The Fund for the Education of the Children of Providence, inspired in part by the report of the University’s Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice, will provide Providence Public Schools with 12,000 new graphing calculators to enrich teaching and learning in mathematics classrooms. Graphing calculators display algebraic, graphical and numerical representations of mathematical functions so that students can understand mathematical concepts better and more quickly.

The debate over levying a $150 per semester tax on students – an idea raised by Providence Mayor David Cicilline to boost the city’s dwindling coffers – has gone national. Hundreds of newspapers and television stations around the nation, from The Washington Post to XETV-San Diego ran the Associated Press story.

Mark Twain once wrote about the record-setting leaps of the frogs at the Calaveras County Fair. Now, Brown scientists are going to study what makes their leaps so legendary. The research into frog biomechanics by Thomas Roberts, professor evolutionary biology and ecology, and Brown graduate students also was featured in an Associated Press story.

The economic downturn is placing increasing pressure on students and families’ ability to cover tuition.Brown has stepped its financial aid up by 11 percent, or more than $7 million, this year.

Beth Taylor, senior lecturer in nonfiction, tells her personal story of family loss, coping and surviving, in her new memoir titled The Plain Language of Loss and Love.