Thursday, January 24, 2013

Daily

Herald

the Brown

vol. cxlviii, no. 2

INSIDE

Page 2

Budget bump URC may increase funds to S&J Center

UCS sets sights on expanded financial aid Student input spurs UCS collaboration with strategic planning committee

By MAXINE JOSELOW

Page 2

Topped off

Paxson and Taveras open new lab with ceremony

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The Undergraduate Council of Students has made financial aid a key priority this academic year, in part due to the results of its fall undergraduate poll and the campus dialogues spurred last spring by the formation of the student group Brown for Financial Aid. As President Christina Paxson develops an agenda for her tenure, UCS has worked closely with the Committee on Financial Aid, co-sponsoring a forum last November. UCS plans

News analysis

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Grading grudge Katz ’14 advocates for pluses and minuses today

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tomorrow

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since 1891

Thursday, January 24, 2013

to support the committee’s recommendations, multiple UCS members told The Herald.

The council’s dealings with the Committee on Financial Aid — ­ one of the University’s six year-long strategic planning committees — have been “a very valuable two-way street,” said UCS President Anthony White ’13.

The committee’s chair and co-chair, Director of Financial Aid Jim Tilton and Professor of Religious Studies Susan Harvey, have been very receptive to undergraduate input, White said.

At the forum last semester, Harvey said the committee plans to recommend that the University implement full need-blind admissions, The Herald reported at the time. UCS and the committee will meet again in late February to continue discussing potential financial aid reforms, White said. / / Aid page 3

H u nter no m ore

Greg jordan-detamore / herald

The Building for Environmental Research and Teaching — honored at a topping-off ceremony Wednesday — will be completed this fall. See page 2.

House to vote today on same-sex marriage Updated Key players in Rhode Island’s same-sex marriage debate Governor Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14 Chafee has supported same-sex marriage both as governor and in the US Senate — where he was the only Republican to support the policy.

Speaker of the House Gordon Fox Fox has prioritized getting same-sex legislation passed this term after failing to do so in 2011, when civil unions were legalized instead.

Senate President Teresa Paiva-Weed Paiva-Weed opposes same-sex marriage but has promised to allow a committee vote, which — if approved — would send the bill to the Senate floor for a full vote.

Despite support from Chafee, legislators face opposition from the Catholic Church

By MARIYA BASHKATOVA senior staff writer

The Rhode Island House of Representatives will vote today on a bill to legalize same-sex marriage, marking the first time such a bill has been put to a floor vote in either chamber.

Legislation to legalize same-sex marriage in Rhode Island has been introduced unsuccessfully for more than a decade. Rep. Arthur Handy, D-Cranston, who has introduced the legislation 11 years in a row, said he is “cautiously optimistic” that 2013

city & state

will be the year same-sex marriage is legalized in Rhode Island.

The bill has the support of 42 representatives in the House, and a similar bill in the Senate has been endorsed by 11 senators, according to a General Assembly press release.

The bill is virtually guaranteed to pass in the House, because it has the support of more than a majority of representatives, said Sen. Donna Nesselbush ’84, D-Pawtucket, the bill’s first sponsor in the Senate. But passing the bill in the Senate will be more difficult, she added.

The bill’s passage has been stalled in the past by a combination of factors, including former Gov. Donald Carcieri’s refusal to sign a same-sex marriage bill into law, Handy said.

But prospects for legalization have improved this year due to the favor/ / Marriage page 5 able com-

Spring Weekend booked, lineup to be announced March Despite conflict in dates with Coachella, Spring Weekend acts have all been booked

By SOPHIE YAN STAFF WRITER

Though Spring Weekend will coincide with the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival for the third year in a row, Brown Concert Agency has booked and confirmed the acts that will be performing this year.

Spring Weekend’s coincidence with the festival has caused booking complications in the past, but this year BCA has not had major issues, said Emma Ramadan ’13, BCA booking chair.

Every year, the Undergraduate Council of Students conducts a poll among undergraduates to determine the most popular acts students hope to

see at Spring Weekend. In accordance with the poll results, BCA then tries to book artists and groups using the same middle agents hired by popular concert halls in Providence, Ramadan said.

BCA aims to find acts with “realistic” price tags and from those choices determines “who would actually put on a good show and who’s actually available,” she said.

Zak Fischer ’13, chair of the Undergraduate Finance Board, which makes most of the decisions regarding funding for student groups, said this year BCA was allocated a record sum of $204,100. Most of that money goes toward Spring Weekend, by far the biggest and most expensive event BCA coordinates each year, Fischer said.

This year, Ramadan said, the top 10 results of the UCS student poll were all unavailable or too expensive. But Ramadan said BCA was able to book / / Spring page 4 a good mix

Herald File Photo

Childish Gambino, one of last year’s Spring Weekend headlining acts, performed despite his booking at Coachella the same weekend.

course website launched Unregistered students can now access course information on Canvas during shopping period

By ISOBEL HECK STAFF WRITER

A new version of the website courses. brown.edu was launched this month, enabling students to access syllabus information from courses for which they are not registered.

The remodeling of the website, which was launched by Computing and Information Services in conjunction with the Office of the Dean of the College, is part of the larger project to transition from MyCourses to Canvas.

Patricia Zudeck, manager of the Instructional Technology Group at CIS, and Catherine Hays Zabriskie, director of academic technology at CIS, said the updated website will provide new opportunities to students, especially during shopping period.

Zudeck said the goal was to “provide data as best as possible and be as stable and solid as possible.”

Christopher Keith, director of information technology at the Office of the Dean of the College, said the “big new feature” is the ability to access a course’s Canvas page without being registered for it. The addition of this feature allows professors to use Canvas as a tool during shopping period so that shoppers are able to participate fully in the class.

Keith said at the end of shopping / / Site page 3 period, stu-

2 university news

Underclassmen ‘reorient’ for second semester

calendar Today

January 24

7 P.m.

ToMORROW

January 25

6 p.m.

