Daily Herald the Brown
vol. cxlv, no. 69 | Tuesday, September 14, 2010 | Serving the community daily since 1891
Primary day
marks crucial
test in R.I.
By Claire Peracchio
Senior Staff Writer
For months, the candidates vying
to replace retiring Rep. Patrick
Kennedy, D-R.I., have plied Rhode
Island’s first district with campaign
advertisements, get-out-the-vote op-
erations and policy proposals to get
Rhode Island’s economy back on its
feet. But a bruising battle among
METRO
leading Democrats threatens to up-
end the race just as voters get ready
to choose among the contenders
— Democrats David Cicilline ’83,
Anthony Gemma, Bill Lynch and
David Segal and Republicans John
Loughlin and Kara Russo — in to-
day’s decisive primary.
As voters go to the polls here
and across the country, they will
pick party nominees for a midterm
election that will determine whether
President Obama’s party can hold
on to the sweeping gains made in
2008. Voter turnout will be key for
candidates in R.I., where the Sept. 14
primary will mark the end for many
and, due to the state’s Democratic
leaning, a presumptive general elec-
tion win for others.
A bloody primary battle
Providence Mayor Cicilline has
led the contest for the first district’s
congressional seat in fundraising
and poll numbers, but a recent
continued on page 3
Foreign Affair has gained more space for less rent at its new location.
inside
News......1–2
Metro.....3–5
Editorial......6
Opinion.......7
Today.........8
www.browndailyherald.com
Recent national events
spur Muslim action
By Sydney Ember
News Editor
Addressing the widespread unrest
spurred by a Florida pastor’s plan
to burn copies of the Koran on the
nine-year anniversary of Sept. 11,
Muslim Chaplain David Coolidge
’01 denounced extremist actions
and urged the community to honor
religious differences at a press
conference hosted by the Rhode
Island Council of Churches Sept.
10. The cautious remarks reflected
the reactions generated by recent
anti-Islam media coverage, con-
trasting the Muslim community’s
celebrations marking Ramadan’s
end that occurred the same day.
“There seem to be a fair
amount of people these days who
consider themselves heroes of an
even greater generation,” Coolidge
said in his statement. “They have
What’s in a name: behind the building R.I. to get
By Nicole Boucher
Senior Staff Writer
When students walked through
Faunce Arch for the first time this
semester, they noticed a remarkable
transformation. In place of brick
siding, glass doors marked the open-
ing to the new Stephen Robert ’62
Campus Center. Signs of construc-
tion dominated campus last year,
the work going into the renovation
project quite visible. But what about
the less conspicuous addition — the
Hilary Rosenthal / Herald
Metro, 4
candidates face off
M ayo ra l c a n d i d a t e s
discuss their positions on
a variety of issues.
195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island
capitalized on the suffering of a
nation, turning attention from
burning issues to burning books.”
In his statement, Coolidge
expressed concern that the pas-
tor’s anti-Islamic actions recalled
nationalistic sentiment in Nazi
Germany during World War II.
Those who want to burn copies
of the Koran “consider Muslims a
monolithic threat,” he said. “With-
out the slightest awareness of the
irony of their actions, they have
adopted many of the same tactics
that characterized fascism at its
height.”
The pastor’s threat sent a mes-
sage to Muslims that they were
“no longer human in the eyes
of the book burners,” Coolidge
said. But despite his condemna-
tion, Coolidge shared a message of
continued on page 2
name of the building? What, exactly,
is in a name?
A drive for donations
“There are a lot of buildings we
are willing to name if you are willing
to give X,” said Beppie Huidekoper,
executive vice president for finance
and administration. When people
want a structure named after them
or for their family, they can provide
donations in exchange for naming
rights.
Putting a family name on a build-
Thayer’s ‘Affair’ no longer
foreign to Brook Street
By Margaret Yi
Contributing Writer
Just a few days before the start of the
semester, Thayer Street said goodbye
to another familiar face.
But this time it’s a change for the
better for Marsha Taylor, owner of
vintage clothing store Foreign Affair.
About two weeks ago, while much
of the student body was packing for
Brown, Foreign Affair was making a
swift and almost silent move from the
lively Thayer Street to the much more
serene Brook Street. Foreign Affair
now finds itself closer to Wickenden
Street, but just far enough that it of-
fers shoppers a quiet haven from the
noise and the hubbub.
The newly renovated space was
a much welcomed change for Tay-
lor. Not only was the rent on Thayer
In a press conference, Muslim Chaplain David Coolidge compared a
Florida pastor’s idea to burn copies of the Koran to the general sentiment
in Nazi Germany during World War II.
ing at Brown is a compelling reason
to donate, Huidekoper said, but it
is not the only reason. Others are
focused on a mission to improve the
University, and the name is merely
a byproduct of this devotion.
But some donors have a vested
interest in the outcome of a devel-
opment, making a “project-driven”
rather than recognition-driven dona-
tion, Huidekoper said. The Stephen
Robert ’62 Campus Center is such
continued on page 2
Street becoming expensive, Taylor
said, but the environment did not suit
the store either. She referred spe-
cifically to the addition of the Better
Burger Company. “It’s not a pleasing
combination to have clothing next to
food, due to the food smells,” Taylor
said.
Taylor now has more space for
less rent. As a result, the new location
features huge display windows, two
fitting rooms and a bigger inventory,
which allows for more diversification,
Taylor said. The store now carries
a myriad of items — ranging from
women’s floral tops to men’s dress
jackets — that put much of today’s
department store bargains to shame.
What’s more, there is no need to deal
with the daily traffic and parking dif-
continued on page 5
Editorial, 6
Use your vote wisely
What to keep in mind as
you head to the Rhode
Island polls today
herald@browndailyherald.com
George Miller / Herald
state educ.
grant
By Caitlin Trujillo
Senior Staff Writer
State Education Commissioner
Deborah Gist will be traveling to
Washington this Thursday to fi-
nalize the level of funding Rhode
Island will receive as a winner of
the federal Race to the Top com-
petition. On Aug. 24, the state was
named a winner, joining nine other
states and the District of Columbia
METRO
as recipients of the funds.
The precise grant amount
destined for Rhode Island has
not yet been finalized, but the
state applied for $75 million —
the maximum amount it could re-
ceive based on student enrollment
figures — according to a press
release from the R.I. Department
of Education. The national fund’s
total amount is $4.35 billion.
Gist will be meeting with rep-
resentatives from the U.S. De-
partment of Education to finalize
Rhode Island’s reward, though
she said she expects the state will
receive close to the full $75 million
that it applied for, she said.
During the application process,
states were evaluated on criteria
continued on page 5
Opinions, 7
it could be you
Stephen Wicken GS
reminds students that TAs
were once undergrads, too.
Page 2 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Tuesday, September 14, 2010

