Daily Herald the Brown
vol. cxlv, no. 88 | Tuesday, October 12, 2010 | Serving the community daily since 1891
Recent grad sues Brown; says U. ‘not above the law’
a w esome blossoms
By Ben Schreckinger Metro Editor
Freddy Lu / Herald
Perhaps preparing for the pumpkin-carving contest later this month, Sharpe Refectory artisans displayed carved watermelon creations Friday.
A recent graduate filed a lawsuit Oct. 5 against the University, President Ruth Simmons and other senior administrators, stemming from the University’s handling of disciplinary action against him. This is the second federal lawsuit pending against the University for its handling of disciplinary matters through the Office of Student Life. William McCormick III, a former member of the class of 2010, also has an ongoing suit against the University for a 2006 rape accusation made against him that he maintains is false. Now, Joe Klunder ’10, originally a member of the class of 2007, is seeking $2 million in damages from the University, Simmons, Provost David Kertzer ’69 P’95 P’98, Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services
Margaret Klawunn and other Brown employees for alleged infliction of emotional distress, civil conspiracy and violations of the First, Fourth, Sixth and 14th Amendments. The complaint further alleges breach of contract, false arrest and false imprisonment against the University. The complaint lists McCormick’s lawsuit as a related case. If the court agrees the two cases are in fact related Klunder’s suit will be tried by the same judge, William Smith. Vice President for Public Affairs and University Relations Marisa Quinn told The Herald Oct. 5 that the general counsel’s office was unaware of the lawsuit. As of press time, she had not responded to requests for follow-up comment left late Monday. The complaint seeks to have the University declared a quasi-governcontinued on page 2
news in brief
Bad news strikes Bears in weekend football matchup
Lost students found in N.H.
Newhall-Caballero ’11 out for season; team falls to Holy Cross
Three Brown students were rescued after being lost for a night in the White Mountains. New Hampshire Fish and Game officers and volunteers found them safe at 2 a.m. Monday morning. The Associated Press reported that the students were with a group of about a dozen hikers in Franconia Notch on Sunday afternoon when they decided to explore on their own. Fish and Game Sergeant Brian Suttmeier told the AP that the three men were not wearing appropriate clothing and had no flashlights, food or matches with them when they decided to go off the trail. The students did have a cell phone, which they used to call for help on Sunday evening. Suttmeier said officials may try to seek reimbursement for the rescue, the AP reported.
inside
— Fei Cai
News.....1–2 Metro.....3 A r t s. . . . . . . . 4 Spor ts.....5 Editorial....6 Opinion.....7 Today........8
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By Ethan McCoy Sports Staff Writer
In a span of just over a week, the football team suffered three heartbreaking losses — dropping two games and losing its First Team AllIvy quarterback for the season. The Bears (2-2, 1-0 Ivy League) fell for the second consecutive week as they lost to Holy Cross Saturday
afternoon, 17-13. After several shoot- was hit as he was throwing and fell outs in their matchups in the past few awkwardly on his wrist, breaking it. Head Coach Phil Estes cited the seasons, Saturday’s game saw the Crusaders (3-3) come out on top in role of “many injuries” in the team’s a defensive battle. disappointing play, but said that the In the week main reason for this leading up to weekend’s loss was SPORTS the game, Bruthat the Bears were “playing flat.” no was dealt a major blow when the team learned that tri-captain QB Kyle “We need to play a little more Newhall-Caballero ’11 would miss the inspired,” Estes said. “No excuses.” The players also recognized the remainder of the season after suffering a broken wrist in the overtime need to overcome the spell of injuries loss to University of Rhode Island a going forward. “Injuries are a part of the game,” week ago. On the last play of regulation in that game, Newhall-Caballero said QB Patrick Donnelly ’13, who
was under center for most of the game in Newhall-Caballero’s absence. “Everybody’s ready for when their name’s called.” Joe Springer ’11 started the Saturday game at quarterback but gave way to Donnelly after an ineffective first quarter, in which all three drives ended without a first down gained. Donnelly demonstrated mobility and quickness in his first extended period of playing time at the varsity collegiate level. He finished with 217 yards passing, one touchdown and continued on page 5
Student exhibit continues Columbus Day dialogue By Emma Wohl Contributing Writer
Though faculty made the decision to change the name of the recent October holiday from Columbus Day to Fall Weekend last year, the dialogue continues in an exhibit at the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology.
