winning an aerial dispute in the 76th minute and putting the ball in the back of net. The Tigers secured the victory less than five minutes later when defender Lynessa McGee put in a shot from outside the box.

The Bears got off to a slow start in the match-up. Rachael Pack ’13 had the Bears’ first shot on target in the ninth minute, but Princeton goalie Claire Pinciaro was mostly untroubled during the first half. Forward Chloe Cross ’15 helped the Bears pick up the pace, with four shots in the last 45 minutes, making the second half more balanced.

The Bears return to Stevenson Field tonight to face Dartmouth.

comics Fly By Night | Adam Kopp

Class Notes | Philip Trammell

W. cross country

Squad places 14th of 37 at NE Championships

By James Blum Sports Staff Writer

Nine runners from the women’s cross country team competed in the New England Championships in Westfield, Mass., on Sunday, finishing 14th in a field of 37 teams with 416 points. Boston College’s squad took home the gold with 45 points.

The team’s fastest runners did not race this weekend as they prepare for next weekend’s Adidas Invitational at the University of Wisconsin, said Mitchell Baker, head coach of the women’s cross country team.

“We’ll be a little conservative and try to make sure our overall training volume is consistent, but the intensity is relatively mild,” Baker said.

Victoria O’Neil ’16 led the Bears and

finished the five-kilometer course 44th overall in 18 minutes, 20 seconds.

“I personally really enjoyed the race,” O’Neil said. “I thought it went really well, and I felt really good.”

O’Neil was followed by Elizabeth Ryan ’13, who clocked a time of 18:26 and snagged 53rd place overall. Kat Grimes ’14 and Tess Plant-Thomas ’13 crossed the finish line in quick succession with times of 18:56 and 18:59, respectively. Kate Buss ’16 finished eight seconds behind Plant-Thomas and scored last for Bruno.

“As a team, I think we all felt pretty good about the performances,” O’Neil said.

For those runners who will not compete at the Adidas Invitational, the home meet Oct. 19 will be the next opportunity to race.

A & B | MJ Esquivel

6 editorial & letter

the brown daily herald tuesday, october 9, 2012

Editorial

Editorial cartoon b y a a n c h a l s a r a f

Why are we at Brown?

Ideally, we are here because we share a deep passion for learning.

Perhaps we seek to translate our experiences from the classroom and apply them in a meaningful contribution to society. At the very least, we realize the financial and social worth of being educated. This appreciation of education, however, is not innate. Rather, it’s developed through our experiences with those who directly influence us: our parents, peers and, most importantly, our mentors.

But what if some teachers aren’t fit to inspire? What if they lack the proper resources and training to instill this appreciation of education to their students? Rhode Island, a state that harbors these problems, is going through a public education overhaul to better ensure that teachers perform their jobs at optimal levels. Through Race to the Top, a $75 million federal grant that provides states with funding to reform their underperforming educational systems, Rhode Island will undergo a series of educational reforms, including a new teacher evaluation system. This evaluation system, which was first implemented at the beginning of this school year, will ideally place more accountability on teachers to exhibit concrete, data-driven performance based on their students’ achievements.

While this may imply increased pressure for the teachers to succeed, it is a necessary measure that will help bring Rhode Island above sea level in terms of public education.

Public school teachers in Rhode Island have experienced an extremely tumultuous couple of years. Most of them endured the infamous “pink slip” ordeal, and it is therefore no surprise that these teachers have greeted the new evaluation system with mixed feelings. The new evaluation systems also have several faults that could be problematic for teachers. By tying a teacher’s efficiency rating to his or her completion of “personal student learning objectives,” teachers have strong incentives to simplify these objectives so that they can be met with less effort. In addition, by not taking socioeconomic background, race or home environment of the student into account, these evaluations assume that the teacher is the only variable by which a student does or does not do well in school.

However, we must also consider that the state education system itself is in a slump — this is the reason why we’re in Race to the Top in the first place. By at least taking accountability for its teachers, Rhode Island can identify the key source of its underperforming education system. The state currently ranks 32nd in the country for student achievement, while being in the top 10 for spending per student. The establishment of the new teacher evaluation system along with Race to the Top funding should ensure that teachers not only have the resources to better teach their students, but also that they use these resources in an efficient manner.

Rhode Island has also started a well-timed campaign called “I Pledge,” which encourages students, parents, teachers and ordinary citizens to pledge to “commit to education in Rhode Island.” By encouraging and recognizing the value of education, Rhode Island is taking positive steps to escape the limelight of academic underperformance.

