Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Daily Herald the Brown

vol. cxliv, no. 104 | Wednesday, November 11, 2009 | Serving the community daily since 1891

Simmons, campus welcome Achebe

By Ana Alvarez Staf f Writer

Newly appointed Professor of Africana Studies Chinua Achebe was officially welcomed into the Brown community Tuesday afternoon with a public conversation between the celebrated Nigerian author and President Ruth Simmons.

Achebe, a world-renowned novelist, poet and critic, was named the David and Marianna Fisher University Professor and professor of Africana Studies in September. He is best known for his 1958 work “Things Fall Apart,” which is widely considered the foremost African novel.

Seeding, not reading, at ‘Rock’ garden

After several introductions, Achebe and Simmons began their discussion before a packed Salomon 101, spanning topics that included Achebe’s reflection on his most recent novel — “The Education of a British-Protected Child” — his critique of contemporary African political leaders and his role in establishing modern African literature.

During the discussion of Achebe’s most recent work, Simmons asked him what it meant to be a “protected child” when he was growing up in British-controlled Nigeria. Achebe answered, “When a handshake goes beyond

By Emily Kirkland Contributing Writer

It’s easy not to notice Jim Hannon’s vegetable garden. It’s tucked away in a corner of the parking lot behind the Rockefeller Library, between a dumpster and a brick wall. But for those who do spot it, the garden is a source of joy.

For 25 years, the library technical assistant has been growing tomatoes, cucumbers, sunflowers and zucchini

FEATURE

like many peer institutions, Brown only has one IRB — meaning the lone board considers ethical standards for both biomedical and social sciences research.

Because of these less traditional review procedures, the IRB approval process has often sparked debate, which escalated when administrators instituted a new policy in July 2006 that prohibited students from assuming primary responsibility for the ethical treatment of human subjects. Before the new policy, undergraduates were able to act as the primary investigators for their research projects, but the change meant that students had to seek a faculty adviser to take responsibility for IRB applications.

But this change, along with in-

on the 4 foot by 9 foot plot of land.

“I’m a gardener,” he said. “That’s what I do.”

In good years, the little plot has yielded 18-foot sunflowers and zucchini that “grows like grass.”

“Those sunflowers attract everyone in the world, or at least everyone on the East Side,” Hannon said.

In other years, he said, pumpkin vines have climbed up the brick wall surrounding the parking lot. Sometimes cucumbers hang from the caution tape that marks one edge of the garden.

The garden is right outside the door to his office — Hannon, who has worked in the Rock’s mail room for 25 years, started his job at Brown after working as a fisherman.

The opportunity to work inside was tempting, he said, especially compared to conditions on the water.

“It was often 12 above out there,” he said, “and this was a little more comfortable.”

Though Hannon takes advantage of the comforts of office life, he still makes a point to enjoy the outdoors.

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Nick Sinnott-Armstrong / Herald

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Newly appointed Professor of Africana Studies Chinua Achebe discussed his writings with the Brown community on Tuesday.

Reform in the works for research review board

By Sydney Ember Senior Staff Writer

A series of reforms is underway that the University hopes will streamline Institutional Review Board procedures involving the ethical treatment of human research subjects.

In response to recommendations in a report issued by a Research Advisory Board subcommittee last spring, the IRB and the Research Protections Office have initiated changes to expedite the approval process and increase institutional transparency.

The University’s IRB procedures have long incited debate among faculty members, students and researchers who felt the strict approval process limited research opportunities for social science projects. But the current reform efforts

aim to pave the way for more efficient IRB operation and ethical oversight.

The culmination of a review begun in 2007 by the Faculty Executive Committee, the RAB and faculty members, the report proposes a set of options to improve communication among students, faculty advisers and the IRB. These include implementing changes to the RPO Web site to clarify the IRB policy, increasing communication by decreasing the IRB’s response time to proposals and requiring basic online ethics training for undergraduates working with human subjects.

The subcommittee also addressed ways to alleviate some of the rigid procedures that often prevent undergraduates conducting research in social sciences from procuring research approval such

as standardizing the review process and removing some restrictions.

The Office of the Vice President for Research, which oversees all research conducted by students and faculty, will be “working through these detailed recommendations of this report during the rest of this semester and updating our Web site appropriately,” wrote Vice President for Research Clyde Briant in an e-mail to The Herald. “We are certainly doing all that we can to make the process efficient.”

History of debate Though the federal government requires IRB review for all federally funded research, Brown demands a board review for all research involving human subjects, allowing the IRB to decide the extent to which it will oversee a particular project. Un-

For those who know, UCS approval high

By Kyla Wilkes Senior Staff Writer

inside

More than 40 percent of students said they had no opinion of the job that the Undergraduate Council of Students is doing, while almost half said they approved of UCS’ job, according to a recent Herald poll.

“I mean, I guess I should know what UCS does, but it doesn’t bother me that I don’t,” said Vanessa Munoz ’13, one of many students interviewed

by The Herald who expressed apathy about the council.

While 48.7 percent of students said they approved of UCS’ job and 10.0 percent said they disapproved, 41.2 percent said they didn’t know

News.....1-6 Sports.......7 Editorial..10 Opinion...11 Today........12

www.browndailyherald.com

or had no answer about the performance of UCS. Few students responded at either extreme, with 38.7 percent of students saying they somewhat approved and 8.7 percent saying they somewhat disapproved

THE HERALD POLL of UCS. UCS Vice President Diane Mokoro ’11 said she is not concerned by the number of people who said they did not know about UCS’ job.

“The numbers for this year are pretty standard,” Mokoro said. “Usually in the fall, the upcoming new group of students have never heard of anything at Brown, and it takes

Do you approve or disapprove of the way the Undergraduate Council of Students (UCS) is handling its job?

a while to get across to them what UCS is and what we do.”

The number of students who do not have an opinion of UCS decreased from last fall’s Herald poll figure of 49.3 percent. In the spring poll, 35.5 percent of students said they did not know or had no answer to the question.

In last spring’s poll, 41.4 percent of students “somewhat approved” of the job that USC is doing, and 10.1 percent “strongly approved.”

UCS President Clay Wertheimer ’10 said he was pleased with this semester’s poll results. “Last spring, we hit a high for approval, and that’s continued on page 6

News, 5

Sports, 7

Opinions, 11

Health-Care Cares Jonathan Cohn spoke about progress toward health-care reform

Dropped the Ball Women’s volleyball lost two games in a tough weekend

Take Five Adrienne Langlois ’10 defends taking breaks and relaxing

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

herald@browndailyherald.com

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C ampus N EWS Achebe gets a warm welcome from faculty continued from page 1

the elbow, it becomes kidnapping,” drawing laughter from Simmons and the audience. “That’s what this protection seemed to me to signify.”

Achebe and Simmons also discussed the current state of democracy in Africa. When asked to recommend one democratic African leader who shows restraint, Achebe said naming one is “very rare (and) very difficult.”

“That’s the sad thing about it,” he said. “You want an example and you have to search.”

Achebe also touched on the Cold War’s lasting impact on Africa. He said that the “great expectations” Africans felt about democracy in their countries “failed ver y suddenly” after the collapse of governments backed by the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

The Cold War “really killed our expectations,” he added.

Achebe also read one of his favorite excerpts from “Things Fall Apart,” which focused on the impact his father and great-uncle had on his life. “They were the people who I was grounded on growing up,” he said.

Once Achebe began taking questions, an audience member referenced his controversial critique of Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” — in which he accused Conrad of being “a bloody racist” — and asked if the book inspired Achebe’s work. Achebe responded, “Inspired? I read the book and that was it.”

But Achebe added, “If you haven’t read it, I recommend it.

Don’t throw away any book ever.

Read it.”

Before the forum, fellow writers and faculty from the Department of Africana Studies spoke, giving their personal reflections on Achebe, his work and his appointment.

“I am honored to write in a tradition which (Achebe) invented,” said John Wideman, the Harmon Family Professor of Africana Studies, echoing the sentiments of the other speakers.

Provost David Kertzer ’69 P’95 P’98 officially welcomed Achebe as “Africa’s foremost cultural ambassador.”

He added that the Achebe’s addition to the Brown faculty will “put our students in touch with the international community.”

Kertzer also praised the Department of Africana Studies as among the best in the country at attracting great writers but noted humorously that acclaimed novelist Toni Morrison, who was attending the event, is a professor emerita at Princeton.

In his introduction, George Lamming, visiting professor in the Africana studies and literary arts departments, discussed Achebe’s roots in Nigeria’s Igbo ethnic group.

“A man who follows Igbo customs works not from the front or the back but from the middle ground,” Lamming said. “We think that this is a safe location for receiving the blessings of Brown University, and we are most joyfully happy with your choice.”

sudoku

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

“Don’t throw away any book ever.”

