Monday, March 3, 2014

THE

BROWN DAILY HERALD vol. cxlix, no. 27

Companies in Bangladesh producing Brown apparel to be held to stricter labor and safety standards

By HANNAH KERMAN STAFF WRITER

inside

President Christina Paxson announced Friday that the University will require all its vendors manufacturing apparel in Bangladesh to sign the Accord on Fire and Building Safety. The accord, which went into effect Saturday, was created in response to the factory collapse that killed over 1,000 in Savar, a district outside the country’s capital, last April.

Brown is the ninth school to sign the accord after New York University, Duke University, Temple University, the Pennsylvania State University, Georgetown University, Penn, Columbia and Cornell. In signing, Brown ensures that all companies manufacturing or selling Brown apparel stick to stricter building codes and provide fire safety training for laborers, among other provisions in the accord.

The Brown Student Labor Alliance began advocating for the University to sign the accord last spring after the factory collapse occurred.

“A lot of universities pressure brands, and eventually they cave in,” said Youbin Kang ’14, an SLA member.

“It has a lot of lasting change.”

“Having President Paxson embrace the accord and ask Brown University’s licensees to sign on to the accord is a big thing,” wrote Richard Locke, director of the Watson Institute for International Studies and professor of international relations, in an email to The Herald.

“We wanted Brown to be one of the first” to sign the accord, Kang said. Brown was the first university in the nation to be associated with the Workers’ Rights Consortium, a labor advocacy organization that opposes sweatshops, and the first to terminate a licensing agreement with Nike in 2010. “So Brown has been usually super progressive and proactive in that sense,” Kang said.

After months of letters and emails, Paxson created a committee on licensing in the fall, and SLA feared its cause was “going to be caught up in bureaucracy,” Kang said.

SLA members expressed approval of Paxson’s decision to sign the accord, but Kang said they were surprised the » See ACCORD, page 3

Applicant pool sees global shifts

Numbers of Chinese and Indian undergrad applicants have surged in past few decades

By JILLIAN LANNEY SENIOR STAFF WRITER

As the Office of Admission combs through applications to the class of 2018, staffers are considering a pool with a dramatically different geographic composition than even a decade ago, with a rapid increase in international applicants and a domestic shift out of the Northeast.

The sheer volume of applications has skyrocketed in the last 30 years, increasing from 12,638 for the class of 1988 to 30,423 for the class of 2018, according to data provided by the Admission Office.

International students made up only 8 percent of applicants to the class of 1988, according to the data.

By 1999, these students constituted 13 percent of the pool.

This year saw the highest-ever number of international applicants, as students from foreign countries

DAVID DECKEY / HERALD

Looking forward, the Office of Admission intends to continue recruitment efforts in areas like East Asia and increase outreach in South America and sub-Saharan Africa. made up 17 percent of the total pool, The Herald previously reported.

Some countries, like China and India, have especially increased their share of students in the applicant pool.

In 1999, international applicants

hailed from 127 different nations, with Canada leading the pack. Canadian applicants made up about 1 percent of the 1999 total pool and 11 percent of those who applied from abroad.

Now, China is home to the most

international applicants, representing nearly 23 percent of the international pool — about 4 percent of the total pool.

Students with Chinese citizenship accounted for 2 percent of Brown’s » See APPLICANTS, page 2

W. BASKETBALL

Bears upset Ivy-leading Tigers on senior night Clarke ’14, Beutel ’14 and Juker ’14 combine for 42 points in final home start and win

By BRUNO ZUCCOLO INDIRA PRANABUDI / HERALD

Panelists at a conference Saturday, representing a wide variety of schools and academic backgrounds, discussed neuroaesthetics and related topics.

Cognitive sciences, visual arts intersect at conference Speakers explore topics including neuroaesthetics and literature from diverse perspectives

By CORINNE SEJOURNE STAFF WRITER

Mingling over tea and cookies quickly turned into heated debate over the nature of neuroscience’s role in explaining aesthetic experience on Saturday, as a group of experts spoke at a day-long conference, “Neurosci-

SCIENCE & RESEARCH

ence, Cognition, and the Arts.”

The conference, organized by English Professor Paul Armstrong and Vanessa Ryan, associate dean of the Graduate School and assistant professor of English, featured five speakers from different universities and diverse disciplines.

Just before 10 a.m., a primarily adult audience of professors and faculty members from a number of universities filled Smith-Buonanno Hall 106 as Ryan introduced the event as one intended to “foster cross-disciplinary dialogue.” She and Armstrong were “eager to spark conversations,” she said, » See CONFERENCE, page 4

Science & Research

SPORTS STAFF WRITER

As the five seniors on the women’s basketball team said goodbye to the Pizzitola Center for the last time in their careers, the Bears secured a surprising victory Saturday with a 61-58 win over Princeton, then the Ivy leader, after losing 70-54 to Penn Friday. The win against the Tigers came in the Bears’ (9-17, 3-9 Ivy) last home game of the season and ended a streak of five losses in a row.

“It was nice to see that intensity all weekend against the top two teams in the league,” said Head Coach Jean Marie Burr.

Penn 70, Brown 54 The Quakers (19-6, 9-2) started out Friday night with an early lead, making a three-point jump shot 15 seconds into the game. Penn built on this momentum leaving Brown with an early deficit, as it brought the score

Commentary

Researchers gather demographic data from 90,000 cases of filicide, the killing of a child by a parent

Revamped organic chemistry curriculum draws ire of formers students for perceived ease

Isman ’15: Social media can prove advantageous to academics

Tennis ’14: Students should have a more powerful voice in the provost search

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weather

U. to require vendors to follow labor standards

since 1891

MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014

to 9-2 three minutes into the game.

But unlike in previous games, Bruno was ready to fight back. By 13:51 in the first half, the Bears tied it up 10-10, and a minute later they pulled ahead when Lauren Clarke ’14 made a three-point shot. The Bears maintained the lead for some time, increasing their advantage to six points when Carly Wellington ’14 made another trey with 10:12 to go.

Unfortunately for the Bears, the Quakers managed a 20-3 run over the next eight minutes as Brown struggled to score against the best defense in the Ivy League. The game-changing run sent the Quakers into halftime with a 10-point lead, 36-26.

The second half started out the same way the first half finished. In the opening four minutes the Quakers went on a 10-2 run, leaving Bruno in an even bigger hole than before.

Penn’s 18-point lead was the largest of the game.

The Bears managed to cut the deficit to single digits, briefly bringing the score to 50-41 with 11:23 to play, but the rest of the game was otherwise uneventful. Both teams struggled with very low field goal percentages in the » See W. BBALL, page S2

t o d ay

tomorrow

23 / 5

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2 university news 3.9%

International applicants for the classes of ’99 and ’18 The share of international applicants has increased from 13 to 17 percent of the applicant pool. The countries highlighted ranked in the top ten for both the class of 1999 and the class of 2018.

1.5%

1.3% 0.9% 1.2%

0.4%

Canada

United Kingdom

Turkey

0.8%

1.4%

0.5% 0.4%

0.9%

0.5%

0.3% 0.4%

Pakistan India

China South Korea 0.8% 0.5%

Singapore Class of 1999 Class of 2018

Source: Office of Admission MADELINE KAU AND ANDERSEN CHEN / HERALD

» APPLICANTS, from page 1 total enrolled student population in 2007, according to data on the Office of Institutional Research website. By 2013, this number had risen to roughly 4 percent. The proportion of Indian students grew from 0.8 percent to 1.4 percent over the same time period.

Getting ‘face time’ abroad Dean of Admission Jim Miller ’73 attributed the upsurge in foreign applications — and the shift in the top home countries for applicants — to a combination of ramped-up recruiting

efforts by the Admission Office in different regions and economic development in certain nations.

To reach foreign students, the University selects specific countries for targeted recruiting. When the Admission Office decides to focus on specific regions, efforts generally continue for “three or four years in a row” to maintain a consistent presence and increase “face time” between students and Brown representatives, Miller said.

The University frequently conducts joint international travel with other universities, an approach also

employed domestically. “It’s more effective to reach people when they can see three or four schools simultaneously,” Miller said.

Alums also play a more significant role in international outreach than they do domestically, helping the Admission Office identify different target regions and plan travel overseas. These alums also help reach out to potential students and spread Brown’s brand name, Miller said.

Nicole Alberto, a regular-decision applicant this year from the Philippines, said interacting with a current Brown student who is also Filipino

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014

helped her learn about the University, even though she was never able to attend an information session or meet an admission officer.

But the University faces challenges in its push for a globalized applicant pool. Brown lacks the international name recognition of some of its peer institutions, partially due to a comparatively lower graduate student population, Miller said. Many students abroad are more aware of U.S. institutions that have a greater number of professional graduate programs, such as Harvard and Stanford University, he added.

The University’s unique curriculum is foreign to many international applicants. It can be difficult to explain the concept and benefits of the Open Curriculum and a liberal arts education in countries where a narrower academic program in higher education is the norm, Miller said.

Astrid Brakstad, a regular-decision applicant from Norway, said the Open Curriculum is “very different from the Norwegian university system,” which is more structured and does not allow for much academic freedom.

Despite the vast curricular differences, Brown and other American higher-education institutions remain attractive options for foreign students, partially because of lenient student visa policies. The United States “is very liberal in granting student visas” compared to other countries, so many international students choose to apply to U.S. universities, Brakstad said.

In future years, the University plans to continue outreach efforts in East Asia and expand recruitment to countries in sub-Saharan Africa and South America, especially Brazil, Miller said.

Financial options Many of the countries that have rapidly increased their share of applicants have an “increasingly large middle class that enables people to provide part or all of the costs of tuition,” Miller said.

The University’s need-aware admission policy for foreign students means Brown’s affordability plays a role in international acceptance decisions that it doesn’t domestically.

When considering acceptance decisions, the Admission Office sends a list of possible international students to the Office of Financial Aid to determine how much aid each student would receive under the University’s financial aid policies, said Director of Financial Aid Jim Tilton. The Admission Office may then use this information to make final decisions, he added.

But the University’s policy to meet students’ demonstrated financial need

applies to all accepted students, regardless of citizenship status, after the admission process, Tilton said.

While the vast majority of U.S. colleges and universities are needaware for international applicants, four Ivies — Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton and Yale — are need-blind for all applicants, according to their respective admission offices. Amherst College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are also needblind for international applicants.

While 46 percent of the class of 2017 receives “need-based scholarship aid,” according to the Office of Financial Aid website, “about 30 percent of the incoming international students receive assistance,” Miller said.

Westward bound?

Domestically, the applicant pool has also shifted dramatically, with an upsurge in applications from the West and Southwest mirroring those regions’ population spikes in recent decades. But the Northeast is still overrepresented in comparison to its share of the U.S. population, The Herald previously reported.

For the class of 1988, students from New York and New England made up about 43 percent of the applicant pool. These states now account for about 24 percent, according to data from the Admission Office.

The West Coast, Alaska and Hawaii showed the most rapid growth in applicants, increasing from 10 percent of the pool for the class of 1988 to 19 percent this year. California in particular powered this spike, as the state accounts for nearly 17 percent of this year’s applicants, Miller said.

Domestic shifts in the applicant pool are the result of broader demographic trends in the nation, Miller said. “Our applicant pool really does reflect where the students are.”

Though many top American high school students are attracted to public universities offering merit-based aid programs, Brown continues to stay in the hunt for such students by offering need-blind admission.

The University’s financial aid policies are aimed at increasing the diversity of the applicant pool, Tilton said. “Need-based aid and being need-blind for domestic students allows any student from any financial background to think about Brown as a realistic option,” he said. Brown’s aid packages are “competitive even with” schools that provide merit-based aid, he added.

Moving forward, Miller said he expects continued shifts in the demographics of the applicant pool. “It’s going to be even more geographically diverse 10 years from now.”

university news 3

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014

In new course, undergrads navigate digital humanities Students use library’s digital tools to analyze various texts in interdisciplinary course

By ZACH FREDERICKS STAFF WRITER

After six months of preparation, James Egan, professor of English, is now midway through teaching his first semester of ENGL 1901E: “Literature and the Digital Humanities” — a course at the intersection of literature and laboratory work.

The course uses resources in the Rockefeller Library’s recently constructed Digital Scholarship Lab to examine a wide range of texts from Hawthorne to Fitzgerald. Students are able to upload texts to various digital platforms that will facilitate analysis, including through the creation of word clouds.

But the term “digital humanities” is rejected by some scholars who use these electronic tools to achieve the same end product as they would from traditional humanistic analysis, said Harriette Hemmasi, University librarian.

Regardless of what one calls the use of digital methods, they have made some types of analysis more efficient, Hemmasi said. “What might have taken a scholar 10 years to do now takes two months if the data has all been digitalized in a database.”

Egan said the digital humanities have been a topic of fervent debate among humanities scholars who fear these digital tools’ potential drawbacks. Such “scholarly anxiety” has sparked the interests of some scholars to find ways around perceived problems, he said.

“It’s kind of like a person using a record player that you crank now using an iPod to listen to music,” Egan

said. “They’re both music, but they are fundamentally different.”

Egan first conceptualized the class after he and Jean Bauer, digital humanities librarian, finished a visualization project called “Mapping Colonial Americas Publishing.” Egan said this project helped his students visualize the history of publishing in the colonies in “a more useful way.”

“That work with Jean Bauer was really the impetus to say, ‘I should really bring that into the classroom,’” Egan said.

In fall 2012, shortly after the DSL was constructed, Egan proposed the idea for the course, which was approved by both administrators and the Department of English. Initially, he and Kimberly Takahata ’14, who won an Undergraduate Teaching and Research Award to work on a course proposal, were on track to finish the syllabus by fall 2013. But they did not complete the syllabus until a day before the class started this semester, Egan said.

