Thursday, October 22, 2009

Daily Herald the Brown

vol. cxliv, no. 90 | Thursday, October 22, 2009 | Serving the community daily since 1891

In boon for pedestrians, Faunce Arch to stay open

By Max Godnick Contributing Writer

Julia Kim / Herald

A Brown-led consortium which includes Hasbro Children’s Hospital has applied for a translational sciences grant.

U. optimistic about major research grant

By Sydney Ember Senior Staff Writer

The University and several affiliated partners submitted a five-year, $20 million grant proposal last week to the National Institutes of Health after more than three years of intensive planning. The grant would establish

a statewide center for connecting cutting-edge medical research with improved patient care.

If the NIH awards the Brownbased consortium one of 60 clinical and translational science award grants — 46 of which have already been doled out — next spring, the University plans to use the funds to

support a slew of educational opportunities, infrastructure expansion and pilot awards, said James Padbury, a professor of pediatrics and the proposal’s principle investigator.

The grant would also create a new Center for Clinical and Translational continued on page 2

Yeasayer to headline BCA Fall Concert Fall Concert to be hosted in RISD auditorium.

Tickets on sale Monday.

By Ben Schreckinger Senior Staf f Writer

inside

Yeasayer, a experimental psychedelic band based in Brooklyn, will headline the Brown Concert Agency’s Fall Concert Nov. 13 at the RISD auditorium. Javelin, the formerly Providence-based electrofunk duo of Tom Van Buskirk ’04 and George Langford, will open.

Tickets go will go on sale Monday, and will cost $7 with a Brown or RISD ID and $15 for the general public. The BCA intends to sell tickets through its Web site, but could not confirm the arrangement by press time, according to Alex Spoto ’11, the agency’s administrative chair.

There have been “rumblings about Yeasayer” in BCA student polling over the past few years, Spoto said. “They’ve always been pretty popular here at Brown,” he said.

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

www.browndailyherald.com

Facilities Management announced Tuesday that plans to close Faunce Arch for construction have been indefinitely postponed. The decision was made late last week due to a “desire to minimize the impact on the campus community,” said Ricky Gresh, senior director for student engagement.

Plans were originally made to close Faunce Arch given the ongoing renovation of Faunce House. “Originally, we wanted to close the arch on Oct. 19 so that we could access the basement of Faunce for things like demolition, excavation and concrete work,” said Paul Dietel, director of project management.

The new plan will not cause any changes in the cost or schedule of the ongoing project. “We felt confident in the revised plan. It was simply a better plan and did not include any additional costs,” Dietel said.

Recognizing that the closing of the arch would be a significant inconvenience for students and faculty, efforts were made to identify an alternative. “We kept talking to

East Side foot chase ends in assault at RISD

G i v e it a b oot

Yeasayer toured internationally with Man Man — part of last year’s Fall Concert lineup — in 2008. The group played at the Bonnaroo music festival this Spring and is scheduled to perform next Friday at the Guggenheim Museum in New York.

“We thought (Javelin) would complement them nicely,” Spoto said. The band — which describes its genre as “oldies, newies” — recently relocated to New York City.

The venue for the show has relocated this year too — Alumnae Hall has hosted it in the past.

“The sound is going to be great” at the RISD auditorium, Spoto said, adding, “It has seats.”

Spoto added he hoped the choice of venues would “bring some more cross-pollination” between the Brown and RISD student bodies.

Students unable to wait for next month’s show can check out the all-Brown bluegrass band Pawtucket Mudd at BCA’s showcase Friday night at 9:45 in the Grad Center Lounge.

the contractor and eventually identified an alternative way to access the basement through a window on Waterman Street,” Dietel said.

The change in plans will allow Facilities to keep the arch open until the end of the semester. From Dec. 23 to late January, the arch will be closed for more construction. “We still have to do significant structural work on the arch,” Dietel said. This structural work would include removing the bricks lining the arch’s walls to allow workers to add new glass walls to the arch’s interior.

Students interviewed by The Herald expressed relief at the decision to keep the arch open.

“This is a great decision. It will allow there to be less congestion, and it won’t confuse students as much while walking around campus,” David Sanz ’13 said.

Facilities does not anticipate additional closures of the arch after late January, Dietel said, but added that the possibility still exists. “Towards the very end (of construction) we may have to close it for a couple of days to put in concrete pavement,” he said. “We don’t anticipate closing it again for more than a day or two.”

By George Miller Metro Editor

Jesse Morgan / Herald David Wells’ ’11 big kick wasn’t enough to save the team from a loss.

See Sports,

page

7

Two Rhode Island School of Design public safety officers were assaulted during a foot chase Tuesday night, according to a police report.

Luis Mendoza, 20, was wanted for breaking and entering when the chase began, according to Providence Police.

The PPD officers who got a call about the chase saw Mendoza running through brush. The pair climbed onto a nearby roof to chase Mendoza into the woods, according to the report.

Police then chased him over a ledge and into a parking lot, where he hid under a car. Mendoza attempted to escape from under the car, but once additional of ficers arrived, he was arrested “after a brief struggle,” the report said.

Mendoza was taken to Rhode Island Hospital for unidentified injuries.

Police charged him with two counts of simple assault, and were informed after the chase that he had allegedly assaulted the RISD officers.

RISD’s Department of Public Safety declined to comment Wednesday.

Arts, 5

Sports, 7

Opinions, 11

Prov wins eco-grant City $1.75 million to improve energy efficiency

End of Streak M. soccer had their first loss in a tough game against Crimson

Look both ways Andrea Matthews ’11 wants you to keep Obama accountable

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

herald@browndailyherald.com

Page 2

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Thursday, October 22, 2009

C ampus N EWS

Consortium proposes new research center continued from page 1 Sciences, an academic consortium including area hospitals and the University of Rhode Island.

Translational science, Padbury said, is “accelerating the base of impact of basic insights into clinical advancements.” By enabling physicians to apply advancements in laboratory research to a patient’s bedside more effectively, the emerging field facilitates faster diagnosis and treatment for patients, he said.

In addition to Brown professors and researchers, the Center will involve clinical faculty in area hospitals including the Lifespan hospital partners — such as Rhode Island Hospital, Hasbro Children’s Hospital and Miriam Hospital.

The Department of Veterans Affairs, which operates the VA Medical Center in Providence, is also engaged in the effort, as is corporate partner IBM. Padbury said the consortium is exploring “computer approaches to handle large data sets.”

Along with the hospitals and URI, the Rhode Island State Department of Health, the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass. and the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation also joined in the proposal effort.

With future funding, Padbury said, the University has plans to offer two new academic tracks in translational science for master’s and Ph.D. programs. The University already offers a master’s degree in public health, but Padbury said professors in the Program in Public Health have proposed the new Master of Science track and plan to propose the Ph.D. program in conjunction with the

graduate school if the University receives the spring award.

The grant will not only provide funding to support programs, but will also generate jobs through new scientific opportunities, dovetailing with the University’s desire to foster a “knowledge-based economy” across the state, Padbury said. 80 percent of the grant would go toward supporting personnel involved in research and patient care, he added.

Though Brown is competing with institutions nationwide, Padbury said he is confident the University will ultimately win the NIH award given the three-year effort to secure the top grant.

“There’s been great energy, great participation, great enthusiasm,” Padbury said about the collaborative efforts in securing the grant. “We’re going to get it.”

Long in the works Though the University submitted the official grant proposal last week, the bid has been in the works since September 2006, when the NIH awarded a $150,000 CTSA Planning Grant to Brown.

With the funds from the planning grant, the University created a virtual center for clinical and translational sciences, which was a prerequisite to apply for the larger NIH grant — “the catalyst and the academic home” for the award, according to the 537-page grant proposal.

“The past couple of years have been strategic,” said Courtney Henderson, the CTSA planning grant manager. “This process has really been a catalyst for collaboration.”

The past three years have been spent on “capacity building,” Hen-

sudoku

“We do have this culture of collaboration throughout Rhode Island, and we’ve been able to leverage that to submit awards.”

Courtney Henderson CTSA planning grant manager

derson said, a process involving identification of different departments’ needs through surveys and various assessments. The University also launched an eight-week summer course on translational science for postdoctoral researchers and graduate students in the public health program, she said.

