Daily Herald the Brown
vol. cxliv, no. 3 | Friday, January 23, 2009 | Serving the community daily since 1891
Applications up 21 percent over last year
By Jyotsna Mullur
Staf f Writer
The Office of Admissions received
nearly 25,000 applications for ad-
mission into the class of 2013, the
highest number in the University’s
history and a 21 percent increase
from last year’s 20,604 applica-
tions.
The unprecedented increase
was not limited to any particular
group, as applications from all re-
gions, socioeconomic groups and
academic backgrounds rose.
“We’re not sure why the pool
has grown so substantially — the
only information we have now is
anecdotal as we read applications,”
Dean of Admissions James Miller
’73 wrote in an e-mail to The Her-
ald.
Miller said the University’s aid
initiatives, announced last Febru-
ary, may have boosted the number
of applications. The new aid poli-
cies eliminated loans for students
from families earning less than
$100,000 and family contributions
for those from families earning
less than $60,000. The policy also
reduced loans for all students re-
ceiving financial aid.
“I think it’s fair to say the in-
crease we’ve seen is unexpected,”
“particularly given the economic
difficulties many families are fac-
ing,” Miller wrote.
U. gets 90 offers for
cheap Angell St. houses
By Hannah Moser
Senior Staf f Writer
It’s not surprising that the Univer-
sity received 90 inquiries about
the sale of two historic houses it
owns on Angell Street. After all,
the University was offering them
for just $10 each.
The two houses, located at 127
and 129 Angell St., are being relo-
cated to clear the way for the Mind
Brain Behavior Building as part
of the Plan for Academic Enrich-
ment. The University announced
in October that it would sell the
houses for $10 apiece as long as
the buyers relocated them, though
it would provide up to $1 million to
defray the moving costs.
Ninety parties inquired about
the discounted properties, nine of
whom returned applications, Mi-
chael McCormick, assistant vice
president of planning, design and
construction, wrote in an e-mail to
The Herald. Five of the proposed
sites are on the city’s East Side
inside
News.....1-4
Arts........5-6
Spor ts...7-8
Letters....10
Opinion...11
Today........12
www.browndailyherald.com
Admission officers processed nearly 25,000 applications for the class of 2013, up from 20,604 last year.
There was a particular increase
in applications from southern and
western states, Miller noted, a
trend that could be attributed to
increased recruiting in the areas.
Early decision results were
released Dec. 11. In contrast to
regular decision, early decision ap-
plications decreased by about 100,
to 2,348 applications. Of those, just
over 550 were admitted, consistent
with the number of students that
have been admitted in previous
years in the early admission round.
and therefore the most feasible,
he wrote.
University administrators re-
viewed the proposals internally and
then shared them with members of
the Providence Preservation Soci-
ety, Providence Historic District
Commission, Rhode Island Histori-
cal Preservation and Heritage Com-
mission, Providence Department of
Planning and Development and the
City Forester, McCormick wrote.
“At this point, we have identi-
fied preferences and are working
with those applicants to be sure
that they have an appropriate site,
that they will be able to execute
the move and that they are will-
ing to preser ve the properties,”
he wrote.
The timing of the relocations
will depend on fund raising and “our
ability to clear all of the hurdles that
are inherent in this type of arrange-
ment,” McCormick wrote.
The single-family house at 129
Angell ‘can be moved in one piece,
making it easier and less expensive
Arts, 5
Gold Standard
Hillel brings Golden Globe
winner David Polonsky to
Providence
195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island
The drop in early applications was
in part due to the drop in appli-
cations to the Program in Liberal
Medical Education.
When Harvard and Princeton
dropped their early admission
programs two years ago, there
was speculation that the number
of early applications to other Ivy
League institutions would increase,
but that appears not to be the case
at Brown.
continued on page 2
Two historic homes on Angell Street are being sold for $10 apiece.
to move,” McCormick wrote. The
smaller size will translate into fewer
renovations needed after the move.
Though only 3 of the 9 proposals
were made regarding the larger
house at 127 Angell, McCormick
wrote that he is “confident that it
will be moved.” Moving the larger
house will be more complicated,
requiring it to be cut into multiple
pieces to maneuver through the
roads and around trees.
The Herald reported in Octo-
ber that administrators wanted to
Jyotsna Mullur / Herald
Apps and admits
at a glance
Brown application totals:
• 2,348 early decision
applications received
• 550 early
acceptances
• 23.4 percent early
acceptance rate
• Approx. 24,900 total
applications received
this year
Eunice Hong/ Herald
“preserve the historic integrity”
of the College Hill neighborhood
and had therefore decided to move
the houses, which were built in the
middle of the 19th century, rather
than demolish them.
The houses were most recently
used as housing for graduate and
medical students, but are now va-
cant. Moving the houses will re-
quire the buildings to be discon-
nected from their utilities, lifted
from their foundations to wheels,
and moved with hydraulic jacks.
Sports, 7
vaulting to success
The women’s gymnastics
team is off to a strong start
this season
Holbrooke ’62
appointed
Asia envoy
By Emmy Liss
Features Editor
Richard Holbrooke ’62, professor-at-
large at the Watson Institute for Inter-
national Studies and a former U.N. am-
bassador, was appointed special envoy
to Afghanistan and Pakistan in a State
Department ceremony Thursday.
Holbrooke, whom President Ba-
rack Obama praised yesterday as “one
of the most talented diplomats of his
generation,” served as President Bill
Clinton’s representative to the U.N.
from 1999 to 2001. He has also worked
as assistant secretary of state for Eu-
rope and for Asia, and is credited with
brokering the Dayton Peace Accords
in Bosnia in 1995.
“I commend President Obama for
his selection of Richard Holbrooke
as special envoy,” President Ruth
Simmons said in a statement issued
through a University spokesperson.
“His knowledge, experience and tenac-
ity make him supremely qualified for
this challenging post.”
A professor-at-large since 2007,
Holbrooke holds an honorary Doctor
of Laws degree granted to him by the
University in 1997. The former history
concentrator also received the 1996
Roger Williams Award, the Brown
Alumni Association’s highest honor.
After Holbrooke, a former Herald
editor-in-chief, graduated from Brown,
he entered the Foreign Service and
served in Vietnam for four years. At
the age of 24, he was invited to work
with a team of diplomats inside the
administration of President Lyndon
Johnson.
Holbrooke, 67, has also served
as Peace Corps director in Morocco,
worked at prominent Wall Street firms
and authored two books. The only
person to have held the position of
assistant secretary of state in two dif-
ferent regions of the world, Holbrooke
has been nominated for the Nobel
Peace Prize seven times.
“As a Brown community, we
should all be very proud that one of
our alumni and professors has been
named to such an important position
by the Obama administration,” said
Geoffrey Kirkman ’91, deputy director
of the Watson Institute.
Though “issues faced in Afghani-
stan and Pakistan are tremendously
difficult,” Kirkman said, Holbrooke is
a “seasoned and tough diplomat.”
“Students who have gotten to know
Ambassador Holbrooke over the past
year should revisit and cherish the
things they learned from him,” Kirk-
man added.
Kirkman was unable to say wheth-
er Holbrooke would continue to hold
his post at the Watson Institute.
Opinions, 11
Pointless punishment
Alyssa Ratledge ‘11 argues the
futility of assigning essays as
disciplinary actions
herald@browndailyherald.com
Page 2 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
C ampus N EWS “I knew that (Brown) was where I wanted to be.”
loo k o u t below Tough market for would-be interns
by Brian Mastroianni
Senior Staf f Writer
As students filter in and out of
classes at the beginning of this
spring semester, there may be
more on their minds than shop-
ping period.
Facing what is perhaps the
toughest job market in years, stu-
dents tr ying to get career experi-
ence this summer are turning to
various resources for advice and
financial assistance in choosing
internships — many of which, es-
pecially this year, are likely to be
unpaid.
“It’s still early in the internship
season, but the internship rush
is happening now,” said Laura
Joshi, employer relations man-
ager at the Career Development
Center. Students are visiting the
CDC in droves for resume help,
cover letter reviews and mock in-
ter views prior to a wave of intern-
ship deadlines looming in the next
few weeks.
Despite the economy, CDC As-
sociate Director Beverly Ehrich
said employers will always be in-
Kim Perley / Herald terested in of fering positions to
A man knocks icicles off a roof on Wriston Quad. college interns. “Internships are
a pipeline for new hires,” she said.
“Employers want to keep attracting
PAID ADVERTISEMENT
new college graduates and bring
them up through the ranks by way
of internships.”
Applications rise for class of 2013
continued from page 1
“We didn’t see a big change in
our early decision applicant pool as
sudoku a result of Harvard and Princeton
dropping their programs – either
last year or this,” Miller wrote.
Across the Ivy League, there has
been a general increase in applica-
tions, with Dartmouth reporting a
7.5-percent increase and Yale re-
porting a 13.5 increase in early ap-
plications, according to the schools’
respective newspapers. Har vard
and Princeton posted somewhat
smaller increases, with Har vard
receiving 5.6 percent more appli-
cations and Princeton 2.3 percent,
according to a Jan. 22 article in
Bloomberg News.
The University’s recent switch
to the Common Application — a
single application that can be sub-
mitted to over 300 colleges in the
United States — may have also been
responsible for the increased in-
Daily Herald
terest, Miller wrote. But he added
the Brown
that the switch was probably only
responsible for 5 to 7 percent of the
Editorial Phone: 401.351.3372 | Business Phone: 401.351.3260 growth in applications.
Applicants to Brown also had
Stephen DeLucia, President Jonathan Spector, Treasurer
to fill out a Brown-specific supple-
Michael Bechek, Vice President Alexander Hughes, Secretary
ment with extra essays and short
The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is an independent newspaper serv- answers, asking them why they
ing the Brown University community daily since 1891. It is published Monday chose to apply and to describe a
through Friday during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during
particular academic experience that
Commencement, once during Orientation and once in July by The Brown Daily
Herald, Inc. POSTMASTER please send corrections to P.O. Box 2538, Provi- has influenced them.
dence, RI 02906. Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Offices are located “It did not affect my choice to
at 195 Angell St., Providence, R.I. E-mail herald@browndailyherald.com. apply, but I was relieved to see that
World Wide Web: http://www.browndailyherald.com.
it was the Common Application,”
Subscription prices: $319 one year daily, $139 one semester daily.
Copyright 2009 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved. said Michael Pastore ’13, a senior at
Douglas High School in Massachu-
— Michael Pastore ’13
But despite their enthusiasm,
students might be finding fewer
