Thursday, March 5, 2009

Daily Herald the Brown

vol. cxliv, no. 30 | Thursday, March 5, 2009 | Serving the community daily since 1891

Nas, Of Montreal to headline Spring Weekend Stimulus

expands higher ed funding

Tickets go on sale online this Monday

By Sydney Ember Senior Staff Writer

Hip-hop star Nas and the retro-electric indie-pop band Of Montreal will headline Spring Weekend, Brown Concert Agency representatives said Wednesday. Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, bombastic ska-punk rhymester Santigold, local rock band Deer Tick and world-fusion quintet Toubab Krewe will also perform.

In addition to an eclectic mix of musical entertainment, this year’s Spring Weekend will feature a new, Internet-based ticketing scheme run through the Brown Student Agency’s new online store, said Daniel Ain ’09, BCA’s booking chair.

Stephen Hazeltine ’09, BCA’s administrative chair, said bands were selected because of audience appeal, student interest and “bargain” cost.

This year will “be better than the year before — at least that’s the goal,” Ain said, though he ac-

By Ellen Cushing Senior Staf f Writer

inside

Though President Obama’s worldview is more intelligent and informed than his predecessor’s, the decline of American power and the current economic crisis may hinder his administration’s success, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Fred Kaplan told a packed Joukowsky Forum yesterday.

During the discussion, entitled “Obama and the World: U.S. Foreign Policy in an Age of Global Anarchy” and hosted by the Watson Institute for International Studies, Kaplan delved into topics ranging from the world’s power structure to the difficulty of waging war in tribal Afghanistan. He consistently characterized the positions of the Bush and Obama administrations as deeply opposed.

Kaplan, a military analysis columnist for Slate and author of the new book “Daydream Believers: How a Few Grand Ideas Wrecked American Power,” answered questions from Professor of International

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Indie group Of Montreal will headline the Saturday show during this year’s Spring Weekend.

knowledged BCA “set the bar pretty high last year” with performances

by Lupe Fiasco and M.I.A. The concerts will be held over a two-day period, with Nas, Sharon Jones and Deer Tick performing on Friday night, April 17. Of Montreal, Santigold and Toubab Krewe will perform Saturday, April

18. Weather permitting, the shows will be held on the Main Green, with Meehan Auditorium serving as a rain location.

“I think Nas sort of speaks for himself,” Hazeltine said of BCA’s decision to select the high-profile rapper, esteemed for his suave look and feverish lyrics. “Every-

U.S. influence on the wane, journalist says

By Alexandra Ulmer Staf f Writer

one was sort of able to agree pretty quickly.”

Of Montreal, the effervescently psychedelic band from Athens, Ga., was selected to headline Saturday’s show because of widespread student interest, Ain said. “Everybody

Brown, other colleges and universities and many individual students stand to gain from the stimulus package signed by President Obama last month.

The bill, officially called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, will provide between $50 billion and $75 billion for students and colleges, Inside Higher Ed reported last month.

A large portion of the money will go to student aid and infrastructure improvement and will benefit both public and private institutions, though in different ways.

For some Brown students, the package will make tuition more affordable, while the University can expect to enjoy more access to research funds and could even receive additional support for capital

Simmons to UCS: Job cuts coming

By Ben Schreckinger Senior Staff Writer

Studies James Der Derian and Visiting Fellow in International Studies Christopher Lydon during the event, which was recorded to be posted online as a podcast.

“It’s not quite anarchy,” Kaplan said of the world’s political structure, which he described as having many competing sources of power — a change from the polarized Cold War-era power structure. “But it’s a situation without a point of equilibrium.”

Much of this global fragility results from the end of the Cold War, Kaplan said, which he described as a frozen moment in history. “What is going on now is a resumption of history,” he said.

This resumption of history marks the end of the U.S. as the world superpower, Kaplan said, a situation that Obama tacitly recognizes. But with most of the world’s economies suffering, the United States may by default resume its leadership role, he added.

“The challenge that Obama has is continued on page 2

post-

Existing jobs will need to be cut for the University to achieve the savings new, tighter budgets require, President Ruth Simmons told the Undergraduate Council of Students at its general body meeting last night.

“Inevitably positions will not be filled and some services and positions will not be continued,” Simmons said during an hour-long discussion with UCS members that focused heavily on the University’s financial situation.

Simmons first indicated job cuts could be on the way in an e-mail to the Brown community following last month’s Corporation meeting, at which the University’s highest governing body told administrators they would need to proceed even more frugally than they had planned in order to cope with economic woes.

“A fair number of administrative positions will be eliminated,” including some “very senior” positions, Simmons told the council.

But Simmons said the University would make preserving academics

Jesse Morgan / Herald

President Ruth Simmons warned of future cuts at a UCS meeting.

a priority.

“We don’t have any plans to cut the faculty. In fact, we plan to increase the faculty,” Simmons said.

“Our fondest wish is to spend as little as possible on administrative areas and as much as possible on academic programs.”

Some faculty members have said they are willing to take pay cuts or work reduced hours to aid University efforts to preserve jobs, Sim-

mons told UCS. “We are seeing some truly extraordinary gestures,” she said.

In order to consult more Brown community members about potential cuts, Simmons said the administration would explore “augmenting” certain University committees to include representation for students and staff. continued on page 2

Inside

Metro, 5

Opinions, 11

jives with clothesy folk, kicks it with some hot liquors and grooves to the best music.

divine online A Providence LGBT weekly newspaper transitions to web-only format.

the inside scoop Kate Doyle ’12 tells prospective students about the real Brown.

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Thursday, March 5, 2009

C ampus N EWS

W. club volleyball Kaplan predicts problems in Pakistan team faces hurdles continued from page 1

By Caitlin Trujillo Contributing Writer

A lack of adequate resources has left the fate of a proposed women’s club volleyball team up in the air.

Tessa Churchill ’11, who submitted the club’s constitution and 20 signatures of interested students to the Department of Athletics last spring, said her request was rejected due to a lack of funds, resources and court space.

Assistant Director of Athletics Matthew Tsimikas said his department’s responsibility is to meet the needs of existing clubs before accommodating new ones.

“It would not be fair or responsible to our current club sports to take on new ones,” Tsimikas said of the reason behind the rejection, citing concerns about providing transportation, health and safety measures and adequate oversight for the new team.

He said though the University has the third-largest sports program in the country, it has limited facilities and only one volleyball court.

Tsimikas said he did not know whether the women’s club volleyball team will be established, but added that he intends to meet with other administrators this semester to discuss the department’s ability to support emerging club sports.

Churchill, who played volleyball throughout high school, said she has been trying to start the club since her first semester

at Brown.

She said she wanted to continue playing at a level more competitive than intramural, without the pressures of a varsity sport.

After coordinating and discussing possible competitive leagues with other players, Churchill said she drafted a constitution detailing the club’s needs. She calculated the costs of entering three tournaments, travel logistics and necessary equipment. Though her budget amounted to $1,560, she said she considered adjusting the cost to account for fundraising efforts and equipment she would be able to provide, which brought the number to $820.

