Daily
the Brown
vol. cxlvi, no. 41
Watson
director
Kennedy
resigns
By Shefali Luthra
Senior Staff Writer
Michael Kennedy, director of the
Watson Institute for International
Studies, will step down at the end
of the academic year, Provost Da-
vid Kertzer ‘69 P’95 P’98 wrote in
an email to faculty Friday.
Kertzer and the Watson In-
stitute’s Board of Overseers will
choose an interim director while
the University searches for a per-
manent director, Marisa Quinn,
vice president for public affairs
and University relations, wrote in
an email to The Herald.
Four directors of the Watson
Institute have stepped down in
six years, which “suggests the
importance of attending to some
structural issues leading to so
many changes,” Kennedy, who is
traveling in Kosovo, wrote in an
email to The Herald Saturday. “My
resignation allows the Universi-
ty administration and Watson’s
Board of Overseers to focus on
those longstanding challenges.”
He also cited a desire to re-
turn to teaching as a reason for
his resignation. Kennedy wrote
continued on page 2
Sprung spring
Crocus buds, one of spring’s many harbingers, have cropped up on campus.
news...................2-5
inside
Arts......................6
editorial.............10
Opinions..............11
SPORTS..................12
At left, undergraduates participate in the Naval Reserve Officers’ Training Corps before the program was banned from
campus. At right, soldiers in Afghanistan participate in the Human Terrain System, a Pentagon program that aims to
capitalize on academics’ expertise to better understand the populations of occupied countries.
As ROTC scrutinized, military funding ignored
By Sahil Luthra
Senior Staff Writer
Though the possible reinstatement
of the Reserve Officers’ Training
Corps at Brown has brought debate
about the military’s place on cam-
pus to the forefront this semester,
the University has received re-
search funding from the Pentagon
for years without provoking such
heated debate.
It has accepted roughly $10
million annually for the last four
years from the Department of
Defense in the form of research
grants, according to figures from
the Office of the Vice President
for Research. Military funding ac-
Freddy Lu / Herald
UNforgotten
Simmons discusses slavery in
address to United Nations
Campus News, 3
Herald
Monday, April 4, 2011
counted for more than 5 percent of
the total research budget in fiscal
year 2010 and more than 7 percent
in 2009, and Brown is among the
top 100 universities in the United
States in terms of military research
funding.
Vice President for Research
Clyde Briant said he expects De-
partment of Defense funding —
which includes funding from the
Air Force, Army and Navy — to
remain roughly constant for the
current fiscal year.
Relevance to ROTC
Briant said he sees the issue
of accepting military funding as
separate from the question of
Power outage leaves
students in the dark
By Sahil Luthra
Senior Staff Writer
Problems with an underground
cable caused a blackout at some
University buildings last night from
approximately 5:15 p.m. to 7:15 p.m.
The outage affected George,
Thayer and Hope streets and
Young Orchard Avenue, accord-
ing to National Grid spokesman
David Graves. Only Brown-owned
buildings were affected, since the
problematic cable exclusively ser-
vices the University.
The Herald received reports
that Keeney Quadrangle, Gradu-
ate Center, Vartan Gregorian
Quad and Wriston Quadrangle
were among the affected dormi-
tories. The Sharpe Refectory also
lost power.
Graves said the Department
of Facilities Management was in
Herald archives / U.S. Army
whether the University should
reinstate ROTC on campus.
“As far as research is concerned,
because it’s open to everyone,
there’s no discrimination there,”
Briant said. “So I see these as two
very different matters.”
President Ruth Simmons, when
she announced the formation of a
committee to review the Univer-
sity’s policies on ROTC, cited the
repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,”
the federal law that kept gays from
serving openly in the military, as
the impetus for her decision to
convene the committee.
But ROTC was originally ex-
continued on page 5
charge of restoring power. Facili-
ties staff could not be reached for
comment.
Students coming to the Ratty
for dinner had to write down their
Brown ID numbers, because they
could not swipe into the dining
hall. Brown University Dining
Services employee Trevor Covey
’14, whose usual responsibility is to
ensure that there are enough to-go
containers at the entrance, said his
shift “passed a lot more quickly” as
he assisted diners with the make-
shift sign-in process. When the line
became unmanageable, workers
let some students enter for free,
he added.
Several students in the Ratty
cheered and applauded when the
power returned. Others enjoyed the
outage while it lasted. “It was like
camping out,” said Angela Straccia
’14. “It was kind of fun.”
weather
Grow up
Yu ’11 responds to
int’l student project
opinions,11
Since 1891
U. admits
record-low
8.7 percent
of applicants
By Lindor Qunaj
Senior Staff Writer
Last Wednesday, 2,115 applicants
learned that they had been offered a
spot in Brown’s most selective class
ever. Including the 577 students
who were accepted in December
through the binding early-decision
program, a total of 2,692 students
from 79 countries were accepted
from a record-setting pool of
30,946 — an overall admission
rate of 8.7 percent, even lower than
last year’s 9.3 percent.
Acceptance rates across the Ivy
League hit record lows, with Har-
vard dipping to 6.2 percent and
Yale 7.4 percent. In part due to a
switch to the Common Applica-
tion, Columbia saw a 33 percent
increase in combined total applica-
tions to its college and School of
Engineering and Applied Sciences,
receiving 34,929 applications and
posting an acceptance rate of only
6.9 percent. This represented a sig-
nificant drop from last year’s com-
bined 9.2 percent admission rate.
At Brown, approximately two-
thirds of accepted students applied
for financial aid, and 17 percent
of admission offers went to first-
generation college students, the
highest percentage ever, according
to Dean of Admission Jim Miller
’73. Nine percent of the admitted
class has legacy status, a number
that is “very similar to prior years,”
Miller wrote in an email to The
Herald. A University press release
stated that the class of 2015 is “the
most racially, socioeconomically
and geographically diverse class
in Brown’s history.”
The admitted students are “very,
very accomplished in terms of the
courses they’ve taken and proj-
ects they’ve pursued,” Miller said.
Among those coming from high
schools that rank students, 96 per-
cent were in the top 10 percent of
their classes.
This year’s applicant pool ex-
pressed slightly more interest in
the sciences, especially the physical
sciences — 33 percent of students
listed sciences as intended concen-
trations, up from 30 percent in the
class of 2014.
But many students are still
attracted to Brown’s liberal arts
programs. According to Steve
Kim, a high school senior at Phil-
lips Academy in Andover, Mass.,
continued on page 4
t o d ay tomorrow
51 / 47 53 / 34
2 Campus News
calendar
Today
1 P.m.
April 4 ToMORROW
4 p.m.
April 5
“Tradition, Trauma, Transformation,”
List Art Building, Bell Gallery
“Contemporary India: A Gender
Perspective,” Watson Institute
7 P.m.
“Chicanos: History, Movement &
7:30 p.m.
“An Alternative Strategy to
Identity,” Alumnae Hall Afghanistan,” Barus and Holley 168
menu
SHARPE REFECTORY VERNEy-WOOLLEY DINING HALL
LUNCH
Cajun Pasta with Chicken, Tortellini Pulled Pork Sandwich, Baked
Provencale, Caprese Salad, Butter Macaroni and Cheese, Fresh Sliced
Cookies Carrots, Butter Cookies
DINNER
Texas Style Beef Brisket, Vegan Roasted Honey Chili Chicken, Vegan
Roasted Veggie Stew, Vegan Chana BBQ Tempeh, Apricot Beef with
Masala, S’Mores Bars Sesame Noodles
Sudoku
Kennedy cited “structural issues” at Watson when explaining his resignation.
Kennedy steps down
as Watson director
continued from page 1
that he has “always been able to
find a productive synergy” by
synthesizing his obligations as
Crossword a professor and scholar with his
role as director of various pro-
grams, institutes and center for
over 12 years. Prior to coming to
the University, Kennedy served
for 23 years at the University of
Michigan as a professor of soci-
ology and as the director of the
school’s Weiser Center for Europe
and Eurasia and its Weiser Center
for Emerging Democracies.
“With the changes being un-
dertaken by the administration,
and the kind of director those
changes require, I believe my
abilities are more useful in other
arenas,” he wrote.
Kennedy will continue to serve
as a professor of both international
relations and sociology. He wrote
he thinks focusing on teaching
will allow him to resume involve-
ment with institutes beyond the
University, which he could not do
as director. He plans to work with
Daily
the Brown
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Sydney Ember, Vice President
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editorial
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herald@browndailyherald.com
Herald file photo
the Social Science Research Coun-
cil, Soros’s Open Society Institute
and the World Economic Forum.
Kertzer was not available for
further comment because he is
in London.
Kennedy joined the Univer-
sity in summer 2009, after Vice
President for International Affairs
David Kennedy ’76, who was also
serving as interim director of the
Watson Institute, resigned. The
search for a permanent director of
the Watson Institute began after
former director Barbara Stallings,
professor of international studies,
stepped down in summer 2008.
In his email to faculty, Kertzer
listed “important reforms” under
Kennedy’s tenure, citing increased
funding for the Watson Institute,
the arrival of new scholars and
changes to the international re-
lations and development studies
concentrations. International re-
lations is one of the University’s
largest concentrations.
Kennedy “has worked tirelessly
to strengthen the Watson Institute
and Brown,” Kertzer wrote.
Herald
Matthew Burrows, Treasurer
Isha Gulati, Secretary
Business
(401) 351-3360
gm@browndailyherald.com
