Monday, September 28, 2009

Daily Herald the Brown

vol. cxliv, no. 73 | Monday, September 28, 2009 | Serving the community daily since 1891

Church hosts ‘Columbus’ discussion

sn u f f ed o u t u nder the li g hts

Koyama ’11 and local cultural leader debate U.’s calendar change

By Seth Motel News Editor

By Anne Speyer Senior Staff Writer

When the faculty voted in April to rename Columbus Day on the University calendar to sidestep the historical figure’s controversial legacy, local leaders from the mayor to the governor protested the decision, saying it was disrespectful to Providence’s Italian-American community.

At a Sunday night panel discussion hosted by St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church on George Street, the Brown student who led the anti-Columbus charge and a representative from the Providence branch of the Sons of Italy met to reflect on the name change.

The panel, entitled “Goodbye, Columbus!” and attended by local parishioners and Brown students, was designed to “foster engagement” over the question of Columbus’ place in American history, said Father John Alexander, rector of the parish.

Reiko Koyama ’11, who petitioned Brown’s Faculty Executive Committee during much of the last academic year, squared off against Valentino Lombardi, a Sons of Italy representative.

The Rev. Deacon Michael Tuck of St. Stephen’s, who works for the chaplain’s office at Brown, opened the discussion by reading an excerpt from a speech given by President continued on page 4

Jonathan Bateman / Herald In a matchup of last year’s Ivy League co-champions, the Bears fell to Harvard Friday night, 24-21. A late rally by Bruno ended on an incomplete hail-mary pass.

See

article, page

7

Festival city’s biggest green party

By Jenna Stark News Editor

Saturday’s sun shone on an unlikely scene near Kennedy Plaza. Children scampered by in colorful animal masks, musicians jammed on a stage and vendors clamored for the attention of passersby. The inaugural Providence Sustainability Festival was held all day downtown, bringing together students and grandparents, activists and local business owners to teach and learn about environmentalism in the area.

The festival was designed to educate the Providence community about environmental living, said Bradley Hyson, executive director of the Apeiron Institute for Sustainable Living. The institute, which created and sponsored the festival,

seeks to transform Rhode Island into a environmentally sustainable state.

The festival opened with an “earth-honoring ceremony” led by Chief Kenny Black Elk from the Cherokee tribe. The ceremony was

FEATURE meant to show the Native American perspective on living in harmony with the earth, according to the festival’s Web site.

Pitching their tents in the early morning and staying until evening, the festival’s vendors educated attendees about maintaining a sustainable lifestyle. The vendors showcased products such as environmentally friendly plumbing and landscaping services, pizza-making

ovens and toxin-free cleaning products.

“For each festival (the Apeiron Institute) invites people who are somehow involved in sustainability issues in one way or another,” said Senior Lecturer of Classics Peter Scharf, who is also on the board of directors at the Apeiron Institute.

RiverzEdge Arts Project, a program for “educationally and economically disenfranchised youth,” according to its Web site, sold Tshirts made with eco-friendly ink and cloth.

The Apeiron Institute has held similar festivals at its Center for Sustainable Living in Coventry, for the last eight years, said Mark Kravatz, director of sustainable business decontinued on page 2

Liberian VP offers hopeful view for troubled nation

By Ben Schreckinger Senior Staf f Writer

inside

The outlook for Liberia, the war-torn West African nation, is promising, the country’s vice president, Joseph Boakai, told a crowd of about 60 students and members of the Liberian diaspora Sunday afternoon.

Boakai spoke for about half an hour in Salomon 101 about the challenges of rebuilding his country and proposed a partnership between Brown and Liberia to that end.

Between 1989 and 2003, Liberian governments and rebel factions fought two civil wars. In a country of fewer than four million people,

News.....1-4 Arts........5-6 Spor ts...7-8 Editorial..10 Opinion...11 Today........12

www.browndailyherald.com

In shopping craze, profs have the last word

See Q&A, page 4 hundreds of thousands died and millions were displaced — both internally and externally — during the conflicts.

Despite the many obstacles, Boakai said he firmly believed that “no countr y has a better chance of reconstructing its war-ravaged past,” adding that United Nations Secretar y General Ban Ki-moon expressed similar optimism about the country’s recovery in a meeting Saturday.

Rhode Island has the largest pop-

Dung Hanh Nguyen Vu / Herald

As students crammed into a secondfloor classroom in J. Walter Wilson last Monday, Associate Professor of History Michael Vorenberg started his seminar with an apology.

Though Banner had allowed 20 students to pre-register for his class — HIST 1970H: “American Legal and Constitutional History, 1780-1920” — there was a snafu.

Banner was supposed to require Vorenberg’s written permission to join the class, but the system had not enforced that restriction.

Because of the mistake, Vorenberg said, prior registration on Banner would not assure anyone a spot going forward. Vorenberg e-mailed pre-registered students about the problem before the class to notify them, he said, but some students later informed him that they did not receive the message.

The glitch in registering for the class “really wasn’t a Banner problem,” Vorenberg explained in an e-mail, adding that he was not sure where the error occurred. He guessed there was some miscommunication between the Office of the Registrar and him or the Department of History.

As rare as such situations might be, the University does not have a set protocol for dealing with them.

Vorenberg, for his part, told the students assembled that day that prioritizing the class list based on seniority, concentration and other factors was within his purview as the professor.

However, the ambiguity can be problematic.

“Students who thought they were in the course because Banner said they were, and then they heard from me that they weren’t in it, they might well be frustrated,” Vorenberg wrote in his e-mail.

Over the two-week shopping period at the start of each semester, professors can exercise considerable discretion over the enrollment in their classes, including attendance requirements, how and when to enforce course caps and when Banner registration closes.

The process can cause uncertainty for students.

The registrar’s office consults with departments between each December and again the following

continued on page 4

Joseph Boakai, Liberia’s vice president, said he had a “firm belief” that his country could bounce back from a history of civil war.

Arts, 5

Sports, 7

Opinions, 11

risd’s new exhibit Early modern engravings down the hill at RISD museum

tough competition The field hockey team wins one — but drops to 0-2 in league play

still waiting Anish Mitra ’10 says Brown needs to find an ‘A-list’ artist for Spring Weekend

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

continued on page 2

herald@browndailyherald.com

Page 2

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

C ampus N EWS Sustainability festival takes over downtown continued from page 1

velopment at Apeiron, but the Institute expanded to “the heart of the city” for an additional festival this year to attract a different crowd.

“The environment gets generalized to a certain demographic of the community,” Kravatz said. This festival targeted different citizens of the Ocean State than previous festivals through its music and location, he added.

Different bands played Cambodian, folk, rock and Latin music, drawing together several generations of the Providence community.

Community members could also participate in free workshops held throughout the city on creating a better public transportation system, cooking locally grown foods and supporting public water systems, to name a few. Yoga classes, bike rides, fire-twirling demonstrations and walking tours of the city were also scheduled during the day.

Brown student groups whose work related to the festival’s mission came to publicize their organizations. Project 20/20 — a program that employs Brown students to replace incandescent light bulbs with energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs — manned a booth at the entrance of the festival.

The project received a lot of interest from Providence community members, said Nia Smith, a Providence resident who volunteers for the program. The group plans to install the new lightbulbs within the week, she said.

Andrew Posner MA’08 led a workshop called “Creating a Green

Economy from the Bottom Up.” Posner co-founded and directs the Capital Good Fund, a non-profit, green microfinance lender run by Brown students.

Posner’s workshop discussed how the goal of “greening the economy” can be accomplished through community-level microfinance and credit loaning to green businesses that otherwise would not qualify for a loan.

Posner said he hoped his workshop would convey the importance of microfinance to the Providence community. “The people at the festival are going to be the typical environmental crowd. We want to convey to them that there are all these people that are there who want to be involved and can be engaged,” he said.

The Apeiron Institute’s planning for the free festival moved into “high gear” during the summer, Hyson said. The Institute hopes to host the Providence festival again next year, he added, but plans to discuss it in the coming weeks.

Many at the event said they hoped it would return in the future.

“The festival is excellent,” said Jane Sanderson, a resident of Portsmouth, who proudly displayed a bracelet and necklaces she bought from one of the vendors. “I’m glad there was something going on.”

“It’s great that Providence is taking an active stance in educating people and trying to be green,” said Heather Mowry of Lincoln, adding that she liked that the festival was held “in the middle” of the state and had entertainment.

sudoku

Daily Herald the Brown

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

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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. Single copy free for members of the community.

