Tuesday, February 1, 2011

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Tuesday, February 1, 2011 D aily Herald THE BROWN Since 1891 vol. cxlvi, no. 5 33 / 17 TOMORROW 30 / 25 TODAY NEWS....................2-3 CITY & STATE.........5 EDITORIAL..............6 OPINIONS...............7 SPORTS....................8 INSIDE CITY & STATE, 5 New station Rail will connect North Kingstown and other cities Information leaks promote accountability OPINIONS, 7 WEATHER Wikileaked By AMY RASMUSSEN SENIOR STAFF WRITER In pursuit of a priceless relic that has been missing for more than 30 years, the University is suing the city of Newport News, Va. and noted Civil War collectors Donald and Toni arpe for the return of a Tiffany and Company silver pre- sentation sword and ornamental scabbard. e ceremonial sword, present- ed to Col. Rush Hawkins at the end of the Civil War, is referred to in the suit as a “unique and very valuable artifact” that is part of the Annmary Brown Memorial collection. e sword has been missing from the University since it was stolen in the mid-1970s. e suit, which was filed Jan. 6 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, asks for the University to be immediately recognized as the true owner of the sword and its accompanying scabbard. Accord- ing to the suit, Brown is still in possession of the sword’s matching Tiffany presentation box. Earlier in 2010, the Univer- sity was notified by an unnamed source that the sword had been loaned by its current owners to the Lee Hall Mansion — a museum run by the city of Newport News. According to the suit, the blade was returned to the ar- pes Dec. 7. e defendants have since transferred the sword to Day and Meyer, a New York-based warehouse for art. Because the defendants moved the sword so quickly, U.S. District Judge Robert Doumar ordered a 60-day exten- sion to the restraining order that prevents the arpes from selling or transferring the artifact. A status conference — a pre- trial meeting between the judge and lawyers from both sides — has been set for Feb. 10, according to Beverly Ledbetter, vice president and general counsel. Details of the University’s past attempts to locate the sword will not be disclosed until the next court date, Ledbetter said. At that point, Newport News’ status as a defendant in the case will also be formally discussed. Going to court over swords is not a matter in which the Uni- versity is lacking experience. In 1993, Brown sued the estate of John Donelan Jr. for the return of another of Hawkins’ presenta- tion swords — also believed to have been stolen in the mid-1970s — and won on the premise that Donelan was not a “good value purchaser” of the relic. Peter Harrington, the present- day curator of the Brown military collection at the John Hay Library, said he has never been directly responsible for the Hawkins col- lections nor has he seen either of the swords. An Annmary Brown Memorial curator watched over the relics until the University de- U. sues Newport News over stolen sword By CAROLINE FLANAGAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER Panelists attributed the ongoing protests in Egypt and Tunisia to oppressive living conditions and changing demographics at a fo- rum held Monday by the Watson Institute for International Studies. “e usual suspects are not the ones who have been organizing the protests,” said panelist Melani Cammett, associate professor of political science and director of the Middle East studies program. “It’s these youth-based groups.” e four speakers at the forum — Cammett, Interim Joukowsky Family Librarian for Middle East- ern Studies Ian Straughn, Postdoc- toral Fellow at the Cogut Center for the Humanities Shiva Balaghi and Assistant Professor of Archaeology Laurel Bestock — sought to pin- point the central reasons behind the protests. Michael Kennedy, director of the Watson Institute, served as the moderator for the discussion. Both Cammett and Straughn identified poverty as one of the main catalysts of the protests. “Pov- erty is a huge issue,” Cammett said. “Half of Egypt is living at or below the poverty threshold.” Straughn emphasized the sever- ity of inflation in Egypt, mention- ing that many Egyptians can barely afford bread. Poverty is even worse in Tunisia, Cammett added. But Cammett stressed that “economic reasons alone do not explain why protests erupt.” She and Straughn said corruption and unemployment also incited the protests. “In both Tunisia and Egypt, there were opposition groups that were incredibly repressed, espe- cially in Tunisia,” Cammett said. Because Tunisia is less well-known in America, many people were not aware of the repression, she added. Many Tunisians did not even know about the extent of the repres- sion, Balaghi said, but “Wikileaks made people aware of specific in- cidents and was one of the triggers of the protests.” Unemployment is another major issue in both countries. Straughn said many protests in Tunisia were instigated by young people. “Even skilled university graduates with many degrees have no opportuni- ties — only those with connections get jobs,” he said, adding that the dearth of opportunities has con- tributed to a “brain drain.” “Many professionals who had the potential to play a big part in developing the country leſt to seek opportunities elsewhere,” he said. e speakers also emphasized Watson panel addresses Middle East protests By NICOLE BOUCHER NEWS EDITOR e two Brown students studying abroad in Alexandria, Egypt through a Middlebury College program are safe aſter being evacuated from Alexandria’s Borg el Arab airport to Prague late Monday night. Pro- gram administrators decided to pull participating students, including Michael Dawkins ’12 and Amanda Labora ’12, out of Egypt due to ongo- ing civilian protests against President Hosni Mubarak. All the students on the program — a Brown-approved alternate study-abroad program — are safe and accounted for, though likely a bit “tired and anxious,” said Michael Geisler, vice president for language schools, schools abroad and gradu- ate programs at Middlebury. Labora’s mother, Deborah White- Labora, told local NBC news pro- gram WHDH-TV Jan. 31 that she spoke to her daughter last weekend. “She said, ‘We’re not safe here. We’re not safe,’” White-Labora said in the television report. “It was pretty scary to hear that and to hear for the first time the fear in her voice.” Though Middlebury initially planned to use a transport provider that would fly the students through Athens, the program also had a back-up plan in place to connect through Prague if the option would Students safe after evacuation By MICHAEL DANIELEWICZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER As temperatures plummeted during the month of January, Rhode Island policymakers turned their attention to the state’s homeless population. According to a report released by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the homeless popu- lation in Rhode Island increased 34 percent between 2008 and 2009. e number of people living with friends and family as a result of economic problems increased 89 percent, the report found. Legislators at the State House held a series of hearings last month on homelessness in the state. Sen. John Tassoni, D-Smithfield, North Smithfield, chairman of the Com- mittee on Housing and Munici- pal Government, visited the Har- rington Hall shelter in Cranston prior to the hearings, where he said he did not “particularly care for” some things he saw there. Tassoni said some aspects of life at Harrington Hall were “in- humane.” e 88 men who sleep there at night stay in one large, open room and do not have ac- cess to meals or adequate bathroom facilities in the shelter, he said. Tas- soni said he intends to have some Harrington Hall residents speak at the next hearing, to be held today. Tassoni proposed closing Har- rington Hall and housing the men who stay there in a building for- merly used as the state’s correc- tional facility for juveniles. “ose guys have to line up at three in the aſternoon” to get a place in the shelter, Tassoni said. “at’s not America,” he said, adding that he believed past poli- cymakers prioritized “pet projects” over the well-being of the state’s homeless population. Homelessness is also a key issue for Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I. Reed announced Jan. 19 that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development would provide $4.7 million to 40 homeless assistance programs in Rhode Island. Since 2000, federal grants have brought more than $51 million to state homelessness programs. With sub-zero temperatures in mid-January, shelters such as Crossroads in Providence “saw more people coming in for emer- gency shelter than we have in months,” said Karen Santilli, vice president of marketing and de- velopment for Crossroads. Other emergency shelters in the city are R.I. officials confront homelessness Hilary Rosenthal / Herald Professor Melani Cammett discussed the political unrest in Egypt and Tunisia during Monday’s forum at the Watson Institute. Courtesy of University archives Col. Rush Hawkins had two of his swords stolen from Brown in the 1970s. continued on page 3 continued on page 2 continued on page 3 continued on page 2

description

The February 1, 2011 issue of the Brown Daily Herald

Transcript of Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Tuesday, February 1, 2011Daily Heraldthe Brown

