THE BROWN DAILY HERALD T UESDAY
Volume CXLII, No. 23
27, 2007 200 7
Since 1866, Daily Since 1891
S&J response directs millions to Providence schools BY MICHAEL SKOCPOL SENIOR STAFF WRITER
A $10-million endowment for public education in Providence is the centerpiece of the University’s official response to the University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice’s report,
issued last year. The response, crafted by President Ruth Simmons, was released Saturday following approval by the Corporation, the University’s highest governing body. The response also calls for up to 10 students a year to receive free tuition towards a master’s
degree in exchange for serving Providence-area public schools after graduating. In addition, the University will undertake a teaching and research initiative related to slavery and justice, investigate the creation of a memorial to commemorate the slave trade and further publicize the
committee’s findings. Originally appointed by President Ruth Simmons in 2003 to examine the University’s historic ties to slavery and the slave trade, the committee completed its charge and released a report continued on page 7
S N O W Y S AY L E S
Simmons: Fund could have lasting impact BY SIMMI AUJLA METRO EDITOR
President Ruth Simmons and Providence education officials expect the University’s $10-million endowment to support local public schools will provide a much-needed boost to the city’s struggling schools and serve as a model for other institutions’ engagement with their communities. Yet the city awaits further details on how and when the funds will be used. The Corporation also approved
METRO on Saturday an initiative to waive tuition, beginning in the 2008-2009 academic year, for ten fellows in the Urban Education Policy and Master of Arts in Teaching programs who commit to serving area public schools for a minimum of three years. The proposals come in response to the University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice’s report, released last November, which recommended Brown enhance its outreach to Providence public schools by, for example, providing more professional support for teachers, further funding the Urban Education Policy Program and coordinating efforts with other universities in Rhode Island. Simmons, who crafted the University’s response after discussing the report with several academic departments and committees, Chris Bennett / Herald
continued on page 4
College Hill received several inches of snow on Tuesday, which was the 290th anniversary of the beginning of the Great Snow of 1717.
New doctorate paves way for public health school BY MATT VARLEY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
A doctoral program in health services research — which would expand the Department of Community Health and bring the University one step closer to establishing a full-fledged school of public health — has been approved by the faculty. The program was approved by a unanimous faculty vote Feb. 6 following a presentation by Associate Professor of Community Health Kate Lapane PhD’95, who largely designed the curriculum. The program must be approved by the Corporation before it can admit doctoral candidates. There are currently two doctoral programs in the Department of Community Health — biostatistics and epidemiology. Health services research was selected as the next doctoral program “because we already
INSIDE:
3 METRO
BY TSVETINA KAMENOVA STAFF WRITER
have a critical mass of faculty in place,” said Vincent Mor, professor of medical science and chair of the Department of Community Health. “The Department of Community Health has had a strong group of researchers doing work that is generally thought of as health services research coming from multiple disciplines,” he said. Mor emphasized that such interdisciplinary work will be an integral component of the new doctoral program and said he anticipates doctoral candidates will collaborate with different University departments, including economics and sociology. Adding a third doctoral program in the department satisfies a key criterion for the establishment of an accredited school of public health at the University. Both Mor and Terrie “Fox”
Eighty-one percent of students approve of President Ruth Simmons, a recent Herald poll found. This year Simmons has maintained her overwhelming popularity, with a small decrease from her 87 percent approval rating in a similar poll last year. The poll, conducted from Jan. 29 to Feb. 2, has a margin of error of 4.7 percent with 95 percent confidence.
THE HERALD POLL Though most of the 30 students interviewed by The Herald were not familiar with all of Simmons’ duties, they pointed to her genuinely welcoming demeanor and her success in fundraising as reasons for their approval of her presidency. “She is an empathetic leader — she makes people feel empowered,” said David Beckoff ’08.
continued on page 7
MORE BUCKS FOR BEER? A proposed bill would hike up the current Rhode Island tax on beer in order to finance substance abuse treatment programs
www.browndailyherald.com
Simmons’ fundraising, empathy win over students
continued on page 8
5 CAMPUS NEWS
THE BANNER DEMO Students tudents and faculty were briefed with demonstration of Banner’s online registration in anticipation of an upcoming debugging
Chris Bennett / Herald File Photo
Students indicate strong support for President Ruth Simmons, pictured here at the dedication of the Sidney Frank Hall for Life Sciences.
11 OPINIONS
195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island
IVY LEAGUE SNOBBERY Sean Quigley ’10 sharply criticizes Ivy-League smugness — especially the Brown pretensions demonstrated at the Nonie Darwish lecture Feb. 1
12 SPORTS
M. TENNIS DOMINATES The men’s tennis team overwhelmed both the U.S. Naval Academy and SUNY-Buffalo with scores of 7-0 and 6-1, respectively
News tips: herald@browndailyherald.com
TODAY THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
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WE A
T H E R
TODAY
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2007
Chocolate Covered Cotton | Mark Brinker TOMORROW
mostly cloudy 41 / 26
snow showers 39 / 27
MEN SHARPE REFECTORY
U VERNEY-WOOLLEY DINING HALL
LUNCH — Grilled Tuna Sandwich with Cheese, Honey Mustard Chicken, Pasta Spinach Casserole, Corn Cobbets, Chocolate Frosted Brownies, Sugar Cookies
LUNCH H — Shaved Steak Sandwhich, Chicken Gumbo Soup, Vegan Stuffed Peppers, Mohegan Succotash, Sugar Cookies
DINNER — Sesame Chicken Strips with Mustard Sauce, Lamb Stir Fry, Sticky Rice with Endamame Beans, Vegetables in Honey Ginger Sauce, Sugar Snap Peas, Honey Wheat Bread, Boston Cream Pie
DINNER —Roast Pork Jour Ouvert Pastito, Baked Potatoes, Broccoli Cuts with Cheese Sauce, Beets in Orange Sauce, Honey Wheat Bread, Boston Cream Pie
SU
WBF | Matt Vascellaro
D O K U
Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.
How to Get Down | Nate Saunders
Deo | Daniel Perez
Puzzles by Pappocom
CR ACROSS 1 Bounce on one leg 4 Blood bank supply 10 Avian crop 14 Catchphrase in the kitchen 15 Capital of the Caribbean republic Dominica 16 “Pipe down!” 17 With 37-Across, Gladys Knight classic 20 Not hollow 21 The Dixie Chicks, e.g. 22 “Gotcha!” 23 Count Basie classic 27 Spike, as punch 29 Bank security 30 SFO posting 31 Bugling beast 32 Tantrums 33 Sentry’s word 35 With 57-Across, Jackson/Buffett saloon song 37 See 17-Across 41 Poet Prior’s “prior” 42 Pamplona runner 43 Inc. in the U.K. 44 Pebble Beach’s 72, e.g. 46 Injure 47 Web location 48 1933 song (and Barrymore film) 52 QB’s mistake 53 New York City’s __ River 54 Like some cereals 57 See 35-Across 61 Thoughtful 62 Plaza Hotel imp 63 Brazil’s capital before Brasília 64 Goofs 65 One relaxing 66 Itch DOWN 1 Overactors 2 Bit of this, bit of that 3 Students’ security devices 4 “__ and Prejudice”
O S S W O R D
5 Roleo competitor’s need 6 Fire proof 7 Colonizes 8 __ of honor 9 James’s Fort Knox adversary 10 The Bears, on scoreboards 11 Need renewing 12 Bronchial disorder 13 __ it up: celebrate noisily 18 Happy cloud number 19 Copacetic 24 Popeye’s gal 25 Quote with authority 26 Raspberry, e.g. 27 Wahine’s gift 28 PC key near Ctrl 32 Needle dropper 33 Physicist Enrico 34 Tic-tac-toe winner 36 Plant with fronds 37 1990s veep 38 Sparkling 39 Addams family cousin
40 Lemon attachment 42 Parlor artwork 44 Lobster feature 45 It tops the buck 46 Fuss 47 Ayatollah’s predecessor 48 Part of LED 49 Common Market inits. 50 Fall figure in suburbia
51 Choreographer Champion 55 Pennsylvania port 56 Light on the Vegas strip 58 Covert __: military assignments 59 Charles Riv. school 60 Dubuque-toChicago dir.
Deep Fried Kittens | Cara FitzGibbon
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
Cloudy Side Up | Mike Lauritano
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2/27/07
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METRO TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2007
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
Anti-illegal immigration bills introduced at State House BY SUSANA AHO S TAFF WRITER
Illegal immigrants will face more difficulty living and working in Rhode Island if the General Assembly approves several bills introduced this month. One of these bills would require all companies with employees in Rhode Island to verify employees’ legal immigration using a federal database. Additionally, State Rep. Richard Singleton, RDist. 52, has announced plans to introduce 16 more bills that would cut back on social services provided to illegal immigrants. Singleton’s proposed laws include measures to prohibit the children of illegal immigrants from attending public schools and deny welfare to illegal immigrants, according to the Web site of Rhode Islanders for Immigration Law Enforcement, an anti-illegal immigration group. Singleton has also drafted a bill banning bilingual education. “English is the language of business and the language of culture and that is what we should be demanding that people speak whether they’re legal or illegal,” he told The Herald. “American culture is at stake,” he said. “Any country with two cultures is in trouble, long-term.” Earlier this month, Sen. Marc Cote, D-Dist. 24, and Rep. Jon Brien, D-Dist. 50, introduced a pair of bills in the General Assembly that would require all companies hiring in Rhode Island to use the Federal Basic Employment Verification Pilot Program, a system that submits an employee’s information to a federal database to verify their immigration status, according to a Feb. 12 press release.
