Thursday, March 10, 2011

Daily

Herald

the Brown

vol. cxlvi, no. 30

By Tony Bakshi Sports Editor

The second federal judge to preside over William McCormick’s lawsuit against the University and two alums recused himself from the case yesterday.

McCormick’s lawyer, Scott Kilpatrick, motioned for Judge Ronald Lagueux to recuse himself Feb. 11 because a lawyer for the two alums has previously represented Lagueux.

The alums’ lawyer, Joseph Cavanagh, represented Lagueux in 1988 before the Judicial Council of the First Circuit, a body charged with disciplining federal judges. Lagueux was called before the body and admonished after he banned Harvard Law School Professor Alan Dershowitz from his courtroom. In a book, Dershowitz had alleged that Rhode Island’s judicial system was corrupt.

Normally, a lawyer’s past representation of a presiding judge would not be grounds for recusal. But Kilpatrick argued in the motion for Lagueux’s recusal that the relationship between Lagueux and Cavanagh could give the appearance of partiality, especially continued on page 4

Simmons: Increasing revenue ‘a defining issue’

By Margaret Yi Staff Writer

Seven top University administrators pulled back the curtain on hot-button issues including the international student experience and faculty tenure during the second annual State of Brown address yesterday in Salomon 101. In a departure from last year’s format, which featured a keynote address from President Ruth Simmons, this year’s event featured other senior administrators more prominently and explored a larger number of topics in greater detail before an audience of about 150.

The University does not want to mimic other educational institutions, said Simmons, who spoke last. “We are staunchly in favor of doing what is right for Brown, and

not just being a follower of other policies.”

University Hall plans “to promote growth and strengthen programs that have the potential to be globally known programs,” she added.

The University will implement initiatives to improve the quality and quantity of resources available to undergraduates. Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron announced projects that will “enhance the undergraduate experience.” She said there has been a “rebirth” of the Career Development Center, which recently welcomed new Director Andrew Simmons, an internship coordinator and advisers who represent new areas of expertise. Bergeron discussed

Hilary Rosenthal / Herald

continued on page 6

President Simmons lauded the success of the Plan for Academic Enrichment during yesterday’s State of Brown discussion.

Impact of Brown’s education outreach unclear Grad School

By Kat thornton — distanced from overburdened director and associate dean of the updates sixthS S W schools — Brown can truly make College. The Swearer Center now a difference. has a presence in six major urban Despite the University’s perch atop districts in Rhode Island. Nozaki year funding College Hill, students have a long said these programs try to mainPutting Rhode Island’s history of engagement with the tain long-lasting relationships with policy public schools to the test enior taff

riter

Providence Public School District.

With more than 60 outreach programs in local schools, Brown has a sizable presence within the district.

But Rhode Island’s education system is in dire straits, and schools are under more scrutiny than ever.

Opinions vary as to how welcome University outreach is, and whether

sing song critique

Third in a five-part series Establishing a connection

The Swearer Center for Public Service and its 450 volunteers spend up to 1,600 hours per week working in local schools, according to Roger Nozaki MAT’89, the center’s

On Monday, as she does for an hour twice every month, President Ruth Simmons beckoned students into her light-filled office and offered them 10 minutes of her time to discuss, well, just about anything.

feature

inside

Emily Gilbert / Herald Members of Students for a Democratic Society congregated in the Blue Room last night to sing a song to the tune of Cee Lo Greene’s “Forget You” criticizing Corporation member and Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan for his company’s acceptance of bailout funds.

Smile

There was no scramble for the six allotted time-slots — five groups of sedate students, casually dressed, sat in a quiet rotunda on the first floor of University Hall. Some held lastminute consultations and went over notes, while others simply scrolled through their laptops and phones as they awaited their meetings.

It was a normal turnout, according to Heather Goode, the president’s office assistant. On the busiest day, 10 students turned up, but that was after a month-and-a-half-long hiatus from holding office hours.

U. has installed 70 more cameras in the past three years Campus News, 5

schools, which Nozaki called a “critical” part of their efforts.

Nozaki said the first step in making an impact is building trust and credibility within the community.

Many schools where the center organizes programs have improved no-

By Lindor Qunaj Senior Staff Writer

“That’s been the craziest,” she said.

“Knock on wood.”

A cream-colored door, with the word “President” spelled out above in beige block letters, opened to let in Simmons’s first visitors around 4:05 p.m.

During his meeting, Joe Rosner ’12 asked Simmons to judge the final round of a debate competition for sophomores and juniors. Simmons said she would be happy to oblige, depending on her availability.

“I could have just e-mailed her,” Rosner said. “Really, I just also want to meet her.” Accompanying Rosner was Caroline Kenward, a student at Bryn Mawr College.

“Give your president my regards,” Simmons told Kenward as she escorted her out of the office. “I would hate to think you go to (my office hours) and not hers.”

Although the president’s office hours are intended for students, al-

The Graduate School finalized a new standardized method of awarding funds to sixth-year doctoral candidates yesterday. Funding available for sixth-year students used to depend on the size of the incoming graduate class, but the Grad School will now put aside a set amount of funding for sixth-year students who will be required to work as teaching assistants in return. The selection process for receiving this stipend will also be clarified.

The Grad School will start sending out information to fifthyear students this week, according to Peter Weber P’12, dean of the Grad School.

Students needing a sixth year to complete their dissertations can work as teaching assistants, though there are a limited number of these positions. In previous years, approximately half of applicants for teaching assistant positions were accepted.

“Students didn’t know on what basis they were being evaluated, which left them anxious and worried,” Weber said.

In addition, funding available for teaching assistant positions fluctuated from year to year. The sum was essentially the money “left over” in the budget after

continued on page 2

continued on page 7

continued on page 9

Despite fan base, president’s office hours a quiet affair By sofia castello y tickell Staff Writer

news...................2-8 editorial.............10 Opinions.............11 City & State........12

Since 1891

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ups its self-esteem, downs a bottle of rum

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Second judge recuses self in McCormick lawsuit

Thursday, March 10, 2011

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2 Campus News

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, March 10, 2011

calendar Today

MARCH 10

4 P.m.

ToMORROW

MARCH 11

8 p.m.

Research and Fellowship Fair,

Brown Wind Symphony Concert,

Kasper Multipurpose Room

Sayles Hall

6:30 p.m.

8 p.m.

Independent Concentration

“Closer,”

Information Session, Faunce 228

T.F. Green Downspace

menu SHARPE REFECTORY

VERNEy-WOOLLEY DINING HALL Sofia Castello Y Tickell / Herald

LUNCH BBQ Beef Ribs, Indian Style Green Beans, Turkey and Wild Rice Soup, Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

Beef Stew, Vegan Tofu Raviolis with Sauce, Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies

DINNER Sliced Turkey and Roast Beef, Cheese and Corn Strata, Flourless Raspberry Black Satin Fudge Cake

Lemon Broiled Chicken, Fried Rice Bowl with Edamame, Flourless Raspberry Black Satin Fudge Cake

Sudoku

across to bear ACROSS 1 Ed.’s request 5 Appear 9 “Who’s there?” reply 14 Type of shoe you can buy Jibbitz for 15 Capital of Norway 16 “___ Have I Ever” 17 Dairy company or city near the Caspian Sea 18 Its second model will be released March 25 19 Place for the hot seat?

20 Video game whose characters include Leon S. Kennedy and Sheva Alomar 23 Troop encampment 24 Her looks could kill 27 Impale 31 TV Show with a protagonist serial killer 33 Sugar substitute 37 Nobelist Wiesel 38 Young Buck 2005 album 39 Feeling ill on a ship 42 Want ad abbr.

