Daily
the Brown
vol. cxlviii, no. 13
INSIDE
Page 2
Dorm damage
ResCouncil pushes ongoing campaign against vandalism Page 4
Equus engages Strong acting propelled this thought-provoking show
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Fearstruck Study links fear, conservative views towards outgroups today
22 / 36
tomorrow
10 / 22
Herald
since 1891
Friday, february 8, 2013
Campus prepares for Winter Storm Nemo U. cancels classes and closes offices as blizzard threatens to ravage New England By Kiki Barnes Senior Staff Writer
Due to warnings about Winter Storm Nemo, which hit New England this morning, the University canceled today’s classes — the third time this academic year administrators have shut down the University due to inclement weather. The University has not yet made plans to compensate for the lost day of classes, said Provost Mark Schlissel P’15. Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron, Dean of the Graduate School Peter Weber and Schlissel will work together to determine “the best strategy for making up this missed time,” he said. Though the snow day marks the third missed day of classes this year,
Schlissel said the anomalous confluence of days off was hard to explain, given that “the weather is a somewhat random and difficult-to-predict thing.” Schlissel said the overarching priority of administrators was to ensure the safety of community members, emphasizing concern for staff and faculty members who have to drive to campus. The administration wanted to “err on the side of caution,” Schlissel said, but the coincidence of three days off does not represent “a change in how we think about closing the campus.” University locales such as the Brown Bookstore, the Blue Room and the Center for Careers and Life After Brown will be closed during the storm. Because the CareerLAB will be closed Friday and Saturday, no scheduled employer interviews will take place at the office, wrote Andrew Simmons, director of CareerLAB, in an email to The Herald. “CareerLAB staff will assist employers and students to reschedule interviews, or to make alternative arrangements,” / / Nemo page 4
Emily gilbert / herald
A few inches of snow covered campus in November, but today’s forecast predicts nearly two feet will accumulate by Saturday.
Blizzard interrupts Corporation meeting R.I. makes
Nemo will delay vote on school of public health and next year’s University budget By Eli Okun University News Editor
In anticipation of Winter Storm Nemo, the Corporation canceled its Saturday meeting and made plans to end its Friday meeting early at 10:30 a.m., delaying a vote on a school of public health and decisions about potential tuition or financial aid changes for at least a week, wrote Vice President for Public Affairs and University Relations Marisa Quinn in an email to The Herald.
President Christina Paxson and Chancellor Thomas Tisch ’76 decided to truncate the Corporation meetings in light of the blizzard warning and National Weather Service forecasts, Quinn wrote. In lieu of the Friday and Saturday meetings, conference calls will be scheduled next week for the Budget and Finance Committee and for the Corporation as a whole, Quinn wrote, with expectations that the calls will take place “at the earliest possible convenient time.” The Corporation, the University’s highest governing body, was expected to vote on the creation of a proposed school of public health after faculty members approved it in November.
The Corporation was also expected to approve the proposed fiscal year 2014 budget and announce any tuition increases and accompanying changes in financial aid, both in response to the University Resource Committee’s recent report. These actions will be delayed until the conference calls, Quinn said. Most of the Corporation’s committees met yesterday, Quinn wrote. The Corporation also held a dinner last night with members of the strategic planning committees, and today’s abbreviated meeting will entail further discussions of the planning committees’ interim reports released last month. Many Corporation members have
already arrived on campus, Quinn said, though some canceled their travel plans due to the weather. A Divest Coal Campaign rally originally scheduled for noon was moved up to 10:00 a.m. on the Main Green, shortly before the Corporation adjourns, said Kristy Choi ’15, one of the rally’s organizers. The last time a Corporation weekend was curtailed due to weather was in the early 1990s, when meetings ended Friday afternoon and the Saturday meeting was canceled, Quinn wrote. The administration will “continue to monitor and make other information available as decisions are made in respect to the best information,” Quinn said.
Dorm options changed for new lottery Hegeman and Slater will be upperclassmen housing, while Perkins will go to sophomores By BRITTANY NIEVES SENIOR stAFF WRITER
Several residence halls will no longer be available to the class years forwhich they had originally been designated, according to an updated housing lottery plan the Residential Council posted on its webpage Wednesday. Hegeman Hall and Slater Hall will be open only to juniors and seniors, while Perkins Hall will become a sophomore-only residence hall. With the number of doubles in Perkins, the building will be able to house enough students so sophomores will no longer be placed in summer assignment . The changes posted on the webpage are different from those originally outlined last spring in a comprehensive revamping of class housing assignments. The University had
originally planned on designating Hegeman and Slater as sophomore-only options and changing Perkins from a first-year to an upperclassmen dorm, The Herald reported last February. But Richard Bova, senior associate dean of residential and dining services, said the previous plans had not been finalized and have since been changed. The old housing redesigns “were placed on the table to see how we could make the occupancy work,” Bova said. The ongoing planning process for residential life includes staffing the residence halls, re-conceptualizing renovation, conducting renewal work and creating sophomore communities, Bova said. Sophomore communities were originally slated to be in the main core of campus but have now been split between main campus and south campus. The Office of Residential Life was unable to convert Perkins into junior and senior singles this year due to budgetary constraints and because the office not / / Dorm page 3
herald file photo
Though Slater Hall is currently inhabited by sophomores, upperclassmen will take over next year in one of several changes planned by ResCouncil.
way for inclement weather
Public officials emphasize safety first in the face of anticipated snowfall accumulations By sona mkrttchian city & state editor
Rhode Island’s schools and businesses — including Providence Public Schools and the Rhode Island Public Transportation Authority — announced closings last night in response to a blizzard warning issued for the state by the National Weather Service. State residents should expect between 18 and 24 inches of snow over the weekend and are encouraged to prepare for wind gusts reaching up to 60 miles per hour, according to a press release from the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency. “The combination of several inches of snow and heavy winds increases the possibility of power outages,” said Theresa Murray, RIEMA executive director, in the release. National Grid, the primary provider of electric and gas services to residents across the state, warned customers of the potentially severe storm on their website, adding that they have “started preparing for widespread prolonged power outages that could result from the predicted blizzard-like conditions.” The company is currently monitoring weather conditions and preparing for a “very damaging storm,” W P R I r e - / / RI Storm page 2
city & state
2 university news c alendar Friday
February 8
6 P.m.
Saturday
February 9
1 p.m.
Brown Stand Up Comics Show
Tech House: NERF WARS
Salomon Center, Room 001
Smith-Buonnano Hall
8 p.m.
