Wednesday, September 14, 2011Daily Heraldthe Brown

Since 1891vol. cxlvi, no. 65

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Campus News, 8

Crime scenestart of school brings dorm thefts, kitchen caper

The case for criticizing Obama

OpiNiONs, 7 wea

therNo holds

By LuCy FeLdmaNSenior Staff Writer

Brown and Cornell share the worst U.S. News and World Report rank-ing in the Ivy League this year, according to the 2012 rankings released online Monday.

The report — which calculates rankings based on metrics such as academic reputation, retention rates, class size, financial resources

and selectivity — ranked the two schools 15th in the nation.

Harvard and Princeton tied for first place, with Yale at third.

About 15 percent of the rank-ing is determined by college presidents’ participation in a peer assessment survey, according to the company’s website. Though overall participation by college presidents dropped to 43 percent this year, President Ruth Simmons

participated. But she remains skeptical of

the ranking system, she wrote in an email to The Herald, because the formula puts strong emphasis on an institution’s financial assets. “Nevertheless, Brown’s ranking at number 15 is very strong and an enviable position,” she wrote.

Brown has held roughly the

No news in U.’s US News ranking

By GreG JordaN-detamore aNd CaitLiN truJiLLo

Senior Staff WriterS

 Planning for next year’s housing overhaul is well underway. Ad-ministrators are moving forward with the creation of clustered first-year residential communities on Pembroke campus and in Keeney Quadrangle.

Existing singles in Miller and Metcalf halls will be converted to doubles to accommodate more first-years on Pembroke. Minden Hall and the Graduate Center are also slated for renovation during the 2013-14 and 2014-15 academic years, respectively.

Renovations of the Sharpe Re-fectory are also “part of the master plan,” said Dick Spies, executive vice president for planning and senior adviser to the president.

renovating residencesRenovation of Miller and Met-

calf will begin next summer and should be complete by August 2013, said Stephen Maiorisi, vice president for Facilities Manage-

ment. The work will be compre-hensive, encompassing not only mechanical systems but also flooring, furniture, kitchens and bathrooms.

“Every aspect of those two buildings needs to be renovated,” said Richard Bova, senior associ-ate dean of residential and dining services. He compared the reno-vations in Miller and Metcalf to those of the New Pembroke resi-dence halls, which were recently overhauled as well.

The final configuration of rooms is still under consideration, and some single rooms will re-main.

About 100 new beds will be added to the residential system next fall, partially compensating for the temporary loss of beds due to the renovations, Bova said. 315 Thayer St., which is currently un-dergoing renovation, will house 60 students, and 42 will live on the first floor of Wayland House after the Office of Residential Life moves to Grad Center. The closing

Miller, Metcalf to house first-year doubles

By BeN KutNerSenior Staff Writer

The reinstatement of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and the possible elimination of several athletic teams were the two hot issues at Tuesday’s meeting of the Brown University Community Council in a standing-room-only Kasper Multipurpose Room.

Dean of the College Kather-ine Bergeron presented the final report of the Brown Commit-tee on ROTC, which was made public Sept. 7. In the report, the committee “recommends that the president engage in conversations with the Department of Defense to learn how Brown students might participate in Naval or Air Force ROTC programs currently unavailable to them.”

The committee was divided six to four on this point, Bergeron said.

“Why does it need to be de-cided on so quickly?” asked Julian Park ’12, a member of the Coali-tion Against Special Privileges for ROTC, during public comment time. Transgender opportunities in ROTC need to be brought up in continued dialogue across cam-pus, Park said.

“Any steps to bring ROTC would be divisive,” he said.

Simmons said there were ex-tensive opportunities to comment before the report was published and added that people may still comment and discuss the matter with her.

Discussion of athletic teams also evoked emotion from mem-bers of the gallery.

“No decision has been made yet as to what we will do,” Sim-mons said, adding that this meet-ing was the first opportunity for a more general discussion since the athletics review committee’s report was published in April.

The teams currently recom-mended for elimination are men’s and women’s fencing, women’s skiing and men’s wrestling. The report also recommended a re-view of coaches’ salaries, $10 million in athletic facilities im-provements and a reduction of 30 admissions slots for athletes from the current 225 set aside, said Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services Mar-

BUCC heats up over ROTC, sports cuts

By Joseph rosaLesSenior Staff Writer

The University hopes to name a director of the center for the study of slavery and justice this fall, five years after the Steering Commit-tee on Slavery and Justice recom-mended doing so. The decision should be announced within four to six weeks, according to Dean of the Faculty Kevin McLaughin P’12.

The creation of the center, one of the initiatives recommended by the committee in 2006, was ap-proved by the Corporation in 2007 but has stalled in the absence of a director. The search process had to begin anew when the candidate originally chosen rescinded the University’s offer.