43 Singer DiFranco and others 45 Spilling a beer, for one 47 Largest retailer of fine wine in the world 50 Madrid Mister 51 Build up, as biceps 53 Type of truck 57 Sports mantra, or hint to filling out this puzzle 61 What redbull gives you, apparently 64 Drop ___ (get naked) 65 Apply gold to 66 Saturate 67 Singer featured in “I Just Had Sex” 68 ___’acte

terrible ends

69 Orders at Kabob & Curry 70 Nine-digit IDs 71 Level, in Leeds DOWN 1 “___ Tactics” (Syfy TV show) 2 Medieval helmet 3 March maker 4 2010 movie starring Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner 5 French Silk 6 Network behind the series “The Bronx is Burning” 7 Israeli resort 8 Dial-up ___ 9 “___ Man,” Denzel Washington flick 10 One place to get bubbles on Thayer St. 11 Law and Order spin-off, for short 12 “Boys becoming ___ and ___ becoming wolves,” (“Werewolf Bar Mitzvah” lyric) 13 Long time

by zoe Wheeler ‘12

21 Store sections, abbr.

22 Author Mehta of “Face to Face” 25 Fifth century Pope 26 Refrain heard around the farm?

28 Chemical suffix 29 “Take ___!” (coach’s demand) 30 Spanish Valentine’s Day gift 32 Band “___ Big Fish” 33 Opposite of legato, in mus.

34 They might frequent 47-Across, considering 35 Protestant denom.

36 “The ___” (TV Show starring Dominic West) 40 Box, abbr.

41 Climatechanging protocol 44 Taser

46 Arcade game with an amphibian trying to cross the road 48 Shuts 49 Vs. 52 Tits 54 Mrs. Boris Yeltsin 55 Scot’s wear 56 ___ 3000 of Outkast 58 Annoys 59 Time mentioned often in westerns 60 Chorus in “The Sound of Music” 61 Make like Charlie Sheen, apparently 62 “___ Survivor” (Destiny’s Child song) 63 Court org.

Solutions and archive online at acrosstobear. wordpress.com Email: brownpuzzles @gmail.com

In 10-minute slots — open to all students — Simmons dishes up everything from video cameos to life advice.

Simmons gives students time to talk continued from page 1 ums and people with no affiliation to the University have dropped in on occasion. One prospective student, who had been admitted early to Brown, showed up at office hours despite not yet being enrolled. “He was intense,” Simmons said, then laughed.

“It’s very eclectic,” she added. “We don’t know until they get in my office.”

The office is welcoming. The walls are covered in white paneling, and sunlight streams in through large windows. A carpet patterns the floor under a polished oval table, where Simmons sits with her visitors. A grandfather clock ticks in the corner.

She is loyal to Bruno — two bears reside on her desk. Another teddy bear sits on her yellow sofa, and two large scruffy ears poking out behind it indicate the presence of yet another, half-hidden, on a dark red armchair.

The president was dressed in a navy blue suit with trademark pearls strung twice around her neck. She leaned forward as she spoke, propping her head on her chin and expressing interest in her wide variety of visitors.

Simmons wears many hats — life adviser, distributor of funds, overseer of faculty and even movie star, after participating in the winning 2009 housing first-pick competition video “Ruthless.” The group filmed the cameo during Simmons’ office hours.

“Some people might come to talk about their lives and decisions that they’re making. And then I’m a parent, giving students a sense of what someone of my generation would advise,” she said.

Simmons sipped from a paper cup as she recalled her most memorable office hours caller. “A male student, with a beard,” she said. “He

wore a red suit with black pumps and a shoulder bag and pearls.”

“It took me a while to figure out he was actually dressed up as me for Halloween,” she laughed. “I would say that was the most extraordinary thing I have ever been subjected to.”

Other students visit to address more serious matters. Jacqueline Ho ’14 and Gina Roberti ’14 represented Power Shift, a youth conference on climate change, when they paid Simmons a call Monday.

“We are hoping to solicit some funds,” Ho said. “You might see some more bake sales around campus if not.”

The president said she would consider their request for help subsidizing the project once they had a clearer idea of how many students planned to attend the conference.

“We’re both freshmen,” Roberti said. “It’s a great way to get acquainted with her.”

Le Tran ’13 sat in the rotunda Monday waiting for his turn. “I try just to go as often as I can to get to know the president more,” he said.

“She gives really good advice on certain things.”

“Also,” he added, “I’m going to run a university one day, so I like to talk to her about that.”

“I’m going to run the whole (University of California) system,” he continued. “And she knows that, so it’s fine.”

Tran was surprised more students do not show up for open office hours, particularly since many can be critical of the University.

Open office hours are for “students’ convenience,” Simmons said.

“If they don’t use it, that’s okay, because they might not need it.”

One senior was not afraid to voice her concerns regarding the potential appointment of a chair of the urban studies program, though she did not want her name printed because she is

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a concentrator in the program. Many people disagree with the appointment, she said, but “most of them are underclassmen and they’re too afraid to say anything. … I’m saying something because I’m graduating, and I have no repercussions.”

Simmons was “super helpful,” the senior said on her way out. “This was going over everyone’s heads, and it seemed to work.”

Simmons also held open office hours at Smith College, where she served as president before taking the position at Brown. Her office hours at Smith “had a certain character, which was more like life advice,” she said.

Simmons thought office hours would be different at a co-ed institution but was struck by the similarities. “A lot of students just wanted to talk about their plans.”

But the nature of her open office hours has changed over the years.

“Today,” she said, “it’s less likely to be some big life decision that they’re wrestling with.”

Students entering college seem to have more experience than they used to, Simmons added. She credited the offices of the Dean of the College and Campus Life and Student Services for organizing orientation and making resources available to students who are looking for help.

“Or it could be that I’m giving such bad advice, and it’s getting around,” she joked.

When asked about her celebrity status — some students sport clothing with her face emblazoned on it — Simmons responded, “I don’t mind. … I feel a little embarrassed sometimes by it.” She described an instance in which a student commented on the frequency with which she wore red. “You have to feel a little uncomfortable to be noticed to that degree.” One group of students invited her to tea to view a spoof video of her they had created, a situation she said was “very interesting because what I couldn’t figure out was why that was interesting.”

Simmons described public attention as the most difficult problem she faced when she was offered the presidential position. “How would it feel to be in a fishbowl, and is it something that I could handle?” she asked herself. “I worried a lot about that.”

“I have fantasies of being able to go places, walk places, where nobody recognizes me,” she said.

Ultimately though, Simmons said she remains committed to those she leads. “Everybody who becomes a president has become a president because we wanted to work with students.”

Campus News 3

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, March 10, 2011

After Egypt, students take separate paths U. considers proposal for new public health master’s By katrina phillips Staff Writer

Since studying abroad together in Alexandria, Egypt, and then evacuating the country together by way of Prague, Michael Dawkins ’12 and Amanda Labora ’12.5 have taken very different paths. While Dawkins has returned to campus to resume classes, Labora is taking a semester off for Arabic study in Syria while also working on a project collecting personal accounts from Egyptians in the Middle East.

Labora and Dawkins shared their experiences March 3 in a Janus Political Union event entitled “Mubarak’s Downfall: Views from the Ground.”

A small crowd gathered in MacMillan 117 last Thursday to hear Dawkins and Labora — who participated in the event via Skype from her home in Miami — speak about their final days in Egypt. They described in detail the troubles they went through in their efforts to evacuate, emphasizing the peaceful conduct of Egyptian civilians and their appreciation for the Alexandrians who helped them as unrest seized the city.

Dawkins said he hoped the event would eliminate any fears Americans had about Egypt’s revolution and help people understand “the humanness that we were interacting with.”

Both Labora and Dawkins have retained a connection to the region since the evacuation. Dawkins said he has stayed in touch with Egyptian friends, including some who are hoping to exploit an environment ripe for change to promote gender equality in the region.

Labora has been involved in Mideast Reports, a combination blog and public Google document founded by Pathik Root, a Middlebury student who also participated in the Alexandria program this semester. Root and the other students began the project as “Reports from Egyptians” by collecting a variety of first-hand accounts from Egyptians, including Facebook statuses, e-mails and children’s drawings. This was a useful tool, “especially when there was more control of the media,” Andrew Leber ’12 said. Leber took part in Middlebury’s Egypt program in the fall and now offers his services

By Samier Saeed Contributing Writer

Evan Thomas / Herald

Michael Dawkins ’12, above, and Amanda Labora ’12.5 are staying in touch with contacts in Egypt.

as a translator for the project.

The students originally reached out to media when they were waiting to be evacuated from Egypt, Labora said. She and fellow students continued communicating with friends they had made in Alexandria once they arrived back in the U.S. They passed along news updates from Egyptian friends to their new media contacts. These efforts culminated in a Feb. 2 interview on Fox News International with Nehad Heliel, the Middle East director at Middlebury College, who was in Egypt at the time.

