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vol. cxlvi, no. 24
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Since 1891
Renowned physicist untangles string theory DPS to up presence in Jewelry District
“Our universe may not be the only universe,” Brian Greene told avid fans, physicists and even humanities concentrators last night. The idea that our universe is the only one is giving way to the possibility of a multiverse, or multiple universes. This universe may be a tiny speck in an infinite space containing other realities. Greene, a professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia, has written several bestselling books that use humor, analogies and visualizations to untangle complicated concepts like string theory for the general reader. Greene accomplished the same feat in last night’s lecture, walking the audience through the Big Bang theory
Faculty approves tenure changes By Shefali Luthra Senior Staff Writer
Faculty members voted to approve tenure-related revisions to the Faculty Rules and Regulations at the faculty meeting yesterday. They also approved a proposal to create a master’s program in clinical and translational research, as well as a motion to establish a formal literary arts department. Both motions will go before the Corporation’s Board of Fellows at the next Corporation meeting in May. The tenure revisions were grouped in three separate motions, with the first two pertaining to changes to the Faculty Rules and Regulations approved at the December faculty meeting. The third motion introduced the final set of revisions to the tenure process, concluding a series of amendments that began last spring. The first motion, which passed 88 to 10 with two abstaining, changed language in the Faculty Rules and Regulations based on the motions passed in December. While the faculty had approved the changes in spirit, they had not yet approved the actual wording of the rules until yesterday. The second motion, which passed 112 to nine with two ab-
inside
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news...................2-5 editorial..............6 Opinions...............7
and string theory in just over an hour. Several students in the audience, both science concentrators and those from other disciplines, said Greene did an excellent job making the material accessible, interesting and easily understandable. Greene said he believes communicating science is important because “without having a general public that is willing and able to engage in science, you can’t ultimately have a democracy.” “Think of a deck of cards,” Greene told the audience. If the deck is shuffled, the cards come out in different orders. But there are a finite number of different orders, which means if the deck is shuffled enough times, then sooner or later,
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By Lucy Feldman Contributing Writer
the funds of other University initiatives, said Ralanda Nelson ’12, student activities chair for UCS. Steven King ’91, vice president for University Advancement, did not respond to a request for comment. The student activities fee — which has been on the rise in recent years — is allocated by the UFB to fund student groups and activities. Ryan Lester ’11 set the project in motion two years ago while
The Department of Public Safety will increase its presence in the Jewelry District later this year with a substation and six additional officers to accommodate the new Medical Education Building. The building will open July 15 at 222 Richmond St. The additional police presence will cost about $400,000 and raise the total number of sworn DPS police officers from 30 to 36. The substation will be housed in a building currently undergoing renovation on the corner of Elm and Eddy streets, on the same block as the Med Ed Building. The University Resources Committee recommended adding six officers to the area in its report released Feb. 12. “We were really pleased that this is one of the initiatives that came through,” said Russell Carey ’91 MA’06, senior vice president for Corporation affairs and governance. “We will be patrolling much more often and proactively in that area than we can with current staffing today,” he said, adding that five candidates for the positions are graduating from police academy in May and
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Nick Sinnott-Armstrong / Herald
String theorist Brian Greene spoke last night to a full audience in MacMillan 117.
Student activities endowment stagnant By David Chung Senior Staff Writer
Two years after President Ruth Simmons donated $100,000 to jump-start a student activities endowment, no further contributions have been made towards its $20 million goal. Though no gifts have come in, Simmons said she has spoken to potential donors about the project. “I think the attention that needs to be brought is that it is a fund to which people can donate,” she said. In 2009, Stefan Smith ’09, then-
vice chair of the Undergraduate Finance Board, told The Herald he did not expect the project would reach its ultimate goal “any time soon.” Simmons’ donation met the endowment’s initial goal, but the committee and the Undergraduate Council of Students set an eventual target of $17 million to $21 million for the project, which would eliminate the mandatory $178 student activities fee for all undergraduates. UCS plans to gain donor support without adversely affecting
squirrels gone wild
Shawki MA’77: Egypt’s future ‘a whole new world’ By Katherine Sola Senior Staff Writer
Courtesy of Julia Thompson
Squirrels, like the one seen above in a Jameson House dorm room, have been known to enter University buildings through open windows. See full coverage on page 3.
