daily herald the Brown
vol. cxxii, no. 89
INSIDE
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Febrile flies
Researchers use fruit flies to study epileptic seizures
U.’s endowment sees lowest return since ’09 By Alexa Pugh Senior Staff Writer
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Playing politics
“Richard III” woos audiences with political drama
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Fueling theories Grant helps energy researchers study CO2 today
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tomorrow
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since 1891
friday, october 19, 2012
The University’s endowment posted a 1 percent return on investment for the last fiscal year, the lowest annual return since 2009. Experts attribute the low return rate to volatile markets, which left the endowment with a market value of $2.52 billion. “In general, these have been really difficult capital markets in which to manage through,” said Beppie Huidekoper, executive vice president for finance and administration. “We have a very sophisticated investment committee, and experienced, and they’re all scratching their heads.” The endowment was at its peak value of $2.79 billion in 2008 before it suffered a 23.1 percent loss during the financial crisis and the subsequent national dive into economic recession. That period lowered the endowment’s
market value to $2.038 billion in June 2009. A 10.2 percent return on investments in 2010 and an 18.5 percent jump in 2011 helped the endowment’s market value climb back above $2.5 billion. Brown’s peer institutions have experienced similar patterns, as this year’s investment returns have been low across the board. Dartmouth led the Ivy League with a 5.8 percent return in the 2012 fiscal year, followed by Yale at 4.7 percent. Penn and Columbia posted 1.6 percent and 2.3 percent returns, respectively, while Harvard announced a return of negative 0.5 percent. Princeton and Cornell have yet to release figures for this year. “I think all institutions would have loved to have a better year, but it’s certainly not as bad as it was when … they tanked, and endowments really lost a lot / / Money page 2
fenced in
Tom sullivan / herald
An installation on the Main Green recognized Immigration Week, sponsored by the Third World Center. See page 3.
UFB releases student group spring budget totals Modernized
By Katherine Cusumano Senior Staff Writer
The Undergraduate Finance Board released a compilation of student group spring budget totals for the past six years in an email to students today. The board distributes about 45 percent of its total spring budget
between Brown Concert Agency, Lecture Board and the Special Events Committee, which are the top three funded student groups. The top 30 groups receive about 80 percent of UFB’s total funding. The records, which show the funding trends for the top 30 UFB-funded groups from 2007 to 2012, are part
of ongoing efforts to increase transparency, said Daniel Pipkin ’14, vice chair of UFB. Jug humor magazine — the 30th group listed on the budget report — received $6,150 this spring, compared to $204,100 for BCA. The variation in funding totals is determined in part by group event visibility and attendance as well as expected cost of activities, Pipkin said. Since Spring Weekend is essential to the student experience at Brown, and BCA requires substantial funds to attract headliners, they receive the highest total. The overall UFB spring budget for student groups is allocated based on a particular “total budget target” that varies based on inflation, newly recognized groups and increases in facilities costs. Student groups submit their budget requests, and UFB must “whittle it down to that number,” UFB
chair Zak Fischer said. For example, BCA received $15,000 less in funding between 2010 and 2011. Funding for all student groups went down partly after then-Student Activities Chair Ralanda Nelson ’12 declined to propose a Student Activities Fee increase due to concerns over financial aid and tuition, Pipkin said. The change in budget impacted the group’s booking abilities. The cost of bringing artists to colleges also inflates even as the budget stays the same, said Emma Ramadan ’13, BCA booking chair. Other budget fluctuations result from unforeseen circumstances. Greek Council has historically received funds for its annual Spring Weekend Rage on Wriston, an alcohol-free event. But last spring, it decided to put on Fratty in the Ratty in place of the tradition/ / UFB page 2 al party. The
Theater company has dance on the brain By Phoebe Draper Senior Staff Writer
Brains of both audience members and performers were rapidly firing Thursday night during the high-energy dress rehearsal of BRAIN STORM, a dance production inspired by neuroscience that creates movement and imagery based on the brain. The performance, held tonight and tomorrow night at 8 p.m. in the Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts, is the culmination of Everett Dance Theater’s five-day residency at the University, exploring the intersection of art and science by combining neuroscience and dance. Other events included a panel discussion between scientists and artists, a Brain Cafe on Locked-In Syndrome and a dance-improvisation workshop. The company will host a
hip-hop workshop in Granoff at 1 p.m Saturday. “The brain and the body — you can’t have one without the other,” said Sokeo Ros, a company member performing in Friday night’s show. Get on your feet Self-described as “cross-disciplinary, cross-generational and cross-cultural,” Everett Dance Company is all about breaking through barriers. “It’s all about learning through action,” said Aaron Jungels, artist and co-founder of Everett. On Thursday, Everett hosted “OnYour-Feet Conversations about the Brain,” a workshop with a stimulating mix of improvisation, dance and / / Brain page 4 spoken word
see spread page 5
Rachel kaplan / herald
The Everett Dance Company will conclude its five-day residency with BRAIN STORM, a production whose movements are inspired by neuroscience.
‘Winter’s Tale’ triumphs at Trinity Rep By sabrina imbler contributing writer
Rarely does one have the opportunity to see a dozen Shakespearean actors — all clad in bear masks — launch into a synchronized dance mob around a baby onstage to the tune of “Outta Your Mind” by Lil Jon. Yet director Taibi Magar MFA’14 grants the audience this zany opportunity and many more in her youthful adaptation of William Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale,” which opens tonight at the Trinity Repertory Company. “I think it’s Shakespeare’s most playful text,” Magar said. “Magic and surprise are written into the text.” The quintessential tragicomedy propounds both psychological tragedy and bawdy humor. The first three acts recount the story of how the misplaced jealousy of King Leontes of Sicilia tears his family apart, and the final two acts track his redemption. The contemporary adaptation opens on a crude wooden stage framed by gossamer curtains, keeping the focus on Leontes and his internal crisis. Behind him, supporting actors intensify his monologues by their rhythmic drumming on overturned orange buckets. As the lights go up, a winged girl in green harem pants — the Oracle of Delphi — shoots out from beneath the table onstage and assumes her post on a lighted scaffolding beside the stage, where she remains and observes for much of the play. While the unfinished stage seems raw at the beginning, all props and / / Winter page 7 curtains are
arts & culture
2 campus news / / UFB page 1
c alendar Today
oct. 19
4 P.m.
ToMORROW
Oct. 20
2 p.m.
Family Weekend Piano Workshop
Movement Dance Showcase
Grand Recital Hall
Alumnae Hall Auditorium
7 p.m.
8 p.m. Rocky Horror Picture Show
Orchestra Concert: The Planets
Zeta Delta Xi Lounge
Sayles Hall
menu SHARPE REFECTORY
VERNEy-WOOLLEY DINING HALL
LUNCH Cajun Blackened Chicken Sandwich, Cajun Corn and Tomatoes, Vegetarian Cajun Pasta, Rice Krispie Treats
Breaded Chicken Fingers, Sticky Rice, Zucchini, Carrot and Garlic Medley, Rice Krispie Treats
DINNER Gnocchi Di Patate with Pesto Sauce, Italian Chicken Parmesan, Chocolate Marshmallow Roll
Tilapia Provencale, Orange Chipotle Glazed Tofu, Orange Beef Pad Thai, Chocolate Marshmallow Roll
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the brown daily herald friday, october 19, 2012
event was funded by Richard Bova, senior associate dean of residential life and dining services, so the funds expected to be allocated to the event were returned to UFB, Pipkin said. Alexander Kaplan ’14, chair of the Student Activities Committee and Herald staff writer, said the release will create awareness about student group funding. The budget release comes on the heels of a vote by the Undergraduate Council of Students in favor of a student activities fee increase proposal Wednesday. “From the student groups’ perspective, the increase definitely needs to happen,” Kaplan said. It will allow “greater agency” in the way UFB and UCS can accommodate student requests. Compared to peer institutions, the University allocates far less money to student groups due in part to the sheer number of organizations, Kaplan said. Tufts University has a $288 Student Activities Fee compared to Brown’s $214 fee. UFB cannot fund every cost incurred by student groups. It will not cover food costs, event decorations and typically will only finance up to three students to attend a particular conference. Brown University Student Televi-
/ / Money page 1
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of value,” said Brian Flahaven, director of legislative, foundation and recognition programs at the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Most institutions, including Brown, have been able to rebuild their endowments in the past two years, but endowment levels are still not where they were before the financial crisis, he said. The University’s endowment is $258 million short of its pre-recession value. Investment strategy The University allocated its assets more conservatively following the market crash, but there has not been a significant shift in investment strategy for the past several years, Huidekoper said. The endowment investments held 21 percent in global stocks, 31 percent in hedged strategies, 22 percent in private equity, 14 percent in real assets and 12 percent in fixed income and cash at the end of fiscal year 2011, according to data from a University press release. Huidekoper explained that endowments work much like large mutual funds, and the University entrusts pieces of the endowment to various managers who work to return invest-
sion’s production teams “generally pay out of pocket for additional expenses they incur,” wrote Finance Director Anthony Calcagni ’13 in an email to The Herald. UFB has restricted the budget release to the top 30 groups for clarity’s sake. Six years of data compiled by student groups is not very clean, Fischer said. Some groups went defunct, and some were created since 2007, Pipkin added, which made deciphering data difficult. The percentages allocated to each group have remained relatively constant in terms of the overall budget over the course of these six years, Fischer said. Student groups must line-item every cost they anticipate and are restricted to using those funds for the use they specified. BCA must determine the split between talent for Fall Concert and Spring Weekend. This year, it asked for approximately $25,000 for fall concert and only received $20,000, Ramadan said. But the group did receive the $180,000 it requested for Spring Weekend. “Going into the year, we know exactly how much we have to work with,” she said. The selection of headliners BCA considers is constrained by the group’s budget. But occasionally, student groups
cannot determine certain costs in their original spring budget requests, such as travel, hotel rates, “things you just need,” Pipkin said. Such funding comes out of supplemental funding, distributed as needed at UFB’s twiceweekly meetings. Calcagni formerly served as treasurer for the Ivy Film Festival, an organization that he said “relies pretty heavily on donations and other supplemental funding.” Though he said the group could request more than the approximately $2,500 it receives from UFB — IFF is not among the top 30 groups — he said he thought UFB would perceive them as lacking sufficient need given their alternate sources of funding. The budget release is aimed to open up a dialogue about the future direction of student group finance, said UCS President Anthony White ’13. It serves as a reference point for how money is used. The release is “part of UFB just checking in,” White said. Attached is a feedback form designed to determine how student groups view the budgeting process and allocations. UFB’s resources must cover not only spring budgets and supplemental funding, but also other incidental costs such as Department of Public Safety presence at student events, the fire marshal and the attorney made available to students.
ments at percentages higher than the going market rates. “I think that probably Yale and Harvard have been able to get into some of the better managers earlier,” she said. Over the long run, the University’s endowment is managed to experience less volatile returns than those of other universities, she said. “Brown, bottom line, has just less financial resources than most of our peers,” Huidekoper said. Other institutions either have a larger endowment or fewer students to support, and Brown lacks graduate programs that bring in revenue, she said. “In terms of size, we’re more like Princeton, but we don’t have Princeton’s endowment,” she said. The market value of Princeton’s endowment was $17.1 billion at the end of fiscal year 2011. Princeton has an enormous endowment relative to its student population, and the surplus in its budget means the university usually does not need to cut spending based on poor returns, she said. Other schools like Brown and even Harvard — which has an endowment of $30.7 billion — have to make budgeting adjustments to compensate, she said. But the relative impact of endowment returns for each institution depends on how
much it relies on endowment funds to support its budget, she said.
