Friday, November 2, 2012

daily herald the Brown

vol. cxxii, no. 97

Friday, November 2, 2012

U.’s admission yield rates counter national trend

INSIDE

Page 4

Global study

Students with GLISPs take independent study overseas

By Mathias Heller Senior Staff Writer

Page 8

Grad rates R.I. 2010 graduation rates exceed the national average Page 7

‘As You Like It’ MFA students modernize Shakespeare comedy

today

tomorrow

54 / 36

52 / 33

since 1891

emily gilbert / herald

Since stepping down in May, former president Ruth Simmons has joined the boards of Chrysler Group and Mondelez International. See page 8.

As high school seniors apply to a greater number of colleges and universities, the national average admission yield rate for colleges has consistently declined in recent years.

The yield rate, a measurement of the percent of admitted students choosing to enroll in a given university, has declined from 49 percent for the national fall 2001 admission cycle to 41 percent in the fall 2010 cycle, according to a 2011 report from the National Association for College Admission Counseling.

An increase in the average number of schools to which high school seniors apply has forced colleges and universities to face increasing difficulty in determining which of their admitted students are most likely to accept their offers, the 2011 NACAC report found. The report stated that

25 percent of incoming college freshmen in the fall of 2010 applied to at least seven schools, an increase from the 22 percent who applied to seven or more schools in the fall of 2008.

But yield rates for Brown over the past decade have remained consistently higher than the national trend.

More than half of the University’s admitted applicants — 55.8 percent — chose to attend Brown last year.

Bucking the national trend, the University’s yield rate has increased by 4 percentage points since the fall 2001 cycle, in which 51.8 percent of applicants enrolled at the University. In the past decade, the University’s yield rate has fluctuated in a 10 percent band from the 2001 low of 51.8 percent to a 2002 high of 59.2 percent.

Admission yield rates at the University’s peer institutions have also remained high in the same time period. Harvard had a 78 percent yield rate in the fall / / Yield page 2

‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ dazzles audience Study links By christian petroske contributing writer

In the dark of a Brazilian prison, a woman’s voice faintly echoes. Supple and alluring, it grows louder. She is singing — but what?

The prisoners are all around, dressed in rags, miserable. Suddenly, wearing more sequins than Lady Gaga, out steps Aurora. The Spider Woman has arrived.

Haunting and dazzling, garish and heartwarming, Sock and Buskin’s production of “Kiss of the Spider Woman”

by John Kander and Fred Ebb is a journey. With huge dance numbers to match its soul-stirring message, it may turn out to be everything you could want in a musical.

The musical, which opened Thurs-

ARTS & CULTURE

day night, begins with Molina (Evan Strouss ’15), a homosexual window dresser who is locked up for corrupting a minor. To cope with prison life, he holds on to memories of his favorite cinema starlet, Aurora. He remembers every film fondly except for one: “The Kiss of the Spider Woman,” the story of a woman whose kiss is both irresistible and deadly. Along with cellmate Valentin (Teng Yang ’11), a Marxist revolutionary, he is haunted and seduced in equal measure by the spider woman, played by the inimitable and extremely talented Madeleine Heil ’13.

The character of Aurora is “essentially an ode to Elizabeth Taylor,” Heil wrote in an email to The Herald. This inspiration is expressed by familiar Elizabeth Taylor film clips that are interspersed with songs and scenes throughout the show. / / Kiss page 5

mental health to bullying

By Phoebe Draper Senior Staff Writer

Courtesy Of Charlotte Thomas-Davison

Sock and Buskin’s performance of “Kiss of the Spider Woman” tells the story of a prison inmate’s haunting memory of a seductive film star.

Brown alums battle for political office nationwide

By Morgan Johnson Senior Staff Writer

Brown alums will run in two of 11 gubernatorial races up for grabs in 2012 with Jack Markell ’82 running for reelection in Delaware, and Maggie Hassan ’80 P’15 making a first-time bid for governor of New Hampshire.

If both candidates win, four sitting governors in the country — including Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal ’91.5 and Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14 — will be Brown graduates, more than any other college at this time.

Ties to politics for Brown alums do not end with these high-profile elections. More than 20 Brown alums from 14 different states will seek federal and state positions next week. And while they vary across the board in their backgrounds and political beliefs, several candidates expressed that their experiences at Brown helped shape their path to

Greg Jordan-Detamore / Herald

Election Day. New Hampshire: Governor As the Democratic candidate in a battleground state, Hassan is

currently ahead in the polls by four points over her opponent Ovide Lamontagne, giving her a wider margin than President Obama’s slim twopoint lead in New Hampshire over

Romney, according to data released

by Public Policy Polling last week.

But Hassan is familiar with how quickly public opinion can change in her state. / / Election page 3

The likelihood of a child being a bully triples if the child has a mental health disorder, according to a study conducted by Frances Turcotte-Benedict GS, a teaching fellow in pediatric emergency medicine at Hasbro Children’s Hospital. TurcotteBenedict presented her results at the national conference of the American Academy of Pediatrics in New Orleans Oct. 22.

Turcotte-Benedict analyzed the relationship between mental health diagnoses in children and bullying behavior based on data gathered in the 2007 National Survey of Children’s Health. She also examined the correlation by disorder subtype, comparing bullying behavior of children with ADHD, anxiety, depression and Oppositional Defiant Disorder.

Children with depression were three times more likely to be bullies, while those with Oppositional Defiant Disorder were six times as likely to exhibit bullying, which is defined as “repetitive, intentional aggression that involves a disparity of power between the victim and perpetrator,” according to an AAP press release.

Turcotte-Benedict said she found the association between bullying behavior and depression “shocking,” as children with depression are usually described as being introverted. But “depression manifests differently in children and / / Bully page 8

science & research

2 campus news c alendar Today

November 2

8 P.m.

ToMORROW

/ / Yield page 1 November 3

10 p.m.

Brown Chorus Concert

PW Monster Ball

Sayles Hall

T.F. Green Hall

8 p.m.

10 p.m.

Archipelago Poetry Project

Pancakes for Poverty

Granoff Center

Keeney Quadrangle

menu SHARPE REFECTORY

VERNEy-WOOLLEY DINING HALL

LUNCH Vegan Oven Roasted Tofu, Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwich, Spinach Stuffed Tomatoes

Breaded Chicken Fingers, Vegan Nuggets, Vegan Three Bean Casserole, Cajun Apple Cake

DINNER Vegetarian Gnocchi Alla Sorrentina, Italian Chicken Parmesan, Salmone Alla Griglia, Pumpkin Tofu Cheesecake

Grilled Caesar Chicken, Cheese Ravioli with Pink Vodka Sauce, Stir Fried Tofu, Garlic and Butter Rice

Sudoku

Crossword

the brown daily herald Friday, November 2, 2012

2002 admission cycle, according to a Moody’s Investor Service report released that year. And 81 percent of students offered spots in Harvard’s class of 2016 chose to attend, making Harvard’s yield rate the highest in the country last year.

Cornell, which had the lowest Ivy League yield rate at 50 percent in 2002, yielded 53 percent of admitted applicants this past admission cycle.

Jim Miller, dean of admission at Brown, linked the national average yield rate’s noticeable decline over the past decade to the upward trend in submitted applications per student.

“Yield rates can be a little overhyped to some degree,” Miller said.

“We’re very happy we’ve been able to sustain our yield rate.”

Colleen Lim, director of undergraduate admission at Stanford, said yield rates are a byproduct of the complex decision-making process for high school seniors trying to find the right college. “Philosophically, this is about students and the choices they’re making for themselves,” Lim said.

Stanford boasted its highest yield rate of the past decade in fall 2012, as 72.8 percent of applicants accepted their admission offers for the class of 2016. Lim said her office prioritizes keeping incoming class sizes constant by using its single-choice early action program and its waitlist.

But she added that the yield rate is to a large degree outside of admission officers’ control.

“There’s not a whole lot we can do,” Lim said. “It’s such an individualized decision.”

“Philosophically, this is about students and the choices they’re making for themselves.”

Colleen Lim Director of Undergraduate Admission at Stanford

The continuing attractiveness of a Brown education and a needblind financial aid program for domestic applicants have helped keep the University’s yield rate above the national average, according to Miller.

He added that 50 percent of admitted applicants who turn down the University go to one of four schools — Harvard, Princeton, Stanford University and Yale — and that 75 percent matriculate at one of these schools, another Ivy League institute, Duke University or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Miller said the University’s Admission Office focuses less on the yield rate than it does on securing its most desired applicants. “What we worry about is are we getting the students we really want to get,” he said.

Michele Hernandez, a private college admission consultant who specializes in helping high school seniors secure acceptance to elite universities, said she did not anticipate a drastic change in Ivy League yield rates in coming years. She added that early admission programs are a useful tool for top-tier schools to manage their yield rates.

“If you take a higher percentage early, you can control your numbers,” Hernandez said. The only fluctuation in Ivy yield rates occurs when an elite university makes a major change in its admission process, Hernandez said, such as when Harvard, Princeton and the University of Virginia abolished their early action programs in 2006.

“It messed up everything that year,” Hernandez said, adding that

the move led many highly qualified students to wait until the regular decision process to submit applications in the hopes of getting into Harvard or Princeton. As a result, less qualified applicants suffered from the heightened competition in the regular decision pool.

“It’s better to get some of the highest shooting kids out of the pool early,” Hernandez said. Harvard, Princeton and UVA reinstated early action programs last fall, leading to more stability in the admission process, she added.

Miller said the Admission Office remains content with its binding early decision program, in which admitted applicants commit to attending the University by mid-December. Last year, the Admission Office accepted 550 of the 2,750 total admitted students via early decision. Students admitted via early decision account for roughly a third of each incoming class.

The trend of submitting a high number of college applications is reflected among current Brown students.

Deepa Chellappa ’14 said she chose Brown after visiting campus for the Admission Office’s event for admitted students, A Day on College Hill. But the University was far from her only choice. “I applied to probably at least 10 schools,” she said.

Heidi Chang ’16 said she applied to 17 other colleges, turning down offers of admission from Carnegie Mellon University, Dartmouth, Northwestern University and Wesleyan University. Brown’s small class sizes for undergraduates and campus beauty attracted her attention, she said.

Sarah Day Dayon ’15, who said she applied to seven schools, added that the University’s distinctive atmosphere led her to turn down attractive financial aid offers from in-state schools.

daily herald the Brown

www.browndailyherald.com 195 Angell St., Providence, R.I.

Claire Peracchio, President Rebecca Ballhaus, Vice President

Danielle Marshak, Treasurer Siena DeLisser, Secretary

The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is an independent newspaper serving the Brown University community daily since 1891. It is published Monday through Friday during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement and once during Orientation by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Single copy free for each member of the community.

POSTMASTER please send corrections to P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI 02906.

Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Subscription prices: $280 one year daily, $140 one semester daily.

Copyright 2012 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved. editorial

(401) 351-3372 herald@browndailyherald.com

Business

(401) 351-3260 gm@browndailyherald.com

Thanks for reading!

campus news 3

the brown daily herald Friday, November 2, 2012

/ / Election page 1 After three terms in the state senate, the former senate majority leader lost her bid for a fourth term in 2010 to Republican challenger Russell Prescott, a candidate she faced in two of her four previous campaigns.

“New Hampshire is a fiercely independent state,” Hassan said.

“People really decide candidate by candidate and issue by issue, and (with) the challenges this country has faced over the last decade, people have voted in different ways and in different circumstances.”

