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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015
VOLUME CL, ISSUE 19
WWW.BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM
Vigil honors UNC R.I. receives grant to research shooting victims black history on College Hill Student-organized event aimed to let community members process emotions, honor victims By JOSEPH ZAPPA UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR
About 75 undergraduates and community members gathered on the Main Green Friday to mourn three Muslimstudents at the University of North Carolina who were murdered Feb. 11. Deah Barakat, Yusor Mohammad and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha were fatally shot in their apartment by a neighbor. Vigil attendees stood solemn-faced in a semicircle in front of the Faunce House steps, cupping their hands to shield the flames of slim white candles from a biting breeze as Adrian WoodSmith, associate University chaplain for Muslim students, addressed the crowd. The vigil marked an opportunity for students to process the “pain we feel in our hearts” after last week’s incident, Wood-Smith told the crowd.
The event, organized by the Muslim Students Association and the South Asian Students Association, centered on commemorating the lives of the deceased and facilitating a healing process for Brown community members who were particularly struck by the murders. “I held it as a vigil because I think their lives needed to be honored,” said Aditya Kumar ’17, one of the event organizers. The shootings exemplified how “it can be scary or difficult for people who identify as Muslim” to live in the United States, where Islamophobia is a “very real and structured form of oppression,” Kumar said. “I didn’t want to make it an event about Islamophobia,” he added. “It was most important to honor their lives and memorialize them.” After a few words recognizing the tragedy and honoring the victims, Wood-Smith called for a moment of silence, which culminated in a quiet, candle-lit march toward Manning Chapel. As the first of the participants entered Manning, the long, winding » See VIGIL, page 2
Black Rhode Islanders’ contributions to inform National Register of Historic Places listing By ELAINA WANG SENIOR STAFF WRITER
The Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission is currently working with the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society as part of a new $25,000 grant to research black history in the College Hill Historic District. The state was one of 13 to receive a grant through the National Park Service’s initiative to broaden the diversity of property listed under the National Register of Historic Places, said Joanna Doherty, RIHPHC senior architectural historian. Rhode Island’s proposal focused on the College Hill Historic District, which was originally nominated for the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. It includes the area bordered by Olney Street, Hope
METRO
ELI WHITE / HERALD
The RIHPHC will seek to incorporate the history of black College Hill residents into the National Register of Historic Places. Street, George M. Cohan Boulevard and the Moshassuck and Providence rivers, according to RIHPHC’s Jan. 29 press release. The grant will aim
to revise the listing to include the history and contributions of black people in the area. » See GRANT, page 2
‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ does not leave audience begging for more
Bruno defeats RPI, Union to push win streak to three
Long-anticipated film adaptation of popular erotic novel disappoints in all aspects
Goal from De Concilys ’15 lifts Bears to win over defending national champion Union
By ZACK BU SENIOR STAFF WRITER
After endless discussion in the media, delving into casting fuss and release date strategies, the highly anticipated film adaptation of “Fifty Shades of Grey” hit theaters this weekend. Though the film’s creators promised it would whip the audience to climax and break cinematic barriers by depicting tantalizing BDSM sexual scenes still foreign to mainstream cinema, it failed to live up to the hype. The plot is jarring and tepid, sex scenes take up very limited screen time and those that did make the cut are hardly arousing or erotic. If anything, “Fifty Shades” works best as unintentional comedy. Bringing the romance between college student Anastasia “Ana” Steele and
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INSIDE
successful young entrepreneur Christian Grey to the silver screen was an obvious choice. E.L. James’ immensely popular erotic novel has sold over 100 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 52 languages. The book, originally written as “Twilight” fan fiction, substituting vampires and werewolves with rope and riding crops, has brought BDSM into mainstream vocabulary. The plot reveals Christian’s special interest in BDSM and rejection of a normal relationship with virginal Ana, who searches for a more traditional romance. But any dramatic conflict is quashed by unabashedly bad writing, a preposterous narrative and conversations sounding like they fell straight out of an amateur stack of pornography. The characters are one-dimensional and far less important than the preconceived storyline, which in turn is far less important than the titillating sexual experiences. And therein lies the movie’s core flaw: In crafting a plot around a BDSM relationship, James and the filmmakers neglected to represent the sexual practice at its heart accurately.
It’s ironic how this manifests in the story. Nudging Ana towards BDSM, Christian presents her with a contract to establish boundaries during sexual engagement. This kind of practice is common in BDSM, since it facilitates safety and enjoyment for all involved parties. But Christian’s respect for Ana falters in other key areas: Christian’s core strategy of wooing Ana involves stalking her with fancy gifts. His good looks and personal helicopter are used to divert attention from his predatory and controlling behavior, a glimmering sheen ridden with problematic manifestations. James falsely uses BDSM, confusing it with abusive relationships. Many BDSM practitioners have protested the novel’s portrayal of aggression and misogyny as a legitimate sexual preference. Director Sam Taylor-Johnson and screenwriter Kelly Marcel had limited ability to move past the source material’s misconceptions, as James retained a tight level of control. Fortunately one decision raises the adaptation beyond train-wreck status: the elimination of » See 50 SHADES, page 2
M. HOCKEY
By MATTHEW BROWNSWORD SENIOR STAFF WRITER
The Bears entered their weekend against ninth-place Rensselaer (922-1, 7-11-0) and 10th-place Union (14-14-2, 6-11-1) with confidence, coming off a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Harvard (13-8-3, 9-6-3) two weeks ago. Despite the poor standings of Bruno’s opponents, RPI had four more conference wins than Brown and Union had demolished the Bears 7-1 earlier in the season. Last weekend, it was finally Brown’s time: Following a 6-3 whooping of the Engineers in which the entire first line of Mark Naclerio ’16, Nick Lappin ’16 and Matt Lorito ’15 scored goals, Brown took its revenge and defeated the Dutchmen 1-0. A goal from Joey De Concilys ’15 — the
senior defenseman’s sixth tally of the season — was enough to push Brown past the defending national champion. Friday, the Bears traveled to Troy to take on the struggling Engineers, whose conference record accounts for nearly 80 percent of their wins this season. Brown got off to a rough start, allowing a goal to Jacob Laliberte after only a minute and 19 seconds of hockey. Laliberte’s goal marked the ninth time that the Bears had allowed a goal in the first five minutes of the first period, an example of how poorly Brown has started games this year. But — as their performances in the last three weeks have shown— this was not the same Brown that struggled so mightily earlier in the season. Joey Prescott ’16 put one past goaltender Jason Kasdorf for his second goal of the season. The junior has only played in 11 of the Bears’ 25 games, but has scored twice in two wins against RPI. With eight minutes left in the period, Naclerio got his eighth goal of the year to give Brown a » See M. HOCKEY, page 3
WEATHER
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015
ARTS & CULTURE Joshua Sevits’ “Free Weed” exhibition plays with objects, shapes, pastels
ARTS & CULTURE Radical Artists workshops provide therapeutic art for students, local youths
COMMENTARY Mills ’15: Students should actively voice their opinions on Ratty renovations
COMMENTARY Sweren ’15: The University should do more to cultivate College Hill food options
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UNIVERSITY NEWS PAGE 2 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
» GRANT, from page 1
SADIE HOPE-GUND / HERALD
Joshua Sevits’ artwork uses dynamic flat shapes in pastel to compare people to objects. The exhibition will run through Feb. 26.
