Daily
the Brown
vol. cxlvi, no. 54
Athletics committee recommends axing four varsity teams
Plan also
increases
budget by
10 percent
By Tony Bakshi
Sports Editor
The men’s and women’s fencing
teams, men’s wrestling team and
women’s ski team will be cut if
President Ruth Simmons and the
Corporation accept the plan recom-
mended yesterday by the Athletics
Review Committee. If the Corpora-
tion approves the committee’s pro-
posals at its meeting next month,
the cuts will be implemented im-
mediately, effective at the beginning
of the 2011-12 academic year.
In the report released yesterday
at 5 p.m., the committee provided
separate reasons for discontinuing
each of the three sports.
The report cited the need for “a
large investment in facilities, infra-
structure and coaching to bring the
fencing program to the necessary
level” as a reason for cutting the
men’s and women’s fencing teams.
It also cited the “small number of
fencing programs nationally.” Six
of the other seven Ivy League in-
stitutions currently have varsity
women’s fencing programs, and five
Updated ‘Othello’ Hay Reading Room to get facelift
tells lesbian love story
By brette ragland
Arts & Culture Staff Writer
Move over James Earl Jones — there’s
a new Othello in town, and she is
feisty.
This weekend on the steps of
Faunce House, Shakespeare on
the Green presents an unusual
interpretation of the bard’s classic
drama “Othello.” In the original
script, “Othello” is about a marriage
between a black man and a white
woman torn apart by the whispers
of infidelity, but director Sisa Mateo
’13 swaps out the black man for a
lesbian woman.
Surprisingly, the language of the
play supports this change, albeit
with a few script alterations. The
gender pronouns have, of course,
been changed, and references to
Othello’s complexion cut out. But
Mateo chose to keep the well-known
expression “the moor” because it is
news....................2-4
inside
Arts......................5-7
editorial............10
Opinions.............11
SPORTS..................12
The men’s wrestling team will be one of four teams eliminated before next season if the Athletics Review Committee’s
plan is approved by President Ruth Simmons and the Corporation in May.
of the seven have men’s programs.
The University “cannot offer
facilities to support competitive
skiing in any reasonable way,” ac-
cording to the report. The com-
mittee also cited concerns about
the safety of ski team members
traveling to New Hampshire and
western Massachusetts for practices
and competitions. Two other Ivy
schools — Harvard and Dartmouth
— currently field varsity ski teams.
The wrestling program is one of
the most expensive University ath-
letic programs and also “requires a
large number of admissions slots,”
simply “a term that implies differ-
ence,” she said.
The female Othello works so ef-
fectively because of Shana Tinkle’s
’11 outstanding performance. She
clearly has a mastery of the lan-
guage and packs a major punch.
Her booming voice controls the
room, often intimidating the other
characters in the scene. Tinkle cap-
tures the most critical components
of Othello’s character: the strength
and poise that demand respect from
his — or her — fellow Venetians.
Nicholas Morley ’13 as Iago is
convincing and precise as he ma-
nipulates the characters and causes
mayhem. But during his soliloquies,
his facial contortions meant to por-
tray his sinister nature read more as
an inability to control his passionate
desires.
Many of the play’s scenes are
continued on page 6
Farm fresh
New spring farmer’s market
comes to Wriston
Campus News, 4
Herald
Friday, April 22, 2011
according to the report. The pro-
gram creates Title IX issues relating
to equitable gender participation
— there are 28 males and no fe-
males on the wrestling team. Five
of the seven other Ivies have varsity
wrestling programs.
Head Coach Dave Amato, who
has headed the wrestling program
since 1983, said he believes gender
equity was the factor that led to
the recommendation to eliminate
his sport.
“I think the gender killed us be-
cause there is obviously no compa-
rable women’s sport,” he said.
By Claire Schlessinger
Staff Writer
In an effort to make library space
more amenable to student needs,
the John Hay Library Reading
Room and University Archives will
undergo a renovation, slated to
begin in summer 2012, according
to University Librarian Harriette
Hemmasi. The planned changes,
which are expected to take about
a year, will restore the space to its
original size and layout.
The room currently occupies
less than one-third the space it
did when it was first built in 1910.
Though the space was originally
4,400 square feet, bookshelves in-
stalled in the 1930s divided the
room. While the shelves were
intended to create smaller study
spaces within the room, the spaces
were gradually taken over for stor-
age and administrative use by the
staff, Hemmasi said.
The Hay is the only University
library open to the general public,
D&C
The Athletics Review
Committee gets coal — find out why
Courtesy of David Silverman
Budget increase and athletic
improvements
The reduction from 37 to 34
intercollegiate teams is only one
part of the committee’s larger set
of recommendations. Another ele-
ment of the plan would increase the
annual athletics budget by roughly
10 percent, according to committee
Chair Richard Spies, executive vice
president for planning and senior
adviser to the president.
“If these recommendations are
accepted in total, the budget of
continued on page 3
Planned changes will restore the Hay Reading Room to its 1910 dimensions
(above).
but Alison Bundy, senior library as-
sociate specialist of special collec-
tions at the Hay, said the Reading
Room currently only fits about 21
patrons. According to a brochure
distributed by the library, the reno-
weather
Diamonds & Coal, 10
Since 1891
Students,
coaches
vow to fight
By Dan Alexander
Senior Editor
Seventy students across four teams—
wrestling, men’s and women’s fenc-
ing and women’s skiing — learned
yesterday that their teams will not
exist next year if President Ruth Sim-
mons and the Corporation accept
the Athletics Review Committee’s
recommendations to cut their pro-
grams. Students’ and coaches’ reac-
tions ranged from outrage to disap-
pointment, but all shared a common
message — their team must stay.
“I almost didn’t believe (Head
Coach Atilio Tass) at first, actually,”
said fencing captain Alex DePaoli
’11. “It has been in different kinds of
phases over the past year. It always
seemed like they were pushing it off
to another committee, and it would
never end up being anything bad.”
But the Athletics Review Com-
mittee — the most recent in a string
of four committees that have ana-
lyzed the role of athletics at Brown
— made its recommendations for
implementation yesterday, begin-
ning weeks of debate about how the
University should solve concerns
about the athletics budget. The
continued on page 3
Courtesy of Harriette Hemmasi
vation will allow for more than 80.
With the renovations, the room
will feel “traditional but up to date,”
said Barbara Schulz, head of library
continued on page 2
t o d ay tomorrow
54 / 37 53 / 51
2 Campus News The Brown Daily Herald
Friday, April 22, 2011

calendar Klingon is out of this world, linguistically

Today April 22 ToMORROW April 23
By Lindor Qunaj giving a talk like this, it’s at a Star consonants, words and syntax —
2 P.m. 8 p.m. Senior Staff Writer Trek convention.” and “violated those tendencies”
Ivy Film Festival: Talk by Mezcla Presents: Lucid Dreams, Having been commissioned to to make Klingon a non-human
James Franco, Salomon 101 Salomon 101 According to Marc Okrand, there work on the subtitles for an Oscars language For instance, he avoid-
are two reasons to make up a fake ceremony in the 1980s, Okrand ed the “s” sound because it is in-
6:30 p.m. 12 p.m.
language. The first is a belief that was in Los Angeles when he was credibly common in English, and
Floorgasm, Stephen Robert ’62 Brown University Folk Festival, natural, existing languages are “in- called to meet with the producer omitted the “k” and “z” sounds
Multipurpose Room Lincoln Field efficient, clumsy and full of excep- of the Star Trek films to write a few because they were overused in
tions that lead to miscommunica- lines of dialogue in the fictional sci-fi — think Freddie Krueger,

