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vol. cxxii, no.

37

Daily
After Brook St. attack, senior chases down, catches mugger
By luCy FEldman NeWS editor

the Brown

Monday, March 19, 2012

Herald
Since 1891

New student apartments proposed for Thayer


By ElizaBEth Carr City & State editor

Aristides Nakos 12 stepped out of a party and into a crime scene early Saturday morning. At approximately 1:10 a.m., Nakos saw three unknown men beat and rob a student at the intersection of Euclid Avenue and Brook Street two males grabbing at him, the other punching him, he said. The suspects fled west on Euclid and south on Thayer, with Nakos, a former member of the mens rugby team, chasing close behind. My natural instinct was to chase down the robbers because I thought it would just be another crime report that ends with the robbers fleeing the scene, he said. Minutes later, in front of City Sports on Thayer Street, Nakos was holding one of the suspects, waiting for police to arrive. He was aggressive, Nakos said. He was trying to escape, tried to talk me out of it, but I identified him as the person who assaulted (the student) and held him there. People on the street encouraged a physical altercation, Nakos said. When Department of Public continued on page 2
City sport

Gilbane Development Corporation has proposed the construction of a four-story luxury apartment complex on Thayer Street between Meeting Street and Euclid Avenue. The building would be modeled after others built around the country near college campuses, said Robert Gilbane 71 P02 P05, chief executive officer and chairman of the company. The complex would consist of 102 furnished apartments, housing a total of 277 students in single bedrooms, each with a private bathroom and connected to a living room with a 42-inch plasma screen television, Gilbane said. Residents would have access to yoga studios, fitness clubs, group study rooms, an underground parking lot, bike

storage and an interior courtyard encircled by the building complete with barbeque pits. Were developing the next level of student housing, Gilbane said. He estimated that rent for these luxury apartments would cost between $1,000 and $1,400 per month. Gilbane said the rate was comparable to rents at other buildings in the area, particularly considering that the estimates reflect 2014 price levels and include heating, cooling, electricity, cable and wireless Internet. What the students are getting is a higherquality apartment, he added. Gilbane said he hoped the complex would help Thayer Street merchants by bringing students closer to their businesses. A bunch of the continued on page 5
Courtesy of Stephen Souls

A company bills a proposed apartment complex as luxury student housing.

Soviet battleship becomes R.I. museum U. proposes


By ClairE SChlESSingEr Staff Writer

Bell Gallery curator Ian Russell was driving along the highway with his girlfriend on Valentines Day two years ago when he noticed a sign for a battleship in Fall River, Mass. The two stopped to check it out, and, captivated by the sight of a Soviet vessel in the middle of New England, he brought some visiting colleagues to see the ship again early this year. After speaking with Matthew Perry, the ships curator, it occurred to Russell that working with a treasure like the Hiddensee battleship might appeal to Brown

students interested in history. The battleship, stationed at Battleship Cove, has captured the attention of a group of students who are working on various activities to improve the Hiddensee exhibits quality and depth.

feature
Battleship Cove is home to the largest naval warship collection in the world and features ships that date as far back as World War II. The Hiddensee is a Soviet missile corvette built in 1984 during a period when the Soviet Union made military ships for export, primaria military treasure

ly to East Asia. Russell said people need top-secret military clearance to visit a battleship of the same model in India, which is still in operation today. The Hiddensee was a part of the East German navy during the Cold War and was therefore associated with the Soviet Union until the German navy gave it to the United States after Germanys reunification. The USSR designed the ships with the latest technology for military power and to maximize profit in sales, Russell said. When the U.S. Navy received the ship in 1991, officials realized the ships continued on page 7

consolidating international services


By lEE BErnStEin CoNtributiNg Writer

Performers infuse classic opera with humor


By ju myOung kim Staff Writer

With the desks cleared out and chairs pushed aside, Foxboro Auditorium was transformed into a miniature concert hall Friday night for Brown Opera Productions chamber performance

arts & culture


premiere of Don Pasquale. Don Pasquale is one of (Gaetano) Donizettis last operas and stands as one of his greatest comic masterpieces from his prolific operatic career, said Jacob Klapholz 13, the music director. It is a huge spectacle and a physical show, said Director Michelle Migliori 14. The plot and music are silly and fun, featuring humor, action and an interesting stage in the style of downtown Chicago, she added.

Sam Kase / Herald

The chamber performance only presented the operas music without the acting or staging. The full performance was presented for the first time last night and will be presented again tonight in Alumnae Hall. The show opened with a quiet cello solo that soon developed into vibrant orchestral and vocal performances. The plots drama and comedy were projected through actors exaggerated but natural motions and facial expressions that accompanied the changing tone and intensity of music. The music of Don Pasquale requires incredible voices from the four lead characters, including Don Pasquale (John Brakatselos 15), Dr. Malatesta (Zal Shroff 14), Ernesto (Andrew Brown 15) and Norina (Kathryn Cohen 13), as well as from continued on page 9

As part of an effort to become more global, the University is planning to open an office that will serve as a one-stop shop for international student services. By consolidating services, the University aims to create a more welcoming and stress-free environment for international students, said Margaret Klawunn, vice president for campus life and student services. Though the plan is still in an early, exploratory phase, the University regards it as a top priority, administrators said. The idea was raised at a January 2011 retreat with deans of the college, campus life staff, the director of the Office of International Student and Scholar Services and other international faculty. At the retreat, an international student panel pointed to the need to better coordinate services for international students in one location, Klawunn said. Under the current plan, the international space will consolidate pre-existing services into one house and combine the international efforts and supporting of (the) community on campus, Klawunn said. Its a strange way to be welcomed to a campus if the first continued on page 2

Two student singers confront the challenging classic opera Don Pasquale.

news....................2-4 science.............5 feature............6 sports.............7 editorial...........10 opinions.........11

weather

inside

Outer space Enterprise dumbphone


Physics professors teach children to stargaze SeeeD lays base for growth in enterprise
Science, 5 FeatureS, 6

t o d ay

tomorrow

Husted 13 complains about smartphone dependency


oPinionS, 11

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2 Campus news
C ALEnDAR
TODAY 4 P.m. Sufi Superstar Arif Lohar Granoff Center 8 P.m. Don Pasquale Alumnae Hall 6 P.m. Politics of the Imaginary Maddock Alumni Center mARCH 19 TOmORROW 2:30 P.m. Quirkestra Grant Recital Hall mARCH 20

the Brown Daily herald Monday, March 19, 2012

U. plans to merge intl student services


continued from page 1 place you go is an office that handles your visa problems, said Katherine Bergeron, dean of the College. The proposed house will offer a warmer, more advisingfocused atmosphere for international students, a contingent at the University that has doubled since 2006, she said. According to Bergeron and Klawunn, the house will include a space for seminars, a reception area and other social spaces where faculty and students can gather. The house will coordinate a variety of resources, including information on legal issues and the international mentoring program. It will also provide international students with access to advisers in different offices. In addition to centralizing preexisting services for current international students, the house would also provide new services for internationally inclined domestic students and for international students outside of the University. Students with experience overseas would be able to use the house as a place to reacclimate, reconnect and find peer support on campus. The office will most likely be located in an existing Victorian house next to the Watson Institute for International Studies on Thayer Street, said Deputy Provost Joe Meisel, though he added that the plan is not a done deal. Such a house would give a welcoming feel and mimic the qualities of already internationally designated spaces, such as the Third World Center, he said. Despite support for the office expressed at the retreat, not all international students regard the house as a high priority. Jules Kortenhorst 15 expressed skepticism about the usefulness of providing such services in a unified location. Kortenhorst said he is worried this house will institutionalize the divide between international students and American students. Lloyd Rajoo 12 called the plan somewhat unnecessary and added that everything done now is pretty good. He said he is not sure what a new building would add. Administrators said they could not specify when the office will be opened.

