Daily
the Brown
vol. cxlvi, no. 24
Renowned physicist untangles string theory DPS to up
By Natalie Villacorta
Senior Staff Writer
“Our universe may not be the only
universe,” Brian Greene told avid
fans, physicists and even humani-
ties concentrators last night. The
idea that our universe is the only
one is giving way to the possibility
of a multiverse, or multiple uni-
verses. This universe may be a tiny
speck in an infinite space contain-
ing other realities.
Greene, a professor of physics
and mathematics at Columbia, has
written several bestselling books
that use humor, analogies and vi-
sualizations to untangle compli-
cated concepts like string theory
for the general reader. Greene ac-
complished the same feat in last
night’s lecture, walking the audi-
ence through the Big Bang theory
Faculty
approves
tenure
changes
By Shefali Luthra
Senior Staff Writer
Faculty members voted to approve
tenure-related revisions to the Fac-
ulty Rules and Regulations at the
faculty meeting yesterday. They
also approved a proposal to create
a master’s program in clinical and
translational research, as well as a
motion to establish a formal liter-
ary arts department. Both motions
will go before the Corporation’s
Board of Fellows at the next Cor-
poration meeting in May.
The tenure revisions were
grouped in three separate mo-
tions, with the first two pertaining
to changes to the Faculty Rules and
Regulations approved at the De-
cember faculty meeting. The third
motion introduced the final set
of revisions to the tenure process,
concluding a series of amendments
that began last spring.
The first motion, which passed
88 to 10 with two abstaining,
changed language in the Faculty
Rules and Regulations based on
the motions passed in December.
While the faculty had approved the
changes in spirit, they had not yet
approved the actual wording of the
rules until yesterday.
The second motion, which
passed 112 to nine with two ab-
continued on page 5
inside
news...................2-5
editorial..............6
Opinions...............7
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
presence
and string theory in just over an
hour. Several students in the audi-
ence, both science concentrators
in Jewelry
and those from other disciplines,
said Greene did an excellent job
District
making the material accessible,
interesting and easily understand-
able.
Greene said he believes com-
municating science is important
because “without having a general
public that is willing and able to
engage in science, you can’t ulti-
mately have a democracy.”
“Think of a deck of cards,”
Greene told the audience. If the
deck is shuffled, the cards come out
in different orders. But there are a
finite number of different orders,
which means if the deck is shuffled
enough times, then sooner or later,
continued on page 3
Student activities endowment stagnant
By David Chung
Senior Staff Writer
Two years after President Ruth
Simmons donated $100,000 to
jump-start a student activities
endowment, no further contribu-
tions have been made towards its
$20 million goal.
Though no gifts have come in,
Simmons said she has spoken to
potential donors about the project.
“I think the attention that needs
to be brought is that it is a fund to
which people can donate,” she said.
In 2009, Stefan Smith ’09, then-
squirrels gone wild
Squirrels, like the one seen above in a Jameson House dorm room, have been
known to enter University buildings through open windows.
Paying up
The University plans to raise
on-campus parking fees
Campus News, 8
Herald
String theorist Brian Greene spoke last night to a full audience in MacMillan 117.
vice chair of the Undergraduate
Finance Board, told The Herald he
did not expect the project would
reach its ultimate goal “any time
soon.”
Simmons’ donation met the
endowment’s initial goal, but the
committee and the Undergradu-
ate Council of Students set an
eventual target of $17 million to
$21 million for the project, which
would eliminate the mandatory
$178 student activities fee for all
undergraduates.
UCS plans to gain donor sup-
port without adversely affecting
Courtesy of Julia Thompson
See full coverage on page 3.
Nick Sinnott-Armstrong / Herald
the funds of other University ini-
tiatives, said Ralanda Nelson ’12,
student activities chair for UCS.
Steven King ’91, vice president
for University Advancement, did
not respond to a request for com-
ment.
The student activities fee —
which has been on the rise in re-
cent years — is allocated by the
UFB to fund student groups and
activities.
Ryan Lester ’11 set the project
in motion two years ago while
continued on page 4
Shawki MA’77: Egypt’s
future ‘a whole new world’
By Katherine Sola
Senior Staff Writer
When Ahmed Shawki MA ’77 took
his 37-year-old nephew to a protest
in Cairo at the onset of the Egyptian
revolution, his sister chastised him
for endangering her son. But follow-
ing a battle between protestors and
government forces for control of
Tahrir Square, she began exhorting
her son to put himself in the line of
danger to bring medical supplies to
wounded protestors.
Shawki — speaking to an au-
dience of about 150 in Barus and
Holley 168 last night — cited his
experience as an indicator of the
newfound dignity and political con-
sciousness of the Egyptian people
since they rose up and overthrew
the 30-year dictatorship of Hosni
Mubarak earlier this year.
“We have entered a whole new
world,” Shawki said of the revo-
weather
Senioritis
The dangers of
‘checking out’
Opinions, 7
Since 1891
By Lucy Feldman
Contributing Writer
The Department of Public Safety will
increase its presence in the Jewelry
District later this year with a sub-
station and six additional officers
to accommodate the new Medical
Education Building. The building
will open July 15 at 222 Richmond St.
The additional police presence
will cost about $400,000 and raise the
total number of sworn DPS police
officers from 30 to 36. The substation
will be housed in a building currently
undergoing renovation on the corner
of Elm and Eddy streets, on the same
block as the Med Ed Building.
The University Resources Com-
mittee recommended adding six of-
ficers to the area in its report released
Feb. 12.
“We were really pleased that this
is one of the initiatives that came
through,” said Russell Carey ’91
MA’06, senior vice president for
Corporation affairs and governance.
“We will be patrolling much more
often and proactively in that area
than we can with current staffing
today,” he said, adding that five candi-
dates for the positions are graduating
from police academy in May and
continued on page 5
lution’s repercussions across the
region. He described a paradigm
shift in the political consciousness of
Egyptians and in Americans’ views
of Arabs over the past month.
Shawki said Mubarak’s previ-
ously reliable tactics for control-
ling the Egyptian populace ceased
being effective in the face of protests
of unprecedented size. The police
did not expect tens of thousands of
protestors to come to Tahrir Square
Jan. 25 and were unable to repress
such a large crowd. After Mubarak
withdrew police from Cairo and
Alexandria in the hopes of plung-
ing the cities into chaos, the move
simply “regenerated organization of
a different type” in the form of civil-
ian neighborhood watches, he said.