The Brown Daily Herald
Monday, April 4, 2011
Despite
efforts,
Meiklejohn
apps down
By Jackie Choi
Contributing Writer
The Meiklejohn Peer Advising Pro-
gram saw a 5 percent decrease in
the number of applicants this year,
from 517 in 2010 to 492 this spring.
Last year, the number of applications
increased 38 percent over 2009.
Of the 492 applications, approx-
imately 350 students — the same
numbers as in previous years — will
participate in the program for the
upcoming academic year, according
to Ann Gaylin, associate dean of the
College for first-year and sophomore
studies.
Despite efforts to enhance the
program — which include devel-
oping a sense of community within
the program through a more inter-
active orientation, offering training
for Meiklejohns throughout the year
and better publicizing the program
and the application process — the
decreased number of applications
received this year did not reflect the
general trend of increased applica-
tions in previous years.
Ari Rubenstein ’11, a Meiklejohn
leader, said the increased attention
for the program — though this
year’s applicant numbers declined,
the number increased from 375 in
2009 — is partly due to stepped-up
recruitment efforts that began as
early as fall 2010. The application
process, which began in December, is
also longer. He said the excitement of
giving back to the Brown community
through mentoring and helping first-
years motivates students to apply to
be Meiklejohns.
Noura Choudhury ’12, another
Meiklejohn leader, said students who
have had good experiences with their
Meiklejohns during their first year
provided productive feedback, thus
improving program overall. For ex-
ample, first-years can communicate
with their Meiklejohns before they
arrive on campus in the fall through
the ASK Advising Sidekick tool on
the Dean of the College’s website and
by writing letters to their advisers
during the summer.
Christina Sun ’14, a former Her-
ald contributing writer, said the
Meiklejohn program was a good
opportunity for first-years to get to
know upperclassmen who can offer
more insight than other first-years.
“It’s nice to know that I have someone
to go and talk to about anything,”
Sun said.
This year, the Office of the Dean of
the College and the Meiklejohn lead-
ership program have implemented
a policy for new Meiklejohns who
will be away during the fall semester.
Instead of starting as Meiklejohns
in the spring, their participation in
the program will be deferred until
the following year. Gaylin said this
change was made because the fall
orientation is the most important
training, and beginning Meiklejohns
sometimes find it difficult to con-
nect with first-years when their ini-
tial contact occurs only in the spring
term.
The Brown Daily Herald
Monday, April 4, 2011
Molecule could prevent Simmons delivers UN keynote address
seizures, researchers find
By Max Ernst
Staff Writer
Student-conducted research at
the University’s Institute for Brain
Science revealed that synthesis of
the molecule putrescine during
a seizure can protect the brain
from recurrent episodes. Further
research on the physiological ef-
fects of putrescine and other poly-
amines could ultimately lead to a
treatment for epilepsy.
The study concluded that pu-
trescine is converted into gamma-
aminobutryic acid — the primary
inhibitory neurotransmitter that
calms brain activity — and that
a surge of GABA during the pre-
liminary seizure helps prevent
later episodes, said Mark Bell GS,
who conducted the majority of
the experiments. The research
team found that it took 65 per-
cent longer to induce a seizure
in tadpoles that had been given
a dose of putrescine compared
to those that were not adminis-
tered the polyamine, according to
a University press release.
“If you block polyamine syn-
thesis around the time of the sei-
zure and then induce a seizure
four hours later, there is no pro-
tective effect,” said Hannah John-
son ’11, a student involved in the
research. “It was already known
that there is a spike in putrescine
after a seizure, but no one knew
before if it was helping or causing
more cell damages.”
“We came across the idea of
polyamines in general by giving
the tadpole a seizure, waiting
around four hours and giving it
another seizure. The animal was
more resistant the second time,”
Bell said. “This was a very curious
find, and we wanted to explore it.”
The research team proceeded
to identify beneficial polyamines
by blocking several different ones
from synthesis during the first
seizure and found that the ani-
mal “did worse four hours later”
when the polyamines were re-
moved from the process, accord-
ing to Johnson. Ultimately, the
team found that putrescine was
the main protective molecule re-
sponsible for limiting the severity
of a seizure.
“We were hoping to see that
more complex polyamines have
an effect on seizures,” said As-
sistant Professor of Neuroscience
Carlos Aizenman. “Putrescine
was thought to have very little
effect, but when we blocked it, we
found that the simple polyamine
had the biggest effect.”
Aizenman, Bell and several
undergraduates have been work-
ing on the epilepsy research since
2005 with funding from the Na-
tional Institutes of Health, Na-
tional Science Foundation and
Matthew Siravo Memorial Foun-
dation. The Institute for Brain
Science has played an important
role recently in the development
of the seizure study and similar
scientific endeavors.
“The institute helps to create
an environment conducive to
great work and put faculty in a
good position to receive grants,”
said institute Associate Director
John Davenport.
“The Plan for Academic En-
richment allocated seven new
faculty positions to the institute,
one of which was filled by Aizen-
man, who has directed the seizure
study,” Davenport said.
Since the research team has
identified how the chemical works
in conjunction with seizures, fur-
ther research on the subject could
eventually produce a drug that
could control seizures in epilepsy
patients. But that is a long way off,
Aizenman said.
“This is still something in the
early stages,” he said. “If this holds
up in different species, some other
researchers could use the find-
ings for a novel therapy to treat
epilepsy.”
Although the study has not
identified treatment for epilepsy,
the current findings will play an
important role in future medical
research.
“We have been looking to bet-
ter understand the underlying
mechanisms, which is obviously
the first step if you want to find
any kind of therapeutic implica-
tions,” Johnson said.
Campus News 3
By Kat Thornton
Senior Staff Writer
NEW YORK — President Ruth
Simmons spoke about remember-
ing slavery and Brown’s recogni-
tion of its historical ties to the slave
trade in her keynote address at the
United Nations General Assembly’s
fourth annual international slavery
remembrance day March 25 in New
York City.
Simmons began her speech by
thanking the United Nations for
recognizing the importance of “this
international day of remembrance”
for 400 years of international slave
trading, which she called a “monu-
mental violation of human rights.”
“I thank you for recognizing
that nations cannot fully embrace
principles of fairness, equality
and shared governance without
acknowledging the occurrence of
heinous acts that violated these
principles,” she said.
Simmons also called attention
to the slave trade’s contemporary
implications. “Invaluable” cultural
connections were lost during the
slave trade for the benefits of com-
merce, she said.
“This willful erasure has had far-
reaching consequences,” she said.
“Inheritors of this erasure have been
left to a patchwork existence with
gaping holes that cannot, for the
most part, ever be filled with pieces
that precisely match.”
Simmons spoke of the need for
education to prevent such human
rights violations from occurring
again, calling universities “vital
partners” in that process.
Universities “must also reveal
the truth of their own histories,” she
added, even if it does not accurately
reflect their current principles. “The
fear of the truth has no place in a
university that purports to expose
the truth,” she said.
Simmons cited Brown’s efforts to
President Ruth Simmons delivered the keynote address at the United Nations
General Assembly’s fourth annual international slavery remembrance day
Friday in New York.
uncover its relationship with slavery
through the Steering Committee
on Slavery and Justice, which stud-
ied the topic from 2003 to 2006.
Though this history was “largely
absent from the University’s official
documents,” she said the committee
discovered that Brown’s founders
were involved in the transatlantic
slave trade.
These results have compelled
the University to memorialize its
early history and make it a “visual
dimension” of the University’s “cur-
rent identity,” Simmons said.
She spoke about the upcoming
creation of a research center and
a physical memorial to slavery on
campus. She told the members of
the General Assembly about the
contributions the University’s Fund
for the Education of the Children of
Providence has made for teachers
and students who may have been
affected by the slave trade’s long-
lasting legacy.
These contributions are not in-
tended to “make amends,” Simmons
said, but rather to serve as “constant
Kat Thornton / Herald
reminders” of the values of justice
and equality.
“The most important action is
that which addresses the offense,
cleanses the record and brings to
light the truth of what has trans-
pired,” Simmons said.
She added she hopes other
universities will follow Brown’s
example.
Simmons’ keynote address fol-
lowed a morning of speeches from
regional representatives about the
living legacy of the transatlantic
slave trade.
The event, held to commemorate
the fourth annual International Day
of Remembrance of the Victims of
Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave
Trade, was titled “The Living Legacy
of 30 Million Untold Stories.”
The chairs of regions from
around the world made statements
addressing the injustice of the slave
trade and urging the United Nations
to commission a physical memorial
to slavery at its New York headquar-
ters. Several cultural groups also
gave performances.
4 Campus News The Brown Daily Herald
Monday, April 4, 2011