Brown-RISD Exhibition Opening

Women’s Basketball vs. Yale

Granoff Center

Pizzitola Center

9 p.m.

9 p.m.

Athletes in Action

RUF Hot Chocolate and S’mores

Andrews Dining Hall

Arnold Lounge

menu SHARPE REFECTORY

VERNEy-WOOLLEY

LUNCH Falafel with Pita Bread, Hot Baked Ham on a Bulkie Roll, Garlic and Butter Infused Rice

Sloppy Joe Sandwich, Vegetable Strudel, Curley Fries, Cauliflower au Gratin, Vegan Brown Rice Pilaf

DINNER Vegetarian Spinach Strudel, Nacho Bar with Toppings, Pot Roast Jardiniere

Roast Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Shells with Broccoli, Stuffing, Peas, Chicken Tortellini Soup

Sudoku

the brown daily herald Thursday, January 24, 2013

Brown Conversation helps freshmen and sophomores reflect on undergrad experiences

By Emily Passarelli Contributing Writer

More than 50 students and faculty members gathered this weekend to discuss the value of a Brown education at a “Re-Orientation Boot Camp,” organized by the Brown Conversation.

Through a series of two-hour discussion blocks with upperclassmen, faculty members and other community members affected by the New Curriculum, students evaluated their educational experiences thus far.

Named for its mission statement to continue the goals of the student architects of the New Curriculum, the Brown Conversation spearheads initiatives for discussing and improving students’ undergraduate educations at the University.

During the two-and-a-half-day program, underclassmen participated in individual conferences with mentors to help them clarify their thoughts for the upcoming semester and conversed as a group with professors and alums about the value of the University’s unique educational approach, exploring questions like ‘What is the purpose of an

education?’ and ‘How can we make the most out of Brown curricular offerings?’

Guest speakers included faculty members with special insight on how to best use a University education and those who worked at Brown before the initiation of the New Curriculum and have thus “watched the Brown Education evolve,” said Marguerite Joutz ’15, one of the event’s co-coordinators.

“The conversations were facilitated but not commandeered by one person — they were driven by the students,” Joutz said.

Elliot Maxwell ’68, co-writer of the New Curriculum, also attended the event. Inspired to create the New Curriculum because he “slept” through the first two years of completing requirements when he attended the University, Maxwell told attendees, “The open curriculum gives you a chance to do wonderful things, but it’s up to you to take the responsibility to do them.”

Professor of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences Sheila Blumstein advised students to be inquisitive, recommending students schedule time to reflect on why they participate in their extracurricular activities and warning them not to “thoughtlessly book activities into (their) calendars.”

The event was designed to “build a community of students who feel com-

fortable discussing their thoughts about their education and help students reevaluate the educational standard here at Brown,” Joutz said.

“We felt that there was not common space on campus that encouraged introspection on academics and life paths,” said Wayne Byun ’16, cocoordinator of the event.

The group plans to continue the event each year between the fall and spring semesters, Joutz said. Members felt sophomores and first-years both face important transition periods in the middle of the academic year — ­­ firstyears may need direction in choosing classes or want a chance to reflect on their semester, and sophomores are about to choose their concentrations, Joutz said. The coordinators of the event said they hope the program will guide underclassmen through these decisions.

The event was an effective way to help students “understand what to think about their bewilderment” when facing the New Curriculum, Maxwell said.

At its conclusion, Byun said the program achieved its goal of creating a community of Brown students interested in critically evaluating their education. “Students were excited to continue the spirit of Re-Orientation in conversations they began here throughout the semester,” he said.

U. honors construction of research lab Crossword

The former Hunter Laboratory will be a hub for environmental science starting this fall

By HANNAH LOEWENTHEIL Senior staff writer

Despite the brisk winter weather, President Christina Paxson, Providence Mayor Angel Taveras and more than 30 others gathered Wednesday morning for the topping-off ceremony of the Building for Environmental Research and Teaching.

The ceremony took place outside of the renovated building, the former Hunter Laboratory, and included a series of speakers who were involved in the construction and planning process of the building. It also featured the harnessing of the final structural beam, which was signed by the attendees before being set in place. While the scheduled completion date for the renovation of the building is not until fall of 2013, the ceremony celebrated

a landmark moment in the $35 million project.

“Brown is committed to the adaptive reuse of buildings rather than tearing down to build from scratch,” Associate Provost and Professor of Engineering Rod Beresford told The Herald. The renovation of the building and its renaming marks a new stage in its history, he added.

The psychology faculty, the last group to inhabit the building, recently moved to the Metcalf Chemistry and Research Laboratory with the rest of the Department of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences. The renovated building will house faculty members hailing from fields including geology, economics, sociology, environmental science and engineering, Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy Russell Carey ’91 MA’06 said at the ceremony.

The long-term vision is that the Building for Environmental Research and Teaching will be used mainly as a center for environmental studies, Beresford said. But the School of En-

www.browndailyherald.com 195 Angell St., Providence, R.I. Shefali Luthra, President Samuel Plotner, Treasurer Lucy Feldman, Vice President Julia Kuwahara, 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.

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gineering will be allotted space on the third floor.

“The new building will give a home to the people with environmental interests from various fields including engineering,“ said Janet Blume, interim director at the Center for Environmental Studies and associate dean of the faculty. “The project is an affirmation of the University’s commitment to all things environmental and the ways in which the environment is studied from many perspectives,” Blume said.

The Herald reported in March that the goals of the renovation included improving the building’s indoor facilities and replacing the former greenhouse next to the building with a rooftop greenhouse on top of the building. The revamping of the interior, construction of new medium-duty laboratories and the design of a new rooftop greenhouse will provide state-of-the-art technology to aid in research, Beresford said. The new greenhouse is not only functional, but it will also provide a striking visual, he added.

The renovation marks a partnership between the University and Building Futures, a local nonprofit organization that aims to create construction jobs for low-income citizens of Providence, according to a University press release.