“Egypt, the country, is rising,”
Shawki said. He described the ela-
tion of “a sea of humanity demand-
continued on page 2
t o d ay tomorrow
47 / 11 24 / 17
2 Campus News
calendar
Today March 2
4 P.m.
“U.S. Health Care Disparities: What
We Need to Know,” Salomon 101
5:30 p.m.
A Conversation with Author
Nathaniel Philbrick, List Art 120
menu
SHARPE REFECTORY
LUNCH
Vegetarian Tacos, Vegetarian
Mori Soba Noodles, Beef Tacos,
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
DINNER
Vegan Ratatouille, Crispy Fried Tofu,
Sticky Rice with Edamame, Castle
Hill Inn Pork Spare Ribs, Fudge Bars
Sudoku
Cr ossword
ToMORROW March 3
6 p.m.
A Reading by Novelist Karen Tei
Yamashita, McCormack Theatre
8 p.m.
“As You Like It,”
Stuart Theatre
VERNEy-WOOLLEY DINING HALL
Turkey Tacos, Vegan Burritos, Corn
and Sweet Pepper Saute, Chocolate
Crinkle Cookies
Rotisserie Style Chicken, Spinach
Quiche, Broccoli with Cheese Sauce,
Spanish Rice, Fudge Bars
Egypt talk
lauds Arab
uprisings
continued from page 1
ing the end of a regime and actually
achieving it.”
Shawki, who was in Egypt as
the protests came to a head, said
he observed Egyptians “beginning
to feel that they matter” and that
with this newfound dignity came
the impulse to act.
Before the talk, Shawki told the
The Herald that growing self-respect
also accounts for the peaceful nature
of the protests. Stories abounded of
Christians protecting Muslims at
prayer, whereas reports of sexual
misconduct during the unrest were
virtually absent. “When people are
stepped on and have no self-dignity,
they can step on the person imme-
diately underneath them,” he told
The Herald. It makes sense that a
democratic movement “took up the
rights of other oppressed groups,”
he said.
Touching on American views of
the Middle East, Shawki told the
audience recent events challenged
old stereotypes.
“Islamophobia has taken a most
severe blow,” he said, and Ameri-
cans who believed that Arabs were
not ready for democracy have been
forced to reconsider their assump-
tions. He said he hoped the revo-
lution would reduce “all the shit”
directed at Arabs and Muslims in
America.
“But I don’t think it will,” he
added.
“The lid has been taken off Amer-
ican foreign policy,” Shawki said,
adding that many Arabs were sur-
prised that Western powers “stood
Facilities: Pests pose no problem
By Anna Lillkung
Staff Writer
Katherine Pleet ’12 was sitting in her
first-floor Barbour Hall kitchen at
the beginning of her sophomore year
when she saw a mouse run across
the floor. She called a friend for help,
but the mouse was nowhere to be
found that evening. Some days later,
the mouse was spotted again, and
this time Pleet contacted the De-
partment of Facilities Management.
Facilities workers soon arrived and
set up traps, after which Pleet’s pest
problems were a thing of the past.
Daily
the Brown
www.browndailyherald.com
195 Angell St., Providence, R.I.
Ben Schreckinger, President
Sydney Ember, Vice President
The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is an independent newspaper serving the
Brown University community daily since 1891. It is published Monday through Fri-
day during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement, once
during Orientation and once in July by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Single copy free
for each member of the community.
POSTMASTER please send corrections to P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI 02906.
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Subscription prices: $280 one year daily, $140 one semester daily.
Copyright 2011 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.
editorial
(401) 351-3372
herald@browndailyherald.com
The Brown Daily Herald
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
“Egypt, the country, is rising,” Ahmed Shawki MA ’77 told an audience at Barus
& Holley last night.
by and defended the old regimes”
despite self-avowed support of de-
mocracy. But Egyptians also recog-
nize that, while American foreign
policy may have been pro-Mubarak,
the American people supported the
uprising. In the same vein, American
reporters distinguished between the
actions of violent government thugs
and those of peaceful protestors.
Shawki also described the vast
economic inequality that prolif-
erated during Mubarak’s rule. He
hailed the uprising as a working-
class movement, saying the “real
politics of socialism are making
themselves relevant again to a whole
new generation.”
During the question and answer
session, Dia Barghouti ’12 said that
“this is the first time that a corrupt
post-colonial government has been
overthrown, and may it happen in
the entire Middle East.”
An older American woman
wearing Islamic dress, who said she
had married a poor Egyptian man
and spent the past 13 years living
in Cairo, criticized Shawki, saying
he was ignoring the human costs
of the revolution. She challenged
“Facilities was very prompt,” she
said.
Facilities receives about 10 re-
ports of mice in University build-
ings every year. This year, it has
received three reports of squirrels,
two reports of cockroaches and
one report of a skunk, according
to Carlos Fernandez, assistant vice
president of facilities operations and
engineering.
Jill Pandiscio ’14, who lives on
Keeney Quadrangle, has not yet seen
any mice herself but said she has
heard noises that indicate a creature
is living in her walls. Pandiscio said
Herald
Matthew Burrows, Treasurer
Isha Gulati, Secretary
Business
(401) 351-3360
gm@browndailyherald.com
Anna Gaissert / Herald
the assertion that poor Egyptians
uniformly opposed Mubarak, add-
ing that her sister-in-law, who lives
on $30 a month, called her crying
during the uprising, saying “Wendy,
why are they doing this? We love
(Mubarak).”
“Now we don’t have security
in the region,” she said. “Women
(are) being raped in broad daylight
in Tahrir square.”
Shawki warned against priori-
tizing stability over justice, saying
that Italians appreciated Mussolini
because he made the trains run on
time. Though not all Mubarak sup-
porters are thugs, the popular nature
of his overthrow is “absolutely un-
deniable,” he said.
Shawki reminded the audience
that the “end of Mubarak does not
mean the end of the regime,” be-
cause the grievances that fuelled the
revolt have not been resolved. There
is a “flowering” of new movements,
but it remains unclear what the new
Egyptian state will look like, he said.