opportunities.
For Lucy Sedgwick ’11, many of
the internship programs that she
knew were offered last summer
“are either no longer available or
now unpaid.”
With fewer positions open to
students, the application process
will become more competitive,
Joshi said. “Students have to stand
out and be prepared and get their
marketing tool sharpened, since
some of the employers who we
recruit here are cautious about
the numbers that they are hiring,”
she said.
Moreover, while most students
would prefer not to accept an un-
paid internship, many might have
no other option. Yet, not all stu-
dents can even afford to do so.
“Being able to afford taking on
unpaid internships is a concern
for students during any summer,”
Ehrich said, though she added that
the University and the CDC offer
some competitive financial awards
to assist students in completing
such internships.
Through the CDC, students
can apply for both the Brown In-
ternship Award Program and the
Aided Internship Program, which
are made possible through dona-
tions from alumni, parents and
employers, according to Joshi.
The increase in applications mirrored those observed at peer schools.
setts. “I was so set on Brown, and
I knew that it was where I wanted
to be.”
Natasha Kumar ’13 from Her-
shey, Pa., an early admitted PLME,
expressed the same sentiment, say-
ing she knew she wanted to go to
Brown regardless of the application.
Interested in community health,
Kumar said she was attracted to
the idea of crafting a less science-
intensive path to medicine.
Christine Freije, a senior at
Marianapolis Preparatory School
Friday, January 23, 2009
The BIAP, which gives awards
of $2,500 to approximately 40
students, is offered by the CDC.
The AIP, designed for students on
financial aid, will award 25 summer
earnings waivers of up to $2,650,
Joshi said.
As a result of these programs,
some students said they felt more
comfortable applying for unpaid
summer internships than they
other wise might.
For Francis Gonzales ’11, a de-
velopment studies concentrator,
the ideal summer internship pro-
gram would be one that paid.
“I would like to get paid to do
an internship since making money
over the summer is very important
to me,” he said. “So it’s nice that
Brown of fers the BIAP and AIP
programs.”
Felipe Umana ’11, an interna-
tional relations concentrator, said
he too plans on applying to unpaid
internship programs, despite the
current economic climate. “I will
still give non-paying internships
consideration since I still want to
be active and explore my academic
pursuits,” he said.
Students may need to seek out
positions through means beyond
the resources at Brown, though,
as the internship process becomes
more competitive and an increas-
continued on page 4
Jyotsna Muller / Herald
in Thompson, Conn., was not admit-
ted in the early decision round, but
instead was deferred. Interested
in theater, Freije chose Brown for
its location and the Department of
Theatre, Speech and Dance.
“Brown is still absolutely my
first-choice school,” Freije said,
adding that if admitted, she would
attend without hesitation.
She, along with other deferred
students, will wait until early April
to learn whether she has been
accepted.
Friday, January 23, 2009
C ampus N EWS
Professor of History Michael Vorenberg’s winning caption in the New
Yorker’s 172nd weekly cartoon caption contest.
History prof’s caption
wins New Yorker contest
By riley Blanton
Contributing Writer
“Guess who’s getting voted off the
island.”
With those few words, Associ-
ate Professor of History Michael
Vorenberg won the New Yorker’s
172nd weekly Cartoon Caption Con-
test. The week’s cartoon depicted a
strange-looking smiley face situated
among the iconic Moai statues of
Chile’s Easter Island. Vorenberg’s
winning caption beat about 5,000
competitors, according to Robert
Mankoff, the magazine’s cartoon
editor.
Mankoff said that contest entries
“tend to fall into categories” and that
this time, many readers’ submissions
fell under the “voted off the island”
theme. Occasionally, he said, win-
ning entries are exactly the same and
Remember the neediest.
Courtesy of the New Yorker
the winner is chosen at random.
Reached by telephone, Vorenberg
declined to comment on his winning
entry.
The contest, which first landed
on the magazine’s back page in 2005,
began as a “general participatory
push,” Mankoff said.
“The most common thing that
people say is: ‘I can’t draw, but…,’”
he said.
Though the competition does
not offer a monetary rewardto win-
ners, the thrill of seeing one’s name
in print seems to be prize enough.
Many contestants submit regularly,
Mankoff said, and one person has
even won three times.
Vorenberg, he said, has submit-
ted three captions to the magazine
altogether, though he hit the magic
formula only once. “His first two were
terrible,” Mankoff said, laughing.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
“(The Greeks) say some fairly odd things.”
McClure to lead nat’l math society
By Anita Mathews
Contributing Writer
The new year brought new leader-
ship to the American Mathematical
Society, as Professor of Applied
Mathematics Donald McClure
Ph.D. ’70 was appointed the group’s
executive director.
McClure is leaving the Univer-
sity after four decades of teaching
to devote himself to the duties of
his new office.
As executive director of the
AMS, a Providence-based national
institution that promotes mathe-
matical research and scholarship,
McClure will have a “very full-time”
commitment, he said.
In his new position, McClure
will primarily deal with balancing
the budget of the AMS and deter-
mining the financial direction of
the association. He said he will
be responsible for allocating re-
sources for crucial initiatives within
the AMS, some of which include
expanding electronic publishing,
engendering research and compil-
ing academic textbooks for both
graduate- and undergraduate-level
courses.
McClure joined the AMS in 1969
Classicist’s book on emotions is honored
By Rachel Starr
Contributing Writer
Professor of Classics David Kon-
stan received the American Philo-
logical Association’s Charles J.
Goodwin Award of Merit in early
Januar y for his book, “The Emo-
tions of the Ancient Greeks.”
The Goodwin Award honors
one “outstanding contribution to
classical scholarship” each year,
according to the association’s
Web site, and recipients must be
— David Konstan, Professor of Classics
and first compiled statistics on doc-
toral candidates in math for its data
committee, he said, adding that he
later served on the board of trust-
ees and as associate treasurer.
Though the term for executive
director is technically five years,
McClure said it is common for
people to stay on longer. His pre-
decessor, John Ewing PhD’71 P’09,
served for 13 years.
Through McClure’s five years
on the board of trustees, he was
able to observe Ewing’s term. Ew-
ing “was a very effective executive
director,” McClure said. “I would
only hope that I could do as well
as he did.”
McClure is not the first Brown
professor to become an active
participant in the AMS. With its
headquarters in Providence, the
AMS’s history is intertwined with
the University’s. Brown faculty and
alumni have held key positions in
the development and administra-
tion of the association, McClure
said.
Perhaps most notable is Otto
Neugebauer, a former histor y
of mathematics professor in the
1940s, McClure said. Neugebauer
developed “Mathematical Reviews,”
current members in order to be
eligible.
Konstan’s book, which was
published in 2006, explores the
ways in which the ancient Greeks
understood emotion and the dif-
ferences between their percep-
tions of emotions and those of
the modern world, he wrote in
an e-mail to The Herald.
“It was generally taken for
granted that their emotions, at
least, were more or less like ours,”
Konstan wrote from Greece,
Page 3
an AMS database that tracks the
tens of thousands of mathematical
research papers published each
year and serves as an up-to-date
resource for the newest literature
in mathematics.
Several prominent members
of the AMS lauded McClure’s ap-
pointment.
McClure’s ability and experi-
ence will “serve him (and us) well
in this new position,” AMS Presi-
dent James Glimm said in a press
release.
“I am sure that (McClure) will do
a superb job at the AMS and work-
ing to strengthen the mathematical
sciences here in the United States
and around the world,” Professor
of Mathematics Joseph Silverman
wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.
Silverman is a member of the AMS
Council, a governing board respon-
sible for approving the selection of
the executive director.
McClure said he is unsure how
long he will keep his position, but
added that it is unlikely his stint
at the AMS means the end of his
teaching career. “I’ve always been
enthusiastic about teaching,” he
said. “Friends and colleagues can
call me to substitute any time.”
where he is currently on sab-
batical. “And yet, when we look
at how the ancient Greeks wrote
about emotions, we find they say
some fairly odd things.”
“The Greeks tended to think
of the emotions as having a high
cognitive component,” Konstan
wrote. He used his findings
about emotion to enhance his
understanding of ancient Greek
culture, par ticularly literature.
continued on page 4
Page 4
C ampus N EWS
Internship landscape increasingly
competitive in throes of financial crisis
continued from page 2
ing numbers of positions are un-
paid.
Eric Normington, vice presi-
dent of University of Dreams, a
California-based organization that
helps place students in intern-
ships, said there had been an “in-
creased interest” in the company’s
ser vices. Now in its ninth year,
the organization offers eight- to
Keep your eyes open for Herald info sessions!
10-week internship programs, plac-
ing students with companies and
finding them room and board.
A competitive program, the Uni-
versity of Dreams will offer 1,700
positions this summer to students
who will have access to approxi-
mately 4,000 internship programs,
Normington said. About 30 percent
of the organization’s alums are of-
fered full-time positions at their
summer companies after complet-
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
“Internships are an investment in yourself.”
— Eric Normington, vice president, University of Dreams
ing their internships, Normington
said, an additional 40 percent are
given offers to return as interns
for future summers.
For Normington, the ability
to find internships provides col-
lege students with the chance
to succeed in a difficult job mar-
ket. “Internships are an invest-
ment in yourself,” he said, “just
as education is an investment in
yourself.”
Professor honored by
philological association
continued from page 3
“Those Greeks were very canny,”
he wrote, “I’ve learned a lot from
them.”
Professor of Classics Kur t
Raaflaub, who just completed
his term as president of the as-
sociation, said the award involves
little to no material prize and is
based on honor in the classical
tradition.
After all, he added, “the an-
cient Greeks competed for olive
wreaths.”
The association’s selection
committee chose Konstan’s book
from a large pool, Raaflaub said,
adding that he personally pre-
sented Konstan with the Goodwin
Award on Jan. 11.
“It was a most wonderful feel-
ing,” Raaflaub said, to be able to
present the prestigious award to
his colleague and “give him a big
bear hug congratulating him.” He
added that this prize was “well
read
share
ponder
recycle
Friday, January 23, 2009
deser ved” and “overdue” for
Konstan, who has contributed a
number of “ver y important and
ver y widely read” books to his
field.
“I … felt deeply grateful, and
to tell the truth, humble,” Kon-
stan wrote of his reaction to being
selected for the award. “I have
great respect for (the selection
committee members), and for
many, many people in my pro-
fession who do truly excellent
work.”