The organization has been integrated in 15 past University construction projects, according to the press release, and the partnerships have always taken place on a project-to-project basis.

Building Futures will from now on be included in all projects over $5 million in scope.

In his speech at the topping-off ceremony, Taveras praised the University’s efforts to work closely with Building Futures to strengthen the state’s economy and give back to the community.

university news 3

the brown daily herald Thursday, January 24, 2013

/ / Aid page 1 A student priority The results of UCS’s fall poll, which showed broad undergraduate support for expanding financial aid, helped spur UCS to make it a priority, council members said. The council sets its annual agenda based on the poll’s results, and “this year, the overwhelming consensus was that financial aid was at the top of the list for most people,” said UCS Secretary Stacy Bartlett ’14.

In the poll, 53 percent of about 1,600 respondents said the University should commit touniversal need-blind admissions, even if it means spending cuts elsewhere. About two-thirds of respondents said they would like their money to go toward financial aid when they are alums and donate to the University.

The fall poll results “helped solidify all this talk about whether financial aid was a major priority to pursue and gave us significant data to provide the administration about why it should be a significant, top priority,” White said.

Building the momentum The formation of the advocacy group Brown for Financial Aid last spring further encouraged UCS to prioritize financial aid. BFA distributed a petition last year calling on Paxson to reform the University’s financial aid policies, which every member of UCS signed, said Alex Mechanick ’15, president of BFA. Mechanick is also the undergraduate representative on the Committee for Financial Aid. “BFA acted sort of as a catalyst for getting the executive board and general body of UCS very enthusiastic about wanting to change financial aid,” said White, who cofounded BFA. But though White was affiliated with BFA, he said he could not claim sole responsibility for the issue’s prominence in campus dialogue.

“I am one part of a larger process.

The momentum was definitely working towards it already,” White said.

“This is a conversation that’s happening all around campus,” said UCS Treasurer Sam Gilman ’15. “I don’t think it matters who the president is for this issue. This issue is one that transcends an individual,” he added.

Past priorities The last time UCS focused intensely

on financial aid was in 2003, at the start of former president Ruth Simmons’ tenure.

A few council members drafted a resolution calling for universal need-blind admissions, which would extend a needblind policy to international, Resumed Undergraduate Education and transfer applicants to the University. But not all council members approved of the resolution, and it was tabled after a heated two-hour debate, The Herald reported at the time.

UCS focused again on financial aid in 2010-11, but with less intensity. “I think there was general dissatisfaction with the fact that our general admissions weren’t need-blind for internationals and transfers,” said Ben Farber ’12, who was UCS vice president that year. “But beyond that, I wouldn’t say there was a strong focus on financial aid,” he added.

Improving advising for financial aid was one of many goals on the council’s 2010-11 agenda, Farber said. The initiative involved pairing students on financial aid with one financial aid adviser who remained with them throughout their time at Brown, instead of a team of advisers who assisted everyone, Farber said.

In recent years, issues like housing, athletics and student activities have superseded financial aid as the council’s chief priorities.

UCS fixated on “including students in the housing conversation” in 2010-11, Farber said. The initiative involved facilitating conversations between students and housing administrators, who were going to make decisions about which dorms to renovate and whether to build new dorms, Farber said. Since then, University housing has undergone major renovations, the majority of which will be completed by this fall.

In 2011-12, UCS dedicated most of its attention to increasing the number of undergraduates on the University Resources Committee, White said. UCS also fought for the University to keep sports teams it was considering cutting — the men’s and women’s fencing teams, the men’s wrestling team and the women’s ski team, Gilman said.

Student activities funds have also remained a chief priority for UCS in the past several years, Gilman said.

UCS battles each year to make sure the URC allocates enough funds for student activities and that these funds are used efficiently, Gilman said.

/ / Site page 1

By the numbers Student funding priorities as reported in the UCS fall poll

53 percent

Students who support universal need-blind admissions

66 percent

Students who want their future donations to go towards financial aid An election focus All three presidential candidates named financial aid as their top priority in last year’s UCS election, a trend White said he expects will continue in the coming election. He added that he foresees candidates discussing how UCS should respond to the Committee on Financial Aid’s recommendations and whether that response should involve fundraising efforts.

“I think financial aid will be even bigger than it was last time,” Bartlett said.

The candidates’ talk about financial aid last year was theoretical, but this time the candidates can focus on actual specifics, like the Committee on Financial Aid’s recommendations, Bartlett said.

“I think whoever runs will be asked about target-specific proposals, goals and programs that they think would be useful for financial aid. It will be a lot less broad,” Bartlett added. “Candidates won’t be able to get away with vague statements like ‘I believe in financial aid. I believe more people should get to go to Brown.’”

dents will automatically be removed from courses on Canvas if they have not registered for them through Banner.

Students and faculty members also played a large role in the remodeling.

Zabriskie said she and her colleagues received feedback and input from students throughout the project. She said they were able to receive information from the Undergraduate Council of Students’ Academic and Administrative Affairs Committee about students’ interests, and they also met with a focus group of 20 students in the fall. Additionally, student developers worked on some of the code behind the site.

Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron feels every syllabus should be available because it is a crucial component of any course, Zudeck said.

Bergeron asked faculty members to post syllabi before the beginning of this semester, Keith said.

By 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, 566 requests to access Canvas courses had been made by 294 students on courses. brown.edu, Zudeck said.

Jessaca Leinaweaver, assistant professor of anthropology, uploaded her syllabus to the website over winter break. “The more information the students have, the better, and advisers could also find more information (about classes) useful,” she said.

Keith called the project a “community effort.” He added that the transition to Canvas was an effort to “rebrand the way academic technology is presented to the campus, and (courses.brown. edu) is a representation of that.”

The ultimate goal is to release a third version of the website this summer that will integrate Academic Gateway, the website currently used by faculty members, into courses.brown. edu, Zabriskie said. “The vision is to have all the information under one interface,” she said.