ARTS & CULTURE “Reimagining Columbus, Reimagining Columbus Day,” curated by graduate students, puts Brown’s decision in the context of the holiday’s history, according to Steve Lubar, professor of American civilization and director of the Haffenreffer Museum. As part of the museum-wide exhibit “Reimagining the Americas,” which discusses how ancient indigenous peoples have been represented by anthropologists, this smaller show aims at “bringing that discussion up
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to date,” Lubar said. Preceding the exhibit’s opening Friday was a performance at List Art Center by Apache singer Boe Titla, who is performing at a number of East Coast universities this fall. Before Titla began, the audience was treated to a surprise opening act. Rose Simpson, a graduate student at the Rhode Island School of Design and a member of Native Americans at Brown, performed songs and spoken word she wrote about life in her home town, the Santa Clara pueblo of New Mexico. Simpson moved about the stage, beginning by facing away from the audience and drawing on a blackboard as she sang. She moved between speech and soulful song, English and the Tewa language of the pueblo, in an unconventional but engaging manner. Her songs, particularly the final number dedicated to her grandcontinued on page 4
Back to roots
Hilary Rosenthal / Herald
A performance by Apache singer Boe Titla preceded the exhibit’s opening.
New spotlight
Teen trouble David Sheffield ’11 condemns bullying of queer teens Opinions, 7
On-campus recruiting is making a comeback
Local cycling club abandons corporate sponsorship
PVD’s first women’s film festival to show work of alumni
NEWS, 2
metro, 3
arts, 4
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
C ampus N EWS
“Plaintiff asks this Court to find that Brown University is not above the law.” — Lawsuit filed against U. by Joe Klunder ’10
Recent alum seeks damages from U. continued from page 1
mental “body politic” — rather than a private institution — making it liable for violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1871. The complaint cites the University’s charter, granted in 1764 by Rhode Island’s General Assembly, which refers to the University as a “body politic” with the ability to “make laws,” and the existence of Brown’s own autonomous police force in making this claim.
“Fundamentally,” the complaint states, “Plaintiff asks this Court to find that Brown University is not above the law.” Legally, the University holds the status of a nonprofit corporation, according to the Rhode Island Secretary of State’s online corporate database. At Brown, the politically conservative and “psychologically fragile” Klunder “felt alienated in the midst of a liberal student body, faculty and administration,” according to the
complaint. The complaint states that in spring 2005 Klunder discussed his concerns about interacting with gay students with Carla Hansen, a former associate dean of student life, and that the conversation carried legally binding confidentiality because Hansen is a clinical social worker. In the conversation, Klunder asked Hansen “about homosexual experiences,” according to the complaint. But Hansen allegedly later disseminated a report of the conversation to employees of the Office of Student Life who were pursuing disciplinary measures against Klunder. Hansen is no longer employed by the University. Her listed phone number in Providence is currently out of service. The complaint alleges that any inappropriate behavior by Klunder was at least partly a result of medication prescribed to him by University Health Services. That summer, Klunder received a letter from Associate Dean of Student Life Terry Addison summoning him to a dean’s hearing for “several reports” of “sexually harassing comments.” Klunder then took a two-year leave of absence from Brown. Soon after returning to Brown in 2007, Klunder was disturbed late at night by noisy members of the Sigma Chi fraternity, according to continued on page 5
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Tuesday, October 12, 2010
news in brief