“It’s better than I hoped,” he said.

“Students are more engaged and ask better questions than I imagined they would.”

Though he expressed satisfaction with his students’ engagement with the course material, Egan said “every day in the DSL is an unforeseen challenge.”

The course has prompted Egan to reconsider “the assumptions on which I operate normally” to introduce his students to the digital study of literature, he said.

Egan said he has completely reconsidered how he presents material to his other classes and that this experience will continue to shape his teaching.

“It’s terrific that he’s being so dedicated to introduce his students to new kinds of technology,” Hemmasi said.

“He’s teaching himself, and at the same time he’s teaching his students.”

ASHLEY SO / HERALD

James Egan, professor of English, came up with the idea for ENGL1901E: “Literature and the Digital Humanities” after working on a visual mapping project with Jean Bauer, digital humanities librarian.

ASHLEY SO / HERALD

In the new course, students will analyze texts in the University’s Digital Scholarship Lab. The lab, which opened in 2012, is on the first floor of the Rockefeller Library.

» ACCORD, from page 1 process took so long. The University’s vendors have only nine factories in Bangladesh, and Adidas, one of Brown’s main brands, has already signed the accord.

“We thought it was pretty straightforward — not too much to ask, and a lot of schools have done it,” Kang said.

“It is not about how many factories in Bangladesh actually make apparel with the Brown logo on it,” wrote Locke, whose scholarship has partially focused on improving ethical standards in American supply chains abroad.

Locke wrote that the move demonstrates Paxson’s personal and institutional commitment to fairness and social justice as well as a willingness to work with student groups such as SLA. Requiring all of Brown’s vendors

in Bangladesh to sign the accord is “an important choice,” he wrote.

On the ground, there is no evidence that the accord alone is making major changes in the health and safety conditions for workers in Bangladesh, Locke wrote, but it is not obsolete. “What is needed, and needed urgently, is for as many different interventions as possible to be launched in Bangladesh,” so that the abysmal working conditions of many large garment factories can be improved, Locke wrote. Accords like this must be combined with “robust government action” in order for workers’ rights problems to be resolved, he wrote.

“My hope is that as scholars and students here at Brown University, we will continue to discover and document ways of improving working conditions in global supply chains,” Locke wrote.

4 science & research

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014

Filicides account for 15 percent of homicides, study finds Med School researchers examine data from 90,000 arrests of parents who murdered their children

By ANDREW JONES SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Movies, television and news media perpetuate several unfounded myths about filicide — the killing of a child by a parent — said Tim Mariano, a third-year psychiatry resident at Alpert Medical School.

Contrary to popular belief, stepchildren and biological children are at equal risk of being victims of filicide.

And though very young children are often thought of as filicide’s victims, in reality about one-fifth of victims are adults.

These common misconceptions about filicide are discredited by a recent study conducted by Mariano and other University forensic psychiatrists. The study, published in this month’s edition of the journal Forensic Science International, analyzed over 90,000 filicide cases that took place over a 32-year period.

The researchers, based out of the Med School, used the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Supplementary Homicide Reports to compile data on the offenders and victims in filicide cases from 1976 to 2007.

The researchers analyzed the data based on age, gender and race and

ethnicity. Filicides made up 15 percent of all homicides during this time, though overall filicide rates declined over the 32-year period, according to the study.

In regard to age, researchers found that one-third of victims were under a year old, and two-thirds were under 6 years old.

The study shows rates of filicidal behavior are equal between fathers and mothers. The researchers also found that African Americans were overrepresented.

Studying filicide is “important as a scientific issue pertaining to how human evolution has left all of us with a particular set of responses and behavioral tendencies,” wrote Grant Harris, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto who was not involved in the study, in an email to The Herald.

Just because we have these “natural” inclinations does “not mean in any sense these are correct or appropriate, but surely it’s scientifically important to know about them,” he wrote.

Phillip Resnick, a professor of psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine who was not involved in the study, said he found the high rate of filicides surprising since he

NE WS IN BRIEF WVU lays groundwork for Gee to remain president Former President E. Gordon Gee, currently the interim president at West Virginia University, will hold the post for the long term after the school’s presidential search committee amended its search procedures Friday to allow the interim president to be selected.

The committee also recommended taking “all necessary steps to retain” Gee, according to a university press release.

The move reverses a previously adopted motion that precluded the interim president from being considered as a candidate for the permanent position and paves the way for Gee to begin his second full term as West Virginia’s president.

Gee also served as West Virginia’s president from 1981 to 1985 ­— the first of five university presidencies or chancellorships he would go on to hold.

“Gordon Gee is absolutely, hands-down the very best person to be at the helm of West Virginia University at this important time and place in our history,” said James W. Dailey II, chairman of the university’s Board of Governors and chair of the presidential search committee, in the press release.

“It is clear Gordon Gee has not been a placeholder president by any means; he has been an extraordinary, high-energy leader who is getting things done, moving us forward,” Dailey said in the release. “Countless people have urged us from day one to keep him.”

Gee, who presided over Brown from January 1998 to February 2000, left the University after a controversial tenure, which remains the shortest in University history. His unexpected departure to assume a higher-paying post as chancellor of Vanderbilt left many at Brown angry, The Herald previously reported.

During his time at the University, Gee drew criticism for his business-like leadership style, which many asserted and Gee acknowledged may have been a poor fit for Brown’s more academic culture.

Gee’s recent six-year tenure as president of Ohio State University also came to a controversial close, as he announced his resignation last June amid pressure after making some potentially offensive remarks about Catholics.

“had not seen any data” that suggested the rate reached 15 percent. Resnick added that this was one of the only studies he had seen that examined adults killing adult children.

The study also examined the methods parents used to commit filicide. The most common form involved personal weapons, such as using hands or feet, strangling, beating and drowning. Other categories included contact weapons, edged weapons and firearms.

Knowledge of the prevalence and types of filicide “can steer our questions in mental health about what kinds of information we gather to perform a risk assessment,” Mariano said.

In primary care and OB-GYN settings, for example, clinicians could be more aware that fathers are also at risk for committing filicide, since it is commonly — though wrongly — believed that mothers are more prone to committing filicide, he said.

The large dataset presented in this study enhances awareness of filicide and offers new insight into some of its aspects, including stepparent-stepchild relations and differences between genders, Mariano said.

But the paper lacks information about offenders’ psychiatric diagnoses and the eventual outcome of the legal cases, Mariano said. While the researchers examined more than 90,000 arrests for filicide, not all of them necessarily resulted in conviction, he added.

“One of the limitations of the dataset is that it’s largely descriptive data,” Mariano said.

Because this study’s focus is on large sets of demographic data, it does not specifically aid psychiatrists’ ability to clinically treat patients, Resnick said.

“It doesn’t lend itself much in the way of prevention,” he added.

The paper included three hypothetical frameworks about factors that might drive filicidal behavior in parents and guardians.

The first, based on psychopathology, posits that low levels of serotonin in the body, which are linked to psychiatric conditions like depression and anxiety, could make a person more prone to commit filicide or homicide.

Second, previous animal studies have shown that higher testosterone levels in females and some males are linked to higher rates of filicide. The researchers hypothesized that differences in sex hormones could account for differences in filicidal behavior between the sexes, such as the finding that men are more likely to use firearms than women.

Finally, the “unwanted child” hypothesis suggests that women are evolutionarily predisposed to kill children who are sick or drain the mother’s resources.

The researchers hope these frameworks will prompt future research that will create ways to “identify people at

» CONFERENCE, from page 1

individual presentations. Having taken a class on neuroaesthetics with Armstrong, she said the conference was a nice change of pace. The class, consisting primarily of humanities students, was often very much in agreement, Swift said, adding that she appreciated the “positive hostility” and “crossdisciplinary” nature of the conference.

Rebecca Saxe, a professor of cognitive neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, illuminated the neural pathways underlying human processing of narratives. Saxe’s research explores empathy, moral judgment and interpersonal conflict through neuroscientific imaging technologies, and her talk touched on such concepts as they related to literary art.

Saxe said she came to the conference because of her longtime friendship with Ryan, which Ryan called a “testament” to the maintenance of cross-disciplinary relationships and to friendship. “Interdisciplinary progress happens slowly,” Saxe said, “with a lot of trust.”

Alan Richardson, professor of English at Boston College, gave the final presentation of the day — “Imagination: Interdisciplinary Contact Zone.”

Richardson told The Herald he hoped to get across the idea that a humanities concept — imagination —that can seem old-fashioned is actually an up-andcoming research topic.

The conference closed with a heated roundtable discussion moderated by Armstrong, who asked the speakers what they think can be learned from interdisciplinary exchange.

Saxe linked the necessity of various perspectives and levels of analysis for a deeper understanding to a metaphor of monetary value.

adding that the recruited speakers were selected for being “exemplary at communicating their work,” especially to those less familiar with the fields.

Gabrielle Starr, professor of English and dean of the College of Arts and Science at New York University, kicked off the conference with a presentation on “programmatic neuroaesthetics.”

Starr, who has studied the neuroscience of aesthetics for the past seven years, told The Herald that her work focuses on brain responses to music, writing and visual art. During her presentation, she touched on positive and negative emotion factors, individual differences in aesthetic experience, the reward element and the movement and motor properties at play when one observes art.

Following Starr’s talk, Bevil Conway, associate professor of neuroscience at Wellesley College, spoke about understanding color through multiple disciplines. He told The Herald he hoped his presentation would convey an appreciation for the different lenses through which color can be examined — scientific, artistic, philosophical, historical, biological and psychological. “None has priority,” he said.

But the next presenter, Alva Noe, a philosophy professor at the University of California at Berkeley, was more critical of the role neuroscience plays in understanding aesthetic responses to art and emphasized the field’s limits in quantifying the human experience.

“I really valued that this became a big fight,” Jessamyn Swift GS, a firstyear graduate student in English, said in response to the speakers’ back-andforth during the roundtable after their

By the numbers Over 90,000 cases of filicide, killing one’s own child, were explored in a recent study

15 percent The percentage of homicides that are filicides

33 percent The percentage of filicide victims under 1 year old

66 percent The percentage of filicide victims under 6 years old

1:1 The ratio of likelihood that a filicide will be conducted by a mother versus a father

1:1 The ratio of likelihood that a victim of filicide will be a stepchild versus a biological child

risk for either committing or being victims of filicide, so law enforcement can improve their detection and prevention of this crime,” Mariano said.

There is the obvious sense in which we value money, she said, and the obvious fact that there is no worth to money other than the value we give it. But this value cannot simply be reduced to neuroscience, or to the increasing activity in the reward regions of a brain encountering high monetary sums, Saxe said. Those reward signals would not be triggered without an understanding of the historical and economic aspects of money.

Conway said there is a “rigor of a discipline that is worth holding onto,” adding that, in crossing the disciplinary bounds, there is the risk of dissolving languages and practices that have been carefully designed and protected for years. But researchers cross disciplinary boundaries because “we’re curious,” he said, and disciplines are enhanced by asking questions.

Starr said when she speaks to multidisciplinary audiences, she emerges from her presentations with a whole new set of research questions to explore.

Interdisciplinary conversation encourages “seeing the university in a more holistic way” rather than experiencing the different disciplines as if on “parallel tracks,” Richardson told The Herald.

The conference was sponsored by the C.M. Colver Lectureship Fund, the Cogut Center for the Humanities, the Department of English, the Brown Institute for Brain Science, the Program in Science and Technology Studies, the Creative Arts Council and the Departments of Philosophy, Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences, Visual Arts and History of Art and Architecture.

— University News Editor Michael Dubin

www.browndailyherald.com

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

SPORTS BULLETIN

MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014

M. SWIMMING AND DIVING

Glenn ’14 defends titles at Ivy League championships Brown finishes seventh overall, besting Cornell and improving on last year’s point total by 90

By CORMAC CUMMISKEY SPORTS STAFF WRITER

The men’s swimming and diving team finished seventh overall at the Ivy League championships this weekend at Harvard, posting the same result as last year. Harvard ultimately outmatched second-place Princeton to take home the team title.

Head Coach Peter Brown said the Bears’ final standing was not the only barometer of success. “I don’t really put a goal on team placement,” he explained. “We just focus on trying to score points.”

Across three days of competition, Bruno amassed 679.5 points — good enough to top Cornell’s score of 561.5.

But Brown came up short of Dartmouth, which ranked sixth in the team standings with 718 points.

Still, Brown noted that the Bears scored more total points than in last year’s meet, when the team scored » See SWIMMING, page S3

DAVID DECKEY / HERALD

Tommy Glenn ’14 races toward the finish. Glenn won and set a pool record in the 100 and 200 fly races this weekend, and his time in the 200 fly set an Ivy Championships record, immediately qualifying him for the NCAA finals. Despite Glenn’s strong performance, Bruno finished in seventh.

W. LACROSSE

M. BASKETBALL

Hudgins ’14 leads Bears past Lions Bruno falls to Tigers, Goalie Kellie Roddy ’15 leads Ivy League with impressive 65.4 save percentage this year

By LAINIE ROWLAND SPORTS STAFF WRITER

Women’s lacrosse team captain Bre Hudgins ’14 came into her last Ivy opener ready to play, scoring four goals and one assist in the Bears’ 9-6 win Saturday over Columbia (1-1, 0-1 Ivy).

Bruno (3-0, 1-0) has never lost to Columbia in its history and continued the streak to extend its undefeated season.

