Friday, March 3, 2006

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2006

Volume CXLI, No. 26 BATHROOM READING A new sound installation in List Art Center features readings of graffiti from campus bathrooms ARTS & CULTURE 3

www.browndailyherald.com

An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891 NO ROOM FOR THE LITTLE GUY Via Via IV, in the shadow of the LiSci, says business is down due to ongoing construction CAMPUS NEWS 5

HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM Michael Ramos-Lynch ’09 argues that childhood obesity in Houston can’t be solved by limiting food options OPINIONS 11

TODAY

TOMORROW

windy / cloudy 29 / 17

partly cloudy 36 / 23

Committee: Bookstore should be outsourced

BY ERIC BECK NEWS EDITOR

The Bookstore Review Committee issued a report today that recommends outsourcing the operation of the Brown Bookstore to an external vendor such as Barnes and Noble.

The committee found “considerable potential … to improve product offerings, service, aesthetics and layout in the store to make it a more comfortable, academic and welcoming destination,” according to the report.

The report focuses on two main operating models for the University. First, the University could continue to operate the bookstore independently, funding substantial investments and implementing significant improvements. Second, an external vendor specializing in university bookstores could be contracted to operate the bookstore.

“Contracting with a vendor was preferred by the majority of the committee, as it offers the most potential to provide expertise, resources, systems and capital to upgrade the bookstore, as well as the capacity to stay current with changes in the college merchandise and text- and trade-book markets in the future,” according to the report.

Elizabeth Huidekoper, executive vice president for finance and administration and chair of the bookstore committee, told The Herald the report is not a conclusive decision on the future of the bookstore. Members of the committee will meet this month with campus constituencies such as the Faculty Executive Committee, Undergraduate Council of Students, Graduate Student Council and Staff Advisory Committee and hold campus-wide forums to solicit feedback.

The committee will then address concerns raised during the campus vetting process and issue a final recommendation to President Ruth Simmons and her cabinet, which comprises about a dozen top University administrators. Simmons and her cabinet are expected to make a final decision in April or May. Even though Huidekoper said a more thorough examination of both outsourc-

ing and self-operation is needed before a final decision is made, the report focuses almost entirely on the outsourcing model — management by an external vendor is described in five pages, while only three paragraphs address self-operation.

Associate Professor of English Stesee BOOKSTORE, page 4

join Brown’s AOA. Boney said membership in AOA can strengthen a student’s residency application. She acknowledged an active chapter at Brown might hurt those students who placed in the top 25 percent but were not invited to join AOA. Certain residencies might immediately discard these students’ applications upon seesee AOA, page 6

see FORUM, page 7

Jacob Melrose / Herald

The University may outsource the bookstore to a vendor such as Barnes and Noble.

Medical School faculty and students engaged in contentious discussion last night about the re-activation of Brown’s chapter of a national medical school honors society. While faculty members in support of the chapter said it would recognize student achievement, students argued it might heighten academic competition.

Last month, members of the Med School’s faculty and administration, headed by Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences Eli Adashi, re-activated Brown’s chapter of Alpha Omega Alpha.

The chapter has a controversial history at Brown: it was voted out by the first Med School class in 1975, and additional attempts to re-activate the chapter — the most recent of which came in 1999 — have failed.

Associate Professor of Pediatrics Charlotte Boney, whom Adashi appointed as the faculty member in charge of Brown’s AOA chapter, spoke in favor of the chapter’s re-activation. She said AOA promotes and recognizes excellence, both in scholarship and in extracurricular involvement.

“Students deserve recognition for achievements, whether they are scholarly, leadership or humanitarian,” Boney said. “All of us benefit when our peers succeed. We feel their infectious

enthusiasm for success.”

Medical students in the top 25 percent of their class are eligible for AOA consideration. Eligibility also depends on extracurricular activities, such as research, campus leadership and community service. Students do not submit an application to AOA, but are rather given an invitation to join, which they can decline. Boney said about 17 percent of each class would receive invitations to

Editorial: 401.351.3372 Business: 401.351.3260

BY CHLOE LUTTS SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Participants in yesterday’s forum on the possible addition of pluses and minuses to Brown’s grading system discussed topics including grade inflation, an on-campus obsession with A’s, the New Curriculum and graduate schools’ perception of transcripts.

The forum, which was sponsored by the Undergraduate Council of Students, was structured as a six-participant panel debate: two faculty members for and one against, and two students against and one for. Approximately 70 people, mostly students, attended and had the opportunity to ask questions of the panel.

Each panelist was given the opportunity to make a five-minute opening statement, beginning with Dean of the College Paul Armstrong, chair of the College Curriculum Council. Armstrong advocated the addition of pluses and minuses to eliminate what he termed “compression at the top.” A’s have become “meaningless” grades because they make up 62 percent of letter grades, he argued. At the same time, he said, getting an A “means everything to students” because they have become the “only acceptable” grade. He believes adding pluses and minuses would alleviate some of the pressure to get A’s.

Armstrong said adding pluses and minuses would not “violate the spirit of the New Curriculum,” as some critics have asserted. Calling himself a “passionate advocate” of the New Curriculum, Armstrong argued that compression at the top has “subverted the New Curriculum (by) jeopardizing values.”

Students try to “game the system” to avoid getting B’s, which he believes they wouldn’t do to avoid B-pluses. He accused students of using provisions of the New Curriculum designed to encourage risktaking to avoid getting B’s, offering anecdotal evidence of students attempting to fail courses. Students do this so a course does not show up on their transcript, and they can avoid receiving a B, he said. The “original intent” of the New Curriculum was to reduce pressure to earn perfect grades, and

Possible Med School honors society sparks student outcry

BY REBECCA JACOBSON SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Students and faculty debate pros/ cons of pluses and minuses at forum

Sen. Reed, leading voice on Iraq war, to speak tonight

BY BEN LEUBSDORF METRO EDITOR

When Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., talks about Iraq, people listen.

He made his seventh trip to Iraq in January, visiting troops in Tal Afar, a city near the Syrian border that was re-taken from insurgents by American and Iraqi forces in mid-2005. Also a four-time visitor to Afghanistan, Reed has emerged as the leading Democratic voice in the Senate on progress in Iraq.

This evening, he will deliver the Stephen Ogden ’60 Memorial Lecture on International Affairs in List 120, at 6 p.m. His lecture, titled “President Bush and the Long War: Are Slogans Enough?” will address Iraq, Iran and

President George W. Bush’s strategy for fighting global terror, he said.

“I think there’s been progress (in Iraq), but it’s very fragile and it could be reversed,” Reed told The Herald in a Feb. 17 interview. “On the military side we have established territorial control.

There are no longer insurgent enclaves like Falluja and Tal Afar. But the insurgency is very adaptable and they are exploiting the political divisions and economic troubles” in Iraq.

Reed said Iraq needs “a government, not just a leadership,” and though the December elections were an important step forward, working ministries that can provide services to the general population are a necessary next step.

“I think it’s going to take many, many months,” he said.

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

Reed said he will discuss these and other topics, including “the extent that the focus on Iraq and the huge resources in Iraq have constrained our flexibility when dealing with Iran,” in his speech.

Reed grew up in Cranston and graduated from the

reed.senate.gov

Sen. Jack Reed will give the Stephen Ogden ’60 Memorial Lecture on International Affairs in List 120 at 6 p.m. tonight.

see REED, page 4 News tips: herald@browndailyherald.com

THIS MORNING THE BROWN DAILY HERALD · FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2006 · PAGE 2 Jero Matt Vascellaro

WEEKEND EVENTS “PRESIDENT BUSH AND THE LONG WAR: ARE SLOGANS ENOUGH?” 6 p.m., (List Art Center) — Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., will deliver the Stephen A. Ogden Jr. Memorial Lecture on International Affairs.

“THIS IS YOUR YOUTH” 8 p.m. , (T.F. Green Hall) — Kenneth Lonergan’s play depicts articulate, pot-smoking and liberal young adults.

Sound relevant to Brown students? Free tickets available at the P.O. or at the door.

RISD BALLS VS. COOPER UNION 8 p.m. , (Wheeler Gym) — Come watch the RISD Balls take on arch art school rivals Cooper Union. Yes, artists can dunk.

BROWN DERBIES AND URSA MINORS PRESENT: THE INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP OF COLLEGIATE A CAPPELLA Sat. 8 p.m. , (Salomon 101) — Need we say more? A brutal battle of a cappella groups for supremacy and the chance to perform at Lincoln Center.

M for Massive Yifan Luo

MENU SHARPE REFECTORY

Chocolate Covered Cotton Mark Brinker

VERNEY-WOOLLEY DINING HALL

LUNCH — Vegetable Strudel with Cheese Cream Sauce, BLT Sandwich, Italian Roasted Potatoes, Oregon Blend Vegetables, Comino Chicken Sandwich, Butter Cookies, Chocolate Mousse Torte

LUNCH — Vegetarian Chick Pea Soup, New England Clam Chowder, Chicken Fingers, Lentil Croquettes with Spicy Raita, Sticky Rice, Sugar Snap Peas, Butter Cookies

DINNER — Vegetable Stuffed Peppers, Focaccia with Rosemary, Coconut Tilapia, Basmati Rice Pilaf, Steamed Vegetable Melange, Baked Sweet Potatoes, Meatloaf with Mushroom Sauce, Cut Green Beans, Focaccia with Rosemary, Strawberry Jello, Pumpkin pie

DINNER — Vegetarian Chick Pea Soup, New England Clam Chowder, Fisherman’s Pie in Puff Pastry, Grilled Chicken, Cheese Raviolis with Sauce Oven Roasted Potatoes, Cauliflower Asparagus with Lemon, Focaccia with Rosemary, Pumpkin Pie

Cappuccino Monday Christine Sunu

RELEASE DATE– Friday, March 3, 2006

CR O S Daily SWO RD Los Angeles Times Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

ACROSS 1 Devious laughs 5 Wow 10 Cockpit nos.

14 Over 15 Like a good alibi 16 Turkish bread?

17 Powerful coach for Cinderella?

20 Part of a pool 21 Symbol of ancient Egypt 22 It’s good to get there 23 Alternative to mousse 25 ’70s singing family 27 Military fur?

32 John Kerry, once 33 Room in a casa 34 Emphatic agreement 38 Mike support 40 Rise 42 Hops dryer 43 Enthusiasm 45 Caramel-filled candy 47 “Dream on, Ian!” 48 Fast rube?

