vol. cxxii, no.

21

Daily
By mArShAll kATheder Contributing Writer

the Brown

Friday, February 24, 2012

Cable Car Social action program house approved says salut to French film fest
By APArAAJiT SrirAm Senior Staff Writer

Herald
Since 1891

The world is going to end and very soon. That is the problem Robinson, a French bathtub salesman, faces in the film Les derniers jours du monde (Happy Ends), which premiered Thursday night at the Cable Car Cinema. Robinson greets this looming global end with sexually ecstatic fury, leaving his wife and child to pursue a new lover in the hopes of achieving a sense of romantic fulfillment. With dreamy pacing, Les derniers jours du monde explores a somewhat tired movie trope how to deal with the apocalypse from a quirky, surreal angle. Directed by Arnaud and JeanMarie Larrieu, this 2009 film is one of 21 films to be shown at the Cable Car from now until March 4 as part of the annual French Film Festival. Since 1994, the French and Modern Culture and Media departments have teamed up with the Cable Car to bring films from French-speaking countries to select silver screens. The goal is to bring French continued on page 2

The Office of Residential Life approved a proposal Wednesday to create a Social Action Program House in Diman House on Wriston Quadrangle. The house was approved after nearly three months of deliberation by ResLife and the student-comprised Residential Council. The program house will aim to bring together students who have a passion for social justice and service, said Ben Chesler 15, who spearheaded the effort to create the house. Slated to open next semester, the creators of the proposal are currently recruiting students to fill the available spaces, Chesler said. Chesler proposed the new program house because he feels the social action community at Brown is divided, he said. Though there are many student groups involved in

various service projects, Chesler said there is no real common hub for them to engage in conversation with one another. He added that there are few opportunities for students who are not involved in projects to simply join the conversation about activism. When you have a work space and a living space close together, stuff gets done, Chesler said. You could be sitting around at 2 in the morning and have a crazy idea for an organization, and you have the people there to make it happen. The proposal for the house was drafted and brought to ResCouncil in November by a group of about 20 students, most of whom are first-years who participated in the University Community Academic Advising Program, Chesler said. The social action house will fill rooms left vacant after Interfaith House closed continued on page 4

Herald file photo

The Social Action Program House is now recruiting residents for the fall.

Occupiers urge Biden to tax the rich Study links

By SonA mkrTTchiAn Senior Staff Writer

About 20 demonstrators lined up outside the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Providence Thursday to protest the arrival of Vice President Joe Biden, who was in town to support Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse at a fundraiser for his re-election campaign. Members of Occupy Providence, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power RI and the Student

Global AIDS Campaign followed a young boy dressed as a banker in a puppet suit as they marched from Burnside Park to the Biltmore. The banker waved to cars and pedestrians down Washington

city & state

Street with a sign around his neck that read Mr. Bank of America: Greed is Good. Though the protesters stopped and stood outside the Biltmore

entrance, the police asked them to move across the street almost immediately after they arrived at the hotel. Increased security lined Dorrance Street well after Bidens arrival around 6 p.m. The protesters were seeking Bidens support for a measure called the Robin Hood Tax, a collection of taxes on financial transactions that could raise $350 billion for social issues like continued on page 3

urge to pee with impairment

By kATe nuSSenBAum Senior Staff Writer

Forum explores destructive effects of hip hop lyrics

By michAel WeinSTein Contributing Writer

They made it to the bathroom, but it was a pretty ugly scene, said Peter Snyder, professor of neurology. There was a bit of some pushing to get into the stalls.

science
Snyder was not describing a frat house on a Saturday night or the mad dash for the ladies room during the intermission of a lengthy play. Instead, he was talking about his study, which took one afternoon, cost less than $2 and ultimately won him and his team a 2012 MSNBC Weird Science award. The study also caught the eye of the team of Nobel Laureates who determined the winners of the 2011 Ig Nobel Prizes, designed to honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think, according to their website. Snyders research showed that the painful need to urinate causes levels of cognitive deterioration on par with staying awake for 24 consecutive hours or having a blood alcohol content level of 0.05, just shy of the legal limit for driving. But Snyder did not set out to decontinued on page 4

David Deckey / Herald

Boyce Watkins expounded on the issues of racism and art in hip hop at a Janus Forum lecture.

If I could name one thing that would improve black America the most, and I had a choice between getting rid of the (Ku Klux Klan) and getting rid of (Black Entertainment Television), getting rid of BET would take the cake, said Boyce Watkins, a speaker at a Janus Forum lecture Thursday evening entitled Hip Hop: Should Artists be Accountable for their Words? At the event, held in Salomon 101, two speakers who explored the unproductive images and stereotypes portrayed in popular hip hop music, particularly its racial stereotypes and their effect on minority youth. The speakers urged audience members not to ignore this issue, both conceding that the content of hip hop music has very real consequences for minority communities. Michael Eric Dyson, professor of sociology at Georgetown University, and Watkins, scholar in residence

in entrepreneurship and innovation at Syracuse University, pointed to institutional racism, misogyny and homophobia, among other issues, as examples of issues that have been tied to hip hop music. Watkins argued that, despite his love for the genre and the artists that make it, hip hop music sends harmful messages to black youth by glamorizing violence, misogyny, drug and alcohol use, ignorance, reckless spending and prison. Every day, they have been fed a precise formula for self-destruction, he said. Theyve been taught everything they need to know to destroy themselves. Dyson largely agreed, but he said he doubts there is a causal relationship between music and problems within the black community, saying that though hip hop may exacerbate some social issues, it is not the source. Were hip hop not to exist, all the continued on page 4