1 p.m. Equus
Simen Johan Exhibition
PW Downspace
List Art Building
menu SHARPE REFECTORY
VERNEy-WOOLLEY
LUNCH Cajun Spiced Chicken Sandwich, Nacho Bar, Vegan Jamaican Jerk Tempeh, Grilled Montreal Chicken
Chicken Fingers, Manhatten Clam Chowder, Vegan Nuggets, Vegetarian Baked Beans, Rice Krispie Treats
DINNER Italian Vegetable Popover, Gnocchi Di Patate, Pork and Potato Rosti, Chocolate Marshmallow Roll
Closed
Sudoku
Crossword
the brown daily herald Friday, february 8, 2013
ResCouncil seeks to limit dorm damage Officials say they hope to encourage accountability by fostering community in dorms By brittany nieves senior staff writer
Residential Council is creating plans for next semester aimed to reduce dorm damage across campus, members of ResCouncil said. Following the recent renovations of residence halls including the Keeney Quadrangle and Andrews Hall, dorm vandalism has remained prevalent on campus. Members of ResCouncil have been meeting with Residential Peer Leaders throughout the semester to decide what steps should be taken to reduce dorm vandalism effectively. The Undergraduate Council of Students and the Office of Residential Life are coordinating with ResCouncil members on addressing dorm damages, said Kristina von Gerichten ‘13, ResCouncil policy chair. ResCouncil will use poster campaigns, Morning Mail and table slips to heighten campus sensitivity to dorm damages, said Director of Residential Experience Natalie Basil, adding that planning stages for the campaign are ongoing. Basil said ResCouncil decided to initiate the campaign after noticing continued insensitivity toward housing renovations made this past summer. Despite multiple dorm renovations, vandalism continued to occur at prerenovation levels for newly renovated buildings, sparking ResCouncil concerns that the student body was not respecting the University’s efforts, Basil said. ResCouncil is especially reaching out to residential peer leaders in Keeney Quad to determine how to build a stronger sense of community and accountability among residents, both RPLs and ResCouncil officials said. RPLs are holding one-on-one, group and floor meetings with their units in the hope of educating students about dorm vandalism, said Richard Bova, senior associate dean of residential life and dining services. Bova emailed Keeney residents last Septem-
/ / RI Storm page 1 ported. ‘‘We have a very serious storm approaching,’’ said Gov. Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14, in a press conference Thursday. ‘‘I encourage all Rhode Islanders to take this seriously. This is a major
ber about the ongoing problem of dorm vandalism and how students could help, said Jordan Shaw ’15, a residential peer leader in Keeney Quad. Shaw said the email was effective in triggering a visible response from members of the Keeney community. “I think it’s important with community damages to stress community responsibility and accountability and making sure that everybody is watching out for it,” Shaw said. “That’s what Richard Bova’s email did. It threatened to hold people accountable.” Bova and other members of ResLife attributed Keeney Quad’s disproportionately high rate of damages to the complex’s size and construction. “It’s hard to own Keeney when you live on a floor and there are 150 other students spread across almost like a tennis court format,” Bova said, noting that Keeney Quad is the only residential structure that features over 600 students living on “highly interconnected floors.” Students attributed the higher levels of vandalism in Keeney Quad to tradition. A key to reducing dorm damages on campus is changing the culture among students, said Russyan Mabeza ’15, a Keeney Quad RPL. He said upperclassmen pass along the tradition of committing acts of vandalism, such as breaking exit signs, to first-years. “I think Keeney is just historically allotted as the party dorm on campus for freshmen, and people like to take advantage of Keeney’s reputation,” said Krishan Aghi ’15, an RPL in Perkins Hall. Aghi added that reducing dorm damages has to come from changing students’ mindsets. “You can’t have this over-arching draconian figure that controls what students do in their dorms,” he said. “It has to be the students who decide what they want to do.” ResLife and ResCouncil dismissed the feasibility of collectively fining Keeney Quad residents for dorm damages, an option that ResLife has raised in the past. Identified students are held accountable on an individual basis for having committed an act of vandalism against the University and are put through the non-academic judicial system. Bova said the University has no plans to abandon this system.
“Anyone can hand out fines all day long,” Bova said. “We really want to work with the community and students to respect their home.” Frequently committed acts include graffiti, damage to exit signs and disregard for furniture and living conditions in common areas, Bova said. Graffiti has become less common due to the work of RPLs, but exit sign damage remains widespread, both ResLife and several RPLs said. Shaw said the University is in the process of installing newly designed exit signs that cannot easily be removed throughout the dormitory complex and will finish removing the old exit signs this summer. “It is a sad day that when you provide for life-safety equipment to protect a community and to assist them in times of crisis, that anyone would touch that equipment or attempt to destroy it, putting their fellow students at a potential risk,” Bova said. “Students may joke about it being traditional to do that, but it is a really sad reflection that people are not paying attention to their fellow community members’ safety.” Bova said dorm damages do not correspond to any particular class year but are rather a campus-wide problem, adding that buildings housing more students experience a larger amount of damage. In smaller, closer-knit communities, dorm damages happen less frequently, he said. Students had mixed opinions on whether the University effectively communicates its policies regarding dorm vandalism. “I think having a more transparent reporting system may help,” Shaw said. “I have to actually tell my residents that if they see someone breaking an exit sign, that there is a way to report that student online by filling campus complaint forms.” Donovan Dennis ’16 said he believes the University’s policies are transparent but that the consequences for vandalism are lacking. “I think they may just not be taking enough action,” Dennis said. ResCouncil members who have been working on developing the dorm preservation plan will brief the entire ResCouncil this month, Basil said.
storm. Be prepared.” Mayor Angel Taveras instituted a city-wide parking ban for Providence in anticipation of large snow accumulation. The ban is primarily aimed to facilitate snow plowing, as the most recent estimates from the National Weather Service predicted
approximately three inches of snow will fall each hour during the peak of the storm. “Personal safety should always be the top priority,” RIEMA wrote in its press release, adding that residents should delay any travel planned for Friday and Saturday.
www.browndailyherald.com 195 Angell St., Providence, R.I. Shefali Luthra, President Samuel Plotner, Treasurer Lucy Feldman, Vice President Julia Kuwahara, Secretary The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is an independent newspaper serving the Brown University community daily since 1891. It is published Monday through Friday during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement and once during Orientation by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Single copy free for each member of the community. POSTMASTER please send corrections to P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI 02906. Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Subscription prices: $280 one year daily, $140 one semester daily. Copyright 2013 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved. editorial
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the brown daily herald Friday, february 8, 2013
Science students approach Open Curriculum with different attitudes Students in the sciences and engineering have varied enthusiasm about taking courses outside their field By Stephanie Hayes Contributing Writer
In her four semesters at Brown, Bettina Voelcker ’15 has taken only one class outside of the sciences — TAPS 1280T: “Contemporary Mande Dance.” A pre-med student concentrating in neuroscience, Voelcker will have completed 12 of her 18 concentration requirements by the end of May. Though her experience is atypical for the stereotypical Brown student, others like her are using their academic freedom to pursue a more directed set of goals. One-stop shopping Voelcker said a lack of time in her schedule, not a lack of interest in other disciplines, has dictated her one-track focus. “Last semester, I shopped so many humanities classes,” Voelcker said. “After the first day, I said to myself, ‘Wow, I could just spend the whole semester
studying history and everything I usually don’t focus on.’ Then I shopped all my sciences classes, and I thought, ‘Forget about that previous idea. I cannot be apart from this field for too long.’” Despite her preference for courses within the sciences, Voelcker said the content and structure of her courses is varied enough to keep her interested, balancing larger lecture classes with smaller senior seminars and a lab-based independent study. Collin Felten ’15, a chemical engineering concentrator, will also have completed over half of his concentration requirements — 13 out of 21 — by this May. He has only ventured outside of the sciences to take a course on the crime novel, ENGL 0450D: “The Simple Art of Murder.” Felten said finding four “wildly different” science classes in any given semester is an easy task, and any similarities between courses only reinforce the value of the given topic.
