Thursday, February 28, 2013

Daily

Herald

THE BROWN

vol. cxlviii, no. 25

INSIDE

POST

post-

Goin’ nuts for donuts, oral morals, licensed to drive

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

Admin racial diversity ranks among lowest in Ivies As three ongoing senior administrative searches proceed, the University looks to increase diversity

By JENNIFER KAPLAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Page 6

Gender gap R.I. ranks no. 1 for gender difference in dropout rates Page 7

Bills bills bills Bill would charge non-R.I. students $50 semesterly fee today

48 / 32

tomorrow

43 / 30

The University’s senior administration ranked the second least racially diverse in the Ivy League in an analysis conducted by the Daily Pennsylvanian earlier this month.

At 5.6 percent, or one out of 18 total senior administrators, the University’s proportion of minority senior administrators is only higher than Yale’s 3.8 percent.

The data compiled by the Daily Pennsylvanian looked at the percentage of top administrators who are black, Asian or Hispanic across the Ivy League.

Provost Mark Schlissel P’15 said he is not content with the level of diversity among Brown’s senior administrators,

adding that expanding such diversity is one of his goals. “Having diverse perspectives involved in leading the University is a strong advantage,” he said. “There is absolutely no question about that.”

Searching for diversity Search committees have been formed to find replacements to fill three of the 18 senior positions: vice president for Computing and Information Services, vice president for research and dean of medicine and biological sciences. Schlissel, who is leading the latter two searches, said diversity will be one of many factors considered by the committees.

“We have certainly made efforts to make sure we have as diverse an applicant pool as possible,” he added.

The difficulty, Schlissel said, is finding the right candidate who wants the job.

“In each (search) there are different challenges, and each has a different population of people who are in those fields already,” said Beppie Huidekoper,

SAM KASE / HERALD

The University senior administration is the second least racially diverse in the Ivy League. executive vice president for finance and administration. She is heading the search for a vice president for CIS.

Doctoral students desire closer undergraduate ties The forum sparked discussion on how to make University graduate programs distinctive

By MAGGIE LIVINGSTONE SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Graduate students suggested increasing involvement in the design and teaching of online undergraduate courses and observing and applying effective program techniques from the undergraduate level to graduate disciplines during an open forum hosted by the Committee on Doctoral Education.

The forum was held Tuesday evening and attended by a small crowd of doctoral students, professors and committee members. The Committee on Doctoral Education is one of six strategic planning committees expected to influence President Christina Paxson as she formulates plans for the

University during her tenure.

The discussion’s focus on possible graduate involvement in constructing and implementing online courses was sparked by the University’s announcement last semester to create three pilot online not-for-credit courses open to the public through Coursera. The Committee on Educational Innovation, another strategic planning group advising President Paxson, submitted an interim report in January that recommended developing 250 online or partially online courses, including summer for-credit classes and combined online lecture format courses during the semester, The Herald previously reported.

A cognitive, linguistic and psy-

chological sciences Ph.D. candidate in the audience encouraged the use of online courses, citing the potential for more hands-on engagement in the classroom while lecture material could be taught through online learning.

He added that it was a “huge opportunity for graduates to develop these courses.”

Peter Weber, committee chair and dean of the graduate school, said three graduate students are already involved in designing the online courses, but added that the suggestion of increased graduate student involvement would be taken into account. Weber moderated the forum, along with Bernard Reginster, committee co-chair and professor of philosophy.

Though Weber and Reginster led discussion with general questions from a slideshow presentation,

graduate students in the audience largely dominated the dialogue. Topics included how to measure postdocs’ success after graduation, quantitative metrics of graduate programs and if students were receiving adequate support academically and in their research pursuits.

A bulk of the discussion also centered on how to differentiate Brown’s doctoral programs from those of other universities. Weber said the committee is examining data from peer institutions, which he said are “mostly in the Ivy League,” and comparing the University’s graduate programs to them.

Many audience members supported a suggestion to, as one student put it, “look to what the undergraduates are doing right and take from that to use in the grad school.” Examples included the / / Grad page 9

U. looks to expand Looming sequester academic ties to Brazil threatens R.I. funding New initiatives will seek to connect University academics to the South American nation

By SONIA PHENE SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The University is looking to strengthen its existing ties and form new connections with Brazil as part of a multi-step process of engagement, said Matthew Gutmann P’14, vice president for international affairs.

Gutmann highlighted the University’s commitment to new research initiatives in conjunction with Brazilian scholars, a move concurrent with a push from faculty members to make Brown a leading hub for Brazilian studies. The University’s pivot to focus on Brazil also

since 1891

comes amidst increased competition among elite American universities for attracting the rapidly growing country’s top students.

Last week, Gutmann traveled to Brazil to sign agreements with the Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education, known as CAPES, and the Sao Paulo Research Foundation, known as FAPESP. These and other future agreements will “make it easier for Brown scholars to work more closely with colleagues in Brazil,” Gutmann said.

The agreement with CAPES will bring a Brazilian scholar to Brown every year as a visiting professor, which is a “high honor for Brown in general, but particularly important with regards to Brazil,” he said.

The deal with the funding organization FAPESP / / Brazil page 5

Potential cuts include reducing spending on defense, education and humanitarian aid

By MARIYA BASHKATOVA SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The federal budget sequester that goes into effect tomorrow — unless Congress can agree on a way to tackle the national deficit by the March 1 deadline — will cut Rhode Island’s federal funding by more than $39 million in this fiscal year, according to a White House report.

If the sequester is not prevented, education, military spending, public health and humanitarian programs will all see reductions in federal funds.

CITY & STATE

The Rhode Island Senate unanimously passed a bipartisan resolution yesterday to ask Congress to come to a decision about budget cuts in order to avoid the sequester, according to a state press release.

If Congress does not prevent the sequester, the state’s education programs will lose $2.4 million in funding, endangering 30 teaching jobs and funding for 10 schools. These cuts will be accompanied by a $2.1 million decrease in funding for about 20 teachers and aides who work with disabled students, according to the report. Financial aid and work-study programs, as well as the state’s Head Start program, which serves underprivileged and low-income children ages three to five, will also receive less from the federal government.

The military will see $31.5 million in cuts — more / / Cuts page 9

These different challenges are being met with varied solutions. A search / / Admin page 3 firm has been

NE WS IN BRIEF City approves Thayer apartments The Providence City Plan Commission approved final plans Tuesday for 257 Thayer Street, a luxury student apartment complex slated for construction in June 2013, the Providence Journal reported.

The four-story complex is expected to house 270 tenants — mostly students — in furnished apartments with single bedrooms, private bathrooms and living rooms featuring big screen televisions, The Herald previously reported.

The apartments are a project of Gilbane Development Corporation, chaired by Robert Gilbane ’71 P’02 P’05.

The apartments will rent for about $1,000 to $1,400 per month, Gilbane told The Herald last March. The complex will replace most of the current buildings on the block of Thayer Street bounded by Meeting Street, Euclid Avenue and Brook Street — nine houses including Squires Salon and Sahara Hookah Bar, The Herald previously reported.

When the plan was initially proposed last year, some community members expressed concerns that the complex would be too intrusive and closed off from the neighborhood instead of being incorporated into the street’s current architecture, The Herald reported. The final plans include a courtyard that opens onto Brook Street, instead of the original closed-courtyard design, The Herald reported.

— Mariya Bashkatova

2 university news

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

C ALENDAR TODAY

FEBRUARY 28

6:30 P.M.

TOMORROW

MARCH 1

6 P.M.

Slavery, Justice and the University

Pachanga Latino Performance

List 110

List 120

7 P.M.

8 P.M. Every Body Free Yoga

Cheese Night

Brown-RISD Hillel

Technology House

MENU SHARPE REFECTORY

VERNEY-WOOLLEY

LUNCH Hot Turkey Sandwich with Gravy, Vegetable Bean Stew, Vegan Potatoes Vinaigrette, Bruschetta Bar

Turkey Cutlet Sandwich, Stuffed Shells with Meatless Sauce, Cheesy Zucchini Casserole

DINNER Roast Beef Au Jus, Red Potato Frittata, Pesto Tortellini Salad, Baked Potatoes with Sour Cream

Cilantro Chicken, Broccoli Quiche, Roasted Rosemary White Potatoes, Stewed Tomatoes

SUDOKU

MIKE COHEA / BROWN UNIVERSITY

Herlihy was among 69 newly elected members of the National Academy of Engineering, which serves as an advisory group for federal policy that affects the field of engineering.

