Daily Herald the Brown
vol. cxlv, no. 36 | Friday, March 19, 2010 | Serving the community daily since 1891
Simmons Hockey’s Kellar ’97, mom
warns HEI and gold-medal Olympian
over rights
By Alex Bell
Senior Staff Writer
President Ruth Simmons wrote a
letter to HEI Hotels and Resorts’
CEO last month to publicly express
concern over reports of workers’
rights violations, becoming the first
university leader to do so, according
to a March 15 press release from the
Brown Student Labor Alliance.
HEI is accused of unfair labor
practices, including allegedly in-
terrogating employees about their
union activity, threatening job loss
for continued participation in union
activity and confiscating union ma-
terials, the release said.
Writing on behalf of Brown’s
Advisory Committee on Corporate
Responsibility in Investment Poli-
cies, Simmons sent a stern warning
to HEI CEO Gary Mendell.
“Notwithstanding the fact that the
Committee does not deem it their
responsibility to opine about the
method to be used in determining
whether your hotel employees are
represented by a particular union,”
Simmons wrote, “they have advised
me to state for the record that if
there were to be any truth to the
claims of the union and others that
workers at some of your properties
have been subjected to intimidation
by managers due to their pro-union
activities, this would be a matter of
deep concern and contrary to our
standards for investing.”
HEI spokesman Jess Petitt said
his company takes any accusations,
continued on page 3
Brendan DeWolf ’13 and Miranda Pool ’11 in “Paid Programming: an
Infomercial Love Story,” one of this weekend’s mini-musicals.
inside
News.....1-4
Arts...........5
Editorial.....6
Opinion......7
Today........8
www.browndailyherald.com
By Lindor Qunaj
Contributing Writer
When Becky Kellar ’97 was on the
women’s ice hockey team in the
mid-1990s, she was “extremely
superstitious,” according to Head
Coach Digit Murphy. Kellar wore
the same pair of “bright green neon
socks” during all of her games and
most likely did not wash them for
“the entire four years,” Murphy said.
He said the socks were meant to
bring good luck to Kellar and the
team, helping them perform well
in their games.
FEATURE
Although Kellar no longer wears
these socks, it seems that they defi-
nitely worked. This past February,
Kellar was part of the Canadian
Olympic women’s ice hockey team’s
third straight gold medal win, de-
feating the United States 2–0 in the
gold medal final.
A four-time Olympian, Kellar
first competed in the 1998 games in
Dorms, grad school on Simmons’ agenda
By Ben Noble
Contributing Writer
Large tuition increases “absolutely
will not be an option” to balance
the budget in the future, President
Ruth Simmons told a less than half
full Salomon 101 in her State of
Brown address Thursday after-
noon.
She also announced that the
University is designing a plan to
expand and overhaul student resi-
dence halls on campus. The “long-
Nick Sinnott-Armstrong / Herald
News, 3
Match Day
Fourth-year med school
students celebrate
residency decisions
195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island
Nagano, Japan, where the team won
the silver medal. Her success contin-
ued in the Salt Lake City and Torino
games of 2002 and 2006, where her
team won gold both times.
Kellar’s journey to the Olym-
pics began during her senior year
at Brown, when she submitted an
application for one of the eight avail-
able spots on the Canadian team.
She attended one of the three camps
being held across the country, and
soon afterwards, she learned that
she had been selected to join the
national team.
“It was pretty amazing to have
made the team, especially since it
was the first time women’s hockey
had been added to the games,”
Kellar said. Participating in the
Olympics “was something I always
wanted to do but never knew I could
achieve.”
Kellar said her interest in the
sport came from playing ringette
— a game similar to hockey — as a
child, before she turned to hockey
at the age of 12. “I was always in-
terested in the sport — my brother
overdue” study will be completed
next year, she said.
Simmons stressed the im-
portance of expanding graduate
research and international out-
reach.
“When the needs are so numer-
ous, it is understandably difficult
to know where to start,” she said
at the event, which was organized
by the Undergraduate Council of
Students.
Simmons said the University
Resources Committee needed to
Brownbrokers’ mini-
musicals supersize fun
By Kristina Fazzalaro
Senior Staff Writer
What do fat camps, elevators and
Snuggies all have in common? They
are all featured in Brownbrokers’
third annual Mini-Musical Festival,
running Friday through Monday
night in the downstairs space of
T.F. Green Hall.
ARTS & CULTURE
This year’s festival presents sev-
en student-written mini-musicals,
each lasting 15 to 30 minutes. The
festival “fosters original work at
Brown” in ways that other produc-
The U.S.’s Shelley Looney keeps herself and Canada’s Becky Kellar off
the boards during a game January 8, 2002, in Vancouver.
played, my father was a fan and as
you know, it’s a very big sport up
here.”
She excelled in her sport, be-
coming what Murphy describes as
a “phenomenally fluid skater.” As
one of the top players in Ontario,
raise tuition in order to avoid mak-
ing “more draconian decisions.”
But she assured the audience that
“substantial” tuition increases will
not be considered “going forth.”
She also responded to “frustra-
tion” over Brown’s place in national
rankings compiled by publications
such as U.S. News and World Re-
port.
“The rankings don’t seem to
give Brown credit for the excel-
continued on page 3
tions simply can’t, said Elizabeth
Rothman ’11, who co-wrote “The
Elevator Musical” with Lee Taglin
’10.
Showcasing 13 writers and 35
actors from the Brown community,
the festival is a “great way to show
off people that couldn’t be in one
big show,” explained Nick White
’10, who is co-directing “Charlie
Bit My Finger: The Musical” and
“The Elevator Musical” with Liz
Livingstone ’10.
The festival started in 2008 as a
“fly by the seat of our pants” ven-
ture by Brownbrokers, according to
continued on page 5
Arts, 5
Map Quest
John Carter Brown Library
unveils exhibit of maps
from 1492 to U.S.A.
Dean Rutz / Seattle Times
Kellar was recruited by the Brown
women’s ice hockey team and dur-
ing her recruiting trip, Kellar fell
in love with Brown’s campus. “It
seemed like something that was
continued on page 2
Seniors
struggle
with theses
By Sarah Forman
Senior Staf f Writer
In some departments, as many as
one-third of the students who begin
the laborious process of writing a
senior thesis don’t finish, while other
concentrations see virtually no attri-
tion. Though most administrators
and students agree that thesis writ-
ers need strong relationships with
their advisers in order to complete
the project, it is unclear whether
the pre-thesis seminars required
in some departments or the extra
layers of advising in others help
students write theses.
‘It wasn’t worth the stress’
The Department of Economics
has seen an uncharacteristically
high amount of thesis attrition this
year — 11 of the 33 students who be-
gan the process have now dropped
out, said Sriniketh Nagavarapu, as-
sistant professor of economics and
the honors and awards adviser for
the department.
“This year, we wanted to make
it easier for people to do an honors
thesis,” he said. The department
continued on page 2
Opinions, 7
caveat credit
Ethan Tobias ’12 considers
the benefits of a course
credit system
herald@browndailyherald.com
Page 2 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Friday, March 19, 2010

C ampus N EWS “A senior thesis is a sacrifice. It is agony.”

