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Metro, 6follow your heart, use your mindOne columnist says the public option won’t work

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deDaily Heraldthe Brown

vol. cxliv, no. 110 | Thursday, November 19, 2009 | Serving the community daily since 1891

U. to review policies after party fightBy sydney emBer

Senior Staff Writer

Details continue to emerge about the party last Saturday in Alumnae Hall that led to the arrest of four men in attendance. According to the official Providence Police Department report obtained Wednesday by The Herald, an individual threatened to return to a Brown party with a handgun. The University and Brown police are conducting separate reviews of event management in response to the incident.

“At least one subject involved in a disturbance had made comments

Most students confident in financing educationBy alex Bell

Staff Writer

Though a majority of Brown stu-dents expressed confidence about their ability to finance their educa-tion, a sizable proportion indicated worry, according to a recent Herald poll.

The poll found that 59.4 percent of students reported being “some-what confident” or “very confident” with their abilities to finance their educations, roughly the same re-

sponse as the spring Herald poll’s 60.2 percent. A total of 38.1 percent this semester said they were wor-ried and 2.5 percent said they did not know or had no answer.

Currently, about 41 percent of undergraduates receive need-based financial aid, said Director of Financial Aid Jim Tilton. He said several new ini-tiatives last year were “completely timely” with regard to the economic crisis to present families with new

“options for how they could think about financial aid.”

For example, families with total parent earnings less than $60,000 and assets less than $100,000 have no parental contribution, and those

with assets over $100,000 have a “significantly re-

duced contribution,” according to the Office of Financial Aid’s Web site.

Tilton said the University has also “significantly decreased” the

loan component in the aid packages of students who come from families of incomes greater than $100,000.

Last month, Provost David Kertzer ’69 P’95 P’98 announced the University’s decision to continue the policy that it introduced last year of allowing students to pre-register for the next term’s classes regardless of unpaid balances for previous terms. In his e-mail announcement to stu-dents, Kertzer reminded families

Gov. would consider domestic partnershipsBy Ben schreckinger

Senior Staff Writer

Days after drawing criticism for veto-ing a bill that would allow same-sex couples to make funeral arrange-ments for their partners, Gov. Don-ald Carcieri ’65 has announced his willingness to explore the creation of legally recog-nized domestic partnerships in Rhode Island.

But “nothing has been defined” in terms of the rights that such an arrangement would afford, said Amy Kempe, the governor’s press secre-tary. The governor’s office is look-ing at domestic partnership models from states such as Washington and Hawaii, she said.

Carcieri is “very open to explor-

ing and possibly supporting domes-tic partnerships ... so long as any legislation is not specific to one class of citizens,” Kempe said.

“This would not be solely for same-sex couples,” she added.

According to a Nov. 14 Provi-dence Journal article, gay rights groups in the state have criticized

the potential domes-tic partnership as not going far enough.

The governor’s veto statement for the funeral arrangements legis-lation — which would have applied to same-sex relationships of at least one year in duration — gave three reasons for his rejection. Carcieri wrote that a one-year relationship might not be sufficiently committed,

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Bu O N g I O R N O, B E P P E

Kayleigh Butera / HeraldItalian journalist Beppe Severgnini spoke in Smith-Buonanno Hall Wednesday night about his latest book, “La Bella Figura: A Field guide to the Italian Mind.”

See Story, page 3

A pass to n. Korea for students, alums By Brigitta greene

Senior Staff Writer

Tourists are allowed to enter only two subway stations in Pyong-yang, North Korea. Descend-

ing the escalator to the station platform, they are accompanied by “minders” — government em-ployees working with guides and translators, watching the visitors’ every move.

And though both subway stations are incredibly ornate — with vaulted ceilings, giant chandeliers and mosaics of happy Korean workers — the experi-ence itself is eerily calculated, said Marie Lee, a visiting lecturer

Courtesy of Matt ReichelNicholas Young ’09, Matt Reichel ’09 and Jonathan Warren ’09 (from left) took students and academics to North Korea and China this summer.

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feature

UCS fails to pass voting changeBy suzannah weiss

Senior Staff Writer

The Undergraduate Council of Stu-dents defeated a proposal at Wednes-day’s meeting that would have made it easier to pass certain resolutions.

The plan would have allowed UCS to pass resolutions and student group categorizations by a simple majority. UCS currently requires a two-thirds majority of the voting general body to pass resolutions, student group categorizations, revisions to UCS’s Code of Operations and Constitution and motions to remove members.

After much discussion, the code change failed 21-17 — a 55 percent majority, but not enough to change the rule.

Campus Life Chair Ben Farber ’12, who introduced the idea at the UCS general body meeting last week, said it “makes no sense” that Brown has not adopted a simple majority policy, as have all other Ivy League schools.

Because UCS usually passes reso-lutions with a large majority, he told the general body, “this really will only matter in a couple of situations, but in general will make us more repre-sentative of the student body.”

But requiring no more than a simple majority could “allow for us to pass half-hearted resolutions,” said Brittaney Check ’12 at the meeting.

Several members agreed with Stu-

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metro

herald Poll

that other sources of financial aid exist, even if students aren’t eligible for University aid.

Still, Tilton said, “based on the economy, it doesn’t surprise me that students and parents would be somewhat concerned about how they would pay for college.”

He distinguished between funds Brown provides students and funds the University can help families find from other sources. “Our counsel-ing sessions have become more of making sure we provide as many options as possible.”

Tilton, a former U.S. Department of Education official, said he encour-ages families to seriously consider federal loan programs instead of looking only at how much financial aid students can get from the Uni-versity. He said Brown is one of the few Ivy League universities involved in the Federal Direct Loan Program, which allows students to receive low-interest loans directly from the federal government, as opposed to going through banks.

But when dealing with interna-tional, transfer and Resumed Un-dergraduate Education students, Tilton said, the situation is a little different.

The Admission Office is not need-blind but rather “need-aware” for these students, who must declare on their applications whether they’re interested in financial aid.

While transfer and RUE students enjoy the same eligibilities for fed-eral loans as other students, “for international students it’s a little tougher,” according to Tilton. He

said international students have a more difficult time finding lenders who will give loans to them, but the University works with ones known to make international loans.

Chris Sulawko ’13, whose tuition is financed almost entirely through the University, said he feels “pretty confident” that Brown will continue to support him financially. But he noted that as his financial situation improves, he fears the University may take away disproportionately

more aid.“If you’re in the middle of the

bracket, Brown doesn’t really sup-port you as much,” he said.

Stella Chung ’13, whose tuition is almost entirely covered by Uni-versity grants through the Sidney Frank Scholarship Fund, said the lack of financial availability for mid-dle-income students discouraged some of her friends from attending Brown.

Ben Zhang ’10, an international student from China who transferred to Brown last year, said he was satis-fied with the University’s contribu-tion of all but $2,000 of his tuition. He finances the rest of his tuition by working as a TA, he said.

The Herald poll was conducted from Nov. 2 through Nov. 4 and has a 3.6 percent margin of error with 95 percent confidence. A total of 687 Brown undergraduates completed the poll, which The Herald admin-istered as a written questionnaire to students in the University Mail Room at J. Walter Wilson during the day and in the Sciences Library at night.

