By Ben Schreckinger

Senior Staff Writer

The University is preparing to build the new Creative Arts Center and proceed with planned renovations of Faunce House despite financial woes, Execu-tive Vice President for Finance and Administration Beppie Huidekoper told the Undergraduate Council of Students at its meeting last night.

A donor has also bequeathed funds for a new swim center, most of which are expected to be in hand by June, she said. All told, the bequest will cover more than half the cost of the proposed pool, Huidekoper told The Herald after the meeting.

The new arts building and the re-vamping of Faunce into an expanded campus center will be subject to the Corporation’s final approval at its meeting this weekend, she said. She did not indicate when construction might begin on the swim center.

Huidekoper disclosed the new construction details in a briefing at the UCS general body meeting that included a broad overview of the Uni-versity’s current financial situation.

University administrators have said they expect to delay some capital projects and scale back others as part of efforts to tighten budgets in coming years. But those projects that have enough earmarked donor funding will probably proceed, without auxiliary funding from the general budget, Hu-idekoper said at the meeting. The new

arts center fits that profile, as does the improved campus center, which was boosted by a $5 million gift from former Chancellor Stephen Robert ’62 P ’91 and will be named for him.

Huidekoper also provided more details on plans to pare projected bud-gets by a combined $60 million over the next five years, suggesting at one point that job cuts were a possibility.

And she gave some hints of the University’s investment strategy going forward. Faced with market tumult, she said, the University has begun to withdraw some endowment funds from alternative investment vehicles such as hedge funds, in order to re-duce its exposure to risk.

Continuing to carry out the Plan

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vol. cxliv, no. 20 | Thursday, February 19, 2009 | Serving the community daily since 1891

new Faunce, arts center going forward

r.I. voters hold out hope for stimulusBy lauren Fedor

Senior Staff Writer

The $787 billion economic stimulus package passed by Congress this week appears to have come as a welcome relief to Rhode Island.

The bill, signed into law Tues-day by President Obama, includes $1.1 billion in federal aid to ease Rhode Island’s budget shortfall and is expected to create 12,000 new jobs in a state where the un-employment rate hovers around 10 percent, second-highest in the nation.

The recovery plan includes fi-nancial assistance for the state’s Medicaid system, highway and transit projects, education system, welfare programs, energy initia-tives and housing investments. The stimulus is also set to extend unemployment insurance and pro-vide tax relief for families and small businesses.

The major spending bill, which came after weeks of haggling be-tween Democrats and Republicans, promises to offer a lifeline to a state that his been hit hard by the cur-rent recession.

A poll conducted earlier this month by the Taubman Center for Public Policy found that 82 percent of Rhode Island voters rated the state’s economy as poor, and about the same number said the state was

headed on the “wrong track.”More than half of voters, 66

percent, said they knew a friend or family member who recently lost a job.

A strong majority, however, said it believed the stimulus pack-age would have a positive effect on the nation’s economy. Of 451 registered voters surveyed, 74 per-cent said the stimulus will make the economy “a little better” or “a lot better.”

In a press conference on Tues-day, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., who voted in favor of the bill, called the

Kim Perley / HeraldUCS members were briefed on the University’s budget by Executive Vice President Beppie Huidekoper last night.

Look out below: Skydiving club seeks moneyBy caitlin trujillo

Contributing Writer

Drew Smith ’10 has never skydived or started an official student group. But if he has his way this semester, he’ll do both in one fell swoop.

Smith’s Brown Skydiving Club is hoping to be granted official student group status and receive funding to facilitate jumps for interested stu-dents.

Smith, who said he has wanted to try skydiving for some time, con-ceived the idea after learning of a similar group at Brandeis University from a friend. Because the Brandeis group only served Brandeis students, Smith contemplated a similar club for Brown over winter break.

A month later, he has drafted and revised a constitution for the club and is currently in the process of gauging interest in the group.

The Undergraduate Council of Student’s Student Activities Commit-tee requires a minimum of 15 mem-ber signatures for a club to receive

University funding, but Smith said he has so far collected the signatures of 242 students who have expressed interest in the group. He has also cre-ated the “Brown Skydiving Initiative” group on Facebook, which boasted 60 members Wednesday night.

Smith said he plans to bring a handful of supporters with him to pitch the club to the Committee on Monday, adding that he expects them to grant the group Category

Courtesy of Aaron Mazel-GeeA new club may help more students join Aaron Mazel-Gee ’09 in the sky.

continued on page 3

rhody residents on the economyRhode Island voters who say...

a friend or family member recently lost a job:66 percent

the federal stimulus package will help the economy:74 percent

R.I.’s economy is “poor”: 82 percentSource: Taubman Center poll, Feb. 7-10. Margin of error: +/– 4.6 pts.

engineers to design drinking water solutions for IndiaBy alicia chen

Contributing Writer

In the summer of 2007, Christina Tang ’09 traveled to Kuttanad, Kerala in southwest India with the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foun-dation to help conduct a water quality and management study.

The environmental studies concentrator found the water system there in desperate need of repair. The canals where most people in Kuttanad gathered their water were contaminated, tap wa-ter flowed only sporadically and the well water was too acidic. Of all the sources analyzed, rainwater had the lowest E. coli counts.

Now, two years later, Tang is the initiator of Rainwater for Hu-manity, a project meant to provide sustainable, clean drinking water by harvesting rainwater for over 700,000 people in Kerala. Peter Boyer ’09, a civil engineering

concentrator and international projects coordinator for Brown’s chapter of Engineers Without Bor-ders, is in charge of the technical aspects of the project, while Tang works directly with community groups both in the United States and India.

A diverse group in Providence, including industrial design and architecture students from the Rhode Island School of Design and civil engineering and bio-medical engineering students from Brown, is also involved in the collaboration, Boyer said.

Improving the water supply is important to keep up with the growing population in Kerala and to ensure its continued develop-ment, Boyer said.

