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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015

VOLUME CL, ISSUE 50

WWW.BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM

Brown teams, coaches cite insufficient funds U. to offer Athletic program trails behind Ivy peers, works to raise funds to compensate for financial gap By LAINIE ROWLAND SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The University hosts 900 athletes and 37 varsity teams, making it the fourth largest athletic program in the country and the largest women’s program, according to the athletics department website. For an academically-oriented school known primarily for success in the classroom rather than on the field, supporting such a wide variety of sports teams is an impressive feat. According to data from the Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education, the operating expenses for Bruno’s men’s teams in reporting year 2013-14 was $2,115,524, while the operating expenses for women’s teams was $1,394,367. Operating expenses — the game day costs directly associated with a team’s operations — are only one part of a team’s overall expenditures. In total, the budget for

SPORTS

athletics was $19,547,026 in 2013-14. “A team’s operating budget is made up of personnel costs, of team travel, team recruitment, equipment and uniforms,” said Athletics Director Jack Hayes. “Those are probably the most significant costs of an operating budget for any team,” he said, adding that these costs are “annual expenses that remain fairly consistent from year to year.” P e r participant, the teams with the highest operating expenses were men’s basketball at $16,061 and men’s ice hockey at $12,034. The sport with the greatest difference in per capita operating expense between men’s and women’s teams was ice hockey, with a gap of

and women’s ice hockey. Though teams like basketball and football demand higher operating expenses, they also bring in disproportionate revenue compared to other varsity programs. The men’s and women’s basketball programs generated almost $1.5 million, while the football team is credited with over $2 million in revenue. Men’s teams bring in about one -and-a-half times more revenue than women’s teams, which may partially explain the differences in expenses. “Every program has a fundraising target, which ends up being a portion of their operating budget,”

ANGELIA WANG

$6,781 per player and a total difference of $185,276 in operating expenses. The team with the largest budget was football, though the per participant expense was much lower at $5,380, on par with teams like men’s golf, men’s tennis, gymnastics

Hayes said. “I’ve never really looked at it as ‘how do the men’s programs do versus the women’s?’ … There are programs on both the men’s side and the women’s side that are very active in the fundraising efforts and that have parents and alumni that are very » See FUNDS, page 4

free Adobe Creative Cloud Suite Computing and Information Services to introduce software after student feedback By NATALIE FONDRIEST SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Students will have free access to the entire Adobe Creative Cloud Suite on their personal computers in two to four weeks, said Ravi Pendse P’17, vice president for computing and information services and chief information officer, at the Undergraduate Council of Students general body meeting Wednesday. The software will not be available for alums due to cost and licensing issues, he said. CIS has worked to increase student access to Rosetta Stone, Microsoft Office, Philo TV, wireless » See UCS, page 4

Providence bakeries, coffee Journalism students capture Nicaraguan life shop earn sweet victory City tops list of America’s best locations for sweet treats, boasts tight-knit baking community By DREW WILLIAMS METRO EDITOR

Travel and Leisure Magazine readers ranked Providence second on a list of America’s Best Cities for Sweet Tooths released April 1, as determined by an online survey of 38 cities in a variety of culinary categories. Besting nearby neighbors New York City and Boston by three and 18 spots, respectively, Providence was commended for its classic haunt Scialo Bros. Bakery, newer offerings such as North Bakery and Seven Stars Bakery and craft coffee shops such as Dave’s Coffee. Earlier this week, Providence topped the list, the Providence Journal reported, but the ranking on the Travel and Leisure site has since changed to reflect Houston as the winner. “Something that people look for is diversity in food and pastries,” said

METRO

INSIDE

Kelly Dull, the pastry manager at North Bakery. “It has to do with innovation … Providence is growing a lot.” When Seven Stars opened in Providence 14 years ago, the food scene was still predominantly “old-school Italian,” but owners Lynn and Jim Williams have since witnessed an explosion in both food selection and quality, Lynn Williams said. The growing abundance of sweet offerings alone does not fully explain the city’s silver medal finish, at least not in the realm of desserts, she said. “I wouldn’t say Providence folk seem particularly obsessed with sugar.” Rather, a tight-knit community may propel the demand for cakes, custards and confections in the city, Dull said. Local bakeries garner groups of loyal customers “to the point where when I see them walk in the door I know exactly what they are going to get,” she said. For bakeries in particular, consistent recipes and homey environments are the keys to maintaining customer loyalty across generations. “Bakeries are different than restaurants,” Williams said. “Bakeries balance changing things » See SWEET, page 3

ELI WHITE / HERALD

Students in INTL1802: “International Journalism: Foreign Reporting in Practice” present their articles written on various aspects of Nicaraguan life and culture, which they explored during a spring break class trip.

Students gain cultural understanding, journalism skills on spring break class trip By SHAVON BELL SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Students presented their first forays into international reporting as part of their academic spring break trip to Nicaragua at the Watson Institute for International Studies Wednesday. Led by former New York Times correspondent Stephen Kinzer, a journalist in residence at the Watson Institute,

the trip marked the conclusion of the course INTL 1802: “International Journalism: Foreign Reporting in Practice.” Over spring break, the 10 enrolled students spoke with the citizens of Leon and wrote articles that aimed to capture the nuances of everyday life in the city. The articles will be published in the Global Post within the next few weeks. Working alongside profesors at the Watson Institute and in the Department of International Relations, Kinzer crafted the course with the aim of introducing students to the experience of foreign correspondence,

he said. The first portion of the course introduced students to reporting techniques by using Providence as a trial environment, he said, adding that the students learned much about the background of Nicaraguan history and culture while still on campus. When conceptualizing the class, Kinzer selected Nicaragua because “it’s an easy country for journalists to work in,” he said. “You can immerse yourself in a story there pretty easily,” he said. “People are very open there.” Nearly all of the enrolled students echoed Kinzer’s sentiment, recalling » See NICARAGUA, page 2