Prof elected to engineering academy Professor of Computer Science Maurice Herlihy was honored for research on processor functions

By ABIGAIL SAVITCH-LEW CONTRIBUTING WRITER

CROSSWORD

Professor of Computer Science Maurice Herlihy was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, a nonprofit organization composed of globally prominent engineers, Feb. 7. He is among 69 new members and 11 foreign associates inducted into the NAE this year, according to a press release from the organization.

The NAE, whose members elect new inductees, supports the engineering profession and advises the federal government on technological and engineering-related policy matters, according to the group’s website.

Herlihy received the distinction for research on computing techniques that he said he has done for at least 15 years. He won commendation for working with collaborators to invent concurrent computing techniques such as linearizability, non-blocking data structures and transactional memory.

This research involves coordinating computers’ activities with multi-core processors, or the ‘brains’ of a computer. These devices have several units and are capable of performing different actions simultaneously.

Roberto Tamassia, chair of the computer science department, said Herlihy’s induction into the organization was a significant honor.

“It is a huge distinction, a major recognition,” Tamassia said. “It increases the visibility and the prestige of the department.”

Tamassia said Herlihy is one of about 100 NAE members who are active faculty members in the fields of computer science and computer engineering. The NAE has a total of 2,250 members and 211 ‘foreign associates, ’ or non-U.S. members, according to a press release from the organization.

Herlihy said he was honored by the distinction. “It’s very gratifying to have this kind of recognition, not just for me, but also, I think it’s recognition of the area that I work in,” he said, adding the research has only recently become of interest to the industry.

Before 2004, most computers had single core processors, and tech companies were not interested in research involving multi-core processors, Herlihy said. But when engineers discovered limits to the efficiency of single core processors, they began using the multi-core processors that Herlihy had been studying, leading to his research receiving more attention and prestige.

“Think of a restaurant kitchen,” Herlihy said. “The whole activity has to be coordinated to bring out everybody’s meal on time in perfect shape … in order to get the work done, you need lots and lots of people, and they’re all doing slightly different things, and they all need to coordinate closely so that they don’t get confused.”

Intel, the corporation that produces processors for most personal computers, including Apple and Windows computers, will start using transactional memory to develop its hardware in June, Herlihy said.

Herlihy said he conducted his research with the help of many collaborators and students at Digital Equipment Corporation Cambridge Research Lab, Carnegie Mellon University and Brown.

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“The fact that industrial researchers and academic researchers have the funding and the freedom to look at problems because they’re interesting and not because they’re of critical importance today is really helpful because later on they will be of critical importance,” Herlihy said. He added that the University’s researchers owed much of their success to motivated undergraduates who assist them.

Several computer science graduate students and undergraduates aided Herlihy with his research, including Marquita Ellis ’12 GS. “I really admire (Herlihy) as a teacher, a professor and a researcher, and I feel very privileged to get to work with him,” Ellis said, adding that she started doing research on transactional memory in her senior year.

Two alums were also elected to the NAE this year. The organization elected H. David Hibbitt Ph.D.’72, founder and former chairman of a company now known as Dassault Systemes, as a foreign associate for creating a code that contributes to the development of 3D visualization software for engineers, according to an NAE press release.

Enrique Lavernia ’82, dean of the College of Engineering at the University of California at Davis, said he was elected to the NAE for his leadership in engineering education and for research involving the structural modification of metals and alloys on a nanometric level. These metal modifications help companies create new materials with useful properties, such as stronger metal for planes, Lavernia said.

Lavernia credited the University for awakening his passions for research and education. “The professors at Brown are really remarkable, even still today, in that they’re great researchers but they’re also really good teachers,” Lavernia said. “Brown inspired me to try to do both and to care for my students.”

Michael Ortiz, a former associate professor of engineering who now teaches at the California Institute of Technology, was also elected to the NAE this year for his research contributions to the field of computational mechanics, according to an NAE press release.

There are now a total of 14 alums and 12 current or former Brown faculty members in the NAE, said Gordon Morton, manager of communications for the School of Engineering. New members of the NAE will participate in an induction ceremony in October.

university news 3

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

Yale prof criticizes statistics supporting U.N. initiatives Thomas Pogge argued that data used to justify the Millenium Development Goals may be faulty

By MARGARET FARRIS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Millenium Development Goals passed by the United Nations in 2000 have not progressed as far as publicized statistics indicate, said Thomas Pogge, professor of philosophy and international affairs and the director of the Global Justice Program at Yale, in a lecture Wednesday night.

Pogge’s talk, titled “The Millennium Development Goals and Their Successors,” was delivered at the Watson Institute for International Studies and

/ / Admin page 1 hired to help find a new dean of medicine and biological sciences, while mostly on-campus candidates are being considered for the vice president of research position, Schlissel said. He described a general lack of diversity in medical schools, particularly in the underrepresentation of female deans at such institutions. The search firm has been hired to help find a diverse pool of applicants, he said.

Huidekoper said recruiting minority candidates has been a challenge, adding, “and that’s not for lack of trying.”

Associate Provost for Academic Development and Diversity Liza Cariaga-Lo defined the difficulty of finding diverse candidates as the “pipeline issue.” At each higher level in academia, Cariaga-Lo said, there are fewer people from diverse backgrounds. The small pool of available candidates is made even smaller given that qualified individuals may already be happily employed at other institutions and might not want to move, she added.

Looking forward With a relatively new provost and a new president, Cariaga-Lo said, there

was attended by an audience of 20 to 30 faculty members and students.

Pogge discussed what he called the problematic nature of methodology used to measure international development. The Millennium Development Goals consist of eight resolutions passed

by United Nations member states to aid international development. The resolutions include ending extreme poverty, promoting gender equality and expanding access to educational opportunities.

Pogge focused primarily on the first millennium development goal, halving is an opportunity to find and recruit diverse candidates more diligently.

“Part of what makes Brown really amazing and unique is ... not just that we have a really diverse academic community, but in fact we have students and faculty and staff and administrators who really have worked very hard to create a community of inclusion,” Cariaga-Lo said. That inclusive community is not widely known about outside of Brown, she added.

The lack of racial diversity at the highest levels of the University’s leadership does not extend throughout the entire administration — about onethird of the 19 administrators in the Office of the Dean of the College identify as non-white, for example.

As part of its strategic planning process, the University is emphasizing the need for a more diverse faculty, The Herald reported last fall.

Undergraduate Council of Students President Anthony White ’13 said the focus on increasing faculty diversity is due to the fact that professors typically interact with students more than administrators do. Diversity in the senior administration has been less of a concern and is harder to change because there is less frequent turnover, White said. “I think it’s a problem and

by 2015 the proportion of the world population that is chronically undernourished. Pogge said the project’s measurements have been altered in such a way as to make it appear that countries have made more progress on achieving the goals than they actually have.

One problem with the project’s methodology was due to a change made by officials last year — altering the definition of hunger in calculating who could be classified as undernourished, which allowed for better numbers in the project, Pogge said.

“This new methodology involved calculating hunger based on a year-long period of being hungry and caloric intake of a sedentary lifestyle,” Pogge said.

“It is basic honesty to commit to one methodology without the hindsight for how this methodology will play out in practice,” Pogge said, criticizing the changes made in methodology midway through the development project. “We should not just have an exercise in creative accounting. We must have clearly articulated goals.”

Pogge stressed the importance of accuracy in reporting numbers for development projects. “It would create a better situation for people in the developing world if people really understood the lack of food security,” he said.

Pogge said he does not believe developed nations have put enough energy into fighting world hunger. “It is much

easier to overcome world hunger than the Nazis,” he said. “America and Europe made a serious effort to do that, (but) they are not making a serious effort to do this.”