Both candidates have focused mainly on differences in their tax and fiscal policies during the campaign season. Hassan said her opponent Lamontagne has aligned his campaign platforms with policies supported by the Tea Party, which has been “dominating the legislative branch” of the state for the past two years.

Lamontagne’s campaign has focused its offense around Hassan’s tax policies and voting records, releasing more than 40 press releases as part of a daily series called “Maggie’s Tax of the Day.” Hassan has stated during her campaign that she will veto any raises in personal income tax and overall sales tax, but said she aims to reinstate a 10-cent cigarette tax, the state’s mini-

last. In a debate before the primaries, King said he was asked if, as the less experienced candidate, he would be able to stand up for his constituents and hold his own in disputes with colleagues in the Senate. His answer, he said, was simple — “I was an outgoing Republican who went to Brown for four years.”

But King credits Brown with more than sharpening his skills in political confrontation. King said he enrolled at Brown after applying to several schools exclusively in the northeast.

“My freshman year was very difficult,” he said, adding that in his first semester he received Cs and below in all four classes. “I didn’t know how to write papers,” he said. Without the individualized attention he received at Brown, King — who has a M.S. from Cambridge University and a J.D. from Yale — said he believes his disadvantages would likely have gone unnoticed at peer institutions with less undergraduate focus. “I had professors that realized that I didn’t know how to study for the material,” he said.

Brown’s opportunities for public service and political involvement were also substantial in developing his future pursuits, King said, adding that he did not anticipate being so involved before coming to Brown.

Just missing the cutoff for the varsity men’s tennis team was “in ret-

“Brown is one place where we can disagree amicably.”

Sen. Jeff King ’75, R-Kansas

mum wage law and will repeal the budget cuts to public schools and universities implemented by legislators over the last two years.

“People need a strong university system because we obviously need a strong and skilled workforce,” she said.

“The Brown community has been terrific,” Hassan said of campaign support from fellow alums. Hassan has also received widespread support and media attention from outside of New Hampshire. In addition to an endorsement from President Clinton, Hassan’s campaign raised, as of August, a record amount in campaign contributions for a first-time candidate, with 70 percent of funds made up of individual donations of $100 or less.

Part of that support may stem from the uniqueness of her candidacy, Hassan said. She is the only woman running for governor nationally this year, and if elected she will be the only Democratic female governor in the country. “People believe all enterprises are better served when you have diverse leadership,” she said.

Kansas: State Senate With no opponent in the general election, Sen. Jeff King ’75, R-Kansas, of the state’s 15th district is all but guaranteed to start his second term in office next year. But when he lost 73 percent of his constituents and faced a four-term incumbent in the primary election due to redistricting, he faced the very real possibility that his first term in office would be his

rospect one of the best things that happened to me,” he said. King went on to found club tennis at Brown and coached at local high schools. He also participated in various community service projects and served as vice president of the Brown Republicans, where he said he was initially one of three members.

“When you’re willing to engage in spirited but fact-based debate, folks at Brown were very accepting,” he said. “Brown is one place where we can disagree amicably.”

Working politicians could learn a thing or two from the atmosphere of discourse at Brown, King said, and success of recent pension reforms in Kansas and Rhode Island state legislatures might be a step closer in this direction.

“I have a lot of respect” for the Democratic legislators who pushed pension reform in Rhode Island, King said, adding that — as a leader of similar efforts in his own state — he could empathize with the difficulties of drafting an overhaul. “You don’t win friends by reforming the pension system,” he said.

But so far, elections continue to take a turn for the worse in their contentiousness, King said. “Tough elections are good in the democratic process, (but) I believe civility in campaigns and civility in government is slowly diminishing, and that may be the biggest tragedy in our political system. Our democracy suffers.”

Rhode Island: U.S. House of Representatives

browndailyherald.com

As many Americans grow weary of increasing partisanship in federal and state government, some candidates are just as weary of the parties themselves. Abel Collins ’00 is running on an independent ticket for U.S. Representative of Rhode Island’s second district against incumbent Jim Langevin and Republican challenger Mike Riley.

“I’ve always thought I would eventually run for this office,” Collins said, who spent several years as a lobbyist in the state, most recently as project manager for the Sierra Club’s Rhode Island branch. “I didn’t think it would be this soon,” he added.

As a first-time candidate for a federal position, Collins said he is often asked if running for the State House would be a more sensible starting place. “To me I can already do all those things that state senators and state representatives do,” he said. “I really think the next step is to go and address the major problems I see on the federal level. And they are major.”

Collins said one of the main reasons he entered the campaign stemmed from the desire to revisit issues addressed by the Occupy movement. He served as an ally to members of Occupy Providence, assisting in writing literature on behalf of the group and negotiating with officials in city government.

“All those efforts really didn’t result in the change we needed to see,” he said, “I think it’s important to take Occupy’s messages and cause into the political realm.”

In a poll conducted by the Taubman Center for Public Policy last month, only 4.7 percent of a sample of 235 voters in the second district said they would vote for Collins while 49.4 percent and 31.5 percent would chose Langevin and Riley, respectively.

“I have been competitive,” Collins said, adding that his campaign has spent between 25 to 50 times less than his opponents. “I think that proves the theory that a good message appeals to people.” Collins is scheduled to join Langevin and Riley in a televised debate tonight on WJAR, though both candidates allegedly withdrew from previously scheduled debates on word of Collin’s inclusion.

Collins said if he was eligible to run in the first district instead of Langevin’s, he likely would have stayed out of the race. “I would be much more likely to be a spoiler in the district one race,” he said, adding that his priority would be keeping Democrat incumbent David Cicilline ’83 in office.

“I am not a fan of the Republican agenda,” he said of a possible Doherty win. “It’s atrocious.”

Collins labeled Langevin’s political leanings more problematic than Cicilline’s, Collins said. “He’s a pretty conservative Democrat” on issues such as abortion, Collins said.

Collins, who plans to vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein in the presidential election, said both Langevin and President Obama have proven to be “very much a part of the Democratic machine,” especially through lenient attitudes toward the banking industry.

Though the Republicans are more “dangerous” to put in power, he said, both parties have lost sight of the “longer view” on politics, a concept he said he was introduced to as a student through exposure to thinkers like John Rawls in political science classes.

“Nobody’s thinking, ‘What’s the world going to look like in 20 years, 50 years, 100 years or more?’” he said.

“We need to think about those things because the activities that humans are

whole bunch of things.” Attending college before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Ross’ academic interests gravitated from medicine to international relations and arms control.

“IR just expanded my world,” Ross said. “I wish I could do more with what I studied at Brown, but sometimes I think reminding people at the state level that we live in a global economy … makes a big difference.”

But some areas of domestic policy Ross focuses on in Georgia’s state capitol still draws from her other interests at Brown, she said. An active supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment when she was a student, Ross helped move forward women’s issues concerning equal employment, domestic violence policy and access to contraception when the Democrats in North Carolina were in control of the House before losing it in 2010. “Now in the minority, I play a lot of defense in those issues,” she said.

“Things are very hot — politics isn’t a tea party.”

Rep. Deborah Ross ’85, D-N.C.

doing these days are having such a huge impact, and if we lose sight of that we just won’t have a future at all.”

North Carolina: State House of Representatives Rep. Deborah Ross ’85, D-N.C., got a taste for political life working on a campaign before entering the political arena herself. Though Ross started out practicing law in the private sector after graduating from the University of North Carolina Law School, she said her interest in public service began when she started working for Harvey Gnatt, former mayor of Charlotte, in an historic and racially-charged senate race against Republican incumbent Jessie Helms.

She then worked with women’s rights organizations, judicial campaigns and the American Civil Liberties Union before running for North Carolina’s state legislature — an unexpected diversion from the focus of her studies of International Relations at Brown.

“Brown was my destiny,” Ross said, who applied early decision. “I liked the idea of intellectual freedom,” she said, adding that its smaller student body compared to other Ivy League schools was also a big draw.

Ross was president of her class in high school for several years and “extremely involved” in local politics, but after arriving at Brown she said she discovered she “wanted to try a

Ross is unopposed in her district this year, but as the minority whip, she assists in party fundraising and other aspects of individual campaigns in the state. “It’s a different kind of pressure,” she said, having experienced competitive campaigns in the past. “Some of the people who I’m helping are going through very difficult elections.”

North Carolina is considered a swing state nationally, but Republicans will likely keep their majority in the state in the upcoming election cycle, Ross said.

Since the party turnover last election, contention has been high, she said. “When people are not in power and then they get in power, sometimes there’s a lack of graciousness.

Things are very hot — politics isn’t a tea party.”

Ross said the environment of Brown fostered skills of individual responsibility and adaptation to instability characteristic of today’s political atmosphere.

“When you go to Brown you have to know how to chart your own course,” she said. In government, “circumstances change all the time and virtually everybody who wants your ear is really only coming from their own perspective. …

If you want to respond to a changing state and political environment, you have to use the great skills of critical thinking.”

4 campus news

the brown daily herald Friday, November 2, 2012

Students undertake independent study projects abroad

By Alison Silver Senior Staff Writer

For many students, studying abroad means an opportunity to explore a foreign country in an academic setting while gaining independence both inside and outside the classroom. The Global Independent Study Project allows students to go one step further and receive a course credit for an independent research project conducted while abroad. Students design their own course syllabus and remain in contact with a Brown faculty member throughout their time abroad, often compiling what they learn into a creative final project once they return.

Over the past three years, more than 80 students have completed GLISPs, “tapping into resources that cannot be duplicated stateside,” said Kendall Brostuen, director of the Office of International Programs.

Riding local One of the most immediate ways to learn about a new place is to take local transportation. Navigating a foreign city can be challenging even for the people who live there, and for a visitor, there is no better way to understand the transportation system than to use it. That is exactly what Shawn Verma ’13 did as part of his GLISP, entitled “The Cross-societal Impact of Public

Empkie on the “social and structural factors that influence people’s health.”

Verma said Empkie guided his decision to focus on the topic of transportation. In each country he visited, Verma gathered qualitative data by interviewing locals about different forms of transport, society’s perceptions of public and private transportation and policy decisions that could improve their everyday travel.

“We experienced ourselves what people in those countries experienced,” he said, which “simply can’t be replicated by reading about them or looking at pictures in a textbook.”

In addition to consulting experts who were knowledgeable about transportation, Verma and his GLISP partner captured all of their interviews with locals on video, which they used to produce a documentary.

“That sort of personal touch that we added obviously would not have been possible had we not been riding the subway every day in Sao Paolo, Brazil, or riding on the backs of motorbikes in Hanoi, Vietnam, or riding on the backs of pick-up trucks on dirt roads in rural South Africa,” Verma said.

Opera immersion Nora Rothman ’13 got the idea to go abroad at the last minute. A singer and art history concentrator, Rothman created a program that tapped

“Part of the being abroad process is you’re there 24/7.”

Simon Vecchioni ’13

Transportation in Brazil, South Africa and Vietnam.”

After being accepted into the International Honors Program, which allows students to divide a semester abroad among three different countries, Verma decided to supplement his experience abroad with a project that would enhance his understanding of the ethnography of the countries he visited, he said.

Verma said he got the idea for his GLISP — which he completed with one other student during his junior fall semester — through a course with Assistant Dean of Medicine Timothy

into both interests and allowed her to study in a place she already knew and loved: Florence, Italy.