4 university news / / Spring page 1 of acts for Spring Weekend. Though she declined to provide any information about the identities of these acts, she added that the board “did a really good job this year of balancing big names with some less well known but still recognizable names that are on the rise.” The official lineup will most likely be announced the week before spring break, she wrote in an email to The Herald.

Last year, BCA was able to book Childish Gambino even though he played at Coachella the next day. This year, Ramadan said the scheduling overlap with Coachella was troublesome but “not too catastrophic.” BCA was able to consider many of the acts that played Coachella last year, since most will not be performing there again this year, she said.

In 2010, when the dates of Spring Weekend did not overlap with Coachella, BCA booked MGMT and the Black Keys as the headliners, which multiple students described as a great show.

“That was the best year,” said Sheena Wood ’13.

Ramadan said if the event is outdoors, tickets usually sell out, and close to 6,000 students attend.

“It’s a good experience,” Fischer said. “I’m a senior, I’ve gone all three years so far and I’m going to go again this year.”

the brown daily herald Thursday, January 24, 2013

URC discussing additional funds for S&J Center At their meeting, UCS members heard updates on strategic planning committees and the URC budget

By MAXINE JOSELOW SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The University Resources Committee is considering allocating more funds to the recently formed Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice, Provost Mark Schlissel P’15 said at Wednesday night’s Undergraduate Council of Students meeting.

The center was a major initiative under former President Ruth Simmons but struggled to find a director until last spring, when Professor of Africana Studies Anthony Bogues was named its inaugural director.

Preliminary recommendations from the strategic planning committees — which are expected to heavily influence President Christina Paxson’s agenda — will be released to the public soon on the committees’ websites, undergraduate representative for the Committee on Financial Aid Jon Vu ’15 announced after Schlissel’s presentation. The six strategic planning committees met Tuesday to submit initial plans to Paxson and the Corporation, the University’s highest governing body.

In addition to the funds for the slavery and justice center, the URC is also considering hiring more public safety officers and staff members like a CareerLab

internship coordinator and information technology consultants, Schlissel said.

The proposal for more public safety officers came from the Department of Public Safety, following an increase in crime on campus, Schlissel said. The request for IT consultants came from Computing and Information Services.

Schlissel said the University’s small endowment compared to its peer institutions represents an obstacle for the URC in deciding the budget. The University receives about 15 percent of its budget from its endowment, whereas Princeton and Yale receive almost half, Schlissel said.

Because of its smaller endowment, the University must get a higher percentage of its revenue from tuition, Schlissel said. About 28 percent of the budget comes from tuition and fees, and “the take-home message is that (the budget) is very heavily driven by tuition,” Schlissel said.

The negative consequences of relying on tuition for the budget are tuition hikes and a subsequent increase in the amount of the budget spent on financial aid, Schlissel said. Tuition increased by about 3.5 percent last year, while spending on undergraduate financial aid between 2007 and 2012 increased by 10.6 percent, Schlissel said.

herald file photo

UCS members heard updates from the University Resources Committee at their meeting yesterday.

The URC will meet next week to approve a final budget report, which will include next year’s tuition as well as faculty and staff salary increases, Schlissel said. The Corporation will review and vote on the report in early February, Schlissel said.

www.browndailyherald.com

Undergraduate Finance Board Vice Chair Daniel Pipkin ’14 also announced that Category III student groups are now entitled to a free website provided by Brown WebServices through CIS. Pipkin said the UFB has already taken advantage of this offer and revamped its website.

city & state 5

the brown daily herald Thursday, January 24, 2013

/ / Marriage page 1 position of the Senate and the House, President Barack Obama’s statement of public support for same-sex marriage and Gov. Lincoln Chafee’s ’75 P’14 promise to sign such a bill into law, she added.

Senate President M. Teresa PaivaWeed, D-Newport, who has opposed same-sex marriage legislation in the past, has promised to let the Senate vote on the bill if it passes the House, Nesselbush said.

Handy said he has noticed a change in public opinion since he first began introducing the bill, when a large percentage of voters was undecided about same-sex marriage.

Many residents who were previously undecided have now voiced their approval for the legislation, Handy said. According to a September 2012 poll conducted by WPRI, 56 percent of Rhode Island voters favor passing legislation allowing samesex marriage. Thirty-six percent of residents oppose the legislation, and the remaining 7.8 percent indicated they “don’t know.”

Same-sex marriage is already legal in nine states and the District of Columbia. Rhode Island is the only state in New England that has not legalized same-sex marriage. Handy said a shift in the national climate toward greater acceptance has affected public opinion in the state.

The “recognition by most people that … the sky hasn’t fallen in Massachusetts” has reassured Rhode Island voters, he said.

Civil unions were legalized in Rhode Island last year but were not commonly used, with many couples opting to get married in neighboring states that would give them full rights, The Herald reported.

Civil unions encourage a “separate-but-equal” mentality, Handy said. “You don’t hear of people when they’re young dreaming of getting a civil union. They dream of getting married,” he added.

Nesselbush said the majority of the bill’s opposition comes from religious leaders and individuals who define marriage as strictly a union between two people of opposite sexes.

A rally against same-sex marriage at the State House Jan. 15 — featuring statements from members of the Faith Alliance to Preserve the Sanctity of Marriage, a Rhode Island coalition of religious leaders who oppose same-sex marriage — drew nearly 200 people,

the Providence Journal reported.

“This is not a hate message — it’s not that we’re condemning any personal sexual preference,” said Rev. Luis Rodriguez, chairman of the Faith Alliance. “We believe that when we talk about marriage, this should be what’s defined by God ­­—­­a man and a woman only.”

The Faith Alliance supports a referendum on the issue, which would allow Rhode Islanders to directly vote on same-sex marriage, Rodriguez said.

Chafee has said he will veto any bill that tries to take the issue to referendum, the Providence Journal reported.

Members of the religious community worry the bill would fail to safeguard freedom of religion, forcing some Rhode Islanders to perform services their religion does not condone, Rodriguez said.

