Tuesday, October 13, 2015

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SINCE 1891

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2015

VOLUME CL, ISSUE 83

WWW.BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM

Michael Dell shares keys to entrepreneurial success Industry leader addresses personal challenges, developments in information technology By AGNES CHAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER EMMA JERZYK / HERALD

Members of Native Americans at Brown circulated a petition requesting that Fall Weekend be renamed “Indigenous People’s Day,” emphasizing that the weekend should celebrate Native people’s culture and history.

Native students demand U. support Demonstration attendees urge University to rename Fall Weekend ‘Indigenous People’s Day’ By EMMA JERZYK METRO EDITOR

Over 300 students and Indigenous people from across the country gathered Monday on the Main Green to call upon the University to change the name of Fall Weekend to “Indigenous People’s Day.” The demonstration, organized by members of the student group Native Americans at Brown, consisted of traditional songs and dances, speeches

by citizens of local tribes and a march around campus, which paused in front of the home of President Christina Paxson P’19. Throughout the event, protesters were invited to sign NAB’s petition, which formally requests that the Faculty Executive Committee change the name of Fall Weekend to “Indigenous People’s Day.” The petition notes that while the committee voted to change the name from Columbus Day to Fall Weekend in 2009, this move is the “bare minimum that Brown University can do.” The petition also calls for the weekend to be an active celebration of the resilience and resistance of Native people at Brown and at large. Paxson reached out to NAB members

to discuss changing the name of Fall Weekend, and the group plans on scheduling a meeting soon, Floripa Olguin ’16, an event organizer who is a citizen of the Pueblo of Isleta and the Navajo Nation in New Mexico, told The Herald. The petition stresses that though the administration is putting together a Diversity Action Plan, “antagonistic structural and social forces” still persist on campus, including problematic student views and The Herald’s publication of two racist opinions columns last week. The second column, “Columbian Exchange Day,” argued that Native Americans should be thankful for Christopher Columbus because of the goods and » See NAB, page 2

Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Inc., detailed his experience as an entrepreneur and discussed the future of information technology with students and faculty members Friday in Salomon 101. Dell spoke extensively about innovation within the information technology industry and survival in a rapidly evolving market. Dell, famously quoted for his assertion that “technology is about enabling human potential,” said he believes more in “human plus machine” than “human versus machine.” The key to development lies in discovering ways to combine the creativity and intelligence of humans with the mechanical abilities of computers, he said. One student asked Dell whether the technology industry has room for another giant corporation, considering the dominance of companies like Dell, Google and Apple. Dell pointed to the emergence of relatively new companies

such as Alibaba and Facebook as an indication that there is always space. These big companies typically do not comprise more than 1 percent of the industry’s total value, Dell said. “You are going to see all kinds of new companies, and you will see companies going away. … It’s a change or die business,” he said. “You’ve got to evolve.” This constant evolution is necessary for survival in a rapidly advancing industry, Dell said. Of the 1.8 billion personal computers and similar devices in the world, about 600 million of them are over four years old, he added. In order to entice consumers to replace their old devices, Dell must create a machine that is significantly improved from the device five years ago. “How do we grow faster than the industry?” remains a central focus of the business, Dell said. Dell founded his company from his freshman dorm room at the University of Texas. Back in high school, while his friends were interested in modifying their cars, Dell was more fascinated by microprocessors and circuit boards and was instead “souping up computers.” Much to the dismay of his parents, Dell dropped out of college after his » See DELL, page 2

FOOTBALL PLME students reach Bruno defeats Crusaders with field goal similar outcomes as peers Head coach places

Study finds PLME, traditional students see comparable residency placements, test scores By ELENA RENKEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

University researchers recently led a study comparing the success of students in the eight-year Program in Liberal Medical Education with the performance of students admitted to the Alpert Medical School through the traditional route. The study, published online in the journal Academic Medicine Sept. 25, looked at the test scores and residency placements of students who graduated from the Med School over the last five years. The study revealed only slight differences in the achievements of PLME students and those who were accepted traditionally. These differences had statistical significance because of the large sample size — 295 PLME

SCIENCE & RESEARCH

INSIDE

students and 215 students admitted conventionally — but “the differences between the two groups were not meaningful in any way,” said Paul George, associate professor of family medicine and medical science and lead author of the study. The study found the relationship between undergraduate curriculum and success in medical school to be very weak, even within the PLME program. The authors hypothesized that a larger number of undergraduate premedical science courses would be correlated with greater success in medical school and in residency placement, but the data provided little support for this idea. The number of premedical science courses taken at the undergraduate level by PLME students had a minimal effect on their medical school performances, according to the study. Medical students’ success was measured by competitiveness of residency placement as well as standardized test scores. Only minor differences were noted between the success of PLME and non-PLME students in residency » See PLME, page 3

confidence in Senne ’16 despite inconsistent performance this year By CALEB MILLER STAFF WRITER

To a Holy Cross football player, Grant Senne ’16 is the boogeyman. The senior kicker booted a game-winning 35-yard field goal Saturday, propelling the football team to a 25-24 victory over the Crusaders and replicating his 23-yard game-winner over Holy Cross last season. “It was a bit of deja vu,” said quarterback and co-captain Marcus Fuller ’15.5. “He’s made a lot of enemies in the city of Worcester.” Senne’s conclusive kick capped a 63yard go-ahead drive authored by Fuller. In the midst of his third 400-plus yard passing game of the season, the senior signal-caller went five-of-six for 54 yards on the critical drive. Four of the five completions on the run went to Fuller’s favorite target on the day, Alex Jette ’17. While Bruno’s late field goal was the last score in the game, the final five

COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS

Against the Crusaders, Alexander Jette ’17 earned 16 grabs and 216 yards — two totals that rank in the top 10 in program history. minutes were not without drama. The Crusaders pushed into Bruno territory in their attempt to answer, but Robert Hughes ’17 halted the drive. The big defensive end flashed his reflexes by intercepting a tipped pass. After Bruno’s attempt to run out the clock stalled, Holy Cross had one last gasp. The Crusaders received the ball with 32 seconds to go and used two Bruno penalties and a long completion to get into field goal range. But Holy Cross’ Connor Fitzgerald could not duplicate

Senne’s kick, and his 35-yarder sailed wide left as time expired. Senne’s heroics were all the more improbable after some uncharacteristic inconsistencies early in the year. Senne has already missed as many field goals and one more extra point than he did all of last season. But with the game on the line, Head Coach Phil Estes P’18 put his trust in Senne’s leg. Senne “loves pressure,” Estes said. “He stepped up to make the biggest play » See FOOTBALL, page 2

WEATHER

TUESDAY, OC TOBER 13, 2015

SPORTS Women’s soccer loses 0-4 to Princeton before turning the tables to defeat Marist 4-0

METRO RIDOH director emphasizes importance of striving for health equity in Rhode Island

COMMENTARY Doyle ’18: Smartphones allow us to maintain relationships, should not be so demonized

COMMENTARY Malik ’18: Students should take steps to prepare for attending professors’ office hours

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