The project has since evolved into the Mideast Reports blog, which provides articles summarizing recent events and giving the perspectives of Labora and Root, among others. Their current goal is “to provide broader coverage and solicit contributors,” Labora said.

The blog’s reports have already expanded to include accounts from protests in Bahrain, Libya and Oman.

“A few people have found the website independently,” Leber said.

But with few contributors outside of Egypt, they’re “trying to get more people involved.” He and Labora both said they will continue contributing to the project for as long as it is feasible.

Labora is currently writing under a pen name for “political reasons” since she is living in Syria this semester, she wrote in an e-mail to The

Herald. After considering a return to Brown, Labora said she decided to take a semester-long leave to further her study of Arabic in Syria.

Though she said “nobody really knew what to do with us” once they returned from Egypt, she commended the University’s overall response, particularly on an individual level. She said professors were eager to work with her while she was making her decision, and she was assured she would not lose a grant she had been awarded based on her intended study in Egypt.

Dawkins, who elected to return to campus this semester, said he had difficulty catching up in his classes, and not all professors were accommodating. But overall, he said, the University faculty and staff were “extremely nice, extremely professional, extremely helpful.”

He said the University wanted to be sure they did not suffer from the traumatic experience.

“Most people’s biggest concern … was that we had witnessed people’s heads getting blown off and stuff,” he said.

He got lucky with housing, he said, and found an open spot in the co-op he lived in last semester.

Although everything worked out, Dawkins said he would have liked to go abroad this semester. Many of his alternative countries are now on the travel warning list. “If there had been another option … I would have done that,” he said.

The faculty approved a proposal from the Graduate School to create a master’s program in clinical and translational research at its meeting March 1.

The Corporation will decide on approval of the proposal at its May meeting.

The master’s program would join biostatistics, behavioral and social sciences intervention, public health and epidemiology as the fifth master’s degree program in the Department of Community Health.

Clinical and translational science concerns the conversion of academic medical science into something of practical use for patients. The BrainGate project, led in part by John Donoghue PhD’79 P’09 P’12, director of the Institute of Brain Science and professor of neuroscience, is an example of a team using this approach. Donoghue’s research led to the creation of a marketable robotic arm for people with paralysis, limb loss or neurological disease. But bringing science from the lab bench to the doctor’s office can be a long and difficult process, which is where the master’s program comes in.

The new program would bring “substantial opportunities for advancing research, particularly translating basic science findings to clinical and community settings,” wrote Patrick Vivier ’85 MD’89, associate professor of community health and pediatrics, who would head the program, in an e-mail to The Herald.

“The primary target audience will be the clinical faculty and

trainees, as well as basic scientists who wish to learn more about clinical and epidemiological research,” wrote Terrie Wetle, associate dean of medicine for public health and public policy and professor of community health, in an e-mail to The Herald.

But undergraduate students can still benefit from the program, she wrote. “As more courses are developed, undergraduates have a wider array of potential course choices.”

There will also be more research opportunities available to undergrads due to increased faculty size, she wrote.

The proposal comes at a time when the public health program is undergoing significant organizational change. The University has been working since 2006 to establish a Center for Clinical and Translational Studies, but Wetle wrote the master’s program would be independent of the center. The public health program has not been a major player in planning for the center, she added.

The Department of Community Health has split into four sections — biostatistics, behavioral and social sciences, epidemiology and health services policy and practice.

If the program establishes a school of public health, the sections would fall under its purview.

A school of public health “will enhance our ability to recruit faculty to our programs, enhance the applicant pool of students for our (graduate) programs, enhance our image nationally and internationally and make us eligible to apply for external funding that is currently restricted to schools of public health,” Wetle wrote.

4 Campus News McCormick case to be sent to N.H. judge continued from page 1 because Cavanagh may be called on to testify as a witness. McCormick maintains that Cavanagh acted improperly in coercing him to sign an agreement to withdraw from Brown after being accused of rape by one of the alums in 2006.

In a hearing on the issue this afternoon, Lagueux said he believes the agreement is a critical document in the case. He said it had been unusual throughout his judicial career to allow lawyers representing parties in a case to also act as witnesses in that case.

Because that scenario may come to pass in the McCormick case, a reasonable person could question

Lagueux’s impartiality, he said.

Lagueux acknowledged his prior hiring of Cavanagh for personal representation and his personal relationship with Cavanagh and Cavanagh’s father, also an attorney. The judge attributed his decision to recuse himself to the strong possibility that Cavanagh will have to testify about his role in obtaining the agreement.

Lagueux became the presiding judge because the original judge, William Smith, recused himself Jan. 6. after his daughter applied to Brown. At the time, Smith informed the lawyers the case would likely be transferred to a New Hampshire judge after his recusal. But Cavanagh wrote

a letter to Smith requesting that Lagueux, who is semi-retired, hear the case instead, and Smith complied. McCormick’s lawyer then discovered that Cavanagh had represented Lagueux in the past.

It is exceedingly rare for even one judge to recuse himself from a case once litigation has commenced. The other federal judge in Rhode Island, Mary Lisi, cannot hear the case because she is married to another lawyer for the two alums.

Lagueux said the case would now, in fact, be transferred to a judge in New Hampshire.

An officer of the court prevented The Herald from taking notes at the hearing.

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, March 10, 2011

McCormick Timeline Aug. 30, 2006 — First-year orientation begins for William McCormick, then a member of the Class of 2010 and a wrestling recruit.

Sept. 6 — A female classmate of McCormick’s makes a complaint to the University that he has been stalking her.

Sept. 13 — The female student alleges that McCormick raped her on the night of Sept. 6. McCormick is forced to leave campus.

Sept. 14 — Russell Carey, senior vice president for Corporation affairs and governance, hands McCormick a plane ticket home to Wisconsin. McCormick is not informed that he has been accused of rape. Over the following days, McCormick is made aware of the accusation, begins preparing a defense with his adviser — assistant wrestling coach Mike Burch — and hires attorney Walter Stone to advise him. According to federal court records, Stone’s law firm — Adler Pollock & Sheehan — was representing the University in a separate matter while Stone was advising McCormick in the disciplinary process.

Oct. 3 — The female student’s father — a University alum, donor and fundraiser — e-mails President Ruth Simmons, “Ruth … I am working to resolve the matter with the student who attacked (the female student) — the goal is to have him withdraw from Brown and not have a University hearing. This will enable (the female student) and the other students to avoid having to come in contact with the student and face questioning from his advocate.”

Oct. 15 — McCormick withdraws from Brown, citing medical reasons. In court documents, he will later allege the experience aggravated an existing seizure condition.

September 2009 — McCormick’s new lawyer, Scott Kilpatrick, files a complaint under seal in Rhode Island Superior Court. The claim alleges that McCormick was falsely accused and that the University mishandled the accusation because of the financial relationship of the female alum’s father to the University. The motion to seal is granted, and there is no public record of the suit. The case is soon transferred to federal court, where it is again placed under seal.

April 12, 2010 — The Herald prints a story based on a leaked copy of the complaint. The case is unsealed later that day at a hearing in front of Judge William Smith.

Sept. 27 — A package addressed to Burch — who has been named a witness in the case — is hand-delivered anonymously to the home of Burch’s girlfriend, a single mother. It contains an invitation for a free meal at Downcity Diner — a restaurant across the street from the offices of McCormick’s lawyer. Burch shows up for dinner, where he finds out the restaurant was given cash by two women to pay for his meal. The next day, Burch receives an anonymous phone call about the package.

October 2010 — Using subpoenas, McCormick’s lawyers trace the number used to call Burch to former New York Police Department Detective Pat Brosnan, owner of a private security firm. Brosnan works regularly for the female alum’s father.

Jan. 6, 2011 — Well over a year into the suit, Federal Judge William Smith recuses himself without explanation.

Jan. 19 — Burch is granted a temporary civil restraining order against the father of the female alum in Rhode Island Superior Court in connection with the package and phone call.