When the Bears defeated Iona College and Sacred Heart University last weekend, draw control domination allowed Brown to control the offensive game. The strong and eager Bruno defense was barely utilized.

But the Columbia game was a different story. The Lions won five of seven draw controls in the first half and the teams nearly matched each other in shots taken throughout the game — Brown shooting 20 to Columbia’s 19. Instead of completely overwhelming the opposing offense as it had in early wins, Bruno had to depend on strong performances on both ends of the field to earn the win.

Hudgins’ strong start earned her a hat trick in just 11 minutes, before anybody else on the field had scored.

This was her second hat trick in as many games.

“We were really looking forward to starting our league games,” Hudgins said. “We were really focused all week.

… We were just ready to get out on the field and play.”

Lauren Toy ’16 added a fourth unanswered goal off a free position shot to put the Bears in a comfortable position, ahead 4-0. Columbia retaliated, scoring twice in the last five minutes of the first period to cut Bruno’s lead in half. Both teams took nine shots before the game’s midpoint, but goalie Kellie Roddy ’15 and her defensive unit successfully protected the net to prevent the Lions from taking the lead.

Brown’s attack was vital in generating a strong defensive performance.

“Our attack really gave us the energy and momentum to perform defensively,” Toy said.

Danielle Mastro ’14 got Brown off to a quick start in the second half, scoring less than two minutes into the period to widen the Bears’ lead to 5-2. Toy added her second goal of the game less than a minute later off an assist from Hudgins.

Columbia again retaliated from a four-point deficit with two consecutive goals, as the Lions’ Paige Cuscovitch notched her second of four tallies for Columbia. Janie Gion ’15 answered with her first goal of the game four minutes later to increase Brown’s lead to three, 7-4.

Though the margin never dropped below two, the Bears had to battle late in the second half to deter a Lion comeback. Columbia tightened the game to 7-5 before co-captain Grace Healy ’14 and Hudgins scored two consecutive goals to bury their conference foe for good. Hudgins’ goal was her ninth of the season, tying her for second place in the Ivy League.

Columbia scored its last goal after the game had been decided, a free position shot at Bruno’s net with 20 seconds left to play to make the final score 9-6.

“We’ve made it a focus to make sure we’re supporting each other and backing each other up no matter what,” Hudgins said. “We know can take risks and go for interceptions and take these drives.”

The win is made all the more impressive by the fact that the team competed without forward Abby Bunting ’15. Bunting sat out with a foot injury sustained against Sacred Heart.

In a game with no penalties but 34 total fouls, Bruno went a perfect 9-of9 in attempts to clear the ball from its territory. Roddy made 12 saves for the Bears, bringing her Ivy-best season save percentage to 65.4. Roddy also holds the lowest goals against average of all Ivy goalies, a minuscule 4.02.

In the other cage, Columbia goalie Colleen Packer’s save percentage was driven up to 10.00 by Bruno’s offense, ranking her last among Ivy League goalies.

Brown’s nine goals against Columbia brought its season total to 45, first in the conference and seven more than the next team, Harvard.

The Bears rank fourth in shots taken, demonstrating their ability to score and capitalize more often than other teams.

The win is a crucial starting point for Bruno’s march toward a potential Ivy League title.

“Ivies are always a battle,” Toy said.

“Every Ivy game is a challenge, it’s always about who brings the most energy on that day.”

out of Ivy title chase Bears beat Penn on the road but fall at Princeton and are eliminated from contention for Ivy crown

By ALEX WAINGER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

A loss for the men’s basketball team this weekend — its fifth of the season in league play — officially knocked the Bears out of the chase for the Ivy League crown. The defeat, compounded by Harvard’s resounding victory over Columbia Saturday evening, left Bruno four games in the Crimson dust.

The Bears (15-11, 7-5 Ivy) began their weekend auspiciously, knocking off Penn (7-18, 4-7) on national television 76-67. But they came up short the next night against Princeton (17-8, 5-6), falling to the Tigers 69-64.

Harvard (24-4, 11-1) widened its lead over the rest of the conference with two wins, while Yale (15-11, 9-3) sits two games behind the Crimson after picking up a win and a loss.

Friday: Brown 76, Penn 67 Bruno never let the Palestra’s crowd of over 3,000 fans faze it. Benefitting from the return of Rafael Maia ’15 — who fell out of rotation last weekend after a shoulder injury — the Bears jumped out in front from the start. The forward made an impact early with four points, three boards and an assist in the first five minutes of the game. He finished with six

points and 10 rebounds.

“It was great to be back on the court,” Maia said. “I try to work hard to help my team, and rebounding is a big way of doing it.”

Maia “was great for us,” said cocaptain and fellow front-courter Cedric Kuakumensah ’16. “Especially considering what he is playing through, he did a bit of everything for us.”

The Bears held a four-point lead at the game’s midpoint, led by eight points on strong mid-range shooting from Kuakumensah. The forward matched his first-half production in the second, finishing the game with 16 points, 10 rebounds and four rejections.

Bruno’s front line held Penn’s dominant duo of big men Fran Dougherty and Darien Nelson-Henry to just 16 points on a combined 5-of-12 night from the field. Last time the teams met, Dougherty and Nelson-Henry posted 29 points and a 72 shooting percentage.

“We knew going into the game it was going to be a war,” Kuakumensah said. “What changed from our first meeting with (Penn) was that everyone was locked in defensively.

Our guards did a great job forcing (Dougherty and Nelson-Henry) to give up the ball when they started dribbling into their post moves. ” In the second half, Bruno ran away with the game. Sean McGonagill ’14 capped off a 13-2 run with a deep three off a turnover. The senior » See M. BBALL, page S2

S2 basketball

THE SPORTS BULLETIN MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014

FRIDAY, FEB. 28

76

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67

15-11, 7-5 Ivy

7-18, 4-7 Ivy

SATURDAY, MAR. 1

64

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15-11, 7-5 Ivy

» M. BBALL, from page S1 co-captain played all 40 minutes and netted 15 points on 4-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc.

Penn was led by Tony Hicks, who dropped a game-high 25 points, though Bruno did manage to stifle him behind the arc, as he finished the game having converted just two of 10 long ball attempts.

The Quakers pulled the game within five with just a minute to go, but Steven Spieth ’17 sealed the win for the Bears with six clutch free throws. Spieth scored 19 points and collected a career-high 12 boards for his first double-double as a Bear.

“It felt good to play that well against Penn,” Spieth said. “I think it gave me a lot of confidence going forward.”

Saturday: Princeton 69, Brown 64 Bruno’s trip to Princeton resulted in a game that was eerily similar to their meeting earlier in the season, when the Tigers visited the Pizzitola Center. Brown managed to score one more point at home, while Princeton posted the exact same score each time.

The similarities went beyond the final scores. In both games, Princeton’s star T.J. Bray exploded for over 20 points, missing a triple-double by a couple rebounds and assists. McGonagill had two strong nights against the Tigers from the free-throw line and exceeded his season average for assists but struggled from beyond the arc, hitting just two of many attempts in each game. The Tigers outrebounded the Bears in each contest, but Bruno still managed to score more second-chance points. And most importantly, Princeton won both games.

Unlike their last meeting — in which Bruno held the lead for nearly the entire first half — Princeton took it to the Bears early. The Tigers posted a 41-point half, with over 50 percent of those points coming via treys.

Princeton lit it up from three-point

territory, drilling seven of the 14 treys it attempted.

“They’re a very good three-point shooting team,” Maia said. “We knew how important it was to guard the three-point line. We started off the game not playing well on defense, but in the second half we did a better job. It came down to the details, and unfortunately Princeton was more effective than us.”

With just under six minutes remaining, Kuakumensah blocked a shot and ran the floor for a layup on the other end. On the next possession, Tavon Blackmon ’17 stole the ball from Will Barrett, which led to a layup for Spieth after Blackmon missed his initial attempt. Seconds later, McGonagill swiped the ball from Bray and found Blackmon on the break, who converted a pirouetting layup to give Bruno its first lead, 61-60, since the opening minutes of the game.

But Bray quickly squashed the Bears’ comeback, knocking down a trey a minute later to retake the lead for the Tigers. A couple free throws for Princeton and some missed opportunities for Bruno in the final possessions gave the home squad a five-point victory.

The Bears will close the season with a two-game homestand against Dartmouth (10-16, 3-9) and Harvard next weekend. If Yale can win both its games, Bruno will have a chance to play spoiler to the Crimson and give the Bulldogs a share of the title with Harvard — a feat the Bears accomplished last season by edging Princeton on the last night of conference play.

But Bruno will not be playing just to knock off a conference rival. “We are playing for much more than just to play spoiler,” Kuakumensah said.

“Only four Brown teams have ever made a post-season tournament, so we are playing for that.” He added, “Even if we weren’t playing for a playoff birth, we are playing to get better as players.”

17-8, 5-6 Ivy

KATHLEEN SAMUELSON / HERALD

Lauren Clarke ’14 prepares to shoot a free throw. The senior scored 12 points in the loss to Penn but, in her final home start Saturday, dropped 24 against Princeton on the strength of 6-of-9 three-point shooting.

» W. BBALL, from page 1 second half, with Penn converting 32.1 percent and Brown making 30.8 percent. The Quakers mostly relied on free throws, converting 16 of 18 attempts in the second half.

The Bears suffered throughout the game against the tough Penn defense, which on average had only allowed 55.3 points per game. The Quakers out-rebounded the Bears on both offense and defense, finishing the game with 47 total boards to the Bears’ 25.

Penn’s Sydney Stipanovich nabbed 13 rebounds and 14 points, earning her a double-double.

Burr said the two teams played evenly on most aspects, but the rebounds were the deciding factor of the game. “We just weren’t able to get the ball,” she said.

Kara Bonenberger led all scorers, netting 22 points for the Quakers. Wellington led the Bears with 15 points, all from her five-of-seven shooting from behind the arc. Clarke also scored double-digits, as she has done in all but three games this season, netting 12 points for Bruno.

Brown 61, Princeton 58 Saturday night was Senior Night, marking the last home game for seniors Sophie Beutel ’14, Clarke, Jessica Eason ’14, Jordin Juker ’14, and Wellington. Head Coach Jean Marie Burr celebrated this special night by putting all five seniors in the starting lineup against Princeton.

“They came in to rebuild the program, they came in to help us get back to the top,” Burr said about the seniors

when they first the team. “They’ve sent that message … community service, academics, and Division I athletics; you can be successful at all three.”

The excitement and adrenaline of their last home game spurred the Bears into action, leading to one of the closest conference games of the season for the Bears. The impressive victory against the Tigers was the Bears’ first against Princeton (187, 9-2) since 2006 — a streak of 16 Bruno losses.

“Everyone wants to beat them (Princeton), they have a bull’s-eye on their back,” Burr said, referring to the fact that the Tigers have won the past four Ivy championships. “To do it is quite an amazing feat.”

Unlike in previous games, Bruno jumped out to an early lead in Saturday’s game, opening the score 4-0.

Despite a brief minute with the Tigers ahead, the first half was all about the Bears.

Bruno stunned the Tigers with better offensive and defensive performances, making 66.7 percent of field goals and only allowing Princeton 35.7 percent in the first.

Both Clarke and Sophie Bikofsky ’15 scored double-digits in the first half, with 11 and 12, respectively, leading a Bruno offense that kept building its lead throughout the first half.

With 7:14 left in the first half, Bikofsky sank a trey that put the Bears up by eight points, 25-17. The Tigers attempted a comeback with five points in just over a minute, but Bikofsky repelled it with another trey.

The Bears went into the locker room

up 35-27, its largest lead of the game.

In the second half, the Bears lost some of the intense fire that had initially sparked their offense, and their efficiency fell as they converted only 38.1 percent of shots from the field.

Though Princeton turned up the pressure in the second half, the Tigers recorded an even lower percentage, making only 29.4 percent from the field.

The second half started out close, but a 9-0 Princeton run 10 minutes into the half complicated things for the Bears and put the Tigers ahead for the second time in the game, 46-42.

A quick trey from Clarke brought the Bears within one shot again, and the next couple of minutes were hardfought as both teams took the lead multiple times. Brown finally got some room to breathe when Clarke’s sixth trey of the night put the team up 57-52 with 2:53 left to play.

With a minute and a half left Kristen Helmstetter tied it up again for Princeton, but Beutel and Juker added a few more for the Bears in a tense final minute consolidating only their third Ivy win this year.

Clarke’s 24 points made her the top scorer of the night, followed by Helmstetter with 20. Bikofsky and Beutel also scored in double digits, with 15 and 12 points, respectively.

The Bears will travel next weekend for their last two games of the season, against Dartmouth Friday and Harvard Saturday. Though neither Dartmouth nor Brown can improve their standing above sixth in the conference, Harvard will probably still be fighting for an Ivy League title.

track and field S3

THE SPORTS BULLETIN MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014

Men take fifth, women sixth at Ivy Championships Men fall one spot from last year, while women improve two spots after last year’s last-place finish

By EMILE BAUTISTA CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The men’s and women’s track teams both improved their overall scores over last year at the indoor season’s most significant meet, the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships. The women improved from their lastplace finish in 2013 to sixth this year, and the men dropped one position to fifth. The weekend-long meet was hosted by Dartmouth in Hanover, NH. All meets and invitationals up to this point have been leading up to this weekend, the peak of the track season.

