Daily
Herald
the Brown
vol. cxlvi, no. 91
Friday, October 21, 2011
Since 1891
Occupy pitches a big tent
Main Green To the beat of drums, a campout to night at Burnside Park Ours was not one of them. greet the Tibedo, our neighbor, lived about two feet away, though he Corporation graciously moved one foot further By Rebecca Ballhaus, Talia Kagan and Claire Peracchio City & State Editor, Features Editor and City & State Editor
Occupy College Hill, a campusbased offshoot of Occupy Providence, will host a “One Night Stand” campout on the Main Green tonight
to kick off discussion about how to improve the University. The event is scheduled to immediately precede the meeting of the Corporation, the University’s highest governing body, in University Hall Saturday. “Many people — including myself — have grievances with the Corporation,” said Julie Pittman ’12, one of the event’s organizers. “We’re trying to bring everyone together to start talking about those grievances.” The group has not yet come to a clear consensus about what its continued on page 2
“Your tent’s weird,” Chris Tibedo told us. About 20 minutes into our attempt to Occupy Providence, we were having problems. The basic two-person tent we had borrowed was proving not so basic after all. We looked around. There were more than 70 well-pitched tents Wednesday night at Burnside Park, the home of “People’s Park,” an encampment supporting the Occupy movement since Saturday.
once we settled in, to comply with the city’s stipulation that three feet separate tents. We were also warned to pitch our tent at least 10 feet from the park’s fence. Though Occupiers declined to file for a city permit to avoid setting an end date, they try to obey city rules. Saturday was the first day of the park’s Occupation, but Occupy Providence considers its start date continued on page 2
SEC again probing Corporation trustee Endowment The investigation is aimed at the quisition of MedImmune by Astrajumps to fund’s trading patterns before John- Zeneca. As of yet, no charges have son & Johnson’s 2009 acquisition of arisen from that investigation. As the Corporation descends on Cougar Biotechnology. According The Justice Department is also $2.5 billion campus — and the Occupy move- to the Wall Street Journal, the firm currently conducting a criminal inment prepares to protest its arrival increased its position in Cougar vestigation of SAC activity overseen in year of — one of its trustees is finding him- Biotechnology by about 8,000 per- by Cohen personally. self under renewed legal scrutiny. cent in a three-month span between Cohen was elected to the CorThe Wall Street Journal reported the end of 2008 to March 2009, two poration, the University’s highest high returns By tony bakshi News Editor
yesterday that SAC Capital Advisors, founded by billionaire Trustee Steven Cohen P’08, is again under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for insider trading.
months before the acquisition was publicly announced. The Wall Street Journal reported a separate SEC probe into Cohen’s fund in June regarding possible insider trading before the 2007 ac-
governing body, in 2008. A gallery in the Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts bears his name. Representatives from SAC and the SEC were unavailable for comment late Thursday.
By Caitlin Trujillo Senior Staff Writer
Courtesy of Lynn Rothschild
inside
Julius Ho ’12 (left) and Jovian Yu ’12 approach space exploration with synthetic biology for the iGEM competition. See full coverage on page 5.
The Residential Council will begin accepting applications today for a new program house, which will fill the void left when Interfaith House closed its doors last semester. The application will become available at 8 a.m. on ResCouncil’s website. Any non-seniors with an idea for a residential program are eligible to apply so long as they can sign up at least 10 supporters by the Nov. 18 deadline, said Travis Spangler ’13, chair of ResCouncil’s Program and Greek House Committee. The application is also open to proposals for new Greek houses. The opening follows ResCouncil’s decision to deny Interfaith House — formerly located in Di-
man House — program house status due to low enrollment numbers, Spangler said. Program houses must maintain a minimum of 22 members to remain in good standing, he said. Interfaith House was twice put on probation in the last two years for low enrollment, losing exclusive access to Diman’s lounge, kitchen and library. Former residents of Interfaith House did not respond to requests for comment. ResCouncil will select representatives from the top applicant groups to interview by Nov. 28, Spangler said. Administrators will look for proposals with the potential to contribute to the Brown community. Applications must make a case that a program continued on page 3
continued on page 3
D&C
Hay disarray QB clash
Renovation plans rankle library staff
CamPus news, 3
The football team battles Cornell this weekend sports, 6
By Mark Raymond Senior Staff Writer
The University posted an 18.5 percent return on its endowment for the fiscal year that ended in June, bringing the total endowment figure to $2.5 billion. The unusually high gains were largely due to success in the market, said Beppie Huidekoper, executive vice president for finance and administration. Last year’s 6.9 percent return left the endowment at $2.1 billion. The average return over the past 10 years is about 7.7 percent. Huidekoper said she was “really pleased” with this year’s uptick. The endowment peaked in value at $2.8 billion before falling 27 percent in the economic downturn of 2008. The rest of the Ivy League posted similar returns this year. Columbia enjoyed the greatest rate of growth, with a return of 23.6 percent in the 2011 fiscal year, bringing its endowment to $7.8 billion. Harvard’s endowment grew by 21.4 percent to $32 billion, while Princeton and Yale each saw their endowments grow by 21.9 percent, bringing their totals to $17.1 billion and $19.4 billion, respectively.
New program house space up for grabs
S pac e j a m
news....................2-4 Science...................5 Sports................6-7 editorial............10 Opinions.............11 Arts.......................12
Rebecca Ballhaus / Herald
225 protesters slept in Burnside Park at Kennedy Plaza Wednesday night.
The naked masturbator gets coal — twice Diamonds & coal, 10
weather
By Elizabeth Carr Senior Staff Writer
t o d ay
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2 Campus News
Occupy movement builds infrastructure
calendar Today
October 21
3:30 P.m.
The Brown Daily Herald Friday, October 21, 2011
ToMORROW
october 22
continued from page 1
1 p.m.
2015 CCB Pumpkin Painting,
2013 CCB Fright Fest,
Main Green
Six Flags New England
10 p.m.
10 A.m. Pink Party,
Fourth Annual Dash for Diabetes,
Wriston Quad
Begins at Barnes and Prospect
menu SHARPE REFECTORY
VERNEy-WOOLLEY DINING HALL LUNCH
Cavatini, Bulgur Stuffed Pepper, Vegetarian Curry Stir Fry with Tofu, Rice Krispie Treats
Chicken Fingers, Vegan Nuggets, Zucchini, Carrot and Garlic Medley, Rice Krispie Treats
DINNER Bourbon BBQ Chicken, Gnocchi with Arugula and Spinach Pesto, Grilled Cheese
Filet of Sole and Lemon Roll-ups, Golden Corn and Rice Casserole, Orange Beef Pad Thai
Sudoku
Crossword
to be Oct. 1, the first day it started meeting in general assemblies. Occupy Providence exists as a communal society within a bustling downtown, directly opposite from the Kennedy Plaza bus terminal. Though there is no typical Occupier, many spending the night at the camp were unemployed or between jobs. Volunteers and vegan bread
In the end, it took two men named Chris to help us build our tent. Our second helper, Chris Goncalves, mocked our tent’s “fancy” aluminum poles. We later learned that Tibedo is far more familiar with tents than he let on — before moving to the park, he had lived in his 9-by-12-foot tent elsewhere in the city since April. Tibedo and Goncalves help out at the food tent and with cleaning. The food tent uses donations to cook big meals open to all, including the homeless, some of whom were living in the park prior to the protests. Rob Greyfox, who volunteered the late-night shift at the media tent, estimated 45 to 55 percent of tents in the park shelter the homeless. Volunteers cleaned up the dinner of salad, pizza and vegan banana nut bread we had missed. The Occupiers emphasize the movement has no leadership or assigned roles, but people volunteer when they can. Goncalves also picks up the park’s litter. He refuses to throw even cigarette butts on the ground and instead tucks them under his shoelaces. Goncalves usually prefers not to wear shoes at all, but he recently stepped on glass and has since been playing it safe. His occupation of the park is “nothing political,” he said, but is about spreading “love and positive en-
Rebecca Ballhaus / Herald
Gen. Burnside, presiding over the Occupy camp, often serves as a meeting place.