— Professor of History Ken Sacks

Unanticipated stress leads to high thesis attrition in some depts.

continued from page 1
offered a new fall course for thesis
writers that was meant to be a “fo-
rum for students to develop their
ideas,” to help them learn about
economic research and find an ad-
viser.
“Because the course was offered,
there were a lot of people who took
it,” Nagavarapu said. Normally only
about 10 students attempt honors
theses, and all of them finish, he
added.
“They didn’t realize necessar-
ily what they were getting into,” he
said of the students who dropped,
particularly because many of them
lacked the statistics background
they would need to complete the
thesis.
In response to the high attrition
rate, the department is adding a
new, “strongly suggested” course for
rising seniors that will meet over the
summer and try to introduce them
to economics research, Nagavarapu
said. So far, 21 students have signed
up, he said.
The honors program in the De-
partment of International Relations
has a comparably high attrition rate,
Assistant Director and Concentra-
tion Advisor for International Rela-
tions Claudia Elliott PhD’99 wrote
in an e-mail to The Herald. Despite
a relatively rigorous application
process — including a research
proposal submitted junior year and
course performance requirements
— about one-fourth to one-third of
the students accepted into the hon-
ors program drop out, she wrote.
About half of these students decide
not to write theses before they start
senior year.
The department added new ad-
vising and support systems for con-
centrators in 2007. Thesis writers in
international relations do not take a
preparatory junior seminar.
Caitlin Feehery ’10, who three
weeks ago decided not to complete
her biology thesis, said that her de-
partment and adviser did everything
possible to support her and keep her
in the program.
“I think I wasn’t fully aware of
what I’d have to do,” Feehery said.
After completing research in an evo-
lutionary and developmental biology
lab, she discovered that she would
need to learn computer program-
ming and computational biology in
order to synthesize all of her data.
“It would have involved doing a
lot of extra learning in a very short
period of time,” she said. “I just de-
cided it wasn’t worth the stress.”
‘Wide and varied topic’
Thesis attrition is rare in biology,
according to Marjorie Thompson,
associate dean of biological sci-
ences.
“Almost 100 percent of our con-
centrators who file for honors do
complete,” Thompson wrote in an
e-mail to The Herald.
The biology department has no
pre-thesis seminar for juniors.
“I think it would be kind of diffi-
cult to tailor it to our needs, because
they’re so different,” said Michael
Yokell ’10, a human biology con-
centrator. He said that while the de-
partment did not tell students how
to proceed if their thesis research
did not confirm their original hy-
pothesis, he did not think a junior
seminar would have helped him with
his thesis.
Tyler Lucero ’10, who is double
concentrating in geological sciences
and history but will write a geology
thesis, echoed Yokell when he said
that a junior seminar on research
methods would not have been use-
ful to him.
“Geology is such a broad sys-
tem,” he said. He thought that
because students do such varied
work within the department, a single
course could not easily “address
all the kinds of skills that might be
needed” for the different types of
research.
Development studies is a similar-
ly “wide and varied topic,” according
to concentrator Claire Williams ’10,
but she said that the seminar she
was required to take last year for
her thesis was “really helpful.”
Getting feedback from someone
with different research interests
and backgrounds in the seminar
helped Williams improve her re-
search methods and writing, she
said, especially when she had “moral
and ethical questions.”
All development studies concen-
trators are required to write theses,
though only students who write ex-
ceptional papers are nominated for
honors.
Environmental studies concen-
trators also face a thesis require-
ment, though students graduat-
ing after this year will be able to
choose between a series of capstone
projects and papers. The depart-
ment will continue to require that
its concentrators take a spring
course, intended for juniors, with
a syllabus emphasizing methods
of collecting and analyzing data in
order to complete group research
projects and prepare an individual
research proposal.
“Ideally, you make the proposal
this spring for the thesis you’ll write
in the fall,” said Noah Fisher GS,
who assists Professor of Sociology
J. Timmons Roberts in teaching the
course.
Patti Caton ’92 MA’02, the ad-
ministrative manager for the Cen-
ter for Environmental Studies, said
that when the thesis was required,
she only knew of two students who
could not complete it and therefore
dropped their environmental studies
concentration.
“I honestly don’t see that happen-
ing,” Caton said of students leaving
the honors track in order to write
a standard, less demanding senior
thesis. She said that of the 22 en-
vironmental studies concentrators
who graduated in 2009, all 13 of the
students who intended to complete
honors theses did so.
“We have a lot of support for
our thesis here,” Caton said, em-
phasizing the “close interaction”
students have with their advisors
and frequent, depar tment-wide
deadlines.
A community for concentrators
The Department of History will
also change its requirements for
seniors next year. Its junior research
methods seminar will no longer be
required, though Professor of His-
tory Ken Sacks expects that most
prospective thesis-writers will still
enroll.
Sacks, who has taught the course
in the past, said that it helps stu-
dents determine their interests
and identify professors with whom
they can collaborate to complete
research.
“It is extremely rare that anyone
drops,” he said of seniors who begin
writing theses. But he estimated that
two or three students out of the 25
who enroll in the junior seminar
decide not to begin the project.
The junior research seminar
helped history concentrator Evan
Pelz ’11 commit to a topic and decide
how to go about his research, he
wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.
“First and foremost, the class
forced me to think about my his-
tory classes at Brown and specific
interests, and solidify what I want to
write about,” wrote Pelz. He added
that the class “provided a great com-
munity” for history concentrators.
Williams said that her develop-
ment studies seminar also provided
peer support and camaraderie that
made the process much more man-
ageable.
Sacks said that the history de-
partment will closely monitor the
success rates for senior honors the-
ses over the next few years, once
the requirements change.
In the past, the honors program
has been self-selecting, and students
who cannot put in the time and ef-
fort required to write theses do not
usually begin them.
“A senior thesis is a sacrifice,”
said Sacks. “It is agony.”
“Your senior year gets very busy,”
said Jordi Torres ’10, a comparative
literature concentrator doing a liter-
ary translation for his senior thesis.
He said that the paper “can become
a really unmanageable burden.”
For Feehery, that burden just
“wouldn’t be worth it.”
Already accepted into a graduate
program, she did not see the point
of putting too much effort into re-
search she “wasn’t all that interested
in doing.”
“I don’t have to really pad my re-
sume anymore,” she said. “It’s defi-
nitely not the end of the world.”

