Tuesday, February 8, 2011Daily Heraldthe Brown

Since 1891vol. cxlvi, no. 10

29 / 16

t o m o r r o w

35 / 10

t o d aynews...................2-3CITY & sTaTe.....4-5edITorIal.............6opInIons..............7sporTs...................8insid

e

City & State, 5

Got pot?State debates proposed medical marijuana centers U. must provide legal

alternatives to piracyOpiniOnS, 7 w

eath

erCyber crime

By Mark rayMondSenior Staff Writer

In an e-mail to students and faculty yesterday, President Ruth Simmons announced the members of the new committee tasked with examining the University’s policy on the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps.

The committee is comprised of seven faculty members, Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron and two undergraduate students. The Gradu-ate Student Council will also name a student representative to serve on the committee.

Though Simmons credits the re-cent repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” as one of her reasons for forming the committee, Bergeron said the University began considering a re-assessment of its ROTC policy before the controversial law was repealed.

Brown’s ROTC policy has been a topic of discussion for decades, beginning with the decision to ter-minate the on-campus program in 1969. Since then, students and faculty have regularly debated whether or not Brown should reassess its stance.

“It’s not the first time the question has been raised,” Bergeron said. “This wasn’t stimulated entirely from the recent legislation.”

Cade Howard ’14, one of the

ROTC committee members announced

U. to expand int’l ties with Year of China

By niCk LourieContributing Writer

Brown will celebrate its Year of China initiative in the 2011-12 academic year, organizing events and activities to increase awareness of China’s role on the world stage and in the lives of individuals.

Professor of Physics Chung-I Tan, who is a member of the Faculty Ex-ecutive Committee, and the Office of International Affairs will lead the organization of the year’s programs and events. The Year of China fol-lows several other such initiatives including those focusing on Latin America, Africa and — in the 2009-10 academic year — India. The cur-rent academic year has no foreign country or continent as its theme.

While international themes in the

past began as more informal ideas, the University decided to more fully plan and execute international themes, Tan said. This year is being spent organizing next year’s events.

The Year of China aims to “intro-duce our students to Chinese culture and examine China’s current and future role on the world stage,” ac-cording to a University press release. But the program’s motivations are not confined to cultural or societal categories. “The sciences cut across national boundaries,” Tan said. In order to remain at the forefront of scientific knowledge and techno-logical research, the University must integrate itself into the world stage, he said.

President Ruth Simmons traveled

By katrina PhiLLiPsContributing Writer

It began with an auto-tuned vid-eo montage by Bruno and ended with roaring applause. A crowd of Brown employees and their fami-lies filled Salomon 101 yesterday as staff members were recognized for their service to the University.

At the celebration for the sev-enth annual Brown Employee Appreciation and Recognition Day, President Ruth Simmons emphasized the “devotion and motivation” of the University’s employees. “The personal invest-ments you’ve made in your work

echo throughout the University,” Simmons said.

She praised employees’ “heart-warming dedication” in light of the recent economic downturn and said the great appreciation expressed by the students and families in the audience was evidence that the staff ’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. Alum-ni remember their relationships with staff members fondly and often cite such relationships as important to their development at Brown, she said.

During a break in her speech, Simmons invited staff being hon-ored for five, 10 and 15 years of

service to stand for applause. Groups with 20, 25 and 30 or more years of service were invited on stage for a photograph. “They move a little slowly” at this point, Simmons joked as they made their way to the stage.

Simmons also mentioned the over $1.6 billion raised in the Campaign for Academic Enrich-ment and thanked staff members for “giving people the confidence that this place is worth some-thing.”

The ceremony featured a video in which employees were sur-

For staff, B.E.A.R. hugs and awards

Stephanie London / HeraldPresident Ruth Simmons thanked staff members for their contributions to the University at B.E.A.R. Day yesterday.

Elizabeth Carr / HeraldProtesters rallied in Providence Saturday in support of democracy in Egypt.

See full coverage on page 4.

continued on page 3 continued on page 2

r a l ly f o r e g y p t

By aMy rasMussenSenior Staff Writer

In his most high-profile act yet to shape Rhode Island’s education policy, Governor Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14 announced four nomina-tions to the Rhode Island Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education early last week. The nominations come as the state contemplates controver-sial education reforms proposed by Deborah Gist, commissioner of elementary and secondary education.

Chafee was elected in Novem-ber with strong support from the state’s teachers’ unions, which have steadfastly opposed Gist’s reforms.

The nominees, who must be confirmed by the state Senate be-fore they can officially take office March 3, represent a diverse set of leaders from across Rhode Is-land. George Caruolo — a former House Majority leader — was nominated to replace current Chairman Justice Robert Flan-ders ’71, who was appointed by former governor Donald Carci-eri ’65. Chafee recently named Flanders to oversee the receiver-ship of Central Falls, which was placed under state control due to financial distress.

Other nominees include for-mer University of Rhode Island president Robert Carothers, Rhode Island education policy veteran Mathies Santos ’77 and Institute for Labor Studies Pro-gram Director Carolina Bernal. Patrick Guida, Colleen Callahan, Betsy Shimberg and Karin Forbes have been asked by Chafee to maintain their current positions on the board.

Carcieri-appointed Board of Regents members Angus Davis and Anna Cano-Morales have not been asked to remain on the board. They learned of Chafee’s decision to remove them by read-ing about it online, according to yesterday’s Providence Journal.

The governor met individu-ally with each of the four nomi-nees prior to the announcement, Chafee spokesman Mike Trainor said. “They understand what

Chafee nominates education board

continued on page 4continued on page 3

city & state

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.

www.browndailyherald.com195 Angell St., Providence, R.I.

Daily Heraldthe Brown

edIToRIAl(401) 351-3372

herald@browndailyherald.com

BuSIneSS(401) 351-3360

gm@browndailyherald.com

Campus news2 the Brown Daily heraldtuesday, February 8, 2011

5:30 P.M.

Lecture by Professor Jasbir Puar,

List Art Building, Room 120

7 P.M.

Student Activities Fair,

Faunce Arch

5 P.M.

Lecture by Professor Beverly Silver,

Watson Institute

9:30 P.M.

“The Memory of Decay Show,”

204 South Main Street

SHARPE REFECTORY VERNEY-WOOLLEY DINING HALL

LUNCH

DINNER

Artichoke and Red Pepper Frittata, Carne Gizado, White and Wild Rice

Pilaf, Magic Bars

Chicken Pot Pie, Vegan Stuffed Acorn Squash, Apricot Beef with

Sesame Noodles

Italian Meatball Grinder, Curried Chicken Saute, Linguini with

Tomato and Basil

Hot Roast Beef on French Bread, Tomato Quiche, Steamed Vegetable

Melange, Swiss Fudge Cookies

TODAY FEbRUARY 8 TOMORROW FEbRUARY 9

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 aBBy kerson

Staff Writer

Over winter break, eight students traveled abroad and created new media projects about their desti-nations. The students were funded by the Watson Institute for In-ternational Studies’ AT&T New Media Fellowship, part of a larger program called the Global Con-versation — an online platform allowing students and faculty to discuss international issues — that gives students the opportunity to upload video, photo, audio or text to the website.