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Endowment fund allocation The University depends on tuition to cover the majority of its costs, but the endowment also accounted for 14.4 percent, or $120 million, of the University’s total operating budget for the past fiscal year. The University apportioned $88.1 million of that amount for financial aid during the 2011-12 academic year, while the rest went to professorships, graduate student fellowships, library acquisitions, the Division of Biology and Medicine, Brown’s 60-plus academic programs, varsity sports and building maintenance, according to the press release. Though the endowment value is presented as a single figure, it is composed of a series of more than 2,300 individual accounts each restricted to a certain purpose. Donors allocate funds to the endowment to fund specific programs or scholarships, which the University cannot redistribute to cover other costs. Even during the financial downturn, donors continued to contribute gifts to the endowment, with $44 million received in the fiscal year 2009, according to a University press release at the time. “We were very, very fortunate that our donors, even though they had lost some assets too, were still willing to meet their obligations,” Huidekoper said. The University looks to gifts to make up for years where there is a small return on investment, she said. New endowment gifts totaled $60 million this year, according the University press release. / / Money page 9
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the brown daily herald friday, october 19, 2012
Scholars debate solutions to Fence gathers thoughts on immigration U.S. economic inequality By hANNAH KERMAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER
By Katie Lamb Contributing Writer
Two thinkers with drastically different views engaged in a spirited debate Wednesday night about the proper role of government in reducing economic inequality. The debate, hosted by the Alexander Hamilton Society, featured Glenn Loury, professor of economics, and Yaron Brook, president of the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights and a former professor at Santa Clara University. “This may not be as intense of an exchange as the one you witnessed last night,” Loury began, referring to the second presidential debate. “The stakes are not as high, but the stakes are also not trivial.” “Most improvements create winners and losers,” Loury continued. “Should government be in the business of compensating the losers? I’m going to incline toward an affirmative answer on that.” Government is involved in reducing inequality not only in the name of justice and morality, but also in the interest of “pure efficiency,” Loury continued, adding that “government can promote efficiency by investing in the human development of the people lower in society. To say the government should not act that way is to take on a very heavy burden.” Brook accepted this “heavy burden,” responding that the government’s current involvement in reducing inequality “doesn’t make it right.” “I would like equality of basketball,” he said. “I’d like to be as good as Michael Jordan, but the only way to make me better would be to break Michael Jordan’s hands and legs.” Continuing to use Jordan as an example of excellence, he said, “It’s never just natural endowment. It’s hard work, perseverance, incredible mental and physical effort. The only way to bring about equality is to use force against someone.” Brook continued to ask the fundamental question of whether a government’s initiation of force is ever justified. “In the name of justice, in the name of morality, no. It isn’t,” he said. Brook said that though his view was radically opposed to Loury’s and to “90-plus percent of people in this area,” he felt honored to be considered a radical. Through its policies, the United States government is creating “victims in the name of equal-
ity,” he said. In his response, Loury cited an example of inattentive parents raising a child and the need for public education to “create possibility for human development for the kid that’s at the bottom.” Brook disagreed, arguing for the privatization of education and adding that “the thing that would help that kid most is freedom.” In the final section of the debate, Loury and Brook were invited to ask each other questions, after which audience members had an opportunity to ask their own questions. Most of the questions from the audience were directed at Brook. Loury answered a question about affirmative action by jokingly bringing up Mitt Romney’s request for a binder of women during the previous night’s debate. He said while it would be harmful to obsess over counting race or gender, “a cognizance of race is not racism.” Brook again countered Loury’s claim, saying that “race is the most horrific form of collectivism possible,” and that “you don’t solve racism by being a racist.” Following the event, Terrence George ’13, president of the society’s chapter at Brown, said the debate had been a success that was both spirited and respectful. The two professors were chosen for the debate because “their viewpoints could be diametrically opposed,” George said before the debate. Close to 100 students, faculty and supporters of Loury and Brook gathered in MacMillan Hall to hear the professors’ views. Mai Ly ’16, who asked the debaters about affirmative action and the devaluing of individuals, said she appreciated the opportunity to hear a perspective that is “not liberal at all” in the typically liberal University environment. “I thought it’d be interesting to see that clash,” she said. Nicha Ratana-Apiromyakij ’15 said the debate was timely and important. “It’s just been a very heated time, and people come out and are very forward with their views,” she said. The Alexander Hamilton Society chapter was founded on campus last year and aims to foster debate on issues of economics, foreign policy and national defense, George said. The group hosted debates focused on the latter two subjects last year, he added, so this debate was held to address the society’s third focus.
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A large aluminum fence separated Sayles Hall from the rest of the Main Green Thursday afternoon. Supported by cinder blocks, the six units of fencing were adorned with pieces of canvas on which students could spray paint their thoughts and feelings about immigration. The installation was set up as a part of Immigration Week, an initiative organized by the Third World Center. Planning for the installation started in July, said Holly Doerflinger ’13, a member of the Latino Heritage Series, one of the on-campus groups associated with the organization of Immigration Week. “We wanted this to be a week that brought together all the heritage series and other groups to talk about immigration,” Doerflinger said. The week began with a speech Monday by Jose Antonio Vargas, a journalist and undocumented immigrant, and proceeded with talks by politicians and poets, as well as yesterday’s installation. The week will culminate in a family brunch organized by the Multicultural Heritage Series Sunday. In past years, the Brown Immigrant Rights Coalition and Brown Students for Justice in Palestine have held a border commemoration day in April with a similar wall installation on which group members would write. “This is the first year we’re making the process open to the community,
letting the general student body put their own words on the wall,” Doerflinger said. In the installation yesterday, two tables stood in front of the fences, one sporting red, green and blue spray paint. Students running the table handed out spray paint bottles and asked students to talk about what it means to be an American. A slip of paper taped to the table read “Define American” in bold letters, referring to a campaign that seeks to recruit individuals’ thoughts on the definition of an American. The campaign was initiated by Vargas, who revealed in a 2011 New York Times Magazine essay that he was an undocumented immigrant. Sarah Day Dayon ’15, who participated in yesterday’s installation, sprayed the words, “Who gets to be an American?” in blue ink. A Minority Peer Counselor in Archibald Hall, Dayon has been considering issues of race and citizenship in her Asian American history course, which is currently discussing Chinese exclusion and Japanese internment. “This whole week I’ve been thinking about what it means to claim the word ‘American,’” Dayon said. “Too often this is an issue that is not discussed for real,” Doerflinger said. People “just say, ‘Yeah, I’m for immigration,’ but there is so much more to consider.” Other students scrawled phrases such as “This is a nation of immigrants,” “What is an ocean between
us. We can build bridges,” and “No one can tell me where my home is.” Anamta Farook ’14, a member of the Asian American Heritage Series, said Immigration Week was a “very collaborative effort.” “We wanted to do something that was unifying instead of dividing, tying into the idea of borders,” she said. “We thought this would be a good addition to the passive listening that comes with speakers.” This installation, she added, “has created a place where people can interact and express what they feel.” The Immigration Rights Coalition is currently in the process of circulating a petition advocating for the Admission Office to publicly state on the University’s admissions and financial aid website that Brown will accept students regardless of their citizenship or immigration status. As members passed out the petition at yesterday’s installation, they said other colleges have already instituted such policies. Students at Cornell and other Ivy League colleges are spearheading similar movements. Farook said she was pleased with the amount of interaction the installation has seen — “some planned, some just by virtue of being on the Main Green,” she said. Andrea Nate MA ’12, who is a teaching assistant for HISP 0300: “Intermediate Spanish I,” brought the class to look at the wall. “Immigration has been the topic of our class for the past few weeks,” she said. “It’s so relevant.”
