Daily Herald the Brown
vol. cxlv, no. 116 | Friday, November 19, 2010 | Serving the community daily since 1891
Library security changed
Men’s Soccer beats bc
By Claire Peracchio Senior Staff Writer
By Qian Yin Staff Writer
In an effort to simultaneously increase safety in University buildings and streamline security operations, a number of changes are being instituted to restrict access to the Rockefeller and Sciences libraries. Starting this year, students are required to swipe their ID cards to enter the Rockefeller Library after 10 p.m., when the library closes to the public, according to David Banush, associate university librarian for access services. Card readers were installed last year on the doors of the library and a number of other campus buildings, including J. Walter Wilson, in an effort to enhance security on campus, said Mark Porter, executive director and chief of public safety. Readers were also put in place on the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center doors when it opened this year. The card readers prevent anyone who is not a member of the Brown community from entering these buildings to help ensure the safety of those inside, Porter said. He said the changes were not prompted by a change in crime patterns at the libraries. Banush said that over winter break, a card-operated turnstile system will be installed in the Rockcontinued on page 2
Corp. fellow faces new suit on day of GM IPO
Jonathan Bateman / Herald
Jon Okafor ’11 (left), Sean Rosa ’12 and the rest of the men’s soccer team will head to the second round of the NCAA tournament. See sports, page 5.
Thursday should have been a good day for Steven Rattner ’74 P’10 P’13. But on the day that General Motors’ initial public offering dramatically reduced the government’s stake in the company he helped to restructure, the former “car czar” faced a $26 million fine and a lifetime ban from the New York securities industry for his alleged involvement in a pay-to-play scandal, multiple news sources reported Thursday. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed two lawsuits against Rattner, accusing him of trading kickbacks to New York public pension fund leadership for a $150 million investment in Quadrangle Group LLC, the private equity firm
Film Festival hosts whirlwind competition By Jake Comer Staff Writer
Brown’s more adventurous filmmakers won’t get much opportunity for rest this weekend. The Ivy Film Festival’s annual 48 Hour Film Competition begins this evening at 8 p.m., when the teams of Brown students participating in the competition will be given their prompts. Then they’ll have until 8:00 p.m. on Sunday to put together what will hopefully be an award-winning short film.
“The ideal film would have a compelling story, good shots, clean audio and still follow the prompts,” wrote Travis Bogosian ’13, one of the Festival’s programming directors, in an e-mail to The
ARTS & CULTURE Herald. He added that they anticipate six teams to enter this year. In previous years most teams have had five or six members. The competition is put together by a group of Brown students that
helps organize the Ivy Film Festival each year. Festival Director Debbie Lai ’12 told The Herald that the 48-hour competition and movie screenings — this year, Danny Boyle’s “127 Hours” — hosted by the Ivy Film Festival each fall, are intended to generate excitement for the week-long Festival in the spring. A team of programming directors from the Ivy Film Festival devises prompts for the filmmakers continued on page 4
Brown pioneering contemplative studies initiative By Natalie Villacorta Staff Writer
inside
North of Pembroke campus sits a house that looks — from the outside — much like neighboring houses. But inside is a different story. The house has a laboratory in the basement and a prayer hall on the second floor. The Cheetah House, located at 185 Brown Street, was founded in 2008 for Brown students seeking a supportive environment for their contemplative practices. The house’s name comes from “citta,” the Sanskrit word for both heart and mind. “Meditation is mind training, but also the cultivation of heart qualities” like compassion and empathy, said founder Willoughby Britton. Studies show that meditation improves attention and emotional regulation, said Britton, a research associate in psychiatry and human behavior at the Warren Alpert School of Medicine. For that reason, stu-
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dents practicing meditation should have better focus and control over their emotions than other students. Britton and Professor of Religious Studies Harold Roth are leading the Brown Contemplative Studies Initiative. Brown is considered a pioneer in the newly developing field of Contemplative Studies, which is committed to the study of contemplative practices and their potential, Roth said. The goal of the initiative is to establish a center for contemplative studies where students and researchers can study and develop objective and subjective approaches to contemplative practice through a variety of disciplines including science, humanities and the creative arts. Britton is the leader of the scientific side of Brown’s initiative. Her research focuses on the effects of meditation on attention and emotion regulation. continued on page 3
that he founded. Rattner, a fellow on Brown’s Corporation and a former Herald editor-in-chief, left Quadrangle in February 2009 to head the president’s auto industry task force. In a separate matter Thursday, Rattner agreed to a $6.2 million settlement on earlier pay-to-play charges levelled by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The deal bans Rattner for two years from investment advising and securities trading. Both Cuomo, also New York’s governor-elect, and the SEC accused Rattner of employing favors — including agreeing to distribute a movie produced by the pension fund’s chief investment officer, donating to the campaign of former continued on page 2
BUGS gets campy in ‘Ruddigore’ By Ben Kutner Staff Writer
“I’m modesty personified!” quips Sir Ruthven Murgatroyd (Phil Arevalo ’11 ) in the Brown University Gilbert and Sullivan production of “Ruddigore, or The Witch’s Curse” opening Friday night in Alumnae Hall. “Ruddigore” features great singing and a strong orchestra — accompanied by the soundtrack of the audience’s
ARTS & CULTURE
Courtesy of Willoughby Britton
Max Grey ’12 meditates during a lab session of a popular course in contemplative studies. Meditation improves focus and emotional control.
persistent laughter. “Ruddigore” is “a parody on melodrama,” explained Director Kris Bergman ’11, campily listed as “Gilbert” in the program. “The real message is not to take oneself seriously,” Arevalo said. The cast of “Ruddigore” certainly does not seem to take themselves seriously, apparent in the overly dramatic facial expressions and the wide range of hilarious accents — some of which are apparently confused as to whether or not they should be British. “Ruddigore” is far more over-thetop than any other Gilbert and Sullivan show, explained pit orchestra conductor Matthew Jaroszewicz ’12, adding that Ruddigore has “more songs in a minor key,” giving a dark continued on page 4
Lead threat
Football star
Open books
Children in Rhode Island affected by lead in old houses
WR Alex Tounkara ’11 emerges as a deep threat
Chris Norris-LeBlanc ‘13 suggests Brown share its resources
News, 2
SPORTS, 5
Opinions, 7
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