Monday, March 12, 2012 D aily Herald tBSince 1891 vol. cxxii, no. 32 tomorrow today news.....................2-3 ARTs...........................4 e Bbe r Hmss BMaddie Berg Staff Writer Te wages oon-campus student employees will increase by 3 per- cent starting the next scal year, based on a recommendation the University Resources Committee apprd ast mth. Twagras— a rutactivity to ensure students are being paid as much as possible — makes it easier or students on nancial aid to ulll their work-study ex- pectations or campus employment programs while only working eight to 12 hours a week, said James il- ton, director onancial aid. Te increase also responds to both state and ederal minimum wages, which arasrm yar tyar. “We like to be ahead othe curve wth that,” sad ray Frs, s- r assstat drtr aaaid. Currently, the University’ s min- imum wage is $8.45 per hour, while Rhode Island’s is $7.40 per hour and the country’s is $7.25 per hour. Mark Schlissel P’15, provost and URC chair, said the committee de- cided to approve this request as duatgrws mrps. “Studen ts are being called upon to contribute more and more to either the cost otheir education or Baparaajit SriraM Senior Staff Writer Te urban studies department hosted a two-day conerence on sustaaburbasm ths wk- end, highlighting new challeng- es cities ace to become cleaner, healthier, greener and less so- cioeconomically stratied. Te conerence, titled “Te City othe Hill: Working ogether or Sustainable Urbanism, ” took p lace in MacMillan 117 and included six panels and a video-streamed key- note speech by Pittsburgh Mayor LukRastahFrday. With panels like “ransporta- tAtrats,” “Grg thUrban Environment” and “Aord- able and Ecient Housing,” the rbrught tgthr - perts rom various elds to tackle the issue osustainable cities rom may ags. Ravenstahl, 32 — who be- ammayr Pttsburgh at thag6 — spkhs kytaddress about programs he has mpmt d ttrasrm Ptts- burgh rom a declining steel town to what Forbes Magazine called “ America’s most liv able ci ty. ” Tese initiatives have ocused on diver- siying the economy with the help o“eds and meds” — educational institutions and hospitals — to bring in industries like biotech- nology, inormation technologyand alternative energy. Other pro- grams hausd grg the local environment through urban gardens and orests, reduc- ing energy use through stricter standards and increasing walk- abty ad bkabty wththty. “he eds and the meds are smthg that wus hrto allow us to do better than most regions, iyou look at our unem- ployment rate, which is ar below the state average and the national arag,” Rastahsad. Ravenstahl went on to dis- uss thUrst y Pttsburgh Medical Center, which has been an engine othe city’s growth and Conference tackles sustainable urbanism Senator talks partisan politics, SNL BadaM tooBin Senior Staff Writer Rughy 60 studts drd a petition with more than 600 signa- tures rom students, sta, acultyad aums tthUrsty Fr- day, dmadg Brwrasts paymts tPrd. hgroup, Brown or Providence, ad- vocates increasing the University’ s inancial support to the city to rbud thratshp . hgrup trd UrstyHall just ater noon Friday to prst thptttPrsdt Ruth Simmons. Since Simmons was not in her oice, they gave it to an administrator, who prom- sd thprsdt wud rt. “I thk ths pttdm- strates that there is a growing eel- ing the University is not doing enough to support its city,” said Zack Mezera ’13, who helped or- gazthptt. Brown contributed more than $4 mast yar utaryand tax payments to t he city. he prtstrs haprusy askd Brown to approximately double its voluntary payments with an ctiuag2 ctiuag3 ctiuag2 HilarRosthal / Hrald U.S. Senator Al Franken, D-Minn., addressed the Hill’s benefts and drawbacks. CourtsoBrowBars.com Students post sel-pictures, some playul and others explicit, to a public website. ctiuag3 Bjordan HendrickS aSSiStant featureS editor It has bad a mrsm Brunonian culture, a “Craigslist r Brw” ad aspratr students and alums to pose nude on the rooothe GeoChem Building, in Faunce House, in Sayles Hall, Strt PratCtr ad Salomon Center. While much othe hype oBrownBares.com on cam- pus has died down, the site remains atmths ar ts ratmd-Nmbr. BrwBars s a “subrddt” reddit.com, a site that allows users to submit photos and comment on others’ submissions under sel- created usernames. While certainlynot the only site oits kind, Brown- Bars s thy “t sut- able or work” subreddits exclusive ta ursty. With approximately 1,000 to 2,000 unique hits every day, dozens ousers and nearly 300 subscribers, “the place in which Brown bares all” has occupied a unique niche in Brown’ s culture ose xual pos itivity. Submissions eature Brown- ratd humr ad uturarr- ences — one user posed with his cyclohexane model rom organic hmstry, ad thr pstrs hacensored their aces with photo- shppd mags Brugs. BrownBar es uncovers student bodies f or student body ctiuag5 featurecity & statedpxsStudents petition U. to increase pay to cityBMorgan joHnSon Senior Staff Writer Former Saturday Night Live ast mmbr ad urrt jur United States senator Al Franken, D-Minn., proved that his comedic chops are still ully intact Sundayaternoon. Franken, who accepted the Brown Democrats’ 2012 John F. Kdy Jr. Award r spr- ing youth in politics, spoke about policy and his experiences in a divided Congress to a crowd in MaMa7. Franken touched on some ohis successul initiatives that passd durg a dut gsa- tive term or Democrats. Franken authrd a hath arprsrequiring insurance companies to adhere to a minimum medical loss ratio, which would designate at least 85 percent opremium payments to be used strictly or medical care in large group plans. he provision passed and has al- ready helped lower the cost olarge-group insurance plans, in some cases by as much as 10 p er- t, ardg tFrak. “hrs pty tbrat, ” Franken said orecent legislative at, tg thrturthban on stem cell research and the conclusion othe war in Iraq, but he added that Democrats need to signiicantly step it up in the uture to push legislative goals. “Every minute we stop pushing … is a minute Republicans spend pushing in the other direction,” hsad. Studentwages increase 3 percent