Wednesday, January 22, 2014

THE

BROWN DAILY HERALD

vol. cxlix, no. 1

since 1891

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2014

Applications to class of 2018 second-highest in U. history Police International students and students of color reach record highs in applicant pool

By MAGGIE LIVINGSTONE FEATURES EDITOR

Approximately 30,320 students applied to the class of 2018, the secondlargest applicant pool in University history and about a 4 percent increase from last year, said Dean of Admission Jim Miller ’73.

Roughly 27,100 students applied through the regular decision process — which had a Jan. 1 deadline

— while 3,088 students submitted early decision applications, according to the Office of Admission. The University admitted 18.9 percent of early decision applicants in December.

The Admission Office received 28,919 applications last year, accepting approximately 9.2 percent. Applications reached an all-time high with the class of 2015, when the Admission Office received over 30,900 applicants, 8.7 percent of whom were accepted.

The University’s specialized degree programs witnessed significant increases in interest this year. Applications to the Program in Liberal » See ADMISSION, page 4

Class of 2018 regular-decision applicants

California, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Florida were the top five most represented states, home to a majority of domestic applicants. Wyoming had the fewest at 16. There were also 5,219 international applicants.

5,000 1,000 500 100

By MAXINE JOSELOW

JILLIAN LANNEY / HERALD

Leak affects 22 student rooms and some common areas but does not force students to relocate

By MARGARET NICKENS SENIOR STAFF WRITER EMILY GILBERT / HERALD

Exotic flavors spice up campus culinary scene Andrews Commons serves updated Gate standards, as well as new Asian fusion cuisine

By EMMAJEAN HOLLEY SENIOR STAFF WRITER

inside

It’s hard to believe that the same Brown Dining Services that serves bland, exhausted green beans and burnt, greasy grilled cheese sandwiches will now offer made-to-order, zesty vegetable stir-fry and crispy, gourmet pizzas hot out of a stone hearth.

If there is one word to describe Andrews Dining Commons — the newest campus eatery and study lounge that opens today — it would be “versatile.”

With the variety of seating arrangements and the innovative food and beverage options, the space is a recipe for success.

Diners immediately notice this versatility upon entering the spacious dining and study area, awash in natural light from the high, arched windows at the front of the room. The welcoming atmosphere invites students to nestle in an armchair, hunker down at a countertop or squeeze in with friends onto a cushioned bench. Flanking both

sides of the space are private study rooms equipped with floor-to-ceiling whiteboards and conference tables.

The touch-screen soda machine is the beverage version of the New Curriculum — it offers a startlingly expansive array of soft drink brands and flavors. The dizzying number of options allows for twists on triedand-true favorites and experimentation with unfamiliar novelties: Think peach-flavored Mello Yello or vanilla root beer.

The pizzas, served up sizzling and aromatic from stone hearth ovens, are fresh and dangerously enticing.

The cheese pizza is a satisfying classic, and the sauce tastes full-bodied and is well-represented, with three distinct layers — crust, sauce, cheese — visible in the cross-section of each bite. This serves as a welcome departure from the tendency of commercial eateries to smother an anemic tomato sauce beneath the work of an overzealous cheese grater.

Gutsier combinations are also available. One particular standout features a unique amalgamation of traditional tomato sauce and basil pesto — ­ the tanginess of the sauce and the nuttiness of the pesto do not » See ANDREWS, page 7

Following days of single-digit temperatures, a burst pipe flooded six Graduate Center C suites during winter break, said Richard Bova, senior associate dean of residential life and dining services.

After a window was left open, Bova said, a radiator pipe in suite 620 froze and burst Jan. 6, flooding the surrounding suite and those below it.

The leak affected 22 student rooms and a few common areas, said Deborah

Dunphy, director of facilities services.

After temperatures rose, the University discovered the flooding and immediately began drying the carpets and removing affected students’ belongings, Dunphy said.

Students’ clothing and other belongings were professionally drycleaned, Bova said, adding that students could file insurance claims with the University for any items damaged irreparably.

The University assessed the air quality in the dormitory, humidified affected areas and repainted damaged walls, Bova said. Students will not have to relocate as a result of the flooding, he added.

The flood had no adverse » See GRAD CENTER, page 2

Police have confirmed the body found on the shore of Falmouth, Mass., Jan. 12 as missing undergraduate Dana Dourdeville ’15, said Sergeant Kevin Kobza, public information officer for the Fairhaven Police Department.

A civilian search party located the body around 2 p.m. Jan. 12 at Penzance Point in Falmouth, Kobza said. Penzance Point is eight miles southeast of the West Island town beach, where Dourdeville was last seen Dec. 31.

Dourdeville’s body showed no visible signs of trauma and is being sent to the state medical examiner for an autopsy, Kobza said. The Fairhaven Police and the Massachusetts Environmental Police are leading the investigation, he said.

Dourdeville, an engineering concentrator, went missing New Year’s Eve after he left his Marion, Mass., home to go duck hunting alone in a kayak. The Coast Guard, local law enforcement agencies, family members and friends had been searching for him by air, land and sea over the » See DOURDEVILLE, page 3

Community remembers Dourdeville ’15 To friends and family members, gifted engineer and talented athlete was positive role model

By MAXINE JOSELOW UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR

Dana Dourdeville ’15 loved to build things for others.

“He was brilliant, and he was always thinking about different things he could construct,” said Brittany Comunale ’16, a former classmate. “It was fascinating to watch him think and explore new ideas.”

In interviews, friends and family members remembered Dourdeville — who died this month on a solo duck-hunting trip off the Massachusetts coast — as a talented runner and gifted engineer passionate about creating for the sake of the community.

Dourdeville repaired a sculpture » See OBITUARY, page 3

Science & Research

COURTESY OF KAREN DOURDEVILLE

After his death over winter break, Dana Dourdeville ’15 leaves behind a legacy of humility and generosity, friends and family members said.

Commentary

Carbon dioxide treatments might offer a new method for cleaning dirty cash

Type 2 diabetes research wins a professor a $1.6 million national award

Asher ’15: The academic boycott of Israel makes little progress toward peace

Johnson ’14: The college sports system disadvantages many low-income athletes

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weather

REVIEW

Junior dies after disappearing on a New Year’s Eve solo duckhunting trip UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR

Pipe bursts, causing flood in Grad Center

Mai Pham, the award-winning consulting chef for Andrews Dining Commons, provides a demonstration of several Asian fusion recipes.

identify body of Dourdeville

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2 university news » GRAD CENTER, from page 1 environmental effects, Bova said, and “everything was repaired and monitored correctly prior to students’ return.” The process has cost the University around $4,200, excluding insurance claims.

The Office of Residential Life remained in contact with affected students throughout the process, Bova added.

Alexandria Sheng ’15, who lives in suite 320, said she received a number of emails from the University and upon her return was visited by Melissa Meo, assistant director of insurance and purchasing services.

“I think they’ve been pretty responsible about the whole thing,” Sheng said.

“It was actually super nice that they dry cleaned everything.”

Skylar Fox ’15 said the University ensured his room in suite 620 was prepared for his early arrival to campus, including cleaning out anything that would activate his mold allergy. The leak mostly affected his room’s floor and nothing was damaged beyond repair, he said.

“It definitely played out the best possible way,” he said.

But other affected students said sentimental items, books, wall decorations and rugs were irreparably damaged.

A few also said communication from the University could have been better.

“In a perfect world, we would have had more say as to where our damaged belongings went,” said Grace Miller ’15.5.

The University “didn’t give a lot of

detailed information” when notifying students of the flood, Miller said, though she added that she understands providing such information would have been difficult given the number of affected rooms.

Stephanie Randall ’15 said she was planning to move from Chapin House to suite 620 in Grad Center C this semester when a friend notified her about the flooding. “It was curious that I didn’t get a notification,” she said.

After emailing and calling Residential Life, Randall learned her suite was inhabitable, she said, adding that her Grad Center room was indeed clean when she returned.

