Wednesday, October 31, 2013

Daily

Herald

THE BROWN

vol. cxlviii, no. 101

since 1891

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2013

Hundreds assemble to confront Kelly controversy UCS cancels Community members grappled with free speech and race in the wake of the canceled lecture

By SARAH SACHS STAFF WRITER

More than 600 students and multiple professors and administrators gathered Wednesday night in Alumnae Hall for an open forum addressing issues surrounding free speech and race on campus and the cancellation of New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly’s lecture Tuesday.

At the Tuesday event, students and community protestors shouted at Kelly when he took the podium, protesting his role in the New York Police Department’s controversial “stop-and-frisk” policing

policies. Kelly was repeatedly prevented from speaking, and administrators ended the event, hosted by the Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions, a half hour after it began.

President Christina Paxson invited the community to the forum via a campus-wide email sent Wednesday afternoon. Administrators were surprised by the turnout and only expected about 100 to 200 attendees, Paxson said in opening remarks at the event.

Administrators stressed the importance of engaging in dialogue to confront controversial issues in the wake of the protest against Kelly’s lecture.

“Talking in person is always the best thing to do,” Paxson said at the forum, which drew a crowd that overflowed into the hallways outside Alumnae Hall.

Margaret Kluwann, vice president for » See FORUM, page 9

meeting due to overlap with forum The meeting would have been the Council’s first since the U. chose not to divest from coal

By MAXINE JOSELOW SENIOR STAFF WRITER

ARJUN NARAYEN / HERALD

President Christina Paxson stressed the importance of open discussion and tolerance for all opinions at last night’s community event.

Whitehouse’s book explores American values The collection of quotations offers famous words and personal anecdotes about politics and patriotism

By MARIYA BASHKATOVA SENIOR STAFF WRITER

For the past 20 years, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., has carried a blank book with h i m , j ott i n g down inspiring quotations as he hears and reads them, from the tenets of Boy Scout Law to a Ralph Waldo Emerson poem on the Providence War Memorial.

When a friend advised him to publish his personal adversaria for public consumption, Whitehouse sat down to the task at a large table, arranging clips of his quotation collection into suitable categories.

CITY & STATE

The result is his new book, “On Virtues,” in which he lays out and discusses various quotations in an attempt to capture the essence of being American. With a title reminiscent of philosophical treatises, the book uses a broad range of quotations — from William Shakespeare’s to Abraham Lincoln’s — to present what Whitehouse calls a “full, honorable and truly American life.”

Whitehouse told The Herald the quotations could provide guidance to those who want to live a good life.

You must be engaged “in a cause or endeavor that you are passionate about and that you have worked at long enough to be operating at a level

of skillful artisanship,” Whitehouse said. “Other than falling in love or having wonderful family news or something like that, it’s hard to imagine a better feeling than that,” he added.

Whitehouse begins by introducing himself in the context of his upbringing as the son of a U.S. ambassador who spent his childhood in a whirlwind of often war-torn countries. The first quotation in the collection is deeply personal: “And the Lord said, whom shall I send, and who shall go for us? Then said I, here am I; send me,” from Isaiah 6:8, the Bible verse Whitehouse recited in his father’s eulogy.

“I kind of get goose bumps every time I read it. I just can’t help it,” he said.

His commentary on the quotations is frequently charming, including personal anecdotes and ruminations on the eloquence of speakers like Winston Churchill, whom he clearly admires.

Far from being an anonymous book of quotations, “On Virtues” gives the reader insight into the words by which Whitehouse lives, with much of the book concerning the duties of an elected official.

Whitehouse said he had his children in mind when collecting the quotations. He said he was hoping not only to elucidate the country’s political and legal structures for his children, “but also to have a sense that even if you feel alone, there are an awful lot of people who have » See WHITEHOUSE, page 2

Lacking foundation, minorities struggle in STEM fields Students said campus culture and insufficient preparation often impeded success

and Africana studies. “If the University doesn’t distinctly look to improve this, then these people are going to fall through the cracks, and that’s what’s been happening.”

inside

Underrepresented minority students in science, technology, engineering and math — known as STEM fields — named lack of preparation, stereotyping and unsupportive Missing Scientists learning enviAn exploration of minority ronments as the underrepresentation in STEM fields three major chalSecond in a three-part series lenges they face.

“As a collective, this is a struggle,” said Jamelle Watson-Daniels ’15, a black student concentrating in physics

Entering unprepared In a poll conducted this fall by The Herald, one third of Brown students reported feeling unprepared to concentrate in STEM fields upon entering Brown. Students of certain races and ethnicities were disproportionately represented in that group — 30.2 percent of white students, 45.3 percent of black students and 61.2 percent of Hispanic students reported feeling unprepared to concentrate in STEM fields.

Students who responded that they felt unprepared to concentrate in STEM fields were also likelier to receive financial aid. Only 25.1 percent » See STEM, page 7

COURTSEY OF JOSEPH BROWN

One third of undergraduates reported feeling unprepared to concentrate in STEM fields based on their high school educations.

Haunted hill

Sister story

Lost lesson

The campus is celebrating Halloween with creative costumes and traditions

Tamsui, Taiwan could become Newport’s newest “sister city”

Guest columnist Ken Miller ’70 P’02 recalls growth after a controversial 1966 lecture

FEATURE, 3

CITY & STATE, 5

COMMENTARY, 11

weather

By ISOBEL HECK SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Leaders of the Undergraduate Council of Students canceled the group’s weekly general body meeting Wednesday due to its overlap with President Christina Paxson’s open forum to discuss campus norms and dialogue.

The Council would have spent the meeting approving categorizations of student groups and discussing student activities policies and resources with Timothy Shiner, director of Student Activities and the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center, said Todd Harris ’14.5, UCS president.

This would have been the Council’s first meeting since the University announced it would not divest from companies that profit significantly from coal, a decision that has triggered controversy on campus. Last semester, UCS passed a resolution endorsing divestment, though resolutions typically are not binding from year to year.

But Council leaders did not want the 7:30 p.m. meeting to prevent members from attending an 8:30 p.m. open forum held by Paxson and aimed at fostering conversation about recent controversial University events, including a canceled lecture

by New York City Police Department Commissioner Raymond Kelly, Harris said. The meeting would also have been the Council’s first gathering since Kelly’s lecture was stopped due to student protests Tuesday afternoon.

“We wanted to make sure UCS members had a chance to have a conversation with the whole community,” said Sam Gilman ’15, UCS vice president.

“Nothing is more important than coming together for a campus conversation,” Gilman added. “Student categorization can happen next week.

This conversation had to happen tonight, and needs to continue.”

The Council will resume the categorization process at its general body meeting next week in addition to discussing the strategic planning process and hosting Mary Grace Almandrez, director of the Third World Center and assistant dean of the College, Harris said. t o d ay

tomorrow

64 / 58

66 / 47

2 university news calendar TODAY

OCTOBER 31

5:30 P.M.

» WHITEHOUSE, from page 1

TOMORROW

NOVEMBER 1

2:30 P.M. Welcoming Indomitable

Lincoln and Emancipation

List 120 8 P.M.

Crystal Room 7 P.M.

A Streetcar Named Desire

Oktoberfest!

Stuart Theater

Sayles Hall

menu SHARPE REFECTORY

VERNEY-WOOLLEY

LUNCH Falafel, Mediterranean Bar, Hot Corned Beef on Rye Bread, Cauliflower in Tahini Sauce

Saturday Night Jambalaya, Vegetable Strudel, Seasoned Curly Fires, Cauliflower Au Gratin, Enchilada Bar

DINNER Vegetarian Spinach Strudel, Antipasto Bar, Pot Roast Jardiniere, Red Potatoes, Worms in the Mud

Roast Turkey, Vegetable Bean Stew, Green Peas, Bread Stuffing, Butternut Apple Bake, Cranberry Apple Crisp

fought lonely battles before, and you’re always in their company.”