ergy.” The recycling bins by the park are often full, Goncalves said, so he and other volunteers push rattling shopping carts filled with bottles and food packaging several blocks down Washington Street to the AS220 trash and recycling area. The venue allows the Occupiers to use their bins, he said. As we sorted through bottles, a restaurant staffer who came out to dispose of trash waved hello. West Warwick resident Peter Calci III helped sort out bottles. Though he does not sleep at the park and continues to go to work, Calci said he spends as much time as possible at Burnside, volunteering and speaking with residents. The protesters all have a common goal, he said, acknowledging that it can sometimes be imprecise. He sees the parks as “a meeting of the masses to just talk.” The purpose, he said, is “if nothing else, maybe just getting people’s attention.” Community power
There are other daytime visitors
who support the cause, like Cranston resident Renae Chaves, who sometimes brings her 7-year-old son Rowan. She takes him home at night so as not to “disrupt his schedule,” she said. On Monday, she held an impromptu storytime at the base of Gen. Ambrose Burnside’s statue for Rowan and the handful of other children visiting that day. These visitors bring many of the donations necessary to keep the park running. A large whiteboard displays a request list for items like toothpaste, tents and apple cider vinegar. Already donated items include pasta, fabric pads for sleeping from Lorraine Fabrics and the generator that provides the camp with electricity. “We have more than enough power,” said Providence resident Amanda Magee, who volunteers in media outreach. The media tent contains the laptops and Wi-Fi hotspot Occupiers use to maintain a social media presence, host continued on page 4
Occupy College Hill, one night only continued from page 1 grievances are, Pittman said. She would like to see more transparency regarding investment, more student involvement in Corporation decisions and a stronger relationship between the University and Providence, she said. While the campout format of the event models Occupations across
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the country, Pittman said the group is not launching a long-term Occupation. This “solidarity Occupation” will support the protests taking place in New York City and downtown Providence, Pittman said, but tonight’s event is not intended to be confrontational. “I’m hoping that it will be a chance for people to educate themselves more about the way our Uni-
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versity functions and exists in the world,” Pittman said. “I’m especially hoping that our conversations can lead to concrete action to improve our University.” The event was approved by the Student Activities Office, in part because of the group’s assurances that it will be camping for one night only, Pittman said. Janet Cooper Nelson, University chaplain and director of the Office of the Chaplains and Religious Life, expressed concern in an email to the Occupation’s organizers that the event may interfere with a memorial service being held for John Shroeder, former English professor, in Manning Chapel Saturday morning. Pittman said that she does not foresee the Occupation disrupting the dignity of the service. In addition to discussions about the University’s future, the event’s itinerary includes a potluck, performances by live local bands and a game of capture the flag. “Friday night’s going to be really fun,” Pittman said. “So people should just come and have fun too.”
Campus News 3
The Brown Daily Herald Friday, October 21, 2011
Waitlist fluctuations make admittance unpredictable By David chung Senior Staff Writer
How tough is it to get into Brown off the waitlist? It depends. The number of waitlisted applicants has remained relatively steady in recent years, but the number of students who are admitted and matriculate from the list has fluctuated unpredictably. The University has offered approximately 1,500 students a place on the waitlist over each of the past six years. Around one-third of students waitlisted decide to remain on the list. Dean of Admission James Miller ’73 said the University does not keep track of exactly how many people it places on the waitlist. “We don’t have a specific target in any given year,” he said. The admit rate from the waitlist pool has varied between 5 and 20 percent since 2004. Brown admitted 32 applicants off the waitlist for the class of 2014, while 99 were accepted for the class of 2005, according to the Office of Institutional Research. But the waitlist yield rate — the number of accepted students who matriculate — is just as unpredictable as the admit rate. Only five waitlisted students enrolled in the classes of 2014 and 2010, while 112 joined the class of 2007. In the past six years, the matriculation rate of applicants admitted off the list has ranged from 14.3 percent in 2006 to 72.0 percent in 2008. Miller attributed fluctuations in waitlist admissions to variations in the yield of students admitted in the regular decision round, which itself is affected by various factors such as the competitiveness of the University’s financial aid packages. Though the Admission Office has an expectation of what the yield may be, predicting it is “not an exact science,” Miller said. The number of students admitted from the waitlist depends on whether the yield turns out to be higher or lower than expected, he said. In addition, if matriculating students are offered admission to other universities from their waitlists and decide to accept the offer, the University may have to reexamine the waitlist to replace these students, he said. The waitlist is not ranked, Miller said, and the admission committees reconsider all students remaining in
the applicant pool during waitlist admission rounds. The process is not necessarily used to fill holes that are left in the matriculating class when some types of admitted students turn down the University’s offer of admission. “We’re conscious of what the class looks like to that point,” he said, “but we really want to get the best students who are on the waitlist.” Legacy students do not have more of an advantage in the waitlist round than during the rest of the application process, he said. The waitlist process is also need-blind. Lia Tosiello ’15, who was accepted from the waitlist, said she was not proactive about the process. Though she planned to attend Georgetown University, she stayed on the waitlist “to keep the option open.” “I didn’t think I was going to get in,” she said. On the other hand, Alex Fujinaka ’13, who was heading to Cornell, said he decided to stay on the waitlist because he felt closer with students from his high school who went to Brown than those who chose Cornell. Fujinaka, who attended Harvard-Westlake School, said he saw Brown as a “better fit” for him. After being waitlisted, he sent in a letter to the admission office and spoke with Ed Hu ’87, HarvardWestlake’s chief advancement officer and former associate dean of admission at Brown. Fujinaka said it would be “lying” to say he did not think the connection worked in his favor. Accepted in mid-July, Fujinaka was z-listed — admitted for the following year. He said the offer made Brown even more attractive, as he had been considering a gap year. Peer institutions also use the waitlist as a tool in the admissions process. Like at Brown, the number of students accepted and enrolled from the waitlist has been highly variable. Yale did not accept any students from its waitlist in 2005. In 2006, it admitted 27.5 percent of applicants who remained on the waitlist. Cornell accepted 279 students off its waitlist in 2007, while it did not offer admission to any waitlisted students in 2009 or 2010. Princeton and Stanford University have both also denied admission to all waitlisted applicants in some years and admitted over 100 in others.
New program house to be established continued from page 1 house status is ideal for the group — applicants cannot just be looking to avoid the housing lottery, Spangler said. Once ResCouncil wraps up the interviews, it will submit its findings to the Office of Residential Life, which will confirm or veto specific proposals. The final decision in December will be a
joint effort between ResLife and ResCouncil, Spangler said. New program house applicants will need to sign up 22 members by Super Deadline Day, which usually comes in March, Spangler said. The new group will have exclusive access to its common spaces upon moving in, whether that be in Diman or another residence hall more suited to the group’s needs.
Hay renovations put staff at odds By Louisa Chafee Contributing Writer
Renovations to restore the John Hay Library’s reading room to its original size have ignited tensions among library staff members. Once a large open space used for general study and rare book viewing, the reading room is now partitioned into three sections, with only the middle one available for student use. But the renovations will restore the room to its original state. “We want the space to be open and inviting to the public,” said Alison Bundy, senior library associate specialist. According to an April 22 Herald article, a gift of about $6 million will cover the cost of the renovations. Opening the space could create security concerns for the library’s rare book and manuscript collections, said Andy Moul, library associate specialist. “I’d like to see a really large, comfortable space utilizing that glorious reading room, but I’d also like to see a lot of thought go into the security of
our books,” Moul said. The Hay’s restrictions for viewing rare books are already looser than those of most rare books libraries. Rules may slacken even further with the new renovations. Students now must leave their bags in lockers before entering the reading room, but University Librarian Harriette Hemmasi said that rule may disappear after renovations. “My feeling is it should be a natural environment,” Hemmasi said. Even the administration is not entirely clear on the changes, said Bill Monroe, senior scholarly resources librarian. Monroe said he is hopeful but does not understand the impetus for such a large project at this time. “When the reading room was larger, in its original state, this was the University library, so that was the reading room. It had to be large,” he said. Now, “We don’t need that amount of space.” But Hemmasi said she is happy to “be able to give this space back to the campus.” Hay workers have also seen their offices relocated as a result of the changes. To accommodate the read-
ing room’s larger size, the first floor of the library will no longer house offices. Some faculty members will move to the top floor, while others will move to the Rockefeller Library. Such changes will distance the close-knit staff, Moul said. “The number of things that have to be done for renovation, added to the regular semester workload, creates tension over what’s the most important thing to do,” he added. While the Special Collections Department, which oversees the University archives, is housed in the same building, it is structurally a separate organization. During the renovation, this line will blur, and “everyone is learning everyone’s job,” Moul said. Though final details of the renovations are still being worked out, Moul said he would like to have more details, especially because special collections are such a careful operation. Many are unclear about the project’s aims, Moul said. The renovations have been slow to start. Half the pledged funds are not yet in hand, and further delays are expected, Hemmasi said.
Year’s returns bump up U. endowment continued from page 1 Though the market was generous in fiscal year 2011, Huidekoper cautioned against excess optimism in light of recent economic events. “The market has been way off to date this year, so our returns are not going to continue,” she said. The investment staff aims to make a return on the endowment
while also providing enough funds to support areas like need-blind financial aid and the University’s operating budget. Fourteen percent of the 2011 fiscal year operating budget was funded by the endowment, according to a University press release. “Brown’s investment strategy is slightly more conservative than some of its peers because we have
less money,” Huidekoper said. “We may not do as well in the good years, but we don’t do as bad in the bad years.” Other Ivy League institutions posted returns similar to Brown’s. Cornell saw its endowment grow 17 percent in the last fiscal year. The endowments of Penn and Dartmouth rose 18.6 percent and 18.4 percent, respectively.
