Daily
the Brown
vol. cxlvi, no. 13
Scandals
hound Corp.
members
By Nicole Boucher
News Editor
Trustees and fellows of the Corpo-
ration make their greatest impact
on the University during the three
weekends a year they convene to
set policy, but the off-campus
activities of some members have
caught nationwide attention with
a series of scandals in the financial
world.
Most recently, Trustee Ste-
ven Cohen P’08, the billionaire
founder of SAC Capital Advisors,
faced renewed scrutiny this week
after two of his former employees
were arrested and charged with
insider trading by the Department
of Justice.
Cohen brings considerable in-
fluence to the University — he was
named one of the world’s 100 most
important people by Time Maga-
zine in 2007 — but in November,
two hedge funds connected to SAC
Capital were raided by the Justice
Department as part of a sweeping
insider trading investigation. SAC
Capital was subpoenaed as part of
the investigation. Monday’s arrests
of Cohen’s former employees have
revived speculation that the ulti-
mate target of the investigation is
SAC Capital itself.
continued on page 4
Investing or Divesting?
Students gathered near the Watson Institute to protest University investments
in companies with unfair employment practices late Thursday afternoon.
news...................2-4
inside
arts.........................5
editorial..............6
Opinion.................7
SPORTS...................8
Friday, February 11, 2011
Administrators, donors and students attended the opening ceremony for the new creative arts center on Thursday.
Community celebrates arts center
By Greg Jordan-Detamore
Senior Staff Writer
About 350 attendees explored the
Perry and Marty Granoff Center
for the Creative Arts at its dedica-
tion ceremony last night, taking
in the wide variety of student art-
work — incorporating visual art,
sound, video, dance and sculpture
— that adorns the latest addition
to the campus.
The building — which has
been open for classes since Jan.
26 — will not be host to any one
department, but will “manifest
Hilary Rosenthal / Herald
See full coverage on page 4.
Building Innovation
Neumann: function follows
form in the Granoff Center
creative arts Center, 3
Herald
new modes of dialogue between
different disciplines,” said Rich-
ard Fishman P’89, director of
the Creative Arts Council and a
professor of visual art, who has
championed the building since
long before it existed.
The building was entirely
donor-funded, Ronald Margolin,
vice president for international
advancement, told The Herald.
The fundraising goal was $52
million — $38 million for con-
struction, $2 million for program
development, and $12 million for
an operating endowment — and
PW production brings
jarring life lessons
By Emma Wohl
Senior Staff Writer
Minutes into Paula Vogel’s “How
I Learned to Drive,” the main
characters are alone together, in
the midst of one of the most inti-
mate, sexually-charged scenes of
the play. They are sitting five feet
apart, staring straight out into the
audience.
Arts & Culture
This disconnect is a theme of
the play, which is running at Pro-
duction Workshop Feb. 11-14. The
story of Lil Bit, a girl coming of
age in 1960s and 1970s Maryland,
and her more-than-familial rela-
tionship with her Uncle Peck, is
really a story about star-crossed
love and missed connections.
Madeleine Heil ’13 plays Lil
Bit, who ranges in age from 11 to
Rachel Kaplan / Herald
a total of $60 million was raised.
“Creativity and innovation are
inextricable,” Rocco Landesman,
chair of the National Endowment
for the Arts, told the audience dur-
ing his keynote address. “What I
love about the building are the
unexpected adjacencies.”
“This place makes me want to
sing,” Fishman said.“The devel-
opment of the Granoff Center has
been brought about by a powerful
yet simple principle — that when
we share our intellectual capital
continued on page 3
about 40, though not in chrono-
logical order. From her first mono-
logue, looking back on her adoles-
cence as an adult, Heil seems like
a woman using humor to cover
deep emotional scars. Perhaps the
most disappointing aspect of the
play is that she hardly ever lets
the facade slip — only once does
she ever let loose her frustration.
But despite the character’s con-
stant restraint, Heil shows remark-
able range. She ages visibly be-
tween scenes and makes clear her
varying feelings for Uncle Peck
— from devotion to camaraderie
to disgust.
Lil Bit is a girl who has a lot
to be frustrated about. Her fam-
ily’s normal dinner conversations
center around the size of her chest
and the boys at school ask her to
dance with them to the fast songs
continued on page 5
weather
D&C
The Corporation gets
a diamond
Diamonds & Coal, 6
Since 1891
Ne ws in brief
Electronic
concentration
forms available
today
Beginning today, students
will be able to declare their
concentrations electronically
using a new feature on
Advising Sidekick, the web-
based tool run by the Office of
the Dean of the College.
The process to submit
concentration forms will
remain largely the same, as
will the forms themselves, said
Katherine Bergeron, dean of
the College. The main benefit
to this new online feature
is that it creates a paperless
system, Bergeron wrote in
an e-mail to The Herald. The
“green system” will eliminate
the need to download PDFs,
print them, fill them out and
make multiple copies for a
concentration adviser. Students
will still have to complete
a personal statement and
course plan in addition to their
degree, concentration and
track declarations, but they will
be able to complete the forms
electronically through the
Advising Sidekick program.
Advising Sidekick was
developed by Computing
and Information Services and
the University Library and
launched in the summer of
2009 for the class of 2013,
according to Christopher
Keith, director of information
technology.
After making their
declarations, students will
be assigned advisers via
e-mail, whom they will then
have to meet with in person.
The advisers will be able to
comment on the declaration,
and the students will be
informed again via e-mail to
make any necessary changes
online before meeting with
their advisers a final time to
receive an electronic signature
on their forms, Bergeron wrote.
The program was designed
to provide “an enhanced
advising continuum for
undergraduate students,”
Keith wrote in an e-mail to The
Herald. “We hope the system
will facilitate communications
and exchange of data between
students and their advisers.”
Spencer Lawrence ’11 called
it a “great idea” that supports
the University’s “Brown is
Green” pledge to increase
environmental sustainability.
— Leigh Carroll
t o d ay tomorrow
30 / 22 40 / 24
2 Campus News
calendar Financiers loom large on Corporation
Today february 11 ToMORROW february 12
By Alex Bell
6:00 P.M. 7.00 p.m. News Editor
2011 CSA Chinese New Year Banquet, Israeli Film Festival Screening of ‘$9.99,’
Andrews Dining Hall MacMillan Hall, Room 117 In 2008, Chancellor Thomas Tisch
’76 — who leads the Corporation —
7:30 p.m. 6:00 p.m.
admitted to The Herald that the Cor-
Dancing with the Profs, Free Belly Dance Workshop,
poration has often been accused of
Alumnae Hall TF Green Hall, Room 205 being a bunch of “dead white males.”
Since then, the Corporation set
menu aside two trustee spots for young al-
ums in 2009, but the body remains
predominantly male — and the
SHARPE REFECTORY VERNEy-WOOLLEY DINING HALL
majority of its members come from
LUNCH the financial sector. The Corpora-
Onion Rings, Broccoli Rabe, Grilled Chicken Fingers, Vegan Nuggets, tion currently has 53 members — 12
Key West Chicken, Coconut and Sugar Snap Peas, Rice Krispie Treats, fellows and 41 trustees. Of the 53,
Ginger Rice Sticky Rice 32 are male and 21 female. A bare
majority — 27 — deal primarily in
DINNER
the financial sector. That figure does
Gnocchi with Arugula and Spinach French Onion Soup, Asparagus not include two lawyers who practice
Pesto, Bourbon BBQ Chicken, Cuts with Lemon, California Blend financial law and a commissioner
Summer Squash Vegetables, Focaccia with the Securities and Exchange
Commission with a background in
finance.
Sudoku Despite what may seem a some-
what homogeneous makeup, the
Corporation’s members still bring
a healthy breadth of perspectives,
Tisch said.
“The way the Brown Corporation
is constructed is actually a relatively
diverse board, recognizing that at the
end of the day, it has to raise millions
of dollars,” said Stephen Nelson, asso-
ciate professor of educational leader-
ship at Bridgewater State University.
Nelson said he felt a preponder-
ance of financiers does not hurt aca-
demic governance, but instead said it
was a politicization of academia — a
trend he traced back to the 1960s —
that has been a negative influence in
university governance. He credited
President Ruth Simmons as a promi-
nent leader who has avoided politi-
cizing the University’s governance.
Cr ossword
But Tisch rejected the notion that
Corporation members in finance are
not attuned to broader academic or
intellectual issues.
“Many of the members that peo-
ple would characterize as ‘in finance’
come at it from different directions,”
Tisch said. “Within finance, there
are a great many skills, abilities and
passions.”
He said many members are sim-
ply passionate about building busi-
nesses. He added that financial skills
in themselves are relevant to some of
the Corporation’s duties, and that it
boasts “a terrific internal budget and
finance team.”
Tisch said that the Corporation’s