But this book of quotations and reflections may not hold the same weight for a generation of young people who, on average, do not believe in American exceptionalism with the same fervor as Whitehouse’s baby boomer generation.

In response to a Pew Research Center question, just 31 percent of millennials called the United States the greatest country in the world, compared to 50 percent of baby boomers. In the same survey, 70 percent of millennials called themselves “very patriotic,” compared to 91 percent of baby boomers.

“Millennials have a bit of a disability in that they are coming of age in a time when patriotism is often used and asserted for other political

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2013

purposes,” he said.

Young people may also be put off by the ostentatious display of patriotism in politics, rather than by the patriotism itself, Whitehouse said.

“People who are turned off by shirtsleeve patriotism can nonetheless find the deeper and realer variety in their own lives and I think inevitably will, sooner or later,” he said.

But not everyone inhabits the same American space as a U.S. senator. The majority of people quoted in “On Virtues” come from a homogenous population of white men — politicians, war heroes, leaders and authors.

The inspiration in the book comes from the specific canon of history’s “great men.”

Whitehouse said he struggled with this idea, especially as he was contemplating his own daughter’s use of the book.

sudoku

RELEASE DATE– Thursday, October 31, 2013

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle c rNorris o s sandwJoyce o rNichols d Lewis Edited by Rich

ACROSS 1 Works by future doctors 7 One of two N.T. books 10 Mellowed, perhaps 14 24/7 Rollerball maker 15 Address for a PFC 16 Traffic controller 17 African adventure 18 Buttinskies 20 1954 Luis Buñuel film 22 Eur.’s ocean 23 Diva quality 24 Smallish cells 25 “__ Love”: Natalie Cole hit 26 Lamarr of Hollywood 28 Harrison colleague 30 Sluglike “Star Wars” alien 31 Map corner item, maybe 33 Cross-referencing words 35 1974 Lina Wertmüller film 38 Rat Pack leader 40 Pizza order 44 Start for sphere 45 Moved, as a trireme 48 Aussie flock 49 Benchmark: Abbr.

50 “For shame!”

51 Portuguese royal 53 PGA money winner, e.g.

54 1963 Peter Brook film 58 Unwanted import from the East?

59 Words that may precede weeping?

61 Word with blue or bean 62 Neurologist’s test, briefly 63 Temper 64 Covers the gray, say 65 Tokyo, long ago 66 They raise dough

43 That, in Tabasco 32 Bygone Delta DOWN 44 See 13-Down rival 1 Festoons with 46 Before, to a bard certain tissue, for 34 “Illmatic” rapper 47 Offset, as costs 36 Cajun crawfish short 50 It may be gross dish 2 Give courage to 52 “The L Word” 37 Went on and on 3 Swathes producer Chaiken 38 In a manner of 4 Attempt 55 Woody Allen’s speaking 5 Spine-tingling “Radio __” 39 Ready to go 6 Baby carriers 56 Science fiction forward 7 Hunter’s garb, for prize 41 Blocks short 57 Collector’s suffix 42 Attack with 8 Clearing 60 D.C. United’s org. profanity 9 A.L. Rookie of the Year after ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: Tommie Agee 10 Rights protection gp.

11 Has a date 12 On the way 13 With 44-Down, setting for 20-, 35- and 54Across 19 TV’s Oz and Gupta 21 Barstool topper 22 Yellowfin tuna 27 Like no-nonsense questions 29 “When You Wish Upon __” 30 Big name in games 10/31/13 xwordeditor@aol.com

Thanks for reading!

By Gerry Wildenberg (c)2013 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

10/31/13

“It does dramatically underrepresent the contributions of women — and it worries me that it does — but I console myself that that’s a result of history rather than a result of bias,” Whitehouse said.

Whitehouse’s patriotism rings from every page — exactly what one would expect from a U.S. senator.

But it is tempered with quotations about political failings and human imperfection. Whitehouse’s section on America ends with a gem from Winston Churchill: “You can always count on Americans to do the right thing — after they’ve tried everything else.”

As for Whitehouse’s favorite quote in the collection, the senator jumps right to Adam Lindsay Gordon: “Life is mostly froth and bubble; Two things stand like stone: Kindness in another’s trouble, courage in one’s own.”

feature 3

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2013

Halloweek haunts College Hill The week’s festivities include the Midnight Organ Recital and the RISD Artist Ball STAFF WRITER

One of the few times of the year when students are encouraged to pretend to be someone — or something — they are not, Halloweek will feature both on- and off-campus celebrations and attempts to best their peers with creative attire and trickery. But the expanded celebration around Halloween is a relatively new phenomenon in the University’s history.

Dressed to impress Excitement about festivities surrounding Halloween may be a close second to students’ excitement about their costumes.

For many, worry about what to wear is actually a relief in the midst of midterm season.

“It comes at a perfect time,” said James Young ’16, adding that for him Halloween will be the finale to a particularly challenging week.

Thayer’s Shades Plus is a popular

BY MATHIAS HELLER, UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR

Gender-neutral housing may receive vote from Harvard undergrads

By CORINNE SEJOURNE

Old school trick or treat The “huge blossoming of Halloween is relatively recent” on campus, said University Historian Jane Lancaster PhD ’98.

But a taste for tricks is deep-rooted in Brown’s history. Lancaster referred to one particular prank performed more than once by “the boys” of the 19th century, who would steal the president’s cow away from grazing on the Quiet Green and lead it up several flights of stairs to the top of University Hall.

“The up was easy,” she said, but guiding the cow back downstairs was more difficult.

Even before the advent of Halloweek celebrations, Brown students were never lacking in fall rituals.

Bonfires were the most dominant student tradition in the 19th century, Lancaster said.

Students would hold them at every possible occasion, she said. Participants would burn “everything that moved.” The bonfire custom now lives on through Waterfire, Lancaster said, citing Providence’s fire-lighting event on the river in downtown Providence, a tradition started by a Brown alum.

THIS WEEK IN HIGHER ED

ARJUN NARAYEN / HERALD

The University’s celebrations of fall historically included bonfires, a tradition that spurred the present-day Waterfire festival. place for students seeking last-minute costumes and accessories. It’s “crazy” for Halloween, said Kayla Capuano, Shades Plus manager, adding that this “Thursday, Friday and Saturday, you probably will not be able to walk in the store.”

Marguerite Suozzo-Gole ’15.5 said she will be going with a friend as “Duck and Bunny” in reference to the Wickenden Street snuggery, but with an added twist — the duck will be “fat” and “frumpy” while the bunny will wear “tight-fitting clothes,” she said.

Housemates Raisa Cramer ’16 and Jonathan Rubins ’16 plan to go together, each as a “futuristic metallic space person slash powerful sex god,” Rubins said.

He added that he recently dyed his hair blonde for a costume.

Kevin Chen ’15 said he is considering going out with friends as the characters from the Clue board game.

Creative costumes could earn students more than pride. A $500 prize was set to be given last night for best costume at the Whiskey Republic, according to the event’s Facebook page.

Haunting the hill Many students expressed excitement for this year’s on-campus Halloween activities. Starting as early as Tuesday’s community Trick-or-Treat on Wriston Quadrangle, which saw many miniature witches, bears and butterflies as fraternities and sororities opened their houses to local children, students cited a wide list of events that they plan to attend over the course of the week. These range from fraternity-hosted themed nighttime

parties to more unusual festivities, such as the closing night of Deshabiller, an art exhibition of 365 dresses worn on each day of the year.

Tonight will also feature the annual Halloween Midnight Organ Concert, a Brunonian tradition featuring Mark Steinbach, University organist, according to the University’s event page.