4 science & research Production Researchers use fruit flies to investigate seizures explores religion, spirituality By Sandra Yan Staff Writer
By katherine kiernan contributing writer
In an open rehearsal Thursday evening at 95 Empire Street downtown, the production “Maria Kizito” led its audience down the complicated path of good, evil, suffering and hope as a part of what playwright Erik Ehn, professor of theater arts and performance studies, described as a “spiritual investigation into sincerity in prayer.” The production is a part of a cycle of plays written by Ehn entitled “Soulographie: Our Genocides” that will premiere in November at La MaMa Experimental Theater Club in New York. The play tells the “spiritual biography” of Maria Kizito, one of two Roman Catholic nuns found guilty of contributing to the deaths of 7,000 Tutsis during the Rwandan genocide in 1994, according to the “Soulographie” website. During the bloody war, over 800,000 people were killed as the international community stood by and did little to help. At the time of the nuns’ trial in 2001, CNN reported that the nuns were charged with conspiring with Hutus to murder the Tutsis refugees. The play explores the story of the genocide and the events that occurred at this Rwandan convent through the lens of the rituals and prayers the nuns continued to practice with as much precision and consistency as the murders they helped orchestrate. Ehn said he wrote the 17-play series when, after years of traveling to East Africa and South America, he started thinking more fully about his own faith and the issues raised by injustice and / / Nuns page 6 genocide in
Tiny fruit flies may hold the key to unlocking the mysteries behind certain diseases. University researchers, in collaboration with researchers at the University of California at Irvine, used a technique known as homologous recombination to model temperature-dependent seizures — known as febrile seizures — in fruit flies, thereby enabling them to study the mechanisms behind epilepsy. In a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience Oct. 10, the scientists developed a method to transpose a region of the human epileptic seizure-causing mutation directly into the analogous region of a fruit fly’s gene, transferring the human disease into the flies. This work represents the first time scientists have “put a human diseasecausing mutation into a fly gene” using homologous recombination, said Robert Reenan, professor of biology. “If we do it as carefully as we possibly can to make it as close as possible to the human condition, we have a better chance of using the model to search for cures,” he said. The researchers observed that when they increased the temperature, the fruit flies began exhibiting signs of neural overactivity before becoming paralyzed. When the temperature was then decreased back to normal, the fruit flies continued seizing, some for as long as 20 minutes. Flies that had only one copy of the mutated gene did not seize as much as those with two copies of the mutation did. Diane O’Dowd, professor of developmental and cell biology at UC Irvine and a co-author on the study, said that children under the age of five typically do not regulate internal temperatures very well and frequently have temperature-dependent seizures. Individuals with the mutation continue to have these seizures as adults. O’Dowd’s group recorded neurons in fruit fly brains and discovered that certain inhibitory neurons, called GABA-ergic
neurons, do not function properly when the temperature increases. Thus, excitatory neurons essentially work overtime, which the researchers hypothesize could potentially be related to the resulting seizures. To test this hypothesis, the researchers gave the mutant flies a toxin that blocks GABA receptors and saw a resulting increase in seizing. As a follow-up, O’Dowd plans to grow neurons from tissues of humans with the disease to see if the pattern from the fruit flies still holds. John Manak, an assistant professor of biology at the University of Iowa who was not associated with the study, said he is “a big fan of using Drosophila models” and believes this research could be useful for genetic screening. Manak suggested a follow-up study to identify which specific GABA-ergic neurons are associated with the physical characteristics of the disease. The researchers now have the option of exploring other mutations in the fruit fly. They hope to find other genes that, when mutated, could essentially cancel out the effect of the disease-causing mutation. This could lead to potential new avenues to therapy, Reenan said. This type of approach could lead to major advances in studying other diseases, such as genetically inherited diabetes and Lou Gehrig’s disease. Another possible route is to “humanize” the fly genes by sneaking in the human amino acid sequence. If the flies remain normal, scientists can then introduce the human mutation into these genes and observe whether defects develop. Reenan said initially he wasn’t sure whether this technique would work but decided to go ahead and explore it. The day before the adult flies hatched, Jeff Gilligan ’12, a student in his lab, came in “and looked kind of sick,” Reenan said. “The next day, he came in, and he said, ‘The flies are out! The flies are out!’ and we put the flies into the vial, and we watched, and we were like, ‘Oh, my God, they’re seizing!’” “It was worth it,” he added.
/ / Brain page 1 exercises in which participants moved side by side the dance company’s professional members. “See that scaffolding over there? That’s an amygdala,” said Dorothy Jungels, director and artistic director at the workshop. “And that sheet — that’s the first brain,” Jungels added, pointing to a gigantic white cloth hung from the ceiling. Thursday’s workshop represented a much larger part of the Everett’s mission to making the arts accessible to a wide array of individuals. Founded in Providence in 1986 by Dorothy Jungels and her three children, the company runs a “one-room schoolhouse,” where free dance, theater and singing classes are taught to low-income youth, said Aaron Jungels, Dorothy’s son. “The kids who a lot of times wouldn’t have access to the arts can find a pathway to the arts through our school,” he said. “A lot of the kids end up staying for years.” But Everett is also breaking through disciplinary boundaries, fostering conversation between scientists and artists. The company’s first evening concert piece, “The Science Project,” which premiered in 1992, portrayed a variety of physics experiments and delved into the history of the atomic bomb, said Aaron Jungels. To get ideas for the performance, the company met with six state science teachers and worked with students after school to bring physics to the stage. The company did “all sorts of crazy stuff ” like creating a gigantic balance with a sofa on one side and students on the other, Aaron Jungels said. “We hung students from the ceilings — they were pendulums,” he said with a smile. Discovering the brain The idea for BRAIN STORM, the company’s seventh evening-length concert, stems from the experience of students at Everett’s stage school
the brown daily herald friday, october 19, 2012
for low-income youth. “A lot of the kids in the school have learning disorders,” Aaron Jungels said. “We craft our programs to fit students with those issues in their lives.” These students got the company thinking about the brain. Aaron Jungels said the company did extensive research to create BRAIN STORM — reading books, collecting articles and interviewing researchers at Brown. The company approached Robert Davenport, associate director of the Biomedical Institute for Brain Science, in October 2010 with the idea of a production inspired by neuroscience. “I was pretty impressed by how deep they were looking,” Davenport said. “It was not just a superficial look at how the brain works.” In addition to talking with neuroscientists, the company conducted patient interviews over two years at the Crotched Mountain hospital and rehabilitation center for people with brain injuries in New Hampshire. The company also hosted a series of monthly Brain Cafes, in which a scientist studying a particular brain disorder and an individual suffering from that disorder would share their experience with community members. Audience reactions and group discussion gave the company ideas to incorporate into the show, Aaron Jungels said. While bringing art and science together definitely represents the meshing of perspectives, this integration is not without challenges. “Finding the scientists who have the interest in art is the trick,” Aaron Jungels said. “You have to find someone who is open-minded enough to go beyond their normal.” Bringing the brain to stage Once the company collaborated with scientists, it was time to bring the brain into the spotlight. “It was easy to get overwhelmed by the complexity of the brain, and all the directions we could go with this piece,” Aaron Jungels said. “You hunt for images,” Dorothy Jungels said. “How do we depict? What symbols do we use?” The company joined forces with filmmaker Laura Colella GS to add a digital media dimension to the performance. “There was a desire to use film to create an out-of body experience,” which is a common symptom of brain trauma, Dorothy Jungels said. Dorothy Jungels also used imagery and movement to explore brain mapping. “We hear so many stories of doctors mapping the brain, and the brain being like streets to some doctors,” she said. She ultimately decided to communicate this concept through the projection of an image of 42nd Street during part of the performance. Representing memory was an additional challenge. “We’d be thinking, ‘How do you depict memory? How do you depict memory?’” she said. The company finally settled on scaffolding to represent the compartmentalization of memory. “The scaffolding becomes a little stage — a memory storehouse,” she said. Dress rehearsal Audience members at the dress / / Brain page 5 rehearsal of
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the brown daily herald friday, october 19, 2012
Brain Cafe highlights Panel talks intersection of science, art paralysis research By Hunter Breckinridge Contributing Writer
By Mariya Bashkatova Staff Writer
Neuroscience does not easily lend itself to singing and dancing, but that’s the unusual experience the audience witnessed at Everett Company’s Brain Cafe on locked-in syndrome Wednesday. The cafe was part of Everett’s five-day Brain Storm residency, which focuses on the intersection of neuroscience and art. The performance, held at the Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts, began with an invitation for the audience and performers to greet one another with a contra dance and ended on a lighthearted note with a song-and-dance number to Gene Kelly’s “Make Way for Tomorrow.” But in between, the serious topic of paralysis was explored through the personal story of Margaret Worthen, coupled with a talk by John Simeral, assistant professor of research in the School of Engineering and chief systems engineer for BrainGate2. The opening movement piece overlaid dance with a monologue by Nancy Worthen to depict the story of her daughter Margaret, who suffered a brainstem stroke several days before her college graduation and was left completely paralyzed. Her condition, in which she is mentally aware but paralyzed and unable to communicate in conventional ways, is termed locked-in syndrome. The dance interwove memories from before and after the stroke. Scenes of animated motion were contrasted with periods of stillness in which the dancer playing Margaret was helped by dancers dressed in scrubs. Afterward, Simeral presented the current research of BrainGate2, which is focused on developing technology that allows paralyzed patients to control computer cursors or even prosthetic limbs with just their brain activity, allowing for increased mobility and communication. This technology works using an implanted array of microelectrodes in the brain of a patient. When the patient imagines performing an action, neurons in the motor cortex of the brain fire in a pattern that would signal the body to move in a certain way. The sensor
reads this activity, and an algorithm determines how a mechanical arm should move. Currently, the technology is in a safety testing phase and is not available to the public. In the future, the team hopes the technology will be perfected and available, he said, and future research directions could include circumnavigating broken nerve connections in the spinal cord to directly innervate muscles using brain activity, he said. “When will the wireless be available?” joked Cathy Hutchinson, a BrainGate2’s test subject who was also in the audience, spelling out her question using an eye-tracker board. While conducting research for Brain Storm, Providence-based Everett Company wanted a forum in which they could learn more about the brain from leading scientists, said Dorothy Jungels, artistic director and founder of Everett. Brain Cafe started as the “opportunity to interact with scientists and artists and see what we have in common,” Jungels told The Herald. “Scientists invent, artists invent. We’re curious and playful.” Then people like Margaret’s mother started coming forward with stories they wanted to share. Once, a woman with Tourette’s syndrome came forward to collaborate on a hip-hop dance based on her tics. Soon, the cafe idea grew beyond its original conception and became a way to interact with the public as well as with scientists, with the goal of connecting science with the real human heart of the issues, she told The Herald. Hannah Benenson ’15 said she liked how the event “intertwined emotion and science,” adding that people often lose sight of the emotional center of a topic such as this by being too focused on its intellectual side. A dance can show “in a way that is easier than words how hard that moment is after a person has had an accident,” Worthen said as part of her commentary after the piece. “Storytelling is at the heart of human life,” Jungels told The Herald. Art is about making you feel, and that’s what this performance was for, she said.
Five artists and scientists spoke Tuesday evening as part of a Brain Storm panel about the connection between science and art. Produced by the Everett Company, the speakers discussed how they had integrated science and art within their own careers and how the two can be combined in science education. The integration of science and art was at the heart of the discussion. All of the speakers came from disparate fields, and each integrated the separate domains of science and art into their own work. “What happens when we are all at the same table?” said Dorothy Jungels, who founded Everett. Everett began when Dorothy and Aaron Jungels first collaborated with science teacher Paul Mellows to create a theater piece about physics at Middletown High School in 1986. Aaron Jungels presented a video of their first production during his presentation. Their intent was to instill science skills in students though art.