menu tion” and that an artificial, planned

SHARPE REFECTORY
LUNCH
BLT Sandwich, Mediterranean
Shrimp Stir-Fry, Butterscotch
Cookies
DINNER
Chicken Tikka, Vegan Chana Masala,
Grilled Cheese, Jelly Cake Roll
Sudoku
VERNEy-WOOLLEY DINING HALL
Chicken Fingers, Baked Vegan
Nuggets, Enchilada Bar,
Butterscotch Cookies
Texas BBQ Brisket, Mexican
Cornbread Casserole, Baked Potato
Bar, Jelly Cake Roll
one could allow for linguistic per-
fection. The second is the desire to
create a language that is no one’s
first language — like the politically
neutral Esperanto — so that no
single person has an advantage in
settings where multiple languages
are being used, like the United
Nations. But Okrand, the creator
of Klingon, said he invented the
fictional language spoken by the
villainous race of warriors in Star
Trek almost by accident.
Introduced as “the only linguist
who wrote a book that could be
sold in airports,” Okrand spoke to
a packed Barus and Holley 166 last
night about the history of Klingon
and his involvement with the Star
Trek franchise, along with the dif-
ficulties that came with construct-
ing a language from the ground
up. Though the audience was
enthusiastic throughout, Okrand
admitted at the start of his lecture
that “generally speaking, when I’m
Vulcan language. Since filming for
the movie was already complete,
the words Okrand made up had
to match the lip movements of
the actors.
In most science fiction mov-
ies, Okrand said the fake speech
is “more fiction than science,”
meaning it is not part of a fully
constructed language and consists
merely of isolated words and very
short sentences. By the third Star
Trek movie though, the produc-
tion team and director decided
there would be no more dubbing,
according to Okrand. “For it to
feel like a complete language, it
had to be a complete language,”
he said. And that was when the
hard work began.
Okrand, who has a doctorate
in linguistics, was able to use his
extensive knowledge to make the
language as foreign as possible.
He looked at the components
and rules that human languages
have in common — like vowels,
kryptonite and King Kong. But
Okrand explained the irony in
that choice — “After I made this
decision, I realized that Klingon
started with a ‘k’.”
Since its creation, Klingon has
become widely popular among a
small but devoted group of follow-
ers — an opera performed entirely
in the fake language went on tour
in the Netherlands, a Klingon
language institute was founded
and cultural appearances in tele-
vision series and movies abound.
Okrand even mentioned marriage
ceremonies conducted in Klingon,
and a mental health institution
that temporarily added Klingon
to the list of languages it needed
translators for in the event that a
patient could not speak any other
language.
The lecture, organized by the lin-
guistics departmental undergradu-
ate group, was followed by a screen-
ing of the 1991 film “Star Trek VI:
The Undiscovered Country.”

Renovations planned for Hay Reading Room

continued from page 1 ter to access books only available pages of the original manuscript
there. He said he probably would of George Orwell’s “1984” — but
facilities. The changes include the not come to the Hay if he did not they are rarely seen by students.
removal of the bookcases, the ad- require books housed there. If the The University also plans to use

Cr ossword dition of ceiling lighting and an up-

date to the electric infrastructure.
Hemmasi said many peer
schools have “grand reading
rooms” with a traditional feel to
match the history of the institution.
She said the Hay Reading Room
has the potential to be a similar
space, but over the years people
have “junked it up.” The main
goal of the project is to “return
(the room) to life and living stu-
dents, not posterity and historical
memory,” Hemmasi said.
Hemmasi said the Hay has a
different feeling than the larger
buildings that house the Sciences
and the Rockefeller libraries. She
compared the Hay to Grand Cen-
tral Terminal in its atmosphere,
which triggers a “lofty feeling,
like your thoughts can be bigger
or something,” she said.
Daniel Gonon ’12 said he comes
to the Hay about once a semes-
room were opened up to allow in
more outside light and make it
more inviting, he said he might
use it as a general study space. As
it is now, the room is not like the
other campus libraries, where he
feels comfortable “dwelling on
other things,” he said.
Following the renovation, the
library’s hours will be extended,
though Hemmasi said she does not
envision it operating on the same
schedule as the Rock or the SciLi.
The Hay is currently open until 6
p.m. on weeknights and closed on
weekends.
A number of exhibition cases
will also be added in the center
of the room to display the Hay’s
many special collections. There
are more than three million items
in the collection — including the
famous anatomy textbook “De
humani corporis fabrica” by An-
dreas Vesalius and the first three
the renovated space for events, ac-
cording to Richard Spies, executive
vice president for planning and se-
nior adviser to the president. With
the University Archives holding
yearbooks and other nostalgic doc-
uments, it could be a great place for
alumni gatherings, Hammasi said.
Money for the project, which
is still in the planning stages, will
come from an anonymous gift of
approximately six million dollars.
Renovating an older space like the
Reading Room can be expensive,
especially considering infrastruc-
ture costs such as rewiring the
room, Hemmasi said.
The project has been Hemmasi’s
brainchild since she came to inter-
view at the University six years ago,
she said. Spies said the renovation
is part of a larger initiative in the
Campaign for Academic Enrich-
ment to revitalize “underutilized”
spaces on campus.