“I was interested in continuing my vocal study while I was abroad,” she said. Because she had not studied Italian, she enrolled in an Englishspeaking program offered through Syracuse University.

“I came up with this idea that I wanted to study opera while I was in Italy, but not just study it in an academic or scholarly sense,” she said. Especially because her program was not Brown-affiliated, she said her mindset about academics while abroad was

Spring 2012 GLISPs China: Financial Institutions and Entrepreneurship in China France: An Analysis of Refugee Policy and Exclusionary Mechanisms of Asylum Seekers in France France: From Painting to the Art Object: An Exploration into French Textiles France: Immigrant Identity in Contemporary French Literature France: Manifestations and Explorations of Trauma in the Work of Marguerite Duras France: The 19th Century French Pipe Organ and its Literature France: The Political Economy of the European Financial Crisis Italy: Bologna, Italy as a Didactical and Scholarly Destination for Notable Musical Figures of 18th-Century Europe Japan: American Study Abroad Students’ Integration to Japanese Culture Jordan: Poetics of Space in the Sahara Desert Russia: Study of Russian Sign Language with a Comparison of Russian and American Deaf Culture South Africa: The Development of African Studies in Post-Apartheid South Africa Spain: Composing Constitutions: The Law and Literature of Constitutional Spain and Cuba Spain: Immigration and Integration in Spain United Kingdom: Crime, Psychology and Comparative Legal Systems in the United States and United Kingdom Multiple Countries: Cars, Trains, Buses and Planes: Capturing Three Countries’ Conversations on Transportation Source: Office of International Programs

different. “It’s not in any way, shape or form at all as rigorous as the academics at Brown are,” she said. But the GLISP enabled her to expand her study of music beyond the realm of academics.

The main components of her GLISP involved researching and writing about Italian opera and vocal technique while also actively participating in the music scene around her. As part of her syllabus, Rothman imposed a requirement of seeing at least five musical performances, which “brought me off Syracuse University and into the heart of Florence,” she said.

Rothman continued her vocal study by taking weekly voice lessons at the music school Il Trillo, where her teacher did not speak English. This forced her to “approach music in a foreign language … which was really cool,” she said. Because she did not know anyone in Florence, studying abroad was “a very formative experience in the arena of developing your independence.”

Rothman’s requirement to attend performances brought her to the Opera in Venice and jazz rehearsals in Florence, venues where she might not have ventured had she not been completing her GLISP, she said. Rothman performed alongside Italian students in their holiday concert, and even sung jazz shows with a quartet in Florence.

Through her GLISP, Rothman said she learned about the differences between contemporary Italian and American approaches to vocal tech-

twitter.com/the_herald

nique, and that she has applied what she learned to her continued music study at Brown. As a culmination to the project, she gave a performance at Brown of some of the songs she studied in Italy, which have remained part of her repertoire since returning to Brown.

Borrowed language Simon Vecchioni ’13 also studied in Italy. In contrast to Rothman, his interest was not in music, but in the Italian language. To supplement his time in the Brown in Bologna program, he decided to investigate the phenomenon of language borrowing from English in Italian. Studying at an Italian university alongside local students provided a unique context to observe how English words have entered regular Italian speech.

“I basically found that it’s everywhere,” he said. To identify the sources he used for his project, Vecchioni read Italian newspapers, watched Italian news and conducted frequent interviews.

“Part of the being abroad process is you’re there 24/7,” he said. “The project really grew as a result of being with real Italian people.”

Walking around with a camera, Vecchioni took pictures of Bologna’s graffiti, which ended up becoming a side project of his GLISP. He observed different kinds of dialogue that emerged in English language graffiti, which he presented in a slideshow upon returning to Brown.

In addition to extensive outside research, Vecchioni supplemented his interviews with lessons from his university courses that focused on loan words in the language. He said the one rule he found throughout his GLISP was that language change is subject to cultural attitudes. “Anything can change in any way, or nothing can change, and it’s all subject to how people feel about that change,” he said.

Because his GLISP entailed a close examination of the language Italians use every day, Vecchioni said he could not have made the same discovery were he not studying abroad. There is no other way to learn about certain language choices, like the names of stores, until you actually enter the store and ask, he said. “It’s like a cultural dialogue that’s going on, and you can’t get that without being there.”

Back to Brown GLISPs do not always end when students return from being abroad.

For Kara Kaufman ’12, her indepen-

dent research continued the following summer after her semester abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark.

An environmental studies concentrator, Kaufman was interested in researching the process of producer responsibility by examining Danish manufacturing and recycling policies.

Producer responsibility is a system in which a manufacturer of a product takes responsibility for the product when the customer no longer wants it, she said.

“The GLISP was an opportunity to look at that in depth,” Kaufman said, though she did not know beforehand just how immersive her experience abroad would be. Through completing frequent readings on the theory of producer responsibility and relevant policies of the European Union, Kaufman became familiar with ideas of famous scholars in Denmark, Sweden, Germany and surrounding countries.

And she had the chance to meet them.

“My faculty mentor in Denmark was able to set up a meeting with the world leaders in Sweden,” she said.

There she met “these world-class scholars of this very particular subfield of producer responsibility.” Talking to the top executives of the companies she was learning about was “such an amazing insight,” she said.

From her fortuitous interviews with these world scholars as well as her day-to-day contact with local Danes, Kaufman said she was able to “get a sense of the cultural fabric of the country and how these policies trickle down in people’s attitudes toward products.”

Kaufman’s faculty advisor for the GLISP, Senior Lecturer in Engineering Christopher Bull, said her GLISP was part of a larger investigation of policies in Denmark and the European Union that can translate to conditions in the United States. “It was an interesting experience for both of us in that I was relying on her to figure out what was going on there and help me understand what that was, so she was my eyes and ears in Denmark,” he said.

The summer after she returned from studying abroad, Kaufman applied what she learned abroad at her internship with Clean Water Action, where she extended her research to producer responsibility relating to Rhode Island mattresses.

She said she would highly recommend doing GLISP to anyone considering studying abroad.

“It was by far the most meaningful academic experience I had while abroad because of the independent research component,” she said.

campus news 5

the brown daily herald Friday, November 2, 2012

Prof elected to Institute of Medicine Global view needed to

solve EU debt crisis

By Dora Chu Contributiing Writer

Professor of Neuroscience John Donoghue was elected to the Institute of Medicine two weeks ago for his groundbreaking development of technology to restore mobility to disabled individuals. Donoghue and his research team at BrainGate take the phrase “mind over matter” to a whole new level. Their research involves using neural signals and robotic arms to restore movement to those who have lost control of their limbs.

“He’s done really unique and amazing experiments,” said Barry Connors, professor and chair of the Department of Neuroscience. Despite being unable to move their limbs, those brains of those who are paralyzed still possess the ability to send messages of movement. Connors describes the use of algorithms by Donoghue and his team as an attempt to make sense of what the nerve cell activity in the part of the brain that controls movement, known as the motor cortex, is trying to say.

Members of the Institute of Medicine, a nationally recognized reference for medicine and health, provide knowledge, analysis and recommendations in their particular fields. The institute “asks and answers the nation’s most pressing questions about health and health care,” according to its website.

New intitute members are elected by current members based on their contributions to the medical world.

“It’s the highest distinction in the field (of medicine and health),” said Judith Salerno, executive officer of the Institute of Medicine. The election process starts with a nomination, which has to be seconded and then voted on by the insitute’s full membership.

By Maxine Joselow Contributing Writer

Courtesy of brown university

Neuroscience Professor John Donoghue was elected to the institute for his research on the use of neural signals to restore limb movement. “(Donoghue) has already proven that he’s made significant contributions to the field and that his work is on the forefront of systems neuroscience,” Salerno said. “It doesn’t get any better than that,” she added.

“It’s a real honor to be elected to this group of people who are called upon to talk about policies in medicine for the country, especially by your peers,” Donoghue said. He explained that members of the institute are asked to “contribute knowledge to science and medicine policy.”

“We look forward to drawing on their knowledge and skills to improve health through the work of the IOM,” said Harvey Fineberg, the institute’s president, in the news release that announced this year’s 80 new members

Courtesy Of Charlotte Thomas-Davison

A production with show-stopping dance numbers, “Kiss of the Spider Woman” also deals with dark themes such as human rights and exploitation.

/ / Kiss page 1 Both Valentin and Molina are confronted with the harsh reality of prison life outside their dreams, and their friendship grows stronger as their fantasies grow more engrossing. As the cold prison recedes, the bright and dazzling

fantasy of the spider woman reigns, distracting both Molina and Valentin from events in the cell.

But soon events in the prison pull Molina and Valentin out of their dream world and compel them to confront the degrading treatment they receive at the hands of an exasperated prison warden.

and foreign associates.

“It’s hard to predict the future,” Connors said, noting the possible implications of Donoghue’s research for those who are paralyzed. “But maybe in the fairly near future, there might be some hope that they can have practical devices to really dramatically improve their lives and allow them to interact with the world much better than they can now,” he added.

Donoghue said he finds it rewarding that he is able to see his research be a fundamental part of helping others “to live an independent life.”

He also added that it is “extremely exciting to be able to spend my life understanding and learning how the brain works.”

Strouss plays an endlessly likable Molina, whose fight against pathos and cheeky sense of humor win sympathy and admiration both from the audience and from Valentin.

The dance numbers in this production are truly huge — at one point, Aurora enters in a “bird of paradise” costume that is ten feet wide and covered in sequins — but so are its themes. Human rights, cruel and unusual punishment and exploitation are all interrogated in this deeply probing show.

Actors raved about Director and Visiting Lecturer in Playwriting Marcus Gardley’s direction and methods.

“I always felt like he was there to help me and guide me,” Strouss said. “He let us make discoveries.”

Heil said working with the choreographer and music director was also a great experience. Spider Woman is musically directed by Adria Barbosa, film and concert composer and conductor, and choreographed by Taavon Gamble, whose choreography is “vibrant, fast, and so much fun to watch,” said stage manager Jennifer Gorelick ’14.

It is a strange production and oddly affecting, but its utilization of the element of surprise only augments its power. Add to the mix the soaring vocals and incredible catharsis of the final scenes, and this show will have even the most exhausted students dancing in their seats.

“Kiss of the Spider Woman” runs Nov. 1-3 and Nov. 8-10 at 8 p.m. and Nov. 4 and 11 at 2 p.m.

Europe can help solve its debt crisis by taking lessons from other parts of the world, said William Rhodes ’57, professor-at-large and a former senior vice chairman of Citigroup and Citibank, to a full lecture hall at the Watson Institute for International Studies last night.

President Christina Paxson gave the welcome address for the lecture, and Roberto Serrano, interim director of the Rhodes Center and chair of the economics department, gave the introduction. After the lecture, Paxson told The Herald she enjoyed reading Rhodes’ 2011 book, “Banker to the World: Leadership Lessons from the Front Lines of Global Finance,” because it explored historical parallels that Rhodes did not have time to cover in the lecture. “He’s just got this depth of experience that’s incredible,” Paxson said.

Rhodes began by criticizing European leaders’ indifference toward other nations’ past financial crises.

When Rhodes warned in 2010 that

had to do and did it,” Rhodes said of Dae-jung. Rhodes also praised Fernando Cardoso, former president of Brazil, and Kemal Dervis, Turkish minister of state for economic affairs, for implementing programs that led to economic growth in their respective countries.

Besides strong leadership, Rhodes discussed the need for more urgency from European leaders.