C ampus N EWS “Our culture has become so oversimplified.”

— Nancy Khalek, assistant professor of religious studies

Brown honors big spenders Recent events reveal

continued from page 1

an example. The former chancellor’s

contribution was driven by the goal,
rather than the naming, Huidekoper
said, adding that “Stephen Robert
really wanted to create a campus
center.” Because Robert had been
an advocate and lead contributor to
the center, the Corporation voted to
establish it under his name.
In general, there are university
guidelines for naming, and each in-
dividual naming must be approved by
the Corporation, said Steven King ’91,
senior vice president for university
advancement.
Currently, the Campaign for Aca-
demic Enrichment has many nam-
ing options in exchange for large
donations. With a $10 to $35 million
contribution, a donor can name a
new building such as the Medical
Education Building, according to the
Campaign’s website. For a lesser sum
of only $3 million, an existing build-
ing such as the East Asian Studies
building can be named.
“To name a building would be
typically 50 percent of the cost of the
renovation,” King said. The money
donated may be used to create an
endowment or finish necessary res-
toration, he said.
The condition, stature of the
building and the foot traffic in the
area also factor into the price tag,
Huidekoper said.
The donations may be specifically
designated for naming rights, but
there are also times when the Corpo-
ration may vote to direct funds to the
process, King said. The newly named
Ittleson Quadrangle went through
the latter process. Though the Corpo-
ration originally called for a $5 million
donation to name the future athlet-
ics quadrangle, the Ittleson Founda-
tion gave $1.5 million for “green and
sustainable initiatives campus-wide,”
according to the Corporation’s May
press release. Corporation trustee
Antony Ittleson ’60 has also given
money in the past. The Corporation
voted to use this money as a contribu-
tion to name the quadrangle.
“It is a nice space for someone
who has done a lot for the Univer-
sity,” King said. “Naming is just one
way the University honors generous
offers from donors.”
Honorable mention
Honorific naming voted in by the
Corporation can also lead to naming
rights. J. Walter Wilson is an example
of a building named for honorary rea-
sons, Huidekoper said. The building
was a laboratory at the time it was
named after Professor of Biology J.
Walter Wilson. Though Huidekoper
said they could now rename it given
its changed purpose, its original nam-
ing was in recognition of Wilson’s
service to the University.
Many building names actually
reflect a combination of financial
generosity and intangible service
contributions to the community.
While Robert was the lead finan-
cial contributor to the campus center,
his service to the Brown community
was also considered in the naming
of the campus center within Faunce.
“Brown is proud to honor the
achievements and extraordinary
leadership of Stephen Robert,”
President Ruth Simmons said in a
release following a 2007 Corporation
meeting. “It is especially fitting that
the Center, which will be so central
to our campus activities and students’
experiences, will bear this chancel-
lor’s name.”
This combination of large do-
nations and a lifetime of service to
Brown is also exemplified by Sid-
ney Frank ’42, King said. After Frank
gave the largest single gift in Brown’s
history, Frank’s name was formally
applied to the life sciences building
soon after his death in 2006. This
naming was intended to recognize
his contributions throughout life,
Huidekoper said.
“His family was very happy,” she
added.
In recognition of donations over a
lifetime, the Corporation may decide
to honor a person by using his name
even if they did not specifically seek
naming rights, Huidekoper said.
And the reason donors contribute
is also often tied to the recognition
of the service Brown did for them,
rather than pleasure derived from
seeing their name on campus.
Frank, who attended Brown for
only one year before entering the
war, explained his contributions as
an acknowledgement of what Brown
gave him. “I find I have a little money
to spare, and with that, I’d like to
thank Brown for all it did for me and
gave to me,” Frank said, according
to a Corporation press release from
2003.
rise in Islamophobia
continued from page 1
peace. “On this day,” he said, “we
stand up to declare our humanity,
and to affirm the humanity of all of
our sisters and our brothers who
do not share our faith.”
Coolidge’s statements provide
a backdrop for the Muslim com-
munity’s reaction to publicized an-
ti-Islam sentiment. “It’s been very
interesting to see the responses,”
said Rahil Rojiani ’13, who is on
the board of the Muslim Students’
Association. “It’s just interesting
to see that there is a wide variety
of opinions.”
Rojiani said any event that in-
volves the Muslim community in-
creases dialogue between Muslims
and non-Muslims. “We are seeing a
lot more positive opinions” toward
members of the Muslim commu-
nity, he said. “I’m responsive more
to the issues” than to the media
coverage, he said.
Last week’s events have called
into question the media’s role in
shaping public perceptions, said
Nancy Khalek, assistant profes-
sor of religious studies. She said
the fact that coverage of the pas-
tor’s demonstration snowballed
so quickly is a testament to frag-
mentation of the media. The most
recent coverage followed months
of controversial reporting sparked
by plans to build an Islamic com-
munity center near Ground Zero.
“There does seem to be a rise
in Islamophobia,” Khalek said. “It
really is generating a lot of instabil-
ity and social insecurity.”
The fragmentation of the me-
dia and the increased influence
of bloggers has led to a dispro-
portionately large impact on the
public’s perception of controversial
news, Khalek said, adding that the
media tends to incite extremism
“on either end” of a conflict.
But whether the anti-Islam
sentiment is merely reported by
news outlets or harnessed by
the media to generate ratings is
an important distinction, Khalek
said. “Our culture has become so
oversimplified,” she said. “I think
the way to get rid of any sort of
prejudice is education.”