makeup, unlike a legislature’s, is not
intended to be demographically rep-
resentative of any constituency.
“It’s the role of the Corporation to
take the long view and have a longer
Daily
the Brown
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Ben Schreckinger, President
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editorial
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herald@browndailyherald.com
Friday, February 11, 2011
Number of Corporation members from
different industries
perspective on issues we face to help
give administrators a sense of longer
direction and goals,” he said. “The
Corporation is a group of individu-
als who care passionately about the
University and our future and have
perspective and talents that are in-
clined to help us fulfill that future.”
More than one way to give back
But perspective and talents are
not all that Corporation members
give to Brown.
The presence of “wealthy bene-
factors” on universities’ governing
boards is nothing new, according to
Nelson.
Nelson said wealthy benefactors
in governing positions have often
supported universities from their
inceptions, citing Stanford Univer-
sity’s founding in the 19th century
by wealthy railroad tycoon Leland
Stanford.
Universities want and need these
people on their boards for their lead-
ership, wisdom and forethought, but
money and connections also play a
role, he said.
Tisch said members of the Corpo-
ration were a major source of funds
for the University, especially during
the five-year Campaign for Academic
Enrichment that ended last fall.
Of the $1.61 billion raised in the
campaign, 30.9 percent, or $499
million, came from present or past
members of the Corporation. Tisch
also noted that though much money
raised through the campaign was
earmarked by donors for clearly
identifiable needs embraced by the
administration as part of the Plan for
Academic Enrichment, he thought
this was especially true of donations
from Corporation members.
Herald
Matthew Burrows, Treasurer
Isha Gulati, Secretary
Business
(401) 351-3360
gm@browndailyherald.com
The Brown Daily Herald
Alex Bell and Julien Ouellet / Herald
Other members of the
Corporation include: Bank of
America CEO Brian Moynihan
’81, former Oppenheimer
& Co. executive and former
chancellor Stephen Robert
’62, Goldman Sachs executive
Richard Friedman, Austin
Ventures co-founder William
Wood, chairman and CEO of
Starwood Capital Group Barry
Sternlicht ’82, Vestar Capital
Partners founding partner and
managing director Norman
Alpert ’80, Bracebridge Capital
founder and managing
partner Nancy Zimmerman
’85, founder and managing
partner of Pegasus Capital
Advisors Craig Cogut ’75, Silver
Lakes Partners managing
director Charles Giancarlo
’79, R6 Capital Management
managing partner Ralph
Rosenberg and Providence
Equity Partners CEO Jonathan
Nelson.
“The reality is that we as a Uni-
versity are very under-resourced as
compared to other schools in our
cohort,” Tisch said. “Financial needs
are really with us at all times. They’re
with us in a way that forces us to be
conscious of tradeoffs, but there are
also issues we must be very aware of
at all times. As a standard, the Corpo-
ration has been engaged, committed
and has led in terms of giving to the
University.”
Jay Lorsch, professor of human
relations at the Harvard Business
School, said though there is no
question that board members are
expected to contribute large sums of
money, it is generally not everyone
on the board who does so, but rather
a few key people.
He added he “would be con-
cerned if the only reason they were
on the board was because they were
going to write a check.”
Ronald Ehrenberg, director of
Cornell’s Higher Education Research
Institute, said governing boards like
the Corporation usually need some
members with expertise in finance
to help out with budgets and invest-
ments, and the fact that these people
tend to be wealthy may bear little
relevance to their seats on the boards.
— With additional reporting by Nicole
Boucher
The Brown Daily Herald
Friday, February 11, 2011
Opening of the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts
Center’s design captures
transparency, modernity
By Dietrich Neumann
History of Art and Architecture
Professor
The opening of the Perry and Mar-
ty Granoff Center for the Creative
Arts celebrated much more than
just a new building on campus on
Thursday evening. The architects
— Elizabeth Diller, Ricardo Sco-
fidio and Charles Renfro — have
given us the finest piece of modern
architecture in Providence and a
great example of an “architecture
parlante”: its remarkable design
reflects the potential of new inter-
disciplinary collaborations among
the arts, humanities and sciences.
The guiding principles are
openness and transparency: the
main facade in the west is a gi-
ant display case of activities and
creations. The entire building is
split in the middle — with levels
on either side at different heights
and a glass wall between them in-
viting views up or down into the
adjacent studios and performance
spaces.
Its grey metal skin does aston-
ishing things: at first tight and
light colored, it folds, accordion-
like, into dense creases in the
back, lifting a curtain, if you will,
to invite views inside (and giving
a little thrill to the drivers stuck
in slow traffic on Angell Street).
The color of this remarkable skin
changes with every fold and angle
of reflection — a welcome bolt of
visual energy after the seriously
drab facades of its immediate
neighbor.
One of my professors in archi-
tecture school always said, “The
plan of a really good building fits
on the back of a postage stamp.”
This meant, of course, that a build-
ing’s essential outline and logic
should be so simple that it could
be explained in a tiny sketch. And
indeed: if we enter the Granoff
Center, the layout becomes im-
mediately apparent: in the en-
trance corridor the gaze travels
to the Cohen gallery at the left,
the Martinos auditorium below
and the studio above, before you
find yourself in the stairhall at the
end, perpendicular to the main
axis, serving the different levels.
And what a staircase that is: a
giant machine, an artificial tree,
whose heavy steel branches hold
not only the stairs and landings,
but also so called “living rooms”
floating in space, for small gather-
ings — the projection of video art
and conversation. These spaces
are the subtle counterparts to
the massive studios in the front,
whose size and ceiling heights
rival those of major art galleries
in Chelsea.
The firm of Diller, Scofidio &
Renfro has long been recognized
as one the most thoughtful and
creative avant-garde practices in
the country. Husband and wife
team Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo
Scofidio won a MacArthur Fellow-
Creative Arts Center 3
ship in 1999. Their long history
of conceptual, interdisciplinary
projects — probing the worlds of
media, performance and percep-
tion of language and space — is
a perfect model for what should
happen at the Granoff Center.
To this day, they devote a large
section of their practice to non-
profitable projects of design, cho-
reography and experimentation.
Their architectural work, now
including Charles Renfro, the lead
designer for our building, began
in 2002 with their spectacular
“blur building” — an artificial
cloud hovering over Lake Neu-
chatel in Switzerland. The Institute
of Contemporary Art in Boston
followed in 2006 and the School
of American Ballet in New York
in 2007. Since then, the firm has
had one major success after an-
other, including the Highline in
New York (2009) and the restora-
tion of Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln
Center with its glowing interior
walls (2009). Major projects in Rio
de Janeiro, Los Angeles and the
Hague are currently being built
or on the drawings boards.
While each of these designs
is different, a recognizable archi-
tectural vocabulary has begun to
emerge, and the Granoff Center
presents it in its essence. While
being fiercely innovative, the ar-
chitects engage the great themes
central to modern architecture:
transparency and reflection, ma-
terials and structure, notions of
skin and bones and a meaning-
ful arrangement of spaces. In ad-
dition, the Granoff Center will
earn a LEED gold certification for
sustainability and have the first
“green roof ” in the city.
The closest sibling on campus
is Philip Johnson’s remarkable List
Art Center of 1971, serving some-
what comparable purposes, being
equally readable (in the language
of its time), and equally concerned
with being inviting and open to
the city.
The great American architect
Louis Sullivan famously claimed
that “form always follows func-
tion.” Here, quite to the contrary,
the form exists before its future
functions have been fully deter-
mined, in fact, it invites and sug-
gests new uses by making them
possible. The potential of the
project, under its director Richard
Fishman, professor of visual arts,
is enormous. One might think of
the Bauhaus in Germany, the first
truly interdisciplinary art school
of our time, which continues to
inspire collaborative education
and practice in the arts, science
and humanities. It is now up to
us to fill this space with activity
and movement, day and night,
with exciting new projects, be they
video, music, theatre, dance, sci-
ence or architecture (or all of them
at once), and to turn this building
into a vibrant and luminous center
at the heart of our campus.
Rachel Kaplan / Herald