Pogge faulted Western governments for their lack of initiative in confronting world hunger. “It is easier for people to face a calamity from which they are disconnected — and come in as a knight in shining armor — but it is harder when they are partly responsible for it,” he said.

To more successfully meet development goals in the future, policymakers must be precise in formulating specific targets and criteria for meeting these goals, Pogge said. / / Goals page 9

something that Brown definitely let go to the wayside,” he said.

“One of the difficult things about when we use the term ‘diversity’ is that we always tend to look at the physical identifier,” White said. He added that he finds several kinds of diversity important for UCS executive committee discussions: “people not only from different racial groups, (but) individuals from all different economic backgrounds, different geographic (histories) … different international backgrounds and different commitments outside of UCS.”

considered only race in its analysis.

One area in which the provost said he is happy with the senior administration’s diversity is its variety of academic backgrounds.

“We certainly have diversity of socioeconomic backgrounds, parts of the country, parts of the world,” Huidekoper added. Half of the senior administrators are women.

The equal representation of women has been a relatively new shift in universities’ governance over the past couple of decades, Huidekoper said.

Former President Ruth Simmons not only represented women during her time at Brown, but was also the Ivy League’s first and only black president, she added.

Cornell’s senior administration is the most racially diverse in the Ivy

League, with racial minorities accounting for 20.6 percent of the administration, according to the Daily Pennsylvanian article. “In a global economy and a global education system, it sends the right message that we are open,” said Cornell’s Vice President for Planning and Budget Elmira Mangum.

Mangum said the environment of openness at Cornell draws diverse candidates to the university. Through a “diversity initiative,” Cornell officials have made diversity at all levels of the university a top priority, she added.

Brown’s senior administration strives to increase its diversity “so we have different opinions around the table as we are trying to make decisions about the University’s future,” Schlissel said. “We are going to have to keep staying on top of this.”

Other dimensions The Daily Pennsylvanian article, which came after several opinions columns sparked debate about administrative diversity on the Penn campus,

4 university news

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

Faculty profile: Q&A with Taubman Center Director Marion Orr Orr’s newly published article addresses ethnic tensions in Providence city politics

By YVETTE RODRIGUEZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Marion Orr, professor of public policy and political science and director of the Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions, co-authored “Anxieties of an Ethnic Transition” in the Urban Affairs Review in October. The article deals with the tensions and increased anxieties regarding the election of Angel Taveras, who is the first Latino mayor of Providence. The paper uses a survey to show how ethnic differences coupled with the city’s economic downturn has increased the pessimistic outlook of some citizens on the future of the economy.

Herald: When did you begin this survey? Why? Orr: Every year around August and September we devote one of our surveys to the city of Providence. We survey city-registered voters.

Has intra-minority competition worsened? Do you suspect it might be because of the Latino mayor or a combination of the economic times and race?

The city’s demographic population has shifted so dramatically in the last several decades that political leaders are trying to figure out what these demographic changes mean for city politics. When we talk about intra-racial tension, we mean that because of segregated neighborhoods and because Latinos and African Americans are increasingly sharing the same geographical space residentially, they bump up to each other in terms of political dynamics.

Because our political institutions tend to correspond with neighborhoods, we begin to see this battle. Almost all the Latinos who are in the city council are holding city council seats that at one point used to be held by African Americans, and you see some

tensions there.

Can you speak more about “strategic and psychological adjustments”?

There are a number of people who develop theories about how groups handle ethnic transition. The theoretical argument is that communities behave and react differently based on their inside or outside status. When we say strategically, for example, if you are white ethnic and your people have ruled the city for a long time and you look at the demographic numbers, you have to think about, “How are we as a group going to respond to a growing percentage of the electorate who are not Irish nor Italian who happen to be Latino and other minority groups?” The outgroup, the Irish and Italians, have to think strategically about how to align themselves to maintain their political power. Do you pull Latinos into your coalition or do you create tensions between Latinos and African Americans and make them fight among themselves?

That’s a strategic decision that one could make.

Would you say the coalition between Latinos and liberal whites is an indication of broader political cooperation and similarities between both peoples or simply a product of self-interest?

Liberal whites here in Providence are largely in the East Side. If you look at Taveras’s election, it is clear that he did substantially well in the East Side.

My hypothesis is that liberal whites see in Taveras a reform orientation, that he is not a part of the traditional political machine. They have longed for years to try to reform city government and they are hesitant to endorse and support candidates whom they think are going to return back to the days of mayors being indicted. For them, it is in their self-interest because they want to keep someone like Mayor Taveras in office because he is viewed as a (reformer), versus the candidates he ran against who were seen as the old boys kind of club. If you elect them you might take us back to the days of machine politics.

Could the “machine politics” that is pervasive in Rhode Island partly account for the increasing intra-minority competition?

When you look at the history of machine politics across our city, machines tend to be institutions that have blocked minority inclusion into local government — machines have never been one to simply open their doors to new groups. There’s a tendency, because of the limited pie that the city has, to try to keep groups from being a part of the machine.

Machines have hampered, slowed and delayed the incorporation of minority groups into city politics.

Has political participation increased amongst blacks as a response to the increase in Latino political participation, given the intra-minority competition that exists?

I am not sure. I do know that there are discussions and concerns about what the rise of Latinos in city politics means for other minority groups.

African Americans have been in city government for a long time, they were brought into the city council in the late 1960s. African Americans were brought into the system and have played a part of the machine for a number of years. My suspicion is that there is considerable concern among African American leaders of Providence about the withering away of their influence in city government.

The question becomes how do you respond to that, and I’m not sure they know how to respond.

Did you find anything that you didn’t expect?

Yes, I’m sure I did but I cannot remember right now.

At the end of the day do you think the differences outweigh the similarities amongst minorities?

Any of the leaders in the Latino and African American communities understand mutual self-interest and the fact that their communities share similar concerns. At the elite level, I believe there is a clear willingness and

COURTESY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY

Taubman Center Director Marion Orr authored an article on the racial tensions associated with the election of Providence Mayor Angel Taveras. recognition to work together. The question becomes how do you get that out to the masses of people and have that kind of relationship filtered down at the mass level. For example, at the elite level, things like housing foreclosure ordinance, racial profiling and efforts to reign in rogue cops who tend to pick on minorities demonstrate the notion of working together.

Can parallels be made between the attitudes of people in Rhode Island regarding the new mayor and the larger American attitude about the presidential election, as the switch of power also occurred in an economic downturn and both the mayor and president are ethnically different than their predecessors?

Angel Taveras’s election and the president’s were similarly anchored by strong support from liberal communities, in that sense there is some similarity. And then the other thing was the willingness of the broader public to size up the candidates and

really try to discern which one will be best for the future and the kind of resume that they bring with them.

You mention that maybe the lack of experience in having a Latino mayor by voters might account for the increased anxiety. Do you think that if the economy worsens or improves voters will reflect this onto their opinions of the performance of the “Latino mayor”?

I think you are not going to be able to separate the mayor’s public approval from people’s everyday experiences, not only of the economy but also of the services that the city provides — that’s the main thing the people look for. Whether the mayor will be able to provide adequate services in a way that doesn’t hurt the city’s fiscal position. Part of it is the performance of government and questions of whether or not people have jobs. No incumbent mayor or president wants to see the economy go in the wrong direction.

www.browndailyherald.com

university news 5

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

/ / Brazil page 1 will help enable research in areas including public health, urban studies and environmental studies, according to a University press release.

Gutmann’s visit makes the initiative more concrete, said Nelson Vieira, chair of the department of Portuguese and Brazilian Studies and professor of Portuguese and Brazilian studies. “(Gutmann’s) efforts have really given us an impetus to move forward quickly as we can,” Vieira said.

The formalized agreements coincide with a proposal initiated last fall

by James Green, professor of history, and other faculty members to make the University a center for scholarship on Brazil. Green’s proposal, officially titled “The Brazil Initiative,” was submitted for review last semester as part of the Signature Academic Initiatives process to draw up new research initiatives for the University, The Herald previously reported.

