Daily
the Brown
vol. cxlvi, no. 29
Corporation
to decide on
creation of
lit arts dept.
By Ashley Aydin
Senior Staff Writer
The faculty voted to approve a pro-
posal from the literary arts program
to become the Department of Liter-
ary Arts during its March 1 meeting.
The proposal will now go to the Cor-
poration — the University’s highest
governing body — for approval at its
May meeting.
The move to change the program
into a department was “partly stimu-
lated by an extremely positive exter-
nal review,” said Dean of the College
Katherine Bergeron.
Since splitting from the English
department in 2005, the literary arts
concentration has become one of the
largest at Brown — 11.4 percent of
humanities students concentrated in
literary arts in 2009 and 9.6 percent
in 2010, according to the proposal.
The program has 11.5 full-time
faculty members, 11 teaching as-
sistants, one visiting lecturer and
replacement faculty. It offers nearly
70 courses a year, apart from inde-
pendent studies and thesis courses,
according to the proposal.
The program split from the Eng-
lish department due to different ap-
proaches to literature, wrote Brian
Evenson, directory of the literary
arts program, in an e-mail to The
Herald. “They approached literature
from a scholarly perspective and we
approached them from a craft (and)
practitioner’s perspective,” he wrote.
“We found ourselves moving some-
times in very different directions.”
The move to make the program
its own department is largely nom-
inal. “If a unit is a department, it
implies institutional stability and
commitment that the word ‘pro-
gram’ does not convey,” Carolyn
Dean, senior associate dean of the
faculty, wrote in an e-mail to The
Herald. “In practice, departments
and programs may be quite similar,”
she wrote. “The term ‘program’ is
simply an artifact of an earlier his-
tory that the University has not yet
addressed as such.” Newer or inno-
vative academic areas typically begin
as programs, she wrote.
Because the literary arts program
already had its own concentration,
a full rank of faculty and a graduate
program, “it already operated as if
it was a department,” Bergeron said.
The program can already offer
tenure and give the title “profes-
sor of literary arts,” Evenson wrote.
Professors based in the English de-
continued on page 2
inside
news...................2-5
editorial..............6
Opinions...............7
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Gov. Lincoln Chafee ‘75 P’14 addressed Rhode Island’s budget woes at the State House last night.
Gov. Chafee ’75 proposes new
textbook tax in budget address
By Claire Peracchio
City & State Editor
Gov. Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14 pro-
posed imposing new taxes on text-
books and taxi fares, while increasing
funding for the state’s public uni-
versities and slashing spending on
government services, in his address
last night.
Chafee laid out measures to rein
in Rhode Island’s $295 million bud-
get deficit and put the state on a path
to economic growth in his address to
state legislators. The fiscal road map
offers an array of new taxes, target-
ed tax breaks and investments that
Chafee said are intended to return
Rhode Island to its past greatness.
After hiatus, U. Hall bell ringing out once more
By Aparna Bansal
Senior Staff Writer
There’s just 20 minutes left. It’s quar-
ter of, and — finally — 10 ’til. But
the minutes keep dragging on. Time
is up. Make it stop.
Students waiting anxiously to
get out of the 9 a.m. economics
lecture may have been struck by
the sound of silence this semester.
The bell atop University Hall, meant
to sound at the beginning and end
of every class period, did not ring
until Monday morning, according
to Stephen Maiorisi, vice president
for facilities management.
Maiorisi wrote in an e-mail Sat-
urday to The Herald that he was not
aware the bell was not working. He
confirmed early Monday morning
that the bell had not been operating
up to that point this semester and
that it would be turned on. Since
Monday, the bell has resumed ring-
ing to signal the start and end of
classes.
Pills, bills NYUnion
U. saves on new health NYU grad students try to
insurance plan reverse Brown precedent
Campus News, 3
Herald
Chafee proposed a two-tiered
sales tax that would lower the state’s
existing 7 percent rate — which
Chafee called the highest in New
England and one of the narrowest
in the country — to 6 percent and
would extend that rate to certain
services not currently taxed. Under
city & state
the plan, the state would also levy
a 1 percent sales tax on currently
exempt items like coffins, heating
fuel and renewable energy products.
The new tax would not extend to
food, gasoline, prescription drugs
or medical devices.
Invoking Rhode Island’s legacy as
“I’m surprised that we hadn’t
gotten a call earlier than now to let
us know they weren’t working,” he
told The Herald.
He said the bell had not broken,
but the electrical shop, a division
within the Department of Facili-
ties Management, had forgotten to
switch them back on at the start of
the spring semester. The bell must
be programmed manually to turn
on and off.
Maiorisi said the electrical shop
employs about 20 staffers, who are
“extremely busy” filling several work
orders a day. Power outages in sev-
eral dormitories at the beginning of
the semester may be the reason the
shop forgot about the bell, he said.
“Because they were busy with
that emergency, maybe it just
slipped their minds,” he said.
Facilities has arranged for the
electrical shop to receive an auto-
mated reminder from the work or-
der management system so they do
not have to “rely on their memory”
Jump the gun
Why firearms don’t belong
on university campuses
Campus News, 4
Hilary Rosenthal / Herald
a “beehive of entrepreneurial activ-
ity,” Chafee said the sacrifice neces-
sary to resolve its current challenges
must be shared.
“We have those hard decisions
before us, but I believe our better
future starts today,” Chafee said. “By
directly confronting our challenges,
we may take the first steps on a path
to prosperity.”
Projected revenue from new
taxes in Chafee’s budget total $157
million. But, Chafee said, closing the
state’s gaping deficit cannot come
from tax increases alone.
By eliminating waste and stream-
lining the way the state provides
continued on page 3
The bell in University Hall, which signals class changes, resumed ringing Monday.
to remember to switch on the bell.
Kathleen Furtado, an executive
assistant who works at University
Hall, said she did not notice the bell
had not been ringing.
“It goes to show we’re creatures
of habit,” said Martha Newbury,
executive assistant to the dean of
the faculty, adding that she likes
the bell because it makes “you feel
on campus.” After they ring, she
said she sees students crossing the
Main Green and rushing to the Blue
weather
Opinions, 7
Since 1891
Ne ws in brief
Med School may
give out iPads
The Alpert Medical School will
decide this month whether to
provide all first- and second-year
medical students with iPads or
laptops.
But the details of the plan
are still awaiting finalization,
said Richard Dollase, director of
curriculum affairs in the Division
of Biology and Medicine. Though
the department is “committed
to going electronic,” further
investigation into laptop and
tablet models is necessary, as
is coordination to ensure that
a standardized model does not
burden students, he said.
In addition to the benefits of
up-to-date technology, moving
to an electronic system would
save paper and printing costs,
Dollase said. Providing students
with electronic devices would
make access to course materials
easier, wrote Associate Dean of
Medicine Philip Gruppuso in an
e-mail to The Herald.
But the school is also
weighing the drawbacks —
namely the high cost of the
devices and the loss of paper
class materials. A final decision is
expected within the next two or
three weeks, Dollase said.
Penn’s Wharton School of
Business will be giving iPads to its
executive M.B.A. students starting
next year.