But Churchill said the athletics department told her the club could not rely on her equipment because her equipment would not support the group after her graduation.

Though her initial efforts to start the team were not successful, Churchill said she is determined to try again.

Currently, she plays on two intramural volleyball teams, one of which she started herself. The teams allow her to play the sport she loves and find other players interested in the club team, she said.

She said she hasn’t worked on starting the team this year because of the University’s financial woes, but intends to submit her request again soon.

“It would definitely be nice to have some sort of support for the team,” Churchill said.

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how to re-engage the United States in the world and restore some of our powers and influence in a world that is not so keen to go along with this,” Kaplan said.

In foreign policy, Kaplan said, Obama’s policies will not be characterized by any particular doctrine but rather by flexibility and multilateral collaboration. As Obama “is from everywhere and nowhere,” he enjoys incomparable world support, Kaplan said — although he predicted this support will dry up within nine months.

Kaplan said Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan will be the crucial first tests for Obama in terms of foreign policy. He said Obama will not dramatically expand American presence in Afghanistan because of budgetary constraints, the memory of Vietnam and Obama’s view that the Afghan problem fits into a wider regional one.

“He is ver y reluctant to get trapped into some escalation,” Kaplan added.

But the real threat, Kaplan said, is an unstable and nuclear Pakistan.

“For every five terrorists that we’re killing, we’re creating 50 or a 100 terrorist sympathizers because we killed their cousins,” Kaplan said.

Like Afghanistan, Pakistan requires regional collaboration that must involve India, China, Russia and Iran, he said.

Much of Kaplan’s talk also fo-

Jesse Morgan / Herald

“There are a lot of countries Dick Cheney can’t go traveling to,” journalist Fred Kaplan told a Joukowski Forum audience Wednesday night.

cused on his new book’s description of the Bush administration as having promoted bad ideas at a particularly bad time — as being men with visions as opposed to visionaries. “The nature of that bad time made the nature of the ideas particularly bad,” Kaplan said.

Despite their failures, Kaplan said, members of the Bush administration will not be held accountable.

Though Kaplan foresees Congressional hearings, he said, Obama is more inclined to look toward the future and work in a bipartisan fashion.

Nevertheless, “there are a lot of countries Dick Cheney can’t go traveling to,” Kaplan said to laughter. “I’d be very surprised if Donald Rumsfeld’s memoir sells a lot of copies.”

U. may add students to committees continued from page 1 She also raised the possibility of creating ad hoc committees to address certain aspects of the University’s financial problems. But, she said, “we don’t have any committees to announce at this point.”

Simmons did not specify which committees could see expanded representation. But, when asked about the possibility, Simmons said the University might consider adding student representation to the Academic Priorities Committee, which oversees big-picture academic decisions. The logistical challenge of including students on the committee without granting them access to sen-

sitive personnel files, however, could make that difficult, she said.

But despite impending budget cuts, Simmons said, the University has in some ways been lucky. Fortunate timing allowed Brown to pursue some initiatives it might not have pursued after the economic crisis struck, she said.

“If the financial aid increase that came up last year had come up this year, it wouldn’t have been done,” she said.

Simmons also told The Herald after her discussion with UCS that she felt “relieved” about the progress of the Plan for Academic Enrichment — a wide-ranging blueprint for raising the University’s academic profile that

Simmons unveiled in 2002. “Had we not started the Plan a few years ago, I shudder to think where we would be today,” she said.

Simmons said having the Plan in place helped the University navigate the economic crisis. “We’d already set our priorities,” she said.

Emphasizing the University’s commitment to making the Brown experience fruitful for students in the midst of the downturn, Simmons told the Council that “you only get four years” at Brown.

“Imagine if your four years was all about the economic crisis,” she said. “We have to — in a sense — insulate you from that, because it’s just not fair.”

Thursday, March 5, 2009

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“After last year, there’s a legitimate need for change.”

— Daniel Ain ’09, BCA booking chair news in brief

Econ. study pads students’ pockets Katie Silverstein ’11 usually leaves ECON 0110: “Principles of Economics” with just a little more knowledge in her head and a few more notes in her notebook. But on one recent morning, she left with an extra $60 in her wallet.

The source of Silverstein’s windfall was an economics research survey being conducted by Associate Professor of Economics Kfir Eliaz.

Eliaz’s study, in which students fill out a questionnaire and pick a chip out of a bag, has paid out as much as $90 to participating students. Eliaz declined to elaborate on the purpose of the study because it is currently underway.

Eliaz distributed the questionnaire to students in various economics classes. Fifteen lucky students are selected to pick a chip out of the bag. If they get a chip that corresponds to the answers they gave on the questionnaire, the prize for those lucky few is a monetary reward that varies depending on their answers.

The experiment was “pretty exciting — made it worth going to my 9 a.m. class,” said Silverstein, who was one of the 15 students chosen in her class to participate.

Andrea Scharfen ’12, who won $90 in her economics class, said she was very happy when she received her winnings.

With two classes having already participated, the experiment will continue throughout the year and into the fall semester when the research award that supports the experiments will expire, Eliaz said.

— Monique Vernon

Kim Perley / Herald

This year’s Spring Weekend will feature online ticketing, a shift from past years’ traditional box-office ticketing.

Spring Weekend tickets on sale soon continued from page 1 who’s seen their shows said they’re pretty crazy.”

Deer Tick satisfies BCA’s desire to bring a local group to the weekend’s lineup, Hazeltine said.

“It’s kind of cool to be connected to the Providence community and the local community in this way,” Ain agreed.

Spring Weekend will also feature revamped ticketing in response to long lines and ticket counterfeiting last year.

“After last year, there’s a legitimate need for change,” Ain said.

“We really wanted to do our part to make sure as many Brown students who wanted to come to the show could.”

Tickets will go on sale online exclusively for Brown students during the first week of sales, which begin Monday at 8 a.m. Students will be allowed to purchase two tickets each online at market.brownstudentagen-

cies.com using their University username and password.

“What’s great is students won’t have to wait in line,” said Matt Garza ’11, who designed the Web site and interface with Erik Nazarenko ’11.

The store is “basically an Amazon for Brown students,” Garza said.

Spring Weekend ticketing will be the online store’s first venture.

Brown students can buy ticket packages for both shows for $25.

Students will also be able to buy separate tickets for Friday’s and Saturday’s shows for $15 each. Ticket sales will open to RISD students for the same prices a week later.

If there are still tickets left on Mar. 18, BCA will open ticket sales to the public for $25 a show.

But Ain said he hoped BCA would not need to sell any tickets to the public.

“Our intention is to sell it only to Brown,” he said. “It’s Brown students paying the activity fee.”

Ain added that a number of sub-

sidized tickets will be reserved for students with a high financial need.

“It’s going to help the students who couldn’t afford to go otherwise,” he said.

This year’s tickets will also have anti-counterfeiting measures, including holograms and black-light ink, and will be delivered exclusively to student mailboxes “well before the concert,” Ain said.

