wednesday, october 10, 2012dailythe Brown

since 1891vol. cxxii, no. 83herald

InsIde

Tweet @BrownU. ranked 25th college in social media

Mash upBadmaash dance co. brings South Asian flare to stage

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Pet these pagesJohn Carter Library hosts rare Mexican book ‘petting

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By Kate NusseNbaumSenior Staff Writer

The U.S. Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments today in Fisher v. University of texas at Austin to de-termine whether the university’s use of race as a factor in its admissions process violates the equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Along with other Ivy League schools and four other highly selective universi-ties, Brown submitted a joint amicus brief to the court this summer in sup-port of the University of texas’ use of affirmative action.

“This decision is so important it can affect the welfare of other institutions,” said Beverly Ledbetter, vice president and general counsel for the University. “we have a vested interest.”

Abigail Fisher sued the University of texas in 2008 after she was denied

admission to the school. The University of texas system automatically grants admission to all texas students who graduate in the top 10 percent of their class. This process fills 70 to 80 per-cent of admission slots. The remaining spaces are then filled through a more holistic and subjective process similar to Brown’s admissions system.

Fisher did not graduate in the top 10 percent of her class and so did not gain automatic admission to the uni-versity. Fisher’s statement to the court argues that she was denied admission despite having better academic cre-dentials than many minority candi-dates whom the university ultimately accepted.

Past precedent Three other Supreme Court cases

have thus far established what types of affirmative action policies are constitu-

tional for public universities, Ledbetter said.

The first major affirmative action case, regents of the University of Cali-fornia v. Bakke, occurred in 1978. The court ruled that though diversity was a “legitimate interest” that permitted the use of affirmative action in some circumstances, strict quotas for dif-ferent races were unconstitutional, Ledbetter said.

In 2003, the court convened again to determine the appropriate place of race in the admissions process, this time as it related to the University of Michigan’s law school in the Grutter v. Bollinger case and as it related to the University of Michigan’s undergraduate school in the Gratz v. Bollinger case.

while Michigan’s undergraduate school used a specific point system that gave applicants of minority races an ex-tra 20 points out of the 100 they needed

to gain admission, the law school used a less-defined process based more on the qualities of individuals. The court ruled that the undergraduate admis-sions process was unconstitutional, but the law school’s was permissible under the law. Considering race on an individual basis as part of a holistic ad-missions process was different from the quota system ruled unconstitutional in the Bakke case, the court found.

“It’s a very complicated situation, but it reaffirmed that yes, diversity is a compelling interest for universities and the nation,” Ledbetter said.

‘a vested interest’The brief the University submitted

encourages the court to uphold the decision it made in the Grutter case. It “says to the court that this is an issue important enough to us that we will weigh in on it,”

affirmative action case draws nearly 100 amicus briefs

By elizabeth KohSenior Staff Writer

triggered by this July’s discovery of a higgs boson-like particle, five University professors provided insight into their involvement in one of particle physics’ most momentous achievements during the “Discovery of a higgs boson” event tuesday night. Students, faculty and members of the public filled Salomon 101 for the event, which was hosted by the physics department and included opening remarks from President Chris-tina Paxson.

Physicists at the european organi-zation for nuclear research (Cern) announced July 4 that they had found evidence strongly suggesting the existence of the higgs boson, a hypothetical particle that would explain how funda-mental particles like quarks and leptons obtain mass. Such a discovery would

unify the Standard Model of particle physics, which explains how the basic forces and particles of the universe fit together.

“Big science is just that — it’s big,” Paxson said in her opening remarks. “It requires the collected efforts of a large amount of people.”

Paxson said the recent discovery of the higgs-like particle taught her about both the nature of science and the Brown community. She stressed the value of supporting long-term research without immediate payoffs and praised the internationally collaborative effort of the higgs boson search.

In her July 5 email congratulating the Physics department on the Cern discovery, Paxson asked recipients to forward her thanks to the graduate stu-dents and postdoctoral students in the professors’ labs. one of the recipients, she said, emailed her back with a “gentle reprimand” that she had not included the undergraduate students working in the professors’

U. celebrates discovery of Higgs boson particle

Courtesy of rafael gonzalez

a student abroad with brown in spain helped to uncover and identify cadavers in mass graves from the spanish Civil War. see page 3.

By raChel margolisContributing Writer

As Arianna Kazez ’15 and Izaak Baker ’15 strode out of hope College last month, they nearly collided with three members of the class of 1888, who had just strolled through a gate that no longer exists.

Kazez was armed with an umbrella and rain boots, but George Brown 1888, eli whitney Blake, Jr. 1888 and Francis Brownell 1888, who were reading on their

way to class, did not seem to no-

tice the rain. Sporting bowler hats and pocket watches, their attire contrasted with the modern students’ skirt and jeans. Clearly some wrinkle in time or radical change in fashion was at play.

or so it appears in a recent photo-graph composed by Mike Cohea, visual communications specialist for Public Affairs and University relations, for his album, “Brown: Then, now and Forever.”

At the end of 2011, Cohea was look-ing for a way to connect generations of students in honor of Brown’s upcoming 250th anniversary celebrations set to launch in 2014. he was walking down the steps of Sayles hall when inspira-tion struck.

“It kind of hit me that these are the same steps that have always been here, that have been here since Sayles was con-structed,” he said. “And then I wondered — since it was new to me — if Brown stu-dents themselves had ever really thought about that.” As an experienced photojour-nalist, he knew just the medium to bring the past into focus alongside the present.

he took the idea to juxtapose archival photos with contemporary shots to John Murphy, who had recently been named Brown’s social media specialist.

“I remember one of the first meet-ings Mike and I had,” Murphy recalled. “he said, ‘I have this really cool idea of using the ar-

Past, present collide in U. social media project

Mike Cohea / Brown university

Photojournalist mike Cohea’s album “brown: then, Now and Forever,” connects generations of students by juxtaposing past and present photos.

/ / Court page 4

/ / Photos page 2

By sheFali luthraneWS editor

The november election represents a nationwide referendum on the best way to fix the economy and the impor-tance of social entitlement programs, Sen. Sheldon whitehouse, D-r.I., said at tuesday night’s Brown Democrats meeting.

whitehouse described the choice as one between supporting the middle class or cutting taxes for the wealthy. The other major component of the election, he said, is protecting Medicare, Social Security and Pell Grants.

Safeguarding such programs “is more than just a social contract,” whitehouse said. “It’s good for our country.”

whitehouse, who was elected in 2006, is currently running for re-election against republican challenger Barry hinckley, Jr.

“I think it’s very important rhode Island has a strong voice, and a strong voice who will stand with the seniors and the small businesses and the envi-ronment of rhode Island,” whitehouse told The herald. “And I think I can be that voice. And I would very much like to be that voice.”

If re-elected to Congress, white-house said he would fight to pass the Buffett rule — which would require those who earn at least $1 million per year to pay a minimum 30 percent tax rate — as well as the DISCLoSe Act, a measure that would require major cam-paign donors to disclose their names.

whitehouse outlines key election issues

/ / higgs page 5

science &research

feature

/ / Whitehouse page 3

city & state

Zia’s lab, said, “This is fast-paced sci-ence. we go through the whole process — model, make, measure — remark-ably quickly. It is difficult to say what

we will find with this new grant.”The shelves of chemical samples

waiting to be tested in Zai’s lab testify that the lab is far from finished in terms of understanding the seemingly basic phenomenon of an atom emitting a

photon.“The science we do, trying to under-

stand at a quantum level the emission of photons, is really fundamental,” Zia said. “At this point, we really don’t know the applications of the photon emitters we develop. Velcro was invented for space — now we use it on shoes.”

nonetheless, Zia and his lab sug-gest the potential for quantum pho-ton emitters to revolutionize electronic communication both within devices and across long distance is immense. The lab recently developed a material whose effects on waves can be changed rapidly with electricity, Kurvits said. This material could be a component of a photon emitter that could rapidly transfer information by the nature of the photons it releases.

