Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Daily

Herald

the Brown

vol. cxxi, no. 120

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Since 1891

Search for Ties to industry continue to grow president For research, U. shifts from reliance on federal funds enters next stage

By Katherine Long Senior Staff Writer

By Shefali Luthra Senior Staff Writer

The search for the University’s 19th president turned a corner yesterday with the release of a statement from the presidential search committees.

The committees, which have been “listening to and reflecting upon” input from the Brown community, will now move to identifying and reaching out to potential candidates for the University presidency, said Corporation Chancellor Thomas Tisch ’76.

The presidential search, which has been characterized thus far by forums and discussions, will now move to a more “private phase,” Chung-I Tan, professor of physics and chair of the Campus Advisory Committee, told the faculty at yesterday’s faculty meeting.

The statement distills much of the input the committees have so far received, he said. Published yesterday afternoon, it defines the continued on page 2

Dave Deckey / Herald

continued on page 3

Allan Huang ’15 works on an engineering project. Engineering is one area where the University is seeking to expand corporate funding partnerships.

Faculty considers shorter summer break

By Shefali Luthra Senior Staff Writer

Faculty members discussed potential changes to the academic calendar and the national perception of higher education at yesterday’s faculty meeting. The calendar revisions, which address potential conflicts with Rosh Hashana, will be the topic of a faculty forum scheduled for Dec. 13.

At the meeting, faculty members also discussed the University

Resources Committee’s ongoing budget discussions and the search for an ombudsperson.

Peter Shank, chair of the Faculty Executive Committee and professor of medical science, presented four options the FEC has suggested for the academic calendar. In one scenario, every fall semester would begin the Wednesday before Labor Day, cutting short the summer recess but accommodating Rosh Hashana conflicts. The second option would maintain

By austin cole Staff Writer

Many students are not informed about the University’s decision to reduce the number of admissions

the herald poll

Alexandra Urban / Herald

inside

Though the December weather has been mild so far, skaters hit the rink downtown to greet the season.

Editors’ Note

spots for recruited athletes, according to a recent Herald poll. A plurality of 33.7 percent indicated they were not familiar enough to answer a question about the number of spots, which was revised in October. Both athletes and non-athletes attributed the lack of awareness to a cultural divide between the two groups at Brown.

Just over 27 percent of students indicated 205 — the new number of admissions spots for recruits — was too high or much too high, while 26.8 percent said it was just right

This is The Herald’s last issue of the semester. We will resume publication Jan. 25. Check thebdh.org for updates over the break, and thanks for reading.

BIAP awards doubled, renamed

By Aparna Bansal Senior Staff Writer

and 12.1 percent said it was too low or much too low. But 63.3 percent of varsity athlete respondents said they thought the number was too low.

With one-third of respondents unable to answer, it is difficult to gauge campus opinion about this issue — or whether students even care. Kevin Carty ’15 said it is hard to conceptualize how much of a difference 20 cuts will make and how it will affect non-student-athletes like himself, so most people likely do not give the decision much thought.

“There’s less interest (in athletics) here than at other schools,” Carty said.

Most students do not know about issues regarding athletics because “it doesn’t immediately impact them,” said Erika Mueller ’13, a member of

The Brown Internship Award Program will double the number of recipients this year and increase the maximum award amount from $2,500 to $3,000.

“Through the generosity of an anonymous donor, we will be able to give twice as many summer internship awards this year than we have been able to give in past years,” Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron wrote in an email to The Herald.

The program has also been renamed the “Brown LINK Award — Linking Internships and Knowledge.” LINK awards provide up to $3,000 each to undergraduate students, mostly rising juniors and seniors, who are seeking funding for unpaid internships or internships that pay less than $1,000.

The maximum amount awarded in previous years was $2,500. Students are required to have already received an internship position at the time of application, according to the CareerLAB website.

“Given the current job market,

continued on page 2

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Non-athletes unfamiliar with recruiting decision

S n o w w h at ?

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the University’s default calendar, in which every fall semester starts the Wednesday after Labor Day. The third and fourth options would both defer a long-term decision but fix individual start dates for 2013 ­— the third option accommodating Rosh Hashana and the fourth option not.

Other potential factors in the decision could include the number of days available for reading period and finals — under the cur-

D&C

Goldman gets coal – find out why Diamonds & coal, 14

weather

Candidates to be identified

At the General Motors/Brown Collaborative Research Lab, Allan Bower, professor of engineering and co-director of the lab, oversees research on the properties of metals.

Working with corporate funding and working with federal funding are largely the same in terms of the freedom to choose the subject of research, Bower said. But his work, which aims to create products useful for vehicle frames and long-lasting batteries, can only be described as application-based. The lab’s motto is “From Atoms to Autos.”

As federal funding for research has stagnated and payoff from industry-funded research has grown

by leaps and bounds, the University has sought to expand its relationship with corporations. Through corporate partnerships, Brown seeks not only to diversify its funding sources, but also to grow its presence as a research institution.

But the shift in funding priorities has proceeded quietly, without much comment from the campus community. While the University stands to gain valuable resources, expertise and employment opportunities for its graduates, it stands to lose something perhaps more important: autonomy.

Critics of increased corporate partnerships say that such funding often compromises an institution’s standards of academic integrity for

t o d ay

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2 Campus News

Athletes disappointed with lack of spirit

calendar Today

DecembeR 7

12 P.m.

ToMORROW

The Brown Daily Herald Wednesday, December 7, 2011

December 8

continued from page 1

5:30 p.m.

“The Developing Brain” Seminar,

“How to Build a Palace,” Rhode

Sharpe Refectory

Island Hall 108

8 p.m.

8 p.m.

Ghanaian Drumming and Dancing

Cirkus Columbia, Smith-Buonanno

Concert, Grant Recital Hall

106

menu SHARPE REFECTORY

VERNEy-WOOLLEY DINING HALL LUNCH

Beef and Vegetarian Tacos, Vegetarian Mori Soba Noodles, Sweet Potato Fries

Italian Beef Noodle Casserole, Asparagus Quiche, Glazed Carrots, Pasta Bar, Steak Fries

DINNER Vegan Jamaican Jerk Tempeh, Castle Hill Inn Pork Spare Ribs, Beets in Orange Sauce

Rotisserie Style Chicken, Sweet and Sour Tofu, Cut Green Beans, Cajun Corn and Tomatoes, Fudge Bars

Sudoku

Crossword

the softball team.

This lack of connection to the athletic community should not be taken lightly, as it breeds misconceptions and creates a barrier between athletes and other students, said wrestler Hudson Collins ’11.5. “I think there is a gap in understanding with the general student population about athletics,” Collins said. “And this misunderstanding is unfortunate.”

Some students believe this barrier exists due to lower academic admissions standards for athletes, a fact President Ruth Simmons confirmed this year. “I want to know that the vast majority of my class worked as hard as I have to get here,” Carty said.

“That being said, with a few exceptions, I haven’t met anyone that I thought wasn’t intelligent enough to be here.”

“People really don’t understand the time commitment that it takes to be a student-athlete,” said Leslie Springmeyer ’12, tri-captain of the field hockey team. “There’s a little bit of a lack of respect about the time commitment and how it can affect our learning in school.”

Ryan McDuff ’13, co-captain of the men’s soccer team and co-president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee with Mueller, said it is difficult to bridge the gap between athletes and other students because athletes spend four or five hours at practice almost every day, when most other students are interacting with each other. Because of these long hours together, Springmeyer said athletes at Brown are a “pretty cohesive, tight-knit group.”

Daily

the Brown

The University recently decided to lower the number of admissions spots for recruited athletes from 225 to 205. 205 spots is:

Katie Wilson / Herald

Mike Amato ’11 said he believes having competitive teams helps foster this unity. “When teams are doing well, it kind of brings everyone together,” he said. But Amato said the relationship goes both ways, adding that the current culture on College Hill is not supportive of competitive sports teams. Many teams do not perform well because they are underfunded and understaffed, he said, and students do not pay attention to teams that perform poorly.

Though the reduction in recruitment spots is unfortunate, continually re-examining University priorities is healthy, said Director of Athletics Michael Goldberger. “Views of what is important to an institution will change over time,” he said.

The reduction will encourage the Department of Athletics to address questions of athlete attrition, he said.

By updating facilities, growing the budget for athletics and increasing financial aid, the University can make its athletic admissions process more competitive, which will allow teams to perform better and foster more student interest, he said.

“It’s always sort of a battle in athletics to justify its worth to the University,” Goldberger said. But “athletics are an integral part of the academic experience.”

“In my opinion, the sports really help make the college experience,” Amato said. “If you take that away from Brown, then you take away from the school experience.”

Herald

No cohesive vision for next president

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continued from page 1 next president as someone who can “embody and evolve Brown’s identity with imagination, courage and resourcefulness.” It mentions specifically the College, Graduate School, Alpert Medical School, School of Engineering and the developing public health program.

The next president, the document says, should emphasize globalization and international competition, expansion in Providence and Rhode Island, enhancement of the University’s research profile and allocation and expansion of its financial resources.

But these foci do not necessarily reflect the University’s definite future, Tisch noted. “It helps to give us a framework of where we are and where we might be going as a community,” he said.

At this point in the search process, Tisch said there is no cohesive idea of what traits the next president should possess.

Administrative searches typically publish a document outlining the University’s recent history and future outlook, he said.

The document can be found online at the University’s presidential search page.

Campus News 3

The Brown Daily Herald Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Influence of corporate research funding understated, some say continued from page 1 publishing research, conflict of interest policies and the decision-making apparatus. In short, they say, as academia seeks further association with business, it begins to behave like a business itself.

A foot in the door

Bower’s 10-year-old GM lab, one of several of the University’s wellestablished corporate partnerships, aims to build computer models to predict the behavior of metals under a variety of conditions. The research may ultimately be influential in the development of alloys that are both strong and light.

“The interests of GM and Brown are closely aligned,” Bower said.

“GM’s mission is to make money.”

“Companies need to do research, but not many of them have an inhouse lab. This is a relatively inexpensive way for them to do it,” he added.

The lab’s success is evaluated on the quality of its research, not on the production of profitable products, he said, emphasizing the “basic” nature of its work.

Down the hill at the Institute for Computational and Experimental Mathematics, which is funded entirely by the National Science Foundation, corporations play a different role. Representatives from Google, IBM and Microsoft sit on the Scientific Advisory Board, the group tasked with determining the direction of ICERM research.

Corporate representatives have no unilateral power on the 14-person board, said Jan Hesthaven, ICERM’s deputy director and a professor of applied mathematics. “It’s a mistake to shut out large companies,” he said.

“They recruit a lot of talent, and shutting out their perspective would limit the class of problems ICERM deals with.”

Brown also maintains partnerships with IBM and AT&T. Faculty can apply for grants from both the government and private corporations and are free to enter consulting relations with businesses. Part of the mission of the Rhode Island Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, a collaborative endeavor between Brown and the state, is to help professors, graduate students and alums turn their research into biotechnology and engineering startups.

The center has helped launch a number of businesses founded by professors, including MicroTissues, a venture led by a professor to use 3-D cell cultures for scientific innovation.

Diversification dilemmas

Industry funding for scientific research has risen nearly 8 percent each year since 1980, according to Jennifer Washburn, author of “University, Inc.,” which explores the growth in private funding for university research over the past three decades.

The Cold War space race launched the United States into an era of unprecedented public funding for research. In the half-century following World War II, federal spending for research and development dwarfed that of industry. Today, industry spends about as much as the government.

But the University still receives roughly 90 percent of its research funding from the federal government. Competition for this funding has increased dramatically in recent years. And though President Obama signed a spending resolution Nov. 18 to increase NSF funding by roughly 2.5 percent — to $7.03 billion — Vice President for Research Clyde Briant remains committed to moving away from the University’s reliance on government funds.