Somewhat worried: 27.8%

Somewhat confident: 26.2%

Very confident: 33.2%

Very worried: 10.3%

Don’t know / No answer: 2.5%

sudoku

Stephen DeLucia, PresidentMichael Bechek, Vice President

Jonathan Spector, TreasurerAlexander Hughes, Secretary

The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is an independent newspaper serv-ing the Brown University community daily since 1891. It is published Monday through Friday during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement, once during Orientation and once in July by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Single copy free for each members of the community. POSTMASTER please send corrections to P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI 02906. Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Offices are located at 195 Angell St., Providence, R.I. E-mail herald@browndailyherald.com. World Wide Web: http://www.browndailyherald.com. Subscription prices: $319 one year daily, $139 one semester daily. Copyright 2009 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.

editorial Phone: 401.351.3372 | Business Phone: 401.351.3260Daily Heraldthe Brown

THuRSdAY, NOvEMBER 19, 2009THE BROWN dAILY HERALdPAgE 2

CAMpUS newS “It doesn’t surprise me.” — director of Financial Aid Jim Tilton, on concerns about paying for Brown

Some worried about financing education

How confident or worried are you about your or your family’s ability to finance your Brown education?

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teach for America’s Kopp receives awardBy sarah Julian

Staff Writer

“Kids in urban and rural areas have every bit of the potential other kids do,” said Teach for America founder Wendy Kopp to a half-full Salomon 101 auditorium last night.

The Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women presented Kopp with a Leadership for Change through Education Award at the event. Kopp accepted the award, saying her work showed that the current state of education is “a huge but solvable problem.”

“We live in the United States of America,” she said. This is a country that “aspires to give all of our kids equal chances.” But in a nation where many classrooms lack qualified and dedicated teachers, not every child is given that opportunity, Kopp said.

Kopp added that many people believe there are students who have issues that cannot be solved by education — for example, as-sumptions that their parents do not care or they are not naturally intelligent.

But in her experience, Kopp has found that “when you give kids the chances they deserve, they excel.”

The success of TFA has shown the inherent ability of every stu-dent, she said. Even in classrooms with low achievement rates, quali-fied and dedicated teachers can vastly improve the situation. For

this reason, she said, TFA must “recruit as aggressively as we do on college campuses.”

Fourteen percent of last year’s senior class applied to the pro-gram as a result of TFA’s heavy recruiting at Brown, according to Kopp. She also said she is hop-ing that Providence will be one of the next cities to start a TFA branch.

But Kopp recognizes that the program’s key limitation is “the short-term aspect of what we do.” The system needs to change so that students can be productive working with teachers who are “talented, but not superheroes,” she said.

The other award recipient, Hil-lary Salmons, is the executive director of the Providence After School Alliance, which provides students with productive and edu-cational afterschool activities.

Education “is our collective responsibility and should be our nation’s priority,” Salmons said.

She said her dream for Provi-dence is to extend learning past the classroom. Students are currently “hitting the street at 2:30,” she said. Salmons aims to provide activities so that stu-dents “will not be able to tell the dif ference between school and afterschool.”

Kate Kolbert-Hyle ’10, who at-tended the lecture, said Kopp “is very impressive and expresses her mission well. She doesn’t hesitate to point out the broader problems.”

CAMpUS newSTHuRSdAY, NOvEMBER 19, 2009 THE BROWN dAILY HERALd PAgE 3

Journalist holds forth on the Italian psycheBy goda thangada

Contributing Writer

Italian journalist Beppe Severgnini entertained a large audience with his quips about the idiosyncrasies of the Italian psyche Wednesday night.

“Italy is bewildering,” he said. “Italy is a country that could pro-duce both Botticelli and Berlusco-ni. They both have a passion for blondes, but that’s the only thing that they share.”

Severgnini also read passages from his latest book, “La Bella Figura: A Field Guide to the Ital-ian Mind,” to the group of local fans and students crowded into Smith-Buonanno Hall 106.

Severgnini drew the biggest laughs when he described Ameri-can stereotypes of Italy. “American ladies love Italy,” he said. “In their Italy, it’s perfectly legal to have fantasies about anything.”

American women tend to flock to Tuscany, he added, where their “main occupation is to drink white wine at sunset with a young Ital-ian man who looks like George Clooney in his 30s.”

Severgnini said he tried to shed this romantic stereotype in his book by giving outsiders a glimpse of the authentic Italian mindset.

“My publisher was horrified,” he said, “He said to me, ‘You’re trashing every single American fantasy about Italy.’”

Severgnini then drew two col-umns on the chalk board, one for troublesome traits and another for good things — represented by the letters “I” and “G,” respectively.

The first “I” was “intelligent.” “To be intelligent at all times is a problem,” he said. “The intel-ligence I mean is what the British call ‘cleverness.’ There is a clever-ness that keeps us down all the time.”

Severgnini launched into a cri-tique of Italian politics with “impro-vise” and “iniucio,” a Neopolitan slang term referring to under-the-table dealings. Italian politicians “think because they are intuitive, they can do without what you in America call ‘homework,’” he said, adding that the Italian people’s per-ception of its government leads them to distrust authorities.

“You accept the fact that who-ever is in power will sort of care about his own interests and you hope that he will care a little about yours,” he said.

Severgnini countered some negative traits with Italians’ more positive qualities, particularly their generosity.

“Their first reaction is to be generous,” Severgnini said. “You instinctively trust people,” he said. At the same time, he also referred to Italians as gutsy. “If you’re not gutsy in Italy, you have a nervous breakdown,” he said.

Proceeding through the posi-tive terms, he wrote down “gusto,” or taste. “We have a kind of flaw-less sense of beauty,” he said.

Severgnini then moved on to “genius.” Severgnini liberally praised Italian talents such as Mi-chelangelo and Galileo, but added that the country needs “a little emergency to get going” and is “not entirely convinced it can do and change things.”

“Political life is based on an-nouncement,” he said, “In politics, often they use this trick of declar-ing what they want to do in two, three years’ time.”

Severgnini said he is worried about Italy primarily because of Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, whom he views as a poor leader.

But “Italy will never fail,” he said. “We are too old, we’ve seen it all.”

Panel tackles urban policy in the economic crisisBy nicole Boucher

Contributing Writer

In the year since President Barack Obama’s election, the revitalization of the nation’s cities and economy have emerged as key areas for fed-eral action. Wednesday afternoon’s panel called “President Obama and America’s Cities” focused on the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for urban America, as a group of four professors and lo-cal officials discussed job creation in the recession and Obama’s ap-proach to urban revitalization in front of a small audience at Brown/RISD Hillel.

“What we are trying to achieve in the city is jobs,” said panelist Thomas Deller, director of Provi-

dence’s Department of Planning and Development. The economic stimulus package passed this year by Congress primarily provided money for jobs, he said, adding that a bill currently in Congress could bring more people into the workforce through job creation.

Much still remains to be done to create employment opportunities in urban areas, said panelist Scott Lang, mayor of New Bedford, Mass. Unemployment is currently on the rise, he said, because the economic stimulus money “went through a filter.” Consequently, cities worked to maintain jobs instead of gaining them, “not putting a dent in unem-ployment numbers,” he said.

The bill currently in Congress “has to be directly correlated with

how many people are put to work,” Lang said. Job creation is central to improving the economy, and in turn, “the economy will dictate how much we get done in urban areas,” he said.

Panelists also addressed the long-term policies Obama has laid out for urban growth and revitaliza-tion beyond the current recession. Obama is proposing improvement through collaboration between cit-ies and their suburbs in a system of metropolitan partnership that does not currently exist, Deller said.

Such collaboration could result in a decrease in the “cost of local government,” he said, but added that it “takes away from the atten-

U. 12th-best value among private collegesBy monique Vernon

Staf f Writer

How much bang are you getting for your buck?

According to new rankings in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine, Brown gives the 12th-best value of education among the nation’s private universities. The University came in 7th among the Ivy League universities, with only Cornell placing lower and Princ-eton finishing as the top Ivy in the nation.

The rankings focused mostly on universities’ ability to provide stu-dents with both a strong education and financial aid. Using a numeri-cal system, Kiplinger ranked 100 schools based on 10 categories, including admissions rate, SAT and ACT scores, cost after need-based aid and debt after graduation.

