Friday, December 5, 2014

THE

BROWN DAILY HERALD vol. cxlix, no. 29

since 1891

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

Structural bias poses obstacles to faculty of color U. plans for From hiring to promotion, upcoming structural racism limits opportunities, stretches capital responsibilities campaign

By JOSEPH ZAPPA

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Impending campaign, set to launch next fall, will look to grow endowment and fund other priorities

The third in a three-part series exploring race and racism at Brown.

PERVASIVE PREJUDICE At a faculty meeting last month, President Christina Paxson announced her plans to double the percentage of underrepresented minority faculty members within the next decade — a goal Paxson calls “very ambitious.” In order to double in a decade a proportion that has remained in the single digits for the entirety of the University’s 250-year history, administrators and faculty members say the University must grapple with elements ingrained in its culture.

These structural factors have limited underrepresented minorities to 8.1 percent of the faculty, secondhighest in the Ivy League but still a far cry from the 18.6 percent of undergraduates.

The second part of this series examined the way a largely white faculty affects the experiences of students.

This story explores the structural factors that have long shaped the faculty’s racial demography, stemming in part from a culture of racial

By LINDSAY GANTZ SENIOR STAFF WRITER

SAM KASE / HERALD FILE PHOTO

President Christina Paxson has set a goal of doubling the percentage of underrepresented minority faculty members in the next decade. But professors say there are structural barriers to opening the pipeline. bias and inequality ubiquitous in the United States.

Hiring shaped by bias A constant factor in conversations about diversifying the faculty is the pipeline: the pool of current and future applicants for faculty and administrative positions. Because fewer people of color — particularly

underrepresented minorities — complete doctoral studies than whites, there are fewer candidates of color for assistant professorships and even fewer for more advanced academic positions.

Faculty members and administrators often invoke the predominantly white pipeline to explain why the vast majority of Brown professors are

white. On the surface, it makes sense that more white candidates would be chosen from a largely white applicant pool.

But often ignored in a discussion of the pipeline problem are the reasons for its continued existence — structural racism and the conscious and unconscious biases that play a » See BIAS, page 3

BMP to premiere four student-made shorts

By JOSEPH FRANKEL AND GABRIELLA REYES CONTRIBUTING WRITER & STAFF WRITER

In the culmination of a semester’s casting, filming and producing, Brown Motion Pictures will host its biannual short film premiere Friday evening in Salomon 101.

Toward the end of each semester, BMP screens a series of student-written films, which are produced by BMP staff, directors and writers throughout the semester. Slated to premiere this fall are “[BALLOTS],” “The Five Stages,” “I Will Go Mad” and “Superfood.”

“The Five Stages” follows a man who “learns the five stages of grief while driving to his father’s wedding,” according to the Facebook event page.

“My film is a road trip film, so we filmed in a lot of places away from campus — 45-minute drives out to

inside

ARTS & CULTURE

Cranston and Beavertail,” said Lauren Cheung ’15, the film’s director, adding that filming occurred primarily during the weekend because of scheduling conflicts during the week. “[BALLOTS],” another film premiering Friday, recounts the story of a local election in which the ballot box containing all the votes goes missing.

The characters must search for it in a plot that director Marcus Sudac ’17, a former Herald staff writer, called “an allegory for the inefficiencies and greater flaws in the American political process.”

Sudac said he applied to be a director shortly before the start of the semester. Filming for “[BALLOTS]” began in October and ended Nov. 16.

Cheung, who has worked as a head of production, director of photography, assistant cameraperson and executive producer, said BMP tries to “pair people up with who they’ll learn from the best because it is also a teaching organization.”

“Not everyone has the same background or level of experience, but I think that’s also what makes it so great,” she said. “It brings together people who have never done filmmaking before with people who have,

Man behind the mustache: Offerman visits campus ‘Parks and Recreation’ star brings love advice, stages impromptu ukelele performance

By TONYA RILEY UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR

COURTESY OF BROWN MOTION PICTURES

Brown Motion Pictures productions unite people with different levels of experience and promote “bonding as a crew,” said Lauren Cheung ’15. and you guys both end up learning from each other and bonding as a crew.”

She said gathering members can be difficult for the organization. “It’s very hard to coordinate a group of volunteers to do something like film because it’s such a time-intensive art.”

She also said differing levels of experience among crew members can occasionally lead to difficulties, but the

Sports

benefits outweigh the disadvantages.

Sudac, a BMP veteran who started producing films in the fall of 2013, said the organization is great for “getting you the team you need.” But he noted what he perceived to be a disparity in funding between BMP and other student organizations, adding that he believes the University should provide BMP with more adequate » See BMP, page 7

Arts & Culture

Fuller ’15.5, Strachan ’15.5 announce plans to return to football team for 2015

Men’s basketball cannot overcome American’s methodical offense in a midweek loss

Review: “Heist Play” benefits from talented cast and crew as characters pull off perfect crime

Feng Ai Ding dishes on traditional Chinese cooking methods from Yan’s Cuisine

PAGE S1

PAGE S3

PAGE 7

PAGE 8

weather

With expanded outreach, BMP hopes variety of films will bring increased attendance

Over the past year, the administration has touted Brown’s 250th anniversary celebrations as opportunities to rally school spirit and reflect on the institution’s history. But the festivities also serve another purpose: an impetus for the whirlwind of fundraising and alum outreach currently underway for the University’s impending capital campaign, which will go public October 2015 in support of President Christina Paxson’s new strategic plan.

“We’re not finished in any way,” said Patricia Watson, senior vice president for advancement. “All the things we’ve done around the 250th — it has helped us reach people that have been disengaged for some reason.”

The celebrations, which began in the spring and last through May 2015, have been a “springboard” for introducing Paxson and her new strategic plan, » See ENDOWMENT, page 5

Riffing on facial hair, bread and his penis, Nick Offerman — known for his role as meat-eating, libertarian woodsman Ron Swanson on the NBC comedy “Parks and Recreation” — didn’t stray too far from his well-known character in his Lecture Board talk Thursday night.

Offerman spoke to a full Salomon 101 to frequent outbursts of applause and laughter.

“You people are all younger and smarter and generally better-looking (than me),” Offerman told the crowd when discussing the bleak outlook many people hold about the world. » See OFFERMAN, page 7 t o d ay

tomorrow

44 / 36

52 / 34

2 university news

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

Thayer diversifies student housing Students petition to 257 Students split on whether Thayer will result in divest from fossil fuels 257 economic divide, despite Collecting signatures from over 330 students and 70 alums, Fossil Free Brown aims to foster solidarity

By FRANCES CHEN STAFF WRITER

Fossil Free Brown, the student group formerly known as Brown Divest Coal, has launched a petition to divest the University’s endowment from the top 200 global fossil fuel companies.

Since the Corporation’s decision not to divest from the top 15 coal companies last October, the student group has expanded its mission from supporting divestment from coal alone to natural gas and oil as well.

The petition already has gotten over 450 signatures since its launch last month, including more than 330 from students and more than 70 from alums, said Peter Dutton ’18, a member of Fossil Free Brown.

The organizers hope the petition will show that the larger Brown community — including alums and faculty members, not just a small subset of students — supports divestment from fossil fuels, said Austen Sharpe ’18, a member of Fossil Free Brown.

“By creating this petition, we’re more grounded in the Brown community,” she said. “The petition is a way of building a strong foundation for the campaign, so hopefully (the administration will) address us after we have that strong backing.”

Cameron Johnson ’17, also a member of Fossil Free Brown, said there is great alum and faculty support. Faculty members have been circulating their own letter to the administration to voice their support for fossil fuel divestment, he said.

On Friday afternoon, Fossil Free Brown “will be delivering a letter to President (Christina) Paxson formalizing our ask to divest from fossil fuels — that is, divesting any current investment it has and not making any future investments in fossil fuels,” Johnson said. “We’ve articulated that we want to meet with them and we want to work (with) them.”

But if the administration is not willing to work with members of Fossil Free Brown, they will have to engage the community to put more pressure on the administration in order to hold the University accountable, he added.

The divestment movement has grown nationally, and Fossil Free Brown has been working with divestment groups at other universities to discuss ideas, said Janice Gan ’17, a member of Fossil Free Brown.

“When the coal divestment movement started, it was one of maybe 15 other campaigns going on around the country,” Johnson said.

Now as the broader fossil fuel divestment campaign gets underway at Brown, around 600 colleges are pursuing the same goal, he said. “Being with other (organizers) gives me inspiration because I know we’re all working on this together.”

Harvard students filed a lawsuit against their school Nov. 19 after they decided the administration would not otherwise satisfy their requests to divest from fossil fuel companies.

But multiple members of Fossil Free Brown said they would prefer to use other tactics to pressure the administration rather than pursuing a lawsuit.

Gan said she thinks recent changes in climate policy, such as the agreement between China and the United States to reduce carbon emissions, “will add to the conversation.”

The increase in climate change awareness would likely call attention to the issue on campus, Dutton said.

The major climate march in New York City Sept. 26 and decisions by prominent public and private leaders — such as the Rockefeller family’s announcement that the philanthropic Rockefeller Brothers Fund would divest from fossil fuels — could bring attention to the issue, said J. Timmons Roberts, professor of environmental studies and sociology.

But he added that broader global developments are unlikely to affect the divestment campaign here. “They’re different efforts,” he said. “The divestment movement has been discussed internationally, but it’s really seen as something local.”

Letters, please! letters@browndailyherald.com

steep rent prices

By ASHWINI NATARAJAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The opening of 257 Thayer, a luxury student apartment complex, will mark a major development in College Hill living next fall. Currently under construction, the four-story complex will house 267 tenants, mostly students, in furnished apartments with single bedrooms, private bathrooms, living rooms and flatscreen televisions, said Heather Rojas, manager of 257 Thayer. The building will also include an exercise center and a 1000-square-foot retail space.

When asked by a Herald poll conducted Oct. 22-23 whether they would be interested in living at 257 Thayer, nearly 20 percent of students said they would be, about 43 percent said they would but that the complex was too expensive, 5 percent indicated they are not interested in living at 257 Thayer, 18 percent said they would not be interested regardless of price and nearly 14 percent indicated they were not familiar enough to answer.

To determine how much more expensive a space in 257 Thayer would be as compared to other off-campus housing options, The Herald compared off-campus housing rates to those of 257 Thayer.

The calculations found price disparities indicating that the complex is relatively expensive for the area.

At 257 Thayer, 23 floor plans offer different configurations for one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom spaces, Rojas said. These plans differ in price based on square footage, shared or private bathrooms and views, among other factors. At a per-person rate, onebedroom apartments cost approximately $1,900 and two-bedroom apartments around $1,350. Three-bedroom apartments cost approximately $1,085 and can go up to $1,319 for their largest floor plan —the C7 triple— which is “the size of a small house,” she said.

The University Auxiliary Housing website and a sampling of Craigslist off-campus rental averages, on a perperson basis without utilities, reveal that one-bedrooms go for around $1,123.48, two-bedrooms for around $613.71, and three-bedrooms for around $548.72.

In comparison to other off-campus housing, one-bedrooms in 257 Thayer are slightly more than one and a half times more expensive, two-bedrooms are slightly more than two times more expensive, and three-bedrooms are almost twice as expensive, discounting the C7 triples.

257 Thayer’s marketing team provided The Herald with a sheet that compares 257 Thayer’s pricing to nearby off-campus homes. They calculated the per-person cost, without utilities, of living in a two- or three-bedroom house in the Angell, Waterman and Thayer Street area, to be $900, and placed this number alongside 257 Thayer’s base rent of $1,085 — the per-person cost of their cheapest three-bedroom floor plan. According to the sheet, adding the costs of furniture, utilities, high-speed internet, cable television and other amenities provided by 257 Thayer, $900 jumps to $1,130, which is higher than 257 Thayer’s all-inclusive $1,085 base rent. But how 257’s marketing team calculated these per-month additions — which comprise $10 for a flat screen TV, $20 for a private bathroom

TIMOTHY MUELLER-HARDER / HERALD

New student apartment complex 257 Thayer is currently under construction. The building will feature a 1,000-square-foot retail space. and $10 for access to a fitness center — is unclear. “Our marketing team took from places around the area that were not apartments or complexes, that were houses,” Rojas said.

Students interviewed said they do not fully believe the complex is competitively priced with a significant portion of off-campus options, as 257 Thayer claims to be.

“The kind of rates that they are creating that they think are comparable to off-campus housing assume that you’re living with certain privileges that not everyone is going to live with,” said Naryan Murphy ’18.

“By comparing (257 Thayer) to this type of home, it makes it seem like it’s competitively priced, but if you consider the other places you can live in Providence near campus, its not really a fair comparison,” said Mal Skwron ’18.

Skwron said she is unsure if 257 Thayer will perpetuate a socioeconomic divide on College Hill. “There are lots of ways that an economic divide is already prevalent on campus, and I don’t know if it will contribute that much to it, but it will definitely be interesting to see what type of student chooses to live there.”

Other students said they believe that the opening of 257 Thayer could instigate some sort of campus divide. “There’s a certain amount of privilege required to rent an apartment at 257 Thayer, so it’s a possibility,” said Liz Bixler ’18.

257 Thayer is marketed toward people who can afford the high prices, Shawn Verma ’18 MD’22 said. “I think the students who end up renting there will probably be of more means, so I think it could accentuate a divide in that sense.”

While many students who do not live in 257 Thayer said they have a view of 257 inhabitants as being more wealthy than the average student, a few of 257 Thayer’s soon-to-be residents said that they are misunderstood on these grounds.

David O’Connell ’16 will be living in a triple at 257 Thayer next year and said “price was definitely something that mattered to me,” adding that he compared 257 Thayer’s rates to other off-campus options, taking into consideration the extra services and amenities included in the complex’s flat rate. “I really, really hope that there’s no effort to associate a certain image or establish any sort of divide.”

Jesse Siegel ’16, who will also be living in a triple at 257 Thayer, said that senior housing always has to potential to bring up uncomfortable conversations about people’s economic circumstances.

“It’s like not like everyone (at 257 Thayer) are the most wealthy people in the school,” he said. “I don’t think people will see it as a divide.”

Houses in the 257 Thayer area are known for being more expensive offcampus options, said Vicky Ding ’17, who will be living in a triple at 257 Thayer. “Even all of the houses that are close to campus near Thayer are expensive, so everyone knows that anyways,” she said. “I don’t think it’ll create some type of social tension.”

“I think the divide already exists,” said Simon Rubin ’16, who will also be living in a 257 Thayer triple. “I don’t think (257 Thayer) will add to it in any which way.”

Even though 257 Thayer will be an additional option for future students looking to live off campus, landlords who own off-campus properties said that 257 Thayer will not affect their business.

“I don’t think it will affect the market,” said Chase Hogoboom ’03, a landlord of three $500 to $600 per-person units on the corner of Governor and Williams Streets. Brown’s student body is expanding every year, he added, and “as a result of that growth, there will be continued demand for other off-campus offerings.”

Sheba Cronin, a landlord who owns various one- to four-bedroom spaces in the Ives and Arnold Street area, with perperson prices of one- and two-bedroom prices around $1,000 and one room in a four-bedroom space around $500, said he was “not necessarily concerned that it’s going to affect the business that we have.”

257 Thayer is a great option for people who are interested in continuing to live in dorms, but there is great demand by students who want to live independently from the University in a true offcampus environment, Hogoboom said.

Living in a building with 270 students is a very different experience than living with a few close friends, Cronin said.