— Caitlin Trujillo
Herald file photo
Room to beat the sandwich line.
“I haven’t heard them for a while.
I miss them,” said Gwynne Evans-
Lomayesva ’11, a resident of Slater
Hall, of the bell’s peals. “They let me
know when to go to class. Every-
thing works better with them.” She
added that the bell lets professors
know when to start and stop classes.
But Mark Blyth, professor of
political science, said he had never
heard the bell ring between classes.
“Which bells?” he asked.
t o d ay tomorrow
41 / 33 47 / 43
2 Campus News The Brown Daily Herald
Wednesday, March 9, 2011

calendar College-advising org. Lit arts may

become
Today MARCH 9 ToMORROW March 10

4 P.m. 5 p.m. gets $1.5m grant

State of Brown Address with
President Simmons, Salomon 101
10 p.m.
Underground Jazz Jam,
The Underground
“State Capture and State Failure,”
McKinney Conference Room
8 p.m.
Interfaith Dating Forum,
MacMillan 115
By Claire Schlessinger
Contributing Writer
Four alums will receive federal
funding to advise low-income
Rhode Island high school students
tioned at the school on a full-time
basis as a resource throughout the
department
college preparation process, from continued from page 1
choosing the right school to filling
out financial aid forms, he said. partment before the split currently
“It’s exciting work for all of us,” remain professors of English, but the

menu in the college advising process

SHARPE REFECTORY
LUNCH
Polynesian Chicken Wings, Vegan
Stir Fry Veggies with Tofu, Grilled
Key West Chicken, Lemon Cookies
DINNER
Cheese Quesadillas, Sustainable
Baked and Breaded Pollock, Dal Cali
with Yogurt, Macaroon Bars
Sudoku
VERNEy-WOOLLEY DINING HALL
Italian Sausage and Pepper
Sandwich, Vegetable Strudel, Peas,
Lemon Cookies
Spicy Herb Baked Chicken, Vegan
Veggie and Bean Stew, Roasted Red
Potatoes, Macaroon Bars
thanks to a recent grant to the
National College Advising Corps.
The organization, which re-
cruits recent graduates to advise
prospective college students in
poor communities, recently re-
ceived a $1.5 million Social In-
novation Fund grant through the
Pathways Fund of New Profit Inc.
Part of that grant will go to-
ward funding the four new posi-
tions for Brown alums. The new
positions will allow the program
— which already employs 12 al-
ums in the state — to reach an
estimated 1,200 additional high
school students.
Roger Nozaki MAT ’89, di-
rector of the Swearer Center
for Public Service and associate
dean of the College for commu-
nity and global engagement, said
Brown was included because of
the success the organization has
had partnering alums with Rhode
Island schools. Students at Rhode
Island schools participating in the
program in were 14 percent more
likely to go to college than stu-
dents at similar schools without
the program, Nozaki said. Stu-
dents do not directly enroll in a
program, but have a guide sta-
Ashley Greene ’09, who works for
the program at Dr. Jorge Alvarez
High School in Providence, told
The Herald last semester. “With
a little bit of a push, these kids
reach a height of potential that
you didn’t realize they had.”
Nicole Farmer Hurd, executive
director of the National College
Advising Corps, said the $1.5 mil-
lion would enable the organization
to add 50 advisers to the program
nationwide, allowing it to reach an
additional 15,000 students. The
expansion will include preexist-
ing programs in Rhode Island,
North Carolina, Missouri, Illinois
and at the University of California
at Berkeley, and the creation of
new programs in New York and
California, she said.
The funding will become avail-
able April 1 and is meant to last
a year, but Hurd said since the
grant is renewable, she hopes her
organization will receive funding
again.
The National College Advising
Corps became a national program
in 2007 and received its initial
funding from the Jack Kent Cooke
Foundation, Hurd said. The ini-
tial gift was for $12 million, to be
spent over four years in 10 states.
shift to a recognized department will
allow all faculty to be professors of
literary arts.
There will be no changes to con-
centration requirements, according
to Evenson, and the program’s fund-
ing will not be altered because of the
change, Evenson wrote.
“The only advantage, which is a
very slight one, is that it will give us
a little more credence in the eyes of
some other universities. But since
we already have a solid reputation
as a top-10 program, this is very
minor,” he wrote. He added that he
does not believe Brown is prioritiz-
ing departments. “This is a change
that we pushed for ourselves.”
“More funding would be some-
thing I would hope for,” said Nikolos
Gonzales ’12, a literary arts concen-
trator.
Gonzales, whose focus is screen-
writing, said there have been times
in advanced workshops when a
graduate student not focusing in
screenwriting would teach the mate-
rial because there was not enough
funding to support specialization.
He also said he would like to see
more help with post-graduation
plans if the literary arts program
becomes a department.
Many concentrators are already
under the impression that the

Cr ossword
Daily Herald
the Brown program is in fact a department.
“There’s a little confusion currently
at Brown about what it means to be
www.browndailyherald.com a program versus what it means to
195 Angell St., Providence, R.I. be a department, and our move to
Ben Schreckinger, President Matthew Burrows, Treasurer becoming a department tries to do
Sydney Ember, Vice President Isha Gulati, Secretary our part to clarify what the differ-
The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is an independent newspaper serving the ence is,” Evenson wrote.
Brown University community daily since 1891. It is published Monday through Friday “I don’t think too many students
during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement, once dur- actually knew that literary arts wasn’t
ing Orientation and once in July by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Single copy free for
a department already,” wrote Mat-
each member of the community.
POSTMASTER please send corrections to P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI 02906. thew Weiss ’12, a literary arts con-
Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. centrator, in an e-mail to The Herald.
Subscription prices: $280 one year daily, $140 one semester daily. “It’s true on their website it does say
Copyright 2011 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.
‘literary arts program’ as opposed to
editorial Business department, but it’s listed along with
(401) 351-3372 (401) 351-3360
all the other departments, so that’s
herald@browndailyherald.com gm@browndailyherald.com
not much of a clue.”
The Brown Daily Herald
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
After switch, U. saves Librarian eases pain of orgo
on health insurance
By Jonathan Staloff
Contributing Writer
Last year’s shift to a new pre-
scription drug plan has saved the
University an estimated $300,000
while keeping employees satisfied,
said Drew Murphy, director of
benefits for Human Resources.
The University cut prescrip-
tion drug benefits out of its health
plan in January 2010. Instead of
financing pharmaceuticals di-
rectly, it joined universities like
Columbia, Cornell and Princeton
in the Preferred University Rx
Purchasing Coalition and bought
prescription drug coverage from
Medco Health, Murphy said.
Large, self-funded employers
tend to carve out certain services
to “save money without giving up
any other benefit,” Murphy said.
“Now everybody has the same
benefit, both faculty and staff.”
Until 2008 — when the Uni-
versity decided to become self-in-
sured — employees could choose
health plans from two providers,
Blue Cross Blue Shield or United
Health Care. “The card says Blue
Cross or United, but in reality
Brown is actually paying the bills,”
said Karen McAninch ’74, busi-
ness agent for the library workers’
union.
