monday, december 5, 2011

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Monday, December 5, 2011 D aily Herald THE BROWN Since 1891 vol. cxxi, no. 118 57 / 43 TOMORROW 61 / 51 TODAY NEWS........................3 ARTS......................4-5 EDITORIAL...............6 OPINIONS..............7 SPORTS...................8 INSIDE ARTS & CULTURE, 5 New Noise BCA Speakeasy features new student musicians Zacks ’15: Israel’s friends must criticize OPINIONS, 7 WEATHER Frenemy By NIC CAVELL CONTRIBUTING WRITER e philosophies of Eleanor Roo- sevelt, Kermit the Frog and Pink Floyd were invoked as faculty, stu- dents and President Ruth Sim- mons took the stage of Salomon 101 Saturday to recognize the 121 members of the class of 2011.5. In what was her last midyear graduation address, Simmons ac- knowledged some students might feel a “twinge of concern” about the end of their Brown education. But rather than dwelling on what was ending, Simmons asked graduates to reflect on how they had access to a “freedom that few in the world have experienced” and to take their places “on the battlements of the long struggle” to maintain human rights and “fragile freedoms.” ough the group of students celebrated is diverse in experi- ence, Renee Neely ’11.5 said in her speech that each midyear graduate is unified by the risks that he or she took to do something out of the ordinary. Neely, who returned to Brown last year aſter leaving in 1975, praised the “spirit of possibil- ity” at Brown and its “most liberal education,” neither of which she said had changed since she began her education at the University. e last to address the gradu- ates, Diane Lipscombe, professor of neuroscience, congratulated students for “experimenting” with their education and taking “so many different actions.” Com- 121 commence at midyear ceremony By KATRINA PHILLIPS SENIOR STAFF WRITER Poetry married politics in the third Achebe Colloquium on Africa held on campus this weekend. is year marked the first time the two-day colloquium, which included panel discussions and speeches on po- litical issues across Africa, featured poetry readings and literary dis- cussion. e walls of the Martinos Au- ditorium in the Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts echoed with voices both bellow- ing and fragile during what Nduka Otiono, a postdoctoral fellow in Africana studies who presided over the colloquium, called “two days of marathon presentations.” Speakers from both the aca- demic and political sphere led seven panel discussions on topics including the Arab Spring, foreign intervention in Africa and the pros- pects for peace in Darfur, South Sudan and Zimbabwe. Professor of Africana Studies Chinua Achebe’s homeland of Nigeria was not fea- tured in discussions this year. Along with the panel discus- Colloquium spurs talk on African politics, language Glenn Lutzky / Herald Chinua Achebe reads from an Igbo poem at the Achebe Colloquium’s final event. By MATHIAS HELLER STAFF WRITER Sayles Hall was transformed last night into a hub of holiday cheer for the University’s 95th annual Service of Lessons and Carols. A traditional Christmas celebration that rose to prominence in the early 20th century at King’s Col- lege of Cambridge University, Les- sons and Carols began at Brown in 1917 and has become a staple of the holiday season on campus. The service, coordinated by the Office of the Chaplains and Religious Life, was split between seven “lessons” — biblical pas- sages read by students and ad- ministrators — and numerous anthems and carols sung by both the University Chorus and the au- dience. The Brown Brass Quintet joined University Organist Mark Steinbach in performing a melo- dious prelude, Jacob Gallus’ “Duo Seraphim.” For Steinbach, who has performed at the Lessons and Carols service since coming to Brown in 1993, the tradition is special because it brings together students, faculty, alums and local residents. “It involves the entire Univer- sity community,” Steinbach said, adding that he enjoys the chance to collaborate with the chaplain’s office and the Chorus in creating the service. Though the service has a clearly defined shape each year, with each lesson and musi- cal piece chronologically leading to Jesus’ birth, Steinbach said he and the other performers make an effort to add new elements. “Each year, there’s a little bit of a twist,” he said. The service’s lead organizer, Janet Cooper Nelson, University chaplain, called Lessons and Car- ols a “stress-reliever” for students before exams. Cooper Nelson also said the service draws a substantial number of alums, including one Brunonian who makes the drive from Washington, D.C., each year to attend. The financial offertory collected during Lessons and Car- ols goes to a charity selected by the chaplain’s office — this year, With lessons and carols, tradition lives on By KAT THORNTON SENIOR STAFF WRITER Robert Burke has beef with Boston — and Philadelphia, and even Ge- neva. Good thing he said he’s “just feisty enough” to take them on. Burke, a fourth generation Rhode Islander, is the creator of the Providence Independence Trail. He personally painted the thin green line which runs on the sidewalks around downtown Providence and the west edge of College Hill, a trail meant to bring to light the city’s oſten overlooked past. It is a long history — the city celebrated its 375th birthday just two weeks ago. Providence has a lot of history that many are simply unaware of, while Boston has become the his- tory hub of the Northeast, Burke said. “I frequently compare Boston and Providence to a big brother and a little brother,” he said. “A lot of times, the little brother sort of happily stays in the shadow of the big brother. And that’s what hap- pened here in Providence.” Burke has been working on the Green line points the way through city’s history By ALEXANDRA MACFARLANE STAFF WRITER Superb wine, a trendy atmosphere and perfect portions come together for an excellent gastronomic expe- rience at Tazza Cafe in downtown Providence. e restaurant — cof- feehouse by day and restaurant and bar by night — is centrally located near the popular Trinity Repertory Company and serves up an eclectic dinner menu alongside hip and ex- otic cocktails. Just inside the door, diners are greeted with an ambiance that melds a quiet bar scene, cafe-style dining and a sleek restaurant atmosphere. Windows line two walls of the res- taurant, but the glass is opaque at eye level, allowing natural light but stopping the noise and commotion of the street at the entrance. e restaurant’s walls, tables and fixtures are in dark, muted colors, giving diners a sense of privacy. Our table was an awkward arrangement, where three diners sat on a booth and one in a chair, giving an uncom- fortable and almost business-like feel to the otherwise intimate seating. For dinner, Tazza offers a “e- ater Menu” — similar to a prix fixe option — where diners can order Tazza Cafe glitters, but not all is gold Evan Thomas / Herald President Ruth Simmons congratulated the 121 members of the class of ’11.5. FEATURE continued on page 2 continued on page 4 continued on page 5 continued on page 3 continued on page 2

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The December 5, 2011 issue of the Brown Daily Herald

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Page 1: Monday, December 5, 2011

Monday, December 5, 2011Daily Heraldthe Brown

Since 1891vol. cxxi, no. 118

57 / 43

t o m o r r o w

61 / 51

t o d aynews........................3Arts......................4-5editoriAl...............6opinions..............7sports...................8insi

de

Arts & Culture, 5

New NoiseBCA speakeasy features new student musicians

Zacks ’15: Israel’s friends must criticize

OpInIOns, 7 wea

therFrenemy

By Nic cavellContributing Writer

The philosophies of Eleanor Roo-sevelt, Kermit the Frog and Pink Floyd were invoked as faculty, stu-dents and President Ruth Sim-mons took the stage of Salomon 101 Saturday to recognize the 121 members of the class of 2011.5.