“There is still going to be a market for people who want to live with three other people,” she said. “Are you going to want to go from a dorm room to a glorified dorm room?”

Ed Bishop ’54 P’86 P’91, a realtor who owns spaces within two blocks of central campus, said that students who do not choose to live in 257 Thayer look for an off-campus experience where they will be able to live intimately with a small network of friends.

Cronin said the hype surrounding 257 Thayer’s newness will eventually fizzle out. 257 Thayer “is going to be the hottest new thing like the iPhone 5,” she said. “Everybody has to have it, then everybody will be like, ‘Eh, whatever, it’s just an apartment.’”

university news 3

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

» BIAS, from page 1 role in perpetuating it, even among relatively progressive faculty members and administrators like those at Brown, said Tricia Rose, professor of Africana studies and director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America.

“The pipeline is what it is because of racism,” Rose said.

Studies suggest that unconscious bias in favor of whites influences all individuals’ vision of the ideal researcher or professor, regardless of their personal background or beliefs.

Whiteness thus remains a considerable asset in obtaining a faculty post — a factor that, compounded with broader social inequality and more widespread opportunities for white people to obtain doctorates, makes diversifying faculty a difficult task.

Multiple people said they have witnessed this unconscious bias manifest itself first-hand.

“I’ve been teaching for 20 years, and I don’t think I’ve ever been on a search committee where someone … has not said something like, ‘Well, diversity’s fine, but excellence should come first,’” Rose said.

Thinking this way not only sets up excellence in scholarship and faculty diversity as conflicting goals, but also ignores that unconscious bias governs ideas about who is a better fit for the job in the first place, Rose added.

Even when a search committee goes into a hiring process with intentions to give underrepresented minorities a fair shake, other qualities may ultimately take priority, said Associate Professor of History Naoko Shibusawa P’14.

“Vested interests in a department can end up militating against wellintentioned, stated goals,” she said.

As a result, “diversity becomes deprioritized by the point the hiring decision is made.”

Structures set up by the University to encourage diverse hiring practices may not always be effective, either.

For example, faculty search committees are required to have a diversity officer responsible for “making sure (minority candidates) have access and get consideration” in the hiring process, said Dean of the Faculty Kevin McLaughlin P’12.

But because some department chairs, who select diversity officers, do not fully appreciate the importance of diversity, officers without strong interest in diversifying the faculty are sometimes selected, he said.

Last year, Jamelle Watson-Daniels ’16, a black student concentrating in physics — a department that has 26 faculty members and zero underrepresented minorities — interviewed some diversity officers in collaboration with McLaughlin.

In her interviews, Watson-Daniels

found that there was a “huge misunderstanding of what that position is supposed to look like and why that position exists in the first place.”

Some science, technology, engineering and mathematics faculty members have expressed fear that a strong commitment to diversity would mean selecting weaker candidates, McLaughlin said.

“A huge part of the problem is the attitudes of individuals who are involved in the process,” he said.

“There’s this idea of objectivity in science … (and that) race shouldn’t have anything to do with” hiring.

quests for tenure more difficult, diminishing the probability that assistant professors of color will receive promotions and remain at Brown for more than a short period of time.

This same self-perpetuation arises in regard to mentorship. Because there are few senior faculty members

Uphill battle for advancement Even when a scholar of color leaps over such obstacles and lands a teaching position at Brown, challenges still abound on the road to securing tenure.

Faculty members of color do “double duty,” bearing the burden of extra responsibilities because they act as a support system for students of

PROFESSOR OF AFRICANA STUDIES AND DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SLAVERY AND JUSTICE

“The pipeline is what it is because of racism.”

Tricia Rose

PROFESSOR OF AFRICANA STUDIES AND DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF RACE AND ETHNICITY IN AMERICA

color, said Anthony Bogues, professor of Africana studies and director of the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice.

A great number of students have come to see Bogues over the years “because they felt something happened to them and they couldn’t quite explain what that was,” he said, adding that the number of students that sought his advice was so high because “there weren’t faculty (members) of color elsewhere that the students could go to.”

The University frequently calls on faculty members of color, particularly those in the social sciences and humanities who study race, to host talks or other events intended to reach out to students of color, Shibusawa said.

The “demands on our time — that is huge.”

The additional duty of responding to the needs of students of color decreases the time and energy minority faculty members have to dedicate to responsibilities such as teaching, researching and writing, Bogues said.

In this sense, a lack of faculty diversity is self-perpetuating: The paucity of faculty members of color can make their jobs harder and their

“If you were taking diversity seriously, you would also be self-reflective.”

Anthony Bogues

of color, mentorship opportunities available for junior faculty members of color are scarce, and those who must act as mentors take on yet another form of responsibility.

Bogues said a relatively small number of mentors poses a problem because mentorship plays a key role in supporting young faculty members of color in a potentially hostile environment.

“I consider myself fortunate to have been and continue to be the beneficiary of mentoring by most if not all of my undergraduate professors (at Dillard University), as well as by professors with whom I never studied,” wrote Brenda Marie Osbey, visiting professor of Africana studies, in an email to The Herald.

Beyond duties of mentorship and advising, faculty members of color must also contend with the challenge of asserting authority in a society that has refused to afford them that authority, Bogues said. This challenge becomes even more daunting when dynamics of gender and race compound, a phenomenon known as intersectionality, he said.

For example, when entering a classroom, black female faculty members may wonder, “What is it that people have in their heads when they see a black woman?” Bogues said.

This, too, can be seen as a form of double duty, because women of color must work harder to establish themselves as authority figures, he added.

Toughest at the top Both everyday racism and pressure to attend to the needs of students and junior faculty members of color make for an uneven playing field. But these factors alone do not account for the strikingly small number of full professors and senior administrators of color at Brown — figures even lower than those for assistant professors.

Though underrepresented minorities account for 12.4 percent of assistant professors this academic year, they only make up 4.8 percent of full professors, according to Office of Institutional Research data. The vast majority of senior administrators are white, including the president, provost, dean of the College and the dean of the faculty.

Finding suitable candidates for higher-level faculty and administrative positions presents a formidable challenge because they are usually “unique positions, and they often carry with them broad sets of responsibilities” for which few are qualified, said Liza Cariaga-Lo, associate provost for academic development and diversity.

Those who are qualified will be highly coveted by other universities in addition to Brown, she added, meaning that a considerable number of candidates to whom the University makes offers may choose not to come to College Hill.

But — like challenges to diversify faculty — challenges to diversify the administration could be surmountable.

“If you were taking diversity seriously, you would also be self-reflective,” Bogues said.

Though administrative diversity has not gotten as much attention recently as faculty diversity, it, too, has an impact on the experiences of students of color, several people said.

A more diverse senior administration would improve the University’s ability to respond quickly and effectively to issues affecting students of color, Paxson told The Herald, adding that diversifying the administration

“The perspectives that are brought into decision-making by a diverse group of administrators really do make a difference in the quality of service we provide to students and how we respond to students.”

Christina Paxson PRESIDENT

must take place alongside hiring more faculty members of color.

“The perspectives that are brought into decision-making by a diverse group of administrators really do make a difference in the quality of service we provide to students and how we respond to students,” Paxson said.

‘Culture change’ Multiple administrators said the only way to change the faculty’s

whiteness is to actively combat the ideology fueling it.

“We’re really talking about culture change,” Paxson said of University efforts to diversify the faculty. Diversity must “be something that just naturally comes to everybody’s minds when they’re conducting a search.”

By announcing a clear numerical goal, Paxson put pressure on University Hall to consistently reevaluate its progress toward sculpting a faculty in which 17 percent of members identify as underrepresented minorities by 2024, McLaughlin said. If the 8.1 percent figure has not jumped significantly within a few years, administrators will know they must “change somehow more progressively and radically what we’re doing in order to achieve that goal,” he said.

In fact, Paxson’s plan has already pushed the University to bolster its diversification efforts.

“The truth is we haven’t had as professionalized an administrative approach to this as we do now,” McLaughlin said.

Bogues agreed that it would take a “very strong signal” from University Hall to encourage all departments to hire underrepresented minorities, adding that departments receiving funding to fill new positions must be urged to conduct diverse searches.

The University has regulations in place to monitor the diversity of applicant pools for all faculty searches, but numerical requirements for the proportion of candidates of color considered have not been set.

Instead of quotas, the University requires that every faculty search committee submit a hiring plan to McLaughlin and Cariaga-Lo, both of whom must approve the search committee’s plan to include diverse candidates in the applicant pool, Cariaga-Lo said.

Additionally, after a search committee has identified the candidates it would like to interview, it must make a report that justifies how it selected preferred candidates, Cariaga-Lo said, adding that she compares the candidates chosen to the diversity of the initial pool in order to check for unconscious bias.

The University will not approve search plans for departments that continually fail to hire underrepresented minorities, McLaughlin said.

Still, rules and regulations are not enough to bring about real change in ameliorating a lack of faculty diversity, Paxson said.

Cariaga-Lo’s attempts to “bring department chairs and faculty (members) in as partners in diversifying their faculty” play a vital role in the process, Paxson said.

“If you don’t get (faculty members) on board — if they’re not willing and enthusiastic participants — you won’t make great progress,” she said.

Got something to say? Leave a comment online!

Visit www.browndailyherald.com to comment on opinion and editorial content.

4 university news

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

Committee considers adjustments to First Readings program Aiming to improve firstyear engagement, faculty members and students discuss possible changes

By SUSANNAH HOWE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

A new committee is discussing possible changes to next year’s First Readings program, which requires incoming first-years to review the same book or film and discuss their thoughts with a faculty member and peers. Since Dean of the College Maud Mandel announced the committee’s creation in a Nov. 13 community-wide email, some students have responded by suggesting a book that could foster dialogue about race and privilege.

The changes the committee is considering include making the selection process more transparent and increasing student engagement, Mandel said, adding, “I really like the idea of a transparent process for thinking about what is essentially a collective endeavor.”

The committee, which comprises faculty members from various departments as well as two undergraduates, has met once this semester and will continue its discussions after the Dec. 5 deadline for submissions.

A major issue the committee hopes to address is how to increase engagement with the text or film in light of the program’s goal of giving incoming firstyears a shared intellectual experience, multiple committee members said.

“Brown is a fairly diffuse, atomized place,” said committee member Matthew Guterl, chair of the Department of American studies and professor of Africana studies. “You want to think as a faculty about how to have a common experience, a kind of touchstone for students to align them together into a cohort.”

Selections in the program have traditionally been texts, except for this year, when members of the class of 2018 were asked to watch the documentary “Oil and Water.”

The program “connects the whole freshman class — that they have this common experience coming in that they can all relate to, and it can spark discussion once they get on campus,” said Timothy Ittner ’18, another committee member. But he and other incoming first-years would “all complain together about the First Readings program,” he added. “I thought it was somewhat unrealistic to expect every Brown student to relate to one piece of literature or one film.”

“This is the one thing everybody has in common, whether they liked it or didn’t,” Mandel said. “Whatever it was, everybody’s engaged in it. So it is a social bridge, and it’s also meant to be an introduction to the kinds of intellectual work they’re going to be doing on campus.”

But “no one book is meant to sum up the entire Brown community or the first-year experience,” she added.

“It’s a way to get a conversation going.”

A wide range of texts have already been proposed, though there have also been many repeat suggestions, Mandel said.

In particular, a group of students has organized an effort to propose “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” by Michelle Alexander. The students published a column Dec. 2 in Bluestockings Magazine in which they wrote that selecting “The New Jim Crow” would spark conversations about “race, power and privilege” and would be especially relevant in light of recent events such as the Aug. 9 fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. An editor’s note accompanying the Bluestockings piece urges readers to co-sign the proposal

ALEXANDRA URBAN / HERALD

“Beautiful Souls,” by Eyal Press ’92, was required reading for the class of 2017. The class of 2018 was the first to watch a film, and administrators are looking at how to make the First Readings program more engaging. and email it to Mandel.

“Coming from a very different background than a lot of my peers, we’re not all just at Brown. And I think it’s really important to emphasize that point from the beginning — that we’re not all just here in this place, starting from the same starting point,” said Cherise Morris ’16, who worked on the proposal.

“Brown can be, and is, unsafe for many students who hold identities that are oppressed in this society,” said Jamie Marsicano ’15.5, who also worked on the proposal. “We think it’s so important to talk about these issues from the beginning.”

Students involved with the proposal emphasized the potential power

of the First Readings program to spark dialogue, as well as the need for increased engagement.

“It’s your first academic experience in a classroom, and to pick a text that’s so, so powerful and so important to talk about that the first relationships you’re forming are a discussion about that, I think is a pretty powerful experience, if done properly,” said Elise Mortensen ’16, another student who worked on the proposal.

The committee has discussed several ideas for increasing engagement, including modifying the assignment that students write letters to their advisers about the text and adding faculty discussions about the text, Mandel said.

The committee is also rethinking the

follow-up events after the initial First Readings discussions, which often involve bringing the author to campus.

These events are often not well-attended, multiple committee members said.

Timing is also an issue — having the initial discussions take place on Labor Day, as they currently do, is a barrier to faculty involvement, Guterl said. The quality of discussions can also be “uneven,” he said, perhaps due to the “huge switch” that students experience at the beginning of college.

First Readings selections can ultimately raise “profound moral questions,” Guterl said. “I think it’s important for students coming into Brown to realize that this is a place that wrestles with those questions.”

Meeting Street Gourmet Heaven shuts down Students react to grocery store closing with mixture of surprise, apathy and despair

By EMMAJEAN HOLLEY AND SABRINA IMBLER ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR AND FEATURES EDITOR

Employees at Gourmet Heaven on Meeting Street arrived for their shifts Wednesday to learn that the store would be closing indefinitely starting that night, according to a staff member who wished to remain anonymous because she was not authorized to speak by the store’s management.

The Gourmet Heaven location downtown on Weybosset Street will remain open, as well as the two other markets in New Haven, Connecticut.

“We had no idea until today. They just said we’re going to close down tonight,” the employee said. By 8 p.m., the managers had left the store.

Some students expressed ambivalence upon hearing news of the Gourmet Heaven’s closing.

“I think there were always better latenight food options, so it’s not a major loss to the College Hill community,” said Pranav Sharma ’17.

SAM KASE / HERALD FILE PHOTO

Workers at the Meeting Street location of Gourmet Heaven were notified Wednesday that the store will be closed indefinitely, an employee said.

Georgie Halpen ’17 lamented the loss of convenience that Gourmet Heaven provided due to its central location on campus.

“There’s no grocery store anywhere near walking distance to buy groceries so I would go even though it was really expensive,” he said. “I’m really upset about this.”

Though reactions were mixed, some said the close was not unexpected in light of recent media coverage surrounding

Gourmet Heaven workers’ rights.

Chung Cho, the owner of Gourmet Heaven, was arrested in February on 42 felony and misdemeanor charges of wage theft when the Connecticut Department of Labor discovered he was paying employees hourly wages as low as $4.44 per hour without overtime pay, The Herald reported at the time. The minimum wage in Connecticut is $8.70 per hour.

On Cho’s final hearing Nov. 3, the Superior Court granted his appeal for

accelerated rehabilitation — which erased his criminal record and allowed him to forego the trial and prison sentence he faced — on the condition that he recompense the unpaid wages the DOL found him in violation of.

These payments may rack up to $250,000, said Megan Fountain, a Yale alum and organizer at the grassroots social justice organization Unidad Latina en Accion. She added that Cho must submit the payments within two years,

during which time he will remain on probation.