Though similar to other fel-lowships offered by Watson and the University that fund unpaid internships, the New Media Fel-lowship is unique because of its media requirements and its involvement with the Global Conversation site, said Geoffrey Kirkman ’91, deputy director of the Watson Institute and founder and director of the fellowship.

Fellows are required to blog on the site and to produce a new media project, which many turn into an independent study upon returning to Brown, Kirkman said.

Winter fellow Jonah David ’13 did just that.

David was already planning to go to San Juan Del Sur — he had visited his sister there five years ago and returned three years ago with his high school — when he heard about the fellowship.

Over a span of four weeks, Da-vid filmed a documentary dur-ing his trip to San Juan Del Sur and Balgue — two Nicaraguan villages — interviewing Nicara-guans, tourists, restaurant owners and hotel employees about the impact of recent globalization in Nicaragua, with a focus on San Juan Del Sur.

The film does not present a positive or negative opinion of globalization, but tries to “let the interviewees speak,” he said. Da-vid conducted all interviews in his subjects’ native languages — either Spanish or English — and the film will be subtitled in both.

David has turned the editing of the film into an independent study, hoping to have a finished project that he can present by the end of the semester.

Elias Scheer ’12 also chose to use film for his project but went with a more organized program called the Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions, which conducts walking journeys in rural areas of India. During his winter break, Scheer traveled to a province in the Northeast called Meghalaya. He said he will be posting his raw footage on the Global Conversation site and hopes to put out a final edited film in the future.

Scheer said the fellowship stood out because it was offered during winter break and provided all the necessary equipment for

his project.The fellowships can take the

form of formal trips, like Scheer’s, or informal ones, like David’s, ac-cording to Kirkman. But summer fellowships are often more formal.

“The Global Conversation will represent the best of what Brown does in a globalized world,” Kirk-man said. The site is also used by students who are not New Media fellows, including those studying abroad and those participating in other Watson fellowships. One student used the site to pursue a Global Independent Study Proj-ect with Kirkman as her faculty sponsor.

Media fellows from the past have been getting outside recog-nition and support to continue their projects, including summer 2010 fellow Chantal Berman ’10.5 who received an additional $3,500 from the Clinton Global Initiative University. Summer 2010 fellow Sarah Gibson ’10.5 raised $10,000 to continue her project in the Eur-asian state of Georgia, according to an e-mail from Karen Lynch, communications director for the Watson Institute.

Summer fellows can get up to $3,500 of funding while winter fellows were granted up to $1,500, Lynch said.

Both the site and the fellow-ship were funded by grants from AT&T, Kirkman said, though the institute is looking for new fund-ing to support future fellowships beyond the summer of 2011.

Winter fellows use new media abroad

prised by visits from University mascots Bruno and Cubby. In the film, an employee said working at Brown felt “even more like a big bear hug,” while another em-ployee said he wanted “to treat these kids that we have here like I’d want my kids to be treated.”

Beppie Huidekoper, executive vice president for finance and ad-ministration, also emphasized the variety of nominations for this year’s awards. Over 100 employees were nominated from 20 different departments, she said. Recipients included the electrical team for their efficient problem solving and the Computing and Informa-

tion Services’ college admissions team for enabling the conver-sion of the admissions process to a fully paperless system. The system handled more than one million documents received last year, she said.

The seven categories of ex-cellence included citizenship, diversity, efficiency, innovation, managing for excellence, service and “rising star” — which recog-nizes new employees in the Brown community. One such rising star was Jesse Marsh, administrative assistant for undergraduate con-centration in the neuroscience department, who “has provided the highest level of administrative support” since starting at Brown

just two years ago, according to the event program.

Walking on stage to accept his award, he gave Simmons a big hug as the audience laughed. “I was nervous, but it was awesome,” he said, calling the award a “huge honor.”

Natalie Basil, associate director of Residential Life, was honored for excellence in diversity. “We were really surprised at her being awarded,” said her mother Linda Basil. But she added that her daughter has always been good at what she does.

Despite an emphasis on stu-dent appreciation, few students were present at the event. Sim-mons told The Herald that though students appreciate the staff ’s ef-forts, the ceremony is “not conve-nient” for the student body and generally does not attract many students. Staff members are en-couraged to invite students with whom they closely interact.

Simmons said B.E.A.R. Day “should evolve,” and she encour-aged the human resources depart-ment “to continue to seek feed-back from the staff.” Since the addition of excellence awards to B.E.A.R. Day, staff members are invited to nominate their peers each year. The day “emphasizes to people not only that we value their work but also their opinion,” she said.

U. thanks outstanding employeescontinued from page 1

Campus news 3the Brown Daily heraldtuesday, February 8, 2011

By MorGan JohnsonContributing Writer

The Center for Computation and Visualization is seeking a new exec-utive director to manage the center’s services on a daily basis. The cen-ter, which houses the University’s supercomputer, also provides re-searchers access to “computational science, scientific visualization and virtual reality display applications,” according to its website.

The center has never had a permanent executive director. John Spadaro, director of techni-cal architecture and outreach for Computing and Information Ser-vices, took on the role of interim executive director in September. But Spadaro said working in both departments has been hectic, and the amount of time he must devote to the center has left a backlog of work at CIS.

The search to find a full-time replacement — which has been go-ing on for a year — has not been easy, said Jan Hesthaven, director of the center and professor of applied mathematics. There are very few individuals that possess the skills necessary to handle the job, he said. Hesthaven said he could not specify when he and the hiring committee expect to hire someone. “I can’t even begin to give you a timeline,” he said. So far, all of the potential candidates have come from outside the Brown community.

Hesthaven’s faculty position prevents him from managing the activities of the center on a daily basis, so an executive director posi-tion held by a non-faculty member is necessary to keep the center run-ning smoothly, he said.

In addition to daily manage-ment of the center’s staff and fa-cilities, Spadaro said outreach is an important aspect of the execu-tive director’s duties. Recently, the department completed a brochure which was sent to all faculty and researchers, he said. The center also holds workshops for faculty members and graduate students to make them aware of the resources the center provides. He said the workshops are also open to un-dergraduates.

Despite plans to step down,

Spadaro said he enjoys his work at the center. “CIS is the central computing organization at the University,” he said, but it “never attempts to provide resources to the research community.” Spadaro said his position at the center gave him his first exposure to working with researchers.