MEnu
SHARPE REFECTORY Chicken Fingers, Vegetarian Submarine Sandwich, Zeppole Pastry Dessert VERNEY-WOOLLEY DINING HALL LUNCH Bacon Ranch Chicken Sandwich, Enchilada Bar, Rice Pilaf, Zeppole Pastry Dessert DINNER Gyro Sandwich, Roast Beef au Jus, Vegetable Couscous, Mac and Cheese, Smores Bars General Tso Chicken Stir Fry, Italian Meatballs, Couscous, Cauliflower, Smores Bars

SuDoKu

Student safe after rescue by classmate


continued from page 1 Safety officers arrived, the suspect punched Nakos in the face. Things got messy, Nakos said. We got into a scuffle until police broke us apart. The man Nakos apprehended matched a description the victim gave police. DPS officers handed Providence resident Carlos Falcon, 20, over to the Providence Police Department. He was then charged with robbery, said Paul Shanley, deputy chief of police of DPS. Because the events took place on public streets, Providence is conducting the rest of the investigation, he said. I didnt hear or see anybody, but I actually felt the punches first, said the victim, a senior male who wished to remain anonymous. As he was receiving repeated punches to the face, the student asked his attackers what they wanted from him. Just give us the phone, man, one of them said. The student, who had been texting on his phone just before the attack, handed over his
hit and run

CR oSSwoRD

phone, and the suspects fled on foot down Euclid Avenue, leaving the victim with facial bruising, a swollen lip and a bloody nose. The entire attack took less than a minute, the victim said. The suspects were just as nervous as I was, he said. He was carrying other valuables at the time, but the robbers did not ask for them. They were also trying to get out of there as quickly as possible. The victim noted the Universitys fast and thorough response. Two administrators, as well as Health Services, contacted him later that morning to follow up and check on him, he said. I definitely know I should not have my face in my phone, the victim said. I believe I was taken advantage of because I was distracted, not aware of my surroundings. I was vulnerable, and they saw that. This was the second assault that involved a Brown student in the recent wave of robberies on College Hill, Shanley said. On March 13, a student was grabbed from behind and robbed of his iPhone on George Street, he said.
message received

Robbers have been targeting people who have been using their cell phones on the street, he said. Number one, its a distraction. Number two, you have something that youre showing out as valuable, he said. The Providence police department is looking into whether Falcon was involved in the March 13 robbery, Shanley said. Being a good witness and calling police is always a good thing to do, Shanley said. Nakos, who suffered minor injuries, said he would do the same next time. Even so, when he saw DPS officers confiscate a threeinch blade from Falcon, he realized things could have ended differently, he said. It was all pure instinct for me to just apprehend one of them, he said. I was lucky. Maybe if it had been slightly different, I would have resulted in being another victim. The victim said he thinks when DPS sends crime alert emails, students do not always take the news seriously enough to recognize their own vulnerability. Its not until you actually experience it that you know that kind of dangers out there, he said.

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the Brown Daily herald Monday, March 19, 2012

Campus news 3
By ShEza atiq CoNtributiNg Writer

Professor wins award, Fewer apply to Meiklejohn program earns year in Germany
By dOri rahBar CoNtributiNg Writer

Professor of Engineering Huajian Gao was recently awarded a Humboldt Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Bonn, Germany, in recognition of the impact of the research he has conducted throughout his academic career. The Humboldt Research Award is awarded annually to scientists who have made significant impacts in their fields, according to the foundations website. The award, valued at 60,000 euros, also invites the winners to spend up to one year conducting research in Germany. Gao will spend his sabbatical researching with Joachim Spatz, professor of biophysical chemistry at the University of Heidelberg, who nominated Gao for the award. This is a humbling research award, Gao said. Im very honored that I could receive it. Its great news Im very happy. He really deserves it, said Dean of Engineering Lawrence Larson.The award is an external validation of our work at Brown. At Brown, Gao focuses on nanomechanics and their relationship to biological systems. His work emphasizes cell mechanics and how different nanomaterials affect the relationship between cells. Nanomechanics is an emerging discipline that studies how things work on a nanoscale, Gao said. You have to approach material behavior from the atomic scale and up, he said. We have to understand how these small materials will interact with human beings, with animals, what are the impacts of these on our society, our health, how we can use them

beneficially. Gao works with nanoscale wires and other nanomaterials and researches their effects on different cells. His work impacts the medical, energy and electronics fields, among others, he said. Were routinely synthesizing nanoparticles, and all the new materials we use in the microelectronics industry are nanoscale, he said. The research will lead to safe use of nanotechnology. Gao emphasized the role of sabbaticals in helping foster new research ideas and allowing professors to collaborate with new people. You get a lot of really good people to help you in the field, trade off new ideas, new cooperations, he said. This is a really precious opportunity. Larson echoed Gao, saying, When professors go on sabbatical, they pick up new ideas for courses, new teaching techniques. Larson spoke of the difficulty that students in research-heavy studies experience when their professors go on sabbaticals. Students are used to frequent contact with professors, Larson said. Especially graduate students who are doing research it can be really hard when professors leave. To avoid such issues, Gao said he will use Skype to communicate with his students at Brown and continue to mentor them while abroad. At the University of Heidelberg, Gao will emphasize biomembranes and look more closely at cell behavior, in contrast to his research at Brown, which is rooted more in mechanical research than biological research. Im trying to find a new problem to work on for the next phase of my career, he said.

Applications to the Meiklejohn Peer Advising Program have fallen from 492 last year to about 470 this spring. The mentoring program has seen a decline in applications for the past two years, with a reported 5 percent decrease last year from 517 submissions in 2010, The Herald reported April 2011. The number of students accepted to the program has stayed constant at 350. Ann Gaylin, associate dean of the College for first-year and sophomore studies, said the decrease in submissions is not particularly significant, adding that applications have risen considerably since 2005. In 2010, applications went up by 38 percent from the previous year, The Herald reported. As part of an effort to increase the competitiveness of its applicant pool, the Meiklejohn Program held several information sessions last semester before applications opened in January. Gaylin also said the University used a new database as part of an effort to streamline the application process. Not all students who were

Meiklejohns last year reapplied to the program, but Gaylin said this was not unusual. She attributed the attrition to graduating seniors and students planning on studying abroad next year. Gaylin said rising sophomores continued to be the largest pool of applicants and that these students wished to join the program either because they had had positive experiences with their own Meiklejohns as first-years or because they thought the mentoring could be improved. Oliver Diamond 14 said he applied to be a Meiklejohn for the past academic year because he thought it was a great program to kick-start freshman year. Diamond said he was not assigned to his advisees until midway through fall semester, but he added that his was an exceptional case and that the program coordinators were closely involved throughout the process. Diamond reapplied and will continue to be a Meiklejohn next year. Though it is uncommon, Gaylin said there have been cases when veteran Meiklejohns are rejected when they reapply. This could either be due to poor reviews from their advisees or because the stu-

dents are not in good academic standing. But getting rejected once should not deter students from reapplying, since it does not hamper future chances of becoming a Meiklejohn, Gaylin added. She said that students who have had to overcome academic obstacles are often ones who dispense the best advice, making for great mentors to the first-years. To further enhance the program, Meiklejohn leaders have incorporated events such as group advising dinners and diversity workshops, and they have also refined the orientation program, Gaylin said. The program is an integral component of the Universitys advising program, Gaylin said, which is reflected in the joint collaboration of students and faculty members on a newly published Undergraduate Council of Students handbook. The handbook, which was authored by both Meiklejohns and non-Meiklejohns, aims to facilitate the transition of new students to Brown. Were giving first-year students many different perspectives on the first year, and the student perspective is invaluable, Gaylin said.

Hey MaMa

Tom Sullivan / Herald

Mama Kims passed out free T-shirts with each order for its one-year anniversary as a Korean BBQ food truck March 16.

The other BDH


blogdailyherald.com

4 Campus news
UCS to award $500 to innovative group
By mariya BaShkatOva CoNtributiNg Writer By WiniFrEd andErSEn CoNtributiNg Writer

the Brown Daily herald Monday, March 19, 2012

International scholar program renewed


President Ruth Simmons and Jorge Moran, president and CEO of Sovereign Bank and Santander Holdings, signed an agreement Feb. 27 to renew the Brown International Advanced Research Institutes for an additional three years. The program, run by the Brown Office of International Affairs and led by faculty members, brings young scholars from around the world to campus during the summer for two weeks of lectures, seminars, research presentations and networking on topics including climate change and global health. Since its inception in 2009, more than 400 scholars from 72 countries have participated, said BIARI Director Keith Brown. Administrators from both institutions said they were pleased by the program extension. The renewal is a vote of confidence in the programs achievements and promise, said Keith Brown. We feel proud of what has been achieved with BIARI, (and) we feel very happy to be able to renew BIARI, said Director of Santander Universities Eduardo Garrido. Vice President for International Affairs Matthew Gutmann said the programs setup is very Brown. He added, Its very interactive. Its not just inviting people from around the world to come and sit quietly and listen to the authorities. The program is highly selective, admitting 150 participants from approximately 1,000 applicants, according to Gutmann. The idea is to get the rising stars, he said. The 2012 BIARI will run from June 9-23 and includes four interdisciplinary institutes Theater and Civil Society, Population and Development, Climate Change and its Impact and Global Health and HIV/AIDS. Elinor Ostrom, 2009 Nobel laureate in economic sciences, will give the keynote address June 14. Visiting Scholar at the Watson Institute Patricia Agupusi, who attended the 2009 BIARI, said the connections she established there are the reason she is at Brown now and added that those formed relationships have proved valuable for her research. She said the program is quite intense, with breakfast beginning at 7:30 a.m. and lectures occasionally going past 7 p.m. Outside of the lectures and seminars, she said participants are expected to complete lengthy reading assignments. Participants, coordinators and sponsors cite multiple ways in which the rigorous program benefits both the University and international communities. Associate Professor of Sociology Patrick Heller said BIARI offers Brown faculty who facilitate discussions the opportunity to catch up on the latest research and a range of perspectives and applications. Though it may come as a surprise, it is rare for faculty to get the chance to learn about their colleagues research, Heller said. For many participants, BIARI is their first experience abroad, and Heller said he is astonished by how excited they are about coming to Brown. Heller said BIARI aims to close the knowledge gap between the north and the south. As much as we like to think we live in a globalized free-flowing world, its much harder for scholars from the global South to get access to the best work being done out there, he said. A select number of students in the Graduate Program in Development have participated in BIARIs, and they have also gained new knowledge and developed valuable contacts, Heller said. Though BIARI is not open to undergraduates, Heller said undergraduates reap indirect benefits from the program because faculty members are engaged in international research. Youre not just getting a textbook lecture youre being taught by folks who are at the cutting edge of their field, he said. BIARI also plays a key role in building the Universitys reputation abroad. The program attracts both strong interest and excellent reviews from participants and visiting faculty, Keith Brown said.
Partnership with Santander universities Benefits of Biari