— Chinua Achebe, professor of Africana studies

Q & A with Chinua Achebe Renowned Nigerian author Chinua Achebe sat down with The Herald Tuesday before a welcome event to discuss his motivations for joining Brown’s Africana studies faculty, his past work and his thoughts on being referred to as the “father of modern African literature.”

really exciting Africana Studies department. The more such schools you have, the better.

The Herald: You were a professor at Bard College in New York for 19 years. What drew you to Brown?

(The United States) is the most powerful country in the world. It’s got a tradition of interest in Africa, which many of us don’t remember today. ...The idea of the colloquium is, in fact, to take issues that come up. Today Africa is a continent of issues wherever you look, and so I thought the best thing to do now is not to limit ourselves to one or two or even three issues, but to look at Africa bursting with problems and find out what we can do in each case. For instance, the issue of governance, which is a major problem — presidents that do not want to retire when their terms are up, elections that are rigged, violence at elections. ... Whatever we are doing, we’re not doing right. Nigeria has been independent for nearly 50 years and look where we are.

Achebe: There were all these years at Bard which I enjoyed, but I recognized that there are other places — this is a big countr y (with) good variety — and that I should look at other parts of this nation. ... Many people don’t know that Brown gave me an honorary degree in literature in 1998, so Brown is not foreign to me. I know a few people here.

Brown has begun a concerted effort to establish itself as a leader in African scholarship through dif ferent programs, including research projects in African countries and a proposed graduate program in the Africana Studies department.

Where do you think Brown currently stands on that front?

I think (Brown) has got the resources — human particularly, but also, I suppose, material resources — to place itself wherever it desires in the African field. ... I do know that there is strong interest from a group of academics who have the ability to bring to Brown a

Could you tell us specifics about the main initiative you will be overseeing — the Chinua Achebe Colloquium on Africa?

A lot of Brown students who have read your works, especially your first novel, “Things Fall Apart,” are very excited to have you on campus. How do you hope to engage with the undergraduate student community at Brown during your time here?

I hope I will find an entree into the lives and thoughts of undergraduates at Brown. I really do hope that we will find a way to work together, and I will bring all that I have thought and felt in this area into what we do — the disappointments of the past, the years of great expectations. ... We’ve got a big agenda and the interest of young people, the interest of students I count upon very much.

Which one of your works

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is your personal favorite and why?

That’s the one question I don’t answer because you can make a serious mistake. I’ve just been told that my family has arrived (in Providence) — it’s like asking me which of the children you like most. (Laughs) I like them for different reasons. They do different things for me. “Things Fall Apart” taught me how to write. ... The body of work that I have put together, it’s not huge. I like the praise that is heaped on (my works), especially “Things Fall Apart,” but each one of them has something, I hope, to tell us about the human condition.

You have been referred to as the father of modern African literature. How do you feel about that title?

I resisted that ver y, ver y strongly. It’s really a serious belief (of mine) that it’s risky for anyone to lay claim to something as huge and important as African literature ... the contribution made down the ages. I don’t want to be singled out as the one behind it because there were many of us — many, many of us.

Is there anything else you would like to say to the Brown community?

Yes, I have heard encouraging news about what the community has done and I want to encourage them further to go on and make friends with the world. That’s really where our hope is — peace and harmony in the world, peace and harmony among thinkers.

When I say harmony I don’t mean that people who disagree should stop disagreeing. If there’s a good reason to disagree then disagree as strongly as you can — that’s the only way we can straighten out our problems.

— Nandini Jayakrishna

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

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“I just spread the vegetables around.”

— Jim Hannon, library technical assistant, on sharing his crops higher ed news round-up by ellen cushing and sarah husk senior staff writers

Princeton student sues university for disabilities accommodations

Nick Sinnott-Armstrong / Herald

Library employee Jim Hannon has cultivated a vegetable garden in the Rock parking lot for 25 years.

Hannon grows ultra-local produce continued from page 1 In many ways, the garden is a collaborative affair. One of his coworkers raises rabbits and brings in their manure to help fertilize the plants, Hannon said. Others take on watering duties or pitch in during the planting season. The rewards, in turn, are also shared.

“I just spread the vegetables around,” Hannon said.

“My main involvement is eating tomatoes,” said Rick Hurdis, another mail room employee, who sometimes greets Hannon with a cheerful “Farmer Jim!” “I’m going to mow it over!” joked Nancy Flynn, another co-worker. She

said she sometimes helps to water the garden.

Hannon has never gotten permission to plant vegetables in the parking lot, he said.

In fact, just last year, a dumpster was moved next to the plot, cutting the garden’s size in half. But Hannon did not complain.

“It’s not that important,” he said.

Hannon said he has been gardening since “before forever.” He attributes his green thumb to his grandfather, an Irish immigrant who was a horticulturalist in Pawtucket.

Hannon was only four years old when his grandfather died, but he

thinks that gardening may be in his blood.

“My family had a little backyard when I was a kid,” he said, “and I was always the gardener.”

He also said he’s always favored organic methods — he avoids pesticides, fungicides and chemical fertilizers.

“I’m a gardener, not a chemist,” he said.

Since spraining his ankle two years ago, he’s stopped weeding as frequently. But Hannon’s little plot doesn’t ask much of him.

“There’s a lot of work when you first plant,” he said. “After that, it’s duck soup.”

Drop in probations credited to advising

By Alex Bell Staff Writer

The number of students on academic probation has declined for the third year in a row, according to the Faculty Committee on Academic Standing’s annual report presented at last week’s faculty meeting.

Last school year saw an average of 162 students per semester on warning, 101 on serious warning and a total of 20 suspensions. These figures have decreased steadily since they hit their most recent peak in the 2003-04 academic year, when 261 were placed on warning, 135 on serious warning and 52 were suspended, according to the report.

The requirements for “good standing” are different for each semester level, but generally require a student to have at least an average of three to four credits per semester.

The University divides probation into three categories: Students one credit short of good standing are said to be on warning, those two credits short on serious warning and those three credits short are suspended for a year.

Deputy Dean of the College Stephen Lassonde, who chairs the Committee on Academic Standing, attributed the trend to a combination of measures that have promoted “better and more frequent communica-

tion with students about academic advising.”

Increased follow-up with students has been one measurable key to helping those already in trouble, Lassonde said.

Whenever students are in danger of probation, they get a letter from a dean asking to set up a meeting, he said. But when students don’t respond to those letters, Director of Co-Curricular Advising and Tutoring Programs Yolanda Rome now follows up with them by e-mail.

“She’s really persistent,” Lassonde said. “We’re hoping these meetings put the brakes on things, so students are making good decisions.”

But most of the new advising measures have been aimed at stopping trouble before it starts. Since last year, the University has been sending e-mails to first-year students enrolled in particularly difficult course combinations, such as those heavy on pre-medical requirements, Lassonde said.

“We at least want students to know this is hard, and to provide them with resources,” Lassonde said, noting that some students were offended by the communication but that most appreciated being informed of the advising and tutoring resources available.

Last year, administrators also be-

gan to identify “students from underresourced backgrounds,” including those whose parents did not go to college, who belong to historically underrepresented populations at Brown or whose high schools had only a minority of college-bound students in their graduating classes, Lassonde said.

“We’ve been taking better care to provide them with resources,” he said.

According to the report, the University works with the admission office “to identify students likely to benefit from more attention upon their arrival at Brown,” and last year identified 200 students “as needing extra support and attention.”

Lassonde said faculty advisers were asked to volunteer to take a few of these students into their advising groups. Those advisers who chose to do so attended special training sessions, but no advisers were given groups consisting only of these types of students, according to Lassonde.

Other changes to the advising program have also had a role in the improved academic standing of Brown students, Lassonde said.

For one, the advising relationship no longer ends after freshman year. Two years ago, the University continued on page 4

A freshman at Princeton is suing the university for allegedly denying her appropriate accommodations for her learning disabilities, the Daily Princetonian reported last week.

Although the student, Diane Metcalf-Leggette, contended that taking midterm exams without the extended time she is seeking in her lawsuit would be irreversibly harmful, a United States district judge refused to grant Metcalf-Leggette the preliminary injunction that would allow her to take her midterms with extended time.

Currently, because of Metcalf-Leggette’s multiple learning disabilities, Princeton allows her to take exams in a less distracting testing environment with short breaks every hour and limits the numbers of exams she can take to a maximum of one per day, the Daily Princetonian reported.

Metcalf-Leggette said though she provided Princeton with an official recommendation from a mental health professional that she be granted additional time for all testing, she has been denied that accommodation, the Daily Princetonian reported. The current director of the Office of Disability Services has allegedly told the student that it is no longer university policy to award extended time on exams as a means of compensating for learning disabilities.