Initially, 3,000 tickets will be available, Hazeltine said, but the BCA will sell an additional 1,500 through conventional box-office ticketing 48 hours before each show if weather permits the shows to be held outdoors.

“Ideally, both shows will be on the Main Green this year,” he said.

Last year, both concerts were held inside Meehan because forecasts called for rain.

Saturday’s show will also feature a student band selected at a Battle of the Bands at the Underground in early April.

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

C ampus N EWS

Thursday, March 5, 2009

“Education is the foundation of a healthy modern economy.”

— President Ruth Simmons

Federal stimulus holds billions for states, colleges, students continued from page 1 projects.

And Rhode Island’s state government stands to receive an injection funding for public education, some of which would be directed to the state’s cash-strapped public colleges and universities.

Brown officials praised the bill, saying it included important investments in education that would pay dividends now and in the future.

In an e-mail to The Herald, President Ruth Simmons wrote that investing in education was important to stimulate the economy. “It would be short-sighted to forego needed investments in education for short term economic gains,” she wrote.

“Education is the foundation of a healthy modern economy. Education enables economic development, job growth, broad social advancement and equality, quality of life and the health of our democracy.”

Student Aid According to James Tilton, director of financial aid, the bill will help students paying for school.

“Brown has a significant commitment to student aid, and the stimulus package helps us do that,” he said. “It’s a really good thing for our students.”

The bill provides about $17 billion to increase Pell Grants, which help low-income students finance college. According to Tilton, the maximum individual grants will increase from $4,850 to $5,350 for the fiscal year 2010, which begins this July.

Tilton also said that under President Obama’s budget, which was delivered to Congress last week, the grants will increase annually starting in fiscal year 2010 at a rate of inflation plus one percent, in

perpetuity.

At Brown, 2,410 students — 40.5 percent of the student body — currently receive need-based financial aid, and 30 percent of financial aid recipients receive Pell Grants, Tilton said. Starting next semester, these families’ grants will increase by a maximum of $500, though some families will receive a smaller increase, he said.

Because a greater portion of some students’ aid will now come from Pell grants, the University will be able to put that money back into its aid budget.

The increase also has symbolic importance, Tilton said.

“It sends a message to families that there’s help,” he said, noting that “there were many years that Pell didn’t increase at all.”

The bill will also provide an additional $200 million to the federal work-study program, according to Tim Leshan, director of government relations and community affairs.

According to Tilton, the University currently receives $1.3 million from the federal government to help fund on-campus jobs for the 1,430 students eligible for work-study this academic year. Because the $200 million will be spread between all schools currently receiving funding, Tilton said his “sense is that it’s unlikely that any one school will see a huge increase, though we would welcome any increase.”

Brown students eligible for financial aid are not the only ones helped by the bill, which also allocates $13 billion to expand the federal tuition tax credit program by temporarily replacing the Hope Scholarship tax credit. The credit will now be available to more middle-class families, with an eligibility cutoff of $180,000 in adjusted gross income for families filing joint returns, as opposed to

the $116,000 cutoff for the Hope credit.

The maximum tax credit will be increased from $1,800 to $2,500 for the fiscal year 2010, and the length of time that families may use the credit will be increased from two to four years.

The credit will also be extended to cover four million additional lowincome students whose families do not pay income taxes, according to Kerrie Bennett, press secretary for Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I, who voted for the bill.

Infrastructure The stimulus package includes a $53.6 billion State Fiscal Stabilization Fund that will be administered by the Department of Education and will go directly to state governments, to be used primarily for education funding.

The fund allocates $8.8 billion to state governors, who can use it to fund government services including public safety and educational and facility improvement. Because this funding is at the governor’s discretion, its direct effects on private institutions are unclear right now, Leshan said.

“The state is still trying to work out how those funds will be distributed,” he said. Though Leshan said Brown was “not counting on getting funds from the state stabilization fund,” he noted that some private colleges, including Brown, are nevertheless encouraging the governor to use some of the money on modernization projects on their campuses.

“Before the stimulus was even passed, we were asked to provide a list of possible projects,” Leshan said. “Projects we’ve talked about include things like the medical education building and other core infrastructure that Brown usually does work on during the summer — things like updating utilities and

the like.”

Brown is “not depending” on the money, Leshan said, but added that with the construction slowdown announced at last month’s Corporation meeting, stimulus money “could be a benefit to these projects moving forward.”

Dan Egan, president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Rhode Island which represents the interests of Rhode Island’s eight private colleges and universities, said the state’s private colleges offer “shovel-ready opportunities.” These can benefit the state’s economy in both the short and long term by replacing construction jobs lost to the shrinking housing market and “strengthening the knowledge economy, which will benefit the economy in the long term.”

The fund also allocates $10.4 billion to the National Institutes of Health and $3 billion to the National Science Foundation, The Herald reported March 2.

Public schools Public colleges and universities, in Rhode Island and nationwide, will reap particular benefits from the bill.

“Public institutions of higher education could gain a great deal,” wrote Steve Maurano, a spokesman for the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education, in an e-mail to The Herald.

Another $39.5 billion of the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund will be distributed to states for public K-12 and postsecondary education and may be used to prevent layoffs, replace budget cuts and modernize facilities.

Maurano estimated that Rhode Island’s share would be about $165 million.

But, he said, the state is in danger of not qualifying to receive these funds because of a provision in the

bill called “maintenance of effort,” which holds that in order to qualify for these funds, a state must provide no less support to education than it did in fiscal year 2006.

Only Rhode Island’s and New Jersey’s funds are in danger of being withheld under that provision, according to a Feb. 27 article in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

“With the budget deficits in Rhode Island and the cuts that public higher education has absorbed over the last few years, we are not at 2006 levels,” Maurano wrote.

“Rhode Island’s slide into the recession (came) earlier than other states and our budget deficits have been larger (percentage-wise) than other states,” he wrote. “As a result, we began cutting higher education funding sooner than most states.

So while most states are still funding public higher education at or above the levels they were in 2006, we are not.”

Maurano wrote that the specific rules regarding the maintenance of effort provision had not yet been published, so it is currently unclear how much the state needs to make up in funding.

Dave Lavallee, spokesman for the University of Rhode Island, said this money was sorely needed in Rhode Island, which has been hit especially hard by the economic crisis.

“Finances are always an issue, but the past couple of years have been par ticularly dif ficult,” he said.

In addition to the stabilization fund, Maurano wrote that state colleges and universities may also gain from other provisions scattered around the 500-page bill. The legislation includes competitive grants and other areas of funding which may have some small effects on two-and four-year colleges, he wrote.

— With additional reporting

by Etienne Ma

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Metro The Brown Daily Herald

“Each foreclosure has a rippling effect.”

— State Sen. Charles Levesque, D-Dist. 11 Thursday, March 5, 2009 | Page 5

Gay marriage bills duel in Senate Senators propose

foreclosure halt

By Sara Sunshine Senior Staff Writer

Testimony went late into the night last Thursday as supporters and opponents of gay marriage discussed a pair of bills before the Senate judiciary committee at the State House.