While this sort of statewide commitment to education may certainly turn up the pressure, we think that Rhode Island teachers will also benefit from the support that they will receive and will be able to make a good case for improving their benefits if they feel the need to do so. After all, these teachers have one of the biggest responsibilities in the state — to save the state’s knowledge economy.

Correc tion

Save Rhode Island’s brain

An article in Thursday’s Herald (“Series highlights missile crisis,” Oct. 4) incorrectly quoted the Armageddon Letters series’ producer and creator Koji Masutani ’05 as wanting to present topics in such a way that “the kid skateboarding on Thayer can understand.” In fact, he said he wants “the kid skateboarding on Thayer” to be able to engage with his topics. The article also referenced the project as a multimedia one, when in fact it is a transmedia effort. The Herald regrets the errors.

quote of the day

“Just got to play anybody, anytime, anywhere.”

— Patrick Donnelly ’13, quarterback See football on page 1.

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opinions 7

the brown daily herald tuesday, october 9, 2012

Let’s get personal Cara Newlon Opinions Columnist Mitt Romney likes to talk about “personal responsibility.” So let’s talk.

“There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what,” Romney said in a leaked video from a May fundraiser, “(They) believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it. … I’ll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

These insensitive private remarks reinforced the pervasive perception of Romney as a callous, clueless millionaire. Romney, whose net worth is over $200 million, joked about being “also unemployed” and asserted that “corporations are people, my friend.”

Meanwhile, he refuses to release more than two years of tax returns — even though many past presidential candidates, including Romney’s own father, released many more years’ worth. Furthermore, Romney’s tax plan extends the Bush-era tax cuts, slashes income tax rates by an additional 20 percent and repeals the estate tax. As FactCheck.org confirms, despite Romney’s assertions to the contrary, his plan cannot be enacted “without losing federal revenue or favoring the wealthy.”

Despite this background, a Herald column by Elizabeth Fuerbacher ’14 marvels that Democrats paint Mitt Romney as “out of touch” (“If the Choo Fits, Wear It!,” Oct. 1). She concludes that “liberals summarily

equate wealth with a lack of empathy for the average person.”

Yeah, Romney’s wealth must be the only reason he’s painted as “out of touch.”

Fuerbacher’s column epitomizes the elitist, condescending attitude Romney takes toward the poor. This approach conveniently eliminates any awkward sense of responsibility toward those less fortunate, and it’s an arrogance we cannot afford in our leaders.

Some people believe Brown students are in the contradictory position of being both wealthy and liberal. But I see no paradox in

groups with predatory lending.”

The wealth and influence of the financial sector unduly influences our government.

In 2008, then-president George W. Bush stated that the U.S. government did not have the few billion dollars it would take to fund health insurance for impoverished children — but we did have $150 billion needed to bail out the insurance company American International Group.

These factors contribute to the widening income disparity in America. The top one percent receives around 40 percent more in-

Romney equates personal wealth with personal worth.

He therefore feels he has no “personal responsibility” toward the poor. Fine. But then we have the personal responsibility to make sure he never becomes president. this. It’s important to note that liberals don’t question the fortunes of people such as Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs or even Romney’s father, George Romney. These men made their fortunes by creating valuable products, not through shady financial dealings.

Many Republicans forget that the recent financial crisis and ensuing recession were caused, in large part, by the financial sector where Romney made his fortune. Finance titans became rich through financial trickery that ended up crippling our economy and widening the income gap. In the words of Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz, the financial sector “took advantage of the poor and uninformed, (and) they made enormous amounts of money by preying upon these

come in a week than the bottom 20 percent receives in a year, according to Stiglitz. Little wonder that people don’t warm to a financial titan who stated he’s “not concerned about the very poor.”

Republicans want to blame income disparity on a lack of “personal responsibility.”

If only the poor would pluck themselves up by their boot straps, get off their lazy butts and stop begging for “entitlements” like food and shelter! If only they would be more like Romney, who had the luxury of selling his dad’s stock to finance college and backing his wife’s decision to be a stay-at-home mom.

Does Mitt Romney have any inkling of what it’s like to be poor?

Most poor people are not lazy parasites who want handouts from the government.

Most of them are struggling hard to get by — to feed themselves, to send their kids to school, to get health care. They are up to their ears in “personal responsibility.”

Fuerbacher writes that Romney, like any “blue-collar” worker, knows “what it feels like to work a 12-hour day.” Yes, Romney did work hard at Bain Capital. But Romney started life with many advantages, and his compensation at Bain allowed him to enjoy countless luxuries and options. To compare his struggles to the poor is insulting.

