Daily Herald

the Brown

vol. cxlvi, no. 48 Wednesday, April 13, 2011 Since 1891

Ne ws in brief New public plaza to liven U.’s presence downtown

Showers push Spring
Weekend indoors
Friday and Saturday’s Spring
Weekend performances will be
held in Meehan Auditorium due
to forecasted rain, according to a
message sent to students from the
Brown Concert Agency Tuesday
afternoon.
This marks the first time Spring
Weekend will be held indoors since
2008, when M.I.A., Lupe Fiasco, Girl
Talk, Vampire Weekend and other
acts performed to a full house in
Meehan.
The Roots performed Friday
night in Meehan in 2007, but the
Flaming Lips performed on the
Main Green Saturday under a
makeshift roof.
“Although Friday’s weather
looks good, the forecasts
unfortunately still show heavy rain,
winds and cold temperatures on
Saturday, particularly during the
nighttime concerts,” the BCA wrote
in its message.
Holding one of the concerts
outdoors was “not feasible due to
the money, time and manpower
to take down everything and set
it back up again or to build two
stages simultaneously,” according
to the message.
By Greg Jordan-Detamore
Senior Staff Writer
By now it’s obvious — the Univer-
sity is proudly “Building Brown.”
But what is less obvious is the Uni-
versity’s rapid development on the
other side of the river, away from
the daily lives of students.
The new Medical Education
Building at 222 Richmond St. will
be completed in July. A month later,
the University plans to wrap up
its conversion of a nearby parking
lot to a public plaza, featuring ter-
raced wood flooring and red maple
trees. Built with expectations of
outdoor concerts, dance and yoga
classes, movie screenings and farm-
ers’ markets, it will be a “livable
urban space,” said Edward Wing,
dean of medicine and biological
sciences. Food vendors and lunch
trucks will gravitate to the space,
he added.
Designs reflect the dreams of
both University administrators and
city planners, who consider the
Jewelry District a source of hope in
an economically stagnant city. Fu-
eled by the relocation of Interstate
195, the Jewelry District — also
called the “knowledge district” — is
projected to be a hot spot for edu-
cational and medical institutions.
Brown’s Alpert Medical School
will be a “keystone” in the area,
Wing said. Administrators hope
Providence will rival neighboring
University- and hospital-fueled re-
search activity in Cambridge and
New York City.
Ship Street square
The new, one-third-acre square
will serve more as a public gath-
ering place than as a recreational
area, said Richard Spies, executive
vice president for planning and se-
nior adviser to the president. Plazas
like the one planned “are the kind
of spaces that work great on college
campuses,” he said, suggesting it
could serve a purpose akin to that
of the Main Green, “where a lot
of things can happen formally or
informally.”
He said he hopes the square
creates “a sense of community, a
sense of engagement of the neigh-
borhood.” Construction will likely
begin in May, said Michael McCor-
mick, assistant vice president for
planning, design and construction.
“Ship Street square is going to
Melk Landscape Architecture / Urban Design (top)
be here very quickly,” McCormick Greg Jordan-Detamore / Herald (bottom)
A number of initiatives, including the creation of a new public plaza (top)
continued on page 4 from a parking lot (bottom) are underway to transform the Jewelry District.

Tuesday’s announcement
came a day after BCA announced
on Twitter around 6 p.m. that the
concerts would be indoors due to
rain. The tweet was taken down
shortly after it appeared and was
only posted due to an “internal
communication error,” said BCA
Booking Chair Abby Schreiber ’11.
“We are confident in these
artists. It’s going to be — rain or
shine — a great Spring Weekend,”
she said. “It’s not the end of the
world.”
— Emma Wohl
University debt jumped 35 percent since ’09
By Mark Raymond
Senior Staff Writer
The University’s debt has risen by
more than 35 percent since the 2009
financial crisis. Total debt stands at
$609 million, up from $450 mil-
lion in February 2009, according
to Beppie Huidekoper, executive
vice president for finance and ad-
ministration.
Most of that increase comes from
a $100 million short-term loan taken
out in August 2009 as a safeguard
against future economic downturns,
Huidekoper said. The rest comes
from $59 million borrowed to fund
infrastructure-related projects such
as renovations to the Metcalf Chem-
istry and Research Laboratory and
dormitories.
The $100 million loan differs
from typical University loans in that
it is short-term — 10 years — and
does not serve any immediate need,
Huidekoper said. The University
Third World Welcome
“hopes to never touch it,” she said,
because the funds are only meant
to provide security against future
economic downturns.
The Metcalf renovation is the
only project currently accumulating
debt, said Susan Howitt, associate
vice president for budget and plan-
ning. In 2009, when responding to
recent economic shocks, administra-
tors said they hoped not to borrow
continued on page 3
RISD copes
with ‘no
confidence’
aftermath
By Rebecca Ballhaus
City & State Editor
Since Rhode Island School of Design
faculty voted “no confidence” in
President John Maeda and Provost
Jessie Shefrin by a margin of 147 to
32 last month, students and teachers
have been grappling with the vote’s

greets minority students

By Caitlin Trujillo
Senior Staff Writer
On the second day of A Day on
College Hill, when many prospec-
tive first-years packed their bags and
headed home, 140 minority students
admitted to the class of 2015 at-
tended the Third World Welcome.
TWW, which began yesterday and
continues today, is hosted by the
Office of Admission as a supplement
to ADOCH.
At TWW, prospective students
spend two days touring campus,
Alex Bell / Herald
attending lectures and taking part
President Ruth Simmons addressed prefrosh on the Main Green yesterday. in a variety of social and cultural
events. The program schedule also
includes a research panel of profes-
sors and students.
Los Angeleno Jackie Chow said
she had already attended a lecture
by Michael Paradiso MS’81 PhD’84,
professor of neuroscience. “One of
the things I look for in schools is
how interesting the lectures are,”
she said, adding that Paradiso’s class
had “no parallel” to her other college
visits. Chow said she is also consid-
ering Harvard and Penn.
“I know no matter where I go,
I’ll be happy,” Chow said. “It’s about
continued on page 5
weather
aftermath.
In 2006, Roger Mandle, then
RISD’s president, received a “no
confidence” vote from department
heads and stepped down in July
2008 after a 15-year term, though
he said the decision was unrelated
to the vote. Professors and students
expressed doubt that Maeda would
resign as a result of last month’s vote.
But “the campus is sort of oper-
ating at two levels,” said Deborah
Bright, dean of fine arts. “On one
level, everybody’s going about their
business as usual. … Nothing has
changed in terms of the everyday
functioning of this school. On the
other hand there’s a kind of meta-
continued on page 2