sudoku

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Tuesday, September 14, 2010
M etro
Democratic legacy in R.I. threatened in mayoral race
continued from page 1
rough-and-tumble turn to the race
could threaten his frontrunner sta-
tus.
Cicilline, the endorsed Democrat
in the race, admitted last Wednes-
day to receiving mistaken pay raises
that increased his compensation to
$132,652, thousands of dollars more
than the $125,000 mayoral salary to
which he is entitled. The mayor, who
alleges the extra compensation only
came to his attention after a review
by the city’s internal auditor, has
returned the city nearly $20,000 as
well as a $5,300 longevity payment,
according to a Sept. 11 article in the
Providence Journal.
The pay error has made conver-
sations about the race for Kennedy’s
seat “a little more complicated,” ac-
cording to Victor Profughi, Rhode
Island College professor emeritus
of political science and head of the
polling firm Quest Research.
The compensation issue and the
initiation of negative campaign ad-
vertisements targeting Cicilline’s
record as mayor by businessman
Anthony Gemma could hurt Cicil-
line, though it is unclear how severe
the damage will be, Profughi said.
While Cicilline has led the pack
in fundraising with $171,410 raised
since July 1 according to the most
recent campaign filing, Gemma has
contributed over $200,000 of his own
money to finance his candidacy.
Gemma’s message has gone nega-
tive in recent days, bashing Cicilline
for the pay raise and calling Cicilline
“quite possibly the most ineffective
mayor in the city’s history” in a hard-
hitting 60-second radio spot.
“I think what’s most interesting
about the race is that at this very
late stage in the game, the outsider,
the non-politician, seems to be mak-
ing the strongest charge against the
frontrunner,” said Wendy Schiller,
Brown professor of political science.
Last Thursday, Gemma sent a
letter to Democratic Congressional
Campaign Committee Chairman
Chris Van Hollen, D-M.D., asking
him to request Cicilline’s exit from
the race due to “patterns of decep-
tion, misconduct and dereliction
of duty” that Gemma argues could
confer an advantage to a Republican
opponent.
But Gemma’s own financial deal-
ings have not been entirely free of
controversy. While Gemma served
as president of his family’s company,
Gem Plumbing & Heating, the busi-
ness was cited for 32 labor violations,
many stemming from employing un-
licensed plumbers.
Still, Gemma continues to tout his
achievements as a businessman and
argues that he is “the only candidate
in the race who’s created hundreds
of sustainable jobs,” according to
Dan Mercer, his campaign manager.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
— Sam Adler-Bell, campaign field organizer for David Segal
Legacy of an election
When Patrick Kennedy first
gained office in 1994 — an election
year resembling the current one —
voters were angry.
Spurred by anti-incumbent fervor
and dissatisfaction with a president
whose approval ratings hovered be-
low 50 percent, voters overwhelm-
ingly picked Republicans in races
across the country, catapulting the
G.O.P. to majorities in both the
House and Senate.
While Rhode Island’s Democratic
roots may insulate it from the more
full-throated two-party competition
convulsing the nation’s heartland,
the first district candidates must
contend with the legacy of an heir
to a storied political family and look
to craft their own narratives as vot-
ers go to the ballot box to pick Ken-
nedy’s successor.
Chances of a Republican resur-
gence in the first district may hinge
on the margin by which Cicilline
wins the Democratic primary, ac-
cording to Schiller.
“If it’s very close and he shows
any kind of weakness, then the Re-
publicans might say to themselves ‘I
think we have a shot to pick up this
seat, let’s put some more money into
the race,’” Schiller said. But a Repub-
lican win would still be difficult due
to the district’s demographics, which
heavily favor Democrats, according
to Schiller.
“He’s been a leader on really every issue.”
As for Kennedy’s legacy, it
might also play a role in the race,
but mostly due to voters seeking
a candidate with the experience to
advocate effectively for the Ocean
State, a preference that could benefit
Cicilline, Schiller said.
This midterm election, however,
may be notable not just for the lega-
cies that shape it, but also for those
it leaves behind, especially for the
Brown students who volunteered
for candidates in the race.
Segal campaign field organizer
Sam Adler-Bell met the state legis-
lator while organizing for Brown’s
Student Labor Alliance, a student
organization for which Segal has
been a consistent advocate, he said.
“I think he’s been a leader on
really every issue that progressives
and students care about,” Adler-Bell
said. “I think the reason a lot of
Brown students have been excited
about getting involved in his cam-
paign is because his values are really
in line with ours and because he’s
been such an accessible and help-
