Wednesday, September 3, 2014 by The Brown Daily Herald

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BROWN DAILY HERALD vol. cxlix, no. 59

since 1891

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2014

Paxson draws on U. history, welcomes new provost Huidekoper

to step down from top finance post

Administrators encourage students to embrace controversial discussions in Convocation speeches By JOSEPH ZAPPA

Announcement comes after 12 years of leading efforts to grow endowment

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

A new generation of first-years marched through the Van Wickle Gates and onto the Main Green to mark the start of Brown’s 251st academic year yesterday afternoon. President Christina Paxson kicked off the ceremony, declaring the academic year officially in swing and inviting applause for the students joining College Hill this fall: 125 medical school students, 679 master’s and doctoral students, four Resumed » See CEREMONY, page 7

By MICHAEL DUBIN UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR

TOM SULLIVAN / HERALD

First-years march through the Van Wickle Gates as part of the University’s 251st opening Convocation Tuesday. “Build your community, build your friendships and make time for your fellow students,” said Provost Vicki Colvin.

Watchdog group files complaint against Brown animal labs Multiple bats and primates were denied food or water for days during the past five years By SARAH PERELMAN SCIENCE & RESEARCH EDITOR

The watchdog group Stop Animal Exploitation NOW! filed an official complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Aug. 27 calling for a more complete investigation of the University’s past self-reported Animal Welfare Act violations, said Julia Orr, communications director of SAEN. If the USDA’s investigation finds the University guilty of negligence, it could exact a fine of up to $10,000 per offense, she added. The Office of Lab Animal Welfare rarely exacts fines or punishes universities for self-reported offenses, Orr said.

SCIENCE & RESEARCH

The SAEN complaint highlights three instances over the past three years of University noncompliance with federal regulations requiring researchers to take proper care of the animals in their labs, according to a copy of the complaint letter sent to The Herald by SAEN. They reference letters self-reporting noncompliance or official USDA reports at the time of each of the events. The complaint also cites an earlier 2010 inspection report, in which the inspector discovered 11 violations in University labs, a finding that the report stated suggests a pattern of negligence. This past July, a researcher moved several bats to separate living quarters for training without informing other workers in the lab of the venue change. The

bats did not receive food over a weekend, and three bats subsequently died, according to a 2014 report by the USDA. Another cited violation occurred when “one non-human primate did not have access to its usual daily water regimen for a period of approximately 48 hours” in September 2012, Vice President for Research Clyde Briant wrote on behalf of the University in a letter to the National Institute of Health’s Office of Lab Animal Welfare at the time of the violation. The Animal Welfare Act states that non-human primates must be allowed unlimited access to water when experiments are not underway, according to a USDA inspection report. Once the mistake was discovered and the animal was given water, his thirst and appetite were normal, Briant wrote, adding that a veterinarian examined

the animal and determined he was “not harmed by the event.” A similar incident occurred in 2010, when another non-human primate did not have access to water for 72 hours while a researcher was on vacation, according to the 2010 USDA inspection report. The third violation that SAEN listed as “egregious” in their complaint occurred when University researchers commenced surgery on a different sheep than the surgery was intended for. After the researchers made an “initial incision” on the incorrect sheep, who was pregnant, they discovered their mistake and quickly provided post-operative care, Briant wrote in a separate self-reporting letter. “The sheep was able to stand and eat within 20 minutes after surgery and was monitored closely thereafter,” Briant » See COMPLAINT, page 7

U. approves new concentration in contemplative studies

By GABRIELLE DEE SENIOR STAFF WRITER

inside

The College Curriculum Council approved contemplative studies as Brown’s newest concentration at its May meeting. The concentration became the University’s 79th field of study, excluding independent concentrations. Contemplative studies is the first college major of its kind in North America, wrote CCC chair Margaret Klawunn, vice president for campus life and student services, in an email to The Herald. “It’s not just a new concentration,” said Harold Roth P’17, professor of religious studies and director of the

Contemplative Studies Initiative, who has spearheaded the effort to make contemplative studies a regular concentration. “We’re really attempting to build a whole new academic field.” The concentration “looks at how we think about the world and how we think about thinking,” said Chloe Zimmerman ’15, an independent concentrator in contemplative studies. The field addresses the “underlying philosophy, psychology and phenomenology of contemplative experience, across time, cultures and traditions,” according to the Contemplative Studies Initiative’s website. The concentration will comprise two tracks, one focused on humanities and another on sciences, Roth said. Both tracks require varying courses in neuroscience, cognitive science, philosophy and religion. Originally included was a third track focusing on the arts, but “in the » See STUDIES, page 2

YONG JAE KIM / HERALD

The new contemplative studies program combines first-person and thirdperson learning techniques to facilitate multifaceted understanding.

Science & Research

Commentary

U. researchers publish recent study linking gamma brain waves to touch sensitivity in mice

Study finds copper foam may be key to recycling carbon dioxide emissions

Tennis ’14.5: New provost has correct qualifications, but fails to bring diversity

Shin ’17: U. uses guise of globalization as means of bringing in more revenue

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Program combines science and humanities courses to explore human contemplative experience