In addition to publishing
scholarly works, Konstan has
long been active in the APA and
ser ved as president in 1999. He
also received the John Rowe
Workman Award for Distin-
guished Teaching at Brown in
2002.
“He’s typical of the classics
department,” Raaflaub said of his
colleague. “He’s a great scholar,
but also a great teacher and a
great human being.”
Arts & Culture
The Brown Daily Herald
At the JCB, moors and marauders on display
By Ben Hyman
Ar ts & Culture Editor
Poor Luis de Torres. In 1492 the
Arabic-speaker sailed across the
Atlantic with Columbus, who
thought he would need a transla-
tor when he landed somewhere on
mainland Asia. Obviously, things
didn’t work out as planned, and
de Torres found himself tr ying in
vain to communicate with Cuban
islanders in a language they didn’t
understand.
De Tor res’ is only one of
the many fascinating stories on
display in “Islamic Encounters:
America, Europe and the Middle
East before 1835,” an exhibit of
rare books at the John Car ter
Brown Librar y organized by
Dennis Landis, curator of Euro-
pean books. It is on view in the
librar y’s reading room through
Februar y.
With a chronological scope
that ranges broadly from the late
15th century to the early 19th, “Is-
lamic Encounters” documents the
histor y of interactions between
the Islamic world and the West in
all their complexity. The diversity
of materials on display is the exhi-
bition’s greatest strength, even if
the curatorial logic behind all of it
isn’t necessarily apparent.
De Tor res’ stor y can be
found in the exhibit’s first sec-
tion, “Spain and the Expulsions
of 1492,” where it is paired with
Israeli animator of ‘Waltz with Bashir’ to visit
By Caroline Sedano
Senior Staf f Writer
Fresh from his recent Golden Globe
win, Israeli illustrator David Polon-
sky will spend three months on
campus working with students from
Brown, the Rhode Island School of
Design and the Providence commu-
nity as an artist-in-residence.
Polonsky is the art director and
lead artist for “Waltz with Bashir,”
an animated documentary feature
film that addresses director Ari
Folman’s search to recover lost
memories from his time as a sol-
dier during the 1982 Sabra and
Shatila massacre in Lebanon. The
film combines historical fact, in-
terviews, fantasy and journalism
to create a unique perspective on
the event and its aftermath.
Polonsky is also an award-win-
ning children’s and comic book
illustrator. His stay at Brown is
sponsored by groups including the
Creative Arts Council, the Hillel
Gallery Project and the RISD Office
of Multicultural Affairs.
“Waltz with Bashir,” described
by New York Times film critic A.O.
Scott as “a work of astonishing aes-
thetic integrity and searing moral
power,” recently won the Golden
Globe Award for Best Foreign Lan-
guage Film. Yesterday, the film was
nominated for an Academy Award
in the Foreign Language Film cat-
egory.
“His work is phenomenal,” said
a 1594 print depicting Columbus’
landing. The larger theme here,
though, is the waning influence
of Muslim culture on the Iberian
Peninsula. According to the ex-
hibition notes, which are exhaus-
tive and illuminating throughout,
between the years 1492 — when
the Spanish monarchy wrested
control of Granada from Muslim
rule — and 1610, 3 million Mus-
lims emigrated from or fled Spain.
A beautifully sensitive 1741 print
on display here shows the Moor-
ish architecture left behind by the
disappearing society, capturing
both the grandeur and detailed
ornamentation of several Seville
landmarks.
Another crucial component of
this history is, of course, the Inqui-
sition, the antithesis to the relative
religious tolerance that reigned in
Muslim Granada. The exhibition
includes the Spanish perspective,
as well as an emotionally charged
1569 propaganda print from Prot-
estant England that depicts some
of the nastiest Spanish tor ture
techniques used on the Inquisi-
tion’s victims, such as “basting
and broyling their feete.”
From here, “Islamic Encoun-
ters” moves to documents reflect-
ing the experience of European
travelers in the Islamic world.
While most of these explorers and
adventurers may be unfamiliar
to us — anyone read Ludovico
di Varthema’s travelogue “Itin-
Tali Rozensher ’09, co-chair of the
Hillel Gallery Project, a student
group that curates art shows at
Brown/RISD Hillel. She has helped
create and organize events for Po-
lonsky’s stay at Brown, which be-
gins Feb. 9 and ends May 1.
“It is really important for Brown,
RISD and Providence to be exposed
to another type of art,” Rozensher
said, adding that exposure to inno-
vative art forms would be especially
valuable given the extended time
that Polonsky will be on campus.
During his three months at
Brown, Polonsky will teach two
courses: an Israeli cinema class
that may be offered for credit to
RISD students and a seminar-style
class on editorial cartoons. He will
also participate in critiques with
various Visual Arts courses at
Brown and RISD. An exhibition of
his children’s book illustrations will
be featured at the Hillel gallery. His
film “Waltz with Bashir” will also
be shown at the Avon Cinema on
Feb. 18, with Polonsky leading a
question-and-answer session after
the screening.
In June, the Charles and Lynn
Schusterman Family Foundation —
a group that has worked to bring
Israeli artists to cities and universi-
ties in the U.S. — contacted Hillel
about the possibility of sponsoring
an artist-in-residence. The oppor-
tunity was in line with the founda-
tion’s broader effort to “foster a
connection to Israeli culture and
erario” recently? — the one well-
known figure here is a man who
claimed he was captured in battle
by Tartars and held in slaver y.
This Englishman, named John
Smith, managed to escape only
after he bludgeoned his master to
death, as he recounts in the copy
of his memoirs on display here.
The memoir does not, however,
include the episode in which this
same John Smith helped found the
colony at Jamestown, Virginia, or
the two times Pocahontas alleg-
edly saved his life.
“Islamic Encounters” also fea-
tures materials on the changing
shape of Europe as the Ottoman
Empire expanded and declined, as
well as a particularly interesting
section on the knowledge shared
between Europe and the Islamic
world, whose scientific and tech-
nological achievements far sur-
passed those of the West for many
centuries. Europe was, however,
able to give the Muslim world the
art of printing, and stunning Turk-
ish books and maps show that
the transfer of knowledge went
both ways.
Also on display, in a section
titled “Literar y Vignettes,” are
numerous captivity narratives
from the 18th and 19th centuries.
Writers could obviously hope to
profit from books, like Smith’s,
that traded in the perceived ex-
oticism of Muslim lands. Shoe-
horned into this section is a 1623
expose the artists to American audi-
ences,” said Shirah Rubin, director
of engagement at Hillel.
“His background is quite diverse
and it’s a really exciting opportunity
for students from Brown and RISD
to come together and learn from
someone who is such an accom-
plished, successful and professional
artist,” Rubin said. Though Hillel
had a number of Israeli artists to
choose from, Rubin said Polonsky
was the top choice.
Brown is the only university to
host an Israeli artist through the
Schusterman Foundation. Rubin
mentioned that the Foundation was
attracted to Brown/RISD Hillel in
part because of the strong connec-
tion between the two schools.
“I think they were very inter-
ested in working with both art stu-
dents and open-minded Ivy League
students,” Rubin said. “It was that
unique combination that made
working with us so appealing.”
“He’s a great artist and ‘Waltz
with Bashir’ is getting great rec-
ognition right now so it’s really
serendipitous that he can be at
Brown,” said Chira Delsesto, pro-
gram coordinator of the Creative
Arts Council, who helped organize
grants to bring Polonsky to Brown.
The artist-in-residence program
“really allows these artists to get
their hands dirty and work with
students,” she said.
The council is also responsible
for funding many artists to come
Friday, January 23, 2009 | Page 5
First Folio edition of the complete
works of Shakespeare, ostensibly
included because it contains the
play “Othello.” The addition is a
little arbitrar y, but it seems petty
to complain. If the John Carter
Brown Library has a Shakespeare
First Folio, why shouldn’t they
show it off?
The exhibit ends with docu-
ments related to piracy and sea
battles, featuring several prints of
Barbar y Coast conflicts. But the
most striking item here is unil-
lustrated — a copy of the 1797
treaty between the U.S. and the
Muslim government of Tripoli. Ar-
ticle XI of the treaty, grounded in
the principle that “the government
of the United States of America is
not in any sense founded on the
Christian religion,” states that reli-
gious differences between the two
countries would never be used as
a pretext for war.
Even if the treaty itself ulti-
mately failed to prevent the U.S.
and Tripoli from declaring war on
one another four years later over
a piracy controversy, the actual
document ser ves as a fascinating
piece of U.S. political and cultural
history and as a controversial text
in the ongoing debate over the
place of religion in civic life. As
an exhibit, “Islamic Encounters”
ranges widely, hitting on many
intriguing, unexpected stories as
it tackles an enormous and com-
plicated subject.
to Brown for extended periods. In
March it will help bring two move-
ment specialists — Ronni Stewart
and Shanti Pillai — to work with
Kym Moore, visiting assistant
professor of theatre, speech and
dance. It will also fund five LGBT
playwrights to work with Karen
Allen Baxter, the managing direc-
tor of Rites and Reason Theatre,
during the Black Lavender playwrit-
ing contest in March. The CAC is
also funding the Maureen Fleming
Company to work throughout the
semester with Senior Lecturer in
Theatre, Speech and Dance Mi-
chelle Bach-Coulibaly.
‘Office’ star
Krasinski ’02
makes film
debut
By Hannah Levintova
Arts & Cultures Editor
John Krasinski ’02, best known for
his role as Jim Halpert on the NBC
comedy “The Office,” made his first
mark on the cinematic scene this
past Monday. His film, “Brief Inter-
views with Hideous Men,” which
he wrote and directed, premiered at
the Sundance Film Festival in Park
City, Utah.
Monday marked the film’s world
premiere, and it was one of 16 films
selected for screening as part of the
U.S. Dramatic Competition at Sun-
dance. The 16 were chosen from a
total 1,026 submissions, according
to the film festival’s Web site.
Krasinki adapted the screenplay
for “Brief Interviews” from the late
author David Foster Wallace’s short
story collection of the same title.
The book is a compilation of often
disquieting and satirical reflections
on male behavior, several of which
take the form of clinical interviews.
According to a Jan. 18 article in
The Boston Globe, Krasinski was
inspired to create the film after his
first encounter with Wallace’s book
during his senior year at Brown — a
chance involvement in a staged read-
ing of monologues — moved him to
pursue an acting career.
The film centers on the character
Sara Quinn, played by Julianne Nich-
olson (“Kinsey”). After a difficult
and unanticipated breakup, Quinn,
a Ph.D. candidate in anthropology,
decides to embark on new research.
She conducts interviews with men,
documenting their diverse and of-
ten disturbing life experiences, and
learns about herself in the process.
Krasinski acts in the film as well.
“Brief Interviews” also features
actors Bobby Cannavale (“The Sta-
tion Agent”) and Dominic Cooper
(“The History Boys”).
According to a Jan. 19 article in
The Los Angeles Times, the movie
has received particular attention as
the first and only major adaptation of
a book by Wallace, who committed
suicide last September.
SportsWeekend
The Brown Daily Herald