WEATHER

THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015

METRO Report takes closer look at factors behind Rhode Island’s high rate of unemployment

UNIVERSITY NEWS Student group hosts first event with symbolic snacks to raise funds for North Korean refugees

COMMENTARY UCS: Administration must realize that mental health support system needs improvement

COMMENTARY Khleif ’15: Conflation of depression with danger is incorrect and harmful

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UNIVERSITY NEWS PAGE 2 • THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Tisch accepts position at Cohen’s new firm Chancellor will serve on board of fellow Corporation member’s firm following SAC fraud By CAROLINE KELLY UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR

Chancellor Thomas Tisch ’76 P’18 accepted a position Wednesday on the six-person external advisory board of Point72, the investment firm founded by Corporation Trustee Steven Cohen P’08 P’16 almost two years after his former hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors L.P. faced five counts of fraud, Dealbreaker reported. Other board members will include the former Chancellor of New York City public schools Joel Klein, former Chief Executive of the Hearst Corporation Victor Ganzi, Yale School of Management Lecturer Richard Foster, former Paine Webber and Company

» NICARAGUA, from page 1 interviews with sources that lasted several hours. For her article on adolescent suicide and Nicaraguan mental health systems, Eugenia Lulo ’16 spoke with a local school psychologist for four hours, in addition to sitting in on private therapy sessions. Lulo recalled a particularly poignant interview with a young girl at the school, who spoke candidly with Lulo about her recent suicide attempts only 20 minutes after first meeting her. Marina Do Nascimento ’15 also noted the open and forthcoming nature of her sources. Do Nascimento wrote her article about teenage pregnancy in Nicaragua, contacting adolescent mothers and medical professionals to uncover local perspectives on the issue. Do Nascimento said she was surprised to hear about the cultural significance that young women attach to young motherhood. “I could only have learned this being there and talking to so many people,” she said, adding that the University courses she has taken so far did not address these perspectives. “A lot of journalism nowadays is sitting at a desk and reporting on what everyone is reporting on,” whereas this course provided an opportunity to “immerse yourself in conversation” with actual people in a community, said Eli Okun ’15, a

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Donald Marron and Goldman Sachs partner Gary Goldring. Cohen was involved in a civil case in July 2013 for failing to oversee SAC fund managers who were then charged with insider trading. Eight employees from SAC were charged with insider trading and fraud between summer 2013 and fall 2014. The firm faced charges for having an institutional culture that rewarded insider trading before it finally reached a settlement of $1.2 billion with federal prosecutors in November 2013. “Steve Cohen is a valued and involved trustee of Brown, and the University has been strengthened by his engagement,” Tisch said in a statement at the time of SAC portfolio manager Michael Steinberg’s arrest. “There has been no pressure on (Cohen) — or the Corporation — for him to leave his seat.”

former Herald editor-in-chief. In his article, Okun wrote about the impact of dust storms in Leon and surrounding towns. “I got to know the country so much more intimately than I had ever known a country before,” he said. Tom Sullivan ’15, a former Herald photo editor who wrote about poetry in Leon, expressed gratitude for being allowed such an intimate window into Nicaraguan culture. The literary community in Leon “played guitar and showed me art and read me poetry and fed me,” he said. Tomás Quiñonez-Riegos ’15 experienced the city’s artistic culture through the lens of cognitive impairments. Quiñonez-Riegos said when he visited a class of young boys with intellectual disabilities, their paintings of local volcanoes and other natural phenomena informed his perspective on the lives of the students and members of the larger Leon community. Teresa Cebrian Aranda ’16, Rebecca Blandón ’16, Mariela Mannion ’16, Tomás Navia ’16 and Emily Wright ’16 also presented their reporting conducted for the course. After the presentation, Do Nascimento expressed the bittersweet feeling of leaving behind the locals who granted her such an intimate look into their lives. “People are so open there … that even this temporary relationship, suspended in time and space, is still meaningful,” she said.

ZEIN KHLEIF / HERALD

Members of the student group Liberation in North Korea sold Choco Pie grams in the lobby of J. Walter WIlson Tuesday through Thursday as part of fundraising efforts aimed at helping North Korean refugees.

Group sells snacks to aid refugees LiNK members hope Choco Pie grams bolster awareness of North Korean issues By ALIZA REISNER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The student group Liberation in North Korea is holding its first-ever Choco Pie gram fundraiser Tuesday through Thursday to spread awareness about the country’s political corruption and raise money for North Korean refugees. Choco Pie grams are small bags stuffed with candies and a Choco Pie — a chocolate snack with marshmallow filling — that can be purchased for $3 and sent to designated students’ mailboxes, group leaders said. Choco Pies are a symbolic snack in South Korea, but they are banned in North Korea, said Afra Rahman ’17, treasurer of LiNK. They have since become a popular black market treat in North Korea, said Anthony Jang ’15, executive board member and former president of LiNK. “When I first found out Choco Pie was banned in North Korea, I thought it was ridiculous,” Rahman said. North