Exhibit explores artist’s childhood through shapes Personalized works by Vermont artist find common ground amongst folk, pop, curio art By LAUREN ARATANI STAFF WRITER
Walking into the Sarah Doyle Women’s Center, the viewer is met by a large pastel pink painting covered in seemingly simple shapes — upon closer inspection, the shapes reveal themselves to be silhouetted human profiles and glass vessels. The painting is one of nine acrylic pieces that comprise Joshua Sevits’ “Free Weed” solo exhibition at the Sarah Doyle Gallery. Once every two years, the Sarah Doyle Gallery accepts artists’ applications to have their work displayed, said Sarah Cheung ’16, gallery coordinator. Works are chosen based purely on quality and often include “feminist references,” she said. “A lot of the artists are not the most well-known,” Cheung said. “Part of what the Sarah Doyle Gallery aims to do is promote artists that aren’t really out there already.” “Free Weed” aims to display the “varied associations that collected objects bring forth” and provide “humorous juxtaposition” and “uncanny associations,” according to the gallery’s website. Sevits hails from and currently resides in Vermont, which gives his works a “homey” feeling, Cheung said. Working in a rural setting, Sevits “relies on the
ARTS & CULTURE
» VIGIL, from page 1 line of mourners stretched back to the steps. Noting the frigid temperature, Kumar said he was “very pleasantly surprised” to see how many community members participated in the event and kept their candles lit despite the wind. Seated in pews before an altar adorned with white bouquets, participants listened as Kumar shared details about the “happy, loving, caring individuals” whose lives were cut short last Wednesday. Online sources such as the victims’ Facebook pages reflect that the three
Internet as the portal to the outside” a concept that he tries to display in his paintings, she said. “His works are very personalized and explore the themes of his childhood,” she added. Other paintings in the exhibition include “A Graveyard,” which takes up an entire wall of the gallery with its acrylic-painted styrofoam cutouts of red tombstones. The tombstones are engraved in blue with phrases such as “kill all hippies” and “power soul.” These dynamic red shapes contrast with the flatness of a painting on another wall entitled “Friends.” From afar, the canvas looks like a plain, gray pastel painting, but when approached at the correct angle, the viewer notes carved images of two busts. The seemingly flat pastel color comes to life with the subtle details that define Sevits’ work. “I continue to carve a space among naive, folk, pop art and curio,” Sevits wrote in his artists’ statement at the gallery. “I’m interested in opportunities to emphasize these American art forms.” Sevits’ works “depict such non-art objects as if they play the straight man in a comedy routine” and focus on his childhood reminiscences of “coexisting with the fragile objects” within everyday life, the statement reads. “It’s an interesting way of reducing people in a way in which they can be compared to objects,” said Zachary Dixon ’18, an observer at the exhibition. “Some of it seems to be abstract, but others don’t seem to have a point to it.” “Free Weed” will be on display until Feb. 26.
victims “were devoted to family and charitable work,” the New York Times reported Feb. 11. “All three students were committed to helping their communities,” Kumar said. After Abid Haseeb ’16, another event organizer, led a prayer, WoodSmith closed out the ceremony. He thanked community members for attending and invited those who were interested to stay for further discussion. “Though it is a tragic event, it’s something that brings us together,” Wood-Smith said. “There weren’t just Muslims there or just people who you would’ve been
The nomination process includes a description of buildings in the district and a statement of significance explaining why an area should be included, Doherty said. When the initial document was written to make College Hill a historic district, there was “literally one line about African-Americans in the whole document,” said Ray Rickman, RIBHS senior advisor and former state representative. It said that “African-Americans lived here … they’re poor, and they don’t take care of their property very well.” “The problem with that is onethird of African-Americans were not poor,” Rickman said, adding that the proposal’s writers “took the whole black race and painted them one color.” “Black history was erased,” Rickman said. The house of black painter Edward Bannister, the founder of the Providence Art Club, was included only because a wealthy woman who was an art collector lived there after him, Rickman said. “Bannister, who’s 10 times more famous than she is, doesn’t get mentioned.” The University has used Bannister’s house — also known as the “Vault” at 93 Benevolent Street — as a refrigerator storage site, the Providence Journal reported. Under this grant, the boundaries of the district will most likely stay the same, Doherty said, but the project will “add another layer of significance” to “sites already identified as historic but not for their association with African-American heritage.” The project will span two years of research and outreach “about how sites in the district relate to AfricanAmerican history,” and at the end of the project the amended nomination will be submitted for approval by the National Park Service, according to the press release. Possible sites include the brick schoolhouse on Meeting Street, which served as a school for black children in the 1800s, as well as the Providence Shelter for Colored Orphans on Olive Street that was built in the late 1900s, Doherty said. “Black-owned homes, data on blacks renting houses … and black neighborhoods within College Hill will be included, all the way back to colonial times with black slaves helping to build University Hall,” Rickman said. Other sites include the houses of opera singer Sissieretta Jones and Wriston Quadrangle, which used to be a mostly black neighborhood, Rickman said. stereotypically expecting,” Haseeb told The Herald after the event. “There were people from all different walks of life.” “It means a lot to me that the peers who I see on a weekly basis do openly and vocally show support for both Muslims and America,” he added. But beyond Friday’s gathering, discussion of the shootings may be more limited than some would hope, Kumar said. “I saw more on my (Facebook) newsfeed about Drake’s new album than the shootings,” he said. “The biggest issue I would see with some of these discussions is they’re not always taking place.”
This Week in Higher Ed BY JOSEPH ZAPPA, UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR
Iranians barred from some UMass Amherst programs The University of Massachusetts at Amherst will cease admitting Iranians to certain programs in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, Inside Higher Ed reported Monday. The university based its decision on U.S. sanctions imposed August 2012 that forbid Iranians who intend to participate in their country’s nuclear program from obtaining documentation to study in the United States. UMass Amherst’s policy states that its Iranian students and those at other universities have encountered difficulty reentering the country after studying abroad, Inside Higher Ed reported. The policy has spawned criticism for what some perceive as its broad understanding of the sanctions. Some feel the interpretation gives the university too much authority on the issue, Inside Higher Ed reported. Government agencies such as the U.S. Department of State, rather than universities, should make decisions on how sanctions relate to admission to university programs, Jamal Abdi, policy director for the National Iranian American Council, told Inside Higher Ed.
Princeton wins literary lotto Princeton received $300 million worth of books, including first folio Shakespeare works, one of 48 remaining Gutenberg Bibles and an original copy of the Declaration of Independence, Bloomberg reported Tuesday. The gift is the largest in the university’s history, according to a Princeton press release. Donated posthumously by William Scheide, a Princeton alum who died last year, the gift “will stand as a defining collection for Firestone Library and Princeton University,” Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber said in the press release. Anthony Grafton, a professor of history at Princeton who specializes in the cultural history of Renaissance Europe, deemed Scheide’s inventory a “treasure house.” The collection will prove particularly useful for scholars and students looking to conduct research, Karin Trainer, university librarian at Princeton, said in the press release. “At its core, the Scheide library is the richest collection anywhere of the first documents printed in 15th-century Europe,” she said.