Still, he added, “What Tunisia
and Egypt have done is indelible in
the memories of those who have
witnessed it.”
Facilities has set up traps, but noth-
ing has been caught so far.
James Amen ’12 also said he saw
a rodent in his room on the second
floor of Olney House last year. It
did not perturb him — though it
ate some cookies that were under
his bed — and so he did not take
any action to get rid of it, though
he sighted rodents on multiple later
occasions.
Pests such as squirrels or mice
often enter rooms through open
windows or doors, Fernandez said.
If Facilities is notified of an incident
by phone or through an online ser-
vice request, it follows a pest control
management plan and Custodial
Services staff responds quickly, he
said. Facilities has a 24-hour hotline
that students can use to report pests.
Fernandez wrote in an e-mail
to The Herald that there have not
been any significant infestations on
campus in his tenure with Facilities.
“The Custodial Services staff provide
daily cleaning of common spaces,”
Fernandez wrote, adding that clean-
ing is the most effective means of
keeping pests away.
According to Fernandez, there
are no regular checks for mold or
bedbugs because Facilities’ regu-
lar cleaning practices should suf-
ficiently ward off those organisms.
The Brown Daily Herald
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Physicist elucidates
string theory, multiverse
continued from page 1
the order of the cards has to repeat.
Similarly, if space goes on infinitely
far, then there are infinitely many
regions like ours — just as with the
deck of cards, sooner or later the
particle order has to repeat. We are
all just a particular arrangement
of particles, Greene continued.
So if this arrangement repeats,
“that means there are copies of
you and me and the Earth and
the sun, and everything we know
about is happening over and over
and over again.” This is the most
direct conceptualization of paral-
lel universes. Within the laws of
physics, all possible realities are
taking place.
“Does that mean that in one of
those realms, Sarah Palin is presi-
dent?” Greene said people have
asked him. But he said he has to
remind them that the realm “must
be compatible with the laws of
physics.”
Greene included many com-
puter simulations throughout the
lecture, effectively engaging the au-
dience. MacMillian 117 was briefly
transformed into a movie theater
as the entire auditorium, filled to
capacity, watched an animation of
the origin of our universe 14 bil-
lions years ago after the Big Bang.
But the Big Bang theory leaves out
one crucial part, Greene said. It
leaves out the “bang.”
Greene went on to explain an
idea about what created the bang
— dark energy that gives rise to
repulsive gravity that can push
things apart. Filling in this gap in
the theory creates the possibility of
other universes. With the amount
of dark energy measured by sci-
entists, at least 100 to the 124th
power other universes must exist.
“It made one feel small,” said
Maya Wei ’13 about Greene’s lec-
ture, hosted by the Brown Lec-
ture Board. Other students who
attended expressed similar feelings.
“He changed my perspective of the
world,” Alan Shan ’14 said.
Greene also tackled string the-
ory, which seeks to unify theories
of matter, forces and relativity. The
conventional idea is that every-
thing is made up of molecules,
which consist of atoms that are
made up of electrons, protons and
neutrons. The idea stops at the level
of quarks, but string theory pro-
poses that inside these particles are
tiny, string-like, vibrating strands
of energy. The mathematics behind
this theory require 10, rather than
three, dimensions of space. Greene
discussed the possibility of other
dimensions, which are “curled up”
too tightly to be observed. These
extra dimensions all have their
own shape, and there are up to
100 to the 500th power potential
shapes. The immense number of
shapes profoundly affect the mul-
titude of universes composing the
multiverse.
Before the lecture, Greene told
The Herald an understanding of
string theory is relevant to non-
scientists just as Beethoven’s “Fifth
Symphony” or the Mona Lisa is
relevant to everyone. “Even if you
don’t study science, the ideas can
really transport you,” he said.
Catherine Teitz ’14, a classics
concentrator, said the lecture in-
spired her to pursue science. “This
reminded me that pursuing the sci-
entific aspects of study, even within
the humanities, is essential to a
fuller understanding of any field.”
Greene ended his lecture by
challenging the audience to think
about “the possibility that our
universe is like a single grain of
sand on this huge beach of uni-
verses.” He concluded with a sense
of wonder — “That upheaval in
our understanding of reality would
be spectacular, and frankly, I can’t
imagine really anything more
thrilling than that.”
Campus News 3
Symposium specializes in an eclectic mix of genres but is not a major competitor to the Brown Bookstore.
Brown Bookstore: Symposium not a threat
By Kristina Klara
Staff Writer
Three months after its opening,
Symposium Books on Thayer St. has
not brought the heat of increased
competition to the Brown Book-
store, according to Steven Souza, di-
rector of Bookstore administration.
Though the stores are separated by
only a block, “Symposium is in a
different world,” Souza said.
Symposium, which opened Nov.
26, specializes in overstock and re-
mainder titles and offers discounts
significantly below retail prices.
The store caters to a different
population of buyers, Souza said.
They are “trying to find a niche, and
they do it well,” he said.
Symposium deals mostly with
overstock from well-known pub-
lishers, said Terry St. Amant,
manager of the Thayer location of
Symposium. The store has what St.
Amant described as a “weird mix-
ture” of books, including sections
devoted to graphic novels, literature,
architecture and philosophy. It is a
place where customers should ex-
plore rather than come in with a
specific idea in their heads, she said.
Symposium does not currently
carry textbooks at the Thayer loca-
tion, but it does carry a selection of
new releases, St. Amant said.
A brief survey of the titles on
display at both stores reveals little
overlap. But some of the books the
stores had in common were marked
down at the Brown Bookstore. Sym-
posium priced “The Girl with the
Dragon Tattoo” at $11.98. At the
Brown Bookstore, the book was
originally $14.95 and is now marked
down 20 percent to $11.96. Another
common title, “The Autobiography
of Mark Twain,” priced at $29.70 at
Symposium Books, was discounted
30 percent at the Brown Bookstore
to $24.46.
“Symposium is a competitor, but
not one that has affected our busi-
ness too much so far,” Souza said.
While Symposium specializes in
books that have been significantly
marked down after their initial
runs, “we believe that the people
we deal with — the faculty and stu-
dents — are passionate (enough)
about their subjects that they’re
going to buy (books) at the front
end,” he said.
While the Brown Bookstore also
buys overstocked books, Sympo-
sium does so to a greater extent,
Evan Thomas / Herald
Souza said.