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Monday, September 28, 2009

“The misconception is that (Banner) solves all problems.”

— Stephen Lassonde, deputy dean of the college

Shopping period not always a bargain continued from page 1 March to ensure that they put the correct restrictions in place on Banner for the coming academic year, according to University Registrar Michael Pesta. Professors or department managers fill out a sheet that describes each class and can check boxes regarding the restrictions they want on the class.

Professors and their departments determine most of the rules of shopping period, administrators said. But balancing professors’ control over their classes and students’ freedom under the New Curriculum is a “back and forth” exchange, Pesta said.

“The Brown curriculum says that you are the architect of your education,” he said. “So it’s not going to require that you take certain courses.”

But the word “shopping” is a misleading term, Pesta said. The design of the period is not meant to make the first two weeks of each semester a “free-for-all,” he said.

So what freedoms does shopping period guarantee students?

“The student has the right to look at as many courses as he or she can,” said Deputy Dean of the College Stephen Lassonde.

However, successful pre-registration on Banner is “not a guarantee” of future enrollment, Lassonde said.

Though “every student can make his or her case,” he said, the professor has the last word regarding who is enrolled in the class.

In Vorenberg’s class, students — at least those who ultimately got in — seemed satisfied that he had exercised his discretion fairly. But even if a pre-registered student had felt unfairly ejected, he would have little recourse.

If a student is enrolled via Banner, but the professor is unwilling to allow him or her into the class, the student could ask the Dean of the College’s office for advice about approaching the professor. But final enrollment decisions are left up to faculty.

Though there are no means for a professor to “unregister” a student on Banner for failing to meet his requirements, the professor can issue the student a “No Credit” or “Missing” grade, which eventually becomes an “NC,” according to Lassonde. Like other grades of “NC,” the mark only shows up on a student’s internal academic record, not the official transcript.

My class, my rules Among the many requirements professors can enforce, one of the more common is attendance. In some courses, for instance, students are required to attend the first three class meetings.

This occasional restriction makes sense, Pesta said. Some professors like to start teaching the material immediately, Pesta added, and they don’t want students falling behind.

Some professors like to limit shopping-period chaos by requiring instructor’s permission to register

for the class. This helps restrict unfettered access before shopping period officially ends.

Besides avoiding overwhelming shopping periods, finalizing enrollments also allows departments to correctly allocate TAs and gives the registrar’s office a chance to find a different-sized room for the class, if necessary, Pesta said.

Clay Wertheimer ’10, president of the Undergraduate Council of Students, said closing Banner registration early is “detrimental” to shopping period. He understands professors’ concerns, he said, but thinks they can “find a balance” of starting class material and allowing students some freedom to attend different classes early in shopping period.

Lassonde said he understands students’ concerns about some classes’ attendance requirements, but thinks the function of shopping period is not greatly harmed as long as only a few professors implement such policies.

Sammy Feldblum ’12 took a Spanish-language class in which the instructor required attendance of the first three classes, preventing him from shopping a poetry class he was considering. He said it wasn’t clear why certain professors had such attendance policies.

“There’s no special reason, really, why Spanish classes should be treated like that while others shouldn’t,” Feldblum said.

Jack Murphy ’11 wanted to take a creative writing class that had a requirement to attend the first three classes, but he missed the first meeting. He went to the rest of the classes, however, and convinced the professor to allow him to enroll by submitting a writing sample and letting the professor know he was interested in the class, he said.

When Murphy talks to professors in such situations, he said, he tries emphasize his commitment.

“I’m not just some kid showing up,” he said.

The paperless system Since the University changed from paper registration to Banner more than two years ago, the fundamentals of pre-registration have changed dramatically.

Before online registration, an enrollment cap on a course had no effect on a student’s ability to submit paperwork to pre-register for a class. The number of students who pre-registered and attended class during shopping period often exceeded the cap. Some students were then forced to drop the class once the semester started.

The enrollment process has become much easier for everybody since the University instituted Banner, Pesta said. But given about 4,000 sections of classes offered each school year, there are bound to be some complications.

Many students and professors had been concerned about the implications of switching from paper registration to Banner before the change was made. Vorenberg, who worked through the Banner confu-

sion this semester, told The Herald in April 2007 he was concerned about potential technological issues with Banner.

Many of his worries about the system have since been alleviated.

“The problems that concerned me years ago about Banner turn out not to be problems,” Vorenberg wrote in his e-mail. “On balance, Banner has made my ability to administrate courses easier, not harder.”

But miscommunications and restraints on courses still present occasional challenges in the age of Banner.

“The misconception is that (Banner) solves all problems,” Lassonde said.

The numbers game has become more accurate since the adoption of Banner, but Wertheimer finds its administration of pre-registration caps problematic.

Banner should not restrict people from pre-registering due to size, he said, because doing so apportions space in classes on a first-come, first-served basis. Having a limit on a class is acceptable, Wertheimer said, but it must be enforced after students attend class and make individual cases to the professor.

“I’m comfortable leaving (caps) up to the professor, but what I don’t like is professors that are leaving that up to Banner,” he said. “Banner isn’t a professor and can’t make the qualification decisions.”

Pesta and Lassonde both said students could abuse aspects of the pre-registration process, for instance, by reserving a spot in a course just because it is limitedenrollment, not because they have a strong desire in the class itself.

But both administrators remained confident that students who really want to take a class and have fulfilled its requirements would be able to take it at some point.

In the case of over-enrollment in VISA 0100: “Studio Foundation,” for example, overrides to enroll are apportioned through a lotter y of all students who express an interest during pre-registration period.

Those who are not allowed to preregister through the lotter y are given priority the next time it is offered, Pesta and Lassonde said.

They also can attempt to register during shopping period by consulting with the professor.

Many departments also maintain waitlists for classes, Pesta said, in case spots open up early in the semester. A professor or department manager might close a class early on Banner and offer students who have shown interest an override to join the class, instead of opening the new spot on Banner to anyone who sees the vacancy, he said.

Since there are no Universitywide regulations for handling such problems, letting professors and students deal with them on a caseby-case basis is usually the optimal strategy, Pesta said.

The solutions to certain problems, he said, are “hard to answer globally.”

Monday, September 28, 2009

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

C ampus N EWS

Page 3

“Twitter is really two-way.”

— Professor Steven Lubar, on using the tool for class discussions

Artists chalk out dragon, legends AmCiv class atwitter

with online discussion

By Hannah Moser Senior Staff Writer

By Miriam Furst Contributing Writer

With smudges on his nose and green chalk covering his hands and knees, Daniel Valmas ’11 hurried to put the finishing touches on his painting.

Using his fingers, Valmas blended green into the street, creating the background of a scene highlighted by a jellyfish’s hot pink tentacles slicing across the deep blue and green of an octopus.

FEATURE On the next street, an artist used a paintbrush to smooth his artwork’s chalk and bring a red dragon to life.

Down the street, pastoral blends of color filled squares with serious and not-so-serious tributes to Rhode Island. Surrounded by other artists creating pastel masterpieces, Valmas and Marguerite Preston ’11 had been at work on their eight-by-eight square since before 9 a.m. on Saturday at the Providence Rotary Street Painting Festival.

For the festival’s 10th year, more than 100 artists and 60 vendors took to Westminster, Union and Eddy streets for the day. Armed with boxes of chalk, the artists competed for monetary prizes in categories for different age groups.

“We are extremely proud to be back on the street,” said Suzanne Cannon, co-chair of the festival that was held in the skating rink at Kennedy Plaza last year.

The smell of the Rotary barbecue drifted over vendors offering jewelry, bags and art, and three local bands performed during the day.

Valmas, who is from Pawtucket, said he and his mother have been participating in the festival since he was in sixth grade. Last year, Preston helped him out, but this was her first year as a full participant.

Preston described coming up with their design as “a long and winding road.”

Valmas said the pair imagined their piece as “paradise and earthly cathar-

Eunice Hong / Herald

Marguerite Preston ’11 works on her eight-by-eight square at the 10th annual Providence Rotary Street Painting Festival.

sis” during the planning stages.

“Yeah, that didn’t happen,” Preston said. The duo said they chose to depict two sea creatures in combat, because they wanted to draw something people would recognize but that wasn’t a “majestic stallion” or a “cute kitty.”

On the other side of the street, a fish peered out of the blue and purple swirls of a pond. The artists, from an art class at Cranston High School West, had finished early.