“It’s been immensely frustrat-ing that it has taken so long,” President Ruth Simmons said.Though it has taken nearly four years, the University is getting closer to completing the recom-

After delay, S&J center director to be named

Emily Gilbert / HeraldWhile Brown fell from the top spot to third place in the Princeton Review’s happiest students ranking earlier this year, the University retained its 15th-place position in the U.S. News and World Report rankings.

Greg Jordan-Detamore / HeraldMetcalf Hall (top) will be renovated beginning in summer 2012, and renovations to the Graduate Center (above) will begin the following summer.continued on page 4

continued on page 3 continued on page 3

continued on page 2

should we reconsider our eating habits?

OpiNiONs, 7

supersize

Ben Schreckinger, PresidentSydney Ember, Vice President

Matthew Burrows, TreasurerIsha Gulati, Secretary

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Campus news2 the Brown Daily heraldwednesday, September 14, 2011

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Glenn Lutzky / HeraldThe Brown University Community Council’s latest meeting heard appeals from athletes hoping to save their teams.

Athletes argue against cutting teams

garet Klawunn.There was no scientific meth-

od for choosing teams to be elimi-nated, said Dick Spies, executive vice president for planning and senior adviser to the president. The committee considered the teams’ past records and positions

in the Ivy League, among other factors, he said.

During public comment time, Assistant Professor of Biology William Fairbrother said remov-ing any part of the University that directly impacts students is drastic. Athletics are an important aspect of some students’ college experiences, he added.

Members of the teams up for elimination were in attendance at the meeting, and several gave emotional presentations for their cases.

“The proposal is a betrayal of Brown’s ideals,” said Billy Watter-son ’14, adding that many athletes would not have matriculated at Brown if not for their sports.

continued from page 1

While most independent con-centrations require “multiple

phases of formulation and ap-provals,” these four pre-approved tracks do not.

When asked about the status

change, Anthony Cokes, profes-sor of MCM and the department’s director of undergraduate studies, characterized the move as un-remarkable. “They were always intended to be small concentra-tions for students who had in-tense interests in both languages and culture and media studies,” he said.

The move does not compro-mise the quality of undergradu-ate education, Bergeron wrote. “We value intellectual diversity, and we also want to ensure that students have good information in order to make good choices. Some students have a high de-gree of success when left to work independently. Others prefer to be in an environment with many other students, so that they learn from others.”

continued from page 8

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Campus news 3the Brown Daily heraldwednesday, September 14, 2011

mendations, which included an on-campus memorial to the slave trade and outreach and support for Providence public schools.

The memorial oversight com-mittee also hopes to name an art-ist within the next nine months, according to Jo-Ann Conklin, director of the David Winton Bell Gallery and a member of the memorial oversight committee.

Near completionFor Simmons, the pace of the

process has been trying. “It’s been an odyssey,” she said.

The University offered the di-rectorship to a candidate a few years ago. The candidate accepted the offer but later reneged due to personal circumstances. Now the University is in negotiations with a second final candidate, hoping for better results.

Simmons said the potential di-rector, whom she did not name, envisions a center with a wide purview.

“With regard to issues of jus-tice, this person would like to have not only a center that is the site for discourse on these issues world-wide, but also the locus for discus-sions on the campus,” she said.

Academically, the center would house researchers with a variety of interests, including leading schol-ars on slavery and justice — who would hold temporary appoint-ments at the University — and postdoctoral fellows and graduate students.

The candidate also hopes the center develops a relationship with the Providence community through programs for the pub-lic, something the original rec-ommendation did not focus on, Simmons said.

Though Simmons has not been happy with the amount of time spent planning the center, she said the wait has had its benefits. She has seen an increase in exhibits and discussions on slavery from a variety of organizations, from the Smithsonian Institution to the United Nations.

“We started all this before that happened, and yet, now, I think what we’re doing reaps the ben-efits of the worldwide attention that’s been paid,” she said. “I think the establishment of this center is today even more timely than when the committee first recom-mended it.”

‘a space for contemplation’According to former Chancel-

lor Artemis Joukowsky ’55 P’87, who sits on the Memorial Over-sight Committee, the memorial recalling the University’s history with slavery poses particular chal-lenges.

“We don’t want to make anyone feel offended or guilty or victim-ized,” Joukowsky said.

The committee’s initial artist selection recently fell through, Conklin said, forcing it to restart its search and redefine what its members were looking for in a memorial.

“The report on slavery and

justice was very clear that this should not be a memorial that elicits guilt,” Conklin said. “They wanted it to be a learning process and that it should be a space for contemplation and learning.”

Conklin said the committee hopes the piece will be finished by 2014, in time for the Univer-sity’s 250th anniversary. She also said the memorial will cost the University under $500,000.

Initially, the committee hoped to find a location for the memorial near University Hall — records show that four slaves belonging to University donors helped with its construction, Conklin said. But due to lack of space, the commit-tee is now looking at locations near the Walk and the current lo-cation of the Plant Environmental Center next to Hunter Laboratory. The Plant Environmental Center is scheduled for demolition in fall 2013.