Seniors may see more recruiters for jobs on campus More firms appear to be coming to recruit graduating seniors this year than in the recent past, according to Andrew Simmons, director of the Career Development Center. Though Simmons does not have statistics, he said there certainly is not a decline in job opportunities for seniors. Due to the recession, unemployment in the U.S. has risen sharply and was likely to peak in 2010, according to the Economic Policy Institute. But current predictions by the National Association of Colleges and Employers indicate that the class of 2011 will have more job opportunities than the class of 2010 and that 13.5 percent more will be employed. Companies seem more interested in recruiting Brown students this year, but students here have done quite well throughout the recession too, Simmons said. Hiring of Brown students has continued throughout the recession, and students have shown a positive attitude in surveys conducted by the Career Development Center, he said. More than 100 jobs are currently posted on the career center’s website, and “Brown continues to be a very attractive place,” both to employers and graduate schools, Simmons said. Employers as diverse as Facebook, Teach for America and consulting firms came to this year’s career fair. Medical and law schools are also very interested in Brown students, and there were more than 32 law schools at the law school fair, including Harvard and Cornell, Simmons added. The Career Development Center is offering more advising on weekends and evenings this year. The center is additionally starting “Coffee and Careers” with career advisers and deans on Monday mornings, which will start Oct. 18, Simmons said. — Anna Lillkung
Metro The Brown Daily Herald
“We want to increase cohesion in the biker community.” — Mark Greve, an executive director of the Velo Club Tuesday, October 12, 2010 | Page 3
Local cyclers abandon corporate name, ride out with own identity By Crystal Vance Guerra Contributing Writer
Four years of corporate sponsorship is quite enough for the Providence Velo Club, said Mark Greve, one of the club’s three executive directors. Previously racing under the Refunds Now Tax Services company name, the cycling club chose to reclaim its identity in September. “The team was ready to go,” Greve said. “We felt that we were getting away from our roots as a community cycling club.” The Velo Club -— formed about 15 years ago — has 14 members, three of whom are Brown graduate students. But it lost several sponsors and became financially unstable, Greve said. In 2006, club member Michael Brier offered to title sponsor the club through his company, Refunds Now, on Wickenden Street. Now, four years later, the club will
form a new partnership with Reed Caster, who owns two local bicycle shops — one in Warwick and one soon to open on the East Side. “Refunds Now did an excellent job supporting the team financially,” Caster said. But racing under that name had unintended consequences for the club. “When you’re under corporate sponsorship, you labor after a business name,” Greve said. “The corporate perspective is less likely to appear as community-friendly.” Corporate sponsorship also implies responsibility, Greve said, adding that “people want to ride their bikes for fun,” not as a requirement. “We want to make sure that people are pretty free,” he said. The sponsorship with Refunds Now is set to end in December, but it is by no means an end to all sponsorship.
“We are just looking for a lot less from sponsors,” Greve said. Caster’s Bicycles and Fitness co-sponsored the club for the past three years. The store will not provide direct financial support but will instead give member discounts on merchandise. “Many of these guys have good jobs,” Caster said. “It’s more important that they have a reliable shop.” Caster said that at first he was a cautious sponsor. Many times teams “don’t think that they have a responsibility to their sponsor,” he said. But, describing the club’s members as people who “race for the love of racing,” Caster highlighted the club’s “older professional attitude” as a significant factor in the sponsorship agreement. “They are not jerks to the general citizenry,” Caster said. Caster’s plan to open up a bike shop on the East Side in late October
is another reason the club sought store sponsorship, Greve said. “We want to increase cohesion in the biker community,” Greve said, signaling the bike shop and its potential as a uniting space for all bikers as a big step toward this goal. Greve said the Velo Club aims to bring community-oriented events and non-competitive group rides to Providence. The Velo Club already hosts the Mark Nicholson Smack Down, an
open group ride that takes place throughout the year, designed by and in honor of a former member who died. There is also an annual memorial race in early April for Chris Hinds, founder of the club. Instead of using sponsor money for uniforms, the club has refocused its efforts to provide more training, practice group rides, nutrition and racing advice as well as to organize continued on page 4
Arts & Culture The Brown Daily Herald
Tuesday, October 12, 2010 | Page 4
Providence film festival brings women’s works to Cable Car’s screen By Fei Cai Senior Staff Writer
Never heard of Alice Guy-Blache, Lea Giunchi or Lois Weber? That’s OK. According to Margaret Hennefeld GS, who is studying modern culture and media, many women filmmakers were “written out of mainstream film histories,” even though they were very involved in the early years of cinema. This is one of the reasons Hen-