Students performed a scene from “Pippin” at the Granoff Center’s dedication ceremony last night.
Donors honored in inaugural ceremony
By Greg Jordan-Detamore his honor. “I love to convince people the course — SOC 1870A: “Invest-
Senior Staff Writer that wealth distribution is signifi- ing in Social Change” — are given
cantly more attractive than wealth a sum of money and are charged
Martin Granoff P’93, the largest do- accumulation.” with determining where to spend
nor for the Perry and Marty Granoff “All of his philanthropy up until it. Granoff has also endowed schol-
Center for the Creative Arts, has now at Brown has been anonymous,” arships.
been involved with Brown for years. said Ronald Margolin, vice president “I don’t do only big projects,”
Though neither of the Granoffs at- for international advancement. Granoff said.
tended Brown — Martin attended Granoff did not originally want The Granoffs have also contrib-
New York University and Perry at- his name on the creative arts build- uted to Tufts University, their son
tended the University of Michigan ing, Margolin said. But “the Corpo- Michael’s alma mater — the Tufts
­— their daughter Gillian graduated ration voted the naming to honor campus features the Perry and
from Brown in 1993. and thank (the Granoffs) for their Marty Granoff Music Center and
Martin Granoff, a textile industry philanthropy broadly and their vol- the Granoff Family Hillel Center.
executive, also sits on the Corpora- unteer service to Brown,” he wrote In addition to large construction
tion as a trustee and serves as chair in a follow-up e-mail to The Herald. projects, the Granoffs have given
of the Creative Arts Advisory Board. Through the Creative Arts Ad- money for other purposes related
He received an honorary degree in visory Board, Granoff was involved to faculty and students, said Chris-
2006. Granoff has made large do- with the building project as it devel- tine Sanni, director of advancement
nations for the Dill Center for the oped. “I love the design,” he said. communications and donor rela-
Performing Arts and Brown-RISD Granoff said he donated “a large tions at Tufts. “They’re fantastic sup-
Hillel. gift,” but declined to specify the porters of the university,” she said.
“To me, philanthropy has always amount. “Brown is lucky to have them.”
been more of a gift to the donor Granoff has also contributed to Besides donating to projects in
than” to the recipient, Granoff told the University in other ways. He the arts at Brown and Tufts, Granoff
the audience at the dedication cer- supports a Brown course on philan- also contributes to non-profit arts
emony for the building named in thropy, Margolin said. Students in organizations in New York City.
Center offers collaborative space
continued from page 1 beth Diller, a principal from the “It’s a lovely new space,” Mer-
architecture firm behind the build- edith Mosbacher ’11.5, one of the
and our resources, we can achieve ing, Diller, Scofidio & Renfro. actors, told The Herald. “There
something quite different than Like others, she celebrated the are so many possibilities for it.”
that which we can do alone.” creation of a space dedicated “It was very emotional for
“It’s a gift that will nurture to interdisciplinary collabora- me,” Fishman’s son, Harris Fish-
the creative minds of students tion. “Everything here is about man ’89, told The Herald after the
for years to come,” Fishman said. in-betweenness,” she said. “It’s ceremony. “For (Richard) to be
“Tonight, to me, is about yours, and we can’t wait to see here this day with this building,
love,” President Ruth Simmons what comes out.” it was very powerful.”
said. “Richard Fishman had an Several of the speakers made “I feel really thrilled,” Perry
idea and couldn’t let go of it.” reference to the relationship be- Granoff P’93 told The Herald.
As a new experimental space, tween the experimental nature of “I thought this was an amazing
the Granoff Center will be an in- the New Curriculum and the ex- ceremony.”
vitation for both success and fail- perimental nature of the Granoff “The laboratory has been cre-
ure, Landesman said. But “failure Center. “We have created some- ated, and now the fun part be-
is the key to innovation,” he said. thing together that could only take gins,” said Martin Granoff P’93.
“When failing is fun, its okay to place at Brown,” Fishman said. “Seeing all that creativity
try again.” Several scenes from Sock & made you think differently,” Sim-
Interdisciplinary pursuits are Buskin’s fall 2010 production of mons told The Herald after the
often given leftover spaces —­ “Pippin” were performed, as well event. “If a building can have
“hand-me-downs,” said Eliza- as two classical music pieces. energy, this one certainly has it.”
4 Campus News
Legal issues arise for Corp. members
continued from page 1
Fellow Steven Rattner ’74 P’10
P’13 came under considerable fire
last year when the Quadrangle
Group — a private investment
firm Rattner co-founded in 2000
— was investigated for a pay to
play deal with the New York State
pension fund. The Securities and
Exchange Commission initially
settled with Quadrangle last April,
but Rattner was not included in
the settlement. At the time, Quad-
rangle released a statement saying,
“We wholly disavow the conduct
engaged in by Steve Rattner, who
hired the New York State Comp-
troller’s political consultant, Hank
Morris, to arrange an investment
from the New York State Common
Retirement Fund. That conduct
was inappropriate, wrong and
unethical.”
In November, Rattner reached
a settlement with the SEC for $6.2
million with an agreement not to
do business in the securities in-
dustry for two years. On Dec. 30,
after a long public feud, he settled
with then-State Attorney General
and current Governor Andrew
Cuomo for $10 million in resti-
tution and a five-year ban from
appearing before a public pen-
sion fund.
Rattner has admitted no
wrongdoing.
A year ago, President Ruth
Simmons also faced scrutiny for
an external affiliation. Simmons
serves on the board of directors
of Goldman Sachs and sits on the
subcommittee that determines
executive compensation. Critics
slammed Goldman for doling
out large bonuses to its senior
executives after receiving a fed-
eral bailout, and claimed excessive
Wall Street compensation created
perverted incentives that led ex-
ecutives to favor short-term gains
at the expense of the financial sys-
tem’s stability.
“These people are high-profile,”
said Stephen Nelson, an associ-
ate professor of secondary educa-
tion and professional programs
at Bridgewater State University.
“Therefore, they are under an
enormous microscope.”
When people become involved
in an outside investigation that
damages their reputation even if
they are never found guilty, the
institutions those people are asso-
ciated with can also be negatively
perceived, Nelson said.
He said many members of uni-
versity boards are selected because
they have expertise in the finan-
cial sector, so it is difficult for the
public to separate their actions as
board members from their deci-
sions as businessmen. But to prog-
ress to a point where the damage
to the university is greater than the
assets the person brings, Nelson
said an investigation must reach
“some threshold where enough
people are sufficiently concerned.”
But that threshold is difficult to
discern.
Because Rattner admitted no
guilt in his settlements, the effect
of the investigation on the Uni-
versity lies in a “gray area,” Nelson
said. In cases like these, he said
the “degree of taint” should be
weighed against an individual’s
contribution to the institution.
“I think if you are being in-
vestigated, people are going to
be wondering,” said Jay Lorsch,
a professor of organizational be-
havior at Harvard Business School.
“That’s the problem. You lose your
virtue.”
In situations where blatant
wrongdoing is not exposed, a
decision to stay on the board or
recuse oneself is often at the in-
dividual’s discretion, said Ronald
Ehrenberg, director of the Cornell
Higher Education Research Insti-
tute and professor at the Cornell
School of Industrial and Labor
Relations.
“Rumors can swirl around
somebody,” Nelson said, but “it
would be doing a disservice to feed
the flames of that reputation of the
falsely accused.”
Nelson said when a person
has “a blackened or otherwise
impaired public persona,” it may
come time for the person to with-
draw from the board in order to
maintain a university’s reputation.
Herbert “Pug” Winokur
reached that point in 2002. Wi-
nokur sat on Harvard’s corpora-
tion and the board of directors at
Enron Corporation at the time of
its collapse in 2001.
Winokur stepped down vol-
untarily amidst outside pressure,
writing in a letter to former Har-
vard President Lawrence Summers
that the controversy was “diverting
attention from your agenda for
Harvard and from the important
work of the corporation and the
university.”
Winokur faced heavy criticism
and protests from organizations
such as the student group Har-
vardWatch prior to his announce-
ment, the Harvard Crimson re-
ported at the time.
Chancellor Thomas Tisch ’76
P’07 said there has never been a
case in his tenure where a member
has left the Corporation due to
accusations of wrongdoing.
“I’m truly honored to serve
with every member of the Cor-
poration,” Tisch said. “I can say
without equivocation that every
member makes valuable contribu-
tions to our work and that every
single member strengthens Brown
in important ways.”
Tisch added it was not his role
to single out Corporation mem-