Beppie Huidekoper, executive vice president for finance and administration, will retire in February after more than 12 years in the position, President Christina Paxson announced in a campus-wide email Aug. 20. Huidekoper came to Brown in October 2002 after serving as Harvard’s vice president for finance. Among senior administrators, Huidekoper’s tenure is second only to that of General Counsel Beverly Ledbetter, who has been at Brown since 1978. Huidekoper’s departure comes as the University prepares to embark on a new capital campaign under Paxson, which will launch within the next 15 months. Huidekoper told The Herald it feels like the right time to retire now that Paxson’s strategic plan has been laid out, the presidential transition is complete and a new provost is entering Brown. She said she is honored to have served at Brown but is ready for a change after 32 years in higher education. Huidekoper oversaw the University’s finances and operations during the implementation of the Plan for Academic Enrichment — a time of significant growth for Brown — and during the 2008 financial crisis, when the University’s endowment lost about a third of its value, Paxson wrote. The endowment, which was $2.7 billion last February, when the University most recently reported its size, has nearly returned to its pre-recession height of $2.8 billion. Paxson said Huidekoper was “instrumental” in crafting the University’s response to these economic challenges and praised her “sound financial stewardship” throughout her tenure, including managing the budget amid falling federal funding for higher education. Recent budgets have repeatedly included record highs for both undergraduate tuition costs and financial aid expenditures. “There have been lots of challenges, and I think that’s what made it interesting and compelling and rewarding,” Huidekoper said. Paxson also credited Huidekoper with bringing a different approach to Brown’s real estate ventures, which facilitated the University’s expansion in » See HUIDEKOPER, page 2 t o d ay

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2 university news » STUDIES, from page 1 end, we were unable to include the arts track” when pitching the concentration to the CCC, Roth said. Students will still be able to pursue this area of contemplative studies through additional coursework, an independent concentration or a double concentration, he added. A 2005 graduate created the first independent concentration in contemplative studies, and a total of 16 students have since pursued independent concentrations in the subject, he added. One proposal to make the concentration official failed to gain approval from the CCC a few years ago, Klawunn wrote.

The more recent proposal included a stronger spread of courses and more faculty involvement, she wrote, adding that the field of contemplative studies has grown since the initial proposal was rejected. Increased student and faculty interest also contributed to the CCC’s decision to approve the new concentration, as evidenced by the high number of independent concentrators as well as teaching and advising positions that have grown from contemplative studies over the past few years, Klawunn wrote. With the University’s increasing investment in neuroscience and a larger number of scientists at Brown looking into contemplative studies in

recent years, the field’s popularity has grown, said Monica Linden, lecturer in neuroscience. Affiliated faculty members pushed to make the concentration official so “we don’t have to reinvent the wheel” each time another student wishes to concentrate in the field, Linden added. Zimmerman said contemplative studies can be much more accessible now that the concentration is official. Students will no longer be discouraged by the daunting amount of work needed to create an independent concentration, she said. Contemplative studies incorporates an “integrated contemplative pedagogy,” which entails learning subjectively through the critical first-person

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2014

perspective as well as the purely academic and objective third-person view, according to the initiative’s website. Students can take a step back from analyzing empirical evidence and “subjectively engage with the material,” Roth said, referencing how some courses incorporate labs that analyze meditative practices, such as noticing breath on the tip of the nostrils, he said. “This allows students to discuss how their experience relates to what they have studied, instead of uncritically accepting the truth of normative claims,” Roth said. The concentration also encourages second-person work, through group projects and person-to-person communication, Roth said. The integrated contemplative pedagogy lends insight to scientists’ attempts to understand contemplative traditions of religions, Linden said. Scientists can study why meditation reduces stress through both quantitative research and personal experiences of meditating, she said.

Many students who previously independently concentrated in the science track have gone on to medical school or graduate programs in psychology or neuroscience, while some students in the humanities track have gone to graduate school for education or to become academics, Roth said. Contemplative studies proves especially useful in education fields, as concentrators can truly understand what others are experiencing, Zimmerman said. Linden said some concentrators even choose to become monks after graduating. “There’s no real trend in what people have done.” Roth said the benefits of concentrating in contemplative studies also lie outside the classroom, as the field stimulates both intellectual and personal growth. Students have reported that their attention spans improve significantly, and they can experience drops in anxiety and depression levels and feel more compassion for themselves and others, he said.

Former grad student will serve 46 years for murder Yongfei Ci admitted in court to stabbing his exgirlfriend to death in her home last year By SARAH PERELMAN SCIENCE & RESEARCH EDITOR

Charged with the brutal murder of his ex-girlfriend last September, Yongfei Ci — at the time of the crime a visiting graduate student at Brown’s Institute for Computational and Experimental Research in Mathematics — was sentenced to 46 years behind bars in June, the News-Gazette in Champaign, Illinois, reported. The sentence is four years fewer than the length recommended by Assistant State’s Attorney Steven Ziegler. But Ci will serve the full 46 years per the terms of his plea bargain, according to the Illinois Circuit Court’s website. Ci, a PhD candidate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, drove from Providence to Urbana, Illinois, in

» HUIDEKOPER, from page 1 the Jewelry District. Huidekoper received criticism this past summer for the University’s decision to outsource mail operations to Ricoh USA, resulting in all but two Mail Services workers being laid off. More than 900 students signed an online petition for the University to retain Mail Services employees, and a few dozen people staged a protest on

late September 2013 bearing knives and a pellet gun he had purchased over the course of several days. He could not come to terms with the fact that his ex-girlfriend, Mengchen Huang, had ended their relationship and found a new boyfriend, according to testimony reported by the News-Gazette. Ci admitted he forced his way into Huang’s Urbana apartment and stabbed her to death while leaving her roommate tied up and locked in a bathroom. Ci addressed the judge during his sentencing hearing, asking her to contextualize his offense and “to see me not through this single act but my life prior to this offense,” the News-Gazette reported. Ziegler countered Ci’s argument, calling the defendant “dangerous” and describing how Ci had planned at least one week in advance to torture and murder Huang, the News-Gazette reported. After Ci serves his time in prison, he will face deportation to China, his home country, the News-Gazette reported. campus in July. During her time at Brown, Huidekoper also helped attract a host of new administrators, including last year’s additions of Joseph Dowling, chief investment officer, and Ravi Pendse, chief information officer and vice president for computing and information services, Paxson wrote. Plans to find Huidekoper’s successor will take shape this semester, Paxson wrote.