Paying up
The University plans to raise on-campus parking fees Campus News, 8
When Ahmed Shawki MA ’77 took his 37-year-old nephew to a protest in Cairo at the onset of the Egyptian revolution, his sister chastised him for endangering her son. But following a battle between protestors and government forces for control of Tahrir Square, she began exhorting her son to put himself in the line of danger to bring medical supplies to wounded protestors. Shawki — speaking to an audience of about 150 in Barus and Holley 168 last night — cited his experience as an indicator of the newfound dignity and political consciousness of the Egyptian people since they rose up and overthrew the 30-year dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak earlier this year. “We have entered a whole new world,” Shawki said of the revo-
Senioritis
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Opinions, 7
weather
By Natalie Villacorta Senior Staff Writer
lution’s repercussions across the region. He described a paradigm shift in the political consciousness of Egyptians and in Americans’ views of Arabs over the past month. Shawki said Mubarak’s previously reliable tactics for controlling the Egyptian populace ceased being effective in the face of protests of unprecedented size. The police did not expect tens of thousands of protestors to come to Tahrir Square Jan. 25 and were unable to repress such a large crowd. After Mubarak withdrew police from Cairo and Alexandria in the hopes of plunging the cities into chaos, the move simply “regenerated organization of a different type” in the form of civilian neighborhood watches, he said. “Egypt, the country, is rising,” Shawki said. He described the elation of “a sea of humanity demandcontinued on page 2
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The Brown Daily Herald Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Egypt talk lauds Arab uprisings continued from page 1 ing the end of a regime and actually achieving it.” Shawki, who was in Egypt as the protests came to a head, said he observed Egyptians “beginning to feel that they matter” and that with this newfound dignity came the impulse to act. Before the talk, Shawki told the The Herald that growing self-respect also accounts for the peaceful nature of the protests. Stories abounded of Christians protecting Muslims at prayer, whereas reports of sexual misconduct during the unrest were virtually absent. “When people are stepped on and have no self-dignity, they can step on the person immediately underneath them,” he told The Herald. It makes sense that a democratic movement “took up the rights of other oppressed groups,” he said. Touching on American views of the Middle East, Shawki told the audience recent events challenged old stereotypes. “Islamophobia has taken a most severe blow,” he said, and Americans who believed that Arabs were not ready for democracy have been forced to reconsider their assumptions. He said he hoped the revolution would reduce “all the shit” directed at Arabs and Muslims in America. “But I don’t think it will,” he added. “The lid has been taken off American foreign policy,” Shawki said, adding that many Arabs were surprised that Western powers “stood
Anna Gaissert / Herald
“Egypt, the country, is rising,” Ahmed Shawki MA ’77 told an audience at Barus & Holley last night.
by and defended the old regimes” despite self-avowed support of democracy. But Egyptians also recognize that, while American foreign policy may have been pro-Mubarak, the American people supported the uprising. In the same vein, American reporters distinguished between the actions of violent government thugs and those of peaceful protestors. Shawki also described the vast economic inequality that proliferated during Mubarak’s rule. He hailed the uprising as a workingclass movement, saying the “real politics of socialism are making themselves relevant again to a whole new generation.” During the question and answer session, Dia Barghouti ’12 said that “this is the first time that a corrupt post-colonial government has been overthrown, and may it happen in the entire Middle East.” An older American woman wearing Islamic dress, who said she had married a poor Egyptian man and spent the past 13 years living in Cairo, criticized Shawki, saying he was ignoring the human costs of the revolution. She challenged
the assertion that poor Egyptians uniformly opposed Mubarak, adding that her sister-in-law, who lives on $30 a month, called her crying during the uprising, saying “Wendy, why are they doing this? We love (Mubarak).” “Now we don’t have security in the region,” she said. “Women (are) being raped in broad daylight in Tahrir square.” Shawki warned against prioritizing stability over justice, saying that Italians appreciated Mussolini because he made the trains run on time. Though not all Mubarak supporters are thugs, the popular nature of his overthrow is “absolutely undeniable,” he said. Shawki reminded the audience that the “end of Mubarak does not mean the end of the regime,” because the grievances that fuelled the revolt have not been resolved. There is a “flowering” of new movements, but it remains unclear what the new Egyptian state will look like, he said. Still, he added, “What Tunisia and Egypt have done is indelible in the memories of those who have witnessed it.”
Facilities: Pests pose no problem By Anna Lillkung Staff Writer
Katherine Pleet ’12 was sitting in her first-floor Barbour Hall kitchen at the beginning of her sophomore year when she saw a mouse run across the floor. She called a friend for help, but the mouse was nowhere to be found that evening. Some days later, the mouse was spotted again, and this time Pleet contacted the Department of Facilities Management. Facilities workers soon arrived and set up traps, after which Pleet’s pest problems were a thing of the past.
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“Facilities was very prompt,” she said. Facilities receives about 10 reports of mice in University buildings every year. This year, it has received three reports of squirrels, two reports of cockroaches and one report of a skunk, according to Carlos Fernandez, assistant vice president of facilities operations and engineering. Jill Pandiscio ’14, who lives on Keeney Quadrangle, has not yet seen any mice herself but said she has heard noises that indicate a creature is living in her walls. Pandiscio said
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Facilities has set up traps, but nothing has been caught so far. James Amen ’12 also said he saw a rodent in his room on the second floor of Olney House last year. It did not perturb him — though it ate some cookies that were under his bed — and so he did not take any action to get rid of it, though he sighted rodents on multiple later occasions. Pests such as squirrels or mice often enter rooms through open windows or doors, Fernandez said. If Facilities is notified of an incident by phone or through an online service request, it follows a pest control management plan and Custodial Services staff responds quickly, he said. Facilities has a 24-hour hotline that students can use to report pests. Fernandez wrote in an e-mail to The Herald that there have not been any significant infestations on campus in his tenure with Facilities. “The Custodial Services staff provide daily cleaning of common spaces,” Fernandez wrote, adding that cleaning is the most effective means of keeping pests away. According to Fernandez, there are no regular checks for mold or bedbugs because Facilities’ regular cleaning practices should sufficiently ward off those organisms.
