Wednesday, February 1, 2006 by The Brown Daily Herald

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2006

Volume CXLI, No. 6

www.browndailyherald.com

An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891

NO CRIME FOR CRIMSON Student newspaper denied in bid to open up police records at Harvard University CAMPUS WATCH 3

UNDER(COVER) THE INFLUENCE Police in Waterville, Maine go incognito to curb on-campus drinking at Colby College CAMPUS WATCH 5

OVARY OFFICE? Adam Cambier ’09: Election of female Liberian president reﬂects ongoing political trend OPINIONS 11

TODAY

TOMORROW

partly cloudy 42 / 30

mostly cloudy 47 / 36

CCC calls for faculty forum before vote on plus/minus change BY CHLOE LUTTS SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Jonathan Ellis / Herald

Students lined up inside Sayles Hall to protest the addition of pluses and minuses to the University’s grading system during yesterday’s meeting of the College Curriculum Council.

BY JONATHAN SIDHU ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR

Gift creates curator of Latin American books position

For more than two decades, renowned antiquarian book collector Maury Bromsen contributed his time and expertise to the John Carter Brown Library, alternately serving as a dealer, unofﬁcial adviser and, later, honorary curator and bibliographer of the library�s Latin American collection. Then, in 2000, Bromsen gave the library his entire collection of materials relating to the life of South American revolutionary Simón Bolívar. The collection is widely considered the ﬁnest such grouping outside Latin America. But his largest contribution was yet to come. When he died Oct. 11 at the age of 86, the Boston-based collector left the bulk of his estate to the library — a bequest of cash and books valued at more than $5 million. Library Director Norman Fiering said

The University’s relief aid has been instrumental in the reconstruction efforts of Dillard University, a New Orleans school ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, accor-ding to Dillard PresBROWN & ident Marvalene KATRINA Hughes. Although Fourth in a Dillard’s camseries pus is not completely restored and the student body has not returned in its entirety, academics as well as certain aspects of campus life have resumed, thanks in part to assistance from Brown. With the help of a $5 million fund donated by Sidney Frank ’42, the University enrolled displaced students from the affected areas this past semester and is also engaged in a partnership with Princeton University to assist the reconstruction of Dillard, a historically black university and alma mater of University President Ruth Simmons. Operating out of a Hilton

the bequest represents the largest contribution the library has received in over 100 years. In addition to enhancing the library’s collection of materials related to colonial Latin America — already renowned as one of the world’s finest — the donation will also fund a new position, curator of Latin American books; a research fellowship; an annual Maury A. Bromsen lecture; an annual concert to be named after his sister, Freda Bromsen Bolster; and general operating activities. “Four million dollars is a lot of money, in any terms,” said Fiering, who served as executor of Bromsen’s will. “For us, it’s a terrific gift — comparable to Sidney Frank (’42)’s donation to the University.” Fiering first met Bromsen over 20 years ago, when he sought him out for his expertise in books about colonial Spanish see BOOK DEALER, page 4

Hotel in New Orleans, faculty, staff, administrators and nearly 1,000 students have cultivated a community despite hardships caused by the hurricane damage, Hughes said, adding that assistance provided by Brown and Princeton has been particularly helpful during this period of rebuilding. Brown has primarily offered consulting services for Dillard, Hughes said. “The partnership with Dillard has essentially resulted in members of the Brown University community serving as consultants to us in any capacity needed and walking side-byside with us in stages of difﬁcult decision-making.” Dick Spies, executive vice president for planning and senior advisor to the president, described the partnership in similar terms. “The basic role is to provide whatever advice and support for them as we can as they work their way through the challenges over rebuilding and reopening the university,” he said. Yet, the University’s role is not limited to mere consultation, Hughes said. “It has been a very active network that has resulted

Chemical in dairy products may help in ﬁght against HIV BY SARA MOLINARO CONTRIBUTING WRITER

By genetically modifying a bacteria commonly found in yogurt and cheese, a team of researchers led by an assistant professor of medicine may have discovered a way to block the transmission of HIV. The scientists, led by Bharat Ramratnam, found they could genetically modify the foreign DNA sequence of a bacteria typically found in food fermentation. Once modiﬁed, the

bacteria can secrete an antiviral protein which, if applied to or inserted into the vagina or the anus, can prevent the transmission of HIV during sex. Scientists are familiar with the idea that lactic acid bacteria can accept foreign DNA and use it to release a new protein, Ramratnam explained. The new technique developed by his team was inspired by the relatively new discovery that a protein called cynovirin can attach itself to HIV and prevent

Editorial: 401.351.3372 Business: 401.351.3260

see CCC, page 5

U. assistance helping to rebuild Dillard

Rare book dealer bequeaths esteemed collection to JCB BY ZACH BARTER STAFF WRITER

The College Curriculum Council passed a motion Tuesday requesting that the Faculty Executive Committee call a faculty forum to discuss the proposed addition of pluses and minuses to the grading system. The council did not discuss the merits of such a policy change. About 10 students participated in a small protest outside the meeting to voice opposition to the proposed change. Dean of the College Paul Armstrong, who chairs the CCC, allowed two of the protestors to sit in on the meeting. The CCC called for broad student input before a decision on the policy change is made.

The committee requested that students be allowed to attend the faculty forum and stressed the importance of Undergraduate Council of Students forums and informal conversations between students and faculty on the issue. Faculty forums — opportunities for faculty to discuss issues more thoroughly than at faculty meetings — can only be called by the FEC, and have no decision-making authority. The CCC will reconsider the proposal to add pluses and minuses to the grading system after a faculty forum has been held. The addition of pluses and minuses, which is an amendment to the Faculty Rules and Regulations, must be app-

see YOGURT, page 5

Nedenia Craig / Herald

Studies at Brown have found that modiﬁed versions of the bacteria that turn milk into yogurt could help prevent HIV transmission.

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

in some very specific details,” Hughes said, adding that Brown administrators and staff members are assisting in on-site analysis of the destruction caused by the hurricane as well as assisting in fundraising efforts. Hughes said Dillard faculty and staff have utilized the expertise of Brown staff members through email and telephone conversations and visits to both campuses. Spies said Brown will not provide financial support for Dillard and stressed “that was never the idea.” However, he said that part of the Sidney Frank Renewal Scholarships provides financial assistance to Dillard students. A December Boston Globe article reported that Frank’s donation would provide up to 200 Dilliard students with scholarships. “Part of the challenge of this is that they have so much to do to take each small step forward. We can help them do some of that by asking the right questions, by giving them some advice on those things,” Spies said. Hughes said Geri Augusto, University coordinator of Katrina hurricane relief efforts, has visited Dillard to conduct extensive interviews with administrators, faculty and students to understand how Dillard operates and to determine how Brown can best aid its rebuilding process. “I’m truly looking forward to the model she will return to us,” Hughes said. Augusto declined to comment for this article. Hughes spoke highly of Simmons’ commitment to Dillard. “If there is any such thing as a true mentor who has become a friend whom I trust and would reveal any issue or question to, it is Ruth Simmons,” she said. “I trust her implicitly and explicitly. She loves Dillard. She knows Dillard. And she wants me to be successful in bringing it back.”

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THIS MORNING THE BROWN DAILY HERALD · WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2006 · PAGE 2 Jero Matt Vascellaro

TO D AY ’ S E V E N TS FIRESIDE CHAT WITH PRESIDENT RUTH SIMMONS 6 p.m., (Third World Center) — President Simmons will discuss her experiences as the ﬁrst AfricanAmerican president of an Ivy League school. THE MICHAEL S. GOODMAN ‘74 MEMORIAL LECTURE DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY 4 p.m., (Hunter Lab, Room 206) — Kenneth Lohmann of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill will speak about the sensory biology of sea turtles.