The federal budget increase will not likely impact long-term plans to diversify its funding sources. That goal, stated explicitly in the Plan for Academic Enrichment, aims both to decrease reliance on funding sources that may dry up and to increase Brown’s research prestige.

Administrators have worked in recent years to draw in companies interested in sponsoring research, Briant said. “All universities want to seek a diverse portfolio,” he said.

The University screens all grant applications for academic integrity violations. “From my opinion, as long as we protect the freedom of the faculty to do research, we’re protecting ourselves from that kind of problem,” Briant said.

The problem he speaks of is one characterized by corporate restrictions on research, conflict of interest concerns and aggressive control over patent rights.

Like others across the nation, the University of California at Berkeley knows these problems well.

Berkeley and BP

In 2007, when students and professors at Berkeley learned their school was the recipient of a 10-year, $500 million grant from BP to develop new sources of plant-based fuel, some were worried. The partnership, which created the Energy Biosciences Institute, was the largest to date between a public university and a private corporation.

The Associated Students of the University of California issued a statement proclaiming their “grave concerns … regarding the proposed maintenance of a certain physical space … within which BP scientists and employees can carry out activities in secret.”

But the UC system had been crippled by cuts to state funding, which had caused teacher furloughs, course cutbacks and tuition hikes. The funds provided a source of energy and optimism at a cash-strapped institution.

Flash forward three years to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the largest American natural disaster in recent history.

Berkeley students’ attitude toward BP deteriorated further — even after the company designated $500 million over 10 years for their Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative, which funded university research on environmental conditions in the Gulf after the spill. “We support the independence of these institutions and projects and hope that the funding will have a significant positive effect on scientists’ understanding of the impact of the spill,” BP’s former chief executive Tony Hayward said in a statement.

But the research initiative’s peer review process was questionable. Scientists not receiving BP funding were in many cases blocked from entering research sites. And BP demanded affiliated scientists not publish their findings for three years.

Students and professors at Berkeley led widely publicized protests, criticizing the university’s acceptance of funds from a company that both caused environmental devastation and failed to fully cooperate with scientific research of it.

“Our bottom line is the public good, and their bottom line is profit,” Ignacio Chapela, associate professor of environmental science at Berkeley, told the Associated Press in July 2010.

“There comes a point where those positions are irreconcilable, and I think that point is now.”

A heavy hand?

The BP protests highlight a key controversy surrounding industry funding for research: the influence of corporate interests on published results. The exercise of that influence — be it encouraging scientists to alter results or refusing researchers the right to publish — often constitutes a violation of the norms of academic integrity. But in today’s increasingly competitive scramble for research funds, such concerns can be marginalized.

“I wouldn’t want to do work that I couldn’t publish,” said Bower, head of Brown’s GM lab. “But funding size is more important than the restrictions.”

Bower said he ultimately could not speculate as to whether he would accept a large grant with attached publishing restrictions — “The University wouldn’t let me take such a grant, so this conjecture is a little beside the point,” he said.

But even when corporate influence is not explicit, critics say it can be pernicious.

Corporations often have the freedom to choose the focus of research, directing a researcher toward a path he or she otherwise would not pursue. The University’s recently instituted tenure changes, which increase

“I wouldn’t want to do work that I couldn’t publish. But funding size is more important than the restrictions.”

Allan Bower Professor of Engineering the importance of research, can only serve to increase the temptation for young Brown faculty to pursue research interests that align with corporate interests, and are therefore more likely to find funding. Bower said he would not be researching metals if not for the GM/Brown lab.

The availability of corporate funding could cause so-called “blue sky” — fundamental or basic — research, with no foreseeable applications, to one day fall by the wayside. Many argue it is this basic research that has led to most of the major advances in the sciences and, ultimately, provided the base for most profit-generating inventions.

The Guardian published emails earlier this year sent from BP executives discussing ways the company could direct scientists in their research on the Gulf. “What influence do we have over the vessels/ equipment driving the studies vs. the questions?” wrote Russell Putt, a BP environmental officer, in one email.

A representative of BP declined to comment on the emails except to say the company has appointed an external board to direct the longterm research program.

Have your cake and eat it too Andrew Gutierrez, professor

emeritus of entomology at Berkeley, has a history of clashing with corporations making inroads into academia. His own research has been stifled for decades by corporate interests, he said.

Gutierrez studies ecological mechanisms to halt the spread of invasive species. But today, after dramatic state funding cuts, Berkeley’s Department of Entomology, its Division of Biological Control and its Department of Plant Pathology — which supporters argue have all created billions of dollars in benefits to residents of California — are gone.

Gutierrez was lucky — he was shunted sideways to the Department of Environmental Science. Many of his colleagues were not.

Gutierrez believes those departments were cut due to the nature of the knowledge they provided.

Ecosystem-based knowledge is not patentable, he said.

On the other hand, research in the fields of molecular biology and genetic engineering earns the University royalties of an impressive scale.

Corporations that own biotechnology patents often will not allow researchers to work with their materials unless certain conditions — for example, prohibitions on publishing findings for several years — are specified in contracts.

Genetically modified seed appears in crops “from cotton to soybeans to corn,” Gutierrez said. “How can you find out what’s going on — how those organisms are interacting with their environment — without researching them? But if you experiment on a company’s seed without their permission, they could sue you.”

Many say such hoarding of research and development rights is antithetical to the aims of a university.

“One of the traditional goals of university-based research is to disseminate knowledge, to get other people working on and investigating the same thing so that results can be challenged or corroborated,” said Luther Spoehr, senior lecturer in education. “How can you do that if some people insist on keeping information to themselves?”

When Mark Skolnick, a professor of genetics at the University of Utah whose research was federally funded, discovered a gene for hereditary breast cancer in 1995, the university licensed the discovery to his startup company, Myriad Genetics. The company then aggressively restricted external research on the gene. continued on page 4

4 Campus News

The Brown Daily Herald Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Search for ombudsperson continues

on the fence

continued from page 1

Dave Deckey / Herald

Student athletes await the opening of the Olney-Margolies Athletics Center .

rent calendar, first semester always has a shorter reading period and one fewer day of finals, said Sheila Blumstein, professor of cognitive, linguistic and psychological sciences.

Faculty members also discussed the possibility of lengthening Thanksgiving break or starting the school year on a day other than Wednesday.

President Ruth Simmons voiced concerns about the perception of higher education in the media and politics. In the wake of the Pennsylvania State University scandal and pepper-spraying of students at the University of California at Davis, she said the public will turn “sharp critical attention” toward universities and colleges.

Consequently, the University must “turn attention to the plight of the public we serve,” Simmons said, emphasizing the value of liberal arts and promoting its research profile.

“I am quite concerned with this,”

she said. “Other presidents are as well.”

President Obama met with the Secretary of Education, heads of several universities and higher education experts Monday to discuss the rising costs of tuition — an example of the politicization of higher education, Simmons said.

“The desire of people to use these kinds of institutes to curry favor with voters is well known,” she said.

Harold Roth, professor of religious studies, spoke about the ongoing search for a new ombudsperson. The University has received 65 applications for the position thus far, with applicants coming from backgrounds including law, college presidency and the FBI. Roth said he expects a final candidate to be selected by next semester.

Provost Mark Schlissel P’15 provided an update on the URC’s ongoing plan for next year’s budget.

Though no tuition increase has been finalized, Schlissel said that “for discussion purposes,” the committee is

assuming an increase of 3.5 percent.

“All of the factors that drive the budget are on the table,” he added.

The URC will meet again next week and write its budget report in January, Schlissel said. He expects the committee to present the report to Simmons at the beginning of February. The Corporation, the University’s highest governing body, will approve a budget at its February meeting.

Chung-I Tan, professor of physics and chair of the Campus Advisory Committee, spoke briefly about a statement the presidential search committees posted online yesterday afternoon. He would not take any questions about the statement.

Shank also spoke about the faculty charity fundraiser “Brown Gives Green,” and committee reports were presented from the Diversity Advisory Board and Honorary Degrees Committee.

Memorial minutes were read for Bruce Donovan, professor emeritus of classics, and John Shroeder, professor emeritus of English.

Corporate research may influence agendas continued from page 3 Professors may own or have a stake in companies partnering with their universities on their research, a practice especially prevalent in biotech fields. This arrangement raises certain questions: What constitutes a conflict of interest? Can professors petition for university partnerships with their own companies? Can professors serve as CEOs of companies without compromising the integrity of their research?

The government has made multiple attempts to regulate conflicts of interest at universities in the past two and a half decades, with varying degrees of success, according to Washburn.

But professors who choose to distance themselves from corporate interests may struggle to support their research. “How do people who don’t buy into this paradigm get funded?”

Gutierrez asked. “The answer is, they mostly don’t.”

Research funding: a history

Partnerships between higher education and business have a lengthy past, extending back to the mid-19th century. Back then, there were two models for corporate-university relations, according to Adjunct Assistant Professor of History Paul Lucier: the individual consultant and the consulting laboratory. Professors might charge a fee for consultation with private individuals or analyze samples in their university laboratory. “These relationships were short-term, based on trust and informal. There was no written contract,” Lucier said.

All this changed around the turn of the century, when General Electric offered to hire a full-time chemist who had been consulting for the firm.

“This was the first instance where an American company hired a PhD to do research which leads to commercial products,” Lucier said.

“There’s a change of relationship.

Instead of a consultant, the physicist is an employee.”

The federal government did not enter the picture until the middle of World War II, when policymakers, hopeful that cutting-edge technology might help the U.S. win the war, instituted a system of federal grants for scientific research that eventually morphed into the NSF. But from the beginning, federal contracts were “careful to specify that the government was purchasing the research itself, not any anticipated outcome or finding,” Washburn wrote.

The government remained the main source of scientific research funding until the 1970s. With the emergence of a knowledge-driven economy, university and corporate interests became increasingly enmeshed, leading to what some commentators have called the birth of the “corporaversity.”

The Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 allows universities exclusive patent and licensing rights to inventions on federally funded projects. Universities can patent and market those inventions, the royalties from which they then recoup.

In other words, the Bayh-Dole Act not only provides universities further incentive to produce patentable inventions, but also encourages professors to develop personal ties with businesses.

Once universities obtain patents on inventions, they can license those inventions to whomever they choose, including companies owned by faculty or in which faculty have a stake. Those companies then develop the inventions for commercial use, earning royalties for both the university and the researcher. In this way, knowledge becomes a commodity with a monetary, rather than societal, value.

Brown’s legacy

The University has largely man-

aged to sidestep issues related to controversy over funding sources.

Compared to its peers, Brown has historically been on the more conservative end of receiving and seeking corporate funds, according to Hesthaven, ICERM’s deputy director.

“Maybe that’s why we’re so poor,” joked Bower, who noted that thanks to the University’s “army of lawyers,” it often takes over a year to get an intellectual property agreement drawn up for an industry grant.

But the interests of corporations and free dissemination of research have collided at Brown in several notable cases. In particular, the case of Associate Professor of Medicine David Kern in the mid-’90s and the case three years ago of Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior Martin Keller, who was chair of the department at the time, have attracted considerable media attention.

Kern was placed under scrutiny by the University for speaking out against dangerous working conditions at Microfibres, Inc., a Rhode Island-based producer of nylon textiles and a donor to Brown-affiliated Memorial Hospital. Conducting medical research on the factory’s workers, some of whom had developed life-threatening lung conditions, he discovered what he believed was a new lung disease.

When he tried to publish his findings, which could have implicated Microfibres in a potentially disastrous lawsuit, he was told by the associate dean of medicine and research there was “no way” he could publish without written company approval and instructed to immediately withdraw his abstract. Kern published his findings anyway. He was fired almost immediately.