Arts...........................2 science....................3 news.........................4 sports.....................5 editoriAl................6 opinions.................7

inside

Just dance
Same-sex pairs add new spin to ballroom
ArtS, 2

Tin whiskers
Engineers reveal whats growing in your laptop
SCIENCE, 3

weather

t o d ay

tomorrow

45 / 32

45 / 24

2 Arts & Culture

C ALENDAR
TODAY 4 P.m. Piano Master Class: Roy Howat, Grant Recital Hall 8 P.m. The Brown StorySlam, Kassar House 10 P.m. Salsa Club Latin Night, The Underground FEbRUARY 24 TOmORROW 8 P.m. College A Cappella Championships, Salomon DECI FEbRUARY 25 By cAroline SAine Contributing Writer

the Brown Daily herald Friday, February 24, 2012

Same-sex pairs liven ballroom dancing

J. Ellen Gainor, professor of theater and associate dean of the graduate school at Cornell, asked an audience of mostly graduate students and faculty to consider the broad cultural repercussions of samesex ballroom dancing during her talk Friday in Lyman Hall. Gainors talk So You Think You Can Dance Straight? SameSex Ballroom and Reality Television was part of the Graduate Colloquium Series for the Theater Arts and Performance Studies department. Same-sex ballroom, Gainor said, is a form of dance that defies historical convention, as popular culture and media have depicted ballroom as a representation of heterosexual passion. While romance is implicit in mixed-sex dance, same-sex pairs more frequently represent broad physical comedy and elicit raucous audience laughter, Gainor said. This disparity, she said, is not intrinsic to the dance form itself. Though formal dance vocabulary identifies roles as man and lady, the techniques demonstrated do not have inherent male or female designation. There is no reason other than social convention why ballroom must be heteronormative, Gainor said. In fact, it is a professional necessity for dance teachers involved in reality TV programs such as Dancing with the Stars to learn both the steps of the lead and follower in order to teach the moves to amateur dancers, Gainor noted. In recent years, Gainor suggested, same-sex ballroom has made progress by featuring same-sex dancers such as Willem de Vries and Jacob Jason on the reality television program So You Think You Can Dance. This progression is a much-needed step forward in the ballroom dance world, she said. Gainor said she believes the choreography of mixed-sex dance has been exhausted. She suggested that the infinitely more creative form of same-sex ballroom could be a means of transcending the parameters of mixed-sex dance. The stakes are still quite high for professional or semiprofessional same-sex dancers, Gainor said, as some countries prohibit dancers from participating in same-sex competitions and World DanceSport Federationsanctioned events. There may be hesitation to include these dancers due to the possible difficulty of acquiring sponsors for televised events that feature same-sex ballroom, Gainor said. After the talk, graduate students and faculty participated in an open forum discussion with Gainor, raising points for further thought in a question-and-answer format. Eng-Beng Lim, assistant professor of theater arts and performance studies, asked whether discussion should be directed towards the inherently queer nature of ballroom dancing which Gainor identified in the talk as a form fraught with homosexual anxiety. Gainors talk suggested a bright future for same-sex ballroom, both in reality television and society at large. Overcoming the association of masculinity or femininity with the non-gendered moves of ballroom dance has been a step in the right direction and has allowed traditional Western associations with ballroom to evolve, she said.

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Filmgoers say bonjour to annual festival

continued from page 1 films to Providence, but not just the ones picked up for American distribution, said Shoggy Waryn, senior lecturer in French Studies and the festivals director. According to Waryn, American film distributors select only around 20 of the 150 or so French-produced films each year. He added that these selections typically rely on narrow-minded conceptions of what American audiences expect from French films a soft focus shot of gloomy cigarette smoke, snaking out of some blase nostrils at a Parisian cafe. Each year, Waryn scours big festivals like the Cannes Film Festival and small cinemas for appealing films to bring back and share with Francophiles and film buffs alike. He lives in Paris every third year, running the Brown in Paris program through the Office of International Programs. The focus this year is on the diversity of not just French, but of French-speaking films, said Waryn. This years lineup includes pieces from Belgium, Quebec, Algeria and elsewhere.

CR OSSWORD

Marshall Katheder / Herald

This years French film festival features a diverse set of 21 french-speaking films.

Echoing the jazzy nostalgia of this years silent film smash The Artist, several of these French flicks have little or no dialogue. La mmoire dans la chair (Flesh Memories), set in 1975, follows a man named Thomas as he returns to Spain after a 15-year exile. Thomas

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seeks to bury his ardently Republican father who was jailed during Francisco Francos tight-fisted regime. While La mmoire dans la chair, directed by Dominique Maillet, is not truly unspoken, it is told through mostly incomprehensible murmurs relying heavily on the actors physical performances. Actor and director Chris Thompson 88 addressed the audience after a showing of Bus Palladium, which he directed, Wednesday at the Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts. Set amid the gritty glory of 1980s French rock, Bus Palladium was shot in 2010. His next film, Cannes, begins shooting this spring. All of this years films will be shown at the Cable Car. Tickets cost $9 for general admission and $7 for students. The festivals schedule, along with the complete list of films and their descriptions, can be found online at the festivals website.

