friday, march 4, 2011

8
Friday, March 4, 2011 D aily Herald THE BROWN Since 1891 vol. cxlvi, no. 26 49 / 40 TOMORROW 36 / 29 TODAY NEWS...................2-3 SPORTS................4-5 EDITORIAL..............6 OPINIONS................7 ARTS.........................8 INSIDE POST-, INSIDE Post- tries Whipahol, gets weird with Shakespeare Harvard gets a cubic zirconium — find out why DIAMONDS & COAL, 6 WEATHER D&C City looks to renegotiate tax agreement with U. By CLAIRE PERACCHIO CITY & STATE EDITOR Colleges and universities in Provi- dence may have to contribute more revenue to the city as part of a sweeping series of measures to address the city’s two-year, $180 million budget deficit, Mayor An- gel Taveras announced yesterday. e announcement came on the heels of a report issued by the Municipal Finance Review Panel, which Taveras convened to exam- ine the city’s finances in January. e report stated that city officials should consider taxing Univer- sity dormitories and establishing a mandatory student residence fee. It also suggests increasing the amount the University voluntarily contributes for city services and requiring students to register their cars with the city. Taveras announced he would demand new agreements with cur- rently tax-exempt universities and hospitals. “ere is a critical need for tax-exempt property owners to contribute more,” the report states. In 2009, when the city’s deficit was $17 million, former Provi- dence Mayor David Cicilline ’83 proposed similar measures. His proposals met heavy opposition from the University and its allies and ultimately died in the state legislature. But this time around the city’s financial woes are more dire, and the new mayor is willing to take a hard line on fiscal cuts. ursday’s press conference was the first Dan Egan had heard of the suggested fees. As the president of the Association of Independent Colleges of Rhode Island — a group that lobbies for the state’s private educational in- stitutions — he said it was likely the first Brown administrators had heard of the recommendations as well. Hurricane strength Providence faces a deficit of $110 million next year and $70 million this year. “I thought we were maybe at a Category 3 hur- ricane,” Taveras said ursday at a press conference. “We’re a Cat- egory 5. It’s much worse than I expected.” He projected broad-based spending reductions, beginning with immediate 10 percent cuts to his salary and his office’s budget. e report suggests further areas for cuts, including negotiations with currently tax-exempt institu- tions in the city. Administrators from Provi- dence universities and hospitals have been discussing fiscal issues with city officials since Taveras took office. e city will ask for “additional assistance” from these currently tax-exempt institutions, By ETHAN MCCOY ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR Men’s hockey captain Harry Zol- nierczyk ’11 was named the Ivy League Player of the Year yesterday, one day before the Bears travel to Quinnipiac for a best-of-three se- ries in the first round of the ECAC playoffs. “It’s definitely a great honor to win that award and be even men- tioned in the same category as some of the hockey players that have won it in the past,” Zolnierczyk said. Zolnierczyk is just the fourth player in Brown history to take home the award, putting him in an elite group of Bears with Mike Brewer ’92, Ryan Mulhern ’96 and Yann Danis ’04. Mulhern and Denis went on to play in the NHL. “The Ivy League has been around for a long time, and there have been some very, very good players that have come through,” said Head Coach Brendan Whittet ’94. “I think that leaves him in the upper echelon of players that have worn the Brown uniform. He’s in that elite tier of player.” NHL teams seem to think so, too. Professional scouts have come to watch him play, and several NHL franchises are expected to give Zol- nierczyk — an undraſted college free agent — offers aſter the season ends. “I think he plays a style and a game that’s going to translate well to the next level,” Whittet said. “He’s going to have a lot of different op- portunities as soon as our season ends with ... NHL teams that are in line to try to bid for his services. He’s a free agent, which is a great Zolnierczyk ’11 named Ivy player of the year ROTC reinstated on Harvard’s campus By MARK RAYMOND SENIOR STAFF WRITER For the first time in nearly 40 years, the Naval Reserve Officers’ Train- ing Corps will be recognized on Harvard’s campus, according to a statement released by the school yesterday. Harvard President Drew Faust will sign an official agreement with Navy Secretary Ray Mabus today that will re-establish the Naval ROTC program on campus upon the offi- cial repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which prevents openly gay men and women from serving in the military. Since repeal of the controversial law, many institutions — including Brown — that had previously banned ROTC began debating the possibility of its return. Harvard is the first Ivy League school to officially announce a reinstatement of the program. Under the new agreement, Har- vard will instate a Naval ROTC di- rector for the school and provide funding for students in the program, though training will take place at the nearby Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “Our renewed relationship af- firms the vital role that the mem- bers of our Armed Forces play in serving the nation and securing our freedoms, while also affirming inclu- sion and opportunity as powerful American ideals,” Faust said. But Chair of the Harvard Trans Task Force Jia Hui Lee said the an- nouncement was a “rude shock” to transgender advocates, who say the military’s policies violate the school nondiscrimination code, despite the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” “Since Harvard prides itself of being one of the leading institutions in the U.S., this sets a very dangerous precedent for other schools to dis- regard their (transgender) students,” Lee said. He is organizing a protest that will take place outside Faust’s office this aſternoon as she signs the agreement. Faust also announced the forma- tion of a committee that will imple- ment not only the Naval ROTC program but also future ROTC programs from other branches of the military. Due to an error on the part of Herald editors during the production process, yesterday’s Herald did not include an issue of Post- Magazine. e issue that should have run is inserted in today’s Herald. e edi- tors apologize to the staff of Post- and to our readers for the mistake. Jonathan Bateman / Herald Harry Zolnierczyk ‘11, a standout forward, leads the men’s hockey team with 16 goals and a 31 points. BACK FROM ABROAD Evan Thomas / Herald Michael Dawkins ‘12 , one of the two Brown students evacuated from Egypt in February, spoke Thursday as part of a Janus Forum conversation. By ALEX BELL NEWS EDITOR Lawrence Larson, chair of the Uni- versity of California at San Diego’s electrical and computer engineering department, will take the reigns from Interim Dean of Engineering Rod Cliſton as the inaugural dean of the engineering school next year. “In some ways, we’ve come to the end of the beginning,” Cliſton said aſter ursday’s announcement. “Now is when the real development work for the school begins.” Cliſton was appointed interim dean of the engineering school fol- lowing its conversion last year from the Division of Engineering. “I can’t wait to hit the ground run- ning,” Larson said. Originally from Washington, D.C., he said received the offer to move back East from Provost David Kertzer ’69 P’95 P’98 a few weeks ago. When he takes office in July, he will work with faculty to hire more professors, expand course U. names new dean of engineering continued on page 3 continued on page 2 continued on page 3 EDITOR’S NOTE

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The March 4, 2011 issue of the Brown Daily Herald

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Page 1: Friday, March 4, 2011

Friday, March 4, 2011Daily Heraldthe Brown

Since 1891vol. cxlvi, no. 26

49 / 40

t o m o r r o w

36 / 29

t o d aynews...................2-3sports................4-5editorial..............6opinions................7arts.........................8insid

e

Post-, insiDe

Post-tries Whipahol, gets weird with shakespeare

Harvard gets a cubic zirconium — find out why

DiamonDs & coal, 6 wea

therD&C

City looks to renegotiate tax agreement with U.