Brazilian senator probes moral cost of progress Watson Institute lecture explored the ethical challenges associated with modernization By sonia phene senior staff writer
as well as develop the kind of thinking that philosophy requires.” The chemical engineering concentration requires four courses in the humanities, according to the chemical engineering concentration website. Jonah Cader ’16 said he could not envision sticking with one discipline and admits he is “decidedly undecided” when it comes to his intended concentration. “In my experience so far, most people at Brown love trying things,” he said. “It’s funny, but I haven’t really met anyone here that has a well-defined comfort zone.” Data from the Critical Review shows that Brown students often take courses outside of their concentration, particularly at an introductory level. Courses like NEUR 0010: “Introduction to Neuroscience” and the engineering class ENGN 0009: “Management of Industrial and Non-Profit Organizations” are often dominated by non-concentrators and students who are undecided about their concentrations. It is not merely introductory classes that draw crowds — while upper-level
classes typically contain fewer nonconcentrators due to limited space and prerequisites, there is evidence of student interest. ENGL 1180H: “Satire and Humor Writing,” an advanced course offered for the first time this year, drew 71 students to the first class, who vied for 17 places. Only 12 of these 17 had declared a concentration in English. Staying the course Though a minority in their academic approach, Felten and Voelcker said they feel they are still getting the most out of their Brown education. “Between concentration and core requirements, I would have little to no flexibility in my schedule” as an engineer at another school, Felten said. “In my eyes, by taking the one (non-required) class I find most interesting, even though it is another hard science, I am making perfect use of the (Open) Curriculum.” “I chose Brown for its neuroscience program,” Voelcker said. “Why give up science classes that I really, really want to take for other classes that I’d just like to take?”
2013 housing options by class year BOWEN
Andrews
Plantations
NP 3-4
Metcalf Machado
111 Brown
315 Thayer
Miller
West House
NP 1-2 Morriss-Champlin
First-years
Emery-Woolley
Sophomores
MEETING
Juniors/seniors
ANGELL
BROWN
university news
Variety show Others said they find a variety of courses more stimulating. Chemistry concentrator Colin Gould ’15 said he appreciates the break offered by courses outside of his discipline and, unlike Voelcker and Felten, opts to take one humanities course each semester. “I think it helps to make the semester more interesting,” he said. “If you were only to take sciences, I don’t think you’d end up developing writing skills and communication skills, which can be really useful.” Though he is a teaching assistant for CHEM 0350: “Organic Chemistry”, Gould said CLPS 0530: “Making Visual Illusions” and SOC 0270: “The Sociological Imagination” have been his favorite classes so far. Felten said he plans to take a philosophy class in the future, “just to make sure I can still write a coherent essay
Hope
Littlefield
Caswell
Minden BROOK
Slater
THAYER
N WATERMA PROSPECT
GEORGE
Hegeman Wayland
Wriston Quad
NT
BENEVOLE
King House
Keeney LD
CHARLESFIE
Barbour Grad Center POWER
Vartan Gregorian Quad
Young Orchard
Perkins HOPE
Progress as society perceives it may not always be positive, said Cristovam Buarque, a member of the Brazilian Senate, in a lecture Tuesday to a full room at the Joukowsky Forum in the Watson Institute. “Scientific and technical knowledge is accelerating with a stagnation of ethical development,” Buarque said. Buarque said labeling scientific innovation as “progress” sometimes comes at the cost of compromising moral standards. He paired his presentation with stark images, including one of a tourist resort in Brazil and neighboring slums. Progress is not always consistent with rationality, he said, citing the evolution of combat weaponry from bows and arrows to bombing planes as an example of irrational technological progress. These conflicts between rationality and supposed progress led Buarque to question what progress really is, he said. The meaning of progress has evolved from a purely physical denotation to a word that encompasses all manners of wealth, he said. Wealth includes factors such as “freedom, culture, peace, comfort, welfare ... democracy, knowledge, technology,” he said, adding that a few centuries ago society puzzled over how to represent all of these qualities in one concept. “Two hundred years ago we created the term ‘GDP’ in the hopes of quantifying wealth,” he said. “In a real sense, progress should be able to encompass all of these aspects.” In the 19th and 20th centuries, progress became tied to the economy through the Industrial Revolution and consumer consumption.
The concept of progress has led to vast socioeconomic differences in different countries, he said. “Until 30 years ago, the world was divided by (an) iron curtain separating socialists and capitalists,” he said. “But the curtain is still there. Now it is a curtain that crosses every country, separating rich people from poor people.” “We have the walls of shopping malls, of good schools,” he added, gesturing to images of large fences separating areas of extreme poverty and wealth around the world. “Our cultures are separated.” Buarque noted a distinction between the concepts of inequality and separation. Those with access to better education and resources are separate from those lacking these resources, he said. To match the “level of consumption” in the United States throughout the world, the globe would need six times its current resources, Buarque said. To match the consumption of the richest decile of Americans “would take the resources from dozens of planets Earth,” he said to a visibly startled audience. Vivien Caetano ’15 said she attended the lecture both because she is Brazilian and because some of the ideas related to her class POLS 1415: “Classics of Political Economy.” Caetano added she particularly liked Buarque’s concept of walls as both physical and social. In the 30-minute question and answer session that followed, Buarque fielded questions from audience members. When asked why politics and a more encompassing idea of progress can clash, Buarque said, “If I start considering certain other factors of progress, I won’t get any votes.” He added, “Some people today think democracy is about doing what’s best for people today — not for the future.” Buarque will speak at two more events next week as part of a seminar series co-sponsored by the Department of Portuguese and Brazilian Studies and the Graduate Program in Development. Tuesday he will discuss the rise of Brazil, and Wednesday he will describe modern political challenges.
“If anything, the occasional overlap between classes makes things more interesting,” he said. “Two courses may offer totally different perspectives on a topic.”
Greg Jordan-Detamore / Herald
The University altered housing assignments by class year, though Greek and program houses located in sophomore communities will still be open to junior and senior members.
/ / Dorm page 1 yet received authorization for renovating the building from the University, Bova said. But ResLife hopes to convert Perkins to singles in the future, he added. A sophomores-only Perkins does have benefits, said Kristina von Gerichten ’13, policy committee chair on ResCouncil. “(Perkins) will be a great option for students who are in music and theater,” von Gerichten said, noting the dorm’s proximity to the Orwig
Music Library and T.F. Green Hall. She added that engineering students will benefit from a short walk to Barus & Holley. Sophomores will also benefit from the increase in housing exclusively reserved for members of their class, wrote ResCouncil Chair Travis Spangler ’13 in an email to The Herald. In response to complaints by sophomores that they were too scattered across campus, ResLife, ResCouncil and the administration have made a concerted effort to move sophomores closer together on campus, Spangler
wrote. Hegeman will still undergo renovations, but the building is no longer intended to house only sophomores, Spangler wrote. The Hegeman housing option will remain for juniors since they are already prevalent in Hegeman and tend to prefer singles to doubles, he added. “I think that juniors will be pleased that Hegeman is staying in their pot,” Bova said, adding that the University is “not just casting the sophomores to the wind” with these updated changes.
