WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2013 since 1891vol. cxlviii, no. 110Daily HeraldTHE BROWN

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SCIENCE & RESEARCH, 8

Crime doesn’t payA study investigates the relationship between violent crime in high schools and performance on standardized testsin

side

COMMENTARY, 7 COMMENTARY, 7

Be proudSundlee ’16 calls for more earnest national pride on campus

Earning creditsSukin ’16 argues that what students learn is more important than the number of hours spent learning

By SOPHIE YANSTAFF WRITER

Students who concentrate in the social sciences are significantly less likely to complete honors require-ments than concentrators in other academic fields, a trend that could be linked to requirement constraints and to some concentrators’ concerns about the rigors of a social science thesis.

About 13 percent of social sci-ence concentrators in the class of 2013 graduated with honors, ac-cording to data from the Office of Institutional Research. Social sciences accounted for the lowest honors completion rate of any of the major academic disciplines for the

class of 2013, as 33 percent of hu-manities concentrators, 35 percent of life and medical science concen-trators and 25 percent of physical science concentrators completed honors requirements.

These numbers are consistent with trends over the past decade: The social sciences had the low-est honors completion rate of any academic field for every graduating class since 2004, according to data from the OIR. In the class of 2012, 11 percent of social science con-centrators graduated with honors, compared to 27 percent of humani-ties concentrators, 42 percent of

Social science students least likely to write thesesLow honors completion rates may be linked to requirement constraints and thesis concerns

BRITTANY COMUNALE / HERALD

Social science concentrators, including those in the Department of Economics, are among the least likely to graduate with honors.

By ANDREW JONESSTAFF WRITER

In the wake of the World Series, many hopeful young players will head to the

batting cages to emulate the swings of major leaguers with one key difference:

They will use metal, not wooden bats. But according to a new biomechanics study conducted in part by University re-searchers, the performance of metal and wood are comparable in youth baseball.

For youth players, bat composition

— metal versus wood — does not sub-stantially affect baseball speed, according to an Oct. 15 article in the Journal of Applied Biomechanics. The Orthopedic Department at Alpert Medical School and Rhode Island Hospital researchers analyzed the swings of 22 baseball play-ers ages 13 to 18. Each player swung 13 different bats: three wood, nine compos-ite and one aluminum. The non-wooden bats were as much as 7 oz lighter than the wooden bats.

Whereas similar studies have used radar guns to track the speed of the ball, this study tracked the motion of the bat and ball in three dimensions over time, using multiple cameras shooting 300 frames per second, said J.J. Crisco, pro-fessor of orthopedics and lead author of the study. This setup, which took place in an indoor batting cage, allowed the

Study finds comparable speed in metal, wooden batsThe research could help shape regulation of baseball bats used in youth leagues

HERALD FILE PHOTO

Unlike other research comparing metal and wooden bats, the study used youth bats and measured ball trajectory with multiple cameras.

By WING SZE HOCONTRIBUTING WRITER

With its ornate facade, curling iron handrails and marble walls, the Arcade

Providence has long maintained a sense of class and

old-fashioned glamor below a half-decade thick layer of dust.

Construction workers remain at the historic site, finishing paint and plaster. But simultaneously, new shops and eateries hope to soon restore the historic location to its former glory.

A landmark locationBuilt in 1828 by Cyrus Butler and

The Arcade Realty Company, the West-minster Arcade was the oldest operating indoor shopping mall in the United States until its closure in 2008.

The Arcade was originally a “specu-lative venture” intended to unite “many shops under one roof,” according to the statement of significance that marks the building as a National Historic Land-mark. The Arcade was built to account both for design and function, combin-ing granite, iron and marble to mimic a Greek Revival style, according to the statement.

Since then, the Arcade has changed hands multiple times, having been sepa-rately owned both by the Rhode Island Association for the Blind and Johnson

and Wales University, though the build-ing has retained its commercial purpose, said Paul Wackrow, director of preserva-tion services at the Providence Preserva-tion Society.

The Arcade’s current owner, Evan Granoff, purchased the building from Johnson and Wales in 2005.

The building was closed in 2008 be-cause the second and third floors of the mall struggled to find tenants, Wackrow said, adding that these properties were “less accessible to the street.”

Neighboring buildings were also re-developed or demolished during that time, he added. Since then the Arcade has remained closed.

But in 2011, Granoff announced plans to reopen the Arcade, repurposing its second and third floors as micro-lofts

Arcade’s reopening gives historic mall new lease on lifeAll 48 of the landmark’s apartments are currently rented, with over 300 applications received for shops

RYAN WALSH / HERALD

The Arcade Providence reopened this fall, housing local stores on its first floor and apartments and lofts on the second and third floors.

FEATURE

» See SOCIAL, page 3

SCIENCE & RESEARCH

» See ARCADE, page 5

» See BATS, page 5

INSIDE:Students in the life and physical sciences are most likely to graduate with honors. Page 2. Students pursuing a joint concentration may face difficulties completing their theses. Page 3.

Family awaits details on death of Dawkins ‘13.5

Three weeks after the body of Michael Dawkins ’13.5 was found in Peru, friends and family are still waiting for information from the Peruvian or American embassies about the details surrounding his death, said sister Erika Dawkins.

Dawkins was last seen Oct. 17 at 7 p.m., and his Brown key was last activated Oct. 18 at 1:39 a.m., according to a report filed with the Providence Police Department.

After Dawkins was reported missing, officers searched his room and determined his laptop and phone were missing. The search revealed Dawkins had purchased a round-trip ticket to Lima, Peru, according to the report.

The ticket indicated Dawkins would leave the country Oct. 18 and return Oct. 24, according to the report.

The report was not filed until Oct. 23, when a friend of Dawkins noticed his absence and contacted the Department of Public Safety. The friend requested anonymity because he feared alienating himself from Dawkins’ other friends.

DPS found that Dawkins’ Brown email account was last logged into Oct. 22, according to the report.

Officials from the Peruvian embassy said they had no new information regarding Dawkins’ death.

The University scheduled a memorial service this Friday in Manning Chapel.