Using the center as its conceptual hub, Brown offered symposia on issues related to the research field’s methodology and created statewide scientific collaboratives, interdisciplinary think tanks that help “crossfertilize” research from affiliated institutions, Henderson said.

“It’s a connecting point between the different types of research,” Henderson said. “We do have this culture of collaboration throughout Rhode Island, and we’ve been able to leverage that to submit awards.”

The planning grant — and the subsequently created fundamental collaborative concept — helped the University promote statewide communication between research institutions and develop solutions to break down administrative obstacles preventing effective communication, said Professor of Medicine Timothy

Julia Kim / Herald

Rhode Island Hospital is among the local institutions joining Brown in applying for a grant to establish a statewide translational sciences center.

Flanigan, who spearheaded the effort for the original grant and helped Padbury write the recent grant proposal.

Funds from the planning grant, he said, were also used to train University-based researchers to handle administrative tasks such as submitting projects to the institutional review boards at area hospitals for approval

and issuing budget requests and subcontracts.

If the University receives the second award, Flanigan said, Brown would build a physical space whose plans originally called for its administrative home to be located in Arnold Laboratory. “There is commitment for a dedicated space,” Flanigan said.

Women in the sciences still struggle, Hopkins says

By Alicia Chen Staf f Writer

Daily Herald the Brown

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

Jonathan Spector, Treasurer Alexander Hughes, Secretary

The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is an independent newspaper serving the Brown University community daily since 1891. It is published Monday through Friday during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement, once during Orientation and once in July by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Single copy free for each member of the community.

POSTMASTER please send corrections to P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI 02906. Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Offices are located at 195 Angell St., Providence, R.I. E-mail herald@browndailyherald.com.

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

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

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

How far have women come in the sciences? Far, but not enough, Nancy Hopkins, professor of biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told a mostly female audience in a lecture last night.

Hopkins discussed how the position of women in scientific disciplines has changed in her lecture at Sidney Frank Hall titled “Mirages of Equality: Progress of Women in Science at MIT, 19712001.”

“Change does not happen with time alone,” she said, emphasizing that people must work actively to solve these issues of discrimination.

Hopkins combined institutional data about MIT with personal anecdotes to illustrate her point.

Since the 1970s, when MIT dramatically increased its number of undergraduates and faculty, there have been four main barriers to gender equity in the sciences, Hopkins said.

The first barrier was sexual harassment. When she was a young scientist working in James Watson’s lab, Hopkins said, Watson’s co-discoverer of the structure of

Nick Sinnott-Armstrong / Herald

Nancy Hopkins, a professor at MIT, spoke about gender bias in science.

DNA, Francis Crick, came over to her and put his hands on her breasts when she was looking at her lab notebook.

A lack of support has also allowed some young female scientists to fall through the cracks, Hopkins said, though formal mentoring programs have helped.

Other barriers are more difficult to surmount, Hopkins said. The seemingly mandator y choice for women between family and work has been a particularly thorny issue.

“I assumed women simply chose to be mothers and as such

couldn’t be scientists,” she said.

After Hopkins got divorced in her thirties she “decided not to remarr y, not to have children, and to be a scientist,” she said — a decision facing many women pursuing tenure positions at research universities.

Gender bias leads women to be marginalized and under valued, Hopkins said.

“We have stereotypes of men and women and these stereotypes tend to slightly overvalue men and under value women,” Hopkins continued on page 4

Thursday, October 22, 2009

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Page 3

C ampus N EWS

e v er y b od y now, y eaaaah

iPod stolen from sleeping student’s desk Thousands in cash and clothes nabbed as well The following summary includes all major incidents reported to the Department of Public Safety between Oct. 2 and Oct. 7. It does not include general service and alarm calls. The Providence Police Department also

CRIME LOG responds to incidents occurring of f campus. DPS does not divulge information on cases that are currently under investigation by the department, PPD or the Of fice of Student Life. DPS maintains a daily log of all shift activity and general service calls which can be viewed during business hours at its headquarters, located at 75 Charlesfield St.

Nick Sinnott-Armstrong / Herald

Students distribute buttons and gifts for Love Your Body Day on the Main Green, the first event of W Week.

First Category S group approved

By Kyla Wilkes Senior Staf f Writer

The Undergraduate Council of Students approved the first Category S student group to cheers and applause at their general body meeting Wednesday night.

The Brown branch of Nourish International, a nonprofit organization that partners with nongovernmental organizations abroad on sustainable development projects, was initially denied student categorization because its funds are spent on off-campus activities. It is now officially the first group under the new S categorization, which allows Nourish to take advantage of structural services within the Student Activities Office such as free copying and an SAO mail box. Nourish was approved by the general UCS board with no discussion or dissent.

The UCS communications committee announced that the Brown student body would be receiving UCS’s final yearly agenda in their

mailboxes today. At the top of the agenda are UCS’s response to the Organizational Review Committee, the University’s identification of budget cut strategies and the New England Association of Schools and Colleges’ final report commenting on Brown’s status as a universitycollege.

Melea Atkins ’10, UCS Corporation liaison, reported on the Corporation’s latest meeting. Among other things, the Corporation approved the plan to build the new swim center and discussed the main budget approval that will occur in February, Atkins said.

Student Activities Chair Brady Wyrtzen ’11 announced that the student activities fee will be finalized at next week’s meeting. UCS members will discuss the size of the charge and send a final suggestion to the University Resources Committee. The URC will make a formal recommendation to the Corporation, which will ultimately set the new fee.

The student group Yoga and Mindfulness moved up from Category II to Category III and Capoeira, an Afrobrazilian martial arts club, moved from Category I to Category II at the meeting.

UCS President Clay Wertheimer ’10 closed the meeting with a discussion of plans to create an endowment for student activities. Wertheimer said the goal is to jump-start the endowment by raising $100,000 by the end of this year and eventually building the endowment to $16 million. That figure would allow the University to fund student activities solely through the endowment and to eliminate the student activities fee portion of tuition.

Wertheimer also said that a presentation on the Providence tax on students by Director of State and Community Relations Albert Dahlberg and Vice President of Public Affairs and University Relations Marisa Quinn, which was scheduled for last night’s meeting, is rescheduled for Nov. 4.

Oct. 2 12:29 p.m. Student repor ted that sometime between 7 p.m. and 7:10 p.m. on Sept. 28, persons unknown took her wallet. The wallet contained her Brown ID and cash. She reported that she had been studying and that some of her friends had come into the Morriss Hall lounge. She took her phone and went to the other side of the lounge for about 10 minutes. She reported that she could see her study area and did periodically look over. When she returned, her wallet and its contents were gone.

She reported that she had not seen anyone near her belongings.

5:25 p.m. A Dining Ser vices employee reported that sometime between the hours of 11:30 p.m. continued on page 4

Page 4

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Thursday, October 22, 2009

C ampus N EWS

nightmare on hope street

Hopkins: Sciences still struggle with gender bias continued from page 2

Kim Perley / Herald

King House’s wall got into the Halloween spirit early on Wednesday.

said.

Recognizing that a gender bias existed was difficult for her, Hopkins said. Though she often saw her male counterpar ts of fered greater oppor tunities, Hopkins said, at first she did not attribute the dif ferences to their gender.

The breaking point came when she asked for 200 square feet more of lab space and the male administrator in charge asked her, “Could you run a large laborator y?”

She channeled her anger from that experience into productive action — including writing a report about women in the sciences at MIT, establishing gender equity boards at each of the five schools at MIT and creating a uniform family policy.

However, it is dif ficult to get

rid of the underlying gender bias against women because it is deeply embedded in our culture, Hopkins said.

As an example to illustrate the challenges women still face, Hopkins discussed the negative backlash she faced from prominent Har vard professors like Steven Pinker when she walked out during then-Har vard President Lawrence Summer’s 2005 comments about women not being equal to men in scientific ability.

To a question raised by an audience member about who should be leading the charge for gender equity, Hopkins answered that “older women should do it for younger women,” and mar veled at the lack of greater outcr y by tenured women faculty members at major research institutions.

“It’s really important for women to tell their stories,” she said.

Clothes, cash, iPod among stolen items continued from page 3 on Oct. 1 and 12 a.m. on Oct. 2 someone took a skateboard that was located on a raffle table next to the beverage coolers at Josiah’s.