Wherever the location, the committee is focused on choos-ing a piece that best represents the University, Joukowsky said.

“What will represent Brown well 50 years or 100 years from now?” he asked. “We’re very, very careful of what we put out.”

slow and steadyTwo Brown initiatives in the

Providence public schools that came out of the report continue to expand, albeit slowly.

Currently, the Fund for the Education of the Children of Providence, which awards grants to local schools, has an endow-ment of $1.26 million, according to Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar ’87 MA’90 PhD’09, assistant to the president and a former member of the committee overseeing the fund.

The initial recommendation called for the fund to be endowed with $10 million, but its progress toward that goal has been slow.

“Given the economic context right now, it’s kind of hard,” she said. “If you look at the documents from the slavery and justice re-port, the response and the charge of the committee, it was always assumed that this was going to take time.”

The fund has given around $250,000 to schools in the Provi-dence area, Joukowsky said.

“We try to find — and this is the most important thing — we try to identify contributions to public education that directly impacts the students,” he said. The grants are intended to “give them the opportunities that their predecessors could not have had,” he said.

The Urban Education Fellows program, the other educational initiative to come out of the re-port, also continues to help local students, according to Kenneth Wong, professor of education and chair of the department.

The program allows a handful of graduate students to gain mas-ter’s degrees in either teaching or urban education policy for free in exchange for three years of service in local schools upon graduation.

Wong said he has seen fewer

applicants from the teaching side of the program because of the recent financial turmoil in the Providence school system and its attendant consequences for job security.

But Wong said he still feels the program is beneficial to both the students and the schools they go on to help. “We hope these gradu-ates are going to be leaders in the future,” he said.

Continued responsibilityThough the implementation of

the committee’s recommendations has progressed tardily, Simmons sees a silver lining in the delays.

“Throughout the period of time, people have remained com-mitted to the effort, and it’s given us time to think about space for the center and all of the mechanics of it,” Simmons said. “So I think in some ways if the person who has the offer says yes, he’ll get off to a faster start because we’ve actually had time to get things organized better.”

A university like Brown has a duty as a “center of inquiry” to bring up topics like these, Jou-kowsky said.

“The University has to play a special role to make people aware of many things that they don’t think about all that much,” Joukowsky said. “If the University does not think about these, who will?”

Diverse goals for ‘center for inquiry’

Emily Gilbert / HeraldBrown’s 15th-place U.S. News and World Report ranking is “very strong,” wrote President Ruth Simmons in an email to The Herald.

same spot in the annual U.S. News and World Report rankings for the past eight years. The University has dropped two spots since it was ranked 13th in the nation in 2005.

“(Rankings) matter for public perception, which impacts the quality of applicants and visibil-ity of the school,” said Maureen Sigler, lecturer in the Department of Education. “Do I think it mat-ters? Yes. Do I think it’s subjec-tive? Yes.”

Rankings did not affect Sachi Yokose’s ’12 decision to attend Brown. “Brown is a good school. I know to take ratings with a grain of salt,” she said.

“I think that Brown’s under-graduate program and quality of the education we provide is un-surpassed. We are always working to improve, not for the sake of rankings but to make Brown an ever more significant and valuable university,” Provost Mark Schlis-sel P’15 wrote in an email to The Herald.

U.S. News ranking remains stable

continued from page 1

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Campus news4 the Brown Daily heraldwednesday, September 14, 2011

of the Saunders Inn at Brown also created 46 new student beds in Vartan Gregorian Quad this fall.

Renovations may be scheduled so that Miller and Metcalf are closed during different semesters, Bova added.

Consolidated communitiesThe conversion of many singles

to doubles in Miller and Metcalf will be a first step toward the Uni-versity’s goal of creating first-year communities.

“Having a core where first-years live … allows us to provide services in unique and different ways for them,” Bova said. Origi-nal plans for the renovations were put on hold due to the economic recession, Maiorisi said.

With the creation of more first-year rooms on Pembroke, dorms like Perkins Hall that currently house first-years may be used for upperclassmen instead.

“Perkins is a unique facility,” Bova said. He suggested with a new room configuration, it could be used as upperclass housing — an idea that has also been dis-cussed by the student Residential Council.

Alexander Zamudio ’12, who lives in a single on the first floor of Metcalf, said he initially opposed the plan because the Metcalf and Miller singles are prime options for upperclassmen. But he said he sees the benefits of a potential net gain of beds, which could limit temporary housing assignments. First-year students who would live in Metcalf and Miller would ben-efit from access to the Pembroke first-year community, Zamudio said.

General renovations to the residence halls would also be welcome, as Zamudio’s room is

showing signs of age — the wall paint is peeling badly, and his win-dow sticks when he tries to open it, he said.