The accelerated rehabilitation waives Cho’s right for a trial should he fail to pay the amount in question, in which case the court would find him guilty of all charges and sentence him to prison, Fountain said. He could face a maximum sentence of five years, The Herald previously reported.

“It’s not that surprising,” said Danielle Gomez RISD, citing last year’s closings in New Haven amidst Yale student protests.

But Eugenia Lulo ’16 expressed “surprise that they lasted this long” for these same reasons.

Neither Cho nor his lawyer could be reached for comment at press time, but Fountain speculated on Cho’s reasons for closing the store’s Meeting Street location.

“Maybe he’s trying to avoid scrutiny

by Brown students,” she said.

“Employers often close down because they think they’re going to avoid paying back wages,” she added.

The food will be transferred to the store’s Weybosset location, the anonymous source said. But while she predicts that the Meeting Street location will reopen, she said, “We’re not sure what to do next.”

–With additional reporting by Steven Michael and Jason Nadboy

metro 5

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

Two new R.I. charter schools to open this fall Due to high demand, nonprofit plans to develop additional charter schools across the state

By DREW WILLIAMS SENIOR STAFF WRITER

As RISE Mayoral Academy and Engineering Early College Academy prepare to open in fall 2015 as Rhode Island’s 26th and 27th charter schools, respectively, those involved in the state’s education policy continue to examine how the increase in nontraditional schools meshes with larger education plans.

Rhode Island Mayoral Academies — a nonprofit dedicated to the growth of public charter schools run by mayorled boards — is responding to the perceived demand for greater educational choice with the opening of the RISE schools and an upcoming application for yet another charter school, even as the total number of charter schools in the state escalates toward the legislative threshold of 35.

“There’s significant demand for these schools and not enough seats,” said Katelyn Silva, chief communications officer for Rhode Island Mayoral Academies, adding that roughly 9,500

» ENDOWMENT, from page 1 Watson said. Increased connections with alums have also enabled the Division of Advancement to learn more about current alum interests and to “build the constituency” in preparation for the upcoming capital campaign, she added.

Capital campaigns are multi-year endeavors that fund specific University goals. Brown’s most recent iteration was the Campaign for Academic Enrichment, which was launched in July 2003 and ultimately raised a record-setting $1.61 billion by 2010. Like the upcoming campaign under Paxson, the Campaign for Academic Enrichment began a couple years into President Ruth Simmons’ tenure and followed an agenda-setting institutional blueprint — in that case, the Plan for Academic Enrichment.

Right now, the next campaign is in the silent phase, as it has not yet been publicly launched. Despite the name, “we are being anything but quiet about it,” Watson said.

‘Investing in people’ “On the 250th anniversary of its founding, Brown moves forward committed to the values that define and sustain our record of excellence and influence in the world,” Paxson wrote last year in the opening line of her strategic plan, Building on Distinction.

The capital campaign seeks principally to fulfill the aspirations of Paxson’s strategic plan, Watson said. The plan’s broad goals include integrating knowledge through multidisciplinary initiatives, improving faculty diversity, growing the faculty and student body and revitalizing the physical campus.

“The Building on Distinction plan is kind of an outline,” said Provost Vicki Colvin. “It gives a sense of the direction for the next decade.”

Watson said fundraising efforts will support four general areas: faculty, students, facilities and programs.

The strategic plan “far exceeds what we can raise money for,” she said, and efforts will focus on faculty and student support as top priorities. “It’s really about investing in people.”

For example, the Advancement Office

students applied for 850 charter school slots in 2014.

“It’s harder to get into a Rhode Island charter school than Brown University,” said Steve Nardelli, executive director of the Rhode Island League of Charter Schools. In an attempt to change this, his one-man organization lobbies for educational policies that support the expansion and prosperity of charter public schools, he said.

Rhode Island’s charter schools originated to confront challenges faced by traditional schools, including a growing Latino achievement gap, the state’s relatively low math proficiency scores, high drop-out rates and struggling teacher performance, said Kenneth Wong, professor and chair of the education studies department. To address those concerns, charter schools provide options for parents, autonomous settings for innovative teaching techniques and a model of successful practices that traditional public schools can follow, Wong said.

Rhode Island has a unique method is raising money to support endowed professorships, equipment for faculty and financial aid for students.

Facilities projects include a new engineering building — for which Watson said the necessary money has already been successfully raised — and a new performing arts building. And the campaign will also raise funds for student programs such as BrownConnect.

Watson said the plan’s initiatives have been “very well received” by donors and that there are already “a number of gift discussions underway.”

Loyal donors Fundraising efforts over the next several years may have to balance a variety of institutional priorities, as the University seeks to raise money for both the Brown Annual Fund, which helps finance expenditures on a yearly basis, and solicits donations for both the endowment and major capital projects.

Raising money for the Annual Fund will remain a priority throughout the campaign, Watson said. “What we’re trying to do now is strike that balance” between raising money for the Annual Fund and for endowment, she added.

During the course of each year, the Advancement office collects four types of donations: current-use unrestricted gifts, restricted gifts, gifts to capital and gifts to endowment, said Beppie Huidekoper, executive vice president for finance and administration.

The University has complete discretion over how unrestricted money is directed, and these funds are spent within the fiscal year they are collected, Huidekoper said. But restricted gifts are not necessarily spent in the year they are received, and there are limitations on how or when the money is used. Gifts to capital support physical improvements to campus, she said.

The threshold for establishing a gift to endowment is $100,000, Watson said.

There are federal restrictions on how much of the endowment can be spent annually, Huidekoper added.

The Annual Fund comprises unrestricted gifts from alums who attended the University as undergraduates, Huidekoper said.

for approving charter school applications: The decision is soley in the hands of the Board of Education. The board accepts proposals in the spring and votes on them following public hearings and recommendations from the Rhode Island Department of Education, said Elliot Krieger, public information officer for RIDE. If a proposal is approved, the potential school has a year to plan before final approval is given the following spring, he said. RISE Mayoral Academy and Early Engineering College Academy are currently in this planning stage pending final approval, Krieger said, adding that RIDE will review new proposals this spring.

Following approval, the Department of Education conducts yearly performance reviews on charter schools, looking at financial reports and comparing academic markers of success to those of other public schools in the state, he said.

But for those leading the charge for further charter school development, the benefits transcend test scores and even innovative teaching practices.

Establishing a diverse classroom environment is a cornerstone of a charter school education, Silva said. Research The Annual Fund’s “primary focus is to meet that unrestricted current use, year after year,” said Tammie Ruda, executive director of the Annual Fund.

“Unlike (at) many institutions, our Annual Fund is really a crucial set of dollars that are very much targeted for students and faculty,” said Nancy Fuld Neff ’76 P’06 P’14, co-chair of the Annual Fund. Neff said about 40 percent of the Annual Fund goes directly to financial aid, about 40 percent goes to faculty projects and about 20 percent funds student life initiatives and programs.

Ruda added that Annual Fund staffers ask donors to trust the University to spend the money efficiently. Requests for large donations are filtered through the Provost office to determine if the donation is aligned with the University’s highest priorities, she said.

‘It takes a campaign’ “One of the goals of this campaign is to increase the endowment,” Huidekoper said. Brown’s per-student endowment, at $325,000, lags many of its peers’. Princeton had a roughly $2 million per-student endowment in fiscal year 2014 — the largest in the Ivy League.

Though Brown’s endowment reached a record high of $3.2 billion for fiscal year 2014, it remains the lowest in the Ivy League.

The endowment supports about 17 percent of the current operating budget, Chief Investment Officer Joseph Dowling told The Herald in October.

Because faculty activities are financed largely by revenue from undergrad tuition, endowing more professorships will decrease pressure to raise tuition, Huidekoper said. The University “can’t entirely depend on undergrad students and increasing their fees” to fund its initiatives, she added.

“It takes a campaign,” Huidekoper said.

Any large gift to the endowment “would take several years … to start spinning off returns,” said Elizabeth Crabtree, assistant vice president for strategy and resource development.

Donors are “not especially compelled to help you reduce the budget deficit,” Crabtree said.

shows students in diverse school settings grow up with fewer racial biases, do better academically and are more likely to live in diverse neighborhoods as adults, she said.

“Rhode Island is pretty segregated,” so mayoral academy schools accept half of their students from urban settings and half from suburban settings to ameliorate the racial and socioeconomic divide, she said.

“It’s exciting for our families to get to expose their kids to what the world is really like, which is beautifully diverse and different than what maybe their next door neighbor looks like,” Silva said.

Charter schools are “absolutely” successful in their missions to reduce the achievement gap between income groups and to allow students who have fallen behind their peers to catch up or even surpass their grade level, said Lauri Lee, an independent education consultant. But the cost of that success may be disproportionately high, as kindergarten students spend a majority of their days on academic tasks instead of on other creative activities, which have been shown to be more beneficial

for childhood development, Lee said.

Increasing funding for early childhood programs would yield a greater return on investment for the entire public school system than would funding charter schools, she said, adding that charter schools do receive a majority of their funding from state and local governments. The innovative programs and teaching methods developed by charter schools are supposed to trickle down to traditional public schools, but instead often stay mired in the resourcerich charter system, she said. Public school employees are notably absent from teacher training sessions at the charters, she added.

Ultimately, “it’s easier for the Department of Education to allow other creative individuals to start programs and take away this (educational) headache,” Lee said.

While a professional consensus on charter schools remains elusive, the Department of Education continues to support additional charter schools that may provide evidence one way or the other.

“We’ve never closed a charter,” Krieger said.

ASHLEY SO / HERALD

Before the capital campaign starts, the Division of Advancement aims to create a “nucleus fund,” said Annual Fund Executive Director Tammie Ruda.

The operating budget deficit was $8.7 million for fiscal year 2014, and it is predicted to be about the same next year.

Taming the deficit may not be a high donor priority because “they’re really looking to help grow and spur innovation,” Crabtree said.

‘Full-court press’ With a new campaign on the horizon, administrators have begun preparations to finance Paxson’s strategic plan.

“When we have a campaign and the University really focuses on fundraising in a full-court press kind of way, we do raise more money,” Ruda said.

Simmons’ strategic plan was a “blueprint for the Boldly Brown campaign,” another name for the Campaign for Academic Enrichment, said Matthew Mallow ’64 P’92, the campaign’s national co-chair.

The campaign provided Brown with the money to implement need-blind admission for domestic first-year applicants. The campaign also amassed the resources for Simmons to add 100 new faculty members to the University, one of the plan’s crucial goals.

“When the financial crisis hit us, Brown’s endowment was not immune,” Mallow said, but it did not significantly affect the campaign. “The campaign was very well underway, and we had very generous and loyal supporters who continued to give at very generous rates.”

Advancement’s annual tracking data of alum giving suggests that though donors were hesitant to commit to multiyear pledges during the recession, donors continued to support the University during the recession and followed through

on their pledges, Watson said.

Last fiscal year was the secondhighest fundraising year on record at $224.6 million, Ruda said. During the current silent phase of the campaign, she said, Advancement raises money for the “nucleus fund” of the campaign.

Advancement hopes to raise between $750 million and $1 billion for the nucleus fund before next October, Watson said, adding that the fund often serves as an indicator of how successful the campaign will be going forward.

“If you have trouble raising a nucleus fund, that doesn’t bode well in the future,” Watson said.

Paxson, Watson, Colvin and Huidekoper are currently in the process of outlining how much money will be needed to finance every aspect of the plan, Watson said. No specific target has yet been set for the overall campaign, but pricing for specific projects should be determined by the end of the calendar year, Colvin said.

“I want a price tag on everything,” Colvin said. “I don’t want to guess, I really want the number.”

In the next parts of the quiet phase, Watson said administrators will work interactively to establish a significant donor base, calculate the cost of implementing the integrated themes of the plan, create a fundraising plan, develop a strategy and then begin mobilizing the volunteer base. They will also choose a marketing and communications firm to brand the campaign, she said.

“I think that Brown is going to be a very different place in a decade,” Colvin said. “But I have to know the exact path.”

6 metro

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

In wake of Brown case, Providence grapples with police relations Nov. 25 protest results in seven arrests, encourages continued dialogue on systemic racism

By MEHER ALI STAFF WRITER

City activists and law enforcement officials are considering the steps needed to address local concerns over police officers relations with people of color in the wake of the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases.

Protests responding to the national debate over police brutality and racism in the criminal justice system have been held across Providence over the past few weeks. In solidarity with Brown and victims of police violence, protestors marched across the city, demanding recognition and justice after Darren Wilson, the police officer who shot and killed Brown, was not indicted by a grand jury Nov. 24.

And with Wednesday’s grand jury decision over the death of Garner in Staten Island, New York — in which Daniel Pantaleo, the police officer responsible for Garner’s death, was also not indicted — outcry across the city remains constant.

Organized voices In Providence, the protests and community reaction have directly engaged with questions of racial biases and the relationship between local law enforcement and communities of color in the city.

“Get out of your house and into the streets!” chanted demonstrators at the Nov. 25 Providence protest, which was coordinated by the organization End Police Brutality PVD and was held immediately after the grand jury’s decision in the Michael Brown case.

As protestors wove through residential neighborhoods in South Providence, many urged residents and onlookers to join the procession, multiple sources said.

“This is not a new issue,” said Rebecca McGoldrick ’12, who heads the Providence nonprofit Protect Families First, which works to fight against America’s “war on drugs.” Brown’s death “was not the only trigger. People and groups across Providence have been working and organizing around this for a long time,” she said. “It has been a long conversation.”

“There is deep-seated mistrust of police,” said Amy Espinal, a Providence resident who participated in the protest and helped publicize a subsequent Monday rally. “And it shouldn’t be that way. We’re not so large of a community where we should all be strangers to each other.”

In their Facebook event description for the march, “#INDICTAMERICA: Turn up for Mike Brown!,” organizers expressed their lack of faith in the American justice system: “Regardless of the indictment outcome, we acknowledge that the judicial system — from the courts to the cops — will never be capable of rendering any semblance of justice.”

Thomas Verdi, commanding officer in the uniform division of the Providence Police Department, said

he thought there were nearly 1,000 demonstrators at the rally’s peak, though an article from the Providence Journal puts the number between 400 and 600 people.

Protesters marched for about two hours, chanting slogans such as “No justice, no peace! No racist police!” and “Hands up, don’t shoot!” Some drew chalk outlines of bodies to symbolize lives lost to police violence, wrote out messages to different victims and burned an American flag.

About 150 people jumped the fence onto I-95 in a steady stream, blocking traffic and putting their hands up in the symbolic “hands up, don’t shoot” gesture that has become emblematic of many Ferguson protests. Due in part to being slowed down by traffic, the police did not stop the protesters right away, and they were able to take over a small section of the highway for about 15 minutes, said Ian Georgianna ’15.

Alex Karim ’17, who protested Nov. 25, provided an account of police force used against the highway protesters — two African-American men were seemingly randomly picked out of the group and harassed by officers, he said. “They weren’t doing anything, they were unarmed, there was no difference between them and all the other protesters in that line,” Karim said. It makes one believe, she said, that “race could be the only reason they were targeted.”

The perceived existence of racial biases in law enforcement and some public distrust of police in Providence echo the national conversation about Ferguson.

Matthew Guterl, professor of Africana studies and American studies, said racial bias is a deeply entrenched problem in American history and culture. “The idea of the dangerous physicality of black men dates back to the slavery era, to the Black Codes that were put in place with emancipation,” he said. “It’s a very old trope, a very old way of seeing black bodies.”

There are structural realities, Guterl added, including “geographies of race and class that reinforce hierarchies — socioeconomic hierarchies, physical hierarchies — that affect how we see race.” He said more scientific study is needed to address how police officers see black bodies.