The Undergraduate Council of Students is currently accepting applications for an inaugural award from its New Initiatives Fund. The council is offering $500 to finance a student organization or project that seeks to improve the University or greater Providence community. The types of projects we are trying to fund are projects that move the Brown community forward in a very productive way, that are widely reaching, that are community-focused, said UCS Communications Chair Sam Gilman 15. Potential recipients can be student groups or individual students with well thought-out and detailed proposals, he said. The $500 will likely be awarded to one student group or project, though there is a possibility that UCS will decide to split the money between two recipients, said UCS Treasurer Afia Kwakwa 14. After the April 1 deadline, applications will go through a primary screening to determine finalists, who the council will then interview. The council will hold a general body vote to decide on the recipient of the fund, she said.

The fund, which was proposed last year by the UCS E-Board, will use money from the councils budget, which is allocated each spring for the following year by the Undergraduate Finance Board, Kwakwa said. We recognize that UFB is the main funding group, so were just trying to also show that we have a lot of support as student government for different student groups, she said. Both official and unofficial campus groups can apply for the New Initiatives Fund, including groups that already receive funding from UFB. Student service groups that do not receive funding from the University may find it particularly useful to apply for supplementary funding, Gilman said. As student government, were representing the school, and we just want to be supportive of different projects or ideas people might have, Kwakwa said. We want to encourage a bunch of people to apply, to bring up innovative ideas. Brown Student Agencies recently announced a similar initiative its Inspire Fund will offer up to $1,000 to support students working on similar projects, The Herald reported March 13.

Santander encourages scholars at other universities in the network to apply for BIARI, but beyond this support, they leave the program in the hands of the Office of International Affairs. Heller said it is a good partnership. We have complete and total autonomy on what we teach and how we teach it, and we would never do it under any other circumstances. University faculty and staff are grateful for the opportunity Santander Universities has made possible, Gutmann said. A lot of banks would have pulled the plug and said they couldnt have afforded this luxury, but (Sovereign sees) the value in this program, he said. Garrido said Santander Universities funds 4,500 projects per year, and BIARI is one of the best examples we have of a global program. We look forward to maintaining the relationship for a long time, he said. Over the last three years, BIARI has grown in size and scope, and adjustments have been made to refine and improve the program. The institutes offered have changed in order to respond to evolving Brown faculty interest and expertise, Keith Brown said. Heller said more time has been allocated for research presentations and informal networking among participants. For BIARI alums, the establishment of seed grants and residencies has helped them to continue to develop the conversations and collaborations they begin during the two-week summer institute, Keith Brown said. In the future, the office of international affairs will continue to explore ways to grow and deepen collaborations between BIARI participants and involve more Brown faculty to expand our range of offerings, Keith Brown said. He said the office is working with faculty in the political science, mathematics and modern culture and media departments to develop potential new institutes on topics such as comparative welfare policy and the science of massive data. Gutmann said the program may expand to host BIARIs in other countries like Spain, South Africa and China, though these BIARIs would likely be smaller in scale and shorter in duration.
Biaris future

The funding BIARI receives from Sovereign/Santander comes from Santander Universities, a program launched in 1996 by Santander Chairman Emilio Botin in order to demonstrate Santanders commitment to higher education. Santander Universities funds more than 1,000 universities around the world today, Garrido said. Keith Brown said Sovereign |

the Brown Daily herald Monday, March 19, 2012

Science 5
Builders tout luxury of planned Thayer complex
continued from page 1 merchants on Thayer Street have been struggling, he noted. Gilbane embarked on the project nine months ago. He said he was discussing his apartment developments near colleges across the country while receiving a haircut at Squires Salon, and the barber suggested he build a similar complex for Brown students. While lecturing to a group of Brown students for the Entrepreneurship Program, he described his complexes near other campuses and asked how many students would be interested in living in similar apartments. One hundred percent of students raised their hands, he said. We think it would be a big hit. Its an upgrade for the street, for the neighborhood, said David Schwaery, owner of Squires Salon and the property on which the apartments would be built. In addition to installing an underground parking structure, the company would repave the sidewalks, plant new trees and install historic streetlamps, Gilbane said. The buildings main entrance would be located on the corner of Euclid Avenue and Thayer Street, where Sahara is currently located, and the apartments would be located within the block behind the Thayer Street fronts. Mark Najib, owner of Sahara, was unaware of the proposal before speaking with The Herald and declined to comment on the proposal before discussing it further with Schwaery. That building will fit in perfectly with the Thayer Street neighborhood, Schwaery said. Gilbane and his architects studied the East Sides architecture to plan a building that would complement the area. Schwaery currently rents to about 15 students. I see how dangerous it is for open homes, the way they are now, he said, noting that the enclosed nature of the building would create a safety envelope for the students. Schwaery said though he is excited by the prospect of the complex, he is also cautious the proposal will need the Providence City Councils approval before work can begin. If the plan is approved, construction would begin in June 2013 and be completed in time for the 2014 school year, Gilbane said. The company has reached out to make the University aware of its plans, but it is building the complex independent of the University as a purely private enterprise. Brown welcomes projects and activities that strengthen the character and offerings of the Thayer Street district and that are consistent with what we understand to be in the interests of the College Hill Neighborhood Association and others with a stake in the success of the area, wrote Marisa Quinn, vice president for public affairs and University relations, in an email to The Herald. Gilbane Development presented its proposal at a recent College Hill Neighborhood Association board meeting. The group is still reviewing the proposal and declined to comment on it.

Jehane Samaha / Herald

AmeriCorps Museum Educator John Rossi shows children a globe during the Stargazers event held last Friday.

Astronomers pass on passion for space


By jEhanE Samaha CoNtributiNg Writer

Astronomers from the Department of Physics taught a crowd of more than 100 children and parents about outer space at Stargazers, a collaborative event held at the Providence Childrens Museum last Friday. Attendees romped between models of the Earth and moon, peered through a telescope and listened as scientists explained videos of meteors, planets and stars. This is a great opportunity for a lot of children who might have never thought, Wow, this is something that I could study, its a job that real people have, said Cathy Saunders, director of education at the museum. The event featured a partially illuminated globe, which showed how day and night are caused by the Earths rotation. Michael Umbricht, Ladd Observatory curator, projected time-lapse videos of the night sky onto a wall. As the film sped through a nights worth of pictures, Umbricht pointed out clouds, planes, meteors and the slow rotation of the constellations around the North Star. John Rossi, an AmeriCorps Museum educator, asked children to look at a model and identify which side of the moon they always see from Earth. Ryan Michney GS showed videos of the aurora borealis charged particles from the sun that are drawn to Earths magnetic poles also known as the Northern Lights as seen from space. Im more interested in research and science, but its really fun to come and do things like this and

talk to kids who are interested in astronomy, and I can tell them, Hey! Watch NOVA, or come to the Ladd Observatory, Michney said. One young boy sat transfixed in front of the projected images of space, whispering questions about Plutos moons to his mother to relay to Michney. He already knew about the moon Charon but wanted to know about the other smaller ones. He has all these little factoids because he loves to learn about it, his mother said to Michney. The room bustled with activity as children huddled around each scientist to point and ask questions. The kids have so much fun and remind me of how I want to interact with the world, said Rachel Cronin 08, experience coordinator at the museum. The event was offered for free through the museums MetLife Family Friday program. Aamina Ahmed, a parent from Cumberland, RI, heard about the event online. My daughter just learned about the solar system in school, so she was excited to come, Ahmed said. Ian DellAntonio, assistant professor of physics, reached out to the museum through Browns Science Center last fall about a possible collaboration. The museum does not have an exhibit about stars, so its good that we can fill a niche that they dont already have, DellAntonio said. The museum is very receptive to collaborators and volunteers from Brown, said Carly Baumann, education programs coordinator