“It directly saves a lot of money
in administrative costs,” she add-
ed. McAninch said the University
has saved about $3 million a year
since switching to self-insurance.
Health insurance costs for col-
lege employees are higher than
other employer-based insurance
plans and rise at greater rates, ac-
cording to research cited in a Feb.
27 Chronicle of Higher Education
article. Benefit Consulting Ser-
vices founder Jeff Mitchell, who
conducted the research, told the
Chronicle that insuring a college
employee costs more than $10,300
per year on average, whereas the
national average for businesses
is $8,500.
Murphy said the shift to self-
insurance has allowed Brown to
avoid rapidly growing costs. Costs
increased 5.3 percent in 2009,
0.9 percent in 2010 and 9.5 per-
cent this year, he said. Murphy
estimated the University saved
$300,000 in prescription drug
coverage in 2010, which amounts
to approximately 5 percent of its
prescription drug costs.
Health care costs usually
see “conservative increases” of
around 10 percent per year, and
part of this year’s increase is due
to the Affordable Health Care Act,
he said. The health care reform
law now dictates that children of
faculty and staff can stay on their
parents’ plans until they are 26
years old, whereas before the law,
children were covered through
their parents’ insurance up to 19
years of age, or 25 if they were
students.
“Costs are going to climb. We
are just trying to reduce how
quickly they are climbing,” Mur-
phy said.
During the transition to Med-
co, the University compared dif-
ferences in benefits of prescrip-
tion drug coverage under Blue
Cross/Blue Shield and United
Health Care, combining the bet-
ter benefits from each in the new
plan.
But the new plan has not been
instated without employee com-
plaints.
McAninch cited a library
worker whose co-payment used
to be $7 for two medications but
who now pays $25 for one and $40
for the other. She also said there
have been issues with Medco not
covering certain medications un-
til they go through an authoriza-
tion process as well as continued
problems with automatic billing.
“There were some complaints
about preauthorization and quan-
tity limits because (employees)
did not have to do that before,”
Murphy said. “We haven’t gotten
one of those kind of complaints
in six or seven months.”
“I think there are relatively mi-
nor complaints, but I feel Brown
should address them,” McAninch
said.
Of the approximately 7,000
faculty and staff members insured
by Brown’s health plan, Murphy
said 85 percent have seen no
change in co-payments. Eight
percent of co-payments have de-
creased, and 3 or 4 percent have
increased, he said.
McAninch said some prescrip-
tions that were offered at a lower
generic rate were shifted to a more
expensive tier, but others drugs
experienced a shift in the opposite
direction.
“Overall, it might even be a
break-even situation for employ-
ees,” she said.
“Our projection is that we will
save money — that is shared by
both the University and employ-
ees — but we are also providing
what we feel is in many cases a
better benefit than when we were
carved in,” Murphy said.
Campus News 3
By Hannah Loewentheil
Contributing Writer
Lee Pedersen, scholarly resource
librarian for physical sciences, holds
office hours in the lobbies of Mac-
Millan Hall and the Barus and Holley
Building to serve as a resource for
chemistry and engineering students.
Pedersen said she relocated outside
the Sciences Library in April 2005
because she wanted to form connec-
tions and interact with the commu-
nity. Ever since, Pedersen has made
herself available for eight hours per
week to assist students in research.
Pedersen created a new role for
herself as a librarian. Pedersen’s po-
sition requires no additional cost
from the University budget except
for the price of a laptop computer to
assist in database searches, Edwin
Budget address tackles pensions
continued from page 1
health care and other services,
Chafee projected the state could
slash $60 million in the coming fis-
cal year and more in the following
year. His budget also calls for $20
million in cuts to other departments
“as a first step in a larger review of
their operations and management.”
Chafee’s budget would provide
the money called for under the
education funding formula passed
by the state legislature last year. Be-
fore the law’s passage, Rhode Island
was the only state without such a
formula.
“That’s good for Providence and
good for our students,” said Rep.
Edith Ajello, D-Providence, who
represents the district that includes
the University. Ajello was a leading
advocate for legislation establishing
a formula that would redirect state
aid from wealthier school districts
to historically underfunded urban
areas like Providence.
Chafee’s budget would also in-
crease funding for state public insti-
tutions of higher education — which
currently serve over 40,000 students
— to the tune of $10 million.
Citing a business climate that
“has been targeted toward individ-
ual companies instead of creating
an environment that fosters broad
Quist, music librarian and interim
coordinator for scholarly research,
wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.
Pedersen’s said her idea to hold
office hours stems from the impor-
tance she places on forming personal
connections. She said she wanted to
distinguish her expertise in chemis-
try to students, because “librarians
often get grouped together in clus-
ters and do not get recognition” for
their specialized knowledge. Peder-
sen has a PhD in chemistry.
Quist wrote that in addition to
the eight hours per week Pedersen
spends out of the office, she also
“gives numerous in-class presen-
tations, participates in our chat
service, ... creates online resource
guides and consults with students
and faculty both in her office and
elsewhere on campus.”  Quist wrote
economic growth,” Chafee proposed
eliminating a tax credit intended
for companies that created jobs in
the state. Revenue from the elimi-
nation of the tax credit combined
with the closing of corporate tax
loopholes would allow the state to
lower its corporate minimum tax
from $500 to $250 for small busi-
nesses and reduce its corporate tax
rate from 9 percent to 7.5 percent.
Chafee contended the move would
make Rhode Island competitive with
neighboring states Connecticut and
Massachusetts.
Chafee’s budget also addresses
the state’s underfunded public pen-
sion system, which faces an unfund-
ed liability between $5 billion and
$10 billion. The state pension system
provides retirement benefits to pub-
lic employees including teachers,
police and firefighters.
Rhode Island’s pension woes
have even garnered the attention
of national regulators. The Securities
and Exchange Commission opened
an investigation into the state’s re-
porting of its pension obligations
Feb. 3.
The governor called for all state
employees to put the cost-of-living
adjustment they would have re-
ceived under their contract this
year towards the state’s pension
system. He asked for the nearly
that Pedersen has been a trendset-
ter in her department, encouraging
other library specialists to follow
her lead.
Two years ago, Pedersen tried
situating herself in the old mailroom
in Faunce, but she did not interact
with many students. She then relo-
cated to the lobbies of MacMillan
and Barus and Holley and said she
has found more success. Pedersen
performs traffic studies of student
circulation to decide where to situ-
ate herself. Her transactions with
students are splotchy, but she is es-
pecially busy during midterms and
finals. On an average day, Pedersen
will assist three to four students, she
said. She also interacts with a con-
sistent group of faculty members.
continued on page 5
25,000 state employees covered in
the largest pension plan in the state
to increase their pension contribu-
tions to 11.75 percent of their pay,
from 8.75 percent from state workers
and 9.5 percent from teachers.
But many municipal pension sys-
tems also face staggering unfunded
liabilities. Due to declining state aid
and tax revenue, many of the state’s
39 cities and towns failed to make
annual contributions to their pen-
sion plans, shortchanging a system
intended to fund benefits negoti-
ated between local governments and
public employee unions. Chafee’s
budget would offer additional state
funding for municipalities that work
to reduce their unfunded liabilities
through the creation of a “Municipal
Accountability, Stability and Trans-
parency Fund.”