“There’s a clock running. You don’t have forever to work out solutions. … Europeans have not really understood the importance of time,” Rhodes said. In particular, the G-20 did not include timelines for any of the agreements it reached in its 19 summits. No timeline means no incentive, Rhodes said.

Rhodes also discussed a third overarching point — the need for a banking union across European nations — that he said was critical for the future of the Eurozone.

After 40 minutes of providing recommendations for Europe, he took questions from the audience.

Barbara Stallings — the William R. Rhodes Research Professor

“There’s a clock running. You don’t have forever to work out solutions.”

William Rhodes ’57 Professor-at-Large

Europe could experience a debt crisis similar to those in Latin America in the 1980s or Asia in the late 1990s, “the attitude of most of the policymakers was dismissive,” Rhodes said.

Many European leaders arrogantly argued that lessons from these areas did not pertain to Europe because Europe was more developed, Rhodes said.

Despite these leaders’ attitudes, Europe has sunk into a sovereign debt crisis that has dragged the global economy down, Rhodes said. Solving the European debt crisis is crucial because “the markets of the world … are more interlinked now than (they) ever have been,” and Europe is one of China and the United States’ largest trading partners, Rhodes said.

Rhodes identified strong leadership as one lesson Europe can learn from other nations. For example, Rhodes praised Kim Dae-jung, president of the Republic of Korea during the Asian financial crisis, for making successful reforms recommended by the International Monetary Fund, despite his initial reservations about the IMF. “Here is a man who knew what he

at the Watson Institute, named after Rhodes — asked his opinion on countries such as Greece leaving the Eurozone. Rhodes said he is unsure if the Eurozone would be better off without Greece, but said that Greece must “take rapid action” to return to a “competitive economy.”

Following the question-and-answer session, the 50 or so attendees moved from the Joukowsky Forum to the lobby of the Watson Institute for refreshments and a book signing.

“I really liked the speech. This lecture series really meets my interests,” said Julia Xu ’15.

Rhodes’ lecture was the first in the International Finance Lecture Series, co-sponsored by the Watson Institute and the Rhodes Center on International Economics and Finance. The next speaker in the series will be Jose Campa, former secretary of state for the economy for the Spanish government, Serrano wrote in an email to The Herald. Campa will give a speech titled “The Ongoing Economic Crisis in Europe” at the Economics in the Real World symposium Dec. 7 and 8, Serrano wrote.

Got something to say?

Leave a comment online!

Visit www.browndailyherald.com to comment on opinion and editorial content.

6 campus news

the brown daily herald Friday, November 2, 2012

sam kase / herald

Carla Bellamy of Baruch College discussed the effect of healing shrines on religious identity in India at a Cogut Center talk last night.

Lecturer discusses role of therapeutic healing shrines Courtesy of Tim Hiebert

Two buildings in Providence’s historic Jewelry District have been included on the Preservation Society’s 2012 list of most endangered buildings. Restorations efforts will encourage the adaptive reuse of the two buildings.

Providence refocuses preservation efforts By caroline flanagan senior staff writer

The Narragansett Electric Lighting House, or “Dynamo House,” and the Ward Baking Company Administration Building — two buildings in the Jewelry District — were included on the Providence Preservation Society’s 2012 list of the most endangered buildings in Providence. These preservation efforts follow a series of successful movements to preserve historical buildings in the district.

Restoration of historic buildings has been prevalent in the Jewelry District since the 1970s, after a group of Rhode Island School of Design students converted a historic building into condominiums — the first such buildings in Providence, said James Hall, executive director of the Providence Preservation Society.

“The Jewelry District is an area that has seen the growth of adaptive reuse,” Hall said.

But this has not been the case with Dynamo House and the Ward building, which are considered endangered because they have not been appropriated for use. The buildings are currently vacant and exposed to the elements.

Dynamo House has been on the society’s list since 2011. The building originally belonged to the National Grid and is a decommissioned power plant. There have been a number of plans to restore Dynamo House over the past decades, but none have come to fruition.

“It’s a prominent building, so it’s in the minds of preservationists,” said Paul Wackrow, the coordinator of advocacy

and education for the Providence Preservation Society.

Arthur Salisbury, the president of the Jewelry District Association, said the building is also important because of its prime waterfront location.

One of the most significant past plans for the building was a combined effort in 1999 by the Rhode Island Historical Society and a number of smaller historical societies to turn it into a museum of Rhode Island history.

According to Salisbury, the groups spent $4 million to $5 million to restore the exterior masonry of the building before the plan fell through in 2003. A developer bought the building that year and started to put condominiums on the top floor, removing the roof in the building process. When the housing bubble collapsed in 2008, the plans for condominiums fell through, and the building has remained roofless since.

It’s currently owned by a company in Baltimore.

“It just sits there without any signs of moving forward,” Hall said.

The Ward building is on the list for the first time this year. Once part of a larger building that housed a baking company, it was used by a jewelrycrafting company when the area became invested in the jewelry industry, but the toxic chemicals used by the company caused the building to fall into disrepair after a number of years.

The back of the building is open, Hall said, leaving it exposed to vagrants and fires.

Hall cited the building’s unique art moderne style as one of the its valuable aspects, and Salisbury said its location on a street corner makes it worthy of

preservation.

The buildings on the Providence Preservation Society’s list are selected privately through a call for nominations on the society’s website in the spring.

The Planning and Architectural Review Committee, composed of interested preservationists from the community, subsequently votes on the final list.

Hall noted that Jewelry District preservation efforts have improved greatly in the past five years and added that demolition has slowed down. He said the demolition of Route I-195 as well as the increased presence of Brown and Johnson and Wales University have boosted public awareness of the district.

“Many people didn’t even know there were residents (in the Jewelry District),” he said. “There’s still a sense of history there, and the residents are committed to that history.”

Hall also praised Brown’s preservation efforts in the district, particularly its conversion of the Little Nemo Manufacturing Building into the Alpert Medical School. In May, the Providence Preservation Society granted former President Ruth Simmons a Special Preservation Award for her rehabilitation of several buildings in the city.

Even with the new developments in the neighborhood, Salisbury noted that most building companies try to keep the size of new buildings in line with the current scale of buildings to preserve the historic character of the neighborhood.

“It’s clear that the area originally had a manufacturing or industrial purpose, even if some of the buildings have residential, commercial or academic purposes now,” Wackrow said.

By Sabrina imbler Staff Writer

Carla Bellamy, assistant professor of anthropology and South Asian religion at Baruch College at the City University of New York, discussed the therapeutic role of dargahs, healing shrines frequented by Muslims, Christians and Hindus, in a talk Thursday night sponsored by the Cogut Center for the Humanities. Bellamy’s lecture revolved around her first book, “The Powerful Ephemeral: Everyday Healing in an Ambiguously Islamic Place,” which explores the dargahs’ role in shaping religious identity in India.

Bellamy presented a slideshow of pictures taken at Hussain Tekri, a shrine located in Madhya Pradesh, India, where she said she experienced firsthand the healing power of dargahs.

Dargahs were historically built on the graves of esteemed religious figures in Islamic history. In modern times, dargahs are built not only on saints’ graves, but also on places saints visited. Now, a person may build a dargah anywhere he or she has had a religious experience.

The oft-contested nature of dargahs has contributed to their success in connecting people of different religions, Bellamy said. The Muslims and Hindus who frequent dargahs often self-select into certain routines of worship, each religion dominating the dargah on different days of the week. Bellamy believes this potential conflict is an important part of why dargahs function as healing places.

“While dargahs have really deep South Asian Mughal court heritage, the independence movement and partition changed the way everyone viewed religion. It became either-or.

It became Hindu versus,” Bellamy said.

“The friendships that formed between pilgrims at these sites were often tinged in subtle ways by ‘we’re being closer than we actually are.’”

Bellamy included multimedia foot-

age taken of Indian citizens worshipping at the dagrahs, notably of a woman in a bright orange sari writhing on the ground in her practice of hazri, one of the healing rituals commonly practiced at these shrines. Bellamy described hazri as the experience of a spirit entering a person, with the only method of expulsion being confession.

The religious rituals performed at dargahs proved difficult to document for Bellamy at Husain Tekri, as their impermanent nature was not conducive to being archived in a local culture’s history. For this reason, Bellamy found a dearth of records concerning dargahs from earlier than 200 years ago.

“The rituals at dargahs are so completely unstructured, and there is no permanence to anything that happens at them,” Bellamy said. “The communities that form dissipate, and there is no monument, no trace when anything happens except arguably in the body of those who become healers.”

Yet Bellamy said the transience of dargahs largely contributes to their ability to heal people of all religious beliefs. “These practices can’t be commodified, in the way that many other religious practices can. That ephemerality is powerful because it cannot be captured,” she said.

Everyone in the small audience seemed to have prior knowledge of dargahs, and many took notes during Bellamy’s presentation. Audience questions for Bellamy dealt with topics including the status of marginalized Indians and the difficulty of obtaining a written record for a religious practice as intangible as the dargah.

Bellamy stressed the communal, transgressive and ephemeral features of the dargah as the driving forces behind its success in healing communities without the hindrance of religious boundaries. Of dargahs, an audience member said, “You’re damned if you go and visit, and you’re damned if you don’t because you are on your own.”

arts & culture 7

the brown daily herald Friday, November 2, 2012

R.I. group aims to reduce teen marijuana use By kiki Barnes contributing writer

“Monitoring the Future,” a 2011 study conducted by the University of Michigan, found that Rhode Island, Colorado and Vermont’s 12- to 17-year-olds are using marijuana more frequently than the rest of U.S. teens.

The Ocean State Prevention Alliance was established this year in response to growing concern about the recent increase in youth marijuana use. The OSPA consists of substance abuse task forces in Barrington, Tiverton, Narragansett, Middletown, North Kingstown, Woonsocket, Providence and Chariho.

“The OSPA monitors the progress of marijuana legalization efforts, educates the community on issues regarding legalization and provides

Rhode Island, only the penalties have changed,” Elwell wrote. “With the passage of legislation to allow marijuana for medical purposes in R.I., further misinformation about the risks of use have also become pervasive.”

But the recent decriminalization is only part of the drug’s popularity among Rhode Island teens.

“There is a history of tolerance in Rhode Island. It’s a geocentric problem,” said John Mattson, founder and president of John Mattson Consulting and an evaluator for many substance abuse task forces in the state. “We are at a crossroads of transportation between Boston and New York.”

As an evaluator, Mattson collects data to look at how populations behave and how trends develop and emerge.

He conducts anonymous surveys, focus groups and interviews.

“Not many teenagers in the city can afford to use marijuana every day.”

John Mattson Founder, President of John Mattson Consulting

Evan tHomas / Herald

Orlando (Ben Grills MFA ’14) chokes older brother Oliver (Greg Fallick MFA ’14) in the Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Program’s production of “As You Like It.”

‘As You Like It’ production updates old world comedy By elizabeth koh senior staff writer

William Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” could easily be a romantic comedy on television today — rustic setting and Old English prose aside, the play’s convoluted love polygons and musical accompaniment seem only a stone’s throw from modern favorites like “Glee.” It’s in that spirit of modern adaptation that the second-year class of the Brown University/Trinity Rep MFA program takes the stage this weekend.