at the museum. When a child can talk to someone with a passion for the space and the stars, it just brings everything to a whole new level. Since clouds blocked the evening sky Friday night, the event was held indoors. Despite the clouds, new opportunities are on the horizon for collaboration between the museum and University astronomers. AmeriCorps volunteers from the museum will receive training to use small portable solar telescopes to see the spots on the sun during the day. The Ladd Observatory will then lend these telescopes out to the volunteers for use in programs like the Learning Club, a science-focused after-school program at the South Side Boys and Girls Club. The AmeriCorps volunteers will use the solar telescopes to teach multi-session lessons about the sun. If you loan the telescopes out, kids can look at the sun over multiple days and see the suns rotation, DellAntonio said. We dont typically think of the sun as rotating. Brown students can get involved at the museum by volunteering, curating exhibits or proposing ideas for events. The museum is holding another collaborative event April 28, a neuroscience exhibit called SENSEsational with hands-on activities for each of the senses, Baumann said. Students from Brown Science Prep will help develop the event and serve as museum guides at the exhibit, said Stephanie Koo 13, a member of Brown Science Prep.

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6 Feature
By ElizaBEth kOh SeNior Staff Writer

the Brown Daily herald Monday, March 19, 2012

Enterprise conference inspires communication, legislation


Social enterprise is like many spokes connected at a central hub, said Melanie Friedrichs, an organizer of the first ever Social Enterprise Ecosystem and Economic Development Summit. You have the ecosystems enterprise hub and different spokes of organizations that reach out to those social ventures in the city, she said. You want to make sure everyone is kind of connected to the hub so theyre all talking to each other. The summit, which drew more than 400 attendees to campus last weekend, aimed to encourage this sort of communication. During the conference, organized by Browns Social Innovation Initiative and Social Venture Partners Rhode Island, participants discussed the models and philosophy of social enterprise a business model that seeks to fuse economic sustainability with a commitment to improving social good. The conference also featured events designed to connect attendees with social enterprise resources. During the conferences closing event Saturday. Rep. David Cicilline 83, D-R.I., announced to a standing ovation that he is sponsoring a bill to further federal government support for social enterprises. The bill, informally called the SEEED Bill in honor of the conference, is the first national piece of legislation to deal directly with social enterprises, said conference organizer Josephine Korijn 13. The SEEED summit drew inspiration from previous social enterprise conferences primarily the Social Enterprise Rhode Island Summit hosted by Social Venture Partners Rhode Island at Bryant University in 2009 and 2010. The conference moved to Brown to make it more nationally accessible, said Kim Hanson, program director for SVPRI. The move was also a part of an effort to make Providence a social enterprise hub for the country, said Hilary McConnaughey GS, a masters student in public policy and a conference organizer who managed the SEEED website. The conference organizers wanted the summit to serve more as a national platform, she said. Its almost like a new conference. Attendees hailed from as far away as the West Coast. McConnaughey attributed the turnout to social media outreach. Its had more of an impact than we anticipated, she said. Were actually getting registration from people that we didnt even try to reach out to, especially people out of New England. The SEEED name just kept going, which is really exciting, she added. The conference fostered connections among students, aspiring entrepreneurs and professionals in
Branching out Sowing the SEEEd

attendance. Weve tried to create an environment where people can easily talk even in panel discussions, said conference organizer Josephine Korijn 13. Weve seen a lot of collaboration because of that. Participants in the conference agreed that collaboration was a key aspect of the summit. The conference provided a lot of basic information and a lot of inspiring models, said Chris Ackley, a staff member for Olneyville Housing Corporation. Its really just the support seeing people doing similar work and the passion people are bringing to it. It just reaffirms your desire to do this work. The conference also showcased entrepreneurs from the ages of 11 to 18 in a panel entitled, Teenagers and Kids Who Are Changing the World. Social Venture Partners Rhode Island, which invited the panelists from its Young Social Innovators Program, sought to highlight their work and to connect them with community sponsors at the conference. Hanson, who helps run the program, noted that the experience was valuable for both the young entrepreneurs and the audience. It was an opportunity to see what the young people are doing, but it also offered an opportunity for young people to be involved at a national conference, she said. Riley Kinsella, 11, the youngest of the speakers, said the panel was a great networking opportunity. He said he got a lot of very good ideas from the other panelists. Kinsella has hand-crafted and sold more than 100 flutes since he began his business, The Music Smith, two years ago. Members of the audience also expressed interest in following up with its speakers, Hanson said. I had about three to four people who would be willing to mentor the students (after the panel), Hanson said. A lot of adults are interested in learning more. A big takeaway for (the attendees) was the power of young people, Hanson added. They are our future. The conference also offered opportunities in mentorship and coaching. Events like BIG Challenge Coaching provided 30-minute sessions with business experts and leaders. Larger panels and workshops promoted networking with sponsors and investors. Korijn, who helped organize the coaching sessions, said it went exactly how (she) hoped it would go. All 75 spots for Fridays sessions were booked, and some of Saturdays sessions were only 15 minutes long to accommodate the influx of attendees who wanted to participate, she said. The coaching has been very exciting for participants, Korijn said. Thirty minutes can change your entire venture, she added. Sun Yeong Chang, a graduate student at the Rhode Island School of Design, attended a session Friday and said the sessions
nurtured growth

Corrine Szczesny / Herald Students learned about the value of businesses that contribute to the common good at the SEEED conference.

were more personal than the larger lecture events. You can have a really close relationship between coaches and mentees, she added. David Poritz 12, CEO of Executive Origin and former executive director of Esperanza International, used his experience in social entrepreneurship in his coaching at the conference. He noted that most of the advice he gave was gained through his personal experiences. Through experience, you learn what works and what doesnt work, he said. The more advice you get, the fewer mistakes you make. Poritz also noted that the support offered at the conference was especially invaluable for college students.

The beauty of starting a business in college is that theres the almost never-ending network of support, he said. SEEED is an example of that. Part of SEEEDs goal is to bring social enterprise into the national spotlight. The organizers of the summit have announced plans for a conference next year and hope that it becomes an annual event, McConnaughey said. With time, its only going to get more renowned and more popular, and we can really build a name for ourselves, she added. Organizers observed the fruit of their efforts when Cicilline announced the new national social enterprise bill he is sponsoring.
Putting down roots

It was a really wonderful ending to the conference, Korijn said. People were left with the biggest buzz. Korijn acknowledged that even if the bill does not pass, its a step, more than anything, that will build awareness. Friedrichs noted that social enterprise plays a valuable role in social change that for-profit businesses and non-profit organizations cannot fulfill. This niche has a specific appeal to Brown students, she said. Social enterprise is already a large part of the student body, she said. Being Brown, we have a lot of people who want to make a difference in the world. Social enterprise is one of those growing movements its a new way to approach changing the world.

f ly i n g f o r f r i s b e e s

Emily Gilbert / Herald Spencer Fields 12 reaches for a frisbee as Brown Mens ultimate went 3-0 in Sundays round robin.

the Brown Daily herald Monday, March 19, 2012

Sports Monday 7
Wrestlers take on the best at NCAAs
By nikhil ParaShEr SportS Staff Writer

WRESTLING

Courtesy of Caroline Sagalchik

Caroline Sagalchik 13 (left) and Bethany Marshall 14 (right) are helping to translate Russian texts found on the battleship.

