Daily
Herald
THE BROWN
vol. cxlviii, no. 95
since 1891
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013
Early decision applicants face Common App site glitches The U. has not changed its early decision deadline, despite the tech problems applicants have faced By MAGGIE LIVINGSTONE SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Though applicants for the class of 2018 have faced difficulties related to the Common Application’s new website, the Admission Office will not extend its Nov. 1 early decision deadline, wrote Dean of Admission Jim Miller ’73 in an email to The Herald. The Admission Office has received numerous phone calls and emails over the past few weeks with complaints about the Common App, Miller wrote. He added that though the office will not formally postpone the early decision deadline, admission
officers are “dealing with inquiries on a case-by-case basis” and will consider applicants’ individual requests for more time. The Common App launched a new website in August — the first time the site has been revamped in six years — and has since plagued users with a variety of problems, the New York Times reported Oct. 12. Such problems include delayed documentuploading times, supplemental formatting glitches, website crashes and repeated payment prompts. In addition to changes in content this year — including the removal of the “topic of your choice” essay option
and a shorter activity question — the Common App’s digital format differs from past years. The site’s boxes for submitting responses often reformat users’ pasted answers in a way that erases the responses’ previous structure, multiple users said. The University began using the Common App in 2008 and is among close to 500 member universities, according to the Common App website. Two Ivy League institutions, Columbia and Dartmouth, have extended their early decision deadlines to Nov. 8. Barnard College, Northwestern University, Tufts University and the University of Chicago have also pushed their early decision or early action deadlines back a week, according to these institutions’ admission
websites. Given the high number of technical difficulties faced by Common App users this year, the site does not have enough web developers and producers to address the problems, said Michele Hernandez, a college consultant and former assistant director of admissions at Dartmouth. Students who work on their applications with Hernandez are often unable to preview or change their uploaded essays, Hernandez said. Though Hernandez has contacted Common App staffers about these problems, she has received limited responses, she added. “The problems with (the Common App) definitely will affect the early round,” Hernandez said, adding
that the site may be fixed in time for regular decision deadlines. Hernandez expressed frustration with the Common App’s transition process to its new website. “I can’t believe they didn’t testdrive it,” she said. Long uploading times and online page freezes have posed problems for high school students like Zack Shakked, an early decision applicant to Brown who attends Colts Neck High School in Colts Neck, N.J. Shakked said he dealt with formatting errors when he tried to paste supplementary responses to the Common App site and that his web browser often flagged the site for being a digitally insecure page. » See APP, page 3
Alum revealed as voice of iPhone’s Siri Susan Bennett ’71 sang a cappella at Brown and witnessed its transition to co-ed education By KATE NUSSENBAUM SCIENCE & RESEARCH EDITOR
Years before the voice of Siri echoed in the pockets of millions of iPhone users, it sounded across Brown’s campus in classics courses and Chattertocks concerts. The voice, known for its polite advice and darkly sarcastic humor, belongs to Susan Bennett ’71, who earlier this month announced her
FEATURE
RYAN WALSH / HERALD
The specialty sandwich shop on Weybosset Street, which also offers salads and local beers, recently opened up its second location in Providence. Its late-night hours and free WiFi make it an ideal study spot.
role in working with Apple. Siri, the voice-activated iPhone assistant, was launched in 2010 as a downloadable application, according to an article in the Huffington Post. When Apple launched the iPhone 4S in fall 2011, the company marketed the full integration of Siri into the phone as one of its most noteworthy new features. But until this month, the voice behind Siri remained a mystery. Bennett revealed to CNN that she was the voice of the Apple product after being encouraged to do so by her husband and son, she said. She added that people had started to speculate a different woman had voiced Siri, after » See SIRI, page 3
UMelt redefines grilled cheese By EMMAJEAN HOLLEY SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Easy to miss among the bevy of eateries on Weybosset Street, UMelt
inside
might be the greatest thing since sliced bread. Specializing in gourmet grilled cheeses, from classic to quirky, UMelt boasts a casual atmosphere and a pleasant staff.
UMelt, whose original location in Kingston made it popular with students from the University of the Rhode Island, opened its Providence location at the beginning of last summer in hopes of replicating its success with students from Johnson & Wales University and Brown. Walking in, customers might mistake their surroundings for a modern take on a quaint Norman Rockwell painting. The brightly colored walls and diner-style seating create a retro yet still contemporary vibe, complemented by indie pop and last decade’s alternative rock hits playing in the background. The sandwiches, which cost between $4 and $8, appeal to a broad spectrum of palates and culinary comfort levels. Menu items range from the reliable simplicity of “The
Classic,” made with just American cheese and bread, to inspired innovations such as the combination of cheddar, bacon and BBQ potato chips in “The Chipster.” For the health-conscious, “The Veggie” delivers a nutritious powerhouse with Havarti, hummus and fresh vegetables on multigrain bread, in addition to a variety of gourmet salads, all of which cost less than $8. For customers over 21, UMelt also carries wine and locally brewed beer. Choosing from such a diverse menu can be daunting. But sharing with friends is easy at UMelt, where the sandwiches are cut in half before being served. While many options include meat, the staff ’s flexibility in altering or omitting ingredients » See UMELT, page 2
COURTESY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Susan Bennett ‘71 said she was overwhelmed by the public’s response when she revealed herself as the voice of Siri earlier this month.