The executive director will man-age the center’s supercomputer. Hesthaven said the supercomputer, which was first unveiled in 2009, is currently serving 300 users at all academic levels. The supercom-puter is currently operating at its maximum capacity, but Hesthaven said the center will continue to try and expand its capabilities, in part through funding from faculty re-search grants.

Another project taking place is the rebuilding of the Cave, which will utilize 3-D imagery and vir-tual reality to aid researchers and academic courses, Spadaro said. David Laidlaw, professor of com-puter science, will head the rebuild-ing funded by the National Science Foundation. “It’s a very exciting project that’s getting a lot of atten-tion,” Spadaro said.

Computing center seeks permanent new director

to China in November and spent a week meeting with politicians and academic leaders. Simmons signed memorandums of understanding with Zhejiang University and Nan-jing University and met with the president and vice chancellor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong to discuss possible collaborations.

Last week, the University an-nounced “Brown Plus One,” a new fifth-year international master’s pro-gram. Students in the program begin earning a master’s degree during their junior year, completing a semester or year at either the Chinese University of Hong Kong or the University of Edinburgh.

Many of next year’s events are still in their early stages. Tan and the Of-fice of International Affairs aim to involve the campus on all levels, from academic programs and class lectures to extracurricular activities and stu-

dent groups. Lectures and workshops will promote understanding of all aspects of China, including Chinese economics, politics, art, literature, history and scientific contributions, Tan said. The Year of China will ex-plore both the ancient and contem-porary culture of the country.

One lecture, titled “Opening Doors Open Minds,” will focus on Chinese students who have attended school in the U.S., examining both the knowledge and culture that they bring with them from China to America and that which they take back home, Tan said.

“China needs to be better under-stood,” said Halsey Niles ’12, who recently studied abroad in Kunming, China. Niles said American under-standing of China often characterizes the country as foreign and mysteri-ous, and that American high schools teach little about China’s culture and history. Contrary to some stereotypes about the country, censorship and

government are not very present in daily life, he said. While Niles said he is happy to see Brown fostering further understanding, he added that studying abroad still leads to the best international dialogue.

Several undergraduates proposed the Year of China about a year ago, said Chinese Student and Scholar Association president Lu Lu GS. The event’s organizers hope to bring Chi-nese alumni back to campus to speak about the impact Brown had on their lives in China, he said. The key to improving current and future rela-tions with China is understanding its past and contemporary culture, Lu added.

While Brown plans to strengthen its ongoing relationships with Chi-nese universities in the coming year, Tan said the University also hopes to foster new collaborations with other Chinese schools.

There is an ongoing contest to design a logo for the Year of China.

U. to foster dialogues on Chinacontinued from page 1

Nick Sinnott-Armstrong / HeraldWei-Ying Wang GS works at the Center for Computation and Visualization.

students on the committee, said he was glad “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was repealed, and this committee will be an opportunity to foster dialogue around whether ROTC should be reinstituted.

“The repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was the catalyst for this commit-tee,” Howard said. “We’re not in the position we were in when the student body wanted to get rid of ROTC.”

“The military has a different role in the world today,” he added.

Howard, who has a brother cur-rently enrolled at the United States Coast Guard Academy, said he is still relatively unbiased about the issue and hopes to be a voice for his peers.

“I just want to represent what the student body feels is the right deci-sion and maintain an open mind,” he said.

Committee member Chaney Harrison ’11.5, who has worked with student veterans at Brown and served in the military himself, wrote

in an e-mail to The Herald that the committee’s recommendations will give the University a chance to reas-sess and clarify its stance towards the military.

“It is my hope that this committee will be able to foster dialogue and, if not create new policy, then at least clearly define the reasoning for the policy that exists,” Harrison wrote.

Harrison wrote that there have been ongoing discussions between the University and student veter-ans about their experience at Brown, which played a role in the Univer-sity’s decision to form the committee.

Candidates for the committee were not vetted based on their po-litical views, but rather chosen for their interest in and expertise on the policy, Bergeron said. “We were looking for diversity on the com-mittee, but we didn’t inquire about political leanings,” she said.

Kenneth Miller ’70 P’02, profes-sor of biology and a member of the committee, was a student when the policy first came under fire. His goal

in serving on the committee will be to get input from students and fac-ulty, as well as gather information that will help inform University policy, he said.

“I think everyone has an opinion on this one way or another, but I wouldn’t have agreed to serve on the committee if I wasn’t interested in finding out the facts,” he said.

The committee, which will be staffed by Stephen Lassonde, depu-ty dean of the College, will hold its first meeting today. In the coming months, the group will be looking for input from the Brown Univer-sity Community Council and the Undergraduate Council of Students, as well as from other students and faculty at open forums.

“I think academic institutions have a responsibility to have open dialogue on all kinds of important issues,” Bergeron said. “The time was right for this committee to be formed.”

The committee will release its recommendations this spring.

Committee to investigate military policycontinued from page 1

City & State4 the Brown Daily heraldtuesday, February 8, 2011

continued on page 5

continued from page 1

Chafee’s nominees may shift educational policy

their shared vision of education policy should be in the state.”

Kenneth Wong, professor of education and chair of the depart-ment, said he was pleased with the variety of the picks, noting that Caruolo especially has “tre-mendous legislative experience.”

The former majority leader is known throughout Rhode Island for his sponsorship of the 1995 Caruolo Act — a law that pro-vides a framework for resolving school funding disputes between school committees and city and town councils.

“It’s important to have a cham-pion who understands how the government functions,” Wong said of Chafee’s choice for the chair-manship.

Although it is hard to predict the direction the new board will take in the upcoming months, its ties to organized labor should not be discounted, said Victor Profughi, Rhode Island College professor emeritus of political sci-ence and director of the polling firm Quest Research. It is clear that board members’ individual relationships “with the teachers establishments is going to influ-ence their thought process,” he added. “One would think that they would be more sympathetic to the positions of the union.”

racing to the topChafee’s decision not to reap-

point Davis — a technology entre-preneur and a strong supporter of Gist’s reforms — has riled reform

supporters.Davis played a key role in lift-

ing a cap on new charter schools beyond two per district.

While the decision not to re-appoint Davis to the board may slow down the implementation of certain policies, Chafee is fol-lowing protocol for newly elected governors, Wong said. It was “very important for the new governor to use the structure and board ap-pointments to make sure his pri-orities would be taken seriously.”

Much of the recent concern, Trainor said, stems from the governor’s decision to “take a thoughtful pause” in charter school expansion to permit a closer examination of the state’s 15 current charter schools.

Education groups around the state have expressed worries that a halt in charter school expansion will also result in a halt in Race to the Top funding. The Obama administration awarded Rhode Island $75 million as part of its education reform initiative in Oc-tober. Rhode Island Campaign for Achievement Now and “the burgeoning education reform movement in Rhode Island will be closely watching the actions of the new board members,” Maryel-len Butke, the executive director of RI-CAN, wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.