sudoku
Kellar ’97 wins third gold in Vancouver
continued from page 1
the right fit,” she said.
Kellar said playing for the hockey
team at Brown was a very enriching
experience.
“It was an opportunity to play
hockey every day which I wouldn’t
have gotten had I stayed home,” she
said. “Being on a team where you’re
together for that much time really
teaches you about being a good
teammate and what it takes to be
successful.”
At an orientation event for fresh-
man athletes, Kellar met Katie King
’97, a fellow hockey player who would
end up becoming one of her close
friends. King recounted the story
“On the ice, it’s completely differ-
ent. You’re playing for your country
and trying to win,” King said. “But
it’s always interesting to be in that
situation and then after the game,
you just talk about it together.”
Aside from her athletic abilities,
Murphy said Kellar was highly mo-
tivated. Back in the mid-1990s, the
Winter Olympics were not as popu-
lar and accepted as they are now,
Murphy said.
“At the time, we were pioneers,”
she said. “But now, people know
about the Olympics, about being
on TV.”
But love of the game was more
important to Kellar than fame, Mur-
phy said.
played for the softball team. Jug-
gling these multiple commitments
was great practice for juggling her
athletic career, education and other
aspects of her life, Kellar said. In
October 2004, her first of two sons
was born. With the Olympics just 16
months away, she said it was “dif-
ficult to adjust.”
“It was a lot harder than when I
only had to worry about myself. The
biggest thing is that you’re used to
just walking out the door when you
need to get somewhere but when you
have kids, there’s a constant juggle,”
she said.
Murphy praised Kellar for this
ability to effectively integrate her
athletic and family lives, and said