Since 1891vol. cxlvi, no. 5

33 / 17

t o m o r r o w

30 / 25

t o d aynews....................2-3CITY & sTaTe.........5edITorIal..............6opInIons...............7sporTs....................8insid

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City & state, 5

New stationRail will connect North Kingstown and other cities

information leaks promote accountability

OpiNiONs, 7 wea

therWikileaked

By Amy RAsmusseNSenior Staff Writer

In pursuit of a priceless relic that has been missing for more than 30 years, the University is suing the city of Newport News, Va. and noted Civil War collectors Donald and Toni Tharpe for the return of a Tiffany and Company silver pre-sentation sword and ornamental scabbard.

The ceremonial sword, present-ed to Col. Rush Hawkins at the end of the Civil War, is referred to in the suit as a “unique and very valuable artifact” that is part of the Annmary Brown Memorial collection. The sword has been missing from the University since it was stolen in the mid-1970s.

The suit, which was filed Jan. 6 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of

Virginia, asks for the University to be immediately recognized as the true owner of the sword and its accompanying scabbard. Accord-ing to the suit, Brown is still in possession of the sword’s matching Tiffany presentation box.

Earlier in 2010, the Univer-sity was notified by an unnamed source that the sword had been loaned by its current owners to the

Lee Hall Mansion — a museum run by the city of Newport News.

According to the suit, the blade was returned to the Thar-pes Dec. 7. The defendants have since transferred the sword to Day and Meyer, a New York-based warehouse for art. Because the defendants moved the sword so quickly, U.S. District Judge Robert Doumar ordered a 60-day exten-sion to the restraining order that prevents the Tharpes from selling or transferring the artifact.

A status conference — a pre-trial meeting between the judge and lawyers from both sides — has been set for Feb. 10, according to Beverly Ledbetter, vice president and general counsel. Details of the University’s past attempts to locate the sword will not be disclosed until the next court date, Ledbetter said. At that point, Newport News’

status as a defendant in the case will also be formally discussed.

Going to court over swords is not a matter in which the Uni-versity is lacking experience. In 1993, Brown sued the estate of John Donelan Jr. for the return of another of Hawkins’ presenta-tion swords — also believed to have been stolen in the mid-1970s — and won on the premise that Donelan was not a “good value purchaser” of the relic.

Peter Harrington, the present-day curator of the Brown military collection at the John Hay Library, said he has never been directly responsible for the Hawkins col-lections nor has he seen either of the swords. An Annmary Brown Memorial curator watched over the relics until the University de-

U. sues Newport News over stolen sword

By CARoliNe FlANAgANContributing Writer

Panelists attributed the ongoing protests in Egypt and Tunisia to oppressive living conditions and changing demographics at a fo-rum held Monday by the Watson Institute for International Studies.“The usual suspects are not the ones who have been organizing the protests,” said panelist Melani Cammett, associate professor of political science and director of the Middle East studies program. “It’s these youth-based groups.”

The four speakers at the forum — Cammett, Interim Joukowsky Family Librarian for Middle East-ern Studies Ian Straughn, Postdoc-toral Fellow at the Cogut Center for the Humanities Shiva Balaghi and Assistant Professor of Archaeology Laurel Bestock — sought to pin-point the central reasons behind the

protests. Michael Kennedy, director of the Watson Institute, served as the moderator for the discussion.

Both Cammett and Straughn identified poverty as one of the main catalysts of the protests. “Pov-erty is a huge issue,” Cammett said. “Half of Egypt is living at or below the poverty threshold.”

Straughn emphasized the sever-ity of inflation in Egypt, mention-ing that many Egyptians can barely afford bread. Poverty is even worse in Tunisia, Cammett added.

But Cammett stressed that “economic reasons alone do not explain why protests erupt.” She and Straughn said corruption and unemployment also incited the protests.

“In both Tunisia and Egypt, there were opposition groups that were incredibly repressed, espe-cially in Tunisia,” Cammett said. Because Tunisia is less well-known

in America, many people were not aware of the repression, she added.

Many Tunisians did not even know about the extent of the repres-sion, Balaghi said, but “Wikileaks made people aware of specific in-cidents and was one of the triggers of the protests.”

Unemployment is another major issue in both countries. Straughn said many protests in Tunisia were instigated by young people. “Even skilled university graduates with many degrees have no opportuni-ties — only those with connections get jobs,” he said, adding that the dearth of opportunities has con-tributed to a “brain drain.”

“Many professionals who had the potential to play a big part in developing the country left to seek opportunities elsewhere,” he said.

The speakers also emphasized

Watson panel addresses Middle East protests

By NiCole BouCheRneWS editor

The two Brown students studying abroad in Alexandria, Egypt through a Middlebury College program are safe after being evacuated from Alexandria’s Borg el Arab airport to Prague late Monday night. Pro-gram administrators decided to pull participating students, including Michael Dawkins ’12 and Amanda Labora ’12, out of Egypt due to ongo-ing civilian protests against President Hosni Mubarak.

All the students on the program — a Brown-approved alternate study-abroad program — are safe and accounted for, though likely a bit “tired and anxious,” said Michael Geisler, vice president for language schools, schools abroad and gradu-ate programs at Middlebury.

Labora’s mother, Deborah White-Labora, told local NBC news pro-gram WHDH-TV Jan. 31 that she spoke to her daughter last weekend. “She said, ‘We’re not safe here. We’re not safe,’” White-Labora said in the television report. “It was pretty scary to hear that and to hear for the first time the fear in her voice.”

Though Middlebury initially planned to use a transport provider that would fly the students through Athens, the program also had a back-up plan in place to connect through Prague if the option would

Students safe after evacuation By miChAel DANieleWiCz

Contributing Writer

As temperatures plummeted during the month of January, Rhode Island policymakers turned their attention to the state’s homeless population.

According to a report released by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the homeless popu-lation in Rhode Island increased 34 percent between 2008 and 2009. The number of people living with friends and family as a result of economic problems increased 89 percent, the report found.

Legislators at the State House held a series of hearings last month on homelessness in the state. Sen. John Tassoni, D-Smithfield, North Smithfield, chairman of the Com-mittee on Housing and Munici-pal Government, visited the Har-rington Hall shelter in Cranston prior to the hearings, where he said he did not “particularly care for” some things he saw there.

Tassoni said some aspects of life at Harrington Hall were “in-humane.” The 88 men who sleep there at night stay in one large, open room and do not have ac-cess to meals or adequate bathroom facilities in the shelter, he said. Tas-soni said he intends to have some Harrington Hall residents speak at the next hearing, to be held today.

Tassoni proposed closing Har-rington Hall and housing the men who stay there in a building for-merly used as the state’s correc-tional facility for juveniles.

“Those guys have to line up at three in the afternoon” to get a place in the shelter, Tassoni said.