According to the Daily Princetonian, Hannah Ross, an attorney for the university, wrote in a letter to MetcalfLeggette’s attorneys that she believes the lawsuit will most likely fail, as it is an “academic judgment” — so she expects Princeton to “receive significant deference from any court.”

Fifty-eight schools now charge more than $50,000 This year there are 58 colleges and universities charging a total of $50,000 or more, according to a recent analysis of College Board data by the Chronicle of Higher Education.

This number represents a huge increase from last year, when only five schools’ total costs topped the $50,000 mark.

Sarah Lawrence College — where tuition, fees, room and board reached $55,788 this year — topped the list, followed

by Landmark College, Georgetown University, New York University and George Washington University. Brown was not among the 58 schools, with tuition and fees for this academic year totalling $48,128, according to the University.

The Chronicle article also reported that according to the College Board, tuition, fees, room and board at private nonprofit four-year institutions increased 4.3 percent this year, to an average of $35,636.

While the article noted that at many of these schools, sizable financial aid packages mean that few students actually pay sticker price, it quoted some members of the higher education community who expressed concern that this increase in tuition represents a trend that may ultimately leave middle-class families priced out.

“We are heading for a precipice and likely to get there sooner rather than later,” Bill Conley, dean of enrollment and academic services at Johns Hopkins University, told the Chronicle. “It’s not far away.”

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C ampus N EWS Probations drop with new system continued from page 3

started asking first-year advisers to remain with their students until they chose their concentration during sophomore year, Lassonde said.

Beginning this year, sophomores are required to meet with their advisers to receive their PINs before registering for classes.

“We want people to get in the habit of consulting someone before they choose their courses,” Lassonde said.

Also, the Faculty Advising Fellows program has been redesigned to be more “centralized,” according to Advising Assistant Miles Hovis ’08.

The program used to revolve around five residential fellows, who invited students over to their houses for dinner periodically. According to Hovis, fellows used to draw largely from their geographic regions, sending e-mail reminders to students who lived in their areas of campus.

This year, 10 new non-residential faculty fellows take shifts every weekday afternoon at Advising Central in J. Walter Wilson. They are joined by Meiklejohn advisers, and the added incentives of free snacks and 12 varieties of coffee, tea and hot chocolate.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

State pols talk prostitution at Dems event

BY BEN SCHRECKINGER Senior Staf f Writer

State Rep. Edith Ajello, D-Dist. 3, and Sen. Rhoda Perry P’91, D-Dist.

3 — whose districts include College Hill — spoke to approximately 40 Brown students about Rhode Island government and politics in Wilson 101 Tuesday night. The event was part of the Brown Democrats’ “Better Know Your District” series.

The pair discussed the General Assembly’s recent vote to end legalized prostitution in the state and their reaction to Saturday’s passage of a national health-care bill in the House.

Ajello told the audience she and Perr y may need support in responding to a Providence Journal column criticizing state legislators who did not support the prostitution bill. Both Ajello and Perr y voted against the final version of the bill.

The column referred to prostitutes as “virtual slaves” who will be “rescued” by the bill and urged its readers to vote against the bill’s opponents in future elections.

“We voted against the bill out of sincere concern for the women involved,” said Ajello, who pointed out that the bill carried criminal penalties for prostitutes as well as brothel operators and their patrons.

Courtesy of Katerina Wright

The Brown Dems discussed health care with local politicians in an event Tuesday night.

“If you have any kind of criminal record, it is very hard to get jobs,” especially given Rhode Island’s high unemployment rate, Perry said.

“Already the majority of women in the Adult Correctional Institution are in there for (outdoor) prostitution,” Ajello added.

In the weeks before the bill’s

passage, Perr y had met with a group of prostitutes who did not want to see the trade outlawed, she said. There was no indication as of yet that any prostitutes in the state had been victims of trafficking, Perry said.

“Unless it is a trafficked person,” prostitution is “a victimless crime,” Perry said. “More awful” is the General Assembly’s decision to allow mixed martial arts fighting the state, she said.

Perry and Ajello were highly critical of the vote cast by U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., in favor of an

amendment to the national healthcare bill that would restrict coverage for abortions. Both said the vote strengthened their support for Betsey Dennigan’s challenge to the incumbent Langevin in next year’s Democratic primary.

“We would have done what (Rep. Patrick) Kennedy (D-R.I.) did,” Perry said of the Rhode Island Democrat. Kennedy voted against including the amendment in the health-care bill, but voted for the bill that eventually passed the house complete with the abortion amendment.

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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

“Something is better than nothing.”

— Journalist Jonathan Cohn on health-care reform

New Republic ed. speaks on health care Grant funds African

recruitment, support

By Sarah Julian Staf f Writer

When Jonathan Cohn asked how many members of his Salomon 001 audience would identify themselves as left-of-center, nearly all the people in attendance in the half-full auditorium raised their hands. When he further narrowed the group — asking “how many of you are excited about the way health care is turning out?” — every hand went down.

Cohn, a senior editor for the New Republic, was the speaker Tuesday at the annual John Hazen White Lecture presented by the Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions. In his talk, Cohn reflected on the alternatives to current health-care policy, as well as the policies he prefers for health-care reform. Cohn emphasized the fact that though the current bills in Congress leave something to be desired — especially for the left-of-center group — there are many positive aspects of the legislation currently under debate. Perfection is an unattainable goal, Cohn said, and “something is better than nothing.”

Though Cohn admitted that he has an ongoing bet with himself over which will come first — health-care reform or the return of non-seasonal Starbucks cups — the overall tone of his speech was optimistic.

He said the legislation coming out of the House of Representatives and Senate is “not everything we talked about, everything we wanted.” The House’s proposed plan is expected to increase drug industry profits by 3 percent, Cohn said, which backtracks on President Barack Obama’s promise not to let interest groups dictate policy.

Cohn said he is disappointed that Congress is not considering a single-payer system for health care,

Hewlett Foundation awards Population Studies half-million dollar grant

By Monique Vernon Staff Writer

Kayleigh Butera / Herald

Journalist Jonathan Cohn told a Salomon 001 crowd to be hopeful about health-care reform, even if the legislation is not perfect.

which exists in France and other countries that have lower health-care costs, but he understands such a plan would not be politically feasible in the U.S. Still, Cohn remained hopeful for the reform process. “Say what you will about the bills going through Congress,” he said. “They will put an end to the practice of excluding based on pre-existing conditions.

A lot of people are going to get help.”

“How many times can we say that overnight we made life better for 36 million people?” he said.

As for his own policy prescription, Cohn said he is an “enthusiastic supporter” of the public option, but too many people consider it a requisite part of a final bill. He said an excise tax on generous insurance benefits and the formation of a Medicare

commission were both crucial to any new legislation. He also said he was concerned that the Senate’s bill would leave insurance consumers with too many options.

According to Cohn, the fact that the proposed legislation is not perfect should not prevent its passage.

“This is what we do in the U.S. We pass imperfect laws and then we work like hell to make them better,” he said.

Adjunct Lecturer in Political Science Daniel Ehlke PhD ’09, who attended the lecture, agreed with Cohn that his opinions of the current debate were mixed, but that something was better than nothing.

“I think this was a very comprehensive, well-balanced discussion of the important issues at hand,” Ehlke said.

Brown’s Population Studies and Training Center, a research facility that studies demographics, has been awarded a half-million dollar Hewlett Foundation grant to recruit more graduate students from subSaharan Africa and provide more support to students and alumni.

The PSTC has received Hewlett Foundation funding since 1978, but the program directors are altering how the money will be allocated.

Daniel Smith, associate professor of anthropology and associate director of the center, said there will be three major shifts in how the grant is distributed to address “inequalities in the field of demography itself,” he said.

Over the last 10 years, the PSTC has graduated 74 Ph.D. students, with almost half arriving from developing countries, according to a University press release. But the program plans to increase its emphasis on the recruitment of African graduate students, Smith said, adding that “population relation issues remain paramount challenges.”

Smith said there will also be an initiative to increase the number of female graduate students, especially those from Africa. The PSTC wants to “recruit, retain and place female population scientists,” he said.

The grant will also enable the

center to place more emphasis on supporting pre- and post-doctoral students, Smith said.

Scholars find it difficult to “forge successful population careers” after they have graduated and returned home because of a lack of financial support for research and “scholarly professional networks,” Smith said.

Students who have graduated from the program will now receive grants for research and travel to other academic institutions and professional and scholarly meetings.

This is “supporting regional networks,” Smith said.

To gain new insight into how the center could better allocate its funding, 16 alums from Africa were invited back to Providence in May for a conference, Smith said. The meeting was set up to “hear directly from our alumni what obstacles and challenges they face,” he said, adding, “we want to understand better what those challenges are.”