“The Brazil Initiative is a way of making Brown the best place to study Brazil outside of Brazil,” said Green, who teaches classes on Brazilian history and culture and is affiliated with the department of Portuguese and Brazilian Studies. The initiative is interdisciplinary, building bridges from humanities to social sciences to sciences, he added.

“In a way, the Brazil Initiative is a new focus that builds on an old focus,” Green said. The University has an “incredibly strong” reputation in this area, he added, citing the Portuguese language program and the Department of Portuguese and Brazilian Studies as among the “best in the country.”

“Brown’s relationship with Brazil goes back decades,” Gutmann said.

“We’ve had campus leaders who have been leading efforts for a long time, and now some of them are coming together to make several new initiatives.”

Last September, 25 University scholars met to “make the Brazil Initiative a reality,” Vieira said. The initiative was led by Green, Leah VanWey, associate professor of sociology, and former department chair Luiz Valente PhD’83, professor of Portuguese and Brazilian studies, he added.

In the meeting, professors from various disciplines got to know one other and identified potential ways for the University to increase its involvement with Brazil, Green said.

Examples of ideas that came out of the meeting include studying environmental and social sciences related to the Amazon and “expanding Brown’s excellence in the study of literature and culture, through Brazilian film studies,” Green said.

There were several triggers for pushing forward the initiative now, Green said. For instance, peer institutions have begun to turn their attention to Brazil in the last three years, he said.

“We can’t just sit back and smell the roses,” Green said. “Brown must become more engaged. This includes deepening research connections with scholars and strengthening the program.”

Brown has a comparative advantage against other Ivies given its long history of Brazilian studies, Green added. Brazil also merits more attention than it gets worldwide, VanWey said.

“Brazil is this incredibly important

Thanks for reading!

COURTESY OF SUSAN HIRSCH

Citing Brazil’s growing role in the world culture and economy, the University is seeking to expand its academic ties with the nation. world power, especially as of late,” Van- Brown will enhance the international of admission, said his office has a finite Wey said, adding that the country’s life of the University.” number of recruiters who can travel population makes it the world’s third “Brown is doing a good job of Bra- worldwide to promote Brown, but that largest democracy after India and the zilian activeness,” said Maria Bugane admission officers are keeping an eye U.S. “It weathered the 2008 financial ’16, a student from Brazil. “They always on Brazil. crisis better than us and has had dra- have activities and events to keep inter“There’s actually a decent number of matic economic growth with declining est and show Brown is active in Brazil.” students from Brazil, but there could be levels of inequality.”

Bruno Zuccolo ’16, a student from more,” Zuccolo said. There are several Brazil offers much to learn, VanWey Brazil and a Herald contributing writer, activities like Capoeira, a student group said. She added that another reason to said he approves of the initiative. that performs the Brazilian martial art partner with Brazil is its strong schol“Like any process of internation- of its namesake, and a drumming group arship. alization and trying to reach out to a on campus to support Brazilian culture, “Brazilian universities and profes- broader international community, the he added. sors are our equals,” she said. “We are University would benefit by reaching Brown is not that well known in not ‘studying down.’” out, whether it is Brazil or any other Brazil, said Marina Nascimento ’15, Part of the initiative is to bring more country,” he said. another student from Brazil. It is betBrazilian students to Brown, Green said.

The Admission Office will also focus ter known in American schools in the “Brazil has a very rich culture,” he on Brazil in coming years, The Herald country, like the one she attended, she said. “Bringing Brazilian students to reported Jan. 22. Jim Miller ’73, dean added.

6 city & state

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

R.I. leads in gender gap among high school dropouts

Providence officials worry about dropout rates and are trying to make high school more relevant

Gender Gap in Dropout Rates

Top Nine Gender Gaps 1.

By MARIYA BASHKATOVA SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Rhode Island led the nation in the gender gap for high school dropout rates in the 2009-10 academic year, according to a 2013 study by the Department of Education.

The data showed that 5.5 percent of male high school students dropped out, compared to 3.8 percent of female students — a difference of 1.7 percentage points. Out of the total 2,166 students who dropped out of high school during that school year, 1,303 were men and 863 were women, according to the study.

The national average dropout rate was 3.8 percent for male students and 2.9 percent for female students. Though men drop out of school at higher rates than women in all 50 states, Rhode Island’s gender gap — the same as Connecticut’s — was nearly twice as large as the national average.

Despite Rhode Island’s large gender gap, it is difficult to draw conclusions that suggest the state is different from others, said John Tyler, professor of education, economics and public policy. Keeping accurate dropout records is notoriously “messy,” and the data can be difficult to

1.7%

Rhode Island

1.7%

Connecticut

3.

1.6%

New Mexico

4.

1.5%

California

1.5%

Georgia

1.5%

Louisiana

1.5%

North Carolina

8.

1.4%

Wyoming

9.

1.3%

Arkansas

Data represent the percentage point difference between the male and female event dropout rates. Source: U.S. Department of Education.

1.4 to 1.7 percent 1.0 to 1.3 percent 0.6 to 0.9 percent 0.2 to 0.5 percent Data unavailable JILLIAN LANNEY / HERALD

collect as students may leave without telling officials, he said. But in general, men tend to drop out of school at higher rates than women do, he added.

In the past, analysts explained the gap by pointing to the additional labor market opportunities available to 17-year-old males without a high school diploma — such as factory or construction jobs — not available to women, Tyler said.

With the decline of the manufacturing sector and the creation of jobs in the service industry that require more education than physical strength, there is more of an “impetus for women to stay in school and get educated because the labor market’s more friendly to them,” Tyler said. Though this explanation sheds light on why women might stay in high school longer, it does not necessarily explain why

Overall Dropout Rates

men drop out at higher rates, he added.

Paula Shannon, chief academic officer of Providence schools, said officials in the district are worried about high dropout rates and are trying to make the school experience more “relevant and engaging” for young men.

“A lot of the national research shows that engagement is a huge issue for young men, particularly for young black men

Top Nine Dropout Rates 1.

7.8%

Arizona

2.

7.4%

Mississippi

3.

7.0%

Washington, D.C.

4.

6.9%

Alaska

6.9%

New Mexico

6.

6.0%

Wyoming

7.

5.3%

Colorado

8.

5.2%

Hawaii

9.

4.8%

Louisiana

Data represent the event dropout rate, which is “the count of dropouts from a given school year divided by the count of student enrollments within the same grade span at the beginning of the same school year.” Source: U.S. Department of Education.

6.0 to 7.9 percent 4.0 to 5.9 percent 2.0 to 3.9 percent 0.0 to 1.9 percent JILLIAN LANNEY / HERALD

and young Hispanic men,” she said.

The district is collaborating with a “strategic data fellow” from Harvard through a partnership with the Annenburg Institute for School Reform at Brown to develop a plan to research college readiness, Shannon said.

Elliot Krieger, executive assistant for communications for the Rhode Island Department of Education, said the state does not have programs “targeted to one gender or one race,” but officials at the state level are concerned about high dropout rates in general — especially in the state’s urban areas.

Many students who leave high school do so because they need to work full-time or take care of children, Krieger said.

The state requires districts and schools to “identify students at risk of dropping out” long before high school and provide them additional reading and mathematics support, Krieger said.

Students who fall behind grade level early on are more likely to drop out in high school, he added.

Central Falls High School had significant success lowering the dropout rate by working with the most at-risk students as well as students who have already dropped out “to get them back in programs that more closely meet their needs” such as weekend and summer school programs, Krieger said. This strategy helped bring graduation rates at the school up from 54 percent to more than 70 percent in only two years, he said.

city & state 7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

Fee on non-R.I. Brown students proposed A fee of $50 per semester would go toward developing land freed up by relocation of I-195

By EMILY BONEY SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Rep. John Carnevale, D-Providence and Johnston, introduced legislation in the General Assembly Feb. 14 that would place a $50 fee per semester on every out-of-state student attending Brown, the Rhode Island School of Design and Johnson and Wales University.

