Monday, April 6, 2015

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SINCE 1891

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD MONDAY, APRIL 6, 2015

VOLUME CL, ISSUE 47

WWW.BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM

Sohn remembered for physics passion, supportive character PhD students, undergrads laud Sohn’s dedication to others, warm spirit, academic talent By EMMA HARRIS AND EMMA JERZYK UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR AND METRO EDITOR

A few weeks before he died, Hyoun Ju Sohn GS emailed the students in his physics lab and told them not to be too hard on themselves. The email was characteristic of the support Sohn gave to his friends, colleagues and students. Sohn died March 31. He was 25 years old. Sohn completed his bachelor of arts degree at Columbia in 2013. “He was one of the top physics students in his year,” wrote Jeremy Dodd, senior lecturer of physics at Columbia and a teacher for whom Sohn was a teaching assistant. Sohn became a PhD candidate in the Department of Physics in fall 2014. He was a teaching assistant for the PHYS 0040: “Basic Physics” lab this semester. Both at Columbia and at Brown, Sohn was known for his interest in condensed matter physics, specifically spintronics — a growing field with the potential to improve technology by using electron spin in computational applications.

He was always able to distill the essence of a concept into a short phrase, said Mary Hadley GS, who was in Sohn’s cohort in the doctoral program. Hadley met Sohn during the preorientation program. “We bonded immediately — I guess because we were both silly,” she said. He would text her pictures of his cats to cheer her up. “He was a well-known guy,” Hadley added. There are only 15 or 16 first-year PhD students in the department, and all of them take the same classes their first year. The cohort initially got together to work on problem sets but then started to hang out outside of class, said Will Taylor GS, who was Sohn’s lab partner last semester. “He enjoyed spontaneity and whimsical fun,” Taylor said, recalling a video Sohn posted on Facebook of him singing karaoke to “The Lion King.” Sohn was also a talented artist who enjoyed imitating famous artists’ styles, Hadley said. In addition to his artistic interests, Sohn was also devoted to experimental physics. “He was a really committed experimentalist” whose interest in new technological applications of spintronics research led him to “spend hours in the lab trying to get things right,” Hadley said. Sohn was always willing to help » See SOHN, page 2

DANIELLE PERELMAN / HERALD

Rhode Island School of Design technicians form picket lines during ongoing contract negotiations. Some students elected to join the lines while others respected their cause from afar.

RISD tech strike impedes academics

Negotiations over wage increases, health care benefits, retirement contributions continue By ELAINA WANG SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Forty-four Rhode Island School of Design technicians have been on strike since Thursday, shutting down many of the school’s studios and impeding access to certain buildings. The strike is a result of breakdowns in contract negotiations that have been ongoing between the technicians and the administration since May 2014. Technicians operate machines and

METRO

Lecture Board selects George Takei Takei chosen for starring role on ‘Star Trek,’ activism on LGBTQ and Japanese-American issues By ALIZA REISNER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Actor and political activist George Takei will speak on campus April 27, leaders of Brown Lecture Board told The Herald. While best known for his role as Hikaru Sulu on the television series “Star Trek,” Takei is also a major proponent of LGBTQ rights and has won several awards for his commitment to improving Japanese-American relations, said Connor Grieve ’17, co-president of Lecture Board. “One of the reasons we chose him is because he represents an intersection that we don’t see from a lot of speakers,” said Viet Nguyen ’17, the other co-president of Lecture Board. “He’s a Japanese-American who is part of the LGBTQ community and in the media community,” Nguyen said.