A hot water riser also burst in Minden Hall during the break, though it did not affect student rooms, Bova said.

An open window in the seventhfloor bathroom caused the pipe to freeze, flooding the bathrooms and a few hallways below the burst pipe, Dunphy said.

“It’s totally avoidable if people follow the rules and pay attention,” Bova said about the burst pipes.

He said the University currently inspects dorm rooms following students’ departure for the winter holidays, but some rooms are not inspected if students leave late in the semester.

“We are going to have to think about doing a second round or at least an outside visual inspection to ensure that students have done what we’ve asked them to do,” he said. “We will continue to keep thinking of creative ways to check on what students are doing without trying to be too intrusive on their lives, especially during a period like finals.”

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2014

TOM SULLIVAN / HERALD

Though a burst pipe caused damage to 22 rooms in Graduate Center over winter break, the rooms were ready to be occupied by the time dorms opened.

Storm cancels morning classes Profs. can opt not to hold classes after 10 a.m., notifying students through Canvas

By RILEY DAVIS AND ANDREW JONES SENIOR STAFF WRITERS

As a result of heavy snowfall and low temperatures, the University canceled classes scheduled to start before 10 a.m. Wednesday and delayed opening administrative offices until 10 a.m.

In an email sent Tuesday night to the Brown community, Provost Mark Schlissel P’15 and Elizabeth Huidekoper, executive vice president for finance and administration, wrote that classes

scheduled to start after 10 a.m. will be held at professors’ discretion. Instructors who decide to cancel classes should contact their students through the course management site Canvas, Schlissel and Huidekoper wrote.

Registration for courses will proceed at 8 a.m. as planned, wrote Marisa Quinn, vice president for public affairs and University relations, in an email to The Herald.

The community-wide email included a link to the Office of Environmental Health and Safety’s Winter Storm and Blizzard Plan recommending that people remain indoors and monitor local weather forecasts during the storm. Administrators will continue to update the community with further information,

Schlissel and Huidekoper wrote.

Administrators postponed University activities to allow employees to travel safely to campus and to provide time for streets and parking lots to be cleared, Quinn said in an interview.

Some students expressed concern over the storm disrupting class and travel plans throughout the day.

“It’s really difficult to get around campus when it’s snowing,” said Isabella Giancarlo ’14.

Divya Sahajwalla ’15 said she is especially worried about cancelled flights.

“I have a lot of friends who are stuck at home, and I’m a little worried for them,” Sahajwalla said. “They’re not going to make it to campus by 10 a.m., let alone later.”

university news 3

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2014

» OBITUARY, from page 1 for a struggling peer in VISA 0100: “Studio Foundation,” said Comunale, a Herald photo editor. As part of the Brown Engineering After School Team, he crafted a functional car out of bagels to the delight of Providence high school students, said Lori Siao ’15, a fellow team member. He installed composting latrines and solar panels in low-income communities in Peru last summer, said his brother Jared.

Whether running, engineering, unicycling or forging metal in his garage, Dourdeville was remembered as a quiet leader who brought passion to his every endeavor.

On the track Dourdeville broke running records and never bragged afterward, said Bill Tilden, athletic director of Old Rochester Regional High School and Dourdeville’s former track coach.

As captain of his high school track team, Dourdeville won both the mile and the two-mile in record times to help Old Rochester earn its first Division 4 state championship, Tilden said. At the end of the meet, he joked and bonded with members of rival teams.

“You’d go to track meets and kids from other teams would be hanging out with him,” Tilden said. “He was just one of those people you gravitated to.”

Dourdeville originally came to the University intent on running for the men’s cross country team. He ran on the team for the first semester of his first year before leaving to devote more time to his academics, said Tim Springfield, head coach for men’s cross country.

“I enjoyed working with him quite a bit,” Springfield said. “He worked hard and was very well-liked. He left

» DOURDEVILLE, from page 1 previous two weeks.

“It’s a tragic accident,” said Michael O’Keefe, Cape and Islands district attorney. He added that Dourdeville’s family helped police identify the body, and there is no suspicion or evidence of foul play.

A small burial service for Dourdeville took place Sunday for family members only, said his brother Jared.

A ceremony open to the public will be held Feb. 9 at Tabor Academy in Marion, followed by a reception at Sippican Elementary School, wrote his mother Karen in an email to The Herald.

“We were deeply saddened to learn from Fairhaven police reports that Dana’s body was found today,” wrote Marisa Quinn, vice president for public affairs and University relations, in an email to The Herald Jan. 12. “University officials have been following this situation closely, and members of the Brown community have participated in the search. Dana’s family is in our thoughts.”

A Facebook post Jan. 12 first identified the body as Dourdeville’s before police provided confirmation.

“Dana has been found and has passed,” Bill Tilden, athletic director of Old Rochester Regional High School and Dourdeville’s former track coach, wrote Jan. 12 around 4 p.m. on the Search for Dana Facebook page. “Please keep him and the family in your prayers and we promise

the team on great terms with everyone.”

Mark McGurrin ’15, a former teammate, said Dourdeville contributed his “funny” and “clever” personality to the team.

Evan Roelke ’15, another former teammate, said Dourdeville maintained camaraderie with the runners even after he left. “Any time he saw any of us on campus, he would go out of his way to stop and chat,” he said.

On a bright, clear day last May — months after he left the competitive world of Division I college athletics — Dourdeville ran a half marathon for fun, said Alexia Stylianou ’15, a close friend.

Stylianou said Dourdeville signed up for the race at the “last minute” to support her.

“He was so humble and encouraging about it,” she said. “He finished like an hour before I did and waited for me at the finish line.”

Building a reputation The engineering community at the University embraced Dourdeville as a talented scholar and leader, wrote Karen Haberstroh, director of STEM outreach and assistant professor of engineering, in an email to The Herald.

Dourdeville served as an “excellent” teaching assistant for ENGN 0030: “Introduction to Engineering,” Haberstroh wrote.

“Dana understood the impact that engaged TAs can have on the students, and he took his job seriously,” she wrote. “I know that the students looked up to Dana as a role model, both inside and outside of the classroom.”

Dumichel Harley ’17 said he always looked forward to attending Dourdeville’s Monday office hours.

Dourdeville was “approachable” and made an effort to connect on a to update everyone soon.”

A spokesperson for the Falmouth Police Department declined to comment on the incident.

personal level, Harley said. “He would not stop until a student understood the subject matter.”

Dourdeville excelled in his role as co-president of Engineers Without Borders, a group that aims to use engineering to improve society and the environment, said Briana Garcia ’16, a group member.

He made friends with all the members and started each meeting with an “engaging” round of trivia, Garcia said. He also stood out as a leader of the Brown Engineering After School Team, a subset of Engineering Without Borders that teaches engineering principles to Providence high school students, she added.

He once helped a high school student use mathematical principles to build a large flying saucer, Garcia said, adding that he helped the student realize science can be “really cool.”

Dourdeville also applied his engineering skills to an internship in Peru last summer with Alianza Arkana, a grassroots organization dedicated to protecting the Amazon, said his brother Jared. He built composting latrines and installed solar panels that

allowed children in two impoverished communities to charge their laptops, he added.

Back at Brown, Dourdeville flew through courses that counted as engineering concentration requirements, Siao said. “He knew material off the top of his head that I was struggling to understand, but he was so humble about it,” she said.

“You’d be hard-pressed to find a guy that was more universally liked in the engineering department,” Stylianou said. “It’s a pretty tightknit department, and his loss is really strongly felt.”

‘A man of the earth’ Hunting, fishing, blacksmithing and juggling — Dourdeville dabbled in a variety of hands-on pursuits.

“One of his goals was to have fun in interesting ways, not necessarily just the typical ways of what college students do, like parties,” said Divya Sahajwalla ’15.

For instance, Dourdeville thought it would be fun to build a battering ram for a group project in an archaeology class, she said.