Many students said they will be saving their best costumes for a variety of off-campus celebrations.

One particularly anticipated event is the Rhode Island School of Design Artist Ball, an annual RISD celebration that takes place downtown.

There’s a lot of pressure to have a good costume for the ball, said Maddie Kau ’16, adding that she might go downtown just to see the costumes but will stay outside to avoid buying a ticket.

Kau listed Frieda Kahlo as one of her costumes for this year. James Young ’16, a Brown-RISD Dual Degree student, said he is planning to go as a “piece of pepperoni mushroom pizza,” which is his self-proclaimed “spirit animal.”

Some students are taking their celebrations beyond the confines of campus.

Nicolas Baird ’14 said he is looking forward to trick-or-treating in some residential areas of the East Side at the suggestion of one of his professors. He will be going as Finn the Human from Adventure Time, a show aired on Cartoon Network.

Pom Bunsermvicha ’16 said she is headed to a lakehouse for Halloweekend where she will film her horror movie for Brown University Motion Pictures.

Activists garnered the number of signatures required for their petition to put up universal gender-neutral housing for undergraduate vote, the Harvard Crimson reported Tuesday.

Harvard, like Brown, does not allow gender-neutral housing for first-years. Some upperclassman residential houses at Harvard require mixed-gender suites to have locks on bedroom doors, the Crimson reported.

Now that it has the required number of signatures, the petition to remove these restrictions and universalize genderneutral housing will be considered by the Undergraduate Council Rules Committee.

If the committee approves the signatures’ legitimacy, the initiative will be added to the UC fall ballot, which will be open Nov. 18-21, the Crimson reported.

The committee adopts all referendum questions passed by a majority of student voters as an official stance of the council, the Crimson reported.

UNC branch considers terminating history, physics, political science degrees Elizabeth City State University administrators may eliminate undergraduate programs in history, political science and physics after the University of North Carolina system identified these degrees as “low productive,” Inside Higher Ed reported Tuesday.

The UNC branch — a historically black college in Elizabeth City, N.C. — has faced budget shortfalls in recent years and may cut these majors along with other smaller degree programs as “cost effectiveness measures,” Provost Ali Khan told Inside Higher Ed. UNC officials completed an April curricular review in light of fiscal constraints, labeling about 11 percent of total academic programs as “low productive,” Inside Higher Ed reported.

Defenders of liberal arts curricula criticized the potential cutbacks.

Eliminating the teaching of history at a historically black college is “ironically tragic,” given the school’s original mission of educating blacks in the post-Civil War era, James Grossman, executive director of the American Historical Association, told Inside Higher Ed. Khan stressed that discussions over the proposed cuts are ongoing, according to the article.

Sandusky child abuse victims reach $59.7 million settlement with Penn State Pennsylvania State University announced it will pay $59.7 million to 26 child abuse victims of the school’s former football coach Jerry Sandusky, multiple news outlets reported Monday.

Settlement discussions with the 26 victims began in August, and the payment announcement is the latest fallout for Penn State following Sandusky’s child sexual abuse conviction last year, the Guardian reported Monday. The scandal has so far cost Penn State over $50 million in legal costs and other expenses, the Guardian reported.

“We cannot undo what has been done, but we can and must do everything possible to learn from this and ensure it never happens again at Penn State,” Rodney Erickson, the university’s president, said in a statement released Monday. The payments to victims are a “step forward” in healing for those hurt by Sandusky’s crimes and for the school, Erickson said in the statement.

Yale kicks off new sustainability push Yale President Peter Salovey announced the university’s commitment to a new three-year environmental sustainability drive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and water usage, among other goals, the Yale Daily News reported Tuesday.

As part of the plan, administrators seek to cut Yale’s greenhouse gas emissions and drinking water use each by 5 percent below their current levels, the YDN reported. Yale completed most goals outlined in its three-year plan that ended this year, and Salovey sought to build on the school’s progress by releasing a new set of goals to be met by June 2016, the YDN reported.

The new plan addresses a wide range of ways to reduce Yale’s environmental footprint, endorsing a 15 percent increase in the quantity of plant-based foods served in dining halls and efforts to expand the university’s reliance on “local, eco-sensitive, humane or fair trade” food, the YDN reported.

4 city & state

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2013

Local high school tightens substance control policy

School officials say wider access and unclear laws have led to increased student use of drugs

By ELIZABETH KOH FEATURES EDITOR

Portsmouth High School revamped its drug policy last month to strengthen consequences for drug use and authorize random breathalyzer tests at extracurricular events. These changes stem from the release of an April report documenting high rates of student substance abuse from the Portsmouth Prevention Coalition, a community group focused on preventing drug abuse.

School administrators first tested students using breathalyzers, which measure blood alcohol content, at a homecoming dance Sept. 28. All 71 students — randomly selected from the dance’s attendees — passed the test.

“There wasn’t one student that they tested that violated that policy,” said Ray Davis, coordinator of the coalition.

The random testing “was not used for retribution against any particular kind of student,” he added.

The Portsmouth School Committee approved the new policy last month after the coalition released its

report, which surveyed more than 1,200 students in Portsmouth’s junior high school and high school. According to the report, alcohol and marijuana showed “significant increases in user rates” as students grew older, with about two-thirds of seniors reporting having consumed alcohol in the last 30 days.

The statistics are “a badge of dishonor that we think we could actually lower,” said School Committee Chair David Croston.

The high rates of drug and alcohol use may be partially attributed to the town’s access to marijuana, Davis said.

Portsmouth is home to the Greenleaf Compassionate Care Center, one of two centers in the state that legally grow and distribute medical marijuana. One hundred to 300 additional independent growers are licensed in the town, Davis said.

There is “more than an ample supply of marijuana that is available for purchase,” Davis said, though he stressed that he is sure the center does not distribute marijuana to underage users. “It’s being sold, it’s being given, it’s being taken.”

The state’s recent decriminalization of possession of less than one ounce of marijuana might also have contributed to the phenomenon, Croston said.

“Kids believe it’s legal,” he said. “We

have a mixed message, and the kids are picking up on that.”

Davis said the Portsmouth School Department is adopting multiple strategies to minimize underage drug use, including flyers, information sessions and new curricula.

There is “no question the changes have strengthened” the school’s drug policy, said Portsmouth parent Elizabeth Morley. “It’s great that Portsmouth is really moving forward to help put those pieces together.”

Morley, whose son graduated from Portsmouth High in 2008, added that “the point of the policy is prevention.”

Croston said administrators “don’t see (the breathalyzer tests) as a policy that will be used consistently throughout the year” but rather as a monitoring tool for specific events.

Administrators plan to reconduct the study in December and monitor responses to the policy, Croston said.

“We’re going to keep tracking on an annualized basis” to ensure policy decisions are rooted in data, he said.

Both Davis and Croston said the community’s primary priority is to keep students safe from accidents like drunk driving.

The drug policy “is a piece of a plan across the board,” Davis said. “We have a lot more work we need to do.”

Providence

Portsmouth

5 mi

JILLIAN LANNEY / HERALD

city & state 5

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2013

Newport may adopt Tamsui, Taiwan as new sister city Newport’s connections to six other sister cities have forged strong educational, cultural and economic ties

By KERRI COLFER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Newport, R.I., may soon add another city to its list of “sister cities” — a relationship that encourages an economic, cultural and social exchange between similar municipalities — after being approached by a representative for Tamsui, Taiwan.

Newport already has six established relationships with cities in Japan, Ireland, Portugal, Italy, Greece and Canada.

The possibility of a relationship with the port city Tamsui was first proposed at the Taiwanese Film and Cultural Festival Oct. 26 in Newport.

“Newport is a beautiful city, and we can have a mutual arrangement to improve the tourism in both places,” said John Chu, director of information at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Boston, adding that he hopes to “enhance awareness of local communities about Taiwan” through more cultural events like the festival.