Students help curate battleship exhibit


continued from page 1 technology was beyond their capabilities at the time and set about reverse-engineering it to incorporate the technical knowledge into American boats. With this new technology, the Navy was able to weaken the Soviet Unions control on the military market, Russell said, adding that this is a prime example of the military-industrial Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. East Germany gave the ship to the U.S. as a snub to the Soviet Union, Russell said. After the U.S. Navy used the ship from 1991 to 1996, it came to Battleship Cove, where it was largely ignored for 15 years. Now shes alive, Perry said of the ship. Two groups of Brown students are involved in the exhibition project. Students in Russells course AMCV 1904L: Cultural Heritage, Curation and Creativity will be working on the exhibits presentation to make the layout more accessible to visitors. The nine students in the class will submit proposals for ways to improve the exhibit, such as providing tours or thinking of creative ways to display the exhibits information. They will present these ideas to the curator for him to consider incorporating in the exhibit, Russell said. This is a chance for students to not just have airy-fairy ideas but to really, practically get to influence a new curator on a project thats going to go in a new direction, Russell added. Four undergraduate students taking HIST 1420: TwentiethCentury Russia are also volunteering to translate the Russian text on the boat and in its manuals. The promise of translating primary sources was a big draw for the students.
a hands-on venture

As a diplomats daughter and the sister of a West Point student, Ksenia Weisz 15, a Herald copy editor, has had exposure to the military in the past. Weisz also grew up in Russia and lived in Germany for two years, so she said the project kind of combines everything. Caroline Sagalchik 13, whose parents emigrated from Belarus in 1981, said she is now taking classes focused on Eastern Europe to learn more about her heritage. As a DJ at the radio station WBRU, she hopes to work more closely with the radio room on the boat, she said. Bethany Marshall 14 said she grew up in a gearhead family, so working in the engine rooms will give her exposure to something in which her family has always been interested. But the main appeal for her was getting to put her Russian to use. On her first visit, Marshall said she identified a first aid kit that had been mistakenly labeled in English as radar equipment. Its like being a kid in a candy shop, she said. Every time I walk on the boat, theres something new to see.
Engaging opportunities and trials

see the ship have reacted enthusiastically. All of the students involved in the translation process speak Russian, but the translation work is very technical. Sagalchik said she uncovered a technical dictionary, but Weisz said the terminology is something she frankly (does not) even know in English. They also face a transportation problem. Battleship Cove is not accessible by public transportation. Despite these difficulties, the students, all of whom are affiliated with the Slavic studies program, said they want their work with the Hiddensee to be an ongoing project throughout their time at Brown. Perry, who is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, said the project represents a symbiotic relationship between Battleship Cove and the educational community. Russell said he is enthusiastic about the significance of the overall experience, adding that students might forget the value of interacting with people outside of the community for both parties. In a university, were privileged to have the time and the space to just think and reflect, Russell said. In the professional world, they sometimes dont actually have much time to learn a new skill or to take a new perspective. Russell, who has no background in Russian history and has never done anything concerning military history before, said he gets involved in crazy things because theyre fun. Sometimes the most important work that you will do is not something that is part of your course curriculum, he said. When it works and supports their academic aspirations well, isnt that precisely what were supposed to be doing?
mutual advantage

In the final act of the 2011-12 season, wrestlers Dave Foxen 12 and Ophir Bernstein 15 competed in the NCAA Tournament Thursday in St. Louis. Both wrestlers went 0-2 at the tournament and were eliminated, but despite the losses, Head Coach Dave Amato said he was pleased with the effort shown by both wrestlers. They both wrestled very hard out here, Amato said. Unfortunately, sometimes breaks dont go your way. Ophir was winning like 3-0 and got pinned. And then Dave lost two really tight matches. Foxen said though the losses left a sour taste in his mouth, he is proud of his season, especially his victory in the 174-pound weight class at the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Championship at Princeton earlier this month. Foxen, who was named to the All-Ivy second team, became the first unseeded wrestler to win any weight class at the EIWA tournament since 1963. Amato said that Foxens victory was a great way for a great young man to end his season. Despite Foxens unseeded ranking at the EIWA Championship, Amato said he had been wrestling at a high level for months. I think when people look at his season, they thought that he came out of nowhere to win (the EIWA Championship), Amato said. And we didnt really feel that way. If you look at Daves season from January and February, I think he only had three losses and maybe like 10 wins. He started believing in himself. And its funny what confidence can do to someone. Like Foxen, Bernstein said he was disappointed with his own performance at NCAAs, citing his loss in the second match. But

Bernstein said he is not discouraged he has set goals to become an All-American next year and return to the NCAA Tournament. Amato said Bernstein, who was also an All-Ivy Honorable Mention and runner-up for Ivy Rookie of the Year, had both a strong start and a strong finish to the season. Ophir came out of the gates quite well, right from the get-go, Amato said. He had a great freshman year. This season, the squad went 9-8, a significant improvement over its total of two victories last season. Amato said the team persevered and had a successful season, especially after coming under the threat of elimination last spring. The team really hung tough, Amato said. I thought it was a great year for the team. I think its just a credit to the whole team, the alumni, the seniors, their leadership and their attitude. Amato also said he wants his team to build on this seasons improvements and have an even more successful year next season. We want to continue where we left off, and we want to continue to get better as a team, Amato said. We want to continue to take it to the next level, which means more than two guys at the national tournament ... a higher placemanship at the Eastern Tournament. Amato said his hopes for next season are best summed up by Bernsteins comments immediately after losing his second match. I think the thing that speaks to the character of the team is like Ophir said after he got beat: Coach, dont worry. Ill be back here next summer. Ill be AllAmerican, Amato said. I think thats where the teams at. They all believe in ourselves and, hopefully, belief turns into reality next year.

Russell, who is also a research fellow for the John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage, said this ship presents an opportunity to question unknown histories, forgotten histories or really stereotyped histories. He also said he saw involvement with the ship as a way to challenge students in several ways. Military history is not the first thing that a young, 20-something student these days is excited about engaging with, he said. Maybe its because its exotic, maybe its because its something they dont normally encounter, but Russell said the students he has taken to

8 Arts & Culture


By Sarah manCOnE artS & Culture editor

the Brown Daily herald Monday, March 19, 2012

Pakistani folk music inspires dance, joy Film festival spurs dialogue
on Middle East divisions
continued from page 12 beginning, Axelman said that they pushed forward because the pros outweighed the cons. Both Kliger and Axelman had worked on film festivals before, and this festival was created to fulfill goals that had not been met in those past experiences. Kliger, who worked on an Israeli film festival last year, said she the festivals goal was not to sway audience members to support a political stance or side. Axelman, who is also the president of the student group Common Ground, which planned a Palestinian film festival last year, said he wanted to create more discussion and honest debate. He also wanted to draw people who did not know much about the conflict into the conversation, he said. Apart from issues of politics, these movies are a treasure for those who believe themselves unknowledgeable of Israeli or Palestinian culture. The movies themselves seemed to be well-received, with audiPeople of all ages and ethnicities sang and danced with remarkable energy Saturday night during a performance by Arif Lohar, a beloved Pakistani folk singer with 150 albums, 50 international tours and 5 million hits on YouTube. Lohars performance, preceded by a performance by world music songstress Arooj Aftab, was part of Caravanserai: A place where cultures meet a program that coordinates artist residencies to invite American audiences to have an experience of some of the most dynamic Muslim artists, said Kathleen Pletcher, executive artistic director and founder of FirstWorks. FirstWorks, a nonprofit presenting organization established eight years ago, is one of five presenters for Caravanserai nationwide. The artistic residency consists of not only performances but also workshops and conversations at schools, libraries and community centers, Pletcher said. The goal of the project is to create unprecedented access to artists and build bridges between performers and the audience, she said. Lohar and his band traveled 7,000 miles to take part in this program, Pletcher said. Pletcher said so far there have been some really beautiful moments, including when the artists sang and danced with students with disabilities. The categories and boundaries that divide us are dissolved, she said. Pletcher added that the Pakistani community in Rhode Island has embraced the program, and some have told her they have never felt more welcome in America. The performance began with Pletcher and Zeyba Rahman, artistic director of Caravanserai, speaking to the largely Middle Eastern audience packed into Rhode Island School of Design Auditorium. ence members criticisms solely focused on other aspects of the festival. Gordon, who attended Policeman, said he wished there had been a discussion either before or after the film. Sandra Gandsman, a Rhode Island resident who attended three of the films and has been to countless Brown events, was disappointed by audience turnout, adding that at the films she attended she counted fewer than 20 in the audience. The majority of attendees were community members like herself, and not students, she said. She attended Restoration on Sunday, which she said was a good film but one that you need a real audience for. Arnold Herman, another community member and grandfather to a Brown alum, said he wished for a better introduction prior to each film to provide more context for the audience, including facts like when the film was released, the directors background and information about its reception in its native country, he said.

Sarah Mancone / Herald

Pakistani singer Arif Lohar played the chimta while singing Punjabi folk songs.

Aftab, accurately described by Rahman as minimalistic, delicate, contemplative, then took the stage with acoustic guitarist Bhrigu Sahni. Aftabs music fuses classical Pakistani and Sufi music traditions with contemporary jazz, folk and pop influences, according to a pamphlet handed out at the performance. The pieces performed by Aftab and Sahni were soft, slow and emotional. Both performers were swaying to the music, and Aftab frequently closed her eyes as though she was entirely consumed by the melody. The performers were extremely connected throughout their eyes met frequently while they played, and they moved to the music in unison. You have to really blend and merge together, Sahni told The Herald. Despite coming from countries that have experienced strained diplomatic ties Sahni is from India and Aftab is from Pakistan the performers blend perfectly. Its about music, and its about love, he said.