Results from the database are available within five seconds in 87 percent of cases, according to the press release. If the legal status of an immigrant cannot be verified, the employer would have to fire them within eight days. “It is clear that the federal government is not effectively addressing illegal immigration, and that the individual states must take action,” Cote said in the release. The bills have met some opposition. Ellen Gallagher, outreach coordinator at the International Institute of Rhode Island, said the Basic Pilot program “has been shown to be flawed” and often incorrectly labels legal immigrants as undocumented. Gallagher said the program would only lead to racial profiling and discrimination, since employers won’t want to go through the hassle involved in hiring someone who might be an immigrant. She said it should not be the job of business owners to enforce immigration laws. Bills such as these are “a symptom of greater anti-immigrant sentiment and just the fact that it has been introduced is of concern,” Gallagher said. Grace Cornell ’07, a volunteer with English for Action — a local nonprofit that teaches English and arts to Latino immigrant families — said she found the bills “frightening.” She said laws excluding immigrants from public school and welfare are “simply unconstitutional.” Cornell said even though it may not seem that these bills “affect someone who’s a citizen and who’s white … it really reflects badly on everyone if we’re living in a country that’s violating people’s human rights.”
Austin Freeman / Herald
A recently introduced bill would double the state beer tax, raising prices at R.I. stores like Spiritus Fermenti on Meeting Street.
New R.I. bill could raise the price of beer BY ABE LUBETKIN STAFF WRITER
A game of quarters may soon cost a few more pennies. Rep. Edwin Pacheco, D-Dist. 47, introduced a bill Feb. 1 in the Rhode Island General Assembly that would raise the state beer tax to finance substance abuse treatment programs. Supporters of the proposal say it would help the state’s financially strapped rehab centers, while critics argue the legislation would do nothing more than drive beer-drinking Rhode Islanders to Massachusetts, where alcohol is already less expensive. Pacheco said Rhode Island’s substance abuse treatment programs need help. “If we want (substance abuse) services to be available, we have to fund them in some way, shape or form,” he said. “Unfortunately in Rhode Island, they’re lacking.” His bill would raise the pre-sales
tax price of beer and stipulate that revenue generated by the price hike go toward combating substance abuse. Currently Rhode Island beer consumers pay an excise tax — which is added to the price before the sales tax is calculated — of $3 per 31 gallons (roughly 30 cents for a case of 30 beers), but the money goes toward the state’s general expenditure fund, not toward combating substance abuse, Pacheco said. The proposed bill would double that tax, making it $6 per 31 gallons (roughly 60 cents for a case of 30), and mandate that substance abuse rehabilitation centers and programs receive the additional income. Though the House Finance Committee has not analyzed how much revenue the proposal could generate, Pacheco said it could yield roughly $2.3 million dollars per year. However, he said would be open to stripping the tax increase from the bill if lawmakers would agree to allocate money from the
existing beer tax toward alcoholism treatment programs. “I think that would be great,” he said. “The ultimate goal here is to provide sufficient services for substance abuse treatment and prevention.” The Providence Journal reported Feb. 9 that the measure was intended to curb underage drinking, but Pacheco said this is not a goal of the bill because the price increase is not large enough to act as a deterrent. Pacheco said the bill targets specifically beer because beer taxes have remained stagnant since 1989 and because research indicates that most alcoholics abuse beer more than hard liquor or wine. He contended that the additional cost to consumers would not be large enough to spark a change in beer purchasing habits. “I don’t think there are many people that actually would go out of continued on page 6
Proposed legislation would tie R.I.’s electoral votes to nat’l popular vote BY JESSICA ROTONDI STAFF WRITER
New legislation proposed in the Rhode Island General Assembly could eliminate the power of the Electoral College in the Ocean State. The legislation is part of an interstate compact, the National Popular Vote Plan, through which states promise to give their electoral votes to the presidential candidate who receives the majority of the nationwide popular vote. The compact would go into ef-
fect when states with a majority of the electoral votes in the college pass appropriate legislation enacting the compact. The bill currently has 233 sponsors in 47 states, according to the Web site of National Popular Vote Inc., the nonprofit group backing the national movement. Legislation has already passed in the Colorado Senate and the Hawaii Senate. Rhode Island has four electoral votes. A presidential candidate must have 270 votes in the college to be elected. “The best reason to pass the
bill is to put Rhode Island back on the map for the general election,” said Rep. Arthur Handy, D-Dist. 18, who is co-sponsoring the bill with Rep. David Segal, D-Dist. 2, in the House of Representatives. “In this day and age, it’s easy to target ads and efforts to the big states where there are (a) lot more electoral votes in play,” Handy said. “This way, our state will have more opportunities to hear from candidates during election time.” “Rhode Island does not get its share of the primary dollars, cam-
paign dollars — this translates later into grants and federal aid dollars,” said Sen. Daniel Issa, DDist. 16, the measure’s sponsor in the Senate. Additionally, Issa said, members of the Electoral College from Rhode Island are not currently required to vote for the candidate who won the popular vote in the state, allowing them to theoretically vote for another candidate. That “quirk in the law” should be changed, he said. Issa cited the 2000 race between Al Gore and George W.
Bush as an example of flaws in the current Electoral College system. Though Gore won the national popular vote, Bush won a majority in the Electoral College and the presidency. “I think the Electoral College is really antiquated,” Handy said, adding that the bill is “a logical, smart step” toward changing the current system of electing the president. Issa said the bill’s introduction is timely. “It’s an appropriate time continued on page 6
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2007
Simmons hopes fund will serve as a model continued from page 1 told The Herald she expects the $10-million endowment will effect change in Providence and attract donors. The Corporation will monitor use of the funds, which will be managed as part of the University’s endowment. Simmons said she hopes other communities will follow Brown’s lead and set up similar endowment funds for public schools. As citizens do not vote to increase their own taxes to fund public schools, Simmons said she hopes the endowment, called the Fund for the Education of the Children of Providence, will serve as an alternative for school funding. “I would vote tomorrow to increase my taxes so the schools would be better,” she said. “In part, I can afford to do that. Some families can’t.” Americans may be interested in helping out public schools, but don’t know how, she said. “There “ is no way to manage (money) in a way that is consistent with the way (donors) think the funds should be managed, and therefore we miss a huge opportunity in the country to do for public schools what we do for universities,” Simmons said. Supporting local public schools will also help the University attract employees and faculty. “When we go to recruit someone, the first question parents ask is, ‘How are the schools?’ ” Simmons said. Despite her enthusiasm for the proposals’ impact, Simmons acknowledged their implementation had yet to be determined. “There “ are many things that have to be worked out,” she said. “It’s not a finding that we should do an x, y or z. It’s a finding that there’s an opportunity here, and we should do the further work on it to determine how it should be done.” Though the proposals did not address some of the committee’s recommendations, the response reflects the spirit of the committee’s report, she said. The report made a compelling case that the legacy of slavery can be seen in income and education disparities among black Americans — disparities that can be addressed in part through public education in urban areas, she said. “We didn’t make an effort to answer the recommendations onefor-one,” she said. “We got lots of recommendations from other people that … were frankly better than the committee’s ideas,” she added. Of the response’s various proposals — including a memorial to commemorate the slave trade and several academic initiatives — Simmons said the Corporation discussed support for Providence public schools the most. Alums across the country care about local schools, Simmons said, as she recalled fielding questions from Brown alums in Phoenix about aiding Providence public schools. “I think that’s because (alums) had a memorable experience with the city when they were here and they continue to care about what happens here,” she said. “This “ gives them a concrete way to help.” “It’s very hard to find people who disagree on the importance of the schools, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we raised it very quickly and if we went over 10 million, frankly,” Simmons said. “One person could come in and do the
whole thing.” She added that recent news of unreliable or unethical spending behavior in charities will make people even more likely to donate to a fund they believe they can trust. ““There are very few organizations that have that track record for the use of funds,” she said. “One day Brown will be 800 years old. And when it’s 800 years old, the money that you gave to help with teaching will still be used for teaching,” she said. But the most important lesson of the University’s response to its ties to slavery can’t be expressed through a fund or fellowship program, Simmons said. She urged students to confront the contentious issues of their generation. “What you’re obligated to do in your time is to engage with the issues. Don’t take a pass, don’t say, ‘Yes there’s genocide going on in the world, but that has no impact on me,’” Simmons said. “Don’t take a pass because the people who took a pass in the 1700s probably prolonged for an incredibly long period of time the unjust enslavement of people. Not only did they do that but the legacy of the unjust enslavement continued for centuries.” Providence reacts Donnie Evans, superintendent of the Providence Public School District, called the proposed $10million endowment “a big surprise.” “I knew that we would benefit in some way because I had had conversations with President Simmons and members of her staff,” he said. But, he added, ““This is much more than we dreamed of.” The commitment to raise $10 million and also support MAT and UEP students who agree to serve Providence schools — equally important to supporting the school distrct, Evans said — will take Brown’s relationship with the school district “to a higher level.” Jose Gonzalez, director of special projects and university relations at the school district, said he hopes Brown’s engagement in the public schools will “change the city of Providence for good.” “ “There ’s been a lot of efforts from different (Brown) departments, but this is major,” Gonzalez said. ““This is very big in comparison.” He expects his colleagues and the superintendent will be asked to propose strategies for the funds’ use. Officials at Brown understand how to effectively collaborate with the school district, “rather than throwing money at us,” Gonzalez said. “There “ ’s a lot of well-intended organizations, (but) it’s really different when an organization thinks they know what they want to do for a community rather than asking the community what they think they need from us,” he said. The endowment gives the University “the flexibility to think strategically at a given point in time to prioritize what are the highest needs at the moment,” said Professor of Education Kenneth Wong. Mayor David Cicilline ’83 praised the response in a statement Saturday. ““This initiative establishes Brown University as among the foremost community leaders in Providence and a national pioneer in developing innovative approaches to strengthening the relationship between universities and their host communities,” he said.