The production, viewed at Wednesday’s dress rehearsal, did not disappoint, starting off with a literal bang as Orlando (Ben Grills MFA ’14) launched the play with his opening salvo against scheming older brother Oliver (Greg Fallick MFA ’14). The energy exhibited at the beginning propels the play throughout, from the wordplayheavy monologues of exiled noblewoman Rosalind (Bridget Saracino MFA ’14) to her journey with fellow exiles Celia (Nikki Massoud MFA ’14) and Touchstone (Ted Moller MFA ’14) into the Forest of Arden.

The actors’ energized performances contrast the sparse physical set. Gauzy curtains and a chiffon canopy diffusing light onto the bare floorboards sets the dreamlike atmosphere of Shakespeare’s pastoral comedy and lets each scene in the play blend seamlessly into the next.

The production taps often into Shakespeare’s textual blurring of reality and fiction in true Trinity fashion, using ornate padded couches on the edge of the stage as a “permeable” boundary between the audience and the actors, Saracino said. Actors often venture into the bleachers dur-

ing the production, notably when Orlando “pinned” love letters for Rosalind to audience members pretending to be trees.

“It’s fun, it’s scary because you’re actually talking right to someone you don’t know,” Saracino added.

“You’re sitting in someone’s lap who you don’t know.”

The play’s themes of rebellion, growing up and love also resonate today.

“Everyone in this play is either an authority figure or a rebel,” Massoud said. “(Celia and Rosalind) are rebels too, in their own way.”

The play also speaks to young people, she said.

“These people have to leave their homes and go out into the world and find a way achieve what they want,” she said. “None of this is fake. This is real. There is something about all these people going to the woods, and, even in the midst of playing these games, they’re finding out who they are, really, and who their real friends are.”

But like all happy Shakespeare plays, the guy gets the girl — or the other way around.

“These two are some of the smartest women in canon,” Saracino said. “They’re smarter, they’re faster — she’s teaching him.”

Though the characters are initially “cynical,” Saracino emphasized the play’s depiction of “love in its many forms.”

“She’s not all damsel-y and flowery. She’s strong,” Saracino said of Rosalind. “She learns to grow into saying what she wants to say.”

Now that’s the kind of resolution you won’t get on “Glee.” “As You Like It” runs through Nov. 4 at the Pell Chafee Performance Center.

opportunities for residents to address these issues,” wrote Rebecca Elwell, coordinator of the Tiverton Prevention Coalition, in an email to The Herald.

“Of particular concern is the decrease in perception of harm reported by young people. As perception of harm decreases, use rates tend to increase.”

This June, Gov. Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14 signed legislation that replaced criminal penalties for possessing up to one ounce of marijuana with a civil violation of $150, a change that will take effect in April 2013.

“Decriminalization can be confused with ‘legalization.’ To be clear, marijuana possession is still illegal in

Most dealers operate out of Providence, but use is pervasive across the state, Mattson said. Teens in the cities often have to work and take care of their families — suburban teens are more likely to come from higherincome families and have greater levels of boredom, leading to higher use rates, he said.

“The society is very polarized with very affluent suburbs and very poor urban centers,” Mattson said, adding that marijuana use is correlated with socioeconomic status.

“Not many teenagers in the city can afford to use marijuana every day,” he said.

Mattson also expressed concern about the recent legislation.

“The decriminalization of marijuana and medical marijuana is giving the wrong message,” he said. “We have stopped educating people.”

Education is a main goal of Students for a Sensible Drug Policy, an international grassroots network of students who are concerned about the impact of drug abuse. SSDP believes that education will help students make well-informed decisions about substance abuse.

“The war on drugs has done more harm than good,” said Elizabeth Kinnard ’14, a member of Brown’s chapter of the SSDP. “The U.S. policy is failing, and the drug use rate is higher than ever.”

SSDP was instrumental in supporting the decriminalization of marijuana, medical marijuana and the good samaritan policy in Rhode Island, Kinnard said. Good samaritan policies help people to make responsible decisions by protecting them from arrest when they call for medical help during an emergency relating to alcohol or other drugs, such as an overdose.

“We want to implement realitybased education,” Kinnard said. “It’s important to teach students the realities surrounding marijuana, or they won’t know how to safely use drugs, and they won’t know the negative effects of drugs.”

“Teens report that marijuana is easier to get than alcohol,” she said.

“Alcohol has strict regulations and penalties in place so that it is kept out of the hands of teens. With marijuana, you work with a dealer rather than a store.”

city & state

8 city & state

the brown daily herald Friday, November 2, 2012

Simmons joins corporate R.I. ranks sixth in nation for grad rates boards post-presidency Top six-year

By Jasmine Bala

Contributing writer

By Claire Schlessinger Staff writeR

Since announcing her resignation, former president Ruth Simmons has joined the corporate boards of Chrysler Group and Mondelez International.

Mondelez, which spun off from Kraft Foods effective Oct. 1, includes brands like Oreo, Nabisco and other snack lines.

“All of these directors are committed to strong corporate governance and bring a terrific mix of leadership skills and business experiences to drive the long-term success of both companies,” said Chief Executive Irene Rosenfeld in Kraft Foods’ press release detailing the composition of the new company’s board.

Simmons is one of three members on Mondelez’s nine-person board of directors without any prior involvement in Kraft.

Simmons joined the Chrysler board as an independent director in June. She and Erickson Perkins, director of the United Auto Workers strategic research department, were appointed concurrently to replace former Michigan Gov.

/ / Shaw page 12 got a silky jumper that’s already drawing comparisons to Reggie Miller’s, and he’s only 22 entering his second year of pro ball. Jackson might be promising a renewed defensive presence, but this team is going to run, they’re going to shoot, and Harrison Barnes is going to do at least one incredibly dumb thing a game.

Are there even Bucks fans?

Following Golden State is my sleeper for the Eastern conference: the Milwaukee Bucks. Both of their starting guards are looking for new contracts and will undoubtedly elevate their games so that they can get the hell out of Milwaukee. Meanwhile, candidate for best name in the league, Ersan Ilyasova, has already proven he can really play in this league and is also a worthy fantasy draft choice. He shoots, rebounds hard, and forces his way to the charity stripe. Perhaps the most intriguing of the bunch will be second-rounder Doron Lamb. If he can maintain his star-level performance from his two years at Kentucky, he’ll be the steal of the draft. Vegas is giving the Bucks 36.5 wins this year, but this team is surprisingly deep and — possibly — motivated.

This one’s for the stats nerds Lastly, and the inspiration for this column, is your 2012–2013 Houston LinsaniBeards! After losing the Dwight sweepstakes in calamitous fashion, Daryl Morey (the subject of one fantastic ENGN 0090: “Management of Industrial and Nonprofit Organizations” final paper by yours truly) managed to perfect Sam Presti’s forged signature and land James Harden from the Oklahoma City Thunder. While he won’t be dropping 37 and 12, his statline from the season opener Wednesday night, for the other 81, Harden is a winner. He’ll be a great big spoon for Jeremy Lin with Landry Fields all the way north

James Blanchard on the board.

Corporation Chancellor Tom Tisch ’76 said the corporations are “very lucky to have Ruth as a member of the board given the combination of her experience and great judgment in a vast number of situations.”

Stephen Nelson, higher education expert and senior scholar in the Leadership Alliance, said that though Simmons is no longer the official president of the University, people who have been in such prominent positions continue to “wear the mantle of their university.”

Nelson added that the most obvious benefit to Simmons from joining these boards is the substantial salary most directors receive. He also suggested that Simmons’ connections with corporate elites could be of service to Brown.

For example, Simmons could tap into her colleague network to solicit donations to the University when President Christina Paxson’s new capital campaign is initiated, he said.

Simmons was also named to Princeton’s Board of Trustees in June.

campus news

in Toronto.

It’ll be interesting to see if Lin lives up to his contract: the infamous poison pill that will pay $15 million in the third year to someone who will either be a superstar or an interesting study in the marketing potential of a mediocre player. Sharing the pill is Omer Asik, who turned out to play like the store-brand version of Dwight Howard during the preseason (with that same inability to hit a clutch free throw like the original!) Obviously, anyone who draws too many conclusions from the preseason is an idiot, but Asik proved to be an iron curtain in Chicago and put up good numbers in his regular season debut as well.

I think a bigger factor in Houston’s “will-they-won’t-they-suck story” this year is rookie Royce White. A power forward that plays like Magic Johnson, he led Iowa State in every statistical category, and I desperately hoped he would fall to Boston. (Instead we got Fab Melo of “Fab Melo vs. the folding chair” YouTube fame.)

Of course, White’s also got a crippling fear of modern air travel and will be spending a considerable portion of his rookie contract on Greyhounds. So while he might be an incredible talent on the court, he’ll also be spending countless hours next to a pee-stained serial killer while the rest of the league flies charter. Talk about rookie hazing.

This season might be the most fun to follow in NBA history. We have the best player since Michael Jordan in his prime. We have historic rivals that are legitimate contenders in Boston and L.A. We have teams that will absolutely bottom out but will still have interesting storylines to follow (Will Michael Kidd-Gilchrist emerge?

Who will win the inevitable Thomas Robinson, DeMarcus Cousins, Tyreke “The Black Hole” Evans fistfight? Will the Brow ever love again?). And we have teams that have the potential to finally get over the hump of mediocrity or become the butt of every NBA Jams joke for the next few months.

A recent Chronicle of Higher Education study found that Rhode Island’s 2010 college graduation rates exceed the national average, with Brown topping the list. The state’s eight four-year private colleges collectively achieved a four-year graduation rate of 63.8 percent and a six-year graduation rate of 72.9 percent in 2010. The Ocean State ranked sixth in the nation for graduation rates in the same year.

While the nation’s average 2010 graduation rate for four-year private colleges was 52.5 percent in four years and 65.5 percent in six years, Brown averaged an 85.7 graduation rate in four years and a 95.6 percent six year graduation rate. Brown also recorded a high freshman-to-sophomore retention rate of 98 percent.

Rhode Island School of Design ranked second, with a four-year graduation rate of 86.7 percent, followed by Providence College with a graduation rate of 85.9 percent.

The state’s public institutes of higher education — Rhode Island College and University of Rhode Island — ranked 19th in the nation, with a fouryear graduation rate of 34.1 percent and a six year graduation rate of 57.8 percent. The Community College of Rhode Island, the state’s only twoyear school, fell below the national average. CCRI saw only 9.3 percent of its students graduate in three years, while the national average for two-

/ / Bully page 1 adults,” Turcotte-Benedict said, noting that depression sometime leads children to exhibit aggressive behavior toward others.

While bullying is a “popular topic in the media,” and there is an “overwhelming amount of information out there about children who are victims of bullying,” studying the mental health of bullies themselves is less charted territory, TurcotteBenedict said.

“If we really want to learn more about this problem, we need to focus more on the kids who are doing the bullying,” Turcotte-Benedict said.

The study is unique because it spans such a large age group — children in elementary, middle school and high school, Turcotte-Benedict said. Most bully studies focus only on middle schoolers, where bullying is considered to be at its peak, she said. Turcotte-Benedict’s agestratified analysis proved that bullying is just as prevalent in elementary school as in the later years and while a peak did occur in middle school, the discrepancy was not statistically

year public schools was 20.4 percent.

The Chronicle’s graduation rates exclude those who may have transferred or re-enrolled into the same college before graduating, indicating that those not counted in the graduating class were not necessarily dropouts.

These numbers are a critical component of all of Rhode Island’s higher education systems.