Marion Orr, professor of po-litical science and director of the Taubman Center for Public Poli-cy, said although federal waivers may be possible, the future of the

By eLiZaBeth CarrContributing Writer

“Hey, Mubarak, you will see, Egypt, Egypt will be free,” protest-ers chanted Saturday afternoon at Burnside Park to show solidarity with the people of Egypt. The pro-test was organized by the Rhode Island Mobilization Committee to Stop War and Occupation.

“We were very happy when these demonstrations started happening,” said RIMC member Shaun Joseph ’05. “What’s going on in Egypt now is going to change not just U.S. policy, but world his-tory from here on in.”

Protestors marched from Burn-side Park through Kennedy Plaza to the Providence Place Mall, which RIMC member Jared Paul called the “symbol of capitalism and globalism.” Alternately chant-ing and listening to impassioned speeches, they culminated the protest in a huddle with one last

chant for the Egyptians.Protestors shared admiration

for the way the Egyptian people have come together to protect each other and expressed disgust for Mubarak’s “thugs.” During the speech of an Egyptian citizen, they mourned those who perished in the protests with a moment of silence.

The situation in Egypt could be “resolved very quickly without all the violence and bloodshed that we’re seeing on the streets of Cairo today,” Joseph said.

Ed Benson AM’68 PhD’71, one of the protestors, added that he would like the CIA “to butt the hell out.”

Representatives from support-ive groups — the International Socialist Organization, Brown Students for Justice in Palestine and the Rhode Island Unemployed Council — spoke at the rally, ex-panding the agenda beyond free-dom for the Egyptian people.

ISO and BSJP representative Lindsay Goss GS, who is study-ing the contemporary theater of the Middle East, described the revolutionary activity in Egypt as “one of the most exciting and inspiring things to happen in my life” in her speech.

Goss said participants in the rally should “take on our govern-ment’s total complicity with what’s going on right now.”

The youngest protester present was 2-year-old Mireille Chidester, in the arms of her father, Brian. “We’re trying to teach her to say ‘solidarity,’” he said.

“What the revolution in Egypt opens up is a possibility of a trans-formed society from one of pro-found inequality and exploitation to a different society based on democracy and meeting people’s needs,” Brian said.

The RIMC was originally cre-ated to oppose the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as a part of the

United Anti-War Committee but has since expanded its focus to support the Palestinian cause and an end to both U.S. aid to Israel and aggression toward Iran. The committee aims to “think about the tally of U.S. policy and try to advocate for more democratic and just policy globally and locally,” Joseph said. “All the issues of U.S. foreign policy are connected.”

Many of these protesters joined a second protest in front of the State House Sunday afternoon, this one sponsored by the Rhode Island Council for Muslim Ad-vancement.

RICMA “supports the right of Egyptian people to decide their future through peaceful protests” and expressed its outrage at the police’s violence in response to protestors, according to a press release distributed at the protest. “We are optimistic that this time the U.S. government will be on the right side of history to refute op-pression and corruption in Egypt and the Middle East as a whole,” according to the press release.

Mohamed Abdelrahman, for-mer RICMA president, left Egypt 30 years ago. “I went outside to

have a dignity and a living situa-tion that was more appropriate to an engineer and his wife and his child,” he said. “I hope to go back to a better situation.”

Abdelrahman noted that many Egyptians live under the poverty line on less than $2 a day. He said he would like to see an end to Mubarak’s entire regime, a modification to the current con-stitution and an end to the cur-rent emergency law, which he said keeps the Egyptian people living in fear of joining the thousands that have already been sent to de-tention camps for dissent against the government.

The theme of universal free-dom was prevalent in the words of many of the protestors.

“In the religion of Islam, we have brothers from all over the world, and we stand by our broth-ers,” said protester Waleed Mu-hammed. “In this country we have freedom and justice for all — that should apply all over the world.”

And even if Egyptian protes-tors don’t initially succeed, “I don’t think people are going to forget what they did,” Joseph said. “There’s no going back from it.”

Protesters march in support of Egyptian revolt

City & State 5the Brown Daily heraldtuesday, February 8, 2011

By shara aZadContributing Writer

Over 100 Rhode Islanders attended yesterday’s public hearing on the 18 applications to develop in-state medical marijuana businesses, called “compassion centers.”

The compassion center applica-tions were submitted to the Rhode Island Department of Health for a second round review in mid-January. The department rejected all applications during the first round review in September, alleg-ing complaints against many of the applications.

Several of the current applica-tions list Rhode Island public fig-ures as partners, including William Lynch, former first district Congres-sional candidate and state Demo-cratic Party chairman, and Cuttino Mobley, a retired NBA player.

The 2009 Medical Marijuana Act stipulated that the Department of Health could register up to three compassion centers for the culti-vation and sale of medical mari-juana. Since the passage of a 2006 law allowing licensed patients to use cannabis for medical purposes, more than 3000 patients have been licensed to use the drug.

Many of the proposed centers met early opposition. One applicant, the Rhode Island Center for Com-passion and Wellness — backed by a number of high-profile Rhode Islanders including Lynch, retired Pawtucket police chief George Kel-ley and real estate developer Louis Yip — listed the former headquar-ters of the To Kalon Club, a historic Pawtucket socia lclub once frequent-ed by the state’s business elite, as the location for the proposed center. But according to Greg Troy, president of the To Kalon Club, the location will not become a compassion center.

The Rhode Island Center for Compassion and Wellness “never told us what they were doing,” Troy said. “We didn’t know what the pro-

cess was, and we didn’t object to it.”Last month, the To Kalon Club

announced it would accept a differ-ent offer to purchase its building. The Rhode Island Center for Com-passion and Wellness was simply “not the best bid,” Troy said.

At yesterday’s public hearing, Cranston Mayor Allan Fung tes-tified in opposition to the several applications for compassion centers in Cranston. “Marijuana is a danger-ous drug,” Fung said. “I believe the cultivation (of marijuana) … in the quantities listed by the compassions centers is in contravention of federal dictation.”

Robberies of marijuana and cash from the proposed compassion cen-ters pose a risk to public safety, he added.

Compassion center supporters also voiced their views at the hear-ing.

Compassion centers could be economically beneficial for the state, said Scott Miller, a resident of Lin-coln. “If the state could generate revenue, then medical marijuana is an important economic investment, and the state should move forward with it,” he said.

All of the applications for com-passion centers projected their first-year profits to be in the millions of dollars.

Medical marijuana patient Don-na Marcelonis suffers from stage III breast cancer and holds a license to use the drug. “I am 47, but I feel like I am 70,” she said of her illness.

“Marijuana allows me to not feel as bad every day. Medical marijuana allows me to cut down the number of medications from 15 to 2,” Mar-celonis said.