Mental
t o d ay tomorrow
Class dialogue Studio 50
inside

news...................2-5
editorial.............6 Workshop explores class Creative collaboration Keeping your sanity,
Opinions..............7 divisions and stereotypes thrives at John St. studios and your trousers on
campus news, 3 campus news, 8 opinions, 7 49 / 42 61 / 43
2 Campus News The Brown Daily Herald
Wednesday, April 13, 2011

calendar RISD president looks to work with faculty

Today April 13 ToMORROW April 14
continued from page 1 very conscious of it.” said in the meeting,” he added.
5 P.m. 4 p.m. Maeda, Shefrin and Merrill Maeda also instituted open of-
Decentralization and Development, “Sovereignty, Sexuality and consciousness that there’s tension Sherman, chair of the board of trust- fice hours for faculty, staff and stu-
McKinney Conference Room Vulnerability,” Smith-Buonanno 106 between the administration and a ees, did not respond to requests for dents following the vote. “Despite
portion of the faculty.” comment. Jaime Marland, director our efforts to build an inclusive
6 p.m. 6 p.m.
The tension stems from both of media relations at RISD, wrote and participatory strategic plan-
What Makes a City “Musically The Challenge of Building a National parties “locking horns” over the in an email to The Herald that the ning process, to maintain respect-
Creative,” Orwig Music Building 109 Museum, Barus and Holley 166 question of whether decisions re- board supports Maeda. ful and collegial relations with the
garding academic reorganization The administration organized leadership of the faculty union and

menu fall under the jurisdiction of the

SHARPE REFECTORY
LUNCH
Bruschetta Mozzarella, Vegetarian
Cajun Pasta, Pumpkin and White
Chip Cookies
DINNER
Sustainable Seafood Cavatelli,
Oven-Roasted Tofu Triangles,
Frosted Brownies
Sudoku
VERNEy-WOOLLEY DINING HALL
Steak and Pepper Fajita, Vegetarian
Arroz y Frijoles Enchilada, Pumpkin
and White Chip Cookies
Chicken Helene, Tomato Basil Pie,
Herb Rice, Whole Green Beans,
Frosted Brownies
administration or the faculty, Bright
said.
The administration proposed
merging the Division of Architec-
ture and Design and the Division
of Fine Arts into a single Division
of Undergraduate Studies after the
faculty had rejected a similar plan by
a margin of 82 percent at a meeting
Feb. 28. The proposal disregarded a
clause in the full time faculty con-
tract that outlines a faculty review
process for all academic reorgani-
zation, said Mark Sherman, chair
of the Faculty Steering Committee
and an associate English professor.
“The real stress is coming from
the desire of the administration to
administer in a certain way and
the sense among the faculty that
this way of making administrative
change actually is detrimental to
the academic purposes,” said Lyn-
nette Widder, associate professor
and head of the department of ar-
chitecture.
The faculty is “not averse to
changing the way things are,” said
Sherman. “We just want to know
why and if it’s going to work.”
The vote is “very much on the
mind of the faculty,” said Mairead
Byrne, associate professor of poetry
and poetics. “I would say also that
a meeting March 24 with faculty,
department heads, deans and repre-
sentatives of the full- and part-time
faculty unions. During the meeting,
the Faculty Steering Committee pro-
posed two steps Maeda and Shefrin
could take to “prove (their) desire to
repair relationships,” Sherman said
— suspending the administration’s
academic restructuring proposal
and articulating a “definite policy”
on the appointment of deans. The
committee felt the administration
had abandoned a previous policy
on deans, Sherman said.
Following the committee’s
suggestions, the administration
announced it would hold off the
restructuring for a year and pro-
posed a task force of faculty, deans
and members of the administration
to evaluate different methods for
restructuring. It also proposed a
policy for the appointment of deans
that the Faculty Steering Commit-
tee will review in coming weeks,
Sherman said.
But Sherman expressed concern
that restructuring “was presented as
a foregone conclusion.” The provost’s
office appended a footnote to the
meeting’s minutes noting the “possi-
bility” that academic reorganization
could be abandoned if the task force
came to such a conclusion, Sherman
our underlying desire to create space
for healthy and reflective debate,
recent events on campus painfully
reveal that our intentions to work
together fell short,” Maeda wrote in
an email to the RISD community. “I
am determined to improve relations
between faculty and administra-
tion.”
“There are initial gestures, but
there is nothing the president or the
provost has done to suggest a serious
alternative to the way they’ve done
business,” Sherman said.
For RISD students, the vote re-
mains “more under the radar,” said
freshman Robert Verdino.
“So many people in RISD are so
focused on schoolwork” that they do
not have time to involve themselves
in the debate, said freshman Susan
Merriam.
“The faculty and administration’s
attitude is that we’re not involved,”
said Misha Kahn, a senior at RISD
and vice president of the Student
Alliance Executive Committee. To
explain the situation, the committee
sent emails to the student body and
held a forum after the “no-confi-
dence” vote. “That was probably one
of the most attended meetings I’ve
been at,” Kahn said.
But the issue has since “totally
blown over” among students, Kahn

Crossword the president and the provost are said. “But that’s not at all what they added. “Everyone’s like, ‘Well, that
was crazy that that happened.’” He