“Graduating rates are one of the many important factors that students and families consider while selecting a college,” said Marisa Quinn, vice president of public affairs and University relations at Brown.

Most of Rhode Island’s private colleges have kept their graduation rates stable over a period of years. Brown has maintained graduation rate of at least 94 percent for the past 10 years, and RISD’s six-year graduation rates have ranged from 87 to 90 percent since 2008.

Some colleges attribute their high graduation rates to a rigorous admissions process. “Our high graduation rates are maintained because we carefully review students during the admissions process,” said Hugh Lena, provost and senior vice president of academic affairs at Providence College.

“Beginning eight years ago, we increased the size of our incoming classes from about 525 students to about 560 students,” said Laura Oliveira, vice president for enrollment and dean of admissions at Salve Regina University in Newport. “This step up in class size coincided with an increase

significant. Twenty percent of high school students reported having been bullied within the last 12 months, according to the AAP release.

“It’s important for us to start early in bully prevention,” Turcotte-Benedict said.

One “limitation” of the study was that the data were parent-reported, and parents may be unaware or hesitant to disclose their child’s bullying behavior, Turcotte-Benedict said.

“It would have been more accurate to survey teachers — they are the ones who are actually witnessing this in their classrooms,” she said. The National Survey of Children’s Health interviews nearly 92,000 families by telephone.

Despite this limitation, TurcotteBenedict said the study’s bullying and mental health rates were comparable to other studies — with approximately 16 percent of children suffering from mental health disorders.

Turcotte-Benedict said her interest in the topic of youth violence stems from her interactions in the emergency room with children diagnosed with mental health disorders.

This study emerged from an indi-

graduation rates

1. Harvard 2. Yale 3. U. of Notre Dame 4. Princeton 5. Brown 6. Penn 7. Dartmouth 8. Williams College 9. Stanford University 10. Wesleyan University

97.4% 96.3% 96.0% 95.7% 95.6% 95.5% 95.4% 95.1% 94.7% 94.4%

Note: Only includes colleges with 500+ freshmen per year.

Source: Chronicle of Higher Education.

in the measurable quality of our new students.”

“Our most recent classes have higher average SAT scores (and) better high school GPAs and more students ranked in the top 25 percent of their high school classes. We’ve also seen a steady increase in the diversity of our incoming students,” Oliveira said.

“We’re recruiting with an eye toward retention for all students.”

Experts said securing a degree should be the top priority for students looking to enter the job market.

“In a society that cares about credentials, finishing college matters,” Mark Schneider, former U.S. commissioner of education statistics and now vice president at American Institutes for Research, told the Chronicle of Higher Education, College Completion. “Employers don’t advertise they want six years of college. They want a degree.”

vidual study conducted in the two-semester PHP 2507-2508: “Biostatistics and Data Analysis” course taught by Annie Gjelsvik ’91 PhD’03, assistant professor of community health and co-author of the study.

Gjelsvik said Turcotte-Benedict’s study was “rare” in the way it has been presented at a major national conference — an opportunity achieved by only one other student out of the 42-student class.

“It was great the way she was able to hone in on a topic that is so timely and so important,” Gjelsvik said. “Every professor wants their student to have practical applications for what they are learning.”

Turcotte-Benedict said she hoped her presentation to the AAP “heightened the awareness of bullying to pediatricians.”

In addition, Turcotte-Benedict said she wants her study to reach policymakers and schools — groups who have recognized the prevalence of bullying and enacted anti-bullying laws but could do more, she said.

“We need to take it to the next level,” Turcotte-Benedict said, noting the need to re-evaluate which of these programs are most effective and combining mental health counseling and anti-bullying programs in schools.

facebook.com/ browndailyherald

sports friday 9

the brown daily herald Friday, November 2, 2012

/ / Bears page 12 The Bulldogs have had similar hardships. As Varga’s unlikely position last week suggests, their big loss has been at quarterback. With a conference-worst 180.7 passing yards per game, Yale has had little in the way of an aerial attack even with Williams, who has thrown 12 interceptions, at the wheel.

Staying out of the air against Bruno may serve the Bulldogs well. The Bears are first in the league for interceptions with 10, led by cornerback Emory Polley ’14, who has picked off three passes this season. And Yale is well-armed on the ground, with running back Mordecai Cargill supporting Varga with 60.2 yards per game, making him fifth in the league.

The Bears’ defense is second in the league with an average of 97.4 rushing yards allowed per game.

Co-captain and defensive lineman Ross Walthall ’13 said the Bears will need to live up to that high standard.

“Our key to success on Saturday will be stopping the run,” he said.

Yale likely won’t match the Bears in stopping power, having allowed the most points per game in the Ancient Eight and the second-most overall yards.

Both the Bears and Bulldogs will be trying to play the role of spoiler in the final weeks of an Ivy season marked by upsets. This week, Bruno will battle another bottom-dweller striving to grab a second conference win.

But Estes said regardless of the larger season picture, the team’s “job is to compete.”

“Whatever you play for, it’s ‘shake it off and step up,’ and that’s what we’re trying to do,” he added. “There are no excuses. We’re not crying.

We’re just, ‘Okay, let’s see what kind of a team we can be this week.’”

Picks from Ivy League Sports Writers Brown vs.

Yale Total Votes Brown: 8 Yale: 0

Cornell vs.

Dartmouth Total Votes Cornell: 7 Dartmouth: 1

Columbia vs.

Harvard Total Votes Columbia: 0 Harvard: 8

Princeton vs.

Penn Total Votes Princeton: 7 Penn: 1

Editors/Writers

@bdh_sports

The Brown Daily Herald

Columbia Daily Spectator

Brown.

“If the Bears can stop tripping over themselves on offense, their defense should be able to hold off the Varga and Cargill run for a close win.”

Brown.

“Tough to win without a quarterback, but even if Yale doesn’t have to play Tyler Varga as its QB this week, Brown should come away with a W.”

Cornell.

“It looks pretty even, but Cornell has had the tougher schedule.

And Jeff Mathews and Luke Tasker are even scarier at home.”

The Daily Pennsylvanian

The Daily Princetonian

The Dartmouth

The Harvard Crimson

Yale Daily News

Brown.

“Brown can’t possibly lose a fourth Ivy game this early.”

Brown.

“Brown was clicking despite last week’s loss to Penn and will put it together against Yale Saturday.”

Brown.

“Yale’s been pretty lost this season and Brown is a solid team.”

Brown.

“Tough game tilts towards Brown with home field advantage.”

Brown.

“Brown’s 1-3 conference record belies the team’s strength, and the Bears return home this weekend to face Yale, which just lost to Columbia. Brown should have no problem cruising to the W.”

Brown.

“Brown was not been especially impressive in coughing up a fourth quarter lead to Penn last week, but it’s going to be hard for Yale to beat anyone without a quarterback.”

Cornell.

“Dartmouth’s defense is not bad at all, but I expect Jeff Mathews to be better.

Dartmouth could have some trouble scoring points if this one gets to be a shootout. “

Cornell.

“Cornell is 3-0 at home and fired up after the last-minute win against Princeton.”

Cornell.

“Cornell hasn’t had the season many people were expecting, but this should be a relatively easy win for the Big Red.”

Cornell.

“The Big Green’s offense hasn’t topped three touchdowns since Week 1, which won’t be enough to keep up with Jeff Mathews.”

Dartmouth.

“Dartmouth’s top-ranked defense will take the experience from Harvard last week and find a way to slow down the Cornell offensive juggernaut.”

Cornell.

“The Cornell offense against the Dartmouth defense should be a fun matchup to watch, but at home after an impressive win over Princeton, Cornell gets the nod here.”

Cornell.

“Dartmouth’s defense has been strong this season, but fared poorly in its only real Ivy League test against Harvard last week. Cornell will be confident coming off a huge win against Princeton and will be playing at home.”

Harvard.

“You never know what could happen. But with Colton Chapple on one side and the league’s lowest-scoring offense on the other, it doesn’t look like this one will be particularly close.”

Harvard.

“Harvard is back in the driver’s seat for the Ivy crown and should be able to take care of business against the Lions this week. “

Harvard.

“Harvard is much better.”

Harvard.

“Not much to say here — Harvard will get the W.”

Harvard.

“One of the two biggest mismatches we’ll see this year, at least on paper.”

Harvard.

“Harvard is just too strong all-around for the Lions.”

Harvard.

“Playing at home against a weak Yale team down to its fourth-string quarterback, Columbia still almost lost. This one shouldn’t be close.”

Harvard.

“The positive momentum following last week’s comeback win over Yale won’t be enough to sustain Columbia this week.

The Lions have yet to score more than 26 points this season and the Crimson have not been held under 30 in Ivy League play.”

Princeton.

“Penn’s wins have been narrow ones, and the Bulldogs showed what can happen if the Quakers have an off day. The Tigers’ defense will pin them to the ground.”

Princeton.

“Penn has been pretty inconsistent this season, and with Princeton coming off a late, gut wrenching loss, I expect the Tigers to come back with a vengeance this week. “

Princeton.

“Princeton finally believes it is good, and it will be looking to rebound form loss to Cornell.”

Penn.

“My upset pick — Penn has killed Princeton the last few years and graduating seniors don’t want to leave with a blemish in the loss column to the Tigers.”

Princeton.

“Who knows what either of these teams really is? When in doubt, take the home team.”

Princeton.

“Look for Princeton to rebound after their first loss of the year to stay at the top of the league.”

Princeton.

“The jury is still out on Penn. Yes, the Quakers are 3-1, but that loss came to Yale, and they have yet to play Cornell, Princeton, or Harvard. I’m not sure whether they’re no longer an elite team in the Ancient Eight anymore, and on the road against a Princeton team coming off a loss, the Quakers are the clear underdogs.”

Princeton.

“Both teams need this win to keep their title hopes alive.

But Princeton can be relied upon to respond at home after its loss to Cornell last week and Penn needed a last minute field goal to beat a Brown team that the Tigers shut out earlier this year.”

Jake Comer and Lindor Qunaj

Myles Simmons

Quintin Schwab

Megan Soisson

Kevin Whitaker

Brett Drucker and Noah Reichblum

Bobby Samuels

John Sullivan

56% (9/16)

50% (8/16)

50% (7/14)

56% (9/16)

50% (8/16)

50% (8/16)

57% (8/14)

Pick Accuracy 44% (7/16)

The Cornell Daily Sun

comics Join the Club | Simon Henriques

Cashew Apples | Will Ruehle

10 editorial & letter Editorial

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

Yes, We Can 2.0

On Nov. 6, we will have an opportunity to make a choice that could impact our lives and those of others on a day-to-day basis for years to come. With this in mind, we endorse Barack Obama for re-election in 2012. His administration has not only championed a progressive social platform and guided our nation through a potentially disastrous economic meltdown, but has also worked to improve the standards of living for college students across the United States.

We acknowledge that Obama’s presidency has by no means been perfect. He is a charismatic politician and a hardworking leader, but the fact remains that after a full term, the Patriot Act has been expanded, and Guantanamo Bay is still open. Obama’s foreign policy decisions and their implications for civilian deaths in country where the United States has a military presence have remained highly controversial. But given the policy differences between Obama and his Republican opponent Mitt Romney, we are confident that Obama is the stronger choice.

Obama is far more willing to engage with the demonstrated needs of students than Romney is. Brown students are very much aware of the fact that a university education comes with a hefty price tag — our tuition costs over $50,000 a year and continues to rise. While we are one of the more expensive universities in the country, the general trend of rising education costs places a burden of debt on recent graduates that can last for decades. In the past four years, Obama has undertaken serious efforts to make higher education more affordable.