“That’s not America,” he said, adding that he believed past poli-cymakers prioritized “pet projects” over the well-being of the state’s homeless population.

Homelessness is also a key issue for Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I. Reed announced Jan. 19 that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development would provide $4.7 million to 40 homeless assistance programs in Rhode Island. Since 2000, federal grants have brought more than $51 million to state homelessness programs.

With sub-zero temperatures in mid-January, shelters such as Crossroads in Providence “saw more people coming in for emer-gency shelter than we have in months,” said Karen Santilli, vice president of marketing and de-velopment for Crossroads. Other emergency shelters in the city are

R.I. officials confront homelessness

Hilary Rosenthal / HeraldProfessor Melani Cammett discussed the political unrest in Egypt and Tunisia during Monday’s forum at the Watson Institute.

Courtesy of University archivesCol. Rush Hawkins had two of his swords stolen from Brown in the 1970s.

continued on page 3 continued on page 2

continued on page 3 continued on page 2

experiencing the same increase in numbers, she said.

The homelessness situation in Rhode Island has been exacerbated by the lack of job availability and affordable housing, Santilli said.

Beth Caldwell ’12, student coor-dinator of Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere, said the student-run organization is sup-porting local groups combatting homelessness like the Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project and the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless in their efforts to provide adequate winter shelter.

“HOPE will work with these organizations to push the state assembly to create a permanent

source of funding for the creation of low-income and affordable hous-ing,” she said.

While HOPE “is very concerned about the immediate shelter crisis and will work to ensure that no one is left outside this winter, the group also sees shelters as a temporary necessity rather than the long-term solution to homelessness,” Caldwell added.

During a state Senate committee hearing Jan. 20, Anthony Maione, president and CEO of United Way of Rhode Island, said the home-lessness situation in the state is “worse than we have ever seen.” He stressed the need for long-term housing for the state’s homeless population, citing the success of programs such as Housing First

and the Neighborhood Opportuni-ty Program. As it stands, openings in shelters are scarce, he said, add-ing that the United Way received 61,000 calls for assistance relating to housing, foreclosure and emer-gency shelter.

Tassoni urged those present at the hearing to consider what he called the “Worcester Model” to house Rhode Island’s homeless.

In late 2009, Worcester, Mass. implemented a new screening pro-cess for homeless people attempt-ing to stay at the local People in Peril Shelter. Workers at a triage center attempted to divert them from the shelter by helping them move in with family or friends or to a familiar community. The program also involves a substantial increase in resources and support for the city’s homeless and emphasizes placing the homeless in long-term housing.

In Worcester, the plan to end chronic homelessness has proven so successful that the city is plan-ning to close the People in Peril Shelter.

Tassoni said he is looking to im-plement a version of the “Worces-ter Model” as a long-term remedy for homelessness in Rhode Island. He noted that Worcester is around the same size as Rhode Island and, with modifications, Tassoni said he believes the plan will be effective.

“We’re headed in the right direc-tion,” he said.

Ben Schreckinger, PresidentSydney Ember, Vice President

Matthew Burrows, TreasurerIsha Gulati, Secretary

The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is an independent newspaper serving the Brown University community daily since 1891. It is published Monday through Fri-day during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement, once during Orientation and once in July by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Single copy free for each member of the community. POSTMASTER please send corrections to P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI 02906. Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Subscription prices: $280 one year daily, $140 one semester daily. Copyright 2011 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Campus news2 the Brown Daily heraldtuesday, February 1, 2011

12 P.m.

Info Session for Students Applying to

Medical School, CDC

8 P.m.

Health Leads Information Session,

Wilson 105

5 P.m.

“The Dragon in the Room,”

Watson Institute

8 P.m.

J Street U Information Session,

MacMillan 115

SHARPE REFECTORY VERNEY-WOOLLEY DINING HALL

LUNCH

DINNER

Curry Chicken with Coconut, Vegan Chana Masala, Ginger Sugar Snap Peas and Carrots, Raspberry Bars

Beef Pot Pie, Vegan Vegetable Couscous, Baked Sweet Potatoes,

Chicken Broccoli Pasta Alfredo

Italian Beef Noodle Casserole, Couscous Pearls, Artichoke,

Kalamata and Pepper Calzone

Hot Turkey Sandwich, Stuffed Shells with Sauce, Spinach with Lemon,

Butterscotch Chip Cookies

TODAY FEbRUARY 1 TOmORROW FEbRUARY 2

C R o S S W o R D

S U D o K U

M E N U

C A L E N DA RBy soPhiA seAWell

Contributing Writer

Last week, over 70 restaurants in Providence participated in Restau-rant Week, an annual event orga-nized by the Providence Warwick Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Participating restaurants of-fered a specific menu at reduced prices. Most presented either a three-course lunch for $12.95 or a three-course dinner for $29.95, while others offered two-for-one lunches and dinners.

Restaurant Week has previ-ously taken place in the summer, but this year’s organizers chose to move it to the winter “at the request of the restaurants,” said Christine Walsh, director of part-nership development for the bu-reau.

“Winter can be a slow time (for restaurants) due to the weather,” she added.

The new timing of this year’s program — called “Take a Bite Out of Winter” — augments the overall purpose of Restaurant Week, which is to increase busi-ness and bring in more visitors to the city, Walsh said.

Sanjiv Dhar, chef and owner of Kabob and Curry, said his restau-rant had participated in the past and “did not get much business.” “Running a three-course meal spe-cial at a lower price is not going to do much good,” he added.

Ray Hugh, owner of Shanghai, said he had not previously heard of Restaurant Week. He noted Shanghai’s many specials on its regular menu and said the restau-rant did not need the additional

help of the promotional week. Emily Saltz ’14 said she heard

about Restaurant Week through friends. Saltz sampled the lunch menu at the Duck and Bunny on Wickenden Street and went to Piz-zico Ristorante on Hope Street for dinner. She called the event a “super good deal.”

Eateries ‘take a bite’ out of winter

Sophia Rabb / HeraldThe Duck and Bunny offered special deals on treats for Restaurant Week.

Lawmakers address shelter shortagescontinued from page 1

that the majority of protestors are not affiliated with a particu-lar political or religious organiza-tion. Both Tunisia and Egypt have enormous youth demographics that have taken charge of the protests, Cammett said, adding that social media such as Facebook were im-portant in organizing the protests.

The attitudes toward democracy in the Middle East are changing with the growing youth demo-graphic, Balaghi said. She stated that apathy is disappearing and the

people are beginning to feel pride for their countries.

Bestock said there have been numerous instances in which Egyptian citizens have worked to protect museums, tombs and historical sites from looters. She said the Egyptians’ pride for their country, culture and history is over-whelming.

The Watson Institute was packed with students and professors, some of whom sat in the aisles and on the floor to hear the panel.

“It’s one of the most significant political events in our political

lives,” said Harry Reis ’11.5. “I was really interested to hear the per-spectives of Brown professors.”

“I’ve been glued to the news be-cause I’ve been so worried about my friends,” said Sydney Silverstein ’12, who studied abroad in Cairo last semester.

This revolution “could be a turn-ing point in our relations with the Middle East,” Balaghi said at the end of the panel discussion, adding that “the U.S. could come out with more stable and secure relation-ships with the Arab world.”