In what was her last midyear graduation address, Simmons ac-knowledged some students might feel a “twinge of concern” about the end of their Brown education. But rather than dwelling on what was ending, Simmons asked graduates to reflect on how they had access to a “freedom that few in the world have experienced” and to take their places “on the battlements of the long struggle” to maintain human

rights and “fragile freedoms.”Though the group of students

celebrated is diverse in experi-ence, Renee Neely ’11.5 said in her speech that each midyear graduate is unified by the risks that he or she took to do something out of the ordinary. Neely, who returned to Brown last year after leaving in 1975, praised the “spirit of possibil-ity” at Brown and its “most liberal education,” neither of which she said had changed since she began her education at the University.

The last to address the gradu-ates, Diane Lipscombe, professor of neuroscience, congratulated students for “experimenting” with their education and taking “so many different actions.” Com-

121 commence at midyear ceremony

By KatriNa PhilliPsSenior Staff Writer

Poetry married politics in the third Achebe Colloquium on Africa held on campus this weekend. This year marked the first time the two-day colloquium, which included panel discussions and speeches on po-litical issues across Africa, featured poetry readings and literary dis-cussion.

The walls of the Martinos Au-ditorium in the Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts echoed with voices both bellow-ing and fragile during what Nduka

Otiono, a postdoctoral fellow in Africana studies who presided over the colloquium, called “two days of marathon presentations.”

Speakers from both the aca-demic and political sphere led seven panel discussions on topics including the Arab Spring, foreign intervention in Africa and the pros-pects for peace in Darfur, South Sudan and Zimbabwe. Professor of Africana Studies Chinua Achebe’s homeland of Nigeria was not fea-tured in discussions this year.

Along with the panel discus-

Colloquium spurs talk on African politics, language

Glenn Lutzky / HeraldChinua Achebe reads from an Igbo poem at the Achebe Colloquium’s final event.

By Mathias hellerStaff Writer

Sayles Hall was transformed last night into a hub of holiday cheer for the University’s 95th annual Service of Lessons and Carols. A traditional Christmas celebration that rose to prominence in the early 20th century at King’s Col-lege of Cambridge University, Les-sons and Carols began at Brown in 1917 and has become a staple of the holiday season on campus.

The service, coordinated by the Office of the Chaplains and Religious Life, was split between seven “lessons” — biblical pas-sages read by students and ad-ministrators — and numerous anthems and carols sung by both

the University Chorus and the au-dience. The Brown Brass Quintet joined University Organist Mark Steinbach in performing a melo-dious prelude, Jacob Gallus’ “Duo Seraphim.” For Steinbach, who has performed at the Lessons and Carols service since coming to Brown in 1993, the tradition is special because it brings together students, faculty, alums and local residents.

“It involves the entire Univer-sity community,” Steinbach said, adding that he enjoys the chance to collaborate with the chaplain’s office and the Chorus in creating the service. Though the service has a clearly defined shape each year, with each lesson and musi-cal piece chronologically leading

to Jesus’ birth, Steinbach said he and the other performers make an effort to add new elements. “Each year, there’s a little bit of a twist,” he said.

The service’s lead organizer, Janet Cooper Nelson, University chaplain, called Lessons and Car-ols a “stress-reliever” for students before exams.

Cooper Nelson also said the service draws a substantial number of alums, including one Brunonian who makes the drive from Washington, D.C., each year to attend. The financial offertory collected during Lessons and Car-ols goes to a charity selected by the chaplain’s office — this year,

With lessons and carols, tradition lives on

By Kat thorNtoNSenior Staff Writer

Robert Burke has beef with Boston — and Philadelphia, and even Ge-neva. Good thing he said he’s “just feisty enough” to take them on.

Burke, a fourth generation Rhode Islander, is the creator of the Providence Independence Trail. He personally painted the thin green line which runs on the sidewalks around downtown Providence and the west edge of College Hill, a trail meant to bring to light the city’s often overlooked past. It is a long history — the city celebrated its 375th birthday just two weeks ago.

Providence has a lot of history that many are simply unaware of, while Boston has become the his-tory hub of the Northeast, Burke said.

“I frequently compare Boston and Providence to a big brother and a little brother,” he said. “A lot of times, the little brother sort of happily stays in the shadow of the big brother. And that’s what hap-pened here in Providence.”

Burke has been working on the

Green line points the way through city’s history

By alexaNdra MacFarlaNeStaff Writer

Superb wine, a trendy atmosphere and perfect portions come together for an excellent gastronomic expe-rience at Tazza Cafe in downtown Providence. The restaurant — cof-feehouse by day and restaurant and bar by night — is centrally located near the popular Trinity Repertory Company and serves up an eclectic dinner menu alongside hip and ex-otic cocktails.

Just inside the door, diners are greeted with an ambiance that melds a quiet bar scene, cafe-style dining and a sleek restaurant atmosphere. Windows line two walls of the res-taurant, but the glass is opaque at eye level, allowing natural light but stopping the noise and commotion of the street at the entrance.

The restaurant’s walls, tables and fixtures are in dark, muted colors, giving diners a sense of privacy. Our table was an awkward arrangement, where three diners sat on a booth and one in a chair, giving an uncom-fortable and almost business-like feel to the otherwise intimate seating.

For dinner, Tazza offers a “The-ater Menu” — similar to a prix fixe option — where diners can order

Tazza Cafe glitters, but not all is gold

Evan Thomas / HeraldPresident Ruth Simmons congratulated the 121 members of the class of ’11.5.

FEATURE

continued on page 2

continued on page 4

continued on page 5

continued on page 3

continued on page 2

Page 2: Monday, December 5, 2011

Ben Schreckinger, PresidentSydney Ember, Vice President

Matthew Burrows, TreasurerIsha Gulati, Secretary

The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is an independent newspaper serving the Brown University community daily since 1891. It is published Monday through Friday during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement and once during Orientation by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Single copy free for each member of the community. POSTMASTER please send corrections to P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI 02906. Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Subscription prices: $280 one year daily, $140 one semester daily. Copyright 2011 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Independence Trail for the last five years, ever since he took some friends on a walking tour from the Westin Hotel to his French res-taurant, Pot au Feu, in downtown Providence. He realized the short walk contained an “astonishing” amount of history. Through per-sonal knowledge and additional research, Burke began his work on the trail.

“These aren’t scrolls that got discovered in somebody’s attic last year,” Burke said of Providence’s past. “This is well-known, well-documented history. It’s just that Providence never has really object-ed to Boston grabbing our claim.”

Even museum-filled Philadel-phia has less history than Provi-dence, Burke said. Philadelphia was “just a convenient place to convene. They weren’t real rabble rousers,” he said. Rhode Island, on the other hand, was known as “rogue’s island,” Burke said. “From day one, the troublemakers came to Rhode Island.”

Through the Independence Trail, Burke wants to increase awareness of Rhode Island’s his-tory. He lamented the fact that in Geneva, there is a prominent statue of Roger Williams while in Rhode Island, scarcely anyone knows where the statue of our founder stands. (It is in Prospect Park.)

Burke received official sup-port from the city and the state for the project. The first walkers assembled at the completed trail Aug. 13, signing their names on an official commemorative scroll.

The trail, which runs in a three-mile loop, hits adjacent to north campus in front of Geoff ’s Su-perlative Sandwiches on Benefit Street. To take the tour, you fol-low the green line until your toes touch a painted yellow rectangle with a phone number on it, one of 26 stops. Call the number, and you will hear Burke’s cheerful greeting: “Welcome to the Independence Trail of Providence!” Listen to his instructions and then enter the number of the stop where you are to hear Burke explain the site’s historical significance.

Burke’s narration is as lively as a professional tour guide’s, paint-ing a picture through the centuries of the scene where you stand and describing the points of interest within a 360-degree view.

