THE BROWN DAILY HERALD TUESDAY, MARCH 7, 2006
Volume CXLI, No. 28
www.browndailyherald.com
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
TURF WAR Thayer Street storeowners respond to the presence of competing street vendors METRO 3
DEEP THOUGHTS Students and professors attempt to strengthen the University’s offerings in contemplative studies CAMPUS NEWS 5
MARRIAGE FOR THE MASSES Stefan Smith ’09: Push for gay marriage will benefit more than just bourgeois homosexual elite OPINIONS 11
BY MARY-CATHERINE LADER FEATURES EDITOR
mostly sunny 40 / 26
BY MELANIE DUCH SENIOR STAFF WRITER
The percentage of students against plus/minus grading was higher in the UCS poll than the results of a Herald poll released Feb. 9, which found that 70 percent of students opposed the measure. “The results were about what I expected,” said Sarah Saxon-Frump ’07, president of UCS. She added that a key difference between the UCS and Herald polls is that the former was self-selecting, meaning that students with stronger opinions would be more inclined to take the poll. UCS Communications Chair Michael Thompson ’07 said the results corroborate feedback UCS members have received from students. The poll also showed 77.4 percent of respondents said they would support the University if it spent money to obtain its own source of renewable energy. 14.5 percent would not support such a policy, while 8.1 percent gave null responses. Various student environmental action groups have been pressing the University to look into alternative energy sources, according to both Saxton-Frump and Thompson. The poll contained several questions about UCS itself. Only 31.4 percent of students said they feel welcome attending UCS meetings, while 45.1 percent said they did not feel welcome. 23.8 percent of students did not provide an answer. “I was disappointed but I wasn’t surprised,” Saxton-Frump said. “(UCS meetings) can be intimidating, and we’re trying to make them more inviting.” Saxton-Frump added many of the respondents had most likely never attended a UCS meeting. “It was intimidating the first time I went to a UCS meeting,” UCS Vice President Zachary Townsend ’08 said. He added that UCS must learn how to make the organization “more open in a procedural sense and an image sense.”
The Ad Hoc Committee to Review Social Events Policy and Procedure will present a nearly 20-page recommendation today to Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services David Greene. Administrators told The Herald several weeks ago that the committee would produce a public report by Feb. 27, but it was still being revised yesterday and had only been released internally. Among the issues tackled by the report are the creation of adequate space for social gatherings on campus, the availability of metal detectors for student groups, a revision of policy concerning alcohol served at events, the regulation of advertising for events and the training and hiring of staff to monitor events on campus. Greene said he plans to permit student groups and administrators to read the report and allow ample time for a campuswide discussion on its “quality and feasibility” before any of the recommendations are implemented. He added that some of the recommendations would likely be implemented quickly, while others, such as the addition of larger spaces for social gatherings on campus, are likely to take longer. The committee, created in the aftermath of Queer Alliance’s Sex Power God party Nov. 12 and a melee on the Main Green the preceding evening that ended with shots fired, was charged with examining how “social functions are approved, promoted, managed and staffed,” with particular emphasis on student safety, according to the Web site of the Office of Campus Life and Student Services. One of the committee’s main concerns is creating space for large on-campus social events and smaller impromptu gatherings. Events held in Sayles and Alumnae halls, historically havens for large social events, have been identified as problematic, Greene said. Margaret Klawunn, associate vice president for campus life, dean for student life and the committee’s chair, said the recommendations “tighten polices and procedures that are already in place,” and no one recommendation is likely to have an overwhelming effect on Brown’s social scene. “We felt that there was some additional improvements we could make in current polices but we did not feel an overhaul of the system was in place,” she said. Committee member Zachary Townsend ’08, vice president of the Undergraduate Council of Students, said he believes that because the committee has been pressed for time, elaborate recommendations were not drawn up. He also said because of the high number of students on the committee — seven of the 17 members are undergraduate or graduate students — many of the more stringent policies proposed by administrators will not be among its recommendations. Townsend said one of his concerns with the report is the costly nature of many of its recommendations. These are particularly troubling because the Student Activities
see POLL, page 6
see REPORT, page 9
Jean Yves Chainon / Herald
David Brooks, op-ed columnist for the New York Times, spoke about “The Persistence of Class in American Culture” Monday evening in Salomon 101.