Friday, January 23, 2009 | Page 7

Hot Stove
Sabermetrics
With a month until spring train-
ing and anticipating no drastic
splashes with the remaining
free agents (Manny, Dunn),
it’s time
Jonathan Hahn to wrap up
Sports Columnist a n o t h e r
successful
or not so successful baseball
offseason.
Last year, we saw the impor-
tance of young homegrown tal-
ent (Phillies, Rays) and how
deep pockets don’t guarantee
postseason success (Yankees,
Cubs). This year, with the eco-
nomic recession in full swing,
more and more teams are look-
ing to control costs and spend
their dollars wisely. Player valu-
ation, statistical analysis and
marginal wins are the name of
the game as baseball teams, or
businesses, head into 2009.
Let’s quickly go over Wins
Above Replacement (WAR),
which I will use heavily. Each
baseball player either scores
runs (hitting) or prevents them
(defense and pitching). Saber-
metricians have developed ways
to translate run production and
run prevention stats into wins,
and they compare a player’s
performance (say A-Rod) to a
Quad-A (replacement) Player.
The free agent market values an
additional win (1 WAR) around
Gymnastics starts
season off strong
By Elisabeth Avallone
Sports Staff Writer
Although the gymnastics team offi-
cially recorded a loss against Towson
University in its opening meet on
Sunday at the Pizzitola Center, the
result reflects one of Brown’s best-
ever opening season scores.
Towson, which finished first in the
ECAC last year, topped Brown by a
slim margin, 189.000 to 185.950. Yet
more significant to the Bears was that
their first score of the season, higher
than both Penn and Yale scored in a
separate meet, puts them in a strong
position in the Ivy League race.
The meet was also a platform for
outstanding personal accomplish-
ment, as Chelsey Binkley ’11 finished
first on floor, with a personal best
score of 9.725. “I thought everyone
stepped up, especially the freshmen,”
Binkley said. “We are really develop-
ing as a team. We are poised to do
very well in the Ivy League.”
Freshman Lilly Siems ’12 led
Brown on vault, scoring a 9.350. Fol-
lowing her were Carli Wiesenfeld
’12 (9.300), Binkley (9.275) and Izzy
Kirkham-Lewitt ’10 (9.200).
On the bars, Victoria Zanelli ’11
Justin Coleman / Herald
Chelsey Binkley ‘10 led the way for Brown on Sunday with a 9.725 on was the Bears’ top finisher, earning
floor exercise, winning the event. a 9.400 for fourth place. Captain
Jennifer Sobuta ’09 (9.300), Melissa
Bowe ’11 (9.200) and Kirkham-Lewitt
(9.100) followed in fifth, sixth and
seventh place respectively, and the
Bears earned an overall team score
of 45.925 for the event.
The Bears’ performance contin-
ued to improve in the beam event, as
Wiesenfeld posted Brown’s top score
of 9.600. Bruno’s score of 46.900 chal-
lenged Towson’s 47.400.
The floor was the Bears’ best
event of the day, as they finished
with a score of 46.925, falling just
short of Towson’s 47.250. Following
Binkley’s first-place finish were Katie
Goddard ’12 (9.600) and Helen Segal
’10 (9.550), who earned fourth and
fifth place, respectively.
Siems represented Brown in the
all-around, finishing third with a
score of 36.375.
Although surgery prevented co-
captain Stephanie Albert ’10 from
competing, she stressed the overall
score as a great accomplishment for
the Bears. “As a team we were really
excited about our score for the start
of the season. We have so much more
potential to show in future meets,”
she said.
The Bears will compete next
against MIT on Jan. 25 at the
Pizzitola.