U. hires science outreach director

By Leah Bromberg
Contributing Writer
Oludurotimi Adetunji embarks
on his first day as Brown’s direc-
tor of scientific outreach today.
The new position is “a recogni-
tion on the part of the University
that we need to pay attention to
outreach,” said David Targan, as-
sociate dean of the College for
science education. Dean of the
College Katherine Bergeron said
the new position will not only
expand the University’s science
advising, but also help develop
the outreach mission of the newly
opened Science Center.
Adetunji will be joining a
group of scientists at Brown who
have chosen to move from career
research to outreach, Targan said.
“We need more scientists. We
need more engineers,” Adetunji
said.
“When you look at the data,
we’re producing about 50,000 en-
gineers per year by now,” he said.
“China produces about 500,000
represented in the “STEM” dis-
ciplines, he said.
Adetunji believes that “Brown
can become a national leader” in
the science communities. He said
forming partnerships with faculty
and students is important not only
within Brown, but also within the
larger Rhode Island community.
Scientific outreach to middle
school, high school and commu-
nity college students is crucial to
the vitality of sciences at Brown,
he said. Adetunji said he hopes
to attract prospective students by
sending Brown undergraduates
out to schools as “ambassadors” in
the sciences to showcase relevant
research at Brown.
He plans to facilitate partner-
ships between Brown scientists
and those of nearby universities
and explore how Brown’s scientific
work can benefit society. Adetunji
said his other goals include writ-
ing grants, presenting work and
publishing more research papers.
“You are a scientist first, but
also a teacher,” Targan said. “It’s
One of the first things Adetunji
said he will do is to “administer
a University-wide inventory.”
Brown needs a blueprint of the
activities that scientists, students
and faculty are starting within dif-
ferent departments, he said. In-
terdepartmental communication
is fundamental to getting greater
funding, especially when activities
overlap, he said.
“The sciences are expensive,”
Targan said. “We have funding
needs for the laboratories. We
can’t just operate with a white-
board or a blackboard. We need
grants to obtain the best and most
cutting-edge facilities and to re-
cruit cutting-edge scientists.”
Adetunji — a native of Nigeria
— graduated from Fisk Univer-
sity, a historically black college
in Nashville, Tenn., with a degree
in physics and computer science
in 2002. He received his doctor-
ate from Ohio State University in
2008, where he worked in experi-
Herald file photo
mental physics. After graduating,
The admission rate for the class of 2015 was a record low.
he worked as a physical scientist

engineers. We need to do some-
thing to change the picture.”
Adetunji said he hopes to help
Brown recruit and retain concen-
trators in the “STEM” disciplines
— science, technology, engineer-
ing and mathematics — which he
said have attracted few students
recently. Women and minority
students are particularly under-
important that scientists not be
isolated in our ivory towers. It’s
important that scientists explain
to taxpayers that their research
has significance to the public at
large.”
“That’s not something you can
just read about on the front page
of the New York Times,” he con-
tinued.
for the Navy and served as assis-
tant dean in the division of natural
and mathematical sciences of the
College of Arts and Sciences at
Ohio State. While in Ohio, he re-
ceived two National Science Foun-
dation grants, including one for a
program he developed to spread
awareness about the geological
sciences.
U. sees changes in
demographics of admits
continued from page 1
Brown “seemed like a place of
greater appreciation for the arts
than most colleges, which meant
a lot to me as a musician.” Kim,
who is also considering offers from
Columbia and Stanford, plans to
double-concentrate in East Asian
Studies and Economics.
Fourteen percent of the ad-
mission offers were made to in-
ternational students. China, India
and the United Kingdom rank at
the top of the list with 57, 34 and
33 offers, respectively. India has
replaced Canada as the second-
most-represented country among
admitted students. The University
has increased recruiting efforts
overseas in recent years, and the
success of those initiatives is re-
flected in these numbers, accord-
ing to Miller.
Domestically, California, New
York and Massachusetts boast the
highest number of admits, with
393, 322 and 216, respectively. The
large volume of applications from
California and the south and west
in general reflect “demographic
trends in the country,” Miller said.
Alon Sacks, from Tamalpais
High School in Mill Valley, Calif.
was drawn to Brown because of
its diverse community and flexible
curriculum.
Though this year’s 3 percent
increase in application numbers
was smaller than in recent cycles,
the Office of Admission has seen
a 50 percent increase over the past
three years, according to the press
release.
The University also accepted
112 fewer applicants than last
year, when 2,804 applicants re-
ceived offers. Miller said this was
an intentional decision meant to
avoid the potential overcrowding
of residence halls, particularly
first-year dormitories. Last year,
the University “came very close” to
overfilling the rooms, Miller said.
Many students have been placed
on a waitlist as well, but Miller said
it was difficult to predict how many
students would choose to remain
on the list and how many students
will eventually be accepted. Last
year, fewer than six students were
admitted off the waitlist, he said.
Students have until May 1 to
either accept or decline admission.
The University expects 1,485 stu-
dents to matriculate this fall.