Yale sanctions fraternity for sexual misconduct Yale barred its chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon from holding on-campus events and using university email until August 2016 after fraternity members made “inappropriate comments” about a female student at an initiation ceremony presentation, the New York Times reported Saturday. The fraternity attempted to stymie a university investigation of the incident, the Times reported. In a letter signed by fraternity brothers and made available to the Yale community by the university, Sigma Alpha Epsilon denounced the controversial remarks, stating that brothers not directly involved in giving the presentation had no prior knowledge of the comments, the Yale Daily News reported Friday. The letter also conveyed that the fraternity has taken action to improve its “internal culture,” as Sigma Alpha Epsilon headquarters now requires all brothers to receive sexual assault and harassment prevention training, the YDN reported. The university’s disclosure of details surrounding the Sigma Alpha Epsilon sanctions “contributes to discussions aimed at improving our campus climate,” Jonathan Holloway, dean of Yale College, wrote in a message to the student body.
» 50 SHADES, from page 1 Ana’s narration. Filled with phrases such as “holy crap”and “oh boy” and incessant references to her “inner goddess,” Ana’s narrative voice contradicts the idea that she has a strong grasp on conversational English, or that she studied literature in college. But while removing her first person narration makes her seem much smarter, it also eliminates an intimate knowledge of her feelings about her relationship with Christian. Self-referential comedy occasionally saves the audience from the abruptness and tediousness of the plot. Blatant euphemisms — Ana biting a pen with Grey’s name on it — and sexual naivete — when Grey offers to show Ana his “playroom,” she responds “like your Xbox and stuff?” — bring the film a much-needed awareness of its own cultural status.
Dakota Johnson shines as Anastasia Steel, in a performance almost unworthy for a character so clueless. Throughout the film, she is convincing and agile, giving the character a sensual quality not detectable in the book. Jamie Dornan, on the other hand, does not manage to uphold the intense sexual appeal described in the book, though the essence of the paradoxical Grey may render any characterization automatically unsatisfactory. Dornan’s performance is unresponsive and dull — instead of oozing confidence, he appears rather awkward. The discrepancies between the performances of Johnson and Dornan seem to ridicule the original power dynamic of the story — a transformation that unintentionally mocks James’ problematic romantic notions, but at the expense of chemistry or any chance of taking the film seriously.
ARTS & CULTURE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015 • PAGE 3
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
Radical Artists creates space for art as therapy Social innovation fellow hosts workshops meant to reduce creative inhibitions of students, local youth By GRACE YOON SENIOR STAFF WRITER
ELI WHITE / HERALD
Brown’s win against Harvard two weeks ago began a three-win streak. Mark Naclerio ’16 (pictured) and all the other members of the Bears’ first line scored goals against Rensselaer for a decisive 6-3 victory Friday.
» M. HOCKEY, from page 1 2-1 lead. The junior is tied for fourth in the ECAC in points with seven. The second period ended with the Bears still up one after both teams scored again. Matt Harlow ’15, a staple of Head Coach Brendan Whittet’s hard-working third or fourth line, got his third goal of the season before Milos Bubela answered for RPI. The third period was all Brown: Sam Lafferty ’18 struck 51 seconds into the period for his third goal of the season. The first-year is tied for seventh in the ECAC among freshmen in points, with 10. The first-year NHL draftees — Lafferty, Tyler Bird ’18 and Max Willman ’18 — have been on the same line for the last six games, combining to produce three goals, an assist and a combined plus/ minus of plus-two over that time span. “Their growth and improvement as a line has been great these past few weeks,” Lorito said. “They all bring something different to the table and they compliment each other very well.” RPI got a goal, making it a onegoal game for what would be the last time, as Lappin answered with a power play-goal — his eighth of the year — and Lorito scored an empty net tally — the 99th point of his career. Naclerio, Lappin and Lorito have not matched the incredible production rate of last year, when they totaled 39 goals and 57 assists. But in the last three weeks they have combined for 10 goals and five assists — an average of 2.5 points per game, just shy of last year’s 3.1 points per game pace. “We have just been more confident recently,” Naclerio said. “We all have
played together a lot throughout our years at Brown, and when we play smart and make sure we are doing the little things right, we find that we are rewarded.” “I think we just got back to playing the right way,” Lorito said. “When things weren’t going in for us I think we started to deviate away from the things that made us successful.” Saturday brought a trip to Union, which boasts the two top scorers in the league, Daniel Ciampini and Mike Vecchione. The first period was all Bruno, as it had a 14-9 shot advantage and a huge penalty kill late in the frame after Tyler Wood was sent to the box for a cross-check. “Against Union overall it was a very defensive game,” Naclerio said. “Both teams blocked a lot of shots and played well defensively. I don’t think it was necessarily stopping one or two guys, but more of us as a team making sure we take care of the puck in our own end and limit their chances offensively.” In the second period, Brown went on the power play for the first time in the game, and five seconds after the man-advantage expired, De Concilys rocketed one past goaltender Collin Stevens off the crossbar and in. “Joe has probably been our most consistent defenseman this year,” Lorito said. “It’s nice to have him chipping in offensively but his play defensively has been solid all year and he plays a lot of minutes for us.” Ryan Jacobson ’15 and Ben Tegtmeyer ’18 got assists — the third in six games for the latter. The first-year defender has been key in the improved play of the Brown defense over the last three weeks, tallying three helpers and a plus/minus of plus-five.
“He’s very gifted with the puck,” Whittet said. “He’s just going to get better every time he gets on the ice.” Union predictably pressed hard in the third period, as the Dutchmen targeted Tim Ernst ’17, who was the starter in the previous two wins. The shot difference in the final frame was 16-3 in favor of Union, but the sophomore refused to yield, making crucial save after crucial save. The 36-save shutout was the goaltender’s second shutout of the season. Over the three game winning streak, Ernst is second in the league in save percentage, only behind Saint Lawrence’s standout first-year goaltender Kyle Hayton. “Tim played incredibly all weekend,” Naclerio said. “We relied heavily on him to make the saves he is expected to make, but he also found a way to save a few grade-A chances. Against Union we played well all game as a team, but Tim really gave us a chance to win and helped us out when we needed him to.” This marked the first time that the Bears have swept the Union-RPI away trip since the ’03-’04 season, in which Brown was ranked as high as tenth in the nation. “Sweeping the weekend was a big step for us this year,” Naclerio said. “As a program, we just have always said we want to be playing our best hockey at the end of the year, and I think this weekend was a big step in that direction.” “It’s nice to get some wins at this point in the year,” Lorito said. “It’s been kind of a frustrating year up until this point but it doesn’t matter how you start — it’s how you finish and we still believe we can do something special.”
