Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Daily Herald the Brown

vol. cxliv, no. 6 | Wednesday, January 28, 2009 | Serving the community daily since 1891

simmons REPORTS huge losses

Endowment stands to lose $800m Deep budget cuts to come as U. tightens belt

By Brigitta Greene Senior Staff Writer

Kim Perley / Herald

Top University Hall officials shed light on Brown’s dark financial situation Tuesday.

Budget an obstacle to ambitious plans

by Jenna Stark News Editor

With the University expecting to lose $60 million in planned operating revenue due to huge endowment losses, budget cuts and tempered ambitions may dominate the University’s planning for the next several years.

Initiatives central to Brown’s recent plans that are likely to slow or halt because of the souring economy include expansion of the faculty and of graduate programs, while the University expects to slash administrative budgets and all but do away with salary increases for the near future.

“The best estimate we can make at this time is that we need to reduce projected annual expenditures by approximately $60 million” compared to previous budget projections, President Ruth Simmons wrote in a campus-wide e-mail announcing the news Tuesday.

However, the decision to reduce

the number of new faculty hires for the next fiscal year will not have a large effect on the University, said Dean of the Faculty Rajiv Vohra P’07.

“In a natural way we were already coming to the end of the faculty expansion,” Vohra said, adding that he still expected a small increase in the faculty next year. The Plan for Academic Enrichment, when it was first announced in 2002, aimed to expand the faculty by 100 positions­­­­­­, and about three-quarters of those positions have already been filled.

Still, the University may be more hesitant to fill vacated faculty positions. “I think that it’s going to be difficult, nearly impossible, to get new faculty positions,” said James Dreier, professor of philosophy and chair of the Faculty Executive Committee. “In some cases it’s going to be difficult to replace faculty who leave.”

But the postponement of the expansion of the Graduate School will

See page 4 for highlights from Simmons’ e-mail likely have major consequences.

The expansion of the faculty has not been matched by commensurate growth in the Graduate School­, leaving faculty without enough graduate students to fully support their research and teaching needs.

The FEC requested in March that the University slow the hiring of additional faculty to help stymie the problems created by the lack of support. However, given the current economic situation, Brown has been unable to move forward with one of the original goals in the Plan for Academic Enrichment — to increase the size of the graduate school.

“It will make research more difficult,” Dreier said, adding that “in teaching, we expect there will be some pressure on TAs.”

Confronted with staggering losses to its endowment, the University plans to scale back nearly all of its most ambitious goals in the years ahead, President Ruth Simmons announced Tuesday.

The University has adopted a “working assumption” that the endowment, valued at $2.8 billion in mid-2008, will be worth $2 billion at the end of June, according to Simmons.

The dramatic news, announced in a campus-wide e-mail from Simmons Tuesday afternoon, came amid violent market turmoil and economic contraction that has rocked the country especially hard since the fall. As 2008 came to an end, Simmons wrote, administrators faced “significant credit, liquidity and revenue constraints on our near-term planning.”

The expected losses to the endowment mean its payout to the University’s operating budget will fall $40 million short of projections, officials said. Combined with expected fundraising shortfalls and increased

demand for financial aid, officials will need to slash $60 million from next year’s budget, said Richard Spies, executive vice president for planning and senior adviser to the president.

As credit markets froze, large American banks failed and a series of peer schools announced unprecedented losses in recent months, the University before yesterday had remained largely silent on the health of its endowment.

The last time the University publicly announced details about its investments was September 2008, when Simmons reported that the endowment grew by a modest 6.3 percent in the 12 months ending that June.

That figure compared favorably with Brown’s competitor schools, many of whom witnessed stagnant or negative growth during the same period.

But if officials’ current estimate proves correct, the endowment will have lost almost 30 percent of its value in just one year — approximately $800 million.

In her e-mail, Simmons outlined a number of avenues to trim expendicontinued on page 2

Year-end total value of Brown’s endowment $3.0b 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0

FY97 F798 FY99 FY00 FY01 FY02 FY03 FY04 FY05 FY06 FY07 FY08 FY09 (anticipated) Sources: FY97-07: U. report to the Senate Committee on Finance, Mar. 3, 2008; FY08: The Herald; FY09 projection: President Simmons’ campus-wide email

continued on page 2

UCS to fight pre-reqs, push for young alum seat on the Corporation

By Ben Schreckinger Senior Staf f Writer

inside

The Undergraduate Council of Students’ aspirations for this semester include lobbying the University to end enforcement of prerequisites on Banner and advancing an effort to create a seat on the Corporation for a young, recent alum, members of the council’s executive board said.

Last semester “totally exceeded my expectations,” said UCS President Brian Becker ’09. Becker also

News.....1-4 Higher Ed..5-6 Spor ts...7 Editorial..10 Opinion...11 Today........12

www.browndailyherald.com

said he wanted to increase transparency in the student governing body and boost community engagement, bringing in members of the administration to weekly meetings. Becker said President Ruth Simmons will attend a meeting this semester and he hopes Chancellor Thomas Tisch ’76 will do the same.

UCS continued its opposition to the enforcement of prerequisites Tuesday, making a presentation to a meeting of the Faculty Executive Committee.

The council passed a resolution expressing its disapproval last semester when Banner started blocking students from registering for courses if their records lacked the formal prerequisites unless a professor gave them an override.

“We’re not against the idea of prerequisites” when they are used as guideposts for students, said UCS Academic and Administrative Affairs Chair Tyler Rosenbaum ’11.

But Rosenbaum, a Herald opinions columnist, said he worries about

“a very slow chipping away at the New Curriculum and what it stands for.”

“We don’t want there to be a death by a thousand cuts,” he said.

Members of the executive board said they also hoped to work with the Corporation in coming months to discuss adding a permanent seat on the board for a recent alum — a proposal that is aimed at bringing the latest concerns of students to the attention of the highest-level

decision-makers.

“Corporation members are very out of touch with student experiences,” Becker said. “They don’t understand what it’s like to be a student in 2009.” Along with advocating for “new blood” on the Corporation, Becker said he planned to introduce forums for informal interaction between students and Corporation members.

“I would be surprised” if the Cor-

Higher Ed, 5

Sports, 7

Opinions, 11

E-Textbooks arrive Electronic readers are substituting for heavy textbooks

PINNED The wrestling team is taken down by Lehigh, Army

Gossip war Will JuicyCampus gossip take the place of rich Manhattan teen drama?

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

continued on page 6

News tips: herald@browndailyherald.com

Page 2

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

C ampus N EWS reaction on campus

Ignored by some, e-mail rattles others

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

“We are trying to do anything we can to avoid layoffs.”

— Richard Spies, executive vice president for planning

Plunging endowment forces cuts continued from page 1

Change in endowment total from previous year 25%

Despite the unhappy financial situation the University is in — outlined in a campus-wide e-mail from President Ruth Simmons sent yesterday around 5 p.m.

— many students interviewed

by The Herald late Tuesday were only vaguely aware of the e-mail’s contents.

Though many students interviewed said they had merely skimmed the e-mail, those students who had read the message were concerned that the University did not intend to increase the number of doctoral students each year.

Simmons’ message was “shocking and scary,” said Raechel Shaw ’12. She said she and her friends “were talking about how we were living in a utopia, and we don’t really have a sense of the economic crisis right now.”

“I thought it was scary how they’re not expanding the number of Ph.D.s that they are taking,” said Olivia

Linden ’12, a student in the Program in Liberal Medical Education. She added that it was “kind of scary being a freshman and still having seven and a half more years here.”

But many students were relieved that Simmons vowed to meet the financial needs of families and students despite the intended reduction in expenditures.

Simmons stressed Brown’s ongoing commitment to preserving academic life, and outlined a multi-faceted plan to decrease spending and mitigate the anticipated decrease in endowment and available funds while maintaining financial aid and academic programs.

The message “seemed pretty reasonable,” said Kevin Kay ’11. “It was good that she decided to increase financial aid rather than cut back on it like everything else.”

— Sydney Ember

Get The Herald on your RSS reader! www.browndailyherald.com sudoku

tures, which she will recommend to the Corporation when it meets in February to vote on the new budget.

Those include a moratorium on salary increases for nearly all faculty and staff, $4.5 million in cuts to the overall budget for administration and lower targets for the University’s ongoing expansion of the faculty, a cornerstone initiative of Simmons’ presidency. The University also plans to halt previously outlined growth of the Graduate School.

“We will have to not only pare expenditures and eliminate some amenities and services,” Simmons wrote in her e-mail, “but think about doing some things differently. There will surely be some discomfort arising from these circumstances, and I ask that you be prepared for this eventuality.”

In addition to deep cuts to the annual budget, Simmons raised the possibility of a deferral of all “discretionary capital projects” — such as the Nelson Fitness Center and a new swimming pool — until all funding for those buildings has been raised.

Looking beyond fiscal year 2010, Simmons anticipated further reductions of at least $12 million in “administrative and support areas,” smaller increases in compensation and “essentially no growth” in the total number of doctoral students over the next several years.

“Our highest priorities throughout this process have been to protect the most essential elements of the University’s academic excellence and positive momentum,” Simmons wrote. She emphasized that the University will continue to meet the rising demand for financial aid.

Simmons also hinted at a smaller increase in the hiring of new faculty over the next three to five years — a break from the ambitious additions of previous years during the brightest years of the Plan for Academic Enrichment.

Moreover, according to Spies, the current hiring freeze — initially scheduled to expire at the end of the month — will be extended. All recently vacated positions will be carefully evaluated by the Vacancy Review Committee to determine if they need to be filled.