“The project is a combination of a design issue and a sustain-able implementation problem,”

continued on page 3

continued on page 6

Pool project boosted by multi-million-dollar gift

continued on page 4

post-

sudoku

Stephen DeLucia, PresidentMichael Bechek, Vice President

Jonathan Spector, TreasurerAlexander Hughes, Secretary

The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is an independent newspaper serv-ing the Brown University community daily since 1891. It is published Monday through Friday during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement, once during Orientation and once in July by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. POSTMASTER please send corrections to P.O. Box 2538, Provi-dence, RI 02906. Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Offices are located at 195 Angell St., Providence, R.I. E-mail herald@browndailyherald.com. World Wide Web: http://www.browndailyherald.com. Subscription prices: $319 one year daily, $139 one semester daily. Copyright 2009 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.

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THURSdAy, FEBRUARy 19, 2009THE BROWN dAILy HERALdPAGE 2

CampuS newS “This is going to help illuminate how these genes work together functionally.”— Justin Fallon, professor of medical science

team finds possible autism targets in brainBy Monique Vernon

Contributing Writer

A team of Brown neuroscience re-searchers have discovered a new potential target in the fight against autism.

Michael Akins and Sean Chris-tie, postdoctoral research fellows in neuroscience, were the lead authors in a study published this month in the Journal of Neuroscience that reports the discovery of tiny mo-lecular bodies, dubbed “Fragile X granules,” that appear in developing neural circuits.

For years, scientists have known that autism is a disease involving chemical communication in the brain, and have experimented on the postsynaptic side of neural con-nections, said Professor of Medical Science Justin Fallon, the senior author of the study.

But the Brown research team, which also included a Tufts Univer-sity scientist, explored the presynap-tic side of these connection as well, showing that the so-called “Fragile

X” gene, important in brain develop-ment, was expressed in those loca-tions, too.

Examining slices of rodent brain tissue with electron microscopes, the scientists not only identified Fragile X proteins in some presyn-aptic terminals, but discovered them in tiny granules floating around brain cells — which likely contain RNA, the messenger molecules cells use to express genes.

James Schwob, the Tufts profes-sor of anatomy and cellular biology who contributed to the study, said he concentrated on the regeneration of the brain’s olfactory system, since it is the only part of the nervous system capable of a certain kind of regeneration.

The pattern and expression of the Fragile X granule, Schwob said, suggested it was located on the pre-synaptic side. The study also showed that the granules exist in at least the frontal cortex, hippocampus and olfactory bulb of the brain.

The Fragile X granule is an ap-pealing target in the development

of therapies geared toward autism, Fallon said. This discovery gives rise to the possibility that “Fragile X is going to be a niche player,” he said. “This is going to help us illumi-nate how these genes work together functionally.”

The study also implies that these granules may be able to provide “in-sight into potential disease mecha-nisms,” Akins said. The identifica-tion of the Fragile X granule is just the first of many steps toward under-standing the proteins expressed by the Fragile X gene, he said.

“It is very provocative where we see these granules,” he said.

Experimentation and analysis will continue so the specific function of the Fragile X granules can be pin-pointed, he added.

“We don’t have any evidence that they are functionally involved in the circuits but we have indica-tion that they may be,” Fallon said. As a result, he said, the research-ers are now trying to discover what the proteins do and how they are regulated.

Kim Perley / HeraldProfessor of Medical Science Justin Fallon and two post-doctoral researchers discovered “Fragile X granules.”

Three profs recognized,hope to inspire serviceBy katerina dalaVurak

Contributing Writer

Professor of Physics Robert Pel-covits, Professor of Computer Sci-ence John Savage and Associate Professor of Sociology Ann Dill received the President’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Gover-nance earlier this month, which comes with a research stipend of $2,000, for their service on faculty committees, councils and advisory boards.The award is intended to recognize “both length and weight of service” by faculty on various internal and behind-the-scenes boards and com-mittees which, though essential to the function of the University, might otherwise go unnoticed, according to a University press release.

Savage and Pelcovits both said they were honored by their selec-tion and gratified that their service

is appreciated. Both also said they hope the

award will heighten the visibility of those who serve on University committees and elevate the pros-pect of participation for others.

Pelcovits said he hopes the award will lead to more obvious recognition for service that goes beyond a workload that is already “really immense” and which comes without certain “tangible” benefits, such as research grants, that other faculty endeavors have.

“There are many who serve and serve loyally, and many who don’t,” Savage said. “We often have trouble finding people and have to call four or five to fill one position.”

Dill could not be reached for comment.

This is the second year the award has been given since its creation by the Faculty Executive Committee and President Ruth Simmons.

CampuS newSTHURSdAy, FEBRUARy 19, 2009 THE BROWN dAILy HERALd PAGE 3

“I always wonder about what kind of society allows people to write on the sides and walls of their church.” — Eugene Cruz-Uribe, on ancient graffiti

he said. The project is still in its early

stages. Tang has completed surveys of the local community to ensure that there is interest in rainwater harvesting systems and has devel-oped partnerships with the M.S. Swaminathan Research Founda-tion, Mahatma Gandhi University, the local government and Better by Design, a Brown/RISD-based organization that promotes socially conscious, real-world applications of design.

Perhaps the group’s most un-usual collaboration is with the Asparawa Screwpine Society, an 8,000-strong women’s self-help group in India. Rather than simply building the structures themselves, EWB wants to “develop a method by which the women’s self-help group can market and manage the implementation of these systems,” Boyer said.

Rainwater for Humanity is focus-ing on designing roof rainwater har-vesting systems, that are a viable solution to Kerala’s water supply problems because of the spread of impervious roofing materials in India and the development of cost-effective water storage methods.

In order to be effective in Kerala the systems will have to take into ac-count local conditions, such as the region’s annual monsoon season. The systems must also be afford-able, Boyer said, and the structures must be straightforward enough to be constructed by local groups.

This semester, Rainwater for Humanity will be designing the rainwater harvesting systems and building prototypes in Providence. Boyer said he hopes to be able to send the designs to India, where they will be constructed remotely, by the end of the semester. The students working on the project are planning a trip to India over the summer.

Rainwater for Humanity still has challenges ahead. “At the current moment we are still looking for funding,” Boyer said. The project received a grant from Better by Design, but Boyer said it is still seeking additional funding from Brown sources, such as the Office of the Dean of the College.

engineers for the world take on projects

continued from page 1

‘egypt guy’ discusses pilgrimages, graffitiBy Matthew kleBanoFF

Staf f Writer

Known in his field as “the Egypt Guy,” Eugene Cruz-Uribe, a pro-fessor of history at Northern Arizona University, discussed Egyptian pilgrimages before a small audience in Salomon 001 Wednesday night.

