Tuesday, March 31, 2015

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2015

VOLUME CL, ISSUE 43

WWW.BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM

Grad school growth puts Detours enliven UCS, UFB campaign trail U. identity into question Expansion of master’s, PhD programs drives shift from university-college to research university

By BAYLOR KNOBLOCH SENIOR STAFF WRITER

This series will explore the first 1,000 days of Christina Paxson’s presidency. This story, the first of three, will look at the way her policies have affected the University’s identity.

1,000 DAYS: PAXSON’S PATH As Christina Paxson’s P’19 presidency passes its thousandth day, a debate that has been brewing since before her tenure continues to mount.

Bolstering the size and the strength of graduate programs, a major goal in her strategic plan, has incited tensions between the “university” and “college” components of Brown’s university-college identity.

Fortifying doctoral programs attracts strong faculty members across disciplines, while expanding master’s programs generates huge revenue through tuition fees.

Benefits like a stronger faculty and

financial gains also allow the University to stay competitive with its Ivy peers.

The specifics for just how much and exactly what kinds of growth the University anticipates remain abstract.

Provost Vicki Colvin said plans for growth in the Graduate School do not necessarily indicate that the University cares most about graduate programs.

“It’s more a correction in that we haven’t focused on the Graduate School very much. For example, in the last 10 to 15 years, we grew our faculty quite substantially, but we held the number of graduate students flat. That’s devastating for our academic programs.”

The rate of graduate student growth did not match the University’s overall expansion in a number of previous administrations.

“Somewhere along the way in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, we did fall a little bit behind,” Paxson said. “The University grew, but the graduate program pace didn’t keep up to where it should be. So we have been catching up over the last decade.”

From ‘university-college’ to research university Subtle adjustments in dialogue about the University’s mission suggest a change in emphasis from a model that prioritizes undergraduate education to a full-blown » See GRADUATE, page 2

RYAN WALSH / HERALD

Though joke candidates are less common at Brown than at some other universities, in 2007 a candidate was nominated by his friends for Undergraduate Council of Students president without his knowledge.

Write-ins, joke campaigns, unexpected withdrawals give color to Council elections history

By NATALIE FONDRIEST SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Elections start this week for the Undergraduate Council of Students and the Undergraduate Finance Board, but past races have run into hiccups due to occurrences ranging from joke campaigns to

candidate withdrawals.

Joke campaigns Eric Mukherjee ’09 did not know he had run for UCS president until after he had already been disqualified.

The 2007 Elections Board disqualified him after he missed both the mandatory elections information session and the candidates meeting and failed to submit proper campaign materials, The Herald reported.

When The Herald contacted Mukherjee about his campaign, it was the first

he had heard of it, and he was “flabbergasted” to learn of his campaign.

Mukherjee wrote in an email to The Herald that when he hung up the phone, he immediately asked his roommates, “What did you do?”

Ben Struhl ’09, along with the help of about 30 of Mukherjee’s other friends, was responsible for the campaign that ran “on a platform of abolishing UCS,” The Herald reported. They hoped to keep the secret from him throughout the nomination and debate process, Mukherjee said, » See UCS, page 3

Blood test may identify concussion, new study shows

Altered levels of protein biomarkers in blood following brain injury can be used as diagnostic tool

By ANDREW JONES SCIENCE & RESEARCH EDITOR

ELI WHITE / HERALD

Originally booked for List 120, a lecture by Sarah Koenig was moved last minute to a larger venue after event planners saw that 553 people had RSVP’d yes to the event on their Facebook page.

Koenig sheds light on creation of ‘Serial’ Radio host challenges traditional format with murder mystery, attracts 6.5 million listeners

By KATE TALERICO SENIOR STAFF WRITER

“What happened? How did this happen?” asked Sarah Koenig, a journalist and a

INSIDE

producer of “This American Life,” to a nearly full audience Monday evening in Salomon 101. She was referring to the rise in popularity of the podcast “Serial,” for which she is the executive producer and host.

“We thought if we could get an audience of 300,000, we could get a second season,” Koenig said. Within five days

ARTS & CULTURE

of their October 2014 premiere, they had reached their goal. “We now have an average of 6.5 million listeners per episode.”

To put that into context, an average episode of “This American Life” has 2 million listeners, she added.

“Serial” tells the true story of Adnan Syed, a Baltimore teenager who was charged with the murder of his » See SERIAL, page 4

Physicians may be able to tell if a person suffered a concussion by performing a simple blood test, according to a new study by University researchers.

The team of brain injury specialists, which included professors and physicians from Alpert Medical School, pinpointed a set of biomarker proteins whose levels change in a person’s blood following a concussion — also known as a mild traumatic brain injury. The study was published in the March issue of the Journal of Neurotrauma.

The researchers — with the goal of developing a routine diagnostic test for concussions — studied emergency room patients who had suffered from a mild brain injury within the last 24

SCIENCE & RESEARCH

hours, according to the study. The scientists performed immunoassays on the patients’ blood samples to measure the levels of various proteins in the blood.

Using information from previous animal studies, the researchers assessed the blood levels of 18 proinflammatory proteins to determine whether their concentrations also change in humans who sustained a concussion, said Adam Chodobski, associate professor of emergency medicine at the Med School and senior author of the paper.

They found that in the hours following a concussion, the concentration of four of the assessed proteins significantly changed in the blood of the participants with mild traumatic brain injuries compared to that of the control patients. While the proteins galectin, matrix metalloproteinase-9 and occludin were all shown to increase within eight hours following mild traumatic brain injury, the protein copeptin decreased in the same time frame, according to the study.

The study included two control groups: one of uninjured subjects and » See CONCUSSION, page 3

WEATHER

TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2015

SCIENCE & RESEARCH Crater provides evidence of water activity, indicates prime location for possible life on Mars

SPORTS Men’s baseball prevails over Princeton for team’s first Ivy win of season

COMMENTARY Weinstein ’17: MLB needs salary cap to reach youth and stay relevant in American culture

COMMENTARY Isman ’15: Brown should offer interdisciplinary programs to prepare students for real world

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BACK

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TODAY

TOMORROW

49 / 29

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UNIVERSITY NEWS PAGE 2 • TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2015

» GRADUATE, from page 1 research university.

The first version of Paxson’s strategic plan, released in September 2013, made no mention of Brown as a “universitycollege,” a phrase that has been used to describe the school since 1946, when former President Henry Wriston coined the term.

After forceful pushback from the Undergraduate Council of Students on the omission of the term, Paxson added it back into her plan.

“When the strategic plan came out, one of the first things that we were so acutely aware of is that that term originally was left out of the plan altogether,” said UCS President Maahika Srinivasan ’15. It was a “very intentional choice to leave it out,” she said.

“It’s very clear that, for the last two administrations, the emphasis has been more on university and less on college,” said Senior Lecturer in Education Luther Spoehr.

“We use a concept at Brown known as a university-college, a college with a small graduate school,” said Luiz Valente, professor of Portuguese and Brazilian studies and comparative literature. “In the early 2000s, (former President Ruth Simmons) decided that we needed to reaffirm our position as a research university by hiring faculty and by growing some of the graduate programs.”

The shift in emphasis has occurred gradually, but faculty members who have been on campus for decades have taken note of the change, and some regret the University’s departure from focusing on undergraduate, liberal arts education.

“It’s a growing emphasis, inch by inch, row by row,” said Spoehr, who has been at the University for 19 years. “The next thing you know, liberal arts seems like a luxury, and persuading people otherwise is hard.”

“Brown was one of the last holdouts for a liberal arts orientation, but it looks like that is eroding,” said Professor of Sociology Gregory Elliott, who has been here for almost 32 years.

