Thursday, October 25, 2012

daily herald THE BROWN

vol. cxxii, no. 92

INSIDE

Page 2

Post-

Paxson starts steady as U. faces changing tides By MORGAN JOHNSON AND ELI OKUN SENIOR STAFF WRITERS

Frank Ocean, Jonah Lehrer and gateway sex Page 9

Going green Rhode Island receives accolades for energy policy

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JFK on record Historian Ted Widmer talks tapes in his new book TODAY

TOMORROW

63 / 47

67 / 49

since 1891

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2012

When former president Ruth Simmons arrived at Brown in 2001, she was ready to effect major change. “I fear we have gotten caught up in enhancements of all kinds while fundamentals are wanting,” she told faculty in the first week of the school year. Eleven years later, in the wake of Simmons’ reforms, Paxson told The Herald the opposite: She doesn’t see a need to alter the University dramatically. “My job right now is not to really define the fundamental direction of the Shaping the Presidency University,” she Part three of three said. “My job is to figure out how we can fulfill that goal of being a great research university with a superb undergraduate education.”

Simmons’ exit and Paxson’s entry mark the fourth University presidential transition, including the interim presidency between former President Gordon Gee and Simmons, in less than 20 years. Examining the successes and failures of past transitions sheds light on this latest chapter in University leadership. Both Paxson’s priorities and her timeline for achieving them will be shaped by the University climate she has inherited. Brown’s position is widely seen as more stable than it was in 2001 when Gee’s turbulent and truncated tenure cast an uncertain cloud over College Hill. Paxson’s administration will face different campus needs and new Corporation pressures in a changed national atmosphere. Two overarching issues will guide the University through the planning process for the next several years, Paxson said. Brown first needs to reinvest in the resources necessary to accompany / / Transition page 4

HERALD FILE PHOTO

Almost four months into her presidency, Christina Paxson said she aims to further develop Brown’s reputation as a research university.

Modern Family star entertains crowd with college stories U. receives By LUCY FELDMAN NEWS EDITOR

Julie Bowen ’91 was sitting in the makeup room of her first acting job when she realized she had nothing to say. She had no prior acting experience and no future bookings — the topics of choice for the girls around her. But then somebody mentioned “the world,” and suddenly Bowen had something to add. “Hairdressers dropped combs. Mousse clanked to the floor. Heads turned,” she said. How did she know anything about the world? “I went to college,” Bowen told them. The “Modern Family” star addressed a packed Salomon 101 last night in a Brown Lecture Board question-and-answer with Lowry Marshall, professor of theater arts and performance studies.

“Most people have never had the luxury of this,” Bowen said of a Brown education. “You’ve been in this amazing, wonderful, academic, social, psychosexual bubble.” The differences between her academic background and aspects of her life as an actress create some existential tensions, she said. In two-hour spray tans for work, “I’m naked in front of someone sort of lying around, and I’m like, ‘I went to college,’” she said. “I feel like I’m betraying something from my past.” Bowen had a lot to say about her said she lived in the Rockefeller Library during her years at the University. “ “I lived in the Rock ... I did everything all students have ever done,” she said, pausing to raise her eyebrows. “But I did it in the Rock.” Students were / / Bowen page 8 permitted to

H O P E S T R E E T T R E AT S

more than $50 million from NIH By ALEX CONSTANTINO CONTRIBUTING WRITER

TOM SULLIVAN / HERALD

Actress Julie Bowen ’91 sat down for a Q&A session Wednesday night with Professor of Theater and Performance Studies Lowry Marshall.

Interdisciplinary initiatives spark creative discussion By MARGARET NICKENS STAFF WRITER

GREG JORDAN-DETAMORE / HERALD

Local bakery Olga’s Cup & Saucer is one of many regular vendors featured at the Hope Street Farmers Market, which ends for the season this Saturday.

As the home to both a liberal arts university and an art and design school, College Hill is no stranger to creative minds. But with the growing popularity of two groups focused on understanding and fostering creativity — the Creative Mind Initiative and the Creative Scholars Project — professors and students are increasingly re-evaluating classical conceptions of ingenuity. As a graduate student at the Rhode Island School of Design, Ian Gonsher, now an adjunct lecturer for the School of Engineering, began questioning why he was producing art. “Why am I designing another thing for rich people to put in their house?” Gonsher asked himself. These questions

pushed him to start teaching, and the Creative Mind Initiative grew out of classes he taught with Richard Fishman P’89, professor of visual art and director of the Creative Arts Council. The Creative Mind Initiative has the dual goal of better understanding creativity and creative processes and then applying these findings in the classroom, Gonsher said. To achieve the latter goal, the initiative has sponsored a number of classes where professors incorporate an interdisciplinary understanding of creativity. Gonsher’s engineering class, ENGN 0930: “DesignStudio,” is a “learning through making” class, he said, where students are given the tools and technical expertise they need to build various objects. The class also works to foster a “creative e n v i r o n - / / Creativity page 2

Despite the uncertainty surrounding its future funding levels, the National Institutes of Health awarded $146.96 million to Rhode Island organizations in the 2012 fiscal year, with Brown receiving about 40 percent of the new award total with $58.7 million. Other top recipients include Rhode Island Hospital, Miriam Hospital, the University of Rhode Island and Women and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island. The NIH is the largest federal research agency and funds research projects and programs relating to human disease. “A large percentage of our budget comes from grants,” said Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences Edward Wing, and an estimated 85 percent of this grant money comes from the NIH, he added. This year, approximately $50 million was distributed to biology and $42 million to public health, while clinical departments received $120 million in ongoing grants. Wing attributed the difference in funding to numbers — the Alpert Medical School has approximately 600 clinical faculty at affiliated hospitals who do “lots and lots of research,” he said. The largest expansions are occurring in brain science, psychiatry and orthopedic surgery. Despite these seemingly high awards, Wing voiced two concerns about future grants. The first is that the NIH budget has remained flat “for the last three to four years,” actually declining slightly / / Grants page 6

CITY & STATE

2 campus news / / Creativity page 1

C ALENDAR TODAY

OCT. 25

7 P.M.

TOMORROW

OCT. 26

5:40 P.M. Divest Coal Teach-In

Halloween Bike Ride

List 120

Faunce Arch

7 P.M.

8 P.M.

Film Screening: “Into the Abyss”

PW presents: COMPANY

Metcalf Auditorium

TF Green, PW Downspace

MENU SHARPE REFECTORY

VERNEY-WOOLLEY DINING HALL

LUNCH Eggplant Parmesan Grinder, Grilled Turkey Burger, Braised Swiss Chard, Mediterranean Bar

Cajun Blackened Chicken Sandwich, Zucchini and Summer Squash, Vegan Oatmeal Cranberry Cookie

DINNER Toasted Ravioli with Italian Salsa, Shrimp with Orzo, Feta and Basil, Caprese Salad, Sauteed Spinach

Lemon Butter Broccoli, Curried Stir Fry with Coconut Ginger Rice, Butternut Squash Formato

SUDOKU

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2012

ment and community,” he said. “(In) a lot of the classes in the engineering department … the question is always provided. I want students to be able to frame their own questions.” The Creative Mind Initiative has also sponsored “communicating” classes, including VISA 1800T: “Communicating Medical Risk,” offered last spring. The class, taught by faculty members from the Alpert Medical School and RISD, worked to design better ways for doctors to communicate with patients. Brown and RISD professors are also collaborating on a class this fall, VISA 1800T: “Communicating Science through Visual Media.” To better understand individual creative processes, the Creative Mind Initiative is currently working on a website for a “window” into the creative process. Gonsher has people videotape the class to show how students work through various problems and prompts. These videos will be posted to the website to allow students to learn about their own creative processes and to allow other people to observe the processes in a variety of settings, from the art studio to a sci-

ence laboratory. The learning process is “more than the teacher standing at the front of the class lecturing,” Gonsher said. “It’s the student moving through a process and at the end of that process, stepping back from it and engaging it critically.” Gonsher said he thinks these findings and methods could be used in the future to help online learning “develop beyond putting cameras in lecture halls.” During the fall of 2011, Gonsher began discussing the creative process over coffee with Elizabeth Wolfson GS, which led the two to form the Creative Scholars Project. Started this past spring, the project sponsors weekly discussions between students and faculty in many different departments. Wolfson said the meetings have given them opportunities to talk about struggles they may be encountering in their work, ways to incorporate creativity into their teaching, how their own creative processes work and different theories about creativity. She said the group has expanded significantly since its founding last semester, from six to eight people attending each meeting in the spring,

to around 15 to 18 people attending meetings this semester. This has allowed for greater understanding of how creativity works and can be employed in a number of different disciplines, she said. Michael Stewart, a lecturer-term appointment in the English department, said he was initially reluctant to get involved with the Creative Scholars Project due to his hectic schedule, but after attending a few times, the meetings became “a sort of oasis in the week.” The meetings have taught him to better communicate with students by approaching problems with the student’s background in mind, Stewart said. The most useful part is working with people from so many different disciplines and learning about their different ideas and creative processes, he added. Gonsher also said that understanding that biologists and chemists and historians are just as creative as writers and artists is a main focus of the Creative Minds Initiative and Creative Scholars Project. “Everybody’s creative,” he said. “Creativity can be taught and can be nurtured. As educators, we need to think of new strategies for doing that.”

