Thursday, February 12, 2015

SINCE 1891

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2015

VOLUME CL, ISSUE 17

WWW.BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM

Researchers critique Snow weighs down on U. structures Pizzitola roof collapses weight of snow, sexual assault survey under Andrews Commons Experts contend $87,500 survey poses unnecessary student burden, lacks transparency

By KATE TALERICO SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Administrators plan on conducting a survey from the American Association of Universities to measure campus attitudes toward sexual assault this April, despite criticism from researchers studying sexual assault over the survey’s perceived ethical violations.

The University paid $87,500 to the AAU, a nonprofit organization comprising 62 public and private research institutions including Brown, for use of the survey, said President Christina Paxson P’19.

Though Title IX does not require institutions to implement surveys assessing sexual assault on campus, the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault recommended that universities do so.

Of the 62 institutions that are members of the AAU, 27 schools including the University — along with nonmember Dartmouth — have signed a contract to participate in the survey, according to a Jan. 22 AAU press release. More than 800,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students will be offered the survey, making it the largest research initiative to gather data on sexual assault to date, according to the press release.

As sexual assault continues to be a hot button issue on college campuses across the country, the University’s participation in the review surfaces several concerns over the survey’s transparency, implementation and potential effects on students.

Writing wrongs The AAU’s invitation to universities to participate in the survey triggered much controversy, with sexual assault researchers sending four different letters to university presidents and five psychology professors releasing a statement » See SURVEY, page 2

sustains pipe break

By BAYLOR KNOBLOCH SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The roof of the Paul Bailey Pizzitola Memorial Sports Center collapsed under accumulated snow around 12 a.m.

Wednesday, said Court Attendant Chelsie Churchill ’16, who witnessed the cave-in.

The collapse occurred shortly after members of the men’s and women’s club tennis teams left the courts at midnight, and no one incurred injuries, Churchill said.

“I was about to walk out of the office when I heard a really loud noise, but it wasn’t a noise I had heard before,” Churchill said.

A California native, Churchill said her first thought was that it was an earthquake. “My instinct was to go under the desk, but it didn’t last long enough.”

When the noises subsided, Churchill said she “peeked out and saw that part of the bubble collapsed.” After taking a » See ROOF, page 4

COURTESY OF CHELSIE CHURCHILL

The tennis courts were covered in snow after the roof of the Pizzitola Sports Center collapsed early Wednesday morning.

U. seeks to increase UTRA participation in humanities Participants reflect, dean discusses plans to promote and improve representation

By GABRIELLA REYES SENIOR STAFF WRITER

SADIE HOPE-GUND / HERALD

Though the number of rising juniors applying for off-campus housing has increased since last year, the Office of Residential Life continues to prioritize seniors when allocating off-campus privileges.

Demand for off-campus housing increases Many rising juniors placed on waitlist for off-campus permission critique the ResLife system

By NATALIE FONDRIEST SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The Office of Residential Life granted off-campus permission to 324 rising juniors and 1,163 rising seniors for the next academic year, said Richard

INSIDE

Bova, senior associate dean for Residential Life and Dining Services. Of the 537 rising juniors who applied, 168 were placed on a waitlist and 45 have since withdrawn their applications, with more anticipated to drop out, Bova added.

“It is hard to say at this time” how many students ResLife will approve from the waitlist, he said. ResLife responds to the appeals from waitlisted students based on changes to personal or family circumstances.

SCIENCE & RESEARCH

WEATHER

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2015

SECTION Lisa Wong discusses her career and link between music and medicine BACK

ResLife reaches out frequently to students who have been granted permission, encouraging them to alert the University if their plans change, Bova said, adding that, “We have to continually manage that all the time.”

Georgia Wright ’17 said she was disappointed but not necessarily surprised to learn her group landed low on the waitlist, adding that she tried to lower her expectations after hearing how difficult it can be to gain » See OFF-CAMPUS, page 3

Though humanities concentrators account for just over 15 percent of the student body, they have traditionally seen low representation in the applicant pool for Undergraduate Teaching and Research Awards. Of the applicants for 2014 summer UTRAs, 8 percent were humanities concentrators, while 11 percent concentrated in the social sciences, 30 percent studied the physical sciences and 51 percent focused on the life sciences.

Wednesday marked the extended deadline for students and faculty members to apply for summer 2015 UTRAs. “The percentage of applications received in the humanities is not as high as those received in other areas,” said Oludurotimi Adetunji, associate dean of the College, director of science center outreach and director of the UTRA program.

POST- MAGAZINE

Adetunji has led efforts to increase the number of humanities-sponsored projects in the UTRA program. “The first way to increase the number of humanities UTRAs is to make sure there are more applications in the pool,” he said.

He said he has reached out to humanities faculty members to encourage collaboration with students. The introduction this year of the Interdisciplinary Team UTRA — a program in which a faculty member proposes a project and students apply to participate — was an effort to involve more humanities concentrators in UTRA-sponsored work, Adetunji said, adding that he hopes professors and students will proactively seek each other out for these projects.

The UTRA program has continuously aimed to accept a larger percentage of humanities applicants to offset the small applicant pool, Adetunji said.

The popularity of UTRAs varies from department to department within the humanities.

“Most of the English department and nonfiction writing faculty that I know have used UTRAs,” said Elizabeth Taylor, senior lecturer in English. “It’s a valued project to find and work with students that are showing interest.” » See UTRA, page 4

COMMENTARY Al-Salem ’17: Housing lottery fractures Brown’s sense of community

COMMENTARY Weinstein ’17: Proposed Ratty renovations are unnecessary and expensive

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UNIVERSITY NEWS PAGE 2 • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2015

» SURVEY, from page 1 in protest.

Sixteen experts on sexual assault sent a Nov. 17 letter to the presidents of the universities that are members of the AAU, as well as 15 university presidents in the Consortium on Financing Higher Education, which was also invited to take the survey. The letter urged these presidents not to sign a contract with the AAU for a survey they had not yet seen.

A follow-up letter was sent Nov. 22 and signed by 16 new researchers in addition to the original 16. Forty-five scientists signed a third Nov. 25 letter, and 56 scientists signed a fourth letter Dec. 3 critiquing survey’s perceived condensed timeline and lack of transparency.

A version of the survey reached five active or emeritus professors of psychology Jan. 13: Sarah L. Cook of Georgia State University, Louise Fitzgerald of the University of Illinois, Jennifer Freyd of the University of Oregon, Mary Koss of the University of Arizona and Jacquelyn White of the University of North Carolina. The researchers sent a detailed report Jan. 27 listing their concerns about the survey to participating university presidents and institutional review boards.

AAU spokesman Barry Toiv said he did not know how the researchers got a copy of the survey. “Westat has sent drafts to the participating universities — to the folks working on the survey— to get their views and to initiate the internal review board process,” he said.

The researchers argued that the survey goes against three principles of the Belmont Report, a set of tenets created in 1978 to protect human subjects in research. The first principle, a respect for persons, is violated because the AAU misleads its subjects about the value of their responses in the survey, the statement read.