Ward 2 Councilman Cliff Wood said the creation of the endowment fund surprised him, even though he knew of Simmons’ interest in Providence schools. “I suspected (Brown) would do something with the schools but what a wonderful thing to do,” he said. Though Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Peter McWalters has met with officials from Simmons’ office, he is not fully aware of what steps the University will take next. ““The commissioner is waiting eagerly to receive more details about this grant,” said department spokesman Elliot Krieger. “Providence certainly needs the help and it’s the larger urban district, but if (support is) available in a wider sphere, he’d be interested in knowing that.” Mark Kravatz, facilitator of school support and community/ family engagement at the Hope High School complex, praised the proposal to hire an outside evaluator to monitor the initiatives’ progress. It shows that “Brown is going to be in it in for the long haul and that means a lot,” he said. Funding the fellows Though Wong praised the endowment as “a welcoming surprise,” he said he expected the response would support the UEP program, which he directs, and the MAT program. There are currently eight students in the UEP program and 40 in the MAT program, Wong said, but he expects those numbers will grow to 20 to 25 for the UEP program and 50 for the MAT program by the 2008-09 academic year. Though Simmons said she had wanted to provide fee waivers for more fellows, Wong said 10 was a manageable number to begin with. “We have every intention to make sure that we are going to grow this fellowship program,” Wong said, adding that fellows could number 20 to 25 in three or four years, he said. Josh Marland GS, a master’s candidate in the UEP program, said placing graduates in Providence schools may prove difficult because of union regulations and budget constraints. ““They have the right idea,” Marland said. He added that university partnerships with local schools are currently in vogue, and “Brown is at the forefront of it.” Clara Webb GS, a master’s candidate in the MAT program, said she hoped the tuition waiver would not come at the expense of financial aid for other students in the two programs. Financial aid for students in the MAT program has shrunk over the past two years and the tuition waivers will help attract more students, said Associate Professor of Education John Tyler, who chairs the department. Tyler said the department submitted a proposal to Simmons that included the recommendation to waive tuition fees. ““The fellowships will make the program more competitive with our peers out there,” such as Duke and Yale universities, he said. “We know we have lost some students to these programs.” But the University’s proposals could eventually yield more than the initial announcement suggests. “If you look maybe toward the end of the response, it says this is the beginning,” Simmons said.
C AMPUS N EWS TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2007
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
Med alum matches student donations to Med School BY CAMERON LEE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
In an effort to encourage medical students to give back to their school, Daniel Medeiros MD’86, president of the Brown Medical Alumni Association, recently made a pledge to match all donations made by current medical students to the Brown Medical School Annual Fund. Medeiros and Bethany Solomon, interim director of alumni and parent programs for the Alpert Medical School, both told The Herald that the pledge was made to encourage med students to start donating while they are still in school, in hopes that they will continue to give after they graduate. “It’s a way to educate the students about the annual fund so that they understand the importance of giving back,” Solomon said. Medeiros said he believes the students will be building a sense of community by donating. Rather than emphasizing the amount of money raised, both Medeiros and Solomon said they are stressing the amount of student participation. “We’re really asking people to give what they can give,” Medeiros said, “I would prefer to have each person give a dollar and have everyone give than have one person give $2,000.” Donations and the matching
amount would be made to the 10year-old Brown Medical School Annual Fund, which “is set up to support the highest needs of the Medical School,” said Larry Zeiber, senior associate dean for biomedical advancement. Zeiber said 45 percent of the fund is set aside for scholarship support, though Medeiros said the percentage would increase to 55 percent “to ensure that we get a diverse range of medical students.” Money from the fund also supports a curricular redesign for the Med School as well as travel expenses for students who are presenting papers around the world, Solomon said. Letters informing med students of the match gift were sent out Feb. 12, and they will be followed up with e-mails from fellow students, Solomon said. “For student donations, so far we haven’t seen the result yet,” Solomon said. But she said she is hopeful that students will respond once they become more aware of the gift. Student awareness is also a goal of a student committee comprising nine med students who are working with Johanna Corcoran, assistant director for student programs for the Brown Annual Fund. Beverly Young ’05 MD’09 said, though she plans to donate, she doesn’t know specifically what
the donations would be used for — a feeling she said she said other med students shared. Still, she said she understood the importance of donating. “It gives us a chance to show that we support the future of the medical school.” Michael Wang ’04 MD’08 said he thinks Medeiros’ pledge was generous but remained doubtful that students would be able to contribute significantly. “I think it’s great that he’s willing to match whatever the med students are able to contribute,” Wang said. “Granted, a lot of us aren’t really able to contribute that much because we’re in debt up to our eyeballs.” He pointed to next year’s increase in Med School tuition as a factor that he felt might limit student donations. Last year, students were also encouraged to contribute to the fund, though their donations were not matched. Of the roughly 300 students in the Med School last year, 76 students made donations, which amounted to about $1,500, Solomon said. This year, “we think it would be great to have 100 percent participation,” she said. Asked if he is worried that he won’t have enough money to match all of the student donations, Medeiros said, “I don’t think it’s going to be a problem. If it is, I’m going to have to take out my own loans.”
Students, prof get glimpse of Banner course registration BY CHAZ FIRESTONE S ENIOR S TA FF WR ITER
Students and faculty were given a live demonstration of Banner’s online registration feature last night as part of a briefing for the upcoming mock registration, slated to begin next Monday. Lisa Mather, associate registrar for registration services, demonstrated the registration and override processes on the Banner interface for the audience of six students and one professor. Her presentation was intended to prepare participants — Meiklejohn advisers, members of the Undergraduate Council of Students and faculty members — for mock registration, a debugging program meant to detect flaws in the online registration system by having students and faculty purposely mis-enter data or try to gain access to restricted pages. But Mather’s presentation also offered a quick glance at some areas of the user interface not previously seen publicly, including the system intended to replace the Brown Online Course Announcement and several error screens. She also displayed the
main student and faculty pages, which had only been seen in a recorded tutorial but not previously with live interaction. Mather demonstrated that students would be able to register for a course or change grade options and other course preferences with only three clicks of the mouse once they are logged in. “It’s pretty simple once you get in there,” Mather said. But faculty members don’t have it quite as easy. In order to grant an override to a student restricted from registering for a course — the most hotly debated procedural issue — a faculty member must make a minimum of eight clicks of the mouse and more if the student’s Banner identification number isn’t readily available and must be searched. “The system is pretty intuitive, especially from the student’s perspective,” said Don Thibault, a representative of SunGard Higher Education, the company that produces Banner. “It gets a little more complicated for professors.” Brian Becker ’09, UCS cam-
pus life committee chair, asked if there would be an e-mail alert system built into Banner so that students would be informed immediately if they were granted a course override instead of having to repeatedly click the refresh button on their Internet browsers. Mather answered that the feature was not currently available, but she said the Banner team has been working hard to ensure that overrides and other transactions would be handled smoothly by both students and professors. Thibault said an auto-alert feature could and probably would be added as part of a “second phase” of Banner’s implementation. “Auto-notifies and in-system transactions may be present in the future,” he said, adding that the University had purchased other SunGard software products to allow for additional features. Many of the issues raised at the meeting will be discussed further today at 5:30 p.m., when Associate Provost Nancy Dunbar, the Banner project owner, gives a public demonstration of online registration at a forum in Salomon 001.
no taxation without representation
PAGE 5
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2007
R.I. bill would support Nat’l Popular Vote Plan
Beer prices could rise if R.I. bill passes
PAGE 6
continued from page 3 in light of the upcoming presidential primaries — a good time to review without an election immediately at hand,” he said. Associate Professor of Political Science Wendy Schiller said she is less enthusiastic about the legislation. “If you want to eliminate all of your clout as an individual state, that is the way to do it,” she said. Schiller said if states give their electoral votes to the winners of the national popular vote, it dilutes the influence of states with smaller populations. “That is not necessarily what a country as geographically diverse as ours should want,” she said. The recent visits of presidential hopefuls Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., to Rhode Island indicate that they will return again to woo Rhode Island voters, she said. Darrell West, professor of political science and director of the Taubman Center for Public Policy, said the legislation may have difficulty becoming law. “Generally we don’t have major changes in the electoral process
unless there is a constitutional crisis,” West said. “I am not sure that this approach would withstand legal scrutiny. They are essentially trying to amend the constitution without going through the amendment process.” But supporters of the bill cite its avoidance of the amendment process as a draw. “Constitutional amendments are so difficult to pass. I mean, look at the Equal Rights Amendment — years and years of work never came to fruition,” Handy said. “(The National Popular Vote Plan) leaves it up to individual states to make their choices.” Issa said though a constitutional amendment “would be the better way to do it … it’s a very laborious, difficult process. The bill is a logical, simpler way to achieve the end — one man, one vote.” Tor Tarantola ’08, president of the Brown Democrats, said he thinks the National Popular Vote Plan is a good idea. “The electoral college system is an anachronism from the days when the president was considered an officer of the federation of sovereign states rather than a representative of the people,” he said. “The actions and politics of the president have a direct impact
on people’s lives and everyone’s vote should therefore be counted equally. A vote in Montana shouldn’t count more than a vote in California,” Tarantola said. David McNamee ’07 said he thinks it is absurd that presidential campaigns focus on battleground states like Ohio and Florida instead of major urban centers such as New York or Los Angeles. “Although the outcome runs counter to what the founders of the Constitution envisioned as the ideal electoral procedure, there is merit in the fact that these states are undergoing this process in a way that is compatible with the system that the founders valued so much,” McNamee said. Although undermining the Electoral College might run counter to the original vision of the framers, McNamee said the usage of states’ rights in this process is in the spirit of the system of government the founders valued. “There is something about democracy that requires its participants to think beyond their own, immediate self-interest. I think that is what Rhode Island is doing and other states that consider the bill are going to do,” McNamee said.