the Brown Daily herald Friday, February 24, 2012

Science Friday 3
the company found that their electronics would fail due to thin, metal fibers that formed from the tin. Browns foray into tin whisker research began with the senior project of Lucine Reinbold 01 MS03 PhD07, which expanded into one of the primary research activities in the laboratory of Eric Chason, professor of engineering. Nitin Jadhav, a postdoctoral researcher and student of Chason, said the whiskering process begins with a reaction between tin and copper. The copper goes into the tin, increasing the volume of the tin layer, which attempts to expand but cannot. Jadhav used the analogy of a sealed, full tube of toothpaste. If you have a tube of toothpaste, and you punch a hole, all the toothpaste is going to come out as a wire. Likewise, he said, the stress inside the tin layer builds until it cannot contain the pressure any longer, eventually sprouting hairs. In 2009, Brown researchers designed an automated electron microscope to better observe the process. They won the 2011 William N. Findley Award in Mechanical Behavior of Materials for a study in which they used this microscope. Jadhav likened the automated system to Google Maps, explaining that it first takes a large snapshot of an area, then a high-resolution image of a smaller area, and then even smaller areas every ten minutes. This automated process, conducted over a period of 1015 days, enabled researchers to see whiskers not only bud, but grow, since the same area could be revisited as often as needed without losing information about the other areas. If people see whiskers inside an electronic device, they may assume the whiskers are not harmful if the device is still functioning properly. Even though the whiskers may be physically touching a circuit, the whiskers may not carry any electric current due to a tin oxide coating. But recent NASA research has shown that these whiskers can still be harmful, since mechanical wear of the device such as the jiggling of a car can cause the coating to break down and the circuit to short, said Henning Leidecker, chief parts engineer at the Goddard Space Flight Center. NASA became interested in tin whiskers after talking to the Boeing Aircraft Corporation in 1998. We said, My goodness, we should learn more about that, Leidecker said. To reduce the growth of tin whiskers, electronics manufactures for decades had mixed small amounts of lead into their tin coating, Leidecker said. But in recent years, heightened awareness of lead poisoning has led to criticism of this practice. The European Union responded to the criticism in 2006 by banning the use of lead and requiring companies to switch to a solder that consisted almost entirely of tin, with a tiny amount of copper. The Swatch Company found that as a result of the switch, 30 percent of its watches developed whiskers, and many of those watches failed due to short circuiting. Swatchs lawyers petitioned the EU to put lead back in the solder, touting evidence that the yearly quantity of lead used by Swatch only amounted to the quantity of lead in two car batteries, Leidecker said. Lead has not been banned by all 50 states, Jadhav said. The Swatch Company itself didnt actually say that it had a problem with tin whiskers. Thats a typical event, he said. He noted that often, NASA does not hear about tin whisker problems until they cause a medical or security emergency, such as when the Food and Drug Administration called for the return and replacement of pacemakers due to tin whisker growth. He recalled that the day that the Galaxy IV failed, a doctor told him it was the only day in years that she didnt receive any pages. With 45 million pagers being disabled for a day, do you think anybody might have died because people werent available? Nobody pays attention to that. Thats not part of public record keeping, as far as I know, Leidecker said. Gold has been suggested as an alternative to lead, but given that it is about 500 times more expensive, it is not a cost-effective alternative, Leidecker said. He added that conformal coating, a coating used to protect electronic circuitry from moisture and contaminants, can reduce the formation of tin whiskers. But as of now, Leidecker said, there are not any good methods that will completely prevent the growth of tin whiskers.

Researchers study tin whiskers in electronics

By cArol kim Contributing Writer

On May 19, 1998, the Galaxy IV satellite suffered an on-orbit failure that resulted in a massive telecommunications disruption on Earth. Around 45 million pagers went out of service that day, among other communication outages. The failure of the satellite control processor was attributed to an extraordinarily thin, crystalline, hair-like growth on the electromagnetic switch, known as tin whiskers. Tin whiskers which average 24 microns in diameter, or 1/100 of the diameter of a human hair grow from the tin coating on copper wires and are common in electronics such as iPhones, digital cameras, watches and laptops. When the whiskers come into contact with a circuit, they can cause it to short. Tin whiskers were first identified in the 1940s by Bell Laboratories. Like many companies, Bell used copper because of its high conductivity, but copper oxidizes quickly, impeding the performance of electronics. To prevent such oxidation, scientists recommended placing a protective coat of tin over the copper. Though this served as a temporary solution,

Protein could be therapeutic, study finds Robin Hood tax

By TonyA riley Staff Writer

A study published Feb. 14 in the Journal of Neuroscience shows that the protein biglycan plays an important role in stabilizing synapses, or communication sites, between nerves and muscles. These findings may have clinical implications for patients with degenerative muscular diseases. The paper supports the idea that biglycan activates muscle-specific kinase, MuSK, an enzyme that coordinates the stabilization of the neuromuscular junction, said Professor of Medical Science Justin Fallon, one of the studys authors. When biglycan is absent, the neuromuscular junction, which is shaped like a pretzel, fragments, Fallon said. The unstable synapse then draws back toward the axon, impeding communication between nerves and muscles. That synaptic command (by biglycan) is essential for the health of the neuron and the cell, said Fallon. Without it, you are paralyzed. To see what happened without biglycan, researchers used a knockout process to genetically engineer mice that did not produce

the protein, said Marian Young, a researcher at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research. In the biglycan-free mice, researchers saw evidence of synaptic withdrawal. Fallon said the presence of biglycan, by activating the expression of MuSK, maintains structural stability and prevents this synaptic withdrawal from occurring. The protein also serves other important functions in the body and has possible roles in healing fractures and strengthening bones, Young said, adding that she plans to study this for her next research project. Biglycan is also found in cartilage, and deficiencies of the protein can lead to premature osteoporosis. Because it exists on the outside of cells, biglycan has proven to be a good candidate for protein therapy for degenerative muscular diseases, Fallon said. Released in the bloodstream, biglycan could correct muscular degeneration and synaptic instability in patients, improving muscle function in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy or Lou Gehrigs disease, also called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Fallons lab is looking to start clinical trials of biglycan therapy on humans in the near future. The Muscular Dystrophy Association recently awarded a $1 million grant to Fallons company, Tivorsan Pharmaceuticals, according to the companys website. The good news is that much of the progress weve made with (Duchenne muscular dystrophy) therapy could be applied to ALS, Fallon said. We wouldnt have to start from scratch if it were to show promise. Rita Balice-Gordon, professor of neuroscience at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, said the teams study might eventually lead to new therapies for neuromuscular diseases. Its possible that synapse dysfunction could be ameliorated and that this would result in preservation of nerve-muscle function, she wrote in an email to The Herald. The next question Fallon wants to answer is whether increased synaptic stability through biglycan could help patients with diseases where the synapse itself dies. The team also plans to investigate if biglycan could prolong the overall life of motor neurons.