Both Souza and St. Amant said
competition between the two stores
appears minimal. St. Amant said she
has even directed customers to the
Brown Bookstore when Symposium
does not carry a requested title.
“I’ve sent a few people over there
if we don’t have something they’re
looking for,” St. Amant said. “If
you’re looking for a specific title, we
might not have it, but it’s the kind
of bookstore you want to spend an
hour in poking around.”
“The Internet is a much big-
ger competitor than Symposium,”
Souza said, adding that the store
recently began to offer rental text-
books to compete with cheaper
online alternatives. Souza said he
would be shocked if they faced ad-
ditional competition from Sympo-
sium selling textbooks.
St. Amant said she thought the
owners of Symposium would be
“more than willing” to carry text-
books at the Thayer location, but
there is not much space. Sympo-
sium does sell used textbooks at its
location on Westminster St. near
the Rhode Island School of Design.
4 Campus News
UCS seeks
funds for
student
activities
continued from page 1
serving as student activities chair.
He said he researched similar en-
dowments at Georgetown Uni-
versity and other institutions, as
well as the Brown athletic endow-
ment, to learn how endowment
programs function. The Student
Activities Committee set out to
raise $100,000 by June 2009.
When the committee members
presented the idea to Simmons, she
received it favorably and person-
ally donated the initial $100,000,
Lester said.
“It is terrific if you could have
an endowment that really provides
these kinds of funds to reduce the
possibility of fees continuing to
rise,” Simmons said.
Following Simmons’ donation,
the Student Activities Committee
has been working to attract more
donors for the endowment. The
committee published a pamphlet
to inform potential contributors
about student activities and is
working with the Office of Devel-
opment to identify donors. She
said she hopes to speak to potential
donors during Commencement or
UCS discussed raising student endowment funds at its last meeting.
over the summer because endow-
ing the fund is “definitely a priority
for UCS and student groups.”
Nelson said the endowment is
still in its initial stages, and the
Student Activities Committee is
trying to determine ways in which
students and groups can directly
benefit from the funds. For now,
Herald file photo
the committee is working to main-
tain the student activities fee —
which has not changed from last
year — at its current level.
But Simmons said she believes
the endowment has the potential
to be attractive to donors. “The
broader the perspectives that we
have, the better it is for our donor
pool,” she said. “I like to say to
donors, ‘whatever your interests
are, we have something that will
captivate those interests.’”
But in the interim, she said,
“Whatever amount is raised, it still
helps the student activities fee.”
#love @the_herald
The Brown Daily Herald
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
News in brief
38 Juniors elected to Phi Beta Kappa
Thirty-eight juniors were elected to the Rhode Island Alpha of Phi Beta
Kappa Feb. 16. The honor society, founded in Williamsburg, Virginia in 1776,
is the oldest and most prestigious academic honor organization in the
nation. Of the more than 3,500 institutions of higher learning in the United
States, only 270 have been authorized to house chapters of Phi Beta Kappa.
The Brown chapter, the Rhode Island Alpha, was founded in 1830. It is the
seventh oldest chapter in the country.
Maxwell Ashby
Sorakrit Atcharanuwat
Zachary Bornstein
Maya Bretzius
Fei Cai, a Herald staff writer
Norian Caporale-Berkowitz
Innessa Colaiacovo
Lauren Comisar
Jennifer Conti
Anna Costello
Wenhao Fang
Eric Gruebel
Olivia Harding
Reuben Henriques
Liam Hynes
MariaLisa Itzoe
Brandon Kaufmann
Edward Kelting
Janine Khraishah
U. encourages alums to
remain in Rhode Island
continued from page 8
She said that other students
she knows are also “open to the
possibility” of staying here after
graduation and are willing to
“take what they can get.”
“It’s win-win for everybody,”
Egan said. “It’s a win for the
state of Rhode Island. It’s a win
for the students to have a young,
David Koren
Rachel Lamb
Jiacui Li
Heng Lu
Benjamin Niedzielski
Liana Nisimova
Sarah Rutherford
Alison Rutsch
Eric Sanford
Julia Sheehy-Chan
Rebecca Soules
Thunwa Theerakarn
Lingke Wang
Caitrin Watson
Mengfei Xue
Unikora Yang
Do Yoon
Anqi Zhang
Ang Zheng
healthy alumni base that attracts
a younger, more entrepreneurial
and engaged community.”
Egan said the association is
also working on an iPhone appli-
cation targeting the state’s 80,000
undergraduate students and a
summer immersion program that
would provide paid internships to
students from each school who
would become Bridge ambassa-
dors in their communities.
“Bridge is really a communica-
tions vehicle,” he said.
“Not many graduates stay in
Rhode Island. It’s difficult be-
cause there are no jobs here,” said
Dave Tapalian ’97, who works as
a manager at Olives and an attor-
ney in Rhode Island. He said that
it was different for him because
he was “local” and “knew a lot of
people within the state,” adding
that he would not have stayed
after he graduated if he were not
from Rhode Island.
“The other day a sixth grade
student asked me — ‘Why would
you ever stay in Rhode Island?’”
said Nick Werle ’10, a teacher
at the Wheeler School in Provi-
dence. “I didn’t really have any-
thing more compelling to do.”
Werle said he considers it a
“fake fifth year” of college spent
teaching classes rather than tak-
ing them and that it made sense
because he could network with
people here and continue his re-
search. Most of the Brown gradu-
ates he knows that remain in the
state take up a job that is some-
how affiliated with the University,
he said.
“I plan to move out right after
the Campus Dance,” he said. The
University could better incentiv-
ize students to stay by extending
library and Olney-Margolies Ath-
letics Center privileges, he said,
“especially after we have just paid
four years of tuition.”
The Brown Daily Herald
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Faculty votes to
revise tenure process
continued from page 1
staining, encompassed changes
that had not been discussed in
December but were “consistent”
with what faculty members had ap-
proved, said Cynthia Garcia Coll,
professor of education and chair of
the Faculty Executive Committee.
The motion said junior faculty
members denied tenure after opt-
ing for early review would have
their contract expiration dates
adjusted to provide them just
one further year of employment.