Men’s tennis rebounds with win against Bryant

$4.5 to $5 million, so 2 WAR
are worth $10 million and so
on. It’s Moneyball meets Ball
Street. Let’s wave goodbye to
The Herald’s New York, Bos-
ton, and Chicago bias and take
a look at how some of the teams
did this winter when it comes
to getting value:
Winners
Yankees: Getting the best
pitcher (C.C. Sabathia) and
hitter available (Mark Teix-
eira) basically counts as a win.
Throw in A.J. Bur nett and
you have around $60 million
for around 12-13 Wins Above
Replacement next year. Sure,
$400 million an offseason is a
lot of money, but the Yankees
didn’t over value their targets
(Pavano anyone?) or give up
multiple first-rounders. The
Yankees spending wisely is
pretty scar y.
Oakland: Trading for Matt
Holliday, signing Jason Giambi
for half off ($5.5 million for 2
WAR) and pushing for Rafael
Furcal before losing out shows
that Billy Beane is willing to
spend. With the Angels los-
ing key players and unable to
splurge, and the Mariners and
Rangers rebuilding, the A’s up-
graded their offense for cheap
and have a real shot at the AL
West.
San Francisco: Acquiring
Randy Johnson (2 WAR for
$8 million) Edgar Renteria (2
to 3 WAR for $9 million) and
solidifying the bullpen with
continued on page 8
By Erin Frauenhofer
Spor ts Staf f Writer
The men’s tennis team started off its
season on Monday with a 5-2 loss to
Boston College, then rallied back to
take a 7-0 victory over Bryant.
Instead of letting their disappoint-
ment over the first match drag them
down, the Bears considered the
match against BC an opportunity
to refocus on preparing for the rest
of the season.
The loss to BC was “a really
disappointing start to our season,”
said Head Coach Jay Harris. “The
guys took it hard, but it’s going to
be a huge wake-up call for them.
This is a match we’re going to gain
a lot from.”
The Eagles claimed the doubles
point with 8-4 and 8-5 wins at first
and third doubles, respectively, al-
though Brown’s second doubles
pairing of Kendrick Au ’11 and
Skate Gorham ’10 defeated BC’s
Brian Garber and Adam Davison by
a score of 8-6 to complete doubles
play.
The Eagles “came out playing
well,” Harris said. “They came out
with a chip on their shoulder, and
they out-fought us.”
The Bears had solid wins in first
and second singles, respectively, as
Jonathan Pearlman ’11 outlasted
BC’s Thomas Nolan, 7-5, 7-6, and
co-captain Chris Lee ’09 trounced
Alex Rastorgouev, 6-1, 6-3.
However, Brown was unable
to notch any other singles wins.
Gorham and Jimmy Crystal ’12 fell
in straight sets at third and sixth
singles, respectively. to a pair of doubleheaders at home shorter format, free pizza and mu-
“The guys got in a lot of tough this weekend. On Saturday, Brown sic played throughout the entire
situations, and I think they were will face off against Davidson at match.
uncomfortable” Harris said. 2 p.m. before competing against “This could change the face of
At fourth singles, co-captain Boston University at 7 p.m. in the college tennis,” Harris said.
Noah Gardner ’09 split the first two first-ever “Rock ‘n’ Roll and College On Sunday, the Bears will also
sets, 6-1, 1-6 with Akash Muppidi, Tennis” match, which will feature a host SUNY-Buffalo and Lehigh.
before narrowly losing the third
set, 7-5. The fifth singles match also
went to a third set as Au fell, 6-3,
4-6, 6-4, to Brian Locklear.
“As weird as it is to get a wake-up
call this early, it’s kind of a gift to
get it this early,” Harris said. “We
can right the ship right from the
beginning.”
The Bears rebounded in their
match against Bryant, winning all
of their nine matches. Both the first
doubles duo of Lee and Gardner and
the second doubles team of Gorham
and Charlie Posner ’11 demolished
their opponents by a score of 8-2. At
third doubles, Crystal and Andrew
Yazmer ’12 earned an 8-3 victory.
The Bears had equally decisive
triumphs in singles play. Pearlman
led the way at first singles, defeating
the Bulldogs’ Cristian Balestrieri,
6-3, 6-1. Gardner gave up only one
game at second singles, decimating
Kevin Gardiner, 6-1, 6-0, while at
third singles, Posner annihilated
Dylan Whiting, 6-0, 6-0.
Brown’s winning streak contin-
ued as Au soundly defeated Tom
Nowak at fourth singles by a score
of 6-2, 6-1, and at fifth singles Yazmer
overpowered Nicholai Hill, 6-2, 6-3.
Crystal finished off the trouncing
at sixth singles, where he breezed
by Andres Orobitg, 6-0, 6-2.
The Bears are looking forward
Page 8 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
s ports W eekend
br yant beat- down
The men’s tennis team lost 5-2 to Boston College but came back with a 7-0 win over Bryant. See story, page 7.
Winners and losers in game of WAR
continued from page 7
Jeremy Af feldt and Bob Howr y
(combined 2 WAR for $7 million)
make the Giants a much better
team in the weak NL West, all at
a great value.
Tampa: The reigning AL
champs had one goal: Get a DH.
Pat Burrell brings a desperately
needed righty bat, and at $8 million
a year for 2 WAR, it’s an excellent
addition to arguably the best all-
around star ting 9 (defense and
hitting). Throw in the cheap reliev-
ers they acquired and it’s a solid
offseason for the cost-conscious
Rays.
Losers
Kansas City: Far and away the
biggest loser of the of fseason.
Adding Kyle Farnswor th, Mike
Jacobs, Horacio Ramirez and Wil-
lie Bloomquist (the player that
“replacement player” is modeled
after) all for $11 million is a com-
plete disaster. The money spent for
the 0.5 to 1 WAR would have been
better spent on a quality player,
draft picks or even popcorn for
the postseason.
Phillies: Sure, they won the
Series, but giving the 36 year old
Raul Ibanez a 3 year, $30 million
contract instead of tr ying to wait
for outfielder prices to fall was a
bad move. And for the Phillies,
who scream about Burrell’s ter-
rible defense, Ibanez is just as bad
and hits a lot worse. His 1 WAR just
isn’t good value for $10 million.
Cubs: Okay, so you got Milton
Bradley, and if (big if) he stays
reasonably healthy, he’ll be worth
around 3 WAR, and at $10 million
a year that’s pretty good. Trading
hot prospects Jose Ceda and Felix
Pie for Kevin Gregg and Garrett
Olson, respectively, both 1 WAR,
Want to join The Herald?
It’s never too late!
Look for dates of info
sessions coming up
next week.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Justin Coleman / Herald File Photo
was foolish, but that’s nothing like
getting rid of the 3.5 WAR Mark
DeRosa for nothing and replacing
him with Aaron Miles, bringing
0 WAR.
I’m feeling lucky
Boston: Theo Epstein may have
stumbled onto the next market
inefficiency: incentive-laden con-
tracts to players with injur y risks.
Adding Brad Penny, John Smoltz,
Takashi Saito and Rocco Baldelli
for between $12 million and $24
million is a good low-risk, high-
reward move. If ever ything works
out, they’ll be worth 5 to 6 WAR.
If not, it just means Monster seats
got more expensive.
Jonathan Hahn ’10 is trying
to find his Value Over
Replacement Columnist
Friday, January 23, 2009
World & Nation
The Brown Daily Herald
and the oscar nod goes to. . .
“Benjamin Button” and “Slumdog Millionaire” led the pack of nominations for the 81st annual Academy Awards.
Tech-savvy Obama team adjusts to White House
ANNE E. KORNBLUT
WASHINGTON POST
WASHINGTON — If the Obama
campaign represented a sleek, new
iPhone kind of future, the first day
of the Obama administration looked
more like the rotary-dial past.
Two years after launching the
most technologically savvy cam-
paign in history, Obama officials
ran smack into the constraints of the
federal bureaucracy Wednesday, en-
countering a jumble of disconnected
phone lines, old computer software
and security regulations forbidding
outside e-mail accounts.
What does that mean in 21st cen-
tury terms? No Facebook to commu-
nicate with supporters. No outside
e-mail logins. No instant messag-
ing. Hard adjustments for a staff
that helped sweep Obama to power
through, among other things, relent-
less online social networking.
“It is kind of like going from an
Xbox to an Atari,” Obama spokes-
man Bill Burton said of his new
digs.
In many ways, the move into
the White House resembled a first
day at school: Advisers wandered
the halls, looking for their offices.
Aides spent hours in orientation,
learning government ethics rules
as well as how their paychecks will
be delivered. And everyone filled
out a seemingly endless pile of pa-
perwork.
There were plenty of first-day
glitches, too, as calls to many lines
in the West Wing were met with a
busy signal all morning and those to
the main White House switchboard
were greeted by a recording, redi-
recting callers to the presidential
Web site. A number of reporters
were also shut out of the White
House because of lost security
clearance lists.
By late evening, the vaunted new
White House Web site did not of-
fer any new posts about President
Obama’s busy first day on the job,
which included an inaugural prayer
service, an open house with the pub-
lic, and meetings with his economic
and national security teams.
Nor did the site reflect the
transparency Obama promised
to deliver. “The President has not
yet issued any executive orders,”
it stated hours after Obama issued
three executive orders tightening
ethics rules, enhancing Freedom of
Information Act rules and freezing
the salaries of White House officials
who earn more than $100,000.
No one could quite explain the
problem — but they swore it would
be fixed.
One member of the White House
new media team came to work on
Tuesday, right after the swearing-
in ceremony, only to discover that
it was impossible to know which
programs could be updated, or even
which computers could be used for
which purposes. The team, accus-
tomed to working on Macintosh
computers, found machines out-
fitted with six-year-old versions of
Microsoft software. Laptops were
scarce, assigned to only a few people
in the West Wing. They were left
struggling to close-caption online
videos.
Senior advisers chafed at the new
arrangements, which severely limit
mobility, partly from habit, but also
for security reasons and to ensure
that all official work is preserved un-
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
Courtesy of Anne Siegel
der the Presidential Records Act.
“It is what it is,” said a White
House staff member, speaking on
the condition of anonymity. “No-
body is being a blockade right now.
It’s just the system we need to go
through.”
The system has daunted past
White House employees. David
Almacy, who became president
George W. Bush’s Internet direc-
tor in 2005, recalled having a week-
long delay between his arrival at the
White House and getting set up with
a computer and a BlackBerry.
“The White House itself is an in-
stitution that transitions regardless
of who the president is,” he said.
“The White House is not starting
from scratch. Processes are already
in place.”
One White House official, who
arrived breathless Wednesday after
being held up at the exterior gate,
found he had no computer or tele-
phone number. Recently called back
from overseas duty, he ended up
using his foreign cellphone.
Another White House official
whose transition cellphone was
disconnected left a message tempo-
rarily referring callers to his wife’s
phone.
Several people tried to route
their e-mails through home cable
server accounts.
But there were no missing letters
from the computer keyboards, as
Bush officials had complained of
during their transition in 2001.
And officials in the press office
were prepared, at least on one front:
They set up Gmail accounts, with
approval from the White House
counsel, so they could at least send
information in one way.
Friday, January 23, 2009 | Page 9
Anti-porn law
struck down by
Supreme Court
DAVID G. SAVAGE
LOS ANGELES TIMES
WASHINGTON — A long legal
drive to shield children from sexu-
ally explicit material on the Web
ended in failure Wednesday when
the Supreme Court let a 10-year old
anti-pornography law die quietly.
In striking down the law on
free-speech grounds, judges said
parents can protect their children
on their own by installing software
filters on their computers.
But fewer than half of parents
do so, Bush administration lawyers
had argued in an effort to revive
the law.
Anti-pornography activists said
the court’s action, coming a day
after President George W. Bush
left office, signaled an end to the
government’s bid to restrict por-
nography on the Web.
“The timing puts an exclama-
tion point on it. There’s very little
reason for hope on this issue,”
said Patrick Trueman, a Virginia
lawyer who headed the Justice
Department’s anti-pornography
unit from 1988 to 1993. “I don’t
think Congress will try again to
protect children from pornogra-
phy,” he said.
The Supreme Court had struck
down an even broader law passed
in 1996 that restricted “indecency”
on the Internet. Following that rul-
ing in 1997, Congress tried again
with a narrow measure that tar-
geted commercial purveyors of
pornography on the Web. It was
signed into law by President Bill
Clinton late in 1998.
The Child Online Protection
Act made it a crime to put sexually
explicit material on a Web site for
commercial gain unless the spon-
sor used some means to keep out
minors. It never went into effect,
however.
Judges repeatedly cited free-
speech grounds and blocked it
from being enforced.
The Supreme Court in 2004 said
the law violated the First Amend-
ment because it would crimp the
rights of millions of adults. In a 5-4
decision, the justices sent the case
back to a lower court in Philadel-
phia to decide if software filters
were effective in screening out
sexually explicit material.
Last year, the U.S. appeals
cour t in Philadelphia struck
down the law as unconstitutional,
saying the software filters were
Page 9
“equally effective” as a means of
protecting children from online
pornography.
In October, however, Bush
administration lawyers disputed
that claim and appealed to the
Supreme Court. If the law were
finally struck down, it “would leave
millions of children unprotected
from the harmful effects of the
enormous amount of pornogra-
phy on the World Wide Web,”
they said.
Countering that contention, the
American Civil Liberties Union
said the challenged law would
crimp free speech on the Web for
adults and would not shield chil-
dren, since at least half of the sexu-
ally explicit Web sites are outside
the United States.
The justices considered the ap-
peal in two closed door meetings in
recent weeks. They issued a brief
order Wednesday dismissing the
case of Mukasey v. ACLU without
comment.
The ACLU’s legal director
Steven R. Shapiro said the court’s
decision was consistent with its
free-speech principles. “They have
said online speech is entitled to the
full protection of the First Amend-
ment. That means the government
can’t adopt a broad censorship
measure if there are less restric-
tive ways to accomplish the same
goal,” he said. In this case, he said,
it was shown the software filters
were more effective in protecting
children from pornography.
When the computer pornog-
raphy issue came before the Su-
preme Court five years ago, it split
the justices, but not entirely along
the usual ideological lines. Voting
to block the law on free-speech
grounds then were John Paul Ste-
vens, Anthony M. Kennedy, David
H. Souter, Clarence Thomas and
Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The dissenters were led by
Antonin Scalia and Stephen G.
Breyer. They were joined by the
late Chief Justice William H. Reh-
nquist and the now-retired Justice
Sandra Day O’Connor.
Although wide-open free speech
remains the rule on the Internet,
there is one major exception. The
government vigorously prosecutes
those who trade online or store
on a computer sexually explicit
material that portrays children.
The Supreme Court has made
clear that child pornography is
not protected as free speech.
Commentary & Letters
The Brown Daily Herald