In the future, photons might not only carry information from this page to your eye, but also transmit every-thing from email to banking transac-tions.

campus news2 the Brown DAILy herALDweDneSDAy, oCtoBer 10, 2012

6:30 P.m.

Sound Electronics Performance

McCormack Family Theatre

7 P.m.

ARGO: Advanced Screening

Granoff Center

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Color Me Queer

Main Green

9 P.m.

“Happy Together” Movie Screening

Kassar House

SHARPE REFECTORY VERNEY-WOOLLEY DINING HALL

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Chicken Artichoke Pasta Medley, Stewed Tomatoes, Hot Roast Beef on French Bread, Sunny Sprouts

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TODAY OCT. 10 TOmORROW OCT. 11

C r o S S W o r d

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Claire Peracchio, Presidentrebecca Ballhaus, Vice President

Danielle Marshak, treasurerSiena DeLisser, 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 Friday during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement and once during orientation 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 2012 by The Brown Daily herald, Inc. All rights reserved.

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chive’s photos.’” Cohea proceeded to show him how

he planned to hold up an old photo of the campus in front of a present-day scene with a similar background, blending two eras of Brown’s history. he had seen the technique used before, to overlay world war II images with recent pictures of the same locations, but never to explore the history of a university.

Murphy was immediately on board, and before long, the two were combing the archives for historical photos.

‘goofing off’raymond Butti, senior library spe-

cialist in special collections, has worked at the John hay Library for “a very long time” and enjoys reading 100-year-old scrapbooks on rainy days. when he learned of Cohea and Murphy’s project, he agreed to help them sift through the library’s archives.

Most of the older photographs in the archives, dating from the 1860s to the 1900s, were taken from “class albums,” large books of campus shots and individ-ual portraits. Graduating seniors could pick and choose their albums’ content by filling out order forms. other old photos were found in scrapbooks, pasted next to an assortment of newspaper clippings, invitations, dance cards, football tickets and various unexplained oddities.

“one person had a pack of cigarettes” in his album, Butti said. “There were still cigarettes in it — Lucky Strikes.”

Among the rarest sources of photos is a personal album of “a classmate of eli whitney Blake” — the same eli whitney Blake that Cohea transported into the 21st century. The scenes inside, captured by Blake’s classmate Charles Cooke 1888, provide a revealing glimpse into life at Brown more than 100 years ago.

“everyone thinks the 1880s were so stiff,” said Butti, smiling. he knows the real story: Behind the book’s nondescript, slightly deteriorating cover, Blake, Brown, Brownell, Cooke and their compatriots are pictured playing poker, carrying laun-dry and participating in various other activities that could only be described as “goofing off.” These similarities and differences were what Cohea and Murphy hoped to highlight.

Past and present alignedThey spent hours in the library, exam-

ining thousands of photos. The ideal shot would contain a good point of reference that would be recognizable today, such as a building or a monument. But in order

to be truly engaging, it also needed to include people.

“The right photograph is so hard,” Cohea said. “It’s like a needle in a hay-stack.”

Murphy said they began by choos-ing photos with “evergreen content” that would be relevant year-round, such as students walking between classes or a wrestling match on the green. Later on they started to plan ahead, finding the perfect shots from the past to comple-ment current events. In one photo, the 2012 Commencement procession merges with graduates from the mid-1920s as they pass through the Van wickle Gates. In another, football players from 1925 score a touchdown, paired with last month’s homecoming game against harvard.

“we try to find things that are quirky and interesting that would ap-peal to people,” said Cohea, citing the wrestling photo, his personal favorite, as an example.

once he chose an image, Cohea would scout out the exact location where it had been taken, hold up the photo against its new background and wait for the right moment: when past and present aligned in a way that would be most interesting to viewers. Then he would adjust the depth of field with Pho-toshop, and after some final processing, it would be ready for its online debut.

one by one, the photos have gone viral since January, some of them generat-ing dozens of comments and as many as 908 likes on Facebook. The one featuring Kazez even made the front page of red-dit, a website where users share and vote on interesting content, which exposed the photograph to new viewers.

“It’s pretty cool,” said Kazez, who was walking back into hope with Baker when Cohea asked to take their picture. “It’s interesting to see the contrast between us and them.”

The numerous comments posted by current and past students also note the changes that have taken place over the years.

“Favorite part of this series: women and people of color are replacing the wASPy men of yesterday,” commented Caitlin Barth ’06 on Facebook. “So proud to be an alum!”

others, such as Joseph haletky ’68, pointed out some aspects of student life that have remained constant. “two wet-test days in my life: first day of Freshman week in September 1964 and Commence-ment Day in May of 2003 (for my 35th reunion),” he commented on Facebook.

Cohea and Murphy, who expected

only 200 or 300 likes per photo, were delighted — and surprised — by their work’s overwhelmingly positive recep-tion.

“The stats were pretty astounding,” Murphy said.

“I think the beauty is that the Brown community today and the alums around the nation — and the world, frankly — are interested in their history and the history of the institution,” said Marisa Quinn, vice president of public affairs and University relations. “And as we’re approaching the 250th anniversary of our founding, I think we’re all thinking about it more and more ... Mike’s photographs are resonating.”

And Cohea isn’t finished. More ar-chived photos are yet to come, waiting for the right occasion when they can be matched to their present-day counter-parts.

“I think my quota is 250?” he said, laughing. “It’s a goal.”

‘then, now and forever’Social media is an integral part of the

image Brown presents to the world. But Quinn said the University’s exploration of digital media is relatively recent. only a few years ago, students were helping the office of Public Affairs and University relations form the basis of Brown’s pres-ence on social media.

“It was clear that it was a useful tool — one for communication, but also for engagement,” she said.

The University hired Murphy as its first social media specialist about a year ago. “It’s helped us think so much more strategically about how we integrate social media into all of our efforts to showcase the best of Brown.”

In an effort to further utilize digital technology, Brown’s website was over-hauled in 2010. The new homepage was designed to showcase imagery and video, much of which comes from the PAUr and from Cohea himself.

Murphy believes that “Brown: Then, now and Forever,” as Brown’s latest media success, will encourage Facebook users to check Brown’s page more frequently. It will also help draw attention to other items, such as press releases about new research, that are posted online.

Perhaps most importantly, the photos draw together the Brown community, both from around the world and across a span of more than 200 years.

“even if they’re living in hawaii or hong Kong or north Carolina,” Quinn said, people can “look and feel like they’re here and they can get an understanding of the place.”

/ / Photos page 1

/ / Proton page 8

campus news 3the Brown DAILy herALDweDneSDAy, oCtoBer 10, 2012

By moNiCa PerezContributing Writer

rafael Gonzalez ’11 MD’15 spent his summer after junior year uncovering mass graves filled with the remains of victims from the Spanish Civil war. Alongside a team of forensic scientists, archeologists, anthropologists, medi-cal doctors and dentists, Gonzalez said he spent a week working at a grave site in La Pedraja de Portillo, Spain to identify bodies with the intent of returning remains to families for a long-awaited proper burial.

Students who study abroad through the Consortium for Ad-vanced Studies in Barcelona — a Brown in Spain program — had the option to participate in the excavation project starting in 2010. This excava-tion was part of the recovery of his-torical Memory project, which aims to uncover the ruins of thousands of murdered victims who were buried in mass graves during the Spanish Civil war, said Matthew Gutmann P’14, vice president of international affairs at the watson Institute for In-ternational Studies.

Thousands of republicanos, the war’s eventual losing party, were mur-dered and hauled into unidentified graves in the 1930s. The Spanish gov-ernment passed a law in 2007 allowing the loved ones of fallen victims to petition the government for subsidies to have the graves opened and their remains recovered.