Daily Herald
the Brown

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The Brown Daily Herald
Friday, April 22, 2011
Five coaches to lose jobs if teams are cut
continued from page 1
the athletics department would be
higher, notwithstanding the fact
that there will be fewer sports,”
Spies said. “We are sufficiently un-
der-resourced that we must work
on both sides of the equation.”
Spies also said the overall bud-
get increase reinforces the Uni-
versity’s commitment to athletics.
“At a time when resources are a
constraint, that’s a huge statement
by the University,” he said.
While some funds from elimi-
nated teams will be reallocated to
support the hiring of additional
administrative and medical staff,
the general increase in the athletics
budget will primarily fund larger
coaching salaries.
Spies said the University lags
behind the rest of the Ivy League in
terms of coaching salaries. “We’re
pretty far off, on the order of a mil-
lion dollars.”
According to Spies and the com-
mittee report, the athletics depart-
ment will work with the Office of
Human Resources to develop a
plan to improve salaries across
the department. The report stated
that “salary adjustments should be
made as early as January 2012.”
In addition to the 10 percent
budget increase, the report calls
for facilities upgrades that would
amount to about $10 million, said
Margaret Klawunn, a member of
the committee and vice president
for campus life and student ser-
vices. The report recommends
improving field hockey facilities
and increasing overall locker room
space, though these changes may
take three to five years to complete.
In the committee’s plan, the
$10 million necessary for facility
improvements will be raised from
outside donors by the Brown Uni-
versity Sports Foundation and the
Office of Advancement.
The Office of Advancement and
the sports foundation would also
jointly undertake the task of rais-
ing $5 million for financial aid, an
area in which the committee found
Brown “less generous than those
of most of our competitors within
the Ivy League,” especially “for stu-
dents whose family income is above
$100,000.” Ivy League rules dictate
that financial aid be distributed
without regard to whether or not
an applicant is an athlete.
Klawunn said the committee’s
plan better positions the athlet-
ics department for the future. “We
took very seriously the charge that
this should strengthen athletics,”
she said, “and we hope that the
ways this is a real investment in
athletics will lead to a lot of gains
in the department in areas they’ve
identified as important — facilities
and financial aid and compensa-
tion.”
“There’s a unique opportunity
with this plan to make some very
positive change,” she added. “It
comes with some painful deci-
sions, but it will get us to a longer-
term place of sustainability and
strength.”
Spies said the combination of
fewer teams and increased funds
can lead to a more successful ath-
letics program. “The strengthen-
ing comes from the funds we do
have and expect to add — to focus
these more effectively on a smaller
number of teams and therefore be
better.”
But Amato doubted the cuts
would improve other programs.
“This is not going to help the de-
partment one bit,” he said. “Coach-
es know what’s going to make a
team better — not some commit-
tee.”
Cuts beyond the cuts
The implications of these pain-
ful decisions go beyond the elimi-
nation of the four teams. While
some student-athletes have been
forced to contemplate having the
hyphenated “athlete” lopped off,
their coaches must face the pros-
pect of joblessness.
The fencing and skiing pro-
grams each employ a single coach,
and wrestling employs a head coach
and two paid assistant coaches.
Since eliminated programs “would
be discontinued immediately” un-
der the committee’s plan, Spies said
the University would help these
teams’ coaches “through a transi-
tion, which will almost certainly
mean moving elsewhere.”
Such promises do not dimin-
ish the reality of unemployment,
Amato said. “What am I going to
do, right? I think if I saw it coming I
would have been applying for jobs.”
The report also includes a rec-
ommendation to decrease the
number of recruited athlete ad-
mission spots from 225 to 195. Half
this decrease will occur through the
elimination of admission spots for
the four cut teams, but the remain-
der “can be realized through some
selective tightening” by the athlet-
ics and admission offices, according
to the report. The other 15 spots
will be taken from the remaining
varsity teams. Several teams will
then “go forward without any dedi-
cated admissions slots,” the report
states. A decision on which remain-
ing teams will lose recruiting posi-
tions has not yet been made, Spies
said.
Klawunn said this particular de-
cision was “really important in the
context of the institution’s priorities
and plan for athletics that fits in our
other educational goals.”
“As our admissions processes
become even more selective, there’s
a sense that every spot is important,
and they need to be available to as
many different kinds of student
talent as possible,” Klawunn said.
Klawunn also said this sugges-
tion had become “one of the most
contentious” aspects of the recom-
mendation after its release.
This contention was evident in
Amato’s response to this suggested
change. “Skiing — they don’t even
get admissions spots,” he said. “The
report is crazy. I only got seven
admissions spots this year, and I got
eight last year, and I think fencing
gets four, so how do they get 15?”
Amato also said the reduction in
admissions slots directly counters
the stated goal of fielding a more
competitive athletic program.
“The athletic department is giv-
ing back 30 slots in admissions.
That’s how you win, right?” he said.
“I mean, come on. … There are
Campus News 3
not too many teams that can get
walk-ons and win.”
Gender equity
As part of the decision to elimi-
nate two men’s and two women’s
programs, a women’s club team will
be raised to varsity status “to ensure
equitable participation by gender
as required by Title IX.” The report
stated the chosen program would
be recognized as an official varsity
program by fall 2012.
Title IX is a federal law ban-
ning gender discrimination in ath-
letic departments receiving federal
funds. The University lost a Title
IX lawsuit in 1995 after eliminat-
ing four programs — including the
women’s gymnastics and volleyball
teams — because of budget con-
straints.
Title IX “both reinforces a Uni-
versity goal of equitable participa-
tion and sets some very specific
constraints legally for us, which
are kind of more up front at Brown
than anywhere else because of our
history,” Spies said.
He also noted that gender equity
did not play a more prominent role
in the committee’s decision than
other considered factors.
“You can’t say at any point (Title
IX) made this decision X rather
than Y,” he said.
Amato said he thought it was
an odd decision to eliminate a
women’s sport only to ensure the
introduction of a new one within
a year.
“Why would they drop women’s
fencing, and then … a year from
now, they’re going to add another
varsity women’s sport,” he said.
“Why wouldn’t they just keep
women’s fencing?”
The step before implementation
The release of the athletics com-
mittee’s recommendations does not
finalize any implementation plans.
The public release of the committee
report opens a period of time for
feedback from community mem-
bers before recommendations are
brought before Simmons and the
Corporation.
Amato said this time span be-
tween the report release and the
Corporation’s meeting may have
negative effects on student-athletes
whose teams have been eliminated.
“Now the kids have to wait an-
other five weeks to see if they have
a sport or they don’t,” Amato said.
“So what do these kids do in the
next five weeks — do they try to
transfer?”
But both Klawunn and Spies
noted the importance of this dis-
cussion period, which kicks off
with an 8 a.m. meeting this morn-
ing between student-athletes and
Director of Athletics Michael Gold-
berger to discuss the committee
findings. The Herald was unable
to reach Goldberger for comment
Thursday.
“Our recommendations are just
that — recommendations to the
president,” Spies said. “The presi-
dent has not signed off, and she’s
quite deliberately waited to hear
not just what the recommenda-
tions are, but what the feedback
is before she makes her own judg-
ments about what to do.”
The fencing program plans to appeal the committee’s recommendation
Wednesday.
Coach: ‘We’re not going
down easy’
continued from page 1
University currently fields the third-
most teams in the Ivy League on
the league’s lowest athletics budget.
“As soon as I heard the news, I
have only been thinking one thing
the whole time. And that is how do
we save these sports programs?” said
wrestler Hudson Collins ’11.5.
All four teams will send repre-
sentatives to meet next week with
committee Chair Richard Spies, ex-
ecutive vice president for planning
and senior adviser to the president.
Spies said the timing of the deci-
sion was intentionally spaced weeks
before the Corporation’s May meet-
ing so Simmons could receive feed-
back from student-athletes, coaches
and alums before a final decision
is made.
“The process is real,” added Mar-
garet Klawunn, a member of the
committee and vice president for
campus life and student services.
“There’s nothing about the process
that isn’t a genuine effort to gauge
community reaction.”
The four teams are all construct-
ing arguments for their programs to
remain on campus.
“We’re hoping to put together a
case for why we shouldn’t be cut,
trying to show the case for skiing in-
stead of other sports, trying to show
how it supports diversity because
it’s such an unconventional sport,”
said skier Emily Simmons ’12. “It’s
not just like an after-school sport
like field sports. It’s actually been a
lifestyle since we were maybe five or
six years old.”
Though the report said the com-
mittee is concerned about skiers’
safety while traveling to mountains
in Massachusetts and New Hamp-
shire, skiing Head Coach Michael
LeBlanc said the worries are un-
founded. The team has never had
any accidents on the road, and all
seven skiers taken to the season’s fi-
nal competition were academic All-
Americans, according to LeBlanc.
Each team will present its case
differently. “What they’re doing
doesn’t make much sense to me,” De-
Paoli said. Fencing is “one of Brown’s
top-performing teams — we’re 12th
in the country. We also rank at the
highest or almost the highest grade
point average of any of the teams.”
Wrestling Head Coach Dave
Amato said he believes his sport
Courtesy of David Silverman
is set to be cut because of Title IX,
the federal law requiring federally
funded athletic programs to offer
similar opportunities to men and
women. The University lost a Title
IX lawsuit in 1995 after it cut four
teams, including two women’s teams,
due to budget constraints.
“All of the criteria that they listed
for dropping sports, we don’t meet
any of them. We do meet one —
gender equity,” he said. “That’s basi-
cally why I think they’re dropping
wrestling.”
According to the Athletics Re-
view Committee’s report, wrestling
is expensive, takes up admissions
slots designated for recruits and does
not exist at all Ivy League schools.
But Amato said wrestling is entirely
self-funded, except for coaching sal-
aries, only takes up seven to nine
recruiting slots and is one of the
Ivy League’s best and most historic
sports.
Even though the committee’s rec-
ommendation is not final, the news
hit athletes hard yesterday.
“I think it’s hard to reconcile that
I have been here for three years and
won’t be getting a senior season af-
ter putting so much into the sport,”
Skinner said.
Recruits from the class of 2015
who have yet to arrive on campus
also voiced disapproval of the rec-
ommendations. Barrett Weiss ’15,
a fencing recruit who was deciding
between Harvard and Brown, said he
decided to apply early to Brown after
he got the impression that fencing
was safe from cuts when it was not
cut at the fall Corporation meeting.
“I kind of wish I didn’t apply ear-
ly,” he said. “I would have probably
taken another visit to both schools
and, I mean, I’m not sure where I
would go, but I probably would have
looked at Brown less seriously.”
Amato said he was outraged by
the decision to cut his wrestling
team. “I didn’t see it coming,” he said.
“I’ve been here 27 years. I’m going
to be out on the street without a job.
What am I going to do?”
Fight, apparently. Until the rec-
ommendations are either accepted
or rejected by the Corporation next
month, athletes, coaches and alums
will almost certainly be fighting to
keep their programs standing.
“I’m a wrestler — we’re all opti-
mistic, right?” Amato said. “We’re
not going to go down easy.”
4 Campus News
Spring farmer’s market
comes to Wriston
By Leigh Carroll
Contributing Writer
Students craving fresh local pro-
duce in the spring are now in luck.
Though the farmer’s market on
Wriston Quadrangle has been a
fall event since 2005, the Univer-
sity decided to establish a spring
farmer’s market for the first time
this semester. The spring market
began April 7 and will run through
May 5.
The spring market reflects a col-
laboration between Brown Din-
ing Services, the Sustainable Food
Initiative and Farm Fresh Rhode
Island, a non-profit organization
founded by students in 2004. These
same groups initially brought the
fall market to campus in 2005.
“The original goal (of Farm
Fresh Rhode Island) was to cre-
ate more retail opportunities for
local growers, more business-to-
business opportunities, more op-
portunities for the general public
to find out how to find farm stands
and farmer’s markets and also to
provide access for lower income
families to local food,” said Sheri
Griffin, program director at Farm
Fresh Rhode Island. The organiza-
tion now manages eight of the 44
farmer’s markets in Rhode Island,
including the markets at the Uni-
versity, Griffin added.
The spring farmer’s market —
which began three weeks ago —
has not yet experienced as much
business as the fall market, but
has still been successful, said Lucy
Sedgwick ’11.5, real food initiative
progress coordinator for dining
services.
“The fall market is more popu-
lar than the one going on right
now because it has been going on
The Brown Daily Herald
Friday, April 22, 2011
for a long time,” she said. “Also,
there is more of a supply in the
fall because of the seasons here.”
Though more goods are pro-
duced in the summer for the fall
sale, “there are also things that
grow in Rhode Island year round
or things that can be stored,” Grif-
fin said. “It is good for farmers to
have a year-round income.”
Ten vendors are currently par-
ticipating in the new market, com-
pared to 12 in the fall. Mark Phil-
lips, a vendor who owns Absalona
Greenhouse in Chepachet said he
grows produce all year round and
has trouble finding venues in the
spring. He said he appreciates the
business this new market brings.
Griffin said it is still too early
to judge the success of the spring
market. “It’s not like a grocery
store — it’s not always there, so
you have to form a habit of go-
ing,” she said. “We need to give it
some time.”
The Sustainable Food Initia-
tive — a student group now under
the purview of the environmen-
Herald File Photo
tal group emPower — also teams The new spring market held every Thursday on Wriston Quadrangle connects local farmers with Brunonians.
up with local producers to pro-
vide a weekly supply of food to shareholder program in addition to plan a whole winter program, Food you get locally can be health-
shareholders as part of the group’s to a winter farmer’s market. The so we compromised with Brown ier. You’re also supporting your
Market Shares Program, said Mary initiative currently provides pro- Dining and student groups and neighbors, you’re putting money
Alice Reilly ’13, a sustainability duce to the Brown community said we’ll start small and see how into the local economy where you
intern with Dining Services and a during the winter through Mar- it goes,” she said. “We will keep can see it coming back to you.
member of Sustainable Food Ini- ket Mobile, a website that distrib- reviewing indoor spaces at Brown You’re supporting local business,”
tiative. The program “gives people utes produce throughout the city. that we could possibly use next she said.
a chance to eat seasonally and to While the Undergraduate Council winter if demand and interest are “The spring market is quieter
experiment with different kinds of of Students supported the creation there.” A possible location for a than the fall, but it is great that
food they might otherwise not,” of a winter farmer’s market last winter’s farmer’s market would be it’s here on campus,” said Anna
she said. This spring season, there semester, the produce supply is the Multipurpose Room in the Ste- Matejcek ’12. Matejcek, who is also
are 91 participating shareholders. more limited during that time of phen Robert ’62 Campus Center. a shareholder, is off meal plan and
The program is “dope,” said Dash year, Sedgwick said. Though produce at the farmer’s enjoys the benefits of the program.
Spiegelman ’13, who volunteers The initiative to bring year- market is generally more expensive “Although you can’t get everything
with Market Shares. round farmer’s markets to cam- than in the supermarket, there are you want,” she said, “it’s cool be-
The initiative is now looking pus is a student-led idea, Griffin countless benefits, Sedgwick said. cause you don’t know what will be
into establishing a year-round said. “We haven’t had enough time “You’re paying for the experience. in your bag every week.”
Check out
The Herald
sports online
thebdh.org/
sports
The Brown Daily Herald
Friday, April 22, 2011 Arts & Culture 5
C r u s tac e a n S e n s at i o n Higher ed ne ws r oundup
Vanderbilt students protest school in Abu Dhabi
Students at Vanderbilt University are protesting a proposal to
construct a school of education in Abu Dhabi. Two Vanderbilt seniors,
David Pasch and Theodore Samets, started the group Students Against
Vanderbilt in the Emirates out of concern that possible discrimination,
lack of human rights and limits on academic freedom could damage
the reputation of their university, according an article on Inside Higher
Ed. In an editorial in the Vanderbilt Hustler, Pasch and Samets wrote
that creating a campus in Abu Dhabi would “hurt the perception that
our university is a welcoming place for Jews, the LGBT community and
anyone who cares about human rights and the dignity of all peoples.”
Vanderbilt has not formally announced its plans to build the new
school. Provost Richard McCarty will be having a meeting with the two
students today to discuss the future, according to the article.