Though Brown’s ranking has remained the same since 2008, some of the statistics that helped determine the University’s place-ment have shifted.

The average amount of student debt increased to $19,390, while the amount of grant aid distributed to students increased to 89 percent. In 2008, students averaged $15,940 in debt and received an average of 84 percent in grant aid.

Max Monn / Herald File PhotoIn September the class of 2013 started an education which, according to one ranking, is the 12th-best value among the nation’s private schools.

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www.browndailyherald.com

THuRSdAY, NOvEMBER 19, 2009THE BROWN dAILY HERALdPAgE 4

CAMpUS newS “When you’re in North Korea, the government completely takes over.” — Marie Lee, visiting lecturer in race and ethnicity

in race and ethnicity at Brown. There are myths that the whole metro sys-tem itself is a hoax, that it exists only as an act for foreigners, shuttling them from point A to point B.

Lee traveled to China and North Korea this summer as a member of the group “5 passes,” a company founded by Matt Reichel ’09, Jona-than Warren ’09 and Nicholas Young ’09, which offers summer study and tour programs in East Asia.

This summer’s tour — 5 passes’ inaugural voyage — was an incred-ible success, Reichel said, adding that the social dynamic among the 19 group members created an at-mosphere of constant intellectual excitement.

Lee described her experience on the trip in an essay for the New York Times magazine in October.

“When you’re in North Korea, the government completely takes over,” she told The Herald. “To some degree, everything just felt sort of Disney-fied.”

Her essay focused on a particular experience in the mountains outside the city. The group was taken by bus to have a traditional clam “bulgogi,” or barbecue. They were surrounded by smiling, jovial fellow picnickers, enjoying an afternoon in the park.

“I suddenly started to see every-thing anew,” she wrote. “Why were the picnickers here in the middle of the workday? Why was their food, those perfect pyramids of fruit, un-touched before they pulled us over? Even the boy; I peered at his easel as I walked back and saw he was using a kind of paint-by-numbers kit.”

The other group members ex-pressed varying degrees of skepti-cism, but Reichel said tourists must learn to take their experience “at face value.”

“A lot of people have these con-spiracy theories,” he said. “The most important thing is to observe and not assume.”

Group members were forbidden from discussing their reactions while in the country. “We were told not to discuss things at dinner, or in the ele-vator, or in our rooms,” said Thomas Gold, a sociology professor at the University of California, Berkeley. “Everything was bugged.”

After accidentally leaving his camera unlocked in the hotel room, Gold returned to find some of his photos had been deleted.

The group was accompanied by two government-issued tour guides and one government-issued minder. Though Reichel, Warren and Young planned the itinerary, there were a limited number of places the group was allowed to go, Reichel said.

After five days in North Korea, the group flew back to China, where they had a three-hour “debriefing” session to process the experience, Gold said.

“It was very intense,” he said. “Everybody was just holding it in for so long — it was just an explosion of intellectual energy.”

Students composed about a third of the group, and the rest — includ-ing Grace Lee, Marie Lee’s mother — were professors from various universities.

“It was really exciting because of how well people interacted,” Reichel said, adding that he hadn’t antici-pated that individual members would become so close.

Gold called the group’s intense-ly close dynamic “extraordinary.” He added, “The nature of going to North Korea is such a draining ex-perience.”

Though it was their first time leading a trip through China and North Korea, Reichel, Warren and

Young are “wise beyond their years,” Gold said.

The trio has over five years of combined experience living in China — not to mention significant time in North Korea and surrounding areas — and has come to establish personal contacts in the region.

5 passes, which is named for the region in China where it will be based, will launch two new pro-grams next year, offering up to six trips over the course of the sum-mer, Reichel said. A new “North Korea Expedition” will venture into more remote places in North Korea, China and Russia, giving participants the “extremely rare” opportunity to experience locations where few tourists have ventured before.

The company’s second new pro-gram, touring both North and South Korea, will run either one or two trips each summer. Reichel said he anticipates 5 passes will continue to be granted access to the Arirang Mass Games — a celebrated na-tionalistic, highly-regimented form of performing arts — for at least another two years.

Participants cannot be journalists or carry South Korean passports, but aside from that, there are no restrictions, Reichel said.

While in North Korea, Lee — who did not carry notebooks with her across the border — took notes on small scraps of paper and the notepad feature of her iPod touch.

Though Lee’s skeptical essay in a national magazine may threaten her ability to return to the country, she said it’s a risk she is willing to take.

“As long as I can do these things, I write about them for those people who can’t go,” she said. “People are just completely fascinated. Nobody knows what being there is like.”

Alums send tourists to n. KoreaStolen chairs, indecent exposure at rock

The following summary includes all major incidents reported to the Department of Public Safety between Nov. 3 and Nov. 11. It does not in-clude general service and alarm calls. The Providence Police Department responds to incidents occurring both on and off campus. DPS does not di-vulge information on open cases that are currently under investigation by the department, the Providence Police Department or the Office of Student Life. DPS maintains a daily log of all shift activity and general service calls, which can be viewed during business hours at its headquarters, located at 75 Charlesfield St.

nov. 512:26 p.m. It was reported that

there had been a larceny of two chairs on Nov. 4 at the Rockefeller Library. The chairs were described as desk-type, with higher backs and wheels. They are valued at $650 each. Detectives are investigating the case, and there are suspects at this time.

1:11 p.m. A Brown student work-er at Josiah’s stated that at about 9 p.m. on Nov. 4 she went to the bank and withdrew $200, placed it in her wallet and continued on to work. When she arrived at work, she put her purse in the back room. She said when she woke up at about 8 a.m. on Nov. 5, she went into her wallet to retrieve the $200 to put into her safe, but there was only $80 in it at that time. She stated her purse was never out of her sight except for the time she was at work.

6:57 p.m. A Brown student stated that she went to eat at the Sharpe Refectory at approximately

5:45 p.m. She said she put her wal-let under her scarf and went to get some food. When she returned to the table, she discovered her wallet had been stolen.

nov. 74:48 p.m. A student stated that

she placed her laptop on a table at the Sharpe Refectory and covered it with her backpack. The laptop was in a black case. She then went to get dinner. When she returned to the table, her laptop case and computer were gone.

9:16 p.m. Student complainant stated that at approximately 8:30 p.m., he left Josiah’s to visit some friends. At 9 p.m., he remembered that he

left his book bag sitting on the floor in Josiah’s. He

then returned and found his book bag, but his laptop was missing.

nov. 89:49 p.m. Two female Brown

students stated they were in the basement level of the Rockefeller Library studying in a work station when they noticed a middle-aged male talking on a cell phone. When one of the females took a closer look, she realized the male had his penis exposed and was looking directly at her. The subject fled on foot. Of-ficers searched the area with nega-tive results.

nov. 94:20 p.m. A Brown student re-

ported that his bike was stolen from Marcy House. He stated he secured his bicycle in the bike room on Oct. 30 at 3 p.m. When he returned on Nov. 5 at 5 p.m., he noticed the bi-cycle was missing.

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tion that cities need.”But there is limited incentive

for regions to work together as the plan outlines, said panelist Wilbur Rich, professor of political science at Wellesley College.

Rich emphasized that all ur-ban policy decisions — especially plans to support job creation — must be examined in the context of “fast capitalism,” a “global hy-per-competition for production jobs.”

The New Deal and the Great Society were “relevant for slow

capitalism, not fast capitalism,” he said. The Obama administration stresses “an uplift discourse for minority communities” in cities, a plan that is not adapted to the constraints of fast capitalism, he said. Policymakers must move away from plans meant for a sys-tem based on slow capitalism, he added, to deal effectively with urban problems.