The Brown Daily Herald Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Campus News 3
Physicist elucidates string theory, multiverse continued from page 1 the order of the cards has to repeat. Similarly, if space goes on infinitely far, then there are infinitely many regions like ours — just as with the deck of cards, sooner or later the particle order has to repeat. We are all just a particular arrangement of particles, Greene continued. So if this arrangement repeats, “that means there are copies of you and me and the Earth and the sun, and everything we know about is happening over and over and over again.” This is the most direct conceptualization of parallel universes. Within the laws of physics, all possible realities are taking place. “Does that mean that in one of those realms, Sarah Palin is president?” Greene said people have asked him. But he said he has to remind them that the realm “must be compatible with the laws of physics.” Greene included many computer simulations throughout the lecture, effectively engaging the audience. MacMillian 117 was briefly transformed into a movie theater as the entire auditorium, filled to capacity, watched an animation of the origin of our universe 14 billions years ago after the Big Bang. But the Big Bang theory leaves out one crucial part, Greene said. It leaves out the “bang.” Greene went on to explain an idea about what created the bang — dark energy that gives rise to repulsive gravity that can push things apart. Filling in this gap in the theory creates the possibility of other universes. With the amount of dark energy measured by scientists, at least 100 to the 124th power other universes must exist. “It made one feel small,” said Maya Wei ’13 about Greene’s lecture, hosted by the Brown Lecture Board. Other students who
attended expressed similar feelings. “He changed my perspective of the world,” Alan Shan ’14 said. Greene also tackled string theory, which seeks to unify theories of matter, forces and relativity. The conventional idea is that everything is made up of molecules, which consist of atoms that are made up of electrons, protons and neutrons. The idea stops at the level of quarks, but string theory proposes that inside these particles are tiny, string-like, vibrating strands of energy. The mathematics behind this theory require 10, rather than three, dimensions of space. Greene discussed the possibility of other dimensions, which are “curled up” too tightly to be observed. These extra dimensions all have their own shape, and there are up to 100 to the 500th power potential shapes. The immense number of shapes profoundly affect the multitude of universes composing the multiverse. Before the lecture, Greene told The Herald an understanding of string theory is relevant to nonscientists just as Beethoven’s “Fifth Symphony” or the Mona Lisa is relevant to everyone. “Even if you don’t study science, the ideas can really transport you,” he said. Catherine Teitz ’14, a classics concentrator, said the lecture inspired her to pursue science. “This reminded me that pursuing the scientific aspects of study, even within the humanities, is essential to a fuller understanding of any field.” Greene ended his lecture by challenging the audience to think about “the possibility that our universe is like a single grain of sand on this huge beach of universes.” He concluded with a sense of wonder — “That upheaval in our understanding of reality would be spectacular, and frankly, I can’t imagine really anything more thrilling than that.”
Evan Thomas / Herald
Symposium specializes in an eclectic mix of genres but is not a major competitor to the Brown Bookstore.
Brown Bookstore: Symposium not a threat By Kristina Klara Staff Writer
Three months after its opening, Symposium Books on Thayer St. has not brought the heat of increased competition to the Brown Bookstore, according to Steven Souza, director of Bookstore administration. Though the stores are separated by only a block, “Symposium is in a different world,” Souza said. Symposium, which opened Nov. 26, specializes in overstock and remainder titles and offers discounts significantly below retail prices. The store caters to a different population of buyers, Souza said. They are “trying to find a niche, and they do it well,” he said. Symposium deals mostly with overstock from well-known publishers, said Terry St. Amant, manager of the Thayer location of Symposium. The store has what St. Amant described as a “weird mixture” of books, including sections devoted to graphic novels, literature, architecture and philosophy. It is a place where customers should explore rather than come in with a specific idea in their heads, she said. Symposium does not currently carry textbooks at the Thayer location, but it does carry a selection of
new releases, St. Amant said. A brief survey of the titles on display at both stores reveals little overlap. But some of the books the stores had in common were marked down at the Brown Bookstore. Symposium priced “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” at $11.98. At the Brown Bookstore, the book was originally $14.95 and is now marked down 20 percent to $11.96. Another common title, “The Autobiography of Mark Twain,” priced at $29.70 at Symposium Books, was discounted 30 percent at the Brown Bookstore to $24.46. “Symposium is a competitor, but not one that has affected our business too much so far,” Souza said. While Symposium specializes in books that have been significantly marked down after their initial runs, “we believe that the people we deal with — the faculty and students — are passionate (enough) about their subjects that they’re going to buy (books) at the front end,” he said. While the Brown Bookstore also buys overstocked books, Symposium does so to a greater extent,
Souza said. Both Souza and St. Amant said competition between the two stores appears minimal. St. Amant said she has even directed customers to the Brown Bookstore when Symposium does not carry a requested title. “I’ve sent a few people over there if we don’t have something they’re looking for,” St. Amant said. “If you’re looking for a specific title, we might not have it, but it’s the kind of bookstore you want to spend an hour in poking around.” “The Internet is a much bigger competitor than Symposium,” Souza said, adding that the store recently began to offer rental textbooks to compete with cheaper online alternatives. Souza said he would be shocked if they faced additional competition from Symposium selling textbooks. St. Amant said she thought the owners of Symposium would be “more than willing” to carry textbooks at the Thayer location, but there is not much space. Symposium does sell used textbooks at its location on Westminster St. near the Rhode Island School of Design.