Though Metcalf resident Kyle Wynter-Stoner ’13 thinks consoli-dating first-years makes sense, he said Metcalf and Miller provide quiet living spaces for the upper-classmen who need them.

planning for the futureA complete construction sched-

ule has not yet been worked out, but preliminary plans call for Min-den to be renovated from summer 2013 to summer 2014, with Grad Center following from summer 2014 to summer 2015, Maiorisi said. Grad Center’s renovation could be phased so that not all towers are closed at once.

Minden “needs a complete overhaul,” Bova said. Due to a reconfiguration of rooms during the renovation, the residence hall would gain beds.

In Grad Center, the renovations would replace one single bedroom in each suite with a common room, making it “much more livable and much more desirable by students,” Maiorisi said.

Currently, Grad Center — con-structed in 1968 — “does not ef-fectively use space or create a sense of community,” Bova said.

The renovations of Miller, Metcalf, Minden and Grad Cen-ter are part of “a bigger strategic plan for residence halls,” Maiorisi said. Such a plan could potentially include the construction of new residence halls. In the past, sites that have been proposed include the parking lot next to Barbour Hall, the current location of East Side Mini-Mart and the parking lot behind 315 Thayer St.

Any project, if approved by the Corporation, would take several years to complete, Maiorisi said.

“There’s no question about the need.”

There has long been interest and discussion among administra-tors and Corporation members about the possibility of new resi-dence halls, but “everybody knows we’ve got to raise some money,” Spies said. Fundraising ability de-pends on whether or not donors “can be excited about residence halls.”

The University is “continuing to study it and think about alter-natives,” he said, with an under-standing that adding to the hous-ing stock is necessary to reduce overcrowding.

More news about the Univer-sity’s residential plans should be available after the Oct. 20-22 Cor-poration meeting, Bova said. He said the renovations were “abso-lutely not” a step toward increasing enrollment.

From bed to breakfastAlso important to residential

life is the dining experience. While there are not yet official plans to renovate the Ratty, administrators have their eyes on such a project for the future.

There is broad agreement that the building needs “significant renovation” within the next several years, as its mechanical systems are “near the end of their useful life,” Spies said. Such upgrades will

provide the University a great op-portunity to overhaul the entire building, he said.

Bova evoked Verney-Woolley Dining Hall’s renovation as an ex-

ample of what could be in store for the Ratty.

“Food is an important part of the residential experience,” he said. “The Ratty is an institution.”

Admins outline preliminary schedule for dorm renovations

Greg Jordan-Detamore / HeraldMinden Hall (bottom) is tentatively scheduled to undergo renovations beginning summer 2013.

continued from page 1

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5the Brown Daily heraldwednesday, September 14, 2011

Fraternity of Evil | Eshan Mitra, Brendan Hainline, and Hector Ramirez

Co M I C S

Cruz described Rettig as “just a force down there.”

“I don’t think anybody’s going to just put one guy on him,” he said. Rettig became a starter last year, playing in nine of 10 games and making 29 total tackles.

Peyton and Cruz also said they

expect big things from Stephen Fox ’13 and Matthew O’Donnell ’12, who both had breakout sea-sons last year.

“Our linebackers will surprise a lot of people,” Peyton said. “They haven’t started before, so they have the chance to show a lot of people what they can do. They don’t have as much experi-

ence, but in preseason … they’ve shown they can definitely handle the task.”

“All around, at each position, we have a lot of guys who can put a lot of pressure on the quarter-back,” he said. “The quarterback will be getting rid of the ball real quick. (It) makes (the second-ary’s) job a bit easier.”

Herald file photoReturning teammates say newer defensive linebackers have “shown they can definitely handle the task.”

Defense primed to ‘surprise’continued from page 8

bike was not registered with DPS.

2:40 p.m. Student stated he left his bike in front of 222 Richmond St. Sept. 3. When he returned Sept. 5, he found his bike seat was miss-ing. He was informed by the guard at 222 Richmond Street that the theft occurred Sept. 4 by males on bikes. The theft was not reported to police as the victim was not known at the time and was cap-

tured by cameras in the area. The case is under investigation.

8:06 p.m. Officers observed in plain view one student carrying a 30-pack of beer and another car-rying a bottle of wine. The officers asked to see the students’ ID cards. At that time the students disclosed to the officers that they were not of legal drinking age. The alcohol was seized and the case has been turned over to the Office of Stu-dent Life.

Today in University history

On Sept. 14, 2001: A candlelight vigil mourned the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001,

attacks while a panel of faculty discussed the United States’ options moving forward. At the panel, Watson Institute Research Professor Nina Tannenwald, now a lecturer in political science, cautioned against a course of action that involved “flattening Afghanistan.”

On Sept. 14, 1981:It was the day before the first day of school. The Sept. 15, 1981,

Herald reported that for the first time since the program began in 1975, white students were allowed to participate in Third World Transition Week, now called the Third World Transition Program. None did. First-year Alexis Egan ’85, who moved in the day before, painted “a Sunkist-colored mural” on her wall and spread out a rug the color and texture of “Astroturf.” Headphones for a Sony Walkman were advertised for $29. Campus policeman Al Phillips told The Herald that “‘everything’s running smoothly so fah,’ as car horns honked furiously around him outside the West Quad” — now known as Keeney Quadrangle.