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Ray Kelly committee report urges diversity resources, reframed dialogues Committee also calls for expanding uncomfortable discussions throughout campus and student body By TONYA RILEY UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR

Increased resources for the Office of Institutional Diversity, new diversity benchmarks for undergraduate and graduate student support and more targeted hiring practices were among the main recommendations released May 20 by the Committee on the Events of October 29 in its second and final report. The report, which President Christina Paxson announced in a communitywide email May 22, concludes that the University needs to reemphasize and widen discussions of “privilege, equity and inclusion.” In addition to supporting “expression of the widest range of ideas, we need to debate and challenge expression with which we profoundly disagree and which may be harmful to members of our community,” it continues. Relying on interviews with a variety of Brown community members, the second report was created in a similar manner as the first, which was released in February. That report focused on the events surrounding the controversial planning, protests and shutdown of a lecture by former New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly on campus last October. In the second report, the committee examined the broader climate surrounding issues of free speech and diversity on campus, said Anthony Bogues, professor of Africana Studies, director of the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice and the committee’s chair. The recommendations echo those of the Visiting Committee on Minority Life and Education in 1986 and the Visiting Committee on Diversity in 2000, according to the report, as many of the prior proposals never came to fruition. In response, the report noted, the committee sought to craft an action plan “to identify a set of strategic priorities, appropriate benchmarks, and necessary resources and support, and address accountability at multiple levels.” The report cites faculty interviews and anonymous posts on the Brown University Micro/Aggressions and Brown University Confessions Facebook pages that point to existing structural inequalities along axes of race and gender at Brown. Citing the Kelly lecture and a controversial April talk at Brown/RISD Hillel by Israel Defense Forces Sgt. Benjamin Anthony, the committee promoted the idea of “collective responsibility” in order to provide both freedom of speech and freedom to challenge disagreeable expression in a manner acknowledging the “structural violence” that often frames debates over speech. In its recommendations about freedom of expression, the committee also urged that dialogue about speech, diversity and privilege — like the discussions that dominated campus in the days after Kelly’s lecture — be placed at the heart of the University, rather than on its periphery. “There is a way to defend free speech. … Part of the responsibility is to extend the right to say, ‘We disagree and will protect your saying it,’” Bogues said. While the report cites several attempts in Brown’s history at addressing issues of pluralism and inclusivity, it concludes that if the University does not take action in “reframing these issues, they will gnaw at the fabric of the institution, exploding now and again even within a climate that is superficially placid.”

Within the administration, the report recommends that the OID play a more central role in hosting conversations and stimulating action on issues of diversity at Brown. The report calls for majorly expanded resources and the significant involvement of at least one tenured faculty member at the office, as well as a renewed push to diversify the ranks of senior administrators. Noting that the proportion of full professors of color has fallen in the past decade, the report suggests expanding several new and existing strategies to hire a more diverse faculty and adequately

support faculty members of color. These include potentially ramping up “cluster hires,” increasing support in the Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning and bolstering the “Diverse Perspectives in Liberal Learning” course designation. The report also calls for the consideration of diversity and climate for faculty members and students of color in regular departmental reviews. The committee argues in the report that the University needs to expand difficult conversations about identity and privilege beyond specific spaces and self-selecting groups on campus, with appropriate support to facilitate dialogue without burdening students of color. In order to sustain such discussions,

the report calls for “a more comprehensive approach” at the institutional level, as well as the expansion of diversity perspectives courses to all disciplines and increased support for mentorship programs for underrepresented students. The report also calls for the University to devote more resources to programs combatting the comparatively high attrition rates among graduate students from underrepresented racial and socioeconomic groups. The report also focuses on community relations, given the involvement of local community members in the Kelly protest and some deeper underlying town-gown tensions. To improve the dynamic, the committee recommends

having a standard process for “soliciting and responding to concerns about public events that occur on campus,” increased opportunities for off-campus work study, expanded community service programs and academic credit granted for community research work. The report also advocates the expansion of the University-Community Academic Advising Program, run through the Swearer Center for Public Service. Though the committee has concluded its work, the report recommends that an ad hoc group be founded to follow up with the recommendations of the report. Paxson will be releasing a response to the report in the next two weeks, she said at a faculty meeting Tuesday.

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Swearer Center sees leadership changes Faculty discuss research, diversity Former associate director of center replaces Roger Nozaki MAT’89, who joined Department of Education By MAXINE JOSELOW SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Roger Nozaki MAT’89, former director of the Swearer Center for Public Service and associate dean of the College for community and global engagement, left the University at the end of last semester to work for the U.S. Department of Education, he told The Herald. Associate Director of the Swearer Center Kate Trimble has replaced him as the center’s acting director. Trimble previously served as acting director of the Swearer Center when Nozaki took a short-term post at the Department of Education for three months during the summer of 2013, she wrote in an email to The Herald. Nozaki will act as a policy adviser in the Office of the Under Secretary of the Department of Education, he said. He declined to comment on whether the role would be short-term or permanent. “It was really a tough decision to think about leaving Brown once I got the offer,”

Nozaki said. “But this new position really connects to the work with college access that I had been doing before Brown.” “The U.S. Department of Education is lucky to have (Nozaki) and he will be greatly missed here at Brown,” Trimble wrote. “I’m looking forward to the role, and to continuing to move our work in the community forward.” Over his nine-year tenure, Nozaki played a prominent role in developing several new public service initiatives at the University, including the Program in Engaged Scholarship, TRI-Lab and the Social Innovation Initiative. Prior to coming to Brown in 2005, Nozaki served as executive director of the GE Foundation, the philanthropic branch of General Electric, and co-founded the Pathways to College Network, a group of national organizations working to boost college attendance among underrepresented groups. Colleagues reflected on Nozaki’s commitment to enmeshing public service

with education. “Under his leadership the connections between service and scholarship have been strengthened,” wrote Margaret Klawunn, vice president for campus life and student services, in an email to The Herald. Nozaki “helped Brown solidify its position as an institution committed to powerful social change,” wrote Klawunn, who worked closely with Nozaki in the dean of the College’s office and led the committee that hired him in 2005. Nozaki’s vision for the Swearer Center drew on former President Howard Swearer’s original belief “that public service should be an integral part of a student’s Brown education,” said Alan Harlam, director of innovation and social entrepreneurship at the Swearer Center. Last year, Nozaki was instrumental in helping a faculty committee identify connections between the engaged scholarship theme in President Christina Paxson’s strategic plan and the Program in Engaged Scholarship, Harlam said. The program, which combines coursework with internships and research, is set to begin next semester.