— Kat Thornton

Harvard and Stanford connect through video

communication
This semester, students at Harvard and Stanford University created a
six-week course called “Ideas for A Better Internet.” The course connects
students at the two universities through video communication,
according to a March 29 article in the Crimson. The course — part of
a joint project between Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and
Hilary Rosenthal / Herald Society and the Stanford Center for Internet and Society — focuses
Visiting chef Jody Adams served up a tasty meal that included seared scallops with sunchokes, peas and herbs (above). on the future of the internet in addition to cyberspace privacy issues
and government intervention policies. For the last two of their winter
vacations, Harvard students have visited Stanford to participate in a
Museum demanding short course on problems with the internet, the Crimson
reported. The current spring course is part of an effort to make the class

concocts a
into a year-long program.

— Ashley Aydin

fashionable
cocktail
By dulma Altan
Arts & Culture Staff Writer

The culture of night-time merri-

ment — of artful alcoholic drinks
and swanky social events combined
with elegant fashion — is what the
Cocktail Culture exhibition at the
Rhode Island School of Design
Museum showcases with delightful
cohesion. Comprised of works of Courtesy of the RISD Museum
art in various mediums, like dress- Cocktail fashion is on display in a new exhibit at the RISD museum, running
es, photographs and drawings, as through July 31.
well as a number of cocktail-related
objects from daily life, the display
is an eye-opener for fashionistas
and the culturally curious alike.
Organized by the Costume
and Textiles Department of the
museum and curated by Joanne
Ingersoll, the gallery is not lim-
ited to garments and photographs
of cocktail parties by any means.
Upon entrance, a clip of the iconic
film “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” can be
seen projected onto the left wall,
providing a taste of the playful
glamour that pervades the collec-
tion in the main room.
In the large exhibition space,
viewers can find an assortment
of nightwear dating from the au-
thentic fringed flapper dresses of
the 1920s to a pink silk Halston
dress from the 1980s, alongside
items like Hawaiian shirts, cock-
tail shakers and exquisite cocktail-
themed patterned fabric. Ingersoll
calls these pieces “conversationals,”
adding that “they were just incred-
ible and captured my imagination
in a big way.”
Yet the diversity of such items
and the numerous disciplines in-
volved are incorporated into the