Poverty, corruption led to protestscontinued from page 1

Campus news 3the Brown Daily heraldtuesday, February 1, 2011

By KAtheRiNe solASenior Staff Writer

While many students choose to spend a semester eating baguettes in Paris or churros in Barcelona, others explore cities closer to home through Brown’s Study Away in the USA option. In recent years, Philadelphia, New York and Boulder, Colo., have all played host to students looking for a different experience outside of Providence.

Ten to 15 people choose to study away each year, according to Asso-ciate Dean of the College Kathleen McSharry. While she said that most students study away for personal or logistical reasons, the students them-selves attribute their decision to a wide range of factors.

Jason Gorelick ’12, a computer science and electronic music and multimedia concentrator, spent the fall semester at Columbia to play music with his band. In previous semesters, he said he spent his week-ends traveling between Providence and New York, where the other two members of his band live. Taking a semester to study at Columbia al-lowed him to fulfill computer science requirements while also devoting time to his music.

He said that although he enjoyed his time at Columbia, it helped him realize that he did not want to pursue a full-time career in music just yet. New York was “a really good life for me, and now I’m back,” he said.

Other students said they chose to study away for academic reasons. Kelly Schryver ’11, an American civi-lization concentrator, spent the 2010 spring semester at Penn. She took courses on adolescents and the media at the Annenberg School of Com-munication and the Graduate School of Education. The Penn courses were “perfect for my concentration,” she said. She wrote a final paper about the effect of Facebook on teenage girls that inspired her senior thesis at Brown, she added.

Schryver also took a course called “The Big Picture: Mural Arts,” which gave her hands-on experience with the Philadelphia community. As part of the course, students visited a maximum security prison where prisoners make murals for the out-

side community. The experience was “probably the highlight of my time at Penn,” she said.

Alexandra Feldman ’11 decided to take advantage of the University of Colorado at Boulder’s strong engineering program in the spring of 2009. As a Colorado native, she said she had “always grown up in the shadow” of the school. She had ar-rived at Brown as an engineering ma-jor, but said she “didn’t really take to it.” Boulder’s College of Engineering has “cool disciplines, like aerospace engineering,” she explained, and she said she was curious to see what it was like. But she said she did not see this as a move towards transferring.

Feldman said she appreciated her time away from Brown, and said that she was “so ready” after her se-mester away to come back and take full advantage of the opportunities Brown offers. She also said she came to the realization at Boulder that she preferred computer science to engi-neering.

McSharry attributed the relatively low number of students that study away to the fact that, once they ar-rive at Brown “they’re really happy, or at least that’s what they tell the Princeton Review.”

McSharry explained that transfer-ring credits to Brown is a complex process, involving two or three levels of approval. A student’s institution and course choice must be approved by McSharry’s office and possibly by the student’s concentration adviser. The relationship between Brown’s course credits and other institutions’ credit hours can also “bollock stu-dents up.” She said that although the “vast majority” of students manage to get credit, the process can be frustrat-ing, and urged students considering study away to “monitor their assump-tions” that credits would transfer.

Gorelick and Schryver both said they had difficulties transferring credits. Only three of Schryver’s four courses counted at Brown, which she described as “kind of a surprise.” Gorelick said that he was “not sure what will happen” with his credits, because he had not yet submitted his transcript from Columbia. “Frankly, I’m not sure if all of them are going to count,” he said.

Some students study ‘away,’ not abroad cided to discontinue the position

in recent years. The much-disputed blade of the

ongoing lawsuit is currently valued at more than $750,000 and was wrought from “fine steel,” accord-ing to an archival document in the Hay. It was presented to Hawkins by New York citizens in May 1863 “for his gallantry and devotion to his country.”

The sword itself features fine ornamental details, including a serpent entwined with a laurel wreath and a fierce eagle at the termination of the grip. Hawkins’ initials are inscribed on the blade in raised letters. According to a note in the memorial, swords of such design were generally not pre-sented to colonels, but the citizens felt Hawkins had “performed the duties of a brigadier general.”

A mysterious disappearanceAccording to archival docu-

ments in the Hay referencing the presentation sword, the Annmary Brown Memorial was closed for renovations and “budgetary mat-ters” in the mid-1970s and was entirely inaccessible to the public from 1975 to 1977. It was during this period that the alleged theft of the swords is believed to have taken place.

As stated in a 1993 affidavit, John Stanley — the administrative assistant to the Hay librarian in the 1970s — made the discovery of several missing items as he was familiarizing himself with the col-lection. While preparing items for viewing, he noted that a number of artifacts — including the two ceremonial Tiffany swords — were no longer present.

Samuel Hough, the curator of the memorial at the time of the discovery, reported an inventory of the missing items in an April 20, 1977 letter to then-Provost Merton Stoltz MA’36. The strongly-worded correspondence also voiced dis-pleasure with the University’s han-dling of the memorial.

“Security measures and respect for the objects of the memorial have been inadequate,” Hough wrote.

At the time of the 1993 lawsuit, the University was wary about dis-cussing security measures. When questioned in an interrogatory about the room in which the sto-len items were kept, the University objected to the question as “imper-missibly vague.”

The answers provided to the in-terrogatory reveal that at the time of the theft, the swords and other missing items were located in a basement room that required “pas-sage through three sets of locked doors.”

The only ones with access to the room holding the swords were the curator, the senior librarian and se-curity and maintenance personnel. The blades were not included in any public display between 1972, when they were last observed, and the time they were discovered to be missing in 1977, according to interrogatory answers from the 1993 lawsuit.

As of 2011, “the University has enhanced its security procedures but prefers not to disclose specifics at this time,” Director of News and Communications Sarah Kidwell wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.

If the sword should be returned to Brown’s care, she wrote, the Uni-versity plans to store the blade with the rest of the Hawkins collection. Exactly what this will mean for the future of the sword was not clarified. While some pieces of the collection are on display in glass boxes scattered throughout the memorial, others are unavailable to the viewing public.

Currently, Harrington said, the matching presentation box and the other ceremonial sword that was regained in 1993 are stored in the vault located in the Hay.

An enduring expressionBuilt from 1903 to 1907 by

Rhode Island architect Norman Isham 1886 MA’1890, the memo-rial that once held the swords is Hawkins’ personal remembrance of his wife Annmary, who died of pneumonia in 1903. The words that adorn the entrance to the rooms describe it as “an enduring expression of his love and appre-ciation of her noble and beautiful character.”

In 1948, the memorial and all of its possessions were trans-ferred to the University with the understanding that nothing was to be removed from or added to its contents. Failure to comply with those terms “shall cause said deed to become null and voice and the estate forfeited,” according to a 1975 guide to the Annmary Brown Memorial.

Although only a note marks where the two ceremonial pre-sentation swords once rested for public viewing in the memorial, other items from the Hawkins

collection remain on full display. A shredded fragment of a flag, a weathered-looking drum and a tin box of letters from Hawkins’ wife serve as reminders of the colonel’s active role in the Civil War.

Military life aside, Hawkins’ passionate patronage of the arts is evident in the great number of paintings, older swords and china figurines composing the collection.

His vast collection of over 500 incubulum, books printed in Eu-rope before 1501, was moved to the Hay in 1990.

In a July 1907 letter to the com-munity printed in the Providence Journal, Hawkins announced the memorial’s official opening. In re-turn for sharing his treasures in the hopes that “they may be of use to those who love the beautiful,” he voiced a plea that the citizens of Providence “care for it and safely guard it.”