The city’s first sister relationship began in 1958 with Shimoda, Japan, and Newport maintains a strong connection with the city, said Newport Mayor Harry Winthrop.

Rhode Island’s relationship with Japan began when Commodore Matthew Perry, who was born in Newport, anchored his ships off the coast of Japan in 1853 and refused to leave until he spoke to a representative about opening trade with the United States, Winthrop said. In honor of this event, Newport formed

a relationship with the port city of Shimoda.

Today, the city’s relationship with Japan continues to grow, Winthrop said. “We’ve also set up educational exchanges in Shimoda. We’ve had at least half a dozen students who have become fluent in Japanese, and one of them now works in Tokyo at a software company,” he said.

Newport established sister city relationships with Kinsale, Ireland, in 2002 and with Imperia, Italy, in 1984, Winthrop said, adding that Newport maintains strong ties with these cities.

“This year, one of the people who established the sister city with Kinsale has been asked to be the Grand Marshal in their parade,” Winthrop said, adding that students from the Irish city come to work in Newport every summer.

Newport’s relationships with St. John, New Brunswick, Canada and with Imperia were based on friendships between those cities’ mayors and the mayor of Newport at the time, said Winthrop. “The one in St. John really didn’t stick,” he said. “Imperia has been better, and they want to grow the relationship in the future.”

The relationship with Ponta Delgada, Portugal is a result of the strong Portuguese community in Newport, Winthrop said.

At its launch, the sister city program was established to increase tourism to Newport, as well as facilitating cultural exchanges, but a lack of participation has led to stagnated progress with many of the cities.

“I like the idea of sister cities but I think, at this point, it needs to be more defined in terms of bringing economic exchanges, trade and students,” said Councilor-at-Large Jeanne-Marie Napolitano.

JULIA DONNER / HERALD

Newport’s first sister-city relationship was established in 1948 with Shimoda, Japan. Since then, connections have been made with cities in Italy, Greece, Canada, Portugal and Ireland.

The city is currently attempting to create new initiatives to involve more people in the sister city relationships.

Kinsale, Ponta Delgada and Skiathos, Greece have already established clubs to bolster interest, Winthrop said.

“The programming right now for some of these events is done by a small, finite number of people and I think we should be expanding so that more people can participate in the planning and maybe have a better understanding of the cultures,” Napolitano said, adding that the sister city programs are “a great opportunity” but need to be better defined.

Winthrop said Newport looks for towns of similar “size, economy and features, such as shorelines,” when searching for a new sister city. Both municipalities must consider what benefits could be gained from the relationship, he added.

A partnership with Tamsui would require approval from the City Council, and discussions over establishing a new sister program with the Taiwanese city are “in the early stages,” Winthrop said. “We’re willing to look at it, but we wouldn’t take it on just to put another notch on our belt.

We really want to make the existing

relationships work.”

Many friendships have developed between Newport residents and residents of sister cities, Winthrop said.

“Even in countries like Japan where there’s a huge language barrier, you find yourself transcending the language barrier and learning how to communicate.”

“What you find out is that people are basically the same around the world,” Napolitano said. “They have the same hopes, dreams and desires, so I think we should have a more formalized relationship with goals set aside.”

Seven sisters Newport and Tamsui, Taiwan have begun discussions to establish a “sister city” relationship. Tamsui would be Newport’s seventh sister city.

Kinsale, Ireland Saint John, Canada

Imperia, Italy Ponta Delgada, Portugal

Skiathos, Greece Shimoda, Japan

Tamsui, Taiwan

TIFFANY MENDOZA / HERALD

6 city & state

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2013

R.I. group launches initiative to bolster state confidence The campaign focuses both on growing local industries and personal stories of success

By EMMA JERZYK CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., joined with the Rhode Island Foundation last week for a three-city tour in an effort to raise Rhode Island’s selfesteem as a part of the “It’s All in Our Backyard” campaign.

The campaign stems from a partnership between the Foundation and media consulting firms Basics Group and Myranda Group following the Foundation’s 2012 “Make it Happen RI” conference, which gathered 300 private sector leaders to brainstorm how to improve the state’s economy.

One of the major themes from the conference was the state’s “lack of self-esteem,” according to the campaign’s website, OurBackyardRI.com.

Despite Rhode Island’s struggles with a high unemployment rate and a lagging high school graduation rate, the Foundation hopes to

increase focus on the state’s nascent industries, strong entrepreneurship, universities and art scene, according the the campaign’s site.

At its core, the campaign is a media blitz of stories focusing on success in Rhode Island, such as Cheryl Merchant, the CEO of Hope Global, and Jeffrey Morgan, a University researcher and inventor of a technique that improved petri dish manufacturing.

Campaign organizers are looking to increase tourism as one way to stimulate the economy. Chris Barnett, senior public affairs officer at the Foundation, said a high percentage of annual meetings and conventions held in the state are held here “because Rhode Islanders are members of a trade organization, and recommend that they hold their conventions here.”

The idea behind the campaign is that citizens will be “more willing

to be advocates for conventions and annual meetings in Rhode Island if they feel better about Rhode Island,” Barnett said.

“Personally, I find this campaign silly, for lack of a better word,” wrote Leonard Lardaro, an economics professor at the University of Rhode Island, in an email to The Herald.

Lardaro said the state has previously run positive advertising to bolster tourism, but the state’s particular tourism industry, which is geared toward less-profitable day trips and the state’s beaches, constrains success. Other states, such as Michigan and New Jersey, that have run similar successful programs did not face the same constraints because tourism to these states involves longer trips. And those states already had more profitable tourism industries, Lardaro said.

“Unfortunately,” Lardaro said, “Rhode Island is known as well for its unemployment rate as for its beaches.”

Neil Steinberg, president and CEO of the Foundation, wrote an op-ed in

the Providence Journal earlier this month that restated the initiative’s goals to lower the unemployment rate to the national average, to raise the median household income level to those of Connecticut and Massachusetts and to close income, unemployment and education gaps.

But Lardaro said the larger problem is the state’s “elected officials are either unwilling or unable to really generate effective solutions.”

“It would be extremely difficult to measure the effect of the campaign, either positive or negative,” Lardaro said, adding that even if certain industries and sectors of the economy started to improve, it would be difficult to judge whether the improvement resulted from the campaign or other policies.

Barnett said the Foundation is closely monitoring how many hits the site gets, and the media ratings its commercials receive in order to continually assess progress.

The campaign is largely funded by the Foundation, with $150,000

of its $170,000 budget coming from the Foundation, with the remaining funds coming from private donations, according to an article in Nonprofit Quarterly. Companies such as Cox Communications, Verizon and Clear Channel Media also contributed “tens of thousands of dollars worth of media space,” Barnett said.

“I think (the campaign) can potentially work. It just needs to be better funded,” said Rob Horowitz, a strategy and communications consultant, adding that an effective media campaign would need “a fair amount of repetition and a fair amount of money.”

Both Horowitz and Lardaro said the Foundation is engaged in beneficial work for Rhode Island, and the idea behind the campaign is wellintentioned.

“The whole idea behind Backyard is to convince people that the glass is far from empty,” Barnett said, adding that those concerned about the campaign’s ability to fund itself should donate.

Follow us on Twitter: @the_herald

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2013

» STEM, from page 1

science & research 7 This series will investigate the underrepresentation of certain racial minorities in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines, probing the cause, breadth and ramifications of the disparity, as well as its impact on individual students and University efforts to combat the problem. Read it online at: thebdh.org/ms.

Yesterday: Part one analyzes the scope of STEM underrepresentation of certain racial minorities on the national and University levels, honing in on the broad social and economic consequences.