Koreans “don’t have the right to eat Choco Pie for no reason,” she said. Choco Pie grams serve as a reminder to the Brown community to be thankful for freedoms that can be taken for granted, such as the right to eat certain foods, she added. The snacks signify loosening the rigid restrictions in North Korea, Jang said. “People realize that even though (Choco Pie) is a South Korean snack, they can identify with it,” he said. Many activists have used Choco Pies to convince North Koreans of the corruption of their political system, Jang said. For instance, some North Korean human rights activists have sent Choco Pies across the border in balloons along with USBs and DVDs containing information about the outside world, he said. LiNK’s two main goals are to spread awareness about North Korean issues and to help North Korean refugees, Jang said. “A lot of people have become desensitized about North Korea. … it has become the butt of a joke, like with ‘The Interview,’” he added. LiNK hopes to bring to light the serious human rights violations in North Korea and to shift the discussion surrounding Kim Jong Un’s regime, he added. LiNK is also committed to raising

funds to donate to its affiliated national NGO, the LiNK Foundation, which aims to help North Korean refugees who have escaped to China in the hopes of eventually relocating to South Korea or the United States, Jang said. Even once in China, North Koreans are not necessarily safe, as they face high risks of deportation by the Chinese government, starvation or being sold into prostitution. LiNK strives to help these refugees find a better life, Jang added. “I was born and raised in Vietnam and Choco Pie is kind of a popular thing,” said Hai Anh Pahm, who bought a Choco Pie gram for her roommate so that she could try one. “I knew that (the fundraiser) was about North Korea but I didn’t really look into the issue when I was ordering it,” she said, adding, “When I found out what the issue was, I thought that this was a meaningful event and that I probably should have read about it before.” Group leaders hope to raise $200 or more through the fundraiser and are pleased with sales from the first day, Rahman said. Choco Pie grams can be purchased in the lobby of J. Walter Wilson between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. or online through the Facebook event.

METRO

THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015 • PAGE 3

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Report highlights factors behind state unemployment High school, college graduates comprise lower proportion of workforce in R.I. than in nearby states By ELAINA WANG

Workforce education in New England

Though Rhode Island has a less educated workforce, with a smaller percentage of both high school and college graduates compared to other New England states, it is still falls in line with national averages. 100 percent

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Rhode Island continues to have one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation as a result of education levels, household wealth and extension of unemployment benefits, according to a recent report by the College and Research University Collaborative of Rhode Island. The Collaborative released its second in a series of three reports focused on the state’s workforce, infrastructure, manufacturing and regional competitiveness March 22. The report, titled “Rhode Island Unemployment: Is There Labor Market Mismatch?” was written by Assistant Professor of Economics Neil Mehrotra and explores the factors behind the state’s high unemployment rate following the 2009 recession in comparison to other New England states. The report examines the “Beveridge curve,” a model that describes the “change in the relationship (between) job openings and unemployment,” Mehrotra said, adding that his own research focuses on shifts in the Beveridge curve. An organization called Footnote, founded by Joseph Morone ’04, Diana Brazzell ’04.5 and Jon Warman ’05, works with the Collaborative to “translate” academic research into layman’s terms and help policymakers contexutalize the meaning of the research, Morone said. Footnote

89%

91%

85%

86%

33%

31%

29%

New Hampshire

Rhode Island

U.S.A.

80 60 40 20

High school graduates

36%

39%

College graduates

0 Connecticut

Massachusetts

Source: “Rhode Island Unemployment: Is There Labor Market Mismatch?” EMMA JERZYK / HERALD

compiled the report presented to the Statehouse, though Mehrotra wrote the original study. The drop in construction industry employment and the recession’s particularly large impact on new businesses, which typically grow and hire at a faster rate, could contribute to the high job opening rate but low employment rate after the 2009 recession. A drop in construction industry employment could result in “labor market mismatch” — a term referring to when workers from a waning industry lack the skills required to transition to a growing industry,

according to the report. But “while labor market mismatch may play a part, it does not appear to be the dominant factor explaining why Rhode Island’s unemployment rate has been so much higher than the rest of the country,” Mehrotra wrote in the report. A lower proportion of the Rhode Island workforce is composed of high school and college graduates in comparison to the workforces of neighboring states, according to the report. But this only partially explains the state’s high rate of unemployment, since its education rates fall near the

SOYOON KIM / HERALD

» SWEET, from page 1 up and always having people’s favorites.” Fresh out of the oven, a pastry succeeds if it elicits both recognition and newfound appreciation, urging the customer to think, “‘This is very nostalgic for me, but so much better than what I grew up eating,’” Dull said. Dave’s Coffee specializes in producing regional nostalgia. As a native Rhode Islander, owner David Lanning grew up on coffee milk, the state’s official drink. But disenchantment with common additives in coffee syrup, such as high fructose corn syrup, led Lanning to craft a homemade twist

on the local refreshment. Dave’s All Natural Cold Brewed Coffee Syrup hit supermarket shelves in 2012 and has received praise from celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern. The reduction of roasted coffee blended with pure cane sugar represents a liquid treat for Providence sweet tooths among the winning pastries. “I was surprised,” Lanning said of magazine readers’ inclusion of Dave’s. “We’re a coffee shop, not a bakery.” The remaining ingredient in Providence’s sweet success story rests in a community approach — the rapport between owners who see each other not as competitors but as fellow food

enthusiasts. “Bakers are pretty down-to-earth kind of people. We look out for each other,” Williams said, adding that the network that has formed through professional events and social media allows local bakers to borrow each other’s equipment. Within the local cafe community, a Providence Coffee Society has even formed, allowing owners to compare techniques and face off in the occasional “latte art throwdown,” Lanning said. While North strives to set itself apart from other Providence bakeries, the different shops “can all share the success,” Dull said.

national average. Another reason for the particularly quick rise in unemployment in Rhode Island is the “decline in housing wealth,” which “was responsible for nearly half the national increase in unemployment during the Great Recession,” Mehrotra wrote. Most households’ “wealth is tied up in the value of their real estate,” Mehrotra said. The recession’s effects on household wealth were greater in Rhode Island than in neighboring states, which “could plausibly account for the more severe rise in unemployment experienced in Rhode Island compared to its neighbors,” Mehrotra wrote. Studies on the same topic have also suggested that extended unemployment benefits are linked to higher unemployment rates, Mehrotra said. “At the end of 2012 … Rhode Island offered 99 weeks (nearly 2 years) of unemployment benefits, while Massachusetts and New Hampshire provided only 40 weeks,” the report states. When the benefits expired at the end of last year, unemployment in the state dropped by two percentage points, which is a “pretty fast drop,” Mehrotra said, adding that it was “not as if everyone got jobs — they just dropped out of the work force” and are no longer counted as being