Nozaki oversaw the pilot of TRI-Lab, an initiative in which students, faculty members and community partners collaborate to address social issues, Harlam said. Last year’s TRI-Lab focused on healthy early childhood development, and two different labs are set to launch this academic year — one centered on healthy food access and one focused on climate change. The Social Innovation Initiative, which provides up to $4,000 and training to students starting social ventures, also benefited from Nozaki’s support, said Stanley Stewart ’16, a social innovation fellow. “He really has set the groundwork for social innovation here at Brown,” Stewart said. “He set those foundations where they didn’t exist before for students.” Looking beyond College Hill, Nozaki also helped connect the University to Providence and global communities through service. During his first few years at the University, Nozaki established the Brown chapter of the College Advising Corps, which enables recent Brown graduates to mentor low-income, first-generation students at urban public high schools across the state. More recently, Nozaki helped spearhead the University’s partnership with Ashoka U, an organization that aims to encourage social innovation at colleges and universities, Trimble wrote. Brown was designated one of 24 national Ashoka U Changemaker Campuses in 2012 and hosted a global Ashoka U Exchange conference this spring that featured approximately 650 students, faculty members and social entrepreneurs from nearly 150 institutions and 40 countries. In the classroom, Nozaki offered students a “fabulous experience” while co-teaching SOC 1870A: “Investing in Social Change” with Associate Professor of Sociology Ann Dill, said Marguerite Joutz ’15, who took the course. “He was an invaluable resource as an educator” given his past experience with » See TRIMBLE, page 5

Paxson to write response about canceled Ray Kelly lecture report in next two weeks By EMMA HARRIS SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Free speech, diversity and research emerged as key issues for faculty during this academic year at Tuesday’s faculty meeting. President Christina Paxson took the podium to speak about both financial and campus life issues — touching most specifically on diversity and freedom of speech on campus. “These two issues were linked somehow last year,” Paxson said. She added that she will release a response to the May report from the Committee on the Events of Oct. 29 within the next two weeks. This report was the second from the committee, which was tasked with analyzing the campus response to former New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly’s canceled lecture in the wake of student protest last fall. Provost Vicki Colvin and Dean of the College Maud Mandel were then recognized for their new administrative positions at the University. “I’ve been here for about sixty days, and I’m getting to know Brown,” Colvin said. She added that she has three main goals: preserving undergraduate education, refining the faculty experience and improving the physical campus. James Morone, professor of political science and public policy and chair of the Faculty Executive Committee, addressed faculty feedback that he had received after the end of last year. The most significant feedback regarded faculty research, Morone said. The FEC will make addressing research and research bureaucracy one of its top goals this semester, he added. Along the same lines as Paxson, Morone went on to discuss many faculty members being “discomforted” by the issues of free speech and diversity. “We won’t duck those issues,” he said, mentioning several teach-ins that will be happening over the semester regarding current events, such as the teach-in about the recent events in Ferguson, Missouri. Other issues included grade inflation and a “sense of community eroding.” Though Morone said the FEC will not be legislating on those issues, they will be working to improve them, especially as the University grows to become a larger research institution, he said. New faculty and newly promoted faculty for the College, Alpert Medical School and the School of Public Health were also recognized at the meeting.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2014

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Science & Research Roundup Study explores mouse sensory perception BY ISOBEL HECK & SARAH PERELMAN, SCIENCE & RESEARCH EDITORS

Carbon dioxide and copper prove useful

Rather than billowing into the sky as air pollution, excess carbon dioxide may provide an ingredient for manufacturing industrial chemicals, according to a study conducted by researchers at the University’s Center for the Capture and Conversion of Carbon Dioxide. The new chemical recipe relies on the interaction of copper foam and carbon dioxide. Though scientists have long known that copper is able to reduce carbon dioxide into useful molecules, research has found that the reaction occurs at a relatively slow rate when using flat copper surfaces. University researchers propose that copper foam may be the mystery ingredient necessary to speed up this conversion. Its rough surface provides more sites for the copper and carbon dioxide to interact, and thus seems to yield products at a higher rate, according to a University press release. The main product is formic acid, which has a wide range of uses. The food industry often relies on formic acid to preserve livestock feed, and the leather industry uses it as a stain to darken leather. “The goal is to find ways to produce some of the world’s largestvolume chemicals from a sustainable carbon source that the Earth not only has in excess but urgently needs to reduce,” said Tayhas Palmore, professor of engineering and director of the center, in the press release. This recent study on copper foam, published in the journal ACS Catalysis last month, is in line with the center’s overall mission, he said.

Snacking quality declines with age

Amidst rising concerns over childhood obesity in the United States, snacks have been implicated as a significant culprit. But a recent study from a Brown postdoctoral fellow suggests that snacks could improve the nutrition of elementary school children. The study, published online in the journal Health and Nutrition, found two opposing trends. Snacks aided the health of children aged nine to 11, but detracted from the nutrition of adolescents aged 12 to 15. Though the researchers could not conclusively determine why this split in snacking quality occurs, they noted that adolescents are more likely to select their own snacks, while parents, who may be more healthconscious, feed younger children. “Snacks don’t have to be vilified,” said lead author E. Whitney Evans, a postdoctoral research fellow at Brown and Miriam Hospital, in a University press release. In this study, Evans and her colleagues interviewed low-income children in the Boston area about their meals. At each of two interviews, the participants recounted their food intake over the 24-hour stretch before the interview, and this information was used alongside demographic information to determine the effects of snacking on the two age groups. The researchers scored whether snacks aided or hindered health based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Health Eating Index. After controlling for other variables, the researchers found that snacking raised the diet quality of children but decreased the diet quality of adolescents.