To intervene?
Foul pay
Nuclear options
Speakers disagreed over the United States’ continued role in the Middle East
Feldman ’15 says paying college athletes would curb competition
Sundlee ’16 argues human rights should be considered in negotiations with Iran
UNIVERSITY NEWS, 4
COMMENTARY, 7
COMMENTARY, 7
weather
The gourmet sandwiches, made with fresh and local ingredients, offer an affordable comfort food
t o d ay
tomorrow
53 / 34
55 / 33
2 arts & culture
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013
calendar TODAY
OCTOBER 23
5 P.M.
TOMORROW
OCTOBER 24
4 P.M. Movie Screening: The Lady
What Money Can’t Buy
Sayles Hall, Room 205 5:30 P.M.
MacMillan Hall, Room 117 7 P.M.
Joseph Litvak Lecture
Free Cider with Safewalk
Dept. of English, Room 315
Sciences Library
menu SHARPE REFECTORY
VERNEY-WOOLLEY
LUNCH Hot Roast Beef on French Bread, Artichoke Pepper Calzone, Pumpkin Cookies with White Chocolate Chips
Autumn Bisque, Split Pea with Ham, Pulled Pork Sandwich, Vegan Quinoa Stuffed Portobella, Pumpkin Cookies
DINNER
N WATERMA
IAL
OR
M ME
KENNEDY PLAZA
IN MA
UMelt
129 Weybosset St.
BROWN CAMPUS
THAYER
GEORGE
S.
upon request makes the menu malleable and vegetarian-friendly. “The Tomato and Basil” grilled cheese is the distant, more glamorous cousin of the pizza at the Sharpe Refectory with the same name. The tomato is noticeably fresher than its College Hill counterpart, and the mozzarella cheese has a creamy consistency, a constrast to the Ratty’s rubbery cheese. The full-bodied flavor of the homemade pesto mingles perfectly with the delicate yet savory balsamic glaze. For those with torn allegiances between mac and cheese from the Ivy Room and grilled cheese from Josiah’s, “The White Trash” is an ideal solution, stuffing mac and cheese, cheddar and BBQ pulled pork between two thick slices of sourdough. Though slightly messy to eat, the sandwich is less dysfunctional than might be expected — possibly because the cheddar allowed the noodles to stick together, preventing too many
DYER
crossword
» UMELT, from page 1
POWER
WE YB OS SET
sudoku
RYAN WALSH / HERALD
“The Tomato and Basil,” one of several vegetarian options on UMelt’s menu, transforms the traditional combination of tomato, mozzarella and basil pesto into a grilled cheese sandwich on a crispy baguette.
E
Shepherd’s Pie, Black Bean Sweet Potato Ragout, Cous Cous, Chocolate Hot Fudge Cake
PIN
Butternut Squash Cannelloni, Herb Crusted Salmon, Organic Red Rice with Papaya and Pineapple
ARELY DIAZ / HERALD
casualties. And while UMelt’s mac and cheese is not as decadent as the Ivy Room’s, the strong cheesy flavor provides the same satiation without the bloating and remorse. The staff is friendly and downto-earth, chatting and joking with customers and audibly marveling at particularly appetizing orders. Employees are clearly passionate and knowledgeable about the sources of their ingredients, which are fresh
and local whenever possible — for example, the pesto in “The Tomato and Basil” was made entirely with ingredients from the Providence area last summer. Basil has since gone out of season, but UMelt’s pesto continues to be one of the housemade products prepared in small batches to ensure freshness and quality. Even UMelt’s jalapenos are pickled in house. As a tasty and affordable afterthought, consider indulging in “The Dessert,” which oozes warm Nutella from honey-roasted banana slices with each sumptuous bite. Though the raisin bread’s light sweetness complements Nutella’s viscosity, those who do not want to be overwhelmed by raisins might consider requesting a different kind of bread. Lightly dusted with confectionary sugar, the dish is ideal for sharing or as the ultimate comfort food. UMelt, just a 10-minute walk down College Hill, proves breaking out of the campus bubble can be hearteningly comfortable. It offers a vibrant, fresh and more socially conscious solution to cravings for roughly the same cost as a meal credit. In the chilly fall weather, its grilled cheeses make you feel so warm you melt.