supporters court Biden

continued from page 1 the global AIDS epidemic and climate change, said Jennifer Flynn, a member of Occupy Providence and the coalition. Last fall, the Robin Hood Tax which would tax the financial sector for revenue to be used towards community services was up for passage by the European Union. Biden has been running around the world lobbying against this tax, said Pat Fontes, a protester. Fontes said the tax would be a tiny, tiny tax that the nations bankers would not even notice. Flynn also said the financial sector would barely notice the tax but added that the revenue it could collect would actually change the world. Flynn pointed to the various cuts made in Rhode Island such as the closing of the states only sexually transmitted disease clinic due to state budgetary constraints as an example of what the tax could finance. She added that this one tax is part of a greater movement to seek

more equality, saying the federal banking bailouts demonstrated how the federal government prioritizes the needs of big businesses over the needs of the middle class. Protesters also focused on what they called the states unequal tax system. Fontes, a member of the Occupy committee on tax reform, said the movements goal for Rhode Island is to increase the progressive taxes so that in the long run, we can decrease the property taxes. Fontes said property taxes split the 99 percent and cause animosity between property owners and non-property owners. Fontes added that the Occupy movement in Providence is just as strong as ever, saying that the end to its 24-hour encampment in Burnside has not changed the movements message. Occupiers are still meeting weekly and keeping a close eye on state legislators, she said. We may have lost some bodies but we havent lost spirit, Fontes said. Our job is to keep inventing actions and keep informing Occupiers to come to support these

4 Campus news
continued from page 1 termine the effects of a full bladder. In order to test the effects of drugs on peoples mental capabilities, Snyders team was trying to design cognitive tests that would resist the practice effect the improvement that subjects show after being tested multiple times in the same day. But a test that avoids the practice effect still must be able to measure small changes in cognitive performance. Using pain to affect cognition is an old idea, Snyder said, but his team was the first to ask people to withhold their urine. Snyder and his colleague, Paul Maruff, came up with this idea after realizing that the urge to void is not only painful but is also easily relieved and cheap, Snyder said. The entire study cost around $1.25, far less than the thousands of dollars his usual brainimaging research requires. Snyder and his team ran the study on eight individuals, who each drank 250 milliliters of water every 15 minutes until they reached their breaking point, where they could no longer hold their urine. As subjects self-reported pain levels increased, so too did their levels of cognitive impairment as measured by simple tasks on the computer that tested attention and working memory. Snyder said the results reflect the anatomical organization of the underlying neural networks that are involved in modulating pain and sustaining concentration two networks he said are close together. Geert Crombez, a professor of health psychology at Ghent University in Belgium who researches how pain affects cognition, described Snyders study as weird, but fascinating in an email to The Herald. It is in line with our theoretical model, which essentially states that there are some basic motives that demand urgent action, he wrote. These urges interrupt and call for additional attentional resources. They also need to be controlled at the expense of cognitive resources. The studys results have realworld implications Snyder and his team did not anticipate. We didnt set out to really talk about the risk of driving when you really need to break to go to the bathroom, he said. Honestly, this didnt occur to us, that its the same as drinking until you are too drunk to drive. Since publishing the study, he said he has heard from truck drivers who have experienced first-hand cognitive impairment from needing to pee. At least three or four people who are either truck drivers themselves or are related to truck drivers have told me that they almost killed themselves because they werent paying attention when they had to go so badly, he said. Since winning the Ig Nobel Prize last year, Snyder has added a Dubious Honors section to his resume. If you cant laugh at what you do sometimes, then theres a problem, he said. continued from page 1 last spring due to lack of student participation. A successful program house fosters a sense of community by bringing people of common interests to a common living environment, wrote Travis Spangler 13, chair of the councils Program and Greek House committee, in an email to The Herald. Also, (it) provides services to the whole Brown community to help the community as a whole. Based on this criterion, ResCouncil advised ResLife to consider the house, and ResLife made the final decision to approve it. The delay in approving the house has prevented active recruitment.

the Brown Daily herald Friday, February 24, 2012

Study suggests peeing before class New social action house recruits students
Were a little behind the ball, because we only just got approved, Chesler said. There is currently a Google document circulating where interested students can sign up, he said. Chesler has been notifying students by emailing listservs and posting information on the Class of 2015 Facebook page. Proponents of the house will be meeting with Jenna Sousa, housing coordinator at ResLife, next week to determine how many rooms and what types of rooms the house will receive. Once its residents are determined, we can start to have the conversation of what this is going to be and how its going to function, Chesler said.

Forum dissects hip hop

continued from page 1 problems that young black people and young people in general face today would persist, he said. He added that the controversy surrounding the genre stems from the countrys confusion about the place of blacks in American culture. Dyson also called for a more intellectual approach to the conversation about accountability in music. He said the argument surrounding hip hop, which does not enjoy the same amount of creative freedom as movies, for example, exposes peoples unwillingness to recognize black musicians artistic merit or intelligence. I presuppose the existence of artistic merit so I can engage in critique, said Dyson, who teaches a class on Jay-Z. (Hip hop) expresses the worst and best of what it means to be a fragile human being in the process of existential evolution in

a culture that both supports and subverts our fundamental human identity. Both speakers talked extensively about the incarceration of minorities and how media outlets and American culture aggravate the problem. BETs recognition of artists like Lil Wayne sends the message to black youth that the behavior expressed in his music is rewarded and leads to success, Watkins said. Racism is most effective when the racist has black skin. Both Watkins and Dyson acknwledged the appeal of the music of Lil Wayne, despite his effect on minority youth. I hate him because his music is so good that you cant help but like him, Watkins said. Hes probably the most powerful mega-pastor in America hes just preaching the gospel of self-destruction. Dyson called Lil Wayne a rhetorical genius and made a distinction between the artistry of Lil Waynes portrayal of racism and misogyny and the music of artists such as Soulja Boy, which he said is without artistic merit or philosophical considerations. The first accountability is to make great art, not to be concerned about whether or not you offended somebody, he said. You offend me with mediocrity. This debate was one of a handful of events planned a year in advance by the Janus Steering Committee which is made of representatives from various campus political groups said Anish Sarma 12, co-director of the Janus Forum. Audience members asked the speakers about artists who are breaking the trend, the role of the media and whether politicians and public intellectuals should also be accountable for their speech. While Watkins proposed an adjustment in the output of rappers, media outlets and record labels, Dyson argued that artists should self-regulate. We must point this out to our children, Dyson said, not by censoring the artist, but by informing the listener, so that the listener begins to make a choice.