Judgments of will determine blame

Regardless of spiritual background and practice, people consider each other as independent beings with intentions and assign blame accordingly. This research, published online in the journal Consciousness and Cognition, explore people’s concepts of free will and blame. Brown researchers conducted two studies. The first explored the relation between people’s conceptions of souls, free will and blame. Researchers randomly presented participants with one of five different agents — a human, a human incapable of controlled action or thought, a cyborg with a human brain, a human body powered by artificial intelligence and a robot, according to a University press release. The agent committed seven different actions, the harm from which ranged in severity, and the researchers asked participants to rank the amount of blame the agent should receive based on the action. Participants were also asked to judge the capabilities of each agent. The researchers found that participants assigned free will to the human brain, saying both the normal human and the cyborg possessing a human brain had free will. The participants also said that both types of humans, regardless of their capacity for thought, possessed souls. The participants assigned the most blame to those with free will, but the agent’s possession of a soul did not influence participants’ judgments. “The thing that seems to be most important, and that people do extremely reliably, is that they care about an agent’s capacity for choicemaking,” said lead author Andrew Monroe PhD’12. In the second study, a new group of participants was presented with similar scenarios. They were also asked about their personal beliefs on religion and souls. The researchers found that people’s own beliefs did not determine the amount of blame they would assign agents or whether they thought the agent was capable of free will. “I find it relieving to know that whether you believe in a soul or not, or have a religion or not, or an assumption about how the universe works, that has very little bearing on how you act as a member of the social community,” said Bertram Malle, professor of cognitive, linguistic and psychological sciences and the senior author of the study.

Gamma waves in brain linked to increased touch sensitivity, neuroscientists show in new report By RILEY DAVIS AND ANDREW JONES SENIOR STAFF WRITERS

Attempts to control the brain through direct stimulation have a long history in neuroscientific study, dating back to the ancient Egyptians, said Christopher Moore, associate professor of neuroscience. Moore and his colleagues have continued this line of inquiry in a study, published in Nature Neuroscience last month, in which researchers enhanced touch sensitivity in mice by triggering a specific brain rhythm. Using optogenetics — a method of neuron control developed and popularized in the early 2000s — researchers sensitized neurons in the mice’s cortices to a specific light. When researchers shined a blue light on them, these cortex neurons fired. “The main advantage to using optogenetics is that you can have very precise temporal control over a population of neurons,” said Joshua Siegle ’07, co-lead author of the study, who is currently a graduate student at MIT. By stimulating the neurons with

» TRIMBLE, from page 4 philanthropic foundations, Joutz said. Though Nozaki is still listed as the instructor on Banner, Trimble is set to

certain patterns, the neuroscientists changed the synchrony and frequency of neuronal firing in the mice and produced gamma waves — brain waves that are thought to be vital for attentional processes. Gamma waves run at the highest frequency of any brain rhythm — about 40 hertz in mice, the researchers said. The role of gamma waves in brain function has been a long-debated matter in neuroscience, said Moore, the study’s senior author. Some researchers believe the synchrony of these waves is the basis for all brain functioning, while others argue the speed at which neurons fire is most important, he added. The researchers aimed to test this idea causally by recording mouse whisker vibrations in a naturalistic setting. They played these vibrations back to the mice when gamma rhythms both were and were not present. When gamma rhythms were present, the mice were able to detect fainter vibrations than when the rhythms were absent. “Our data very strongly argue that when we created a situation that did not increase firing rate on average but did increase synchrony, we got better perception,” Moore said. In the experiment’s second part, the researchers shifted the timing between

the emergence of gamma oscillations and tactile stimulus presentation to determine the time frame in which sensory sensitivity was most increased. The researchers found that mouse sensitivity was increased only when gamma waves were elicited within 25 milliseconds of stimulus presentation. “If a signal arrives in this window of opportunity, it becomes easier to detect,” Siegle said, adding that mice presented with tactile stimuli outside of this window did not demonstrate an increase in sensitivity. This study provides a rigorous and convincing report of the role gamma waves play in the brain, said Hava Siegelmann, director of the Biologically Inspired Neural Dynamical Systems lab at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, who was not involved in the study. “I think this is something that has been making us neuroscientists wonder for a long time. … These methods are beautiful,” she added. The team plans to continue studying this form of attention and perception in mice. “The next big step … is to look and see how multiple areas interact on the timescale of gamma,” Siegle said. While this study focused on only one area of the brain, Siegle added, future work should be dedicated to observing the interaction of gamma oscillations in multiple regions of the brain.

co-teach the class this semester, Joutz added. Nozaki’s departure comes at a time of extensive high-level administrative turnover. Former Dean of the College

Katherine Bergeron left Brown in December to become president of Connecticut College, while former Provost Mark Schlissel P’15 assumed the presidency of the University of Michigan July 1.