Making art with eyes closed may sound like a daunting task — but for some, it could be the perfect approach to accessing creativity and expression. Founded by Social Innovation Fellow Queen Nefertiti Shabazz ’17, the student group Radical Artists aims to provide workshops that use art as a tool for therapy. Shabazz attempted to launch the program at the University last October, but the events drew poor attendance, she said. This semester, the currently developing club has seen greater participation from both Brown students and local youths, she added. These art-as-therapy sessions ideally eliminate participants’ inhibitions in the creative process, taking place in settings such as darkrooms. “It was freeing because it removes the analytical part of art-making,” said Dora Mugerwa ’15, a member of Radical Artists, describing one of the activities. Shabazz originally started the initiative in her hometown of Berkeley, California in 2011. At the time, the initiative focused on providing a safe and relaxing space to engage in slam poetry. “Slam poetry can be very competitive and as a result detrimental to youth’s creativity,” Shabazz said. “There’s nothing wrong with competition, but when it comes to expressing yourself, sometimes you need to not think about how you did it in comparison to the other person.” At Brown, Radical Artists’ activities encompass a variety of art forms, including creative writing, painting and drawing. These freer forms provide means of expression “without
an emphasis on the product of the art but on the process of creating,” Shabazz said. As a Brown-RISD Dual Degree student, Mugerwa said RA’s art-astherapy sessions helped her apply art in a different manner than her work at RISD, which has been geared more toward critique and end product. RISD’s system is a “more stressful way than the way the club approaches art,” she said, explaining how she was drawn to the organization. In another RA session, Shabazz sprawled out her collection of manuals for art-as-therapy exercises onto a table. She had participants choose a book, pick a page with instructions for an exercise and either adapt it or use it to create a personal work of art, Mugerwa said. “I really felt akin to that activity,” said Khanittha Wang ’17, an RA member, adding that the process of personalizing the exercise brought out inner conflicts about her own self that she had previously repressed. “It’s been an experience of reflection — that’s really the key to being part of that club,” Mugerwa said. Shabazz said she hopes to expand the group’s mission to encourage community members and other RA members to hold the workshops themselves. “I’m now creating a manual of workshops so that youths themselves can facilitate” them, she said. As part of her fellowship, Shabazz is “working on creating innovative ways to develop communities using their artwork and finding ways to connect these communities, eventually creating a global support network,” she said. Shabazz has previously facilitated workshops with youths in the emergency room and the behavior unit at Hasbro and Rhode Island hospitals independent of the RA program. Looking ahead, she said she hopes the students who currently undergo RA therapy on campus can join in her work with local communities in the future.
SPORTS
PAGE 4 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
M. BASKETBALL
Second half determines Bruno’s fate against Princeton, Penn
Following loss to Tigers, Bears finish strong to defeat Quakers, escaping last place in league By CALEB MILLER SPORTS STAFF WRITER
Trailing 30-29 at the halftimes of both Ivy contests this weekend, the men’s basketball team played vastly different second halves, stumbling down the stretch 75-64 to Princeton Friday and running away from Penn 71-55 Saturday. The weekend split kept Bruno (1114, 2-6 Ivy) from falling to last place in the conference. While the Princeton game illustrated the Bears’ ongoing struggles finishing games against the league’s upper half, the young leadership’s performance against Penn could be a sign of good things to come. Princeton 75, Brown 64 The scouting report on Princeton would tell you that the Tigers like to fire three-pointers, and the team makes them at a higher clip than any other Ivy. Unfortunately for Bruno, that is not Princeton’s only strength. The Bears’ defense hugged the perimeter and looked determined to keep the Tigers from getting open threes. The strategy worked at limiting the treys — Princeton made just three in the game — but backfired when the Tigers began to exploit the lane with
slashing drives and backcuts. Shooting a scorching 65 percent as a team from inside the arc, the Tigers scored 42 points in the paint compared to just 26 for the Bears. “We went into the game really trying to stop the three,” said point guard Tavon Blackmon ’17. “As a result, we gave up a lot inside, which hurt us.” Bruno staved off Princeton runs in the first half, coming back from an eight-point deficit to take the lead just before half. Rafael Maia ’15 had a first half to remember, scoring eight points and pulling down an astounding 12 rebounds. By game’s end, he had set a career high in boards with 16. A 12-0 run by the home team to open the second half proved to be the difference. Princeton guard Stephen Cook, who had the first five points of the run, netted 18 points to lead all scorers. But Princeton, true to form, received balanced contributions from its roster. Four starters ended in double digits and four more Tigers scored off the bench. The Bears have rarely let teams coast to victories this season, and they mustered a comeback attempt Friday on Blackmon’s back. The sophomore was the only player on Brown’s roster to score between the 11:03 mark and the 3:46 mark in the second half. He had 10 points during this stretch, and the once 13-point Princeton lead was down to just three. But Amir Bell and Hans Brace combined to score 16 of Princeton’s
next 17 points, as the game got away from Brown. Following the lead of Blackmon and Maia, Cedric Kuakumensah ’16 scored 12 points, and Dockery Walker ’15 chipped in eight off the bench. Brown 71, Penn 55 Penn took a one-point lead into the locker room at halftime Saturday, but in the second half, the Quakers had no answer for the Bruno Class of 2017. Blackmon, Steven Spieth ’17 and J.R. Hobbie ’17 compose a sophomore class that is as dynamic as any in the Ancient Eight. They combined for 54 of Bruno’s 71 points at Penn — including 34 of 42 points in the second half — and every time the Bears needed a play, it was one of the underclassmen who stepped up. Head Coach Mike Martin ’04 had another name Saturday night for the trio of sophomores leading his club: “the core of our future.” “They each bring something different to the table,” he said. “We’re putting a lot on their shoulders.” The Bears took control of the game in the first six minutes of the second half. Blackmon opened the half with a three-pointer, followed by two treys from Hobbie in the next four possessions. Hobbie poured in a game-high 21 points and flushed 5-of-7 from beyond the arc. “When (Hobbie’s) making shots, we’re a different team,” Martin said. The closest Penn could make it was
JOSH STERN / HERALD
Tavon Blackmon ’17 (pictured), Steven Spieth ’17 and J.R. Hobbie ’17 scored 54 of Bruno’s 71 points against Penn Saturday. five points, but late free throw shooting — including 10-of-11 by Spieth — kept the Quakers at arm’s length. Besides the sophomore’s potent attack, Bruno did an excellent job restricting Penn’s heavy hitters. Leading scorer Tony Hicks finished 1-of-12 from the floor, and his frustration was so visible that he drew a technical foul at an important moment midway through the second half. Bruno’s defensive game plan focused on stopping Hicks, Martin said. When Hicks tries to score, “let’s have him seeing three or four white jerseys,” Martin said he told his team.
“I didn’t think our ball movement was great,” said Penn Head Coach Jerome Allen, adding that the technical foul “was a sign of where we are as a team in terms of our maturity.” A 16-point conference victory on the road is uplifting for any team, especially one that has “struggled down the stretch in close games,” Martin said. “That was one of our better performances,” he added. Columbia (11-11, 3-5) and Cornell (12-12, 4-4) both bested Bruno two weeks ago, so the Bears will be tested when the New York Ivies visit the Pizzitola Center this weekend.