Poler Bears work to lessen stigma By CHARLOTTE BILSKI BLOGDAILYHERALD CONTRIBUTOR

CROSSWORD

The Brown Poler Bears was the very first pole dancing team in the Ivy League. Since arriving to the clubbing scene in 2006, the Poler Bears have grown into a team of over 20 students with four corporate sponsors. This fall, 100 students

News from Blog Daily Herald blogdailyherald.com tried out for the team. Quickly gaining momentum, the Poler Bears have made great strides on campus, trying to eliminate the stigma, address preconceived notions and create a discussion around pole dancing, all while promoting selfexpression among students. Here are 10 things you should know about the Poler Bears and pole dancing. 1. These students were not AP Varsity Pole Dancers in high school. Do you know of any high schools that have pole dancing teams? Exactly. For this reason, most members of the Poler

Bears started pole dancing in college. Many of them have had experience in dance, gymnastics and circus arts, but pole dancing creates a new outlet for physical expression in a fun way. After all, what better place to try something new than in college? 2. They do a lot of cool events. For those who attended Alpha Epsilon Pi’s “Body Chem” party homecoming weekend (waiting in line outside counts), what you saw twirling around those poles were not life-size strands of DNA, but Brown’s very own Poler Bears. The Poler Bears participate in a number of events each year, including two big shows and performances at frat parties, and are involved in community efforts that champion self-esteem. 3. There will be a Poler Bears Halloween show Sunday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. in Alumnae Hall. Be there. It will only cost you a whopping $1, and it will be an awesome show. 4. Pole dancing is all about selfexpression. Unlike other sports, where there is a tangible definition of “good,” pole dancing encourages you to abandon your inhibitions and embrace being you. Some pole dancers choose to express themselves through a Britney Spears song, while others might prefer to jam to something more low-key.

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Because pole dancing is a combination of many art forms, people come to the sport with different approaches and perspectives. 5. You do not have to take your clothes off to be a Poler Bear. Stripping and pole dancing are not synonymous. The Poler Bears do not take off their clothes while they pole dance, but they recognize the beauty of self-expression and respect whatever people choose to do in their own time and space. 6. They were featured in a New York Times article about different types of student clubs around the country. The article mentions that the Poler Bears have been described as “‘psychedelic and silly, muscular and meta-performative, abstract and out there … and yes, it can be unabashedly, gracefully, palm-sweatingly, heart-poundingly sexy as well.’” 7. Guys are in the Poler Bears, too. When we think of pole dancers, we might often assume they are female, but the Poler Bears have some pretty awesome dudes. These guys bring diverse skill sets to the team, including circus and dance experience. 8. Due to the housing crunch, the Poler Bears have lost their practice space. While this is happening to many clubs, it is especially unfortunate for the Poler Bears — as a club that welcomes and trains beginners, it needs to ensure that its cubs will be able to sustain the club when the upperclassmen graduate. 9. Pole dancing is becoming more mainstream. Within the past 10 years, pole dancing has become increasingly popular, leading to the formation of the International Pole Dance Fitness Association. Groups are also trying to make pole dancing an Olympic sport. 10. The Poler Bears have started an interesting dialogue on campus. People are not quite sure what to make of it. The Poler Bears think that’s pretty cool. By promoting dialogue, they are, in essence, de-stigmatizing an activity of self-expression.

campus news 3

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2012

Historian describes listening in on Kennedy’s Oval Office By MONICA PEREZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Ted Widmer, assistant for special projects to President Christina Paxson and senior adviser to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said he felt like a “fly on the wall” while listening to the secret recordings of former president John F. Kennedy P’83. At a Brown Bookstore lecture last night, Widmer, who is also the former director of the John Carter Brown library, described his experience transcribing over 265 hours of Oval Office secret recordings for the book, “Listening In: The Secret White House Recordings of John F. Kennedy,” which went on sale last month. He selected the two most compelling hours of recordings to serve as the focus of the book and wrote introductions and brief explanations of each recording. Starting in 1962, Kennedy began to tape-record his Oval Office and cabinet office conversations via hidden microphones. Widmer theorized that these recordings were meant to preserve information for a memoir that Kennedy was planning on publishing after his term in office. The book was published in conjunction with the John F. Kennedy Library to shed light on the Kennedy administration and on the former president’s

EVAN THOMAS / HERALD

“You heard a lot of American history coming through the recorders,” said Ted Widmer, assistant to special projects to President Chrstina Paxson, in a lecture at the Brown Bookstore, in reference to the recordings of John F. Kennedy’s Oval Office that he listened to while writing his new book. personality, Widmer said. Though the hundreds of recordings are available online, the reduction of the tapes into two powerful hours with Widmer’s annotations is likely to be more appealing to and easily understood by the general

public, Widmer said. With the release of the tapes, “We have a motherload of information,” Widmer said. “John F. Kennedy has become intensely real and larger than life.” Durng his six months working on the

EVAN THOMAS / HERALD

University Administrator Ted Widmer listened to over 265 hours of tape recordings of Kennedy’s Oval Office while doing research for his book “Listening In: The Secret White House Recordings of John F. Kennedy.”

project, Widmer found it “remarkable to listen to (Kennedy) in action,” he told the audience. Kennedy was wholly human — he had insecurities, talked about why he believed he should be president and had his moments of exasperation, Widmer said. Widmer gave an example of a time where Kennedy said he did not “feel like a politician.” He said that Kennedy did not want to board an airplane and shake everybody’s hands — he simply wanted to take a seat and read a book. Widmer also spoke about the influence of the recordings in framing history. “You heard a lot of American history coming through the recorders,” he said. Dozens of hours of conversations about the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Bay of Pigs invasion were captured, revealing that many of Kennedy’s advisors were “getting things wrong,” Widmer said. He said he believes that the tapes must be comforting to the Kennedy family

because they show that his decisions were influenced by deeply flawed advice. After the talk, a few samples of the recordings were played for the audience. Despite the muddy quality of 1960s recording technology, the audience was able to grasp a sense of Kennedy’s personality. Daniel Johnson, an archivist at the John Hay Library who was present at the talk, asked about the advantages of the printed book over a digital version of the book, accompanied by audio. Widmer responded that a digital package would be a great idea that would appeal to younger generations, but older generations — those who sympathize with Kennedy — are still attracted to the feel of traditional books. Widmer concluded by saying that he hopes the book will catch the interest of Americans and help them realize the significance of this type of historical preservation, as Oval Office audio recordings went extinct in the 1970s.

