THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2006
Volume CXLI, No. 44
www.browndailyherald.com
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
REDUCE, REUSE... RECYCLE? The lowest-ranked Ivy in RecycleMania once again: compost- investigates why Brown isn’t as green as you think INSIDE
DUG LIFE The role of Departmental Undergraduate Groups varies across departments and largely depends on student leadership CAMPUS NEWS 5
IN DEFENSE OF BARROIDS Stu Woo ’08 explains why he will always be a devoted fan of the muchmaligned Barry Bonds SPORTS 16
TODAY
TOMORROW
mostly sunny 53 / 36
showers 53 / 42
College Ceremony to be held in front of Baptist church
PITCHING FOR PEACE
Final solution to space constraint aims to preserve class unity and Meeting House tradition BY ALISSA CERNY STAFF WRITER
Jean Yves Chainon / Herald
Suchi Mathur ’08 (sitting, left) and Tara Gonsalves ’08, both of Brown’s Darfur Action Network, collected signatures as part of a campout on the Main Green Wednesday night. The event, intended to symbolize refugee camps in Sudan’s Darfur region, promoted an upcoming rally in Washington, D.C., for which DAN is organizing transportation.
Brown takes sixth in Princeton Review survey of ‘dream colleges’ BY KRISTINA KELLEHER STAFF WRITER
Brown came in at number six on students’ list of “dream colleges” and number eight on parents’ corresponding list, according to the Princeton Review’s 2006 “College Hopes and Worries” survey, which was released March 21. The Princeton Review surveyed 3,890 college applicants regarding the “dream college” they most wish they could attend. In addition, the organization asked 1,012 parents what school they wished their children could attend. Students and parents were asked to respond without considering an institution’s cost or their likelihood of being accepted. For the second year in a row, New York University topped students’ list of “dream colleges,” followed by Harvard and Princeton universities. Parents’ top choice for “dream college” was Princeton University, followed by Stanford and Harvard universities. Last year, Brown came in ninth among students and was not on the top 10 for parents. Though he said Brown’s high placement on both students’ and parents’ lists is “wonderful,” Dean of Admission Jim Miller ’73 added that he worries about “these rating things.” He said “people should look at them all with some skepticism” and analyze “trends and patterns” in rankings of colleges and universities as opposed to numbers from just one year. Nick Allen ’09 expressed surprise that NYU claimed the top spot among surveyed students, particularly considering the school’s lack of a unified campus. When looking at schools, he said he was see RANKINGS, page 8 Editorial: 401.351.3372 Business: 401.351.3260
The College Ceremony, which has traditionally occurred inside the Meeting House of the First Baptist Church in America on the Sunday of Commencement Weekend, will this year take place on the grounds in front of the building due to the large size of the class of 2006. Following discussion among students, administrators and Brown Corporation members that included a WebCT poll in which 48 percent of the senior class participated, Russell Carey ’91, vice president and secretary of the University, reported the decision to seniors in an April 4 e-mail. After proceeding through the Van Wickle Gates and down College Hill, seniors will gather facing a small stage in front of the church, Carey wrote in the e-mail. During the ceremony a group of students will move the Manning Chair, the ceremonial seat used by the president, from the Meeting House onto the stage. The events that traditionally occur at
Late Night Fund provides drinkers, non-drinkers weekend alternatives BY JOSH TOBIAS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
A typical weekend party at Brown might involve cramming students into a small lounge area, playing loud club music and filling hundreds of plastic cups with cheap beer and vodka. However, students and faculty on the board that administers the newly created Late Night Fund are working to change this image. Begun as a pilot program this semester, the Late Night Fund provides money for student groups to hold weekend social events that do not serve alcohol. According to the University’s Web site, the Late Night Fund has a budget of $20,000 that the board can distribute to any campus group interested in holding a dry event. This semester the fund has sponsored
events including a party thrown by the Persian Club, a Grey’s Anatomy marathon and a Zoot Suit Ball. This weekend will feature two events which received money from the Late Night Fund: the “Relay for Life,” which is co-sponsored by the American Cancer Society, and “Games Night for Religious Freedom,” which is being sponsored by Amnesty International and Interfaith House. Members of the board said the idea for the Late Night Fund originated from a string of incidents last semester involving alcohol that prompted the University to create the Ad Hoc Committee to Review Social Events Policy and Procedures. One of the committee’s recommendations was to start a fund for nonalcoholic events on campus. see LATE NIGHT, page 7
the College Ceremony — including the singing of the national anthem, the invocation by the chaplain and the conferral of the baccalaureate degrees — will proceed as usual, with one exception, Carey said. The senior orations will be given when the class returns to the Main Green rather than at the Meeting House. Carey told The Herald this change was made to allow all students, family, parents and faculty to hear the speeches in person. He estimated the entire ceremony at the Meeting House will last 10 minutes. Because of time constraints, the senior class will not proceed through the building before returning to the Main Green, Carey said. “We had to balance the logistical aspect of things including the timing of the ceremony, and we felt that this solution offered a more meaningful connection to the tradition than walking through the Meeting House,” Carey said. The University’s decision differs from the two solutions initially proposed before spring break. One proposal called for seniors to proceed through the Meeting House and return to the Main Green to perform the College Ceremony, while another involved the use of an overflow tent outside the church. The initial deadline for a decision was tentatively set for the end of March, but the final decision was announced April 4. Carey said he did not view this as a substantial delay. “We felt that it was very important to take our time to proceed thoughtfully because there were no obvious perfect choices,” Carey said. The ultimate solution “came from the input of seniors and other community members who felt very strongly about the importance of staying together and maintaining the tradition,” Carey said. The WebCT poll asked seniors to rate the importance of the Meeting House tradition versus the preservation of class unity. Seniors were also asked if they preferred the use of a walk-through procession or an overflow tent and whether they would volunteer to sit in the tent if one see CEREMONY, page 4
PLMEs versus pre-meds? Despite supposed rivalry, Brown’s aspiring doctors coexist peacefully BY STEPHANIE BERNHARD SENIOR STAFF WRITER
www.brown.edu
A group of PLME students poses in front of Faunce House. Those interviewed by The Herald said they do not experience much resentment from their pre-medical counterparts. 195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island
Contrary to the campus-wide assumption that pre-medical students harbor deepseated resentment toward FEATURE students in the Program for Liberal Medical Education, the two groups tend to coexist peacefully — for the most part. Because PLME students are accepted into Brown Medical School straight out of high school provided they maintain a 3.0 GPA throughout their undergraduate see PLME, page 9 News tips: herald@browndailyherald.com