Daily Herald
of her first meeting with Kellar: “My “As a generation, kids can say, that her success will encourage other
the Brown
mom said, ‘You’re going to become ‘I want that.’ But Becky didn’t have women to follow their aspirations.
very good friends with her,’ and I just that — she did it because she loved “The way that she has managed to
Editorial Phone: 401.351.3372 | Business Phone: 401.351.3260 told her, ‘I have no idea what you’re it,” she said. achieve being a mom and profes-
George Miller, President Katie Koh, Treasurer talking about.’ But it turns out she Murphy went on to add that as a sional athlete helps role model that
Claire Kiely, Vice President Chaz Kelsh, Secretary was right.” defensive player, Kellar “didn’t get behavior for future generations of
The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is an independent newspaper serv- King, the current head coach the credit she deserved” since she females,” she said.
ing the Brown University community daily since 1891. It is published Monday for the women’s ice hockey team wasn’t the one putting up the big Although Kellar said she will not
through Friday during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during at Boston College, is also a former numbers and scoring goals. How- compete in the 2014 Winter Olym-
Commencement, once during Orientation and once in July by The Brown Daily
Herald, Inc. Single copy free for each member of the community.
Olympian. A member of the Ameri- ever, “she has been an incredibly pics, she will continue playing for
POSTMASTER please send corrections to P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI can team in the 1998, 2002, and 2006 important component on ever y the Burlington Barracudas, a team
02906. Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Offices are located at 195 games, she has had the opportunity team she’s been on,” Murphy said. in the Canadian Women’s Hockey
Angell St., Providence, R.I. E-mail herald@browndailyherald.com. to go up against her friend on many “She didn’t need the awards and ac- League. “I will always play for fun,
World Wide Web: http://www.browndailyherald.com.
Subscription prices: $319 one year daily, $139 one semester daily.
occasions. The highly competitive colades.” regardless of what the level is,” she
Copyright 2010 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved. nature of the Olympics, however, has While at Brown, Kellar was a said. “But my next big focus is the
not changed their friendship. psychology concentrator and also boys and their endeavors.”
Friday, March 19, 2010
C ampus N EWS
Brown is ‘less competitive,’ Simmons says Student and father write
continued from page 1
lence of its standards and its pro-
grams,” she said.
Simmons explained that Brown’s
profile — with graduate students
comprising only 27 percent of the
student body — is very different
from other top American universi-
ties, many of which have profes-
sional schools and considerably
larger faculties and facilities.
“We have no desire at this point
to be like those institutions,” she
said. “Brown does not seek merely
to be large.”
“But if Brown does not consider
expanding modestly over the com-
ing decade,” she added, “we will
find it very difficult to achieve our
goals in a feverishly competitive
global environment.”
She told the audience of approxi-
mately 100 students and faculty,
“Our strength derives from our
interdisciplinary agility, a manage-
able scale, the deep engagement of
faculty and students and the proven
ability to innovate.”
While Brown performs “exceed-
ingly well” in most undergraduate
categories, Simmons acknowledged
weaknesses in the University’s
financial resources as well as re-
search and graduate programs.
“We are less competitive,” she
said. “There is just no way to move
the needle on Brown’s assets, repu-
tation and rank without committing
to more research productivity.”
She also spoke of the importance
of collaborative relationships with
institutions outside of College Hill.
She highlighted the University’s
partnership with the Marine Bio-
logical Laboratory of Woods Hole,
Mass., and a venture with IBM to
develop a supercomputer.
“These relationships provide op-
portunities for students to become
familiar with the world in a way that
no previous generation has been
able to contemplate,” she said.
Simmons placed great emphasis
on the University’s global presence
as well as crafting a “meaningfully
international curriculum.”
“Brown must do its part in both
bringing students and scholars from
around the world to Brown and in
UTRA awards constant from last year
By Thomas Jarus
Contributing Writer
Applicants for summer Under-
graduate Teaching and Research
Awards were informed of deci-
sions March 12, and the number
of awards remained the same as
last year, said Besenia Rodriguez,
associate dean of the College for
undergraduate research.
In Februar y, Rodriguez said
the University would not be able
to expand the UTRA program be-
cause of financial constraints.
“Given the economic crisis, we
are proud to have been able to
keep our funding rate at slightly
over 200” awards, Rodriguez wrote
in an e-mail to The Herald.
She added that this number
included 16 international awards
for students going to places such
President Ruth Simmons delivered the first State of Brown lecture
since 2006 Thursday afternoon.
sending our students and scholars
to other parts of the world,” she
said. In particular, she stressed
Brown’s connection with India, a
nation unique “by virtue of its popu-
lation size, economic potential and
educational prowess.”
Simmons will be traveling to In-
dia over spring break for the first
meeting of the University’s newly
formed India Advisory Council.
“In order for our visibility in their
country to increase, we have to be
there,” she said.
Simmons later described the
University’s organizational review
process in response to the economic
crisis that severely hurt Brown’s en-
dowment. She said that the Univer-
sity Resources Committee and the
Organizational Review Committee
were careful to minimize the impact
of budget cuts on student life.
“Nevertheless, some difficult
ones will be felt,” she said.
Simmons said the University is
as Mexico, Mali, Israel, Palestine,
France and Indonesia, among oth-
ers.
Interest in undergraduate re-
search among social science and
humanities concentrators has in-
creased since last year, Rodriguez
wrote. Her office saw a 4 percent
increase in these applications rela-
tive to those in the physical and life
sciences, she wrote. Last month,
Rodriguez told The Herald that
her office wanted to “increase the
visibility of UTRAs among humani-
ties and social science students.”
Shannon O’Brien ’12 will spend
her summer conducting anthro-
pological research in the Oaxaca
region of Mexico, she said. She
said she will study “the role of
language dif ference in ethnic
violence” under Paja Faudree, an
assistant professor of anthropol-
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
Nick Sinnott-Armstrong / Herald
proceeding on schedule with its
capital plan, which includes the ren-
ovation of the Stephen Robert ’62
Campus Center at Faunce House
and the construction of the Perry
and Marty Granoff Center for the
Creative Arts.
UCS President Clay Wertheim-
er ’10 said attendance was “not
ideal, but understandable given
the weather.” A group of students
relaxing on the Main Green said
sunny skies and unseasonably
warm spring temperatures likely
deterred many from attending the
afternoon event.
Simmons spoke for approximate-
ly 40 minutes and answered ques-
tions from the audience. The State of
Brown address had not taken place
since 2006, but Wertheimer said it
was important to hold the event this
year as the University conducts its
organizational review.
But, he added, “I see a need for
this event annually.”
ogy.
Chloe O’Connell ’12 said she
plans to work with a psychiatrist at
Butler Hospital this summer.
O’Connell said her research
will involve statistics, computer
programming and computational
biology. “We’re tr ying to figure
out if there’s a genetic cause for
schizophrenia and, if so, what it
is,” she said.
The cooperation between stu-
dents and their mentors repre-
sents a major part of the UTRA
program, which pairs students
with a faculty member.
Katie Pleet ’12, who will spend
the summer researching “Inter-
net-initiated sexual assaults of
minors,” said she is “really ex-
cited to be participating in a col-
laborative research project with
a professor.”
“It’s a time when the world is united.”
— Steven Stark P’11 on the FIFA World Cup
guide to World Cup
By Ashley Aydin
Senior Staff Writer
This year rings in the 2010 FIFA World
Cup, a competition that never fails to
bring out the passion that both Harry
Stark ’11 and Steven Stark P’11 share
for soccer. The two have collaborated
on a guidebook about the World Cup
that will be published at the beginning
of April. The guidebook, “World Cup
2010: The Indispensable Guide to
Soccer and Geopolitics,” focuses on