— Adam Toobin

N E W S I N B R I E F

pursuing honors2 THE BROWN DAILY HERALDWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2013

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By EMILY PASSARELLISTAFF WRITER

Students in the life and physical sci-ences are the most likely to graduate with departmental honors of any aca-demic disciplines, with many of the highest thesis completion rates across all concentrations.

Some concentrations in these fields require students to complete capstone or research projects that can turn into theses, which faculty members and students said partially accounts for higher thesis completion rates.

But 38 percent of neuroscience concentrators in the class of 2013 completed honors despite not hav-ing a research-based course as a con-centration requirement, according to data from the Office of Institutional Research.

About 35 percent of life and medi-cal science concentrators completed honors requirements last year, com-pared to 33 percent of humanities concentrators, 25 percent of physical science concentrators and 13 percent of social science concentrators, according to OIR data.

The capstone effectDaniel DeCiccio ’14.5, a double

concentrator in biomedical engineer-ing and chemical physics, said research is an “essential part” of the life and physical sciences. He said he decided to write an honors thesis after committing significant time to research projects throughout his time at Brown. The chance to share what he had learned from his research was critical to his decision, he added.

Though a smaller portion — about 8 percent — of computer science con-centrators in the class of 2013 com-pleted honors requirements than did those in neuroscience or biomedical engineering, this lower percentage is misleading, said Thomas Doeppner, associate professor and vice chair of the Department of Computer Science.

Because computer science stresses collaborative research, many students do not work on projects that qualify as theses because theses must be indi-vidual papers, Doeppner said. Many computer science concentrators choose to do team-based research so they may publish their work rather than focusing on individual honors requirements, he added.

Differing ratesBiochemistry and physics concen-

trators must complete a research-based course, and these concentrations ac-count for the highest honors comple-tion rates among the life and physical sciences.

About 46 percent of biochemis-try concentrators and 41 percent of chemistry concentrators in the class of 2013 received honors. The program only requires one semester of research, but many concentrators continue with three or four semesters of research, said William Suggs, associate professor of biochemistry and chemistry.

Though many biochemistry and chemistry concentrators conduct sig-nificant research, their projects may not meet requirements for an honors

thesis because many such projects are long-term initiatives spearheaded by faculty members rather than students, Suggs added.

About 44 percent of physics con-centrators received honors last year. “Research is one of the most valuable things we offer our undergraduates,” said Professor of Physics Brad Marston, adding that the requirement forces stu-dents “to face the unknown.”

Physics concentrators who com-plete honors after being involved in previous research do so out of interest in the material, Marston said. “The award of honors is just icing on the cake.”

Though research is not required for the neuroscience concentration, the program accounts for one of the highest thesis completion rates among Brown’s largest concentrations. Professor of Neuroscience and Department Chair Barry Connorssaid many students take research for course credit despite not being required to do so.

Chantelle Ward ’15, a neuroscience concentrator, said she intends to write an honors thesis because she has de-veloped an interest in the research area she has worked on so far.

Curricular limitsSome students writing honors the-

ses in physical and life science con-centrations said the choice to conduct honors research could limit their en-gagement with the Open Curriculum.

Pursuing research beyond con-centration requirements is a “give and take” situation, Ward said, adding that many hard science concentrators choose research as their fourth course, rather than taking an elective in the humanities. “You have to decide how you want to be spending your time here,” she said.

Claudine Yee ’14, a neuroscience concentrator, wrote in email to The Herald that completing a research-based thesis allows specialization in one field.“But if you think the Open Curriculum is meant to give you the broadest exposure possible to different fields, then pursuing a thesis probably has hindered my engagement” with it, Yee wrote.

Completing biomedical engineer-ing honors requirementson top of a senior thesis “undoubtedly” restricted curriculuar exploration, DeCiccio said. “It’s a huge time commitment.”

Vishesh Jain ’14, a computer science concentrator and honors candidate, said research is an important experi-ence for students to have because it forces them to apply the knowledge they learn in the classroom to a real-world problem.

“But at the same time, the choice to learn whatever way you want should be your own,” he said, adding that students who do not want to complete research should not be required to do so.

“There are two kinds of worlds between science and humanities,” said Mika Siegelman ’14, a physics concentrator who is not completing honors requirements. She added that even if physics concentrators decide

not to apply for honors, the program’s required senior thesis makes it hard to take classes outside of the department. “I would love to take humanities classes but don’t have time to put my thesis on the back burner,” she said.

A gap in requirementsConnors said the neuroscience

department has considered making research a graduation requirement but has repeatedly decided against it. “It is good for students to have a research experience, but it’s not something I would impose on them,” he said.

But Ward said neuroscience should require some research to allow for hands-on engagement with the mate-rial and because many other ScB degree candidates cannot graduate without a capstone or research project.

Some students said writing a the-sis in the physical or life sciences offers an opportunity for more independence but less structure than com-pleting a thesis in the humanities.

Siegelman said the amount of time she puts into working on research for her thesis does not directly trans-late into written prog-ress, unlike in writing humanities theses.

“I can put in hours and not get all the re-sults,” she said, adding

that humanities concentrators can set aside a block of time and just “crank out writing.”

But completing a thesis in the physical or life sciences may yield more post-graduation benefits, some students said.

Jain said humanities concentrators will probably not do scholarly research as their first job after graduation, while computer science concentrators may go straight to work in a field related to skills developed while completing their theses.

“Until you have experience in a lab interpreting your own data, you don’t experience being a scientist or learn whether lab science is for you,” said Professor of Geological Sciences Jan Tullis.

Some departments and programs in the life and physical sciences allow thesis writers to construct more inter-disciplinary projects for honors.

Gina Roberti ’14, a geology concen-trator, wrote in an email to The Her-ald that she is currently completing a thesis that creates audio guides to geological locations in Rhode Island. Other geology thesis writers have ex-amined interdisciplinary topics such as methods of science communication to non-scientific audiences, Tullis said.

Though most honors theses in the life or physical sciences are directly re-lated to their fields, students also com-plete theses with real-life applications. For example, a recent biochemistry thesis examined the movement of nu-trients across the placental barrier to fetal sheep, Suggs said. Doeppner cited a recent applied mathematics thesis that developed a program that allowed a computer to “listen” to music and produce corresponding sheet music. Siegelman said her senior thesis is re-lated to the physics of oceanography and will model how sand is pulled offshore of Wakiki Beach in Hawaii.