Page 10 | Friday, January 23, 2009

l e t t e r s to t h e e d i to r s

Hillel accommodates all kinds

To the Editor:
In a recent column, (“Jewish life
at Brown not for everyone,” Jan. 21)
Boris Ryvkin ’09 expressed various
concerns about Brown-RISD Hillel.
Like any other religious or cul-
tural group on campus, Brown-RISD
Hillel facilitates community, educa-
tion and expression among Jewish
students. Enriching the broader
world and campus community is also
consistent with Jewish values. We
regularly welcome Theatre classes,
Swearer Center events and meetings
of the Brown Republicans into the
Hillel building. Tzedek, Hillel’s social
justice group, works on universal is-
sues of homelessness, hunger and
environmentalism.
Brown-RISD Hillel is an umbrella
organization for nearly 20 groups
and committees, ranging from the
Jewish Cooking Club to the Shabbat
Committee to three distinct Israel-
related groups that represent a va-
riety of perspectives. On the whole,
we are politically neutral and do
not profess or support a particular
ideology. In Hillel, as in the broader
Jewish world, there is no definitive
way to participate in Jewish life. We
frequently encourage Brown and
RISD students to constitute new Hil-
lel groups if their needs and interests
aren’t already met. And if you just
want to come by for a free Shabbat
dinner or to study on the comfortable
couches, you are always welcome.
Liz Piper-Goldberg ‘09
Brown-RISD Hillel
Student President
Jan. 22

AEPi: another Jewish life alternative P ete F allon

To the Editor: some more religiously observant than

others, who all share the desire to
Boris Ryvkin’s ’09 column (“Jewish forge a unique college experience
opinions extra