feature 3
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013
» SIRI, from page 1 that woman appeared in a video on the website the Verge explaining the history of smartphone voices. “It took me a long time to decide to reveal my identity, so to speak,” Bennett said. “I wasn’t sure I wanted to deal with public scrutiny and notoriety.” A voice on campus Originally from a small town in upstate New York, Bennett said attending Brown presented a “culture shock.” “It was a bit of a traumatic time,” she said, adding that though she had received an excellent high school education, she was not used to being surrounded by “so many brilliant and wealthy people.” Bennett attended the University in the midst of major administrative changes: When she arrived on campus in 1967, she was enrolled at the all-female Pembroke College, but by the time she graduated in 1971, Pembroke had merged with Brown. At Pembroke, Bennett recalled, she was summoned by a bell to formal meals in the dorms at which she was required to wear skirts and sit in an assigned seat. “It went from that kind of conservatism to co-ed dorms,” she said. At Brown, Bennett met her first husband — Curt Bennett ’70 — who later became the first American NHL player to score more than 30 goals, she said. Bennett concentrated in classics, originally intending to become a teacher. She also found opportunities to develop her voice, acting in Sock and Buskin plays and leading the Chattertocks a capella group. “That was a very important part of my life at Brown,” Bennett said of her time in the Chattertocks. “It was really fun to sing harmony with people.” Finding Siri’s voice Bennett said she became Siri somewhat serendipitously, calling her career as a voice actress a “complete and utter accident.” “I’ve always been interested in words and language,” Bennett said, recalling her pursuit of Latin as a Brown student. “But I was mainly a singer.” After graduating, Bennett moved to Atlanta, where she found work singing jingles. One day, the voice actor for a commercial she was recording failed to show up. The owner of the studio told Bennett to read the actor’s part because she did not have an accent. And with that, Bennett’s voice career was born. “I took some voice coaching lessons and just started to work,” she said. When Apple decided to use a human voice in its products, an Apple employee found recordings of Bennett’s voice on an agent’s website “and just happened to choose it,” Bennett said. Recording history Bennett made the initial Siri recordings throughout July 2005. She worked four hours a day, five days a week, reading thousands of nonsensical sentences constructed by linguists and audiologists, she said. They created sentences that
incorporated countless combinations of vowels, consonants and syllables, “so that they would have in their banks of information just about any combination, any sound that could possibly happen,” she said. After she recorded all of the sentences, the linguists and audiologists broke them apart, extracting certain sounds and reconfiguring them to make any phrase they needed. Bennett returned to the studio to record updates in 2011 and 2012. “It was a challenge in a way because most of the text-to-speech work is quite tedious,” Bennett said. “You are reading a huge list, and you have to keep the same intonation and same pacing. … Everything had to be read very, very clearly.” Siri is unique because she sounds human, Bennett added, which in 2005 was a major technological feat. ‘Siri classic’ Siri doesn’t just sound human — she’s programmed to respond with “a little bit of attitude,” Bennett said, recalling one of her husband’s interactions with the robot. “When he first got the phone, he didn’t realize that he had it on the setting that enabled Siri to speak every time he picked up the phone,” Bennett said. When it asked him, “How may I help you,” he responded, “Well you
could just go away!” Bennett said. Siri snapped back, “What did I do to deserve that?” With the introduction of iOS7, Apple may have begun to phase out Bennett’s voice, she said. She recently purchased a 5S after losing her phone on the way to an interview in New York and said sometimes the voice sounds like her, but sometimes it sounds like someone else. “In case they’re phasing me out, I call myself Siri classic,” she said. Overwhelming response Bennett’s trip to her interview in New York was just one of many jaunts she has made since her reveal, which she described as “overwhelming.” “I had no idea that people were so interested in this,” Bennett said. She returned home to 500 personal emails after her first interview with CNN, she said. “I didn’t realize people had such a close relationship with her,” Bennett said. That interest extended to Brown’s campus, where multiple students have called Bennett’s job “cool.” “I didn’t realize it was an actual person. It sounded more like an automated voice,” said Vittoriano di Vaio ’14. “I wonder how she feels about how you can choose a man’s voice now,” said Victoria Leonard ’15.
» APP, from page 1 “I want to study computer science, and the website is just so terribly made,” Shakked said. “They have disgustingly ugly animations. The whole website makes me want to throw up.” This year marks the first time that the Common App required teachers writing letters of recommendation for applicants to digitally submit their letters through Naviance, a website designed for high school counselors to streamline college admission forms. Naviance has crashed multiple times, many high school guidance counselors said. College counselors at the Pingry School in Bernards, N.J., have offered to transcribe recommendation letters for the school’s teachers because so many have had technical problems with Naviance, said Tim
Lear, the school’s director of college counseling. “Teachers are all doing this as kind of an extra — they have their own jobs to do, papers to grade, etc.,” Lear said. “Every hurdle we erect in front of teachers is unfortunate.” Richard Jiang, an early decision applicant to the class of 2018 from Brooklyn, N.Y., said his teachers are receiving the brunt of Naviance’s technical issues. He added that when he searched for Brown and began working on supplemental questions, the website’s formatting confused him so much that he did not know if he had completed certain sections. Though Miller acknowledged that applicants and their recommenders have faced significant problems navigating the revamped Common App website, he wrote that the Admission Office anticipated the site’s updates would cause technical issues.