4 arts & culture
the brown daily herald Friday, february 8, 2013
‘Equus’ draws audience into intimate world of teen and psychotherapist The play premiered last night, featuring strong acting and thoughtprovoking themes By Uday Shriram contributing writer
With all the hype that surrounds a show like “Equus” by Peter Shaffer, it takes great execution for a production to live up to expectations. Premiering tonight in the Downspace, Production Workshop’s newest show manages to do so, thanks to a talented ensemble cast directed by the skilled Ben Freeman ’13. “I tried, in the last several months, to articulate what the play is about, to myself and to others, but I can’t,” Freeman said. “That’s why I thought that it would be fulfilling for me and would also be collectively inspiring to tackle something that is so difficult to grasp and so incredibly textured.” The play is an intense and darkly comic examination of the minds of 17-year-old Alan Strang and his psychotherapist, Miranda Dysart, played by David Lee Dallas ’13 and Annie Kocher ’14, respectively. When seemingly untamable Alan blinds six horses, he finds himself engaged in a series of cross-examinations with Miranda. The dialogue that ensues is expositional, suspenseful and holds the audience in a vice grip. The acting in “Equus” makes the show. While viewers might expect the usual Broadway gimmickry, this production relies instead on moment-tomoment acting and clever directing to bring the ambitious spectacle to life. “The show’s so brutal, and Ben’s the
/ / Nemo page 1 he wrote, adding that the LSAT scheduled for Saturday had been canceled. The beginning of February is typically a major recruitment period for jobs and internships in finance and consulting. Other local businesses and restaurants plan to remain open in the face of the blizzard. “We doubled up on supplies, especially milk and bread,” said Richard Kearns, director of customer services at CVS on Thayer Street, which will attempt to remain open in the face of the storm. “We want to make sure everything’s ready so that we can give everyone what they need.” Ken Maserlian, manager of East Side Marketplace, said the store will “try to stay open as long as possible.” “We made provisions yesterday for the really important items like milk, bread and water,” Maserlian said. “We’ll try to stay in business and help our customers.” Students are taking a different approach to storm preparedness. “Our plan is to hoard a bunch of food from the V-Dub and steal a bunch of bananas,” said Ruthy Gourevitch ’16. “I bought a snow suit,” said Tobin Tyler ’16. “We have sleds,” she added. “That’s how we’re preparing.” Officials expect Nemo could blanket New England with over 24 inches of snow — a level that could match or even surpass the blizzard that struck in 1978, known as one of the strongest winter storms ever to hit the area. That year, then-President Jimmy Carter declared Rhode Island a disaster area, The Herald reported at the
opposite of that. He’s very nurturing. That really helped the process,” Dallas said. The show features nudity — an element that has inspired its notoriety. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t aware of it, but I didn’t think about all those things,” Dallas said. “There isn’t a particular way to be naked — it’s just that eventually you stop wearing clothes.” Dallas is riveting as the unbridled Alan — a deluge of energy, psychotic rage, comic timing, mystic charm and childlike empathy. Another highlight of the show is the layered performance by Karin Nilo ’14 as Jill, a sympathetic character who serves as the perfect foil for the disturbed and disturbing Alan. The play is unequivocably British. Shaffer’s minute colorations like rhyming slang in a cockney accent make the show even harder to perform. All the actors sported distinct British accents, with great effort made to display the breadth of variation that typifies British dialects. In preparation, the actors “spent a lot of time just talking in British dialects, trying to inhabit a different sensibility,” Freeman said. Horses are another key element of the show, animated by visible actors, snorting and champing at the bit. These puppets, designed by Sarah Gage ’15 and Becca Wolinsky ’14, are more real than any mechanical deception could be. The horses, played by Sam Keamy-Minor ’16, Alexa Peseri ’14 and Marli Scharlin ’16, are an integral part of the setting and dialogue and are directly involved in the many crescendos of the show. “I love horses, even though I don’t have much equestrian experience,” Freeman said, adding that members of the
cast went to a stable to research with Connie Crawford, adjunct lecturer of theater arts and performance studies. The character of Dysart is a man in the original script, and those who have seen previous productions of the play will find the gender change compelling as it opens up different motifs than would a conventional production of the show. “Hopefully there will be at least some people who see the show without knowing that the character was originally male and can have just the pure experience of what happens,” Kocher said. “The process was really collaborative,” Kocher said. “I felt like every moment on stage, I was part of an ensemble, which was a really good feeling.” Alan’s parents, Dora and Frank, played by Celeste Cahn ’15 and Thom Finley ’14, respectively, formed another strong component of this ensemble. The show has a simple set, a little island stage surrounded by a circle of meticulously combed sand, with just a few benches moved around to accommodate different scenes. All the actors sit in full view just behind the stage in a semi-circle throughout the performance. The torrent of tropes and themes in “Equus” is endless. Even after so many themes are addressed — family, jealousy, obsession, religion versus logic, nature versus nurture, sado-masochism, dreams and imagination — the play then turns on its side with disseminations of sexual repression, class divides, artistic expression and many other topics. “It’s not a play that reflects my worldview. It doesn’t make me want to live in that world. But it leaves me with so many questions, and I’m thrilled by that,” Free-
time. Three days later, Brown students worked together to unearth the campus in an effort called “Operation Digout.” The 1978 blizzard left over 29 inches of snow covering Providence, causing 11 snow-related deaths, prompting looters to ravage empty storefronts and effectively halting city operations in their tracks. Three hundred students volunteered to help the Brown community, shoveling both campus and residential walkways. The workforce, spearheaded by the Association of Fraternity Presidents, also staffed hospitals in need and made emergency food deliveries. “We’ve had enough people to dig out the entire East Side,” then-AFP President Sam Mencoff ’78 P’11 P’15 told The Herald at the time. Administrative offices were closed and classes canceled for four days as College Hill experienced and recovered from the storm. Five dorms — including French House and Wilbur Hall — were evacuated due to a lack of heating oil, and students were moved to other spaces on campus, The Herald reported at the time. Students took the inclement weather in stride. “The campus was characterized by an unusual esprit de corps. Only six days into second semester, students were willing to take a vacation and frolic in the snow,” The Herald wrote. In what students and staff referred to as “Winter Weekend,” the University sponsored activities such as a snow sculpture contest and cross-country ski race. Though it would take Rhode Island weeks to fully recover from the devastating blizzard, then-President Howard Swearer told The Herald that “we seem to be getting slowly plowed out.”
Famous schizophrenic patient reevaluated Schreber’s account of his own schizophrenia continues to be a source of psychoanalytic study By Steven Michael Contributing Writer
While great scientists are remembered for their fields of study, patients whose illnesses are the basis for that research only rarely reach that level of fame. Schizophrenic patient Daniel Paul Schreber is immortalized by his memoir — “the most written about text in modern psychoanalysis,” said Orna Ophir, a postdoctoral associate at DeWitt Wallace Institute for the History of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College. Ophir spoke at Pembroke Hall last night, giving a lecture entitled “The Many Faces of Schreber as the Faces of Postwar American Psychoanalysis (1960-2000).” The talk traced Scheber’s role in informing psychoanalytic literature from 1960 to 2000 and touched on the major controversies and shifts in psychoanalysis over that 40-year span. Born in Germany in 1842, Schreber married and became a judge before suffering his first bout of mental illness at age 42, Ophir said. Though an intelligent man, Schreber believed in his schizophrenic state that he would be transformed into a woman and impregnated by God’s son. Schreber believed he would give birth to the next generation of his
science & research
Evan thomas / herald
“Equus” integrates psychotherapy, religion, obsession and jealousy, creating an intense and riveting production. man said. Combining psychotherapy, elements of theories by Freud and Marx, religious passions, the motif of obsession and possibly love, “Equus” will disturb, horrify and bring viewers to tears — all the while coercing them to laugh out loud.
family and a new generation of humans. Schreber was treated at a sanitarium, and later, when his chance for recovery faded, he was transferred to an asylum. Sigmund Freud wrote a case study in 1911 based on “Memoirs of My Nervous Illness,” Schreber’s account of his illness, which Ophir referred to as “the most tedious book ever.” In the 1960s, psychoanalysts looked at the Schreber case with “a renewed analysis of the memoir in the pre-Oedipal spirit.” “Turning God into a radiant being was seen as an envy for his mother’s absence,” Ophir said. She added that the aspect relating to pregnancy was seen as longing for his mother’s womb. During the 1970s, advances in psychiatry suggested schizophrenia was based in genetics, Ophir said. Psychoanalysts focused on biological components of mental illness, with neurotransmitters, brain waves and neural anatomy featured in psychoanalysis journals. In his book, “Soul Murder: Persecution in the Family,” psychoanalyst Morton Schatzman “compared Schreber to a victim of a concentration camp and his father to a Gestapo,” Ophir said. The publication of the third edition of the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” in 1980 led to increased prescription of psychiatric drugs, she said. At the same time, psychoanalysis began looking at schizophrenia as a biological disease and psychoanalysts began wondering whether psychoanalysis belongs “with the natural sciences or as a purely analytical discipline.” Psychoanalysts looked for “meaning” behind
“Equus” opens tonight at 8 p.m. in the Downspace of Production Workshop and runs every night until Feb. 11, with an additional 2 p.m. matinee Sunday. Tickets can be reserved online on the Production Workshop website or an hour before the show.