Ivy League Admission Figures

University 2011 Acceptance Rate 2010 Acceptance Rate

Brown 8.70% 9.30%

Columbia 6.93% 9.16%

Cornell 17.95% 18.36%

Dartmouth 9.73% 11.53%

Harvard 6.17% 7.16%

Penn 12.26% 14.25%

Princeton 8.39% 8.80%

Yale 7.35% 7.88%

The Brown Daily Herald
Monday, April 4, 2011
Ethics of military funding goes undiscussed
continued from page 1
pelled from campus decades before
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” came into
effect. In 1969, the Vietnam War
loomed large over debates about
ROTC’s place on college campuses,
including Brown’s. The decision to
ban ROTC from campus was, in
part, a refutation of the military
in general.
Provost David Kertzer ’69 P’95
P’98, who served on the commit-
tee that examined ROTC policy
as an undergraduate, dissented
from the committee’s recommen-
dation to keep ROTC on campus.
“I have found the majority report
to have grave implications for the
integrity of education at Brown
and, indeed, for the relation of the
academic community to the larger
society,” he wrote in his minority
report, according to the Feb. 11,
1969 Herald. Ultimately, Kertzer’s
dissent carried the day, and the
faculty voted to phase out ROTC
in April 1969.
A month before that vote, Stu-
dents for a Democratic Society,
of which Kertzer was a member,
passed out leaflets to the faculty
that said, “An attack on ROTC is
an attack on imperialist policy,”
according to the March 4, 1969
Herald.
Catherine Lutz, chair of the
anthropology department and
a member of the committee on
ROTC, said the policy of accepting
military funding has not figured in
the committee’s discussion.
“We got a very specific charge
from Ruth Simmons to look at
ROTC and a very specific set of
questions about it,” Lutz said. “So
we’re not taking on the whole kit
and caboodle.”
But the issue of military fund-
ing cannot be wholly separated
from the ROTC debate because
some believe the University should
not support the military in any way
and thus should not accept mili-
tary funding, while others main-
tain that if the University accepts
military funding, it should also
support ROTC, Lutz said.
Still, the ROTC question is “a
large enough project for now”
without also tackling the issue of
military funding, Lutz said. One
reason military funding may not
have provoked the same level of
debate is ROTC’s more conspicu-
ous campus presence, she added.
“ROTC was very visible — peo-
ple in uniform on campus,” Lutz
said. “Military research happens in
departments, in labs, pretty much
out of sight. People don’t always
know what the funding source is
for the different kinds of research.”
One major issue in debating
the reinstatement of ROTC is that
the military would appoint offi-
cers to the faculty, Kertzer told The
Herald last month. In discussing
the reinstatement of ROTC, some
faculty members also take issue
with the fact that military officers
would have the same voting status
as other professors, Lynn Della
Grotta ’13, a member of Students
for ROTC, wrote in an email to
The Herald.
“In this sense, our accepting
military research funding and not
Campus News 5
James Franco to teach
having ROTC on campus are unre-
lated,” she wrote. “However, if the
easily disentangled,” said James
Simmons, professor of biology. at NYU next year
military is supporting our research Simmons’ research on bats and
it would make sense that we would echolocation has received various By Kelsey Desiderio and sion to adapt her work.
support the military.” forms of military funding since the Arielle Milkman Franco said his class will develop
1970s. His research is of interest Washington Square News, via UWIRE a book of poems into a feature film,
Letting the military into the to the military because it can be and that he will teach at NYU “prob-
academy useful in detecting mines, he said. James Franco showed some love for ably for a year.”
Lutz, whose research includes a In general, research can have New York University at the Oscars, “The book of poems has not been
look at militarization in American lots of different applications, Sim- and now he’s coming back for more. decided upon,” he said. “I love the
society, said she believes military mons said, so it would be “coun- Next year, Franco will teach a section idea of working with students, es-
funding has significantly narrowed terproductive” to ignore a research of graduate film students. pecially NYU students.”
the scope and types of questions area because it could be useful to “James’ own film work has been
asked in research. She listed hyp- the military. He believes people Higher Ed based on poems, or about poets,
nosis — with its potential applica- should resist the military’s specific so this is a nice fit for him,” Tintori
tion to interrogations — and nu- actions if they are unethical rather Franco mentioned the news in wrote in an email. “James has an
clear weaponry as areas in which than distrusting it as an institution an email to Washington Square amazing mind. And limitless energy.
the military has pushed research in general, he added. News, responding to a question on Our students will be fortunate to
in the past. why he hasn’t been very vocal about learn from him.”
“The fact that the Department Ethical standards for grants his time at NYU. Christine Nguyen, a second-year
of Defense is the most heavily Brown does not have specific “I love NYU,” Franco wrote. “My graduate student in the Tisch Inter-
funded unit of the federal gov- guidelines regarding military fellow NYU film students are some active Telecommunications Pro-
ernment means that we end up funding, Briant said, but the Uni- of my closest friends. I mentioned gram, said she hopes Franco wasn’t
with a lot of knowledge that fol- versity does have “strong ethical NYU at the Oscars and on David hired only because of his name.
lows the money there,” Lutz said, considerations” in reviewing any Letterman; I don’t know how to be “Hopefully they’re basing this
adding that this “leaves other areas funding source. Any research more vocal about it. I will be teach- decision on the fact that he’s quali-
of important research — like re- must be fully publishable, and no ing NYU graduate students next fied to do it, not because he’s James
search into alternative energy and anonymous funding sources are year.” Franco,” she said. “It’s not such a bad
transportation systems or tropi- accepted. There is a “stringent” Franco will teach a section of idea for NYU (to have) a celebrity
cal disease — understaffed and set of policies regarding testing on third-year directing in the fall, ac- or an actor teach at the school. It’s
underfunded.” humans and animals, and conflicts cording to John Tintori, the chair a smart move for NYU.”
The military also offers fund- of interest are also considered, he of the graduate division of the Kan- Andrew Scott, a Tisch freshman
ing for some research in the social said. bar Institute of Film and Television. studying film, thinks Franco is a
sciences, since it often calls on an- But it is unclear how the fac- Each of the 10 to 12 students in valuable addition to the faculty, de-
thropologists to help understand ulty in general feels about military the class will adapt a Louise Gluck spite the actor’s quirks.
the culture of a country where mil- funding, since those who oppose poem. Tintori said Franco has met “He’s a crazy guy,” he said. “He
itary operations might take place. it simply would not apply for it, with Gluck and has secured permis- does what he wants.”
As a result, anthropologists must Briant added.
“walk a fine line” in deciding their After the Research Advisory
level of cooperation with the mili- Board committee’s discussions on
tary, William Beeman, a former the military’s role in academia two Become our fan on Facebook
adjunct professor of anthropology,
told The Herald in 2008.
years ago, the University has not
reexamined what the committee
for news updates and more
Military-funded research at called the “vexed” issue of military
Brown includes the development funding. With research funding
of a nanotechnology that would outside the purview of the ROTC facebook.com/browndailyherald
improve resistance to infrared sur- committee, the issue remains
veillance equipment and provide largely on the back burner.
shielding against electromagnetic
interference.
But some military-funded
projects focus on topics with no
obvious connection to defense,
Briant said, citing a grant of nearly
$600,000 awarded to the Univer-
sity by the Army to study DNA
replication as it relates to breast
cancer.
While some military grants
do not beg ethical questions, de-
ciding to accept the military as
a source of funding can still get
“very murky,” said Harrison Stark
’11, who served two years ago on a
Research Advisory Board commit-
tee to review ethical considerations
for grant funding. Though that
committee was initially formed to
draft specific policies for military
research funding, its goals became
more vague. It shifted its focus to
“facilitating open analysis and
debate of these issues,” according
to a report published by the com-
mittee.
Stark, a BlogDailyHerald con-
tributor, added that while it can
be difficult to turn down money,
the University should prioritize
academia’s “unique” freedom to
critique all areas of society.
“This idea of a research univer-
sity is good in a lot of ways, but the
University shouldn’t be primarily a
corporation first and an institution
of learning and critique second,”
Stark said. www.browndailyherald.com
But funding sources are “not
6 Arts & Culture
Artist spotlight: Michael Dawkins ’12 Exhibit a
By Kat thornton
Senior Staff Writer
Michael Dawkins ’12 is not a
music concentrator, but he has
always made time for maintain-
ing his virtuoso piano abilities.
If you see Dawkins play, you
will be astonished by his flawless
performance of a complicated
classical composition. While
playing “Gaspard de la Nuit” by
Maurice Ravel, Dawkins’ hands
fly over one another with a skill-
ful control of the entire range of
keys. Bauer’s piece varies from
light, fluttering melodies to
strong, hard chords. With ease,
Dawkins matches the changes,
moving left hand over right with
grace.
Dawkins said he has been
playing since he was eight years
old. In first grade, he met two
girls who played the piano, and
he decided he wanted to be like
them. He started taking classes
and learned as much as he could.
He wanted to master the instru-
ment, and he did.
Dawkins has continued to
play in college because it is
something he loves to do, and
he does not want to lose his
abilities.
“It’s like a skill you acquire —
like learning to write or learning
a language,” he said.
Dawkins said his favorite