continued on page 7
6 Arts & Culture
Shakespeare troupe feminizes Othello The rap on country:
continued from page 1
emotionally intense, but each of
the actors gives all they have with
little regard for self-preservation. The
actors throw themselves into their
characters completely — fighting,
crying and having seizures without
worrying about their appearances.
Though some moments read false,
the actors’ mutual trust carries them
through even the most dramatic
scenes. “This play would be impos-
sible if we didn’t feel really comfort-
able with each other,” Tinkle said.
Significant cuts were made to the
script to get it to its current run time
of one hour and 40 minutes, but the
play retains all the necessary plot
points for a coherent production.
The show never drags or seems re-
dundant. Rather, each scene works
to build the dramatic tension to the
emotional climax.
This lesbian rendition of Othello
comes at a particularly poignant
time. As the marriage equality bill
struggles to get enough votes in the
Rhode Island legislature and mar-
riage traditionalists with bagpipes
protest on campus, a lesbian Othello
is a powerful statement. But Mateo
denies using the play as a political
soap box.
“If this play makes people think
about something that is relevant to
Shana Tinkle ’11 as Othello and Nicholas Morley ’13 as Iago perform in
Shakespeare’s drama.
those current debates, I’m happy that
we’ve made them think,” she said.
“But I was very clear when we started
this process that, for me, this is not a
political statement. It’s a play.”
Instead Mateo said she sees the
story of Othello as “incredibly uni-
versal.”
“The idea of being successful …
but of having some apparently minor
doubt — about being lovable, about
being worthy, a doubt that … your
enemies can play upon — I think is
Courtesy of Stephanie London
not specific to black men or lesbian
women. I think it is actually univer-
sal,” she said.
“Regardless of a specific mes-
sage,” said Ben Jones ’13, who plays
Roderigo, “it really is a play about be-
ing human and all that that entails.”
A female Othello and the fiercely
dramatic climax make this produc-
tion unforgettable.
The Brown Daily Herald
narcissism and antagonism
By Suzannah Weiss
Arts & Culture Columnist
Brown students enjoy many privi-
leges, one of which is distance
from the music typically played
on mainstream radio stations.
This is not true for everyone,
but I have managed to slide by for
three years with almost no expo-
sure to two of the most popular
musical genres in the U.S. — rap
and country.
I’ll admit that I’m not a fan
of either — the highest country
threshold I can tolerate is Jenny
Lewis — and I recognize the ra-
cial and socioeconomic factors
that contribute to their status as
common musical pet peeves. I
also realize there is far, far more
to them than meets the ear of
someone listening to content-
void Top 40 singles.
That said, after doing some
surface research — that is, listen-
ing to Rhode Island public radio
stations for a few months — I
noticed some curious repeated
tropes. And by curious, I mean
easy to make fun of.
Rap and country predomi-
nantly depict two extremes of
the American landscape — the
Friday, April 22, 2011
inner city and the countryside.
But these genres are strikingly
similar in their narcissistic glori-
fication of their own demograph-
ics. After hearing Snoop Dogg
use his own name in just about
every number during last year’s
Spring Weekend performance, I
was expecting this trend in rap,
but not in country.
These parallel modes of self-
referential adulation are evident
in the catchy, but excessively
played, “Black and Yellow” by
Wiz Khalifa and “This is Country
Music” by Brad Paisley.
Both address listeners directly
to inform — or convince — those
in hearing range that the song
is about a way of life they can
relate to.
“Yeah, uh huh, you know
what it is / Black and yellow,”
Wiz Khalifa repeats. No, Wiz, I
don’t. Is that some kind of in-
sect pattern? And if we all “know
what it is,” why are you telling us
about it?
Wiz Khalifa is actually pay-
ing homage to his hometown.
The obscure reference, which he
nevertheless presents as univer-
sal knowledge, stems from the
colors of Pittsburg professional
sports teams.
Paisley similarly announces
that “this is your life in a song,”
“a road that takes you home”
and “right where you belong.”
If everyone who has heard that
song belongs in the country, why
doesn’t it have a higher popula-
tion density? Of course, the song
is meaningful to many people, but
the way he expresses this is like a
popular kid in high school grant-
ing someone — and by no means
everyone — access to his clique.
These two examples are partic-
ularly revealing in dialogue with
each other. Rap paints a picture of
a fairly new hedonistic gangster
lifestyle, whereas country takes
nostalgic listeners back to more
innocent times and idyllic places.
“This is Country Music”
sounds like a defensive response
to rap and other genres consid-
ered cooler: “It ain’t hip to sing
about tractors, trucks, little towns
and mama / Yeah, that might be
true. / But this is country music
and we do.” Another hit country
song, “Kiss My Country Ass” by
Blake Shelton, is more direct: “If
you’re a down home, backwoods
redneck, hey, come on, stand up
and raise your glass. / But if you
ain’t down with my outlaw crowd,
you can kiss my country ass.”
“Black and Yellow” also dem-
onstrates paranoid awareness of
its opponents, contrasting the
non-inclusive “you” with “them
haters.” It betrays a belief that
where there’s a proud “us,” there’s
an equally in-your-face “them.”
Don’t get me wrong — main-
stream country and rap music
can be inspirational and fun to
sing along to. The only thing that
offends me is that, if these genres
represent the urban and the rural,
what is out there to glorify the
day-to-day humdrum of subur-
bia?
The Brown Daily Herald
Friday, April 22, 2011 Arts & Culture 7
Beauty and pain converge in ‘Steel Magnolias’ Culture of
By Alexandra macfarlane
Staff Writer the cocktail
With a performance that delivered
both laughter and tears, the cast of explored
“Steel Magnolias” — running at
the Trinity Repertory Company continued from page 5
through May 15 — roused the audi-
ence to a standing ovation following exhibition with clarity, thanks to
its production Wednesday. the accompanied texts that can be
From the superficial confines found by each of the nine themes of
of a garage-turned-beauty parlor the exhibit. These brief texts elabo-
comes this sassy and serious play rate on the history and significance
by Robert Harling. Written to of the culture of the cocktail, from
cope with a traumatic loss from its emergence during Prohibition
his family, Harling’s play explores to its iconic status as a symbol of
how community and humor can youthful American exuberance and
help an individual deal with tragedy. festivity. The exhibit thereby pro-
With such a small and talented cast, vides an expansive and profound
the audience cannot help but be experience of a unique genre of
engaged and absolutely fall in love modern American culture.
with each character. As for specific items, the style-
The play centers around six savvy will rejoice in the fashion
women who work at and frequent pieces on display, including pieces
a beauty parlor in their small town by designers Balenciaga, Schiapa-
of Chinquapin, La. Each actress Courtesy of Trinity Repertory Company
relli and Dior. The collection has
captivated the audience in her own The engaging ladies of ‘Steel Magnolias’ talk hair and hysterics in Trinity Rep’s current production. gems like shoes from the Roaring
special way, portraying distinct and Twenties and casually glamor-
engaging characters exceptionally. is normal. They all discover from to explain the difference between you could tell by their carriage and ous dresses from the 1980s. The
To highlight this inclusive na- M’Lynn that Shelby has been ad- “shouldn’t” and “couldn’t” when demeanor what side their bread was emphasis on the role of fashion
ture and bring the audience fully vised against having children. The deciding to have a baby. buttered on,” she says. in cocktail culture throughout
into the production, each character audience realizes that through all As the scenes progress, the But despite the jokes and laugh- its history is both beautiful and
was treated to her own spotlight the laughs and smiles, the play has laughter and hilarity heightens, but ter, Shelby is not okay. She needs a informative. “The pieces had to
and theme song during her first en- drama and sadness. This time, the Shelby’s condition worsens. The act kidney from her mother and they be exceptionally designed and il-
trance of the show. Before she even gravity and seriousness of the char- finishes with a tone of seriousness, need good-looking hair to “stay lustrate a significant aspect of that
began speaking or interacting with acters’ lives pulls the viewer into the but the women keep it light, leav- sassy” in the hospital the next day. period,” Ingersoll said.
their fellow characters, each woman play even further. ing the audience with a dance led They leave with kisses and wishes The exhibit is a must-see for
introduced herself and connected Shelby, though, seems deter- by Shelby. of good luck — the promise of a anyone interested in getting a visu-
with the audience through song and mined to keep her life and the lives The next act begins in June with new life fresh in the minds of the ally enthralling glimpse into this
a little bit of dance. of her friends and family without Shelby announcing to the audience audience as the scene continues. truly American phenomenon of
The play opens very simply. The worry or sorrow. She acts as if noth- the birth of her son by stapling his Even as the play ends with tears the cocktail and its enduring cul-
audience, seated on three sides of ing has happened, a theme that she picture to the garage door. She also in the eyes of the characters, the ture and style.
the stage, looks into the main room and eventually her mother champi- drastically cuts her hair, reminding audience cannot help but smile and Cocktail Culture will be on dis-
of the beauty parlor. Eclectic and on throughout the entire play. With the audience that beauty is still the remember the words of the quot- play at the RISD Museum through
brightly colored lights adorn the help from the others, Shelby shines first priority. able Clairee — “The only thing that July 31. Entrance is free to Brown
ceiling of the stage and a sliding the spotlight on Annelle instead The mood seems lifted. M’Lynn separates us from the animals is our students.
garage door — leftover from the of herself. is excited by her upcoming 30th ability to accessorize.”
parlor’s earlier days as a mechanic’s The next time the audience wedding anniversary and Clairee
garage — serves as the backdrop. meets with our six heroines is at discusses her nephew’s newly dis-
As the lights rise, Truvy (Rachael Christmastime when Shelby an- covered sexual orientation amid An exquisite collection of dresses
Warren), the flashy red-headed nounces she is pregnant. M’Lynn laughter from characters and au- A small and engaging cast makes and a rich knowledge of the cock-
parlor store proprietor, is seated cannot help but be worried and tries dience members alike. “In my day for a captivating performance. tail combine in this boozy affair.
while her nervous new hire, An-
nelle (Alexandra Lawrence), fusses
with her new employers’ hair. With
little introduction to her new job,
Annelle is thrown into the world of
Truvy’s beauty parlor as the other
women arrive.
Clairee (Barbara Meek), the for-
mer first lady of the town, walks
slowly into the room. Shelby (Made-
leine Lambert), the soon-to-be mar-
ried daughter of a regular customer
arrives with her wedding hair-do in
mind. Her mother, M’Lynn (Janice
Duclos), soon follows, question-
ing every decision Shelby makes.
Later, Ousier (Anne Scurria) storms
in, yelling and moaning about the
terror-filled and gun-shot-ridden
relationship between her dog and
M’Lynn’s husband.
The parlor’s regulars seem to
be involved in every part of each
other’s lives. Truvy discusses the up-
coming marriage. M’Lynn bemoans
the similarity of the wedding colors
— “pink and pink” — wondering,
“How precious is the wedding go-
ing to get?” Shelby complains about
her husband’s poor dancing skills
and his family’s southern values —
“shoot it, stuff it or marinate it.”
All seems well and quaint until
Shelby has a seizure. Truvy reveals
to Annelle that the bride-to-be is
diabetic and this kind of episode
8 Sports Friday
The women’s rugby team celebrated its Ivy League Championship at Princeton
two weeks ago.
Rugby teams take Ivy
League championships
continued from page 12
for the Ivy tournament. “That
was integral to our success in
the Ivies,” he said. “That’s where
we started playing as a team and
coming together.”
The win at the inaugural Ivy
League 7s Championship gave
the men’s squad a big confidence
boost.“Our team has always had
heart … but they’ve never really
Courtesy of Michelle VanderPloeg
thought a lot of themselves until
now,” Travers said. “But now it is
fair to say, ‘We have some swag.’”
The joint championships were
cause for festivity. “It was defi-
nitely a celebration for both pro-
grams,” VanderPloeg said.
Travers expressed similar
sentiment. “There’s quite a lot
of camaraderie between the two
teams,” he said. “It’s great that, fi-
nally, we are both Ivy champions.”
Sheehan ’12 honors successes, failures
continued from page 12
championship-favorite team and
turn them into long shots. His
moves at the trade deadline turned
Nate Robinson, Kendrick Perkins,
Marquis Daniels, Semih Erden and
Luke Harangody into Jeff Green,
Nenad Krstic, Troy Murphy, Car-
los Arroyo and Sasha Pavlovic. Oh,
and Jermaine O’Neal is our starter.
The situation is as cheery as the
ending of “The Departed.”
The Rebecca Black Award award
for Unintentional Hilarity
This award will be given out on
the day after Thursday. The gods of
sport have a sense of humor. Just
look at Yi Jianlian. If there were
a stat for missed slam dunks, Yi
would be the league leader every
one of his years in the league. Let’s
not forget Buster Posey reminding
everyone in the world that just
because you haven’t gone through
puberty, doesn’t mean you can’t
attain your dreams. Now, Posey
has hired a live-in mom to make
him all the ice cream sundaes he
can eat.
“I’m the boss, so I eat ice
cream every meal,” Posey said in
between episodes of “SpongeBob
SquarePants.”
“Oh, I want that,” he said, ges-
turing to an ad for a Power Wheels
Land Rover. “Mom, get me that!”
Also, that interview was made
up.
Our winner is, of course, Ti-
ger Woods, for making every joke
involving cocktail waitresses and
“the back nine” relevant again.
When Ivy Film Festival guest
Aaron Sorkin eventually writes
this screenplay, I want to see Ja-
mie Foxx as Tiger, Blake Lively as
Elin Nordegren and Megan Fox as
Hoochie No. 47. The tagline could
be, “He may be Tiger, but he’s also
lyin’! ” This moves right into our
next award.
The Elin’s $750 million Check
Award for Blatant Cheating
NBA dunk contest organizers
earn themselves a large portion of
the Check award for unabashedly
handing the slam dunk contest to
Blake Griffin. As Serge Ibaka’s jaw-
dropping foul line dunk was short-
changed to a contest-worst score
of 45, Griffin couldn’t even pull
off his less impressive dunk and
settled for just throwing it down
really hard. Oh, and then Kia gave
him a car to jump over — which
actually wasn’t that cool — and
a chorus. Shame on you, Griffin.
Also when you are watching the
NBA playoffs, don’t forget that Joey
Crawford is refereeing the games.
He certainly won’t. You could let
a full-grown anaconda out on a
basketball court and he would
The Brown Daily Herald
Friday, April 22, 2011
ruin a game less than Crawford’s
game-calling. It helps if you make
a game out of it — guess when he
gets nailed for betting on games.
The Magic Johnson Award for
Hilarious Nicknames
As this would be the only thing
Andrei Kirilenko ever wins in his
life, I’m giving him part of the
award for the nickname AK-47.
Not since The Croatian Sensa-
tion, Toni Kukoc, have we seen
an Eastern European nickname
that good. Kevin Durant’s “Du-
rantula” moniker also grabs a piece
of the award, but the big winner
is one of his own Thunder team-
mates. Serge Ibaka’s nickname of
“Iblocka” comes from his ability
to block basketball shots and not
from interrupting teammates who
are talking to ladies while out at
the club.
No comment on Kobe Bryant’s
“Black Mamba” nickname. I think
given his legal history, he should
have known to stay away from
snake nicknames.
Sam Sheehan ’12 is reasonably
sure that his editors will make
him cut that last line.
Talk sports with him at
Sam_Sheehan@brown.edu
or follow him on Twitter
@SamSheehan
The Brown Daily Herald
Friday, April 22, 2011
Grad student ‘support’
needs clarification
To the Editor:
In the article on the Graduate
School’s announcement of sixth-
year funding (“Sixth-year PhD
funding announced today,” April
20), the meaning of “support”
needs clarification. According
to the Dean of the Grad School’s
website, rising sixth-years in the
humanities and social sciences who
applied for funding next year could
apply for summer funding, health
insurance, enrollment fee, health
fee or stipend for one or two se-
mesters. Because stipend support
is a specific category, the 58 per-
cent of students who will receive
stipend support implies that 42
percent of graduate students will
go without stipend support — the
money they need to live on — next
year. Furthermore, the 58 percent
figure in the article is murky be-
cause it includes students who only
received one-semester stipends.
The article also claims that “80
percent of those requesting fund-
ing will receive the full amount
they asked for, and the remain-
Letters 9
Fuel efficiency would help save at the pump
To the Editor:
Your article on Rhode Islands’s
and trucks.
Transportation accounts for
more than half of the oil Ameri-
confirms scientific analysis that
we can cost-effectively make cars
that meet a 60 mile-per-gallon
ing 20 percent will receive partial skyrocketing gas prices (“R.I. still cans use, so making more efficient standard the norm and not the
funding.” However, this does not plugged in to renewable energy,” cars and trucks is the easiest way exception. Obama should seize
mean that all students are receiv- April 19) underscores the need to to save Rhode Islanders money this opportunity to put American
ing the funding they need to live, build cars and trucks that guzzle on gas while reducing our oil ingenuity to work by calling for
as applicants in this process could less gas. In the coming months, dependence. Requiring new cars cars and light trucks to meet a 60
apply for a variety of funding op- President Obama has an opportu- and light trucks to meet a 60 mile- mile-per-gallon standard by 2025.
tions short of a full stipend. They nity to break our oil dependence, per-gallon standard by 2025 would Rhode Islanders cannot afford for
were also led to believe by state- save Rhode Islanders money at save Rhode Islanders $335 million him not to.
ments from the Grad School that the gas pump and cut dangerous at the pump while cutting Rhode
their applications would be more emissions by setting strong new Island’s oil use by 140 million gal- Sylvia Bartell
competitive if they asked for less. fuel efficiency and global warm- lons in 2030. Environment Rhode Island
This means that students who were ing pollution standards for cars The Obama Administration volunteer
concerned about their applications
getting denied asked for less than
the amount they needed just so
that they could get something. The
comics
Grad School claims that 99 percent Cloud Buddies! | David Emanuel
of sixth-years in the humanities
and social sciences are supported
with some form of funding, but
as shown on the dean’s website,
the amount of funding provided
ranged from $23,855 to as little
as $330.
Lindsay Goss GS
Wen Jin GS
Arturo Marquez GS
John Rosenberg GS
Anne-Caroline Sieffert GS Dr. Bear | Mat Becker
Dot Comic | Eshan Mitra and Brendan Hainline
10 Editorial & Letter The Brown Daily Herald
Friday, April 22, 2011