The change represents “a collective commitment on the part of the faculty of the PSTC,” Smith said. Those involved in the program hope that “other people will learn from our model and adopt it,” he added.

Students currently studying at the PSTC are happy about the changes.

“This is obviously a positive move,” said Roland Pongou GS, a fifth-year graduate student from Cameroon. “I see it as a huge contribution to the field. ... It increases our visibility.”

“I think it is a great move,” said Salome Wawire GS, a Kenyan researcher who has studied at the PSTC for seven years.

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“There are not going to be major changes overnight.”

— Kenneth Wong, chair of the Department of Education

Web site changes streamline research approval continued from page 1 consistent descriptions on the RPO’s Web site and lack of specific instructions for proposal submission, often led to frustration among students and faculty members, said Kenneth Wong, chair of the Department of Education and of the subcommittee that produced the report. He said many faculty members, especially those involved in the social sciences, were unfamiliar with the IRB guidelines, making the application process unnecessarily confusing.

“The IRB procedure can be seen as an educational process,” Wong said.

“People realized (the IRB) needed to be more customer-oriented.”

Wong said one of the main complaints from faculty members and students was that the IRB was too medically focused, often subjecting low-risk research involving oral histories or surveys to the same formal guidelines as medical studies using human subjects. This slowed the approval process because it was difficult for students to meet the rigid IRB standards, he said.

“There were a lot of good social science practices that I wasn’t able to do because of the IRB process,” said Fiona Heckscher ’09, who conducted research on HIV/AIDS in Mali and wrote a senior honors thesis on the effects of the IRB on undergraduate research. “The IRB was very wellintentioned, but without the structure for feedback and expertise because the board is so biomedically focused.”

Heckscher said the Brown IRB required her to obtain parental con-

sent from minors who were pregnant, which could have endangered the women she was interviewing. Because the board was accustomed to dealing with medically based projects, Heckscher said she felt “it was almost impossible for them to give me feedback.”

Looking to reform Lack of communication and clarity made submitting project proposals to the IRB difficult because the researchers proposing the projects — and the IRB itself — were frequently unaware of appropriate ethical standards for social science projects, Wong said.

As a result, the committee outlined policy options in their report, including making all projects subject to IRB review and developing other types of educational oversight committees to relieve some of the burden on the IRB. “The IRB staff have become a lot more supportive to students,” Wong said. “The RPO has definitely become more transparent, and they are more reactive because we engaged them along the way.”

This year, the RPO has instituted many of the subcommittee’s recommendations concerning the office’s Web site, which is responsible for disseminating information about appropriate research procedures to students and faculty. These reforms include clearer definitions of ethical issues that might arise when dealing with human subjects, as well as sections providing detailed checklists for effective IRB proposal submissions.

“Students are working now a lot more closely with their advisers,”

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Wong said.

Despite the recommendations outlined in the report, Wong said the IRB process still needs improvements, especially concerning the requirements for undergraduates planning to conduct research abroad.

“The timing can be a little bit of a challenge,” Wong said about submitting applications for international research.

He added that undergraduate students frequently do not know they must submit their applications to the IRB before they begin collecting data abroad.

“The report is not going to change everything,” Wong said. “There are not going to be major changes overnight.”

RPO Director Dorinda Williams said many of the recommendations submitted by the subcommittee have been addressed. The RPO Web site now includes “additional language that seems to focus on undergraduates,” Williams said, including a section with a “decision-tree type of document” that provides more accessible discussions of the IRB protocol.

In addition to providing more pages on the Web site — the office has already created a page specifically for researchers studying in other countries — Williams said the RPO is more actively disseminating information about the IRB through open hours and direct conversations with different departments.

“The primary mission with the IRB review is helping people understand when you need it,” Williams said.

“We’re getting out there to spread the word.”

UCS using new media to boost student recognition continued from page 1 basically stayed the same given the margin of error of the poll,” he said.

Wertheimer also pointed to the fact that the percentage of students who strongly disapprove of UCS’ job has remained low.

Wertheimer said he is hopeful that students will have higher awareness as the year goes on.

“I actually think we’re in a really good place to see even higher improvement in this spring poll,” he said.

According to UCS Communications Chair Evan Holownia ’11, the communications team is intensifying its outreach projects in attempts to raise awareness of UCS activity. Among other things, UCS publishes mid-year and year-end reports distributed to all students, hosts study breaks where students can talk with UCS members and is increasing its use of social media, he said.

“We’re now on Facebook, we’re now on Twitter, and we’re getting our blog off the ground, which will be another tool for posting headlines, links and others sorts of information we feel students should be aware of,” Holownia said.

Moroko said that UCS members should not “wait for students to come to them.” UCS has started holding office hours in the Sharpe Refectory, during which UCS members approach

random students and ask them to share their concerns with undergraduate campus life.

When asked about student apathy toward UCS, Rebecca DeSa ’09.5 called the low awareness of students “kind of troublesome.” DeSa said students remain largely apathetic because UCS doesn’t deal with “pressingenough problems” for students to get concerned about.

“A salad bar is not going to make or break your time here,” DeSa said, referring to the UCS initiative that brought the salad bar to Josiah’s in 2008.

Liz Livingstone ’10 agreed, saying, “The things UCS has done are good ... but they don’t have a huge bulk of substantive projects.”

Despite some people’s apathy, Holownia said he is optimistic about student awareness of UCS. “I don’t want you to think we’re taking it lightly,” Holownia said.

“But it’s always a process, and we’re very happy the number has gone down since last year.”

The Herald poll was conducted from Nov. 2 through Nov. 4 and has a 3.6 percent margin of error with 95 percent confidence. A total of 687 Brown undergraduates completed the poll, which The Herald administered as a written questionnaire to students in the University Mail Room at J. Walter Wilson during the day and in the Sciences Library at night.

SportsWednesday The Brown Daily Herald

Wednesday, November 11, 2009 | Page 7

M. water polo claims Two losses for w. volleyball Northern championship

By Elisabeth Avallone Sports Staff Writer

By Liza Jones Contributing Writer

The men’s water polo team blew the competition out of the water to win the Northern Division Championship this weekend in Cambridge, Mass., for the first time since 1993. On Saturday, the Bears defeated MIT, 8-6, and the then beat No. 2 seed Fordham, 8-7, the following day.

Against MIT, Svetozar Stefanovic ’13 and Ryan Gladych ’13 led the offense, combining for five of the team’s eight goals. Stefanovic scored three and Gladych scored two. Brandon Yoshimura ’11, Gordon Hood ’11 and Corey Schwartz ’11 each contributed one goal.

After only eight minutes of play, MIT took a 3-2 lead, but Brown came back, edging out the Engineers 6-3 in the remaining three quarters. Kent Holland ’10 was the team’s backbone in the goal, raking up nine saves while letting through only six shots. This was Bruno’s fourth victory against MIT this season.

On Sunday, the Bears and the Fordham Rams fought for the title of champion until the ver y end.

Throughout the game, the score fluctuated as both teams took turns in the lead. After eight minutes, Fordham had a 3-2 lead over the Bears, but Brown came back in the next two quarters, outscoring the Rams 5-1.

The Bears entered the fourth quarter with confidence in their 7-4 lead. Fordham fought through the fourth quarter and narrowed Bruno’s

lead to 8-7. The atmosphere grew tense as the Rams called a timeout with just 37 seconds left on the clock.

An important steal by Cyrus Mojdehi ’13 prevented Fordham from tying the score and led Brown to victory.

Hood dominated the offense with five goals. Stefanovic contributed two and Dean Serure ’13 added one more for the Bears.

“We definitely played well as a team,” said Head Coach Felix Mercado. “There were a couple of guys on the team finding their roles (who) stepped up to contribute in ways they haven’t all year this weekend.”

Mercado said he was particularly impressed by the performances of Marcus Gartner ’12 and Mojdehi this weekend, saying they “filled some important roles.” But the games could not have been won without Hood, who Mercado said is “one of the best offensive players in the country,” and Holland, who “played spectacularly in goal.”

Carrying the Northern Division champions title with them, the team will advance to play in the Eastern Championship at MIT on Nov. 20. The Bears will start off by playing Bucknell, a team they beat by only one goal at the beginning of the season.

“Easterns is going to be like a gauntlet,” Mercado said. “If we’re going to win the Eastern Championship, we are going to earn it. We are in many ways an underdog in the competition, but I expect the team to respond well to that pressure and hopefully come out on top.”

W. soccer falls to Bulldogs in last game of season

By Tony Bakshi Sports Staff Writer

The women’s soccer team capped off the season in an all-too-familiar fashion, dropping yet another 1-0 decision to an Ivy League opponent.

