Tuesday, February 13, 2007

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD T UESDAY, F EBR UAR Y 13, 2007

Volume CXLII, No. 15

Since 1866, Daily Since 1891

Chafee ’75 urges Bush to return to Roadmap

BY MICHAEL BECHEK SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Courtesy of Brown.edu Richard Holbrooke ’62

Holbrooke ’62 to help support U.’s int’l efforts

BY MICHAEL SKOCPOL SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The appointment of former Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke ’62 to a post at the Watson Institute for International Studies last week formalized a powerful connection that has benefited the University in the past and will be especially important as Brown’s internationalization initiative progresses, President Ruth Simmons told The Herald Monday.

The details of Holbrooke’s responsibilities as a professor-atlarge in the Watson Institute are still being worked out, said Geoffrey Kirkman, associate director of the Watson Institute, late last week, adding that it was still unclear when Holbrooke would arrive at Brown or how often he will be on campus.

Holbrooke “just got back from Iraq” and would be in Europe until this week, said Media Relations Specialist Deborah Baum last Thursday. In an e-mail to The Herald, Holbrooke wrote that he would prefer not to discuss the appointment until the details had been worked out.

Holbrooke, who was editor in chief of The Herald while an undergraduate at Brown, is a former ambassador to Germany as well as to the United Nations. His extensive foreign policy resume includes playing a pivotal role in brokering the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords that ended the war in Bosnia.

“Because we are starting the international initiative, it’s much more important now than ever that we have the counsel of our alums who have been the most important and the most visible on the international stage,” Simmons told The Herald. “He is clearly one of those people who enjoys an international reputation and someone who knows a good deal about different parts of the world.”

Former U.S. Senator Lincoln Chafee ’75, who accepted a position as a visiting fellow at the Watson Institute this semester, said though he does not know Holbrooke personally, his reputation is formidable. continued on page 4

INSIDE:

5 CAMPUS NEWS

Former Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee ’75 criticized President Bush in a stern lecture in Sayles Hall last night for having “removed himself” from the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and called for a renewed U.S. commitment to the goals set forth in the “Roadmap for Peace.”

“The American people should not tolerate any more mendacity on this matter,” Chafee said, noting that making progress in Israel was crucial to the United States’ ability to make progress in Iraq.

“Every voice that has clamored for a victory in Iraq, or that has spoken up against this war from the beginning, or that calls for it to end now, should rise up in unison in a clarion call for U.S. leadership on the central issue of Israeli-Palestinian peace,” he said. “There is no time to

continued on page 6

Christopher Bennett / Herald Lincoln Chafee ’75 delivered the 76th annual Stephen A. Ogden Jr. ’60 Memorial Lecture on Monday — the birthday of his namesake, Abraham Lincoln.

UCS may push for DVD rental service in the Sciences Library

BY CAMERON LEE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Students looking for a movie to watch on a Friday night may soon be heading to an unlikely source — the Sciences Library. Brian Becker ’09, chair of the campus life committee of the Undergraduate Council of Students, has been exploring the idea of housing a DVD rental service on the 14th floor of the SciLi.

The project is in its preliminary stages and would not be implemented until next September at the earliest.

Becker said he came up with the idea last spring while enrolled in PY 30: “Personality.” In order to view films he missed in class, he had to travel up to Media Services on the 14th floor the SciLi. Students are not allowed to remove movies from the library, a restriction that Becker found

inconvenient.

Becker envisioned a DVD check-out service in the media library. After discussions with Russell Carey ’91 MA’06, interim vice president for campus life and student services, and Mark Shelton, leader of the library’s systems and media service department, Becker began to assemble a more realistic picture of what such a service would look like.

“There’s already infrastruc-

ture set in place in the (Sciences) Library,” Becker said. “If only we could improve on it, the whole student body would benefit.”

According to the preliminary plan, students would be able to rent DVDs from Media Services free of charge for a set amount of time. The current DVD collection would be supplemented either with yearly purchases or continued on page 4

It’s about time: Wayland clock reset

BY PHILLIP GARA CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Phillip Gara / Herald The clock atop Wayland Arch once again displays the correct time.

R.I. GETS RIPPED Shape Up R.I. initiates a program to reduce obesity among Rhode Islanders by introducing a star system for nutrition at Hannaford’s aford’ aford’s

www.browndailyherald.com

waste.”

Chafee expressed frustration with the president, whom Chafee said had “said all the right things” but had failed to follow his statements with action.

“President Bush was boldly charting brand new territory for an American leader,” Chafee said, referring to the president’s lofty rhetoric in a June 2002 speech calling for a Palestinian state and his April 2003 unveiling of a detailed Roadmap for Peace, developed together with the United Nations, European Union and Russia. Yet — partly because of the Iraq war and partly because of the president’s unwillingness to fully embrace the principle of “land for peace” — “nothing has happened,” Chafee said.

Chafee said in his speech that he wondered whether Bush was shrinking away from “land for

7 CAMPUS NEWS

DORMLIFTING RAMPANT DPS reports thefts from residence halls over winter break, a number of car accidents and a domestic disturbance in Grad Center

Now that shopping period is over and being to class on time matters, students can once again rely on the clock atop Wayland Arch to help them stay on time. The tower’s clock now works, and other faulty campus clocks could soon be synchronized as well.

According to Stephen Maiorisi, vice president for Facilities Management, the clock had been broken for a number of years and had been fixed last semester until new problems with the clock’s rhythm began.

“We just recently fixed the clock this past fall when we installed a new electronic controller and replaced the lamps on the tower,” Maiorisi said. “For a while, it hadn’t been working before last fall.”

But after the clock returned to service, it became increasingly fast, said Wayland House resident Andrew Jacobs ’08.

“This is just my memory, which could be very warped, but I remember that Wayland had

11 OPINIONS

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

LIFETIME: TV FOR MORONS Adam Cambier ’09 pitches two new plots to Lifetime Original Movies — the forbidden love of astronauts and the Anna Nicole Smith story

all these new lights in the tower, which is great, and that the clock was working, which is also great,” he said.

“Slowly over the course of the fall semester, I noticed that it was becoming fast,” Jacobs said. “It started off a minute or two fast and then became up to 10 or 12 minutes fast by the end of the semester. Then I came back this semester, and it was 15 to 20 minutes fast.”

Maiorisi said he believes the fast timing can be attributed to monthly load tests on the Sharpe Refectory’s generator that disrupt the clock’s controlling mechanism.

Facilities Management has been working with the clock controller’s manufacturer, Electric Time, and the distributor, About Time, to fix the clock, but they do not think there is a problem with the clock’s physical mechanisms.

Maiorisi said he expects a new control board to arrive soon.

The clock was part of the Wriston Quadrangle expansion of continued on page 4

12 SPORTS

MURPHY WINS 300TH Women’s hockey Head Coach Digit Murphy nabbed her 300th victory with a win over Union following another win this weekend over RPI

News tips: herald@browndailyherald.com

TODAY THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

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WE A

T H E R

TODAY

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2007

WBF | Matt Vascellaro TOMORROW

wintry mix 42 / 19

mostly sunny 27 / 20

MEN SHARPE REFECTORY

U VERNEY-WOOLLEY DINING HALL

LUNCH — Popcorn Chicken, Vegan V Gumbo with Red Beans, Red Rice, Corn and Sweet Pepper Saute, Magic Bars, Hot Fudge Pudding Cake,

LUNCH — Chicken Wings, Baked Manicotti with Sauce, Corn and Broccoli Casserole, Bean and Bacon Soup, Magic Bars

DINNER — Grilled Chicken, Orange Turkey, Acorn Squash with Curried Rice and Chickpeas, Au Gratin, Potatoes with Fresh Herbs, Chocolate Pudding, Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

DINNER — Pot Roast Jardiniere, Red Potatoes with Fresh Dill, Vegetarian Corn and Tomato Soup, Bean and Bacon Soup, Oregon Blend Vegetables, Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese

SU

How to Get Down | Nate Saunders

D O K U

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

Deo | Daniel Perez

12 Pictures | Wesley Allsbrook

CR ACROSS 1 NFL ball carriers 4 A lot, to Luís 9 Harsh, as criticism 14 Debtor’s letters 15 Newton with laws 16 Ring swinger 17 Interjections from Rocky 18 Wilderness Road pioneer 20 Run __: get credit at the pub 22 Good forecast for a picnic 23 Uncooked 24 Popular leisure pants 28 Tiptop 29 Good place to keep a fox out of 30 More insolent 32 Driver’s oneeighties 34 Hip-hop artist Elliott 35 Supper cutter 39 Disburse 41 Chimney buildup 42 Window over a door 45 Hamlet’s love 50 Multi-vol. references 51 Nintendo critter since 1981 53 José’s hooray 54 Tug at the fishing line 55 Flow with force, as from a broken pipe 56 Big name in cake mix 61 Theater support gp.

62 Milk source 63 Mild epithet 64 It’s pumped at an island 65 Campeche coins 66 Scarlett’s love 67 CPR provider DOWN 1 Saudi Arabia’s capital 2 Tot’s tootsy cover

O S S W O R D

3 “Valley of the 35 Streets with no 48 Trouser leg Dolls” author outlet measurement Jacqueline 36 Roadside oases 49 Shocked 4 Prefix with 37 Eccentric one 52 Stable outburst summer and 38 “Uh-uh” 54 Happy hour stops winter 39 Got off the chair 57 Business VIP 5 “Surfin’ __” 40 Opening piece 58 38-Down, in 6 Is able to 43 Norse war deity Dundee 7 Israeli seaport 44 Child bearer 59 July hrs. in 8 Pacific and 46 Heart chart, for Jamestown Atlantic short 60 Former JFK 9 E.g., e.g.

47 Smoking room lander 10 Lover’s murmur 11 Free from evil ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: spirits 12 Gives a new title to 13 Beer producer 19 Kudrow of “Analyze That” 21 Maker of the Cristal pen 25 Pitchers’ places 26 Sign up for 27 Olympian’s sword 28 “Like, no way!”

31 Horseshoe maker’s workshop 33 Next yr.’s college freshmen 2/12/07 xwordeditor@aol.com

Jellyfish, Jellyfish | Adam Hunter Peck

Homefries | Yifan Luo

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By Lila Cherry (c)2007 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

2/12/07

The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is an independent newspaper serving the Brown demic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement, once during Orientation and P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI 02906. Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Offices are located at 195 Angell St., Providence, R.I. E-mail herald@browndailyherald.com. World Wide Web: http://www.browndailyherald.com. Subscription prices: $319 one year daily, $139 one semester daily. Copyright 2007 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.

METRO TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2007

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Campus reacts to Carcieri’s education proposals

Cyberbullying commission proposed

BY CHRISTIAN MARTELL STAFF WRITER

State Sen. John Tassoni, D-Dist. 22, has introduced a resolution that would create a commission to study cyberbullying and cyberthreats among youths and adolescents. According to a press release, cyberbullying is defined as the use of electronic means — including cell phones and the Internet — to harass another individual.

The proposed commission would comprise nine members, including educators and school administrators, social workers and a chief of police. The goal of the commission would be to examine the issue from the perspective of educators and make recommendations as to how the issue can be addressed.

Current Rhode Island law does not mention cyberbullying, and most schools cannot punish students for harassment that takes place outside of school hours or off of school property.

Gov. Donald Carcieri’s ’65 proposed budget for fiscal year 2008 — submitted to the General Assembly on Jan. 31 — emphasizes education reform as promised in his second inaugural address and State of the State address.