the significance of the World Cup and
how it shapes country relations.
Stark and Stark wrote a shorter
version of their guidebook four years
ago and released it as an e-book on
Amazon as part of a program called
Amazon Shorts. The Starks then
received a book deal and found a
publisher who was “interested in
doing a more conventional book to
treat soccer as an aspect of culture,”
Steven Stark said.
The guidebook, Harry Stark’s
first publication, consists of four- to
five-page essays about this year’s 32
teams and their soccer culture, his-
tory and strategies of play. The book
also focuses on the geopolitics of the
World Cup.
Harry Stark said that to research
his book, he and his father watched
soccer games on television, looked
at team sheets and lineups on the
Internet and read a lot about soccer
as an aspect of culture in books by
authors such as Simon Kuper and
Gabriele Marcotti.
Stark said that he has always been
obsessed with soccer and that the
time he spent living in Europe has
SLA keeps the pressure on,
‘pleased’ with U.’s response
continued from page 1
especially with regard to its employ-
ees, very seriously.
“We stand by our record as an
employer,” Petitt said. The company
has not been found guilty of any vio-
lations as of right now, he said. The
charges made against HEI will go
before the National Labor Relations
Board in April.
“I think their interest is in hearing
what the results of the NLRB hear-
ing is,” Petitt said of the University’s
motivations for sending the letter.
Petitt said, to his knowledge,
Brown has not withdrawn its invest-
ments from the company or taken
any other actions.
Elizabeth Caldwell ’12, a mem-
ber of SLA, said students from the
group met with Simmons in early
February about writing a letter to
the company. At that time, Simmons
responded that she would talk with
the advisor y committee and get
back to the students in two weeks,
Caldwell said.
But after two weeks, SLA mem-
bers decided to give Simmons a
reminder by delivering a letter reit-
erating their concerns to Simmons’
office. That day, administrators told
the students the letter had been sent,
Page 3
had a huge impact on what soccer
means to him.
“When I lived in Chester (United
Kingdom), I talked about soccer,
played soccer, studied the players and
learned the local soccer language,”
Stark said.
Stark said the World Cup is even
more of a truly global event than the
Olympics.
“Take the last World Cup final —
never before has half the planet done
something together,” Stark said.
Steven Stark also emphasized
this point, saying that outside of the
United States, the World Cup is a
hallmark event.
“If you go to Italy or Bolivia or any
African country, the countries shut
down for a month. It’s a premiere
event. It’s a time when the world is
united. Over one billion people watch
the final,” he said.
Steven Stark said that culture
plays an important part in the book
because the book identifies teams by
the way they approach soccer, play it
and react to it.
For example, he said there is“a lot
of geopolitics when the Netherlands
plays Germany. They experience the
Germans as occupiers and it’s a huge
aspect of how they play the game.
When Cameroon plays a colonial oc-
cupier, it’s a huge factor in how they
perform. There’s always a geopoliti-
cal aspect.”
He said on paper, Spain is the best
team in the world, but its various au-
tonomous regions get in the way of
its performance in matches.
continued on page 4
Caldwell said.
“When we actually saw the lan-
guage of the letter, we were pretty
pleased,” Caldwell said. “There was
definitely a direct response to the
meeting.”
Although a copy of the letter was
provided to SLA, the letter was not
made public until the Office of Pub-
lic Affairs and University Relations
released a copy of it to The Herald
on Wednesday.
Caldwell said the group recently
received word that HEI replied to
Simmons’ letter.
Petitt said the response contained
a “detailed understanding of the on-
going issues” the company has had.
He said he was not authorized to
release the letter.
Caldwell said the company’s
response denied allegations, but
offered to meet with Simmons or
Brown students to discuss the is-
sues.
Student groups at Yale, Princeton,
the University of Pennsylvania, the
University of Chicago, Vanderbilt
University and the University of
Notre Dame have also requested
that their administrations condemn
HEI or even threaten divesting from
the company, according to the re-
spective schools’ newspapers.
Page 4
C ampus N EWS
Med students get Match Day residency decisions
By Sarah Mancone
Senior Staff Writer
Fourth-year Alpert Medical School
students gathered with faculty, ad-
ministration, families and friends
in Andrews Dining Hall Thursday
at noon to participate in the annual
medical event Match Day, when stu-
dents find out where they will be
working for the next few years.
Ever y year, medical students
matched into residency programs
gather at a reception and are given
the results of their application to the
National Resident Matching Pro-
gram. These results tell students at
what hospital they will be working
and in what specialty they will be
training for the next several years.
The event provided food and des-
serts — including champagne with
strawberries — as well as a jazz band
featuring Associate Dean of Medical
Education Philip Gruppuso.
Match Day is a “big deal,” said
Dean of Medicine and Biological
Sciences Edward Wing.
Stark ’11 and Stark P’11 pen book on World Cup culture
continued from page 3
“When you try to create a national
team, it’s difficult for Spain because
players from different regions don’t
get along with each other, and it
cripples the Spanish effort,” Steven
Stark said.
With regards to the U.S. and its
soccer future, Stark and Stark were
both convinced that the national pas-
sion for soccer and its culture needs
The students gathered into lines
and waited until they were given
the envelopes containing the deci-
sions.
This decision determines “where
you’re living, where you’re training,”
said Judy Lin MD’10.
As the students received their
envelopes, their anxiety soon dis-
sipated and was replaced by cheers,
claps, hugs and high fives. Not long
after, many students were already on
their cell phones to inform family
and friends who could not be at the
event about their results.
“The match was really good this
year,” Wing said. Most students
were placed into their first choice
programs, he added.
“I’m really excited,” said Peter
Davis MD’10, who was placed into
a residency in pediatric neurology
at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical
Center, which he said was his first
choice.
“I’m elated,” said James Miller
MD’10. “The majority of the class
matched where they want to be,”
to be improved.
“I think the notion that the U.S. is
a nation in which we pride ourselves
on a manual labor (hands not feet) is
interesting,” Harry Stark said.
Stark also said that the success
of the women’s soccer team has had
a large impact on the popularity of
soccer in the U.S.
“Sports culture has continued to
be male-dominated. It’s cemented in
American sports. Because of sports
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
“I usually read the New York Times, Providence
Journal or the Daily Herald.” — Annie Wick ’13
he added.
Ninety-four students were placed
into residencies in different states
across the country and in Canada.
Out of this number, 16 were matched
into hospitals affiliated with the Med
School.
Mary Sutter MD’10 expressed
excitement about staying at Brown
for a residency in family medicine at
Memorial Hospital, addingthat a lot
of great students would be remaining
in Providence with her.
“Our class did awesome,” Sut-
ter said.
“It’s definitely a relief,” said Law-
rence Yu ’06 MD’10. “It’s nice to get
everything over with,” he added.
The most popular specialty into
which students were matched was
internal medicine, with 15 matching
into that field. This number does
not include those who will have a
preliminary residency in medicine
before moving on to a specialty. The
next most popular was pediatrics,
with 14 matches. Other common
specialties included emergency
culture being male-dominated, any
sport which women are better than
men is never going to hit it off,” he
said.
Stark and Stark both said that they
were enthusiastic for the World Cup
to take place in South Africa.
Steven Stark said that the idea
that only the wealthiest nations in
the world could host the cup is a ri-
diculous notion.
“Assuming it comes off well, it’s
medicine, surgery, obstetrics and
gynecology, radiology, psychiatry
and family medicine.
“There are no real metrics to com-
pare ourselves to other schools,” As-
sociate Dean Gruppuso wrote in an
e-mail to The Herald. “We look at the
proportion of our students who are
pleased, and it is very high — even
though many of our students are
trying to match in highly competitive
specialties and programs.”
The magnitude of the excitement
in the room became apparent when