university news 5
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013
Speakers clash on nation’s role in Middle East The panelists offered differing views on the effectiveness of political intervention in the region By DREW WILLIAMS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Questions about the merits of intervention took center stage in a debate on United States foreign policy in the Middle East in a half-full List Art Center 120 Tuesday night. The debate, entitled “America’s Role in the Middle East,” was sponsored by the Brown chapter of the Alexander Hamilton Society, a nonprofit group that organizes lectures on political topics. Middle East Studies Librarian Ian Straughn moderated the debate. The U.S. government’s “desire to be a hegemon in the Middle East has not produced good results for the United States,” said Stephen Kinzer, visiting fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies and a former foreign correspondent for the New York Times. Kinzer expressed his support for a reduced U.S. presence in the region, arguing that the nation’s current involvement has harmed the people of the Middle East. Michael Rubin, a resident scholar at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute and a former official at the U.S. Department of Defense, disagreed with Kinzer, highlighting what he said were the benefits of continued U.S. engagement in the Middle East. Rubin said a “power vacuum” would emerge if the United States withdrew its political influence from the region. The speakers disagreed over whether U.S. foreign policy efforts in the Middle East has yielded benefits for local populations. Kinzer said the United States’ involvement in the region has been motivated by its own political and economic interests, rather than by a genuine commitment to the interests of communities in the Middle East. “I believe that the new order of the Middle East, whatever it is, should be based on the desires of the Middle East,” Kinzer said. “This order may not be open to American intervention. I think this is a fair price to pay.” But Rubin argued that the United States has acted as a necessary stabilizer in the region, adding that the nation has addressed human rights concerns that he believes other major powers, such as Russia and China, might overlook. Kinzer rebutted by saying a political shift would occur when the United States left the region, so the federal government should wind down its presence in the Middle East now rather than in the future. American citizens may not be committed to a long-lasting role in the Middle East, he added. Both speakers criticized the process of U.S. developmental aid distribution in the Middle East. U.S. aid to Middle Eastern
countries in the form of financial assistance and economic development projects can often be detrimental, Kinzer said. Rubin agreed — “Civilian aid is oftentimes undemocratic,” he said. “You are taking away the role of that government.” Rubin cited cases where U.S. aid financed the building of roads in Afghanistan that local residents did not want. Afghani military forces’ seizure of property from local landowners increased substantially following the U.S. road development projects, he said, adding these roads facilitated more land seizures. Though Kinzer and Rubin agreed that some aid policies have been flawed, they had differing opinions on the effectiveness of the federal government’s efforts to transform the region into a collection of democracies. Political restructuring efforts by U.S. policymakers have hurt developing states in the Middle East, Kinzer said. “I believe we actually made Afghanistan less democratic by implementing parliamentary procedures,” he said. The creation of a parliament has allowed warlords and drug dealers to exert a stronger influence on Afghanistan’s political process by winning seats in the legislature and supplanting local community leaders’ power, Kinzer said. The United States must continue its political engagement in the region partly to combat terrorism, Rubin said. Terrorist threats in the Middle East stem from ideological agendas that will not subside if the United States withdraws from the area, he added. Kinzer said he believed local grievances against the United States’ political involvement in the Middle East drive terrorist groups. Both speakers voiced concern over the emergence of corruption in governments set up by the United States in the Middle East, but Rubin said he believed U.S. political involvement can help reduce that corruption. “We are going to make mistakes,” Rubin said. “There is no magic formula in the region.” But Kinzer expressed doubt about the United States’ ability to reduce the region’s political instability. “The can-do attitude is quintessentially American,” Kinzer said. “But there are some challenges that even the can-do attitude can’t resolve.” Some attendees said they approved of the speakers’ willingness to look beyond political ideology in discussing solutions to problems in the Middle East. Matt Breuer ’14 said he was surprised by how Kinzer and Rubin were able to facilitate an open-minded discussion of complex challenges facing the region. He said Kinzer and Rubin transcended the divisive nature of the American political process in their presentations on foreign policy.
www.browndailyherald.com
ASHLEY SO / HERALD
Reiki, a Japanese healing technique, was the focus of the Wellness at Brown series’ second program. Bourne said use of the method is expanding, adding that it is currently employed by hospitals and the military.
» HEALING, from page 8 process, she said all these mediums are interconnected and achieve the same brand of “inner peace.” Reiki is quickly expanding and is even used in hospitals and the military, Bourne said. Some audience members received the presentation with skepticism. During Bourne’s demonstration on audience member Norah Bradbury, Bourne attempted to guess where Bradbury’s tension and injuries were.