Growing up near the

Massachusetts coast, Dourdeville loved spending time on the water, whether he was fishing, kayaking or waterskiing, said his brother Jared.

“Being around the water was a very prominent theme in all of our lives,” he said, noting that their mother is a marine biologist.

In high school, Dourdeville taught himself several trades, such as juggling, unicycling, blacksmithing and martial arts, Jared said, adding that he built his own forge in the garage so he could build various metal creations from home. He was also known to ambush family members with his latest martial arts moves. He continued to pursue these passions in college, riding his unicycle around campus and forging a wrought-iron animal head for a Christmas present this year.

“He loved doing things people probably wouldn’t expect” that often related to nature or craftsmanship, Tilden said. “I guess you could say he was a man of the earth.”

Dourdeville’s brother Jared agreed with this sentiment. “He wasn’t afraid to do his own thing,” he said. “He had this full confidence in who he was.”

4 university news

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2014

Pembroke Center names new director Suzanne StewartSteinberg replaces Kay Warren, who has held the position since July 2011

By MAGGIE LIVINGSTONE FEATURES EDITOR

Suzanne Stewart-Steinberg, professor of comparative literature and Italian studies, will assume the post of director of the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women beginning July 1, the center announced last month.

Stewart-Steinberg will replace the current director Kay Warren, professor of international studies and anthropology, who has led the center since July 2011.

Since arriving at the University in 2005, Stewart-Steinberg has maintained close ties to the Pembroke Center. She served on the board of the gender and sexuality studies concentration and became the concentration’s director from 2007 to 2010, she said. Her research in this field has overlapped with the interests and mission of the center, she added.

Stewart-Steinberg served as the center’s interim director from 2010 to 2011, while Warren was on sabbatical. Her experience serving as temporary director, colleagues said, made her a strong choice for the permanent position.

“Suzanne is a dynamic thinker and a visionary leader,” said Debbie Weinstein ’93, assistant director of the center. “I think she’s the ideal person to build on the strengths …

Kay Warren has already developed.”

Stewart-Steinberg said her first priority will be continuing the $3.5-million fundraising campaign Warren began this fall to support the center’s two archives, the Christine Dunlap Farnham Archives and the Feminist Theory Archives.

DAVID DECKEY / HERALD

As new director of the Pembroke Center, Suzanne Stewart-Steinberg plans to continue a fundraising campaign to support the Christine Dunlap Farnham Archives and the Feminist Theory Archives.

An upcoming conference or symposium will be built around these archives, a project called “The Order of Knowledge,” Stewart-Steinberg said.

Though the center is still planning the programming and workshops, they will be focused on “how we organize knowledge,” she said.

“We’re raising money to grow those archives and support staff around that,” Stewart-Steinberg said, adding that she hopes to design a component that will attract students to develop research for the archives in a “productive way.”

The hallmark of Warren’s career as the center’s head was the implementation of faculty seed grants in 2012.

Stewart-Steinberg said she hopes to continue publicizing this funding opportunity as well as expand the center’s current funding for undergraduate and graduate students to

do research.

Stewart-Steinberg also hopes to bring to fruition a commemorative event in honor of the 100th anniversary of World War I, she said. The project would likely be long-term, she added, and would explore “the problems of modern war.”

Stewart-Steinberg has conducted extensive research integrating Italian history and gender studies. She has published three books, and her best known, 2007’s “The Pinocchio Effect: On Making Italians (1860-1920),” received the Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for Best Manuscript in Italian Literary Studies from the Modern Language Association.

She is currently completing a manuscript titled “A History of Italian Repression: Sexuality, Psychoanalysis and the War Against Memory,” according to a Pembroke Center press

release.

Stewart-Steinberg attended the University of Essex as an undergraduate, going on to receive a PhD in political science from Yale and a masters degree in German studies from Cornell.

During her time at Brown, she has served on the University Resources Committee, the Graduate Council and the Tenure, Promotions and Appointments Committee.

“We’ve worked on regular departmental business together, and I was chair when she was promoted to full professor,” said Professor of Comparative Literature Karen Newman, who has known Stewart-Steinberg since 2006. “She has done terrific work as a colleague across the university — departmentally in both her departments, on the Graduate Council and now on TPAC.”

» ADMISSION, from page 1 Medical Education rose by 22 percent to 2,763, Miller said. The Brown/ RISD Dual Degree Program saw a 28 percent increase from 512 applications last year to 716 this year, he added.

Miller attributed the jump in special degree program applications to increased publicity for the dualdegree program as well as cyclical interest in medicine, calling this year an “up-cycle” for PLME. The physical sciences were the most popular intended area of study, as 28 percent of applicants indicated they intend to concentrate in a physical sciences field, Miller said. About 27 percent of applicants chose concentrations in the social sciences, 26 percent expressed interest in a life sciences concentration and 13 percent opted for a field in the humanities.

Six percent of applicants indicated that they were undecided on their intended course of study.

All 50 states are represented in the applicant pool, with California accounting for the most applicants, Miller said. New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Florida, respectively, rounded out applicants’ top five home states.

International applications hit an all-time high, with 5,219 applicants — or 17 percent of the total pool — residing outside the United States, Miller said. Of the 152 foreign countries with applicants, China — as in past years — was the best represented, followed by India, Canada, South Korea and the United Kingdom.

A record-high 40 percent of applicants — or nearly 12,000 students — identified as students of color, Miller said. Though the percentage of black and Hispanic applicants remained “flat” from last year to this year, the percentage of the applicant pool identifying as Asian rose by 16 percent, he added.

For the fourth consecutive year, approximately 68 percent of the applicant pool applied for financial aid, Miller said.

About 59 percent of applicants are female and 41 percent are male, Miller said. Roughly 71 percent of applicants attend public school, 20 percent attend private schools and 9 percent are in parochial schools, he added.

This year’s pool resembles applicant totals over “the last five or six years,” as the number of applications has hovered between 28,000 and 31,000, Miller said.

The Admission Office does not have a specific target number of acceptances and instead will examine the pool holistically before making final admission decisions, Miller said.

Applicants will be notified of their admission decisions March 27 at 5 p.m.

university news 5

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2014

U. admits 18.9 percent of early decision applicants Early decision applicant pool largest in U.’s history, with engineering the most popular intended concentration

By MAGGIE LIVINGSTONE FEATURES EDITOR

The University admitted 18.9 percent of early decision applicants to the class of 2018, extending offers of admission to 583 out of a record-high pool of 3,088 applicants, said Dean of Admission Jim Miller ’73.

Early decision applicants were notified online of their admission results 5 p.m. Dec. 12.

This year’s early decision acceptance rate was the second lowest in University history. Last year, the University admitted 18.5 percent of the 3,010 early decision applicants to the class of 2017, The Herald reported at the time.

The University rejected 325 applicants and deferred about 71 percent to the regular decision pool this year, Miller said.

“The class of 2018 is certainly the

strongest group I’ve seen in my 18 years here,” Miller said, adding that he expects the percentage of deferred applicants accepted in the regular decision round will be the same as the overall acceptance rate to the class of 2018.

For the third consecutive year, engineering was the most popular intended concentration among admitted students for the third consecutive year, Miller said, followed by biology, Business, Entrepreneurship and Organizations, economics and English.

BEO ranked as one of the top five intended concentrations for early decision admits for the first time this year, while history fell off the list.

Miller attributed the rise in BEO interest to last year’s renaming of the concentration, previously known as Commerce, Organizations and Entrepreneurship.

Twenty-seven percent of admitted

students indicated that they intend to pursue a degree in the physical sciences, the most popular intended field of study, Miller said. He added that 26 percent expressed interest in the social sciences, a 4 percentage point decrease from last year’s early admitted pool.

Twenty-one percent of admitted students intend to concentrate in a life sciences discipline, while 17 percent reported interest in a humanities concentration, Miller said. About 7 percent of admitted students indicated that they are undecided, he added.