BUXTON INTERNATIONAL OPEN HOUSE 7 p.m., (Buxton International House) — Come visit Buxton: meet members, see the rooms and facilities and discuss this housing option for next year.

Chocolate Covered Cotton Mark Brinker

“MEET THE PROFESSORS” SPONSORED BY WISE 4 p.m., (Barus and Holley, Room 141) — Meet some professors of large introductory courses and enjoy some free food.

MENU Deo Daniel Perez SHARPE REFECTORY

VERNEY-WOOLLEY DINING HALL

LUNCH — Beef Tacos, Spanish Rice, Refried Beans, Spinach with Toasted Sesame Seeds, Eggplant Parmesan Grinder, Raspberry Squares, Chocolate Frosted Brownies

LUNCH — Vegetarian Mushroom Barley Soup, Chicken Soup with Tortellini, Beef Tacos, Vegan Burrito, Vegan Refried Beans, Corn and Sweet Pepper Saute, Frosted Brownies

DINNER — Filet of Sole and Lemon RollUps, Vegetable Risotto, Beets in Orange Sauce, Broccoli Spears, Italian Beef Noodle Casserole, Sourdough Bread, Chocolate Sundae Cake

DINNER — Vegetarian Mushroom Barley Soup, Chicken Soup with Tortellini, Rotisserie Style Chicken, Spinach Quiche, Spanish Rice, Broccoli Cuts, Turnip Fluff, Sourdough Bread, Chocolate Sundae Cake

Cappuccino Monday Christine Sunu

RELEASE DATE– Wednesday, February 1, 2006

R O SDaily S W Crossword ORD Los AngelesC Times Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

ACROSS 1 Longstocking of kids’ books 6 Major mess 11 Cab destination for a NYC tourist 14 Tampico toodleoo 15 Gets under control 16 Towel (off) 17 “Briefly ...” 19 Bando of baseball 20 Middle East flier 21 Miss the mark 22 Blade site 24 Bankrupt airline 26 De facto 29 “Briefly ...” 34 Usually green mineral 35 Queen’s subjects 36 Drifter in a storm 37 Director Lee 38 Salon application 40 11-Across posting 42 Letters seen next to a 4 43 Despondent word 45 Past times 47 Author Gertrude 49 “Briefly ...” 52 Washday woes 53 “Psst!” 54 Full of determination 56 Herd bird 58 Places to unwind 62 Family card game 63 “Briefly ...” 67 Guff 68 Himalayan kingdom 69 First of the minor prophets 70 Scoreboard nos. 71 “Mogambo” star 72 Powerful adhesive DOWN 1 Cracker spread 2 Graven image

3 City in Tuscany 4 Chicks and ducks and geese 5 Doctrine 6 Play the lead 7 Read between the lines? 8 “__ dreaming?” 9 Cairo cap 10 Exhausts 11 Holden Caulfield’s creator 12 “Animal House” group 13 NASCAR driver Petty 18 Crux 23 “Get Smart” evil org. 25 Fuse metal 27 Rinky-dink 28 Kind of pilot 29 __ Park, NJ 30 Church musicians’ choices 31 Moon of Uranus 32 Exceptionally pitched, in a way

33 Identical 34 Jezebel’s god 39 Bigfoot relative 41 1968 US Open champ 44 Capt. saluters 46 Weapons cache 48 Action figure outlet 50 Proverb 51 Boarded up 54 Sizable swallow

55 Military detachment 57 Plow puller 59 Coin from Chiapas 60 Big name in game shows 61 Dispatch, as a dragon 64 PBS funder 65 LAPD alert 66 Naval pronoun

Goldﬁsh Dreams Allison Moore

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: G A S U A R E N B E L L S L I T A D S D R A F L O L A I V A N B E D L E W A I T A L O T R O T E P E A R

P A Y D I R T

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Homebodies Mirele Davis

2/1/06

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CAMPUS WATCH THE BROWN DAILY HERALD · WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2006 · PAGE 3

Colby College cops crack down on drinking BY ROSS FRAZIER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

In a move that originally turned heads at college campuses nationwide, police in Waterville, Maine recently stepped up patrols at Colby College in an effort to crack down on underage drinking. The controversy began after Waterville Deputy Chief of Police Joe Massey said he would begin sending undercover ofﬁcers into campus parties in order to enforce Maine’s drinking laws. “I will do some undercover operations on campus,” Massey told Maine’s Morning-Sentinel on Dec. 5. “I think the level of underage drinking we’re seeing since the beginning of the year warrants some undercover details.” About a week later, however, Massey recanted, telling the Portland Press-Herald, “People are blowing this undercover thing out of proportion.” Colby Director of Communications Stephen Collins said that after discussion with Colby administrators, the police ultimately decided that instead of engaging in undercover operations, they would instead simply step up patrols. Nevertheless, student life at the rural liberal arts school has been affected as a result of the police presence. Amanda Roehn, a Colby sophomore, said students were speculating about what tactics the police are using. Roehn believes they target their patrols based on tips from cab companies, adding that students now use cabs less frequently as a result. Students also perceive that police target athletes in particular, citing anecdotal evidence that some ofﬁcers are now so familiar with student athletes that they call them by their nicknames, she said. She also said police are often seen outside dorms, creating a more visible presence previously unknown to the small college. As a result, the number of off-campus parties has fallen dramatically, and on-campus partying is smaller and more private, Roehn said.

Officials from the Waterville Police Department did not return calls or e-mails from The Herald. Several events appear to have caused the increased alcohol enforcement, but the most notable was a party last semester in which police arrested five female students — three of them members of the college’s lacrosse team and all of legal age — for providing a place for minors to drink alcohol. There also were a number of summonses for minors charged with illegal possession of alcohol. As of last semester, Massey told the press that the number of arrests and summonses of Colby students for alcohol violations was at 60, a total high enough to warrant extreme action. But some students question the significance of this statistic, as the police did not keep track in past years. Also, the seemingly high number could reflect stricter enforcement rather than an increase in illegal consumption. Collins said that the campus security force, which is separate from the local police, gave out fewer alcohol citations last year than the year before. Roehn echoed the skepticism of other students. “I don’t think it’s any different than it was last year. We’re not any worse than any other college in the country. I think it’s no secret that Waterville doesn’t like Colby, and they don’t like Colby kids being here,” Roehn said. Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe announced an initiative last year to control underage drinking across the state, leading some to point to that as a cause of increased concern on the matter, rather than any actual increase in drinking at Colby. Despite the disagreement over how to enforce alcohol policy, Collins pointed out that underage drinking remains a serious issue that all schools should try to address. For Colby, he pointed to existing educational programs for first-year students, including classes on wellness and an online course, both of which address the dangers of binge drinking and alcoholism. see DRINKING, page 6

Harvard police allowed to keep detailed crime reports under wraps BY ERIC BECK NEWS EDITOR

The highest court in Massachusetts unanimously ruled Jan. 13 that Harvard University is not required to release detailed crime reports, ending a two-and-a-half year legal battle between the Harvard Crimson and the university. The Harvard student newspaper’s plea before the state’s Supreme Judicial Court was the latest stage of its legal battles with Harvard over the release of police records. The newspaper first sued the university in July 2003 to force the release of more detailed crime reports. The Herald was one of several organizations that signed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of the Crimson’s lawsuit. Other press organizations to publicly support the Crimson include the Student Press Law Center, the Heights Newspaper at Boston College, the New England Press Association, the Society of Professional Journalists and the Associated Collegiate Press. Ultimately the case hinged on whether the Harvard University Police Department — whose officers are Harvard employees but are deputized and authorized to make arrests — should be considered a public force, which would require it to follow public record laws, or a private entity, which would give it more leeway for privacy considerations. The court ruled that though the university’s police force has special powers akin to a public police force, it is not “an agency of the Commonwealth such that it becomes subject to the mandates of the public records law.” The decision highlighted three significant differences between “special state police powers” granted to private forces and the powers of public forces. First, the powers of the private forces are less extensive. Second, only specific officers on the private force are granted these powers, see HARVARD, page 4