Daily Herald
the Brown added, “It will be interesting to see
how it will pan out now that every-
one’s more relaxed about it.”
www.browndailyherald.com Verdino said he was aware of
195 Angell St., Providence, R.I. problems arising between faculty
Ben Schreckinger, President Matthew Burrows, Treasurer and the administration long be-
Sydney Ember, Vice President Isha Gulati, Secretary fore the vote occurred. A professor
The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is an independent newspaper serving the brought up in conversation with
Brown University community daily since 1891. It is published Monday through Fri- Verdino last fall that some faculty
day during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement, once felt “a little bitter” toward the ad-
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POSTMASTER please send corrections to P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI 02906. then that there were some tensions
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Subscription prices: $280 one year daily, $140 one semester daily. “There’s anger on both sides and
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it’s both justified and exaggerated
editorial Business on both sides,” Widder said. “I don’t
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know how they’re going to find their
way back to each other.”
The Brown Daily Herald
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Workshops address social class identity U. took out buffer loan to
institutions, class is probably the
By Lucy Feldman
most invisible of social identities,” shop last semester, Leong will now
Contributing Writer
Students who enjoy casually talking
about class issues with their class-
mates socially have an opportunity
to do so formally through Social
Classmates. The workshop, spon-
sored by Third World Center, kicked
off its third semester of discussion
last month.
Social Classmates seeks to in-
crease interactions between students
of different social class identities, to
make social class dialogue “more
comfortable to talk about” and to
reach out to those not involved in
the workshop, said Clay Thibodeaux
’12, the workshop’s co-founder. “We
want the people who have gone
through this to start dialogues with
friends, with people who haven’t
really thought about social class
identity,” he said.
Donna Leong ’13 said she was in-
spired to join Social Classmates after
attending a social class workshop
held by the Minority Peer Counsel-
ors. “It’s a part of identity, but so not
talked about at Brown. We want to
see everyone as upper-middle class,
but that’s so not the case,” she said.
“Having a space where you feel safe
talking about it is really important.
There’s nothing wrong with being
on financial aid,” she said.
The idea for Social Classmates
came out of a Group Independent
Study Project titled “Identity and
Cross-Cultural Engagement” that
took place last spring. During the
GISP, Thibodeaux and co-founder
Marie Ripa ’12 led a class on socio-
economic class identity. For their
final project, they were asked to en-
gage a culture different from their
own. “We decided a good way to do
that and make an interest we had
become a reality would be to start
a discussion group around social
class,” Thibodeaux said.
“At Brown, like many of its peer
After participating in the work- guard against downturn
said Kisa Takesue ’88, the GISP’s
adviser and director of the Stephen
Robert ’62 Campus Center.
“There are a lot of groups that
explore ethnic and sexual identity,
but nothing besides the first genera-
tion group for social class identity,”
Thibodeaux said. “Because there
wasn’t really any group to address
it, it seemed like a taboo thing or
something people here didn’t really
think about.”
Thibodeaux and Ripa modeled
the group after workshops like Fem-
Sex, scheduling weekly meetings
during which small groups of par-
ticipants and facilitators address dif-
ferent topics relating to social class
identity. The group is now spon-
sored by the Third World Center
and meets in its lounges.
Each meeting has a different
theme, like “classism and stereo-
types” or “class in the media.” The
group references articles on social
class identity and watches the PBS
documentary “People Like Us,”
Thibodeaux said. Facilitators might
bring in a sheet of paper with class
distinctions and invite participants
to anonymously add their impres-
sions of what those things mean.
“If something comes up a lot, we
can ask why we always think about
certain types in terms of certain
stereotypes and talk about why,”
Thibodeaux said.
The group operates on ground
rules like “trust intent” and “use ‘I’
statements over ‘you’ statements,”
Thibodeaux said. “Because it’s a sen-
sitive topic, you have the option to
drop out of the group at any time,”
he said. A few people have left the
group in the past, probably because
it was not what they expected, he
said.
Many of the conversations
come back to social class at Brown,
Thibodeaux said.
Campus News 3
act as a facilitator. One of her fa-
vorite discussion topics was the
first-year experience. “There were
a few freshmen who went through
the same things (I did). They were
unsure of themselves coming from
high schools that didn’t have as
much prep. It reassures you that
you have a place at Brown, not just
that you’re an anomaly,” Leong said.
“I think it allows you to be intro-
spective and also hear other people’s
stories. That’s something that’s sort
of lacking. There are lots of social
activist groups for the bigger pic-
ture, but it’s important to look at
your life and how what’s around you
affects you,” Leong said. Everyone
can benefit from Social Classmates,
Leong said. “You can see social class
at Brown. It’s just that when you’re
given a space to talk about it that
it helps you understand,” she said.
The discussion topics are not set
in stone. If anyone comes up with a
new idea during the workshop, the
group can include it in the discus-
sion, Thibodeaux said. Facilitators
do not lecture, Thibodeaux said.
“We want participation from ev-
eryone.”
At the end of the workshop, the
facilitators gather reviews to help
determine which topics were the
most interesting to participants and
which ones to pass on next time.
“We’re pretty new, so we’re still fig-
uring stuff out,” Thibodeaux said.
continued from page 1
more toward what should be donor-
funded projects, such as Metcalf ’s
renovation. But current debt on the
project is considered short-term,
Howitt said. The University hopes to
recoup the costs through donations
in the near future, she said.
Other projects, such as steam
pipe replacement and dormitory
renovations, do not garner the level
of enthusiasm from donors needed
to drive funding. These projects are
often too large to be accounted for in
the operating budget but not mon-
umental enough to receive donor
sponsorship, Howitt said.
“Rather than Brown having to
put out the money to pay for things
like fixing pipes, we can borrow the
money and pay for it over time,”
Howitt said. “Some things like util-
ity infrastructure are going to last
40 to 50 years, so financing it makes
sense.”
The University uses a combina-
tion of donations and borrowed
money to pay for long-term invest-
ments, particularly in infrastructure,
said Dick Spies, executive vice presi-
dent for planning and senior adviser
to the president.
“The strategy is that in order to
make those investments, we believe
we have to use a mixture of debt and
donor-raised capital,” he said. “There
is no magic ratio, but you need both
in pretty significant amounts.”
“Debt is an important financial
tool for an institution like Brown,”
he added. The University accumu-
lated $450 million in debt over the
20 years leading up to the financial
crisis, Huidekoper told The Herald
in 2009.
The $100 million loan, which ac-
counts for much of the University’s
recent debt accumulation, has still
not been touched, and there are cur-
rently no plans dip into the money,
Howitt said. “If there had been a
second shock to the financial mar-
kets, having that money available for
any purpose was cheap insurance,”
she said.
The loan would have provided
the University with “sufficient li-
quidity to ensure we could get
through whatever might happen
during the financial crisis,” she said.
“Lots of our peers did it as well.”
Aside from taking out the $100
million loan as a safeguard, the Uni-
versity did not use debt as a means of
getting through the economic crisis,
Howitt said. The Corporation de-
cided at that time to renovate rather
than construct new homes for the
medical school and the Cognitive,
Linguistic and Psychological Sci-
ences department.
“We didn’t want to borrow mon-
ey as part of the financial crisis,”
Howitt said. “We made changes to
our capital plan instead.”
4 Campus News
U. looks to make Jewelry District ‘a cool place to be’
continued from page 1
said. “We want to do this now so
people start thinking of the Jewelry
District as a cool place to be.”
The square will sit across the
street from the Medical Education
Building, near several other Uni-