The Bears (5-9-1, 2-5-0 Ivy League) fell to the Yale Bulldogs (10-6-0, 5-2-0) on Saturday night. Bruno was trying to play the role of spoiler — the Bulldogs needed a win and a Harvard loss at Columbia to gain a share of the Ivy League Championship. While Harvard ended up getting an overtime win, thus relegating Yale to second place, the Bulldogs still showed off their championshipcaliber level of play during the match against Brown.

Yale forward Becky Brown tallied the game’s only goal in the 12th minute, after a beautiful run through the center of the field by teammate Kristen Forster.

The Bears were unable to get anything going offensively throughout the match.

They were held shotless in the second half and managed only one corner kick over the entire 90-minute span.

Despite the end result, midfielder and co-captain Bridget Ballard ’10 said she was happy with her teammates’ performance.

“I am extremely proud of the effort that everyone put into that game,” Ballard said. “Yale is a great team, and we stuck with and, very often, outplayed them, even when we were down 1-0.”

Melissa Kim ’10, a midfielder who is also a co-captain, agreed.

“We possessed the ball well and had some good chances, but we didn’t get the result we wanted,” she said. “It was definitely frustrating.”

Both seniors also looked back fondly at their last season in a Brown uniform.

“Even though we don’t have a winning record, I think that we had a great season,” Kim said. “We outplayed a lot of teams and things just didn’t go our way.

We worked extremely hard and played really well and it’s unfortunate that our record doesn’t show that.”

The Bears finished the year seventh in the Ivy League standings, ahead of only Cornell. But Ballard looked beyond Bruno’s record when recapping her senior season.

“This team was, without a doubt, the most cohesive team I have ever been on,” she said. “Despite not ending up with the record that we had hoped, I am amazed at the composure, intensity and the attitude we took into every game.”

The volleyball team dropped two games this weekend, after a heartbreaking loss to Dartmouth on Friday night and a less competitive matchup against Harvard the following afternoon. The Bears’ record this season dropped to 5-17 overall and 1-10 in the Ivy League.

“We played really well against Dartmouth, but unfortunately we just didn’t play well as a team on Saturday against Harvard,” said Head Coach Diane Short. “Liz Mueller (’10) came in for us on Friday and did a really nice job, with four kills and four aces. And Megan Toman (’11) has been playing consistently well.”

Dartmouth 3, Brown 2 Though they beat Dartmouth earlier this season, the Bears were less successful this time, battling to a devastating 3-2 loss. Dartmouth improved to 10-11 this season and 6-5 in the Ivy League.

The Bears were off to a good

start in the first set with an early 11-7 lead, but the Big Green fought back to tie the game at 23. Back-toback kills by Brianna Williamson ’11 and Toman pushed Brown to a 25-23 victory, and a 1-0 lead in the match.

Dartmouth retaliated in the following two sets, earning 25-10 and 25-22 victories for a 2-1 lead.

The Bears, now facing a must-win fourth set, stepped it up to tie the match at two. Although the Big Green led the fourth set 13-10, a 6-3 run by the Bears brought them back into the game, tying it at 16.

After fighting point for point for much of the set, the Bears pulled out a 25-19 win, pushing the match into a fifth set. Brown’s momentum diminished in the deciding set, as they fell to Dartmouth, 15-8.

Williamson led the Bears on attack with 15 kills and an additional 19 digs and two assists. Katrina Post ’13 supplemented the effort with 14 kills and eight digs, while Carly Cotton ’13 anchored the defense with a team-high 23 digs. Annika Gliottone ’12 had 40 assists in the setter position, as

well as 13 digs.

Harvard 3, Brown 0 The Bears were less successful the following afternoon, as they fell in three sets to Harvard. Despite a tight first set, the Crimson came out on top by a 25-22 margin and carried the momentum through the rest of the match. Brown was defeated in the second set, 25-14, and 25-17 in the third.

Post and Toman carried the offense with eight kills apiece. Gliottone put up 17 assists and five digs, while co-captain Danielle Vaughan ’11 recorded six kills and a teamhigh three blocks.

Har vard improved to 11-12 overall and 7-5 in the Ivy League.

The Bears will finish out their season in the next week as they play Cornell Friday night, Columbia in the Senior Day matchup on Saturday afternoon and a final match against Yale on Tuesday.

“We have Senior Day this Saturday and I certainly look forward to seeing how the team will play in celebration of the seniors,” Short said.

World & Nation The Brown Daily Herald

Wednesday, November 11, 2009 | Page 8

Obama honors victims at Fort Hood H1N1 flu

prompts legislation

By Peter Slevin The Washington Post

FORT HOOD, TEX. — President Obama told a sea of mourners Tuesday that the lives of 13 people who died at the hands of a gunman here last week affirm the nation’s “core values” in a time of war and selfishness.

“In an age of selfishness, they embody responsibility,” Obama said at a memorial service attended by several thousand soldiers and civilians. “In an era of division, they call upon us to come together. In a time of cynicism, they remind us of who we are as Americans.”

Obama said a “twisted logic” drove the gunman, to open fire inside a Fort Hood medical facility.

“No faith justifies these murderous and craven acts. No just and loving god looks upon them with favor.”

“For what he has done,” Obama said, “we know that the killer will be met with justice — in this world, and the next.”

The accused gunman, Maj. Nidal M. Hasan, was shot four times by civilian police. He is hospitalized in custody and in stable condition.

In front of the dais as Obama spoke were 13 pairs of combat boots, and in front of each pair was a photo of one of the victims.

Relatives of the dead walked down stone stairs, many red-eyed, some gripping one another’s arms. Many wore ribbons.

Obama mentioned each of the dead in turn, saying a word about service and the families left behind.

Pfc. Michael Pearson “could create songs on the spot.” Staff Sgt. Justin DeCrow was “an optimist, a mentor and a loving husband and father.”

“Their lives speak to the strength, the dignity, the decency of those who serve,” Obama said, “and that’s how they will be remembered.”

After the service, Obama and his wife, Michelle, walked along the line of photos of the 12 soldiers and one civilian who died, pausing at each one, and the president placing a commander-in-chief’s coin on each display. Senior officers and family members followed, with the uniformed soldiers giving a final salute before each memorial display.

The president and first lady then went to visit San Antonio’s Darnall Army Medical Center to meet with soldiers wounded in Thursday’s attack. After that visit, the Obamas were to fly back to Washington.

For Obama, the short trip to Texas and his speech offered a chance to convey a measure of gratitude for the military’s sacrifice at a time when the country is fighting two unpopular wars on foreign soil.

By joe markmann The Washington Post

Melina Mara / Washington Post

President Obama spoke to a sea of mourners Tuesday at the memorial service for 13 people who died at the hands of a gunman in Fort Hood, Tex., last week. After the shooting, which also left at least 38 wounded, people gathered to mourn, embrace the living and try to find some peace.

In the audience on the nation’s largest military post were Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry and the state’s two Republican senators. Also present were some of the nation’s senior military brass, including Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, the post commander who also spoke, said the biggest trait the victims had in common was their decision to volunteer to serve their country. He said it is easier to accept casualties on foreign soil, where Fort Hood has lost 545 soldiers in the Iraq and Afghan wars, “but we never expected to pay such a high price at home.”

“It was a kick in the gut,” Army Chief of Staff George W. Casey Jr. said. He said the responses to the shooting have been “uplifting.”

Hours before the memorial service, hundreds of ordinary guests drove slowly through the Fort Hood gates. They said they came to mourn the dead, embrace the living and find a measure of peace for themselves.

Samuel Fleming Jr., who lives in nearby Killeen, said he showed up “to reflect, to mourn with them a little bit today.

“You’re losing people who had their whole lives ahead of them.

They were randomly gunned down,” Fleming, 45, said as he waited in the parking lot of a post bowling alley called Ghost Warrior Lanes.

“That hurts. They were the best of the best.”

A sport-utility vehicle with a yellow Support the Troops sticker parked near a family car with a Tex-

as license plate that said Former POW. A sticker on another vehicle said, “I have a loved one who gave their life for freedom.”

Heather Guerra, 22, drove an hour from Moffat, Texas, and sat on a curb in the bright sun with her infant son Jeremiah on her knees.

She called the sudden attack a “mini9/11” and said her presence Tuesday was “the least I can do.”

“None of the people deserved what they got,” said Guerra, who believes U.S. authorities should have known that Hasan was a potential threat. “There’s just too many red flags. Too many.”

Cheryl Rush, 34 and an Iraq war veteran, arrived four hours before the scheduled start. She is still asking herself why Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, allegedly opened fire, and why here.

“Maybe it is stressful to be a Muslim in this society, but why kill so many people?” Rush asked.

“It was totally unnecessary and it breaks my heart.”