Wing stood up at the podium. People
were so thrilled that he could not
quiet them down. When Wing was
able to gain the attention of the room,
he expressed his congratulations to
the class of 2010.
“The match this year was spectac-
ular,” he said. This class was “one of
the best that has ever gone through
Alpert Medical School,” he added.
“Congratulations on the match,
congratulations on your work,” Wing
said as he raised a glass to toast the
class.
going to be a wonderful thing,” Ste-
ven Stark said.
Harry Stark said that Pan-African-
ism will be interesting to observe.
“It will be interesting to see the
support and unity from all African
teams, which I haven’t seen in the
past. Home advantage is so big.
They’ll probably overachieve,” Stark
said.
The Starks said they are both
looking forward to seeing the distinc-
tive cultural imprint that the World
Cup will make.
“Because the World Cup follows
patterns, whenever it’s on a new con-
tinent, weird things happen. It’s a
thrill. A lot of countries that haven’t
seen success before will rise up,
which makes it more exciting,” Harry
Stark said.
Stark and Stark will continue their
2010 World Cup coverage over the
summer for RealClearSports.com.
Friday, March 19, 2010
news in brief
Financial Times
in dining halls
for a short time
Pink newspapers have
made their way to dining
halls — for a limited time
only.
The Financial Times
informed Brown Dining
Services of a promotion
taking place on several
campuses in which they offer
the newspaper at no cost for
several weeks, Peter Rossi,
associate director of Dining
Services, wrote in an e-mail
to The Herald.
Student reactions varied
widely. While Nicholas
Rosholt ’10 described the
transition as “frickin’ sweet,”
Chris Westley ’11 said he
“hadn’t noticed” it was
now available, despite the
fact it lay on his table. Sam
Woolford ’10, who also had
it next to him, said he had
“never read the Financial
Times.”
John Prah ’12, who carried
the Times to his table, said,
“I’m not complaining,” and
considered the move “good,”
though he commented, “the
Ratty needs the New York
Times more regularly.”
Overall, students seemed
to favor the New York Times.
“I usually read the New York
Times, Providence Journal
or the Daily Herald,” Westley
said, and Annie Wick ’13 said
of newspapers in general,
“I don’t read them anyway,
and I definitely wouldn’t
pick up the Financial Times.
Actually, I do read the New
York Times, but if I cared
enough I’d read it online.”
Dining Services does not
plan to offer the paper once
the promotion is completed,
Rossi wrote.
— Sofia Castello
Arts & Culture
The Brown Daily Herald
The cast of “The Spider Musical, or How to Lose What You Have Before You Have It,” on stage at PW.
Mini-musicals: big things in small packages
continued from page 1
Aaron Malkin ’10, a member of the
Brownbrokers Board and director
of the mini-musical “Fat Camp.”
Since then, the festival has
grown and Brownbrokers has
worked to get more of the Brown
community involved. “This year we
started early in November and used
‘Leavittsburg, Ohio’ (Brownbrokers’
fall musical) to parlay this event,”
Malkin said.
Malkin said that using “Leavitts-
burg, Ohio” to garner attention for
the festival was a great success and
that several individuals who worked
on the musical either offered sub-
missions to the festival or helped
with the production.
Submissions had to include a
minimum of three original songs
and a script, Rothman said. The en-
tries were evaluated by Brownbro-
kers Board members who had not
submitted their own works, Malkin
said. Decisions were based on the
works’ music, lyrics and themes,
he added. The board also looked
for works that were fun and offered
musical diversity, strong characters
and interesting plots and themes,
Malkin said.
The result is a mix of fun mini-
musicals that are often ridiculous.
Plots include a sequel to the now in-
famous YouTube video clip “Charlie
Bit My Finger,” as well as a romance
between the ShamWow and Snug-
gie infomercial hosts. “Because they
have to be so original, it’s complete-
ly outrageous,” White said.
“It’s 15 minutes of babies and
murder and love and you have no
idea what’s going on, but it’s great,”
Rothman said.
These works are things that
“you could never make a full mu-
sical about,” Malkin said. But each
one does have some semblance of
a message, and this year’s festival
features a serious piece as well,
he added.
Andrew Hertz ’04, adjunct lec-
turer in theatre arts and perfor-
mance studies, has been a won-
derful source of advice for the
cast and crew, Malkin said. His
classes — TSDA 0960A: “Musical
Theater Songwriting” and TSDA
0960B: “Musical Theater Writing
Workshop” — were amazing re-
sources in which more than half of
the musicals featured in the festival
were developed, he said.
The festival was produced in just
two weeks, while most musicals
at Brown get a full eight weeks of
preparation, Malkin said.
“It’s much more compact,”
Nick Sinnott-Armstrong / Herald
he explained. “We just got in the
space Monday and the show’s on
Friday. Last night we teched seven
shows in seven hours. It’s fun and
hectic.”
“It mimics a musical,” White
said. “In one night we can teach
you the lines and block the set.”
For the writers, the process is
both fun and liberating, Rothman
said. “It’s about pushing those 15
minutes and saying to the audience
‘Here’s something ludicrous.’ ”
“Everyone’s there to have fun,”
Livingstone said. The festival also
gives “people who wouldn’t nor-
mally try out a chance to get one-
on-one attention. They find it more
accessible because it is only two
weeks,” she added.
With such a large cast and crew,
friends tend to pack the theater
every night, White said. Last year,
250 people were turned away, Mal-
kin said.
“The audience is very support-
ive,” White said. “People know
that the shows have been thrown
together quick and rowdy.”
Musical diversity combined with
ridiculous plot lines and good old
Brown spirit promises audiences
a fun and entertaining night. “It’s
definitely an experience,” Rothman
said.
Friday, March 19, 2010 | Page 5
Mapping the past
at the JCB library
By Kristina Klara
Contributing Writer
Inscribed on the John Carter Brown
Library are the words “Speak to the
past and it will answer,” the message
that inspired the exhibition “Map
Talk: A Conversation with Maps.”
The exhibit, a collection of maps
ranging from the year 1492 to the
end of the American colonial period,
is on display at the library through
the end of May.
Walking into the library is like
going back in time. Rare book collec-
tions, which have survived hundreds
of years, surround you. The glass cas-
es in the reading room hold unique
historical treasures — maps.
“Maps are an integral part of the
expansion process” of the Western
world, said Susan Danforth, curator
of maps and prints for the library.
In analyzing them, we speak to the
people of the past, she said. Details
that were included or left out can
reveal much about the cultural cli-
mate of the period in which they
were made.
“Maps have a point of view,” Dan-
forth said. “They were produced for
a reason.” She said that the questions
these maps inspire about the past
are relevant to the way we should be
thinking about the world today.
All of the maps are “examples of
people trying to make sense of their
world that was rapidly changing,”
Danforth said, adding that the ef-
fort to understand a changing world
remains applicable today.
The “Map Talk” exhibit is entirely
composed of items from the John
Carter Brown Library collections.
Most maps on display were origi-
nally included in books and atlases,
so they are an “intrinsic part of the
John Carter Brown book collection,”
Danforth said.
When asked where the exhibit
idea came from and how it was put
together, Danforth gave a slight
smile and pointed to her head. She
explained that she became interested
in the story of Western expansion
through the materials she curates,
and then found the maps that best
illustrated that story.
Danfor th highlighted one
unique map in particular. The map
“Mountserrat Island 1673” was not
crafted by a cartographer, but rather
by a mariner who drew the island
from the viewpoint of the sea. It is
an extremely detailed piece, crafted
on vellum.
Across from this map of
Mountserrat in the exhibit is a later
version with the disclaimer, “This
plan of the island of Mountserrat …
is not to be relied upon.” Though it
was made after the mariner’s map,
it is not nearly as accurate.
Another important map in the
exhibit is an edition of Ptolemy’s
geography books, the first to con-
tain pictoral maps and the first time
copper plates were used in mapmak-
ing. Most impressively, though, the
color on the map has remained intact
since 1477.
The exhibit also contains the 1642
deed to Warwick, R.I., and other in-
teresting pieces such as “German
towns of the Holy Roman Empire
(1493),” “Terrestrial globe (1835)”
and “New England, showing Mas-
sachusetts boundaries (1678).”
Editorial & Letters
The Brown Daily Herald