continued from page 3 their way to go to Massachusetts to save pennies,” he said. Opponents argue more than a few pennies are at stake and that the proposed legislation would send more beer business out of Rhode Island and into Massachusetts. Rep. Jan Malik, D-Dist. 67, who owns Malik’s Liquors in Warren, said Rhode Island alcohol vendors are already hard-pressed to compete with their Bay State counterparts. To avoid a possible conflict of interest, Malik will not vote on the measure. “In this day and age, you have to be competitive,” he said. “Why are we looking at another disadvantage for the (alcohol) industry? We’re trying to cut spending, not raise taxes.” Jim McCarthy, who owns Spiritus Fermenti on Meeting Street, said liquor store parking lots in Massachusetts are already filled with cars bearing Rhode Island plates. He said the proposed tax increase would “of course” send more people across the state line. “You’re not going to run out there to save a dollar, but if you were going to have a big party in your home, you might,” McCarthy said. Driving from the Brown campus
to Seekonk, Mass., for 15 cases of beer would save about $15, after subtracting the cost of gas for two cars, based on last week’s average price of regular unleaded fuel in Rhode Island. Under the proposed tax hike, that same trip would save approximately $20. But some students told The Herald they wouldn’t mind a slight increase in the price of beer if money from the tax went toward alcoholism treatment programs. Mark Connolly ’07, chair of Greek Council and a member of Delta Phi, said he would be willing to pay a little more for beer if it meant better funding for substance abuse treatment. “Being able to meet the need for alcohol treatment programs should be a priority for Rhode Island. I wouldn’t mind spending the extra money,” Connolly said. But he addmoney ed that he could understand why some people would go to Massachusetts. “I could see how, if you’re buying large quantities, going to Seekonk might make sense.” Shane Whittet ’08 echoed that sentiment. “I’d be willing to pay an extra 60 cents if it’s going toward a good cause,” he said. Alper Celik ’08 said he questioned just how much money the beer tax increase would generate. “The tax is small enough that it wouldn’t affect my beer-buying decisions,” he said. “But I doubt it would raise $2 million.” Pacheco said the House of Representatives will likely vote on the measure in late May or June.
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Ministry bombing kills 5 BAGHDAD, Iraq (Los Angeles Times) — In an assassination attempt apparently plotted from inside the government, a bomb planted at an Iraqi ministry where one of the nation’s vice presidents was making an official appearance Monday killed five people and injured dozens. The bombing targeted Adil Abdul Mehdi, one of two Iraqi vice presidents and a top leader in parliament’s largest Shiite voting bloc. It was detonated as he attended a morning ceremony honoring employees of the Ministry of Labor and Municipalities.
Brutal slaying raises questions SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (Los Angeles Times) — For more than a week, Guatemalans and Salvadorans have been in the grip of a murky and gruesome mystery born of Central America’s criminal underworld. It began on the night of Feb. 19, with an SUV burning on a rural road outside Guatemala City. The charred bodies of three Salvadoran legislators and their driver were found inside or nearby. Among them were Eduardo Jose D’Aubuisson, the son of one of El Salvador’s most notorious right-wing leaders. On Sunday night the latest chapter played out at a Guatemalan prison, when four officers from a top Guatemalan police unit were slain in their cells just three days after they had been arrested and charged with killing the legislators. Police and government officials in El Salvador and Guatemala have issued public and private statements admitting the case may have exposed an unsettling link between the security and political elite in both countries and drug trafficking. On Friday, Guatemalan President Oscar Berger said drug traffickers were behind the killings of the legislators and promised a “thorough purge” of corrupt elements in the Guatemalan police force.
U.S. again links Iran to roadside bombs in Iraq BAGHDAD, Iraq (Los Angeles Times) — In the latest attempt to link the deadliest form of roadside bombs in Iraq to components manufactured in Iran, U.S. Army officers Monday displayed plastic explosives they said were made in Iran and recovered during a raid Saturday in violence-racked Diyala Province. An Army explosives expert said the C-4 plastic explosives were used to make lethal bombs which the military calls EFPs — explosively formed projectiles. The explosives were found alongside enough bomb-making materials to build 150 EFPs capable of penetrating heavily armored vehicles, according to the expert, Maj. Martin Weber. Mortars and rockets found in the same cache also were manufactured in Iran, Weber said. The cache included 150 machine-milled copper plates that form a shaped, concave lid on the projectile. When the weapons explode, those lids form balls of molten metal that can punch through the armor on vehicles. The cache was believed to be the first EFP manufacturing site found inside Iraq, officers said. They had previously assumed that most EFPs were assembled outside the country and brought in nearly whole.
U.N. says Serbia not responsible for war crimes BERLIN (Los Angeles Times) — The United Nations’ highest court ruled Monday that Serbia failed to prevent the massacre of Muslims during the Bosnian war but was not directly responsible for the atrocities, ending a landmark case in which an entire nation was tried for committing genocide. The decision, closely watched by countries facing allegations of war crimes, was viewed by Serbia as a vindication for its role in the 1992-95 war. The ruling angered Bosnian leaders and ended their efforts to win reparations over the killing of about 7,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica. The court did find that the army of Bosnian Serbs had committed genocide and that Serbia had “known influence” over them. The 132 ruling by the International Court of Justice in The Hague blamed Serbia for not taking “any initiative to prevent what happened or any action on its part to avert the atrocities.”
Propel, propel, propel your craft slowly down the liquid solution. Ecstatically, ecstatically, ecstatically, ecstatically, existence is simply illusion.
Faculty approves third public health Ph.D. program continued from page 1 Wetle, associate dean of medicine for public health and public policy and professor of community health, stressed that several important steps remain. The department is working to determine what additional academic and administrative decisions need to be made in order now, they said. The public health school is slated to be established by 2010, according to a July 2006 article in The Herald. Mor said that goal is “still achievable,” noting that the program is “more or less on target in terms of faculty recruitment, growth of student body, et cetera.” But, he said, “We don’t want to a have a rush towards an artificial date dictate how well we do things. ” Establishing a school of public
health gives the University “membership in a club that is relatively restricted,” Mor said. Accreditation from the Council on Education in Public Health would place it among “the top research groups in the world of schools of public health, which would increase our visibility and stature in some important ways,” Mor said. Since its inception in the 1960s, the field of health services research has grown to consider “the manner in which the organization of health services, how they are financed and how they are regulated affects the experience of individuals and how it affects various aspects of the economy,” Mor said. A major goal of the field is to judge “how we can make the system of care more efficient,” Wetle said. “In order to improve the
health care system, we have to understand what works and what doesn’t work,” she added. Researchers in the field supplement clinical studies with the consideration of social factors — including differences in insurance coverage, cultural values and geographic location — that influence how individuals interact with the health care system. Researchers in the field also analyze the ways in which national and local politics influence public health and evaluate the effectiveness of different health care systems worldwide. Students who earn a doctorate degree in health services research have “a wide array of opportunities,” Wetle said, ranging “from academic research jobs all the way through applied practical improvement of health care delivery systems on the supply side.”