Searching for solutions Jim Vincent, president of the Providence chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said the Providence NAACP has been working to address tensions between police officers and people of color in a variety of ways, including supporting stronger racial profiling prevention laws, advocating for more comprehensive diversity training in the police department and bringing more diversity into the force itself.

The last point is one on which the organization has already made some progress: In the previous two graduating classes of the Providence Police Training Academy, there were unprecedented levels of racial diversity among the recruits, Vincent said.

“You’d be hard pressed to find another department in Rhode Island

COURTESY OF RICHARD PARK

Hundreds of protesters gathered Nov. 25, holding signs and chanting slogans like “Hands up, don’t shoot!” in solidarity with victims of police violence in the wake of the grand jury decision in Ferguson. or even the whole Northeast which has this kind of diversity training,” he added.

Verdi also said he would personally embrace the implementation of body cameras on officers because “it would benefit the officers, the department and the community.” Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steven Paré has also publicly expressed his support for the idea.In an interview with RI Future, he said that within three to five years all officers will be wearing the cameras.

But despite the progressing discussion over such proposals, many are concerned about how to address deeper structural and ideological problems that exist in society.

“There are no simple solutions,” Karim said.

“For me personally a lot of it is about constant awareness, not letting people forget,” said Wendy Rogers GS. “Will we forget it, and six months down the line, let something like this happen again?” Guterl asked. “I can’t say I’m all that optimistic, … but there is an optimism that wants to come out.”

www.browndailyherald.com

COURTESY OF RICHARD PARK

To protest a grand jury’s decision not to indict Darren Wilson, hundreds of people blocked traffic on I-95 for about 15 minutes Nov. 25.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

SPORTS BULLETIN

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

WRESTLING

In early-season bouts, Bears medal in multiple events

Staudenmayer ’17 collects gold and silver medals, earns national ranking in 157-pound weight class

By NIKKO PASANEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The wrestling team kicked off its season at the East Stroudsburg Open Nov. 16, and continued its early season bouts at the Navy Classic Nov. 22.

Between the two events, the Bears earned eight placeholders, showing there is a lot to look forward to in this year’s campaign despite the team’s near-bottom finish in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association standings last season.

“I think we are improving a lot,” said captain Ophir Bernstein ’15. “I can honestly say that this is the best Brown wrestling team that I’ve competed with since I’ve been here. It’s really exciting for us.”

The team’s efforts were exemplified by Justin Staudenmayer ’17, who took home the title for the 157-pound weight class at the Navy Classic and placed second in the same event at East Stroudsburg. With the two strong showings, Staudenmayer is now nationally ranked in his weight class.

“It’s great to see,” said Head Coach Todd Beckerman. “Especially as an underclassman — a sophomore who is really stepping up as a leader on the team.”

Bernstein, an All-American, will also be a key player on this year’s squad, starting the season on a strong note by capturing fourth and third place in the 184-pound weight class at East Stroudsburg and Navy, respectively.

Bernstein entered the season fresh off a third-place finish at the World University Wrestling Championships this summer, where he competed for Israel. With that tournament marking his third year of competition at the international level, his sights are set on making the 2016 Olympic team.

“Luckily I had a good tournament,” Bernstein said of his latest tournament on the international circuit. “I went out there and actually lost the first match but came back and won

TOM SULLIVAN / HERALD

Last year, captain and All-American Ophir Bernstein ’15 fell just two wins short of setting Bruno’s all-time single-season record for wins — a mark he hopes to surpass in his final season on the mats. two tough matches. At the end, I was fortunate enough to end up on the podium with a third-place medal.”

But before Bernstein makes a run at the Olympics, he has one last season with which he can cement his legacy as one of Brown’s all-time greats, and this time around, he will look to break the school’s single season record for victories, a mark of which he fell just two wins short last year.

Aside from those standouts, the team still had a strong showing. L.J. Remillard ’17, Ricky McDonald ’15 and Billy Watterson ’15 all recorded fifth or sixth place finishes at East

Stroudsburg, and McDonald also placed fifth at the Navy Classic. Yet Beckerman seemed most impressed by the team’s first-years, three of whom fought their way into the quarterfinals at their first collegiate level competitions.

“They’re doing a great job,” said Beckerman of his rookies. “They’ve been working hard all preseason, and then it showed in the first two tournaments. I’m anxious to see how the season unfolds for a lot of them.”

The Bears are now looking ahead to the weekend, when they will compete at the Cliff Keen Invitational in

Las Vegas, Nevada. The competition promises to be a stern early season test for Beckerman and the crew, with 12 of the nation’s top 25 teams making the trip out to Sin City.

“This is what we’ve been preparing for in the preseason and the first two tournaments,” Beckerman said.

“It will really act as a gauge to see where we are at and what we need to work on to prepare for the NCAA tournament in March.”

In his second year as head coach, Beckerman knows that the team has a lot to learn from these early season contests, but he is adamant that the

team shouldn’t dwell on any disappointing results at this point in the season. He hopes the team will instead remain focused on the ultimate goal of competing in the NCAA tournament. This message seemed to resonate with Bernstein, who offered a similar take on the squad’s mindset going forward.

“In the next couple of months, we will probably make some mistakes, but as long as we correct them and we’re ready for the tournament in March, we’ll be good,” Bernstein said.

“That’s our focus and what we are really worried about.”

FOOTBALL

Fuller ’15.5 announces return for 2015 season Quarterback, leading receiver Strachan ’15.5 each granted extra season of eligibility, boost offense

By ANDREW FLAX SENIOR STAFF WRITER

In separate social media posts, wide receiver Brian Strachan ’15.5 and football team quarterback and co-captain Marcus Fuller ’15.5 announced that they will be returning to the team for the 2015 season.

While most players are only offered four years of eligibility, Strachan and Fuller were both granted medical hardship waivers for suffering significant injuries in their freshman and junior seasons, respectively. Since both have

already completed seven semesters, they will take the 2015 spring semester off before returning to school in the fall.

Fuller grew by leaps and bounds this season — his first as a starter. After throwing for 202 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions in the season opener, he threw for at least one touchdown in each of the year’s final nine games and was only intercepted five more times. His seven picks were the second fewest among Ivy quarterbacks with at least 250 attempts.

On the year, he threw for 2,618 yards, the third-most in the Ivy League.

He completed a somewhat low 54.7 percent of his attempts but was still third in the conference in yards per attempt at 7.2.

His experience will be invaluable on a team that has seen its share of growing pains: This season, the Bears offense struggled to find cohesiveness with 11 new starters. But seven starters are projected to return for the unit in 2015, and Bruno will benefit from continuity under center, especially now that backup quarterback Seth Rosenbauer ’16 has transitioned to running back and been replaced on the depth chart

by Kyle Moreno ’17, who completed just 3-for-9 pass attempts in limited time this season.

“Experience is the one thing you can’t teach,” Fuller said. “I matured a lot over the season.”

Fuller explained that he knew his decision was made after the team’s loss to Yale, in which the offense exploded for six touchdowns but fell 45-42.

“We went toe-to-toe with what was at the time the best offense in the country,” he said. “That was proof of how far we’ve come and what we’re capable of as a unit.”

Strachan had an excellent season as well, ending the year with Second Team All-Ivy honors. His 56 catches, 668 yards and seven touchdowns led the Bears and placed him sixth, seventh and second in the conference

respectively. Strachan’s chemistry with Fuller was evident, and the connection between the two will be instrumental in the success of next year’s attack.

“As the season went on, the offense got a lot better,” Strachan said.

Previously plagued by injuries, including two ankle surgeries, Strachan said this offseason will be the first in which he is at full strength and can prepare without limits. Finally unshackled from rehab exercises, Strachan said he plans to “give it all I have.”

With one more shot at a championship, both Bears plan to make it count.

“I came here to win an Ivy title,” Strachan said. “We have unfinished business.”

S2 sports

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

M. ICE HOCKEY

Union, RPI pose next ECAC test for Bruno Porous Bears defense figures to struggle with Union’s power plays, RPI’s trigger-happy offense

By MATT BROWNSWORD SPORTS STAFF WRITER

After a weekend in which the men’s hockey team was able to notch its second win of the season against Connecticut, Bruno will look to finally take the next step and do what Head Coach Brendan Whittet ’94 has been striving for all season: get conference points.

The Bears’ (2-7, 0-6 ECAC) opponents this weekend are Union (7-6-1, 1-4-1) and Rensselaer (6-9-1, 4-2), two teams that are used to conference success. RPI has hovered around the top of the ECAC all year — its only conference losses were to No. 15 Quinnipiac and No. 9 Harvard — but Union has struggled in ECAC play from the start. One explanation for the Dutchmen’s slow start is their opening conference strength of schedule: losses to RPI (twice) and Quinnipiac — both top teams — hurt Union, but it was able to tie Harvard and beat lowly Princeton to gain some ECAC momentum.

Up first for the Bears this weekend are the defending national champions, who come into Providence after a nonconference weekend similar to Brown’s — the Dutchmen beat Notre Dame but got demolished by a struggling Western Michigan team, while Bruno beat UConn but fell badly to Holy Cross.

Led by impressive freshman Spencer Foo — who leads the team in goals, with seven — Union features a balanced front line, with 13 players who have registered four or more points this season. Accompanying Foo are a pair of sophomores, Mike Vecchione and Jeff Taylor, who are one-two in the ECAC assists column. Vecchione is second in the nation in points behind Boston University superstar Jack Eichel, who figures to be a top pick in next year’s NHL draft.

HUNTER LEEMING / HERALD

The men’s hockey team will take on conference foes Union and Rensselaer this weekend. Brown has failed to secure a single win in the ECAC this season, though these games could pose tough challenges to Bruno.

“They are so good because they have that experience of winning. They have returning players that have held trophies,” Whittet said. “They always play hard and are aggressive, and they are well coached. I know they have struggled a little bit, but when I watch them on film, I see that they have a lot of the traits of prior teams.”

One of the biggest problems for the Dutchmen has been between the pipes, where — similarly to the Bears — two goalies have contributed to the second-worst save percentage in the

ECAC. (Brown has the worst.) Collin Stevens has started all 11 games he has played in, but has been pulled in three of those games in favor of sophomore Alex Sakellaropolous. Stevens has been the goaltender of choice for the last two years, but Sakellaropolous has had his share of impressive starts in that time, including a 31-save effort against the Crimson this year.

If the Bears have any chance at topping Union, they must stop its potent power play: The Dutchmen have a 20.9 percent conversion rate, the

15th-highest in the nation — for reference, Bruno’s overall conversion rate is 7.7 percent — and Union’s conversion rate is a whopping 26.4 percent in the ECAC. Brown averages a little over 10 penalty minutes per game, which means Union should score one or two power-play goals in that time, but if Brown can stop the Dutchmen, it might just be the tide shift it needs.

“I think getting (Matt Lorito ’15) back from injury will help our power play because he’s an elite offensive player,” Whittet said. “We just need

to cycle pucks in front of the net and not overcomplicate things. As for the penalty kill, I thought it showed a lot of improvement last weekend, and hopefully that will continue.”

Unfortunately for the Bears, the squad will be without Dane Cooper ’18 and Zack Pryzbek ’17 this weekend, as Cooper suffered a concussion against Colgate and Pryzbek was injured in the same game as Lorito but has not experienced a similarly speedy recovery.

After the Dutchmen, the Bears welcome the Engineers, who come into Providence after a two-loss weekend against Michigan. For all RPI’s conference success this year, its statistics are not as gaudy as Union’s: Rensselaer has only scored 1.56 goals per game this year, third-worst in the ECAC. Riley Bourbonnais and Lou Nanne lead the Engineers with four goals apiece, with Drew Melanson and Mark Miller heading the assist tally.

In goal, Jason Kasdorf has started 12 games this year, going 6-6, while Scott Diebold has filled in and performed poorly, losing three of his only four starts. What the Engineers do well is find ways to attack the net, as they lead the ECAC in shots per game.

And with Brown last in the league in save percentage, that could prove to be a recipe for disaster Saturday.

“Rensselaer has had great goaltending this season and is always a fundamentally sound defensive team,” Whittet said. “They have good special teams, and we know it’s going to be a tough matchup.”

Both matchups for Brown will likely prove difficult, as the Bears lost all four games against RPI and Union last year. And if Bruno’s conference record this season is any indication, playing two consistent games this weekend would be the first time that has happened all season. But playing consistent hockey was one of the team’s goals this year, Whittet said, and if the Bears can do that, they have a good chance to achieve their main goal: getting conference points.

TAEKWONDO

Bears take top prize at inaugural home tournament Following promotion to club sport status, Bruno dominates ECTC Tournament with plethora of medals

By EMILE BAUTISTA SPORTS STAFF WRITER

After years of being a Category 3 student group on campus, the Taekwondo team took on the club sport title this semester.

The group came out strong this semester in its inaugural tournament with a third-place finish at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The team won its first tournament in its newly christened role Nov. 22 at the Eastern Collegiate Taekwondo Conference Tournament hosted by the victors themselves in the OlneyMargolies Athletic Center. Brown

welcomed 365 competitors from 20 schools, ranging from the Midwest to the East Coast and including the University of Michigan, MIT and Pennsylvania State University to compete in this day-long tournament.

Taekwondo competition is broken down into two parts: forms competition and sparring. Participants in each are divided by belt level: black, upper color and lower color. In forms, competitors execute set moves and are judged by a panel of referees. In sparring, teams of three compete against one another. A team consists of one individual from each weight class — heavy, middle and light

— and a school can have more than one team. Consequently, it is a singleelimination tournament, and a team progresses if two of its three competitors win their matchups. Points are awarded to each school based on the success of the contestants in both forms and sparring. The further an individual or team advances, the more points the school earns.

Bruno competes in Division Two, a status determined by the number of total points the team amassed last year. By the end of the ECTC Tournament, Brown Taekwondo and its 37 contributors boasted a higher point total than all seven of its division rivals, solidifying its first crown of the year. In forms, Blue-belter Cheyenne Morrin ’15 and Green-belter Anita

Yun ’17 captured silver medals to power the Bruno effort. The Bears similarly boasted multiple medalwinning teams in sparring. For the women, the team of Nari Lee ’17, Morgan Cheatham ’17, Jenna Merrin ’15 and Katelynn Pan ’18 and the team of Morrin and Oriana ShulevitzRosado ’16 each captured silver medals. On the men’s side, the team of Ian Cheung ’16, Jacques Van Anh ’16 and Alpha Diallo ’15 grabbed silver.

Erica Thieleman ’15, the club’s president, thought the atmosphere at Bruno’s only home tournament of the semester improved the experience. “There was a lot of spirit, and we had 15 alumni there too. It was just a great family event,” she said.

The tournament win bodes well

Like us on Facebook! www.facebook.com/browndailyherald

for the team as it heads into more competitive tournaments in the spring, Thieleman said.

“I’m really proud (of the team).

This was the first tournament that most of our new members were able to compete in. It was really fun to watch them contribute to the team,” she said.

The tournament crown is not Brown Taekwondo’s first time in the spotlight. The team has experienced the sweet taste of victory fairly often in recent history — in the last four years, the team has emerged in first place at Collegiate Nationals, which occurs in the spring.

The team is led by their instructor Master Sung Park ’96, a sixth degree black belt.

m. basketball S3

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

Bruno bested by meticulous Eagles’ slow-paced offense American holds Bears to just 21 points in second half, cruises to comfortable 66-49 victory

By ALEX WAINGER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

American University rode the strength of a 16-point second half advantage to take down the men’s basketball team Wednesday at the Pizzitola Center. The methodical Eagles slowed down the pace of the game, forcing the Bears to defend for the entirety of the shot clock.