20 15 10 5 0 -5 -10 -15 -20 -25 -30% FY98 FY99 FY00 FY01 FY02 FY03 FY04 FY05 FY06 FY07 FY08 FY09 (anticipated) Sources: FY97-07: U. report to the Senate Committee on Finance, Mar. 3, 2008; FY08: The Herald; FY09 projection: President Simmons’ campus-wide email

“We are trying to do anything we can to avoid layoffs,” Spies said.

Because search processes for new faculty starting in fall 2009 began last summer — before the worst of economic crisis hit — the number of new incoming faculty will not change dramatically in September, Spies said.

But fewer searches will be authorized to begin this summer.

The value of the University’s endowment is difficult to measure because much of that money is invested in non-marketable securities — investments that, because they are not publicly traded, cannot be priced with great precision.

For example, about a quarter to a third of the University’s portfolio is held in alternative investment options like hedge funds and private equity, Spies said. “It’s not shooting in the dark,” Spies said of that kind of investment. “But it’s pretty difficult to measure.”

However stunning, Brown’s losses seem to be on a scale roughly commensurate with those its leading competitors are projecting. In December, Harvard announced its endowment had tumbled 22 percent — a whopping $8 billion — between June and October, while Yale estimated its endowment losses in the second half of last year at 25 percent. Harvard is bracing for losses totaling 30 percent of its endowment by June, according to the Harvard Crimson.

The deep losses Brown and other schools are reporting stand in stark contrast to the double-digit gains Brown and its peers regularly

reported in past years. Brown spent its endowment and fundraising gains aggressively to fuel growth under Simmons.

The University has also taken on a substantial amount of new debt in recent years in a calculated attempt by University officials to move forward quickly with the Plan for Academic Enrichment. As Simmons noted in her e-mail, “Debt markets continue to be extremely volatile and the annual cost of debt service and liquidity protection has risen dramatically.”

Spies also said the University will stop tapping into the $60 million in reserve funds the Corporation approved in 2004 to fuel growth under the Plan for Academic Enrichment — approximately half of which has so far been spent. That University officials are now reluctant to spend down rainy day funds seems to underscore that the storm clouds of 2008 are far from passing.

“The basic point is to conserve what we have in order to be in a position to move forward in the future,” Spies said.

Although Simmons’ e-mail suggested the University was expecting its donors to give more reluctantly in the battered economy, the Campaign for Academic Enrichment remains likely to reach its goal of $1.4 billion by the end of this fiscal year, ahead of schedule, Spies said.

To date, the campaign has raised over $1.3 billion to support Simmons’ Plan for Academic Enrichment, according to the Office of Advancement.

Growth derailed for faculty, grad school continued from page 1

Daily Herald the Brown

Editorial Phone: 401.351.3372 | Business Phone: 401.351.3260 Stephen DeLucia, President Michael Bechek, Vice President

Jonathan Spector, Treasurer Alexander Hughes, Secretary

The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is an independent newspaper serving the Brown University community daily since 1891. It is published Monday through Friday during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement, once during Orientation and once in July by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. POSTMASTER please send corrections to P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI 02906. Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Offices are located at 195 Angell St., Providence, R.I. E-mail herald@browndailyherald.com.

World Wide Web: http://www.browndailyherald.com.

Subscription prices: $319 one year daily, $139 one semester daily.

Copyright 2009 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.

The graduate school’s guarantee of five years of financial support for its students, announced in 2006, has placed a greater emphasis on shortening graduation time and, consequently, has limited the amount of time graduate students can spend as TAs. Professors, consequently, are introducing course caps in classes where there are not enough TAs available.

Still, Dreier said the Graduate School will at least maintain the status quo. “It’s not that we’re cutting the size of the graduate program in half,” he said. Rather, the problem is that “the size of the faculty has increased, and the size of the graduate school

hasn’t increased with it.”

Vohra said the graduate student shortage is “complex,” adding that Sheila Bonde, dean of the Graduate School, is working to remedy the problem.

The University will also respond to the decline in the endowment value by not giving salary increases to “essentially all faculty and staff,” Simmons wrote in the e-mail, adding that she understands that “the pain must begin at the top and we in the senior administration are making major cuts in our own budgets.”

Over the past seven years, the University has increased faculty salaries in order to be competitive with peer schools, Vohra said. The restrictions on raises represent “a big departure

from the past,” he said, and “not one we were hoping to happen at this stage.”

“People thought this might be coming,” Dreier said. “It is unfortunate that it is reality.”

The University anticipates further action will be needed to help deal with the significant loss to the endowment, Simmons wrote in her e-mail, including putting off plans for “discretionary capital projects” like new buildings. Effectively, that could impact residence hall renovations and the planned construction on Faunce House and the Nelson Fitness Center.

— With additional reporting by Nicole Friedman and

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

C ampus N EWS

Page 3

“It’s like a little surprise present in the mail.”

— Kayla Ringelheim ’11

Morning Mail cuts small event announcements

By Andrew Sia Contributing Writer

This semester, the Brown community will wake up to something a little different.

Morning Mail no longer advertises events in venues that cannot accommodate 300 or more people, a policy that went into effect last week. The change comes as a response to complaints from the community after last semester’s lengthy Morning Mails, said Marisa Quinn, vice president for public affairs and University relations.

Morning Mail, a daily e-mail listing University-recognized events, began five years ago as a way to share important information such as inclement weather updates, human resources issues and large events that required ticketing information, Quinn said. The daily e-mail has evolved since then to include smaller campus events, though these events were “not its original purpose,” Quinn said.

Quinn received a number of complaints about the ineffectiveness of Morning Mail, she said, particularly last semester when, according to Quinn, Morning Mail contained “up to 40 events a day.”

Students felt like Morning Mail had become a “laundry list” and had begun to seem like spam, Quinn added.

The change of policy is designed to return Morning Mail to a way of informing the community of major events, Quinn said. For events that do not meet the new criteria, she said she encourages members of the community to use the events

By Sydney Ember Senior Staf f Writer

Quinn Savit / Herald

Thanks to a new policy, students can now expect to encounter a slimmed-down Morning Mail in their inboxes.

calendar and the Today at Brown Web site, links to which are included at the top of Morning Mail.

Many students are unhappy with the change. Meredith Curtis ’10 created a Facebook group named “Morning Mail Should Consider Events < 300 People,” which already has 50 members. Curtis said she feels surprised that Morning Mail would exclude events simply on the basis of room capacity. She said she has attended and organized multiple small events and added that alternatives to Morning Mail can make it difficult to reach the student body.

Ashley Anderson ’10 is also upset with the change, and thinks the new policy contradicts Brown’s ideals. “The whole idea of Brown is

that there is a place for everyone, but that nothing appeals to everybody,” she said. Anderson said she thinks the changes to Morning Mail strip its readership of “the diversity and peculiarity of options.”

The new policy “says the Brown community doesn’t care about more independent, low-budget events,” Anderson said, adding that student leaders work on a limited budget and that electronic communication is often the most effective option.

Both Curtis and Anderson said they enjoy reading about smaller events that take place each day, even if they do not plan on attending them. Also, many interesting events sponsored by institutions like the Sarah Doyle Women’s Center and the Swearer Center do not

meet the 300-person requirement, Curtis added.

But Quinn said she will encourage the “bundling of events together.” Institutions like the Swearer Center will be allowed to send out monthly announcements containing a list of upcoming events, Quinn said, adding that she still wants those groups to be able to communicate with the community.

Jason Lee ’12, who reads Morning Mail every day, said the policy change is not necessary. Lee said the table of contents included in each e-mail made it easy to navigate, despite the long list of events, and exposed him to interesting smaller events.

“I thought it was better” before the change, he added.

Musical students build up fame, 99 cents at a time

By Lauren Pischel Staff Writer

The iTunes Store greets viewers with the usual charts of top artists and songs. But closer inspection reveals Brown undergraduates have also found a niche on the popular downloading site.

“Having music on iTunes — it’s an amazing way to market your music because everyone knows iTunes,” said singer-songwriter Kayla Ringelheim ’11, who has a full albumand several additional tracks on iTunes. “For some reason it really resonates with people.”

For musicians at Brown, iTunes is not an exclusive means for distributing their music or providing a major source of income, but it is one of several channels to spread their songs to a larger audience. iTunes “just adds another layer of credibility,” said Andy Suzuki ’09, a pianist who is working to add his first album to the iTunes Store. One of the first questions people ask him, he said, is if his music is on the online music store.

“I think a lot of people get gift certificates, or they have parents’ credit cards registered on there,” said Rosalind Schonwald ’12, a Herald contributing writer who has an album on iTunes called “Model

Fruit fly gene mutation slows aging

Martian Moon Boy.” “Two Suns.” iTunes takes 30 cents for every “Those two songs almost felt 99-cent song purchased on its site, indulgent,” Ringelheim said. “Reaccording to many of the student cording is kind of like a luxury for artists. There is about a two-month musicians. It’s a completely different delay between the time of purchase mindset from playing live. When you and the time the musician receives are performing it is really interactive a check. and different every time.”

“It’s like a little surprise present iTunes is not necessarily a large in the mail,” Ringelheim said. source of income for these artists.

Schonwald characterized her “We don’t really care about making music as folk. She was highly in- money for shows,” said Doug Berfluenced by Sarah McLachlan, to man ’09, guitar player and singer whom she listened in for the band Saturday her childhood. SchonMorning Project, which FEATURE wald has also studied is made up of six Brown jazz for the past three years, which students. “iTunes is just another way has affected her vocal style and to have our stuff out there.” chord structure, she said.