bers, and could only talk about the
body’s members in general.
Last February, after announc-
ing she would not seek reelection
to Goldman’s board, Simmons told
The Herald “You’re not in charge
of everything that your friends
do and every policy that organi-
zations that you’re affiliated with
issue.”
Letters, please!
letters@browndailyherald.com
Friday, February 11, 2011
Open the Book protests outside the Watson Institute for International Studies.
Panel discusses university
endowment investments
By Lindor qunaj
Senior Staff Writer
A panel of academics, activists and
student organizers assembled by
the Open the Books Coalition for a
Responsible Endowment spoke to
an intimate audience in Barus and
Holley 166 Thursday night. The event
— “Investing in Justice: Investing
Injustice?” — addressed the conse-
quences of irresponsible university
endowment investments and the
issue of social responsibility among
institutions of higher education.
The first speaker was Martin
Bourqui, a recent Tufts graduate
and the national organizer for the
Responsible Endowments Coali-
tion, an organization whose goal is
to change the way universities across
the country invest their money.
Bourqui talked about working with
college students to set up campus
committees to network with a wider
group of activists and investigate
their schools’ policies to effectively
push for appropriate changes.
Bourqui was followed by Wayne
Langley, the director of higher edu-
cation at the Service Employees In-
ternational Union Local 615, who
began his introduction with the
statement, “transparency is one of
those words that people love to use
but hate to institute.” He went on to
explain that many universities have
The Brown Daily Herald
Hilary Rosenthal / Herald
continued to make reckless invest-
ments, even after the financial cri-
sis began two years ago. He likened
the practice to playing at a roulette
table, and expressed frustration that
many universities are being run like
for-profit enterprises instead of the
non-profit institutions that they are.
The final speaker was Joshua
Humphreys, a senior associate at
the Tellus Institute, a research and
policy organization that aims to uti-
lize creative thinking and scientific
evidence to address a broad range of
environmental and social problems.
Earlier in the day, the Open the
Books student group held a dem-
onstration in front of the Watson
Institute for International Studies
urging the University to divest from
HEI Hotels and Resorts. HEI is a
hotel management company with
a “documented history of unethical
practices and intimidation of work-
ers,” protester Mariela Martinez ’14
said.
Julian Park ’12, a Herald opinions
columnist and another student in-
volved in the organization, expressed
optimism that the members of the
Corporation would decide not to
reinvest in HEI: “(President) Ruth
Simmons had been fairly good in the
past of making it known that Brown
will not stand for HEI’s unethical
treatment of workers,” he said. Park
added that if the University were
to divest from the company, their
decision would “have a domino ef-
fect on other schools everywhere,”
a sentiment that the panelists later
echoed.
The Corporation is expected to
discuss the University’s investment
in HEI at their meeting this week-
end.
— With additional reporting by Hil-
ary Rosenthal
The Brown Daily Herald
Friday, February 11, 2011
PW love story
shocks and attracts
continued from page 1
“so they can watch (her) jiggle.”
Ninety percent of the conversa-
tions in the play are about sex,
yet when Lil Bit finds someone
with whom she feels comfortable,
someone she seems to love, their
relationship is unacceptable to the
world.
“It’s a love story,” said Alex
Keegan ’12, the show’s director.
“That’s really what’s most frighten-
ing about it and also what’s most
beautiful about it.” The relation-
ship between Lil Bit and Uncle
Peck is disturbing in part because
it is so easy to understand how
these two, both outcasts within
their family, could want to be to-
gether.
That authenticity owes a lot to
the easy chemistry between Heil
and Will Ruehle ’13, who plays
Uncle Peck, as a man who grew up
reluctantly — if ever. He is desper-
ate to cling on to any vestiges of
his youth.
Heil and Ruehle are backed by
an outstanding supporting cast.
Each of the actors in what Vogel
calls the “Greek Chorus” accom-
plishes the difficult task of play-
ing a number of small roles and
making each one distinct, even
memorable.
Though small, made up of only
three female and two male parts,
the Greek Chorus is bigger than
Vogel intended — the original
script called for only three mem-
Got something to say? Leave a comment online!
Visit www.browndailyherald.com to comment on opinion and editorial content.
bers, Keegan said. The expanded
cast allows each character to delve
more deeply into individual roles.
Deepali Gupta ’12 turns the
part of Aunt Mary i­ nto a remark-
ably unlikeable but fascinating
character. She also displays a
beautiful singing voice.
“How I Learned to Drive” packs
a lot into a short time. A story that
jumps around a 30-year period
clocks in at under two hours, a
feat it achieves by having minimal
set changes, no intermission and
just one blackout in its entire run.
The supporting cast also functions
as run crew, setting up tables and
chairs and occasionally compris-
ing the scenery by making tab-
leaux in the background.
This play is undoubtedly
shocking. Its relationships are
not meant to feel easy, and even
the numerous funny scenes may
leave you feeling uncomfortable
or even queasy. Nor does it build
up to the shockers — the second
scene is one of the most graphic.
But if one can handle a brutally
honest look at what simultane-
ously attracts and repels us, this
play is not to be missed.
With stand out performances
from primary and supporting cast,
this play guarantees an emotional
response.
Arts & Culture 5
Author reads from ‘bleeding chunk’ of novel
By Alexandra Macfarlane
Contributing Writer
“I should like to fall in love again,
just one more time,” says the
narrator in John Banville’s latest
novel, from which he read Tues-
day evening in Salomon 001. The
renowned Irish novelist and win-
ner of the 2005 Man Book Prize
captivated the audience and left
aspiring writers eager to put pen
to paper.
Robert Coover, visiting profes-
sor of literary arts and long time
friend of Banville, described him
as “a metafictional stylist in the
manner of his countrymen Joyce
and Beckett, playful in his con-
structions as Nabokov” in a written
introduction. While Coover was
unable to attend the reading, Gale
Nelson, assistant director of the
Literary Arts Program, read the
introduction in his place.
Banville was born in Wexford,
Ireland in 1945. As a young man,
he wished to be a visual artist and
architect — a fact that must in-
fluence “the painterly and struc-
tural qualities” of his prose, Coover
wrote.
He has written almost 20 books
to date, three of them comprising
a trilogy written from the perspec-
tive of a convicted killer, Freddie
BB & Z | Cole Pruitt, Andrew Seiden, Valerie Hsiung and Dan Ricker
Dot Comic | Eshan Mitra and Brendan Hainline
Montgomery. He also writes crime
fiction under the pen name Ben-
jamin Black.
On taking the stage, Banville
read what he called a “bleeding
chunk” from a draft of his newest
book, which has yet to be titled
or finished.
Banville began his reading with
a quote which set the tone for the
evening: “Words have no shame
and are never surprised.”
The three portions of Banville’s
draft centered around a man in his
mid-60s from a small town in Ire-
land who is remembering an affair
he had as a 15-year-old. “Billy Grey
was my best friend,” he read, “and
I fell in love with his mother.” The
prose was nostalgic, humorous and
charming with a clear narrative
voice that painted strong images
in the heads of the audience.
At one point, Banville read
about the sensation a man has at
any age when he sees the “secret
parts” of a woman. The narrator
explains that the rush of both emo-
tions and blood a man experiences
could never compare to the way a
woman might feel.
Banville’s words were adept at
describing both scenes and emo-
tions seamlessly. For example, the
author read from a passage de-
scribing the initial moments after
comics
his first sexual encounter with Mrs.
Grey. “I stood amazed at the risks
she took, adrift in a daze of tender-
ness,” Banville read.
More humorously, Banville’s
reading included a passage detail-
ing the boy’s initial confession to
his local priest after he sleeps with
Mrs. Grey. Both characters are ea-
gerly discussing the narrator’s sin-
ful coitus. The priest asked the boy
if he touched her leg and the boy
replied yes. The priest said, “High
on the leg?” and the boy replied,
“Very high.”
After the reading, Banville re-
mained on stage for a question and
answer period, which he described
as “a dreadful existential moment”
for those who wanted to ask a ques-
tion.
Banville was asked about his re-
lationship as a writer with his own
narrators. He told the audience that
his narrators have become more
and more removed from himself.
“I dislike my narrators. They are
too fastidious for their own good,”
he said.
Despite this assertion, Banville’s
humor and humility mirror that
of his narrator. When asked why
he came to Brown, Banville said,
“Well, I was invited.” The fact that
he is an award-winning novelist
never seemed to cross his mind.
6 Editorial & Letter The Brown Daily Herald
Friday, February 11, 2011