“For the first time in many years, the education budget will grow faster than the health and human services budget,” Carcieri said at a budget conference, according to a Jan. 31 press release.

Carcieri’s education budget will increase state aid for education by $46.4 million — a 3-percent funding boost across the board. The proposed budget includes millions for charter schools, state universities, the troubled Central Falls school district and new school construction.

The budget includes plans to lay off 168 employees in several statewide departments. Carcieri specifically said the budget should cut services for the Department of Children, Youth and Families by reducing the maximum age of children served from 21 to 17. The department currently coordinates and

— Sara Molinaro

R.I. law to require fire-safe cigarettes Only fire-safe cigarettes will be available legally in Rhode Island if proposed legislation is passed by the General Assembly. State Sen. James Doyle, D-Dist. 8, has introduced a bill, modeled on a 2004 New York law, that would prohibit the sale of cigarettes that are not firesafe.

Fire-safe cigarettes differ from other kinds of cigarettes in that they are wrapped in two or three narrow bands of less porous paper. If a burning cigarette is left unattended, it is likely to extinguish when it burns down to one of the bands.

Retailers, wholesale dealers and cigarette manufacturers who do not comply with the proposed act would face fines as high as $10,000, according to a press release from Doyle.

Doyle’s legislation is supported by groups including the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, the AARP and the National Fire Protection Association. States with similar laws already in place include Massachusetts, Vermont, California and Illinois.

—Sara Molinaro

Proposed bill would raise minimum wage to $8 The Rhode Island minimum wage rose to $7.40 on Jan.1, but it may increase again if the General Assembly approves legislation recently proposed by House Speaker Tempore Charlene Lima, D-Dist. 14.

The bill would raise the minimum wage to $7.75 next January and again to $8.00 on Jan. 1, 2009. As of Jan. 1, 2010, the Department of Labor and Training would be required by the bill to increase the minimum wage at the rate of inflation annually.

According to a press release, Lima said she intends to couple this minimum-wage increase with policy initiatives designed to bring more high-paying jobs to the state.

— Sara Molinaro

monitors the education, health care and living conditions of troubled youth.

“Some programs may be affected in the short run, but in the long run, these kids are going to be educated in making choices,” said Professor of Education Kenneth Wong, who directs the University’s master’s program in urban education policy. “They will save public resources and produce a larger, welltrained labor force that will attract outside investment to the state.”

Even though Wong said he agrees with Carcieri’s initiatives so far — including an effort to connect higher education institutions with the Central Falls school district — he stressed the importance of viewing Rhode Island’s performance in comparison to other states.

“Stronger fiscal leadership is not the only solution to the problems with public education. (We need to) compare Rhode Island to other states and how they manage state funding for education with property taxes,” Wong said.

Ivan Monzon ’10, a graduate of Times2 Academy for Engineering, Mathematics, Science and Technology in Providence, one of 11 public charter schools in Rhode Island,

applauded Carcieri’s concern for education but was skeptical of how much an increase in funding would solve the overall problem.

“What the money should go to is extracurricular programs, so that students actually want to go to school and (stay) off the streets where they are more likely to get into trouble,” Monzon said.

“It also never helped when a teacher would tell us that this or that person was being fired because there wasn’t enough funding to keep them employed,” he added.

“I remember hearing that they were going to fire the school nurse once.

It was a scary thought.”

Though Carcieri said the budget would increase financial support for teacher development, he did not mention aiding other school positions.

“Educating students is affected by more than just monetary inputs,” said Joshua Marland GS, one of Wong’s research assistants. “Students may be coming from families that really need health service support — so decreasing them may have a negative effect on the students,” he said. “Let’s think about using health services within the schools.”

U. continuously working to meet ADA standards

BY MADELEINE ROSENBERG CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, the University has steadily increased accessibility for the disabled on campus. But some say the University still doesn’t meet the needs of all members of the community.

The ADA requires that Brown provide equal educational services, opportunities and programs, within reason, for all faculty, students and staff, disabled or not.

The responsibility for carrying out the charge lies with the Office of Disability Support Services Currently, 469 students are registered with DSS, according to Director of Disability Support Services Catherine Axe — a number that fluctuates depending on the number of temporarily disabled students at any given time.

“I think the key thing is that we work individually on a case-by-case basis with everyone … who comes to our office,” Axe said.

When the University undertakes major projects, such as constructing new buildings or renovating old ones, it takes the ADA into account. With a number of significant campus construction projects underway, DSS works closely with both Facilities Management and the Campus Access Advisory Committee to ensure that compliance with ADA regulations, Axe said.

The advisory committee was a working group when it was created in 2003 but has since been made into an official subcommittee of the Disability Advisory Board. “The committee’s really designed to kind of be a place where we bring together faculty, staff and students to kind of look at current issues,” said Axe, who co-chairs the committee.

Thomas Gimbel ’07, who uses a wheelchair, said he thinks the efforts of DSS and the University in general have been “very good” in terms of making the campus ac-

Kam Sripada / Herald An assistive technology room in the Friedman Study Center provides services for deaf and blind patrons.

commodating.

“Obviously they still have some progress to be made of course, but there’s always going to be a need for changes and progress. But I think it’s really good, and it’s been very good to me,” Gimbel said.

CAMPUS NEWS Gimbel said accessibility on campus is “a bit complicated,” noting that newer buildings are accessible, and the University is making some older buildings, such as Smith-Buonanno, fully accessible.

“But then some buildings like Wilson are completely inaccessible. So there’s just no way in,” he said.

Gimbel said one issue at Brown is the exemption to ADA requirements for historical buildings.

“Here, of course, it’s a problem. It’s a huge thing. I mean many of the departments are completely inaccessible.”

Gimbel, a religious studies concentrator, said he’s only been inside the department’s building once — and that was with the aid of six people.

“Sometimes for historic preservation purposes we have to work within (the ADA’s) guidelines, but often there’s a way we can do it.

It’s just going to involve a different type of planning,” Axe said.

But despite some challenges,

Gimbel expressed satisfaction with the University’s efforts to provide accommodations. “(Brown is) a good place and definitely becoming a better place for people with disabilities,” he said.

But not everyone is so satisfied with the University’s efforts.

Arkady Belozovsky, a lecturer at the Center for Language Studies, said he has found the University’s compliance with ADA regulations to be “very poor.”

Belozovsky, who is deaf and spoke to The Herald over the phone via an interpreter, expressed frustration with the University’s failure to provide the services necessary for deaf and hard-of-hearing members of the community that are required under the ADA. For example, Belozovsky said there is often confusion over who is responsible for paying for interpreter services at meetings or events — a service Belozovsky said was required of the University

by ADA. “I have to run around like a chicken with my head cut off just trying to chase some money down for the provision of interpreter services,” he said.

Belozofsky said he has repeatedly asked the University for money in the budget for interpreting continued on page 6

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2007

Holbrooke ’62 will help boost internationalization continued from page 1 “He’s had a long and distinguished career that spanned all the important areas on the globe,” Chafee said, adding that Holbrooke’s “experience brokering the cessation of wars” and knowledge of “the inner workings of how you bring disparate groups together” would be especially valuable to students “in these perilous times we live in.”

Simmons said Holbrooke is one of a number of prominent alums she has spoken with regularly and sought advice from since she came to Brown in 2001, and that she first broached the possibility of his taking on a faculty position at the University during one such conversation last fall.

When it became clear that Holbrooke was already involved in some academically oriented work, she said, “it seemed natural for him to extend those relationships to Brown and to have a relationship of a more formal nature with the University.”

Holbrooke is the chairman of the executive committee of the Asia Society, an international organization that promotes ties between Asian nations and the United States. He is also the chairman of the American Academy in Berlin, an institute he was involved in founding that is dedicated to fostering scholarly and cultural exchange between the United States and Germany.

A University press release last Wednesday said one of Holbrooke’s duties would be to serve as an “informal adviser” to Simmons.

“I would hope that what he would do is to look over our shoul-

ders as we begin to take these steps to formalize our structure for greater international reach, that he would advise about areas of the world that are important to look at, he would advise about opportunities that he is aware of in different parts of the world, and just generally feel welcome to intervene, to make those kinds of comments and to make suggestions,” Simmons said. “This is an invitation to him that we want his advice.”

Holbrooke, she said, has told her he is excited about the appointment because “like any alumnus who has deep affection for the University, he would like to be helpful in whatever way the University requires.”

The University’s ongoing initiative to raise its international profile was announced last fall and has since resulted in the formation of an internationalization committee chaired by Provost David Kertzer ’69 P’95 P’98. In addition, a search committee charged with filling the newly created position of vice president for international affairs hopes to announce a selection later this spring.

“We intend that he will be meeting with some of the international committees that are getting started,” Simmons said. “He has a very particular interest in certain parts of the world.”

Deepening the University’s involvement in Africa is one area that Simmons said Holbrooke has a particular interest in, noting that doing more in that region was among his suggestions in their first conversation after she became president.

“It will be up to him to chose

other areas of interest that he wants to support, and I suspect that as he gets into the University and learns more about what’s going on, he’ll find lots of areas where he can add his own particular perspective and commentary,” Simmons said. “He is likely to get a lot of very stimulating discussions going.”

Simmons said she believes students on campus will benefit directly from Holbrooke’s presence as well.

“Of all the things you remember as a student … you remember less the particular days on the syllabus where you studied — you read, for example — about it, but you’re always going to remember that you interacted with this figure who was actually on the ground being responsible for the policies and practices you’re studying,” Simmons said. “Bringing in people who are primary actors in world politics — in the making of history — is a very potent learning experience.”

Kirkman said he was also excited at the opportunity Holbrooke would have to “bring real policymaking experience to complement the more academic view” that students get in the classroom.

Holbrooke likely will not teach any courses, at least initially, Kirkman said, in keeping with the Watson Institute’s standard practice of not rushing “practitioners” who do not have significant teaching experience into the classroom.

“We want to make sure he’s comfortable,” Kirkman said. “It’s a question of making sure that we find the balance that makes this a great experience for him and a great experience for us.”

Historic Wayland Arch clock back on time continued from page 1 Brown’s campus, which was designed by Thomas Mott Shaw and officially added to the University on June 1, 1952, following that year’s commencement exercises.

According to then-President Henr y Wriston, the expansion was intended to stimulate student life on Brown’s campus.

In a May 12, 1952 article in The Herald, Wriston said, “If we are to show forth a primary regard for the individual, if we are to insist

upon his infinite value and emphasize his obligation to wrestle with infinite problems, there must be fitting surroundings.”

The new campus completed the vision of Brown’s fourth president, Francis Wayland, who first called for better student housing in the 1850s.

Meg Sarachan ’07 said the clock’s incorrect time had occasionally confused her on her way to class, and she was glad it was fixed. “It sort of looks shabby when things are broken or in need of repair,” she said, adding

that the clock on Wilson Hall is still a few minutes fast.

Maiorisi said Facilities Management hopes to coordinate the University’s public clocks.

“One of the things we are looking into now in facilities is getting a central system that would be wireless and that would control all the outside clocks on campus so that they would be synchronized,” he said.

There is no timetable for the changes, and Facilities Management is still looking into the potential costs of such a system.

New UCS initiative aims to bring DVD rentals to SciLi continued from page 1

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with a subscription to a service that would allow Media Services to rotate additional titles for temporary periods of time. The new DVDs would be primarily entertainment movies, as the existing collection is comprised of mainly educational material.

“What’s there is probably not exactly what students are looking for,” Carey said.