4 Campus News
The Brown Daily Herald Friday, October 21, 2011
Occupiers create communal society continued from page 2 a live feed and enable individual Internet access. Residents stop by to plug cell phones into the community power strip or just to say hello — the brightly lit canopy, donated by the firefighters’ union, is always staffed. Providence resident Michael McCarthy often sleeps in the media tent, though for part of the past week he has only slept two hours a night. Like Magee, he gives many interviews to local media outlets, who are often “disarmed” by the suit he wears for interviews — an anomaly among the protesters, he said. Serving needs
The encampment is officially substance-free, though intoxicated visitors are not uncommon, and there have been a few appearances of alcohol, residents said. In those cases, violators were asked to dispose of substances, and most complied. The camp now has a public safety patrol that walks around looking for violations and checking in with residents. Two patrol members asked if we needed any blankets or wooden pallets for our tent before moving on. Next to the “legal tent” is a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag hanging in a tree. Similar to flags used by Tea Party protesters, it strikes a seemingly discordant note amid what has been characterized as a left-wing movement. Chris Kairnes, a member of the legal team, pointed out that the flag had a long history before the Tea Party unfurled it at rallies. Kairnes said his job is to offer legal advice, alert the Occupiers of their rights when dealing with law enforcement and communicate with lawyers sympathetic to the cause. “We’re just people that want to uphold the law,” he said.
He does not have formal legal training. His political views defy the “left-right paradigm,” which he thinks is just a way to divide Americans. “I actually wish the two-party system would collapse,” he said. The camp has two medical tents. At around 11 p.m., there were two volunteers at the first medical tent: Oi, who goes by a single name, and Linda Perreault. The strongest drugs they give out are Tylenol and Ibuprofen. “I think a lot of issues are being addressed here all at once,” Oi said earnestly. He spoke of a litany of problems — capitalism, dependence on the monetary system, oppression — and of his desire to “work towards a world that is not so destructive.” Oi, who now lives in the park full-time, said he plans to stay there until decisions are made to confront the problems he cares about. Perreault was recently laid off from her job as a unit secretary at Kent Hospital in Warwick. Her job that night was to monitor sanitation and make sure tarps on the tents were secure, since rain was forecasted. “Chapped lips were a big thing tonight,” she deadpanned. The medical supplies at the tent are all donated, mostly from individuals. She reached into a large green bin to hand out a Tylenol for a headache. Like other Occupiers, she feels strongly about many causes. She said she is a member of the Coffee Party, a progressive third party that seeks to reform taxes, Wall Street and campaign financing. James Paycheck, a young Providence resident with an affable grin and a bandana around his head, came over to see if we needed help with anything. Paycheck works in the medical tent and as part of the security team. “I make sure people are being safe, that they get
Talia Kagan / Herald
Chris Tibedo helps Herald editors pitch their tent Wednesday night. The encampment recycles and even composts.
what they need,” he said. His job includes everything from distributing Band-Aids to ensuring that diabetics get their medication. He also makes sure “no one’s getting too rowdy.” Occu-party?
There is never a dull moment at the camp. Daily routines include workshops, fitness sessions and training seminars. Residents of the park also train each other on how to identify police misconduct in the event of an arrest. So far, the camp has had no arrests. Paycheck still works a day job, but he returns to the camp at night. “We have so much fun that we don’t want to leave here,” he said. “Our family is here.” “This is the best thing to happen to Rhode Island since this park’s been built,” he said. Willie Paycheck, James’ brother, chimed in. “I felt safer here than I do beyond that gate,” he said, gesturing to the short fence — currently covered in the protesters’ signs — that surrounds the park. The brothers were recently evicted from their home in Provi-
Rebecca Ballhaus / Herald
Occupy protesters held a direct action Monday encouraging Bank of America customers to close their accounts.
dence. Willie said he was “struggling” when he arrived at the camp, and the camp’s residents posted someone by his tent to make sure he “was going to be all right.” He grinned: “Now that’s what I call ‘Occupy.’” ‘Radical solutions’
“If I were to make a sign, I would write, ‘too complex to argue,’” said Greg Guernon, a Providence resident who comes to the park to join the protesters in his spare time and then bikes home around 1 or 2 a.m. “I graduated from Brown with $100,000 in student loan debt, and it’s ridiculous,” said Chantal Tape ’09. “It’s a really (expletive) time to try and start your life.” “We’re obviously not going to stay here forever,” she added. “This is part of the solution. … More creative, radical solutions.” “Brown’s full of privileged brats who like to talk the big talk,” said Austin Peters-Miller ’12, who camped out at the protest for the first time Tuesday night. He joined the protest “to change the world,” he said sardonically. One small tent had a chair perched invitingly out front. “Take a seat,” called a voice from inside, and a blond woman came out to introduce herself. Mel St. Laurent works on the protest’s media efforts. She was determined to inflate her air mattress — a clever call given the plummeting ground temperature. St. Laurent grew up in Portsmouth and now works as a high school teacher in Providence. “I’m not an activist, and I don’t claim to be one,” she said, though she has been residing in Burnside Park since Saturday evening. A few weekends ago, she stumbled upon a YouTube video of the Occupy Wall Street protests. “I was really bothered by what was happening in New York,” she said, referring the media’s lack of coverage of the demonstrations. She started to say more when the sound of quiet chanting arose on the other side of the park and she instantly paused. “I gotta listen,” she explained. When the chanting died down, she continued. “(President) Barack Obama
promised change,” St. Laurent said. “If our movement is all about change, where is he now?” Like some other residents, St. Laurent said she goes home every few days to check on her apartment. “I slept in my bed, I fed my cats,” she said. Two Occupiers announced a head count — 225 people were sleeping in the park that night. St. Laurent high-fived one of them exuberantly and searched for her laptop. “I have to put this online,” she said. In one corner of the park by the large fountain, a group sat in a circle playing drums. Every time we returned to the corner, a different set of people were playing. “Everyone here is making music for solidarity,” explained Lisa Pellegrino, a Providence resident. Pellegrino and three of her friends, who comprise a marching band called Extraordinary Rendition that performs at “communitystrengthening events,” were just hanging out in the park for the night. They planned to return later in the week to camp out and play for the protesters. Back to reality
Around midnight, Mike Hennessey, a Boston resident, passed through the park looking for a store to buy cigarettes. “It’s all more blown up in the news,” he said, looking around him. “It’s just a bunch of people hanging out. … I don’t see a bunch of angry people.” It was about 3:30 a.m. by the time all three of us tucked into our sleeping bags. The Kennedy Plaza lights ensure it is never quite dark in Burnside, and about a dozen residents were still up around the park, staffing tents and playing drums. We woke up only a few hours later at 7 a.m., to the light drizzle that would turn to heavy rain later that day, and packed up our tent. Chris and Chris were cheerfully awake in the food tent and offered us breakfast — bananas, donuts and pastries stacked neatly in staggered columns. Instead, we headed up the hill to class, promising we would be back soon. “No,” Tibedo said. “You won’t.”
Science 5
The Brown Daily Herald Friday, October 21, 2011
Women in CS awarded for outreach By Mathias Heller Contributing Writer
It’s been another successful year for the Brown Women in Computer Science group, or WiCS, which recently learned it was a recipient of a Student Seed Fund Award from the National Center for Women and Information Technology. The $500 award, given to student-run initiatives promoting women in computer science, rewards WiCS for its lead role in a program called the Artemis Project, said Jenny Slade, the center’s communications director. The Artemis Project, a fiveweek summer day camp providing technical computer science training to rising 9th grade girls in the Providence area, is run by female undergraduates studying computer science. It received a $15,000 Microsoft Rresearch and National Center for Women and
Information Technology award last year. Specific allocation of this year’s grant will be determined by WiCS leaders. “By participating in mentoring relationships and sharing an enthusiasm for computing, the high school students develop skills, interests and confidence in computing which they can apply by studying computing at the college level,” Slade said. “The Brown students develop teaching and outreach skills that will enhance their professional computing careers.” The grant will allow WiCS to attend academic and professional conferences, said Marquita Ellis ’12, president of WiCS. The group is also considering funding a scholarship and creating technical preparation programs. “We are developing plans for technical resume writing workshops and mock-interview events. Additionally, we are testing out an
idea to create a study group program for reviewing fundamental material taught in introductory courses, such as algorithms and data structures,” Ellis said. “Our list of potential programs extends far beyond this.” Within the Computer Science Department, reaction to the grant was positive. “We are thrilled that the (National Center for Women and Information Technology) has chosen to support the WiCS,” said Amy Tarbox, manager for the department’s Industrial Partners Program. The WiCS group will use the grant for “new academic support, outreach and scholarship programs that have been in the works for some time,” she said. WiCS will hold a meeting within the next few weeks to work out details of how the money should be allocated, Ellis said. The group will also seek advice from staff and professors in the department.