While the governor’s proposed
sales tax increase and cuts to state
services may face opposition in the
General Assembly — which must ul-
timately pass the budget — Chafee’s
tone represents a welcome change,
Ajello said.
Chafee’s collaborative message
has “made him an easier person to
work with,” she said. “It’s easier to sit
down and talk with someone about
something when they’re not going
after making points and drawing
lines in the sand.”
4 Campus News
NYU grad students campaign for union, appeal Brown precedent
By Aparna Bansal
Senior Staff Writer
After weeks of hearings, graduate
students at New York University
are awaiting a decision from the
National Labor Relations Board
to determine whether they will
be allowed to form a graduate
student union.
“It’s really just a waiting game,”
said Daniel Aldana Cohen, a doc-
toral student at NYU and an or-
ganizer for the Graduate Student
Organizing Committee. “We want
the legal process to move as quick
as possible, and NYU wants the
exact opposite. They want to waste
time and money.”
In 2004, graduate students at
Brown attempted to unionize, but
the NLRB ruled that they are not
employees and therefore cannot
establish a union. Graduate stu-
dents at NYU went on strike in
2005 to protest the ruling, which
set a precedent for other private
universities. Though part of the
United Auto Workers — a labor
union which represents workers
in several different industries —
from 2002 to 2005, their contract
was not renewed when it expired
that year.
NYU students began protest-
ing again in April 2010, and the
NLRB, now controlled by Demo-
crats, allowed for a new hearing
on graduate student rights Oct.
25. The board ruled that the 2004
Brown case can no longer be used
as a precedent to determine labor
policy. Since October, the NYU
administration and the union
have been involved in hearings
before the NLRB. Cohen said a
decision will likely be announced
within the next two or three
months.
“We’re really confident that
we’re going to get a positive rul-
ing,” he said. “We think the law is
on our side.” Cohen said graduate
students at NYU want to unionize
to improve their terms of work
— including better pay, health
insurance, childcare, safety in labs
and a proper grievance procedure
for working conditions.
John Freudenthal, a doctoral
student at NYU and an organizer
for the campaign, said he hoped
to “eliminate the ridiculous prec-
edent set by the previous NLRB.”
“Graduate students are a class
of low-paid, highly skilled work-
ers that have been historically
taken advantage of,” he said. “Just
because we want an education
doesn’t mean our labor should
be exploited.”
“We think we’re workers and
we have a right. NYU disagrees,”
Cohen said. He said he did not
understand why the university
opposes unionization, as the legal
process costs money and is bad for
their image as “a really progressive
university.”
“It has to do with power,” Co-
hen said. “When an organization
has power, it doesn’t want to give
it out. For us, it’s unfair and prob-
lematic.”
Standing its ground
“We think the university’s po-
sition is pretty straightforward
and logical,” John Beckman, vice
president for public affairs at
NYU, wrote in an e-mail to The
Herald. He wrote students who
are accepted in doctoral positions
at NYU are fully funded and that
teaching and research assistant-
ship responsibilities were “part of
their education as they prepared
for professional life.”
Graduate students were accept-
ed for their academic promise, not
for their job skills as employees,
he said. Because students consid-
ered assistantships to be work,
they have been eliminated in favor
of fellowship semesters, leaving
students nothing to bargain over,
he wrote. Adjuncts are already
represented by the United Auto
Workers and a second union is
not needed, he added.
“Their desire to be unionized
does not make sense,” Beckman
wrote. “Even if one thought the
NLRB was correct in the NYU
case and wrong in the Brown case,
the facts and circumstances have
changed dramatically.”
The Brown Daily Herald
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Beckman wrote that NYU has
worked to improve financial aid,
explaining that financial aid pack-
ages continue to include a stipend
of over $20,000, full tuition schol-
arships and free health insurance
premiums.
Cohen said students from
other private universities have
been in contact with him and
are waiting to see the “legal back-
ground” before they proceeded
to campaign for unions at their
universities.
“The landscape of education
depends on graduate student la-
bor,” Cohen said.
Not a parallel
“We’re watching the (NYU)
hearings and wondering what will
come out of them,” said Ryan Har-
tigan GS, a doctoral student and
president of the Brown Graduate
Student Council. He said there
has been no motion to actively
support the option to unionize at
Brown, and it is important to draw
a distinction between unioniza-
tion and collective bargaining. He
is open to the idea of establishing
a “body of some form” — not nec-
essarily a union — that allows for
“clarity and transparency,” he said.
Beverly Ledbetter, vice presi-
dent and general counsel, said
the “situations are different” for
Brown and NYU, which makes
it difficult to speculate what im-
plications the NLRB decision for
NYU would have for Brown.
“The conditions vary so much
on each campus,” said Kenneth
Chay, professor of economics,
who taught a class last semester
on the economics of labor and
population.
While he found the previous
NLRB ruling fair for students at
medical, law or business schools,
Chay said the situation is different
for other graduate and doctoral
students. After the first two years
of graduate school when students
begin dissertations, half of their
time is spent as research or teach-
ing assistants and they are no lon-
ger “typical students,” he said.
Chay previously taught at the
University of California at Berke-
ley, where he said departments in
the sciences and economics gave
their graduate students “good
deals” while students in the hu-
manities had a lot more incen-
tive to unionize. “At Brown, they
all seem to have decent deals,”
he said, adding that the medical
benefits for graduate students are
“as good as you can get.”
A union at Brown “would only
be successful if students found
salaries lower here than at com-
parable institutions,” Chay said.
He said he does not get the sense
students felt that way.
The administration is “doing
fantastic work” and is “readily
available to discuss our concerns,”
Hartigan said.
The University was committed
to its graduate students, having
increased the doctoral-student
stipend from $14,000 in 2002-03
to $19,500 this year, an increase
of 39 percent, as part of the Plan
for Academic Enrichment, Peter
Weber P’12, dean of the graduate
school wrote in an e-mail to The
Herald. He added that the Cor-
poration will further increase this
stipend to $20,500 for the 2011-12
academic year.
For decades, graduate students
at private universities have been
subject to federal law prohibiting
unionization, Ledbetter said. She
added that the services graduate
students offer still constitute a
form of study, and without “in-
tense mentoring, research and
shepherding, there would be no
such thing as a graduate program.”
“In 2004, Brown argued that
unionizing graduate students
would have a deleterious effect
on the academic relationship be-
tween faculty and graduate stu-
dents,” Weber wrote. The NLRB
“ruled that graduate teaching
assistants, research assistants
and proctors are students — not
employees. … Brown University
continues to support the 2004
decision and its findings.”
Passion lags
Stefanie Sevcik GS, a doctoral
student and former officer of
the Graduate Student Council,
called the lack of a union “scary.”
It means “the administration has
a lot of control over us in terms of
teaching workload and pay,” she
said. She said she hopes the NYU
graduate students are successful,
as it would give Brown students
more leverage. “If NYU ends up
having a union and are able to
do something useful and produc-
tive with it, there would be more
motivation for Brown students to
want to unionize,” she said.