/ / Brain page 4 BRAIN STORM were glued to their seats, yet their brains mirrored the performance. As they watched the dancers’ movements, the complimentary areas of their brains were activated, Davenport said. Video clips of the Crotched Mountain patients were projected onto the performers’ faces. The show honed in on brain physiology, but humanized the neuroscience through the interviews and memories of the actual dancers. The show ended with a chaotic scene in which the company propelled themselves across the stage via scaffolding. BRAIN STORM was well-received by the curious audience, who fired questions at the company at the end of the show. BRAIN STORM offered an “interesting view into the human psyche,” said Zachary Hall, a community member who attended the show. Chris Stewart, a plumber who was doing work at a nearby shop, commented on the show’s “sense of fun, the speed, the precision.” “I liked the juggling in the show,” Stewart said. “It added a sense of traditional showmanship, but the rest of the piece felt so avant-garde,” he said.
Lucy Spelman, a veterinarian and a faculty member at the Rhode Island School of Design, now uses a similar method of teaching at RISD, where her students create art that interprets current issues in science, such as genetics and pollution. She first utilized the science-art connection to promote advocacy for gorillas in Rwanda, while working with the organization One Health. After realizing that the welfare of gorillas and humans is intrinsically linked, she decided that she needed people to actively participate in their conservation. “Effective science can help us connect to the natural world,” she said. Spelman said she encourages people to use art to connect with the gorillas and their habitat. Sarah Pease, a student at RISD who founded the STEAM club on campus, described her motivation for founding the group, which adds arts to the science, technology, engineering and math of traditional STEM programs. The student interest group meets to work on projects without focusing on end results, brings in speakers and promotes integrated education in schools. A senior in furniture
design at RISD, Pease utilizes science and technology in her work. She combined these interests last fall as a visiting student in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology media lab, where she discovered that technology allows artists to design more than they are otherwise able to by hand. “Some programs are developing to the extent that the hands get lost,” she said. Michael Paradiso, a professor of neuroscience and director of Brown’s Center for Vision Research, discussed how the brain perceives art, focusing on parts of the brain that are responsible for detecting edges in images as well as the area of the brain thought to recognize faces. Held in a studio at the Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts, the event was attended by a small crowd that included many community members. The room contained an oversized brain model next to the panelists’ table. The panelists spoke about their inspiration for becoming scientists and artists and their decision to combine the fields. After each speaker had presented on his or her work, there was a brief Q&A.
During the question-and-answer session, the company commented on the fluid nature of the show’s development. “We’re usually not done until the day of the show,” said Rachel Jungels, creator and performer.
the human story together with the scientific concepts.” Aaron Jungels is equally enthusiastic about the overlap of science and art. “I just get juiced by science,” he said. Davenport said he hopes the “fantastic opportunity” of collaboration between artists and scientists continues to be fostered at the University and beyond. “It can be very easy for scientists to be caught up in the lingo of your field,” Davenport said. “Having someone come in from the outside from an artistic background and ask questions — really dig in on a big picture level — has tremendous value.”
A neural connection BRAIN STORM represents a unique project in which the traditionally separated fields of science and art coalesce. “Brain science can be intimidating because people think it’s so complex and hard to understand,” Davenport said. “Art has a big role to play in humanizing the subject … bringing
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6 science & research NSF awards U. researchers $1.75 million grant
the brown daily herald friday, october 19, 2012
f r e e fa l l i n g
By Alyssa Self Staff Writer
Researchers at Brown recently received a $1.75 million grant from the National Science Foundation’s Centers for Chemical Innovation Program to study whether carbon dioxide can be used in place of fossil fuels in the production of industrial chemicals. The multidisciplinary, multi-institutional project involves researchers in both engineering and chemistry. Millions of tons of industrial chemicals are produced each year that require petroleum for starting material, said Tayhas Palmore, professor of engineering, biology and medicine and principle investigator on the grant. Petroleum is a fossil fuel that, when burned, releases carbon dioxide — a greenhouse gas that has been linked to climate change — into the atmosphere. Given the growing demand for petroleum and diminishing quantities of it, devising a way to use carbon dioxide in its place during chemical production would reduce the carbon footprint of the production process. Carbon dioxide is present in high concentrations in exhaust from factories and automobiles. The researchers hope that in the future, exhaust could be collected and used as the starting carbon dioxide source for industrial chemical production. Palmore described using carbon dioxide as a “way to get around using oil, a limited resource that is only getting more expensive.” In this way, researchers would be able to close the energy cycle and create a more sustainable means of chemical production. Palmore’s team is investigating how to convert carbon dioxide into “commodity chemicals” such as ethylene, acrylic acid and formic acid. These chemicals are created in bulk and then purchased by other companies to make pharmaceutical and plastic products. While the current produc-
Emily gilbert / herald
Students celebrate Special Event Committee’s “Fall Fest” with seasonal foods and performances by student groups.
Nuns / / page 4
Courtesy of Tayhas Palmore
Yuanyuan Zhang GS (right) and Steven Ahn GS (left) research substituting carbon dioxide for fossil fuels in chemical production. tion method requires petroleum- hope to develop a catalyst that would derived precursors, the new process be practical for use in the industry, would use emitted carbon dioxide as Hazari said. a starting material. “The strategy should be competiCurrently, “there is no effective tive, if not better than what is currently means of sequestering carbon dioxide commercially available,” Hazari said. and using it for a useful purpose,” said Though the scale of chemical inSteven Ahn PhD’17, who is studying dustry emissions is small relative to engineering. that of the automobile industry, pullBut this is what the researchers ing carbon dioxide out of the atmohope to change. sphere and finding an alternative to Chemical catalysts can be used petroleum starting material would be to convert carbon dioxide into these environmentally beneficial, Ahn said. commodity chemicals, said Nilay The process could also be applied Hazari, assistant professor of chem- to other areas, such as heating. “If we istry at Yale, a collaborator on the can make ethylene, we’re on the way research. Catalysts reduce the mini- to figuring out how to make methane,” mum amount of required energy for Palmore said. “This applies to fuels, a reaction, allowing the reaction to and fuels are used everywhere.” occur at a faster rate. When carbon “It is possible that fundamental dioxide and catalysts are combined, knowledge that we gain in this will the reaction yields the desired chemi- be useful in a process for developing cal products. Through study of carbon fuels from carbon dioxide,” Hazari dioxide catalysis, the researchers also said. “And that would have an impact.”
the world. The magnitude of the issue of genocide made it necessary for Ehn to have multiple productions with diverse perspectives and unique narratives, he said. Sharing the same Catholic faith with the nuns at the heart of “Maria Kizito” made the overwhelming topic of genocide more personal for Ehn. “The press made it easy to treat it like something strange that happened faraway” rather than a subject that people could relate to, Ehn said. This past September, another play from the “Soulographie” series — “Yermedea” — premiered at Leeds Theater. Both plays explore the issue of genocide in different regions of the world. “Yermedea” is set in El Salvador, one of the countries that Ehn visited throughout his travels. The two plays bring different angles to the examination of genocide, with “Maria Kizito” originating from the history of the genocide as opposed to the “myth and ritual” employed in “Yermedea,” he said. The seven-person cast of “Maria Kizito” includes artists from both the United States and Uganda who have come together through a mutual interest in the relationship between theater and activism. Being able to work together and discuss how to stop genocide allows the cast members to discover
new viewpoints, said Ugandan actor Tonny Muwangala. Muwangala, who is the only male member of the cast, plays Rekeho, a member of the Hutus who worked with Maria Kizito to murder the Tutsi refugees. Since he is a native of one of the countries that borders Rwanda, Muwangala said he uniquely understands this period of history that many Americans overlook. Part of the play’s role, Muwangala said, is bringing together people from America and East Africa to connect over the “universality of genocide.” The brutality, selfishness and greed that are the essence of genocide are problems that affect people across the world at different levels, he said. The rehearsal on Thursday was not so much a formal run through of the production as it was an experiment in the different ways theater can contribute to discussions about genocide. The evening began with a singing practice of some of the compositions that were created based on Ehn’s script. The songs harmoniously combine melodies of African language and culture with the peaceful chant of a Christian hymn in a way that conveys both the instability and spirituality that are at the heart of the play. The actors then divided into small groups and performed reenactments of different scenes, incorporating the audience in each performance in various ways. Through this, the audience was pulled into the dark spaces the refugees were trapped in, into the sounds they heard and into the spirits of people whose emotions still remain even though their bodies do not. The evening concluded with a discussion between the cast members and the audience about their thoughts during those scenes and their reflections on how to approach the larger question of genocide and injustice. Director Emily Mendelsohn said “the play is about hope … taking us into despair to the place where hope is not recognizable.” Viewers need to be prepared for a play that “works more like a meditation or reflection than a roller coaster,” Ehn said, and be willing to open themselves up to look at the horrors of genocide through spirituality and art. Ehn said he hopes “Maria Kizito” can contribute to discussions about genocide, poverty and injustice in the world. “Genocide requires us to be humble in ignorance and unstable in preparation because it is bigger than us,” Ehn said. It is part of the nature of the production that the audience leaves wrestling with questions of how tragedies like this can occur and how humans are capable of creating them. “The only meaningful response is to change your life,” Ehn said.