Carey said the University is interested in the DVD-rental idea and the realization of the idea will require further, more focused dis-

cussions among UCS representatives and administrators in the library and the Division of Campus Life.

Students seem generally supportive of the idea. Alex Seitz ’08, who transferred to Brown in fall 2005, expressed support for the project and said his previous school had offered a similar service.

Anne LeMaster-Merrick ’08 said she would probably not use the service regularly but believed it would benefit many students at Brown. “The only nearby rental place is Acme (on Brook Street), and it’s too expensive,” she said.

But students such as Chongsi Bi ’10 remained skeptical of the service’s effectiveness. “The fact that (Media Services) is not too popular means it might not be popular afterward,” she said, adding that she felt the new service would have to be heavily advertised in order to gain student interest.

In addition to the new checkout service, DVD kiosks are also being considered, Becker said. The kiosks could be located around campus and would require a credit-card swipe to rent the DVDs inside.

thanks for reading

CAMPUS N EWS TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2007

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Shape Up R.I. teaches healthy shopping habits

OK Go wins Grammy for treadmills video

BY ISABEL GOTTLIEB CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Filmed for less than $5,000, rumored to have been shot in one take and viewed over 11 million times on YouTube, OK Go’s video for “Here it Goes Again” earned a Grammy Award for the band Sunday, taking home the award for Best Short Form Music Video.

“The fact that we could make a video for one-one-thousandth of the budget of a major label video and now to win a Grammy ... it kind of makes you feel good about the world,” lead singer Damian Kulash ’98 told the Associated Press.

A statement on the band’s Web site said the win was “very, very exciting.”

The video, which runs for just over three minutes, features the four members of OK Go performing an elaborately choreographed dance on moving treadmills.

“Here it Goes Again” is not the band’s first innovative video. The 2005 video for the band’s single “A Million Ways,” in which members of the band perform synchronized dance moves in a backyard, has been viewed over 1 million times on YouTube.

OK Go most recently performed at Brown last fall. The band also played at last year’s Spring Weekend. This is their first Grammy Award.

Connie Clifford, a project specialist for Hannaford supermarkets’ Healthy Living Initiative, showed a slide of canned lentil soup to the roughly 18 people gathered in the BioMedical Center Monday night.

“Why don’t soups earn very many stars?” she asked the audience.

“Sodium,” they said in unison.

She clicked to the next slide.

“How about yogurts?”

“Sugar,” they answered together.

Clifford explained that much of the yogurt Hannaford stocks has too much sugar to meet the chain’s new rating system for healthy food. The new system gives products between zero and three stars based on their nutritional value.

The audience members were participants in Shape Up R.I., a statewide initiative to get Rhode Islanders slimmer and healthier by competing on teams to meet fitness or weight loss goals.

Started last year by Rajiv Kumar ’05 MD’09, Shape Up R.I. is now in its second year and has about 7,000 participants, including over 400 Brown employees. Shape Up R.I. organizes workshops like Clifford’s at locations throughout the state during the competition, which runs from January to June.

As last night’s program began, some participants won door prizes like free trips to one of several gyms, an appointment with a personal trainer or a pair of ski lift tickets. Kumar then introduced the night’s lecture topic, emphasizing the importance of education in improving public health.

“The only way we can reverse the obesity epidemic is to learn,” he said. He praised Hannaford’s star system as a “shining example” of consumer health education, adding, “what you learn today you can take with you any-

— Zachary Chapman

NIH grant to fund research for clinical applications The National Institutes of Health has awarded Brown a $150,000 grant to plan for a statewide collaborative effort to apply advanced medical research to practical clinical settings.

The grant, called a Clinical and Translational Science Award Planning Grant, will help researchers develop a project within the next two years. Researchers will then be able to apply for a full CTSA grant of $4 million a year.

Brown will collaborate with Rhode Island Hospital, Miriam Hospital, Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, Women and Infants Hospital and the University of Rhode Island.

Timothy Flanigan, professor of medicine and one of the grant’s principal investigators, said the grant will “build on the continuum of clinical research and care” that already exists between local hospitals and the Alpert Medical School. Not all the institutions involved in the project have worked closely together in the past, and “the barriers are enormous, but that doesn’t mean we can’t overcome them,” he said.

To receive the full grant, the project will need to take a multi-disciplinary approach to translational research, said Alan Rosmarin, associate professor of medicine and a principal investigator for the planning grant.

“We can’t just do business as usual,” Rosmarin said. A collaborative approach to translational research could be more effective in developing new techniques, such as nanotechnology approaches and global health initiatives, he said.

In addition to “collaboratories” bringing together laboratory and clinical scientists and “cores” which will provide services for pilot projects and new grant proposals, the grant proposal suggests creating an academic curriculum that could lead to a masters and doctoral program in clinical and translational science at the Med School. If such a program were formed, Brown students at all levels would “become more engaged and willing to participate in clinical and translational research,” Flanigan said.

— Joy Neumeyer

Brown librarian teaches Irish Gaelic Sheila Hogg, senior library associate specialist at the Orwig Music Library, will start teaching a 10-week class this month in Irish Gaelic at the Irish Ceilidhe Club of Rhode Island in Cranston. Hogg, who said she is the only active Gaelic teacher in the state, has taught the language since the 1980s.

Hogg first started teaching Gaelic in 1985 when a group of about 20 students approached her to lead a Group Independent Study Project. “I hadn’t started out thinking that was what I wanted to do,” she said. “It’s such an unusual skill that people (who want it) find you.”

Since then, she has led several other GISPs and tutored Brown graduate students, especially aspiring ethnomusicologists hoping to take their exams in Gaelic.

Though Hogg hasn’t taught Gaelic to a group at Brown in the last few years, she said she would be interested if some students approached her. She said she might also approach the University about teaching a class, potentially even for credit. Though she hasn’t started the official process of proposing such a class, Hogg is concerned that the University’s requirements for professors’ teaching hours might be untenable on top of her current responsibilities in the music library, she said.

Hogg learned Gaelic as an adult after being inspired by an Irish cultural revival in the 1970s. Hogg’s passion is sean-nos, a type of traditional Irish singing.

Hogg estimates that fewer than 10 percent of the population in Ireland is able to use Gaelic as a spoken language. “A lot of people find themselves learning Irish through something else, largely through contact with the music,” she said.

— Nick Werle

<3

Tai Ho Shin / Herald Connie Clifford, a project specialist with the Healthy Living Initiative of Hannaford supermarkets, makes a presentation to Shape Up R.I. participants.

where.”

Clifford explained the Hannaford rating system, called “Guiding Star,” which she said makes choosing healthy foods cheaper and easier. “It’s a time-saver to not have to worry about reading all the labels of the foods you buy,” she said.

“Right,” the crowd murmured.

Cheryl Souza, a researcher in the University’s Center for Statistical Sciences, said she thought the Hannaford system was a great idea. “I wish there was something in the area,” she said. The closest Hannaford stores are in Taunton, Easton and Uxbridge, Mass.

Last night’s workshop was the first Souza has attended through Shape Up R.I. She described the event as “absolutely wonderful” and said she looks forward to attending the other planned Shape Up R.I. activities, which Kumar said include yoga, Pilates, dance, nutrition and health cooking classes such as last week’s “Mediterranean cooking” demonstration by Assistant Professor of Medicine Mary Flynn. Kumar said some participants are especially excited about an upcoming basketball clinic at Brown’s courts with Men’s Basketball Head Coach Craig Robinson.

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PAGE 6

Chafee ’75 calls on Bush to return to Roadmap to Peace in Israel, Palestine continued from page 1 peace,” the idea that Israel will trade occupied territory for security guarantees from its Arab neighbors — an idea that conflicts with the biblical interpretation touted by some Christian evangelicals that Israel is the promised land and belongs to the Jews.

“I wonder which group has his ear,” Chafee said.

Chafee’s lecture, the 76th annual Stephen A. Ogden Jr. ’60 Memorial Lecture on International Affairs and his first major speech since his defeat in last November’s midterm elections, identified two recent “critical junctures” in Middle East political circumstances that the Bush administration failed to take advantage of.

The first, Chafee said, was in June 2003, when King Abdullah of Jordan invited Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas, then the prime ministers of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, respectively, to a meeting in the Jordanian port city of Aqaba. The meeting was a success, Chafee said, as Sharon articulated Israel’s commitment to a Palestinian state and Abbas called for an end to violence and terror. Even President Bush announced that he was making the Roadmap the top priority of his secretary of state, Colin Powell, and his then-national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice.

But weeks passed, Chafee said, and “the momentum that had been building was being lost.” Abbas traveled to the United States in July 2003 to plead with President Bush to make “visible progress” on the Roadmap, but no progress followed and a deadly suicide bomb attack the next month closed the win-

dow of opportunity.

“The U.S. did not provide the leadership so badly needed at that critical moment,” Chafee said. “It was dispiriting for all the parties involved to see this promising opportunity simply squandered,” he added.

In addition, Chafee said, “it is not entirely a coincidence that there was an intense escalation of the insurgency in Iraq in the fall of 2003.”

A second opportunity presented itself after the 2004 death of Yasser Arafat, president of the Palestinian Authority, Chafee said, “despite the Palestinian violence and Israeli intransigence and U.S. inaction.” Abbas, considered a moderate, was elected president of the Palestinian Authority in a high-turnout election and had a strong mandate, Chafee said.

But within five months, Chafee said, “Abbas was back at the White House, as he had been before, beseeching President Bush for some help in quelling the unrest that was fomenting in the territories, so that he could shore up moderate political support.”

Though Bush responded by making a strong statement — calling for a halt to new settlements in the West Bank — “the evidence is clear that there was no intensive diplomatic effort to back it up,” Chafee said.

“We should have been doing everything possible to bolster this moderate leader, this strong voice for non-violence who is a true partner for peace,” he added.

Though Chafee admitted that there is no simple answer to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and that progress may be slow, he said a solution was far from impossible.

“It’s not that hard,” Chafee said at a press conference after

the speech, noting that many difficult details of creating a viable two-state solution had been reasonably worked out — albeit unofficially — in the Geneva Accord of 2003, a non-binding peace agreement crafted by ex-government officials from both sides of the conflict.

Chafee said he believes firmly in the principle of “land for peace” and the creation of a “viable, contiguous Palestinian state living side by side in peace with Israel” — both of which were part of Bush’s original Roadmap for Peace.

He said the Bush administration appeared to be turning its attention to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process once again, citing a Feb. 2 meeting of the so-called Quartet of the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union, at which the United States pushed for three-way talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

“We are seeing some progress now, at least superficially,” Chafee said.

Chafee was introduced first

by UCS Vice President Tristan Freeman ’07 and then by President Ruth Simmons, who called Chafee “an independent and principled leader.” Applause followed when Simmons mentioned Chafee’s vote against the authorization of the use of force in Iraq — the only such vote among Senate Republicans.

Chafee accepted a position last month as a distinguished visiting fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies after representing Rhode Island in the Senate for seven years. He was chairman of the Middle East subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2007

University still working to meet ADA standards continued from page 3 services. “I have to keep repeatedly reminding them. And after three or four times I’m tired of doing that. I’m concerned that it’s going to affect my job as well as my work performance,” he said.

DSS has provided services for the deaf and hard-of-hearing members of the community, Axe said.

She said Teletypewriters — devices that facilitate telecommunications for the deaf and hard-of-hearing — were recently installed on campus in locations including the Rockefeller Library and the OlneyMargolies Athletic Center.