nefeld and Matthew Noble-Olson GS, another MCM student, organized the Providence Women’s Film Festival, running Tuesday through Sunday at the Cable Car Cinema with free admission. This is the first women’s film festival to take place in Providence. Many of the films are by Brown and Rhode Island School of Design alums. Films range from Guy-Blache’s “The Cabbage Fairy,” released in
1896, the year after the invention of the moving picture, to Cheryl Dunye’s “The Owls,” released this year. “We have a lot of popular early films by women directors that no one has really heard of before,” Hennefeld said. “And then we have the classical notion of a women’s film, which is something like a ’40s Hollywood tearjerker or melodrama or screwball comedy that is specifically targeted toward a female audience.” She added that the festival also has “a lot of 1970s and ’80s avantgarde experimental films that are specifically about questions of representation, how women are depicted in front of the camera, how women are objectified.” More than 40 films will be screened on the six nights of the festival. The reason so many can be included is that many productions are shorts, Hennefeld said.
“It takes a lot of backing and capital to make a feature-length film,” she said, adding that this raises the issue of “economics of film production, the problem about how women are underrepresented as filmmakers in the industry.” If the festival only showcased full-length films, many interesting pieces would be neglected, she added. The festival also includes many foreign films, some of which are rare or difficult to obtain with English subtitles. Noble-Olson said obtaining screening rights for one of the Chinese films, Liu Jiayin’s “Oxhide II” — about the tensions that arise as the director and her family make dumplings — took months of emailing. The festival will also feature question-and-answer sessions with special guests including Yvonne Rainer, a choreographer and director, Yvonne
Welbon, a director of eight films and a TV series, and Patricia White, a writer and professor of film studies at Swarthmore College. Films by Rainer and Welbon will also be shown during the festival. A symposium Friday in Barus and Holley will bring together the guest speakers on a panel moderated by Professor of Modern Culture and Media Mary Ann Doane. The panel will discuss the meaning of women’s film and “its implications for feminist filmmaking theory and practice today,” according to the MCM department’s website. “Perhaps most important to the festival is the question of what the women’s film actually is,” Hennefeld said. She added that the festival will attempt not to answer the question, but rather to spark more discussion and interest in the topic.
Artists give perspective to Columbus Day continued from page 1 mother, were hauntingly beautiful. When she finished, Titla took to the stage. Interspersing detailed stories and simple songs about his life, he gave an impression of the landscape of his home, his childhood and his transition from cowboy to country singer to a more traditional musical focus on his origins. In one story, he told the audience how he learned to play the guitar by watching and listening to his older brother. “To this day, I don’t know the names of the chords,” he said. After the performance, guests made their way up the hill to the Haffenreffer for the exhibit’s open-
ing reception. Nestled in a small corner of the already compact Haffenreffer, “Reimagining Columbus, Reimagining Columbus Day” gives a concise summary of Columbus Day’s history. Four display cases focus on Columbus’ first contact with the Taino people, the movement to make a national holiday starting in 1893, perceptions and representations of American Indians and Brown’s recent controversy over changing the name of the holiday. In the display about the reaction at Brown, guests can find photos from last year’s protests, an old article from The Herald, letters from students, administrators and faculty and the
original petition signed by students to change the holiday’s name. Many items in this final display were contributed by the Task Force on the Legacy of American Colonialism, a student group that organized a number of events around the Columbus Day issue last week. “Our mission is basically to continue the dialogue,” said member Reiko Koyama ’11. “Reimagining Columbus, Reimagining Columbus Day” is part of a larger attempt to bring the museum into the public eye with more studentorganized, current events-focused exhibits. “This is the beginning of what I hope is a new style of exhibits at the Haffenreffer,” Lubar said.