By Claire PeraCChioCity & State editor

Colleges and universities in Provi-dence may have to contribute more revenue to the city as part of a sweeping series of measures to address the city’s two-year, $180 million budget deficit, Mayor An-gel Taveras announced yesterday.

The announcement came on the heels of a report issued by the Municipal Finance Review Panel, which Taveras convened to exam-ine the city’s finances in January. The report stated that city officials should consider taxing Univer-sity dormitories and establishing a mandatory student residence fee. It also suggests increasing the amount the University voluntarily contributes for city services and requiring students to register their cars with the city.

Taveras announced he would demand new agreements with cur-rently tax-exempt universities and hospitals. “There is a critical need for tax-exempt property owners to contribute more,” the report states.

In 2009, when the city’s deficit was $17 million, former Provi-dence Mayor David Cicilline ’83 proposed similar measures. His proposals met heavy opposition from the University and its allies and ultimately died in the state legislature.

But this time around the city’s financial woes are more dire, and

the new mayor is willing to take a hard line on fiscal cuts.

Thursday’s press conference was the first Dan Egan had heard of the suggested fees. As the president of the Association of Independent Colleges of Rhode Island — a group that lobbies for the state’s private educational in-stitutions — he said it was likely the first Brown administrators had heard of the recommendations as well.

hurricane strengthProvidence faces a deficit of

$110 million next year and $70 million this year. “I thought we were maybe at a Category 3 hur-ricane,” Taveras said Thursday at a press conference. “We’re a Cat-egory 5. It’s much worse than I expected.”

He projected broad-based spending reductions, beginning with immediate 10 percent cuts to his salary and his office’s budget. The report suggests further areas for cuts, including negotiations with currently tax-exempt institu-tions in the city.

Administrators from Provi-dence universities and hospitals have been discussing fiscal issues with city officials since Taveras took office. The city will ask for “additional assistance” from these currently tax-exempt institutions,

By ethan MCCoyaSSiStant SportS editor

Men’s hockey captain Harry Zol-nierczyk ’11 was named the Ivy League Player of the Year yesterday, one day before the Bears travel to Quinnipiac for a best-of-three se-ries in the first round of the ECAC playoffs.

“It’s definitely a great honor to win that award and be even men-tioned in the same category as some of the hockey players that have won it in the past,” Zolnierczyk said.

Zolnierczyk is just the fourth

player in Brown history to take home the award, putting him in an elite group of Bears with Mike Brewer ’92, Ryan Mulhern ’96 and Yann Danis ’04. Mulhern and Denis went on to play in the NHL.

“The Ivy League has been around for a long time, and there have been some very, very good players that have come through,” said Head Coach Brendan Whittet ’94. “I think that leaves him in the upper echelon of players that have worn the Brown uniform. He’s in that elite tier of player.”

NHL teams seem to think so,

too. Professional scouts have come to watch him play, and several NHL franchises are expected to give Zol-nierczyk — an undrafted college free agent — offers after the season ends.

“I think he plays a style and a game that’s going to translate well to the next level,” Whittet said. “He’s going to have a lot of different op-portunities as soon as our season ends with ... NHL teams that are in line to try to bid for his services. He’s a free agent, which is a great

Zolnierczyk ’11 named Ivy player of the year

ROTC reinstated on Harvard’s campus

By Mark rayMonDSenior Staff Writer

For the first time in nearly 40 years, the Naval Reserve Officers’ Train-ing Corps will be recognized on Harvard’s campus, according to a statement released by the school yesterday.

Harvard President Drew Faust will sign an official agreement with Navy Secretary Ray Mabus today that will re-establish the Naval ROTC program on campus upon the offi-cial repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which prevents openly gay men and women from serving in the military.

Since repeal of the controversial law, many institutions — including Brown — that had previously banned ROTC began debating the possibility of its return. Harvard is the first Ivy League school to officially announce a reinstatement of the program.

Under the new agreement, Har-vard will instate a Naval ROTC di-rector for the school and provide funding for students in the program, though training will take place at the nearby Massachusetts Institute

of Technology. “Our renewed relationship af-

firms the vital role that the mem-bers of our Armed Forces play in serving the nation and securing our freedoms, while also affirming inclu-sion and opportunity as powerful American ideals,” Faust said.

But Chair of the Harvard Trans Task Force Jia Hui Lee said the an-nouncement was a “rude shock” to transgender advocates, who say the military’s policies violate the school nondiscrimination code, despite the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

“Since Harvard prides itself of being one of the leading institutions in the U.S., this sets a very dangerous precedent for other schools to dis-regard their (transgender) students,” Lee said. He is organizing a protest that will take place outside Faust’s office this afternoon as she signs the agreement.

Faust also announced the forma-tion of a committee that will imple-ment not only the Naval ROTC program but also future ROTC programs from other branches of the military.

Due to an error on the part of Herald editors during the production process, yesterday’s Herald did not include an issue of Post- Magazine. The issue that should have run is inserted in today’s Herald. The edi-tors apologize to the staff of Post- and to our readers for the mistake.

Jonathan Bateman / HeraldHarry Zolnierczyk ‘11, a standout forward, leads the men’s hockey team with 16 goals and a 31 points.

B a c k f r o m a B r o a d

Evan Thomas / HeraldMichael Dawkins ‘12 , one of the two Brown students evacuated from Egypt in February, spoke Thursday as part of a Janus Forum conversation.

By alex BellneWS editor

Lawrence Larson, chair of the Uni-versity of California at San Diego’s electrical and computer engineering department, will take the reigns from Interim Dean of Engineering Rod Clifton as the inaugural dean of the engineering school next year.

“In some ways, we’ve come to the end of the beginning,” Clifton said after Thursday’s announcement. “Now is when the real development work for the school begins.”

Clifton was appointed interim dean of the engineering school fol-lowing its conversion last year from the Division of Engineering.

“I can’t wait to hit the ground run-ning,” Larson said. Originally from Washington, D.C., he said received the offer to move back East from Provost David Kertzer ’69 P’95 P’98 a few weeks ago. When he takes office in July, he will work with faculty to hire more professors, expand course

U. names new dean of engineering

continued on page 3

continued on page 2

continued on page 3

E D i To r ’s n oT E

Page 2: Friday, March 4, 2011

position for Harry to be in.”Whittet said his captain’s tenac-

ity and skating ability are already at a professional level.

“He can skate like a National Hockey League player right now,” Whittet said. “He’s an absolute ef-fortless skater and a powerful kid

in terms of his ability to get up and down the ice. The other thing he does very well is that he’s a fear-less kid. He’ll go to the areas that he needs to go to in order to score goals — to score gritty goals, to pick up rebounds. You take a beating when you’re in that area, but he’s willing to do that, and that’s a pretty special attribute.”

Zolnierczyk has registered a team-high 31 points and 16 goals so far this season, eight of which were against Ivy League opponents — more than any other player in the league. One of those goals came in the final minute of a game against then-No. 1 Yale to give Brown a 3-2 upset Jan. 16.

Zolnierczyk credited the support of his family and coaches through-out his career — from junior league to summer workout programs — with giving him the opportunity to be the player he has become.

“The support of your family and friends helps you get through the tough times that come along with hockey and everything you deal with in life,” Zolnierczyk said.