Bill S0136, introduced by Senator Leo Blais, R-Dist. 21, seeks to amend Rhode Island’s constitution to specify marriage as an institution between a man and a woman. Bill S0147, on the other hand, calls for the state to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Though several bills supporting gay marriage have been introduced in the state Senate before, proponents of the current bill believe “that there is a better chance than in the past to have fruitful dialogue,” said Susan MacNeil, director of development and communications for the advocacy group Marriage Equality of Rhode Island.

The group has been working on the issue for ten years, but after the November election and the passage of Proposition 8 in California, which eliminated the right to gay marriage in that state, there has been an outpouring of public support for gay marriage, MacNeil said. continued on page 6

By George Miller Metro Editor

State senators have proposed placing a 180-day moratorium on many foreclosures in Rhode Island, Democratic legislators announced at a State House press conference Tuesday.

Senators said the emergency measure would buy time for a more permanent way to keep Rhode Islanders in their homes amid economic turmoil and for borrowers to negotiate with their mortgage holders. The bill, which was introduced Feb. 11, also calls for further legislation requiring that all foreclosures be reviewed by state courts.

Sen. Charles Levesque, D-Dist.

11, said the act would only apply to homeowners who received “particularly nefarious” types of loans. Those loans, as defined in

Kim Perley / Herald

Gay marriage testimony was on the State Senate’s Judiciary Committee’s agenda last week.

LGBT weekly drops print edition

By Lauren Fedor Senior Staf f Writer

Divine Providence — a major newsweekly for Rhode Island’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community — has ended its print edition and begun publishing exclusively online.

Divine Providence’s print edition, which ended in Januar y, had a weekly readership of 4,000. Now an estimated 300 to 1,000 readers visit the publication’s Web site each day, according to Editor Eric Marion.

Marion cited the weakening economy and struggling print industr y as factors in the decision.

He said he saw “where the economy was going” last summer, and as advertisers became harder to come by, he considered creating a Web version of the publication.

Shortly after Christmas, when Marion lost four major advertisers, he made the of ficial decision to bring Divine Providence online.

In an e-mail to The Herald, Marion wrote that while he was initially concerned the decision would lead to decreased readership, he later realized that the Web site might attract a “younger and more intelligent” audience.

Marion wrote that Divine Providence’s news quality has been “much better” since going online,

adding that running the publication is now “much less stressful” for him.

Instead of “wasting time hustling for ad dollars” and “spending six hours a week picking up and distributing paper copies,” Marion — who is also a full-time lawyer practicing in Providence — wrote that he is able to concentrate on one or two large news stories each week. He is aided by a small group of contributing writers.

The time has allowed Divine Providence to “bring the latest news to its readers,” he added, noting that the publication has continued on page 6

the bill, include adjustable-rate loans with introductory periods of three years or less, interest-only loans and loans approved without regard for the borrower’s ability to pay, among others.

The bill would halt eviction proceedings during the 180-day period, except in cases where the property has been sold or proceedings began before foreclosure. It would also prohibit additional fees or interest accruing during the moratorium.

Senators said the bill would help all Rhode Islanders, not just those in danger of foreclosure, because foreclosed properties lower the values of nearby homes.

“Each foreclosure has a rippling effect,” Levesque said. “All of us have a stake in trying to address this problem.” continued on page 6

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M etro

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

“People want to be part of the marriage equality movement.”

— Susan MacNeil, Marriage Equality of R.I.’s director of development and communications

200 show up for gay marriage hearing continued from page 5

Kim Perley/ Herald

Copies of the last print issue of Divine Providence in Faunce House.

The LGBT newsweekly moved to an online-only format in January.

LGBT paper goes web-only to cut costs continued from page 5 broken “several stories” ahead of the Providence Journal since going online.

Marion said he does not believe the paper will ever return to print.

“I was spending $2,500 a month,” he wrote in the e-mail, “but the only (beneficiar y) in doing print is the printing company.”

Marion, who manages both the site’s design and content, said he now spends just $10 a month to maintain the publication.

He no longer solicits paid adver tisements, and the only ads that appear on the publication’s Web site are offered free of charge to those who had advertised in Divine Providence’s print edition.

Marion said while cutting

Thursday, March 5, 2009

costs is important, Divine Providence has “never been a moneymaking venture.”

Making money “is not my priority,” he said. “My priority is for Divine Providence to be the premier GLBT news source in New England.”

Leigh Anna Dwyer ’09, advocacy chair for Queer Alliance, wrote in an e-mail to The Herald that she hopes publications like Divine Providence will “sur vive the rough financial times,” adding that they “can ser ve to unite the Providence queer community and help people feel more connected.”

“It (can) feel ver y isolating and frustrating to read a local newspaper or magazine, or watch the news, and never see or hear any mention of gay, bi, transgender people or the issues that affect us,” she wrote.

“People want to be part of the marriage equality movement,” she said.

Many of the Ocean State’s neighbors have already taken action.

Same-sex marriage is currently legal in Connecticut and Massachusetts, while Vermont, New Jersey and New Hampshire have authorized civil unions.

A July poll commissioned by the Marriage Equality group found that 45 percent of Catholics in Rhode Island and 49 percent of all Rhode Islanders support gay marriage.

“We have a tremendous amount of support from the community,” MacNeil said, adding that about 200 people showed up to testify about the bill on Thursday. Though testimony continued until almost midnight, MacNeil said, at least half the Senate judiciary committee stayed until very late, demonstrating a commitment to listening to the community.

According to a 2008 statistical table by U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Rhode Island is the most Catholic state in America.

Michelle Cretella, an advisory

board member for the Rhode Island chapter of the National Organization for Marriage, which opposes gay marriage, said though the state is mostly Catholic, widespread support for gay marriage comes from its “very Democratic” population.

“I think there are a lot of Catholics who sort of follow their own minds,” she said. “They don’t necessarily get in line with the authority of the church.”

But not all community members support same-sex marriage.

Marriage is “more than just a bundle of rights. It’s a public institution that’s intimately tied to family,” Cretella said. “Mothers and fathers — men and women — are different and they each bring unique qualities to child-rearing that two men and two women cannot provide.”

As for the growing support for gay marriage in Rhode Island, Cretella said many people “don’t realize how a gender-neutral definition of marriage may impact them in a negative way.”

Though the pro-gay marriage bill provides for religious communities’ right to make decisions about marriage eligibility, Cretella said the clause is “essentially rendered

inconsequential.” She cited the fact that New Jersey-based company eHarmony was forced to accommodate gay clients and that the Catholic Charities of Boston was ordered to place children in same-sex homes.

According to a Feb. 22 Providence Journal article, many public figures in Rhode Island, including Providence Mayor David Cicilline ’83, Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts ’78 and Attorney General Patrick L ynch ’87, have already expressed their support for same-sex marriage legislation.

But even if the bill manages to get out of the judiciary committee and pass a vote on the Senate and House floors, Gov. Donald Carcieri ’65 “is a really significant roadblock” because he will veto it, MacNeil said.