51 Prison’s antithesis, with “the” 54 Tympanic membrane site 55 Be uncharitable, in a way 56 Roll call answers 59 Job for a yegg 63 Part of a tea party setting?

66 Scrap, as a proposal 67 Immortal PGA nickname 68 Trapper’s prize 69 Sasha Cohen maneuver 70 Tops 71 Natters DOWN 1 “Macbeth” creatures 2 Tiers __: French commons 3 Water source 4 Like sodden ground 5 Faulkner’s “__ Lay Dying”

6 Homer Simpson’s mom 7 Bass and others 8 Over 400 million of them have been made since 1932 9 URL ending 10 HUD secretary Jackson 11 Compare 12 Simple chord 13 Time, metaphorically 18 Windblown topsoil component 19 Ike’s mate 24 Percolated 26 Crayola color since 1957 27 Lincoln’s st.

28 Soothing plant 29 Bass __ 30 Each and every 31 Defense secretary before Richardson 35 Jerk 36 Morales of “NYPD Blue” 37 British heat?

39 Get a letter off?

41 Tear gas target, perhaps 44 Mata Hari, e.g.

46 Missouri River port 49 Pessimistic Pooh pal 50 Like J.Crew clothing 51 Honshu prefecture or its capital

52 53 57 58 60

Detach Search type A Chaplin Bad state Its USA Web site Online Assistant is named Anna 61 Kimono fabric 62 Boomers 64 Catch 65 Super __: video game console

Homebodies Mirele Davis

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Goldfish Dreams Allison Moore

xwordeditor@aol.com

3/3/06

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ARTS & CULTURE THE BROWN DAILY HERALD · FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2006 · PAGE 3

Campus bathroom graffiti brings new French film festival meaning to sound in-stall-ation features a mix of

BY ALISSA CERNY STAFF WRITER

For many students, it’s impossible to overlook the often crude, at times intellectual and constantly evolving graffiti that anonymously accumulates in campus bathroom stalls. Despite their amusing nature, few people would deem these scrawled messages worthy of the term “art.”

But this notion may change with the exhibition of “No one will see us,” a sound installation by Alex Kotch ’06 in List 221 from March 5-10.

Kotch, a music concentrator, was initially inspired when he stopped at the men’s bathroom of the Rockefeller Library last fall.

“When I went to the bathroom I was struck by the incredible scrawls I saw on the walls. I went and grabbed a notebook to write them down,” Kotch said.

Over the following two months, Kotch continued to compile a collection of what he calls “scribblings” and

enlisted the help of female friends to document graffiti from women’s bathrooms as well. Nearly all the graffiti in the exhibit was found in bathrooms across campus, from places like the Rock, Sayles Hall, Orwig Music Building and Steinert Choral Room. A few messages came from AS220, an arts center in Providence.

“I wrote down everything. I wanted this to be an accurate depiction of the bathroom walls, without bias,” Kotch said.

The installation includes a wide range of messages that run the gamut from crude anatomical descriptions to philosophical musings. Other items include “sex tips for inquiring froshes,” appeals for advice, requests for dates and personal interest surveys. Kotch described the installation as “interesting, provoking and worthy of the ‘R’ rating.”

Some messages include: “Who’s got my nose candy?,”

For most 20-somethings, the first several minutes of Kenneth Lonergan’s “This is Our REVIEW Youth” present a familiar living space: unmade sheets on a bed, photos and posters tacked across a wall and opened cereal boxes. The scattered mess and makeshift furniture of the set provide a metaphor for the transitional state experienced by the

play’s characters.

Set in the early 1980s, “This is Our Youth” portrays three young adults raised in New York City’s Upper West Side. As they struggle to form an identity, they come to learn that independence necessitates responsibility.

The audience is introduced to Dennis (Nick Clifford ’08) while he eats a hamburger in his apartment and the light of the television flickers across his face. After the doorbell rings several times, Dennis final-

www.browndailyherald.com

BY ALLISSA WICKHAM CONTRIBUTING WRITER

ly lets in Warren (David Greis ’07), who enters with a large backpack and stuffed duffle bag after having been thrown out of his house by his father.

The interactions that follow between the confident, sharptongued, scheming Denis and the soft-spoken, laconic, slightly withdrawn Warren create a striking contrast. The actors both add life to the characters they play, yet neither one

As it gears up for its ninth season, the Providence French Film Festival promises to shake up preconceived notions about French cinema with fresh pieces from around the globe.

“When people think of French film, they typically think of someone playing a violin and smoking a cigarette,” said Cythia Lugo, a first-year modern culture and media graduate student who helped organize the event. “We want to challenge that.”

Featuring a total of 12 films, the festival will begin Monday, March 6 and will run through Sunday, March 12 at the Cable Car Cinema. The line-up includes everything from “Delwende,” which explores superstition in the west African nation of Burkina Faso, to “How to Conquer America in One Night,” a comedy about a young Haitian man hoping to seduce an American model.

From its founding, the festival has served as a platform for innovative projects, and this year is no exception. Several experimental films are slated to appear, along with films that feature a more cohesive narrative structure. According to Richard Manning, an MCM film archivist and the festival’s programmer, “The films this year really cover the spectrum of narratives.”

In contrast to traditional cinema, experimental projects typically focus on imagery and symbolism

see YOUTH, page 4

see FILMS, page 4

see GRAFFITI, page 9

‘This is Our Youth’ captures 20-something experience

BY KATE GOLDBERG CONTRIBUTING WRITER

the experimental and the traditional

PAGE 4 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2006

Films continued from page 3 rather than mere storytelling.

“These films respect the audience,” Manning said. “When people leave, they will want to talk about them.”

One of the festival’s highlights is “Games of Love and Chance,” which won several honors at last year’s French César Awards. Set in the Parisian projects, it tells the story of a teenage boy struggling to fulfill his theatrical ambitions in the face of ridicule from friends and turbulent surroundings. Although selected for its cinematic quality, the film carries extra weight following the riots that occurred outside Paris in November. This alone makes the film “very timely,” Lugo said.

Another notable entry is “The Big Risk,” a classic 1960s film noir about French gangsters. According to the festival’s organizers, its appearance marks a recurring effort to include restored films that help preserve the rich history of French cinema.

Because the market for this genre in the United States is

relatively small, gaining access to these films can often be difficult, Lugo said. “Saint Martyrs of the Damned,” a horror film set in Quebec, has already gained a cult following in Canada but may not be released in the United States due to uninterested distributors. According to both Lugo and Manning, the Providence festival provides a chance for the film, and others like it, to be seen.

“People want to see something new,” Lugo said. “Some of these films may not make it to DVD. Nowhere else in Providence does this happen. It really is a great opportunity.”

The Providence French Film Festival was founded in 1998 by Sylvie Toux, a former lecturer in French studies. After its first two years, the festival expanded and moved to March to better accommodate students’ schedules.

General admission is $7.50, and student admission is $6.00.

Tickets can be purchased at the door at the Cable Car after 11 a.m. on the day of the screening or in packets of six beforehand. All films are subtitled in English.

Youth continued from page 3 is overpowering. Instead, the contrasts allow for each to act as a foil for the other.

The director, Byron Asher ’08, said his goal was “to keep things as natural as possible.” The production manages to present the complexities of the characters in their entireties while still leaving the audience with a feeling

Reed continued from page 1 United States Military Academy in 1971. He served as an Army Ranger and paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division before becoming a professor at West Point in 1978. He retired from active service in 1979, after earning his master’s degree from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

He then earned a degree from Harvard Law School and became a lawyer with Providence- and Washington-based law firms before entering the Rhode Island Senate in 1984. In 1990, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and then to the U.S. Senate in 1996, succeeding longtime Sen. Claiborne Pell, D-R.I. Reed serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee and is the rank-

Bookstore continued from page 1 phen Foley ’74 P’04 P’07, a member of the committee, said that the imbalance can be explained because the committee was weighing a known with an unknown — an extensive body of information concerning the outsourcing model already exists, while the steps to improve the bookstore under University management are less clear.

Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.

Solution, tips and computer program at www.sudoku.com.

of familiarity and comfort.

This ability to make the audience feel as though they are peeking into real-life scenarios is again reinforced during scenes between Warren and Jessica (Jessica Laser ’08). As a romance develops between the two, she reveals her emotions and struggles to the audience, though Laser also successfully maintains a degree of authenticity.

“This is Our Youth” runs the

risk of hitting too close to home for 20-somethings. However, the performance uses this familiarity to its advantage by shedding light on the enormous amount of complexities that exist during this transitional period. “This is Our Youth” will be performed Friday March 3 at 8 p.m., Saturday March 4 at 8 p.m., Saturday night at 12 a.m. and Sunday March 5 at 4 p.m. The production is free to the public in the T.F. Green Hall upstairs space.

ing minority member on the Emerging Threats and Capabilities subcommittee.

Reed has built a reputation as a knowledgeable voice on the war in Iraq. When President Bush delivered four speeches in December on progress in Iraq, Reed gave the official Democratic response.

University officials said they are excited to have Reed speak on campus.

“Given his experience, Senator Reed’s lecture will give the Brown community a unique perspective on an important international issue, which is what the Ogden lectureship is designed to do,” said Michael Chapman, vice president for public affairs and University relations.

Chapman specifically cited Reed’s military experience, which Reed has often drawn on when discussing the war in Iraq.

“I think it gives me some credibility and it gives me some insights that some of my colleagues don’t have, having commanded troops,” Reed said.

“You get a sense of how it works and what questions to ask.”

That experience is becoming more rare in the Senate — in the 109th Congress, there are only 30 senators who have served in the military, down from 35 in the 108th Congress. Reed said his colleagues who have not served “are very thoughtful people and they have life experiences that help them address difficult questions,” but they often miss “the nuances” of military policy.

Many of those senators, Reed said, have “a sense that the military can do more than it can.

Rather than being more questioning, they’re less questioning because they assume we have such a great military and it can do anything.”

Huidekoper and Foley both said the self-operating model would receive a more detailed examination.

A key justification for outsourcing the bookstore, according to Huidekoper, is that University administrators are not experts at running a merchandising and retail facility like the bookstore.