Researchers also argued that the survey breaks the second Belmont principle requiring researchers to protect students from harm. The survey’s language, they contended, limits definitions of sexual assault and sexual harassment, inadequately addressing survivors’ experiences of sexual violence.

The third Belmont principle, which aims to protect justice in research, addresses which groups reap the survey’s benefits. The researchers argued that it is the AAU, rather than the institutions, that will benefit from the data.

The five researchers have since passed the case to Bill Flack, associate professor of psychology at Bucknell University and co-founder of Faculty Against Rape, a group “dedicated to getting more faculty involved in sexual assault issues on campus,” according to its website. Flack intends to share the materials with reporters to publicize the case, he said.

Outside and inside Rather than create the survey independently, the AAU partnered with research firm Westat, according to a Nov. 14 AAU press release.

Russell Carey ’91 MA’06, executive vice president for planning and policy, chaired the AAU’s Request for Proposals team, which was responsible for choosing Westat, he said.

Westat “had the capacity and the relevant expertise, having done on small and large scales survey research around sexual violence,” Carey said, adding that Westat brought in several experts from both inside and outside the company who knew the best practices

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

for conducting scientifically rigorous surveys.

“It’s everything from understanding how to work with colleges and universities … to the technical expertise to host” the online survey without crashing when large volumes of users access the site, Carey said.

Sandra Martin, professor of maternal and child health at University of North Carolina and an expert in violence prevention and women’s health, chairs a team of professors who will work with the AAU and Westat to design and administer the survey, according to the Nov. 14 press release.

Two Brown researchers will join Martin’s team of survey designers: Melissa Clark, director of the Center for Population Health and Clinical Epidemiology, and Lindsay Orchowski, assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior, Carey said. The presence of two University professors on the team “reflects the leadership role Brown has played in initiating this survey,” he said.

The survey is based on one designed

by Victoria Banyard ’88, professor of psychology at the University of New Hampshire, Carey said. Banyard’s survey was included in the report issued by the White House Task Force to Protect

funds will go toward the development of the survey, according to the document.

Among the researchers’ other worries is that the survey will take a census approach, in which every student on participating campuses will be asked to complete the survey. A stratified random sample will be pulled from all of the completed surveys, and only this data will be used in research analysis.

Some of the participating institutions, such as Ohio State University and Texas A & M University, have student populations upwards of 50,000.

“You don’t need to sample anything like that to do a survey like this,” said Freyd, one of the five researchers who drafted the statement, adding that only a stratified random sample of 300 to 2,000 students needs to be surveyed to gather accurate data. “What worries me is that this will be using a lot of students’ time, and it’s not clear for what purpose,” she said.

“One of the things people think is, ‘How bad can a survey be? Isn’t more data always a good thing?’” Freyd added.

The five researchers worry that the long survey will exhaust students, who may stop filling out questions or not give questions their due attention, Freyd said.

“It’s important in cases of sexual vio-

reminders, which to some will impose unnecessary burdens and may well seem like harassment,” the five professors wrote in their statement in noting that the process would violate the third Belmont principle of ensuring justice in research.

Paxson said it is common to ask students to take surveys through various tactics.

The wording of the social media posts also preoccupied the five professors.

“When people use terms like sexual assault, it may not be a term that some students who have experienced sexual violence even identify with,” Freyd said.

“People can get very focused on the idea we’re talking about crime by using legal definitions of crime. The damage done by sexual harassment and gender discrimination is more fundamentally understood as a civil rights violation.”

Peer pressure Though the survey will be reviewed by several Institutional Research Boards, it will not be peer reviewed, leading some to speculate as to its commitment to rigorous scientific methodology.

“If we’re going to get good data about the prevalence of sexual assault on dif-

The Belmont principles and the AAU survey Respect Beneficence for persons Individuals involved in a study should be “treated as autonomous agents.”

Why the survey doesn’t meet this principle

A study should respect individuals’ decisions and make efforts to ensure their well-being.

Why the survey doesn’t meet this principle

“The AAU recruitment plan does “Studies about sensitive topics are potentially potent interventions not respect student autonomy that shape how students think because it does not fully inform students about Justice about their own experiences as well as the topic in their participation.”

The benefits and general.” burdens of a study should be fairly distributed.

Why the survey doesn’t meet this principle “The AAU . . . is the primary beneficiary . . . Regarding burdens, the entire student body is burdened.”

Source: Jan. 27 statement by Sarah Cook, Louise Fitzgerald, Jennifer Freyd, Mary Koss and Jaquelyn White EMMA JERZYK / HERALD

Students from Sexual Assault.

Dollars and census With its $87,500 price tag, the survey may represent a significant financial undertaking for participating universities. Flack called the “tens of thousands of dollars” required for participation a major concern.

“I do this kind of survey on my own campus,” Flack said, noting that while Bucknell is small, it still costs him only $500 to annually complete such a survey.

The AAU publicly released a Frequently Asked Questions document Nov. 20 that included a cost breakdown of the $87,500 price. $68,000 went directly to Westat to work with universities to promote and launch the survey, obtain student data and analyze and publish university-specific results.

Of the $68,000, $15,000 will provide “material incentives” for student participation, Toiv said. The rest of the

lence that the research doesn’t harm students,” Freyd said. “Surveys can do more harm than good.”

“There is a concern with survey fatigue,” Paxson said. “We wouldn’t conduct another campus climate survey right away.”

“Brown felt very strongly that all students should be asked” to take the survey, Carey said. “It was very important in terms of our sense of community that everyone’s voice matters. The reason for the randomized sample embedded in the survey is to make sure it’s as rigorous and as representative as possible.”

Posts for participation The AAU survey plan urges institutions to encourage students to complete the survey by sending 10 tweets and 10 Facebook posts, according to the Jan. 27 statement.

“We are unaware of any scientific survey engaging in such a high level of

ferent campuses, as the White House Task Force has asked to be done, it ought to be done in a public manner, in an open scientific process, and it ought to involve active communication with experts in the field,” Flack said.

While Westat’s own “independent federally recognized Institutional Research Board” approved a draft of the survey and will ensure the final survey follows ethical standards, universities are allowed to share the survey with their own IRBs for approval, wrote AAU president Hunter Rawlings in a Feb. 3 letter in response to the researchers’ statement.

Brown’s IRB will also review the survey, Paxson said.

IRBs exist to ensure that research is ethically conducted, but they do not take the place of peer review, Freyd said. “The people who sit on IRBs are not experts in any specific research domain.”

Freyd said she expressed doubt at

the validity of the approval of the survey draft. “They approved a survey that wasn’t finished,” she said. “I’ve never heard of my (university’s) IRB approving a draft.”

Public or private?

Questions have also emerged about the manner in which the survey results will be distributed.

“Our primary concern was the secretiveness of it,” Freyd said. “Science highly values transparency and an opportunity to critique each other’s work.

Of all topics, you don’t want to be secretive about sexual assault. Sexual assault thrives in secrecy.”

Flack said he is concerned that the AAU keeps the survey information so private and releases only the “most general information.”