4 shaping the presidency / / Transition page 1 the large faculty growth that accompanied the Plan for Academic Enrichment, which Simmons spearheaded. And second, Paxson said, Brown has to “make very specific choices about where we build excellence.” A transient transition Presidential transitions often serve as a chance for University leaders to reflect and reevaluate the institution’s trajectory — but the circumstances of the transition influence how sweeping the new president’s agenda might be. “Transitions are not easy for anyone, because you don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Sheila Blumstein, a professor of cognitive, linguistic and psychological sciences who served as interim president between Gee’s resignation and Simmons’ selection. “All of us like stability.” Inheriting a financially sound university can be a double-edged sword for a new president. A quantitatively “healthy” institution removes the pressures of immediately devising a recovery plan but creates a more ambiguous jumping-off point from which to devise a new agenda. For Paxson, entering in the wake of Simmons’ departure echoes back to the

pulted the University’s endowment to $874 million at the time of his resignation. By the spring of 1997, the annual tuition increase was at its lowest in 35 years at 4.6 percent, and financial aid was one of the most rapidly growing items on the University’s budget, receiving $25.6 million that year. With the University in a strong financial position, Gee rolled out an ambitious agenda for the University, envisioning Brown as an economic powerhouse with large science programs funded in part by bond sales. Many viewed these goals as incompatible with Brown’s institutional identity and worried Gee would cut support for the arts and humanities and implement major changes without consulting the faculty. Gee entered his position at Brown with a combined 17 years of experience as president at three public universities — all with undergraduate populations between five to seven times the size of Brown’s. At these institutions, Gee “basically did external relations and left daily operations to administrators,” said then-Provost Kathryn Spoehr ’69 after Gee’s resignation. “The absolute truth is that I have struggled from the day I came to

University’s standing at the time of former President Vartan Gregorian’s resignation in 1997. Gregorian left the University in the most successful position it had attained up to that point in terms of its finances and standing relative to its peers. “The University’s financial resources … while modest by some standards, are the strongest the University has ever had,” Gregorian wrote in his farewell letter to the Brown community. Gregorian’s Campaign for the Rising Generation, a four-year initiative launched in 1992, raised $534 million in donations and cata-

HERALD ARCHIVES

President Simmons started her presidency in a period of instability, but her early success in bringing the University into a period of recovery helped cement her legacy long before the conclusion of her term.

Stephen Robert ’62 P’91 Chancellor Emeritus

rounded by an academic Berlin Wall.” Paxson brings a decidedly different perspective to the University. She spent most of her career as a professor and has worked at institutions much closer to Brown’s size and academic mission. “Her mode of engagement is on a very scholarly level,” said Provost Mark Schlissel P’15.

Brown (with) whether or not Brown and Gordon Gee were the right fit,” Gee said in an interview with The Herald the day after his resignation announcement in February 2000. Gee acknowledged from the onset of his term a sense of dissatisfaction with Brown’s public presence. He foreshadowed this future impasse between his executive, managerial-style vision for Brown and the University’s scholarly tradition in the first letter addressed to the Brown community after he took office. “It is my sincere hope,” he wrote, “that in the coming years Brown will not be seen as a distant place isolated on a hill, sur-

The value of vision “Vision is very important” in selecting a president, said Chancellor Emeritus Stephen Robert ’62 P’91, who chaired the search committee that selected Simmons. “The description of who we’re looking for is God on a good day. … There are not many people in the world who can bring that to the table.” Gee’s resignation only two years after he assumed the presidency left the University stranded with incomplete projects and an unclear direction. The resultant directional and financial chaos posed daunting challenges for Simmons upon her arrival — but also provided the opportunity

“The description of who we’re looking for is God on a good day. … There are not many people in the world who can bring that to the table.”

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2012

HERALD ARCHIVES

Gordon Gee, now president of Ohio State University, left his post as president of Brown after two years to become chancellor of Vanderbilt University, an institution that appealed to his desire for a broader scope, he said.

for her to set a clear agenda and make a name for herself. “I kind of hit the wall,” Blumstein said of the difficulties she faced as interim president before Simmons took over in 2001. Though Blumstein was well-liked on campus, her interim tag made it hard to develop a sense of major progress, said Jim Egan, professor of English. “Everybody felt like we were kind of in a holding pattern” before Simmons was chosen, he said. Blumstein said that any concrete projects requiring new funding, like the introduction of need-blind admis-

ization and the implementation of need-blind admissions for domestic first-years — a policy already in effect at every other university in the Ivy League at the time. Her tenure was marked by renewed emphasis on research, the sciences and graduate education, as well as arts and humanities initiatives like the construction of the Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts. Tisch noted Simmons’ ability to achieve most of her curricular and administrative goals with balanced budgets during a major economic downturn.

“Paxson is entering at a completely different moment than Simmons ... a moment when Brown has transformed itself.”

Jim Egan Professor of English

sions, were in flux until Simmons’ arrival. “We continued discussions and a certain level of awareness,” Blumstein said of ensuring that these potential changes would remain at the forefront after the new president took over. Simmons’ selection energized students, faculty and staff. “People were really excited,” Egan said. “There was a tremendous sense of optimism for the future.” Some credit Simmons with revitalizing a campus in need of direction after a turbulent few years. “She came into a community that in some respects had lost its ability to aspire and was able to instill a sense that Brown could really aspire and reach in deep ways for goals that seemed unattainable,” said Chancellor Thomas Tisch ’76, who described Simmons’ tenure as “nothing short of monumental in the life of the University.” Once in office, Simmons moved quickly to advance an ambitious agenda, setting the Plan for Academic Enrichment as a cornerstone. The strategic plan outlined a number of objectives to boost Brown’s reputation, research profile and level of instruction. Among the most significant achievements were a 100-member faculty expansion, heavy fundraising, a stronger focus on international-

Most of the goals she initially articulated came to fruition, Egan said. “She had a very clear vision, and that vision was to transform Brown’s research profile in the hopes of transforming Brown’s ... reputation in the United States and (in) the world at large,” he said. But Simmons said she made several major changes before acquiring a full understanding of the University or her own vision for it. “All the things that people talk about now, I did with no knowledge of Brown,” Simmons told The Herald last year about some of her first initiatives, particularly need-blind admissions and faculty expansion, adding that her lack of experience allowed her to overlook the potential risks of those decisions. “Maybe that’s the way to make decisions — in the dark,” she said. A slower strategy Though Paxson has confronted debates about expanding financial aid and the University’s academic mission, the Brown she inherited is stabler than the institution Simmons arrived at in 2001— a change that allows Paxson to build on existing structures instead of devising a dramatic new agenda. That / / Transition page 5

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2012

shaping the presidency 5

This series examines the University’s top post by looking back at past presidents, outward to Brown’s peers and forward to the role President Christina Paxson has inherited. Check it out online at thebdh.org/presidents. Past articles in this series:

Shaping the Presidency

A three-part series

Tuesday: The nature of the Brown presidency has changed significantly since its creation. Presidents originally served as autocratic managers, but now they focus on fundraising and elevating the University’s global standing. Yesterday: Many institutional changes in recent University history have come from collaboration with and direct influence of other universities, making Brown both a product of higher education trends and a distinctive institution in the Ivy League.

/ / Transition page 4 stability can be credited in part to the clear path Simmons set for the University, Egan said. “Paxson is entering at a completely different moment than Simmons because Paxson is entering at a moment when Brown has transformed itself,” he said. Administrators characterized Paxson’s plans as building on Simmons’ accomplishments in a progressive way. During the search process, Tisch said, “Chris was capable of creating a sense of her worthiness to be a steward of all those great treasures at Brown, but, not by any stretch of the imagination, somebody who’s going to be just a static steward.” Already, administrators have pointed to notable similarities between the two presidents’ visions. Schlissel described Simmons as demonstrating “a remarkable mix of strategic and tactical” ability to grasp both the big picture and its various smaller pieces, while Tisch lauded Paxson’s “combined intellectual breadth with a managerial sense that connects the granular to the strategic.” Yet Paxson and her predecessor diverge in stylistic ways, perhaps in part because of the different burdens they inherited. While Simmons had to confront major obstacles — including the Sept. 11 attacks in the first month of the school year and a national anthrax scare weeks later — the beginning of Paxson’s tenure has not been marked by such crises. In her initial months, Paxson has had the chance to sit down with faculty members, administrators, staff, students and local leaders. Paxson met department heads in their offices, said Dean of the Faculty Kevin McLaughlin P’12, which showed “that she was going to be accessible and connected directly.” “So that’s a slight change of emphasis, I would say, from Ruth Simmons,” McLaughlin added. Such an emphasis is natural for an outside, first-time president like Paxson, said higher education expert Michael Bastedo, associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Education. In that situation, “one of the first couple of things you need to do is you need to spend a lot of time walking around the institution and trying to get to know all of the major players. ... What are their values and interests and things that they’re trying to accomplish?” he said. The presidents’ timelines for setting agendas have also differed. Simmons was quick to jump into specifics, calling for faculty salary increases at the year’s first faculty meeting and speaking out against graduate student unionization that same month. The desire to move quickly permeated University leadership in 2001 — in the fall, long before Simmons’ plan was complete, the Corporation began preliminary fundraising because they felt a “sense of urgency,” Robert told The Herald at the time.