Diamonds & Coal Editorial comic b y e r i k s tay to n a n d

e va n d o n a h u e
Coal to Diddy, who showed up to perform at Spring Weekend 15
years too late.

Diamonds to the Pawtucket and Woonsocket school committees,

which, after learning their districts would receive more money under
Rhode Island’s new school funding formula, sued the state because
it’s not enough new money. Actually, our lawyers are advising us to
think twice before giving you those diamonds.

A cubic zirconium to Mark Baumer GS, who teaches a section of

LITR 0110A: “Fiction I” and also said, “When I’m ready to wither
and die, that’s when I’ll be a teacher.” We told ourselves the same
thing about making a newspaper.

A diamond to the North Kingston caregiver who said of medical

marijuana, “If it’s one dollar, it’s too expensive.” We want to buy from
the same guy you do.

107 diamonds to Beatrice Coleman ’25, who celebrated her 107th

birthday Wednesday with students and faculty at Fox Point. Not to
show you up, but there are several Brown students who were feeling
at least 110 by the end of Spring Weekend.

Coal to the Athletics Review Committee, which recommended cut-

ting the varsity wrestling, fencing and ski teams yesterday. Remember,
the fencers have swords. If you cut them, they might cut you back.

A cubic zirconium to the Providence College Reserve Officers’ Training

Corps instructor who said, “We’re trying to build leaders, not killing
machines.” To be fair, that’s only because Lockheed Martin builds the
killing machines for you.

A diamond to Providence Police Chief Col. Dean Esserman, who will

letter to the editor
keep his job despite reports of unpopularity within his department.
The only unpopular deans should be the ones who lock fraternities U. values underrepresented voices
out of their own common rooms.
To the Editor: and is very much proactive in sharing the microphone.
Moreover, I am a little weary about the problem
Although the writer’s intentions might have been alluded to in the piece about Latino students not
respectable, an article in Thursday’s Herald (“Support performing as well academically as our counterparts.
for Hispanics scrutinized,” April 21) poorly navigated I am not too familiar with this phenomenon and

quote of the day the very sensitive and political nature of the Latino
experience at Brown. I was originally told the piece
was meant to address the statistic that, out of all the
am not even sure if it’s a real one. Firstly, I fear this
ungrounded assertion only adds fuel to the flame,
promoting stereotypes that represent the minority

“It really is a play about being Ivies, Brown has the highest dropout rates among the
Latino student population, particularly among Latino
student as less intellectually apt because he or she was
admitted only as a result of affirmative action. This