Oct. 4 3:55 p.m. An employee at the Sharpe Refector y stated that he left $450 in cash in the pocket of his shorts and left the shorts draped over a chair in the men’s locker room. The shorts were left unattended for his entire shift.

The men’s room has a locked door at the entrance. However, many employees have keys. The case is under investigation by Brown detectives.

10:02 p.m. Student reported she had six pieces of clothing, valued at $590, stolen from a laundr y room in Sears House.

Oct. 5 3 p.m. A student stated that at approximately 3 p.m. he was on the 11th floor of the Sciences Librar y at a desk when he fell asleep. He reported he left his iPod on the desk in front of him and when he woke up at approximately 6:20 p.m. it was missing.

What’s going on today?

Find out at browndailyherald.com/flyerboard

Metro The Brown Daily Herald

“This extra funding through the Recovery Act is welcome news for many families.”

— Gov. Donald Carcieri ’65

Thursday, October 22, 2009 | Page 5

Stimulus funds energy efficiency campaign

By Alex Bell Staf f Writer

Providence will receive a federal stimulus grant of more than $1.75 million to improve energy efficiency in residential and municipal buildings, the of fice of Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., announced Oct. 15.

According to the city’s grant application, the city will use the money to reduce fossil fuel emissions and total energy use and to improve energy ef ficiency in transportation, building and other sectors.

The grant will establish a revolving loan fund for a residential building energy retrofit program, according to the application. Energy ef ficiency projects in the city will be granted loans from the fund, and as repayments are made, loans will become available for other sites. The fund will thus ideally replenish itself as money for loans “revolves” around contractors in the community.

According to Reed’s of fice, Providence will be held accountable by such measures as reporting on the number of jobs created or retained, energy saved, renewable energy capacity installed and greenhouse gas emissions reduced.

“Upgrading homes and buildings in Providence will help cut taxpayers’ energy bills and make our communities more energy efficient,” said Reed, a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, in the Oct. 15 press

read share ponder recycle

release. “This is a flexible source of funding that will put people to work, bolster the local economy and help protect our environment.”

The grant to Providence is administered by the U.S. Department of Energy under its Energy Ef ficiency and Conser vation Block Grant Program, created under the American Recover y and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The program provides funds to municipal, state and other governmental agencies “to develop and implement projects to improve energy efficiency and reduce energy use and fossil fuel emissions in their communities,” according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Web site. One of the main goals of the program is the “creation of long-term funding mechanisms to extend the impact of (stimulus) funds, such as revolving loan funds.”

The state of Rhode Island has also procured about $20 million in stimulus aid for energy retrofitting programs administered by the state, according to a press release from the office of Gov. Donald Carcieri ’65.

“With this winter expected to be colder than normal, this extra funding through the Recover y Act is welcome news for many families,” Carcieri said in the statement. “This program, however, is about more than helping families. It is also about getting people back to work, especially licensed contractors who have struggled since the decline of the housing market.”

Nick Sinnott-Armstrong / Herald

The neighborhood plan approved Tuesday will govern development of Wayland, College Hill and Fox Point.

Commission approves neighborhood plan

By George Miller Metro Editor

After months of public comment, the City Plan Commission adopted a neighborhood plan for College Hill, Fox Point and Wayland Tuesday night over objections to some proposals regarding the waterfront.

The plan’s recommendations will

now be incorporated into the Comprehensive Plan, a long-term guide for the city’s development under Mayor David Cicilline’s ’83 Providence Tomorrow initiative.

As throughout the planning process — which began over a year ago with a series of intensive neighborhood meetings — the most contentious issue was the fate of

the property formerly housing the Shooters nightclub. Community members hoped for guarantees of public use on the property, which borders Providence Harbor.

The plan as adopted does not call for a change to that property’s zoning, which is currently classified as continued on page 6

Page 6

M etro

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

New plan to set neighborhood development continued from page 5 mixed-use. Daisy Schnepel, president of the Fox Point Neighborhood Association, expressed concern that condominiums could be built on the site. The zoning would allow a building of up to eight stories.

Schnepel said local residents wanted a “waterfront destination” at the site, such as a multimodal transportation hub, restaurant or tourist center. Bonnie Nickerson, director of long-term planning for the city, said the current zoning would allow such uses. The plan offers incentives for developers to include public meeting spaces and a public marina.

Though the Commission made a

number of changes at the request of community members, Schnepel said she wanted it to hold off on adopting the plan until another plan concerning all the city’s waterfront could be discussed.

The city’s goal is for continuous public access to the waterfront and an uninterrupted 25-foot “greenway” along it, Nickerson said.

The Shooters property is just one of dozens of parcels of land soon to be sold by the state after the relocation of the interstate clears up the land.

Other changes to the plan include the removal of language that would have limited institutional buildings, including Brown’s, to four stories, within a certain distance of

residences. Nickerson said that the restriction was too broad and will be “fine-tuned.”

Also removed from the adopted plan was language that would have allowed businesses on South Main Street to remain open later at night.

Earlier in Tuesday’s meeting the Commission adopted the plan for Hope, Mount Hope and Blackstone neighborhoods, leaving five more neighborhood plans, the waterfront plan and downtown plan to be finalized. Robert Azar, director of current planning, said the commission would like to adopt the remainder by early next year. The updated Comprehensive Plan would then need to be approved by the City Council.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

metro in brief

House to revise legislation next week Members of the Rhode Island House of Representatives can expect to deal with unfinished business — including a change to prostitution law — when they meet for a special session next week. The House will also hold talks on the economy before next year’s session, Speaker William Murphy, D-Dist. 26, wrote in a letter to representatives Monday.

Noting that a fall meeting is unusual for the body, Murphy wrote that the session was necessary due to the “dire fiscal situation” in the state. Both houses of the General Assembly will reconvene Oct. 28 and 29 for the first time since June’s recess and the last time before next year’s session starts.

The chamber will address laws on prostitution and driving while texting or under the influence, Murphy wrote, adding that he believes the measures can be passed during the short session. The prostitution legislation would close a loophole in state law that effectively allows prostitution as long as it occurs indoors.

The House will also address bills important to some local communities, Murphy wrote, though he did not provide any specifics.

Murphy also announced a Democratic caucus in November to create a plan for addressing the budget as well as an economic forum for all members in December.

Thanks for reading.

See you tomorrow.

— George Miller

SportsThursday The Brown Daily Herald

W. soccer 1 for 3 on the road

By Tony Bakshi Contributing Writer

Harvard 1, Brown 0 (OT) The Bears looked to carry over that goal-scoring knack into a key Ivy League match against Harvard on

The No. 18 men’s soccer team (7-15, 2-1-0 Ivy) faced its toughest road stretch of the season, when it fell just short, 0 Brown 1-0 to No. 1 Harvard 11 Harvard (10-2-1, 2-0-1 Ivy) and notched a 1-1 tie with St. John’s (4-2-8).

Jesse Morgan / Herald

Eliza Marshall ’13, a fresh face on the women’s soccer team, leans into a kick during one of the Bears’ matches.

Saturday. Although the team did get some quality chances, they could not capitalize, and ultimately fell to the Crimson, 1-0, in overtime.

Following an evenly matched first half, in which each team collected six shots, the Bears began to pick up their offensive attack. They came within inches of scoring a goal in the 70th minute, as midfielder Gina Walker ’11 clanged a shot off the crossbar.

In the second minute of overtime, the goalposts stood in the way of a Brown victory once again. Lesbirel struck a rising, powerful shot from

30 yards out, and Crimson goalkeeper Lauren Mann could only get her fingertips on it. That was enough, though, as the ball careened off the crossbar again, spoiling Bruno’s efforts.

Under one minute later, Harvard forward Katherine Sheeleigh ended the affair, as she put away the game winner off a corner kick. The Bears were forced to watch their second straight Ivy League opponent celebrate an overtime win. continued on page 8

Volleyball trip to Big Apple doesn’t yield big results

By Elisabeth Avallone Sports Staff Writer

The volleyball team’s trip to New York this weekend proved disappointing, as the Bears fell to both Columbia and Cornell. After the weekend, the Bears dropped to 4-12 this season and 0-5 in the Ivy League.