Cycling club name changed continued from page 3 more community events. “Cycling as a culture is continuing to grow,” Caster said, pointing to a upsurge in amateur biking, especially among college students who use biking as their main means of transportation. The sport’s relative safety also contributes to its popularity. “You only have to worry about crashing,” Greve said. The club members themselves cross many generations, he said. “I’m 41 years old and I can (match) a 20-year-old in a race,” he added. Despite the decrease in funding, Greve said he is optimistic about the club’s future. He said the greater local focus, the new bike shop on the East Side and the increasing popularity of cycling in general will yield future “organic” growth. “Good things are coming,” said Caster. “I think the community will be pleased.”
SportsTuesday The Brown Daily Herald
Football faced loss, injury this weekend continued from page 1 one interception, in addition to 43 yards on the ground. Wide receiver Alex Tounkara ’11 had another noteworthy performance with his third 100-yard game of the year, pulling in eight catches for 104 yards. Holy Cross struck first with a field goal in the first quarter before extending its lead to 10-0 on a touchdown pass from quarterback Ryan Taggart to receiver Bill Edger. The Bears responded, as Donnelly led the offense on an impressive nine-play, 76-yard drive. Running back Mark Kachmer ’13 punched it in from five yards out for his third rushing touchdown of the year. The extra point attempt was blocked, and Holy Cross led 10-6 with 11:14 remaining in the half. As the half was closing, Donnelly put the Bears on top, 13-10, after orchestrating another long drive, this one spanning 75 yards. The score came on a seven-yard, sophomore-tosophomore connection to WR Tellef Lundevall ’13. Lundevall caught the ball around the five-yard line before muscling his way into the end zone to give Bruno the halftime lead. But this would be the last Bear score of the day. Holy Cross reclaimed the lead in the third quarter when Taggart again connected with Edger on a 12-yard scoring play. Edger beat the one-on-one coverage
on a slant route over the middle and was wide open for what proved to be the winning touchdown, as the Crusaders pulled ahead 17-13 with 3:14 remaining in the third quarter. The Bears had several opportunities to reclaim the lead late in the game, but could not put the ball in the end zone. The offense failed to capitalize on a first-and-goal opportunity from the Holy Cross eightyard line early in the fourth quarter. Bruno turned the ball over on downs after a Donnelly rush was stopped on fourth-and-goal from the four-yard line, in what was the team’s best scoring chance of the second half. “We need to keep a high level of energy and a sense of urgency on every snap,” Donnelly said of the offense’s goals for greater consistency. “Every single person has to win every single play. That’s when you start to sustain drives and put points on the board.” Despite suffering two tough
losses in a row, the Bears remain 1-0 in conference play, with that win coming over Harvard, the media’s preseason favorites to win the Ivy League. Next week, Bruno will travel to Princeton (1-3, 0-1) for its second conference matchup of the year, a game that Estes feels may define the team’s season. “I hope they get excited,” Estes said. “We need to get going (and) we need to decide what kind of team we need to be.” The new quar terback also stressed the importance of the team’s rebound in the wake of Newhall-Caballero’s injury. “We’ve faced some adversity,” Donnelly said. “But a sign of a great team is when you can get past this adversity and win games.” The Bears know they must do just that in their remaining six games if they are to reach their goal of an Ivy League championship.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010 | Page 5
U. sued over discipline continued from page 2
the complaint. In a later encounter, Klunder noted that the brothers who disturbed him were black, and “he further stated that he was concerned that someone would be stabbed during an altercation in expressing his fear,” the complaint states. According to the complaint, these comments were later misconstrued as a threat against black students. Klunder subsequently faced a
disciplinary hearing for the alleged threat and for the 2005 accusations of sexual harassment. He was then ejected from campus by a Department of Public Safety officer and ordered to remain at a hotel until he left the state, according to the complaint. Two months later at the hearing, Klunder was not found responsible of making a threat, but was found responsible of the other charges and suspended until spring 2009.