Still, the report acknowledges that “contracting with a corporate vendor would likely elicit strong voices in opposition to ‘selling out’ to a national corpo-

ration and ceding Brown’s independence. This opposition should not be underestimated.”

The report suggests that the president’s cabinet “give special consideration to whether the extent of opposition will be strong enough to divide the campus and distract attention from Brown’s academic enrichment initiatives.”

Two external vendors — Barnes and Noble College Booksellers and Follett Higher Education Group — are mentioned in the report, though the document focuses primarily on Barnes and Noble, going to great lengths to distinguish the privately held university affiliate of the bookselling giant from its publicly traded parent.

Huidekoper stressed that every institution that outsources to a vendor like Barnes and Noble customizes its own contract, and the University could carefully design its agreement to protect the interests of faculty, students and staff.

The financial structure of such a deal is not clear. Huidekoper said no standard arrangement exists, and she stressed that the financial impact is not a primary consideration for the University.

“This is not an issue about money. We’re not looking to make more money out of this, and we’re not looking to make less money out of this,” she said.

The impact of outsourcing on bookstore employees is also not entirely clear, though the report specifies that Barnes and Noble would offer all current employees a job at comparable salary and benefits for a minimum of one year.

“Our employees are a resource,” Huidekoper said. “In both models, they have the skills that we want to keep here.

They’re critical to our ability to do what were doing.”

CAMPUS NEWS THE BROWN DAILY HERALD · FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2006 · PAGE 5

Cooking House a new addition to the program house menu

BY ROBIN STEELE STAFF WRITER

Jacob Melrose / Herald

Via Via IV managers have complained about a loss of business due to disruptions related to construction of the Life Sciences Building.

Via Via workers say LiSci construction hurts business

BY HANNAH FURST CONTRIBUTING WRITER

For a two-year period before the University broke ground on the Life Sciences Building on Meeting Street, administrators negotiated with Via Via IV about purchasing its lot. But after those negotiations failed, construction of the LiSci — which is now separated from the pizzeria and Italian restaurant by about six feet — went ahead, and Via Via managers say construction-related disruptions have hurt their business.

Mohamed Eid, a manager and cashier at Via Via, said the restaurant and the University have a running dispute over the tight space.

“We don’t have anything against the building,” Eid said.

However, Eid is upset about the loss of business he claims is due to the ongoing construction.

“It’s part of an urban environment to have close neighbors,” said Richard Spies, executive vice president for planning and senior advisor to the president.

Construction for the LiSci began in fall 2003. If the process goes according to schedule, the building should open this summer in time for the 2006-2007 school year.

Discussions with Via Via about buying its property in order for the University to extend the LiSci began in 2000. The discussions continued until 2002, when Spies says it became clear to the administrators that no agreement could be reached.

Before building on Via Via’s lot, the University needed an agreement from both the owner of the property and the owner of Via Via, Mohammed Badr, according to Spies.

“Normally it only takes two sides to reach an agreement. But in this case it took three sides, so it was more complicated,” Spies said.

Aly Moustafa, manager of the Via Via II restaurant in Newport, said that Via Via IV did not want to sell its land to the University.

“We never came to any agreement,” Moustafa said.

“It wasn’t a question of fault,” Spies said, referring to the failure to reach an arrangement with Via Via. Rather, a settlement was never achieved because the University’s interests did not coincide with Via Via’s, he said.

Still, Spies said the LiSci could have been larger if the University was able to buy the land. “It could have given us much more see VIA VIA, page 6

The newly formed Culinary Arts House, or “Cooking House,” will take its place among the 19 returning program houses for the 2006-2007 academic year. Following a recommendation from Residential Council, the Office of Residential Life selected Cooking House from a pool of three new program house applicants, which also included Film House and Martial Arts House.

Cooking House was created

and coordinated by Herald Cartoonist Christine Sunu ’09, who was inspired by the restaurant at her brother’s residence hall at Wesleyan University. Because the creation of a permanent student-run restaurant was not feasible, Sunu was inspired to create an organization in which students would have an opportunity to operate a restaurant several times a year and learn to cook skillfully, she said.

Sunu cited the myriad values of cooking. “It is relaxing, it is creative … it is a kind of medi-

ation that brings together a lot of different elements — like creativity, like precision,” she said.

She also cited the value of cooking as a service activity. “Cooking House is centered around making (the service) aspect of cooking a larger part of your residential life,” Sunu said.

Sunu said Cooking House has three primary aims: creating an open-minded community by bringing together a variety of cultures and diets, imsee COOKING, page 9

Need a Klezmer band? Try the music department’s Gigboard

BY AIDAN LEVY STAFF WRITER

Last week, the Department of Music began promoting Gigboard, a free online listing of Brown student performing groups located on the department’s Web site.

Last week’s campus-wide Morning Mail announcement first publicized Gigboard. Jennifer Vieira, manager of the Department of Music, conceived of the service.

“When I planned my wed-

ding in 2004, I became aware of an entire subset of people who look for music,” Vieira said.

“People were always looking for student groups, and there was no way to find them other than to ask faculty.”

As of yet, none of the five groups currently listed on Gigboard have been hired, but Vieira noted that the program is in its infancy. She said she expects that when more students begin listing, the service will become popular on campus by word of mouth.

The music department’s administrative staff receives about 10 calls a month from community members looking to hire student musicians, ranging from string quartets to harpists to jazz bands, Vieira said. Additional calls are usually made to professors and directors of performing groups in the department, she said. As the weather gets warmer, the volume of calls typically increases.

“We can now refer these peosee GIGBOARD, page 6

PAGE 6 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2006

AOA continued from page 1 ing a student was not invited to join the school’s AOA chapter, Boney said. Residency admissions staff have to find another screening method when examining the applications of students from schools without active AOA chapters. Still, Boney said she did not think AOA would change the Med School’s “open, healthy and stimulating atmosphere” or make academics more competitive.

Following Boney’s 30-minute presentation, students discussed Brown’s AOA chapter and posed questions to Boney and the two other faculty members in attendance: Associate Professor of Medicine Mark Fagan and Associate Dean of Medicine Alicia Monroe. In the hour-and-a-half long discussion, students overwhelmingly opposed the re-activation of Brown’s AOA chapter.

“I would disagree quite strongly that this wouldn’t have a major effect on students’ lives,” said Jesse Soodalter ’05 MD ’09. “A tremendous

number of people chose Brown very specifically for the culture and ethos of non-competition, and if we introduce an element of class ranking, we’re introducing a very fundamental element that’s never been part of this ethos of zero-sum competition.”

Flávio Casoy �’03 MD �’08 said because the majority of Brown medical students attended Brown for undergraduate school, they have a great deal invested in the University and its educational philosophy. He added that he was upset students were not consulted in the decision to re-activate Brown’s AOA chapter.

“The way that the Medical School is structured, that many of these students have longer institutional memories than the president, provost and dean of medicine, we have an investment in the values and philosophy of this school,” he said. “We have a tradition of non-competition and active student participation in all aspects of our education that affect us. There’s a wider gap that proponents of AOA have to step, and I haven’t seen that done yet.”

Boney, Fagan and Monroe

countered students’ points by emphasizing their stance that AOA would not change the character or culture of the Medical School. Monroe echoed Boney’s words by commenting that when the excellent scholarship of a few students is recognized, all students respond by improving their own performance.

“When some boats rise, all boats rise,” Monroe said. “It’s not about competition, but there is a hierarchy in medicine, and there’s a hierarchy in life, and I’m sorry about that. I would like to see the ethos at Brown change, and not so that we become more competitive, but that we become more collaborative.”

Many students lingered afterward, gathering in small groups to continue discussing the issue. Syed R. Latif MD ’08 said faculty need to be realistic when addressing the effects AOA would have on students.

“As of now, we have a wonderful environment that fosters collaboration rather than competition,” Latif said. “AOA would change people’s mentalities, and for (the faculty) to deny that is not being realistic.”

www.browndailyherald.com

Gigboard continued from page 5 ple to the Gigboard,” Vieira said.

“Hopefully, year after year they’ll remember.”

Gigboard went online in December, after the completion of work begun in July to update the department Web site. Until last week, only two performing groups were listed. But since the Morning Mail announcement, three more musicians have posted their information, and the department has received dozens of e-mails from other student musicians inquiring about the service, said Katherine Bergeron, professor of music and chair of the department.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for students to find out what other people are doing,” Bergeron said.

“Once people start looking at it, it will become a resource that really showcases student musical activ-

Via Via continued from page 5 flexibility in the design,” he said.

Spies also noted that Meeting Street is a difficult construction site because very little space exists between the new building and the street, and the Biomedical Center also sits close by.

However, Via Via is more focused on the effect the construction has had on its business. According to Moustafa, Via Via has lost customers because of the ongoing construction.

“We are sad because we have lost business,” Eid said. “Sometimes we get the day off because it’s slow,” he added.

Moustafa said the construction has also created a variety of nuisances, including noise and a lot of dust. These factors have exacerbated the slump in Via Via’s business.

“As long as the street is not back to its normal condition, people don’t bother coming in,” Moustafa said.

Even though construction on the LiSci will only last for a few more months, Moustafa maintained that until Meeting Street is completely back to normal, business will not pick up again.

ity across the campus.”

In addition, the program allows prospective students to find out more about Brown’s musical offerings, Bergeron said.

The performers currently listed are Friends of the Bagpipe, a nontraditional Irish/Scottish band; The Hog-Eyed Men, an oldtime string band; Josh Bronson ’06, a jazz saxophonist; Strings of David, a classical string quartet; and Yarmulkazi, Brown’s Klezmer band.

“I am excited about the prospects the Gigboard will bring,” Bronson said. “There are probably lots of people who would want to hire musicians at Brown, but in the past they haven’t had a way of reaching them, and now they can.”

Only students, staff and faculty can post on Gigboard, but the listing can be viewed free of charge by everyone.

Gigboard can be accessed on the Web at www.brown.edu/Departments/Music/gigboard/.

“The impact of the project won’t be over,” Moustafa said. Once this happens, Moustafa is confident that business will resume.

However, Spies said “the most important thing is that the building is almost near completion.”

Carey Degenaro ’08, an occasional patron of Via Via, said she is optimistic about the restaurant being able to re-invigorate its business after construction ends.

“Maybe having the Life Sciences Building will increase the number of people eating there because of more traffic,” Degenaro said.