New year, new attitude

life at Brown not for everyone,” Jan. rooted in Jewish ideals. Ryvkin may
21) discusses his experiences trying have had his reasons for not joining
to find a Jewish community at Brown. AEPi, but a complete discussion of
However, his column fails to mention Jewish life at Brown would include
leges can make. Moreover, Ruth Simmons and the
Alpha Epsilon Pi, Brown’s chapter of mention of AEPi and the opportunities
Corporation have made it abundantly clear that main-
the international Jewish fraternity. The it presents to Brown students.
brothers of AEPi, Jews and gentiles
BY TYLER ROSENBAUM taining financial aid and academic programs is a top
priority.
alike, have created a strong commu- Jeff Lisiecki ’11 Opinions Columnist This should be a cause of great relief for students.
nity based on Jewish values. It is a Alpha Epsilon Pi Rush Chair While we may be saddened or inconvenienced by the
diverse and incredible group of guys, Jan. 22 austerity the economic crisis demands, the odds are
The year 2008 is finally gone. Good riddance. I hardly favorable that we won’t have to resort to drastic mea-
need to explain my excitement to see that year pass — sures that would have a significant impact on the qual-
we all lived through it, after all. And when it comes to ity of Brown and its student body. We should count
t h e b r o w n d a i ly h e r a l d 2009, there’s a lot to be hopeful for. ourselves as fortunate. Some other schools have had
Though the worldwide financial crisis (which, by to reconsider their need-blind admissions policies in
Editor-in-Chief Managing Editors Associate Editors Senior Editors
the way, needs a pithier name; how about Great De- light of the current financial situation.
Steve DeLucia Michael Bechek Nandini Jayakrishna Rachel Arndt
Chaz Firestone Franklin Kanin Catherine Cullen
pression II?) contin- The final
Michael Skocpol Scott Lowenstein ues to rage, there’s and perhaps
editorial Business reason to believe It’s easy to think that 2009 will be a most impor-
Ben Hyman Arts & Culture Editor that the situation tant reason
Hannah Levintova Arts & Culture Editor General Managers Office Manager
Sophia Li Features Editor Alexander Hughes Shawn Reilly
may improve be-
fore year’s end.
painful year for the world. But that to be upbeat
about the re-
Emmy Liss Features Editor Jonathan Spector
Gaurie Tilak Higher Ed Editor With that in mainder of
Matthew Varley Higher Ed Editor Ellen DaSilva
Directors
Sales Director mind, I resolved to sort of pessimistic thinking can only our time at
George Miller Metro Editor Claire Kiely, Sales Director
Joanna Wohlmuth Metro Editor Phil Maynard Sales Director do my little part to Brown is that
Chaz Kelsh News Editor Katie Koh Finance Director get the new semes- make matters worse. So, at least in the our continued
Jenna Stark News Editor Managers ter started off on enrollment
Benjy Asher Sports Editor Kelly Weiss Local Sales
Andrew Braca Sports Editor Kathy Bui National Sales
the right foot. And
so my first column
beginning, take a step back, relax and allows us to
hold off on en-
Alex Mazerov Asst. Sports Editor Alex Carrere University Sales
Katie Wood Asst. Sports Editor of the year, instead tering the job
Graphics & Photos
Christiana Stephenson
Opinions
Recruiter Sales
of suggesting ways celebrate the positive side of college life. market until
Chris Jesu Lee Graphics Editor Sarah Rosenthal Opinions Editor for the Universi- the catastro-
Stephen Lichenstein Graphics Editor
Editorial Page Board ty to improve, will phe hopefully
Eunice Hong Photo Editor
Kim Perley Photo Editor James Shapiro Editorial Page Editor highlight three excellent reasons to be positive about blows over. And while this is undoubtedly small com-
Justin Coleman Sports Photo Editor Nick Bakshi Board member the new year at Brown. fort to seniors — many of whom have already start-
production
Zack Beauchamp Board member First of all, there’s the New Curriculum. This is ed looking for jobs — they have at least another five
Sara Molinaro Board member
Kathryn Delaney Copy Desk Chief Meha Verghese Board member
almost a no-brainer, but sometimes it seems like we months before leaving the ivory tower for the cold,
Seth Motel Copy Desk Chief take it for granted. Every time I talk to high school hard world. (By then Obama’s gargantuan stimulus
Marlee Bruning Design Editor Post- magazine
Jessica Calihan Design Editor
friends over winter break about classes and college should have taken effect, right?)
Arthur Matuszewski Editor-in-Chief
Anna Migliaccio Asst. Design Editor experiences, I’m struck by how lucky we truly are. It’s easy to think that 2009 will be a painful year
Kelly McKowen Editor-in-Chief
Julien Ouellet Asst. Design Editor Of course we should continue to advocate for needed for the world. But that sort of pessimistic thinking can
Neal Poole Web Editor reforms, but we should keep the big picture in mind only make matters worse. So, at least in the beginning,
Marlee Bruning, Jessica Calihan, Designer while doing so. take a step back, relax and celebrate the positive side
Geoffrey Ky, Jordan Mainzer, Seth Motel, Copy Editors The second reason to stay positive in these trou- of college life.
Brian Mastroianni, Anne Simons, Hannah Levintova, Ben Hyman, Night Editors bling times is our endowment and its competent ad-
Senior Staff Writers Mitra Anoushiravani, Colin Chazen, Ellen Cushing, Sydney Ember,
ministrators. Sure, these are tough times, and the en-
Lauren Fedor, Nicole Friedman, Britta Greene, Sarah Husk, Brian Mastroianni, Hannah dowment has likely taken a beating, but it’s still prob- Tyler Rosenbaum ’11 is an international
Moser, Ben Schreckinger, Caroline Sedano, Melissa Shube, Anne Simons, Sara Sunshine, ably measured in billions of dollars, a boast few col- relations concentrator from Seattle, Wash.
Staff Writers Zunaira Choudhary, Leslie Primack, Christian Martell, Alexandra Ulmer,
Lauren Pischel, Samuel Byker, Anne Deggelman, Nicole Dungca, Cameron Lee, Seth
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Opinions
The Brown Daily Herald
An appropriate punishment
BY ALYSSA RATLEDGE
Opinions Columnist
Essays? Really?
As part of their punishment, several
members of Students for a Democratic Soci-
ety involved in storming the October Corpo-
ration meeting must write research papers
on University governance. On top of their 50
hours of community service and up to three
semesters of probation, they’ll be demon-
strating their repentance in Microsoft Word.
Why not just give them each a chalkboard to
write “I will not storm University Hall” 200
times? It seems about as productive.
I can see the rationale for probation; it’s
the University’s favorite tool for not actually
penalizing students for their actions. But a
reflective research paper? What do adminis-
trators hope the students are going to gain
by writing a research paper — they’ll read
about the Corporation through the ages and
suddenly stop thinking there’s a shadowy ca-
bal operating behind the scenes? Doubtful.
More likely, they’ll find that Encyclope-
dia Brunoniana only details the structure of
the Corporation, that there’s no dusty tome
in the Rock basement full of Corporation se-
crets, that Bobby Jindal ’91.5 still refuses to
be their Deep Throat, that there’s no Wiki-
pedia page on Thomas Tisch and that they’d
much rather watch the new episode of “The
Office” anyway. Then, the night before the
deadline, they’ll churn out a five- or 10-pager
full of tedious facts and a couple witty turns
of phrase, a nice, fakely contrite essay to be
read a handful of times before being relegat-
ed to the filing cabinet, and somehow that
BY DREW HARRIS
Opinions Columnist
The Iranian government needs you. Or at
least, it needs your cooperation. You’ve been
a great partner in the past, and Iranian lead-
ers appreciate your support.
I imagine that you are scratching your
head right now, so allow me to explain some
of the ways you (yes, you!) and the tiny lit-
tle state from which you’re probably reading
this column have served as unwilling aids to
a troubling regime.
By now it is common knowledge that the
Iranian government desperately wants a
membership card from the perennially pop-
ular Nuclear Weapons Club (current mem-
bership: nine nations). And boy, is Iran close
to signing up! A recent New York Times ar-
ticle reported that, “as of early [November],
Iran had made 630 kilograms, or about 1,390
pounds, of low-enriched uranium. Several
experts said that was enough for a bomb…”
“Fascinating, but perhaps Iran just wants
nuclear power,” you retort with a smug grin
on your face. Though the “peaceful nuclear
power” argument sounds reasonable at first,
it does not pass further scrutiny. When Rus-
sia offered to sell nuclear fuel to Iran in 2006,
the Iranians complied — but then continued
their own enrichment program.
Since the Iranians can’t make a legitimate
economic argument, they have moved on to
their favorite game, Blame the Jews: Holo-
caust Denial Edition (TM). “We don't trust
the U.S.,” Iranian Member of Parliament Ka-
mal Daneshyar told the BBC. “And because
will make everything better.
Whether or not you agree with SDS’s cho-
sen course of action last October, you should
see the frivolity of assigning these students
research papers. Writing about University
governance won’t relieve the real cause of
friction between SDS and the Corporation,
nor will it provide the community with a
proper apology for or concrete response to
the students’ less admirable actions during
Paying compensation to injured workers would
allow SDS, which asked to be punished by
the University as a group rather than face
repercussions as individuals, to prove its
commitment to that ideal.
the protest. Instead, the students in ques-
tion should step up and take responsibility
for what they’ve done — first, by paying the
treatment costs for the injuries sustained by
staff at the site.
If this incident had happened at the Rhode
Island Capitol, say, instead of on Brown’s ev-
er-tolerant campus, the students involved
would face both criminal and civil penalties.
There would have been mass arrests, from
the students directly involved in charging
the building to those with the ladder outside
to those just loitering in the area. Here, by
contrast, administrators sought to discipline
Rhode Island’s War on Terror
we believe that they and the Zionists don't
want us to progress, we must build reactors
ourselves, make fuel ourselves, and be inde-
pendent.”
That isn’t the real reason Iran wants to go
nuclear, but Israel certainly has a lot to do
with it. If Iran has nuclear weapons, it can
project even more power over the Middle
Several states, including Rhode Island, have
invested over $1 billion in companies involved
in Iranian projects. If a handful of states in
New England leave this big a footprint while the
federal government imposes sanctions on and
divests itself from Iran, are we not shooting
ourselves in the foot?
East than it already does by funding terrorist
organizations in Iraq and dangerous factions
such as Hamas and Hezbollah, which, in this
writer’s opinion, are the biggest roadblock
on the path to peace in the Middle East.
But I digress. We were talking about you
— how, with your help, Iran could become a
only those who were involved in damage to
the building and injuries to workers.
That seems more than fair. I’m sure that
SDS doesn’t want to follow the lead of oth-
er activist organizations, both in the Unit-
ed States and abroad, that instigate acts of
violence in order to achieve their ends, but
their silence on this issue has been startling.
They would no doubt be vocally opposed to
another student group or the University pull-
ing the same stunt — SDS and the Student
Labor Alliance would flood The Herald with
letters and camp out on the Main Green to
tell us how current employee health bene-
fits and workers’ compensation are not suf-
ficient. Wouldn’t it be a generous show of
goodwill, not to mention true adherence to
their egalitarian principles, if they spoke up
for those workers injured just for doing their
jobs?
In doing so, SDS, as well as the rest of
the Brown community, could secure a better
idea of how serious the injuries workers re-
ceived really were. If SDS wants to continue
nuclear-armed state within one or two years.
The good news is that funding a nuclear
weapons program is expensive, and Iran’s
on a tight budget. Though the Iranians were
caught “illegally shift(ing) billions of dollars
through American financial institutions… to
finance [their] nuclear missile programs,”
a glaring loophole in our foreign policy re-
mains: state pension and investment funds.
Several states, including Rhode Island,
have invested over $1 billion in companies
involved in Iranian projects. If a handful of
states in New England leave this big a foot-
print while the federal government imposes
sanctions on and divests itself from Iran, are
Friday, January 23, 2009 | Page 11
playing the role of unfairly targeted group,
as it has, while claiming hearing irregulari-
ties such as the exclusion of witnesses and
mishandling of charges, the members need
to demonstrate that they have not acted in-
appropriately, and that if they have, they will
take the necessary steps to make amends.
There would be little discussion about the le-
gitimacy of paying the injured workers’ med-
ical bills. Those bills are a fixed cost: They
are based on actual injuries sustained as a re-
sult of employment. For the employees’ pri-
vacy, of course, medical records and infor-
mation would not be released, but I’m sure
SDS — and the general student population
— would find the real cost of their protest
enlightening.
Paying compensation to injured work-
ers would also allow SDS, which asked to be
punished by the University as a group rath-
er than face repercussions as individuals, to
prove its commitment to that ideal: Mem-
bers could all chip in for their brothers and
sisters in arms and would not have to apolo-
gize for ideology — just methodology.
It’s time to put your money where your
mouth is, SDS. Show us that your support of
“collateral damage” villagers in Afghanistan
injured by Raytheon is as strong as your sup-
port of “collateral damage” Brown Univer-
sity employees injured by, well, you. Prove
that you are willing to step up and take real
responsibility for the real repercussions of
your protest. A research paper doesn’t prove
where you really stand.
Alyssa Ratledge ’11 is a public policy
concentrator from Mesa, Ariz.
we not shooting ourselves in the foot? The
status quo is unacceptable.
I’m all for student activism, but I don’t
think Brown students will be taking down
Lloyds TSB — the British bank that was
recently caught illegally covering up busi-
ness with Iranian companies — any time
soon. Where we can affect change is here in
Rhode Island. There is already ample prec-
edent — 31 states have adopted or consid-
ered legislation to divest their pension funds
from a number of companies associated with
the energy and defense sectors in Iran. And
while divestment is sometimes a pricey af-
fair, the state of Missouri’s divested portfolio
has occasionally outperformed the original
fund, proving that it doesn’t have to be.
Rhode Island’s divestment from Iran
would not single-handedly bring Iran’s nu-
clear program to a halt, but the sooner we
can get our act together as a nation, the bet-
ter. The ad-hoc manner in which we’ve been
implementing sanctions reduces their col-
lective impact and sends the wrong signal to
the Iranian elites.
Markets do not sanction rogue states
themselves. The recent Hewlett Packard ep-
isode, in which one of the company’s distrib-
utors was caught quasi-legally selling print-
ers to Iran, merely reminds us of that fact. In
these difficult economic times, we can give
Rhode Islanders something to be proud of
by ending our financial support for a nation
that suppresses its people and sponsors ter-
rorism.
Drew Harris ’11 is a political science
concentrator from Montvale, N.J.
 Today 5
to day to m o r r o w
Moors and marauders come to campus
The Brown Daily Herald