The University admitted about 30 more athletes in this year’s early decision cycle than last year, Miller said.

Athletes make up about 28 percent of this year’s admitted pool, despite the fact that this admission cycle marks the second year in a three-year plan to reduce the number of admission spots given to athletes by about 9 percent. The plan was recommended by former President Ruth Simmons and approved by the Corporation in

October 2011.

“We won’t be reducing (athlete spots) until the close of the regular decision process,” Miller said, adding that fewer athletes will be admitted during the regular applicant pool than in past years.

Students from 41 states are represented in the admitted pool. New York had the most admitted applicants — 81 — of any state, Miller said.

California, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Connecticut followed, with 78, 63, 41 and 29 early admits respectively, he added.

The University admitted 49 international applicants — or 12 percent of international students who applied early decision, Miller said.

China accounted for the most admitted students, consistent with recent years, followed by the United Kingdom, Singapore and Canada, he said.

Students from 30 different foreign countries were admitted through early decision, he added.

Eighteen students were admitted

to the Program in Liberal Medical Education, or 4.4 percent of the 409 applicants to the program, Miller said.

Racial minorities account for about 30 percent of the admitted pool, a figure the Admission Office expects to increase during the regular decision application process, Miller said. About 28 percent of last year’s early admits identified as racial minority students, The Herald reported at the time.

Females account for 54.5 percent of admitted students, while males make up about 45.5 percent, Miller said.

Roughly 54 percent of students admitted early decision attend public high schools, while 39 percent are in private schools and 7 percent attend parochial institutions, Miller said.

Though many students faced application formatting glitches tied to the new Common Application website, the Admission Office was able to receive all students’ admission materials in a timely manner, Miller said.

Yellen ’67 confirmed as Federal Reserve chair

First woman to head nation’s central bank will take office next month, having garnered Senate confirmation

By MICHAEL DUBIN UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR

The Senate confirmed Janet Yellen ’67 as chair of the Federal Reserve Jan. 6, making her the first woman to lead the nation’s central bank.

Yellen, who was nominated by President Obama in October, will assume office Feb. 1, taking the reigns after serving as the Fed’s vice chair since 2010, national news outlets reported. The last Fed chair nominated by a Democratic president was Paul Volcker, who was selected by President Jimmy Carter in 1979, the New York Times reported.

The Senate voted to approve Yellen 56 to 26. Several senators missed the vote due to weather-induced travel difficulties, according to multiple news outlets.

Unlike fellow alum Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez ’83, whose confirmation vote last July split exactly along party lines, Yellen received the backing of 11 Republicans in addition to all the Democrats present.

But the vote to confirm Yellen was still the closest ever for a nominee to

the Fed chairmanship, a supposedly nonpartisan and independent regulatory position, the Times reported.

Yellen headed the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco for six years before serving as Fed vice chair under Ben Bernanke, the outgoing chairman. She also chaired President Bill Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers from February 1997 to August 1999.

Yellen has argued forcefully for the central bank to take a more activist role in reducing unemployment and promoting economic growth.

She has given her unwavering support to its current bond-buying program, designed to lower long-term interest rates in an effort to spur investment and hiring.

The question of how quickly to wind down these aggressive monetary policies has been the subject of fierce debate for several months and will likely dominate the beginning of Yellen’s tenure as Fed chair.

Democrats praised Yellen as an effective regulator unafraid of using monetary policy to aid the nation’s tenuous economic recovery.

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But Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, struck a tone representative of many of his Republican colleagues who voted against Yellen when he criticized her for supporting the Fed’s “easymoney policies,” the Wall Street Journal reported. Many Republicans have expressed concern that such policies

could lead to asset-price bubbles and too much inflation.

“No one can deny that the risks are real and could be devastating” if the bond-buying program continues much longer, Grassley told the Associated Press.

Obama released a statement

Monday calling Yellen “a fierce champion” who will protect Americans.

“I am confident that Janet will stand up for American workers, protect consumers, foster the stability of our financial system and help keep our economy growing for years to come,” Obama said in the statement.

6 university news

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2014

Top employee of Corp. trustee’s hedge fund convicted Portfolio manager’s indictment marks victory for federal investigation into SAC Capital Advisors L.P.

By MICHAEL DUBIN UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR

Federal prosecutors secured a conviction against former SAC Capital Advisors L.P. portfolio manager Michael Steinberg on insider trading charges last month, national news outlets reported — the

latest development in the government’s investigation of Corporation trustee Steven Cohen’s P’08 P’16 hedge fund.

The Dec. 18 verdict in Manhattan Federal Court against Steinberg, the highest-ranking SAC employee to be found guilty and the first whose case went to trial, marks a significant victory

for federal authorities in their decadelong investigation of SAC. Steinberg, who was arrested in March, was accused of trading stocks of technology companies Dell, Inc., and Nvidia Corp. on proprietary information about the companies’ earnings.

At the time of Steinberg’s arrest, Chancellor Thomas Tisch ’76 said in a statement to The Herald, “Steve Cohen is a valued and involved trustee of Brown, and the University has been strengthened by his engagement,” adding that “there has been no pressure on Steve — or the Corporation — for him to leave his seat.”

Steinberg fainted as jurors entered the courtroom to announce their verdict, causing a temporary delay, the New York Times’ DealBook reported.

After the verdict, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Sullivan released Steinberg on bail until sentencing, which is set for April 25.

The government’s case relied heavily on former SAC employee Jon Horvath, who worked under Steinberg and testified against him with the hope of avoiding jail time, Reuters reported.

Horvath said at the trial that Steinberg pushed him to deliver “edgy” and “proprietary” information about Dell’s and Nvidia’s stocks and to “cultivate sources of non-public information,” DealBook reported.

Horvath also testified that Steinberg traveled to a conference in Arizona to prepare him to answer possible questions from federal authorities in the wake of raids on other hedge funds in

fall 2010, DealBook reported.

Six of the eight SAC employees indicted in the government’s investigation have pleaded guilty, with only Steinberg and Mathew Martoma electing to fight the charges.

Prosecutors had hoped that Steinberg’s trial defeat would convince Martoma, a former portfolio manager, to consider cooperating with the government, several news outlets reported. But Martoma’s lawyer, Richard Strassberg, said there was no connection between the facts of each case, and Martoma’s trial began Jan. 6.

Martoma is charged with obtaining undisclosed information about clinical trials that proved a new drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease was ineffective.

Martoma then had a 20-minute phone call with Cohen the day before SAC sold nearly all its shares in Elan Corporation P.L.C. and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, the two companies developing the drugs, DealBook reported.

The trades netted SAC $276 million through losses avoided and profits made, leading U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara to declare it “the most lucrative insider-trading scheme ever charged.”

Sidney Gilman, a doctor who served as the chairman of the safety committee for Elan during the clinical trial, testified last week that he supplied Martoma with confidential information about problems with the drug trials in July 2008. Gilman said he regularly provided Martoma with details about the trials he should not have revealed.

But the defendant’s lawyers have questioned the reliability of the 81-yearold witness’s memory. Gilman failed to remember during his testimony whether he began to supply Martoma with information in late 2006 or early 2007. Gilman was also undergoing cancer treatment when he forged his relationship with Martoma and was taking a drug whose side effects include confusion, according to DealBook.

Martoma’s indictment is also the first in which prosecutors have cited trades with which Cohen was directly involved.

Though prosecutors have not brought criminal charges against Cohen himself, they indicted his hedge fund for multiple counts of fraud in July, citing “systematic” insider trading and “institutional practices” that produced a culture encouraging improper trading.

In addition to the criminal charges against SAC, Cohen faces a pending civil suit filed in July by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which holds him responsible for “failing to supervise” employees accused of insider trading.

SAC reached a record insider-trading settlement with federal prosecutors in early November, under which the hedge fund agreed to pay about $1.2 billion in penalties, plead guilty to five charges of insider trading and cease managing outside money.