“It was really disappointing to lose on the road after traveling all the way to New York, but we definitely had times where we reached our full potential,” said Brianna Williamson ’11.

Although the scoreboard may have said otherwise, the Bears had some of their best personal performances this season.

“Moira Gallagher (’10) and Katrina Post (’13) were two of the girls who really stepped up,” Williamson said. “They both had an unbelievable match against Cornell, and that was really inspiring to watch.” Co-captain Gallagher and Post both earned a season-high in kills, notching 12 and nine kills, respectively.

The Bears took a 1-0 lead against the Lions Friday night, with a 25-23

M. soccer loses first of season against Harvard

By Katie Wood Assistant Sports Editor

The women’s soccer team (4-7-1, 1-30 Ivy League) continued its 3 Brown 2 URI road trip this week, picking up one victory 0 Brown in three close 1 Harvard matches.

Brown 3, URI 2 The Bears found their scoring touch against in-state rival URI last Wednesday, tallying a season-high three goals at the URI Soccer Complex. The team jumped out to 1-0 and 2-1 leads, but the Rams persistently fought back to knot up the score. Marybeth Lesbirel ’12 and Melissa Kim ’10 each tallied a goal and an assist, with Lesbirel putting the Bears up in the 16th minute and Kim striking the ball into the net 11 minutes after the restart.

With the game tied 2-2 in the closing minutes, though, it was up to a familiar face to pull out the victory for Bruno. Joyce Chun ’11 scored her third game-winner of the season, again in dramatic fashion. She found herself one-on-one against Rams goalie in the 89th minute, and calmly deposited the ball into the back of the net, giving the Bears their fourth victory of the season.

Head Coach Phil Pincince praised Chun’s recent goal-scoring streak.

“It was a great goal,” Pincince said.

“She’s been on the mark, and has done some nice goal-scoring for us.”

Thursday, October 22, 2009 | Page 7

win in the first set. But Columbia quickly retaliated, taking the next three sets, 25-21, 21-15 and 21-17, for a 3-1 victory. Columbia advances to 11-7 on the season and 2-3 in the Ivy League.

Williamson led Brown’s attack with a team-high 12 kills, as well as nine digs and two assists. Brown’s defense was particularly strong against the Lions, as Carly Cotton ’13 anchored the team with 18 digs.

Christina Berry ’13 totaled 14 digs, in addition to her seven kills and a block assist. Kim Bundick ’10 added 13 more digs.

After a long drive, the Bears took on Cornell the following afternoon.

The Big Red took an early 1-0 lead with a 25-16 decision in the first set, and a much closer 25-21 win in the second. Gaining momentum with each set, the Bears capitalized on a 16-10 lead in the third set for a 2517 win. The third set would prove to be their best of the weekend, as again their efforts in the fourth set fell short. The Big Red finished the fourth with a 25-23 decision, and a 3-1 final for the match. Cornell improves

Herald File Photo

to 6-11 on the season and 3-2 in the Ivy League.

“We have more things to work on, but if we can play the way we did the third set of Cornell we’ll really excel as a team,” Williamson said.

Gallagher stepped up to record a season-high 12 kills and seven digs.

Post, with nine kills and 11 digs, had her strongest game of the season.

Cotton continued to hold down the Bears’ defense with a team-high 25 digs, and Spencer McAndrews ’12 recorded 37 assists.

The Bears are back at home this weekend, as they take on Harvard Friday night at 7 p.m., and Dartmouth Saturday at 4 p.m. in the Pizzitola Center.

Harvard 1, Brown 0 Heading into the game against Brown, Harvard had stumbled, 4-0, at No. 10 Connecticut, barely pulled out a double overtime win over Yale in its opening Ivy League game and notched a tie against Cornell in its second conference match.

Brown had claimed its previous three games over Columbia, Princeton and Rutgers heading into its third League game of the season.

“We weren’t 100 percent tuned in at the beginning of the game,” said Mike Manella ’12. “We lacked focus and intensity. We were prepared tactically, but not emotionally.”

The Bears started off the game with a valuable scoring chance, as TJ Thompson ’10 narrowly missed a goal from just outside the box that almost went under the hands of Austin Harms.

Both teams played evenly throughout the first half, as the Bears went into the locker room tied 0-0.

Harvard’s production on the night came from the center backs booting balls up the field over the Brown defenders’ heads. In the opening minutes of the second half,

the Crimson’s game plan set up a perfect scoring opportunity.

“We did an exercise the day before focusing on this specific thing,” Manella said. “We knew what to look for, but had one defensive lapse.”

The ball was sent to midfield and the Bears lost possession. Harvard kicked it over the top of the defenders. The defense could not remain in its tight formation and Brian Rogers tapped a shot at the goal. The ball bounced back out to All-American Andre Akpan. Akpan took the ball one-on-one against Evan Coleman ’12. Coleman unfortunately blocked the view of Paul Grandstrand ’11, so he couldn’t get a good angle on Akpan’s shot that reached the back of the net at 47:49 to take the 1-0 lead.

Akpan scored his eighth goal of the season for the Crimson.

In the 55th minute, Harvard’s Baba Omosegbon received a red card that led to a one-man advantage for Brown in the final 35 minutes of play. Grandstrand immediately picked up a weak cross and fell on the ball. Omosegbon then flew into Grandstrand feet first, resulting in the red card.

“We picked up the pace of the game and wanted to get that goal back quicker after Paul was hit,” Manella said. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t put anything together.”

The Bears failed to tally a goal with the advantage and fell for the first time this season. Grandstrand (6-1-5) recorded four saves on the night for the Bears. Sean Rosa ’12 led the Bears offensively with four shots, three of which came on goal. continued on page 8

Page 8

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

S ports W eekend

Cross Country travels to Indiana

By Fred Milgrim Contributing Writer

The men’s and women’s cross countr y squads traveled to Indiana last weekend to compete in the 2009 Indiana State University Pre-National Invitational. Both teams showed strength in a large field of schools from across the countr y.

In the Men’s 8,000 Meter Blue Race, Brown finished 20th in the team standings out of a field of 34 with a total of 486 points. The women claimed 21st out of 37 with 571 points in the 6,000 Meter White Race.

Christian Escareno ’10, who led the men with a 28th place finish and a time of 24:24.0, was the only runner who had run the Indiana course before as a freshman.

“The course was wet, muddy and slow and the weather was in the chilly 40s, but all these things didn’t stop us from running fast times and learning how to race on the national course,” Escareno wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.

It was a good learning experi-

ence for the team, which competed against the top-ranked programs in the nation. Escareno added that the meet “was definitely a step in the right direction before our conference championships.” The team looks for ward to being fresh and ready for their upcoming races.

Ari Garber ’12, who led the Brown women in 49th place with a time of 21:39.1, echoed some of the same sentiments.

“This meet gave us confidence going into championship season,” Garber said. The women are also looking for ward to being healthy for their conference meet next weekend and Heptagonals the following, she said.

Some girls are recovering from illnesses. “We know that when we’re rested we will be able to take on some of the teams that beat us,” Garber said.

Ariel Wright ’10, who came in after Garber with a time of 22:00.3, said that their performance was a good opportunity to run with some of the elite teams.

“Running against some of the best teams in the countr y set a precedent for the future of our

program, and showed us what we need to do to get to where we want to be,” she said.

Men’s captain Duriel Hardy ’10 finished in 44th (24:39.1) and John Loeser ’10 rounded out the top three Bears with a time of 25:23.2.

Also running for the Bears were Matt Duf fy ’12 (25:28.0), John Haenle ’11 (26:00.3), Colin Brett ’10 (26:06.1) and Brian Schilder ’10 (26:28.4). The men bested Harvard on the day by 93 points.

“Our team looks really strong and I know we are going to continue to improve over the rest of the season,” Hardy wrote in a text message to The Herald. “We are looking to finish at the top of our league and region and I think we can do it.”

The women had strong performances from Kesley Ramsey ’11 (22:22.2), Herald Staff Writer Lauren Pischel ’11 (22:42.0), Erica Hines ’13 (22:47.0), Rachel Baker ’12 (23:21) and Michaeline Nelson ’11 (23:42.4). The Bears bested 16 other teams on the day.