PAGE 4 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2006

Harvard continued from page 3 and third, these private officers must be recertified every three years. Under Massachusetts law, public police agencies are required to release their reports, which include incident details, witness testimony and officer observations. Harvard’s police department already releases police logs containing brief descriptions of incidents and more detailed reports for incidents in which an arrest is made. But the Crimson argued that Harvard’s current policy was insufficient and limited the paper’s investigative abilities, including examining the possibility of racial profiling by Harvard officers and incidents of sexual assault on campus. Harvard argued in court that it should not have to release

more detailed reports in order to protect student privacy. Though the court ruled in the university’s favor, concerns about student privacy were not used to justify the decision. “We are pleased with (the) unanimous opinion of the Supreme Judicial Court. The opinion upholds the university’s decision to protect our students’ privacy while at the same time recognizes that when the Harvard University Police Department makes arrests, records are available to the public,” wrote Robert Iuliano, Harvard’s vice president and general council, in a university statement. The Crimson has no further legal recourse, but its president, Harvard senior Lauren Schuker, wrote in a statement to Crimson staff members that the newspaper will lobby the Massachusetts State Senate to amend public records law to speciﬁcally include campus police forces.

Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.

Solution, tips and computer program at www.sudoku.com.

Bush seeks to renew U.S. strength abroad THE WASHINGTON POST

WASHINGTON — President Bush Tuesday night defended his vision for a robust U.S. role in world affairs and outlined a litany of domestic initiatives to make the United States more competitive abroad in a State of the Union address designed to rejuvenate his troubled presidency heading into a midterm election year. Bush, a onetime Texas oil industry executive, declared that “America is addicted to oil” and vowed to push for alternative energy sources allowing the United States to replace three-quarters of the petroleum now imported from the Middle East by 2025. Presenting his agenda for his sixth year in ofﬁce, he also vowed to steer more money to scientiﬁc research and education while working to reduce health costs.

Book Dealer continued from page 1 America. Over the years, the pair’s relationship developed and about 10 years ago Bromsen ﬁrst told Fiering that he was considering leaving his entire estate to the library. “When you get to be a certain age, you start thinking about what your legacy will be,” Fiering said. “You invest your whole life in this antiquarian book world and then you wonder what you do after your death so you feel it isn’t all wasted.” Recently, Fiering has been spending up to two days a week in Boston sorting through the more than 10,000 books that Bromsen left the library. Those that Fiering is interested in keeping — generally those published before 1825 — will be brought to Providence within the next year, while the rest will be sold at auction, with the proceeds going to the library. The John Hay Library also stands to beneﬁt from Bromsen’s donation. On Thursday, Fiering

But after a year of setbacks at home and abroad that have dragged his approval ratings to historic lows, Bush offered no far-reaching proposals to match the scale of the Social Security revision plan that proved so unpopular on Capitol Hill last year that it died without even being introduced. Many of the ideas sprinkled through Bush’s 51minute speech delivered from the House chamber to a national television audience were repackaged versions of proposals he has supported for years. Bound by rising deﬁcits exacerbated by the war in Iraq and the recovery from Hurricane Katrina, Bush framed the collection of proposals as a collective renewal of American strength in the world. He again dismissed calls to pull troops out of Iraq and cast those supporters as advocates for retreat from the responsibilities of the world’s lone superpower.

and Bromsen’s long-time assistant plan to transport Bromsen’s collection of engravings, prints and portraits of Abraham Lincoln to the Hay, which already holds a sizable Lincoln collection. A lifetime collecting Bromsen’s interest in colonial Latin America stretched back to his childhood. While most other boys in the 1930s idolized Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, Bromsen found himself fascinated with the life of Bolívar, who led the fight for independence in Spanish South America in the early 1800s. After graduating from City College of New York, Bromsen did graduate work at the University of California, Berkeley and Harvard University before pursuing a career in bibliography. In 1953, Bromsen moved to Boston, where he set up a firm specializing in the sale of rare books and manuscripts. Among Bromsen’s prized acquisitions were a first-edition copy of Walt Whitman’s �Leaves of Grass,� which he purchased in 1969 for what was then the

highest price ever paid for a volume of American literature and an 1827 portrait of Bolívar purchased from the family of William Randolph Hearst Jr. In 1986, Bromsen discovered a letter from the secretary of the Continental Congress in 1787 that is considered the ﬁrst document in the making of the U.S. Constitution and is now housed in the Library of Congress. Bromsen received many honors during the course of his career. In 1987 Northeastern University awarded him an honorary doctorate, and in 2003 President Ruth Simmons recognized Bromsen with a President’s Medal, the highest honor a Brown president can bestow. The governments of Venezuela and Chile also chose to honor Bromsen for his contributions to Latin American bibliography. Though many institutions had an interest in Bromsen’s collection, he ultimately decided that the John Carter Brown Library would be the best repository for it. “Brown’s library is by far the largest collection ever assembled of books about colonial America,” Bromsen told The Herald in 2003. “My collection ﬁt in like a glove.” Bromsen had nothing but praise for Brown students and administrators. “I have a very great relationship with Brown,” he said. “I love Brown, and I love the quality of the students at Brown.” Bromsen had no immediate survivors.

CAMPUS NEWS THE BROWN DAILY HERALD · WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2006 · PAGE 5

CCC continued from page 1 roved by a faculty vote before it becomes University policy. The bulk of the CCC’s deliberations did not focus on the merits of the grade change proposal itself. Instead, CCC members discussed the best way to proceed with the debate to ensure that faculty and student opinions are considered. Some CCC members suggested that a faculty vote be held as soon as possible to make the discussion less abstract and more immediate. In the end, though, the CCC decided to reject an immediate faculty vote. “Ultimately the faculty does determine what kind of an institution (Brown) is, (but) discussion between the faculty and the students still has to take place,” said University Registrar and CCC member Michael Pesta. The decision of the CCC to request a faculty forum on the issue rather than a faculty vote

Yogurt continued from page 1 the virus from entering mucous membrane cells. Ramratnam’s technique involves introducing cynovirin DNA into lactic acid bacteria — the same bacteria that ferments milk into yogurt. The bacteria then produces the protein cynovirin, which can deactivate HIV before it enters the mucous membrane of the cervical tract. Though a key discovery, Ramratnam emphasized that this technique is currently experimental and exists only “in the Petri dish,” and that while

reﬂects the council’s opinion that more discussion is needed on this issue before any decisions are made. Armstrong said students should share their arguments with the faculty instead of the CCC, which can only endorse — not enact — the policy change. Several other CCC members underscored the need for thorough discussion that takes into account the range of viewpoints found on campus. Jonathan Waage, senior advisor to the dean, expressed concern that the faculty should be given an opportunity to discuss alternatives to the current proposal. Freya Zaheer ’06 said students do not believe the decision-making process has been democratic or provided them enough opportunity to voice their opinions. She added that “what happens right now (will most likely) inﬂame the entire campus” and suggested waiting until UCS has held a forum to make any decisions. Shyam Sundaram ’08 said that requesting a faculty vote on the proposal would give students

the impression that it was now out of their control and likely to be implemented without their input. Lynne DeBenedette, senior lecturer in Slavic languages, raised the concern that requesting a faculty vote at this time left “no way of ensuring that the discussion happens” in a faculty forum or any other venue. Luther Spoehr, lecturer in education, said creating more forums for discussion is important because “the idea deserves to be debated on its merits and not behind this smoke-screen (of complaints about the) process.” The discussion “should involve all students, all faculty” he said, adding that “students may be underestimating how much inﬂuence they have with the faculty.” DeBenedette agreed, saying that “substantive discussion … about the whys of the beliefs” has not occurred. She also cautioned that students should not assume the faculty has already made up its mind irreversibly.

the research so far has been successful, there is much testing still to be done. “There’s no way of predicting what the implications (of the research) will be until we ﬁnish testing on animal models,” Ramratnam said. “We give the bacteria to monkeys and challenge them with HIV.” The future of this research, and the consequences it will have for the 40 million people infected with HIV around the world, depends largely upon the fate of these monkeys. Patricia Wissar ’06, president of the Brown chapter of Students for AIDS Awareness, was enthusiastic about the possibilities of treat-ment if the

new procedure proves to be effective. “This research seems to point to a very cheap way to have treatment accessible to lots of people,” she said. Like Ramratnam, however, Wissar said she is hesitant to speak further about the research until more testing is completed. She warned that even if a highly effective way to block HIV transmission is discovered, work will have to be done to popularize the procedure. “Money will have to be invested to educate people how to use it, and see if it works in society,” Wissar said. “There are places in southern Africa where people are still not accepting the condom.”