The text of the bill includes language that protects church officials from “any civil claim or cause of action” that would result from refusing to solemnize a marriage. The bill would “afford full religious protection so that the Catholic Church and any other particular faith in Rhode Island will never have to perform a gay mar-

riage unless it conforms to the tenets of their faith,” Nesselbush said.

Rodriguez said that though the bill includes these protections in theory, he believes these safeguards will not be guaranteed in practice.

Bishop Thomas Tobin of the Catholic Diocese of Providence has also been vocal in denouncing the same-sex marriage bill, calling it “immoral and unnecessary” in a written statement Jan. 7. Rhode Island has historically been ranked one of the most Catholic states in the country, though a 2010 Gallup poll showed that less than one-third of residents attend church weekly.

Other religious leaders have come out in support of same-sex marriage, including Nicholas Knisely, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island. In a statement to the clergy, Knisely wrote that he supports samesex marriage, “not in spite of (his) Christian faith, but because of it.”

“Across our congregations and communities, I can see the goodness of gay and lesbian couples and their families,” he wrote.

Many consider legalization of same-sex marriage to be a basic civil

rights issue, Handy said.

Rhode Island should be a state that “welcomes people of all persuasions” without the “sting of discrimination” presented by the state’s current laws on marriage, Nesselbush said.

“It’s important that our state embrace full civil rights — including marriage rights — for all Rhode Islanders,” Nesselbush said. “It’s just a matter of fairness and equal protection and equal justice under the law.”

/ / Census page 8 the least densely populated, only 6.8 people per square mile.

Baum-Snow said people are attracted to the lower cost of living in the west, where home prices are lower on-average.

“Rhode Island is densely populated,” he added. “This isn’t a new phenomenon for Rhode Island — it’s been going on for 50 years.”

6 editorial Editorial

Dealing with drug culture

It’s been years since Bill O’Reilly went into hysterics over ecstasy and alcohol at Sex Power God, but the well-known secret of drug cultures at colleges and universities has been around for much longer. As the semester begins, we call on students to reevaluate Brown’s drug environment. As a school with a liberal reputation, we are often assumed to have a rampant party culture. While this may be true for some, it ignores students with little interest in that culture. We ask students to strive for accountability when engaging in alcohol and drug use on campus. Respecting fellow students’ boundaries, as well as one’s own, will go a long way in repairing campus rifts over substance use.

Though the University’s policy toward drug use is strict on paper, it is in practice more centered on curbing collateral damage. After all, it is unrealistic for administrators to demand college students to end illicit alcohol and drug use. We believe the University provides students with the resources necessary to stay safe. Emergency Medical Services is just a call away, and Brown officials as well as the Department of Public Safety routinely send out emails on responsible drinking before events like Spring Weekend or Sex Power God. These measures accompany a relaxed approach to those of us using alcohol or drugs: Students are rarely punished for drinking. Last year, hundreds of students smoked marijuana on the Main Green in honor of April 20, with no repercussions. Just as the New Curriculum makes us responsible for our own education, the University has given us tools to stay safe in the “party culture,” acknowledging that we are adults responsible for our own decisions.

Despite these measures, our drug culture is problematic, and as students, we have few to blame but ourselves. A distinct tension exists within the student body over two main issues: abuse of drugs and alcohol, and the rift between students who imbibe and those who do not. The matter of abuse occasionally erupts — the altercation between an intoxicated student and DPS at Josiah’s last semester comes to mind — but more important and insidious are the multiple calls made to EMS surrounding events like Sex Power God on behalf of students with alcohol poisoning. Students should certainly be aware of EMS’ existence and accessibility, but students, sometimes even including the ill students themselves, often assume negative repercussions will stem from calling DPS to a particularly wild scene.

This issue exacerbates the spillover of party culture into the lives of students who want to avoid it. While there’s enough variety in the student body to steer clear of drugs like alcohol and marijuana, the permeating smell of pot upon entering some dorms or the presence of disruptive, intoxicated students at 3 a.m. has negative externalities that affect students beyond those directly involved. Whether in response to a desire to be free of secondhand smoke or merely a wish not to be exposed to the party environment, respecting the boundaries of others in our community is important for a happy student body.

Students must commit to monitoring their behavior, and, whether imbibing or not, they must demonstrate a willingness to communicate openly about what is appropriate in a shared living space. This should be applied not only on an individual and dorm-specific level but also to the campus as a whole.

In order to create an environment comfortable and safe for everyone, we must have an open conversation about drugs that extends beyond merely groups of friends with similar mindsets.

Spring brings 4/20, Spring Break, Spring Weekend and revelry spurred by warm weather. Have fun, keep safe and remember that creating an open, safe community comes from the bottom up.

the brown daily herald Thursday, January 24, 2013

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

Corrections Due to an editing error, an article in Wednesday’s Herald (“Growing School of Engineering expands to newly renovated building,” Jan. 23) incorrectly stated the Building for Environmental Research and Teaching would open Jan. 23. In fact, a topping-off ceremony took place Jan. 23, and the construction will be completed in the fall. Due to an editing error, a previous version of the article’s summary deck also attributed a statement about the School of Engineering’s growth to Associate Provost Rod Beresford. In fact, the statement was made by Tom Powers, director of graduate programs at the school. The Herald regrets the errors.

An article in last month’s Herald (“Collection puts African history on display,” Dec. 7) incorrectly identified the instructor of ARCH 1615: “Art/Artifact: The Art and Material Culture of Africa” as Rebecca Engmann. In fact, her name is Rachel Engmann. The Herald regrets the error.

An article in last month’s Herald (“U. lobbying spending ranks low in Ivy League,” Dec. 7) incorrectly stated that the University spent $520,000 in 2012 on compensating lobbyists in Rhode Island. In fact, it spent $52,000. The Herald regrets the error.

Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board: its editor, Daniel Jeon, and its members, Mintaka Angell, Sam Choi, Nick Morley and Rachel Occhiogrosso. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.