Men: 5th place The men’s team finished fifth overall with a total score of 62 points, two points shy of fourth-place Columbia. Though the men slipped from their fourth-place finish last year, they achieved a four-point increase in total score. Two Heps victories marked the highlights of the men’s team performance: the 4x800-meter relay team of Reuben Feinman ’15, Henry Tufnell ’15, Colin Savage ’14 and Ned Willig ’16, as well as Peter Rhodes ’15 in the heptathlon. The 4x800 team finished in a time of 7 minutes, 29.58 seconds, a Brown team’s second-best time ever, while Rhodes won the heptathlon with a final score of 5,279 points, a personal record.

Several other male athletes scored points for the squad, and captain Evan Weinstock ’14 applauded the team effort. “Many men’s competitors showed significant improvement, and we were able to see people on the podium across many events,” he said.

Besides contributing to the winning 4x800 relay team, Willig participated in the 1,000-meter run, finishing second with a time of 2:26.22.

Colin Savage ’14 also scored points in that event, completing in a time of 2:26.87, taking fifth place. Tufnell, another member of the winning relay team, placed third in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:51.89. Co-captain Ajani Brown ’14 raced to fourth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 49.48.

An interesting turn of events occurred in the 3,000-meter run.

Jordan Mann ’15 was seeded in the second-tier heat. The junior shattered his personal record with a time of 8:19.16, and placed second, but was thought unlikely to reach the podium given the caliber of runners in the first tier. But the pace of the top heat was significantly slower than the runners’ average, a phenomenon that occurs often in championship races because times matter less than relative position. The top heat runners couldn’t compensate for their initial slow place, so the highest-ranked racers finished with times slower than the second tier. Mann’s second-place finish in the second tier earned him second overall.

Women: 6th place The women’s team leapt from a last-place finish in 2013 to a

sixth-place standing this year, increasing its overall score to 37.5 points, a whopping 23-point jump from last year.

“I felt as though some of the women’s athletes fell short last year,” said Tim Springfield, director of track and field. “However, they got over that hump this year.”

Morayo Akande ’15 shone for the women’s team in the high jump by winning in a three-person jump-off, clearing 1.73 meters, tying for seventh in Brown history. Victoria Buhr ’14 took second in the shot put with a throw of 14.36 meters, while Heather Vermillion ’15 finished fifth with a 13.77-meter throw.

Distance star Heidi Caldwell ’14 captured fourth place in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 16:29.59. Brienna Crimmins ’14 lept to a third place finish in the long jump with a distance of 5.67 meters.

Kebbeh Darpolor ’16 scored in the weight throw with a toss of 17.50 meters, landing her in fourth place.

Weinstock expressed excitement over the “great improvements from the championships last year.”

“I was very happy with the team’s performance. We saw a lot of progress and scored points across the board.

We have had great leadership and I am very happy moving forward,” Springfield said.

Next weekend, the Bears will send a handful of runners to the IC4A Championship in Boston. A number of Bruno competitors who qualified for the selective meet will not attend because they view Heps as the “pinnacle of the season,” Springfield said.

» SWIMMING, from page S1 managed only 589.5. “We improved, there’s no question about that. But so did everybody else.”

“We’re in a conference that’s about as competitive as any you’re going to find,” Brown said. “There are swimmers and divers in this conference who could compete on any team in the country.”

Just as the Bears’ seventh-place team performance mirrored last season’s result, so too did the showing of Tommy Glenn ’14. Glenn entered the meet as two-time defending champion in both the 100-yard and 200yard butterfly races. Unfazed by the weight of expectations, the standout swimmer successfully rebuffed all rivals to claim another Ivy title in both the 100-yard and 200-yard butterfly events. Altogether, Glenn’s individual performances added 72 points to the Bears’ total score.

“He’s a tough competitor,” Brown said. “What he’s doing is a function of all the training he’s done over the summer, over holidays. It’s been relentless — consistent hard work.”

Glenn took to the pool for the 100 fly on Friday, out-sprinting Columbia’s David Jakl to win by less than half a second. Glenn’s time of 46.13 seconds established a new pool record and was an NCAA B Cut, meeting the provisional qualifying standard for the NCAA Championships.

The senior produced an even more eye-popping result in Saturday’s 200 fly.

His time of 1 minute, 42.35 seconds broke both the pool and Ivy championship records. Glenn’s mark met the NCAA A-Cut qualifying standard,

KATIE LIEBOWITZ / HERALD FILE PHOTO

Reuben Feinman ’15, center, ran the front leg of Bruno’s first-place relay team in the 4x800 event.

guaranteeing him a ticket to the NCAA finals in the 200 fly.

“It was like icing on the cake. It was a fantastic way to end my Ivy experience,” Glenn said.

Glenn was not the only swimmer who made a notable individual contribution to the Bears’ effort. Cory Mayfield ’16 emerged as the “backbone of the distance group,” Brown said, as the sophomore competed in three events on three consecutive days. All told, the sophomore completed a grueling triple that consisted of the 500-yard freestyle, 1000-yard freestyle and 1650yard freestyle.

Mayfield’s best result came in the 1000 free, as the sophomore claimed eighth place overall with a time of 9:12.5. This result was especially notable for the fact that Mayfield outperformed his seedtime by almost 22 seconds.

Mayfield said his performances fell somewhat short of his personal expectations. “I wanted to podium (place in the top eight) in all of my events.

I managed to podium in one of my events and just missed the podium in another. It was still a good meet overall.”

Mayfield is “a very well-conditioned athlete,” Brown said. “He’s still learning what he’s capable of, and that doesn’t happen overnight. I feel like there’s another level there that he has yet to get to. He’s just going to keep improving.”

The Bears also met with an appreciable degree of success in the relays.

The 200-yard freestyle relay squad — which consisted of Glenn, Jeffrey Strausser ’15, Jack Nee ’17 and Daniel Klotz ’17 — claimed fourth place

overall, setting a new school record of 1:19.71. Later in the meet, the 400yard medley relay team of Glenn, Alex Pascal ’15, Christopher Meyers ’16 and Oliver Diamond ’14 finished fifth for another school-record with a time of 3:15.19.

The Ivy League championships marked the end of the season for the majority of the team — only Glenn will go on to compete at the NCAA championships. Brown said Glenn’s times rank him among “the top five or six” in the country, setting the senior up to perform well in the post-season.

The Ivy League championship “was not the culmination of (Glenn’s) season by any means,” Brown said. “He’s in a much different place than he’s ever been in when it comes to his training.

Achieving at a high level at NCAA’s is very realistic.”

As Glenn racks up the hardware, he contributed his consistent excellence to the ability to block out the distractions and expectations.

“It’s a bit like a dance. You spend all this time rehearsing it, practicing it.

When it comes to the meet, you want to think about it as little as possible. You just want to get a good song in your head and swim to that,” Glenn said.

“It’s one of the more fun experiences that I get to have.”

Looking forward to future seasons, Brown offered an optimistic outlook and said the loss of a star like Glenn will not spell disaster for Bruno.

“We return a really solid nucleus,” he said. “Our incoming class of freshmen should be strong. I’m confident in the people we have coming back and the people we have coming in.”

S4 m. hockey

THE SPORTS BULLETIN MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014

FRIDAY, FEB. 28

3

vs.

0 11-15-1, 8-13-1 ECAC

14-14-6, 8-9-5 ECAC SATURDAY, MARCH 1

3

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0

24-6-4, 18-3-1 ECAC

11-15-1, 8-13-1 ECAC

Scoreless weekend drops Bears to ninth place in ECAC Bruno scores no goals at home this weekend and will open conference tournament on the road

By ANDREW FLAX SENIOR STAFF WRITER

With a chance to lock up the eighth seed and home ice in the playoffs with a win or a tie, the men’s hockey team was swept at home by Rensselaer and No. 3 Union this weekend and will now have to travel to St. Lawrence in the first round of the ECAC tournament.

The Bears suffered two identical losses. In each, they battled and hung with their opponent for two periods, staying in it but never breaking through for a goal. But Bruno’s foes in each game posted dispiriting mid-third-period goals directly off faceoffs. Brown’s opponents then scored again roughly five minutes later, making the situation dire.

Finally, when the goalie was pulled for the extra attacker, the Bears turned it over, leading to easy, game-ending empty-net goals.

With weekend splits for Harvard (10-15-4, 6-12-4 ECAC), Dartmouth (8-17-4, 7-13-2) and St. Lawrence (13-17-4, 7-11-4), the Bears finished in ninth place in the conference, one point behind the Saints and one ahead of the Big Green and Crimson. Now the Bears must travel 360 miles to Canton, N.Y., to play a best-of-three series.

Friday: RPI 3, Brown 0 The Bears (11-15-1, 8-13-1) were unable to get revenge on the Engineers (14-14-6, 8-9-5) for their earlier-season loss. They came out flat but picked up momentum as the game went on. Despite some of its strongest play of the game, Bruno ceded three goals in the third period.

Bruno outshot RPI 34-27 for the game and 17-9 in the third period, but could not break through against goalie Scott Diebold, who made a few great saves. The Bears also possessed the puck for much of the game thanks to 32 wins on 52 faceoffs, but failed to turn those wins into scoring chances.

Despite the Bears’ advantage on the draw, RPI’s first goal came off a faceoff in the Brown zone. Their second came during a line change, which led to an uncontested slap shot stick side on goalie Tyler Steel ’17.

A significant part of the Bears’ offensive struggles came from their power-play unit. Bruno had three manadvantage opportunities but failed to make anything of them, much to the chagrin of Head Coach Brendan Whittet ’94. The power-play unit “can’t

execute, and actually takes any type of momentum we have away from us,” Whittet said.

He was similarly dissatisfied with the offense overall, and said he believed the Bears had gotten away from what made them successful.

“The guys (have) got to get back to fundamentals and shoot pucks,” Whittet said. “It’s as simple as that.

Outnumber at the net. We make it way too complicated.”

Another point of frustration for Whittet was the team’s third-period play, which was Bruno’s best at certain moments but also featured the Bears’ costliest breakdowns in allowing the RPI goals.

“I just wish we would have given ourselves an opportunity to be maybe nothing-nothing in the last five minutes of that game and see where it ends up,” he said. “Instead we give up a faceoff goal, our center loses their center and they have a tap-in, and then we give one up off a bad change. It just cannot happen this time of year.”

For his part, RPI Head Coach Seth Appert had kind words for the Bears and how their play picked up as the game went on.

“I thought Brown was real good in the second half of that game,” he said.

“I thought we controlled the first half, and I thought they had a good push in the second half.”

After the loss, the Bears led three teams by one point in the standings for eighth place and home ice, and Whittet recognized the importance of Saturday’s game.

“We can’t be thinking about the end result going into tomorrow,” Whittet said. “If we do, we won’t get the result we want.”

The team needed to focus on the high level of effort needed to beat Union’s talented squad, he added.

Saturday: Union 3, Brown 0 As Whittet had hoped, the Bears indeed battled and played hard against Union (24-6-4, 18-3-1). But just like against RPI, their push was not enough, and when the Dutchmen finally broke through, things fell apart for the Bears.

Bruno came out energized at the start of the first period, dictating the pace of play and controlling possession. But as the frame went on, Union rebounded and started taking over, leading in shots 13-11 after the first 20 minutes.

The Dutchmen led the overall shot count 33-26, and did a great job of stopping up the Brown offense and limiting its scoring chances.

A visibly frustrated Whittet was far from happy with the way his team, and

HUNTER LEEMING / HERALD

Zach Pryzbek ’17 handles the puck behind RPI goaltender Scott Diebold Saturday afternoon. Despite putting a combined 66 shots on goal against the Engineers and Dutchmen this weekend, Bruno could not manage a goal.

KATIE LIEBOWITZ / HERALD

Brown will travel to St. Lawrence next weekend in a best-of-three playoff series. The Saints come into the playoffs after a weekend split, falling 8-0 to Quinnipiac Friday and beating Princeton 5-0 Saturday afternoon. his offense in particular, had played.

He called the team’s inability to score “hugely frustrating.”

“We don’t score a lot anyways, but I thought some of our guys that we rely on were really discombobulated tonight,” Whittet said. “We have to find a way to start getting back to the team I know we can be.”

Captain Dennis Robertson ’14 also expressed disappointment in the Bears.

He said it was “absolutely” a missed opportunity for the team to go pointless on the weekend.

“We had our destiny in our own hands, and we needed one or two points even to clinch home ice, and we kind of let it slip,” he said. “It’s frustrating.”

Saturday’s game was the only afternoon game in the conference, so after the loss, the Bears did not know where they would be headed — only that they would likely be on the road. Whittet, for one, would not be scoreboard-watching to see how it played out.

“I don’t care where we go,” he said.

“I really don’t. We’ve just got to play

better hockey and we’ll be fine because we have a good enough hockey team.

It does not matter to me.”

Robertson was less enthused about the prospect of a road series.

“It’s tough for you,” he said. “If you’re playing at home you have that much more confidence going into Friday night, knowing that you’re the higher-seeded team. It makes a big difference.”

Whittet said the road series presents an opportunity to test the Bears. “We’ll see what we’re made of.”

w. water polo S5

THE SPORTS BULLETIN MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014

M. HOCKEY

Bruno’s offense cracks under playoff pressure Bears fail to score when it matters most because they try too hard to do too much

By ANDREW FLAX SPORTS STAFF WRITER

With home ice on the line in this weekend’s homestand, the men’s ice hockey team collapsed, scoring no goals and falling to ninth in the conference.

The Bears’ offense, typically average in the conference, has suddenly ground to a halt. They have not scored a goal in over 132 minutes of play despite 60 shots on goal over the past two games.

Head Coach Brendan Whittet ’94 identified a few problems with the offense after both games.

After the loss to RPI Friday, one in which the Bears outshot the Engineers, he said, “I think some of our skilled guys have to understand the fundamentals. Shots need to get to the net, bodies need to get to the net, especially against that team.”