Memorial, academic initiatives feature in S&J response continued from page 1 on its findings last October. The report detailed how Brown’s early benefactors profited from the slave trade and recommended steps the University could take to acknowledge and atone for its past, such as creating an academic center to study slavery, building a memorial and attracting more students from the West Indies and Africa. “I’m very pleased with the response, which I think takes the recommendations of the committee very seriously and in some sense goes beyond them,” said Associate Professor of History James Campbell, the committee’s chair. Those recommendations also suggested the University devote resources to Providence public schools, but Campbell said the committee had not considered creating an endowment and called that initiative “potentially one of the most enduring outcomes of this whole process.” “It clearly reflects (Simmons’) desire to build relationships between the University and the public schools that will be substantial and lasting,” he added. Simmons told The Herald yesterday she is “extremely hopeful” the endowment will draw enthusiasm from donors and could meet or exceed its $10 million goal within a few years. Campbell said he believes the endowment could provide a new model for universities to leverage their dedicated donor bases and investment management experience for community benefit. “Depending on how and whether other universities might wish to follow Brown’s lead, it suggests new ways for building long-term relationships between universities and the public school systems in the communities that are their hosts,” he said. Lamont Gordon ’93, director
of education outreach, called the investment “a next big step” in Brown’s efforts to reach out to Providence schools, adding that the proposed endowment “shows institutional commitment to this work.” He also said it acknowledges the slave trade’s “tragic legacy,” which is especially apparent in education. Simmons’ response calls for the University to acknowledge its ties to the slave trade by commissioning a revised official history of the University to reflect “a more complete picture of the origins of Brown” and creating a memorial to the slave trade in Rhode Island to be developed with city and state officials. The official response also addresses the report’s impact on current students and community members by calling for an “executive summary” of the 106-page report and a free printed version of the full report, which currently costs $7.50. In a Nov. 30 e-mail sent to the committee while she was formulating the response, Simmons called community reaction to the report “somewhat more muted than anticipated.” A poll conducted by The Herald two weeks after the report’s release found that only 17.9 percent of students planned to read most or all of the report and nearly half did not plan to read it at all. The response also proposes a number of academic initiatives, including calling for a committee to look into the creation of a center for slavery and justice on campus. That committee should produce a report by the end of the Fall 2007 semester and fundraising should begin before that, the response says. The recommendation to create an academic center met was the most popular recommendation of those asked about in The Herald’s poll, with 59.9 percent
in favor and only 16.4 percent opposed. The poll of undergraduates was conducted between Oct. 30 and Nov. 3, 2006, and has a 3.8 percent margin of error with 95 percent confidence. The University’s response also calls for a commitment to strengthening the Department of Africana Studies and to expanding current programs with historically black colleges and universities, such as the University’s existing exchange program with Tougaloo College. Those programs were not specifically included in the committee’s recommendations. Not included in the University’s response are initiatives specifically aimed at increasing opportunities at Brown for people disadvantaged by the legacies of slavery and the slave trade. Campbell said the response Simmons crafted was both substantial and realistic, and he added the committee had avoided “piein-the-sky” recommendations. Associate Professor of History Kerry Smith, a member of the committee, called the response “thoughtful” and said it “lays the foundation for a continued dialogue on campus.” In an e-mail to The Herald, John Gillis ’07, president of the Undergraduate Council of Students, agreed that the response provided opportunities for continued discussion. “I feel that most students are proud that (Brown) has established itself as a leader on this issue,” he wrote. Evan Pulvers ’10, who mentors in a Providence public school through the Outdoor Leadership and Environmental Education Program, said the education fund is “especially crucial in recognizing that inequality still exists to a very large and real extent, and that it’s the job of Brown and the Providence community to try and rectify that.” But Pratik Chougule ’08, editor in chief of the Brown Spectator, a conservative campus publication, said he does not think it is the University’s role to provide such funds. “It’s basically a veiled form of reparations that they’re pushing through,” he said. The University also announced separately this weekend the creation of a social choice fund for donors interested in environmentally responsible investment. The committee’s recommendations included creating opportunities for socially responsible investment.
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M. lax drops opener to UMBC continued from page 12 ping 18 out of 30 shots. In front of Burke, defenseman Jake Hardy ’10 played well in his first game, leading the team in ground balls picked up. Buckley also pointed to strong play from the defensive midfield, which contained UMBC’s All-American Terry Kimener. “Although he had six points (three goals and three assists), it was a quiet six points.” Despite the opening loss, the Bears are optimistic about the upcoming season. With Tiffany at the helm, the team has experienced transition but has come out better for it. “It was difficult for the team, especially the seniors, to change terminology and get out of old schemes,” Buckley said. “But now the attitude is more positive, we are more excited.” Tri-captain Bobby Shields ’07 echoed that sentiment, calling the coaching change “the best thing that has happened to Brown lacrosse in the last 10 years. Lars is a great guy and a great motivator.” Shields added that Tiffany has the team “playing with a lot of energy and emo-
tion, trying to get Brown back to the top.” Madeira attributed the excitement to a “different style of play that is more of an up-tempo, transition, fun game.” Though the attitude change has been good for the team, it’s still early in the season, and the Bears are still working to get on the same page. “We need to do better executing the game plan and keeping possession,” Buckley said. “Everyone played well as individuals, but we need to improve on the team coming together still,” Shields said. The team faces a tough schedule that pits it against nine opponents who made the NCAA tournament last year. Those strong tests will be important for the squad, as it hopes to earn a bid to the NCAA tournament this year. Madeira cited making the NCAA tournament as their primary goal, along with “improving every game, and doing well in Ivies.” The next contest for the Bears will be their home-opener on March 3 against the Hofstra University Pride.
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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2007
Fundraising, public image account for Simmons’ popularity continued from page 1 Many students said they felt some affinity to Simmons as a female leader and a nurturing maternal figure. “She is a power woman. She is setting the standards of having women presidents,” said Vivian Ortiz ’10. “She reminds me of my grandma,” said Hristo Atanasov ’10. His sentiment was echoed by other students interviewed by The Herald. “I think of her as a relative. I feel like if you do meet her, she will hug you and make you cookies,” said Olga Usyk ’09. Others said they were impressed Simmons seems available on campus despite her travel engagements. “She retains a connection to the students (and) seems to genuinely care,” said Henry Freedland ’08. As the University’s public representative, Simmons has presented a positive image of Brown, students said. “She is famous — you can see her on TV. I am proud she is known around the country,” Atanasov said. Simmons’ personal journey from childhood in a poor, rural East Texas community to the Ivy League is well-known and regularly featured in media coverage of her career, but only a few students mentioned it as a major reason for their affection for the president.
“She represents the perfect American dream — she has a story which inspires people,” said Alexandra Grassian ’07. Many first-years said they could not give a substantiated opinion of the president’s job performance, but they share in the fascination with her public image and feel they could easily reach out to her if they needed to. “Greatest person in the world,” said Andre Burnier ’10 of Simmons. Amanda Machado ’10 agreed. “She doesn’t seem like the typical unapproachable stuffy university president. If you see her at Starbucks, you can approach her,” she said. Liking Simmons has become one of the ways some students forge a sense of community and pride in the University. “I like the idea of having a president that everybody likes, of having an image that people can take pride in,” said Kirsten Lynch ’10. Other students recounted fleeting encounters with Simmons around campus, ranging from brief exchanges in the Sharpe Refectory to small nods on campus pathways, which they said confirmed their affection for the president. Even students who don’t have an idealized image of the president still had an overall positive impression of Simmons. “A lot of University decisions get (credited) to her when they have to do with the Corporation,”
said Michael Kern ’07. “She has done a good job of raising money, though.” Baird Aric Bream ’10 said he had some trouble meeting with Simmons for negotiations on behalf of the Student Labor Alliance. “We had to muscle our way into her office hours, but once we brought it to her attention, she seemed like she wanted to be involved,” he said. Simmons’ popularity was part of Brown’s appeal for some firstyears before they entered the University. “I admire people’s love for her. Even before coming to Brown I saw people’s Facebook groups — ‘I love Ruth!’ ” Bream said. Among the Facebook groups in the Brown network devoted to Simmons are “Don’t Leave us for Harvard, Ruth!” “Hands off Our Ruth!” and a group criticizing Fox News personality Bill O’Reilly for his insults of Simmons. She is also listed as one of the top reasons to love Brown in a 1,085-member Facebook group devoted to love for Brown. For most students, Simmons’ favorable image is a positive force for the University, and the personality she conveys to students is an important part of her role as the institution’s leader. “Her celebrity status gives her a lot of authority,” said Akriti Bhambi ’09. “It’s rare to be as popular as she is. She can use it more.”
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Men’s tennis takes down Navy, Buffalo in doubleheader continued from page 12 urday’s doubleheader, the Bulls put them to the test. Hanegby and Ratnam took an 8-5 win over Yules Hadisubroto and Kirill Kolomyts at first doubles, but Scott and Gardner dropped the third doubles match to Mike Rockman and Albert Alant by a score of 8-4. The second doubles match forced a tiebreak to determine which team would capture the doubles point. Thomas and Pasanen defeated Nikesh Singh Panthlia and Octavian Stane 9-8 (1) to give Brown the early 1-0 edge. The Bears got off to a slow start in singles play, which began with first-set losses by Hanegby and Pasanen at first and third singles. But Gardner won his first set at fourth singles, and according to
Harris, Gardner’s strong playing motivated his senior teammates. “Noah Gardner was unbelievable energy-wise throughout the day,” Harris said. “He won his first set in singles against Buffalo, which created momentum for the team for the rest of the match. Noah was the spark.” While Gardner went on to defeat Stane 6-3, 6-3, Hanegby and Pasanen bounced back to win their matches as well. Hanegby trounced Rockman 6-0, 6-0 in the remaining two sets, while Pasanen finished off his match 6-1, 6-2 to defeat Kolomytes. At second singles, Ratnam won another three-set match, earning a 6-3, 16, 6-4 victory over Panthlia. With Brown already ahead 50 at 11 p.m., the fi fth and sixth singles matches were decided
by eight-game pro-sets. At fi fth singles Scott narrowly lost 9-8 to Hadisubroto, and at sixth singles Lee defeated Alant 8-6 to give Brown a 6-1 win. “This was a tough part of our schedule,” Thomas said. “It was tough not getting too much rest after our three matches on the road, but we kept our energy up, which is the most important thing.” The Bears have no matches scheduled for next weekend, giving them time to recuperate from injuries and the past week. They will compete next in a doubleheader on March 9 against the University of Rhode Island and Lafayette College. “We need everyone to get healthy and get rest,” Thomas said. “Our main concern is to have some recovery time.”