The emotion of Aftabs ethereal, light voice and Sahnis acoustic guitar appeared to affect the audience as well. Following their performance, Lohars band of Pakistani instrumentalists and female singer Fozia performed one song as an introduction for Lohar. The music was much faster-paced, with Fozia encouraging audience members to clap along to the beat. When Lohar finally took the stage, the audience roared with applause and cheers. Lohar had an enormous, powerful and rich voice that filled the auditorium. While he sang, he played a chimta a percussion instrument from South Asia resembling large tongs with brass jingles on the sides. The music they performed consisted of contemporized interpretations of traditional Punjabi songs. Punjab is a region of South Asia where the five rivers of Sutlej, Beas, Ravi, Chenab and Jhelum flow. continued on page 9

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the Brown Daily herald Monday, March 19, 2012

Arts & Culture 9


essential part, Malik said, adding that everyone dances differently according to how the music affects them. Everybody moves as does their soul. Lohars stage presence was as impressive as his voice. He smiled constantly and would frequently step back from the microphone, pause and then jump toward it while yelling to the music. The audience responded with roars and cheers. He also played air guitar at times and swung the microphone around, almost throwing it to the floor. He is so eccentric, Iqbal said, adding that it makes audience members want to join him. Even children in the audience gravitated to the stage in order to be nearer to the performers. The band had a powerful sound that supplemented Lohars energized performance. You have to start jumping and dancing, Sahni said. Its just this wall of sound. At the end of the performance, Lohar and his band received a standing ovation and calls for an encore. The band played one more song, and with it people resumed dancing some climbing onto the stage and dancing with Lohar. Lohar even coordinated some dances with a few teenage boys who gathered around him. It was amazing, said Providence resident Caitlin Strokosch. It is great that even non-Pakistani members of the audience were swept up in the music as well, she said. Lohar and Aftab will be participating in a lecture and demonstration concert in the Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts today at 4 p.m.

Performance connects audience to Muslim artists


continued from page 8 It was music that has been practiced in the villages for centuries, said Tariq Malik, clinical associate professor of medicine. It got me in touch with my Punjabi side, said Providence resident Sheza Iqbal. Buelqies Kahn, another Providence resident, said the concert was a nostalgic experience for her after being away from Pakistan for so long. Audience members clapped their hands, tapped their feet and danced in their seats throughout the entire performance. As the performance progressed, more and more people left their seats and danced in front of the stage. Some even tossed handfuls of dollar bills at Lohar. Audience participation is an

Classic opera challenges student performers


continued from page 1 the ensemble, Klapholz said. He added that the music will make audience members laugh. Miranda Forman 12, who plays the viola in the orchestra, said the chorus is breathtaking, especially with the unconventional chord changes in the last serenade, she added. The music is definitely not designed for 20-year-olds to sing, Brown said. Forman said the preparation was challenging, with several late night rehearsals. Nevertheless, performing with the orchestra was an exhilarating experience filled with much energy and excitement, Shroff said. The actors had different concerns for the performance. Brakatselos said he tried hard to keep the diction clear and maintain a sense of power in his voice. Brown, who described the role of Ernesto as a hopeless romantic, said he tried to express the anguish, passion and love in his character. Shroff said working with people with a common interest in classical music was the most enjoyable part of the project. Klapholz said he enjoyed working with the singers in addition to conducting the orchestra. Some of the singers have never sung opera, never sung in a chorus (and) never performed on stage before, he said. It was a rewarding and exciting experience to open peoples eyes to a new form of art, he added. Many performers recommended that audience look out for the sheer fun and humor in the plot. Klapholz said he hopes the performance will show people how accessible opera can be and how fun it can be to perform, watch and listen to. Tor Clark, an audience member, said he looks forward to Brown Opera Productions show every year and added that the quality of this years concert matched his high expectations. Despite the lack of subtitles for the Italian opera, the plot and comedy were still easy to follow, he said. Richard Van Horne, another audience member, said the performers sounded fabulous and professional.

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Chinese film festival offers female perspective


By EuniCE kim CoNtributiNg Writer

CoMICS
Fraternity of Evil | Eshan Mitra, Brendan Hainline and Hector Ramirez

As part of Browns Year of China, the film festival Chinese Womens Documentaries in the Market Era, held this past weekend, projected female directors views of contemporary Chinese culture, politics and economic development. The festival was organized through the Nanjing-Brown Joint Program in Gender Studies and the Humanities and sponsored by a number of University programs, including the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women. Six female film directors screened their works, with a question and answer session after each documentary. The festival will be followed by a symposium, with discussions about Chinese womens film by international scholars and experts in gender studies, history and the study of sexuality, Wednesday at the Watson Institute for International Studies. Brown has not previously held this kind of event, said Lingzhen Wang, associate professor of East Asian studies and the head organizer of the festival. Its probably also (the) first of its kind in United States, centering just exclusively on women documentary directors, she added. Many of the films touched upon specific gender-focused topics and themes. My Fancy High Heels,

for example, illustrated the dreams and pursuits of three women a farmer, the manager of a contract manufacturing firm and a wealthy New Yorker. Some films were not specifically gender-oriented but rather reflected social issues through a female directors point of view, Wang said. Speaking Up 2 and Rice Distribution do not specifically discuss gender issues, instead they focus on the lives of primary school children and the distribution of rice to the elderly, respectively. The children in Speaking Up 2 already had set opinions about Chinas foreign policy. They described China as the greatest country and Chinese people as the best and as more mild-tempered than less civilized foreigners. Asked how he felt about Japan, one child in the film said, I hate Japan because they invaded our country. But the children in Speaking Up 2 did answer questions about one issue directly pertaining to women foot binding, the painful practice of binding young girls feet that has largely faded into obsolescence among other controversial issues in Chinese politics. At the question and answer sessions following each film, several directors spoke in both Chinese and English, as the audiences included a large proportion of Chinese speakers.

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10 editorial & Letter


War on women arrives in Rhode Island
Rhode Island is currently considering a bill that would require physicians not only to perform an ultrasound on women before performing an abortion but also to display and describe the ultrasounds images. It is already Rhode Island law for a woman to undergo an ultrasound before an abortion in order to determine the gestational age of the fetus. Thus, the changes called for in the bill place an unnecessary obstacle between a woman and her right to choose. Rep. Karen MacBeth, D-Cumberland, has introduced the bill, which she describes as pro-information, every year for the last four years. While the bill does not require women to view the ultrasound image, MacBeth said she believes the opportunity to do so could be a vital part of a womans decision whether or not to proceed with the abortion. But the majority of clinicians interviewed in a study by Tracy Weitz, assistant medical professor and the director of a center on reproductive health at the University of California San Francisco, said that in their experience ultrasound viewing typically had little or no impact on a womans decision. Paula Hodges, public policy and advocacy director for Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, said the bill is not grounded in scientifically-based or medically-based standards of care, and was instead a political statement. In fact, in a response to an opinion piece by New York Times reporter Nicholas Kristof regarding the wave of similar legislation around the country, MacBeth admits that ultrasounds are already being performed as part of most abortion procedures. It follows, then, that her bills requirement that physicians offer to display the images or face a fine of up to $100,000 results from her personal beliefs rather than medical fact. And though women are not required to view the ultrasound, they are required to listen to a medical description of the ultrasound images, which shall include the dimensions of the embryo or fetus and the presence of external members and internal organs, if present and viewable. Depending on the gestational age of the fetus, this could mean revealing the fetus sex. We believe this provision is intended to appeal emotionally to women who have already undergone an emotional decision-making process. It is inappropriate for legislation to reflect the personal beliefs of the legislators an abortion is a medical procedure that should not be subjected to legislation detached from recommendations from the medical community. This legislation is in line with a recent phenomenon that many are, rather accurately, calling a war on women. Though several states already required the ultrasound image to be displayed or described to women seeking abortions, this type of legislation has been catching steam in recent months. Virginia became the seventh state to require an ultrasound before an abortion March 7, and other states such as Pennsylvania and Idaho are moving forward with similar legislation. We hope that Rhode Island citizens will stand up for the women of their state and rally against this bill that does more harm than good. editorials are written by the heralds editorial page board. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.