versity-owned buildings in the dis-
trict, including a molecular medi-
cine research laboratory, a future
police substation and the future
home of the Office of Continuing
Education. The area will be linked
to the East Side by a pedestrian
bridge and possibly a new transit
line, both in the planning stages.
‘A big, big leap forward’
Construction on the Medical
Education Building is going “very
well,” with a majority of the exte-
rior work done and the focus now
shifted to the interior, said Stephen
Maiorisi, vice president for Facili-
ties Management.
The 134,000 square-foot build-
ing is slated to be finished July 12,
with an opening ceremony Aug.
15, the first day of classes for the
Med School, Wing said.
The building includes a sunlit
atrium, two 150-seat lecture halls,
an “almost all digital” library, ad-
ministrative offices, three “case
study rooms” for demonstrations,
16 seminar rooms and an anatomy
suite, Wing said. A clinical skills
suite has rooms which are “exactly
like doctors’ offices, so (students)
can practice their skills.”
Medical students will be sorted
into three academies, giving stu-
dents “time to build relationships
for all four years,” said Peter Hold-
en, director of biomedical facilities
planning and operations.
The top floor will have space for
a fitness center, Holden said, and
will have a rooftop terrace, which
will be illuminated at night. The
ground floor will have a cafe —
“one of the only eatery spaces on
this side of the Jewelry District”
— which will be open seven days
per week.
The building represents a tri-
pling of the Med School’s usable
classroom space, Wing said. It is
the first specifically dedicated to
the Med School, he added. It also
places the school close to the hos-
pitals, to which third- and fourth-
year medical students commute
“all the time.”
“It’s such a big, big leap forward
for the Medical School,” he said.
The Med School — the only one
in Rhode Island — will be expand-
ing its enrollment as a result of this
increase in dedicated space. There
are currently 96 students per class,
but the class size will increase to
108 this fall and will stabilize at
120 next year, Wing said.
All Med School classes will be
moved to the Medical Education
Building, Maiorisi added, which
will free up some classroom space
on campus for undergraduates.
Developing the district
Outside the building’s walls, the
fabric of the district is changing
rapidly.
The narrow sidewalk on Rich-
mond Street between Ship and Elm
streets will be widened to 13 feet
from its present four to five feet to
make the area more pedestrian-
friendly, McCormick said. Pres-
ently, the sidewalk is “so small that
they had to put the parking meters
in the middle of the sidewalk,” Spies
said. The area is “just not people
friendly.”
The University will plant trees
along the street and install better
lighting and emergency blue light
phones. The trees will reduce the
perceived scale of the street and
“help hide the parking garage,” Mc-
Cormick said.
The price tag for the public plaza
and streetscape improvements is $2
million, and they will be completed
in the fall, Wing said.
And the University has its eyes
on further expansion in the dis-
trict. It recently acquired the 41,000
square-foot building at 198 Dyer
St. for about $6 million.
“At least for a period of time, it
will house the Office of Continuing
Education,” Spies said. The Office
of Residential Life will move to the
Office of Continuing Education’s
current space in Graduate Center,
and ResLife’s current space on the
first floor of Wayland House will be
converted to dorm rooms, he said.
Given the size of the building,
“we may very well look for another
tenant for that space,” Spies said.
The University acquired its first
building in the Jewelry District at
70 Ship St., which is home to the
Med School’s Laboratories for Mo-
lecular Medicine, in 2004.
The Department of Public Safety
and the Providence Police Depart-
ment will share a new police sub-
station at 43 Elm St., McCormick
said, which will help DPS increase
its presence in the Jewelry District.
The University bought seven
buildings in the Jewelry District
in 2007, one being the site of the
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Construction continues on the sun-lit atrium of the Medical Education Building.
new Medical Education Building,
Spies said.
Brown will eventually occupy
all of the buildings, but some are
being leased out for a short-term
use, Wing said.
The teardown of the old I-195
viaduct is “happening fast,” Spies
said. “A couple of the roadway
bridges” are still standing, but “it
looks very different than it did
three months ago,” he said.
Creating connections
Despite the University’s devel-
opment in the Jewelry District, one
hurdle remains — getting there. As
the bird flies, the district lies only a
half mile from the Main Green. It
is easily walkable from campus, but
administrators have recognized the
need for further transit infrastruc-
ture. Several initiatives by both the
city and state will help close the gap.
“My dream about it is that you
The Brown Daily Herald
Greg Jordan-Detamore/ Herald
don’t ever take your car,” Spies said.
Perhaps the most high-profile
link between the two banks of
the river will be a new pedestrian
bridge that will rise on the piers
of the old I-195 bridge. Under the
leadership of then-Mayor David
Cicilline ’83, the city announced
a winner of a design competition
for the bridge in December 2010.
Now, Mayor Angel Taveras is
reevaluating the decision between
the competition’s two close finalists.
“The new mayor wants to reexam-
ine that and make sure it’s the right
decision,” McCormick said.
“You can’t make a wrong de-
cision,” Spies said of the bridge
design. The best thing to do is to
make a decision soon and “get on
with the fundraising.”
Details of the bridge’s funding
have not yet been worked out, Mc-
Cormick said.
At the western foot of the pedes-
trian bridge, a 4.5-acre park will be
developed by the city as part of the
I-195 relocation project. “It adds
hugely to the attractiveness of that
whole area,” Wing said.
Public transportation improve-
ments are also being studied. The
Providence Core Connector Study
is currently considering options for
transit, such as a streetcar line, to
serve the district.
A preliminary route has been
selected, traveling from Thayer
Street through Kennedy Plaza and
the Jewelry District to Rhode Island
Hospital. Some issues, such as how
to connect the route to the train
station, are still being explored,
McCormick said.
Officials from the study will
make a public presentation April
25 and a locally preferred alterna-
tive will be selected this summer,
according to the group’s website.
Meanwhile, Brown’s expansion
in the Jewelry District is march-
ing on.
“It’s a vision becoming reality,
which doesn’t happen overnight
and doesn’t happen with just one
building,” Spies said.
“By next fall, we’ll have a whole
new environment down there,” Mc-
Cormick said. “This transformation
of the Jewelry District we’ve been
talking about for many years will
be visible.”
Check out www.blogdailyher-
ald.com for photos from The Her-
ald’s hard hat tour of the Medical
Education Building.
The Brown Daily Herald
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Minority prefrosh
explore campus at TWW
continued from page 1
where I’ll be happiest.”
Daniella Flores, who travelled
from Miami, said she would defi-
nitely attend Brown for its inter-
national relations program. Flores
said she appreciated Brown’s “open
atmosphere” and diversity. In par-
ticular, she said she liked interacting
with other Hispanic students and
Spanish speakers and was pleasantly
surprised to meet non-native speak-
ers who also spoke the language.
“Everybody seems really happy
to explore everything,” she said. “It
feels free.”
President Ruth Simmons ad-
dressed prospective students at-
tending both ADOCH and TWW
on the Main Green under a tent
yesterday afternoon. During her
address, Simmons said she wanted
to refrain from “exerting too much
influence” on the decisions of pro-
Campus News 5
comics
Dr. Bear | Mat Becker
spective students and instead chal-
lenged students as accomplished as
the potential members of the class of
2015 to effect change and progress
during their time at the University.
Simmons also gave advice to
incoming first-years to actively
seek out engagement in academ-
ics and ways to contribute to the
community. But she stressed that
the incoming class must practice
“mutual tolerance” and not harass
others when contributing to campus Dot Comic | Eshan Mitra and Brendan Hainline
dialogue.
Part of the process of finding
their places in the Brown commu-
nity involves learning how to criti-
cize each other and take criticism
well, she said.
Simmons concluded her remarks
with a final incentive to draw stu-
dents to Brown. “I promise you that
if you show up here in the fall,” she
said, “I’m going to give you one big
hug.”
Gelotology | Guillaume Riesen
6 Editorial & Letter The Brown Daily Herald
Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Editorial Editorial comic by sam rosenfeld