SAC is still permitted and expected to manage approximately $9 billion of Cohen’s personal money as it downsizes to a family office.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2014

university news 7

EMILY GILBERT / HERALD

The new Andrews Dining Commons on Pembroke Campus features a variety of cuisines, private study rooms and a large, comfortable dining area. Options include stir-frys, pizzas and soda from a touch screen vending machine.

»ANDREWS, from page 1 compete for attention, but strike a pleasant harmony with one another.

Crowned with fresh mozzarella, the toppings, such as chicken, arugula, and pepperoni, are evenly distributed to ensure the perfect balance of each ingredient in every bite.

The Asian fusion station puts to shame the packaged noodles and dumplings at the Blue Room thanks to Consulting Chef Mai Pham, chef and owner of the Vietnamese and Thai Lemon Grass Restaurant in Sacramento, Calif. Her food columns in the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as her numerous cookbooks, including “Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table” and “The Best of Vietnamese & Thai Cooking,” have earned her the coveted James Beard Award and an honorary Master’s degree from the Culinary Institute of America, among other accolades.

Pham presented a step-by-step demonstration of various recipes to chefs at Andrews Commons on Monday, emphasizing how to maximize the flavors of fresh produce, herbs and spices with the kitchen’s top-of-theline culinary technology.

Chefs clustered around her during the demonstration, nodding vigorously and scribbling down notes as she dispensed casual nuggets of wisdom, such as “this is a good experiment to see if you have enough water in the curry,” and “I would make the vegetables for this dish a bit on the al dente side.”

Upstairs houses a 24-hour study space houses sleek, minimalist lighting units above each desk, as if right out of an Apple advertisement. These lamps, combined with the ubiquitous USB-compatible outlets and ultramodern carpet design, lend the room a streamlined ambiance of maximum efficiency.

With its fresh and flavorful cuisine and ample study and social spaces, Andrews Dining Commons promises comfort, excitement and full stomachs.

Now that’s getting your meal credit’s worth.

EMILY GILBERT/HERALD

The pizzas at Andrews Commons come fresh from a stone hearth and feature a variety of commons.

JILLIAN LANNEY / HERALD

www.browndailyherald.com

8 science & research

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2014

Affiliated prof. finds bill cleaning method

COURTESY OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY

This dollar bill would normally be removed from circulation when it accumulates too much dirt from daily wear and tear, but a new money laundering technique could remove the grime without damaging its paper.

New carbon dioxide treatment could offer economical way to clean dirty bills

By EMILY PASSARELLI COURTESY OF EDITH MATHIOWITZ

Professor Edith Mathiowitz has been selected to join the National Academy of Inventors for her work in the field of biology.

» INVENTORS, from page 12 had a “tangible impact on the quality of life in either their local community, the U.S. or the world,” said Keara Leach, program manager of the NAI. Inventors are nominated by their peers and must have at least one patent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Leach said. The newest class of inventors will be inducted March 7 in Alexandria, Va., she added.

Since its founding in 2010, over

3,000 individual inventors who belong to U.S. and international universities and nonprofits have been elected to the Academy, according to the NAI website.

Mathiowitz said she views her selection to the NAI as a testament to the importance of researchers protecting their inventions and eventually taking them to the market.

“I hope that at Brown, I will encourage other faculty to go ahead and try to patent their research and commercialize it,” she said.

STAFF WRITER

Carbon dioxide may soon become a key player in the financial industry.

Over the past six months, Nabil Lawandy, an affiliated professor of engineering and physics, and his former graduate student Andrei Smuk PhD’00, have used a derivative of carbon dioxide to effectively clean paper money without damaging the security aspects or mechanical integrity of the bills.

Now CEO of both of his self-founded corporations — Solaris Nanosciences and Spectra Systems — Lawandy said the cleaning process is “basically a way of extending the life of a bank note.” When people touch bills, they leave sebum, an oil from the skin, behind. Sebum left on the money then reacts with the air, causing its discoloration, and build-ups of sebum make it difficult for machines to process bills.

An accumulation of sebum renders a bill liable for removal from circulation, Lawandy said. Each year the federal government must replace and reprint 150 billion bills because of the accumulation of sebum or from “limpness,” Lawandy said.

Lawandy’s knowledge of this

expense, combined with prior work experience at NASA, gave him the tools to develop a way to clean paper bills and save the government money.

He and Smuk published a paper detailing their methods in the Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research journal last month.

The cleaning process they invented uses carbon dioxide in the supercritical fluid state to clean sebum from the bills. A supercritical fluid simultaneously exhibits properties of a liquid and a gas under certain temperature and pressure conditions, giving it the density of a liquid but the behavior of a gas, Lawandy said. Carbon dioxide exhibits these properties under “conditions that are like a hot summer day in Providence, but at 340 times the pressure,” he said.

When dirty bills are placed in supercritical carbon dioxide, the sebum dissolves and the clean bill is removed from the substance.

Additionally, because supercritical carbon dioxide has different chemical properties from those of normal cleaning agents, it does not remove or damage any security features on the bills, Lawandy said.

The cleaning process takes about an hour to complete, but bills can be processed in stacks making the process efficient, Lawandy added.

While the method does not guarantee a bill’s cleanliness for life, it does allow dirty notes to be recycled rather

Thanks for reading!

than disposed, reducing the amount of waste from money that would otherwise be shredded or burned, Lawandy said. Moreover, the cleaning process does not affect the strength of the bill itself and can theoretically be completed a limitless number of times.

While the federal government may not adopt the money-cleaning process right away, Lawandy is working with two central banks in the United States that have agreed to implement his cleaning process. The machinery will be delivered to them in the next week, he said, adding that he hopes other banks will try the new process as well.

The use of this system on a large scale would be economical. Processes that require high pressure are not expensive to complete and use equipment that rarely needs to be replaced, Lawandy said.

The outstanding cost would be for labor, though no special training would be needed to operate the machinery, Lawandy said. Despite the benefits of the new money-cleaning method, Lawandy said he does not “think the U.S. will be an early adapter.” One reason for this is because by reducing the reprinting of new bills, the method hurts paper and ink suppliers, he said.

Smaller countries, such as those that outsource to print their money, may implement the process more quickly, Lawandy said.

today 9

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2014

SNOWED IN

menu SHARPE REFECTORY

VERNEY-WOOLLEY

LUNCH Cavatini, Broccoli Rabe, Swiss Broccoli Pasta, Stewed Tomatoes, Vegan Baked Polenta

Shaved Steak Sandwich, Falafel, Potato Salad, Mediterranean Eggplant Saute, Holiday Cookies

DINNER Fiery Beef, Mediterranean Orzo, Lemon Rice, Beets in Orange Sauce, Broccoli in Lemon Sauce

Savory Chicken Stew, Mexican Cornbread Casserole, Stewed Tomatoes, Egg Noodles with Olive Oil

sudoku

TOM SULLIVAN / HERALD

Snow settles onto the Circle Dance sculpture during the winter storm late Tuesday evening.

comic Eric & Eliot | Willa Tracy

RELEASE DATE– Wednesday, January 22, 2014

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

ACROSS 1 Big cat of Narnia 6 Salad alternative 10 No more than 14 Pope after John X 15 Facility 16 Iowa State’s city 17 *Genealogist’s tool 19 Political syst.

20 Priestly robes 21 Suffix with Capri 22 Door sign 23 __ Fáil: Irish coronation stone 24 *“Top Hat” leading man 27 Abandon 29 British throne?

30 Churchillian sign 31 Compound conjunction 32 Uppercut target 33 Take a break 34 *Stewed chicken dish 38 First Greek consonant 41 Go a few rounds 42 Petting zoo critter 46 Pulitzer poet Lowell 47 Gloss target 48 Concession speech deliverer 50 *Most serious or least serious 53 Former telecom co.