However, Billy Moua ’08 said that, in his opinion, Via Via should have moved elsewhere if it wanted to maintain business.

For his part, Moua said he “prefers other places” for Italian food and pizza.

Cassie Owens ’09, a student who lives in Andrews Hall near Meeting Street, said that while she encourages the University to attain as much land as possible, she still supports Via Via. “I can’t be down on a mom and pop business that wants to keep their business,” Owens said. “I’ve read too many novels about the plight of the every man,” said the comparative literature concentrator.

FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2006 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 7

Forum continued from page 1 adding pluses and minuses would alleviate “the cult of the A and the stigma attached to the B,” Armstrong said.

Jonathan Waage, professor of biology and a member of the CCC, opposed pluses and minuses. However, he opened by stating he was “almost in complete agreement with what Paul (Armstrong) said.” Waage said there must be an understanding of “what the grading system is for (and) what we are not going to accomplish by changing to a plus/minus system.”

It makes little sense to try to fix a non-standardized, non-uniform, “very, very fuzzy” system by adding nuance, he said. Furthermore, he added, there is “no evidence whatsoever” that it will fix grade inflation.

Waage concluded by expressing his dream that someday “transcripts (will) disappear from the face of the earth and be replaced by portfolios.”

Luther Spoehr, lecturer in education and a member of the CCC, argued in favor of adding pluses and minuses. He said the addition of pluses and minuses would be “an opportunity to make reporting of student (achievement) here at Brown more precise, clear and honest.” He called opposition to the proposal “wrongheaded at best and duplicitous at worst.”

Spoehr continued, “Most instructors I know give B-plus work an A. That is the system. It is full of fudge, and about as intellectually nutritious.”

Students are already “gradeconscious,” he said, reiterating Armstrong’s argument that they go to great lengths to “game the system.” He said behavior such as “slacking off” in courses in which they are already getting B’s so they can focus on getting A’s in other classes is “embarrassing (but) widespread.” He believes adding pluses and minuses would “help eliminate this kind of gamesmanship.” Spoehr was deeply critical of “manipulating and cynical” students “taking advantage of the system (as if it is) a game that can be won.”

Spoehr added that pluses and minuses would help professors fulfill their “obligation … to give you an accurate and precise report of your performance.”

Tristan Freeman ’07, chair of the UCS Academic and Administrative Affairs Committee, spoke in opposition to pluses and minuses. Freeman argued that the New Curriculum “really has not changed all that much” since it was implemented. Adding pluses and minuses, he said, would decrease the emphasis on the Brown education as a “process of individual and intellectual development” and increase competition among students. Students would be less open to working together if the difference between an A-plus and an A depended on what the person next to them received, he said.

Additionally, grade inflation at Brown is a product of the requirements for getting into Brown, he said, adding that Brown’s peers have pluses and minuses and they still have trouble with grade inflation.

Freeman agreed with Waage that problems of non-standardized grading among departments and even among different teaching assistants in the same class would not be addressed by adding

pluses and minuses.

As for the potential of pluses and minuses making Brown transcripts more respected by graduate, medical and law schools, Freeman pointed out that Brown students “already get into these programs.”

Freeman also contested Armstrong’s contention that students game the system, saying “the system works now,” adding to applause that Brown students do well because they are “extremely bright.”

Don Trella ’07, public debates coordinator for the Brown Debating Union, argued for the addition of pluses and minuses in what he dubbed a “non-traditional way.”

He began by arguing that changes should not be applied until the class of 2011, because “Brown espouses a set of values (that) attracted a lot of you to this University (and the University has an) obligation to uphold these values.”

He argued against adding Apluses, because they would lead to “extreme über-competitiveness” and obsession with “perfection.”

But changing the system would lead to “enormous benefits,” he said, and remedy an A’s “meaningless” status. He agreed with Armstrong that the “harms to getting a B are so enormously large that it does engender those perverse” manipulations of the system.

Additionally, he argued that the lack of pluses and minuses leads to “self-perpetuating” grade inflation because professors feel pressure to assign A’s in place of B-pluses.

He concluded by saying “more information (is) always going to be in our favor” and adding pluses and minuses will make grades more “commensurate with effort.”

Zac Townsend ’08, vice president of UCS, attempted to counter some of the arguments for the addition of pluses and minuses. He quoted from a 1969 report written after the approval of the New Curriculum that advocated “means which do not place primary emphasis on detailed grades.” He argued that, therefore, the lack of pluses and minuses is an “integral” part of the New Curriculum.

Addressing the notion that stu-

dents game the system, Townsend said this is a “disillusioned point of view.” Although Brown students are competitive, he said the “type of competition” prevalent at Brown is different from that witnessed at peer institutions because Brown’s grading system does not emphasize evaluation.

As a result, he said, “more cooperation happens at Brown.”

During the question-andanswer portion of the forum, Townsend received applause for his argument that it is a “fallacy” to say changing the rules and structure of the grading system would not change the intellectual culture at Brown.

Several questions also opened a conversation on other possible reforms of the grading system that would emphasize more consistent standards. Armstrong supported this as a “great idea,” adding that the “conversation would be facilitated” by the presence of pluses and minuses because “grades are (too) meaningless” to have that conversation now.

Freeman countered that it would be “far more effective for us to start (grading system reform) from the bottom up.” Waage agreed, arguing that adding pluses and minuses would create the “illusion of but not the reality of a better grading system.”

The forum concluded with two-minute statements from each panelist, several of whom chose to reflect upon the process of and prospects for the possible change.

Freeman warned against the “holy grail of the A-plus” and the harm pluses and minuses could do to “the intellectual culture” at the University.

Spoehr cautioned that the plus/minus debate has the potential to turn into a case where “the perfect is the enemy of the good” and that waiting now could mean waiting forever. He also criticized opponents for “wrapping yourself in the mantra of the New Curriculum … the equivalent of wrapping yourself in the flag.”

Waage concluded with the pearl of wisdom that “our current system sucks (and) adding pluses and minuses is not going to make it less sucky.” To great applause, he continued: “Grades are not the object of one’s education.”

TKD continued from page 12 tion) is pretty tiring,” Fungsang said. “When you’re not sparring, you’re cheering other people on. The whole day is screaming your lungs out.”

The team’s solid showing was the product of an intense training regimen that began over winter break. Some team members came back a week early for “training camp,” during which they participated in three-a-days — running and conditioning in the morning, skills work in the afternoon

and light sparring at night.

Once classes started, the team’s schedule only lightened slightly. There are morning practices every weekday at 7 a.m. and two-and-a-halfhour evening practices three times a week.

“We don’t explicitly say they’re mandatory,” Lin said.

“The people who will be competing are expected to be there. People are actually pretty good about showing up.”

Even though nationals have passed, the club’s season is not over. It has two remaining Ivy-Northeast Collegiate Taekwondo League tournaments at Yale and Columbia.

BROWN TKD’S MEDALISTS 2nd dan black belt Mike Hoe ’08 (bantam/featherweight bronze-forms) 1st dan black belt Van-Anh Nguyen ’09 (fin/flyweight; silver-forms) Yoshi Fujita ’06 (light/featherweight; bronze-forms) Andrew Kim ’07 (middle/heavyweight; bronze-forms) Courtney Yan ’06 (bantam/featherweight; bronze-forms) Red/brown belts Sharon David ’06 (middleweight; gold-forms, bronze-sparring) Leslie Wong ’06 (middleweight; silver-forms) Blue/purple belts Anthony Borino, Johnson and Wales ’09 (middleweight; silver-forms) Catrina Joos ’07 (middleweight; bronze-forms, bronze-sparring) Joseph Leung ’07 (lightweight; bronze-forms, bronze-sparring)

Green belt Jackie Dwulet ’08 (heavyweight; gold-forms, gold-sparring) Ling Wong ’06 (lightweight; goldsparring) David Atkinson ’08 (lightweight; silver-forms, silver-sparring) Tobin Marcus ’08 (middleweight; silver-forms) Takuma Nakamoto ’08 (middleweight; bronze-sparring) Cartney Smith ’06 (lightweight; bronze-sparring) Sergey Stavisky ’08 (heavyweight; bronze-forms) White/yellow belts Lydia Sharlow ’09 (lightweight; goldsparring, bronze-forms) Ashley Greene ’09 (heavyweight; gold-forms) Riaz Gillani ’09 (lightweight; silverforms) Robert Kim ’09 (middleweight; silverforms) Bryan Guillemette GS (heavyweight; bronze-sparing) Gideon Ng ’09 (lightweight; bronzeforms)

PAGE 8 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2006

Colelli continued from page 12 this week, even if it has not won a single game all season.

That is, all 334 D-I teams are still eligible minus the six Ivy League teams not located south of New York. The Ivy League is the only one of the nation’s 31 conferences that does not hold an end-of-the-year conference tournament to determine its champion. Instead, its tournament bid is awarded to its regular season champion.

Unfortunately for the men’s basketball team, this means its chances of being invited to the madness are about as good as the chances of a Brown student ever transferring to Florida State University because of FSU’s academic offerings.

However, that does not mean Brown will not have a big impact on who emerges as the Ivy’s representative to the dance. In fact, the Bears will host both teams vying for the title this weekend.

Tonight, Princeton visits the Pizzitola Center needing a win and a Brown victory over the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday to have a realistic chance of snatching the title from the Quakers.

Although the Bears’ postseason hopes dissipated a few weeks back, that does not mean the Ivy policy of granting its automatic postseason berth to its regular season champ is a bad one. Rather, being the lone holdout of the 31 conferences speaks to the integrity and tradition of the Ivy League.

The main reason 97 percent of the nation’s conferences have adopted post-season league tournaments is that they deem the television exposure and loads of money that come with TV contracts worth more than the embarrassment of being labeled hypocritical. While all of the nation’s college presidents and athletic directors would testify that they have the best interests of their student-athletes in mind at all times, there is no logical explanation for extending the schedules of those students one extra week to accommodate another postseason tournament.

By March, college basketball teams have been in-sea-

son since late October. The four teams that make the national semifinals will play into April.

That is far too long for a group of athletes that must typically travel at least once a week for road games. A conference tournament, consisting of three or four games over the course of five or six days, is even more demanding than the regular season. And keep in mind, that usually takes place hundreds of miles from their home campuses.

For that reason alone, the Ivy League presidents should be commended for refusing to be blinded by the prospect of a conference tournament.