Paxson has taken a different approach. Though she and Schlissel have zeroed in on a set of broad issues to be examined in the strategic planning process, she has resisted making any public decisions on those top priorities before the committees present their suggestions. “It’s very intentional,” she said of the decision not to reach conclusions

Her outreach has so far translated into the formation of six committees each tasked with developing a major strategic initiative. Preliminary reports are expected by the end of the semester, and a new strategic plan is set to be in place by the Corporation meeting in May. Just like Simmons, Paxson will likely fund these new goals with her capital campaign,

“It’s in some ways more of a challenge for her. It’s kind of like, how do you follow a really good act?”

Recent presidents Vartan Gregorian 1989–1997 Previous jobs: President, New York Public Library Provost, University of Pennsylvania

E. Gordon Gee 1998–2000 Previous jobs: President, Ohio State University President, University of Colorado

Ruth Simmons 2001–2012 Previous jobs: President, Smith College Provost, Spelman College

Stephen Nelson Senior Scholar in the Leadership Alliance Christina Paxson Present

at this stage. “I clearly have, you know, my own preferences and views about what’s important and what’s not. But I also think that I don’t want to get out ahead of the work that our faculty and students and alumni and Corporation members will be doing over the course of the year.” Despite these initial differences, Paxson’s early planning initiatives indicate that she may be following a similar timeline to Simmons’ in establishing overarching University plans. Both presidents set the stage for a strategic planning process during their first year in office, and Paxson has expressed interest in launching an expansive capital campaign to finance the University’s newly identified needs. Paxson identified internationalization, online education, the global financial environment and considerations of expanding Brown’s physical campus as new priorities that are more salient now than they were when the Plan for Academic Enrichment was developed. The expected timeline for Paxson’s strategic framework is consistent with many contemporary private university presidents, said Stephen Nelson, a higher education expert and senior scholar in the Leadership Alliance at Brown. Generally, broad strategies become apparent by the president’s second semester at the latest, he said, with university boards pressuring new presidents to commence capital campaigns soon after. By the time those conclude, typically within eight to 10 years, most presidents do not want to deal with another campaign, he said, and may leave soon after. Such a major financial undertaking consumes much of a president’s attention, Bastedo said. “If you’re entering a new capital campaign, that is going to take up an enormous amount of the new president’s time, easily more than half,” he said. A social campaign Paxson’s effort to engage the faculty and aptitude for gaining familiarity with her community members have made her stand out early on in her presidency, Blumstein said. “I think she’s doing a terrific job,” she said. “She listens, reaches out.”

Schlissel said. As Paxson moves forward, one major question about her presidency will be what definitive mark she will seek to leave on the University. Amid the shifting landscape of / / Transition page 7 higher ed-

Previous jobs: Dean, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton Chair, Department of Economics, Princeton

All photos courtesy of brown.edu

HERALD FILE PHOTO

As President, Vartan Gregorian raised more than half a billion dollars of funds for the University in four years through the Campaign for a Rising Generation, his capital campaign. Tuition increases were the lowest in decades at the end of his term.

6 city & state / / Grants page 1 when adjusted for inflation, Wing said. Consequently, acquiring funding has become increasingly competitive, with success rates for grant applications declining from a peak of 32 percent to below 20 percent. New grant awards to Rhode Island institutions have shrunk for the past three years because the stimulus bill that previously funded them expired. The second, more severe problem is the impending “sequestration” — the NIH faces an 8 percent budget cut next year unless Congress passes legislation to avert it, Wing said. But “even if the cuts occur, it’s a tremendous amount of research support,” he said, adding that the University has substantial reserves to continue supporting research. The largest grant to Brown, at $2.9 million, went to the “Reuse in Rhode Island” program. “Reuse” does basic and applied research related to heavily polluted “superfund sites.” The project is in its eighth year of receiving funding and has several components, which involve 15 to 20 faculty members. Kim Boekelheide, professor of medical science and director of the project, partially credits the project’s interdisciplinary nature for its funding success. The program brings together researchers from biology, geology, engineering and sociology to solve different facets of the same problems. Despite its success, assuring continued funding requires a

“huge amount of work” — the project’s last grant application reached a whopping 789 pages, Boekelheide said. The neuroscience department received $11.3 million in new NIH grant awards during the last fiscal year. Department Chair and Professor of Medical Science Barry Connors expressed worries similar to Wing’s and elaborated on the pressures researchers face in an email to The Herald. As grants become more competitive, researchers in the department must spend more time applying for grants and less time “actually doing the science,” Connors wrote. The pressure also changes the nature of projects, making them more focused on disease mechanisms instead of the fundamental research that Connors wrote he believes allows “the most important biological insights.” But Connors does not expect grant issues to affect the currently planned recruitment of new faculty members as they “tend to be among the most accomplished young scientists out there.” Brown provides significant startup funds so faculty members have “a few years to establish their labs before external grant funding becomes essential,” he wrote. While Brown works to maintain its high level of funding, the state as a whole has performed below the national average in receiving NIH grants. To reduce this imbalance, the NIH funds the IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence, whose Rhode Island branch is run out of the University of

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2012

2012 NIH Awards in R.I. Women and infants

Other

$18.6 million

$8.3 million

Brown

URI

$28.6 million

$58.7 million

Miriam Hospital $18.5 million

Rhode Island Hospital $28.6 million

EDLE ASTRUP-TSCHUDI / HERALD

The National Institutes of Health awarded over $146 million to state institutions in the 2012 fiscal year, including $58.7 million to Brown. If adjusted for inflation, this amount represents a slight decrease from prior years. Rhode Island. The program mentors junior faculty, encourages more grant applications and supports undergraduate research opportunities, all while funding research projects that have yet to obtain independent grants, according

to the website. The program has been hit hard by the NIH budget freeze, and none of the 26 supported research projects were able to achieve independent funding last year and “graduate” from the program,

wrote Program Director Zahir Shaikh in an email to The Herald. Despite these difficulties, he believes the program is on track to accomplish its goal of bringing more NIH money to Rhode Island, Shaikh wrote.

T H R O W B AC K T H U R S D AY

COURTESY OF WILL PAXSON

At 12 years old, Christina Paxson had no idea she would become a university president. But this Saturday, the 19th president will officially be inaugurated in a ceremony celebrating Brown’s historical traditions.

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2012

R.I. ranks seventh in energy efficiency Cranston killer tests By ALEXANDER BLUM CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The 2012 American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy’s report card has ranked Rhode Island the seventh-most energy efficient state in the country, adding to the state’s impressive record of energy-related accomplishments. Since the passage of Rhode Island’s Comprehensive Energy Conservation, Efficiency and Affordability Act of 2006, the state has seen significant improvement in energy efficiency and has been ranked among the top 10 most energy efficient states for the past four years. Despite its small size, the Ocean State is quickly distinguishing itself as a leader in intelligent energy policy, said Dan Sosland ’80, president of Environment Northeast, a nonprofit that provides data-based recommendations to overcome environmental challenges while promoting sustainable economies. “Rhode Island has become a model of how a state can address high energy costs,” he said. Rhode Island’s willingness to approach energy challenges from multiple avenues that explore a variety of options and resources “deserves tremendous credit,” Sosland said, adding that consumers are ultimately “saving all the money that a more expensive energy option would cost.” If fully implemented, the Energy Efficiency Program Plan for 2012 is expected to bring consumers $785 million in economic benefits, wrote

/ / Transition page 5 ucation — including tuition hikes, the advent of online instruction, internationalization of university life and physical expansion — Paxson’s decisions could significantly influence the path. Paxson’s challenge, then, is far different from the need for progress and stability that Simmons confronte 2001, Nelson said. “It’s in some ways more of a challenge for her. It’s kind of like, how do you follow a really good act?” he said. If she chooses to build on Simmons’ work, he added, the early 21st century could be remembered as “the Simmons-Paxson era.” Nelson said there is also a chance for Paxson to use the University’s good standing as an opportunity to undertake a thorough curricular review. Robert said he hoped the Paxson administration would not forget to elevate academics above all other priorities. “You have to keep your eye on academic standards,” he said. “We can build many buildings and be very international … but if we don’t have terrific academics, first-rate depart-

