Friday, October 12, 2012

daily herald the Brown

vol. cxxii, no. 85

INSIDE

Page 2

Ira Glass ’82

NPR host discusses radio, new movie in exclusive Q&A

No U. employees give big to Romney campaign

By Caroline Saine Senior Staff Writer

Page 4

Public health Program progresses toward becoming accredited school Page 3

Brown-India Initiative launches talks, seminars today

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tomorrow

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since 1891

friday, october 12, 2012

University employees have donated almost exclusively to President Obama in this election cycle.

Forty individual donors have contributed a total of $37,872 to Obama’s campaign. Only one donation of $500 was made by a former University employee to Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney.

Twenty-six professors contributed $24,439 to Obama’s campaign, according to Open Secrets, a nonpartisan site tracking campaign donations that is run by the Center for Responsive Politics. This overall donation value includes other self-identified members of staff who listed Brown as their employer.

Faculty members have also donated $14,577 to the Obama Victory Fund, a committee that fundraises

for both Obama’s 2012 campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

The Federal Election Commission does not require candidates to report donations of less than $200. For this reason, only larger donations were included in calculating these figures.

The University’s political spending follows a larger trend in national fundraising at higher education institutions. Earlier in the election season, faculty members at Ivy League institutions had donated a total of $375,932 to Obama and $60,465 to Romney, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, Bloomberg Businessweek reported in a May 17 article.

Only at Harvard Business School did Romney hold an advantage — he received $14,000 compared to Obama’s $11,400 as of May, according to Bloomberg.

In 2008, / / Obama page 3

pa i n t t h e r a i n b o w

Tom sullivan / herald

Students gathered on the Main Green yesterday, armed and ready with rainbow paints to celebrate National Coming Out Day.

Federal budget cuts may threaten U. funding Civil

By Alexa Pugh Senior Staff Writer

Cuts to federal funding for highereducation research and financial aid currently set to take effect Jan. 1 could pose a significant threat to University finances, officials said. The cuts are part of a mandatory $1.4 trillion overall reduction in spending outlined in the Sequestration Clause of the Budget Control Act of 2011, which was originally passed after Congress decided to raise the debt ceiling last year.

Despite the threat of these cuts, legislators have been unable to reach a compromise on how to reduce the national deficit. The Office of Management and Budget released a report Sept. 14 that announced a projected 8.2 percent across-the-board cut to

domestic discretionary spending, which includes significant reductions in funding for higher education, that will take effect if Congress does agree on a long-term plan to balance the budget by the end of the year.

Though the possibility that the sequester will take effect is still uncertain, the University’s research funding could take a serious hit if cuts do occur, said Beppie Huidekoper, executive vice president for finance and administration.

The University currently receives approximately $160 to $170 million in federal research funding annually. Of that figure, $40 million goes toward indirect cost recovery for things like lab space, utility fees and administrative costs, while $130 million covers direct costs such as lab equipment

and stipends and salaries for graduate students and professors.

Assuming a worst-case scenario in which the cuts take place immediately and across-the-board, the University would face a $13 to $15 million reduction in annual federal research funding that would be distributed between direct and indirect costs, Huidekoper said.

The University has a commitment to graduate students and faculty to maintain stipend and salary rates for as long as possible, she said. The University would prioritize covering these costs with money from department’s emergency reserve funding and the modest contingency built into the University’s operating budget. But the ability to pay for research equipment, / / Cuts page 3 facilities and

By the numbers Cuts to research funding in worst-case scenario

8.2 percent

national discretionary spending cut

$160-170 million annual federal research funding the University currently receives

$13-15 million

amount of federal research funding the University stands to lose

Kristof stresses importance of elevating women By sona mkrttchian senior staff writer

emily gilbert / herald

Prizewinning journalist Nicholas Kristof spoke to a crowded auditorium about the importance of education and women in developing countries.

Nicholas Kristof, two-time Pulitzer winning journalist and op-ed columnist at the New York Times, gave a somber but empowering lecture last night to a full house in Salomon 101, advising students to step out of their comfort zones — and off the Hill — to facilitate the traditional college education and develop a sense of personal pride through purposeful humanitarianism.

Kristof co-wrote his latest book, “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide,” with his wife Sheryl WuDunn. Only hours before the lecture, the book reached the top of the Times’ bestseller list — a feat Kristof attributed to the recent release of a documentary of the same name based off the book and developed by PBS. Though the book was published in

2009, it has recently inspired a larger movement against human trafficking and female oppression, placing pressure on U.S. politicians to bring the international issue to the top of the domestic agenda. The PBS documentary was released earlier this month, and a new Facebook application — which will transform user activity into tangible humanitarian aid — is forthcoming, Kristof said.

From the beginning of the lecture, Kristof ’s overarching message to students emphasized the importance of education as a mechanism for change.

He began by describing the effects of a $10,000 loan to a small, rural school in China at the beginning of the 1990s, an event he cited as the impetus behind developing the book.

The loan was intended for the sole purpose of educating girls in the village in an attempt to counteract gender dis/ / Kristof page 8 crimination

engineering track to be discontinued

By Maddie Medina Contributing Writer

The civil engineering track will no longer be offered for students in the class of 2017 and beyond. Prior to this decision, Brown was one of four Ivy League schools to still offer a civil engineering program.

Engineering students declare their concentration and track sophomore year. Civil engineering currently consists of two paths — structural or environmental engineering. The number of civil engineer concentrators has been in the single digits in recent years, with eight listed concentrators in 2011, according to the Office of Institutional Research.

Shifting faculty research interests led to the decision to eliminate the track.

“A lot of the research has moved toward small scale — understanding material behavior at the scale of nanometers up through microns,” said Rod Clifton, professor of engineering and former engineering concentration adviser. “Faculty members don’t see as much research opportunity for things associated with building bridges, highways.”

“I was hoping it wouldn’t happen,” Clifton added. “It wasn’t clear that we were going to have the faculty it would take to supervise and do the teaching for the civil engineering program, so in that sense I could see it coming.”

The decision to remove the civil track was discussed with alums, students and faculty boards, including the College Curriculum Council.

“Faculty research interests have / / Civil page 2 evolved, and,

2 city & state

Social solutions nonprofit celebrates 20th year

c alendar Today

oct. 12

6 P.m.

ToMORROW

Oct. 13

4 p.m.

“The Egyptian” Movie Night

Iroquois Dance and Storytelling

J. Walter Wilson 201

Alumnae Hall Auditorium

6:30 p.m.

11 p.m.

Strong, Sexy Words

Silent Headphones Rave

Alumnae Hall Auditorium

The Underground

menu SHARPE REFECTORY

VERNEy-WOOLLEY DINING HALL

LUNCH Tilapia with Provencale, Tuna Noodle Casserole, Red Potatoes with Chive Sauce, Magic Bars

Breaded Chicken Fingers, Vegan Nuggets, Vegetarian Baked Beans, Magic Bars

DINNER Italian Chicken Parmesan, Eggplant Parmesan, Mashed Potatoes with Onion Gravy, Pound Cake

Cajun Pasta with Chicken, Vegan Paella, Yellow Beets Roasted with Red Onion, Pound Cake

Sudoku

the brown daily herald friday, october 12, 2012

By Elizabeth Koh and Adam Toobin Senior Staff writers

Providence residents, city leaders and state officials joined the Providence Plan, a nonprofit organization dedicated to data-driven analysis and social solutions, in celebrating its 20th anniversary last night. The event drew hundreds of people to the Roger Williams Park Casino to remember the organization’s late founders with eponymous awards to some of its supporters and advocates.

The celebration marked “the beginning of the next 20 years” for the organization, said Richard Spies, chairman of the Providence Plan and interim senior vice president for University advancement. “We don’t plan to go anywhere.”

During the event, Gov. Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14 and Mayor Angel Taveras honored some of the organization’s influential leaders with inaugural awards named for Fred Lippitt and Tom Anton, respectively. Recipients included Louis Fazzano, the former president of the boards for Lifespan

and the Rhode Island School of Design, and Nzinga Misgana ’87, the first director of New Roots Providence, a Providence Plan initiative dedicated to improving community organizations through training and grants. “(Lippitt) served with selfless determination,” said Chafee, a close friend of the former state politician after whom the award was named.

Taveras, a former Providence Plan board member, also paid tribute to Anton, who helped recruit him to the board early in his career. “(Anton) said I was going to go places, but I didn’t go far,” he joked.

Taveras described Anton, a former director of the University’s Taubman Center for Public Policy, as a visionary leader.

“We were fortunate to have (Anton) here in our city and our state,” he said.

The celebration was “a stepping up and stepping out” event intended to raise awareness and support on a larger scale than any of the organization’s previous events, said Patrick McGuigan, executive director of the Providence Plan. “We’ve never done

anything like this before.”

In addition to honoring the night’s awardees, the celebration also sought to showcase how the different branches of the organization contribute to its overall mission of using data analysis to find solutions to social problems.

“A lot of people know us for our data work,” said Development and Strategy Associate Lisa Chice, but she noted that they do not always associate the plan with its subsidiary initiatives.

“This was an opportunity for all our constituents to come together,” Chice added.

Back to the source The Providence Plan celebrated more than its longevity last night. The nonprofit, founded in 1992 as a joint effort between Providence and, to a certain extent, Brown, has spent the last two decades targeting and fixing data-specific problems. A consultant can identify a problem, but the Providence Plan is unique in that it has the resources and leadership capacities to fix the problem, McGuigan said. “We are a think and do tank.”

The Providence / / Plan page 7

Crossword

Courtesy of Deniz Ilgen

The shifting research interests of faculty have prompted the engineering department to cut the civil engineering program. Classes of interest to would-be concentrators will be integrated into other areas of the department.

/ / Civil page 1 given the research interests of the faculty, we felt that it would be best to move the civil engineering concentrators into … two new areas,” said Larry Larson, dean of the school of engineering.

While the track itself will be gone by next year, civil engineering courses will still be offered for interested

students, said Janet Blume, associate professor of engineering, engineering concentration adviser and associate dean of the faculty. Structural courses will be subsumed under the mechanical engineering track, and the environmental path will be integrated into the chemical and biochemical curriculum of engineering.

“Programs are sort of just being moved into other areas within engi-

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neering, so we’ll still accommodate students with those interests, just in a different way,” Blume said. “(Students will) have more flexibility in the ways that they meet concentration requirements, and potentially more research in the structures track and absolutely more research opportunities by looking at environmental issues through chemical engineering.”

Even though many of the courses will still be offered, the news, which was announced in an email from Larson Oct. 5, was met with uncertainty.

“I’m just confused, a little disconcerted,” said Deniz Ilgen ’13, who is concentrating in civil engineering.