Editorial & Letters The Brown Daily Herald
Page 6 | Tuesday, October 12, 2010
l e t t e r to t h e e d i to r
Brown-Secure’s not so bad To the Editor: I read the recent Herald article about Brown-Secure (“Wireless issues widespread, but some are easy to solve,” Oct. 7) and winced a little when I heard about people who have resorted to using Brown-EZ all the time. Brown-EZ is “easy” to set up each time, sure, but setting it up every single time you turn on your computer gets really old really fast. Plus, Brown-EZ doesn’t work with Brown-licensed software, PAWPrints or even AIM. Is there a better way to use the Internet wirelessly? Definitely. Brown-Secure doesn’t work unless you set it up the first time, but after that it remembers you forever. To set it up, you’ll have to follow a few instructions and, if you’re running Windows, you’ll have to download a special wireless client — check out
www.brown.edu/cis/guide/wireless for information. If you want help setting up Brown-Secure on your laptop or smartphone, stop by the CIS Help Desk or talk to a CIS consultant in the SciLi, Rock or CIT. I’m one of those consultants, and I promise we’ll be able to help! I know the steps to set up BrownSecure can look a little intimidating, but it’s totally worth it. Running Photoshop from your laptop, getting WiFi on your phone in the basement of Biomed, printing from your laptop straight to a printer without having to log in at a library computer first (Google “PAWPrints Brown University”) — set up Brown-Secure now and your life will pretty much be awesome.
ALEX YULY
Rahul Banerjee ’10 MD ’14 Oct. 9
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A false dichotomy The process to reform the University’s tenure review procedures stalled last week after the faculty voted to withdraw the proposals from consideration and refer them to the Faculty Executive Committee. The proposals would, for instance, stop departments from revealing the identities of outside references to tenure candidates and allow deans to supplement the department’s review by soliciting additional references. Though these changes may seem technical or irrelevant to students, some faculty members are acting as if the nature of the undergraduate experience at Brown is at stake. Despite our strong belief in the value and uniqueness of this experience, we’re not convinced these faculty members are correct. Several faculty members allege that the administration is overly focused on Brown’s research credentials and rankings, and wants to adjust the tenure review process to emphasize scholarship over teaching and advising. Professor of Comparative Literature Arnold Weinstein told Inside Higher Ed last week he was worried about the “possible erosion of the value of undergraduate teaching” and the “unintended devaluing” of the College. Professor of American Civilization Susan Smulyan told Inside Higher Ed in April that Brown is a “very unusual place” because unlike Harvard or Yale, professors here “could make a career where teaching mattered and where community mattered.” After reading these quotes and hearing off-therecord comments from other faculty members, our first reaction was to defend the College from the encroachment of rankings-oriented administrators. But we now think that our initial views were simplistic and mistaken. Indeed, the view typified by those quotes presents a false dichotomy between research and teaching. Brown’s culture and undergraduate focus are surely unique, but this culture isn’t simply the result
of a faculty that cares about students. Rather, what makes Brown unique is that faculty members are both excellent teachers and leading scholars in their fields. And students choose Brown not simply for the opportunity to work with a devoted faculty, but to work with a devoted faculty that also happens to be among the best in the world when judged on the criteria of research and expertise. We reject the notion that the two pillars of a great faculty — teaching and research — are irrevocably in tension or that Brown students are only entitled to excellence in one of the two. Some have argued that because junior faculty are making decisions each day about how to allocate their time, they may feel pressured by an apparent zero-sum game — a minute spent talking to a student is a minute that can’t be devoted to making the next great discovery. But we hope that Brown attracts faculty who have a desire and an ability to balance the two. Plenty of other schools relieve professors of the pressure to publish and demand only maximum time in the classroom. And plenty of other schools would be more than happy to overlook teaching incompetence and hire a brilliant scholar. We want professors who care about both teaching and research and can do both at a high level — that’s what truly defines Brown. Though the reform process has stalled, we look forward to continuing the conversation about which specific proposals best achieve these goals and which may go too far. But considering that students here beat a 9 percent admission rate and pay nearly $50,000 a year, we’re receptive to the idea that the requirements for a lifetime job guarantee at Brown should be demanding. Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.