Keller, who resigned as chair of the department in April 2009 but still works at the University, was implicated in a pharmaceutical company scheme to gain federal approval for the use of the antidepressant Paxil,

manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, on children and teens by publishing a scientifically compromised study demonstrating the drug’s utility.

Keller was paid royalties to sign on as a primary researcher on that study, which was allegedly generated by a company ghostwriter.

Between 1990 and 1998 alone, Keller had brought in more than $8.7 million in research funding from pharmaceutical companies, including GSK. Representatives from Brown’s Office of the Vice President for Research declined to comment on either the Kern or Keller cases.

Brown’s conflict of interest policies have remained, by the University’s own admission, remarkably liberal.

Brown faculty are allowed to have interests in companies for which they are receiving funding and are allowed to sit as CEOs of corporations.

“The perception or reality of a conflict needs to be disclosed so it can be managed,” Briant said. “We expect our faculty to be having conflicts of interests. There’s nothing wrong with that. As long as they disclose them, we are able to manage them in a way such that those conflicts don’t hinder the University’s goal of disseminating research.”

Some professors voiced the opinion at the Nov. 14 meeting of the Conflict of Interest Review Board that the University should go further to loosen language in the conflict of interest policy to encourage faculty to form their own businesses and collaborate with industry.

An agenda for the future

As industry funding for research increases, universities are beginning to behave less like ivory towers and more like businesses.

The transition toward prioritization of industry funding at Brown was made without fanfare and without controversy after enactment of

the Plan for Academic Enrichment 10 years ago. Since then, the University has failed to deconstruct its changing relationship with government and industry in any meaningful way. The two high-profile cases did not prompt officials to reexamine conflict of interest policies or the grant application process, according to Briant.

That being said, ties between corporations and universities are not intrinsically compromising.

“The problem is not universityindustry relationship per se. It is the elimination of any clear boundary line separating industry from commerce,” Washburn wrote.

Hesthaven agreed. “If controversy arises, it arises because people didn’t do their homework before funding started,” he said. “You have to take greed out of the equation. Research integrity must be as if it were federally funded. Contracts cannot interfere with the way a university works. But if a controversy arises, well … we all know situations where a prenup is not such a bad idea.”

But Gutierrez and others emphasize maintaining a strict separation between university and industry interests is useless without addressing the change in the way universities have begun to perceive their roles.

“It’s difficult to do things in the public interest when they conflict with the corporate interest. And when that corporate interest is embedded within a university, that’s a disaster waiting to happen. But it’s happening now,” Gutierrez said. “I can’t see any way now out of this hole we’ve dug for ourselves. I can’t see how to remove that corporate interest from academia.”

Spoehr retains a grim optimism.

“Once there’s money to be had, there are always people who want to have it,” he said. “But there have been tensions between different views of what a university should be since — well, since forever.”

The Brown Daily Herald Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Campus News 5

Thai students raise $600 for flood relief

By Aparaajit Sriram Staff Writer

Thai students at Brown have been working vigorously in the wake of intense flooding in Thailand to fundraise for their communities and raise awareness on campus about the issue.

Members of the Thai Students Association, who typically organize cultural events, took on more serious responsibilities following the destructive floods in order to “be part of the effort of all Thai people,” said Nichaluk Leartprapun ’14, the association’s vice president.

“The main goal was spreading awareness throughout the Brown community” so more students would talk about the issue and create a broad-based response, said Leartprapun.

To facilitate donations to the effort, the association set up a PayPal account. “It’s hard for foreigners to make sense of the Thai websites for donation,” Leartprapun said.

Association members also fundraised by selling baked goods and souvenirs they had brought from Thailand to remind them of home.

“Almost all Thai students were involved in the effort,” said Alisa Chalerychit ’15, who is from Bangkok.

In the end, the group has sent about $600 back home to support

the Red Cross in its relief efforts.

With one Thai baht amounting to $0.0324, the contribution can make a difference, said Natcha Wattanatorn ’13, president of the association.

Though the worst of the floods has passed, the impact is just beginning to sink in, with new data predicting the social and economic consequences of the disaster.

More than 600 were killed in the floods, according to the Washington Post, and the nation’s crop output and industrial production suffered. “My family now has to travel by boat,” Wattanatorn said.

“My relatives got affected by these floods.”

Around 600,000 Thai citizens are now unemployed, according to the New York Times. “Thailand’s central bank has cut this year’s forecast of economic growth from 4.1 percent to 2.6 percent. Private economists say the impact of the flood could be even greater,” the Times reported.

The University has made an effort to reach out to Thai students who are dealing with difficult news on a daily basis. The Office of Student Life sent a message to all Thai students Oct. 27 offering ongoing support to any student who needs it.

“We realize that this natural disaster may have touched many

of you, your families and friends very personally,” the email read.

“The Office of Student Life encourages you to reach out as needed … for any assistance you may need, academically or otherwise, now and through the remainder of the semester.”

For Chalerychit, the message conveyed a welcome sentiment that the University cares about its Thai population and is not blind to turmoil happening far away. “They really reached out to us, which is really nice,” she said.

The University is also willing to take financial steps to support Thai students if needed.

The Institute of International Education, an independent nonprofit that funds international exchanges and manages the Fulbright program, recently created an Emergency Student Fund to help Thai students studying in the U.S. shoulder tuition costs if their financial situations have been disrupted by the flooding, according to the Institute’s website.

But in order for a student to receive this support, a campus official must apply on the student’s behalf.

“If any student approaches us and displays a need, then we should do something about it,” said Oludurotimi Adetunji, assistant dean of the College. “Anything that will benefit the students.”

BDS surpasses ‘real food’ goal

By Alexa Pugh Staff Writer

According to Brown Dining Services, 36 percent of University food purchases currently meet at least one of the four “real food” criteria — local, fair, ecologically sound and humane — outpacing Dining Services’ original goal of reaching 35 percent by 2014.

The Brown chapter of the Real Food Challenge, a national initiative designed to encourage sustainable food practices, started a collaboration with Dining Services in 2009 with a two-year pilot program that allocated $25,000 and created four student positions within Dining Services.

Anna Rotman ’14, a sustainability intern, said the money was used up almost immediately, but Dining Services continued to progress with the program. “They’ve been great partners with us so far and very excited about this initiative,” she said.

Rotman credited the program’s initial success to the fact that the University does not outsource the management of Dining Services and has both an in-house bakeshop and butcher shop, which she said are rare finds in university dining systems.

A push from students for more sustainable practices, like buying locally sourced milk, was also important, she said — Dining Services now purchases 100 percent of its milk products from Rhody Fresh Farms of Rhode Island.

According to the 2011 College Sustainability Report Card, which gave Brown an “A” in the “Food and Recycling” category, Dining Services spent $423,938 on locally grown or

raised food and $111,070 on organic food in the 2009-10 academic year, up from the $150,000 and $58,000 reported the previous year. About 20 percent of the overall food budget went toward local products, including some from the student garden.

Ann Hoffman, director of administration for Dining Services, and Peter Rossi, assistant director, wrote in an email to The Herald that Dining Services created the Blue Room’s menu with the Real Food Initiative in mind.

Fifty-two percent of the food served at the Blue Room currently fulfills at least one of the real food categories, said Jonathan Leibovic ’12, who worked as the Real Food Initiative public relations and education coordinator for Dining Services last year.

This is the first real food assessment that Dining Services has performed and many of the products they were already purchasing met the criteria, Hoffman and Rossi wrote.

For that reason, the 36 percent figure should be viewed as a baseline for future progress, Rotman said.

“It’s really fantastic that we’ve been able to hit 36 percent, but I think we have to understand what that number means,” Leibovic said. He said there are some potential pitfalls with the Real Food Calculator, the method used to assess the food products Dining Services purchases.

Since a product has to receive an “A” in only one of the four criteria to be considered real food, the numbers can be misleading. For instance, even if a product is considered organic, it could still be made using unjust labor.

Leibovic credited the help of stu-

dent groups such as the Sustainable Food Initiative, the Student Labor Alliance and Students for a Democratic Society for the initiative’s progress, but he said he would like to see more participation from the entire Brown community.

“I think increasingly we’re seeing that our food-purchasing decisions have massive repercussions across the board. I think that as a student, it’s very hard not to have that autonomy in deciding where your food is coming from,” Rotman said.

Though students working for the Real Food Initiative help dictate where food is purchased, they are not allowed to see the details of the Dining Services budget, she said.

“It would be really nice to have a lot more transparency about where that money is coming from to supplement these changes,” Rotman said.

Some students within the movement are concerned that buying pricier, more responsible food products will force Dining Services to cut back on its labor budget or increase the price of meal plans. Though she said she hopes to see Dining Services eventually reach 100 percent real food, it is unlikely their budget could accommodate the associated cost increases, Rotman said.

Hoffman and Rossi did not comment on financial specifics. “Brown Dining Service works closely with the farmers, distributors and manufacturers to find balance with budget requirements while remaining committed to the initiative,” they wrote.

The Real Food Initiative plans to present a progress update and a new list of demands to President Ruth Simmons next semester.

R.I. anti-smoking funding falls short

By Alison silver Staff Writer

A recent report from a coalition of anti-smoking organizations ranked Rhode Island’s funding for anti-smoking programs 38th in the country. The state spends $373,000 yearly on anti-smoking efforts, only 2.5 percent of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommended level of $15.2 million, according to the report. Alaska ranks first, spending $10.8 million on prevention programs, 101.3 percent of the recommended level.

The coalition’s annual report evaluates states’ expenses in comparison to the federally recommended levels.

The report aims to “raise awareness,” said Dan Cronin, state communications director for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, one of the organizations in the coalition. “We want to do the report to see if states are actually doing what they’re supposed to be doing” with the money they have received from settlements with tobacco companies and the revenue they collect from tobacco taxes, he said.

“Unfortunately, Rhode Island is not doing as well as it should be,” he added.

This year, Rhode Island will bring in $183 million in revenue from tobacco taxes and settlements, Cronin said. “That’s a big difference,” he said of the gap between state revenues and expenditures on anti-smoking programs. “A lot of times, people forget that this is an issue,” Cronin said, though “the tobacco companies are not stopping.”

But Cronin also pointed to the state’s achievements. Rhode Island has the second-highest cigarette excise tax in the country, at $3.46

per pack. Last year, the Rhode Island Department of Health Tobacco Control Program successfully combated efforts to reduce the excise tax by a dollar, wrote spokeswoman Annemarie Beardsworth in an email to The Herald.

The Department of Health is currently working with the Rhode Island Tobacco Control Network, the American Cancer Society and community groups to support efforts to further reduce smoking trends.

Such efforts include reclassifying small cigars to apply the same excise tax requirements as cigarettes, raising the cigarette excise tax to produce more funding to help offset the cost of second-hand, smoke-related disease and establishing smoke-free housing initiatives that would expand the existing Public Health and Workplace Safety Law. Students generally perceive Brown as a smoke-friendly campus.

“I was surprised by the number of student-smokers on campus, especially cigarette smoking,” said Mary Sketch ’15. “I didn’t realize it was as much a part of college life.”

“It’s accepted, and if you want to be a part of that community, then you can be,” said Lucy Fernandez ’14. “But if you don’t want to, that’s fine too.”

In 2009, a survey conducted by the Public Health and Health Education programs at Brown found that 85.6 percent of the student body reported smoking or using chewing tobacco five times or fewer over the previous academic year, wrote Frances Mantak, director of Health Education, in an email to The Herald.

The Health Education website offers a variety of resources on smoking, including lists of reasons and methods for quitting.

6 Restaurant Week

The Brown Daily Herald Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Red Stripe well worth the walk Lackluster Mediterraneo offers view and little else

By rebecca ballhaus City & State Editor

There are few places worth a 20 minute walk in the bitter cold of a dark December night. But Red Stripe, a self-described casual fine dining spot in Providence’s East Side, definitely tops the list.