“I love civil engineering, and I think that it’s really important for students at Brown to be able to choose that if they want to as a career option. It’s not nice news to find out first thing in the morning that your major will no longer be offered at your school in the future.”

“There are kids whose first exposure to something engineering-like goes clear back to Lego,” Clifton said.

“So the first thing we learn about is structures, and many of us early in life see that as fascinating.”

campus news 3

the brown daily herald friday, october 12, 2012

/ / Obama page 1 The Herald reported a 10:1 fundraising advantage for Obama over McCain by professors at Brown. This compares to a nearly 50:1 advantage in reported donations from professors in this election cycle.

“The Republican Party has shifted rightwards,” said Michael Tesler, assistant professor of political science who is teaching POLS 1120: “Campaigns and Elections” this semester.

The increased influence of the Tea Party on the Republicans may have discouraged donations from professors because “if you’re a professor at Brown and you’re a Republican, my guess is that you’re not that type of Republican,” Tesler said.

Ken Miller ’70 P’02, professor of biology, donated a total of $1,000 to Obama for this election cycle. In 2008, he donated $500 to Obama’s campaign as well as $500 to MoveOn.Org, a nonprofit website dedicated to supporting progressive electoral candidates.

Miller said he believes Obama is the right person to the lead the country and donated to the President’s campaign because he knew that Romney’s campaign would also receive a substantial amount of funds.

Miller said he does not believe political bias factors into his teaching.

“I’m not sure there’s a liberal or conservative view of the Krebs cycle,” he said, noting that if he addresses a public issue within the classroom, the issue usually deals directly with science.

But Miller added that he does “think that when you come on to the university campus, when you go into your classroom, you don’t ever lose your individual opinions.”

/ / Cuts page 1 administration would be affected.

Whether or not the sequester goes into effect, the University also has to prepare for the possibility of other future budget cuts and tax reform that would affect University resources, Huidekoper said.

The potential effects of these changes as well as those from the sequester will factor into decisions made by the University Resources Committee, which offers recommendations each spring for how the University should allocate its budget.

There would be consequences for the University’s $800 million budget, but not ones as drastic as those incurred after the endowment dropped by 27 percent four years ago, Huidekoper said.

“It’s going to be tough, we’ll have to make some adjustment, but we will figure out a way,” she said.

While the University’s relatively diversified resources make Brown fairly well-equipped to handle these cuts, universities like Johns Hopkins, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and California Institute of Technology, whose budgets depend more heavily on federal funds, will feel a bigger impact, Huidekoper said.

The National Institutes of Health, the National Sciences Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities will all be affected under the sequester, but the greater fund-

Professor of Philosophy Charles Larmore has donated over $2,500 to the President this election cycle.

“No doubt some educated people find it in their economic interest to support Republican candidates since the Republican Party is also the party of the rich,” Larmore wrote in an email to The Herald. “But no thinking person, with the exception of a few oddballs, can identify with the ideas of this party.”

“I will do all I can to keep Romney and the Republicans from regaining control of the White House,” he wrote.

Larmore added that he donated about the same amount to Obama’s 2008 campaign.

James Fingleton, former clinical assistant professor of surgery at the Alpert Medical School, was the only Brown employee to report donations to Romney. Fingleton, who contributed $500 to Romney’s campaign, left Brown at the end of August for a position as chief of cardiovascular surgery for the Southcoast Health System in Massachusetts.

“I can’t agree with the direction that Obama is taking the country,” Fingleton told Bloomberg in May. Professors tend to have liberal leanings for a variety of reasons, Tesler said, which include self-selection, groupthink and socioeconomic luck.

“When you’re thinking about a profession, if you’re a conservative, are you going to want to go into a profession that’s dominated by liberals?”

Tesler said.

Tesler also identified an element of groupthink in the liberal tendencies of academics. Working as a professor, constant exposure to liberal espousing by colleagues may influence one’s own political views, he said.

Total donations may be affected in

this election cycle by the groundbreaking Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission ruling. In 2010, the Supreme Court determined a 5-4 decision that the government could not ban corporate expenditure for electoral candidates, on the grounds that regulation of partisan spending would be a violation of the First Amendment’s protection of free speech.

In the wake of the ruling, individual donors must continue to contribute funds, Miller said.

“Since the Supreme Court — wrongly, in my view — has equated money with speech, I figure it is incumbent upon those of us who want to have our voices heard to put our dollars behind that,” Miller said.

“Citizens United is an absolute disaster,” Tesler said, but he noted that the ruling is unlikely to have a major impact on individual expenditure at the presidential level. “It probably won’t matter that much because Obama is amazing at fundraising,” he said. Obama had raised a total of $690.1 million this election cycle compared to Romney’s $633 million as of July, according to the New York Times.

The major difference will be a Republican advantage in Super PAC spending, though Obama will likely still outraise Romney in this election due to a greater number of individual donations, Tesler said.

ing typically received by the sciences means they will bear the brunt of the cuts. The National Endowment for the Humanities receives approximately $146 million annually, compared to $30 billion for the NIH. The NIH, which is the largest funder of university research by far, is slated to lose more than $11 billion over five years under the sequester, according to a report by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

“If this goes into effect it is going to be a serious, serious blow for our universities,” said Barry Toiv, vice president for public affairs at the Association of American Universities.

“The research that our universities conduct is fundamental to innovation — it’s fundamental to long-term economic growth, it’s fundamental to expanding the economy and creating good high-paying jobs.”

The sequester would also include cuts to several federal financial aid programs and could affect the ability of students and families to pay for college, Toiv said. Pell grants, the largest source of federal financial aid funding, will not be affected, but the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant and federal funding for work-study will both be subject to cuts.

The University receives approximately $1 million annually from the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, said Jim Tilton,

director of financial aid. Brown is also allocated $1.3 million annually in federal work-study funds, Tilton said.

Most of these funds have already been allotted for the current year, so cuts would most likely affect disbursement of funds for the spring semester and factor into financial aid funding for future student, he said.

“Because we get so few dollars for financial aid, the cuts won’t be as dramatic,” Tilton said. “But I think if you look at the totality of what could happen and how that impacts families and students paying for college, I think that’s a larger concern.”

The sequester could also mean cuts to higher-education access programs such as the American Opportunity Tax Credit and the HOPE credit, as well as interest rates and tax deductions on student loans.

The expiration of the Bush tax cuts and the fact that the debt ceiling will likely be breached by March of next year are two factors that could also affect the overall affordability of higher education.

The potential effects of the sequester and other cuts to federal spending will become more apparent following the presidential election, Huidekoper said, though things will remain relatively uncertain until Congress takes further action.

“Whatever happens here is going to have an impact on Brown,” she said.

“We will have some challenges we’ll have to respond to.”

Candidates who received the highest donations from faculty members 1. Barack Obama (D) 2. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) 3. David Cicilline (D-RI) 4. Jeff Landry (R-LA) 5. Russ Carnahan (D-MO)

Brown-India Initiative plans workshops, seminar series

By Alison Silver Senior Staff Writer

To mark its first full year, the BrownIndia Initiative has implemented a series of seminars and lectures by distinguished scholars and public figures that focus on four major topics within the realm of contemporary India. Leaders of the four themes — pluralism and diversities, economic change and economic inequalities, the rise of cities in India and democracy — will host their own activities, including lectures, workshops and visiting scholars, to promote the cultural exchange between Brown and India, said Ashutosh Varshney, the initiative’s director.

For pluralism and diversities, for instance, Varshney and Professor of

Bangalore and the Center for Policy Research and the National Council of Applied Economic Research in Delhi, according to the initiative’s website.

Upon the arrival of visiting scholars in the spring, collaborators from Brown and India will compile research materials that are already underway. One of the central research projects addresses the differences between India’s urban and rural voting patterns. After completing their analysis of already existing data, Varshney and the visiting scholars will write a paper together at Brown, Varshney said.

“We wish to focus on two kinds of things,” Varshney said. The first is research and “pedagogical matters,” and the second is the public sphere, which includes television, newspapers

“The initiative will seek active involvement from the student body.”

Ashutosh Varshney Brown-India Initiative Director

Sociology and International Studies Patrick Heller have organized a week-long series of talks by leading Bollywood scholar Rachel Dwyer, professor of Indian cultures and cinema at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London.

The initiative has also installed a broader seminar series called BrownIndia Seminar that will meet almost every Friday afternoon for the semester. The seminar, which Varshney is directing, is open to the public.

“That’s the central seminar that cuts across the four themes,” Varshney said.

The novelist Rana Dasgupta will speak about his new book in today’s seminar.

Since its initial endowment of $6 million last spring, the initiative has raised another $4.5 million from private donors and alums within the University community. Sangita and Sajjan Jindal, chairman of India’s third largest steel-producing company, have endowed a series of O.P. Jindal Distinguished Lectures to take place over the upcoming months. Kaushik Basu, chief economist of the World Bank and a professor at Cornell, will deliver the inaugural O.P. Jindal Lecture on Nov. 9. The talk will be the first of a two-part series entitled “Two Decades of Economic Reform.”

In the spring, three major scholars from India will visit Brown to continue work about citizenship and the delivery of public services in Indian cities, Varshney said. The first focus will be the city of Bangalore, where collaborative research has already begun. One of the initiative’s main components is the continuation of research projects with current partners, including the nonprofit Janaagraha and the Center for Public Policy in

and policy advice, he said. Varshney recently traveled to Washington to brief the U.S. government and is currently advising the World Bank, “and such efforts will continue,” he said.

“We not only want to address the issues that concern the University but also address the issues that concern larger policy and (the) public sphere in general.”

The initiative’s collaboration will reach across multiple departments at Brown, including a conference in the Modern Culture and Media department and a visit with two poets from India that the Literary Arts program will help coordinate.

“All our guests are equally precious for us,” Varshney said of the numerous visiting scholars who will make an appearance at Brown this year, including Barkha Dutt, one of India’s leading television journalists and the University’s inaugural Meera and Vikram Gandhi fellow.

“That fellowship purpose is to have a major journalist scholar or policy maker in residence to undertake a substantial project,” Varshney said. Meera and Vikram Gandhi are funding the fellowships for a period of five years, according to the initiative’s website.

Media staff from the Watson Institute for International Studies will be recording or webcasting 90 percent of the events for the Initiative, and these will be displayed on the website, said Stephanie Abbott-Pandey, the program manager.

The initiative will announce the opening of undergraduate and graduate programs in the coming weeks.

“The initiative will seek active involvement from the student body,” Varshney said. Student internships and research in and about India will be the focus of the student programs.

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4 campus news

the brown daily herald friday, october 12, 2012

Proposal seeks accreditation for public health school in 2015

By Phoebe Draper Senior Staff WRiter

The public health program is making significant headway toward becoming an officially accredited school.