INSIDE

Takei has also garnered a reputation for his quirky personality and active Facebook presence, Nguyen added. Before choosing Takei as this semester’s speaker, Lecture Board also considered Mindy Kaling, Jane Goodall and Kevin Spacey, Grieve said. The group eventually chose Takei after contacting the potential speakers’ agents and taking finances into consideration, he said. Lecture Board’s primary goal is to select a speaker, with both a strong message and name recognition, who “will be able to fill Salomon and get the most out of the money we spend,” Grieve added. “We talked a lot about what kind of speaker we wanted to bring and in the past have had a lot of comedy speakers, but this time we wanted to bring someone who had a clear point … to convey” and whose lecture would ignite conversations on topics not typically discussed, Nguyen said. Takei was the “stand-out” option in terms of these criteria, he added. During his speech, Takei will

shop spaces in RISD’s studios, ensuring a safe environment for students. Without the technicians, professors are unable to use these spaces during classes. “The campus has been basically shut down,” said Erik Lack, president of the RISD Student Alliance, adding that many professors have moved classes to the Fleet Library, other school buildings, cafes or parks. Student responses to the strike range from impassioned to respectful, Lack said, adding that some refuse to cross the picket lines and enter the technicians’ workplaces, while others have supported the technicians by joining the picket lines, Lack said. “There aren’t any students that don’t value the work that the techs do,” he added.

SOFTBALL

Inconsistent Bears sweep Penn, sputter against Lions Crucial home runs power Brown offense to doubleheader sweep over solid Quaker squad By TANEIL RUFFIN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

COURTESY OF WIKIPEDIA

George Takei, “Star Trek” actor and political activist, will visit campus. discuss the time he and his family spent in a Japanese internment camp in 1942, Grieve said. Despite the gravity of Takei’s personal experiences, Lecture Board leaders expect his talk to be funny and entertaining. The group especially appreciates that “his comedy is grounded in realism and his own » See TAKEI, page 2

“RISD believes in freedom of expression and respects the technicians’ right to strike,” wrote Jaime Marland, RISD director of public relations, in an email to The Herald. “At the same time, the college’s primary concern is students’ education. Arrangements are being made to minimize the impact of such an action.” Though RISD administrators have expressed hope that the strike will conclude soon, neither the administration nor the technicians are currently willing to budge in contract negotations that have spanned several months. Negotiations began in May in preparation for the previous contract’s June expiration date. In June 2014, the union proposed » See STRIKE, page 3

Coming off of a scoreless loss to Princeton, the softball team looked to redeem itself this weekend in a pair of Ivy League doubleheaders. The contests were technically the first home games of the season for the Bears (8-12, 3-5 Ivy), but they took place at Bryant University’s Conaty Park due to field conditions at the Brown Softball Field. The opening homestand saw the Bears match up against middle-of-the-pack Penn and Columbia. “We wanted to come out this weekend and show we can compete with anyone in the Ivy League,” said Sarah Syrop ’17. “By sweeping Penn, a team that is

usually very strong, we showed that.” Penn (13-13, 4-4) came to the Ocean State armed with a typically strong offense. The Quakers are led by Jurie Joyner, who boasts the Ivy League’s third-highest batting average and second-highest RBI total. In the first game of the series, Joyner supplied her squad’s only run of the game with a single in the top of the fourth. Bruno’s ace, Katie Orona ’18, allowed one run on seven hits in seven innings. Not to be bested, the Bears responded in the bottom half of the inning with a double from Yeram Park ’18 that scored Lauren Hanna ’17. Emily Springfield ’18 followed Park with an RBI single that sent the score to 2-1 and gave the home team a lead it would not relinquish. Another single from Park in the fifth and a two-out, three-run surge in the sixth secured Bruno’s 6-1 win over Penn. The second game of the day began » See SOFTBALL, page 4

WEATHER

MONDAY, APRIL 6, 2015

SPORTS Men and women’s track and field finds podium multiple times at weekend invitational

SPORTS Nationally-ranked men’s lacrosse suffers first Ivy loss of season after faltering late in game against Penn

COMMENTARY Simundich GS: Lack of resources and support for international grad students proves detrimental

COMMENTARY Mirchandani ’15: Language surrounding mental health is crucial to its conception

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