The best part about Red Stripe, located on Angell Street near Wayland Square, is that it has all the trappings of a fancy restaurant without (necessarily) the expense. Offering “comfort food with a French influence,” according to its website, Red Stripe is an interesting combination of classic American dishes and French flair. Servers and a large bowl of peppermints greet prospective diners at the door, often with the news that there may be a 10 to 15 minute wait — reservations are advised. But once seated in the restaurant’s cozy atmosphere, diners are treated to the full restaurant experience, complete with a menu offering a wide range of prices, and perhaps most excitingly, fresh sourdough bread.

The restaurant is heavily — if somewhat confusingly — decorated, featuring warm lighting and a great deal of lion statues. The booths and tables are tightly packed together but do not have a cramped feel.

The wait staff is generally attentive but the restaurant is almost always packed, so between the long walk and the wait, Red Stripe is not

By sarah mancone Staff Writer

Rebecca Ballhaus / Herald

Red Stripe’s grilled cheese (above) is filled with prosciutto, pesto and pears and comes with fries and either tomato soup or salad.

for those in a hurry.

I have been to Red Stripe six times now — mostly to conduct careful research for this review — and the food never fails to disappoint. By far my favorite dish, and a meal I have convinced over three people to order, is the Red Stripe grilled cheese, prepared with prosciutto, pesto and pears. Sound delicious? It is — and it’s only $11.

The sandwich is accompanied by fries, tomato soup or a green salad, any of which is a perfect complement. The soup can be slightly spicy — perfect to dip the sandwich in, though maybe too hot to eat alone.

Red Stripe also features a broad selection of desserts, from a more traditional apple tart served with

cinnamon raisin ice cream to the very intricate chocolate bourbon pecan tart drizzled in chocolate sauce. The molten chocolate cake with raspberry sorbet and raspberry sauce is a lovely way to top off the sandwich and a good preparation for the cold walk back.

Open for lunch and dinner every day and for brunch on Sundays, the restaurant is great for all occasions. I recommend ordering fancier dishes — like steak frites or any of the fish courses — if your parents are in town, and saving simpler but equally delicious fare for dining on your own dime.

Walking into Mediterraneo Caffe on Federal Hill, diners are greeted with qualities of the most high-end Italian restaurants: a warm atmosphere, an array of wine bottles and pictures of Italy displayed around the room.

On the walls are photographs of the impressive number of celebrities who have visited the restaurant — including Steven Tyler, Danny DeVito and Alec Baldwin.

The setting implies both quality fare and high prices, but only the latter holds true.

The dinner menu features numerous options for those willing to spend $20 to $35. But for the many who are not, options remain limited.

Lunch items are also relatively expensive for a midday meal, running from $16 to $18.

For those who prefer to dine on a budget, the lunch prix fixe menu — offering patrons a choice of salad, entree and dessert for only $14.95 — is recommended. The menu has an extensive number of choices, including three salad options, 17 entrees and four desserts.

The caprese salad was refreshing and visually appealing, starring fresh mozzarella and tomatoes of a quality difficult to find this time of year, while the caesar salad was simple and classic.

The entree list highlights fish, chicken and pasta options. For a more classic Italian meal, there is fusilli alla vodka. Though the vodka sauce is light and delicate without overpowering flavors, the pasta was surprisingly undercooked for a restaurant of this reputation. While the menu listed pancetta as a main ingredient, pieces of the Italian bacon were cut so tiny they were barely noticeable. The entree, which was on the lower end of the price scale,

led to the sense that either meals are significantly overpriced, or the restaurant saves its high quality cooking only for those willing to pay for it.

Dessert was the highlight of the meal. Options consisted of homemade tiramisu, lemon sorbet and chocolate or vanilla gelato. The tiramisu was extremely light with a strong espresso flavor — delicious enough to redeem the meal. In addition, the food was well portioned for lunch, neither overwhelming nor too small, and for those over 21, there is the option of free limoncello after dessert.

The restaurant is distinguished by its wall of glass doors facing out onto the street, allowing for peoplewatching as well as warm, fresh air in the summer. The view adds to the overall dining experience as patrons may observe the rich culture of Federal Hill during their meal.

The restaurant’s service started out strong, but it declined a bit over the course of the meal. The food took some time to arrive, perhaps to be expected during the lunch rush. But where the service really faltered was in the delivery of the bill. The amount of time spent staring at an empty plate, longing for more tiramisu, was far greater than it should have been at such an upscale establishment.

Mediterraneo fits into that category of decent but overpriced Italian restaurants. While it is distinguished by its nice view and excellent desserts, the service and quality of entrees had serious flaws that diminished the overall quality of experience. If you are willing to pay, it will likely be a worthwhile experience.

But for those who shy from a $30 meal, it may be better to try one of the other Italian restaurants gracing Federal Hill.

snow what? onward, make the noozpaper

Herald file photo

The winners are Maddie Berg ’15, Austin Cole ’15, Lucy Feldman ’14, Izzy Rattner ’15 and Neel Yalamarthy ’15.

Restaurant Week 7

The Brown Daily Herald Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Italian cuisine falls short at Siena ‘Stinky cheese’ and coziness at Farmstead

By Sophia Seawell Staff Writer

Few college students can afford to spontaneously jet off to Italy, but at least they can spend an evening at Siena. The restaurant, which was voted “Best Restaurant in Rhode Island” in 2008 and 2010, is appropriately located on Federal Hill, Providence’s Little Italy, and bills its fare as Tuscan soul food. But the food itself falls short of expectations — making the dining experience more hollow than soulful.

The walls, though painted in comforting, warm colors, are cluttered with random pictures of landscapes and horses. The kitschy carpet and cheesy music — think Italy competing in the Eurovision Song Contest — do not help matters, and together they make Siena feel less authentically Italian and more like Olive Garden.

Appearances aside, the service was excellent. We were promptly greeted by our server, who was friendly and familiar enough with the menu and wine list to make

careful recommendations.

As an appetizer, we ordered the fried calamari, which was so bland that even the accompanying marinara sauce could not redeem it. The Parmesan truffle fries, also an appetizer, were doused a tad too generously with truffle oil and wanted for a sauce.

Meat-eaters will most likely enjoy the bistecca pepperonata, a wood-grilled sirloin skirt steak, marinated in Chianti wine, balsamic vinegar and black pepper, finished with a spicy marinade reduction. Less adventurous diners should be warned that flavors are even stronger than they sound.

The penne alla vodka, on the other hand, featured a single discernible flavor — garlic. The portion size was large, and the overpowering garlic flavor provided little incentive to eat much of it.

The tortellaci con zucca, jumbo tortellini filled with butternut squash, amaretto crumbs, caramelized onions, provolone and parmesan cheese tossed in a brown butter and sage sauce, failed to match its extravagant de-

scription. Though the filling was tasty, the brown butter and sage sauce drowned the tortellini, making the meal excessively greasy.

The standout dish was the pizza arezzo, topped with prosciutto, roasted dates, mozzarella, gorgonzola, caramelized onions and fig puree. The texture of the crust may have been a tad chewy, but the flavors complemented each other wonderfully, and the portion was generous. To those with conservative palates: Figs on pizza taste far less bizarre than they sound.

The problem with Siena is that it tries too hard to be Italian aesthetically while not providing customers with the elevated cuisine the price tag leads them to expect.

Given this combination, students might prefer to save their money and head to the Sharpe Refectory for gnocchi alla sorrentina — it is delicious, significantly cheaper and does not lay claim to false Italian authenticity.

By Alexa Pugh Staff Writer

When I read that Farmstead, the cheese shop-turned-restaurant near Wayland Square, pledges to teach its costumers to “enjoy and imbibe in the once lost, yet re-discovered art of crafting true, artisan foods,” I was a little wary. It is a promise that sets the stage for some killer gastronomy, but whether it would be spoiled by snobbery remained to be seen.

Entering the shop for the first time, I only encountered a friendly greeting from the hostess and the pungent aroma of a cornucopia of cheese.

A set of white, window-paned French doors open into the small dining room, where painted walls in taupe and burnt orange contrast with the shop’s exposed red brick, and paintings of farm animals adorn the walls to contribute to the space’s rustic-yet-refined country feel. The dark, wooden tables fill the small space without cluttering it, and each

features a cute miniature pumpkin.

Fittingly, the lunch menu most prominently features boards of assorted cheese and charcuterie. But if a plate of fancy cheeses or cured meats doesn’t tickle your fancy, their sandwiches, soups and salads are only slightly more expensive than anything you would find at Panera ­— and twice as delicious.

The “cheesemongers” grilled cheese made the restaurant’s decorative homage to the cow and its fellow dairy-producing livestock seem perfectly justified. The menu advertises “lots and lots and lots” of cheese, and it delivers — the surfeit of warm, stringy cheese crammed between golden-brown, crusty Seven Stars bread seemed endless. The blend was flavorful but not overwhelming, and I was only disappointed by the skimpy amount of bourbon-melted onions I received.

Vegetarians without a superhuman tolerance for dairy will be continued on page 8

Menu becomes bestiary at Federal Hill’s eclectic Julian’s By kristina fazzalaro Arts & Culture Editor

Kristina Fazzalaro / Herald

The Kraken — a delicious take on eggs benedict — is served at Julian’s.

Nosferatofu, the Kraken and Phantom’let sound more like superheroes — or villains — than they do edible masterpieces, but at Julian’s Restaurant, nothing is quite as it appears.

Located on Broadway, Federal Hill’s quieter sister street, Julian’s offers a slew of classic American dishes that are skillfully, and oftentimes playfully, re-imagined by chefs who resemble rock musicians strumming over sound systems more than they do Emeril Lagasse or Tom Colicchio.

This paradigm carries over to the wait staff, which is polite and helpful in selecting dishes off the extensive brunch menu while still exuding that heavy metal edge that permeates through the restaurant.

Walking into Julian’s is like walking into a concert already in progress.

Entering through the wrought

iron door, you step into a slightly cramped, industrial-looking eatery, with exposed pipes and red brick walls. The bar overlooks the open kitchen, allowing visitors a glimpse into the cooking process — a fastpaced affair whose sizzling and clanging provide the perfect backbeat to the alternative tunes.

Local, eclectic artwork provides splashes of color that contribute to the mismatched vibe of the interior.

No single table is alike — the one where we were seated was inlaid with old stamps. Even the restroom

proved entertaining, complete with a television airing cult classic movies.

While the decor certainly sets the tone of Julian’s, the food amplifies and defines it. The wait time alone is a testament to its success — people choose to wait up to an hour for a seat in the cozy dining area.

The first thing guests are treated to when opening the menu is the drink offerings. Traditional options like Irish coffee and mimosas intercontinued on page 8

8 Restaurant Week

The Brown Daily Herald Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Julian’s dazzles with fine drinks and eggs continued from page 7 mingle with quirky originals like the I <3 To Party (my new favorite way to drink iced coffee, served black and mixed with Kahlua and Malibu) and Argog’s Grog (a warm or cold apple cider with apple jack and St. Elizabeth’s allspice dram).

Julian’s also offers a large variety of craft beers.

From there, the real fun begins.

The brunch menu offers a variety of egg dishes, hashes, salads, sandwiches and more. I chose the Kraken — a sumptuous take on eggs benedict, served with slow roasted pork belly, caramelized leek-parmesan grits, citrus-grilled asparagus and “cracklin” hollandaise. In other words, perfection on a plate.

Separately, each component was delicious. Together, they created a symphony of flavors so deliciously mouth-watering, I am hungry just thinking about it.

The pork belly was tender and when paired with the runny yolk of the eggs benedict, it melted in my mouth. The grits were a mindboggling mix of flavors — peppercorn and parmesan were apparent right away, but an underlying floral taste intrigued the senses and turned out to be coriander. The asparagus provided the only lightness to the otherwise rich dish, which was also accompanied by a side of home fries. Nevertheless, I do not regret a single penny or calorie. A half order cost $9 and kept me full late into the night.