In front of Geoff ’s is the old state house, where the Rhode Island colonists officially broke allegiance with the king of Eng-land, two months before any other colony declared independence. Just down the street toward the Rhode Island School of Design, the trail has a stop in front of the First Baptist Church. Burke, over the phone, explains that Roger Williams founded the church, which was built in 1774.

Further down Main Street, at its intersection with Planet Street, is stop number 15, what Burke calls “one of the most important historic locations in American his-tory.” Here, in 1772, John Brown and 59 other colonists met in what was then the Sabin Tavern to plan the attack on the H.M.S. Gaspee, the British regulatory ship that the group would later violently storm

and burn in protest of British rule over the colonies. Today, the site is a parking lot.

Why the Boston Tea Party holds more historical signifi-cance than the Gaspee Affair is a mystery to Burke. “Throwing tea in the harbor does not rank where shooting, imprisoning and burning rank. And it never will,” he said.

But why does Boston’s histo-ry outshine Providence’s today? Burke said it’s because Brown didn’t write the history books.

“Brown University shirked its responsibility, and instead of writing America’s history books, allowed — allowed — the schol-ars at Harvard to write the story and then didn’t challenge it. Had Brown University written Ameri-ca’s history books, then we would all know the true story that Provi-dence was out there way in front of Boston,” Burke said.

Burke’s pride for Providence history is loud and clear. “I’ve got a message for Boston, okay? The little brother is gonna punch them right in the nose.”

Burke plans to add more stops and sound effects by May 4, which was declared “Rhode Island In-dependence Day” last spring. Burke said he hopes to involve the University in the trail so that visitors will know it is available to them.

“(While) we’re coming out from under Boston’s shadow, we’re going to depend on scholars from Brown University to help us,” Burke said. “We want the whole town to get excited about claiming our rightful title.”

Trail highlights ‘rogue’s island’ historycontinued from page 1

paring the undergraduate experi-ence to the brain, she said it was the “accumulation of actions” that combine to make up an education, like the 86 billion neurons that combine in each brain to make a decision.

Though Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron asked the crowd of students and parents to remain quiet until the last gradu-ate had walked, the auditorium echoed as each graduate was cheered to the stage to shake Sim-mons’ hand and receive a person-ally signed letter. The graduates left

the celebration to the theme from the Wallace and Gromit movie “A Grand Day Out” by composer Ju-lian Nott.

“I really liked Renee’s speech,” said Camila Moraes ’11.5, who took time off to work at a consult-ing firm and explore other extra-curricular activities she could not find time for at Brown. “It was very sincere — full of emotion.”

Anshu Vaish ’11.5 seconded the sentiment, adding that the at-mosphere of the celebration was “exciting, jubilant, invigorating” but also “sad.”

“It’s game over,” he explained. “But not really, because you can just hit replay and start on a higher level.”

No caps and gowns were worn at the ceremony. The Corporation, the University’s highest governing body, designates only one com-mencement ceremony each year in May, and .5ers are encouraged to walk in either the previous May’s ceremony, the next May’s or both.

’11.5ers celebrate end of studiescontinued from page 1

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Page 3: Monday, December 5, 2011

Campus news 3the Brown Daily heraldMonday, December 5, 2011

By elizaBeth KohStaff Writer

Globalization is the only path by which underdeveloped regions can catch up to the technological power of the developed world, said Andrew Chi-Chih Yao of Tsinghua University Friday at a talk hosted by the Year of China initiative.

The talk, “Trends of Globaliza-tion: Some Perspectives from Asian Universities,” drew an audience of about 35 students and faculty to Englander Studio. President Ruth Simmons moderated the event.

Yao, who previously taught at Stanford and Princeton before returning to China to teach at Ts-inghua, highlighted the growing internationalization of higher edu-cation. “I think in that spirit that globalization is a powerful force for higher education to go forward with, and I think that is actually already taking place.” he said.

A panel including Yao, Vice President for International Affairs Matthew Gutmann, An Wang Pro-fessor of Computer Science Franco Preparata and Associate Profes-

sor of East Asian Studies Lingzhen Wang discussed the implications of Westernization at Chinese uni-versities for the sciences and hu-manities.

“I thought it was very important for those who have spent time in Chinese universities to point out the tremendous changes underway in China,” Simmons said. “While they’re not complete, the fact that they’ve had such a dramatic change already is something that we need to understand better.”

Students in attendance were largely drawn by personal con-nections to the material.

“I’m Chinese, and it’s the Year of China, so I was recommended by some friends (to attend),” Zhichao Wei GS said. “I think it’s great.”

“Frankly speaking, the talk sounded very interesting,” said Kelly Jin ’12. “I think the discus-sions were engaging, and it brings everything into perspective. It re-ally changed my idea of globaliza-tion to some extent.”

For faculty in attendance, the discussion also reflected current issues in their line of work.

“It’s very interesting to think through the Americanization of Chinese universities, and to con-sider the stakes of transforming Chinese higher education using U.S. higher education as a tem-plate,” said Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies Eng-Beng Lim.

Lim is interested in the spread of U.S. satellite campuses in Asia and the Middle East. He noted the growing scholarship around global-ization. “The Chinese example is one that has been closely watched by a lot of academics, so it’s very revealing to hear the different per-spectives on the table,” he said.

But for Simmons, the panel’s topic was also an indication of Brown’s mission in the future.

“China is going to be a major force in almost any sector going forward — whether it’s in the eco-nomic sector, whether it’s in science and technology, in culture,” Sim-mons said. “China will be a part of our lives and in universities, if we’re not educating on China, our students will be receiving an in-complete education.”

Panel examines Chinese higher education

sions, there were three keynote addresses by Ali Suleiman Aujali, Libyan ambassador to the United States, David Shinn, former U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia and Burki-na Faso, and John Schram, former Canadian ambassador to Zimba-bwe, Angola, Ethiopia, Eritrea and the Sudan. Each day began with an opening address — Achebe opened Sunday’s events and Emeka Anya-oku, chief and former secretary general of the Commonwealth, spoke Saturday.

Otiono compared the collo-quium’s rhythm to a novel. He told The Herald the event maintained a high tempo, plateauing early Sun-day, but reaching a crescendo for “Literature: The Spoken Word” — Sunday’s final poetry readings and discussion by six African writers, including Achebe.

“Throughout these whole won-derful two days, language and the nuance of language has been im-bedded in everything,” said Alastair Niven, moderator of the readings. The readings allowed language to be brought into the open and be faced “head-on,” he explained.

The writers, hailing mostly from Nigeria and the United States, gave readings in both English and Igbo, with African-American poet Sonia Sanchez sprinkling bits of Wolof into her poetry.

“I wanted to do a piece that would connect Africa to the Unit-ed States” as the colloquium has done, Sanchez told The Herald of her selections, which dealt with the familial struggles of an African-American family from the South and brought her to tears at points.

Bassey Ikpi, the youngest writer of the group, spoke timidly of her amazement at being included in the event, but her passionate voice filled the room as she recited a poem about losing the Igbo language since moving to the United States as a child. Jayne Cortez injected the readings with political unease though lines such as “They want the oil, but they don’t want the people,” and “The ruling class will tell you that there is no ruling class.”

Though most of his earlier work has been in English, Achebe recited a poem in Igbo written for the wake of Nigerian poet Christopher Okig-bo, who was killed in the Biafran War. “I believe in all the languages we speak,” he said.