I compare Romney to someone like my childhood nanny, Sandra. Sandra, an immigrant from Peru, paid taxes and worked three jobs to support her two sons. Every day, she worked hard and sacrificed, and yet she still had to worry about affording repairs when her old car broke down, paying for health care for her asthmatic son and saving to pay for college in the future. I wouldn’t call that a lack of “personal responsibility.”

What would Romney say about somebody like Sandra? “(If) you have no skill or experience,” Romney has said mockingly, “You’re welcome to cross the border and stay here for the rest of your life.”

Romney equates personal wealth with personal worth. He therefore feels he has no “personal responsibility” towards the poor.

Fine. But then we have the personal responsibility to make sure he never becomes president.

Cara Newlon ’14.5 is from a swing state and fully intends to put her vote to good use.

Do more by doing less maggie Tennis Opinions Columnist

College provides a great opportunity to learn from your peers as well as your professors. Every day, I am impressed by the thoughtfulness and eloquence of my fellow students, and I feel truly honored to attend a school where the student body is contemplative and involved. “Getting involved” is certainly not something Brown students struggle with — newbie firstyears descend onto campus with dreams of start-ups, stardom, scientific discoveries and saving the world.

Shopping period is step one. The activities, community service and internship fairs are step two. And then come applications, auditions, information sessions and general body meetings. Soon, Brown students find themselves engaged in a variety of extra-curriculars while juggling a course load that is usually too ambitious and too career-focused.

If you haven’t already guessed, I’m anti-pre-professionalism and pro-open curriculum in its most “open” form. And I’m here to tell you something that many of you — and possibly your parents, too — don’t particularly want to hear.

Do less.

Stay with me for a moment. I know you are super busy and probably don’t even have enough time to read the entirety of this article, but that is exactly

why you should. You’re probably doing too much and, as a result, accomplishing too little. Since you are a Brown student, I have no doubt that you are highly capable and enthusiastic. But every now and then it’s a good exercise for all of us to take stock of our activities, evaluate and prioritize. Knowing what aspects of your life are truly rewarding and worthy of your time is a precious skill that the most talented individuals often lack. But it’s crucial for success.

es, and particularly, to identify if you have become that person. You know. A flake.

We all know one — probably more than one — and we hesitate to give responsibility to or make plans with them. Something will inevitably come up. Because sometimes the celebrated adage, “if you want something done, ask a busy person,” just isn’t true.

If you want to call yourself a member of a club, it’s not enough to sign your name on a sheet. If you want to support

Knowing what aspects of your life are truly rewarding and worthy of your time is a precious skill that the most talented individuals often lack. But it’s crucial for success.

Do you constantly volunteer yourself for tasks but end up pulling out or delegating them to others at the very last minute? Do you belong to an organization on campus, but haven’t attended a meeting since the first week of classes? Are you on so many listservs that you routinely click “mark as read” just to filter your e-mail to a more manageable level?

I don’t mean to offend the ambitious. I just want you to think about your choic-

a cause, it’s not enough to “like” its page on Facebook. You have to attend meetings. Regularly. You have to plan events.

And actually show up to them. I’m sick of hearing people say, “It’s just been a crazy week” or, “I totally forgot I had agreed to do this, that or the other.” We’ve all been recipients of the text pleading unforeseen workloads or mysterious forgotten meetings.

I’m guilty of this as well. And really, it’s

okay to get overwhelmed and cancel plans at the last minute. Once in a while, that is.

But too often students get commitmenthappy. While volunteering is a fantastic concept in general, it fails to serve any positive purpose when a volunteer is “too busy” to fulfill his or her duties.

This problem isn’t even a new one. Two Wyoming educators wrote in 1936 that “some (students) have so many duties to perform that they neglect almost all of them.” Psychology studies on workplace productivity have proved the existence of this phenomenon. When people have too much to do, they become stressed and sleep-deprived, and their health suffers.

The result? Less gets done.

When you stretch yourself in multiple directions for multiple causes simultaneously, the benefits you provide to each decrease. Even worse, others will begin to label you as a flake, which might cause them to reduce your responsibilities and cease to welcome your participation. But limit yourself to a very few choice activities and your contributions are felt more strongly and more positively. As a result, you feel more fulfilled than you would by taking on additional obligations. It’s better to be reliable than flaky.

So get some sleep. Meet a friend at Jo’s.

Plan out your work. Then take your name off some listservs and politely quit a few activities. By doing less, you might actually accomplish more.

Maggie Tennis `14 turned in this article late, and she realizes just how ironic that is.

daily herald campus news the Brown

tuesday, october 9, 2012

Lead levels rise in aging Providence buildings

By Katherine CUsumano Senior Staff Writer

Providence has seen an elevation in lead levels in the water of some old buildings in recent years, including those on and around the University’s campus.