W. hoops splits weekend on New York road trip continued from page 12 adjustments and got out on their three-point shooters. We also got around their double screens, which was a big part of their offense in the first half.” Lindsay Walls ’10 made a huge impact on the game in the second half. Brown continued to work the ball to her on the blocks and she delivered, scoring 10 points in the first eight minutes of the second stanza. “Lindsay was huge,” KingBischof said. “We kept going inside to her, and she kept converting. Having her as an inside presence opens up the offense for everyone else.” The Bears continued to methodically chip away at the Lion lead for the remainder of the game. With 9:04 remaining in the contest, Columbia led 50-43. Brown then proceeded to go on a 6-0 run over the next three minutes to cut the deficit to one. Brown finally broke through for its first lead of the game with 29 seconds remaining when KingBischof nailed a jumper from the top of the key to put Bruno up 5352. But, the lead was short-lived. Columbia’s Becky Hogue drew a foul on Walls with just four seconds to play. Hogue had a chance to give the Lions the lead but converted just one of two free throws, sending the game to overtime. “When (Hogue) was on the freethrow line, we were prepared for the worst,” said Co-captain Lena McAfee ’07. “We had a play ready
to run in case she made both freethrows, but luckily she missed the second.” In the first extra session, both teams traded baskets for the first four minutes. McAfee put the Bears up by two 59-57 with 1:18 when she converted a layup underneath the basket off a feed from Walls. Brown got defensive stops on the next two Lion possessions, but Columbia forced a turnover with 25 seconds remaining. With time for one more play, Columbia’s Chelsea Frazier put in a layup with 10 seconds left on the clock to tie the game. Brown had a chance to win the game at the buzzer, but KingBischof’s jumper was off the mark. The Bears finally managed to end the pesky Lions in the second overtime. Bruno scored on seven of its nine possessions in the second extra period, and King-Bischof led the way with seven points. With the score 69-66 with 36 seconds remaining, Brown converted three of four free throws to put the game out of reach. King-Bischof led Brown with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Walls had a career-high 19 points, while McAfee chipped in with 14. Saturday night’s match-up, however, proved to be the opposite of Friday’s comeback contest. The Bears established themselves offensively after trading baskets with Cornell for the first 10 minutes. With the score tied at 14, McAfee knocked down a three to give the Bears their first lead. Catherine Schaper ’09 then hit a jumper
to give Brown a five-point cushion. Brown did not relinquish the lead for the rest of the half. KingBischof knocked down a jumper with 1:13 to go to give Brown a five-point lead at 25-20. Cornell scored to cut the lead to three at the break. Unfortunately for Brown, Cornell methodically chipped away at Brown’s lead in the second half. The Big Red took its first lead at 3029 with 10:29 seconds remaining in the game and did not look back. “We turned the ball over way too much,” King-Bischof said of Brown’s second-half struggles. “We also had poor shot selection in the second half.” Brown cut the lead to four with 1:25 left on a King-Bischof layup. Brown had three other possessions to cut into the lead late, but could not convert on any of them. A major factor in the defeat was Brown’s dismal 4-of-24 shooting effort in the second half. “We didn’t play as a team in the second half,” McAfee said. “We tried to solve the problems individually instead of collectively.” Christina Johnson ’10 led the Bears in scoring with 10 points. She was the only Bear in double figures. Brown will close its season this weekend against the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton at the Pizzitola Center. Before the game on Saturday, Brown will honor the four members of the team’s senior class playing its last collegiate home games.
M. swimming finishes seventh at EISL Championships continued from page 12 “The past two years just weren’t my years,” Kelly said. “I left Easterns last season feeling really frustrated, which motivated me to train really hard over the summer. This year I finally started off on the right foot.” Michael O’Mara ’07 concluded his Brown career with a 20th-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke, posting a time of 2:07.15. Ricketts recorded the Bears’ second best individual performance of the meet in the 200-yard butterfly, taking 10th place and checking in at 1:49.57. Kai Robinson ’09 led Bruno in the diving portion of the meet, finishing 14th in the 3-meter dive with a score of 286.60. C.J. Kambe ’10 finished just behind Robinson in 16th place, recording a score of 266.75. The Bears wrapped up the meet
with the 400-yard medley relay. The team of Hug, O’Mara, Ricketts and Kelly earned seventh in the event, posting a time of 3:21.11. The relay team bounced back after a disappointing performance in the preliminary round in the morning and returned to the pool with a vengeance that night to churn out a strong performance in the final race of the season. “Coach Brown told us, ‘You haven’t done what you are capable of yet,’ ” Kelly said. “And then we all just clicked. We got off swimming fast and everyone just started going crazy. It was such a fun relay to swim.” Kelly attributed much of the relay team’s success to the support they felt from the deck. “It was a really fast, close race,” he said. “Seeing all of our friends and hearing them cheer gave us the extra drive.”
Volosin agreed. “The positivity was flying on the deck.” As the 2007 season comes to a close, the Bears will turn their attention to improving on this years’ performance at Easterns. Brown has a promising future — only two team members are graduating, only one of whom competed at Easterns. The Bears also benefited from outstanding performances from its underclassmen, which bodes well for next year. Combining strong senior leadership with an experienced group of underclassmen and an eager class of talented incoming recruits, 2008 should be a banner year for the men’s swimming and diving team. “We have improved greatly over this season, and we are still a very young team. All the classes will finally be rounded out next year, and I have high hopes for next season,” Volosin said.
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E DITORIAL & L ETTERS THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2007
STAF F EDITORIAL
A night at the Follies Rhode Island is a pretty unique place. It was the last of the 13 colonies to ratify the Constitution, even though Rhode Islanders burned a British ship, the Gaspee, in protest a year before the folks next door in Massachusetts got around to throwing some tea into a harbor. Of course, the armed locals were mostly upset that the Gaspee had successfully shut down the lucrative smuggling trade in the Narragansett Bay and weren’t motivated by nascent patriotism, but still, a worthy act. In modern times, it has been the home of some of the most colorful (and corrupt) politicians in the nation, chief among them former Providence Mayor Buddy Cianci, currently serving a sentence for corruption — but, to the delight of many, due to be released in July. It’s the smallest state in the union — from top to bottom (or from Woonsocket to Westerly) it is less than 60 miles. It’s small enough that it sometimes seems like everyone knows everyone else, and that was the feeling at the Providence Newspaper Guild’s 2006 Follies, held Friday night at the Venus de Milo in Swansea, Mass. The Guild, the union representing employees of the Providence Journal, has put on the musical comedy show for 34 years, and it has become a highlight of the Rhode Island political scene, a kind of bizarre Oscars for local politicians and politics-watchers. The skits and songs target politicians who come anyway, and not just for the buffet — as the program explains, “It is a Rhode Island political axiom that there is only one thing worse than being lampooned on Follies Night. That, of course, is to be ignored.” A dead-on impersonator of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse awkwardly danced around on stage while singing about “the night we drove Linc Chafee down.” Emcee and Journal reporter Scott McKay noted that, with the new Democratic majority in the House of Representatives, Rep. Patrick Kennedy — who entered rehab after crashing his car near the Capitol last May — would finally be able to get something he had long desired — rubber Jersey barriers around every bar in the 1st Congressional District. Most Brown students would have been left confused by many of the jokes, which were local to the point of obscurity, but the crowd ate them up. The Harrah’s casino fight, the firing of former nun and state Attorney General Arlene Violet from her radio show and a song noting that the Big Blue Bug on Interstate 195 might be the only viable Republican candidate left in the state all left the audience in stitches. The Follies are a hit because they embrace the oddities of the Ocean State — as the cast noted in their opening song, “we couldn’t make this stuff up if we tried.” The Providence skyline and the Newport harbor, Cranston accents and coffee milk, the wisecracking of Providence natives and the vampire legend of Mercy Brown in Exeter — the quirks of Rhode Island provide an antidote to claims the state is just an offshoot of Massachusetts. There’s a lot to see, do and be amused by in this small, unique part of America, and we know many Brown students share our love for this state — whether that manifests itself in heading downtown for a pint at the Trinity Brewhouse, volunteering with a local nonprofit or putting down roots here after graduation. For those of you who haven’t yet fallen in love with the Ocean State, we encourage you to take a walk downtown, or head downstate on RIPTA, and see what you’ll find. We bet that you’ll like it.
T HE B ROWN D AILY H ERALD Editors-in-Chief Eric Beck Mary-Catherine Lader
Executive Editors Allison Kwong Ben Leubsdorf
Senior Editors Stephen Colelli Sonia Saraiya BUSINESS
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
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
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
Managing Editor Managing Editor Managing Editor Features Editor Features Editor
Steve DeLucia, Ezra Miller, Designers Erin Cummings, Ben Mercer, Madeleine Rosenberg, 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, Brianna Barzola, Evan Boggs, Irene Chen, Stewart Dearing, Nicole Dungca, Thi Ho, Rebecca Jacobson, Tsvetina Kamenova, Hannah Levintova, Abe Lubetkin, Christian Martell, Taryn Martinez, Zachary McCune, Nathalie Pierrepont, Robin Steele, 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 Brianna Barzola, Aurora Durfee, Sophie Elsner, Christian Martell, Matthew McCabe, Ezra Miller, Sarah Raifman Photo Staff Stuart Duncan-Smith, Austin Freeman, Tai Ho Shin Copy Editors Ayelet Brinn, Catherine Cullen, Erin Cummings, Karen Evans, Jacob Frank, Ted Lamm, Lauren Levitz, Cici Matheny, Alex Mazerov, Ezra Miller, Joy Neumeyer, Madeleine Rosenberg, Lucy Stark, Meha Verghese
ROXANNE PALMER
LETTERS Elliott ’07 overlooks impact of communism To the Editor: I do not have sufficient space or time to respond point by point to each of the mindless criticisms Justin Elliott ’07 launched in his column in Monday’s Herald (“Fact-electual diversity,” Feb. 26). But I cannot let one line go without comment. Elliott is offended that the Spectator ran “an article taking on the Red Terror … approximately 20 years after everyone stopped caring.” He seems to have forgotten the fact that we were in the middle of fighting the Cold War in 1987, hardly a time when “everyone stopped caring.” He may also want to consider that not only it is ignorant to scoff at the fact that the Soviet Union killed 20 million of its own people, but that hundreds of thousands continue
to die at the hands of communist barbarism in North Korea, China and Cuba today. Still, I was honored to read that Elliott named the Spectator the “premier humor magazine on campus.” Given his kind words, I would like to extend an invitation to Elliott to start contributing to the Spectator. I’m sure his brilliant analysis would be much appreciated.