In his lecture, “Valley of the Kings to Philae: Ancient and Mod-ern Pilgrimages,” Cruz-Uribe ex-plained that people often went on pilgrimages for medical reasons, both physical and spiritual.

“A pilgrimage would be a journey of at least a day, if not multiple days, and it had to have some sort of significance,” he said.

The sites that Cruz-Uribe dis-cussed included the Temple of Seti I at Abydos, the Colossi of Memnon and Philae — the three main pilgrimage destinations for Romans traveling through ancient Egypt, he said.

Cruz-Uribe discussed re-search he conducted primarily after receiving a Fulbright schol-arship to teach at Egypt’s South Valley University for the 2006-07 academic year.

Much of Cruz-Uribe’s talk fo-cused on ancient graffiti covering the sites. Written in the third per-son, the graffiti often served as prayers for individuals who were deemed gods after their deaths.

“I always wonder about what kind of society allows people to write on the sides and walls of their church,” he said, adding that he believes people etched graffiti onto churches once they were no longer in use.

One inscription, which read “Djedhor forever,” will serve as the title for a book Cruz-Uribe plans to write on ancient Egyptian graffiti, he said.

Bonnie Olchowski, the vice president of the Friends of

I status. UCS Student Activities Chair Ryan Lester ’11 said most groups start off at Category I, which does not entitle groups to University funding.

“It’s very rare for a group to start at a Category II or III,” Lester said, adding that a student group generally has the opportunity to move up a category after a semes-ter.

But because skydiving is expen-sive, Smith said he hopes the group can quickly move up the category classifications to receive funding from the Undergraduate Finance Board.

“We’re pushing for Category III,” Smith said. “It certainly won’t happen right away, but we hope it can as soon as possible so we can apply for a budget.”

In the meantime, Smith said he hopes to work with the Brown Outing Club until the skydiving group becomes more stable finan-cially. Smith said some skydiving

facilities provide discounts for large groups, alleviating a part of the financial burden.

Because of the dangerous na-ture of skydiving, Smith also said he’ll probably meet with a Uni-versity lawyer and might draft a waiver statement. Smith said that precedent is on his side because skydiving groups exist at other schools.

If approved, the group will have to wait until at least April for skydiving season before they can make any jumps. Smith said he has looked into licensed facilities, including the one Brandeis uses in Orange, Mass.

Though the group might take some time to get off the ground, club co-organizer and Herald Sales Director Phil Maynard ’11 said he thinks the group could ul-timately bring positive attention to Brown.

“People might choose colleges for eccentric facets, so this could be an aspect that attracts students,” he said.

continued from page 1

Skydiving group hopes for quick access to funding

continued on page 4

THURSdAy, FEBRUARy 19, 2009THE BROWN dAILy HERALdPAGE 4

CampuS newS “There may be some situations where people will lose their jobs.”— Beppie Huidekoper, executive vice president for finance and administration

Egyptology, which sponsored the lecture, found Cruz-Uribe’s discussion of the graffiti prayers especially intriguing.

“I found it interesting because normally, in our culture, we pray for ourselves and don’t use the third person,” Olchowski said.

Though the lecture hall was filled mostly with academics, not all attendees were familiar with the study of Egyptology.

“This was my first lecture in Egyptology, and I’m an Egyptian, so I found it very interesting,” said Mohamed El-Sharkawi, a lecturer in Arabic at the Center for Lan-guage Studies.

Cruz-Uribe has authored eight books and 75 articles based on his research, according to Professor of Egyptology James Allen, who introduced Cruz-Uribe. He also works as an editor of the Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt and was an assistant profes-sor of Egyptology at Brown in the 1980s, Allen said.

egypt lecture covers ancient pilgrimages

continued from page 3

uCS hears financial details

for Academic Enrichment — Presi-dent Ruth Simmons’ ambitious blue-print for raising Brown’s academic profile — will depend on renewed growth of the endowment, Huideko-per said. But with the endowment facing hundreds of millions of dollars in losses over a period of less than a year, the University’s goal for the time being is to “protect, as opposed to enhance” levels of academic ex-cellence.

But with revenue growth likely to lag, administrators have also made clear that preserving key priorities will require that they cut costs.

Although the University so far has focused on finding savings by cutting back on new hiring and com-pensation, Huidekoper indicated that “there may be some situations where people will lose their jobs.”

A hiring freeze for most positions will save the University $9 million next year, Huidekoper said Wednes-day, and other planned cost-cutting measures will create further sav-ings. But, over the next five years, the University still needs to find $30 million in further savings, officials have said. Huidekoper reiterated that figure Wednesday, specifying that those savings will be sufficient

“unless the world gets worse.”Vice President for Campus Life

and Student Services Margaret Klawunn, who also attended the meeting, said students could also expect cuts in campus services next year, although the specific nature of such cuts has not been determined.

Huidekoper said the University may have to take new steps to help undergraduate and graduate stu-dents who face difficulty finding jobs after completing their studies.

But Brown faces a less precari-ous situation than other universities, Huidekoper told UCS. “Some places have trouble making payroll,” she said.

Many of Brown’s peer institu-tions are facing larger shortfalls because they rely more heavily on their endowments, Huidekoper said. Endowment income accounts for 18 percent of Brown’s budget, com-pared to 48 percent for Princeton, she said. Harvard and Dartmouth also draw greater proportions of their budgets from their endow-ments, she said.

Later in the meeting, UCS passed a resolution in support of a student initiative to change the name of Columbus Day on the University calendar.

continued from page 1

metroThe Brown daily Herald

THURSdAy, FEBRUARy 19, 2009 | PAGE 5

“As the economy has worsened, so, it seems, has our public discourse.”— Providence Mayor david Cicilline ’83

Cicilline ’83 outlines path to recoveryBy joanna wohlMuth

Metro editor

Mayor David Cicilline ’83 outlined 30 goals — the centerpiece of his ef-forts to boost Providence’s economy — in his annual State of the City address Tuesday night.