ful ally to so many student groups
at Brown.”
Adler-Bell also drew a parallel
between the candidacies of Segal
and Democratic mayoral contender
Angel Taveras, who are “the very
obvious progressive candidates”
and whose races have generated
significant excitement among Brown
students.
Page 3
bil l ly n c h
Lynch — former chair-
man of the state Democratic
Party — emphasizes reform-
ing Washington’s culture of
corruption through cam-
paign finance reform and
term limits for members of
Congress.
“Every candidate’s for
change, but nothing in Wash-
ington seems to change,” said
Lynch campaign spokesman
Bill Fischer. “We need to get
the big money out of these
campaigns, and we need to
impose term limits or we’re
not going to turn Washington
around.”
Lynch supports the Fair
Elections Act, which would
rely on “getting small con-
tributions into elections to
help ensure that not only mil-
lionaires can run for elective
office,” Fischer said.
See page 4 for
more candidates
in profile
Page 4
M etro
DAVID SEGAL
David Segal, a current state legislator and former Providence city
councilman, joins Lynch, Cicilline and Gemma in the contest for the
Democratic nomination.
Segal, a self-styled progressive, has staked out the race’s left flank
by pledging to vote against funding the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq
unless the money goes to ending the conflicts, refusing to take cam-
paign contributions from corporations and promising to make clean
energy legislation a top priority.
Segal is the candidate who will “stand up and fight against corpo-
rate and special interests that have too much power in Washington,”
according to Daniel Bass, political director of the Segal campaign.
The state representative’s first act if elected would be to sign on
as a co-sponsor to the TRADE Act, legislation that would establish
prerequisites for future trade deals, Bass said. He added that Segal
believes “trade agreements like NAFTA have cost over a million jobs
in America and allowed corporations to move production abroad
where they can pay workers sub-poverty wages and wreak havoc on
the environment.”
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Today’s primaries will determine Republican and Democratic
candidates for Rhode Island’s D-1 congressional seat
Democrat David Cicilline ’83 has proposed two major economic initia- David Cicilline
tives — the first authorizing Made in America block grants to help retool
existing small manufacturers in R.I. and retrain the state’s workforce for
clean energy jobs, and the second a national infrastructure bank to “support
investments in local infrastructure projects,” according to Cicilline campaign
Communications Director Rich Luchette. He added that Cicilline would
support President Obama’s recently announced $50 billion infrastructure
investment plan.
Cicilline contends that his tenure as Providence’s mayor has given him
the experience to represent Rhode Islanders in Congress.
“A mayor wakes up and sees how their policies impact their constituents,
whether you’re talking about potholes or whether you’re talking about
balancing budgets,” Luchette said.
anthony gemma For Anthony Gemma, the “number one priority would be putting people back to
work,” his spokesman Dan Mercer said, adding that Gemma is the only candidate
in the race to offer a detailed jobs plan. Gemma would also focus on getting cost-of-
living adjustments for seniors and boosting the state’s stake in the rapidly expanding
health and wellness industry, which is projected to grow by $125 billion over the
next five years, according to Mercer.
“Gemma is the only candidate who has created jobs in the private sector,” Mercer
said. “He knows what it’s been like to take a business from a small business and
grow it.”
Mercer also said that Gemma’s self-financing has freed him from having to take
donations from lobbyists, special interests and PACs.
Republican John Loughlin, the likely winner of the party’s primary, is bet- john loughlin
ting on a conservative alternative to the proposals of the battling Democrats.
“Regardless of which Democrat wins the primary, they are all on the
wrong side of what voters today are looking for — fiscal responsibility and
some discipline when it comes to government spending,” said Loughlin
Campaign Manager Cara Cromwell.
Loughlin credits his six years as a Republican state legislator for giving
him the experience necessary to change Washington and promote busi-
ness growth in R.I.
“John believes that we need to cut spending — no more bailouts, no
more stimulus packages,” Cromwell said, adding that Loughlin would focus
on measures to rein in the deficit, spur economic growth through tax cuts
and create a favorable climate for business.
By Claire Peracchio. Photos courtesy of the candidates’ campaigns. Photo of David Cicilline from the Herald’s file.
Metro
The Brown Daily Herald
“If Rhode Islanders watch (the show), they’ll definitely see local
spots in R.I.” —Matthew Gross, executive producer of “Body of Proof”