A new political party opposed to the excavation project recently took power, discontinuing the program,

said Juanjo romero, the resident di-rector of the consortium in Barcelona. Families will now need to indepen-dently finance excavations in order to continue body recovery, and the consortium will no longer be able to assist in the excavation projects. But romero said he was hopeful that the program will restart following the next elections in three years.

The project was run by Aranzadi, an organization providing the equip-ment to recover war remains in Latin America. Prior to this excavation project, Aranzadi helped recover bod-ies of victims from the Dirty war of Argentina and from a Chilean coup.

“I knew I was a part of something that was really big. The significance of this to the Spaniards is tremendous,” Gonzalez said. “The Civil war is still a very emotionally sensitive issue.”

During the dig, families would congregate around the site, trying to remain hopeful despite their tears that their loved ones would be identi-fied, Gonzales said. The identification of the bodies would bring a sense of closure to the families who have been grieving for more than 70 years.

Gutmann emphasized the impact and relevancy of the excavations.

“It is a fantastic opportunity for Brown students to be a part of this social issue which has so much to do with history,” Gutmann said. “Ameri-can newspapers run articles about this occasionally, but it is in Spanish news almost every day.”

At La Pedraja, about 70 to 100 bodies were recovered, but they were too deteriorated to be identified.

teams of students and profession-als participated in the excavation at dozens of sites all around Spain, romero said. They have extracted over 2,000 cadavers, and their iden-tification success rate has been about 90 percent.

while romero said he believes this project was a victory for post-civil war emotional recovery, it is also a source of controversy in Spain. Many Spaniards feel that uncovering these graves “re-open(s) the wounds of the past,” he said. For many, the tragedy is still a present-day reality.

“whenever you talk about Spain, people can’t help but bring up the Civil war,” said Karri DiPetrillo ’13, who studied abroad in Barcelona last spring through the consortium, though she did not participate in the excavations. She said the effects of the Civil war seem omnipresent in Spanish culture, appearing in paint-ings and street signs.

Consortium students are required to take a program class about Spanish culture, and DiPetrillo took a class entitled “Memories of the Spanish Civil war.”

extracurricular programs like this excavation are perfect ways to enrich students’ studies both culturally and academically, said Kendall Brostuen, director of international programs at Brown. while students have the abil-ity to pursue internships in schools or hospitals while in Barcelona, this project was set apart, he said, adding that the students are not only im-mersed in history, but are actively writing it.

students dig up spanish past while abroad

U. ups social media presenceBy jasmiNe bala

Contributing Writer

The University ranked 25th on Stu-dentAdvisor.com’s 2011 list of top 100 Social Media Colleges. Since then, its use of social media has expanded to help prospective students connect with faculty members, administrators and current students.

“Social networks are an informa-tion platform,” said rebecca whittaker, director of outreach for admission at the Admission office. “we post for students who can’t have physical in-teraction with Brown.”

The University’s Facebook pages, twitter accounts and videos on you-tube serve to provide information to prospective applicants. high school students can find out when admission officers will be in their region and can contact them accordingly, whittaker said. For example, admission officers will be touring rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in early october, and students in the area will be able to find out the dates of their visit through the Uni-versity’s Facebook page and website.

John Murphy, the University’s so-cial media specialist, said he has found that students post their questions on one of the University’s 20 Facebook pages, and their questions get answered publicly. “you can see almost every-thing on our Facebook pages,” Murphy said. “we upload pictures of our latest events for people across the globe to take a look.”

But the results of the social media

recruitment efforts may be mixed. while some students feel that their

process of connecting with Brown us-ing social networks has been useful, others feel that Brown needs some-thing more developed. “If there was a single forum for faculty members, college alumni and prospective stu-dents to put themselves forward, it would be more beneficial than having a dozen Facebook pages,” said Shreena Thakore ’16. “It’s great to have photos posted online and have people click on the ‘like’ button, but one single information system directed just for prospective students would prove more efficient.”

A recent survey of 7,000 college-bound high school seniors conducted by the online startup Zinch assessed social media’s impact on these recruit-ment efforts, finding that different tools may have a differential impact.

“while it might be free to create accounts on these new, popular so-cial media sites, universities should focus recruitment efforts on where they’re going to get the highest return on investment,” Gil rogers, director of college outreach for Zinch told Inside higher ed in an interview. “you can post a picture of an athletic event, but you also want to be able to connect students to ways that they can be part of that event or be part of that campus,” rogers added in the interview.

Brown currently has accounts on Facebook, twitter, youtube, Flickr, itunes, LinkedIn and Instagram, its most recent social media outlet. The

office of Public Affairs and University relations keeps a close tab on the suc-cess of each of its sites.

There are two ways of analyzing the success of a page, Murphy said. “The first is face-to-face interaction. we have people coming up to say, ‘we really like what you’re doing,’” Murphy said. “The second is more analytical,” he added. The office looks into the number of posts and likes on a page. The number of people communicating through posts and comments gives an indication of how a page is progressing, Murphy said.

The University’s revamped website, which was unveiled in 2010, provides another source of information to prospective students, posting lists of college faculty members, a timeline with important events during the year, upcoming deadlines and new findings by research teams.

“The University website helped me with the application process in general, giving me bits of information so that I didn’t have to call the Admission office for every question I had,” said Alexan-dra Sepolen ’16.

Many students said they find so-cial media helpful in the application process, even if they don’t use the Uni-versity’s social networks. Samantha ramsey ’16 said she found a sopho-more at Brown via a Facebook page for admitted students and asked her questions before applying. “Friending current students at your prospective colleges is always helpful,” she said. “They help you out.”

he also promised to advocate for the creation of a national endowment for oceans, which would create a pool of funds for which states could com-pete to protect local oceans and lakes. “Climate change is clobbering the oceans,” whitehouse told the Brown Democrats. “we’re the ocean State.”

Global warming is a critical issue that must be addressed, whitehouse said, comparing the value of environ-mentalism to that of the 1960s civil rights movement.

“This is a battle we should not fear,” he said, adding that emphasizing global warming could galvanize young vot-ers who did not turn out for the 2010 midterm elections.

“The young generation stayed home in droves because we weren’t speaking to that great issue that you are all going to live with,” he said.

Increased partisanship has made it much more difficult to work with republicans, who “won’t even concede” climate change’s existence, whitehouse told The herald.

“That makes having discussions with them pretty difficult,” he said. “And while they control the house, it makes getting anything done trying to avert the consequences pretty difficult.”

Speaking to the Brown Democrats, whitehouse also criticized republi-cans for filibustering on more than 350 occasions and then missing the subsequent 30 hours of debate.

“Think how much time gets lost in the Senate floor,” he said. “That puts immense pressure on the majority to get what must be done in the remain-

ing time.”In the next legislative session, he

said, Democrats hope to change the rules to require senators to be present for all debate following a filibuster.

“That’s the Jefferson Smith, ‘Mr. Smith Goes to washington’ filibus-ter,” he said, adding that he would wel-come more discussion on the floor of the Senate. “Bring it on. I want to talk about that stuff. That’s the differ-ence. They don’t want to talk about that stuff.”

whitehouse also criticized Citizens United, the Supreme Court decision allowing unlimited political campaign contributions. Though he said he be-lieves the decision will ultimately be reversed — either by another court ver-dict or by legislative action — it is “one of the more embarrassing” verdicts in the nation’s history. he compared it to Plessy v. Ferguson, the case that legalized segregation.

In an interview with The herald, whitehouse cited the budget plan shaped by republican nominee for Vice President Paul ryan — famous for cutting government spending and reducing taxes and praised by high-ranking republicans including presi-dential nominee Mitt romney — as an example of why the upcoming national election matters to rhode Islanders.