4 Campus News
The Brown Daily Herald Wednesday, March 2, 2011
UCS seeks funds for student activities
News in brief
38 Juniors elected to Phi Beta Kappa Thirty-eight juniors were elected to the Rhode Island Alpha of Phi Beta Kappa Feb. 16. The honor society, founded in Williamsburg, Virginia in 1776, is the oldest and most prestigious academic honor organization in the nation. Of the more than 3,500 institutions of higher learning in the United States, only 270 have been authorized to house chapters of Phi Beta Kappa. The Brown chapter, the Rhode Island Alpha, was founded in 1830. It is the seventh oldest chapter in the country.
continued from page 1 serving as student activities chair. He said he researched similar endowments at Georgetown University and other institutions, as well as the Brown athletic endowment, to learn how endowment programs function. The Student Activities Committee set out to raise $100,000 by June 2009. When the committee members presented the idea to Simmons, she received it favorably and personally donated the initial $100,000, Lester said. “It is terrific if you could have an endowment that really provides these kinds of funds to reduce the possibility of fees continuing to rise,” Simmons said. Following Simmons’ donation, the Student Activities Committee has been working to attract more donors for the endowment. The committee published a pamphlet to inform potential contributors about student activities and is working with the Office of Development to identify donors. She said she hopes to speak to potential donors during Commencement or
Herald file photo
UCS discussed raising student endowment funds at its last meeting.
over the summer because endowing the fund is “definitely a priority for UCS and student groups.” Nelson said the endowment is still in its initial stages, and the Student Activities Committee is trying to determine ways in which students and groups can directly benefit from the funds. For now,
the committee is working to maintain the student activities fee — which has not changed from last year — at its current level. But Simmons said she believes the endowment has the potential to be attractive to donors. “The broader the perspectives that we have, the better it is for our donor pool,” she said. “I like to say to donors, ‘whatever your interests are, we have something that will captivate those interests.’” But in the interim, she said, “Whatever amount is raised, it still helps the student activities fee.”
Maxwell Ashby Sorakrit Atcharanuwat Zachary Bornstein Maya Bretzius Fei Cai, a Herald staff writer Norian Caporale-Berkowitz Innessa Colaiacovo Lauren Comisar Jennifer Conti Anna Costello Wenhao Fang Eric Gruebel Olivia Harding Reuben Henriques Liam Hynes MariaLisa Itzoe Brandon Kaufmann Edward Kelting Janine Khraishah
David Koren Rachel Lamb Jiacui Li Heng Lu Benjamin Niedzielski Liana Nisimova Sarah Rutherford Alison Rutsch Eric Sanford Julia Sheehy-Chan Rebecca Soules Thunwa Theerakarn Lingke Wang Caitrin Watson Mengfei Xue Unikora Yang Do Yoon Anqi Zhang Ang Zheng
U. encourages alums to remain in Rhode Island continued from page 8 She said that other students she knows are also “open to the possibility” of staying here after graduation and are willing to “take what they can get.” “It’s win-win for everybody,” Egan said. “It’s a win for the state of Rhode Island. It’s a win for the students to have a young,
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healthy alumni base that attracts a younger, more entrepreneurial and engaged community.” Egan said the association is also working on an iPhone application targeting the state’s 80,000 undergraduate students and a summer immersion program that would provide paid internships to students from each school who would become Bridge ambassadors in their communities. “Bridge is really a communications vehicle,” he said. “Not many graduates stay in Rhode Island. It’s difficult because there are no jobs here,” said Dave Tapalian ’97, who works as a manager at Olives and an attorney in Rhode Island. He said that it was different for him because he was “local” and “knew a lot of people within the state,” adding that he would not have stayed after he graduated if he were not from Rhode Island. “The other day a sixth grade student asked me — ‘Why would you ever stay in Rhode Island?’” said Nick Werle ’10, a teacher at the Wheeler School in Providence. “I didn’t really have anything more compelling to do.” Werle said he considers it a “fake fifth year” of college spent teaching classes rather than taking them and that it made sense because he could network with people here and continue his research. Most of the Brown graduates he knows that remain in the state take up a job that is somehow affiliated with the University, he said. “I plan to move out right after the Campus Dance,” he said. The University could better incentivize students to stay by extending library and Olney-Margolies Athletics Center privileges, he said, “especially after we have just paid four years of tuition.”
The Brown Daily Herald Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Campus News 5
Faculty votes to revise tenure process continued from page 1 staining, encompassed changes that had not been discussed in December but were “consistent” with what faculty members had approved, said Cynthia Garcia Coll, professor of education and chair of the Faculty Executive Committee. The motion said junior faculty members denied tenure after opting for early review would have their contract expiration dates adjusted to provide them just one further year of employment. Candidates denied tenure would also no longer be told who voted for or against them, and tenured faculty not on campus would be able to request access to documents pertaining to ongoing tenure cases. The motion also edited “redundant” language in the Rules and Regulations, according to the rationale enclosed with the meeting’s agenda. One faculty member expressed concern that tenured faculty who are off campus may not know about ongoing tenure cases and would not know to request access to case-related documents. Consequently, the faculty struck “upon request” from the motion, so that such documents will automatically be made available to all off-campus tenured faculty. The final tenure-related motion, which passed 102 to six with three abstaining, adjusted the timeline for annual junior faculty reviews and changed the schedule for both revealing tenure candidates’ decisions and also when junior faculty will be notified of contract renewal. Untenured faculty will now be formally reviewed at the start of their second year, rather than in
the middle of their first year of teaching. But departments will also give junior faculty members an “informal review” before the summer so they can incorporate feedback into their teaching styles, said Provost David Kertzer ’69 P’95 P’98. The University will also have to notify junior faculty members if their contracts will be renewed eight months before four-year contracts expire, and it will have to tell tenure candidates of its decision at least one year before their contracts expire. The motion also recommended that departments submit their formal reviews of junior faculty to the dean of the faculty, who can then suggest revisions to the letter. “Departments may not have experience” in writing these letters, Kertzer said, adding that he has often seen language in such letters that “should not be there.” Brian Evenson, director of the literary arts program, spoke regarding the motion to establish a literary arts department, saying that the program already operates like any other academic department. “It’s just acknowledging a change that has already taken place,” Evenson said. The motion to establish the department passed 103 to six with three abstaining. The vote to approve the master’s degree in clinical and translational research passed unanimously. Faculty members also observed memorial minutes for Thomas Lasater, professor of community health, and Jan Tauc, professor emeritus of engineering and physics. Lasater died Nov. 22 of colon cancer, while Tauc died of heart failure Dec. 28.