Tuesday, September 14, 2010 | Page 5

Educ. grant to improve Foreign Affair travels to Brook St.

statewide curriculum
continued from page 1
including, but not limited to, plans
for reform, sustainability of those re-
forms and assessment quality. Elliot
Krieger, Gist’s spokesperson, said
teachers’ unions also played a role
in drafting the application.
Though the funds will be critical to
the state, they do not represent a total
“bonanza,” Krieger said. The reward
must be allocated according to the
Race to the Top program’s goals. With
the broad goals to increase gradua-
tion rates and halve the achievement
gap, the grant will be used more spe-
cifically to develop statewide curricu-
lum and assessments for classrooms,
Gist said.
Though the grant is a one-time
opportunity, it will be disbursed over
the course of four years instead of
all at once.
Of the possible $75 million, Rhode
Island budgeted for half of that
amount to go directly to the school
districts, Krieger said. Providence
schools get the biggest cut at $18.4
million, followed by other urban dis-
tricts including Pawtucket, Warwick
and Cranston. But these values are
likely to change once the final amount
of the reward is decided upon, he said.
The state will use the rest of the
money to fund other projects, includ-
ing contractual and personnel bud-
gets, according to the state’s initial
application.
continued from page 1
ficulties around Thayer, added store
manager Xavier Valentine.
Business has been wonder-
ful since the move, Taylor said.
Though she was initially hesitant
about moving away from populous
Thayer Street, Taylor said that the
store has been attracting a regular
clientele despite few publicity ef-
forts. This was perhaps partly due
to the loyal customer base Foreign
Affair began to establish when it first
opened, she added.
Though she did not publicize the
move, Taylor believes that word of
mouth helped inform shoppers of
the new location.
The Brook Street location has
also led to a change in the percent-
age of student customers. While stu-
dents made up almost 95 percent of
clients on Thayer Street, the percent-
age is now more balanced between
Brown students and other residents
in the area, estimates Valentine.
Taylor developed the idea for
Foreign Affair while working at a
vintage store she opened with her
sister in Boston. One day, a group
of people from the Netherlands
approached Taylor. “There was a
number of them, and they wanted to
bring European fashion — vintage
— to the United States. They asked if
I would be interested in selling, and
I said ‘Oh, absolutely,’ ” said Taylor.
That event led to the 1986 open-
ing of Foreign Affair in Newport, R.I.
The store’s name refers to the fact
that the store sold mostly European
vintage clothing imported from Am-
sterdam. In 1991, Taylor expanded
her store to a 10,000-square-foot
warehouse in the Federal Hill area.
Then, in 1994, she settled on 219
Thayer Street, where the store stood
until just two weeks ago.
“I wonder why I didn’t do it soon-
er,” Taylor said of the move.

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Page 6 | Tuesday, September 14, 2010