“We’ve never had a request that we’ve turned down just on the basis of payment,” Axe said. She add-

ed that centralized funds are available for interpreter services.

Axe wrote in an e-mail to The Herald that the Friedman Study Center is home to a new “assistive technology room,” which provides programs and services for both deaf and blind patrons. She said there are two similar rooms in the Rock.

Belozovsky said he had never heard of any such room. “I’ve heard nothing about that room. Nothing.

Not one word,” he said.

“The Office of Disability Support Services is required to have speech-reading or note takers in classes, and that’s a weak area.

They’re not publicizing what is available to (the students),” he said.

W. icers sweep Union, RPI continued from page 12 scored off a pass from Wilde for the second time in the weekend.

In the third period, Brown went up 4-1 at 2:55, when Sasha van Muyen ’10 deflected a pass from Moos into the goal. Bruno’s defense was solid following RPI’s second-period goal, as Stock finished the game with 30 saves.

It was an impressive week for Brown’s defense, including goaltender Stock, who recorded 70 saves while allowing only two goals over this week’s three games.

“All last week in practice we really focused on cleaning up our play in the defensive zone and I think that paid off in the games this weekend,” said Moore. “Stock has been solid in net for us, coming up big in pressure situations and really just being the backbone of our defense.”

Saturday’s game was the last home game for Brown seniors Moos, Krystal Strassman, Ann Brophy and captain Lauren Deeb.

Following the game, Deeb received the Panda Cup, the oldest award given by the team.

Despite this weekend’s league wins, the team’s playoff hopes

are still very slim. Even if Brown wins its two road games at No. 3 Dartmouth and No. 6 Harvard, the team’s playoff hopes would still depend on the outcomes of other games around the league.

But the Bears will try to do their part to control their destiny. “Getting three consecutive wins at this point in the season has given our team a lot of confidence,” Moore said. “Right now we know we can do anything, and we are just itching to play our next two games.”

To defeat Dartmouth and Harvard, two powerhouse teams, the Bears will look to continue their solid play in the defensive zone.

“As a team we were executing our forecheck very well this weekend so the more time we spent in their D-zone, the less we did in ours,” Moore said. Brown must also take advantage of power-play opportunities, as it did this weekend, if the team hopes to pick up two wins next weekend.

Overall, it was an eventful week for Brown women’s ice hockey, with Moore’s 100th point, Murphy’s 300th win and breakthrough games for several underclassmen as Brown bid farewell to its senior leaders.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2007

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Study shows AIDS patients had relief, fewer side effects from marijuana WASHINGTON (Washington Post) — AIDS patients suffering from debilitating nerve pain got as much or more relief by smoking marijuana as they would typically get from prescription drugs--and with fewer side effects — according to a study conducted under rigorously controlled conditions with government-grown pot.

In a five-day study performed in a specially ventilated hospital ward where patients smoked three marijuana cigarettes a day, more than half the participants tallied significant reductions in pain.

By contrast, less than one-quarter of those who smoked “placebo” pot, which had its primary psychoactive ingredients removed, reported benefits, as measured by subjective pain reports and standardized neurological tests.

The White House belittled the study as “a smoke screen,” short on proof of efficacy and flawed because it did not consider the health impacts of inhaling smoke.

Explosions rip through two Shiite markets BAGHDAD, Iraq (Los Angeles Times) — Within the dense warren of shops and storefronts of the Shorja market, ordinary life drummed along Monday.

Security guard Abdul-Ameer Mohammed stood at his post in front of a bank. Nail Ahmed, owner of porcelain pottery store in the market, took a break to shop for spices for his wife. Maytham Qazzaz, a plastics and nylon merchant, worked the phones.

Then the explosions erupted, yet another in a series of attacks on crowded Baghdad marketplaces. Ordinary life became engulfed in fire, twisted metal, collapsed buildings, shattered glass, black smoke and blood. At least 78 Iraqis were killed in the attack and 166 injured.

They were among the victims of sectarian violence that left more than 100 dead Monday in the capital alone.

“Every day we pray before going to work because Shorja has become a repeated target,” said Ahmed, recovering from injuries to his back and head at the capital’s Medical City hospital. “But what can we do? We have to work to put food on the table for our families.”

Minutes ahead of the Shorja blast, an explosion caused by a suicide bomber wearing an explosives-packed belt ripped though the nearby Bab al-Sharji marketplace, killing nine people and injuring 19.

Saddam aide’s sentence is changed to death BAGHDAD, Iraq (Los Angeles Times) — As Iraqi officials prepare to hang another of Saddam Hussein’s former aides, they say they are determined to prevent the uproar that followed the last high-level execution, when the head of Saddam’s half-brother ripped off and rolled across the death-chamber floor.

Rope widths and lengths are being reviewed to ensure the cord can properly hold Taha Yassin Ramadan, who was sentenced to death Monday for the slaughter of 148 Shiite Muslims in a small farming town in the 1980s. Government officials are building new gallows to accommodate different-size convicts, said Basam Ridha, an aide to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

“We’re taking the extra precautionary steps, including creating two types of gallows: One for heavyset guys and another for normal folks and skinnier guys,” said Ridha, who was in the courtroom when a judge ordered the execution of Ramadan, a former vice president.

It was Ramadan’s second time hearing his fate, and Monday the news was far worse than on the first go-around. He was sentenced to life in prison after his conviction in November. But the appeals court, reflecting the bitterness toward the men who propped up Saddam’s Sunni-led dictatorship, decided that life behind bars was not harsh enough.

Ecuador to miss bond payment CARACAS, Venezuela (Los Angeles Times) — Ecuador announced Monday that it would miss a payment due this week on a $2.6-billion bond issue but surprised international investors with a promise to pay sometime over the next month.

President Rafael Correa took office last month after running an election campaign in which he threatened to default on some or all of the country’s $10.2 billion in foreign debt, describing it as “illegal.”

Ecuador has defaulted on its foreign bonds three times since the early 1980s.

But since his inauguration, the U.S.-educated economist and left wing ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has sent conflicting signals on how much of the debt Ecuador would ignore or seek to renegotiate. At one point last month, Finance Minister Ricardo Patino said the government would pay only 40 percent of what it owes to foreign creditors.

So Deputy Economy Minister Fausto Ortiz’s announcement Monday that his government would pay by mid-March the full $130 million in interest due Thursday caught some analysts off guard.

the herald will always love you

Students return from break to find valuables missing

BY DEBBIE LEHMANN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The following summary includes all major incidents reported to the Department of Public Safety between Jan. 2 and Feb. 8. It does not include general service and alarm calls. The Providence Police Department also responds to incidents occurring off campus.

DPS does not divulge information on open cases that are currently under investigation by the department, the PPD or the Office of Student Life. DPS maintains a daily log of all shift activity and general service calls which can be viewed during business hours at its headquarters, located at 75 Charlesfield St. Tuesday, Jan. 2: 3 p.m. A person reported that a projector was removed from a classroom in Sayles Hall. There were no signs of forced entry into the area. There are no suspects at this time.

Saturday, Jan. 6: 4:05 p.m. DPS officers responded to a report of a suspicious circumstance at the Sidney Frank Hall for Life Sciences. The reporting person said the subject had been sitting just outside the elevators for most of the day. The

caller expressed concern about the safety of the Animal Protection Area. Officers found that the subject was associated with contractors working in the building and cleared the scene without issue.

POLICE LOG Monday, Jan. 8: 6:09 p.m. An officer patrolling the area around King House observed several bicycle locks that had been cut outside the rear of the building. One bicycle was also found unsecured. The bicycle was taken to DPS for safekeeping.

Friday, Jan. 12: 3:30 p.m. DPS officers responded to a report of suspicious circumstance at the Faunce House mailroom. The reporting person said several unknown individuals could be heard tampering with mailboxes. The individuals left the area when the person called out to them.

Monday, Jan. 15: 4:20 p.m. A person stated that she observed a subject smash the window of a vehicle parked on Meeting Street and remove the stereo from inside. The owner of the vehicle was notified.

Thursday, Jan. 18: 7:00 p.m. Complainant reported unknown persons taking her cellular phone from the dance studio at T.F. Green Hall. The phone was left unattended at the time of the incident. There are no suspects at this time.

Friday, Jan. 19: 4:13 p.m. DPS officers responded to a report of an attempted larceny on Manning Walkway Walkway.

Upon arrival, officers identified two juvenile male subjects who fit the description provided by communications personnel. One of the subjects fled the area. The other was cooperative.

Saturday, Jan. 20: 5 p.m. Complainant reported arriving at her office at Gerard House to find her window broken by what appeared to be a beer bottle in the area. There are no suspects at this time. Facilities Management was notified to repair the window.

Sunday, Jan. 21: 12:40 a.m. A complainant reported harassment by a student while leaving Poland House. The complainant declined support services that were offered. The continued on page 9

Violence changing college campus

BY MOLLY HENNESSY-FISKE AND ZEENA KAREEM LOS ANGELES T IMES

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Zala Ghefori was walking out of her dormitory at Mustansiriya University to buy a loaf of bread when the sniper struck.

He was waiting for her by the brick back gate, opposite the bakery. Ghefori, 31, who is working on her doctorate in Arabic, was preoccupied with an exam she had taken.

In the moment it took her to cross, the sniper fired.

“I felt that there was some sort of heat around me and a sound like that of the wings of birds along the way,” Ghefori said. She heard the crack once, twice, many times. She kept walking toward

the bakery, not realizing what was happening. One of the workers, an old woman, shouted to her to take cover.

“What brought you out at such a time when snipers were shooting at you?” the woman said.

“They just missed you.”

Mustansiriya, in a mainly Sunni Arab neighborhood, is home to a student body that’s predominantly Shiite Muslim, mostly from Shiite-dominated southern Iraq. It has long been co-ed. But violence is changing that demographic.

Today, with militias and insurgents increasingly threatening young men, Mustansiriya has become a mostly female campus and a battleground where the stakes for getting a degree grow by the day.

Sandwiched between the Shi-

ite stronghold of Sadr City and the mostly Sunni Adhamiya neighborhood, the university has seen numerous professors and students — mostly men — killed in sectarian violence since it reopened three years ago. Last month brought the deadliest attack yet: a pair of car bombs that killed 70 and wounded more than 170.

Mustansiriya’s female students increasingly find themselves caught in the sectarian fighting. University guards allow Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s Al Mahdi militia to search the women’s dorm for snipers. Militia members have cut the dorm’s power lines, held protests on campus and threatened women who don’t wear head scarves. Sunni continued on page 8

Iran calls U.S. accusations ‘unfounded’

BY KIM MURPHY LOS ANGELES T IMES

TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian officials Monday called U.S. accusations that it is arming Shiite militias in Iraq with tank-piercing explosives “unfounded” and insisted that Iran is committed to joining a regional effort to halt the violence.

The back-and-forth charges between Tehran and Washington highlight a growing recognition of Iran’s substantial influence on its next-door neighbor and its ability, if nothing else, to prevent the United States from untangling the political conflicts that have plunged Iraq into sectarian warfare.

Here in the capital of the Shiite republic, it is an open secret that Iran is operating a quiet network of influence in Iraq that it can use either to help settle the conflict or to prevent the United States from

reaching its goals there. Iranian officials insist they are committed to quelling instability they see as a threat to their own security.

Indeed, Iranians say, their image of an ideal settlement in Iraq looks remarkably like America’s: A strong, democratically elected government in Baghdad (that would, by dint of Iraq’s Shiite majority, be a natural ally of Iran’s); an end to the violence, and preservation of Iraq’s territorial integrity.