NSF launches virtual institute By Katherine Long Senior Staff Writer
The National Science Foundation, in part looking to moderate the effect of reduced federal funding, is investing in a pilot program to encourage international support of American research. Brown’s Institute for Computational and Experimental Research in Mathematics will play a key role in the project, partnering with another NSF-funded research institute in North Carolina and five Indian universities to form the Virtual Institute for Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, said Jill Pipher, director of ICERM. The NSF pilot program, called Science Across Virtual Institutes, is envisaged as a low-cost way to build professional ties between researchers and acclimatize students to working in foreign countries. “In the current budget climate, we need innovative ideas that can leverage investments already made. That was its impetus,” said NSF spokesperson Lisa-Joy Zgorski. NSF aims to inspire other countries to fund research at a higher level. “The connection is a formal agreement to support a collection of activities which we hope will foster greater collaboration, build on areas of mutual interest and strength and allow us to leverage resources,” Pipher said. VI-MSS, the University’s project, will address issues such as sustainability, cybersecurity, health and the extraction of useful information from massive and complex data by supporting research in mathematics and statistics, Pipher, who is also the director of VIMSS, said at an Oct. 5 NSF ceremony in Washington. Two other pilot collaborations — one between American and Finnish researchers focusing on Wi-Fi availability and another between universities across seven countries exploring the relationship between physics and
Alexandra Urban / Herald
Despite lacking physical space, the NSF’s virtual math institute will support collaboration between Brown’s math institute and five Indian Universities.
biological systems — were also announced at the ceremony. Though it lacks physical headquarters, the virtual institute will organize international conferences, enable graduate and postdoctoral training at participating universities, compile online repositories of shared course material and arrange research visits. Pipher and the staff at VI-MSS are already arranging a conference on cryptography to be held at the Indian Statistical Institute in Calcutta this January. VI-MSS may be able to provide innovative solutions to challenges faced by its component institutions, according to Govind Menon, associate director of VI-MSS and associate professor of applied mathematics, who is on sabbatical in New Zealand. VI-MSS might “bridge the gap” between high levels of Indian government funding for scientific research and the present dearth of researchers in that country, he wrote in an email to The Herald. “Despite the adjective ‘virtual,’ we do stress personal visits — Skype is good for sustaining a
collaboration, but it’s no substitute for that informal discussion over coffee that gives birth to a new idea,” he wrote. “There are sure to be unexpected roadblocks, but that’s part of the fun.” In two years, the pilot program’s success will be evaluated on the establishment of longterm professional relationships, Zgorski said. At that time, the NSF will decide whether or not to fund additional collaborations. If the three pilot programs are successful, they could prove to be a remarkably cost-efficient model for improving scientific research, she added. The NSF’s contribution to VI-MSS totalled roughly $700,000. Menon and Pipher emphasized that despite the NSF’s professororiented evaluation criteria, the focus of the partnership is on expanding international opportunities for students. “We’re trying to forge lasting collaborations that didn’t exist before, and that’s somewhat easier to do with younger people,” Pipher said. “That was part of the mission of ICERM in the first place.”
Courtesy of Lynn Rothschild
After finishing in the top four at the iGEM Regional Americas Jamboree, the Brown-Stanford team will compete in the World Championships next month.
iGEM project addresses ‘space’ constraints By Natalie Villacorta Senior Staff Writer
“Mars and the moon are lifeboats if anything catastrophic happens on Earth,” said Max Song ’14. But packing for the move would require Hermione’s bottomless bag — there’s not much room in the trunk of the spacecraft — or the next best thing: synthetic biology. Instead of packing impossible amounts of fuel, food, medicines and building materials, all space settlers might need could fit into test tubes. That’s the goal of a project being done by a team of nine students from Brown and Stanford as a part of the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition, or iGEM. Since 2004, the competition has fostered undergraduate enthusiasm for synthetic biology, “the science of creating machines from biological parts,” according to the team’s website. Two weeks ago, at iGEM’s Americas Regional Jamboree in Indianapolis, the Brown-Stanford team finished in the top four of 51 teams from all over the Americas and won best presentation. The team will compete in the World Championship Jamboree at MIT Nov. 5. For this year’s project, the team decided to focus on space exploration. “Synthetic biology is the perfect toolkit for space” because genetic code does not take up much space, Song said. “The chances of an asteroid hitting the Earth are not minute,” he said, so it makes sense that scientists take steps to prepare. For the first part of their project, the team engineered bacteria to make “RegoBricks” created from regolith — sand and dust that can be found on Mars or the moon. The bacteria precipitate calcium carbonate — a chalky substance found in limestone, concrete and cement — which holds together the regolith particles, turning them into a solid substance. To feed these micro-construction workers, the team designed the “PowerCell.” They engineered a strain of sucrose-producing cyanobacteria, blue-green algae, to secrete its sugars. A transport protein exports the sucrose onto media, which can then be used to
grow other types of useful bacteria, like E. coli. Such interdisciplinary research “wouldn’t have happened if there hadn’t been this mix of amazing students,” said Lynn Rothschild, adjunct professor of molecular biology, cell biology and biochemistry. Rothschild stepped up as the team’s faculty adviser last year when Professor of Biology Gary Wessel, who previously oversaw the team, went on sabbatical. Rothschild is also a consulting professor of human biology at Stanford, and when she realized Brown’s team needed more students, she recruited some from Stanford, which was not planning to field its own team this year. All of the students spent the summer working at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California, where Rothschild is a research scientist, with the Brown students receiving funding from Undergraduate Teaching and Research Awards. Team captain Julius Ho ’12 brought to the table his experience from last year’s iGEM competition, and the Stanford students brought their planetary science backgrounds. “It was the perfect storm of having NASA, Brown and Stanford together,” Rothschild said. In the month between the regional and world jamborees, the Stanford students have been holed up in the lab, rushing to get more results and data. The Brown students are polishing the presentation. Song is also working on an online repository of outreach activities organized by iGEM teams to share synthetic biology with the public and is building a network of iGEM alums called “AlumniGEM.” Ho said he is looking forward to next month’s competition, when he will have the chance to meet teams from all over the world and learn from their “fascinating” projects. Undergraduates rarely get the opportunity to craft their own research, which is what makes iGEM unique, Ho said. “Oftentimes, you don’t get to have this autonomy in crafting your own research,” he said. “We had very supportive faculty advisers, but for the large part, this entire project is built from the ground up by undergraduates,” Ho said.
6 Sports Friday
The Brown Daily Herald Friday, October 21, 2011
W. Soccer
Football
Quarterback clash set for tomorrow Bruno beats Crusaders, gains momentum By ethan mccoy Sports Editor
The football team will travel to Ithaca, N.Y., to square off against Cornell tomorrow in a battle between two of the Ivy League’s most high-powered passing attacks. Led by sophomore quarterback Jeff Mathews, the Big Red’s (2-3, 0-2 Ivy) offense averages 290.6 yards per game through the air. But Brown (4-1, 1-1) ranks sixth in the Football Championship Subdivision in passing defense, and has only surrendered 157.8 yards per game. Something will have to give at Schoellkopf Field. “They have a really dangerous quarterback,” said co-captain defensive lineman Kyle Rettig ’12. “He’s big, can sit in the pocket, and he’s really accurate and has a strong arm.” Mathews threw for 328 yards in an overtime loss last week to Colgate University. The week before, he threw for 322 yards and three touchdowns in a losing effort against Harvard. The Big Red offense is averaging 26.2 points per game. “As a defensive line, we definitely have to put pressure on (Mathews), and our secondary has to step up,” Rettig said. “Their record isn’t that great, but they’re still a very good team.” But if any defense in the Ivy League can contain Cornell’s passing attack, it could be the Bears’. The Bruno defense recorded its first shutout since 1990 in last week’s 34-0 demolition of Princeton, and on the season, has held opposing offenses to only 15.6 points per game. “We just did our job,” Rettig said of the defensive play against the Tigers. “We were executing very well, and it’s something that we were finally able to do as a team, so we really need to keep that going.” The defense has seen standout performers on all fronts thus far. Matthew O’Donnell ’12 and last week’s Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week Dan Smithwick ’12 have stepped up in the linebacking corps to lead the team in tackles. In the secondary, safety Stephen Peyton ’12 and cornerback A.J. Cruz ’13 have built off strong 2010 campaigns, and the defensive line has been able to consistently get into opposing teams’ backfields. The line is led by Rettig
By Sam wickham Sports Staff Writer
The women’s soccer team got back on track Tuesday, defeating host Holy Cross 1-0 in non-league action. Forward Eliza Marshall ’13 scored her team-leading fifth goal of the season to push Bruno (94-1, 2-2 Ivy) past the Crusaders (2-11-2).