As a university-college, Brown has long tried to balance excellence in undergraduate liberal arts with robust research.

“Growing the graduate program is the University speaking to its research profile, and in talking about undergraduate education, it has to speak to its liberal arts profile,” said Sara Matthiesen GS, a member of Stand Up for Grad Students, an organization that promotes graduate student rights. “Brown tries to straddle those two missions.”

But some feel the University is veering too far from its mission as a universitycollege.

“The University has gone through a sea change in its emphases,” Elliott said.

“We used to call ourselves a universitycollege. … That term is gone. That’s symbolic, but it does reflect a change in the understanding of the mission of Brown University.”

Nevertheless, administrators maintain that the strategic plan’s initial omission of the term does not signal a shift away from the “college” component.

“What you label Brown matters less than what we offer at Brown, which is a superb undergraduate liberal education and a top-notch research university,” said Dean of the College Maud Mandel.

“I really am uncomfortable with a formulation that pits one against the other in a zero-sum game,” she said.

The idea of a zero-sum game is at the heart of concerns that the growth in graduate programs will in some ways detract from the undergraduate college.

“The view that there’s some zero-sum game and that gains in one come at the expense of the other — that’s something I really resist,” Paxson said. “There could be truth in that if we let there be truth in that, but I am determined not to.”

Doctoral expansion entices researchers Growth in graduate programs refers to growth in both doctoral programs and master’s programs, two distinct academic endeavors.

“The doctoral students is really where the growth focus is right now,” Colvin said.

As of now, there are “no specific targets for the number of doctoral students,” wrote Dean of the Graduate School Peter Weber in an email to The Herald.

Faculty members said they believe PhD candidates’ presence on campus enriches the University’s educational offerings.

Doctoral programs are “intimately connected with the mission of a research university,” Valente said. “They have a positive impact on the undergraduate college as well as on the research university.”

Advocates for more doctoral students argue that they are essential to attracting and retaining a strong faculty.

Faculty members “want graduate students here,” Colvin said. “That’s what motivates them.”

“If we didn’t have PhD programs and we weren’t a research-intensive university, we wouldn’t be able to get the best faculty,” said Dean of the Faculty Kevin McLaughlin P’12, adding that a strong faculty benefits undergrads.

Navigating the teaching, research divide Another motive for growing doctoral programs is that doctoral research in STEM generates indirect revenue for the University through external grant funding.

The push to increase the number of PhD candidates in science is “based on more research money flowing through the University,” McLaughlin said, adding that PhD education will grow most significantly in STEM. “We are really trying to push on research, especially in the sciences,” Paxson said. In the recent past, the University experienced “a decline in external awards, which was the source of roughly half of the budget deficit.”

Productive research programs augment an institution’s prestige. “Once the prestige is there, you’re more likely to get grants,” Spoehr said. “You spend money to make money.”

Enabling an increase in research involves attracting the doctoral students necessary to aid faculty members in their lab work as well as allowing professors time to focus on their research.

“It has become very clear … that the University is trying to become a singularly important research university to compete with the big boys at getting known for its contributions to research, which no faculty member here would say is a bad idea,” Elliott said. “But the question is: Does it change the balance of the use of resources?”

“The balance is already more on research and less on teaching,” he said. “If you increase that imbalance, that’s going to have an effect.”

Administrators recognize this difficulty and are contemplating how to navigate it.

“There are only a certain number of hours in a week, and our faculty have to negotiate that,” Colvin said.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Colvin is a strong proponent of “double teaching,” a model in which professors teach twice the number of courses they normally would in one semester and focus solely on research during the other.

“I think we need to find ways to help (faculty members) get the space they need to be productive scholars as well as excellent teachers,” Paxson said. “Whether it’s double teaching or the idea of a winter term or Jan-term that could build in some more flexibility for faculty … we will need to move in that direction,” she said.

Double teaching is especially pertinent in STEM fields, Colvin said.

After receiving grant funding, the faculty member leading the research project must typically visit the funders four or five times, she added. “If you have no ability to travel because you’re teaching for nine months of the year, you cannot have a leading research program in STEM.” In addition to allowing the University to stay competitive through generation of revenue, research also leads to important advances in knowledge that will carry Brown’s brand.

“Yes, we have a short-term budget deficit, and we need to get the research back on track, but at the end of the day, we want our faculty to be scholars who are pushing the boundaries of knowledge,” Paxson said.

Differences in disciplines In contrast to doctoral programs in STEM, those in the humanities and social sciences impose a financial burden on the University.

“The humanities and social sciences do not have the same kind of external funding available to them,” said Joel Simundich GS, president of the Graduate Student Council, who is currently pursuing a doctorate in English.

“They see doctoral students as taking money from the University, and this is because we’re always looking for funding,” he said.

Securing funding, especially after the fifth year, is a current point of contention for doctoral students.

“Part of the strategic plan is to simultaneously make us a better research institution while effectively shortening time to a degree and limiting resources for humanities and social science,” Simundich said.

Doctoral programs in STEM fields typically take five years, while those in humanities and social sciences tend to span seven or eight, he said.

In the strategic plan, there is a push to “make the humanities and social sciences meet the timeline of STEM,” he added.

“There is this sense that we are here on Brown’s dime,” said Matthiesen, who is pursuing a doctorate in American studies.

Doctoral students’ contributions to undergraduate teaching — mostly as teaching assistants — often go unappreciated, she added.

Because their doctoral work generally does not receive external grant funding, “it’s humanities and social sciences professors who really want and need more support for the Graduate School,” Colvin said.

Doctoral programs in these departments are valuable because they expand the course offerings for advanced undergraduate students, in addition to drawing faculty members.

In the humanities and social sciences, “most professors will open graduate courses to advanced undergraduates,” Valente said. “It’s a tremendous opportunity for undergraduate students.”

A new avenue for revenue

A potential source of revenue for funding doctoral students, as well as for shrinking the deficit, is additional tuitionfunded master’s programs, Colvin said.

“When they say they want to grow the graduate programs, embedded in that is expanding master’s programs as a source of revenue for the University,” Matthiesen said.

Two distinct types of master’s degrees can be pursued at Brown: a degree from a traditional master’s program, run through an individual department, or a degree from an executive master’s program, run through the School of Professional Studies.

Executive master’s programs were introduced in 2012 and feature a “blend” of online education with brief residential stints geared toward mid-career professionals, said Karen Sibley, dean of the School of Professional Studies.

The two existing executive master’s degrees are in business administration and healthcare leadership, and degrees in cyber security and engineering are currently being developed.

The total number of degrees offered is projected to reach “eight to 10 in the next three to five years,” Sibley said, adding that demand for these programs is growing.

Brown faculty members teach the executive master’s courses in conjunction with practitioners in the field of study.

“It’s very important that we have Brown faculty, because that’s what the students want, but they also want experts from their own expertise,” Sibley said.

“Over time, we are clearly going to have to grow the faculty.”

But until the faculty expands, “it’s a zero-sum game,” Elliott said. “You have a finite number of faculty who will be committed to teaching a larger set of courses, especially in these master’s training programs,” he said.

In the Department of Computer Science, which is collaborating with the School of Professional Studies to develop the curriculum for an executive master’s program, the question of increasing faculty members’ duties is being closely examined.

“It’s a question that we thought hard about,” said Ugur Cetintemel, professor of computer science and chair of the department, adding that the department is looking at “what can be done over the summer, when faculty aren’t actually teaching courses.”

Expanded programs, increased demands Both traditional and executive master’s programs add work onto faculty members’ existing course loads, which could strain their ability to focus on undergraduate teaching.