Zolnierczyk had to deal with two nearly goal-less seasons early in his career at Brown. He didn’t score his first goal until the very end of his sophomore season but then exploded for 30 goals in his final two years.

“I’ve definitely made some big strides my last couple of years at Brown,” Zolnierczyk said. “It took me a little while to kind of figure out college hockey. Recently, I’ve been playing a little bit more of a bigger role on the team. I think I just started to run with that and make good with the chances that I’ve had.”

“The strides he’s made and has been able to make are a tribute to him and his work ethic,” Whittet said. “He’s worked hard for the ac-colades he’s now reaping and the future that he hopefully has post-Brown.”

Zolnierczyk was also named first team All-Ivy. Defenseman Dennis Robertson ’14, who was named to the second team, was the only other Bear to receive All-Ivy hon-ors. Robertson contributed on both sides of the ice during his rookie campaign. As a member of the first-line defense for most of the season, Robertson scored six goals and was especially potent on the power play.

“Dennis came in as a freshman, and he certainly doesn’t play like a freshman,” Whittet said. “He is an elite-level defenseman in the east and in the country right now. … He’s been an absolute revelation, not just for us, but for, I would imagine, the ECAC and NCAA hockey.”

Ben Schreckinger, PresidentSydney Ember, Vice President

Matthew Burrows, TreasurerIsha Gulati, Secretary

The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is an independent newspaper serving the Brown University community daily since 1891. It is published Monday through Fri-day during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement, once during Orientation and once in July by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Single copy free for each member of the community. POSTMASTER please send corrections to P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI 02906. Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Subscription prices: $280 one year daily, $140 one semester daily. Copyright 2011 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.

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

Daily Heraldthe Brown

edItoRIAl(401) 351-3372

[email protected]

BuSIneSS(401) 351-3360

[email protected]

Campus news2 the Brown Daily heraldFriday, March 4, 2011

8 p.m.

“As You Like it,”

stuart Theatre

9 p.m.

iMProVidence show,

salomon 001

4 p.m.

Chorus Concert,

175 Mathewson street

5 p.m.

imPulse Dance Company spring

show, Alumnae Hall

SHARpE REFECTORY VERNEY-WOOLLEY DINING HALL

LUNCH

DINNER

Manicotti Piedmontese, Curried Tofu with Coconut Ginger rice,

onion rings, ice Cream sundae Bar

sustainable Baked stuffed Pollock, Cheesy Zucchini Casserole, ice

Cream sundae Bar

Zucchini Frittata, onion rings, Hot Pastrami sandwich, raspberry swirl

Cookies

Chicken Fingers, Vegan rice Pilaf, Baked Vegan nuggets, raspberry

swirl Cookies

TODAY mARCH 4 TOmORROW mARCH 5

C r o s s w o r D

s u D o k u

M E n u

C A L E n DA r NHL teams to court Zolnierczyk ’11continued from page 1

Page 3: Friday, March 4, 2011

Campus news 3the Brown Daily heraldFriday, March 4, 2011

Taveras’ Press Secretary David Or-tiz wrote in an e-mail to The Her-ald. “Everyone must share in the sacrifice to put Providence back on firm financial footing,” he wrote.

“We appreciate how challenging the financial situation is in the city — we have just been through two years of significant reductions,” wrote Marisa Quinn, vice presi-dent of public affairs and Univer-sity relations, in an e-mail to The Herald. But the University had not heard about most of the report’s recommendations until it was released. “We need to review the report thoroughly and understand better the mayor’s interest in and receptivity to the range of recom-mendations offered,” she wrote.

exemptDespite demanding some of the

nation’s highest property tax rates from homeowners, Providence im-poses no property taxes on build-ings under academic use by non-profit institutions. Instead, under a 2003 agreement, these institutions contribute payments to the city in lieu of taxes. Between 2005 and 2009, the University made between $1.08 million and $1.1 million of these payments annually. Uni-versities do pay property taxes on buildings not used for educational purposes, totalling $3.34 million for Brown for the 2009 fiscal year.

Given the city’s financial woes, officials say current payments are simply not enough. Though the total value of property owned by exempt institutions is about $3 billion, the city receives only $1.9 million in voluntary payments each year, according to the report. “Hospitals and colleges need to in-crease or begin to make payments for city services,” it reads.

But according to Egan, non-profits are worth more to the city than their contributions suggest. Beyond the stated $1.9 million contribution — and an additional $6 million from properties under non-educational use — he said Brown and peer institutions are key economic engines in the state.

Egan said he considers Thurs-day’s report a statement of options, not recommendations, for the mayor. “We understand what (Tav-eras) is up against,” he said. But especially with regard to student residency fees, Brown, Johnson and Wales, Providence College and the Rhode Island School of Design “are not supportive of anything that adds costs to the student.”

‘Fair Share’In 2009, Cicilline introduced

two budget-cutting measures similar to the residence fee and property tax raise cited in Thurs-day’s report.

He recommended what he called “Fair Share” legislation, which would have levied a student tax of $150 per semester or $100 per trimester for all out-of-state students.

A second bill outlined a prop-erty tax for non-profits. The legis-lation would have taxed hospitals and private colleges and universi-

ties for property valued at over $20 million, up to 25 percent of the standard tax rate.

University administrators spoke out strongly against the proposals at that time.

“Considering past and an-ticipated budget reductions, we would be loathe to ask the Univer-sity community to shoulder even greater sacrifices — particularly not our students and their families, who work hard to plan and save for higher education,” wrote President Ruth Simmons in an e-mail to the campus community in June of that year. Simmons urged members of the Brown community to lobby General Assembly leadership to maintain the University’s tax ex-emption.

a darker pictureSince 2009, the city’s finances

have continued to deteriorate. Ac-cording to yesterday’s Providence Journal, a Jan. 31 quarterly assess-ment of the city’s fiscal outlook by Cicilline’s former administra-tion director estimated a $587,000 surplus for the current fiscal year. Cicilline parried accusations yesterday that he deliberately obscured the state of the city’s fi-nances while in office.

Taveras has already ignited con-troversy over his efforts to address the city’s deficit. Last Thursday, he issued dismissal notices to all Providence teachers. He plans to announce four to six school clos-ings next Monday and to alert teachers at closed schools if they are still employed in the next two weeks. He has already implement-ed a hiring freeze for city positions and has laid off 13 city workers.

In addition to shortfalls in its operating budget, the city also faces looming obligations to its employees in the form of pensions

and retiree health care benefits. The city’s pension plan faces an unfunded liability — the gap be-tween the money promised its pen-sioners and the funds set aside for that purpose — of more than $800 million. The unfunded liability for its retiree health plan is nearly $1.5 million. The Providence Public School District faces a $40 mil-lion budget gap.

Taveras has not endorsed all of the report’s recommendations. But Taveras’ director of administration Michael D’Amico chaired the five-person panel, indicating collabora-tion with a top city administrator.

D’Amico is in charge of the city’s financial decisions and day-to-day operations. And, based on Taveras’ tone, he may soon oversee extensive cuts.

Decisive action is needed to “save our city from financial catas-trophe,” Taveras said at yesterday’s conference.

— with additional reporting by herald staff

continued from page 1

Report suggests student residency fee

offerings, work with other divisions and set plans for new facilities.