Today: Part two explores the personal experience of underrepresented minority students in STEM fields, highlighting lack of high school preparation, stereotyping and academic support issues as major contributors to the gap.

Tomorrow: Part three critically examines current efforts and future plans of University administrators to address the underrepresentation of certain minorities in STEM fields.

of students not receiving financial aid felt unprepared to pursue STEM concentrations, compared to 42 percent of those who fund their education with some form of University or federal aid.

The “biggest problem starts in Missing Scientists primary and secondary education,” An exploration of minority underrepresentation in said Abi Kulshreshtha ’15, an IndianSTEM fields American concentrator in physics and A three-part series economics.

David Hernandez ’16, who is originally from Mexico and moved in math and science.” to Central Falls, R.I., when he was 15 Both Hernandez and Duah particiyears old, said insufficient preparation pated in the Catalyst pre-orientation harmed his academic experience in program run by the New Scientist introductory courses at Brown.

Program. Catalyst is intended to help Central Falls has one of the worst prepare incoming students to concenschool systems in the state, he said, trate in science at Brown. adding that on the New England “If it wasn’t for the programs like Common Assessment Program, only Catalyst, I wouldn’t know (minority 7 percent of students in the school professors)” and would be “in a difwere proficient in math and science. ferent position altogether,” Duah said.

Despite challenges in the classDuah said 16 students from the room, Hernandez became “very in- Class of 2016 participated in Catalyst volved” in school clubs and outside — a small fraction of the total number college prep programs. But entering of minority students who enter Brown Brown’s Program intending to concenin Liberal Medical trate in STEM. “You become aware Education, Hernan“What about the that this is not dez said he knew others?” she said. the same kind of he would face diffiadvice and kind of culties in the class“Sense of self” room. He had never Students interinteractions this learned to study the viewed said their experson would have way professors experiences at Brown with someone who pected him to, he are shaped by their didn’t look like me.” said. learning environIn the fall of his ments — in which Joseph Browne first year, Hernandez they said they ofCOORDINATOR OF THE NEW SCIenrolled in NEUR ten find themselves ENCE PROGRAM 0010: “The Brain: treated like outsidAn Introduction to ers.

Neuroscience.” He got a 60 percent on “So the academic piece, that’s one the first exam and “didn’t know what thing, and then there’s the more psywas going on.” cho- or socio-emotional sort of piece “I had always gotten A’s in high that involves how you respond to your school,” Hernandez said. environment’s response to you. … You By second semester, the situation ... feel like the outsider,” said Joseph had deteriorated, Hernandez said — Browne ’11, coordinator of the New and he had begun feeling “anxious Scientist Program. and depressed.” He struggled in both Professors can unintentionally say BIOL 0200: “The Foundation of Living things that deter a student from a cerSystems” and Math 0090: “Introduc- tain field or path, Browne said. For tory Calculus, Part I.” example, a professor may encourage Though he originally intended to a woman or minority student to go concentrate in neuroscience, Hernan- into teaching high school rather than dez said his difficulties in introduc- pursuing research, he said. tory STEM courses prompted him to “Those kinds of things chip away switch his concentration to human at your sense of self very quickly,” biology.

Browne said. “You become aware that Bianca Duah ’16, a black student this is not the same kind of advice who is concentrating in human biol- and kind of interactions this person ogy and Africana studies, also said would have with someone who didn’t she did not feel fully prepared coming look like me.” into Brown.

It “never even crossed my mind “If I was taught well, I think that I in high school that I was at a disadwould remember a lot of things (that vantage in any way,” Watson-Daniels I don’t),” said Duah in regard to her said. “When I got here, I was told I high school experience. was at a disadvantage, and I’d never “A lot of the data says students are heard that before.” coming in unprepared, and I don’t Upon arriving, Watson-Daniels think anyone is going to argue that,” said, her approach to science and math said Charles Lu, director of academic changed entirely. advancement and innovation at the “I wouldn’t attempt the homework University of Texas at Austin. “Stu- by myself because I was already under dents coming from typically low-in- the impression I just couldn’t do it,” come communities and schools that she said. “The flaw in helping people are labeled as failing schools are going who are at a disadvantage is pointing to come into college institutions be- out that they’re at a disadvantage if hind the rest of their peers, especially they didn’t know.”

Eventually, it reached the point discussion, Kimokoti said. where Watson-Daniels felt she couldn’t “We’ve heard from Latino students take exams. and African-American students that “I’d get there and look around and fellow students don’t want to include feel like I didn’t know anything,” she them in study groups,” said Mitchell said. Professors were confused by why Chang, a higher education expert and she could do problems in office hours professor at the University of Califoror on the homework nia at Los Angeles. but couldn’t do simi“They think they “It limits your lar problems on exwon’t be major conmotivation when tributors.” ams, she said.

Her experience “In class there is you realize there in science courses an assumption that I aren’t people like don’t have anything has frequently caused her to recon- you in the field you to say,” Kimokoti sider her decision to said. “I constantly want to pursue.” concentrate in physput my voice out ics, she said. there to affirm that Bianca Duah ’16 “Until very reI do deserve to be cently, I was conhere. In some ways, vinced that there was something it’s been good because it’s put me in wrong with me and that maybe science the professor’s face. But it gets tiring just was not for me,” she wrote in an to have to prove every day that you email to the Herald. deserve to be there.”

Sandra Kimokoti ’15 said interactions with other students can also Faculty diversity negatively affect minority students in Several students said hiring more STEM fields. minority professors in STEM departThese attitudes can manifest them- ments is vital to improving the experiselves in subtle ways, such as minority ences of underrepresented minority students not being picked as lab part- students. ners or not being included in group “It limits your motivation when

you realize there aren’t people like you in the field you want to pursue,” Duah said.

Watson-Daniels said the absence of minority professors harms all students — not just minorities.

“When you don’t see black professors in a classroom … as a white student, you don’t have the opportunity to learn from a black professor.

So when in your life do you get the opportunity to learn that they have something to teach you?”

Mullings said hiring minority professors could be helpful, but that the professor must be “just as qualified as his peers,” rather than being hired merely to fill a quota.

“A scientist first” Though the classroom experience poses distinct challenges, both Hernandez and Kimikoti described doing research at Brown this past summer as an enriching science experience.

Extensive research opportunities and spots in mentoring programs such as Catalyst are numbered, but the “ultimate goal” is still to enhance the overall experience of every underrepresented minority student, WatsonDaniels said.

“Minority students shouldn’t be afraid of going into the sciences,” said Jesus Leyva ’16, an applied mathematics and biology concentrator from Mexico.

“It can be a struggle when you don’t have the background or you are in a room of people who know the information,” he said. But minority students should “embrace that difference and stick with it.”

“I see myself as a scientist first, then a minority group,” Leyva said.

Disparities in STEM preparation Two-thirds of undergraduates said they felt prepared when asked: “Did you feel your previous academic experiences effectively prepared you to concentrate in a science, technology, engineering or math field when you entered Brown?” But black and Hispanic students and those on financial aid were less likely than other students to say they felt prepared.

Percent of students feeling prepared for a STEM concentration: All students

66%

White

70%

Black

55%

Hispanic

39%

On financial aid

58%

Not on financial aid

75% ARELY DIAZ / HERALD

Interested in learning more about STEM education at Brown?

Check out our spring series “STEM 0010: An examination of introductory science courses at Brown” at thebdh.org/stem.

8 university news

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2013

U. tweaks nondenominational Protestant services Sunday Worship and Wednesday Inspiration have replaced A Call to Action and Imani Jubilee

By DAVID CHY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Office of the Chaplains and Religious Life has replaced its former nondenominational Protestant services with two new ones this year.