unemployed. Spending more on infrastructure, which in turn increases the number of construction jobs is one way to help the state come back from the recession, Mehrotra said, adding that doing so has the “dual benefit” of increasing the state’s competitiveness and boosting demand. “In the long run, the bigger problem is Rhode Island isn’t growing that quickly,” Mehrotra said, adding that policies that could be adopted include increasing the work force’s education and improving the state climate for businesses relocation and expansion. Mehrotra’s report, along with two other reports released by the Collaborative this year, was presented to members of the Statehouse March 24. The Collaborative is a nonprofit organization that began two years ago when the Rhode Island Foundation hosted an event called “Make It Happen,” said Amber Caulkins, program director for the Collaborative. The group’s goal is to bring together the state’s 11 colleges and universities to provide non-partisan, evidence-based research for state policymakers. The organization is overseen by the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities and receives funding from the state, R.I. Foundation and the institutions part of the Collaborative, Caulkins said.

SPORTS

PAGE 4 • THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015

» FUNDS, from page 1 involved.” In terms of how and where the budget is distributed, head coaches for men’s teams earned $97,255 on average in 2013-14, while head coaches for women’s teams earned $66,006 on average. The total amount of money spent on coaching salaries — both head coaches and assistant coaches — was $4,971,420, or 25 percent of the total expenses. Recruiting expenses accounted for less than four percent of total expenses, while salaries plus game day expenses accounted for 43 percent of total expenses. The athletic department’s strategic plan emphasizes an increase in the competitiveness of Brown’s sports teams and illustrates the correlation between athletic expenses and success. For example, the women’s rugby team, one of only two Ivy rugby squads with varsity status, has benefitted from its increased resources compared to its competitors. In particular, access to the University’s athletic trainers as well as higher priority when scheduling practices were noticeable benefits of the shift, said Head Coach Kathy Flores. The difference between the varsity teams and the club teams is noticeable in rugby, she added. The squad won the Ivy title this year, crowning it as one of Brown’s most successful programs. “Some teams that we play in the Ivy League can’t afford to bring a trainer with them — they might have to drive their own cars,” Flores said. “When you become a varsity team, the University is a little more on hold to support you in the ways that other NCAA teams are supported.” Finances also played a role in the elevation of the squad, she said. “It did help that we had a couple big donors that helped get us on the map … but I’m sure there are other factors that come into play when you elevate a sport.” The strategic plan listed the 2013-14 total expenses directly related to the teams’ individual needs — or the chunk

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Athletic funding for men’s and women’s sports, 2013-2014

Men’s sports receive $2,115,524 in total, though the money is more concentrated among the top five teams, while the total $1,394,367 for women’s sports is more evenly distributed among many teams.

Men’s

Women’s Track: $169,345

Other: $632,452

Baseball: $141,525 Basketball: $208,792

Football: $581,005

Ice Hockey: $300,839 Rowing: $250,911

Rowing: $160,249 Other: $700,857

Basketball: $143,281

Softball: $105,072

Ice Hockey: $115,563

Source: U.S. Department of Education EMMA JERZYK / HERALD

of the approximately $19 million that can be traced directly to varsity athletics programs — as being $11,285,796, ranking Brown last in the Ivy League. Yale and Harvard spend the most at approximately $18 million and $16 million, respectively. Former Provost Mark Schlissel P’15 planned on directing $1.1 million of the University’s budget toward paying coaches closer to the average Ivy League salary, The Herald reported in 2012. In 2013, the average annual institutional salary per head coach was $111,294 for men’s teams and $82,064 for women’s teams, placing Brown far below the league average, according to the Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education. Barring exceptional changes in salaries since then, the salary trends for Brown coaches trail markedly behind their peers. The 2012 increase in funding for coaching salaries was part of a much larger University effort to inject funds into a lagging athletics department,

partially in response to a 2011 athletics review that revealed Brown’s below-average pay. The University directed $42 million toward significant renovation projects as well as long-term athletics enhancement, The Herald reported at the time. As the strategic plan indicates, Brown’s teams had the lowest average league finish between 2005-2014. In order to address Brown’s lack of competitiveness, the report recommended addressing “coaching salary deficits, facility needs and financial aid matching.” “The more resources that you have available, the more opportunities that there are for any of our programs,” Hayes said. “If we’re able to generate financial resources that can allow teams to recruit where they need to recruit and to compete against the teams that are important to compete against, then we would be setting programs up hopefully for a level of success.” Charitable giving to Brown athletic programs is directed by the Brown University Sports Foundation, which is a part of the Division of Advancement. The Foundation’s goal for fiscal year 2015 is to raise $3.6 million in annual use giving, which directly funds

programs’ operating budgets. Hayes called the job of fundraising on the team level a “shared responsibility that involves communication with donors, with alums, with parents.” Teams often put on events to independently supplement their budgets. For example, the Brown Bear Golf event raised a net total of $32,050, according to Brown’s 990 Form, a reporting form for nonprofits. The football team hosts a similar event to boost its fundraising efforts. Though coaches are not directly involved in administration over the budget, fundraising is a part of their role, said Paul Cooke, head coach of men’s crew. Many teams also participate in fundraising efforts for outside causes. Both crew teams are involved with Pull for a Cure, which raises money for breast cancer research. In addition to helping orchestrate fundraising to meet each team’s operating needs, the Sports Foundation also raises funds for special projects such as men’s crew’s travel to the Henley Regatta in England and renovations for lacrosse locker rooms. Long-term support from the Foundation in the form

of endowments for coaching chairs or various budgets, such as recruiting or travel, can also grant teams financial stability for years to come. The cost to endow a head coaching chair of a Brown sports team is $1 million or more. The Foundation’s philanthropy supplements the athletic department’s budget by funding about half of its spending, according to the University’s annual giving website. “The programs that are most successful in the fundraising area are the ones that cast the widest net of prospective donors and people that are interested in supporting the programs,” Hayes said. “People like to donate to something where they feel a part of it,” Flores said. Coaches credit the Sports Foundation, the University and donors with providing many of the resources that contribute to their success. “We’re so appreciative of all the people who have helped build this program over the years,” Cooke said, whose position has been endowed through the Sports Foundation. “We clearly couldn’t be in the competitive situation we are without the help of so many people.”