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A lex Y uly

e d i to r i a l

Elections have consequences

Brown students’ involvement in local politics varies of the health care reform law enacted earlier this
widely — while some were out canvassing in advance year, Congress allocated money to increase both the
of today’s primary election, others might not have amount and number of Pell grants, which provide
even known an election was happening. As Rhode about $5,000 per year to help students to pay for
Islanders and at least some students go to the polls college. The bill also contained other changes to the
today to choose their party’s candidates for local, student loan system, and we think it will be important
state and federal offices, we wanted to highlight to monitor how these changes are implemented.
several issues of great importance to Brown this On the local level, Quinn noted that the issue
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Opinions
The Brown Daily Herald
IR is the University’s cash cow
MICHELLE UHRICK
Opinions Columnist
It’s common knowledge that the international
relations department is a flagship institution at
Brown. The department peaked as the single
most popular concentration among graduat-
ing Brown students in 2005, and since then
has hovered around third place. However, this
common knowledge is mistaken.
As Mark Blyth, the new director of the in-
ternational academic programs, described in a
letter to the international relations and develop-
ment studies concentrators last Thursday, the
international relations that you naively thought
was a “department” (or at least was given the
same rights) is not — it is a program. In the
refreshingly honest words of the letter, that
means that “we have fewer resources, no per-
manent faculty, and an overworked advising
structure. We are critically under-resourced.”
And possibly about to become more so, as
the University is merging the already-giant
IR program (300 students) with the develop-
ment studies program (100 students), creating
what will likely be the largest department, er,
“program,” at Brown.
Anyone paying close attention to the IR
department-program at Brown would not be
surprised by the director’s statement. Or any-
one not paying close attention who has ever
tried to obtain guidance, get into a seminar or
write a thesis in this critically over-crowded
program, for that matter.
All 300-plus students in the IR program
have a single undergraduate advisor capable
of signing off on paperwork and offering guid-
Be kind to your TAs, for once they were like you
STEPHEN WICKEN
Opinions Columnist
September is here again, and with it comes the
usual russet leaf pile of beginning-of-the-year
questions. Which concentration should you
pick? Is your synchronized figure-biking team
finally going to take Cornell down this year?
What was the name of that guy you met at that
thing last semester, and why is he suddenly
everywhere you go?
And as if life weren’t hard enough (was it
Chris? It must be Chris. Definitely Chris. Un-
less it was Will...), there’s the stress of class-
shopping. That professor in the acrylic cardigan
seemed to expect you to do some work before
October! Even once you pick the right class,
with the right acrylic-cardigan-to-work-before-
October ratio, there’s the issue of sections.
Some of them start in the morning! On a Friday!
(And Will might be in one. Or was it Matt?)
Even with the hard-won wisdom accrued
from a decade at university — not all at this
university, thank you very much — I cannot
help you with the above questions. But those
creatures at the front of the lecture hall? The
ones who look a bit like you but more haggard,
more jaded, desperately trying to hold together
both their professional demeanor and their
threadbare trousers? They’re called TAs, and
them I can help you with. Heed these words,
and perhaps — just perhaps — they won’t post
the spelling mistakes from your midterm on
the interwebs.
ance. The English and Engineering depart-
ments, both of which have half the students
that IR does, have six and twelve advisors,
respectively. The huge, new, beautiful Watson
Institute building is an empty palace, with its
single advisor and handful of staff and faculty
occupying one niche.
After all, labeling IR a program means that
the University can avoid hiring permanent
faculty. According to the new joint-program
description, IR and development studies to-
gether have over 400 students and three faculty
The huge, new, beautiful Watson building is an
empty palace, with its single advisor and handful
of staff and faculty occupying one niche
members. Not only does this make the chance
of one-on-one mentoring by an IR professor
minuscule, it makes small classes a distant
dream for most concentrators until they reach
senior year. Even then, chances are still low. IR
offered a single seminar to over 100 seniors this
fall; American civilization, with its similar but
geographically different content and a fraction
of the students, offered four.
However, IR is interdisciplinary; students
could just take their courses in other depart-
ments. IR can substitute political science and
history courses for IR courses quite easily in
terms of content, but not in practice. Political
science, history and international relations con-
centrators combined make up nearly a quarter
The first thing to remember is that TAs are,
broadly speaking, like you. They may make
bad life decisions and mention “The Simpsons”
entirely too much for comfort, but they get their
nutrients the same way you do — although
they don’t have to deal with the intellectual and
spiritual chess game that must be required to
convince oneself to eat at a place called ‘The
Ratty.’ But they probably had to do something
similar in the not-too-distant past, for TAs are
Before the big life mistake, before the
hemorrhage of self-esteem, before the
debilitating Spaghetti-Os addiction, they were
undergrads too.
most often graduate students, and graduate
students get this name (the most polite that