“We go to Iraq, we’re safe and sound, we’re all in one piece, and we have to deal with something like this at our post,” Rush said. “It was totally unexpected.”

Rush and her friend Andrea Nunez, 38, whose husband is a supervisor on Fort Hood’s civilian police force, said they feel a sense of solidarity throughout the heavily military community on the post and nearby.

Both of them said no one could have stopped the rampage before it began. Fleming agreed.

“He snapped. It could happen.

You listen to people cry and complain about doing hurtful things to

other people, it gets to you after a while,” Fleming said in a soft voice.

But the shooting that left 13 dead and more than 38 wounded? That was unpredictable.

“Nobody would think he would take it out on innocent people. They were innocent and he treated them like murderers,” said Fleming, an aspiring youth counselor in Killeen.

“He just lost it.”

Some people arriving on the post Saturday said they came for the soldiers — and also to see Obama, who was greeted with some cheers.

Oscar Hernandez, 55, a retired soldier who brought his camera, was shopping at the Fort Hood PX when the shooting started.

“It shocked us. I guess it’s just a matter of time before somebody snaps,” he said as he hurried to a shuttle bus for the ride to the memorial service, set to take place behind a protective wall of steel containers stacked high. “A lot of the soldiers just bottle up their emotions.”

During the service, Obama said the life’s work of the fallen “is our security, and the freedom that we too often take for granted.”

“Neither this country,” he said, “nor the values that we were founded upon, could exist without men and women like these 13 Americans.

And that is why we must pay tribute to their stories.”

“So we say goodbye to those who now belong to eternity,” Obama said. “We press ahead in pursuit of the peace that guided their service. May God bless the memory of those we lost. And may God bless the United States of America.

After he spoke, a female soldier sang “Amazing Grace.”

www.browndailyherald.com

Against the backdrop of the H1N1 flu pandemic, congressional Democrats are pushing for emergency sick leave legislation and using the crisis to garner support for a wider-ranging bill — both of which they say would help prevent a more rapid spread of the virus by mandating that employers provide workers paid time off.

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., chairing a health subcommittee hearing Tuesday, said that requiring businesses with 15 or more employees to offer seven paid days off a year would end a dangerous choice “between staying healthy and making ends meet.”

But some conservatives argue that Democrats are using a public health crisis as momentum for faulty legislation that would harm businesses by inviting abuse by workers.

“It’s pretty obvious that they’re trying to use the swine flu as a P.R. boost for something they wanted to do anyway and that was not moving forward because of its already existing flaws,” said James Sherk, a fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation.

In addition to championing the Healthy Families Act, which had been pushed unsuccessfully in Congress, Dodd announced that he soon would introduce emergency sick leave legislation focused more specifically on the H1N1 outbreak.

A similar bill was put forward last week in the House by Rep. George Miller, D-Calif.

Dodd’s legislation, which would expire in two years, would provide up to five paid sick days to workers whose employers send them home with a contagious virus.

There is currently no requirement for businesses of any size to provide paid sick leave. The Healthy Families Act would create a broad definition of sick leave and force businesses to pay for an hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked.

In the hearing Tuesday, Dodd presented Desiree Rosado, a Connecticut mother and special education assistant, to bolster his case for the bill. Rosado testified that each of her three young children recently caught the H1N1 flu and she was forced to miss two weeks of work.

“I get no sick pay, so my paycheck for that period was almost nothing,” Rosado said.

Page 9

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

W orld &n ation

wednesday, november 11, 2009

“God intervened.”

— Allen Kamau, leader of Kenyan prayer group, on the fall of a tree limb on a hotel under construction

Vision in Kenyan sky melts away

By Edmund Sanders Los Angeles T imes

From a tree-shaded plateau facing Mount Kenya, the worshippers gaze anxiously at its melting icecap and wonder: Is God dead?

For 7 million Kenyans who rely on the runoff of Africa’s secondhighest peak to survive, evaporating springs and dry riverbeds are making life harder. In the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, reduced melts have contributed to rolling blackouts when rivers fed by the mountain are unable to run hydroelectric plants.

But for those Kenyans who still practice tribal religions and revere Mount Kenya as the home of God, the environmental alterations mean more than a threat to their livelihood. For them, the melting ice and other changes on their mountain have triggered a crisis of faith.

“This is where our God lives, and it is being destroyed,” said Mwangi Njorge, 95, one of those mostly older Kenyans who continue to make sacrifices to the deity they believe resides on Mount Kenya. He worries that the disappearing ice is a sign of God’s fury. “God is very angry, and if things don’t change, I fear he might abandon us forever.”

The 17,057-foot mountain, located along the equator, has lost 92 percent of its glacial cover over the past 100 years, and experts predict the ice will disappear by 2050. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned in a 2007 report that countries such as Kenya will bear

a huge burden of the fallout from rising temperatures and specifically pointed to the vulnerability of mountain environments such as Mount Kenya’s.

The stories of Mount Kenya’s worshippers put a human face on a brewing standoff between developed countries, which are blamed for contributing to most of the world’s climate change through carbon emissions and other pollution, and developing regions, such as Africa, which is seeking $67 billion a year in compensation for the economic and social costs.

Worshippers of the Mount Kenya deity have already incorporated the melting ice into their oral traditions, said Jeffrey Fadiman, a California State University, San Jose, professor who spent months on the majestic landmark collecting the oral histories of local tribes.

“Elders see the glacier melting as a punishment for younger people abandoning and violating their traditions,” Fadiman said.

It’s no surprise that Kenya’s earliest settlers revered the mountain.

Shrouded in mist and covered yearround with a blinding carpet of snow, Mount Kenya inspired awe and legend from every tribe that laid eyes on it. Locals called it Kirinyaga, or “mountain of brightness.”

Scholars date the oral traditions surrounding Mount Kenya back as far as 500 years, when tribes such as the Kikuyu and Meru arrived in the region. Life and worship centered on the mountain. They prayed fac-

Study links plastic to male sexual dysfunction

By Lyndsey Layton The Washington Post

Exposure to high levels of a controversial chemical found in thousands of everyday plastic products appears to cause erectile dysfunction and other sexual problems in men, according to a new study published Wednesday.

The study, funded by the federal government and published in the journal Human Reproduction, is the first to examine the impact of bisphenol a, or BPA, on the reproductive systems of human males. Previous studies have involved mice or rats.

The research comes as government agencies debate the safety of BPA, a compound that is found in thousands of consumer products ranging from dental sealants to canned food linings and that is so ubiquitous, it has been detected in the urine of 93 percent of the U.S. population.

Researchers focused on 634 male workers at four factories in China who were exposed to elevated levels of BPA. They followed the men over five years and compared their sexual health with that of male workers in other Chinese factories where BPA was not present.

The men handling BPA were four times as likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction and seven times as likely

to have difficulty with ejaculation, said De-Kun Li, a scientist at the Kaiser Foundation Research Institute, which conducted the study with funds from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

BPA, which was developed in the 1930s as a synthetic version of estrogen, appears to throw off the hormonal balance in the human body, Li said.

The workers studied did not have to spend years in the factory to develop problems; sexual dysfunction began in new workers after just months on the job, Li said.

The workers had levels of exposure to BPA that were 50 times what an average U.S. man faces. But the findings raise questions about whether exposure at lesser levels can affect sexual function, Li said.

“This was a highly exposed group, and we see the effect,” he said. “Now, we have to worry about lower-level exposure.”

Li said the study is significant because chemical manufacturers and other defenders of BPA have long complained that research raising questions about its health effects was conducted on laboratory animals.

“Critics dismissed all the animal studies, saying, ‘Show us the human studies,’” Li said. “Now we have a human study, and this can’t just be dismissed.”

ing Mount Kenya and oriented their homes toward the peak. Sacrificial animals were positioned to face the mountain before slaughter.

Over the years, the extinct volcano has remained at the center of the country’s history. Mau Mau rebels hid in its forests during the fight for independence from British colonialists. Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya’s first president, titled his autobiography “Facing Mt. Kenya.”

“It was so white, so beautiful, you could see it from everywhere,” Njorge said.

Global warming is widely believed to be contributing to Mount Kenya’s melting ice. But part of the mountain’s environmental transformation is brought on by local activities, experts say.

Lush green forests have been chopped down. Development — of marijuana farms, of pastures for cattle, and for tourism — has taken a toll.

Environmental activist Fredrick Njau said logging, paper production, charcoal-making and other commercial exploitation ran amok during the presidency of Daniel Arap Moi, when government leaders gave their friends and allies a free hand in profiting from Kenya’s forests.

“The government really shot itself in the foot,” said Njau, project coordinator for the Nairobi-based Green Belt Movement.