Sam Wolfson ’10 said he par-ticularly enjoyed hearing Lang’s point of view. “He was practical and to the point, and it was in-teresting to get on-the-ground perspective.”

Urban development key issue in recession

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dent Activities Chair Brady Wyrtzen ’11, who said, “If we were to make the vote a simple majority, our resolu-tions would mean even less.”

“Why should we change this be-cause of how other legislative bodies are operating?” Wyrtzen said.

Part of the reasoning behind Brown’s two-thirds requirement involves UCS’s open membership policy, which welcomes all students who want to join and can get 150 sig-natures from their peers, UCS Vice President Diane Mokoro ’11 told The Herald. “We can be more certain that we are actually representing student voices if we have a two-thirds majority vote,” she added.

“We don’t actually represent the student body, in that we weren’t all elected to be here,” Wyrtzen said during the meeting.

According to Farber’s research, Brown and Dartmouth are the only Ivies whose student government members are not all elected.

After a heated debate about the logistics of passing resolutions, followed by the vote, UCS Presi-dent Clay Wertheimer ’10 told the general body that, though resolu-tions are important, the ways UCS members “create the most change on campus” are through working on committee projects and “going to the administrators and being proactive.”

After the meeting, Farber said he

was only “mildly disappointed” that the code change didn’t pass.

“I’m really pleased that we had some good debate and some good discussion about our role as rep-resentatives of the student body,” Farber said.

Mokoro said this was “the first time in the semester that something that was proposed got this much con-tention.”

At the meeting, UCS also passed a revision to the Undergraduate Fi-nance Board’s constitution updating the allocation of UFB seats, since some of the groups that previously held them are now defunct, and opened the hearings of the UFB’s Appeals Board so that third parties can sit in on them.

UCS rejects simple-majority votingcontinued from page 1

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crime log

By larry gordon

LoS angeLeS timeS

Caught between state funding cuts and rowdy student protests, a key commit-tee of the University of California’s Board of Regents on Wednesday reluctantly approved a controversial, two-step student fee increase that would raise undergraduate education costs by more than $2,500, or 32 percent, by next fall.

If the action is endorsed as expected by the full board Thursday, basic UC education fees, including campus-based charges, would average $11,287 annually, or about triple the UC costs of a decade ago. Room, board and books often add an additional $16,000.

The regents faced a large and noisy rally at the UCLA hall where they met, and demonstrations were also held at several other UC campuses across the state. But regents, some saying it was their toughest decision during their board tenure, contended they could not avoid the fee hikes without damaging the academic quality of the 10-campus university, which enrolls 229,100 students.

“I hate to say it, but if you have no choice, you have no choice,” UC President Mark G. Yudof told report-ers after the committee vote. He said he empathized with student anger, but said it would be better directed toward lawmakers who have cut education funding.

The regents acted despite appeals from students such as Victor Sanchez, president of the UC Student Associa-tion, who urged the board at least to postpone a vote until the outlines of next year’s state budget are clear.

“These proposals are egregious to say the very least,” said Sanchez, a UC Santa Cruz senior. He added that “the dreams of so many are being shat-tered as we speak. When will enough be enough?”

Fourteen people were arrested for interrupting the meeting with anti-fee hike chants and choruses of “We Shall Overcome,” halting the session three times. Outside, some in a crowd of about 500 students and labor union activists threw sticks and other objects

and pushed against a large contingent of campus police in riot

gear. Several students and police suf-fered minor injuries, police said.

“Fees are going to be so high that people are not going to be able to attend this institution,” said Kenia Acevedo, a UCLA law student who joined the protests. “It is a devastation to what is supposed to be a public institution.”

The fee hikes by UC and similar increases by the California State Uni-versity system earlier this year are part of a national trend. As the recession hit tax revenues hard, states are shifting more of the cost of public colleges and universities to students.

The regents’ finance committee approved the new fees for UC’s un-dergraduates by 10-1, with only stu-dent regent Jesse Bernal voting no. The full regents’ board is expected to endorse the change today, along with some even higher increases for profes-sional school students such as law and medicine.

In addition to the jump in basic fees, students in professional schools will see an increase in the surcharges for their degrees ranging from $280 to nearly $5,700 more a year depend-ing on their major and campus. For

2010-2011, for example, basic fees for business graduate students at UC Berkeley will be $41,654, not including living expenses; for UCLA law school, $40,522; for UC San Francisco medical school, $31,095.

If regents approve the increases, undergraduates will first see a $585 rise in their systemwide fees for the rest of the current academic year. Start-ing next fall, they would also pay an additional $1,344.

Given large cuts in state financing and grim predictions for next year, the regents said they had to hike fees to avoid further reductions in course offerings, faculty hiring and student services that were already felt this year. They also said they do not want to ex-tend into a second year a furlough pro-gram that reduces most UC employees’ pay by 4 percent to 10 percent.

UC administrators emphasized that a third of the income from the under-graduate fee hikes and half of the extra graduate fees will go toward financial aid, and that more than half of its un-dergraduates would be fully cushioned from the increases. The regents panel also approved a policy that would cover all the basic education fees with UC, state and federal aid for families with annual incomes under $70,000, up from $60,000 this year.

The promises about financial aid did not calm students’ anger at the re-gents, however. At one point, the crowd outside the meeting hall at UCLA’s Covel Commons surged against the doors and a few people threw sticks, plastic bottles and rags dipped in vin-egar at police, according to UCLA po-lice spokeswoman Nancy Greenstein. She said campus police used taser guns twice in light stun mode. No arrests were made outside the building. Of the

14 arrested inside, 12 were students, Greenstein said.

Critics say UC should first take more steps to reduce wasteful spend-ing, trim the highest executive salaries and use more income from profitable medical centers to aid other pro-grams.

UC often compares its finances to four other public universities: SUNY Buffalo and top state universities in Illinois, Michigan and Virginia. With the new fee hikes, UC’s costs for un-dergraduates for the first time would be

higher, by about $300, than the average of those four institutions, according to a UC report.

In January, the regents reduced freshman fall enrollment for the cur-rent year by 2,300 students, or about 6 percent, because of what they de-scribed as insufficient state funding. On Wednesday, they approved a re-quest to the state that would increase funding by $913 million and warned that they might cut the freshman class next fall by another 2,300 if enough money is not available.

The gap between Brown and other Ivy League institutions can be explained by their approach to financial aid and differences in endowments, said Director of Financial Aid Jim Tilton.

“If you look at all the others, they don’t have loans as part of the need-based aid,” Tilton said. “When you look at particularly Princeton, Harvard and Yale, they have a different way to determine need.”

But Brown has taken steps toward expanding its financial aid policy, Tilton said. Many changes have occurred with the introduc-tion of the Plan for Academic En-richment in 2004 and the goals set by President Ruth Simmons, he said.

One such change, implement-ed in 2007, is the University’s need-blind policy for domestic students, Tilton said.

Tilton added that the 2001-02 budget for financial aid was $29

million, while the 2009-10 budget has more than doubled to $76.5 million.

“We try to listen to the needs of our students and families,” Tilton said. “Brown made and continues to make a huge com-mitment to financial aid.”

“Those kind of commitments continue to add to the overall fi-nancial aid budget,” he said.

Over the course of three years, the University’s new poli-cies have decreased the amount of loans that students have to take out and the amount of debt they have accumulated after graduation.

Over 62 percent of students who get financial aid have no loans, up from 6 percent two years ago, Tilton added.

The University’s financial aid program has developed over only a few years, Tilton said, adding that in this amount of time “the kinds of things we can do for our individual students ... is impres-sive.”