“The story of this game was their offensive execution and our lack of offensive execution, especially in the second half,” said Head Coach Mike Martin ’04.

Bruno opened up the game with a clear edge in size. The co-captain duo of Cedric Kuakumensah ’16 and Rafael Maia ’15 caused problems for the Eagles down low. American’s starting power forward, sophomore Charlie Jones, is listed at 6-foot-4, 185 pounds and was forced to guard the 6-foot-9, 245-pound Kuakumensah.The reigning Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year showed off his prowess on the other side of the ball, scoring nine of the team’s first 15 points and manhandling Jones on the block.

“We did a pretty good job early of making an effort to get the ball inside, where I thought we had an advantage,” Martin said, but added “They did a good job of collapsing the paint, especially in the second half.”

But as the half progressed, American began to impose its style on the game. The Eagles’ offense is built upon the principles of the Princeton offense, which emphasizes motion, pick-and-rolls and back-door cuts to keep a defense on its heels. The team plays a four-out lineup, surrounding center Zach Elcano with four shooters at all times.

Elcano, at nearly seven feet tall, set solid screens and was occasionally fed the ball when he was able to gain favorable positioning against Kuakumensah. He used a deft righty hook shot to rack up 13 points on

the night.

The rest of the Eagles fed off of Elcano, leading the Bears through multiple picks by the towering junior.

American used at least 20 seconds on nearly every possession, and while Bruno often defended well early in the shot clock, eventually the Eagles would find a hole and exploit it.

“I was disappointed with our inability to guard them. It was a low possession game, and they’re very good with their execution,” Martin said. “There’s a lot of teams that have a hard time guarding these guys.”

American’s guard-heavy offense forced Martin to limit the amount of time Maia and Kuakumensah shared on the floor. At least one of the two was on the floor at all times, but the captains played just 16 minutes together, two-thirds of which came when Jones was playing. As soon as Jones came off the floor, so too did one of Bruno’s bigs, diminishing the team’s size advantage. Jones wasn’t a threat to score so the bigs could guard him on the perimeter, but Mark Vasic, who replaced Jones, had too quick a trigger for Maia or Kuakumensah and Martin was forced to pull one.

Bruno went into the half down just one point, but American looked the better team on both ends of the floor. That point was driven home in the second 20 minutes of action, when the Eagles held Bruno to a lowly 28 percent from the field, including 0-for-5 from beyond the arc.

“We got some good looks from the perimeter, but we just didn’t make them,” Martin said, “When you’re not getting stops, missing open shots, missing free throws and turning the ball over, it compounds itself.”

Leland King ’17 and J.R. Hobbie ’17, Bruno’s spark plugs off the bench, were held largely in check.

Hobbie had a number of looks from deep but made just 1-for-6 threepointers. King only played 23 minutes but pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds, to go along with his 11 points.

The Bears will play their penultimate 2014 home game Saturday, when Ocean State rival Bryant visits the Pizzitola Center.

DAVID DECKEY / HERALD

Co-captain Cedric Kuakumensah ’16 led the Bears with 17 points and added to his already impressive defensive resume with another three blocks in the team’s 17-point loss to American University at home Wednesday.

S4 swimming and diving

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

DAVID DECKEY / HERALD

Despite splitting into separate teams and gaining two new head coaches and a crop of first-years who have yet to learn the ropes, the formerly co-ed men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams have their eyes set on Ivy League championships.

Separate teams, new coaching staffs highlight changes for Bears Both women’s and men’s teams jump out to flying starts against preliminary competition

By ELIZABETH CONWAY STAFF WRITER

The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams have faced a wave of changes over the last several months.

After the retirement of longtime coach Peter Brown, the co-ed program has split into separate men’s and women’s teams. Despite the separation, both the women’s and men’s teams remain focused on a shared season goal — to improve upon last year’s sixth and seventh respective finishes in the Ivy League championship.

Led by new Head Coach Kate Kovenock and an entirely new coaching staff, the women’s team is off to a solid start this year with two dual meet victories. The ladies kicked off the season with a Nov. 7 home meet against Northeastern, winning 136-107.

At the meet, Elly Vitek ’17 triumphed in both the 500- and 1,000yard freestyle events, and team captains Kate Dillione ’15 and Gina Matsumoto ’16 claimed the 200 free and 200 fly, respectively. Aja Grande ’18 starred at the short distances in her first collegiate meet, winning the 50 yard free.

Amanda Molinelli ’13 led Brown divers with the Bear’s best score of the afternoon, 251.56, in the three-meter event.

The following day, the Bears were back in action, this time narrowly edging out UMass Amherst 151-149.

Dillione again captured the 200 free victory and set five Joseph R. Rogers, Jr. Pool records. Grande claimed the 100 breast title, and Caroline Vexler ’17 and Matsumoto took one-two in the 200 fly.

Kovenock said she is excited by the early success of the team. “We’ve seen some pretty outstanding performances,” she said.

In her first year at the helm, Kovenock said she has focused on individualizing the training, tailoring to the needs of each team member. She has also increased race pace and intensity interval training in practice and placed a greater emphasis on weight room strength and conditioning.

Dillione said splitting the teams has had a positive impact on the competitors.

“The pros definitely outweigh the cons. For the guys and girls, it is great that we now have an individual coach who can focus on the 28 of us rather than one person trying to watch over 50 people,” she said. Though she admits that the move was difficult, she said she believes the team has responded well. Since Kovenock did not arrive

until the middle of September, Dillione said during the summer “it was hard to keep the team focused on swimming.”

The women return to action this weekend for the Brown Invitational Dec. 5-7 at the Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center.

Kovenock is anticipating some personal bests, but also sees this meet as an important gauge of training thus far.

“More than anything, this is my first chance to see this team with a little bit of rest … and where they are when they face very good competition within the Ivy League,” she said.

Though much of this semester has been a big “getting-to-know-you period,” Kovenock said, “the team has really stepped up. They are willing to take on quite a bit more work and expectations just day-to-day. I’ve been very pleased with how they have stepped up to the challenge this year and I expect that to continue.”

In her first year, Kovenock is already looking ahead to the future of the program. “We want to lay the groundwork for a culture of excellence, a culture that aspires to more. … There is no reason why we should not be fighting it out at the top end of the Ivy League.”

The men’s team faces similar challenges, as it is also in the midst of adjusting to a new coaching staff. The men’s captains Brian Barr ’15, Billy Rosenberg ’15, Ryan Saenger ’16 and

Alex Pascal ’15 have worked hard to unify the team, and the squad is optimistic, Barr said.

“This weekend is the official mark for a new era in Brown swimming.

In recent years, we have built a new pool, almost doubled the size of our mens team, hired an enthusiastic and experienced coaching staff and have developed a team consisting of many highly competitive swimmers and divers. Brown swimming and diving is looking nowhere but uphill,” Barr said.

After a comfortable 173-125 victory against UMass, the men are also off to a strong start. Riley Springman ’18 made a splash in his collegiate debut, shattering a long-standing UMass pool record in the 200 fly. Jonathon Schlafer ’17 led the divers with a 248.40 victory in the three-meter event.

Barr said he expects to see additional “breakout swims” amongst his teammates this weekend when the men compete in the Brown Invitational.

Cory Mayfield ’16, Brown’s 500 free record holder, said this weekend “will be the real deal.”

Head Coach Chris Ip said he is content with the progress of the team in his short tenure so far, adding that he believes the team has maintained strong fitness throughout the coaching transition. “Kate and I came in so late.

School had already started,” he said.

“But I was very pleased to see a group

Letters, please! letters@browndailyherald.com

of self-directed guys. They were doing things on their own, staying in shape.”

The team took a major hit with the graduation of Tommy Glenn ’14, an All-Ivy butterfly specialist who swept the 100 and 200 fly at the last three Ivy championship meets. But Ip said he hopes the freshmen will be able to “fill in the holes” left by the graduated seniors, adding that he looks forward to the weekend as an indicator for how the newcomers will fare in heftier competition. “This weekend we will see how quickly the freshmen can fill these shoes,” he said.

Ip has also emphasized individualized training. “My philosophy is to treat them as equals and like they are elite athletes, and work together to achieve our goals and move up in the conference,” he said.

Jeffrey Strausser ’15 said the team has adjusted well to Ip’s training.

Strausser said Ip has increased training in terms of morning workouts and competitive spirit. “It’s nice to have more intensity,” he added. Though at this point in the season, the Bears would usually have competed in at least three or four meets, Ip said he is confident that the men have time to prepare for championship season.

“This weekend will be a great snapshot of where we are this season. It’s a process. … We are looking to peak in February and March,” he said.

w. basketball S5

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

DAVID DECKEY / HERALD

Sophie Bikofsky ’15 drives into the lane. Bikofsky, one of the team’s premier scorers, has also made other strong contributions to the Bears’ offense, collecting 10 rebounds in each of the last two games.

Bears slip in final seconds, dropping Ocean State tilt URI foils Bruno’s comeback attempt with late offensive rebound, free throws to seal win

By GEORGE SANCHEZ SPORTS STAFF WRITER

After a weekend tournament, the women’s basketball team returned to the Ocean State Tuesday in a matchup against the University of Rhode Island Rams that resulted in a 65-61 Bears loss.

The Rams (4-3) started the game with a strong defensive showing on their way to a 21-9 lead with 9:07 left until halftime. Despite the early disadvantage, shots by Jordin Alexander ’16 and Natalie Ball ’16 brought Bruno back into contention. The Bears (1-6) demonstrated resiliency and fought back to knot the game at 30-30 with a trey from Rebecca Musgrove ’17 with just 10 seconds left in the half.

During the second half, the Bears quickly saw the score slip from their grasp as the Rams tacked on multiple layups to widen the gap to eight points, 44-36, with 14:09 left in play. But much as they did in the first half, the Bears fought back. With shots from Musgrove and Alexander, Bruno persevered and forged an 11-2 run. The offensive surge was topped off with a jump shot from Musgrove that gave the Bears their first lead of the game, 47-46.

But URI quickly countered with an 11-2 run of its own that left the Bears at an eight-point disadvantage with 4:34 remaining. Again, Bruno fought back

with two pivotal three-pointers from Ellise Sharpe ’16 and Sophie Bikofsky ’15 to reduce the deficit to four, 61-57.

The following possession included a turnover by the Rams made possible by a steal from Musgrove. The junior forward subsequently took the ball to the basket for an easy layup to put the Bears within two points of the lead.

The Rams then held possession of the ball for the full 30-second shot clock until a three-point attempt missed its mark. The rebound was pulled down by Alexander, the team’s leading scorer with 19 points per game.

She capitalized with a layup to tie up the game at 61 with 14 ticks left.

The next URI possession started with a missed layup, but it was followed up by a crucial offensive rebound by the Rams’ Samantha Tabakman. Using the second chance, Tabakman drew a foul from Ball. With ice running through her veins, Tabakman sunk both free throws with three seconds left in action and put the Rams up 63-61.

Out of a timeout, the Bears ran one final play to at least take the game into overtime with a two-point field goal, but they were unable to do so. The defeat marks the Bears’ sixth of the early season.

Next up, Bruno returns home this weekend to host the annual Brown Classic at the Pizzitola Sports Center. The weekend’s matchups include a Saturday afternoon game against the Sacred Heart Pioneers (4-1) and a Sunday afternoon game against either the St. Bonaventure Bonnies (5-2) or the Drexel Dragons (3-1).

Follow Sports! twitter.com/bdh_sports

S6 sports commentary

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

From the big screen to the hardwood

JAMES COHAN sports columnist

Over Thanksgiving break, with no classes to fall asleep in and no projects to worry about, I had time to burn my way through an impressive (or depressing, depending on your perspective) number of movies. Some made more of an impression than others, but I enjoyed aspects of every movie, just like I enjoy things about every NBA team. So I had the bright idea to compare each movie to an NBA squad.

Here’s what I came up with.

‘Django Unchained’ “Django Unchained” was the first movie I saw, and the one I had the most fun watching. That sounds counterintuitive, since the movie vividly depicts the brutality of slavery in the American South, and at times, it is downright sickening. But the film’s spirit is that of a classical Western — a comically bloody, Tarantino-ized Western with Jamie Foxx as the cowboy and Rick Ross at the center of the soundtrack.

There’s much more to “Django” than these elements alone, but none of the other movies I watched matched the sheer pleasure of seeing Foxx perched tall on a horse, donning a cowboy hat, black sunglasses hiding his eyes, ready to draw and fire his pistol in the blink of an eye.

So for “Django,” I’m going with

the Pelicans. They’re not the best team in the NBA. They’re good, though — maybe really good — and more than that, they’re a ton of fun.

After feeling much like a lottery team the past couple of years, the Pelicans suddenly seem relevant. They’re by no means guaranteed a playoff spot in the Western bloodbath. Still, they’re in the conversation now, thanks to Anthony Davis’ emergence as the behemoth we all knew he would be. His player efficiency rating is 33 right now

women?

No team deserves that, so instead I’ll compare a team to the protagonist of “The Silence of the Lamb,” Clarice Starling — played by Jodie Foster — who manages to stay sane amidst a field of men who either stare lustily at her or try to murder her.

The Cavs, too, seem to have a target on their back at all times. Every night, they face a team intent on proving its worth by going toe-to-toe with the newest Superteam. The media

like things are coming together.

The science-fiction trio: ‘Interstellar,’ ‘Snowpiercer’ and ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ “Interstellar” has some cool space scenes, but the logic is confusing and it’s mostly Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway taking turns giving monologues. I’m being overly dismissive, but in the grand scheme, this movie can be stamped as mediocre.

Congratulations, Hawks.

This movie can be stamped as mediocre. Congratulations, Hawks.

— six points higher than Michael Jordan’s all-time best career average of 27.

The Pelicans have no expectations to live up to, only to exceed. That’s a rare and fleeting gift in the NBA. So sit back and enjoy as they ride through the Southwest, leaving havoc in their wake.

‘The Silence of the Lambs’ Which team will get the honor of being compared to a movie about a serial killer that eats his victims alive, another serial killer that tries to make a skin suit out of women and the ubiquity of a menacing male gaze on young

lurks around every corner, waiting to pounce on anything that might be construed as a sign of Lebron and Kyrie hating each other, or Kyrie and Waiters hating each other or Lebron and David Blatt hating each other. No, it’s not as bad as being around serial killers, but it’s sports.

The Cavs have, in my opinion, handled that target admirably. Yes, their record is mediocre. But like I said before the season, this was a group of guys that had never played together, and it was going to take time. Thus far, they’ve managed to avoid a meltdown, and, after four straight wins, it looks

Not that the Hawks are bad — they’re actually pretty good. But that is the point — for a team that fancied itself an Eastern Conference version of the Spurs, it looks surprisingly average.

They pass it around and their big men shoot threes, but with the Cavs still getting their feet under them and Derrick Rose only playing half the time, the East is anybody’s to take. The Hawks have yet to look like a real candidate.

“Snowpiercer,” on the other hand, is a delight. Was the logic airtight? No. But it is offbeat enough to hold a viewer’s interest and a pleasure to take in visually. The action scenes have a quick, martial arts quality that separates them from the blinding series of explosions endemic in recent blockbusters. And there was something truly eye-opening about seeing a miniature version of the world condensed into the close quarters of a train.