Nick Sinnott-Armstrong / Herald
The Department of Public Safety, whose office is pictured above, will add a substation and patrols to the Jewelry District.
DPS to add six officers in Jewelry District continued from page 1 that the department could be close to fully staffed by July 1. According to Carey, DPS would be unable to effectively patrol both main campus and the Jewelry District at current staffing levels. “Now we’ll have 24-hour police patrol, and as part of that, we will establish a police substation, keeping that as a single, self-sufficient team down there,” said Mark Porter, executive director and chief of public safety. “This would be the first substation we’re deploying police officers
to work out of,” he said. “If we expect to have a rapid response, we should place some of the officers at that location.” The substation will be used for meetings with individuals, community policing, equipment storage and writing officer reports, Carey said. “The physical presence enables (officers) to stay in the area, eliminating the trip to headquarters not spent patrolling” he said. The University has had a presence in the Jewelry District for several years with the Alpert Medical School’s Laboratories for Molecular Medicine at 70 Ship St., among other
comics Cloud Buddies! | David Emanuel
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Dot Comic | Eshan Mitra and Brendan Hainline
buildings. In the past, DPS has patrolled and responded to calls in the area, but Carey said the Med Ed Building will bring significantly more members of the Brown community to the neighborhood. The most common crimes in the area are vandalism, graffiti and occasional car break-ins, he said. The University has been planning the process for over a year, Porter said. Carey said the plans were made in consultation with the city, and Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare attended a meeting about the changes last month.
6 Editorial & Letter Editorial A long way to go
Editorial comic
Read one way, the gains the University has made in faculty diversity are remarkable. In less than a decade, the number of racial and ethnic minorities on the faculty has increased by more than 40 percent. But as The Herald reported last month (“Faculty still mostly male, white,” Feb. 10), the lack of diversity within the faculty is still staggering. The University’s recent hires make up a large portion of the faculty members who are female or racial and ethnic minorities, but that indicates how few women and minorities were previously on the faculty. In 2003, 21 members of the faculty were black compared to 31 today. What’s more, the faculty’s homogeneity — in gender, race and ethnicity — is consistent with the makeup of many U.S. institutions, including most of our peer institutions, which have suffered a similar lack of diversity in their faculties. Over the past decade, the University has made a concerted effort to recruit and hire faculty of color. It has created an Office of Institutional Diversity and created a targeted hiring program that allows departments to recruit candidates who would add diversity to their ranks even when the department is not conducting a search to fill a position. Such policies help offset the high proportion of tenured professors at Brown — 72 percent, according to last month’s Herald article — which slows down changes in the makeup of the faculty. These efforts have achieved limited success — female and nonwhite members of the faculty have grown in number. Still, about two-thirds of the faculty are male and about four-fifths are white. And in last month’s Herald article, professors and administrators pointed to the scarcity of qualified candidates in the job market as a contributing factor. The validity of such comments is up for debate, but we think they are ultimately counterproductive. They give the impression that making the ranks of the faculty more diverse is outside of the University’s hands. This overlooks Brown’s own role in educating potential professors. About 15 percent of last academic year’s graduate students identified themselves as members of a racial or ethnic minority, or as biracial, compared to nearly one-third of the undergraduate student body. Brown, like any other university, helps produce our country’s pool of potential professors. We also urge the University to remember that recruiting a diverse faculty is a fruitless endeavor if new hires come to an institution whose environment is not welcoming, supportive or tolerant. The administration and individual departments should create programs that actively aim to integrate new hires into a department — for example, by establishing mentors for new minority faculty, as suggested by the American Association of University Professors in a document on building a more diverse faculty. Problems such as these are self-perpetuating — the less diverse a university is, the more likely it is that a new minority hire will feel isolated or out of place. The University has begun to increase the diversity of the researchers and teachers who perform its core activities. Only by actively working toward a positive experience and welcoming environment for new hires who are faculty of color can it hope to build on what it has already achieved. Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.
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by sam rosenfeld
quote of the day
“Pursuing the scientific aspects of study, even within the
”
humanities, is essential to a fuller understanding of any field.