Pratik Chougule ’08 Editor in Chief The Brown Spectator Feb. 26
Give Seligmann the benefit of the doubt To the Editor: In response to criticism of Brown’s recruitment of Duke lacrosse player Reade Seligmann, I would like to point out that there are no charges of rape pending in the alleged incident and that evidence has been presented indicating that Seligmann was not even at the scene of the alleged crime. In fairly considering Seligmann, the University is demonstrating an extremely high caliber of moral conscience by judging him not by public perception but by trusting our legal sys-
tem. If he ends up actually being convicted of a crime, which looks very unlikely at this point, I am sure that Brown would terminate its relationship with Seligmann — however, until that time, we should give him the benefit of the doubt and judge him as we would any other candidate. Trevor Griffen ‘07 Feb. 26
EDITOR’S NOTE Due to an internal error, The Herald published a letter to the editor Monday (“Brown shouldn’t recruit Duke’s Seligmann,” Feb. 26) that had been retracted by its author, Peter Friedman P’07. Friedman had submitted the letter to The Herald for publication but later requested to a Herald editor that his letter not be published.
CLARIFICATION An article in Monday’s Herald (“U. responds to slavery and justice report,” Feb. 26) stated that the University will waive tuition for up to 10 masters students who will teach in local public schools for three years following graduation. While some of those students will teach in the public schools, some will serve the schools in other ways. 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 27, 2007
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The truth about Republicans, Democrats and the anti-surge resolution KATY CRANE
OPINIONS COLUMNIST
As soon as the House of Representatives passed the nonbinding resolution against a troop surge in Iraq, Republicans began calling the vote a “moral victory” for supporters of the surge. According to Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, both Republicans and Democrats expected the number of Republicans supporting the resolution to be much higher than it was. In the end, 17 Republicans crossed party lines to vote for the resolution, while only two Democrats voted against it. It is true that the language of the resolution — expressing both support for the troops now serving in Iraq and disapproval of the president’s plan to increase their numbers — was designed to appeal to both parties. It was this that prompted Boehner to announce that while the Democrats might have won the vote, ““We won the debate.” Much of this is, of course, pure spin. Retroactive estimates are always hard to trust, and in this case there is a massive discrepancy between the 12 or so Republican votes that Nancy Pelosi says she expected and the 50-odd votes that the Washington Post’s Paul Kane says Republicans were preparing to lose earlier in the week. Yet even if the Republicans are relieved to have lost only 17 votes, it is not at all clear that they should be. Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., credits Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., with lowering the number of
Republican defectors by revealing his plan to limit the number of troops sent to Iraq. The plan, which Murtha unveiled on Tuesday, does not involve cutting funding to the troops already in Iraq — one of the many specters raised by Republicans opposing the House resolution. Instead, it would increase requirements for additional troops and ensure that they had adequate training and armor before being sent overseas. According to Cantor, Murtha’s proposal
have for refusing to equip them properly. In their speeches to the House, Republicans tried to dismiss the resolution as meaningless and unimportant. The very vehemence with which they also argued that passing it would embolden the enemy, discourage the troops and lead to security lines in malls foiled them. True, the resolution is only symbolic. Yet as the reaction to Murtha’s plan made clear, it does not merely represent a vote of disap-
246 members of the House of Representatives not only know that the Iraq war has been botched but are willing to do something about picking up the pieces. was so radical and shocking that it alienated the many Republicans who would otherwise have supported the resolution. Of course, since the resolution opposes a troop surge, and Murtha’s plan is aimed at preventing a troop surge, it is hard to see what the big conflict is. And because many of the Republicans who spoke against the resolution claimed to put the welfare of the troops first, it is also hard to see what moral grounds they can
proval on a single element of the president’s strategy. It shows that 246 members of the House of Representatives not only know that the Iraq war has been botched, but are willing to do something about picking up the pieces. It shows that the Democrats are welcoming the increased responsibility that comes with control of Congress, and are more concerned with getting us out of Iraq than they are with pleasing every possible faction.
The 17 Republicans who supported the resolution did so for a number of different reasons. Some were fiscal conservatives worried about the taxpayer money being poured into Iraq. Several quoted Generals John Abizaid and Powell, who advised against the surge. Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., had spoken to soldiers now serving in Iraq, who had told him that an increase in troops would do nothing to help Americans caught in the middle of an Iraqi civil war. Some of the 17 were opposed to the war itself — Upton said he believed “the vote authorizing the war was based on evidence that was flat-out wrong.” Others simply felt that it was time for military intervention to begin giving way to diplomacy. Yet they all shared one characteristic: They took the resolution seriously and viewed it as the first step in an effort to bring the troops home from Iraq. If, as Cantor claims, Murtha’s plan “exposed (the Democrats) for what they are,” this can only be a good thing for the Democrats, because it shows that there is nothing empty or meaningless about those 17 Republican votes. And as Saturday’s vote in the Senate demonstrated, Democrats have not stopped winning Republicans to their side. As both parties predicted, Democrats in the Senate fell four votes short of the 60 needed to force a debate on the resolution. Yet when the Senate voted on the issue earlier this month, only two Republicans crossed party lines. By Saturday, the number of Republican votes was up to seven. Now that’s what I call a moral victory.
Katy Crane ’07 is resolute in her resolution in support of the resolution.
Brown forecast: Low 20s with plenty of smug I grew up in Rhode Is-
SEAN QUIGLEY
OPINIONS COLUMNIST
land, though my family is not originally from the Northeast. Both of my parents originate from the southwestern part of Pennsylvania, having moved here when I was an infant for job-related reasons. When they were preparing to move to Ivy country, common advice from friends back home ranged from “watch out for that Northeast elitism” to “prepare for some Ivy League smug.” And just as my parents received the aforementioned advice from many friends, so too would I willingly dispense it to any newcomer in the Northeast. Now, you may suggest that Northeasterners in general are the smug ones and that Brown students who come here from outside become unfairly characterized by this undesirable trait. On the contrary, I believe that the insufferably liberal Ivy League students and professors who move to the Northeast to partake in the elite academy cause Northeasterners in general to be viewed as smug. In other words, Ivy League pretentiousness gives the whole region a bad name. I do not have the time to fully explain why describing the Ivies as pretentious is an accurate assessment, but I feel that many people’s personal experiences will vindicate my assertions. We all know the stereotype of the whiny liberal, with a protest sign in one hand and a fair trade coffee in the other, is alive and well here at Brown. But that is not the worst form of pretentiousness that is displayed at our beloved University. Let us return to the night of Feb. 7, when Nonie Darwish spoke in Salomon 101. I at-
tended her lecture and found it to be rather provocative, if slightly unrefined. But I am glad that Darwish had the courage to speak to a frequently hostile audience. Considering her view that Muslim radicals and Arab culture are at odds with modernity is so politically incorrect, she was especially bold. Yet many of my fellow students did not seem to appreciate Darwish’s coming to
David Horowitz incident of March 2001, when angry students stole 5,000 copies of The Herald because Horowitz had dared to question the victimhood of blacks. On Feb. 7, a new Horowitz (Darwish) came to question the victimhood of another group (Muslims) and to express doubts about the assertion that America and its “Zionist-Jew allies” are responsible for all the Muslim world’s
Darwish concluded that Islamic culture was the main culprit responsible for the troubles facing the Muslim world. But such an “insensitive” viewpoint was heresy in the eyes of many Brown students. speak at Brown. During the question and answer session, one gentleman, in a valiant display of soundbyte bravery, took it upon himself to denounce the “way in which (Darwish) was brought here” and openly sought “to embarrass the people who brought (her) here.” Although this gentleman’s beliefs were hard to discern, I concluded from the rant that his objection to Darw Darwish’s lecture was the very fact that it took place. He seemed to make an ill-constructed parallel between the forced repression of free speech in virtually the entire Muslim world and the fact that Darwish “forced” her views on the Brown population. His objections were reminiscent of the
problems. Drawing primarily from years of personal experience, Darwish concluded that Islamic culture was the main culprit responsible for the troubles facing the Muslim world. But such an “insensitive” viewpoint was heresy in the eyes of many Brown students. I suppose the value of free speech has a caveat: One can never criticize a “victim.” Later in the night, some questioners attempted to seize their 15 minutes (literally) of fame by quoting obscure passages from Darwish’s book and past statements, and attempting to disprove them by citing information immaterial to the discussion at hand. Invariably, these students were reading what appeared to be prepared statements, which
digressed from the topics Darwish actually addressed. That sort of thing makes me wonder if those students even listened to her lecture. Other students tried to attack Darwish’s credibility, focusing on her lack of a formal doctoral degree. Repeatedly, students criticized Darwish for not being a “scholar of Islam” or for not having the paper credentials they deemed indispensable for the formation of a valid opinion. I suppose that Darwish’s having lived in Egypt for 30 years, where she received an extensive education in the despicability of the Americans and the Jews, was a trivial detail. Ditto to the fact that the Israeli Defense Forces killed her father in a targeted assassination. She didn’t have a Ph.D., so she knew nothing. This is precisely the sort of elitism my family was warned against when it moved to the Northeast. The sort of snobbery that refuses to believe that reasonable people can disagree. The sort of snobbery that refuses to give due consideration to a fellow human’s perspective — that places little value on actual experience, but limitless value on a diploma under glass. True, the night of Nonie Darwish’s lecture may have been an isolated incident, when a few liberal students vented their frustrations by spewing personal attacks that failed to contest the actual content of Darwish’s speech. But to me, this seemed like just another manifestation of Northeastern smug. Although, since I don’t have a doctorate, I probably don’t have a right to an opinion. Mrs. Darwish, when defending herself against the attack that she was not “worthy” to speak at Brown and to offer an opinion, asserted, “I do meet the criteria of a human being.” I, for one, am willing to accept that.