“The person of Chinua Achebe lends an enormous amount of prestige” to the colloquium, John Campbell, former U.S. ambassa-dor to Nigeria and speaker for the Zimbabwe panel, told The Herald. Campbell has attended all three Achebe Colloquiums and said they improve each year as they

gain fame.Between panels and speeches,

the speakers and audience — many of whom had traveled to attend the colloquium — mingled outside the auditorium, exchanging business cards, autographs and ideas.

Fred Obeng-Ampofo, a Univer-sity media services technician from Ghana, told The Herald the chance to speak to such important figures was one of his favorite aspects of the colloquium, describing Anyaoku as “very down-to-earth.” But he added he was “a little bit saddened that I didn’t see many students here.”

The question of the appropri-ate level of foreign involvement in African affairs was raised often throughout the colloquium’s talks. Two back-to-back panels focused entirely on the presence of the Unit-ed States and China in Africa. “Only Africans can fix African conflicts,” Schram said in his keynote address. But he explained this does not free Western nations from responsibil-ity. Foreign states and organizations can provide support in nations like South Sudan, he said, “but it will only work in the long term if the people of South Sudan can design and build the country they want and they deserve.”

Aujali — who gained his ambas-sadorship under recently ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, but rejected Gadhafi’s rule once the protests began — expressed grati-tude to the United States for their intervention against Gadhafi in his address and encouraged American companies to remain involved in Libya’s economic growth.

As the ambassador to the U.S. under the current leadership, he said he had a message for the U.S. in particular: “Please, don’t target these Muslims as your enemy. Don’t send the wrong message.” He said Muslims in Libya could use Ameri-can support as they make the diffi-cult adjustment to a democracy and warned against unfriendly action.

At the end of the “Zimbabwe: Prospects for a Stable Democracy or Dictatorship?” panel, Anyaoku, who was not a panelist, rose during questions to make a long, impas-sioned speech about the reasons for negative sentiments toward Zimba-bwe’s President Robert Mugabe and “the centrality of the land issue” in Zimbabwe that traces back to its independence, which he felt had so far been neglected in discussion.

Following the speech, Achebe, who had thus far played a mostly passive role in the discussions, took the floor to praise Anyaoku’s contri-bution. “Let’s understand this core problem that has been raised by one of the guests,” he said, reminding the audience of Anyaoku’s presence during Zimbabwe’s independence negotiations.

Annual colloquium brings together poetry, politics

continued from page 1

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Page 4: Monday, December 5, 2011

Arts & Culture4 the Brown Daily heraldMonday, December 5, 2011

By KatheriNe cusuMaNoContributing Writer

Black tuxedo. Evening gown. Pol-ished shoes. A set protocol for when you can and cannot applaud. If you have ever been intimidat-ed by the classical music scene, with its staid professionalism and grand history, you are not alone.

Enter Fermata. The brainchild of music concentrator Ben Kut-ner ’14, Fermata is not just any musical ensemble, but a student-led group expressly devoted to making instrumental music more accessible.

The group was founded on the philosophy that to make classi-cal music accessible to younger generations, some stuffy tradi-tions may have to go. Fermata, which is dedicated to performing new music by University students, had its first performance Saturday night in Hunter Auditorium. Kut-ner, who is also a Herald senior staff writer, based the concept on the informal format of the a cap-pella performances ubiquitous on campus.

There are no genre require-ments for submissions to Fermata. The group is only a “classical en-semble” in the sense that they use typically classical instruments — primarily strings and brass.

According to Gabe Flate-

man ’12, Fermata has given the University’s student composers a chance to showcase their own work. There is a tendency to view classical music as a strictly aca-demic pursuit, but in performing new student compositions, it is clear that the music is “vibrant and alive and accessible,” he said.

There are many outlets on campus for electronic music, but, until now, more serious classical music had not been “marshaled into a cohesive unit,” said Jack Boeglin ’12, a composer with Fermata and University orches-tra president.

Fermata also helps establish a more human connection between performers and composers, some-thing foreign to most members of the group. Performers do not nec-essarily speak the same language as composers — the former often focus on technique while the lat-ter are concerned with theory. Ex-ploring the relationship between the two is at the core of Fermata’s mission.

Violist Ana Farmer ’14 said she had the unusual opportunity to hear about the process and mo-tivation behind a piece through Fermata. Flateman said it was highly instructive working with performers. As a musician, he sings and plays piano and trum-pet, so he said composing and

instructing music for strings gave him a greater appreciation for the translation between a technical description of music and a more conceptual, intuitive one.

Though in the future Ferma-ta hopes to host two shows per semester, Saturday’s show was brought together on very short notice, as the group has only been functional since early November. The group managed to pull off quite a polished performance con-sidering the circumstances, with an impressive crowd turnout of friends and family.

An unprogrammed surprise was the performance of an en-ergetic Lady Gaga medley at the conclusion of the show.

Bassist Katie Parker ’14, though not a composer, said she hopes in the future to practice arranging similar medleys herself.

Parker also said she was de-lighted to have the chance to play a piece centered around her in-strument. Basses are not typically included in string quartets, but Boeglin’s opening piece, “Adagio,” featured a complex bass part that represented a distinct deviation from the norm.

Group members have high hopes for the future, including booking shows in Providence and hosting similar groups from other schools.

Concert showcases student compositions

By eli oKuNStaff Writer

From a top shelf behind the display cases, the faces of several painted teacups wink down on Pastiche, a casually elegant dessert shop tucked behind the inviting, if touristy, Italian plaza on Federal Hill. The cups are a quirky indicator of what is to come — a delicious blend of whimsy and tradition with just a dash of trendy cafe fare.

The shop offers both carry-out and eat-in options, though the line can get long on weekend nights. The 40-seat dining area — backed by a large painting of hills and bays — is bathed in soft golds and greens by orange Depression-era glass lights. The atmosphere is completed by the waiters, whose service is speedy and professional, but who could smile a little more. Charmingly, despite Pastiche’s popularity, the staff main-tains a neighborhood feel, recogniz-ing regular patrons and working in sync behind the counter.

The cafe’s harmony transfers to the plate. An order of fresh lime mousse tart fetches several inches of tangy citrus foam balanced atop a thin, buttery pastry shell. Accompa-nied by a swirl of raspberry jam and twin slivers of candied lime, the slice feels like air: light enough for you to clean the plate without feeling guilty.

The tart finds its perfect coun-terpoint in the chocolate walnut brownie. A decadent layer of smooth chocolate covers a brownie base the consistency of fudge with a flower of chocolate sauce underneath. It is

chock-full of walnuts but remains moist, dense though, surprisingly, never too rich.

Chocolate-dipped almond biscot-ti are similarly successful with their combination of nutty and bittersweet. The treat is elevated by the chocolate’s high quality, but softening it with a dip in a steaming mug of fair-trade coffee — well-brewed but not too strong — takes the biscotti to an-other level.

Unfortunately, measured against the standard that such desserts set, not every bite hits it out of the park. A pumpkin praline muffin seems like the embodiment of autumn, and its crispy candied top showcases the pralines well. But it lives up to only half of its name: The pumpkin is curi-ously muted. A less timid hand in the kitchen would help, since ramping up the cinnamon and other spices might bring out the flavor better. As would a brief stop at the microwave — the muffin arrives at the table lukewarm.

Similarly underwhelming is the lemon square, bite-size but a bar-gain at 70 cents each. The dessert is extremely smooth and, thanks to a healthy dusting of powdered sugar, satisfies any sweet tooth. But the lem-on curd lacks tang, allowing the sugar to overpower the star ingredient.