But with one important exception.

“The difference is, Iran doesn’t want to see the U.S. claim victory.

The U.S. shouldn’t come out of this battle victorious. And Iranians perceive that the dominant part of that objective has been achieved,” Tehran political scientist Nasser Hadian-Jazy said. “It is no longer plausible for the U.S. to claim victory in Iraq.”

U.S. defense and intelligence officials’ claims to have found Iranian-manufactured weapons in Iraq, including armor-piercing projectiles similar to those believed to have killed 170 U.S. soldiers, have placed a heightened focus on long-standing U.S. claims about Iranian involvement in the war.

In Washington, a U.S. official acknowledged Monday that the U.S. material formed a “circumstantial” case but said military commanders in Baghdad provided solid evidence of Iranian involvement.

“So while they presented a circumstantial case, I would put to you that it was a very strong circumstantial case,” said Sean McCormack, State Department spokesman. “The Iranians are up to their eyeballs in this activity, continued on page 8

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2007

Iran rejects U.S. accusations Deal would freeze N. Korea nuclear production continued from page 7 very clearly, based on the information that was provided over the weekend in Baghdad.”

Here, the assertions serve a belief that America is using what Iran views as its natural influence on its neighbor as an opportunity to make Iran a scapegoat for U.S. failures.

“Right now, I think the United States wants to find someone to share this loss. Because they have indeed lost,” said Mosayeb Naimi, a Tehran newspaper editor with long experience in the Arab world.

“The problem in Iraq is not just the (al-)Mahdi army militia or alQaida or any of the other military groups. It’s the Americans lack a strategy to govern Iraq,” he said.

“Today, many of the groups of Iraq are making war against each other, and it’s clear that Iran is more worried about security and safety in Iraq than the United States is.

Because when violence increases in Iraq, it means the violence comes to Iran, also. So it’s not unreasonable that Iran is increasing its (presence) there.”

Iranian officials went out of their way to discount the evidence of weapons without issuing a specific, direct denial.

“They condemn us for making problems in Iraq, but they don’t have any documentary proof,” foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hossaini told reporters.

“Lots of this evidence is fake, artificial. For example, when they

wanted to start a war in Iraq, they made plenty of evidence that there were lots of weapons in Iraq, though the investigators of the International Atomic Energy Agency said they couldn’t find any weapons in Iraq,” he said. “Right now they’re using weapons (with certain markings), but it doesn’t prove where these weapons came from.”

Political scientist Hadian-Jazy said it was relatively well known that Iran had developed a substantial network of support and resources in Iraq for use as a deterrent should the United States threaten aggression against Iran.

“Iran has developed an important infrastructure in Iraq. Intelligence, security, organization, people, weapons, networks, resources,” he said. “But these are principally for deterrence. In case anything happens. In case of a U.S. attack, these are there. And, in fact, they would like very much for the U.S. to know about it.”

At the same time, Hadian-Jazy said, it is not credible to believe Iran has engaged in large-scale weapons deliveries to the Sunni Iraqi insurgents who have been responsible for the bulk of U.S. casualties.

“They’re not going to support al-Qaida and the Baathists in Iraq.

Because they’re the ones who are killing the Shia. Yes, they’re killing the Americans. But they’re killing the Shia. By no means is it acceptable for Iran to support groups in Iraq who want to destabilize a friendly government and kill Shias,” he said.

BY MARK MAGNIER LOS ANGELES TIMES

BEIJING — Weary negotiators from six nations reached a tentative agreement early Tuesday morning on the first steps toward dismantling North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

The looming deal, coming after marathon talks and years of frustration, is believed to call for North Korea to freeze plutonium production at its main nuclear center at Yongbyon and allow international atomic energy inspectors back into the country. In return, North Korea would be provided energy assistance and related aid, which likely would be funded primarily

by South Korea and Japan.

A second, more protracted phase would address disarmament issues.

The tentative deal is based on a one-page document circulated late last week by China calling for a several-stage agreement under which both sides take measured steps forward to ensure compliance and build trust.

Talks were set to reconvene later Tuesday at the Diaoyutai Guest House in Western Beijing. The talks involve the United States, the two Koreas, China, Japan and Russia. All six nations must still sign off on the deal reached by their negotiating teams.

“We think this is an excellent draft,” Christopher Hill, the chief U.S. negotiator, said after 16

hours of talks. “I don’t think we are the problem or would be the problem.”

Any announced agreement with North Korea should be treated with caution given a history of faltering compliance and broken deals. That said, some analysts expressed cautious optimism that this could be a long-awaited turning point in negotiations with North Korea’s autocratic leadership, which raised concern and ire across much of the world when it announced the testing of a nuclear device Oct. 9. Talks on North Korea’s nuclear program have been underway since 2003.

“There was an agreement on the key differences of North Korea’s actions for denuclearization, their scope and how far they’ll go,” South Korean envoy Chun Yungwoo told reporters. “North Korea basically agreed to all the measures in the draft.”

Assuming the deal is confirmed, attention in coming weeks would shift to working groups aimed at addressing denuclearization, energy requirements, diplomatic recognition, timing and financial sanctions, among others.

“This is only one phase of denuclearization,” Hill said. “We’re not done.”

The talks hit a wall in recent days when the North demanded huge amounts of energy aid, reportedly upwards of 2 million tons of heavy fuel oil annually, before it would agree to begin dismantling its program. This amount

compares with the 500,000-ton level settled on in the failed 1994 Agreed Framework with North Korea negotiated by the Clinton administration. That deal fell apart in late 2002 when the U.S. accused North Korea of engaging in a secret uranium enrichment program.

Japan, which has specific issues with North Korea related to the abduction of several dozen of its citizens in the 1970s and 1980s, welcomed the early signs of progress.

“We are closely watching the development to make sure North Korea makes the right decision toward nuclear abandonment,” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a Parliamentary committee session Tuesday morning.

Experts said the key to any meaningful deal moving forward will be obvious, tangible progress within a matter of weeks under a structure that affords North Korea no room to back out of its commitments.

“We must be vigilant and keep North Korea’s feet to the fire throughout the implementation phase,” said Don Gross, a former State Department official, now a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council in Washington. “It is critical to U.S. security to keep this all under tight control.”

Also key will be ensuring that any agreement has the support of hardliners in Washington and Pyongyang, respectively, who in the past have resisted accommodation.

Violence changing college campus continued from page 7 insurgents drop pamphlets on campus demanding that students move out. And Iraqi soldiers set up checkpoints at the university gates.

The bombings, shootings and kidnappings initially targeted men, forcing professors to disguise themselves and male students to drop out, which thinned the ranks of men on campus.

A round-faced woman with a ready smile, Ghefori is stubborn and unshakeable. Living in a women’s dorm, surrounded by about 175 other female students, Ghefori felt safe.

Ghefori, who needs at least two more years to complete her studies, didn’t tell her family about the sniper attack. She would transfer to a university in the north, she said, but there’s no space. Too many other students have transferred.

And so she is stuck at Mustansiriya, studying ancient Arabic poetry in her dorm, darting out once or twice a week.

“Terror is living with us,” Ghefori said. “There is not a day when there is no terror.”

Mustansiriya officials say attacks have increased in recent months. Classroom windows are pocked with bullet holes. When shooting intensifies near Ghefori’s dorm, the building supervisor often turns off the lights and moves students to the first floor, where they are in a better position to flee if necessary. More students than ever are postponing their studies because of the unrest, according to the university’s assistant dean for student affairs, who asked that his name not be used for fear he would be targeted.

Female students are not tar-

gets, the assistant dean said. They just are increasingly caught in the crossfire as Sunni insurgents from the surrounding neighborhood fire on the nearby Health Ministry, dominated by Shiite extremists.

“When shooting starts, women start screaming and the strong ones try to protect those who are freaked out,” said Fatima Selami, 29, who came to Mustansiriya to earn a doctorate in mathematics.

Selami wears a head scarf and loose, conservative clothing. But she’s still afraid that she’ll be targeted.

She said the recent bombing left her feeling hopeless. Her first thesis adviser, Mohammed Remadhan, was killed last year by insurgents who followed him home.

Her new adviser has been threatened by militias, so he scaled back his class schedule and stopped announcing class times. To advise Selami, the professor arranged a series of offcampus meetings.

“He drives his car to a certain street. After, he calls me and tells me where to find him. When the car stops, he hands me the corrected draft and I hand him a new draft before he drives off,” she said. “This is how I finished writing the dissertation.”

Selami expects to graduate soon and leave Iraq to join her husband, a fellow math student, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Last month, as she walked from the dorm to the classroom where she would successfully defend her thesis, Selami was sure she would be attacked.

“I thought that I was dreaming and that a car bomb or an IED would wake me up and bring me down to earth,” she said during a break, giving a wavering smile.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2007

Police Log: Theft, car accidents mark first weeks of semester continued from page 7 matter is being handled by the Office of Student Life.

12 p.m. Complainant reported unknown persons removing his laptop from his room in Sears House sometime between Dec. 21 and Jan. 20. There were no visible signs of forced entry, and the room was secured at the time of the theft. There are no suspects at this time.

Tuesday, Jan. 23: 2:32 p.m. DPS and PPD officers responded to a report of a pedestrian struck by a vehicle while crossing the street at the intersection of Thayer and Meeting streets. The pedestrian sustained only minor abrasions.

Wednesday, Jan. 24: 9:30 p.m. Complainants reported an unknown person or persons entering their room in Andrews Hall East and taking several items, including an alarm clock, an iPod and a phone. It is unknown if the door was left unsecured at the time of the incident. There are no suspects at this time.

1 p.m. Complainants reported video game equipment missing from their room in Chapin House upon their return from winter break. The two residents said they were confident they secured their residence prior to leaving. There are no suspects at this time.

Thursday, Jan. 25: 5 p.m. Complainant reported his laptop and iPod missing from his room in Chapin House upon his return from winter break. He said he last saw them in his room on Dec. 15. There were no signs of forced entry. There are no suspects at this time.

Saturday, Jan. 27: 8:30 p.m. Complainant stated unknown persons had removed two of her jackets and their contents, which were left unattended in a lounge in Marcy House while she was attending a party. There are no suspects at this time.

11:20 p.m. DPS officers responded to a report of a noise complaint at Vartan Gregorian Quad.

Upon arrival, they found about 75 people gathered in the area listening to loud music. The area was cleared without incident.

Monday, Jan. 29: 11:57 a.m. DPS and PPD officers responded to a minor vehicle accident at Brook and Bowen streets. Neither party was injured.

12:48 p.m. Complainant reported unknown persons damaging a door to a storage area in Machado House. Facilities Management was notified.

Tuesday, Jan. 30: 12:43 a.m. Two people reported that a male subject was behaving suspiciously as they walked behind him on Thayer and Charlesfield streets. The subject was reported to have stopped and stared at the two students and to have walked by their side for a short distance. Officers have not located anyone fitting his description.

3:47 a.m. DPS officers responded to a report of a suspicious person on Thayer Street. Officers found a “missing person endangered” huddled outside Metcalf Research Laboratory. The subject was transported to the Rhode Island Hospital emergency room.

Wednesday, Jan. 31: 2:38 a.m. DPS officers responded to a report of domestic disturbance between two students in Graduate Center. The Office of Student Life is handling the matter.

5:20 p.m. DPS responded to a report of a smashed front car window and a stolen car stereo on Benevolent Street. There are no suspects at this time.