Many houses on College Hill are more than 100 years old. This means that some properties have pipes that are either made entirely of lead, or, more commonly, soldered with lead, said Steven Hamburg, chief scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund and adjunct associate professor of environmental studies.

Facilities Management tested every occupied building on campus in 2008 in a comprehensive survey of the lead content of the water, said Stephen Morin, director of environmental health and safety. Since then, testing has only been done when a change is noticed in a building’s conditions or following property acquisitions by the University, he said.

For example, water fountains were replaced and subsequently retested in the Steinert building when it was thought that the building’s water fountains were the source of the lead.

“In all old houses, it’s an issue,” Hamburg said, also noting the prevalence of lead paint associated with windows in some old buildings. As the campus undergoes renovations, this paint is removed, Morin said.

“Lead paint is something that’s ubiquitous, it’s about good maintenance,” Hamburg said.

When renovating University facilities, it is often assumed that paint is leadbased even without supporting testing, said Stephen Maiorisi, vice president of Facilities Management.

But testing is also carried out by a

third party, Morin said. “Lead paint is something we manage regularly,” he added.

“Brown is always very proactive,” said Gail Medbury, director of auxiliary housing. She administrates 74-80 Benevolent St., a building with lead in the water. Morin also cited 50 John St. and 37 Cook St. as two buildings with particularly high lead levels, according to the initial study.

As the University undergoes renovations, administrators are examining the possibility of structural changes to eliminate lead problems entirely, Maiorisi said.

But much of the problem is the result of city-owned supply systems under the jurisdiction of Providence Water — which owns the city’s water supply pipes — and is therefore out of University control, Maiorisi said.

The Environmental Protection Agency requires Providence Water to replace around 7 percent of the city’s lead pipes, said David Nickerson, communications manager for Providence Water. But EPA tests have revealed a correlation between partial pipe replacements — which do not involve a total overhaul of the underground connections — and “temporary elevations” in lead, most likely due to the turbulence of construction, Nickerson said. For this reason, the Providence Department of Health has suspended the partial replacement program pending further EPA testing, in which the department is also participating, Nickerson said.

Since April, Providence Water has raised the pH of the water to initiate a reaction that minimizes lead corrosion.

When water interacts with build-up inside of old pipes, it results in “increased or decreased leaching” of lead into the water, Nickerson said.

Carbon dioxide is injected to precipitate a phosphate that coats the lead

Sam Kase / Herald

As the University renovates on-campus buildings, it monitors lead levels and is considering structural changes to eliminate lead problems entirely. interior of old pipes, said Peter Hanney, interim public information officer for the Rhode Island Department of Health. As a result, the lead is not exposed.

Hanney described the change as a short-term solution until the lead pipes can be replaced.

Providence Department of Health will continue testing the water supply to determine if this is an adequate solution.

Though Congress banned the use of solder for pipes that contain above 0.2 percent lead in 1986, there is no explicit law that requires these pipes to be replaced.

When the lead system of pipes that runs under Providence was first installed, people did not know about the dangers associated with lead poisoning. As a result, lead is the primary connection for water running to older structures in the city, Nickerson said.

The EPA estimates that 40 million homes exceed the 15 parts per billion limit for lead in the water, Morin said.

Any lease requires a lead disclaimer in the case of paint, but not water, she said. Every single housing unit owned

by Brown receives a “lead letter,” which reveals the lead content of the water, said Richard Bova, senior associate dean of residential and dining services. The University has equipped buildings like 74-80 Benevolent St. with filters on all their faucets to prevent high lead levels. This filtration began in 2007, Bova said, and the water filtration systems are changed twice per year in order to maintain water quality.

This costs hundreds of dollars on a building-by-building basis, Maiorisi said.

According to the Safe Drinking Water Act, Providence Water must send out an annual water report to every mailing

address in the city. But there is no legal requirement for landlords to regulate lead in the water or inform their tenants, Nickerson said.

“The private home becomes the private home at the property line,” he said.

Providence Water has no jurisdiction over the pipes beyond those owned by the city. It is up to homeowners to remove the lead pipes themselves.

This process can be extremely expensive — Hamburg said pipe replacements for his own home cost around $4,000.

“Straight flushing” — leaving the tap open for around three minutes — can reduce lead because it flushes out standing water, Nickerson said. It can be just as effective as replacing pipes, he said.

Providence advertises itself as having the “second-best water in the country provided through a municipal system,” Morin said.

Post-debate, Romney sees bump in polls Professors help uncover

By Adam toobin Senior Staff Writer

President The first debate in the U.S. presidential race between President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney was held last Wednesday at the University of Denver.