Michael Graham, a North Kings-ton medical marijuana patient, said marijuana helps ease his chronic pain.

“Opiates only aggravate the problem,” he said. “Cannabis is the only thing that has ever worked … I want people to have safe cannabis.”

Weed dispensaries seek state approval

Herald file photoEighteen applicants are seeking to receive “compassion center” — or medical marijuana business — status from the Rhode Island Department of Health.

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

federal funding remains uncer-tain. “Clearly, a governor who is pushing back on charter schools jeopardizes those funds,” he said. “The question becomes whether or not the new state government can work with the federal offi-cials.”

In reality, a “tiny, tiny” portion of the grant is directed specifi-cally at charter schools, Trainor said. Modifications are certainly possible — Chafee has been in discussion with federal officials, including Education Secretary Arne Duncan, to ensure that the status of the grant money remains unaltered.

According to Trainor, a study of charter schools conducted by the Rhode Island Foundation will provide Chafee with the informa-tion and data he needs to make a well-informed decision. The review process will take approxi-mately six months.

“The Governor is absolutely confident that there is no chance of losing the $75 million,” he said.

stepping back from reformIn the board’s public meeting

last Thursday, Gist announced changes to previously proposed graduation requirements. Gist had proposed changing the state’s graduation requirements to a three-tiered diploma sys-tem, which would award high school degrees based on students’ achievement on the New England Common Assessment Program

standardized test.Gist said she now supports is-

suing only one diploma. Instead, “endorsements” will be offered to those students who display par-ticularly high levels of achieve-ment, she said.

Change will also come in the form of timing. Gist told the board she plans to recommend delaying new graduation requirements so they will first apply to the gradu-ating class of 2014 — a two-year shift from the current proposal. According to Gist, this will allow school districts the necessary time to adequately educate students and their families on the new re-quirements.

By slowing down the process, “she’s already providing a gesture — a very important step to assure that the new board would find her agreeable and being willing to work with them,” said Wong.

Gist’s recommendations will be discussed in greater detail Feb. 10 during the board’s public work session at the R.I. Department of Education.

The decision to alter the re-quirements follows as a partial result of the “very eloquent” testi-mony of the 133 teachers, parents and other community members presented over the course of three public hearings, Gist told the board at the hearing last Thursday.

Aaron Regunberg ’12 is a lead-er of Hope United, the student group responsible for organizing the Hope High School walkout to protest changes to the high school’s schedule. “They haven’t

seen a mobilization like that in a while,” he said. It was a “compre-hensive group of people who usu-ally don’t get along.” At the time, Regunberg said, he still didn’t think the board had been influ-enced by the public’s testimony.

While Regunberg was pleased by the rejection of the tiered system, which he called “racist, classist elitism,” he said many of the requirements still stand to be challenged. “It was a really good political call for them,” he said of Gist’s decision to back off the proposals.

A passing score on the New England Common Assessment Program will remain a require-ment for the class of 2014. Ac-cording to Steve Brown, the exec-utive director of the R.I. American Civil Liberties Union — a group opposed to the new requirements — the test was never meant to be a high-stakes indicator of student achievement.

“It was designed to hold schools accountable — not stu-dents,” Brown said. “It’s really per-verse to turn this test on a tread and punish the student.”

Though the new recommen-dations were made in the days following the announcement of Chafee’s nominations, Profughi said he does not think that Gist made the decision as a direct way to appease Chafee and the board.

“She has demonstrated herself to be a pretty strong personality,” he said. “It would be out of char-acter for her to simply respond to a new board of regents.”

Gist steps down stance on reformcontinued from page 4

editorial & Letter6 the Brown Daily heraldtuesday, February 8, 2011

L E T T E R 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.

L E T T E R S T O T H E E D I T O R P O L I C YSend letters to letters@browndailyherald.com. Include a telephone number with all letters. The Herald reserves the right to edit all letters for length and clarity and cannot assure the publication of any letter. Please limit letters to 250 words. Under special circumstances writers may request anonymity, but no letter will be printed if the author’s identity is unknown to the editors. Announcements of events will not be printed.

A D V E R T I S I N G P O L I C YThe Brown Daily Herald, Inc. reserves the right to accept or decline any advertisement at its discretion.

Expanding education preferable to ROTCTo the Editor:

We are told that the return of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps on campus would mean being able to give quality leaders to the Army. If by quality you mean educated, then the Ivy League does not need ROTC to provide that. What we do need are better scholarships on a need basis and better mentoring for the poorest — so as to offer them another option than choosing the army in order to get a better education.

If Brown really cares about those kids, don’t give them the means to die as cannon fodder — give them better scholarships. Reach out to Rhode Island’s badly failing school system. Talk to them and mentor them. As educators, we should make a difference, but the school system in this country is so bad that the only kind of mentoring some kids receive is through the army. And

having to wonder if that kid is going to make it to the end of his or her tour in Iraq is not a nice outlook as an instructor.

Believe it or not, Brown’s students fought to kick the army out because of an unfair and unjust war, and we still have that in 2011, repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” notwithstanding.

The betterment of oneself should not have to be made through risking one’s life for no other reason than having no prospects. If being in the army truly means the betterment of your life — if it’s truly what you want to do — I respect that choice. But let’s offer kids who are 16 years old another avenue than going to war to pay for education.

Anne-Caroline Sieffert GS

E D I To R I A L Co M I C b y f r a n n y c h o i

“Medical marijuana allows me to cut down the number of medications from 15 to two.”

— Donna Marcelonis, medical marijuana patient

E D I To R I A L

Since the political situation in Egypt reached its tipping point these past couple of weeks, we have been impressed with the University’s response. Last Monday’s panel discussion at the Watson Institute for International Studies on the protests in the Middle East was put together extremely quickly to immediately update the Brown community and was very well attended. Melani Cammett, associate professor of political science and director of the Middle East studies program, and Rebecca Weitz-Shapiro, assistant professor of political science, provided great historical background, as well as interviews and anecdotes from protestors in Egypt, where Internet and phone access has been extremely limited. Additionally, Cammett has been vital in aiding The Herald’s continuing coverage of the Egypt situation.

Brown’s student body has been anxiously following the evacuation of two undergraduate students — Michael Dawkins ’12 and Amanda Labora ’12 — who were beginning their semesters abroad in Egypt on a Middlebury College program. We are thrilled that they have returned safely to the United States and are impressed and inspired by their bravery and grace under such intense circumstances.

The administration and the Office of International Programs have been working closely with the students and their families to “make the best of a difficult situation,” wrote Kendall Brostuen, director of inter-national programs and associate dean of the College, in an e-mail to the editorial page board. Possible options include re-enrollment at Brown for the current semester, spending a semester abroad at another location or taking a semester at Middlebury, which sponsors the Egypt program and starts classes much later than Brown.