Candidates denied tenure would
also no longer be told who voted
for or against them, and tenured
faculty not on campus would be
able to request access to docu-
ments pertaining to ongoing ten-
ure cases. The motion also edited
“redundant” language in the Rules
and Regulations, according to the
rationale enclosed with the meet-
ing’s agenda.
One faculty member expressed
concern that tenured faculty who
are off campus may not know
about ongoing tenure cases and
would not know to request access
to case-related documents. Con-
sequently, the faculty struck “upon
request” from the motion, so that
such documents will automatically
be made available to all off-campus
tenured faculty.
The final tenure-related motion,
which passed 102 to six with three
abstaining, adjusted the timeline
for annual junior faculty reviews
and changed the schedule for both
revealing tenure candidates’ deci-
sions and also when junior fac-
ulty will be notified of contract
renewal.
Untenured faculty will now be
formally reviewed at the start of
their second year, rather than in
Campus News 5
the middle of their first year of
teaching. But departments will
also give junior faculty members
an “informal review” before the
summer so they can incorporate
feedback into their teaching styles,
said Provost David Kertzer ’69 P’95
P’98. The University will also have
to notify junior faculty members
if their contracts will be renewed
eight months before four-year con-
tracts expire, and it will have to
tell tenure candidates of its deci-
sion at least one year before their
contracts expire.
The motion also recommended
that departments submit their for-
Nick Sinnott-Armstrong / Herald
mal reviews of junior faculty to the The Department of Public Safety, whose office is pictured above, will add a substation and patrols to the Jewelry District.
dean of the faculty, who can then
suggest revisions to the letter.
“Departments may not have DPS to add six officers in Jewelry District
experience” in writing these let-
ters, Kertzer said, adding that he continued from page 1 to work out of,” he said. “If we ex- buildings.
has often seen language in such pect to have a rapid response, we In the past, DPS has patrolled and
letters that “should not be there.” that the department could be close should place some of the officers at responded to calls in the area, but
Brian Evenson, director of the to fully staffed by July 1. that location.” Carey said the Med Ed Building will
literary arts program, spoke re- According to Carey, DPS would The substation will be used for bring significantly more members of
garding the motion to establish be unable to effectively patrol both meetings with individuals, commu- the Brown community to the neigh-
a literary arts department, saying main campus and the Jewelry Dis- nity policing, equipment storage and borhood. The most common crimes
that the program already operates trict at current staffing levels. writing officer reports, Carey said. in the area are vandalism, graffiti and
like any other academic depart- “Now we’ll have 24-hour police “The physical presence enables (of- occasional car break-ins, he said.
ment. patrol, and as part of that, we will ficers) to stay in the area, eliminating The University has been planning
“It’s just acknowledging a establish a police substation, keeping the trip to headquarters not spent the process for over a year, Porter
change that has already taken that as a single, self-sufficient team patrolling” he said. said.
place,” Evenson said. down there,” said Mark Porter, ex- The University has had a pres- Carey said the plans were made in
The motion to establish the ecutive director and chief of public ence in the Jewelry District for sev- consultation with the city, and Provi-
department passed 103 to six safety. eral years with the Alpert Medical dence Public Safety Commissioner
with three abstaining. The vote “This would be the first substa- School’s Laboratories for Molecular Steven Pare attended a meeting about
to approve the master’s degree in tion we’re deploying police officers Medicine at 70 Ship St., among other the changes last month.
clinical and translational research
passed unanimously.
Faculty members also observed
memorial minutes for Thomas
comics
Lasater, professor of community Cloud Buddies! | David Emanuel
health, and Jan Tauc, professor
emeritus of engineering and phys-
ics. Lasater died Nov. 22 of colon
cancer, while Tauc died of heart
failure Dec. 28.
Dr. Bear | Mat Becker
Dot Comic | Eshan Mitra and Brendan Hainline
6 Editorial & Letter The Brown Daily Herald
Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Editorial Editorial comic by sam rosenfeld

A long way to go
Read one way, the gains the University has made in faculty
diversity are remarkable. In less than a decade, the number of
racial and ethnic minorities on the faculty has increased by more
than 40 percent.
But as The Herald reported last month (“Faculty still mostly
male, white,” Feb. 10), the lack of diversity within the faculty is
still staggering. The University’s recent hires make up a large por-
tion of the faculty members who are female or racial and ethnic
minorities, but that indicates how few women and minorities were
previously on the faculty. In 2003, 21 members of the faculty were
black compared to 31 today. What’s more, the faculty’s homogeneity
— in gender, race and ethnicity — is consistent with the makeup
of many U.S. institutions, including most of our peer institutions,
which have suffered a similar lack of diversity in their faculties.
Over the past decade, the University has made a concerted ef-
fort to recruit and hire faculty of color. It has created an Office of
Institutional Diversity and created a targeted hiring program that
allows departments to recruit candidates who would add diver-
sity to their ranks even when the department is not conducting a
search to fill a position. Such policies help offset the high propor-
tion of tenured professors at Brown — 72 percent, according to
last month’s Herald article — which slows down changes in the
makeup of the faculty.
These efforts have achieved limited success — female and non-
white members of the faculty have grown in number. Still, about
two-thirds of the faculty are male and about four-fifths are white.
quote of the day
And in last month’s Herald article, professors and administrators
pointed to the scarcity of qualified candidates in the job market “Pursuing the scientific aspects of study, even within the
as a contributing factor.
The validity of such comments is up for debate, but we think
they are ultimately counterproductive. They give the impression
humanities, is essential to a fuller understanding of any field. ”
that making the ranks of the faculty more diverse is outside of the — Catherine Teitz ’14, a classics concentrator
University’s hands. This overlooks Brown’s own role in educating
potential professors. About 15 percent of last academic year’s See physicist on page 1
graduate students identified themselves as members of a racial or
ethnic minority, or as biracial, compared to nearly one-third of
the undergraduate student body. Brown, like any other university,
helps produce our country’s pool of potential professors.