Jan. 25 — Burch files a criminal complaint against the female alum’s father with the Pawtucket Police in connection with the same incident. The investigation is currently ongoing.

#winning = following @the_herald on Twitter

Jan. 28 — Burch is denied a permanent restraining order in Superior Court because he had already raised the issue of witness intimidation in Federal Court. At the hearing on the restraining order, the female alum’s father says Judge Smith recused himself from the federal case because his daughter is applying to Brown.

March 9 ­— Judge Ronald Lagueux recuses himself from the case, which will now be sent to a judge in New Hampshire.

Campus News 5

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, March 10, 2011

U. considers energy More cameras installed on campus science concentration

By Greg Jordan-Detamore Senior Staff Writer

By Jordan Hendricks Contributing Writer

The University is considering the creation of an energy science concentration, according to Peter Weber P’12, dean of the Graduate School. The Academic Priorities Committee recommended increasing support for energy science in the October update to the Plan for Academic Enrichment.

Energy science is a broad and interdisciplinary field,” encompassing chemistry, engineering, physics, computer science and geology, Weber said. The discipline brings a modern approach to emergent problems, such as finding more efficient power sources.

“As a society, we’re facing an energy crisis,” said Professor of Engineering Kenneth Breuer who teaches ENGN 1930U: “Renewable Energy Technologies.”

“This is becoming more and more urgent,” he added. “The immediate concern is the same as the longer-term goal, which is how do we procure cheap, reliable, predictable, environmentally friendly sources of energy to allow the world to grow.”

These issues prompted Professor of Engineering Eric Suuberg — along with a group of faculty

and undergraduate students — to make a presentation to the priorities committee calling for increased attention to energy science.

“We basically went to them and said that we’ve got a lot of people who are working on energy,” Suuberg said. “They’re in all kinds of different departments doing all kinds of different things, and what we should do is to begin to organize ourselves a little better so we can represent the broad range of things going on at Brown.”

In the past year, a number of research projects in energy science have received federal funding. Wesley Bernskoetter, assistant professor of chemistry, received a $417,155 grant in September for research in chemical fixation of carbon dioxide and Christophe Rose-Petruck, professor of chemistry, received a grant of $62,714 to experiment with carbon capture.

Energy science is a collaborative field — not limited to a single department. “It includes people who are involved in solar energy conversion, in batteries, in fuel cells,” Suuberg said. “It includes people who are interested in wind power. It includes researchers who are interested in carbon capture continued on page 8

The number of security cameras on campus has increased by nearly 40 percent in the past three years to about 250 cameras this year, according to Chief of Police Mark Porter. In 2008, there were 180 security cameras on campus, up from just 60 in 2000.

With the completion of the Medical Education Building in July, the number will rise to around 275.

“We utilize cameras as part of our comprehensive security program,” Porter said, noting they are used to prevent and investigate crimes. “It’s a growing trend around the country with college campuses.”

Security cameras were installed inside buildings during construction and renovation projects, including in the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center, J. Walter Wilson and the Friedman Study Center.

They have also been added on building exteriors and pedestrian pathways.

“We have solved about a half a dozen crimes with these cameras,” Porter said. The Department of Public Safety used footage from security cameras in the Brown Bookstore to identify a suspect after a laptop theft in February, The Herald reported March 3.

Stephanie London / Herald

More surveillance cameras have appeared on campus in recent years.

There are no plans to install cameras in residence halls, Porter said.

“Our goal isn’t to put cameras up to watch people,” he said.

“We’re not just watching students walk around.”

The camera footage is not constantly monitored, Porter said. It is viewed only if DPS is alerted that a crime is in progress or after one occurs. DPS employs two detectives who are specifically trained in how to view the footage, he said.

DPS takes “particular need” into account when installing new cameras, such as if crimes have increased in a particular area. Cameras were added on the eastern area of campus in 2008 in response to a crime trend near Brook and

Hope streets.

While the cameras are intended as a deterrent, DPS does not specifically draw attention to them, Porter said. “We know that when we install them, that people will know they’re there.”

Requests for new cameras have not come from the University administration, he said.

Camera technology is “much more affordable than it’s ever been,” Porter said, which has enabled DPS to purchase more cameras. The quality of the equipment is also getting better, he said.

Porter said the cameras may reduce students’ fear of crime, suggesting students walking at night or alone may feel more secure in the presence of cameras.

“I haven’t noticed them,” Katie Goddard ’12 said. But she said she thinks the cameras are a good idea. Daniel Valmas ’12 also said he has not noticed a change in the number of cameras.

“I think that if the information that they take from the videos is used for safety purposes” and not to invade students’ privacy, then there is nothing wrong with the increase, Jaclyn Katz ’14 said.

DPS does not put up cameras just for the sake of doing so, Porter said, but more could be added in the future “if the need arises.”

“We usually evaluate the need based on the area,” he said.

6 Campus News

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, March 10, 2011

U. administrators address concerns, highlight future plans continued from page 1 emerging projects to help students network and find internships, such as the “Brown to Brown” internship program, which will pilot this summer and create paid internships for undergraduates at companies where alums work. The program will begin in Boston and could expand to other cities.

A January Career Lab — which will feature workshops and networking events for undergraduates the week before spring semester begins — is also in the works. Lastly, Bergeron spoke about the initiative to improve the college experience for international students. To this end, the University has hired an English as a Second Language specialist who will work with both undergraduate and graduate students in the Writing Center.

Margaret Klawunn, vice president for campus life and student

services, talked about projects that related to the goals of “fostering a sense of community, advocating for facilities that support learning and making sure that diversity is valued and nurtured.” There is a plan to renovate undergraduate housing so students can move out of temporary housing. Her office plans to set aside housing for sophomores, who feel they get “leftover” housing, Klawunn added. She also discussed the needs of international students and announced plans to add another day to orientation so students from abroad can better adjust to life at Brown.

Dean of Admission Jim Miller ’73 predicted a change in recruitment strategies due to a “profound demographic shift” in applicants to colleges across the nation. Specifically, the University expects to see more applications and students from the south and the west re-

Hilary Rosenthal / Herald

University administrators discussed a range of issues at the second annual State of Brown address in Solomon 101.

gions of the country, as well as a growing number of students of Hispanic and Latino backgrounds.

Miller also emphasized the need to understand and use new forms of communication and outreach.

“We need to be very current, going forward as an institution … in the way we reach the next generation of Brown students,” he said.

Jim Tilton, director of financial aid, said the University will continue to provide financial support for students despite the state of the economy. The need-based scholarship budget is $82 million, up from

only $31.9 million in the 2002-03 school year, Tilton said. More than 43 percent of current students receive some form of financial aid.

Beppie Huidekoper, executive vice president for finance and administration, discussed the University’s financial situation. Currently, about half the University’s income is from tuition, while around 18 to 20 percent comes from the endowment, 6 percent from gifts and the rest from research grants, she said. The Campaign for Academic Enrichment yielded significant results — $1.61 billion — though the

University lost $800 million from its endowments in 2008. The University does not plan to continue making budget cuts in the near future, Huidekoper said.

Provost David Kertzer ’69 P’95 P’98, who will step down this summer after five years in the position, addressed questions regarding faculty tenure and internationalization. “We only give tenure to faculty who are both committed, excellent teachers … and outstanding researchers,” Kertzer said. He also emphasized there is no “inverse relationship” between the level of teaching and the excellence of research that faculty members perform.

The University is striving to be “known globally as one of the great universities,” he said.

Simmons spoke about the Plan for Academic Enrichment, which she credited with promoting transparency and inclusion of the greater University community.

During a question-and-answer session, Simmons said the University is moderating the rate of tuition increase, but is under pressure from other institutions that are increasing tuition at a much faster rate. Finding new sources of revenue is a “defining issue of Brown,” especially because the University competes with larger and better-funded peer institutions, she said.

Another student asked about class size and the quality of teaching in popular departments such as political science and economics. Kertzer assured the audience that student evaluations play an important role in tenure decisions.

Bergeron said there are already possible solutions proposed to reduce class size in certain departments, but the administration continues to work to improve the situation, especially for seniors.