U. ranks 12th for value among private colleges

continued from page 3

CAMpUS newSTHuRSdAY, NOvEMBER 19, 2009 THE BROWN dAILY HERALd PAgE 5

consistent with getting a handgun and returning to a party on Brown University property,” according to the report.

During the “Scandalous” party, which was hosted by the Delta Sig-ma Theta sorority, an individual also “tried to grab at a Brown officer’s gun in his holster,” PPD Chief Dean Es-serman told The Herald on Tuesday. Brown Department of Public Safety officers also used pepper spray to break up a disturbance at the event before they summoned PPD for backup.

According to the report, Provi-dence police “observed several hun-dred subjects” leaving Alumnae Hall when they responded to the DPS re-quest at approximately 1 a.m. Sunday. More than two dozen attendees were “swearing and yelling obscenities” at DPS, who notified PPD that they already had “at least” two people in custody by the time PPD arrived at the scene, according to the report.

These suspects, Kenny Jean of Bridgewater, Mass. and John Ger-mainmartinez of Boston, were arrest-ed by PPD at the DPS headquarters and taken to the PPD central station, according to the report. Two other suspects, Jide Disu and Mario Monte,

both of Randolph, Mass., were asked to leave the scene of the party by PPD, but, after multiple requests, were placed in custody and taken to the central station on charges of “obstruction of public ways.”

The four suspects are not Brown students.

The incident has raised questions regarding party management and security at the University, prompt-ing internal reviews by both Brown Police and University officials.

Providence police are leaving the review to the University.

“Ever ything went through Brown,” said Lt. John Ryan, com-mander of PPD District 9, which includes Brown. He said DPS and PPD plan to review the security plans in place at Brown to prevent similar situations from occurring in the future. Though the review is still pending, Ryan said there were “too many people for that space” in Alumnae Hall.

Andrew Annaldo, the chairman of the Providence Board of Licenses, told The Herald he sent a letter to Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services Margaret Klawunn Wednesday morning, in which he asked about safety measures for a party set to be held at the Brown Art House on Friday.

“I wanted to know if it was going to be safe,” he said, though he said he did not plan to categorically deny approval for future Brown event appli-cations. After meeting with Klawunn, Ryan, DPS officers and students in-volved in organizing Friday’s party, Annaldo said he was satisfied with the measures Brown planned to imple-ment to prevent similar incidents.

“They’re beefing up security on the party that’s going to happen on Nov. 20,” he said, adding that he was informed at the meeting that Brown had “more people involved in crowd control.”

Annaldo said he plans to check on Brown’s progress regarding event management in the next few weeks and will consider all future events on a case-by-case basis.

“I’m just protecting the public interest,” he said. “We have a great working relationship with Brown.”

Klawunn said the meeting with Annaldo was successful in convincing the licensing board that Brown was taking Saturday’s incident seriously and adopting more stringent manage-ment and security procedures.

“There’s no blanket opposition” from the board, she said. “They found it helpful that we were so respon-sive to the event that happened this weekend.”

continued from page 1

U. reviews event policies after fight

UC regents approve controversial student fee increase

Places second to last among Ivies

world & nation

that it was difficult to ascertain the exact duration of a relationship and that the bill represented “a disturb-ing trend over the past few years of the incremental erosion of the principles surrounding traditional marriage.”

Kempe said Rhode Island law

already allows any adult to fill out a form giving an individual of his choice authority over his funeral ar-rangements. The veto message does not mention this preexisting law.

“I would have been hoping that (Carcieri) would have had the decen-cy to pass this one,” Aida Manduley ’11, head chair of the Brown Queer Alliance — an umbrella organization of LGBTQ student groups — said of the bill.

Manduley said the governor’s later announcement struck her as an attempt to “save face,” and did not necessarily represent real gains for gay rights.

The veto rankled gay rights advo-cates and was satirized at length on the Colbert Report. Carcieri, an ac-tive member of the Catholic Church, announced his openness to domes-tic partnerships after meeting with Queer Action of Rhode Island, one of the groups critical of his veto.

But according to Kempe, the gov-ernor has always been open to the idea of domestic partnerships.

“Nobody’s ever asked him,” she said. “They’ve just made assump-tions.”

But the governor’s “actions have said way more than his words have,” Manduley said. “Unless we see ac-tion, I feel they are empty words and empty promises.”

The title “domestic partnership” was not necessarily a drawback in itself, Manduley said. There is no need to “kill ourselves over seman-tics,” she said. “I’d rather have the rights regardless of name.”

But a domestic partnership sys-tem without full parity would be “bet-ter than nothing,” Manduley said.

MetroThe Brown daily Herald

THuRSdAY, NOvEMBER 19, 2009 | PAgE 6

“What I want for this panel is for us to be taken seriously.”— State Sen. Joshua Miller, d-dist. 28

State re-evaluates marijuana policyBy claire Peracchio

Staff Writer

In the latest development in the debate over marijuana policy in Rhode Island, a legislative panel is evaluating changes to the state’s laws regarding the drug.

The nine-member commission, which was created by a state Senate resolution in July, had its first meet-ing yesterday at the State House. The initial gathering focused on establishing an organizational framework for future meetings and also touched on endorsing possible changes to state policy after its fourth gathering at the end of January.

The panel, chaired by state Sen. Joshua Miller, D-Dist. 28, also in-cluded Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron, Brown Professor Emeri-tus of Medicine and Community Health David Lewis and representa-tives from the Rhode Island Fam-ily Life Center, the Rhode Island State Nurses Association and the Rhode Island Association of Crimi-nal Defense Lawyers. Professor of Economics Glenn Loury is also a member of the panel, though he did not attend Wednesday’s meeting.

One of the primary motivations behind the panel’s creation was the need to assess the decriminaliza-tion of marijuana in Massachusetts and whether this policy could be

adapted to Rhode Island, Miller told The Herald. In November 2008, Massachusetts voters approved a referendum to decriminalize mari-juana and to impose a $100 fine on adults who are caught with an ounce or less of the substance.

The resolution to create the panel proposed that it address the ramifications of legalizing marijua-na, specifically the effects of levying a $35 “sin tax” on its sale. The com-mission was also charged with as-sessing the effects of current laws on the drug’s availability and use among the general population, as well as its ties to crime.

This resolution was the second recent bill dealing with marijuana to be considered in the General Assembly. The first, proposed in February by state Sen. Leo Blais, R-Dist. 21, sought to decriminalize the possession of an ounce or less of marijuana in a manner similar to the Massachusetts law but was scuttled before it left committee.

Miller made it clear that the panel would be constrained by the political realities of legislating marijuana policy evinced by Blais’ efforts.

“At a minimum, what I want for this panel is for us to be taken seri-ously,” he said. “I don’t think any legislation will be taken seriously in this coming session unless it repre-sents a relief of resources.”

Rhode Island’s current bud-get deficit of about $200 million makes the fiscal, rather than the social, dimension of any analysis of marijuana policy especially salient, Miller said.

The panel discussed a state po-lice report documenting 391 arrests for marijuana possession since Jan. 1, 2008. Miller said the report indi-cated that state resources allocated to enforce marijuana policy could be diverted to other areas that the state deemed more important.

Other commission members expressed concern regarding the cumulative expenses linked to mari-juana arrests, particularly those associated with detaining suspects overnight and imposing bail.

Though yesterday’s meeting was largely procedural, it did offer an opportunity for panel members to share their views on marijuana policy. Miron said a financial out-look “clearly points toward legal-ization” as the most advantageous option, yet he said later that even this would not make a huge im-pact in alleviating the state’s dire financial situation. Money, he said, should not be the primary reason for loosening restrictions on mari-juana consumption — instead, the focus should be on limiting govern-ment interference and improving people’s welfare.

Lewis also highlighted the im-portance of reassessing Rhode Island’s marijuana policy.