— Catherine Teitz ’14, a classics concentrator See physicist on page 1
letter to the editor Distance deters ROTC participation To the Editor: The goal of Students for ROTC is to remove any and all stigmas, prejudice, bureaucratic obstacles and other disincentives for Brown students to join the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. As a leading member of that organization, I take issue with the assertions made by Julian Park ’12 in his recent editorial (“Keep ROTC out,”Feb. 25). Park states that current University policy in regards to ROTC does not “limit the individual freedoms of … students,” and insinuates that the low rate of participation in the ROTC program at Providence College is due to a lack of interest among Brown students, rather than as a result of University policy. This could not be farther from the truth. Currently, Brown makes it impractical for even the most interested students to participate in the ROTC program. Lack of adequate transportation is the biggest deterrent. Providence College is three miles away from Brown, and while this might not seem like a very long distance, the majority of Brown students do not have
cars on campus. In order to get to Providence College in time for 6 a.m. physical training, a Brown student would need to walk to Kennedy Plaza by 5:20 a.m. Next, he or she would need to take the number 50 bus for 16 stops, then proceed to walk for another 19 minutes before reaching Providence College. This 45-minute one-way trip is the reason why many Brown students — myself included — who have expressed interest in joining ROTC, ultimately do not join. “The Coalition Against Special Privileges for ROTC” is a misnomer. The unreasonable distance that students must travel to attend ROTC classes, as a result of University policy, is absurd. We, the Students for ROTC, are not advocating for “special privileges,” but rather for the same freedom of access for ROTC that is afforded to other extracurricular programs. Keeping ROTC off-campus unjustly penalizes students in the program, depriving them of valuable time and energy that many industrious Brown students cannot afford to sacrifice. Andrew Sia ’12
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Opinions 7
The Brown Daily Herald Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Paper or plastic: checking out? BY MIKE JOHNSON Opinions Columnist With the spring semester in full swing, it is appropriate to take the time to address a trend with which everyone is all too familiar — seniors mailing in the end of their Brown careers. This is not the same as the high school brand of senioritis. Back then, we had all probably heard from our schools of choice and were preparing for the trips to Costco to buy all the shampoo we would ever need for the rest of our lives. The prospect of higher education provided a safety net of sorts, allowing us to coast through the last three to five months of the school year. I had it particularly good — at my high school, seniors did not even have to take finals. We would just slide through until the last weeks of April, take our Advanced Placement tests and watch movies for a month and a half until “Pomp and Circumstance” escorted us out. But at Brown, applying to graduate school is not a given, unlike applying to an undergraduate institution was in high school. A smaller percentage of the graduating class goes on to pursue more degrees than did after high school graduation, with a larger chunk going directly to the work-
force. Some of those jobs start in June. Others hold off until August, allowing us to savor the sweet freedom — and poverty — of truly being on our own. On the other side of the Van Wickle Gates, there is no safety net. While the rise of the welfare state in Western politics has changed this to some extent, there is no “reset button” awaiting us next September. If we choose to coast through our last few months, we are wasting the few risk-free opportunities we have left to us, possibly
crastination. These are life lessons that college is supposed to teach. Time management goes hand-in-hand with prioritizing, and over four years, the wheat leaves the chaff far behind. Part of this may stem from the reality that many of us have finished our concentrations, and we use the final semester or year to take courses we would never have dreamed of taking. This “better late than never” approach to the New Curriculum is widespread and should not be abolished.
There is a distinction between a little harmless coasting and wasting time.
for the rest of our lives. To do so is unfair to ourselves, unfair to the University and unfair to our classmates, who are just as important in the learning experience as any other aspect of the classroom. By the time one becomes a senior, it is a foregone conclusion that he or she has learned how to game the system, to “get by” doing minimum amounts of work when necessary, putting in more effort down the line to squeeze out another night of pro-
Some departments want their concentrators to at least be somewhat focused on the area in which they will receive a degree and require that a class of a certain level only be taken during the senior year. This is unobtrusive and effective. There is a distinction between a little harmless coasting and wasting time. Students that take “gut” courses in their senior year because they heard they were easy or because they are introductory level classes
should get themselves to the registrar and find somewhere else to be. If you are chatting in the back of class because you do not really want to be there and just want your 30th credit to get your diploma, go home, take the class satisfactory/no credit and show up for the final. The slides are online. Seniors who feel entitled to some “me time” in their class selection are a distraction to those who care about the material, are a hassle for the professors who devote their precious time to teaching and may very well have taken a spot in a crowded class away from a deserving, enthusiastic underclassman. The priority we receive from gracious professors during shopping period should not be abused just so we can take something that looks cool or does not have too much work. Senior year is a wonderful time. Seniors are generally appreciative of the fact that we do not have many free opportunities remaining to us. Unfortunately, too many of those seniors focus on the wrong free opportunities. While some harmless experimentation with what we are learning is to be expected and understood, do not waste your peers’, professors’ or your own time by checking out and waiting until Memorial Day weekend.
Mike Johnson ’11 takes every class for all the wrong reasons.