Life, physical sciences yield high honors ratesStudents often develop theses from research positions and course requirements

“Until you have experience in a lab interpreting your

own data, you don’t experience being

a scientist or learn whether lab science

is for you.”

Jan TullisPROFESSOR OF GEOLOGICAL

SCIENCES

pursuing honors 3THE BROWN DAILY HERALDWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2013

By EMILY BONEYSTAFF WRITER

Completing a thesis in a joint or independent concentration may of-fer greater flexibility in the honors process, but coordination difficul-ties across departments can pose obstacles for students seeking to graduate with honors in interdisci-plinary fields.

Students in joint concentrations — interdisciplinary concentrations that span more than one depart-ment or program — are less likely to complete honors requirements than are many of their single-concentra-tion peers. In the class of 2013, for instance, four out of 66 business, entrepreneurship and organizations c o n c e n t r a t o r s completed a thesis, and 23 percent of applied mathe-matics-economics concentrators did so in the same year. Both are joint con-centrations.

Three out of 12 independent con-centrators in the class of 2013 wrote theses, compared to 35 percent of life and medical sciences concen-trators, 33 percent of humanities concentrators, 25 percent of physical science concentrators and 13 percent of social science concentrators.

Joint concentrators who want to graduate with honors often must coordinate between multiple depart-ments, an added layer that can pres-ent distinct difficulties.

Students in joint concentrations that involve economics and one oth-er program must have their main thesis adviser be in one department and a secondary adviser in the other, said Roberto Serrano, who chairs the economics department.

This requirement works to en-sure “that the content of the thesis and the methodology used qualify for the joint concentration,” Ser-rano said.

Some recent graduates who com-pleted theses in joint or independent concentrations said they had a more flexible thesis-writing experience because they knew what they wanted to get out of the process.

Nabeel Gillani ’12, who won the Distinguished Senior Thesis Award for his honors thesis in applied math-computer science, said his joint concentration thesis naturally evolved out of his prior schoolwork. Gillani said his research focused on rebuilding infrastructure effectively after a natural disaster.

Applied math and computer science are “inherently connected,” Gillani said, adding that interdisci-plinary linkages made uniting the fields into a thesis easier.

“The bridge already exists” be-tween the two departments, Gillani said, describing computer science as

“a language to explore applied math concepts.”

Some students said they want to build a bridge between less obvi-ously connected departments.

Liana Ogden ’11, who studied semiotics-French, which combines courses from the French studies and modern culture and media depart-ments, worked within both depart-ments to complete her thesis on the portrayal of animals in literature and other media. She said she based her thesis on an essay she wrote her sophomore year.

“I leapt at the opportunity to ... finally write this 90-page summary of my undergraduate academic ex-perience,” Ogden said.

Though she began her research with French sources, Ogden said she soon realized modern culture and media “fit very well into the concept.”

Proceeding with a joint concen-tration thesis was an obvious next step, she said.

B u t s t e p -ping beyond the bounds of one de-partment can cre-ate problems when joint concentrators seek to coordinate

advising input across departments.“People weren’t quite sure what

the rules were for dealing with me,” Ogden said, adding that fac-ulty members often had to “jump through hoops” to help her with a thesis. MCM concentrators rarely completed double concentration honors requirements during her time at Brown, Ogden said.

Though many departments re-quire potential thesis writers to se-lect an adviser by the end of their junior year, students seeking to com-plete honors requirements in joint or independent concentrations may sometimes start contacting faculty members earlier in their studies.

Both Gillani and Ogden said they discussed the interdisciplinary ideas surrounding their theses with their advisers well before deciding to complete honors research.

Ogden said her senior year courses also fed into her thesis work. Because she had already ful-filled the majority of her French and MCM requirements, she was able to “cherry-pick classes that would revolve around the topic” of her honors project, she said.

Gillani said he reached out to then-Professor of Computer Sci-ence Pascal Van Hentenryck to be his thesis adviser.

“I wanted to see how we could connect education and computer science,” Gillani said, adding that Van Hentenryck gave him the choice to help him build on existing re-search or “take (his) own path.”

Gillani said he initially thought he would devise his own research for a thesis, but after considering Van Hentenryck’s expertise, he “felt like working with a professor who was really into his field and knew a lot about a particular domain would be a better experience.”

Theses challenge joint concentratorsStudents seeking honors say they must create a ‘bridge’ connecting their interdisciplinary fields

life and medical science concentra-tors and 32 percent of students in the physical sciences.

The lower social sciences honors completion rate could be linked to the pressures of completing requirements for two concentrations, said Besenia Rodriguez ’00, associate dean of the College for research and upperclass studies.

“There are some fields where maybe almost everybody is double concentrating,” Rodriguez said, re-ferring to social science programs.

Some students who double con-centrate may write a thesis in a field that is not a social science, Rodriguez said, adding that the social science honors completion rate does not in-clude this data.

“You only know that they didn’t do a social science thesis,” she said. “You don’t know if they did another kind of thesis in another kind of department.”

Though they are two of Brown’s most popular concentrations, eco-nomics and international relations account for two of the lowest honors completion rates among any under-graduate program. About 3 percent of the 212 economics concentrators in the class of 2013 graduated with hon-ors, and 4 percent of international rela-tions concentrators did so, according to data from the OIR.

Clarence Ho ’14, an applied math-economics concen-trator writing a thesis on the recent financial crisis, said he felt the project was an integral part of his academic experience.

But Ho said the economics con-centration at Brown is more oriented toward multiple-choice exams and memorization rather than the type of research that leads to a thesis.

“When I studied abroad in Lon-don, I felt like (economics) there had a strong focus on writing,” Ho said. He added experience studying abroad influenced his decision to apply for honors when he returned to Brown.

Ho said he understands why most economics concentrators may not share his desire to write a thesis. Many students declare economics as a second concentration or because they view the program as easier, given its relatively low number of require-ments, he said.