After father’s killing, BU professor turned to activism BY STEPHANIE BERNHARD SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Nazli Kibria spoke yesterday about how the assassination of her father, the Bangladeshi politician Shah AMS Kibria, affected her as an academic and activist. Kibria, an associate professor of sociology at Boston University, delivered her lecture in the Joukowsky Forum, which was filled to capacity. Kibria spoke on a number of topics she has recently researched, including current issues in her native Bangladesh, the Bangladeshi diaspora and the situation of BangladeshiAmericans today. She explained that her father’s death on Jan. 27, 2005 has imbued her work with more personal significance. “Why are some persons activists and not others? ... What is the academic identity?” Kibria asked. She explained that before her father’s death, she was able to draw a firm line between her research and her own life. She treated her subjects of study objectively, like a scientist. “You have personal feelings, but they should remain in the shadows. That’s the hallmark of good research,” she said, describing her former philosophy. Shah AMS Kibria spent his life working toward peace in Bangladesh in various roles, such as founder and editor of the weekly magazine Mridubhashan, finance minister of Bangladesh from 1996 to 2001, undersecretary general of the United Nations and executive secretary of the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. Kibria said that after her father died, her goal became keeping her father’s vision of

Bangladesh alive. After her father’s death, Kibria experienced a stronger emotional attachment to her research because of its links to her private life. Kibria now considers herself an activist for the cause of peace, stability and justice in Bangladesh. Since the assassination, Kibria and her family have initiated several projects to raise awareness of the injustice and unrest in Bangladesh. For example, Kibria’s mother began a program called “Blue for Peace,” encouraging people from Bangladesh and around the world to wear blue, the Bangladeshi color for peace, on Thursdays and to spend at least a half hour protesting in the street. Not only did her father’s death lead Kibria to activism in the Bangladeshi sphere, it also affected her research at the time, which involved the identity of Bangladeshi-Americans. Kibria claimed that the assassination “gave her work more meaning” because it reminded her of the violence from which many Bangladeshis were escaping. When Bangladesh — a predominantly Muslim state lying just to the east of India — gained independence from Pakistan in 1971, it was established as a secular republic. In the ensuing decades, however, the country of 145 million grew increasingly polarized, with part of the population maintaining secular ideals while another segment emerged pushing for a more aggressively Muslim government, according to Kibria. Shah AMS Kibria fell into the secular camp, opposing the introduction of Islam into politics. His family suspects that see KIBRIA, page 7

PAGE 6 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2006

Drinking continued from page 3 “We’ve also started a point system, similar to a drivers license program, in which different alcohol-related infractions earn a student points, and if you get a certain number of points, you might have to attend classes, do community service or face severe disciplinary action,” Collins said. Current policies at Brown According to University administrators, Brown seeks to employ education instead of more draconian methods. “We’re not doing anything like that,” said David Greene, vice president for campus life and student services, when asked if Department of Public Safety ofﬁcers patrol parties undercover. “But if we were, would I really tell you? Then they wouldn’t be undercover,” he jokingly added. Greene said he believes DPS’s focus should be on keeping the campus physically safe, and that while police always have a role to play, controlling alcohol usage is an educational endeavor that falls under the oversight of many different departments. “We want police doing what they are trained to do. Undercover operations to crack down on drinking are really not the province of our police and security forces,” he said. Greene believes addressing the “pre-gaming phenomenon” will effectively curb much of the out-of-control drinking that occurs on campus. He added that pre-gaming, in which students consume large amounts of alcohol before going out to a party, came up at yesterday’s Faculty Executive Board meeting. Nancy Barnett, assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior and researcher at Brown’s Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, is chair of the Alcohol Subcommittee of the Campus

Life Advisory Board, which will make recommendations on how best to address drinking by the end of the semester, Greene said. The Social Events Review Board, which was formed soon after fallout from the Sex Power God party last semester, will make its own recommendations by the end of February. Greene said that one source of problems with drinking stems from the high number of bars and clubs in the area. Drawing a contrast with rural Colby College, Brown’s urban location allows students to travel off-campus and drink. “We’ve had discussions with the Providence police chief and the mayor’s office, and we are all concerned about activity at offcampus bars and clubs that might compromise student safety. We will continue working with the city to keep students safe,” Greene said. Also, in apparent contrast with Colby, Greene said DPS and Providence Police Department officers communicate and collaborate well when working in the same jurisdiction. If an offcampus party gets out of hand, PPD officers will call DPS so the two forces can work together. In regard to on-campus drinking, Greene said ideas are being discussed to involve community directors in the disciplinary process. “We’ve talked about residential units having peer review boards where students would set the standards for their own living environment and adjudicate cases where their peers have violated those standards,” he said. “Students have a very important role to play in this.” Ultimately, though, he acknowledged that colleges are individually figuring out how best to cope with underage drinking, saying that very little research has been done on the subject. “Some of this is terrain we will have to cross ourselves,” he said.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2006 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 7

Skiing continued from page 12 Mountain in Princeton, Mass. Many fans of the ski team decided to make the journey and cheer on the Bears. The highlight of the day for the team came in the afternoon with the ﬁrst ever Brown Alumni Ski Race and Banquet. Many of the Bears’ parents attended the collegiate race and then participated in the alumni one. “That was the best part of the day,” O’Hear said. “I had so much fun racing against my dad, even though he almost beat me, being

Fencing continued from page 12 On the men’s side, the Bears split their four matches, ﬁnishing with a 6-2 conference record. Opinions on the Bears’ performance differed. Head Fencing Coach Atilio Tass expressed satisfaction with his team’s performance. “(The men’s team is) always expecting the best of themselves,” he said. “They had incredible matches and I’m proud of them.” But some members of the team felt they could have performed better against MIT and Brandeis in their two losses. “We were a little disappointed because we were hoping to do a little better,” said saberist Dan Mahoney ’07. “We lost to Brandeis, who we had beaten previously. We had higher expectations.” Now Brown’s fencing squads turn their attention to their ﬁrst-ever Ivy League competitions Sunday, held at

Swimming continued from page 12 two reversed positions in the 3-meter event, with Latinen taking fourth and Meadow placing ﬁfth. As the women prepare for postseason competition, Head Coach Peter Brown wants to keep the team’s focus on the task in front of them. “We are in a good position, but it is important to take things one step at a time and not look too far ahead,” Brown said. “We need to manage each step of the process and keep getting better along the way.” The women will travel to New Haven on Friday to battle a talented Yale team. Crimson loss leaves men under .500 The men’s swimming and diving team competed well last weekend, but was outmuscled by a powerful Harvard squad. The Crimson won 14 of 16 events in its home pool to defeat the Bears, 194-104. With the loss, Bruno’s record drops to 2-2 in league meets and 2-3 overall. Harvard entered the meet ranked 25th in the country and holding the top power ranking among mid-major universities. Regardless of where they ﬁnished on the medal stand, the Bears still managed to post some fast times. This was in

an ex-racer himself.” A banquet at the mountain’s lodge concluded the evening. Racers and their parents got together to celebrate the team’s successes and accomplishments, including last year’s second place ﬁnish at nationals. Johnson gave a speech, commending her teammates for sticking together. Later, the audience watched a slide-show put together by Taub. On Saturday the team will conclude the Brown Carnival, skiing the Giant Slalom portion of the event at Loon Mountain. The Bears hope to turn their trend of decent skiing into the sweeps they are used to.