The AAU plans on publicly releasing the survey results once they are fully developed, according to a Dec. 1 letter.

Additionally, the AAU has encouraged participating universities to announce their results, Toiv said.

Paxson said she intends to announce Brown’s data, as the Task Force on Sexual Assault’s interim report recommended.

“If you look at the Sexual Assault Task Force’s work at Brown so far, they’ve made it very clear that they’re taking an approach that is traumainformed and that is data-informed.

That’s vitally important,” Paxson said.

“It’s very important that we’re transparent with our results,” she added. “In fact, one of the big benefits of being part of a survey that’s administered to multiple campuses is that people will have the opportunity to compare the results across institutions.”

But Flack demanded why the survey was not made public before the universities had signed the contract, adding that, “There’s no reason that transparency can’t be the way to go from the get-go.”

One size fits most The survey may take a unique form at each of the 28 participating institutions, with its language changing to reflect different campus characteristics.

The survey will feature the same questions for all institutions, except for five questions whose wording will include the names for university-specific offices, programs or resources, according to the press release. Institutions will also have the opportunity to add a link at the end of the survey directing students to another survey with schoolspecific questions, Rawlings wrote in the Dec. 1 letter.

Brown will take advantage of this chance to add its own “fairly narrow” questions, Carey said. But the survey’s short timeline — the release date is set for April — will not allow the University due time to construct an extended list of appropriate Brown-specific questions, he added.

“I think of this survey really as a baseline —it will be something we want to repeat over time,” Paxson said. “It will give us a way of assessing whether what we’re doing is effective, otherwise we won’t know.”

The Task Force on Sexual Assault’s interim report requires that a survey be administered on a regular basis to Brown students. “We’ll learn a lot in this first process and learn what’s going to be best going forward,” Carey said.

He added that he expects the survey to operate on an annual or biannual basis, but that he wouldn’t “want to go much longer than that.”

UNIVERSITY NEWS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2015 • PAGE 3

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Spotlight on the Statehouse

BY EMMA JERZYK, METRO EDITOR

Rep. arrested for misappropriation

Rep. Joe Almeida, D-Providence, the House deputy majority whip for the General Assembly, was arrested Feb. 10 for misappropriating campaign contributions, the Providence Journal reported.

The former police officer has been proactive about strengthening relations between the community and law enforcement, stating that he would introduce a bill during this legislative session requiring all Rhode Island police to wear body cameras, The Herald previously reported.

Almeida was scheduled to reveal a report on minority recruitment and hiring practices in Rhode Island law enforcement agencies Wednesday alongside the National Association of Black Law Enforcement Officers and the Providence branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

The conference was canceled due to his arrest.

Almeida released a statement Wednesday saying he will focus on “representing the hard-working people of (his) district.” He stepped down as House deputy majority whip, according to a statement by Nicholas Mattiello, D-Cranston, the House majority speaker.

Breaking the snow bank

The recent onslaught of snow storms has drained much of the allotted municipal and state budgets for snow removal.

The Rhode Island Department of Transportation budgeted $14 million for snow removal this fiscal year, and current spending is just about to reach that number — most recently due to Winter Storm Marcus. The storm has also depleted the state’s salt inventory, Rhode Island Public Radio reported.

Morton Salt Inc., the state’s supplier, has encountered distribution problems due to the high demand for salt in the Northeast, WPRO reported.

Providence has also spent the majority of its $1.6 million budget for snow removal, with only $500,000 left, the Providence Journal reported. Along with several other cities around the state, Providence will seek federal reimbursement from the Emergency Management Agency.

HUD to be reimbursed by R.I. Housing

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is demanding $887,544 in reimbursements from Rhode Island Housing due to “questionable expenditures,” the Providence Journal reported Feb. 6.

Rhode Island Housing, created by the General Assembly in 1973, is the state’s privately funded corporation for affordable housing.

The corporation had to reimburse HUD for $1,157,573 in October 2014 because it did not create financial controls at a homeless shelter in Pawtucket.

Former Executive Director Richard Godfrey Jr. fired his deputy director, Gayle Corrigan, for raising concerns about the issue. But Godfrey resigned Jan. 15 following Corrigan’s reinstatement in May 2014.

Current Interim Director Barbara Fields, who was appointed after Godfrey’s exit, formerly worked as the HUD regional administrator of New England.

Rhode Island Housing will negotiate with HUD on the amount of the reim-

U. talk examines science-religion interplay Discussion explores the ways in which religious beliefs, atheism can affect scientific research

By SARAH NOVICOFF STAFF WRITER

Believing in God makes practicing science more fulfilling, said Hans Halvorson, professor of philosophy at Princeton, at a debate Wednesday night on the fraught relationship between religion and science.

The event, which drew a few hundred attendees to Salomon 101, pitted Halvorson against David Rand, professor of natural history and chair of ecology and evolutionary biology.

The debate was sponsored by the Veritas Forum — a Christian nonprofit that holds discussions on “the modern relevance of Jesus Christ” at universities around the country, according to its website — as well as several Christian student groups at Brown and the Rhode Island School of Design.

“We are not here for final answers,” said Kenneth Kim ’17, a member of the Reformed University Fellowship, an Evangelical Christian student group that helped organize the event. The goal of the debate was to challenge audience members to explore the roots of their faith — or lack thereof — in relation to science, he added.

Moderator and Professor of

»OFF-CAMPUS, from page 1 off-campus permission as a rising junior. The process “was all confusing and logistical,” she said.

ResLife has received criticism from some rising juniors due to the prioritization of seniors in the off-campus application process.

“Just as I always remind people, offcampus permission is a senior process,” Bova said, adding that in his 11 years at ResLife, he has not seen any change in that priority nor does he anticipate a change in the system. Since last year, the number of rising juniors seeking off-campus permission increased by 120, while the number of rising seniors applying decreased by 73.

Students have taken to the Undergraduate Council of Students’ new online feedback forum, What To Fix Brown, to critique the off-campus permission process. As of press time, 409 students had voted for a post by Ryan Chan ’15 calling for “Sufficient off-campus permissions so people don’t need to live in kitchens!” while a suggestion from Anastassia Gorvitovskaia ’16 to “remove the off-campus housing fee” of $698 per year had garnered 166 votes.

Sean O’Keefe ’17, whose eightperson group gained off-campus permission for the upcoming academic year, said coordinating his living situation would have been easier if ResLife allowed students intending to study abroad to apply for off-campus housing. One of O’Keefe’s friends was excluded from the housing group because she will study abroad in fall 2015, he said, adding that, “I don’t think it should be as difficult as it is.”

Study abroad is one of many aspects ResLife considers in granting offcampus permission. “We continually

Biology Kenneth Miller ’70 P’02, who has written extensively on the relationship between religion and science, began the discussion by asking each panelist to clarify his stance on the status of truth in faith.

Halvorson, a “self-identified Christian believer” who studies the philosophy and history of science, said if there is a creator who made the world according to a blueprint, then the search for that blueprint should motivate all scientific experiment and exploration.