» UCS, from page 1

and has faced up to 60,000 in one day, Pendse said, adding that “a lot of people unfortunately fell for” recent phishing threats during employee pay roll increases. This fiscal year, 253 accounts have been compromised due to phishing, he said. “We continue to update wireless networks,” a process that will be completed across campus in about a year, he added. Pendse noted that CIS staff members read What to Fix Brown, the council’s online feedback forum launched earlier this semester. The council also edited and adopted a letter to the administration regarding mental health resources on campus “with the ultimate goal of creating an endowment for mental health at Brown,” said Justice Gaines ’16, a UCS general body member and candidate for UCS president. The endowment “is a huge ask” but “well worth it,” Gaines said. UCS Elections Board Chair Heather Sabel ’17 drafted the letter following the open forum UCS hosted last Wednesday, said UCS President Maahika Srinivasan ’15.

Srinivasan said she wants to keep the letter “internal to campus” until the administration has a chance to respond. The council published the letter on its website and as a Herald guest column Thursday. Srinivasan also announced that the Rockefeller Library is now open 24 hours a day, five days a week as “a direct result of the conversations” at last week’s open forum. The Brown Alumni Association Board of Governors will hold open hours at the Sharpe Refectory Friday at 12:30 p.m., said Sazzy Gourley ’16, UCS vice president, UCS presidential candidate and chair of the UCS Outreach and Advocacy committee. “Hopefully this will set a tone of people in governing bodies being accessible,” Gourley said. The UCS Student Activities Committee has started planning for UCS week at the end of April, said UCS Student Activities Chair E-Soo Kim ’15. For the week’s main event, President Christina Paxson P’19 will deliver a “State of Brown” address, followed by a 50-minute questionand-answer session, Srinivasan said.

networks, Google drive space, air media and Adobe programs in response to feedback from undergraduates and UCS members, Pendse said. CIS also plans to make two-factor authentication available to students beginning next semester, Pendse said. The login system would ask “for a password and a special code that is generated each single time that is perhaps sent to your smart phone,” he said. To avoid annoyance, “the system does allow you to check a box that says challenge me every 30 days” instead of every day, Pendse said. “The idea is to combine something you know, like your password, with something you have, like your smart phone, and if those two things can be combined, then we can actually eliminate some of the potential malicious attacks,” he said. Two-factor authentication is already available with Gmail and Shibboleth accounts, he said. Brown faces about 30,000 cyber security attacks on the average day

TODAY

THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015 • PAGE 5

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

prefrosh presence

SATELLITE DINING JOSIAH’S Mashed Potato Bowl, Gourmet Grilled Cheese BLUE ROOM Soups: Chicken Artichoke Florentine, Fire Roasted Vegetable, Turkey Chili ANDREWS COMMONS Pizzas: Nacho, Okie Dokie Artichokie, Pepperoni and Sausage

DINING HALLS SHARPE REFECTORY LUNCH

DINNER

Hot Turkey Sandwich with Gravy, Tortellini Angelica, White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Slow Roast Pork Loin, Artichoke and Red Pepper Frittata, Caribbean Rum Cake

VERNEY-WOOLLEY LUNCH

DINNER

G o u r m e t Ro a s t Tu r key Sandwich, Baseball Burrito Bar, White Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chicken Scallopini, Vegan Siena Roasted Couscous, Vegan Dal Cali, Caribbean Rum Cake

sudoku

DAVID DECKEY / HERALD

Ian Callender ’15 leads a tour of campus. With high school students going on spring break and admissions decisions recently released, thousands of prospective students and their parents have converged on College Hill.

comic A Horse of Any Other Name | Zach Silberberg ‘18

crossword

calendar TODAY

TOMORROW

12:00 P.M. “FAMINE, AFFLUENCE AND MORALITY”

11:30 A.M. HEAVY PETTING

The Philosophy DUG will hold a discussion on whether people who do not voluntarily donate to charity can consider themselves moral, and how this applies to the wealthy. Wilson 101

Students will be able to play with dogs to relieve stress at this event sponsored by BWell and Health Services.

4:00 P.M. “GAY RIGHTS IN CHINA”

Professor Li Yinhe, Chinese advocate for LGBT rights, will speak on Chinese society’s role in the gay rights movement. Kassar House Foxboro Auditorium 8:00 P.M. PUBLIC SPEAKING WITH BARBARA TANNENBAUM

Barbara Tannenbaum, senior lecturer in theatre arts and performance studies, whose course TAPS 0220: “Persuasive Communication” has a waitlist spanning years, will give tips on public speaking. Wilson 102

Main Green 2:00 P.M. “EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT ART DEALING BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK”

James Barron ’80 will share tricks of the trade from his years of success in the art business, which include dealing, curating and owning galleries. List Art 110 8:00 P.M. SKYPE KEYNOTE ADDRESS AND Q&A WITH JASON SCHWARTZMAN

Actor Jason Schwartzman of “Moonilight Kingdom” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel” will speak as part of the Ivy Film Festival. Granoff Center, Martinos Auditorium

COMMENTARY PAGE 6 • THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

EDITORIAL

Q U O T E O F T H E D AY

Building stronger academic communities

“So if you see ice cream, even though you know you shouldn’t eat it, you feel like you have no choice.”