”
men. I’m not sure if this is indeed factual and am even robs us of our individual achievements, equating us
more skeptical now. Yet the writer never mentioned to sheer numbers for a quota. In any case, if I had to
human and all that that entails. the statistic in his piece, even though it was precisely conjecture a response to Latino students “struggling
what I was asked to respond to in the interview. Thus, I academically”, I would say it might be related to a
would like to clarify what seems to me to be a symptom pattern where some minority students somehow feed
— Ben Jones ‘13 of poor journalistic practice. into this fallacious idea and begin questioning their
Yes, we do need more Latino faculty members at own abilities as scholars and their own right to be in
See othello on page 1. Brown, but this can also be said for a myriad of other academia. I want to say that that is total nonsense. The
underrepresented groups in academia. As for fostering quicker we leave that idea behind and realize we were
dialogue around problems Latino students feel should given this academic opportunity because of who we
be addressed, I am sure no one would object to talking are not what box we check off on the Census form,
these things out. I do not feel, though, that Brown does the more we can focus on our academic growth and
a poor job of reaching out or of providing outlets for scholarly progress.
these grievances to be voiced. If anything, I think it
is an institution that values underrepresented voices Ana-Irma Patete ’13
t h e b r ow n da i ly h e r a l d
Editors-in-Chief
Sydney Ember
Ben Schreckinger
Deputy Managing Editors
Brigitta Greene
Anne Speyer
Senior Editors
Dan Alexander
Nicole Friedman
Corrections
Julien Ouellet
An article in Wednesday’s Herald (“Sixth-year PhD funding announced today,” April 20) incorrectly stated
editorial Business
58 percent of fifth-year doctoral candidates will continue work on their dissertation for a sixth year. In fact,
Kristina Fazzalaro Arts & Culture Editor General Managers Office Manager
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the figure refers to the fraction of humanities and social science sixth-year students who will be receiving
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Alex Bell News Editor
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The Brown Daily Herald
Friday, April 22, 2011
By Stephen Wicken
Opinions Columnist
Human knowledge, dear reader, is a funny
thing, and our pursuit of it is even funnier,
especially when we are wearing flip-flops.
We spend a large proportion of our waking
hours trying to come to know things. And
yet we never seem to know that we know
something until we realize that, without
knowing how or when, we have come to
know it.
Let me offer an example, since I know
that you are already starting to know that
you always knew that guy was an idiot, you
know? You are studying for an exam. If it
is one of those irritating blue book exams
with the identification questions — and it
is, because I am in charge of this hypoth-
esis, and I say it is — there is a good chance
that you are going to have to learn some-
thing specific and sort-of-quantified: the
basic chronology of the French Revolu-
tion, for example, or the subdivisions of
the three parts of the first component of
Wright’s concept of an “emancipatory so-
cial science.” For the uninitiated, these
are: tidy, sandwich, probably not, super-
glam, spiffy and loaded with Monterey Jack
and our famous Chipotle Ranch dressing.
These vectors can, of course, be delineated
institutionally and psychosexually, but not
epistemologically, rendering them meth-
Opinions 11
Knowing and kneeing
odologically autonomous, but unable to get tive England, and I am annoyed equally by boding.
wireless signal in Continental Europe. the fact that the visit will coincide with the What has this to do with you, dear and
Anyway, you are up the night before royal wedding and the fact that I shall miss by-now-surely-completely-baffled-and-an-
the exam, fully loaded with coffee and sug- the NFL draft. In one sentence, I have seri- grily-gassy reader? Well, since I have been
ar — and some other little helpers — and ously damaged not one, but two perfectly contemplating the possibility finally of
you’re trying to memorize all this essen- good cultural stereotypes, and it stings. stepping outside the comfy confines of the
tial information. You try the age-old favor- This situation has just crept up on me college campus, I have noticed more and
ites: closing your eyes and reciting, cover- like an aggressive same-sex kiss creeps up more the pressure upon us all to know and
ing up part of the page — or whatever its on the end of a Saturday Night Live sketch to define ourselves.
iPad equivalent is — perhaps some kind of in lieu of a punch line. One minute, I was Career-getting manuals in particular
faintly creepy mnemonic device. You do it, sniggering because someone said they seem to state that without being able neat-
and then you look to find that you are miss- liked my pants. The next, I was genuinely ly to summarize oneself — or, even more
bizarrely, to identify oneself perfectly with
one of the personality types on page 68 —
we are doomed to a life of professional mis-
Career-getting manuals, in particular, seem to state ery. One is either an extrovert or an intro-
vert, a thinker or a feeler — despite the fact
that without being able neatly to summarize oneself that the healthy way through life usually re-
— or, even more bizarrely, to identify oneself perfectly quires moving between these poles as the
situation requires. And the one person I’ve
with one of the personality types on page 68 — we are ever met who could be described only as a
“feeler” made himself very unpopular, es-
doomed to a life of professional misery. pecially with the ladies.
My point, then, is that in the search for
careers and concentrations, internships,
ing two. You try again, and you get those concerned about the prospect of the Red- relationships and cruise ships, we cannot
two, but you’ve forgotten another one. And skins trying to stretch for a quarterback as know what we are and therefore what we
so on and so forth, until finally you get the the tenth pick in the draft. Once, I would need to do. The best one can do is to make
whole list and can get back to Angry Birds. have seen the occasion of a balding, inbred an educated guess and be sure that anyone
There is not an identifiable point at which man marrying a tremendously uninterest- nearby who instead makes a guesstimate
the information sticks to your brain — one ing woman on television as the perfect set- receives a swift knee to the groin.
minute you do not know something, and ting for a drinking game : Drink every time
the next minute you find you know it. Prince Philip leans over and visibly says
So far, so loaded with Monterey Jack. At something racist to the Queen. Now, all I
this point, you do not know my point. Well, can think is that it is going to be impossible Stephen Wicken is a doctoral candidate
get ready to know it, for here it comes — I to get a packet of crisps in a single pub in in the History department and a
am about to leave for a short visit to my na- the land, which feels me with a deep fore- woeful amateur philosopher.