Under his administration, Pell Grant scholarships have more than doubled in the last four years from $14.6 billion to $40 billion, and tax credits up to $10,000 have been offered to families in need. The federal student loan program has also been radically reformed, making it easier to request aid from the government, eliminating banks as the middlemen and allowing unpaid loans to be forgiven for borrowers who are unable to repay after 10 or 20 years.

Obama’s Affordable Care Act has improved student health plans and allowed individuals to remain on their parents’ insurance until they are 26 years old. It authorizes subsidies to offset insurance premiums when graduates enter the job market after college. These policies will especially impact lower- and middleincome students, allowing individuals from across the socioeconomic spectrum to receive an education.

Obama’s emphasis on more affordable education speaks to an understanding that education is vital not only to America’s economy, technological advancement and living standards, but also to the development of America’s presence on the international stage and the global quality of living. His increased aid to community colleges — especially important given a recent decline in state support to colleges — and attempts to extend government assistance to schools with demonstrated quality performance offer a sharp contrast to Romney’s policies, which involve plans for bank-based student lending and for reducing eligibility for Pell Grants, which would decrease the number of grants awarded.

Romney’s comments, attitudes and proposed policies throughout this election have shown that he is out of touch with college students who struggle with rising living costs and a meager job market. Romney picked a running mate who wants to eliminate more than 1 million students from federal aid, told students that they should “borrow money from their parents if they have to,” publicly supported undoing Obama’s loan reforms and issued a budget plan that would ultimately cut federal funding for education by 40 percent. Obama, at the very least, has taken steps to ensure the availability of education to an increasing number of people.

Before you go to the election booth on Tuesday, we ask that you consider carefully these two approaches to the education you are currently receiving, and decide for yourself which approach you think will benefit a future generation of college students.

Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board: its editors, Daniel Jeon and Annika Lichtenbaum, and its members, Georgia Angell, Samuel Choi and Rachel Occhiogrosso. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.

t h e b row n da i ly h e r a l d Editor-in-Chief

Managing Editors

Senior Editors

Claire Peracchio

Rebecca Ballhaus Nicole Boucher

Tony Bakshi Natalie Villacorta

editorial Sarah Mancone Arts & Culture Editor Joseph Rosales Arts & Culture Editor Elizabeth Carr City & State Editor Amy Rasmussen City & State Editor Aparna Bansal Features Editor Jordan Hendricks Features Editor Lucy Feldman News Editor Shefali Luthra News Editor Alexandra Macfarlane News Editor Sahil Luthra Science & Research Editor Jake Comer Sports Editor Lindor Qunaj Sports Editor Sam Rubinroit Assistant Sports Editor Dan Jeon Editorial Page Editor Annika Lichtenbaum Editorial Page Editor Lucas Husted Opinions Editor Garret Johnson Opinions Editor Jared Moffat Opinions Editor Greg Jordan-Detamore Special Projects Graphics & Photos Emily Gilbert Photo Editor Sam Kase Photo Editor Tom Sullivan Photo Editor Jonathan Bateman Sports Photo Editor Production Copy Desk Chief Olivia Conetta Assistant Copy Chief Sara Palasits Design Editor Kyle McNamara Design Editor Julia Shube Assistant Design Editor Brisa Bodell Assistant Design Editor Einat Brenner Web Producer Neal Poole

Business General Managers Siena DeLisser Danielle Marshak

Office Manager Shawn Reilly

Directors Julia Kuwahara Samuel Plotner Nikita Khadloya Angel Lee

the brown daily herald Friday, November 2, 2012

Sales Finance Alumni Relations Business Development

le t ter

Brown students need to vote To the Editor: A recent Herald poll asked the question “Do you plan on voting in the upcoming election?” and found that 5.5 percent of students said they don’t plan on voting, 15.1 percent said they are ineligible to vote, and 6.1 percent said they weren’t sure if they would vote. That’s 26.7 percent of the Brown population that isn’t voting. Take into account that roughly 13 percent of Brown students are international students (let’s say they’re in the 15.1 percent who are ineligible to vote) — but even then there are many international students who hold U.S. citizenship.

That means roughly 14 percent of Brown students aren’t voting.

And why not?

Brown has a liberal and open dialogue that focus on a plethora of issues from “heteronormative stereotypes” to en-

vironmental issues. But there seem to be 14 percent of Brown students who can’t be bothered to do more than talk about such issues.

Is there a lack of civic duty and passion on campus? People talk about making things better or complain about the way things are, but apparently 14 percent just wish to complain without making the effort. I have a friend who doesn’t want to vote because they believe that “the government will track them and tax them,” or some other nonsense that hours of explaining could do nothing to abate.

There needs to be a call for action. Even the political groups on campus have not made a loud enough presence. Every vote matters and, there’s more than just the presidential race going on.

Luke Perez ’15

Correc tion An article in last Friday’s Herald (“Udacity co-founder talks online learning,” Oct. 26) incorrectly stated that the University will offer for-credit online courses through the online education company Coursera. In fact, the online classes the University will offer through Coursera are not for credit. The Herald regrets the error.

quote of the day

“You’re sitting in someone’s lap who you don’t know.” — Bridget Saracino MFA ’14

See old world on page 7.

Managers Justin Lee Kaivan Shroff Gregory Chatzinoff Luka Ursic Alison Pruzan Elizabeth Gordon David Winer

Human Resources Research & Development Collections Finance Operations Alumni Engagement Fundraising Marketing

Post- magazine Clay Aldern Jenny Carr

Editor-in-Chief Editor-in-Chief

BLOG DAILY HERALD Matt Klimerman Meredith Bilski

Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor

facebook.com/browndailyherald

@the_herald

thebdh.org

C ORRE C T I ON S P o licy The Brown Daily Herald is committed to providing the Brown University community with the most accurate information possible. Corrections may be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication.

C o mm e n ta r y P O L I C Y The editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial page board of The Brown Daily Herald. The editorial viewpoint does not necessarily reflect the views of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Columns, letters and comics reflect the opinions of their authors only.

L e t t e r s t o t h e Edi t o r P o licy Send letters to letters@browndailyherald.com. Include a telephone number with all letters. The Herald reserves the right to edit all letters for length and clarity and cannot assure the publication of any letter. Please limit letters to 250 words. Under special circumstances writers may request anonymity, but no letter will be printed if the author’s identity is unknown to the editors. Announcements of events will not be printed. adv e r t isi n g P o licy The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. reserves the right to accept or decline any advertisement at its discretion.

taking sides 11

the brown daily herald Friday, November 2, 2012

Should all drugs be decriminalized? yes gime, availability and drug use in middle schools and high schools has only gone Jared Moffat up in the United States. Students across the country consistently report that they Opinions Editor can easily find drugs on the black market. The doomsday scenarios that drug warriors prophesy are nothing but fearOur drug policies should be aimed at mongering distractions from the reality reducing drug misuse, preventing expo- of a massively unjust, failed policy. sure to children and making communiProhibitionists often assert that deties safer. Advocates of drug prohibition criminalization would “send the wrong typically cite these goals when defend- message.” In fact, however, decriminaling “tough on crime” drug laws, but the ization sends the message that we care empirical data simply doesn’t support about our communities and public safetheir argument. ty and that we need a more health-based The most massive attempt in history approach to drugs. to eradicate drugs with military and poOn the other hand, continuing to lice forces — the global “war on drugs” incarcerate millions of American citi— has indisputably failed to decrease zens, stripping them of their dignity and drug use and adrespect, denying diction rates, dethem proper treatspite 50 million ment and branding arrests for drug with a scarToday, the United States them charges in Amerlet letter that makes ica and $1 trillion incarcerates more human them unemployable added to the nasends the message beings than any other tional deficit. Tothat we’re not the day, the United of democcountry, and yet we are beacon States incarcerates racy we’d like to be. more human bethe world’s number one It sends the message ings than any oththat institutionaler country, and yet consumer of illegal drugs. ized prejudice and we are the world’s hatred is alive and number one conwell in the United sumer of illegal States. drugs.

Drug misuse and addiction is a seOpponents of decriminalization in- rious problem, but we should resist the sist that drug use would skyrocket if we knee-jerk impulse to demonize drug ustook a different approach. Again, the ers, lock them away and throw away the facts simply don’t support their claim: key. Regulation, treatment, prevention Multiple longitudinal studies have de- and education are much more humane bunked this myth, finding that crimi- and effective strategies for solving this nalization has no deterrent effect on problem. drug use among adults or young people.

Portugal decriminalized possession of all drugs more than a decade ago, and Jared Moffat ’13 is president of every indicator confirms that the policy Students for Sensible Drug Policy. He has been an enormous success. can be reached at Under the current prohibition rejared_moffat@brown.edu.

Pfaff ’s Rebuttal I suspect that Jared and I actually have pretty similar views when it comes to society’s treatment of drugs and alcohol, especially the harmful effects of legal action against drug users and drug distributors.

The war on drugs has definitely not done what it set out to do, and there’s a frightening amount of institutional racism at play. That being said, the answer is not to completely stop prosecuting drug use.

I’m well aware of the dangers of logical fallacies. Namely, I know that many arguments about drug legalization and decriminalization involve the slippery slope argument — that decriminalization will lead to legalization, and so on. I’m not going to argue that.

Yes, there needs to be better education about the effects of drugs. Yes, zero tolerance policies are potentially very damaging to an individual’s reputation. Yes, recovering drug users should be treated with respect and should have ample resources. But we need to draw the line somewhere, and I don’t think that that line should allow for every citizen to be able to use every drug under the sun with

no consequences.

Children absolutely need to be educated more thoroughly about drugs, aside from just the usual “drugs are bad” approach that some schools take. They should emerge from our education system knowing about the mental and physical effects of all the major drugs, why individuals choose to use these drugs and the resources they can use if drug use becomes a problem. I don’t think that continuing to criminalize drugs will necessarily hinder this new education system.

Instead, it will keep it away from children.

It is a myth to think that decriminalizing all drugs will suddenly fix a multidimensional problem.

Actually, we should continue to work to improve neighborhoods where poor citizens are drawn to the drug trade as a source of revenue. This does not need to be coupled with drug decriminalization to be a viable strategy for tackling drugabuse.

I agree wholeheartedly that the current tactics are not working, but I don’t think the situation calls for such a drastic step.

no ently. What for one person might constitute casual use of cocaine and heroin could Charles pfaff present a serious health risk for another.

Isn’t it worth it to eliminate uncertainOpinions Columnist ty by keeping the legal penalties attached to the production, sale and consumption of these drugs? While our current prison state is untenable, the idea that we should Tell me, who’s your favorite celebrity who’s do away with all drug-use punishments is now dead because of drugs? John Belushi? a misguided alternative.

Chris Farley? Mitch Hedberg? These are If we decriminalized drugs, then drugjust famous examples of the myriad peo- production facilities would be much more ple who have had their lives destroyed by common as well. It has been scientificaldrug abuse. If we decriminalize drugs — ly shown that drug labs have adverse afcocaine, heroin, fects on the health of crystal meth and not just those cookall others — deaths ing the drugs but like this would hapalso those living in pen even more frethe area. With illicit Cocaine and heroin quently than they drugs decriminalalready do. ized, the barrier to in particular are more Alcohol is one entry for those willhabit-forming and more ing to try out these example of a decriminalized and becomes way detrimental to the human drugs regularly abused lower — or even dismind-altering drug. body than alcohol and appears altogether.