The event was organized by the Undergraduate Council of Students, which provided a list of topics and questions for the speakers to discuss. “The main goal is to establish some sort of recognition, communication or dialogue between the undergraduate students and the senior members of the administration,” said UCS President Diane Mokoro ’11. UCS decided to increase the number of speakers to familiarize undergrads with other University leaders, she said.

“I really enjoyed this event. I thought it really elucidated a lot of the issues the University is dealing with,” said Elizabeth Rothman ’11.

Campus News 7

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, March 10, 2011

Grad School refines sixth-year funding plan continued from page 1 funding commitments to new students were fulfilled, Weber said.

Because available funds were dependent on first-year class size, fifth-year students experienced delays in planning for their sixth years because they had to wait for the University to finalize the firstyear class yield. As a result, the University did not alert students of their funding until the end of May — and in some cases, not until September, Weber said.

Under the new system, some money will be allocated in advance. Though Weber declined to specify the amount, he said funding levels would be consistent with previous years. He added that he hopes individual departments will contribute to this support, allowing the Grad School to “stretch its dollars further.”

The application process will require submission of a “dissertation completion proposal,” in which fifth-year students describe

their motivations for requesting an additional year of funding and set a concrete timeline for completion of their doctoral degrees. A dean-appointed committee will then review and decide on the proposals.

“There are many good reasons as to why a student wouldn’t be done in five years,” including the need to conduct extensive field research or learn a foreign language, Weber said.

The majority of students who request funding for a sixth year of doctoral work are in the social sciences and humanities — “areas where there is little external funding,” Weber said. Additional funding is not as much of an issue in the life or physical sciences, he said, because professors often have grant money they can use to support their advisees.

Another key feature of the new sixth-year support program will be the flexibility of the awards, which can go toward the enrollment fee, health insurance ex-

penses or an additional summer of support. Awards can be made for either one or two semesters, and the University will prioritize funding two students for one semester each rather than one student for the entire academic year.

The University currently guarantees five years of support to incoming graduate students.

Weber said the Grad School was cognizant of students’ concern and tried to expedite the search for a solution. “Grad students have been eager to find out what’s going on, so we decided to put this decision on the fast track,” he said. The plan was presented to directors of graduate programs and other faculty members on Tuesday, and the decision became final yesterday after input was incorporated.

Weber also met with a few groups of graduate students last week.

He said he hopes the changes to the sixth-year funding system will “provide transparency” to grad students and that the “clarity of rules will ease their minds.”

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8 Campus News

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, March 10, 2011

Faculty seeks to expand energy courses continued from page 5 and sequestration, an option for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, and it includes people who are just generally concerned with the efficiency of conversion of energy in one form to another.”

Faculty members are also interested in expanding undergraduate course offerings in the field, Weber said.

In geology, the study of energy resources is “a no-brainer,” said Greg Hirth, professor of geological sciences. He said he teaches the science behind difference energy sources, allowing students to come to their own conclusions about the benefits of each alternative. “The

foundation of the class is to lay out what some of the dilemmas are, but also to provide people some motivation to learn some of the basic science that goes into the debate,” Hirth said.

Seminars on energy science are held about every week for interested students, Weber said. Though the School of Engineering and the Center for Environmental Studies also offer courses in energy science, demand for more classes remains strong.

“Students are interested in learning about it,” Breuer said.

“They’re finding jobs in energy industries. ... We should be responding to the important issues of the day.”

Discussions on a unique concentration program are ongoing, and Suuberg said courses could be integrated into existing departments. “There are certainly a lot of avenues that could be used now to explore different aspects of the energy question,” he said. “For example, one could take any number of the engineering concentrations right now and weave into those enough energy-related topics that you’d have a pretty firm foundation on the technical side of energy.”

“I think it’s an exciting time in energy,” Suuberg said. “I think the students should expect to see more in the way of course offerings in the future focused in this direction as well.”

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City & State 9

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, March 10, 2011

Students, faculty tackle education outreach efforts continued from page 1 ticeably in recent years. Students at William D’Abate Elementary School — where Swearer Center volunteers began tutoring and summer programs in 2008 — have shown a 14 percent rise in reading proficiency and a 20 percent increase in math proficiency since 2007, according to statewide standardized tests.

Nozaki clarified that the score jump was not directly related to the center’s efforts, noting the school has also undergone curricular reform.

But similar schools where the center does not have a presence have not shown improved numbers like these in such a short time period.

The Swearer Center maintains an “ongoing conversation” with schools and asks for feedback on a regular basis, Nozaki said. He added if a school no longer wanted the University’s assistance, it would just need to ask — though in his time at the center, this has never happened.

Nozaki said one of the challenges of community outreach is the relatively short amount of time most students can commit to local schools. It “makes things tough,” he said, but having the center’s permanent staff — 18 full-time personnel — to help coordinate programs is helpful.

Many alums have gone on to work in local education, he added, citing multiple programs founded by alums that are dedicated to promoting arts and the humanities in Providence public schools. A group of graduates also founded the Learning Community, a charter school in Central Falls.

A school’s perspective

Brent Kermen, principal of William D’Abate Elementary School, said the Swearer Center acts as a “fiscal agent” for a 21st Century Community Learning Center grant the school received through the Rhode Island Department of Education.

“We are very, very fortunate and grateful to have all of the services that we receive through the Swearer Center,” he said.

Kermen said 20 to 30 students help out before or after class time at the elementary school on a daily basis, and about 10 undergraduates run a summer program at the school.

The Swearer Center has been involved with the elementary school for at least 12 years, Kermen said.

“They play a big role in our students’ success here.”

“Without their support and services, there’s no doubt that our student achievement would not be where it is,” he said. In addition to increased test scores, the elementary school has the third highest attendance rate in the district, he said.

Kermen added that he thinks Brown students’ unfamiliarity with Providence is not a problem.

“I think they share a lot of their personal experiences and successes with our students. … I think our students feel that and sense that and it motivates them,” he said. “The fact that we’re Providence or that 95 percent of our students qualify for free and reduced lunch — which

means 95 percent of our kids live in poverty — that gets lost. That all goes out the window with the Brown students.”

Motivation from within

In the spirit of expanding its outreach to the community, the Urban Education Policy program established the Urban Education Fellows program five years ago. The program — which was created in response to the 2006 recommendations of the University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice — grants a few graduate students free tuition each year in exchange for three years of service in local urban schools.

Kenneth Wong, director of the program and chair of the education department, said the fellows are “well received” by the community. He added that urban education students helped Rhode Island win a Race to the Top federal grant and received appreciation for their work from the mayor.

But according to Wong, there is a “general perception” in the community that the University is not doing enough.

“By nature, our work is more dispersed,” he said. To combat this perception, Wong said the department is developing a website to showcase the over 60 projects the University is conducting in Providence public schools. The University appointed its first director of education outreach in April 2006 to oversee such coordination, but the Office of Education Outreach website has not been updated with contact information since its current director, Holly Harriel, began work February 2010.

Wong said the program’s work in the community is going well but that it must not lose steam as it works to achieve its goal of granting the University an “ongoing presence” in the public school community.

climate, Zurier said some taxpayers feel that “the financials would be in better state if Brown were not exempt from paying taxes.”

Brown can make a difference through its community efforts, Zurier said. “My sense is that there’s actually quite a bit more that could be done,” he said. “And I’m hoping to try to figure out ways to make the schools more open to contributions from Brown students and other college students, too.” As of now, the Providence teachers’ contract mandates that the position of club advisers must be filled by hired teachers. Zurier said this is a role he would like to see filled by students as well.

Rallying students

Some students are already working on filling this void. Zack Mezera ’13 currently facilitates a club at Hope High School called Hope Student Union, which teaches students about activism and encourages them to voice concerns about issues at the school. Last year, Hope students staged a walkout to protest changes to the school’s schedule and curriculum.

But it can be difficult as “white, affluent Brown students” to tell public school students to stand up for themselves, Mezera said. “There is a division between College Hill and the East Side,” where Hope is located, he added.

He has heard criticism that undergraduate tutors are too transient.

“I think (schools) are just used to seeing faces come in and out. I don’t begrudge them for that,” he said.