W. HOCKEY
Bruno finishes weekend winless against Union, RPI Bears get 27 saves from goalie Elvin ’17 in narrow loss to RPI, look to bounce back this weekend By NIKKO PASANEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
It was a tough weekend for the women’s hockey team, letting a late lead slip away against Union Friday night before falling to Rensselaer the following day. “These were close games this weekend that we were capable of winning,” said goaltender Monica Elvin ’17. “We can go into this coming weekend ready to have more to show for our effort.” It certainly looked like Bruno (5-21-1, 2-17-1 ECAC) was going to come away with a win against the Dutchwomen (4-21-7, 1-15-4), but after allowing two goals in the last seven minutes, it had to settle for the tie. After quickly falling behind in Friday night’s contest, the Bears showed some resilience early in the game when Sam Donovan ’18 netted a goal with under five minutes left in the first period to knot the score at one. It was the 10th goal on the season for Donovan, whose performance demonstrated that she will likely be a key
member of the team in years to come. In the second period, Bruno dominated play, outshooting Union 9-2. The team’s strong play resulted in a second goal, this time from Janice Young ’15 on a power play just three minutes into the period. Katie Swanstrom ’18 got the third period off to a great start, quickly putting the puck in the back of the net to give the Bears a 3-1 lead. It seemed Bruno was well on its way to win at this point, but the defense could not quite hold on in the game’s final minutes. The Dutchwomen connected on goals with seven and five minutes left, sending the game to overtime when the final horn blew. The Bears looked to be the better team in the extra period, but none of their six shots translated to a goal, and the game ended in a 3-3 tie. The next contest did not bring better luck for Bruno, as it lost a 3-2 nailbiter to RPI (6-22-4, 4-15-1). The Bears dug themselves into an early 2-0 hole midway though the second period. But shortly after allowing the second score, Sarah Robson ’15 tallied an end-to-end goal to bring the score within one. Despite keeping the game close, the Bears conceded a third goal
six-and-a-half minutes into the last period and could not muster up quite enough play to tie the game. Donovan gave her team a chance by netting her 11th goal of the year with under three minutes to play, but the Engineers’ defense proved to be strong in the closing seconds. Elvin, who had an impressive 27 saves in the game, expressed high praise for her teammates’ efforts over the weekend. “Sam Donovan really showed up big for us this weekend with a few points,” she said. “Sarah Robson was also on a tear, scoring a momentumchanging goal Saturday.” The Bears now prepare to take on Princeton (14-11-2, 12-7-1) and No. 5 Quinnipiac (23-6-3, 14-4-2) this weekend, as they close out their regular season at home. Though any hopes of the postseason have been dashed, Elvin said there is still a lot to play for. “We are simply playing for each other, especially for those seniors who will be competing next to us for the last time,” she said. “We’ve gone through a lot of ups and downs as a team this year, and I think one takeaway of it all is that we know we can come together and rally.”
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TODAY
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015 • PAGE 5
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
menu
icing on the green
SATELLITE DINING JOSIAH’S Gnocchi BLUE ROOM Mediterranean Pocket Soups: Hearty Country Vegetable, Tomato Florentine, Baked Potato ANDREWS COMMONS Pizzas: Honey Boo Boo, Mushroom Madness, Thai BBQ Chicken
DINING HALLS SHARPE REFECTORY LUNCH
DINNER
Chicken Fingers, Vegan Nuggets, Carrots in Parsley Sauce, Vegan Brown Rice Pilaf
Pork Lo Mein Stir-fry, Stuffed Filet of Sole, Vegan Stir-Fried Noodles with Tofu
VERNEY-WOOLLEY LUNCH
DINNER
Fr i e d F i s h S a n d w i c h , Mediterranean Eggplant Sauté, Sauteed Spinach w/Garlic
Meatloaf with Mushroom Sauce, Broccoli Quiche, Baked Spaghetti Squash
sudoku
SADIE HOPE-GUND / THE HERALD
As students enjoyed a four-day weekend in observance of Presidents’ Day, winter storm Neptune layered the Main Green with more snow Tuesday.
comics Ampersand | Wasita Mahaphanit ‘18
RELEASE DATE– Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Los Angeles Times Puzzle c r o sDaily s w oCrossword rd Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 Recitals showing promise 6 A way off 10 Big name in PCs 14 Braid 15 Where to get a bite on the street 16 Clue weapon 17 Abe’s youngest son 19 Friend on “Friends” 20 West Point newbie 21 Latin phrase usually shortened 23 Old hand 25 Exhortation from Santa, in Moore’s poem 28 Wrestling maneuver 30 Term of respect 31 “Liar!” in a playground 32 Nerdy types 35 Target 37 Shipping wts. 38 Halls product 41 NCR product 44 Reed in a hall 45 Stable rides for kids 49 Whodunit surprise 51 Org. with Eagles 53 Coin with 12 stars on its reverse side 54 Late-inning substitute 58 Like some grins 59 Crate up 60 Organisms of a region 62 Not fer 63 Gets the unspoken message ... which includes one of five synonyms found in this puzzle’s longest answers 68 53-Across fraction 69 Maui music makers 70 Lingerie fabric 71 Envelopepushing 72 Huff and puff 73 Bard’s “between”
DOWN 39 Mongolian 50 Like a string 1 Go (for) expanse bikini 2 __ française 40 Key lime __ 52 If all goes 3 Pond juvenile 41 Free from strife according to plan 4 “This Kiss” singer 42 Hurt suddenly, as 55 Hopping mad Faith a muscle 56 Frozen Wasser 5 Kept in a pen 43 Preparing garlic, 57 Holiday entrée 6 Tap into in a way 61 Turn to slush 7 __ Schwarz 64 Letters in a police 46 Persian Gulf 8 CIO partner record native 9 Keep up on the 47 Make a faux pas 65 Novelist Kesey issues? 48 Traditional Asian 66 Eighty-six 10 Neat sauce base 67 Explosive stuff arrangements 11 Nuclear reactor ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: need 12 Delta-zeta connection 13 Seasons a bit more 18 Pistons’ org. 22 Worker who gives people fits? 23 Honorary deg., perhaps 24 Fracas 26 Uppermost 27 Three-time MLB home run king 29 Advent mo. 33 Voting enclosures 34 Deli order 36 Word with modern or cave 02/18/15 xwordeditor@aol.com
P-Branes and Bosons | Ricky Oliver ‘17
calendar TODAY
TOMORROW
11:00 A.M.”THE PERSONAL AND THE POLITICAL”: A
5:00 P.M “THE CHALLENGING PATH TO PEACE:
WORKSHOP FOR THEATRE STUDENTS
ISRAEL, HAMAS AND THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY”
This workshop will offer students a chance to explore the relationship between personal identity and social context. 80 Brown Street
Brown Students for Israel will host Jeuralsem Post writer Eric Mandel, who will discuss the conflict between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. Wilson Hall 309
5:30 P.M. “MARCEL PROUST AND PHOTOGRAPHY”
4:00 P.M. AXOLOTL DAY AT THE SCIENCE CENTER
Mary Bergstein, professor of history of art and visual culture at the Rhode Island School of Design, will address the role of photography in Proust’s imagination. Rochambeau House
The sea creature-themed event will feature a presentation by axolotl hobbyist William Daniels, along with games, a raffle and pizza. The winner of the Axolotl Art Competition will also be announced. Sciences Library 315
6 P.M. “ENCODE A MESSAGE IN EDIBLE DNA”
The Computational Biology DUG will invite students to create edible models of DNA and learn about genetic information. Cider and cookies will be served. CIT 244 By Jeff Stillman ©2015 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
02/18/15
8:00 P.M. UNHEARD OPEN MIC
Musicians, poets, comedians and other performers will share their work. Those interested in performing should arrive early to sign up. Faunce, The Underground
COMMENTARY PAGE 6 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
EDITORIAL
Thanks to an anonymous donor Last weekend, the Corporation held its annual February meeting to vote on proposals, including funding and spending measures. The body approved a 4.4 percent tuition hike and accepted $63 million in gifts. A notable item from the Corporation’s triannual gathering is that the increase in financial aid outpaces that of tuition, perhaps in part because the rise in donations from the capital campaign reduces the burden on students. Spending on undergraduate financial aid is set to grow by 8 percent to $112.5 million, with added help for middle-income families with earnings that have typically excluded them from significant support, though they may not have had the savings to pay tuition easily. But the greatest point of support on financial aid comes for Resumed Undergraduate Education students. These are students who have been out of high school for more than six years but not yet completed bachelor’s degrees. Unless they plan to matriculate as first-years, and thus forfeit the chance to transfer two years of credits from other colleges, their applications are considered on a need-aware basis. But an anonymous gift of $15 million will increase funding for these students by $1 million annually for the next 15 years. While 17 RUE students currently attend Brown, this gift will allow the RUE population to increase gradually to 30 or more students. The limitation of need-blind admission to applicants who are American citizens has in recent years rightfully emerged as a point of criticism of the University. There have been repeated calls to extend the policy to encompass international and transfer students. But while those groups make up more than 10 percent of undergraduates, RUE students amount to less than 1 percent. Providing full scholarships for all of these students — an unrealistic but also unnecessary hypothetical proposition — would cost just $1 million. We should strive to make college affordable for all students, but we can most easily incorporate the non-traditional students without depending on further spending cuts or revenue increases. This is not to say that international and transfer students are less deserving than RUE students, but rather that RUE students often espouse an estimable commitment to education deserving of recognition by a liberal arts university that praises learning for the sake of learning. They are not following as well-trod paths as the usual herd of high schoolers who flock to Ivy League schools. Instead, for a variety of reasons, their lives led them down roads that did not head immediately toward college, and from these other experiences they are likely to bring with them an added appreciation of Brown’s opportunities. Because many RUE students are not supported by their parents, and may indeed have their own children and mortgages, their financial standing is among the most precarious. But since many of them receive support from the federal government as military veterans and their number is so small, meeting their needs would not exert a significant financial strain on the University. It is regrettable that the University did not preempt the gift by voluntarily increasing support for RUE students out of regular revenue years ago, but there is still room to show commitment to this unique sector of our community. Brown should be a place where students, as well as applicants, are treated equally, regardless of their parents’ economic standing. It may be many years before this principle can be applied to all undergraduates, but the University should continue making efforts to recognize the commitment shown by non-traditional students and the experiences they bring to our community.