Both the men and the women will be back in action on Saturday at the Central Connecticut State Invitational.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

“Bouncing back... has always been one of our strengths.” — Mike Manella ’12 on men’s soccer.

Road play ends in a draw for w. soccer continued from page 7 Despite the disappointing loss, Pincince felt that the final score did not reflect his team’s performance on the field.

“I thought we played very, very well. We followed the game plan, and I’m pleased with the individual and team performance,” he said. “In the hunt for the (Ivy) Championship, we need to find a way to win those games.”

Brown 2, Holy Cross 2 (2OT) The Bears’ road trip continued at Holy Cross on Tuesday night, as Brown let a 2-0 lead slip away at the Linda Johnson Smith Soccer Stadium.

After another scoreless opening 45 minutes, the Bears got on the board twice in the second half. Sarah Herbert-Seropian ’12 opened the scoring

in the 55th minute, as she headed a ball into the net off assists from Carly Ruiz ’12 and Walker. Team goal-scoring leader Chun headed a second ball past Holy Cross goalie Jessica Stone 14 minutes later, off another corner kick from Walker.

The Bears seemed poised and on their way to victory, but the Crusaders would not go down that easily. A penalty shot goal by senior Shelby Stand shifted the momentum in the 80th minute, and Stand’s teammate Liz Early notched the equalizer just five minutes later, pouncing on a loose ball and beating Bears goalie Steffi Yellin ’10. In the two overtime periods, Bruno outshot the Crusaders 4-1, but could not beat Stone for a third time.

The Bears wrap up their four-game road trip Sunday at Cornell, before returning home for a Halloween day matchup against the Penn Quakers.

M. soccer ties a hot St. John’s on the road continued from page 7

Manella also strung together two shots to pace the offense.

Brown 1, St. John’s 1 (2OT) Brown practiced two days before traveling to New York to take on St. John’s on Tuesday night. St. John’s had just come off a thrilling 3-2 overtime win against No. 8 Louisville on Saturday. Despite St. John’s four wins on the season, their eight ties tell a greater story of the level of play the team is capable of, Grandstrand said.

“St. John’s tries to win the ball in their attacking third,” he said. “It’s important that our forwards get through their initial pressure and that we play the game on their half of the field as much as possible.”

Nelson Becerra kept an offensive mindset throughout the game, as he created several scoring chances for the Red Storm in the 17th and 31st minutes. Grandstrand stood his ground and came up with the saves, as he played a vital role in keeping the game close throughout.

In the 36th minute, Nick ElenzMartin ’10 picked put up a loose ball off of a St. John’s defender and nailed a shot to the back of the net from five yards out. Elenz-Martin now leads the club with five goals scored this season.

A corner kick in the 40th minute fell short of a goal for the Red Storm, as the defense cleared out the ball.

The Bears maintained control of possession in the closing minutes and headed into the half with a 1-0 lead.

Thompson once again came out of the gate with a great shot on goal in the 47th minute that was saved by goalkeeper Derby Carrillo.

Becerra lined up for a free kick in the 55th minute that Grandstrand read perfectly, coming away with a great save to preserve the 1-0 lead.

The Red Storm tallied two consecutive corner kicks just five minutes later,

the second one leading to a hand ball called in the box on Brown that led to a Becerra penalty kick. He sent the ball right inside the left post, tying the game up at 1-1.

“Bouncing back — at least for this team — has always been one of our strengths,” Manella said. “We just needed to prove that after being up one goal, we could finish the game strong.”

But neither team could capitalize on scoring opportunities, forcing the game to go into overtime.

Brown’s ideal scoring chance came in the 97th minute after a Red Storm foul. Co-captain David Walls ’11 took the kick from 20 yards out, but it took an unlucky bounce off the crossbar.

Tadeu Terra put together a nice shot attempt in the 105th minute, but could not rally his team to victory like he had in St. John’s previous overtime game against Louisville. The game ended in a 1-1 tie after 110 minutes of play, the fifth tie for the Bears this season.

“After the loss against Harvard, we had to decide what our motivation was going to be for this game,” Grandstrand said. “We’re not looking at the past but looking at how we can grow and get better. We want to improve our performance and prove that we can bounce back.”

No. 15 Dartmouth leads the Ivy League with three wins and no losses and Harvard trails just behind the Big Green with two wins and one tie. Brown is currently in third place and will be another contender in the three-horse race for the Ivy League championship this season.

The Bears travel to Cornell (5-4-4, Ivy 0-1-2) on Saturday in their fourth Ivy League match of the year before returning home to take on Penn on November 1.

“Our focus is to win the Ivy League in order to get the automatic NCAA bid,” Manella said. “If we go out there with the right intensity and attitude, I think we’ll be fine.”

World & Nation The Brown Daily Herald

Deal close to transfer Iran’s nuclear material

By Borzou Daragahi Los Angeles T imes

Deft diplomacy and regional security woes are driving Iran and the United States toward a deal on Iran’s nuclear program, experts say, illustrated by movement Wednesday in talks to transfer most of the Islamic Republic’s fissile material abroad to be processed for medical uses.

Iranian, American, Russian and French diplomats agreed to a proposal by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, for most of Iran’s stockpile of nuclear material to be sent to Russia and France for further processing for an Iranian medical reactor.

The deal, which must be signed

by Friday, could fall apart if one party refuses to sign or insists on late tinkering.

Modest in scope, it fails to address many of the West’s suspicions about Iran’s nuclear program, including its continued production of enriched uranium in defiance of the U.N. Security Council, the discovery of documents that purport to show Iran engaged in experiments consistent with a clandestine atomic weapons program or the recently revealed secret enrichment facility at a Revolutionary Guard base near Qom. It also does not address the possibility that Iran has built a secret parallel program not subject to international scrutiny.

But the proposal would buy the U.S. and its allies a year’s time by reducing Iran’s stockpile below the threshold necessary to produce a nuclear bomb. It also allows Iran to retain its coveted ability to enrich uranium while building in safeguards that the material would not be diverted to produce weapons.

“Everybody who participated at the meeting was trying to help, trying to look to the future and not to the past, trying to heal the wounds that existed for many, many years,” IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei told reporters in Vienna. “I very much hope that people see the big picture, see that this agreement could open the way for a complete normalization of relations between Iran and the international community.”

U.S. officials view the draft agreement as a “very positive step,” said Ian C. Kelly, a State Department spokesman. But he added that the administration is circulating it widely within the government to make sure there are no objections.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in a speech in Washington, said the U.S. is open to better relations with Iran but that the Obama administration will not wait forever.

“We are not prepared to talk just for the sake of talking,” she said. “We appear to have made a constructive beginning. But that needs to be followed up by constructive actions.”

The Obama administration came into office vowing to actively pursue diplomacy with Iran. Using the IAEA’s mandate to help states gain

access to peaceful nuclear technology as a tool to reduce Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium lets both Iran and the West walk away winners.

“I think that Obama and his European allies have played their hand well in using the Qom revelation to their advantage and taking advantage of Iran’s various vulnerabilities to encourage it to find a way forward,” said Mark Fitzpatrick, a nonproliferation expert and former U.S. diplomat now at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. “The major powers have done this in a way that gives Iran a face-saving way to make some concessions.”

But the medical uranium deal also implicitly legitimizes Iran’s enrichment of uranium. If that is Iran’s goal, it could be an ideal time for the Islamic Republic to strike a deal.

“We are a master of the enrichment technology,” said Iran’s envoy to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh.

“But we have decided that we will receive the fuel from the potential suppliers which are willing to do so.”

Experts say Iran is in its most vulnerable position in years. Revelation of the existence of the Qom facility has weakened it diplomatically and led to intense pressure that might force it to open its atomic facilities to closer scrutiny.

And political unrest over the disputed June 12 re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continues in the capital and other major cities.

“Because the government has lost so much political capital with its own citizenry, it’s looking at nuclear negotiation to get past the events of last summer,” said Mehrzad Boroujerdi, director of Middle East studies at Syracuse University.

Iran frequently seeks to alter the terms of a deal even after signing on, as Britain, France and Germany learned during negotiations earlier this decade. On the other hand, negotiations sometimes produce strong results, as when Iran suspended enrichment for two years before Ahmadinejad became president.