After reviewing some of the improvements made since he took office seven years ago, Cicilline said municipal government must now place an “unprecedented focus on the economy” and “mobilize as if we’re in the economic equivalent of wartime.”

The mayor’s plan — which he dubbed “Operation Opportunity” — targets increased entrepreneurship, investment and educational oppor-tunities, as well as infrastructure and public safety improvements, better “customer service” in city government and the restoration of upward mobility to citizens, he said.

Among the specific goals of Ci-cilline’s plan are contributing $5 million to a fund that assists new and small businesses, creating an online system for parents to monitor their children’s academic progress, investing at least $10 million toward improving city roads, placing resi-dents in construction and health-care jobs and doubling the number of online government services.

Noting the anxiety caused by high rates of unemployment, fore-closures and general economic hardship, Cicilline encouraged com-munity members to come together in a time of need.

“As the economy has wors-ened, so, it seems, has our public discourse,” Cicilline said. “Rather than tightening our bond in these times of adversity, it often feels like we are allowing them to be corrod-

ed by anger, mistrust and political bickering.”

Cicilline said the city government would take all possible measures to protect Providence’s economic, social and political progress and reminded citizens that “by every fundamental measure, Providence is in a far stronger position than the last time the national economy took this kind of turn.”

Though Cicilline said he could not comment on the municipal budget until it was passed by the General Assembly, he said he has told city departments to brace themselves for funding cuts and has spoken with public employee unions about the pressing need to resolve contract disputes.

The mayor drew attention to what he said were broad improve-ments in education and fiscal policy, crime prevention and public safety, despite the current economic cri-sis.

“Every long-term, fundamental indicator of our health as a city is either very strong or improving,” Cicilline said.

David Talan, chairman of the Providence Republican Party, posted a response to the mayor’s address on the Ocean State Republican, a local blog sponsored by the Rhode Island Republican Assembly.

The difficult economic times re-quire innovative ways to cut costs, Talan wrote, specifically pointing to possible savings from educa-tion spending and urging Cicilline to support ending unfunded state mandates.

“Clearly, the city cannot count on as much state aid as it is had been receiving,” Talan wrote. “So we must look for ways to hold down city spending, without reducing necessary services.”

r.I. colleges may arm campus policeBy george Miller

Metro editor

Representatives from Rhode Is-land’s public colleges and univer-sity gathered Tuesday to discuss the pros and cons of arming cam-pus police officers with guns at the University of Rhode Island’s Providence campus.

A bill introduced in the state’s General Assembly last February sought to mandate the arming of campus police at URI, Rhode Island College and the Community Col-lege of Rhode Island.

The Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education opposed that bill, requesting time to solicit community input and re-search potential costs and liability issues, Steve Maurano, the board’s associate commissioner for external affairs, said at Tuesday’s forum.

The board appointed a nine-member commission last August to study the issue and make recom-mendations to the board this spring. The group includes representatives from all three schools and from the state police and the state at-torney general’s office. Maurano, a member of the commission, said Tuesday’s forum — the third in a series of four — was held at the request of the three institutions’ presidents.

The forum’s roughly 16 attend-ees included policemen and URI faculty and staff. Those who spoke at the forum — a majority of whom were current or former law enforce-ment personnel — were, with only one exception, in favor of arming campus police.

David Schnell, a retired police officer, said though many people do not want guns on school campuses, “outsiders” already bring them in.

Other speakers said arming campus police would allow them to better serve students, faculty and staff. Arguing in favor of armed campus police, URI Director of Pub-lic Safety Robert Drapeau said his department protects a large campus that is almost the size of a small town.

One speaker, a member of the staff at the Shepard Building, where the forum was held, said she was neither for nor against arming cam-pus police, but asked questions re-garding the practical implications of such an action.

A study conducted by the Board of Governors in 2000 did not recom-mend arming officers, and a 2002 URI study also concluded that arming its campus police was “not prudent” at that time.

Maurano said in an interview that one of the commission’s main goals is to determine what changes

have occurred since those studies were conducted.

After the final forum, to be held at URI’s Kingston campus next week, the commission will meet a few times starting next month to review potential costs and benefits before making a recommendation to the Board of Governors, Mau-rano said.

President Ruth Simmons ap-proved arming licensed Depart-ment of Public Safety officers in January 2006. Brown is currently the only school in the state that arms its police. The Rhode Island commission has met with Direc-tor of Public Safety Mark Porter to learn about his experience oversee-ing the transition to an armed police force, Maurano said.

The decision to arm officers, Maurano added, will not be made in a hurry. He noted that Brown took several years to debate the issue before Simmons finally authorized officers to carry firearms.

Simmons announced the Uni-versity’s intention to arm officers in December 2003, more than two years before the new policy was ultimately implemented.

If the members of the Board of Governors do decide to arm cam-pus police officers, “they want to make sure that it’s done right,” Maurano said.

stimulus a “critical first step” and “an unprecedented investment in the American people,” according to a press release.

The “package of fiscal relief, tax cuts and infrastructure investments,” Reed went on to say, “is the start, not the end, of the effort.”

“The money must now be spent quickly and responsibly in order to be effective,” the state’s senior sena-tor said in the press release.

Alex Swartsel, a spokeswoman for Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., seconded Reed’s statement in an e-mail to The Herald. “The state needs to act quickly to ensure that none of the funds are forfeited by inaction,” she wrote.

Rhode Island voters were also concerned about the effectiveness of the package. In the Taubman Cen-ter poll, 81 percent of respondents said they were either “somewhat” or “very concerned” that the plan might not turn the economy around quickly enough.

Swartsel added in her e-mail that Whitehouse was “pleased that the bill passed, but is concerned that the recovery plan may not be enough to dig our economy out of its rut.”

“He would have preferred to see higher funding for infrastructure and other construction projects,” she wrote. Whitehouse supported the bill when the measure passed through the Senate by a vote of 60 to 38, with one senatorabstaining.

Republican Gov. Donald Carcieri

’65 had criticized the bill for poor allo-cation of funds, but Amy Kempe, the governor’s press secretary, said in an interview yesterday that the gover-nor was focusing on the future.

“We have the stimulus legislation. Now our focus is to identify and get these projects started and get money in people’s pockets,” she said. “We’re looking ahead — we’re not looking back.”