M I R A N DA F R I E L
CORRECTION An article in Friday’s Herald (“A joint proposal: married to teaching, teaching while married,” Feb. 13) misstated that John Tyler P’12 P’16, professor of education, economics and public policy and associate dean of the graduate school, met his wife while working on her father’s farm. In fact, Tyler met his wife while working as a farmer and teaching at her father’s school. The Herald regrets the error.
Q U O T E O F T H E D AY
“There’s nothing wrong with competition, but when it comes to expressing yourself, sometimes you need to not think about how you did it in comparison to the
”
other person.
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.
— Queen Nefertiti Shabazz ’17
See radical artists on page 3.
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COMMENTARY WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015 • PAGE 7
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
Let’s talk about the Ratty WALKER MILLS opinions columnist
Sixty-five years ago the Sharpe Refectory opened its doors on our campus. No space has had more of an impact on the daily lives of Brunonians since. We eat there, we socialize there, we study there and some of us even work there. I would bet that by the time we graduate, we will have entered the Ratty far more times than any other University building. I eat most of my 20 meals a week at the Ratty — I’ve never gone to class 20 times in a week, and I’ve never been to practice 20 times in a week. The Ratty shapes our experience at Brown. Despite claims by Ratty apologists like my fellow columnist Duncan Weinstein ’17, it’s badly in need of renovation. But behold, that renovation is coming. In President Christina Paxson’s P’19 strategic plan, “Building on Distinction,” one of the bullet points under the heading of “Campus Development” states that the “Sharpe Refectory and a number of residence halls are long overdue for renovation.” It’s about time. Since Paxson released the strategic plan in October 2013, the University has been planning for a renovation of
the Ratty. Administrators hired an outside consultant, Envision Strategies, to run student focus groups and compile data about the dining environment at Brown. You may remember taking an online survey last February or March as part of this process. It will not be a quick affair — as a senior, I know I will never see a new Ratty. But it is imperative that we, as students, voice our opinions. I don’t want to be dramatic and claim that the Ratty has the capacity to define your experience at Brown, but it will certainly play
dent body, we have demonstrated an excellent capacity to make our voices heard. We often exercise this right when we feel we have been wronged. Let us exercise it to make sure the University gets this project right — really right. If the University gets it wrong, students are going to pay for it with their wallets, stomachs and social lives. There is potential to damage or destroy the mostused communal space on campus, and doom 50 years of Brunonians to cold food and long lines. This issue should have its place in our conversations.
subtle but clear ways, the food I was eating was improving my lived experience. Dining is also a profoundly social experience, and part of planning for a new dining hall is making sure it functions as a social hub. Breaking bread and sharing a meal are some of the easiest ways to form bonds of friendship and community. I remember when I was a first-year, one of the easiest ways to make friends was to ask someone to go get something to eat. I still try to get lunch or dinner with the people I want to stay close with. I’m not saying that by
I don’t want to be dramatic and claim that the Ratty has the capacity to define your experience at Brown, but it will certainly play a larger role than any other physical structure. a larger role than any other physical structure. I don’t think the University is unprepared or unwilling to think long and hard and make the right decisions regarding the future of dining at Brown. We have excellent administrators running our food service, from Brown Dining Services Director Gretchen Willis all the way to the student managers and cashiers. But we have a responsibility to future students and ourselves to make sure this project is done right. As a stu-
The way that we dine affects every facet of our lives. When I was in high school, I got tired of eating in the school cafeteria. We had fairly standard fare: hamburgers, pizza, small cartons of milk and the occasional steamed vegetable. But I couldn’t take it anymore. I was done with eating reheated and deep-fried food, so I asked my mom if she would pack a lunch for me. Within a month, I started to realize that I actually felt better. I could stay awake in class, I didn’t have a 2 p.m. crash, I was rowing faster in practice and so on. In
not talking about the Ratty we’re going to lose our ability to do those things, or that we have poor quality food now. It’s just that the food we eat and the spaces we use to socialize are going to be shaped by the new Ratty. This project has the power to change what we eat, how we eat and how we interact. Part of my inspiration for this column were three pieces that ran in The Herald recently: a Jan. 27 article on the Ratty renovation, a Feb. 3 editorial and the aforementioned column by Weinstein. I understand The Herald is not
the sole indicator of what students are talking about, but it is a good barometer. If you want to get more involved in the conversation, there are myriad ways to do so. The Undergraduate Council of Students just unveiled a feedback platform, WTF Brown, that allows users to make suggestions related to dining or other concerns, and the Ratty now has a suggestion box near the entrance. You can also join UCS to engage with administrators more directly or apply in the spring appointments process for any of the committees that have a say in the project, such as Residential Council, the Brown University Community Council or the Campus Life Advisory Board. This project could be the largest and most expensive construction project that the University undergoes in the next decade. The old Ratty is still serving students after 65 years of operation; we’re talking a hundred million meals over the last half-century. I want to be a part of the conversation about what is going to be built to serve the next hundred million meals. Don’t you?
Walker Mills ’15 is chair of the UCS Campus Life Committee and would love to keep talking about dining via walker_mills@brown.edu.