“It’s a very extreme document that is a huge transfer of wealth from the middle class to the uppermost,” white-house said. “There’s some very, very se-rious changes that are being proposed to regular families’ expectations about life in America, and I think that issue resonates in rhode Island — we’re a middle class, small-business state.”

/ / Whitehouse page 1

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feature4 the Brown DAILy herALDweDneSDAy, oCtoBer 10, 2012

By elizabeth KohSenior Staff Writer

t-Pain is rapping loudly in the second floor dance studio of t. F. Green hall on a wednesday night.

The scene might sound like some-thing out of an alcohol-fueled nightclub. But instead the wood floor of the studio seats a handful of students in flexible leggings and t-shirts, some emblazoned in neon green with “Brown Badmaash Dance Company.” They’re chatting ea-gerly near the back of the room, and the mirrored walls bounce and reflect their voices into a cheerful undertone.

“Let’s get gone, walk it out / now walk it out,” t-Pain raps. “Just like that, that’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout…”

Badmaash Dance Company — the name comes from the hindi word for “mischievous” — has been a byword for inventive South Asian fusion dance at Brown since its founding seven years ago. Since then, the group has risen from a group of 10 members to a 20-member troupe that is making a name for itself on the national dance scene.

Humble beginningsBadmaash was “absolutely not”

a competitive team when it was first formed in 2005, said rahul Bannerjee ’10 MD ’14, a former member of the team. If anything, the group’s initial focus was on performance instead of competition, he said.

“we were just a bunch of friends who honestly wanted to dance,” said Komal talati ’08 MD ’12, one of the founders of the group. “The first semes-ter we just performed in a few things here and there.”

But the group’s popularity soon in-creased. “As interest grew, we just kept growing,” talati said.

The team’s emergence onto the na-tional South Asian dance scene occurred only in the past two to three years, a suc-cess Bannerjee attributed to the team’s energy and spirit.

“we were by far the underdogs,” said Bannerjee, who joined the then one-year-old team in his first year. “we don’t have the best amount of dance space in the world, in terms of practice space.”

But the team has a “Badmaash qual-ity” in that is has a unique personal-ity compared to other dance teams, he said. “we’re not a formal dance company with our own studio. we’re very much a bunch of people who love Badmaash.”

That love and dedication has paid off at competitions throughout the north-east, including the Philadelphia Dance Festival.

“we have a fan base nationally,” Ban-nerjee said. “we have people who haven’t been to Brown who have heard of us.”

all the world’s a stageBaadmash drew more than 60 stu-

dents this semester vying to become “Badmaashies.”

“we spend a lot of time” assessing auditions, said co-director Ananya Anand ’13. The tryouts usually consist of teaching prospective members Bad-maash moves and selecting members based on their ability to learn the moves quickly. But the co-directors agreed that they consider the personalities of the auditionees as well.

true to Badmaash’s identity as a fu-sion dance group, their routines incor-porate everything from Bhangra, a folk style of Indian dance, to moves drawn from contemporary western hip-hop. Those who are accepted into Badmaash are expected to keep up with the group’s varied repertoire.

But the experience is kind to new members, who are eagerly inducted into the small community.

“I’ve never been exposed to the style,” said new member rachel Cohen ’14. “It’s really cool for me to watch, but a lot of the moves are foreign.” Still Cohen said she was “excited more than worried.”

“I do think it’ll take a little bit” to grow accustomed to the different types of dancing, she said.

After auditions for the team are held, further auditions are held internally for the year’s competition team, co-director Shubh Agrawal ’15 said. The “comp team” is usually composed of 12 to 16 members who attend the team’s compe-titions throughout the year. Those two or three competitions are usually clustered in January and February, which means practices are held more frequently at the end of each year.

Competition team members have added dance practices throughout the semester that can run up to 10 additional hours a week and are expected to return to campus a week early for what many members affectionately describe as a boot camp.

The boot camp is like the “second level,” said Badmaash member Susan trinh ’13, who won a spot on the com-petition team junior year.

Though the experience is a large time commitment, trinh said it was rewarding.

“you dance and then you eat, and then you dance,” trinh said. “we have so much to learn.”

under the floorboards“one and two and three and four

and...” Arms extend outward.“Five, six, seven, eight!” A smooth

twist and turn.on the first wednesday night prac-

tice of the semester, the Badmaashies — old and new — were already at work. Practice, led by each of the group’s three co-directors, walked through one of their older dance routines — partly for the benefit of two new members shadowing the group and partly to get members back into the swing of danc-ing. The old moves were also in the process of being reworked throughout the night, as co-directors and members volleyed suggestions about the blocking of the dancers and clarified confusing dance moves for those unfamiliar with the routine.

As the background track played a mix of South Asian music and more modern beats, true to Badmaash’s fu-sion roots, each of the leaders counted off a handful of eight-beat segments to ease dancers back into the moves.

Badmaash dancing — a combination of fluid lines and sharp jumps visible in the mirrored walls — also reflected the music in other ways.

“one, two, three and four!” Feet pounding the wooden floorboards in time with the music.

But despite the efficient enthusiasm of the group, this year’s Badmaash team faces a unique challenge. As almost half of its members graduated last spring, the team is both slightly smaller and includes seven new dancers, a large fraction of the 20-odd member troupe.

“(Losing last year’s members) was a big loss to us,” trinh said. But she added that having the new dancers would cre-ate “a new dynamic.”

The new Badmaashies are also ex-cited to be part of the team.

“everyone can have their own Bad-maash experience,” said new member Anamta Farook ’14. “There’s just an overwhelming awe that I have for this team,” she added.

the show goes onwhat distinguishes Badmaash most

of all is the connections its members retain even after graduation.

“we used to joke sometimes that Badmaash was a fraternity,” Bannerjee said, citing long and frequent practices. “we almost lived together.”

Part of Bannerjee’s experience, he said, was the variety among students who were part of the group.

“when I was a senior, my co-direc-tors were a comp lit major and an MCM major,” he said. “It was funny to see us coming together.”

That shared sense of community is one that members carry with them even beyond Brown. Bannerjee, now a student at Alpert Medical School, participates in a similar South Asian dance group called Brown Med Bhangra, started last year by heather Jones MD ’14, a Cornell grad and Bhangra dancer.

Though the group is newer than its undergraduate cousin, Bannerjee said it has found a similar following at Alpert.

“The Med School has very much embraced this,” he said.

talati, who graduated from Alpert in 2012, participated in Badmaash as an undergraduate. Because Brown Med Bhangra was only founded last year, she was not able to participate in the group while in Med School.

She described Badmaash as “the center of my life and of my career at Brown,” she said.

Last year, she and fellow Badmaash alum Kumar Vasuvedan returned to help choreograph one of the group’s dances. Though talati said she only personally knew one or two of the team’s mem-bers that year, “the minute I walked in choreographing, it was like nothing had changed.”

“It was a blast,” she added.And even as the team continues to

grow, talati said she and other alums continue to follow the team’s activities, attending the group’s annual spring per-formance show or occasionally going to competition performances.

“we always kind of keep track of them,” she said.

But whether it’s a late night practice or a competition performance, what has remained true over the years for Badmaash is its motivation.

“The one thing about Badmaash is it’s not about winning,” talati said. “It’s about dancing your heart out ev-ery time.”

badmaash boasts south asian flareLedbetter said.

Though the University’s admissions process is different from that of the University of texas, there are “central components” of the texas system that are supported by the colleges who sub-mitted the brief, Ledbetter said.

“Diversity is a compelling factor, and universities should have a great deal of liberty in executing their re-sponsibilities,” she said.

Though Brown is a private school, it receives federal funding to assist with financial aid packages, said Jim Miller ’73, dean of admission. As a result, the court’s ruling could potentially affect Brown as well, Miller said.