arts & culture 7
the brown daily herald friday, october 19, 2012
/ / Winter page 1 stripped from their boards by intermission, reflecting how everything Leontes treasured has disappeared in some capacity. This dismantling marks the end of act three, where a broken Leontes sobs alone in fetal position in the center of the stage. “Taibi has a clear, specific, and passionate vision — it’s hard not to feel comfortable with her direction,” said Elise LeBreton MFA’14, who plays Hermione, Queen of Sicilia. Taibi manipulated the flexibility of the Pell Chafee Performance Center, an intimate space that can integrate the audience into the performance. Mimed scenes occur throughout the performance either on the sidelines, behind the gauzy curtains or even behind the audience’s seats. Actors toy with the audience members, prolonging eye contact during monologues, running by the seats in bear costume and even offering a member of the audience a red Solo cup during a party scene. In a climactic merging of the set and play, Leontes attempts to murder
his newborn baby girl with a sandbag he seizes from the base of the curtains. Taibi’s triumph manifests in the stirring relationships her direction creates in a work that is often considered one of Shakespeare’s “problem plays” due to its structural imperfections. She cut more than 45 percent of the original text, reducing the play’s original running time of over three-and-a-half hours to a reasonable length. Shakespeare’s famous stage direction ‘Exit, pursued by bear’ appears in the climactic Act 3, Scene 3. “Most people think, ‘oh shit, that’s the play with the bear and the statue that comes to life,’” said Carisa Platt MFA’14, who portrays the noblewoman Paulina. “For me, it’s not about the wackiness or the fairy tale or ‘exit by bear.’ It’s about a family that comes apart. I think there are so many opportunities to tell a story — a story of family, betrayal and forgiveness.” Performed exclusively by secondyear students in the MFA program, the ensemble was cohesive and strong, featuring gripping emotional performances by Ben Chase MFA’14 (Leontes)
and LeBreton in their roles as the King and Queen of Sicily. Other highlights include the distinct performances of Sylvia Kates MFA’14, who performs as both the boy prince Mamillius and the abandoned princess Perdita. Kates transforms herself unrecognizably from a slobbering, twitchy kid to a coquettish young lady better than her costume change ever could. Zdenko Martin MFA’14 also inspires much of the charm of the production in his portrayal of the mischievous charlatan Autolycus, stealing the show as well as assorted clothing items, gold coins and a fanny pack. Martin composed the original score for the production, often serenading the audience with his guitar during transitions between scenes. “It’s amazing that these people are great actors and musicians, but composers? And the music was made for this play, these people, this space,” Platt said. The diverse musical score was a high point of the show, ranging from folk songs to Prince. “I like to think of the music as fresh and resonant,” Taibi said. Taibi’s love for this unique play is
Evan thomas / herald
Trinity Repertory’s production of “The Winter’s Tale” is being performed exclusively by second-year students in the University MFA program. salient to the cast and audience of her adaptation. “The real thing is, she loves this play. Her love is infectious — you can’t help but get excited. She’s so jazzed about it,” Platt said. With Trinity’s com-
pelling production, audiences will no doubt share Taibi’s excitement. “The Winter’s Tale” runs through Oct. 21 in the Pell Chafee Performance Center at Trinity Rep.
Modern-day ‘Richard III’ explores the power of charm By caroline saine senior staff writer
Shakespeare on the Green will turn Metcalf Courtyard into a modern political stage for its performance of “Richard III” this weekend, the first time the theater troupe has performed in this space. The play, which runs Oct. 18-21, portrays the rise to power of Richard III, whose charisma and clever turn of phrase offset his physical deformities. Despite his many indiscretions, Richard is able to charm those around him with every manner of artful manipulation. Throughout the play, characters begin the scene despising him, only to leave the stage completely taken over by his charms. Director Emma Brandt ’14 envisioned the play in a more modern setting — “taking place in the halls of Congress,” she said. The costumes reflect the contemporary setting, with characters in business suits and roses on their lapels — the flowers red and white to signify the Wars of the Roses. “It’s about power and abuse of power,” Brandt said. In light of election season, “We wanted to think about the role of charm in politics,” she added. Richard’s ability to seduce those around him while simultaneously orchestrating their deaths and downfalls is supposed to disturb the audience, Brandt said. “It should be a little unnerving.” The play boasts a cast of 15 actors, who together play 20 parts. Nearly half the original characters were cut from the play, Brandt said, to facilitate ease of comprehension and accommodate the
large amount of dialogue removed from the original. The roles are gender-neutral, with both women and men playing characters originally of the opposite sex. The casting choice enabled transcendent performances from the actors. Brian Semel ’16 is a standout as Lady Anne Neville, a woman who, angry and grieving over the deaths of her husband and father-inlaw, is courted and eventually seduced by Richard. Props are used sparingly, allowing the actors to fully embrace their stage. A single table functions as both a surface to hold the body of Henry VI and the desk of Richard III once he is anointed king. The actors take full advantage of the courtyard, entering the scene from varying locations and performing close to the audience. Simon Henriques ’15 as Richard masters the many dimensions of the stage, leaping onto benches and towering above the other characters, a contrast that adds another dimension of power to Richard’s already commanding presence. Richard III is both the titular character and the star of the play. Henriques brings incredible force to the role, coupling Richard’s forceful rhetoric with fluid movements and broad gestures. Richard’s physicality contrasts with the rigidity of the other characters, all of whom seem dwarfed by Richard both in height and authority. Ari Beller ’16 and Nick Anderson ’16 are both funny and poignantly sincere as two murderers hired by Richard who are grappling with their consciences, and Max
Genecov ’15 brings fervor to role of the strong-willed Queen Elizabeth Woodville. The audience feels at once divorced from — though deeply entrenched in — the events of the play, as major advancements are often not shown onstage, but instead reported to the crowd by a newscaster (Darcy Pinkerton ’14). The addition of this original character, who Brandt based on Scrivener in the Shakespearean play, allowed the show to be condensed from three to roughly two hours, Brandt said. The play’s most climactic scene involves an element of the supernatural — the ghosts of those characters who died because of Richard return to him as he sleeps, cursing him in overlapping reprimands. Richard awakes with a sense of newfound despair and self-loathing and laments that even he cannot love himself. “At that point he’s completely psychologically broken down,” Brandt said. Richard’s undoing is both literal and metaphoric in the scene, as he gradually removes his clothing, leaving his back brace — and symbolic vulnerability — exposed as the scene ends. The question of self, Brandt said, is constantly addressed within the play. Richard contorts his character based on the people he interacts with, constantly refiguring his identity to further himself in the political world. “If you are performing all the time,” Brandt said, do you have any true sense of self? “Everybody is kind of different with different people,” Brandt said. “Richard takes that to a certain extreme.”
corinne Szczesny / herald
Shakespeare on the Green’s adaptation of “Richard III” imagines the classic play on a modern political stage.
8 arts & culture
the brown daily herald friday, october 19, 2012
Visual artist connects technology and art First-years seek religious
community on campus
By sonia phene contributing writer
The scene is not the typical image of artists at work — a group of people working together to display images from a computer onto a large screen — yet the artists are some of the most prominent artists and designers in the world. The user interface is their method of engaging the audience, and the technology is their art. This is the work that Paolo Rosa, acclaimed visual artist and Fitt Artistin-Residence at Brown from Oct. 15–26, is doing at Studio Azzurro in Milan, Italy. Rosa is holding workshops and making presentations at Brown about the history of Studio Azzurro, which he helped found. He is accompanied by Luigi Di Corato, general director of the Siena Museums Foundation, a group that takes an innovative approach to redesigning museums. Rosa has been merging art and technology for more than 30 years. Studio Azzuro has made huge strides in artistic innovation, exploring natural user interfaces and the involvement of spectators, said Massimo Riva, professor of Italian studies. In his opening presentation Oct. 15, Rosa presented various past exhibits from Studio Azzurro. The talk, entitled “Living Images,” also included a discussion of Rosa’s artistic philosophy. Rosa’s idea of art is at the core of his work, he told The Herald. “It is not the search for the spectacle, but it is the spectacle of the search,” he said.
By Elizabeth Koh Senior Staff Writer
Corinne szczesny / herald
Visual artist Paolo Rosa gave a talk entitled “Living Images,” in which he spoke about art, technology and his artistic philsophy. One featured exhibit from 1984 called “The Swimmer Goes to Heidelberg too Often” consisted of a display of several televisions in a row. Each television showed a different part of a swimming pool, and the exhibit alternated between a coherent view of a swimmer taking lengths in the pool and a disjointed one. Studio Azzurro has taken an experimental approach to technology with a broad range of areas including neuroscience, quantum physics, bioengineering and computer science, Rosa said during the talk. This has contributed in part to the collaboration between artists, he said. Rosa and Corato are holding several workshops over the next two weeks. Corato has been involved in creating “museums of narration,” Riva said. Corato said he hopes students will get to know what most Italian museums are like. “Our model is very different and much more sustainable — socially,
culturally and economically,” he said. Corato is the director of a foundation that oversees 43 different institutions in Southern Tuscany, according to the Creative Arts Council website. The Department of Italian Studies spearheaded the effort to bring Rosa to Brown in collaboration with the CAC and the John Nicholas Brown Center for the Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage. Riva met Rosa in a workshop about digital creativity in Siena, Italy, which sparked Riva’s interest in inviting Rosa to Brown. “We realized we had much in common — he as an artist, and I as a scholar,” Riva said. Rosa’s visit is part of a series of events in Italian art and culture, Riva said. These events, including a music symposium in early October and an upcoming film director visit are “a taste of what we are going to do,” he said. “We are bringing a little bit of Italy, and we try to bring the best,” Riva said.
For many first-years, the first few months at Brown means moving into a dorm for the first time, laying down ground rules with roommates and making new friends. But the first few weeks of college can also mean additional, less visible challenges. Among them is preserving student religious identity. Religious anxiety In August, the Office of the Chaplains and Religious Life reported that about 1,000 students in the class of 2016 — approximately two-thirds of the freshman class — had not registered a religious affiliation on Banner. The normal reporting rate averages approximately 75 percent of the student body, said University Chaplain Janet Cooper Nelson. The Office of Religious Life began holding consultation meetings earlier this month with the purpose of creating a task force to explore the religious affiliation response rate. Cooper Nelson said the August data will be used as a baseline until new data is collected from Banner. “(A task team is) working together to consider several options and dimensions of this data gathering for future classes,” Cooper Nelson wrote in an email to The Herald. Most first-years interviewed said they were unaware of the lower affiliation rate in their class. “I didn’t even know this was a thing,” said Tin Nguyen ’16. He said that he has rarely discussed religion with his peers. “I’m not a religious person, so it isn’t really a big deal,” he said. Students said that an inherent discomfort with discussing religion may have contributed to the lower reporting rate. “I think when you bring religion out, people feel like there’s this new boundary,” said Saba Shevidi ’16. “Religion really makes people feel uncomfortable when they begin talking about that.” Shevidi said she had not registered her religious affiliation on Banner. “I do not want my religious affiliation anywhere,” she said. “It’s something very personal to me.” “I don’t think I put anything down,” said Ji In Choi ’16. Choi, who hails from Korea, said she was not religious but rejected the atheist label. “I’m open to other people’s religion,” she said. “Just don’t get me into it.” Kathleen Huntzicker ’16 said she was concerned about reporting a religious affiliation on Banner because she was “worried they’d use me in a statistic” and because she was conflicted about her religious identity. “I really don’t know what to answer,” she said. But Huntzicker said she was impressed by the diversity of religion at Brown she has observed so far. “I wasn’t really exposed to any religion” in my childhood, she said. “I actually find it really cool.”