UCS poll finds renewable energy a plus, grade changes a minus BY SIMMI AUJLA S ENIOR S TAFF W RITER
A majority of students oppose the addition of pluses and minuses to Brown’s grading system, according to the results of the online Undergraduate Council of Students poll released to The Herald yesterday. The poll’s results also show that a majority of students supports the University finding its own renewable source of energy. The poll, which was conducted on WebCT from Feb. 27 to March 3, had 2,024 responses, representing 35 percent of the 5,853 undergraduates eligible to take it. The 37-question poll included questions on overall UCS performance, interaction with professors, economic diversity on campus, renovations in Faunce House, meal plan changes and the SafeRide service. 80.9 percent of respondents were opposed to plus/minus grading, while 14.4 percent were in favor. 4.7 percent gave no answers. A majority of students said they thought plus/minus grading runs counter to Brown’s educational philosophy and would encourage “grade-grubbing.”
see BROOKS, page 9
Latin band Yerba Buena to play Spring Weekend Latin music group Yerba Buena will open for rapper Common at Spring Weekend this year, according to Elizabeth Trongone ’06, president of the Brown Concert Agency. Trongone told The Herald Monday that Yerba Buena will perform on the Main Green on Saturday, April 22, followed by Common. The Herald reported in January that indie rock outfit Wilco will play at Meehan Auditorium on Thursday, April 20. Trongone said BCA sought a diverse lineup, and that Yerba Buena fit
TOMORROW
Social events committee will present report to Greene today
Brooks argues culture is key in era of ‘Bobos’ David Brooks may not have gotten into Brown as a high school senior, but last night the New York Times columnist came to College Hill and told a packed Salomon 101 that “universities have become the engines of inequality” in America, as cultural differences increasingly determine class. Brooks’ lecture was the keynote address of the 26th annual Providence Journal/Brown University Public Affairs Conference themed “One Nation Indivisible? The Persistence of Class in American Culture.” President Ruth Simmons introduced Brooks as a writer “in whose books we understand much about how we think,” quoting catchphrases from his 2000 book “Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There,” which details the emergence of a bourgeois-bohemian class from the baby boomer generation. “Of all the social forces that have shaped American society, I think class may be one of the most difficult to understand fully,” Simmons said. As a commentator whose column for the Times and two recent books — “Bobos” and “On Paradise Drive: How We Live Now (And Always Have) in the Future Tense” — often examine America’s social makeup, Brooks said he believes class today rests on cultural, not economic differences. Echoing cultural monikers from “Bobos,” Brooks described the lifestyle of America’s achievement-driven upper class, composed in part of “Ubermoms” and their children whose lives are geared toward the increasingly competitive college admissions process. But beyond the entertaining stereotypes of overachievement and materialism, Brooks said this set of Americans illustrates just how much culture now defines class in America. In an “era of human capital” where education and social environments matter more than resources, Brooks said cultural distinctions have created a “hereditary meritocratic class of highly educated people who’ve passed down their advantages to their kids.” Bloodlines may matter less today, but upbringing and family matter more, he said, citing work by University of Chicago
TODAY
partly cloudy 40 / 22
well into that bill. “They were recently nominated for a (Billboard Latin Music Award),” she said. “They’re doing very well — they are very popular among the Latin scene.” It will cost BCA between $10,000 to $12,000 to bring the act to the University, she said. BCA expects to bring three additional music acts to Spring Weekend. Trongone said she expects the full bill to be finalized by late next week. — Jonathan Sidhu
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