Saturday Morning Project beRingelheim started taking piano gan when Berman met with several lessons at the age of 10. Her singer- of his friends in the Hillel practice songwriter teacher inspired her to room their freshman year to make write her own music ­— songs in- music. They then started meeting spired by Joni Mitchell and Norah every Saturday morning and soon Jones, who is “poppy or whatever, formed today’s six-member band. but she is good,” Ringelheim said.

The group is made up of an elecBesides selling her music on tric violin, a piano, two guitars, a iTunes, Ringelheim also performs bass and drums. at a “tight network” of coffeehouses Berman characterized the band’s up and down the East Coast. “Once music as “pop-concious rock music,” you kind of get in there, there are a but added, “We play rap covers. We bunch of places you can play,” she try to keep it fun for ourselves.” said.

Saturday Morning Project Ringelheim recently released opened for Guster last year at Provitwo singles on iTunes in De- dence Piers and played at Lupo’s cember: “Corner and Stone” and Heartbreak Hotel this past fall.

Many of the performers also play in venues around campus, specifically the Hourglass Café and the Underground. Berman said the Saturday Morning Project is trying to book Leung Gallery for a show this semester.

“We are trying to fit more people (in our shows) because, the last three shows, we have had to turn people away,” Berman said.

Suzuki also travels up and down the East Coast, performing at universities, high schools and boarding schools.

He learned to play the piano when he was young and then focused on singing. He started playing piano again at the end of his senior year in high school so he could accompany himself in a performance.

Though Suzuki often has a hard time characterizing his music, he described it as “more acoustic, singersongwriter with some hints of R&B.” He said he is influenced by Mitchell, John Legend and John Mayer.

Suzuki’s full-length album, called “Flamingos for Dinner,” is in the final stages of recording and should be available on iTunes in March.

After graduation, Suzuki said he is planning to move to New York City “with the ultimate goal of being able to support myself through music.”

Humans may one day thank the fruit fly for extending their lives.

Last week, a team of researchers led by Professor of Biology Stephen Helfand found that a gene mutation dramatically increases the lifespan of fruit flies, a discover y that may be beneficial to humans in delaying the aging process. The findings were published on Jan. 21 in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Helfand and Assistant Professor of Brain and Neural Science (Research) Nicola Neretti found that this gene — called the “Indy” gene — was involved in reducing the activity of the oxidative phosphorylation pathway that produces damaging free radicals during the conversion of nutrients to energy in cells.

“We knew that there was a mutation in a gene,” said Neretti, first author of the paper that outlined the discover y. “What wasn’t known about this is how exactly this happens.”

The goal of the study was to discover the genetic difference between flies with the mutation and flies without it, Neretti said.

“One of the main differences that popped out of this study was that genes that were involved in the specific pathway that is called oxidative phosphor ylation, were significantly different between the two types of flies,” he said. Flies that possess the mutated gene produce fewer free radicals during the activity of this pathway.

Because free radicals are linked to damage that occurs during aging, reducing the production of these harmful chemicals through this gene mutation delays the aging process in fruit flies, Neretti said.

He said the Indy gene that is mutated in these flies has a homologue — an equivalent gene — in humans. Though this gene in humans is not ver y well-characterized, Neretti said, he hopes it might be possible to reproduce the same kinds of physiological changes seen in the fruit flies to slow the aging process.

But Neretti also said the mutation might be a “more general mechanism to extend lifespan,” adding that there were other mutations and inter ventions that can increase an organism’s lifetime.

The study began several years ago as a multi-center study initiated by the University of Connecticut.

During the preliminar y research, Helfand collaborated with Rogina Blanka, assistant professor in the department of genetics and developmental biology at the University of Connecticut.

Neretti and Helfand’s recent study, which was funded by the continued on page 6

Page 4

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

C ampus N EWS

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

“This is a sobering picture, to be sure.”

— President Ruth Simmons

E-mail from President Ruth Simmons to the community To Faculty, Students, Staff, Alumni and Friends of Brown University:

It has been some time since I wrote to you about the anticipated effects of the global financial crisis on the University. Since then, the crisis has expanded and deepened, bringing extraordinary upheaval throughout many for-profit and not-for-profit sectors. At Brown, upon the close of the 2008 year, we learned more about the apparent effect of significant credit, liquidity and revenue constraints on our near-term planning. That information has led us to plan the implementation of a number of measures to reduce expenditures, constrain expansion and limit major new obligations until we see a return to robust growth in revenue.

Before telling you of those measures, I want to reiterate that the context for any actions we take remains as I stated in my previous letter. We will act in accord with our values as a community; we will focus on preser ving the quality of our academic life; and we will continue to protect our capacity to support our financial aid program. Finally, even during these perilous moments, to the extent possible, we will make selected investments in opportunities to improve the quality of our academic programs...

Like most large endowments, our Long Term Pool has a significant allocation to non-marketable

asset classes which are challenging to value in the current environment. Therefore, for planning purposes, the staff and Corporation committee overseeing our investments have advised us to use a working assumption of a total Brown endowment of $2 billion at the end of the fiscal year on June 30, 2009. While our payout policies are designed to spread the impact of market losses over three years, acting on this planning assumption would ultimately mean a reduction in revenue from the endowment of more than $40 million and a concomitant reduction of $40 million from our operating budget...

Of course, these effects pale in comparison with what has occurred in the larger economy.

Major global financial institutions have disappeared or been completely transformed. A $700 billion bailout plan of the financial system — matched by equally large commitments in other countries — has been shown to be inadequate to solve the crisis and a new administration in Washington has proposed a plan for almost $1 trillion in new spending and other initiatives to stimulate the economy.

Even in our own world of higher education, major universities have canceled faculty searches, undertaken layoffs, announced flat or reduced salaries for faculty and staff in FY10, cancelled capital projects, and instituted broad cuts in operating budgets. We, too, must take account of the all-too-real constraints

imposed by this crisis...

I fully understand that the pain must begin at the top and we in the senior administration are making major cuts in our own budgets in order to meet this challenge.

These will be detailed in the coming weeks...

This is a sobering picture, to be sure, but I remind you that the reason for undertaking these difficult actions is to position the University for long-term health and ongoing improvement as we await a recovery. A realistic financial plan and a sustainable base budget are essential elements of that effort. It is also essential that we adhere to the Plan and the priorities established by the planning process. As I suggested in my November 4 letter, our highest priorities throughout this process have been to protect the most essential elements of the University’s academic excellence and positive momentum; meet the increased need for financial aid; continue to take advantage of strategic opportunities; improve the capacity of the University to act quickly to reduce expenditures further if the need arises; and, to the extent possible, work hard to maintain the University as a stable and supportive work environment.

Those priorities have guided us throughout this crisis and will continue to do so as we work through the spring to make further adjustments that are necessar y to reestablish the University’s financial

Join The Herald!

Info sessions at 195 Angell St. (between Brook and Thayer):

Monday, February 2 @ 8 p.m.

Thursday, February 5 @ 8 p.m.

Sunday, February 8 @ 8 p.m.

Reporting, photography, business, design, opinions and more!

equilibrium.

I am pleased to report that, despite the extent of the damage done to our economic position by the events of the last several months, we have — in my judgment — been able to preserve the hard-won gains of the Plan for Academic Enrichment. The challenge now is to build on those accomplishments in order to ensure that Brown maintains and enhances its position among the world’s leading universities.

There is no question that, in order to achieve those goals, we will have to not only pare expenditures and eliminate some amenities and services but also think about doing some things differently. There will surely be some discomfort arising from these circumstances, and I ask that you be prepared for this eventuality. We should all keep in mind throughout this process that committees are recommending such changes in order to preserve our ability to prevent the loss of even more essential services and even greater disruption to our community.

I remain grateful for your continued cooperation and efforts to find solutions for these challenges. Throughout this process, we have been able to count on the hard work and advice of alumni and parents, the generosity of donors and the steadfast support of members of the extended Brown community throughout the world.

The Corporation and our many advisory councils have provided

guidance, offering expertise badly needed in the face of enormous financial complexity. Our students and their parents have been helpful in advising us of areas in need of attention. I am especially grateful to a parent who contacted me to make me aware of the hardship that our payment deadlines posed in the current circumstances. We were able to adjust the policy on short notice and I am told that this made a great difference to many. It is just this kind of communication, care, concern and cooperation that makes this community one that we treasure.

Sur veying the landscape of higher education, I am persuaded that we are greatly strengthened in these difficult times by the fact that our rigorous intellectual life and unique curricular approach prepare students well for the complex global challenges that will continue to emerge. The opportunities we offer for far-ranging interdisciplinary research, rigorous and innovative problem-solving, and demanding team work are essential for the kinds of problems that are likely to arise today. We take considerable pride and comfort from the fact that we are preparing our students well for the future.

Further information about the specific changes in our plans will be announced later in the semester.

Sincerely, Ruth J. Simmons January 27, 2009

Higher Ed The Brown Daily Herald

Digital textbooks hit campuses

By Shara Azad Staf f Writer

Much to her frustration, Kening Tan ’12 has already spent approximately $300 on textbooks this semester, even after buying certain books online at a reduced cost.

Her irritation may also be felt by students on College Hill, where the start of the new term means the reluctant emptying of pockets at the bookstore.

But if Brown were to adopt the same electronic textbook initiative cropping up at schools across the United States, students like Tan may save a few bucks on textbooks.

Northwest Missouri State University and the University System of Ohio have begun e-textbook programs, where the textbooks for a course are available in digital form.