can be applied to them) by graduating from
somewhere.
Before the big life mistake, before the hem-
orrhage of self-esteem, before the debilitating
Spaghetti-Os addiction, they were undergrads.
They were happy. They were carefree. Fre-
quently, they were drunk. And chances are that
they forgot, skipped or spilled Franzia all over at
least one assignment and had to come up with
an excuse. So too did their friends and class-
mates. They have had distant-but-sentimentally-
un-get-over-able members of their extended
family die in freak bog-snorkeling accidents
TUESDay, SEPTEMBER 14, 2010 | Page 7
of Brown students, and they are increasingly
being packed into the most competitive and
cutthroat registration process at Brown. Over-
flow from the IR program has resulted in the
swamping of political science’s and history’s
also-limited seminars, and leads to resentment
and in-fighting among the concentrations. Re-
gardless, even interdisciplinary concentrations
benefit from a support system and faculty-
student interaction.
The IR program’s unusually difficult thesis
requirements also bear the marks of funding
suffocation. An IR thesis at Brown is usually
required to be around 120 - 150 pages; George-
town only requires about 50 - 80 pages. Even
the most writing-intensive concentrations at
Brown, such as comparative literature and
English, also only expect 50 - 80 pages.
Why are the thesis requirements nearly
double that of other departments? Maybe the
IR program wants to be academically rigor-
ous. Or maybe since the IR program does not
have the staff to handle more than one twenty-
student senior seminar, it has decided to resort
to desperate measures to weed out applicants,
including raising requirements to the point that
writing a senior thesis requires dropping just
about everything else.
and subsequently return from the grave, only
to die again in an equally unlikely manner just
before exams. They have had to balance the
demands of their water-rugby coach with those
of their teachers. They have e-mailed assign-
ments to instructors in bizarre file formats that
produce lines of unconnected characters almost
as unintelligible as Snooki Polizzi.
Appreciate that, in this area at least, they
aren’t completely stupid, and they may grow to
like and even to respect you — which is a useful
thing when your final assignment falls on that
fine and peculiarly Brunonian line between a
B+++ and an A---.
In other ways, however, TAs are unlike you.
They avoid skinny jeans — and those who don’t,
should. They have, on average, between six
and eight friends. They remember 1992. More
importantly, the more grown-up among them
have lives and houses and families, and some
of them made the audacious decision not to
live in Providence. They don’t, as a rule, have
Blackberries or iPhones or Androids or com-
puters that aren’t held together with duct tape.
Thus, an Important Note: They do not have
All of this is by design, not by accident.
In the words of the new director, “Deans like
programs because unlike departments, they
cost about one-tenth of a department to run.
This is because they have no permanent faculty
and they live off the offerings of faculty in other
departments. We are cheap.” I believe it.
After all, the program is a windfall for Brown.
For every student who majors in IR instead of
an “expensive” concentration, the University
saves money on training advisors and hiring
faculty. Lack of funding forces the IR program
to separate students from the resources they
deserve — advising, faculty, seminars, theses
— and the University is making money by doing
so. As IR becomes more and more relevant in a
globalizing world and continues to attract more
students, the University will continue to save
thousands in unhired faculty, advisors, and staff.
And now that the recession has wiped out
millions of Brown’s endowment dollars, the
administration’s first instinct, apparently, has
been to choke more money out of the program.
While I believe the new director has the best
of intentions and several good ideas, the overly
convenient timing and lack of genuine duplica-
tion between the programs reeks of spending
cuts. The sad aspect of all of this is that, regard-
less of how hard the administration of the IR
program works, and has worked, they have also
been doomed to fail by a university that seems
to have no interest in funding their success.
Michelle Uhrick ’11 is an
international relations and
economics concentrator from
Connecticut. She can be contacted
at michelle_uhrick@brown.edu
e-mail wired directly into their spines. If you
e-mail to ask for an extension because your
hand is feeling, like, really weird right now,
and they don’t respond within the hour, it may
be for a number of reasons. They might be
driving back to Boston. They might be giv-
ing the kids a bath. They might be weeping
silently and snottily into a can of Narragansett.
In all likelihood, they aren’t ignoring your e-
mail because they’re playing table tennis and
sampling fine cheeses with Jay-Z. Don’t send
them six follow-up e-mails asking if they got
your previous e-mail about the e-mail you sent
them. In their minds, doing this will make you
A Problem. You will be added to a laundry list of
Problems Great and Small — and, remember,
these other problems don’t require grading at
the end of a long, Spaghetti-O-fuelled semester.
Be nice to your TAs. Don’t snigger as you
ask what they did over the weekend. Pretend
a thirty-second description of their disserta-
tion doesn’t make you want to give up on life
altogether. Give them Rice Krispie treats. Treat
them as you would want to be treated if you
had taken a huge detour on the road to Earning
A Living. I’m not promising that it’ll improve
your grades, but perhaps it will imbue them
with the self-respect to shower more often.
And then everyone’s a winner.
Stephen Wicken GS is a fifth-year
Ph.D. candidate in the History
department. He can be reached at
stephen_wicken@brown.edu after
he’s finished schooling Beyonce at
ping pong.
 Today 1 R.I. officials angle for education funds to day to m o r r o w