After the Union game Saturday, Whittet’s thoughts were much the same.

“We just didn’t get enough traffic in front of ” Union’s goalie, he said. The team needs to “get pucks to the net, retrieve pucks, get pucks to the net again, and outnumber, and that’s how you have success.”

Forward Matt Lorito ’15 agreed with his coach.

“We kind of struggled moving the puck and creating offense in their zone,” he said.

Though it’s unclear why the Bears did not do what was necessary to contend and win against these two good teams, Whittet’s explanation makes the most sense.

“We were gripping sticks, we’re trying too hard, almost,” Whittet said.

“And it seems a goofy way to say it, but the guys understand the importance of the game, and sometimes try and do too much instead of just keeping it simple.”

Captain Dennis Robertson ’14 said he feels anxious to perform as a senior during his last homestand and last ECAC tournament.

“There’s definitely added pressure,” he said. “You can’t let (those thoughts) creep in, and then you’re gripping the stick a little too tight. I think that might have happened a little bit over this weekend, so I’ve got to get back to what makes me strong as a player and execute.”

Ever y player on the team

ANALYSIS

recognized the importance of these past two games. They knew this homestand would be critical. When a team struggles in a situation like this, it is often because players are uncomfortable under the pressure, freeze up and fail to play naturally. But the Bears appear to have had the exact opposite reaction: Instead of shying away from the spotlight, players are trying to step up and put the team on their back. Unfortunately, that means they are trying to do too much, something Whittet noticed.

“We overcomplicate things so much offensively,” he said. “It’s just too much one-on-one play, and not enough just moving the puck, head-manning things, funneling things to the net.

It’s way too individual, and it’s not an individual game.”

Now the Bears have to face much more pressure on the road as the tournament begins next weekend, but Whittet saw a silver lining to dropping in the standings.

“We’re going to go on the road,” he said, “and sometimes when you’re on the road and your backs are against the wall, you come out and you play much more simple hockey.”

The road trip might be a wake-up call, but it also presents a massive challenge to the Bears.

“It becomes infinitely harder to go on the road,” Whittet said, “especially in the first round, and then have to knock out one team, and then knock out another team on the road. It’s very hard to do.”

Bruno now heads to St. Lawrence, a team it beat in Canton, N.Y., Jan. 17. The Saints have many weaknesses, including mediocre goaltending, but are powered by brothers Greg and Matt Carey, who are first and sixth in the ECAC in points, respectively.

Lorito said the key to defeating the Saints will be to “play solid defense and shut (the Careys) down.” The Saints allow the second-most goals per game in the conference, so they may be just what Bruno needs to get the offense going again. But nothing is a foregone conclusion, especially given the team’s recent play.

The Bears have had success in the playoffs in the past, but that is no guarantee of future accomplishment. They may seem like a playoff team, but RPI head coach Seth Appert and Union head coach Rick Bennett described their games against Brown as “a playoff game” and “playoff hockey,” respectively, and Bruno crumbled spectacularly against them. The Bears must make some serious changes, especially in their own mindset, in order to avoid a first-round knockout.

www.browndailyherald.com

COURTESY OF BROWNBEARS.COM

Captain Kate Woods ’14 holds the ball over a defender Saturday afternoon. Despite finding herself in foul trouble early on, Woods brought the Bears back to a tie at the end of regulation before notching the game-winner.

Bears win in double overtime

Woods ’14 scores five goals, while McNamara ’14 and Kolokotronis ’17 add three in win over GW

By DANTE O’CONNELL SPORTS EDITOR

The women’s water polo team opened its regular season on the road Saturday with a thrilling 15-14, double-overtime victory over George Washington University.

Captain Kate Woods ’14 fired in her game-winning fifth goal with just 42 seconds left in the second extra period to give Bruno (4-4) its narrowest victory of the season so far. Woods’ five led the game, though Emily McNamara ’14 and Marisa Kolokotronis ’17 made major contributions with three goals apiece.

“The most important thing was coming out with a win,” said Head Coach Felix Mercado. “We were able to recognize our flaws that we have to work out going forward.”

Emma Dodd ’16 put Bruno on the board early with the first goal of the game before the Colonials (4-9) stormed back with the next three, two of which came from Allison

Littlejohn. George Washington led 4-3 after the first quarter.

The Bears and Colonials both found the back of the net three times in the second quarter. A goal from Colonial sophomore Hannah Cox gave George Washington a 7-6 lead heading into the locker room.

The third frame produced another three goals on each side, with Woods, McNamara and Kolokotronis each getting the ball past Colonial goalie Chandler Vilander to hold Bruno’s one-goal deficit at 10-9.

“McNamara and Kolokotronis kept us in the game, and (Woods) found a way to score the big ones at the end,” Mercado said.

Cox scored another pair of goals for the Colonials in the final period, but Bruno stormed back with two tallies of its own. With just over four minutes on the clock, Woods got on the scoresheet again to tie the game at 12. Neither team managed another score before the end of regulation, sending the Bears into their first overtime contest of the season.

Bruno did not waste time getting on the board in extra play. Olivia Santiago ’16 beat Vilander just 23 seconds into the first overtime to give the Bears a 13-12 lead — the first Brown

lead since the first quarter.

The Bears carried their edge into the final seconds of the period before George Washington senior Katherine Berry evened the score on a penalty shot with just 23 ticks on the clock to push the game into a second overtime.

Center defender Shannon Crowley ’17 started the frame off strong for Bruno, firing a shot past Crowley 56 seconds in to give Brown a 14-13 advantage. Though Berry tied the score again with just over a minute to play, Woods secured Bruno’s victory with her fifth score of the game.

“I definitely saw (Woods) take the game over,” Mercado said. “She had a rough beginning offensively and defensively. … Even with two fouls, she basically took the game over offensively and was not going to be denied.”

Despite the victory, Mercado expressed some disappointment with Bruno’s performance.

“We didn’t play our best water polo,” he said. “We need to get better and more consistent. At this point of the season where every game matters, the urgency has to be there.”

The Bears will play four games in the Harvard Invitational next weekend.

S6 tennis

THE SPORTS BULLETIN MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014

Men split two on road, women sweep three at home Men fall to No. 40 Elon and beat Gardner-Webb, while women sweep all Rhode Island schools

By CHRISTINE RUSH SPORTS STAFF WRITER

The men’s tennis team split on the road in North Carolina this weekend, falling to No. 40 Elon University 4-3 but defeating Gardner-Webb University 6-1. At the same time the women’s team defended its home courts, sweeping Bryant University 5-0, Providence College 5-0 and the University of Rhode Island 4-1.

Brandon Burke ’14, Gregory Garcia ’17 and Daniel Hirschberg ’15 all tallied individual victories in Bruno’s ultimate loss to the Phoenix. The Bears (5-5) took down the Runnin’ Bulldogs Saturday with five singles victories and the doubles point.

The women’s team (8-3) dropped just two sets on the weekend en route to three Ocean State victories.

Lucas Da Silveira ’16 said Bruno started in a hole right away against Elon (5-2), losing the first three matches as the Phoenix clinched the doubles point and two singles matches to gain an early lead. Bruno fought back to tie the score 3-3, and the result came down to William Spector ’15, playing in the number four singles spot. Da Silveira said it was a very tight match going into the third set, but Spector did not close out, losing the final set 6-4.

In several of Bruno’s matches, the “difference is one or two points here or there,” Da Silveira said. “We are up there with everyone,” he said.

Da Silveira and his doubles partner, Justin To ’15, lost both matches this weekend from the top doubles spot.

The doubles team has been on a dry spell since falling to Cornell Feb. 15.

Da Silveira said the team needs more confidence, but he noted that Garcia “had a great weekend,” coming out undefeated.

Garcia moved to the No. 1 singles spot this weekend, due to several of his teammates’ injuries. He said he was “competing every point,” and focused on each match. The first-year powerhouse said that after the team’s loss to Elon, it “wanted to come out the next day and get the win.” And Bruno did just that against Gardner-Webb (59). The fourth-, fifth- and sixth-spot singles “all won decisively,” Garcia said.

He added that Samuel Fife ’14 had one of his best career matches at thirdspot singles.

After having a week off, the women’s tennis team competed against three other Rhode Island teams in a tripleheader Saturday. Dayna Lord ’17 said everyone played well, allowing Bruno to “beat the teams pretty handily.”

Lord played in the Bryant and URI matches, making quick work of her opponents. She took down the Bulldogs’ Marion Boulin 6-2, 6-1 and beat the Rams’ Galina Chernykh 6-1, 6-1.

Lord said the weekend was a good way to figure out what her team needs to work on — mainly footwork, aggressiveness and playing more offensively.

All in all, the weekend was “a great confidence-booster,” she said.

The women take on Georgia State University (5-5) Saturday, while the men’s team will face the University of Connecticut (3-6) Friday.

TOM SULLIVAN / HERALD

Hannah Camhi ’16, a Herald staff writer, returns a shot from the back corner of the court. Camhi won both her matches, against Providence and URI, in straight sets as part of an Ocean State sweep for the Bears this weekend.

Losing to win: Gold, silver and gold MIKE FIRN sports columnist

Early March — it’s a bleak time of year for sports fans. Football and Olympic action have faded away, but baseball and March Madness haven’t yet arrived. Perhaps worst of all, the NBA season of tanking has begun.

As my fellow columnist Nate Svensson ’14 recently addressed, tanking in the NBA is a real issue that needs attention. Sports are fundamentally about winning, and teams that intentionally lose drag down the intensity of competition league-wide. The system is broken, but the teams aren’t to blame. From a rational standpoint, the chance to land a top pick in the draft is far more tantalizing than the prospect of undeservedly sneaking into the playoffs and immediately getting bounced out.

The draft is designed to restore competitive balance by distributing young, cheap talent to the league’s worst franchises. But the current lottery model sets up some troubling incentives for mediocre teams.

If, by virtue of failing, the Boston Celtics “earn” a top pick in the draft, do we call its management inept or savvy? In its effort to increase equality of competition, the NBA

has actually incentivized losing. At heart, this problem is one for economists — equality versus efficiency.

In response to the problem of tanking, the NBA instituted a random draft lottery in 1985 — that is, every non-playoff team had an equal chance at the number-one pick. Once eliminated from playoff contention, teams had nothing to gain from losing. Economists Justin Trogdon and Beck Taylor analyzed performance in this period and determined that tanking was virtually nonexistent.

But in 1989, the league switched to its current weighted lottery whereby a worse record yields opportunities for higher draft slots.

Talent became more equitably distributed, but tanking was once again incentivized. In the period between 2004 and 2012, teams’ winning percentages dropped 5.5 percent once they were officially out of contention. Since the NBA is by far the easiest of the major sports leagues for rookies to make an immediate contribution to their teams, the prospect of drafting a franchise cornerstone is just too great to pass up. So how can the NBA fix this problem and maximize competitive intensity?

Economists have floated some interesting solutions. One camp calls for a tournament in which nonplayoff teams compete for draft order. The winning team would earn

first overall pick, runner-up takes the second spot and so forth. Another camp advocates for elimination of the draft in its entirety. This group sees exclusivity of each draft pick as the anti-competitive source of all tanking incentives. Exacerbating the issue, rookie contract limits artificially inflate the value of incoming college players. As an alternative to the draft, amateurs would be treated as free agents permitted to negotiate for market value with any franchise.

Both of these approaches seem to dissuade tanking but at the steep price of disparity. Under the tournament model, the worst teams aren’t afforded the opportunity to improve the most, and without a draft, top amateurs would likely choose to sign lucrative contracts with the NBA’s best teams in the glitziest markets. Either way, the haves and the have-nots drift further apart.

Clearly, there exists a tension between maximizing parity and minimizing tanking. Somehow, a balance must be struck. At the 2012 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, statistician Adam Gold proposed giving the first pick in the draft to the team that wins the most number of games after being mathematically eliminated from the postseason. In theory, the worst teams in the league will be eliminated first and thus have the most chances to stockpile wins. Taking advantage

of these opportunities will yield premium draft position, and every game suddenly becomes meaningful.

But if you think teams need a stick rather than a carrot, there’s always economist David Berri’s proposal: miss the playoffs three years in a row and your general manager gets fired.

Bottom line, tanking is a real issue. It diminishes intensity and runs counter to fundamental notions about competition. Yet under the existing model, tanking is rewarded. Among all of the options, Gold’s proposal seems to strike the most encouraging balance between equality and efficiency. His model attacks the system’s flaws at their root. It’s the only solution that completely removes incentives to tank while providing at least a theoretical framework for parity to emerge.

If the NBA really wants to engage its fans, the league needs to wipe out meaningless games. At the very least, it’s time to explore some new options.

Still not convinced? Imagine you’re running a 3-man race: winner receives a gold medal, runnerup earns silver, and the loser… also gets gold. What is your strategy? Go.

Mike Firn ’16 always tries his very best. Contact him at michael_firn@brown.edu.

Follow us! @BDH_Sports

scoreboard S7

THE SPORTS BULLETIN MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014

MEN’S BASKETBALL Brown (15-11, 7-5) Penn (7-17, 4-6)

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Brown (15-11, 7-5) Princeton (17-8, 5-6)

1st

2nd

F

Brown: Penn:

37 33

39 34

76 67

Brown

Pts.

Rebs.

As.

McGonagill

13

3

Blackman

3

Spieth

Brown (9-17, 3-9) Penn (18-6, 8-2)

1st

2nd

F

30 41

34 28

64 69

Brown

Pts.

Rebs.

As.