In an interview with the editorial page board, Labora said how helpful the Brown community has been in her re-entry. She noted that the OIP has been “very supportive,” professors have proactively e-mailed her to offer her spots in classes to ease her academic transition and Brown in general “has really worked” with her to make things easier.

That said, Labora did admit that this has been an “overwhelming” time, and we feel that the University should use a more standardized policy to deal with these problems in the future. Though the crisis in Egypt was unexpected, political situations do arise, and we hope that the University will work to develop a coordinated plan to deal with situations like this in the future. Re-enrollment and readjustment are extremely difficult tasks — they involve coordination from the OIP, the Office of Residential Life, financial aid and individual professors and departments. Perhaps most importantly, they may involve mental health services to work with students readjusting to America and Brown after an emotionally distressing endeavor.

This is also crucial to encourage students to continue studying abroad all over the world, including in potentially politically unstable places. The OIP makes a concerted effort to promote active learning to understand diverse cultures. If students know that Brown will provide a coordinated institutional structure to deal with the aftermath of derailed study abroad experiences, they might be more willing to study in more volatile parts of the world.

Even with the interest that the Brown community has shown in Egypt, we still have much to learn. In the media, Labora notes that “nobody is talking about the human cost of revolution,” nor “what it’s like to lose everything.” It is vital that we continue to study and learn about the situ-ation in Egypt to show its citizens the support and respect they deserve.

editorials are written by The herald’s editorial page board. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.

Q U oT E o F T H E DAY

the brown daily herald

kristina FazzalaroLuisa robledorebecca BallhausClaire Peracchiotalia kaganhannah Moseralex Bellnicole Bouchertony Bakshiashley Mcdonnellanita Mathewstyler rosenbaumhunter FastMichael Fitzpatrick

abe Pressmanalex yulystephanie Londonhilary rosenthalnick sinnott-armstrongJonathan Bateman

Graphics editorGraphics editor

photo editorphoto editorphoto editor

sports photo editor

Graphics & photos

Business

dan towneGili kligeranna Migliacciokatie Wilson

production

Copy desk Chiefdesign editordesign editordesign editor

editorial

arts & Culture editorarts & Culture editor

City & state editorCity & state editor

Features editorFeatures editor

news editornews editor

sports editorsports editor

editorial page editoreditorial page editor

opinions editoropinions editor

Editors-in-chiEf

sydney emberBen schreckinger

sEnior Editors

dan alexandernicole Friedman

Julien ouellet

dEputy ManaGinG Editors

Brigitta Greeneanne speyer

BloG dailY Heralddavid WinerMatt klimerman

editor-in-ChiefManaging editor

GEnEral ManaGErs

Matthew Burrowsisha Gulati

officE ManaGEr

shawn reilly

dirEctors

aditi Bhadiadanielle MarshakMargot GrinbergLisa Berlin

ManaGErs

hao tranalec kacewsiena deLisserValery scholemJared davisLauren Bossoemily Zhengnikita khadloyarajiv iyengararjun VaidyaWebber Xu

salesFinance

alumni relationsspecial projects

national salesUniversity department sales

University student Group salesrecruiter sales

sales and CommunicationsBusiness operations

Business analyticsalumni engagement

special projectsspecial projectsspecial projects

Post- maGazinekate doyle editor-in-Chief

Brown’s response to Egypt

An article in Monday’s Herald (“Fashioning the Fifth Symphony,” Feb. 7) misspelled the designer’s name. Monique Batson ’13 was the finalist and creator of a gown in the fashion competition Project Beethoven. The Herald regrets the error.

Co R R E C T I o N S

An article in Monday’s Herald (“Under the radar, small teams find success,” Feb. 7) incorrectly stated that the members of the swimming and diving team practice in Seekonk, Mass. The swimmers practice at the Aquatics Bubble on campus and compete at Seekonk High School. The Herald regrets the error.

opinions 7the Brown Daily heraldtuesday, February 8, 2011

Democracy and freedom are often assumed to be codependent. In truth, these two con-cepts are often in direct conflict. In many cases, majorities vote to rob minorities of freedom. This despotism of the masses can be seen throughout the world. It can also be seen right here at Brown.

The debate over the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps shows that students and administrators do not value individu-al freedom — in this case, the freedom to serve one’s country. Instead, they prioritize the will of the majority, even if this will robs others of liberty. If Brown wanted to honor individual freedom, it would have invited ROTC back to campus immediately after the army rescinded its homophobic “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

While Harvard immediately welcomed ROTC back to campus after the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” Brown’s indecision proves that its continued ban is motivated by more than just logistics. I will acknowl-edge that Brown’s investigative commit-tee does not constitute a simple majority vote about ROTC. However, the length of the investigation, as well as the desire to get significant student input, proves that the University’s decision-making process about ROTC is being greatly affected by popular sentiment on campus. Soliciting student opinion before making a decision seems reasonable enough, but in this case, such a democratic move would empower one group of students to effectively rob an-

other group of students of the freedom to follow a certain career path.

If we want a campus that respects in-dividual freedom, it does not matter what most students and administrators think about the army. It is irrelevant that ROTC would not fit into our campus culture. Pro-ponents of ROTC should not have to prove that it would have a beneficial impact for the entire school. Students who want to at-tend an elite academic institution and serve their country should have the freedom to do so, regardless of other students’ politi-cal opinions. Brown students claim to love freedom, yet by wavering on the return of

ROTC, they impose their worldview on others and force conformity.

The beauty of a genuinely free society is that no one person or group can prevent other people from expressing their indi-vidual wills. Nonconformists are entitled to the same dignity and legal protection as ev-eryone else. Launching a lengthy investiga-tion into reinstating ROTC sends the mes-sage that the individual freedom to choose one’s career path can be sacrificed on the altar of popular opinion.

This forced conformity is anti-Amer-ican. We protect minority rights and un-popular choices, as long as these choices do not harm others. When the military had

an officially homophobic policy, the pres-ence of ROTC would have hurt Brown’s gay community. However, the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” eliminated this obstacle, and ROTC enrollment does not infringe on any other students’ rights.

Enrolling in ROTC should be viewed in the same way as a decision to join any oth-er student group. There are certainly many student groups on campus that are not popular and that could even be voted out of existence if the University empowered its students to decide their fate. Thankfully, Brown respects the individual rights of its students to join unpopular clubs. I only ask

that the University maintain consistency and respect the unpopular ROTC’s right to exist on campus.

The only issue that should be investigat-ed is how to align ROTC’s academic stan-dards with Brown’s academic standards. This purely logistical discussion would not require any lengthy political debate or in-vestigation. It would also certainly not re-quire some Brown students to impose their political ideology on the rest of the campus.

