2000: Virtual Lab enables study of navigation
A grant from the National Science Foundation allowed former Professors Michael Tarr and Leslie Kaelbling to create the Virtual Environment Navigation Lab. At 40 feet by 40 feet, the virtual facility was the largest of its kind in the world, according to William Warren, professor of cognitive and linguistic sciences. Researchers used the lab to study how individuals steer through daily obstacles. At the time, the lab represented a huge technological leap, as subjects were able to change position or orientation during experiments because of sensors that measured a subject's acceleration. Kaelbling was interested in using the technology to improve the field of robotics.
1998: Alcohol policy deters students from bar
The Underground, a campus bar, opened with a new policy to regulate underage drinking by requiring students to swipe into the bar with their Brown IDs, which electronically verified their ages with existing University records on file. This new policy was the result of an instance in December 1997 where 10 students were arrested for underage drinking at the bar. The new policy also mandated the bar only serve alcoholic beverages three nights a week, allowing for an 18 and older crowd on the remaining days. Once implemented, these changes resulted in a significant decrease in the number of patrons.
1983: Brown leads Ivy League in applications
The University led the Ivy League in the total number of applications submitted after a 14 percent increase in applications for the class of 1987 was recorded. Beating out Harvard by more than a thousand applications, the University reached a then record-high of 13,250 applications. Applications to Harvard, Princeton and Yale had dropped significantly due to "the recession and a demographic slump in the 18-year-old age bracket," admissions officers from those schools told The Herald.
1973: Senate brings back anti-abortion law
The Rhode Island Senate passed legislation by a 30-vote margin to reinstate a strict anti-abortion law despite a decision by federal courts striking down the state's previous identical law as unconstitutional. Former Sen. Erich Taylor, D-Newport, sponsored the legislation that defined life as beginning at conception. This definition contradicted the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to outlaw governing "on behalf of a fetus which is less than three months old." Former Rhode Island Gov. Philip Noel publicly said he would veto any bill ruled unconstitutional, though he personally believed abortion was unjust.
1948: Wriston implores fraternities to become ‘examples of social grace'
Former University President Henry Wriston declared campus fraternities must "become intellectual centers" for students in order to increase their recruitment. During the war period, fraternities "received a shot in the arm," Wriston said, as the number of members relative to the total number of students dropped from 80 percent to 23 percent. Wriston also urged fraternities to become "responsible units" and "examples of social grace" for the greater University community.