Despite Carcieri’s opposition, MacNeil and her group believe legislative action is the best way to achieve marriage equality, she said, adding that filing a court case has some significant flaws.

“Equal marriage is the civil rights struggle of the 21st century. … The Constitution was not written for only certain groups of people,” MacNeil said.

East Side leaders back foreclosure halt continued from page 5 Sen. Juan Pichardo, D-Dist. 2, who said he has been working on the issue of subprime loans for five years, praised Rhode Island-based Citizens Bank for a moratorium it voluntarily placed on most foreclosures last month. That moratorium will end Mar. 12.

Pichardo said restructuring mortgages so people are better able to pay benefits everyone, including the banks.

While banks prefer, for liability reasons, not to manage properties that residents have defaulted on

but continue to live on, Levesque said, his sympathies lie with homeowners, not lending institutions.

If banks don’t want to manage a property, he said, “that’s too bad.”

Brenda Clement, executive director of the Housing Action Coalition of Rhode Island, said at the press conference that 2,777 properties were foreclosed on last year in the state and that 458 properties were listed for foreclosure in January.

When the housing bubble burst, she said, it wasn’t a soap bubble, but a sticky wad of gum.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do to

scrape up the pieces,” she said.

Levesque was joined at the press conference by Pichardo, Sen. Elizabeth Crowley, D-Dist. 16, Sen. John Tassoni, D-Dist. 22, Sen. Joshua Miller, D-Dist. 28 and Sen. Rhoda Perr y P’91, D-Dist. 3, which includes Brown’s campus.

Levesque said both Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed and Majority Leader Daniel Connors have “expressed interest” in the bill, and he hopes to have a vote on the Senate floor in about two weeks.

Rep. David Segal, D-Dist. 2, has introduced companion legislation in the House.

SportsThursday The Brown Daily Herald

A career in Mixed results for insurance teams over weekend

How would you feel if you were paid to come to work, sit in on meetings with your fellow coworkers, do everything ever ybody else in your office does, only when it comes time to do any actual work, you have to go sit by the Ben Singer water cooler Sports Columnist and watch?

Admittedly, the economy is bad, and some people don’t get anything done at work anyway, but think about it seriously for a second. Over the course of several years or more, would you really feel comfortable with a job where you can interact with your coworkers but never contribute to the work like they do?

This situation isn’t unheard of in the National Football League.

Only so many players on a roster will actually get a chance to play.

The rest are backup plans, development projects for the future. Unlike other professional sports, the NFL doesn’t have any developmental or minor leagues (unless you count the Arena Football League, which cancelled its 2009 season), so the only practice these backup players get is in, well, practice.

But there is one type of position that is uniquely dif ferent from the rest: the career backup quarterback.

Ever ybody knows today what has become of Matt Cassel. Since playing high school quarterback in California, Cassel backed up Heisman Trophy winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at the University of Southern California, then spent his first three pro seasons with the New England Patriots on the bench behind NFL megastar Tom Brady.

Then, in September 2008, Brady went down, the backup plan went into effect, and Cassel’s hard work paid off to the tune of $14.65 million dollars and a starting job with the Kansas City Chiefs, who acquired Cassel in a trade last week.

But as frequent as injuries are in the NFL, and as inspiring as Cassel’s stor y may be, most backup QBs remain just that for the duration of their careers. Periodically, their NFL experience is essentially an extended training camp, and they are never really considered as anything more than potential insurance policies. But every once in a while there are those few who spend years, even multiple contracts, with the same team.

All-everything in high school and the career pass efficiency leader (141.2 rating) for the University of Wisconsin, Jim Sorgi has attended Manning University for the past five years. Drafted in the sixth round by the Indianapolis Colts in 2004, Sorgi re-signed a three year contract extension back in 2007. For the eight years since he graduated from continued on page 8

Baseball The baseball team (1-1) began its season last Friday afternoon, splitting a doubleheader with Florida International University.

In the first game, pitcher Will Weidig ’10 turned in a strong effort in his first start of the season, allowing three runs over eight innings pitched, while recording five strikeouts and no walks. Shortstopand captain Matt Nuzzo ’09 blasted a two-run homer in the top of the seventh to give Brown a 2-1 lead, but two runs in the bottom of the inning secured the 3-2 win for FIU. In the second game, Brown trailed 4-0 in the sixth inning, but the Bears exploded for six runs in the bottom of the inning and went on to win, 7-4. Mark Gormley ’11 had a solid start, giving up four runs, three of them earned, over six innings to get the win, and Matt Kimball ’11 got the save with three shutout innings.

Designated hitter Pete Greskoff ’11 registered Brown’s only multi-hit performance, going 2-for-4, while Nuzzo picked up another two RBIs. The rain ended the trip early and kept the Bears from playing their final two match-ups with Coastal Carolina and West Virginia.

This weekend, the team will head down to Alabama for a three-game series with Auburn.

Softball The softball team (1-3) opened its season with a win on Friday afternoon, before dropping its next three games at the Lady Gaels Classic.

In the first game, Amanda Asay ’10 gave Brown a 2-0 lead over Binghamton with a home run in the top of

the second inning. Kate Strobel ’12, playing in her first collegiate game, led off the top of the fourth inning with a homer of her own, and the Bears added two more runs to finish out the inning. Brown would go on to win, 9-1, as Asay and Strobel each finished with two hits and three RBIs, and Michelle Moses ’09 struck out ten batters, allowing just one run in a complete game effort.

In the second game, the Bears faced host St. Mary’s, who took advantage of five Brown errors to cruise to a 13-3 win, despite a 3-for3 performance at the plate from Asay.

In a rematch with Binghamton on Saturday, Brown saw some great pitching from Trish Melvin ’12 and Moses, but the offense managed just five hits and the Bears dropped a tough 1-0 decision.

Later on Saturday, Asay and Kelsey Wilson ’09 each got two hits, but an explosive Utah Valley University offense was too much for the Bears to overcome, as they lost 11-3.

Asay went 8-for-9 at the plate over the four games and led the team with four runs scored.

Due to rain, the rest of the tournament was cancelled.

The team will return to action on Mar. 13, when the Bears will travel to South Carolina for the Adidas Tournament.

Fencing The men’s and women’s fencing teams competed at the International Fencing Association Championships continued on page 8

Thursday, March 5, 2009 | Page 7

Justin Coleman / Herald

Matt Nozzo ’09 has been a top early-season performer for the baseball.

Top performers • Amanda Asay ’10, softball: .889 batting average (8 for 9), 1 HR, 4 RBI, 1.333 slugging percentage • Michelle Moses ’09, softball: 2 pitching appearances, 8 1/3 innings pitched, 4H, 1 R, 12 K, 1 BB • Matt Kimball ’11, baseball: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 5 K,1 BB

• Will Weidig ’10, baseball: 8 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 5 K, 0 BB • Matt Nuzzo ’09, baseball: .286 BA (2 for 7), 1 HR, 1 3B, 4 RBI, 1.000 Slg. Pct. • Lauren Vitkus ’09, women’s lacrosse:3goals, 8 ground balls • Isabel Harvey ’12, women’s lacrosse: 17 goals allowed, 15 saves

Page 8

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

S ports T hursday

W. lacrosse drops game to Hofstra continued from page 7 over the weekend. Joseph Isaacson ’11 was the only one from the men’s team to place in the final standings, earning ninth place in the saber. For the women, Deborah Gorth ’09 finished fifth in the saber, while Charlotte Rose ’09 also placed in saber, coming in fifteenth.

