Daily Herald the Brown
vol. cxliv, no. 56 | Wednesday, April 22, 2009 | Serving the community daily since 1891
The New Curriculum turns 40: How’s it holding up? By Ellen Cushing Senior Staff Writer
The New Curriculum started with a handful of undergraduates who wanted to improve their college experience. Now it is the defining aspect of one of the world’s top universities — and Brown students and faculty have come to take it for granted. But as the academic attitude on campus becomes less revolutionary, some worry the University’s shifting priorities in a changing world, as well as an increasingly competitive academic climate, could detract from the core ideals of the curriculum. Some faculty and students believe a greater focus on research and a shift away from campus involvement in University governance have moved Brown away from its articulated emphasis on undergraduate education. But even as these struggles to adapt to a new educational climate
The New Curriculum at Forty: Last in a four-part series threaten to define the New Curriculum’s future, administrators say its values are more important than ever — making it a lasting testament to the power of a few Brown students.
By Brian Mastroianni Senior Staf f Writer
‘The message is very clear’ One of Brown’s most significant institutional undertakings since the implementation of the New Curriculum has been the Plan for Academic Enrichment — President Ruth Simmons’s wide-ranging blueprint to improve Brown’s academics — which calls for a dramatic expansion of the University’s faculty, graduate school and research capabilities. “Over the last decade, one of the things Brown has had to face is how to maintain that outstanding undergraduate program while building up our graduate programs and world-
She implored students to “demand the most of your college experience,” adding that “you will remember the things that challenged you, not the things that confirmed what you thought already.” In light of the uncertain state of the economy, Simmons said, a Brown education is critical in that “it demands that you not think in lazy ways,” and encourages students not to accept “any ready-made solutions.” The New Curriculum, she added, teaches students to “learn to think — and think robustly.” Both Simmons’ speech and a prior speech, given by Dean of Admission Jim Miller ’73 and Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron, focused on what it means to be a Brown student and a part of the
After commencement, more Brown economics concentrators and graduate students will be heading to graduate school or taking on professorships than pursuing jobs on Wall Street this year, according to Andrew Foster, professor of economics and chair of the department. With fewer employment opportunities in finance, economics students will be taking on graduate programs in schools throughout the country and abroad, he said. Foster said this year was unusual in that Brown’s graduate program did not have to resort to using a waitlist to fill in the incoming graduate classes, as it has in the past. Last Wednesday was Brown’s deadline for admitted graduate students to matriculate. Normally, the economics department makes 15 to 20 offers of admissions to potential graduate students each year, with a target class size of nine. Admissions to Brown’s graduate program in economics is decided by a faculty committee headed by Professor of Economics Frank Kleibergen. “This time of year students are usually scrambling because they didn’t get into their top programs — for example, Harvard — then they’ll say, ‘I didn’t get into Harvard,’ and will move down to the next level,’” Foster said. Foster said this year’s high matriculation rate is indicative of a national trend of economics students seeking out graduate school instead of direct post-college placements in jobs. Matthew Schiffman ’09 has experienced this trend firsthand. Due
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Austin Freeman / Herald
Like the University Hall, the New Curriculum remains a fixture on campus long after its foundations were laid.
class research,” said Provost David Kertzer ’69 P’95 P’98. “There is this appetite, on the part of some administrators and faculty members, for the graduate schools to become more prominent,” said Edward Ahearn, a professor of comparative literature who first came to Brown when that department was
created in 1963. But, Ahearn said, “there are some faculty that are concerned with how the University’s expansion might come into conflict with the model that is consistent with the New Curriculum, which is the university-college continued on page 4
Prefrosh, rainfall hit campus as annual ADOCH begins By Kevin Pratt Staff Writer
Rain clouds met the approximately 650 students who converged on Brown’s campus Tuesday to get a taste of University life during A Day On College Hill. The high school seniors, who came from as far as New Zealand and as close as Providence, have the opportunity to sleep in first-year residence halls, eat at Brown dining establishments, sit in on classes and take part in events put on by ADOCH planners. Though official events didn’t begin until 4 p.m., some students and parents were already on campus early Tuesday morning, taking campus tours or sheltering themselves from the rain in the Blue Room or Thayer Street restaurants. The rain didn’t put a damper on any official ADOCH events, according to ADOCH co-coordinator
More econ. students head to grad school
Simmons touts New Curriculum’s virtues
Salsabil Ahmed ’11, although a Tuesday evening barbecue was moved from the Main Green to Alumnae Hall to avoid the precipitation. “The weather is simply something we don’t have control over,” Ahmed said Tuesday night. “The rain hasn’t really affected our schedule so much. The only thing the rain affects is the prospective students.” ADOCH volunteers greeted admitted students as they registered in Faunce House in the afternoon and directed parents to Sayles Hall to be welcomed by Brown administrators. Some of the volunteers at registration and the barbecue were tasked with passing out ponchos to ADOCH attendees, Ahmed said. In the evening, President Ruth Simmons welcomed the admitted students to campus under a large tent set up in the Main Green. Later, admitted students attended talent
By Sarah Husk Senior Staff Writer
In a packed tent on the Main Green, waterlogged students with muddy shoes crowded in to hear President Ruth Simmons speak for the first time to potential members of the Class of 2013. Simmons told the crowd of admitted students sitting before her yesterday evening, “You have an exciting decision to make” — something they already knew all too well. Approximately 650 have come to campus for this year’s A Day on College Hill to decide if Brown is where they want to spend the next four years of their lives. Simmons’ speech, which focused on the unique culture and community of Brown, highlighted the challenging and rewarding nature of a Brown education.
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Independent study taps human energy By Talia Kagan Contributing Writer
Kim Perley / Herald
inside
A group of students is building a power-generating exercise machine.
News.....1-6 Higher Ed...7 Spor ts...8-9 Editorial..10 Opinion...11 Today........12
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Her name is Betsy. Right now, she lives in a garage, but the students who bought her for $200 on Craigslist hope she will one day power a light bulb. An old, rusty exercise machine, “Betsy” is the brainchild of 12 students working together through an independent study with Senior Research Engineer Christopher Bull. Once the students fully implement their design to modify their existing weight machine, Betsy will do more than help burn calories — she will
convert a weight lifter’s motion to electrical energy. The project grew out of the Brown Progress Initiative, an organization Benjamin Mandel ’09 founded last year to advance sustainable product design, he said.
FEATURE The original idea for the project was to build an energy-generating bike, said Chinmaya Kulkarni ’11, who had previously built such a machine for an environmental science class. But Mandel and Kulkarni soon
realized that designing an energygenerating bike is far from a new idea, so they decided to build an energygenerating weight-lifting machine instead, Kulkarni said. “It’s a lot more challenging technically, and it’s never been done before,” he said. It was too late to propose a Group Independent Study Project, Mandel said, so interested students enrolled in an independent study instead. Better by Design, a Brown-RISD umbrella group that encourages student incontinued on page 5
News, 3
Sports, 7
Opinions, 11
WASTE MANIACS Brown ranked near the bottom of this year’s RecycleMania competition
game, set, last match M. tennis won its last home match of the season, a 6-1 victory over Dartmouth.
Fall weekend falter Anish Mitra ’10 says the rest of the holidays have their warts, too.
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