Yet it’s easy to forget such disap-pointments in the comfort of the cafe, where every part of the eating experience is designed to satisfy and soothe. At one point during the meal, the soft jazz soundtrack playing in the background gave way to a wom-an crooning a Billy Joel cover. The song is emblematic of Pastiche’s dual charm. With a nod to Italian tradi-tion and a contemporary tweak, this dessert shop impresses all around.

At Pastiche, sweet treats tease the palate

one of two appetizers, entrees, des-serts and a glass of wine, all prepared quickly to allow diners to make their show. The menu features some dishes from Tazza’s regular offerings, which showcase seasonal ingredients and reflect the taste of the restaurant itself.

One salad on the regular menu contains fingerling potatoes, green beans and onions in a boat-shaped dish. The greens were well paired with the vegetables, though the onions came off strong. The potato salad was just right for an appetizer, and had the option of adding meat to strengthen the dish.

A small but perfectly cooked flank steak was featured on the theater menu. Like the salad, the steak was the perfect size for a three-course dinner — filling but not overindulgent. Presented in thin slices drenched in seasoned butter, the steak complemented the featured red wine, a Hob Nob pinot noir with

a cherry and oak aftertaste.Though the entrees took a long

time to prepare, the delay was worth it. The attentive staff was quick to offer complimentary glasses of wine to ensure the wait was not irksome.

The wine list was excellent, featur-ing some well-known, inexpensive favorites and some exciting, pricier options, perfect for students and lo-cals alike. Parents with an adventur-ous taste in cocktails would enjoy treating students to a drink.

For dessert, the theater menu of-fered an exquisite and minute slice of pumpkin cheesecake, complete with pumpkin seeds and a caramel drizzle. The cake, now a seasonal favorite, did not last long at our table. As we finished our meal and prepared for the cold, a tiny cup of house-made espresso emphasized the restaurant’s dual strength as both a dinner and daytime eatery for food lovers of all tastes.

Tazza ‘Theater Menu’ titillates taste buds

continued from page 1

Page 5: Monday, December 5, 2011

Arts & Culture 5the Brown Daily heraldMonday, December 5, 2011

Chester Crabson | Tess Carroll and Marcel Gout

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

The Unicomic | Eva Chen and dan Sack

Co M I C S

By KatheriNe loNgSenior Staff Writer

Kid Chocolate shook the founda-tion Friday night with high-energy pretty-boy punk and sunny surf pop, making the band the star of the latest installation of the Brown Concert Agency Speakeasy Ses-sions.

But Kid Chocolate is, in the words of BCA Speakeasy Co-chair Raillan Brooks ’13, a “known quan-tity.” No one is surprised when they rock the house — that’s just what they do.

The band received its fair share of adulation in other publications. It’s high time to cede a little bit of their glow to other talent.

And what talent there was. Syd-ney Island ’15 and David Lee ’15 of We Should Worry and Audrey Fox ’12 of Mz. Kitty in particular deserve praise as both musicians and performers.

Island, We Should Worry’s keyboardist and accordionist, is a sweet-voiced lyrical powerhouse. The band — a folksy family-style affair self-characterized as a mix of Mumford & Sons and the Moun-tain Goats — shone on a piece Is-land wrote and fronted that she described as about “a guy named Joe who sits in the middle of the lake and purifies water with a hand pump.” The song, by turns touching and tongue-in-cheek, showcased Island’s prodigious pipes, which the band could benefit from fea-turing more prominently on other tracks. Frontman Ben Resnik ’15 undoubtedly has more than his fair share of guitar chops but pales in comparison to Island vocally.

Violinist Lee joined the audi-ence for an intimate solo piece on banjo called “The Sea Monster.” Lee clearly has a talent for songwriting, and his voice — soft, clear and lilt-ing — calls to mind Sufjan Stevens’ solo work.

Fox and her smoky-voiced goth-punk allure front Mz. Kitty, a group squarely in the tradition of ’90s gritty-girly bands Hole and Bikini Kill. Their lyrics are simple and to the point: “(Expletive) you / Why don’t you call me back? / I waited at the bar for an hour and a half,” Fox and backing vocalist Katie Barnwell ’12 sing on “Straw-berry.” But the true joy of seeing the band is watching Fox work the crowd. She’s got the requisite in-your-face attitude down pat. Even when she took backseat to Barnwell’s vocals, she grooved on rhythm guitar like she knew the crowd was watching her.

And that’s maybe the greatest failing of both Mz. Kitty and We Should Worry. Both bands have yet to come together as bands — they’re still a collection of soloists (quietly, perhaps subconsciously) battling for the spotlight. This is an affliction that plagues student bands and young musicians in general. No doubt both groups, if they choose to stick together, can eventually overcome it. In the meantime, they’re characterized by great enthusiasm, great energy and, ultimately, great artistry.

Friday’s concert concluded with a performance by DJ 48 Lizards who mashed beats for a quiet crowd, many of whom departed after the expectedly rousing Kid Chocolate.

New talent wows and wails at BCA Speakeasy

Glenn Lutzky / HeraldMz. kitty rocked the audience at BCA’s Speakeasy Sessions Friday.

Crossroads Rhode Island, the largest homeless shelter network in the state, was the recipient of the collection. Cooper Nelson called this a crucial element of the service, saying many alums who cannot attend still give to the charity.

The chorus made ready use of Sayles’ acoustics, filling the cav-ernous space with rousing rendi-tions of traditional Latin anthems in which each syllable was strung out for maximum effect. From the 14th century opening chant “Veni, Veni, Emmanuel” to the more contemporary anthem “To-day the Virgin” composed by John Tavener, the Chorus stirred the audience with its range of talent. Their success comes as no sur-prise to Louis Frederick Jodry, director of choral activities and senior lecturer in music.

“The quality of singers on Brown’s campus has gone up ex-ponentially,” Jodry said, saying this year’s chorus is one of the

best he has trained since coming to campus in 1991.

Chorus member Nash Roch-man ’13 said he felt the perfor-mance went well, and he enjoyed the range of anthems the group performed.

“We were all very pleased with the selection,” Rochman said. “(Jodry) thinks highly of us as a chorus and we think highly of him.”

Administrators who read les-sons included President Ruth Simmons, Edward Wing, dean of medicine and biological sciences, Mary Grace Almandrez, director of the Third World Center and as-sistant dean of the College, David Sherry, chief information security officer, and J. Allen Ward, senior associate dean for student life. Cooper Nelson said the two stu-dents who read lessons, Brandon Broome ’12 and Katherine Mead ’12, were chosen based on their contribution to the Imani Jubi-lee and Catholic communities, respectively.

Another performance high-

light was Hans Leo Hassler’s choral anthem “Verbum Caro Factum Est,” which featured a student conductor, Bridget Nixon ’14, whom Jodry had selected to guide the Chorus. Nixon, who has been studying conducting this year, said she was thankful to have a leading role in the Lessons and Carols service.“It exposes every-one listening to all the talents Brown students have,” she said.

The collective rendition of “Silent Night” reinforced the community feeling as audience members lit their candles and joined the Chorus in singing the classic carol, while the chandeliers of Sayles were dimmed to create a feeling of hallowed intimacy similar to a medieval cathedral.

With a blend of the old and the new, this year’s Lessons and Carols turned out to be a true delight for the performers and audience alike, transporting those who listened to Steinbach’s organ accompaniments and the Chorus’ inspiring anthems back through the ages to an earlier era at Brown.