Rand, who described himself as a “possible atheist” and “religious about rowing,” questioned Halvorson’s assertion, arguing that faith can wildly mislead a scientist in practice. For example, Rand once conducted an experiment with the aim of identifying a certain candidate gene — a single genetic sequence linked to causing a particular disease. Though he firmly believed the gene existed, he ultimately could not find it — his faith in its existence led him to waste time and money on an ultimately hopeless pursuit. “I don’t think God should play a role in the way I do science,” Rand said.

In response to Miller’s question about whether the Book of Genesis is wrong, Rand asserted that the text “is entirely inconsistent with modern science,” though it could play a role in establishing a world view if used as an allegory. Halvorson said while he sees the internal inconsistencies of Genesis, “any serious Christian

has to be at least a little bothered because you don’t want to say (the Bible) is false.”

In addition to Miller’s moderation, students texted questions to a central number, and members of the sponsor Christian groups chose questions to be asked.

The truth in the narrative of the resurrection of Jesus Christ emerged as another point of contention between the speakers.

Halvorson said he believes in the resurrection, and no laws of nature render it impossible. But Rand said while it is possible that Jesus reemerged from being “in bad shape for a few days,” it is inconceivable that he was resurrected from the dead.

Each speaker closed by posing a challenge to the audience. “Every one of you believes at least one false thing,” Halvorson said. “I challenge you to find out what that is and stop believing it.”

Rand interrogated the distinction between spiritualism and science and urged the crowd to analyze causeand-effect reactions in life.

“I’m personally interested in (Halvorson’s) point of view that theism provides a more rational basis for accepting and practicing science than atheism does,” Miller said after the forum.

“I really liked it and felt it was extremely thought-provoking,” said Jonathan Dow ’18, though he added, “I was a little disappointed by its focus on Christianity.”

make adjustments depending on lots of different factors,” including the number of students studying abroad or taking or returning from a leave of absence, Bova said.

Jeremy Joachim ’17 said he gained off-campus permission for the upcoming academic year with his six-student housing group, but he fears he must rescind his permission due to studyabroad plans. Joachim and another student from his group intend to study abroad in fall 2015, and two others from the group intend to study abroad in spring 2016, he said. In anticipation of the potential cancelation, the group met with ResLife last November.

“The main reason for not letting us go off campus if we’re going abroad in the fall is that technically you’re taking up a spot of someone who would be here all year … which is understandable,” Joachim said. Given the group’s even number of students intending to study abroad, “we were trying to make the case that … technically we’re only taking up the spots of four people, because only four of us will be at Brown

at any given time,” he added.

At the meeting, a ResLife representative told Joachim’s group that all housing policies stem from the decisions of the Residential Council, an advisory board that “does not necessarily take individual cases,” Joachim said.“It seemed odd” for ResLife to grant his group an appointment without the power to change their situation, so he would have preferred to meet with ResCouncil, he added.

In light of the length of the petition process and the uncertainty of the caseby-case appeals process, Joachim said the group will probably stay on campus next year, where they are more likely to live together. Joachim said he was disappointed with the lack of “proper channels … through which we could explain the situation.”

Though ResLife does not have a system in place for “swapping permission,” Bova said his door is always open to students in situations like Joachim’s.

“I will put them in touch and will have the correct discussion with the correct people.”.

SCIENCE & RESEARCH PAGE 4 • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2015

Meteorite closely resembles makeup of Mars’ crust Paper examines meteorite, looks forward to future samples from planet’s surface

By GABRIELLA REYES SENIOR STAFF WRITER

University researchers who study Northwest Africa 7034 — an estimated 2-billion-year-old meteorite found in the Moroccan desert in 2011 — have concluded that it is likely representative of most of the rocks comprising Mars’ crust.

The paper, which will appear in the May 15 edition of the journal Icarus and is currently available online, analyzes a sample of the meteorite, which researchers have nicknamed “Black Beauty.”

“The meteorite has these remarkable properties,” said Jack Mustard MSc’86 PhD’90, professor of earth, environmental and planetary sciences and environmental studies and a co-author of the study. “It’s not like the Martian meteorites that we’ve seen previously.

It has a different color and texture, and it has a lot more water than any other Martian sample we’ve ever seen.”

Kevin Cannon GS, the lead author of the paper, said he was struck by “how good the Black Beauty match was to the surface of Mars” in that data collected from Black Beauty corresponded to data collected by satellites of the Martian crust. Past meteorite samples did not match with the satellite measurements, Cannon added.

Cannon and Mustard, along with

Carl Agee, professor of earth and planetary sciences at the University of New Mexico, used a hyperspectral imaging system to measure the reflected light from the meteorite and compare its properties to the satellite data, Mustard said.

The meteorite is composed of breccia, a type of rock that is created by impacts on the surface of a planet, Mustard said.

“If you take a sledgehammer and whack away at a rock, you would create fragments of the rock. And then, if you were to mix it with some kind of glue and solidify it, that would be like breccia,” Mustard said. “It’s a rock made of rock fragments that are solidified in the end.”

Cannon said that the meteorite indicates “how dominant these impacts have been on Mars’ surface in creating the rocks that are there today.”

In the future, researchers may use satellite data to find the areas on Mars where there are significant amounts of breccia and send rovers there to collect further samples, Mustard said.

“We should follow this up with a targeted sample return mission to Mars to understand the geological context in which this important sample was formed,” wrote Professor of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences James Head III PhD’69, who was not involved in the study, in an email to The Herald.

The study has “far-reaching implications for the geological and climate history of Mars,” Head wrote. “The work of this team helps unlock the secrets of how we can effectively use remote sensing data to understand Martian early history.”

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

UCS talks campus climate in LGBT workshop LGBTQ Center Program Director Kelly Garrett explains terminology, resources

By NATALIE FONDRIEST SENIOR STAFF WRITER

LGBTQ Center Program Director Kelly Garrett led an identity workshop for the Undergraduate Council of Students at its general body meeting Wednesday, highlighting campus resources and issues of gender expression and sexual orientation.

Though the University is “ahead of the curb” regarding many LGBT issues, members Brown community members have a tendency to “overstate how welcoming Brown is,” Garrett said.

The University is “pretty much there policy wise,” but “policies do not equal climate,” she added.

UCS President Maahika Srinivasan ’15 said it is important for the student government to “be cognizant of the different kinds of identities that exist on campus” in order to move forward as a community.

“While there is a space where students feel comfortable, not all of Brown is that space,” said UCS Student Activities Committee member Ryan Anderson ’18.

“The campus climate here is amazing for LGBTQ students,” said Samuel

UNIVERSITY NEWS

» UTRA, from page 1 Alexander Meehan ’15 participated in a teaching UTRA in the philosophy department this past summer.

He spent the summer collaborating with Nina Emery, assistant professor of philosophy, to prepare the syllabus and reading materials for PHIL 1670: “Time” and then worked as the course’s teaching assistant in the fall.

UTRAs present a powerful opportunity for people who do not have access to alternate funding as they do in science fields, Meehan said.