If you don’t see the potential cash that an Ivy tourney could generate, open your eyes. An Ivy tournament held in Boston or New York, where numerous alums from all eight schools live, would generate significant revenue for the league. Not to mention any number of the television stations — such as YES, NESN or COX — that would pay a prime price to the league in order to air that tournament.

Instead, the Ancient Eight has its own kind of tournament in place. Its tournament lasts six weeks starting in late January, and it is called the regular season.

Since the Ivy League does not hand its automatic bid to the tournament to any team that gets hot for three days in early March, it is the only conference in which every game carries tremendous importance. Each year, the league sends it best team to NCAA Tournament because of the rigorous test that the regular season provides. The team that earns the Ivy’s berth truly deserves it.

Of course, my praise of the Ivy League’s handling of its postseason policies begins and ends with its basketball league. The Ivy Group presidents still cannot seem to realize that by allowing the basketball leagues — and all the other sports as well — to send their champions to the postseason, the ban on postseason football is just as hypocritical as having a conference tournament would be. If all the student-athletes in the league can handle the postseason, minus the excessiveness of conference tournaments, to say that the football squads could not is ridiculous.

Burr continued from page 12 Even though playing for someone who has a defensive mindset can be tiring at times, the players realize that defense has been a foundation for their success.

“Our defense has made us into the team that we are now,” said Colleen Kelly ’06. “Every year I have been here we have been one of the best defensive teams, and that is due to the emphasis she puts on it.”

Additionally, Burr’s passion for the game has rubbed off on all of her players.

“If I hear a ball bouncing, it excites me,” Burr said. “There isn’t an area of the game that I don’t enjoy. I most enjoy working with players on skills, but competition is just so thrilling.”

Though she has gotten very good play from Schaper and Ehrhart, Burr has used tactics from past seasons to create success this year. Recently, she often gone to a small lineup at the end of games to emphasize quickness and ball pressure.

Part of the reason she is able to do this is that because in 2003, Burr played Kelly in a post position on defense. That experience gave Kelly knowledge of how to play the position.

“That was something that

Grovey continued from page 12 gin your jumps?

Grovey: Before I jump I visualize myself doing the jump perfectly. When two people before me go up, I walk through my jump a couple of times.

How did you get started in the triple jump?

Originally I did the long jump and hurdles. I went to a track meet once and they had (the triple jump) and my coach said, “Let’s try it.” So she taught it to me on the spot and my first time trying it in competition I qualified for states.

In an article I read on the triple jump, Jim Kiefer of Fullerton College wrote, “There may not be an event that takes more from the athlete than the triple jump.” What are your thoughts on that? Do any other sports compare?

I played basketball, volleyball, did cheerleading and did other track events (in high school). The triple jump is very individual and if you mess up there is no one there to pick up the slack. There is a lot of pressure on you and with three different phases in the jump, there is a lot of mental focus required.

was initially very difficult for me because I played my entire high school career on the perimeter, and the players are even bigger in college,” Kelly said. “But Coach just kept telling me that she needed me there and that I could do it.

That was something that really helped me a lot.”

Even though Sarah Hayes ’06 has been an impact player from her first day on College Hill, Burr has helped shape her into one of the best players in the league.

“She pushes me,” Hayes said. “She makes me want to work harder than everyone else. She has been someone that I can talk to about anything. She wants the best from everyone.”

Even with all of the impressive wins she has been a part of, it is the little pieces of the game that excite Burr most. Whenever a player takes a charge, one can usually see Burr at her happiest. This season, Kelly leads the team in charges taken.

“I always get a big smile from her when I do it,” she said.

Brown will need some stellar play from both Kelly and Hayes in games against the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton this weekend if it hopes to emerge with its first Ivy League title since 1994. Fortunately, with Burr on the sidelines, the Bears are more than prepared to do just that.

What is your favorite aspect of the triple jump?

I like the precision of it. You can always be better. The angle can be better. You can have a more efficient transfer between stages. It is very exact.

What would people be surprised to know about you?

I’m a Facebook junkie and a big away message checker. I come back to my room and before I even take off my jacket I check away-messages. I get really mad if people don’t change them.

It seems like the track season never ends … do you like that or do you wish you had a little more freedom in your senior spring?

I actually like that the season is so long. I would get frustrated if it was only one season because it takes a while for things to click. It’s cool to have so long to perfect things and it’s nice because then you get really close with your teammates.

Any big spring break plans?

I have a track meet at Stanford.

Not bad. At least it’s warm.

Yeah, but I’ll be jealous of everyone partying it up in places like Jamaica next to hot guys with accents.

Briefs continued from page 12 team to lose a scholarship, a student-athlete must have failed academically and left the institution, and the team’s APR must be below 925 (out of 1,000). The APR is calculated by measuring the academic eligibility and retention of studentathletes per team each term.

Based on current data, an APR of 925 translates to an approximate Graduation Success Rate of 60 percent. Every Brown program boasted a number higher than 968, and 20 of the university’s 35 sports garnered perfect scores.

The APR has recently been revamped, so the study only included the past two years of graduation rates, and this year is the first in which scholarship penalties will be incurred for a poor score. The APR will be adjusted to include a more accurate, four-year study in 2008.

Other Ivy institutions also garnered top marks, and Yale led the league with 26 commended programs. The NCAA recognized 18 commended programs at Harvard. On the other end of the spectrum, Cornell and Columbia had only 10 and 12 commended programs, respectively.

— Stephen Colelli

Golenor continued from page 12 Were you just as tall back then?

I’ve always been tall … now I’m officially 6’6.5”.

What was the highlight of this past weekend’s Heps for you?

Probably watching Paul Raymond (’08) win the (60-meter) dash. He just walked onto the team a month ago, and he’s already won a championship.

How about your individual goal?

I want to go to nationals (in the discus), which will take breaking the school record.

After nationals, and graduation, what are your plans?

I’m going to take a year off before grad school … in education leadership. I want to be a principal eventually.

Who do you look to for inspiration?

My coach from high school. I don’t know if he was lying or if he just portrayed himself extremely well, but he was really the perfect man. He was always a positive person no matter what was going on, and he was the only person I knew like that growing up.

If you could change one thing about the OMAC, what would it be?

I’d add some windows. The artificial light in (there) is a killer.

What’s it like to live with (fellow thrower and Herald sports columnist) Hugh Murphy (’06)?

He’s one of the most interesting men I’ve ever met in my life.

Quirky would be an appropriate word.

FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2006 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 9

Graffiti continued from page 3 “I’m sick of bad sex!,” “Surround yourself with people who make you believe you’re good enough,” “Cacophony”, and “It’s OK!! Being awkward isn’t so bad (PS I’m really awkward too…).”

Twelve of Kotch’s friends, who are all involved in the performing arts, joined him to record the messages into a series of audio tracks. The installation will use eight speakers throughout the room to re-create the perception of the separate female and male realms, which exist naturally in public bathrooms. The voices will meet in the center of the room, allowing the comments of both sexes to generate a dialogue.

“I tried to incorporate enough voices to re-enact the source ma-

Cooking continued from page 5 proving individual cooking skills through group participation and using these skills toward a common good.

Cooking House will rotate through monthly themes and experiment with cooking vegetarian and vegan meals in order to accommodate a variety of diets, she said.

According to Sunu, 23 people are currently signed up to live in Cooking House next year, although the location of the house is still uncertain. Most of its residents heard about it by word-ofmouth, as well as from online advertisements posted on the Daily Jolt and Facebook.com, she said.

Among the 23 members are eight rising upperclassmen and 15 rising sophomores, she said. To form a program house, a group must have between 22 and 30 potential residents, and at least one-quarter of these must be rising upperclassmen.

Other requirements for program houses include hosting two social and two community service events per semester, identifying a faculty sponsor and drafting a constitution, said Tal Itzkovich ’06, program house committee chair for ResCouncil.

One event Cooking House might hold several times next year involves setting up a themed restaurant to be run and staffed by students for one night in a space rented from the University, Sunu said. She said future residents are also considering a picnic, complete with a pie-eating contest and possibly an Iron Chef-like face-off. Potential members also hope to bring chefs and members of the food service industry to campus to demonstrate their cooking skills, she said.

Cooking House is also looking to collaborate on events with other student organizations, she said, adding that members would love to do catering but will have to check with Brown Student Agencies to see if this will be possible. Cooking House is still working on ideas to raise funds to cover these events, she said.

For service events, Sunu said Cooking House is looking to get involved with existing organizations, such as Ronald McDonald House and Fast Food Facts, a group that helps teach kids about

terial and really display the differences among the messages. I encouraged my friends to really embrace the opportunity to act,” Kotch said.

Each speaker will be connected to one of four CDs that will shuffle randomly through the tracks, creating constantly unique scripts. Kotch estimated that there is approximately one hour’s worth of recording for both the male and female messages.

Kotch said he wanted to give a personal spin to the wide range of anonymous opinions while demonstrating social and gender trends in the community at Brown. Because the sources remain anonymous, each person who hears the installation is free to interpret the messages in a unique and meaningful way, he said.

“I think you can learn a lot about society — and people’s

minds — by examining the sentiments, jokes, and put-downs they express in their messages, but would never voice in public,” he said.

While collecting graffiti, Kotch noticed a drastic difference between the scribbles in the male and female bathrooms. Men tend to write short, vulgar messages, while women tend to be more sentimental — exploring issues of love, abortion and intimacy. Women also often tend to engage in sequential graffiti, where a question is posed and responses accumulate over time, Kotch said.

Kotch does not believe this difference represents an intellectual gap between males and females. He said he believes the variation in content between the sexes reflect the different mindset of males and females while in the bathroom.

“When men go to the bath-

room they generally are going right in and out. When women go to the bathroom they tend to socialize and gossip, and it becomes a much more emotional experience. Also, I think the social vul-

nerability of women might play a role. Even though they are in a

private bathroom, it is possible they still feel uncomfortable disrobing, and therefore have more serious contemplation.”

The installation will also offer an opportunity for visitors to generate new bathroom graffiti. In two corners of the room, makeshift stalls and mirrors will be provided with markers for students to write their own messages. Kotch will use these scribbles in a follow-up piece containing photographs or sound clips for display at a subsequent exhibit.