Electronic textbooks cost “about 50 percent less than hard copy texts,” saving students countless dollars every semester, President Dean Hubbard of NMSU wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.

Since the fall of 2007, Northwest Missouri has been actively pursuing a campus that uses only e-textbooks, Hubbard said. The school has even tried to adopt e-book readers so students can upload and read their e-textbooks, instead of lugging around print editions, said Paul Klute, assistant to the president at NMSU. The school allows students to purchase or rent e-textbooks, and the majority of students choose the latter option and pay a small hourly fee for use of the book, Klute said.

NMSU tested the Sony Reader with their students last semester but found “the model we used was a little outdated,” Klute said. Currently, the school provides laptops

Last week, Stanford University announced a $100 million research institute that will be dedicated to exploring energy issues. The Precourt Institute for Energy will adopt a multidisciplinary approach to solving the world’s energy problems.

“The Precourt Institute for Energy … will be a broad-based effort to attack the problem of providing energy in a sustainable fashion for the growing world,” said Stanford President John Hennessy at a press conference Jan. 13. High and unstable energy costs, dependence on foreign oil and global warming are major energy-related issues America currently faces, Hennessy said.

The $100 million came from alumni donations and will allow Stanford to provide fellowships for graduate students and postdoctoral students, hire faculty and create a $40 million research center, according to a statement released by Stanford. The PIE will draw most of its funding from private donations rather than industry or the federal

Virginia Tech issues alerts as killing rocks campus

By Gaurie TILAk AND Matthew Varley Higher Ed Editors

Janine Cheng / Herald

Hard-copy textbooks are being replaced by e-books at some schools.

to students for a marginal fee, so they can read their e-textbooks.

The Brown Bookstore, meanwhile, tried adopting the new etextbook technology, only to find disappointing results. “We did it last semester only to have about five sales,” said Edward Weiss, textbook manager. “Most of our titles aren’t in e-book form anyway,” he said, adding that the majority of books for Brown classes come from university presses, which are not switching to e-textbooks as rapidly as larger publishers. Publishers McGraw-Hill and Cengage have partnered with NMSU and CourseSmart, a company that provides the electronic versions of the textbooks from six major publishers in the United States.

The university system of Ohio has an exclusive partnership with CourseSmart to offer electronic textbooks to its students. Unlike NMSU, Ohio will not be switching entirely to e-textbooks. “We want to provide the option of electronic textbooks,” said Michael Chaney, chief communications officer of

the Ohio Board of Regents, adding that he did not want to “force the change.”

“Some students like having a book they can mark up or resell,” Chaney said.

Textbook offerings are limited by the ability of CourseSmart to acquire more electronic titles from additional publishers. Senior Lecturer in East Asian Studies Lung-Hua Hu said she prefers “the old-fashioned textbook” for her classes. But she said if the professor doesn’t use the textbook in class, it’s better to use an e-textbook as opposed to the print edition.

Students still seem to want the option of e-textbooks. “Brown is so green,” Tan said, adding that e-textbooks seem more environmentally friendly. She also said she thinks e-textbooks would save students time and money.

But Tan also said she understood the shortcomings of an all etextbook campus, noting that “even if people use e-textbooks, they may still print out the pages.”

New Stanford institute to address energy issues

By Ellen Cushing Senior Staff Writer

Wednesday, January 28, 2009 | Page 5

government, according to a Jan. 23 Chronicle of Higher Education article.

The center will adopt a multidisciplinary approach, drawing faculty from Stanford’s international studies, earth sciences and engineering departments, among others. Lynn Orr, currently the director of Stanford’s Global Climate and Energy Project, will lead the PIE, which will encompass both the GCEP and the already established Precourt Center for Energy Efficiency.

Steven Hamburg, an associate professor of environmental studies currently on leave from Brown and serving as chief scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund, said Stanford has established itself in the field of energy research, investing $30 million annually. Though there is a growing interest in energy research, Brown simply does not have the capacity to pursue a similar program, Hamburg said.

The creation of the PIE comes at a time when other colleges and universities are putting resources toward research on environmental issues. At Pennsylvania State Uni-

versity, the EMS Energy Institute — which has an $11 million annual budget and employs 150 graduate students, faculty and staff — conducts research on alternative energy technology including wind power and biofuel, according to its director, Chunshan Song.

“We’re seeing a development of interest worldwide in clean energy research and alternative energy research,” Song said. “It’s important to train today’s students” to use science and technology to address energy issues, Song said, adding that universities must “generate the people who will be needed to generate these technologies.”

Colleges and universities have an obligation to work to resolve these problems, Song said. “These are real significant issues. Important issues challenge the very existence of our way of life.”

Hennessy expressed similar sentiments at the press conference. “We can move forward in addressing the world’s challenges, enabling universities to apply their vast knowledge and capability to help lead us to a better world,” he said.

In the wake of a brutal on-campus murder at Virginia Tech University last Wednesday, an emergency alert system put in place after the April 2007 shootings there was called into use, sending emergency messages to approximately 30,000 mobile devices. The death of graduate student Xin Yang marked the first killing at the Blacksburg, Va., university since 32 students and faculty members were killed by a student gunman in the deadliest campus shooting in American history.

Authorities said Yang, 22, of Beijing, was stabbed to death and beheaded by another Chinese graduate student, Haiyang Zhu, 25, as the two shared coffee at the Au Bon Pain cafe in Virginia Tech’s Graduate Life Center on Jan. 21.

When Yang arrived at the university on Jan. 8, Zhu was designated to help her acclimate to campus, and records indicate she listed him as one of two emergency contacts.

Witnesses to Wednesday’s attack said the violence came without warning. Police arrived within minutes of the murder, arrested Zhu at the crime scene and discovered a number of edged weapons in his backpack.

Due to the rapid police response, emergency messages were sent out “as an advisory, not an alert,” Larry Hincker, associate vice president for university relations at Virginia Tech, wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.

The university revamped its emergency notification system after the

2007 massacre, and campus officials used the new “VT Alert” system to send text messages, voicemails and e-mails to registered mobile devices. Brown implemented a similar system in the wake of the 2007 attack.

According to the Associated Press, Zhu was taken into custody around 7:10 p.m. At 7:44, a message went out telling students to stay in place and avoid the Graduate Life Center. A second message sent at 8:37 confirmed the suspect was in custody. It advised students to avoid the crime scene but otherwise resume normal activity.

The emergency messages were sent “within 15 minutes of contact” with police, Hincker wrote, 35 minutes after the initial 911 call.

But some Virginia Tech students expressed concern about the time lag between the murder and the emergency notification.

Matthew Davenport, a sophomore, told The Herald he was with friends at the time of the murder and “received the message five minutes before anyone else” in the group.

“What if something happens in the future and I’m one of those that receives the message too late?”

Davenport said. “I believe that the system needs to be much faster than it has shown to be.”

But Hincker said the message got out as fast as possible. “One can’t send a message before one knows that an event happened,” Hincker wrote.

When a false alarm triggered use of the VT Alert system in November continued on page 6

Page 6

H igher E d

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

“We’re going to be a little bit more visible this semester.”

— Mike MacCombie ’11, UCS vice president

As flies live longer, humans could too continued from page 3 National Institute on Aging and the Ellison Medical Foundation, involved computational analysis and follow-up experiments, Neretti said. Researchers from the University of Chicago, along with Blanka, were also involved in the study.

Because the discover y was

made so recently, experts in the field of aging and its mechanisms — Leonard Guarente, a professor of biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Gary Ruvkun, a professor of genetics at Har vard Medical School­— were unable to comment on the significance of the breakthrough.

But Neretti said the general response in the scientific com-

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

munity was already positive.

“We had a lot of people that studied this pathway that were interested in this finding just because this finding is consistent to what part of the community is thinking in terms of how to extend lifespan,” he said. But Neretti stressed the need for follow-up experiments. “But I would say it’s a little too early … and we also need to wait a little bit until more people read this paper and comment on this paper.”

read share origami recycle

DUGs, cable, office hours on UCS agenda this semester continued from page 1 poration did not ultimately admit a young alum to their ranks, UCS Vice President Mike MacCombie ’11 said. The Corporation seemed receptive to the council’s ideas, he said — although he added Corporation members balked at the idea of “affirmative action for a younger person,” in the form of a seat explicitly reserved for a recent graduate.

Other UCS projects this semester will include advocating for affordable rentals of set-top cable boxes for students’ personal televisions — after Brown’s cable service is discontinued next year — and expanding departmental undergraduate groups to new academic departments.

Council members will also explore ways to allow students to return early to College Hill, or remain at Brown, during the fiveweek winter break, according to Becker. Brown’s not-for-credit winter program, January@Brown, was cancelled after two years for lack of participation and funding, and did not run this winter.

One option would be to partner

with the Swearer Center to provide more opportunities for students to perform community service in Providence in January, Becker said.

The Student Activities Committee will also try to find a way to categorize club sports in a manner akin to other student groups, Ryan Lester ’11, that committee’s chair, said. Currently, Brown’s athletic department categorizes club sports, but “athletics is still bouncing” certain teams to UCS when they need funding, Lester said.

The polo club, for example, has run into funding trouble because the University’s insurance does not cover athletics that take place off University property, Lester said.

Becker said he would also make it a priority to counter the popular perception on campus of UCS as irrelevant and to impress on the student body the council’s level of involvement in campus issues. To increase the council’s presence, Becker said he will re-introduce the practice of holding office hours in the Sharpe Refectory.

“We’re going to be a little bit more visible this semester,” MacCombie said.

Death shocks Virginia Tech continued from page 5 2008, the Virginia Tech Collegiate Times reported that some people registered for the service did not receive the e-mails, text messages and voicemails.