The impact of the University’s use of affirmative action during the ad-missions process is “hard to quantify,” Miller said. But the University seeks to create a diverse student body to ex-pose students to different viewpoints and experiences. “In the end, you’re able to deal much more effectively in a world that’s increasingly complex and increasingly small,” he said.

It would be detrimental to the stu-dent body to be able to consider a wide variety of criteria in admissions, but not race, Miller said.

a controversial policythe University’s brief is one of

around 100 that were submitted in support of either Fisher or the Uni-versity of texas.

Supporters of both the petitioner and the respondent have cited social science studies to illuminate the subtle effects of affirmative action policies. Some research suggests that such poli-cies may harm the groups they are in-tended to benefit.

The use of affirmative action poli-cies causes minority students to drop out of science, technology, engineer-ing and mathematics disciplines at a disproportionately high rate, said Frederick Smyth, a research assistant professor of psychology and the direc-tor of the Full Potential Initiative at the University of Virginia.

Smyth’s study used data collected by other researchers that include the high school grades, SAt scores and intended majors of students enrolling in 23 selective institutions. he found that regardless of a student’s race, those whose high school grades and SAt scores placed them toward the bottom of their college class were more likely to drop out of SteM fields.

A key aspect of his data is that students’ relative scores were more important than their absolute scores, Smyth said.

“If they had gone to schools where they were selected just like everyone else and were around the mean on aver-age, they are going to fare better and

achieve their goal of a SteM career,” Smyth said. “The idea of building a sense of identity and confidence is instrumental in moving forward and making up ground … you are more likely to do that in an environment where you are competitive in terms of your background and preparation.”

The performance gap is especially notable in SteM fields because fall-ing behind is more likely to lead to dropping out.

Despite these patterns holding true for students of all races, Smyth found that underrepresented minority stu-dents were far more likely to fall toward the bottom of the distribution and were disproportionately more likely to drop out of SteM fields.

Admissions processes at schools “created enormous deficits for under-represented minority students in terms of grades,” Smyth said. “Surmounting those gaps is a huge challenge.”

Universities like Brown need to be aware of such research, Smyth said, both so that they can evaluate their own admissions processes and, more importantly, so they can provide stu-dents with the data that may allow them to make a more informed deci-sion about what type of school will maximize their chance at attaining their planned career.

But both Miller and Ledbetter were unconvinced of possible negative ef-fects of affirmative action policies.

“I haven’t experienced a sense of people feeling like they’re overmatched here,” Miller said. “It doesn’t mean ev-eryone has a perfect experience, but it’s often due to other factors — there’s lots going on in people’s lives.”

“I think it’s very difficult to take subjective measures, to take a com-ponent of a person’s life and predict how successful or unsuccessful they will be,” Ledbetter said.

“The argument would be that be-cause you were admitted because of some affirmative action criteria, you don’t have the confidence, the self-reliance that other people have and that is necessary for success,” Ledbetter said. “I don’t think you can show that. when you have early statistical data ... you may not have selected for people who were positioned for success.”

The Supreme Court justices will likely take into consideration every brief submitted, Ledbetter said.

In the Grutter decision, an amicus brief submitted by the military that relayed the critical importance of a racially diverse officer corps had a pow-erful influence on some of the justices, Miller said.

The Supreme Court will likely an-nounce their decision in May or June, Ledbetter said.

“I don’t think there will be an abrupt departure from holistic review,” she added.

/ / Court page 1

feature 5the Brown DAILy herALDweDneSDAy, oCtoBer 10, 2012

join the Club | simon henriques

Cashew apples | will ruehle

Co m i C S

By meia geDDesStaff Writer

Deep in the recesses of the John Carter Brown Library, Kenneth ward, cura-tor of Latin American books, stood before 32 items from the ancient world. “These are my babies,” ward said. “when you hold a book, you support the spine,” he demonstrated as he cradled one of them in his hand.

ward spoke to more than a dozen students as they “pet” rare materi-als at the JCB’s rare Books Petting Zoo last Thursday. The event was one in a series offered by the Charles h. watts II history and Culture of the Book Program. The program, which aims to nurture appreciation for rare books among Brown and rhode Is-land School of Design students, is hosting a series of events centered on its fall exhibition, “Mind your Business: records of early American Commerce,” and the theme Books of Business/Business of Books.

At the Petting Zoo, ward pulled materials from the library related to the Mexican book trade. “I’ve prob-ably overstocked the table,” ward said as he led the way downstairs to the conference room. The library has one of the best collections of Latin American books in the world, he said. “There are few places you can consult materials side-by-side as you can do here.”

ward chose 32 items, including primers, dictionaries and invitations to funerals. They ranged in age, cov-ering a time span of about 300 years from 1511 to 1801. They were also bound with a range of materials, including silk, vellum, leather and pasteboard — paper pressed together to create a thick material. ward spoke of an Aztec phrasebook, which in-cludes how to say “don’t hire this guy, he’s a drunk.” The book is the third oldest book featuring printed music and gold print on the title page.

ward was hesitant to pick a fa-vorite. “you’re asking me to pick my children,” he said.

“This is such a rare and neat op-portunity for students to get into

the collection, to touch and feel the materials, to handle these rare books that they wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to get close to,” said Abby Saunders, event and marketing coordinator of the watts Program.

Saunders worked with Margo nishimura, deputy director and li-brarian at the JCB, to put together the program. “I really wanted to work with Kenl, and he chose the Mexican book trade as the theme,” Saunders said. ward has “an amazing wealth of knowledge, especially about Mexico and South America and the book world in those areas,” she added.

Before launching into his discus-sion of the materials, ward advised students to handle the books gen-tly, though many students did not start petting anything until later in his talk. he showed students how to hold a book like a baby and how to turn pages from the top or bottom corners without gloves. he explained that the gilding or decoration on the foredge of a book can come off if the pages are ruffled. Beside many of the books, there were “cradles” to hold them open at an angle less than 180 degrees so as to not damage the spine.

ward told students about the first printing presses, indigenous languages, the business of printing and typography. “I had no idea that the first printing press in America was in Mexico,” said Susan Chakmak-ian ’14, an english concentrator who works with rare books at the John hay Library.

“I enjoy reading old books and manuscripts because I feel like it brings us closer to history,” said Zach-ary rothstein-Dowden ’13, a classics concentrator who attended the event. “to read words that were printed hun-dreds of years ago is exciting.”

ward expressed awe that many of the items he was presenting, such as edicts from the Spanish Inquisi-tion and primers used as teaching tools for children, were never meant to last through the years — the JCB has the only known copy of an in-quisition edict, ward said. he also spoke at length about a proof sheet,

possibly the only one to survive, he said. The lines on the proof sheet, which was historically used to align text, are crooked and the spacing is off because the type was not tightly locked in the press.

Though the morning involved a lot of book-handling, one book remained untouched. The tovar Codex, which tells the story of wandering Mexican tribes, had a “do not touch” sign. The book is “priceless” and loaned out to institutions, ward said. But students could flip through the other rare texts, including the Aztec dictionary, the earliest dictionary written and pub-lished in the new world, according to ward. George Parker winship originally bought the book as part of a collection from nicholas Leon in 1896 for just over $2,000 in silver. “Books ripen like fine wines,” ward told The herald after the event. But he was reluctant to give exact price estimates of these texts today.

There is occasionally “anger and anxiety” from activists, collectors and historians in Latin America about “their cultural patrimony” being dislocated north, ward added. But he said that books and manuscripts have moved around the world for centuries.

Digitalization will now make these rare books more accessible. The li-brary is participating in Primeros Li-bros, an effort to digitize every book printed in 16th century Mexico.