Diamonds & Coal Editorial comic by erik stayton and

e van donahue
Coal to the Swearer Center for Public Service, which is just now
changing its compensation polices to comply with the Fair Labor
Standards Act of 1950. If the entire University was as behind the times
as Swearer, the faculty would still be full of white males. Oh, wait.

A diamond to the professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg

School of Management whose forthcoming study of elite consulting,
finance and law firms found that, compared to their counterparts at
Harvard, Princeton and Yale, Brown graduates have little chance of
landing jobs at those firms. On second thought, sounds like we’re
going to need that diamond a lot more than you.

Coal to the irresponsible parents of Noah Bareto, the eighth-

grader who testified in favor a marriage equality bill and dismissed
religious arguments against gay marriage by saying, “In the Bible
they ate children. We don’t eat children.” He is way too young to
be reading a book like that.

A diamond to President Ruth Simmons who attended the dedi-

cation of the brand new Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the
Creative Arts last night. “Tonight, to me, is about love,” Simmons
said, meaning “money.”

Cubic zirconium to Computing and Information Services for

deciding not to renew a contract with Adobe that allows students to
download programs such as Photoshop for free. Now that the only
things we can get online for free are Wikipedia and pornography,
we feel a lot less guilty for using them.

A diamond to Irish novelist John Banville, for reading a “bleeding

chunk” of his latest work in Solomon 001 Tuesday. With the Fish
Company closed, its good to know students still have a place to go
le tter to the editor
to get their share of bleeding chunks.

A cubic zirconium to Chaplain Janet Cooper Nelson, who

An eye towards the future
said she chose Harvard Divinity School over Harvard Law School
because she did not like the law school’s “sort of hazing process.” To the Editor: next decade of growth and beyond. Our president
Now we know why, after 21 years on campus, Cooper Nelson has has done an exemplary job during her tenure, but
not once rushed D Phi. Sworn in in July of 2001, Ms. Simmons has the time has come to make way for new blood and
reached or exceeded the customary term of a college new directions for Brown.
A diamond to malaria researcher and Professor of Applied Math- President, and a case could be made for beginning
ematics George Kianadakis, who said of red blood cells, “They cannot a search for a new president to take Brown into the Olafur Gislason ’74 P’06
travel through the capillaries if they are stiff.” That’s what he said.