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Opinions The Brown Daily Herald
Tuesday, October 12, 2010 | Page 7
Make it better David sheffield Opinions Columnist National Coming Out Day had quite the buildup to Monday’s celebration of being open about one’s sexual orientation and gender. Rather than a rise in expectations or excitement, the buildup was of bodies. At least six teenagers killed themselves in September. Some of them were out of the closet, while others, still young and figuring out their identity, were not. Calling them all queer teens is not quite accurate, but the bullies who harassed many of them for years had no such reservation. Raymond Chase, a 19-year-old openly gay Johnson and Wales student, hanged himself in his Providence dorm room two weeks ago. Asher Brown, 13, was bullied for 18 months and was tripped down a flight of stairs by another student the day before he shot himself. Seth Walsh, 13, hanged himself after years of bullying — including on that very day. Cody Barker, 17, had planned to start a gay–straight alliance before committing suicide. Billy Lucas, 15, also hanged himself after harassment by classmates who thought he “did not deserve to live.” Tyler Clementi, 18, has probably received the most attention after jumping to his death in the Hudson River. Just three weeks into his first year at Rutgers, his roommate streamed video of what news organizations have delicately called an “intimate encounter” that Clementi had with another man.
Unlike the other cases of harassment and assault, Clementi’s roommate and a friend who helped distribute video of the hookup are being investigated for criminal charges. In some of the other suicides, police have stated that they do not consider the harassment to be criminal. These suicides may have received widespread attention in recent weeks, but they are sadly all too common. Queer teens attempt suicide at several times the rate of straight ones. Based on the statistics, the publicized deaths in September must have
tant that everyone thinks queer people are sinners — why wouldn’t bullies harass such depraved and immoral people? The problem is not confined to bullies; cruel children do not develop in a vacuum. Many school administrators choose to ignore the harassment as happened before several of the September suicides. The bullies receive weekly support from their churches’ haphazard application of Old Testament passages. Conservative politicians continue to capitalize on hostility toward queer people in order to win votes with little work. Lib-
These suicides may have received widespread attention in recent weeks, but they are sadly all too common.
only been a fraction of the actual number of suicides. This long-standing problem is only just getting the attention it deserves. While 90 percent of queer teens report being harassed and 39 percent of those in middle school report violence against them, conservatives continue to block anti-bullying programs. Groups like Focus on the Family criticize anti-bullying programs for promoting the gay agenda. They want people — queer and straight — to remain under the impression that “alternative lifestyles” are wrong and shameful. It does not matter if kids get harassed, are assaulted or even commit suicide, because it is more impor-
eral politicians still try to gain queer votes by claiming to support equal rights — albeit separate ones. What can we do to stop this? If schools will not allow people to tell students that it is okay to be different, lest we turn them gay, we must get around them. The Internet helps dissidents circumvent totalitarian regimes, and it can help us circumvent bigoted teachers and parents — a far easier feat. Dan Savage started the “It Gets Better Project” on YouTube with one simple, eponymous message to teens wandering the Web: it gets better. Hundreds of people have posted videos
to YouTube talking about what they went through as teenagers and what their lives are like now. Videos have been submitted from across the LGBT community — Savage and his husband, well-known people from a transsexual porn star to the director of the ACLU, countless queer people and heterosexual allies — all telling teens that they are not alone and talking about resources like the Trevor Project, which promotes mental health and suicide prevention in the LGBT community. While the It Gets Better Project cannot solve the problem in its entirety, but it helps. As Harvey Milk said in his famous “You Gotta Give Them Hope” speech, “I know that you cannot live on hope alone, but without it, life is not worth living.” These videos must only be a temporary measure; they are ad hoc support. It is not enough to just tell teenagers that life will one day get better while they often face the better part of a decade surrounded by bigoted classmates, parents and towns. We must make their lives better now. Tell any struggling teens you know that you support them and are there if they ever need your help. Give them hope. Make a video if you were harassed about what your life is like now. Urge your school boards to deal with this problem. Demand that politicians give equal civil rights to all citizens. The only way to change this is for teens to know that being queer is acceptable, but being a bully is not. David Sheffield ’11 is a math-physics concentrator from New Jersey. He can be harangued at david_sheffield@brown.edu