“In the senior-year process, lots of people are looking for jobs,” Ho said. “Taking on a thesis is an extra burden for them.”

Humanities students may be more

likely to complete honors because they are often more accustomed to the volume of writing a thesis would entail, Ho said.

“The idea of writing might scare certain people off,” he said.

“Students are motivated by their passion for their topics and their de-sire to delve deeper into the subject matter than they would in a course term paper,” wrote Claudia Elliot MA’91 PhD’99, associate director of the international relations program, in an email to The Herald. “For these

students, the thesis — asking their own research question, designing the study, and arriving at find-ings from which they derive impli-cations for theory

and practice in IR — is the ultimate challenge.”

The lower honors completion rate among the social sciences might be due to the fact that many of the divi-sion’s concentrations do not have a research requirement similar to those in the life or physical sciences, Ro-driguez said.

In the sciences, “it’s fairly easy to make the decision to ... pursue hon-ors,” Rodriguez said. “But in the hu-manities and social sciences, I think in order to kind of make that kind of commitment, people (have to) really feel very strongly about their proj-ect and about the kind of work that they’re doing.”

The College Curriculum Council, which works to support curricular development across departments, of-ten sends a list of “best practices” to departments to help faculty members assist students in writing a thesis, Rodriguez said.

Low thesis completion rates among large social science concen-trations do not reflect lack of student support, Rodriguez said.

The DOC office is also looking to expand the Advising Sidekick website to allow students to apply for honors directly through the website as part of the concentration declaration pro-cess, Rodriguez said.

But some social science concen-trators said their departments may not provide adequate support struc-tures for completing a thesis.

The Department of Economics has limited resources given the large number of concentrators, Ho said, adding that he had trouble finding a faculty member to advise him on his thesis.

But Ho said he has received sup-port from the department and his adviser as he has worked on conduct-ing his research.

Taewan Roh ’14, who is double concentrating in economics and busi-ness, organizations and entrepreneur-ship, wrote in an email to The Herald that the economics concentration does not prepare some students to undertake rigorous research because they do not have the necessary math-ematical and statistical skills.

The thesis-writing gap between social sciences and the humanities may also be linked to the fact that more humanities concentrators pur-sue careers in academia than do stu-dents in programs such as economics, Roh wrote.

The OIR currently does not pub-licly release data on the number of students who abandon the honors track after having started a thesis, but Rodriguez said the Dean of the College’s office intends to start col-lecting that information.

Ho said he knew several students who began the economics thesis pro-gram but dropped out of the process.

It just depends on how students “would like to take advantage of the Open Curriculum,” Ho said. “You can use that time to do other things as well.”

» SOCIAL, from page 1

Life Sciences

Humanities

Physical Sciences

Social Sciences

35%

33%

25%

13%

Source: O�ce of Institutional Research

Graduation with honors, 2013The percent of students in the class of 2013 graduating with honors was lower in the social sciences than in other �elds, particularly the humanities and life sciences.

“In the senior-year process, lots of people are looking for jobs.”

Clarence Ho ’14

GREG JORDAN-DETAMORE / HERALD

BRITTANY COMUNALE / HERALD

The lower social sciences honors completion rate could be linked to the pressures of completing requirements for two concentrations, said Besenia Rodriguez ‘00, associate dean of the College.

“People weren’t quite sure what

the rules were for dealing with me.”

Liana Ogden ’11

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feature 5THE BROWN DAILY HERALDWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2013

Culture Shock | Chloe Hequet

Eric & Eliot | Willa Tracy

c o m i c s

over time, Upfal said. “Where we are is far from where we started.”

Oliver left academia to work as Nabsys’ vice president of research and development, Bready said. Preparato and Upfal serve as scientific advisers.

After serving as chairman and scien-tific advisor of Nabsys, Ling was pushed out of the company, he said.

Ling said he wanted the company to implement a physics-based approach instead of a computer science-based

approach to sequencing. “I was not pleased. We had some

unpleasant disputes,” he said.Ling has since applied for patents

for what he says is an improved version of the sequencing technology and has spoken with Illumina, a large sequenc-ing company, about licensing his patent.

“There are a lot of things going on when you take something out of aca-demia and put it in a for-profit company,” Bready said. “There are four Brown pro-fessors who were involved and three who are still involved.”

instead of shops.The response was immediately pos-

itive, said Robin Dionne, the mall’s di-rector of outreach and client relations.

“There’s a long waitlist” for the building’s properties, she said. The micro-lofts on the second and third floors are still under renovation, but all 48 apartments have been leased, she added.

The first floor shops have also been in high demand, Dionne said, adding that “there were over 300 applications” to occupy them.

The Arcade boasts a long list of historic accolades, including being listed on the National Register of His-toric Places in 1971 and being named National Historic Landmark in 1976.

Business breakthroughsThe Arcade reopened its doors Oct.

21, after five years of closed shutters. Though some of the building’s 17 busi-nesses have yet to welcome customers, most are already making sales.

Manga Shuman, owner of the Adi-rah gallery in the Arcade, opened his business in downtown Providence last January but decided to move into the Arcade once its reopening was an-nounced.

Granoff is “very into arts,” Shuman said, adding that many of the Arcade’s businesses have an artistic bent.

Many of his customers have been lawyers, bankers and businesspeople from the surrounding area, Shuman said, describing the location as an ad-vantage.

Shuman said he appreciates the “close environment” of the Arcade.

“The unique shops … feed off each other,” he said.

Jessica Ricci, a Providence native who owns an eponymous jewelry shop, said she opened her store solely because of the Arcade.

Local stores encounter lots of difficulties in spite of Rhode Island’s “art-based economy,” Ricci said. She praised the Arcade’s focus on “local, small” shops.

But Ricci said parking is the site’s biggest problem, comparing the Ar-cade’s parking facilities to that of the larger, less expensive facility by the Providence Place Mall.

“Customers feel parking lots are a little bit overpriced,” she said.

Nevertheless, Ricci expects restau-rant openings and residential move-ins to bring more “foot traffic” which will further improve the Arcade, she said, adding that she expects the residential project to be “fabulous.”