The zoo is “a good way of promot-ing the conservation and preserva-tion of these very special objects,” Saunders said. The watts Program will be offering more events related to historical texts through the semester. Lucas Mason-Brown ’13 will give a talk oct. 13 on his work cracking the code of the “Mystery Book,” written by roger williams, and well-known book artist Maureen Cummins is of-fering a workshop on “how to Start your own Fine Press and Publishing Venture” Dec. 1.

“we have such great materials here that students may not know about,” Saunders said. “It’s a good way to get students into the collection.”

rare book ‘petting zoo’ offers a special touch

labs as well.The remainder of the evening con-

sisted of presentations from each of the professors involved in the higgs-like particle’s discovery — Gerald Guralnik, Greg Landsberg, David Cutts, Meen-akshi narain and Ulrich heintz.

Landsberg, who serves as the physics coordinator for Cern, provided histori-cal context for the discovery, tracing the history of the particle from 1964, when it was first postulated, to the modern day.

“This discovery is just the first” of many in the field of particle physics, Landsberg said. he praised his col-leagues’ roles as taking part in a “great scientific tradition here at Brown.”

Guralnik, who was one of the physi-cists who first predicted the existence of the higgs boson, discussed his personal work with the particle. he recounted his doctoral work at harvard trying to find solutions to quantum field theories. Guralnik co-authored one of three 1964

papers postulating the existence of an additional boson that would eventually bear physicist Peter higgs’ name.

heintz, narain and Cutts, who were involved in collecting data for the Cern effort, presented further on the nature of the boson itself and some of the experimental challenges in trying to produce the higgs-like particle. narain focused in particular on the challenges of building the 17-mile long Large had-ron Collider, the particle accelerator that made it possible to create the higgs-like particle.

Students were enthusiastic about the presentations. “I still don’t understand all the theory behind it, but I under-stand it better,” said Alex Meehan ’15, a prospective physics concentrator who was on campus for the live streaming of the original Cern announcement this summer.

“So much of the world’s collaborated on this,” said hannah Kolus ’15. “It’s re-ally amazing how much science seems to bring everyone together.”

/ /higgs page 1

Pathikrit BhattaCharyya / herald

brown physicists highlighted their contributions to the higgs boson discovery that may explain how forces and particles of the universe interact.

thanks for reading!

editorial6 the Brown DAILy herALDweDneSDAy, oCtoBer 10, 2012

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.

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e d i to r i a l C a r to o n b y j a c q u e l i n e f e i l e r

“Books ripen like fine wines.”— kenneth ward, curator at the John Carter Brown library

See Book on page 5.

e d i to r i a l

During the 1896 presidential election, Mark hanna broke fundraising records and set a new standard for campaign management. Broadly speaking, he efficiently solicited America’s industrial and banking barons — including former classmate, John D. rockefeller — for miniscule percentages of wealth in order to flood the nation with pamphlets, fliers and the occasional parade for the eventual victory of william McKinley. As inequality increased, campaigns began concentrating on getting the elite to woo the working class.

today, the election landscape is shifting again as a result of rising socioeco-nomic disparity. After the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal election Commission decision opened the floodgates for Super PAC influence, campaign finance entered another new era dominated by the elite. yet the 2012 presidential election does not seem to be disproportionately swayed by large donors. The impact of Citizens United will be most strongly felt in elections of a smaller or more focused scale. This is why we strongly advocate for either constitutional reform or state-level regulation before large money can become truly corrupting on a national scale.

For the first time since 1976, both candidates, President Barack obama and republican opponent Mitt romney, have rejected public finance. In 2008, turning down federal campaign funding was feasible only for Democratic presidential candidate obama because of his unique appeal to small donors. This year, both the obama and romney campaigns have embraced Super PAC war chests to the tune of approximately $593 million so far.

The public reaction to this trend has been highly negative. A Pew research Center poll indicates that 78 percent of registered voters who are well informed of public finance laws see Super PACs as a negative influence. There was no significant variation for either party, showing disdain across the board.

But in terms of real effect on the current national election, it seems that Super PAC money has failed to be as influential as its detractors predicted. Most of the Super PAC money spent thus far has gone to television advertising, especially in battleground states. Super PAC ads and the traditional campaign ads have completely seized airwaves in states like Iowa, where viewers have to sit through six times as many ads as there were in 2008, and ohio, where your favorite half-hour show will feature as many as 10 attack ads from either side.

For any normal citizen, this kind of campaigning is utterly ineffective. Po-litical ads have always been cliche and melodramatic, so you can assume that a constant stream of them will fall on deaf ears. Campaign officials are finding that campaign “ads have reached the point of diminishing returns.”

So what will all the rich donors do with their money? Sheldon Adelson, the Las Vegas casino owner known for his commitment to Super PACs, has donated almost $40 million to republican candidates. he certainly will not be pleased to hear that his generous contributions have essentially been wasted on high-cost commercial blocs that do not translate to additional voters.

Super PAC money has been more effective in elections of partisan focus and smaller scale. During the republican primaries, independent ads were extremely nasty and strongly swayed members in one party.

In state-level elections, large money can have a bigger impact on funding regional voter research and direct mail and calls, tactics that are much more effective than television ads. As long as Citizens United stands and our nation’s elected officials become ever more intertwined with corporate and elite donor interests, we stand for constitutional public finance reform on a national scale, such as the elimination of Super PACs, or state-level regulations on spending to preempt the imbalance of the next Mark hanna.

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

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opinions 7the Brown DAILy herALDweDneSDAy, oCtoBer 10, 2012

A column by Alex Drechsler ’15 on the mer-its of a bipartisan education, “two Ideolo-gies, one education,” holds about as much water as gasoline. The story he tells is rid-dled with factual lapses, bad logic and utter nonsense.

right away, the first paragraph of the col-umn comes off as a self-important attempt to establish some sort of ideological street cred. After all, he boldly reveals that he is a republican studying at Brown University. what courage!

Are we supposed to sympathize with the self-sacrificial “intellectual masochism” — somebody give this kid a copy of Venus in Furs — that Drechsler claims he has under-taken? Is this, as he asserts, merely the high price of pursuing the Socratic method?

well, I certainly have some misgivings with the rationalistic enterprise Socrates initiates in western philosophy. That said, I can tell you with great certainty that Socrates would be the first to say that just because you have an opinion, point of view or moralizing thing to say, it doesn’t mean it’s a good one, let alone one that should be printed.

In this column Drechsler makes the as-sertion that only he and his small but mighty band of fellow conservatives are truly inter-

ested in political thought of all ideological stripes. In doing so, he drastically underes-timates other Brown students’ intellectual integrity.

I reject wholeheartedly the notion that “most students may believe their time is wasted learning conservatism.” to Drechsler: Did you conduct a poll on the matter? Do you mean to suggest that Brown students’ time spent reading Burke, ricar-do, Buckley, von Mises, hayek, Friedman or MacIntyre in class was somehow an illusion or a penance?

on another note, he discounts the pos-sibility that students may hold their opin-ions rather legitimately. Should we really fault students whose families have relied on health care for life-saving operations for not truly buying the more virulent of hayek’s anti-statist screeds?

Furthermore, Drechsler has clearly not spent much time perusing the political the-ory offerings at our school. with all due re-spect to the Political Theory Project, their “libertarian” curricular offerings are far more in line with the right in this country than the progressive or socially liberal vi-sions held by the straw men in Drechsler’s depiction of Brown. The country’s highest exemplar of a conservative journal, the na-

tional review, doesn’t seem to have a prob-lem accepting Professor of Political Science John tomasi’s conservative credentials. Do you mean to suggest that courses like PoLS 1150: “Prosperity: The ethics and econom-ics of wealth Creation” and PoLS 1822P: “Defenses of Capitalism” are not inherently conservative? I am not buying it.

The leap Drechsler makes to assert left-leaning professors suggest, either explicitly or implicitly, that half our society is non-consequential is also staggering. Does a so-ciology professor’s off-the-cuff sarcastic re-

mark about the intellectual and legislative kinship between rep. todd Akin, r-Mo., the GoP’s vice presidential candidate rep. Paul ryan, r-wis., really convey elitism? C’mon now!