Festive annual concert charms audience

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continued from page 1

Page 6: Monday, December 5, 2011

editorial & Letters6 the Brown Daily heraldMonday, December 5, 2011

L E T T E R S To T H E E d I To R

C O R R E C T I O N S P O L I C YThe Brown Daily Herald is committed to providing the Brown University community with the most accurate information possible. Corrections may be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication.

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Graduate students matter, tooTo the Editor:

I have read with interest the four-part series on the University’s “identity crisis” (“Mission Drift?”). Yet, as a graduate student in his fifth year, I ask: Where exactly do we, the graduate students, fit into this Jeremiad about the loss of the “university-college”? Obviously we are not undergraduates, and for that I apologize. I hope I’m not ruining any undergrad’s great liberal arts

college experience. But we are students, researchers and teachers who contribute to make this University better — in intellectual, academic and pedagogical terms. I strongly urge The Herald to include us in this important conversation. Acknowledging the fact that we comprise a full fourth of the student body could be a start.

Felipe Valencia GS

E d I To R I A L C A R To o N b y a l e x y u ly

“I’ve got a message for Boston, ok? The little brother

is gonna punch them right in the nose.”— Robert Burke, creator of the Providence Independence Trail

see trail on page 1.

E d I To R I A L

In last week’s four-part series (“Mission Drift?”), The Herald cata-loged the many and varied ways Brown has abandoned its roots. It is not hyperbole to characterize the situation it now faces as existential.

The Plan for Academic Enrichment has not necessarily improved undergraduate education. This is evidenced by the opinion of the faculty. Only half believe that the Plan for Academic Enrichment has improved undergraduate academics, while others believe it has worsened it. This despite the fact that many faculty members are new to campus, having arrived after the start of the Plan of Academic Enrichment, and many were hired because of it.

Brown’s new emphasis on research and expansion is disturbing. The University’s newest moneymaking scheme is the introduction of online master’s programs taught by non-tenure-track faculty. This program cheapens all Brown degrees. Administrators’ justifica-tion, that peer institutions offer similar programs, misses the point. Brown’s aim should not be merely to mirror other institutions, but to stay true to its own educational philosophy, even if — and in fact because — it is unique.

The push to raise Brown’s research profile has come at the expense of teaching. This has been seen in the controversial change to the tenure review process. Now, tenure candidates must provide more external letters of support, increasing the importance of scholarship in the future of young professors’ careers. Despite President Ruth Simmons’ insistence that teaching remains a key criterion on which candidates are assessed, greater emphasis on scholarship necessarily reduces the weight given to teaching quality.

The establishment of schools of engineering and public health are further examples of significant alterations to the College’s identity. It does not take a great leap of imagination to envision a future push to transfer admissions decisions for applicants interested in either field to the schools themselves, thereby removing them from the general applicant pool. Students enrolled in separate schools could find themselves competing for resources, thereby detracting from former President Henry Wriston’s vision of a cohesive “university-college.”

Simmons’ various explanations for these very substantial changes are sparse. She insists that Brown’s path was unsustainable, that increased focus on research has benefited and not harmed profes-sors’ ability to devote themselves to teaching and advising and that expansion has not come at the expense of a focus on undergradu-ates. But we have our doubts. When a group of students led by Ira Magaziner ’69 P’06 P’07 P’10 and Elliot Maxwell ’68 P’06 set out to remake Brown’s curriculum 40 years ago, they produced 300 pages of exhaustive research, and we would like to see similar rigor from the administration.

We would be dismayed to see a time in which students, the most basic determinant of our school’s character, apply to Brown as they would any other school — for its prestige and rigor — and not for those qualities that have traditionally differentiated it: intimacy, focus on undergraduates and academic freedom. Unless the University’s current course is checked, that future might not be far away. Brown will undoubtedly lose what makes it special if it continues on its current path.

editorials are written by The herald’s editorial page board. Send comments to [email protected].

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Series encapsulates developmentsTo the Editor:

I was mesmerized by the quality and detail of this series (“Mission drift?”). I grew up in Rhode Island and have witnessed the growth of the College to a University.

Indeed, the development of the Alpert Medical

School mirrors all of the issues your writers exposed.Your staff needs to be commended for a truly

memorable series that is “must reading” for the search committee and corporations.

John CronanProfessor of diagnostic Imaging

A headline in an article in Friday’s Herald (“Dark matter may be lighter than previously thought,” Dec. 2) incorrectly characterized the results of the study. In fact, the study suggests dark matter may be heavier than previously thought. The article also misspelled Alex Geringer-Sameth’s GS name. The Herald regrets the errors.

An article in Friday’s Herald (“Visions celebrates release with open mic night,” Dec. 2) incorrectly stated that Christina Pan ’13 sang “Cannonball.” In fact, Kat Lee ’13 performed the song. The article also implies that singer-songwriter Damien Rice is American. In fact, he is Irish. The Herald regrets the errors.

Co R R E C T I o N S

Page 7: Monday, December 5, 2011

opinions 7the Brown Daily heraldMonday, December 5, 2011

“With friends like these, who needs ene-mies?”

The name of Operation Cast Lead is taken from a popular Hanukkah song. When your friends tear thousands of lives to pieces in less than a month, commit-ting unspeakable atrocities in the hell on earth that is the Gaza Strip and proceed to name it after a famous children’s song, you do not invite a retired British colonel to admire the technological prowess of their military force, impressive though it may be. That is not friendship, and in the face of the increasingly outrageous and inde-fensible actions of the Israeli government, it is certainly not the friendship a country like Israel requires.

We need to be slapped awake. It is not anti-Semitic to criticize 44 years of occu-pation. It is not disproportionately biased to condemn the ever-expanding legal and illegal settlements in territories that were never rightfully ours. And it is not pro-Is-rael — truly pro-Israel — to let us get away with anything, time and time again.

Israel needs friends. She needs friends that will tell her that nothing corrupts the human heart like the oppression of an-

other. Friends that will point out to her that the terrible dehumanization that is the inevitable product of a brutal occupa-tion has made her Jewish citizens utterly insentient to the suffering of others. Un-comfortable though it may make her, Isra-el needs friends who will remind her that the Nazi beast is not intrinsically German but intrinsically human.

My Israel, the one I grew up in, the one I love and hate with passion, has forgotten these things. When we think of the Ho-locaust, we tell ourselves with vengeance, never again. If by these words we mean

“never again to Jewish people,” then we have missed the universal lesson of that great tragedy. The kind of Israel I would like to live in should say, “Never again to anyone, never again by anyone.” Yes, historically we have been victims, but in 1967, the tide shifted. Israel in 2011 is not a victim, and those who claim otherwise are kidding themselves.

Want to help us? By all means, do so.

Change your name to Brown Students for Justice in Israel. Justice that extends its benefits not only to the members of a cer-tain religion or ethnicity, justice that does not automatically revert to cheap “nobody loves me, everybody hates me” rhetoric that, let’s face it, barely converts even the members of the choir. Most importantly, justice that recognizes that the real wrong lies not in the negative media attention that Israel receives and will continue to re-ceive, but in the reasons for it, in years of oppression and discrimination in and out of Israel’s legitimate borders.