The first two guesses proved false, and only when Bourne guessed that Bradbury was righthanded was the Reiki practitioner correct. After the event, Bradbury said “it didn’t work for (her),” but added that she noticed a complete shift in Bourne’s countenance during the process as her breathing became much deeper. “I was a bit nervous,” Bradbury said. “I don’t know, I might give it a try,” said Michele Wise, senior benefits special programs coordinator,
comics Class Notes | Philip Trammell
Eric & Eliot | Willa Tracy
who is in charge of the string of alternative medicine workshops at Brown. She said much of modern medicine combines traditional and nontraditional methods, and their effectiveness depends on the individual. “Not everyone has to accept it or have it,” Bourne said, adding that the process does not work on nonbelievers. Bourne said her clients react differently to the treatment. Some cry during the process, and one laughed the entire time simply from the happy energy Reiki provided, she said.
6 commentary
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013
EDITORIAL
Higher ed reforms should emphasize innovation As mentioned this week in the New York Times, two states — Florida and Texas — have begun experimenting with low-cost undergraduate degree programs, programs supported by their respective governors, Rick Scott and Rick Perry. Over a dozen institutions are now offering baccalaureate degrees that cost under $10,000 a year — a far cry from the $40,000 and upwards many currently pay for four-year degrees. Opponents of such measures have suggested that reducing cost so drastically may come at the expense of other important aspects of higher education, such as quality of teaching or student-teacher interaction. To some extent, these critics have a point: While such measures are something of an initial step towards reducing the price of college, reformers should look beyond such narrow, simplistic policies. Though we appreciate the incentive behind the so-called $10,000 degree, we too are concerned about the effect such changes could have on higher education. Both Scott and Perry highly encouraged their states’ universities and community colleges to begin offering these degrees in the hope that this would spur more cost-effective methods of higher education.We are glad governors are not ignoring the plight students face in these hard economic times. But by instituting such a simplistic monetary benchmark for these programs, Florida and Texas have merely encouraged their respective states’ schools to offer skeletal bachelors degrees that might not even be worth the asking price. States should instead seek to incentivize actual innovation in the education market rather than merely rewarding colleges for slashing their programs. It is clear technology and online classes will have some sort of place as we examine higher education. It seems backwards, then, not to enact policies that encourage effective and inexpensive integration of online resources. The price of schooling past high school is already threatening to outpace its value. We fear thoughtless cost-cutting could even further devalue a degree. The path forward lies in using electronic resources to perform tasks and even teach material that they can do faster and more efficiently than a person — without sacrificing quality. People have a comparative advantage in tasks that require flexibility and interpersonal interaction and should thus focus on performing these tasks. One example of how this might potentially be implemented lies in structuring college courses by presenting all or some of the material online, giving professors and teaching assistants more time for individualized and personal attention in office hours. The reforms in Texas and Florida wrongly focus merely on reducing costs. Instead, leaders should look to develop more efficient ways of delivering education. If education becomes streamlined in this manner, price will fall naturally without fear of a decrease in quality that these policies risk encouraging. This will lead to less inequality in higher education and greater access to educational materials for all.
A N G E L IA WA N G
Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board: its editor, Rachel Occhiogrosso, and its members, Daniel Jeon, Hannah Loewentheil and Thomas Nath. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.
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commentary 7
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013
Let’s leave being paid to the professionals ANDREW FELDMAN opinions columnist
At the start of this year’s college football season, reigning Heisman Trophy winner and Texas A&M University quarterback Johnny Manziel was suspended amidst reports that he was paid to sign autographs for the first half of his team’s opening game. Some would argue these reports suggest that rather than rendering one of college football’s biggest stars ineligible to play, the college athletics system should reward stars by paying them. Paying college athletes, the argument goes, would eliminate the need to suspend players for receiving improper benefits while leveling the playing field for athletes who currently get away with receiving benefits. I don’t see why college athletes should be banned from selling their autographs. If fans can get autographs and then sell them, athletes should be able to profit from their own penmanship. Really, anyone can sell his or her autograph — it’s just likely there
won’t be a market for them. But autographs should be the only time athletes can profit off their talent. Playing a sport prevents players from getting a parttime job, so autographs are a compromise. Athletes shouldn’t get endorsement deals — that would take necessary funds away from schools. And one of the beauties of college sports is that every four years, it’s an entirely new team. Fans come to support the team name on the front of the jersey, not the player’s name on the back — if there even is one. Paying players is simply impractical. College athletics departments do not have enough money to pay athletes, and sports programs have to share revenue among their entire athletics departments. Teams that bring in more revenue don’t keep all of their revenue or have higher budgets. They have to share the money with lower revenue sports. Paying athletes from only high revenue teams would destroy any semblance of equality between high and low revenue sports. Schools would prioritize the sports that would pay athletes, and in doing so, would in-