7

McGonagill

19

6

5

0

6

Blackman

6

1

19

12

3

Spieth

7

Maia

6

10

3

Kuakumensah

16

10

1

Hobbie

0

0

King

9

Walker

Brown (9-17, 3-9) Princeton (18-7, 9-2) 1st

2nd

F

36 26

34 28

70 54

Pts.

Rebs.

As.

Juker

4

4

2

1

Beutel

2

4

6

1

Wellington

15

Maia

0

5

4

Bikofsky

Kuakumensah

18

10

0

1

Hobbie

0

0

2

0

King

10

7

4

0

Walker

Madigan

3

0

0

Total

76

41

21

1st

2nd

F

27 35

31 26

58 61

Pts.

Rebs.

As.

Juker

6

5

5

1

Beutel

12

4

1

6

0

Wellington

2

4

3

8

4

1

Bikofsky

15

6

4

Clarke

12

5

2

Clarke

24

4

3

0

Eason

0

0

0

Eason

2

3

0

4

0

Sharpe

4

0

1

Sharpe

0

0

0

4

2

0

Musgrove

9

1

3

Musgrove

0

1

0

Madigan

0

1

0

Veldman

0

0

0

Veldman

0

1

0

Total

64

35

11

Total

54

25

11

Total

61

28

16

Brown: Princeton:

Penn: Brown: Brown

TRACK & FIELD

Top performers:

4x800 relay team: 1st place, 7:29.58

Peter Rhodes: 1st place, heptathlon (5,279 pts.)

Ned Willig: 2nd place, 1000m

Jordan Mann: 2nd place, 3000m

Women’s Track & Field: 6th place Ivy League Indoor Track & Field Championships 37.5 total points Top peformers:

Morayo Akande: 1st place, high jump (5-08.00)

Victoria Buhr: 2nd place, shot put

Brienna Crimmins: 3rd place, long jump

Top Performers 200m Butterfly Tommy Glenn 1:42.35, 1st place Brown School Record 400 Freestyle Relay: Jeffrey Strausser, Alex Pascal, Oliver Diamond, 2:58.37, 5th place 3-Meter Diving William Rosenberg 278.55 14th place

1st

RPI: Brown: SHOTS: RPI: Brown:

0 0 1st

11 7

2nd

3rd

F

0 0

3 0

3 0

2nd

3rd

F

7 10

9 17

27 34

3rd

F

0 0

0 0

3 0

3 0

1st

2nd

3rd

F

13 11

12 9

8 6

No scoring

- 3rd -

- 3rd -

RPI 5:45 - Jacob Laliberte (a: Curtis Leonard & Guy Leboeuf )

33 26

Union 12:51 - Daniel Ciampini (a: Kevin Sullivan & Mike Vecchione)

RPI 10:58 - Mark Miller

Union 16:17 - Daniel Carr

RPI 18:36 - Zach Schroeder (EN)

Union 19:52 - Kevin Sullivan (EN)

(a: Matt Wilkins)

(a: Bo Dolan) (unassisted)

Men’s vs. Gardner-Webb W, 6-1 (Neutral Site) 1 Garcia: W, 6-3, 6-4

2 Burke: W, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2

2 Spector: L, 6-2, 2-6, 2-6

3 Garcia: W, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(8-6)

3 Fife: W, 7-5, 6-3

4 Spector: L, 4-6, 6-2, 4-6

4 Hirschberg: W, 6-2, 6-4

5 Fife: L, 2-6, 4-6

5 Da Silveira: W, 6-2, 6-3

6 Hirschberg: W, 6-2, 6-7(7-3), 6-2

6 Neff: W, 6-4, 6-0

1 Doubles-Da Silveira/To: L, 5-8

1 Doubles-Da Silveira/To: W, 8-4

2 Doubles-Burke/Fife: L, 4-8

2 Doubles-Burke/Fife: W, 8-4 3Doubles-Hirschberg/Garcia: W, 8-3

Women’s vs. URI W, 4-1

1 Camhi: W, 6-1, 6-1

1 Lord: W, 6-1, 6-1

2 Uberoi: W, 6-2, 6-2

2 Camhi: W, 6-4, 6-1

3 Kandath: W, 6-4, 6-2

3 Mandalap: L, 6-1, 4-6, 11-13

4 Chamdani: 6-2, 6-1

4 Noyes: W, 6-0, 6-2

1 Doubles-Noyes/Mandalap: W, 8-0

2nd

No scoring

1 To: L, 3-6, 4-6

Women’s vs. Providence W, 5-0

Union: Brown: SHOTS: Union: Brown:

1st

- 1st & 2nd -

- 1st & 2nd -

MEN’S / WOMEN’S TENNIS Men’s vs. Elon L, 4-3 (Neutral Site)

Ivy League Championships Cambridge, Mass.

Team Finish: 7th place 679.5 total points

Brown

MEN’S HOCKEY

Men’s Track & Field: 5th place Ivy League indoor Track & Field Championships 62 total points

SWIMMING & DIVING

Princeton: Brown:

1 Doubles-Chamdani/Hsu: W, 8-6

(unassisted)

SOFTBALL Team Results UNC Wilmington Tournament 2/28 vs. Bucknell: L, 12-3 (8 innings) 2/28 vs. UNC Wilmington: L, 4-3 3/1 vs. UNC Greensboro: L, 4-0 3/1 vs. Bucknell: W, 10-9 (8 innings) 3/2 vs. UNC Wilmington: W, 7-6

Hitting Christina Andrews: 6-18, 1 HR, 2 RBI Trista Chavez: 2-17, 1 2B, 1 R Janet Leung: 5-17, 1 2B, 4 RBI Julia Schoenwald: 3-17, 2 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI jen Kries: 3-15, 1 2B, 1 RBI Casey Fisher: 6-14, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 4 SB Kelsey Williams: 5-9, 2 2B, 1 RBI Lauren Hanna: 1-8, 1 R, 1 RBI Danielle Palms: 1-8, 3 R, 1 SB Kelsey Hom: 1-5, 1 RBI, 1 BB Alex Scott: 1-5, 1 RBI, 1 BB Sarah Syrop: 1-3, 1 RBI, 2 BB

Pitching

Jessica Cherness: 1-1, 11.1 IP, 14 H, 14 R, 10 ER, 6 BB, 7 K Leah Nakashima: 1-1, 9.1 IP, 18 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 6 BB, 2 K Christina Andrews: 0-1, 9 IP, 1 CG, 7 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 9 BB, 2 K

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014

SPORTS BULLETIN m. lacrosse

No. 13 UMass dismantles Bruno at every turn in rout Eleven different players pick up goals or assists for Minutemen as they roll past Bears in Providence

By ALEX WAINGER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

After a convincing win over Quinnipiac to start the season, the men’s lacrosse team ran into a brick wall Saturday — No. 13 University of Massachusetts at Amherst. In a 15-2 blowout, Bruno trailed the Minutemen in nearly every significant statistical category: shots, ground balls, shots on goal, turnovers, saves and clears.

UMass (4-0) led from the start, opening up a 4-0 lead in the first quarter. During a man-up advantage brought by a slashing penalty, forward Kylor Bellistri ’16 slotted a shot past UMass goalie Zach Oliveri to get the Bears (1-1) on the board in their home opener.

“We felt like we were still in the game,” Bellistri said of his opening goal. “Nobody was losing any hope yet because we knew there were just a few bad bounces that didn’t go our way.”

Despite the Bears’ early optimism, UMass dominated the remainder of the contest. In the second quarter, Grant Whiteway and Nick Mariano both scored on Brown’s goalie Jack Kelly ’16, who had a rough statistical afternoon in the cage. The sophomore only mustered seven saves on 18 shots on target, allowing 11 goals. After three periods, he was pulled from the game.

“After my goal, it was still a close game, but things just weren’t going our way,” Bellistri said. “A few bad bounces here and there didn’t help our cause.”

Kelly “saved the shots he’s supposed

to save,” Bellistri added. “The goals don’t reflect how he played. We left him out to dry a few times, not putting ourselves in the right positions. We gave up shots in areas that we shouldn’t be letting teams shoot from.”

The second half followed similarly.

Counting the two scores in the second quarter, the Minutemen scored 11 unanswered goals to balloon their lead to 15-1. Mariano finished with a gamehigh five goals and one assist. Eleven different UMass players contributed to the offense, picking up either a goal or assist.

With six minutes left in the final period of play, A.J. Lucchese ’17 tallied a garbage-time goal — his first as a Bear — off an assist from Dylan Molloy ’17.

Bruno struggled offensively all game, hitting the target on just 13 shots, compared to the 25 shots UMass fired on goal.

“They have a really sound defense, but things just weren’t clicking for us,” Bellistri said. “We struggled to run our plays and play our game. We didn’t do as well as we should have, so it made them seem a little stronger than they were.”

Bruno will look to get back on track Wednesday, when the University of Hartford comes to Stevenson Field. Next week, Brown will battle two non-conference opponents in its final preparation before Ivy play starts March 15 at Harvard.

Despite the tough defeat, Bellistri expressed confidence that the Bears are ready to move on from the loss to UMass and look forward to the rest of the schedule.

“This loss was a humbling experience. It’s a wake-up call,” Bellistri said.

“Tomorrow is going to be a tough practice, and rightfully so, and I think we’re ready to work.”

KATIE LIEBOWITZ / HERALD

Sam Hurster ’14 carries the ball downfield in Saturday’s matchup against the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Hurster notched four shots on goal and a ground ball in the defeat.

SOFTBALL

Bruno starts off season 2-3 in North Carolina tourney First-years contribute power and pitching to turn weekend around with narrow victories Saturday

By JESSICA ZAMBRANO CONTRIBUTING WRITER

After falling in three straight games to open a tournament at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington this weekend, the softball team roared back with two thrilling, one-run victories.

Bucknell dropped the Bears 12-3 Friday morning in Bruno’s seasonopener, but Brown (2-3) exacted revenge Saturday afternoon with an extra-inning 10-9 victory over the Bison. Wilmington and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro each topped the Bears in their first meetings. But Bruno met Wilmington (8-7) again Saturday night, pulling out a 7-6 victory.

Bruno looked rusty in its first day of competition, falling to Bucknell (27) in a game shortened by the eightrun mercy rule. Casey Fisher ’17, the first Bear to step to the plate this season, gave the squad an optimistic start. The Bucknell third baseman’s

throwing error allowed the Bruno leadoff hitter to race all the way to third base. Next batter Janet Leung ’16 lifted a ball to right field, allowing Fisher to score on the sacrifice fly and giving Brown its first run of the year.

But this early lead would be the only momentum the Bears could muster, as Bucknell used rallies in the third and sixth inning to open up a comfortable lead. The only other Brown runs came in the fourth, when Jen Kries ’14 scored on another sacrifice fly following a double and Fisher singled in Danielle Palms ’14.

Starting pitcher Leah Nakashima ’17 was roughed up in her first collegiate start on the rubber. The first-year took the loss after surrendering five earned runs in 3.2 innings.

Bruno fared better in its next game but ended with another defeat, falling 4-3 to UNC-Wilmington. The Bears plated all three of their runs in the top of the third inning. Christina Andrews ’17 went the distance in the circle,

giving up just three earned runs in her first collegiate start. Julia Schoenewald ’17 did the damage at the dish for the Bears. Trailing 3-0 with the bases loaded in the top of the third, Schoenewald drove a double to right field, scoring Leung and Kristin Watterlond ’14. Kries followed her up with a sacrifice fly to score Andrews and tie the game. But in the bottom of the third, the Seahawks’ Nella Chamblee walked and came around to score the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly. The teams played the final four innings locked in a scoreless stalemate and Wilmington prevailed, 4-3.

The Bears’ rough weekend continued Saturday morning against Greensboro (8-8), as Bruno was shut out in a 4-0 game. Greensboro hurler Raeanna Hanks threw a complete game gem, striking out three Bears and allowing only four hits.

But Brown turned it around later in the day with its first win of the season, defeating Bucknell 10-9. The game started like the teams’ previous game, with the Bison exploding to a 5-1 lead after three innings. But

Bruno crept back into the game with consistent offensive production, scoring in every inning after the second.

Schoenewald flashed her power in the fifth with a two-run home run. Bruno overtook the Bison with a two-out rally in the top of the sixth. With the game tied, two outs and two on, AllIvy shortstop Leung came through for the Bears, lacing a two-RBI double to left center. Fisher picked up Leung with a single of her own. After another run in the top of the seventh, Bruno held a comfortable 9-5 lead with three outs to get.

In the bottom of the seventh, it was Bucknell’s turn to storm back. The Bison tallied four runs on five hits and one Bruno error to tie the contest and send it into extra innings. According to tournament rules, a runner was placed on second to start each half inning after seven innings. So with Leung on second to start the top of the eighth, Bruno caught a break when a throwing error advanced her to third.

After a Schoenewald strikeout, Andrews played hero for the Bears, singling in Leung for the go-ahead run.

Visit us at www.browndailyherald.com/sports

The drama was not over as Bucknell moved the tying run to third with one out in the bottom of the eighth, but pitcher Jessica Cherness ’15 slammed the door with a strikeout and a fly out to end the game.

Bruno’s Sunday action had similar dramatics and success for the Bears, as the squad held off a late Wilmington rally to win 7-6. Cherness allowed only one hit over the first three innings, but was doomed by errors and walks, and the Bears trailed 3-0 after three. A Sarah Syrop ’17 RBI single put Bruno on the board in the fourth, but the Bears did most of their damage in the sixth. Brown plated five in the top half of the sixth thanks to three Wilmington errors.