My compatriots in cuisine or-

dered Thee Weeping Toreador — an omelet balanced nicely with avocado, tomato, black beans and pepper jack cheese — and Granola Goodness, a healthy dish of homemade granola, unsweetened yogurt and fresh fruit. I am, as apparent from my choice of meal, not a health nut, but Julian’s converted me. The granola was delicious, sweet and fruity with apple undertones, and when paired with a dollop of light-asair yogurt and a crisp bite of pear or grape, quickly addictive — not much of a problem since it only costs $5.

The omelet was well-balanced, but having sampled others here before, I know the power of other options like Tha Jedi Mind Trick — a classic combination of spinach, mushroom, grilled onion and Swiss cheese — and the Phantom’let, in which hot and sweet sausage combine with brussels sprouts, a crispy garlic gremolata and brie in a delicious pan-fried omelet.

Julian’s also caters well to vegetarians and vegans, offering such dishes as the Nosferatofu, a tofu scramble with cashews, pickled onions, baby carrots and mustard greens, and vegan apple cider pancakes.

Overall, the fresh ingredients and the creative use of them in each dish, combined with a distinct rockband flare, make Julian’s an entertainingly delicious and affordable stop for every student.

A letter for a dedicated reader I want you to know this even though you don’t...

I see you.

I see you doing everything within your power to get me to notice you without seeming too desperate.

Disguised as just another student in the library you’re just reading the herald to an outside observer, Unaware of the glances, the smirks, the hair flips, the deliberately loud manner with which you turn every page the your attempts far outnumber my attempts to complete this Econ homework.

But just like this problem I’m to distracted to complete your attempts are fruitless.

Flipping pages quicker than it would take one of the heralds daily readers like yourself to finish reading a headline in the hope that I will acknowledge this inconsistency won’t work either.

That inconsistency itself reflects the source of our dilemma.

The thing about newspapers is that there is a new one published every day.

It’s impossible for editors to write articles that are relevant for extended amounts of time.

If I was a newspaper I would rather be the page 2 story than a headline article.

I’d rather risk you never getting the chance to read my story than for you to skim through me and quickly flip the page before you finished reading.

-Alain Laforest ‘15

Alexa Pugh / Herald La Laiterie’s understated presentation and homey appeal focus attention on the food, like this seasonal pasta.

La Laiterie: Farmstead’s sexy sister continued from page 7 quite content with the black bean “fillet.” Although the patty was more like a thick spread, it is still a hearty sandwich that balances the heat of jalapeno with cool cilantro and crisp mixed greens.

The house-roasted beef sandwich, complemented with a delicately garlicky aioli, pockets of piquant bleu cheese and sweet-tangy pickled vegetables, is another delectable option. And the addictive house-made pickles served with every sandwich show just how much care is put into the food.

But the service failed to match that attention to detail. I was always well-supplied with water, and my waitress was friendly and knowledgeable. But the hostess carelessly slipped a sandwich — different from the one I ordered — onto my table without so much as a word. And her refusal to seat groups of two, saying that the several available four-seaters were reserved for larger parties, bordered on rude. Later, it took some serious hand-waving to procure the check.

But the eager service in the accompanying shop, where I stopped on my way out to survey the admittedly pricey assortment of local honeys, butters, breads and other treats, was redeeming — as was the attentive, yet unobtrusive service when I ventured back for dinner.

At night, Farmstead’s dining room becomes La Laiterie — possibly the best place you can convince any generous family member to take you to when they come to visit. The Edison bulbs are dimmed, casting a warm glow that creates a cozy but sophisticated atmosphere. While the dishes are elegant and most of the prices too steep for college student budgets, the many patrons sip their wine to the sound of Mumford & Sons, Weezer, Queen and Modest Mouse.

My first dish was the skillfully crafted seasonal pasta special — a beef cheek agnolotti with sherry vinaigrette, fennel pollen and kohlrabi.

The flavor was at once approachable, with the comforting flavors of roasted garlic and slow-cooked stew, and complex, with subtle notes of curry from the fennel pollen.

The pairing of dynamic flavors with simple, down-home goodness was perhaps most apparent in their masterful macaroni and cheese. The sensation of plunging one’s fork through crackling brown crust into a molten heaven of savory cheeses and tender pasta is enough to put a smile on the toughest curmudgeon.

And at $9 for a sizeable portion, it could even be a post-finals treat for the frugal student — come on a Wednesday and get a nice glass of wine for only $5.

Entrees include a decked-out burger at $16, a deluxe version of the lunch menu’s grilled cheese and

several more innovative, original selections. The chef ’s riff on pork and beans, re-imagined as pork shoulder with a preserved-lemon mostarda and punchy, sour pickled apples over smoky beans, is a surprising and delicious dish.

The hanger steak, cooked until medium rare and fork-tender, has a notably robust, beefy flavor that pairs beautifully with a creamy sunchoke puree. The gnocchi, though squashed beneath the steak, were still velvety and delectable.

But it was dessert that finally did me in. A warm fudge brownie dolloped with generous spoonfuls of silky coffee ice cream and rich cinnamon ganache then sprinkled with crunchy sugared almonds was so delicious that its disappearance provoked my deep sadness. The raisin molasses upside-down cake with pumpkin spice ice cream and whipped cream was similarly obsession-worthy.

So if reviving the humble artistry of food is the epicurean mantra, Farmstead fits right in. And perhaps the pretentiousness I thought I smelled was just the wafting odor of the cheese shop’s pungent Camembert. After all, Farmstead’s website also raises a humble toast to “stinky cheese, fine wine and good times.”

Hear, hear.

Med student brings health care to rural Nepal

By Mark Valdez Staff Writer

Though Dan Schwarz MD’12 will not receive his medical degree for six months, he already oversees the operations of an international public health organization.

Campus News Schwarz serves as the chief operating officer of Nyaya Health, a U.S.-based non-profit organization that aims “to provide free community-based health care in rural Nepal that strengthens the public sector,” according to the organization’s mission statement.

He began volunteering with the nonprofit in 2009. Early the next year, he took academic leave from Alpert Medical School and moved

to Nepal to work with the organization full time.

Founded in 2006 by three Yale students, Nyaya Health has become a driving force in providing health care in the community of Achham, an area that was in “substantial need of services,” Schwarz said.

Nyaya — which is affiliated with Partners in Health, a prominent public health non-profit — founded a clinic in 2008 that provided outpatient-based services, Schwarz said. A year later, Nyaya opened a full-scale hospital, which has treated almost 100,000 patients to date, he said.

Nyaya has also created opportunities for employment in the region. “We have a staff approaching 150 people in the hospital and in the community, and they’re all local Nepali people who are em-

ployed and otherwise did not previously have jobs,” Schwarz said.

In addition to the staff, the organization employs four Nepalese doctors.

Schwartz has said new technology has proven helpful in running the organization effectively.

Through Global Health Delivery Online, which he likened to Facebook for health care providers, he has been able to coordinate efforts with a hospital in a neighboring region.

“I think, for me, what’s most rewarding and most important, is a development of a health system where there previously was none,” Schwarz said. “And, the opportunity to say everyday that there is health care being provided to people who previously did not have any access to care at all.”

10 Features

The Brown Daily Herald Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Ives Never Been! A quiet alternative to Thayer By mark valdez Staff Writer

Thayer Street is loud — filled with the chatter of students and visitors, the whooshing of buses en route to the tunnel and the never-ending music drifting out of Johnny Rocket’s and Baja’s.

But a stone’s throw from Thayer sits Ives Street, a tranquil escape from the chaos of finals period on campus. Packed with a variety of eateries, Ives runs parallel to and east of Thayer, about a 10-minute walk from the Main Green.

Because the number of stores on Ives pales in comparison to that on Thayer, it can be easy to miss the gems found there. In comparison to the ever-crowded East Side Pockets and Chipotle, eateries on Ives are quietly empty, providing a relaxing experience and good food.

A tour heading south on Ives begins with Victoria’s Pizzeria, between Power and Williams streets. The restaurant resides in a tiny wooden house with peeling teal paint. Two small iron tables sit in front of it, facing Ives. A sign details the daily special: two slices of cheese pizza and a drink for less than $4. Inside, two large signs indicate that smoking is not allowed.

This rule does not seem to apply to the owner, who sat smoking in the corner on a recent afternoon as he barked into a telephone in Arabic. The cozy interior smelled like homemade marinara sauce and cigarettes, punctuated by the sound of the rolling pin hitting the counter as the pizza crust is rolled.

In a modern touch, the main sign hanging outside advertises a free Wi-Fi connection.

A couple of shops down is East Side Creamery, which has sat at the corner of Williams and Ives for about three years. Inside, the small shop has four small tables, each decorated with a different mismatched tablecloth. The menu includes Rhode Island favorites like Del’s Lemonade, Portuguese sloppy joes and Italian sandwiches.

Sometimes, if you hang around near the 10 p.m. closing time, employees offer free donuts and other treats.

The little creamery also boasts

“Rhode Island’s best wieners.” The “traditional Rhode Island wiener,” as described by the cook at the counter, is a hot weiner topped with mustard, meat sauce and a celery garnish. For $5, you can buy two wieners with the works, a bag of chips and a soda.

On a recent Tuesday lunch break, the restaurant exuded a strong sense of community, with employees greeting customers by name. The woman at the counter relayed her Thanksgiving adventures with Michael Jackson’s Wii game to a man who just stopped in to say hello.

No meal at East Side Creamery is complete without a scoop of their most popular ice cream flavor, Graham Central Station, which tastes like a sugary cinnamon graham cracker without the crunchy texture. Hand-packed pints are also available for purchase. Other flavors include Moose Tracks and Witch’s Brew, a mix of candy corn and other candies.

After a friendly “Have a good one,” from the counter person, the next stop is the Ugly American, a restaurant directly across the street. This is one of the newest eateries on Ives, evidenced by the sparkling blue and orange awning and the bright orange rustic letters.

Ugly American, which opened this summer, boasts freshly cut fries.

Their menu also includes hot dogs, burgers and wings.

Toward the southern end of Ives Street, on the corner of Fremont Street, is Silver Star Bakery, a traditional Portuguese bakery.

As the door opens, the sweet and warm scents mingle with the crisp Providence air. The glass counter is filled with a large variety of pastries, such as baklava, cannolis and chocolate eclairs. Their most popular pastries, according to the baker with flour-dusted hands, are traditional Portuguese treats: queijadas de nata, or custard cups, and Portuguese sweet bread.

Ives Street has many places to appease a sweet tooth and get a taste of something different from dining hall fare. It is a quiet little pocket close to campus — far less crowded than Thayer Street on a Friday afternoon.

Ship Street Square

Greg Jordan-Detamore / Herald

The University’s new public plaza in the Jewelry District, diagonally across from the Medical Education Building, is nearly complete. The space — previously a parking lot — will have hardwood floors with terraced steps and trees. Administrators hope passers-by will buy food from lunch trucks and the Bagel Gourmet Cafe across the street and eat in the plaza. They want it to be an active public space that serves the entire community. It has been designed to be flexible, with the potential to accommodate small outdoor events. Construction work, except for lighting, is scheduled to be completed tomorrow, according to Stephen Maiorisi, vice president for facilities management. The plaza does not yet have an official name. ­— Greg Jordan-Detamore

Off the Hill, the Salon beckons

By ALexandra Macfarlane Staff Writer

Faced with the prospect of yet another sweaty, disappointing dorm party, some students have wandered from College Hill and into the highceilinged, dimly lit main room of the Salon. Part industrial music venue, part chic urban bar and part intimate underground dance club, the Salon opened a year ago in a space formerly occupied by a haircutting salon, introducing a new nighttime venue to the downtown Providence scene.