On Sept. 14, 1971: West Quad opened Bronson and Jameson Houses to co-ed living

for the first time. Female students remarked on the hastily painted “Wo-” additions to bathroom doors but were otherwise pleased with the new living arrangements. Dean of Academic Counseling Barrett Hazeltine, now professor emeritus of engineering, advised first-years to “strongly consider exercising the Satisfactory/No Credit option” while exploring the New Curriculum, which was at that point only one year old.

— Katherine long

N E W S I N B R I E F

Student bike stolen in Jewelry District

continued from page 8

editorial & Letter6 the Brown Daily heraldwednesday, September 14, 2011

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

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

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

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Johnson ’14 too quick to criticize marriage counter-rally

To the Editor:

While Garret Johnson ’14 makes a valid point about Brown’s lack of political diversity in his opinions piece (“A different kind of diversity,” Sept. 13), when he describes the events of March 23 he makes the error of conflating the Brown student response with an “intolerance of conservative political views.” The fact is that the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property did not just come to Brown to declare their views on gay marriage legisla-tion — they also distributed pamphlets including moral descriptions of homosexuals as “sick individuals” who were going straight to hell. Johnson condemns Brown students for their “fierce reactions” to this group,

calling them liberal hypocrites. It is true that some students exhibited “terrorizing” behavior that was highly inappropriate. Yet the entire counter protest he speaks of was not a matter of liberal versus conserva-tive political views. Rather, it was an understandable reaction to persecution, from a campus that has made a point to be hospitable and welcoming toward LGBTQ students. To condemn these students for protesting against a group that sought to perpetuate injustice and inequality is not hypocritical, nor should it be attributed to political divisions. The equal treatment of all students, regardless of their sexualities, should be a societal goal rather than a liberal or conservative one.

Yvonne Yu ’13

E D I To R I A L Co M I C b y s a m r o s e n f e l d

“The Ratty is an institution.”— Richard Bova, senior associate dean of residential and dining services

see renovationS on page 1.

E D I To R I A L

College students are aggressively pursued by corporate America. From clothing retailers and technology firms to beer companies and banks, corporations are intensifying their efforts to make lifelong customers of us. This week, the New York Times reported that on-campus marketing has proliferated at American colleges, involving sponsored shopping trips, student “brand ambassadors” and free food and gear. Far be it from us to stand between students and free stuff — or Brown and easy money — but we must voice our concern over the gradual commercialization of higher education.

One of the most prominent new ways marketers are reaching potential customers is through student “brand ambassadors,” who use personal connections and popularity, product giveaways and local knowledge to sell their employers’ products and brand. Other stores team up with administrators and orientation com-mittees to organize freshman shopping trips — 66 universities and colleges featured trips to Target this year. Red Bull uses its “brand managers” at 300 schools to push its products and sponsor events and lectures.

These new tactics make good business sense. After all, students are likely to form lifelong purchasing habits while in college and tend to exert influence on what their families and friends purchase back home. Indeed, marketers are unlikely to be satisfied with their current campus foothold.

The commercialization of higher education must be curbed, preserving universities and colleges as a refuge for thought amid an impatient culture of mass consumption. Already we have seen the first steps of commercialization at Brown: Samsung charging stations at the Sharpe Refectory, the Gate and the Olney-Margolies Athletic Center; drink companies and clothing retailers promoting their brands in dining halls and dormitories; and, most recently, Bed Bath and Beyond setting up shop beside Apple in the Brown Bookstore. (Despite appearances, the Brown Bookstore is inde-pendent of the University.)

After their installation in 2010, the Samsung chargers were judged an eyesore by students. One student told The Herald that the brand’s “infiltrating” of the Sharpe Refectory was “shameless promoting for Samsung” (“Samsung jolts campus with charging stations,” Feb. 11, 2010). We agree.

Shameless or not, commercialization carries certain benefits for both the University and students. Employed students gain pay, free gear and work experience, for example, and Brown earns money from corporations. (Samsung pays Brown $4,500 per year to host the charging stations.) That being said, bringing branding to campus also carries serious risks. The campus should engage in a discussion over the extent to which it is willing to allow cor-porations to expand before it is too late. It would be a shame for future students to attend “Kraft Presents the Culture of Nutrition” taught by the J. Crew chair of anthropology in Motorola Hall.

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

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Post- maGazinesam Knowlesamelia stanton

editor-in-Chiefeditor-in-Chief

An article in Tuesday’s Herald (“Rohde ’90 to return to Little Rhody,” Sept. 13) misspelled the name of jour-nalist David Rohde ’90. The Herald regrets the error.