Carcieri created a state Office of Economic Recovery and Reinvest-ment earlier this month, Kempe said, adding that the new office will help “streamline the process” of using the stimulus money and ensure that all communities in Rhode Island benefit from the plan.

But Kempe said there was still a procedure that needs to be fol-lowed before the “first dime” comes to Rhode Island from Washington. The federal government has two to three weeks to draft rules and regula-tions on how the legislation will be implemented.

“We want to make sure this is done properly and not in haste,” she said.

The recovery package is ex-pected to create or save 3.5 million jobs nationwide over the next two years, according to the White House. Jobs will be created in a variety of industries, including clean energy and health care, with over 90 percent in the private sector.

THURSdAy, FEBRUARy 19, 2009THE BROWN dAILy HERALdPAGE 6

metro “The money must now be spent quickly and responsibly in order to be effective.”— Sen. Jack Reed, d-R.I., who voted for the economic stimulus package

Courtesy of U.S. SenateSenator Jack Reed outlines the $1.1 billion for Rhode Island in the eco-nomic recovery package at a press conference Tuesday in front of a con-struction site on Elmwood Avenue in Providence.

r.I. senators call for quick action on stimuluscontinued from page 1

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SportsthursdayTHURSdAy, FEBRUARy 19, 2009 | Page 7

The Brown daily Herald

w. hockey goes 1-2 for weekendBy andrew Braca

SportS editor

The women’s hockey team went 1-2 over the long weekend at Meehan Auditorium, beating Union, 3-2, on Friday before falling to Rensselaer, 2-1, on Saturday and Yale, 2-0, on Tuesday to drop its record to 6-20-1 overall and 5-15-0 in ECAC Hockey play.

The Bears played perhaps their strongest defense of the season, limiting their opponents to a total of 76 shots over the three games, well below the season average of 39 shots against per game, while captain Nicole Stock ’09, a Herald sports staff writer, surrendered only five goals — Yale notched an empty-net goal.

But Bruno was undone by an of-fense that sputtered against RPI and Yale.

Brown 3, union 2The weekend began on a brighter

note against Union (2-27-3, 0-19-1), winning the previous 11 meetings against the Dutchwomen, as the Bears secured their first home win since a 2-1 victory over Northeastern on Jan. 3.

“I like us better on the road — for whatever reason we seem to be more focused — but today the players, I think, really focused and did what they had to do,” Head Coach Digit Murphy said after the game.

After a quiet first period in which Brown held only a 9-6 advantage in shots, the Bears turned up the inten-sity in the subsequent frame, keyed in part, Murphy said, as the coach promoted Nicole Brown ’10 to the top line to partner with assistant captain Andrea Hunter ’10 and Jenna Dance-wicz ’11, combining the team’s three top scorers.

It took more than 12 minutes for Bruno’s aggressive play to pay off, but the team cashed in quickly on an early power play. Hunter took a shot from the right point that pulled Union goaltender Lundy Day to that side of the crease. Dancewicz secured the rebound and buried the puck into the half-open net.

Thirty-three seconds later, Kath Surbey ’10 knocked in another goal off assists from Erin Connors ’10 and Paige Pyett ’12 to double Bruno’s lead with 6:30 remaining in the sec-ond period.

“It really gave us a big confidence boost,” Dancewicz said. “I thought we started playing better and better after that. Even though Union did score after that, we still kept our heads up. Whenever we score first, we always have more confidence in the game.”

The Bears needed that energy to survive the next five minutes, when the Dutchwomen came roaring back on the strength of two quick power-play goals. 2:20 after Surbey’s goal,

Emilie Arseneault bounced a puck off of Stock’s outstretched leg and into the back of the net. And with 1:48 remaining in the period, Lauren Hoff-man beat Stock with a shot from the blue line to tie the game.

The Bears bore down in the third period to outshoot the Dutchwomen, 13-4. Erica Kromm ’11 netted the game-winning goal on a power play 5:02 into the third frame off assists from assistant captain Samantha Stor-tini ’11 and Nicole Brown.

“It was from the point – Stortini passed it over and I just (took a) wrist shot,” Kromm said. Nicole Brown “had a good screen in front of the net. I actually think she tipped it in.”

rPi 2, Brown 1The Engineers (14-13-4, 9-8-3)

scored back-to-back goals in the sec-ond period on Saturday to ruin a good effort by the Bears. Kromm said while the result was disappointing, there were a number of positives the team could take from the game.

“We played very well together,” she said. “The two quick goals in the second period they got against us kind of brought us down, but we came back in the third (and) played really hard.”

“We did our forecheck really

w. hoops struggles at penn, princetonBy nicole Stock

SportS Staff Writer

This past weekend the women’s basketball team traveled to Phila-delphia, Pa. and Princeton, N.J. to take on the Penn Quakers and the Princeton Tigers. The weekend road swing produced two more lopsided Ivy losses for the strug-gling Bears (3-19, 1-7 Ivy), who are currently last in the conference.

Penn 66, Brown 49In the first game against Penn

(6-15, 3-4 Ivy), Sadiea Williams ’11 led the team with 15 points and six rebounds, but it was not enough to get the Bears a much-needed win, as the Quakers won comfortably, 66-49.

Bruno started the game going basket for basket with the Quak-ers. At the 12:37 mark of the first half the game was tied 10-10, but Penn opened up the game with an 18-2 run that extended its lead to 28-12 with just over four minutes left in the half. Penn entered the break leading 31-16.

“After the first half, we wanted to push into the post with (former Herald sports editor) Amy Ehrhart (’09) and go up against number

31 (Carrie Biemer) of Penn,” said Head Coach Jean Burr. “Even with Natalie Bonds (’10) and Besty Ja-cobson (’11) out, we thought we could go right at her and get her in foul trouble.”

Brown looked to improve on its 27 percent shooting from the field in the first half, opening up the second by scoring the period’s first four points. Brown and Penn exchanged runs as the Bears con-tinued to fight their way back into the game. With three minutes left in the game, Bruno had cut Penn’s lead down to eight points. But that was as close as the Bears would get, and the Quakers finished the game on an 11-2 run.