Page 6 | Friday, March 19, 2010

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ale x yuly

correction e d i to r i a l

A caption accompanying an article in Thursday’s Herald, (“Corp. adopts new

policy for minutes,” March 18) incorrectly implied that the person pictured
Motion to table
was a member of the Corporation. While the photo was taken at a protest
at which demonstrators called on the Corporation to increase investment The tables at the Ratty are about to get a little less heavily on tableslips to find out about events. Since
transparency, the individual pictured is not a Corporation member. The interesting. Because of a collaborative effort by underclassmen may have less developed social net-
Herald regrets the error. the Undergraduate Council of Students, the Brown works, they’re less likely to get invited to events on
University Activities Council and the Undergradu- Facebook. Before UCS, UFB and BUAC remove
ate Finance Board, student groups will not receive the paper slips completely, they should ensure that
t h e b r o w n d a i ly h e r a l d funding for tableslips starting after spring break. students have a reliable alternative for finding out
Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Deputy Managing Editors Senior Editors While this move promises to save paper and money, about events.
George Miller Chaz Kelsh Sophia Li Ellen Cushing we have a few concerns — and not just because we The push to end funding for tableslips now is in
Seth Motel
Emmy Liss
Joanna Wohlmuth
like having things to read over lunch. part motivated by a desire to get incoming freshman
editorial Business
The tableslip funding cut is the first step in a next fall to adjust to a new system. We’d just like to be
Anne Speyer Arts & Culture Editor General Managers Office Manager larger effort to phase out the paper slips completely. more certain that a new system will work as well.
Suzannah Weiss Arts & Culture Editor Claire Kiely Shawn Reilly UCS, UFB and BUAC say eliminating tableslips will The new campus center, which is slated to open
Brian Mastroianni Features Editor Katie Koh
Hannah Moser Features Editor reduce waste and free up more money for student next fall, could possibly serve as a central location
Directors
Brigitta Greene Metro Editor Kelly Wess Sales activities. Quite a lot of it, actually — UFB Chair Juan for event postings. But the fall is a long way off, and
Ben Schreckinger Metro Editor Matthew Burrows Finance
Vasconez ’10 estimated that cutting funding for slips even when it arrives, UCS should take time to gauge
Sydney Ember News Editor Margaret Watson Client Relations
Nicole Friedman News Editor Christiana Stephenson Alumni Relations for an entire year would allow $5,000 to $10,000 to be the new building’s impact on campus publicity ef-
Dan Alexander Sports Editor channeled to other student group initiatives. forts. In the meantime, UCS might want to begin the
Managers
Zack Bahr Asst. Sports Editor
Andrew Braca Asst. Sports Editor Arjun Vaidya Local Sales If tableslips had a comparable alternative, this phase-out by reducing funding for table slips, rather
Marco deLeon National Sales
Han Cui Asst. Sports Editor
Aditi Bhatia University Sales
would be a no-brainer. But as things stand now, than cutting it completely. UCS should also get more
Jared Davis University Sales the options to reach a wide segment of campus are creative with event notification mechanisms that
Graphics & Photos
Trenten Nelson-Rivers Recruiter Sales limited. Student groups can turn to bulletin boards, already exist online. For example, the council could
Stephen Lichenstein Graphics Editor
Maximillian Barrows Business Operations
Alex Yuly Graphics Editor
Jilyn Chao Business Analytics posters and the online events calendar. Posters are send out a bi-weekly Facebook event digest. Student
Nick Sinnott-Armstrong Photo Editor
Max Monn Asst. Photo Editor
Danielle Marshak Credit and Collections expensive, and bulletin boards don’t reach nearly groups could create Facebook events and submit
Alexander Carrere Special Projects
Jonathan Bateman Sports Photo Editor
Kathy Bui Staff as many students as tableslips. The online calen- them to UCS. UCS could then send campus-wide
Production Opinions dar’s layout is sterile and difficult to navigate, and emails — one for weekday events, one for weekend
Michael Fitzpatrick Opinions Editor most students are not in the habit of checking a events — with links to each invitation.
Kelly Mallahan Copy Desk Chief
Alyssa Ratledge Opinions Editor
Marlee Bruning Design Editor University web page for information about events We admit it — eventually, we’d love to see those
Anna Migliaccio Asst. Design Editor Editorial Page Board
Julien Ouellet Asst. Design Editor Matt Aks Editorial Page Editor like parties. paper slips gone from Ratty tables (especially the
Neal Poole Web Editor Debbie Lehmann Board member We’re glad that UCS, UFB and BUAC are trying ones that have little bits of food stuck to them). But
William Martin Board member
Melissa Shube Board member to increase funding for student activities and con- UCS and BUAC have some more work to do before
Post- magazine Gaurie Tilak Board member tribute to broader efforts to reduce campus paper they take events paperless. We’ll look forward to
Marshall Katheder Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Topaz Board member
consumption. Still, representatives must keep in clear tables only when we know our weekend plan-
Caleigh Forbes, Julien Ouellet, Designers mind that a successful event depends on turnout ning isn’t at stake.
Mrinal Kapoor, Joe Miller, Rebecca Specking, Copy Editors as well as money. Tableslips give student groups
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Opinions
The Brown Daily Herald
ETHAN
TOBIAS
Opinions Columnist
On more than one application for summer
internships, I was asked to list the number
of course credits I had completed in various
subject matters. The question was startling,
and on the online forms I was filling out,
there was no room for me to explain.
All I could do was hope that when I wrote
three credits in biological science, the person
reading knew I meant three courses. While
Brown’s courses only carry a single credit
(with a select few classes worth half a credit
or two credits), many other institutions award
three to six credits for their courses. In so do-
ing, those universities can discriminate how
much credit they award based on the num-
ber of hours a student would typically spend
working each week. The more hours one
works, the more credits one earns.
So how do Brown credits stack up against
these much higher values? Well, on first
thought, it should not really matter. Since
Brown already acts as if any course is the
equivalent of four credit hours, twelve cred-
its elsewhere should be the same as three at
Brown.
Not so fast — how can every class at
Brown have the same value? The truth is that
comparing courses is like comparing apples
and oranges. For one person, two hundred
pages of reading each week is a cinch, while
for others it will mean hours upon hours in
BY NIDA ABDULLA
Opinions Columnist
It’s no secret that Brown lacks school spirit
when it comes to athletics. If you want to see
school spirit, you’re better off going to an a
cappella show than a football game. In the
interest of full disclosure, I’ve never been to
a football, basketball or softball game. I have
been to a men’s ice hockey game — but that
was because I knew someone in the band,
and they were skating that night. Every se-
mester I resolve to go to at least one game
for each sport, but by the time the game rolls
around my resolve has become watery, and
I’d rather read a book for class.
Out of my various friends, only one has
ever expressed interest in going to a game
with me on a Friday or Saturday night. Last
week, when I announced that I was going for
a game that night, I was told that the team
sucks… but have fun! I know that I will feel a
little bit awkward if I go by myself (although
this is not as much of a deterrent as the first
two).
More importantly, I can’t imagine play-
ing for a school whose students look down
on me or don’t respect the sacrifices I make.
Athletes come to Brown for Brown. The Uni-
versity doesn’t give out athletic scholarships,
so athletes choose Brown for the education
Got something to say? Leave a comment online!
Visit www.browndailyherald.com to comment on opinion and editorial content.
Time for credit
the basement of the SciLi. And while I was
often in organic chemistry lab until the last
minute, many of my peers had clocked out
an hour or two earlier.
The truth is that no two students will have
to spend the same amount of time each week
working on the same class. Some students
would breeze by with five or six courses,
while others would have a full workload with
just three or four.
Since courses at Brown offer such a di-
versity of types of work and assignments and
since students differ a tremendous amount
in their innate abilities, the university has de-
cided to value each course equally as a sin-
Instead of courses being worth one credit and
students needing 30 to graduate, courses would
be worth four credits and students would need
120 to graduate.
gle credit. By valuing the courses this way,
Brown sends a clear message that courses
representing a wide array of disciplines from
literary arts to computer science challenge
students in many different ways as they ex-
plore the possibilities of the open curricu-
lum.
However, not everyone is quite as ac-
quainted with the way Brown rewards cred-
it. Admissions officers at graduate schools,
study abroad programs and internships,
as well as future employers, will inevitably
Go team?
and prestige, just like you and me. Athletes
will turn down scholarships at other univer-
sities to come to Brown, just like you and
me. Some of us look down on athletes be-
cause we assume that they probably weren’t
as qualified to get into Brown as the rest of
us were.
But why are we so haughty about get-
ting into Brown? The folks in admission tell
us that a sizable percentage of applicants to
Brown could have succeeded academically.
I can’t imagine playing for a school whose
students look down on me or don’t respect the
sacrifices I make.
It’s not like we were smarter than everyone
else. Athletes, like us, got in because some-
one in admissions saw something special.
Usually, we are proud of what makes us and
our peers special — talents that we have for
an academic discipline, environmental activ-
ism, dedication to community service, over-
coming adversity to get into Brown, being an
outstanding leader — why not add being an
compare coursework completed at Brown to
coursework completed by students at other
universities. Since colleges typically reward
three to six credits for a typical semester
long course, Brown’s use of a single credit
system might create some disadvantage to
an uninformed admissions officer.
The potential for disaster is compound-
ed by the fact that students may routinely
“translate” their grades by multiplying by
four in order to avoid confusion. This prac-
tice (and I have heard of people doing it) will
hurt students who do not multiply their cred-
its. While one student might write that she
has completed four credits in chemistry, the
application of a peer to the same program
might say sixteen, leading to an unfair advan-
tage.
This entire scenario can be avoided with
a single quick fix that will have absolutely
no negative effects on Brown academics. In-
stead of courses being worth one credit and
students needing 30 to graduate, courses
would be worth four credits and students
would need 120 to graduate.
By making this one switch in the way the
internal and external academic transcripts
excellent swimmer or a star basketball play-
er to the mix? You could argue for the impor-
tance of academic talents over non-academic
talents, but then you’re discounting the val-
ue of artistic endeavors like theater, music
and visual art.
Also, we might disdain the athlete culture
— the wild parties, the alcohol — but I hear
the Manhattan crowd gets pretty wild too,
so it’s not like we can claim the moral high
ground.
Most of us can’t imagine what it would be
like to be an athlete at this school. We moan
about getting up for a 9:00 a.m. class, but
some athletes are up at 5:30 a.m. Many of us
fret about the amount of reading we have to
do, but take for granted long Saturday and
Sunday afternoons to get it done. Athletes
don’t have the kind of time that I have as a
non-athlete. For example, one of my friends
Friday, March 19, 2010 | Page 7
award credit, the University would clarify a
potentially confusing point on the academic
transcript without compromising its equal
valuations of every course. In fact, it might
even increase the boldness of Brown’s cur-
rent equal valuation of courses since in a four
credit system it is easier to make the case
that a course could have been valued other-
wise but was not.
Multiplying course credits by four is not
unprecedented. Just a few years ago, Brown
arbitrarily multiplied the course code num-
bers by ten which presumably increased
the possibilities in course listing. This small
change simultaneously increased individual
class prestige by raising seemingly intro-
ductory hundred level courses (where the
phrase 101 comes from) to thousand lev-
el status ridding any doubt about their ad-
vanced nature.
Finally, administrators at other universi-
ties, study abroad programs and internships
will have a standard metric through which to
judge Brown students against everyone else.
There will be no doubt for someone looking
at an internship application, who might won-
der whether three credits in biology means
three courses or just one. Without sacrificing
any of the academic integrity of the open cur-
riculum, this simple transformation will erad-
icate any ambiguity about how course credits
correspond to credit hours.
Ethan Tobias ’12 is a biology
concentrator from New York.
He can be reached at
ethan_tobias@brown.edu
is going to Texas next weekend for a golf
tournament, and she has to miss Monday’s
classes too.
If ours was a school where athletes and
non-athletes mixed and socialized freely, we
might hear some whining and complaining
from athletes about this lack of time. Howev-
er, I’ve never heard a peep from any of them.
Either athletes are extraordinarily long-suf-
fering people, or I don’t hang out with any
athletes long enough to hear them complain.
In the two and a half years that I’ve been at
Brown I have made one athlete friend, and
that’s because she reached out to me. Then
again, I wouldn’t call the athletes at Brown
very approachable, friendly types. They tend
to set themselves apart, as if the rest of us
aren’t cool enough for them. We’re not, I
know, but sometimes it is okay to pretend.
Just pencil it in right now — one game.
Reach out to the athletes in your class-
es, even if they’re always sitting with their
friends. Make them feel like an important
part of this school. It might make the dif-
ference between losing and scoring the win-
ning point, if they feel like Brown, including
its students, is worth fighting for.
Nida Abdulla ’11.5 hopes to go to
more sporting events in the future.
She can be contacted at
nida_abdulla@brown.edu
 Today 3 Father and son team up for soccer guide to day to m o r r o w