“People nationally and in the state underestimate the costs and issues with possession arrests,” he said. “Rhode Island is small enough and smart enough to think about marijuana possession as to how much criminalization should take place.”

Carcieri not against domestic partnerships

continued from page 1

www.browndailyherald.com

Kim Perley / Herald File PhotoThe governor’s office will look to Washington and Hawaii as models of a potential domestic partnership system in the Ocean State.

SportsweekendTHuRSdAY, NOvEMBER 19, 2009 | Page 7

The Brown daily Herald

w. volleyball sweeps Cornell, loses two gamesBy elisaBeth aVallone

SportS Staff Writer

The volleyball team concluded a bumpy season this week with an exciting sweep of Cornell, followed by disappointing losses to Columbia and Yale. The Bears finished the sea-son 6-19 overall, with a 2-12 record in the Ivy League.

The Bears toppled Cornell, 3-0, on Friday night in one of their strongest performances of the season. They fought hard against Columbia the following day, almost pulling off an upset, but they fell short of victory, 3-2. Yale, one of the Ivy League’s strongest contenders, stormed past Brown in a decisive 3-0 sweep.

“We had a fantastic and support-ive team environment that kept us motivated and driven through it all,” said co-captain Moira Gallagher ’10. “And, as a senior, I would say that

this year was a rebuilding year and I know the team will accomplish great things in the future.”

Katrina Post ’13 recorded a team-high 11 kills on Friday eve-ning, sparking a .291 team attack percentage for the victory over the Big Red. Brown held the lead for the vast majority of the match, so-lidifying the sweep in three sets, with scores of 25-18, 25-18 and 25-17. Brianna Williamson ’11 recorded 10 kills and nine digs, while Annika Gliottone ’12 had a match-high 24 as-sists and an additional 10 digs. Carly Cotton ’13 had a match-high 19 digs to fortify the Bears’ defense.

The Bears saw less success in their following matches, as they fell to both Columbia and Yale. Despite Brown’s 14--7 lead over Columbia in the first set, the Lions fought back

ochocinco is numero uno to meThere are some people in the world of sports that, well, are hated. And usually, there are good reasons to hate said people.

Michael Vick killed dogs. Terrell Owens is a crybaby. Bill Belichick is a successful man who was caught cheating. Barry Bonds has a head the size of an elevator. Mark Teixeira has the face of a 10-year-old child on the body of a 30 -year -o ld man. Omar Minaya called out a reporter for, well, reporting a story. Marty Mc-Sorley — hockey reference! — hit a guy in the head with a stick. The list goes on and on.

As you can see, there are a lot of people I hate in the sports world. However, there is one notable excep-tion to this rule: Chad Ochocinco.

Some cannot stand Ochocinco. They dislike his antics and feel that he contributes to the NFL’s prima donna wide receiver reputation. They hate the fact that he has larger-than-life touchdown celebrations and pretends to bribe referees after questionable pass completions.

But when I look at the former Or-egon State Beaver, I see something different. Maybe not a humanitarian side, but at least a sensitive, human side.

escareno ’10 shines as cross country ends seasonBy fred milgrim

Contributing Writer

The men’s and women’s cross country teams traveled to Frank-lin Park in Boston last weekend to compete in the NCAA Northeast Regional meet, with the men finish-ing sixth overall and the women taking ninth. The meet wrapped

up the fall season, highlighted by another strong performance from Christian Escareno ’10.

Escareno took 10th place, run-ning the 10-kilometer course in 31:19. Along with the top-10 finish, Escareno earned himself Brown’s first spot in the men’s Nationals race since 2004. If he places in the top 40 in the Terre Haute, Ind., Na-

tionals race on Nov. 23, Escareno will add All-American to his resume as well.

Since the start of the season, his goal was to reach Nationals and place in the top 40, he said. Escareno, who is from Illinois, used to attend the NCAA meet with his high school coach.

“I remember always being in

complete awe of how fast collegiate runners were,” he said. “Now I get to run there myself and couldn’t be any more grateful and proud for the chance to compete against the top runners in the nation.”

Leading the women’s team once again was Ariel Wright ’10, who

Nicholas Sinnott-Armstrong / HeraldWomen’s volleyball closes out the season with a win and two disap-pointing losses.

continued on page 8

continued on page 8 continued on page 8

ethan hammermanNail’d

THuRSdAY, NOvEMBER 19, 2009THE BROWN dAILY HERALdPAgE 8

SportSweeKend “It was a good test for us to see where we are at.”— david Amato, wrestling head coach

wrestlers find individual successBy han cui

aSSiStant SportS editor

The wrestling team kicked off its season at the Binghamton Open on Sunday. Despite missing four of its projected starters due to in-juries, three wrestlers placed indi-vidually.

Greg Einfrank ’10 led the way, finishing second at the 125-pound weight class. Bryan Tracy ’10 and Larry Otsuka ’10 followed by finish-ing fifth and sixth at the 157-pound and 197-pound weight classes, re-spectively. Branden Stearns ’10, who wrestled unattached to Brown, placed fifth at 197 pounds, after de-feating his teammate Otsuka by a 2-0 margin.

“The team did average,” said Head Coach Dave Amato. “A tour-nament like this, only individual performance counts, not the team performance.”

Einfrank cruised past his op-

ponents all the way to the final match before he was defeated by Garrett Frey of Princeton, 9-4. The other three seniors who placed each lost one match in the tournament, which sent them to the consolation bracket, where they fought their way back to be on the podium. Tracy won his first two matches before falling in the third round. He won more matches in the consolation bracket before losing to eventual fourth-place finisher Derek Schreiner of Cornell. Tracy won his final match against Corey Lear of Bucknell, 7-2, to claim fifth place.

Otsuka advanced into the semi-final round before losing his first match to Martin Porter of Delaware Valley, 4-2. Once in the consolation bracket, he won two more match-es and eventually finished sixth. Stearns also fought his way back in the consolation bracket after losing his second-round match by winning four matches in a row. He eventually

faced off against Otsuka in his last match and came out on top to claim fifth place.

Amato was pleased with the four seniors who placed and the other upperclassmen who wrestled well but fell short of placement.

“The upperclassmen, for the most part, wrestled well,” Amato said. “The freshmen did OK. There were some surprises and some disappoint-ments. I am more interested in how they respond next weekend.”

Amato said there are techniques that the whole team needs to im-prove.

“Conditioning-wise, we are in a good shape,” Amato said. “But there are technical things the team needs to work on, especially in the bottom position and defense on your feet.”

“Overall, it was a good test for us to see where we are at,” he added.

The team will travel to Philadel-phia to compete in the Keystone Classic this Sunday.

equestrian stumbles at UConnBy zack Bahr

Contributing Writer

After winning most of its meets over the years, the equestrian team faced disappointment on Saturday at the University of Connecticut, placing fifth out of six teams.

The show began promisingly for the Bears, with Elise Fishelson ’11 nabbing first place in the Open Flat division and taking away po-tential points from other teams. Liz Giliberti ’10 earned a hard-fought fourth place in the Open Flat and gave the Bears three points as the team’s point rider, meaning her score counted toward the team’s point total. The success continued with Cara Rosenbaum ’12 taking second in the Novice Flats.

The rest of the points would come from Anna Baker ’12 placing first in the Walk Trot Canter divi-sion, and Giliberti placing first in Open Fences.

But these would be the last points that Brown scored that day.

“We got really unlucky with our point riders not getting the points we needed.” Rosenbaum said. “It was a very mediocre day for the team.”

The Bears still maintain a com-fortable 12-point lead in the season standings, leaving them in a good position for the rest of the year.