The proposal has thus far been unanimously approved by the public health faculty, the Biomedical Faculty Council and the Academic Priorities Committee, wrote Terrie Wetle, associate dean of medicine for public health and public policy, in an email to The Herald. The proposal will be addressed by the Faculty Executive Committee in the coming week and will then be up for a faculty-wide vote at the November faculty meeting, Wetle wrote.

“I can’t speculate on what’s going to happen when the proposal comes before the Faculty Executive Com-

national public health accrediting agency. Though the official accreditation process could take up to two years, once the program has applied to the CEPH, it can be referred to as a school, Wing said.

The school will comprise four departments: Behavioral and Social Sciences, Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Health Services, Policy and Practice, as well as 11 public health centers and institutes, according to the proposal.

“We have heard no dissent to date,” Wetle wrote. “The support indicated by the unanimous votes … is heartening.”

A long time coming “It’s not as if we walked into the room and said, ‘Let’s make a school of public health,’ and everyone raised

“It’s not as if we walked into the room and said, ‘Let’s make a school of public health,’ and everyone raised their hand and said ‘yes.’”

Mark Schlissel P’15 Provost

mittee,” said Edward Wing, dean of medicine and biological sciences. But the committees that have passed the proposal so far have been “enthusiastic,” he added.

If approved by the FEC and the faculty, the proposal will then need approval from Provost Mark Schlissel P’15 and President Christina Paxson.

Schlissel will “certainly” endorse the proposal if it comes before him, he told The Herald.

If approved by Paxson, the proposal will then go before the Corporation in February, and if it receives the Corporation’s approval, the University can apply for it to be officially accredited with the Council on Education for Public Health, a

their hand and said ‘yes,’” Schlissel said.

Public health has existed as a program since 1995.

In 2000, Wetle was recruited to the University “with the idea being she would help expand this program in public health and get it to the stage when it would be appropriate to get it to a school,” Schlissel said. “That’s taken quite a number of years.”

The Corporation voted to eliminate the Department of Community Health in 2011 and restructured the public health program into four departments, initiating the restructuring process that needed to take place for school formation.

“All along the way, the Corpo-

ration has been keeping an eye on this and has on several occasions endorsed the idea that we should be heading towards this school for public health,” Schlissel said.

Public health’s transformation has included a four-stage strategic planning process, according to the proposal. Phase 1, which lasted from 2000 to 2002, involved the drafting of a “vision document.” The next five years constituted Phase 2, which marked an “increased University investment in public health,” the proposal states. From 2007 to 2012, Phase 3 involved identifying “specific opportunities in public health to be fostered,” including organizational structuring and targeted faculty recruitment.

Pending the school’s approval, Phase 4 will be launched from 201318, involving an “external review” and a “self-study” as part of the accreditation process.

The extensive strategic planning process has been accompanied by a growth in public health faculty to 164, and a 52 percent increase in undergraduate enrollment in public health courses in the last four years, according to the proposal.

Despite the extended time frame of the school’s formation, the process is proceeding “all as we planned,” Wetle wrote.

“There hasn’t been any delay,” Wing said.

Restructuring work Formal accreditation requirements have required the public health program to undergo several major structural changes to become a school, Schlissel said.

“The main difference is that we will no longer be within BioMed but rather will receive administrative and other services from the University,” Wetle wrote.

As a program, public health has reported to the dean of the Division of Biology and Medicine, but as a school it will function as a “separate academic and administrative unit within Brown,” according to the proposal.

Last spring a “major evolution” occurred in the reporting line of the school — incorporating the provost as the main administrative contact for the school, Wetle wrote.

“We wanted to be sure that we got this organizational question correct so the new school for public health, if approved, would be successful, and to ensure that remaining Division of Biological Medicine would not be hurt,” Schlissel said.

The school will be funded through graduate student tuition, sponsored projects, gifts and endowments and the public health annual fund, according to the proposal.

Potential downsides Though the school has been approved with unanimous support so far, the transformation is not without drawbacks.

One concern is that public health faculty will be siphoned off from the rest of the University and collabora-

tion will be stifled.

“We want to make sure we’re not creating silos — we’re not creating barriers to people interacting,” Schlissel said.

In addition, one “definite downside” is that the school could create an “artificial dip in the rankings” of the Alpert Medical School, Schlissel said.

The medical school currently gets credit for all grant funding and research completed by public health faculty, who are all part of the Division of Biology and Medicine, Schlissel said.

“Even though we are making Brown as a whole stronger, there’s a chance the medical school rankings will reflect Brown going down some notches because we’re no longer counting public health research under the category of the medical school,” Schlissel said.

Schlissel said he hopes any negative effect on the medical school “will be mitigated by the fact the medical school keeps getting stronger.”

“We hope the medical school’s continual slope of improvement will be a balance for losing credit for the research dollars generated by the public health faculty,” Schlissel said.

Benefits of accreditation The creation of the school for public health accompanies a growing trend in the widespread influence of public health as a field of study, Wing said. An increased focus on prevention and end-of-life care is causing a “closer relationship” between public health and biomedicine, he added.

There are now 49 public health schools in the United States with official accreditation from the CEPH. While the first eight schools were accredited in 1946, since 2000 a total of 16 schools have gained official recognition, according to the proposal.

“If Brown wants to be in the playing field, this is something we just have to do,” said Stefan Gravenstein, professor of medicine and health services, policy and practice. Forming the school is really about “formalizing the platform” and “giving voice to public health.”

The creation of the school would be a “big plus” for the University, Wing said. The school will “strengthen the medical school as a whole” and “foster a closer relationship with Alpert,” he said.

Wing also said school status would lend name recognition to the University’s public health department and would increase competitiveness with other institutions.

Official accreditation would allow the school to “recruit even better faculty and even better students,” Schlissel noted.

The public health school would become eligible for grants it cannot currently apply to as a program. For example, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention only considers giving grants to officially accredited schools of public health, Schlissel said.

The creation of the public health school marks a “critical step in the evolution of Brown as a university

and as a health science educator,” Gravenstein said. “It’s good to have an umbrella to put (public health) under,” he added. “When you’re looking for someone to collaborate with, it’s much easier if they are under the umbrella too instead of out on their own.”

Steps taken so far: Fall 2000 Terrie Fox Wetle is recruited to the University faculty and becomes associate dean of medicine for public health and public policy.

2000-02 Phase 1 of the Public Health Program’s strategic planning mission to become an officially accredited school is launched. A vision document is produced, articulating the program’s goals.

2002-06 The strategic planning process morphs into Phase 2.

Seventeen new tenure track faculty positions are approved.

In 2005, the Department of Community Health is organized into four sections: behavioral and social sciences, biostatistics, epidemiology and health services, policy and practice. In 2006, the public health program finds a home for its academic programs, and eight of the 11 centers and institutes at 121 South Main St. 2007-12 In Phase 3 of the process, the University looks to identify targeted faculty recruitment areas and define the school’s proposed organizational structure. In 2011, University faculty and the Corporation approve the motion to make the four community health sections official departments.

Fall 2012 The official proposal to make the public health program a school is completed Sept. 9.

The proposal is unanimously approved by the public health faculty, the Biomedical Faculty Council and the Academic Priorities Committee.

Looking ahead: Fall 2012 The proposal will go before the Faculty Executive Committee in the coming weeks. If approved, it will come to a full faculty vote in November. The proposal will then need approval by President Christina Paxson.

February 2013 If approved by Paxson, the proposal will go to the Corporation for approval.

The program of public health will then apply for official accreditation from the Council on Education in Public Health in 2013.

2015 Official accreditation from the CEPH would be granted at this time.

www.browndailyherald.com

arts & culture 5

the brown daily herald friday, october 12, 2012

Multimedia series transcends language By louisa chafee contributing writer

Four artists from two different countries transcended language by using digital media, sound and their voices to convey meaning Wednesday. Part of the Contemporary Writers Reading Series, sponsored by the literary arts department, the show used sound poetry, digital literature and performance to engage the audience and encourage them to question their approach to language.

The show began with a paragraph projected onto a screen. Writer and artist Benjamin Moreno used a mouse to click a letter, and a voice pronounced the sound of the letter out loud. It was a Spanish poem, and consequently all sounds were in Spanish. He moved faster and faster to the point where all the letters were wriggling and “speaking” to the audience.

Suddenly it became a giant black ball, making soft gunshot-like sounds, with lines expanding out of it.

Throughout all of this, writer Minerva Reynosa was standing in the spotlight in front of a microphone.

She began reciting the poem, repeating it over and over, emphasizing certain words and phrases. In the background the ball followed the mouse

along, splitting and coming together as the sound continued. Slowly, the letters reappeared, she stopped speaking, and the performance ended with just the letters “speaking” to the audience once more.

Reynosa is the wife of Moreno, who was working the computer that controlled the letters. Moreno is a programmer in the process of earning an MFA in electronic writing. Moreno said he decided to pull together the show when he learned that Ricardo Castillo, a poet from Mexico renowned for his work in sound poetry, was coming to Providence. Moreno said he is interested in “sound as language — using the body and voice to convey meaning and using digital visuals to expand language.”

“The 20th century poetry range widened to include other forms of poetry art,” which incorporates sound poetry, he said.

In the second piece, artist Chris Novello sat on a chair, a computer at his feet and a box with knobs on it on his knee. Around his shoulders was a black tube, which he inserted into his mouth. His voice sounded as if it were coming out of an old television.

He also repeated a paragraph as he moved his mouth around the tube.

Then he gagged, taking the tube out

for a moment before reinserting it.

It was hard to know if it was part of the act, as he laughed it off and shook his head. Music began playing, and it appeared as though he was singing, swaying his body to the rhythm of an old love song. He coughed, took the tube out and stood up to the applause of the audience.

Novello later explained to curious audience members that he had recorded a reading of Rene Descartes’ “I think, therefore I am” works earlier and played it through a computer, through the talk box. He then shoved the tube down his throat at the end of each sentence to put his own voice back in his body, he told The Herald.

Novello said he is also studying to get his MFA in electronic writing, adding that he was interested in making “statements with and about language using technology.”

The last performer was Castillo, who used only his body and voice to convey his meaning. He spoke in Spanish, accentuating words and moving his body to help those in the audience who did not speak Spanish understand his message. As a sound poet, he used the choreography of his body in conjunction with the accentuation of his voice to employ a different style of poetry.

Play explores life of Caravaggio By riley davis contributing writer

Students and faculty were invited to a free production of “Love in the Seventh Kingdom of Wrath” performed in the Leeds Theater Oct. 7. Written and directed by Kenneth Prestininzi, associate chair of playwriting at the Yale School of Drama, the play tells the story of painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio’s life. The work was produced by the newly formed theater company FRANK, which includes several alums.