A diamond to the Brown Cubing Club, which held its second

annual Rubik’s Cube competition Saturday. Mom and Dad, if you

quote of the day

hear a bunch of Brown students are going to twist one up, this is
what they’re talking about.

“A recognizable architectural vocabulary

A diamond to the Corporation, the majority of whose members
hail from the financial sector. Now let’s loan out that diamond,
securitize and collateralize the debt, dump it off on a retirement
fund in Germany and get The Herald’s endowment moving again.
has begun to emerge,
and the Granoff Center presents it in its essence. ”
— Dietrich Neumann, professor of history of art and architecture

t h e b r ow n da i ly h e r a l d
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The Brown Daily Herald
Friday, February 11, 2011
Don’t Ask, Don’t ROTC: Why it’s still a bad idea
BY Dave Morris
Guest Columnist
Over winter break, Congress finally elimi-
nated the discriminatory doctrine of “Don’t
Ask, Don’t Tell.” We should be proud that
one more vestige of legal discrimination
has finally fallen away. Over many years,
opponents of the Reserve Officers’ Train-
ing Corps have asserted that the Universi-
ty should not endorse anything or anyone
that officially discriminates against homo-
sexuals.
However, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was
never the strongest argument against
ROTC at Brown. Instead, a ROTC unit
would tear at the very fabric that makes
the University what it is. A ROTC pro-
gram would have strict requirements that
completely oppose the philosophy and
actuality of the New Curriculum and the
idea of a liberal education. Naval ROTC
— which would be the most likely version
at Brown, both because Brown had a Na-
val ROTC unit from 1940 until 1972 and
because the army already has a ROTC unit
at Providence College — requires that stu-
dents in the program take two semesters of
calculus, two semesters of physics, two se-
mesters of English grammar and composi-
tion, one semester of foreign language and
two courses on national security policy or
American military affairs. As all courses
taken at Brown are electives — not count-
ing concentration requirements — we
would have a requirement where an out-
side entity, the military, would prescribe at
Corporatization and a pirate ship metaphor
By Julian Park
Opinions Columnist
Corporate profiteers run our university.
Most administrators will never admit
this because their economic and social sta-
tus is rooted in Brown’s increasingly cor-
porate path. Many students don’t see it or
don’t care, blissfully happy with our privi-
leged lives here and the lives we are prom-
ised after — blissful customers ready to be-
come blissful corporate workers. But if you
ask almost anyone who has worked here for
more than a decade — facilities or dining
or library workers, tenured professors and
even certain administrators — they’ll tell
you things are changing at Brown, and not
for the better.
There’s been much talk about the fabled
“Brown, Inc.” It seems to me that before we
get ahead of ourselves, we need to establish
the conversation. Corporatization must be
thought of as the increasing evacuation of
Brown’s public service mission — written
into our charter — in favor of profit in-
terests. In a global context, this has been
called “neoliberalism” or “Empire.” I would
ask that we remember this public service
mission relates just as much to students as
it does to every community Brown affects.
These communities, whether consisting of
our workers or the businesses in which we
invest, are increasingly graded like bottom-
line profits and less and less like people.
Even some students are happy to think of
Brown as a business and to compare its stu-
least nine courses that a cadet must take.
Eligibility within the ROTC program is
dependent upon physical evaluations and
also has an academic component. Even
if failed courses showed up on our tran-
scripts, the consequences would be rela-
tively light compared to failing a course as
a ROTC cadet. ROTC allows any cadet to
drop out — or be kicked out — after their
first year with relatively little penalty. How-
ever, if you leave the program the first day
of sophomore year — voluntarily or oth-
erwise — and received ROTC scholarship
While it is no longer legal for the military and ROTC units
to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, ROTC
has other rules that prevent certain classes of people
from joining, or force them to leave the program, on a
discriminatory basis.
money, you must reimburse the military
for their expenses. Failing a class could
quite literally cost you tens of thousands of
dollars.
Worse still, should you leave ROTC af-
ter the start of your junior year for any rea-
son, that early exit is grounds for immedi-
ate call up to active duty as an enlisted per-
son. Potentially, you could be sent to war
and lose your life because you failed one
too many courses at Brown — or ironical-
ly, because you decided you did not like a
military life.
While it is no longer legal for the mil-
dents to consumers, as if education was a
product, not a process. Are elementary and
secondary schools — public or private —
merely businesses, too? Just as health care
in our country is a privilege and not a right,
so too is higher education becoming an in-
creasingly costly privilege.
When administrators, Corporation
members and students talk about endow-
ment losses, tuition or financial aid in-
creases, or how we compare to our “peer
schools”; when they use words or phrases
like “efficiency,” “centralization” and “bud-
get cuts”; when the e-mails from the Ca-
Who benefits from the opacity and unaccountability
with which this University operates?
reer Development Center are most fre-
quently about investment banks — what
we are dealing with is the corporatization
of Brown.
And if anybody can justify the existence
of the new Perry and Marty Granoff Center
for the Creative Arts, or why it was worth
$40 million — nearly half of last year’s bud-
get shortfall of $95 million that led to 66
people losing their jobs (not to mention
the 139 “voluntary” retirements), or the
31 more that lost their jobs the year before
Opinions 7
itary and ROTC units to discriminate on
the basis of sexual orientation, ROTC has
other rules that prevent certain classes of
people from joining, or force them to leave
the program, on a discriminatory basis. In-
ternational students are specifically pro-
hibited from joining except by specific rec-
ommendation by the Secretary of Defense.
Even then, they are usually ineligible for fi-
nancial assistance. ROTC also has height,
weight and age requirements that could
prohibit you from joining — or in the case
of weight, could potentially get you kicked
out. Is there any other class, concentra-
tion, committee or extracurricular group
at Brown that does not allow international
students, fat students or Resumed Under-
graduate Education students? Would we
tolerate such a program to exist?
ROTC rules also require that the com-
mander of a unit must be given faculty sta-
tus, even if the ROTC courses themselves
do not count as regular, academic courses.
Since when does the University allow mili-
tary personnel — or any outside organiza-
tion for that matter — to determine who
is and who is not a faculty member at the
— I would be amazed. Forty million dol-
lars would’ve helped the $81.5 million go-
ing this year towards financial aid — a pro-
gram that Provost David Kertzer ’69 P’95
P’98 described as “increasingly expensive
to sustain” at a once a year public forum of
Brown’s budgetary committee, the Univer-
sity Resource Committee, this past fall. Ev-
eryone jumps to point out that money set
aside for construction comes from target-
ed gifts — failing to recognize the role that
targeted fundraising like the Campaign for
Academic Enrichment plays in the targets
funded.
It’s worth noting that of the Campaign’s
$1.61 billion raised only $6.2 million were
set aside for “the Alumni of Color Initia-
tive,” a special initiative split between rais-