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2014

» CEREMONY, from page 1 Undergraduate Education scholars, 51 transfer students and 1,562 first-years. Paxson highlighted changes in the makeup of the University’s curriculum and student body over its 250-year history, noting that today’s Brown offers greater academic freedom to a much more diverse group of individuals than those who attended the College in 1765. In contrast, a constant over the last two and a half centuries has been the University’s culture, which has always been relatively tolerant and supportive of intellectual freedom, Paxson said. But she also acknowleged the University’s initial ties to the slave trade, adding that a slavery memorial will be erected on the Quiet Green later this year so that the University’s connections to slavery will not be forgotten. Paxson concluded her address by calling on students to embrace discussions about divisive issues, noting the intense conversations on campus

last year about climate change, sexual assault and police treatment of people of color. “At times, you will and should feel very uncomfortable,” Paxson said. Her remarks were similar to those made by then-President Ruth Simmons in 2001, who urged students to preserve each other’s right to express unpopular opinions, adding that “learning at its best is the antithesis of comfort.” Paxson then turned the microphone over to new Provost Vicki Colvin, whom Paxson described as a good fit for the University based on Colvin’s willingness to take part in uncomfortable discussions. “I cherish controversy,” Colvin told Paxson in an interview, Paxson said. Colvin’s address was centered on three pieces of advice. “Build your community, build your friendships and make time for your fellow students,” Colvin said, adding that friends are an important investment that can help broaden

one’s perspectives. Colvin then turned to academics, advising students to take advantage of the Open Curriculum by exploring a broad range of subjects. Colvin added that she took too many science and math courses in college and underestimated the value of dabbling in classes and activities that did not clearly provide preparation for her career path as a chemist. “I don’t think anyone here is just going to take science or humanities classes,” said Josh Greene ’18, adding that Colvin’s suggestion of exploring many different subjects captured the spirit of Brown students. Lastly, Colvin remarked on the title of her speech, “Fresh Eyes,” urging students to question their professors’ assertions and not to let past generations’ failures diminish their optimism. “You see the world and its possibilities with fresh eyes,” Colvin said, adding that students will “need to stay just a little bit naive” in order to confront the world’s problems.

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» COMPLAINT, from page 1 wrote. Though the University self-reported each of the three instances, “there is a pattern of negligence, and we just don’t feel like it’s good enough to just give them a slap on the wrist,” Orr said, adding that “It’s happening again and again.” Briant’s letters self-reporting the violations each included a set of actions the University would implement to ensure that similar violations would not occur in the future. The proposed corrective actions included increasing training for laboratory personnel and changing protocol to include procedures such as extra checks of surgical tags on animals. “Brown University is committed to the highest standards of animal health and safety in research and works closely with internal committees and federal regulators to ensure that researchers follow strict policies, procedures and protocols,” wrote Marisa Quinn, vice president for public affairs and University relations, in an email to The Herald, adding that the University worked with the proper authorities promptly after each of the incidents. “Obviously I don’t agree with animal

experiments … but there are definitely huge steps we can take to mitigate these disasters,” Orr said, adding that she believes many animal experiments could be replaced with computer simulations. The USDA should also increase random inspections in labs, and lab workers should be encouraged to report negligence themselves, she added. Additionally, the poor quality of animal care in some laboratories decreases the credibility of the results published based on animals’ behaviors, as stress can induce unusual psychological and physiological responses in the test subjects, said Michael Budkie, founder and executive director of SAEN. The USDA usually launches inspections when SAEN files complaints, Orr said. They begin with a follow-up inspection of the laboratories, which usually occurs within 60 to 90 days of filing the complaint, Budkie said. Further investigations may occur depending on the findings, and the whole litigation process could take as long as three years, he added. “I would expect that Brown would receive either a fine or at the very least an official warning from the USDA,” Budkie said.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2014

today 9

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2014

menu SHARPE REFECTORY

n e w fa c e s VERNEY-WOOLLEY

LUNCH Cajun Fettuccini, Cajun Baked Fish, Cajun Spiced Chicken Sandwich, Vegan Jamaican Jerk Tempeh

Sloppy Joes Sandwich, Vegan Spanish Lentils, Falafel, Make Your Own Mac N Cheese Bar, Malibu Blend Vegetables

DINNER Vegan Puttanesca Pasta Saute, Ar tichoke Pasta Medley, Beef Cannelloni with Tomato Sauce

Mexican Cornbread Casserole, Baby Mesculin with Honey Dijon Dressing, Herb Rice, Spinach Stuffed Tomatoes

sudoku

TOM SULLIVAN / HERALD

crossword

Ian Lapham ’18, left, from Reading, Massachusetts, struggles to sing Brown’s Alma Mater as the 251st Convocation ceremony comes to a close.

comics Class Notes | Philip Trammell ’15

Mind Grapes | Willa Tracy ’17

calendar TODAY

SEPTEMBER 3

6 P.M. SOPHOMORE DESSERT RECEPTION

Second-year students are invited to kick off the semester with treats and refreshments while learning about research, internships, study abroad programs and more. Kasper Multipurpose Room 7 P.M. TWTP OPEN MIC NIGHT

Members of the Third World Transition Program community can show off their talents while becoming acquainted with the Third World Center, its members and its resources. List Art 120

TOMORROW

SEPTEMBER 4

4:30 P.M. VISUAL ARTS ICE CREAM SOCIAL

Current concentrators or students interested in learning about the visual arts concentration are invited to an ice cream social to discover more about the program. List Art, 2nd Floor 7 P.M. ACTIVITIES FAIR 2014

Students will have the opportunity to learn about and sign up for University clubs and student organizations. More than 250 students groups are registered to attend. OMAC