But at previous council meet-
ings, the topic was controversial
— most members did not see
the point of unionizing. Most
students were “paranoid about
funding” and “too busy” to do
something about it, said Stephen
Chambers, a doctoral student and
a representative to the council.
Unionization is “a really good
idea theoretically, but I’m not sure
that it’s something that Brown will
do in the near future,” Sevcik said.
“Ivy League graduate students
have a pretty nice deal — we have
jobs that other graduate students
in the country would really love
to have.”
The decision to push for a
union “depends on the particu-
lar group of people at any time,”
Chambers said. Some graduate
students work for a few years prior
to returning to school. It is strange
to come back and be classified as
students while still earning wages,
he said.
“Graduate schools are aware
that they have to be competi-
tive,” Chambers said, adding that
Brown has recently increased its
stipends and dialogue on funding.
If Brown graduate students
were to form a union, he would
push for better childcare and a
formalized contract, he said,
though he did not have a “whole
lot of complaints.” He said he
“would be surprised” if Brown
graduate students did push to
unionize. In light of the current
job market, “people are just re-
lieved to be here.”
The Brown Daily Herald
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Baseball swept in
three-game opener
continued from page 8
was up 2-1 going into the fifth.
Utilizing precise bunting and
solid hitting, Vanderbilt mounted
an attack in the fifth and sixth in-
nings that resulted in a combined
five runs, a Brown loss and a series
sweep.
Despite losing the season open-
er, Colantonio said he has hope for
Librarian specializes
in physical sciences
continued from page 3
“Many of the subject specialists in
the library do similar work in their
assigned departments,” Quist wrote.
Pedersen assists all of the physical
sciences, “which include several
very large departments scattered
over several buildings,” he wrote.
Pedersen interacts extensively
with students enrolled in Lecturer
in Chemistry Kathleen Hess’ organic
and inorganic chemistry laboratory
classes. “The fact that (Brown has)
a librarian specialist to help with
specific disciplines is a luxury that
you will not find everywhere,” Hess
wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. In
the rest of season.
It was “tough to lose three …
but we had them on the ropes,”
Colantonio said. “They were defi-
nitely scared.”
“Playing the best competition
will prepare us against Ivy League
teams,” he added.
The Bears will travel to Aus-
tin, Tex. to play No. 6 University
of Texas.
her classes, Hess emphasizes “the
importance of using ‘authoritative’
resources,” she wrote.
One chemistry student, Alexa
Steuer ’14, said if Pedersen had not
introduced herself during a class, she
probably would have been unaware
of her accessibility as a resource.
Pedersen is “definitely helpful,”
Steuer said. “She has a chat func-
tion over the Internet for questions,
which I used doing two of my chem
assignments so far.”
Hess wrote that Pedersen will
most likely interact with more
students in the coming semesters
because of her exposure in Hess’
chemistry labs.
Campus News 5
U. overhauls event-planning process
By Leigh Carroll
Contributing Writer
The University eliminated “several”
staff positions to consolidate campus
event planning, though no salaries
were reduced, wrote Karen Davis,
vice president for human resources,
in an e-mail to The Herald.
The Organizational Review
Committee recommended creat-
ing the Brown Conference and
Event Center last February as part
of efforts to cut spending. The new
office, formally called the Office of
University Event and Conference
Services, opened last summer. It
merges several departments on
campus including the University
Events Office, the Conference Ser-
vices Office and the University Event
Support Office, said Julie Haworth,
director of the new office.
All campus event planning is
now handled by either the Student
Activities Office or the new 12-per-
son University Event and Confer-
ence Services Office, a division of
the Department of Facilities Man-
agement. “Previously, departments
had to contact a number of different
offices on campus … to plan their
event,” Davis wrote. “The creation of
the new Events Center has resulted
in a ‘one-stop-shop’ — or single
point of contact — for event plan-
BB & Z | Cole Pruitt, Andrew Seiden, Valerie Hsiung and Dan Ricker
Cloud Buddies! | David Emanuel
Dr. Bear | Mat Becker
Dot Comic | Eshan Mitra and Brendan Hainline
ning and implementation.” The new
office streamlines internal billing
and reduces paperwork redundancy.
Though Haworth originally
worked in conference services, she
was laid off and then rehired as the
director of University Event and
Conference Services.
The new office works closely with
other departments. It reports di-
rectly to Facilities Management and
also works closely with the Office of
Public Affairs and University Rela-
tions as well as the SAO, Haworth
said. “A lot of the major events that
we do come out of Public Affairs and
University Relations — presidential
events, guest speakers, dignitaries …
so it is really important that we keep
a strong connection,” Haworth said.
Haworth said her office also
maintains a “very strong connection
to students” who have to plan events.
Depending on the event, students go
through the SAO for planning lo-
gistics, but must schedule the space
with the Scheduling Office, a divi-
sion now within Haworth’s office.
University Event and Conference
Services meets twice a week with
the SAO to discuss “what types of
things are coming onto campus and
what kinds of student events have
come in, are there any concerns,”
Haworth said.
Some University departments
comics
also directly interact with Haworth’s
office when planning their events.
For example, the Department
of Music now works with the of-
fice around Commencement and
Spring Weekend, according to Ash-
ley Lundh, events coordinator for
the music department. Events tak-
ing place in department spaces do
not have to be approved through
University Event and Conference
Services.
In general, planning events with
University Services goes smoothly,
she said.
Ashley Jones ’11, a member of
Body and Sole, said that the student
dance group sometimes uses the
scheduling office website to reserve
meeting spaces. “The feature that
allows you to see which rooms are
booked when is helpful,” she said.
The Brown Concert Agency, the
student group that plans Spring
Weekend concerts, also uses the
new office’s services. “We mainly
go through the SAO when sched-
uling our events,” Serin Seckin ’11,
BCA’s administrative chair, wrote
in an e-mail to The Herald. But she
wrote that BCA does directly con-
tact Haworth’s office to reserve the
Main Green.
“We are in year one of building
new efficiencies,” Haworth said. “But
we are already seeing the results.”
6 Editorial & Letter The Brown Daily Herald
Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Editorial Editorial comic by sam rosenfeld

A Bridge to opportunity
Graduation may still be months away, but it is already a safe bet
that few seniors will stay in Rhode Island to begin work. Dan Egan,
president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
of Rhode Island, told The Herald last week that the state retains fewer
graduates from Brown than from other Rhode Island colleges and
universities, where retention rates are “between 10 and 15 percent.”
But Bridge, a new program spearheaded by the association and its
member institutions, aims to increase these numbers.
Bridge is in its formative stages, and much of the work currently
being done involves surveying students to gather data that will guide
the program. But Bridge’s focus is clear — eliminating the disconnect
between Rhode Island’s opportunities and attractive features and
students, who may scarcely travel off College Hill.
Greater retention of Brown students would benefit the state and the
University. There are far fewer residents with bachelor’s or advanced
degrees in Rhode Island than in Connecticut or Massachusetts, which
harms the state’s attractiveness to business. Keeping more Brunonians
in-state would not only help ameliorate this problem, it would also
strengthen ties between the University and the community. And a
larger body of local alums would be very valuable to students look-
ing to network.