the Brown Daily herald Monday, March 19, 2012

EDIToRIAL

EDIToRIAL CARToon By RACHEL HABERSTRoH

LE T TER To THE EDIToR Bookstore opposes sweatshop labor


To the Editor: An article in Fridays Herald (Teach-in calls for end to sweatshop purchases, March 15) correctly recognized the Universitys early national leadership in the drive to end sweatshop labor in the production of university apparel. For that, thank you. Brown was indeed a founding member of worker-rights organizations and continues to work against the exploitation of third world labor. The second paragraph of your story, however, included an unchallenged statement that the sweaters, the T-shirts almost everything (in the Brown Bookstore) is being produced in a sweatshop. That is simply not true. Your readers should know that: All vendor licenses for Brown apparel are managed by the Licensing Resource Group. Brown-licensed apparel is produced solely by companies that honor Browns Vendor Code of Conduct, are members of the Fair Labor Association and honor the rules and code of conduct of the Worker Rights Consortium. The vendor group providing 70 percent of branded apparel for the bookstore has inspectors in the factories in all 12 countries where the product is produced. The Brown Bookstore has received no complaints of unfair labor practices from the Fair Labor Association, Worker Rights Consortium or Licensing Resource Group regarding any vendors who furnish Brown-licensed apparel. The Brown Bookstore is working with manufacturers to feature more made-in-America items and to develop product lines manufactured by Alta Gracia, a manufacturer in the Dominican Republic that pays its workers a living wage 338 percent of the prevailing wage. The Brown Bookstore has refused to carry merchandise from suppliers who insist on exemptions from provisions of the Universitys Vendor Code of Conduct. The Brown Bookstore, the Universitys senior administration and student groups have worked together effectively in the past to address sweatshop labor, as your story points out. The bookstore has championed Browns code of conduct for vendors for more than a decade. We intend to continue that work. Steven Souza Director, Brown university Bookstore

t h e b r ow n da i ly h e r a l d
Editor-in-chiEf Claire Peracchio ManaGinG Editors rebecca Ballhaus nicole Boucher sEnior Editors tony Bakshi natalie villacorta Business GEnEral ManaGErs Siena delisser danielle marshak officE ManaGEr Shawn reilly

editorial arts & culture editor Sarah mancone arts & culture editor Emma Wohl city & state editor Elizabeth Carr city & state editor kat thornton features editor aparna Bansal assistant features editor jordan hendricks news editor david Chung news editor lucy Feldman news editor greg jordan-detamore news editor Shefali luthra science editor Sahil luthra sports editor Ethan mcCoy sports editor ashley mcdonnell assistant sports editor Sam rubinroit editorial page editor jonathan topaz opinions editor Charles lebovitz opinions editor jared moffat Graphics & photos Eva Chen Emily gilbert rachel kaplan jesse Schwimmer Graphics editor photo editor photo editor sports photo editor

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Its about music, and its about love.

QuoTE oF THE DAy


Indian guitarist Bhrigu Sahni See CaravaNSerai on page 8.

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the Brown Daily herald Monday, March 19, 2012

opinions 11
A place for strangers
The desire to read the paper and have breakfast without conversation is an entirely understandable one. I do not think dining halls can be an institution for engaging strangers comfortably. Approaching people here seems either intrusive or too deliberate. Other candidates similarly fail to meet the post. The library? Meant to be quiet. School performances? Nobody talks in the audience. Clubs? Too self-selecting. Even classes dont really work as a place to meet peer-strangers. While of course, some friends will be made neuver: You enter into the van, and your previous endeavor is over. Your friends are gone, and your night out has ended. Of course, there are the occasional friends who ride SafeRide together but this is usually in a reserved manner, observing a presumed elevator silence model of behavior. My proposal is to convert SafeRide into an institution that would embrace its peculiar micro-sociological space. Youre sitting on the vinyl seats, riding to your dorm, and a lowly lit stranger sits next bauched monster out of a previously wholesome shuttle service. We would need to adamantly oppose turning SafeRide into a extension of the lowest common denominator night out with Top 40 sonic decorations. I am not against music, but I am against creating a simulation of a club with sliding doors and four wheels. Furthermore, there will always be people on SafeRide who want to spend their fourminute transit in introspective silence. There will also be those who want to engage too much. As it stands, the current non-expectations of the SafeRide social space solve this dilemma. Another urgent problem worth considering is the need to avoid creating a situation in which the SafeRide riders pester the drivers. Obviously, this is a mandatory condition. That said, if the SafeRide social space consisted of polite conversations at proper decibel levels, this problem might not be one at all. Finally, how would we keep SafeRide conversation from degrading into simply an exchange of superficial pleasantries, populated by conversational themes akin to, How about this weather? Surely, this would be the saddest outcome. Beyond formal expectations somehow published in the unwritten manual of Brown social behavior, I am not sure how this particular obstacle could be overcome. Here, I leave it to the readers imagination to tie together these loose ends. Houston Davidson 14 is fascinated by the micro-sociological potential of awkward public spaces.

By HouSTon DAVIDSon
opinions Columnist

Brown needs a place for strangers a place where it is not only permissible but expected to engage with an unknown fellow student. It is more than a platitude to say that college is a long series of lost opportunities to meet new people. Ask around, and youll find that everyone has his or her half-dozen stories about chance encounters, tender moments and bizarre bonds with nameless peers. It is no secret that there is a certain allure to the wistful intimacy found with strangers. I must add that I am not speaking exclusively of romantic engagements. Considering all this, if these fortuitous connections are so valuable and so constitutive of our Brown experience, we might imagine a need for a venue conducive to this immanent desire a space where this serendipitous potential can blossom. Right now, at Brown, this place does not exist. The dining halls, despite being the largest social forum at the University, are not fit for such a role. When one goes to the Sharpe Refectory, either he or she eats with friends, runs into friends or eats alone. There is no ambient expectation that people eating alone ought to introduce themselves. Witness the phenomena of two solo diners at two adjacent tables. Now this behavior is obviously reasonable.

My vision is of Saferide as a sort of Archimedean social place. By this I mean an interactional space here existing outside of the normal network of ones social life.
in class, more often than not, there is a subtle barrier to friendship with kids met in class. It is as if somehow the formalistic behavior setting of a classroom cannot be reconciled with a social atmosphere. When it comes down to it, there is really only one possible alternative: SafeRide. Its a bizarre, if counter-intuitive option, but with some work, and a mental adjustment, I think it might fit the bill. Ironically, this moving caravan of safety vehicles happens to be the only place where students entirely foreign to each other sit together in a confined space. Currently, SafeRide is more or less a terminus. By this I mean that the act of hopping into SafeRide is a decisively end-point mato you. A blank slate acquaintance. No need to fear awkward lingering because in a couple minutes this encounter is going to end either way. So you strike up a conversation. My vision is of SafeRide as a sort of Archimedean social place. By this I mean an interactional space existing outside of the normal network of ones social life. Far too many students leave Brown with homogenous friend groups for the simple reason that they never had a proper pretense to meet anybody who might have represented an outsider. I readily admit that there would be many potential pitfalls involved with turning SafeRide into something approximating a place for strangers. The first is the threat of creating a de-

Why I hate smartphones


By LuCAS HuSTED
opinions Columnist
we live in an age where Siri thinks and texts for us. Buy a smartphone, and never be bored again. You can sit on a bus and play Angry Birds. Who wants to actually look around or think, for that matter? That is far too boring. I am not saying that Im not sometimes guilty of this. I waste time texting on Fred 2.0, but at least Im communicating with another person. I dont own a smartphone because I dont need to see what Lil Wayne is tweeting while Im on the toilet. for you? He implies that people are not only ungrateful for the recent advances of our society but they feel entitled to these advances and are entirely dependent on them. When Brown was switching around the Google apps this past summer, all of the students and professors that had naming conflicts with their accounts were notified. Unfortunately, the email that went out created a massive chain. Without the cover of anonymity, angered people harangued those who posted ranreply all should be eradicated, July 20), in which the author gave a play-by-play of the catastrophe as the violent threats exchanged became more and more explicit to point where an administrator had to step in and break up the fight. The author described the event as if it were morally on par with Konys enlistment of child soldiers. Her headline was not meant to be a funny joke she was Siriously upset. But arguing that the structure of email should be changed because of this fiasco is like wanting to end mass transportation because it isnt always fast. My long, drawn out point is this: The problem isnt the reply-all feature of email. The source of this rage is the selfimportance and impatience that goes along with owning a smartphone. I want to make it clear that I am not against progress. That would be foolish. But progress is not necessarily desirable. The development of the plow ended well before it started telling us what restaurant we should eat at. The smartphone has not really made the phone better it has just changed the definition of a phone. Now a phone is a gaming-camera-Internet-music-calling thing. I might add that it is a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none. Fred may be less flashy than Siri, but hes more of a true friend. I can depend on him when I need him, but hes not a money- and time-sucking vampire. Lucas Husted 13 can be reached at lucas_husted@brown.edu, but Fred isnt email capable, so it will probably take him several days to respond.