“Unless something goes disas-trously wrong, we should maintain first in the region,” Rosenbaum said. “We are pumped to go out there and show why we deserve to be first.”

As the semester winds down, so does the first half of the equestrian season. The Bears will travel to Wes-leyan University on Saturday, where they look to regain momentum and add to their season standings.

for a 25-22 victory and a 1-0 lead. Brown took control in the second for a 25-17 victory, tying the match at 1-1. The seesaw battle continued as Columbia captured the third set and Brown retaliated with a fourth set victory, 25-17. Forced into the final fifth set, the squads remained

tied at 12 until the Lions pulled away for a devastating 16-14 victory over the Bears.

Liz Mueller ’10 had one of her best performances of the season, posting 10 kills and nine digs. Post recorded 16 kills and seven digs, and Williamson added 14 kills and 13 digs to keep the Bears in the

competition against Columbia.Head Coach Diane Short said

she was pleased with her team’s hard-fought competition, even though it produced less-than-sat-isfying results.

“We had a really disappointing season from a win-loss standpoint, but we competed all year,” Short said. “We may have underachieved this year, but we are certainly better than our record shows.”

In its last match of the season Tuesday night, Brown was dealt a hard blow from the visiting Bull-dogs. Despite the efforts of Post, who again recorded double-digit scores, with 12 kills and 16 digs, and

Cotton with a team-high 20 digs, the Bears were unable to keep up with Yale, falling in three sets.

“We can’t think about our re-cord, but really have to focus on the positive strides that the team made for upcoming years,” said Kim Bundick ’10.

The Bears will lose five se-niors this spring, as they graduate Bundick, Ann Cowell ’10, Gallagher, Mueller and Lindsay Walls ’10.

“Even though we didn’t have the most successful record, I loved being on a team with such a great group of girls,” Cotton wrote in a text message to The Herald. “I am really going to miss our seniors.”

w. volleyball focused on progress, teamworkcontinued from page 7

narrowly missed a bid to Nation-als. She took 17th place with a time of 22:46 on the six-kilometer course.

The conditions on Saturday were poor, and both squads were affected. It had been raining the day before, and the squads raced after a number of high school meets.

“It was a tough end to the sea-son. We had goals to finish higher as a team,” Wright said. “But there were a lot of positives this season, and I think we’re all looking for-ward to fulfilling our potential come track (season).”

Running well, as he has all sea-

son long, captain Duriel Hardy ’10 finished 27th for the men with a time of 32:06. Matt Duffy ’12 also turned in a solid 32:39, good for 40th place. John Haenle ’11 fin-ished the course in 32:51, John Loeser ’10 finished in 32:53, Austin Snyder ’13 ran a 33:06 and Colin Brett ’10 turned in a 35:33.

Following Wright on the women’s side, Kelsey Ramsey ’11 ran well for the Bears, taking 40th place in 23:25. Next were Ari Garber ’12 in 23:29 and Elaine Kuckertz ’13 in 23:40. Herald Staff Writer Lauren Pischel ’11 finished in 23:45. Also strong this year for the Bears, Megan Fitzpatrick ’11 finished in 23:53 and Erica Hines ’13 in 24:14.

‘tough end’ to cross country season

continued from page 7

Chad Ochocinco was on “Hard Knocks” this year. The interesting HBO show essentially served as a stage for his awesome charisma and sense of humor. He was by far the best actor, the funniest character and the coolest guy on the show. He was hysterical to watch both on and off the field. Heck, he even kicked an extra point in a game! And what viewer can forget his beautiful call to Belichick after the Patriots game: “BEYALL”?

Ochocinco has already been fined multiple times this season. So what has he done? Been surly and just put it behind him? No. He’s MATCHED the fines and given them to a charity. Would a thug do this, have the compassion neces-sary to make this sacrifice? What

happened to the NFL as the ME ME ME league, a confederation full of prima donnas and misers unwilling to spend a single dime on anything that won’t have an immediate effect? Does Ochocinco buck this trend?

The answer, quite clearly, is yes.

This year, the Cincinnati Bengals are 7-2. They have already beaten both of their main rivals for the AFC North Division title, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens, twice apiece. Ochocinco has been key to this resurgence and has com-piled 46 receptions for 668 yards and five touchdowns this season.

You won’t hear any complaints this year from Mr. Ochocinco.

Ethan Hammerman ’13 feels really bad for the Browns this

season.

hammerman ’13: All wrs should be like Chad

continued from page 7

www.browndailyherald.com

editorial & LettersPage 10 | THuRSdAY, NOvEMBER 19, 2009

The Brown daily Herald

R I C H A R D S T E I N A N D P A U L T R A N

reviewing the review Board

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editorial

Academic research involving human subjects — from a straightforward interview to advanced biomedical testing — raises a host of difficult tech-nical and ethical questions. To ensure that students and researchers on Brown’s campus work effectively and conscientiously, and to comply with federal law, Brown requires that all individuals seeking to conduct research involving human subjects operate with the approval and oversight of the Institutional Review Board.

The Herald reported last Wednesday that the IRB has begun implementing reforms recommended in a report issued last spring by a Research Advisory Board subcommittee. These reforms are primar-ily intended to improve the IRB’s Web site, and to clarify and streamline the IRB approval process for undergraduates.

The IRB approval process involves significant paperwork, as well as a four-to-six hour online course complete with quizzes on which the researcher must score at least 80 percent. For undergraduates trying to complete a thesis in a single year, the IRB approval process is lengthy and the paperwork is burdensome. If the student’s project hinges on information obtained from human subjects, any long delay could seriously hamper his or her ability to complete the thesis. Since about 20 to 30 undergraduates usually seek IRB ap-proval each year, we appreciate recent efforts to make the IRB more friendly to undergraduates.

One of the central questions the subcommittee faced was whether undergraduate theses count as “research” as defined by federal law. If undergraduate theses do meet this definition, then the researcher is legally required to go through the IRB process. Otherwise, the University might consider creating an alternate approval process tailored to undergradu-ates that focuses less on compliance with statutory requirements and more on training students to work with human subjects.

The subcommittee suggested that in the future, the University may want to transition to a system where all undergraduate projects are considered through a separate, undergraduate-specific review process.

We believe this is an important long-term reform. A main barrier to this reform, however, is the ambiguity surrounding the federal definition of “research” as it applies to undergraduate work. Therefore, we call on the Office of the Vice President for Research to seek clarification from the Department of Health and Human Services. This could best be accomplished through collaboration with similar offices at peer institutions. The University should work with other schools to design a set of principles for undergraduate research involving human subjects and then approach HHS as a group.

Under the current research protocol, a student’s faculty adviser, in conjunction with the Research Protections Office, determines whether or not the specific project falls under the federal definition of re-search. This, however, creates inconsistent standards across departments, and leaves some undergraduates unprepared for research on human subjects. As such, we also support the subcommittee’s recommendation to immediately create some formal avenue by which even those student researchers deemed exempt from IRB review receive appropriate training and education.

We also call on departments to provide under-graduates with the guidance they need to navigate the IRB process. The subcommittee’s report noted that familiarity with the IRB process is present in some, but not all, departments. In particular, departments must offer all potential thesis-writers early warning about the IRB approval process, so that the requirements do not sneak up on students in their senior year.

Given Brown’s growing reputation as a research university, and a culture that tries to ease adminis-trative burdens on students, we are hopeful that the University will continue to reform the IRB review process. The overarching goal should be to better balance the need for training and oversight with the time constraints student researchers face.

Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.

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THuRSdAY, NOvEMBER 19, 2009 | PAgE 11

opinionsThe Brown daily Herald

There are two types of people in politics: those who accept the burden of freedom and those who cling to the comfort of their own delusions. Contemporary American politics and culture has been a feeding-frenzy for the desperate fury of weak (not stupid) people who would rather believe in absurdities than actually think rationally. If you believe absurdities, you will commit injustice.