Brown 1 Holy Cross 0
Tom Sullivan / Herald
Alexander Tounkara-Kone ‘11.5 and the Bears are looking to pull away against Cornell.
and Clayton McGrath ’11.5, both of whom have five tackles for losses. On the other side of the ball, the Brown offense has been equally potent, and the game has the potential to turn into a shootout. Co-captain quarterback Kyle Newhall-Caballero ’11.5 is playing with the form that won him First Team All-Ivy quarterback honors in 2009, averaging 244.4 yards per game with nine touchdowns and only two interceptions. He has spread the ball around to a talented group of receivers, led by Alex Tounkara-Kone ’11.5 (24 catches, 353 yards, 3 TDs) and Tellef Lundevall ’13 (29 catches, 322 yards, 4 TDs). Tounkara-Kone and Lundevall can create mismatches, and behind them, Jimmy Saros ’12 and Jonah Fay ’12 have made big catches, as well. “It’s a very egotistical position, because you have to always think you’re open,” Tounkara-Kone said. “But in our case, usually most of the guys are open.” “We have a lot of talent,” Fay said of the team’s receiving corps. “Pretty much anywhere (NewhallCaballero) wants to throw it is often a good option.” The Big Red defense these receivers will be lining up against has struggled this year, surrendering an average of 26.6 points per game. But Tounkara-Kone said the Bears’ of-
fense cannot be complacent in its preparation. He said in last year’s game Cornell changed its entire defensive game plan against the Bears, and the offense had to adapt to different schemes than what they had seen on tape. At the half-way point in the season, Rettig said the team has found an identity categorized by both hard work and a team unity that extends across all sides of the ball. “In the past, the defense would be upset if the offense had a three and out,” Rettig said. But this year, he said, “We always have each other’s backs out there, and I’d say that’s kind of been our mantra.” With Harvard, Yale and Penn all undefeated through two games in the Ivy schedule, tomorrow’s game is a must-win for the Bears. “In the Ivy League, every week is a dangerous time because we only have seven in-conference opponents,” Tounkara-Kone said. “No matter who you play, no matter the week, you have to win that game.” The Harvard loss Sept. 23 dug the Bears an early hole, but the team will look to build off its recent strong play as it heads down the stretch in the five remaining conference games. “We’ve already made our mistake,” Fay said, “And we can’t afford to make another one.”
“It was our ninth win,” said Head Coach Phil Pincince. “We’re guaranteed that this will be two consecutive winning seasons, so that was a big accomplishment for this program.” Bruno controlled play in the first half, taking five shots on goal and earning two corner kicks. But Holy Cross keeper Ashlyn Angell thwarted all the Bears’ attempts before halftime. Marshall finally broke the deadlock in the 58th minute. Midfielder Marybeth Lesbirel ’12 scooped the ball up to Marshall, who took on her defender and lofted the ball over the keeper from 20 yards out to score the game-winner. Brown keeper M.C. Barrett ’14 made one of her three saves on the
day 10 minutes later, diving to her left to deflect a Crusader attempt and keep the shutout intact. Bruno kept attacking until the final whistle, taking two more shots and earning four corner kicks, but could not add to its lead before full time. The Bears out-shot the Crusaders 12-4 in the game and kept them scoreless for Brown’s sixth shutout win of the year. “Our back line is exceptional,” said Barrett. “They make my job a lot easier, whether it’s me or Amber in net.” With three conference opponents still on the schedule, the remainder of the season will be crucial for the Bears. They will play Cornell at Ithaca Sunday and must win to keep their hopes of claiming the Ivy Championship alive. “It’s going to be another great Ivy battle,” Pincince said. “If you look at last year’s game, it was a zero-zero tie. Both teams brought a lot of energy and emotion into the game, and I expect the same thing to take place this year.” “We were obviously disappointed with the loss against Harvard last weekend,” Barrett said. “Beating Holy Cross gives us some momentum and gives us some confidence back.”
at o p H I s t o r y
James Hunter / Herald
The cupola that once stood atop Brown’s Marvel Gymnasium was landed on the Jonathan Nelson ’77 Fitness Center Thursday. Marvel Gym was demolished in 2002 after 75 years.
Sports Friday 7
The Brown Daily Herald Friday, October 21, 2011
The Michael Vick Hsieh ’15 birdies to the top monster athlete of the Week
By hannah loewentheil Staff Writer
Golfer Stephanie Hsieh ’15 won first place overall and led the women’s golf team to a secondplace finish last week at the Spider Invitational, held at the University of Richmond. Hsieh earned medalist honors after birdieing her first shot of a playoff round to secure the lowest score of the tournament, a one-under-par 215. For leading the team as a firstyear, The Herald has named Hsieh Athlete of the Week.
By Sam sheehan Sports Columnist
The Herald: When did you start playing golf? Hsieh: I started playing when I was eight or nine years old. My dad was a big golfer, so he would take me out to the course with him. One of my best friends from elementary school was a golfer, too. I started playing for fun, but I got more and more competitive in high school, getting ready to see if I could play college golf. Did you always know you wanted to play at the collegiate level? Yes, I have. I definitely always put academics first, but I really wanted to go to an Ivy League to play golf. It’s the perfect balance of academics and athletics. What are some of your interests and hobbies besides golf? I played the violin for eight years, and I played in my high school orchestra, although I haven’t played since I’ve been in college. Basically, my time is made up of studying, hanging out with friends and playing golf. As a concentration, I’m choosing between economics and psychology, or something along those lines. What are your goals both on and off the golf course for this year? I definitely want to win more tournaments individually, and also I want to see Brown win the Ivy League championship one of the four years that I’m on the team. What is it like playing in college? How is it different from high school golf so far? Playing at Brown is not as different as I thought it would be. Individually, playing here is similar to the competitive high school tournaments I played in. The biggest difference is that now, the sport is much more teamoriented.
Courtesy of David Silverman
Stephanie Hsieh ’15 has excelled during her first season, placing 18th individuall at the Harvard Invitational last weekend.
What do you gain from playing at the collegiate level? Do you think you will continue to play golf after your time at Brown? I am hoping to build a sense of teamwork and leadership and hopefully make some connections along the way. You meet a lot of cool people from being a college athlete and especially from being a golfer. There are a lot of interesting adults on the course. You also build a lot of life skills with golf because it is such a mental game. You need to keep positive and keep going and going, so I hope these skills will help me for the future as well. As a freshman still getting accustomed to college life, how has the transition been so far? College so far has been pretty much what I expected it would be. The only thing that I didn’t anticipate is the amount of reading and studying that I have. Golfwise, the hours and workouts are what I expected. But overall, it is manageable, and I can say that I am definitely accustomed to college by now. I’m not ready for the Providence weather. In California,
I never went longer than a week or two without playing golf. But luckily, it hasn’t been very cold for our tournaments so far. How did you feel winning first place at the Spider Invitational as a first-year? What was going through your mind when you won? The three rounds of play were really intense. I was able to keep my mind in the present with the help of my coach and my teammates. After the third round, I found myself in a playoff with a girl on the Richmond team. My teammates gave me pep talks to calm me down. I basically just tried to relax and focus on the next shot. I made a birdie on the first hole to win.