“In master’s programs, there is a teaching burden,” Mandel said. At the same time, master’s students “do not necessarily help the faculty like PhD students do,” she said, noting that master’s students generally neither work on research grants nor work as teaching assistants for courses.

Growth in traditional master’s programs “will probably entail no new hires,” McLaughlin said. “We would expect the departments to be able to absorb that with their existing faculty resources. As part of their workload, they would teach a course for a master’s program,” he said.

But faculty members are wary of the heightened workload and wonder whether it will be sustainable.

“We’re often told that these programs don’t require huge commitments on the part of the faculty, but everyone has a limited amount of time, and if they’re

going to invest their resources in these types of programs, something is going to suffer,” Valente said.

“There’s some question in my mind and in the minds of several faculty members as to whether these programs are going to have perhaps a negative impact on the research and teaching mission of the University,” he said, adding that the master’s programs are intended to provide individuals with credentials for their careers rather than to add to the University’s intellectual endeavors.

“There is pressure on this school from the change in focus to turn us into a glorified vocational school,” Elliott said. An evolving identity.

But the value of increasing master’s programs is that they provide the University with necessary financial means.

“I am convinced that Brown cannot really thrive for any of its students or any of its faculty if it remains primarily dependent on undergraduate tuition revenue,” Paxson said.

The School of Professional Studies, which also runs the University’s summer programs, yields an annual profit of $5 million, Sibley said, adding that the school’s general gross revenue is expected to increase by at least 50 percent over the next three to five years.

Srinivasan also acknowledged the practical value of more master’s programs.

“If we institute master’s programs, it ends up generating more revenue that could potentially go to undergraduate things,” she said.

Running master’s programs to generate revenue is “very much a reality of how schools finance different operations,” Simundich said, though he cautions the University about using the term “revenue stream” to refer to master’s students.

“There is a huge tension between genuine investment in what these programs will yield for master’s students and seeing them as a source of revenue,” he said.

Administrators say Brown needs to grow master’s programs not only for financial reasons but also to remain competitive with its peers.

“Most of our peers have master’s programs that dwarf ours,” Colvin said. “Everybody else is growing them because of their importance, particularly to revenue.”

“When I look at Brown and I benchmark it against our peers, what we see is that other universities tend to have more master’s programs, and they tend to have more professional schools,” Paxson said.

But determining the University’s needs based on comparison to “peers” depends on which institutions it identifies as peers.

“Who decides what our peer institutions are?” Spoehr said. “We compare ourselves to Harvard, despite the fact that they have an endowment that’s seven times bigger than ours. … It’s a real question of institutional identity. Is our peer institution Harvard or is our peer institution Wesleyan?”

Paxson titled her plan “Building on Distinction,” reflecting her intention to follow the direction set by Simmons and elevate Brown to a new position in higher education. For Paxson, the goal to build on distinction prioritizes building graduate programs.

This brand of distinction represents what at least a few faculty members call a departure from the university-college model, and it has positioned Brown between two different identities: the university-college it has long been and the large research university it aspires to be.

“It used to be that Brown considered itself kind of an anomaly in the Ivy League,” Elliott said. “But that’s gone.”

UNIVERSITY NEWS

TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2015 • PAGE 3

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

» UCS, from page 1 adding that no one from the group had previously participated in Brown student government.

2015 Elections Board Chair Heather Sabel ’17 said such a campaign would theoretically be permissible. “Our goal is to maintain the quality of elections, regardless of what anyone’s platform is, so even if it (were) something that extreme where a candidate wanted to abolish UCS, our job is to make sure that if the student body wants that person elected, then that person gets elected regardless of what we personally think of that platform,” she said. “That’s true of any platform that any candidate takes.”

“As a student, I think it’s hilarious.

As a member of UCS, I don’t,” said UCS President Maahika Srinivasan ’15. “As someone who spends my time and energy and lifeblood in this it’s so sad to see people who actively mock … student government and the power that the body has in general.”

Once Mukherjee became aware of his friends’ prank, he tried following through with the campaign and took it up with the Elections Board. “There’s nowhere in the rules (where) it actually says that you have to know that you’re nominated,” he said.

“It’s not codified, and we were absolutely correct, but of course we were disqualified, and then there was a big thing to try to write me in after that. It all kind of died off quickly,” he added.

After Mukherjee’s removal from the ballot, one of the people responsible for the campaign submitted an op-ed about the entire process under the pseudonym Jon Nakatamo ’08, Mukherjee said.

Mukherjee said he felt bad for angering The Herald’s then-editor-in-chief, but added that he believes that the paper should allow pseudonyms for op-eds.

“It varied from person to person, but people did it for maybe 50 percent humor reasons and 50 percent anti-establishment reasons,” he said, describing the experience as “eye-opening.”

“At other schools, it’s more common for a less serious candidate to run almost on a yearly basis,” said UCS Vice President Sazzy Gourley ’16. “We don’t see that very often here.”

The November 2014 race for Princeton’s Undergraduate Student Government President ended with a run-off election between Ella Cheng and her defeated opponent William Gansa. Gansa ran on a platform of waffle fries and “implementing ‘bike reform,’ a mysterious term that (was) included in his platform but (was) defined nowhere,” the Daily Princetonian reported.

In Harvard’s February 2014 Undergraduate Council elections, where candidates run on tickets, Samuel Clark and Gus Mayopoulos “won on a ‘joke’ platform, and Mayopoulos assumed the role of UC president after Clark’s resignation,” the Harvard Crimson reported.

The ticket campaigned with a poster for “tomato basil ravioli soup every day,”

» CONCUSSION, from page 1 another of patients who had suffered long bone fractures. The second group allowed researchers to demonstrate that the protein levels do not change in any type of traumatic injury, Chodobski added. But the biomarkers identified in the study cannot detect a concussion with equal precision if the patient has another injury in addition to a concussion, he added.

“These biomarkers can establish with high accuracy the difference

adding, “You could do worse.”

Joke candidacies “definitely liven the mood and poke fun at student government in a way that makes other candidates really think critically about the role that we have on campus and the impact that we’re actually having on the daily lives of students,” Gourley said. “I hope we can talk about serious issues but do so in a way that is accessible for all students” and maintains the “fun and engagement and creativity that those more joke tickets sometimes bring to the table,” he added.

Writing In But an untraditional campaign is not necessarily a joke campaign.

Marc Marchiel ’92 staged a write-in candidacy for UCS President in 1991 because “there was only one candidate, which did not feel right,” Marchiel wrote in an email to The Herald. After deciding to run, Marchiel was able to “print out enough flyers to go under every dorm room on campus and go to every dorm and then place posters all over school” all in the same night, he wrote.

“You would think with a politically active school like Brown, (lack of involvement) would not be an issue,” Marchiel added. “With one candidate, there is no choice, no election — really just a coronation.” His platform focused on security, the housing lottery and recycling, The Herald reported.

Marchiel was able to campaign without following election rules because he was not an official candidate. “Part of the freedom … was the ability to hit every single person (and) room in the school in a single night,” he wrote. But the rogue nature of the campaign also had its drawbacks. “Obviously not being on the ballot or campaigning the whole time would hurt. If I had Twitter and everyone had email then, I could have been done in 10 minutes,” he wrote.

According to the current Elections Code, a candidate must win five percent of the total votes cast for any candidate in the entire election. The 2012 Elections Board “amended the code because there really (were not) any rules for write-in candidates in terms of winning an election,” Srinivasan said.

Marchiel said he was “amazed” to win 17.34 percent of the vote, The Herald reported. “I had more than one friend point out that campaigning on people’s apathy and then turning that apathy into action seemed contradictory,” Marchiel wrote. “When you start with nothing and then a day later you get 17 percent, that is amazing,” he wrote.

