Daily Herald the Brown
vol. cxliv, no. 118 | Friday, December 4, 2009 | Serving the community daily since 1891
Early applicant pool grows for Class of 2014 By Anne Simons Senior Staf f Writer
Early applications to Brown are up 21 percent from last year, according to Jim Miller ’73, dean of admission. They numbered over 2,850 at the Nov. 1 deadline, he said, up from 2,343 last year. Miller said the results were “unexpected,” especially during tough economic times. “It does seem that people do perceive Brown as having great value,” he said, adding that people seem “very willing to invest in a Brown education.” A difficult economic climate can sometimes lead applicants away from binding programs, like early decision admissions, that may restrict their financial aid options. Applications to the Program in Liberal Medical Education were up 35 percent over last year, Miller said. Because applications had decreased last year, this year’s increase means that about as many applicants applied this year as two years ago, he said. The number of minority applicants also rose “pretty signifi-
Nick Sinnott-Armstrong / Herald
Early applications to next year’s freshman class jumped 21 percent from last year, including a 35 percent rise in PLME applicants.
cantly,” Miller said. The University received 75 percent more applications from Hispanics than last year and 60 percent more
from blacks. The University has put a lot of effort into recruiting a diverse applicant pool, Miller said.
International applications also increased, Miller said. The stateby-state distribution of American applicants was relatively steady, he added. Also noteworthy was a 27 percent increase in the proportion of applicants who said they are interested in pursuing Bachelor of Science degrees, Miller said. Though it is impossible to know for sure, Miller said, the large increase could foreshadow changes in the regular decision numbers as well. What is “most interesting” about the overall increase is what it “portends for regular decision,” Miller said. The early applicant pool looks “very powerful,” he added. The University aims to enroll just under 1,500 students next year, as usual, Miller said. The percentage of early decision students in the final class size typically ranges from the high twenties to low thirties, he said, and he does not expect that to change this year. Decisions will be available online to applicants the night of Dec. 14.
inside
The iconic monolithic city often sits in our imagination as a society’s great achievement. But with megalopolises come suburban sprawl. Cities instead should be allowed to develop, mature and ultimately duplicate before they overextend into monolithic urban cores and space-filling suburbs, renowned architect Leon Krier told a crowd in Salomon 101 Thursday evening. Krier, author of “The Architecture of Community” and “Get Your House Right: Architectural Elements to Use and Avoid,” spoke for an hour and a half on the problems of modern urban planning, namely the use of architecture and urbanism in ways that create huge cities with suburban sprawl problems. Krier called this urban expansion a “bloody disaster,” specifically mentioning Manhattan and the proliferation of skyscrapers on the urban skyline. “Cities often look like storage areas for buildings,” he said. Instead, Krier said, planners should limit the growth of cities so that they form concentrated, controlled urban centers. New cities would then spring up nearby
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and be allowed to develop their own cores. These concentrated towns and cities would be linked by expanses of empty space, such as woods and forests, and unchecked suburban sprawl would diminish. “We need to reinforce and rebuild the small,” Krier said. Krier also talked about the intersections of urban plotting and architecture. He explained the concepts of classicism — architecture and planning that is often systematic, monumental and ornate — and the vernacular, which is characterized by a smaller scale and a greater focus on functionality than aesthetics. Classicism and the vernacular are two ways to classify both urbanism and architecture, Krier said. In some cases, such as the Roman Forum, the two styles can coexist. But Krier said the worst mix, to be avoided at all costs, was the combination of classical urbanism, with its neatly ordered plots, and vernacular architecture, with simple and plain buildings — the typical style for the average suburb. Krier took questions after his
By Talia Kagan Staff Writer
Two years after University affiliates first started receiving free bus and trolley rides from the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority as part of the agency’s contract with Brown, just under a quarter of faculty, staff and students take advantage of it
By Qian Yin Contributing Writer
each month. Under the statewide UPass program started in September 2007 the University pays an undisclosed flat rate for every ride by a University community member. But despite the free ride, most University employees drive to work
More than 700 books from the collection of the late Michael Bhatia ’99, an international relations scholar and Afghanistan expert, are now available to researchers at Brown libraries. A visiting fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies from 2006 to 2007, Bhatia was an Oxford University doctoral candidate when he was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan in May 2008. He had been working there as a civilian member of a U.S. Army Human Terrain Team, according to the University. Brown received Bhatia’s library collection from his family at the end of June, said Medical School Librarian Tovah Reis. With the first stage of processing completed, Bhatia’s books are now available to researchers in the Rockefeller and the John Hay libraries, she said. The remaining part of the collection, including papers and conference proceedings, will be available to the public in the future, she said. The complete collection includes primary resources such as posters from the first election in Afghanistan, according to James Der Derian, professor of international studies, who said he has looked through the collection. “He had one of probably the best conventional libraries of international relations that I’ve come across,” Der Derian said. Der Derian directed a documentary titled “Human Terrain,” focusing on the Human Terrain system
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Architect envisions a One in four at U. take tale of smaller cities RIPTA each month By Caitlin Trujillo Staf f Writer
Late scholar’s work donated to U. libraries
Herald to welcome 120th editorial board By Yuan Na’in-Tien Seniors
Kim Perley / Herald
Left to right: Sophia Li ’11, Seth Motel ’11, Ellen Cushing ’10, Joanna Wohlmuth ’11 and George Miller ’11 (horizontal) at 195 Angell Thursday.
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The Herald will introduce the 120th editorial board and a new slate of leaders in the organization at the annual staff banquet tonight at Cav Restaurant downtown. With the calendar year of Herald production coming to an end today, the new leadership is effective Jan. 1. Leading next year’s group will be George Miller ’11, who will serve as editor-in-chief and president of The Herald. The Fairfax, Va. native, who has served as metro editor over the past year, boasts a breadth of experience as a reporter and as an editor both on and off campus, and hopes to be the steady hand on the tiller in 2010. We know he will do a good job — we continued on page 2
News, 3
Arts, 5
Passing health care Prof. James Morone outlined what Obama must do to pass health reform
Reflection in opera “Doris to Darlene” is the latest productions from Sock and Buskin’s
195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island
Editor’s Note Today’s issue is the final print edition of the semester. Publication will resume in January. Thanks for reading. herald@browndailyherald.com