Since its opening, the Salon has hosted many events for students, including both University-sponsored groups and private parties. The 21plus club, which does not usually charge a cover fee, is owned by Ethan Feirstein ’06. The downstairs, usually open only on weekends, has a club-like vibe. When the dancing becomes overwhelming, a clubber can wander back upstairs to the Salon proper for a fuller bar and more relaxed atmosphere. The upstairs is

“brighter and more exposed,” said bartender Michaelle Saintil.

Part of the exposure comes from the windows at the front of the club and the mirrors that line the wall next to the bar. With high ceilings and mysterious drapes, the room feels vertically stretched. Lightbulbs hang from the ceiling, some lit and some dark, giving light and emphasizing the room’s dramatic height.

Across from the extensive bar sit several arcade games and a foosball table. Picnic and ping-pong tables take up the rest of the space, leaving little room for dancing. The room lends itself to a more relaxed, hangout atmosphere.

The bar, larger than its downstairs counterpart, features draft beer and a food menu with quirky sandwiches riffing with the theme of peanut butter and jelly, with nutella, honey, marshmallow and graham cracker offerings.

The Salon hosts comedy nights, weekly DJ sets and occasional themed parties, among other events. The “cutting room,” the downstairs of the club that takes its name from the salon’s former life, is the area most conducive to an intimate dance scene. The accessible, but not overly accessorized, basement space was perfect for the birthday party Joanna Poceta ’12.5 threw there in November, she said.

The basement has “a lot of elements that don’t really cohere,” which was perfect for the “Twin Peaks”-themed party, Poceta said.

The exposed concrete walls of the cutting room are lined with red leather couches, with a small bar and DJ booth on one side. The rest of the space is left open to “create what you want out of it,” Poceta said.

The basement is not a “kickback” kind of place but rather a club to drink in a more responsible way than, say, Whiskey Republic, Poceta said. Instead of “faceless grinding”

in the cutting room, patrons can assert their individuality more, she said.

When Alex Oberg ’12.5 helped host a student Halloween party this past fall ­— the Wednesday before Halloween— he noticed the crowd at the Salon was different than usual. It was as if the venue had absorbed the Whiskey Republic crowd, he said.

If clubbers want to find the cutting room, a marquee arrow, lit up in red and yellow, beckons them to the downstairs entrance. Just ahead, a set of steep, metallic-colored stairs lead dancers to an intimate setting where body heat combats the chilly basement air.

Max Lubin ’12, who threw a wedding-themed party for Marriage Equality Rhode Island, called the basement “a completely different world if you want it to be.”

The division of the space is awkward because there is a real separation between the atmosphere of the upstairs and the downstairs, Oberg said. Different people go to each space and there is not a lot of intermingling, he said.

Oberg said he wanted the Salon to be “more cutting edge in its music taste.” Now, he said, it is just a venue house.

Lubin and Poceta both noted the Salon staff were very helpful with the specific aspects of their parties. Saintil called the sevenmember staff — who have been together since the club’s opening — a “family.”

With an eclectic and throwntogether vibe, distinct from the well-worn club spots on College Hill, the Salon boasts a space open for students to craft whatever kind of night they wish, whether they attend planned events like last night’s class of 2012 Senior Night or wander down for an impromptu and spontaneous evening.

The Brown Daily Herald Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Campus News 11

Independents love, hate living situation New technology gives of space.” years and are now members of Phi paralyzed reason for hope Independents are often con- Kappa Psi.

By Sandra Yan Staff Writer

Five years ago, a program house displayed a sign to the campus community — independents keep out.

Though the sign’s brazenness is yet to be matched, some independents living in program and Greek houses feel the sentiment still exists.

Shared spaces are — by their very namesake — questionable. Independents often complain of limited access to kitchens and lounges.

But program house members rebuke such critiques, saying doors are always open to all.

Transfer student Luis Lazo del Sol ’12 was placed as an independent his sophomore year in Chapin House, home to Theta Delta Chi. “None of us wanted to be part of the group,” he said. “There was an unwritten treaty — we ignored them, and they ignored us.” Occasionally, a few brothers would come to the independents’ suite and hang out with them, but in general, there were “very clear boundaries,” he said.

Independents in Marcy House do not have key access to the members’ lounges and are instead given key access to a lounge of their own.

Aisha Cannon ’14, an independent who chose to live in the house with her friends, said independents essentially keep to themselves. “If you don’t know anyone, there’s probably not going to be an active effort to get to know you,” she said.

Members benefit from extra study spaces, games and other resources that are not all available to independents, she said.

But that’s not to say independents are banned from membersonly areas, said Nathan Van Winkle ’13, public relations chair of the Greek Council and a member of Zete.

“There’s a very strong community because of the frats,” he said, and it is up to the independents to forge friendships. Community Assistants set up events, such as Open Mic Nights, that anyone in the house is more than welcome to attend.

“Typically, you have problems because it’s not clear who gets which common areas,”said Clara Kliman-Silver ’13, a Community Assistant in Harkness House.

“There’s a conflict over ownership

fronted with the aftermath of parties thrown in program and Greek houses, she said. Though parties are thrown in members-only spaces, “problems have emerged with noise complaints, smells, people vomiting in the hallway,” she said. “These parties are frustrating for some of the independents who don’t have connection or interest,” she said.

But others say program and Greek house members actively go above and beyond to reach out to independents.

“One of our biggest priorities is to make sure the independents are comfortable with their living situation,” said Shawn Medford ’12, president of Delta Tau last year. He said the DTau brothers make an active effort to get to know their independents and “encourage them to come hang out with us.”

“A lot of hate gets lumped on (fraternities),” Van Winkle said.

“You have an institution to vest your frustrations on, even though it may not be warranted. There is a larger perception of issue than there is actual issue.”

“I can see people not knowing a lot of their neighbors. I don’t see them being excluded — I see them maybe not wanting to interact,” said Araceli Mendez ’12, the president of the Greek Council and a member of Zeta Delta Xi. “I think it’s more we keep to ourselves because we’re not in the frat. They’re not actively trying to ostracize us,” said Steven McGarty ’14. As a transfer student, he was forced to live in Olney House due to overflow housing, which he said may have influenced his feelings about being an independent.

“You have different types of independents — the ones who actually pick the housing and wanted to be in this type of environment, then you have people who sort of got put there because they didn’t have housing for us,” he said. “I feel isolated a little bit because I was placed there rather than knowing people on the floor. I haven’t had anyone come and introduce themselves.”

Other independents have had strikingly different experiences.

Michael Speaker ’13 and Huy Dao ’13 were both independents in Sears House in their sophomore

Program could build ‘more of a community’ continued from page 1 taking unpaid internships is something you have to do, but it can be prohibitive for a lot of people,” said Gregory Cohan ’14. Cohan used his award last summer to work with a non-governmental organization in Nicaragua. “They’re willing to fund a diverse array of things,” he said.

Stephanie Vasquez ’13 received funding from the program to work at a children’s hospital in California last summer. “It’s very valuable because it allows students to partici-

pate in internships they may otherwise overlook due to the amount they’re paid,” she said.

The program should consider “building more of a community” between the students who receive funding, said Priya Gaur ’13, who worked with the Environmental Justice League of Rhode Island last summer.

Though Vasquez said she thought the program was “solid,” she said it could increase its presence on campus and provide funding for winter internships.

Whenever Phi Psi threw events, “they’d come around to all of our doors, knock on our doors, invite us personally,” Speaker said, adding there was no real trouble with boundaries.

Dao agreed. “They were concerned if we were experiencing any difficulties with the noise, if we were being disturbed.”

Speaker attributed his desire to join the fraternity to the experience he had as an independent. “We saw how great of a group of guys they were,” he said. Dao currently rooms with an independent. “He feels welcomed,” he said. “It’s never an issue.”

Though problems still exist, ongoing progress is visible, KlimanSilver said. “On the one hand, this has been going on for a while. On the other hand, people are finally starting to speak up about that.

People have taken the initiative to see what the boundaries are, what space belongs to us. There’s been a lot of cooperation.”

The crux of the issue is that both “the program houses and the frats want to say, ‘This is my building,’ but there are other people in the building who want to call it their own as well,” she said.

Richard Bova, senior associate dean of residential life and dining services, said he has not recently received any complaints of independents being mistreated.

By Kate Nussenbaum Staff Writer

Hearing a series of quick scratching sounds is not generally cause for celebration. But for Leigh Hochberg ’90 the sounds represented a scientific breakthrough that could enable paralyzed people to interact with the world more easily.

Hochberg, a professor of engineering and co-director of the BrainGate2 research effort, first heard the scratching sounds, which represent neural impulses, in 2005.

Almost seven years later, researchers at Brown are forging ahead and collaborating with new partners.

Early last month, Stanford came on board, and researchers at the university are actively enrolling participants for clinical trials of a system that would allow paralyzed people to manipulate machinery with their minds.

Turning thought into action

Most people take for granted the complicated series of biological signals that translate a thought into action. The process that allows us to think about grabbing a glass of water in front of us and almost instantly move our hand can be harnessed to allow quadriplegic people to control external devices.

The clinical trials test three main

aspects of the BrainGate2 neural interface, said John Donoghue PhD ’79 P’09 P’12, professor of neuroscience, director of the Brown Institute of Brain Science and Hochberg’s co-leader on BrainGate2, a continuation of the original BrainGate project.

The first step in translating neural signals into the manipulation of a device is a sensor, a small square the size of a baby aspirin with 100 thin, millimeter-long spikes. The sensor picks up and records the firing patterns of anywhere from a few to 150 of the brain’s 86 billion neurons. The device is implanted into the area of the motor cortex that controls arm and hand movement, Donoghue said, because the paralyzed trial participants control objects like cursors that are generally operated with those body parts.

Training computers to work with brains

Michael Black, professor of computer science and a BrainGate2 researcher, said his work focuses on decoding neural signals into patterns that can be understood by machines.

“The work that my group has been doing involves mathematically modeling how the activity of a continued on page 12

12 Campus News

The Brown Daily Herald Wednesday, December 7, 2011

DPS establishes successful Jewelry District presence Med

By Gabby Gutierrez Contributing Writer

The Department of Public Safety’s July expansion into the Jewelry District — which included establishment of a new substation and assignment of a six-officer rotation — has been successful, said Mark Porter, chief of public safety. DPS expects to increase its presence in the area in the future.

“Officers are doing a great job,”

Porter said, citing visibility of law enforcement in the area, collaboration with both the Providence Police Department and Brown community members and timely response by the new officers as markers of the substation’s utility.

Officers are not permanently assigned to the substation and serve on a rotating basis, staffing the area between 3 p.m. and 3 a.m. every day. When an officer is needed at

other times, DPS must pull patrol resources from the College Hill campus. The officers are “being proactive and engaging in the community,” Porter said. DPS has been pleased with performance so far.

Kevin O’Connor, a DPS night operation commander, runs the Jewelry District substation and supervises the activity there. The substation has no holding area or fingerprinting capability, making it less well-equipped

than the campus station to respond to crimes. Officers instead “do basic shift activity such as write reports and interview victims,” Porter said.

DPS expects to increase the patrol staff to accommodate upcoming city developments including a city park adjacent to Brown’s campus, Porter said. “We anticipate an increase in activity as time goes on, so it only makes sense to increase patrol staff,” Porter said.

Paralysis research inspired by ‘remarkable’ patients continued from page 11 population of neurons in the brain is related to movement or imagined movement,” he said.

Computers need to be trained to recognize neural patterns and respond to them, Black said. During each trial, the parameters of the computer models that decode neural signals need to be adjusted because the firing rates of neurons vary depending on a variety of factors like the noise level in a room or the subject’s energy level, Black said. The goal is to compile large amounts of “training data” to help the computer eventually adjust the models on its own.