Truth Tuesdays By CHELSEA WAITE Opinions Columnist For those who don’t know, something very important is happening within the hallowed halls of J. Walter Wilson on Tuesday nights. After everyone else has finished classes for the day, a group of students congregates to participate in a project dedicated to exploring and pursuing the concept of religious literacy. Nothing like this has ever happened at the University before, and frankly, the program deserves solid coverage by The Herald. Perhaps a hypothetical Herald article will cover more of the particulars of the project, but I would like to speak about its crucial importance and the principles to which it speaks. In the interest of coming clean about my own background, I was raised Unitarian Universalist and continue to identify that way. My faith has no set creed or dogma but finds commonality around a set of values and principles — for example, respecting the inherent worth and dignity of every person or encouraging a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. As I conceive of it, my religion is about recognizing and affirming those things that are bigger than me in whatever way I see fit. I know a lot of atheists here, and I have great respect for them. By some definitions, I count as one of them. I have heard as many arguments about the empirical nonsense of God as I have heard about
the continued conflict that religion has caused. For many people, religion — religious institutions, religious people, religious dogma — has no tangible benefit. In fact, it has a negative effect. Perhaps we should just wash our hands of it completely and be done. Well, no. Let’s back up. The conflict and devastation produced in the world as a result of religious institutions and beliefs is too complicated to simply blame on this abstract and complex phenomenon of “religion.” Christianity in its essence is a faith based on love, and Islam in many ways on
times seem like the only things we really own when everything else is lost. As such, people can be easily coerced or manipulated based on belief. Humans are subject to unfortunate, even devastating, tendencies. I hope that rather than blaming the vehicle of these tendencies, we might actually work to control them. One of the important opportunities in the Religious Literacy Project is that of an unencumbered glimpse into the deeply religious. Sessions about a particular faith include both a person of that faith — most often a Chaplain or other affiliate endorsed
Our world’s religions all hold truth. They all have wisdom to offer.
devotion and mercy. These are truly beautiful basic values. The evils that emerge from Christianity and Islam — to name only two — stem from the drives for power, for wealth and for domination — drives that, unfortunately, I think are inherent in human nature rather than in religion. Religion gets appropriated as the bearer of these evils because it is so personally powerful — what better way to command a group of people than to convince them based on the closest, most dear part of their hearts? Our own beliefs as human beings some-
by the Office of the Chaplain and Religious Life — and an academic specializing in the study of that faith. I am often most struck by the practitioner. I am struck, more specifically, at the beauty and wisdom that exude from their explanations of their religious traditions. Our world’s religions all hold truth. They all have wisdom to offer. It may be that you think some of the specifics of their theologies are, frankly, ridiculous. That’s fine. But the lessons, big questions and challenges that come from those theologies can be valuable to us all.
That’s mostly the Unitarian in me speaking. Nevertheless, the literacy project helps us to see the commonalities between people of faith while also celebrating their differences. It helps us to see how religious people tackle the same questions, insecurities and fears as nonreligious people — they just have a framework, a particular lens in which they view those issues. I’ll end on a purely practical note. We tend to have this conception, as students in pursuit of intellectuality and academia, that religions might be lined up on some fold-up tables at the Activities Fair, ready for us to choose or reject at our own discretion. Frankly, while choice can play an important role in asserting our agency as human beings, for many people, religion is less a choice than a simple fact of life. As such, it is a part of our world that we must challenge ourselves to understand if we are to make any progress towards tolerance. Even if you’ve disagreed or found issue with everything I’ve said in this article thus far, the fact remains that billions of people in this world are deeply religious in one form or another. These people stand by their faiths and deserve respect. Most of all, I want to see more people at Brown and beyond approach religion and religious people with an open mind and a readiness to listen and learn. And the abundant presence of those qualities is what is remarkable about what happens in J. Walter Wilson on Tuesday nights.
Chelsea Waite ’11 likes hearing about your beliefs.
Daily Herald Campus News the Brown
News in brief
On-campus parking fees to increase 4 percent By CAROLINE FLANAGAN Contributing Writer
Herald file photo
Professor Gordon Wood will receive a National Humanities Medal for his work on the American Revolution.
Obama to honor Wood at White House today Gordon Wood, professor emeritus of history, will receive the 2010 National Humanities Medal from President Obama today at the White House. Wood, along with nine other recipients, will be honored in the East Room at 1:45 p.m. Wood is being recognized for work that “provides insight into the founding of our nation and the drafting of the United States Constitution,” according to a White House press release. He has written several books on the period of the American Revolution, winning a Pulitzer Prize and the Ralph Waldo Emerson Prize for his book “The Radicalism of the American Revolution” and the Bancroft Prize for “The Creation of the American Republic, 17761787.” The National Humanities Medal annually recognizes up to 12 scholars whose work strengthens “the nation’s understanding of humanities,” “citizens’ engagement with humanities” or “Americans’ access to important resources in the humanities,” according to the National Endowment for the Humanities website. This year’s recipients also include Joyce Carol Oates and Philip Roth. Wood said in a University press release that he hopes the recognition will bring attention to his field. “We don’t teach history because we want to have history teachers or history professors,” he said. “We’re teaching history because it enriches lives.” Wood’s next project will be editing the letters of John Adams for publication by the Library of America. He could not be reached for further comment late last night. Winners of the 2010 National Medal of Arts will also be recognized at the ceremony. — Shefali Luthra
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
The University will increase parking fees for students, faculty and staff by $30 for the next fiscal year, according to the proposed 2012 budget. The increase would bring the on-campus per-year parking rate to $760 for students and $550 for faculty and staff. The fee has increased every year since at least 2006 when it was $340 for employees and $465 for students. The budgeted prices represent more than a 50 percent increase in the cost of on-campus parking over the past five years. At the beginning of the current fiscal year, parking fees increased by $10 for both students and employees. The year before, they increased by $120 for students and $85 for staff and faculty. “Historically, the parking fees were increased at a rate of 5 percent per year, but the low annual increase was not enough to sustain the increase in transportation services such as the shuttle and (the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority),” said Elizabeth Gentry, assistant vice president for financial and administrative services. Parking fees are used by the Transportation Office to pay for services such as SafeRide, RIPTA passes and ZipCar. Only about
half of this money comes from parking fees, Gentry said, and the rest is subsidized by the University. Next fiscal year’s budget allocates $92,000 for transportation services, $45,000 of which will come from parking fees. Despite steady price increases, demand for on-campus parking outstrips supply, with many students ending up on a wait list to get a spot. And spots have gotten scarcer as construction projects made parking lots, such as the one in front of the Olney-Margolis Athletic Center, unusable, Gentry said. Some students choose to avoid using University parking and find alternative parking near campus. Parking spots on Craigslist range in price from $50-$150 a month. David Manning ’13 chose to forego on-campus parking in favor of an off-campus spot because “the price was way cheaper,” he said, adding that he did not like the lots offered by the University. “I could have had to walk all the way across campus to get to my car, but now my car’s only three blocks away,” he said. “Most people I know either live off campus in houses where parking’s included, or they pay for off-campus parking. Most of them don’t pay for Brown parking.”