mental illnesses like schizophrenia, while medical professionals treated such afflictions strictly as diseases, she said. In 1990, President George H. W. Bush declared it the “decade of the brain,” marked by research initiatives to treat psychiatric diseases. The “decade of the brain” also involved the repetition of the “Freud Wars” — the arguments between psychoanalysis and psychiatry. Psychiatrist Zvi Lothane published “In Defense of Schreber: Soul Murder and Psychiatry” in 1992, in which he argued that psychoanalysis was for patients who wished to remember their mental illnesses, while psychiatry was for patients who wished to forget their mental illnesses, Ophir said. Frederick Crews, professor emeritus of English at the University of California at Berkeley and famed critic of psychoanalysis wrote an article in the New York Review of Books in 1993 entitled “The Unknown Freud,” which referred to psychoanalysis as “pseudoscience.” Many books have been written about the subject since, Ophir said, noting that Schreber “haunts modern psychoanalysis.” Ophir defended psychoanalysis, arguing for the importance of treating patients “not as biological subjects” but as people who have lived lives. “I thought (the lecture) was interesting in that it highlights some of the tensions within psychoanalysis in the United States because of its confinement within psychiatry,” said Billy Brennan, a psychoanalyst and supervisor of psychotherapy in the adult psychiatry residency program at Alpert Medical School.
the brown daily herald Friday, february 8, 2013
science & research 5
Study links genetics of fear Lecturer questions views on space exploration and conservative politics Professor warns Researchers found a correlation between social fear and hostility toward outgroups By Sophie Yan Staff Writer
Biology, psychology and political science are rarely spoken of together. But according to a new study co-authored by Rose McDermott, professor of political science, the genetics of fear can exert a powerful influence on people’s political opinions, particularly those regarding out-groups. Published online last month in the American Journal of Political Science, the paper explores the correlation between hereditary and environmental causes of fear and increased conservatism in voters. The authors’ main hypothesis was based on the much-researched idea that a greater sense of social fear leads to a greater tendency to agree with policies against out-groups — or groups that do not necessarily belong — such as immigrants and foreigners. Building on this foundation, the authors investigated how different people’s genetic backgrounds could provide them with different predispositions to fear. “Some people are more sensitive to certain triggers,” said Pete Hatemi, a professor at Pennsylvania State University and co-author of the study. Certain scare tactics used by politicians or other government groups would logically be more effective on people more inclined toward social fear, Hatemi said. To examine this point, the researchers administered clinical tests on and gave self-assessments to a wide variety of subjects, determining the subjects’ baseline tendencies to fear, potential environmental factors that might exacerbate or ameliorate that fear, their political stances and their opinions on key social issues. The results paralleled the experimenters’ initial hypotheses. Genetically based social fear in the subjects was significantly associated with prosegregation opinions and negative attitudes toward immigration. The study found that even the smallest degrees of social fear were correlated with a considerably less positive outlook toward out-groups. But the researchers also found that education had a strong mediating effect on these attitudes. People with higher levels of education tended to have more positive opinions regard-
ing out-groups, regardless of whether their parents exhibited social fear and conservative political stances. The researchers studied identical twins, fraternal twins, siblings and parents, analyzing the ways in which people’s upbringings interacted with their genetics to produce certain political and ideological tendencies. This is the customary methodology used in studies involving behavioral genetics, McDermott said. Methods such as twin studies are standard and usually used to investigate the genetics behind diseases like breast cancer or schizophrenia, she said. “We just applied it to a different domain.” By looking at the differences between genetically identical twins and siblings who share half their DNA, the researchers were able to separate out the differences caused by genetic makeup from those caused by unique experiences, taking into account shared experiences such as growing up in the same family or going to the same school, McDermott said. But these factors are not a dichotomy, Hatemi said. “It’s not nature versus nurture,” he said, adding that these two factors interact heavily. Though the interplay between genetics and the environment can be hard to study, the relationship can be informative if investigated well, wrote Arthur Lupia, a professor of political science at the University of Michigan who was not involved in the study, in an email to The Herald. “Many leading geneticists think that it is impossible to say that a particular gene was the one and only cause of a given higher level behavior,” Lupia wrote. “If scientists observe that a given combination (of genes and environment) correlates with a given behavior, it need not mean that the combination caused the behavior.” McDermott said this study was only part of a “much larger research agenda that looks at genetic and biological contributions to political outcomes.” In the future, she and Hatemi both plan on further studying the field of bio-politics. Hatemi said he aims to understand the differences between people “and maybe bring about some tolerance,” Hatemi said. The two researchers both mentioned the possibility that with further investigation, studies might provide insights on why people think differently and enable bipartisan cooperation in politics. “I would consider that a victory,” McDermott said.
against excessive cost and potential for international conflict By Sophie Flynn Staff Writer
Those who consider space “the last frontier” may not have thought reaching for the stars would pose a threat to Earth. In his lecture “The Sky is the Limit: The Errors and Dangers of Space Expansionism,” Daniel Deudney, associate professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University, criticized the optimism surrounding space expansionism and emphasized its associated security issues. Humans have a history of looking at the night sky “in awe, in wonder, curiosity and have conjured expectations that the sky is the abode of great powers,” Deudney said. Once it became possible to put humans into space, proponents of exploration “developed an elaborate argument about why it’s desirable to go into space,” he said. Deudney deconstructed arguments for space expansion, which he said are “never subjected to very serious critical analysis.” The pure expense and energy necessary to put objects into space — it costs $10,000 per pound, Deudney said — is a problem, and the process has remained expensive for the past 50 years. “The Apollo program cost as much as the interstate highway system,” he said. Deudney disputed the practicality of using space expansion to further communication. The use of communication satellites is both relatively small and in decline because of the increased popularity of fiber optic cables, he said. Space colonization also poses serious issues, Deudney said. Space is inaccessible and harshly inhospitable — as a vacuum and harbor for radiation, it is not a realistic habitat, he said. Conditions for life would disintegrate over time due to debris in space that enters orbit and collides with other objects, which is destructive and dangerous. Deudney emphasized that space is another arena where nations compete,
Lauren Galvan / Herald
Johns Hopkins associate professor Daniel Deudney argued against space exploration in his lecture at Watson Institute’s Global Security Series. citing the space race of the Cold War era and current weapons testing. By expanding military activity and colonization in space, the Earth would suffer from particular vulnerabilities, Deudney said. “Our largest space program is not the Apollo program, it’s not the space station — it’s the ballistic space inventory,” Deudney said, noting the current capability of using space for long-range bombardment. Categorizing ballistic missiles as space weapons is not the conventional approach, he said, but doing so sheds light on the risks and dangers of space activity. “It was the missile crisis that brought us to the brink of the destruction of civilization,” Deudney said. Because space is integral — it cannot be effectively partitioned into territories like terrestrial Earth — competition for control becomes complex, Deudneysaid. This is especially relevant when it comes to Earth’s satellites, since they create a web of intersecting paths, he said. Technologies that would monitor asteroid activity and deflect incoming asteroids away from the planet could be put to other uses and allow nations to inflict catastrophic damage on one another, he said. Deudney did point out two positive impacts of space expansionism —
comics Join the Club | Simon Henriques
security through international treaties regulating vehicles like ballistic missiles and scientific knowledge about space and Earth’s vulnerability. “We need to increasingly think about space not as the escape from Earth, but as part of the Earth,” he said, adding that a space program needs to account for “the sustainability of life on this planet.” Kenneth Volkmann ’16, one of about 30 audience members, said his interest in space exploration drew him to the lecture, but he had “never heard an argument against it.” Volkmann said he thought that Deudney “forgot the human element — the inspiration.” Megan Bruck Syal GS, who is studying planetary geoscience, said she appreciated the critical “pragmatic standpoint” Deudney took. Though Syal disagreed with the arguments against the utility of space exploration, she said, “he brought up some really important issues that we as a race should consider in where we devote our time and resources.” The event was part of the Watson Institute’s Global Security Series, whose next event will be a lecture entitled “Beyond War: Technology, Economic Growth and American Influence in a New Middle East” by David Rohde ’90. It will be held April 24.