The money raised from this fee would cover the redevelopment of the land opened up by the relocation of I-195, an area each university included in the fee has expressed interest in acquiring. Carnevale said in a press release he chose to raise funds from these universities because he did not want the state to invest heavily in land that would ultimately benefit “wealthy institutions” more than taxpayers.

“If one of those schools buys some land today, relatively cheap, and sells it five years from now when the area is active and thriving, who will reap the profit? Not the taxpayers,” Carnevale said in the press release.

The University negotiated with the city to acquire the land in June, but no specific plans came to fruition.

The state budget allocates $250,000 to the I-195 Commission to cover marketing and selling of the area, according to a press release, but the Commission has estimated that the project requires an additional $800,000 a year to fund the hiring of an executive director and to expand development. The $50 per semester fee placed on out-of-state students would amount to approximately $1.6 million annually — about double what the I-195 Commission requested.

Carnevale said in a press release that the universities ought to invest in the community, especially if they plan to purchase a parcel of land and would reap the most benefit from its development.

“If these schools are so committed to a presence in this development district, they should be willing and able to fund the work necessary to make this district a success,” he said.

Gov. Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14 P’17 included an additional $500,000 in his budget for next year to speed up the I-195 Commission’s work on the area’s redevelopment.

Critics of the bill argue the proposed legislation “puts a tax on learning, on one class of citizens,” said Daniel Egan, president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Rhode Island. He said institutions like Brown, Johnson and Wales and RISD have already con-

tributed large amounts of money to the city. In the next 11 years, Brown alone has promised to give the city of Providence $31.5 million dollars, an amount agreed upon in May 2011.

RISD and Johnson and Wales have also recently agreed to increase their annual payments to the city.

Egan added that “in these tough economic times, institutions are looking to grow financial aid opportunities” and should not be punishing students that are worse off financially.

“We will testify ... and we will highlight what the institutions have done (for the city),” he said.

“Students shouldn’t be paying more, the institution should be paying it,” said Rep. Joe Lombardi, D-Providence, a co-sponsor of the bill. Taxpayers have had to adapt to numerous new taxes in the past few years and should not have to pay for redevelopment on top of everything, he said.

“Providence taxpayers are already being taxed out of their homes,” Lombardi said. “Those that can most support it should be paying it.”

Providence has to provide all taxexempt institutions with infrastructure, so when those institutions have the means to help the community, they should not hesitate, Lombardi said.

Brown will present to the I-195 Commission regarding future plans in March.

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8 university news A

SPOTLIGHT ON THE STATEHOUSE

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

BY ADAM TOOBIN CIT Y & STATE EDITOR

Homecoming for soldiers State legislators have introduced several bills intended to aid Rhode Island’s veterans as they return home from overseas deployments.

The bills come in response to the recommendations of the state’s “Rhode Back Home” report, which detailed the current state of veteran affairs and suggested improvements to existing state programs. Because Congress is also looking at reforming the federal veteran assistance program, state legislatures introduced resolutions calling on the national legislature to improve care — based on deficits discovered in the “Rhode Back Home” report — for the state’s returning soldiers.

One proposal — introduced by Chairman of the Committee on Special Legislation and Veterans’ Affairs Sen. Walter Felag, D-Bristol, Tiverton, Warren — would coordinate state agencies to develop a single quantifiable metric that would allow officials to tell how veterans are transitioning to civilian life based on “access to benefits, veterans employment veteran-owned business growth, educational attainment, job training, behavioral health issues, long-term care, criminal justice and homelessness,” according to a state press release.

Another bill requires the state Board of Education to establish a system for allowing veterans to receive academic credit at the state’s colleges and universities for the skills they developed in the military.

“Our colleges and universities accept credits for coursework taken at other schools. It only makes sense that they accept credits for military coursework and training as well,” Felag said in the press release.

Sen. Juan Pichardo, D-Providence, introduced a bill that would provide $1.75 million to construct homes for homeless veterans.

The press release added that Senate leaders are coordinating with the governor’s office on legislation that would give veteran-owned businesses priority in competing for state contracts.

The legislators called on Congress to “provide enhanced behavioral care services and benefits for Rhode Island veterans … enhanced in-home long term care services for Rhode Island veterans; and … study expedited state professional certifications and licensure for veterans,” according to the press release.

CORRINE SZCZESNY / HERALD

UCS discussed issues of financial aid and need blind admissions for international students at the meeting yesterday.

Committee talks summer jobs, need-blind policies At the UCS meeting, the Committee on Financial Aid heard students’ ideas for aid changes

By MAXINE JOSELOW SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Educational success Rhode Island’s workforce is falling behind the educational requirements of a 21stcentury economy, according to the “Moving the Needle” report, which detailed the state’s attractiveness to new businesses. About 40 percent of Rhode Islanders have a postsecondary degree, far behind the 50 percent the report said was necessary for the state to compete with its better-educated neighbors.

Sen. Hanna Gallo, D-Cranston, West Warwick, wants to ensure Rhode Island stays in the game, introducing legislation that would improve access to post-secondary degrees for state residents. Specifically, Gallo wants to make it easier for Rhode Islanders who have some college education to complete their degrees.

“Recent census data tells us that 19.7 percent of Rhode Islanders have at least some college education, but no degree,” Gallo said in a state press release. “If the state were able to assist even half of these former students in making it over the finish line, the percentage of our workforce with some type of a college degree would be one of the highest in the nation,” she said. “That could help us stand out from the pack from an economic competitiveness standpoint,” she added.

Pichardo introduced legislation that would allow students at public colleges and universities with enough credits to obtain an associate’s degree, even if they are enrolled in a bachelor’s degree program. This “reverse transfer” specifically encourages students who normally would drop out of studying for their bachelor’s degrees at the University of Rhode Island to shift their credits to the Community College of Rhode Island for an associate’s degree.

A third bill would allow high school seniors to receive both high school and college credit for classes taken at CCRI.

The strategic planning Committee on Financial Aid stressed the importance of lowering the summer earnings expectation and implementing need-blind admissions for international applicants at the Undergraduate Council of Students’ meeting Wednesday.

Reducing the summer earnings expectation represents a “quite urgent … short-term need,” said Susan Harvey, co-chair of the committee and professor of religious studies.

The current summer earnings expectation prevents students on financial aid from taking unpaid summer internships, which puts them “at a real disadvantage” in the job market, Harvey said.

Summer internships build students’ resumes and make them more successful job applicants, Harvey added.

“That summer contribution can really constrain what a student on financial aid can do,” said Ken Miller ’70 P’02, a committee member and professor of biology. Miller cited his own unpaid internship from when he was an undergraduate as a formative experience current undergraduates on financial aid might not be able to have.

Besides the summer earnings expectation, need-blind admissions for international students also emerged as a major topic of discussion.

“I’m an international student, and I

can’t tell you how much it means that you want to improve financial aid for international students,” said Maahika Srinivasan ’15, UCS Corporation liaison. “We pride ourselves on diversity as a campus. It seems counter-intuitive that we’re not committed to international diversity (by going need-blind for international applicants).”

Very few institutions can afford to go need-blind for international applicants, including Brown’s peers, said Jim Miller ’73, committee member and dean of admission.

One challenge of going need-blind for international applicants is that international students cannot get domestic visas to work in the United States, so the financial aid they need is often higher, Harvey said.

Anthony White ’13, UCS president, asked why the committee focused on improving financial aid for applicants from middle-income families in its report.

Students from the middle-income bracket in particular often receive better financial aid packages from Brown’s peer institutions, said Jim Tilton, committee chair and director of financial aid.

“There’s a competitive aspect to it.

People are going other places because they get better deals,” Miller said.

Following the presentation from the Committee on Financial Aid, the council appointed a new elections board chair. Caleb Miller ’16, Campus Life Committee member and a senior staff writer for The Herald, will run the UCS elections process this spring.

Caleb Miller will select his own / / UCS page 9 board to help

university news 9

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

TODAY IN UNIVERSIT Y HISTORY

BY EMILY BONE Y AND SAM HEFT-LUTHY SENIOR STAFF WRITERS

Feb. 28, 1963 The Interfraternity Council fined the Brown chapter of Psi Upsilon $200 for serving alcohol to freshman pledges. The president of the IFC, James Seed ’63 P’02, told The Herald the fraternity had committed a “flagrant violation of rushing rules.”