Looking forwardThough the Arcade is nestled away

downtown away from campus, some students and local residents expressed interest in the building’s revival.

Daniela Cote MPH ’11 described the Arcade as “a piece of art,” adding that she was particularly fascinated by facts and details such as the amount of marble used.

Cote said she plans to move into one of the building’s apartments with her boyfriend once it opens.

Hasan Friggle ’14 said he knew about the residential project because he wrote a comparative essay in an art history class about the Arcade and the Providence Place Mall last year.

The apartments “seem really small,” Friggle said, but “the location is good.”

Richie Leng ’14, said the Arcade is “a very nice shopping area” but added that he does not plan to visit because the shops seem pricey.

Other College Hill students have already visited the building, including RISD student Linnea Kilpi.

Kilpi said she learned about the re-opening from a friend who works at one of the shops. Though she did not know about the residential project, she said she plans to visit the Arcade frequently.

“The stores are cute,” she said. “It’s just nice to walk around.”

» STARTUPS, from page 8

» ARCADE, from page 1

RYAN WALSH / HERALD

The Arcade Providence boasts several historic accolades. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and was named a National Historic Landmark in 1976.

scientists to monitor the motion of both the ball and the bat.

Three primary factors — swing speed, trampoline effect and moment of inertia — affect bat performance, Crisco said. The trampoline effect, measured by the ball-bat coefficient of restitution, refers to the elasticity of the barrel of the bat or how “the barrel of the bat deforms,” Crisco said. The moment of inertia is a measurement of the distribution of mass along the bat, he added.

The paper revealed that the greater trampoline effect of lighter metal bats — their tendency to greatly deform when they hit a ball — is not necessarily an advantage.

“For these youth players, even though light bats had a high trampo-line effect, they still did not hit the ball significantly faster,” Crisco added.

The study supports a theoretical as-sumption that had been circulating in the field, said Alan Nathan, professor emeritus of physics at University of Il-linois at Urbana-Champaign.

“Lighter bats are not necessarily better bats,” he added, noting a trad-eoff between moment of inertia and trampoline effect.

Nathan added that in the past, more baseball-bat collision research has been done on collegiate bats than youth bats. He said this could be attributed to the fact there is a wide range of moments of inertia possible in youth baseball bats. Collegiate bats’ designs, on the

other hand, are restricted by the drop-three rule. This regulation dictates a relationship between bat length and bat weight — specifying that the difference between the weight of the bat in ounces and the length in inches must be no more three.

There are noticeable differences in using metal and wooden bats, said Nick Fornaca ’15, an infielder on Brown’s varsity team.

“One of the biggest differences is that wood bats break pretty often,” he added.

Fornaca said he played little league baseball using metal bats similar to those in Crisco’s study.

Though stringent regulations on bat weight and length exist for high school and collegiate baseball, no such standards are in place for youth base-ball, Crisco said. Players can use very light bats, which allow for faster swing speeds.

This study has an advantage over similar studies because its subjects were humans not robots, Crisco said. Live players offer more variation in swing style and speed, while robots are limited to one motion.

The study’s results could be used in formulating youth baseball bat regula-tions, Crisco said.

“Our data (say) you can use a really light bat as long as the trampoline effect is reasonable,” he added.

The study was funded by the Na-tional Operating Committee on Stan-dards for Athletic Equipment and USA Baseball, the governing body for ama-teur baseball.

» BATS, from page 1

commentary6 THE BROWN DAILY HERALDWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2013

Though the University has recently found itself swarmed in a discourse over free speech and open discourse, this campus conversation has hardly opened novel issues. Brown and its peers have been grappling with the question of appropriate speech for decades, and President Christina Pax-son is one in a history of leaders — both at Brown and at other universi-ties — charged with navigating this debate. Paxson has been criticized for her handling of the fallout since New York City Polic Commissioner Ray Kelly’s on-campus lecture was derailed by protesters. But though opposition has been vocal, we believe Paxson’s course of action benefits all members of this community — particularly the loudest of her critics.

Universities are predicated upon the free exchange of ideas, a principle past presidents have defended. Responding to a call in 2007 for Brown to boycott Israeli universities, then-President Ruth Simmons wrote castigating not only the suggestion but the entire concept of violating the objectiv-ity of the University. “Institutions of higher learning go to extraordinary lengths to defend the free flow of information, the unfettered exchange of ideas, and the primacy of well-reasoned argument,” she wrote, adding that without that, “the academy cannot exist.” We laud Simmons for her defense of the value and purpose of a university: objectivity and a devoted pursuit of truth, we believe, are essential.

We have heard many say Kelly’s silencing was justified because his prominence affords him ample opportunities to speak. We have spoken with students who said they feel personally threatened by the stop-and-frisk policy Kelly advocates — a policy we have frequently denounced in the past few weeks. Though we sympathize with these arguments, we believe they are irrelevant to the discussion at hand. The University’s mission and academic freedom are principally at stake here, not Kelly’s rights, and Paxson has consistently advocated on behalf of the University. On the day of the protests, those who rightfully objected to Kelly’s policies effectively shut down the event, but as a poll published last week in The Herald demonstrated, their actions were far from the will of the student body. We cannot control what happens outside of Brown, but within the institution, we cherish the academic freedom of the institution and what it consequently provides us: the ability to hold and discuss different views.

We believe that any people — students or faculty members — who take positions they believe will engender criticism deserve respect. But though we praise the courage it takes to advocate those different viewpoints, we ultimately expect the University to act in a manner that ensures the open discourse and freedom we all require.

Brown has long been celebrated for its status as an “activist” university, but this spirit is a function of those who populate the school, not the institution itself. As Brown’s leader, Paxson is ultimately responsible for preserving the University’s objectivity and openness — qualities necessary for its members to advocate freely for the ideals in which they believe. Indeed, without this academic freedom, acts such as protesting against Kelly — and the discourse that has followed — would be impossible.

Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board: its editor, Rachel Occhiogrosso, and its members, Daniel Jeon, Hannah Loewentheil and Thomas Nath. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.

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E D I T O R I A L

Q U O T E O F T H E D A Y

“The idea of writing might scare certain people off.” — Clarence Ho ’14

See social, page 1.