“They’re used to working fast,” said their instructor, Valerie Bruzzi, who brings her art class to the festival every year. The class entered two squares, and about 10 students worked to complete the picture of the fish, which was a reproduction of one of Bruzzi’s paintings.

Tributes to Rhode Island were abundant at the festival, and one of the most original was submitted by four Rhode Island College students.

First-years Kate Camara and Emily

Pichette supplied a page-long story to accompany their square, which depicted a child so transfixed by a picture in a museum that the ice cream cone in his hand is melting. The picture that consumes his attention shows a pink octopus attacking the Claiborne Pell Bridge as a giant blue insect looms menacingly.

The legend the artists supplied is of a giant octopus attacking the bridge but thwarted by the fearless Big Blue Bug. By now, according to the legend, few remember the hero who preserved the Claiborne Pell Bridge — the mainland’s connection to Aquidneck Island.

The two art majors, who participated in the festival last year, said their other ideas for the festival were “too generic.” Inspired by New England Pest Control’s giant bug, which is a fixture off I-95, the girls wove their tale. “We just built it off the saying ‘big blue bug,’” Camara said.

BCA plans blog, outreach efforts

By Fei Cai Contributing Writer

The Brown Concert Agency plans to reach out to music lovers and musicians alike through a new blog, audience sur veys and more student concerts, the group’s leaders said.

The board, which organizes Spring Weekend as well as a fall concert, hopes to work with groups such as Brown Television and the Coalition of Bands at Brown to reach out to the Brown community this fall.

“It was kind of like we were sitting in a castle and being disconnected from the student body, and that is not how we want to project ourselves,” said Matt Weisberg ’12, a BCA spokesman.

The board will start by creating a blog with a discussion forum to advertise events, post photos of

shows, share songs and feature inter views with artists, said Agency Chair Akshay Rathod ’10.

The BCA will also create “realtime audience-satisfaction e-mail sur veys” directly after the fall event and Spring Weekend to get feedback, Rathod said.

To promote student bands, the board seeks to schedule on-campus student shows throughout the year.

Auditions for next month’s concert, which will host two to four bands, will be held in a few weeks. “We have the skills, we have the institutive knowledge,” Rathod said.

“Why limit ourselves?”

Seventeen bands tried out for the Battle of the Bands — the BCA’s annual student band competition — last year during Spring Weekend, Rathod said. That’s a sign that the Brown community is interested in student concerts, he said.

“There are a large number of musicians who want to play live music, but there is not really an avenue to do that,” said co-stage manager Daniel Wiener ’11, who helped plan the Battle of the Bands during last year’s Spring Weekend.

“At heart, we’re trying to foster and build a live music scene on campus,” he said.

With the Underground in Faunce House under construction, the BCA was forced to find another venue for the concerts in Grad Center Lounge, Rathod said.

But some board members believe this is an improvement over last year.

“Grad Center is a great space,” said co-stage manager Jonathan Gordon ’11. “It is fairly big so storage is taken care of and there is a nice outdoors area for people to enjoy.”

Academics may be known — even mocked — for being longwinded, but some are now communicating in 140 characters or fewer.

Twitter, a rapidly growing social networking Web site, has made its mark in one American Civilization seminar. Students in AMCV 2650: “Introduction to Public Humanities,” now “tweet” about their assigned readings, engaging in a conversation beyond the classroom.

“The problem with class is that it’s two hours once a week with no follow up,” said Professor Steven Lubar, who incorporated Twitter into the course structure to mitigate this barrier.

Lubar is asking the three undergraduate and 15 graduate students in his seminar to post reactions to the assigned readings on Twitter, which asks users, “What are you doing?” Using Twitter allows students to share their viewpoints, raise questions and even post links to related articles before coming into class, he said.

Twitter is different from other forms of online communication, Lubar said, noting that e-mail, for example, is “one-way” — it’s either the professor talking to the student or vice-versa. However, “Twitter is really two-way; that works a lot in a class,” he said.

The tweets — or posts, for those not in the Twitter know — also help Lubar focus his lesson plan on what the students find most interesting in the week’s assigned reading, he said.

But these benefits did not come without some initial hesitation.

First, Lubar said, it posed a problem for students who already had personal Twitter accounts and did not want their professor and fellow classmates following their updates about their private lives.

Some who did not already have Twitter accounts were also skeptical at first. Hollis Mickey ’10, who activated an account for the class, was unsure about using Twitter as an effective forum for class discussion.

“I was pretty reluctant at first to the prospect of getting a Twitter account, but it is useful in allowing the conversation to extend beyond the two hours that we have in our seminar,” she said. “I think it’s positive in that respect.”

Despite the initial wariness, Twitter is working well for students in Lubar’s class. Students who post must include what is called a “hashtag”— a code that makes it possible for others to search tweets related to the class. Using the hashtag allows students to easily communicate with one another, Lubar said.

“People are more ready for discussion because they’ve already started to have discussion outside of class,” Lubar said.

Mickey said it allows students who did not have a chance to speak in class or who thought of something later to contribute to the discussion as well.

Because T witter has a 140-character limit, Mickey continued on page 4

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

C ampus N EWS

Monday, September 28, 2009

“Columbus was a friend to the Native Americans that he ran into.”

— Sons of Italy representative Valentino Lombardi

Liberian leader invites Church panel reopens Columbus debate Simmons to the West African nation continued from page 1

continued from page 1 ulation of Liberians in the United States, with about 12,000 residents.

Boakai spoke of the central place of education in Liberia’s plans for recovery. He said the administration of President Ellen JohnsonSirleaf, who spoke at Brown last September, had placed a “premium on the development of human capital,” and therefore dedicated “the largest proportion of our national budget to education.”

“Our government inherited a broken educational system” focused on “graduation as opposed to learning,” Boakai said. “Today, we have free and compulsory primary education.”

The current administration has “raised the (monthly) salar y of teachers from a bare 15 United States dollars” which was “not enough to buy two McDonald’s quarter pounders with cheese, let alone be livable wages,” he said.

The government now pays teachers $80 a month. Professional and higher education are also vital to Liberia’s recovery, Boakai said. “It is in this context that I wish to appeal to Brown,” he said, proposing that the University partner with the Liberian government to provide Liberians with scholarships and research opportunities.

“I extend the invitation to President Simmons to come to Liberia soon in order to consolidate the partnership,” he said.

Boakai said the government was also focused on bringing back foreign investment. Among its initiatives has been the Liberian AntiCorruption Commission, created to thwart crooked political and business practices and thereby

combat one of the greatest deterrents to foreign investment on the continent.

“But we also want to encourage Liberians themselves to be investors,” Boakai said, adding, “All of us are on obligation to go back and rebuild.”

Like South Africa and Rwanda before it, Liberia commissioned a Truth and Reconciliation report in order to move past its civil war.

But the efforts have stalled in recent months. “Some of the witnesses did not cooperate as they should have,” Boakai said.

And though “the commissioners were well-vetted,” two refused this June to sign the report on atrocities in the country. The abstaining commissioners wanted an edited version of the report, but Boakai said many Liberians felt approving an edited report would constitute a disservice to the truth.

He said Liberia would possibly hold a referendum to accept the report despite the commissioners’ abstentions.

Boakai also noted that Liberia’s is the first Truth and Reconciliation process to include active participation by the diaspora.

Samuel Kamara of Providence — one member of that diaspora — came to the United States 10 years ago to study, but the war prevented him from returning to Liberia. Before the lecture, Kamara said the outbreak of peace has led him to consider moving back home in the near future.

Kamara said it was difficult to evaluate Johnson-Sirleaf’s administration from outside of Liberia, but added that all indications lead him to believe “she might be doing a pretty good job.”

Benjamin Harrison in 1892. “‘Columbus stood in his age as the pioneer of progress and enlightenment,’” Tuck said, quoting the speech. “‘The system of universal education is in our age the most prominent and salutary feature of the spirit of enlightenment, and it is peculiarly appropriate that the schools be made by the people the center of the day’s demonstration.’”

After Tuck’s reading, Koyama opened the discussion by explaining why she supported the renaming of the holiday to the neutral “Fall Weekend,” and why she had worked for the change.

“Brown prides itself on being socially conscious and valuing diversity and respect,” she said. “It seemed that the celebration was a little inconsistent with these core values.”

She also called the idea of Columbus Day as a celebration of the “discovery” of America “inaccurate.”

“It’s wrong to call it a discovery when thousands of people were already living here,” she said. “Also, Columbus never came to this country. He landed in the West Indies and stayed in the West Indies. We deserve accuracy in the framing of our history.”