Cornell. Both teams will square off against Columbia and Princeton, with the women also competing against the host Big Red, who only ﬁeld a women’s squad. Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and Yale are on the slate for the following weekend at Columbia. The Ancient Eight is the premier fencing conference in the country, so while the Bears have one of their strongest teams in recent memory, they will have to temper their expectations for the rest of the season. “You have to consider that this is the ﬁrst time we’re fencing in this league,” Tass said. “The most important thing is to go in and learn from the experience, which will help at New England and IFAs.” While the competition will be much improved from the NFC, each team can take inspiration out of its results from its old conference. “I think it helps to know we have had success at this level. It’s a boost to morale. If we can win here, we can win in the Ivy League too,” Schneider said.

line with Coach Brown’s plan to “put up some good numbers while not getting hung up with who the opponent was.” Brown’s two wins came from Grant Garcia ’08 and Kevin Hug ’08. Garcia took the top spot in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:00.22 and Hug touched the wall in 52.92 to win the 100-yard backstroke. Despite winning only two events, the team kept within striking distance by collecting a number of second and third-place finishes. “I felt that overall we swam very well as a team,” Hug said. “We competed hard and won some close races.” The diving squad pitched in with second places finishes by William Kai Robinson ’09 collected in both the 1-meter and 3-meter competitions. Matthew Freitas ’07 finished third in both events. The meet gave the Bears a chance to gauge their progress since winter break while competing in a highintensity meet. With the postseason loom-ing, Coach Brown is happy with his team’s position. “The guys are doing a nice job and that is reflected in our times,” he said. “We are right where we need to be, starting to come to life and becoming more competitive.” The Bears return to action at noon on Saturday in the Smith Swim Center, where they will take on Columbia in their final home meet of the season.

Kibria continued from page 5 Islamic terrorists masterminded the assassination. They believe the attack was planned far in advance because the attackers threw hand grenades, which require training to use. This form of attack was not new to Bangladesh: in the years immediately before and after the attack, terrorists executed several well-organized bombings of various secular arenas in Bangladeshi life, Kibria said. At the beginning of the lecture, Kibria asked audience members to sign a petition addressed to Sens. Lincoln Chafee ’75, R.-R.I. and Richard Lugar, R.-Ind., urging them to “Organize a Senate Hearing on the rise of political violence and terrorism in Bangladesh” and “Work towards a U.N. Security Resolution which speciﬁcally calls for an independent inquiry into the assassination of Shah AMS Kibria.” Kibria said that most Bangladeshi-Americans do not like to talk about the current situation in Bangladesh because many still have relatives there and thinking about the danger makes them nervous. Also, she said, many suffer from identity issues because Americans either have never heard of the country or else have negative associations with it. Kibria said that BangladeshiAmericans, as “non-white Muslims,” have faced an increased level of persecution since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. This leads them to remain closelipped about any issues relating to violence — especially those connected to Islam — in Bangladesh. As a sociologist, Kibria found this trend interesting; as a BangladeshiAmerican, she found it moving. Hank Schilling ’08, who attended the lecture, felt that Kibria managed to convey

effectively both the situation of Bangladeshi-Americans and the political unrest in Bangladesh itself. “I had no idea coming in. … I think she did very well in articulating the political climate,” Schilling said. He said he attended the lecture to support his roommate, Shovon Kibria ’08, who is Kibria’s nephew. He decided to sign the petition that Kibria passed around to the audience, saying it would “highlight the importance of bringing

international institutions to help the situation.” William Beeman, a professor of anthropology, agreed that the petition and Kibria’s lecture sent an important message. “The lecture shows how incredibly important it is for people in academics to be involved in political affairs,” he said. Beeman said he sees a lot of “shirking of responsibility” among academics and wishes that his peers would involve themselves more in political life, just as Kibria has done.

PAGE 8 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2006

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2006 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 9

Gymnastics continued from page 12 meet, the scores did not reflect that improvement, but Brown had some strong performances. Britanny Anderson ’09 won the event with a 9.4, while Jess Pestronk ’08 took third with a 9.325. The meet concluded with the floor exercise, an event which was a strength for the Bears last season. Although the event was the team’s second-best of the meet in terms of score, both Carver-Milne and co-captain Mandi Baughman ’06 felt it was the weakest in terms of the team’s skill-level and past performances. “We need to have more depth on floor,” Carver-Milne said. “Floor was our shakiest event,” Baughman said. “We had some problems.” Anderson and Smith led the team in the floor exercise with their third and fourth place finishes, respectively. Anderson stuck all her landings in a riveting performance and finished with a 9.4. Smith, who opened with a huge tumbling pass and nailed all her landings, scored

Squash continued from page 12 The Bobcats survived a match point by downing Brown’s fifthseeded tri-captain, Brian Rifkin ’06. Bates then blasted its way back to level the match at 4-4 by knocking off rookies Brett Camarda ’09 and Jacob Winkler ’09. David Krupnick ’06 proved to be the team savior. Trailing two sets to one, he staved off an 8-1 deficit in the fourth set before surviving more match points in the fifth set. He finally closed out his opponent 10-8. Chester Hall ’08 was relieved by the result. “It was a lot of pressure to play under,” he said. “The entire season, everyone’s work was resting with that result. A loss would have seen us lose a lot of ground in the rankings.” Haynes emphasized the importance of the coming weekend’s match against Dartmouth, given the big win over Bates. “A win over Dartmouth this weekend is crucial for the team to move into the top eight division, a feat yet to be accomplished in the history of the Brown squash program,” he said. “None of this would have been

a 9.375. Pestronk also made an important contribution with her 9.3 performance. “Jess rarely gets recognition, but she always is solid for us on beam and ﬂoor, and this meet was the same,” Carver-Milne said. In the all-around competition, Anderson was the top Brown tumbler yet again, scoring a 36.200, good for second overall. “Brittany is a top performer for us, for sure,” Carver-Milne said. “I nominated her for the ECAC Coach’s Rookie of the Week.” Anderson attributes her success to the team atmosphere. “Coming from a club to a college team, there is a lot more teamwork,” she said. “There’s a lot of support. My coaches and teammates are great, and the training is going well.” Smith also had a solid allaround performance, taking third overall with a 35.700. “(Smith) always comes through for us on the allaround,” Carver-Milne said. “For (her) to compete all four years on the all-around is impressive.” Sunday’s win comes at a crucial time for Bruno, a squad coming off tough losses to top

schools — the No. 20 University of Denver and Towson University — on Jan. 20. Smith attributed her squad’s rebound to readjusted and tweaked routines, as the Bears performed far more elaborate and skillful routines than most of their competitors. “We made a lot of changes from the ﬁrst meet,” Smith said. “We upgraded some skills and added new skills to have higher start values.” Baughman said that the vocal home crowd, which included some spirited distance runners from the men’s track team, played a part in the team’s success. “This was by far the best crowd we ever had,” she said. Next Saturday, the Bears travel to New York to compete in their Ivy opener against Cornell. Then, on Sunday, the team will take on the State University of New York at Cortland. Carver-Milne predicts that Saturday’s match will be particularly exciting. “It will be a very tight match with Cornell because we are both very similar teams in terms of our strengths and weaknesses,” she said. “It’ll be interesting. It’s going to be a great competition for us.”

possible without (Krupnick’s performance).” The Bears travel to Boston, Mass. to take on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Tufts University on Thursday before returning to the Pizzitola Center to take on Dartmouth on Sunday.

set matches to Brown. Notable individual performances for the Bears against Bates came from Breck Haynes ’09 and Zarah Rahman ’07, both of whom won in five sets after finding themselves in 0-2 holes. Erin Andrews ’07 also hung tough against spirited opposition before closing out her match in five. Charlotte Steel ’09 was very complimentary of the team’s opposition on Sunday. “The score was hardly a true representation of the quality of their play,” she said of the Bobcats. “They achieved the same result against Williams (College) that we did, and so they are a very legitimate program”. The team’s next matchup comes against Dartmouth on Sunday in Providence. The Big Green is also on a three game win streak, and the showdown will be a good gauge of the Bears’ progress.