“But I will also confess to being a little disappointed,” he added. “Despite the odds, when you do something like that, you want to win.”

Gourley said there are write-ins for various positions during every election.

Some students see the write-in option as an opportunity to make a statement, as has been the case in elections at other universities.

This year at the University of North between an uninjured individual and a patient with isolated concussion,” Chodobski said.

The project, which was funded by donor Diane Weiss and the Department of Emergency Medicine, implemented a novel biomarker method, Chodobski said. The traditional biomarker approach involves examination of proteins released by dying brain cells after injury, but the researchers working on this study analyzed the proteins produced by brain cells that were still alive, he said, adding that he hopes it will be used

Carolina at Chapel Hill, 10 percent of the total vote for student body president “went to writer and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston, who attended drama classes at UNC in secret before the university admitted students of color,” the Daily Tar Heel reported. Students decided to organize a display of “dissatisfaction with the student body presidential candidates,” the Tar Heel reported.

“Hurston is a rallying call right now for students who believe that Saunders Hall, whose current namesake is a former university trustee that led the Ku Klux Klan in the late 1800s … should be renamed to honor Hurston,” the article states. Other voters wrote in “UNC calls for Hurston Hall” and “Black Lives Matter.”

Withdrawal Just as candidates may enter a race unexpectedly, they can exit it unexpectedly, too.

2011 Class President and Herald Staff Writer Neil Parikh ’11 withdrew from the 2009 race for UFB Vice Chair after he was caught removing his opponent Juan Vasconez’s ’10 campaign posters, which were hung in Wriston Quadrangle locations that violated election rules. The 2009 Elections Board gave Parikh the option to withdraw or face a full board hearing, The Herald reported.

Parikh could not be reached by press time.

“One of the main complaints that Elections Board gets is that ‘people are taking down my posters,’” she said. “People will tend to try to accuse other people of doing so, but it was a very unique case in which there was proof that he was taking them down.”

Enforcing penalties usually poses a challenge because “any number of people can be doing it,” Srinivasan added. “If it’s pretty obvious that materials are going missing and it’s not a facilities cleanup … there’s precedent that we’ll give them extra publicity points to be able to reprint the posters that they need.”

To level the playing field and avoid any financial advantages, Elections Board allots each candidate 100 advertising “points” or $40 of a candidate’s own money — whichever limit is reached first — for any material related to the campaign, Srinivasan said. UCS does not provide any funding, and every material is assigned a point value based on features like color and dimension, she added.

Parikh’s withdrawal left Vasconez uncontested. “It’s so unfortunate because one of my biggest pet peeves is uncontested elections, especially for a position like UCS president,” Srinivasan said. “That’s just such a shame.”

Elections Board will hold a mandatory candidates meeting today at 9 p.m. in the Underground. The Herald and UCS will co-host the candidates’ debate Thursday at 7 p.m. in Salomon 001. Student groups must attend the debate to be eligible to officially endorse candidates. more prevalently following this study.

The research team is interested in commercializing the assay used in the study, said Joanna SzmydyngerChodobska, assistant professor of emergency medicine and a co-author of the paper. The assay could one day be implemented in emergency rooms as a quick and robust way to diagnose concussions, she added. The team has already filed for a patent and is now seeking additional funding to perform a larger-scale study and develop the biotechnology.

This Week in Higher Ed

BY EMMA HARRIS, NEWS EDITOR

Rhodes Scholarship eligibility to expand Individuals from China will soon be eligible for Rhodes Scholarships, the New York Times reported Monday. The change is part of a larger plan to expand into additional countries, marking the first major growth of the program since the 1970s, when women became eligible.

The expansion has sparked both positive and negative comments, the Times reported. While some said the change in eligibility is long overdue and will increase the diversity of scholars, others questioned the influence of the Communist Party in excluding individuals from nomination who do not follow the party’s ideals.

The expansion is also a mechanism through which the Rhodes program may increase funding, the Times reported.

The inclusion of China is part of a larger trend in which selective universities are admitting more Chinese students and expanding research initiatives in the country, the Times reported.

Swastikas found on Northeastern whiteboard Swastikas were found on Northeastern University’s campus for the second time this academic year, the Boston Globe reported Sunday.

A residential assistant found the anti-Semitic symbol on a dormitory whiteboard early Sunday morning. According to President Joseph Aoun’s community-wide email, campus police are investigating the incident.

Aoun condemned the “hateful act,” the Globe reported.

Swastikas were previously discovered on fliers for a lecture given by an officer of the Israeli Defense Forces in November, the Globe reported.

OU SAE members were taught racist chant on national organization cruise Members of the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon at the University of Oklahoma learned a racist chant at a national fraternity event four years ago, according to a university investigation, the New York Times reported Friday. The investigation was prompted by a widely disseminated online video that depicted fraternity members shouting the chant, which includes threatening racial slurs.

The chant was taught to members on a “national leadership cruise,” and then incorporated into the chapter’s pledge process, the Times reported. The national fraternity organization corroborated the story in a statement, though it has not found the use of the chant in other chapters.

It remains ambiguous whether members learned the chant directly from a national chapter leader, Inside Higher Ed reported Monday.

Since its discovery, the video has led to the expulsion of two students, both identified in the video as leading the chant. The university’s chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon was also disbanded by both the university and the national organization, the Times reported.

Twenty-seven students are facing punitive measures from the university, Inside Higher Ed reported.

The university’s investigation was presented in a news conference Friday, where President David Boren denied that the expulsion of the students was a violation of free speech. He said the “threatening and hostile environment” created by the chant warranted disciplinary action, the Times reported.

No evidence found to corroborate Rolling Stone sexual assault article No evidence was found supporting a November Rolling Stone article’s description of an alleged gang-rape at the University of Virginia chapter of Phi Kappa Psi in 2012, the New York Times reported March 23. Rolling Stone has come under intense criticism for the article, entitled “A Rape on Campus: A Brutal Assault and Struggle for Justice at UVA.” Charlottesville police opened the investigation into the alleged rape four months ago. “No substantive basis” for the claim has been found, the Washington Post reported March 23.

The student who was allegedly raped, referred to as Jackie in the article, did not cooperate in the investigative process, and police were unable to determine who her date that night was, the Times reported.

Officials also found no evidence that a party happened in the fraternity house Sept. 28, 2012, when the incident allegedly occurred.

The Rolling Stone article described scenes of sexual assault and binge drinking, but police did not find evidence of either, the Post reported.

Chief of Police Timothy Longo said the investigation has been suspended but left the possibility open that an incident occurred, pending further evidence, the Times reported.

Rolling Stone announced in a statement that a review of its general editorial process and the disputed article in particular is being conducted

by Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism. The results will be published within the next few weeks, the Times reported.

The UVA chapter of Phi Kappa Psi is currently looking into legal measures to levy against Rolling Stone, the Times reported.

SCIENCE & RESEARCH PAGE 4 • TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2015

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

COURTESY OF ESA/DLR/FU BERLIN

University geologists examined the makeup of the Jezero Crater on Mars’ surface in a new study, which showed that two periods of water activity existed in the crater. The research, which was fundamentally motivated by a desire to discover if life ever existed on Mars, sought to develop a chronology of the planet’s environmental history.

New water study suggests possibility of life on Mars U. researchers examine Jezero Crater on Mars, find evidence of two periods of water activity

By STEVEN MICHAEL SCIENCE & RESEARCH EDITOR

“The big question is whether life ever formed on Mars,” said Jim Head, professor of geological and earth, environmental and planetary sciences. Head, along with University collaborators, examined the history of water activity in the Jezero Crater on Mars, finding evidence of two periods of water activity between 3.6 and 3.8 billion years ago when the crater was an active lake system.