Koyama said conceptions of Columbus are complicated by a generational divide. “There is a gap between what was taught in history classes decades ago and what is taught today,” she said. “Our textbooks have not been telling the whole story.”

To illustrate her point, Koyama listed examples of alleged mistreatment of Native Americans at the hands of Columbus and his men — including rape, murder and the use of physical disfigurement to produce subordination. These actions do not fit the depiction of Columbus

qu e s t i o n s f o r j o s e p h b oa k a i Liberian Vice President Joseph Boakai spoke to about 60 students and members of the community Sunday afternoon about the prospects for rebuilding the war-ravaged West African country.

After the speech, he sat down with The Herald to discuss the future of his country.

Herald: Earlier this week you called on the United Nations to create a special envoy on women. Why? What do you envision this envoy’s job description would be?

Boakai: What we’re tr ying to say is that we do believe that women are underrepresented.

We believe that we need to raise their status now, because they are mostly the victims of these conflicts.

You studied at Kansas

State University on a scholarship from USAID and later worked for the World Bank.

Do you believe institutions such as the International Monetar y Fund, the World Bank and USAID primarily ser ve the interests of developing countries or of rich ones?

Well, at some point in time we thought their programs were not really ser ving the critical needs of developing countries.

The results that they yielded in the past were far from meeting the needs of developing countries, but today we are experiencing programs that are very strategic.

After many, many years of their intervention we still have a lot of problems in developing countries, so we believe that they could do better.

What will be the consequences for Liberia if your countr y does not receive further debt relief from its creditors?

I wouldn’t like to think in that direction.

But I do believe this is something we need because right now whatever we’re doing, we’re doing it from a very, very low revenue base, and so debt relief will enable us to borrow and undertake critical projects like infrastructure.

What do you hope will be the outcome of Charles Taylor’s trial at the International Criminal Court?

The good old book says you reap what you sow. I’m sure if you sew something good you’ll reap something good.

I look forward to him being justly handled.

as an American hero — all too commonly used in elementary schools, she said.

Lombardi, in rebuttal, said the allegations against Columbus which Koyama brought up were “questionable” in terms of historical accuracy.

“This is judging a quintessential Renaissance man in terms of contemporary values,” he said. Lombardi said the Sons of Italy, a national organization of Italian-Americans, has developed a “positive-image program” to inform the nation about Italian-American culture.

This program included a study of Columbus, conducted in 2002 “in response to growing concerns about the celebration of Columbus Day,” he said.

“Many of the things that were said about him are unfair,” he said.

“Columbus was a friend to the Native Americans that he ran into.”

“From a historical viewpoint, Columbus proved that it is possible to cross the Atlantic Ocean and return.

He was the first to open relations between Europe and the Western Hemisphere and ... laid the foundation for future voyages,” Lombardi said.

“With regard to Columbus’ ability as a politician, evidently it’s flawed in nature,” Lombardi said. “But he wasn’t trained as a politician or as a governor — he was trained as a navigator. His intention was to find a new route to the Indies, and he happened upon a new world.”

Lombardi also stressed recognizing the significance of ItalianAmerican achievements, particularly in light of the prejudices the community has faced throughout history. “Columbus Day is the one day on which the nation recognizes the heritage of millions of ItalianAmericans,” he said.

Koyama said she did not intend any disrespect to Italian-Americans, and noted that she is involved in

organizing a “roots week” at Brown that would celebrate cultural diversity and open up controversial issues, like the renaming of Columbus Day, to campuswide discussion.

The panel discussion was then opened up to questions from the audience. Asked whether Columbus’ treatment of the Native Americans entirely discredited his accomplishments, Koyama said, “Where do we draw the line? If people can’t draw the line with Christopher Columbus and the things that he did, that just shows disrespect to the millions of Native Americans who have died since his landing.”

“If you can discount the atrocities he committed because he discovered America, I have to wonder what that says about Americans,” she added.

Another audience member questioned whether the renaming of Columbus Day would actually limit discourse on American history, suggesting that the holiday could keep its name but incorporate an emphasis on “new learning” and a greater drive toward historical accuracy.

“That could be a good compromise in a situation like this,” Lombardi said. “I think we have to work for a full understanding in order to accept the positive aspects of someone, recognizing fully that there may have been some negative aspects as well.”

Koyama also stressed the importance of greater understanding and learning. Columbus represents “a very important time in history that we don’t want to cover up, but instead bring light to,” she said.

Alexander, the rector, ended the night by emphasizing the importance of continuing discussion and debate.

“I hope that this dialogue doesn’t end here tonight,” he said. “I think that involving not only the voices of the academic community on campus, but also from the larger community is a way to expand that dialogue.”

When ‘academic chit-chat’ goes online more than homework continued from page 3 added, unlike other forms of Internet communication, students have to make their thoughts concise.

While the class also has a blog, as do many other classes at Brown, Mickey said Twitter fosters fastpaced conversation — sometimes over whelming due to the sheer number of posts — among students.

Micah Salkind GS, a public humanities student, agreed that Twitter is beneficial in adding to the class experience. “It’s another use of technology that keeps conversation going outside of the classroom,” he said.

The tweets are so frequent that people outside of Brown are becoming involved. Specifically, Lubar said, the New Bedford Whal-

ing Museum has been “tweeting” with the students.

Pleased with the results, Lubar said he plans to use Twitter for his other seminars in the future.

When Lubar attended THATCamp, a conference held at the Center for Histor y and New Media at George Mason University, attendees’ tweets were broadcast live onto a screen at the front of the room. Lubar said it was a way to make a lecture more like a personal conversation because the speaker can see how people react to his comments and tailor the lecture accordingly.

Lubar also said he follows other professors on Twitter, allowing for “academic chit-chat.”

“This is all early days of technology, we’ll see where it goes,” he said.

Arts & Culture The Brown Daily Herald

Monday, September 28, 2009 | Page 5

Festival brings a little Havana to Providence

By Monica Carvalho Contributing Writer

Courtesy of the RISD Museum

The RISD Museum’s “The Brilliant Line: Following the Early Modern Engraver, 1480-1650,” is on display now.

RISD breathes new life into an old form

By Luisa Robledo Staf f Writer

As she picked up the magnifying glass with her right hand, Emily Peters took a couple of steps forward. She stood in front of the engraving of Henri de la Tour d’Auvergen and said, smiling, “I think this one knocks your socks off.”

Peters, the associate curator of prints, drawings and photographs at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, was referring to one of the pieces in the museum’s new exhibit, “The Brilliant Line: Following the Early Modern Engraver, 1480 -1650.” Through the display of 85 original works of art, the exposition focuses on the process of copperplate engraving, she said.

“The ar t of engraving was the first reproductive mass medium,” Peters said. “It was a way to spread knowledge of all kinds, everything from scientific discoveries to information on the Catholic Reformation.”

The beauty of the engravings and the naturalism achieved by

“a medium that consists of copper and lines” drew her in at first.

“Artists had to figure out ways to create tones by using lines and dots only,” Peters said, looking back at Robert Nanteuil’s portrait of Henri de la Tour d’Auvergen, “Look at the lace in his collar,” she said. “It’s like he didn’t want us to see the lines at all.”

To allow viewers to gain a better understanding of this technique, Peters, who has a Ph.D. in 16th-century printmaking, collaborated with Associate Professor of Printmaking Andrew Rafter y.

“We wanted to bring engraving live to the public,” said Rafter y, a practicing engraver. “We wanted to help viewers understand the process.”

To that end, Raftery decided to create a replica of a 16th-centur y drawing, choosing Francesco Primaticcio’s “Hermaphrodite on the Clouds Teaching Cupid to Shoot an Arrow.” After two months, he produced a sketch, an engraved copper plate and then an actual print.

“It was exciting to do something in the style of the 16th cen-

tur y,” he said. “I got to pretend that I was an artist of 500 years ago.”

Rafter y also created nine analytical drawings of different works of art, in which he explored how the many layers worked to create the final result. The pieces, which can also be found on the museum’s Web site, are part of an interactive component meant to visually engage viewers with the engraver’s process.

“This exhibition is a tribute to the artists’ work,” he said.

Trish Dickie, a member of the museum’s security staff, found Rafter y’s talent captivating. “It’s almost as if he were born in those times,” Dickie said. “It’s just beautiful.”

In addition to RISD’s master print collection, Rafter y and Peters got about 14 pieces on loan from the National Gallery, including Claude Mellan’s “Adam and Eve at the Foot of the Cross”— a personal favorite of both organizers.