Iway or the highway
Over the last several weeks, a significant amount of downtown land
in Providence was freed up when the state began the final stages of
removing the ancient vestiges of Interstate 195’s former path through
the city. This is the culmination of a 10-year construction project,
known as the Iway, whose astronomical cost has only increased over
the last 20 years of planning and implementation.
Though the Rhode Island Department of Transportation originally
estimated the final cost of the Iway at $299 million, the Providence
Journal reported last year that the actual number was more than twice
that much — $623 million. Once the costs associated with borrow-
ing that money are taken into account, the final sum rises to $758
million. That’s significantly more than Providence’s annual budget,
and over twice Rhode Island’s current budget deficit.
Meanwhile, the Journal reported two weeks ago on a study that
deemed 21.6 percent of the state’s bridges “structurally deficient,” the
fourth-highest percentage in the nation. Unsurprisingly, a spokesman
said the Department of Transportation was aware of this harrowing
statistic, but lamented, “We simply don’t have enough funds to take

le tter to the editor

care of everything.” Why could that be?
We do not mean to suggest the Iway is not a worthwhile project.
Route 195’s former path consumed a lot of valuable land, and the
structures were eyesores in need of repair. Also, the project began
before the worldwide economic catastrophe that strained budgets
and highlighted the need for fiscal restraint.
On the other hand, we wonder why this project took precedence
over other, perhaps more necessary improvements. Interstate 95’s
bridge over the Pawtucket River is in need of repair, and Barrington’s
central bridge cannot bear the weight of its heaviest fire truck. These
repairs would cost a fraction of the Iway’s cost, yet our state must
now forego such overhauls.
To be fair, since the federal government paid approximately 80
percent of the cost of the Iway, not all of the money used for it could
necessarily have gone to other Rhode Island projects. But Uncle
Sam is even more indebted than Rhode Island and surely could have
provided more targeted help.
Adding to the Iway’s folly is the surprising fact that there are no
concrete plans for the land’s use. Bills have been proposed to the
General Assembly to allocate the newly available land, and Gov.
Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14 hopes to use the land to revitalize the city’s
innovation and knowledge economy, though he will have to debate
with Mayor Angel Taveras and members of the General Assembly.
But why wasn’t this settled long ago? We are astonished that such
an intricate and expensive plan was begun — and finished — without
determining what to do with the land, particularly considering that
freeing up land was one of the primary justifications for the project
in the first place. This, of course, puts aside the thornier question of
whether the state should be spending so many of its tax dollars on a
Time for the University to step up its game
To the Editor:
From the formal beginning of the Ivy League in
1954, Brown has been the little engine that could, val-
iantly trying to compete in a league against institutions
with far deeper pockets, richer athletic histories and
vastly superior facilities. Like Sisyphus, we have been
condemned to push the boulder up Mount Ivy, where
Harvard, Yale, Princeton and the rest of the Ivies sent
it back down. It took seven long years for Bruno to win
its first Ivy title. The dismal 1960’s prompted ongoing
discussion about whether Brown even belonged in the
league. Fast forward more than half a century, and
relatively speaking, little has changed. Money talks
more loudly than ever, and the Ivy League is becoming
even more lopsided. Example — no titles yet this year
for Bruno — though hopefully the women’s tennis
team will win out — while Princeton took seven in
the winter season alone.
The current 1.6 percent slice of Brown’s total budget
devoted to athletics is clearly inadequate and reflects
a long history of, at best,the University’s ambivalence
about the value of education through the physical.
Brown President Alexis Caswell expressed it well in
1870, when, in his annual report he voiced concern
that “the college is … losing scholarship by the very
great interest … in boating and baseball.” The natural
tension between the academic mission of the Univer-
sity and athletics is always present.
Let us not forget, however, that membership in the
prestigious Ivy League gives Brown tremendous clout
in a world impressed with brand names. The value of
the Ivy brand is incalculable, and athletics carry the
banner in the public eye.
Let us hope that this discussion of athletics, what-
ever the immediate result, signals a sea change for
Brown and its scholar athletes. It is past time that
we face up to the issues, which are mostly financially
based. Let us decide to finally join the Ivy League as
a full partner, with all the implications such a bold
move entails.
Peter Mackie ’59
Sports Archivist

quote of the day

project whose primary beneficiaries will likely be private businesses
and universities.
Ultimately, the Iway will be beneficial to the city and state. We are

“It’s not the end of the world.”