To bolster my case against majority will and for individual freedom, I will cite a position with which most Brown students can agree — that gays should be allowed to marry.

In my home state of California, gays used to enjoy this human right. Then, we empowered our citizens and let them vote on the issue of gay marriage. The voters of California subsequently passed Proposi-tion 8, robbing them of the right to marry. To the surprise of no one with a rudimenta-ry understanding of human nature, the ma-jority voted to impose its own worldview on the minority and oppress those with dif-ferent lifestyles.

Muslims in Europe face similar perse-cution from hostile majorities. In 2009, Switzerland empowered its people to vote on the issue of building new minarets. The Swiss people predictably chose to stifle nonconformist Muslims and robbed them of religious freedom by banning minaret construction.

Clearly, pure democracy often leads to the oppression of minorities. We should therefore be skeptical of soliciting popular opinion with regard to the lifestyle choices of fellow students.

Some individual rights are beyond pop-ular polling. Our constitution is motivat-ed by the understanding that tyrannical measures are often popular. The best way to protect minority freedom is to enshrine rights in a legally binding document. The United States is not especially tolerant compared to the rest of the world — rather, it has stronger institutional checks against the oppression of minorities. Brown’s de-cision-making should follow this principle and respect the rights of students to join unpopular groups such as ROTC.

oliver Rosenbloom ’13 is a history con-centrator from Mill Valley, Calif. He can be

reached at oliver_rosenbloom@brown.edu

ROTC and the tyranny of the masses

Brown students are kind, sharing people. As The Herald reported last week (“Despite enforcement, copyright violations steady in recent years,” Feb. 3), the University re-ceived reports of roughly 750 copyright vi-olations by students. As most of the report-ed violations come from distributing copy-righted material rather than download-ing it from others, our students clearly are compassionate redistributors of intellectual property. They steal from the rich and give to the poor, the other rich, the apathetic and those doing okay.

Brown implemented its anti-piracy pol-icy in 2003, yet illegally downloading mu-sic, movies, television and software is still a problem. I seriously doubt that any at-tempts to confront piracy directly will suc-ceed. There will be no Pompey, and no ex-cessive action will deter people from us-ing the Internet to steal. Instead, copyright holders and institutions with many pirates — like universities — should try to satisfy the consumers.

They should offer legal ways to down-load the material. Distributors will need to provide an equal quality of product with minimal annoyance to its users, or they will fail to supplant piracy. People want what they want and are lazy.

Hulu is a prime example of this strategy — it offers free television programs online with minimum commercials. But the par-ent companies of Hulu have not made it an appealing legal alternative to piracy. Some shows are delayed a week between be-ing broadcast and getting uploaded to the site. That might encourage some viewers to buy cable or satellite — cable and satel-lite providers have pressured Hulu to delay uploading shows — but others, who wish to see their favorite programs shortly after they appear, will choose to illegally down-load them.

The University has tried similar efforts to prevent copyright violations. In previ-ous years, it implemented services to al-low students to listen to music for free. It is also promoting the renting of movies from the Friedman Study Center. But the efforts have suffered the same problems as com-mercial attempts. They provided too little of what students want.

One service, Ruckus, allowed students to stream music while connected to the network. But this did little for people who want to access their favorite songs on por-table devices. The model is still good for

some purposes. Brown’s libraries provide good resources for accessing music online, so if you take a music course, you can easily listen to the relevant pieces. While limiting access to music for a class can work, it does not meet the needs of general listeners.

Similarly, the Friedman Study Center’s collection of DVDs can be nice if it hap-pens to have the film you want, but it is nothing compared to the Internet, its tubes packed with almost every movie in history.

The University also provides television on campus. IPTV allows students to watch shows legally on their computers just like

they would normally with a television. But this, too, fails to provide sufficient services to prevent students from viewing shows il-legally. There is no ability to record shows the night before a big test to watch trium-phantly — or dejectedly — the night af-ter. It also has a relatively limited number of channels available — Fox News but not MSNBC. It must be because of all the good will Bill O’Reilly has garnered here. The ab-sence of popular channels means more stu-dents will pirate their favorite shows at the times of their choosing.

Providing better services to deter copy-

right violations will cost money. These ser-vices are free in the same way that police and fire departments are free to use. You pay for them, but not directly. Adding bet-ter services and paying with increased tu-ition would trick students into legally pay-ing for their downloaded content.

Sure, this will mean that users will share the cost equally rather than having it dis-tributed according to use, but that is already common. Everyone contributes funding to the libraries despite — let’s face it — some students’ indifference to books. Some stu-dents attend more classes, and meal credits force people who eat less at the cafeterias to subsidize those who eat more.

I have yet to see a fully acceptable so-lution combining sufficient functionality with the ability to return a profit. So far, none provides enough of what consumers want, so they continue to pirate. Compa-nies will not make as much money as they would if everyone bought their products through the current legal means. But it is still greater than the profits from stolen files. As soon as copyright infringement made its way to the Internet, it became as hard to kill as the Internet. The sooner companies and other institutions realize this, the sooner they can realistically ad-dress how to entice, not force, people back to legal downloading.

David Sheffield ’11 is a mathematical physics concentrator from New Jersey. Peers can contact him at david_shef-

field@brown.edu

Pirates of the Narragansett: curse of the Brown pearl

Adding better services and paying with increased tuition would trick students to legally paying for their

downloaded content.

Launching a lengthy investigation into reinstating RoTC sends the message that the individual freedom to choose one’s career path can be sacrificed on the altar of

popular opinion.

oLIVER RoSENBLooM opinions columnist

DAVID SHEFFIELDopinions columnist

Daily Heraldthe Brown

Sports tuesdaytuesday, February 8, 2011

By saM sheehanSportS Staff Writer

The gymnastics team scored a season-high 188.3 points, taking third place behind the Univer-sity of Bridgeport, with 191.975 points, and host Rutgers Universi-ty, with 191.225 points, last Friday.

The team’s efforts were led by Kasey Haas ’13, who placed third in the bars with a new personal record of 9.725. Haas’ score was the highest on the team in a day marked by a series of personal bests.

Captain Chelsey Binkley ’11 and Emily Lutfey ’13 also set new personal records on the bars — Lutfey’s 9.650 earned her eighth, and Binkley’s 9.525 snagged her 12th. The team did well on the

beam as Michelle Shnayder ’14 took seventh place with 9.450, and Haas’s score of 9.375 was good for eighth. Both were ca-reer marks, complementing Carli Wiesenfeld’s ’12 third-place, 9.675 effort.

Head Coach Sara Carver-Milne said she was very happy with the team’s efforts and cred-ited intense new routines as the reason for Bruno’s season-high performance.

“We did some upgrading of routines, and it paid off. They re-ally pulled it together,” she said.