Co R R E C T I o N S

A front-page article in Thursday’s Herald (“ROTC committee issues final report,” Sept. 8) incorrectly asserted that the report of the Committee on the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps “states that (President Ruth) Sim-mons can discuss possibilities for ROTC programs with the Department of Defense when she receives input from the Brown community in support of such programs.” In fact, the report does not mention input from the Brown community as a prerequisite to such discussions. The Herald regrets the error.

opinions 7the Brown Daily heraldwednesday, September 14, 2011

My roommate, who works the closing shift at the Friedman Cafe, called me up Friday night and said, “Would you mind com-ing to (the Sciences Library) and taking a couple of the leftover muffins for us? It’s so sad to see them going into the dump-ster. I feel like a rampage killer.” I went there and took four muffins home, gave one to the lady at reception and threw the rest of them away. The total death toll was 54 bagels and 28 muffins. My room-mate said later that closing cashiers have been throwing away around 50 bagels ev-ery single night of the week. What’s even worse is that, as cashiers, they are not al-lowed to give them away by Brown Din-ing Services policy. I used to work as a ca-shier at Friedman, the Rockefeller Library and Barus & Holley last year, both open-ing and closing shifts. I told the person who delivered baked goods every morn-ing that we throw away too many of them at the end of the day. After a year, cashiers are still given the same amount of baked goods. It seems that the BuDS officers be-lieve that we should eat a lot more than we do now.

Americans have, indeed, overestimat-

ed their ability to consume food. It seems impossible to finish a spicy cashew chick-en at the Cheesecake Factory, and I usu-ally share a burrito bowl with a friend at Chipotle for lunch. In Germany, I could not even find a cup as big as the super-sized milkshakes I have seen here — ex-cept a beer mug. The deep buckets of chicken and wheel-sized burgers sold in fast food chains look like weapons of mass destruction to me, but every day millions

of kids and adults just walk into those res-taurants, devour some burgers and walk out with their super-sized bodies. Every-thing seems perfectly normal. Accord-ing to visualeconomics.com, an average American purchases almost 2,000 pounds of food per year. Every year, we consume 29 pounds of French fries, 53 gallons of soda — about a gallon per week — 24 pounds of ice cream and 24 pounds of ar-tificial sweetener. That is a diet of 2,700 calories per day. How could that possibly

be normal?Let’s admit it: Restaurants and super-

markets have made us believe that we need that much food to survive, so that we consume more. We live in a country where corporate health is favored over human and environmental health. In or-der to expand food sales, companies lobby government agencies, market to children and advertise junk food as healthy. To get people to buy their products, fast food

companies spent $4.2 billion on market-ing in 2009, according to a report by Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. Their market share has been continuous-ly growing since McDonald’s and other restaurants introduced dollar menus and specifically targeted children and low-in-come families. I’m not saying we should blame these companies for everything. After all, they represent good value for people on a budget and provide children a relatively safe place to hang out. What is

really dangerous to our health and the en-vironment is the eating habits we have de-veloped throughout the years under their influence.

What’s even worse is that, after years of brainwashing, eating and wasting too much food has almost become part of the American culture. Every time people try to raise money, they bake brownies and cookies. The University provides students with all-you-can-eat meals, as do most American colleges. Student groups and clubs on campus always capitalize “FREE FOOD” on their advertising materials to attract people. Is it not weird that we are not even paying for what we eat? Food is no longer respected: It is so easy to get and so cheap to purchase that we do not even want to spend time on it. People buy without thinking, eat without thinking and throw things away without thinking. I don’t think that anyone really wants to waste food — we are just given too many opportunities and sometimes even forced to do so. Nobody judges you when you dump the food you cannot finish into the garbage, because we have all been in the same situation. Sometimes, wasting is no longer just a choice. It has become a must. How sad is that?

Jan Cao ’13 is a comparative literature and German studies concentrator from Nanjing, China. She can be reached at

jieran_cao@brown.edu.

Should we eat that much?

Everyone on campus currently being paid six figures to give political advice to Presi-dent Barack Obama, raise your hand.

No one? Okay. Obama has a team of op-eratives older and richer than we are, dead inside though they may be. He pays them a whole lot of money to tell him what will hurt him politically and what will not. The very last thing that Barack Obama needs is a crack squad of unpaid political advis-ers proclaiming that any given position he might take would be “politically unwise” or some such thing.

But that’s exactly what he has.Mention that the president has contin-

ued many of the worst Bush-era civil rights policies and dollars to doughnuts — what-ever that might mean — and a wise and pragmatic Brown student within earshot will wisely and pragmatically explain that no matter how much they might agree, we simply must understand that the president is doing his best, and that in today’s politi-cal reality, we simply cannot expect ideo-logical purity from our elected officials. Mention that the president’s unabashedly nonsensical rhetoric on how government is like a family, a wise and pragmatic et ce-tera, et cetera.