A column published in Tuesday’s Herald (“Standing for racial justice: A public statement,” Nov. 12) incorrectly referred to the Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence. In fact, the organization was recently renamed CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities. The Herald regrets the error.

C O R R E C T I O N

www.browndailyherald.com

Which is more valuable, your time or your skills? This question lies at the crux of a debate that many universi-ties and colleges engage in. Classes at most major institutions are based on the concept of credit hours: a weight of the value of the class in terms of the time spent in it. At some institutions, students even pay by the credit hour rather than for each term. But the concept of value by the clock, which has long dominated higher educa-tion, may finally be fading — a devel-opment that, in recognizing learning as fundamentally skills-based, could nemefit college students.

The concept itself was introduced in 1893, when Harvard President Charles Eliot established the credit hour as a basic education unit. The major benefit of the measure is that it normalizes class values for trans-fer students, helping new schools in-terpret students’ records, and helping graduate schools and employers com-pare various applicants’ records.

Not all colleges use the credit-hour system for its original purpose. In some instances, credit hours are an artificial designation designed to in-dicate the difficulty of the class rath-er than the time spent there. And at Brown, credit hours are an even vagu-er concept. Yes, students might spend much more time in a class with a lab or a section than they would in a class with neither of those, but that distinc-tion usually doesn’t make an impact on the credit received for the class. The major exception to this is Brown’s language classes, where most classes are single-credit — and some are zero credits — despite the fact that most

language classes require more hours than other Brown classes.

Brown might not really be based on credit hours, but it is still based on course credits. Other institutions, such as University of Wisconsin, have done away with this altogether. Their innovative Flexible Option allows stu-dents to self-pace their degrees and to earn them through online testing.

Nonetheless, conventional educa-tional establishments continue to fo-cus on time as the underlying signi-fier of learning. But it isn’t just univer-sities and colleges. The government is entrenched in this system as well. To receive Title IV aid such as Pell grants and federal loans, a student must have a certain number of credits each semester, measured generally in credit hours.

But even the government has be-gun to consider creative alternatives to the credit hour. Last March, the Department of Education put out a call for colleges to design courses that abandon the concept of credit hours in favor of a new emphasis on skill-based learning and testing. The new regulations recognize forms of direct assessment as an alternative to hours. Direct assessment options include the 5 P’s: projects, papers, presentations, performances and portfolios.

These two systems, one relying on credit hours and the other based on competency, can seem like two sides of the same coin or as creating only a superficial distinction in mea-surement. But if the purpose of credit hours is to equalize certain classes and education, the competency-based sys-tem could accomplish that better. The primary difference between classes

at different institutions isn’t just the amount of time but more significantly the things students learn. If there is a way to present that learning in terms of specific skill sets, employers or ad-ministrators at post-transfer schools can have a better understanding of what the student actually knows. In a way, this is what grades are for, but grades just tell you how well the mate-rial was learned, not what it was.

The competency system has the additional benefit of flexibility. If stu-dents only have to sit through a cer-tain number of hours of class in-stead of learning a specific skill at a flexible pace, they might be less moti-vated to work hard.

At a more flexible pace, students can spread out or condense their work to fit their own needs and schedules.

For now, there might not be a seamless way of integrating these sys-tems into modern education. Even the Flexible Option is mostly targeted at individuals finishing their degrees and those who won’t be on campus — not the kind of education Brown normally focuses on. Additionally, the system relies on the availability of truly effective testing and evaluation, and the perennial complaints about standardized testing — to say nothing of the more subjective testing used in most courses — should remind us that this is not an easy task. Never-theless, the system is on the rise and could offer undergraduates significant benefits.

Lauren Sukin ’16 is a sophomore concentrating in political science

and literary arts.

I love my country. I really, truly do. I never cease to be moved by the words in the Constitution and awed at the grandeur of Washington, D.C. I’m the weirdo you see outside the White House with my face pressed against the fence. Last summer, I cried at a 9/11 exhibit.

Does this sound cliched or cloyed to you? It does to me, too. But this doesn’t make it any less true.

Still, I don’t often let other people know how I feel about my country. We in our liberal, Scandinavia-lov-ing, sports-indifferent enclave, al-ways seem to feel the need to apol-ogize for the United States. While traveling, I am always rather embar-rassed to tell people I’m American. They often raise their eyebrows, and I feel the need to add a caveat like “I didn’t vote for him” or “We’re not all like that. I promise.”

And there’s the problem. Prob-ably in reaction to strident Ameri-can exceptionalism, American stu-dents at Brown — and likely at other

schools — lack genuine vocal pride in their country. It has become al-most chic to sigh, roll your eyes, and lament that we aren’t more like Swe-den. To distance ourselves from what we perceive as blind nationalism, many of us completely forgo express-ing genuine appreciation for our na-tion. The inundation of patriotic sen-timent from the right and other pub-lic figures has made cynics of us.

Hence we find the ironic brand of patriotism characteristic of our gen-eration and our university — Ameri-can flag cutoffs, so-called “’Murica” memes, et cetera. Half of the coun-try sincerely buys into this culture, and the other half participates as a mockery to that style of thought. Cynicism of this sort breeds insin-cerity and apathy. We decry the po-litical right for its thoughtless alle-giance, but are we really that much better? I can’t tell you how many empty threats to move to Canada I heard around campus during the last election.

Unless we are having constructive conversations about how realistically to improve our nation through en-gagement with all schools of politi-cal thought, liberals are guilty of the same careless parroting. It’s so easy

to sit around in our grand lecture halls and complain about America while feeling superior to those who revere it. The difficult, more fulfilling path is to reflect on what your coun-try means to you, to consider how to make it better and to connect with people who don’t think like you.

Those who in-sist on comparing the United States to Scandinavia and Canada would do well to recall that America is vast and far more diverse than any of the na-tions to which we compare ourselves. We have a swarm of political dissent and activism that is con-stantly roiling with new opinions, mis-sions and ideolo-gies. Is it any won-der compromise is difficult?

It’s true the United States has myriad problems. The government shutdown was an embarrassment, and grumblings about the incompe-tence and intractability of our gov-

ernment are deserved. Still, dissatis-faction at how the nation operates is not grounds for dismissive attitudes.