With a 7-4 lead entering the bottom of the last inning, Bruno looked to be headed to another victory, until Seahawk Claudia Spinelli’s two-out, two-RBI double cut the lead to 7-6.

But the Bears alertly got the ball back into the infield following the double, and Spinelli was caught between second and third. Andrews tagged the Wilmington runner to end the game.

today 5

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014

menu SHARPE REFECTORY

b o lt i n t o a c t i o n VERNEY-WOOLLEY

LUNCH Gnocchi with Gorgonzola Mushroom Sauce, Paella, Green Bean Saute with Mushrooms, Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pulled Pork Sandwich, Macaroni and Cheese, Steak Fries, Carrots in Orange Sauce, Chocolate Chip Cookies

DINNER Turkey Pot Pie, Grilled Cheese, Baked Sweet Potatoes, Mushroom and Leek Ragout, Chocolate Cake

Savory Chicken Stew, Vegan Stuffed Acorn Squash, Egg Noodles with Olive Oil, Cauliflower, Chocolate Cake

JOSIAH’S

THREE BURNERS

QUESADILLA OR GRILLED CHEESE

Crepes

Grilled Cheese

BLUE ROOM

SOUPS

DINNER ENTREES

Chicken Noodle, Fire Roasted Vegetable, Beef with Bean Chili

Naked Burritos

sudoku

DAVID BRAUN / HERALD

Lev Litichevskiy ’15 and Ruth Gourevitch ’16 practice wilderness first aid on Dana Goplerud ’15 as part of a weekend training session for Brown Outdoor Leadership Training.

comics Culture Shock | Chloe Hequet ‘17

crossword 1

ACROSS

The Monitor and The Merrimack ship type 9 Horse-like 15 “Freeze!”

16 Fibrous tissue attached to bone 17 Sensory organ 18 Dated ‘adorn’ 19 Skewered dish 21 Persian official 24 Bitterly regret 26 Vessel for ocular cleansing solution 31 Frasier producer 32 Unstressed syllable in poetry 34 ______Sun (portable drink) 35 Life-savers for lost dogs 37 Stereo’s loudness control, for short 39 “Quick as you can”: abbr.

40 Revive 43 365, usually 46 Hook’s partner, on clothes 47 Mathematical operation using remainder 51 Writer _____ Mae Washington-Williams 53 Out of bed 55 ___ de Graaf generator 56 Unsurprisingly 58 Extreme economic competition, to a Marxist 59 Plural of ‘be’ 60 Air-conditioner brand 62 Contemporary artist ____ Johns 66 City northeast of LA 73 Become invalid, as forms or coupons 74 “Hail Mary” in Latin 75 Takes a catnap 76 Mausoleum without interment BONUS: To see them form, label certain grey squares in this puzzle from A to F DOWN Only U.S. prez to serve three terms 2 Caviar, e.g.

3 Monster’s _____ 4 Comp. that merged into Verizon 5 Electrical measure 6 ’Tater _____ 1

Blueprints

By Ian Everbach ’17

Against the Fence | Lauren Stone ’17

calendar TODAY 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 20 21 22 23 24 25 27 28 29 30 33 36 38 41 42 43

Conjures up, as prose Ecological succession stage Blockade, as ships Canada’s oldest city European Union : EUR : : United States : ____ Earth’s polar regions Cardinals div.

“A mouse!”

Witch’s twig broom Onassis nickname One of several on Mount Olympus Drug to treat AIDS Violent, uncontrollable anger Latin bears Bleated, as sheep College Board subject tests: abbr. “___ la la!”

Pelvis, anatomically Brown and seven others Architectural edge Harpy : bird :: ___ : snake Relative of impalas 133.32 pascals Rhyming opposite of ‘nay’

44 45 48 49 50 52 54 57 61 62

Curved shape Phoenix sch.

School founded by TJ White-handed gibbon x/x, x ≠ 0 Muse of flute playing and lyrical poetry Shoe size bigger than 11-A Cardiac ____ Civil rights org. founded by W.E.B. Du Bois Jessica’s nickname

63 64 65 67 68 69 70 71 72

03/03/14 Rod connecting wheel hubs Grp. that puts on Candyland Docking platform Egg-laying farm animals Hebrew prophet and shepherd of Tekoa Dutch exotic dancer and spy Hari Boast Mature, as fruit Sighs of relaxation

MARCH 3

12 P.M. ENGLISH-SPEAKING PROGRAMS IN EUROPE INFO SESSION

The Office of International Programs offers program details to students interested in studying abroad at English-speaking institutions in Europe. J. Walter Wilson 502 6 P.M. MEET THE MEDIA: OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK

CareerLAB hosts a video conference with Jennifer Gordon ’06, programming and development manager at the Oprah Winfrey Network, for a discussion of her career in the media and entertainment industry. CareerLAB

Solution to last Monday’s puzzle: TOMORROW

MARCH 4

12 P.M. THE DUDIFICATION OF DIETING: MASCULINITY AND WEIGHT LOSS IN 21ST CENTURY AMERICA

American Studies PhD student Emily Contois GS leads a conversation about how major weight loss companies have used typical social images of masculinity to target male audiences for their programs. Sarah Doyle Women’s Center 6 P.M. 2014 DEBRA L. LEE LECTURE ON SLAVERY AND JUSTICE

Deborah Willis, chair of the Department of Photography and Imaging at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU presents a lecture, titled “Visualizing Freedom: Photography and Emancipation.” Smith-Buonanno 106

6 commentary

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014

EDITORIAL

The for-profit fallacy Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed suit against ITT Educational Services, a for-profit chain of colleges accused of enticing vulnerable students to take out significant debt for degrees of suspect value. Thirty-two state attorneys general are investigating ITT and similar companies for the same predatory lending policies. Growing concern over the student debt burden, particularly for low-income students who may not have even received a degree, indicates that the student loan industry may be heading for a crisis remarkably similar to the housing bubble. In both instances, federal programs, implemented with good intentions, were exploited by corrupt corporate interests, leaving taxpayers and particularly vulnerable individuals on the hook. We are heartened that federal regulators are paying attention to this problem, and we are hopeful they will be able to put a stop to predatory practices before this becomes the next bubble to burst.

The CFPB is alleging that ITT schools pushed students into taking out private loans with exorbitantly high interest rates, even though they internally estimated that at least 64 percent of their students would go into default. They are also being charged with misleading students about their post-graduation employment prospects, and even lying to students whether their course credits could be transferred.. The lawsuit further alleges that the schools offered students sweetheart deals for the first year of their education and then forced them to take out high-interest loans to pay them back. ITT has charged students $44,000 for associate’s degrees, even though many of these credits could not transfer if students sought to further their education. For-profit bachelor’s degrees can be even more expensive, often costing two times the price of an associate’s.

Fortunately, the Department of Education has proposed reforms with which for-profit schools must comply if they want their students to have access to federal loans. These schools must give students the opportunity for “gainful employment in a recognized occupation” and keep their student loan default rate below 30 percent. Further, debt repayment cannot take up more than 8 percent of future earnings or 20 percent of disposable income.

Awareness of the problems with the for-profit industry has been growing for some time — last fall, President Obama decried “schools that are notorious for getting students in, getting a bunch of grant money, having those students take out a lot of loans, making big profits, but having really low graduation rates.” While it is promising that Obama is aware of the problem’s scope, it remains to be seen whether the administration’s reforms will have a measurable effect on the industry.

If students want to use their own money on questionable degrees, there is relatively little that regulation can solve, short of prosecuting blatant fraud. But these for-profit schools target students eligible for federal loan money, taking advantage of programs designed to help those who otherwise could not afford college. Thus, the federal government has both a legal and a moral obligation to ensure that money designed to help students get ahead doesn’t put them further behind.

Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board: its editors, Matt Brundage ’15 and Rachel Occhiogrosso ’14, and its members, Hannah Loewentheil ’14 and Thomas Nath ’16. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.

CORRECTIONS Due to an editing error, an article in Thursday’s Herald (“U. recognized as top employer,” Feb. 27) incorrectly stated that AWLP would release a list of Seal of Distinction recipients at its March gala. In fact, AWLP has already released the list of recipients but will announce the top scorers at the gala.

The Herald regrets the error.

A N G E L IA WA N G

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Traditional libraries offer many advantages To the Editor: I very much agree with the article in Thursday’s Herald on e-book difficulties (“Online resources remain unpopular among students,” Feb. 27). As books are moved from the library into high-density storage outside of Providence (stored just by size!), the traditional activity of browsing is eliminated. Browsing means that one looks perhaps for one book on the shelf, finds it not useful, but finds, just a few feet away, a much better book whose existence was not suspected, and then perhaps a third or fourth book that is exactly right. A student studying in a traditional library with books on nearby shelves might be tempted by idle curiosity to open one, and thereby have the whole course of his or her life changed. Such a library makes possible the idea that you are in charge of your education, and not reliant on a faculty member for all your learning.

Without this, one will still be able to request a particular

“It’s going to be even more geographically diverse 10 years from now.”

— Jim Miller ’73, dean of admission, on Brown’s applicant pool

See applicants on page 1.

Editorial Leadership

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Arts & Culture Editors Katherine Cusumano Andrew Smyth

Design Editors Brisa Bodell Einat Brenner Assistant: Loren Dowd Assistant: Carlie Peters Assistant: Taylor Schwartz Assistant: Sean Simonson

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Senior Editors Maddie Berg Kate Nussenbaum BLOG DAILY HERALD Editor-in-Chief William Janover Managing Editors David Oyer Georgia Tollin POST- MAGAZINE Editor-in-Chief Ben Resnik COMMENTARY Editorial Page Editors Matt Brundage Rachel Occhiogrosso Opinions Editors Gabbie Corvese Sarah Rubin Maggie Tennis

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Photo Editors Head: Tom Sullivan Brittany Comunale David Deckey Emily Gilbert Samuel Kase Sydney Mondry Video Editor Henry Chaisson Graphics Editors Andersen Chen Avery Crits-Cristoph Greg Jordan-Detamore Jillian Lanney Web Producer Joseph Stein Copy Desk Chief Claire Postman Assistant: Sara Palasits Illustrations Editor Angelia Wang

Bruno Harris Professor Emeritus of Mathematics and Departmental Library Representative for Math

Q U O T E O F T H E D AY

Due to an editing error, an article in Thursday’s Herald (“Laureate encourages science education,” Feb. 27) incorrectly stated that Donna Casanova is the science supervisor for grades K-8 for Providence Public Schools. In fact, she is the science supervisor for grades K-12. The Herald regrets the error.

Managing Editors Mathias Heller Sona Mkrttchian Adam Toobin

book to be delivered to you, perhaps in a couple of days, but that is a hundred times slower than browsing. E-books currently have many difficulties: First of all, one has to find the e-book in Josiah. But there are many books currently without e-versions. Also, Josiah has many grievous gaps. Books published in a series — say, “Proceedings of Symposia in …” — have been catalogued only by series name and volume number: Looking for a title or author will produce nothing. I have found one such series of about 200 books, but after that, many such series, of thousands of books, have turned up. Perhaps in another 10 or 20 years some of these difficulties will slowly disappear, but in the meantime it would be a great blow to learning if our libraries were emptied.

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commentary 7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014

Taking advantage of the social era SAMANTHA ISMAN opinions columnist

Most of us consider social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook our greatest sources of procrastination. In general, our professors request that we avoid perusing these websites in class so that we remain engaged with the material. At the same time, a new trend is emerging: Educators are asking their students to utilize these social media platforms as part of their classes. If used in a limited manner, and mostly outside of class, social media can help students engage with class material as part of their daily routines.

The increasingly common use of social media in classrooms shows that our education system is evolving and providing opportunities for students to express themselves in diverse ways.

While social media or other webbased forums should not completely replace a classroom environment, they are helping to create an education system catered toward the technological habits of younger generations. A 2013 Babson College study found that “about 40 percent of faculty members used social media as a teaching tool in 2013,” Inside Higher Ed reported in October.

Social media use also demonstrates

professors’ willingness to adapt classroom structures to students’ needs and desires. Nontraditional instruction provides some students a tailored education and offers them a different format that may benefit their learning styles. At Brown, many professors require students to post comments on class Canvas pages. A shift from Canvas to Facebook posts would make class participation even more accessible and natural for college students. In a Herald article last month, Associate Professor of Political Science and Pub-

students more intimately. Jon Marshall, an assistant professor at Northwestern, told USA Today in November that Twitter “was helpful to have yet another tool to get to know” his students, especially in large classes.

But fostering connections on social media may pose questions about how much professors should know about their students’ lives outside of class and vice versa. Some may argue that professors should not have access to their students’ Facebook profiles or be able to see what occurs in their students’

es that neither Facebook nor Canvas does. Schiller said Twitter “is a really great way of continuing the conversation outside of class.” In this sense, Twitter works the same way as a class discussion, without the necessary class time. Just as class discussions are based on short comments and responses to each student, Twitter discussions allow for lively and active debate.

Moreover, Twitter may help students hone their writing skills. A 2012 Michigan State University study found that “students who use Twitter for aca-

While social media or other web-based forums should not completely replace a classroom environment, they are helping to create an education system catered toward the technological habits of younger generations. lic Policy Wendy Schiller said, “Students are already using Facebook, so it’s a helpful tool in the sense that it fosters communication amongst students in ways that might not otherwise be possible.” In addition, some professors have found that students who are more hesitant about participating in class have an easier time posting their opinions on online outlets like Facebook.

The incorporation of social media into class curricula not only creates possibilities for students to share their opinions openly and confidently, but also allows professors to know their

private lives. At the same time, students can easily make their Facebook profiles private. Professors can use Facebook’s tools to create class groups in which members must be accepted by group administrators, and each student’s profile can remain private.