composer is Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart. “I feel that people un-
derestimate who Mozart was,”
he said. In the 1700s, “Mozart
was their Lady Gaga.”
Though he said he best plays
music by Franz Schubert and
Sergei Rachmaninoff, Dawkins’
favorite pieces to play are Fred-
eric Chopin’s.
“He’s an extremely gifted pia-
nist,” said Arlene Cole, adjunct
lecturer in music and Dawkins’
piano teacher.
Cole, who listened to
Dawkins’ admission tapes, said
he was “highly rated” by the
music department before his
arrival.
“He’s very talented and can
play whatever (piece) he chooses
to learn,” Cole said.
At Brown, Dawkins plays for
the local Unitarian church and
used to accompany participants
of the University’s Applied Mu-
sic Program. He has also helped
the Music Department during
previous summer sessions.
In last year’s Chaminade Mu-
sic Club Competition, he won
first prize with Rachmaninoff
Piano Concerto No. 3.
But Cole said Dawkins’ “main
focus is on school life and less
on classical music.”
Dawkins said he finds it dif-
A pianist for eight years, Dawkins was a “highly rated” applicant to Brown
and plays for the local Unitarian church.
ficult to balance school with
piano practice, but he finds days
to work intensely on piano and
other days to focus on home-
Kat Thornton / Herald
work. Though he said he could
not imagine his life without clas-
sical music, he is looking to play
more jazz music in the future.
The Brown Daily Herald
Monday, April 4, 2011
‘crowd-
pleaser’
continued from page 12
cies and the behaviors and activities
that occur form a kind of stage for
their emergent sociality, or a stage
for the conditioning of the social,
and how individuals function with-
in built environments and collective
spaces, like a museum,” she added.
Through its novel experiment
with animals, this fascinating ex-
hibit raises issues of order in the
domestic homes while examining
what happens when this order is
shattered. The unique and creative
use of absurdity, humor and other
elements result in the exhibit Locks
describes as a “crowd-pleaser.”
“Once Upon a Time” will be
on display at the RISD Museum
through Nov. 6.
The concept behind this exhibit ex-
poses different aspects of humans’
relationships with nature and their
environment. Its use of animals in
a suburban space brings viewers to
question the effects of domesticity
in a shocking and innovative way.
Advertisement
8 Sports Monday
W. lax overwhelmed by Big Green Men’s lacrosse drops
continued from page 12
heartbreaker to Tigers
the Bears claw back against their
ranked opponent.
Though much of the game was
back-and-forth, Stanford claimed
a 32-18 edge in shots taken and a
25-19 advantage in ground balls
won.
“I think it was a really good
learning lesson for us against
a top-10 opponent,” said Head
Coach Keely McDonald ’00. “We
really got a feel for what that kind
of game feels like and that every
single play in that game is going
to make a difference, and I think
those are tremendous lessons for
us.”
Dartmouth 17, Brown 5
The Big Green took an early
lead and never looked back Sat-
urday in Hanover, tallying scores
twice in the first two minutes to
grab a 2-0 lead. Though Water-
man struck with two goals of her
own in the next 10 minutes, ty-
ing the score, Dartmouth set off
on a six-goal scoring run, giving
themselves an 8-2 lead with five
minutes to play in the first half.
Two goals from Hudgins and Wa-
terman stopped the Big Green’s
onslaught and cut the lead to four.
Not to be slowed down, Dart-
mouth added three quick goals
with two minutes left in the half
to give the Big Green a command-
ing 11-4 advantage going into the
break.
“Lacrosse is a game of runs,
and we definitely need to respond
to those and step up as a unit not
only to limit runs but to go on
runs too,” McDonald said.
Dartmouth’s scoring runs only
continued in the second half, as
the Big Green added six more
goals over the first 20 minutes to
extend their dominant lead to 17-
4. Julia Keller ’12 capitalized on
a feed from McGilloway with six
minutes left in the game, bringing
the final score to 17-5.
“All of us are extremely disap-
pointed and unhappy with our
performance,” Waterman said.
“We wanted it so badly, and it’s
not translating to how we played
… We want everybody on the
team to be giving it their all and
giving it their best, and we didn’t
feel like we had that.”
Bruno will enjoy a five-day re-
spite before continuing its gruel-
ing stretch of games against Har-
vard Friday at 6 p.m.
The game is an important one
for the team, not just in their pur-
suit of an Ivy Championship, but
also in the pursuit of a cure. The
night game represents the second
annual “Lacrosse for Lupus” event
and is dedicated to finding a cure
for the disease.
Though the team has philan-
thropic goals for Friday, they are
not losing sight of the task on the
field. After facing off against the
Crimson, the Bears also welcome
No. 3 Duke University to Steven-
son Field Sunday afternoon.
“We are preparing not just for
Harvard but for us to work on
some of the things we need to
work on after Dartmouth,” Mc-
Donald said. “We are focusing
on us and on being ready and
prepared for the big weekend we
have coming up against two great
teams with two great opportuni-
ties to win.”
continued from page 12
traveled to Durham, N.C. to take on
defending national champion Duke
in a rematch of last year’s thrilling
11-10 Blue Devil win. Hawley and
Feinberg again spearheaded the
Brown attack with multi-goal per-
formances, but Duke proved too
much to handle, outshooting the
Bears 42-23 en route to a 12-7 vic-
tory.
Midfielder Teddy Daiber ’11
scored the game’s first goal, but the
1-0 advantage was Brown’s only lead
of the game. After Duke took the
lead, Hawley scored two consecu-
tive goals to tie the game at three
goals apiece in the second quarter,
but the Blue Devils put home three
unanswered tallies to take a 6-3 lead
into the half.
Hawley’s third goal of the day
cut the lead to 6-4, but Duke an-
swered back with two scores of its
own to take an 8-4 advantage early
in the third. The pattern repeated as
Feinberg’s next goal for Brown was
immediately answered by two Duke
scores to stretch the Blue Devil lead
to 10-5 going into the final quarter.
“In the third quarter, we kind of
fell apart mentally,” Brown said. “I
feel like we had almost five penal-
ties in that third quarter. We had a
bunch, and they just kind of built a
lead that we couldn’t really equal.
And they really out-hustled us. They
got the tough ground balls that we
should have gotten.”
Feinberg and Alex Jones ’13
found the back of the net for the
Bears as the two sides traded scores
in the fourth. At the final whistle,
the scoreboard at Koskinen Stadium
showed a 12-7 Duke win.
Princeton 5, Brown 4 (4OT)
Eager to bounce back from the
The Brown Daily Herald
Monday, April 4, 2011
Duke loss and capture its first Ivy
win of the season, Brown got off to
a strong start Saturday at Princeton.
Parker Brown and Hawley put home
goals less than two minutes apart in
the first period to give the Bears a
2-0 lead. But Bruno was unable to
sustain its early burst, and the Tigers
scored three unanswered goals to
take a 3-2 lead at the half.
After Princeton extended the
margin to 4-2, Brown finally broke
down the Tiger defense and tied
the game at 4-4 to force overtime.
Hawley scored his second goal of
the game in the third quarter before
Parker Brown found the equalizer
with just over seven minutes left in
regulation. Goalie Matt Chriss ’11
held the Tigers without a score for
the final quarter-and-a-half, regis-
tering 16 saves in regulation in an
especially strong performance.
In overtime, Chriss and the de-
fensive unit kept up its stalwart ef-
fort, but the offense was unable to
breach Princeton’s defense on the
other end. For three four-minute
overtime periods, the teams re-
mained deadlocked. Finally, with
just under three minutes left on the
clock in the fourth overtime, Princ-
eton got the game-winning strike
when sophomore midfielder Tucker
Shanley snuck one past Chriss to
give his side the 5-4 win.
“It just comes down to our of-
fense needing to score more,” Parker
Brown said. “Our defense — espe-
cially Matt Chriss with 20 saves — is
playing unbelievable, and the offense
just isn’t stepping up. We need to be
able to score more than four goals,
no matter who we’re playing.”
Now 0-2 in conference play, the
Bears have dug themselves an early
hole. But all is not lost — last year, a
4-2 conference record earned Bruno
a share of the Ivy League title.
The road will not be easy, though.
The squad is next in action Tuesday
night at Bryant University (3-6) and
will then take on a formidable string
of opponents in No. 13 Penn (5-3,
2-1), No. 15 Yale (5-2, 1-2), Provi-
dence College (3-5), No. 7 Cornell
(7-2, 3-0) and Dartmouth (4-4, 1-1)
for the final stretch.
“Every Ivy game is a must-win
because of how strong the confer-
ence is this year,” Parker Brown
said. “We can’t overlook Bryant by
any means, but Penn, Yale, Cornell,
Dartmouth the next four Saturdays
— we could be playing for three
more weeks, or we could be playing
for six more weeks, and these games
will really determine that. … Every
team has got something to prove to
each other, which is why this last
stretch is going to be particularly
tough.”
#winning
=
following
@the_herald
The Brown Daily Herald
Monday, April 4, 2011 Higher Ed 9
Higher ed
ne ws roundup
by Sahil Luthra
senior staff writer
comics
BB & Z | Cole Pruitt, Andrew Seiden, Valerie Hisung and Dan Ricker
Columbia votes to reinstate ROTC
Columbia’s student senate voted to reinstate the Reserve Officers’
Training Corps last Friday in a 51-17 vote. Following the vote, Columbia
would discuss the details of a possible ROTC branch on its campus if the
military were to express interest in opening one, according to a Friday
article in the Columbia Spectator.
Columbia banned ROTC during the Vietnam War and decided to
discuss a possible reinstatement of the program after “Don’t Ask, Don’t
Tell” was repealed in December, the Spectator reported. Columbia’s
decision comes on the heels of Harvard’s decision last month to reinstate
ROTC.
Student Affairs Committee chair Tao Tan called Friday “a great day for Cloud Buddies! | David Emanuel
America,” according to the Spectator article. “We have put behind us a
painful disagreement of our past and have taken a step forward toward
our shared future,” Tan said.
Some members criticized the senate for acting too hastily. “There was
a lot of pressure coming from the administration to get this done,” senate
member Sean Udell told the New York Times. “To me, what this says is that
there’s an agenda here.”