6 diamonds & coal diamonds & coal
the brown daily herald Friday, february 8, 2013
Editorial cartoon b y a n g e l i a wa n g
A diamond to the University for calling the first snow day since the early 2000’s. We’re totally going to spend it doing work. A diamond to whoever used a replica of the Brown Concert Agency publicity chair’s email to send a fake Spring Weekend lineup to The Herald. We hope it helps you fund your new band, “The Postal Disservice.” Coal to Kate Venturini, the urban agricultural specialist who said urban farming “just gets you to meet your neighbors.” We didn’t really appreciate the plant our sophomore hallmate left in our room. (Or did we?) Coal to those responsible for the transition in shuttle contracts that will change SafeRide as we know it. Consider this our vote for bringing in the batmobile. A diamond to Andy van Dam, professor of computer science and Pixar movie inspiration, who said “a smartphone was science fiction” when he was in college. Does this mean we’ll be BFFs with Megatron by 2043? A cubic zirconia to the junior who said getting food from the Ratty’s allergen room can be a bonding experience, even though he never actually eats with the other students he meets. That’s exactly how we always imagined meeting our future spouses — exchanging furtive glances over quinoa-flour muffins. Coal to the intrepid first-years who said, “We have sleds. That’s how we’re preparing” for Winter Storm Nemo. We know who we won’t be calling in the event of a zombie apocalypse. Coal to Richard Bova, senior associate dean of residential and dining services, who said that by instituting lottery changes the University is “not just casting the sophomores to the wind.” Reslife may not be casting them to the wind, but it is banishing them to Perkins. A cubic zirconia to the first-year Brown Pen Pals participant who said, “I say things I don’t even want to admit in my own head.” Please submit to the naughty notes section of our Valentine’s issue.
See your valentines in The Herald! Submit notes to friends and loved ones at thebdh.org/valentine
t h e b row n da i ly h e r a l d Editors-in-Chief Lucy Feldman Shefali Luthra
Managing Editors Elizabeth Carr Jordan Hendricks
editorial Greg Jordan-Detamore Strategic Director Sections Arts & Culture Editor Hannah Abelow Arts & Culture Editor Maddie Berg City & State Editor Sona Mkrttchian City & State Editor Adam Toobin Features Editor Elizabeth Koh Features Editor Alison Silver Science & Research Editor Sahil Luthra Science & Research Editor Kate Nussenbaum Sports Editor James Blum Sports Editor Connor Grealy University News Editor Mathias Heller University News Editor Alexandra Macfarlane University News Editor Eli Okun Editorial Page Editor Dan Jeon Opinions Editor Matt Brundage Opinions Editor Lucas Husted Opinions Editor Maggie Tennis Multimedia Emily Gilbert Photo Editor Sam Kase Photo Editor Sydney Mondry Photo Editor Tom Sullivan Photo Editor Danny Garfield Video Editor Angelia Wang Ilustrations Editor Production Sara Palasits Copy Desk Chief Brisa Bodell Design Editor Einat Brenner Design Editor Kyle McNamara Design Editor Sandra Yan Assistant Design Editor Joseph Stein Web Producer Neal Poole Assistant Web Producer
Senior Editors Aparna Bansal Alexa Pugh
Business General Managers Office Manager Julia Kuwahara Shawn Reilly Samuel Plotner Directors Eliza Coogan Sales Luka Ursic Finance Emily Chu Alumni Relations Angel Lee Business Strategy Justin Lee Business Development Managers Jacqueline Chang Regional Sales Leslie Chen Regional Sales Anisa Holmes Regional Sales Wenli Shao Regional Sales Carolyn Stichnoth Regional Sales Chae Suh Regional Sales William Barkeley Collections Nicole Shimer Collections Josh Ezickson Operations Alison Pruzan Alumni Engagement Melody Cao Human Resources Owen Millard Research & Development Post- magazine Editor-in-Chief Zoë Hoffman Editor-in-Chief Claire Luchette BLOG DAILY HERALD Meredith Bilski Editor-in-Chief William Janover Managing Editor Connor McGuigan Deputy Managing Editor Cara Newlon Deputy Managing Editor Georgia Tollin Deputy Managing Editor Jason Hu Creative Director
cl arific ation An article in Wednesday’s Herald (“You’ve got mail: Students rediscover letter writing,” Feb. 6) incorrectly implied the Brown Pen Pals group does not include alums. In fact, several alums are participating in the program this semester.
Correc tion An article in Thursday’s Herald (“Gun violence scholars face data, funding barriers,” Feb. 7) incorrectly stated that the research of Emilio Depetris-Chauvin GS studied the effect gun demand had on Obama’s election in 2008. In fact DepetrisChauvin analyzed the effect of the likelihood of Obama winning the election on the demand for guns. The article also stated that Depetris-Chauvin thought about purchasing Chicago city’s survey, for $1,000, when in fact it was the GSS survey from NORC at University of Chicago, which was approximately $800. The Herald regrets the errors.
quote of the day “The weather is a somewhat random and difficult-to-predict thing.” — Provost Mark Schlissel P’15 See nemo on page 1. facebook.com/browndailyherald
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C O R R E C T I O N S P olic y The Brown Daily Herald is committed to providing the Brown University community with the most accurate information possible. Corrections may be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication. C ommentar y P O L I C Y The editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial page board of The Brown Daily Herald. The editorial viewpoint does not necessarily reflect the views of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Columns, letters and comics reflect the opinions of their authors only. L etters to the E ditor P olic y Send letters to letters@browndailyherald.com. Include a telephone number with all letters. The Herald reserves the right to edit all letters for length and clarity and cannot assure the publication of any letter. Please limit letters to 250 words. Under special circumstances writers may request anonymity, but no letter will be printed if the author’s identity is unknown to the editors. Announcements of events will not be printed. advertising P olic y The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. reserves the right to accept or decline any advertisement at its discretion.