Another sophomore, Sameer Ponkshe, also said there was a discrepancy between the time his friends received the message and the time he was notified. But Ponkshe said “the school really has taken all the necessary precautions” for student safety, adding that he knew of nothing about last Wednesday’s incident “that could have been prevented.”

“It was just that bizarre,” Ponkshe said of the murder.

And while Davenport said the killing would inevitably invoke bad memories of the bloodbath that took place on the campus in 2007, he said comparisons between the two crimes are unwarranted.

“They are two completely different incidents and shouldn’t be thought of otherwise,” Davenport said.

“Obviously there will be lots of parallels drawn by the media, but the kids at this school don’t think like that,” Ponkshe said.

SportsWednesday The Brown Daily Herald

Can’t stop LeBron (sorry, Kobe fans)

It is May 12, 2008, Game Four of ESPN announcers who were so the Eastern Conference Semifi- used to saying Kobe Br yant is nals between the Cleveland Le- the best that they hadn’t thought Brons (the Cavs) and to reinvestigate their the Boston Celtics. The claim.

Celtics trail by seven Now it’s 2009 and with just under two in addition to the vast body of statistiminutes to go and they need a stop. With Lecal evidence that LBJ had on his side every Bron James dribbling at the top of the key, season besides his Joe Smith slides over rookie year and posTom Trudeau Tru Story to set a screen on Paul sibly 2006-2007, he now has an army of Pierce, who is matched up on LBJ. James takes the screen supporters and an abundance of and blows by a second defender, anecdotal evidence to back him although he is by him so fast it’s up. (How’d Kobe do against the unclear if LeBron even notices it C’s last spring?). is James Posey, the Celtics’ best In a Jan. 14 SportsNation chat, perimeter defender. Now all that David Thorpe of Scouts Inc. wrote stands between King James and to a Kobe supporter, “Get over the rim is the defensive player of your man crush. Most of the the year, Kevin Garnett. Kevin free world acknowledges that Harlan had the call for TNT as LBJ is the best on planet earth.”

The Chosen One rose up at the He agreed that you would “want rim to posterize KG. Kobe taking the last shot, because “Ohhh!” exclaimed Harlan, that is the best facet of his game.” along with everyone else watch- But, he wrote, “LeBron is the beting at home. “LeBron James — ter overall player.” with NO regard for human life!”

“James is, hands down, the No regard indeed, Kevin. In best player in basketball,” wrote addition to helping give bir th ESPN’s John Hollinger before Leto the most polarizing play-by- Bron began his historic campaign play call of the 2008 NBA play- this year. “It amazes me how long offs, James provided one more it’s taken people to realize it.” example for why he’s the best Me too, John. Ever wonder basketball player on the planet how the Cavs are atop the East— and it’s not even close. ern Conference standings despite Let’s just get one thing straight serious injuries to their starting before I go any further, especially shooting guard and star ting to all the Kobe Br yant fans out center, not to mention a glaring there flipping out right now. This lack of a legitimate number-two is 2009; it’s not 2004 anymore. scoring option? It’s certainly not Kobe is still great, but at 30 years because of starting point guard old, he’s not what he once was — Mo Williams’ whopping four asnot that he was ever as good as sists per game, Delonte West’s LeBron is now. career high 12.3 points per game He just turned 24 on Dec. 30, or Anderson Varejao’s hair. but King James is currently havAnd what happened to the LBJ ing a season for the ages. Only Mi- who doesn’t play any defense? chael Jordan (31.71 in 1987-1988) His defensive ability in the past and Wilt Chamberlain (31.84 in was always under-appreciated, 1962-1963) have ever posted a particularly his help defense. But better player ef ficiency rating James came away from Beijing (PER) than James has so far this with a gold medal and a newfound season, and he trails their best commitment to defense, earning seasons by a measly .14 and .27, raves about his improvements on respectively. To put that in better and off the ball. He’s currently perspective, Kobe’s best statis- fifth in the league in steals and tical season came in 2005-2006, is averaging a career-high 1.2 when he posted a PER of 27.97, blocks. good for 49th best all-time.

Say what you will about Chris I’ve been on the lonely side Paul, who is having a historic seaof the LeBron vs. Kobe debate son in his own right for a point many times the last couple years. guard. I’d entertain debates about LBJ posts a vastly superior PER, a Dwyane Wade’s greatness — he’s higher scoring output, better re- proving that he’s still an elite playbounding numbers and superior er after a regression in 2007-2008. peripherals such as his higher But my apologies to CP3, Flash, true shooting percentage, blocks, KB24 and any other challengers assists — the list goes on. But for the title of best player, beapparently objective, quantifiable cause right now there’s a beast measures for value used to be in Cleveland, showing absolutely trumped by anecdotal arguments no regard for human life, that no about Kobe’s rings, LeBron’s lack one can even come close to. of a consistent jump shot and the all-encompassing “who would you Tom Trudeau ’09 is risking rather have take the last shot?” his basketball happiness on argument that is erroneously subLBJ coming to New York — stituted for the “who is the better in two years. player?” question. I also have had to combat quotations from lazy

Wednesday, January 28, 2009 | Page 7

Wrestling falls to Lehigh, Army squads

By Katie Wood Assistant Spor ts Editor

The wrestling team fell shor t against two strong programs over the weekend. The Bears headed to No. 8 Lehigh on Saturday, where they could muster up only two wins, falling 29-7. On the following day, they fought hard against Army from the beginning, opening the match with three consecutive wins to take a 13-0 lead before losing a tightlycontested match, 21-16.

Greg Einfrank ’10 began the day against national power Lehigh with a 20-8 major decision — a victory by eight or more points — over Kellen Aura at 125 pounds. Einfrank’s victor y gave Brown an early 4-0 advantage for the only lead the team would claim over the Mountain Hawks on the day. Bran Crudden ’10 entered the final period scoreless in his matchup with Alex Caruso, before his opponent mustered six points on an escape and two takedowns to take the 174-pound bout, 6-1. David Craig scored a takedown in the final minute of regulation at 184 pounds to earn the win over Matt Gevelinger ’09. Branden Stearns ’09 pulled out a close 3-2 win to knock off Joe Kennedy at 197 pounds, giving the Bears their final points of the day.

“We wrestled tough,” Crudden said. “We might not have won, but tried to keep it close, scoring some points along the way. It was a small victory — lets you know that you are improving. That’s where you want to be.”

Brown used the Lehigh trip as a learning experience and came out hot against Army on Sunday afternoon. Jeff Lemmer ’12, stepping up to replace captain Chris Musser ’09 at 165 pounds in his first varsity match since the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in early December, recorded an impressive 12-5 overtime decision over Michael Gorman. He hit a five-point takedown and a reversal all in a minute to push him over the edge

Herald file photo

The wrestling team lost a tight match to Army, 21-16.

in double-overtime, according to Stearns. Crudden and Gevelinger picked up right where Lemmer left off, scoring a pin (3:47) over Tim Dean at 174 pounds and a 14-6 major decision over John Drew. The Bears took a quick 13-0 lead over the Black Knights and had a lot of momentum heading into the rest of the bouts.

“The momentum was heading in our direction,” Sterns said. “Bran was really aggressive — pinning his kid. Matt went out and did what he had to do, getting a solid win for us. For us to get that start, we felt like we could win.”

Stearns could not follow up on his win on Saturday afternoon, falling quickly at 197 pounds, 7-0, to Richard Starks, one of the best wrestlers on the Army squad. Einfrank almost recorded a win for the Bears, losing a close 4-3 decision to Lance Penhale at 125 pounds.

The Black Knights had narrowed

Brown’s lead to three, but Ross Baldwin ’09 defeated Josh Sandhaus, 7-2, to give Brown a 16-10 edge. But Army went on to shut out Bruno the rest of the way, as Steve DeLorenzo ’10 lost a close 2-0 bout at 141 pounds and Bryan Tracy ’10 dropped a 2-1 decision at 157 pounds.

“We wrestled a lot more aggressive and looked a lot better as a team on Sunday,” Stearns said.

“One-point matches could have gone our way on a different day. It was tough to lose since we wrestled well.”

The Bears will take this weekend off from competition before traveling to Penn and Princeton on Feb. 7 for their first two Ivy League dates of a five-match conference schedule.

“We’re trying to prepare for the end of the season,” Crudden said.

“These tough matches along the way will help us get there.”

Gymnastics steps up against MIT and URI

By Elisabeth Avallone Spor ts Staf f Writer

In a decisive victor y, the Brown gymnastics team outmatched both MIT and the URI Club Team on Sunday afternoon at the Pizzitola Sports Center, securing a second place standing in the Ivy League early in the season. The Bears finished with a total score of 186.500, MIT with 179.350 and the URI Club Team with 136.625.

Victoria Zanelli ’11 finished first on beam and second on the bars to help pave the way for the Bears’ victor y.

“I am thrilled with the way the team opened this season. This team has so much potential and to be in second place in the Ivy League this early is ver y motivating,” said Head Coach Sara CarverMilne. “We have several freshmen

in the lineup and they are handling the competitions extremely well.

In our second home meet of the season (last weekend), we scored just as well as our top score for the entire 2008 season.”

On the vault, freshmen Lilly Siems ’12 and Carli Wisenfeld ’12 placed second and third, respectively, with scores of 9.550 and 9.525. Following were Chelsey Binkley ’11 (9.400) in fourth, Melissa Bowe ’11 (9.275), Zanelli (9.250) and Isabelle Kirkham-Lewitt ’10 (9.200).