With only one more competi-tion left before the Ivy Classic, the team continues to work on tightening up their routines, eye-ing the 190 point mark required to qualify for nationals.

Haas, who tore her anterior cruciate ligament in her knee last year one month before coming to Brown, is competing in her first truly healthy season for the Bears.

Carver-Milne said she thought Haas’ story was an inspiring one and praised her tenacity.

With a predominately young team, the squad has also seen great leadership from the captains and veterans. Binkley in particu-lar was cited by her coach for her determination.

“A lot of seniors would just kind of coast in their last season,” said Carver-Milne. “Not Chelsey.”

The team expects to see im-provement in the coming weeks as the athletes become more famil-iar with their difficult routines in search of even higher point totals.

The Bears also traveled to Ar-izona State for a head-to-head meet against the Gym Devils the previous Friday. The team again found itself on the short end of the stick, as they were edged out by only five points. Lutfey and Wiesenfeld took first and sec-ond in the all-around, and Katie Goddard ’12 and Lutfey scored high marks in the vault, with the two tying for fourth. Wiesenfeld grabbed a second-place finish on the beam, and Lutfey paced Bruno’s efforts in the floor, taking third place.

The Bears are back in action this Friday when they will travel to Durham to take on the Uni-versity of New Hampshire, the University of Alaska and Michi-gan State.

Bruno scores a season high, but still falls short

By JaMes BLuMSportS Staff Writer

Although the Giegengack Invita-tional at Yale was not scored, the Bears still made their presence felt on the track last weekend. Three athletes returned to Brown with titles as the squads continue to progress through the indoor season with the Feb. 26 and 27 Ivy League Heptagonal Cham-pionships at Columbia less than three weeks away.

“It’s a building process, and we’ve got a long ways to go, but I’m pleased with the progress,” said Tim Springfield, assistant distance coach.

Christian Escareno ’11 gave the top performance on the men’s side, running to a first-place fin-ish in the 5,000-meter in 14 min-utes, 31.01 seconds.

The sprinters were well repre-sented by John Spooney ’14, who claimed fifth place in the 60-me-ter dash in 6.94 seconds.

“I felt like it was okay. The start was a little off,” Spooney said. “For the 60-meter, I’d like to run in 6.80 seconds.”

Dan Lowry ’12 covered 3,000 meters in 8:20.66, finishing sec-ond overall in the event.

Brendan Boyle ’14 also ran a strong race in the 3,000-me-ter, posting a time much faster than what he ran in high school, Springfield said.

“I was pleased with the perfor-mances,” Springfield said. “It may be hard to tell from the results, but we had a lot of individuals win their sections, so that’s a positive sign they’re competing well.”

Elaine Kuckertz ’13 highlight-ed the women’s performances, covering one mile in 4:56.32. Not far behind, Kate DeSimone ’14 finished closely in third place in 5:02.21.

Hannah Wallace ’13 won an-other title for Brown in the pole vault, vaulting 11 feet, 9.75 inches to clear the bar. Colby Lubman ’14 finished fourth in the 60-meter dash, while Susan Scavone ’12 came in second in the 60-meter hurdles.

As the squads continue to prepare for the Heptagonal Championships, some runners remain sidelined by injuries. Mi-chael Stumpf ’13 and co-captain Matt Duffy ’12 are among those who are banged up, according to Springfield.

Bruno will next compete at the New York Road Runners Club in New York City Feb. 20, which will be the final chance for the squads to gain additional experience be-fore returning to the state for the Heptagonal Championships.

Three first-place finishes at Yale

By MadeLeine WenstruPSportS Staff Writer

After a disappointing start to the Ivy season, the women’s basketball team was in need of a boost. On Saturday night, Bruno changed gears and picked up a key win against Cornell only one night after a big loss to Columbia.

Columbia 72, Brown 49On Friday, the Bears (5-15, 1-5

Ivy) traveled to New York City where they failed to snap their sev-en-game losing streak, dropping the ball to the Lions (5-15, 2-4 Ivy).

Columbia jumped out at the start with an eight-point lead at 14:37, but Brown kept them at bay with a team-wide shooting effort. The Lions led by as much as 11 in the first half, but by halftime the Bears had cut the lead to five.

But Bruno could not keep up the pressure in the second half, and the deficit ballooned to 20 points with 7:37 remaining in the game. The difference ultimately increased to 23, and the Bears dropped to 0-5 in the Ivy League.

“We came out strong in the first half, but in the second half, their three-point game and inside game really took us out,” said Head Coach Jean Burr.

The Bears could not match Co-lumbia’s efficiency, shooting just 33 percent from the field compared to the Lions’ 41 percent.

“The difference in shot percent-ages determined the game,” Sheila Dixon ’13 said. “They shot really well. We’ve been in a shooting slump the last couple of games, and it re-

ally continued through Columbia.”The defeat was the fifth confer-

ence loss in a row this season and left the Bears in need of a spark to change their game.

“At Columbia, we really hit rock bottom,” Dixon said. “We said, ‘We’re done. We’re losing. We are through with that. It’s time to come together as a team and step up.’”

Brown 66, Cornell 53 Bruno brought that positive

attitude to Ithaca, N.Y. on Satur-day. They quickly jumped out to a 10-point lead in the first five min-utes and only increased the margin throughout the first half. The Big Red (5-15, 2-4 Ivy) pulled within six points, but Bruno retained their lead and headed into the locker room with a comfortable 16-point advantage.

Point guard Lauren Clarke ’14 was back in action on Saturday night after recovering from a shoulder injury. She put up eight points in the first half and 13 for the game, mak-ing her the second-highest Brown scorer of the night.

“It’s really nice to have Lauren Clarke back at point guard. She added a lot of leadership and min-utes for us this weekend,” Burr said.

Co-captain Hannah Passafuime ’12 led the Bears in maintaining their edge over Cornell in the sec-ond half. Passafuime scored nine points right off the bat, extending Bruno’s lead to 21 points at 15:37.

Brown held that momentum for the rest of the game. The team shot 44 percent from the field, a vast improvement from the previ-ous weekend’s 22 percent shooting

percentage against Penn.“Basketball is a game where you

sometimes have droughts, and you just have to play through that — de-pend on each other more,” Burr said. “They came through on Saturday with passing and shooting.”

The Bears hope to continue mov-

ing up in the Ivy ranks this weekend.“In the Ivy League right now, it’s

any man’s game — we just have to come out with that intensity,” Dixon said. “We’ll be ready to go.”

The team returns home to face Dartmouth Friday before hosting Harvard the following night.

Women’s squad picks up first Ivy win

Jonathan Bateman / HeraldWith Hannah Passafuime ’12 leading the way, Brown beat Cornell on Saturday.

W. bASkETbALL TRACk & FIELD

GYMNASTICS

Check out Herald sports online.browndailyherald.com/sports