Hungry, hungry students EVAN SWEREN opinions editor
I didn’t make my college decision based on potential dining experiences. Sure, it might have helped to consider how each school feeds its students — just another barometer of an institution’s financial resources and dedication to student life — but in the multivariable game of college roulette, one less variable sounded good to me. I grew up making food, and save those early high school mornings when oatmeal magically made itself — thanks, Mom — I always involved myself in the cooking process. When I enrolled in Brown’s forced, first-year meal plan, it seemed like an acceptable assurance that I wouldn’t go hungry and could congregate with other students in a fixed place and socialize on a semi-scheduled basis. Yet I’ve been off meal plan since sophomore year. Everyone loves the Sharpe Refectory; it’s our watering hole. It’s where some relationships are formed that last lifetimes and where other relationships are mediated by plates of eggs and boxes of napkins. It’s where literature is made — heyo, Jeffrey Eugenides! There’s been a lot of hype about the upcoming renovations. People are loving the idea of an upgrade, even though nothing has happened yet. Sure, a lot of money is thrown at the University that administrators often feel the need to spend as soon as it falls into their hands — and which, by law, they must spend based on donors’ intent — but it frightens me when one of our new provost’s first initiatives is dedicated to creating a more aesthetic way to funnel food into our mouths. There is no way Brown has the money to create a dining experience akin to that at Princeton’s eating clubs or Yale’s residential college dining halls — the holy grails of cafeterias. I once ate at
Cap and Gown. You should have been there. People talk of the Ratty as though it’s a dinosaur, awaiting a meteor impact or volcanic eruption to render it into non-existence — as though we were at the culinary apocalypse or on “The Road” with no return. But that’s not the case. The Ratty serves legitimate food cooked in legitimate ways: with fire, which people have found reliable for over 300,000 years. The Ratty uses modernday appliances that became mainstream in the postwar boom of the 1950s, and which many of
Thayer restaurants. With subpar food and ambiance, these restaurants would have had every reason to complain. The trucks were stealing their dollars, which led to escalating tensions in 2012, The Herald reported at the time. Instead of rising to the level of their competition and adjusting their models and menus, these hurting restaurants cried uncle. The Providence Police came running and issued citations, and the trucks disappeared, pending hearings and the trucks’ acquisition of licenses.
EVAN SWEREN
you use in your dorm kitchens, your off-campus houses’ kitchens and your kitchens at home. The Ratty is old, but so are the books I read at the library, and they satiate me just the same. Again, I’m not against improvements. I’m just against Brown putting a Band-Aid on its arm when it has a broken foot. The University and Providence have dining options worth pouring money into — for one, the food trucks that dotted Thayer Street. These trucks gave the community much-needed flavor and flair, at least until the Providence Police Department cited multiple trucks for violations and temporarily banned them from parking on or near campus following a complaint from the Hope Street Merchants Association — presumably reflecting complaints from
Instead of dumping resources into an outdated but functional model like the Ratty, Brown should work with the state and the food trucks to bring more dining options to College Hill. To start with, this means creating designated parking spaces for food trucks. Al Dahlberg, director of the Thayer Street District Management Authority and the “primary liaison and lobbyist for the University in the Statehouse and City Hall,” according to the University’s website, said no trucks would be allowed to park in University spaces at a Feb. 5, 2013 TSDMA meeting. This makes sense, to a degree. There are location issues to resolve. There are environmental issues to consider. There are economic issues to discuss — like how to prevent trucks from enjoying
an unfair advantage over commercial restaurants by avoiding rent and state taxes. But this is an opportunity, not a nuisance. Yes, the trucks should pay taxes, meet health standards and obtain vending licenses. If they violate state regulations, they should be penalized accordingly. But we should open up the space — and the parking spots — for law-abiding vendors to exist. And here are some other ideas to stir the pot. I’m thinking meal credits at Mama Kim’s, or Bubby Kim’s — my yet-to-be-launched fusion-catessen enterprise. I’m thinking partnerships with extant Thayer staples, such as Bajas and East Side Pockets — places that are as much part of my college dining experience as any iteration of the Ratty. There are ways to navigate this terrain without unsettling the equilibrium and jeopardizing jobs and wages. A Brown-endorsed relationship with the many independent restaurants and food trucks on College Hill would enrich the undergraduate experience, potentially attract more business to the good restaurants and incentivize the bad ones to improve. While MunchCard — a payment system that gave students discounts at Thayer Street restaurents — offered this kind of innovation when it was launched in 2011, it was suspended indefinitely in 2012, The Herald reported at the time. Our campus is growing, our lives are faster and not every student has the time to settle in for a meal — plus, there’s no such thing as a quick Ratty meal. I’m not advocating for a complete abandonment of the dining hall experience. I’m just asking that we embrace our community and do something unique. Renovate the Ratty. Fine by me. But let us vote with our bellies and our cards and try something new. Give the students a say — and something to eat.
Evan Sweren ’15 is a Herald opinions editor.
SPORTS THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
W. SQUASH
Bears edge Franklin and Marshall for podium spot
Bruno falls to Cardinal in Kurtz Cup competition, taking third place in B Bracket championship By LAINIE ROWLAND SENIOR STAFF WRITER
The women’s squash team captured the third place title at the Kurtz Cup last weekend, defeating Franklin and Marshall (9-9) in the first round before falling to Stanford (4-9), which knocked the Bears out of contention for the title. Bruno (7-9) downed Williams (15-10) Sunday in the third place match. “Our goal was to actually win the Kurtz Cup,” said Quincy Beck ’18, Bruno’s number one player. “We had a close match with Stanford in the semifinals, and a few of the girls played some of the best squash I’ve ever seen them play. It was a great match, and we did everything we could, but we just couldn’t pull it out.” The Kurtz Cup is the women’s national team championship for the B bracket of college squash. Of Ivy teams, only Brown and Dartmouth (8-8) were represented in the B Division, while the rest of Bruno’s conference foes faced off for the Howe Cup in the A Division. Heading into the tournament, the Bears were ranked 11th nationally, which translated to a third-seed placement in the B Division. In the first round, Bruno squared off with Franklin and Marshall Friday at noon. While Bruno’s top three players recorded losses, the bottom six all notched wins to carry the Bears over the Diplomats 6-3. Bruno’s top three all faced rivals with higher ratings than them, while the next six out-rated and outplayed their opponents, a testament to the depth of the Brown squad. Earning wins were Mina Shakarshy ’15, Isabel Scherl ’17, Katherine Elliot-Moskwa ‘15, Skylar Murphy ’16, Isabel Pitaro ’16 and Alexandra White ’15. The ratings are calculated algorithmically in order to rank players relative to one another. The difference between the ratings of Bruno’s first and last player is approximately .4551, while the distance between the top and bottom of Franklin and Marshall’s roster is about 1.05. On
Friday, the top-heavy team fell to the more balanced and uniformly competitive team. “Everyone played well against F and M,” Shakarshy said. “The pressure was on our team because we are more highly ranked, while F and M had nothing to lose. There was definitely some nervous energy because of that, but I’m proud to say that everyone was able to refocus and put their nerves aside to ultimately win the match.” The Bears advanced to face Stanford in the semifinals Saturday. On Jan. 31 — the last time the two teams faced off — the Cardinal grabbed a close 5-4 victory over Bruno. But the Bears could not keep it so close this time, dropping a 6-3 decision. ElliotMoskwa, Murphy and White earned wins for the Bears. It took both Murphy and Elliot-Moskwa five games to do so, while White finished off her opponent in only three games. Stanford, which entered the tournament in the eighth seed of the division, continued to pull off the upset and earn the top title with a defeat of Dartmouth. The loss pushed Bruno into the third place game Sunday against Williams, another familiar rival. The Bears faced the Ephs as recently as Jan. 30, when they exacted a 7-2 win over their non-Ivy foe. History repeated itself as Bruno picked up another 7-2 win over Williams, earning a third place finish in the national tournament. While the Kurtz Cup marked the end of the season for team, select players will compete at the College Squash Association Individual National Championship. Beck will be away in Canada competing in another tournament, but Emily Richmond ’16, Hannah Hay-Smith ’17 and Shakarshy — Bruno’s two through four seeds — will take part in the individual championships. “They’ll have some great matches, and I think they’ll do really well,” Beck said. Shakarshy “is a senior, so this is her last tournament with the team, so I’m really excited for her,” she added. “I’m definitely already nostalgic,” Shakarshy said. “I know that I will continue to play and maybe even compete in the future, but there was something really special about playing with this team.”