“We had good looks and forced turnovers, but did not capitalize on them. We also did not have as many costly turnovers in the second half, which helped cut the lead,” Burr said. “After fighting hard to get the ball, we were just unable to finish the opportuni-ties.”

“We did a good job at making adjustments without certain play-ers in the line-up. Had we had the aggressive style of the second half

continued on page 9 continued on page 9

Gymnastics notches season-high scoreBy eliSaBeth aVallone

SportS Staff Writer

Following an impressive showing in a loss to Bridgeport on Feb. 8, the gymnastics team once again competed strongly on Feb. 13, com-ing home with a season-high score of 189.575. The Bears defeated the University of Wisconsin-Stout (183.825), but finished second to the University of Arizona (195.700).

“I’m extremely impressed with how we handled the pressure this weekend,” said Head Coach Sara Carver-Milne. “This was undoubt-edly the biggest setting we’ve had this year, both in terms of the crowd and competing against big scholar-ship programs.”

Carver-Milne noted the personal achievements of her team as well, describing the efforts of Chelsey Binkley ’11, Katie Goddard ’12 and Victoria Zanelli ’11 in particular.

Following the meet, Zanelli was optimistic about the team’s prospects for the remainder of the season.

“Our confidence in the team and trust in the team is growing compared to the past, and we’re definitely stronger than the previ-ous years, we’ve had the potential but hadn’t performed at our opti-mum,” said Zanelli. “We’re really starting to show what we’re capable of achieving.”

Captain Jennifer Sobuta ’09 echoed Zanelli’s sentiments, but still sees room for improvement.

“It was really great to see that everyone could keep their com-posure at such a big meet,” she

said. “This meet was a very good foothold for this coming weekend, as we hope to score 190 to gain the confidence we need to compete at Ivies.”

On the vault, Binkley and Carli Wiesenfeld ’12 each earned a 9.525 for seventh place. Zanelli placed ninth with a 9.475, followed by Me-lissa Bowe ’11 and Lauren Tucker ’12 with 9.450’s for tenth, earning a team score of 47.425 in the event.

On bars, Zanelli recorded a personal best of 9.725, claiming second-place. Lilly Siems ’12 also earned a personal best of 9.400, finishing seventh. Bowe (9.375) captured eighth, followed by Izzy Kirkham-Lewitt ’10 (9.175), Sob-uta (9.175), and Vida Rivera ’11 (9.025). The Bears tallied 46.850 in the event.

Sobuta led the Bears on beam with a score of 9.775 for third place. Binkley and Goddard followed in tenth, each earning a 9.625. Zanelli (9.375) and Tucker (9.125) rounded out the Bears scoring to a 47.525.

Binkley earned the Bears’ top score on the floor exercise, finish-ing in ninth with a 9.725. Goddard finished with a personal best of 9.725, and Tucker also notched a personal best with 9.650. Zanelli (9.425), Helen Segal ’10 (9.250), and Whitney Diederich ’09 (9.050) brought the Bears tally to 47.775.

In the all-around, Zanelli earned a personal best of 38.000, finishing in second.

The Bears will compete next on Feb. 20 against No. 13 Missouri, No. 18 West Virginia, and No. 11 Oklahoma, at Oklahoma.

well and we executed some of our coaches’ plays very well,” Kromm added.

RPI took the lead 9:20 into the sec-ond period, and on the subsequent faceoff, Whitney Naslund secured the puck, drove all the way down the ice and beat Stock to double the Engineers’ lead just eight seconds later.

Entering the final period, the Engineers held a 21-6 advantage in shots, but the Bears turned the tables in the third to post an 11-4 advantage.

“By that time we knew what their systems were, how they played, how fast they were and how well they could move the puck,” Dancewicz said. “By the third period, we were able to adjust to that and play above and beyond their level.”

Dancewicz put one in off an assist from Stortini 4:23 after intermission,

but Bruno could not net the equalizer over the next 14 minutes.

With 1:40 remaining in the game Murphy pulled Stock, setting up an exciting finish. The puck kept bounc-ing around RPI’s crease but never found the back of the net, sealing the 2-1 loss.

yale 2, Brown 0In a battle for ninth place in ECAC

Hockey on Tuesday, the Bulldogs took control with a fluky first-period goal. Stock put in a good effort with 33 saves, but Jackee Snikeris stopped all 21 of the Bears’ shots, and Yale tacked on a late empty-net goal to produce the final score.

“Nicole Stock and our defense played really, really well,” Murphy said. “It’s really frustrating that we can’t find a way to put the puck in the net.”

Thanks to two straight Yale penal-ties, Bruno had the man advantage for all but four seconds of a stretch

between 7:23 and 11:27. The Bears could not find the back of the net.

Yale’s early go-ahead goal came with just over six minutes to go in the first period, when the Bulldogs’ Helen Resor, a U.S. Olympian in 2006, took a hard shot from the point. Teammate Maggie Westfal knocked down near the left post and slipped into the goal.

With just around two minutes re-maining in the game Murphy pulled Stock, but the Bears could not get anything going with the extra skater, and the Bulldogs found the back of the empty net to produce the final 2-0 score.

“I thought we had a very, very good effort tonight,” Murphy said. “We executed our game plan pretty well — I mean, the goal that they scored wasn’t great, and an empty-netter. But we have to score goals to win. We’ve got some juniors and seniors up front … that we need to step up to the plate.”

w. hockey falls to Bulldogs, 2-0continued from page 7

at the start of the game, the result would have been different,” Burr said.

Princeton 66, Brown 41In the second game of the week-

end the Bears took on Princeton (9-12, 4-3), falling 66-41.

The loss at Penn left the team still searching for their first Ivy win since beating Yale the opening weekend of conference play, but the Tigers stifled those hopes quickly. The Bears again fell behind early and yielded big first-half runs to the opposition, a problem that has plagued the Bears all season.

The Tigers’ strong shooting — 50 percent from the field — gave them a 35-19 lead at the end of 20 minutes. Brown was only able to shoot 20 percent from the field in that half. “We need to really focus on our defense to stop the other team making runs,” said Sarah Delk ’11. “We tend to shut down when we get into a scoring drought and we’ve been really trying to focus in on making stops on defense and being patient on offense to prevent

those runs.” “At halftime, we really wanted

to just step up our game overall, get more people involved in scor-ing, and make sure to get back on defense. Communication is always a big key for us, so we also wanted to focus on talking well on defense with each other,” she said.