The debate, hosted by Jim Lehrer of PBS, focused on domestic policy, primarily centering on the candidates’ plans for economic growth in the next four years.

Political observers on both sides of the political spectrum agreed that Romney performed better in the debate and that Obama was “off his game.”

Many praised Romney’s aggressiveness throughout the debate. He blamed the president for the slow economic recovery and was more willing to give specifics about his plans for his first term in office.

By contrast, Obama seemed less polished than his opponent and appeared almost unprepared, observers said. Critics of Obama have also said the he should have called out Romney for using faulty or incorrect statistics — like his accusations that the president’s health care law cut Medicare by $716 billion.

Though the debate is only just beginning to affect polling numbers, Romney appears to be receiving a bump from his

city & state

performance. Nate Silver, a reporter and analyst for the New York Times, compiled several national polls with postdebate data and concluded Romney had narrowed the margin of Obama’s lead by 2 percent, now trailing the president by about 1.7 percent.

Vice President Joseph Biden will face Rep. Paul Ryan, R-W.I., in the vice presidential debate at Centre College in Danville, Ky., Thursday from 9 to 10:30 p.m. ABC Chief Foreign Correspondent Martha Raddatz will moderate the debate.

The next presidential debate, slated for Oct. 16, will follow the town hall format and will cover both foreign and domestic policy.

U.S. Senate, Connecticut The race between Rep. Christopher Murphy, D-Conn., and wrestling magnate Linda McMahon to replace Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., puts a traditionally liberal seat up for grabs. An Oct. 4 Quinnipiac University poll has the candidates tied in a dead heat as the race enters its last month.

The campaign is the sixth most expensive Senate race so far this election cycle. McMahon outspent Murphy during the final three weeks of September, buying $2.8 million of television advertisement time, nearly triple Murphy’s $1 million. The commercials have been

largely negative, and both candidates have seen their negative ratings go up without their competitive polling data changing.

The election, which either party needs to win to control the Senate in the next Congress, is similar to the Massachusetts Senate race between Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., and Democrat Elizabeth Warren because of its high cost, dirty politics and high-profile candidates.

Linda McMahon’s career in international wrestling has allowed her to finance her own campaigns but it has also led to some derision. She vied unsuccessfully to unseat Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., in 2010. Murphy has represented Connecticut’s fifth district since he took office in 2007.

The race revolves around many of the same issues of the presidential election, and though Romney is expected to lose the state, higher voter turnout for the Republican candidate could swing the Senate race in McMahon’s favor.

Voter Registration Voter registration forms must be sent in today for residents of Arkansas, Washington D.C., Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, Texas and Utah.

The deadline to send in registrations for Missouri / / Election page 2

origins of ancient lakes By phoebe draper senior staff writer

While the southwestern United States is primarily desert today, geological records show that 20,000 years ago, huge ancient lakes existed in the area. Geologists used to believe these lakes were created by storms coming off the Pacific Ocean, but new evidence published in the journal Science last month suggests that the storms originated in the tropics.

Through sediment sample collection on both land and water, researchers — including Timothy Herbert P’15, professor and department chair of geological sciences — determined that the ancient lakes in states such as Utah, Colorado and Arizona were not formed by the same Pacific storm systems that determined weather along the California coast.

The findings, which point instead to a tropical storm source that surprised the researchers, were published in Science Sept. 28. The paper was the result of a decade-long research project conducted

by Herbert in collaboration with Texas A and M, Columbia, University of California at Santa Cruz, Stanford and the Hokkaido University of Japan.

The original belief that ancient lakes

science & research

were a result of storm tracks from Pacific weather systems was based on storm tracks that occur today, Herbert said.

Winter storm tracks from Alaska bring precipitation down the California coast and into Utah and Arizona, Herbert said.

The belief also stemmed from the fact that “there was a massive ice sheet existing along the border of the United States and Canada, which would have pushed all the winds toward the equator, creating storms in Northern California, Colorado and Utah to make these ancient lakes.”

“It was a very logical idea,” Herbert said. “But after the work that my colleagues and I did, it just doesn’t seem to hold up.”

Herbert and his colleagues have been collecting and analyzing sediment core from the Pacific Ocean since the mid1990s.

“This is the type of work that requires a good decade of data collection,” said Debbie Thomas ’95, associate professor of geology at Texas A and M University.

Thomas prepared and analyzed sediment cores in Herbert’s lab during her time at Brown. Thomas said she never thought her undergraduate research would contribute to “solving such a big picture problem.”

Sediment analysis performed by Thomas and / / Lakes page 4