“In general, there tend to be fewer outside opportunities for paid humanities research,” he said.

Taylor said UTRAs have been

» ROOF, from page 1

www.browndailyherald.com

photograph, she left the building in fear of further collapse.

“I’m glad it didn’t happen 10 or 20 minutes earlier,” she said. “It was pretty terrifying.”

The collapse poses an immediate threat of water damage to the court floors from the snow that fell into the building, Vice President for Facilities Management Stephen Maiorisi wrote in an email to The Herald.

The process of prevention began immediately. The work Wednesday “consisted of at least six roofing contractors removing the snow with shovels and wheelbarrows,” Maiorisi wrote.

“This took approximately eight hours.”

The roof of the Pizzitola must be completely cleared of snow before repairs can begin, Mairoisi wrote.

Cranes were on site Wednesday afternoon to begin the removal process, which the Department of Facilities Management expects “will take at least

Rubinstein ’17, a member of the UCS Academic and Administrative Affairs committee. “Queer identity is a part of the Brown community in a central and holistic way.”

To address sex, gender, gender expression and sexual orientation, Garrett presented binary and nonbinary identity models. She said offering multiple models is helpful because “oftentimes the traditional identity models early on were very linear, but most of us do not have a linear experience.”

Due to the short history of formal gender and sexuality studies, using such inclusive terminology is like creating a new language, Rubinstein said.

Addressing potential pronoun confusion and neutrality, Garrett encouraged students to ask what pronoun a person uses, rather than what pronoun a person prefers. She added that misplaced gender neutral pronouns may inadvertently discredit a person’s gender.

While “phe” is “a convenient gender neutral pronoun … it’s a very Brown thing,” Garrett said. Originating in the Female Sexuality Workshop, commonly known as FemSex, the pronoun is not necessarily used or known outside of Brown, she added.

Benjamin Gladstone ’18, a member of the UCS Student Activities Committee and Outreach and Advocacy Committee, arranged for Queer Alliance to facilitate the workshop.

Queer Alliance offers peer support and programming as an “umbrella

organization” to help foster “the coordination and building of a communal environment for various subgroups and committees,” according to its website.

The council also heard from four students from the Ivy Council, a group that meets biannually about “what it means to be a student of the Ivy League,” said Gaurav Nakhare ’15, head delegate for Brown’s Ivy Council chapter. The group announced the Inter-Ivy Policy Conference, an upcoming event involving students from all of the Ivy League institutions that will address community and global engagement. Brown would be a particularly interesting host for the April conference due to its recent interim alcohol policy changes , Nakhare said.

Summerset Thompson ’16, conference co-chair, encouraged UCS members to apply to help lead conference breakout sessions.

Admissions and Student Services Committee Chair Ryan Lessing ’17 presented his amendment to the council’s Code of Operations to be voted on by the general body next week. The amendment will allow UCS Executive Board members to be appointed to University committees, as the current restriction may prohibit a member from serving the community after leaving the board.

In UCS committee updates, Lessing described the launch of the online feedback forum What to Fix Brown, an Admissions and Student Services initiative, as “enormously successful.”

useful to her in developing courses.

In the past, she has collaborated with students to design a radio nonfiction course, create an archive for ENGL 1180Q: “Narrating History” and produce a digital archive for Brown Vietnam War veterans.

Meehan also said teaching UTRAs provide benefits for the humanities.

“There’s a ton of humanities courses that would clearly benefit from student input,” he said. “I don’t think anyone can debate the value of a teaching collaboration.”

Elbert Wang ’17 collaborated with Professor of Classics and Comparative Literature Joseph Pucci on research as part of an UTRA last summer. They analyzed transcriptions of Abraham

Lincoln’s speeches to find out what he sounded like and to what extent he subscribed to Christianity.

“Some newspapers in the 1860s would have stenographers at Lincoln’s speeches and they would record everything Lincoln was saying,” Wang said. “What (Pucci) wanted to find were discrepancies between different newspapers, which would indicate that Lincoln had an accent. Because people were unfamiliar with his accent, the discrepancies would demonstrate what the accent sounded like phonetically.”

Wang said UTRAs serve as a way to explore course material in greater depth, adding that they are helpful as a “first foray into research.”

another full day or more,” he added.

Once the snow is completely removed, temporary repairs will be made until a more permanent solution can be implemented in the spring, he wrote, adding that roofing contractors will begin temporary mending of the roof “as early as this coming Friday morning.”

The roof, a synthetic fabric airsupported structure, is only twoand-a-half years old. “I would think they would have fixed the problem the last time it collapsed,” Churchill said, referring to the roof ’s previous snow-related failure in January 2011.

“We need to investigate why the roof failed before we can fully determine what the final corrective action will be,” Maiorisi wrote.

The structural damages presently only impede tennis practices, leaving other uses of the building largely unaffected. “We are hoping to be in a position to re-open the tennis courts for use as soon as possible,” Maiorisi

wrote, though he expressed concern regarding the snow forecast for the coming weekend.

“I guess I’m technically unemployed right now,” Churchill said. “The club teams don’t get to practice, so I don’t get to work.”

Winter weather also wreaked havoc on Andrews Commons Tuesday.

“The cold weather affected the pipe above us and water broke through,” union worker Stewart Doyle said. The area was closed for the day when “they replaced the tiles that were affected,” he said.

Bailey McLaughlin ’17 was in the common area on Tuesday morning, before the dining area’s standard opening. “It looked like there was ceiling that had fallen out, but I didn’t really get a good look,” she said.

The eatery closed for the remainder of the day to undergo necessary repairs.

“It looks great now, like nothing ever happened,” Doyle said.

TODAY

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2015 • PAGE 5

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

menu

heads up

SATELLITE DINING JOSIAH’S Made-to-Order Quesadillas BLUE ROOM Mediterannean Pockets Soups: Chicken Artichoke Florentine, Fire Roasted Vegetable, Turkey Chili ANDREWS COMMONS Pizza: Nacho, Okie Dokie Artichokie, Pepperoni and Sausage

DINING HALLS SHARPE REFECTORY LUNCH

DINNER

Broccoli Alfredo, Savory Chicken Stew, Braised Cauliflower, Rice Krispie Treats

B o u r b o n B B Q C h i c ke n Quarters, Butternut Squash Formato, Carrot Cake

VERNEY-WOOLLEY LUNCH

DINNER

Eggplant Parmesan Grinder, C a j u n S p i c e d C h i c ke n Sandwich, Rice Krispie Treats

Beef Pot Pie, Vegan Stuffed Red Peppers, Mediterranean Couscous, Carrot Cake

sudoku

SADIE HOPE-GUND / HERALD

Large icicles have formed on buildings around campus in the wake of fluctuating temperatures and Monday’s snowfall, looming over the Brown community.

comics A Horse of Any Other Name | Zacha Silberberg ’18

crossword

calendar TODAY 8:30 A.M. MOCK-A-THON: MOCK INTERVIEWS

Students will be able to practice 30-minute behavioral interviews with a career advisor to improve their interviewing skills. CareerLAB