Sunday Worship and Wednesday Inspiration: 30 Minutes for Your Soul both begin at 5:30 p.m. in Manning Chapel and last for approximately 30 minutes each. Kirstin Boswell-Ford, associate University chaplain for the Protestant community, oversees the two services. They replace A Call to Worship and Imani Jubilee, which used to take place Sundays at 12:30 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively.

Sunday Worship follows a more traditional religious format,

Boswell-Ford said. This past weekend, a dozen attendees gathered at Manning Chapel for a service that opened with a piano prelude by Henry Chaisson ’15, a Herald video editor, followed

by Boswell-Ford’s call to worship. The churchgoers then participated in a “moment of fellowship,” in which they introduced themselves to each other, followed by a singing of “Every Time I Feel the Spirit.”

In the community prayer, special remarks were offered in memory of Michael Dawkins ’13.5, whose death was reported late last week. Attendees then read from the scripture before George Oliver, the services’ music director and a graduate student at the Andover Newton Theological Seminary, delivered a spiritual message and led the closing musical selection, followed by a benediction from Boswell-Ford.

The change from 6 to 5:30 p.m. took place mainly for logistical reasons. Boswell-Ford cited the need to

BRITTANY COMUNALE / HERALD

The new services feature 30-minute prayer sessions on Sunday and Wednesday evenings at 5:30 p.m. instead of 6 p.m. The time adjustment was made primarily for logistical reasons. allot more rehearsal time for a new gospel choir, Harmonizing Peace,

BRITTANY COMUNALE / HERALD

Each week, services will feature music, singing and speakers who will share their thoughts on what they value.

The Wednesday services are designed to be a spiritually moving time of reflection.

prior to the start of Catholic Mass. Oliver is also the choir’s musical director.

The move to the new Wednesday time slot arose out of feedback from the Brown community.

“The Wednesday Inspiration, I think, has been exciting just because it’s something that is new — just in its format,” Boswell-Ford said. “But it’s also responding to another need that was brought to me by faculty and staff, saying that having all of our services on a Sunday is difficult because, a lot of times, they’re gone on Sunday.” She also noted that most seminar classes end at 5:20 p.m., so the new time would be convenient for students seeking a mid-week service.

Though Wednesday Inspiration also contains music and singing, Boswell-Ford said it is intentionally more subdued than the Sunday service and meant to be a time of reflection.

Each week, a member of the Brown community is invited to speak about what matters to him or her.

David Sherry, the University’s chief

information security officer and codirector of Brown’s Staff Christian Fellowship, was the speaker at yesterday’s service.

“Like a lot of us, the first thing I think of when that question is posed to me is my family,” Sherry said.

He went on to speak about the importance of reflection, in spite of the craziness the work calendar may bring. “It matters to me that I try to be the best that I can be every day and try to get better every day,” he said. “Some days I’m successful, some days I’m not.”

Kevin Venturini, manager of financial system training and education in the Controller’s Office, attended the Protestant service Wednesday despite his Catholic faith, citing the importance of understanding the beliefs of others. The Wednesday evening time slot also fit better into his schedule, he added.

“I think (the service) will grow.

The music is beautiful. I’m a big music lover,” he said.

university news 9

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2013

» FORUM, from page 1 campus life and student services, called for creating a respectful atmosphere during her remarks. “We have an important opportunity to listen to each other and to learn, and I hope that we can do that respectfully,” she said. “I ask you to challenge ideas, not another person.”

Provost Mark Schlissel P’15 told The Herald his hopes for the event before it began. “I hope we achieve understanding about how to tackle and discuss issues in an open and respectful and mindful way that makes me proud of Brown,” he said.

Tricia Rose, professor of Africana Studies and director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America, commended those who had raised concerns about Kelly’s lecture for their courage to “stand against the status quo.”

Rose also acknowledged the disappointment of students who had wanted the lecture to proceed in order to have the chance to engage with Kelly following his talk. “We can say we would like the format to be different, but not engage in a cannibalization of our own community in our conversation,” Rose said.

Jenny Li ’14, a leader of the protest, told forum attendees she was disappointed no media outlets had reported on the text of the statement protestors had recited at the lecture.

Li invited attendees to recite the group’s chant with her in a

call-and-response format. “Asking tough questions is not enough,” she said.

“Brown is complicit. We stand in solidarity with the Providence anti-racism movement, and all those impacted by racial profiling.”

Li said she and many other students felt emotionally “triggered” by Kelly’s presence, adding that protestors considered their shutdown of the talk a “win.”

Other forum speakers expressed their regret that the protest had forced the lecture to be canceled, saying the action challenged campus free speech.

“People wanted to hear this man answer questions,” said Ross Cheit, professor of political science and public policy at the Taubman Center. “I think it was a loss.”

Cheit highlighted the fact that the lecture was part of a series supported by the family of Noah Krieger ’93, who died shortly after graduating. Kreiger’s father had been interested in bringing a speaker to campus who would present a differing viewpoint from the liberal Democrats who had previously delivered many of the previous lectures.

It may be difficult for the University to bring controversial speakers to campus in the future, Cheit said, adding that “an invitation is not an endorsement” of an individual speaker’s positions or policies.

Middle East Studies Director Bashara Doumani stressed that students should appreciate the opportunity to speak

freely in campus discussions in “a place in which (community members’) actions are producing a nation (they) want to live in.”

Amara Berry ’16 called for all community members to better listen to each other’s perspectives.

The speeches were followed by a breakout discussion session that included faculty members Paxson invited to help facilitate dialogue.

Administrators then invited discussion group members to share the content of their dialogues. Josette Souza ’14 volunteered to speak first, directing her comments at Paxson.

“Ray Kelly is a terrorist, and he’s terrorizing our community,” Souza said.

“Until you feel terrorism in your life, I don’t think you have the right to speak on this subject.”

Students’ comments throughout the forum were punctuated by snapping and applause.

Many students said they felt personally offended by Kelly’s presence and believed the University should not have invited him to campus.

“To those of you who don’t understand the emotion, what sort of invasion of your privacy or denial or patronizing and marginalization of your personhood could make your voice shake the way that mine is shaking right now?” said Ruby Fore ’17.

Will Furuyuma ’15 told Paxson he is concerned because she did not condemn Kelly’s stop-and-frisk policy in her campus-wide email sent before the forum.

Marion Orr, director of the Taubman Center, which sponsored Kelly’s lecture, expressed regret for the controversy.

“I sincerely apologize to my students,” Orr said. “Especially to my black students and Latino brothers and sisters — it wasn’t my intention to hurt you, and it hurts me to hear that my decision caused so much pain.”

Orr asked the students to submit a list of speakers whom they would not approve of coming to campus, adding that he never expected the intense reaction to Kelly’s event.

“Ray Kelly’s position is not a marginal one,” said Viveka Hulyalkar ’15, adding that she wishes the lecture had gone forward. “Perception of legitimacy is … the reason we have to listen with him and engage with him.”

“For me, protesting Ray Kelly and shutting down his speech had nothing

ARJUN NARAYEN / HERALD

The forum included opening remarks from students and faculty members, who were chosen to kick off the conversation for all attendees, Paxson said. to do with ideas,” said Justice Gaines ’16, who helped organize the protest. “It had to do with the safety of my body on this campus,” he said, adding that he felt uncomfortable at Kelly’s scheduled lecture because the commissioner seemed to be “preaching” to several rows in List Art Center 120 — the auditorium in which the event took place — that Gaines said were reserved for police officers.

Tensions flared at the forum near its conclusion when a graduate student claimed he had just been involved in a confrontation with a Department of Public Safety officer when he had tried to enter Alumnae Hall.

Michael Sawyer GS said a DPS officer “cornered” him before the forum and asked him if he was affiliated with the University. Saywer said the officer told him he “didn’t look like a Brown University student.”

Deputy Chief of Police for DPS Paul Shanley told The Herald he could not confirm the interaction.