Missing Middlebury student home safe

Pathik Root, a junior from Middlebury College, returned home
Saturday night after being detained in a Syrian prison for several weeks,
according to an article in the Boston Globe yesterday. Root was reported Dot Comic | Eshan Mitra and Brendan Hainline
missing on March 18.
Root had been studying abroad in Egypt but was evacuated during
the January protests, according to the Middlebury Campus. He returned
to the Middle East in early March to study Arabic at Damascus University.
Root witnessed a protest in the city on March 18. When he took his
phone out to take a picture, he was detained by the secret police and
thrown into a van, according to the Globe article. Root told the Globe he
was mistaken for a CIA official or a journalist, though he repeatedly said
he was a student.
He was held in a prison for over two weeks, during which time he was
only allowed out for bathroom breaks and was given only bread, potatoes
and water, according to the Globe. Though he was not tortured, he heard
screams from prisoners in adjacent cells.
Gelotology | Guillaume Riesen
Coordinating via a Facebook page, Root’s family and friends reached
out to government officials and media sources to publicize Root’s
disappearance. His family confirmed March 26 he had been detained by
Syrian police , according to the Middlebury Campus.
Middlebury President Ron Liebowitz emailed the student body early
Friday morning with the news that Root had been released, according to
a story on the Middlebury website.
“This experience, as bad as it was, has in no way dampened my
interest in these countries, in their cultures and their people,” Root told the
Globe. “There’s a big difference between the government and the people.”
10 Editorial & Letter The Brown Daily Herald
Monday, April 4, 2011

Editorial Editorial comic b y a l e x y u ly

Coca-Cola presents: your thesis
Things are heating up — but not too much in Providence, unfortu-
nately. This past weekend, Congress continued a hotly partisan battle
over federal spending for the rest of this year, providing a preview of
the even worse fighting over next year’s budget yet to come. As law-
makers continue to skirmish, university administrators and scientists
foresee a gloomy future ahead for federal science agencies’ budgets.
In February, the House announced a proposal for federal spending
during the rest of the current fiscal year that cuts $1.6 billion from the
National Institutes of Health’s budget and allots the National Science
Foundation $139 million less than President Barack Obama requested.
In light of the federal financial situation, the University is looking
to corporate sponsors for funding instead, The Herald reported March
23. Brown already has partnerships with General Motors, IBM and
Microsoft and will likely forge ties with corporate sponsors to fund
research in engineering, computer science, medicine and public health.
The state of the federal budget leaves the University in an under-
standably difficult position. Private industry and government dollars
are the two primary sources of funding for scientific research, making
corporate partnerships a logical place to turn to when federal agencies
cannot provide more funding.
Ties to industry often provoke a knee-jerk reaction of suspicion,
considering recent national news like GlaxoSmithKline’s cover-up of
the drug Avandia’s harmful effects. It is important to note that academic
ties to industry normally come under fire when individual researchers
fail to disclose their financial conflicts of interest and that the Univer-
sity plans to seek corporate sponsors, which foster partnerships of a
decidedly different nature, to fund research.
That said, we caution the University to remember that corporate
partnerships are not a straightforward substitute for federal funding. The
scientific community generally sees the government’s role as financing
basic science research, while industry is more likely to favor projects
with clearly foreseeable practical applications and profits. Scientific
knowledge should not languish in laboratories — but will corporate

le tter to the editor

sponsors invest their funds in research that is risky, not immediately
lucrative or without a clear and specific application for the sake of
expanding scientific knowledge? As one administrator and faculty
member said in last month’s Herald article, “The University wants to
contribute to knowledge growth.” This is ideally the goal of an academic
institution, which fundamentally clashes with the principal interest of
Ignoring news contributes to culture of pain
a private, profit-driven corporation.
Furthermore, we were disappointed to see a certain disregard for To the Editor: denounce such attacks as terrorism. We commend
undergraduate learning in administrators’ remarks in last month’s the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority for
Herald article. Their comments focused on corporate sponsorships’ In light of the volume of rhetoric on the Israeli- his quick denunciation and would have hoped to
potential to expand the University’s research profile. This implied a Palestinian conflict that is published in The Herald, have seen the same noted in The Herald. Granting
separation between Brown’s role in producing knowledge and teaching I was disappointed to open the paper on March 24 that The Herald is primarily a local newspaper, we
and specified no commitment to ensuring that undergraduates would to find that a significant piece of news, the renewal are left to wonder how the opinions and letters to
benefit from such collaborations. One major draw of building stronger of terrorist attacks on the civilian population of the the editor are so far removed from the news that
ties to corporations is the potential to provide undergraduates with state of Israel, was ignored. The bomb that exploded is actually reported on. Continuing this policy of
research experience, internships and job opportunities after graduation. in the center of Jerusalem March 23 claimed the publishing opinions and ignoring facts contributes
Undergraduate learning and success should not be secondary to, and life of a women and injured about 30 individuals. to the culture of hatred and pain and is counter to
are not separate from, Brown’s goals as a research institution, and we The deceased, Mary Jean Gardner, a Christian mis- the mission of our University community.
urge administrators to consider the partnerships they plan to establish sionary from Scotland, was in Jerusalem studying
as a prime opportunity for enriching the undergraduate experience. Hebrew. At the same time, there has been a re- Mordechai Rackover
newal of rocket fire from the Gaza strip deep into Associate University Chaplain for the Jewish
Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board. Send comments the south of Israel. All peace-loving individuals Community
to editorials@browndailyherald.com.