opinions 7
the brown daily herald Friday, february 8, 2013
Should Brown offer substance-free dorms? YES
NO
thousands of residential life programs hope to achieve. For the sake of consistency, substance-free housing should be considered a welcome option to students at Brown. Opinions Columnist One might argue this genre of accommodations bears unwarranted confusion and extra costs. These contentions are unCollege dorms now come in many flavors: tenable, for Brown is suffering no undue cultural, affinity-based, religious and even burden in terms of supplying designated gender-neutral. Given the plethora of or- substance-free housing. The University is ganizations and campus life options one merely utilizing existing facilities at little to may access in college, it is logical to offer no additional cost, while meeting demand substance-free housing to students who do from students who prefer this alternative not wish to be surrounded by consumers dormitory atmosphere. of alcohol, drugs or other substances. This Some might believe this style of housis not a sweeping condemnation of those ing connotes a certain degree of naivete or who partake in such a need for unnecesactivities. But Brown shelter against Brown — in its quest to sary — in its quest to acpeers who indulge commodate peoaccommodate people of in alcohol consumpple of varied backtion, be it at modvaried backgrounds and erate levels or for grounds and tastes — is wise to offer the rages. But tastes — is wise to offer drunken designated sanctuthe central logic ary of substance-free the designated sanctuary of furnishing subhousing. stance-free housFor people who of substance-free housing. ing is not to insulate do not drink, smoke oneself completely or experiment with other potentially harm- from the world of drugs and alcohol. Rathful substances, being surrounded by those er, it is to supply interested students with an who do engage in these behaviors can stir environment in which they feel at home and feelings of discomfort. This is especially true secure. Additionally, such segmented housin the case of the underage alcohol con- ing would let students who do consume alsumption that commonly occurs in dorms cohol or other substances feel liberated in and goes unpoliced. Although all under- their choices without offending non-particclassman dorms should theoretically be ipating neighbors. substance-free due to the overwhelmingly Substance-free housing burdens the under-21 population, it would be foolish University with no significant upheavals in to believe such regulations are unwavering- budget allocations or residential planning. ly respected. Thus, students — particularly In college, not everyone wants to be in a those who might be apprehensive of the col- dormitory environment where drinking is lege “dorm scene” and who fear the nega- widely accepted, and Brown should contive ramifications of substance use — have tinue to provide accommodations for such sound reasons to desire housing where there a contingent of students. exists a clear, mutual understanding among floormates that drugs and alcohol are not to be consumed. Furthermore, this would likeElizabeth Fuerbacher ’14 believes dorms ly ease the transition to college life for those should be a source of comfort rather than who harbor such reservations. Helping stuof discontent. She can be reached at dents acclimate to college life is an objective elizabeth_fuerbacher@brown.edu
ing that isolates aggrieved students from ian eppler substance-induced misconduct, the University creates a culture of impunity for Opinions Columnist the few students who terrorize their peers with their drug or alcohol-induced misbehavior. Substance-free dorms also contradict Substance-free dorms create an environ- the very purpose of a residential colment of impunity for substance-related lege. Presumably, a major advantage of misconduct and do a poor job prepar- a residential campus like Brown over a ing students for the challenges of inde- commuter or online university is that it pendent post-college life. The University provides a sort of transition from the sushould abolish them and return partici- pervised residential life of childhood to pants to the standard residence halls. the fully independent residential life of It is relatively implausible that most adulthood, with aspects that are both pastudents seek substance-free housing ternalistic and independent. Substancebecause they obfree housing leans ject to the presence too far to the paof a Narragansett ternalistic end of can or a dime bag Part of independent adult the spectrum. behind the closed Part of indedoors of a neigh- life is learning to respond pendent adult life bor’s room. Inis learning to reto the undesirable stead, many stuspond to neighdents likely avail bors’ undesirbehaviors of your themselves of the able behaviors. If neighbors. substance-free opone moves into an tion because they apartment buildobject to the being to find that haviors that those the neighbors are substances can elicit when they’re con- drunken louts, he can’t just pack up and sumed by inconsiderate college students. move to a “substance-free apartment” It is certainly reasonable to object to or even a “substance-free city.” If such vomit-filled hallways, broken exit signs things even exist, it is likely financially and boisterous noise at all hours of the unfeasible to do so on short notice. Inweeknight. In fact, it’s likely many stu- stead, people must address such a probdents who reside in standard housing lem by talking to neighbors, a landlord object to these behaviors as well. But the or even the police. Brown students who solution to the problems induced by the are aggrieved by the substance-induced misuse of psychoactive substances is not misconduct of their peers should learn to segregate objecting students from the to do the same as part of this transition rest of the community. Many of the in- to adulthood. By allowing the substanceappropriate, inconsiderate and imma- free option, Brown’s residential program ture substance-induced behaviors are fails to prepare students for adult indeprohibited under the University code of pendent life. conduct. The University should enforce these rules, not because it’s wrong to indulge in psychoactive substances but be- For Ian Eppler ’13, housing is not subcause it’s wrong to be an asshole to your stance-free. He can be reached at ian_ peers. By providing substance-free houseppler@brown.edu.
Eppler’s Rebuttal
Fuerbacher’s Rebuttal
elizabeth fuerbacher
Fuerbacher argues Brown should offer substance-free dorms to mitigate the “feelings of discomfort” that substance use may incite in those who choose not to partake. This reasoning has troubling implications. Part of living in a pluralistic community is that we tolerate what other members of the community choose to do behind closed doors, contingent on the fact that those behaviors do not harm others. When substance use is truly private and not harmful to others, concerned students have no right to object. We would recoil at the prospect of providing LGBTQ-free housing for students who suffer from “feelings of discomfort” at the prospect of sharing a hall with a gay student, and we would recoil at the prospect of providing Muslim-free housing for students who suffer from “feelings at discomfort” at the prospect of sharing a hall with a Muslim student. Why should we indulge those who suffer from “feelings of discomfort” towards other students who make choices or hold identities they disfavor? Fuerbacher is absolutely correct
when she addresses the ubiquity of alcohol-induced misconduct and the desire of many students to avoid the negative ramifications of this behavior. Unlike the impulse to regulate the private, non-harmful actions of peers, this is an appropriate impulse, which is exactly why the University shouldn’t address it by segregating the most aggrieved students into substance-free housing. As I said in my opening statement, the University has swept the problem of alcohol-induced misconduct under the rug by offering substance-free housing. Substance-free housing provides an outlet for the most aggrieved students to escape the harms of alcohol misuse in exchange for some social isolation. Meanwhile, the rest of us silently suffer the harms of constant exposure to those who misuse alcohol and disrespect others in the process, and the University fails to address this problem. The University should close substance-free dorms and enforce its alcohol-related rules, making a safer and more comfortable community for everyone.
Eppler contends substance-free housing is an idealistic quest to insulate students from potential conflicts of interest arising from intoxication. While it is important to resolve disagreements rather than avoid them, it is not immature or naive to offer residential quarters where “stimulating” substances are unwelcome. The social aspect of college is indeed important — and accommodating people with diverse tastes and approaches to personal behavior is a goal many universities deem important. Substance-free housing is no different matter, and students should be trusted in their convictions to choose these residential programs should they desire this atmosphere. Dedicating a couple of dormitory floors to a space where consuming alcohol is unwelcome is not “paternalistic,” as my opponent contends. I can understand Eppler’s point that college is a time during which we grow personally and learn to interact with peers whose behavior and values vary widely. But joining substance-free housing is a sign of conviction and courage that signals a person’s attitude toward this matter. Given college students’ propensity to indulge
in substances that might not be healthy, electing to live in designated housing that clashes with the the acceptance of substance consumption is an action requiring great independence of spirit. I agree the University should enforce rules regarding misconduct. But it would be too idealistic to assume all grievances tied to excessive alcohol consumption are effectively resolved. Furthermore, some students might actually prefer the substance-free environment because of its perceived tranquility rather than because of a strong personal aversion to alcohol. Hence, this option would appeal to a contingent of students beyond those strictly opposed to alcohol. Colleges across the country offer many flavors of housing via affinity programs and residential restrictions. Some people from more conservative backgrounds might prefer single-sex floors. Likewise, those who do not want to be surrounded by alcohol or other substances — regardless of the degree to which they are consumed — deserve similar options. This concept is neither unworldly nor intrusive. It is a reasonable avenue Brown should maintain.
daily herald sports friday the Brown
Friday, february 8, 2013
athlete of the week
Stefanovic earns fourth consecutive All-American honor The anchor scored 117 goals last season and 366 during his record-setting collegiate career
Home Games This Weekend
By Connor Grealy Sports Editor
When not in the classroom, he has spent his time in the pool scoring goals and accumulating awards — ending his career as one of the most decorated athletes in Brown’s history. Svetozar Stefanovic ’13 became Brown’s first four-time All-American selection this past week after being selected to the All-American third team by the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches. Stefanovic ended his water polo career for the Bears as the program’s career scoring leader with 366 goals and the highest single season scorer after netting 117 goals this fall. Stefanovic has also claimed Northern Division Player of the Year four consecutive times. For his history of success, The Herald has selected Stefanovic as Athlete of the Week. The Herald: How did you first get involved with playing water polo? Stefanovic: When I was young, I used to play basketball and then I started going to the pool with my parents. It was like from the movies, one of the coaches came up to my parents and that’s where it all began. How was it to finally have home games during your final season? From the very first game we had support — it made us play really well. We only lost one home game out of so many games. It’s such an advantage to be able to play at home. Playing the anchor position, how did you handle being the focus of every opponent’s defense?