Bobby Hunter ’12, who works with Mezera at Hope, accounted for this perception as an inherent trait of college students. “When you have a group of students that are as privileged and who have as many options as we do, there’s going to be an inevitable tendency to really jump around until you find something that is a good personal fit, which is understandable,” he said. “It’s just kind of hard to keep in mind that there are always going to be people on the other side of that.”

But by demonstrating their commitment, students can “break the barrier,” Mezera said. He acknowledged that the University already has a number of successful programs in local schools. “I just think that for

comics BB & Z | Cole Pruitt, Andrew Seiden, Valerie Hsiung and Dan Ricker

Cloud Buddies | David Emanuel

From the top down

In addition to offering services in public schools, select students have also had the opportunity to interact with the city’s education system from within the government.

Amit Jain ’12 interned with City Councilman Samuel Zurier on negotiations concerning the Providence teachers union contract in recent months and presented his findings to the City Council. He began working for Zurier after the councilman contacted Ross Cheit, associate professor of political science and public policy, looking for an intern for this project.

Jain said Cheit told him to expect some “wisecracks” from the City Council for being an undergraduate intern from Brown. Though he never faced any of these personally, he said he could understand the basis for such jokes because he perceives an inherent stigma associated with the “Ivy League thing.”

But Jain said he thinks the stigma can be overcome as the University continues to broaden its positive impact on the community.

Zurier said the “wisecracks” Jain was warned about may be due to the University not paying city taxes on its property. In this rough economic

stronger change, we’ve got to get in deeper.”

Mezera said he plans to stay in Providence after he graduates and continue the work he has started at Hope, as well as expand his project to other local high schools.

Student involvement helps overcome what Hunter considers the “biggest stereotype” — that Brown students are disinterested in local issues.

He said he would like to see more schools apply for money from the Fund for the Education of the Children of Providence, an endowment that gives money to local schools and was also created in response to the 2006 report on slavery and justice.

He added that Brown should consider reserving space for local students in the Summer@Brown program and work on making the University’s resources even more available. “I don’t think that we’re actively not open,” he said. “But the gates and the architecture and the geographic location all kind of contribute to a general sense (of being closed off) that is no one’s fault but might take active steps to overcome.”

Dr. Bear | Mat Becker

Dot Comic | Eshan Mitra and Brendan Hainline

10 Editorial Editorial

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, March 10, 2011

Editorial comic

b y a l e x y u ly

Endowment in name only If we put down a six-figure initial donation to a fund intended to raise at least $17 million and no one else followed suit, we might be a bit more upset than President Ruth Simmons seems right now.

In 2009, Simmons personally contributed $100,000 to initiate a student activities endowment that aims to eliminate the $178 student activities fee that every undergraduate student pays annually.

Though the fee did not go up this year, it has steadily increased in recent years. According to a report by The Herald last week, the fund has inexplicably seen “no further contributions” since Simmons’s generous donation. This leaves the endowment miles away from its goal of $17 to $21 million.

We respect efforts by the Student Activities Committee and others to solicit contributions for the fund. The committee is working with the Office of Development to identify potential donors and has distributed a student activities information document to possible contributors.

That said, we find it downright perplexing that a fund championing a basic and crucial part of any University — student groups and extracurriculars — has found essentially zero support in two years.

This is even more bizarre when considering Simmons’ considerable financial and vocal support for the endowment.

We understand that donations are often earmarked for specific purposes. Yet, given the growing financial burden on undergraduates through annual tuition increases, we urge donors to think of the pressing economic needs of current students. And, at least until the state of our national economy improves, we feel University officials have a responsibility to nudge these donors away from large-scale construction projects and towards the direction of more everyday student concerns. While donors ultimately have the final say on where their money goes, the entire community can do a better job pressing the short-term concerns of students given these perilous economic times.

The student activities endowment is a worthwhile fund, and we encourage University officials to more aggressively lobby alums to earmark their donations for it. Donating to the fund actually serves two purposes because it decreases tuition fees for every student and simultaneously contributes to the robust student group and extracurricular life on campus. Ultimately, students, faculty and alums consider student groups to be one of the hallmarks of a vibrant campus. We reject the notion that this student activities endowment should not be thriving at this point.

Student groups are having enough financial trouble as it is. The Herald reported Tuesday that because of its meager funding, Media Technology Services charges student groups to rent equipment for most non-academic performances and events. Consequently, student groups will likely apply for more funding in the future, or individual students will have to pay even more for extracurricular involvement.

Either way, extracurricular activity will continue down its gradual path towards being less accessible and more expensive. Increasing the vibrancy of student groups and decreasing tuition is something that all donors can agree on, and we hope that Simmons and the University will launch a full-court press to get this endowment rolling.

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

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A column in Wednesday’s Herald (“Shooting for safety?” March 9) stated that a proposed bill in the Texas state legislature would permit concealed carry of firearms on University of Texas campuses. The law would actually apply to all public universities in the state. Private institutions would also be required to permit concealed-carry license holders to carry guns on campus.

Correction A column in Wednesday’s Herald (“The mission and purpose of Israeli-Palestinian Peace Week,” March 9) incorrectly stated that Benj Kamm ’06 founded the Encounter mediation program. Kamm is the North American Program Coordinator of Encounter. The Herald regrets the error.

quote of the day

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places, where nobody recognizes me.

— President Ruth Simmons See simmons on page 1.

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Opinions 11

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, March 10, 2011

Please, ‘gimme gimme more’

By Lorraine Nicholson Opinions Columnist Britney Spears’ video for her Billboard smash hit “Hold it Against Me” dropped last Thursday, and I had absolutely no idea.

Normally, such events would fly under my own aesthetic radar. Things changed, however, when CNN told me Katy Perry was outraged. Things changed when I heard the blonde pop star made $500,000 on product placement alone. Things changed when I found myself watching the Jonas Akerlund-directed music video.

At first, I noticed the video has gotten over 16 million hits. Wow, the woman is definitely still popular. Then the video began. Britney stands, gesticulating wildly with her arms, wearing nothing but a white bra and silver panties. She’s surrounded by thoroughly oiled male models. A house/ trance beat rises steadily. All pretty much par for the course, so far.

Then came the outrageous part. No, it isn’t the mother of two in an endlessly long wedding dress or another girl on girl makeout scene. I found myself truly shocked when staring face to face with a seemingly non-sequitur shot of Britney Spears’ new perfume, entitled “Radiance.” I suddenly began to realize what the hubbub is all about.

Then came a close-up, single frame shot of a pot of Makeup-Forever eye shadow, which our pop heroine applies to already

made-up eyes. Next came a shot of a dating website called “Plenty of Fish” on a brand new, sparkling Sony television. Then came the pause button. Did I pull up the wrong YouTube video?

Alas, no such luck for me or American pop culture. My 1990s-nurtured brain flashes back to the doomed remake of the classic comic book “Josie and the Pussycats.” Obviously, being the only one in the universe to see this cinematic classic, I will elaborate — put succinctly, Josie and her

defense, is not the first to fall prey to the influences — and large capital — of corporate sponsors. After all, Run DMC has been wearing Adidas since the ’80s, and Lady Gaga’s video for her smash hit “Bad Romance” was named advertisement of the year by Pulitzer Prize winner Dan Neil.

And yet, since the ’80s, the power of the corporation in our pop aesthetic seems to be growing at a grotesque pace.

While I understand that the music industry is in trouble and that many are

Instead of lifting low culture to the greatest heights, they bring themselves — and their public along with them — down into the abyss of corporate smut.

pussycat pals find themselves in shock after discovering their record label was putting subliminal messages into their records to sell sodas, clothing, cat ears etc. Horrified, the girls disband, only to discover that — naturally enough — their screaming fans still adore them without being brainwashed.

The film takes place in a kind of semiapocalyptic future in which corporations run rampant and are single-handedly behind all aspects of the art world. The stillunderdeveloped adolescent side of my brain cannot help but wonder — is Britney’s video a sign of the impending artistic doomsday? The pop princess, in her

struggling to find new sources of revenue, turning our American icons into the 21st century version of the Avon lady seems like the wrong course to take. The problem with the video is not necessarily the content, but the way it is presented. I am fully behind Britney’s Pepsi-Cola ad days, Alec Baldwin’s Hulu commercial and Taylor Swift as the new face of Covergirl Cosmetics.