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quote of the day

“The sky hasn’t fallen in Massachusetts.”

— State Rep. Arthur Handy, D-Cranston See marriage on page 1.

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opinions 7

the brown daily herald Thursday, January 24, 2013

Constructive irreverence Zach Ingber Opinions Columnist Seeing the inauguration of a new university president is thrilling. We are lucky our time at Brown overlaps with the end of one president’s tenure and the beginning of another’s.

But it is not just the inauguration ceremony that intrigues me. Watching a new leader come into the Brown community and navigate the landscape is inspiring. As current students, we have an incredibly unique opportunity to help President Christina Paxson change Brown for the better.

We must start by allowing Paxson to create her own image, leadership style and persona. To do this, the student body must not compare her to former president Ruth Simmons. Simmons, with her efforts to integrate the campus and her grandmotherly hugs, had an incredible impact on students. Perhaps Paxson will not have the same mystical aura surrounding her that her predecessor did, but we must realize that she will be trying to lace up her own boots, not trying to fill Simmons’ shoes.

So how should she do this? That is not for us to decide. But I will use this limited space to draw from Paxson’s convocation speech and give my take on how some of the goals outlined should be accomplished.

Paxson comically drew on her background in economics to discuss the academic definition of her field, which addresses the

allocation of scarce resources. This is relevant to Brown — our endowment is exceptionally low compared to other Ivy League universities. The University often struggles to fund all the ventures that students want to pursue. So where should our limited resources go? While academics serve as the backbone of Brown’s intellectual uniqueness, the University’s true individuality lies in its highly engaged student body. I urge Paxson to allocate a larger amount of university resources to student activities on campus.

in university budgets, but I would like to stress how fundamental student groups are in creating the dynamic Brown community.

In her speech, Paxson also addressed the value of research. Debates rage about the importance of various research endeavors at universities across the country, and Brown is no exception. It is no small feat that a Brown professor worked on the team that discovered the Higgs boson. But I hope Paxson will strongly emphasize research in the humanities and social sciences in addition

Perhaps Paxson will not have the same mystical aura surrounding her that her predecessor did, but we must realize that she will be trying to lace up her own boots, not trying to fill Ruth’s shoes.

Many Brown students will argue that what sets us apart from similar schools is the devotion students have to extracurricular activities. It is outside the classroom where Brown students run internationally acclaimed conferences such as A Better World

by Design and build Formula One racecars.

The inspiration and future success of our students often comes from the myriad of extracurricular activities available to us, yet the Undergraduate Council of Students and Undergraduate Finance Board have trouble funding it all. We should not let money be the obstacle to the next great student innovation or social endeavor. I wholeheartedly acknowledge that there are financial restraints

to research in the life and physical sciences.

Many think research implies a lab coat and test tubes, but there is so much relevance — sometimes hidden — to seemingly frivolous topics in other domains. This imperative should translate into more undergraduate research and fellowships in overlooked fields. For example, why is it that an overwhelming amount of Undergraduate Teaching and Research Awards go to science-related projects? Encouraging undergraduate research in the fields of economics, history, anthropology and political science will widen the reach of exceptional Brown students and also diversify the career paths graduates will choose.

My final and perhaps most lofty challenge to Paxson comes from her quotation about free speech from Brown’s charter. I often feel that free speech is curtailed on campus, but not by any statute or rule. Rather, certain individuals — from those defending investment banks to supporters of the war in Iraq — are often “crowded out” of the campus conversation. We must fight this.

One should not be labeled “racist” for questioning the role of the Third World Center or “right-wing” for supporting a military strike on Iran. So how do we do this?

We should strive for balance among professors as well as those who speak at University-sponsored lectures. We should create a culture of tolerance and understanding, not just one of protest and counter-protest.

Some might question the role the president has in this process, but I feel that as a seasoned scholar and brilliant academic, Paxson can set a tone that builds up the deliberative capacities of certain groups as opposed to shutting them down.

I am excited for the next three years. Thus far, Paxson has seemed accessible, charming and, most importantly, willing to immerse herself in Brown’s culture before imposing her own mandates. As a student body, we have not only the opportunity but the responsibility to foster the Brown way, something Paxson so aptly described as “constructive irreverence.”

Zach Ingber ’15 is getting good vibes from Paxson’s time on campus so far. He can be reached at zachary_ingber@brown.edu.

Why we need pluses and minuses Jaclyn Katz Opinions Columnist According to time-use surveys by Professors Philip Babcock at the University of California at Santa Barbara and Mindy Marks at the University of California at Riverside, the average student at a four-year college in 1961 studied about 24 hours a week, while today’s average student studies for about 14 hours.

I am certainly not going to render judgment on how many hours a week is necessary to commit to studying. How students invest their time is a personal choice. Yet judging solely from my own observations, most Brown students study far more than 14 hours a week. And indeed, most Brown students excel in their courses. Last year about 53 percent of grades received were As, 22 percent were Bs, and four percent were Cs (“Concerns persist as grade distribution remains steady,” Nov. 19, 2012).

In other words, Brown students are driven to succeed in their courses and work hard to accomplish this goal. The competitiveness of admission to Brown inevitably leads to a student body that “by definition possesses high levels of motivation and intelligence” (“Letter: Grade distribution should prompt discussion,” Nov. 29, 2012). In this sense, despite fears about grade inflation, the number of As that Brown students received in recent years is not particularly worrisome to me. If professors consider many of their students’ work worthy of an A grade, should students not be rewarded simply because of the overall num-

ber of As being distributed? It certainly feels very anti-Brown to institute a Princeton-like system in which only a certain fraction of students in each course will be awarded As. But what Brown’s grade distribution does indicate is the need for a grading system that better distinguishes students’ performance from one another. If 53 percent of Brown students received As in the last academic year, what does this A really signify? What does the A represent in terms of a student’s mastery of the material, level of effort, participation in and commitment to the course?