Sean Quigley ’10 sometimes drinks fair-trade coffee because it’s the only type available at
S POR TS T UESDAY TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2007
W. lax loses to Tar Heels, equestrian regains lead The women’s lacrosse team had a tough opening to its season, dropping a 17-5 decision to the No. 1ranked University of North Carolina Tar Heels. UNC raced out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first seven minutes of the game and never looked back. Mimi DeTolla ’08 cut Brown’s deficit to two when she scored an unassisted goal midway through the first half. However, that was as close as the Bears ever got. The Tar Heels outscored the Bears 8-0 over the remainder of the first half to establish a commanding 11-1 advantage. Despite the big deficit, Brown continued to fight. The Tar Heels only outscored the Bears 7-4 in the second half. The Bears scored four goals on four shots over the next 21:35 of game. DeTolla scored her second of the game, while Lauren Vitkus ’09 and Bethany Buzzell also found the back of the net for the Bears. Amanda Rosenberg ’10 stopped 17 shots in her first collegiate game. The Bears will return to action on Friday, when they face Sacred Hear in Fairfield, Conn. — Justin Goldman Equestrian The equestrian team officially
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
took back the reins this past Saturday by regaining its lead in the Region 1 conference, overtaking the University of Connecticut in the process with an outstanding performance that saw the squad score 44 out of a possible 49 points. Marissa Geoffroy ’07 won the high-point rider ride-off while Rachel Griffith took reserve in the event. Whitney Keefe ’08 won the blue ribbon for seven points and Grace Peloquin ’07 finished third in the class. The Bears were particularly successful in Novice Fences, with three of the riders winning blue ribbons: Irmak Tasindi ’08, Emily Cole ’08 and Griffith. Rachel Lubin ’07 continued Bruno’s winning ways by nabbing a first-place finish in the Intermediate Flat. In the Walk Trot Canter portion of the day, Sarah Morris ’07 also finished first. Kiauntee Murray ’09, McCall Lewis ’08 and Stephanie Carmack ’08 all took first-place ribbons home in their respective events. The Bears smothered the Huskies by 15 points and will look to further their streak of success in the final two shows of the regular season on March 10 at Connecticut College and March 17 at Johnson & Wales. — Sarah Demers
W. hoops splits weekend on N.Y. road trip BY JUSTIN GOLDMAN SPORTS EDITOR
The women’s basketball team claimed its third Ivy League win of the season in thrilling fashion on Friday night with a 72-69 double overtime victory against Columbia. But the Bears could not bring the momentum they created against the Lions to the contest against Cornell on Saturday, suffering a tough 41-36 loss. Columbia came out with fire and emotion Friday and built a 17-6 lead over Brown in the first seven minutes of the game. The Bears then started to find some offensive rhythm, cutting the deficit to six at one point. Yet the Lions outscored the Bears 15-6 over the next 7:00 and stretched their lead to 32-17 by the end of the half. Both teams traded baskets for the remainder of the half, and Columbia went to the locker room leading 38-24. Faced with the deficit, Brown came out roaring in the second half. Bruno outscored the Lions 102 over the first 4:50 of the second half to cut its deficit to six. “In the first half, we gave up way too many points,” said forward Ashley King-Bischof ’07. “In the second half, we made some defensive
Jacob Melrose / Herald File Photo
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Ashley King-Bischof ’07 scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in Brown’s double overtime win against Columbia on Friday.
M. swimming finishes seventh of nine at EISL Championships BY KAITLYN LAABS SPORTS STAFF WRITER
Capping off the 2006-2007 season, the men’s swimming and diving team took seventh place in the Eastern Interscholastic Swimming League Championships this weekend in Princeton, N.J. The host Tigers captured first place in the meet, followed by Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Cornell and the United States Naval Academy. The University of Pennsylvania and Dart-
mouth finished in eighth and ninth places, respectively. While the Tigers scored 1,405 points over the three-day event, Bruno accumulated a total of 624 points, led by top performers Brian Kelly ’08 and Daniel Ricketts ’09. Despite the seemingly low team placement, captain Peter Volosin ’08 was pleased at his team’s performance at Easterns. Volosin noted the swimmers’ outstanding team effort as the highlight of their final meet, as many swim-
mers recorded their best times of the season and contributed to the team’s point total. “It was an extremely positive meet for us,” he said. “Almost everyone scored for the team.” Volosin got the Bears off to a strong start, securing a spot in the consolation finals of the 1,650-yard freestyle. Velosin finished 12th in the race, clocking in at 15:46.27. Kevin Hug ’08 followed up with a 17th-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke, swimming a time of
1:49.71. The Bears saw the best performance of the meet in the 100-yard freestyle event. Kelly was Brown’s highest finisher in the race, nabbing fourth place with a time of 44.81. This year’s Easterns meet was a personal victory for Kelly, who overcame injuries and disheartening performances in his first two seasons to emerge as Brown’s top competitor in 2007.
Jacob Melrose / Herald File Photo
Zach Pasanen ’07 won four matches for the Bears in their two wins against Buffalo and Navy.
After tough matches in Virginia last week, the men’s tennis team returned to College Hill for a doubleheader against the United States Naval Academy and the State University of New York at Buffalo. The No. 57 Bears had a happy homecoming, overwhelming Navy 7-0 and dominating Buffalo 6-1. “I’m really happy,” said Head Coach Jay Harris. “I thought today was going to be really tough. It was our toughest doubleheader of the year. We were extremely banged up, we played really short-handed and to win 7-0 and 6-1 shows how consistent we are.” The Bears began their sweep of the Goats by taking the doubles point. At first doubles, cocaptain Dan Hanegby ’07 teamed up with Basu Ratnam ’09 to defeat Nate Nelms and Jason Hill 8-5. Co-captain Eric Thomas ’07 and Chris Lee ’09 also won an 8-5 match at second doubles against Stanley Kahl and Adrian Lai. At
BY JASON HARRIS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
third doubles, Zack Pasanen ’07 and Noah Gardner ’09 earned an 8-6 victory over Ramsey Lemaich and Johnny Waters. The Bears’ domination continued in singles play as the team took five of the six singles matches in straight sets. At first singles, Hanegby faced Nelms for the second time that day, winning the match by a score of 6-3, 6-2. Thomas took on Hill at second singles, where he had a 6-1, 6-4 victory. At third singles, Ratnam earned a 6-4, 7-6 win over Waters, and at fourth singles, Pasanen defeated Lai 6-2, 7-5. Joe Scott ‘08 captured a threeset match against Lemaich at fi fth singles, triumphing 6-4, 26, 1-0. At sixth singles, Gardner overpowered Kahl 6-1, 6-2. “We played pretty well,” Hanegby said. “We’re pretty limited because lots of guys are injured, but we fought hard.” Last week, the Bears said their goal is to win the doubles point of every match this season, but in the second match of Sat-
The men’s lacrosse team lost its opening game at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County in an overtime nail-biter on Saturday. Despite a strong performance, Bruno was outlasted by the Retrievers in Head Coach Lars Tiffany’s ’90 first game leading the Bears. Brown played catch-up the whole game, as the team was down 4-2 after the first quarter and 7-5 at halftime. UMBC stretched its lead to 10-5 with three unanswered goals in the third quarter before Brown came back with a 6-1 run started by a goal by attackman Jack Walsh ’09 and finished with a goal by tri-captain midfielder Alex Buckley ’07 that tied the game at 11. But UMBC scored the gamewinner 27 seconds into overtime to pull out the 12-11 victory. “I was proud that the team came back from 10-5,” Buckley said. “We proved to ourselves that we are able to do it.” Buckley scored three of his four goals during the comeback stretch, and Walsh scored two of his three during the 6-1 spurt as well. The other goal during the run came from midfielder Will Davis ’07. Tri-captain David Madeira ’07 said the team showed tremendous resilience. “We were down five in the second half, but we didn’t give up,” Madeira said. “We stayed confident and stuck with each other the whole way.” Jordan Burke ’09 put out a strong performance in his first collegiate start in the cage, stop-
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M. tennis swamps Navy, Buffalo BY ERIN FRAUENHOFER ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
M. lax drops opener to UMBC