10 commentary

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2014

EDITORIAL

Challenge sexual violence We applaud the U.S. Department of Education’s decision this summer to launch an investigation of the University’s sexual assault policies, though without powerful new legislation from Congress we remain deeply skeptical that the department’s recommendations will do much more than provide cover for institutions like Brown to continue to abdicate its responsibilities for keeping its students safe. A national campaign spearheaded by victims and their advocates has raised this issue to the highest levels of media and government, but we cannot treat this moment like a victory when it’s just another benchmark in a long fight against the social, political and economic forces that doubt and justify rape. This summer, a Providence College student, who was passing a night at Louie’s Tavern, reported being drugged, carried off against her will and assaulted multiple times by Brown students. These students later passed around photos and videos of the alleged attack as well as text messages that included discussion like “LML YO LIKE CLASSIC [name] THO. NO INVITE JUST WALKS IN AND STARTS RAPING HER,” The Herald reported this week. Though the Brown students were told to leave campus and removed from the football team roster after the victim filed a complaint with the Providence Police, they will likely be free to return for this coming academic year since a grand jury decided not to indict them last week. The law must protect the rights of the accused, but it is hard to understand this as anything other than another miscarriage of justice — one in which the University is culpable due to its role in the creation and maintenance of the structures that may have taught its students to allegedly drug and rape a peer. When this Providence College student was allegedly raped, she became part of the growing network of survivors — one in five women on college campuses — who are working to educate the world on the prevalence of sexual assault. But even today, only 5 percent of sexual assaults on college campuses are reported to the authorities, and only some of those reports will result in real justice for the victim. These numbers affirm that superficial reforms will fail to reduce sexual violence. If we have a society that condones rape and makes excuses for sexual attackers, victims will only expect scorn and isolation from their communities for reporting an attack. We have seen these types of negative responses to victims’ stories on message boards, including The Herald’s comments section, repeatedly over the last couple years. When a student is allowed to return to campus following a mere one-year suspension after the University finds him guilty of choking and assaulting another student, victims reconsider speaking out — the very act of seeking justice being like a continuation of the attack itself, robbing victims of power over their own experiences. And when our University announces it received a handful of reports of sexual assault without clarifying that those numbers grossly underestimate the extent of the problem, it raises the question of whether the administration would be content with zero assaults or zero reports of assault. One need not doubt President Christina Paxson’s personal integrity to doubt whether the University will ever adopt the kinds of rigorous reforms that would make even the extent of the problem clear. The only real hope for change lies in the victims and advocates on college campuses around the country being willing to challenge the prevalence of sexual violence and the institutions that support it. We must expose those who would prefer collaboration and appeasement to confrontation and action. We must not be quiet.

K I M B E R LY S A LT Z

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

“I cherish controversy.” — Provost Vicki Colvin

See convocation on page 7.

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commentary 11

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2014

The provost’s potential

MAGGIE TENNIS opinions columnist

Well, at least she’s a woman. At the end of May, President Christina Paxson announced that the provost search committee reached a decision regarding the selection of Brown’s 12th provost, to replace former Provost Mark Schlissel P’15. Schlissel has assumed the role of University of Michigan president — a job that will probably make better use of his commitment to graduate-level scholarship in the STEM fields, at the expense of pedagogy and the liberal arts, and permit him to spend the money he believes that area deserves. He’ll certainly earn a fat wad of change himself. Brown’s new provost is Dr. Vicki Colvin. She hails from Rice University, with a background in chemistry and chemical and biomedical engineering, and recently served as vice provost for research. Her resume lists an impressive number of honors and awards. Colvin’s appointment certainly cements Brown’s administrative female leadership. And in case you are wondering what exactly the provost does: She is the University’s chief academic administrator, responsible for areas related to research and education, including tenure, as well as leadership of a number of committees, including the Academic Priorities and University Resources committees. Last spring, I wrote a column (“Who should the next provost be?” March 11) calling on the provost search committee to select a candidate who is female, identifies as a minority

and, most importantly, already holds a position at Brown — preferably in the humanities. I continue to believe that an internal candidate would have been the most solid choice, simply because she would assume the post of provost already equipped with an intimate understanding of the university-college system, the importance of the New Curriculum and liberal arts to Brown’s undergraduate education, and the importance of teacher training to graduate education. But Colvin is an outsider. Her background is in the hard sciences. She’s also white. And so, examining the situation on paper, it seems that the 12th

vin’s recognition of Brown’s uniqueness and its ability to contribute to global progress through new initiatives with global reach. Such statements signal Colvin’s greater appreciation for aspects of Brown that make the University special, especially when contrasted with Schlissel’s comments after he took office in 2011. Schlissel remarked that he viewed his job as being Brown’s “wise enabler,” and he repeatedly compared Brown to Princeton — his alma mater, lest we forget. He also stated his intention to transition into a biology professor role after completing his tenure as provost. Guess that didn’t work out.

Furthermore, an internal candidate wouldn’t face the same learning curve as an external one. Indeed, one faculty member said, at a meeting with the provost search committee in February, “Brown has its own history, own sense of self, own constituencies. … It takes three or four years to figure out how the place actually works.” Colvin spent the majority of her career at Rice. She will require a period of time to gain familiarity with Brown’s tradition of governance and philosophies of research and education — not to mention simply getting acquainted with faculty, staff and Corporation members, as well as the policies and

Why must we continually search beyond the Van Wickle Gates to find capable leaders? provost appointment is not that much different from the eleventh. But there is a difference. Colvin, unlike Schlissel, possesses the potential to be a good fit for Brown. She has demonstrated a solid commitment to teaching excellence. Notable accolades include Phi Beta Kappa’s teaching prize and the Camille Dreyfus Teacher -Scholar Award. Both are centered on recognizing and rewarding professors’ devotion to undergraduate education. Furthermore, Paxson noted that Colvin beat out her competitors for the provostship by displaying a deep understanding of the significance of liberal learning and academic freedom at Brown. Finally, from the moment of her appointment, Colvin has articulated vision and enthusiasm for active learning and outreach. Indeed, The Herald reported Col-

So Colvin, at least superficially, seems like she might excel as provost. Yet, the fact remains that Brown, once again, failed to recognize the talent right under its nose. Why must we continually search beyond the Van Wickle Gates to find capable leaders? Every day we observe leadership in the classroom from brilliant and accomplished professors who no doubt aspire to, and would shine in, administrative roles. Indeed, the provost search committee considered a number of internal applicants — appropriate, since it was among the criteria proposed to them by both students and faculty members. It’s a shame that one of these candidates wasn’t chosen. Perhaps an internal candidate who possesses a strong relationship with Brown would be motivated to stick around longer than a few years.