the Brown Daily herald Friday, February 24, 2012

Sports Friday 5
by Farnham 12 and Jeff Buvinow 12, but none of the Bears could find the back of the net. But in the second period, Bruno struck back quickly after Jarred Smith 12 scored a goal less than two minutes into the period. The wraparound goal from Smith put the team within one and shifted the momentum in Browns favor. I thought we got better as the game went on, Whittet said. There wasnt any cohesiveness early on, but we played together better as we went forward. It seemed that Brown had tied the game after a confusing play in which the puck and Maclellan ended up in the Harvard net, but the goal was waved off by the referees after further review. Harvard responded to this close call by putting one past Clemente, taking the 3-1 advantage. The Crimson shot itself in the foot throughout the game, accumulating 16 total penalty minutes, giving Bruno plenty of scoring opportunities. Maclellan capitalized and scored his team-leading 15th goal off assists from Buvinow and Dennis Robertson 14, who had two points in the game. As time wound down in the third period, Brown could not find a way to draw even with Harvard until the last two minutes of the period, when Massimo Lamacchia 15 came through with a clutch goal. This goal was also contested, but this time, the video review confirmed the goal, which ignited Meehan Auditorium as the Bears headed into overtime. Though Brown had a power play almost immediately after overtime started, Harvard stood strong and kept the game a tie. Weve got to work on a few things so that we dont have to claw back from two goals, but its good to get the tie, Maclellan said. The final goal marked a major milestone for Maclellan, as he notched his 100th point for Brown on the assist to Lamacchias goal. Its a nice accomplishment but wouldve been a little nicer if wed gotten the win, Maclellan said. It was definitely nice, especially after freshman year when I only had six points. I never imagined I would be able to (hit 100). The positivity of the Harvard game was shattered in the 4-1 loss against Dartmouth (10-13-4, 7-103). Bruno fell behind 3-0 after the first two periods and was only able to avoid being shutout after a goal from Matt Harlow 15 in the third period. The team sits in a marginally better position heading into the last weekend of regular season hockey, moving up one spot to second-tolast. But the Bears are within striking distance of Princeton (8-13-4, 6-11-3), against whom Brown will end the season tomorrow. Today, the team will travel to Quinnipiac (1611-5, 8-8-4). The standings following these two games will determine whom Brown will play in the first round of the ECAC playoffs, which will begin March 2. continued from page 8 a shame because some guys do not get recognized for the great things they do in their position. Fun fact: Did you know that of the guards selected to be in the All-Star game, six of the original nine were point guards? Now that Rajon Rondo has replaced Johnson, there will be seven point guards and two shooting guards at the AllStar game. Have fun, Kobe Bryant and Wade! Another fun fact: Did you know that five of the Easts six forwards play small forward? Did you know that Roy Hibbert is on that roster over Anderson, Kevin Garnett, Josh Smith and Carlos Boozer because he is designated a center and those guys are power forwards? If you want to suspend your disbelief and pretend that defense is taken into consideration for the All-Star selection, I still wouldnt pick Hibbert. He has one to two inches on the rest of those guys, but you cant say you would rather have him than one of those four. Also, if you want proof that height does not matter as much as you might think with post players, San Antonio Spurs center DeJuan Blair is 6 7 to power forward Tim Duncans 6 11. No, I think that in todays NBA, you have a point guard, two wing players and two post players. I also think that All-Star voting should reflect that. You should have three point guards, four wing players and five post guys. Look at the All-Star teams when you suddenly impose those rules. It looks at lot more like the 24 guys in the league who are the best at their positions. Derrick Rose, Deron Williams, Steve Nash, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook and Rondo are our likely point guards, meaning Tony Parkers spot is now Gays. When it is time to cut wings, Pierce and Carmelo Anthony who rode the fan vote that would have gone to Wade and LeBron James in my format are now Anderson and Smith. Hibberts spot likely becomes either Boozers or Garnetts. If we were to enforce these rules on the West, Nowitzki and Marc Gasol would turn into Pau Gasol and Danilo Gallinari. Maybe these new teams do not have the flashiest stats, but they are certainly the players who have done the most within their position in the NBA this year. Maybe I am taking the All-Star game too seriously. But 15 years from now, when I am arguing with someone about Hibberts place in history, they are going to be able to tell me that he was an All-Star. I wont remember his stats that season. I wont remember the great seasons the power forwards around him had. I wont remember that Al Horford got hurt. I will just remember that he was an All-Star, and everything else will be lost to time.
Sam Sheehan 12 would like to remind everyone that Chase Budinger is in the Slam Dunk Contest. That is actually happening. Talk sports with him at sam_ sheehan@brown.edu or follow him on Twitter @SamSheehan.

Sheehan 12 evaluates Maclellan 12 hits 100 career points All Star picks
m. HOCkEY
By connor greAly SportS Staff Writer

The mens ice hockey team stopped its six-game losing streak and salvaged Senior Weekend in its last home stand against Ivy League opponents Harvard and Dartmouth last weekend. Brown (8-15-4, 5-12-3 ECAC) was able to notch a critical league point in a thrilling 3-3 overtime game against Harvard (8-8-11, 6-59) Friday night. There are good ties and there are bad ties, said Head Coach Brendan Whittet 94. That was actually a good tie. We came back in the game and got a point. After one period of play, the Bears losing streak looked like it would continue as they fell into a 2-0 hole. Though Brown had the 12-6 shot advantage, Harvard capitalized on the play of its assistant captain Alex Killorn, who notched both of Harvards goals in the first period. I thought (Killorn) was skating well, Whittet said. We didnt really do a good job of playing basic oneon-one defense. Goalie Mike Clemente 12 made acrobatic saves to keep the score from getting out of hand in the first period. The Harvard goalkeeper was peppered by shots from captain Jack Maclellan 12, assistant captain Bob-