Connecting students to local internships will be a critical task if
Bridge is to succeed. Richard Bendis, CEO of Innovation America, an
organization that helped Philadelphia address poor retention rates,
said in an Oct. 31, 2009 Providence Journal article, “Statistics say the
more students you get engaged in internships as early as you can, the
higher retention rate you’re going to have.” But in the same article le tter to the editor
Bendis pointed to “figures that show 64 percent of college graduates
select a location to move to before they choose a job,” indicating that
more goes into the decision to leave Rhode Island than employment
Teaching English benefits students in rural China
considerations. To the Editor: chances for high school admittance. Perhaps the Chinese
To that end, the University must recognize that promoting staying system of testing English as part of a national exam has
in Rhode Island means more than matching students and employ- In her column (“Evangelizing English,” March 3), a cultural elitism bend. However, our teaching fellows
ers. Nick Werle ’10 suggested to The Herald that Brown could make Susannah Kroeber ’11 criticized the China Education are simply trying to get students to succeed on this
living around Providence more attractive by extending library and Initiative, writing that “in faraway rural areas, teaching national exam and have a chance for higher education.
gym privileges to recent graduates. This is a sound idea — a free place English is about as useful as teaching calculus in sixth Kroeber writes that “it is far more likely that the
to exercise and access to the library’s bountiful resources would be grade.” Her article questions the initiative’s approach best we can do right now is help with basic education,
small but important incentives, especially in a poor economy when in tackling China’s education gap through its English even if that does not include English.” In addition to
graduates are looking to save money. teaching fellowships. teaching English, the program provides basic educa-
Economic incentives to keep students in-state would also increase As campus representatives for China Education Ini- tion in Chinese. Teaching teams are comprised of both
Bridge’s effectiveness. The Herald reported yesterday that State Rep. tiative, we would like to provide important background American and Chinese graduates, and our Chinese
Chris Blazejewski is championing legislation that “would provide information on China’s education system to help read- fellows are responsible for teaching major subjects such
graduates of Rhode Island colleges or universities a tax credit … if ers better understand why our American fellows teach as Chinese literature, history, biology and math, just to
they remain in the state to work” and extend “tax credits to compa- English. In China, students take tests to qualify for both name a few. The American and Chinese fellows work
nies that volunteer to pay down the student loans of the graduates high school and college admittance. While similar in closely with each other to determine effective teaching
they employ.” concept to our SATs, these tests are the only factors that practices and to share ideas in the hopes of creating a
Rhode Island’s businesses, government and colleges and universi- determine acceptance to higher education. This entrance cross-cultural network dedicated to ending educational
ties all stand to benefit from greater graduate retention, and all have test is divided in three subjects — Chinese language, inequity in China. China Education Initiative not only
a role to play in achieving that goal. We look forward to seeing these math and English. Therefore, whether or not English is places fellows in under-resourced schools to teach
efforts advance and encourage all students thinking about their future “useful” for these rural students, they must be proficient English, but also provides teachers in all subject areas
to take a look around the Ocean State. in order to have a chance to continue their schooling. with the aim of providing all students with access to
However, in rural Chinese schools, most teachers quality education.
Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board. Send comments are not trained in English and thus cannot adequately We hope these additional facts will clarify any mis-
to editorials@browndailyherald.com. prepare their students for these exams. In fact, less than conceptions about our organization. We believe in open
5 percent of students in rural China go on to higher dialogue and will be happy to speak to anyone who
education, compared to 70 percent of their peers from wishes to learn more about China Education Initiative.
China’s major cities. The initiative’s model tackles this
problem by bringing proficient English speakers to Helen Feng ’11
t h e b r ow n da i ly h e r a l d teach these students, thereby helping them with their Jennifer Tan ’11

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The Brown Daily Herald
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
BY ETHAN
TOBIAS
Opinions Columnist
The Texas legislature is considering allowing
students, faculty and staff to carry concealed
firearms on University of Texas college cam-
puses.
The proponents of this change in the law
argue that students require guns for protec-
tion — a devastating rampage, like the one
at Virginia Tech, would not happen or would
be stopped if some students and faculty had
concealed weapons. They believe that trained
security guards and police officers are not suf-
ficient to bring down a gunman, while help-
less students will be picked off one by one.
The proponents continue that the new
law would only apply to those students who
already have a license to carry a concealed
weapon, which means that armed students
would have to be at least 21, have to have
passed background checks and have to have
taken a handgun course. This would seem-
ingly ensure that any students who carried
a weapon would be responsible enough to
use one. Unfortunately, this line of thinking
is naive and dangerous.
College campuses should be secure and
safe environments. Student safety should be
among a university’s highest priorities. This
legislation will endanger students’ lives and
welfare and should be resisted by students
throughout the country.
A campus that allows students to carry
The mission and purpose of Israeli-Palestinian Peace Week
By Ethan Hammerman
Guest Columnist
In a recent column (“Shalom-Salaam: dia-
logue as distraction or dialogue as action?”
March 7), Francesca Contreras ’11 critiqued
two series of events on campus dedicated
to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — Israeli-
Palestinian Peace Week and Israelis and
Palestinians: Working Together for a Bet-
ter Future. Contreras rejects the possibility
for compromise by portraying the Israeli-
Palestinian issue as black and white, with no
room for nuance, complexity or gradation. I
respectfully disagree with her polarization of
the conflict into a binary of helpless victim
and relentless victimizer, and I want to en-
courage our community to look deeper into
the multifaceted set of issues that truly make
up the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Alongside a number of students organiz-
ing the week, I want to allow an entire um-
brella of steadfast and committed opinions
to be discussed throughout our programs.
With a greater breadth of opinions, we wish
to encourage more spirited — yet consistently
civil — debate and discussion on campus. I
both appreciate and admire Contreras’ strong
stance, and I feel that it is necessary that she
be present to share her perspective at our
events. Her position is vital to understand-
ing the nature of the conflict and working
towards producing a just peace for Israelis
and Palestinians alike.
Throughout the week, we hope to delve
into some of the more provocative and emo-
Shooting for safety?
a concealed weapon exposes its students to
severe risks. Even if the only people with
guns were law-abiding, licensed students
with no history of mental illness or criminal
activity, the mere presence of handguns is an
unnecessary risk.
Imagine what could go wrong on a col-
lege campus. Students under the influence
of alcohol, drugs or just the severe stress of
schoolwork already make decisions they
come to regret. Let’s not add guns to that mix.
Students under the influence of alcohol, drugs or just the
severe stress of schoolwork already make decisions they
come to regret. Let’s not add guns to that mix.
The late teen years and early 20s are often
the time when mental illness first manifests
itself. The New York Times recently reported
that record numbers of college freshmen say
they are stressed. Making guns available to
overstressed students with untreated mental
illness will inevitably lead to some students
taking those guns and harming themselves
or others. It is not a question of if, but when.