The researchers’ paper on the topic was accepted for publication earlier this month by the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.

The Jezero Crater is of much interest for geological study because its geological timeline is known, and there

» SERIAL, from page 1 ex-girlfriend in 1999. Over the course of 12 episodes, Koenig delves into the facts behind Syed’s case, including those not used during his trial.

“The case of Adnan Syed is not an extraordinary case. … Why did ‘Serial’ come to feel like something new?” Koenig questioned.

She suggested that “Serial” approached its branding of the podcast differently.

Originally, “I wanted it to be like a really good book on tape,” Koenig said. “My colleagues, Ira Glass ’82 and Julia Snyder, told me, ‘Never say that out loud again.’”

Rather, Glass and Snyder had the idea to brand the show like high-end television, she said. Snyder introduced a theme song, called each new show an “episode,” and included a “previously on” roll at the beginning of each episode, just as in a television show.

“The part of their brain that lit up when people were listening to good television like ‘House of Cards’ or ‘Breaking Bad’ lit up when they were watching ‘Serial’ … but this was real — it was

are a variety of minerals present, said Jack Mustard, professor of earth, environmental and planetary sciences and a co-author of the paper.

In addressing the question of whether life ever existed on Mars, Mustard said that cannot yet be determined. “I don’t think we have the tools to ask that right now,” he said.

But if life did exist on Mars, the Jezero Crater would have been a prime location, he added.

The study’s analysis of the crater’s geology indicated presence of deposits of limestone and clay minerals, which are the product of rocks given “enough water, time and temperature” to transform, Mustard said.

During the first period of water activity, there is evidence that water flowed below the Martian surface.

During the second period of water activity, it appears water flowed across the Martian surface, carrying minerals created during the first period, Mustard said.

The two periods should be thought of as an “evolution” rather than a “time gap,” with a major event such as a volcanic eruption or meteorite strike causing the transition, Mustard said.

The research connects concepts together from other studies, tying “chronology to geology,” said Stephen Wood, research assistant professor of earth and space sciences at the University of Washington, who was not involved in the study. The paper is consistent with other evidence for episodic water activity on Mars, he said.

In the past, geologists thought a greenhouse gas atmosphere on Mars could have created high enough temperatures for liquid water to exist on Mars, but now it is generally believed

that a different factor was necessary to increase surface temperature.

One theory is that there were high altitude glaciers on Mars that melted as a result of a meteorite strike and caused the second period of surface water to occur, said Stephen Clifford, a staff scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute.

Data for the paper was gathered using instruments on a craft orbiting Mars that record information about the entire planet, Mustard said.

Collecting data via an orbiter offers the ability to cover a larger surface area than a rover can trek, Mustard said.

Since Mars has the same surface area of all of Earth’s land masses, orbiter data allows researchers to hone in on specific areas and readjust, unlike a rover which can only travel limited distances.

Some unique features of the crater include both inlet and outlet channels and two deltas, all of which trace from

the second period of water activity, Head said.

The Jezero Crater is a potential landing site for the next Mars rover in 2020, Head added.

Follow-up studies could involve a rover landing and taking more specific measurements of the crater, including the possible existence of organic molecules, Head said.

Mustard described the field of geology as an experiment where the scientist doesn’t know the starting conditions but has to determine the sequence of events leading up to the outcome.

Wood noted that there may even be water on the surface of Mars today.

Certain dark topological features on the Martian surface grow in length during warmer months, leading some scientists to believe the features contain water, he said.

“But no one has been able to definitively prove it’s water,” Wood said.

journalism,” Koenig said.

“This podcast made radio into something where we say, ‘Let’s discuss this,’” said Niki Sanders ’17. “She revitalized it as a medium. Podcasts have always been a way to get news, but the way that she made hers turned the podcast into a way to explore real issues. It’s more of a dialogue.”

“Sarah’s work explores this intersection between journalism and storytelling and advocacy,” said Alex Braunstein, communications and outreach manager for the Swearer Center for Public Service. The Swearer Center co-sponsored the event in conjunction with the Sarah Doyle Women’s Center as part of a series of events celebrating Women’s History Month.

“Her work raises interesting questions. … Who do you create pieces for and who do you do it for? She’d been incredibly groundbreaking in the ways she’s done storytelling and the impact her storytelling has,” Braunstein said.

“Everything that went inside ‘Serial’ was very traditional, unglamorous, sloppy recording,” Koenig said. “Even though the tone of ‘Serial’ is very conversational,

it was the most uptight double and triple checking I’d ever done.”

What also made “Serial” unique was the psychological and emotional impact of the reporting on both the producers and the audiences, Koenig said.

“That’s something that reporters don’t like to talk about because it’s uncomfortable. It’s a little messy. Instead of hiding that messiness under a clean narrative, at times that messiness became a part of the narrative,” she said.

Throughout the course of Koenig’s interviews with Syed, the two formed a very close relationship, skirting the boundaries of objective journalism, she said. “My relationship with Adnan is complicated. … It is not purely professional, but it is not a friendship. We’re trying to be straightforward, but it has mistrust written all over it. It changes all the time — it’s still changing.”

Koenig’s talk was structured somewhat like an episode of “Serial,” punctuated with sound bites from recordings of phone conversations with Syed, many of which had never been featured on the show.

“In 42 hours of phone calls, a lot of

what we talk about is not about the crime.

We just talk,” Koenig said. “One time he told me that he would try to call someone and misdial, and a total stranger would pick up … and they’d start chatting,” she recalled.

“As uncomfortable as it is to admit, there was even some flirting,” Koenig said.

The two procrastinated, holding off the awkward conversations which they would inevitably have to face, she added.

Koenig recalled one conversation between the two of them, in which Syed had answered all of her questions but had then grown quiet. He then confessed to her that she was the first person he had ever talked to about his trial and the details behind his relationship with his ex-girlfriend, she said.

“It feels fake to pretend the thing was all business,” Koenig said. “We were trying to make a story that didn’t feel fake in any ways, that laid bare the complexities of journalism.”

After the lecture, Sage FanucchiFunes ’17, a coordinator of the event, initiated a question-and-answer session with Koenig, which focused on her early

career in journalism.

“The feeling I had when I started — that I’m faking it, and I’m a fraud, and someone’s going to find me out — everyone’s having that feeling,” Koenig said.

“I really appreciated her advice about how it’s okay to be confused, especially as a person who’s still currently trying to figure it out,” said Ruby Stenhouse ’17. She added that the talk put a face to the voice which she’d been listening to for weeks.

Though the question-and-answer session was later opened to the audience, Stenhouse said she still felt Koenig had left a lot unanswered. “I wanted to know if she’s still in touch with Adnan Syed and what she thinks about the case now,” Stenhouse said.

The question-and-answer session could not have ended without an audience member asking about the Saturday Night Live parody of “Serial” which aired in December.

“It’s totally … surreal to see yourself parodied. It’s weird and flattering and also, you know, horrifying in a way,” Koenig said, adding that “this case will never be a joke to me.”