COMICS
Fratertity of Evil | Eshan Mitra, Brendan Hainline, and Hector Ramirez

6 Diamonds & Coal

DIAMONDS & COAL
Coal to the Bruin Club and Admission Office for treating students admitted early decision only to A Lunch on College Hill and having no plans to turn the event an overnight stay like A Day on College Hill, which is hosted for regular decision admits. A word of wisdom to those accepted early decision if the University were really trying, it would buy you dinner and ask you to spend the night. A diamond to Kate Bornstein 69, a keynote speaker of this weekends IvyQ conference and a transgender author and gender theorist, for saying of the need to question binaries, When we explode a binary, we reveal a hierarchy. Throw in a heteronormativity, and youll have the trifecta of Brown students favorite words but be careful not to explode all three, or the Brown humanities program might implode on itself. A diamond to the Undergraduate Council of Students, which is planning to host an event during UCS week offering samples from different dining hall vendors to entice students to stay on meal plan. Your move, MunchCard. Might we suggest free Mama Kims? Coal to Paul Shanley, deputy chief of police of the Department of Public Safety, for calling University security cameras not like a Vegas operation where we have people watching all the time. Opening your Brown mailbox, on the other hand, could require a crack heist team led by George Clooney. A diamond to Gov. Lincoln Chafee 75 P14, who has been selected alongside Desperate Housewives actress Eva Longoria and actor and White House staffer Kal Penn as one of 35 co-chairs of President Obamas re-election campaign Wednesday. Incidentally, Chafee will also be cast in Penns next film, Harold and Kumar Go to the White House. Cubic zirconia to Peter Snyder, professor of neurology, and Paul Maruff, who studied the effects of the urge to void, or the painful need to urinate, which Snyder described as both cheap and easily relieved. This is not to be confused with the urge to avoid, which would only be relieved if Facebook, Twitter and BrownBares simultaneously crashed. Coal to former University President Henry Wriston, who said fraternities received a shot in the arm during World War II, when Browns fraternity member population relative to the total student body dropped from 80 percent to 23 percent. Sorry, Mr. Wriston, any self-respecting bro will tell you thats not where shots go. An extra sparkly diamond to the speakers selected for a conference celebrating womens history at Brown, which will showcase what the fabulous alumnae of Brown do, according to a co-chair of the council sponsoring the event. Theyll need it to match the high bar for fabulousness set by spunky Brown alums John Hay 1858 and Charles Evans Hughes 1881. A diamond to Rhode Island native Viola Davis, who is nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in The Help. Regardless of what happens Sunday night, heres something shiny to put on your shelf.

the Brown Daily herald Friday, February 24, 2012

EDITORIAL CARTOON

by lo r e n f u lto n

Sun rises, sun sets herald inbox waits for you Your letters, your love.

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You offend me with mediocrity.

qUOTE OF THE DAY

See Hip Hop on page 1.

Michael Eric Dyson, professor of sociology at Georgetown

CORRECTIONS POLICY The Brown Daily Herald is committed to providing the Brown University community with the most accurate information possible. Corrections may be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication. C O M M E N TA R Y P O L I C Y The editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial page board of The Brown Daily Herald. The editorial viewpoint does not necessarily reflect the views of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Columns, letters and comics reflect the opinions of their authors only. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY Send letters to letters@browndailyherald.com. Include a telephone number with all letters. The Herald reserves the right to edit all letters for length and clarity and cannot assure the publication of any letter. Please limit letters to 250 words. Under special circumstances writers may request anonymity, but no letter will be printed if the authors identity is unknown to the editors. Announcements of events will not be printed. ADVERTISING POLICY The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. reserves the right to accept or decline any advertisement at its discretion.

Post- maGazine Sam knowles editor-in-chief

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BloG dailY Herald Jennifer Bloom matt klimerman editor-in-chief Managing editor

the Brown Daily herald Friday, February 24, 2012

opinions 7
this or that song was climbing the charts is perhaps the closest thing you have to a common past with your best friends. Yet people are often reluctant to share common musical interests with the masses, except maybe with a few close friends who will come to their obscure favorite bands concerts and meet more people rather like themselves. The logic seems to be that when you like the same song as everyone else, its too bandwagon or reveals a lack of true appreciation for good mudividualistic and confident enough to explore our musical interests beyond the scope of what the mainstream music industry pushes, and I am well aware that there are plenty more significant memories that we can relive with our college friends someday. But for myself and many others, music is an integral part of those memories. Yet another problem with the countermainstream music culture is that now, the only music in which we all share a comevils of mainstream music. Do we really want the music of our generation to be remembered for its references to heavy drinking and smoking and having sex with strangers? Thats hardly representative of the music we actually enjoy in our daily lives. We all listen to music that has more redeeming qualities than auto-tuning and bizarre Nicki Minaj animal noises the problem is that we listen to it behind closed doors. I fear that while we are busy soaking up the deep, broody music we discover on our Pandora stations, the established love song from the 2010s will become Grenade, and the most meaningful message will be found in Born This Way. We can do better. Consider how almost all of our parents, and most of us, too, love what would be considered the mainstream music of the 1960s and 70s. Further consider that at this rate, were likely to wind up embarrassed by what our own decade produces. So instead of rejecting mainstream music, lets try harder to share the artists we love with a bit more enthusiasm than You probably havent heard of them, with the ultimate goal of incorporating our favorite music into the mainstream. Matthew Brundage 15 probably doesnt know your favorite band but would like to find some common musical interests anyway. He can be reached at matthew_brundage@brown.edu.

The appeal of mainstream music

BY MATTHEW BRUNDAGE
opinions Columnist
One of the most satisfying parts of being a member of the Brown community is getting to know people with interests and lifestyles that starkly contrast with your own. Still, its nice to reach that breaking point with your friends when you can start talking about your favorite foods instead of your favorite post-modernist literature, or how you spent your weekends in middle school instead of how you spent your summer developing a more efficient health care system in a third world country. Not that those latter discussions arent stimulating, but they can make it difficult to establish common ground with someone. For me, an easy way to find such common ground has always been to talk about music, like how weird it was when the Black Eyed Peas came out with My Humps after Where Is the Love, how downhill the band Train has gone, whether Lady Gaga is cool and how obnoxious it was when the Frays How to Save a Life was the background song in just about every TV series dramatic final scene. We can all agree that music has an incredible nostalgic power, and since it is unlikely that you went to middle school with someone from Brown, reminiscing on your independent experiences when