crease the divide between male in every round to a tournament and female athletes. Only 21 where the first half of games women’s basketball teams were would be more like a preseason able to outearn their male equiv- for top schools. alent, and of those, only three One of the biggest questions were profitable. There is no way to address is why college athletes schools would be able to pay ath- should be paid. College athletes letes playing unprofitable sports, put in countless hours of work and paying only each week in their one gender of respective sports “Really, anyone athletes would and, in top procan sell his or her grams, oftentimes violate Title IX. The only way paytreat those sports autograph — it’s ing college athas their major. just likely there letes and creating Proponents of won’t be a market paying athletes this imbalance between sports also contend athfor them.” would be possiletes don’t even ble is through altering Title IX, get the benefit of a diploma bewhich could severely set back cause they leave school early to gender equality. attempt to make it in the profesOnly certain schools with sional field. large boosters could pay athBut this isn’t entirely true. Not letes. While some might equate as many college athletes leave this with a survival of the fittest college without obtaining a demindset, it would make college gree as stereotypes suggest. Of sports much less competitive. players who were freshmen in If only certain schools have the 2005-06, 74 percent of men’s basability to recruit athletes by pay- ketball and 70 percent of men’s ing them, elite sports schools will football players graduated. That be able to enlarge the gap be- percentage is actually higher tween them and other schools. than the general graduation rate Imagine March Madness going of students, which in 2009 was 56 from a college basketball tour- percent. nament of 64 teams with upsets The most important concept
is that college athletes are already paid. If an athlete earns a full athletic scholarship to a private university, that involves earning an annual salary of over $50,000 a year. That is a lot more money than people without a college education or people playing as semi-pro athletes. Scholarships provide students who might not be able to afford college a way to graduate completely free of debt. This gives students from impoverished backgrounds the chance to get world-class educations while being set up for future success. Let’s not forget that they also get the opportunity to compete at a high level in the sport they love. There are countless students who would love that opportunity. As Jim Boeheim, Syracuse University’s men’s head basketball coach, said when asked if he thought college athletes should be paid, “That’s really the most idiotic question of all time.” Andrew Feldman ’15 is currently working out a Nike endorsement contract to play ultimate Frisbee, and can be reached at Andrew_Feldman@brown.edu.
A word of caution for Iranian sanction negotiators ROBYN SUNDLEE opinions columnist
Last week, representatives from the United Nations Security Council and Iran engaged in talks about Iran’s nuclear program in Geneva. In exchange for loosening economic sanctions, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani claims to be willing to employ greater transparency in Iran’s nuclear development. These negotiations and the phone call between Rouhani and President Obama have created a surge of optimism regarding future relations between Iran and the West. Many American leaders and strategists are eager to give the regime a chance to change its ways. But, sadly, Rouhani is no Mikhail Gorbachev. This administration’s progressiveness is most likely a facade. Despite any notions of liberalism he harbors, the president answers first and foremost to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and would not be in power if Khamenei did not approve. All recent intelligence on Khamenei indicates that he is staunchly anti-American and leery of establishing any relationship with the West. Mostafa Pourmohammadi, Rouhani’s pick for minister of justice, was part of a council that
orchestrated the mass torture To avoid external threats, Iran and executions of Iranian po- will likely continue cultivating litical dissidents in 1988, during nuclear weapons, regardless of his tenure as deputy intelligence any accords reached in Geneva. minister. Pourmohammadi was North Korea exemplifies how to an integral part of the Special please the domestic and internaAffairs Council, the shadowy tional community just enough organization in charge of target- to maintain power while still deing political dissidents for assas- veloping nuclear weapons. sination and torture. In short, Iran won’t stop pursuing this Rouhani is charging a butch- technology because it provides er with the justice of the na- the ultimate tool for resisting tion, which indichallengers from cates his adminabroad and en“Rather than istration is the sures that the redevoting all same old oppresgime can keep sive Revolutiontheir people isoenergies to ary Guard with lated from outhaggling over a new, friendlier side ideologies. nuclear policy with Many mask. groups With the tacit within the Iranirecalcitrant elites, approval of Ayaan leadership — the international particularly the tollah Khamenei, President Revolutionar y community Rouhani is exGuard, who conneeds to invest tending a hand trol imports — in empowering to the West only stand to benefit because Iran is from this continIranians.” withering. Westued isolationism ern sanctions and will hinder have succeeded in crippling the attempts to globalize Iran. Iranian economy, and public Repairing relations with the support for a nuclear program Iranian people, opening Iran is waning due to the falling stan- up to the global community dards of living. A majority of the and preventing further human population lives under the pov- rights abuses are all essential to erty line. The communication ensuring security for all parties. with the international commu- Rather than devoting all enernity is only to reduce sanctions gies to haggling over nuclear and preserve the regime for an- policy with recalcitrant elites, other season. the international community