We also urge the University to remember that recruiting a diverse
letter to the editor
Distance deters ROTC participation
faculty is a fruitless endeavor if new hires come to an institution
whose environment is not welcoming, supportive or tolerant. The
administration and individual departments should create programs
that actively aim to integrate new hires into a department — for To the Editor: cars on campus. In order to get to Providence College
example, by establishing mentors for new minority faculty, as sug- in time for 6 a.m. physical training, a Brown student
gested by the American Association of University Professors in a The goal of Students for ROTC is to remove any and would need to walk to Kennedy Plaza by 5:20 a.m. Next,
document on building a more diverse faculty. all stigmas, prejudice, bureaucratic obstacles and other he or she would need to take the number 50 bus for
Problems such as these are self-perpetuating — the less diverse disincentives for Brown students to join the Reserve 16 stops, then proceed to walk for another 19 minutes
a university is, the more likely it is that a new minority hire will Officers’ Training Corps. As a leading member of that before reaching Providence College. This 45-minute
feel isolated or out of place. The University has begun to increase organization, I take issue with the assertions made by one-way trip is the reason why many Brown students
the diversity of the researchers and teachers who perform its core Julian Park ’12 in his recent editorial (“Keep ROTC — myself included — who have expressed interest in
activities. Only by actively working toward a positive experience out,”Feb. 25). Park states that current University policy joining ROTC, ultimately do not join.
and welcoming environment for new hires who are faculty of color in regards to ROTC does not “limit the individual free- “The Coalition Against Special Privileges for ROTC”
can it hope to build on what it has already achieved. doms of … students,” and insinuates that the low rate is a misnomer. The unreasonable distance that students
of participation in the ROTC program at Providence must travel to attend ROTC classes, as a result of Uni-
Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board. Send comments College is due to a lack of interest among Brown stu- versity policy, is absurd. We, the Students for ROTC,
to editorials@browndailyherald.com. dents, rather than as a result of University policy. This are not advocating for “special privileges,” but rather for
could not be farther from the truth. the same freedom of access for ROTC that is afforded
Currently, Brown makes it impractical for even the to other extracurricular programs. Keeping ROTC
t h e b r ow n da i ly h e r a l d most interested students to participate in the ROTC
program. Lack of adequate transportation is the biggest
off-campus unjustly penalizes students in the program,
depriving them of valuable time and energy that many
Editors-in-Chief Deputy Managing Editors Senior Editors deterrent. Providence College is three miles away from industrious Brown students cannot afford to sacrifice.
Sydney Ember Brigitta Greene Dan Alexander Brown, and while this might not seem like a very long
Ben Schreckinger Anne Speyer Nicole Friedman
Julien Ouellet distance, the majority of Brown students do not have Andrew Sia ’12
editorial Business
Kristina Fazzalaro Arts & Culture Editor General Managers Office Manager
Luisa Robledo Arts & Culture Editor

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The Brown Daily Herald
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Paper or plastic: checking out?
BY MIKE JOHNSON
Opinions Columnist
With the spring semester in full swing, it
is appropriate to take the time to address
a trend with which everyone is all too fa-
miliar — seniors mailing in the end of their
Brown careers.
This is not the same as the high school
brand of senioritis. Back then, we had all
probably heard from our schools of choice
and were preparing for the trips to Cost-
co to buy all the shampoo we would ever
need for the rest of our lives. The prospect
of higher education provided a safety net
of sorts, allowing us to coast through the
last three to five months of the school year.
I had it particularly good — at my high
school, seniors did not even have to take
finals. We would just slide through until
the last weeks of April, take our Advanced
Placement tests and watch movies for a
month and a half until “Pomp and Circum-
stance” escorted us out.
But at Brown, applying to graduate
school is not a given, unlike applying to
an undergraduate institution was in high
school. A smaller percentage of the gradu-
ating class goes on to pursue more degrees
than did after high school graduation, with
a larger chunk going directly to the work-
By CHELSEA WAITE
Opinions Columnist
For those who don’t know, something very
important is happening within the hal-
lowed halls of J. Walter Wilson on Tuesday
nights. After everyone else has finished
classes for the day, a group of students
congregates to participate in a project ded-
icated to exploring and pursuing the con-
cept of religious literacy.
Nothing like this has ever happened at
the University before, and frankly, the pro-
gram deserves solid coverage by The Her-
ald. Perhaps a hypothetical Herald article
will cover more of the particulars of the
project, but I would like to speak about its
crucial importance and the principles to
which it speaks.
In the interest of coming clean about
my own background, I was raised Unitar-
ian Universalist and continue to identify
that way. My faith has no set creed or dog-
ma but finds commonality around a set of
values and principles — for example, re-
specting the inherent worth and dignity of
every person or encouraging a free and re-
sponsible search for truth and meaning. As
I conceive of it, my religion is about recog-
nizing and affirming those things that are
bigger than me in whatever way I see fit.
I know a lot of atheists here, and I have
great respect for them. By some defini-
tions, I count as one of them. I have heard
as many arguments about the empirical
nonsense of God as I have heard about
force. Some of those jobs start in June. Oth-
ers hold off until August, allowing us to sa-
vor the sweet freedom — and poverty — of
truly being on our own.
On the other side of the Van Wickle
Gates, there is no safety net. While the rise
of the welfare state in Western politics has
changed this to some extent, there is no
“reset button” awaiting us next September.
If we choose to coast through our last few
months, we are wasting the few risk-free
opportunities we have left to us, possibly
There is a distinction between a little
harmless coasting and wasting time.
for the rest of our lives. To do so is unfair to
ourselves, unfair to the University and un-
fair to our classmates, who are just as im-
portant in the learning experience as any
other aspect of the classroom.
By the time one becomes a senior, it is
a foregone conclusion that he or she has
learned how to game the system, to “get by”
doing minimum amounts of work when
necessary, putting in more effort down the
line to squeeze out another night of pro-
Truth Tuesdays
the continued conflict that religion has
caused. For many people, religion — re-
ligious institutions, religious people, re-
ligious dogma — has no tangible benefit.
In fact, it has a negative effect. Perhaps we
should just wash our hands of it complete-
ly and be done.
Well, no. Let’s back up. The conflict and
devastation produced in the world as a re-
sult of religious institutions and beliefs is
too complicated to simply blame on this
abstract and complex phenomenon of “re-
ligion.” Christianity in its essence is a faith
based on love, and Islam in many ways on
Our world’s religions all hold truth.
They all have wisdom to offer.
devotion and mercy. These are truly beau-
tiful basic values.