Happiness with a lowercase ‘h’ by michelle uhrick Opinions Columnist When I was in high school, I used to believe that college was the end-all. I thought that if you achieved enough, ticker-tape would fall from the sky and you would win at life, with Happiness guaranteed forever. Unfortunately, this turned out not to be the case. Ever y round of accomplishments only brings more to do, new challenges to overcome. The trick, I realized, is not to reach that magic level where this cycle stops: the trick is to live so that this is a good thing. And so I began living for happiness with a lowercase “h.” Despite this, I cannot help myself: faced with a major life choice, I devote ever ything I have to analyzing ever y option. So, like ever y senior without a set path into finance, law, medicine or graduate school, my impending graduation sent me into a frenzy of doing exactly that. It often seems like your job after college is the last big life choice you make, and that after that your life just fast-for wards until the mid- life crisis. Unfortunately, this also happens to be exactly what ever yone above the age of 35 describes as having happened to their lives. I spent the second semester of my junior year convinced that if I made the wrong choice now, I would wake up one day in my thirties or forties and realize that I had not been happy for years.
However, my summer spent in New York opened my eyes. I was surrounded by people who seemed to embody ever y aspect of my potential future. My roommates, also college grads, were in their late twenties and were working in retail, part-time in one case, and would skip work to spend their days at the beach with their boyfriends and their nights out at wine bars in the city. They would wash their clothes using cold water only, and each paycheck would put a $20 bill in a piggy
I wanted to ask each person, “Was it worth it? Are you happy?” The problem, of course, is that people are incomparable. If the person working in investment banking is happy and the one working for a nonprofit is unhappy, that still would mean nothing, because neither of those people is me. A workaholic might be happy in either job. And certain professions always insist that their jobs are awful — lawyers and professors come to mind. Most electricians I have met told me they
I spent the second semester of my junior year convinced that if I made the wrong choice now, I would wake up one day in my thirties or forties and realize that I had not been happy for years.
bank for emergency medical expenses. My co-worker at my boutique consulting firm was 26 and getting married in the fall, and was already living in a house in New Jersey. I met MIT students working for investment banks who said they worked 80 hours a week, often took a cab home from work at 3 a.m., fell asleep and were woken up by the cab driver, only to head straight back to work by 9 a.m. Another friend was working a similar (although less strenuous) schedule, but for a nonprofit organization working to expand public health care in Nigeria.
love their jobs. But how much of this happiness is attributable to personality and disposition, rather than actual benefits? My breakthrough came when I went to Brown’s annual networking dinner in New York, which is filled with Brown grads in all fields who are anywhere from five to 25 years out of college. “I felt like graduating college was the finish line, the big test,” said one of the alumni, who went from waiting tables while tr ying to break into the movie business in California to being a successful entertainment executive, “but it’s not.” One college grad in his later twen-
ties, who had spent his time since graduation tr ying to start up his own nonprofit and was thinking of going back for his Master’s, told me, “People say life is short, but it’s actually pretty long. You have plenty of time to drift around and tr y different career paths.” Another Brown alum, who had gone from being half of a two-person journalism nonprofit to getting her Master’s in business and working for a major consulting firm, told me that she did not regret anything — that, if she had to do it all over again, she would both work for the nonprofit all those years and switch career tracks in the end. The more I look into applications, the more I see exactly this. The majority of law students have at least two years of postgraduate experience, in any field; you can apply for a Fulbright to study for a master’s abroad at almost any time. So many of the people I met were both happy with where they had been and where they were now, even when those two places were completely different. I realized in New York that what these people were tr ying to tell me was that this is your life and there is no finish line — there’s always change and opportunity, and the pursuit of happiness with a lowercase “h.”
Michelle Uhrick ’11 is graduating in May and doesn’t regret anything. She can be reached at michelle_uhrick@brown.edu
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