A high priority will be expanding the school into new areas includ-ing bioengineering, engineering involving health care and energy and sustainability. Larson said he hopes to expand Brown’s entrepre-neurial studies program and offer more courses at the intersection of engineering with computer networks and communications devices.

Clifton, the outgoing interim dean, said a major task for Larson will be assisting the development office to raise funds to support ad-ditional faculty and a new building housing more offices and research laboratories.

He added he expects the whole University to benefit from growth in the engineering school. As fac-ulty and facilities increase, Clifton said he anticipates more research

opportunities for undergraduates as well as more first-year seminars and courses for non-concentrators offered through the school. But in-creasing the faculty as the engineer-ing school grows will be no small task, Larson said. “We have to hire people who really fit in with the culture here, but at the same time, are brilliant scholars in their fields,” he said.

“Professor Larson has a strong record of achievement as an engi-neer in the private sector and as a researcher and administrator in the academy,” President Ruth Simmons said in a press release announcing the appointment. “He will be a skillful and committed leader as our new School of Engineering grows, de-velops and realizes its full potential.”

Larson’s research has focused on semiconductors used in wire-less devices and microelectronics, the study of small wireless devices like cell phones.

School of Engineering hires Larson as dean

continued from page 1

Page 4: Friday, March 4, 2011

Sports Friday4 the Brown Daily heraldFriday, March 4, 2011

By SaM WiCkhaMContributing Writer

The women’s lacrosse team (1-1) suffered a 15-8 loss against high-scoring Boston University (1-1) Tuesday at home. Though Bruno got out to an early 2-1 lead, the Terriers responded with the first of two major scoring streaks that put the Bears down in their home opener.

Brown got off to a promising start with an unassisted goal by Danielle Mastro ’14 just 1:37 after the opening faceoff. But the Ter-riers struck back just 13 seconds later, evening the score at one apiece. After back-and-forth pos-sessions, attacker Julia Keller ’12 scooped up the ball in the crease and assisted Kaela McGilloway ’12 to give the Bears a 2-1 lead.

The Terriers again answered quickly when Sidney Godett scored a free-position goal about a minute later. Godett’s goal sparked a 5-0 scoring run for the Terriers over the next six minutes. McGilloway stopped the bleeding with her second goal of the game, bringing the score to 6-3 with nine minutes remaining in the half.

But BU continued scoring with a 6-0 run that bridged the half-time pause. Bruno finally cut the deficit 10 minutes into the second half after another Mastro goal, bringing the score to 12-4. The Bears tried to claw back into the

game with three strikes from tri-captain Paris Waterman ’11 and another from Grace Healy ’14, but the attack was offset by three more BU tallies, bringing the final score to 15-8.

Brown held the advantage in shots taken, recording 35 attempts to the Terriers’ 21.

“I think we needed to finish some opportunities we had nice and early,” said Head Coach Keely McDonald ’00. “It’s great to get 35 shots a game, and we need to finish on those to make the score more even.”

The Bears didn’t help their cause by earning 10 yellow cards in the game. BU capitalized on four free-position shots after penalties committed in the eight-meter crease by Brown.

“Defensively, we had a lot of unfortunate calls that put them on the eight-meter,” said tri-captain Alexa Caldwell ’11. “I think that really put us behind in the first half.”

The Bears will look to build on Tuesday’s performance in their Ivy League opener against Co-lumbia Saturday at 1 p.m.

“Our work ethic, our heart and our hustle for the entire 60 min-utes … was extremely positive,” McDonald said.

“We have our first Ivy opener Saturday,” Caldwell added, “so we really just have to take away the positives from this game and just start focusing on that.”

Bruno can’t keep up with Terriers’ scoring streaks

By SaM SheehanSportS ColumniSt

I’ve oftentimes wondered what any offspring of mine would be like. Actually, let me rephrase that. I’ve often wondered what any offspring of mine would be like, until I re-member that any of my poor sons will be doomed by the staggering number of unflattering dominant genes I have. Well, I can only as-sume they are dominant. If my spawn are scrawny, nerdy, sports fans, possess a quiet love for The Weepies with little to no sarcasm and read a ton of Redwall books, then that matter will be settled.

But I guess most of my curiosity involving my children stems from one central issue. It’s not, “What am I going to do when my daughter brings home Kyle the motorcycle enthusiast at two in the morning?” Or, “What’s the best way to duck the birds and the bees talk until my wife is forced to pick up the slack?” Or even, “Tommy is almost 11 now, should we really put our foot down about potty training him?”

No. My interest is in the actual process of childbirth or, more specifically, how in the name of Bill Russell do women do this? It consists of hours of debilitating pain, and at the end of it, you have the most responsibility you’ve ever had in your life. Meanwhile, your spouse is flitting about, not really knowing what to do with them-selves and, if I know myself at all, eating Funny Bones.

My point is this: Contractions are painful, but they are necessary.

People who read this column for actual sports and not me making underhanded jokes about myself can wake up from their comas now.

If you are a fan of basketball, you’ve probably heard the rum-blings of the possibility of contrac-tion in the league in the next year or two. With aimless franchises hemorrhaging money because of poor management and ownership — the Bobcats look at the ground and shuffle their feet — and suc-cessful franchises bleeding that same cash due to an inexplicable lack of fan interest — Chris Paul cries a single, pearly tear — it seems apparent that basketball’s 30 teams are due for some chops somewhere.

But where is the blame here? The collective bargaining agree-ment is running out, and regard-less, owners are going to be greedy and push for as much as they can get. I’ll be shocked if all 30 teams

make it through the next four years intact, so where can the upcoming team-less city point fingers?

There are all kinds of factors, but, for once, something bad doesn’t actually start with the owners. Instead, it starts with the players.

In today’s age of scrutiny and communication, talented young players are flagged from a young age and many take part in all kinds of youth programs catered to their level of talent. Most notable among these is the Amateur Ath-letic Union. The league allows all of the future superstars of the NBA to make friends with each other at a young age. Notable current NBA stars who played Amatuer Athletic Union ball include Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, Paul Pierce and — drumroll please — Miami’s own LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

Now, the Heat aren’t the only ones guilty of loading a roster of superstars. My own Boston Celtics did it and so did the Los Ange-les Lakers. The difference is that those teams were built through trades and development of young players. Not through a free agent conspiracy.

With the recent splash the Knicks made for Carmelo Anthony, they entered the championship conversation over the next five years. They also created yet another team loaded with superstars.

See what I’m saying?With the exception of teams like

the Bulls and the Mavs, there are very few “old-school” basketball teams left. By old school, I mean teams with an alpha dog, a guy who defines the team and gathers his troops around him to stick it to the other alpha dogs. I’m talking about guys like Wilt, Russell, Ka-reem, Bird, Magic and Jordan. All of those guys had great role players around them, but no one would argue that Jerry West was the face of the Lakers or that Scottie Pippen defined the Bulls.

As much as I hate to say it, the closest we have is Kobe, and his Lakers teams of late. But as his knees and body slip, and Odom and Gasol pick up more and more of the workload, even they are turning into a team where it’s not clear who is running the show. Allen, Pierce, Garnett or Rondo? Wade or James? Melo or Amare? Even the question of Westbrook or Durant has gained steam during this season.

All of these guys are capable of being the face of a franchise, but when you load them all onto one team, you take away from teams that are badly in need of stars. Look at the teams that were left behind.