Michael Vick was very angry as he sat in the post-game press conference following his team’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons a month ago. “Looking at the replays, I’m on the ground every time, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t frustrated. The refs have got to do their jobs,” Vick said. “And I don’t know why I don’t get the 15-yard flags like everybody else does.” I talked to several people after the game about their thoughts on Vick’s complaints. There were words like “whiny,” “soft” and “baby.” The word that stood out to me, though, was “monster.” “That guy is a monster,” I heard from an acquaintance. “Would you call a flag on the Predator if a defender came in late on him?” The referees seemed to be hearing what America had to say. Outside of Philadelphia, Vick is a monster. And monsters don’t get player rights. The animosity for Vick stems from his revolting involvement in a dog-fighting ring, nicknamed “Bad Newz Kennels,” that he financed and ran with several of his friends. Even if you don’t watch football, you have probably heard about Vick’s execution of dogs in a brutal fashion and the horrors that were discovered by first responders at his Virginia property. He’s the millionaire who liked to watch dogs die. Vick was sentenced to 23 months in jail — of which he served 19 — after his co-defendants agreed to testify against him. Vick had known the other men almost his whole life, as the group had grown up together in the poverty-stricken area of Newport News, Va. Their attorneys made clear when Vick and the other men went on trial that
dogfighting was an accepted part of their environment growing up — if you could afford it. Dog fighting isn’t an illicit business that you just break into. You need a place to keep the dogs, train them, feed them, provide transportation and hold matches. However, if you are able to cover these start-up costs, you can make quite a bit of money gambling or winning matches with prize dogs. Which makes me wonder why Michael Vick, with all his time dedicated to training, all the money he made in salary and all the endorsement money he had coming in, needed or even wanted a dog-fighting ring. For a man who had already had several brushes with the law concerning marijuana possession, it certainly was a risky way to provide entertainment for himself. It was also an incredibly elaborate form of passing the time for a man who could go to Disney World, a baseball game or a nightclub. What would make a lot more sense is that Vick’s four childhood friends asked him to finance and help out with a dog-fighting ring so they could make some money. But that’s all just speculation about his attachment to those friends — the same friends that agreed to testify against him in order to get reduced sentences so the prosecutors could have their high-profile conviction in Vick. Not that they really needed it. After all, it was on his payroll and property. Of course, Vick’s old team, the Falcons, released him and demanded a refund on the money they had paid him for the remainder of his contract. All his endorsement deals were terminated. Also, it was estimated that he was spending about $30,000 a month at this point to support his children, mother and younger brother. It was no surprise that the creditors came for him. Suddenly, Michael Vick had to declare bankruptcy. He tried to disperse the money he had remaining among his famcontinued on page 9
8 Arts & Culture
The Brown Daily Herald Friday, October 21, 2011
Winning at Halloween: Trinity play oozes with racey humor the costumes needed continued from page 12
continued from page 12 Pale and only emerging at night. Also known as a computer science concentrator. 7. A vampire Don’t wear this costume in the daytime, or you’ll need quite the supply of glitter. In which case you might as well dress as Lady Gaga — except, does anyone know what she actually looks like? 8. Your dog You could even try a role reversal and have your dog walk you. I cannot be liable for any damages arising from this venture. 9. Former Mayor Vincent “Buddy” Cianci You can loosely tape thousand dollar bills to your clothes so that they shed as you walk. 10. An anti-derivative For the math nerds out there who, like many students in the area, have something to protest. You could even stage an occupation of Barus and Holley. If a member of the arithmetic aristocracy retorts, “We know you’re against derivatives, but what are
you for?” you can go the civil rights route and fire back, “Integration!” 11. Sarah Palin A good opportunity to incorporate your old Heralds, as Palin is well-known for reading every periodical — yes, “all of ’em, any of ’em that have been in front of me over all these years.” 12. A hipster But you can’t dress like one intentionally, or you’re not really a hipster. So if you just read this, you can’t be one. Sorry I even brought it up. 13. A first semester freshman Actually, you may want to do this with a group. Seeing a half dozen or more students traveling in a pack is enough to set off any upperclassman’s first-year detector. The aforementioned ideas are for mere mortals who need indulge in fakery. To address the concerns of those for whom this is the one day their facade falls — you know who you are — meet me at the Carrie Tower at that witching hour.
“Clybourne Park” does not accuse its characters of racism. The play attempts to explore the issue of race, not explaining away racism but showing its permeation into all aspects of the culture around us — particularly in a hilarious but cringe-worthy scene in the second act, during which the majority of the principle actors tell each other racist jokes. But how does a white, middleaged man write a play like this without seeming, well, racist? For one, the ethical component of the play cannot be mistaken. By choosing to use “A Raisin in the Sun” as a sort of backdrop, Norris brings the issue of the white flight following communal integration in the 1950s to the audience’s attention. But Norris reverses this theme in the second act, choosing to focus on gentrification of traditional minority neighborhoods in the late 1990s and early 21st century. Audience member Samantha Gault, a teacher in Fairfield County, Conn., said the play centered around “having the language to talk about these controversial topics.” Michael Williams ’10, who studied both theatre arts and education policy while at Brown, stressed that “Clybourne Park” is also an important play about urbanization and gentrification. “Living on the East
www.browndailyherald.com
Courtesy of Trinity Repertory Company
Trinity Rep’s “Clybourne Park” examines race relations in the 1950s and today.
Side is by no means an accurate sampling of Providence real estate,” he said jokingly. The most convincing — if not the most important — testament to the play’s ethics, though, is the simple fact that it is incredibly well-written. The dialogue echoes human life and allows the audience to reflect on the current culture. The lines are hilarious, resulting in heaves of laughter, even to the point of a full-audience clap. For prospective audience members weary of plays in which characters whose names are not Hamlet talk for longer than 30 seconds, there are little to no extended monologues in Norris’ text. The ones that are there tend to be revelatory and of great interest to the audience in figuring out the secrets of the story. And, yes, there are some pretty big secrets. Of course, the writing of a play truly shines through only when its actors are willing to be both vulnerable and expressive. I struggled to find a standout performance in the show because each was extremely intricate and detailed. The voice work also proved particularly specific, and I envy Rachael Warren’s ability to master the Boston-area, Irish-Catholic accent. Timothy Crowe, a longtime Trinity Repertory Company member, won the audience over in the first act with his delightfully grumpy, aging father figure — though, I advise getting a seat close to the front because he will occasionally improvise quiet, witty comments in response to
the other characters’ actions. Mauro Hantman played the delightfully malicious Mr. Karl Lindner from “A Raisin in the Sun.” And, though I feel strange commenting on all the actors’ performances, I have to add that Anne Scurria and Joe Wilson Jr. both sent the audience into fits of laughter by saying exactly the wrong thing at exactly the right time. The two Trinity MFA performers, the aforementioned Dickie and Tougaloo graduate Mia Ellis MFA ’12, delivered strong performances as well, though Ellis was so restrained and refined at times I found her difficult to relate to. She did have the admittedly daunting task of being a voice for the “minority” in the second act. Ultimately, while there were scenes which inspired sensitive-audience-member tears, the actors delivered great performances because they seemed like they were having a great time, laughing along with those who had come to see the play. So get off College Hill and go see it. Even if you have a lot of work. Even if it seems like there is no point in going to see something purely for its entertainment value. As Bev says to her husband at the start of the play, “What’s the point of doing anything, fun, really?” You might as well just do it — and possibly learn something in the process.
Arts & Culture 9
The Brown Daily Herald Friday, October 21, 2011
Confucius’ Disciples ‘Faustus’ places audience at center stage teach at Leeds Theater continued from page 12
continued from page 12 that people need order and rules to work together. “Punishing Corrupt Officials,” the final play of the evening, told the story of a mother and daughter in a poor village that cannot pay their taxes. When a magistrate and an official throw the daughter into the river as punishment, Zilu comes to her rescue and pushes them into the river in return. Only after the two repent does Confucius tell his disciples to rescue them. After the show, the actors gathered onstage as Sun Huizhu, who went by William, vice president of the Shanghai Theatre Academy, answered questions from the audience. He explained the creation process of the show — the acad-
emy’s fifth — and the use of type characters. “Many modern literary figures think types are always bad,” he said. If this is true, there should not be Chinese opera or Greek theater, William said, referencing the use of painted face characters. But William explained the painted face was only lightly done so as not to become a stereotype. The play also employed modern Chinese language. Subtitles were projected on a screen in the background for non-Chinese speakers. There was no set design and props were minimal. Rather, the actors relied on grand pantomimes and colorful costumes to tell their stories. The cast arrived in the United States late Sunday evening and is touring the country with stops in Boston and New York.
Raasted, Kocher and Harding continually loom large in both the scenes and the ears of the audience. Each actress has a booming voice and an exactness about her acting, highlighted by the unison action required by her character’s nature. Faustus (Ned Riseley ’12) has the most cohesion of character and the most solitary role in the ensemble. Colella envisioned Faustus as “a person who can’t communicate or connect with others,” she said. The rest of the cast works as an ensemble, despite the singular nature of their costumes and the
talent of their acting and singing. At one point, Alexis Aurigemma ’13, who plays a woman in a tribal costume, dances and sings with a skirt made of the legs and backsides of her fellow cast. Many numbers of the musical feature the cast singing and moving in unison, leaving the audience highly stimulated by the singular movement of many varied costumes. The show uses rare techniques of set, sound and sight, including monster noises and makeshift camera flashes to change scenes. There is constantly something happening as the action flows. Colella, with the cast and crew, conceived the development of the
show after reading Stein’s words. The musical has neither a linear plot nor a cohesive narrative, but it does have an arc, Colella said. She wanted to create a feeling within her show. “Dr. Faustus Lights the Lights” is sure to be shocking and stimulating in a totally unusual way, but after all, “the biggest sin is to be boring,” Colella said.