Sunday, Feb. 4: 2:37 a.m. DPS officers responded to a report of loud music on Barnes Street. Officers found about 100 people and kegs of alco-

Two losses for m. hoops in NY continued from page 12 “He just missed it, but it was exactly where you would want to be.

You want to have your best guy with a good look and a chance to win.”

The next night at Columbia, Bruno kept the game close for most of the first half, but by the evening’s end, the game belonged to the Lions. Taking advantage of sloppy play by the visitors, the hosts broke a 21-21 tie with 2:43 remaining in the opening half and never looked back.

“They converted on our turnovers, and once that happens, you’re spending your time catching up,” Robinson said. “By turning the ball over and giving up as many offensive rebounds as we did, it’s hard to win that way.”

Things started to snowball at the start of the second half when Bruno committed three turnovers on its first four possessions. A 2825 halftime deficit grew to 35-25,

PAGE 9

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

and Brown’s fate was sealed.

“You go from being down three to being down (10) right there,” Robinson said. “(Columbia) did what they had to do and made shots when we had those turnovers. I’m not down on these guys because this is the first time in the trenches for many of these guys.”

Robinson said he was pleased with the effort that his team has given on defense in recent weeks.

With Harvard and Dartmouth coming to the Pizzitola Center this weekend, he is now hoping that his troops can play with a little more assertiveness.

“I can see that when we start the games, guys are really focused on defense, and we want to keep it that way. Now it comes down to confidence,” he said. “I think we have to be confident that we can win those close games.

We just have to cut down on the unforced errors, and that comes with confidence.”

hol. Students were dispersed from the area and a PPD officer issued a summons to the residents of the building.

1:36 a.m. DPS responded to a report of a stolen laptop in New Pembroke Hall. Complainant said his room was left unsecured and unattended for about one-and-ahalf hours at the time of the incident. There are no suspects at this time.

Monday, Feb. 5: 8:14 a.m. Complainant reported an office chair stolen from the workout area in Keeney Quadrangle. There are no suspects at this time.

9:54 a.m. DPS and PPD officers responded to a report of an auto accident at Bowen and Hope streets. One of the vehicles sustained minor damage, but no injuries were reported.

5:04 p.m. A student reported her wallet, digital camera and several credit cards removed from her purse at a party on Barnes Street. The purse was left unsecured and unattended at the time of the incident. A PPD report was also filed.

Tuesday, Feb. 6: Complainant reported he parked his 1988 Buick on Brown Street at 2 p.m., but it was no longer there when he returned at 4 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 7: Complainant reported property had been removed from his locker in the Sharpe Refectory. There are no suspects at this time.

Thursday, Feb. 8: 5:24 p.m. An anonymous person reported having witnessed a robbery at George and Magee streets. DPS and PPD units searched the area for suspects, and a DPS officer located two of them. PPD officers arrested two out of the three suspects involved. There were no weapons displayed, and the victim of the crime was not injured.

M. and w. track prepare for Heps continued from page 12 Next week the Bears who are not resting for Heps will get a chance to strut their stuff at the USATF New England Championships in Boston.

The women’s track-and-field squad also competed at the St. Valentine’s Day Invitational last weekend.

“The facility was state of the art, which allowed for fast times and good performances,” Lake said. “The competition is steep and deep, which helps us step things up as well.”

The day started off on a big note when Thelma Breezeatl ’10 blazed to a fi fth-place finish in the 55-meter dash with a personal-best time of 7.15 seconds.

Nicole Burns ’09 then took on a field of 153 women in the 200meter dash and managed to clock in with a 24.71, putting her in eighth. Jasmine Chukwueke ’10 rounded out the sprinting events with a 15th-place finish in the 400-meter dash with a time of 57.44.

The middle and distance runners had an equally successful outing on the day, starting with Naja Ferjan ’07, who recorded a fi fth-place finish in the 800-meter run. Smita Gupta ’08 raced to seventh in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 9:36.04, narrowly missing the school record and qualifying her for nationals, while teammate Brooke Giuffre ’10 placed 12th in the mile with a 4:57.64, a breakthrough performance.

“I don’t think the lack of depth in distance and mid-distance are going to harm us at Heps because all of our runners are capable of scoring big points,” said Akilah King ’08.

“Our coaches are definitely working hard to recruit more top distance-runners who can have a big impact on our team in the future.”

The relays proved to be strong events for the Bears, as the distance medley team brought home the gold with an 11:46.46, almost eight seconds ahead of the next team.

Last year’s distance medley relay team qualified and placed eighth at nationals, but the girls will have to make considerable improvements on that time to get back to nationals this year.

The 4x400-meter relay ran to a fourth-place finish, clocking in behind the University of Connecticut, Morgan State University and Columbia, a performance made all the more impressive by the fact that they dropped the baton, a mistake that probably cost them the first-place finish.

In the field events, Anja Hergrueter ’10 placed 14th in the high jump, soaring to a height of 1.58 meters. In the shot put, Danielle Grunloh ’10 and Jenna Silver ’10 placed seventh and 13th, respectively. Grunloh’s effort of 12.91 meters was a personal best, putting her in one of the top finishes in the conference as a first-year.

The pole vault might have been one of the biggest events for the Bears at the Invitational, with Kristen Olds ’09 and Tiffany Chang ’08 tying for second place and Cassandra Wong ’10 and Keely Marsh ’08 vaulting to sixth and seventh place, respectively.

“Our pole vault squad is solid, and we’re counting on them to rack up big points at Heps,” King said. “With co-captain Tiff Chang and Keely Marsh leading the group, our underclassmen jumpers (Olds) and (Wong) are also stepping up and improving. As we head into our resting weeks, we have the confidence that our pole vaulters will deliver at Heps.”

For most of the women, this was their last meet before Heps two weekends away, but some will head to the USATF New England Championships this coming weekend in Boston.

“Mentally, we have to stay focused and continue to stay close as a team,” King said. “Heps is all about being healthy, focused and competitive. If we can maintain these assets, I think that our women’s team has what it takes to be Heptagonal champions.”

W. water polo dominates at weekend’s Ivy Tournament continued from page 12 the turnaround. “We had a defensive plan that was simple, and we started to get away from it,” said Head Coach Jason Gall. “There were three players that we didn’t want to score, and once we realized who we needed to press, we started doing better. It was a good lesson learned.”

Balassone echoed Gall’s sentiments. “I think it’s hard to keep the intensity high all the time. I’d say it showed strength to come back from that for a solid win.”

After a long but successful Saturday, the Bears opened play on Sunday with an easy 15-6 win over Villanova University and continued their undefeated streak by soundly beating Dartmouth’s club team 182 in their semifinal match-up.

The games, though not close in score, were valuable opportunities for Gall to spread playing time throughout the roster and experiment with different lineups. “Ex-

cept against Wagner, all 14 players played at least three or four minutes in every game,” he said.

Harvard proved to be Bruno’s most difficult opponent of the day but failed to come as close in the score as Wagner had on Saturday.

After a scoreless first three minutes, the Bears’ patient offensive strategy paid off with quick catchand-shoot goals from Lauren Presant ’10 and Balassone.

Defensively, the players kept close tabs on Harvard’s primary scoring threats from the beginning, holding the Crimson to only one goal in each period. Brown never relinquished its early lead, building it to 5-2 at the half and 9-3 at the end of a monster third quarter that included a thrilling breakaway goal by Caitlin Fahey ’07. Presant and Glick finished out the scoring in the fourth quarter to bring the final tally to 11-4.

The championship game saw a spirited all-around effort from the Brown roster. Six players scored,

www.browndailyherald.com

and everyone in the pool was solid defensively. Stephanie Laing ’10 stopped six shots in goal including a miraculous save on a five-meter penalty shot.

Overall, the Bears saw the tournament as a mission accomplished.

“We had a few goals going into this weekend,” recalled Gall. “Improve team chemistry, use it as an opportunity for training and conditioning, win and have fun. I’d say we accomplished all of them. The team definitely jelled — we looked like we’d been playing together for a long time.”

Presant said she was happy to see the team so successful. “It was neat to see how a lot of our players stepped up early on,” she said.

Bruno now looks two weeks ahead to a tough match-up against CWPA rival Hartwick College, who ranks 12th in the preseason poll to Brown’s 20th. After a strong tune-up weekend, the Bears are gunning to keep their streak alive.

E DITORIAL & L ETTERS THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

PAGE 10

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2007

STAF F EDITORIAL

Bringing them back President Simmons is right. We don’t remember the due dates on our syllabus, and we don’t expect that long after we graduate we will fondly recall studying in the Absolute Quiet Room. But we will remember waiting in line to hear President Bill Clinton speak. We won’t forget bumping into Mexican novelist Carlos Fuentes during one of his campus visits or listening to former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso debate the impact of globalization on Latin America. And we often recall Seymour Hersh’s nonsensical rant about Iran, delivered in Salomon 101 as he pulled newspaper clippings out of his jacket pockets.

And that’s why we’re glad former Sen. Lincoln Chafee ’75 and former Herald Editor in Chief (oh, and Ambassador to the United Nations) Richard Holbrooke ’62 have each taken posts at the University. Bringing alums with real world policy and business experience to the University doesn’t simply connect them to Brown — it makes current students’ experience all the more powerful.

Speeches and study groups like the one Chafee is leading are the opportunities that remind us we are spending four years in a unique place. As Simmons said, when recalling our college days years from now, “You’re always going to remember that you interacted with this figure who was actually on the ground being responsible for the policies and practices you’re studying.”

Collecting “at large” figures who don’t necessarily teach but do contribute to the University’s intellectual climate is common practice for several of our Ivy peers, but it’s relatively new to Brown. We applaud University officials for urging alums with what Simmons described as “deep affection” for Brown to return and invigorate the campus decades after their graduation.

In fact, we’re so fond of the practice that we thought we’d offer a few suggestions for administrators to consider as they think through future “at large” appointments.

Grammy-winning OK Go lead singer Damian Kulash ’98 could lead our hipster friends at the Indy in an MCM seminar on the YouTube effect, studying how budgets that are so low they’re cool can lead to a gold gramophone and a cult following that includes The Herald’s editorial board.

A seminar taught by Jon Krasinski ’02, perhaps better known as Jim Halpert of “The Office,” on how to really survive your internship — mastering office pranks and surviving painful on-again, off-again romances — would be more than welcome. And we’re sure British royal Lady Gabriella Windsor ’04 could be coaxed into showing us which fork to use once a year at the Career Week etiquette event.

Shiny labs in the LiSci might not lure Nobel prizewinner Craig Mello ’82 away from U. Mass Med School, but we think we can dig up a scandal that might make Kenneth Starr MA’69 consider returning to College Hill with an independent counsel position and mandate to produce a lascivious legal report.

But we understand these alums are all kept busy — whether making music videos, attending Ascot, curing cancer or investigating presidential escapades. If none of these illustrious alums are available, we’d settle for a Georgetown alum with silver hair who we hear might be looking for a job and some fawning attention.