If you wish to end the war of words, start by fighting the war of actions. Work to remedy a reality in which, in the Oc-cupied Palestinian Territories, there are roads only Jewish settlers can use, dif-ferent curfews for settlers and for the in-digenous population and internal check-points, miles away from the border with Israel, in which children wait for hours to get to school and the sick and injured are

detained on their way to hospitals.Put pressure on Prime Minister Benja-

min Netanyahu and his cronies to evacu-ate all settlements, to make real conces-sions, to recognize the wrongs that have been done and that continue to be done to the Palestinians. Give President Obama the backing he needs to confront the Israe-li regime about the illegal settlement con-struction in East Jerusalem. Stop blindly pouring American taxpayers’ money into the industry of war and occupation.

Speak up when the Israeli government outlaws boycotting products from the set-tlements or when extremists in the Knes-set propose to prohibit the commemora-tion of the Nakba, the Palestinian catas-trophe of 1948, two examples in an ongo-ing series of measures curtailing freedom of expression in Israel.

Until you do, I will continue to take offense with your name. To me, bringing Colonel Richard Kemp to tell us all the un-fortunate truth that other war crimes re-ceive little to no media attention as means of legitimizing Israel’s thoroughly illegiti-mate conduct is to do us all a grave disser-vice. This is the work of Brown Students for the Justification of the Israeli Govern-ment, which mercifully is not yet synony-mous with Israel, and I am writing to you to ask that you do your part to make sure the two do not become one.

Mika Zacks ’15 is from Israel.

An open letter to Brown Students for Israel

The most sacred dogma at Brown may be that the New, or open, Curriculum benefits all students, yet it can hardly be expected to fulfill that charge if most students, fac-ulty and administrators have not really considered what it is actually about. Few have read the original “Draft of a Working Paper for Education at Brown University,” the student-authored foundation for our educational philosophy. Many do not deeply question why they study what they do or think about the context into which their pursuits fit, both of which are key parts of the educational process.

As Oliver Rosenbloom ’13 wrote (“Ques-tioning the New Curriculum,” Nov. 28), “Many students, especially first-years, are simply not in the position to handle full academic freedom.” While I agree with his diagnosis, I disagree with his prescription. Students may be unprepared to handle all of the opportunities the open curriculum provides, but that highlights the failures of primary and secondary educational models and the current implementation of Brown’s philosophy.

It is sad that students would be unpre-pared to take advantage of the freedom to explore, evolve and think about their own interests. I doubt very much that strict re-quirements in college would inspire more students to take initiative, after years of high school trained them to accept what others compel them to learn. We need a break

in this pattern to create learners who will take responsibility for their own education.

The four central goals of undergradu-ate education articulated in the “Proposal for a Philosophy for Brown” section of the “Draft of a Working Paper” were focusing the educational experience on the indi-vidual student, encouraging self-reflection, developing the intellect and eliminating excessively narrow professionalism.

If existing University structures and procedures were better structured to ad-dress these goals, I would argue that the open curriculum would truly benefit all students. To take just one example, pro-fessors and advisers could help first-years take fuller advantage of their freedom by

encouraging them to explore broadly, rather than steering students toward their own departments. They could push students to honestly interrogate why they want to do what they want to do. They could better explain shopping period and tell students to shop at least 10 courses and audit a fifth class every semester that they might not otherwise consider.

Like Rosenbloom, I have also felt frus-trated that it took me until junior year to even begin to figure out the University’s

message and my own interests. But I would rather have had these realizations after just four semesters at Brown than after 40 years, as I may have if I had gone to a university with stricter requirements. Brown’s style of education is meant to be a process, to teach students how to learn for the rest of their lives and graduate learners who actually care to do so.

As others have said, I believe that the most unfortunate aspect of the current implementation of the open curriculum is the sparsity of critical, ongoing personal and institutional self-study.

Now is a perfect moment to restart the conversation and integrate student-led institutional introspection into a Brown

education. We have a new provost, a new dean of the faculty and will soon have a new president. Students like Rosenbloom, along with those in the Janus Town Hall and the Presidential Search Forum, have been expressing murmurings of dissatisfaction with the state of the curriculum and the trajectory of the University. The time is ripe for renewed discussion of the place of higher education in society and, as written in the “Draft of a Working Paper,” the “aims of the University and the consequences of

actions taking place within it.”Here is some food for thought: What

if we found a way to better publicize and distribute the open curriculum’s philoso-phy so students could start to think more deliberately about their education? What if advising and mentoring were identified as true University priorities and given promi-nence in decisions about raises and tenure? What if there were an ongoing workshop/Group Independent Study Project/discus-sion group focused on the University’s goals and programs and its role in society?

There are many important holes in the original proposal for the open curriculum, such as the acknowledged inattention to research and service to the community and society, but it is a good place to start our conversation. Take some time to familiarize yourself with the philosophy of education you have supposedly bought into. At the very least, it should give you some new ideas about how to conduct your own time here.

You can find the full “Draft of a Working Paper” in print or free digitally at openjar.org/mmreport. For a concise statement of their arguments, look at the 20-page “Proposal for a Philosophy for Brown” and the “Author’s Introduction to the New Edi-tion.” Let’s take advantage of our time here, think about what we want to get out of Brown and what we want to leave for our successors — and make it happen. With an open curriculum, we have about as many opportunities as we can dream up.

Evan Schwartz ’13 is an independent concentrator and a student coordinator

for independent studies and independent concentrations.

He can be contacted at [email protected].

Questioning the implementation of the New Curriculum

The most unfortunate aspect of the current implementation of the open curriculum is the sparsity of

critical, ongoing personal and institutional self-study.

Israel needs friends. She needs friends that will tell her that nothing corrupts the human heart like the

oppression of another.

By EVAN SCHWARTZGuest Columnist

By MIkA ZACkSGuest Columnist

Page 8: Monday, December 5, 2011

Daily Heraldthe Brown

Sports MondayMonday, December 5, 2011

By JaMes BluMSportS Staff Writer

The men’s and women’s indoor track teams opened up their respective seasons at Saturday’s Alden Invi-tational, hosted by Brown in the Olney-Margolies Athletic Center. The men won five titles, while the women earned nine top finishes.

In addition to these victories, John Sheridan ’13 won the 55-meter dash in 6.50 seconds while compet-ing as an unattached athlete. Sheri-dan is a current member of Brown’s baseball team, with aspirations of running for the indoor track team. Sheridan’s time is promising — last year in the 55, standout sprinter John Spooney ’14 ran his personal-best time of 6.49.

“I’ve never run a track meet — yesterday was my first one,” Sheri-dan said. “But my dad ran track in college, and my mom also ran track in college, and I play baseball here, so I knew I had some sort of speed.”

Sheridan said he first enter-tained thoughts of running for the track team last year but was not prepared in time for the season-opening Alden Invitational. This year, he started training early to prepare for the invitational and also received advice from his dad and the track coaches, Sheridan said. He said being on the baseball team helped him train for this race.

“For baseball, we do a pretty good job of strength and condition-ing in the fall,” Sheridan said. “Like I said, my game in baseball is speed, so I do a lot of speed work there, but nothing specifically for the 55 or for track-oriented speed work.”

Sheridan said though he wants to run for the indoor track team, baseball is his focus and he wants to win an Ivy League Championship

during the 2012 season. “Obviously baseball would be

my priority, so any practice or workout put into track would have to come in between my baseball stuff,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to be that guy who is there on the side, when other people are working re-ally hard at (training) every single day. But if that opportunity was available, I would definitely take it.”

Sheridan said he had no ex-pectations going into his first race and just wanted to test himself after hearing about his dad’s track experi-ences at the University of California at Riverside.