“The whole reason we care about that is to make these things more robust,” Black said. “We want to take this whole research from a very simple level in a controlled environment and make it more practical for people.”

Decoding the neural impulses is necessary so users can activate and operate different devices. The first device that was operated in a clinical trial was a simple mechanical hand that opened and closed.

Donoghue said other devices tested have included a cursor, a small robot that grabbed a piece of candy and a primitive wheelchair.

Researchers in Hochberg’s lab are working on new communi-

cation devices. Undergraduate researcher Kathryn Tringale ’12 has been designing more intuitive keyboards that would be easier for participants to control with their minds than standard QWERTY keyboards. The standard keyboard, designed to prevent typewriter jams, is organized so letters that frequently appear next to each other in writing are not near each other on the keyboard, an impractical design when the cursor is controlled mentally.

Tringale said she has been studying mathematical models of the brain to better understand what a practical communication device would look like and to create a model of a neuron-controlled cursor that she uses to compare the different keyboards she has designed.

Currently, many people with locked-in syndrome, a condition that prevents almost all movement, communicate with letter boards.

Participants must go through each letter until they get to the one they want and indicate it through eye movement, painstakingly spelling out words and sentences. Tringale said observing this time-consuming process has motivated her research.

“Actually having that interaction and experiencing it in real time really inspires you,” she said.

Researchers at Case Western Reserve are also investigating devices

that could greatly impact those living with paralysis. Hochberg said Case Western’s Functional Electrical Stimulation Center is researching technology to restore simple movements in paralyzed people by stimulating the nerves in the arms and legs with implanted electrodes that can be controlled through simple switches. Hochberg said he hopes this technology could one day be combined with BrainGate2 so people’s thoughts could again control their own limbs, rather than an external device.

‘Remarkable participants’

BrainGate2 has enrolled seven participants to date, two of whom are currently enrolled. Hochberg said Brown and Stanford researchers have permission to enroll up to 15 participants.

“Largely, the participants or their families find us,” Hochberg said. Once participants make an initial contact and if they seem to meet the inclusion criteria, Hochberg visits them at their homes to describe the study and answer their questions.

Participating in the trial requires a significant commitment — in addition to attending half-day research sessions twice a week for at least 13 months, participants also must undergo surgery to implant the neural sensor in their brains.

Both Hochberg and Donoghue said interacting with participants is the most important and the most rewarding part of their work.

“We could not develop this technology without the feedback of remarkable participants,” Hochberg said.

Donoghue said the project still has a long way to go.

One of the many challenges now is the development of a wireless implant system. Right now, battery technology is insufficient and neural implants must be plugged into a power source. The challenge is creating a battery whose lifespan is long enough to merit implantation with the knowledge that a participant will be forced to undergo neurosurgery each time the battery runs out. Donoghue said he thinks the team will soon be able to create a battery with a 10-year lifespan.

The process of decoding neural signals is also very complex, and the team is still striving to create the tools that will allow people to control devices with as much ease and fluidity as able-bodied people control their own bodies.

“Working on BrainGate has taught me that we can do basic science and have a profound impact on people’s lives at the same time. … I want everything I do to have an impact like that,” Black said. “It’s changed me profoundly.”

School to add PLME courses

By Austin Cole Staff Writer

Alpert Medical School is in the process of designing new courses for the Program in Liberal Medical Education, some of which will focus more on practical applications of pre-medical material. New courses geared toward first-year and senior PLME and pre-medical students will attempt to provide better preparation for medical school.

The addition to the curriculum comes on the heels of a report from the Association of American Medical Colleges and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, which recommends colleges change requirements for pre-med students.

Requirements for medical school across the country have not changed significantly since the 1950s, said Philip Gruppuso, associate dean of medical education.

“I think we could be much more creative about how natural sciences and quantitative sciences are incorporated into the pre-medical curriculum,” he said.

At Brown, new courses for seniors will have “a very obvious clinical medical orientation,” and be concerned with “topics that have a strong biological science relevance but also a social and/or behavioral medicine and ethical context,” he said.

“Disorders of Sex Development” and “Genetic Testing for Breast Cancer Susceptibility” are examples of possible senior courses. By adding courses that focus not just on natural sciences, but also their application to medical practice, the Med School hopes the curriculum for the PLME program — through which undergraduates are granted admission to the Med School when they matriculate at the College — will “be more efficient” in terms of preparing students for medical school, Gruppuso said.

Though the courses are still in the development stage, Gruppuso said he hopes they will be ready by next fall. And though he said he hopes courses such as these will eventually become integral parts of the curriculum, their continuation will likely be determined by student response. “We’re certainly not going to go off and create a requirement unless we know that it’s going to work for students,” he said.

The Med School is currently soliciting student, faculty and alumni opinion on the new PLME curriculum through an online survey.

The Brown Daily Herald Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Arts & Culture 13

Youthful Eurydice makes a splash dealing with darker topics

By Gillian Michaelson Arts & Culture Staff Writer

Production Workshop’s latest Downspace play commences, unexpectedly, in the Upspace­­— on a beach, surrounded by the sounds of surf crashing and the imagined sight of summer stars.

So begins Margaret Maurer’s ’13 unconventional interpretation of “Eurydice:” a reimagining of the myth of Orpheus by Sarah Ruhl ’97 MFA’01, who first produced the play at Brown exactly 10 years ago.

The play adheres mainly to the original story of Orpheus and Eurydice with a twist — instead of following the famous musician himself, the audience looks through the eyes of his young wife, who dies abruptly soon after the play’s beginning. This approach allows the audience to take a ride into the underworld with one of the dead, experiencing an environment that brings Wonderland to mind.

In this transition from the world above to the world below, the technical abilities of the designers and the space itself really shine.

Though the script does not call for a set change, Maurer and her team provide one of the biggest transitions possible: The audience is shepherded into a different theater.

The first movement of the piece takes place in the relatively stark, small Upspace, but upon the death of Eurydice, the audience, led by a set of mischievous and amusing “stones,” wends its way down a giant staircase into the contrastingly cavernous Downspace. Here the

exposed pipes and bright colors of the set and lights emphasize one of the most prominent attributes of the production: a childish perspective on serious topics.

The sense of youthful purity and passion comes out in many other areas of the play as well. Both Eurydice and Orpheus are effectively portrayed, as the script itself mentions, “as a little too young and a little too in love.” The two characters seem to come at youth from rather different directions. Allison Schaaff ’14 as Eurydice presents a child in the process of growing. She simultaneously brings to her character the naivete of a person wholly inexperienced with the world and a child who recently discovered the ability to whine.

This dual nature balances well in the presence of Hayward Leach’s ’14 more innocent Orpheus and brings a sense of reality to the character. But it also makes it slightly harder for the audience to sympathize with Eurydice when she makes her final choice during the walk out of the underworld. In the end, Schaaff brings a sense of emotional maturity to her character that allows her final moments to produce a very real effect on the audience.

Leach’s Orpheus is very different, not just from Eurydice, but also from traditional interpretations of the play. In keeping with her lack of conventionality, Maurer chooses to bring the audience a youthful and deaf Orpheus. Leach described his character as a man obsessed with music who lost his

Visceral poetry constructs vision of living surroundings By gadi cohen Staff Writer

Kate Schapira MFA’06, visiting lecturer in English, entranced listeners with her stark, evocative poetry at the Brown Bookstore yesterday evening.

Her poems — which came from two recently released poetry collections, “The Bounty: Four Addresses” and “How We Saved The City” — are meditative deconstructions of the world around us. Each of her poems feels like a body torn apart that yearns to be reassembled. Images function as organs, removed from their original context and then pieced together into breathing, living units. Words work like cells, each one building upon the next in intricate, alternating layers of meaning.

Schapira said she started writing “The Bounty” in 2007 on her daily bus commutes between the four colleges where she taught. The book is composed of four sections Schapira calls “addresses” — “You’re a stranger,” “You’re my sister,” “You do damage” and “I catch myself.”

Each address consists of a variety of richly rendered musings on human relationships and life in general. Schapira narrates her pieces in a visceral style of poetryprose that tries to provoke readers

into finding connections between contrasting objects and relationships. Many of the poems in the collection rely on imagery from human anatomy. The first line in the book attests to Schapira’s contemplative use of the body in this way. “Pink and blue sky like a tissue sample,” she writes.

“How We Saved The City,” on the other hand, is a much more diverse aggregation of observations, framed by a wide spectrum of poetry and prose. The earliest pieces in the collection are from 2003, when Schapira first moved to Providence. The city provided the majority of inspiration for the poems in the book.

“Providence is a very weird city because it’s very economically segregated and very small,” Schapira said. “Different neighborhoods and people live slap next door to each other.”

Schapira attributed the development of her poetic style to her studies at Brown. “At the program, I got to work with really great writers, who were all my peers and teachers,” she said. “You can see flavors of all these people in my work.”

By turns contemplative, accusative and transcendental, Schapira’s collections excavate the hidden depths of the city and society in which she resides.

hearing when he was younger. Now in his early 20s, the character can only “hear” the music in his mind.

Though perhaps a risky one, Maurer’s choice never once backfires. The poetry of Orpheus’s movements as he signs his thoughts, interpreted by the chorus of stones, adds an entirely new dimension to the show. Leach does a magnificent job signing a language he said he has no experience with outside “learning the alphabet in kindergarten.” Orpheus’s deafness also helps bring out his childish innocence. In the absence of his voice, Leach gives the audience a great variety of often exaggerated facial expressions which emphasize the sense of innocence and clarity of thought that make the character of Orpheus so beautiful to watch and so easy to mourn with.

Another significant difference between the play and the original Orpheus myth is the introduction of Eurydice’s father. Also a resident of the underworld, he brings a new dimension to the relationship and turns a myth of unhappy accidents into a contemplation on the choice between pursuing what once was or the search for what could be. The

father, played by Thomas Finley ’14, acts in opposition to the character of Orpheus — if Orpheus reveals the uncertainty and potential of Eurydice’s future, then Finely’s character shows all the beauty of her lost past.

“Maybe the scariest thing is that in the moment when she has to choose between recovering her lost childhood or leaving and experiencing a new future, she’s stuck in between,” Schaaff said. “We as people never get choices like that.”

Though Finley undoubtedly brings great strength to the character of the father and the relationship between the two characters is an electrifying force at times, there are also moments when the interactions between the two read a bit superfluous and bring less new material to the stage.

The moments of silence and stillness between Eurydice and Orpheus bring a tenderness to their relationship that helps the audience believe in their love, but the same is not always true for the moments between Eurydice and her father.

But when Finley is left alone on the stage, he delivers, capturing the audience with his love and loss.

The show also features excellent supporting characters in the Lord of the Underworld and his chorus of stones. The Lord of the Underworld, played by Gordon Sayre ’12, is a comical and evil imagining of a devil-like character. He further reinforces the sense of youth overlaying the darkness inherent in a play centered around a trip to hell. The stones, Olivia Harding ’12, Belle Cushing ’13 and Jenny Gorelick ’14, also act as a strong presence in the underworld. They are the classic schoolyard bullies, humorously trying to keep order as they mock the souls of the dead heroes, fall sweetly in love with Orpheus and enhance the overt sexuality of the Lord of the Underworld.

Overall, “Eurydice” is an incredibly engaging experience. Its content, excellent performances and unique interpretation demand not just that you see it, but that you think about it and talk about it and wonder what you would do if faced with Eurydice’s choice.