t h e b r ow n da i ly h e r a l d quote of the day

“I see these as two very different matters.”
Editors-in-Chief Deputy Managing Editors Senior Editors
Sydney Ember Brigitta Greene Dan Alexander
Ben Schreckinger Anne Speyer Nicole Friedman
Julien Ouellet
editorial Business
Kristina Fazzalaro Arts & Culture Editor General Managers Office Manager — Vice President for Research Clyde Briant,
Luisa Robledo
Rebecca Ballhaus
Arts & Culture Editor
City & State Editor
Matthew Burrows
Isha Gulati
Shawn Reilly
on military funding for research and reinstating ROTC
Claire Peracchio City & State Editor
Directors
Talia Kagan Features Editor
Hannah Moser Features Editor
Aditi Bhatia
Danielle Marshak
Sales
Finance
See rotc on page 1.
Alex Bell News Editor
Margot Grinberg Alumni Relations
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Lisa Berlin Special Projects
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Ashley McDonnell Sports Editor Managers
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The Brown Daily Herald
Monday, April 4, 2011
A multicultural babysitting experience
Sarah Yu
Opinions Columnist
When I first came to Brown as an interna-
tional first-year, I arrived on campus weary
and jetlagged from 24 hours of traveling. I
proceeded to spend the next few days absorb-
ing information about my new surroundings
and playing icebreaker games with my inter-
national orientation buddies.
Overall, the orientation was entirely en-
joyable, and it was easy to feel comfortable at
Brown — fellow first-years were eager to chat,
mentors wore brightly colored T-shirts to be
more recognizable from a distance and the
group activities were not unbearably corny. I
appreciated the efforts of the coordinators of
the three-day orientation — the International
Mentoring Program — to really assist incom-
ing first-years and transfers in getting used
to Brown, and I committed to the group as a
mentor for the next two years.
I realize that my own experience as an in-
ternational student is not necessarily typical
— after all, I had gone to schools where class-
es were taught in English my whole life. The
possibility that my positive attitude toward
the program and international orientation is
a complete anomaly struck me as I read The
Herald’s coverage of the program (“U. to in-
crease international student support,” March
8). The article interviewed three first-years
from China who agreed that Brown lacked
“sufficient support services” for incoming
first-years “even during the (International
Mentoring Program) orientation.” The three
Immigration policy as a caste system
By Hector Najera
Opinions Columnist
Last fall, the DREAM Act, which would have
provided a path to citizenship for undocu-
mented students, was defeated by Congress
despite the appeal of students from across
the country, including some from the Brown
community. It seems fruitful, therefore, to
explore the legal structure in which these
DREAMers exist.
Today, citizenship in the United States, as
in other countries, is part of a legal frame-
work that establishes privileges and respon-
sibilities for people. There is no application
process — individuals are born into citizen-
ship. From the onset, the core of American
citizenship has been the set of political rights
it confers on the holder, namely the right to
vote and to own property. Intent on protect-
ing the integrity of citizenship, Congress has
found ways to classify and limit the privileges
and responsibilities of non-citizens. Insofar as
it is a state-sanctioned classification of people,
it resembles the casta — Spanish for caste —
system of colonial Latin America. The fun-
damental difference is that the colonial casta
system was based on race, while the contem-
porary conception of citizenship is based on
physical boundaries. Nevertheless, race and
jurisdiction are both human constructs used
to include and exclude people from formal
society.
In colonial Latin America, the Spanish
and Portuguese established the casta system,
which institutionalized the accepted social
interviewees raised concerns to The Herald
and to the Undergraduate Council of Stu-
dents that more help needed to be provided
to international first-years.
First of all, I was alarmed — during my
two years as a mentor, none of my mentees
had approached me to say the program was
lacking. Did the incoming international first-
years really have so little faith and trust in us
mentors to help them in their transition into
the Brown community? Were we really doing
such a consistently poor job at being welcom-
ing, accommodating and helpful?
I do not wish to sound like a jaded old senior who
starts off her bitter commentary on the younger classes
with ‘in my day,’ but I do remember being a little more
independent during my own first-year orientation.
I suddenly felt guilty that perhaps my
two years’ commitment as a mentor had not
helped my mentees but had merely left them
bewildered, distraught and probably feeling
unable to be open with me and ask for the
help that they needed. I briefly contemplated
sending an email to all 20 of my past men-
tees, apologizing for any absenteeism or neg-
ligence I had displayed — but then I contin-
ued to read the rest of the article.
Now, I do not wish to sound like a jaded
old senior who starts off her bitter commen-
tary on the younger classes with “in my day,”
but I do remember being a little more inde-
pendent during my own first-year orienta-
hierarchy of the times. In the Spanish colo-
nies, the structure attempted to limit and cat-
egorize the mixture between the three main
races — Spaniards, indigenous people and
blacks. At the top were Spaniards, and with-
in this group, the peninsulares — Spaniards
born in the Iberian Peninsula — were above
the criollos — Spaniards born in the Amer-
icas. In descending order were indigenous
people and blacks. Intermixing among these
led to the creation of other racial classes, such
as mestizos, castizos, mulattoes and cholos.
The question, understandably complex, is whether a
society committed to the pursuit of equality can rest
upon this modern-day caste system called
‘immigration policy.’
These classifications could easily become in-
tricate. Here is an example: Mixture between
indigenous and black yields a “wolf,” mix-
ture between “wolf ” and black yields a “chi-
no,” mixture between “chino” and indigenous
yields a “cambujo,” mixture between “cambu-
jo” and indigenous yields a “tente en el aire,”
and so on.
To be clear, these distinctions were not ab-
solute, especially regarding the lowest classes.
A person may at one time claim to be indig-
enous to receive special consideration from
the courts, while at another time, this same
person could claim to be mestizo to avoid a
certain tax. The bottom line, however, is the
fact that the hierarchical classification was
sanctioned by the state. The highest offices
were reserved for peninsulares. In courts, the
Opinions 11
tion. I remember signing up for a cell phone
contract at the AT&T store during a men-
tor-led trip to the Providence Place Mall and
opening a bank account after standing in line
for a little over 10 minutes at the orientation
bank fair on campus.
The International Mentoring Program is
what its name suggests — a mentoring pro-
gram. Student volunteers try to create a safe
atmosphere for incoming students to famil-
iarize themselves with on-campus resources
and to ask questions to upperclassmen who
had gone through the same transition experi-
ence. The program pairs mentors with small
groups of new students to create a close-knit
environment for the entire academic year,
which, surprisingly enough, almost exactly
resembles one of the recommendations made
by an interviewee in the article.
It does not offer personalized logistics
planning, it is not a catered travel agency and
it is certainly not a babysitting service. The
program does not have the means to conduct
tours of Providence or airport pickup ser-
vices — but the mentors are more than capa-
ble and willing to answer students’ questions
about how to use Rhode Island Public Transit
Authority services, where to sign a cell phone
testimony of blacks was devalued because
of their race. As R. Douglas Cope notes, the
right to bear arms was a mark of status — one
that was denied to non-Spaniards. The list
goes on.
The caste system today is similarly sup-
ported by laws and traditions. Admittance to
the highest tier is determined by jurisdiction
instead of race. Of course, a casual review of
American history reveals that for a long time,
jurisdiction did not automatically confer
property or voting rights to women, blacks or
Native Americans. As in colonial Latin Amer-
ica, however, there are several legal classes of
people. At the top are citizens, whose rights
are irrevocable and who are eligible for the
highest office in the country — the presi-
dency. Under citizens are Lawful Permanent
Residents, which may include entrepreneurs,
specialists and refugees. Although this group
enjoys most rights, they cannot vote. In addi-
tion, although they can become citizens, they
are not considered “natural-born citizens”
and are thus ineligible for the presidency. Un-
der Lawful Permanent Residents are tempo-
rary residents, such as tourists and students.
Below these are illegals, which may include
farm workers, cooks and servants. It is pos-
sible to move up these castes, but connections
to a current citizen matter. Aside from refu-
plan contract and how to get to Brown from
the airport.
Many of the suggestions made by the arti-
cle are either impractical given the program’s
budget and resource constraints or are al-
ready offered by the program. It is good to see
that international students are taking the ini-
tiative to work with the University to increase
support in areas that are beyond the current
scope of international orientation as offered
by the program.
But more importantly, I would keep urg-
ing students to take the simpler path of actu-
ally making use of readily available resources
on campus, such as their mentors. Unfortu-
nately, these resources will not guarantee in-
coming students a hassle-free, instant acqui-
sition of a cell phone and bank account. But
I am confident that admitted Brown students
are smart and independent enough to work
things out after a nod in the right direction.
After all, college is a time for students to
learn how to be adults for the first time, and
the choice that international students make