TOMORROW 12:00 P.M. “GRANT FINDING AT BROWN AND BEYOND”

This training session will provide information about the finding and applying for grants, fellowships, awards and honors in various fields. Rockefeller Library, Hecker Room

12:00 P.M. “THE KOREAN WAR IN COLOR: RACE, NATION AND INTIMACIES OF COLOR”

Daniel Kim, professor of English, will discuss his new book about issues of race and empire during the Korean War. Brown/RISD Hillel 30

2:30 P.M. “COOKIES, COCOA AND CONVERSATION WITH PHYSICS-WISE”

WiSe will hold their first meeting of the semester to discuss semester plans and events. Science Center

8:00 P.M. FREE BEGINNERS SWING DANCE LESSON

3:00 P.M. “CITIZENS OF SMALL WORLDS: FREE

The Brown Swing Club will invite dancers of all levels to Lindy Hop and Balboa lessons. A free style dance will follow the lessons. Sayles Hall Auditorium

BLACKS, LAW AND VIRGINIA NEIGHBORHOODS”

The history department will sponsor a workshop on 19th century U.S. history. Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice

COMMENTARY PAGE 6 • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2015

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

EDITORIAL

Providence development and the campus In 2011, the I-195 Redevelopment Commission was formed to address the use of vacant land in downtown Providence following the highway’s relocation. On Monday, The Herald reported that the commission has made progress in selling off the parcels formerly occupied by the interstate (“Developer, District Commissioner enter agreement,” Feb. 9).

The availability of the vacated LINK land — the 19 developable acres within the redevelopment plan — presents a unique opportunity to alter the underlying urban fabric of Providence. The commission must remain cognizant that Providence — with an unemployment rate of 7.5 percent, almost two points above the national average — stands to benefit from the economic implications of a large-scale redevelopment project.

The recent announcement of the purchase and sale agreement jointly entered by developer Richard Baccari II and the commission points to a significant advancement in the effort. Parcel 8 — a 13,149-square-foot plot located at the corner of Pike Street and South Main Street — is slated to be a mixed use development, including retail, residential and office segments.

With a location at a key intersection, the land — albeit relatively small — holds the capacity to further consolidate the retail anchored on South Main and nearby Wickenden.

Yet the commission carries a history of being somewhat selective in its efforts. Though Parcel 8 and Parcel 28 — a downtown lot slated to be developed into student housing — have obtained approval, the commission has rejected plans for three other parcels in and around the city center. While the commission understandably must adhere to a set of criteria in the approval process, its primary concern should be to enable development, not to deter inquiries into the redevelopment project.

While the city does indeed have the 1.4-million-square-foot Providence Place Mall, these smaller developments will attract small businesses to the city and offer refreshing variety for locals and visitors alike. By facilitating these new developments, the city and the commission allow for job creation on the front end and more sustained economic growth in its wake. Providence stands at an uncertain juncture, and a smooth facilitation of redevelopment will undoubtedly serve to solidify its footing.

Excessive hindrances to developers will simply shift their interest to what they perceive as more attractive markets, such as Boston and New York.

According to the Providence real estate brokers Cushman and Wakefield, the average office rent in Providence is approximately $18 per square foot compared to a $47 asking price in Boston, a significant discrepancy on the owner’s end. An increase in supply may flood an already weak market, but these developments will hopefully cater to specific tenants and residents, and consequently create new demand in this particular segment.

Beyond the underlying mechanics of development in Providence, the redevelopment undertaking provides a unique opportunity for the University to continue its expansion into the Jewelry District near the Alpert Medical School and to alleviate the strain on existing facilities near the core of campus.

From the commission’s perspective, Brown is a stable and longterm partner that holds priorities that transcend economic returns. For the University, the available development opportunities can serve to create a more integrated campus — one that spans from College Hill down to the Jewelry District.

K I M B E R LY S A LT Z ’ 1 7

CORRECTION A previous version of an article in Wednesday’s Herald (“Ceremony recognizes staffers’ achievements,” Feb. 11) incorrectly stated that President Christina Paxson P’19 said “BEAR Day is in February every year — a time when the most sensitive bears are in hibernation.” In fact, she said “sensible” not “sensitive.” The Herald regrets the error.

Q U O T E O F T H E D AY

“Every one of you believes at least one false thing. I challenge you to find out what that is and stop believing

”

it.

— Hans Halvorson , Princeton philosophy professor

See science-religion on page 3.

Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board: its editors, Alexander Kaplan ’15 and James Rattner ’15, and its members, Natasha Bluth ’15, Manuel Contreras ’16 and Baxter DiFabrizio ’15. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.

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COMMENTARY THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2015 • PAGE 7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

ResLife woes SARA AL-SALEM opinions columnist

I remember distinctly the first time I had a bad impression of Brown’s dorms. I was in one of those overly energetic tour groups in summer 2013 — after I had already been accepted to the University — and the tour leader was talking about residential life. I vaguely remember that she said some dorms were under renovation and how great that would be for the incoming freshmen. But then someone in the group asked about upperclassmen housing. When she answered nonchalantly that around 80 percent of the senior class lives off campus, I immediately got the impression that Brown dorms must have some factor that pushes that many students away.

I want to say my bad attitude toward the Office of Residential Life began long before I even knew that was where I should direct my anger.

But the total frustration took a good chunk of my freshman year to develop to the beast that it is now. In the beginning, I struggled with the idea of gender-neutral bathrooms as a girl coming from a country that had separate gendered lines at McDonald’s, but I was overly impressed with the star quality of my Keeney Quadran-

gle dorm. The kitchen was fantastic, the room was big and the lounge looked like it was straight out of a catalogue.

But then, as first semester came to an end, talk of the housing lottery and sophomore housing began. I didn’t know much about the lottery, but from what I had read online before coming to Brown and heard from upperclassmen, it sounded chaotic and stressful. A lot of people said it would

The flaws come from several different angles, but first I will bring attention to the most glaring mistake: dorms seem to get worse and worse as you rise in class year.

Freshman dorms are easily the best, with Andrews’ sinks and Keeney’s high-tech facilities. Then come sophomore dorms, with Littlefield dorms — Hope, Caswell, Littlefield — reigning. Then the rest fall short to program houses and fraternities.

20 percent content with upperclassman housing.

This aspect of the backwards improvement of dorms according to class year is just one notch on ResLife’s bad guy belt — other notches include relocating students to misplaced dorms and randomly assigning rooms to students returning from studying abroad.

But I think the very method ResLife uses to assign students their

It didn’t take long for me to realize the lottery — electronic or not — is a flawed system that doesn’t achieve any community goals that I would hope ResLife tries to achieve.

be different during my year because it was going electronic for the first time. Still, I didn’t understand what the process was in the first place to feel better about the situation.

It didn’t take long for me to realize the lottery — electronic or not — is a flawed system that doesn’t achieve any community goals that I would hope ResLife tries to achieve.

My knowledge of junior dorms extends as far as Graduate Center, which has been described as a jailhouse to me on several occasions, and New Dorm, which is nothing to write home about. Then the seniors are left — with 80 percent of them choosing not to be thrown under the bus anymore and making the decision to live off campus, and the small

dorms fundamentally destroys the potential for a stronger Brown community.