“Eurydice” is running in the PW Downspace Dec. 9 - 12.

comics The Unicomic | Eva Chen and Dan Sack

Fraternity of Evil | Eshan Mitra, Brendan Hainline and Hector Ramirez

Chester Crabson | Tess Carroll and Marcel Gout

14

The Brown Daily Herald Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Diamonds & Coal

Editorial cartoon

by sam rosenfeld

Coal to Goldman Sachs, which after becoming the subject of protest at Harvard, chickened out of an on-campus recruiting event Monday for fear of Brown protesters. You’ve already got egg on your face, so what’s a little pie?

A diamond to Brown’s next president, whoever you may be. After our “Mission drift?” series, we hear the Presidential Search Committee is thinking of taking Brown back to its roots. We’re not ones to drop names, but let’s just say it rhymes with Shmordon Shmee.

Coal to the naked masturbator. Freud would have a lot to say about you.

Diamonds to the students who witnessed history firsthand in Egypt last semester, braving regime collapse, mass protests and utter chaos. And good luck to all students studying abroad in Europe!

A diamond to the ever-vocal Brown community, which made known its opinions on the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and the proposal to cut the skiing, wrestling and fencing teams. Without you, University Hall would have gone ahead with its original master plan: bringing back ROTC for a search-and-destroy mission at the OMAC. Diamonds to Occupy Providence, Occupy College Hill and the Occupy movement in general. Shaggy white guys haven’t been this hot since Kurt Cobain died.

But seriously, coal to whoever thought it was a good idea to partner with a Spanish business school. What’s next, a memorandum of mutual understanding with an English culinary school?

121 diamonds to the 121 members of the class of 2011.5 who graduated Saturday. We’re sorry to see you go, but the time is right for 121 to graduate.

Corrections A graphic accompanying an article in yesterday’s Herald (“Campus ROTC office gains favor,” Dec. 6) incorrectly showed the results of the Herald student poll. In fact, 81.5 percent of respondents indicated they did not want to join an on-campus ROTC program, and 5.7 percent indicated they are not familiar enough with the issue to answer. The Herald regrets the error.

An article in Tuesday’s Herald (“Professor to lead collider work abroad,” Dec. 6) gave an incorrect title for Meenakshi Narain. She is a professor of physics. The Herald regrets the error.

For breaking news over vacation: browndailyherald.com/register

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letters to the editor Praise for the ‘Mission drift?’ series To the Editor: As a reader of The Herald for the last 45 years, I want to compliment the authors of the recent four-part report on Brown’s shifting academic profile. I cannot recall a better

example than these pieces of quality student journalism on our campus. Sincere congratulations to all concerned.

Newell Stultz Professor Emeritus of Political Science

Language program mischaracterized To the Editor: We refer to the article published last Thursday (“Program seeks to boost U. language offerings,” Dec. 1). The headline gives the misconception that the Brown Language Society’s new initiative, Brown Student Language Exchange, is trying to add to the languages offered at Brown, or worse, start our own classes.

We have explained to your journalist when she spoke to us that our programs are not meant to compete with or “boost” the University’s language offerings.

We only aim to facilitate a casual exchange in which members of the community can learn about each other’s cultures and language in an informal setting. BSLE

is an exploratory learning community that seeks to unite language lovers in co-academic settings. We aim to pique students’ interests in languages and enrich Brown’s linguistic community. It is not meant to be a rigorous program nor a crash course as suggested by the article.

Our programs do not in any way compare to academic courses in structure, rigor or value. The best way to learn a language at Brown remains taking a language class taught by the dedicated, experienced faculty we have at the University.

Amelia Friedman ’14 Kai Herng Loh ’14

Defining Brown Students for Israel To the Editor: In response to Mika Zacks’ ’15 guest column (“An open letter to Brown Students for Israel,” Dec. 5), I would like to address some of her points which attack the mission and purpose of Brown Students for Israel. It is absurd to define BSI’s views solely within the content of one guest’s speech. Earlier this semester, BSI brought Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., to articulate his views as an American politician on the IsraeliPalestinian conflict. Frank’s address included a nuanced approach of engaging with Israel that included outright criticism of its government. This diversity of perspectives present in BSI’s mission of education reflects its commitment to a wide-ranging, dynamic pro-Israel outlook. It is also worth noting that BSI was not the primary sponsor of Colonel Richard Kemp’s presentation Nov. 17, but Zacks nonetheless uses it to

summarize BSI’s values.

Using BSI as a platform to typecast pro-Israel activities and demonize Israeli policy is unproductive and offensive. In his talk, Kemp did not address settlements and other issues mentioned in Zacks’ column. The purpose of his presentation was to discuss the Gaza War from a third-party viewpoint. It is disrespectful for Zacks to manipulate campus debate under the guise of voicing frustration towards Israeli policy. Defining BSI within narrow, unfounded terms unfairly whitewashes the group and those associated with it. By referring to BSI as “Brown Students for the Justification of the Israeli Government,” Zacks ignores the depth of the debate on subjects such as settlements, refugees and Jerusalem that occur at both BSI meetings and events.

Brandon Taub ’15 BSI Education Director

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Opinions 15

The Brown Daily Herald Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Success revisited

By LucIa Seda Opinions Columnist

Early last July, I decided to take a temporary break from my literature-laden summer reading list and instead picked up Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers.” With its catchy subtitle — “The Story of Success” — Gladwell’s latest original work of nonfiction relates the stories of several individuals whom he calls “outliers” — that 1 percent of extremely successful and exceptionally talented trailblazers whom we worship as the epitome of inventiveness and genius.

Although Gladwell seems a bit too eager to prove himself right and convince his readers of his groundbreaking discovery, he does raise a rather unusual, if not entirely provocative, point: Success depends as much on the personal capabilities of an individual as on the favorable circumstances around him or her.

All through his book, Gladwell seeks to demystify the somewhat arbitrary notions we as a society attach to successful people.

He vehemently argues against the singlehanded effort of an individual in his or her road toward a successful career by citing instances in which environmental conditions facilitated those very same accomplishments. In a nutshell, he contends that successful people can owe their glory to their intellectual prowess but are equally, if not more, indebted to outside and often

fortuitous conditions.

Gladwell’s analysis may be born out of a desire to, for once at least, cast the spotlight of success on something other than the successful subject itself. Nevertheless, we can use his theory as a means to segue into our own interpretations of success and what that means to each and every one of us.

idly turn into a fixed concept. Success thus becomes quantifiable and strangely material — the end result of a complicated formula that can be pinned down to a particular career, employer, city and salary.

The days when we took advantage of the freedom offered by the open curriculum and decided to craft our own definition of success seem to be a distant memory now.

Buying into the idea that success is measurable by a certain standard — one where society places the value of success on the accumulation of commodities and capital above a person’s self-contentment — can derail our own goals and make us feel less adequate to fit that particular mold.

Perhaps it is because fall semester recruitment has woken up many seniors from the illusion of a never-ending undergraduate tenure at College Hill that many of my peers and I have begun to rethink what it means to be successful both at Brown and as soon-to-be college graduates.

It is by no means an easy task to undertake. As the levels of stress mount up and the competition for jobs and graduate, business, law and medical programs becomes evident, so does the heretofore arbitrary notion of personal success rap-

Let’s face it: Senior year is a wake-up call of sorts that forces you to revisit your interests, goals and long-term aspirations and fashion them into a career or a path of study that is both fulfilling and stimulating. Factoring in the possibility of success into the equation is neither a faulty move nor a selfish concern. But buying into the idea that success is measurable by a certain standard — one where society places the value of success on the accumulation of commodities and capital above a person’s self-contentment — can derail our own goals and make us feel less adequate

to fit that particular mold.

It is true that, in terms of career options, the job market is not bristling with a thousand possibilities for recent college graduates. It is perfectly normal, then, to be seduced by the allure of a career in investment banking, a life of jet-setting across the globe and the name recognition of an employer if that were to guarantee financial security and the promise of lifelong success.

Yet these symbols of success are not the only ones in existence nor should they represent a higher road toward it. If anything, success is so ambiguous, elusive and amorphous that, in a very realistic way, it is impossible to predict. There are many faces, stories and definitions of success that we constantly rework and reprioritize as the years go by. Above all, success should be a deeply personal appraisal that emerges from an honest evaluation of individual achievements and overall satisfaction with what a person thinks is important in his or her life. To close with the wise words of President Ruth Simmons on the subject of formative experiences: “What I impart to (my students) is that they should never assume that they can predict what experiences will teach them the most about what they value, or about what their life should be.” As Brown students, we should take that advice to heart and embrace the many opportunities that life will offer us to be successful in our own unique way.

Lucia Seda ’12 believes that success is in the eye of the beholder. She can be reached at Lucia_Seda@brown.edu.

Brown and its chase for visibility

By Gregory Conyers Guest Columnist

Much decrying of the state of our school has recently appeared in The Herald.

This includes complaints about decreasing student involvement in the shaping of Brown’s future, the inhumanities and pre-professionalism of “Brown, Inc.” and the philosophic deterioration of the New Curriculum. The status quo at Brown, reflected on by the denunciatory arguments of these opinions columnists is the result of a shift in recent years to value personal and institutional visibility over all else.

This shift is not unique to Brown. Indeed, we have either paralleled or followed the lead of society. In his 2009 article “The End of Solitude,” former Yale Professor of English William Deresiewicz argues that our age is one obsessed with visibility. Deresiewicz adds to a series of general labels begun by Lionel Trilling in the 1950s, stating that if “the property that grounded the self, in Romanticism, was sincerity, and in modernism it was authenticity, then in postmodernism it is visibility.”

I use the term “visibility” in the same sense that Deresiewicz uses it, meaning life lived exclusively in relation to others.

The rise of the visible has abolished the

virtue of solitude. The worship of visibility proposes popularity as the highest goal.

At Brown, symptoms of visibility are rampant: the numbers of high school seniors who apply, celebrity professors and students, the new graduate programs and even our news-feed website. Gordon Gee, the most wildly visible of University presidents, played his short role. President Ruth Simmons will soon finish a tenure that has expanded the graduate school,

that something has been forgotten or undercut.

As The Herald recently cited, former President Henry Wriston wrote in 1948 that Brown’s “central business remains the increase of knowledge, the inculcation of wisdom, the refinement of emotional responses and the development of spiritual awareness.” That article (“Is the University suffering an identity crisis?” Nov. 29) contrasts this vision to the contemporary

This change was and is caused by the cultivation of visibility over more traditional roles of the College and University.

begun a path toward offering online degrees, stressed faculty research over teaching and made a climb in the U.S. News rankings explicit and crucial.

If our society fixates on personal visibility and the viewing of others — from Facebook to Twitter to celebrity veneration — Brown is no exception. What, if anything, has thereby been neglected is less clear. But a sense remains for many

Brown. This change was and is caused by the cultivation of visibility over more traditional roles of the College and University.

Is this all so bad? Doesn’t increased visibility and worldly clout add to the value of a Brown degree? It may very well do so in our modern world and perhaps has always done so. It is certain that the weight that Brown places on the utility of visibil-

ity has never been greater than today.

The student body isn’t immune to this postmodern phenomenon of visibility either. In an opinions column, Reuben Henriques ’12 (“A university-college, if you can keep it,” Nov. 7) notes that 55 students applied to be on the presidential selection committee and for the right to put it on their resume, while only 15 attended an open forum on the same topic. Students tacitly embrace grade inflation. Attending Brown in the first place is an exercise in visibility rather than learning for some proportion of students, and it seems that the student body and alums are content so long as that same visibility is constantly enhanced.

What about the sincerity of the romantics and the authenticity of the modernists, so obviously venerated by Wriston?

Brown’s administration has embraced visibility as its tenet, as have many of its students.

Is this column a push to return to some authentic age, one that never actually existed? No. Rather, it is an attempt to point out the core tenent of contemporary Brown, one ascendant in the last few decades. Recent history bends toward visibility.

Gregory Conyers ’13 is an English concentrator from Oregon.

He can be reached at gregory_conyers@brown.edu.