What I am not behind, however, is artists using music videos, which present themselves as a kind of artistic expression — the culmination of the artist’s identity — as a forum for selling vodka to their fans.

Call me a romantic, but I think the artists owe it to us to keep their music videos out

of the realms of consumption and advertisement. I want my music videos to be optimistic. I don’t want to feel my pop stars must compromise themselves to make ends meet. I don’t want my culture to exist only under the close scrutiny and subsequent funding of big businesses. I don’t want my nephew to be brainwashed into wanting to buy Makeup-Forever.

When Andy Warhol painted his Campbell’s soup cans in 1962, he did not receive $500,000. He was trying to elevate the mundane to the world of high culture, high art.

Our self-proclaimed pop artists seem to have inverted this formula. Instead of lifting low culture to the greatest heights, they bring themselves — and their public along with them — down into the abyss of corporate smut. The scariest part, of course, is that youth culture hasn’t batted an eyelash.

We have greeted this change with apathy, not outrage.

Of course, Britney has never proclaimed herself to be a member of the avant-garde or an experimental artist. Nevertheless, for an entire generation of young people, she is a cultural icon. Young girls, despite their mothers’ apprehension, look up to Britney.

And, aware of this position of power, the pop queen doesn’t challenge her public to think or even dance — she inspires them to buy. I am not suggesting that Britney repent, or that the formula change. I ask, simply, for more — more accountability, more transcendence, more art.

Lorraine Nicholson ’12.5 is a literary arts concentrator from Los Angeles, Calif.

Is there any justifiable reason to reinstate ROTC?

By Julian Francis Park Opinions Columnist If identifying the empirical implications of U.S. military culture and policy is to “demonize the military,” as Oliver Rosenbloom ’13 has argued (“ROTC and human rights: putting the military’s record in perspective,” March 1), then this says nothing of those of us identifying these implications. To describe what I have written as “demonization” could only mean the facts we’re discussing are demonic.

I have no desire to write about demons — I don’t think they exist. I’m talking about the grave harm that our military perpetuates within and without, at home and in its occupations abroad — as people acting upon people.

Anthony Badami ’11 (“Just saying,” March 4) recently asked an important question: Is it “a good idea for Brown to train students to potentially hurt, damage or kill other human beings?” Yet he subordinates this question to whether such training challenges the spirit of “free inquiry.”

That the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps obstructs such inquiry is doubtless. For example, participants in Army ROTC follow the “Cadet’s Creed” — promising to adhere to the “Warrior Ethos” and “Army values.”

ROTC challenges key components of academic freedom like faculty governance and peer review by demanding its own instructors and its own curriculum — it did when it was removed from campus for this reason, as it does today.

Nonetheless, subordinating our concern

with violence to “free inquiry” is to suggest that Brown’s goals are ultimately educational.

Brown’s mission statement tells us otherwise, that education is a means towards another end — “serv(ing) the community, the nation, and the world.”

Repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” does not make the military compliant with our community’s non-discrimination policies. It is unclear to me how a failure on Brown’s part to follow through on its own official policies can claim to have the interests of our community at heart. Even if one believes that Brown’s current ROTC program, which requires a mere three-mile commute to Providence College, limits the individual free-

tion Survey said that they are “mistreated at work” and that transgender people experience a “similar number of hate crimes” per year as folks deemed worthy of legal protection, to ignore their existence is also to ignore the violence they experience in our society.

Such ignorance cannot but foster a hostile environment for Brown’s transgender students, present and future — a hostility that directly conflicts with free inquiry.

Rosenbloom claims the “U.S. military is the only force that stands between the barbaric Taliban and the brave Afghani women.”

Permit me to set aside this comment’s ethnocentrism.

While the Afghanistan Independent Hu-

Until proponents empirically support the alleged benefits justifying ROTC’s reinstatement — which none have yet to do — there is no reason for it to occur. doms of students — should the right to learn in an environment free of discrimination not trump comparatively superficial limitations?

Were the U.S. military — which considers transgender people “disordered,” and prevents their participation — to return to campus, Brown could no longer claim that it “does not discriminate on the basis of … gender identity, or gender expression in the administration of its educational policies … or other administered programs,” as it does in its stated principles. That Harvard ignored this aspect of its own policies to reinstate ROTC is concomitant to suppressing the existence of an entire category of people.

Given that 97 percent of people responding to the National Transgender Discrimina-

man Rights Commission acknowledged in 2003 that the “denial of individuals rights, particularly women’s rights were all legal practice by the regime during 1996 to 2001” it also reported in 2009 that the “deteriorating security situation has continued to severely hamper the enjoyment of human rights throughout the country, particularly by vulnerable people such as women, children, persons with disabilities and internally displaced persons.”

Contrary to claims that we are conducting counterinsurgency in Afghanistan, army officer Capt. Matt Golsteyn points out that “we’re the insurgents here … and we’re selling a poor product called the Kabul government.” And if we can stretch our memories

back to the 1980s, we might remember that the United States supported the Taliban’s rise — when it was in our strategic interests during the Cold War. Then, as now, U.S. strategic interests come first — as suggested by President Obama’s silence on the Bahraini democracy movement, of which women are on the front lines.

The Kingdom of Bahrain has of course been called “the Middle East anchor of U.S. defense strategy.”

If anyone is going to suggest that globally promoting human rights ought to be considered before the rights of one-third of the women in the U.S. military who experience sexual assault, they are thereby calling for Brown to endorse a “military culture that fails to prevent rape and sexual assault” and “mishandle(s) cases that were brought to its attention,” as CBS News and the New York Times have reported. The 11 percent rise in assaults in 2010 buttresses this point. Proponents of ROTC better be standing on firm ground.

Until proponents empirically support the alleged benefits justifying ROTC’s reinstatement — which none have yet to do — there is no reason for it to occur.

I won’t be so reductive as to claim that you’re either with or against me. But that does not change the fact that so-called “neutrality” on this question is nonexistent. To not care about ROTC is a political opinion — that you don’t find the military’s documented practices and policies objectionable.

This is me objecting.

Julian Francis Park ’12 is a member of the Coalition Against Special Privileges for ROTC. For more information e-mail julianfrancispark@gmail.com.

Daily Herald City & State the Brown

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Bill proposes to levy fee on U., hospitals

By Amy Rasmussen Senior Staff Writer

A bill proposed by state Rep. John Carnevale, D-Providence and Cranston, would grant cities and towns the authority to assess a fee on tax-exempt hospitals and private institutions of higher education like Brown. Carnavales introduced the bill on the same day that Providence Mayor Angel Taveras announced his intention to renegotiate the city’s agreements granting tax-exemption to non-profits in an attempt to close the city’s $180 million two-year budget deficit.

The fee — which would go towards city services such as fire, rescue and police — ­­ could amount to at most 25 percent of the value of the non-profit’s tax-exempt holdings.

But the level of legislative support for the bill is unclear.

“Mayor Taveras is interested in examining ways that Providence’s non-profit institutions can contribute to the city’s economic future,” wrote spokesman David Ortiz in an e-mail to The Herald. “The city continues to have healthy, ongoing communication with its non-profit partners.”

Veteran state Rep. Edith Ajello, D-Providence, said she has seen many variations on the bill during her 18 years in the General Assembly. But she has never seen Providence’s finances in such a dire state.

“Some of the things the mayor has proposed make sense,” Ajello said. “But they’re painful choices, and people will be looking for money wherever they can.”

The fate of the bill may depend on the mindset with which House members approach the issue, Ajello said.

“There is, in the state and in the city of Providence, a lot of resentment against what people imagine to be the wealthy East Side, the wealthy Brown University,” she added. “If people think about it that way, it gets some legs.”

In 2009, former mayor and current U.S. Congressman David Cicil-

line ’83, D-R.I., proposed a similar measure to close the then-$17 million deficit and called for a yearly $300 per student “impact fee” for the use of city services. The legislation met immediate opposition from state colleges and universities.

A comparable student tax proposed in 2005 by Stephen Alves, D-West Warwick, was also scuttled in the state legislature.

“I’m not in support of it at all,” said Sen. Rhoda Perry P’91, D-Prov-

“I don’t think this bill has too much of a chance of passing.”