history of the University. An internal candidate would have been better poised to hit the ground running from day one. Paxson stated that the primary purpose of considering external candidates was to increase the diversity of the applicant pool. The Herald reported in March that Paxson said, “The higher tiers of academic administration continue to be dominated by white people and men.” Purportedly, expanding the search to other schools was intended to lead to the appointment of a minority provost. It seems that idea didn’t exactly go as planned. Colvin’s appointment only solidifies the whiteness of Brown’s higher tiers of administration. It’s frustrating that so few of our University’s leaders identify as minorities. I understand the search committee’s need to select the very best candi-

date. But having so many white people in power threatens to alienate minority students who don’t feel represented. It does nothing to improve Brown’s diversity. As I wrote in March, “a provost of color is an important symbol both to the general community that Brown is achieving active diversity in a significant fashion and, more particularly, to students of color that they have a leader whom they can relate to and trust with their interests.” It seems we will have to wait a bit longer for that. There’s not much more to say at this time. I am glad Colvin seems focused on the interests of students — both undergraduate and graduate — and faculty members. Colvin’s first few months in office will demonstrate whether she is committed to causes like financial aid and sexual assault prevention. From the get-go, I invite her to review the current process in place for reporting incidents of sexual assault involving graduate students and faculty members, which go through her office — and then overhaul it immediately. Meanwhile, over at Michigan, President Schlissel has embarked on his first year in office. I stand by my sense of relief at his departure, as well as my conviction that he never really “got” Brown. In fact, an interview from his first week at UMich sums up this fundamental misunderstanding. Said Schlissel, “Qualitatively, Michigan’s not different than Brown.” I could not disagree more. Let’s hope Colvin truly values Brown’s distinctiveness and leads in a manner to cherish it.

Maggie Tennis ’14.5 should probably write her thesis about provosts.

Globalization and higher education: creating the right model JULIE HYEBIN SHIN opinions columnist

Globalization is not a trend exclusive to economic or cultural spectra. Many universities are witnessing an unstoppable wave of globalization. Through the internationalization of American campuses and the global diaspora of graduates from U.S. universities, we are now a step closer to the realization of a truly global education. Brown University, with its time-cherished liberal philosophy and education, is a forerunner in this globalization trend, with more than 1,600 international students representing about 114 nations studying on campus every year and many American students studying abroad annually. The Office of International Student and Scholar Services works to create policies that serve the specific needs of international students, while the Third World Center works to bring together students from diverse communities. International students also feel welcomed by cultural programs including the week-long orientation for international students, the amount of research being done on global issues by the Watson Institute for International Studies and a number of global initiatives, such as the Focus on Africa and the Year of India, that highlight issues facing the international community. These programs are creating an ever-more welcoming study environment for international students. The reason behind such a sudden and nationwide phenomenon, however, is

not so apparent. Some advocates of globalization argue that colleges want a more vibrant and diverse student community, or that they are interested in the brainpower of Asian students. Sure, but the reason that colleges are deliberately increasing the share of the international student body while sacrificing slots for American applicants lies in a more practical realm: money. Foreign students tend to be from well-off families and often receive only a small amount of financial aid. Many overseas students in fact pay full freight. The facts that

eigners. Technically, they never opened up the gates to those from poor circumstances who really do need the opportunity and can truly contribute to diversity. The “full-need” aid policy is yet another marketing strategy. Many students are deceived by the misleading catchphrase “fullneed aid for low-income families.” For colleges, using such psychological manipulation to lure as many applicants as possible is part of their admission strategy to survive amid intense competition to attract more and more

The reason that colleges are deliberately increasing the share of the international student body while sacrificing slots for American applicants lies in a more practical realm: money. colleges fail to recruit an economically diverse group of foreign students and that the enrollment of foreign students fluctuates with their countries’ economic growth and exchange rates suggest a lot about the true motives of many universities. Of course there are some exceptions, especially for colleges with huge endowments, but it is an undeniable fact that this pattern is prevalent in many higher education institutions. On the surface, these institutions seem to be wholeheartedly embracing and supporting international students. But in fact, they are increasingly unfair to foreign students by treating them as a revenue source. Their stated intention to “globalize” the community creates the illusion of truly diversified campuses when all they did was lure and recruit affluent for-

students every year, not to mention the several hundred dollars of additional profit from commission charges and non-refundable application fees if such advertisements succeed in motivating poorer students to apply. The disclaimer in the corner of financial aid webpages informing students that the amount of aid may differ after some verification process allows colleges to evade any expected accusations. Nevertheless, we have to admit the fact that a university is simply an educational institution — not a nonprofit organization or community service center. Colleges cannot exclude factors of profitability and feasibility from their management plans while improving the quality of education. In order to catch up with increasing costs and struggling endowments, private institutions have no choice but to seek

new sources of revenue and thus put more effort into attracting full-pay international students rather than partial-pay students from another state. We certainly do not expect colleges to reject the principles of capitalism and become philanthropic volunteer institutions. What we ask of colleges is for them to be more responsible as leading institutions that nurture future leaders of society and the international community. It is understandable that colleges are trying to attract more foreign students for notso-benevolent reasons, but they must at least be honest and fair to prospective students and stop disregarding their right to know. After all, regardless of colleges’ original intentions for recruiting more foreign students, the consequences of their actions are redeeming. The pseudo-globalization of the campus has indeed given American students a chance to interact with students of different roots, exposing them to diverse perspectives they would not otherwise access. We cannot expect or force universities to suddenly embrace all willing international applicants regardless of their socioeconomic background. If restrictively admitting only a certain group of foreign students can bring about a gradual change in the conservative atmosphere of the higher education system, then the globalization trend, despite its origins, will do much more good.

Julie HyeBin Shin ’17 is an international student, from a relatively well-off household as expected, but nonetheless hopes to contribute to diversity with her unique perspective.

THE

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2014

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