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2015
W. BASKETBALL
Bears mauled by conference rivals Tigers, Quakers Bruno’s loss Friday gave Princeton most consecutive wins in program history By TANEIL RUFFIN SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Unable to build on positive momentum after notching several unexpected wins against Ivy rivals, the women’s basketball team dropped both games against conference elites Princeton and Penn over the weekend. “Although we took home two losses, there are still positives to take away from the weekend as well as important corrections to make moving forward,” said Ellise Sharpe ’16. “We played Princeton extremely well compared to the other Ivy teams. We are looking forward to a rematch in two weeks.” The Bears’ (9-13, 3-5 Ivy) first matchup of the weekend was against a dominant Princeton (23-0, 7-0) squad — currently ranked 16th in the nation. Knowing the Tigers’ offensive prowess, Bruno looked for a strong start to distance itself from its opponent. An almost instantaneous turnover from the visitors and an old-fashioned three-point play from Megan Reilly ’18 ignited a fire in the Bears early on. The home team managed to secure an 8-6 lead within the first three minutes of the contest. Not to be bested, the Tigers countered Bruno’s attack and eliminated thoughts of an upset. Shortly after the layup from Kennedy Martin ’18 that gave Bruno an edge, Princeton responded with a shot from behind the arc, which spurred a surge for the squad’s formidable offense and coincided with a three-minute scoring drought for the Bears. The threepointer also gave the Tigers a lead that they would not relinquish for the rest of the game. Despite efforts from Sophie Bikofsky ’15 late in the first half, the Bears faced a 20-point deficit when they headed to the locker room for halftime. The second half began in the same manner as the first, as Bruno employed its fast-paced offense to outscore the Tigers 10-4 to start the period. In spite of the offensive push, the Bears still could not come closer than 13 points behind for the duration of the contest, and Princeton claimed the 86-58 victory and maintained
DAVID DECKEY / HERALD
The Bears proved unable to shake off the Tigers this weekend, who claimed an 86-58 victory Saturday to maintain their perfect record. its perfect record. Friday’s triumph over the Bears gave the Tigers the most consecutive wins in program history. On Saturday, Bruno was able to quickly look past the previous night’s disappointment and again seized a quick lead over Penn (14-7, 5-2). Unlike the matchup against Princeton, the contest against the Quakers was a battle for almost the entire 40 minutes. “We made changes Saturday in the things that we did not do well in the game Friday night,” Sharpe said. The alterations were apparent as Bruno lit up the scoreboard in the game against Penn. The Bears and the Quakers both shot incredibly well throughout the game, with each team shooting above 55 percent in the first half. Much to the dismay of Bruno’s defense, five Penn players finished the game in double figures. Leading the way for the Bears offensively was Jordin Alexander ’16. The guard recorded 31 points — the most scored in a game since Barbara Maloni ’04 dropped 40 against Penn in 2000. On the defensive end, the Bears outrebounded Penn. The efforts on the glass were led by Martin, who grabbed a team-high and career-best 13 boards while contributing 16 points to complete her first career double-double. Sharpe also posted career highs in rebounds and assists. The first half, like much of the game, was a back-and-forth affair, with each
team gaining the momentum for a few minutes before it was captured by the other. The first 20 minutes of action saw six lead changes. A shot from deep at the 13-minute mark gave the Quakers a twopoint edge over the Bears and a lead that they would keep for the rest of the game. Coming out of the half with an eightpoint lead, the Quakers got on track to run away with the game with a couple of early buckets. But notable efforts from Alexander, Martin and Bikofsky slowed Penn’s attack. Unyielding intensity on both ends of the court enabled Bruno to narrow the margin to four points with just over a minute left in regulation, but the Quakers connected on seven of 13 free throws in the final seconds of the game and claimed the 83-75 win. Bruno hopes to get back on track as it hits the road to take on Columbia (7-15, 1-7) and Cornell (14-8, 5-3) this weekend. The team will not dwell on the losses but will use the performances to re-examine troublesome areas of play, particularly transition defense and communication. “We are using this past weekend as a teaching moment and moving on to the competitions we have starting Friday at Columbia,” Sharpe said. “After the losses, we are hungry for another win and we are using that as fuel for this weekend. We have the talent and determination to get another sweep.”
WRESTLING
Bruno roasts Johnson and Wales, falls to Harvard in Cambridge contests Bears lose to Harvard despite early 6-0 lead, close out weekend with win against Wildcats By GEORGE SANCHEZ SPORTS STAFF WRITER
The wrestling team split its weekend contests as it traveled to Cambridge to face Harvard and Johnson and Wales, coming away with a loss and win, respectively. The Bears (4-9, 2-6 EIWA) competed against the Crimson (3-7, 1-6) in their first meet Saturday. The squad attained an early 6-0 lead with help from Billy Waterson ’15 in a victory by forfeit. But Harvard quickly countered
with two consecutive victories and recaptured the lead, 7-6. The meet turned into a tug of war as the Bears quickly responded with a pair of victories. At 149 pounds, Steven Galiardo ’17 won via decision, earning three points for the team, while Justin Staudenmayer ’17 won via technical fall and tallied another five points onto Bruno’s lead. Five bouts into the meet, the Bears topped Harvard 14-7. The following three bouts included two losses for the Bears, countered with a win from Ophir Bernstein ’15, putting the Bears up
17-13. But Bruno quickly relinquished the lead, as the Crimson took the meet’s final two bouts via major decision and tacked on another eight points to its lead, ultimately winning 21-17. “We lost some close matches, which ended up hurting us,” Bernstein said. “It’s unfortunate that we lost a close dual like that, but we’re not training to beat Harvard, we’re training to be All Americans in March.” Saturday’s follow-up meet featured a dominating performance by the Bears over the Wildcats (18-7). Bruno held a 14-6 lead over Johnson and Wales five bouts into the meet and finished with seven victorious bouts.
At 157 pounds, Staudenmayer won his second bout of the day with another technical fall. Galiardo and Anthony Finocchiaro ’16 each won their bouts via decision — but unlike the earlier 14-7 lead over Harvard, the Bears capitalized on the opportunity. At 174 pounds, Ricky McDonald ’15 won via major decision and helped the Bears to an 18-9 lead, and following McDonald’s performance, Bernstein won via fall at 184 pounds to give the squad another six points. At 197 pounds, Sebastien Levin ’15 won via a 3-0 decision. The Bears finished the meet with a 27-15 lead over the Wildcats to bring home their fourth win of the season.
“We improved in some areas, but we still have some work to do before the conference tournament,” Bernstein said. Next up, the Bears will take on Columbia (4-5, 3-5) in their final home contest of the season on Senior Day this Saturday. “We’re not really thinking about Senior Day, we’re just focused on beating Columbia,” Bernstein said. “For me and the rest of the seniors, we realize that we’re almost done. So we’re focused on pushing ourselves to finish the season, and our careers, with a bang and perform to the best of our abilities throughout the next month.”