Women extend win streak to five The women’s squash team also fared well over the weekend in Maine. The Bears (5-3 overall, 1-3 Ivy League) extended their winning streak to five after starting the season 0-3 and recorded their first road wins of the season. The team dominated Bowdoin in Brunswick, Maine on Saturday, recording an 8-1 victory against what rapidly became a dispirited opponent. Recording an identical result against Bates the following day, the Bobcats fought valiantly for most of the match but eventually conceded three five-

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EDITORIAL/LETTERS THE BROWN DAILY HERALD · WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2006 · PAGE 10

STAFF EDITORIAL

Passing the buck The College Curriculum Council fills a unique role in the debate over the addition of pluses and minuses to the University’s grading system. Unlike the Faculty Executive Committee and full faculty, the CCC includes a variety of constituents on campus — including students. At its meeting yesterday, however, the CCC passed up an opportunity to discuss the ramifications of significant changes to how Brown students are evaluated in their coursework. Though they serve on what is merely an advisory council, members of the CCC should have moved beyond a vague call for student participation by initiating that process themselves. We commend the CCC for refraining from calling for a faculty vote, thereby allowing for healthy discussion to develop. However, the council failed to clearly outline the ways in which students can participate in that debate. That students might be permitted to attend a faculty forum — which provides the faculty an opportunity to consider such proposals more freely and thoroughly than at faculty meetings — does not ensure that their views will be taken seriously. Similarly, the council’s request that faculty and students engage in “informal conversations” does nothing to enhance students’ contributions to structured discourse. Moreover, the council’s suggestion that the Undergraduate Council of Students should sponsor forums for discussion is not satisfactory, particularly given the selfselecting population such gatherings tend to attract. We don’t question the CCC’s earnest desire that students be heard in this debate. However, in deferring to additional and, in some cases, poorly defined forums, the council avoided a more substantive discussion of the policy itself. The lack of a forum for student opinion beyond the CCC should concern all students with any sort of opinion about the plus/minus proposal. Though substantive discussion can obviously occur behind closed doors, it would be foolish to believe that points raised in private debates with professors and concentration advisors carry the same weight as those opinions expressed before the University’s various governing bodies. During yesterday’s meeting, University Registrar and CCC member Michael Pesta made a declaration we hope is not indicative of how Brown community members view students’ role in such proceedings: “Ultimately the faculty does determine what kind of an institution (Brown) is, (but) discussion between the faculty and the students still has to take place.” Though the University’s bylaws for bureaucratic process might corroborate this statement, the spirit of Pesta’s words runs counter to our opinion of who should influence University policy. Not only should discussion take place, but students should feel that they too determine what Brown is and what it is becoming.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD EDITORIAL Robbie Corey-Boulet, Editor-in-Chief Justin Elliott, Executive Editor Ben Miller, Executive Editor Stephanie Clark, Senior Editor Katie Lamm, Senior Editor Jonathan Sidhu, Arts & Culture Editor Jane Tanimura, Arts & Culture Editor Stu Woo, Campus Watch Editor Mary-Catherine Lader, Features Editor Ben Leubsdorf, Metro Editor Anne Wootton, Metro Editor Eric Beck, News Editor Patrick Harrison, Opinions Editor Nicholas Swisher, Opinions Editor Stephen Colelli, Sports Editor Christopher Hatﬁeld, Sports Editor Justin Goldman, Asst. Sports Editor Jilane Rodgers, Asst. Sports Editor Charlie Vallely, Asst. Sports Editor PRODUCTION Allison Kwong, Design Editor Taryn Martinez, Copy Desk Chief Lela Spielberg, Copy Desk Chief Mark Brinker, Graphics Editor Joe Nagle, Graphics Editor

Jean Yves Chainon, Photo Editor Jacob Melrose, Photo Editor Ashley Hess, Sports Photo Editor Kori Schulman, Sports Photo Editor BUSINESS Ryan Shewcraft, General Manager Lisa Poon, Executive Manager David Ranken, Executive Manager Mitch Schwartz, Account Manager Laurie-Ann Paliotti, Sr. Advertising Manager Susan Dansereau, Ofﬁce Manager POST- MAGAZINE Sonia Saraiya, Editor-in-Chief Taryn Martinez, Associate Editor Ben Bernstein, Features Editor Matt Prewitt, Features Editor Elissa Barba, Design Editor Lindsay Harrison, Graphics Editor Constantine Haghighi, Film Editor Paul Levande, Film Editor Jesse Adams, Music Editor Katherine Chan, Music Editor Hillary Dixler, Off-the-Hill Editor Abigail Newman, Theater Editor

D A N I E L L AW L O R

LETTERS Grading system is not a minor detail To the Editor: The potential imposition of a plus/minus grading system on students already attending Brown or already committed to coming here (e.g. early decision admits to the class of ’10) is plainly unacceptable. The New Curriculum grading system is unique to Brown and played a vital role in attracting many of those who would be affected by the change, should it be enacted immediately. Dean Armstrong’s assertion that this aspect of the grading system is not as vital to the “spirit of the New Curriculum” as its other elements — on the basis of what appear to be purely practical concerns with its implementation — is without merit. It offends those of us who chose to come here on the basis of a grading system that was presented alongside other elements of the New Curriculum as part of what makes Brown special. Few students can imagine being comfortable

with the establishment of distribution requirements at Brown, especially if those requirements took immediate effect, even if a majority of their peers and professors spontaneously discovered personally convincing rationales for such requirements. The same is true of as major a change to the curriculum as the addition of pluses and minuses. I came to Brown with the understanding that I would be receiving grades of A, B, C, S or the non-transcribed NC, with no additional annotations. This was not, as it might be for other schools, an insigniﬁcant detail but an essential part of why I chose Brown. The University must take that into consideration when determining whether and how to implement a new grading system. Matthew Gelfand ’08 Jan. 30

Improve extant exercise facilities ﬁrst To the Editor: Over my past two and a half years here at Brown, I’ve noticed that the indoor gyms, with the exception of the OMAC, are overheated. The Bear’s Lair, in particular, is stiﬂing; there is not even a single window to open for fresh air. Vigorously exercising in such heat can be dangerous. I suggest that instead of spending thousands of dollars on a new

ﬁtness facility, perhaps Brown could channel that money towards improving those facilities already in existence, namely by improving ventilation. We gym rats would be most thankful. Mirele Davis ’07 Jan. 25

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OPINIONS

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD · WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2006 · PAGE 11

No Haitian left behind Deportation of Haitian immigrants illustrates discriminatory subtext underlying American immigration policy BY CHRISTINA MA OPINIONS COLUMNIST