Mellan “just uses parallel lines continued on page 6

In ‘Tartuffe,’ a fast-paced staging of Moliere

By Kristina Fazzalaro Contributing Writer

“Rockin’ Robin” might not be the expected overture for Moliere’s “Tartuffe,” one of the French dramatist’s most famous comedic plays, but it certainly sets the tone for Sock and Buskin’s modern retelling.

As the rock-and-roll single pumps through the speakers, the main characters of the play bustle about the set, a multi-tiered jungle gym of slamming doors and windows. Wedding bells are clearly in the air as Dorine (Lauren Neal ’11), the family’s maid, scurries about, hanging engagement banners and balloons.

Elsewhere, the two young lovers

Valere and Mariane (Max Posner ’11 and Elizabeth Rothman ’11) hop from window to window, kissing and celebrating euphorically.

Elmire (Elizabeth Morgan ’10), the girl’s stepmother, is busy dealing with her overbearing motherin-law (Jing Xu ’10). Damis (Gabe Gonzalez ’12), the son and heir to the family fortune, holds a baseball bat to a piñata and mischievously runs about the house.

Doors open and close. Figures sprint from one room to another.

Secrets abound. Thus the plot of the first act takes shape — there will be love, action, deception and some bizarre, but vastly entertaining, scenes ahead.

“Tartuffe” tells the tale of the easily duped Orgon (Matt Bauman

’10), a wealthy businessman and proud patriarch to Elmire, Damis and Marianne, the bride-to-be. Orgon has welcomed into his home the conniving Tartuffe (Aubie Merrylees ’10), who claims to be a religious zealot but is actually a con artist manipulating Orgon’s devotion.

He lives in Orgon’s house, eats his food and tries, albeit unsuccessfully, to seduce the beautiful Elmire.

Orgon is blind to Tartuffe’s greed and ambition, going so far as to offer up his daughter’s hand in marriage to the scheming hypocrite. Merrylees puts in a fantastic performance, his sleazy character coming to life as he struts about the stage, confident in his position continued on page 6

Cuba is coming to Providence this week, despite dropping temperatures and changing leaves.

The 17th Annual Providence Latin-American Film Festival begins Wednesday and runs through Sunday. The festival includes a showcase of 67 Latin-American films, four panels to discuss issues addressed in some of the films and a Cuban film poster exhibit at the Watson Institute for International Studies.

The poster exhibit opened on Sept. 16 and will run until October 15 in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month.

Jose Torrealba, the festival’s executive director, said it includes a “huge spectrum of films,” ranging from a 1930 silent film called “La virgen de la Caridad,” (“The Virgin of Charity”) to numerous films released within the last few years.

“A lot of the films are very rare, and some of them have never been shown in the U.S.,” he said.

Each year, organizers choose a specific country to feature in the festival. This year, a majority of the films — which include shorts, animations and documentaries — are from Cuba.

“Choosing a location gives us an opportunity to show classics, and we are not limited by date,” Torrealba said. “The showcase will show how Cuban film developed through time.”

Torrealba said this year happens to be the 50th anniversary of the Instituto Cubano de Arte e Industria Cinematografico, the Cuban Film

Institute.

“It was an interesting and unintended coincidence,” he said.

Nine Cuban artists will come to the festival — with some making their first visit to the United States, Torrealba said. This group includes the showcased actors and directors, who will be available for questionand-answer sessions. Other visiting artists will take part in the four panel discussions.

The festival will also celebrate films from other Latin American countries. These eight films are in the running for the Fernando Birri Award, named after the honorary president of the festival, who Torrealba called the “father of new Latin American cinema.” Every year, the award goes to a new filmmaker for a first feature film.

“The heart of the festival is the annual competition for the best first feature narrative,” Torrealba said.

He praised “Los dioses rotos” (“Broken Gods”), a 2008 Cuban/ Mexican film, which will open the festival. The director, Ernesto Daranas Serrano, and three of the actors in the film, Annia Bu Maure, Claudia Valdes and Hector Noas, will be at the screening and will be available for questions later.

“I’m really excited about the panel discussions,” Torrealba said.

“I think it’s great that we were able to work not only with the students, but with the professors as well.

And having the Cuban visitors is magnificent.”

Torrealba emphasized that though people often think of educontinued on page 6

Page 6

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

A rts & C ulture

“A good film doesn’t end when you leave the screening.”

— Jose Torrealba, director of Providence Latin-American Film Festival

A multi-faceted Moliere on stage at Leeds continued from page 5

in the household.

But there are several problems with Orgon’s plan of pairing his daughter with the aggravating Tartuffe. First of all, Orgon has already promised to let Mariane marry Valere. Secondly, she — like everyone else except Orgon and his mother — despises Tartuffe. Damis is also troubled by this news: If Marianne does not marry Valere, he will not be able to marry Valere’s sister.

Forget about love triangles — this is more like a heptagon.

Amid all this drama, it is Dorine who holds ever ything together — and carries the first act. Neal’s Dorine is packed full of energy and is absolutely hilarious as she tries to get the family out from under Tartuffe’s thumb. Her sharp execution of the script — a contemporary-feeling verse translation — and fluidness on the stage had the audience in hysterics. She tumbles, runs and climbs — all while parrying the obstinate Orgon.

The rest of the cast also puts in energetic and crowd-pleasing performances during the first act. Valere and Marianne are endearing in their stereotypical teenage love affair. As Dorine says, “Lovers tongues are never still.” The two bicker, apologize and kiss like a real couple — and a tech-savvy one at that. Director Mia Rovegno chose to update Moliere’s

1664 play by adding some technology — text messages between the two lovers are displayed on a screen above the stage; Facebook proudly shows Marianne’s relationship status (from “engaged” to “it’s complicated” back to “engaged” as the play progresses); and Valere’s iPod adds an interesting soundtrack to the action.

When “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls comes on as Valere turns his back on Marianne, believing he has lost her to Tartuffe, the audience can’t help laughing at the juxtaposition of old text meeting new tech.

Lee Taglin ’10, as Orgon’s brother-in-law Cleante, brings a more subdued — though equally entertaining — humor to the stage. As the voice of reason, he is often called upon to keep Orgon and Damis, the two hot-heads of the family, in check.

His restrained delivery is paired well with Orgon’s over-the-top antics — wild gestures and extreme facial expressions as excessive as the venti Starbucks cup he always seems to be slurping out of.

Whether out of weaknesses in the performance or short-changing in Moliere’s text, Morgan’s Elmire seems disappointingly halfhearted in a first-act verbal duel with Tartuffe.

This was particularly surprising given Morgan’s stellar performance in the second act, finally debunking Tartuffe and making her husband see the light.

In Rovegno’s production, the

Monday, September 28, 2009

two acts take place in starkly different worlds. After intermission, the household has come completely under Tartuffe’s control as Orgon has disinherited Gonzalez’s irrefutably entertaining Damis after a confrontation with Tartuffe.

The set, previously warm and inviting, is now bleak and bare.

The doors and walls of the house are gone, bright white light illuminates every corner, video cameras record the family’s movements and the family members are forced to wear uniforms. Tartuffe will have no secrets in what is now his household.

The first act’s innocuous scenes of eavesdropping and Facebook-stalking have taken on a sinister character in Tartuffe’s new police state.

Morgan’s Elmire can’t stand this for very long, however. She commands the stage and lets her attitude shine through as she takes the audience on a hilarious thrill ride and Moliere sends even more obstacles for the household to overcome before the lights come up.

With a well-rounded cast, sidesplitting interpretation of the text and creative staging, “Tartuffe” — all about the madness of falling in love, in lust, in debt or insane — is delightful.

“Tartuffe” continues Oct. 1 through Oct. 4 in Leeds Theatre, Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. with a Sunday matinee at 2 p.m.

Rare films on film festival schedule continued from page 5

thing extra that stays with you.”

cational films as boring, the films screened at the festival will be entertaining.

“I don’t think that a film needs to be empty to be entertaining,” Torrealba said. “A good film doesn’t end when you leave the screening. There’s that some-

The screenings of the films and panel discussions will take place in the Rhode Island School of Design Auditorium, MacMillan Hall, List 120 and the Cable Car Cinema.

Detailed information about pricing and scheduling can be viewed at plaff.org.

RISD museum’s engraving exhibit gets rave reviews continued from page 5 that swell and terminate at the end of the figure,” Peters said, adding that Mellan “capitalizes on the optical illusion” that, from far away, lines converge.