Gymnasts spring into solid Ivy standing

7
Friday, January 23, 2009
40 / 27 38 / 9
Page 12

sq u are roots gone for good d i a m o n d s a n d c oa l

A coal to the student who had a sword confiscated by campus police
officers. We know fighting through the crowds in the Ratty is tough during
shopping period, but you don’t have to do it Tarantino-style.

A cubic zirconium to the optimistic spokeswoman for the governor, who

averred that while Lil’ Rhody has a staggering budget deficit, the nation’s
highest unemployment and no natural resources, “what we do have is wind.”
And we wouldn’t trade it for anything.

A diamond to Providence’s world-famous dancing traffic cop, for his back-

to-back talks, “Follow your dreams” and “Traffic safety.” And we thought your
profession was enough of a non-sequitur.

Coal to the proposed UCS plan to allow students to check meal credits
on Banner. If it works anything like the course listings, you’ll always have 999
credits but get rejected when you try to swipe at the Ratty.

A diamond to Texas A&M University, which has started pegging profes-

sors’ bonuses to the opinions of students. We’d try that here, too — but our
faculty would just take the evaluations S/NC.

Coal to the patient in a LiSci exam lab who was the only one in the room
when an employee’s $145 went missing. The “MRI machine did it” defense
won’t work this time — it can only steal coins.

Kim Perley / Herald A diamond to the economics professors who claim to have created some-
The “Square Roots” sapling sculpture was removed from the front green over winter break. thing called a “World Migration Matrix.” Unfortunately, no one can be told
what the World Migration Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.

menu s p o rt s w e e k e n d p r e v i e w
Sharpe Refectory Verney-Woolley Dining Hall
Colgate at Brown, Fri. 7 p.m.
Lunch — Tomato Basil Pie, Roasted Lunch — Chicken Fingers, Baked
Herb Potatoes, Sliced Turkey and Roast Vegan Nuggets, Vegan Rice Pilaf W. hockey faces
Beef, Tuna Salad
Dinner — Shephard’s Pie, Grilled off against Red
Dinner — Manicotti Piedmontese, Chicken, Basmati Rice Pilaf, Tortellini
Mashed
RELEASEButternut Squash,
DATE– Friday, Meatloaf
January 23, 2008Italiano with Sausage Raiders tonight
Los Angeles Times
c r o sDailys w oCrossword
rd Puzzle The women’s ice hockey team (3-
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis 14-1, 2-9 ECAC) takes to the ice
ACROSS 4 Key to getting out 34 Bit of chat room 49 “Piece __”: Stone tonight to take on the red-hot Red
1 Hunky-dory of trouble? shorthand Temple Pilots Raiders of Colgate (12-9-2, 6-4-2
5 Made out 5 Diplomacy 35 Clears song
10 Knight at the 6 Male prefix 38 Mouse sounds 50 Sidestep ECAC) in Meehan Auditorium.
movies 7 Household 39 Adriatic resort 54 Stud fee?
14 Stout relatives hazard 41 __ tax 55 Assembly
15 Blown away 8 Cote girl 42 Highest point instruction The Raiders are riding a five-game
16 Piedmont region 9 LBJ, for one 43 Risks 57 Tinker-to-Evers- win streak. The Bears are coming
university 10 Some of the 44 Hawaiian fliers to-Chance stats
17 Support for a glitterati 46 Ward off 58 Link letters off a two-loss weekend but hope
formal 11 Name in 2000 47 Like 8-Down 59 2000 Viacom to pull off a repeat of their 4-3
downgrading headlines 48 Time issue? acquisition
proposal? 12 Condemns victory over Colgate earlier in the
20 Chop off 13 Umbilical ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: season.
21 Goya’s goose development
egg? 18 Quarterfinal
22 “Same here” groups
23 Serves under 19 Blockheads
Robert Gates? 24 Ticks off
27 Mitchell clan 25 Went with
29 __ D.A. 26 Aspen-to-Pueblo
30 Study forensics? dir. comics
33 Canterbury can 27 “The Simpsons”
36 Head lock bus driver Dunkel | Joe Larios
37 Alternative to 28 Stress to a fault,
white with “on”
38 Wordsworth’s 31 Three-time A.L.
weather batting champ
40 Special __ 32 Hearty
41 Watch kids at agreement?
Christmas, say? 33 Golden-brown
43 Hissy fit ornamental stone xwordeditor@aol.com 01/23/09
45 Some tapes
46 Hard on the
furniture?
51 French resort on
Lake Geneva
52 Point presenting
options
53 Co-founder of Air
Greenland
56 Sensed climbers
returning? Alien Weather Forecast | Stephen Lichenstein and Adam Wagner
60 1980s speed
skating gold
medalist Karin
61 Bluenoses
62 Unit of memory
63 Not so great
64 Cold shower?
65 Slip through the
cracks

DOWN
1 Word on two
Monopoly
squares
2 To boot
3 Memory stirrers By Dan Naddor
(c)2009 Tribune Media Services, Inc.
01/23/09