If the fraternity denied the claim that liquor had been served, they would have had to go in front of the Council and plead their case.

The president of the Council had issued an IFC Rushing Program to freshmen, urging them to pay attention to the rules and avoid “dirty rushing” or getting involved with any fraternities that practiced rushing traditions violating the IFC rules.

Feb. 28, 1973 The spring housing lottery system currently in use was approved 40 years ago yesterday by the Residential Council. It has not changed much since it passed — in the system, students were randomly assigned numbers within each class to be allotted a room on campus.

The numbers were to be assigned in March, but the Residential Council was waiting on a computer program to be created at the time the article was released.

Robert Hill, director of housing, told The Herald at the time that overcrowding of rooms was a concern, and some students may be disappointed by their lottery results.

But he remained confident that the lottery system would be effective.

“People won’t be able to say that John McConnell (associate director of housing) gives the Irish kids a break but has something against the Swedes,” Hill said.

Feb. 28, 2003 The Herald reported 10 years ago today that The Wallflowers, performers of the hit song “Bringing Down The House,” would be headlining the 2003 Brown Concert Agency Spring Weekend Concert.

The concert was split into a Thursday and a Saturday show.

Tickets to the Thursday, April 10 show were slated to cost $12.

The show took place in Meehan Auditorium and featured Joan Jett, The Donnas and Luna, The Herald reported.

Tickets to Saturday’s Wallflowers show, which was held on the Main Green, cost $15.

“Spring Weekend bands are selected to please as many of the musical tastes Brown students have as possible,” BCA wrote in an email to The Herald at the time.

The festival did not conflict with the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2003 as it has for the past three years — The Donnas performed at both Coachella and Spring Weekend that year.

/ / Grad page 1

/ / Goals page 3

Swearer Center for Public Service and the Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning. Particular emphasis was placed on the Sheridan Center, which many said they saw as a tool created for undergraduates that actually had potential to give graduate students marketable experience.

Sam Franklin GS, a third year Ph.D. candidate in American Studies, recommended close integration between undergraduates and graduates, giving Ph.D. students deeper teaching experience. He said this close relationship could be something that sets the University graduate program apart from comparable institutions.

“There is a thought that the grad program should foster a spirit of free inquiry, which I know distinguishes Brown at the undergraduate level,” Weber told The Herald after the forum.

“This is an important point.”

Many students expressed worry over the five-year guarantee of research funding, when in reality, research needed to achieve a doctorate degree could take longer.

“The pressure we are all feeling at the moment is the five-year funding problem,” said Brooke Lamperd GS, a third year Ph.D. candidate in history.

“People don’t tend to do our programs unless it’s sevenor eight years, and we keep coming up against this.”

Franklin said he felt the success of graduate programs is difficult to quantitatively evauate. He added that each topic vein during the forum seemed to boomerang back to concerns over funding.

“None of this means anything, though, unless there is an actual investment in graduate studies,” Franklin said.

Weber told The Herald the committee has met five times in the spring so far and plans to continue weekly meetings. Suggestions made at the forum were recorded and will be discussed at these meetings. He added that the committee would submit recommendations to Paxson in early April.

He said that a new set of goals, called the sustainable development goals, will be enacted in 2015 when the Millennium Development Goals expire.

Pogge’s speech included several recommendations for potential goals, including abolishing protectionist trade barriers that distort and diminish trade opportunities for poor countries, stimu-

@the_herald

/ / Cuts page 1 than any other area — resulting in the furloughing of “5,000 civilian Department of Defense employees,” according to the report. Army funding would also be cut by $800,000.

The state would lose more than $1.5 million in funds for environmental protection, including grants to safeguard fish and wildlife, the report said.

In the health sector, Rhode Island would lose $330,000 for combating substance abuse, $61,000 for HIV testing and $36,000 for children’s vaccinations.

The state would not receive $101,000 that is designated to help “upgrade (the state’s) ability to respond to public health threats including infectious diseases, natural disasters” and other events, the report said.

The state would also lose $188,000 dedicated to providing meals to senior citizens, $126,000 earmarked for employment search aid and $22,000 for serving “victims of domestic violence,”

/ / UCS page 8 facilitate the elections process, White said.

“He’s really active and motivated.

He had a lot of good ideas when he worked on admissions with me,” said E-Soo Kim ’15, UCS general body member, in praise of Caleb Miller’s selection.

White and Brandon Tomasso ’13, UCS vice president, briefed the council

lating pharmaceutical innovation to fight infectious disease and taxing countries responsible for high levels of pollution in order to fund development efforts.

Pogge said he has received a grant from the Australian Research Council to develop a superior metric to measure poverty, adding that the most important task for developing this new metric is to “actually talk to poor people.”

the report said.

“I urge Congress to act swiftly to avoid making funding cuts which would be detrimental to our state’s economy, educational services, unemployment benefits and other services upon which Rhode Islanders rely,” Senate President Teresa Paiva-Weed, D-Newport, said in a press release.

Members of the Senate said in the press release that they were concerned about the sequester’s implications for defense spending, the state’s economy and cuts to programs that aid underprivileged citizens.

On the national level, the sequester spells out $1.2 trillion in automatic budget cuts over the next 10 years, translating to “an annual reduction of roughly 5 percent for nondefense programs and roughly 8 percent for defense programs,” according to a White House report.

The sequester was originally scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1 but was pushed back to March by Congress as part of the fiscal cliff deal.

on their experience at the Ivy Policy Conference at Yale last weekend. The conference revealed key differences between Brown and its Ivy League peers, White said. Brown’s lack of both an honor code and pre-professional atmosphere represent distinctive features that separate it from its peers, White said. Brown also seems to suffer from more alcohol-related crimes — such as damage to exit signs and thefts from lounges — than its peers, Tomasso said.

10 editorial EDITORIAL

Cutting toward Bethlehem

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

EDITORIAL CARTOON b y a n g e l i a wa n g

In January, the nation veered from the so-called fiscal cliff. But this agreement was not a solution to the looming issues. The act merely pushed the large cuts to discretionary spending a few months later, ensuring that financial issues will remain in the forefront of our political battles and cable news cycle. President Obama has been hounding Congress to avoid a selfinflicted wound by acting quickly. If there is no consensus, the cuts, known as “sequestration,” will cut $1.2 trillion from federal spending from 2013 to 2021. We believe the cuts will be detrimental to our nation’s viability, harming students in particular.

In the first year, it is estimated that agencies will cut about $85 billion, or 8 percent, of non-defense, non-exempt discretionary spending. There will be immediate cuts to the federal Women, Infants and Children program, which provides nutritional assistance to those groups. Critical security-related services, including border control and air traffic control, will be harshly affected and flights may be off schedule due to furloughs, or unpaid leave. The same tactic will be used to curtail services at our national parks as federal agencies are scrambling to make do with personnel stretched thin.

But more disconcerting is the choice of one of the sequester’s biggest targets: higher education. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has confirmed that if the sequester takes effect on March 1, his department will provide 33,000 fewer work-study awards and 71,000 fewer supplemental grants in the next year. Though Pell Grants are protected from cuts for the next year, colleges have already begun to take precautions and make conservative budget choices. The sequester would make supporting students through financial aid even more arduous, while other provisions would painfully reduce research grants.

Brown has remained committed to a need-blind admissions policy and a promise to meet 100 percent of demonstrated need. The new budget approved by the Corporation included a 5.6 percent increase in financial aid, which accompanied a 4 percent hike in tuition. Overall, the University projects a $4.4 million deficit, which will be covered by draining the reserve fund, which Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Beppie Huidekoper described in a Feb. 21 Herald article as Brown’s “savings account (or) rainy day fund.” We applaud the University’s efforts, but we understand that dipping into reserves is not sustainable forever. Congress must act.