The Brown Daily Herald

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Is Brown skimping on the I.R. program?
74/ 51
TUESDay, September 14, 2010
71 /49
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t h e n e w s i n i m ag e s comics

Bat & Gaz | Sofia Ortiz

1
Cabernet Voltaire | Abe Pressman
c a l e n da r
Today, september 14 tomorrow, september 15

2:30-4 P.M. — A Reading by Poet/ 4-5 P.M. — Law School Admission

Translator Sawako Nakayasu, Information Session, Salomon Center,
McCormack Family Theater Room 001

7:30-9:30 P.M. — Human Rights and 7-9 P.M. — Community Service

the Kurds in Turkey: An Eyewitness Opportunities Fair, Sayles Hall
Account, List Art Building, Room 110

menu
Dr. Bear| Mat Becker
Sharpe Refectory Verney-Woolley Dining Hall

Lunch — French Fusion Taco Lunch — Buffalo Wings with Bleu

Sandwich, Linguini with Tomato and Cheese Dressing, Zucchini Parmesan
Basil, Swiss Fudge Cookies Sandwich, Swiss Fudge Cookies

Dinner — Carne Gizado, Artichoke Dinner — Chicken Helene, Curried

and Red Pepper Frittata, White and Couscous, Noodles Alfredo, Magic
Wild Rice Pilaf, Magic Bars Bars

crossword

Dot Comic | Eshan Mitra and Brendan Hainline

Fruitopia | Andy Kim

The Adventures of Team Vag | Wendy Kwartin