Caravaggio believed that “the seven powers the soul must pass through are darkness, desire, ignorance, fascination with death, enslavement to the flesh, foolish wisdom and wrath,” Prestininzi said. “Having successfully moved beyond them, the soul can become free.”

This theme pervaded the play, which focused more on the inner turmoil of Caravaggio’s life than his professional successes.

The opening scene jumps right into the sexual tumult in Caravaggio’s life.

In carefully-staged detail, the audience is shown the passionate relationship Caravaggio (Federico Rodriguez ’09) has with his apprentice Cecco Boneri (Evan William Smith ’09).

In the production, Prestininzi and FRANK do not shy away from embracing violence, discomfort and explorations of both the strength and fragility of human sexuality and the human psyche. Caravaggio is frequently visited and molested, both physically and verbally, by various angels throughout the play, who question his motives and force him to reflect inwardly about his ideals. His desires are led astray by the prostitute Fillide Medroni (Sarah Tolan-Mee ’09), and,

as his rage and inner darkness become more consumptive, Caravaggio eventually kills a man and is exiled from Rome. As he makes his way back after months of exile, Caravaggio catches malaria and dies before completing his journey and returning home to his love Cecco.

The play was inspired by Caravaggio’s St. Catherine painting, which depicts the saint sitting next to a spiked wheel and holding a sword, Prestininzi said. Describing how closely the play stuck to Caravaggio’s real life, Prestininzi said, “It’s as truthful as a painting is truthful.”

The point of the play was not to detail the exact happenings in Caravaggio’s past, he said, but rather to portray the inner conflicts that he dealt with as a person. That is why the majority of the staging took place in Caravaggio’s studio, where “he was most alive,” Prestininzi said.

The structure of the play was also an unusual one. Initially written as a Baroque opera, it wasn’t until Prestininzi turned to a “seven bowls structure” interspersed with choral structures that he took it to FRANK. Rodriguez, who plays Caravaggio, said his character “paints with conflicting themes … and with the choral structures, there’s one that’s dark, and then there’s one about love and then there’s one about loving darkness. There’s never one truth that you stick to.”

The structure of the play mirrored the structure of Caravaggio’s paintings — several different messages were brought together to form one cohesive picture.

The play shied away from hopeful messages, instead concentrating on facing darkness full on. But it did offer the audience a few comedic moments

— for example, the combination of 16th century plot with modern day language allowed for more frank expressions from the actors.

Prestininzi said he hopes the play inspired its audience to “be brave with their emotions.” He added, “Sometimes we get stingy with our emotional life. Caravaggio lets his be as big and as full as can be, and that’s why we love him.”

Higher ed ne ws r oundup

by k ate deSimone senior staff writer

Wesleyan scales back need-blind admissions policy Wesleyan University is one of several institutions reducing their need-blind admissions policies for specific applicant groups, the Hartford Courant reported.

While students and alums have expressed concern that the changes will diminish Wesleyan’s diversity, President Michael Roth said the changes would affect few applicants, according to the Courant. He added that the policy change is a better alternative than continued layoffs and spending cuts that would otherwise be required. The school’s endowment took a hit in the 2008 financial crisis, prompting cuts in spending and increases in tuition.

College enrollment falls for first time in over a decade National collegiate enrollment dropped in fall 2011 compared to the previous year, according to data released this week by the National Center for Education Statistics. This marks the first time yearly enrollment decreased since 1996.

Though the decrease amounted to less than 1 percent of enrollment, it represents an end to the boom in higher education that began during the recession of the late 2000s, according to Inside Higher Ed. An improved job market and increases in tuition may have been driving forces behind the dip in enrollment. In addition, first-year enrollment in graduate programs fell this year by 1.7 percent despite a 4.3 percent increase in applications, according to a report from the Council of Graduate Students.

Former student files lawsuit against Wesleyan A former Wesleyan student filed charges against the school, claiming she was raped in fall 2010 at a fraternity infamously known on campus as the “Rape Factory.” The lawsuit argues the administration failed to warn students about their safety at the fraternity, whose reputation cost it its recognition as a student organization in 2005. The university sent an email warning students that it “could not ensure students’ safety on the premises” in March 2010.

The woman, who has since transferred, was a freshman in the fall of 2010 and did not know about the warning before she was allegedly assaulted at a Halloween party by a guest of the fraternity, who is now serving a 15-month prison sentence. The charges also faulted the administration for neglecting to support the student when she was harassed by fraternity members, the Hartford Courant reported. Her report of the incident led the university to briefly revoke the fraternity’s program housing status until protests pressured its reinstatement.

Attention student groups: Your ad could be here!

Contact studentgroups@browndailyherald.com

6 arts & culture

the brown daily herald friday, october 12, 2012

Exclusive: Q&A with NPR host and screenwriter Ira Glass ’82 By alison silver senior staff writer

Ira Glass ’82 is the host and executive producer of the NPR program “This American Life.” He recently co-wrote the new film “Sleepwalk With Me,” produced by “This American Life.”

Based on the true story of comedian Mike Birbiglia, who wrote, directed and starred in the movie, “Sleepwalk With Me” takes a humorous look at the potential consequences of sleepwalking and where dreams can lead.

Glass talked to The Herald about his experience working on the film and his life after Brown.

Herald: How did you and “This American Life” get involved in producing and co-writing this film?

Glass: I mean, it wasn’t a very wellthought-out strategy. Mike Birbiglia basically had this story that he had been doing in a one-man show, and he wanted to make it into a film, and he asked me to produce it, and then in the course of producing it I was involved with so many rewrites on the script that it was clear that I and two other people were rewriting the script in a pretty aggressive way. It took two years, so we ended up as official co-writers of the film.

Did you have a lot of liberties to change the original version in rewriting it for film?

The basic structure of the story is the same … but there are things all the way through that are different.

Turning it from a guy telling a story on a stage by himself to a movie with a bunch of actors … that can be a radically difficult project. … One of the first things we did was made a change in the real story, what really happened. … In real life, (Mike) and the girlfriend resolve their situation … and then months after that he jumps out the window. … I remember saying to Mike when we started this, you know, I’ve never written a movie, but I’ve been to the movies, and if a guy jumps through a window in a movie, he’s got to learn something from it. … Most of the things in the film, including most of the dreams, like the Olympic dream and jumping through the window … most of that stuff completely happened.

What was one of the biggest challenges about translating the story from a book to film?

Just making the story work. Honestly, for first-time screenwriters, it’s really hard to make the story work in

a concise and compelling way, and we went through draft after draft after draft. It was an amazingly delicate thing. And when we got out of the shooting, we completely remade the film in editing, which apparently is very typical.

Is there anything that surprised you throughout the process of making this film that was different from your previous experience with language and crafting stories?

There were so many things that were surprising. I mean, it’s such a haul. … And at each stage, it feels like it’s a series of do or die, make or break contests. It’s like a long political campaign. It’s exhausting, and it’s nuts. It’s just a very strange thing. … Making films, honestly, it’s the weirdest business ever.

How has your experience with storytelling on “This American Life” shaped the process of writing this film?

On “This American Life,” since we’re generally telling true stories, we can’t move around the events and times. It turns out to be a tremendous advantage to be able to just make stuff up. … There are a couple tricks in film that you can use that you don’t use for radio.

How is the audience important in shaping the story you tell for “This American Life”?

The way that we think about it on “This American Life” is that we’re using the tools of fiction to tell a nonfiction story. … But beyond knowing, well, here’s how you tell a story that’ll be fun to listen to, we don’t think about the audience that much. We don’t market-test it, it’s not that kind of thing. There’d be no time to do it. We make a show and then it’s on the radio that day.

Instead, we just think, “What would be interesting to us? We have normal taste, we’re normal, what would we want to hear?” And then we just try to produce that.

Where do you get the inspiration for the segments that you do?

Where do you find those stories to break open?

It’s hard to find a story. I wish when I had been starting out, somebody had said that to me. The hardest thing in a way is finding something worth making work out.

Whether you’re making a piece of journalism or little movies or songs, or anything. Actually finding the

Courtesy of elise Bergerson

Host of NPR Ira Glass ‘82 discussed his new movie “Sleepwalk With Me,” based on the true story of comedian Mike Birbiglia and his struggles with sleepwalking and dreams, in an exclusive interview with The Herald. thing that your story’s going to be about or your film’s going be about or whatever — it’s just a pain in the ass. And you’re really lost out at sea and there’s no guidelines for how to do it, and you really have to set aside time for it, like it’s a job. Finding an idea is a job. Where do ideas come from? Ideas come from other ideas.

And so you have to kind of consume stuff and notice what’s interesting to you and surround yourself with stuff. … When all else fails, we’ll go to social media, and we’ll try to get stories that way. … It’s a very inefficient, ugly process.

day. Semiotics is about the machinery of story. And how a story gets its hooks into you and what it does to keep you interested. I mean, even something as simple as when you’re reading a book, why do you keep turning the pages? What is narrative suspense? What is pulling you forward in a book? What is the machinery of that? And when a story is really satisfying in the ending, like what is that feeling made of, that’s produced? And how do some stories fail at it and some stories succeed?

Being at Brown completely changed everything for me.

What is one lesson that you learned at Brown that has shaped your career path afterward?

I had a weird experience because I transferred in, and I came in as a junior. Brown is a lot of incredibly powerful tribal bonding that happens freshman year that I missed out on, so while I had a really wonderful experience, I feel like I was a little bit of an outsider at Brown. At the time that I came to Brown, I had already been a producer for “All Things Considered,” and I felt very, very old even though I was exactly the same age as everyone else. I had only taken off a half a year from school to go work at NPR … but the fact is that I learned things at Brown that completely totally shaped what I do for a living.

There are things that I learned as a semiotics major that I use every

If you were giving advice to your old self in college, just graduating from Brown, what advice would you give to yourself knowing what you do now? … There are a couple things that when you’re a beginner, it would be nice if you knew that nobody says to you. And one is that it’s really normal to be bad. That’s much more common. I mean, occasionally you have someone who’s kind of a genius from the time they’re young. … But most of us are normal, and most of us don’t have that. And we have to get to that point, and you just have to kind of fight through the experience of being mediocre. Making a lot of work is the only way out of being mediocre. And during the entire thing, it’s a complete weird act of faith that at some point you’ll get to the other side. But I was bad. I was not a good writer, I was not a good reporter. … Your 20s, your early 20s, I think, it’s so easy for there to be this weird smog where you feel all this potential and all this investment in you, and you feel like you’re supposed to be doing something important, but it’s not exactly clear what it is, and the world has no interest in helping you out.

The world is utterly indifferent to you in every way. And that is a sober-

ing motherfucker of an experience.