Teams today are supposed to be efficiency engines. So it jars to see a team built around a baby-faced, temperamental center who yells at refs and sulks on the court suddenly taking on the league’s best. It’s different, and it’s disconcerting. But the Kings, in their own offbeat way, are working. I’m fully on board.

As for “2001: A Space Odyssey”, well, where to begin. This movie is in a class of its own.

Its ability to communicate nearly exclusively through image also makes it impossible to describe adequately with words. Anything I write will be a pale attempt at getting across its brilliance.

With a slow and deliberate pace — and without dialogue until about

40 minutes in — it presents profound ideas, things deep and fascinating that it leaves the viewer to absorb.

The Spurs are the closest thing the NBA has to a masterpiece. The names on the roster don’t jump off the page.

No superstar playing 40 minutes and dropping 35 every night. The Spurs just exhibit a complex choreography of movement that tangles the opposing defense in knots and leaves their own players staring straight at the basket. Fans are left scratching their heads, trying to figure out what exactly they just saw.

‘The Graduate’ When watching “The Graduate” for a second time, free from worry about the direction of the plot, I was able to bask in the movie’s subtle pleasures: the soundtrack by Simon and Garfunkel that both fits with and adds to the movie’s tone so beautifully; the iconic lines (“Just one word … plastics.”); the simple but impactful shots.

Watching the Mavs is no different, and no less exciting to witness than when I was a little kid. It’s still just Dirk, draining his iconic one-legged fadeaways. There are plenty of shiny new objects to amuse us around the league, but the number one offense still resides in Dallas, and it’s a sight to behold.

‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ “Ferris Buehler’s Day Off ” was supposed to be a lock for greatness. Every person I had ever told I hadn’t seen it berated me — what kind of monster could I be not to have seen “Ferris Bueller”?

Well, I finally watched it. It wasn’t funny. I don’t know if I laughed once.

The movie asks its viewer to root for Ferris Bueller, who simply comes across like an entitled jerk. I came close to turning it off, and I never bail on movies.

The Hornets were also supposed to be a lock on fun. I gushed about them in my preview. New name, new jerseys, Lance.

But after ten straight losses, the party’s over. With some hope on the horizon, it’s too soon to bail. But it’s ugly.

And on that happy note, we come to the end. Seven movies, seven teams and absolutely nothing learned, other than that no one should give me this much free time.

James Cohan ’17 is mourning the departure of his favorite editor.

Console him at james_cohan@brown.edu.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

athlete of the week S7

Captain Maia ’15 dominates glass, sets career high in win Senior forward grabs career-best 16 rebounds, completes double-double with 12 points against JWU

By LAINIE ROWLAND SPORTS STAFF WRITER

Rafael Maia ’15 may have started his athletic career as a child on the tennis court, but his moves as a basketball player show that the hardwood is his more natural arena. A two-time captain, the forward is an offensive spark for Brown and has led the Ivy League in rebounds for two years running. Maia’s explosive talent spearheaded Bruno’s recent 75-65 victory over Johnson and Wales, despite the sapped energy of his teammates after a weeklong road trip. For his resilience, leadership and athletic prowess, Maia has been named The Herald’s Athlete of the Week.

Herald: How long have you been playing basketball?

Maia: I started playing 12 years ago when I was 11. I used to play tennis and then I had a small cyst, and my doctor told me I couldn’t play tennis. I started playing basketball,

and I fell in love with the team and the game. I haven’t stopped playing since then.

What is your favorite part of the game?

I love being part of a team. I love the day-to-day practice and knowing we have a common goal.

What motivates you to play as hard as you do?

Winning. I know how hard we have to practice to be good enough to win games. We have to work hard to do that.

Why did you choose to play at Brown?

Brown was the perfect combination for me in terms of basketball and academics. It’s such a great school. …

I just saw myself here. I fell in love with the team and knew I wanted to come.

How has your experience on the

team prepared you to be captain?

We’ve been through a lot of difficult situations and in every situation I’ve learned … whether you win or lose, it’s always a learning experience.

My first two years prepared me a lot. … I’ve always been a captain, even on the Brazil national team.

What are your predictions for the rest of the season?

I want to win the Ivy League Championship. We have a long way to go, and we have a lot of development before then. We have to take it one game at a time … and just really focus on the day-to-day practice, which is when we get better. Every time we go onto the court, we expect to win because we hold ourselves to a high standard.

Ratty or VDub? VDub. … I’m friends with everyone who works there.

Do you have any plans for after Brown?

I’m not 100 percent sure yet. … I probably will go to grad school.

DAVID DECKEY / HERALD

Maia ’15 follows through after a free throw. The forward has been a force on the glass this year, collecting three and a half offensive boards per game.

Thanks for reading!

S8 sports commentary

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

Morality, legality and the NFL

MIKE FIRN sports columnist

On Nov. 18, the NFL announced that Adrian Peterson would be suspended indefinitely for whipping his four-year-old son back in September. Citing the brutality of Peterson’s offense and his subsequent lack of remorse, commissioner Roger Goodell brought down the hammer on AP, reaffirming the league’s commitment to standards of player conduct.

For the most part, public opinion emphatically nodded its head. Finally, a superstar athlete was held accountable for his actions. But public opinion is selectively blind. And if no one else will say it, I will: Yet again, Goodell got it wrong.

It’s really no surprise — Goodell has been bungling big decisions his entire tenure. Peterson’s case is just the latest in a laundry list of controversies: spy-gate, Bounty-gate, concussion-gate, replacement-referees-during-thelockout-gate. How many gates does one guy get?

Let me be clear: Adrian Peterson is at fault, and by no means am I absolving him of blame.

There’s a conversation to be had about our national stance on corporal punishment, but it’s pretty clear that Peterson’s reckless and vicious behavior — stuffing leaves in the child’s mouth and leaving dozens of welts — overstepped the bounds of reasonable, parental discipline. Peterson alone is responsible for his actions. No argument here.

But even if you think AP deserves his punishment, it was almost certainly levied for the wrong reasons. Do the ends justify the means?

You may look at the evidence and scream “yes.”

But when those means establish a pattern of procedural injustice, the answer has to be no.

Only Goodell could take a wrongdoer like Peterson and turn him into a victim, and that’s exactly what’s happened. The commissioner’s transgressions are two-fold: imposing an inconsistent and arbitrary discipline process for the sake of maintaining appearances, and authorizing his own power as the morality police in a misguided attempt to prove that the NFL cares.

Let’s recap. After Peterson’s arrest, the league made a deal to place him on the rarely used commissioner’s exempt list. This move allowed Peterson to collect paychecks, but prevented him from playing while the case navigated the courts. Still, Peterson was assured that he would be reinstated if his felony childabuse charges were legally resolved. Though charges were pled down to misdemeanor reckless assault, Goodell defaulted on that deal and suspended Peterson indefinitely. Every step of the way, the commissioner’s authority has gone unchecked.

Ostensibly, the league is trying to send the message that athletes can’t misbehave with impunity, but that’s exactly what Goodell has been allowed to do, and it’s not the first time.

By all accounts, Goodell did his best to sweep the Ray Rice debacle under the rug, making his own credibility laughable.

After botching Rice’s case, Goodell hastily created a new domestic violence policy to prove his disciplinary chops. Even though Peterson’s offense occurred before implementation of this policy, he was punished under its terms. I’m no lawyer, but sounds like an ex post facto law to me. “The decision by the NFL to suspend Adrian Peterson is another example of the credibility gap that exists between the agreements they make and the actions they take,” the NFL Players’ Association said in a statement. I won’t detail all of Goodell’s Collective Bargaining Agreement violations, but

entire 2014 campaign awaiting criminal trial for domestic violence, attend legal proceedings in the offseason and — if history is any indication — get suspended several additional games regardless of the verdict. If the point of putting AP on the exempt list was to see how the law decided the case, why did Goodell’s decision contradict the court’s? In an effort to appease popular opinion and restore his reputation, Goodell has invented rules to make an example of a star player.

Maybe Peterson deserves it, but that’s part of the problem. Goodell thinks he can get away with a sham disciplinary process because these players have made such big mistakes. I don’t condone child abuse. I don’t mean to deflect attention from a very real issue. But NFL players have rights: Even if someone’s crime is really bad, we can’t just skip the trial.

Still, there’s a larger issue here: Why does

The NFL has every right to create and enforce any rule that it collectively bargains, but the commissioner can’t just make up rules because he fears fan and sponsor backlash. How would you feel if you committed a crime that typically warrants a fine, only to have the public freak out and pressure the judicial system to lock you away for life? the list can be found in Peterson’s appeal.

The NFL has every right to create and enforce any rule that it collectively bargains, but the commissioner can’t just make up rules because he fears fan and sponsor backlash. How would you feel if you committed a crime that typically warrants a fine, only to have the public freak out and pressure the judicial system to lock you away for life? The NFL is not the legal system, but Goodell is still bound to the terms of its legal standard — the Collective Bargaining Agreement. He negotiated the policies, and he has to stick by them.

Shortly after AP settled his charges, a league executive assured Peterson that his stint on the exempt list would count as time-served toward any possible suspension. Inexplicably, it wasn’t. Yes, he still got paid during the absence, but when you prevent a football player from playing football for four months, that’s worth something. I’m willing to bet that Peterson would have rather played for free than be paid to sit.

Here, Goodell has established a dangerous precedent. The exempt list now allows the league to punish a player doubly by effectively suspending him based on accusation before any legal wrongdoing is established. It’s an abuse of power that borders on anti-American. In the NFL, you’re guilty until proven innocent, and even then, your fate is cloudy.

Consider the case of Greg Hardy, who is currently on the exempt list. He’ll sit out the

the NFL feel obligated to adjudicate on moral issues in the first place? From a business perspective, Goodell fears that the NFL’s association with AP’s legally sanctioned yet socially distasteful behavior will diminish the value of its brand. Ultimately, Peterson was suspended not for criminal wrongdoing, but for violating the public’s moral standard.

If your policy is not to cheer for jerks, stop watching professional sports. Travis Henry fathered 10 children with nine women — should we suspend him for irresponsibility? Ban Tiger Woods for infidelity? When Goodell created the player conduct policy in 2007 and started dropping the hammer on the likes of Pacman Jones, he wrongfully took it upon himself to levy punishments based not on criminal wrongdoing, but on subjective judgment of players’ personal lives. The league should follow strict procedural guidelines to discipline criminal actions, but why should one man be permitted to condemn the morality of legal, personal choices? Free market forces, not the commissioner, should determine whether the accompanying public relations hit of immorality is truly bad enough to deny men like Peterson a job.

I recognize that the NFL has powerful motivations to control public relations, but the public only expects discipline because the league has set a precedent of operating as the extralegal moral police. Has it gone too far down that road to backtrack? Maybe. But Goodell is only

digging himself deeper. The entire process is rife with hypocrisy. It doesn’t seem to bother the commissioner that Nike, a major sponsor, has made millions from child labor overseas — distant, developing-world child abuse generally draws a less visceral reaction from the public, so the league lets it slide.

What Goodell apparently doesn’t realize is that we don’t care if the NFL cares. America doesn’t look toward its most violent sport to provide moral direction or social commentary. Despite the league’s increasingly visible domestic violence crisis, viewership among women has actually climbed in 2014.

None of this is new. Violence was not invented by Rice or Peterson. Rice grew up in a poverty-stricken household — his father was murdered when he was one. Peterson was raised in Texas where he was regularly beaten and whipped by his parents. Of course, these facts don’t excuse their behaviors. But it’s naive to expect NFL players will never hold up a mirror to the social conditions that produced them. Some of these guys will make mistakes.

I expect this, and it’s built into my perception of the sport. But would you cheer for AP on fourth-and-goal to decide the Super Bowl for your team? Society views athletes as gladiators, not role models, and to police their morality is just a misguided abuse of power.

The NFL has barged into the American home uninvited. Goodell has entered the foggy space of a socially unresolved domestic issue — corporal punishment is still legal in all 50 states. When Goodell suspended Peterson, he declared unequivocally that one method of childcare is worse than another. And now, the league finds itself on the frontline of a difficult conversation laced with generational, racial and cultural undertones. Goodell’s latest attempt to control personal choice and morality has left the league floundering in a futile attempt to prove that it cares.

I really don’t see how Goodell could survive this latest fiasco. But then again, I said the same thing following the Rice incident. It’s easy to say “AP deserves it — let him burn.”

Undeniably, he committed a heinous offense that warrants social revulsion, and it still feels like Peterson eluded proper legal consequences. But our emotions about his crime shouldn’t obscure Goodell’s wrongdoing. Peterson deserves to pay for his sin, but not for Rice’s, Goodell’s or society’s. There is a process, and the commissioner ignores it. He was paid $44 million (!) last year to handle these thorny issues, and he continues to bungle the decisions.

Simply put, Goodell has lost control of the league. It becomes clearer with every misstep — now more than ever, the NFL has a crisis in leadership.

Mike Firn ’16 is ready to stage a coup Join the cause at michael_firn@brown.edu.

arts & culture 7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

‘Heist Play’ subverts Hollywood tropes Student-written and -directed performance uses innovative staging to shift moods across acts

By DREW WILLIAMS SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The perfect play bears a striking resemblance to the perfect crime — everadapting, prone to explosions and often more illusion than reality. In stealing $30 million from a locked bank vault in a job riddled with mishaps, Sock and Buskin’s “Heist Play” exemplifies the fluidity of the perfect, eponymous heist. Yet its characters, with their frequent struggles, mistakes and misfires, can’t quite realize that perfection. “Heist Play,” which debuted as a workshop performance Thursday, offers a snapshot of a self-critical artistic piece striving for an eventual end result that it has not yet attained.

Skylar Fox ’15 has written and directed the show over the course of the last two months, allowing his talented slew of actors to steer the production toward a potential second reimagining after its appearance at Brown. The play offers three acts — each one as starkly different from the next as the highly specialized talents of the heist crew members. In fact, the title masks the true intentions of the story. While the first act conforms to audience expectations of a slick Rat Pack endeavor, the second two subvert these tropes, evolving into a dark look at existential motivations — quite literally what motivates us to live. Thieves capable of the perfect take also live outside of the heist itself, and “Heist Play” serves as a backstage look into the parts of the

REVIEW

» OFFERMAN, from page 1 “Except you,” he added, pointing to a student in the middle of the auditorium. “You’ll need to work on your personality.”

Offerman made sure to refer to the audience watching the lecture “in 001” throughout the set. “Being in the same room as my package is a part of the magic,” he said, asking if the camera could zoom in for a closeup.

“I just assume everyone (at Brown) is a sculptor or woodworker,” Offerman said, referencing his relationship with alum RH Lee ’00, who works in his woodshop in Los Angeles.

Offerman, who studied at the University of Illinois as an undergraduate, said it was there where he discovered his passion for theater and decided he would try to make a living off of it. “I had to pay for my weed,” he added.

He then delved into life’s “fundamentals,” ideas he described in his book, “Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man’s Fundamentals for Delicious Living,” published last fall.

His first tip was to “engage in romantic love” — a suggestion that he emphasized “wasn’t a joke” when the audience burst into laughter.

He talked at length about his wife of 14 years, actress Megan Mullaly. Offerman described their relationship as sexually charged and simple, noting that they were “homebodies.”

“There’s no greater point to trudging through all this bullshit than to love someone and make them happy,” Offerman said.

Offerman also serenaded the audience with a selection of comical songs,

story not sexy enough for Hollywood.