54 Toga party hosts 55 HDTV brand 56 Amazed sounds 57 “Lois & Clark” reporter 58 Escapes, and, literally, what each of the answers to starred clues does 61 Blues singer James 62 Carded at a club 63 Catorce ÷ dos 64 Work station 65 Billy of “Titanic” 66 Extra

36 Make do underlings DOWN 1 “Our Gang” kid 37 “What __ can I 48 Game venue with a cowlick say?”

49 Pipe problem 2 Circus barker 38 Bewildered 51 Porterhouse, e.g.

3 Gable’s third wife 39 Kuwait or Qatar 52 Putting spot 4 Thrifty alternative 40 Ruthless rulers 56 “The Wizard __” 5 Zilch 43 Like a Brink’s 58 Line of work, for 6 Parlor piece truck short 7 Propelled, as a 44 Jungle explorer’s 59 Nutritionist’s galley tool abbr.

8 Capitalize on 60 Fed. retirement 9 Peruvian capital? 45 Ouzo flavoring 47 Capt.’s org.

10 __ cum laude 11 Eliciting feeling ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: 12 Really looks up to 13 Springsteen’s __ Band 18 N.Y.C. part 22 DDE’s WWII arena 24 Klinger portrayer on “M*A*S*H” 25 “Ah, me!”

26 Porcine moms 28 Cushioned seat 32 Fla. NFL team, on scoreboards 33 Move for the job, briefly 35 Abbr. referring to a previous citation 01/22/14 xwordeditor@aol.com

calendar TODAY

JANUARY 22

4:00 P.M. CCMB SEMINAR — MONA SINGH

Princeton University Professor Mona Singh will give a talk titled “Data-driven approaches for uncovering protein interactions and protein interaction specificities.” Swig Boardroom — CIT 241 6:30 P.M. A READING BY THE NOVELIST JOHN BANVILLE

Irish author John Banville, who has written several novels including prize-winning work “The Sea,” will hold an open reading from his work in the Contemporary Writers Reading Series. Alumnae Hall Crystal Room

TOMORROW

JANUARY 23

12:00 P.M. SUPERFUND RESEARCH PROGRAM: WEBINAR PRESENTATION

Jeanne Briskin will give a talk on the EPA’s Study of the Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing on Drinking Water Resources. Watson Institute, McKinney Conference Room 7:00 P.M. DON’T BE A STRANGER! 6TH ANNUAL BROWN-RISD DUAL DEGREE EXHIBITION

The opening night of this Granoff exhibition titled “Don’t Be a Stranger!” will include live performances and food and drinks. Granoff Center for the Creative Arts 7:30 P.M. WANT TO BE A RESIDENTIAL PEER LEADER!? INFO SESSION

The first of four information sessions, this meeting discusses the various positions in the Residential Peer Leader Program and how to apply. Smith-Buonanno, Room G1

By Kurt Krauss (c)2014 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

01/22/14

q u o t e o f t h e d ay

“It was actually super nice that they dry-cleaned everything.”

— Alexandria Sheng ’15 See grad center on page 1.

10 commentary

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2014

EDITORIAL

Closing the internship gap Last week, President Christina Paxson announced a renewed commitment to expanding opportunities for students receiving need-based financial aid. By the summer of 2018, these students will be supported for at least one summer to pursue internships or research programs that are not adequately funded. This program is an important step toward ensuring lower-income Brown students are not denied opportunities available to their peers. But University-provided funding could obscure the broader problem — the replacement of paid internships and post-college jobs with unpaid and sometimes exploited internships — further disadvantaging students who come from universities with fewer resources.

Given the ubiquity of internships, Brown’s new commitment will help students receiving financial aid remain competitive with their peers.

Over three-fourths of students at four-year colleges and universities will intern at some point during their college career, while three-fourths of employers rank work experience as the most important factor in hiring post-college workers. Students who need to work to support family members or pay for living expenses for the rest of the year may be unable to spend a summer working without pay. Further, a standard three-month internship in Washington can cost roughly $4,000, not including travel expenses. Students receiving assistance from Brown would benefit from more access to the nonprofit, art and publishing sectors, which are most likely to offer unpaid positions.

But in recent years, unpaid internships have come under greater scrutiny and are often criticized as exploitative. Under federal law, unpaid internships are required to meet six specific criteria ensuring that interns do not assume the work of previously paid employees and that the employer “derives no immediate advantage” from the intern’s duties. In practice, however, these standards are rarely enforced. According to Kathryn Edwards of the Economic Policy Institute, unpaid interns “are often not considered employees and therefore are not protected by employment discrimination laws,” the New York Times reported in 2010. Thus, unpaid interns are not protected by laws that bar discrimination or harassment.

Exploited students are often unwilling to press for better conditions, fearing that their future employment prospects will be irreparably harmed.

Currently, about half of interns work in unpaid positions, but recent court rulings may force employers to give them at least minimum wage.

Last June, a federal judge ruled in favor of two unpaid interns at Fox Searchlight Pictures who worked on the movie “Black Swan” and charging in his ruling that the scope of unpaid positions should be very limited.

Hearst Magazines, Elite Model Management, Charlie Rose and the Fox Entertainment Group have all been challenged by former interns who claim they performed the duties of regular employees.

The Department of Labor should commit to strict enforcement of its rules for unpaid internships rather than allow corporations to save money on the backs of college students struggling to break into competitive industries. In the interim, Brown’s commitment is a welcome opportunity for students who need help the most. But we hope that the University will take this opportunity to advocate for all of its students to ensure that they are paid fairly for a summer’s work.

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

Follow us on Twitter! @the_herald

A N G E L IA WA N G

EDITORS’ NOTE With the start of the semester, you may notice some changes in The Herald. At the top of the front page sits a cleaner flag, and at the bottom a revamped teaser bar makes it easier to navigate the paper. We’ve also consolidated our puzzles, comics, menu and events calendar on a new page called Today, which appears just before the Commentary pages.

In the coming weeks, you can look forward to several new ventures both in print and online. Our website will undergo some modifications to better highlight breaking news and create a more streamlined aesthetic. An in-depth weekly feature will delve into important and underreported topics on and around campus, showcasing them in a more creative style

Editorial Leadership

Sections

Visuals & Production

Business

Editor-in-Chief Eli Okun

Arts & Culture Editors Katie Cusomano Andrew Smyth

Photo Editors Head: Tom Sullivan Brittany Comunale David Deckey Emily Gilbert Samuel Kase Sydney Mondry

General Managers Jennifer Aitken Nicole Shimer

Managing Editors Mathias Heller Sona Mkrttchian Adam Toobin Senior Editors Maddie Berg Kate Nussenbaum BLOG DAILY HERALD Editor-in-Chief William Janover Managing Editors David Oyer Georgia Tollin POST- MAGAZINE Editor-in-Chief Ben Resnik COMMENTARY Editorial Page Editors Matt Brundage Rachel Occhiogrosso Opinions Editors Gabbie Corvese Sarah Rubin Maggie Tennis

Enterprise Editor Elizabeth Koh Features Editors Sabrina Imbler Maggie Livingstone Metro Editors Kate Kiernan Katherine Lamb Science & Research Editors Isobel Heck Sarah Perelman Sports Editors Caleb Miller Dante O’Connell University News Editors Kiki Barnes Michael Dubin Maxine Joselow Tonya Riley

Video Editor Henry Chaisson Graphics Editors Andersen Chen Avery Crits-Cristoph Greg Jordan-Detamore Jillian Lanney Web Producer Joseph Stein Design Editors Brisa Bodell Einat Brenner Assistant: Carlie Peters Assistant: Taylor Schwartz Assistant: Sean Simonson Copy Desk Chief Claire Postman Assistant: Sara Palasits Illustrations Editor Angelia Wang

Directors Sales: Winnie Shao Finance: Sarah Levine Finance: Sameer Sarkar Alumni Relations: Alison Pruzan Business Dev.: Melody Cao

of writing. And a new enterprise reporting project will mine data and documents to investigate long-term trends that might otherwise be lost in the daily news cycle.