You’re talking about early 20s. Is there an age that you look back on that you were particularly successful or when you just got it together?

When that sobering experience yielded something like a breakthrough?

Or is it a continual process where every day — It’s not a continual process. There really were turning points for me.

It took me a long time to get to be decent at what I was trying to do, but by the time I was 30, I would say I kind of had figured out. When I turned 28, 29, 30, I’d kind of solved some basic things and was able to develop. I still feel like there’s stuff I’m learning, my job is still hard, and there’s things that I try to write that I feel like I barely have the skill to make work and I really have to think through how to do, which is fun.

That’s what you want. … You want to take up things that are really hard and then have to figure out how to do them. When things are going well, that’s what happens. And that’s what the film was. Just the film was too hard. It was too many years of being lost in the wilderness and trying to figure out, how do we fix this and make it good.

What is a lesson that you’ve learned as a writer that has helped you to realize those basic things that you figured out? What’s something that all writers should know or should learn?

It’s helpful to imitate other people. To just completely knock off other people, completely just like steal. I feel like people don’t — I feel like when you learn to paint, you imitate other painters. And when you’re learning to write, I found it very helpful to just pretend to write entire stories as other people.

the brown daily herald friday, october 12, 2012

science & research 7

Computer science profs Nobel laureate debunks radiation myths awarded $1.5 million grant

By Adam Hoffman

Contributing Writer

By Ria Mirchandani Contributing writer

Big Data research at the University took a big leap forward last week when the National Institute of Health and National Science Foundation awarded $1.5 million to further the research of three computer science professors.

For the last four years, Professor of Computer Science Eli Upfal, Assistant Professor of Computer Science Fabio Vandin and Associate Professor of Computer Science Ben Raphael have been working on developing algorithms to analyze particularly large data sets, with a specific emphasis on its application to genes and their functions. With the help of this grant, they hope to develop analysis tools that are “rigorous, reliable and statistically sound,” Raphael said.

“Big Data is the biggest trend in tech-

mine Big Data sets from various fields.”

The researchers also aim to use this grant to develop algorithms that can be efficiently scaled to large data sets and answer the question of how much data is needed to have confidence in the algorithm’s prediction, Raphael said.

There are several steps involved in Big Data analysis. “As usual in research, one of the hardest things to do is to identify interesting problems to work with,” Upfal said, adding that this is partly why they chose to work with biological data — it is analytical and emphasizes the use of mathematics and probability, allowing proofs to be scientifically valid.

The process of modeling and developing algorithms is the “creative part” of the research, Upfal said. He acknowledged that this can be hard because it is not always clear which mathematical model should be used on which data

“Tools we develop here will feed into a lot of different areas.”

Eli Upfal Professor of Computer Science

nology these days,” Upfal said. “Tools we develop here will feed into a lot of different areas.” Upfal, who has a background in probability and statistics and is the chief algorithms specialist of the research team, said he believes Big Data is the result of developments in computer science that provide the ability to process, store and generate enormous amounts of data from sources ranging from Facebook profiles to gene sequences.

Correct interpretation of these data can reveal “associations between what you see in the data and outside phenomena, which can help explain a lot about these phenomena,” Upfal said.

Big Data “upholds an interdisciplinary problem since it has implications in the social sciences as well as life sciences and physical sciences, Raphael said.

“Across all disciplines, people are being flooded with data.”

The research team chose genomics as its first application for the algorithms it is developing on Big Data analysis because data in this field is already available to the University through Raphael, whose main research is in the field of computational biology. Raphael has spent the past six years looking at biological data sets to identify groups of mutations in DNA sequences that are responsible for cancer.

“This grant is more about the algorithm itself,” Raphael said. “We want to develop tools that will help us analyze networks of interactions, tools that will help us

/ / Athlete page 12 do you have this year?

My personal goal … is to get into a little bit better shape. I think if I probably lost a little bit of weight, then I could be even a lot better than I am now. So far this year, I’ve done a pretty good job with that. So, I guess, (my goal is) to continue to do that, so that hopefully by the spring, I’ll be in my top form. And for the squad, I’d say our goal is to make it to the NCAA tournament and to win the Ivies. We’ve done well the past year.

Last year, we finished 50 in the na-

set, and using different ones can change the results.

A handful of students are working on this project, including Patrick Clay ’13 and PhD candidates Matteo Riondato GS and Max Leiserson GS. Riondato got involved with the research as part of his master’s project after meeting Upfal in 2008. “I began working on data mining, which is the extraction of specific golden nuggets of information that’s hidden in large data sets, without having to actually look at the entire data set,” he said. He said he has found working on Big Data rewarding because it demands expertise in many areas, forcing him to develop different kinds of skills and combine them for research.

Clay began working with Upfal in his sophomore year after taking a class with him on probability algorithms and is currently focusing on exploring how a given analysis would be affected if a data set is grown. He was intrigued by the math-heavy part of the research and by the possibility of analyzing “large data sets with simpler, less intelligent processing techniques, which Big Data enables you to do,” he said. “The more data you have, the greater potential there is to finding interesting results with simpler algorithms.” He said he is excited by the prospect of contributing to a scientific achievement — “a small one, but a real one” — and by the possibility of having something published.

tion, which is good. But I think that we should be able to be even better this year.

What do you do in your spare time?

I watch a ton of TV shows. I’m watching like seven or eight currently, at the same time. That’s pretty much it. I sleep, listen to music, just relax.

What are your favorite TV shows?

I think my favorite of all time is “Friday Night Lights.” My favorite TV show currently is probably “Breaking Bad.”

Nobel Prize laureate Professor of Physics Leon Cooper addressed the public perception of radiation’s effect in a discussion sponsored by the Triple Helix publication at the Brown Bookstore yesterday.

“Public response to radiation is one of exaggerated fear,” Cooper said. He pointed out that people do not rationally assess the relative risks that surround them as they go about their daily lives.

“The most dangerous thing we do with cell phones is texting while driving or crossing the street while on the phone,” he said.

Cooper, who received a Nobel Prize in physics in 1972 for his theory in superconductivity, is currently investigating the amount of gamma radiation that is actually harmful to an organism. In these experiments, conducted using fruit flies, the research team — consist-

/ / Plan page 2 Plan started out crunching census data in an attempt to identify areas in Providence where the community was underserved by its civic institutions.

The program found that Providence youth — and particularly young men of color — were falling behind early in their educational careers, dropping out of high school and then having trouble obtaining employment and becoming self-sufficient. The first major initiative the Providence Plan developed — Ready to Learn — addressed this cycle of unemployment and social dependency by creating reform at an early age — kindergarten.

The Providence Plan used data to show that poor and minority students were already trailing their more affluent peers in kindergarten, and that the “achievement gap” only grew as the years progressed. “Kids come into kindergarten already behind, and if you start behind in kindergarten, it’s really hard to catch up,” McGuigan said. Ready to Learn trains parents and teachers to reach these at-risk children before kindergarten so they come into school on a level playing field.

Since Ready to Learn was formed in 2003, the Providence Plan has trained about 2,500 early childhood educators. The program has shown that the students who work with these educators outperform their peers.

Spies said the program has played an important role in a national movement that is beginning to understand the importance of preschool educations.

For students who fall behind and seem at risk of dropping out, the Providence Plan has developed Building Leaders, a program that places high school students on construction sites as apprentices. The teenagers are “required to continue education while learning a trade,” gaining marketable skills while finishing their degrees,

ing of Postdoctoral Research Associate Michael Antosh, Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology Nicola Neretti, David Fox and Cooper — is exposing the flies to varying amounts of gamma radiation and is measuring the gene expression of the fly. In preliminary studies, flies have shown resilience to low levels of radiation with a subsequent drop in the survival rate at higher levels.

It is possible that at lower dose levels, the cell responds with mechanisms that can repair itself, thereby ameliorating the effects of radiation. If true, this could have widespread political consequences, Cooper said.

When building a nuclear reactor, scientists have to reduce radiation emission to a particular level for safety purposes, he said. If the reactor does not reach these levels, millions of dollars have to be spent to reduce the radiation counts, which could clearly be used elsewhere. Thus, if the human tolerance level for radiation is discovered,

this information can save the government significant amounts of money, he said. This research can also be applied to other sources of radiation such as X-rays and other medical imaging technology.

Kimberly Glerum ’15, who is writing a paper about radiation in medical imaging technology for PHP 1700: “Current Topics in Environmental Health,” said the talk was “a good opportunity to get research that is not from a book or a website and talk to someone who really knows about it.”

The event was an informal open discussion between students and Cooper. When one student asked Cooper why he got involved in the field, he referenced a dialogue from the film “Casablanca.” In the scene, Humphrey Bogart’s character is asked why he came to Casablanca, and he responds that he came for the water. When told there is no water there, Bogart’s character responds, “I was misinformed.”

Spies said.

The University has “been the largest supporter of the Building Teachers program in the entire state,” McGuigan said, describing former president Ruth Simmons as a “huge fan” of the program. “If you took shots of the medical school being built, you would see Building Teachers apprentices,” he added.

Programs like Building Leaders

Teaching and Research on Women before her retirement in 2000, also highlighted the close connection between the University and Providence.

“The relationship between Brown and the city was one thing Tom was very proud of,” she said. “It is such a small city. It’s easy for the students to get involved and the politicians to get involved with Brown.”

“It’s wonderful, what has hap-

“It is such a small city. It’s easy for the students to get involved.”

Barbara Anton Former Pembroke Center employee

and Ready to Learn originate from the Providence Plan and are never legally separate, but they have a lot of autonomy to direct their own work, McGuigan said. The organization does not run the initiatives day-to-day, but focuses on administrative tasks like finding funding and coordinating disparate elements to work together for the community’s betterment, he added.

Beyond the numbers Though the organization has no plans for another fundraising celebration of this scale again soon, Chice said staff members “haven’t ruled it out.” “(The attendees) are people that are part of our work, and we’re here to celebrate them,” Chice said. “We want them to feel good about their part in the Providence Plan’s history.”

Attendees reflected positively on the organization’s legacy.

“I could not believe it was 20 years old,” said Barbara Anton, whose late husband Tom served as the organization’s second chairman. Anton, who worked at the Pembroke Center for

pened,” she added. “I just hope it continues.”

In the meantime, the Providence Plan is continuing the core of its work. Information Group Director Jim Lucht, who directs the Providence Plan’s data analysis, described the organization’s emphasis on “seeing needs and finding opportunities to fill those needs.” Gathering and publishing data in accessible ways, he said, is central to that mission.

“People’s expectations (about data) have changed,” he said, pointing to the New York Times’ interactive graphic displays as new “easily understandable” displays of data. To make the Providence Plan’s information more accessible, Lucht said the organization is planning on launching new “community profiles” in November.