Totalizing conspiracy theories are com-forting because it gives the illusion that there is some invisible hand pulling the strings of modern society from behind the scenes, instead of seeing modern society as an amalgamation of other scared, confused people trying to get by. Glenn Beck calls it the Democratic Party, Dan Brown calls it the Freemasons, Matt Taibbi calls it Goldman Sachs, Adbusters calls it the Republican Party. In any case, it’s stupid, it’s wrong and it’s childish. I was excited about Barack Obama because he seemed to embody the maturity and reasonableness that has been missing from American politics and culture for the last decade. It’s still missing.

Measured and reasonable is the enemy of these people because it threatens them with the possibility that the beliefs that have given their lives meaning are wrong, untrue

and unjust. Approaching the world rationally, that is to say, freely, precludes the comfort-able security that has swaddled cowards for generations. It is easy to believe that capitalism/socialism/oil/money/pesticide/meat-eating/the Jews/the Illuminati is the root of all of mankind’s problems. It’s easy, and it’s wrong.

Most people who profess an interest in politics exude an absolute confidence in their beliefs that is immune from the intrusion of reason or reality. Whether they’re dogmatic

about free-market capitalism or the righ-teousness of locally grown food, it is dogma nonetheless. They know what they think, and to hell with anyone else. The world is a big, scary, complicated place. I am very suspicious of any bright-eyed college student or high-rolling businessman who claims to have it all figured out. Conversely, the equally thoughtlessly dogmatic commitment to diversity is just as poisonous because it allows stupid ideas to fester. What we

need is a comprehensive post-partisanship: a realization that no single ideology is suf-ficient. This will take the courage to face ambiguity and uncertainty with resolve and determination.

Some people find ways to make their lives meaningful in the absence of some absolute authority to define it for them. It often takes the form of the stereotype of the “coastal liberal elite”: the newspaper-reading, concert-attending, book-reading yuppies that are the butt of populist poli-

tics. Hawkers of political rage scorn this exercise of reason and rationality because it threatens to reveal the bankruptcy of their own poorly considered beliefs. Some families don’t want their kids learning about evolution because it would threaten their comprehensive Christian worldview. Other families don’t want their kids reading the Bible because it would threaten their com-prehensive atheistic worldview. Whenever someone laments the “eroding social fabric,”

it is really just code for “I am terrified of actually having to figure out how to create a just society.”

This summer’s health care debates brought some of the most absurd con-spiracy theorists out of the woodwork. It was breathtaking to see people argue in all seriousness that they were worried about the United States government euthanizing the elderly or to see people compare health care reform to the Holocaust. On the other side of the ideological divide, there are the people who think that 9/11 was an inside job and that George Bush was a puppet for one New World Order or another. These people’s opinions should not be taken seri-ously. They should not be listened to. They should not be respected.

Politics is the reasonable deliberation among people who have the maturity to rec-ognize that their opinions are not universally right and that they do not know everything. The apoplectic wailing of cowards who need an absolute authority structure to define themselves against is not politics: it is what teenagers do.

People on both sides of the aisle fear the collapse of their ideologies because then they would have to come to terms with the reality that they have been living a fantasy all along.

Brian Judge ’11, a philosophy concentrator from north carolina, can

be reached at brian_judge@brown.

having the courage to be free

Brown students agree that there is a problem in the current U.S. health-care system: It isn’t meeting its tremendous potential to deliver quality, affordable and timely treatment. In response, Congress is likely to adopt one of the following methods: institute the public option, or change the arena in which health insurance companies operate.

Jonathan Cohn, an editor of the New Republic, came to Brown on Tuesday to deliver a lecture on health-care reform. He phrased his argument for the public option in a form that was particularly compelling to Brown students: Cohn implicitly placed the issue of health-care reform within the broader context of a slow but inevitable march towards a more enlightened society in which the government not only protects a few fundamental rights, but guarantees a basic array of goods and services.

This is a good story, a stirring story and the only story public option supporters re-late when they advocate their plan. Arguing for deregulation is less exciting. It requires tracking down and explaining several less dramatic, seemingly unrelated stories.

The average person can retain seven dull, unrelated pieces of information (hence seven-digit phone numbers). Here are seven dull, unrelated reasons why supporting the public option isn’t a question of good vs. evil, but rather the much less titillating question of effective vs. ineffective.

1. There is no health-care crisis. In the last ten years, there’s only been a 0.3 per-cent increase in the number of uninsured individuals, according to the 2007 Census Bureau. Three-quarters of the uninsured re-gain coverage within a year — since tax laws make it cheaper to buy insurance through your work, if you change jobs, you lose insur-ance in the interim. The poorest 14 million of the uninsured already qualify for public coverage but haven’t enrolled. Why not? The law allows them to enroll after they become sick at the same rate as before they

become sick. 2. The public option wouldn’t “keep

private insurers honest” by setting a price benchmark. Medicare and Medicaid are often cited as successful examples of public plans competing with private, but these pro-grams do not save money — they just shift costs onto other consumers. For example, Congress sets the Medicare compensation for a $50 procedure to $30, so doctors simply jack up the price of the procedure paid by private insurers to $70. The public option would not make the private insurers honest;

it would make them bankrupt. 3. High prices are another casualty of the

unpopular drug war. Put just a few prescrip-tion drugs in front of the counter, or at least let nurses prescribe them, and watch prices plummet as people skip the costly doctor’s appointment and buy drugs directly.

4. We can change the system by render-ing tax-free every dollar spent on or saved for health-care purposes. When individuals start shopping around and making decisions to purchase health insurance policies, two things happen: Consumers become more

proactive about staying healthy, and insur-ance companies are forced to offer better, more customized products.

5. We can smooth out insurance regula-tions in order to lower prices. Each state has dif ferent rules regarding what insurance plans can be sold in the state, which makes it very difficult for an insurance company to expand across state borders and restricts the field of competing insurers.

6. Repealing mandated benefit laws would lower prices. Allow people to purchase plans covering unexpected, catastrophic illnesses

like cancer without forcing them to buy unneeded and expensive add-ons like chi-ropractic coverage.

7. There is a simpler way to ensure that those in dire need of health care are provided for. People need food more than they need health care, yet there is no public option for food, and starvation is virtually unheard of in the United States. We have a food stamp program and private charities that act as a safety net. Why not do the same for health insurance?

Public option supporters have done a great job of framing the test questions in a manner that appeals to one’s sense of decency. “Isn’t health care a fundamental right? Is it ethical for insurance companies to profit off of those that are undeservedly ill? Why is it wrong to keep the private in-surance companies ‘honest’ with a public option?” Translation: Have a heart, support the public option.

Every time somebody offers these ques-tions, instead ask him or her to examine health-care reform through the lens of three distinct, open-ended questions. What is the problem? What is the end goal? How do we best reach that end goal while minimizing extrinsic costs?

The government-run public option has the advantage of appealing to your heart, yet it carries the unfortunate burden of not working. It is the role of the heart to identify a problem. Let us not forget it is the role of the mind to solve it.

Seven reasons to oppose the public option

Supporting the public option isn’t a question of good vs. evil, but rather the much less titillating

question of effective vs. ineffective.

It is easy to believe that capitalism/socialism/oil/money/pesticide/meat-eating/the Jews/the Illuminati is the root of all of mankind’s

problems. It’s easy, and it’s wrong.

BY WILL WRAYopinions coluMnist

BY BRIAN JudgEopinions coluMnist

Will Wray ’10 is in the market for a heart.

thursday, noVemBer 19, 2009 Page 12

Today 67

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The Brown daily Herald

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