needs to invest in empowering Iranians. The current treatment of Iran’s citizenry is unacceptable. Iran has the most executions per capita in the world, which are often for offenses as minor as drug use. Prisoners are denied due process, and executions are public. In addition, the Iranian parliament is currently crafting legislation that would make it legal for men to marry 13-year-olds. All of these violate nternational standards of human rights. Rather than engaging Iran singularly on the nuclear issue, the negotiating parties should take a multipronged approach that includes human rights in its negotiations. I agree with Ray Takeyh, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, who argues human rights violations in Iran need to be part of the sanction negotiations to avoid making the impression that nations can pick which international norms they violate. This approach could help open Iran to the rest of the world. Contrary to popular belief, pro-West sentiment abounds throughout Iran. In a blog post published by the Huffington Post, Stephen Kinzer, visiting fellow at the Watson Institute, who has traveled to and written extensively on Iran, called this feeling “a priceless strategic asset to the U.S.” He went on to say that pro-American sentiments
among the Iranian people come from admiration of American achievements: democracy, personal liberty and rule of law. Iranians want engagement with the global community in order to attain these attributes in their own country. To harness these sentiments, the international community needs to move human rights into every conversation with Iranian diplomats. This Iranian administration is not made up of the reformers we would wish for. The global community must pressure Iran into ending human rights abuses and giving the Iranian people access to global communication. This way, we may be able to strengthen relations with the people of Iran and perhaps sway future leaders. Any assistance must not be viewed as another form of foreign imperialism — and this is, admittedly, a very fine line to tread. But the stakes are too high for inaction. The global community must approach Iran’s interest in negotiating with tact, caution and the lessons of North Korea fresh in mind, with an eye toward empowering the Iranian citizenry. Robyn Sundlee ’16 is trying really hard not to be an imperialist.
daily herald science & research THE BROWN
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2013
SCIENCE & RESEARCH ROUNDUP
BY KATE NUSSENBAUM, SCIENCE & RESEARCH EDITOR
Student wins SACNAS awards The University’s chapter of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science won two awards from the national organization earlier this month. David Barrera ’15 was honored for his research on “the effect of heat stress on tomato plant fertilization,” according to a University press release. The chapter, established last year, also received a “Role Model Award.” The University chapter helps students find internships and fellowships and works to engage students in the broader Providence community, like those at Hope High School, in science and research, according to a University press release. Theresa Ramirez GS and Marcela Suruco GS began the chapter “to foster the success of students to be able to attain advanced degrees and careers and become leaders in science,” Ramirez said in the press release.
BRITTANY COMUNALE / HERALD
A new study conducted in the Advanced Baby Imaging Lab examined how changes in the brain correlate with language development. To conduct brain imaging scans of infants, researchers waited for them to fall asleep.
Imaging study probes language acquisition The study examined the structural changes that occur as infants and children develop language By EMMA JERZYK CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Children’s brains change in unexpected ways as they develop language, according to a new study conducted by researchers from the University and King’s College in London. The study was published in the Journal of Neuroscience Oct. 9. The researchers focused on the development of myelin, the fatty material that forms an insulating sheath around nerves, helping them conduct electrical signals. Because structures that support language ability are usually on the left side of the brain, the researchers expected to find increasingly asymmetrical levels of myelin in children developing language, with more myelin development on the left side, according to the study. They also expected the difference in myelin levels between the left and right sides of the brain to increase with the development of language skills. The researchers hypothesized that the asymmetry of myelin would increase in children between the ages of 2
and 4, when there is enormous growth in language skills. But contrary to their hypothesis, the researchers found that the asymmetry of myelin in the brain was present as early as the age of 1 and remained steady as children acquired language. Though there are many studies on myelin asymmetry, “there is a significant gap in the imaging literature with respect to children aged between 1 and 6 years,” the authors wrote in the paper. Jonathan O’Muircheartaigh, lead author of the study and visiting scientist at the School of Engineering, said this is because “they won’t go to sleep and they’ll cry and they’ll be upset” in the scanner, moving too much for researchers to collect usable data. To test their hypothesis, the researchers performed cognitive assessments and magnetic resonance imaging scans on 108 infants and children between 1 and 6 years of age. In order to avoid the problems that other researchers encountered when attempting to scan young children, researchers scanned children under 4 years of age while they were asleep and children over 4 while they watched a movie, O’Muircheartaigh said. The lab in which the study was conducted, the Advanced Baby Imaging Lab, has two family rooms where families sit with their children until
they fall asleep and can be scanned, O’Muircheartaigh said. For the cognitive assessments, researchers administered a battery of tests to measure receptive language, expressive language, gross motor skills, fine motor skills and visual reception, according to the study. To determine the myelin levels in different parts of the brain, researchers used a technique called “multicomponent relaxometry.” O’Muicheartaigh said, “The signal you get out of MRI all comes from water. And by collecting different variants of images, you’re able to decompose that water into water that’s associated with different tissue pools.” Sean Deoni, the principal investigator of the study and an assistant professor in the School of Engineering, wrote in an email to The Herald that, “by isolating that signal, we can quantify it, and obtain an indirect measure of myelin content.” The researchers are now examining how environment may impact language development, as previous animal studies show that “the degree of myelination changes in response to environment and neuronal activity,” the authors wrote in the study. In particular, the researchers will study whether the pattern of their results remains as subjects continue to return for more scanning.
