<p>Ah yes! Brown's high water mark, when it led the Ivies in applications, before a cash crunch and the onset of the "eurotrash" era led to retrenchment and, sadly, an embrace of the binding Early Decision device.</p>
<p>Ruth Simmons seems to be on track in leading Brown back from what was probably its low water mark, the brief, unhappy presidency of Dr. Gee, who took one look at the books and fled to a cushy spot at Vanderbilt, where he is drawing about the fattest paycheck in higher education.</p>