to study abroad should be particularly telling
of our desire for an experience that allows for
more independence. Culture shock, language
barriers and living away from home are all
difficulties to overcome — but these are op-
portunities for all of us to grow up.
Sarah Yu ’11 invites all international first-
years to actually attend international ori-
entation and yearlong International Men-
toring Program events before making sug-
gestions for improvement to the University
and The Herald. She can be reached at
xia_yu@brown.edu.
gees, the closer a person is to a citizen — pref-
erably an offspring — the better his chances.
And, of course, a sizable bank account is in-
dispensable for engaging with the increasing-
ly costly American legal system.
There is something perverse about the
ability to wield force. A parent slapping a
child, a muscled man hitting a small woman
or a policeman immobilizing a protester —
when one party has superior age or muscle,
or a gun, the force they wield can be over-
whelming. As Ayn Rand observed, the state
by definition has a monopoly of force with-
in a determined territory. So when it comes
to enforcing caste systems, the state has guns
at its disposal. Force keeps caste systems in
place.
This is where DREAMers find themselves
— at the bottom of a carefully established
modern caste system. In the eyes of the state,
it does not matter if an illegal alien is an in-
mate at Rikers Island or a student at Brown
— by virtue of lacking citizenship, he is un-
desirable and must be expelled from this so-
ciety. Granted, he retains very limited rights
during the process of expulsion. Neverthe-
less, Chinese exclusion, the repatriation of
Mexican-Americans during the Great De-
pression and the 2006 “Operation Return to
Sender” are examples of the state’s commit-
ment to enforcing the caste system. The ques-
tion, understandably complex, is whether a
society committed to the pursuit of equality
can rest upon this modern-day caste system
called “immigration policy.”
Hector Najera GS is a graduate student
focusing in education.
Daily Herald Sports Monday
the Brown
w. lacrosse
Bruno falls to two ranked opponents
By Sam Wickham
Sports Staff Writer
Riding a two-game win streak go-
ing into spring break, the women’s
lacrosse team (5-4, 1-2 Ivy League)
fell to ranked opponents No. 9
Stanford University and No. 18
Dartmouth last week. Scoring
streaks from both the Cardinal
(9-1) and the Big Green (6-2, 3-0
Ivy League) at crucial points in
both games were too much for
the Bears’ offense to overcome.
Tri-captain Paris Waterman ’11
and Bre Hudgins ’14 led the team
in scoring over the two games,
netting three and four goals, re-
spectively.
Stanford 12, Brown 8
Bruno snatched an early lead
in sunny California with a goal
by Danielle Mastro ’14 just 1:30
into the game. But Stanford struck
back quickly, netting two goals in
the next four minutes to reclaim a
2-1 lead. Both teams continued to
trade goals over the following sev-
en minutes, as goals from Lindsay
Minges ’13 and Hudgins sand-
wiched another Cardinal goal,
bringing the score to 3-3 midway
through the first half.
“Overall, I was pretty im-
pressed with the way we came
out,” Waterman said. “Stanford is
a top-10 team, and we were really
on a mission to win and win big
… I think if we could have stuck
to our game plan for the full 60
minutes … the outcome would
have been different.”
Stanford broke free of the goal
swapping over the next 10 min-
utes, rattling off a four-goal scor-
ing streak to push its lead to 7-3
m. lacrosse
Bears drop two of three over break, fall to 0-2 in Ivy League
David Hawley ’11 went on an offensive tear over the break, scoring 11 goals
in three games, including a crucial six in men’s lacrosse come-from-behind
win against the University of Vermont.
Bre Hudgins ‘14 had four points against No. 9 Stanford, but it was not enough as
the women’s lacrosse team fell to the Cardinal and to Dartmouth over the break.
with five minutes to play in the
half. Another from Hudgins late
in the half brought the score to 7-4
and closed out a tight first period.
It was Stanford’s turn to strike
first in the second half, as Rachel
Ozer tallied an unassisted goal
five minutes into play. Bruno’s
point leader Kaela McGilloway
’12 responded twice over the en-
suing seven minutes, netting goals
Jonathan Bateman / Herald
Jesse Schwimmer / Herald
around another Stanford strike
to keep Stanford’s lead at three,
9-6. Hudgins cut the lead with a
goal a minute later, but Stanford
again came on strong late in the
half, scoring three in a row to es-
tablish a 12-7 lead. A final goal
from Mastro with four minutes
to play was not enough to help
continued on page 8
By Ethan McCoy
Assistant Sports Editor
The men’s lacrosse team had a busy
but overall disappointing week over
spring break. After a thrilling come-
from-behind home victory, the team
twice came up short on the road in
a tough three-game stretch. Bruno
(3-5, 0-2 Ivy League) overcame a
two-goal deficit in the fourth quarter
to defeat the University of Vermont
(4-5) March 26, but then lost two
tight away matchups to No. 3 Duke
University (8-2, 2-0 ACC) and Ivy
rival Princeton (2-5, 1-2). In the key
conference game against Princeton
Saturday, the Bears fought back from
two goals down to tie the game at
the end of regulation but fell 5-4 in
a quadruple-overtime marathon.
“We just haven’t made the big
plays we need to make,” said attacker
Parker Brown ’12. “I don’t think it
has anything to with our composure
or our preparation or the way we
practice or the amount of work we
put in. During games, we just haven’t
stepped up and scored goals.”
Brown 12, Vermont 10
Brown kicked off its spring break
‘Once Upon a Time’
rethinks the natural
By Amy Chen
Staff Writer
What happens when you throw
some chickens, cats, a group of par-
rots and perhaps even a deer into
a home? “Once Upon a Time,” the
unique media exhibit at the Rhode
Island School of Design museum,
juxtaposes the absurd with the re-
alistic to examine questions of daily
life and domesticity.
arts & culture
Organized by German artist
Corinna Schnitt, the exhibit fea-
tures a 25-minute video projection
with a 360-degree view of a neat do-
mestic room. The space is furnished
with all the elements of a common
living room, including soft pillows,
a sofa, a carpet, curtains, tables and
a nice, cozy fireplace.
“The issues raised in the works
presented … are timeless and im-
portant fundamentals involved in
how we operate and make sense
of the world around us,” Sabrina
Locks, curatorial assistant for con-
temporary art, wrote in an email to
The Herald.
A camera in the center of the
room shows visitors what happens
in the exhibit. As the camera turns,
the audience sees different animals
begin to appear — kittens, parrots,
rabbits, deer and cows emerge in
the previously mundane scene.
Viewers have to be patient as the
camera slowly pans around the liv-
ing room. But the wide shots fuel a
sense of expectancy and curiosity —
viewers are constantly wondering
what they will witness next. An elk
schedule with an out-of-conference
matchup against Vermont at Meis-
ter-Kavan Field. After a sluggish
start, Bruno kicked into gear for a
come-from-behind 12-10 win. The
Bears were led by a career-best per-
formance from David Hawley ’11.
Hawley, who usually plays midfield,
exploded for six goals in his first
game at attacker. Tri-captain An-
drew Feinberg ’11, who moved back
to midfield, was also a key contribu-
tor in the new-look lineup, assisting
on three goals while scoring two
himself to add to his team-high 19
tallies on the season.
The Bears quickly found them-
selves in a 4-1 hole after a shaky
first quarter. Feinberg notched his
first score of the game early in the
second, but a Catamount goal right
before the half extended Vermont’s
lead to 5-2 at intermission.
But Bruno came out with its
guns blazing in the third quarter
and scored five consecutive goals
— including two from Hawley —
to turn the tables and gain a 7-5
advantage.
“I think it showed a lot of lead-
ership on our seniors’ part and our
coach’s part to get us back into the
Monday, April 4, 2011
this time? And how will it interact
with those little chicks scrambling
across the now-dirty carpeted floor?
The absurdity and ridiculous-
ness of the scenes partly reflect
the important element of humor
that characterizes this exhibit. This
raises the basic question of what
happens when the most natural spe-
cies are thrown into an artificial
environment.
Of course, viewers don’t expect
to see animals sitting properly on
the sofa — yet, they don’t really
know what to expect. As a result,
it’s easy to be caught off-guard by
the chaos that results from their
interactions with each other and
with objects in the room.
The scene is only one part of the
exhibit. The sounds from the video
add a different dimension to the
humor and extent of the chaos.
“I love that you can hear the
sounds of the goats, chickens and
cows from the ‘Once Upon a Time’
in the neighboring galleries and that
this adds a strange surrealism to the
piece being situated where it is in
the museum,” Locks wrote.
She wrote that she believes this
exhibit explores the question of do-
mesticity and its role in the study
and behavior of species as a whole.
“The piece is a metaphor about
cohabitation and domestication —
of the innate and physical effects
of individual natures in conflict or
play, as well as the environmental
changes that take their toll where
this kind of restrained nature is
played out,” Locks wrote.
“The struggles between the spe-
continued on page 6
game in the third quarter,” Brown
said.
The team could not sustain the
momentum, though, and Vermont
went on a run of its own, closing out
the quarter with four unanswered
scores to regain the lead.
After Hawley and Feinberg
scored quickly to tie the game,
Vermont attacker Geoff Worley re-
sponded, only to see his team’s lead
vanish a mere seven seconds later on
another Hawley goal. The deadlock
held for the next eight minutes, but
with 4:21 remaining Hawley brought
home his sixth and final score of
the day to put Brown up for good.
Parker Brown put the game out of
reach with an insurance goal in the
final two minutes, and the Bears
walked away from the wild game
with a win.
“It was a good feeling to have
a come-from-behind win finally,”
Brown said. “We’ve lost those close
games so far this year, so it was a
nice win.”
Duke 12, Brown 7
Fresh off the victory, the Bears
continued on page 8