The logic seems to be that when you like the same song as everyone else, its too bandwagon or reveals a lack of true appreciation for good music, when in reality, half the appeal of music is sharing and experiencing it with others.
sic. But in reality, half the appeal of music is sharing and experiencing it with others. Maybe we are trying too hard to individualize it. What, then, will be the songs we all have a story or a memory to reminisce about if we are each concerned with avoiding the mainstream? Maybe it would not be as tragic as Im implying, but it doesnt seem appealing to look back and say, Bro, remember that semester when I couldnt stop listening to that one band you didnt know, and you kept listening to that one artist I had never heard of either? I completely appreciate that we are inmon interest is bad party music. And since that is the only music we collectively listen to, its the music for which our generation will probably be known. That, or Hey, Soul Sister I dont quite know which would be worse. There is a linear relationship between how frequently we criticize mainstream music and how much worse it gets as we do so in our desire to keep the good songs undercover. Then, when a talented artist like Bon Iver wins the Best New Artist Grammy, I expect to hear much less from my peers about how great he is, since he now seems to have crossed over to the

RIPTAs educational value

BY STEVEN CHIZEN
opinions Columnist
For the overwhelming majority of Brown students who are not from Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority is most likely a foreign concept. While the College Hill campus fosters education through intellectually stimulating classes, it fails to expose students to a working society and engage students with a genuine community outside of the University bubble. Riding a RIPTA bus, however, has the ability to provide necessary experiential learning to complement students education on the Hill. Considering the buses only route near Brown runs through an underground tunnel that travels beneath the historic College Hill, how can we blame students for being sheltered from the rest of Providence? For most students, the bus stop near campus, at the top of the bus tunnel, is merely a detour that interrupts the walk from their dorms to the Main Green. Ever since the bus tunnel was constructed in 1914, Brown and College Hill residents have implicitly accepted residing in a sheltered bubble away from a larger, unprotected society. It is time for the University to burst the bubble and become a member of the greater public sphere, and for students, riding the bus is the perfect solution. Intellectually curious students crave to understand the society around them, and embedding oneself into bus culture is an easy and accessible way to become exposed to Providences downtrodden reality. Riding the bus gives Brown students a unique cross-section of Providences myriad problems. Students will witness a plethora of people who are never seen on College Hill: a Vietnam war veteran whos missing his legs, a toothless mentally-disabled woman who sings loudly the entire ride and a young adult begging for money as he takes a swig from his flask. It demonstrates an urban setting of poverty, homelessness, alcoholThe Brown ID is a free ticket to become one of the 18 million riders of RIPTA per year. Its a pass to join another community in Rhode Island where not every member excelled in high school, nearly aced their SATs and participated in all sorts of extracurricular activities. Arguments can be made that Brown is a university full of diversity, and there are indeed students of different ethnicities from all over the world. At times, however, it feels like Brown lacks different levels of success and socioeconomic differences. More importantly, everyone at Brown is here for their expected conveniences the bus is always late and their security. Each stop through the city presents its unique additions to the community, featuring new problems, situations and people. I urge you to ride the bus. I know its inaccessible and probably wont really get you to where you need to go, but thats the exact experience essential to embark on learning about diversity, and more importantly, about reality. One conversation on the bus can be a more intellectually stimulating experience than a whole semester of reading and attending lectures in ECON 0110: Principles of Economics. College Hill has its beauty, with extraordinary people who make up the greater Brown community. I admit, there are times I appreciate an offer to ride in a friends car to avoid dealing with the difficulties of the bus, sympathizing with others from my luxurious car window. Riding the bus, talking to Providence locals and exploring the issues exposed throughout the RIPTA process, is one of the best ways to develop empathy. Experience Providence. Its our home, and it extends beyond College Hill. This type of experiential learning is at our fingertips, or rather just a seven-minute walk down to Kennedy Plaza where your journey into the reality of Providence begins. Steven Chizen 14 blames RIPTA for being unable to turn in his history paper. He can be reached at steven_chizen@brown.edu. The ride was still worth it.

It is time for the University to burst the bubble and become a member of the greater public sphere. For students, riding the bus is the perfect solution.

ism and poor health care. There are also hints of the positive side of Providences urban community. For example, a mutually respected rule exists that the first few seats are reserved for the elderly. A kind woman swipes for another woman who is short of the fare, while a man asks his neighbor how his day is going. Its a culture, a working community with all types welcomed.

a shared purpose: academia. The Brown community is focused on education, making it quite different from an urban community centered on working to have enough money to eat and live each day. For Brown to engage and possibly assist Providence, students first must leave College Hill to understand whats beyond the bubble. Riding the bus is the first step in this process. It strips students of both

Daily Herald Sports Friday

the Brown

Friday, February 24, 2012

All-Star selection in Squad defeats one Ivy rival, falls to another compromising position
W. bASkETbALL
By mAdeleine WenSTruP SportS Staff Writer

The womens basketball team picked up its fourth consecutive conference win against arch rival Harvard 58-55 Friday night before falling to a weak Dartmouth squad Saturday evening 57-52. These results were a reversal from just three weeks ago, when the Bears lost to Harvard (13-10, 6-3 Ivy) and sailed past Dartmouth (4-19, 2-7). Bruno was up against its Ivy rival for the second time this season last Friday, but this time on its own turf at the Pizzitola Center. Every team has to know how to walk onto a different court with confidence, said Head Coach Jean Marie Burr. And when we played Harvard the first time, we got flustered and couldnt recover. At home and propelled by their winning streak, the Bears played with confidence and led 31-25 at halftime. The Crimson had a brief 17-11 lead after a quick run in the first half, but three treys from guards Lauren Clarke 14 and Lindsay Nickel 13 put the Bears back safely ahead. This season, the Bears have been solid on defense to compensate for low shooting percentages. Friday night was no different the Bears picked up six steals and created scoring opportunities from Harvards 11 turnovers, while Browns shooting percentage hovered at just 36 percent in the first half. We had great defense, and we needed it Harvard is one of the best offensive teams in the league, Burr said. Though Harvard outscored and out-rebounded the Bears 30-27 and 32-20, respectively, the Bears last defensive move protected their twopoint lead. With 12 seconds to go,
Brown 58, harvard 55

By SAm SheehAn SportS ColumniSt

Jonathan Batemen / Herald

Hannah Passafuime 12 helps to clinch a victory against Harvard.