The new profiles would better fulfill data requests on a more local level, he said. “That, I think, is going to be the bread and butter for a lot of towns.”

McGuigan also stressed the Providence Plan’s mission of working with the community. “We partner, we share, we collaborate,” he said. “We are all in this together.”

8 campus news / / Kristof page 1 prevalent among Chinese families, Kristof said. Twenty-two years after the loan was made, the women from the school have gone on to surpass their traditional roles as farmers and caretakers and have entered the budding professional, working class in China.

“Women and girls are not the problem,” Kristof said. “They are the solution.”

lecture relied heavily on stories he has encountered during his travels around the world — women who escaped sex slavery only to voluntarily return due to addictions to the numbing drugs developed in brothels, women paralyzed through premature pregnancies and cultures unwilling to accept these women back into society.

Yet in all of the cases Kristof highlighted, the women persevered. Somehow, they escaped oppression. This

“In a world where there’s not enough food, you feed your son, not your daughter.”

Nicholas Kristof Journalist, New York Times op-ed columnist

Kristof then asked the crowd if they thought today’s world population was composed of more men or more women. In the packed auditorium, no more than 10 hands rose in support of a skewed representation favoring men.

Students almost unilaterally said they believed women comprised a larger percentage of world population. They were wrong.

Kristof explained that when basic resources are scarce, families often choose to allocate food and other forms of care to males based on culturally supported gender discrimination.

“In a world where there’s not enough food, you feed your son, not your daughter,” Kristof said. This leads to the needless deaths of 60 to 120 million women and girls annually, he added.

While enrolled at Harvard, Kristoff spent a year studying Arabic in Egypt and urged his audience to go abroad during college, despite the hardships they may encounter along the way.

“Feeling like you’re in over your head. That’s when you do your learning and growing,” he told the crowd. “That sense of being overwhelmed is what I wish upon all of you.”

Kristof listed three major issues — human trafficking, reproductive health and education — that need to be addressed in order to reverse the trends of oppression against women at the international level.

Much like “Half the Sky,” Kristof ’s

hope and this possibility for change is what pushes him to continue advocating for humanitarianism, he said.

During the question and answer portion that followed his speech, Kristof said he has developed a system of “cost-benefit analysis” to help determine where he focuses his coverage.

“Just as a foreigner, having a combination of white skin and a blue passport gives you a certain amount of protection just because there is commercial value to keeping you going,” Kristof said. “But this doesn’t apply to your interpreter or your driver. They are the people who take all the risk but get none of the credit.”

Kristof also acknowledged that the dangers and uncertainties associated with international aid are what prevent more people from getting involved.

“It’s hard — a lot of our efforts fail, but they have a perfect record of helping ourselves,” he added, referencing the self-satisfaction involved with humanitarian aid.

Kristof said research proves “there is a real, primal pleasure associated with giving.”

Ultimately, humanitarian efforts “provide us with a sense of perspective on the world and on our own lives,” he added.

“The fact that we’re all here right now means that we’ve won the lottery of life,” Kristof said. “But because we have won the lottery, we have a responsibility to give back.”

the brown daily herald friday, october 12, 2012

Q&A: Kristof wants readers to ‘spill their coffee’ Two-time Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author Nicholas Kristof sat down with The Herald after speaking in Salomon 101 Thursday night. The New York Times columnist discussed his bestselling book “Half the Sky,” what issues are most important and what can constitute “leverage for change.”

Herald: As you described tonight, “Half the Sky” tells the story of a variety of women from different backgrounds, all overcoming similar obstacles. And the book really explores very bleak subject matter: human trafficking, prejudice against women and the inequality these institutions perpetuate, but it evokes a really empowering tone throughout. How did you manage to maintain that tone?

Kristof: We really tried to make it kind of uplifting. We think that people sometimes get scared away from these issues because they think it’s depressing, and, sure, there are some things that happen that are just heartbreaking.

But overall, it seems to us that there is real progress, and there’s potential for more progress on empowering women all over the world. So we wanted to convey that this is a story of hope and that there are some incredibly inspiring rode models out there.

And who was your intended audience for the book? Why is it important for students at Brown to read and learn about the issues in the developing world?

There’s a sense that the hardcore international relations issues are things like Russian-American relations, nuclear warheads, Middle East peace, and that’s all important, but there’s this emerging set of issues like human trafficking, the environment, human rights.

So we think these are profoundly important as well. And when you look at where you have leverage to bring about change, then frankly, empowering women and girls has ... an awful lot more leverage than you have in other areas.

And in a more general sense, where and how do you draw inspiration for your column in the times? With such an international focus, it must be difficult to pinpoint the issues you want to highlight — especially considering the relative power of your columns in that they often serve to push issues into the national dialogue.

I look for issues that are not currently on the agenda, but that, if I write about them, I can make people spill their coffee in the morning and get them on the agenda.

Recently, there has been a ton of media fervor around the case of a young Pakistani girl who was targeted and attacked by the Taliban in a very vicious fashion. A pessimist would ask why this particular case is any more important than the violence going on each and every day in the Middle East. Or even, for example, some of the women you highlight in “Half the Sky” who endured similar if not worse tortures. What do you think is so special about Malala — why is her case getting so much international attention?

I think that Malala reached people’s hearts because she showed this incredible courage, this passion for education.

In a country where there has not been a lot of real leadership, she showed true, moral leadership. I wrote about Malala today in my column, and one of the reasons was because I think that when we in the United States think about what leverage we have over countries, we tend to emphasize the military toolbox.

And that’s an important toolbox. You need that. But I think that education is also a hugely important toolbox to influence other countries, and I think we tend to underinvest in that toolbox.

I think that Malala has kind of the bright idea that that’s actually where you can bring … more profound change than anywhere else.

In your column today, you wrote, “The greatest risk for violent extremists in Pakistan isn’t American drones.

It’s educated girls.” Can you explain what you meant by that? In what way do you think an educated class of women can pose resistance to the Pakistani government?

In both Afghanistan and Pakistan, I’ve seen the degree to which educated women — when they are in a household — they have a profound impact on their sons. Their sons don’t end up joining the Taliban. They’re also going to have fewer kids. Educated women tend to have many fewer children. In many ways, the phenomenon of extremism is about having these huge youth bulges. ... That’s what you have when you have uneducated women, you have these huge families and this huge youth bulge population. So I think the Taliban knew exactly what it was doing when they targeted Malala. I think they legitimately saw her and girls’ education as a huge threat to their influence in Pakistan or in Afghanistan. And I think it is a battle that has formed for girls’ education — that’s leverage for change.

What is the next step after education? You talked a little about Hillary Clinton during your lecture tonight.

As a powerful symbol and figurehead for the U.S., what do you think someone like her represents for girls around the world? And, conversely, what do you think the lack of more figures like Secretary Clinton shows girls?

The evidence is that women leaders don’t actually make a vast difference.

In “Half the Sky” we looked at ‘Does it matter if you have a woman president or woman prime minister?’ and it turns out not to make a lot of difference for girls’ education, for girl mortality. I think Hillary Clinton is actually someone who has — as part of her role as secretary of state — emphasized these issues. But I think, in general, women at the top have not. So, I think one can overplay the importance of having gender in top positions. I think there’s pretty good evidence that it matters if you have women as village chiefs, as local grassroots leaders. There’s good empirical evidence that that matters a great deal for policy.

s p r o u t i n g a r o o f to p g a r d e n

The other BDH blogdailyherald.com

ALEXANDRA URBAN / HERALD

The renovation of Hunter Lab will relocate the campus greenhouse to the top of the building, making room for a walkway between the Walk and the Ruth J. Simmons Quadrangle.

sports friday 9

the brown daily herald friday, october 12, 2012

football

Bears to take on formidable Princeton team this weekend Picks from Ivy League Sports Writers

By Jake Comer Sports editor

The football team will return to conference play Saturday at Princeton, looking to defeat a Tigers team that has crushed its last two opponents.

Bruno (3-1, 0-1 Ivy) comes into this week having topped its last two foes. But last Saturday’s victory over the University of Rhode Island, which kept the Governor’s Cup at Brown for the second consecutive year, may have been soured by what Head Coach Phil Estes called a mediocre Bears performance, along with a foot injury to running back Spiro Theodhosi ’13 early in the game. Theodhosi ­— who led Bruno in rushing yards in each of the first three games of the season — will not be on the field in this weekend’s game.

The Bears will miss him against Princeton (2-2, 1-0 Ivy). The Tigers have finished in the bottom half of the Ivy standings every year since 2007, but a formidable running game and an imposing defense have put them in the Ivy conversation this season.

“People wrote them off as being a bad football team and no chance of winning the Ivy League,” Estes said.

Especially on defense, the Bears have shown themselves to be contenders in their own right. But their success this Saturday may hinge on containing Princeton’s ground attack, which could prove to be a tall order.

The Tigers have a deep and talented running corps that places them third in the Ivy League for rushing yards per game. Four different ball carriers registered at least 45 yards each against Lafayette last week, led by running back Akil Sharp with 60 yards and two touchdowns.

There’s also wide receiver Roman Wilson, a double threat who racked up 55 yards and a touchdown on the ground and 69 yards through the air.

And the Tigers have two quarterbacks, Connor Michelsen and Quinn Epperly, who are both capable of scrambling for yardage as well as passing.

The duo has split playing time in each of Princeton’s four games this fall.

“They do a lot of different things, they can run all different types of plays,” said co-captain and defensive lineman Ross Walthall ’13. “They have a good offense.”

But the Bears’ biggest challenge this weekend may be putting up points of their own. They’ll come up against a Tigers squad that “could be as good a defense as we’ve seen all year,” Estes said.

With Theodhosi out of commission, running back Mark Kachmer ’13 and fullback Cody Taulbee ’14 will have to rise to the occasion as they did against URI, when they rushed for a combined two touchdowns and 117 yards. Some of the best players in the conference will be across the line of scrimmage, including linebacker Andrew Starks, first in the Ivy League for tackles per game with 10.5.

Princeton will also be looking to

The Brown Daily Herald

The Daily Pennsylvanian

The Daily Princetonian

The Dartmouth

The Harvard Crimson

Brown.

“Brown is much better than Princeton.“

Princeton.

“Princeton surprised me last week and took advantage of Lafayette in all the ways Penn failed to. … Though it pains me to do so, I’m going with the Tigers.”

Brown.

“Last time they met at Princeton, Brown won 17-13 — that sounds like a pretty good expectation this week. The Tigers are rolling, but they’ve matched up better with past teams than they will against Brown.”

Brown.

“Brown has looked good all season and suffered its only loss so far in a shootout against powerhouse Harvard making it tough to pick against them.”

Brown.

“Picked to finish last in the league, Princeton’s been the surprise of the league so far this season.