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Abigail Anthony, ENE’s Rhode Island director, in an email to The Herald. In addition to saving on energy costs, the plan is predicted to create 13,800 jobs and increase Rhode Island’s gross state product by $1.53 billion. A distinct component of Rhode Island’s legislation has been “aggressive savings targets,” said ACEEE Senior Policy Analyst Ben Foster. But the 2006 law did more than just set ambitious savings goals — it also established a least-procurement cost that mandates National Grid focus its investment in “low-cost energy efficiency first, and buy expensive energy supply second,” Anthony wrote. Because of these standards, “Rhode Island utilities do really well in terms of their energy efficiency investments,” Foster said. The state is also pursuing more efficient combined heat and power systems for commercial consumers such as industrial facilities, hospitals and universities. These CHP systems capture heat that is a by-product of generating electricity and would otherwise be wasted and use it productively, Anthony wrote. Because of this, CHP can generate electricity and thermal energy at efficiencies of up to 85 percent, compared to an average electric generation efficiency of about 33 percent, she added. The 2006 law also created a stakeholder body called the Energy Efficiency and Resource Management Council, made up of a diverse group of stakeholders, primarily consumer

representatives. The EERMC bridges the gap between lawmakers and consumers by ensuring “that electric and natural gas consumers realize the benefits of energy efficiency,” Anthony wrote. Specifically, the 2012 efficiency plan is projected to save 5.1 million megawatt-hours of electricity and 13.2 million MMTBU of natural gas. Massachusetts earned the number one spot on the ACEEE report card for the second year in a row. Anthony noted that lessons from states’ successes are shared to facilitate collective improvement. “ENE has worked in Connecticut and Massachusetts to establish policies and stakeholder processes modeled on the successes of Rhode Island,” she wrote. As with any system of categorization, states are evaluated on multiple variables before they are ranked, Sosland said, noting that Rhode Island has a very strong core model with all of the most important elements. But there is still room for improvement in certain areas, most notably transportation. In the future, Rhode Island is looking to maintain and improve its position as a leader in energy efficiency, Anthony wrote. There “are several exciting new activities spanning both energy efficiency and renewable energy,” she added. Such initiatives are crucial because “Rhode Island’s energy and economic future depends on clean energy,” Sosland said.

ments and well-funded research, then the core mission of Brown is compromised.” Blumstein said Paxson will need to communicate her personal vision for the University to ensure that her success as an individual president constitutes a success for the Brown community as a whole. “A good leader brings people with them,” she said, adding that for a newcomer taking a position of such high authority, it can be tempting to think “miles ahead” and therefore create an unproductive gap between the various

components of University leadership. But Blumstein was optimistic that Paxson will avoid such a mistake. “That’s not her style,” she said. Though Paxson will exert her own style and influence throughout her tenure, she inherits a presidency shaped by a rich University history, an interconnected higher education landscape and the immediate context established by her predecessors. How those factors will determine Brown’s trajectory in the years to come remains an underlying question for the Paxson presidency.

voting rights laws By MORGAN JOHNSON SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Convicted felons in Rhode Island regain their voting rights upon release from prison, as determined by a 2006 referendum amending a clause in the state’s constitution that previously required felons to complete parole and probation before regaining the right to vote. But the law has not stopped city officials in Cranston from challenging violent offenders’ eligibility. Last week, the Cranston Board of Canvassers unanimously refused an absentee ballot request from a convicted killer legally eligible to vote in the upcoming election. The same board tried to block two other ballot requests from convicted killers in 2010. All three ballot requests were submitted by committed patients in the Eleanor Slater Hospital, a state mental health facility in Cranston. The two requests in 2010 were eventually approved, but the most recent request from Michael Woodmansee, who pleaded guilty in 1982 to seconddegree murder, was still pending approval before he withdrew his request Tuesday. Woodmansee’s release from prison last year — 12 years before his 40year sentence was slated to end, due to good behavior — was met with widespread surprise and public outcry. Woodmansee confessed to sexually assaulting and murdering five-year-old Jason Foreman in 1975, and he has also been accused of cannibalizing the victim, though these allegations have not been confirmed. Woodmansee’s journal was found in a police search of his home but has remained undisclosed to avoid upsetting the victim’s family in its explicit detailing of the crime. Investigators did reveal that Foreman’s bones had been polished and displayed on the killer’s dresser. Woodmansee voluntarily committed himself to Eleanor Slater upon his release, but passed psychiatric evaluations for civic commitment, proving that he was of sound enough mind

to vote. Two of the canvassing board’s three members must sign off on a request for a ballot. All three members refused to approve Woodmansee’s request, submitted Oct. 15. If members reject a valid ballot request, they face legal action for not complying with state law. Board chairman Joseph DeLorenzo and member Robert Muksian chose to resign from the board rather than sign the request or face charges. Muksian resigned only hours before the Friday afternoon deadline. DeLorenzo opted to skip out on the vote by staying away from city hall and discussing his legal options with attorneys. When the state board of elections caught wind of DeLorenzo’s deliberation, he was asked to resign in lieu of facing criminal charges for violating the state constitution. The two resignations and Woodmansee’s subsequent withdrawal of his request have not put an end to the fight to protect felons’ right to vote, said Steven Brown, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Rhode Island. Voting eligibility for felons is more relaxed in Rhode Island than it is in most states. Twelve states revoke voting rights permanently upon incarceration, with some individual exceptions based on the severity of the crime. Nineteen states restore voting following completion of parole and probation, and four require only parole. Rhode Island is among 13 states and Washington, D.C. that allow felons to vote after their release from prison, while Maine and Vermont allow inmates access to absentee ballots at all times. Brown said the ACLU opposes the board members’ exceptions to voting rights according to the severity of the crime, and the group affirms that Woodmansee, a registered Democrat, was “clearly entitled” to an absentee ballot. “We will be reviewing whether there are any other steps that can or should be taken to prevent this from happening again,” he said.

8 campus news / / Bowen page 1 smoke in the A-Level of the library, she said. “Why would you go anywhere else? You were a flask away from an academic party.” If Bowen could relive her Brown experience, she would engage more with her professors, she said. “I was in awe of my professors. Maybe a little more than I should have been.” When she first arrived at Brown, she felt overwhelmed by the sense of individuality all of her peers seemed to share, she said. Everyone around her seemed to open the course catalog and know exactly what they wanted, she added. “But the great thing about Brown as you all know is the concentration requirements are very — what’s the word? — malleable?” she said. Once she returned from studying abroad in Florence, Bowen found that she was close to completing a concentration in Italian Renaissance studies. “As a blonde, 20 years old, in Italy — you don’t have to pay for shit,” she said to great laughter. But she quickly added, “But I was really studying! It was hard!” Marshall asked her what she learned abroad. “You heard the part about the free stuff, right?” Bowen joked. An actor’s life forces confrontation with different ideas about sex and gender, Bowen said. Marshall asked Bowen, now married to real estate agent Scott Phillips, about her thoughts on dating actors. “I was fooled by every actor trick,” she said. “They threw out the easy, ‘I’ll

come to your hotel room and we’ll run lines.’” Bowen said an actor who had attempted to “run lines” with her once told her, “a relationship is a two-car garage, Julie, and an actor’s ego takes up a space and a half.” The statement is mostly false, she said, but it can ring true when actors date actors. The demanding lifestyles and occasional “hall passes on making out with co-stars” can lead to trouble, she added. Having a college education sets her apart from actors whose lives have focused only on acting, she said. Bowen did not study theater at Brown because she was too intimidated by the department, she said, though Marshall pointed out she did perform in a few campus productions. It was not until after her graduation that Bowen really set her mind on acting and began studying the craft, she said. When she arrived in Los Angeles, she realized her four years at the University distinguished her from most other actors who “do walk around with a shiny mirror ball revolving around their head that sort of informs everything they do,” she said. Bowen said the acting life is not as glamorous as some people perceive it. “The not-so-dirty secret is when you’re an actor on a production with more than ten dollars behind it,” she said. “You are a prop with legs, and they will do anything they can to keep their prop in the pen. If they could cut your legs off, they would. But they can’t, so they bring you coffee,” she said. She has one primary piece of advice for aspiring actors and actresses. “Create your own content,” she said. Those