A long tradition The University has a long history of religious tolerance dating back to its founding, Cooper Nelson said. “Brown is a private, secular institution,” she said. “We don’t have a religious affiliation. We’ve never had one.” In that regard, the University follows in its state’s footsteps, which was founded on principles of religious tolerance. “Religion should be a free and unfettered and personal matter,” Cooper Nelson added, paraphrasing Rhode Island’s founder Roger Williams. But the Brown student body is still largely religious, Cooper Nelson said. About 35 percent of the student body identifies as Protestant, 25 percent as Roman-Catholic and 20 percent of the student body is Jewish, she said. The remainder of students identify as Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and other religious minorities, and 5 percent of students register as atheists, Cooper Nelson said. Students’ affiliations are complicated by many factors, such as the religious backgrounds of family members, Cooper Nelson said, asking, “What if your dad is Buddhist, and your mother’s Catholic, and you’re not sure what you are?” Finding a niche But some first-years have found religious communities on campus to support their identity. “I’ve gone to the (Brown/RISD) Hillel for services on Friday nights,” said Rachel Leiken ’16, who said she is a practicing Jew. “There’ve been a lot of people there — it’s been really cool.” Leiken said she mentioned her religious affiliation when she had to miss classes to observe Jewish holidays, but that it “wasn’t something that’s come up very much.” Rudy Torres ’16 said religion rarely surfaces in conversations with his peers. Cooper Nelson stressed the value of continuing to promote religious dialogue on campus. “Whether or not you’re religious, here at Brown, you will have an opportunity to become religiously literate,” Cooper Nelson said. “You will need to know how to hear and how to understand the meaning of the conversation you’re involved with and the person opposite you may well be speaking out of categories of belief that are critical to their decisionmaking.” “Most of the people that I’ve met here are not religious,” said Torres, who registered as Roman-Catholic on Banner. “There’s not too many.” Torres, who attends the 10:30 a.m. weekly mass at Manning Chapel, described the bonding as a positive experience. “After we have mass, everyone gets together and has a bagel breakfast,” he said. “The whole environment is nice.”
www.browndailyherald.com
sports friday 9
the brown daily herald friday, october 19, 2012
/ / Football page 12
Picks from Ivy League Sports Writers The Brown Daily Herald
Columbia Daily Spectator
The Daily Pennsylvanian
The Daily Princetonian
The Dartmouth
The Harvard Crimson
Cornell. “An injury-ridden Bears offense won’t be able to keep up with the Big Red’s airborne attack duo of Chris Amrhein and Luke Tasker.”
Cornell. “Brown’s passing defense is currently ranked third among Ivy teams, but that will probably change after Jeff Mathews is finished. The only thing that might hold Cornell back in this game is its lackluster defense.”
Cornell. “There’s no way Cornell doesn’t win this by doubledigits.”
Cornell. “Without Spiro Theodhosi, Bears don’t have enough offense to stay with Cornell.”
Cornell. “Cornell’s passing attack should carve up Brown.”
Cornell. “This offensive showdown could go down to the wire, but at the end of the day, the Cornell attack has too many weapons for Brown to handle.”
Dartmouth. “Dartmouth’s marginal advantage on both sides of the ball will tip this game slowly in favor of the Big Green, especially as the Lions continue to struggle on offense. “
Columbia. “Columbia stalled a few hearts last week at Penn, and with their offense finally starting to click, Dartmouth’s defense might be in for a long day. “
Columbia. “My upset pick of the week — did you know Columbia has the No. 13 rushing defense in the FCS?”
Dartmouth. “Lions’ play was interesting last week, but they probably don’t have a repeat performance in them.”
Dartmouth. “If Dartmouth loses this game, their Ivy League season is effectively over. On the road, Dartmouth picks up the W, though a bit too close for comfort. Dartmouth 14, Columbia 13.”
Dartmouth. “Between Columbia and Yale, the two should win one Ivy game this season (when they play each other). I see Dartmouth having no trouble against the Lions on Saturday.”
Penn. “Penn’s unsteady offense will take the advantage over Yale’s weak defense, and though that advantage will be small, the Bulldogs won’t have an answer for it.”
Penn. “As usual, Penn’s non-conference schedule makes them look weaker than they actually are, but an offense led by Billy Ragone can be a force to be reckoned with.”
Penn. “Despite Penn QB Billy Ragone saying, ‘Yale’s strength is its (seventh in Ivy League) defense,’ Ragone will feed off his two-TD fourth quarter last week and pull out a W in New Haven.”
Penn. “Penn needed rabbit’s feet against Columbia, but Yale has a lot more problems.”
Penn. “Penn’s offense should overpower a struggling Yale defense. An easy win for Penn.”
Penn. “Penn has looked fallible in the early goings, but the Quakers should have no trouble against the Bulldogs, who currently have the worst defense and secondworst offense in the Ivy League.”
Harvard. “Despite an unexpectedly redhot Princeton team, Colton Chapple’s determined offense will give the Tigers’ defense their biggest challenge of the season.”
Harvard. “Princeton might make this one close after shutting out Brown this week, but until proven otherwise, Harvard is still the class of the Ancient Eight.”
Harvard. “So Harvard is kind of a good team this year... and though Princeton hasn’t been quite the doormat it’s been the last few seasons, the Crimson will give the Tigers a reality check.”
Harvard. “The Tigers are having a really interesting resurgence, but Harvard is a steamroller.”
Harvard. “The best team in the league should win against perhaps the weakest Ivy squad.”
Harvard. “The Crimson defense, which looked questionable at the beginning of the year, has shined of late, and no one has been able to slow down the Harvard offense in over a year. That said, the dominant Crimson offense against the dominant Princeton defense is the matchup to watch in the Ivy League this weekend. “
Editors/Writers Jake Comer and
Myles Simmons
Megan Soisson
Kevin Whitaker
Brett Drucker and Noah Reichblum
Bobby Samuels
Pick Accuracy
88% (7/8)
83% (5/6)
75% (6/8)
50% (4/8)
75% (6/8)
Brown vs. Cornell Total Votes: Brown: 0 Cornell: 6
Columbia vs. Dartmouth Total Votes: Dartmouth: 4 Columbia: 2
Penn vs. Yale Total Votes: Penn: 6 Yale: 0
Harvard vs. Princeton Total Votes: Harvard: 6 Princeton: 0
Lindor Qunaj 63% (5/8)
/ / Khan page 12 papers are saying, you know it won’t go away any time soon. Realistically, though, the A-Rod to the Miami Marlins trade makes no sense for the Yankees no matter how you look at it. It would not give them any salary relief, and Rodriguez isn’t blocking immediate prospects over there at third. Most importantly, he is still a good hitter. Everyone seems to be likening this A-Rod saga to the A.J. Burnett one from last postseason. The popular belief is that Rodriguez will suffer a similar fate. Let’s just see how the Burnett trade to the Pittsburgh Pirates worked out. New York paid Burnett $5 million to stay away from the Yankees’ rotation this season, and he actually pitched better than the majority of the new rotation.
/ / Money page 2 Looking forward The overall goal of having high investment returns on endowments is to ensure that programs funded through the endowment can be sustained not only for a single fiscal year, but in perpetuity, Flahaven said. Brown has averaged a 7.7 percent return over the last 10 years, according to the press release. Universities generally aim for a long-term average of between 8 and 9 percent, Flahaven said. This bench-
So, I do not expect history to repeat itself here, especially since the guy in the driver’s seat, General Manager Brian Cashman, is a smart cookie. It would be seriously unfair, disrespectful even, to not mention one of the chief causes of this Yankee collapse, and that is the Tigers’ pitching rotation. They have certainly earned a place in the Fall Classic, and I can’t wait to see how they match up against the senior circuit’s best. And though I am mighty happy about the Yankees’ exit, it does also end this postseason’s TBS broadcast, which means the comedic stylings of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver will take us through the end of the NLCS all the way to the end of the World Series. So make sure those mute buttons are working, and look for the ESPN Radio stream online.
mark figure is meant to account for inflation and administrative costs and assumes an average payout — or contribution from the endowment to the operating budget — of 5 percent. Brown’s 10-year average exceeds the median return for the 50 largest college endowments. Brown’s policy dictates that payout should stay within the 4.5 to 5.5 percent range. Payout had already increased for fiscal year 2009 in order to accommodate changes in the financial aid policy and jumped to 6.6 percent the year following the financial crisis, according to the 2009-2010 annual
co m i c s Cashew Apples | Will Ruehle
Fly By Night | Adam Kopp
report. As a result, payout was cut by 20 percent for fiscal year 2011. The past two years of high returns has allowed payout to increase by around 4 percent each year, but this year’s low return probably will not permit for an equivalent increase in the coming year, Huidekoper said. Endowment trends over the last few years seem to reflect the “fits and starts” of a slowly recovering economy,
Flahaven said. It is doubtful that returns will increase substantially within the next several years, Huidekoper said. Coupled with reductions in federal funding, this year’s low return suggest that the University may face a difficult financial time, she said. “We’re still a very fortunate institution,” she said. “But we are challenged.”
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in tackles for a loss, and defensive end Michael Yules ’14 is 10th, helping make Bruno the top defense in the country overall in that metric. The Bears’ offense has not matched the defensive squad’s reputation, but quarterback Patrick Donnelly ’13 said he and his receiving corps aim to lighten the load on their teammates on the other side of the ball. “We’ve got to produce this week, or we’re going to be putting our defense in some tough situations,” he said. Donnelly is third in the league in passing yards and touchdowns per game, but his offense has been having trouble putting points on the board. The Bears were shut out last week. With Theodhosi and Taulbee out, the responsibility to ramp up those numbers may shift toward Donnelly’s arm. Running back Mark Kachmer ’13, Bruno’s starter last season, is likely to shoulder a heavier load of the Bears’ rushing game this week as well. “We have a lot to prove as an offense (after) putting up a goose egg” against Princeton, Donnelly said. All told, it appears the Bears’ bid to beat Cornell for the fifth time in a row will be a strangely symmetrical bout — the powerful Big Red offense battling Bruno’s harsh defense, and Donnelly’s uncertain attack against an underwhelming Cornell resistance. The Bears’ biggest challenge, Donnelly said, will be “rebounding after last week.” Estes said the team’s return to Brown Stadium will also help push the Bears in the right direction. “The biggest thing is we get to come home. We’ve been on the road forever,” he said. “We’re just anxious to be at home and get in front of a home crowd.”