The second half proved to be more of the same for Bruno, as the Tigers went on an 11-4 run to start the half. Strong defense from Princeton held the Bears to just six points in the first ten minutes of the half as the Tigers stretched their lead to 50-25.

Princeton ended the game shoot-ing 52 percent from the field, while Brown shot just 22 percent for the game. Delk was one rebound short of a double-double, as she picked up nine rebounds and had a game- and career-high 16 points. Williams contributed eight points and four rebounds.

“It was rewarding to see develop-ment of both Williams and Delk. We got a lot of leadership from Sadiea this weekend, while Delk estab-lished herself well, opening up other opportunities,” Burr said.

First-half scoring runs give tigers unbeatable lead

continued from page 7

SportSthurSdayTHURSdAy, FEBRUARy 19, 2009 THE BROWN dAILy HERALd PAGE 9

“I thought we had a very, very good effort tonight.”— digit Murphy, women’s hockey head coach

editorial & LettersPage 10 | THURSdAy, FEBRUARy 19, 2009

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The Banner Web Internal Academic Record — the “Academic Transcript” option on Banner — got a makeover on Tuesday. Alas, the new look exposes more blemishes than it covers up. While we appreciate the aesthetic improve-ments, we regret that the “enhanced” version of the Internal Academic Record displays dropped courses along with a warning that the document is “not for transcript purposes.” Dropped courses still do not appear on a student’s official transcript, though they were visible on the internal record before Banner’s implementation. Their revival is a major step backward.

Students often use the Internal Academic Record as an unofficial transcript, though administrators discourage the practice. The updated version reflects their disapproval by omitting the “unofficial transcript” label that appeared in the previous internal record. “If employers really do want an official transcript they should be asking for an official transcript,” said Registrar Michael Pesta.

But many companies either don’t request official transcripts or only ask for them after students have already submitted an unofficial transcript as part of the application process. Major employers including the Boston Consulting Group, McKinsey and Company, Goldman Sachs and the Congressional Budget Office have applicants upload or e-mail transcripts. Brown should provide students with a serviceable, unofficial transcript for electronic submission in order to help them apply for positions at these companies and many others.

Electronic transcripts offer several advantages for students applying to companies that request them. Official transcripts, the alternative option, take several days to process and can’t always arrive by the deadline. They’re also expensive, running $4 apiece plus $2.25 for delivery. Worst of all, official transcripts are unavailable to students whose families have outstanding bal-ances with the University exceeding $100, according to the Bursar’s Office Web site.

The Internal Academic Record is currently intended for use as an advising tool, according to Pesta. While we agree that advisors should be able to see when their advisees are struggling, we feel that the University could better satisfy this need by providing an alternative academic record, or by merely alerting advisors whenever a student drops a course toward the end of a semester. Pesta noted that the Office of the Registrar may look into using a vendor to send secure copies of transcripts as PDF files, but no such service is currently available to students. Unless and until the University provides a means for students to submit grade information online, it should change the Internal Academic Record to conceal dropped courses and serve as an unofficial transcript.

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

THURSdAy, FEBRUARy 19, 2009 | PAGE 11

opinionsThe Brown daily Herald

The Urban Environmental Laboratory has been a cozy spot on Angell Street since 1884. It was during my Environmental Jus-tice section there last semester that I first heard of the Corporation’s plans to replace the building with a new one that will house the merging Departments of Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences and Psychology. The present UEL building will be moved to Cush-ing Street, but according to Administrative Manager at the Center for Environmental Studies Patti Caton ’92 MA’02, that location may be temporary, and so the eventual fate of the building remains uncertain.

Now, I have fond memories of a class in the UEL, so there may be a chance that I’m overreacting to the Corporation’s decision. However, before the start of this semes-ter, I visited a friend at Yale, and it made me think about what it is that makes a college unique.

Those of us who have been there will know that the college looks more like a cas-tle than anything else. To say that the build-ings there look ancient would be an under-statement. Some people may find their ar-chitecture beautiful, and some may find it creepy. But the point is that those buildings give Yale its character. They are part of a

history and landscape that is distinctly as-sociated with that university.

There is no denying that a place’s his-tory, often represented by its buildings and general architecture, is an important part of its personality. Indeed, part of the Brown campus’ charm lies in the small, picturesque houses that are located at its heart, such as the UEL. However small, they are as much

a part of our history as any larger building. The UEL itself, though initially built as a carriage house, has accommodated student housing and the offices of the Center of En-vironmental Studies in the past.

Having looked after the University for years, perhaps the Corporation knows what it’s doing best. After all, the whole point of the relocation, according to The Herald, is to make the best use of the space at the cen-ter of the University.

But does this have to entail constructing fancy new buildings? Why can’t the center of the college simply be a well-preserved, quaint area that is characteristic of Brown’s past? When we move away buildings like the UEL, Brown loses part of its distinct at-mosphere and replaces it with a new one that isn’t half as unique.

The UEL’s architecture and front gar-

den, which was flooded with sunflowers for most of the summer months, is a pret-ty sight to behold. And with its homey and natural look, it buffers the shiny, somewhat artificial looking BioMedical Center on one side and the J. Walter Wilson Building on the other. But even though aesthetics are important because they contribute toward students’ overall contentment (especially at a college that prides itself on being the hap-piest Ivy), there are other reasons why the

UEL shouldn’t be removed. For example, the UEL’s front garden

provides a life-size playground that allows students to put environmental principles into practice. Students don’t simply have to learn about the benefits of growing what you eat in your own backyard and of com-posting (apparently I did learn a couple of things in that environmental class). They can witness the application of these ideas as well. The new location of the UEL, how-ever, will cause the permanent loss of a gar-den space. The future UEL will hence lack the ability to practice what it preaches and will seem incomplete.

Besides, on a larger scale, there are economic reasons not to replace the UEL. On Jan. 28, President Ruth Simmons an-nounced in a campus-wide e-mail that the University needed to cut expenditures by around $40 million. In a financially difficult time, relocating the UEL (and two other houses that are part of the shift) and con-structing a new building in its place seem like unnecessary financial burdens.