“I’m curious to see what people will write when they are no longer anonymous. It will be a new form of hyper-conscious graffiti,” Kotch said.

“I think the great thing is that graffiti art is infinitely replicable, even within the same community. No matter what, it will always have meaning and implications, and it will always continue to evolve.”

nutrition. “Activities are going to include everything from cooking for the House, to encouraging nutrition on campus, to serving in soup kitchens throughout Providence,” she said.

Though, as Sunu noted, “(Cooking) is sometimes characterized as a female activity,” the house has managed to overcome any gender bias associated with the activity. The residents are nearly evenly divided by gender, with 11 male and 12 female residents, she said.

Sunu said she was encouraged by the strong positive response Cooking House has received. “We basically put the whole thing together in like a week. That’s a pretty positive response,” she said.

There is no skill level required to join Cooking House, apart from an enthusiasm for food. “Anyone who liked the idea enough … to sign on without even knowing where it is going to be (located) next year — we figure that is enough of an admission requirement right now,” Sunu said, adding that next year there will likely be an application process in order to bring in a full range of skill levels.

Rosario Navarro, assistant director of housing for ResLife, said she viewed Cooking House’s need for access to a kitchen as the most compelling reason it should

become a residential community rather than just a student organization. Navarro said that, though she believed Film House presented a great proposal, she didn’t believe it needed a residential facility to carry out its mission.

According to Itzkovich, Film House was declined after the first round of applications due to a perceived overlap with Art House and the Brown Film Society. Itzkovich said ResCouncil was also concerned about plans for largescale screenings, which would likely run the risk of violating copyright laws.

Martial Arts House was unable to meet the 22-person minimum requirement to form a program house and withdrew its application, he said.

The two youngest program houses on campus are Arts House and Interfaith House, which were both added in the 2003-2004 academic year. Feminist House also applied that year but was declined, Itzkovich said.

This is the first year ResCouncil has had an open call for program house applications without a specific residential location in mind, Itzkovich said. In the past, applications were generally only accepted when another program house dissolved and left a particular space open, he said.

“Every year you have freshmen who want to try to escape

the housing lottery (and) think that program housing is the way to do it, and very rarely do they actually succeed,” he said.

Itzkovich explained that the possibility of a few existing program houses dissolving after this year influenced the decision to open up applications. After ResCouncil reviewed program houses in the fall, Games House and Delta Tau were placed on probation due to concerns that they could not meet the minimum number of members needed to continue, he said. While preliminary reports suggest that Delta Tau has met the required membership after rush, Games House has decided not to conduct a rush and will dissolve at the end of this academic year, he said.

According to Itzkovich, ResCouncil has taken it upon itself to streamline and standardize program house guidelines after some program house members

cited confusion about requirements. The changes to program house guidelines were designed to make houses more accountable for accomplishing program house requirements (like holding social and community service events) in order to justify taking the residential and common areas away from other students, he said.

Itzkovich said it has been challenging to find a location for Cooking House and that, if ResCouncil does allow an open application process next year, “it will be a lot more stringent as to who gets to go on to the second and third step of the whole process.”

“Our responsibility as ResCouncil is to only allow houses that will be both sustainable and will last a very long time. We’re trying to build institutions here (that will) also will contribute back to the community,” he said.

“Men tend to write short, vulgar messages, while women tend to be more sentimental – exploring issues of love, abortion and intimacy.”

Alex Kotch ‘06

EDITORIAL/LETTERS THE BROWN DAILY HERALD · FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2006 · PAGE 10

STAFF EDITORIAL

Diamonds and coal Coal to the Undergraduate Council of Students. No, coal to you! No, coal to you!

Coal to administrators of Facebook.com for deciding it was a good idea to let our younger siblings and their friends see pictures of us drunk and half-naked on Saturday nights. Of course, it’s nothing they can’t see on Fox News.

Perhaps coal, perhaps a diamond to President Ruth Simmons. For now, no comment.

A cubic zirconium to the dissolution of Games House and the appearance of Cooking House in the program house roster.

May no Brown alum have to echo Warren Brown ’93, founder of Cakelove in Washington, D.C., who lamented, “My only regret is that I didn’t start baking sooner.” Oh, that’s rich.

Coal to the 4.7 percent increase in tuition approved by the Corporation last weekend. We’re glad the Rhode Island General Assembly recently approved a 35-cent hike in the minimum wage, but it probably won’t do much to ease a $44,000 annual bill.

Coal to hyperbole at the plus/minus forum yesterday, including references to the �“cult of the A,”� �duplicitous� “opposition to the proposal,” �”extreme über-competitiveness”� and �the “holy grail of the A-plus.”� Moreover, let’s keep the American flag out of this debate. We�re looking at you, Lecturer in Education Luther Spoehr.

A diamond to snow, for its aesthetic and practical qualities.

Not only does it make the Main Green idyllic, apparently it helps locate hot water leaks, too.

A diamond to Jay Nordlinger, the managing editor of National Review, who told the crowd at a Herald lecture that his “life’s ambition (was) to be associated with a toilet.” As long as you keep endorsing Herald staffers for the presidency, you’ll always be a flush above in our book.

And while we’re being self-referential, a diamond to photographs of our staff hidden in this week’s papers. It’s like our very own version of “Where’s Waldo?”

And finally, coal to recycling, particularly when it involves decade-old information and wording or $1,000 worth of botched mid-year reports.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD EDITORIAL Robbie Corey-Boulet, Editor-in-Chief Justin Elliott, Executive Editor Ben Miller, Executive Editor Stephanie Clark, Senior Editor Katie Lamm, Senior Editor Jonathan Sidhu, Arts & Culture Editor Jane Tanimura, Arts & Culture Editor Stu Woo, Campus Watch Editor Mary-Catherine Lader, Features Editor Ben Leubsdorf, Metro Editor Anne Wootton, Metro Editor Eric Beck, News Editor Patrick Harrison, Opinions Editor Nicholas Swisher, Opinions Editor Stephen Colelli, Sports Editor Christopher Hatfield, Sports Editor Justin Goldman, Asst. Sports Editor Jilane Rodgers, Asst. Sports Editor Charlie Vallely, Asst. Sports Editor PRODUCTION Allison Kwong, Design Editor Taryn Martinez, Copy Desk Chief Lela Spielberg, Copy Desk Chief Mark Brinker, Graphics Editor Joe Nagle, Graphics Editor

ROX A N N E PA L M E R

LETTERS The Herald exaggerates UCS ‘scandal’ To the Editor: After so much attention paid by The Herald’s reporter at last night’s meeting of the Undergraduate Council of Students to “officially” quote people and get permission to print quotes, I was surprised to wake up and find out that I had been mistaken for another John.

The Herald erroneously reported that I, John Gillis, Associate Member ’07, “served a notice to (Michael) Thompson that a motion removing him from UCS could be introduced” (“Simmons discusses housing, proposes use of RISD dorms at UCS meeting,” March 2). Despite the almost laughable seriousness of the Herald’s reporter, this information is completely incorrect.

It must be made clear that The Herald’s reporting on the issue has transformed some simple mistakes into “scandal.” I’d like to set the record straight.

The UCS has a Communications Committee to keep students informed about UCS proceedings. Among the committee’s duties is printing a UCS mid-year report. This year, the head of that committee changed mid-year. The old head sent

an unedited and poorly formatted version of this year’s report to the new head assuming that the new head would revise it. The new head assumed the old head had already revised the report and sent it to be printed. All of this was a very costly (almost $1000) mistake. Then the new head decided to remove the 6,000 copies of the report from the UCS office because they were getting in the way. He then ran into another member of UCS who felt that he was doing something wrong and notified The Herald, which then printed it in an article about the supposed printed “scandal.” The documents are still intact, though the public image of UCS may not be.

Just like The Herald printing my name in error, two UCS members made a costly mistake due to miscommunication. But, unfortunately for the sensationalist Herald, there is simply no scandal brewing, just an old fashioned mix-up.

John Gillis ’07 March 2

PHOTO Jean Yves Chainon, Photo Editor Jacob Melrose, Photo Editor Ashley Hess, Sports Photo Editor Kori Schulman, Sports Photo Editor BUSINESS Ryan Shewcraft, General Manager Lisa Poon, Executive Manager David Ranken, Executive Manager Mitch Schwartz, Executive Manager Laurie-Ann Paliotti, Sr. Advertising Manager Susan Dansereau, Office Manager POST- MAGAZINE Sonia Saraiya, Editor-in-Chief Taryn Martinez, Associate Editor Ben Bernstein, Features Editor Matt Prewitt, Features Editor Elissa Barba, Design Editor Lindsay Harrison, Graphics Editor Constantine Haghighi, Film Editor Paul Levande, Film Editor Jesse Adams, Music Editor Katherine Chan, Music Editor Hillary Dixler, Off-the-Hill Editor Abigail Newman, Theater Editor

CO R R E C T I O N S The staff editorial in yesterday’s Herald (“Keeping an open book,” March 2) incorrectly stated Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Elizabeth Huidekoper and Vice President for Administration Walter Hunter met with Brown Bookstore employees Wednesday. The meeting was actually between employees and officials from the University’s Human Resources Department.

An article in yesterday’s Herald (“Simmons discusses housing, proposes use of RISD dorms at UCS meeting,” March 2) incorrectly reported that John Gillis ’07, an at-large representative, joined UCS/UFB Representative Cash McCracken ’08 in notifying Communications Chair Michael Thompson ’07 that a motion removing him from the Undergraduate Council of Students could be introduced after a 120-hour waiting period mandated under its constitution. UCS Treasurer Jonathan Margolick ’06 joined McCracken in notifying Thompson.