The increasingly unstable country of Haiti is located just 1,500 miles off of the American Gulf Coast. A once democratic state, Haiti has experienced a resurgence of violence and chaos after the former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was forced out of power in early 2004. Only a year earlier, Brian Dean Curran, then-United States ambassador to Haiti, described the nation heading toward a cataclysm. Today, Haitians face an uncertain future. Democratic elections have been delayed four times while conditions have worsened; kidnappings, corrupt ofﬁcials, and mass panic have all contributed to the instability and insecurity of the country. Recently, the U.S. administration responsible for bringing democracy to Haiti was accused of actually worsening the situation through its own inability to establish good relations with the leaders of the country and its failure to send a cohesive message to Haitians. Given the complexities of establishing a democracy in a nation torn between different violent rebel groups and ideologies, the failure of American diplomacy in Haiti might be forgivable. However, the United States has no excuse for failing the Haitians yet again when matters are on our own terms. Despite the growing unrest in Haiti, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has refused to provide temporary protected status for Haitians and continues to deport Haitians who illegally enter the country back to their broken homes. Currently

immigrants from Burundi, El Salvador, Honduras, Liberia, Nicaragua, Somalia and Sudan have temporary protected status that allows them to stay in the U.S. until conditions in their countries are better, but Homeland Security is reluctant to make this list longer. Efforts have been made to protect U.S. officials in Haiti, and travel to Haiti has become difficult and impossible for dependents under the age of 21. While the government has acknowledged the dangers that exist and has enacted policy to protect American citizens from the chaotic country, the State Department has still permitted the deportations of immigrants back to Haiti. While the United States pontificates about the importance of human rights and civil liberties, it throws the helpless back into situations that incarcerate them in a cycle of civil war and violence. But the manner in which the United States has dealt and continues to deal with Haiti speaks to the much larger issue of racism and classism in American immigration policy. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which brought an end to the influx of immigrants from China into the United States, marked the first time that American immigration law targeted a particular nationality. Since then, U.S. immigration policy has participated in less overt ways of restricting particular racial groups from entering the country. European citizens

still receive preferential status and undergo a much less rigorous immigration process. American immigration also unjustly prevents many from entering the country for economic reasons. Particularly, citizens of third-world and African nations simply do not have the necessary funds to even

Ironically enough, though, Robert Leiken, director of the Immigration and National Security Program at the Nixon Center and senior fellow of the Brookings Institute, has found that the greatest threat to the United States from immigration comes from immigrants from predominantly white Western Europe through the Canadian border. Western European immigrants pose as great, if not a greater, threat to American security as immigrants from other nations, given the way in which terrorist cells have ﬂourished in Western Europe throughout the last decade. Given the more lenient immigration policy for individuals for Western Europe, it appears that perhaps the Bush administration is less concerned with security than it is with maintaining the current racial majority. Haiti is one place where Bush can perhaps change the historical precedent of a racially and economically discriminatory immigration policy. Earlier this year, immigration lawyers protested Homeland Security’s decision to continue the deportation of Haitian illegal immigrants. Speciﬁc cases are being presented before court, but lawyers fear that it will do little in terms of creating new policy to protect the Haitian immigrants. If the U.S. wants to prove its dedication to the protection of human rights, it must give up the façade of using Homeland Security to enforce racist immigration policies.

The Bush administration is less concerned with security than it is with maintaining the current racial majority. ﬁle for immigration into the United States. Financial incentives are certainly one main reason for the mass immigration into the United States. Sadly, those most in need are unable to enter the country. The most recent wave of restrictions has been targeted towards the Mexican community. Fears that the number of Spanish-speaking people will outnumber the number of English-speaking in the United States, coupled with fears of greater labor competition, has led to further restrictions on those wanting to legally enter the country and those that have illegally done so. The current administration’s ostensible rationale is to protect the United States from being inﬁltrated by terrorists and keep the war of terrorism strong both abroad and home.

Christina Ma ’09 is crazy for Haiti.

The women who run the world A chauvinist reﬂects on the election of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in Liberia and the rise of women in global politics BY ADAM CAMBIER OPINIONS COLUMNIST

With the recent inauguration in Liberia of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Africa’s ﬁrst elected female leader, my thoughts turned to the other distinguished ladies, the elite few, who have held the most powerful positions in their respective countries. After much (translation: “a few minutes”) contemplation, I have sorted these world leaders into several categories. Without further ado, I introduce you to the women who run our world: The Widow/Wife/ Daughter: This is the most common fe-male world leader we’ve seen. Examples include Cora-zon Aquino and Gloria MacapagalArroyo of the Philippines, Isabel Peron of Argentina, Chandrika Kumaratunga of Sri Lanka, Indira Gandhi of India and Megawati Sukarnoputri of Indonesia. These women are somehow related to a very popular (and often very dead) male counterpart in the government. Be he husband, father, brother or son, he is usually widely revered and adored by the nation’s people. Fortunately for these women, this love spills over to anyone sharing a name or some genes with the man. This, however, isn’t to say that these women aren’t powerful in their own right. Indira

Gandhi used her sway to amend India’s Constitution and oversaw the foundation of its nuclear program; Corazon Aquino led the creation of the system of government in the Philippines and was named Time’s Person of the Year for her commitment to democracy; Chandrika Kumaratunga used the presidency’s executive power to declare a state of emergency in Sri Lanka when the prime minister’s conciliatory actions towards the Tamil Tigers did not fit in with the rest of her national policy. Ultimately,

wer not through charisma and good looks, but with brains. Supporters refer to them as “Iron Lady,” in allusion to their strong wills, as opposed to “Smokin’ Hot Mama,” in reference to their other “assets.” These women often are the most competent and are able to wield the power invested in them effectively, but their efficacy in office is sometimes overshadowed by their less than fortunate looks. For instance, at a model U.N. meeting attended by some of the most internationally minded students here at Brown soon after the deadlocked German election this past fall, the discussion briefly turned to the fact that poor Merkel was, suffice it to say, not particularly attractive. Fortunately, after their time at the helms of their respective nations, these women are usually widely respected across the world for their intelligence and capable leadership. The Cool Sassy Grandma: This category is a brand new one that I have created especially for the aforementioned Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. For those not familiar with her, Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf is a Harvard-educated economist who has had high-ranking positions at the World Bank and Citibank. Liberians love her because she’s got a motherly sensibility that can bring some love back to their nation that has been torn apart by strife after decades of civil war under the

Women have been elected as the leaders of a typical patriarchal West African nation and one of Latin America’s most conservative countries. despite the fact that these women are brought to prominence by male relatives, the vanguards of the fairer sex often end up being held in higher regard than their male counterparts. The Frumpy One: Exempliﬁed by women such as Margaret Thatcher of the United Kingdom, Angela Merkel of Germany, Golda Meir of Israel and the newly elected Michelle Bachelet of Chile, these women ascended to the seat of po-

leadership of men. I love her because she’s got a mean streak of wit underneath her kindly exterior. After defeated run-off opponent and soccer star George Weah raised baseless accusations about rigged elections, Johnson-Sirleaf said that she’d be happy to offer Weah a government appointment once he’s done “getting over his disappointment.” I picture George Weah as a small child who throws a hissy ﬁt when his mom won’t buy him a candy bar and Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf as the grandma who’s cool enough to buy it for him anyway. I, of course, make these cursory observations from my gender’s comfy vantage point above the glass ceiling. As such, my position allows me to make blowhard generalizations with relative ease and peace of mind. The evidence, however, is building: women have been elected as the leaders of a typical patriarchal West African nation and one of Latin America’s most conservative countries. So, to my fellow chauvinist cohorts, I tell you — the times, they are a changing. Harry Truman once warned that if we can’t stand the heat, we should get out of the kitchen. Women are moving away from the kitchens of yore and are cooking up a storm in Ol’ Harry’s political bakery. That being said, I propose a toast — let us raise a round of Cosmos to the women who are ﬁnally taking the top spot in the pecking order and setting us men back hundreds of years.

Adam Cambier ’09 would vote for Condi Rice.