On Mar. 8, both squads will compete at the NCAA Northeast Regional Tournament at MIT, where several members of the team will

vie for a spot in the NCAA Championships.

Women’s lacrosse The women’s lacrosse team (11) was handed its first loss of the season on Saturday, falling 11-7 to Hofstra at home. After Brown fell behind 3-0, Lauren Vitkus ’09 scored two goals in a 30-second span to pull the Bears within one goal, but Hofstra jumped out to an 8-3 halftime lead.

Hofstra expanded that lead to

11-3, and though Brown finished the game with four unanswered goals to make a dent in the Pride’s lead, it was too little too late.

Bethany Buzzell ’10 tied Vitkus for the team lead with two goals, while Molly McCarthy ’10 tallied two assists on the day, and Isabel Harvey ’12 made a career-high 12 saves in goal for the Bears.

The team will resume competition in a match-up with the SUNY-Albany at home on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Singer ’09: Job security, losing the ‘edge’ threats to players’ potential continued from page 7 college, his playing time has been largely confined to the summer months. Barring a serious injury to the QB with the second longest consecutive starting streak in NFL history behind the iron man Brett Favre, that’s where it will stay.

As far as we know, Sorgi could be a decent starter in the NFL. He’s played in meaningless late-season games as well as anyone, compiling a 6:1 touchdown to interception ratio and a 87.9 quarterback rating.

But his stats are irrelevant. What is relevant is that Sorgi is working a full-time job in which his employer’s ideal scenario is that he never does any work at all.

To be fair, Jim gets paid over $53,000 per game he doesn’t play, which is more than most of us hope to earn in a year. He, without a doubt, puts in just as much time as anyone else practicing with the team and preparing for games. But you have to wonder how much his focus can remain on a game in which he never really gets to participate.

Backup QB Anthony Wright once explained in an interview with

ESPN that because of the lack of playing time, “I had to either play basketball or rush home and play a video game … You have to find a way to keep the edge.” He currently holds the clipboard for Eli Manning as a New York Giant, but states that “When I hear some guys say they weren’t ready, it just kills me,” acknowledging that some backups do regress to the expectations of their role.

Wright’s comments seem to echo a theme that extends well outside of football: Beyond simply the fear of losing one’s job looms the greater fear of losing one’s “edge.” As demonstrated by Peter Gibbons from “Office Space” or Lester Burnham from “American Beauty,” sometimes the lull of a life of easily completed but unengaging tasks is even more terrifying than a lack of job security.

As young as he is and as much fun as being on a professional sports team in any capacity must be, I wonder if Sorgi ever thinks about that.

Ben Singer ’09 is a backup at Initech.

Editorial & Letters The Brown Daily Herald

Page 10 | Thursday, March 5, 2009

e d i to r i a l

Keep talking

Last Friday, the campus group White People Talking held its first workshop.

Its goal was to spark a discussion among the overwhelming white majority of Brown students about their racial identity and its implications, and the group’s organizers will hold similar forums on related topics on the last Friday of each month. Next semester, they intend to hold additional workshops aimed at interracial dialogue while continuing White People Talking. Ultimately, they hope to foster a better understanding of race’s role in American society among all Brown students — including themselves. They also have plans for a corps of “white allies,” to advise the University’s minority peer counselors on the concerns and experiences of white students.

These are worthwhile goals. Unwarranted police violence against minorities is still too common, and blacks’ paltry 7-percent representation among Brown students continues to raise the question of whether baseless racial prejudice is constraining students’ opportunities to the detriment of this University and this country.

But the road ahead has potholes aplenty. Like many activists with dreams of racial equality, the students behind White People Talking are too quick to embrace a pure reversal of white privilege: Their instinct is to saddle whites with the duty to confront racism and renounce its benefits while granting minorities blanket boons that may be inappropriate to their circumstances. The most obvious problem with this agenda is its tendency to alienate potentially sympathetic white Americans, whose support is crucial for countering the insidious mechanisms of modern racial prejudice. Still worse is the notion’s blindness to the circumstances of working-class white Americans who would be flabbergasted to hear that they are somehow “privileged.” Ensconced in Brunonia, it’s easy to forget that many other Americans have had radically different experiences with race.

Nonetheless, what separates White People Talking from many similar initiatives is the modesty of its founders. Their goal is conversation, not indoctrination, and they’re willing to learn as much as they teach. The “white allies” they intend to commission won’t be crusading for the eradication of racism at Brown, but rather serving as a reservoir of experience for minority peer counselors to tap, making this campus more hospitable without grand gestures. That’s a lot to live up to. And White People Talking can’t survive on the efforts of its founders alone. It requires a consistent commitment to honesty and openness from all of its participants — not just embracing comfortable condemnations of white privilege, but seriously considering the words of students who believe that directly confronting the remnants of American racism won’t lead to true progress.

Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board. Send comments to editorials@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 Editor Ben Hyman Hannah Levintova Arts & Culture Editor Features Editor Sophia Li Features Editor Emmy Liss Higher Ed Editor Gaurie Tilak Higher Ed Editor Matthew Varley Metro Editor George Miller Metro Editor Joanna Wohlmuth News Editor Chaz Kelsh News Editor Jenna Stark Sports Editor Benjy Asher Sports Editor Andrew Braca Asst. Sports Editor Alex Mazerov Asst. Sports Editor Katie Wood 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 Jilyn Chao Asst. Finance Director Managers Local Sales Kelly Wess National Sales Kathy Bui University Sales Alex Carrere Recruiter Sales Christiana Stephenson Credit and Collections Matt Burrows Opinions Opinions Editor Sarah Rosenthal Editorial Page Board James Shapiro Editorial Page Editor Nick Bakshi Board member Zack Beauchamp Board member Sara Molinaro Board member William Martin Board member Post- magazine Arthur Matuszewski Editor-in-Chief Kelly McKowen Editor-in-Chief