But I still like Brown and its Patrick Donnelly-led offense in what may prove to be a battle for fourth place.”

Penn.

“I’d like to pick the Lions, but I just don’t think they’re in a place where they can really beat an Ivy powerhouse like the Quakers. They might keep it close, but Penn should win this game.”

Penn.

“Penn will take care of business at home.”

Penn.

“Not being a homer here, but if Penn doesn’t get a big win Saturday against Columbia, the Quakers have some serious problems.”

Penn.

“The Lions are just a mess, especially on offense.”

Penn.

“Penn’s defense should be able to slow Columbia’s anemic offense, giving them their second league win of the season.”

Penn.

“Yes, both Penn and Columbia are 1-3. But while the Quakers have looked respectable, this year’s Columbia team is somehow averaging just 11 points per game and isn’t much improved over the 2011 team that went 1-9. Penn should win this one easily.”

Editors/Writers Jake Comer and

Myles Simmons

Quintin Schwab

Megan Soisson

Kevin Whitaker

Brett Drucker and Noah Reichblum

Bobby Samuels

Pick Accuracy

83% (5/6)

83% (5/6)

75% (3/4)

83% (5/6)

50% (3/6)

83% (5/6)

Brown vs. Princeton Total Votes Brown : 5 Princeton : 2

Columbia vs. Penn Total Votes Penn : 7 Columbia : 0

Columbia Daily Spectator

The Cornell Daily Sun

Brown.

“Hot off a surprising two-game win streak, the Tigers will come out ready to play. But the Bears’ developing offense will respond with a strong running back lineup and respectable pass game, leading Brown to a victory that’ll be closer than most would’ve predicted just a few weeks ago.”

Princeton.

“Princeton’s defense and special teams units can be dominant. The way the Tigers also use two quarterbacks make them difficult to defend.”

Penn.

“Columbia has struggled to build an effective offensive strategy this season and though they will be going up against a fairly pedestrian Quaker defense on Saturday, all signs point to the Lions falling short of a win for the fourth time this fall.”

Lindor Qunaj 67% (4/6)

put pressure on quarterback Patrick Donnelly ’13, who is third in the league in both passing yards per game and touchdowns.

“They have a tremendous pass rush,” Estes said.

The Tigers sacked Lafayette College quarterback Zach Zweizig four times last week, and their defensive lineman Mike Catapano leads the league in quarterback hits.

“Their defensive linemen are guys who are very good with their hands,” Walthall said. “They’re explosive.”

The Bears’ offensive line will have their hands full keeping them off Donnelly, but the quarterback said he is ready.

“I’m excited to get another chance to play another football game,” Donnelly said.

Co-captain and cornerback A.J. Cruz ’13 mirrored Donnelly’s enthusiasm, saying his team’s trajectory this season has made him optimistic.

“I feel like each week, we are getting better,” he said.

Estes has also stressed constant improvement, saying it is the Bears’ only chance at league success.

“I’m not being negative with my football team when I say we can do better,” he said. “The minute when we start to be satisfied that we’re getting it done is when we’re going to get beat.”

But rather than falling into complacency, Walthall said recent practices have shown that the team is heating up as the weather cools down.

“This has been one of our best weeks of practice,” he said. “We’re loving the fall weather. I call it football weather.”

“We’ve been having fun out at practice,” Walthall added. “We feel ready. We feel prepared.”

Thanks for reading!

EMILY GILBERT / HERALD

Both the Brown and Princeton football teams, who will battle each other in conference play this Saturday, have defeated their last two opponents.

comics Join the Club | Simon Henriques

Cashew Apples | Will Ruehle

10 diamonds & coal diamonds & coal

the brown daily herald friday, october 12, 2012

Editorial cartoon b y a n g e l i a wa n g

A diamond to Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., who said to the Brown Democrats, “They don’t want to talk about that stuff.” Our professor wasn’t thrilled when we used that line in our last discussion section.

Coal to David Ortiz, press secretary for Providence Mayor Angel Taveras, who said fixing city roads “is one of the most important things” the city can do to attract new businesses. We’re sure the quality of asphalt on Brook Street is exactly why people aren’t coming to Providence.

A diamond to Professor of Philosophy Charles Larmore for saying, “No thinking person, with the exception of a few oddballs, can identify with the ideas of this party,” referring to the Republican Party. We salute you for finally clearing up the University’s image as a politically ambiguous school.

Coal to the Undergraduate Council of Students for launching a lottery to determine the students who will get to eat meals with President Christina Paxson.

Though we appreciate the idea of a contest for food, one version of the Hunger Games was more than enough for us.

A diamond to Brown Badmaash Dance Company for holding a boot camp that one student described by saying, “You dance and then you eat, and then you dance.” How is that different from any other day?

Coal to Maureen Moakley, professor of political science at the University of Rhode Island, who called expectations of “good times” in Rhode Island an “unrealistic opinion.” We cordially invite her to Chicken Finger Friday.

Cubic zirconia to Kenneth Prestininzi, associate chair of playwriting at Yale School of Drama, who said, “Sometimes we get stingy with our emotional life.”

Prestininzi clearly hasn’t visited our newsroom after midnight.

Coal to Alison Klayman ’06, director of the documentary “Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry,” who said that despite the busy life the film portrays for its subject, most of Ai’s work was spent on Twitter, which she said was “sometimes kind of boring.” You think we haven’t ever wanted to insert a UFO sighting into our Undergraduate Council of Students coverage to spice things up? But we don’t.

Cubic zirconia to the senior Writing Fellow who said, “We’re not here to criticize or judge you for your writing.” Yeah. We use that one, too.

le t ter

UCS invite cheapened by Facebook request To the Editor: Opening my email after class, I found an invitation from the Undergraduate Council of Students to share a meal with President Christina Paxson (“Admins discuss diversity at UCS meeting,” Oct. 11). The chance to sit down and get to know our new president is a fantastic opportunity, but I was immediately turned off from the idea when, reading further, I discovered I would have to “like” the UCS Facebook page. When did UCS become some sleazy gameshow that needs to get its ratings up, requiring contestants to plug it

constantly? If they had requested some sort of feedback or survey I would happily comply, but mandating that everyone use Facebook in order to be included in this opportunity is frustrating to those who dislike the company and entirely irrelevant to the decision of who should actually have the opportunity to dine and chat with the president. I can’t imagine that President Paxson, in giving this opportunity to UCS, envisioned them using this event for what amounts to petty bribery.

Therice Morris ’13

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taking sides 11

the brown daily herald friday, october 12, 2012

Do you support Brown’s online learning venture? yes the rest of the world.

Plus, everyone else is doing it. Though this does not mean we should necessarily “jump off a cliff just because our friends Opinions Columnist are doing it,” we should also not sit atop College Hill with smug grins on our faces, clinging to our textbooks so no one else It was just decades ago that science fic- can read them. Joining the world of ontion envisioned a future in which people line learning, as schools such as Harvard, communicated through video. It pictured the Massachusetts Institute of Technola world in which despite being on oppo- ogy and many more have, further estabsite sides of the world, people could inter- lishes Brown as a powerful presence in act face-to-face in real time, be it to share the dynamic world of higher education complex ideas or just have a conversation. — which grants us the resources to work With the countless technologies that with educational progress as it inevitably have emerged in video chatting and call- occurs. ing over the past few years, that future is Certainly, there are weaknesses in onnow. And while we line classes, such are still working as the lack of being As an institute that out some kinks in near other students, the hardware, we teaching assistants have seen a revo- promotes higher learning or professors for imlutionary and pro- and thinking, Brown should mediate help. Some gressive endeavor suggest that offering in communication. embrace online learning online classes comLearning is now pletely goes against and share its knowledge Brown’s philosophy heading in this direction as well, of personal, liberal with the world. with websites such learning. But why as Coursera that disregard a new way provide online classes to people all over of learning just because it does not comthe world. As an institute that promotes ply with that belief? I have faith that in higher learning and thinking, Brown due time online learning will exist as a should embrace online learning and useful addition to the already impressive share its knowledge with the world. and effective liberal learning system.

Let it be said that online learning will Online learning is a very new field, never replace the traditional classroom. so we can not expect immediate perfecRather, it is a supplement that provides tion and gratification. But we should new methods of education rather than work to improve it and embrace it throwing away old ones. It is a resource with open arms for the sake of the for people who may not be able to receive Brown education both here in Provia Brown education through traditional dence and in the rest of the world. means, be it for economic reasons, a disability or anything else. Who are we to decide who gets to learn and who does not?

Gabriella Corvese ‘15 still hikes across In fact, not offering online classes when campus to all of her lectures and can the resources are available is a selfish act be reached at of withholding valuable knowledge from gabriella_corvese@brown.edu

gabriella corvese

Eppler’s Rebuttal Like most defenders of Coursera and the MOOC model, Gabriella Corvese ’15 makes a false promise to the non-traditional students of the world. Like most MOOC advocates, Corvese bases her claim on the argument that MOOCs are “a resource for people who may not be able to receive a Brown education through traditional means, be it for economic reasons, a disability or anything else.” It’s hard to disagree with this egalitarian sentiment. But I want to provide the benefits of a Brown education to all capable students too.

The problem with Corvese’s argument is that MOOCs are fundamentally incapable of providing a Brown education, for the reasons described in my opening statement.

MOOCs cannot provide opportunities for guided independent study and research, among other critical components of a Brown education. A “certificate of completion” from a MOOC will never be viewed as the equal of a Brown degree in the eyes of an employer, due to the accountability issues described in my opening statement.

This dilemma is the aforementioned “false promise” of MOOC advocates.

MOOC advocates promise the benefits of

a college education, but provide a “secondclass” educational experience. The egalitarian rhetoric hides the fact that the same individuals disadvantaged in the conventional college system will remain disadvantaged.

In fact, MOOCs may decrease the ability of these groups to access a Brown education: If administrators believe those with limited financial means are equally well served by Coursera offerings, they may reduce financial aid and direct students to Coursera.

Perhaps the Coursera advocates in Brown’s administration have not considered the implications of this “false promise” and are acting in good faith. But there is another, more insidious prospect. The Washington Post reported that the controversial firing of University of Virginia president Teresa Sullivan occurred in part because board members believed that Sullivan was not doing enough to expand Virginia’s online offerings. Perhaps our administrators feared that they, too, would be fired for failing to follow the latest pedagogical trend. If so, Corvese’s “everyone else is doing it” argument takes a dark turn: Our administrators have blindly followed a trend, and have harmed the people they hope to assist.

no brick-and-mortar universities thrived during the television era. Distance learning Ian Eppler technologies have demonstrated a historiinability to replace in-person university Opinions Columnist cal education, and there’s no reason to believe that MOOCs will be any different.