We also want to make note of one internal change implemented over winter break: a codification of The Herald’s policies and procedures for coverage of campus community member deaths. In light of several such tragedies that have affected campus over the past year, including over winter break, we feel it is necessary to have formal policies guiding our coverage, which has been variable in previous instances. Under the new guidelines, Herald coverage will comprise breaking news updates, articles about public memorial services and

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

separate obituaries that weave together remembrances from friends and family members. We expect these policies will ensure any future coverage of community member deaths is consistent and aligned with The Herald’s mission.

As always, we welcome feedback, suggestions and criticism. Email herald@browndailyherald.com to reach us directly or send letters to the editor at letters@browndailyherald.com.

Thanks for reading.

Editors’ notes are written by the 124th Editorial Board: Eli Okun ’15, Adam Toobin ’15, Mathias Heller ’15, Sona Mkrttchian ’15, Maddie Berg ’15 and Kate Nussenbaum ’15.

@the_herald

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commentary 11

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2014

The baffling boycott ADAM ASHER opinions columnist

Here is what I understand about the recent resolutions passed by the American Studies Association (ASA) and Modern Language Association (MLA) regarding Israel and the Palestinian territories.

The ASA resolved to boycott all Israeli academic institutions, forbidding its members from collaborating with the country’s colleges and universities. This was widely lambasted by major American universities — Brown included — and a number of other public figures, including 134 members of Congress.

The MLA, on the other hand, opted for a more moderate resolution censuring the Israeli government for denying passage to academics attempting to visit the West Bank. An earlier version of the resolution included a reference to the Gaza Strip as well but was removed before the final vote, 60-53.

I take more issue with the ASA’s approach, not only on the grounds that a boycott of academic institutions stifles intellectual freedom and progress — that is, assuming that there is a significant enough number of American studies students in Israel that the boycott would sti-

fle much of anything — but also on the grounds that as a strategy for effecting change, a boycott is, well, stupid. Israeli institutions, such as Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba, have received criticism from within the country’s borders and from the government for hiring too many left-leaning professors. Pressuring institutions that are already bastions of the Israeli left wing to move even farther to the left is, at best, misguided.

Even if more academic institutions had followed suit and supported the ASA’s boycott — a scenario that is highly

will be pleased to learn that al-Qaida and Hezbollah have already done much of their work for them. A Jan. 19 New York Times article titled “Region Boiling, Israel Takes Up Castle Strategy” details the myriad threats Israel faces at its borders.

Besides the ever-present threats of Hezbollah to the north and Iran to the east, Sunni cells affiliated with al-Qaida have played a major role in the war in Syria and recently took over the Iraqi city of Fallujah, threatening the stability of the young democracy’s government. These groups that “are pledging to bring jihad to Jerusalem can hardly be ignored, the

Pressuring institutions that are already bastions of the Israeli left wing to move even farther to the left is, at best, misguided. unlikely given the number of important collaborations in a variety of fields between Israeli and American institutions — it is difficult to understand what its endgame was in passing the resolution.

It is especially baffling when you consider that the ASA has not banned collaborations between Israeli scholars and ASA members, and Israeli scholars can still be invited to attend ASA events.

If the goal is to isolate Israel, the ASA

Times reported.” A boycott from an obscure academic guild will not prompt right-wing Israelis like Benjamin Netanyahu to work with Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority. What will, however, is the knowledge on both sides that two democratic states in a region in imminent danger of being consumed by religious extremism have a better chance of surviving together than they do at odds with each other.

I understand there is more than one type of isolation. However, academic isolation has no place in efforts to make peace between Israel and the PA. The ASA argues that there currently is no academic freedom in Israel-Palestine because of the oppression faced by Palestinian students, academics and institutions. Even if that is true, the solution is not to impose even more academic restrictions. The MLA, for its part, understood that. The ASA, in an effort to make a bold statement and garner headlines for the organization, either did not understand or chose to ignore that line of reasoning.

In addition to the considerable criticism its resolution has received, the ASA now faces a lawsuit to remove its tax-exempt status as an educational organization on the grounds that its boycott is “anti-educational.” One has to imagine its members expected a better outcome from their efforts. Granted, there is still time for the academic boycott movement to gain more traction, and perhaps the ASA will be looked back on as a pioneer that spearheaded peace in the Middle East. I wouldn’t count on it, though.

Adam Asher ’15 is entering his third semester as an opinions columnist and is concentrating in classics.

College sports and income inequalities GARRET JOHNSON opinions columnist

If you are a student enrolled in an accredited college or university, I think you should know how to read. That statement isn’t too controversial, is it?

How about this one: If you are a student-athlete enrolled in an accredited college or university, I think you should know how to read.

Or this one: If you live in the United States of America, you should have access to a quality education.

The United States is unique in the world because of our system of college athletics, wherein the same institutions we expect to advance the frontiers of knowledge are also expected to produce the next generation of elite athletes. Sports are a part of the college experience here, and, in principle, there’s nothing wrong with that. But a recent investigation by CNN showed that at many schools, college athletes are barely literate. The report cited one researcher who found that 60 percent of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill athletes read at between a fourth- and eighth-grade level.

Nearly 10 percent read below a third-grade level.

Naturally, following the release of the report, various me-

dia outlets ran stories about how colleges and universities are being dishonest and academically disingenuous when they hand out degrees to people who can’t read. Certainly, universities bear some blame for this problem.

They make massive amounts of money from athletics, all while allowing student-athletes to struggle through a degree program of questionable integrity and without monetary compen-

tigation raises: Why is it so hard to find literate athletes in America? Why does the University of North Carolina, supposedly one of our country’s best universities, have to choose between abilities on a basketball court and the ability to read? Could it be — gasp — that the United States is not doing as much as it should be to educate our children? Could it be that there are simply not enough children,

enough as a country to educate our population. In many poor neighborhoods in America, the dream of escaping poverty through education is more fantasy than reality. Intragenerational mobility, the ability of an American to move to a different socioeconomic class during his or her lifetime, is at its lowest level in decades. Just like in the era that inspired “The Great Gatsby,” in today’s America “the

What happens to a poor, illiterate athlete who spends years playing for a school without receiving money, an education, or a diploma?

He stays poor.

sation. A UNC professor was recently indicted for running a fake class — student-athletes received credit for his “course” despite never attending a single lecture — as part of a scheme that stretched for more than a decade. Meanwhile, UNC ran a profit of nearly $17 million last year from basketball alone. Obviously, there are perverse incentives in place that promote academic dishonesty in order to recruit the most elite players, whether or not they can read.

But the media have largely ignored the larger, more important question that CNN’s inves-

let alone athletes, receiving adequate preparation for college?

Rather than viewing this story as a simple indictment of “big sports” colleges, we should view it as a window into two of America’s most serious problems: inadequate education and worsening income inequality.

According to the Program for International Student Assessment, the United States ranks below the average of developed countries in mathematics.

Among the countries that beat us are Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Estonia.

We are simply not doing

rich get richer and the poor get — children.”

In some of America’s poorest neighborhoods, the only route out of poverty seems to be through sports. Kids see LeBron James, born in poverty but today a multimillionaire, and imagine themselves escaping the way that he did. But for every LeBron, there are millions of kids who don’t make it. They stake their future on athletics only to end up with no education and no hope.

Some may wonder what income inequality has to do with college athletes. In principle, it

would be great if low-income kids could use college athletics to move up the income ladder. But in reality, most of them will never make it in professional sports, and about 50 percent never graduate. So what happens to a poor, illiterate athlete who spends years playing for a school without receiving money, an education or a diploma? He stays poor.

The system works like this: Admit poor, illiterate but highly skilled athletes. Don’t pay them, but create the appearance that these athletes are getting a good education and extract millions of dollars from their performance on the field. Then, when they are no longer profitable, send them packing without a degree or an ability to read.

Could someone examine this system and explain to me how it fits in with our national values?