10 diamonds & coal Diamonds & Coal
the brown daily herald friday, october 19, 2012
Editorial cartoon b y a n g e l i a wa n g
Coal to the transcriber of the Dalai Lama’s speech Wednesday at the Rhode Island Convention Center, who misheard His Holiness’ last words and instead of writing “forget it,” typed “fuck it.” We look forward to your lucrative future work subtitling children’s films. But a diamond to the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet. Because you’re the Dalai Lama. And because no one can pull off the tricky pairing of a red cape and a Brown baseball cap quite like you can. Diamond to the MetroMart employee who said the closing of Tedeschi might increase business for his employer and “if sales increase, then it’s better for us.” Congrats! You’ve already surpassed the expertise of our Econ 0110 TA. Cubic zirconia to the senior who recently played the alum-created card game, Cards Against Humanity, for the first time and said, “I think we could do with a bit more laughter when it comes to controversial issues.” We think Vice President Joe Biden would be a big fan of your little game. A diamond to the sophomore who said of the Production Workshop reading of “Mean Boys,” a gender-flipped interpretation of the Tina Feypenned movie, “The more it went on, the more ridiculous it was, but the funnier it became.” The same can be said of most Taylor Swift songs. Coal to the Undergraduate Council of Students for proposing that University administrators do a parody video of the South Korean mega-hit “Gangnam Style.” That’s the best punch line we could ask for. A diamond to the Rockefeller Library’s newly appointed data visualization coordinator Patrick Rashleigh, who said of the new digital scholarship lab, “We’re still experimenting, and we want others to experiment as well.” With that attitude, you’d feel right at home in Brown’s dating pool. Cubic zirconia to Professor of Italian Studies Massimo Riva who said of the recent University series of events in Italian art and culture, “We are bringing a little bit of Italy, and we try to bring the best.” So are you suggesting a group trip to Federal Hill? A diamond to Miwa Matreyek, an animator, designer and multimedia artist, who said, “I hope the audience takes away some sense of wonder, happiness or fantastical-ness” after seeing her show last weekend. Dear reader, that is our hope for you as well.
Correc tions
A caption in Tuesday’s Herald (“J Street U promotes two-state solution,” Oct. 16) incorrectly referred to J Street U Brown as J Street Brown U. The Herald regrets the error.
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An article in Thursday’s Herald (“UCS votes to raise student activities fee,” Oct. 18) incorrectly referred to the Undergraduate Resource Council as responsible for recommending tuition changes. In fact, it is the University Resources Committee. The Herald regrets the error.
quote of the day
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taking sides 11
the brown daily herald friday, october 19, 2012
Should financial aid be the University’s top priority? yes
no
demand for diversity is met through the United World College schools, which pay mika zacks a significant portion of their students’ tuition. The result is a homogenous internaOpinions Columnist tional community, a far cry from the list of countries represented on campus. This homogenizing effect is not unique to international admits, and its conseLast spring, the Herald poll revealed that quences for diversity should concern us a plurality of students — 37.8 percent — all. Diversity is not only important for its believe increasing financial aid ought to be value in our individual experiences. Inthe University’s top priority, a far greater creased financial aid that puts a focus on percentage than that supporting the sec- diversity has the potential to transform the ond-place priority — improving on-cam- discourse on key issues within the univerpus housing. Yet anyone walking through sity as well as to address historical injusthe newly renovated Keeney Quadran- tices and work for social change. The latter gle would find these statistics hard to be- finds expression in the recommendation lieve. To an outsidof the Steering Comer, we as a commu- International, transfer and mittee on Slavery nity seem far more and Justice Report concerned with Resumed Undergraduate to gradually make flat-screen televiBrown a need-blind Education program sions and multiinstitution for intertasking swimming applicants are admitted national applicants pools (Moraff ’14: and make special efon a need-aware basis. forts to recruit ap“Hiking tuition and blowing money from Africa An international student plicants on sparkly things” and the West Indies, Sept. 27) than with myself, I have seen the “the historic points a more just finanof origin and destiimplications of this policy nation for most of cial aid policy. Financial aid people carried on on the composition of the the should be our top Rhode Island slave priority because ed- international community at ships,” as the report ucation should be states. Brown. affordable. Brown As an institution, students should not we must assume rewalk through the Van Wickle Gates and sponsibility for our history. That the Uniinto the world with $20,000 in student versity has virtually ignored the Steering loans to repay. The Brown community is Committee’s recommendations is an inexmade of individuals, and who those in- cusable moral failure on our part. We condividuals are and where they come from tinue to squander our budget on Building matters. At the moment, Brown is need- Brown, but Brown is already built — it was blind only for domestic first-year appli- built on the suffering of African and Afcants. International, transfer and Resumed rican-descended slaves. It is time we susUndergraduate Education program appli- pend the construction work and rethink cants are admitted on a need-aware basis. our priorities. An international student myself, I have seen the implications of this policy on the Mika Zacks ’15 thinks financial aid can composition of the international commuimprove our diversity and work for sonity at Brown. Most international admits cial justice. She can be reached at come from wealthy families, while the mika_zacks@brown.edu.
the swim team and water polo teams, a lavish creative writing building for Engoliver hudson lish and literary arts students, new staff positions in an already bloated adminOpinions Columnist istrative bureaucracy, as well as funding for every student group under the sun. If the University instead focused only on the essentials of education — profesMention the words “financial aid” and sors, classrooms and teaching materiyou will likely pull yourself into a heat- als — the core education would improve ed discussion about Brown’s priorities. and education would become much Financial aid has helped many. With- cheaper. Lower tuition would allow out financial aid, thousands of talented students now receiving financial aid to and motivated students could not attend need none of it, or at least far less of it. Brown. But, though important, increas- Critics of my view should consider that ing financial aid should not be the Uni- cutting costs is more effective in helping versity’s top priority. students attend Brown than increasing Advocates for financial aid. The placing financial purpose of a uniaid at the top of versity should be to the University’s provide the greatest agenda mistake possible education the forest for the at the lowest posFinancial aid is therefore sible price. Brown trees. They hope to help more students is in an excellent a red herring, driving afford Brown, but position to pursue they miss the main attention away from the this goal. But unproblem: The fifortunately, we cannancial difficulty much bigger problem of not make progress in attending Brown long as the Unithe out-of-control cost of so is not that there is versity maintains insufficient finanthe attitude of “Get college. cial aid. The proball the money you lem is that tuition can get. Spend all is so high. Increasthe money you get,” ing financial aid as Charles Miller, reduces the tuition head of the Spellburden only in the ings Commission short-term. It does not prevent the net of Higher Education put it. Rather, we cost of college — after subtracting aid would be wise to follow the age-old ad— from increasing year after year. In vice that “less is more.” the last 13 years, tuition at Brown has increased by about 75 percent, and has averaged a 3.84 percent annual change Oliver Hudson ’14 wants college to be in the last four years. Financial aid is more affordable for everyone and can therefore a red herring, driving attenbe reached at tion away from the much bigger proboliver_hudson@brown.edu. lem of the out-of-control cost of college. Excellent education does not have to be expensive, but it will be, so long as Brown diverts its funds across every interest group — a new aquatics center for
Hudson’s Rebuttal
Zack’s Rebuttal
My opponent makes two points. First, more financial aid will make a Brown degree more affordable. Second, more financial aid will increase diversity on campus. First, we both agree that “(college) education should be affordable.” However, my opponent never examines why college is expensive. College is expensive for two primary reasons. First, tuition is high because of universities’ extravagant spending on non-essential projects. Second, tuition is high because of government loan programs, which give universities no incentive to cut costs. If we want to reduce the cost of college, we have to reform the purpose of college. A college does not exist to provide its students with state-of-the-art gyms, catered dinners or a multitude of student services. A college exists to teach. Unless we return the University to the sole purpose of teaching, tuition will continue to increase year after year. It is unlikely that even significant increases in financial aid could keep pace with the rapid yearly rise in tuition. Unpopular as it would be, slashing
costs is the effective way to reduce the cost of college. My opponent takes the cost of college tuition as a given and asks, “How can the university cover more of tuition for students.” I take the cost of college as inflated and ask, “How can the university reduce tuition?” My opponent’s next point is that increasing financial aid will make Brown more “diverse.” Specifically, she argues that diversity “has the potential to transform the discourse on key issues within the university as well as to address historical injustices and work for social change.” This is rhetorical pap with no meaning. If “diversity” really were such a valuable goal, my opponent would be able to name specific, concrete benefits of diversity, rather than vague, empty phrases such as “social change,” “discourse on key issues” and “social injustices.” I am for affordable education for the talented regardless of racial or economic background. My opponents’ position leads to more expensive education with an outdated emphasis on race.
I am going to take a slightly non-traditional approach and say that I absolutely agree with my opponent. He is completely and utterly right. The fundamental issue is not that financial aid is inadequate, but that tuition amounts to nearly $60,000 dollars a year and continues to rise. The real solution is, of course, free education. This ought to be the top priority of student activists working for social change. There is thus only one point I would like to make. Brown is run by a corporation. We are talking about a bunch of CEOs in suits who shut themselves up in University Hall for a couple of hours about three times a year, make their decisions with zero-transparency and minimum student input and return to the skyscrapers and yachts where they belong. The Brown Corporation is not going to come together this December and say, “We were thinking, and education really is a right, not a debt. Let’s not have tuition this year!” They won’t do it next year either, or the year after, or ever. This is why, when asked
whether financial aid should be the University’s top priority, my answer is still an emphatic yes. It should not be my top priority — it should not be the top priority of any student who at 20 is already shouldering a debt completely unheard of in most parts of the world. We need a revolution in education, not a pity reform from the top. But the University, our beautiful, private, for-profit University, does need to make financial aid its top priority. I don’t believe the institution of the corporate university can change fundamentally from the inside; besides, I am not sure where Hudson thinks the impetus for this change will occur. Great external pressure will have to be exerted for that kind of change to happen. However, as a scholarship student, I know I need this charity. I might deserve more, a tax-paying American who could not study for free in another country certainly deserves more, but the crumbs do a great deal. They taste funny, they are more McDonald’s than Whole Foods, but people are hungry, and money makes a difference.