“Start was my weakest point,” Sheridan said. “My dad describes it as being a ‘swooper,’ I guess is the terminology. Slower out of the blocks and building up speed at the end. He was more of a swooper and so he told me, even if you feel like you’re slow out of the blocks, just power through because you’re going to keep building speed, right as the race is about to end.”

Other athletes on the team also put forth strong performances.

On the men’s side, Matthew Miller ’15 won the shot put with a heave of 14.31m and Peter Rhodes ’15 placed first in the long jump with a leap of 6.75m. On the track, Samuel Howard ’14 won the 300 in 35.60.

Newcomers led the women, with three first-years winning their indi-vidual events. Gabrielle Gennaci ’15 took home the title for the women’s high jump, clearing 1.53m, and Monica Pechanec ’15 soared 3.50m in the pole vault to win the event. Lauren Waterbury ’15 finished the 300 in 40.75 to claim the top spot.

The Bears will next tear up the track Jan. 13 and 14 at the Sorlien Invite in Kingston, R.I.

Baseball player sprints to top at Alden Invitational

By saM WicKhaMSportS Staff Writer

The 50th Anniversary Celebration of Meehan Auditorium was dampened this weekend when the women’s hockey team fell to ECAC foes Quin-nipiac and Princeton. Despite solid goaltending from Aubree Moore ’14 and Katie Jamieson ’13, the Bears (3-5-5, 1-4-3 ECAC) struggled to keep pace with a powerful Bobcat (10-7-1, 6-2-1) team Friday. Bruno appeared the aggressor Saturday against Princeton but could not find the back of the net in time to make a comeback. The Bears have not scored in over 145 minutes and have dropped three games straight.

Quinnipiac 3, Brown 0The Bobcats came out roaring in

the first period, firing seven shots in the first five minutes. But the Bears’ defense seemed up to the challenge, killing two penalties to keep the pe-riod scoreless.

“I thought Quinnipiac looked excellent,” said Head Coach Amy Bourbeau. “They got out to a really aggressive and quick and physical start, and I think it rattled us a little bit. It got us off our game.”

The Bobcats broke through just three minutes into the second pe-riod in unorthodox fashion. A clash of bodies in front of the Bears’ net sent the puck sliding toward goal, and a replay confirmed that the puck slipped past Moore and fully crossed

the line, giving the Bobcats a 1-0 advantage.

Bruno had a chance of its own four minutes later when co-captain Paige Pyett ’12 fired a shot on frame from the blue line, but her effort was denied by the Quinnipiac goalten-der. Despite being outshot 17-5, the Bears held on to keep the deficit to one going into the third.

But the Bobcats outshot the Bears 45-16 total, and a second goal seemed inevitable. Quinnipiac doubled its lead with eight minutes remaining when forward Bethany Dymarczyk put home a centered pass through Moore’s legs to bring the score to 2-0. Another goal two minutes later put the game out of reach, and the Bears fell 3-0.

Princeton 3, Brown 0Having skated the day before,

Bruno came out slowly in the first period, struggling to connect pass-es in the neutral zone. The Tigers pounced on the sluggish Bears and got on the board two-and-a-half minutes in after a screened shot from the wing got past Jamieson, taking the early 1-0 lead.

“We started out kind of the same way we did in the Quinnipiac game,” Bourbeau said. “We were tired, still injured. Just not at our best.”

Bruno had a chance to get level 13 minutes in on a power play, but a tripping penalty of their own forced four-on-four hockey. The Bears nearly killed their penalty, but a shot

from the middle deflected past Ja-mieson to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.

The Bears created more scoring opportunities in the second period, outshooting the Tigers nine to six. Forward Brittany Moorehead ’15 had an open shot four minutes in, but the Princeton goalie made a deft pad save to keep out her effort.

On offense, the Tigers continued capitalizing on their chances, and scored a third goal seven minutes into the third period. Alex Kinney skated unchallenged toward the Bears’ net, and slung a shot top-shelf past Jamieson to increase the Princeton lead to 3-0.

Forward Jessica Hoyle’s ’14 breakaway effort ringed off the crossbar five minutes later to end a frustrating, scoreless weekend for the Bears.

“I think the problem was passing and receiving,” Bourbeau said. “It’s hockey at its most basic, especially through the middle of the ice. Pucks were bouncing off our sticks when we were in a good position to turn it up ice, and we’d lose that oppor-tunity and momentum.”

The Bears will take a month-long break from ECAC play and travel to face Sacred Heart University (1-8) Wednesday.

“I’d like to see us get our confi-dence back,” Bourbeau said. “I’d like to see us get a little more offense going, get people driving to the net and have our breakouts be a little bit more smooth.”

Bears shut out by two ECAC rivals

By MadeleiNe WeNstruPSportS Staff Writer

The women’s basketball team (5-4) defeated URI Saturday and Provi-dence College Sunday to take home the Brown Bear Classic champion-ship, their second tournament win in two weeks.

Brown 66, uri 54 Co-captain Hannah Passafuime

’12 and guard Sheila Dixon ’13 led the team in its victory against URI (1-7) with 16 points apiece. Passafuime also put in a career-high six assists.

The Bears and Rams traded bas-kets for the first 10 minutes of the game. With 12:15 remaining, Brown got a lift from Lindsey Nickel ’13, who swished two back-to-back three-point shots in a 30-second period to put the Bears up 18-11.

The Rams slowly put points back on the board and were within two at the seven-minute mark, but co-captain Aileen Daniels ’12 scored six straight points to increase the Bears’ lead to eight with 45 seconds remaining. Passafuime then netted a three-point shot with 10 seconds left in the first half, putting the Bears ahead 32-21.

In the second half, the Bears con-tinued their aggressive play. At the 11-minute mark, Nickel repeated her first-half performance, netting back-to-back treys to give the Bears their biggest lead of the night, 52-29.

But in the last 10 minutes of the half, the Rams picked up eight op-portunities at the free-throw line, putting up 13 points. Shooting 82 percent from the foul line, the team slowly cut its deficit down, but the Bears held on 66-54.

The Bears shot 53 percent from the three-point line and 46 per-cent from the field. Bruno’s defense showed its might Saturday — half of Brown’s points came off URI’s 25 turnovers.

“We have always professed de-fense,” said Head Coach Jean Burr. “We have a very athletic and strong team.”

Brown 70, Providence 57In the final game of the tourna-

ment, Brown took on Providence College (4-4) Sunday afternoon.

“This is a Big East team,” Burr said. “We have to be physical. We have to be strong.”

The Bears allowed the Friars just

13 points in the first half. Before the buzzer, Bruno went on a 16-0 run and walked into the locker room with a 36-13 lead.

Dixon netted 13 of her career-high 26 game points in the first half, shooting 67 percent from the field and 80 percent from the three-point line.

“Dixon was consistent through the whole game,” Burr said. “She was very aggressive at both ends. She definitely hit some key baskets for us.”

After the break, the Friars rallied, going on a 13-0 run to cut the Bruno lead to 36-26.

“It’s basketball — it’s a game of runs, and you’re never going to have a team that just lies down and dies,” Burr said.

Though the Friars went on to out-score the Bears 44-34 in the second half, they would never get closer than 10, giving the Bears a 70-57 win and the Brown Bear Classic title.

Bruno wins Brown Bear Classic

W. ICE HOCkEY

TRACk AND FIELD

Jesse Schwimmer / HeraldCade Howard ‘14 won the 300m championship in 35.60 seconds Saturday.

W. bASkETbALL

Herald file photoSheila dixon ’13 scored 26 points to help earn a win over Providence College.