Supporters of MOOCs suggest that It’s understandable why Brown would employers will value the “certificates of want to participate in Coursera. The rheto- completion” provided by these programs ric surrounding Coursera and other mas- as equivalent to a university degree. In resive open online courses — MOOCs — is sponse to this claim, it is enlightening to certainly lofty. Advocates promise nothing list the elements of a university education less than the democratization of education, that are not provided by MOOCs. Imporliberating the world’s best educators and tantly, MOOCs do not provide trustworthinkers from the ivory tower and mak- thy assessment of student work. ing their material available to students in In August 2012, the Chronicle of Highthe developing world and non-traditional er Education reported that humanities students. The reality courses offered by of MOOCs, howevCoursera have seen er, does not live up to many instances of the rhetoric. plagiarism, includAccording to a ing blatant acts of July 2012 article in The reality of MOOCs does academic misconthe New York Times, duct such as copyMOOCs consist of not live up to the rhetoric. ing from Wikipe“online materials dia. Udacity, anothbroken into maner MOOC providageable chunks, er, has announced with short video plans to offer insegments, interacperson testing for a tive quizzes and other activities.” None of fee at a number of worldwide testing centhese are new technologies. Astute observ- ters, but such a scheme contradicts the ers have noted that college professors have MOOC model. condensed their knowledge into a suitable MOOCs also cannot provide opportupedagogical format divided into “manage- nities for directed independent study and able chunks” — they’re called textbooks. research and co-curricular and extracurLibraries have made these materials free- ricular activities, which are heavily valued ly and readily available to non-traditional by employers. Given that these critical elestudents for generations, yet there’s still de- ments of a university education are absent mand for university education. from Coursera, it is perhaps unsurprising While streaming video recordings are that these supposed economic benefits are admittedly relatively new technologies, a promise for the future and not a reality. they don’t seem to be inherently transformative. Educational television has been around for decades, with limited impact.

Ian Eppler ’13 would rather endure In fact, the invention of the radio and the Providence weather than use Coursera. invention of television resulted in similar He can be contacted at claims regarding educational value, but ian_eppler@brown.edu.

Corvese’s Rebuttal Eppler ’13 seems to be surprised by the prospect of people wanting a university education, even if plenty of knowledge is readily available in books. Unfortunately, simply reading a book is not the key to acquiring knowledge. That is why we have classes — to provide discipline and guidance in learning about a specific subject. Massive open online courses, or MOOCs, provide this same structure.

I found that his assessment of what one receives from a MOOC to be unfair and presumptuous. Online classes do not provide extracurriculars, internships or research experience, and they do not grant students a Brown degree — which I believe is very obvious to those taking classes online. These classes are not offered as a substitute for a university education, but as a resource to those who may not be able or want to attend a university by traditional means. Admittedly, I praise MOOCs with quite a bit of rhetoric, but it is because I believe they are a valuable and beneficial contribution to education.

Eppler mentions other technologi-

cal advances that were expected to revolutionize education, such as television and radio. They did. No, they did not replace the traditional university education, but they supplemented what was already in place. There is a good reason the Discovery Channel has 1.7 million viewers each week. People want to learn, and we should not take away their ability to do so.

Issues such as plagiarism in MOOCs do leave room for concern, though. It could be debated whether or not it is valuable to attempt to educate people who are just going to cheat their way through the system. But that is not a reason to dismiss online learning entirely. Plagiarism happens offline as well, recently and notably at our nation’s oldest “brick-and-mortar” institution: Harvard.

Online learning is a new and improving field. We did not stop using the Internet because dial-up got on our nerves. As we have with countless technologies in the past, we should work to improve it for the sake of the technology and ourselves.

daily herald sports friday the Brown

friday, october 12, 2012

M. Tennis

athlete of the week

Bruno wins big at Brown Invitational Burke ’14

By Caleb Miller

discusses tennis successes

Contributing Writer

The men’s tennis team was victorious in 28 of its 35 matches, including a 10-2 record in doubles play, at last weekend’s Brown Invitational.

All 13 players who stepped on the court for Bruno over the course of the weekend notched victories in singles, doubles or both. Bruno’s overall success was powered by impressive undefeated performances by Brandon Burke ’14, Sam Fife ’14, Lucas Da Silveira ’16 and Ivan Kravtchenko ’16.

The invitational featured team duals with Penn, Georgetown and Boston College. The “hidden duels,” as the Bears call them, pit two teams against each other, differing from the individual bracket-style that have been featured in all of the team’s tournaments so far this season. Conference matches in the spring will be played with the dual format.

Soufaine Azargui ’14 said that being introduced to the tournament style of play this weekend was helpful to the Bears.

“It not only gives the freshmen a taste of what’s to come, but it brings the team closer,” Azargui said. The team competition mentality “brings up the energy and the camaraderie,” Azargui added.

The first-years’ “taste” of collegiate play has so far been a triumphant one. With a combined singles record of 12-1 in the last two tournaments, freshmen Da Silveira and Kravtchenko have made a big impact in the two months they’ve been on campus.

Their early success is rooted in confidence, Da Silveira said.

After starting the season a little nervous, Da Silveira said he was able to settle in last week at the Penn Invitational. “I’ve adapted a lot the last two weeks,” he said. “I’m feeling a lot more confident in my game and start-

By Nikhil Parasher Sports Staff Writer

Men’s tennis player Brandon Burke ’14 led the Bears at last weekend’s Brown Invitational. Bruno won 28 of its 35 matches against Penn, Georgetown University and Boston College during the tournament. Burke led the way with five victories, going 2-0 in singles and 3-0 in doubles. For his winning play, The Herald has named Burke this week’s Athlete of the Week.

Herald: Your father is a professional tennis player. Is he the main reason why you got into tennis in the first place?

Burke: Yeah, definitely. Originally, I grew up watching him when I was young. He was on the (ATP World) Tour. That encouraged me to play early on and definitely sparked my interest for it.

Did he coach you early on?

He coached me up until I was about 13, and then he sent me away to an academy in Florida because he felt it was the right time. I pretty much stopped listening to him, you know?

So he sent me away.

ANNABEL RUDDLE / HERALD

Every player at the Brown Invitational scored victories in singles, doubles or both last weekend, with undefeated performances by Brandon Burke ‘14, Sam Fife ’14, Lucas Da Silveira ‘16 and Ivan Kravtchenko ‘16. ing to get a feel for college tennis.”

The men’s team now has two weeks of practice to hone their skills before the ITA Regional Champion-

ships Oct. 18-22. The addition of new assistant coach Amit Inbar will aid in their preparations, Da Silveira said.

Inbar, a former volunteer assistant

coach at the University of California at Los Angeles, filled the position this week, which had been open since the beginning of the season.

W. Soccer

Bears lose to Dartmouth, strive to stay positive

By Bruno Zuccolo Contributing Writer

The women’s soccer team continued its losing streak Tuesday with a 1-0 loss to Dartmouth at home. The match marked Bruno’s (6-5, 0-3 Ivy) second meeting with and second loss to Dartmouth (8-4, 2-1 Ivy) this season.

Despite being on the road, the Dartmouth squad dominated the match, outshooting Bruno 21-4. Bruno managed only one shot on target, which came in the second minute of play and was easily saved by goal- Dartmouth 1 0 keeper Tatiana Brown Saunders.

Midfielder Emma Brush scored the winning goal in the 65th minute. The Big Green sent a midfield free kick high into the box, and, after bouncing off a Big Green player, the ball came to Brush who headed it high over goalie MC Barrett ’14.

Head Coach Phil Pincince said the

goal was one of several quality scoring opportunities for either team. “(The game) was played between the 18 and 18(-yard boxes),” he said. “They get the one service in the box, and game’s over.”

The Bears, who have not scored a goal in three games, played a hurried and inaccurate passing game Tuesday, time and again attempting unsuccessful long passes toward their strikers.

“We haven’t really settled into the final third,” said Mika Siegelman ’14, referring to the Bears’ developing attack.

“That final pass we’re looking for a lot of the time just ends up being forced.”

By contrast, the Big Green demonstrated a well-formed strategy of building their attacking plays from the defense up. Their central defenders stayed close to home, and Saunders was ready to boot the ball away whenever a long pass escaped them.

The ball rarely came within striking range of either goal during the first half.

The Bears had difficulty connecting the ball from defense to offense, and though

Dartmouth dominated possession, they played cautious offense, refraining from bringing many players forward.

The Big Green still managed a few scoring opportunities in the first half. Kelly Brait took a corner kick in the 11th minute that bounced off the crossbar.

In the 38th minute, a quick run on the left by forward Lucielle Kovlov nearly put Dartmouth ahead. She passed just outside the box to Allison Yeager, who sent the ball wide of the post.

Both teams began the second half with the passive play they demonstrated before the break. Dartmouth stayed on its heels with a conservative attack, while the Bears continued to have a hard time connecting their passes.

But the intensity changed after an opening goal by Brush. Finding themselves behind, the Bears pushed forward and put more energy into their attack.

But their passing did not improve, and they had no shots on target in the sec-

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ond half.

Instead, Dartmouth found even more opportunities. As the Bears advanced, their defense spread out, leaving them vulnerable in their attempt to find the equalizer. In the 81st minute, midfielder Kim Rose took a long shot which flew off the crossbar. Barrett was forced to make two saves in the last 10 minutes.

Pincince noted a clear difference in the Bears’ attacking performance since the start of the season.”

In the first six games of the season, we were finding that way to get that goal,” he said. “In the last five, we have not.”

The Bears will strive for their first conference win of the season this Saturday at home against Harvard.

Captain Eliza Marshall ’13 said she hopes the team will keep a positive attitude despite an uninspiring record. “(The result) will come with time,” she said. “We just have to keep our heads up and stay positive.”

Do you prefer playing singles or doubles?

I like both. I think if I’m playing well, then I prefer singles. But doubles is also a lot of fun because you get to play with a partner, and it’s a combined effort. And sometimes it’s like the victory is sweeter because you both put into it.

Who’s your all-time favorite tennis player?

(It) would probably be (Jo-Wilfried) Tsonga. I mean, he’s definitely my current favorite, and I think my game style is pretty similar to his. I have watched him play many times, and I really enjoy watching him play.

What do you do before a match?

Do you have any rituals or superstitions?

I enjoy listening to music. I never grip my own tennis racquets before a match, which is a little bit superstitious. It’s also a little convenient because, you know, gripping your racquets is pretty annoying to do. So I have one of my teammates do it for me. But other than that, nothing really too serious.

What type of music do you listen to?

It varies. Before a match, I normally listen to rap … I like Drake and J. Cole. But I also like country.

I like R&B. I really like John Mayer and stuff like that, too.

What goals, for the team, and for yourself, / / Athlete page 7