This will often lead into someone point-ing out that Obama is basically a good president — the best we have had in 50

years, maybe. Optional is a quick run-down of how crazy Michele Bachmann is and how much worse off we would be if she were president. If they are really into it, they will shake their head and sigh deeply.

The first problem is this assumes there is a mostly fixed political reality and our behavior should conform to that real-ity. But political realities are fluid. They come from somewhere. The president can-not, say, criticize Israel in any real way be-cause he knows that an organized and de-termined group of people will stand up to

him. American pro-Israel activists did not waste their time worrying about election silliness, and that is why political reality on Israel policy is what it is.

Now it’s obligatory concrete example time. In 1960, there was a presidential election between a candidate who was not particularly interested in civil rights and a candidate who was essentially Satan. Imagine if everyone involved in the civil rights struggle had accepted they would, for the time being, have to operate within that framework. Imagine if, whenever any-one criticized Kennedy, they had it pointed

out to them that at least he wasn’t Satan. We would have gotten nowhere because, as the next few years showed, that is not how one makes change in American society.

Our only job is to decide what we be-lieve in and, if so inclined, to work for it. That is how political realities are going to shift. This work can take the form of sup-porting candidates in primary and general elections (sort of effective), talking to peo-ple (sort of effective when not annoying) and working within organizations and in our neighborhoods and all that good stuff

(more effective). It is very much not our job to compare the status quo to Michele Bachmann before we do anything.

Secondly, we do not need to make a fi-nal judgment of Barack Obama. We are not deciding whether Obama gets into Ju-deo-Christian heaven or whether he gets to be our best pal at summer camp. He’s a politician. He’ll do some good things, some bad things, some terrible things and some things that are just okay. Good presi-dent, bad president, whatever — when he’s wrong, he’s wrong and should therefore be criticized and fought. Unless you view pol-

icy-making as one long presidential elec-tion, talking about Obama’s overall perfor-mance is a massive non sequitur.

No one is saying to go vote for Ralph Nader. Well, some people are saying that. Sometimes you see them in magazines. But I am not saying that, because that misses the point. It’s an election. If you think the strategic thing to do in that elec-tion to advance your agenda is to vote for Barack Obama, fine. Voting behavior in a presidential election is not the point, be-cause it’s not the main thing or the only thing that matters.

A few of us have very little idea of what effect our actions, in the end, will have. The rest of us have no idea. We are too young and too dumb. The only way to gain this kind of knowledge is omniscience. Barring that, the only way to possibly approach some rough idea of this kind of knowledge is through extensive study, even-headed-ness and bitter experience, which, being 20 years old and still relatively hormone-soaked, we do not have a whole lot of ac-cess to.

All we can know is, from labor rights to civil rights to women’s rights, change hap-pens when we work for what we believe in. The rest of it — the fortune-telling and po-litical theorizing — is not particularly use-ful. It’s intellectual wankery and a lousy substitute for actually fighting for some-thing.

Daniel Moraff ’14 is an urban studies concentrator from Lexington, Mass.

He can be reached at daniel_moraff@brown.edu.

Lesser of two evils not that important

We are not deciding whether obama gets intoJudeo-Christian heaven or whether he gets to be our

best pal at summer camp.

In Germany, I could not even find a cup as big as the super size milkshakes I have seen here — except a

beer mug.

By DANIEL MoRAFFopinions Columnist

By JAN CAoopinions Columnist

Daily Heraldthe Brown wednesday, September 14, 2011

By ashLey mCdoNNeLLSportS editor

Every Ivy League team will have returning quarterbacks this sea-son, said Head Coach Phil Estes at the 2011 Ivy League Football Media Day Teleconference. Ac-cording to cornerback AJ Cruz ’13, this could pose a challenge for Brown’s defense.

“I think it’ll be interesting,” he said. “I know we had one of the best pass defenses last year — I think we were first. … (But the quarterbacks are) going to be better this year, so hopefully our defense can step up.”

Last season, the Bears had a total of 23 sacks for a loss of 134 yards against these quarterbacks. In comparison, Bruno’s opponents only managed to log 10 sacks.

Though the seasoned quarter-backs will only improve this year, the Bears’ defense is chock-full of talent and experience, Cruz said. In 2010, Cruz earned First Team All-Ivy Honors, tying former de-fensive linebackers Andrew Ser-rano ’11 and Chimso Okoji ’11 and free safety Stephen Peyton ’12 for the team lead in interceptions, with two. He made 33 tackles on

the year, 20 of them solo hits.Cruz also contributed on spe-

cial teams in 2010, returning 13 kickoffs for 295 total yards.

Estes said Cruz “is just one of the great corners in the league,” but the coach also recognized cornerback Mel Farr ’12.

“(Farr) played a little bit last year and has a shot to do great things this season,” said Peyton, adding that Farr is just return-ing from a preseason injury. Last season, Farr racked up 19 tackles and added an interception.