Discussion about the cancellation of Kelly’s lecture has drawn polarized responses from the student body on campus and through social media sites, including two rival Facebook-driven letter-writing campaigns — one in support of the University’s decision to invite Kelly and one in opposition to the lecture.

Zachary Ingber ’15, a Herald opinions columnist who co-launched a Facebook page asking students to write Paxson letters in support of Kelly’s talk,

comics Cat Ears | Najatee’ Mitchell

A Horse Of Any Other Name | Zach Silberberg

said he created the page to counter letters written to Paxson in opposition.

“The problem with banning certain points of view is that it prevents others from responding,” Ingber said, adding that he wishes students had been given the opportunity to challenge Kelly on his position in a question-and-answer session following the planned lecture.

As of press time, 83 people had joined the Facebook group calling for students to support the University’s decision to invite Kelly.

The rival page had garnered 190 members as of press time. Page organizers could not be reached for comment.

Irene Rojas-Carroll ’15, an organizer of the protest, said the letter-writing campaign was not officially affiliated with Tuesday’s protest, but she added that the page creators supported the protestors’ cause.

Many students approached Paxson after the event. Some thanked her for hosting the forum, while others called for her to take further action to make minority students feel safer on campus.

Paxson told attendees she plans to hold multiple dinners at the Sharpe Refectory where students can sign up to discuss issues with her. “The solution is to talk it out,” she said.

“Tonight showed that Brown has soul-searching to do on issues of race and class,” said Wendy Schiller, an associate professor of political science and public policy who attended the event.

10 commentary

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2013

EDITORIAL

The way we were Memories of the specifics of Ruth Simmons’ presidency are quickly fading, replaced by a larger-than-life mystique. At this point, Simmons is perhaps best known for her prodigious fundraising and sky-high approval ratings, but few may remember that she arrived on campus after a controversial free speech incident — one relevant to the current campus discussion. In March 2001, conservative activist David Horowitz paid for a full-page advertisement in The Herald arguing against slave reparations, an incident that provoked wide-spread outrage on campus. Protesting students stole all of the copies of that Friday’s paper, only to have them reprinted the next day and protected by campus police.

On Sept. 4, 2001, just a week before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Simmons gave her first Convocation address and directly addressed the controversy.

We would all do well to revisit her thoughtful, passionate and personal defense of free speech. We do not condone Kelly’s policies — just as former editors certainly did not condone Horowitz’s hateful words. But we maintain it is dangerous to silence them.

Simmons told a divided campus that “the protection of speech that is offensive or insulting to us is one of the most difficult things that we do.

But it is this same freedom that protects us when we are in turn powerless.” Freedom of speech, by definition, is absolute. When limits are put on what we can say — particularly in a university setting — the rights of every student have been infringed. “I won’t ask you to embrace someone who offends your humanity through the exercise of free speech,” Simmons assured students. But she maintained that she “would ask you to understand that the price of your own freedom is permitting the expression of such opinions.”

At this point of the conversation, we would do well to examine the definition of “safe space,” a term freely used on campus but poorly defined.

All students at Brown who wish to have their voices heard should be safe, and feel safe, but they may not necessarily be comfortable. At Wednesday evening’s campus forum, Amara Berry ’16 told the audience, “We need to be listening to each other in ways that make us uncomfortable.” There have been too few uncomfortable conversations this week.

Simmons understood the importance of feeling discomfort in intellectual circles in order to preserve free expression and, just as importantly, to effect substantive change. Perhaps the most powerful moment in Simmons’ speech came when she spoke of her own confrontation with a classmate whose comments she found racist. “I have regretted for 30 years that I did not engage this woman’s assertions instead of dismissing her as racist,” Simmons said. “And I have tried to set that mistake right for all of my career. Those moments will come to you in this place. You can look away, you can turn away when they do, or you can engage them and not look back 30 years later wishing that you had the opportunity to do it.”

In the past few days, we have seen the advancement of the idea that the administrative response was somehow particular to Paxson, an idea Simmons’ words prove false. We hope students take Simmons’ lessons into account and push for substantive and sometimes uncomfortable discussion as we grapple with the events of the past week. Universities must remain havens for such boundary-pushing debate, if only because they may not be possible elsewhere. A careful review of Simmons’ first speech would indicate that she, almost certainly, would have defended this concept — that “knowledge is rooted in freedom of speech and inquiry.”

Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board: its editor, Rachel Occhiogrosso, and its members, Daniel Jeon, Hannah Loewentheil and Thomas Nath. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.

K I M B E R LY S A LT Z

Protest tactics curtailed important debate To the Editor: As a Brown alum involved in social change work, I am unbelievably proud our community stands up for what it believes in. I agree with the vision of the students and community members who protested New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly’s speech today: that we should live in a world where every person can walk the streets of New York — or any other city — without fear of being brutalized, frisked or otherwise dehumanized. And I applaud students and community members who led the

“We can say we would like the format to be different but not engage in a cannibalization of our own community in our conversation.” ­— Tricia Rose, professor of Africana studies See forum, page 1.

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with. And importantly, today’s protests silenced not only Kelly, but also other students and community members who are potential allies.

I am impressed and humbled by the dialogue, debate and questions stemming from today’s protest. Yet I encourage the students and community members who brilliantly shut down Kelly’s lecture to consider channeling that same energy, passion and anger into future tactics that build toward a well-defined goal and are, at their core, inclusive, respectful and just as powerful.

Kara Kafuman ’12

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lecture organizers to allocate more time for questions and answers during a lecture as controversial as this one.

But I disagree with the tactic students and community members used.

Shutting down Kelly’s lecture was not the most strategic way to achieve the long-term aims of curbing police brutality and frisking policies, or many of the other, deeper issues at hand. It shifted the dialogue from police practices and injustice to one about free speech. It implied the Brown community wants to go down that slippery slope of preferring silence to speech we do not agree

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commentary 11

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2013

Solidarity against Kelly undermines U.’s credibility J.P. HARE guest columnist

Just before his speech was canceled by the relentless interruptions of protesters, New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said, “I thought this was the academy … where we’re supposed to have free speech.” So did I. But at Brown’s most recent demonstration of its inability to foster healthy intellectual discourse, this was not the case.

In fact, that one line about free speech is just about the only sentence I was able to hear Kelly utter at his lecture on Tuesday before calls of protest and personal attacks filled List Art Center 120.

I had expected some protests and initially flocked to event because I knew I was guaranteed to see some genuine Brown student activism.

I thought this would be a great platform on which I could write a compelling column contesting racial politics and the constitutional legality of the controversial stopand-frisk policy. Unfortunately, my initial academic interest in the event was quickly overshadowed by a much less compelling movement of solidarity among certain students in the Brown community.

Prior to my arrival outside of List, I was unaware a formal petition had actually been circulated through parts of the student body with the intention of completely cancelling the lecture. Yes, I had visited the Facebook event page, “Ray Kelly Protest Rally,” and read it as an organizing point for protest, but I would not have thought the organizers’ mission to be to destroy any discussion of such a relevant and provocative topic as “Proactive Policing.” I was in for a surprise.

I headed over to College Street at around 3:30 p.m., a half hour before the lecture was to start. I could hear chants as I walked across the Quiet Green: “Racist, sexist, antigay / How many kids did you kill today? / Islamophobic, thanks to Ray: / NYPD go away!” I had never heard of Ray Kelly killing any kids — it sounded like massive social recalcitrance funneled into a cute chant to pin on a visiting lecturer.

I asked the Providence Police and Brown Department of Public Safety officers present at the event how they felt having fellow officers insulted and ridiculed for doing their jobs. They all declined to comment. It seems race is the most sensitive of topics — everyone fears the slightest chance of being labeled on the wrong side. And so, with obnoxiousness dominating

insecurity, the marching parade headed inside.