With rousing talent and unique staging, “Faustus” encourages audiences to come prepared for the multiplicity of Gertrude Stein’s characters.
comics Chester Crabson | Tess Carroll
A ‘Vick’-torious comeback? continued from page 7 ily and friends, but creditors laid claim to it. He began his jail sentence, and America was able to breathe easy for a year and half. The monster was finally in captivity. Nineteen months later, when Vick was released from jail and signed by the Philadelphia Eagles to back up Donovan McNabb and Kevin Kolb, there was a moral outcry against the team. How could they let this man put on their uniform? The public’s anger bubbled just under the surface, with fans booing and jeering him on the sidelines for over a year. Then McNabb got traded, and Kolb got hurt. Vick had his opening, and he took advantage of it. He was sensational in the 201011 NFL season and led the Eagles to the playoffs almost single-handedly. His exceptional play earned him a massive six-year, $100 million contract extension, of which he sees only 33 cents of every dollar, with the rest being used to pay off creditors. That money is tightly regulated, but the bulk is spent on private school for his children and rent and utilities for himself. He sends what he can afford to his mother — usually half of what he himself keeps. That’s Michael Vick. A man who funded a brutal dog-fighting ring. A man who spent 19 months in prison. A man who went bank-
rupt. A man who didn’t give up and is now, once again, a successful NFL quarterback. A man who serves as spokesman for the Humane Society. A man who can’t afford to donate money because he lost most of it in the bankruptcy and uses the rest to support his family. In another part of Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger faced rape allegations, accused of forcing himself on a 20-year-old woman. With no evidence and the accuser unwilling to face the intrusive rigors of the stand, the case was settled out of court. Roethlisberger received the slap-on-the-wrist punishment of a six-game suspension, and, in spite of that, he and his team went to the Super Bowl. He’s also a millionaire. Pennsylvania’s and America’s eyes remain locked on the monster in Philadelphia, however. This monster doesn’t wear Eagles’ green, Falcons’ red or even Steelers’ yellow. He is instead shrouded in shades of gray. Sam Sheehan ’12 has two dogs that are named after characters from Absolutely Fabulous and a Harry Potter house-elf. He loves them both. Talk sports with him at sam_sheehan@brown.edu or follow him on Twitter @Sam Sheehan.
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Cabernet Voltaire | Abe Pressman
Fraternity of Evil | Eshan Mitra, Brendan Hainline and Hector Ramirez
10
The Brown Daily Herald Friday, October 21, 2011
diamonds & coal
Editorial cartoon
by lo r e n f u lto n
A diamond to billionaire Corporation Trustee Steven Cohen P’08, whose hedge fund is reportedly under a second SEC investigation for insider trading and who will be greeted by Occupy College Hill protesters on the Main Green before the Corporation convenes tomorrow morning. Cohen is actually the founder of a similar movement: Occupy the Largest House in Greenwich, Conn. Coal to President Ruth Simmons, who, after months of constant campus discussion, contentious debate and agonizing deliberation, recommended Wednesday that the University not shift its stance on ROTC. We’re glad we didn’t go through all that for nothing. And also a diamond to Simmons, who recommended Monday that the ski, fencing and wrestling teams not be cut but that higher average test scores and GPA be required of next year’s recruited athletes. We hope their high schools have Russian Lit. Coal to the naked masturbator, whose public masturbation spree continues to grip College Hill and who may have spawned one or more copycat masturbators. Normally we wouldn’t be covering you, but from the looks of it, coverage is the one thing you need most. And more coal to the naked masturbator. Just know, you can’t keep getting off scot-free forever. Coal to Undergraduate Council of Students President Ralanda Nelson ’12, who selected only male undergraduates for the Campus Advisory Committee that will take part in the search for Simmons’ successor, saying the male applicants for seats on the committee “outperformed” the female applicants. We’re not buying it. It’s not like it was an application to be a naked masturbator. A cubic zirconium to the Department of Athletics, which this week finally replaced the 10 exercise machines that had been taken from the Bears Lair at the beginning of the semester. According to early reports, so far, male students have “outperformed” female students on the machines.
quote of the day
“It’s a really (expletive) time to try and start your life.” — Chantal Tape ’09
Coal to Mark Joia, who rebranded his eatery Toledo as Thayer Pita Pockets and overhauled its menu. Adding other menu options to pizza in a cone is like adding peanut butter to jelly — it just doesn’t make sense.
See occupy on page 1.
A cubic zirconium to Scott McGill, professor of classics at Rice University, who referred to last week’s conference on Latin prose and poetry as a “late antique Woodstock.” Funny, we had always thought of Woodstock as a rock-n-roll Latin conference. Coal to Providence Occupier Amanda Magee, who oversees the laptops, cell phone chargers and Wi-Fi hotspot at Burnside Park, and who told The Herald, “We have more than enough power.” If you have so much power, shouldn’t you be protesting yourself?
t h e b r ow n da i ly h e r a l d Editors-in-Chief
Managing Editors
Senior Editors
Sydney Ember Ben Schreckinger
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Opinions 11
The Brown Daily Herald Friday, October 21, 2011
Objectification is not gender-blind By CHris norris-leblanc Opinions Columnist David Hefer’s ’12 column (“Objectification for fun and profit,” Sept. 30) serves as a comprehensive example of all the things that can go horribly wrong when men try to confront issues of physical objectification from a specifically male perspective. Hefer’s analysis begins and largely rests on the idea of a hypothetical man named Otto who, when confronted with columnist Camille Spencer-Salmon’s ’14 piece (“The problem with Thayer on a Friday night,” Sept. 22), is utterly bewildered as to why anyone would feel unsafe or angry about being catcalled and thus objectified. In this hypothetical, Otto cannot identify with these feelings of malaise because he would personally enjoy being catcalled and objectified, getting “high fives all around” if it were to happen. This leads Hefer to conclude that since Otto feels good about being objectified, objectification is not a bad thing and really just needs to be more normalized across gender differences. This conclusion is, of course, one that can only be reached by a man who has never personally felt or tried to empathize with the fear and discomfort that accompanies a woman’s experience of an entitled and highly sexualized male gaze.
By using this sort of gender-blind analysis to break down what objectification actually means, Hefer is doing work to delegitimize the discomfort that women feel when they are catcalled in the streets and ogled in their day-to-day lives. Hefer’s further argument about BDSM illustrates his basic misunderstanding of the situation. While it is true that BDSM often puts one person in a position of power and strips the agency from another, this
It is this seemingly paradoxical relationship between analysis and intent that reveals the trap that not only Hefer, but many men fall into. If you were to ask your average Brown student, or even average man, I am fairly confident that he would not support rape and the systematic oppression of women. Rather, through socialization and learned structures of thought, many men fall into analyses and actions that perpetuate the very things they decry about sexism.
Rather, through socialization and learned structures of thought, many men fall into analyses and actions that perpetuate the very things they decry about sexism.
is a condition that ideally has been consented to and agreed upon by both parties. Just as people who enjoy BDSM would not necessarily want a stranger they pass on the streets to strip them down and handcuff them to a bed, women do not want to be made into a sexual object by everyone who finds them attractive. But this is not to say that Hefer is actively trying to perpetuate sexism. In fact, he goes out of his way to mention that while supporting objectification, we need to be constantly vigilant about tearing down the societal structures which make objectification a fear-mongering and unsafe practice.
Though Hefer may not have bad intentions, his analysis fails to recognize the basic societal conditions which make the objectification of women wholly different from the objectification of men. As much as Hefer and every other well-intentioned man might want to live in a world where men and women alike can express their sexual desires openly and healthily, that world does not exist. The fact remains that we live in a patriarchal society where significantly more women are the victims of sexual assault than are men. Our society still brands women as sluts for sexual promiscuity and
rewards men for the same behavior. Most of all, we very much live in a world where women have to be constantly careful and vigilant to ensure their safety. It is in this world that we live, and our analysis about objectification must come from the realities and lived experiences of those who are most affected by it. Whether public displays of attraction and sexual desire could become safe and enjoyable in the year 2100 is a question I cannot answer. Though Hefer is right to say that it is part of the human condition to be attracted to people we pass on the street, this does not imply that it is sound practice to let them know in a loud and threatening way. For today, and for the foreseeable future, catcalling and sexual objectification make many women feel unsafe and uncomfortable and thus cannot be tolerated. At the end of the day, this means heterosexual men need to step back and reexamine the way they approach female love interests. Uncomfortable objectification does not only manifest itself in the form of catcalls on Thayer Street, but also in the way women are approached in every interaction where sexual interest exists. We can objectify and sexualize each other, men and women alike, only when we know that both parties have consented to this type of interaction and feel comfortable and safe with its progression. Chris Norris-LeBlanc ’13 is from Rhode Island. He can be contacted at chris. norris.leblanc@gmail.com.