Anna Migliaccio, Jessie Calihan, Jessica Kirschner, Designers Kathryn Delaney, Sydney Ember, Allison Peck, Copy Editors Mitra Anoushiravani, Chaz Kelsh, George Miller, Caroline Sedano, Sara Sunshine, 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, Chris Duffy, Nicole Dungca, Juliana Friend, Cameron Lee, Kelly Mallahan, Christian Martell, Heeyoung Min, Seth Motel, Jyotsna Mullur, Lauren Pischel, Leslie Primack, Anne Speyer, Alexandra Ulmer, Kyla Wilkes Sports Staff Writers Nicole Stock Senior Business Associates Max Barrows, Jackie Goldman, Margaret Watson, Ben Xiong Business Associates Stassia Chyzhykova, Misha Desai, Bonnie Kim, Maura Lynch, Cathy Li, Allen McGonagill, Thanases Plestis, Corey Schwartz, William Schweitzer, Kenneth So, Evan Sumortin, Haydar Taygun, Webber Xu, Lyndse Yess Design Staff Sara Chimene-Weiss, Katerina Dalavurak, Gili Kliger, Jessica Kirschner, Joanna Lee, Maxwell Rosero, John Walsh, Kate Wilson, Qian Yin Photo Staff Qidong Chen, Janine Cheng, Alex DePaoli, Frederic Lu, Quinn Savit, Min Wu Copy Editors Sara Chimene-Weiss, Sydney Ember, Lauren Fedor, Casey Gaham, Anna Jouravleva, Geoffrey Kyi, Frederic Lu, Jordan Mainzer, Kelly Mallahan, Allison Peck, Madeleine Rosenberg Web Developers Jihan Chao

chris jesu lee

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

COE takes care of the business

To the Editor:

As student leaders involved with entrepreneurship education at Brown, we are writing in response to last week’s ill-informed and hypocritical editorial (“We’re in business,” Feb. 23). The editorial criticizes the Commerce, Organizations and Entrepreneurship program for being pre-professional, (i.e. preparing students for work in a particular field through practical instruction), yet also criticizes COE for not preparing students for professional life. This paradoxical attack suggests that the editors may have used COE as a vehicle for expressing an anti-business bias, rather than legitimately evaluating the concentration as an academic program.

The primary aim of COE is to study organizations and entrepreneurship from a multidisciplinary perspective. Students are exposed to analytical frameworks that are well grounded in the disciplines of economics, organizational studies and technology management.

Skills that students can elect to study are indeed practical, but no more so than some courses in Public Policy or International Relations, for example. If The Herald questions whether COE teaches “marketable skills,” then the career successes of COE graduates now in the Brookings Institute, Capital One, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Northwestern Mutual, Teach for America and Turner Construction speak for themselves.

A strong line of attack in the editorial is COE’s purported lack of rigor. Though the difficulty of any concentration at Brown is ultimately of the student’s choosing, COE’s structure is just as strenuous, if not more, than many concentrations, requiring 14 to 17 courses depending upon the track. In terms of content,

courses in economics focus on finance, an area of investigation made all the more important by recent world events; courses in sociology focus on organizational theory, an area of study attracting far more research than any other in management; courses in technology management focus on the process of transforming ideas into opportunities, and, deliberately, opportunities into commercial realities. These courses are complemented with at least four additional classes in the traditional hard sciences.

Students are attracted to this interdisciplinary concentration. They know that today’s world demands a broad set of intellectual skills. Furthermore, many things are happening under the COE umbrella outside the classroom, from events such as last week’s Entrepreneurship Program Forum, which was attended by over 200 students, faculty and alumni and watched online by more than 11,000 people, to an undergraduate summer internship in India, student-faculty events organized by its DUG and a new mentorship initiative under the aegis of the Brown Women in Business student group.

Contrary to the derogatory tone of Monday’s editorial, COE helps students to master one of the hardest intellectual challenges: integrating cutting-edge ideas across three very different disciplines. This ability to synthesize multiple perspectives is not only central to Brown’s mission; it is also indispensable to success in business, public service and scholarship alike.

Ian Spector ’09 Drew Janes ’09 Entrepreneurship Program Co-Presidents Mar. 4

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.

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Opinions The Brown Daily Herald

Thursday, March 5, 2009 | Page 11

The applicant’s guide to what they didn’t tell you on the tour KATE DOYLE Opinions Columnist I recently wandered smack into the midst of a tour group of astonishing size and, weaving around attentive high-schoolers and parents listening raptly to their tour guide, cast my eyes across the grounds. Everywhere, roving bands of prospectives solemnly took in each worn brick and green blade of grass as they tagged after cheery tour guides this way and that — to Sayles, to the Hay, to the Ratty.

It all put me in mind of my own first visit to Brown, one sunny April Thursday during my junior year. Nothing unusual: a trip to the admissions office, a class visit, a tour, an information session (given, I feel compelled by sheer good humor to mention, by a dean who claimed to have spent 95 percent of his undergraduate years exploring the mysterious tunnels of Providence at whim).

Noontime found me at a table on the front steps of one among many austere brick buildings, eating an utterly marvelous sandwich from a student center cafe. The sun shone down on the backs of T-shirted students sprawled in the grass below. At the table next to me, two young men in brightly colored V-neck sweaters and edgy thickframed glasses carried on a conversation at exceptional volume. Ah, memories — it was a nice place to be.

Now, as I crossed the grass en route to my dorm, it seemed remarkably pleasant to be the Brown student ambling past the tour group, someone for whom cozying up in an armchair to study in the Rock and meander-

ing across a sun-kissed Main Green is all in an ordinary day. Equally pleasant was the thought that maybe, just maybe, I had come to be something close to an insider in the past few months and had perhaps learned a thing or two about Brown life since my days as a prospective.

I know now, for example, that the anonymous brick building to whose steps I’d paid a visit is known ’round these parts as Faunce.

I know now that the sweatered gentlemen at the table to my right were, by technical defi-

I’m talking about what it’s like to really live here! I’m talking about all sorts of things the past few months have taught me — like how to put money on a vending stripe instead of scrounging for laundry quarters, the necessity of parting with one’s ballet flats in favor of a good pair of boots come late October or how to just suck it up and eat that wretched-looking pancake syrup at the Ratty. So for all those high-schoolers wandering about campus and the surrounding area in the weeks ahead, I’ve jotted down a small

For all those high schoolers wandering about campus and the surrounding locale in the weeks ahead, I’ve jotted down a small sampling of things worth knowing. nition, “hipsters.” And that focaccia bread sandwich? Oh, I know now that I really ought to have savored every last bite — or at least wrapped up the leftovers for that not so far-off day when I too would be a Brown student, all out of flex points.

I’ve lately fallen to thinking on such ins and outs of day-to-day life at Brown, which might never escape a tour guide’s lips. I’m not talking about benefits of the Open Curriculum, student organizations, athletic statistics, student body composition, number of dining facilities, number of books in the libraries or any of our school’s considerable historical background — though that’s all significant and valuable information for any prospective to consider during the all-important College Decision Process.

sampling of things worth knowing: a Brown Applicant’s Guide to Things They Didn’t Tell You On The Tour.

We’ll begin from the dictionary: A hill is by definition “a naturally raised area of land.”

You may have noticed that we’re on one.

Your best intentions of regularly frequenting the attractions of downtown Providence invariably will be thwarted within the first two weeks of your freshman year by that pesky incline that connects here to there. It’s a delightful skip to the ice-skating rink, but it’s a torturous haul back. You probably think the Providence Place Mall is conveniently located, and we think your naivete is precious.

We’ll let you hang onto that little delusion for the time.

Also worth knowing: Providence is a city.