ing money for endowed scholarships, the
annual fund, “Third World Transition Pro-
grams” and academic programs.
It would be reductionist to claim that re-
sponsibility is not a complex question. For
the moment, let’s keep it simple. I am not
Marxist-Leninist, I’m not even a socialist
— but I’m going to quote Lenin on this one
University, with all rights and privileges
thereof?
At Brown, we are successful because we
live in a flexible atmosphere in which the
questioning of what we learn causes intel-
lectual and personal growth. We respect
and encourage differences of opinion and
personal initiative. We emphasize an in-
dividualistic, yet mutually cooperative,
learning environment. The structure of the
military and of ROTC is totally antitheti-
cal to these ideals. The military thrives on
a mind-set of unquestioning obedience to
authority. Personal initiative is discour-
aged, and people who act on deviant opin-
ions are often punished. On certain issues,
if a ROTC cadet’s personal feelings conflict
with military policy, he or she may hesi-
tate before speaking publicly on those is-
sues. He or she might feel afraid of conse-
quences — which, clearly, can have serious
implications.
Bringing ROTC to Brown would rip
away many of the principles we hold dear.
Because ROTC prescribes a core curricu-
lum of nine courses, it does not truly give
its students freedom of opportunity. Con-
sequently, these students are discouraged
from a liberal course of study. The pre-
scribed academic courses — both inside
and outside of ROTC-specific courses —
is oil on the New Curriculum’s water. The
prevailing attitude of the military discour-
ages freedom of independent thought that
is so central to a Brown education. Going
through a ROTC program at Brown would
therefore quite literally make the Brown
experience not the Brown experience at all.
Dave Morris ’88 is an alum.
— “Who stands to gain?”
Who benefits from the opacity and un-
accountability with which this Univer-
sity operates? The same people who op-
erate veiled — the president who rarely
meets with her students, the investment
office whose location is kept off its web-
site and won’t permit students to visit — I
know from experience — and the Corpo-
ration which seals its minutes for 25 years.
Is it any surprise that our highest govern-
ing body includes people like Steven Rat-
tner ’74 P’10 P13, who recently settled $6.2
million dollars for “peddling influence” in
the securities industry and is being sued
by the State of New York for $26 million
more? Or Steven Cohen P’08, whose hedge
fund SAC capital is at the center of a major
insider trading investigation? Forgive me
if I’m not thrilled that last year they wel-
comed to their ranks Brian Moynihan ’81,
CEO of Bank of America — a company of
whose role in the current financial crisis
one would need to be an ostrich to be un-
aware of.
I’m sure neither those people, nor oth-
er Corporation members nor the financial
firms they are associated with had anything
to do with Brown’s $740 million hit to the
endowment — that would be preposterous.
I see things like this: If Brown were a
ship, it would be in shambles, thanks to the
reckless command of power-drunk pirates.
Those of us who care need to start seriously
considering mutiny.
Julian Park ’12 is an MCM concentra-
tor from Vashon Island, Wash. He can be
contacted at Julian_Park@brown.edu.
Daily Herald Sports Friday
the Brown
Humility, longevity, Player becomes coach after injury
greatness: Ray Allen’s
biggest three-pointer
By Sam Sheehan
Sports Columnist
Now, hold on! Before you flip the
page on the Boston sports fan writing
about his own player, hear me out.
This column is all about Ray Allen,
one of the most likable guys in the
history of basketball. Ray Allen, who
broke Reggie Miller’s all-time three-
point record last night. Where Reggie
was full of surly emotion, Allen is a
fine sportsman and full of respect — a
man who can’t have enough fanfare
in his name. Do I have you? Will you
read on? Good.
About eight months ago, as
the Lady Gaga album “The Fame
Monster” was really getting big, the
Boston Celtics were getting ready
to square off against their arch rival
the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA
Finals. Hanging tough at the number
six spot of the Billboard Hot 100 was
a little song off of that album by the
name of “Alejandro.”
For the sake of this column, I’ll as-
sume there is someone out there who
doesn’t know who Lady Gaga is and
elaborate. Lady Gaga is a former pop
songwriter turned pop star who, as
her fame grew, put out increasingly
more insane (and awesome) music
videos. She also once wore a dress
made out of meat.
At some point in that week, I re-
alized that my two favorite Celtics
players, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo,
had names that kind of sounded like
they were in the song. Next thing
I know, I’m making Facebook sta-
tuses with things like, “Just call their
name, Just call their name, ALLEN-
RONDO!” The elation that came
with the discovery quickly passed
when I realized that (a) no one else
would think this was as clever as I
did, and (b) Allen, who was 34 at
the time, had to be reaching the end
of his career, rendering my fun little
parody useless.
After all, Allen was traded to
the Celtics in the 2007 off-season, a
time when his former franchise, the
Seattle SuperSonics, was in turmoil
and preparing for a move to Okla-
homa City. Sam Presti, the Sonics’
and now Thunder’s general manager,
is considered one of the best in the
business. And he thought Allen was
on the decline three years ago. How
on earth could the legendary sharp-
shooter keep his game?
Well, turns out it ain’t over ’til
Ray says it’s over. The 35-year-old
is enjoying a career year, nailing 45
percent of his attempts from behind
the arc and more than half of his total
shots. But how is this possible? In a
sport characterized by long, steady
declines, how is Ray Allen taking his
game to the next level?
I think I may have the answer. In
the ugly Game 7 of the aforemen-
tioned series against the Lakers, Al-
len went three of 14 from the floor
— the worst shooting percentage by
a Celtics starter, and an uncharac-
teristic choke-job by the perennial
all-star. He then proceeded to spend
all of his spare time in the off-season
working on his shot, shaking the rust
off his stroke and counting down
to the day he would have another
chance at the Lakers.
Now that day is here, and with
Reggie Miller calling the game
in a packed Garden, we’ve finally
reached the hour of the Allen. Miller
was known for his stone-cold, killer
performances against the Knicks,
running down the court and jawing
at director Spike Lee in the stands
after buttering three pointers like
toast. Ray is known for running back
down the court after his threes to
play defense, humbly shrugging off
the cheers of the crowd. If you think
I’m biased towards my Celtics, the
contrast is even strong between Ray
and captain Paul Pierce. I love Pierce
more than orange guava passionfruit
juice in the Ratty — which I love a lot
— but his grandstanding and chest-
beating are in stark juxtaposition
with Ray’s quiet fist pumps.
In a year when future Hall of
Famers like LeBron James and Phil
Jackson have stated their displeasure
with playing on Christmas, Allen
made an impassioned argument
to the contrary. Ray talked about
the honor of being selected to play
during a day reserved for marquee
games, and the good fortune of NBA
players to be able to do what they
love for a living.
“We’re over here, complaining
about playing Christmas, but we’re
basically home on United States soil,”
he told Tim Povtak of FanHouse.
“Some of those guys in the mili-
tary haven’t seen their families in a
year, or six months or maybe three
months.’’
Wait, aren’t basketball stars sup-
posed to be spoiled babies? When
Allen’s young son was diagnosed
with diabetes, Ray said he learned
a lot about being grateful for what
he has. He’s a man I’m proud to see
in my team’s uniform every night.
With talent comes good shooters,
but to be a great shooter, you’ve got