“I love this piece,” Rafter y said. “He creates form without using cross-hatching.”

Jordan Geis, who said he was considering applying to RISD’s graduate program, found artists’ dedication to detail and their hard work mesmerizing. Completing a piece could take months, he said, adding, “I don’t think people spend that kind of time on an art work anymore.”

“It seems like a lost art,” Geis said, as he examined the bold and swelling lines that created the face of Hendrick Goltzius in a portrait made by Jan Harmenz Muller. “The detail here is mindblowing.”

Ingrid Mueller, who was at the

museum for the first time, said she didn’t know about the exhibition until she arrived.

Mueller, who explored the interactive demonstration, found the exhibit educational.

“I like the fact that they show us how it’s done,” she said.

For Maureen O’Brien, the museum’s curator of painting and sculpture, the display is “almost like a master class in the histor y of engraving.”

“Run to the RISD Museum — don’t walk,” O’Brien said. “This is a world-class collection and people won’t have another chance like this in their lives.”

The exhibit, which was supported by the International Fine Print Dealers Association, the Foundation of the American Institution for Conser vation of Historic and Artist Works, Tru Vue, Inc. and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, will run until Jan. 3, 2010.

SportsMonday The Brown Daily Herald

Field hockey drops to 0-2 in Ivy League play

By Andrew Braca Spor ts Editor

The field hockey team split a pair of home games last week, beating Sacred Heart, 3-2, on Wednesday before falling to Dartmouth, 8-3, on Saturday on Warner Roof. Bruno’s 3-4 record is its best start since 2006, but 2 SHU the team 3 Brown has star ted 0-2 in Ivy Dartmouth 8 League play 3 Brown for the third straight year.

On Wednesday, Elara Mosquera ’13 scored the first two goals of her collegiate career and added an assist.

In the first half of the Sacred Heart game, the Bears outshot the Pioneers by a 12-1 margin, but the game remained scoreless for 32 minutes. Finally, 2:28 before halftime, Mosquera scored on a penalty corner after receiving a pass from Katie Hyland ’11.

Brown doubled its lead 11:21 into the second frame after another penalty corner. After Hyland’s shot was blocked, Mosquera got the rebound and found tri-captain Michaela Seigo ’10, who beat Sacred Heart goalie Kim Stow high for her first goal of the season.

But the Pioneers, who came into the game with a 1-7 record, refused to go away, cutting the deficit to 2-1 just 3:56 later on a penalty corner

of their own.

With 10:06 left in the game, Sacred Heart took a timeout, but the strategy backfired when Mosquera got the ball on the restart, took it down the field and beat Stow with a shot to the left corner of the cage, scoring what would eventually become the game-winning goal with 9:53 left.

Sacred Heart tacked on a garbage-time goal with 47 seconds left when Stephanie Fazio picked up a loose ball at midfield and took it all the way to the cage, but the Bears held on for the 3-2 win, thanks to three saves by Caroline Washburn ’12.

On Saturday, the Big Green, who entered the game 1-4 overall and 0-1 in the Ivy League, took control in a hurry. Kelly Hood scored the first of her five goals on a penalty corner just 1:39 into the game, and Dartmouth added three more goals over the next 24:25 to take a 4-0 lead.

But the Bears rallied before halftime for a pair of goals to cut the deficit in half. With 7:35 left, Hyland scored on a penalty corner, with the assists going to Leslie Springmeyer ’12 and Seigo. Nineteen seconds before halftime, Springmeyer took a pass from Kit Masini ’12 and beat Dartmouth goalie Meagan Vakiener to give Bruno the momentum going into halftime.

Neither team could find the back of the cage for the first 21

Fourth-quarter rally batted away by Crimson

By Dan Alexander Senior Staf f Writer

A week ago, Drew Plichta ’10 missed an extra point and a last second, 40yard field goal in the football team’s loss to Stony 21 Brown Brook. After 24 Harvard the tough loss, Head Coach Phil Estes said he would give the kicker a chance to “come back.”

But with 4.1 seconds left on the clock Friday night at Har vard Stadium and the Bears down 24-21, Estes didn’t give Plichta a chance to send the game into overtime against the host Crimson. Instead of tr ying a 42-yarder that could have tied the game, Estes chose to go for the end zone.

“That’s a no decision for me,” Estes said. “I don’t have a kicker that can kick the ball that far.”

Estes decided to heave one up for grabs in the end zone, and hope someone from one of the most highly touted receiving corps in the nation could come up with it and win the game for the Bears.

No one did. The pass, intended for Bobby Sewall ’10, was broken up by Harvard’s senior cornerback, Ryan Barnes.

“It was a good thrown ball,” Sewall said. “I thought I was in good position and went up for it … There was a swarm of Crimson there.”

The swarm ended a dramatic, fourth-quarter comeback for the Bears.

Just minutes earlier, the game appeared to be all but over when Harvard receiver Matt Luft caught a touchdown, giving the Crimson a 24-14 lead with 12:43 left in the fourth quarter.

Harvard Head Coach Tim Murphy said with his defense playing well and a two-possession lead in the fourth quarter, he thought the game was decided.

“Your mind naturally goes to the point that, okay, we’re going to get the ball back, kill the clock and the game is over,” he said.

He got the win, but it wasn’t that simple.

With 7:23 left, Brown got the ball at its own 20-yard line, still down 24-14.

Quarterback Kyle Newhall ’11 threw a series of short passes to the center of the field, which advanced the ball to midfield. But with Har vard guarding the sidecontinued on page 8

Monday, September 28, 2009 | Page 7

Jesse Morgan/ Herald

The field hockey team battled hard to finish off non-conference opponent Sacred Heart, but found Ivy League rival Dartmouth too much to handle Saturday on Warner Roof.

minutes of the second half, until Hood scored on Dartmouth’s fourth penalty corner in quick succession after Brown had stopped the previous three. The Big Green tacked on three more goals in the

final eight minutes, while Hyland again scored on a penalty corner with 3:59 left, assisted by Springmeyer and Seigo. Washburn made eight saves in the 8-3 loss.

The Bears will look to bounce

back in three games this week, taking road trips to Fairfield (3-6) on Tuesday and Harvard (3-3, 0-2 Ivy) on Saturday before hosting Vermont (1-8) on Warner Roof on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Page 8

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

S ports Monday

Monday, September 28, 2009

“Our thing is all about balance.”

— Tim Murphy, Harvard head football coach

Crimson too much in co-champs’ rematch continued from page 7 lines, the clock kept running.

“I didn’t have that much time and they weren’t giving us the boundaries,” Estes said. “So, what you’ve got to do is get first downs and stop the clock. And we did that.”

The Bears finally found the sideline on a 14-yard pass to Sewall, stopping the clock at 1:28 with the ball on the Har vard 39.

Six plays later, Sewall found the end zone for the third time on the night. Newhall spotted him on a slant route with single-man coverage and hit him a step over the goal line.

With a little more than 30 seconds left, the Bears lined up for an onside kick. The ball skidded out of the hands of a Har vard player, and a pile of players dove on it. As the officials peeled players off of the pile, the Bears jumped up and motioned that they had the ball.

The Bears set up in a four-wide, shotgun formation on the first play after the onside kick. But seeing nowhere to throw, Newhall stepped up in the pocket and ran 18 yards to Har vard’s 39-yard-line.

A 14-yard pass to Trevan Samp ’10 put the Bears at the Har vard 25.

An incompletion to Sewall in the end zone stopped the clock with 10 seconds left. Newhall looked to Sewall again, though he was heavily covered. Har vard’s Barnes got both hands on the ball, but dropped the interception, giving Brown one more play, with 4.1 seconds left.

Newhall looked to Sewall in the end zone once more, but Barnes made up for his dropped intercep-

tion by batting the ball out of the air to end the game.

The Harvard secondary was under attack all night, as the Bears threw 41 times to 32 rushes. Newhall was 25-of-41 passing with 225 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Estes said Newhall missed some reads and did not play perfectly, but added, “It’s also two weeks in a row that he has given us a chance to win.”

Running back Zach Tronti ’11 had 13 carries for 45 yards. Newhall, the Bears’ leading rusher on the night, had 13 carries for 50 yards.

Har vard went to the air on offense almost as often as Brown.

Quarterback Collier Winters was 18-of-27 passing with 223 yards and two touchdowns. Har vard’s running backs had only 18 carries combined.

“This is not the style that we like,” Murphy said after the game.