Editors-in-Chief Eric Beck Mary-Catherine Lader

Arts & Culture Editor Arts & Culture Editor Features Editor Features Editor Metro Editor Metro Editor News Editor Opinions Editor Opinions Editor Sports Editor Sports Editor Asst. Sports Editor Asst. Sports Editor Asst. Sports Editor

BUSINESS

PHOTO Eunice Hong Christopher Bennett Jacob Melrose

Photo Editor Photo Editor Sports Photo Editor

General Manager Mandeep Gill General Manager Ally Ouh Executive Manager Darren Ball Executive Manager Dan DeNorch Laurie-Ann Paliotti Sr. Advertising Manager Office Manager Susan Dansereau PRODUCTION Design Editor Steve DeLucia Copy Desk Chief Chris Gang Graphics Editor Mark Brinker Graphics Editor Roxanne Palmer Web Editor Luke Harris POST- MAGAZINE Hillary Dixler Melanie Duch Taryn Martinez Rajiv Jayadevan Mindy Smith

To the Editor: I am writing to make clear statements that I did and did not make for an article in Friday’s Herald (“Two students challenge Asian American discrimination,” Feb. 9). First, I did not call affirmative action a “necessary evil.” Putting such strong words in my mouth inaccurately reflected the views I expressed regarding affirmative action, which were largely in favor of this policy. I would hardly call affirmative action “evil.” Not only does it benefit a plethora of deserving and hardworking people, but it attempts to mitigate the racial and socio-economic obstacles in place toward higher education — obstacles for the most part ignored by the federal government. I suggested that although affirmative action is not “equal” in its process according to “objective” standards like grades and SAT scores, it nevertheless results in an outcome that is fairer and more equal than the alternative.

Second, I did not say that I am “ambivalent about the group and its goals.” I fully support Neil Vangala ’09 and Jason Carr ’09 in undertaking the difficult task of exploring discrimination in admissions, and this group — regardless of its findings — is vital in creating on-campus dialogue on the issue. In fact, as an active member of the

Asian/Asian-American community at Brown, I encourage Neil and Jason not just to meet with administrators and admissions officers, but to get community input and involve students in decision-making processes when they arise.

Third, I did not say that “students should focus on the lack of equality in public schools rather than affirmative action.” We should not divert our attention away from affirmative action as a policy because so far, it has been the only solution to the institutionalized racism and classism that currently hinder the brightest and most hardworking individuals in getting the education they deserve.

Lastly, I encourage Brown students to talk about this controversial issue and question why so many public schools are underfunded despite the immense wealth of our country and high taxes we have to pay. Maybe when we start to make some demands of our government, when public schools in Edina, Minn., and the Bronx, N.Y., start to resemble each other a little more, affirmative action truly will be a thing of the past.

Belinda Navi ‘09 Feb. 9

To the Editor:

Senior Editors Stephen Colelli Sonia Saraiya

EDITORIAL Lydia Gidwitz Lindsey Meyers Stephanie Bernhard Stu Woo Simmi Aujla Sara Molinaro Ross Frazier Jacob Schuman Michal Zapendowski Peter Cipparone Justin Goldman Sarah Demers Erin Frauenhofer Madeleine Marecki

Navi ’09 clarifies comments on Asian American admission discrimination

Open House calls for on-campus Mideast dialogue

T HE B ROWN D AILY H ERALD Executive Editors Allison Kwong Ben Leubsdorf

LETTERS

ROXANNE PALMER

Managing Editor Managing Editor Managing Editor Features Editor Features Editor

Steve DeLucia, Designer Catherine Cullen, Lauren Levitz, Copy Editors Senior Staff Writers Rachel Arndt, Michael Bechek, Oliver Bowers, Zachary Chapman, Chaz Firestone, Kristina Kelleher, Debbie Lehmann, Scott Lowenstein, James Shapiro, Michael Skocpol Staff Writers Susana Aho, Taylor Barnes, Evan Boggs, Alissa Cerny, Irene Chen, Stewart Dearing, Nicole Dungca, Hannah Furst, Sarah Geller, Thi Ho, Rebecca Jacobson, Tsvetina Kamenova, Hannah Levintova, Abe Lubetkin, Christian Martell, Taryn Martinez, Zachary McCune, Jennifer Park, Nathalie Pierrepont, Kam Sripada, Robin Steele, Spencer Trice, Sara Walter, Allissa Wickham, Max Winograd Sports Staff Writers Amy Ehrhart, Kaitlyn Laabs, Eliza Lane, Kathleen Loughlin, Megan McCahill, Marco Santini, Tom Trudeau, Steele West Account Administrators Emilie Aries, Alexander Hughes Design Staff Aurora Durfee, Christian Martell Photo Staff Stuart Duncan-Smith, Austin Freeman, Tai Ho Shin Copy Editors Ayelet Brinn, Catherine Cullen, Erin Cummings, Karen Evans, Jacob Frank, Lauren Levitz

All of us rely on our experiences to form our opinions, including recent speaker Nonie Darwish, and we don’t need a higher degree to express them. However, if we want to present ourselves as credible authorities to criticize a culture or society, we can’t rely solely on those experiences. We need to nuance our views by taking various sources into account in order to avoid oversimplification.

A Brown student group that started last semester, Open House: Valuing Diversity in Middle East Education, attracts students from across the religious, ethnic, and political spectrum to have structured discussions about the Middle East. We draw on our own experiences, but also on a variety of media, including news articles, academic literature, and pop culture to

frame our discussions.

This experience is extremely challenging, but incredibly enriching. If you are sick of polemics, perhaps this form of dialogue is for you. Interested students should contact us at anat@brown.edu for more information.

Anat Mooreville ‘07 Joanna Abousleiman ‘09 Roxanne Horesh ’08 Godhuli Bhattacharya ‘09 Joshua Stern ‘08 Co-coordinators of Open House Feb. 9

CORRECTION Due to an editing error, an article in Friday’s Herald (“RISD president announces plan to step down,” Feb. 9) incorrectly stated that Rhode Island School of Design President Roger Mandle received a no-confidence vote by the faculty. The no confidence vote was by RISD department heads.

CORRECTIONS POLICY The Brown Daily Herald is committed to providing the Brown University community with the most accurate information possible. Corrections may be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication.

COMMENTAR Y POLICY The staff editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial board of The Brown Daily Herald. The editorial viewpoint does not necessarily reflect the views of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Columns, letters and comics reflect the opinions of their authors only.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY Send letters to letters@browndailyherald.com. Include a telephone number with all letters. The Herald reserves the right to edit all letters for length and cannot assure the publication of any letter. Please limit letters to 250 words. Under special circumstances writers may request anonymity, but no letter will be printed if the author’s identity is unknown to the editors. Announcements of events will not be printed.

ADVER TISING POLICY The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. reserves the right to accept or decline any advertisement at its discretion.

O PINIONS TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2007

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Making life into a Lifetime Original Movie ADAM CAMBIER OPINIONS COLUMNIST

Loyal readers, this week you and I are going to sink lower than we have ever sunk before: we are going to write a Lifetime Original Movie.

Given the fact that nobody ever watches them, the good folks over at Lifetime get away with making these wanna-be films disgustingly formulaic. They tend to take one of two forms. In the first, a strong, independent woman is besieged by various obstacles to living a happy successful life, and in the end she overcomes said obstacles to serve as an inspiration to women everywhere.

The second prototypical Lifetime Original Movie also features a strong, independent heroine besieged by various obstacles — but in the end she succumbs to the overwhelming pressures set upon the shoulders of the modern woman and dies a tragic death, ultimately serving as an inspiration to women everywhere.

The obstacles that prevent these women from reaching their goals include date rape, spousal abuse and divorce. Our heroine may be a fresh-faced young teenager who discovers she’s been knocked up when she gets morning sickness all over the kitchen table.

She might not even know how to read. After some melodramatic suffering, she inevitably transcends her myriad challenges. All of this is accomplished over the course of two tense, dramatic hours sprinkled with “you go, girl!” commercials for Kotex and Vagisil.

Just for reference, I’ll share with you the queen of all Lifetime Original Movies: “The

Burning Bed.” Starring a dewy Farrah Fawcett as a beautiful, intelligent woman with a fat slob of a husband, the movie differs from “The King of Queens” in but one regard — the aforementioned fat slob of a husband savagely beats the crap out of his beautiful, intelligent wife on a regular basis. Poor Farrah eventually lights her bed on fire while her husband is sleeping in it, freeing herself and her children from the shackles of abuse.

Women all over the world were made happi-

Space,” based on the travails of chemically unbalanced astronaut Lisa Nowak. Nowak, a married mother of three, was a robotics specialist who fell for the pilot of her space shuttle, William Oefelein. After carrying on a torrid affair with Oefelein, she began to suspect that he was also involved with Air Force captain Colleen Shipman. Long story short, Nowak drove 900 miles in diapers to stalk Shipman in an airport parking garage.

At each of the 900 mile markers she passed,

Is it cruel of me to want to churn the tragedy of these two women through the Lifetime Original Movie construct just to make a few bucks? er in their womanhood, blah blah blah blah.

The credits roll.

As trite and unwatchable as you and I might find the phenomenon that is the Lifetime Original Movie, there are oodles of women who can’t get enough of them. This got my enterprising little mind to thinking — why not blend the Lifetime Original Movie with real life and cash in? This past week alone there have been two separate incidents that are bound to translate beautifully into spectacular made-for-TV monstrosities.

The first “based on a true story” to get my green light for Lifetime is “Lust in

the pee-soaked Nowak could have come to grips with her sanity and returned home to her family. But, God bless her, she was in love. Ultimately, she spritzed a healthy dose of pepper spray into Shipman’s car before being arrested. Now she is being charged with attempted kidnapping and attempted murder, and if convicted, she could spend the rest of her life in jail.

What tension! What drama! I don’t know about you, but the director in me is salivating. With the right cast, this epic love triangle could get millions of women to tune into Lifetime. I’m picturing Felicity Huffman as

the slightly deranged astronaut, Tim Allen as her philandering pilot lover and Tori Spelling as the terrorized other woman. That, my friends, is almost worth tuning in for.

The second part of my double feature based on events of this past week is “Get Rich or Die Tryin’,” based on the life of the recently deceased Anna Nicole Smith. Over the course of 39 short years, this busty starlet got married, got rich, got widowed, got naked, got a reality show, got fat, got thin and got depressed, before finally getting dead. In her wake, she left a five-month-old daughter and a potential fortune. At the time of writing, three separate men (one of whom is the husband of Zsa Zsa Gabor) are fighting over the paternity of the little girl. Some are even suggesting that Smith fathered her daughter using the frozen sperm of her deceased, octogenarian, billionaire husband.

It’s a gripping story. I laughed. I cried. I even got a little turned on. If Anna Nicole’s saga can move a stony cold-hearted bastard like yours truly to tears, imagine what it’ll do to the legions of emotionally unstable middleaged women who tune into Lifetime. If we can get Christina Aguilera to pack on a few pounds to play the title role, we’re golden.

Is it cruel of me to want to churn the tragedy of these two women through the Lifetime Original Movie construct just to make a few bucks? All I have to say is, nothing sells better than the story of a woman who has broken through the glass ceiling only to bleed to death on the shards.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go sob into a pint of Häagen-Dazs.

Adam Cambier ’09 once tried to eat a piece of charcoal he mistook for a chocolate cookie.

Moral uncertainty at Jo’s

BY MATT PREWITT COLUMNIST ABROAD

The Fair Trade movement, promoted by Brown Dining Services and urban coffee shops everywhere, has been attracting some negative attention recently. In the Dec. 7 issue of the Economist, an article on “ethical foods” suggested that the idea may be misguided. In the intervening months Fair Trade has become a hot topic in the blogosphere. This dispute, like so many others, can be introduced by reusing the old headline: “Curmudgeonly economists question the methods of do-gooders.”

This is not a simple issue, but here’s a basic synopsis: The Fair Trade movement consists of non-governmental organizations that contract with small farmers in the third world and guarantee them price floors and above-market prices. This protects the relatively inefficient little guys from being run out of business by the low crop prices created by large industrial producers. The small producers’ crops (most notably coffee) are then exported to the developed world and advertised as “fairly traded.” The slightly higher price is split between retailers and consumers.