It seems that every year, some young per-
son with a gun and the signs of mental illness
goes on a rampage. There was Virginia Tech
in 2007, Northern Illinois University in 2008
and, most recently, the attempted assassina-
tionally laden questions surrounding Israeli-
Palestinian issues. Despite Contreras’ asser-
tion otherwise, we had certainly planned to
discuss the issue of systematic violations of
international law and occupation in all of our
events. We do not intend to skirt around any
of the main issues — we feel that it is neces-
sary to attack each issue head on and actually
cut to the core of the conflict. We will discuss
issues of nationalism, political and religious
identity and various other misconceptions
about both peoples. It is only then that any
real change can be implemented.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is incred-
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is incredibly intricate, and
Israeli-Palestinian Peace Week hopes to illuminate the
nuances and complexities embedded in the situation, so
that we can reach a place where we can make positive
changes and find solutions.
ibly intricate, and Israeli-Palestinian Peace
Week hopes to illuminate the nuances and
complexities embedded in the situation so
that we can reach a place where we can make
positive changes and find solutions. Although
we will resist simplifying a complex situation
into a binary issue, the assertion that the week
ignores Palestinian suffering is inaccurate at
best and offensive at worst. Though I cannot
speak for the Jewish community as a whole,
I am personally an advocate for Palestinian
nationalism and believe that they, like all
Opinions 7
tion of Representative Gabrielle Giffords,
D-Ariz., which resulted in the deaths of six
people, including a federal judge and a nine-
year-old girl.
The way to prevent these terrible crimes is
not by making guns more available or arming
ordinary citizens. Imagine the confusion of
police officers trying to figure out who is the
killer on a rampage and who is the ordinary
citizen firing back. And there is the potential
for a protracted gun battle ensuing between
students that could end in campuses looking
an awful lot like the streets of Tripoli rather
than the safe havens they should be.
Students around the country should watch
the Texas legislature apprehensively. If con-
cealed weapons can be legally carried on
university campuses there, it will not be long
before legislature in other states consider fol-
lowing suit. This could set a dangerous prec-
edent, and it moves the country completely in
the wrong direction on the question of guns.
More disturbingly, allowing licensed
handgun owners to carry their weapons in
more places is not being coupled to laws that
peoples, are entitled to self-determination.
We wish to show the full breadth of this
conflict. People from all over the political,
geographical and religious spectrum have lost
their lives and livelihoods due to indiscrimi-
nate hatred, abominable racism and religious
dogma. We will not only depict the conflicts
within the region, we wish to inspire students
to collaborate with each other and think and
improve inter- and intra-community rifts
here at Brown.
The week will feature action-based com-
ponents as well. Even before the discussion
aspects of our events, we will be asking stu-
dents to take action by donating two dollars
for two states. One dollar will go to an orga-
nization that promotes peace and coexistence
within Israel. The other will be donated to
an organization that builds infrastructure
in the Palestinian territories. By investing in
tolerance in Israel and stability in Palestine,
we will actively contribute to making the
shared the two nations’ future viable and
sustainable. We will also provide suggested
actions for students at the end of each event
throughout this week, and brainstorm ideas
make it harder to obtain these weapons. Jared
Laughner, the shooter in Arizona, purchased
the gun legally, despite being suspended from
college and deemed unfit to enlist in the
armed forces.
While the adage that “guns don’t kill peo-
ple, people kill people” certainly holds true,
a would-be assassin like Laughner would
be unable to injure and kill so many people
with just a knife.
There will always be those people who,
under stress and mental disease, go on a
deadly rampage. The killer at Virginia Tech
murdered 32 people before taking his own
life. Allowing guns on campus would not be
a deterrent to a gunman who already wants
to die. But it is easy to conceive how an un-
secured gun on a college campus might fall
into the wrong hands.
Every time President Ruth Simmons sends
an e-mail to the student body informing
them of a student’s passing, there is an incred-
ible outpouring of grief. It feels like everyone
at Brown is connected to everyone else, and
the death of one student is a deep blow, even
to those of us who did not know the de-
ceased. Making guns more accessible to col-
lege students is a recipe for future heartache.
Given the anguish that one student’s death
can cause, the idea that a state legislature
will put more students’ lives in jeopardy is
an unforgiveable sin.
Ethan Tobias ’12 is a biology concentra-
tor from New York. He can be reached at
Ethan_Tobias@brown.edu.
to try and enact actual change that would
benefit all sides.
I, along with the rest of the committee
that has spearheaded the week, opt for a true
exchange within the marketplace of ideas. We
invite and encourage Contreras, along with
anyone who wishes to discuss or learn about
this complex conflict, to attend our events
and engage in civil discussion. Contreras has
already been personally asked to take part in
a program called “A Walk In Their Shoes,” an
interactive experience that will give students
new insight into the different perspectives
that surround this complex conflict. Other
events during this week include the Encoun-
ter mediation program — hosted by founder
Benj Kamm ’06 — and an activity where we
will analyze YouTube videos that present
both sides and examine further the nuances
of this conflict. All of these programs will
be interactive and educational, and should
inspire discussion and action on campus.
If there is one issue on which Contreras
and I undoubtedly agree, it is that the status
quo in which Israelis and Palestinians live —
without true peace and security — is unjust
and unsustainable. As students at Brown
and members of the Jewish community, we
feel that it is our right and duty to bring our
communities together to enact real, positive
change for all parties. This is not about who
is right and who is wrong — this is about the
need for reasonable discourse on campus,
and we will seek to make that happen.
Ethan Hammerman ’13 hails from
Stamford, Conn. and considers himself to
be a passionate centrist.
Daily Herald
the Brown
URI
responds to
bias-related
incidents
By Elizabeth Carr
Staff Writer
In response to recent bias-related
incidents, University of Rhode Island
President David Dooley issued a
campus-wide memo Feb. 23 stating
that hate-related behavior would not
be tolerated.
city & state
In the memo, Dooley wrote
that in recent weeks, community
members have shouted homo-
phobic taunts from cars, written
hateful words on whiteboards in
classrooms, drawn a swastika on
the forehead of a poster of Martin
Luther King Jr., vandalized a me-
zuzah — which contains a scroll of
Hebrew scripture — and written
hateful statements in permanent
marker targeting URI community
members of Latin descent.
“Some students have the impres-
sion that the university has been
hiding these things and hasn’t been
doing anything about it,” said Tom
Dougan, vice president for student
affairs at URI. But that is not the
case, he said.
“We did not have a good year last
year,” Dougan said. In response, the
university created a bias response
team last spring whose protocol was
implemented in September. Since
then, the bias response team has
received 23 complaints, 10 of which
were classified as relating to bias or
hate, he added. In three of the cases,
students were found to be in viola-
tion of university policy and were
punished accordingly.
Grant will increase lab research opportunities for undergrads
By Anna Lillkung
Staff Writer
For the first time since 1993, un-
dergraduates will receive funding
from a Hughes Grant to conduct
biomedical research. This summer,
24 sophomores and juniors will
take part in a research program
funded by the $1 million grant,
but this number will increase to
32 students in summers to come,
according to Professor of Medical
Science Michael McKeown, a key
figure in planning the program.