For example, at peer institutions such as Harvard and Yale, students remain with one house until they graduate. Within those houses, rooms are improved as the student rises in year, unlike Brown’s system that doesn’t guarantee that. Regard-

less, the idea that you could graduate with a house reflects an image of community and allegiance that fosters a more interconnected environment that I do not see at the University.

Living in a single in Goddard, I do not know anyone on my floor save for my Community Assistant who is part of a wider Residential Peer Leader program that I do admire and appreciate. There is absolutely no community, as hard as the RPL program tries for sophomores.

I do not blame the program — I blame the fact that there is no community mindset during the lottery to begin with. If anything, any community I may have had in my freshman year vanished after everyone was split apart, since the lottery does not even guarantee that you can remain with your friend group.

Even without knowing all of the mechanics and reasons behind ResLife’s process, I believe Brown would have a completely different atmosphere — one that fosters a spirited sense of community and improves students’ relationships with their neighbors — if it had a more cohesive and community-based residential life system.

Sara Al-Salem ’17 can be reached at sara_al-salem@brown.edu.

Proposed Ratty renovations reveal wrong priorities DUNCAN WEINSTEIN opinions columnist

After five years of discussion, proposals to renovate the Sharpe Refectory are moving along, as The Herald reported last week. Part of President Christina Paxson’s P’19 strategic plan, renovations would likely include a remodeling of the dining room, as well as the electrical, plumbing, heating and ventilation systems. Though these alterations could yield some positive improvements like new stations and more variety, a complete overhaul of the Ratty is unnecessary and likely very expensive.

First, there’s a lot of good to say about the Ratty as it is now. It’s the home of many Brown traditions: Fratty in the Ratty, the Ratty Challenge and Gail, to name a few. The square tables promote conversation; the chairs are comfortable. There’s always something edible, a variety of options and as much to eat as one could want.

Not to get too philosophical, but the Ratty is filled with symbolic harmonies: the square tables in a square building and the four food lines balancing each other in symmetry. The light filtering in through the windows, though its source is seldom noticed. The weird hanging circles, which I assume exist to dampen the ambient noise. The Ratty is, if you really think about it, a miracle of civilization.

Not only that, it’s a miracle of civilization that has been largely consistent for 50 years.

It’s something generations of Brown students

have experienced, something they all have in common. It’s one of few things that ties current Brown students — so different in so many ways — all together. It’s a place many people think of with nostalgia as soon as they go off meal plan.

On a more practical level, some of the arguments made for renovating the Ratty are flawed.

While the Ratty does have long lines during the lunch rush, so do Andrews Dining Commons and sometimes the Blue Room.

When so many students have a lunch break at the same time, a line is unavoidable.

while admirable, seems both unnecessary and far-fetched. Andrews Commons, the Blue Room, the Ivy Room and Josiah’s are all better venues for students off meal plan to purchase food than the Ratty would be. It seems more realistic to expect that off meal plan students would purchase food than that they would bring their own.

Could the Ratty be configured to be more friendly to students off meal plan? Sure. Does it have to be, given all the other options that exist? No. Ultimately, the decision to renovate isn’t just about taste — literal or aesthetic — but

Ultimately, the decision to renovate isn’t just about taste — literal or aesthetic — but about priorities.

Next, there’s the argument that Undergraduate Council of Students President Maahika Srinivasan ’15 told The Herald that Ratty fare is so boring that “we’re looking at four days in a row of serving grilled cheese.” That’s a hyperbole. There’s usually grilled cheese once a week, often on Sunday evening. Everyone knows that. And sure, the Ratty could add another station or two. Sounds great. But that’s a tweak, not a full-scale renovation.

One of the proposals for the renovation is a seating plan that would allow students both on and off meal plan to sit together. That idea,

about priorities. The Ratty works just fine, some would say better than fine. Instead of the renovation, the money could be used to improve the Ratty in other ways, like adding berries to the fresh fruit selection or adding more grass-fed meats. Or it could be put into other areas, like dorm renovations or financial aid. It’s not that the Ratty should never, ever change, but that a complete gutting of the Ratty is not the best use of limited University resources.

Provost Vicki Colvin told The Herald that Brown should strive to make dining a larger

part of campus life, like at peer institutions.

She cited the example of Princeton’s eating clubs, which, unlike the Ratty, are private.

While I’m all for Brown facilitating student life, not every University decision needs to be about keeping up with the Joneses.

In fact, that kind of thinking can get very expensive, very quickly. Striving to match every other university in every aspect may prove financially impossible and even disastrous.

While facilities are unquestionably important, the renovation budget ought to account for the 4.4 percent tuition hike recently approved by the Corporation and the projected $4.4 million operating deficit for fiscal year 2016.

When the University replaced the old Gate with Andrews Commons, it cost a whopping $56 million for more dining options and a new location that some students find aesthetically distasteful. The Ratty renovation would likely be even more expensive, since it would include a remodeling not just of the dining room, but also of the electrical, plumbing, heating and ventilation systems.

That’s according to Richard Bova, senior associate dean of residential life and dining services. Clearly, we’re not talking about chump change here.

Hey, Dean Bova, if you’re looking for other suggestions, I wouldn’t mind some more Cajun chicken pasta.

Duncan Weinstein ‘17 can be reached at duncan_weinstein@brown.edu.

UNIVERSITY NEWS THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2015

Three sororities see record rush, bid numbers In Kappa Delta’s second year on campus, female undergrads show heightened interest in Greek Life

By LAUREN ARATANI STAFF WRITER

A record 207 female undergrads participated in the sorority recruitment process this year, marking an approximately 48 percent increase from the 140 students who sought bids last year, said Maggie Johnson ’16, vice president of the Panhellenic Council, public re-

lations chair for Greek Council and member of Kappa Alpha Theta.

This year’s sorority recruitment process kicked off Feb. 6 and lasted four days, with the University’s three sororities — Alpha Chi Omega, Kappa Delta and Theta — distributing bids Feb. 9.

“People are finding new ways to find communities and social outlets,”

Sorority recruitment skyrockets

The number of female undergrads who participated in recruitment this year is more than double that of two years ago. 135 of those who rushed this year were offered bids to one of the University’s three sororities.

250 undergrads 200

207

150 140

100

95

50 2013

2014

2015

Source: Maggie Johnson ’16 AVERY CRIST-CHRISTOPH / HERALD

Johnson said of the increased interest in joining a sorority.

The Panhellenic Council accommodated for the influx of interested students by holding additional recruitment events and increasing the maximum number of bids each house could extend.

Of the 207 students who partook in the recruitment process, 135 students were offered bids to one of the three houses — an 80 percent increase from the 75 bids allocated last year, Johnson said.

Though 72 students were not given an invitation to join a house, some of them had already decided to drop out of recruitment before final decisions were made, she added.

Forty-three bids were given to potential new members of Theta, said Meredith Heckman ’16, the sorority’s president. Theta offered 28 bids last year.