In the final room of the me-morial, Hawkins — killed by an automobile on Fifth Avenue in 1920 — and his wife are entombed side-by-side in a room of marble.

Calvin Watts, recently retired from a 37-year career with the Department of Public Safety, is the lone Friday afternoon guard responsible for the immense oil paintings and tattered Civil War relics that line the jewel-toned walls of the memorial. Though the gray building is centrally located next to Health Services and across from Keeney Quadrangle, Watts admitted it is rare for students or faculty to frequent the building.

“The other day I had two alum-ni come in here,” he said. “Not once, in four years, had they been inside this building. The doors are closed so the students just walk by.”

When asked about his favorite items among the treasures, Watts gestured grandly to the full-wall display of — what else? — swords.

Sword resurfaces decades later

result in a more rapid evacuation, Geisler said. As the faster option, students were evacuated to Prague using the Boston-based Global Res-cue transport service, which pro-vides medical and security evacu-ations for its members.

The students will likely remain in Prague for one or two nights before Middlebury makes arrangements to bring the group back to the United States. The students will also have the option of making travel plans with their families but will have to

keep Middlebury personnel aware of their plans to ensure all students get home safely, Geisler said.

Once back in the U.S., students will have several academic options because the program in Egypt has been cancelled for the semester. Geisler said these options include a refund for the program, taking part in a “rich, cultural” summer language program or enrolling at Middlebury this semester since the school year is already underway at many of the students’ home institu-tions. Middlebury resumes its spring term classes Feb. 7.

continued from page 1

Evacuated students safely reach Prague

continued from page 1

City & State 5the Brown Daily heraldtuesday, February 1, 2011

bb & Z | Cole Pruitt, Andrew Seiden, Valerie Hsiung and Dan Ricker

Cabernet Voltaire | Abe Pressman

Dot Comic | Eshan Mitra and Brendan Hainline

Co M I C S

By gReg JoRDAN-DetAmoReSenior Staff Writer

A southward extension of com-muter train service from Boston — which currently runs through Providence to T. F. Green Airport — will give Rhode Islanders a new transportation option.

A new station — to be called Wickford Junction — is currently under construction in North Kings-town, about 12 miles south of the existing station at T. F. Green in Warwick that opened for service in December. Wickford Junction is slated to open in approximately a year.

The Massachusetts Bay Trans-portation Authority plans to ex-pand its rail service — which stops in Providence and runs to Bos-ton’s South Station — as far south as Westerly, and potentially into Connecticut.

The MBTA’s line is being ex-tended to Wickford Junction “pri-marily to help alleviate traffic on a congested stretch of highway down into the South County area of the state along Route 4 and I-95,” said Stephen Devine, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation’s chief of Intermodal Planning. “In-stead of costly investments in high-way infrastructure and expansion,” train service on the existing tracks can be “a way of getting people out of their cars,” he said.

extending serviceApproximately 10 trains per

weekday in each direction are planned for the extended line, ac-cording to Devine.

Currently, direct service be-tween T. F. Green and Boston is provided by only three northbound trains in the morning and three southbound trains in the evening, according to the MBTA website.

From Wickford Junction, 80 percent of riders are expected to head towards Providence, while about 20 percent are expected to travel on to Boston, Devine said. From the airport, most passengers continue past Providence to Bos-ton, he added.

Wickford Junction will provide about three-fifths of the new rider-ship from the extended line, ac-cording to RIDOT’s website.

The MBTA is expected to re-cover the additional operating costs from ticket revenue, Devine said. RIDOT will pay for capital costs for the extension. The construction of Wickford Junction will cost about $25 million, with additional track work costing $3 million more, he said.

Building up ‘transportation hubs’Wickford Junction will have an

impact on the surrounding area. Planners anticipate retail and high-

density development near the new station, Devine said.

At the T. F. Green station, 90 acres of nearby land will be de-veloped for commercial and retail purposes, said Michael Trainor, communications director for Gov. Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14. “The gov-ernor has always said that through-out history, economic development occurs around transportation hubs,” he said.

The T. F. Green station and Wickford Junction are located on separate tracks, so trains can stop at a platform while allowing Am-trak’s faster trains — which run on the same tracks — to bypass the station uninterrupted, Devine said. Although the main train line is electrified, the two stations’ sepa-rate tracks are not, because unlike Amtrak, the MBTA does not run electric trains.

This means Amtrak’s intercity trains will not stop at either sta-tion. “The state has undertaken design and construction of only those facilities needed to support commuter service,” wrote Clifford Cole, manager of media relations for Amtrak’s New York office, in an e-mail to The Herald. But with several infrastructure upgrades, in-cluding additional electric wiring and another track siding, Amtrak could stop at the airport station. “If the requirements are met, we would be interested,” Cole wrote.

A small state’s big visionFurther extension of rail service

southwest to Kingston and West-erly, and potentially to Connecticut, is currently under study, Devine said.

The University of Rhode Island, located in Kingston, has expressed interest in such an extension. Hav-ing stations in Kingston and other locations in the state would offer “a lot of possibilities and a lot of flex-ibility for students, faculty and visi-tors to come to our campus,” said Robert Weygand, vice president for administration and finance.

Given that service between Wickford Junction and Boston will extend almost 60 miles, it may not be practical for MBTA to continue its commuter train service much further, Devine said. The issue of what agency would operate new or extended rail service is currently being addressed in the study, he said.

There have been preliminary discussions about extending Con-necticut’s Shore Line East service, which currently runs between New Haven, Conn., and New London, Conn., to Westerly and possibly further into Rhode Island, Devine said.

other proposalsA station in Pawtucket along the

existing MBTA line is also under consideration. Two million dollars in federal money has been allot-ted to study the proposed station, including preliminary design work and an analysis of possible sites, Devine said.

Woonsocket has studied options for rail connections with Boston, Providence and Worcester, Mass., recommending a new commuter line between Woonsocket and Providence via Pawtucket.

Amtrak recently proposed a Japanese-style high-speed rail service route running from New York to Boston, passing through central Connecticut and Woon-socket and bypassing the shore and Providence, which are on Am-trak’s existing Northeast Corridor. “We’re supportive of high-speed rail through Rhode Island,” Devine said, noting that the trade-offs of a plan that skips Providence would need to be examined in detail.

Rhode Island is currently work-ing on a new statewide rail plan, which will examine infrastructure and operational needs. “We need to take a look at the entire state and how we move forward with rail,” he said.

Train service to extend past airport

Rhode Island Department of Transportation A train station in North Kingstown is the latest development along the commuter rail linking Providence, Boston and T.F. Green Airport.

Does this bohter you?Come copy edit!

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editorial & Letters6 the Brown Daily heraldtuesday, February 1, 2011

L E T T E R S To T H E E D I To R

C O R R E C T I O N S P O L I C YThe Brown Daily Herald is committed to providing the Brown University community with the most accurate information possible. Corrections may be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication.

C O M M E N TA R Y P O L I C YThe editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial page board of The Brown Daily Herald. The editorial viewpoint does not necessarily reflect the views of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Columns, letters and comics reflect the opinions of their authors only.