I’m not saying the United States has nothing to apologize for, or that we should go around trumpet-ing our preeminence. Patriotism is a double-edged sword. The trick is

to love America like an adult — acknowledge its flaws, appreciate its strengths and do some-thing to make it a bet-ter place.

What is patrio-tism in America to-day? Not American flag Ray-Bans. Not turn-ing up your nose at the Brown Republicans. To me, it’s finding com-mon ground with your countrymen. Making progress, not noise. Recognizing that we are extremely lucky to call this place home.

As hackneyed as it sounds, I love my country because I believe in the principles on which it was founded, and I love where I grew up. America is unique, glorious, vast and over-flowing with diversity, possibility

and optimism. I have had the privi-lege of traveling to many other na-tions. I’ve seen stunning beauty and met wonderful people elsewhere. But nothing will ever compare to home.

I urge you to reflect on your re-lationship with this country. Do you think everyone who criticizes Amer-ica is a terrorist, or do you condemn America when it comes up in con-versation with international com-pany? I hope you fall somewhere in between — aware of America’s short-comings but eager to rectify them because you believe in this grand project of which we are all a part.

The World War Two generation had a global fight against evil to unite them. The Baby Boomers had one of the greatest periods of eco-nomic growth in history. We have the task of perpetuating America and its principles without clear en-emies or unqestioned growth. Be proud of your country. Invest in making it better. Do not be apathetic or resigned to a suboptimal future.

Robyn Sundlee ’16 sells propane and propane accessories. She can

be reached at robyn_sundlee@brown.edu.

commentary 7THE BROWN DAILY HERALDWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2013

Be proud

Time isn’t money

“The difficult, more fulfilling

path is to reflect on what your

country means to you, to

consider how to make it better and to connect

with people who don’t think like

you.”

“The concept of value by the clock,

which has long dominated higher

education, may finally be fading.”

ROBYN SUNDLEEopinions columnist

LAURENSUKIN

opinions columnist

daily heraldTHE BROWNscience & research

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2013

Human odometerHumans continually estimate distances — whether while guessing

if there is enough time to cross the street before a car passes by, calculating how far a Frisbee should be thrown or pondering how long it will take to walk to the mall.

The internal human odometer was the subject of a recent study conducted by researchers in the Department of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences. The researchers sought to discover whether a human’s ability to estimate distances was internal or based on external inputs.

Subjects of the study first traveled an “outbound” distance and then attempted to travel the same distance they initially traveled. The researchers used a variety of locomotive methods — subjects walked, galloped and threw objects to estimate distances.

Subjects estimated distances more accurately when the distance input was the same as the output used to estimate that distance. For example, subjects were better at estimating distances originally galloped when they galloped to replicate it rather than walking.

The findings support what the researchers called the “intrinsic model” of human distance estimation: the idea that humans can more accurately predict distances when they can embody the distance, rather than objectively estimate it.

Cancer geneticsDendrix, a computer-based algorithm designed by Brown computer

scientists, offers much promise for untangling the genetic mapping that may lay the foundation for 12 different types of cancer, including breast, lung, colon and kidney.

Dendrix scours genetic codes to pinpoint spots in the human genome where mutations can predispose people to certain cancers. Ben Raphael, associate professor of computer science, Fabio Vandin, adjunct assistant professor of computer science, and a host of graduate students designed the algorithm.

The program has identified numerous locations on the genome common to many forms of cancer where, if mutation occurs, the individual is predisposed to cancer.

Along with a preexisting algorithm also developed by Brown computer scientists, Dendrix has helped scientists map out the genetic infrastructure of a blood cancer called Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

The algorithm is part of a project called The Cancer Genome Atlas, which works to increase understanding of the genetic basis of cancers.

Econometric recognitionThe Econometric Society named Roberto Serrano, chair of the

economics department, as a new fellow Nov. 3.Serrano, who specializes in microeconomic theory and game theory,

has worked in areas such as bargaining theory and the economics of risk, according to his Brown research profile.

He has taught numerous undergraduate and graduate courses such as ECON 0110: “Principles of Economics,” ECON 1110: “Intermediate Microeconomics” and ECON 1870: “Game Theory and Applications to Economics.” He has also published two books: “A Short Course in Intermediate Microeconomics with Calculus” and “Welfare Economics and Social Choice Theory.”

As a fellow, Serrano will meet with other international leaders in the field throughout the year at numerous conferences around the world. The society’s members aim to unite the fields of statistics and mathematics with economic theory.

BY PHOEBE DRAPER, SCIENCE & RESEARCH EDITORSCIENCE & RESEARCH ROUNDUP

By ALEXANDRA SAALICONTRIBUTING WRITER

High school students’ standardized test scores are adversely affected by violent crime’s presence in Chicago schools, according to new research by Julia Burdick-Will, a postdoctoral researcher in Brown’s Population Stud-ies and Training Center.

By linking high schools with the location of violent incidents from 2002 to 2010 — data made publicly available by the Chicago Police De-partment — Burdick-Will found an inverse relationship between violent crime rates in Chicago schools and

student test scores, but not between crime rates and grades.

Violent crime likely affects learn-ing through “cognitive stress and classroom disruption,” rather than through “changes in perceived safety, general school climate or discipline practices,” Burdick-Will wrote in her paper, which was published in the journal Sociology of Education last month.

Crime likely affects test scores but not grades because the metrics reflect “different kinds of achievement,” she said.

“Grades are more subjective

— they come from teachers. They are a more global measure of more than actual content knowledge,” Burdick-Will said. Test scores, she said, reflect a student’s knowledge and ability to concentrate.

“Some kids will be doing ‘A’ qual-ity work, but their class will only have gotten halfway through the textbook, leading to low standardized test scores,” she added, which suggests that “violent crime is an indicator of disruptive instruction.”

In her paper, Burdick-Will also offered alternate, non-causal expla-nations for the relationship between violent crime and student perfor-mance. For example, lower-achiev-ing students are likelier to commit violent crimes, she said, meaning

crime itself might not cause lower test scores.