This year, advising was not at the forefront of any Undergraduate Council of Students presidential candidate’s platform. This is a marked change from candidates campaigning on “fixing advising” as one of their lofty goals. Improving advising has been an issue in the student body’s psyche for so long that it is easy to see how students — and the faculty members and administrators who advise them — could arrive at the conclusion that good advising is a myth, idealized in the abstract but unattainable for all students. But in order to improve the advising experience for students, we need to improve advising at the departmental level through advisers, Departmental Undergraduate Groups and collaborative spaces. The open curriculum gives rise to the archetype of the carefree Brown student who is untethered to a particular department or discipline and free to explore whatever his or her interests are. This approach focuses on personal development above all else, aiming to produce a student community of independent thinkers who can navigate various departments. The undergraduate vision of Brown stands in stark opposition to the mission of the research university we now inhabit. In this iteration of Brown, we see increasingly large departments, laboratories and infrastructure development. Central to the profession of faculty members is the generation of new ideas; quality teaching is often secondary. All of this is not to say that both visions of Brown cannot coexist, but we must acknowledge the unavoidable compromises. Students experience the duality of visions of the University firsthand. Undergraduates spend their first year dabbling in disciplines, but they must eventually declare a concentration. For many students, this is disorienting. The current departmental model that the research university vision advances has no emphasis on the personal development of undergraduates. Sophomores who choose a concentration without a particularly strong passion for the field of study may only meet their concentration advisers once and feel almost no attachment to the department. As Brown invests in the scholarship of its departments, it cannot forget its responsibility to undergraduates: to facilitate their transition through concentrations and degrees. Our administration needs to emphasize the value of one cohesive departmental community at the student, faculty and governance levels and incentivize its development. Building stronger academic communities for students and faculty members requires a structural revamp of the DUG program. These should not be merely tangential student groups that undergraduates opt into, but rather central to the experience of concentrating in a department. The role of concentration adviser should be valued and perhaps recognized through a lowered teaching expectation or an additional stipend. Concentration advisers should have active roles in facilitating connections of scholars and work with DUGs to coordinate more advising and mentoring. Departmental access would ideally make offices second homes for concentrators. Increasing study space would also foster collaboration and a sense of community. This may not be realistic in all departments, but the Office of the Provost should explore the feasibility. The deadline for members of the class of 2017 to declare concentrations was last week. We challenge the Office of the Dean of the College to take the development of academic communities seriously and work with departments to build communities that are fostered by students and faculty members, so they better serve the class of 2018.

— Nadia Chernyak, postdoctoral research associate in CLPS

See children on page 4.

Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board: its editors, Alexander Kaplan ’15 and James Rattner ’15, and its members, Natasha Bluth ’15, Manuel Contreras ’16, Baxter DiFabrizio ’15, Mathias Heller ’15 and Aranshi Kumar ’17. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.

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COMMENTARY THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015 • PAGE 7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Depression’s public persona ZEIN KHLEIF opinions columnist

Last week was a difficult one for Brown. We lost a member of our community in a rare campus-wide tragedy. I did not know Hyoun Ju Sohn GS, and so I mourn for his loved ones: friends, students and teachers on campus. I hope he has found peace; I hope those affected by his death also find it. This tragedy is only one of a number that have been occupying the mental space of Brown students. A different death was spoken about in almost every class I had last week, and the television at the Brown Bookstore seemed to cover it 24/7. On March 24, Germanwings Flight 9525 crashed into the French Alps. All 150 passengers and all crew members on board were killed. It was determined that Andreas Lubitz, the flight’s co-pilot, took his own life. Suicide: a word that has been ascribed to the end of both Sohn’s and Lubitz’s lives. In one classification, a clinical link joins together both men, making them one and the same. And this is unacceptable. Media outlets have been reporting that Lubitz had severe depression and was deemed unfit to fly by his doctor. According to news articles, Lubitz hid this from his superiors as he premeditated to crash the flight originally set to land in Dusseldorf, Germany by researching suicide methods, cockpit doors and aircraft security measures. Headlines read “Lufthansa says Germanwings co-pilot reported depression” and “Germanwings copilot had previous episode of severe depression.” This results in something dangerous: the conflation of depression and violence, and

of mental illness and violence. It stigmatizes something that many non-violent people deal with every day. Continuously perpetuated by the media, which focuses on reporting rare tragedies involving those with depression instead of the millions of successful individuals who seek help and get better every day, a common misconception exists among the general population that the unhappy and the depressed are dangerous individuals, and that they are unpredictable and unsocial. As such, they are thought to have violent tendencies that threaten others. This is untrue. Approximately 350 million people worldwide suffer from depression, according to the

less aware of their weaknesses and faults.” For example, most individuals believe they are better drivers than the average person even though “it is logically impossible for most people to be better than the average driver,” Taylor and Brown write. This skewed positive self-regard provides an illusory and unrealistic viewpoint of the world. These impractical and distorted characteristics are often absent in people with depression, but they are often found in individuals who commit acts of violence toward others. As Erica Goode wrote of those who kill in a Tuesday New York Times article, “Far more common are distortions of personality — excesses of rage, paranoia, grandiosity, thirst for