Where is the American dream for these athletes? While the media have treated the story of illiterate college athletes as evidence of the corruption and inequity in American universities, they’ve largely failed to notice that the story of these athletes is yet another instance of systematic, persistent inequalities in the United States.

Garret Johnson ’14 is a former Herald opinions editor and can be reached at garret_johnson@brown.edu.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2014

THE

BROWN DAILY HERALD $1.6M grant to fund diabetes research

science & research SCIENCE & RESEARCH ROUNDUP

BY SARAH PERELMAN, SCIENCE & RESEARCH EDITOR

Two distinct motors drive cilia movement

COURTESY OF MIKE COHEA

Wolfgang Peti, associate professor of medical science, sits beside New England’s second largest magnet, a machine that provides atomic-resolution images of proteins. He will use it to research type 2 diabetes.

State’s most powerful spectrometer used to visualize key proteins involved in the disease

By RILEY DAVIS SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The American Diabetes Association awarded $1.6 million to Wolfgang Peti, associate professor of medical science, for his research on type 2 diabetes earlier this month.

Peti was one of five researchers to receive a special award given to those just entering the diabetes research world, according to the association’s website.

Peti said starting to focus his work on diabetes was a logical step based on his lab’s research on a specific group of proteins called phosphatases. “Some of them play a really important role in diabetes, so I’m taking my knowledge of that type of enzyme and applying it to diabetes research,” Peti said.

Peti’s research on type 2 diabetes targets three areas of interest, with the aim of one day improving the lives of those with the disease.

His team will examine insulin

receptors and how insulin binds to them, especially in the “TK” domain, the part of the receptor that is responsible for initiating the metabolism of glucose.

“We know the structure of this domain, but what we want to know is, how is that protein moving? How is it changing its plasticity?” Peti said.

Understanding the answers to these questions could help researchers modify the receptor in the future.

As a component of this investigation, Peti will work with Professor of Biology Marc Tatar to study mutations of these enzyme receptors in fruit flies.

Peti and his colleagues also plan to focus their research efforts on an enzyme that plays a direct role in the regulation of insulin. Peti said he will focus on lesser known parts of the enzyme’s structure to stop its activity without triggering undesirable side effects, something previous research has been unable to do.

His final project involves understanding the structure of a group of enzymes that controls a cell’s balance of stored and usable glucose, according to a University press release. Peti said people have been studying this particular enzyme complex for years

to understand how it actually functions.

Peti will undertake his work using Brown’s Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectrometer, a powerful instrument that allows researchers to view the composition of individual substances and how they interact with one another. Brown’s NMR spectrometer was installed last January and is the second-most powerful spectrometer in New England, The Herald reported at the time.

Nicolas Fawzi, assistant professor of medical science who is not working on Peti’s research, described NMR spectroscopy by comparing atoms to bells. “Each bell has a different note, and we distinguish the different atoms by their different notes — these different frequencies,” he said. “Proteins are made up of all these different atoms, and we can distinguish each atom by its different ringing frequency, its note.”

Peti said his current research would not be possible if not for the NMR magnet’s installation last year.

“We went up to Brandeis (University) in the past to measure there, but protein samples don’t usually travel so nicely,” he said.

Profs. inducted into inventors’ academy Developing insulin pill, one prof. seeks alternative to injections for diabetes treatment

By ANDREW JONES SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Since 1989, Edith Mathiowitz, professor of molecular pharmacology, physiology and biotechnology, has been issued 30 patents, many of which relate to her work on the development of an insulin pill that could improve the treatment of diabetes. For her work, Mathiowitz, along with Professor of Physics Leon Cooper, was inducted into the National Academy of Inventors last month.

Mathiowitz’s research focuses on finding a way to deliver proteins orally

to the body. By encapsulating the insulin molecule with nanoparticles, Mathiowitz and her team were able to increase the efficiency with which the protein was delivered to rats in lab trials. Normally, if a protein such as insulin is given orally, stomach acid will hinder its function by degrading it, she said.

With the “adhesive delivery system” she created, 65 percent of the protein was absorbed by the body. In past oral delivery methods without the attached nanoparticles, only 4 percent of the protein was absorbed.

For people with diabetes, an insulin pill could become an alternative to injecting insulin into the body, though its development and implementation still requires more research, Mathiowitz said. The first application of such a pill will likely be to stabilize glucose

levels of diabetic patients during the night, she said.

Giving a slightly incorrect dosage of insulin to a patient can be detrimental to the body, Mathiowitz said.

This narrow range of healthy dosages presents potential challenges for moving researchers’ work out of the lab, she added.

The researchers have close contacts in industry, which they hope will help with their goal of eventually commercializing the delivery method, Mathiowitz said.

In the future, use of the protein delivery system could be extended to also allow for delivery of other drugs that have oral viability, Mathiowitz said.

“This is the holy grail of protein delivery,” she added.

The NAI elects scientists who have » See INVENTORS, page 8

University physicists determined that two distinct motor mechanisms of cilia — tiny, stringy fibers — are at work in a single cell. The presence of two different modes of movement could help scientists understand how cilia have adapted to perform a wide variety of cellular functions, according to a study published in the Biophysical Journal Jan. 7.

Cilia look like small hairs protruding from a cell membrane. They are found in most cells in the body and perform functions ranging from waste removal to locomotion. Though they have distinct roles, these different kinds of cilia look similar, according to the study.

This study marks the first time scientists were able to see that cilia in two different places in the same cell are driven by two separate motor mechanisms, said James Valles, chair of the Department of Physics and an author of the paper, in a University press release.

The researchers measured the activity of cilia in a single-celled bacterium with advanced microscopes and cameras. They compared the motion of cilia used for movement with the motion of cilia involved with eating as they altered the viscosity of the solution housing the bacteria, according to the study.

As the solution got thicker, the cilia used to propel the cell slowed down. But the cilia that work to feed the cell did not show as dramatic a drop in activity, according to the study. The dual behaviors of the two classes of cilia suggest that each is driven by a separate motor mechanism.

Future research will address how different molecules in various areas of the cell and different concentrations of these molecules affect each of the motors, Valles said in the press release.

Elders at home at higher risk of preventable hospitalization Seniors receiving home- or community-based care are 40 percent more likely than those living in nursing homes to be hospitalized for possibly preventable conditions, according to a study published earlier this month in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

The study was led by Andrea Wysocki, a postdoctoral research fellow in the School of Public Health.

Many senior citizens prefer home- and community-based care, and these sorts of programs also save Medicaid money, so policymakers have often supported them, according to a University press release.

“We are trying to move people into the community and I think that is a really great goal, but we aren’t necessarily providing the medical support services that are needed in the community,” Wysocki said in the press release.

The researchers recommend that, for better long-term health, measures be taken to ensure senior citizens have a clear care plan and long-term access to healthcare providers when they leave the nursing home for a home- or community-based facility, according to the study.

Starting school later beneficial for teens There may be scientific evidence behind teenagers’ claims that they should not have to wake up for school early in the morning. A study published this month in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics found a correlation between later school start times and improved sleep and mood in teens.

“Sleep deprivation is epidemic among adolescents, with potentially serious impacts on mental and physical health, safety and learning. Early high school start times contribute to this problem,” said the study’s lead author, Julie Boergers, associate professor of pediatrics and psychiatry and human behavior, in a Lifespan press release.

Boergers and her team administered sleep habit surveys to students at a boarding school when the start time was 8 a.m., and again once the time was delayed by 25 minutes. They found that adolescents slept an extra 29 minutes when school started later, according to the study.

This additional half-hour of sleep reduced the students’ weariness and caffeine intake. The number of students reporting a depressed mood also decreased.

The students reported spending the same amount of time on homework, sports and extracurricular activities under both conditions, according to the study.

“If we more closely align school schedules with adolescents’ circadian rhythms and sleep needs, we will have students who are more alert, happier, better prepared to learn and aren’t dependent on caffeine and energy drinks just to stay awake in class,” Boergers said in the press release.