TODAY

TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2015 • PAGE 5

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

menu

T E C H TA K E S T H AY E R

SATELLITE DINING JOSIAH’S Mashed Potato Bowl BLUE ROOM Chicken Saag and Avial Coconut Vegetable Curry Soups: Organic Butternut Squash, Turkey Sausage and Kale ANDREWS COMMONS Italian Beef Sandwich Pizzas: Bacon Chicken Ranch, Spicy Five Cheese and Garlic

DINING HALLS SHARPE REFECTORY LUNCH

DINNER

Hot Pastrami Sandwich, Belgian Carrots, Pasta e Fagioli, Cinnamon Toast Crunch Bars LUNCH

Artichoke and Red Pepper Frittata, Caribbean Stir Fry with Mint, Marble Cake with Frosting

VERNEY-WOOLLEY

Shaved Steak Sandwich, Linguini with Tomato Basil, Cinnamon Toast Crunch Bars

DINNER

Tuscan Pork Roast, Moo Shu Chicken, Gnocchi with Gorgonzola Mushroom Sauce

sudoku

DAVID DECKEY / HERALD

In addition to the Verizon Store and the Brown Bookstore, students will soon be able to seek help for their technological snags and electronic questions at TECH MEDiX, a new store set to open on Thayer Street.

crossword

comic Class Notes | Philip Trammell ’15

calendar TODAY 4:00 P.M. SONGWRITING WORKSHOP

New York City singer and songwriter Nora Fox ’08 will teach music composition skills at a workshop. Faunce, Memorial Lounge

TOMORROW 12:00 P.M. MANUFACTURING IN AMERICA: A CONVERSATION WITH RHODE ISLAND BUSINESS LEADER JOHN HAZEN WHITE, JR.

5:00 P.M. ‘I THINK YOU’RE TOTALLY WRONG’ READING

John Hazen White, Jr., president of the manufacturing company Taco, Inc., will lead a discussion with students.

Taubman Center, Seminar Room

David Shields ’78 will read from his recently released book, co-authored by Caleb Powell, with a discussion to follow.

4:00 P.M. ARTIST TALK: SHEILA PEPE

Brown Bookstore 7:00 P.M. TALK WITH SENATOR JACK REED

The Brown Democrats will bring Sen. Jack Reed, D-RI, to campus to speak with students. Wilson 101

Sheila Pepe will deliver a lecture on her work, which incorporates craft and feminist traditions in the media of sculpture and installation. List 120 6:30 P.M. AUDISM DEFINED: “AUDISM UNVEILED” FILM SCREENING AND PANEL DISCUSSION This event

will explore audism, or discrimination based on one’s ability to speak or hear. Metcalf Auditorium

COMMENTARY PAGE 6 • TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2015

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

EDITORIAL

Crafting your own survival guide Hopefully no matter how students spent their spring break, they returned to campus at least marginally more well rested. After a bitterly long, snow-filled winter and exposure to health risks inherent on college campuses, a week away from College Hill — or at least a week without class — is truly merited. As students return to campus and face what will hopefully be the murmurings of spring, they should consider their lifestyles more carefully. As difficult as it is to stay healthy as a student, lifestyle choices can pose serious risks to one’s well being.

As students, we are incessantly busy. The flurry of activity on campus — hours spent working on a senior thesis, running across campus to make a series of meetings, all-nighters in the SciLi to study for a midterm exam — knows no limits. Caught in the whirlwind, it is difficult for students to slow down, catch their breath, and take a few moments to relax and recharge. Especially on a campus as high-powered and dynamic as Brown’s, without a conscious effort to extricate themselves from the madness, students can torment themselves by comparing their work ethic, social prowess or general success to those around them. What’s more, college campuses are rampant with viruses and bacteria. Last month, Providence College Health Center confirmed in a statement that two students had contracted meningococcal meningitis. The flu, as it is every year, is also a concern, particularly at colleges in the Providence area.

Part of an undergraduate education is learning how to take care of oneself. While life as a student is quite unique, life after Brown is likely to pose similar strains, so it is necessary to pick up certain survival skills as soon as possible. How to feed oneself, how to sleep enough and how to stay mentally and physically healthy top the list. No matter how much you talk on the phone, parents are no longer in close enough proximity to make sure you have met your proverbial vegetable quota at the end of each day. Given campus’ close quarters, taking care of oneself in all of these respects is, at the bare minimum, the first step towards warding off potential illnesses. Of course, there is no guarantee, but getting eight hours of sleep or spending an hour alone to ease one’s mind can only help in warding off sickness and stress with everything else happening on College Hill.

What too often goes unsaid is that looking after one’s health takes time — time that should be spent, even if it means putting off academic work. If you’re feeling ill, make an appointment at Health Services. It is not worth it to wait. Squeezing all you can out of your four undergraduate years is only possible if you feel strong enough. There is no Brown survival guide, but if you take the time, you can write your own.

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, Baxter DiFabrizio ’15, Mathias Heller ’15 and Aranshi Kumar ’17. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.

K I M B E R LY S A LT Z

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Mills ’15 and others misunderstand safe spaces To the Editor: I am greatly disappointed that Walker Mills ’15’s opinion piece “Playing it Safe — Too Safe” falls into the same semantic trap that New York Times contributing opinion writer Judith Shulevitz and many other generational pundits have been making in recent editorial comments across news outlets. The current rally that generational pundits make against me and my peers in college today is that we have forsaken freedom of speech and multiple view points for “comfort.” What does this word “comfort” even mean? I’m afraid that it is a product of jargon that is too easily mistranslated by these opinion columnists hoping to pass a deadline. If they delved with any honest intent into the vast discourse of social justice, they would see how far from the mark they really are.

To begin, when students claim a lecture or event is “uncomfortable,” it’s not because the chair cushion is sagging. Nor is it because we simply don’t like the ideas being touted before us.

It is because the speakers promoting these ideas do not display an effort to be inclusive in their thoughts.

A speaker’s language may not recognize the differences in gender identity or expression, and thus speak in ways that exclude and marginalize certain groups. Their arguments

may not acknowledge the position of power they inherently have when making certain claims. The solutions they offer to whatever discussion at hand many not consider the long history of injustice performed against people of color.

These examples may seem vague, but I am trying to generalize a range of possible situations that have caused dismay across college campuses. To outside observers, make no mistake, these problems are not analogous to me sitting on an uncomfortable lumpy mattress.

When I say your argument makes me uncomfortable, it is because I am greatly concerned that you have not done the requisite thought and research into generating an inclusive thesis that considers as many nuances as necessary to deliver a sound debate.

If you do not believe that skin color, age, religious identity, sexuality, class or (dis)ability have an effect in cultural, political or economic problems that we debate at universities, then it is you who is trying to remain comfortable despite such frightening realities. In this sense, being uncomfortable is the strongest form of rhetoric that our millennial generation wields in the struggle against all forms of oppression.

Joseph DiZoglio ’15

CORRECTION Due to an editing error, a previous version of an article in Monday’s Herald (“Senator, alum take leadership spots on Board of Licenses,” March 30) misstated that the board will consider revoking Shark Bar and Grille’s license. In fact, the board will consider retroactively voiding the license. The Herald regrets the error.

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

Letters, please!

“The big question is whether life ever formed on Mars.”

letters@browndailyherald.com

— Jim Head, professor of earth, environmental and planetary sciences.

See mars on page 4.

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COMMENTARY TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2015 • PAGE 7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Why MLB Needs a Hard Salary Cap DUNCAN WEINSTEIN opinions columnist

Opening Day is next week, but it’s unlikely anyone will be taking me out to the ball game this year. That’s because average ticket prices have increased from $14.94 in 1998 — when a player signed a $100 million contract for the first time — to $27.93 in 2014, adjusted to 2014 dollars. While prices vary greatly throughout the season and between teams, the fact is it’s more expensive to see a live game than it used to be. A family trip to the ballpark can easily run above $100, making major league baseball inaccessible even as a special treat for many families.