“Our thing is all about balance. On the other hand, it’s also about taking what the defense gives you.

And you know, Brown is a team that had nine seniors, three All-Ivy kids up front and we knew it was going to be ver y difficult to run the football.”

The loss puts Brown at 0-1 in the Ivy League with a two-week break until conference play resumes.

Last year, Brown’s 24-22 win over Har vard began the Bears’ 6-1 Ivy campaign that ended with a share of the league championship.

“This one was really special for us after what happened last year when we went down to Brown,” said Har vard safety Collin Zych.

Jonathan Bateman / Herald

Scenes from the Bears’ 24-21 loss to Harvard Friday night in Cambridge, Mass. Above left, wideout Buddy Farnham ’10 is hauled down by a defender. Above right, Andrew Serrano ’10 battles for a jump-ball.

Bottom, running-back Zachary Tronti ’11 picks up a handful of yards with defenders in hot pursuit.

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Editorial & Letters The Brown Daily Herald

Page 10 | Monday, September 28, 2009

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

Students can balance religious and academic obligations To the Editor: Ethan Tobias’ opinion column (“Not just a day off,” Sept. 25) proposes the need for the University to adjust the calendar to accommodate High Holidays for Brown’s beloved Jewish community and prompts my reply.

Herald readers know well that the breadth of identity gathered within the University’s gates does cause a collision of calendars between the University’s schedule and sacred seasons observed by many members of the Brown community. Our range of identity and practice require unusual sensitivity and responsibility by individuals and University policy.

The balancing of these variables is always being accomplished, institutionally and individually.

In the past and going forward, adjustments to the University calendar are very occasionally made.

But routinely, each student is asked proactively to anticipate these conflicts and to make arrangements to reschedule academic obligations

when religious obser vance will prevent participation in the usual timing. Attentive Brunonians will observe this juggling being done on a daily basis by many throughout the academic year — a marvelous confirmation that a respectful and functional community can be created and kept amid a broad diversity of belief and practice.

Should any student need counsel or support in making these arrangements, the Chaplains and Brown’s deans are ready to be of help.

While students may not be able to continue to observe sacred seasons at home, services and celebrations on campus become the sweet proof of the oft-asserted phrase that within Brunonia’s halls we become “family.”

May this new season of Brown’s religious diversity be a joy. We are well underway — Eid Mubarak! Shana Tova! and....

The Reverend Janet M. Cooper-Nelson University Chaplain Sept. 25

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C hris jesu lee

e d i to r i a l

Teaching and tenure Cutting-edge research and first-rate teaching are the foundations of any university. But the two don’t always come together. A brilliant professor is not always a brilliant teacher— the best scholars can leave students confused, frustrated or falling asleep during lectures. Unfortunately, these professors often receive tenure despite their sub-par teaching, and while Brown may add an impressive name to its list of faculty, its commitment to undergraduate education suffers.

In the coming weeks, a University committee will begin examining Brown’s tenure and faculty development policies in response to concerns about the University’s high tenure rate. While the tenure rate isn’t necessarily a cause for concern, we urge members of the committee to take this opportunity to improve the current tenure process with attention to professors’ teaching ability.

Currently, the University evaluates the teaching ability of tenure-track professors by reviewing student course evaluations. But Professor Emeritus of Engineering Barrett Hazeltine, who has been at Brown since 1959, told The Herald last November that these evaluations do not carry much weight in the tenure process.

If Brown is truly committed to excellence in teaching, the University must consider student input when awarding tenure to professors.

Scholarship may drive academic institutions, but ever y university needs strong teaching as well as strong research. As students, we know better than anybody else if a professor is clear, inspiring and provocative, and the University should include our voices in the tenure process.

The current reliance on course evaluations for gathering student input presents a number of problems. First, because evaluations are not mandator y, professors may only receive feedback from students with particularly strong views about a course — be they positive or negative.

Furthermore, many students do not give a lot of thought to the evaluations, and their reviews often correspond to the grading scheme or the course workload rather than the quality of teaching itself.

Instead of using course evaluations, departmental tenure committees should ask students more directly about their professors. To ensure that reviews capture a wide range of student opinions, and not just those on the extreme ends of the spectrum, committees should pick students randomly from professors’ courses. Selected students would be contacted by e-mail and asked to answer a set of questions, such as “How does this professor compare to others in the department?” and “What does this professor bring to the Brown community?”

If students know that their responses are part of a professor’s tenure review process, they will be more likely to take the task seriously. What’s more, they will be able to give some thought to their answers, rather than scribbling down lastminute thoughts at the end of the last class of the semester.

Brown has traditionally been a “universitycollege,” and its current trajector y toward a research institution has raised concerns that expansion will occur at the expense of teaching and student attention. But to truly compete with the top research universities, Brown will need to assemble a faculty that excels both in research and in teaching. Giving students a voice in the tenure process will ensure the University does not lose sight of what really drives Brown: quality classes and a strong commitment to undergraduate education.

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

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Opinions The Brown Daily Herald

Monday, September 28, 2009 | Page 11

International studies at Brown: Things come together Adrienne Langlois Opinions Columnist Books and their authors have defined my life from before I could even speak, though the cast of characters has rotated as I’ve grown.

When I was five, my favorite authors were Robert McCloskey and Kevin Henkes; at 10, I preferred Madeleine L’Engle and Lois Lowry. At 15, however, it was Chinua Achebe who captured my imagination.

I read “Things Fall Apart,” Achebe’s seminal novel, my sophomore year of high school. Though many of the story’s nuances slipped by me, I was captivated and disturbed by the story of how a prominent African leader’s life literally falls apart upon the introduction of Christianity to his village.

The novel’s final scene haunted me long after I closed its pages, though I could not comprehend just how important it would be to my development until much later.

Looking back on the past six years, I can see just how much Achebe’s book affected my life. I’ve spent the past three years at Brown studying colonial and post-colonial societies and countries, from Japan to Egypt to Brazil and everywhere in between, and hope to further my studies after graduation. Needless to say, the fact that the author whose book catalyzed most of my academic decisions will be at Brown next semester is more than a little unbelievable.

Achebe’s appointment as the David and Marianna Fisher University Professor and professor of Africana Studies comes on the heels of other exciting international news at Brown. Last week, the University announced

that Matthew Gutmann, a longtime Brown anthropology professor, was appointed vice president of international affairs. In a press release, Gutmann noted he was “eager to help expand and enrich programs through which the University community engages with the people and nations of the world.”

As Gutmann’s quote indicates, the University’s new internationally focused appointments are not anomalies; indeed, Brown’s efforts have certainly come a long way. The past three years have seen the development of programs in Haitian Creole, Catalan and Persian and not-for-credit classes in Turkish

significant commendation. Yet in spite of the major improvements in Brown’s international studies, significant and surprising gaps remain that desperately need to be filled.

Brown has made great strides in expanding area studies in many regions, but some noticeable exceptions exist. The ever-popular Middle East Studies concentration remains a “program” and not a department and lacks the faculty to keep up with the demand for classes. Even more surprising is the lack of a South or Southeast Asian Studies program; every semester Brown offers a few classes on India in various disciplines,

In spite of the major improvements in Brown’s international studies, significant and surprising gaps remain which desperately need to be filled.

and Swahili, to name a few of the University’s expanded language offerings.

Last fall, the Brown in Cuba program, a unique collaboration with La Casa de las Americas in Havana, allowed a handful of Brown students to study abroad in the fascinating if embargoed country. And this semester, nine African scholars will collaborate on a seminar on African environmental history among other projects as part of the Watson International Scholars of the Environment program.

These are just a few results of the University’s expansion of internationally oriented studies and activities, and they deserve

but few, if any, on the slew of countries in the surrounding region. Few students choose to study abroad in Southeast Asia, and one can’t help but wonder if the lack of interest is due to the inability to sufficiently explore the area in an academic setting at Brown.

Even some of Brown’s relatively wellrounded regional studies need work. The Center for Latin American Studies supports a number of great courses and projects on Brazil, Cuba and Mexico, as well as a number of surveys, but classes are rarely offered on the history and culture of perennial study abroad favorites Argentina, Chile, Peru and Ecuador. Furthermore, few courses are of-

fered on Central America, a region that has been making headlines due to civil unrest in Honduras. Even adding one class on issues in the area would be beneficial to encouraging dialogue about this conflict.

These observations represent just a few of the gaps in Brown’s international studies offerings across the board; every department has its weaknesses as well as its strengths, even if those strengths are constantly growing. Obviously, it’s not possible for Brown to hire several professors in varying disciplines to cover every country around the globe, and the University’s endowment troubles may put significant expansion of these programs on hold.