Sen. Rhoda Perry P’91, D-Providence idence. “I think the mayor needs to do his work, and he needs to renegotiate what we currently have.”

According to Perry, a similar bill has not been introduced in the state Senate. “I don’t think the bill has too much of a chance of passing,” she said.

“A strong Providence is good for Brown, just as a strong and successful Brown is important for the health and vitality of the city and state,” wrote Marisa Quinn, vice president of public affairs and University relations, in an e-mail to The Herald.

“Taxing nonprofit institutions of higher education and their students is counterproductive, however, and is not the solution.”

The legislation could be a way “to get people’s attention and maybe force them, as they say, to the table to get some negotiations started,” Ajello said.

One of the most widely voiced arguments against the 2009 proposed tax was that private universities already voluntarily contribute to the city. Perry said she hopes Taveras will take time to re-examine the “package of support” that tax-exempt institutions currently provide.

“The colleges and universities and hospitals know the fiscal problems

that the city of Providence is facing,” she said. “I think they’re going to be open and willing to talk about it.”

The University makes payments in lieu of taxes under a 2003 agreement with the city. Brown’s financial contributions amount to nearly $50 million over 20 years, Quinn wrote.

The University is one of the largest employers in the state and consumes a significant chunk of state-produced goods and services. Opponents of the new tax point to the thousands of hours Brown students spend volunteering in the city and the positive impact of the University’s work in aiding local communities.

“For as long as I can remember, I have heard people say that without Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence would be like Fall River,” Ajello said.

“All of the schools in the state contribute a tremendous amount to the quality of life.”

According to Quinn, higher education institutions account for only 9.6 percent of tax-exempt property in Providence. In fiscal year 2009, the University paid $3.34 million in property taxes and voluntary payments to the city. Tax-exempt property represents roughly 40 percent of all property in Providence.

The bill could also have unintended negative consequences.

Assessing the fee on non-profit hospitals could drive up the cost of health care in the state because non-profits would have to charge more for their services, Ajello said.

Carnevale’s proposal does not extend to places of worship, which both Ajello and Perry agreed should be included among non-profits that would be taxed.

“It’s only fair that religious institutions should have to pay their share,” Perry said, emphasizing her belief that the bill stands little chance of passing the Senate.

Gov. Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14 has yet to take a position on the legislation, according to his spokesman Mike Trainor. “It’s currently under review,” he said.

Bills on alcohol hit General Assembly

By Jennifer Kaplan Contributing Writer

A bill in the General Assembly would prohibit people ages 18 to 21 from attending nightclubs where alcohol is served — just one of a series of measures related to alcohol and drunk driving under consideration by state lawmakers.

Gabrielle Abbate, executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving Rhode Island, said she attributes the recent rush of alcoholrelated bills to increased pressure on legislators following neighborhood problems with alcohol abuse.

According to the national organization’s ranking, Rhode Island places in the worst four states for drunk driving.

State Rep. Joy Hearn, D-Barrington and East Providence, said her legislation banning people under 21 from nightclubs zeros in on the underage drinking problem.

“The incidence of underage drinkers in Providence has become very disruptive for clubs,” Hearn said. “They come in having drank, they leave, they pose trouble for the police,” she added.

A Massachusetts law prohibiting individuals under 21 from entering nightclubs has sent many younger club-goers across the border to Rhode Island, magnifying the problem, Hearn said.

The bill’s hearing was temporarily postponed March 2, though the legislation has not been withdrawn. The bill has garnered support from state legislators who are interested in addressing underage drinking, Hearn said.

But Lex Rofes ’13, does not think this legislation would solve the problem. “Most people go to nightclubs with fake (identifications) that say they’re 21,” he said.

Rofes believes the real solution is to lower the drinking age to 18.

“In places where the drinking age

is 18, they learn how to be more responsible with drinking,” he said.

Another bill — among those heard by the House Judiciary Committee March 2 — ­­ would allow the immediate suspension of a driver’s license when a person is charged with driving under the influence. “Why would we allow someone to have their license the next day if they’ve either, one, refused a chemical test or, two, gotten a DUI?” said Rep. Rene Menard, D-Lincoln and Cumberland, the bill’s sponsor. There are already 41 states with similar laws, according to Menard. This is the fourth time Menard has proposed the legislation.

The bill would provide an incentive to stay off the roads after drinking, Rachel Borders ’13 said.

“People in our community have been deeply affected by incidences that have arisen through drunk driving,” she said.

Abbate believes the reason Rhode Island has such problems with alcohol abuse is a lack of leadership. “We just haven’t had the gumption,” she said.

While “there is some great proposed DUI legislation,” none of the bills that have been introduced address all facets of the issue, Abbate said.

Two further bills dealing with alcohol abuse were also heard at the March 2 hearing. The first would require mandatory enhanced probation — ­ which involves twice daily breathalyzer tests mandated by the court — for drivers who repeatedly refused chemical tests but tested above the legal alcohol limit. And the second would permit police to conduct a blood or breathalyzer test for alcohol or drugs without first performing the roadside sobriety test.

All alcohol-related bills considered at the hearing have been set aside for further study.

New police chief named after immigration policy dispute

By Morgan johnson Contributing Writer

Brendan Doherty, superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police, announced his resignation March 3, a week after he spoke out in support of the federal immigration enforcement program known as Secure Communities. The public resignation followed a high-profile exchange in which top law enforcement officials in Providence and Rhode Island butted heads over immigration policy.

Gov. Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14 appointed U.S. Marshal Steven O’Donnell to replace Doherty March 7. The shake-up came after Doherty stated his support for Secure Communities Feb. 23 in response to Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare’s request for the city to opt out of the program almost two weeks earlier.

Secure Communities works to identify and deport illegal immi-

grants with criminal backgrounds.

The program allows local law enforcement to check fingerprints of alleged criminals against Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security records.

If the fingerprints match those of a person who is undocumented, law enforcement can deport the individual. The immigration enforcement agency aims to implement the program nationwide by 2013, according to its website.

Refusal to utilize the Secure Communities’ modern technology “defies logic,” Doherty said in a statement on Pare’s decision. The statement came as a surprise to the Chafee administration, which later asked Doherty in a private meeting to refrain from commenting publicly on Secure Communities until the governor determined his position on the program, multiple news sources reported Feb. 24.

“The Secure Communities pro-

gram will create fear and mistrust between the community and law enforcement — thus undermining our community policing model and risking the public safety of our capital city,” Pare wrote in a letter asking the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which oversees the program, to allow Providence to stop enforcing it. The immigration enforcement agency is a subsidiary of the Department of Homeland Security.

In his statement, Doherty said he had considered resigning from the position several months ago, quelling speculation that Chafee might have pushed him out.

“I would take him at his word that he’s considered leaving for a while, and circumstances would suggest that his difference of opinion probably brought on his decision,” said Victor Profughi, Rhode Island College professor emeritus of political science and CEO and research director of the

polling firm Quest Research.

In Monday’s press conference, Chafee introduced his new appointee O’Donnell as one of President Clinton’s “10 top cops” in 1996.

During a conversation with O’Donnell, Chafee agreed to back Secure Communities in instances of violent crime, according to a March 7 Providence Journal article. “We want to make sure we work with the immigrant community,” Chafee told the Journal.

But there is no indication that the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement will allow partial participation in the program, local immigration lawyer Roberto Gonzales said. So far, the agency has yet to state publicly whether communities will be permitted to opt out of the program.

“Secure Communities is a prime example of Orwellian doublespeak,” said Alejo Stark ’12, a member of the Brown Immigrant Rights Coalition.

Stark said the program would further strain the already rocky relationship between police and the immigrant community. “When my grandfather was robbed in front of my house after driving home from work, the last thing my family thought about was calling the police,” Stark said.

The group’s members, in partnership with local organizations, are giving “Know Your Rights” training sessions for illegal immigrants to inform them of their rights in dealing with the police, Stark said.

Secure Communities “isn’t what it’s cracked up to be,” Gonzales said.

He added that increased racial profiling is a major issue with the program’s implementation.

“Communities have been reporting more instances of police stops and arrests based on appearance and not for any other reason,” Gonzales said. “They’ll run fingerprints through the program after a traffic stop.”