The Suns are tanking with an el-derly Steve Nash. The Nuggets are years away from contending. The Timberwolves are abysmal. The Raptors are all but crushed. The Cavaliers are eligible for disaster relief under Red Cross standards.

Even then, we have players be-ing lured away from good teams in supposedly boring cities to more attractive cities, where they band together to create powerhouses. We saw it with Deron Williams, who made it clear he didn’t want to stay in Utah. We saw it with LeBron, who wanted to hang in the sand with his buddies. We saw it with Melo, who was captivated by the bright lights of the city. We will probably see it with Dwight Howard in a couple of years. Even the martyr that is Chris Paul can only take so much and will likely end up in Brooklyn or New York. No one is saying, “Yeah, I’ll play in Charlotte or Minnesota for six years rather than take a negligible pay cut and play with my friends in New York.”

Am I saying that all the teams either being great or terrible is a bad thing? No. We just saw the most even and closely-matched NFL season ever, but it was also the worst and most boring in recent memory.

The problem is the total lack of hope on the horizon for these teams. The Timberwolves have been so bad for so long that it’s hard to see how on Earth they can climb out of their hole. On the other side of the coin, the Hornets have been good, but no one comes to their games because New Or-leans is still holding a memorial service for Drew Brees’ abilities as a quarterback. The Bobcats made the playoffs last year and then toppled back into the toilet. As this goes on longer and more money is lost, the chances of these teams surviving dwindles.

Maybe there is relocation — Vancouver is interested and I know a Pittsburgh NBA franchise would be profitable — but at the end of the day, there are too many teams and not enough stars. Chris Paul has kept the Hornets alive almost single-handedly, and Garnett kept the Timberwolves in business for a while, but the clock is running out. If we don’t see a lower hard salary cap by the end of the col-lective bargaining talks, there will be blood.

Thank your lucky stars Thunder fans — and take another swig of bourbon, Sonics mourners — you have Kevin Durant to save your small-market team.

Remember how Tim Duncan got you this far, Spurs fans, and hold on to your reverence for him.

Pretend to care for the next three months, Hornets fans, it’s the least you can do for Chris Paul. He did the best he could.

sam sheehan ’12 wants to thank kendrick Perkins. You don’t deserve this, big guy,

and we’ll always love you. Talk sports or mourn your city’s

team with him at [email protected] or follow him

on Twitter @samsheehan.

The Pains of Contraction

Letters, [email protected]

W. LACROSSE

Page 5: Friday, March 4, 2011

Sports Friday 5the Brown Daily heraldFriday, March 4, 2011

Cloud Buddies! | David Emanuel

Dr. Bear | Mat Becker

Dot Comic | Eshan Mitra and Brendan Hainline

Co M i C s

By SaM SheehanSportS Staff Writer

The gymnastics team took third place in the four-team Ivy League Classic at Penn Sunday, topping Yale but falling to Penn and Cornell. The Quakers led the scoring with 191.950 points. The Big Red, Bruno and the Bulldogs fol-lowed with scores of 190.550, 188.900 and 185.550, respectively.

It was a solid day for Bruno, with the floor exercise corps leading the charge. Michelle Shnayder ’14 was Bruno’s highest overall scorer and also did best in the floor with an impressive 9.825 performance that earned second place.

“She really stepped up on floor and started our floor team off with our highest score,” co-captain Chelsey Binkley ’11 wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. “Usually the scores build with every routine, so starting off with the highest score is a great accomplishment.”

Binkley put together an impres-sive meet of her own, scoring a 9.600 on the bars and grabbing a sixth-place finish for the Bears. She also placed second on the team in the vault, with her 9.475-point, ninth-place performance that finished behind teammate Katie Goddard’s ’12 seventh-place, 9.525 point-effort.

Emily Lutfey ’13 was Bruno’s top athlete in the beam, scoring 9.750 for third place.

The meet provided another op-portunity for the Bears to hone their routines as they continue to work toward their ultimate goal of winning an ECAC conference championship.

“We are definitely getting much

more comfortable with our routines and even trying to add some extra difficulty for the remaining meets.” Binkley wrote. “We have been doing a lot of numbers in practice in order to increase our confidence with every routine going into ECACs.”

The team will host its second home meet of the season Sunday,

when Southern Connecticut Univer-sity and Bridgeport University travel to the Pizzitola Center for Bruno’s senior night. The meet is slated to begin at 12:30 p.m.

“We love the rowdy cheering,” Binkley wrote. “It’s always great to see all our fans come out and sup-port us.”

Bears place third at Ivy Classic

By tony BakShiSportS editor

Bre Hudgins ’14 stormed out of the gate in her collegiate debut, scoring five goals in a 21-8 shellacking of Sacred Heart last Saturday in the women’s lacrosse season opener. The Syracuse, N.Y. native now looks ahead to her first career Ivy League game tomorrow against Columbia. For her impressive first performance in a Brown uniform, The Herald has named Hudgins Athlete of the Week.

How were you feeling before your first collegiate game?

Our coaches make us really prepared for our games, and we know what to expect. We’re given a game, so we’re all on the same page, and we’re really prepared. I was just really excited to get our season started.

How did you score the first of your five goals?

The first goal was, like, acciden-tal. Paris (Waterman ’11) passed me the ball, and I kind of shot but got pushed at the same time, so it luckily got past the goalie. But it was still nice. As an offense, we’ve been working all year. We’ve just been re-ally focused on having a very potent attack, so that way, there are just so many options. Everything seemed to be working for us on Saturday.

What was it like after the game?When I saw some of the guy

lacrosse players, they made a big deal out of it. But everyone else — as long as we got the win, it didn’t really matter. My mom was really excited.

What are you expecting from your first Ivy league game on Saturday?

We have, like, Bear families. I’ve talked to my big Bear, Paris Water-man, a lot, and she just says that when we play Ivy games, they’re just so different than any regular game just because no one wants to lose an Ivy game. It’s just really intense. I’m really excited — it’s not our first game, it’s not our first home game, but it’s not just a regular game

either.

Why did you choose to come to Brown?

It was definitely the team. Talk-ing to (Head Coach) Keely (Mc-Donald ’00), just all the oppor-tunities that my class has and the people coming next year. Just the opportunity to make the Brown la-crosse program something special — it’s an opportunity that I’ve never had before because my high school was just really good at lacrosse to begin with. But just the chance to make Brown into a better program is great.

Who is your favorite professional athlete?

I’ve never really thought about it before. But we got these quotes this year for our locker room, and my quote is from Serena Williams. It talks about how she has attitude and always goes out hard. So if I had to pick one, I’d pick her because she’s really made a name for herself and isn’t afraid to be who she is on the tennis court.

What’s been the best part about Brown so far?

It’s so hard to pick! Besides chicken finger Friday because that doesn’t really count, my favorite thing would probably have to be — well, not the people, but kind of the people. Just how there’s no dif-ference. I have really good friends who are on the lacrosse teams and really good friends who aren’t on the team. It’s really nice to not have to deal with the whole jocks and not jocks type of stuff.

did you have any women’s lacrosse players you looked up to when you were younger?