who can work on their own keep busier and enjoy more jobs, she said. Bowen took her own advice when she was cast as Claire Dunphy in “Modern Family” — a part she considered somewhat characterless, she said. “I got the job, and I assumed it was going to be essentially a showcase for these incredibly intelligent guys that I was working with ... and my job was to sort of coming in like the Greek chorus and be like, ‘and now they have a fight.’” But Bowen said she kept quiet and felt grateful for the opportunity, and soon found a way to create more of a role for herself. “I got to use this other actor on set — the camera — and that became my person,” she said. The cast of Modern Family gets along “grotesquely well,” Bowen said, describing co-stars Eric Stonestreet and Jesse Tyler Ferguson as the brothers she never had. The large size of the cast prevents members from getting sick of each other, and the children in the cast keep the atmosphere from feeling like “an adult cocktail party,” she said. Marshall posed the question of what’s up next for Bowen. “‘Modern Family’ will end at some point,” Marshall said — and was abruptly interrupted by Bowen snapping, “Hush your mouth.” Acting has its frustrations, Bowen acknowledged. But she added that as time goes on, fewer and fewer people present themselves at auditions because many grow wearied by frustration. “Pace yourself for the long war,” she said. “Whatever that means for you.”

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2012

TOM SULLIVAN / HERALD

Questions for Julie Bowen ’91 focused on her “Modern Family” role and her relationship with her co-stars, whom she called brothers she never had.

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2012

Corporation trustees speak to UCS to increase transparency By KATHERINE CUSUMANO SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Alison Cohen ’09 and Eric Rodriguez ’08, the two current young alumni trustees of the Corporation, spoke to the Undergraduate Council of Students last night about financial aid, internationalization and the Corporation’s past and future initiatives. Though the Corporation has not met yet this semester, Cohen and Rodriguez fielded questions and comments from the UCS general body members. Rodriguez and Cohen presented to UCS as part of the Corporation’s ongoing efforts to increase transparency. UCS Communications Chair Kyra Mungia ’13 asked what each of the trustees would like to see happen during their tenure as young alumni trustees. Cohen described her role as more of a conduit for communication between students and the Corporation. The greatest priority is to have an “ear to the ground,” Rodriguez added. Rodriguez and Cohen are the second and third young alumni trustees to be elected to the Corporation. This position was created to give the body a more accurate, on-the-ground perspective of the undergraduate experience. Rodriguez also highlighted some of the Corporation’s past initiatives. “We divested, that’s amazing,” he said, referring to the University’s decision to cease investing in businesses that have supported the Sudanese

government. “We’re doing something that, you know, some schools are falling behind on.” The Office of Military and Veterans’ Affairs was also established by the Corporation in response to the conflict and public discussions about the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, Rodriguez said. While the military has not been fully embraced as a campus presence, it has not been entirely shut out, since students have expressed a desire to provide resources for those who have served or wish to do so. Abby Braiman ’15, chair of the Committee for Admissions and Student Services, asked about efforts to improve financial aid and socioeconomic and international diversity. “Realistically speaking, it is a source of revenue,” Rodriguez said of the current need-aware financial policy for international students. The University has a strong track record of supporting financial aid, even increasing it in the midst of the recent economic crisis, especially in comparison to peer institutions, Rodriguez said. For example, schools in the University of California and University of Texas systems increased fees last year. Brown similarly raised school fees, but it simultaneously increased its financial aid. Much of their work involves financially sensitive information and confidentiality issues “not just in the investment scenario but in all these

NAR GULVARTIAN / HERALD

Students on UCS spoke with young Corporation members Alison Cohen ’09 and Eric Rodriguez ’08 at the meeting last night. The young alumni hope to bridge the gap between the Corporation and the student body. different domains,” Cohen said. Despite that, the Corporation is very concerned with the student perspective, Rodriguez said. “They’re not a perfect institution by any sort of stretch of the imagination,” Rodriguez said. But “they really do care about you guys,” he added.

After the trustees’ presentations, Braiman updated the council about her ongoing efforts with the Student Advocate Program. “The structure is pretty solidified,” she said. Her committee is now working to ensure that the program functions within Brown’s sphere, having

been adapted from similar programs at other universities. Last week’s student activities fee proposal was presented to the Undergraduate Resource Committee Monday, said Alex Kaplan ’14, Student Activities Committee chair. The outcome of the proposal will be revealed in February.

10 editorial & letter EDITORIAL Ivy League sponsors ‘Better Baby By Design’ Since the announcement of the first successful egg donation resulting in human birth on Feb. 3, 1984, the miraculous science behind assisted reproductive technology has helped deliver more than 50,000 babies per year in the United States alone. For couples who are unable to conceive through traditional means, egg donations provides the chance for them to bear a child. Perhaps you’ve seen an advertisement for egg donations in the local newspaper, or in our newspaper. For years, advertisements directed towards young women at Brown and other Ivy League institutions have offered participants the opportunity to make thousands of dollars in exchange for a relatively simple procedure. The organizations that sponsor these ads in print publications and on the Internet are seeking female donors with elite pedigrees to donate their reproductive material to interested couples. While the motive is simple and altruistic, the means by which these advertisements are propositioning our peers for reproductive material is a cause for ethical concern. The egg donations require female donors to undergo extensive medical examinations — including a pelvic exam, hormone and disease check and an ultrasound at the very least — prior to egg retrieval. The popularity of this procedure among infertile couples has gradually established a competitive market for oocyte donors. According to a 2007 report from the American Society of Reproductive Medicine’s Ethics Committee, a reasonable payment to oocyte donors is between $3,360 and $4,200. This accounts not only for the donation of the eggs themselves, which have been commoditized, but also for the “time, inconvenience and discomfort” associated with the retrieval process. The report states that sums beyond $5,000 require formal justification and sums in excess of $10,000 are not appropriate. Yet by 2005, some in vitro fertilization programs offered $8,000 for retrieval, while unverified ads in publications and Craigslist have offered tremendous sums in the tens of thousands. These are all targeted toward healthy young women who are demonstrably intelligent, athletic and successful. Some couples set parameters based on minimum height, ethnicity or even musical talent. These ads may appear more frequently on Brown student Facebook pages because young women here match a general elite personal criteria algorithm. Though some religious or ethical groups disagree, it is not socially unacceptable to compensate for this kind of donation. Sperm donors are compensated for their time and oocyte donors for time and procedure. But can the oocyte be ethically placed on a market with such a high demand for it? This can easily be corrupting if financial incentives are stressed over altruistic ones. These advertisements are strictly created to appeal to young women’s financial needs. Anyone who considers giving reproductive material should also evaluate the difference between compensation for health risks and time and selling oneself to the highest bidder. We are wary of a large, competitive market developing for genetic material, and the ethical issues raised by such a demand should be considered carefully. While people will undoubtedly come to different conclusions on whether to donate, there should be more than monetary concerns involved in the process. Donor Concierge, a donor matching service, reports that Ivy Leaguers rarely donate in their program. Women at universities such as Brown may not have the immediate financial need to be egg donors. Another factor that deters women at elite institutions may be that the procedure is still somewhat foreign and therefore can be socially alienating. This need not be the case if someone believes they can help a couple with their dream of having a healthy child. Whatever the case, there is more to a fulfilling life than “ideal” genetics. Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.

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LE T TER TO THE EDITOR Therapy column is misinformed To the Editor: As a current PhD student in psychology and a former psychology student at Brown, I wanted to comment on Cara Dorris’ ’15 uninformed and unproductive column on therapy. Contrary to Dorris’ beliefs, the most effective therapy for a variety of conditions is generally conducted in a small number of sessions and can be highly effective for a range of mild to serious mental health problems (see current research on

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for more information). The idea that long-term therapy is necessary to effectively treat clients is outdated and incorrect. Therapy can be difficult, but it is also one of the best treatments we have for many problems that college students face. Please make sure that your columnists have adequate background knowledge in a subject before they spread potentially harmful misinformation. Eva Kurtz-Nelson ’11 GS

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“As a blonde, 20 years old in Italy — you don’t have to pay for shit.” — Julie Bowen ‘91 on studying abroad See BOWEN on page 1.