SPORTS WEDNESDAY THE BROWN DAILY HERALD · FEBRUARY 1, 2006 · PAGE 122

Gymnasts solid in all events; edge out Swim teams hit road: three opponents in ﬁrst home match women collect two wins in N.Y.; men fall to Harvard

BY MADELEINE MARECKI SPORTS STAFF WRITER

The gymnastics team won its first home meet of the season with 181.9 points in front of a vocal crowd at the Pizzitola Center Sunday. The Bears, now 3-2 overall, narrowly defeated Ithaca College — which finished second by less than a point — and easily outdistanced thirdplace Massachusetts Institute of Technology and last-place Rhode Island College. The Brown tumblers expected to win the meet, but Head Coach Sara Carver-Milne said the low team score was surprising. “The score was very disappointing,” she said. “We only had two falls in the entire meet in all four events. … The score we received didn’t reflect the performance we put on.” The Bears opened the meet aggressively with an outstanding performance on the vault. Co-captain Amber Smith ’06 started the event with a strong vault highlighted by a solid landing, earning her a 9.4. Five of six Bears scored 9.0 or higher in the event, with Jessica McNell ’06 sharing the team-high score of 9.4 with Smith. The team finished the vault portion of the meet with 46.150 points, its best event of the entire competition. Although Bruno’s overall performance in the next event,

BY HUGH MURPHY SPORTS STAFF WRITER

The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams traveled in opposite directions last weekend, with the women stomping a pair of league foes in New York City, while the men dropped a match in Cambridge, Mass. The women claimed landslide victories over Cornell and host Columbia, giving them three straight wins over Ivy League opponents and improving their conference and overall record to 4-2. One week after narrowly edging the University of Pennsylvania at home, Bruno defeated the Lions 186-114 and the Big Red 222.5-77.5. Brown was led by a strong performance from Eileen Robinson ’06, who won the 50yard freestyle in 24.02 seconds and the 100-yard freestyle in 52.22. She ﬁnished her day by anchoring the ﬁrst-place

Some days, everything seems to go exactly as it should. Other days, nothing does. Such was Saturday for the ski team at the Brown Carnival, held at Wachusett Mountain, where the team finished fifth out of 10 teams in the slalom competition. The day started off on the right foot with a blistering first run by co-captain Kelly O’Hear ’07. With a time of 44.75 seconds, O’Hear finished her first set of runs in second place, 0.44 seconds behind the leader. Yet, for a team that is accustomed to seeing three or four of its racers within the top 15 after the first run, O’Hear was the only one to make the cut on Saturday. Last season, Brown placed second at the national competition. This season, however, the team has been inconsistent with only one win to date. Co-captain Jamie Johnson ’06, one of Brown’s top slalom skiers, said she felt that she did not perform up to her capabilities on Saturday. Johnson, Sophie Elgort ’08, Mallory Taub ’08 and Janet Marley-Mauzy ’07 all finished within the top 25 at 16th, 20th, 21st and 24th respectively. Nonetheless, all four believed they could have performed better and were determined to do so in the second run.

see SWIMMING, page 7

Ashley Hess / Herald

Amber Smith ’06 helped the gymnastics team secure a win in its ﬁrst home meet of the season with a score of 9.4 on the vault. the uneven bars, was not as smooth, two gymnasts still managed to top the 9.0 mark. Sarah Cavett ’06 won the event with a 9.350 and Jessica Pouchet ’06 placed third with a 9.1. Carver-Milne said the squad resumed its team-wide

dominance of the meet on the balance beam. “The beam was our most improved event from the last meet (in Denver),” she said. Due to the strict judging in the see GYMNASTICS, page 9

Rough first runs contribute to ski team’s fifth place finish at Brown Carnival BY D.R. RICHARDSON CONTRIBUTING WRITER

performance of the 400-yard relay team of Elizabeth Wong ’06, Becky Kowalsky ’07 and Sarah Goodman ’09. Kowalsky had a big day of her own, winning the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyle events and finishing second in the 200-yard butterfly to Meredith Cocco ’07, who won with a time of 2:05.63. Cocco also won the 400-yard individual medley in 4:31.96. Bridgette Cahill came in a close second at 4:35.37. “We are at the point in the season when things start to come together,” Cocco said. “Our championship meet is less than a month away, so it’s good to see everyone swimming so well.” In diving, Jessica Larson ’06 notched a pair of victories with wins in the 1-meter and 3meter dives. Dana Meadow ’07 and Amy Latinen ’07 took the fourth and fifth positions in the 1-meter dive, respectively. The

To kick off her second run, O’Hear erupted out of the gate and tore through the flats, diving down through the pitch. But right before the second flat section, her run hit a snag, as a tricky under-gate threw her off and she nearly skied out of the course. She managed to regain control, but was unable to make up the time through the flats and finish line. The slow second run bumped O’Hear down to fourth place overall. A few bright spots emerged as the day continued. Johnson, Elgort, Maury-Mauzy and Taub all felt that they performed much better than they had in the morning. It still was not enough to improve Brown’s overall position, but individually, each was glad to move up a couple of spots. Meaghan Casey ’08 straddled a gate and was forced to hike back up the mountain in the first run, pushing her far back in the standings. In the second run, she sped by all of her surrounding competition and moved her overall position up a full nine spots from 51st after one run to a final 42nd. “I really stepped up my skiing in the second run,” Casey said. “Although I’m disappointed that I hiked on the first run, today was a great race, and I’m looking forward to next weekend’s giant slalom.” “If we could all have two

good runs each race, we would deﬁnitely be winning,” Elgort said. “We’re just having trouble getting everyone to perform on the same day.” Despite its mixed performance, the team was not without its supporters. Saturday’s race was hosted an hour’s drive from campus at Wachusett see SKIING, page 7

Fencing’s successful NFC meet is prep for Ivy season BY CHRIS HATFIELD SPORTS EDITOR

This is the first season in which the fencing team will compete in the typical home for Brown’s varsity sports teams — the Ivy League. As such, one could have forgiven the Bears if they were looking a bit past Saturday’s second and final Northeast Fencing Conference meet of the season. However, that forgiveness need not be wasted on the Brown fencers. With a clinching victory against Brandeis University by foilist Nanette Milner ’06, the women’s squad completed its sweep of the two conference competitions, going 5-0 to finish with a 10-0 record and a conference title.

“The awesome part was that a lot of people on the team had no idea (we’d won),” said captain Ruth Schneider ’06. “It deﬁnitely speaks to our improvement as a team.” Schneider, an All-American epéeist, was stellar as usual, going undefeated in the meet. Her epée squad led the way against Dartmouth in the day’s opening opponent, sweeping all nine matches. Brown followed its triumph over the Big Green with 16-11 victories over traditional rivals from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston College and a 22-5 thrashing of Smith College, using mostly subs, before locking up the championship against Brandeis. see FENCING, page 7

Maine competition no match for Brown’s men and women squash BY STEELE WEST SPORTS STAFF WRITER

The No. 10 men’s squash team has set a date with history, thanks to its performance last weekend. After recording comfortable wins in Brunswick, Maine against Colby College and Bowdoin College on Saturday, the Bears ground out a gutsy win against No. 12 Bates College on Sunday at the Bobcats’ new facility in Lewiston, Maine. Now 5-4 overall (0-4 in the Ivy League), the Bears will face Dartmouth on Sunday in a match that could go a long way in securing them a spot among the top eight teams in national competition for the ﬁrst time in

school history. While not challenged to any extent by Colby or Bowdoin on Saturday, both of whom were defeated 8-1, the Bears could not cruise to victory against Bates. Surviving match points and considerable crowd pressure, the Bears defeated the feisty Bobcats 5-4 in dramatic fashion. Bruno established a dominant 4-0 early lead on the racquets of ninth seed Mark Goldberg ’07, sixth seed Patrick Haynes ’07, third seed Edward Cerullo ’08 and second seed Dan Petrie ’07. Then, the Bears watched the advantage evaporate as Bates stormed back. see SQUASH, page 9

Ashley Hess / Herald

Dan Petrie ’07 helped the men’s squash team knock off No. 12 Bates on Sunday.