co-captain Hannah Passafuime 12 took a charge, putting her on the free throw line, where she has been shooting 82 percent this season. She sunk one of two, enough to put the Bears three points ahead for a final score of 58-55. A strong defensive showing was not enough to overcome Saturdays low shooting percentages for the Bears. The close game Saturday did not resemble the two teams previous matchup, in which the Bears trampled on the second-to-last team in the league 74-50. The Bears put up significantly more shots than the Big Green but were shooting just 27 percent from the field, their second-lowest field goal percentage of the season. But the Bears defense was able to keep the game close the squad had 14 steals and scored 23 of their 52 game points off of Dartmouths turnovers. The intensity was there, Burr
dartmouth 57, Brown 52

said. But we folded into their game plan. We put up too many, too early, and it put us back on defense too often. Brown was down 26-22 at the half but went on a 7-0 run right after the break to cut their deficit to two. Passafuime also sunk treys at critical times to tie the score. With 30 seconds on the clock and an even score, Dartmouth guard Faziah Steen found an opening and netted a three to take the advantage. Brown attempted to slow the clock by fouling, but Dartmouth guard Nicola Zimmer followed through on two free throw attempts to take the game 57-52. It was a tough lesson, Burr said. This week we want to refuel and work on stepping up defense and develop our bench. After two weekends at home, the squad will get back on the road to take on Cornell (10-13, 4-5) Friday evening and Columbia (2-21, 0-9) Saturday for its second-to-last weekend of the regular season.

As the last NBA games of the first half of the season wrap up, and we prepare for the All-Star game, I would like to point out something that has really bothered me over the past couple of years. Its also something that applies to All-Star game selection. Its a matter of positioning. No, really. It is the positions that bother me. I am sure whenever basketball first started to evolve into a refined team sport, the positions made sense. There were not as many tall guys, and they were not very mobile, so these average players were made centers. You had two forwards who hung out on the sides. One was smaller than the other, and these guys crashed the glass, shot long twos or whatever else was required of them. The smaller guy was aptly named the small forward, and the bigger guy became known as the power forward. The shooting guard was a smaller guy who could stroke the ball, and the point guard was the ball handler who ran the offense. These two guys mostly hung out at the top of the key. My problem is that, in todays game, an effective team does not actually function like this. The point guard and center are appropriately cast in this above description, but that is it. In the two, three and four spots, todays NBA game has evolved past what I have just described. What separates a power forward, small forward and

shooting guard? Size, obviously, but aside from that, I do not think I am going out on a limb when I say that shooting guards and small forwards tend to look more similar than small forwards and power forwards. The days of four perimeter players are long gone, and in todays game, you want your four guy to rebound and block before you want him buttering threes. No, aside from Kevin Love and Ryan Anderson, who already have that low-post stuff taken care of, and Dirk Nowitzki, who is a former league and Finals MVP, power forwards are much closer to centers than they are to small forwards. By that same token, shooting guards and small forwards have both developed similar roles in a game hang out on the wings, facilitate passes between the big men and the point guard, knock down open looks and penetrate when you have the chance. If you are a great team, one of these guys is your go-to scorer or they play fantastic defense against the other teams top scorer, like Luol Deng, Andre Iguodala or Tony Allen last year. My problem with the All-Star game is that it draws a big fat line between the shooting guards and the small forwards, designating them totally different positions. Are Joe Johnson and Dwyane Wade really so different from Paul Pierce and Rudy Gay in play style? The only difference is who is an inch or two taller and who the other guys on the team are. That is why categorizing players All-Star voting based on if they are a guard, forward or center is just silly. I understand the All-Star teams are an honorary thing, and we are not trying to build real teams, but it is continued on page 5

Bruno passes final test before championships

By JAmeS Blum SportS Staff Writer

TRACk

The men and women of indoor track won four events last Sunday at the USA Track and Field New England Indoor Championships hosted by Harvard. Some of the athletes used the meet as a final tune-up before the Ivy League Heptagonal Indoor Championships next Saturday and Sunday at Cornell, while others wrapped up their seasons. It gave us a confidence booster, said Susan Scavone 12. Were all really excited and pumped up. Scavone captured the 60-meter hurdles title, finishing the race in 8.53 seconds. The best practice for me is to race, Scavone said. So I was very adamant about (Associate Head Coach Marc Mangiacotti) putting me in the race. Scavone added that the race was particularly valuable for her because there were no preliminary

heats. This gave her an opportunity to simulate the competition at the Ivy League championships, where finals are on a different day than preliminaries, preventing athletes from having a trial-run in preliminaries. Additional first-place efforts were given by Jessica Eason 14 in the shot put with a heave of 13.08 meters and the women on the 4x400 yard relay, who finished the event in 4 minutes 8 seconds. Mitchell Baker, assistant track and field coach, said Tess Plant-Thomas 13 had a strong performance in the 800m race, running a time of 2:14. She looked really strong in the second half, Baker said. She can be a little more aggressive in the coming weeks. The men were led by John Spooney 14, who won the 60m dash in 6.95 seconds. Other strong performances were given by Nate Elder 13, who finished fifth in the 400m dash, and Mark McGurrin 15, who finished fourth in the 3,000m run.

Erik Berg 13 earned a secondplace finish in the 800m run, with Colin Savage 14 finishing .4 seconds behind him in third place. Tom Elnick 12 finished three seconds behind Berg and Savage in fifth place. In the 60m hurdles, Hunter Warwick 15 finished third in a time of 8.58 seconds. On the field, Albert Anderson 15 leaped 6.43m to finish third in the long jump, and Daniel Smith 13 threw the shot 15.47m to earn second in the shot put. Only .2 meters behind Smith, Matthew Miller 15 finished third. Meena Farid 15 finished fifth with a toss of 14.68m in the weight throw. The teams now enter the final period of preparation before the Ivy League championships. Scavone said she is trying to keeping her head clear during this time. I want to leave everything on the track, Scavone said, and not get distracted by anything I cant control.

Emily Gilbert / Herald Wins at Harvard propel the track team toward championship meet.