The Bears claimed secondthrough fifth-place finishes on the bars for a total score of 45.850.

Zanelli led the way with a 9.400, followed by third-place finishers Siems and captain Jennifer Sobuta ’09 — both scoring a 9.250 — and Kirkham-Lewitt (9.200) in fifth.

The Bears were unchallenged

on the beam, tallying an overall score of 46.500, as Zanelli and Binkley finished in first with personal best scores of 9.475. Siems followed in third (9.400), Lauren Tucker ’12 in fourth (9.100) and Katie Goddard ’12 in sixth (9.050).

Helen Segal ’10 and Binkley’s (9.575) second-place finishes on the floor helped make the event the Bears’ strongest of the afternoon. Wisenfeld (9.425), Whitney Diederich ’09 (9.300) and Zanelli (9.275) finished fifth through seventh, respectively, to secure Brown’s first-place finish.

“Heading into our meet with UPenn, we are energized and eager to show why we are ahead in the rankings,” said Car ver-Milne.

The Bears will take on the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday, Jan. 31, in Philadelphia.

World & Nation The Brown Daily Herald

Wednesday, January 28, 2009 | Page 9

Renowned author John Updike dies at 76

By David L. Ulin Los Angeles T imes

For David Foster Wallace, he was one of “the Great Male Narcissists.”

Martin Amis declared that the last section of his 1989 memoir “Self-Consciousness” was “to my knowledge the best thing yet written on what it is like to get older: age, and the only end of age.” Nicholson Baker celebrated his “assured touch, (his) adjectival resourcefulness.”

But for me, the lasting image of John Updike, who died Monday of lung cancer at age 76, is as a selfdescribed “freelancer,” who produced a nearly endless stream of book reviews, novels, stories, poems and occasional pieces — more than 60 volumes’ worth — because he felt he’d be forgotten if he didn’t keep his name in print.

I met Updike in November, when I interviewed at UCLA Live. He had been sick, he said, with pneumonia.

Before the event, we sat in the green room at Royce Hall and talked baseball, going back and forth about the Yankees (my team) and the Red Sox (his), as well as the Philadelphia Phillies, who had won the World Series a few weeks before.

It’s easy to forget, amid all his writing, that one of Updike’s early masterpieces was a 1960 New Yorker essay called “Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu,” in which he describes Ted Williams’ final game. “The affair between Boston and Ted Williams,” Updike wrote, “has been no mere summer romance; it has been a marriage, composed of spats, mutual disappointments, and, toward the end, a mellowing hoard of shared memories. It falls into three stages, which may be termed Youth, Maturity, and Age; or Thesis, Antithesis, and Synthesis; or Jason, Achilles, and Nestor.”

This was Updike’s gift: the felicitous phrase, the attention to detail, the ability to make the mundane profound. And yet, this was also his

greatest limitation, for in his lesser efforts, he left us to skitter along the surface of his language without ever breaking through.

To my surprise, Updike was open about this; he brought it up, once we were onstage. He asked rhetorically: Did he write too much? Probably.

But he had made a promise to himself early on that he would publish a book a year, and a novel every other year, and he saw no reason to rethink it now.

Had he written some books that hadn’t worked? Certainly. But better that, he suggested, than to hole up, a la Saul Bellow, and deliver a piece of writing every five years. It was far more useful to be front and center in the culture, to be a working writer, to do the best he could and then move on.

Updike is commonly regarded as the poet laureate of the suburbs, but that’s not really accurate. Yes, he evoked a certain middle-class domestic culture at the precise moment (the 1960s and 1970s) it was exploding; without him, there’d be no Rick Moody, no Ethan Canin -- to name just two.

But more than suburban life, Updike was an explorer of consciousness; this is why Wallace derided him as a solipsist. Even his most celebrated works, the Rabbit novels, are less about domestic life than one man struggling to make sense of himself. For Updike, it didn’t happen unless he’d reflected on it. If that, at times, could keep us at a distance, it was the clearest expression of who he was.

This is why, of all his contemporaries, Updike was the most effective critic; for more than 40 years, he reviewed books and art for The New Yorker and the New York Review of Books. He described it as a way to keep his hand in, but in fact, criticism became a parallel spoke of his career, a way to think about, as well as to produce, literature.

Courtesy of George Bush Presidential Library

President and Mrs. George H. W. Bush present the Medal of Arts to en:John Updike at the White House.

Dolphins moored in New Jersey

By Juliet Eilperin The Washington Post

Early last summer, a group of 16 migratory dolphins that usually spend their time cruising off the East Coast ventured up New Jersey’s Navesink and Shrewsbury rivers.

As the weather turned colder, local residents and federal scientists waited to see if the animals would leave — but they didn’t.

Their presence triggered months of debate on whether the dolphins were trapped and should be rescued, as politicians, researchers and local residents argued over what to do when marine mammals find themselves in unfamiliar places. While the New Jersey dolphins have finally vanished — at least three have died, and the remaining members of the group have either returned to the ocean or are now trapped under a frozen river — the incident highlights the scientific and ethical questions that officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration regularly confront.

“There’s a push-pull between scientists, resource managers and the public,” said Teri Rowles, the NOAA Fisheries Service’s lead marine mammal veterinarian. “What’s best to maintain a wild, healthy population — that often may be in conflict with what the public wants in terms of removing animals within a particular situation.”

Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., whose district includes the region where the dolphins found themselves, said NOAA should establish consistent criteria by which to judge such situations.

“The problem is, they don’t have any standards,” Pallone said in an interview, adding that he had expected the agency to intervene once weather conditions worsened.

“What’s the policy going to be, and what’s it based on? And we can’t have it change from one day to the next.”

In fact, NOAA has an elaborate marine mammal stranding network

that involves more than 100 partner organizations to help monitor and aid animals in distress. Each year, the groups deal with more than 5,000 marine mammals in trouble, including large whales, small cetaceans such as dolphins and porpoises, and pinnipeds such as seals and sea lions. In Hawaii alone, the large whale network has tried to disentangle 28 humpback whales since 2002; 53 percent of its attempts succeeded.

NOAA, which ultimately determines whether to attempt a rescue, evaluates several factors when deciding whether to intervene, Rowles said. If the animals are trapped as a result of human activity or if they are in danger of going extinct, federal authorities usually make an effort to extricate them. If the creatures are far outside of their usual habitat — such as the 100 offshore bottlenose dolphins that got stranded in a lagoon in Long Key, Fla., in 2000 or the humpback whale cow and calf that swam into the Sacramento River in 2007 — officials often seek to relocate them. On a few occasions, rescuers have helped young cetaceans that were incapable of moving on their own.

Some animals, of course, are easier to herd than others. Larger groups of marine mammals are often more willing to move than smaller ones, and certain species that find themselves out of their usual range, such as pilot whales or Atlantic white-sided dolphins, are more comfortable following a leader out of a tight bind.

The coastal bottlenose dolphins that swam upriver in New Jersey did not fit any of these categories, said NOAA officials and independent experts. Belonging to a population that numbers about 7,500, the group of 16 dolphins would normally not be that far inland, but they were not as far out of their usual habitat as ones that travel exclusively in the open ocean.

Dolphins have been stranded at least twice before in the Shrews-

bury River, in 1993 and 2000, and rescue attempts in those instances largely failed. In 1993 the animals scattered and were not seen again; in 2000, the mother dolphin died while her calf survived, only to die later in a rehabilitation center.

Randall Wells, a senior conservation scientist at the Chicago Zoological Society who advised NOAA in both this year’s New Jersey case and the one in 1993, said wildlife managers must respect the fact that animals sometimes seek to expand their range. Since 2005, the New Jersey shore has been home to a growing profusion of menhaden, a small fish that bottlenose dolphins eat — a factor that may have lured the animals into the two rivers.

“The animals got to where they are under their own power. It wasn’t human intervention that got them to where they are,” said Wells, who manages the Mote Marine Laboratory’s dolphin research program in Sarasota, Fla. He added that for humans to resist the idea that wild populations can shift over time “is insanely shortsighted on our part and doesn’t give the animals credit for being adaptable.”

Others challenge that reasoning.

Robert Schoelkopf, who directs the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine, N.J., observed the dolphins getting thinner over time and accused NOAA of practicing “poor science” by letting the animals fend for themselves.

“We do strandings. That’s what we do,” he said, adding that he watched the river, which is now frozen, as the weather got colder.

“That is not natural habitat for bottlenose dolphins.”

NOAA scientists, who have performed eight vessel surveys of the area in the past seven months, said five dolphins remained in the river as of Jan. 13. Two days later, local residents saw multiple dolphins leaving the Shrewsbury River and heading into Sandy Hook Bay, and no dolphins have been seen in the area since then.

Editorial & Letters The Brown Daily Herald

Page 10 | Wednesday, January 28, 2009

e d i to r i a l

Morning FAIL

Students accustomed to scrolling through a dozen or more items in Morning Mail, Brown’s daily electronic communication, can begin to expect a much shorter list. Due to a new policy announced last week, only events that can accommodate over 300 people will be advertised in Morning Mail.

The bulletin states that the change in policy “responds to comments and requests from the Morning Mail readership and will help realign Morning Mail with its original mission as a vehicle for announcements.” This justification is vague and bizarre: Morning Mail has almost never, at least in the past four years, carried anything but announcements. Administrators may have thought that students weren’t reading the e-mail because it was too long.

This concern, though understandable, won’t be resolved by the new policy.