Many drug experts More individuals point to a behav- marijuana, according to a will get the mistakioral explanation idea that experi2007 study by David Nutt et en for its abuse — the menting with hard reasoning that bedrugs is okay. al. cause underage My opponent young adults are might argue that this forbidden to drink, could bolster the lothey frequently go cal and national too far when they economy, but is the do have the opportunity to drink. Those vastly increased number of cases of addicwho argue that we should consider lower- tion and loss of life worth it? ing the drinking age — myself included — Though there may be unexpected ecopoint to this scenario and say that if alco- nomic and societal benefits to decriminalhol became less of a forbidden fruit, people izing illicit drugs, the detrimental effects it would tame their consumption. would have on health and safety far outBut illicit drugs differ from alcohol in weigh the benefits. a very important way. Cocaine and heroin in particular are more habit-forming and more detrimental to the human body Charlie Pfaff ’14 admits that a lot of than alcohol and marijuana, according to a what he knows about crystal meth 2007 study by David Nutt et al. comes from “Breaking Bad.” He is a All bodies react to illicit drugs differjunior studying economics.

Moffat’s Rebuttal Like most advocates of drug prohibition, Pfaff completely ignores the enormous and innumerable social costs of criminalizing drugs. He seems unfazed by the fact that the incarceration and criminalization of drug users devastates millions of families every year, distracts law enforcement officers from more serious crimes and creates a vast and corrosive black market that spans the globe.

Apparently he thinks all of this can be simply swept under the rug, because he buys into the prohibitionist myth that criminalization curbs drug use. If that were true, then the United States would have the lowest drug usage rates in the world — instead we have the highest. Any academic who studies the issue will tell you the same thing: Prohibition and harsh criminal penalties have no significant effect on drug use.

That’s why alcohol prohibition was repealed — it didn’t get rid of alcohol, it simply made the problem of alcohol abuse much worse.

It’s ironic that Pfaff brings up underground chemical labs, because in fact drug criminalization is directly responsible for

these problems. The vast majority of overdose deaths are preventable. If people didn’t fear criminal prosecution, they would be much more likely to call for help in emergency overdose situations. If drugs were decriminalized and regulated, users would be able to know exactly what they were putting into their body. But regulation is impossible if drugs are prohibited and criminalized. In order to reduce the harms associated with drug use and production, we must repeal criminal penalties, remove drugs from the black market, and place them in a safetyoriented context where treatment and mental health options are readily available.

The growing consensus among world leaders is that drug use is a symptom rather than a cause of social degeneration. By using incarceration to address the issue of drugs, we are simply fanning the flames of criminality, poverty and addiction while ignoring the sources of these problems in the first place. It’s time to put an end to the red herrings and the fear-mongering. We should instead foster a constructive dialogue about how to begin regulating drugs in more comprehensive and sensible way.

daily herald sports friday the Brown

Friday, November 2, 2012

Bears seek to improve Ivy record in Bulldogs game Shaw ’12.5: football

By Jake Comer Sports Editor

Bruno’s chances at the Ivy League championship slipped away when Penn split the uprights in the final seconds of last weekend’s disappointing 20-17 away loss.

But almost a third of the schedule is in front of the Bears (4-3, 1-3 Ivy), who will battle Yale (2-5, 1-3) Saturday at Brown Stadium for pride if not for a title.

The Bulldogs also stumbled in their last matchup, falling at Columbia 26-22 last week. With 45 seconds to go, a two-yard touchdown reception by tailback Marcorus Garrett boosted the Lions to their second victory, and first Ivy win, of the year.

Yale was in a tight spot against Columbia without its starting freshman quarterback Eric Williams. With only two other quarterbacks on their roster, also freshmen, the Bulldogs relied on Tyler Varga, a running back, to take most of the snaps. Varga attempted only eight passes but ran for 220 yards against the Lions, boosting his rushing average per game to 122.5, the highest in the league.

Whether as a wildcat quarterback or as a running back, Varga will test Bruno’s run defense. But Head Coach Phil Estes said the Bears’ greatest challenges Saturday may come from their own squad.

“We’ve got to cut down on the mistakes. We’ve got to be able to be a little bit more consistent,” he said.

Quarterback Patrick Donnelly ’13 spoke about a similar priority, saying Yale’s uncomplicated defensive

strategies will allow the Bears to play a steady offensive game.

“They don’t do a lot of the exotic defenses we’ve been seeing recently,” he said, but added that “they’re pretty tough.”

Inconsistency is beginning to look like a Bears hallmark this season, especially on offense. Two weeks ago, Bruno put up 452 yards in its 21-14 victory over Cornell. But last week, the squad compiled an unimpressive statline, including four interceptions from Donnelly and 83 total rushing yards.

Despite the tough game at Penn, Donnelly still ranks third in the league for passing yards per game and fourth in touchdown passes.

But injuries have taken their toll on Bruno’s offense at the running back position: the Bears’ top five tailbacks have all sustained injuries this year, and none was healthy for the Penn game. Donnelly said Jeffrey Izon ’13, Cody Taulbee ’14 and Jordan Reisner ’14, despite his broken wrist, may all get a chance to run Saturday.

Their misfortune has made the Bears’ rushing attack as variable as the Providence weather. As it has been for most of the season, “the hard part is trying to create a run game and put some things together,” Estes said.

Other Bears, like wide receiver Tellef Lundevall ’13, have stepped in to help patch things up. Lundevall registered 17 catches and 170 yards against Penn, placing him sixth in Bruno’s record book for receptions in a single game and bumping him up to 10th nationally for receptions per game. / / Bears page 9

The season is here

By Tom Shaw Contributing Writer

jonathan bateman / herald

The Bears will likely not be able to compete in the Ivy Championship after falling to Penn, but they will play the recently defeated Bulldogs Saturday.

athlete of the week

Ari Rucker ’16 scores first career goal for Bruno

By Nikhil Parasher Sports Staff Writer

Women’s ice hockey forward Ari Rucker ’16 scored her first career goal in Bruno’s 4-1 victory over Colgate University (2-6-0) Saturday. The team (1-1-0) returns to Meehan Auditorium to face conference foes Harvard and Dartmouth this weekend. For her first college score, The Herald has named Rucker this week’s Athlete of the Week.

Herald: How did you get into playing hockey?

Rucker: I started playing street hockey when I was about five years old with my brothers. When I was about seven, I started roller hockey.

I’d say when I was about 11, I transitioned to ice because I figured ice hockey … can give you more opportunities.

You played several sports in high school — field hockey, track and field, swimming and ice hockey.

Has ice hockey always been your primary sport since you started playing it?

Oh, for sure. None of the other sports really compared to ice hockey for me. I always had a passion for ice

hockey. I mean, although all the other sports were fun and I’ve been swimming for at least nine years now, I’ve never really liked it as much.

Do you still try to be involved with those other sports, just for fun, since you’ve graduated?

I swim during the summers. So, this past summer, I graduated from my swim team. So next summer I’ll probably end up going back and hopefully coaching, helping out the little kids, possibly running some camps. But that’s about all of my involvement in that.

Do you support an NHL team or have a favorite NHL player?

I like the Washington Capitals.

And I’d probably say my favorite player is (Alexander) Ovechkin.

Why did you choose to come to Brown?

I wanted to go to a place that would challenge me academically as well as challenge me — well, I wanted to play Division I hockey. And Brown seemed like the perfect fit. I went on my official visit. I really enjoyed the team. I really enjoyed the coach. And it’s been great ever since.

What expectations do you have for this year, both for the team and for yourself?

Probably to manage my time better, to get my homework done, grow as a player, work hard academic-wise as well. Just become a better hockey player. I put my academics before athletics, but it’s good to balance both.

What about for the team?

Oh, for sure. Our program … is definitely building. We had a good start this past weekend. We played some tough teams, and I think we did really well. Our freshman class is a strong class, so I think that’s definitely going to help us become a better program. And we’ll get stronger throughout the year and hopefully throughout the next four years.

Has it been difficult adjusting to the college game? How different is it from the high school game?

It has been quite difficult to balance hockey and school. It’s only been like two months here, and I’m definitely adjusting. I would say I have more time now. The workload is a lot more in high school, but high school is like you go to school from seven in the morning until two. Then I would drive straight to practice, and

that was like a two-hour drive for me.

I wouldn’t get home until late, and then I’d have to do my homework.

So, I’d say college is easier as long as I manage my time well.

What about on the ice? Has that been a difficult adjustment?

It’s really hard to adjust to how competitive it is. Just faster, more aggressive. But that’s another thing that I’ll become used to and, throughout my four years, I know I’ll get stronger.

Do you have any idea what you want to concentrate in, or what you want to do for your career?

As of right now, I want to concentrate in cognitive neuroscience. To be honest, I’m not sure exactly what I want to do with it yet. Probably go into some field related to psychology. But I mean I can always change, but right now that’s kind of the path that I’m on.

What do you do in your free time?

When I do have a little bit of free time, I’m probably hanging out with some of the girls on the team, even though I see them quite a bit. But, I mean we just all get along really well so I enjoy hanging out with them.

For those of you hungry to boo David Stern, I have one message for you: The season is here. The season is finally here.

I unashamedly skipped the leastwatched World Series in history (nothing good ever happens to Detroit, except the auto bailout) to catch some extra NBA preseason coverage, secretly hoping Rajon Rondo would find a reliable three-point touch and lead the Boston Celtics to a 70-win season. After watching Tuesday’s shaming by Miami, I can safely say we won’t be seeing Rondo raining too many Jesus threes this year. Meanwhile, the real Shuttlesworth had one of the best games of his life — and off the pine, no less. On paper and on the court, the Miami Heat is the best team in the NBA. Despite some curious draft day moves (Arnett Moultrie, drafted by the Heat but then shipped out to Philly, would have fit well in Miami’s transition game), Pat Riley somehow managed to bring in more talent to South Beach without losing any significant pieces from the team’s championship campaign. Lebron is going to the playoffs and, barring any significant injuries, will likely win his second championship in June.

Fans in Miami, Boston, Oklahoma, Los Angeles, Brooklyn and Indiana are going to have a great time following their teams through this season. Depending on how their stars recover from their respective injuries, I’d add Dallas and Chicago to that list, too. New York, too, if the Knicks discover a fountain of youth in the basement of the Madison Square Garden and somehow find a way to remove the stench of Isaiah Thomas.

But when you’re looking to add teams 2-5 on your League Pass, I want to make a case for some peripheral teams — the teams mired in mediocrity that will either make the jump or blow up and inevitably tank for the number one pick, playing with the combined team IQ of JaVale McGee. Running in the Bay Number one on the “teams that will be great or will suck” list are the Golden State Warriors. Mark Jackson will do his best to take the suckiness out of that equation, but until he replaces the peanut brittle in Stephen Curry’s ankles with actual bones, my friends in the Bay Area will be better off setting cars on fire and pretending October never ended. Their other centerpiece, Andrew Bogut, is a defensive juggernaut who will immediately change the way other teams attack the Warriors in the paint. However, he also has a horrible history of injuries, meaning that for at least part of this season, the Warriors will be pinning their defensive hopes on a guy named Festus Ezeli.

But I promise this team will be fun to watch! They have a guy named Klay Thompson who radiates all-star potential. He’s / / Shaw page 8