My high school has a lacrosse camp, so all the college girls — now that I’m one of them, it’s kind of weird — but all the college girls come back. There’s a girl who played at University of Connecticut and now she’s a coach at Syracuse Uni-versity. Her name is Shannon Burke. She’s still, to this day, one of the best lacrosse players I’ve ever seen. She was always someone I looked up to.

Hudgins ’14 scores five in first game

Jesse schwimmer / HeraldHudgins ‘14, Herald Athlete of the week, led women’s lacrosse to a 21-8 victory.

ATHLETE OF THE WEEk GYmNASTICS

Page 6: Friday, March 4, 2011

editorial & Letter6 the Brown Daily heraldFriday, March 4, 2011

L E T T E r To T H E E D i To r

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LGBTQ activists hypocritical on ROTCTo the Editor:

The campus-wide debate on the issue of reinstating the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps has changed my opinion of certain student groups and my opinions of some members of our student body. Specifically, I am appalled at how some gay-rights activists have publicly attacked the idea of reinstating ROTC because of the fact that there are definite, unfair restrictions on LG-BTQ individuals in the military. I used to think better of the gay-rights activists in this school. I thought they stand for freedom of choice, and they believe in a world where the majority does not impose their viewpoints on the community in its entirety or restrict individual freedoms. Yet, it seems that the gay-rights activists are trying to impose their viewpoints on individuals who want to take part in ROTC. The school has no right to prevent people who want to join ROTC from doing so just as much as our government has no right to prevent people who want to engage in gay marriage from doing so. The fact that some gay-rights activists in this school have failed to see this inconsistency has

made me question their true agenda.I agree that the military’s different treatment of

individuals based on sexual preference is wrong, but that is not the issue we are dealing with at Brown. Po-tential members of ROTC will be joining for reasons that do not include enhancing this injustice. The ROTC debate is not the arena to be protesting for equality for all sexual preferences.

I have no argument against either financial or ad-ministrative considerations that suggest that ROTC should not be reinstated. As a supporter of gay rights, but not a member of the gay community, and a sup-porter of reinstating ROTC, but not a prospective member, this decision does not affect me as much as it affects others. I am just disappointed that a com-munity about equality for all has been advocating for limiting the personal freedoms of others within the Brown community, and I believe that any arguments about making a statement should be thrown out the window in the ROTC debate.

Scott Friedlander ’12

“This sets a very dangerous precedent for other

schools to disregard their trans students.”— Jia Hui Lee, Chair of the Harvard Trans Task Force

See rotC on page 1.

D i A M o n D s & CoA LA diamond to Post- Magazine. We love you forever.

A diamond to Professor of History Gordon Wood, who received a National Humanities Medal from President Obama at the White House Wednesday. Our boy is wicked smahht.

A diamond to the parents of the baseball team’s newest catcher, whose name is Wes Van Boom.

Coal to the student activities endowment, which has made no progress toward it’s goal of raising $17 million to eliminate the student activities fee since receiving an initial gift of $100,000 two years ago. We hear that at Harvard they pay the students to participate in activities.

A diamond to the three squirrels who have found their way into dormitories this year. We hear that at Harvard squirrels get their own dorms.

A cubic zirconium to the school in Cambridge that announced yesterday that the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps will be welcome back on its campus. We hear that it was Harvard.

Coal to the Department of Public Safety for doing too little too late by stationing six police officers to protect the Jewelry District starting this summer. Have they been to the Jewelry District lately? The jewelry’s already gone.

A diamond to string theorist Brian Greene, who told an audience in MacMillan 117 Wednesday about “the possibility that our universe is like a single grain of sand on this huge beach of universes.” We look forward to your guest lecture in MRJNA 0900: “Dude, Want to Hear Something Nuts?”

A diamond to Ahmed Shawki MA’77, who told an audience in Barus and Holley Wednesday that “Egypt, the country, is rising.” Let’s see the global warming alarmists explain that.

Coal to the e-mail scam that hit campus Monday attempting to get students to reveal their user identifications, passwords and dates of birth. Nice try, but we actually know a Nigerian prince in Buxton.

A cubic zirconium to Professor of Geological Sciences Peter Schultz who described the NASA mission Stardust-NeXT, which was designed to get pictures of a comet, as “like finals here at Brown.” Correct, in that it involved “stardust” and the realization that a huge sum of money was being spent to get something nice to look at.

And finally, a diamond to Associate Dean of Biological Sciences Marjorie Thompson’74 PhD’79 P’02 P’07 P’09 P’12 P’14.

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E D i To r i A L Co M i C BY E r i k s TAY To n A n D E VA n D o n A H u E

Page 7: Friday, March 4, 2011

opinions 7the Brown Daily heraldFriday, March 4, 2011

At the heart of the Reserve Officers’ Train-ing Corps debate is the question: Whom does Brown University exist to serve? Os-tensibly, it is the students, though the mis-sion statement claims it’s “the community, the nation and the world,” so perhaps it’s one of those train-and-educate-the-stu-dents-who-are-our-future kind of things. Thus, it could be argued — and, indeed, has been argued — that a necessary component of serving the nation and the world is the training of armed forces, which then raises subsequent questions about military force, state-sanctioned violence, humanitarian in-terventionism etc.

A lot of the opposition towards ROTC, especially at the Ivy League level, rests its case on the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell — which hasn’t actually been implemented yet — and a lot of the concern surround-ing that issue deals with the American mili-tary as an institution — its treatment of ho-mosexuals, women, minorities etc. There are other charges, of course, most of which are laid out cogently and incisively by the Brown Coalition Against Special Privileg-es for ROTC. But I’m not going to take up these arguments or positions today. Instead, what I’d like to do is talk about this ques-tion in an honest and open way. What do we really mean when we say we advocate or oppose the formation of an ROTC program

at Brown?Let’s be real. ROTC trains students to

do a lot of different things, and one of the central things it teaches is military tactics, which really means, fundamentally, judi-cious violence. That’s it. It becomes increas-ingly complex once we go beyond this start-ing point — a quick Wiki-skim reveals all kinds of erudite terms and explications — for example, economy of force, fortifica-tions, electronic countermeasures, rapid dominance, circumvallation, planned at-

tack. But the fundamental fact remains that students are trained in the art of violence, for the ends of the state, be it for noble or not-so-noble reasons.

This is fine. There are times when a country or a political community needs to exercise collective violence against anoth-er entity or persons to prevent things like genocide, totalitarianism etc. But that’s not the question I’m asking here. I want to ask, honestly and directly, whether it’s a good idea for Brown to train students to poten-tially hurt, damage or kill other human be-ings.

Some more honesty: When I see a uni-formed member of our armed services tra-

versing the Main Green, my first physical and emotional reaction is a tinge of fear and anxiety. Is this monstrous? Is it awful that I’m not immediately flushed with feelings of admiration and esteem? I have to say, I feel extremely guilty about this. There are countless ways in which I actually believe the U.S. military is a righteous, courageous and honorable force, so why is my gut re-action to uniformed personnel so adverse?

There are a ton of reasons, and I don’t want to get into any one specifically, but if

you’re willing to tolerate some word asso-ciation, my explanatory hodgepodge would resemble something like, Abu Ghraib, Iraq and Afghanistan, authoritarian military re-gimes, Indonesia, Vietnam — you under-stand where I’m going with this.