Most of what happened next has been well-documented in news sources from The Herald to the Wall Street Journal. Kelly’s lecture was repeatedly interrupted by jeers and insults to the point of degeneration in which racial accusations affronted every attempt at intellectual discourse, and so the lecture was canceled. So much for my column on racial politics and constitutionality. I was disappointed, to say the least.

But my biggest disappointment, and the real tragedy of this event, was the explicit unwillingness of the protesters to allow for an academic discussion of such an important and relevant topic. Their quick justification for the complete repudiation of the lecture is that the policy Kelly represents has made minorities undeserved victims, which is certainly true to an extent.

But let us not forget these policies have prevented minorities from becoming more serious victims of assault, rape and homicide. In fact, crime in New York City has declined more than 30 percent in the past decade, partially due to these policies. Therefore, it is unfair and childish to simply discount a valuable opportunity to learn about an effective but imperfect system as a promulgation of white supremacy.

And so the Brown community is left with a wasted opportunity.

Those who were interested in learning the details of proactive policing learned nothing. And those who stood against Kelly wasted a valuable opportunity to hear him untainted by any sort of media representation, an opportunity to form a genuine and individual opinion of his policies and their implications.

Sadly, this event makes the case that Brown responds to perceived violence with violence, even when progress is being made through formal discourse — the stop-andfrisk policy was ruled unconstitutional in August. Thus, Brown can no longer choose to frame itself as an “open-minded” institution, as events like these undermine the University’s credibility to the point where future lecturers will be reluctant to visit campus.

I can only hope and urge members of the Brown community to recall that progress is not achieved through violent expression and silencing of others, but through a constant drive for perspective and understanding. That is what makes us confident in our beliefs and in ourselves.

J.P. Hare ’14 is concentrating in history.

Fascism and the open campus KEN MILLER guest columnist

I went to scores of seminars and talks during my four years as an undergraduate at Brown, but the one I will never forget took place on the evening of Nov. 30, 1966.

The speaker, a Brown alum, had been invited by the Faunce House Board of Governors to take part in its fall lecture series. But once his name was announced, a storm of objections forced the board to withdraw its invitation. Counterprotests ensued citing academic freedom and arguing that our campus should be open to all views, even — and perhaps especially — to those a majority of its members found repugnant.

The speaker was George Lincoln Rockwell ’40, leader of the American Nazi Party.

A new campus group called “Open Mind” was formed. Once recognized by the University, it re-invited Rockwell to campus.

Rockwell spoke to a packed house in Alumnae Hall. Multiple groups picketed his appearance, including dozens of Holocaust survivors, many of whom were then only in their 30s and 40s. The memories were fresh, and the scars were real.

As I walked through the crowd with a few friends, one of the picketers came up to me and asked us why we wanted to hear such a “monster.” To underline the point, he rolled up his sleeve and pointed to the numbers tattooed on his forearm. We all knew where those numbers came from.

Once inside, a hushed crowd

misdeeds, is no George Lincoln Rockwell. Rockwell’s idea of racial profiling wasn’t “stop-and-frisk.” It was “round up and deport.” Kelly has been accused of fascism, but Rockwell actually was a fascist — and a racist — and was proud of it on both counts. Yet the Brown community of the 1960s opened its doors to him, to avowed communists, and, at the height of the Vietnam war, to anti-war activists as well as the generals in charge of that war — like Earl Wheeler, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It was a lively and vibrant place.

The crowd who managed to silence a speaker yesterday accomplished something, to be sure. But it wasn’t a blow against racism, fascism or police oppression. It was a step towards a closed campus where mob rule determines who can speak and who will be shouted down. It was a shameful day.

And it deprived every member of our community of the chance to hear Kelly and decide for themselves whether his policing methods are indeed the first steps of a Rockwell-like campaign against minorities and the poor in America’s greatest city. To those individuals, let me put it plainly. Yours was an act of cowardice and fear, unworthy of any of the causes you claim to hold dear. I hope President Christina Paxson will show the courage to stand up to you, to invite Kelly back and to give every member of this community the chance to have a “Rockwell moment” of the sort I had in 1966.

Ken Miller ’70 P’02 is a professor of biology.

Protest countered U. values To the Editor: I have read the letters and comments about the Ray Kelly heckling, so I’ll simply add this: I have touted Brown’s virtue as a place of open dialogue and vibrant debate to my students who have considered applying. Just recently I wrote a letter

of recommendation with pride and excitement for a student of mine who I thought would thrive in a community so committed to civil discourse. And while I know the University itself had nothing to do with the cowardly interruption of Kelly’s speech (I commend the University for its quick, unqualified condemnation of what occurred),

and while I would never condemn the University and its students and faculty members for the embarrassing actions of a few, part of me hopes I haven’t been giving bad advice. Here’s hoping the next story I see in the national press about Brown exemplifies the open and liberal place it is.

Gregory Cooper ’01

U. must engage with student concerns To the Editor: As an alum working in criminal justice in Providence, I felt the rejection of the Kelly lecture by the student body was a statement that should be listened to by the University, not disregarded. It was a mistake to choose a lecture format for such a contentious

figure — why give him the stage and mic to himself? A point-counterpoint format would not have been booed off the stage because students would have felt like their voices were included in the event. It reminded me of a Richard Perle event I went to before the Iraq War. Students tried to shut it down but were stopped. He got the stage

and lied for an hour about weapons of mass destruction. It’s asking too much for audience members to challenge a speaker in that context. The speaker needs to be challenged within the event. Organizers should listen to the student yells of protest. They are saying something more than “shut up.”

Nick Horton ’04

Lecture response invokes past incidents To the Editor:

Leave us a comment at: the bdh.org/kelly

listened to the full range of Rockwell’s charismatic style. He was charming, funny and, frankly, disarming. He knew how to break the tension in the crowd, telling us “the last time I was in Alumnae Hall, come to think of it, I wasn’t sitting. I was hanging onto a girl about half-stewed at a dance.” Everybody laughed, and I did, too. But as the evening wore on, I learned a lesson. True fascism doesn’t begin with the shouting, fist-shaking tyrants we see in newsreels of the 1930s. It enters with charm and wit. Its strategy is to beguile and divide, to offer easy answers to problems like crime and poverty. Blame them on the “others” — the blacks, the Jews, the Commies who are spoiling our otherwise virtuous society. It then promises to heal those lesions by cutting them out, figuratively at first, and then literally once the masses are firmly under control.

For the first time in my life, I understood the allure of fascism, the reason that “good people” could have supported the likes of Franco, Mussolini and Hitler. I also understood why the notion that “it couldn’t happen here” is hopelessly naive. It could happen here, and it most certainly would happen if we forgot the lessons of history, lessons that Rockwell brought to life with a sinister smile that evening in Alumnae Hall. I’m glad I was there. I’m glad the talk was allowed to go on. And I’m glad Brown was an open campus where those lessons could be learned in the most personal way possible.

Tuesday’s shout-down of another speaker makes me wonder about that. Ray Kelly, whatever his

Reading accounts of Ray Kelly’s visit to Brown is a trip down memory lane: like a time machine journey back to Camille Paglia’s 1992 lecture at which she was heckled by members of the community, professors included. Students, faculty members and alums have

noted the obvious regarding the Kelly lecture: The protesting students’ antics were illiberal and counter to Brown’s values — never mind outrageous and embarrassing. I could wring my hands and bemoan that so little has changed in 21 years: Brown still boasts an intolerant, hypocritical and vocal minority that impoverishes campus discourse

and subjects the University many of us cherish to scorn and embarrassment.

Instead, I’ll focus on the happy fact, as evidenced by other letters, that Brown maintains a thoughtful and less excitable majority that values diversity in viewpoints and the free and civil exchange of opposing ideas.

Andrew Curtis ’92