The problem, in theory, is that this exacerbates the original problem of low crop prices. By shielding small producers from adverse market conditions, Fair Trade encourages them to continue to produce coffee instead of transitioning, however traumatically, to different pursuits. Thus, the supply of coffee on the market doesn’t decrease,

and the market prices don’t increase.

Non-Fair Trade producers are hurt by Fair Trade — but that’s kind of the point.

Some big coffee producers have responded by starting their own Fair Trade divisions.

Fair Trade organizations are doing some things that no one would argue against, such as educating farmers and giving them better access to credit. These practices create human capital and facilitate development. However, by most accounts, Fair Trade is mak-

Trade coffee. This doesn’t make sense and sets a troubling precedent.

Markets are efficient because consumers know what they themselves want, and that’s all they know. They serve their own preferences, and this directly increases market efficiency with respect to those expressed personal preferences. When consumers decide that they prefer to buy coffee that advertises itself as ethical, it just means that they prefer to think of themselves as ethical. The expres-

When I buy Equal Exchange over a generic brew, I do it for the general welfare of Ecuadorian farmers. That is faintly ridiculous. I have no idea what’s best for Ecuadorian farmers. ing it easier for farmers to avoid the difficult but perhaps necessary process of moving to new crops or occupations.

It’s difficult to dispute that the Fair Trade movement helps small farmers in the short term. The broad, long-term effects are far more uncertain. However, I tend to side with Fair Trade’s detractors for a somewhat different reason: Selling morality is just a bad idea. Fair Trade expands the idea of consumers’ personal preferences by extending it to moral preferences, like buying Fair

sion of that preference does not necessarily correspond to real ethicality — consumers are taking it on faith that their actions are truly ethical.

In other words, when I buy a Toyota over a Ford, I do it because it’s a better decision for me. I have a good idea of what’s best for me. But when I buy Equal Exchange over a generic brew, I do it for the general welfare of Ecuadorian farmers. That is faintly ridiculous. I have no idea what’s best for Ecuadorian farmers. Intelligent scholars dis-

agree over it. All I know is that one coffee advertises itself as more ethical than the other. It’s the rare consumer who even understands how Fair Trade works, let alone has the background, the will and the free time to form a defensible opinion about its effects.

Whatever Fair Trade accomplishes, it accomplishes through good faith or ignorance — take your pick.

Fair Trade is a case of over-democratization. It very loosely reflects consumers’ opinions on a rough constellation of non-governmental economic and social programs that they know almost nothing about. This is distinct from traditional consumer activism, which I fully support. Consumers should educate themselves as much as possible and make informed decisions about their purchases, but Fair Trade is different because it forces moral decisions through advertising.

I doubt that Fair Trade is a bad thing, on balance. However, I dislike that it presents a complex moral package in black-and-white wrapping.

Much has been said about expressing our social consciences through consumption, but that actually doesn’t sound so great to me. Where will it end? What if products start labeling themselves along partisan lines? During the 2004 campaign, we already had “Dubya Ketchup” for Republicans who didn’t want to add to John Kerry’s Heinz fortune. If the Fair Trade movement has its way, shopping for mere quality will one day seem quaint.

Matt Prewitt ’08 would like extra foam in his cup of morals.

S PORTS T UESDAY TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2007

St. Valentine’s Invitational prepares m. and w. track for Heps

BY SARAH DEMERS ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

Valentine’s Day is not just a Hallmark holiday for the men’s track and field team — it was also an opportunity for the Bears to travel to Boston University for the St. Valentine’s Day Invitational this past weekend, the last regular competition of the season for athletes who will be resting for the Heptagonal Championships coming up in two weeks.

“The BU Meet is a big invitational focused on individual performances,” said Director of Track and Field Craig Lake. “There were no team scores kept. However we can see how we stack up in the league by comparing times and distances from the weekend’s results.”

Amid an enormous field of athletes, both collegiate and professional, the Bears managed to make their mark in the final standings.

“The environment at the meet was a bit crazy,” said Grant Bowen ’07. “The number of competitors was extremely large compared to any other meet we attend. There wasn’t a limit to how many participants each team could bring, and unattached competitors competed as well. With … high-caliber competitors I became much more ner vous than if I were at a dual meet. You have to block out the noise, and focusing becomes more difficult as well.”

Focus didn’t prove to be an issue for Jamil McClintock ’08, who began the day on the right note, racing to a third-place finish in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 7.6 seconds.

In the distance events, Stephen Chaloner ’09 logged a ninth-place finish in the 3,000meter run with a personal best of 8:18.33, while teammate John Loeser ’10 brought home a 12thplace finish in the 1,000-meter run with a time of 2:29.40.

Miles Craigwell ’09, a football standout in the fall, finished in fifth place in the triple jump, with teammate Reginald Cole ’10 following in eighth place, going 46-01.25 and 45-05.75 respectively.

On the field, perhaps the most exciting performance of the day came from Bowen, who flew to a second-place finish in the pole vault with a 15-01.00. Deshaun Mars ’08 leaped to the 11th spot in the long jump with a 21-03.5, while David Howard ’09 came in at the same place in the weight throw with a 55-04.25.

In the shot put, Howard and Br yan Powlen ’10 notched as close to a one-two finish as the Bears saw all day with a fifth and 12th place respectively.

“The meet was pretty intense,” Craigwell said. “It made you focus a lot more, but at times the energy amped you up to where you lost your technique. (It) was great seeing the other talent and pushed me to do better.” continued on page 9

PAGE 12

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

W. icers Murphy records 300th career win

BY BENJY ASHER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Women’s ice hockey Head Coach Digit Murphy earned career victories No. 300 and 301 this weekend in league wins — 6-0 over Union College on Friday and a 4-1 victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Saturday. Hayley Moore ’08 continued her exceptional play with two goals and four assists in the two games, extending her point streak to 14 games.

This weekend’s games also saw impressive hockey from Savannah Smith ’09, who contributed two goals and two assists on Friday before adding a goal and an assist in the win over Rensselaer. The two wins put Brown at 10-15-2 overall and 6-13-1 in the ECAC Hockey League, capping off a remarkable week for the Bears, which included a 2-1 upset victory over Connecticut on Wednesday.

Brown came into Friday’s contest looking for a win over lastplace Union, and the Bears dominated throughout. Just 3:04 into the game, Brown went ahead on a shot by Andrea Hunter ’10, who finished the game with two goals and two assists. At 18:51, the team capitalized on a power-play opportunity when Smith found the net for the first of her two goals, assisted by Moore and Hunter. With the assist, Moore became the 20th player in the history of Brown women’s ice hockey to score 100 career points.

Jacob Melrose / Herald Head Coach Digit Murphy (with her daughter) is honored on the ice after the win against Union. It was Murphy’s 300th career win.

Brown blew the game wide open in the second period, going up 3-0 only 35 seconds in on Moore’s backhand goal. At 6:26, Moore found Hunter in the left faceoff circle for Hunter’s second goal of the game, and at 18:03, Kathryn Moos ’07 took a pass from Lindsay Wilde ’09 and scored to give the Bears a 5-0 lead.

In the third period, Smith added another goal, assisted again by Moore and Hunter, for her second consecutive multi-goal game.

“I definitely felt a bit more confident coming into the weekend,” Smith said. “It’s been nice

Jacob Melrose / Herald Savannah Smith ’09 had three goals and three assists in two Brown wins over the weekend.

to be able to contribute more in these past few games, and I hope to continue in our final games next weekend and next season as well.”

On Saturday, the Bears continued to excel on both ends of the ice, scoring two goals on a power play in the first period, and never looked back. At 14:45 in the first period, Moore was once again

able to set up Smith, and Smith converted for her third powerplay goal in two games.

At 3:29 in the second period, Rensselaer’s Allysen Weidner sent a bouncing shot past goaltender Nicole Stock ’09 to cut Bruno’s lead to 2-1, but the Bears added to that lead at 7:01, when Moos continued on page 6

Sloppy play leads to two more losses for m. hoops in New York

BY CHRIS MAHR SPORTS STAFF WRITER

Jacob Melrose / Herald Sarah Glick ’10 notched two goals in Brown’s championship match against Harvard. Her efforts earned her second team all-tournament honors.

W. water polo dominates at weekend’s Ivy Tournament

BY KYLE ROSENBLAD CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The women’s water polo squad capped a sterling first weekend with an 11-4 home victory over Harvard in the Ivy Tournament’s championship game on Sunday.

Bruno, now 3-0 against varsity opponents and 6-0 overall, persevered through a grueling tournament schedule to emerge undefeated, gaining important experience for the remainder of the season.

The Bears began their sweep with comfortable wins Saturday over club teams from Yale and Penn, cruising to lopsided scores of 17-1 and 19-1. Their first challenge came later that afternoon from rival Wagner College. Wag-

ner, which had only played one game beforehand, came out charging, and Brown struggled to keep up.

Despite a quick opening goal

by Elizabeth Balassone ’07, the Bears fell behind 4-2 by the end of the first quarter. But they managed to regroup and tighten up defensively, shutting Wagner out in the second quarter and tying the score 4-4 on goals from Sarah Glick ’10 and Emily Schwartz ’08.

Bruno prevailed 10-8 after a hard-fought second half during which Glick scored twice more, giving her a game total of four goals to lead the team.

Bruno’s recovering of focus on the defensive end was key in continued on page 9

The men’s basketball team dropped both games during its New York road trip this past weekend, falling 61-59 at Cornell on Friday and 77-68 to Columbia on Saturday. The two defeats leave Brown next-to-last in the Ivy League at 2-6 (7-16 overall).

As far as Head Coach Craig Robinson was concerned, his team played two completely different games this weekend, managing to keep one close but getting beaten handily in the other.

“I think in the Cornell game, we played well enough to stay in the game and win it in the end,” he said. “Conversely, in the Columbia game, we didn’t play well, but we were in it at half.

Then we come out after halftime with three straight turnovers, and when you’re on the road, you can’t play that way.”

The first half saw both teams struggle from the field, as the Bears hit just 36.4 percent of their shots — better than the Big Red’s 34.5 percent clip. The two teams were tied 25-25 at intermission, but rather than expressing disappointment over the low-scoring first half, Robinson was pleased that his team kept the game close.

“The game (was) very important to us and very important to Cornell,” he said. “There was

pressure to play well, and whenever you have that pressure, it’s tougher to make shots against two good defenses. I call those grind-‘em-out games, and it’s always nice when you can keep a team around 30.”

Brown managed to take a 34-32 lead at the 15:05 mark of the second half, but Cornell responded with a 10-0 run over the next three minutes for a 4234 advantage. True to the form of several games this season, Bruno would not go quietly and closed the gap to two points several times in the last five minutes.

“It wasn’t too damaging to come back from, because teams go on runs,” Robinson said. “It’s just part of the game. You have to withstand their storm, and if you do that, you’ll have one of your own.”

Brown had an opportunity to either tie or win the game with 25 seconds remaining when Mark McDonald ’08 pulled down the rebound on a missed Big Red shot with the Bears trailing 6159. Co-captain Mark McAndrew ’08, who finished with a doubledouble of 17 points and 13 rebounds, had an open look from the corner, but his attempt was long, and Brown had another close loss to ponder.

“It was a play that we had set up specifically for him,” Robinson said of McAndrew’s shot. continued on page 9