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All hail community discussionTo the Editor:

In his recent column (“The ROTC Question”, Jan. 29), Chris Norris-LeBlanc ’13 argues that a newly formed university committee to reevaluate Brown’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps ban is unnecessary. The essence of Norris-LeBlanc’s argument is that the basis of the University’s ROTC ban in 1972 remains relevant given the current “socio-political climate” and military activities in Afghanistan and Iraq. I am opposed to ROTC — at Brown or elsewhere — but I don’t agree that these are good reasons to carry forward a 40-year-old ban without reconsideration. I ask: when is it worthwhile to reevaluate the decisions of our aca-demic forebears?

I am opposed to ROTC at Brown because I question its academic value. Brown’s mission is to give students tools to think critically about the world and to engage with the world effectively. In some ways, exposure to the military may be counter-productive for a university culture that prides itself on free thinking. I don’t think all of military culture values execution over ideation,

but a strong hierarchical structure is bound to nudge individuals more toward “rank and file” than “pioneer.” We want pioneers at Brown.

At the same time, it’s too simple to compare Iraq to Vietnam and conclude that there is “no reason why ROTC would be any more welcome” today. The repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” shows that our government, including much of the military, is open to reevaluating policy and practice in the armed forces. I think the military would be better off with more Brunonians as it evolves into a more inclusive and receptive organi-zation. Is Brown better off? I don’t know, but it seems worth considering.

Norris-LeBlanc ends with a rally charge, “all hail community referenda.” But we need discussion to sepa-rate a past generation’s referendum from gag rule on future change. If students are unwilling to reevaluate old University policies like the ROTC ban, then we’re acting with the same dogma from which we hoped to steer away.

Steven Gomez GS

E D I To R I A L Co M I C b y a l e x y u lyE D I To R I A L

As classes started up last week, some students were already study-ing. To those students, our nation’s aspiring doctors: Congratulations. Completing the Medical College Admission Test is no easy feat.

Taking the MCAT comes at no small price — and we don’t just mean to your social life. It costs $235 just to take the MCAT itself. And you might spend nearly $2,000 on test-preparation classes. But these are only the first expenses in the lengthy process of applying to medical school.

It costs $160 to submit an application for your first medical school, and $31 for each additional institution. Most schools also require sec-ondary applications, which come with fees of $30 to $120, according to George Vassilev, assistant dean of the College. Brown students typically apply to 10 to 15 schools, Vassilev wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.

Students who land interviews at the schools where they applied have the privilege of covering their own travel expenses: round-trip airfare or a bus or train ticket to the school’s campus, accommodations and food. The University of California at Berkeley estimates that an applicant’s travel expenses for interviews will total $2,500.

Assistance exists for some of the costs associated with applying. The Association of American Medical Colleges reduces the MCAT registration fee and waives the central application fee for eligible stu-dents. But no financial aid exists to help with travel expenses, a hefty chunk of the total cost of applying, or to help even the playing field for applicants who can’t afford a months-long test-prep course.

Medical school may come with a price tag of more than $40,000 in tuition and fees each year, but a successful graduate expects his or her new degree to help pay off student loans. Someone applying to medi-cal school, on the other hand, is not guaranteed admission anywhere. In fact, in 2009, 54 percent of applicants nationwide and nearly 20 percent of Brown graduates were not admitted into a medical school. There is no guaranteed return on an investment that can easily reach more than $7,000.

The socioeconomic barriers to attending medical school are more complex than just the expenses associated with applying, but the financial cost of the application process is a significant obstacle to low-income students who are considering a career in medicine. Given the already considerable concerns about the growing elitism and afford-ability of undergraduate education, it is imperative that the doors of a prestigious and well-paid profession should be open to all students, regardless of their socioeconomic background.

We commend professional associations such as the Association of American Medical Colleges for the aid that they make available to financially needy students. But we ask them, and medical schools themselves, to recognize that such assistance is insufficient. The medi-cal establishment has the responsibility of investing in the people that are its profession’s future. We also hope the University’s health career advisers will be up front with students about the expenses of applying and to advise students and their families to prepare financially for ap-plying to, as well as attending, medical school.

editorials are written by The herald’s editorial page board. Send comments to [email protected].

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Disputing DPS role in December donut runTo the Editor:

Your article about the naked donut run contained a glaring factual inaccuracy. While we, the runners, were initially disrupted by a security guard, (Department of Public Safety) Officer Louise McLaughlin took our names and addresses. Further, she threatened us with calling the Providence Police.

Tim Peacock ’12A participant in the affected run

Mark porter, chief of public safety, told The Herald dps responded to a call about the run but did not

have a report on the incident -ed.

opinions 7the Brown Daily heraldtuesday, February 1, 2011

“Idle reader...” With these words Cervantes opens his

masterpiece “Don Quixote” — but does idleness imply passivity? Isn’t it true that when we read, we launch ourselves into voyages, sometimes turbulent and earth-shattering ones? This is one of the ques-tions the book explores. What I want to explore is not Cervantes, but questions. I believe you, dear reader, have natural ques-tions. And I believe that these natural ques-tions are guiding your time at Brown.

A natural question is an organic ques-tion — a distinctly personal curiosity that demands exploration. Examples: How can I express trauma in dance? What role does music play in the classroom? Why did 30,000 children die today because of hun-ger? Varied in scope, natural questions are expressions of our intrinsic desire to un-derstand. For instance, you are shopping courses that speak to you in one way or an-other, looking for answers and acting on your natural questions.

A year ago, I took off to Central Califor-nia and worked for a few months picking bell peppers. To be sure, there is nothing at-

tractive about the work. I woke up at five in the morning to hop into a van and drive to vast fields where we would wait for the sun to rise. As soon as we could see the red of the bell peppers, we entered the rows with buckets in hand. Right behind, a conveyor belt followed us — pushed us — into pro-duction. At the end of my first day, I was plotting face-saving ways to quit. By the second day, I was convinced I was a com-munist. By the third, the intense heat made

me forget the resolutions from the first two days. My focus became survival — making it one bucket of peppers at a time.

Why put myself through this? There are a few reasons, but I do believe that the impetus was questions. A long time ago, I picked jalapeño peppers alongside my mother, but I was too young to understand what it meant to be a field worker. As I grew up, I increasingly needed to understand my mother and her decisions.

A more compelling question is linked to my pedagogical training. I had graduated from Bennington College ecstatic about the power of a liberal arts education. But what meaning, if any, does education have in ru-ral, farm working communities? I needed to know. These questions were nagging at me — these gaps in my education that just needed to be filled. So I armed myself with courage and took off to find answers.

Dear reader, your questions may not be

as dramatic as the ones I shared, but I am certain you have them. If I have convinced you, here is my challenge to you: Pick a class and articulate a question — a real, meaningful question — and write it down. Throughout the semester, come back to it and reflect on how the answer is coming along, but don’t answer it yet. When the se-mester is about to end, write the best an-swer you arrive at.

When I get to that point, I question

whether I am ready to offer any kind of an-swer. I am reminded of Michele de Mon-taigne who, upon learning of the New World, lamented that greater minds were not alive to help those living understand. Similarly, I think of how greater minds than mine have attempted to answer the questions that I pose. But that is what we are here for — to struggle at the boundar-ies of our own understanding. So I suck it up and write an answer down. I always feel better afterwards.

If you accept my challenge, I want to leave you with a wonderful concept from Sandra Cisneros. In a short story, she sug-gests that people are like Russian dolls. Inside the 20-year-old you, there is the 19-year-old you and the 18-year-old you, and so on. So if you get overwhelmed and want to cry, that is the three-year-old you. If you get angry and want to scream, that may be the 13-year-old you. So don’t sweat it.