not sure whether the project will be worth its cost, but what’s done is
done. It should serve as an object lesson. In the future, projects such
as this should be undertaken only with great care and planning — it
should be clear that the benefits outweigh the costs, and that other,
more pressing needs are not being neglected.
— Abby Schreiber ’11, on the Spring Weekend rain call
Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board. Send comments
to editorials@browndailyherald.com.
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The Brown Daily Herald
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
By Stephen wicken
Opinions Columnist
This week, dear reader, I want to talk to you
about something uncharacteristically seri-
ous. And not in the fun way, where I pre-
tend I’m going to talk about something
weighty, feint in a semi-grown-up direction
and then make a joke about trousers.
Reader — dear, gentle, perhaps slightly
adrift reader — I want to talk about mental
health. It’s monstrously, sometimes scarily,
important. In the long run, it might seem
that the tribulations of young personhood
constitute a roller coaster one has to ride
to reach the distant, stable side of life’s fair-
ground. So often for young people — and,
despite what you might have read from my
own fingers, I include myself in this catego-
ry — mental health problems, from the di-
agnosable to the draining, are seen almost
to be part and parcel of the university ex-
perience.
You might be away from home and re-
sponsible for yourself for the first extend-
ed period of time. This might be your first
experience of being completely in charge of
your schedule and your ability to keep up
with that schedule, even if you occasionally
forget to wear trousers on a Tuesday. Fret
not. We’ve all done it, some of us more than
once, and some of us with a faint but very
real sense of delight. Often it’s just a pain
to feed yourself semi-sensibly, day after day,
Opinions 7
Trousers and traumas
bowl of cereal after bowl of cereal. humor, but less funny!). Even so, the mid- spent in paroxysms of terror, wondering
You may, lovely reader, have seen the college implosion is a solid enough trope how I would be able to convince Professor
film “Igby Goes Down,” starring Claire to allow even Dimply Danes a crack at the Sir Eminently Crusty, who had been teach-
“My So-Called Talent” Danes, Jeff “Sardon- joke. I’m sure anyone whose partner has ing the class since 1945, that I had some-
ic Quips About Dinosaurs” Goldblum and forced them to watch “The Family Stone” thing interesting and original to say about
Kieran “My Brother’s Drug Mule” Culkin. will see where I’m going. Nietzsche.
It’s a charming and enjoyable movie about What I want to say to you, dear reader, Here’s the rub — don’t worry, my hands
love and cynicism on the Upper West Side, in the most avuncular tone I can muster, is are clean. I can barely remember those days.
doing its best to tackle the deficit of white- this — a good number of the trials forced I can barely remember Professor Crusty,
wine-and-quippery resulting from Woody upon you today won’t matter in the long and I sure as sherbet can’t remember any of
Allen’s decisions first to stop making watch- run. Twenty-eight years isn’t a tremendous those essays. I can’t remember the tiffs I had
able cinema, then to film in countries where amount of time in which to acquire a sense with friends and neighbors. I can, howev-
er, remember the times when it seemed like
the pub was the only place in which I could
You might be away from home and responsible for escape the feeling that everything was pil-
yourself for the first extended period of time. This might ing on top of me — which is why the pub is
the greatest invention in the history of hu-
be your first experience of being completely in charge mankind. There were other things — things
that are still with me — that have exercised
of your schedule and your ability to keep up with that me inordinately in the years since then.
schedule, even if you occasionally forget to wear trousers Those things I have sought help for. The
others have just tended to float on past like
on a Tuesday. the latest Lindsay Lohan scandal.
Whatever it takes, poor beleaguered
his dialogue makes less than no sense, and of perspective, and I’ll be the first to admit reader, take care of yourself. Exercise. Get
finally to cast Scarlet Johannsen in roles that the fortunes of the England rugby team away for a while. Have your friends tickle
that require more of her than possession of have a far greater effect upon my well-being you. I once wore a full mascot-style tiger
a formidable bosom. than ordinarily I would allow to a group of costume to a cricket club dinner, and that
In any case, there’s a revealing scene men in short shorts. helped. If you need to, go to Psychological
in the film in which Culkin’s smart-arsed Even so, I think back to the traumas of Services and talk to some of the wonderful
prep-schooler quizzes Danes’ character, a my undergraduate days with a wry smile. people there. And if you do nothing else,
catering waitress on leave from Bennington To be honest, it’s probably more of a dirty when Tuesday comes, try to put something
College, about what compelled her to take smirk. The system in which I did my un- on your bottom half, for all our sakes.
time off. Danes replies, “Entenmann’s cook- dergrad studies was very different from the
ies, beer, diet pills, tension — life.” one you navigate, dear reader, but it was
They’re talking about Bennington, a col- similarly stressful. Every five days, an essay Stephen Wicken GS is a fifth-year
lege so full of hippies it makes Brown look was required about a particular pile of read- doctoral candidate in history with a
like Dartmouth (Ivy League humor! It’s like ing. As a result, three of every five days was conveniently selective memory.