“Negotiation with Iran will not be pleasant, but history shows it can get somewhere,” said Jim Walsh, a nonproliferation and security expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who has visited Iran half a dozen times in recent years.

Iran’s hardliners could perceive a deal as a threat to their clout and attempt to sabotage it.

“The risk is that by Friday ... hardliners such as the newspaper Kayhan and (Guardian Council chief) Ahmad Jannati will make a hue and cry about the compromises and prevent Dr. Soltanieh from signing,” said Ahmad Shirzad, a nuclear expert and prominent opposition supporter in Tehran.

“In principle, the reformists regard the nuclear issue as one of national interests. The hardliners consider it as ideological and a matter of prestige.”

Thursday, October 22, 2009 | Page 9

Many worry about H1N1 vaccination

By Rob Stein and Jennifer Agiesta The Washington Post

Americans have become increasingly alarmed about the swine flu, but many are wary about getting vaccinated against the disease, according to a new Washington PostABC News poll.

As the H1N1 virus continues to spread nationwide, a majority of those surveyed — 52 percent — now say they are “a great deal” or “somewhat” worried that they or someone in their household will be infected with it, up from 39 percent of those polled in August. Concern is rising fastest among young adults, one of the groups most vulnerable to the virus. In August, just 26 percent of those ages 18 to 29 said they were concerned; now 47 percent are worried.

At the same time, however, many Americans are hesitant about being vaccinated or having their children inoculataed. More than six in 10 say they will not get vaccinated and only 52 percent of parents say they plan to have their children vaccinated even though parents tend to be

more worried about the flu.

The findings illustrate the dueling challenges the federal government faces in its unprecedented effort to protect Americans against the first influenza pandemic in more than four decades. Federal officials have spent at least $2 billion to buy enough vaccine to inoculate at least half the population and pledged to provide the immunization to everyone who wants it.

But vaccine production has lagged behind projections, leaving public health officials scrambling to allocate the limited doses available and frustrating some anxious parents and other people waiting to be immunized. At the same time, there remains a long way to go in federal efforts to convince people of the necessity and safety of the vaccine.

Two-thirds of those polled say they are confident that the vaccine is safe, but only 22 percent say they are “very” confident it is. And among the three in ten who say they are not confident, only 6 percent plan to be vaccinated. Even among those who are convinced the vaccine is safe, just 46 percent plan to

get inoculated. That number rises, but only to 56 percent, among those worried about catching the virus who think the vaccine is safe.

Among those who are encouraged to be immunized, those younger than 30 are less apt to consider the vaccine safe, while parents’ views are on par with those of the public as a whole. Sixty-five percent of parents say they think the vaccine is safe, and 19 percent are very confident about its safety.

Just over six in ten young adults (63 percent) express confidence in its safety compared with nearly eight in ten seniors (78 percent), and only 13 percent of those younger than 30 say they have “a great deal” of confidence. Further, only about three in ten younger adults say they plan to be inoculated despite the elevated risk they face, compared with four in ten seniors.

The poll was conducted by conventional and cellular telephone Oct. 15 to Oct. 18 among a random national sample of 1004 adults. The results from the full survey have a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Error margins are larger among subgroups.

Mass. man arrested on terror charges

By Spencer S. Hsu The Washington Post

A Massachusetts man has been arrested on a charge of conspiring to support terrorists by seeking training from Islamic extremist fighters overseas, federal authorities said Wednesday.

Tarek Mehanna, 27, of Sudbury, a small town west of Boston, allegedly conspired from 2001 to May 2008 with Ahmad Abousamra and others to carry out attacks abroad, including on U.S. soldiers in Iraq, the Justice Department said.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Leo Sorokin ordered Mehanna held pending an Oct. 30 hearing. Outside the courtroom, Ahmed Mehanna, the defendant’s father, told reporters he did not believe the accusations.

“This really, really is a show,” said the elder Mehanna, a professor at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, from which his son graduated last year.

An FBI agent alleged in a complaint affidavit that Tarek Mehanna, Abousamra and an associate traveled to the Middle East in February 2004 seeking training at a terrorist camp in Yemen, and that Abousamra made two similar trips to Pakistan in 2002. The men were unsuccessful, however, and the associate became a government informant, Special Agent Heidi Williams wrote.

Abousamra allegedly told the informant that the Taliban and Lashkar-i-Taiba, a Pakistan-based militant group, turned him away because he lacked experience and is an Arab.

Abousamra left the United States for Syria in 2006 to visit his wife and has not returned, according to the court documents.

The group also allegedly talked

several times “about obtaining automatic weapons and randomly shooting people in a shopping mall,” but abandoned the plan because they could obtain only handguns, Williams wrote. The men were inspired by the Washington-area sniper attacks, she wrote.

Mehanna and the co-conspirators talked once or twice about assassinating two U.S. executive branch officials, according to the court documents.

Mehanna was not charged in connection with the alleged domestic plots.

In January, Mehanna was indicted for allegedly lying to investigators about the whereabouts of Daniel Maldonado, the first American to be charged with a crime for training with al-Qaida in Somalia. Prosecutors allege that Mehanna lied when he said Maldonado, a Muslim convert from Boston who was captured in

Kenya and is now serving a ten-year prison sentence in the United States, was in Egypt.

Maldonado allegedly told Mehanna that he was in “culinary school” making “peanut butter and jelly,” which authorities said was code for training with Islamic extremists in Somalia.

Mehanna’s attorney, J.W. Carney Jr., said the government charged Mehanna only after failing to persuade him to become a spy and because he was preparing to leave for Saudi Arabia to take a job. Mehanna, a U.S.-born citizen, pleaded not guilty to that charge and was released on bail.

If convicted on the material support charge, Mehanna faces up to 15 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. The earlier charge carries a penalty of up to eight years in prison.

Editorial & Letters The Brown Daily Herald

Page 10 | Thursday, October 22, 2009

evan donahue and erik stayton

Bust out the ol’ quill.

We want to hear from you! letters@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

Deputy Managing Editors Nandini Jayakrishna Franklin Kanin Michael Skocpol

editorial Arts & Culture Editor Ben Hyman Features Editor Sophia Li Metro Editor George Miller Metro Editor Joanna Wohlmuth News Editor Seth Motel News Editor Jenna Stark Sports Editor Andrew Braca Asst. Sports Editor Han Cui Asst. Sports Editor Alex Mazerov Asst. Sports Editor Katie Wood Graphics & Photos Chris Jesu Lee Graphics Editor Stephen Lichenstein Graphics Editor Photo Editor Kim Perley Max Monn Asst. Photo Editor Jesse Morgan Sports Photo Editor production Ayelet Brinn Copy Desk Chief Rachel Isaacs Copy Desk Chief Marlee Bruning Design Editor Jessica Calihan Design Editor Asst. Design Editor Anna Migliaccio Asst. Design Editor Julien Ouellet Neal Poole Web Editor Post- magazine Arthur Matuszewski Editor-in-Chief Kelly McKowen Editor-in-Chief

Senior Editors Rachel Arndt Isabel Gottlieb Scott Lowenstein

Business General Managers Office Manager Shawn Reilly Alexander Hughes Jonathan Spector Directors Ellen DaSilva Sales Claire Kiely Sales Katie Koh Finance Jilyn Chao Asst. Finance Christiana Stephenson Alumni Relations Managers Kelly Wess Kathy Bui Alex Carrere Matt Burrows

Local Sales National Sales University Sales Credit and Collections Opinions

Alyssa Ratledge Sarah Rosenthal

Opinions Editor Opinions Editor

Editorial Page Board James Shapiro Editorial Page Editor Matt Aks Board member Nick Bakshi Board member Zack Beauchamp Board member Debbie Lehmann Board member William Martin Board member