An A at Brown represents too great a variation within these evaluative dimensions.

mance and in some cases forces them to assign grades they feel are inappropriate.

The addition of pluses and minuses would not only invite greater specificity into the grading process, but it would also remove the current mentality among Brown students that there is only one acceptable grade: an A. The A/B/C/NC system breeds an unhealthy sense of perfectionism by driving students to aim to break into “A territory.” For some, anything less than an A is seen as imperfect or unworthy (“The A/B/(N)Cs of Brown grading,” Sept. 9, 2010). In this sense, incorporating pluses and minuses into the grading system is not a superficial proposal to align

Brown’s grading system prevents professors from distributing final evaluations specific to each student’s performance and in some cases forces them to assign grades they feel are inappropriate.

The student who works only so hard as to break the A “threshold,” the student who aces every assignment, and sometimes even the student teetering on the edge of the threshold may all receive the same evaluation at the end of the course. Was their course performance so similar as to merit the same grade? Probably not. In this way, Brown’s grading system prevents professors from distributing final evaluations specific to each student’s perfor-

with the systems of other schools but a way to more properly align the incentives of students and to rid them of unreasonable expectations of perfectionism.

While most Brown students are genuinely interested in their coursework and motivated to study for reasons other than obtaining an A, this does not change the fact that at the end of the semester, all students receive grades. These grades — and consequent GPA

calculations — should reflect a student’s performance as accurately as a numerically converted letter grade can. Systems of evaluation like course performance reports can better highlight a student’s strengths and weaknesses, but with many classes reaching 100 students or more, a system of this kind would be impractical to expect instructors to use.

Creating a more nuanced method of evaluating coursework would mitigate Brown’s perfectionist culture by making a greater number of grades “acceptable” in the eyes of students. For example, in the current system that lacks the B+ option, students on the cusp between an A or a B are either pushed to an A or “demoted” to a B. This situation induces stress among students struggling to obtain an A or breeds apathy among those who feel they might as well not study to the best of their ability if they will likely end up with a B in the course regardless of their efforts.

In sum, the differences between an A, B and C are simply too vast for those to be the only letter grade options. With so few options, the system increases pressure on students to perform at a certain level on all assignments in order to secure the grade they wish, since a misstep may bring down one’s average an entire letter grade. The addition of pluses and minuses would thus eliminate this need to study one’s way into A territory and allow coursework to be evaluated in a more detailed manner specific to students’ strengths and weaknesses.

Jaclyn Katz ’14 understands that most Brown students will not find this proposal attractive, and can be reached at jaclyn_katz@brown.edu.

daily herald city & state the Brown

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Chafee ’75 proposes lower corporate tax

State population declines, R.I. may lose House seat

school aid formula — passed in 2010 with support from Rhode Island Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Deborah Gist — to determine the amount of funds the state must provide its public schools.

It also provided an additional $6 million to prevent tuition hikes at the Community College of Rhode Island, the University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College, but the additional funding would only keep tuition stable if matched equally by spending cuts at each of the schools, Chafee said.

He also requested $14 million to fund vocational schools.

Chafee also promised to address high municipal property taxes with $30 million in local aid to prevent cities and towns from needing to raise taxes further. Priority for the funds will go to areas still in critical condition following the economic recession, with a third designated for improving local roads.

In addition to proposing more than $11 million for shovel-ready infrastructure projects, Chafee called on the General Assembly to provide $500,000 to the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission. The commission is playing a major role in restructuring the Jewelry District, where government officials hope to create a technology, education and entrepreneurial hub to help revive the local economy. “We must continue to focus on … the ‘meds and eds’ … to grow our economy and create jobs,” Chafee added.

“Two years ago, when I was sworn in as governor, Rhode Island was facing a $295 million deficit … our unemployment rate was 11.4 percent ... (and) we had lost 40,000 jobs in the previous four years,” Chafee said, marking his administration’s progress toward improving the economy after raising taxes and cutting social services. “Two years later, unemployment is heading in the right direction — still unacceptably high, but improving.”

Analysts predict Chafee will face reelection in 2014 with tough challenges from both the right and the left.

and Connecticut.

Gov. Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14 described the decrease in population as an effect stemming from the state’s economic downturn and an aging population, the Associated Press reported. Younger residents have left Rhode Island in search of long-term employment, Chafee said. To combat this, Chafee said he plans to revitalize downtown Providence in an effort to attract a young and better-educated workforce.

Baum-Snow said educating Rhode Island’s workforce is the most sustainable long-term option for reversing the population decline. Reducing the tax burden on local businesses is a good strategy, he said, but it is not a sustainable solution.

“It won’t reverse the trend,” he said. The costs to lowering business taxes may outweigh the benefits, he added. For example, lower business tax rates can force state and local governments to cut services and programs.

The state’s population decline could result in political ramifications at the federal level — Rhode Island currently holds two seats in the House of Representatives, but if the population continues to decline at the current rate, the state may lose one of those seats. This could potentially pit the state’s current congressmen, Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., and Rep. David Cicilline ’83, D-R.I., against one another in 2022, analysts have noted.

Montana, which as of July 2012 had a population of 994,000 — a figure that is quickly increasing — would likely receive Rhode Island’s lost seat. If current population trends persist, Montana’s population will exceed that of Rhode Island by 2020, earning the western state another seat in Congress.

Rhode Island is one of the most densely populated states in the nation — second to New Jersey — with over 1,000 people per square mile, according to the Census, while Mon/ / Census page 5 tana is one of

The governor’s proposed budget would provide more funding for schools and infrastructure

By ADAM TOOBIN City & State Editor

Gov. Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14 proposed no tax increases of any kind in his State of the State address Jan. 17, despite having spent much of his first two years in office plagued by an ailing economy and confronting budget deficits. Toward the end of the speech, Chafee reiterated his desire to see the General Assembly legalize same-sex marriage, which will come to a vote in the House today.