The heist itself is as aesthetically enjoyable an experience as can grace a college stage. In the intimate Leeds Theater, characters whir down the aisles and up into the catwalks. They leave the safety of center stage for both the scene of the crime and the fourth wall, handling each peril with nonchalant grace. Plays of this globe-trotting scope are rare — a consequence of budget limitations everywhere except the apex of Broadway. But “Heist Play” does not shy away from this complication: Its actors stutter-step — quite inexpensively — around stage to signify location change.

But the show’s true claim to innovation lies in its pragmatic use of video to both move the plot along and mock the comically mugged character introductions endemic to high-testosterone action flicks. As the crew assembles and embarks on its “impossible” task, it is clear that experts are at work. But after the heist, when the team triumphantly struts through a cloud of smoke with millions in tow, it is unclear whether the thieves or production crew are more deserving of the glory.

But for those familiar with these action flicks, the beauty of watching such a technically innovative heist unfold only serves to underscore the disappointment of thematic deja vu. It is difficult to plant a brand new flag in a genre like crime that has been so thoroughly examined in storytelling through the ages, but where the play could embrace subtle twists on the genre, it embraces George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon, circa 2001.

The similarities to “Ocean’s Eleven” are striking, and while this impressive comparison will keep the uninitiated viewers in rapt attention, those who have seen that film — or other cornerstones of the

genre — will wait in vain for originality.

Perhaps to make up for the routine affair of the first act, the second launches into the comedown of the fleeting high of the heist — a nice change of pace for the audience, if not so much for the adrenaline-junkie thieves who must now embrace the mundane. Act two fleshes out the characters in such a realistic and vulnerable manner that they almost seem incapable of the heroic performance of the previous act. But the pendulum swings back a little bit too far from the high-octane thrills of the previous act — constantly bored or unhappy characters threaten to impose similar sentiments on the audience.

If the story swings between mundane and over-the-top, the finale finds the unexpected golden mean and sticks with it to an emotional and unsettling conclusion. We know the characters well enough to see ourselves in their handling of a tragedy.

The tonal shifts throughout the three acts are so drastic that it would only be considered a roller coaster ride at a theme park where roller coaster cars have no mandate to stay on the tracks.

“Heist Play” takes us where it wants to go, and if the jump from our comfortable tracks is slightly too jarring, the promise of the workshopped play’s further development allows sufficient test rides to sacrifice a few overwhelmed customers.

Ultimately, as the production develops, “Heist Play” hopes to arrive at something that coheres just a little bit more, that toes the fine line between subversion and disconnect just as precisely as its stutter-stepping leads across the stage and across geographies. And then it will arrive again. And again, until those involved are ready to call it one last job.

singing and playing guitar.

He kicked off his musical performances with the sweet and lascivious “Rainbow Song” he wrote for Mullaly’s 50th birthday.

Citing the rudeness typical in Los Angeles, Offerman told the audience to always “say please and thank you” — his second fundamental. Raised in a small town on a farm, he said he grew up in a family in which “everyone is taken care of.”

In between wood and the other kind of “wood” humor, Offerman encouraged students to take on hobbies that allow them to use their hands and explore their interests.

Offerman said without keeping busy in his woodshop, he “would have been a fat drunk eight years ago.”

He encouraged students to pursue “anything you can do with your hands and your mind and heart.”

“When you stop learning, you become bitter,” Offerman said. As an example, he talked about his recent attempt to carve a ukulele for the first time.

“Life is way too Instagramm-y and email-y,” he sang in his “Ukulele Song.”

“I want to get away from all the screens between me and the world,” he said, praising the virtues of spending time outdoors.

Other lessons he offered included “carry a hanky,” “avoid the mirror” and “eat red meat.”

After his lecture, which he ended with a rendition of “5,000 Candles in the Wind” from “Parks and Rec,” Offerman took questions from the audience.

Here the audience saw that Offerman could be just as strict as his

character Ron Swanson and indeed follows his own emphasis on etiquette, promptly cutting off several students who tried to ask more than one question with humorous severity.

He also used the question-and-answer session to air his discontent with people who record performances like his lecture and ruin the “magic.”

Responding to Offerman’s ideas about the necessity of making mistakes in order to improve, Rebecca Carrol ’15 asked Offerman how he had “f***ed up” throughout his career as an actor in the past. “Even though I knew I was ignorant and wouldn’t do a good job, I kept trying,” he told the audience.

“When I learned to be decent at acting, it was when I realized the most valuable thing was myself,” Offerman said.

He said it took him five years as an actor to stop acting like the “Nike-wearing” cool kid he wasn’t and to be himself.

Several audience members asked about Offerman’s experience on “Parks and Rec.” He described castmate Adam Scott as an “older brother,” equipped with the perfect lame jokes to keep the cast entertained.

He praised the show’s creator, Mike Schur, and its other writers for “exploiting” the actors’ natural personalities to develop great characters.

“The key to the whole operation is from the get-go, there was a no assholes policy — I don’t know how I slipped by,” he said. “There’s this huge crew, and we just make this show with love … and it shows.”

Lecture Board selected Offerman as its fall speaker after none of their poll options could come to campus.

It’s a wrap: films to finish off the semester

BY EMMAJEAN HOLLEY, ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR ‘Wild’ | Opened Dec. 3 | 120 minutes It is often said that before we cast judgment on someone, we must walk a mile in their shoes. According to this logic, hiking the 1,000plus miles of the Pacific Coast Trail must be the empathy exercise of a lifetime. Based on Cheryl Strayed’s wildly popular memoir of the same name, “Wild” follows the recently divorced protagonist — played by Reese Witherspoon who departs from her standard rom-com fare in a rugged and critically acclaimed performance — on her quest for sublimation through nature. Weighed down by her lack of outdoor experience and the ineluctable consequences of her selfdestructive personal history, Cheryl must confront, and transcend, her physical and psychological challenges.

‘Zero Motivation’ | Opened Dec. 3 | 101 minutes

Though its moments of violence will undoubtedly disturb some viewers, it will not be in the ways one might expect from a film about Israeli soldiers. In fact, hardly any aspects of the film meet viewer expectations. Writer and director Talya Lavie makes two uncommon moves: She occupies the viewpoint of female soldiers instead of male soldiers and dares to put a darkly comic spin on the abjection of the situation. Rather than positing a political commentary, the plot focuses on the nosediving friendship between two women whose shared experiences are ultimately too weak an adhesive to reconcile their personal differences, exhibiting a world defined not by its setting, but by the individuals who inhabit it.

‘Two Days, One Night’ | Opens Dec. 24 | 95 minutes

Directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, a brother duo known for their incisive social commentaries such as “The Kid with the Bike,” “Two Days, One Night” garnered a 15-minute standing ovation after its premiere at March’s Cannes Film Festival. Oscarwinner Marion Cotillard stars as Sandra, a factory worker in a solar panel-producing plant. About to return from a depression-related leave of absence, she learns that her coworkers are slated to vote on whether to keep her on staff or absorb her workload — and salary — themselves. Sandra spends the weekend traveling door-to-door, pleading her case to those who will determine her future. Though the cinematography is intensely character-focused, with Cotillard on screen for almost the entire duration of the film, the brothers Dardenne also give weight to the plights of her coworkers, whose similarly tenuous situations paint a complicated moral portrait of the cost of living.

» BMP, from page 1 financial support.

The number of people going to premieres has increased in the past year, said Angela Guo ’16, head of production. The organization has been trying to increase its publicity efforts to better share its members’ art.

Publicity team member Devika Girish ’17 credits greater awareness of BMP and attendance at premieres to the expansion of BMP’s publicity team. Before the club transitioned from Brown Student Television to BMP, all promotion and publicity were handled by two members of its executive board. In the year since BMP’s rebranding, the club has created a separate promotions department, including a graphic design team in order to meet the needs of the expanding organization.

The club’s activities also now include workshops, tech talks, “industry talks” and screenings of films through the organization’s partnership with NBCUniversal, Girish said.

The publicity team aims to make sure “this expansion in production

is accompanied by an expansion in branding,” Girish said.

The strongest points of BMP’s publicity efforts are its “emphasis and insistence on graphics,” as well as its work on the group’s social media presence, Girish said. The team’s “biggest project” has been to develop a visual “BMP brand,” including “a signature logo that everyone can recognize.” Leading up to the end-ofsemester screenings, BMP’s publicity team members have also increased the organization’s multimedia presence, posting film stills from productions and written profiles about BMP members.

But the organization had already transitioned to short films instead of television programming even before its name change from BTV to BMP, Guo said. The executive board finally chose to change the name to better reflect the organization’s mission last year.

“They finally changed the name, and they used that name change as an opportunity to relaunch the organization. We created a new logo along with our new name. It was kind of like the birth of a new era,” Guo said.

8 arts & culture

At the table with Feng Ai Ding

Yan’s Cuisine chef discusses family traditions, healthy eats, cultural benefits of food

By ZACK BU STAFF WRITER

Since its opening in September, Yan’s Cuisine has become College Hill’s spot for authentic Chinese food. The swarms of students at Yan’s are a testament to the restaurant’s diverse flavors, convenient Benevolent Street location and reasonable prices.

The chef responsible for the popular cuisine is Feng Ai Ding, but she calls herself Sister Ai — a practice common in Chinese culture, in which the terms sister and brother are used as part of nicknames. She is from Guangdong, a major food province in China and the home of the almighty dim sum. Sister Ai came to Yan’s Cuisine motivated to fill the stomachs of diligent college students with exquisite foods and delicate desserts. She recently sat down with The Herald to talk about her lifelong passion for cooking and the gratification she takes from making people happy with her food.

The Herald: What’s your earliest memory in the kitchen?

Ai: When I was little, my grandmother would teach me how to cook, including ancient Chinese methods of cooking. My mom is a doctor, so she’s

pretty busy — it’s mostly my grandmother who taught me all the cooking. I started cooking when I was eight, helping out the grown-ups.

What was your go-to college food or meal?

My favorite was fish. It’s healthy to eat, and I think it makes you smart.

my food gives me satisfaction.

How does food fit into a larger conversation about culture?

Well, if a lot of people come to cities and visit, they care about the food there.

Good food in a city promotes the city and promotes its culture. You can’t do anything without food.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

Meiklejohns expand to assist during disciplinary process Code Advising Meiklejohn Program will aim to help advisees understand academic conduct codes

By HENRY TUFNELL CONTRIBUTING WRITER

What’s your favorite thing to cook and why?

My favorite kinds are dishes with steamed vegetables with meat soups.

They take a long time, but I think they are delicious.

What’s your “spirit food”?

When I was in mainland China, I loved fresh and organic vegetables from the farms. We try to make our food fresh and organic as well.

What do you think makes Providence a good food city?

Well, people here just like to eat, and they want better and better food. I think in terms of freshness of food, Providence also wins over other bigger cities.

How would you describe your food philosophy?

I would think everyday how to make my food better. I don’t want people to get tired of the food on our menu if they come everyday, so I’m always trying to figure out how to make my food more delicious, more innovative. To make the customer happy and healthy with

This interview was translated from Mandarin by Zack Bu and has been edited for clarity.

Salty Dumplings About the recipe: This improvisational salty dumpling recipe was passed down from Feng Ai Ding’s grandmother, though the chef has made changes to improve the flavors.

Ingredients: Flour Shrimp Scallions Dried mushrooms Instructions: Make the flour into little round wrappings. Dice the shrimp, scallions and dried mushrooms and mix them into stuffing. Put the stuffing into the flour wraps to make them into dumplings.

The Meiklejohn Peer Advising program will expand next semester to include the Code Advising Meiklejohn Program, an initiative aimed at helping advisees navigate the disciplinary process.

The subprogram will “deal directly with issues related to the Student Code of Conduct and the Academic Code,” said Abi Kulshreshtha ’15, a member of the Meiklejohn Leadership Committee. CAMP will act as a “peer resource to students undergoing disciplinary procedures” and will offer “general advice on the process,” he added.

Applications for the new program are due Dec. 5, and Meiklejohns who participate will complete a Jan. 20 training in code violation expectations and procedures run by the dean of the College office.

The program will attempt to “fill the void that students have felt” exists in the advising system, said Joey Sacks ’15, another member of the Meiklejohn Leadership Committee.

It will ideally act as a way for “students to seek shelter away from University Hall,” he added.

Meiklejohns in the program will only be permitted to help advisees understand the language and meaning of the codes — they will not be allowed to recommend courses of action, Sacks added.

CAMP is currently working with administrators in the dean of the College office and reaching out to the

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Office of Student Life, Kulshreshtha said.

The program hopes to build off the work of the Student Conduct Information Service, a student group with a similar mission that recently disbanded, he said.

But there are certain limitations facing the program due to issues of confidentiality, which can prevent students from sharing case specifics, he added.

CAMP marks the second recent expansion to the Meiklejohn program.

The Department Meiklejohn program, which offers pre-concentration advising to sophomores, was introduced this semester to go “past the first-year experience,” Sacks said.

Both programs seek to “tackle specific advising needs that the Brown community is calling for,” Kulshreshtha said.

Students offered mixed reactions to the Code Advising Meiklejohn Program.

Eliza Lanzillo ’16 said that by sophomore year, students “have fallen into social groups” and “found their own mechanisms of support,” making the program less necessary. But she added that “the program is missing a mental health component,” noting that she wished Meiklejohns in the program would provide advice on mental health in addition to disciplinary proceedings.

But Connor Flexman ’16 said some students have “large holes in their knowledge of ” the Student Code of Conduct and the Academic Code, and the program could help educate them.

Clare Peabody ’18 echoed this, noting that many professors and advisors assume students are familiar with these codes, when in reality this is often not the case. She added that increasing student awareness of the codes is “not a focus of the advising process.”

today 9

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

menu

e v e n i n g e x c avat i o n

SATELLITE DINING JOSIAH’S Really, Really Early Breakfast BLUE ROOM Naked Burritos Soups: Clam Chowder, Minestrone, Beef with Bean Chili ANDREWS COMMONS Pastas: Spicy Sausage Tortellini, Wild Mushroom and Gorgonzola Tortellini

DINING HALLS LUNCH

SHARPE REFECTORY

Cheese Ravioli with Pink Vodka Sauce, Orange Beef Pad Thai, Braised Leeks Provencale

DINNER

Orange Chipotle-Glazed Tofu, Scallops with Noodles Stir Fry, Vegan Carrots with Tequila

VERNEY-WOOLLEY LUNCH DINNER Breaded Chicken Fingers, German Sausage Chowder, Vegetarian Baked Beans, Vegan Grilled Turkey Burger, Vegetarian Beet and Kale Patty Chili Cheese Soup, Creole Mayo

sudoku

DAVID DECKEY / HERALD

Angell Street transformed into a construction site Thursday night as crews worked into the chilly evening and a stream of drivers combated traffic on their way down the street.

comics Bear with it | Dolan Bortner ’17

P-Branes and Bosons | Ricky Oliver ’17

crossword

calendar FRIDAY

DECEMBER 5

4 P.M. SWE EXTREME GINGERBREAD HOUSE COMPETITION

The Society of Women Engineers will host its eighth annual Extreme Gingerbread House competition, in which teams of students and faculty members are tasked with constructing a stable and aesthetically pleasing gingerbread house. Barus and Holley lobby 8 P.M. TAPPY HOLIDAYS — WHAT’S ON TAP? ARCHTAP!