“Perhaps the association between violent crime at school and achieve-ment is really caused by students from disadvantaged neighborhoods bringing the violence they experi-ence around their homes onto school grounds,” Burdick-Will wrote in her paper.

“Her research gets us thinking about educational policy in a broader and more sophisticated way. How do we address community problems not just schools?” said Josh Pacewicz, an assistant professor of sociology who was not involved in the research.

Burdick-Will also investigated the “influence of neighborhood poverty” on violence and school performance,

finding “a lot of variation in high-poverty schools and neighborhoods,” she said.

She examined past research on students’ perception of the safety of their school environment, finding little connection between how safe students felt and the level of reported crime.

She found that nonviolent crime has a much smaller effect on student performance and does not influence students’ perceptions of their schools’ climates.

Burdick-Will said she now plans to further investigate how violent crime affects school choice and stu-dent achievement in certain neighbor-hoods, examining “patterns across the country.”

Study links high school violence, standardized test scoresViolent crime may disrupt the learning environment, preventing the curriculum from covering key material

By STEVEN MICHAELSENIOR STAFF WRITER

Academics have escaped the ivory tower and are using research findings in at-tempts to better the world.

A recent report from the Science Coalition, an advocacy group of re-search universities including Brown, highlighted nearly 200 startup com-panies that were directly inspired by academic research. The report included four companies founded based on re-search done at Brown.

“Given the times, we are in for tight funding at the national level. We want to show Washington the bang for the buck they’re getting” from federally funded university research, said Tim Leshan, president of the Science Co-alition.

To compile the list, member uni-versities submitted the names of com-panies whose products stem directly from university research, Leshan said.

Research to drug developmentResearchers often first seek to un-

derstand basic mechanisms in life sci-ences that do not have obvious business implications. But discoveries can lead to commercial ventures, as was the case for Professor of Neuroscience Justin Fallon and former Professor of Neu-roscience Mark Bear PhD’84, who is now a professor of neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Fallon researches how muscular memory works through neural syn-apses. His work led to the discovery of a protein that could potentially serve as a treatment for Duchene’s muscular dystrophy, he said.

“It was a lot of basic science with an eye toward what we know about disease,” he said.

Once Fallon showed that the pro-tein can be delivered throughout the body, it opened the door for the de-velopment of a commercial therapy.

Fallon co-founded Tivorsan Phar-maceuticals with John Nicholson ’72 and Joel Braunstein, and currently serves as its chief scientific advisor.

Bear’s story mirrors Fallon’s. He was investigating changes in neural synapses when his team discovered

a mechanism that might play a role in Fragile X syndrome. Fragile X is a leading cause of inherited mental dis-abilities, including autism, Bear said.

The discovery of the mechanism behind Fragile X enabled them to de-velop novel treatments for the disorder, he said.

Bear found an outside investor and an executive to co-found and run Seaside Therapeutics, a pharmaceuti-cal company of which he became the scientific advisor.

When professors commercialize their research, outside investors and executives are frequently brought in to run these startup companies.

“I have insights into how synapses work, but I have a lot to learn about drug development,” Bear said. “My full time job is a professor.”

Both companies are still testing their new drugs.

Though big pharmaceutical compa-nies initially balked at Seaside Thera-peutics’ approach to targeting Fragile X, the startup is now partnering with pharmaceutical giant Roche on the phase two clinical trials of a medica-tion, Bear said.

Tivorsan is still waiting on approval from the Food and Drug Administra-tion on their new drug before clinical trials, which they hope to begin next year, Fallon said.

Though Tivorsan plans to conduct its own clinical trials,,the company is also open to forming a partnership with a larger company, Fallon said.

Producing patents Professors’ academic pursuits can

also catalyze business ventures through patenting new inventions.

The Technology Ventures Office handles patents produced by University researchers and works with startups, said Katherine Gordon, managing di-rector of the office. In order to develop a product based on University research, a company must sign a licensing agree-ment with the office.

About one company per year is founded based on ideas or develop-ments from Brown research, a number that does not include companies started by alums, she said.

After expenses, the inventor re-ceives one-third of the royalties from a licensing agreement, according to the Brown University Patent and Invention Policy and Copyright Policy.

“I strongly believe that patenting is

an important thing for the University to be pursuing,” said Harvey Silverman MS’68 PhD’71, professor of engineer-ing. “In the long run, it can be a very good income stream for the University.”

Silverman developed microphone arrays — groups of microphones that record sound together — that were li-censed by both Polycom, a large tele-com company, to protect itself from a patent lawsuit brought by a competitor, and Acoustic Magic, a startup building the devices. Though Silverman has no involvement in Acoustic Magic, the company, which is currently produc-ing and selling microphone arrays, was included on Science Coalition’s list.

‘Unpleasant disputes’Nabsys, a company developing

DNA sequencing technology, claimed the final spot on Science Coalition’s list of Brown-based companies. The company has currently raised $41 mil-lion on venture capital, including $20 million this year — but not without ruffling a few feathers.

Two different research projects led by University faculty merged to form Nabsys, which is based in the Jewelry District.

Professor of Physics Xinsheng Sean Ling developed a better method of DNA sequencing, using an electrical current to force DNA through a small hole called a nanopore to “proofread” it, he said. “I think it’s possible to sequence DNA using physics alone,” Ling added.

Ling founded Nabsys to commer-cialize the technology with his former student Barrett Bready ’99 MD ’03, who serves as the company’s president and CEO.

In 2004, Nabsys merged with Gene-Spectrum, another DNA sequencing company founded on University re-search. GeneSpectrum commercialized algorithms to compile DNA sequencing data developed by Professors of Com-puter Science Eli Upfal and Franco Pre-parata and former Assistant Professor of Chemistry John Oliver, Bready said.

Sequencing techniques employed by other companies were like map-ping a city based on Facebook photos, Bready said, while Nabsys’ approach to sequencing was comparable to a satel-lite map with a big picture view.

Nabsys has yet to commercialize its technology, but Upfal said the company has developed prototypes. Startups be-gin with a certain idea that changes

U. research shapes science startupsThe Science Coalition recognized four companies developing products based on Brown research

» See STARTUPS, page 5