Allison Kwong, Ross Frazier Night Editors Jacob Frank, Sarah Molinaro, Copy Editors Senior Staff Writers Simmi Aujla, Stephanie Bernhard, Melanie Duch, Ross Frazier, Jonathan Herman, Rebecca Jacobson, Chloe Lutts, Caroline Silverman Staff Writers Anna Abramson, Justin Amoah, Zach Barter, Allison Erich Bernstein, Brenna Carmody, Alissa Cerny, Ashley Chung, Stewart Dearing, Gabriella Doob, Phillip Gara, Hannah Levintova, Hannah Miller, Aidan Levy, Jill Luxenberg, Taryn Martinez, Ari Rockland-Miller, Jane Porter, Chelsea Rudman, Sonia Saraiya, Kam Sripada, Robin Steele, Kim Stickels, Nicole Summers, Laura Supkoff, Spencer Trice, Ila Tyagi, Sara Walter Sports Staff Writers Erin Frauenhofer, Kate Klonick, Madeleine Marecki, George Mesthos, Eric Perlmutter, Marco Santini, Tom Trudeau Account Administrators Alexandra Annuziato, Emilie Aries, Steven Butschi, Dee Gill, Rahul Keerthi, Kate Love, Ally Ouh, Nilay Patel, Ashfia Rahman, Rukesh Samarasekera, Jen Solin, Bonnie Wong Design Staff Ross Frazier, Adam Kroll, Andrew Kuo, Jason Lee, Gabriela Scarritt Photo Staff CJ Adams, Chris Bennett, Meg Boudreau, Tobias Cohen, Lindsay Harrison, Matthew Lent, Dan Petrie, Christopher Schmitt, Oliver Schulze, Juliana Wu, Min Wu, Copy Editors Aubry Bracco, Jacob Frank, Christopher Gang, Taryn Martinez, Katie McComas, Sara Molinaro, Heather Peterson, Sonia Saraiya, Lela Spielberg

CORRECTIONS POLICY The Brown Daily Herald is committed to providing the Brown University community with the most accurate information possible.

Corrections may be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication.

C O M M E N TA R Y P O L I C Y The staff editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial board of The Brown Daily Herald. The editorial viewpoint does not necessarily reflect the views of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Columns, letters and comics reflect the opinions of their authors only.

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OPINIONS

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD · FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2006 · PAGE 11

Let them eat cake The fight against child obesity reaches Orwellian depths in Houston schools

BY MICHAEL RAMOS-LYNCH people, quality of life is reduced when said. “Parents can’t be in charge. ChilOPINIONS COLUMNIST

There are some very confused people in Houston, Texas. A local company named Primero Food Service Solutions has created a cafeteria automation system that allows parents to decide what their children eat for lunch. The system was originally created so that parents could put money into lunch accounts for their children, sparing their children the burden of having to keep track of lunch money. Recent modifications to the system now alert the cafeteria cashier to all food restrictions for that particular child. The causes for restrictions range from physical fitness concerns to food allergies. Parents can even modify their child’s food restrictions online.

Administrators and parents are reducing students’ already diminutive amount of liberty in schools in order to reduce the rate of child obesity in Texas. Given that Men’s Fitness Magazine recently declared Houston, the fattest city in the United States for 2005, such a goal is not necessarily sinister. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of overweight children aged six to 11 more than doubled in the past 20 years, and the number of overweight adolescents aged 12 to 19 more than tripled. But school districts where the new cafeteria automation systems have been put into place, such as the Pearland school district, are going about the goal of reducing childhood obesity in a very wrong way. It is well known that obesity is connected to low levels of self-esteem. And for many

liberties are reduced. By disempowering children to make healthy choices, parents are simply attacking their children’s self-esteem and ultimately reducing their children’s quality of life. Even the National Institutes of Health argues “against putting your child on a weightloss diet unless your health care provider tells you to. If children do not eat enough, they may not grow and learn as well as they should.”

This automation system creates a vicious cycle of degradation for children by not allowing them to make their own healthy choices. As a result, children will feel more helpless as they are led to believe they are not capable of choosing what foods are “good” for them and thus experience an even greater reduction in self-esteem and become even more unhealthy in the long run. Schoolchildren from Houston will undoubtedly experience feelings of anxiety when they’re faced with an eating decision outside of school, as the children will only be used to having a machine tell them what to eat.

Tragically, many people appear to be ignoring the long run. Dorothy Simpson, food service director for Pearland schools, said, “Overall, it’s benefited everyone. Students go through the line faster. It’s good for parents because they can track what their kids are spending.”

But on the minority side of the argument is Karen Cullen, an associate professor of pediatrics at the Children’s Nutrition Research Center at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. “Kids need to be able to make healthy choices,” Cullen

dren need some freedom.”

What are we to do for the students who are not fortunate enough to have parents who care what they eat? Are the only two solutions to the problem of obesity either limiting children’s liberty or not protecting them at all from unhealthy food choices? The obvious, but ignored, solution is education and emotional support, as clichéd as that may sound. Because the true problem is a lack of self-esteem, not a large waistline, we must empower the children to make appropriate choices. According to the NIH, “Children will be more likely to accept and feel good about themselves when their parents accept them.” I would argue that in order for children to feel “accepted,” their choices about food should be “accepted.” In the long run, not only will education about healthy foods enable children to become healthier, such empowerment will boost self-esteem in all aspects of their lives. Carol Torgan of the NIH says, “Involve your children in meal planning and grocery shopping.

This helps them learn and gives them a role in the decision-making.”

Children’s choice to be healthy must be their own so that they will benefit from the pride of such an accomplishment in making the transition from an unhealthy lifestyle to a healthy lifestyle, and they can have the confidence to make better life choices in general.

Michael Ramos-Lynch ’09 chose to be born in Texas.

There is no ‘clash of civilizations’ Conflict between the West and fundamentalist Islamists is about more than ideology

BY MATTHEW LAWRENCE

OPINIONS COLUMNIST

The recent Danish cartoon controversy, some say, unmasks the deep-rooted fault lines that make a conflict between the West and the Muslim world inevitable.

The argument is framed as a simple clash between conflicting cultures.

The Muslim world, it is said, is sure that its way of dealing with the relationship between religions and government — namely, that Islam is government — is best. The rules of Islam are handed down by God and therefore indubitable. Government rule should reflect those laws. Those who do not believe in the rules of Islam are simply wrong.

The West, it is said, is sure that its doctrine of religious pluralism and liberal, secular government is best. According to Western ideology, the existence of multiple conflicting ways of viewing the world is inevitable, and it is each individual’s right to choose for him or herself among them. A government, therefore, cannot impose any religion on its citizens. Government rule should not impose religious beliefs, nor should it privilege one religion over another.

Certain Islamic laws forbid the depiction of Mohammed. Muslims, therefore, call out Westerners who support the newspapers that printed the Jyllands-Posten cartoons for having violated Islamic law.

But Western governments try to explain that they are not supposed to force their citizens to follow any religious laws. In this cartoon controversy, it is said, these two conflicting visions of the relationship be-

tween state and religion have come into conflict.

This “clash of civilizations” thesis has dramatically oversimplified a complex conflict. It is true that, in this instance, an important factor in the controversy is the disagreement about whether government should adopt and enforce religious doctrine. But this is obviously not the first time the West has depicted Mohammed in an offensive way. For example, the United States Supreme Court has had a depiction of Mohammed in its White Marble Court-

conflict. There is a lot of anti-Americanism and anti-Western sentiment floating around the Middle East, fueled by a variety of historical currents like globalization, the Iraq war, Israel and the propaganda rhetoric of “us against them” used by many Middle Eastern governments to maintain their own stability in the face of public unrest.

Different groups of people often have fundamentally opposing views of each other, the way the world works or how life ought to be lived. However, it is not merely the existence of ideological disagreements between the West and the Islamic world that has caused the violence over cartoons, even if this conflict is ostensibly at the center of it.

This conflict should not be simplified and cannot be understood outside of its historical context. If you ignore the influence of American support for Israel, the worldwide media coverage of the abuses at Abu Ghraib or generous American support for Pakistan following the 2005 earthquake, you lose the whole picture. The conflict between Islamic fundamentalism and religious pluralism may be as irreconcilable as the conflict between pro-life and prochoice, or the 18th-century conflict between French Catholics and English Protestants. But the “clash of civilizations” we are seeing was not inevitable. Neither is a peaceful solution if we avoid oversimplifying the conflict.

The reasons for the vitriolic tenor of the cartoon controversy is its historical context, not some transhistorical cultural conflict. room since the 1930s. Indeed, a Muslim group asked then-Chief Justice William Rehnquist to allow it to replace the depiction of the image with quotes from Mohammed in 1997, and a small riot erupted in India when he offered a polite “No.” Why was more ire not directed against that depiction of Mohammed? Indeed, since the recent violence over the Jyllands-Posten cartoons, the representation has received new attention. But for years it went relatively unnoticed, and even when it did attract attention, that attention was only minor.

The reason for the vitriolic tenor of the recent controversy — and the lack of significant controversy surrounding the Supreme Court’s Mohammed — is historical context, not some transhistorical cultural

Matthew Lawrence ’06 has never seen “Titanic,” and he never will.

Herald IR coverage misses mark

BY NINA TANNENWALD GUEST COLUMNIST

I was surprised to see on the front page of Tuesday’s Herald the story “Advising in IR bottlenecked by high number of concentrators.” No one from The Herald had called to interview me, even though I am the director of the concentration and responsible for the advising program.

While I welcome The Herald’s attention, I would have expected more complete reporting of the story. Had The Herald interviewed me, or any of a number of former directors of the International Relations Program who are currently on campus, readers would have gotten a more complete picture of the department’s recent difficulties.

I would like to respond both to the news article and to the editorial based on it. First, a clarification is in order. Claudia Elliott, the primary concentration adviser, is hired specifically to serve as concentration adviser and to direct the IR honors thesis program, which includes teaching a course. She does not have other faculty duties beyond that, as the article implies.

Now, to the main point. The Herald editorial board’s suggestion to change the advising structure of the IR concentration is well-intentioned but ill-informed. There are certainly problems with advising in the concentration, but these are due to lack of financial resources for the program rather than the structure of the advising system.

The current advising structure is based on a core, administrative staff, supplemented by departmental faculty who provide substantive advice in areas of their expertise. Six faculty members from various departments serve as track advisers.

There are good reasons for this structure.

An interdisciplinary concentration needs a central advisor to provide advice on the concentration as a whole and ensure that core requirements are met. Thus an IR concentrator must see two advisers in the process of declaring his or her concentration: a track adviser and a concentration adviser — more advising than is available in most departmental concentrations.

The core problem is that the concentration has grown, but Elliott’s hours have not kept up with the demand for her time. Because the University administration is primarily focused on departmental units, it has failed to provide the necessary financial resources not only to IR but to other interdisciplinary concentrations as well. Thus, Elliott officially holds office hours only three mornings a week (in practice she does a lot more) because the IR concentration lacks the resources to support a full-time position.