Jessica Calihan, Designers Anne Artley, Carmen Shulman, Copy Editors George Miller, Ben Schreckinger, Suzzie Weiss, Kyla Wilkes, Night Editors Senior Staff Writers Dan Alexander, Mitra Anoushiravani, Ellen Cushing, Sydney Ember, Lauren Fedor, Nicole Friedman, Brigitta Greene, Sarah Husk, Brian Mastroianni, Hannah Moser, Ben Schreckinger, Anne Simons, Anne Speyer, Sara Sunshine, Alex Ulmer, Suzannah Weiss, Kyla Wilkes Staff Writers Shara Azad, Emma Berry, Alicia Chen, Zunaira Choudhary, Alicia Dang, Juliana Friend, Anish Gonchigar, Sarah Julian, Christian Martell, Heeyoung Min, Jyotsna Mullur, Lauren Pischel, Kevin Pratt, Leslie Primack, Luisa Robledo, Dana Teppert, Gaurie Tilak, Caitlin Trujillo, Monique Vernon, Senior Business Associates Max Barrows, Jackie Goldman, Margaret Watson, Ben Xiong Business Associates Stassia Chyzhykova, Marco deLeon, Katherine Galvin, Bonnie Kim, Cathy Li, Allen McGonagill, Liana Nisimova, Thanases Plestis, Corey Schwartz, William Schweitzer, Kenneth So, Evan Sumortin, Haydar Taygun, Webber Xu, Lyndse Yess Design Staff Gili Kliger, Jessica Kirschner, John Walsh, Kate Wilson Photo Staff Qidong Chen, Janine Cheng, Alex DePaoli, Frederic Lu, Quinn Savit Copy Editors Sara Chimene-Weiss, Miranda Forman, Casey Gaham, Anna Jouravleva, Geoffrey Kyi, Frederic Lu, Jordan Mainzer, Madeleine Rosenberg

e d i to r i a l

Top 50 The U.S. News and World Report college rankings are a subject of scorn for most Brown students. Unable to believe that we’re the “worst” Ivy (yes, Cornell was a spot above us this year), we fulminate about how the rankings overweigh endowment size and ignore Brown’s unique academic philosophy.

So we aren’t surprised when the Brown students interviewed by The Herald about an international university ranking system that put us at a dismal 31 expressed a great deal of skepticism about the survey’s results. Our justified objections to U.S. News and World have evolved into an ingrained distrust of all college rankings.

For the most part, the international report, produced by Times Higher Education, shouldn’t affect that general attitude. The biggest factors in THE’s quantification scheme are hardly good metrics of what makes the “best” universities. But the fact that the majority of the report says very little doesn’t mean that we should dismiss the whole thing. Some of the findings about Brown’s international reputation are disconcerting, to say the least, and ought to serve as a wakeup call to those in charge of Brown’s internalization efforts.

The bulk of a university’s score on the rankings come from a peer review survey in which THE asked faculty from universities around the world to list up to 30 universities in their field that they hold in the highest regard. THE then aggregated the results and rated schools on a 1-100 scale. This category was one of Brown’s weakest relative to its peers, scoring an 88, while six of the seven other Ivies (we’ll get to that other one in a minute, and it’s not the one you think) scored a 96 or 100.

This would be troubling if the rest of the peer findings weren’t so absurd. Brown scored worse on

the peer review than University of Wiconsin-Madison, UCLA and University of Illinois at Urbana, all of whom are in the 90’s. And Dartmouth, poor Dartmouth, scored a 58. As much as everyone likes to make fun of Hanover, they don’t deserve this.

These are only a handful of the bizarre results of the peer rankings, and the survey does not disclose aggregate statistics or more specific information about which academics filled them out, where they are located or even what their fields of study are.

Taken together with the fact that teaching quality is supposed to be represented by a basic staff-student ratio (on which we score a 67 and Harvard, with all of its undergraduate teaching problems, scores a 98) and that research quality is measured only by the number of times a faculty member is cited, the THE study seems about as credible as Tom Cruise on psychology.

But that’s not to say that the survey is worthless.

The most valuable metrics, the percentage of faculty and students from abroad, reveal some serious shortcomings. On these two (which together make up only 10 percent of a university’s score), Brown rates an unfortunate 53 and 55 respectively. That fact, in conjunction with the evidence from the peer review that professors outside the United States apparently don’t know who we are, suggests that Brown could be doing a lot better in terms of raising its international profile. While the rest of the survey is about as useful as an issue of the Spectator, we hope the University takes this last point to heart.

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

C O R R E C T I O N S P olicy The Brown Daily Herald is committed to providing the Brown University community with the most accurate information possible. Corrections may be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication.

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

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

Opinions The Brown Daily Herald

Thursday, October 22, 2009 | Page 11

What the president needs from you ANDREA MATTHEWS Opinions Columnist I remember the scene at Brown University when Barack Obama won the presidency of the United States. From Salomon 101, where the Democrats were hosting a returnswatching party, there was a deep primordial roar. Then, students and streakers rushed onto the Main Green. Hundreds gathered to sing, embrace and shout, and I remember feeling tears in my eyes as I joined the crowd of the usually patriotically reserved in belting the national anthem.

But what surprised me in the weeks following the election was how rapidly students who had once scrutinized the details of campaign promises and policy debates became disengaged from national politics. It was as if young Democrats collectively thought: “Well, now that our guy’s in the White House, we can hang up our signs and go home.”

Why was this? Is there an honest belief that once a party has come to power, its supporters can transition into political autopilot?

As the recipients of an advanced education and as enfranchised members of a democratic republic, it is our duty to engage in the policy issues confronting our government, no matter whom we voted for as president.

Those who opposed Obama in the election,

motivated by their need to dissent, are more likely to remain politically active. But most young Obama supporters seem to have relegated themselves to the sidelines of national discourse, muttering quiet affirmations of trust and confidence in Obama’s ability not only to pursue the agenda that he outlined in his campaign, but somehow to respond to their unarticulated policy preferences.

What it seems so difficult for politically literate youth to remember is that Obama is not our friend, he is our president. As such,

tively revert to the trustingly doe-eyed adoration I felt as a small child watching him on television. That slightly affected drawl! Those self-assured gesticulations! Once again, I’m nine years old and the president of the United States is not a politician but some sort of supremely compassionate national dad.

But mutual trust and understanding are the instruments of autocracy, and only a benevolent one at that. Democracies rely instead on accountability. Our elected government officials respond to money, pressure and

The idea that withholding criticism of the current administration will aid both it and the country is disappointing. he is a politician subject to the most intensive lobbying and political manipulation of anyone in our government.

Would it feel nice to think of our president as a buddy who perceives our political wishes and pursues them out of mutual trust and understanding? Certainly. It seems that every presidential candidate has tried to propagate this image through carefully polished campaign rhetoric, calling us “folks” and waving to supporters with their families in tow.

I don’t know about you, but when I hear Former President Clinton speak, I instinc-

votes. Those incentives don’t simply disappear after an election is completed.

We may have cast our ballots in November, but lobbyists and interest groups operate continuously. Our work as members of this political system is to remain engaged and continue to give feedback, whether it is in endorsement of or opposition to the policies that are proposed.

There seems to be this notion that those who voted for the current administration may endorse its activity wholeheartedly, quietly suppress their disagreement with its poli-

cies or interpret divergence from campaign promises as deeply hurtful personal attacks.

This idea that withholding criticism of the current administration will aid both it and the country is disappointing. Without rigorous public discourse addressing issues like health care, LGBTQ rights and foreign policy, how can our populace expect to communicate its preferences to its elected representatives and president?

Ask yourself honestly: How do you feel about the progress of the health care bill?

Were the president’s words on LGBTQ rights to the Human Rights Campaign last Sunday meritorious? What troop levels do you think are appropriate in Afghanistan?

I am not advocating for a particular stance on any of these issues in this column. I am asking that whether you are conservative, liberal or moderate, whether you voted for Obama or not, that you become and/or remain an agent of political conviction. We must form our ideas responsibly, through well-rounded and high-caliber discourse with one another, and convey those ideas to our government.

That is the kind of support our president, regardless of his party, deserves.

Andrea Matthews ’11 wanted to title this column “President Obama is not my friend,” but then she would never get a job in the Obama administration.

Another fair contract

BY ETHAN TOBIAS Opinions Columnist Last Thursday morning, I approached the Ratty with dread, worrying that those doors would be clamped shut. There had been a serious threat that dining services workers might strike leaving students unfed. Luckily, contract negotiators had reached a settlement the night before and my growling stomach was soon alleviated. The experience showed me how important it was for Brown Dining Services workers to receive a fair contract from Dining Services. Now it is time that students receive that same fair treatment.