Again, this is all totally unfair, and I rec-ognize that, which is why I bring it up. I am attempting to argue that we should not let these distressing associations color our views of the ROTC project. Instead, we should revert, disinterestedly and calmly, to the former question: Should Brown Uni-versity teach students how to be judicious-ly violent at the behest of American foreign policy?

Look to the mission statement. Brown holds that the best way to serve the com-munity, the nation and the world is through the exchange and preservation of knowl-edge and the fostering of “free inquiry.” In essence, a university education is about the formation of principles — political, moral, social or otherwise. Thus, if the ROTC proj-ect hopes to be instituted, it must agree with that objective.

Is the ROTC program ready to subject it-self to curricular restraints? Are its instruc-tors prepared to cooperate with their fellow academics and administrators? Would it be totally ludicrous to require ROTC to allow students not intending to enter the armed forces an opportunity to take a class in mil-itary history, war ethics, tactics etc.? Are ROTC recruiters and instructors open to critical discussion about the subject matter during office hours, lectures or seminars?

I’m not sure I know the answers to these questions, but it seems to me they are im-portant ones. If ROTC wants to make an ar-gument for its implementation, it must ad-dress these concerns, as well as justify how its objectives align with the overall goal of free knowledge and free exchange.

Again, the dispute could go either way. This is still an open question. I only hope that we can, from this point forward, talk about the question in a real, non-euphemis-tic way. I’m just saying.

Anthony Badami ’11 is a political theory concentrator from kansas City,

Mo. He can be contacted at [email protected].

Just saying

I learned a lot of valuable lessons at my in-ternship at Planned Parenthood last sum-mer. I learned how to navigate the Massa-chusetts Bay Transit Authority subway in Boston while wearing heels, the importance of wearing breathable business-casual attire during New England summers and how to copy and collate reports while also doing calf raises to optimize my time spent in the office. But the most important lesson I took from my time at Planned Parenthood had nothing to do with corporate fashion or the sweltering summer heat: Most importantly, I learned how to ignore the ubiquitous pro-testors.

Every morning when I approached the door to the clinic I would turn the volume on my iPod up to maximum and walk, head down, past the crowds of nuns, college stu-dents and yelling men, into the yellow circle of safety that indicated that I could no lon-ger be harassed. At first, the protestors often thought that I was a patient of the clinic, and so their cries would be plaintive appeals that I save my baby, or come away to a safe place with them. These were the easiest shouts for me to ignore. Yet, once it became apparent that I was the enemy — a harried co-ed in-terning for the education department — the protests became venomous.

“You’re a glorified maid! You’re hurting women! You’re a bad person!”

As Planned Parenthood employees, we

were all trained rigorously in sensitivity, and the best ways to ignore and disengage protestors hurling such taunts. Even I, a mere intern, had to spend hours watching presentations on the different, but — as it was often stressed — equally valid, world-views of those who opposed Planned Par-enthood and various forms of reproductive health care. I was repeatedly instructed to remain neutral while speaking to anyone as an employee of Planned Parenthood. We had to be respectful and calm, and we had to avoid potential entrapment. Yet, now that I no longer wear the mantle of Planned Par-

enthood League of Massachusetts intern, let me just say a few things that I have want-ed to say for months, a few things that have been boiling up and blistering inside me as I watch television or read the news.

I am not, and have never been, hurting women. You people who stand outside in the scorching sun, verbally abusing people who are trying to do what is best for their families or themselves — you are hurting women. You who so readily spend whole days waiting to pounce on women when

they are at their most vulnerable, when they are emotional, distressed and scared — you are hurting women. While I stuffed cases with sexual education pamphlets for mid-dle-schoolers to educate them on healthy sexual relationships, steeped in mutual re-spect and responsible disease prevention, you stood outside of a clinic harassing people. You can say you were doing it for a cause, or you believe that abortion is mur-der, but I can say right back to you that I be-lieve hatred and cruelty are wrong no mat-ter what your justification may be. You are hurting women.

You, Lila Rose, who tries to trick hon-est employees into proposing law-bending solutions in order to discredit an institu-tion that provides hundreds of thousands of women with contraceptives and preven-tion information yearly — you are hurting women.

You, Representative Mike Pence (R-IN), who sponsored a bill to deny funding to or-ganizations that provide abortions in Amer-ica — you are hurting women. Planned Par-enthood doesn’t use government money

to fund abortions — they are already pro-hibited from doing so. They use their own funds gained through donations and their own profits. Stripping Planned Parenthood of federal funding will only deny them the capital needed to provide contraceptive counseling and reproductive information to people who wouldn’t normally be able to af-ford it.

You, Republicans in Congress, who are creating drama over abortion to distract voters from the fact that you have no new ideas to fix the economic problems that plague our nation — you are hurting wom-en.

My boss, the women in my office and I, who have worked long hours and fought for the voiceless, are not hurting women. In a way, I’m glad I no longer work for Planned Parenthood because I can say these things to you. The next time someone hurls such an insult my way, I will not stand quietly by. As a Planned Parenthood employee, I silently endured such abuse daily. I did this because the cause, and the people, that Planned Par-enthood help every single day, are far more important than my feelings in one instance. Helping women is the most important goal.

So Republican congressmen, your votes have been heard. But hear me now, with no filter: You are hurting women, and you should be ashamed of yourselves.

kathleen Braine ’11.5 is a literary arts concentrator from Columbus, oH, but would prefer not to be associated with

speaker of the House John Boehner (r-oH). she can be contacted at

[email protected]

Keeping my head down no longer

stripping Planned Parenthood of federal funding will only deny them the capital needed to provide

contraceptive counseling and reproductive information to people who wouldn’t normally be able to afford it.

i want to ask, honestly and directly, whether it’s a good idea for Brown to train students to potentially hurt,

damage or kill other human beings.

BY kATHLEEn BrAinEGuest Columnist

BY AnTHonY BADAMiopinions Columnist

Page 8: Friday, March 4, 2011

Daily Heraldthe Brown

Arts & CultureFriday, March 4, 2011

By SuZannah WeiSSartS & Culture ColumniSt

Where do trees go after they die?“Decadent Decay,” local artist Kat

Ely’s exhibit in the Sarah Doyle Gal-lery, presents a few theories.

Ely extracts beauty from the pro-cess of decay, mysterious in its loca-tion between life and death, she wrote in her artist statement.

This ambiguity is particularly vis-ible in the plant kingdom. Animals — with some notable exceptions — are easy to classify as alive or dead. You look, if you dare, at a creature or a corpse. But if dead trees were called corpses, nature would suddenly seem morose.

Plants rot more gracefully, more gradually. At what moment does a tree stop dying and become officially dead?

With “A Tree’s Ghost,” Ely creates an intermediate stitch in time that renders a tree part dead, part living. In reality, the piece, like the rest of the exhibit, is made of glass and metal — materials neither alive nor dead. But in appearance, the last, most inner remains of a tree wither away inside an encapsulating crystal, which has replaced its former bark. This wood’s decay is a process of revelation and of disclosure.

“Ant Trail in a Tree,” “Glass Ant Trails” and “Nine Miles” recreate the indents left in dead trees by their in-habitants and feeders. These trees’ decay is a process of giving, recall-ing the popular children’s book “The Giving Tree.” Even after they have stopped generating oxygen and bear-ing fruit, the organisms Ely depicts provide food and shelter for insects and other beings. It is sometimes said that people outlive their usefulness, but with trees, it’s the opposite. They are useful long after they live.