A common misconception exists among the general population that the unhappy and the depressed are dangerous individuals. World Health Organization. And the contribution of people with depression to overall rates of violence is extremely small. “Research has shown that the vast majority of people who are violent do not suffer from mental illnesses,” according to the American Psychiatric Association. In fact, “normal” people are much more likely to commit a crime and people with mental illnesses are much more likely to be the targets of these crimes. In one of the most prominent articles on such an issue, “Illusion and Well-Being: A Social Psychological Perspective on Mental Health,” Shelley Taylor of University of California, Los Angeles and Jonathon Brown of Southern Methodist University note that most people tend to be “very cognizant of their strengths and assets and considerably

vengeance or pathological narcissism and callousness.” People with depression tend to have a much more realistic view of themselves and of the world — a phenomenon called “depressive realism.” In a New Yorker article, Maria Konnikova detailed studies in which “those who weren’t depressed reported having significantly more control than they actually had” over their environments, whereas “the depressed participants … were far more accurate in their judgments.” What Lubitz performed was suicide, but it was also murder. He murdered 150 other people as a result of something far greater and more complex than depression alone. James Knoll, director of forensic psychiatry at the State University of New York Upstate Medi-

cal University, told the New York Times that zeroing “in on depression is a low-yield dead end. There’s something fundamentally different here, aside and apart from the depression, and that’s where we need to look.” If we do not acknowledge this and we continue to write suggestive headlines, we will aid in the belief that suicide equals depression equals violence. Lubitz did suffer from depression; this is public knowledge. But it is statistically improbable that the depression itself directly caused him to kill a plane full of people. It was likely other factors — perhaps other mental disturbances — that contributed. Headlines and everyday conversation should be reformatted: “Co-pilot crashes plane,” or “150 die under unstable co-pilot,” removing buzzwords such as “suicide” and “depression” altogether. This is not to say that articles should be absent of these words, but that they are better used in an integrated and more explanatory format. While I do not know whether Sohn suffered from depression, I do know that we are doing his memory and dialogue a great injustice by determining that Lubitz’s actions were a result of depression. We are doing our peers suffering from depression a disservice by stigmatizing depression and consequently making it seem violent. Let us not define both men by their final acts, for they were not the same. Let us not confuse the role depression plays in individual cases or infer causality between depression and violence. I hope the families of the 150 victims heal, I hope Lubitz’s family finds clarity and I hope those who knew Sohn are able to mourn and remember his life.

Zein Khleif ’15 is concentrating in political psychology. She can be reached at zein_khleif@brown.edu.

Now is the time to act on mental health UNDERGRADUATE COUNCIL OF STUDENTS guest columnist

For the past two years, the Undergraduate Council of Students has discussed the alarming deficit in the mental health resources available to Brown students. We have previously proposed tangible solutions that have not yet come to fruition, and we feel compelled to reiterate our concerns, particularly in light of recent events. More than ever, our community needs substantial change in the support system for students: now is the time to act. While some progress has been made in the past year with the addition of Counseling and Psychological Services staff members and the improvement of the CAPS website, we believe that there is still a need for substantial enhancements to our mental health support system. UCS asserts that the health and safety of students should be Brown’s highest priority. Accordingly, our administration must act immediately to build on the current system and dedicate desperately needed resources to this crucial area for Brown students. The most critical deficit in the current system, which has been discussed at length, is the seven-session limit at CAPS. Seven sessions are insufficient for the development of a full, support-

ive relationship with a mental health professional; it is unreasonable to expect students to form meaningful relationships with CAPS staff members before transferring these students to a different psychologist. We fully understand and acknowledge that CAPS is in dire need of resources, beginning with the number of staff members available to students. To that end, two actions must be taken. First, Brown needs to prioritize mental health resources in its upcoming capital campaign, with the ul-

needs. CAPS should hire several case managers who facilitate the transition process for students and follow up with them to ensure that they are getting adequate care. We also urge the University to asses the possibility of creating a Student Wellness Center, as proposed by the student group Project LETS. This communal space would host peer-run support groups on various chronic mental illnesses, art-therapy sessions and other wellness activities such as yoga, meditation and nutrition advice. This ini-

We also ask the University to consider the implementation of a student intervention team, in which trained students would staff a mental health crisis hotline for their peers. While legitimate concerns have been expressed about the impact this initiative would have on student staffers, this model is being used successfully at peer institutions and merits serious consideration. It is also essential that our community is aware of the mental health resources available to us. Students are largely unaware of available resources

The widespread campus response to recent events has further demonstrated to UCS that our community is in crisis. timate goal of creating an endowment for mental health resources at Brown. There are alums who care deeply about this issue and would be eager to donate to a mental health fund, especially with the heightened community awareness surrounding recent incidents on campus. Second, we need to create a longterm care transition system. There will always be students who require more care than the Brown system can provide. Therefore, we must prioritize an overhaul of the process by which students find a long-term professional service provider. Many students have expressed that it is difficult to find a community practitioner who meets their

tiative is but one facet of a larger goal that Project LETS works to promote: peers reaching out to peers, being there for one another and creating the campus culture of students supporting students. Additionally, we need to support other student groups, like Active Minds and Students for Samaritans, in their endeavors to encourage campus dialogue around mental health issues. It is vital that students are constantly engaged — academically, socially and otherwise — in continuous conversations around wellness behaviors, mental health issues and disorders at every stage of the Brown experience.

— a problem we can easily take steps to correct. Starting at orientation, information about CAPS and other mental health resources on campus should be proactively disseminated so that all Brown students know they are entitled to support. We must provide additional support for international students during their orientation and throughout the year, especially since many of these students are farther from their home support systems. It is important that the administration employ multiple forms of media — such as email, text or postering — in order to convey important phone numbers and resources that can aid students

in acute crises. In particular, these communications should highlight academic support systems, such as the reduced course load options provided by the Office of the Dean of the College and the academic accommodations provided by Student and Employee Accessibility Services. This increased communication would be particularly beneficial to juniors and seniors, who are often left without the tailored guidance given to first-years and sophomores. Unfortunately, according to 2014 UCS fall poll data, Brown students on average feel relatively low confidence when it comes to referring themselves or a friend to resources when they need help with an academic or personal issue. It is vital to the wellbeing of the student body that students know not only how to get help for themselves, but where to direct a friend who may be struggling. We acknowledge that the issues highlighted in this letter have been repeatedly discussed, but the failure to act on those discussions compels us to write to the administration again today. The widespread campus response to recent events has further demonstrated to UCS that our community is in crisis. We must continue to work toward a positive campus culture so that students feel comfortable seeking the resources they need, and we look forward to a prompt administrative response to this letter.