Students who didn’t already read Morning Mail aren’t going to start simply because it contains five announcements instead of 15. The e-mail already features a digest that makes it easy to scan for items of interest. Furthermore, the new policy hasn’t radically altered the kinds of announcements carried, just the number — Tuesday’s Morning Mail listed the same kinds of career info sessions and community volunteer opportunities as always, but fewer of them. The University’s administrators typically send out a separate campuswide e-mail if an announcement is especially important.

The new policy could pose a hardship for campus organizations and the community they seek to serve. Though student groups have access to a listserv through MyGroups, this service only reaches their current members. Groups seeking to advertise a show, fundraiser or lecture in a small space will now have a much harder time informing the community about their projects. This is a disservice not only to groups but to students who might attend events.

Finally, the policy arbitrarily limits announcements to events in places that can accommodate over 300 people, a restriction which excludes practically every event at Brown. Leeds Theater can accommodate only 202 people. Grant Recital Hall can accommodate 133, while Production Workshop’s black box theater can fit 239. Even Salomon 001 can only fit 224. It doesn’t seem to be the University’s intention to decrease attendance at events in these locations, but that’s precisely what will happen if it adheres to the new guidelines.

Brown should consider restoring Morning Mail to its old form, or eliminating it altogether. For notifications important to everyone in the community, the University can continue to send out campus-wide e-mails. Student groups could announce their events through several topical listservs that students could easily join or unsubscribe from online. The new policy sees Morning Mail as a tool for the administration, but it really should serve the whole community.

Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board. Send comments to editorials[at]browndailyherald.com.

t h e b r o w n d a i ly h e r a l d Editor-in-Chief Steve DeLucia

Managing Editors Michael Bechek Chaz Firestone

editorial Arts & Culture Ben Hyman Hannah Levintova Arts & Culture Features Sophia Li Features Emmy Liss Higher Ed Gaurie Tilak Higher Ed Matthew Varley Metro George Miller Metro Joanna Wohlmuth News Chaz Kelsh News Jenna Stark Sports Benjy Asher Sports Andrew Braca Asst. Sports Alex Mazerov Asst. Sports Katie Wood

Editor Editor Editor Editor Editor Editor Editor Editor Editor Editor Editor Editor Editor Editor

Graphics & Photos Graphics Editor Chris Jesu Lee Graphics Editor Stephen Lichenstein Eunice Hong Photo Editor Kim Perley Photo Editor Justin Coleman Sports Photo Editor production Kathryn Delaney Copy Desk Chief Seth Motel Copy Desk Chief Marlee Bruning Design Editor Jessica Calihan Design Editor Anna Migliaccio Asst. Design Editor Julien Ouellet Asst. Design Editor Neal Poole Web Editor

Associate Editors Nandini Jayakrishna Franklin Kanin Michael Skocpol

Senior Editors Rachel Arndt Catherine Cullen Scott Lowenstein

Business General Managers Office Manager Shawn Reilly Alexander Hughes Jonathan Spector Directors Ellen DaSilva Sales Director Claire Kiely, Sales Director Phil Maynard Sales Director Katie Koh Finance Director Managers Local Sales Kelly Weiss National Sales Kathy Bui University Sales Alex Carrere Recruiter Sales Christiana Stephenson Opinions Sarah Rosenthal

C arly huddelson

l e t t e r s to t h e e d i to r s

Ratledge misrepresents SDS’s position To the Editor: In Friday’s column (“An appropriate punishment,” Jan. 23) Alyssa Ratledge ’11 displayed a general disregard for the facts regarding the events and the aftermath of the Oct. 18 SDS protest for Corporation democratization.

Ratledge makes the claim that “administrators sought to discipline only those who were involved in damage to the building and injuries to workers.” First of all, it was not administrators that ultimately made the judgment to issue probation, community service and research papers, but rather members of the University Disciplinary Council, which includes students and faculty, in addition to administrators.

Secondly, those who were issued charges were charged only on the basis that they had been identified as entering University Hall, via Facebook — there were others who were in the area of where the injuries oc-

curred who were not charged. The targeting of specific individuals was both unnecessary and unjustified. If, as Ratledge wonders, “this incident had happened at the Rhode Island Capitol,” not only would there have not been sufficient proof to level charges, as the evidence was only circumstantial, but it would have never have been an issue in the first place as the Capitol building is open to the public, unlike Corporation meetings, and thus does not require armed staff to prevent entry.

Furthermore I would like to point out that on every occasion possible, those accused of injuring staff, as well as SDS as a whole, have apologized to those individuals.

I, too, was there that day and had been involved in the planning of that action, and I apologize again for any injuries that may have resulted from it. Nonetheless, in the future I would hope to see better fact-checking.

Julian Park ’12 Jan. 23

Opinions Editor

Editorial Page Board James Shapiro Nick Bakshi Zack Beauchamp Sara Molinaro Meha Verghese

Editorial Page Editor Board member Board member Board member Board member

Post- magazine Arthur Matuszewski Kelly McKowen

Editor-in-Chief Editor-in-Chief

Marlee Bruning, Julien Ouellet, Designer

correction

Janine Lopez , Jordan Mainzer, Copy Editors Ellen Cushing, Sydney Ember, Sarah Husk, Jenna Stark, Gaurie Tilak, Matt Varley, Night Editors Senior Staff Writers Mitra Anoushiravani, Colin Chazen, Ellen Cushing, Sydney Ember, Lauren Fedor, Nicole Friedman, Britta Greene, Sarah Husk, Brian Mastroianni, Hannah Moser, Ben Schreckinger, Caroline Sedano, Melissa Shube, Anne Simons, Sara Sunshine, Staff Writers Zunaira Choudhary, Leslie Primack, Christian Martell, Alexandra Ulmer, Lauren Pischel, Samuel Byker, Anne Deggelman, Nicole Dungca, Cameron Lee, Seth Motel, Kyla Wilkes, Juliana Friend, Kelly Mallahan, Jyotsna Mullur, Chris Duffy Sports Staff Writers Peter Cipparone, Nicole Stock Business Staff Maximilian Barrows, Thanases Plestis, Allen McGonagill, Ben Xiong, Bonnie Kim, Cathy Li, Corey Schwartz, Evan Sumortin, Haydar Taygun, Jackie Goldman, Jilyn Chao, Kenneth So, Lyndse Yess, Margaret Watson, Matthew Burrows, Maura Lynch, Misha Desai, Stassia Chyzhykova, Webber Xu, William Schweitzer Design Staff Jessica Kirschner, Joanna Lee, Maxwell Rosero Photo Staff Alex DePaoli, Quinn Savit, Meara Sharma, Min Wu Copy Editors Rafael Chaiken, Ellen Cushing, Younhun Kim, Frederic Lu, Lauren Fedor, Madeleine Rosenberg, Kelly Mallahan, Jennifer Kim, Tarah Knaresboro, Jordan Mainzer, Janine Lopez, Luis Solis, Ayelet Brinn, Rachel Starr, Riva Shah, Jason Yum, Simon Liebling, Geoffrey Kyi, Anna Jouravleva Web Developers Jihan Chao, Greg Edmiston

A calendar event in yesterday’s Herald incorrectly stated the location of Michal Bregant’s seminar “Contemporary Film and Politics in the Czech Republic.” It will be in the McKinney Conference Room at the Watson Institute.

C O R R E C T I O N S P olicy 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 ommentary P O L I C Y The editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial page 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.

L etters to the E ditor P olicy Send letters to letters@browndailyherald.com. Include a telephone number with all letters. The Herald reserves the right to edit all letters for length and clarity and cannot assure the publication of any letter. Please limit letters to 250 words. Under special circumstances writers may request anonymity, but no letter will be printed if the author’s identity is unknown to the editors. Announcements of events will not be printed. advertising P olicy The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. reserves the right to accept or decline any advertisement at its discretion.

Opinions The Brown Daily Herald

Wednesday, January 28, 2009 | Page 11

You know you love me — XOXO JuicyCampus Jeanne Jeong Opinions Columnist Monday nights at Brown are interesting.

While our counterparts at other schools sit in front of the television with a bucket of buffalo wings to watch Monday Night Football, it is not an exaggeration to say that, more often than not, “Gossip Girl” takes precedence over spor ts on this campus. Name your excuses — you like the clothes, you drink ever y time you can see your apartment on the show, you think you look like Chuck Bass — let’s face it. Part of the addiction is actually the ridiculous stor y line, spurred on by the omnipresent chirpy gossip. It’s even in the name of the show.

So perhaps that particular aspect contributes to the appeal of JuicyCampus. com. The site’s name is as embarrassing to mention in casual conversation as “Gossip Girl,” and the idea is essentially the same. JuicyCampus is like GossipGirl.com ­— a site where anonymous aspiring scandalmongers can sharpen their craft — but the former concerns real-life subjects who are slightly less attractive than their TV counterparts.

In my defense, I only stumbled across JuicyCampus because Gossip Girl was a rerun on that fateful Monday. Though I would like to deny any connection to the site, consider this my official public ad-

mission to having visited it before, once or twice or maybe weekly. I may have even found some of the posts amusing, such as the one created by the oblivious prospective student worried about finding weed on campus.

The personal attacks posted on JuicyCampus, however, have raised far more substantial issues than a gossip site should.

While the fictitious “Gossip Girl” filters, albeit poorly, the stories that come her — or is it his? — way, there is no real filter for

of accountability. That is, of course, unless your particularly nosy friend browses the site using your laptop (don’t say you haven’t been warned). The same lack of accountability that fosters such brilliant Internet discussion is what creates the risk of controversy in this outlet of expression.