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2012

Just a pinch GABRIELLA CORVESE OPINIONS COLUMNIST I am not a doctor. I am not a pharmacist. In fact, I have no medical training. But I do know enough about trends in infectious disease to know that flu shots are a very important part of promoting health and wellness of self and others, especially during these coming winter months. For this reason, I was shocked to see John Riedel, clinical assistant professor of emergency medicine at the Alpert Medical School, suggest in a recent Providence Journal letter to the editor that flu shots are not all they’re cracked up to be. He claims that since 31 percent of people in a British study maintained immunity from past flu infections, vaccination is less necessary. And even with vaccination, individuals can still acquire and transmit the flu. Plus, the fact that we have to get a new vaccine every year suggests their inefficacy, he wrote, contrasting flu shots to vaccines we get as children that last far longer. Indeed, 31 percent is a decent statistic for natural influenza immunity. But what about the other 69 percent? What about those with autoimmune disorders or AIDS? Furthermore, it is not the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that are to blame for releasing a new vaccine each year, but the ever-changing influenza

virus. It has countless subtypes that affect people at different rates each flu season. It is difficult in advance to know which strain will be prominent during any season, so the vaccines must be adapted to what is affecting the most people. Is the flu vaccine perfect? Absolutely not. A recent study performed by the University of Minnesota determined that the vaccine has about a 60 percent efficacy rate for adults. But this 60 percent should not be a statistic that scares people away from

bound to spread contagions through closeliving quarters and other more intimate interactions — leaves room for concern. Riedel also brings up the case of novel influenza viruses, the most notable of which recently was 2009’s H1N1 swine flu. He stated that the seasonal flu vaccine normally released did not provide immunity for the swine flu. That is certainly true — which is why health care providers followed up by releasing a separate vaccine that did protect against the swine flu.

For most of my childhood, I was terrified of doctors sticking needles into me. But I have come to learn that vaccination is one of the most important things people can do to protect themselves and those around them from disease. the vaccine. Rather, it should be a motivating factor for the field of public health to improve the way we prevent the spread of influenza. Getting shots isn’t my idea of fun. For most of my childhood, I was terrified of doctors sticking needles into me. But I have come to learn that vaccination is one of the most important things people can do to protect themselves and those around them from disease. It is appalling to see Riedel shunning such a critical part of modern medicine. Furthermore, to hear this from a doctor affiliated with Brown — whose undergraduate campus is filled with people

This past summer, another novel influenza strain, H3N2v, infected a few hundred people nationwide. Though it did not rise to pandemic status like H1N1 did in 2009, research began early on to develop a potential vaccine. Mandating vaccinations for diseases such as polio or diphtheria is completely necessary, as they have allowed us to inhibit the spread of these diseases in many parts of the world. Flu is a different story altogether, and chances are we will never be able to completely eliminate it. While we should allow people to make their own health-care choices and not mandate the flu

vaccinations, we should strongly encourage them. Children and the elderly, who tend to have underdeveloped or compromised immune systems, have the highest risk of flu complications and should get vaccinated. And of course, college students like ourselves should make efforts to vaccinate. We are bound to spend quite a bit of time this fall sneezing and coughing and hugging each other once the weather cools down. Vaccination does not only provide immunity to the flu, but it also contributes to the herd immunity that is crucial to inhibiting the spread of disease. There is little risk in receiving a flu shot beside maybe having a sore arm afterward. It is unfortunate that powerful figures such as Jenny McCarthy have spread unnecessary fear of vaccination. Concerns over conditions such as Guillain-Barré syndrome are ridiculous when looking at the condition’s very low incidence rate. You run a greater risk of being injured any time you drive a car. Due to the flu’s dynamic nature, flu shots can not be “one size fits all” vaccines like those for infectious diseases such as polio or smallpox. Regardless, everyone should get one. Brown’s flu shot clinics just finished, but plenty of locations around Providence and Rhode Island still offer them. So roll up your sleeve, close your eyes and hold your breath — it’s just a little pinch. Gabriella Corvese ’15 already got her flu shot and can be reached at gabriella_corvese@brown.edu.

The alternative to the lesser evil LUKE LATTANZI-SILVEUS OPINIONS COLUMNIST We’re less then two weeks from the presidential election. President Obama and former governor Mitt Romney are each whipping up a storm about how we should vote for them because the other will lead us all to ruin. Both are eager to agree that there is a clear choice between the two of them and the two parties they represent. But is there, really? True, the Democrats tend, if only in rhetoric, to support higher taxes for the rich, the right to abortion, softer sentencing and so on. But the focus on the differences between Democrats and Republicans conceals the fact that they are really not very different when it comes down to what they actually do. Obama is a prime example of this. In spite of his message of hope and change in 2008, four years later things are remarkably unhopeful and unchanged. In the midst of the greatest recession since the 1930s, Obama continued former President George W. Bush’s bank bailouts and tax cuts. At the same time, he enacted an austerity program that should make any conservative proud. He has cut public sector jobs and government spending on public programs while increasing the Department of Defense’s budget. In terms of foreign policy, Obama has gotten us into war with Libya, followed the Bush timeline for withdrawal from Iraq

and increased the number of troops in Afghanistan. On top of this, he has hugely increased the use of drone strikes that often murder civilians abroad, including American citizens. Drone strikes under Obama have killed up to 2,600 people. The “militant leaders” that they supposedly targeted account for only 49 of these casualties. Social issues, in spite of the rhetoric, have also taken a hit. Access to abortion has in fact decreased under Obama more than any other period since abortion was legalized, a black person is being killed by police

We need look no farther than Providence, where Mayor Angel Taveras, a Democrat, closed five public schools and fired every single teacher in Providence last year, though most of them were rehired. So what should we do then? Obama may be bad, but Romney is worse. When I see Romney qualifying 47 percent of the country as parasites and threatening to gut the few welfare programs left in the United States — even more than the Democrats do — I cringe at the idea of him holding any kind of power.

If you want things to improve, you should not be working or campaigning for the Democrats, no matter how much they promise. It is not through them but through protest and struggle that you can change society. every 40 hours and the number of people being deported per year has doubled. Even the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare,” is hardly a thing to be celebrated. The plan cuts Medicare by more than $700 billion while at the same time offering a huge handout to private insurance companies, which are now able to make money off of insuring those who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to afford it. This is why Romney implemented essentially the same plan as governor of Massachusetts. Of course, this wasn’t all Obama. Democrats all over the country have been at the head of many attacks on the public sector. Take public education, for example.

I do not really object to voting for Obama to keep Romney out of office. But I would argue that you should not do any more than that. If you want things to improve you should not be campaigning for the Democrats, no matter how much they promise. It is not through them but through protest and struggle that you can change society. It is not about who is put in the White House or in Congress, but about the pressures that are being exerted on them. Former President Richard Nixon’s term in office is perhaps my favorite example of this. Under Nixon, the Environmental Protection Agency was created, the Clean Air

Act of 1970 was passed, the Vietnam war was ended, the first major affirmative action policy in the United States — the Philadelphia plan — was implemented and abortion was legalized by a Supreme Court dominated by Republican appointees. Nixon and the justices did not have some sort of progressive epiphany. They and the rest of the government were forced to make these changes by the mass movements of the 1960s. Corporations have money, lobbyists and control over large industries that they can threaten to move abroad. In order to change society for the better, we must fight back against this influence. It was by going on strike that the Chicago Teachers Union managed to prevent Mayor Rahm Emmanuel, a Democrat and Obama’s former chief of staff, from making cuts and increasing high stakes testing in Chicago public schools. It was by building a strong student union and boycotting classes that Quebecois students stopped a 75 percent tuition hike. It was through nationwide protests that the courts were forced to put Trayvon Martin’s murderer on trial. And it was through occupations and protests that Brown students won the Third World Center, the Africana studies department and need blind admissions, among other victories. It is not by campaigning for Obama that you truly fight for hope and change — it is by organizing, protesting and striking. Luke Lattanzi-Silveus ’14 is a proud member of the International Socialist Organization and can be reached at luke_lattanzi-silveus@brown.edu.

daily herald city & state THE BROWN

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2012

R.I. ballot asks voters to deliberate on environmental issues By UDAY SHRIRAM CONTRIBUTING WRITER