The evils that emerge from Christian-
ity and Islam — to name only two — stem
from the drives for power, for wealth and
for domination — drives that, unfortu-
nately, I think are inherent in human na-
ture rather than in religion. Religion gets
appropriated as the bearer of these evils
because it is so personally powerful —
what better way to command a group of
people than to convince them based on the
closest, most dear part of their hearts?
Our own beliefs as human beings some-
Opinions 7
crastination. These are life lessons that col-
lege is supposed to teach. Time manage-
ment goes hand-in-hand with prioritizing,
and over four years, the wheat leaves the
chaff far behind.
Part of this may stem from the reality
that many of us have finished our concen-
trations, and we use the final semester or
year to take courses we would never have
dreamed of taking. This “better late than
never” approach to the New Curriculum
is widespread and should not be abolished.
Some departments want their concentra-
tors to at least be somewhat focused on the
area in which they will receive a degree and
require that a class of a certain level only be
taken during the senior year. This is unob-
trusive and effective.
There is a distinction between a little
harmless coasting and wasting time. Stu-
dents that take “gut” courses in their senior
year because they heard they were easy or
because they are introductory level classes
times seem like the only things we really
own when everything else is lost. As such,
people can be easily coerced or manipulat-
ed based on belief. Humans are subject to
unfortunate, even devastating, tendencies.
I hope that rather than blaming the vehi-
cle of these tendencies, we might actually
work to control them.
One of the important opportunities in
the Religious Literacy Project is that of an
unencumbered glimpse into the deeply re-
ligious. Sessions about a particular faith
include both a person of that faith — most
often a Chaplain or other affiliate endorsed
by the Office of the Chaplain and Religious
Life — and an academic specializing in the
study of that faith. I am often most struck
by the practitioner. I am struck, more spe-
cifically, at the beauty and wisdom that ex-
ude from their explanations of their reli-
gious traditions.
Our world’s religions all hold truth.
They all have wisdom to offer. It may be
that you think some of the specifics of
their theologies are, frankly, ridiculous.
That’s fine. But the lessons, big questions
and challenges that come from those the-
ologies can be valuable to us all.
should get themselves to the registrar and
find somewhere else to be. If you are chat-
ting in the back of class because you do not
really want to be there and just want your
30th credit to get your diploma, go home,
take the class satisfactory/no credit and
show up for the final. The slides are online.
Seniors who feel entitled to some “me
time” in their class selection are a distrac-
tion to those who care about the material,
are a hassle for the professors who devote
their precious time to teaching and may
very well have taken a spot in a crowded
class away from a deserving, enthusias-
tic underclassman. The priority we receive
from gracious professors during shopping
period should not be abused just so we can
take something that looks cool or does not
have too much work.
Senior year is a wonderful time. Seniors
are generally appreciative of the fact that
we do not have many free opportunities re-
maining to us. Unfortunately, too many of
those seniors focus on the wrong free op-
portunities. While some harmless experi-
mentation with what we are learning is to
be expected and understood, do not waste
your peers’, professors’ or your own time by
checking out and waiting until Memorial
Day weekend.
Mike Johnson ’11 takes every class for all
the wrong reasons.
That’s mostly the Unitarian in me
speaking. Nevertheless, the literacy proj-
ect helps us to see the commonalities be-
tween people of faith while also celebrat-
ing their differences. It helps us to see how
religious people tackle the same questions,
insecurities and fears as nonreligious peo-
ple — they just have a framework, a partic-
ular lens in which they view those issues.
I’ll end on a purely practical note. We
tend to have this conception, as students
in pursuit of intellectuality and academia,
that religions might be lined up on some
fold-up tables at the Activities Fair, ready
for us to choose or reject at our own dis-
cretion. Frankly, while choice can play an
important role in asserting our agency as
human beings, for many people, religion
is less a choice than a simple fact of life. As
such, it is a part of our world that we must
challenge ourselves to understand if we are
to make any progress towards tolerance.
Even if you’ve disagreed or found is-
sue with everything I’ve said in this article
thus far, the fact remains that billions of
people in this world are deeply religious in
one form or another. These people stand
by their faiths and deserve respect. Most of
all, I want to see more people at Brown and
beyond approach religion and religious
people with an open mind and a readi-
ness to listen and learn. And the abundant
presence of those qualities is what is re-
markable about what happens in J. Walter
Wilson on Tuesday nights.
Chelsea Waite ’11 likes hearing
about your beliefs.
Daily Herald Campus News
the Brown
News in brief
Herald file photo
Professor Gordon Wood will receive
a National Humanities Medal for his
work on the American Revolution.
Obama to honor
Wood at White
House today
Gordon Wood, professor
emeritus of history, will
receive the 2010 National
Humanities Medal from
President Obama today at the
White House. Wood, along
with nine other recipients, will
be honored in the East Room
at 1:45 p.m.
Wood is being recognized
for work that “provides insight
into the founding of our
nation and the drafting of the
United States Constitution,”
according to a White House
press release. He has written
several books on the period
of the American Revolution,
winning a Pulitzer Prize and
the Ralph Waldo Emerson
Prize for his book “The
Radicalism of the American
Revolution” and the Bancroft
Prize for “The Creation of the
American Republic, 1776-
1787.”
The National Humanities
Medal annually recognizes
up to 12 scholars whose work
strengthens “the nation’s
understanding of humanities,”
“citizens’ engagement with
humanities” or “Americans’
access to important resources
in the humanities,” according
to the National Endowment
for the Humanities website.
This year’s recipients also
include Joyce Carol Oates and
Philip Roth.
Wood said in a University
press release that he hopes
the recognition will bring
attention to his field.
“We don’t teach history
because we want to have
history teachers or history
professors,” he said. “We’re
teaching history because it
enriches lives.”
Wood’s next project will
be editing the letters of John
Adams for publication by the
Library of America. He could
not be reached for further
comment late last night.
Winners of the 2010
National Medal of Arts will
also be recognized at the
ceremony.
— Shefali Luthra
On-campus parking fees to increase 4 percent
By CAROLINE FLANAGAN
Contributing Writer
The University will increase park-
ing fees for students, faculty and
staff by $30 for the next fiscal year,
according to the proposed 2012
budget. The increase would bring
the on-campus per-year parking
rate to $760 for students and $550
for faculty and staff.
The fee has increased every
year since at least 2006 when it
was $340 for employees and $465
for students. The budgeted prices
represent more than a 50 percent
increase in the cost of on-campus
parking over the past five years. At
the beginning of the current fiscal
year, parking fees increased by $10
for both students and employees.