The other day, I was in class in the third floor of Sayles Hall. I glanced at the Main Green and saw over a dozen boys playing football in the snow. I am from California, so this seemed plain crazy. But, I bet you, they were answering a natural question as well. Don’t you think?

Hector Najera is a grad student studying education.

Natural questions will save your life

About the middle of last December, I was pleasantly surprised to read that libertarian Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, had taken up the defense of WikiLeaks founder and editor-in-chief Julian Assange on the floor of the House. “Is there not a huge difference be-tween releasing secret information to help the enemy in a time of declared war, which is treason, and the releasing of information to expose our government’s lies that pro-mote secret wars, death and corruption?” Paul asked the assembled legislators.

My hope is that Paul’s courage and elo-quence in attempting to redirect attention and controversy from the messenger to the troubling message have not fallen on deaf ears.

Amidst the controversy ignited by the November release of tens of thousands of U.S. State Department diplomatic cables and the earlier releases regarding the Iraq and Afghan wars, Paul’s speech was politi-cally costly. Indeed, the conservative blog RedState went so far as to call him “al-Qa-eda’s favorite member of Congress.” It has nevertheless placed Paul among a very few public figures who have been willing to challenge the anti-WikiLeaks vitriol of the decision-makers who bear the most re-sponsibility for the secret wars and other questionable meddlings revealed by the or-ganization. These individuals include such warhawks as Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., Defense Secretary Robert Gates and even Sarah Palin, whose voice has been among the most strident in calling Assange a ter-rorist who should be “pursued with the

same urgency [as] al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders.”

These opponents of WikiLeaks have made much of the idea that the organiza-tion is responsible for endangering U.S. citizens and allies. Setting aside the glar-ing hypocrisy of such war-mongers accus-ing WikiLeaks of putting people in harm’s way, it is evident that these claims are most-ly baseless.

To begin with, the idea that the leaks incite new anti-American sentiment is flawed. Afghans and Iraqis do not have to find their way to the widely censored “Col-lateral Murder” videos to see that the reali-

ties of the wars in which they live are bru-tal. Likewise, the people of Pakistan and Yemen who are impacted by the instability in their respective countries do not need diplomatic cables to tell them that they are being affected by a U.S. military presence. Rather, it is the under-informed U.S. public that stands to benefit.

The Pentagon continues to claim that the leaks may have revealed information of strategic importance. It should, how-ever, be remembered that it was not until 18 years after he prosecuted the New York Times for publishing the Pentagon Papers that former solicitor general Erwin Gris-wold admitted that the classification of

those documents was purely to avoid gov-ernment embarrassment.

The report that some of the leaked doc-uments may have revealed identifiable de-tails of Afghan informants in its Afghan War Diaries is of much greater concern. WikiLeaks claims to have made efforts to protect informants’ identities prior to the initial release, and for subsequent releases, it has used more thorough methods. If it turns out in the coming months that negli-gence on the part of WikiLeaks’ editors has put informants or their families in harm’s way, then this will be the single unambigu-ous instance of wrongdoing by the organi-

zation, and it will be the result of careless-ness, not of ill-intent.

It is only reasonable that if we accept speculations about the dangers of these leaks, we must also weigh them against equally speculative views of the wide-rang-ing benefits of increased government ac-countability.

Much has been said about the dam-age done to diplomacy by the latest leaks. Yet if such diplomacy consists of our gov-ernment supporting repressive regimes or launching combat operations of which the U.S. public has no knowledge but for which it pays dearly, then what has been lost? In the case of repressive regimes, the recent

episodes of popular unrest in Egypt and Tunisia demonstrate that the perpetuation and support of such regimes does little for the long-term stability of such regions, let alone the people’s right to democratic self-determination.

As for the politicians who are upset about having been caught making diplo-matic compromises, perhaps now is the time for them to recognize that it is their own incendiary language and hardline public stances that have made their jobs difficult. Such quips as President George W. Bush’s refusal to “negotiate with terrorists and radicals” are clearly a non-starter in a world of greater diplomatic accountability.

Furthermore, WikiLeaks presents an opportunity for the U.S. to demonstrate its commitment to democracy by not attack-ing whistleblowers. Is it not hypocritical for leaders who call for regime change and democratization to shroud their efforts in such undemocratic secrecy? For U.S. lead-ers to credibly criticize the censorship of governments such as that of China, mustn’t they lead the way by accepting the era of WikiLeaks with grace?

Those of us who believe that powers-that-be must be held accountable should stand with WikiLeaks as it prepares to re-lease new documents relating to tax eva-sion by some of the world’s richest people and material from a hard drive believed to have belonged to a Bank of America ex-ecutive. In the current spirit of economic malaise, anger at the increasingly consoli-dated and powerful banks and disgust at the growing inequalities between rich and poor, such insights may be welcomed as no leaks have been before. We live in interest-ing times.

Ian Trupin ‘13 is a CoE concentrator.

WikiLeaks: More good than bad, and the best may be still to come

If we accept speculations about the dangers of these leaks, we must also weigh them against equally

speculative views of the wide-ranging benefits of increased government accountability.

I think of how greater minds than mine have attempted to answer the questions that I pose. But that is what

we are here for — to struggle at the boundaries of our own understanding.

By IAN TRUPINopinions Columnist

By HECToR NAJERAopinions Columnist

Sports tuesday8 the Brown Daily heraldtuesday, February 1, 2011

By JAmes BlumSportS Staff Writer

The men and women of indoor track both claimed second place last Friday at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games, their first meet since the end of winter break.

The men finished with 70 points in the 17-team field, behind first-place host Northeastern University, with 118.5 points. The only title won by the men was the 4x400-me-ter relay. The team of John Spooney ’14, Samuel Howard ’14, Nathan Elder ’13 and Matt Bevil ’14 won in a time of 3:18.36 seconds.

“I was extremely happy with the men’s 4x400-meter relay. Not only did they win, but they also posted an IC4A qualifying mark,” wrote Marc Mangiacotti, assistant coach of sprinters and hurdlers, in an e-mail to The Herald.

“It was good to get back on the track and on the relay team,” Bevil said.

The men also performed well in the one-mile run, with Dan Lowry ’12 capturing second place in a time of 4:12.77. He was backed up by Anthony Schurz ’12, who finished fifth, and newcomer Colin Savage ’14, who finished ninth.

Spooney also turned in a no-table performance, capturing sec-ond place in the 55-meter dash. Bevil came in fifth place in the 500-meter.

“I think I am where I should be. I have a lot of work to do, but I still have time,” Bevil said.

In a field of 17 teams, the women finished second with 93 points, just four points shy of first-place Northeastern’s 97. Gabriella Baiter ’11 brought home the gold for Brown in the triple jump with a combined leap of 40 feet, 2.25 inches.

The sprinters and hurdlers were an important part of Brown’s sec-ond-place finish, as well. Colby Lubman ’14 came in second in the 55 with a time of 7.32 seconds, as well as fourth in the 200-meter, posting a time of 26.09. Susan Sca-vone ’12 made her contribution as she crossed the line of the 55-meter hurdles in 8.31 seconds, in third place.