With election day less than two weeks away, Rhode Island voters will soon make a decision on several questions that could have a major impact on the state’s environmental future. The Clean Water Finance Agency Bond on Question 5 involves a loan of $20 million from Federal Capitalization Grants that would be used to finance water pollution abatement projects and clean drinking water initiatives. Question 6, the $20 million Environmental Management Bond, would provide funding for the restoration of the Narragansett Bay and Watershed, the State Land Acquisition as part of the Open Space Initiative, Farmland Development Rights and renovation of historic parks and recreation areas. According to the Environmental Council of Rhode Island website, the water pollution abatement projects are expected to begin in 2013 and be completed by 2017, and a similar timeline is given for the water purification initiatives. The useful life of these two projects may last approximately 20 years after their completion, according to the Rhode Island Clean Water Finance Agency and

CIT Y & STATE R OUNDUP

the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management websites. Question 6 is being promoted by Save the Bay, a nonprofit RI environmental organization. The bond would allot approximately $4 million for the restoration of the Narragansett Bay and Watershed and a total of $9.5 million for the Open Space land acquisition and Farmland Development Rights within the state. The Open Space clause in Question 6 would allow the Rhode Island Conservation Agency to “put aside about $5 million to buy the development rights for farms,” said Joseph Bachand, program manager for the RICA. The program will pay “up to 50 percent of the cost of the appraisal,” Bachand added. This would make the trade and acquisition of agricultural land in the state more profitable and would encourage landowners to use their land for agricultural purposes, he said. Question 6 would further allot $6.5 million for the “renovation and development of historic and passive recreation areas,” as well as “grants to municipalities for acquisition, development or rehabilitation of local recreational facilities,” according to the Environment Council’s website.

BY AMY R ASMUSSEN CIT Y & STATE EDITOR

City service

Cities of Service, a national coalition of mayors, has awarded Providence a $25,000 Impact Volunteering grant sponsored by Bloomberg Philanthropies, according to an Oct. 18 Providence city press release. Only 18 American cities were chosen for the award. Providence plans to use the funds to start Leyendo, a new service initiative that will pair Spanish-speaking volunteers with Providence students who are reading below grade level and do not speak English at home. In 2011, 46 percent of Providence fourth-graders were proficient in reading, and half of all the students in the district did not speak English at home, according to the press release. The initiative is also meant to foster a spirit of volunteerism. “As mayor, I am committed to fostering a city culture in which civic engagement and volunteerism is in our DNA,” said Providence Mayor Angel Taveras at a press conference. “This grant will help us leverage the power of our citizens to strategically and measurably improve reading levels for students who don’t speak English at home and are struggling to get to grade level.” The program will initially pilot in Carl Lauro Elementary School and Mary Fogarty Elementary School in Providence, two of the state’s lowestperforming schools with significant English language learners student populations, according to the release. The new program will be part of Providence’s All-American City initiative, awarded to the city this summer. The All-American program aims to have 70 percent of the city’s third-graders reading on grade level by 2015.

Greatest good The Rhode Island Foundation opened its 2013 Innovation Fellowship to applications today. The program, now in its second year, provides two recipients with up to $300,000 over the course of three years. The program is “built around the spirit of entrepreneurship,” and the money is meant to go toward projects that will do “the greatest good for the greatest number,” according to the Foundation’s website. It is funded by Letitia and John Carter. The first round of applications is due by Dec. 14, and the new fellows will be officially chosen in April 2013. Applicants must be from Rhode Island and 18 years or older. The 2012 fellows are now in the midst of their own projects. Soren Ryherd is using his funds to revitalize abandoned Rhode Island storefronts in an effort to promote “vibrant and desirable neighborhoods,” according to The Retail Project website. The first “brick and mortar” store is projected to open in 2014, but Felix Chien, the project’s online store selling high-quality canine fashion, is already up and running. Urbilis, which will market products direct towards urban gardeners, is expected to open soon. The other fellow, Allan Tear, has brought together entrepreneurs from across the state in an effort to nurture a startup culture in Rhode Island. According to the Foundation’s press release, Tear wants to connect individuals in areas ranging from the arts to “social impact ventures.”

GREGORY JORDAN-DETAMORE / HERALD

On Election Day, voters will determine whether Rhode Island should invest $20 million in environmental initiatives to restore Narragansett Bay and maintain farmland in the state.

Working moms question Forbes ranking By DORA CHU CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Forbes Magazine named Providence the fifth of 20 top cities for working mothers in a ranking released earlier this month. According to its website, Forbes ranked the top 20 cities out of the 50 most highly populated metropolitan areas, using the priorities of working mothers as a checklist. Metrics included cost of living and schooling, number of physicians, crime rates, unemployment rates, weekly earnings for women and average commute. Many Providence moms agree that proximity to home is a necessity for managing a full-time job and a family. According to the article, the average commute in Providence is a mere 27 minutes — far from the 80 minutes New Yorkers spend commuting each day, Bert Sperling, author of “Cities Ranked and Rated,” told Forbes. “Being new to Providence, one of the things I’ve noticed is that things are close,” said Cathy Kahane, a local teacher and mother of two school-aged children, who worked in California prior to moving to Providence. “Even though I do work, I can get home half an hour after my children do, if that.” “I see Providence as, in many ways, a great place to live,” said Carolyn Mark, president of Rhode Island National Organization for Women, a local organization that brings awareness to women’s rights. She pointed to the cultural and ethnic diversity as well as the variety of opportunities for kids like the Providence Children’s Museum and the Rhode Island School of Design art museum. Despite the benefits of living in Providence for working mothers, Mark challenged some of the elements Forbes used for its ranking. The magazine put an emphasis on the importance of “job opportunity and high earnings potential” in its search for friendliest cities for working mothers. In the Providence statistics, Forbes estimated women’s an-

nual earnings at $32,187. But Mark said the “average salary of working mothers in Providence isn’t that high.” Women are only making “80 cents on the dollar compared to men,” she noted. While the gap has closed in Providence, Mark said there are indications that this is because “men are doing worse, not because women are doing better.” Mark also said Forbes misrepresented the expense of childcare in Providence, estimating the cost at $1,140. “Childcare is scary expensive,” Mark said, noting that childcare for children under 6 years old averages over $10,000 dollars a year. She said Forbes most likely used a monthly rather than an annual cost for its ranking. Taft Avenue Daycare Center, previously a childcare provider for those affiliated with Brown, recently closed, creating an unpleasant surprise for Brown faculty and staff with children. The closure, which was blamed on new facility regulations, took away a source of affordable child care for the Brown community. “Compared to other comparable institutions, we can’t really hold a candle to what other places offer,” said Elizabeth Moloney, an academic assistant in the Department of Theater Arts and Performance Studies and a member of the childcare committee commissioned by Provost Mark Schlissel P’15 in the wake of Taft’s closing. She noted that a former Taft parent is headed for post-doctorate studies to Yale, which offers on-campus child care. The new administration provides an opportunity to reexamine the University’s childcare offerings, Moloney said. Maloney’s own 13-month-old daughter is now at Cozy Corner Child Care Center. Other former Taft children have also moved to Cozy Corner, said Donna Neales, a preschool teacher there. Despite the presence of highly-rated schools, such as Brown/Fox Point Early Childhood Education Center on Hope

Forbes’ best cities for working mothers 1. Columbus, Ohio 2. New Orleans, La. 3. Hartford, Conn. 4. Cincinnati, Ohio 5. Providence, R.I. 6. Birmingham, Ala. 7. Cleveland, Ohio 8. Richmond, Va. 9. Buffalo, N.Y. 10. Louisville, Ky.

Street, concern for education — especially public education — is ubiquitous. “Everyone goes, ‘When (your daughter) goes to kindergarten, you’re going to move to Barrington, right?’” Moloney said, a phrase she commonly hears regarding the “conventional wisdom” of public education in Providence. The Barrington and East Greenwich school districts surrounding Providence are the most highly-rated schools in the state, according to Forbes, U.S. News and World Report, and GreatSchools. But Providence falls short — the city closed five public schools last year and is struggling with inadequate test results. Most parents seem to send their children to private schools or move out of the Providence school system, Moloney noted. She said she would love to send her daughter to a public school in Providence but is unsure whether it is a good idea. “What matters most to working mothers is that we have an educational system that is producing great results,” Mark said. Despite her concerns about education, wages and childcare, she said she “loves Providence.” But “it’s a little surprising that Providence ranked as high as it did,” she added.