Although how much of Mount Kenya’s forest cover was lost is unclear, a 1999 Kenya Wildlife Service survey observed nearly 20,000 acres

Edmund Sanders / Los Angeles Times

Worshipers at a shrine in Muranga pray facing Mt. Kenya during a ceremony to ask for rain. They also sacrificed a goat. The 17,057-foot mountain has lost 92 percent of its glacier cover over the last 100 years.

of freshly logged terrain. Today around the base of Mount Kenya, stumps are nearly as common as trees.

To traditional worshippers, the ultimate affront came a decade ago when a politically connected developer started building a lodge on the grounds of the shrine.

“God intervened,” said Allen Kamau, leader of a prayer group that gathers regularly at the shrine. In the middle of construction, a giant tree limb fell on the hotel and devel-

opers abandoned the project.

“It would seem that God didn’t want this building,” Kamau said with a smile.

The fallen tree limb is only part of God’s recent retributions, Kamau said. He and others in his group blame most of Kenya’s problems — including a devastating drought and the 2008 post-election clashes that killed more than 1,000 people — on the abandonment of the traditional Mount Kenya religions and destruction of the mountain.

AMA urges marijuana re-classification

By John Hoeffel Los Angeles T imes

The American Medical Association on Tuesday urged the federal government to reconsider its classification of marijuana as a dangerous drug with no accepted medical use, a significant shift that adds the prestigious group’s voice to calls for more research.

The nation’s largest physicians organization, with about 250,000 member doctors, has maintained since 1997 that marijuana should remain a Schedule I controlled substance, the most restrictive category, which also includes heroin and LSD. In changing its policy, the organization said its goal was to clear the way to conduct clinical research, develop cannabis-based medicines and devise alternative methods to deliver the drug.

“Despite more than 30 years of clinical research, only a small number of randomized, controlled trials have been conducted on smoked cannabis,” said Dr. Edward Langston, an AMA board member, noting that the limited number of studies were “insufficient to satisfy the current standards for a prescription drug product.”

The decision by the organization’s delegates at a meeting in Houston marks another step in the evolving view of marijuana,

which an AMA report notes was once linked by the federal government to homicidal mania. Since California voters approved the use of medical marijuana in 1996, marijuana has moved steadily into the cultural mainstream spurred by the growing awareness that it has some beneficial effects for chronically ill people.

This year, the Obama administration sped up that drift when it ordered federal narcotics agents not to arrest medical marijuana users and providers who follow state laws.

Polls show broadening support for marijuana legalization.

Thirteen states allow the use of medical marijuana, and about a dozen more have considered it this year.

The AMA, however, also adopted as part of its new policy a sentence that admonishes: “This should not be viewed as an endorsement of state-based medical cannabis programs, the legalization of marijuana, or that scientific evidence on the therapeutic use of cannabis meets the current standards for a prescription drug product.”

Nevertheless, marijuana advocates welcomed the development.

“They’re clearly taking an openminded stance and acknowledging that the evidence warrants a review. That is very big,” said Bruce Mirken, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project. “It’s

not surprising that they are moving cautiously and one step at a time, but this is still a very significant change.”

Advocates also noted that the AMA rejected an amendment that they said would undercut the medical marijuana movement. The measure would have made it AMA’s policy that “smoking is an inherently unsafe delivery method for any therapeutic agent, and therefore smoked marijuana should not be recommended for medical use.”

Dr. Michael M. Miller, a psychiatrist who practices addiction medicine, proposed the amendment.

“Smoking is a bad deliver y system because you’re combusting something and inhaling it,” he said.

Reaction from the federal government was muted.

Dawn Dearden, a spokeswoman for the Drug Enforcement Administration, said, “At this point, it’s still a Schedule I drug, and we’re going to treat it as such.”

The Food and Drug Administration declined to comment.

In a statement, the office of the White House drug czar reiterated the administration’s opposition to legalization and said it would defer to “the FDA’s judgment that the raw marijuana plant cannot meet the standards for identity, strength, quality, purity, packaging and labeling required of medicine.”

Editorial & Letters The Brown Daily Herald

Page 10 | Wednesday, November 11, 2009

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

U. should welcome ROTC To the Editor: After reading Friday’s article (“Herald Poll: Students more satisfied with advising,” Nov. 6) concerning the results of the recently conducted BDH survey of Brown students, I was disappointed with the choice of title.

While student opinion of academic advising is important, I thought the poll results addressed a far more relevant problem that Brown needs to rectify — its lack of a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. It would have been more appropriate if The Herald had emphasized this issue with an article heading such as: “Herald Poll: Students want Brown to reinstate ROTC on campus.”

As quoted in the article, “a plurality of students support reinstating the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at the University.” This is a big ideological shift among the Brown student body from 1971, when ROTC was booted off College Hill due to Vietnam War opposition. However, the new outlook is not unexpected.

Brown students see the value in military officers graduating with an Ivy League degree, as such an education will have positive implications on future U.S. military policy.

Indeed, President Obama agrees that ROTC should not be banned from any campus, as he stated during a visit to Columbia University, and I think it is high time for the faculty and administrators of Brown to come to this realization as well.

Though Brunonians can participate in ROTC through Providence College, zero currently do so. Such a statistic is pitiful, and with the University’s commitment to increasing campus diversity, I would hope Brown might look for ways to add ROTC cadets to the student population.

The status quo, where cadets must transport themselves to PC for 6 a.m. training and where hours of military classes go unrecognized

by Brown, is unattractive to ROTC candidates. If Brown does not wish to reinstall an ROTC department, I recommend, at the very least, it lure greater numbers of ROTC cadets to campus by awarding course credit for ROTC classes and offering a shuttle service to Providence College. Brown students have opined and the ball is in the University’s court to fix its dismal ROTC program.

Keith DellaGrotta ’10 Nov. 10

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richard stein and paul tran

e d i to r i a l

Grad students and the Corporation Last week the New England Association of Schools and Colleges released a detailed report on the University as part of Brown’s decennial re-accreditation process. We passed. But for Brown, the review’s main purpose was to solicit feedback from leaders at peer schools on how the University might make further improvements.

The authors of the report, 10 administrators and faculty from other colleges, visited Brown last April to talk with students, faculty, Corporation members and top administrators about all aspects of campus life. We encourage students and faculty to read the report for an outside perspective on the University that deserves serious consideration.

The report included equal measures of praise and criticism. The praise ranged from faint (“Brown may be the best among its peers in scheduling classes five full days a week”) to hyperbolic (“The plan to renovate Faunce House to create a campus center will further enrich community life and create a central community village that assures intergenerational and intercultural interaction”). The recommendations were generally more informative.

Some of them, like the suggestion that administrators reflect on how well Brown is meeting the needs of students from poorly resourced high schools were hopelessly vague. Others, like the push for upgraded library services and a new graduate student lounge, gave short shrift to Brown’s status as a “less wellresourced” school. But one recommendation struck us as exceedingly reasonable. We believe that the University should work to increase the number of Graduate School alumni serving as members of the Corporation.

Increased Graduate School representation could be achieved in several ways, including appointment by current Corporation members, election by Brown alums to a term as a trustee or, failing that, a designated spot similar to the recently created young alumni trustee position, but without the age restriction.

As Brown continues its transition from a college to a leading research university, the importance of Grad School alumni Corporation members becomes increasingly obvious. The University can improve on its graduate programs faster by getting direct feedback from someone who spent five years there and who is currently involved in academia. Many have noted that Brown’s lagging place in the U.S. News and World Report college rankings owes in large part to its relatively less developed graduate programs. Giving Grad School alums a larger role in University decision-making would be a good first step in reversing this trend.

Equally important, an increased presence on the Corporation would give graduate students a greater sense of involvement with the campus. According to the NEASC report, some graduate students said that the University “considers them far less important than undergraduate students and is not sufficiently focused on the role that graduate programs play in advancing the institution’s research agenda.” Graduate students should not be made to feel like second-class Brunonians. Corporation spots would increase their say, and with it, their connection to College Hill.

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

Wednesday, November 11, 2009 | Page 11

The good, the bad and the stressful ADRIENNE LANGLOIS Opinions Columnist If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’re pretty happy you’re at Brown. After a tense year in which Brown was bumped to number two, our university has regained its place as the happiest school in the Princeton Review rankings.

Of course, if you’re reading this, you may not be at your happiest at this particular moment in the semester. That extra hour of sleep you may have gotten over Daylight Savings Time has probably been thrown to the winds with the second round of midterm essays and exams. With Thanksgiving still several midterms away, the semester can look pretty bleak.

For me, this seeming paradox makes sense. It’s not a surprise that Brown continually tops the Princeton Review ratings and that so many of its students rave about their experiences during and after their time here.

Alums from Richard Holbrooke ’62 to Sam Benjamin Stern ’99 (the author of “Confessions of an Ivy League Pornographer”) are grateful for the experiences and knowledge they gained here.