Unfortunately, the solution The Herald suggests — having the track advisors also do the main concentration advising — is unworkable. I can assure you that no departmentally based Brown faculty member would be able to put in the time that Elliott does to keep abreast of various requirements, changing University policies and new courses relevant for the concentration.

Nor would departmental faculty be able to spend the many hours answering e-mail from students both on campus and abroad.

Problems with advising in the IR concentration are real but reflect a larger issue — the University’s uneven support for interdisciplinary concentrations. Students are voting with their feet for these concentrations — many are larger than the departmental concentrations. The resources to support them need to follow.

Nina Tannenwald is an associate professor of international relations and director of the International Relations Program.

SPORTS FRIDAY THE BROWN DAILY HERALD · MARCH 3, 2006 · PAGE 12

Athletes of the Week: track and field record holders Brittany Grovey ’06 and Jake Golenor ’06

Tae Kwon Do Club excels at nationals, taking third

BY SARAH DEMERS SPORTS STAFF WRITER

BY JILANE RODGERS ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

BY CHRIS HATFIELD SPORTS EDITOR

Brittany Grovey ’06 hit a personal best 43 feet, 4.5 inches in the triple jump on Sunday at the Indoor Heptagonal Championships. Not only did the mark win her the individual title in the event, it was over two feet ahead of second place, broke her own school record and moved her to a national top10 ranking. Co-captain Grovey also competed for the first time at Heps in the long jump and placed third in the league, earning 16 of Brown’s 75 points.

Jake Golenor ’06, thrower and cocaptain of the men’s track team, claimed the individual Heptagonal title this past weekend in the shot put. His throw of 55 feet, 1/4 inches was nearly three feet further than the second-place mark.

Golenor’s performance also helped lead the team to a fourthplace finish at the Championships, a two-spot improvement from 2005.

The Tae Kwon Do Club — notable for walking around campus carrying big white and red pads — competed in the National Collegiate Taekwondo Association Tournament last weekend in Cambridge, Mass., with expectedly outstanding results.

Brown placed third overall in the tournament, hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and first in the novice (non-black belt) division. Athletes at the tournament participated in two types of competition: poom-se, a demonstration of forms by a lone contestant rated by judges, and sparring, or kyoruki, in which competitors earn points for hand or foot attacks to the midsection or foot attacks to the head. In both disciplines, competitors are divided by sex, weight class and belt level.

Herald: Many might assume that the triple jump was some sort of relative of the long jump where you jump three times. In fact, the triple jump is an event where the competitor hops then skips into the actual jump — hence the three jumps. What do you think about before you be-

Herald: How did you first get involved in throwing?

Golenor: I always looked up to my older brother, and he did track so I went out for the team in sixth grade. I tried running first, but I wasn’t so great at that.

Then I tried jumping, and that didn’t go well either. I picked up the shot put, and it came naturally.

see GROVEY, page 8

see GOLENOR, page 8

Young squad’s novices finish first overall

No Ivy league tournament?

No problem

In all, Brown’s 40-member contingent took home 29 medals, 24 by the team’s colored belts. Six team members won medals in both forms and sparring: Sharon David ’06, Catrina Joos ’07, Joseph Leung ’07, Jackie Dwulet ’08, David Atkinson ’08 and Lydia Sharlow ’09.

“That’s about what we expected,” said third dan (degree) black belt Joseph Fungsang ’06, one of the team’s instructors. “We set a really high bar and we reached it.”

The forms competition was held Friday night at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. The following day, the team arrived at the Johnson Athletic Center at MIT at 8 a.m., began sparring at 9 a.m. and finally left at 10 p.m. — a day that “was pretty chaotic,” according to club President Kwan Lin ’07, currently a blue belt with a red stripe. “(The sparring competi-

Welcome to the best month of the year. The calendar reads March and, in the words of the most irritating man on television, “it’s NCAA Tourney Time Babbbbeeee!”

Howevbefore STEPHEN COLELLI er, we get to the BROWN SUGAR big dance — which starts on March 16 — we have to determine which teams will be invited. Over the next 10 days, 31 college basketball teams will secure bids to the tournament as a result of winning their respective conferences and 34 more will be asked to dance by virtue of their performances over the course of the year.

Thanks to the concept of the conference tournament, any of the 334 Division I teams could play its \ way into the postseason simply by winning three or four games

see TKD , page 7

see COLELLI, page 8

Burr’s coaching the key to w. basketball’s consistent success

BY JUSTIN GOLDMAN ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR Dan Grossman ’71

Brittany Grovey ’06 and Jake Golenor ’06 won their respective events at the track team’s Haptagonal Championships last week. Grovey took the triple jump title, and Golenor won the shot put.

Athletics dept. gets ‘A’ in NCAA academic report Numerous schools struggle to graduate their student-athletes, according to the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Academic Progress Rate data. The statistics, which were released Wednesday, revealed that Brown, for its part, does not seem plagued by academic woes.

Brown, along with Ivy rivals Harvard and Yale, was praised for consistently outperforming the governing body’s academ-

ic standards. Twenty-four of Brown’s individual sports were singled out for being in the top 10 percent in the nation academically, including the football team, both the men’s and women’s soccer teams and the entire track/cross-country program.

Division I athletics will lose scholarships because of poor academic performance. For a see BRIEFS, page 8

BROWN SPORTS SCHEDULE FRIDAY, MARCH 3 BASEBALL: at Florida State M. BASKETBALL: vs. Princeton, 7 p.m., Pizzitola Center W. BASKETBALL: at Princeton M. HOCKEY: at St. Lawrence (ECACHL first round, game 1) W. HOCKEY: vs. Dartmouth, 7 p.m., Meehan Auditorium (ECACHL first round, game 1) SOFTBALL: vs. Western Carolina, Rutgers (Charleston Southern Tournament) M. SQUASH: at ISA Individuals (Amherst, Mass.)

W. SQUASH: at WISA Individuals (Amherst, Mass.)

M. SWIMMING: at EISL Championship (Long Island, N.Y.) SATURDAY, MARCH 4 BASEBALL: at Florida State M. BASKETBALL: vs. Penn, 7 p.m., Pizzitola Center W. BASKETBALL: at Penn M. HOCKEY: at St. Lawrence (ECACHL first round, game 2) W. HOCKEY: vs. Dartmouth, 7 p.m., Meehan Auditorium (ECACHL first round, game 2) M. LACROSSE: at Hofstra W. LACROSSE: vs. Boston College, 1 p.m., Turf Field

SOFTBALL: vs. Furman, Northern Colorado (Charleston Southern Tournament) M. SQUASH: at ISA Individuals (Amherst, Mass.)

W. SQUASH: at WISA Individuals (Amherst, Mass.)

M. SWIMMING: at EISL Championship (Long Island, N.Y.) M. TENNIS: vs. Michigan State, 11 a.m., Pizzitola Center M. & W. TRACK: at ECAC/IC4A (Boston, Mass.)

WRESTLING: at EIWA Championships (Bethlehem, Pa.) SUNDAY, MARCH 5 BASEBALL: at Florida State FENCING: at NCAA Regional (Boston, Mass.)

M. HOCKEY: at St. Lawrence (ECACHL first round, game 3 — if necessary) W. HOCKEY: vs. Dartmouth, 4 p.m., Meehan Auditorium (ECACHL first round, game 3 — if necessary) SOFTBALL: vs. TBA (Charleston Southern Tournament) M. SQUASH: at ISA Individuals (Amherst, Mass.)

W. SQUASH: at WISA Individuals (Amherst, Mass.)

W. TENNIS: vs. No. 22 Clemson, 11 a.m., Pizzitola Center M. & W. TRACK: at ECAC/IC4A (Boston, Mass.)

WRESTLING: at EIWA Championships (Bethlehem, Pa.)

mouth to win the Ivy League title, it was given the daunting task of facing national powerhouse the University of Connecticut in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. That season, the Huskies were led

by All-American Rebecca Lobo; and the core of the 1994 team went undefeated the following season.

Brown, led by Burr, was unfazed. The Bears played a very tough game and were tied with the Huskies at the half. They actually took the lead in the second half, but UConn pulled away for a 17-point win. After the game, Jeff Orleans, the executive director of the Council of Ivy Group Presidents, thanked Burr for a great effort and helping the Ivy League gain a little national notoriety.

This season, Burr has done a particularly good job in integrating her young players into the rotation. The graduation of Holly Robertson ’05 left a very

big void in the post for Brown.

Burr has employed the tandem of Catherine Schaper ’09 and Amy Ehrhart ’09 very effectively to form a solid inside presence for Brown.

“Holly was a scorer and definitely a presence for us,” Burr said. “But Catherine and Amy have provided us with the rebounding and post defense that we have needed in order to be successful.”

A staple of Burr’s tenure at Brown has been her passion for defense. Her teams constantly pressure the ball and employ a full court press that is difficult for most opponents to counter.

“When I first got the job here, I thought two things: first was that we had to recruit, and we had to get athletes that would represent the University well,” Burr said. “The second was that we had to make a commitment defensively.”

Two things have remained constant during the women’s basketball team’s pursuit of an Ivy League title over the past few seasons. The first is the effectiveness of the Bears’ pesky defense. Brown leads the league in scoring defense, holding opponents to 59.7 points per game. The other is Head Coach Jean Marie Burr, whose philosophies and motivational techniques have the Bears on the brink of a league title for the first time in over a decade.

Burr has coached the Bears for the last 18 years, which include 14 winning seasons and three consecutive Ivy League titles from 1991 to 1994. Her 260 wins are the most for any coach in Brown basketball history — male or female.

Although she inherited a 620 team in 1988-89, Burr quicksee BURR, page 8 ly turned the program around.

The next season, Bruno went 16-10 and began its ascent in the Ivy League. That year, Burr’s efforts were recognized regionally by Converse when it named her District 1 Coach of the Year, given to the top coach in the region. Even though the program she inherited had struggled, Burr knew that she could turn it around with a lot of hard work and determination.

“It was my goal to make Brown a nationally respected program,” Burr said. “If you put a lot of dedication to something, then it can happen.”

Ashley Hess / Herald A prime example of that national respect was the 1994 Women’s basketball Head Coach Jean Marie Burr has guided the season. After Brown won a tie- Bears to a winning season in 14 of her 18 seasons at Brown. She breaker game against Dart- has 260 career wins at the University.