Team changes virus’ target A team of scientists including University researchers published a paper demonstrating a new technique for changing the target of a particular virus. The study, published in the journal PLoS Pathogens earlier this month, found that changing one amino acid in a specific virus would also change the sugar to which the virus binds. “I think it’s one of the first ... times that a receptor switch of this nature has been identified,” said corresponding author and Professor of Medicine Walter Atwood, in a University press release. “There are dozens of viruses that use these kinds of sugars as receptors. What we’re showing is that it doesn’t take much to convert from using one type of sugar to using another type of sugar,” Atwood said in the release. “It helps us to understand evolutionarily how these viruses may adapt to a new host.” Researchers could not directly test how infective the viruses are in different species because they were working with “safe psuedoviruses” according to the press release. Stacy-Ann Allen-Ramdiyal PhD’13, now a postdoctoral researcher at the University, was one of the paper’s lead authors.
Progeria documentary premieres on HBO “Life According to Sam” premiered on HBO Monday night to generally positive reviews. The documentary follows Sam Berns, a 16-year-old with progeria, a rare condition for which there is no known cure that causes early onset aging and death. Berns is the son of Leslie Gordon, associate professor of pediatrics at Alpert Medical School, and Scott Berns, clinical professor of pediatrics at the Med School. Since their son’s diagnosis, Gordon and Berns have been working to find a cure for the disease, founding the Progeria Research Foundation and conducting a clinical trial of a promising new drug, The Herald previously reported. “‘Life According to Sam’ is remarkable in the ways it mimics Sam’s guiding principle and spirit,” Hank Stuever of the Washington Post wrote in a review. “Although it has a lot to tell us about the science of genomes and the rigors of FDA approval, it doesn’t necessarily want you to feel sorry or outraged or moved to act. It only wants you to feel how fragile yet wonderful life can be.”
Wellness program examines unconventional healing techniques Reiki, an alternative form of medicine from Japan, is used to channel healing energy through a practitioner By GABRIELLE DEE SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Making grabbing motions in thin air and tossing invisible balls of energy behind her, Bridget Bourne, Reiki master teacher and practitioner, demonstrated the 80-year-old Japanese healing process of Reiki on an audience member in the Peterruti Lounge yesterday. The second program in Wellness at Brown’s series on alternative healing techniques such as acupuncture, “Reiki; What is it? How does it heal?” presented brochures, information
about Reiki and a demonstration about the unconventional form of medicine to the 15 women in attendance. Reiki involves practitioners laying their hands on another being to transfer energy and encourage relaxation and healing. Bourne said she “immediately connected to the energy” of Reiki when her tarot card reader performed it on her. Reiki, Bourne said, has completely changed her life — leading her to leave a bad marriage, lose 185 pounds and even leave her job at the United Health Center to devote her
career to the technique. To become a Master Teacher and Practitioner in Reiki, Bourne said people must first familiarize themselves with the practice. Then, with more formal training, someone can become a practitioner and eventually a master teacher, she said. “Fifty percent of my clients become my students,” a testament to the connection others feel to the energy that Reiki transmits, Bourne added. Reiki was developed by Mikao Usui, who studied health and healing at a Japanese school of Buddhism during the early 20th century. Usui realized that while healing people, his own energy was depleted or the sickness would be transmitted
to him instead, Bourne said. To keep his own energy intact, Usui developed Reiki to channel healing energy through a practitioner’s hands, Bourne said. Such energy is everywhere in the universe, connecting everything around us, she said. Stress or injury may cause an energy block, where the energy “feels heavy,” she added. “There’s nothing (Reiki) isn’t good for,” Bourne said, adding that aside from curing migraines, sinuses, joints, digestive problems, addiction, fertility problems and anxiety, Reiki’s healing energy is applicable to animals, plants, food and even inanimate objects. At her old job, Bourne said she
would perform Reiki on the faulty printers. “I would hug it and give it Reiki and people would laugh at me but it would only work for me,” she said. Bourne said she also used Reiki on a friend’s son affected with Dwarfism before he underwent a dangerous operation with a 50 percent chance of survival. The child recovered unusually quickly, Bourne said — and though she acknowledged the proficiency of the doctors involved, she said she believes Reiki played a role in the quick recuperation. Though Bourne said Reiki is not massage, meditation or a spiritual » See HEALING, page 5