Since Cruz, Farr and Peyton all started last season, Cruz said the secondary is one of the de-fense’s greatest strengths. He said he has particular confidence in Peyton, who, as the Bears’ last line of defense, made 79 tackles last year, the most on the team and seventh-best in the Ivy League.

“(Peyton) has a whole lot of experience that’s going to increase his game play,” Cruz said. “He re-ally progressed last season. With that experience, … there’s no doubt in my mind he’s the best safety in the league.”

“The guy that really is the quarterback of the defense, Steve Peyton … is really just a kid that

can run, and he’s very physical at the point of attack and just a tre-mendous player for us,” Estes said.

“Quarterback of the defense” is a title usually reserved for the

middle linebacker. But as the leader in tackles and interceptions on the team who earned Second Team All-Ivy Honors, Peyton has proven worthy of the title. Against

the University of Rhode Island in the Governor’s Cup game last year, he had a career-high 20 tackles and recovered a fumble. For his physicality and heads-up play in this game, he was named the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week. Now, it is Peyton’s responsibility to make the calls and ensure that everyone is on the same page.

Despite the efforts of Peyton and the rest of the defense, the Bears lost the Governor’s Cup in overtime 27-24. But this year, the Bears should have plenty of adrenaline pumping through their veins when they take on the Rams: The game will be Bruno’s home opener and the second-ever night game held at Brown Stadium.

In addition to the secondary, the defensive line promises to be a brick wall, with Clayton McGrath ’11.5 and co-captain Kyle Rettig ’12 at the forefront. McGrath led the league last year in tackles for a loss, with 13.5, forcing Bruno’s opponents backward 41 yards. He also led the Bears’ pass rush with six sacks, enough for third overall in the league.

Secondary leads defense, linebackers bring on the blitz

The following summary includes a selection of major incidents re-ported to the Department of Public Safety between Aug. 22 and Sept. 8. It does not include general service and alarm calls. The Providence Police Department also responds to incidents occurring off campus.

DPS does not divulge information on cases that are currently under investigation by the department, PPD or the office of Student Life. DPS maintains a daily log of all shift activity and general service calls, which can be viewed during business hours at its headquarters at 75 Charlesfield St.

Sept. 312:28 p.m. Two students re-

ported their laptop computers had been taken from their residence in the early morning hours. They reported they had filed a report with the PPD. They stated persons unknown entered an unlocked room and took two computers. They stated they were in the house overnight and reported there had been people visiting.

Sept. 512:47 a.m. DPS was dispatched

at the request of the PPD for a large party and excess noise. Upon arrival, people were starting to leave the party which was located in the backyard. There were ap-proximately 200 people in atten-dance. Six kegs and numerous

plastic cups were found in the backyard. Brown and Providence Police officers began dispersing the crowd. The PPD also spoke with the three students respon-sible and advised them that they were in violation of Providence’s loud noise ordinance, and they were issued a summons.

Sept. 611:32 a.m. Student reported

her laptop was stolen from her unlocked room while she was in the bathroom. The time frame was less than five minutes.

Sept. 78:25 a.m. Custodian stated

that when she left work Sept. 6 at about 3 p.m., there were two small kitchen tables and eight lime green kitchen chairs in Room 101, the kitchen. When she arrived to the same area at about 8 a.m. on the following day, one table and four chairs were missing. She stated she had already checked all the common areas in the build-ing, but the table and chairs were not located.

Sept. 811:50 a.m. Student reported

she locked her bike to the bike rack outside Emery Hall Aug. 4 at 1 a.m. When she returned to the bike rack Sept. 8, she noticed her bike was missing. She stated that her bike was locked with a cable lock, which was also missing. Her

Table, chairs stolen from dorm kitchen

Crime Log

FOOTbaLL

Herald file photoStephen Peyton ‘12 (left) made 33 tackles — 20 of them solo hits — in 2010.

By daN JeoNContributing Writer

Four rarely studied concentration tracks have been re-categorized as pre-approved independent con-centrations as of this academic year.

The College Curriculum Council has placed tracks or concentrations that had zero or one concentrator over the past three years in a “special Inde-pendent Concentration status,” wrote Dean of the College Kath-

erine Bergeron in an email to The Herald.

The move affects the German, French and Italian tracks within the Department of Modern Cul-ture and Media and the statistics concentration within the Public Health Program. All four have had consistently low numbers of concentrators, according to Bergeron.

“If one of these concentrations continues to attract no concentra-tors for a sustained period, even as an independent concentration,

the CCC will probably recom-mend removing (it) from the list of (pre-approved) options,” she wrote.

The re-categorization will have little impact on students concen-trating in these tracks, Bergeron wrote. Because of the dearth of concentrators, students pursu-ing these tracks would essentially complete them independently re-gardless of the re-categorization, she wrote.

Four concentrations made independent

B y e B y e , B u B B l e

Glenn Lutzky / HeraldConstruction continues on the Nelson Fitness Center, Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center and David Zucconi ’55 Varsity Strength and Conditioning Center, slated to open in March.

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