The grant will help increase
the University’s presence as a re-
search institution in biomedical
sciences, according to the most
recent status report on the Plan for
Academic Enrichment, published
in October.
The Hughes Grant is given ev-
ery year to a number of institu-
tions and individuals for biomedi-
cal research. Institutions meeting
certain eligibility criteria are in-
vited to apply and can then send
in applications and proposals, ac-
cording to the Howard Hughes
Though bias-related incidents have sparked several initiatives at neighboring
URI, Brown has not made any major changes in campus security.
“Assuming we identify who has
committed the act, our sanctions
can range anywhere from written
reprimand to suspension,” Dougan
said. One student arrested in the fall
for hate-based vandalism is no lon-
ger a student at the university. But
Dougan said he could not release
specific information regarding the
nature of the incident.
Dougan said perpetrators are
often not able to be tracked down
because incidents are a “drive-by
kind of thing.”
The university also developed the
position of chief diversity officer in
conjunction with the bias response
team. Kathryn Friedman, who was
appointed Jan. 4 and reports to
Dooley, will fill the role this year.
Friedman said most universities
try to hide any incidents of bias-
related behavior. “They don’t want it
to affect their reputations,” she said.
URI, by contrast, is working on a
larger initiative to raise community
consciousness so that students can
feel “safe and secure in their intel-
lectual and personal environment.”
As part of the effort to celebrate
“community equity and diversity,”
Medical Institute website. In 2010,
the institute awarded $79 million
to universities and researchers,
according to its website.
Before this year, Brown was
among the few research institu-
tions that did not receive funding,
McKeown said.
But last year, the University
was one of nearly 200 institutions
to receive an invitation from the
institute to apply for the grant.
Wendy Lawton, associate direc-
tor of corporate and foundation
relations, and Elizabeth Francis,
director of corporate and founda-
tion relations in the Division of
Biology and Medicine, initiated
plans for a proposal, with McKe-
own joining the efforts soon after.
The University submitted a pro-
posal, which was returned with
comments on what needed to be
improved or changed. The plan-
ners sent a second draft in July and
learned they had been awarded the
grant in August. The University re-
ceived $1 million out of a possible
$2.2 million, McKeown added.
The grant money will be used
Herald file photo
the university has facilitated dis-
cussions, trained residential lead-
ers, offered diversity awards and
sponsored Martin Luther King Jr.
Week — a series of events that honor
King’s efforts — in addition to a vari-
ety of other programs, Dougan said.
Friedman is urging students
to “start to have a conversation
about what it means to be a civil
institution.” She advised students
to “respond to things they see and
hear,” since a problem in punishing
bias-related incidents is a lack of
witnesses.
The types of people targeted by
these incidents varies, Friedman
said, though she noted that LGBT
students have been more frequent
victims.
At Brown, LGBTQ Resource
Center Coordinator Kelly Garrett
said graffiti is the most common bi-
as-related incident she has encoun-
tered. The center talks to victims
after an incident has occurred and
acts based on what kind of support
they are seeking, she said. “We try
to educate the community on why
this is not a part of the Brown com-
munity standards,” she said.
for two separate aims, McKeown
said. There will be a summer re-
search program for sophomores
and juniors, and three new courses
will also be developed — two for
the science and society concen-
tration and one in computational
biology for first- and second-year
students. Students will also learn
how to do “real science” by work-
ing in small groups in labs with
the support of teaching assistants
and professors, he said.
“We are trying to have a mix-
ture of talents,” McKeown said,
referring to how participants will
be selected for the program. Sixty-
two applications were sent in be-
fore the Feb. 16 due date.
The program aims to train
sophomores and juniors who may
not already have found their place
in a lab but who could potentially
conduct their own research during
the rest of their undergraduate
careers after participating in the
program.
There will be three different
groups working on three different
research projects this summer, ac-
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
baseball
No. 2 Vanderbilt sweeps
Bears in season opener
By Ilan Isaacs
Contributing Writer
The baseball team (0-3) opened
its season this weekend by suf-
fering a three-game sweep at No.
2 Vanderbilt (11-1). The season-
opener was low-scoring, and the
Commodores defeated the Bears
3-1. In the first game of a Sunday
doubleheader, Vanderbilt edged
past Brown 6-5, and won 6-3 in an
abridged seven-inning game later
that afternoon to sweep the series.
Vanderbilt 3, Brown 1
Both schools sent out their
number-one pitchers to duel Fri-
day. Pitchers Matthew Kimball
’11 and Sonny Gray of Vanderbilt
did not disappoint and received
pitcher of the week honors in the
Ivy League and Southeastern Con-
ference for their performances.
Returning to his native Nash-
ville, Tenn., Kimball pitched seven
innings of one-run ball, scattering
six hits while striking out three.
But he was outgunned by Vander-
bilt’s ace. Gray, a projected first
round Major League Baseball pick,
also allowed one run, but struck
out 15 and lasted a full nine in-
nings.
“(Gray’s) got the best breaking
ball I’ve seen in college baseball,”
Coach Marek Drabinski said.
Kimball kept the Bears in the
game in the first seven innings,
but Andrew Bakowski ’11, com-
ing in to relieve Kimball, allowed
a leadoff double that kicked off
a two-run Vanderbilt eighth in-
ning. This proved to be all the
support Gray needed, as he struck
out two of the final three Bruno
batters and led the Commodores
to victory.
The Hughes Grant targets undergraduate research in the sciences.
cording to McKeown. One group
will work on cell transplantation
design with bioengineering mod-
ules under the leadership of Jeff
Morgan, associate professor of
Vanderbilt 6, Brown 5
Due to rainstorms in the area,
Saturday’s game was postponed,
forcing the Commodores and
the Bears to play a doubleheader
Sunday.
Vanderbilt scored three unan-
swered runs, one coming in the
second and two coming in the
third, before Bruno retaliated
with a run of their own in the
fourth. That would be all the run
support pitcher Kevin Carlow ’13
saw in his 5.2 innings of work, as
the Bears waited until the eighth
to mount a rally. Outfielder Matt
DeRenzi ’14 began the inning with
a pinch-hit single, which was fol-
lowed by another single from Josh
Feit ’11. Both Brown batters, along
with captain Matthew Colantonio
’11, ended up scoring in the inning
to cut the lead to one.
But Vanderbilt came back with
three hits in the bottom half of the
inning and, despite Colantonio’s
RBI single in the ninth, Brown
lost 6-5.
Vanderbilt 6, Brown 3
After narrowly losing earlier in
the day, the Bears struck first in
the second game. First baseman
Mike DiBiase ’12 and outfielder
Wes Van Boom ’14, both of whom
hit exceptionally well throughout
the series, singled and scored in
the top half of the second inning,
giving Brown a 2-0 lead.
“Truthfully, I thought we had
them,” Colantonio said. He fin-
ished the game one-for-four with
a run scored.
Though Bruno’s starting pitcher
Lucas Whitehill ’14 allowed a solo
home run in the fourth, Brown
continued on page 5
Stephanie London / Herald
medical science, while another
group will research fly neurology.
“The beauty of this is that these
are projects that faculty members
want to see done,” McKeown said.