daily herald sports friday the Brown
friday, october 19, 2012
Yanks’ exit Bears soar over Eagles in final minutes triggers postseason postmortem M. Soccer
By Alexandra Conway Sports Staff Writer
Striker Ben Maurey ’15 notched a flawless goal in the final minutes of the men’s soccer match at Boston College Tuesday to lift the Bears to a 1-0 victory over the Eagles. Maurey’s goal broke the Eagles’ (7-4-3) impressive seven-game unbeaten streak and gave the No. 18 Bears (10-1-2, 2-0-1 Ivy) their eighth shutout of the season. On a counterattack in the 87th minute, Thomas McNamara ’12.5 passed the ball to Maurey, who shot in toward the back post and past Eagles goalkeeper Justin Luthey. “We knew (the game) was very important, and that we were going to be playing one of the best teams so far all year since they play in the (Atlantic Coast Conference),” Maurey said, adding that the ACC is “by far the toughest division in college soccer.” “We went in knowing that even though they had all that talent, we could keep up with them and could possibly get a result.” The match started off in favor of the Eagles, who dominated Bruno in shots, 8-2, in the first half. But the Bears warded
away the attacks and the game remained scoreless after the first 45 minutes. The Bears then found their rhythm and reversed the attacking momentum in the second half. They outshot the Eagles 7-3 in the second half and were rewarded with Maurey’s game-winning goal. “We moved the ball well against an athletic, skilled team, and Ben did well to finish off a beautiful ball from Tom,” said goalie Sam Kernan-Schloss ’13, who recorded four saves for the Bears. Maurey led Bruno’s offense with six shots, three on goal, and rookie Tariq Abu-Akeel ’16 also recorded a dangerous shot. “We proved in this game that we have a solid team from top to bottom and that our whole team can compete at the top level,”said Dylan Remick ’13. “Midweek games are always tough because you come off a very emotional weekend game and people are tired and banged up,” Midfielder Bobby Belair ’13 credited the performance of each team’s defense. Both defenses were very organized and did not make mistakes, making it tough to create chances,” he said. “We are constantly having different
By Daniyal Khan Contributing Writer jonathan bateman / herald
Ben Maury ‘15 scored the winning goal to beat Boston College midweek. This weekend the soccer team faces major rival Cornell. players step up for us, and Tuesday it was Ben Maurey,” Belair added. “The game was a big non-conference win for us and will help build towards a good performance Saturday.” The Bears will return to conference play at Stevenson Field Saturday with a
key match-up against No.10 Cornell. The Big Red will bring a perfect 12-0 record into the game and are the lone team currently above Bruno in the Ivy rankings. “This week we got a great result against a great team, and it really has us ready to go against Cornell,” Maurey said.
W. Soccer
Harvard extends Bruno’s winless streak to five By Bruno Zuccolo Contributing Writer
The women’s soccer team continued its slump, losing 4-1 to Harvard last Saturday in its fifth consecutive loss. Bruno’s (6-6, 0-4 Ivy) offense continued to struggle last weekend. The Crimson (6-3-3, 2-1-1 Ivy) outshot the Bears 17-5, and Bruno managed to get a shot on target only once. Fortunately for the Bears, that shot, from Erin Katz ’16 in the 62nd minute, was enough to put them on the board. It was the Bears’ first goal in 369 minutes of play and marked Katz’s first collegiate score. “It’s exciting to score,” Katz said. “But (we’re) pretty upset about the loss.”
The first half remained scoreless mainly due to goalkeeper Amber Bledsoe ’14, who kept Harvard at bay with five saves. While the Crimson was able to create several goal-scoring opportunities, the Bears’ offense once again struggled with an uninspiring performance from the attacking third. Bruno’s best opportunity came right at the game’s start with a header that midfielder Louisa Pitney ’14 sent just wide. All five goals came within the first 25 minutes of the second half. The Crimson’s Meg Casscells-Hamby struck first in the 51st minute off a corner kick — she captured a rebound and sent the ball brushing the crossbar on its way in. In the 59th minute, Elizabeth Weis-
man increased Harvard’s advantage to 2-0. The Crimson took a free kick from midfield straight to Haley Washburn, who headed it over goalie MC Barrett ’14 to the crossbar. The ball ricocheted back to Weisman, who wasted no time in sending it to the back of the net. But the Bears quickly got back on their feet. In the 62nd minute, Mika Siegelman ’14 passed to Katz, who slotted the ball past goalie Bethany Kanten. With the gap closed to a one-goal difference, there was a chance for a Bruno comeback. But Casscells-Hamby quickly doused the Bears’ comeback hopes with the fourth goal of the match. Less than a minute after Bruno’s tally, the team was again down by two goals.
In the 67th minute, Casscells-Hamby made another decisive move with a quick pass to Taryn Kurcz inside the 18-yard box. Kurcz finished off the post to put the Crimson on a clear path to victory with a 4-1 lead. After the last goal, the match crawled slowly toward the final whistle with neither side registering a shot. Katz said she hopes that the Bears will build on her drought-ending goal and continue to get on the scoreboard. “(We’ll) work well to get another one, keep them coming,” she said. The Bears, who are now alone in last place in the Ivy League standings, will face Cornell (1-11-1, 0-3-1) Sunday at home.
Bears host Cornell in pursuit of first Ivy win By Jake Comer Sports Editor
The football team will return to Brown Stadium Saturday after a three-game stretch on the road, searching for its first Ivy League win this fall against Cornell. The Big Red (3-2, 1-1 Ivy) is coming off a 41-38 victory over Monmouth University, whose team Cornell buried under nearly 600 yards of offense. The Bears (3-2, 0-2), on the other hand, are dusting themselves off after their 19-0 fall to Princeton, their first scoreless game in 16 years. Injuries to running back Spiro Theodhosi ’13, tailback Cody Taulbee ’14 and offensive lineman Jack Templeton ’13 did not help their cause. “We’re just really banged up, so that’s a problem,” said Head Coach Phil Estes, who added that “some key injuries to one particular group, the running backs” will be especially difficult to overcome. Theodhosi, who led the Bears in rushing yards in each of their first three games this season, went down with a foot injury
minutes into the Oct. 6 matchup against the University of Rhode Island. He is not expected to play for the remainder of the season. Taulbee picked up the slack with 44 yards and two touchdowns, only to get injured himself the following week against Princeton. The Big Red has its share of injuries, too. Cornell’s sensational All-American duo of quarterback Jeff Mathews and wide receiver Shane Savage watched the team’s 41-38 triumph over Monmouth from the bench. Mathews, now a junior, was the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year for 2011. Even without them, the Big Red’s monstrous passing offense can pile on the yardage. “They throw the ball a lot, so the defensive backs have a great test ahead of us,” said co-captain and cornerback AJ Cruz ’13. Cornell backup quarterback Chris Amrhein stepped in and threw for 523 yards and a touchdown against Monmouth. His scoring pass landed in the hands of wide receiver Luke Tasker, who
had 11 catches for 280 yards. Tasker leads the Ivy League in receiving yards per game with a remarkable 152.8 — nearly twice that of Grant Gellatly, another Cornell receiver, who is second with 83.2. Amrhein and Tasker were named Ivy League co-offensive players of the week for their airborne dominance over Monmouth. Cruz said the Big Red’s emphasis on passing will give the Bears a good opportunity to force at least three turnovers, which he said is a defensive goal each week. “I think we’re definitely prepared,” he said. Cornell’s offense is not as impressive on the ground. The Big Red accumulated 142 rushing yards in their September blowout against Yale, but otherwise Cornell’s ball carriers have fallen well short of the 100-yard mark in each of their contests this year. At 60.8 rushing yards per game and with the least run attempts in the conference, Cornell’s attack is decidedly focused on the passing game. But the Big Red’s greatest weakness
may lie in its defense, which is secondworst in the league in points allowed and at the bottom for yards per game and sacks. “(Cornell’s defense) can do enough to give their offense a chance to win, because their offense can score a lot of points,” Estes said. The Big Red has put up over 40 points against two of their five opponents this season, and the Bears will have to contain their strong passing game to avoid a similar fate. “We have to give them multiple looks. We’ve got to be able to keep them offbalance — show them some man, show them some zone, show them some zone and then go to man,” Estes said. “Keep changing things up.” With some of the top defensive players in the conference, Bruno can keep offenses on their toes. Linebacker Stephen Zambetti ’13 is first in the league in tackles, and the Bears have allowed the third fewest passing yards. Co-captain and defensive lineman Ross Walthall ’13 is 5th in the country / / Football page 9
By the time you pick up this paper, the New York Yankees’ postseason run will have come to an end. You may be forgiven for not realizing the significance of their elimination. In the grand scheme of things, it’s just this year’s American League Championship Series coming to an end, with the red-hot Detroit Tigers advancing to the World Series. But in the even grander(son?) world of Yankees baseball, it’s only the beginning. The Yanks’ exit from the postseason launches another installment of the Yankees Off-Season Trade Rumor Mill series, and their first order of business will be to conduct the Yankees’ postseason post-mortem. And since baseball media fixates on the Bronx Bombers — as evidenced by the fact that this column’s focus is on the Yankee collapse and not the Tigers’ triumph — you can expect a lot more of this in the coming months. But it’s the early bird that catches the worm, or the early bird that catches Alex Rodriguez flirting with a worm, where the worm is the desperate New York tabloid reporter. Before we had even seen their backs, there was already speculation about some of the Yankees’ big name superstars being offloaded in the winter. And as much as I would love to pin this one on pathetic rumor-milly Yankees writers, in truth, a chain of events has led us to where we are today. First, A-Rod ended the season in a slump which, by the way, has happened before. It’s just bad luck that this slump had to coincide with a postseason where everyone else in the Yankees lineup (save Raul Ibanez) was terrible as well. So, naturally, A-Rod’s failures at the plate were magnified in the press. It was either that magnification, or the slump itself, that forced Manager Joe Girardi to bench him. But uh-oh, you can’t just bench someone who’s being paid $30 million this year. That’s bad business, even if it’s perfectly sound baseball management. If you do in fact bench him, not only will he get bored grabbing some pine and start chatting with fans (which, last time I checked, was not a bad thing), they will also make the news. And everyone knows that when you make the news, the headlines are bound to contain words like “Marlins” and “trade,” which are absolutely not good things. As someone who knows how New York media rolls, I can handle the daily rumor. But when experts (read ex-players in jackets and ties) nod in agreement with what the / / Khan page 9