Chafee said the state’s fiscal health had improved to a point where he could comfortably propose reducing the corporate tax rate from 9 percent to 7 percent to improve the state’s famously hostile business climate. The current corporate tax rate is higher than that of any other New England state, but the proposed rate is lower than those of neighboring Connecticut and Massachusetts. The new rate could make Rhode Island more attractive to business leaders, possibly helping the state lower its 10.2 percent unemployment rate — the country’s highest at 2.4 percentage points above the national average.

Chafee said he expects to face criticism for the decision — unemployment remains high and social services have been cut in recent years. But he “would not make this recommendation if (he) did not truly believe that in the long run it will result in a stronger economy, more Rhode Islanders working and fewer … citizens in need of state support,” he said.

The total budget Chafee submitted to the General Assembly amounts to about $8.2 billion in state spending, a 1.2 percent increase over last fiscal year. It would provide an additional $30.3 million to fully fund the state’s public schools. Chafee used the state’s

The decline corresponds with an unemployment rate that is among the highest in the nation

By EMILY BONEY SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Rhode Island’s population has been steadily decreasing since 2004, according to a recent report from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sixteen of Rhode Island’s 32 cities and towns lost residents, according to data from the 2010 census. Middletown and Newport experienced the greatest population declines, with each losing 6.8 percent of its citizens. Rhode Island and Vermont are the only two states that have seen significant decreases in population in the past year.

The decline in state residents correlates with Rhode Island’s high unemployment rate, which began to increase steadily in 2006 and peaked in 2010 at nearly 12 percent. The state’s unemployment rate stood approximately 3 percentage points higher than the national average in December, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Of the state’s over 500,000 available workers, nearly 60,000 residents were unemployed.

Unemployment rates and labor movement are closely intertwined, said Nathaniel Baum-Snow, associate professor of economics. Unemployment is “the underlying force that pushes population trends,” he said.

“If you find a job somewhere else and you have to move to take it, you will.”

Population change is also caused by a variety of factors beyond economic decline, Baum-Snow said.

Businesses and people want to relocate to states with higher numbers of skilled workers, he added.

“The economy has shifted to become more skill-oriented,” BaumSnow said, noting that Rhode Island’s workforce is less skilled than those of neighboring states like Massachusetts

Ne ws in brief

Pollution on the rise in R.I. Legal pollution emissions increased in Rhode Island by nearly 0.5 percent in 2011, according to data from the Environmental Protection Agency, while there was a 0.09 percent overall decrease in New England. The region emitted 18.96 million pounds of legal pollutants last year, according to the EPA. “The top 10 companies for chemical discharges were Hord Crystal in Pawtucket, Chemart in Lincoln, Sensesco in North Kingstown, General Cable Industries in Lincoln, Honeywell in Smithfield, Taco in Cranston, Organic Dyestuffs in East Providence, Kenyon Industries in Charlestown, Quartermoon in Portsmouth and Dewal Industries in Narragansett,” the Providence Journal reported.

Nationwide, the EPA reported an 8 percent total increase of toxic chemicals disposed in the environment.

The analysis stems from data collected by the Toxic Release Inventory, a database maintained by the EPA to evaluate industrial chemical management and compare toxic chemical emissions from year to year.

“EPA is proud of our longterm commitment of putting accessible, meaningful information in the hands of the American people so we can be informed about chemicals found in our own communities and neighborhoods,” said Curt Spalding, regional administrator of EPA’s New England office, in a press release last week.

— Tonya Riley

Rhode Island minimum wage increases 4.7 percent Bill sponsor says the raise is an attempt to remain competitive with neighboring states

By MARIYA BASHKATOVA SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Rhode Island’s minimum wage increased from $7.40 to $7.75 Jan. 1, the first time the state has enacted an increase since 2007. Among the 10 states that instituted similar hikes this year, Rhode Island saw the largest increase.

Rhode Island’s minimum wage increase was mandated by legislation passed in the General Assembly last June. In the other nine states that enacted increases, minimum wage is linked to a consumer index and rises automatically to adjust for inflation. The federal minimum wage — which sets the lowest legal rate — is $7.25, with

Washington maintaining the highest minimum wage at $9.19. Rhode Island’s neighboring states, Connecticut and Massachusetts, have minimum wages of $8.25 and $8.00, respectively.

Rep. David Bennett, D-Warwick, the primary sponsor of the House bill, said he introduced the legislation to help improve the quality of life for state workers who earn the minimum wage and are negatively affected by rising prices.

“A large cheese pizza would cost you three hours of your work or two hours of your work depending on where you buy your pizza,” he said. “Imagine working three hours for a pizza.”

Bennett said he hopes to introduce similar legislation each year until the minimum wage reflects the cost of living and is comparable to the minimum wages in neighboring states. When he chose the $0.35 increase, he thought it was the largest amount the General Assembly would be able to pass, Ben-

nett said. He will introduce a bill this year in the House to raise the minimum wage to $8.25, which would amount to an additional $0.50 increase, he added.

“We’ve got to stay in competition with Connecticut and Massachusetts,” he added. “We don’t want all our young people going across the border to work over there because they can make $2.00 more an hour doing the same job.”

The bill’s opposition included business owners and corporations concerned about higher costs affecting their ability to maintain current employment levels, Bennett said. But a large percentage of entry-level positions in the state that pay minimum wage come from large national corporations that can absorb the increase, mitigating potential negative repercussions, he added.

“For a modest minimum wage increase, I would be very surprised if employment went down,” said Kenneth Chay, professor of economics. Though

Comparing minimum wages $8.00

$8.25

Old: $7.40 New: $7.75

Federal minimum wage: $7.25 the neoclassical model supported by conservative economists associates increased wages with higher unemployment, studies in the 1990s and 2000s have shown that this model does not always hold and have found no connection between minimum wage increases and unemployment, he added.

GREG JORDAN-DETAMORE / HERALD

Chay said it is important to consider context and conditions when talking about minimum wage. A $0.35 increase in the minimum wage should not hurt small businesses if Rhode Island is in the beginning of a financial recovery, he said.