Since the 1994 players strike, player salaries and payrolls have increased dramatically. Pitcher Kevin Brown became the first player to sign a nine-figure contract, inking a seven-year, $100 million deal with the Dodgers in 1998. Two years later, Alex Rodriguez signed a 10-year, $252 million contract with the Texas Rangers, making him baseball’s highest paid player until the Miami Marlins committed $325 million to outfielder Giancarlo Stanton over 13 years last November. The league’s average salary has nearly doubled from $2 million in 1998 to $3.8 million last year, adjusted to 2014 dol-

lars, according to ESPN. As salaries have increased, so too have payrolls. In 1998, the average opening day payroll was $59.5 million in 1998 compared to $115 million in 2014, in 2014 dollars. According to a study by the Harvard Sports Analysis Collective, the Gini coefficient — a tool economists use to measure inequality — of MLB team payrolls has increased since

mented on baseball’s declining importance in American culture, even if the league remains profitable for now. Some see the slow pace of the game as dooming it to irrelevance in the 21st century. More than any other American sport, baseball is selfconsciously nostalgic and traditional. You have to grow up with baseball to understand and appreciate it.

In high school, I took my then-

in peoples’ lives. A big part of that comes down to ticket prices.

Of course, compared to 2014 average ticket prices of $84.43 for the NFL, $62.18 for the NHL and $53.98 for the NBA, according to league data from statistics company Statista, baseball is much more affordable. But what matters is not just relative affordability but objective affordability.

People watch baseball not just for pitch-and-catch but also for the strategy, the atmosphere and the tradition. The key to keeping baseball relevant is to keep it present in peoples’ lives. A big part of that comes down to ticket prices.

the mid-1990s. Payroll isn’t destiny, but it makes a big difference. Teams like the Rays and Athletics can’t afford the big-ticket free agents commonly found in Yankee or Dodger uniforms.

Some, like Ben McGrath in the New Yorker and Jonathan Mahler in the New York Times, have com-

girlfriend, an Argentine, to a Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field.

I loved every minute of it, and she asked to leave in the sixth inning.

People watch baseball not just for pitch-and-catch but also for the strategy, the atmosphere and the tradition. The key to keeping baseball relevant is to keep it present

If baseball is to thrive economically and culturally, it needs to reach a new generation of fans and potential players. Taking kids to professional games is one way of doing that, since baseball fandom is especially dependent on watching live games. Already, the MLB is suffering from the disappearance of one

kind of diversity: The percentage of African-American players has declined from about 18 percent in the 1970s and ’80s to less than half that figure today.

Baseball would benefit if the owners agreed to a hard salary cap and lower ticket prices. While this would mean players would have to sacrifice some earnings either now or in the future, it would prevent a cap from transferring revenue from players to owners. MLB players are already some of the world’s highest paid athletes, making much more money with much less injury risk than football players.

An agreement could work something like this: A cap in the $150220 million range, with steadily lower ticket prices as television revenues continue to increase. It’s important the cap stay high for now, to avoid penalizing teams that have already committed a lot of money to players. But when Giancarlo Stanton’s contract, the longest in baseball, expires in 13 years, the league could move the cap even lower, or just let inflation eat at a solid cap.

That way, a greater diversity of fans can enjoy the game and even have a little money left over for peanuts and cracker jacks.

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

The future of education SAMANTHA ISMAN opinions columnist

Higher education — including the types of institutions, varieties of advanced degrees and selection of available courses — must adapt to meet the needs of our rapidly changing world.

As a senior, I recognize that students need to be ready to enter a transforming workforce, where new fields are constantly created and old career paths are in decline. We need to place greater focus on interdisciplinary programs that challenge both educators and students to think creatively about how to utilize modern technology to prepare the next generation of professionals.

First, we should put more funding and academic recognition into institutions innovating advanced degree programs to incorporate a collaboration of fields of study into one singular degree. One example of this type of new approach to teaching is Singularity University, a Silicon Valley-based company that “provides educational programs, innovative partnerships and a startup accelerator” to help individuals and businesses take advantage of new technology, including biotechnology, neuroscience and nanotechnology, according to the university’s website.

As the Guardian reported, “Singularity University is an institution that has been made in the valley’s own image: highly networked, fuelled by a cocktail of philanthro-capitalism and endowed with an almost mystical sense of

its own destiny.” The company’s business model emphasizes an education that is malleable to its surroundings and brings together intellectuals and entrepreneurs to address some of the most pressing problems of today, including energy shortages, environmental change, education and public health.

Master’s programs — and even postgradu-

a growing number of jobs require you to think beyond one set of skills. Education needs to aim to create the innovators and leaders of tomorrow — thinkers who will be able to lead companies and projects because they will be well versed in problem solving. These leaders will succeed because their skillsets will be varied and because they will be able to draw from

As the problems we face become more complicated and unique, those educated in problem solving—through a variety of means—will be our lifeline.

ate certificate programs — need to move away from overspecializing toward bringing together different minds to teach multifaceted ways of thinking. Chances are that the person getting an MBA will not find the same solutions to problems as those doing a master’s in the sciences. As the problems we face become more complicated and unique, those educated in problem solving — through a variety of means — will be our lifeline.

The future is in programs like these because

a variety of sources to create solutions that evolve to meet new problems.

Granted, many of the people who attend Singularity University are already well educated and have specialized degrees. Some have doctoral degrees, and others are CEOs or entrepreneurs. Yet despite having degrees and success, these innovators desire to attend Singularity University, proving that the demand for interdisciplinary and innovative programs is widespread.

Though at Brown we receive an education that gives us the chance to combine courses based on our personal interests and to create an individualized set of skills, there are not that many instances where concentrations work together to encourage a more adaptable, comprehensive approach to the world that awaits us.

It is of course necessary to develop foundational knowledge in several disciplines. But aside from a few entrepreneurship classes, Brown does not provide many opportunities for students to create new things or innovate older ones.

As a humanities student, I realize that most of the more creative classes are higher-level computer science or engineering courses.

I wonder if, as a Literary Arts concentrator, I could have something new to bring to the table and could also learn new skills from my peers.

I wish Brown offered more courses focused on collaborative thinking rather than merely emphasizing that humanities concentrators can take science classes and vice versa.

The future of education lies in programs similar to those of Singularity University because it develops forward thinkers. The institution’s interdisciplinary nature helps produce leaders who know how to solve problems by allowing students to develop the tools needed for that task. Higher education should embrace the breadth and intersections of knowledge, not push students to specialize in one discipline.

Sami Isman ’15 wishes to solve problems that don’t exist yet.

SPORTS THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2015

Spotlight on the Statehouse Bears split with Princeton for first Ivy win

BY EMMA JERZYK , METRO EDITOR

Stalling Shark A Providence Board of Licenses hearing regarding the liquor license issued to Shark Bar and Grille in exchange for bribes of $52,500 in 2008 was halted yesterday by Associate Justice Michael Silverstein, a Rhode Island Superior Court judge, the Providence Journal reported.

Silverstein granted Shark owners Raymond Hugh and Bahij Boutros their request for a court receiver — someone to take custody of the owners’ assets and rights and displace them in the court proceedings.

Silverstein chose lawyer Stephen Del Sesto for the receivership and canceled the 1 p.m. hearing less than three hours before it was scheduled to begin.

The hearing was originally scheduled in response to a petition by Mayor Jorge Elorza to void the original 2008 liquor license granted to the corporation that owns Shark, SSBG & G Inc., and thus voiding all subsequent renewals of that license.

Elorza issued a statement yesterday saying, “Public corruption at any level of government is unacceptable, and I want to send a strong signal that there will be no tolerance for it. I hope that the Superior Court will grant relief from today’s decision.”

Taxis and taxes The $40 minimum for public motor vehicle transactions is currently being stayed during a Rhode Island Supreme Court case between several public motor vehicle companies and the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission.