SCIENCE & RESEARCH THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015

Study finds perceptions Researchers link feedback loops, ecosystems explores pivotal of free will shift with age Team role of feedback loops

Researchers examine child developmental changes, link to perceptions of free choice and morality By GABRIELLA REYES SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Do children believe in free will? They believe more and more as they grow older, according to a new psychology research study. A group of researchers from Brown, Cornell, the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Michigan carried out the study on children between the ages of four and six that tested the children’s beliefs in the agency of their actions. It was a “big collaborative project looking at children’s intuitions about free will,” said Nadia Chernyak, a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Clinical, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences and a co-author of the study. Tamar Kushnir from Cornell, Alison Gopnik from University of California, Berkeley, Henry Wellman from the University of Michigan and Elizabeth Seiver from the Public Library of Science also worked on the study, which will be published in the May issue of the journal Cognition. “In general, we come to find that we go through our lives feeling like we have choices, but there are some really important developmental changes that go on in children between the ages of four and six,” Chernyak said. “For example, if you ask a child, ‘Can you choose not to eat this delicious ice cream?’ that’s a choice they believe they don’t have until the age of six.” The surveys also asked the child participants questions such as “Could you have drawn a circle or a square?” Chernyak said. Five experiments that each examined approximately 20 to 30 children from the researchers’ institutions, comprised the project. “You find really important changes from four and onwards,” Chernyak said. “For example, at four years old you feel like you have no choice but to follow your own desires. So if you see ice cream, even though you know you shouldn’t eat it, you feel like you have no choice,” she said. “By age six, kids don’t always feel that way. Usually after that they can choose to override their very own desires,” she added. Chernyak said these same intuitions also apply to morality. “At age four, at least in our culture, kids tend to think that morality isn’t a choice,” she said. For example, when children are asked if they

have the ability to hurt another person, they will say “no.” “That’s not a choice that they could have made — they think that they don’t have the free will to do that,” she said. But by the age of eight, children understand that “morality is a choice,” so while they choose not to hurt others, they understand that they could if they wanted to. The differences between “physically constrained” actions and “epistemically constrained” actions also play a role, Chernyak said. Physically constrained actions are made impossible by tangible obstacles, such as not being able to move when held down by another person or falling after jumping because of gravity, she said. Epistemically constrained actions are made impossible by one’s own knowledge. For example, someone who has never seen a bicycle would not be able to repair it. Chernyak, who began working on the project as a first-year graduate student at Cornell, said the team plans to conduct follow-up studies. “This is going to be a huge topic in the years to come. My collaborators and I are really interested in figuring out exactly how free will intuitions develop and what consequences these intuitions have for children’s developing social cognition,” she said. “How do children and adults come to view themselves as freely choosing agents in this world, and what does this intuition mean for how they interpret the world and go about acting within it?” Barry Plummer, clinical associate professor of psychiatry and human behavior, who was not involved in the study, stressed the importance of understanding this shift in perspective in children from age four to age six. Studying free will is a way of “better understanding the process that kids go through in terms of changes in their thinking, their social cognition and their ability to better think abstractly and in terms of cause and effect,” Plummer said. By age six, children spend more time at school and away than at home, so they need this social awareness in order to be “adaptive human beings and citizens in the making, able to consider not just their own needs but those of others and what’s going on socially around them,” he said. Plummer noted that he would have included seven-year-olds in the study as well because of important developmental changes between the ages of five and seven. He said he also would have taken the impact of the children’s different cultural backgrounds into account, he said. But overall, he praised the study as “well-done.”

in maintaining diverse ecosystems By STEVEN MICHAEL SCIENCE & RESEARCH EDITOR

Merging physics and environmental science, an interdisciplinary team including a University researcher recently published a paper examining how feedback loops influence ecosystem changes. The paper, published online March 30 in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution, discusses how feedback loops — cycles that output information that is put back into the starting point — interact in forests and savannahs in relation to the alternative stable-state theory. This theory contends that feedback reinforces ecosystems and that the loss of a feedback loop can result in ecosystem change. “The core of the climate model is all based on physics,” said Brad Marston, professor of physics and co-author of the paper. Climate models depend on temperature, fluid dynamics and radiation,

all of which can be modeled using concepts from physics, he said. Another lesson from physics is that “complex systems can react in unexpected ways,” Marston said. The climate is one such complex system. In the paper, the researchers use forests and savannahs as two examples of ecosystems that are maintained by feedback loops, and in which the loss of feedback loops effects change. Forests retain water, reducing the likelihood of fires, increasing nutrients in the soil and thus reinforcing the ecosystem. On the other hand, savannah grasslands are more flammable, increasing the likelihood of fires, decreasing nutrients in the soil and thus reinforcing the ecosystem. “You can reach a tipping point from forest to savannah and it’s hard to get back,” Marston said. Disruption of these two feedback loops can lead to the destruction of both forest and savannah ecosystems. For example, in forest ecosystems, high rates of tree damage and loss can threaten the feedback loop, raising the risk of deforestation, Marston said. One example of a feedback loop

that has led to environmental disruption involves climate change. Climate change involves ecosystems becoming drier and trees releasing more carbon dioxide, which in turn leads to greater climate change, Marston said. The alternative stable-state theory is more generally applicable to the consequences of climate change, Marston said. Deforestation occurred in the past in the Mediterranean and could occur in other places in the future, he said. In addition to the factors the researchers identified, topography and elevation can also be significant factors in landscape changes, said Steven Archer, professor at the School of Natural Resources at the University of Arizona, who was not involved in the study. In North America, south-facing slopes receive more radiation and are warmer and drier, allowing for more rapid changes in the environment, Archer said. Marston collaborated with David Bowman, professor of environmental change biology at the University of Tasmania and George Perry, associate professor at the School of Environment at the University of Auckland.