Why we need an Occupation on this campus By Julian park Opinions Columnist
Brown, as sorely as Wall Street a month ago, needs to be occupied. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not even next week, but soon. When I express this sentiment both on and off College Hill to students and nonstudents, many of whom I consider political allies and friends, I am frequently asked a simple question: why? So, why an occupation and, more specifically, why here? “Why occupy?” is best answered by pointing to what is different about the occupations of today compared with those of the past. Previously, occupations have been disruptive forces seeking to satisfy a particular set of demands. As disruptive as some elements of the present global occupations are, that is not what is most significant about them. They don’t merely interfere — they also do precisely the opposite. In a society that has been structured to interfere with people’s ability to come together outside controlled spaces, limiting political participation and economic interaction, these interventions are creating spaces where people can assemble to discuss and address needs great and small that are not being met by our societal institutions. People are beginning to speak their minds and talk to each other about their
needs publicly and persistently. They are practicing solutions daily. Marshall McLuhan’s old adage applies: “The medium is the message.” As people talk and take action together, they are increasingly cohering around collective needs and demands. Many readers sympathetic to the movement will have read this and not see what it has to do with Brown. Aren’t Brown students already incredibly privileged? What else do they need? To me, there are three problems with these questions. I’ll address the less con-
ly held without the participation of those without privilege. But what these occupations show is that, regardless of our position, we all need to work together toward a new society, and we are capable of doing so. The second problem is the tacit assumption that the already privileged have no role to play in creating a new society. While there is a lot of wonderful work happening at Occupy Providence in Burnside Park, there are far too few students involved. But to assume that the way to at-
People are beginning to speak their minds and talk to each other about their needs publicly and persistently. They are practicing solutions daily.
troversial one first. Let us all remember that students are not the only members of our community and that some of those members — most particularly those who work to keep this place functioning and our students fed — have nowhere near the sort of privilege the rest of us do. In a community in which some members are privileged and some are not, those with privilege need to work toward exercising that privilege away from its expansion and preservation, while collectively and voluntarily redistributing it to all. These conversations are too frequent-
tract students is to complain that too few are involved is ridiculous. It traps us in the same problems the left has faced for decades. We need to reach out to everyone on their own terms. For full-time students used to their privilege, this means slowly bringing them in. One way we could do that is by bringing an occupation into this community in active solidarity and communication with Occupy Providence. We need to play up the joy of this process — including the excitement of breaking rules — to attract people who would otherwise not be interested.
The third problem is this idea that the privileged, and, in particular, privileged students, do not have needs or that their needs are not valid. Some of us who are committed to creating a new society have very specific needs, many of which are not exclusive to the privileged. We need to have opportunities to work that do not contribute to already existing social problems — something that jobs at investment banks, consulting firms and well-intentioned but shallowly-executed community service programs like Teach for America do. We need to know that our tuition dollars are not going toward the sorts of investments that produced the financial crisis or aid in the production of arms or the destruction of our planet. We need to see our University playing an active and positive role in Providence, and we need to facilitate that. I am not interested in predetermining or prejudging anyone’s needs. I just think that everyone needs to be recognized as a real person with real needs. Many of us, but not all, have our material needs satisfied, at least while we are still in school. I do not say this to reassert the already overvalued desires of the privileged, but rather out of recognition that if this is going to be a democratic movement, it needs to make room for and recognize the needs of everyone. Brown needs to be occupied, and tonight at 7:30 p.m. you can join us on the Main Green for a one-night stand. Julian Park ’12 is just trying to occupy himself. He can be reached at julianfrancispark@gmail.com.
Daily Herald Arts & Culture the Brown
Friday, October 21, 2011
Race, rage Multiplicity mystifies and riotous in PW’s ‘Dr. Faustus’ laughter in ‘Clybourne Park’ By alexandra macfarlane Staff Writer
By erin kilduff Contributing Writer
“It’s rude, it offends, it’s really great,” said Director Brian Mertes, head of the Brown University/Trinity Rep MFA directing program, on his production of “Clybourne Park.” The two-act play, winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for playwright Bruce Norris, opened Oct. 14 at Trinity Repertory Company. Mertes, who also directed last season’s “Steel Magnolias,” emphasized the ensemble nature of the production. All cast members played two roles — and Tommy Dickie MFA ’12 played three — that showcased their ability to quickly switch characters and yet still preserve believability, an acting skill displayed earlier this season by the cast of “Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde.” The first act takes place in 1959, using the contemporaneous play, “A Raisin in the Sun,” as a backdrop — though it seems unfair to call a play of such stature by that name — but ends in 2009, 50 years later. Mertes explained that the play is not a retelling of “A Raisin in the Sun,” but rather an analysis of Lorraine Hansberry’s themes as they apply today. continued on page 8
Combining the text of Gertrude Stein’s opera libretto with the original music of Deepali Gupta ’12 and Zachary Segel ’13, “Dr. Faustus Lights the Lights” mixes poetry, music and cages this weekend in the Production Workshop Downspace. The show leaves the audience stunned and in definite need of a seat. The musical opens with a red industrial spotlight and a vigorous song, using the phrase written by Stein, “The devil what the devil what do I care if the devil is there.” The entire cast showcases the melody and encapsulates the audience in the cage-like set. The cage has no seats or assigned places, so the audience is
forced to stand in the middle of the circular stage for the duration of the performance. Director Abby Colella ’12 wanted viewers to engage with the production itself. The play unfolds around and above the standing area rather like central staging in reverse. As the show progresses, the audience is given no time or place of reference in which the plot unfolds. Characters have costumes and personalities that fit them, but are not part of any larger thematic scheme. Many take on multiple personas and voices during the show, demonstrating the indefinite nature of Stein’s characters and the talents of the actors. One character — or what could be referred to as characters — demands the attention of
Kevin Thomas / Herald
PW’s “Dr. Faustus” features an intricately interconnected ensemble cast.
the audience over and over again, dominating over the others. The tripartite character of Marguerite Ida and Helena Annabel (Ursula Raasted ’14, Annie Kocher ’14
and Olivia Harding ’12) is the most explicit use of multiplicity in any of Stein’s characters. continued on page 9
13 looks for the 31st of October Confucius’ By Suzannah Weiss Arts & Culture Columnist
Some will let CVS or the Providence Place Mall provide their Halloween costumes. But not you. You are too original for that! Dress as one of these things instead: 1. Your landlord Don’t be too realistic, lest you get dragged into a mafia conflict in which several Providence land-
lords may or may not be involved. 2. A mad scientist Look to the physics department for inspiration.
who made your life a living hell in high school Except fat. Because then you get the satisfaction of saying she’s fat.
3. A patient undergoing brain surgery I believe Senior Lecturer in Neuroscience John Stein has a human brain in his lab — if you’re stealthy enough to break in.
5. A drag queen Guys should learn what it’s like to masquerade as a girl, because that’s what we girls do every day.
4. One of the popular kids
continued on page 8
6. A ghost
Comedic communists comment on commodity By marshall katheder Arts & Culture Staff Writer
Lydia Yamaguchi / Herald
Nathaniel Shapiro’s ’12 original play combines Communism and comedy in a strong performance this weekend at the Granoff Center.
Karl Marx once said, “A commodity appears at first sight an extremely obvious, trivial thing. But its analysis brings out that it is a very strange thing.” “Commodity Fetishism: A Communist Comedy,” a new play currently running at the Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts, proves to be anything but obvious or trivial — and is indeed a very strange thing. Written by Nathaniel Shapiro ’12, the production shapes a surreal vision of a communist American future in 2026. The story follows Reuben Pinson (Zach Bleckner ’12) as he struggles to find fulfillment in a society burdened by bureaucracy and bound by dental dogma. The latter speaks to the show’s comedic thrust. The American Oral Party, “the first party recommended by 87 percent of dentists,” discovered the mind control potential of fluoride in 1944. This breakthrough was the first domino to topple in a line that led to a worldwide socialist state — in post-revolution, where we lay our scene. Clad in uniformly blue jumpsuits, the cast delivers a capable
performance. Each scene unravels sharply droll dialogue pointed at politics, and the segments are seasoned with excerpts from Leon Trotsky’s “Literature and Revolution.” Made structurally sound by the strength of Shapiro’s writing, the play is kept afloat in a sea of socially charged rhetoric by its amusing absurdity. The cast’s punchy performances communicate the show’s cynical message. “This play does not try to glorify or damn capitalism or communism. Concepts can be perfect but people certainly aren’t,” Sharpiro said. Shapiro has been a playwright for five years, and this is his third production at Brown. He dedicated the play to his grandfather — a communist blacklisted in the 1940s. “I think the message is that society is flawed no matter where or how you live,” said Bleckner, the show’s star. “You have to find a way to be happy within yourself.” “Commodity Fetishism” will continue at Granoff Studio One through Saturday.
The show’s well-executed humor, like a spoonful of sugar, helps the medicine go down.
teachings come to life in Chinese opera By kyle mcnamara Staff Writer
Leeds Theater played host to the Shanghai Theatre Academy’s production of the Chinese opera “Confucius’ Disciples” Monday and Tuesday evenings as part of Brown’s Year of China celebration. The opera’s three short plays center on Confucius’ teachings to his three fictional disciples. In “Rules of the Game,” the first play, Confucius and his three disciples are challenged by a General and his three fighters over a meeting with the king. Zhao Qun’s standout performance as the general’s fighter Tian Ji brought a level of appropriate comedy as a wife fighting on behalf of her husband. After having his patience tried by the general’s schemes to win the fights through manipulation, Confucius decides it is better to leave town than scheme as well. The second play, “Three Men and Water,” better introduces the personalities of the disciples. Zitu, a clown-type portrayed by Zhang Qiacang, carries two buckets of water on a pole to the disciples’ campsite. When he refuses Qinran, a female impersonating a man portrayed by Yang Yuan, a drink of water, she goes with him and helps carry the two buckets. But, when the third disciple Zilu, a painted face warrior portrayed by Wang Jianshui, wants to get water, too, there is not enough work to go around. As no one wants to put in all of the effort, it becomes clear continued on page 9