I confess that I do not own a smartphone. I am a member of a dying breed of regular phone users, and my sin does not go without punishment. This summer I went into a store to replace my old phone, which I purchased in 2007, and was ridiculed by the store clerk when I pointed to the new phone that I wanted. To be honest, the phone I was pointing to had less technological capacity than a toaster. It seemed shocking to him that I would willingly choose to lock myself into a two-year contract with one of the handful of remaining junk phones. Technology moves quickly. Just five years ago, my LG Voyager, Fred, was one of the best phones I could buy for personal use. Now he is so dated that old ladies would laugh at him. There are several practical reasons to not own a smartphone. Perhaps you dont want to shell out $30 a month for a data plan. Or perhaps you dont want to respond to emails while having sex. What if owning a Stone-Age phone is actually more pragmatic? Students at Brown are members of a generation that gets routinely criticized for its lack of patience and attention span. We need things quickly and painlessly whether it is information or entertainment. We used to get by with simple phones like Fred, but now

Its pretty ironic that iPhones come with a compass, since because of these devices we cant read maps anymore. Thanks for making humanity stupid, Steve Jobs.

What is perhaps the funniest aspect of smartphones is how utterly unnecessary they are yet how dependent people have become on them. Its pretty ironic that iPhones come with a compass since because of these devices we cant read maps anymore. Thanks for making humanity stupid, Steve Jobs. Comedian Louis C.K. was on a talk show recently and commented about our tech-crazy society. Noting that people complain when they have a slow Internet connection, he responds, Its going to space! Is the speed of light too slow

dom videos or otherwise spammed the listserv. Compounding the problem were those who did not even bother to read anything in the chain and simply sent unsubscribe to everyone. This email chain was not a big deal. It was a mild-mannered annoyance at the most and a nice break from typical emails at the least. But the level of anger and outrage expressed by those who had smartphones was comparable to the wailing heard at Kim Jong-ils funeral. A BlogDailyHerald article was published in response to this event (Why

Daily Herald Arts & Culture


the Brown
Monday, March 19, 2012

Steinbach brings Vienna to Providence


By jamES jOhnSOn CoNtributiNg Writer

University Organist Mark Steinbach played a concert featuring the music of Johannes Brahms, Gustav Mahler and Anton Heiller in Sayles Hall Sunday evening. Baritone Andrew Garland, a voice teacher in the Applied Music Program at Brown, accompanied Steinbach for the Mahler songs. The seed that grew into last nights show was planted in November when Steinbach and Garland first met at the November concerts celebrating the 200th birthday of Franz Liszt. Steinbach said he had been planning a much different show, but when he heard Garland sing, he could picture him singing Mahler right away. Steinbach chose to begin the concert with Brahms, and to follow with Mahler and the lesserknown Heiller, three composers who spent most of their lives in Vienna, Austria. Vienna then became the theme of the evening. The two began to run through the music together in January. Steinbach said he has lived with this music for many years he played some of these pieces in a concert more than a decade earlier, and he even wrote papers on some of them in graduate school. Steinbach arranged the Mahler pieces for organ himself, as they were previously written for voice and piano or voice and orchestra. Garland said it is a privilege to sing Mahler because, as a professional singer, he often does not have the opportunity to sing such classic repertoire. The concert began with the Praeludium und Fuga in G Minor, WoO 10 of 1857 by Brahms. Composed when Brahms was just 24 years old and studying counterpoint and organ, the music sounded bold and reminiscent of the Baroque period.

Films delve into Israeli, Palestinian struggles


By COrinnE CathCart CoNtributiNg Writer

Sam Kase / Herald

university organist Mark Steinbach arranged pieces by Mahler for the organ as part of a concert performed yesterday.

The second piece was the Passacaglia in C minor, written in Austria by Heiller between 1940 and 1942. Steinbachs notes in the program indicated that this was written during the time of the Nazi annexation of Austria, just before the military drafted Heiller in July 1942. Also inspired by Johann Sebastian Bachs Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, the music was a dark rendition of an old Baroque genre, building to a thunderous climax before fading away. Next were the five Mahler songs of the Ruckert-Lieder that both Garland and Steinbach seemed particularly excited to perform.

The archetype of melancholy and poetic love, Mahlers music was particularly emotional. Steinbach described these songs as intimate very intricate and complex, yet slow and quiet. Garland took great care to articulate each word of the German he sung, both literally and emotionally. Though protocol is to wait for all the songs to be sung before applause, after Garlands powerful performance of the third song, Um Mitternacht (At Midnight), the crowd immediately broke into applause. The concert closed with Heillers 1977 Vorspiel, Zwischenspiel and Nachspeil from Vesper, a

service of evening prayer in the Catholic Church. Written for the 850th anniversary of the City of Graz and the dedication of a new organ at the cathedral there, the music was a cornucopia of tones, textures, counterpoint and motives. Steinbach described Heiller as Mahler on steroids like Stravinsky on organ with jazzy harmonies and jazzy rhythms. This accurately described the sound of this final piece. Clearly moved by Mahler, entertained by Brahms and intrigued by Heiller, the audience responded enthusiastically to the performance.

One-woman show dissects life of writer, actress


By maddiE BErg Staff Writer

Between writing, directing and producing, a show cannot come together without hard work. But when it comes to Chemistry, a production by Arianna Geneson 14 performed in the Production Workshop Upspace this past weekend, one element proved effortless casting. In Chemistry, a one-woman show in which Geneson plays herself, the actress dissects her life experiences, particularly her relationships with men. The script investigates these relationships romantic, platonic and professional as Geneson attempts to find (her) own identity and shed past identity threats and stereotypes in order to learn to love (herself), she said. Geneson, who has previously acted and stage-managed at Brown, chose to put on a one-

person show because this is her first time showcasing her own work. In a lot of ways its easier, she said. Trying to cast it, trying to get all of the aspects together is in some ways more stressful than just doing it yourself. Throughout the show, Geneson communicates almost entirely through spoken word. She plays with sound, rhythm and language to form her narrative, incorporating rap-style speeches to propel the story. Occasionally singing songs and pronouncing Italian phrases influenced by the year she lived and performed in Florence, Geneson keeps the audience interested, despite the lack of other actors. As the show follows the trajectory of Genesons relationships, the spoken word style becomes a vital element in projecting Genesons mood and attitude towards these different moments in her

life. In a tone that mixes power, acceptance and vengeance, her show starts with a monologue describing how she will no longer put up with being taken advantage of or used. Afterwards she recounts snippets of various stories in which her attitude towards both men and herself vary from nostalgic and vulnerable to bitter and frustrated. At Saturdays performance, each of these shifts of tone were met with approving snaps from the audience. The show recalls lighthearted moments, such as a first kiss, but quickly moves into darker subjects, such as issues of control and maintaining an individual identity within a relationship. The show ends with a speech in which Geneson not only accepts the difficulties and scarring nature of life and relationships, but also acknowledges that she has the inner strength to overcome

future challenges. It is precisely this powerful ending that best aids the audience in understanding Genesons message of recovery from what other people have conditioned you to be like, recovery from trauma and learning to accept yourself. Genesons struggle between giving herself to men and losing her own strength and identity is made all the more powerful by the set. She performs in the all black room with her only set piece, a black box, which she alternatively jumps off and performs on, depending the tone of her speech. The setting, rhythmic monologues, changes in tempo and outbursts of jazzy songs encourage the audience to realize that while Geneson is recounting her personal experiences, her story is one that will resonate with many college students. We are all young people trying to come into our own, she said.

This is the most beautiful country in the world, proclaims counterterrorist police officer Yaron as he looks out over Israel with his fellow officers in the first line of Nadav Lapids Israeli film Policeman. The film was one of six shown in the Universitys firstever Israeli and Palestinian Film Festival this past week. The contemporary conflict between these two nations makes the combined showing of the countries films controversial, but festival organizers Eric Axelman 13 and Gili Kliger 12, a former Herald design editor, stressed that the focus of the festival was not political conflict. Though the event was not deliberately political, the organizers did choose some political films to reflect the contemporary artistic and cinematic voices of both countries, Axelman said. Policeman is centered on themes of terrorism and follows the activities of an Israeli counterterrorist units leader. Even more controversial, Saverio Costanzos Private is the story of a Palestinian family whose home is seized by Israeli military for strategic reasons. The festival organizers sought to create a collage, not a comparison, Axelman said, showing both narratives, not in a comparative way, but in an observational way. Brown Students for Justice in Palestine had reservations about the festival. Alysha Aziz 12, a member of the group, said though her group appreciated being consulted in the process, the creation of the festival implies that the Palestinian narrative cant stand on its own. It also is hard to separate this festival from politics and put these films in conversation with one another, she said, because of the uneven power dynamic characterized by the domination of one group of people over another making any conversation useless. Brown Students for Israel, a pro-Israel student group, is relatively supportive of the festival, said spokesman David Gordon 13. While Brown Students for Israel has a clear political stance that is pro-Israel, we are very much like Israel in that we are also pro-engagement and proconversation, Gordon said. At its core, this is a cultural, not a political event, even if the organizers ran a pretty thin line, he added. Recognizing that controversy was almost unavoidable from the continued on page 8

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