Students can change the military — by keeping ROTC out

By julian park
Opinions Columnist
The only way the United States and its mili-
tary are going to cease conducting them-
selves as they have is through symbolic and
physical pressure consistently applied in op-
position to their conduct. The Brown com-
munity has a unique opportunity to ap-
ply such opposition by refusing to reinstate
the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps on our
campus.
While I realize there may not be a con-
sensus that this conduct is objectionable —
despite the fact that the majority of Ameri-
cans oppose the wars in Iraq and Afghani-
stan and are not clear about our goals in Lib-
ya — I’ll assume that we can agree that our
military’s current conduct is concerning. It is
irrelevant whether you are worried about the
exclusion of transgender people, the docu-
mented climate of sexual violence and ra-
cial discrimination, the wars themselves or
the culture of heartless violence — not to
mention attempts to cover up this violence
— demonstrated by war crimes, like those
committed in Iraq at Abu Ghraib or in Af-
ghanistan by the aptly named “Kill Team,” a
cadre of soldiers that bragged to their battal-
ion about killing civilians. The military will
not change just by throwing in more Brown
students, and it has not earned the right to
our endorsement.
This is not now, nor has it ever been, a
question of bringing diversity to our cam-
pus. No student is excluded from ROTC,
though they must travel off-campus to par-
ticipate. While ROTC scholarships could
benefit some, these would not be the lower
income students we lack, who are exclud-
ed not by the University’s financial aid, but
rather by admissions policies which demand
high scores on tests proven to be biased
against the economically disadvantaged.
Students committed to service have the op-
portunity to enlist or apply for officer train-
ing after graduation, when the rest of us em-
bark on our chosen paths.
It is not only baseless to claim that an
Ivy League education best equips people to
transform the military, it is elitist and in-
correct. Neither Former President George
Demanding that the military shape up would send
a clear signal — that would be Brown’s only chance
to exert the influence wielded by its much-touted
progressive reputation. And maybe being progressive at
Brown could mean something for once.
W. Bush nor President Obama figured out
how to change the military or stop sending
its troops to war, despite respective degrees
from Yale and Columbia. Though Obama
has repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” pending
military review, there is no guarantee that
this will come off successfully, given what
Newsweek recently called the military’s “Se-
cret Shame” — the prevalent sexual assault
of men by men — and the already described
climate of violence against women. Donald
Rumsfeld, a graduate of Princeton ROTC,
apparently learned little but how to get us
stuck in quagmires. Meanwhile, Cornell,
Dartmouth, Penn and Princeton have all
had ROTC on their campus up through the
present day to no apparent effect.
The CIA — which traditionally recruits
from the Ivies — has a long history of ques-
tionable practices, interventions and viola-
tions of international law. This includes ev-
erything from the failed Bay of Pigs Inva-
sion, purposeless human drug experimenta-
tion, political assassinations, torture and the
outsourcing thereof and the deployment of
drones in countries where we are not at war,
like Pakistan, killing approximately 10 civil-
ians for every successfully suppressed target.
We have all seen the CIA at the career fair —
Brown’s recruits have done nothing.
Organizational theory and military cul-
ture demonstrate why it is so difficult to cre-
ate change from the inside. The combination
of a regimented hierarchy with devotion to
mission objectives and following orders pro-
vides little wiggle room for troops and offi-
cers to produce positive change within a mil-
itary environment. Those who seek change,
like Ehren Watada or Bradley Manning, are
court-martialed.
Military leadership necessarily consists of
people who have most efficiently socialized
to military culture. In the Air Force’s own re-
port on “Resistance to Organizational Cul-
tural Change in the Military,” the obstacle
is stated simply — institutions would rath-
er maintain “consistency and stability” than
change, regardless of whether this stabil-
ity is producing consistent harm. As the re-
port notes, senior officers must realize most
changes will not be well received. Claims
that Brown ROTC officers would be unique-
ly better at overcoming these obstacles seem
difficult to support. What is most concern-
ing is that the military is overtly seeking the
sort of “critical thinking” they believe that
“elite” schools have to offer. If current mili-
tary leadership desires assistance, this is so
that established practices and objectives can
be more efficiently carried out, rather than
so these practices and objectives can be
questioned.
If we are concerned with the military, we
would be best served by calling on our Uni-
versity to maintain its current stance by re-
jecting the reinstatement of ROTC. This is
not some elitist liberal logic, but the logic of
a former community organizer who is now
our president. To paraphrase, change does
not come from the military — change comes
to the military. This does not happen by fol-
lowing the lead of our peers, but by demand-
ing something better. As Frederick Douglass
wrote, “Power concedes nothing without
a demand.” Demanding that the military
shape up would send a clear signal — that
would be the University’s only chance to ex-
ert the influence wielded by its much-tout-
ed progressive reputation. And maybe being
progressive at Brown could mean something
for once.
Julian Park ’12 is a member of the Coali-
tion Against Special Privileges for ROTC.
For more information, contact
julianfrancispark@gmail.com.
Daily Herald Campus News
the Brown
Nearly half of students approve lifting campus ROTC ban
By Margaret Yi
Staff Writer
Nearly half of students approve of
lifting the campus ban on the Reserve
Officers’ Training Corps, according
to last month’s Herald poll. Around
43 percent of students strongly or
somewhat approve lifting the ban,
about 24 percent strongly or some-
what disapprove, and the remaining
33 percent answered “no opinion” or
indicated they did not know enough
about the issue.
the herald poll
“I think it serves to sort of dis-
prove the idea that a lot of Brown
students are against (ROTC),” said
Andrew Sia ’12, a member of Stu-
dents for ROTC. The Brown Com-
mittee on ROTC should “look at the
numbers and realize that while there
are a lot of vocalists against ROTC,
that it’s just a minority of students,”
Sia said.
Kevin Casto ’13, a member
of the Coalition Against Special
Privileges for ROTC, questioned
whether the findings actually re-
flect student opinion. “There isn’t
a ‘ban’ on ROTC actually. Students
are allowed to participate in ROTC.
Brown just doesn’t provide institu-
tional support,” he said, adding that
the word “ban” has strong negative
connotations.
Students noted the lack of major-
ity consensus on the issue as an indi-
cation that the debate may drag on.
“I can’t imagine that if any deci-
Studio space places no limits on creativity
By Alexandra macfarlane
Staff Writer
Hidden away on Brook Street, far
from the campus’s more trafficked
performance spaces, is the design
studio at 50 John St., a building that
has played host to many parts of the
Brown and Providence communi-
ties. It is a place with both a colored
interior and a colorful history.
FEATURE
Today, the studio houses an inte-
gral part of the Department of The-
atre Arts and Performance Studies,
said Michael McGarty, lecturer and
scenic designer. The space is cur-
rently used as a design studio, where
many theater design and architecture
classes are held and where the cos-
tumes, sets, lighting and design for
many of the major shows on campus
are brought to life. Brown University
Gilbert and Sullivan, Brown Opera
Productions, Production Workshop
and other groups use the space to
design and build their shows, Mc-
Garty said.
In addition to being a major stop
for the imagination and design of
these productions, the studio is also
a space for local artists. A gradu-
ate student from the Multimedia
and Electronic Music Experiments
program uses the space, and many
parts of the scenery for the Trinity
Repertory Company are designed
and assembled here, McGarty said.
The goal of this space — whose
Would you approve of lifting the ban on ROTC?
13.0%
Strongly No opinion
disapprove
9.7%
14.0%
Somewhat
disapprove
20.5%
Not familar
enough to answer
sion is made any time soon that the
opposition would give up a fight,”
Scott Friedlander ’12 said. “There’s
still a big minority that won’t get
their way.”