Why, then, should the University put itself through all that trouble given the benefits of simply preserving what it already has?

Fatima Aqeel ’12 is from Karachi, Pakistan. She can be reached at

fatima_aqeel@brown.edu.

Save the ueL

I keep having this weird dream. Two peo-ple are fighting with lightsabers. On one side is an imposing figure shrouded in a black cloak and mask, breathing heavily. On the other is a scrawny student at the top of a large ladder. After jousting a while, the black-clad figure removes her cloak and mask, revealing Ruth Simmons in a red power suit. “I ... am ... your mother,” she declares. The student screams in disbelief and falls off the ladder into the hands of a waiting Brown police officer.

All right, I made up the dream. But this — the Galaxy Brunoniana, in which all au-thority is assumed evil by definition — is the world in which a surprising number of Brown would-be activists operate.

Problem is, it doesn’t mesh very well with the real world of Brown.

In Galaxy Brunoniana, the University is an unyielding, inflexible bureaucracy. In the real world, Brown gives students nearly ev-erything they want. There are no required courses. We can fail classes without conse-quences. President Simmons holds regular open office hours. Students have a voice on nearly every administrative committee. Nearly every time other members of em-POWER and I approach the administration with an energy-conserving idea, we find the University is already working on it.

A characteristic but particularly impor-tant situation is Brown’s response to the economic crisis. In the real world, when President Simmons announced a 29 per-

cent loss to the endowment, she insisted that one of the highest priorities was to “meet the increased need for financial aid” and planned to increase tuition by less than expected. Sure enough, next year’s budget proposal to be considered at the upcoming Corporation meeting includes an 11 percent increase in financial aid and the smallest tu-ition increase in at least the last 10 years.

In Galaxy Brunoniana, some deem

these moves “so out of touch it would be comical if it weren’t so tragic,” and call for a total tuition freeze (“The problem isn’t protest,” Jan. 30).

I don’t know the details of the Univer-sity’s finances, but I would guess that it is difficult to squeeze out any more money under these circumstances. However, even if Ruth had a big stash of extra money hid-den in a secret lair deep beneath Univer-sity Hall, greater increases in financial aid would be much more productive and pro-gressive than a tuition freeze.

For 2008-09, Brown’s tuition and fees are $37,718. That’s a ton of money when the median household income in the Unit-ed States is $50,233. A family near the me-

dian couldn’t even hope to pay $38,850 (a 3 percent increase) — but they were never able to pay full tuition this year anyway.

That’s why Brown’s financial aid office guarantees to meet 100 percent of “demon-strated need,” which is total tuition, fees, room and board minus your “expected fam-ily contribution.” We can argue over the methodology used to arrive at these values, but this is still a significant commitment

that only 62 other colleges share.Who would a tuition freeze help? Cer-

tainly not students with financial aid; their families’ payments depend only on their EFC so they are unaffected by increases in tuition. Not the most affluent either; for them an extra $1,132 is a drop in the bucket compared to total tuition.

A tuition freeze would only significantly help those families near the margin of qual-ifying for financial aid. But an expansion of financial aid that allows them to now qualify would do the same thing.

The benefits of a tuition freeze would go equally to all families not on financial aid, regardless of whether they need the help or not, whereas applying the same dollars

to an expansion of financial aid would tar-get those who need help the most.

Rises in tuition nationally over the past couple decades have greatly exceeded in-flation, and sadly, costs prevent an esti-mated 48 percent of high school graduates from attending a four-year university. How-ever, thanks to Brown’s generous resourc-es in financial aid, our situation is complete-ly incomparable to students at less wealthy schools nationwide.

It’s worth taking a moment to think about these advantages and appreciate how lucky we are to attend the 25th-best en-dowed university in the country. While the average debt for private university gradu-ates nationally is $22,000, the figure for Brown graduates was $16,000 — before the University last year eliminated loans for most families with incomes less than $100,000.

Brown may not be perfect, but it’s pretty darn good. It’s worth fighting, when nec-essary, to keep it great rather than blind-ly following those in power, but a tuition freeze is not the way to go. And if you look beyond Galaxy Brunoniana — really just a small bubble atop College Hill — an incred-ible number of problems are in much more desperate need of action. Homelessness. A looming economic depression. Broken health care and education systems. Climate change. Corruption. War, genocide and ab-solute poverty in the rest of the world.

Which is most worth your effort?

Nick Hagerty ’10 is starting the group Students for a Totalitarian Society. Contact him at nicholas_hagerty@

brown.edu if interested.

make sense, a tuition freeze does not

Even if Ruth had a big stash of extra money hidden in a secret lair deep beneath University Hall, larger increases in financial aid would be much more productive and progressive than a

tuition freeze.

When we move away buildings like the UEL, Brown loses part of its distinct atmosphere

and replaces it with a new one that isn’t half as unique.

NICK HAGERTyopinions coluMnist

By FATIMA AQEELopinions coluMnist

thurSday, FeBruary 19, 2009 Page 12

Today 57

State of the City

Women’s basketball hits the road

The Brown daily Herald

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today, FeBruary 19

4 P.M. — “One World, Many People:

Are there Universal Human Rights?”

Janus Forum lecture, Larry Cox and

John yoo, Salomon 101

8 P.M. — Housing Lottery First Pick

Competition, Sayles Hall

Friday, FeBruary 20

7 P.M. — Women’s hockey vs.

Princeton, Meehan Auditorium

7 P.M. — “Spoken Word and Poetry:

Sofia Servando Baig,” Salomon 101

enigma twist | dustin Foley

cabernet Voltaire | Abe Pressman

the one about Zombies | Kevin Grubb

SharPe reFectory

lunch — Cheese Tomato Strata, Wild

Colonial Risotto, Hot Ham on Bulky

Roll, Zucchini Pie

dinner — Spinach and Rice Bake,

Oven Browned Potatoes, Spice-Rubbed

Pork Chops, Beef Saute with Cumin

Verney-woolley dining hall

lunch — Cavatini, Falafel in Pita,

Grilled Montreal Chicken, Creole

Mixed Vegetables

dinner — BBQ Chicken, Pasta and

Tomato Bake, Risotto Primavera, Corn

O’Brien, Brussel Sprout Casserole

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