The minimum for van, limo and black car services was implemented as part of the Public Motor Vehicle Act, which was passed in 2013 in an attempt to keep the less regulated black car industry from moving into the high-volume, low-cost portion of the market that has traditionally been occupied by taxicabs. Ride-sharing applications such as Uber and Lyft have encouraged drivers of public motor vehicles to perform highvolume, low-cost rides, undercutting the price of taxicabs due to the lack of regulation.

Uber for Rhode Island and Massachusetts recently came under fire from public officials for not paying sales tax. Terrence Mercer, associate administrator for motor carriers at the Division of Public Utilities and Carriers, said neither Uber nor Lyft is registered to file sales taxes with the state, the Providence Journal reported. Uber spokesman Matthew Wing told the Providence Journal that Uber returns the collected sales tax to drivers who are registered car services — and with it, the responsibility to pay it to the state. For drivers who are not registered car services, Uber collects the sales tax and has said that it is actively working with the state tax department to pay the taxes because of “ambiguity” in state tax law.

Lyft does not collect sales taxes in Rhode Island, Lyft spokeswoman Chelsea Wilson told the Providence Journal, adding, “It is not clear how peer-to-peer platforms should be treated for tax purposes in the state.”

The Public Motor Vehicle Act also created a special joint legislative commission to study “the impact of innovative technologies on the market for transportation services,” according to a press release.

The 11-member commission last met March 24 to hear Cathy Zhou, general manager of Uber for Rhode Island and Massachusetts, who is also on the commission, and J. Russell Jackson, a lawyer representing the taxi industry.

A number of bills have been filed in the House related to taxicabs and public motor vehicles. The House Corporations Committee heard five of the bills — four of which were introduced by Rep. Marvin Abney, D-Newport and Middletown, and one of which was introduced by Rep. Robert Jacquard, D-Cranston. Neither Abney nor Jacquard is on the joint commission.

All five bills seek to increase regulation for public motor vehicles or decrease regulation for taxicabs.

Strong efforts from bullpen prove critical in driving Bruno’s nonconference wins

By MATT BROWNSWORD SENIOR STAFF WRITER

After getting swept in consecutive road trips down south, the baseball team welcomed a change of locale — Washington, D.C., where Brown (6-14, 2-2 Ivy) went 3-2 in five tilts with Georgetown and George Mason before splitting doubleheaders at Princeton and Cornell on Sunday and Monday, respectively.

The first game of a doubleheader against Georgetown (11-12) continued a miserable season trend, as the Bears fell 12-0. Robert Henry ’17 had two of Bruno’s five hits on the day and was the only Brown batter to reach base three times. Starting pitcher Eddie Fitzpatrick ’15 went only two innings, giving up seven runs on five hits.

The second game of the doubleheader featured something that had been rare to date: good pitching. Reid Anderson ’18 went six innings, giving up the only run that Brown would allow all game. A three-run fourth inning that included two RBI singles from Dan Kerr ’15 and Will Marcal ’15 sealed the win, while Noah Schulman’s ’16 home run in the fifth added some insurance, contributing to the Bears’ 4-1 victory.

After the doubleheader split, the three-game series was decided by an extra inning thriller in which Brown prevailed 8-7. It was a busy day for Brown’s bullpen: Six pitchers threw in the game — none more than Taylor Wright ’15, who pitched three and one-third innings — and no one let up an earned run.

“It’s been huge to have guys stepping into their roles,” said Head Coach Grant Achilles. “Whether it’s a quality start for the starter or somebody stepping into relief, I think

our staff is really hitting our stride right now.”

Dave St. Lawrence ’15 allowed four unearned runs in the bottom of the ninth to keep the game going but ended up with the win after Henry walked and Schulman doubled him home in the top of the tenth. It was a huge day for Schulman, as he hit two home runs and tallied four RBIs, including the game-winner. The junior has hit all three of his home runs this season against Georgetown, going 4-for-13 against the Hoyas with three runs scored and five RBIs. Henry and Schulman “have been having great years for us,” Achilles said. “They always seem to want to be at bat when the game’s on the line.

Noah keeps coming up with extra base hits in key moments while Robby is continuing to find ways to get on base and score runs for us.”

The series triumph was the Bears’ first series win of the season, which was a crucial stepping stone heading into Ivy League play.

“It was huge for us, especially the way it happened,” Achilles said.

“We rebounded well after a decisive Georgetown victory and held on to two wins. Georgetown is a pretty good ball club, so the win was huge for our program.”

Before Brown left Washington, it faced off against George Mason (10-14, 2-4) for a two-game series to wrap up its nonconference schedule.

Bosnic got the first win of his young career in relief, pitching three innings while striking out two and giving up one earned run. Kerr stepped up to the two spot in the lineup and went 3-for-5, while Schulman moved back to third in the lineup and had an RBI. St. Lawrence let up one run in the bottom of the ninth but closed the door to register his second save of the season in the 6-5 win. The win was the Bears’ third straight, their longest such streak since April 2012.

Unfortunately for Bruno, George Mason ended the streak in the second game of the series as the Bears

fell 6-3. Marcal, who typically plays right field, started the game on the mound, giving up four runs in two and one-third innings. A two-run third inning gave Bruno its only lead in the game, but the Patriots capitalized on a three-run third of their own and never trailed after that.

The Bears started Ivy League play by splitting a doubleheader against Princeton (4-15, 1-1) on Sunday. A four-run seventh inning salvaged a win in the first game for Bruno, which had not scored before that point. Fitzpatrick picked up his first win of the season, while St. Lawrence registered his third save. A Danny Hoy home run cut Bruno’s lead to 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh, but St. Lawrence settled down and closed out the Bears’ first Ivy win.

Anderson started the second game of the doubleheader, going four innings and giving up five runs for his second loss of the season. Josh Huntley ’17 hit a home run in the 8-2 losing effort for the Bears.

“It was a good way to start Ivy play,” Achilles said. “Obviously we would have loved to get both, but any time you can get a split on the road, you can be happy with that.”

In its second Ivy League series of the season, Brown survived a late rally from Cornell to prevail in the first game 5-4. A four-run second inning propelled the Bears, which opened up a 5-0 lead before Wright gave up three earned runs in the bottom of the fourth. Bosnic took the mound and got the Bears out of a few jams before registering his second win of the season. St. Lawrence picked up his league-leading fourth save with the win.

A seven-run bottom of the eighth downed the Bears in the second matchup of their doubleheader with Cornell as Brown could not muster a comeback in the ninth. Max Ritchie started the game, but the middle relievers could not hold an early lead, resulting in a 10-6 loss at the hands of the Big Red.

Gag order remains for pension lawsuit Several public figures, including Sen. James Sheehan, D-Narragansett and North Kingstown, and the Rhode Island Broadcasters Association, requested Monday that Rhode Island Superior Court Judge Sarah TaftCarter lift a gag order on all parties involved in the lawsuit regarding the 2011 pension overhaul, WPRI reported.

A settlement was introduced by the state March 17, and the gag order was imposed to keep the union voting process from being impacted by the media. Voting among unions ended last week, though the gag order is still in place. If the settlement is not agreed upon, the case will go to trial April 20.

“In the interest of an open and transparent government, the citizens of the state — whose tax dollars are directly impacted by this epic policy issue — deserve full accounting,” Sheehan wrote in a statement.

“The news departments of the association’s television and radio stations have a right and responsibility to report on issues that impact all Rhode Island taxpayers and the future of our state,” the statement from the RIBA reads.

The settlement could cost cities and towns in Rhode Island $13.7 million, the Providence Journal reported.

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