Certainly, what some call free speech can be untrue and inappropriate. Some colleges have blocked the site from their ser vers when posts have become threat-

The personal attacks posted on JuicyCampus have raised far more substantial issues than a gossip site should, because there is no real filter for its unlimited contributors.

the unlimited contributors to JuicyCampus. On the one hand, this certainly adds to the humorous element of the site. Such anonymity can sometimes result in a curiously large number of adoring posts dedicated to a single person, generally male, all appearing within the span of a day.

On the other hand, in more uncomfortable circumstances, the posts can range from being an invasion of privacy to harming reputations and ruining friendships. I assume the appeal of shamelessly posting on JuicyCampus is in part due to the lack

ening and potentially dangerous, but they debate the validity of censoring the site for the sake of a potential ruined reputation.

That kind of controversy over the moral dimensions and First Amendment implications of JuicyCampus ought to be unnecessar y, at least at Brown. Though Brown students have posted their fair share of negative comments about various peers, the University’s relatively small number of pages on the site testifies to its small impact on campus culture when compared to other schools.

I give credit to Brown students for their healthier attitude towards petty gossip and their ability to assume responsibility and perspective for what is posted. Although posts are often admittedly inappropriate, those that cross the line into discriminator y speech are ridiculed, and posters are openly criticized. Whether it happens in person or online, free speech isn’t always free on an extremely liberal campus. In this case, students’ advocacy for political correctness ser ves as a balance to the stupidity that can result from anonymity.

Yet when we remember the Naked Doughnut Run and a professor of cracked pots, it’s clear we Brown students don’t take ourselves too seriously. To award JuicyCampus with any more attention than it deser ves would only be silly, because we know better, or we should. It is what it is — an outlet for self-absorption, hopeless immaturity, and mindless procrastination.

To be fair, all of this probably appears less light-hearted if your name has ever appeared on the site. Still, from what I’ve seen of JuicyCampus, positive defense generally follows negative posts, so thank your friends and allow yourself to feel superior because you aren’t the one spending your weekends posting on an online gossip forum. Unless, of course, you are.

Jeanne Jeong ’12 is a first year from Ashburn, Virginia. She can be reached at jeannejeong@gmail.com

Rhode Island’s probation problem DAN DAVIDSON Opinions Columnist Along with many other states, including its neighbor Massachusetts, Rhode Island faces daunting financial difficulties this year and will have to make tough spending decisions. Rhode Island’s unusually strict and increasingly expensive probation policy attracted attention in the last legislative term and will hopefully receive closer scrutiny this session.

In line with national trends, Rhode Island’s prison population has soared in recent years. Over the past two decades, the Rhode Island prison population has increased by 168 percent. Many of Rhode Island’s incarceration facilities are approaching full capacity, and the prison population is expected to increase another 21 percent by 2017.

The spike in Rhode Island’s prison population has not been adequately addressed in recent years, despite its staggering cost to Rhode Island taxpayers. Prison costs exceed $30,000 per inmate, and projected increases in the prison population over the next eight years could cost the state an additional $300 million.

Rhode Island’s severe probation policies are partly to blame for recent surges

in the prison population. Over 40 percent of new prisoners were incarcerated for violating the terms of their probation. Roughly 21,000 Rhode Islanders — about 3 percent of the state’s adult population — are on probation, providing a steady supply of probation violators.

Probation, strictly defined, is a punishment doled out in lieu of a prison sentence.

so many people on probation for such a long time, a substantial number are bound to violate the terms of their sentences.

Beyond financial concerns, Rhode Island’s probation policy poses disturbing questions about the state’s criminal justice system. Probation policy disproportionately impacts the poorest areas of Rhode Island. In Upper South Providence, over 25

Many of Rhode Island’s incarceration facilities are approaching full capacity, and the prison population is expected to increase another 21 percent by 2017.

Probation is similar to parole, in which a criminal is released early from his or her prison term and placed under state supervision.

Rhode Island’s rate of probation is 46 percent higher than the national average, and sentences are 60 percent longer. With

percent of males aged 18-64 were on probation or parole as of 2003.

In the probation process, the slightest mistake — failing a drug test or missing a meeting with a probation officer, for example — can land a probationer back in prison. Many of Rhode Island’s prisoners

are incarcerated for violating the terms of their probation, as opposed to committing new crimes.

The state’s obsession with incarceration is not motivated by higher rates of crime.

The overall crime rate in Rhode Island is about 20 percent lower than the national average, and the violent crime rate is 44 percent lower.

The criminal justice system has a responsibility to maintain public safety, and one man’s unfair sentence is another’s assurance that threats to the public are contained. In my next column, I will argue that Rhode Island’s probation policy is not worth the expense because it frequently puts people in prison who pose little or no threat to the community. Throughout the semester, I hope to use this column to explore the contours of the criminal justice system in Rhode Island.

For now, I would like to suggest that we can solve the probation problem without compromising public safety and must look to do so at a time when resources are in short supply. The increasing costs of incarceration are taking a toll on Rhode Island’s budget, and the state’s misguided probation policy is making matters worse.

Dan Davidson ’11 is a sophomore from New Jersey. He can be reached at Daniel_Davidson@brown.edu

Today

5

Morning Mail limits event announcements

The Brown Daily Herald

7

to day

to m o r r o w

39 / 24

33 / 18

Gymnasts bounce over MIT and URI

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Page 12

t h e n e w s i n i m a g e sChange in endowment total from previous year 25% 20 15 10 5 0 -5 -10 -15

5

2

-20 -25 -30%

FY98 FY99 FY00 FY01 FY02 FY03 FY04 FY05 FY06 FY07 FY08 FY09 (anticipated)

e x c e r p t s fSources: r oFY97-07: m U.rreport ut h’s letter to the Senate Committee on Finance, Mar. 3, 2008;

c a l e n da r

FY08: The Herald; FY09 projection: President Simmons’ campus-wide email

JANUARY 28, 2009

JANUARY 29, 2009

4:00 PM — Michal Bregant, “Contemporary Film and Politics in the Czech Republic,” McKinney Conference Room, Watson Institute

6:30 PM — FemSex Spring Info Session, Upper Blue Room

A message from President Simmons

7:00 PM — “Gaza: Implications and Reconceptualizations,” MacMillan 117

Announcing that the University’s endowment stands to lose nearly 30 percent of its value, President Ruth Simmons sent a lengthy e-mail to the community Tuesday outlining how spending will be cut next year.

7:00 PM — Community Service Opportunities Fair, Leung Gallery

menu Sharpe Refectory

Verney-Woolley Dining Hall

Lunch — BBQ Chicken Sandwich, Stir-Fried Rice, Sweet and Sour Tofu, Green Peas

Lunch — Italian Sausage and Peppers Sandwich, Vegetable Strudel, Peas, Frosted Brownies

Dinner — Tuna Noodle Casserole, Mushroom Risotto, Cheese Quesadillas, Steamed Vegetable Melange

Dinner — Beef Strips Shish Kabob, Vegan Ratatouille, Mashed Red Potatoes with Garlic

“This is a sobering picture, to be sure,” Simmons wrote, “but I remind you that the reason for undertaking these difficult actions is to position the University for long-term health and ongoing improvement as we await a recovery.”

RELEASE DATE– Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Simmons’ message is reproduced in part on page 4.

c r o sDaily s w oCrossword rd Los Angeles Times Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

ACROSS 1 Lacking tread 5 Snitch 9 Fryer piece 14 __ vera 15 Privy to 16 Numbered supermarket area 17 Rich desserts 20 Pocatello-toProvo dir.

21 “Reflections __ Golden Eye” (McCullers novel) 22 Pass by 23 Campus military prog.

25 Take off 26 Squid, e.g.

31 Saturated 34 Singing, in Sicily 35 Microsoft mogul 36 Tankard filler 37 Maker of Flip Flop waffles 38 Lukewarm 39 Some bulls 40 Wedding announcement word 41 High anxiety 42 __ de menthe 43 Mess up 44 Grade booster 46 Tach measure 47 Circuit 48 Skydiver, at first 51 Post-WWII nuclear org.

52 Bunyan’s tool 55 Boston ivy relative 58 “The Tempest” spirit 59 Istanbul native 60 Star seen around midnight 61 19-time grand slam singles finalist 62 Quite a while 63 Funds for the golden yrs.

DOWN 1 Streisand, in fanzines 2 Word of woe

3 Silver rider, with “the” 4 Crack legal org.?

5 Spouse-to-be 6 Peruvian empire builder 7 Neither here __ there 8 Prayer joint?

9 Burrito cousins 10 Broad in the beam, so to speak 11 Horned goddess 12 Unrestrained joy 13 “__ So Fine”: 1963 #1 hit 18 Dodge SUV 19 Pianist Brendel 24 Prefix with -pus 26 Movie segment 27 Ready for action 28 Representative 29 Long-snouted browser 30 Rival of ancient Carthage 31 Deli wrap 32 Aromatic resin 33 Basic belief 38 Publicans of old Rome

39 Two-tone treat 41 Stimulating capsule 42 “I Got a Name” singer Jim 45 Grocery employees 46 Went wild 48 Old Italian bread?

49 Celtic land

50 Meter maid of song 51 Secret plot found in 17-, 26-, 44and 55-Across 53 Powerful TV princess 54 Winged deity 55 Kilmer of “Tombstone” 56 Hot mo.

57 Yale Bowl rooter

comics Cabernet Voltaire | Abe Pressman

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Alien Weather Forecast | Stephen Lichenstein and Adam Wagner

xwordeditor@aol.com

01/28/09

Enigma Twist | Dustin Foley

By Robert E. Lee Morris (c)2009 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

01/28/09