Friday
W. Basketball vs. Princeton 12 p.m. @ Pizzitola Saturday
W. Water Polo @ Pool 4 p.m. vs. Colorado St. 7 p.m. vs. Wagner Sunday
W. Basketball vs. Penn 12 p.m. @ Pizzitola M. Ice Hockey vs. Yale 5 p.m. @ Meehan Gymnastics Tournament 7 p.m. @ Pizzitola W. Water Polo @ Pool 10:15 a.m. vs. Claremont 4 p.m. vs. St. Francis Emily Gilbert / Herald
Svetozar Stefanovic ’13, will graduate as a four-time All-American with more goals scored than any Brunonian before him. You learn to play like that growing up. My position always brings the most attention from the defense, but it’s good to have the honor to attract that attention to free up your teammates. What is the meaning of the tattoo on your shoulder? I have an anchor tattoo. The meaning of it ... in Serbian means the position I play in water polo. Looking back on your career at
Brown, can you say you had a favorite moment as part of the team? I can’t distinguish a single moment. Every single moment was just outstanding and the best moments of my life. I’m pretty sad it’s over, but apart from winning games and championships, every moment we had together was special. What does it mean to you that you’re the first four-time All-American at Brown?
It’s just an honor and a privilege to help raise the level of athletics at our university and I’m happy to represent the University in the best light. I think it’s an achievement of the entire team because I only received that recognition because we had one of the best seasons in Brown Water Polo history. Who are you most looking forward to see perform at Spring Weekend? Kendrick Lamar.
Away game Cancellations due to nemo M./W. Fencing Ivy Championships M./W. Track and Field St. Valentine Invitational MIT Co-ed Invite II
No Longer For British Eyes Only: Experiencing the majesty of professional darts ethan mccoy sports Columnist Spending last semester abroad in Edinburgh, Scotland, I experienced cultural differences that shaped me emotionally and spiritually, providing me a worldview the likes of which anyone who hasn’t been abroad (i.e., you) could never understand. On this mystical journey, I immersed myself in culture, became one with the locals and became a caring and contemplative world traveler that a mere year ago I never thought myself capable of. Don’t get me wrong — I had a great time abroad, met some wonderful people and visited some amazing places. But I tend to be cynical and facetious when looking at the trite introspections the aura of “studying abroad” often tends to connote. My cynicism over the life-changing experience motif, however, comes with one caveat. There was one thing in the U.K. I am not afraid to say changed my life — professional darts. Pro darts competitions are quintessential British kookiness. At times it feels like you’re watching the inevitable next-in-line of the Kingpin,
Dodgeball, Blades of Glory and (dare I say) Balls of Fury lineage. Combine this absurdity with insane dart-wielding skills, and you get an exhibition you cannot look away from. Let’s start with the athletes themselves — yes, athletes. Your average professional darts competitor is an overweight, beaten-down looking middle-aged man who has, in all likelihood, spent the past 40 years of his life in front of a dartboard. But that is not to say these champions lack personality. The player introductions are akin to WWE entrances — the lights dim before the darters strut out accompanied by an entourage including foreboding-looking men in suits and glamour girls. My personal favorites included those of the Australian competitor, a guy with a long goatee and braided ponytail who peacocks out of the tunnel to the tune of “I Come From a Land Down Under,” and 52-year old Phil “The Power” Taylor, who enters beneath strobe lights to Snap!’s 1990 hit “I’ve Got the Power.” If one thing beats the entrances, though, it’s the nicknames. Players are christened with such hyperbolic monikers it’s hard to believe they are given seriously. There is the 55-year-old Denis “The Heat” Ovens, who never
once demonstrated any semblance of emotion in his 45-minute-long match I watched one night. (Don’t judge.) Legends of the game include Eric “The Crafty Cockney” Bristow — a member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire — and John “Old Stoneface” Lowe. The list of inane nicknames is seemingly endless, but I found myself partial to the likes of Barrie “Champagne” Bates, Darryl “The Dazzler” Fitton and Nigel “The Undertaker” Heydon (not to exclude, of course, Steve “The Muffin Man” Hine, whose day job is baking). The electric personalities of these darters are only matched by the atmosphere at events. In hall-of-fame-worthy juxtapositions, these middle-aged guys methodically toss darts while a hype man in a tuxedo belts out their tallies, as what most closely resembles a beer hall creates a deafening din behind them. To get an idea of this circus, imagine if golfers lined up their putts at Augusta National while Oktoberfest took place in the gallery. Fans often show up in costume, and scanning the crowd might reveal a complete Men Without Hats cover band or a dancing Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy. The stereotypical British drunkards, upon seeing a potbellied, balding man ambling back
and forth between a throwing line and a dartboard, respond in turn by belting out a slurred chorus of “Seven Nation Army.” But it’s not long before the intensity of the athletes grows to match the fervor of the crowd. Through all the pageantry and splendor, there is no denying these guys are good — and it’s clear they know it. As the match heats up, muted celebrations begin to peek out and the shuffle up to the board to retrieve one’s darts evolves into an all-out swagger. Then come the myriad variations of celebratory screams and fist pumps. The most demonstrative of all, though, is one of the sport’s rising stars: the Dutchman Michael “Mighty Mike” Van Gerwen, who closely resembles the hypothetical child of Mr. Clean and the Michelin Man. In this December’s World Championships, Van Gerwen threw a perfect “nine-darter” in one game and came one dart shy of repeating it in the next — a feat never before achieved. As each dart plunked the board, the crowd responded in turn with sharp and abrupt roars. On the last perfect dart to take the first game, the debaucherous masses erupted into full-on pandemonium, prompting Van Gerwen to pivot on the throw
line and spread his arms out with a smug smirk, basking in his own greatness as if to say, “Are you not entertained?!” Combining all this silliness with the sniper-like accuracy with which these assassins perform their craft, watching professional darts was a surprisingly mesmerizing spectacle I could not look away from. Routinely, I would find myself rendered an irresponsive vegetable in the pub, staring blankly at the screen alongside my flatmate, both of us tuned out of the surrounding music and impervious to any attempts at human interaction. The U.K. is famous for many things, among them Hugh Grant, Mrs. Featherbottom and your mom’s favorite upstairs-downstairs period drama. But if I could have strengthened our two nations’ supposed “special relationship” and brought anything back to the States, my choice would be clear. Darts is what I need. It’s what you need. It’s what America needs.
Ethan McCoy ’14 once had a dart thrown in his leg but doesn’t hold any grudges. He can be reached at ethan_mccoy@brown.edu