Brown/RISD’s only tap dancing group, What’s on Tap?, will perform its second annual holiday “archtap” under Wayland Arch. Free hot cider will be served. Wayland Arch

SATURDAY

DECEMBER 6

1:30 P.M. GETTING MERRY LIKE CHRISTMAS

The Rhode Island Black Heritage Society will present its first annual jazz-gospel Christmas concert, featuring musical performances by local and regional artists. RISD Museum 3 P.M. PREP FOR FINALS ACADEMIC WORKSHOP

Peer Academic Coaches will be on hand to offer advice on keeping organized and navigating reading period and final exams. Food and drinks will be provided. J. Walter Wilson 310

SUNDAY

DECEMBER 7

3 P.M. PASTA COOKING CLASS WITH CHEF FITZSENRY

Assistant Chef of Brown University Dining Services Aaron Fitzsenry will teach attendees how to make their own pasta.

No prior cooking skills are necessary, and entry to the event costs one meal credit. Sharpe Refectory Bakeshop 4 P.M. 98TH ANNUAL SERVICE OF LESSONS AND CAROLS

In its 98th year, Lessons and Carols will feature performances by University Organist Mark Steinbach, Brown University Chorus and the Brown Brass Quartet. Sayles Hall auditorium

10 commentary EDITORS’ NOTE

Good night, and good luck Today’s paper marks our 121st and final issue as The Herald’s 124th Editorial Board. For the six of us, this issue signifies the end of three and a half years spent working on the paper alongside a dedicated editorial and business staff, to whom we owe an endless debt of gratitude. But we are not alone in contributing to the paper — as members of the Brown community, everyone on campus has added to The Herald, whether as sources in our stories, readers of the paper or commenters on our website. And we thank you for this participation, for without it there would be no paper.

At The Herald this year, we have strived to inspire and project critical discussions by pushing forward discourse on issues including the strategic plan, sexual assault policy, campus racism, financial aid and academic integrity amid major administrative turnover. We have had the tough but important responsibility of covering this community’s tragedies over the past year, including the deaths of Dana Dourdeville ’15, Mark St. Louis ’15, Stephen Rodrigues, Sara Overstreet ’16 and several faculty and staff members, as well as a murder.

Alongside these somber topics, we have enjoyed the pleasure of covering exciting campus events, joining the community in celebration of Brown’s 250th anniversary and cheering on the triumphs of the women’s rugby and men’s water polo teams from the newsroom. We have had a chance to explore the rich culture of Providence’s Cape Verdean community and highlight the accomplishments of student theater and film. And in a critical midterm election year, we had the unique pleasure of covering local politics, with all of its colorful candidates and unexpected twists.

In an increasingly fractionalized landscape of news sources, we are grateful that you have continued to turn to The Herald for information about Brown and the people within and around it. Striving to produce objective, rigorous journalism can sometimes feel like a quixotic quest in a world dominated by sound bites and partisan commentary. But we have kept pursuing it, persistent in the belief that reporting done right is among the best tools at a community’s disposal for holding the powerful accountable and uniting people through storytelling. Truth can be a moving target, but it is worth taking aim nonetheless.

These are lofty goals, and we have sometimes fallen short of them: Such is the inherent nature of a daily newspaper and the fallible people who create it. But we hope that we have informed, enlightened or entertained you on a consistent basis.

We are humbled every day by the continued attention of our readers, and we hope that you continue to engage with The Herald next semester as the 125th Editorial Board takes the reins for what will be a critical year for this paper. While we are proud of what we have accomplished, The Herald still has work to do. The new board has exciting plans to increase the paper’s digital presence through more innovative and interactive features, as well as new video and social media initiatives.

Thank you for being such engaged and active readers over the past year. As we retire and join the ranks of Herald consumers, we can’t wait to see where the paper goes next.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

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

“There’s no greater point to trudging through all this bullshit than to love someone and to make them

”

happy.

— Nick Offerman

See lecture board on page 1.

CORRECTIONS

An article in Thursday’s Herald (“Student loan burden grows heavier,” Dec. 4) mistakenly identified the director of college communications and marketing at Rhode Island College. Her name is Laura Hart, not Kim Hart. The Herald regrets the error.

An article in Thursday’s Herald (“R.I. Medicaid limits supply of Hepatitis C drug due to cost,” Dec. 4) incorrectly stated that health reporter Kristin Gourlay said the elderly are at greater risk of carrying Hepatitis C. In fact, she said baby boomers are. The article also stated that the drug Sovaldi’s costs are a problem because of Medicaid policy. In fact, they are largely a problem because of the high number of people with Hepatitis C. The Herald regrets the errors.

An article in Thursday’s Herald (“UCS reviews semester’s initiatives,” Dec. 4) incorrectly stated that the expansion of Undergraduate Council of Students focus groups featuring Corporation members would be a major project next semester.

In fact, the expansion is one of the council’s current efforts. Additionally, the article incorrectly quoted Sazzy Gourley ’16 as saying the goal of a Herald op-ed written by UCS was increasing the visibility of mental health on campus. In fact, its goal was to build on the momentum of a mental health open forum three weeks prior. The Herald regrets the errors.

The Herald will resume print publication Jan. 20. Check thebdh.org for updates in the interim.

Editors’ notes are written by The Herald’s 124th Editorial Board: Eli Okun ’15, Mathias Heller ’15, Sona Mkrttchian ’15, Madeline Berg ’15, Katherine Cusumano ’15 and Kate Nussenbaum ’15.

Editorial Leadership

Sections

Visuals & Production

Business

Editor-in-Chief Eli Okun

Arts & Culture Editors EmmaJean Holley

Managing Editors Mathias Heller Sona Mkrttchian

Features Editors Phoebe Draper Sabrina Imbler Maggie Livingstone

Design Editors Brisa Bodell Einat Brenner Mie Morikubo Assistant: Carlie Peters

General Managers Jennifer Aitken Nicole Shimer

Senior Editors Maddie Berg Katherine Cusumano Kate Nussenbaum BLOG DAILY HERALD Editor-in-Chief Georgia Tollin Managing Editors Charlotte Bilski David Oyer POST- MAGAZINE Editor-in-Chief Adam Asher COMMENTARY Editorial Page Editors Alexander Kaplan James Rattner Opinions Editors Gabbie Corvese Robyn Sundlee Maggie Tennis

Metro Editors Mariya Bashkatova Kate Kiernan Molly Schulson Science & Research Editors Isobel Heck Sarah Perelman Sports Editors Caleb Miller Dante O’Connell University News Editors Kiki Barnes Michael Dubin Maxine Joselow Tonya Riley

Photo Editors Head: David Deckey Brittany Comunale Samuel Kase Sydney Mondry Arjun Narayen Video Editor Henry Chaisson Graphics Editor Avery Crits-Christoph Web Producers Harsha Yeddanapudy Abdullah Yousufi Copy Desk Chief Claire Postman Assistant: Madeline DiGiovanni Illustrations Editor Angelia Wang

Directors Sales: Winnie Shao Finance: Sarah Levine Finance: Sameer Sarkar Alumni Relations: Alison Pruzan Business Dev.: Melody Cao

facebook.com/browndailyherald

Location: 195 Angell St., Providence, R.I. www.browndailyherald.com

@the_herald

Editorial contact: 401-351-3372 herald@browndailyherald.com

browndailyherald.com

Business contact: 401-351-3260 gm@browndailyherald.com

Office Manager Shawn Reilly

Corrections: The Brown Daily Herald is committed to providing the Brown University community with the most accurate information possible. Corrections may be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication.

Sales Managers Regional: Edward Clifford Regional: Sarah Pariser Regional: Ananya Shukla Regional: Jessica Urrutia Student Group: Moniyka Sachar

Commentary: The editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial page board of The Brown Daily Herald. The editorial viewpoint does not necessarily reflect the views of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Columns, letters and comics reflect the opinions of their authors only.

Finance Managers Collections: Jacqueline Finkelsztein Collections: Joshua Tartell Operations: Jessica O’Dell Alumni Relations Manager Engagement: Sarah Park Business Dev. Manager Project Leader: Kaden Lee

Letters to the Editor: Send letters to letters@browndailyherald.com. Include a telephone number with all letters. The Herald reserves the right to edit all letters for length and clarity and cannot assure the publication of any letter. Please limit letters to 250 words. Under special circumstances writers may request anonymity, but no letter will be printed if the author’s identity is unknown to the editors. Announcements of events will not be printed.

Advertising: The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. reserves the right to accept or decline any advertisement at its discretion.

The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is an independent newspaper serving the Brown University community daily since 1891. It is published Monday through Friday during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement and once during Orientation by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Single copy free for each member of the community. Subscription prices: $280 one year daily, $140 one semester daily.

Copyright 2014 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.

Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Postmaster: Please send corrections to P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI 02906.

commentary 11

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014

Response to Huidekoper from a library union member MARK BAUMER guest columnist

Elizabeth “Beppie” Huidekoper is the executive vice president for finance and administration at the University. From what I can tell, she is very powerful. If Brown were an ATM machine, the pin number would probably be Huidekoper’s initials. I am very scared of her. I heard she once outsourced the entire mailroom.

Earlier this week, Huidekoper wrote an op-ed about the ongoing library union negotiations. This was of interest to me because I am a member of the library union and have been involved with the ongoing negotiations. My general sense from the article was that Huidekoper feels I, as a union member, don’t have the skills to respond to the changing needs of the library. Well, I guess I’ll just go crawl under a pile of books and wait until the library replaces it with a 400-foot-tall ebook kiosk.

Huidekoper began her op-ed praising the Brown community for its interest in the library negotiations. I can’t speak for the entire community, but her statement felt patronizing, like some kind of feudal lord walking among the people,

petting their heads and praising everyone for how good they are at getting their heads patted.

The words “fair” and “equitable” appeared over and over throughout the op-ed. Many things about the article rubbed me the wrong way, but the repetition of these two

business, our priority is money. So yeah, technically we have to keep saying the people matter, but in the end it’s always going to be about dollar signs”?

One quick, sort of unrelated aside: The night after I read the oped, I had a dream one of the manag-

stood Brown for the business it is.

Before I end this column, it’s important to clarify a few points. In Huidekoper’s op-ed, she harped on the union’s current health insurance premiums, but she did not mention that the union premiums have risen from 7 percent to 9 percent to 12

I’ve learned, taught and worked at Brown. It wasn’t until I began working here, though, that I fully understood Brown for the business it is.

words was particularly unpleasant.

Every time Huidekoper used these words, I imagined her sprinkling powdered sugar on a burning tire and calling it a donut.

Obviously, the op-ed would have been easier to digest if she had been more honest, rather than forcing her “fair and equitable” propaganda.

But when has any university ever said, “Hi, I know we’re supposed to promote higher learning, but really we’re just a business, and like every

ers at the library brought me into a windowless room and then laughed at me while telling me I was no longer allowed to take a lunch break.

There was a time when I used to believe in Brown. A few years ago, I was an instructor here. A few years before that, I was a student.

Now I am an employee. I have experienced Brown from every angle.

I’ve learned, taught and worked at Brown. But it wasn’t until I began working here that I fully under-

percent over the course of the fouryear contract. The most recent increase took place Sept. 30, increasing the premium from 9 percent to 12 percent. There was also no mention about how the University went “self-insured” in 2008, which means it takes everyone’s insurance money, puts it in a fund, pays Blue Cross to use its name, pays for health costs out of this fund and keeps any savings. Another issue with the op-ed is the union numbers listed. Huideko-

per fails to mention that since 200607, the library union is down 30 positions while the rest of the library is down only six positions.

I don’t know what else to say. It just feels very, very uncomfortable when a higher-up talks all about fairness and equity, but then picks only the numbers that support one side. The whole thing is sort of terrifying. Huidekoper is probably the third most important person at Brown, behind President Christina Paxson and Provost Vicki Colvin.

And for her to use her position of power to basically say, “Hey everyone, look at the library union. They make a little more than you. Let’s get them … ” is absurd.

I’ll end with a story I once heard about Huidekoper. Years ago, she made an appearance at a library union negotiation. This was before my time, but from what I heard, someone asked her how much she made and she responded, “I earn every cent.” Well, Huidekoper, the next time you write a column about the library union, make sure you add how hardworking we are and how we, too, earn every cent we make.

Mark Baumer is a member of the Brown University Library.

He got his MFA from Brown in 2011.

Further clarification of library negotiation issues DEBORAH PETERSON guest columnist

As one of the union negotiators, I’d like to respond to Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Beppie Huidekoper’s Dec. 2 commentary on the current contract negotiations between library staff and the University.

The union is not, as she states, asking Brown “to commit to having no fewer than the current number of union positions into the future.” Over the past three months of negotiations, we have worked hard to adapt our staffing proposal in order to recognize the University’s position as well as our own job security.

We are not looking for quotas or minimum staffing. As stated in our union proposal, what we are asking is that the University “make a good faith effort to address the Library’s ongoing staffing needs and include the bargaining unit in new library work to respond to changing user needs such as electronic collections, journals and search tools.”

We are making this proposal for two main reasons. First, we believe that because of the Library’s decision to fill only selected bargaining unit positions, particular departments are now seriously understaffed, inhibiting patron access to their resources and services. And second, we feel that the Library needs to make a commitment to its current staff by considering them for newly created jobs that arise from new library operations.

Regarding the first reason, we are experiencing an unsettling trend in library hiring policy: Vacated bargaining unit jobs in public

service and security areas are either left unfilled or reduced to shorter schedules. Rockefeller Circulation relies on extensive staff overtime of 23 hours per week in addition to extra hours worked by part-time staff to cover all shifts at the main desk. A recently vacated full-time job has been reduced to 75 percent time. While book circulation may have dropped 30 percent since 2007, Circulation staff duties continue to include course reserve

Since 2006, the library has lost 30 union jobs but only six non-union jobs. Despite all the technological change in our field, only one new bargaining unit position was created during that time.

Regarding the second reason for our proposal, I recently marked my 30th year of employment at Brown, yet I am by no means the most senior of my library colleagues, some of whom have worked here for more than

Instead of looking to the outside to meet the evolving staff needs of the library, administration should cultivate the staff it already has.

and equipment lending, BorrowDirect and InRhode transaction and fielding many of the questions and situations that arise in the absence of a full-time door guard or Reference staff.

When describing the “decline in both union and non-union library staff,” Huidekoper calls our attention to “the actual number of union positions” but omits these numbers.

40 years. This collective longevity speaks not only to the commitment the library staff has made to the University but also to the depth of experience and the measure of flexibility that we have already developed during our years at Brown. I joined the library staff in 1984, and my responsibilities have grown from filing catalog cards and typing bindery slips to creating MARC bibliographic records and XML-

encoded finding aids. My experience is not unique; each one of my coworkers has a similar story of adapting and learning as his or her job has changed.

We would like to continue our professional growth, but we need room to do this. Instead of looking to the outside to meet the evolving staff needs of the library, the administration should cultivate the staff it already has.

While we progress in our negotiations on professional development opportunities, we also envision where such development will take us in our library careers.

In addition to our staffing proposal, there are several other unresolved issues, most notably the health care premium contribution.

Since January, our contribution percentage has already risen by 3 percent, the latest increase occurring Oct. 1 when we began paying 12 percent of the cost of the premium. Because we are a bargaining unit, we must agree on one rate for all of our members. Some of our members at the lower end of the salary grid would qualify for a lower rate that we currently pay.

The changes that the library now faces are driven by choices — the administration can choose to respond to them in a way that respects the commitment its staff has made to the University. We don’t understand how their decision in this negotiation to take back our longstanding staff benefits responds to the changing needs of the Library community.

We would like to work with them toward an agreement that serves changing user needs as well as the welfare of our members.

Deborah Peterson MA’83 is a senior library specialist in technical services.

THE

BROWN DAILY HERALD

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014