However, these projects need to be at the top of the list once funds become available. Expanding Brown’s international studies isn’t a matter of upping the University’s prestige or its ranking in the U.S. News and World Report or Princeton Review. Rather, it’s a matter of expanding opportunity for open-minded students eager to broaden their horizons during their academic careers.

If Brown can expand its international studies selection to offer courses in every region around the globe, the University will truly fulfill its goal of an open curriculum and provide students with the option to have their lives changed by the discovery of a strange new land, just as mine once was changed by a very important novel.

Adrienne Langlois ’10, a history and Latin American studies concentrator from Asheville, North Carolina, owes her love of Latin America to Stephanie Merrim and Jim Green.

The Best We’ll Ever Have Anish Mitra Opinions Columnist I know it’s early, but I’m a senior and I want a truly memorable spring weekend. Last year, the Nas concert was filled with energy, but a large portion of Brown students were still simply unfamiliar with the bulk of his discography. I did not attend the Of Montreal concert, but I imagine the hipsters had a blast and are probably looking for something equally or more entertaining for April 2010.

The fact of the matter is, we need an Alist performer. Since my time as a freshman, our headliners have been The Roots, The Flaming Lips, M.I.A., Lupe Fiasco, Nas and Of Montreal. While all of these musicians are talented and entertaining in their own right, none of them was topping charts during the years in which we brought them to Brown.

Not only do we need someone that is currently relevant and making hits, but we need someone young and charismatic. The best part of Spring Weekend is the surrounding energy of the crowd and the overall jovial atmosphere that surfaces once the lights go dim and the performers take the stage.

Further, we should bring in a performer who shares lyrics about experiences that everyday college students can actually identi-

fy with. For example, when Nas started deriding Fox News last year, everybody went wild. We need a young stud that can truly energize our crowd and make this upcoming event one that we won’t forget for years to come.

Lastly, we need somebody with true talent.

Brown is certainly a place of eclectic tastes, and thus, we need a versatile performer that all Brown students can enjoy, regardless of musical preference. I love rap and hip-hop,

at a reasonable price if we act early.

For the unfamiliar, Aubrey “Drake” Graham is an actor turned rapper/R&B singer. He played the character Jimmy on the Canadian television series “Degrassi: The Next Generation” for eight years. After leaving the show, he released three independent mixtapes in an effort to create a buzz.

Last summer, his efforts finally paid off. His smash single, “Best I Ever Had,” peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 charts,

We need a young stud that can truly energize our crowd and make this upcoming event one that we can never forget, for years to come.

but there are times when I prefer something softer, with more melody. Bringing an artist with a variety of styles and musical talent can provide the value of two or more artists for the price of one.

Before the Brown Concert Agency goes on a crazy manhunt for the magical mystery man I have been describing, let me cut to the chase: we need Drake. Not only is he one of the only artists that can fulfill all of the requirements I have described above, but we might have a real chance at getting this guy

and has stayed on the list for 20 weeks. Further, he signed with Young Money Entertainment and currently rolls with Lil Wayne and Birdman, among others.

Drake has shown an undying drive to succeed, which I cannot help but admire. As a matter of fact, he even raps about it in his song “Successful” with popular R&B singer Trey Songz. He is not a 10-year industry veteran that has been doing concerts on a regular basis to the point where he only considers concerts as revenue generators. He

is a new performer tasting the first fruit of super stardom, and I am confident that he will give a stellar, energetic and thoughtful performance.

Drake is “hot” right now, and it is my firm conviction that he will not only remain relevant, but his value will increase exponentially by the time April rolls around. The beauty is, Drake got signed, achieved a number two Billboard hit and has begun doing tours without even releasing an album.

While I admit I have not talked to any representatives from his camp, I truly believe if we lock him down now before he actually releases an album (and thus stamping his transition from an independent artist to a bona fide superstar), we can essentially reap a huge rate of return.

In the same way a forward-looking investor enters a cheap futures contract for goods he knows will be more valuable in the future, we must act quickly and lock Drake in for Spring Weekend before he blows up any further. The fact that he has yet to release an album and the questionable reviews of his BET performance and music videos should be enough ammo to negotiate a reasonably low price for his April arrival. By the time spring rolls around, this investor believes he’ll be the best we’ll ever have.

Anish Mitra ’10 is thinking, “What good is being famous, if I’m never on your mind?”

Today The Brown Daily Herald

5

Engravings at the RISD museum

7

comics

Quinn Savit / Herald

Dot Comic | Eshan Mitra and Brendan Hainline

c a l e n da r tuesday, september 29

11 am — Seasonal Flu Clinics, Jo’s

11 AM — Study Abroad Fair, Lincoln Field

3:30 pm — CSS Seminar with Yongtao Guan, Ph.D., 121 S. Main St. Room 245

7 pm — Guatemala Film Series: “Sipakapa Is Not For Sale,” Joukowsky Forum

Hippomaniac| Mat Becker

menu Sharpe Refectory

Verney-Woolley Dining Hall

Lunch — Gnocchi Alla Sorrentina, Popcorn Chicken, Italian Vegetable Saute, Chocolate Frosted Brownies

Lunch — Fried Clam Roll, Italian Marinated Chicken, Fresh Broccoli

Dinner — Pirate Ship Pork Loin, Brown Rice Garden Casserole, Belgian Carrots, Ambrosia Cake

Dinner — Roasted Honey and Chili Chicken, Fettuccini with Baby Greens, Spicy Cuban Stir Fry, Focaccia with Mixed Herbs

RELEASE DATE– Monday, September 28, 2009

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

ACROSS 1 Disappear gradually 5 Prohibition agent Eliot 9 Vatican-related 14 Like deserts 15 Heavenly bear 16 “__ you clever!”

17 Hobbes, to Calvin 20 Motel restriction 21 T-bone, for one 22 Lock of hair 23 Med. plan choices 25 Opposite of “Huh?” 28 Damascus is its cap.

29 Fashion’s Gucci and actor Ray 31 Nudge rudely 33 Makes a long story short?

34 City leaders 35 Ideal getaway 38 Taken care of 39 “Rich Man, Poor Man” novelist Shaw 40 Give body to, as hair 41 Obvious disdain 42 Meditator’s syllables 45 Calculate sums 46 Coarse file 47 Rub it in 49 Key in the sea 52 Defective, as wiring 53 Armchair quarterback’s hobby 57 Change 58 Summoned the butler 59 Peace Prize winner Wiesel 60 Fair-haired 61 Remain 62 Between-yourtoes grains DOWN 1 Passes out 2 Weapons storehouse 3 Baby seat cover?

4 Pieces jigsaw puzzlers usually start with

5 Convent residents 6 Historical period 7 Kazakhstan, until 1991: Abbr.

8 Assertions 9 Peel, as a rind 10 Opera highlight 11 Game played with a baby 12 “Raggedy” girl 13 Inc., in England 18 Appointmentconfirming words 19 Dix and Knox: Abbr.

23 Set with a sharper picture, briefly 24 Inlaid designs 26 Traffic jam honker 27 “Isn’t that cute!” exclamations 30 Prom car 31 Persistently worrying 32 “__ Eyes”: 1975 Eagles hit 33 Poetic dusks 34 Bryn __ College 35 Heroic exploit

36 Draw inferences from 37 Farm output 38 The bus stops here: Abbr.

41 Mythical man-goats 42 “Va va voom!”

43 Marlee __, Best Actress winner in “Children of a Lesser God”

44 Like fine coifs 46 Notes after dos 48 Garage jobs 50 British machine gun 51 Baker’s fat 52 Stodgy old-timer 53 __ Four: Beatles 54 Every bit 55 Blubber 56 “__ scale of 1 to 10 ...”

Live Longer Now! | Ricker, Seiden, Pruitt et al.

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Pass/Fail| Steve Larrick and Alex Rosenberg

xwordeditor@aol.com

09/28/09

STW | Jingtao Huang

By Fred Jackson III (c)2009 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

09/28/09

75 / 55

67 / 50

Monday, September 28, 2009

Cabernet Voltaire | Abe Pressman

Today, September 28

to m o r r o w

Football topped by Harvard, 24-21

a d ay b y a n y ot h e r n a m e

Reiko Koyama ’11 (left) and Valentino Lombardi (right), a member of the Sons of Italy, debated the legacy of Columbus at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church Sunday.

to day

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