As with Facebook, the use of Twitter in class curricula can be beneficial or hurtful. If used appropriately and for the purpose of fostering discussion and sending quick and interesting observations to students, Twitter should not pose any problems to classes. And Twitter offers educational advantag-

demic reasons gain the ability to write succinctly,” U.S. News and World Report reported at the time. While most courses require paper-writing only, the introduction of Twitter comments in class discussions could teach students to construct arguments in a concise and articulate manner.

There remains a problem of how to ensure that students are using social media in and out of class in a constructive way. Professors have no way of monitoring exactly what their students are doing on social media in class.

About 56 percent of professors who

were surveyed for the Babson study still believe that “technology is more distracting than helpful to students’ academic work,” Inside Higher Ed reported. Others believe that the increasing use of social media in classrooms is creating an environment in which “students are missing valuable lessons in real-life social skills,” Campus Technology reported in 2012.

Though these concerns are valid, there is something to be said for the evolution of class discussions and student contributions. Social media should not replace the traditional format of classrooms, and its use during class hours is often distracting. But a moderated and directed use of social media outside of class can create positive possibilities for both educators and students alike.

More than that, using social media to supplement current ways of communicating learned knowledge in class demonstrates professors’ willingness to evolve with technological innovation and make use of new social media platforms available to us. Like everything, social media is best in moderation. But its use opens up new channels of communication — in a readily accessible manner — that traditional classroom structures do not offer.

Sami Isman ’15 is still trying to figure out how to use Twitter.

Provost search lacks student representation MAGGIE TENNIS opinions editor

Two weeks ago, two forums offered undergraduate and graduate students each the opportunity to participate in the University’s search for the person who will replace Provost Mark Schlissel P’15.

I use the term “participate” cautiously, however.

A closer examination indicates that the process only minimally involves students.

I’ll be plain. I have little confidence that this semester’s search for a new provost will keep the student body’s interest at heart — or even in mind. And after attending the Feb. 19 Undergraduate Council of Students forum featuring two members of the search committee, Professor of Visual Arts Wendy Edwards and undergraduate appointee Daniel Pipkin ’14, my concerns have increased. The purpose of the UCS forum was to allow students to express their views regarding the qualifications that the next provost must possess and their thoughts on what type of person he or she should or shouldn’t be. It’s true that students were given space to speak candidly on the topic, and I would never underestimate the capability of Brown students to do so with wisdom and insight. But I do doubt the willingness of the search committee to meaningfully consider students’ wishes.

I would comment on the trustworthiness of the search process, but I can’t, because I do not even know what the process entails. And I asked.

Twice. Yet Edwards and Pipkin declined to answer — the administration had instructed them not to. Again, I asked why. Why, at a forum that existed solely to obtain student input into the provost search process, were we excluded from knowledge about it?

No dice.

So I ask you: What is the point of permitting students to weigh in on a process they aren’t even allowed to understand? This question begs a bigger one: What is the point of an organization like

UCS if it is ultimately kept in the dark by the administration?

Edwards and Pipkin’s instructions to remain mute originated high up within the administration. Pipkin said they came from President Christina Paxson herself. It is always disturbing when the University’s administration refuses to be transparent, but it is more disturbing when this refusal is tied up in the selection of an administrator that will be directly engaged in the academic experiences of both undergraduate and graduate students — as the next provost will be.

It is clear from the administrators’ instructions to Pipkin that they have already impaired his power to represent the undergraduate community thoroughly. As I’ve already stated, it is difficult for students to demand representation in a process they do not know the first thing about.

Therefore, Pipkin simply can’t obtain meaningful feedback from students. Equally troubling is the

tions and want to support undergraduate interests. Yet, unfortunately for them and the rest of us, the administration severely limits their efficacy.

Consider the provost search committee appointment process. Out of 10 applications, UCS recommended three to President Paxson. Paxson got the final say and appointed Pipkin. But why couldn’t UCS choose its top choice directly? If an undergraduate appointment to the committee serves the purpose of representing student voices, shouldn’t that appointment be based solely on student voices, without administrative oversight?

Undergraduate students are not alone in experiencing exclusion from the provost search process. A similar forum for graduate students resulted in little opportunity for diversity of perspective on the process and potential candidates, because only two grad students attended the forum. But don’t blame grad students for this poor attendance. The forum was held during the lunch-

What is the point of allowing students to weigh in on a process they aren’t even permitted to understand? paltry level at which UCS is at all involved in the search, which seems to be the result of the administration’s disinclination to involve them. Indeed, a few members of UCS stated at the forum that they merely hoped the body would have the opportunity to assist the committee in assessing applicants.

Shouldn’t they already have it?

In my view, we elect — to the extent that there is more than one candidate running for any position — our UCS representatives to serve as liaisons between undergraduates and the administration. It’s worth noting, however, that there have been disagreements about the body’s purpose from within UCS. A recent Herald article (“UCS confronts student gov. identity,” Feb. 13) noted that while many members believe that they represent student perspectives, others do not. The undergraduate community has always been skeptical of the Council’s utility — UCS members certainly take a lot of flak. But most have good inten-

time hour, a time of day when the majority of grad students are attending departmental workshops, brown-bag events and meetings. Graduate students must prioritize these responsibilities, which are directly vital to their studies and training. The administration apparently didn’t understand this conflict, thereby once again demonstrating its isolation from the very students whom it claims to serve. Or it understood, but didn’t care.

In a few words, the administration must be more transparent. Transparency requires that Paxson disclose her rationale for choosing the members of the search committee, including her appointments of Pipkin and Crystal Ngo GS, the search committee’s graduate student appointment. But the president and the administration could go further if they genuinely want to represent students in the search process. The first step would be to invite more students to join the committee. The second step would be to increase the involvement of UCS and the Graduate Student

Council beyond the mostly for-show student representative appointment processes and open forums. At this point, there is no assurance that either body has any influence at all.

The administration’s inclusion of only two students on the provost search committee is a dreadful omen of potential exclusionary practices to come. Beginning this spring, a committee will form to review the Student Code of Conduct, an umbrella document for crucial issues like sexual misconduct. Imagine if that committee includes only one undergraduate. He or she would be grossly overextended, trying to both represent a diversity of student viewpoints and defend student concerns against an administration with a reputation of unresponsiveness on such matters.

I challenge the administration to be thoroughly transparent about processes like the provost search and to increase the number of students it involves in such processes. One place to start would be to allow UCS and GSC to review finalist candidates for provost. I understand that applicant anonymity is a factor, but I am certain that if the administration sincerely values student participation in the process, it could devise a plan to properly shield applicants from exposure.

If the administration is willing, it will find a way to keep student interests at the center of the provost search. Doing so requires expanding student participation and administrative transparency. Let’s see a document. I don’t mean some nebulous policy with vague language and few clear directives, but a document that spells out the provost search process from beginning to end. In addition to greater transparency, the administration must recognize that student input requires a significant number of student representatives on the provost search committee and on all committees that form in the future.

Maggie Tennis ’14 is not finished with this subject. She will have much more to say about the provost search and issues of student representation as the semester unfolds.

MONDAY, MARCH 3, 2014

THE

BROWN DAILY HERALD

science & research

Organic Chemistry receives makeover, yields higher midterm scores Prof. says class has been revamped and will use new textbook produced by Brown

By GABRIELLE DEE SENIOR STAFF WRITER

With a new professor, different textbook and an unusually high average on the first midterm, the material of the infamous weed-out course CHEM0350: “Organic Chemistry” underwent marked changes this year.

Paul Williard P’11, professor of chemistry, currently teaches one section of the class, which he last taught in 2004. Williard said the Department of Chemistry has rebooted the course to focus less on specifics, so as to cover a wider range of topics that were previously left out of the curriculum, such as carbohydrates, amino acids and polynucleotides. In previous years, there was “way too much in terms of irrelevant information,” he said.

Many students have been talking about the high average on the first midterm — 86 percent, compared to last year’s 78.2 percent. This semester, between 40 and 45 students also scored perfect 100s.

Abid Haseeb ’16, a teaching assistant for the course, said the purpose of the first midterm was to establish the basics of the course, and that the professor had expressed that the class would pick up in the coming weeks.

Williard has not yet determined the grade cutoffs for the course and

will base these numbers on the performance of the class as a whole, Haseeb added. “It may end up being as difficult to get an A in the class as before,” Haseeb said.

Williard said of the course’s tests, “I think it’s a different style of what we’re asking in the questions.”

May Siu ’15, who took the course last year, said she heard that students found the test easy, even turning in their exams before the allotted time was over.

Darius Chyou ’16 dropped organic chemistry last year and is currently retaking it this semester. He said the course this year is much simpler, adding that exam questions are no longer as tricky or specific. “Everything we learned is the same, it’s just that the testing is different,” Chyou added.

Chyou said the challenge orgo presented last year motivated him to work harder for a better grade. “It was more exciting, but at the same time really stressful,” he said.

Siu said she enjoyed the course when she took it because the tricky questions taught her to problem-solve and students taking the course this year may not learn the same critical thinking skills.

Ashley Wu ’16 also took organic chemistry last year and said she enjoyed the class for being challenging and fastpaced, but that it provided unnecessary stress for students. “Sometimes it’s dangerous to their mental health,” Wu said.

Widespread dissatisfaction among former students brought about the decision to change the textbook, Williard

SABRINA CHIN / HERALD

Professor of Chemistry Paul Williard last taught CHEM 0350 in 2004. Returning to the course, Williard says this year’s content covers a wider range of topics and will not focus as heavily on specifics. said. Previously, the University used an edition by Joseph Hornback, a professor at the University of Denver, but has since switched to one produced

by Brown itself, Haseeb said.

Wu said she was glad to see a development in the curriculum this semester. It shows that “we’re growing, and the curriculum is growing,” Wu said.

But not all agreed. The changes in the course are not fair to students who took it in previous years, Chyou said, though he admitted it is extremely

difficult for universities to standardize their courses, especially with different professors.

Siu said the fact that the course used to be so difficult was unfair. “Some of my friends say there should be a note on the transcript,” indicating that the course was changed, Siu said, adding that she thinks there should be a more challenging class for chemistry concentrators and a less intense route for non-concentrators.

Kareem Osman ’14, head teaching

assistant for organic chemistry, said it is currently too early to judge the difficulty of the course. Many students still struggle with the material, he added.

Both Williard and Haseeb also noted that the first midterm does not necessarily indicate the overall difficulty of the course.

Ultimately, professors aim to make students understand and appreciate organic chemistry, and the means of achieving that this year may simply be different than before, Haseeb said.

UCS funding structure prevents allocation difficulties, leaders say UCS’ multi-part strucure avoids funding issues faced

by Harvard Undergraduate Council

By CAROLINE KELLY SENIOR STAFF WRITER

While Harvard’s student government leaders held a rally last month protesting what they call their restrictive budget, leaders of Brown’s Undergraduate Council of Students said they are satisfied with the funds allotted to them.

Harvard Undergraduate Council President Gus Mayopoulos and Vice President Sietse Goffard, both juniors, led a rally Feb. 20 in front of Massachusetts Hall demanding a $250,000 increase to their $489,000 budget.

“I was really encouraged by the turnout — we had about 100 people show up, and they were all really passionate and enthusiastic about our mission,” Goffard told The Herald.

The Undergraduate Council’s limited budget prevents it from fully meeting student groups’ financial needs, Goffard said.

But the funding structure for student groups is set up differently at Brown, where UCS approves student groups’ categorizations but the Undergraduate Finance Board is responsible

UNIVERSITY NEWS

for assessing their funding needs, said Alex Drechsler ’15, UCS Student Activities chair and a former Herald opinions columnist.

“The fact that the way student groups are organized is divided between UCS and UFB is really important and a great check on the power of each organization,” Drechsler said.

“Students make the decision about what groups exist, how those groups exist, whether they get money and how much money they get, and at many other schools, it’s done by the administration,” he added.

The University’s funding structure prevents UCS from having conflicts of interest in which its funding would take precedence over that of other groups, said UCS President Todd Harris ’14.5. “UCS every year makes an effort to ask for the smallest amount of money possible, so that we can ensure that other students have access to the most funds,” he said.

But two years ago, controversy flared over the UCS budget when then-President Ralanda Nelson ’12 proposed an amendment to the UCS constitution that would have let the Council determine its own funding without UFB approval, The Herald reported at the time.

Today, the Student Initiatives Fund, which provides money to student innovators, represents the “single biggest allocation in our budget, and I think that’s the way it should be,”

COURTESY OF NATHALIE MIRAVAL FOR THE HARVARD CRIMSON

Harvard’s Undergraduate Council is trying to secure greater funding from its administration to cover student group expenses, while UCS’ budget issues are handled by the Undergraduate Finance Board.

Harris said.

At Harvard, many student groups do not have the necessary funding to fully engage in their pursuits, Goffard said. He cited literary magazines that cannot cover start-up costs, cultural outreach groups that must charge for participation to cover food costs and club sports teams that cannot afford necessary safety equipment.

“We really think the university should chip in a little for covering underfunded student organizations and club sports and help committees,” Goffard added. “Our goal was to make it visible to the university and the administrators that this is an issue that students really care about and feel deeply about because it impacts them on a very daily basis.”

The rally did not accomplish its goal, since administrators decided not to increase the Undergraduate Council’s funds, Mayopoulos told The Herald. Undergraduate Council leaders plan on meeting with Michael Smith, dean of the faculty of arts and sciences at Harvard, he said. “Hopefully he can help us get the funding for these student groups.”