The Brown Daily Herald

Dining halls add new newspaper

4
Friday, March 19, 2010
64 / 43 68 / 45
Page 8

s p o rt s a ro u n d t h e b e n d
Men’s tennis will host two
games Saturday against Boston
College and Connecticut.
Women’s crew will compete
against URI at home at 11 a.m. Sat-
urday.
Men’s lacrosse will compete
against Harvard Saturday at 3 p.m.
on the Crimson’s turf.
Women’s swimming and div-
ing team will compete in the NCAA
Championships in Columbus, Ohio,
all day Friday through Sunday.
Softball team is in Kissimmee,
Fla. this weekend to compete in the
Rebel Spring Games.
Gymnastics will compete at
Towson at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Men’s and women’s track and
field will travel to Northeastern this
weekend. The men will compete in
the Northeastern Invitational and the
women will compete in the Husky
Spring Open all day Saturday.
Women’s crew will compete
against URI at home at 11 a.m. on
Saturday.
Equestrian will co-host a show
with Roger Williams at Windcrest
Farm all day Saturday.
d i a m o n d s a n d c oa l
A diamond to the money that will be saved
from tableslip elimination after spring break.
Maybe we’ll have enough for Cancun by the
time the next break rolls around.
A diamond to the Corporation for deciding to
seal its minutes for just 25 years. We’re looking
forward to learning the truth about Hot Ham
on Bulky Roll 25 years sooner.
A diamond to the Statehouse for proposing
the RISD police be named “peace officers.”
We know they’re hipsters, they know they’re
hipsters. It is so not a big deal.
things got too hot.
Coal to the University for seeking “funding
for the ‘four F’s.’ ” No … One of the F’s is not
FishCo, even on St. Patrick’s Day.
A diamond to attempts to “stimulate” a kink-
based conversation. After female orgasms got
us excited, Sex Week was a great finish.
A diamond to the Brown University Media-
tion Project, “the best-kept secret at Brown.”
After Sex Week, there’s sure to be a lot more
BUMPing and grinding on campus.

c a l e n da r Coal to the robbery of “screws” from the Sci- Softball diamonds for pitching a perfect game
ences Library. The SciLi was already missing on Sunday!
Today, March 19 tomorrow, March 20 a screw. No need to rub it in.
Want more diamonds and coal? Check out a
9:00 p.m. — Brownbrokers’ Third 4:00 P.M. — Dharma Mittra Yoga Coal to the East Side neighbor for whom pool retro-diamond on BlogDailyHerald.com, and
Annual Mini-Musical Festival, T.F. Beginners’ Class, Brown-RISD construction “means our summer is ruined.” write your own at DiamondsAndCoal.com.
Green Hall Hillel We always liked the chance to cool off when

7:00 p.m. — “Nashaa,” SASA Annual 7:00 p.m. — Flashing Lights: La Vie
Culture Show, Salomon 101 en Vogue, Andrews Dining Hall

menu
Sharpe Refectory
Lunch — Vegan Vegetable Couscous,
Hot Pastrami Sandwich, White Pesto
Pizza, Manhattan Clam Chowder
Dinner — Stuffed Shells Florentine,
Grilled Salmon with Minted Pea Puree,
Pasta Bar
comics
Verney-Woolley Dining Hall
Cabernet Voltaire | Abe Pressman
Lunch — Chicken Fingers, Vegan
Nuggets, Baked Potato Bar
Dinner — Pesto Pasta and Seafood
Medley, Grilled Chicken, Risotto
Primavera

crossword

Dot Comic | Eshan Mitra and Brendan Hainline

Excelsior | Kevin Grubb

Fruitopia | Andy Kim