If you’re looking for a remark unequivo-cally to this effect I suggest you see repub-lican presidential candidate Mitt romney’s “47 percent” comment.

I would like to highlight the error in Drechsler’s blind insistence that the best education is the “bipartisan” education. This education, according to Drechsler’s glib ref-erence to the ideal of the “Socratic Method,” takes its legitimacy not from discursive in-clusion but from relentless self-reflexive criticism.

The truth is that not all thought is equally equipped for critical evaluation. often con-servative thought relies on forms of argu-mentation that in themselves are not in line with the above premise that Drechsler con-cedes is the very basis of pedagogical legiti-macy.

The danger in Drechsler’s assertion in this regard is in creating a false equivalence between institutions. to do so eliminates the potential for scholarship to move be-yond the half-baked ideological categories of the day.

I submit that were one to conduct a com-parative study of the treatment of conserva-tives and their ideas at Brown with that of liberals at rev. Jerry Falwell’s Liberty Uni-versity, he or she would find that the in-struction doesn’t represent two sides of the same coin.

It is high time that our political discourse rejects this false ideal of bipartisanship. As long as we pretend that all viewpoints are of the same substrate and form while differing only in color there will be no discursive res-olution, only juvenile retreats and argumen-tative cop-outs.

If Drechsler objects so strongly to a “lib-eral” (certainly not understood here in the economic sense) education, I challenge him to put some legs on this criticism and en-gage with actual questions rather than with a confused, indulgent apology.

houston davidson ’14 is a political theory concentrator and manager of Brown

Political review’s facts & factions column.

The problem with a ‘bipartisan’ education

College education is America’s next eco-nomic bubble. Student loan debt in the United States is $914 billion, which far sur-passes credit card debt. This should not come as much surprise to Brown students. tuition for the 2011-2012 academic year at Brown was $41,328.

The rising cost of higher education across the country is not a pretty picture, either. From 1980 to 2010, tuition at pub-lic and private four-year institutions has in-creased 247 percent, adjusted for inflation. The question in the back of every student’s mind is: why? why do professors’ salaries, blackboards and teaching supplies total to tens of thousands of dollars per student? And why does tuition steadily increase each year? If anything, one would expect college tuition to have declined over the decades — considering the advances in technology that have made many aspects of teaching faster and cheaper. The answer is clear but hard to accept. The U.S. government is re-sponsible for today’s exorbitant surge in the price of college.

The government subsidizes the cost of college in a number of ways. There are Pell Grants, given to low-income students. The Federal Supplemental educational oppor-tunity Grant is another grant given to low-income students. The Federal work-Study Program is a grant given to students who

agree to hold a part-time job.Stafford Loans are the most popular

loan program. These are low, fixed-rate loans to undergraduate or graduate stu-dents regardless of financial need. Many college students are familiar with the Staf-ford Loan program, having completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. to put these programs in context, 66 per-cent of current U.S. undergraduates receive financial aid of some kind, and 34 percent of all undergraduates receive Stafford loans averaging $5,000.

These federal aid programs have a noble goal — educating more Americans so that more may lead productive lives. But inten-tions do not always match outcomes. The outcomes of many of these federal loan programs are, ironically, the very opposite of the intentions.

Federal college aid leads to higher tu-ition in a straightforward way. Colleges and universities understand that students can easily get loans guaranteed against de-fault by the government. Private companies would not sell these low-rate college loans because the risk of student default is too great. But with the taxpayer base, the gov-ernment is well equipped to finance cut-rate loans — eerily similar to the govern-ment-guaranteed loans that brought on a

housing bubble.Colleges and universities can hike tu-

ition and students will simply take out more low-interest loans, and politicians in washington will likely call for more federal aid at lower rates. Thus, there is an endless cycle of tuition increases and greater col-lege debt.

Students and taxpayers get the stuck with costs of the loans. The students are forced into paying ever more for college each year. The taxpayers are forced to de-vote more and more money to programs

that will eventually require massive bailouts when rates of default increase.

Colleges are the winners. They raise tu-ition, let the government absorb the risk of student loans and finance whatever pet projects they see fit. take Brown, for in-stance. Look around campus and ask your-self if Brown is striving to reduce costs to make a Brown degree more affordable. hardly. The University is engaged in every construction adventure imaginable — from a state-of-the-art aquatics center, to reno-vations of campus eateries, to a new hockey field.

why not? The University has no incen-tive to cut costs and make college afford-able so long as government loan programs increase demand. what would happen if

federal college loans were abolished tomor-row? would colleges classrooms empty and colleges be forced to close down? no. Few could afford to attend college without stu-dent loans, but that would force colleges to cut costs and reduce tuition to attract stu-dents. College would become affordable.

In fact, throughout most of U.S. history, there were no federal college loans, and col-lege tuition was cheap and stable. Consider yale. From 1810 to 1832, tuition at yale held to $33. From 1874 to 1910, yale’s tuition in-creased by just 14 percent. Compare that to the overall 247 percent increase over just the last 30 years. If your grandparents went to college, ask them how they could afford it, and they will probably say they worked through college. But at $41,328 a year, who could work their way through a college like Brown today?

Unfortunately, even though the govern-ment has led many students into lives of debt, most students support student loans believing that without them, they could never attend college. Ironically, govern-ment programs have made college unaf-fordable, prompting students to have to ask for more government aid. If instead these programs were phased out, college would be a far better deal for students. The lesson in college loans is twofold. one, intentions do not equal outcomes. two, the govern-ment pretends to be your friend, but is any-thing but.

oliver hudson ’14 believes affordable college education is possible. he may be

contacted at oliver_hudson@brown.edu.

Major in debt

the u.s. government is responsible for today’s exorbitant surge in the price of college.

in this column drechsler makes the condescending, arrogant assertion that only he and his small but mighty

band of fellow conservatives are truly interested in political thought of all ideological stripes.

By houston davidsonGuest Columnist

oliver hudsonopinions Columnist

daily heraldthe Brownsports wednesday

weDneSDAy, oCtoBer 10, 2012

By alexaNDra CoNWaySPortS Staff Writer

the no. 19 men’s soccer team played to a 1-1 draw at Princeton’s roberts Stadium Saturday, leaving the two teams tied for second place in the Ivy League. the tigers (5-3-1, 1-0-1 Ivy) fought the Bears (8-1-2, 1-0-1 Ivy) to the end of their second double overtime match of the season.

“It was definitely a great result to get on the road against one of the best teams we have played yet this sea-son, so it was a full 90-minute battle that we just had to get through,” said forward Ben Maurey ’15. “we had players playing with injuries and lots of players coming in off the bench.”

the strong defense on both sides of the field defined the first 30 min-utes of the game. the first shot on goal was not fired until the 33rd minute by rookie tariq Akeel ’16. In the 38th minute, tim whalen ’16 one-timed a punch ball by Princeton goalkeeper Seth MacMillan off a cor-ner kick by thomas Mcnamara ’13 to give the Bears an early 1-0 lead. whalen’s goal was his second this year, and Maurey called it “the nicest one of the season.” Bruno was able to keep the tigers’ offense in check for the remainder of the first half, outshooting Princeton 10-7.

After the break, Princeton turned up its intensity to respond to Bruno’s powerful defensive force. the tigers edged the Bears in shots 9-3 in the second period, and finally found the back of the net in the 73rd minute. Princeton’s Mark Linnville delivered a long throw into the box, which was then headed by Matt Sanner. Cam-eron Porter finished the job, barely slipping the ball past goalie Sam Kernan-Schloss ’13, who picked up

five big saves for the Bears Saturday.with the match stuck at 1-1, nei-

ther team backed down for the re-mainder of the game. Bruno pushed hard to break the tie when Maurey took a spectacular shot on net, but Princeton was able to preserve the draw.