The meal plan options on campus are so convoluted that no one quite understands how they work. Many people can only frown in consternation as they try to figure out which one is best for them. Navigating the many meal plan options can often be harder than trying to find items at the Gate that add up to $6.

Is the flexibility of flex plans better, or is the certainty that comes with three meals a day?

Which flex plan is the right amount? What’s hidden in the Kosher/Halal room? These are just some of the questions that confound the average Brown student. And the answers are not so simple.

With the standard 20-meal-a-week plan, one wonders why only three meals can be used per day. Presumably, this is built in to prevent

students from using up all their credits, ensuring that by Thursday (which BDS considers the end of the week) they will still have at least two meals.

However, this logic cannot explain the other meal plans. On the 14-meal-a-week plan, students can also eat three meals per day, which means students could run out of food

by Tuesday evening. The flex plans have no limits at all. If running out of food on Thursday were really a travesty, then running out of food for the month of May is completely unacceptable.

expected to remember to go to Josiah’s or the Gate and cash in those extra credits every night. Inevitably, some meals fall through the cracks.

And even the most diligent student would still fail to recoup all of his prepaid money. It is nearly impossible to come up with combinations that hit exactly six dollars at the late night eateries. On a large scale, the loss of a few dollars and cents per meal credit means tons of savings for dining services.

The issue with the system is twofold. On the one hand, it causes students to buy food

Navigating the many meal plan options can often be harder than trying to find items at the Gate that add up to six dollars.

So why is it that students on the 20-meala-week plan cannot be trusted to budget their credits, while students on other plans are given more freedom?

The answer, I suspect, comes down to money. When a student on the 20-meal-a-week plan uses fewer than three meal credits in a day, those additional meals are lost forever. And BDS counts on this occurrence. The average student on the 20-meal-a-week plan cannot be

they do not really want to eat in their attempts to hit exactly $6. This is a waste for dining services and bad for students’ health. On the other hand, the current system severely restricts the freedom of students to eat wherever and whenever they want for the sole purpose of ripping them off.

In the midst of all this perplexity, there already exists a simple easy solution: flex points.

Flex points are ideal because they can be used

anytime, anywhere and in any quantity.

An optimum meal plan for students would be one that is solely flex points. Students could use six points every time they choose to eat at one of the dining halls or use points at any eateries on campus.

The only problem with this solution is that students will try to use up all of their points, reducing BDS’s savings. However, this does not have to be the case. The system could be set up in such a way that the total number of points allotted to students would factor in some of the lost savings. This is already the case with existing flex plans.

Additionally, students could be allowed to donate a percent of unused points at the end of the semester to charities. If I knew 25 percent of my unused points went to the charity of my choice, I might reconsider buying food I was not sure I really wanted in the first place A flex-points-only system would benefit students immensely. Figuring out meal plans at the start of each year would be as simple as figuring out how many points you want.

Pay more money and you get more points.

All plans could be easily customized to serve students’ dietary needs.

Workers got their chance at a fair deal — it is time students demand the same.

Ethan Tobias ’12 would like to eat Blue Room muffins for breakfast. He can be reached at Ethan_Tobias@brown.edu

Got something to say? Leave your comments online!

Visit www.browndailyherald.com to comment on opinion and editorial content.

post-

magazine

Brown university ● october 22, 2009 ● Volume 10 ● issue 17

Today The Brown Daily Herald

5

State legislators briefly reconvene

M. soccer’s suffers its first loss

7

to day

to m o r r o w

68 / 42

51 / 42

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Page 12

i n s From i d eFormal dances to

making plans

Facebook Friending

post-

insearchofBrownpast,Brownpresent,and the ever-elusive campus vibe

magazine

Brown university ● october 22, 2009 ● Volume 10 ● issue 17

PoSt-

weekend

five 1

loVe locKdoWn: “tHe SleePoVer Screening” metcalf aud. ● Fri. 6-7:30 pm

5

4

insearchofBrownpast,Brownpresent,and the ever-elusive campus vibe

tomorrow, October 22

comics

five

Birdfish | Matthew Weiss

weekend

Today, October 21

7 P.M. — Teton Gravity Research’s Re:Session Movie Priemiere, MacMillan 117

8 p.m. — A Reading by Poets Denise Riley and Craig Watson, McCormack Family Theater

9:45 p.m. — Brown Concert Agency presents Pawtucket Mudd, Grad Center Lounge

PoSt-

4 p.m. — Romano Prodi and Flavia Franzoni: A European Perspective on Healthcare, Watson Institute

1

loVe locKdoWn: “tHe SleePoVer Screening” metcalf aud. ● Fri. 6-7:30 pm

2

3

miXed FeelingS an eXPloSiVe oPen mic

list 110

●

Fri. 8 pm - 10 pm

BuXton international HouSe PreSentS: PlatForm B Faunce (Blue room) $4 / $1 ● Fri. 10 pm - 2 am

4

5

SiSter SPit PerFormance list 120 ● Fri. 9 pm - 1 am

moondance machado $3 / $1 ● 10 pm - 2 am

menu Sharpe Refectory

Verney-Woolley Dining Hall

Lunch — Baked Vegan Nuggets, BBQ Chicken Pizza, Italian Sausage and Pepper Sandwich Dinner — Vegetarian Tamale Pie, Salt and Pepper Jerk Chicken, Red Potatoes with Chive Sauce

Lunch — BBQ Beef Sandwich, Pasta Primavera, Peanut Butter & Jelly Bar

Cabernet Voltaire | Abe Pressman

Dinner — Spice Rubbed Pork Chops, Vegan Paella, Stir Fry Station

RELEASE DATE– Thursday, October 22, 2009

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle crossword Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis ACROSS 1 Sweet Spanish wine 7 In that case 11 Inst. that turns out lieutenants 14 Moves on all fours 15 Cause of a worldwide 19th century fever 16 Old school dance 17 Lost it 19 Victoria’s Secret offering 20 Bonanza find 21 In copious amounts 22 Ivy in Philly 23 Ivy in New Haven 25 Dismissed out of hand 27 Pizazz 29 Trumpet sound 30 Party list 36 Bug 37 Like Starbucks coffee, every 30 minutes 40 Bard’s “before” 41 Software customers 42 Three-time world champion alpine skier Hermann 44 Feast where the Haggadah is read 48 “That’s too bad, man” 54 Brazilian soccer legend 55 Prime Cuts in Gravy brand 56 Crude fleet 58 Busy co. on Valentine’s Day 59 __ Speedwagon 60 “I don’t feel like cooking” option 62 Enlistees, briefly 63 Slurpee relative 64 Capital on the Missouri River 65 Wee hour 66 High degrees: Abbr.

67 Aftershock

49 Raid target 37 German miss DOWN 1 Real people?

38 Put back in force, 50 Protected by 2 Biblical levees as an expired tax debarkation point 39 Blubber 51 “__ Gold”: Peter 3 How bad Fonda film 40 Economic excuses are 52 __ volente: God warfare tactic given willing 43 Funnyman 4 Bowl over 53 Spew lava Philips 5 Guzzling sound 45 Mar the beauty of 57 Show signs of 6 “Piece of cake!” life 46 Corrida snorter 7 Inuit home 60 Service reward 47 More rare, as 8 Club for country 61 Service charge steak kids ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: 9 Shuteye 10 Anomalous 11 Austin Powers catchphrase 12 Trapped 13 Stretchy fabric 18 Day-__: pigment brand 22 D.C. deal maker 24 Nobelist Wiesel 26 Preoccupy 28 Make certain 31 Videotape type 32 Land in la mer 33 Norse god of single combat 34 Diminish 35 Pitching stat 10/22/09 xwordeditor@aol.com

Dot Comic | Eshan Mitra and Brendan Hainline

Hippomaniac | Mat Becker

STW | Jingtao Huang

By Dan Naddor (c)2009 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

10/22/09

list 110

●

3

Fri. 8 pm - 10 pm

BuXton international HouSe PreSentS: PlatForm B Faunce (Blue room) $4 / $1 ● Fri. 10 pm - 2 am

From Formal dances to Facebook Friending

c a l e n da r

2

miXed FeelingS an eXPloSiVe oPen mic

5

SiSter SPit PerFormance list 120 ● Fri. 9 pm - 1 am

moondance machado $3 / $1 ● 10 pm - 2 am