Cuts to federal research funding also raise concern. Amy Carroll, director of government relations and community affairs, told The Herald in a Feb. 21 article that federal divesting from research could harm research-based career fields. As funding from the 2008 stimulus is evaporating, the sequester poses a major threat to the quality of education and opportunities available at Brown.

Public outrage at these cuts and continued inaction will not be substantial until we suffer the consequences. A poll conducted by USA Today and Pew Research Center shows just one in four Americans closely follow the sequester debate. We applaud Brown’s commitment to maintaining financial aid, but we realize that these cuts and ongoing budget concerns may reduce the flexibility to offer award packages and allow students to conduct valuable research in the long term. After all, Brown cannot prepare for the future if it is forced to deplete its reserves. We urge our nation’s leaders to act — otherwise, the consequences to the nation and higher education in particular could be devastating.

Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board: its editor, Dan Jeon, and its members, Mintaka Angell, Samuel Choi, Nicholas Morley and Rachel Occhiogrosso. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.

t h e b row n da i ly h e r a l d Editors-in-Chief Lucy Feldman Shefali Luthra

Managing Editors Elizabeth Carr Jordan Hendricks

EDITORIAL Greg Jordan-Detamore Strategic Director Sections Hannah Abelow Arts & Culture Editor Maddie Berg Arts & Culture Editor Sona Mkrttchian City & State Editor Adam Toobin City & State Editor Elizabeth Koh Features Editor Alison Silver Features Editor Sahil Luthra Science & Research Editor Kate Nussenbaum Science & Research Editor James Blum Sports Editor Connor Grealy Sports Editor Mathias Heller University News Editor Alexandra Macfarlane University News Editor Eli Okun University News Editor Dan Jeon Editorial Page Editor Matt Brundage Opinions Editor Lucas Husted Opinions Editor Maggie Tennis Opinions Editor Multimedia Emily Gilbert Head Photo Editor Sam Kase Photo Editor Sydney Mondry Photo Editor Tom Sullivan Photo Editor Danny Garfield Video Editor Angelia Wang Ilustrations Editor Production Copy Desk Chief Sara Palasits Design Editor Brisa Bodell Design Editor Einat Brenner Design Editor Kyle McNamara Assistant Design Editor Sandra Yan Web Producer Joseph Stein Assistant Web Producer Neal Poole

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

“It is much easier to overcome world hunger than the Nazis.”

— Thomas Pogge, Yale professor of philosophy See goals on page 3 facebook.com/browndailyherald

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opinions 11

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

American youth must take a stand on the sequester ANDREW KAPLAN AND SAM GILMAN Guest Columnists ​ id you know the federal budget hurriD cane, known as the sequester, is set to land on college students tomorrow? Federal student aid will be cut by 6 percent. What does 6 percent mean? According to the Student Aid Alliance, if Congress does not act by its March 1 deadline — to avert a disaster it created — more than 100,000 students will lose a “major portion” of their student aid and millions of students will lose some portion of their aid.

These are not empty numbers. If we translate the percentages to cash, we find that some students will lose up to $876 in aid. For a student struggling to make ends meet, $876 dollars may be the difference between going to college and dropping out. ​When we ask students if they know that their federal student aid could be cut by up to $876 dollars, we are met with shock, awe and outrage. Most ask: What can we do? How can we stop this? How can we champion our interests?

Unfortunately, there is not much we can do. We are not organized. Minimal infrastructure exists for youth to campaign for our own interests. Student governments are the only institution common to most universities, and they are understandably wary of political action.

Common Sense Action is a new student organization founded in Providence for moments like these. We believe the United States needs a common sense nation-building strategy that invests in opportunities for the next generation and finds a compassionate way to reduce our long-term budget deficits. We imagined a grassroots organization that could mobilize a bipartisan network of youth voices that demand society open the gateways of opportunity for our generation. Currently,

demand the 113th Congress avert the 6 percent cuts to federal student aid, known as the student fiscal cliff. As students, we cannot afford to allow Congress to mortgage our futures and the futures of our classmates for the sake of political maneuvering. Yes, addressing the long-term debt is important, but we cannot be goaded into taking a cleaver to the federal deficit and calling it a day. Across the board cuts that eliminate desperately needed investments will not only have an immedi-

Voice by voice, decibel by decibel, let’s raise the volume of our demands so they can be heard at the policymaking table. we are representing Brown in the Up to Us Competition to raise awareness about the impacts of long-term federal debt on our generation.

As student contestants, we cannot support any political parties or pieces of legislation. But we can support a common sense approach to deficit reduction.

So what are some “common sense” ​ ideas? We believe in increased investments and strategic — not political — cuts. And our work begins with defeating the sequester. Whether we are conservative or liberal, engaged or apathetic, we owe it to ourselves and to our futures to

ate impact on federal student aid, but they also will set a dangerous precedent.

Young Americans are already mobilizing against the sequester. On Feb. 23, students from colleges across Rhode Island convened at the Rhode Island Fiscal Summit to discuss our generation’s spending priorities. College Democrats, college Republicans and student government leaders from Brown, the University of Rhode Island, Roger Williams University, Rhode Island College and the Rhode Island School of Design assembled at the summit.

Unsurprisingly, the sequester was a

major topic of discussion. The students assembled had a clear message for Washington: Congress should avert the sequester.

But students gathered on a Saturday in Rhode Island cannot make a difference if the conversation stops here. To truly affect the decisions being made in Washington, we must first have a voice. We must tell our elected officials that as young Americans, we refuse to sit on the sidelines and watch while our economic futures are derailed by a crisis of leadership in Congress.

So what actionable steps can we take against these looming automatic cuts?

Unfortunately, the hour is late. Even if we mobilize against the sequester, it may still occur.

Yet we must still come together as proud Democrats, proud Republicans and proud Independents — as proud youth — so we are prepared to fight the next battle and the battle after that. If you are a young American, start to raise your voice. Organize with your classmates. Contact your elected officials. Vote in the next election.

Most of us don’t do any of those things.

Voice by voice, decibel by decibel, let’s raise the volume of our demands so they can be heard at the policymaking table. It is time young people had a say in the future of their country.

Andrew Kaplan ’15 and Sam Gilman ’15 are co-founders of Common Sense Action, which is representing Brown in the Up to Us Competition.

Room and board: a part of the college experience LUCAS HUSTED Opinions Editor In a recent Herald opinion column (“Fuerbacher ’14: Room and board: You don’t get what you pay for,” Feb. 20), Elizabeth Fuerbacher ’14 questions the necessity of forcing students to live in dorms and pay for Brown dining. Specifically, she calls dorms and dining plans “overpriced propaganda that should not be mandatory components of students’ budgets.”

If you take the actual food and living arrangements at face value, Fuerbacher is absolutely correct. You certainly get more value for your dollar by moving off campus. In addition, real savings come from investing time and energy into your own cooking. Yet, I shudder to imagine the comfort-centric world that Fuerbacher speaks of. Do living in dorms and eating in campus dining halls really have no intrinsic value other than their immediate roles in sheltering and nourishing us?

A better way to understand these amenities is by looking at their educational or community-building roles. Dorms provide an invaluable learning experience, helping young adults step out of their comfort zones while fostering a vibrant sense of community through mutual experience and proximity. Dining halls, like dorms, are indispensable. They are tools that help students ease into the stresses of college life. In addition, they provide one of the only communal spaces where scattered un-

derclassmen can gather with one another.

The sights, sounds and presence of classmates in dorms constantly surround inhabitants at all times of the day, and this is both a blessing and a curse. Brown hurls first-years into an exciting world with seemingly endless distractions. So dorm life teaches you — the hard way — to budget your time or fail. Learning to separate work from play is arguably the hardest part of college — and one that has serious real-world applicability.

en roommates and placed into first-year dorms. Brown, like other schools, puts great value on being a residential university. Forcing an intellectual and diverse student body into close quarters is part of Brown’s appeal regardless of ulterior motives on the University’s part to make money.

How does dining fit into all of this? Perhaps students could enjoy the finer aspects of living in cesspools without having to eat cardboard for breakfast, too. Unfortunate-

Though the hamburgers at the Sharpe Refectory literally have patties thinner than a sheet of paper, metaphorically, they are thick, medium-rare quarter pounders that roll juice down your fingers as you bite in.

