Daily
the Brown
vol. cxxii, no. 28
Herald
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Since 1891
U. to support Proposed UCS amendment highlights historic debate affirmative relationship in the past has (led) to harsh dealings between the two action in entities and has impeded the efThe Undergraduate Council of ficient function of undergraduate Supreme Students proposed an amendment student government.” last month that would allow it The issues raised by the to allocate its own budget rather amendment discussion are not Court brief than having its funding approved isolated. Past leaders of the counBy Margaret Nickens Senior Staff Writer
By Joseph Rosales Senior Staff Writer
The University plans to submit a brief to the Supreme Court by next year in favor of continuing the use of affirmative action in admission decisions, said Beverly Ledbetter, vice president and general counsel at the University. The planned brief is in response to a case brought by a student against the University of Texas at Austin that will be heard by the Supreme Court in its next term. Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin is the first major Supreme Court case regarding affirmative action since the 2003 case of Grutter v. Bollinger which involved the University of Michigan. The University’s brief will support UT Austin, Ledbetter said. If the Court votes in favor of Fisher, the use of race in college admissions could be eliminated. Abigail Fisher, a white student, sued UT Austin in 2008, alleging she was denied admission based on her race. The state of Texas upholds a “top 10 percent law,” which states that students in the top 10 percent of their graduating classes gain automatic eligibility continued on page 2
Herald file photo The recently proposed UCS amendment spotlighted disagreements with UFB.
by the Undergraduate Finance Board. Though the amendment did not receive the required twothirds majority necessary to pass, it raised wider questions about the historic relationship between UCS and UFB and the level of engagement in student government. In the council’s amendment proposal, UCS outlined persistent problems in defining the roles of each undergraduate governing body. “UFB currently views itself as an equal and separate branch of student government at Brown,” the proposal states. “This skewed
Simmons gives ‘universal’ corporate advice By Caroline Flanagan Senior Staff Writer
President Ruth Simmons and fellow successful businesswomen gave sound advice to all students — not just females — interested in entering the corporate world at a discussion yesterday. Besides Simmons, the panelists at the event, called “Women in the Corporate World: Breaking the Glass Ceiling,” were Martha Goss ’71 P ’04,
the former CFO of Booz Allen Hamilton, and Tracy Harlow, the senior director of Global Associate Communications at Walmart. The panel was organized by the student group, Smart Women Securities, and sponsored by the Commerce, Organizations and Entrepreneurship department. Maria Carkovic, director of the COE department, moderated the discussion. Yingsi Zhang ’12, a cofounder of Smart Women Securi-
ties, said that Carkovic was an ideal choice for moderator because the COE department has always supported her group, the Brown chapter of a nationwide nonprofit that provides finance education to undergraduate women through lectures and speaker series. The event attracted a moderately sized and predominantly female audience that occupied continued on page 4
M. basketball coach’s contract will not be renewed Following losses last weekend to Penn and Princeton that concluded a disappointing season for the men’s basketball team, Director of Athletics Michael Goldberger announced Monday that Head Coach Jesse Agel’s contract will not be renewed when it expires in June. Associate Head Coach T.J. Sorrentine will take over as interim head coach, and a decision on the new permanent head coach will not be announced until a new director of athletics is named. Goldberger is retiring at the end of the academic year.
Sports
inside
The basketball team finished the season with an 8-23 overall record and a 2-12 record in the Ivy League, finishing seventh in the conference ahead of only Dartmouth. Agel has
news....................2-4 CITY & State........5 editorial............6 Opinions.............7 SPORTS..................8
been on the coaching staff for the past six years, serving as head coach for the last four seasons. He compiled a 39-79 overall record as head coach, with a 25 percent win record in the Ivy League at 14-42. “It was time to make a change in the leadership for the program,” Goldberger said. “I didn’t feel we improved over the last year or that we would next year under the current leadership.” “Coach Agel was dealt a difficult hand at the beginning of the season because of Tucker (Halpern ’13) and Rafael (Maia ’15) being out and Stephen’s (Albrecht ’13) back injury,” said Andrew McCarthy ’13. “At the same time, we had more than enough talent to compete much better than we did.” “Coaches are evaluated on how many wins they get,” said co-captain Matt Sullivan ’13. “We’ve had a continued on page 4
Go veg!
Student activists encourage meat-free Mondays campus news, 2
The creation of UFB
Before the creation of the finance board, the council and the nowcontinued on page 3
Bill would ensure servers keep tips By Sinclair Target Contributing Writer
A bill was introduced last week in the Rhode Island House of Representatives that would prevent employers in the service industry from taking a cut of their employees’ tips. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Christopher Blazejewski, DProvidence and East Providence, and has also gained the support of a local YouTube celebrity, Joey “Quits” DeFrancesco. Under the terms of the bill, employers who take their employees’ tips would face a mis-
city & state
Sam Rubinroit / Herald After a seventh place finish in the Ivy League this season, the men’s basketball team will return to the court with a new head coach next year.
Hate crimes
New legislation will expand hate crime definition city & state, 5
Helpful?
Dorris ’15 questions double concentrating opinions, 7
weather
By Hannah Abelow Senior Staff Writer
cil and the finance board have described the relationship between the two groups as “rival,” “bitter” and “overly dramatic.” Over the last decade, UCS and UFB have struggled to define the appropriate division of powers between the bodies amid a lack of student awareness of these two organizations tasked with overseeing campus life.
demeanor charge punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 or 60 days in prison and possibly both. Staff would also be able to file lawsuits against their employers to reclaim tips they believe were withheld from them. Blazejewski said he introduced the bill after he heard complaints from several constituents who worked in the service industry. “Anyone who has ever worked a service job knows how hard and demanding and long those hours are,” he said. “In this tough continued on page 5 t o d ay
tomorrow
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