“The sprinters and hurdlers did a fantastic job competing at the Reebok Collegiate Invite,” Man-giacotti wrote. “The sprinters and hurdlers still have some work to do, but I am happy with their progress.”

Once again, co-captain Brynn Smith ’11 placed second in the weight throw, finishing in second place, with a hurl of 53-11. Victo-ria Buhr ’13 competed in the shot put, throwing 44-00 to finish in second place.

The next challenge facing Bruno is this Friday, at the Giegengack Invitational hosted by Yale in New Haven, Conn.

Squads come away with silver

By AleX mittmANContributing Writer

The Bears posted another set of impressive scores in the second half of the Northeast Fencing Con-ference tournament last Saturday. The men’s team was victorious, and the women’s team posted a pair of one-bout losses to Vassar College and Brandeis University.

The men’s squads, in their combined scores, won 21-6 against Dartmouth, 19-8 against MIT, 18-9 against Tufts and 16-11 against Vassar. The Bears also defeated one of their rivals, Brandeis, 15-12, which Joshua Grill ’14 called “a big deal.” The women’s squads were also victo-rious, beating Dartmouth 22-5, Smith College and Tufts 18-9, and MIT 16-11.

Head Coach Atilio Tass said his fencers “came back very enthusi-astic” from winter break and that he was “very, very happy with this weekend’s results.”

The fencers put up impressive individual scores in all of the weapons. In men’s sabre, Teddy Weller ’13 went 14-1 and Peter Tyson ’13 went 11-3.

In men’s epee, Ben McDonald ’14 went 10-4, and for the women’s squad, Cory Abbe ’13 took 12-4 while Laney Caldwell ’14 went 11-6.

In women’s foil, Kathryn Haw-rot ’14 won 17 out of 18 bouts fenced, Avery Nackman ’13 won 16 out of 18 and Yukiko Kunito-mo ’12 won seven out of her 10. Francesca Bartholomew ’11 won a perfect eight of eight bouts.

The men’s fencing squad fought

another solid tournament, with Joshua Grill ’14 posting eight vic-tories in 10 bouts, and Jonathan Yu ’11, James Golin ’13 and Scott Philips ’11 all posting seven vic-tories out of nine bouts.

“All five members of the team are really good,” Grill said. He said that his top score was a matter of placement.

On the women’s side, the epee squad posted a score of only two victories to seven against the team.

“Our epee squad wasn’t having the best day,” Abbe said, despite winning 32-22 against the six schools it faced that day. She said she had won the only two victories for women’s epee against Brandeis. Women’s foil won seven bouts of their nine, and sabre scored four victories to its five losses.

According to Abbe, Christina

Johantgen ’14, who went 3-15, won in the last saber bout against Brandeis, giving the women’s team a fighting chance. But the foil squad fell short by the one bout that would have bumped the three weapons’ total up to a 14-13 winning score.

“Hopefully, they’re scared of us next year,” Abbe said.

The Bears will not know their overall standing until the teams they have faced in the past two NFC matches face each other.

The men’s squad lost to two schools in the first half of the Bear’s NFC season at MIT, bring-ing Brown’s record to 22-4 in the tournament.

Both the men’s and women’s squads will next be in action when they head to MIT for the Eric Soll-ee Invitational this Sunday.

Fencing squads prevail at weekend tourney

By ethAN mCCoyaSSiStant SportS editor

The football team will welcome back a number of familiar faces to the gridiron on the offensive side of the ball in 2011. For three of those players, their classmates will have already shaken Presi-dent Ruth Simmons’ hand, received their degrees and entered the post-Brunonian world. Because of inju-ries and the Ivy League’s medical redshirt rules, 2009 All-Ivy quar-terback Kyle Newhall-Caballero, 2010 All-Ivy wide receiver Alex Tounkara and wide receiver Matt Sudfeld — all seniors — will take a leave of absence in the spring 2011 semester and return for the fall semester and season.

All three players have eligibil-ity to play another year due to substantial injuries sustained in past seasons. To qualify for the medical hardship waiver, a player must have proof of his injury, not play in more than 20 percent of his team’s games and not play after the midway point of the season, wrote Newhall-Caballero in an e-mail to The Herald.

Newhall-Caballero played in only the second and third games this fall due to a wrist injury, while Sudfeld missed the entire season with a nagging hamstring injury.

Tounkara, who led the Bears with 61 catches for 842 yards and 4 touchdowns in 2010, was forced to sit out all of his junior season in 2009 due to injury.

The three credited their deci-sion to return to the unique op-portunity of playing the game they love at Brown and the camaraderie they share with their teammates — something that they are “not ready to part ways with quite yet,” ac-cording to Newhall-Caballero. In addition, each said he has his own personal reasons for returning. For Sudfeld — the player pegged to fill the shoes of Bobby Sewall ’10 and current New England Patriot Buddy Farnham ’10 — coming back is about ending his career on the right note, he said.

“It’s difficult when you work year-round and have high expec-tations going into a season, only to end up watching from the sideline,” wrote Sudfeld in an e-mail to The Herald. “Playing football at Brown has been a fantastic experience, and I didn’t want it all to end while sitting on the sidelines, watching my team play without me.”

For Tounkara, whose 2010 sea-son was a breakout effort in his first starting role, the chance for another opportunity to prove him-self — maybe even to NFL scouts — spurred his decision.

“Although an extreme long shot, there is still a chance of playing at the professional level,” Tounkara wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. “I owe it to myself to try. It is every football player’s childhood dream to make it to the pros, so when you have even the smallest chance, you have to give it all you’ve got.”

Like Sudfeld, Newhall-Caballe-ro said he did not want to end his career at Brown on the sidelines, adding that returning would also allow him the chance to work on his future outside of football.

“I was offered a great opportu-nity to work and develop my career skills this spring,” wrote Newhall-Caballero, who will be working at a private equity firm in New York City during the spring semester. “I know that my time this spring will give me great exposure to a field of work in which I am very interested in pursuing, and that I will have a better idea of the work I will choose to pursue upon gradu-ation as a result of it.”

Tounkara, an economics and international relations concentra-tor, said he will also be working in New York, while Sudfeld said he plans to spend a month in Uganda and Kenya with Assist Internation-al, a humanitarian organization. He said he also plans to work for the New England Technical Insti-

tute and prepare for law school.While the three are excited

about their academic plans and the 2011 season, the decision does not come without sacrifice — es-pecially regarding graduation and spending the final semester with their classmates.

“I’ll do everything I can to at-tend commencement and senior week, but it’s a long shot,” Tounka-ra wrote. “It would be difficult to have my family fly out here and not return home with a degree in hand.”

Though it is a ways away, excite-ment for the upcoming season is running high, as Newhall-Caballe-ro will have an impressive arsenal of weapons in what has the poten-tial to be the Ivy League’s most ex-plosive offense. Mark Kachmer ’13, Bruno’s leading rusher, will be back taking handoffs, while Tounkara and Sudfeld will be part of a deep receiving corps along with Jimmy Saros ’12, Jonah Fay ’12 and Tellef Lundevall ’13. Linebacker Robert Gillett ’11, who also has red-shirt eligibility after missing the ma-jority of last season, will also be returning on defense.

“Any one of the seniors would give anything to have the opportu-nity to come back and play another year,” Tounkara wrote. “I was just lucky enough to have it.”

Offense gets boost from returning seniors in 2011 FOOTbALL

FENCINGINDOOR TRACK