“the game was very physical and intense from end to end the entire game,” said Bobby Belair ’13. “there were a lot of set pieces for both teams, which turned out to be the equalizer.”

the overtime periods saw both the Bears and tigers playing resilient soccer.

“we created some good chances towards the end of the game and into overtime, but just weren’t able to get the winning goal,” said co-captain eric robertson ’13.

“even though a tie wasn’t what we

wanted, it’s what we deserved that night,” Maurey said, “and it was a good result to get.”

“harvard is now our main focus,” Voltaire escalona ’14 said. “they are a talented team who always puts up a hard fight. this weekend is a must-win for us if we are going to stay in contention for the Ivy title. the pressure is on, and we are excited to deliver for our school.”

the Bears will take on the Crim-son at Stevenson Field Saturday eve-ning, and are eager to earn the three points from a victory.

“we will look to use home-field advantage to get an important win against harvard this weekend,” Be-lair said. “we are looking forward to having a full week of practice to train and prepare for what will be another tough match Saturday night.”

bruno ties Princeton in ‘90-minute battle’

By KiKi barNesContributing Writer

each semester, anywhere between eight and 30 groups of ambitious stu-dents get together with a professor to choose a topic, write a syllabus and cre-

ate their own credit-bearing course known

as a Group Independent Study Project, or GISP. There are eight GISPs open to Brown students this fall.

There are often fewer GISPS in the fall than in the spring because students don’t realize they must coordinate their efforts so far in advance, said Laura Ucik ’13, an independent studies co-coordinator. First-years cannot partici-pate in GISPs in their first semester, but they can propose GISPs for their second semester, according to the GISP website.

GISP proposals for spring 2013 are due nov. 2.

the GISP designing process is simple. when students have an idea, they must provide a justification for the course and the work required to learn the topic. GISP proposals are reviewed by a committee of adminis-

trators, professors and independent study coordinators. They then undergo revisions before they are approved.

“The sky’s the limit,” Ucik said. “It’s really easy to get a GISP approved as long as you’re in communication.”

This semester, eight GISPs were approved, one of the lowest numbers in recent years. Some current topics include “Social Justice and the Law,” “Chaebols and the Korean economy” and “Global Sports Media and Com-munications.”

GISPs are known for being student-driven environments where professors take on collaborative rather than lead-ing roles.

“The experiences have all been re-warding because the students involved in them have been serious and highly motivated,” wrote howard Chudacoff, professor of history, in an email to The herald. Chudacoff has advised several GISPs, including one called “Interdis-ciplinary Study of Sport.” Chudacoff wrote that he respected both the stu-dents and the work they were doing.

“It’s the students defining the path themselves,” said Jonah Kagan ’13, who is participating in a GISP called “In-fographics.” The environment is very

collaborative and self-evaluative, he said, adding that members of his GISP include students studying computer science, cognitive science and visual art, which produces different perspec-tives on the topic.

Kagan said he and his group spent the first day of class answering the question, “what is infographics?” They decided it consisted of various forms of visual communication, he said.

Another GISP called “radio Sto-rytelling” is a workshop that explores how to present fiction and nonfiction stories in an audio format, said Caitlin Kennedy ’14, a student in the course. The students explore how stories can be told in different ways, as well as how to act with their voices and the works of famous radio personalities, she said.

“It’s like going to a movie together for class on a Friday night,” she said, adding that the atmosphere is very friendly, laid-back and intimate, and the students enjoy studying and sharing their favorite radio stories for credit.

“everyone in the class is very in-vested and accountable to each other,” said Louisa Kellogg ’14.5, another stu-dent in the course. “we all want to get

the most out of the class, so everyone is really involved.”

Last semester, the University kicked off its first GISP talks. Modeled after teD talks, GISP talks showcase the work of the semester’s GISPs, accord-ing to GISP coordinators and partici-pants. Last spring, around 60 students and faculty gathered in Solomon to learn about the exciting endeavors of the 13 GISPs from the semester. The trailer of a movie made by students in the GISP “Character: From Stage to Screen” and slideshows from “Science and Compassion in Medicine” and

“Sport for Development and Peace” were among the presentations.

“It’s something you walk out of and go, ‘wow,’” said evan Schwartz ’13, an independent concentrations coordinator.

GISPs were a direct product of the new Curriculum, which seeks to make independent study an integral part of being a Brown student.

“everyone is so clearly passion-ate about what they are doing. That’s what’s so great,” Ucik said. “Students can study whatever they’re interested in.”

number of GIsPs drops to eight this semesterCourse enrollmentsports Media and Communications 9

infographics 9

radio storytelling 8

Chaebols and the korean economy 6

Public Memory approaches to Conflict resolution

5

kiswahili 0200 3

social Justice and the law 2

Pollen tube glycobiology 2

Fall 2012 gisPs

Note: Course names are based on information provided by the Curricular Resource Center.

men’s soccer tied the Princeton tigers 1-1 saturday and will play harvard at home next weekend.

Jonathan BateMan / herald

m. soCCer

PrincetonBrown

11

By steveN broWNstoNeContributing Writer

where did the photon that just hit your eye come from? high school chemistry textbooks would answer that the photon came from an atom and that the proper-ties of that photon are dependent only on the atom’s element. research con-ducted by Manning Assistant Profes-sor of engineer-ing rashid Zia ’01 shows that by manipulating an atom’s electro-magnetic environment, researchers can dramatically alter the nature of the photons it will emit. Zia was recently awarded a $4.5 million Multidisci-plinary University research Initiative funded by the Air Force to study this effect, which could be the basis for super-fast optical computing, unbreak-able encrypted communication and new forms of high density information storage.

But all of these new technologies rely on gradient electromagnetic fields to manipulate the nature of emitted photons. If the wavelength of an incom-ing electromagnetic field is shrunk rela-tive to an atom, the atom can recognize the magnetic nature of the field and more complex, normally “forbidden” photon emissions can take place.

Analogously, the earth appears flat, and people feel gravity along on axis — gravity pulls down as opposed to up. But if the earth were shrunk so that its curvature became apparent, we would feel gravity along two axes, pulling both down and towards the center of the planet.

Zia is leading a $4.5 million Multi-disciplinary University research Initia-tive funded by the Air Force to find new materials that will “shrink the earth”

for photons , or reduce the wavelengths of incoming electromagnetic waves so photons will be affected both by electricity and magnetism. Then the researchers will seek new paths for photon emission using these new tools.

Many applications of quantum op-tics research first require photon emit-ters that can utilize both the magnetic and electric nature of light, Zia said.

“Diamond is an excellent material for manipulating wavelengths, but ob-viously diamond is not a reasonable material if this technology is ever go-ing to be used on the industrial scale,” Zia said. “we are working on materials that can be fabricated using techniques currently used to make semiconductors that exhibit similar optical properties.”

These fabricated materials, known as meta-materials, exhibit nonstandard properties, such as the ability to reverse the direction a wave travels and the ability to dramatically alter the wave-length of entering waves.

These materials, which were first developed 20 years ago, have exciting technological implications such as su-per-lenses, which exceed the theoretical limits of image clarity, invisibility cloaks — though Zia doubts the feasibility of invisibility in the harry Potter sense — and powerful micro-antennae.

“The smart phone in your pocket probably has a meta-material antenna,” Zia said. Meta-material antennae use the exact inverse of the process Zia uses for his photon emitters — they take signals with very short wavelengths and make them long. The research led by Zia will not only result in a better understanding of how meta-material photon emitters work, but will also help researchers gain a better understand-ing of the meta-materials themselves.

Jonathan Kurvits, a physics gradu-ate student in

Photon research offers promise for tech field

/ / Photon page 2

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