THE BROWN DAILY HERALD F RIDAY,
Volume CXLII, No. 50
RIL
1 3, 2007 13, 2 007
Since 1866, Daily Since 1891
UCS asks for end to Banner pre-registration enrollment caps BY CHAZ FIRESTONE AND ROSS FRAZIER SENIOR STAFF WRITER AND NEWS EDITOR
Chris Bennett / Herald
Construction of the Walk will force the relocation of some plots in the community garden outside the Urban Environmental Lab.
Part of UEL garden will be relocated to make way for Walk BY TARYN MARTINEZ STAFF WRITER
Student and community gardeners’ fears that the Urban Environmental Lab’s community garden would be threatened by the construction of the Walk were assuaged Thursday night as Facilities Management officials presented a plan to them that would relocate — not destroy — some plots. Relocation of the garden will be necessary to make way for the Walk’s path from Lincoln Field to the Pembroke campus, The Herald reported last fall. At the time, there were worries about the future of the UEL and the garden. Under the plan presented to about a dozen gardeners last night, the UEL building will not be moved but some of the garden’s plots
The Undergraduate Council of Students, convening in special session Thursday evening, demanded that University officials publicly address student concerns about Banner by passing a resolution calling for an end to enrollment limits in pre-registration for next semester. In related news, UCS President John Gillis ’07 and Vice President Tristan Freeman ’07 told The Herald that after meeting Tuesday with President Ruth Simmons, they felt optimistic the University would print a Course Announcement Bulletin. “She was very responsive to issues like not printing the CAB,
and I wouldn’t be surprised if they change that and end up printing it,” Gillis said. “We’ve been following up with her office on that.” However, Gillis said that after meeting with Simmons, he felt administrators don’t place the same importance on the transition to Banner that students do. “She didn’t feel like Banner was going to be a significant academic change, so she didn’t seem to think a change to course restrictions would affect things either way,” Gillis said. UCS members stressed in their session last night — attended by about 35 students —that Banner’s continued on page 4
Plans for a new dorm, renovations still in the works BY SCOTT LOWENSTEIN SENIOR STAFF WRITER
will relocate from their current location to the opposite side of the building. “The idea of the Walk is to really create a series of green spaces in between Pembroke campus and the main campus,” said Michael McCormick, assistant vice president for planning, design and construction. But “the garden right now kind of sticks out into the space,” he said. “We’d like to relocate and recreate some existing beds,” said David Laplante, program manager for Facilities Management and head of the project. Laplante said the planting beds’ soil could be stockpiled or barreled until it could be relocated into the new beds. Among other improvements in
The high number of upperclassmen living off campus has University officials talking about creating new and better housing to entice upperclassmen to stay on campus. Though no specific plans have been prepared, administrators have been “considering seriously” the possibility of building new residence halls for undergraduates and improving older structures to make them more attractive to juniors and seniors, said Russell Carey ’91 MA’06, interim vice president for campus life and
student services. “We are not housing enough students on campus,” Carey said. “We are a residential university … and we think we are not providing the on-campus experience to enough of our students.” Currently, the University only houses about 80 percent of undergrads on campus, a proportion lower than its peer institutions, Carey said. “This level is not where we should be institutionally,” Carey said. The University would have to increase the number of residence hall beds by 600 to reach its goal of 90 percent oncampus residents, he said. “As a goal, increasing the
amount of on-campus housing has resonated well with students that we have talked with,” Carey said. But students aren’t simply concerned about the amount of available housing. “We are largely planning these dorms with upperclassmen in mind,” Carey said. “We know that what upper-class students want — like apartments, singles and suites with common space — we just don’t have enough of,” he said. In addition to new buildings, the University is considering upgrades to existing dorms. “We are looking very hard at continued on page 4
Nobel laureates praise prof’s superconductivit superconductivity theory
continued on page 4
Two-day symposium celebrates BCS theory’s 50th anniversary
SPOKEN WORD
BY CHAZ FIRESTONE SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Never say never — or for that matter, “insoluble.” That’s the philosophy of Professor of Physics Leon Cooper, whose theory of superconductivity — once thought to be an insoluble, or impossible to solve, phenomenon — revolutionized the world of physics and earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1972. Cooper, the “C” in the renowned BCS theory of superconductivity, was the keynote speaker in a scientific symposium held Thursday and today to honor the 50th anniversary of his theory’s publication. As part of the symposium, six eminent physicists with five Nobel prizes — including three of the last six given in the field — assembled Thursday for a discussion panel and two lectures in Salomon 101. Though the other Nobel prizewinners do not research superconductivity specifically, the entire twoday symposium is dedicated to BCS theory, which Vesna Mitrovic, assis-
Chris Bennett / Herald
Sarah Kay ’10 is among the performers in spoken-word poetry group WORD!, which is performing on campus this weekend. SEE ARTS & CULTURE, PAGE 3
INSIDE:
3 ARTS & CULTURE
SPRING SALE The Spring Arts Festival on the Main Green Saturday will feature edible art and musical performances
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4 CAMPUS NEWS
NOT SO OPEN AND SHUT The University is reevaluating advising programs after a University-led survey of open curricula at various colleges
Chris Bennett / Herald
Six physicists — including five with Nobel prizes — sat on a panel Thursday to honor the 50th anniversary of the BCS theory of superconductivity.
tant professor of physics and a coorganizer of the event, called “the most beautiful and influential theory of the 20th century” — even more so than Einstein’s famous theory of relativity. Superconductivity is a physical phenomenon where current flows through a supercooled metal — or superconductor — without any loss in energy. Normal metals partially impede the flow of electric current and cause some energy to be released as heat. But superconductors, which must be cooled hundreds of degrees below freezing in order to exhibit their special characteristics,
11 OPINIONS
195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island
POINT/COUNTERPOINT Sean Quigley ’10 and Michal Zapendowski ’07 debate whether or not the campaign John McCain is running is the true McCain
allow current to flow unimpeded. Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes first observed superconductivity in mercury in 1911, but explaining the phenomenon stumped scientists. Even Albert Einstein couldn’t establish a theory of superconductivity when he tried in 1922. “What we had that Einstein didn’t was a quantum theory of metals,” Cooper said. Using quantum theory, Cooper came to the conclusion that electrons, which usually repel each
12 SPORTS
continued on page 6 RUGGERS READY The men’s and women’s rugby teams are hosting the Ivy League tournament this weekend in Portsmouth
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