On-campus parking fees since fiscal year 2006 $800 $700 $600 $500 $400 $300 $200 $100 $0
FY06 FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 Staff/Faculty
Students
Anna Migliaccio / Herald
Stephanie London / Herald
Parking fees on campus have steadily increased to fund transportation services.
U. promotes in-state Mural selected for opportunities for alums Med School building By Aparna Bansal Senior Staff Writer
When students envision their lives after Brown, few consider staying in Rhode Island. But in an effort to retain graduates, the University has been working with the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Rhode Island to launch Bridge, a joint initiative aimed at encouraging more alums to stay in Rhode Island. Dan Egan, president of the association, said the idea came from a knowledge symposium held at the University last year, which brought together business leaders and academics in the state. President Ruth Simmons and presidents from seven other institutions in the state have pledged their support for the program. According to Egan, the number of Brown students who remain in the state after graduation will be released next month, but it is less than the figure for graduates of other schools in Rhode Island. The retention rate for Rhode Island schools is generally between 10 and 15 percent, he said. The idea for Bridge came from a series of discussions about “the knowledge-based economy and the role of the University in that economy,” said Richard Spies, executive vice president for planning and senior adviser to the President. “There could be more
internship opportunities available if we were more systematic about identifying them,” Spies said, adding that he wanted to help Brown students feel like they were part of the community rather than “four-year visitors.” “There’s a lot here in Providence and Rhode Island that you don’t see with so much to do on campus,” he said. “We care about graduates having successful careers, and we also care about the community and the robustness of the economy.” Egan said he hopes Bridge will highlight these opportunities to students and show them that staying in Providence “may be the right choice for the right person.” He added that it is the “perfect time” to do so as graduates are finding it difficult to find jobs in this economy, and those that might have “traditionally fled to (Los Angeles), Singapore or London” might be convinced to stay in the state and help grow the economy here. “I’m looking forward to experiencing Rhode Island while not in the college bubble,” said Rebekah Bergman ’11, who will be working with Teach for America in the state after graduation. “I want to give back to the city and the community,” she added. “I’m very comfortable with my decision.”
continued on page 4
By Caitlin Trujillo Senior Staff Writer
The University’s Public Art Committee selected a design for a mural to decorate the new Medical Education Building, which is scheduled to open in July. The committee chose Washington D.C. artist Larry Kirkland’s design for an alcove above the building’s main lobby and between its two auditoriums, said Mike McCormick, assistant vice president for planning, design and construction and a committee member. The seven-member Public Art Committee includes former Corporation fellow Artemis Joukowsky ’55 P’87, Public Art Fund President Susan Freedman ’82 and faculty and staff members. Major University construction projects allocate 1 percent of their budgets to public art displays, McCormick said. The Alpert Medical School building project will cost an estimated $45 million, of which $30.5 million has been raised to date, according to the Med School’s website. Kirkland expects to meet with University faculty and Med School students again before the design is finalized, he said. The design he proposed emphasizes the relationship between two people — such as a doctor and patient — and includes a representation of two heartbeats, he said.
Kirkland said he envisions two stone chairs positioned in front of the mural to further the theme of relationships. He emphasized “the humanity of medicine” to highlight Brown’s interdisciplinary philosophy. “I want the doctor to understand the science but also to understand that each person is unique in their life and lifestyle,” Kirkland said. “I want my physician to help me make the right choice for my life.” Other proposals placed artwork above the first-floor staircase as well as in the alcove, but Kirkland’s design only incorporates the alcove, said Jo-Ann Conklin, director of the David Winton Bell Gallery in the List Art Center and a committee member. The committee especially liked Kirkland’s incorporation of traditional and “very rich” materials like marble and granite into his design, she said. Kirkland will return to campus to discuss the mural with a focus group of medical faculty and students. He said he is considering casting small objects with significance to the Med School in bronze to place on the wall beside the mural, he said. Public art in University buildings allows community members to feel connected with the space, McCormick said. “We think public art, especially when it’s built into the building, makes it a better building.”