to work hard. You either have the
tenacity and conquering mentality
of Miller, or the determination and
drive of Ray. In Allen, we see a guy
who could go down in history as the
greatest pure shooter of all time. That
doesn’t happen by accident. So, I’ll
call your name, Ray. All you’ve got to
do is bring that shot to the playoffs
with you.
That — and tell your mom to
keep wearing her bedazzled jersey
while she jumps around in the front
row. She makes my heart grow three
sizes on game day.
Sam Sheehan ’12 is currently working
on the lyrics to the Katy Perry song
“FirePerk(ins)”. Talk sports with him at
sam_sheehan@brown.edu or follow
him on twitter @SamSheehan.
By Nikhil Parasher
Contributing Writer
When Marques Coleman ’12
committed to playing basketball
at Brown during his senior year in
high school, he pictured himself
playing on the Pizzitola Center
court, not coaching from its side-
lines. But three years and two torn
knee ligaments later, Coleman,
who was a player on the men’s
basketball team last season, is now
an undergraduate student-assistant
coach, a position rarely held in
college athletics.
During his senior year of high
school, Coleman was recruited by
several West Coast universities,
along with three Ivies, including
Brown. But severe injuries derailed
his path towards becoming a Di-
vision I athlete. He tore his left
anterior cruciate ligament and
lost all but the one scholarship
offer from Seattle University. Cole-
man eventually decided to attend
Brown — which, in agreement
with Ivy League regulations, had
not offered an athletic scholarship.
Coleman underwent a nine-month
recovery process through the re-
mainder of his senior year and
the summer afterwards, hoping he
would be ready to sprint up and
down the court at Brown.
“I had a physical therapist that
I went to probably three times a
week and I would be training close
to twice a day, trying to get my
knee back to its normal capac-
ity,” Coleman said. “It takes five
months before you’re supposed
to be able to run, but I think I
was running at three-and-a-half
months.”
Only two weeks before his
freshman year began, Coleman
tore his other ACL. He underwent
a second knee surgery the week
before moving into his dorm. He
began rehab again in Providence
but missed his entire freshman
season.
Coleman finally made his de-
but for the Bears when he entered
a game off the bench during his
sophomore year. But the old in-
juries still crippled his play.
“I was in constant pain,” Cole-
man said. “My knees on and off
the court during the season were
just always hurting.”
He had to have a physical
FENCINg
Fencing faces tough competition
By Alex Mittman
Contributing Writer
The fencing team had a rough
weekend, besting only Yeshiva Uni-
versity and Hunter College in the
overall standings of a seven-team
event. The men’s squad notched
another victory over NYU by 5
bouts, 16-11.
Men’s sabre had by far the best
group performance of the day, with
all of the fencers winning at least
as many bouts as they lost. Peter
Tyson ’12 went 12-6, Teddy Weller
’13 11-6, Nick Deak ’14 12-5, and
trainer use a machine to give him
electric muscle stimulation, a pro-
cess that forces muscle contraction
through electrical impulses.
Coleman said the pain affected
his play on the court and said he
“was scared to ... do a few things.”
“I always knew that after my
surgery I was at a high risk of get-
ting injured again,” he said. “If you
tear your ACL in the same knee
more than once, the chances of the
surgery being successful again is
very small. I knew that, and in the
back of my head, I was always a
little conscious of that.”
After speaking with his par-
ents and surgeon, Coleman finally
decided to end the pain and stop
playing.
“The main issue is if I’m going
to be ... able to walk when I’m 50
years old,” Coleman said. “So I had
to weigh playing a few years of
basketball or being able to eventu-
ally maybe run after my kids. But
I still wanted to stay on the team.”
In April of his sophomore year,
Coleman met with Head Coach
Jesse Agel to discuss his future.
“When he told me that he was
unable to physically play, I said,
‘Listen, I’d love for you to stay
around the program if you have
interest,’ ” recalled Agel. “He was
excited to do that.”
Agel said the decision to make
Coleman an assistant coach was
easy because of Coleman’s char-
acter.
“He’s well-respected by his
teammates, and he has a great
work ethic and has a great dispo-
sition,” Agel said. “And that com-
bination of maturity, disposition,
work ethic is somebody that you
want to have around your guys.”
“He’s perfect in terms of mo-
tivating and caring and he takes
every job, no matter how little,”
Agel added. “He gets things done.”
As a student-assistant, Cole-
man is in charge of the film ex-
change, the process of giving other
schools’ coaches film of certain
games and getting film of their
teams in turn. Because of his in-
juries, Coleman is not permitted
to do any on-court activity — he
attends practice but can only ob-
serve.
His teammates said Coleman
still plays an important role on
the team.
Brandon Tomasso ’13 had an even
score of 1-1. Weller said that the
team is “on a good run right now,”
and the players are hopeful for a
good performance through the
remainder of the season.
Both the women’s and men’s
teams defeated Yeshiva, 23-4.
“It was a good round to start
with and get us in the mood for
the rest of the day,” said co-captain
Alexander DePaoli ’11.
But the team struggled overall.
“This was our hardest yet,” said
Katherine Hawrot ’14.
Women’s foil posted positive
Friday, February 11, 2011
“I think he’s been a great ... con-
duit between the coaches and the
players because he brings a differ-
ent perspective,” said co-captain
Adrian Williams ’11. “He’s our
age…and can definitely relate to
the players. He’s one of our friends
but he’s also one of our coaches.”
Co-captain Peter Sullivan ’11
agreed.
“He was right there with us ...
for a couple of years,” Sullivan said.
“He knows what it takes. ... I think
that it’s good when he speaks up. I
think that everyone listens to him
and responds well.”
Coleman is also drawing high
praise from his new boss, who can
relate to Coleman’s position. Agel
was once a student-assistant him-
self, albeit as a graduate student.
“I have been very lucky to have
been surrounded by great people
who are great assistants,” Agel said.
“Marques has done nothing but
add to my staff in a very positive
manner.”
Coleman’s unique coaching
position has also been gaining
notice outside of the Brown bas-
ketball community. Credit Suisse
Group, the international financial
services company, recently offered
Coleman — a Commerce, Orga-
nizations and Entrepreneurship
concentrator — a nine-week sum-
mer internship in New York, partly
because of his role on the team.
The transition from player to
coach has also left Coleman with
more free time, which he has spent
writing articles for golocalprov.
com, a local news website, and
working for Brown television.
Though Coleman acknowl-
edged that it is difficult to have
his playing days cut short, he said
he is happy still to be a part of
the team.
“I’d ideally love to be out there
with the guys, being a member
of the team, and I can’t,” Cole-
man said. “That part of it is a
little upsetting. But, on the other
hand...I’ve been with those guys
since my first day on campus, and
the fact that I can still be around
them a lot is good. And the fact
that I can still be around the game,
which I love and will always love,
is definitely a good thing as well.”
—With additional reporting by
Tony Bakshi
scores, with Avery Nackman ’13
going 11-4, captain Yukiko Kunito-
mo ’12 9-5, Vivian Truong ’12 6-4
and Hawrot 9-6. Cory Abbe ’13
once again led the Bruno epeeists
with a 13-5 record.
Men’s epee posted some im-
pressive scores on the day, as
Kelly McGuire ’13 went 11-7 and
Ben McDonald ’14 posted a 10-7
record. The epee squad defeated
Duke, 5-4, in a close battle. The
team will be back in action this
weekend, when it will compete in
its biggest event of the year, the Ivy
League Championship.