Dean of the College Katherine
Bergeron, chair of the committee
on ROTC, said she is concerned that
33 percent of students either had no
opinion or were not familiar enough
to answer on the issue.
Bergeron said she plans to work
with the Undergraduate Council of
Students to “present some of the ba-
sic facts in a quick, digestible form,”
and may post questions on the com-
mittee’s website or send an explana-
tory email to undergraduates.
The committee will work with
UCS to gather more student feed-
back in the next couple of weeks be-
doors are unlocked throughout the
day — is to “encourage people from
other departments and from all over
to collaborate with one another,”
McGarty explained. “There are no
rules.” For him, this studio fits right
into Brown’s “interdisciplinary, col-
laborative spirit.”
The studio appears to fit this
spirit. The hallways and staircases
have no scheme and spill into and
over one another with ease. One
hallway leads to nothing, and two
pathways lead from the same room
and into the same room. Offices,
classrooms, desks and studios are
seamlessly connected with no doors
or walls to hinder the creative energy
that charges the air.
A long table seems to be the only
place where conventional learning
could take place. Yet by its side runs
a wall of hooks from which chairs
hang, suggesting that nothing is im-
possible even within the structure of
a classroom. A green gnome stands
in the rafters of one corner of the
building, illuminated with light at
night, beckoning students and art-
ists alike toward their long hours
of work.
Because the studio houses many
different projects and interests, it
is also an important studying and
learning place for many students.
For Fahmina Ahmed ’13, who is an
architectural studies and visual arts
concentrator, 50 John St. is a place
where it is not hard to work for hours
at a time. “It is easy to lose track of
time and the campus itself,” she said.
16.9%
Strongly
approve
25.9%
Somewhat
approve
Katie Wilson / Herald
fore making its decision, she added.
Students also voiced concern over
the number of people who did not
take a decisive stance on the issue.
Casto said his job on the coali-
tion is to better inform the student
population, particularly first-years,
who were most likely to answer “no
opinion” or “not familiar enough to
answer”, according to the poll.
Amanda Kozar ’12 said it made
sense that many people may not be
informed about ROTC because the
program has not been a presence
on the University’s campus since
1969. She also said the University
should provide more information
on the issue, especially the fact that
transgender discrimination still ex-
ists in the military despite the repeal
of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
Ahmed worked in the studios
at Rhode Island School of Design
before she studied at the John Street
studio and prefers her current work-
space, she said. The RISD studios
“were like the (Sciences Library), but
artsy, with grids and harsh lighting,”
Ahmed said. “This is more inviting.”
She works in the space as part of a
class, a design Group Independent
Study Project, she said. She comes to
50 John St. about two to three times
a week and is hard at work on a hy-
pothetical plan for her own house at
a real location in Fox Point, she said.
Amber Lee ’12, a civil engineer-
ing and visual arts concentrator, uses
the space for projects for her archi-
tecture classes. “I also work indepen-
dently on larger scale art projects for
my other (visual arts) classes there
sometimes,” she wrote in an email
to The Herald.
This is Lee’s first semester study-
ing in the John Street studio, and
she wrote that the space, where
she spends up to 12 hours a week,
is beautiful as a physical building.
Lee also cites the collaborative and
interdisciplinary feature of the studio
as an advantage of the space. “I love
the people within the space. Every
time I walk in, there is a new person
working on various pieces, from fine
art to theater work to architectural
work,” she wrote.
In addition to its colorful cast of
current inhabitants, the design stu-
dio at 50 John St. boasts a vibrant
past. The building started its life as
the Bonde Bakery, and was bought
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Kelly Garrett, director of the
LGBTQ Resource Center, said it is
important for students to consider all
the factors affecting the ROTC issue.
“Some students are speaking out
against it because of discrimination
against transgender people, which I
think is a valid point, and I just think
it’s a valid point among many that
need to be debated,” Garrett said.
Other universities have used stu-
dent surveys as a guide in making
decisions about the future of ROTC
on their campuses. At Columbia, a
student survey heavily influenced
the Columbia University Senate’s
decision to repeal the ban, accord-
ing to James Applegate, professor of
astronomy at Columbia and a mem-
ber of its Taskforce on Military En-
gagement. More than 60 percent of
respondents at Columbia supported
bringing ROTC back.
Stanford University and Yale have
also created committees to re-ex-
amine their policies on ROTC. Yale
conducted a survey before “Don’t
Ask, Don’t Tell” was repealed in
which 68 percent of students sup-
ported bringing back ROTC, with
38 percent supporting it regardless
of whether “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
remained law.
Bergeron said she is also looking
to conduct more comprehensive and
detailed surveys to guide the com-
mittee’s decision.
Casto said he hopes more stu-
dents weigh in on the issue. “Wheth-
er they support (ROTC) or not, it’s
better to have them express their
opinion than not say anything,” he
The studio space at 50 John St. encourages artistic collaboration.
by the University in the 1950s or
1960s, McGarty said. It was used for
many purposes, including a drop-in
center for inner-city children and a
facilities building, before becoming
vacant and falling into some disre-
pair, he said. “Out of the blue, one
day, they handed the building over
to us,” McGarty said, “‘Have a studio,’
they said.” And the 50 John St. design
studio was born.
Though the studio was a gener-
ous gift, it came into the hands of
designers like McGarty in 2005 in
very different shape than it is today,
he said. “When we moved in, it was
a shithole,” he said. “All the windows
were cinder-blocked in, and we had
very little light.”
Little by little, doors and windows
were installed, the space was painted,
power was installed in many of the
rooms, the floors were redone and
all the tools, tables and costume areas
were added, McGarty said. Many
students were involved in this reno-
said. “We really need to have stu-
dents democratically participating
in this.”
Methodology
Written questionnaires were ad-
ministered to 972 undergraduates
March 14–16 in the lobby of J. Walter
Wilson and the Stephen Robert ’62
Campus Center during the day and
the Sciences Library at night. The
poll has a 2.9 percent margin of er-
ror with 95 percent confidence. The
margin of error is 4.4 percent for
the subset of males, 3.8 percent for
females, 12.9 percent for transfer stu-
dents, 3.0 percent for non-transfers,
6.1 percent for seniors, 3.4 percent
for non-seniors, 5.6 percent for first-
year students and 3.4 percent for
non-first-years.
The sample polled was demo-
graphically similar to the Brown un-
dergraduate population as a whole.
The sample was 44.3 percent male
and 55.7 percent female. First-years
made up 26.6 percent of the sample,
26.2 percent were sophomores, 24.1
percent were juniors and 23.1 per-
cent were seniors. Of those polled,
5.2 percent of respondents identi-
fied themselves as being transfer
students. Statistical significance was
established at the 0.05 level.
Senior Editor Julien Ouellet ’12,
News Editors Alex Bell ’13 and Ni-
cole Boucher ’13 and Senior Staff
Writers Greg Jordan-Detamore ’14
and Lindor Qunaj ’13 coordinated
the poll. Herald section editors,
senior staff writers and other staff
members conducted the poll.
Stephanie London / Herald
vation, a project that has yet to be
finished and still requires constant
collaboration.
Today, he said, the studio does
not have any disadvantages. “I have
never worked in a space like this,”
he said, “It is the best design studio
in the United States.”
“It is night and day from what
it was,” McGarty said. He and his
fellow artists have never had this
much space, and they have not di-
vided it up into different disciplines
or work spaces, true to its nature as
a collaborative environment. To the
untrained eye, 50 John St. may seem
like the remains of a former factory
or warehouse, but to the many artists
and projects who call it home, the
studio is much more.
And posted discretely at the top
of the stairs is the official goal of the
studio: “The John Street Studio is a
home for artists and crafts people to
engage one another in their common
pursuit of creativity.”