Heckman attributed the overall rise in new recruits to the sororities’ engagement in the Brown community, adding that all three houses are “extremely involved on campus.”

This marks the second year that KD formally gave bids, following the creation of its Brown chapter in 2013.

KD offered 46 bids, an increase from 28 bids last year.

“It can be overwhelming, but Panhellenic makes (recruitment) a good environment for all three sororities,” said Cara Mund ’16, president of KD. Though KD “felt more prepared” in

MATTEO MOBILIO / HERALD

Kappa Delta, one of the three sororities on campus that had recruitment this weekend, gave out 46 bids to potential new members. its second year of recruiting new members, AXO and Theta have acquired knowledge and resources over the years while KD “still feels new,” Mund said.

“Having a third sorority has made (Greek Life’s) presence on campus a lot bigger,” Mund said. “More girls are reaching out and trying to have networks with girls in different areas.”

The Panhellenic Council was “excited to extend invitations to such a high number of female students” this year and become more of an “inclusive community with a place for everyone,” Johnson said.

This was the second year that the Panhellenic Council used a computer-based system to organize the recruitment process, Johnson said. The council “looks at online trends” to help accurately match students to houses according to their preferences, she added.

Given the spike in students seeking to join sororities, the Greek Council is considering expanding Greek Life on campus and evaluating the measures that would require, Johnson said.

Those who have received a bid from a sorority have until Feb. 26 to confirm their status as new members.

Lecture explores healing power of music, medicine Doctor Lisa Wong shares career path that intertwines passion for healing, music, sciences

By ELIZABETH CONWAY SENIOR STAFF WRITER

“In the arts, we are all learners,” said Lisa Wong, pediatrician, musician and author of “Scales to Scalpels: Doctors Who Practice the Healing Arts of Music and Medicine,” addressing the symbiotic relationship between medicine and the arts in a lecture Wednesday in Pembroke Hall.

“Musicians can learn from physicians,” Wong told students and community members assembled in Pembroke Hall. “Doctors can learn from musicians,” she said, adding that she believes music has the power to heal.

“Who in here plays an instrument? Who is an artist?” Wong asked, prompting almost all of the audience members to raise their hands.

Wong’s presentation focused on her book and life’s work of revealing the parallels between music and medicine and challenging common beliefs about the perceived polarity of the two fields.

Wong said she grew up playing the violin, viola and piano. Her musical initiation began in school with her first instrument, a baritone. The instrument was “too big” for her petite frame, her petite frame, so she switched to violin.

She attended Punahou School, a private school in Honolulu that is also President Obama’s alma mater.

“Obama was in eighth grade when

SCIENCE & RESEARCH

I graduated,” she said.

Wong aimed to uphold Punahou’s commitment to service by volunteering at Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children. Each week, she visited several bedridden children — both locals and foreigners who were recovering from surgeries — and played them music.

“By the time I graduated from Punahou, my path was clear — I wanted to be either a music educator or music therapist, or somebody who worked with children in a healing setting through music,” Wong said.

After graduating from Punahou, she matriculated at Harvard, where she became friends with cellist YoYo Ma, who lived in her dorm. She later pursued a medical degree at New York University and completed her pediatric residency at Massachusetts General Hospital. She currently works as a pediatrician at Milton Pediatric Associates.

But her career extends far beyond the medical exam room. Wong has devoted her life to focusing on the merging of the arts and sciences. Arts require “collaboration, curiosity, (the) ability to listen,” she said, adding that “it’s a way of thinking that weaves together disparate ideas.”

To be an artist, one must “evaluate information, recognize patterns and build on previous knowledge and technical skills,” she said, simultaneously demonstrating how a physician employs the same three processes.

Wong also served as president of the Longwood Symphony Orchestra, a Boston-based group comprising medical professionals devoted to the healing properties of music. Wong joined the orchestra during her residency and became president in 1991. The orchestra partners with three Boston hospitals and 18 medical schools and has worked with 48 local health care organizations since its inception.

As a member of the orchestra, Wong said she has found that “every patient has a story,” and that the ensemble walks away from each concert “having learned more from our performance than the people we were playing for.”

Throughout her talk, she cited numerous anecdotes and messages from colleagues, musicians, medical professionals and people who have inspired her work.

Wong repeatedly stressed the importance of the “transcending technique,” an idea she borrowed from Ma. She also told a story about her friend Terry Buchmiller, a pediatric surgeon at Boston Children’s Hospital who incorporates music into the operating room.

A music teacher once asked Buchmiller to practice eight bars of a Mendelssohn concerto for an entire week in as many different ways as she could.

Buchmiller “thinks of that when doing surgery and tying knots, because every knot is different,” Wong said.

The knots depend on the “size of the child, the condition and the situation,” she said.

Wong also mentioned Thomas Sudhof, a recipient of the 2013 Nobel

Prize in Physiology or Medicine, who cites his basoon teacher as his most influential instructor. Sudhof credits his ability “to practice and listen” as a doctor to his teacher’s music lessons, Wong said.

This fusion of music and medicine is not a new idea. Wong cites Theodor Billroth as inspiration. Billroth was an amateur violist, music writer, pioneer in cancer technology and refiner of anesthesia in the 1800s who claimed differentiating the arts and sciences was a “superficiality.” Wong noted physicians who have studied relationships between music and neuroscience, pitch perception and dyslexia.

Several students in attendance told The Herald they appreciated what they viewed as Wong’s passionate presentation. “(Wong) points to the fascinating idea that music and medicine are not on opposite sides of the spectrum, but are more deeply interconnected and rooted in similar sentiments than many people believe,” said Connie Liou ’16 MD’20.

“I really liked how Dr. Wong visualized music and how it can affect various tiers of the individual, of the community and of the world and our experience,” said Lauren Galvan ’16 MD’20.

Galvan, an independent concentrator in mental health and healing, said she played the saxophone for seven years. A class in which she is currently enrolled, PLME 0500: “Creative Dimensions of Medical Decision-Making,” inspired her to attend the lecture.

“I never once thought of saxophone and the musical process as related to

medicine or my future goals at all,” she said. “But to see someone trying to connect them and what she had to say made me connect my past self with my present self and future goals.”

Bill Zahn ’16 said, “It’s exciting to explore the intersection of medicine and humanities, because we have a real need for humanist physicians who are comfortable with the ambiguity and creativity of the discipline.”

Wong concluded her lecture by addressing the challenges that today’s youth face with music.

Though varying curriculums and “different priorities” have edged out music in schools, Wong encouraged students to pursue music to foster “interdisciplinary” and “creativity.”

She also addressed students who are concerned about their interests in both art and science. “There’s a lot of question about how to balance the art form that I love and my education while serving the community,” she said.

“The balance is always going to be one that fades in and fades out. But it can be done. So I encourage you just to enjoy the ride.”

“Scales to Scalpels” was the third event in the 2014-2015 Creative Medicine Series co-sponsored by the Department of Emergency Medicine, the Creative Arts Council and the Cogut Center for the Humanities.