Sort of. One day they’ll invest in a few street lamps, and then we’ll really be in business.

Until then, your best bet for days when you crave the cosmopolitan life is pressing your nose against the glass as you admire the view from the Rock. Fare for a roundtrip to Boston costs a little extra, but you get the added luxury of seeing upwards of five people on the street at a time.

A cheerier tidbit: Don’t despair, there’s always Thayer Street. My own tour two years ago didn’t stop here — an oversight, it seems to me, for what’s Brown life without this quirky thoroughfare? Where else can you find anything from a basic bottle of milk to a tissue box that dispenses from Shakespeare’s nostrils? So if you do nothing else on your visit, buy a cup of coffee and people-watch from the window of Starbucks. Or go shopping, so years down the line you can say fondly, “This is the shirt/bracelet/tissue box featuring Shakespeare’s nostrils that I bought on my first visit to Brown!”

Prospectives, I could go on, but my word limit stops me — and anyway, this first-year doesn’t pretend to know it all. I’m still figuring things out myself! I’m only newly capable of riding RIPTA, for example, and ordering deli sandwiches at the Gate is a very recently acquired skill. The housing lottery remains a mystery to me, and let’s not even talk about meal plans! Plus I haven’t found any of those secret passageways. Unless the Thayer Street bus tunnel counts?

Kate Doyle ’12 is from Westport, Connecticut. She can be reached at Katherine_Doyle@brown.edu.

Peer effects

BY ANDREA MATTHEWS Guest Columnist Midterm season has a way of sucking the joie de vivre from even the most eager students.

Technically speaking, we really have very little reason to complain. The Open Curriculum gives us the opportunity to take any class we choose. But a midterm is a midterm nonetheless, often accompanied by incredible procrastinator y feats, sudden and inexplicable fits of drowsiness during class or in the library and perhaps even the occasional load of stress laundry.

What is the (almost) ever-learning student to do? Some find solace in chocolate, unnecessary trips to Antonio’s Pizza or Beyonce’s deceitfully effortless-looking choreography in her video for “Single Ladies.” (How does she do it?) All of these are worthy sources of comfort, lifted spirits and a little bit of inspiration.

But there is another source of procrastination and encouragement ready and waiting to be utilized: your peers. I have not encountered a more motivational experience than watching my fellow Brown students excel at the activities that they love best. Love of academia aside, these activities are not often writing papers or completing problem sets.

They are the musicals, concerts, sporting

events, plays and other extracurricular commitments that make students wish for 28-hour days, even while acknowledging that they love them too much to give them up.

Why is watching a live performance of your peers better than cooking up theories to explain the latest plot twist in “Lost”? A few reasons: 1) You get a chance to support your fellow students. If you’ve put your time and energy into a project for which you receive not a

transient. Each event is a unique and limited engagement, and I may never have this kind of access to so much free or inexpensive live entertainment again. My AP Literature teacher gave me some very precious advice before I left for college: “Eat as much free food and see as much free stuff as you can.

Seriously.”

3) Finally, watching your peers might just give you a little inspiration to go home, put a book on your desk and get to work. This

I have not encountered a more motivational experience than watching my fellow Brown students excel at the activities that they love best.

grade or a wage but only the pride that comes with a job well done, wouldn’t you want a few people to celebrate your achievements?

2) “Live” means it won’t always be there.

As long as I have Internet access, I can watch mind-numbing programming to my heart’s content at any time, on any date. This is not true of the one-weekend shows, one-night senior recitals and at-home sporting events that seem ubiquitous, but are in reality all too

can be called, quite literally, a “peer effect.”

Usually employed in the context of uniform environments like classrooms, a loose imposition of this concept in this context seems appropriate. Simply put, peer effects are the positive influences that high-achieving individuals have on their peers. In the abstract, watching my peers perform passionately, even in an extracurricular context, may motivate me to do better.

I don’t have empirical evidence for this claim and probably never will (UTRA, anyone?). But, intuitively, it seems to make sense.

There is something moving about watching people who are my age, who share my living environment, who sit next to me in class, do the things they love to do well. It raises the bar to recognize the boy from your biology lecture performing at an a cappella concert, or the girl from down the hall at a gymnastics meet. These are your friends, your peers, your equals, and they are amazing.

Watching our fellow students in the extracurricular realm shows us that they are talented, hard working and dedicated. For some reason that I can only call inspiration, watching them do well makes me want to prove that I can be talented, hardworking and dedicated too.

This Saturday night, try giving the Friedman Study Center computers a break from YouTube videos. Take in the entertainment at the nearest concert hall or auditorium instead. Go out on a limb and see a production in which you know no one. Who knows — maybe you’ll recognize someone you didn’t expect to see. Don’t worr y, Beyonce will wait.

Andrea Matthews ’11 highly suggests forays into the world of Gaetano Donizetti this weekend.

Today The Brown Daily Herald

statehouse scene

5

Opposing marriage bills introduced

7

to day

to m o r r o w

37 / 27

44 / 34

Baseball splits weekend doubleheader

post-

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Page 12

post-

magazine

Brown university ● march 5, 2009 ● Volume 10 ● issue 6

Inside...

03 feature

DRESSING BRUNONIAN \\ abby schreiber

04 film and television

5

COMPASSIONATE ENABLERS \\ doug eacho

05 music

PEACEFUL, EASY FEELIN’ \\ eva kurtz-nelson SPRING ABLUM ROUNDUP \\ post music

c a l e n da r today, March 5

tomorrow, March 6

5:00 P.M. — Cape Verdean Worker Appreciation Day, Refectory

8:00 P.M. — Donizetti’s “L’elisr d’amore” presented by Brown Opera Productions, Alumnae Hall

8:00 P.M. — Event Brown Theatre presents Cabaret, Leeds Theatre, 77 Waterman St.

07 sexpertise

GREAT EXPECTATIONS, EPIC FAILS\\ allie wollner A FOUND TRUST \\ sam yambrovich

08 from the hill

A LITTLE BROADWAY IN PROVIDENCE\\ lauren kay BLOGGING ABOUT BACON \\ ted lamm & alex logan CINEBRASIL\\ anthony badami

8:30 P.M. — GAIA Benefit Concert, the Underground

menu Sharpe Refectory

Verney-Woolley Dining Hall

Lunch — Vegan Tofu Raviolis with Sauce, Polynesian Chicken Wings, Grilled Ham and Swiss Sandwich

Lunch — Vegan Tofu Raviolis with Sauce, Hot Roast Beef on French Bread, Grilled Cajun Chicken

Dinner — Vegetarian Gnocchi a la Sorrentina, Roast Turkey with Sauce, Stuffing, Asian Noodle Bar

Dinner — Lemon Broiled Chicken, Pasta Spinach Casserole, Fried Rice Bowl with Ham, Vegetable Egg Rolls

comics Vagina Dentata | Soojean Kim

crossword

Cabernet Voltaire | Abe Pressman

Socrates | Stephen Lichenstein and Adam Wagner

The One About Zombies | Kevin Grubb