Dorms also give you a crash course in compromise, sharing and respect. They facilitate friendships, but more importantly, they force you to deal with diversity directly — diversity of idea, attitude, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation. You will never live this close to so many disparate people in your life. If you aren’t taking advantage of that learning experience, honing social skills and overcoming prejudice, then you aren’t taking full advantage of college.

What Fuerbacher fails to realize is that learning is just as much about the students you meet as the classes you take. The extent of this interaction makes all the difference in the world, so having dorm fees mandated in tuition isn’t “propaganda,” it is part of the experience. I am glad to go to a school where even celebrities are giv-

ly for your stomachs, I would argue that dining halls are just as important to creating a truly wonderful Brown experience.

Though the hamburgers at the Sharpe Refectory literally have patties thinner than a sheet of paper, metaphorically, they are thick, medium-rare quarter pounders that roll juice down your fingers as you bite in.

For the Ratty is a meeting ground — a place where first-years in New Pembroke 3 meet those in Perkins Hall for lunch, a place to go after class, a place where three quarters of the school’s students are forced to interact with each other. There are few times at Brown when students congregate — sober — in such numbers. This experience is more valuable than the food on the table. Furthermore, first-years arrive to college and have a completely new schedule, group of friends and list of responsi-

bilities. Giving them something stable — three square meals a day cooked for them — is a way to integrate them slowly into a college lifestyle.

Exchange and community-building aside, Fuerbacher fails to realize that allowing students to opt out will simply raise the cost of living and dining for the rest of the student body. Forced dining and living plans are effective cost-pooling tools.

And yes, though not offered at a fair market value, as one anonymous commenter on Fuerbacher’s article points out, “What you cannot put a price on is community.

I for one am thankful that the University requires all freshmen to be on meal plan and on campus. These provide an equalizer — no matter what socioeconomic background you come from, we go home to the same dorms and eat the same food.”

All this said, dorms and Brown dining have their time and place. Absolutely all juniors and seniors who feel they can live on their own should be given permission to do so. Learning to pay your bills while cooking for yourself and balancing a full schedule is an incredibly valuable experience I encourage all students to seek in their final years here. But while you are an underclassman, take the time to immerse yourself in the traditional college lifestyle and be thankful that Brown is not a commuter campus. It is worth the price you pay and more.

Lucas Husted ’13 now unclogs his own toilet but is glad someone else did it for him for three years. He can be reached at lucas_husted@brown.edu

daily herald THE BROWN

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013

feature

Legacy students explore campus life through historic lens Families with multi-generational ties share connections to the University’s ‘unique environment’

By HANNAH LOEWENTHEIL SENIOR STAFF WRITER

For some students, initial interactions with the University aren’t when they receive the fat letter in the mail, but through the photos in their parents’ old yearbooks or college anecdotes passed down through the generations.

Legacy students are those with at least one close relative — a parent, sibling or grandparent — who attended Brown.

Though legacy admissions have become controversial in recent years, students with alumni relatives face the same challenges of finding a niche within Brown’s community. What distinguishes them is a family history tied to the University and a unique connection with its past.

All in the family Bryn Coughlan ’14, daughter of James Coughlan ’84 P’14, always had her heart set on Brown, she said.

“Brown was everything I wanted, and I idolized it since I was a kid,” Coughlan said.

Growing up, she was well-acquainted with the Brown campus and attended summer lacrosse clinics offered annually by the women’s lacrosse team, she said. She followed in the footsteps of her father, a member of the men’s lacrosse team, by joining the women’s squad her freshman year. Coughlan’s younger brother, Jimmy, will be a member of Brown’s class of 2017 and will also play varsity lacrosse.

But Coughlan said she and her brother were not pressured to apply. On the

contrary, “my father didn’t want me to come here, not because he didn’t like Brown, but he didn’t want me to base my decision around the fact he went here,” Coughlan said.

Coughlan called herself “narrowminded” during the application process, an attitude that her father dissuaded. She conducted a varied college search, considering both New England Small College Athletics Conference schools and some larger universities. Once Coughlan’s father understood his daughter had seriously considered her options, he supported her decision to apply to Brown, she said. At the end of the day, “nothing compared to the unique environment at Brown,” she added.

Michael Kader ’14 had a very different experience. “I mostly thought that I wouldn’t get in, and so I didn’t want to apply,” Kader said. His mother, Kim Kader ’84 P’14, strongly urged him to apply to Brown and Duke, where she attended medical school. Kader was accepted to multiple selective schools, but ultimately decided on Brown. “I came to (A Day on College Hill) and fell in love with the people and the atmosphere,” he said.

Kader said he has followed in his mother’s footsteps more than he anticipated, deciding to concentrate in neuroscience just as she did. Though he originally planned to concentrate in bioengineering, he said he fell in love with neuroscience after taking a class during his first semester. While his mother played women’s volleyball her freshman year, Kader also has become

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involved in athletics, devoting most of his extracurricular time to the club tennis team.

Kader’s younger brother, Jonathan, is a member of Princeton’s class of 2014, breaking with family tradition. Jonathan said he hoped to be recruited to play tennis and centered his college search around athletics, though he ultimately changed his mind about participating.

“If I was sure then that I didn’t want to play tennis, I probably would’ve applied early to Brown,” he said. “I thought it would help me to apply because of my legacy there,” he added.

Jonathan was admitted to Brown among other universities, and he decided on Princeton. He said his decision was difficult. “I think both my mother and my brother wanted me to go to Brown,” he said.

William Van Deren ’15 said his father, John Van Deren ’80 MD ’83, influenced his decision to apply to Brown.

“My father would tell me stories about Brown, and I was definitely influenced by it because from a young age I heard what a wonderful school it was,” Van Deren said.

But Van Deren’s decision to apply to Brown was ultimately his own.

“My father never tried to divert me away from other schools,” he said.

Attending Brown has done more than strengthen the family’s ties with the University. “I think coming here has created a new bond with my father,” Van Deren added. He said he is able to tell his

father stories about Brown, knowing that he had similar experiences and can relate.

A controversial practice As admissions become more selective by the year, considering legacy status as a factor has become controversial.

The University admitted only 9.6 percent of overall applicants to the class of 2016, and other Ivy League institutions were equally, if not more, selective that year, The Herald reported. Harvard admitted only 5.9 percent of applicants, followed by Yale at 6.8 percent and Columbia at 7.4 percent.

According to an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, about 10 to 25 percent of students at selective colleges and universities are legacies. Statistics from the New York Times noted that 33 percent of applicants offered admission to Princeton’s class of 2015 were legacies. According to the article, “Harvard generally admits 30 percent, and Yale says it admits 20 percent to 25 percent.”

Opponents to legacy admissions have said it perpetuates the traditional white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant Ivy League demographic. The Chronicle cited polls in 2010 revealing that 75 percent of responding Americans reject legacy preference in admissions. Instead, opponents advocate inclusive programs like affirmative action initiatives and the expansion of need-blind financial aid.

But most admissions officers say legacy status is only enacted as a tiebreaker. In situations where two appli-

cants are equally qualified, legacy status only provides a slight edge.

Opponents to legacy admissions argue students are admitted because universities hope to encourage their relatives to donate. But proponents argue college admissions are decided on individual characteristics rather than familial coffers.

Passing it on Despite her legacy status, Coughlan said she has never doubted she belongs at Brown.

“I understand that legacy puts me in a different pile in the admissions process,” she said. “But I deserve to be here, and I think that the majority of other students recognize that too,” she said.

Kader said he does not usually bring up the fact his mother attended Brown unless asked. “I don’t think there is that much of a stigma that if your parents went here you don’t deserve to be here,” he said.

“I openly tell people that my dad went here,” Van Deren said, noting that the community has always been accepting. “I always felt qualified to get in on my own.”

Coughlan said though Brown “fits exactly what I want,” she wants her children to decide the college they attend on their own.

“I want my kids to be able to get in here on their own so they have the option of getting in anywhere they want,” she said.