The year before, they increased by
$120 for students and $85 for staff
and faculty.
“Historically, the parking fees
were increased at a rate of 5 per-
cent per year, but the low annual
increase was not enough to sus-
tain the increase in transportation
services such as the shuttle and
(the Rhode Island Public Transit
Authority),” said Elizabeth Gentry,
assistant vice president for finan-
cial and administrative services.
Parking fees are used by the
Transportation Office to pay for
services such as SafeRide, RIPTA
passes and ZipCar. Only about
Mural selected for
U. promotes in-state
opportunities for alums Med School building
By Aparna Bansal
Senior Staff Writer
When students envision their
lives after Brown, few consider
staying in Rhode Island. But in
an effort to retain graduates, the
University has been working with
the Association of Independent
Colleges and Universities of
Rhode Island to launch Bridge,
a joint initiative aimed at en-
couraging more alums to stay in
Rhode Island.
Dan Egan, president of the as-
sociation, said the idea came from
a knowledge symposium held at
the University last year, which
brought together business lead-
ers and academics in the state.
President Ruth Simmons and
presidents from seven other insti-
tutions in the state have pledged
their support for the program.
According to Egan, the number
of Brown students who remain
in the state after graduation will
be released next month, but it is
less than the figure for graduates
of other schools in Rhode Island.
The retention rate for Rhode Is-
land schools is generally between
10 and 15 percent, he said.
The idea for Bridge came from
a series of discussions about “the
knowledge-based economy and
the role of the University in that
economy,” said Richard Spies, ex-
ecutive vice president for plan-
ning and senior adviser to the
President. “There could be more
half of this money comes from
parking fees, Gentry said, and the
rest is subsidized by the University.
Next fiscal year’s budget allocates
$92,000 for transportation ser-
vices, $45,000 of which will come
from parking fees.
Despite steady price increases,
demand for on-campus parking
outstrips supply, with many stu-
dents ending up on a wait list to
get a spot.
And spots have gotten scarcer
as construction projects made
parking lots, such as the one in
front of the Olney-Margolis Ath-
letic Center, unusable, Gentry
said.
Some students choose to avoid
using University parking and find
alternative parking near campus.
Parking spots on Craigslist range
in price from $50-$150 a month.
David Manning ’13 chose to
forego on-campus parking in favor
of an off-campus spot because “the
price was way cheaper,” he said,
adding that he did not like the lots
offered by the University.
“I could have had to walk all the
way across campus to get to my
car, but now my car’s only three
blocks away,” he said. “Most people
I know either live off campus in
houses where parking’s included,
or they pay for off-campus park-
ing. Most of them don’t pay for
Brown parking.”
internship opportunities avail-
able if we were more systematic
about identifying them,” Spies
said, adding that he wanted to
help Brown students feel like
they were part of the community
rather than “four-year visitors.”
“There’s a lot here in Provi-
dence and Rhode Island that you
don’t see with so much to do on
campus,” he said. “We care about
graduates having successful ca-
reers, and we also care about the
community and the robustness of
the economy.”
Egan said he hopes Bridge
will highlight these opportuni-
ties to students and show them
that staying in Providence “may
be the right choice for the right
person.” He added that it is the
“perfect time” to do so as gradu-
ates are finding it difficult to find
jobs in this economy, and those
that might have “traditionally fled
to (Los Angeles), Singapore or
London” might be convinced to
stay in the state and help grow
the economy here.
“I’m looking forward to ex-
periencing Rhode Island while
not in the college bubble,” said
Rebekah Bergman ’11, who will
be working with Teach for Amer-
ica in the state after graduation.
“I want to give back to the city
and the community,” she added.
“I’m very comfortable with my
decision.”
continued on page 4
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
On-campus parking fees since fiscal year 2006
$800
$700
$600
$500
$400
$300
$200
$100
$0
FY06 FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12
Parking fees on campus have steadily increased to fund transportation services.
By Caitlin Trujillo
Senior Staff Writer
The University’s Public Art Com-
mittee selected a design for a mural
to decorate the new Medical Educa-
tion Building, which is scheduled
to open in July.
The committee chose Washing-
ton D.C. artist Larry Kirkland’s de-
sign for an alcove above the build-
ing’s main lobby and between its
two auditoriums, said Mike Mc-
Cormick, assistant vice president
for planning, design and construc-
tion and a committee member. The
seven-member Public Art Commit-
tee includes former Corporation
fellow Artemis Joukowsky ’55 P’87,
Public Art Fund President Susan
Freedman ’82 and faculty and staff
members.
Major University construction
projects allocate 1 percent of their
budgets to public art displays, Mc-
Cormick said. The Alpert Medical
School building project will cost
an estimated $45 million, of which
$30.5 million has been raised to
date, according to the Med School’s
website.
Kirkland expects to meet with
University faculty and Med School
students again before the design is
finalized, he said. The design he
proposed emphasizes the relation-
ship between two people — such
as a doctor and patient — and
includes a representation of two
heartbeats, he said.
Staff/Faculty Students
Anna Migliaccio / Herald
Stephanie London / Herald
Kirkland said he envisions two
stone chairs positioned in front of
the mural to further the theme of
relationships.
He emphasized “the humanity
of medicine” to highlight Brown’s
interdisciplinary philosophy.
“I want the doctor to understand
the science but also to understand
that each person is unique in their
life and lifestyle,” Kirkland said. “I
want my physician to help me make
the right choice for my life.”
Other proposals placed artwork
above the first-floor staircase as well
as in the alcove, but Kirkland’s de-
sign only incorporates the alcove,
said Jo-Ann Conklin, director of
the David Winton Bell Gallery in
the List Art Center and a committee
member. The committee especially
liked Kirkland’s incorporation of
traditional and “very rich” materi-
als like marble and granite into his
design, she said.
Kirkland will return to campus
to discuss the mural with a focus
group of medical faculty and stu-
dents. He said he is considering
casting small objects with signifi-
cance to the Med School in bronze
to place on the wall beside the mu-
ral, he said.
Public art in University build-
ings allows community members
to feel connected with the space,
McCormick said. “We think public
art, especially when it’s built into
the building, makes it a better
building.”