In the drug war, keep your eyes on the real killer

By hunter fast
Opinions Editor
Sofia Ortiz-Hinojosa ’11 recently opined in
The Herald that the breakdown of the rule
of law in Mexico at the hands of vicious
drug cartels can be blamed unequivocally
on common cannabis users like the ones
who appeared Wednesday on the Main
Green (“4/20 and the drug war,” April 18).
While a subsequent letter to The Herald by
Pablo Rojas ’11 points out that Ortiz-Hino-
josa’s indictment of marijuana on College
Hill as the financial grounding for “mur-
derous smugglers” is factually baseless
(“Letter: Pot on campus not from Mexico,”
April 19), her assertion that users — not
prohibitionist governments — are the ones
with blood on their hands remains unchal-
lenged.
It is readily apparent that Ortiz-Hi-
nojosa does not understand that govern-
ments that ban drugs hand a monopoly on
their sale to people who are already will-
ing to break the law. In addition, prohibi-
tion takes away the courts as a means for
drug vendors to settle disputes peacefully.
In lieu of a legal framework in which to op-
erate, they terrorize the Mexican citizenry
in their needlessly bloody quest for market
dominance.
Furthermore, it is naive to assume that
one can compel all drug users in the U.S.
to quit simply through emotional appeal.
As Rojas points out, Ortiz-Hinojosa’s argu-
ment is more relevant to crack and heroin
use, and many people who use crack and
heroin do so not out of some sociopathic
disregard for the plight of the Mexican peo-
ple, but because they are physically addict-
ed and unable to stop. Indeed, this is how
cartels make money — they get set up in an
economic sector with high entry barriers
due to prohibition, sell into a market pop-
Many people who use crack and heroin do so not out of
some sociopathic disregard for the plight of the Mexican
people, but because they are physically addicted and
unable to stop.
ulated by addicts who will reliably come
back for more, then use the resulting prof-
its to buy enough guns that the Mexican se-
curity apparatus can no longer stop them.
While a free-market implementation
of the heroin trade — or that of any oth-
er drug — would still take advantage of
people’s addictions, it would do so without
threatening the integrity of any state and
without jeopardizing the lives of those who
choose not to use drugs. Thus, it becomes
a system governed by personal responsibil-
ity in which the outcomes individuals face
are connected with the choices they make,
rather than the avarice of drug lords or the
grandstanding of American politicians.
Ortiz-Hinojosa is therefore effectively
arguing that all Americans should obey bad
laws — ones that infringe on fundamental
rights to privacy, free enterprise and self-
determination — so that the violence and
the deaths ultimately arising from those
laws just might end. Let me be unequivocal
myself — our freedoms are too important
to be held hostage this way.
In a free society like ours, individuals
should have the liberty to use whatever
substances they see fit in their own homes,
pursuant of their rights to privacy and
property. After all, in 2003, the Supreme
Court established in the case Lawrence v.
Texas that the government has no right to
ban private sexual conduct between con-
senting adults. Given that sex and drug
use both have associated risks, why should
drug use be treated differently?
While Ortiz-Hinojosa feels entitled to
a sense of outrage at the sight of someone
publicly using marijuana, it instills in me
a gratitude to live in a place where some-
one can commit an act of public civil dis-
obedience against the unjust prohibition of
drugs without facing legal repercussions.
If more people expressed disdain for the
modern prohibition — either in the public
discourse or through civil disobedience —
the result would not be the bloodbath that
Ortiz-Hinojosa describes, but a greater im-
petus for the end of the drug war, a goal to
which she pays mere lip service.
Ortiz-Hinojosa brushes off the idea of
holding our government culpable for the
Mexican drug war, but until the people stop
vilifying drug users and demand that the
government stop wasting taxpayer money
on a failed scheme, the situation in Mexico
will continue to deteriorate. Prohibitionists
often attempt to blame the negative rami-
fications of the drug war — a redundancy
in terms — on the users, rather than on the
fundamental paradox of handing an entire
sector of the economy to organized crime.
Indeed, support for the drug war is fre-
quently based on the popular portrayal of
drug users as being somehow threatening
to society at large. Ortiz-Hinojosa, by de-
nouncing drug users and those who ad-
vocate for their personal freedom as be-
ing part of some sort of “counterculture,”
serves to perpetuate this issue rather than
alleviate it.
Hunter Fast ’12 firmly believes
the government can be — but is
not always — good.
Daily Herald Sports Friday
the Brown
Rugby
Bears twice champions in Ivy League 7s of-Year
By Madeleine Wenstrup
Sports Staff Writer
Texts were flying two Sundays ago
between the men’s and women’s
rugby teams. Both teams — the
women in Princeton and the
men in New York City — had
just played in the final match of
their respective Ivy League Cham-
pionships.
“We were all texting them say-
ing, ‘We won Ivies.’ And they were
saying, ‘We’re Ivy champs,’” said
Michelle VanderPloeg ’12.
Last fall, on the 50th anniver-
sary of Brown rugby, the men’s
and women’s teams were com-
bined into a single program.
“It was a culminating experi-
ence,” VanderPloeg said. “Creat-
ing one rugby program, and the
manifestation of that — having
both of us winning in one week-
end — it was really fun,” Vander-
Ploeg said.
The women’s team (16-4) is no
stranger to the Ivy championship
title. They arrived in Princeton as
the reigning league champions
and lived up to their title, scor-
ing 236 points and allowing zero.
Co-captain Chelsea Garber
’12 recalled some spectator com-
ments during the matches.
“The tournament director
called it ‘champagne rugby,’” she
said. “It seemed like every ball
was perfect, every pass that could
have been dropped was caught
and every ball bounced the way
it needed to.”
The Sunday final saw the Bears
facing Princeton, the host team,
who was also celebrating the 30th
anniversary of its women’s rugby
team. But the Bears did not fal-
ter for a moment and started off
hot with a steal in the first ruck.
They did not back down until the
whistle blew, ending the final with
a 56-0 Bruno victory and a tour-
nament most valuable player title
for co-captain Izzy McKinnon ’11.
From here, the women’s team
heads out to Bowling Green,
w. lacrosse
Bruno breezes by Gaels to snap losing streak
By Sam Wickham
Sports Staff Writer
The women’s lacrosse team (6-7,
1-4 Ivy) snapped a five-game los-
ing streak Tuesday at Stevenson
Field, dismantling the St. Mary’s
College of California Gaels, 26-6.
Nine different Bears contributed to
a potent offensive effort that over-
whelmed the Gael defense. Kaela
McGilloway ’12 set the pace for
the Bears’ attacking unit, finding
the net five times and dishing out
four assists. Bruno scooped up 19
ground balls in the victory, which
allowed for long possessions and
constant pressure on the Gael goal.
The Bears established a lead
early and never looked back, scor-
ing seven straight goals to open
the game. The Gaels struggled to
End-
Awards
The men’s rugby team beat Columbia for the Ivy League Championships in New York City April 10.
Ohio, for the national champi-
onship sweet 16.
Head Coach Kerri Heffernan
said she is confident her team will
perform well.
“I am excited to be going to the
first round of nationals relatively
healthy and with confidence,” she
wrote in an email to The Herald.
“I think we have a good shot at
returning to the final four this
year — we are really good.”
The national championships
will bring some heavy competi-
tion from new opposition.
“I am really excited, especially
to play high-level competition,
because in the spring it is a little
sparse,” Garber said.
If the Bears make it through
the first round, as they have done
for the past three years, they will
then travel to Stanford two weeks
later for the national final four.
“That’s where you really go up
establish any sort of tempo, as the
stringent Brown midfield forced
multiple turnovers. St. Mary’s fi-
nally got on the board in the 16th
minute in unconvincing fashion,
as a batted loose ball trickled into
the net. But the Bears would not
be stopped, adding eight more
goals before the half and cruis-
ing to a dominant 15-2 halftime
scoreline.
“A lot of people contributed all
over the field,” said Head Coach
Keely McDonald ’00. “And gritty
play is important for us, so the
ground ball and draw controls
were great to see.”
“We have about seven more
days of lacrosse left,” said tri-
captain Alexa Caldwell ’11. “We
want to finish out the week the
way we know we can, and we owe
against the big guns,” Garber said.
For the men’s team, the Ivy
League Championship weekend
was a more novel experience.
This spring marked the first an-
nual men’s Ivy League 7s Tourna-
ment. Though the Bears took on
host Columbia for the final, the
highlight of the tournament was
the narrow win against the pre-
tournament favorite, Dartmouth,
in the first round.
“It’s been 15 years, I think,
since any Brown rugby team has
beaten Dartmouth,” said co-cap-
tain Dow Travers ’12.
Head Coach Jay Fluck said he
felt similarly.
“(The players) played their
pattern, moved the ball well,” he
said. “Beating Dartmouth was a
big win, and the championship
against Columbia was the icing
on the cake.”
In the final against Columbia,
it to ourselves as a team to have
fun with it.”
McGilloway and Bre Hudgins
’14 added to the lead in the open-
ing minutes of the second half,
each netting unassisted goals.
Though the Gaels responded with
a strike of their own two minutes
later, it was clear Bruno’s offense
was too much to handle. The Bears
set off on another scoring streak,
finding the net six times in the
next 10 minutes. Erin Roos ’14
and Marissa Dale ’14 each netted
their first goal of the game during
this spree. The Gaels attacked too
little too late, adding three goals
in the final 10 minutes of play.
Brown added two from Hudgins
and one more from Tara Rooke
’13 to cruise to the comfortable
26-6 victory.
Courtesy of Robert Powell
Brown fell behind at the start 5-0
but recovered quickly with a try
by co-captain and tournament
most valuable player Daniel
Levine-Spound ’12 and a con-
version by Sam Rabb ’11 to give
the Bears a 7-5 lead at the half.
Levine-Spound’s second try and
Rabb’s second conversion put
Bruno comfortably ahead, 19-5.
The Lions put in another try be-
fore the whistle to make the final
score 19-10, but the Ivy champs
had already been determined.
Before the Ivy Championship,
the squad made a last-minute
decision to put together a team
for the Collegiate 7s Collegiate
Rugby Championships qualifier
in Las Vegas. The team finished
in the top 10 out of 32 schools,
and Travers said the competition
there helped the Bears prepare
continued on page 8
Bruno totaled a whopping 46
shots in the game and capitalized
on seven of 10 free position shots.
Winning 26 draws allowed the
Bears to keep the ball for most
of the game and apply offensive
pressure.
“We really owned the midfield
today and that has become a staple
for us,” Caldwell said. “We’re look-
ing to continue that for the last
two games and practices.”
Next up for Bruno is Ivy op-
ponent No. 8 Penn Saturday at
Stevenson Field. Though the team
is not in contention for postseason
play, the game is an important one
for the seniors as they head into
their final week with the team.
“We’re trying to have fun and to
hold it together to finish the way
we know we can,” Caldwell said.
Friday, April 22, 2011
By Sam Sheehan
Sports Columnist
I have been so transfixed these
last few weeks with the drama on
the court, ice and field on which
Boston’s teams tread, that I didn’t
see the end of the year coming.
Indeed, the final weeks of the se-
mester were so stealthy, they snuck
into my house, strangled my work
ethic and tiptoed out again before
I even realized what happened.
Now, this being my last column of
the semester, I figured it was time
to hand out the first annual Badly
Dressed Irish Sports Fan Awards
— BDISFAs — for the year.
But I believe award shows
should be about recognition for
your successes or woeful failures
versus actual winners and losers.
So I’ll be giving awards to mul-
tiple recipients who will split their
BDISFAs among themselves. So,
ladies and gentlemen, put your
hands together for this year’s
BDISFA winners.
The Robert Downey Jr. Award for
Instilling Man Crushes
Honorable mention goes to
Carmelo Anthony and Amare
Stoudemire for arriving in a time
when Derek Jeter is about as popu-
lar as the Unabomber, giving Go-
tham City stars to love who aren’t
incredible tools. No one likes you,
A-Rod.
For reasons of my own bias,
Chris Paul’s evisceration of the
Lakers on the road in Game 1
cemented his share of the award.
Aaron Rodgers’ banishment of the
Brett Favre demons from Lam-
beau was also a winning effort.
Armando Galarraga’s loss of a
perfect game on a blown call of
what would have been the final
out, though, earns him the ma-
jority of the Downey Jr. He kept
his cool, shrugged it off and kept
competing like a real professional
athlete. Hats off to you, Armando.
The Bill Buckner Award for Finest
Efforts to Ruin Boston Sports
It’s often said by the teammates
of a Red Sox pitcher: “When he’s
on the mound, he gives us a chance
to win.” In the case of John Lack-
ey, this is said by opposing bat-
ting coaches and hitters. With an
ERA of almost 10, he gets part of
a Buckner. Patriots safety Patrick
Chung’s mind-boggling strategy
of “steal ball from own punter,
try to run” grabs him a portion as
well. But our big winner is Celtics
General Manager Danny Ainge.
It takes a special man to take a
continued on page 8