Though the glass and metal sculp-tures of bark are the most conceptu-ally rich, flowers of the same medium are more visually poignant. “Weeping Dandelion,” wilted with glossy glass beads hanging from its neck, mourns the loss of its fellow field-dwellers

inhabiting the graveyard gallery. On the opposite side of the room, two sunflowers bolster a delicate glass case of wisps of a dandelion at a dif-ferent stage in its life cycle. “Three Wishes” displays the hope this flower carries on children’s breath after its yellow has faded.

The paradox of a room full of sights associated with life and the imminent advent of spring, yet at the same time addressing mortality, is evident in the crisp contrast of each piece’s shadow on the surrounding white wall.

These interpretations, though, came only with careful consideration of Ely’s alleged goals. Simply seeing the exhibit, it was difficult to say what it was about.

Don’t get me wrong — it’s a mark of success when a viewer derives meaning from artwork that the art-ist did not mean to convey. After all, looking at abstract art is an activity fit for a solopsist — one’s impressions of an image matter far more than the purpose for which it was created. The problem occurs, though, when the viewer extracts less from a piece than the artist intended. Much of “Decadent Decay” is overly literal. It is hard to read anything into “Gano-derma Applanatum,” a sculpture of a tree trunk with an unidentified glass figure attached to it, other than, well, tree-trunk-with-glass-attached-to-it.

But to return to the original question, where do trees go after they die? They don’t go — they stay. They nestle in forests and unfold, offering animals shelter. They reveal pieces of themselves unknown dur-ing their lifetimes.

And as for the issue of the af-terlife, humans will be left to create the remaining folklore. Plants don’t care enough to ask. Perhaps people have something to learn from giv-ing trees. They aren’t scared to die — they know their usefulness will outlive them.

“Decadent Decay” runs through March 24 at the Sarah Doyle women’s Center Gallery.

Trees rot gracefully in Sarah Doyle Gallery

By Ben kutnerStaff Writer

It is easy to forget there are only two actors in the cast of “Yellowman,” Trinity Repertory’s current produc-tion. The small cast seems anything but sparse in Dael Orlandersmith’s play, and the plot is anything but two-dimensional.

“Yellowman,” set predominantly in South Carolina, traces the rela-tionship between Eugene (Joe Wil-son Jr.) and Alma (Rachel Chris-topher) through several decades. The relationship struggles beneath the weight of racial pressures and societal expectations.

Eugene is a light-skinned black man, referred to as a “yellowman.” He is expected not to mingle with the darker-skinned Alma. When they befriend one another as chil-dren in the 1960s, they are heedless of their families’ suspicions and an-ger towards the other’s status.

Eugene and Alma trade off re-counting the profound experiences in their lives — creating a play largely comprised of monologues.

Each character tells of their own family troubles, acting out the roles of various family members. Both actors pull this off spectacularly, impersonating various men and women with ease.

Through Eugene, Wilson acts out the roles of his character’s father,

mother and grandfather, each with startling specificity and individuality.

The depiction of Eugene’s father, a dark-skinned black man who has risen into light-skinned black society through hard work, is at once tragic and hauntingly realistic. Eugene por-trays his father as a heavy drinker with little pride in his light-skinned son. The audience sympathizes with the fear that Eugene harbors towards the man.

Alma’s most interesting feature is the extreme transformation she undergoes, from a poor South Caro-lina farm hand to a worldly New York urbanite. Christopher presents this transformation largely through varying her accent — for which she has a true talent.

“I thought the acting was very powerful,” said theatergoer Bob D’Uva. “Rachel Christopher was amazing.”

By trading off monologues and occasionally speaking with one an-other directly, the two characters elaborate on the dangerous power of family and race.

“We are made in the voice of who tells the story most and in the shape of those who we are told love and hate us,” wrote Director Laurie Carlos in the program notes.

The lighting is used to great ef-fect. The opening scene finds the stage bathed in a yellow light which grows gradually stronger, like South

Carolina heat slowly stifling the the-ater. When the plot shifts to New York City, the light’s color is rapidly shifting, accompanied by a mono-logue in which Alma describes the music of different cultures she en-counters for the first time.

Music and sound effects are play-ing quietly in the background nearly constantly — a potentially annoy-ing effect — though the acting and plot are usually strong enough to overpower the background sound.

Though the March 2 perfor-mance was not entirely flawless — several lines were mingled or spoken at the wrong time — the quality of the acting was not diminished, and was extremely strong and heartfelt.

“Yellowman” is surely a challenge for the actors, but Wilson and Chris-topher pull it off with ease, finesse and, at times, humor. The malle-ability with which they treat their voices, facial expressions and posture as they assume the multiple roles is memorable and something to be praised.

“Yellowman” will be running at trinity repertory Theater through April 3.

each actor demonstrates a true capacity for assuming multiple

personalities, creating a plot that keeps the audience guessing.

Two-person play not two-dimensional

By kathryn thornton Senior Staff Writer

Covering a large wall of the Lower Farago Gallery at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, the slogan “What looks good today may not look good tomorrow” sums up “Collision” — an ephem-eral experience that still seems ready for change.

A giant amalgamation span-ning the walls, floor and ceiling, the exhibit brings together the work of 17 different artists.

“Context is everything,” ac-cording to artist Marilyn Minter, quoted in the exhibit’s brochure. “When one art piece is placed ad-jacent to another, it completely changes the meaning of both.”

There were no rules for the artists’ pieces, which mesh and overlap with other works in the

exhibit, reflecting this freedom. It is the ultimate creative expres-sion.

On one side of the gallery, strands of tape covered in paint drape the walls, with the roll of masking tape still attached to one strand. This detail gives the feeling of incompleteness — an exhibit that is still under con-struction.

There were many blank, white cubes in the exhibit. Some were left empty, while others held sculptures or were decorated. Ni-cole Cherubini designed ceramic corners for many of the blocks, embellishing blank spaces with bright colors and metallic geo-metric figures.

“I love the lines, and I love the mobiles,” said visitor Kaki Ac-cola ’82, referring to Susan Jen-ning’s metallic ornaments that

descend from the ceiling. She also mentioned Jackie Saccoccio and Nader Tehrani’s work “Tight Imprisonment,” which consisted of colored thread hanging down.

Another visitor, Alan Wood-mansee, said he was “struck” by Carl D’Alvia’s seemingly furry, animal-like sculptures. D’Alvia’s pieces were actually constructed with bronze or resin, which made their furry-ness even more strik-ing.

Ebbing and flowing, the overall exhibit shows true artistic col-laboration, but, despite indi-vidual talent, feels incomplete. The ephemerality of “Collision” results in a gallery full of unfin-ished pieces.

“Collision” is open at the Lower Farago Gallery at the rISD Museum through Jun. 19.

RISD Museum’s ‘Collision’ melds works, lacks cohesiveness

Photo courtesy of Trinity repertory Companyrachel Christopher and Joe wilson Jr. star in the two-person play “Yellowman,” now running at Trinity rep.

Carol Cutler / HeraldThe risD Museum exhibit “Collision” combines the work of 17 artists.