Personally, I would unabashedly characterize my last three years at Brown as overwhelmingly happy. I’ve made good use of the Open Curriculum by pursuing a wide variety of humanities-related subjects. I’ve attended events for and participated in a good num-

ber of Brown’s student-run organizations.

Yet there are times where my enthusiasm for my undergraduate institution wanes in the face of work and I would rather be home in bed, reading some sort of thoroughly nonacademic magazine (or better yet, asleep).

The reason? An unfortunate truth: The best things about our University can also be the worst. All that freedom which we hold so dear can actually drive a person crazy, if he or she lets it happen. Surrounded by brilliant classmates and professors and a wealth

Brown’s smorgasbord of student groups can provide an equally frustrating catch-22.

If you’re like me and you’ve made the mistake of continuing to attend the biannual activities fairs, you know how great the temptation to add yourself to a few more listservs can be. Somehow, nonacademic activities in college manage to consume just as much time, if not more, than classes; students staying late in the SciLi are just as likely to be preparing an event for their favorite group as writing an essay or reviewing for an exam.

Taking a night off from homework after a week of midterms doesn’t make you a bad student — it makes you a smart one. of extracurricular activities, it’s possible to lose track of one’s threshold for work and spiral out of control.

Sure, the Open Curriculum is a barrel of fun and a relief after a high school career packed with requirements, but it can also be treacherous. I know more than one person who spent their first year at Brown taking classes in entirely unrelated departments and had a difficult time picking a concentration come sophomore year. Even those less confused about the direction of their academic careers can find themselves similarly stumped when it comes time to register for classes.

Moreover, no one is there to connect stressed-out students to the resources the University provides for them. Many students (myself included) have put off meeting with a concentration adviser to discuss changes in plans, probably because they feel as though they don’t know their assigned faculty member well enough to approach him or her about questions or concerns.

To aid students suffering from academic overload, the University should work to encourage stronger bonds between students and advisers by requiring meetings after students have declared concentrations. This would make students more likely to forge a

stronger relationship with their advisers and seek help throughout their college careers.

Of course, any changes the University may make to the advising system will take time to implement, and there’s nothing the administration can do (or should do) about the presence of so many interesting and alluring student groups. Thus, it’s important for all students to take the initiative to balance their lives.

Balance means learning to say no to commitments, which can be a hard lesson for many of us who got to Brown by what many term overachieving. But taking a night off from homework after a week of midterms doesn’t make you a bad student — it makes you a smart one. And it’s not a sign of weakness to call Psych Services, take time off or even transfer out of Brown if that’s really what you need to do. Ultimately, your sanity is more important than any or all of the above.

So, if you’re reading this, regardless of how you’re feeling or how much work you have right now, take some time to yourself to regroup and recoup any lost brain cells.

Check in with an adviser about your upcoming classes, whether you think you really need to or not. Decline to take on that extra commitment for your favorite student organization. And remember that it’s okay not to love every moment of the college experience.

Adrienne Langlois ’10 copes with midterm stress by banging her head against the wall in the Rock carrels.

Do you know what today is?

Alyssa Ratledge Opinions Editor Last month, the debate over renaming Columbus Day “Fall Weekend” captured the community’s attention for the second year in a row. I have little doubt that next year, we’ll see all the same people saying all the same things yet again. Protests and debate on campus and off proved that it will be a long time before people get over the change in name.

By contrast, I suspect that the University’s observance of Veterans Day — or lack thereof — will result in precisely nothing. No letters to the editor, no protests, and no Fox News coverage of the fact that Brown does not recognize a federal holiday observed in every state across the country.

In fact, unless they notice the ceremony on Lincoln Field on the way to their 1 p.m. classes, most students will likely go about their Wednesdays without reflecting for even a moment on the significance of Veterans Day. Some may not realize that today, Nov. 11, is Veterans Day at all.

My first year at Brown, I simply assumed that Veterans Day was a day off from classes, as it had been my entire life. I went to the small, sparsely attended ceremony on the Main Green and reflected on the sacrifices made by America’s veterans, including several members of my family. When I returned to my room, solemn and contemplative, I found an e-mail from a friend in one of my classes asking after my absence. Apparently,

I had missed a great lecture that morning.

Imagine my surprise: Columbus Day, which had never in my K-12 career been a holiday from school, merits time off more than Veterans Day does. Columbus Day, which had been celebrated at my elementary school with the same reverence with which we celebrated Arbor Day, is more important to the University than Veterans Day. Rather than reserving the day for reflection and tribute, students have classes, work, pa-

holiday during the fall semester, and Columbus Day won out.

No matter the reason, the decision not to recognize Veterans Day officially not only does a huge disservice to Brown’s veterans, current and past, but to the rest of the Brown community as well. The University has a proud history of military service: Brown students, staff and faculty have served in every war and military conflict since the American Revolution. There are numerous landmarks

Unless they notice the ceremony on Lincoln Field on the way to their 1 p.m. classes, most students will likely go about their Wednesdays without reflecting for even a moment on the significance of Veterans Day. per deadlines, office hours and all the rest. It is a day like any other. But it shouldn’t be.

I don’t know why the University doesn’t cancel classes on Veterans Day, as most universities do. Perhaps it has to do with Brown’s current wariness of the armed services, manifested in the ban on military recruiters and ROTC from campus since the Vietnam War (though ostensibly due to the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy now). Perhaps it has to do with the politics of many students and professors, who do not support the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, or war in general.

Perhaps it is a simple calendar matter: the University could afford only one additional

around campus, from Soldiers Arch to the plaques in Patriot’s Court, commemorating those who gave their lives for the country.

The current faculty, staff, undergraduates and graduate students who have served in the armed forces will undoubtedly be reflecting on their service today, will be taking the time to honor those killed in the line of duty. Why doesn’t the University choose to join them?

Chaney Harrison ’11, president of the Brown Student Veterans Society, said that the University’s choice not to observe Veterans Day makes it difficult for his group to plan the sort of event needed to commemo-

rate the day properly. Since University policy forbids amplified sound on the Main Green during class hours, the Student Veterans Society is limited to the 12:00-12:50 time slot on Lincoln Field to hold the ceremony.

Due to scheduling constraints of the keynote speaker, Senator Jack Reed, D-R.I., the event will begin at 12:30 p.m., leaving the group exactly 20 minutes to complete the entire ceremony. That’s holding a procession from the flagpole to Soldiers Arch, offering a prayer, hearing from President Ruth Simmons, Senator Reed and other speakers and dedicating the wreaths, all in 20 minutes. It hardly seems sufficient to honor the sacrifices veterans have made in the name of our country.

Even if the University refuses to give a full holiday for Veterans Day, they should make it more of a priority. Chaney hopes that next year, the University will set aside classes and operations a few hours, during which the entire campus can join in a ceremony. In 1993, on the 75th anniversary of Soldiers Arch, the bell in University Hall rang 243 times — once for every Brown veteran killed in 20th century armed conflicts. In comparison, allowing a few hours, officially recognized, for a ceremony seems a small gesture.

Veterans Day is meant to be a day to remember. Why does it seem that almost everyone at Brown has forgotten it?

Alyssa Ratledge ’11 is a public policy concentrator from Mesa, Ariz., where everyone observes Veterans Day, and no one observes Columbus Day — er, Fall Weekend.

Today The Brown Daily Herald

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A good-enough health care bill

Men’s water polo wins Northerns

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5

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c a l e n da r Today, november 11

thursday, november 12

12:30 pm — Veterans Day Ceremony, Main Green

6 PM — 20th Anniversary of Spike Lee’s “Do The Right Thing,” Rites and Reason Theater

6:30 pm — “Making the Truth Truthful: Turning Science Into Storytelling,” A Lecture By David Shenk ’88, SmithBuonanno Hall 106

comics Cabernet Voltaire | Abe Pressman

8 pm — Brownbrokers Presents: “Leavittsburg, Ohio,” Stuart Theatre

menu Sharpe Refectory

Verney-Woolley Dining Hall

Lunch — Cornish Pasty, Vegan Tempeh Fajita, Barley Pilaf

Lunch — Beef and Broccoli Szechwan, Bruscetta Mozzarella, Edamame Beans with Tri-Color Peppers

Dot Comic | Eshan Mitra and Brendan Hainline

Dinner — Paella, Wisconsin Ziti with Four Cheeses, Red Rice

to m o r r o w

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54 / 37

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

t h e n e w s i n i m ag e s

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to day

Dinner — Hot Dogs in Beer, Barbeque Corn, Vegan Tofu Pups

crossword Classic Deo | Daniel Perez

Classic How To Get Down | Nate Saunders

Classic Freeze-Dried Puppies | Cara FitzGibbon

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