THE BROWN DAILY HERALD M ONDAY,
Volume CXLII, No. 55
RIL
2 3, 2007 23, 2 007
Since 1866, Daily Since 1891
Yale’s Lassonde named deputy dean of the College BY CHAZ FIRESTONE SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Stephen Lassonde, currently dean of Yale University’s Calhoun College, will become Brown’s deputy dean of the College July 1, University officials plan to announce today. Lassonde announced his resig-
nation in an e-mail sent to all Calhoun students last night, revealing his plans to fill Brown’s newly created position after 14 years as dean there. Lassonde “has worked extensively with Yale’s academic advising programs, including first-and second-year advising, upper-class advising, fellowship and pre-law
advising, career and study-abroad advising and advising on academic standing,” Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron wrote in a campus-wide e-mail to be sent today. “He has also participated on Yale’s equivalent to the (College Curriculum Council), and on the President’s Alcohol Policy Review Committee,” Bergeron wrote.
The position of deputy dean of the College was created as part of a restructuring of the Office of the Dean of the College. Lassonde “will be responsible for the overall coordination of the office” and will work with Bergeron and other deans “to establish programmatic continued on page 6
Chris Bennett / Herald
Michael Glassman ’09 (left) and Moses Riner ’08.
Glassman ’09, Riner ’08 in run-off for UCS president BY MICHAEL BECHEK SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Green Horn Management is a private event management company hired by the University to man Spring Weekend festivities. Only 10 alcohol-related EMS calls and four transports — two to area hospitals — were reported from Thursday night through Saturday night, far fewer than the 22 calls and 10 hospital transports made during Spring Weekend in 2006 over the three-day period
Michael Glassman ’09 and Moses Riner ’08 will go head-to-head in a run-off election, beginning today, for president of the Undergraduate Council of Students, after no presidential candidate earned a majority of votes in last week’s election. Voting for the run-off election will be open on MyCourses between noon today and 9 p.m. Tuesday. Glassman and Riner spoke after the results were announced just after midnight Friday morning on the steps of Faunce House, and both expressed excitement for the upcoming run-off election. “I knew it was going to be a horse race,” Riner told The Herald. “I’m excited for some Spring Weekend campaigning,” Glassman said. Winners and losers alike shared champagne with the assembled crowd of about 30 students, including current and former UCS members. Lauren Kolodny ’08 was elected UCS vice president and Drew Madden ’10 was elected student activities chair in the only contested races for positions on UCS’s executive board. In uncontested races, Rakim Brooks ’09 was elected academic and administrative affairs chair, Jane Zhang ’10 admissions and student services chair, Ellie Cutler ’10 campus life chair, Tan Nguyen ’10 appointments chair and Jose Vas-
continued on page 6
continued on page 4
Courtesy of Zachary Marcus ’10
Bright blue balloons floated above students gathered on the Main Green for the Flaming Lips’ headlining act at Saturday’s Spring Weekend concert. SEE ARTS & CULTURE, PAGE 3 AND PHOTOS FROM SPRING WEEKEND 2007, PAGES 8 & 9
Talent Quest aims to increase socioeconomic diversity BY JAMES SHAPIRO SENIOR STAFF WRITER
The increase in first-generation college students accepted to the College this year — 20 percent more than last year — can be attributed in part to the success of the Talent Quest program, University officials say. The share of first-generation students in the admitted class of 2011 increased to 15 percent, up from 12 percent last year. Talent Quest, the University’s effort to attract students from schools in low-income areas, “has been a very helpful program for us, creating interest in Brown among first-generation students,” said Dean of Admission Jim Miller ’73. “We talk about diversity broadly, and socioeconomic diversity is certainly an important part of that effort,” Miller said. Miller said Talent Quest has heightened the Admission Office’s “collective sensicontinued on page 4
INSIDE:
3 ARTS & CULTURE
Controlled Spring Weekend yields few EMS calls BY SCOTT LOWENSTEIN SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Revelers at this year’s Spring Weekend were met with a controlled scene, with few major disruptions and a decrease in alcohol-related Brown Emergency Medical Services ambulance transports from last year. As the weekend drew to a close, rumors about a conflict between the University and Sigma Chi over bulk beer purchases swirled around
Freshmen filmmakers retrace Civil Rights movement over break Four first-years spend spring break tracing Alabama’s Civil Rights movement BY JESSICA ROTONDI STAFF WRITER
Inside a “super zippy” silver Dodge Caliber, Evan Pulvers ’10, Jing Xu ’10, Shruti Parekh ’10 and Sarah Gibson ’10 blasted a gospel CD. The windows of the rented car were rolled down to let in the 80-degree air, and the odometer read 964 miles as the four girls drove through rolling green vis-
NEW PLAYS FESTIVAL Saturday’s performance of the “The Fishbone Fables” engaged the audience in a campfire-like setting
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campus, but University officials and members of the fraternity said the situation is still unresolved and offered few details. “Everyone from the deans, EMS, (the Department of Public Safety) and Green Horn Management thought everything went really smoothly,” said Margaret Klawunn, associate vice president for campus life and dean of student life. Student organizers “were equally happy with how things turned out,” she said.
7 CAMPUS NEWS
FEATURE tas toward their spring break destination. But the freshmen were not headed to Cancun or Miami. They were retracing the steps of Martin Luther King, Jr. as he led marchers from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., in March of 1965. Forty-two years after the original event, the four girls were driving through the deep South to film a documentary on the Civil Rights continued on page 4
BROWN-LONDON-FEZ Elizabeth O’Neill ’08 successfully hitchhiked from London to Morocco to raise money for charity
Courtesy of Evan Pulvers ’10
Sarah Gibson ‘10 (left) and Shruti Parekh ‘10 filmed Richard Bailey, a historian in Montgomery, Ala., as part of a documentary on the Civil Rights movement.
15 OPINIONS
195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island
AN AMERICAN ABROAD After spending the year in England, Maha Atal ’08 says she has a newfound appreciation for what it means to be an American
16 SPORTS
BASEBALL SPLITS The baseball team went 22 against Harvard over the weekend to keep pace with the Crimson atop the Red Rolfe Division Standings
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WE A
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T H E R
TODAY
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sunny 76 / 55
partly cloudy 71 / 43
MEN SHARPE REFECTORY
MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2007
U VERNEY-WOOLLEY DINING HALL
LUNCH — BBQ Beef Sandwich, wich, TTater Tots, Creole Mixed Vegetables, Chourico, Chicken Parmesan Grinder, Broccoli Noodle Polonaise, Blondies, Sugar Cookies
LUNCH — Cavatini, Vegan Stuffed Peppers, Sauteed Zucchini and Onions, Vegetarian Japanese Noodle Soup, Potato Vegetable Chowder with Ham, Raspberry Swirl Cookies
DINNER — Rotisserie Style Chicken, Italian Couscous, Zucchini Lasagna, Spinach Fettucini, Squash Rolls, Strawberry Jello, Blueberry Gingerbread
DINNER — Grilled Cilantro Chicken, Sweet and Sour Tofu, Chinese Fried Rice, Arabian Spinach French Bread, Dutch Cherry Cake
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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
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CR ACROSS 1 Lighter alternative 6 Machine part 9 Tax deadline month 14 “But only God can make __” 15 Colgate tube letters 16 Flies high 17 Look too long 18 Coquettish 19 Withdrew, with “out” 20 Student of the Lincoln era 23 Shouts for the matador 24 Sharpens the edge of 25 Sugar cube 29 “Honor Thy Father” author Gay 31 Magazine employee 33 Conical dwelling 37 “All set to go!” 38 Curry favor with the boss, say 41 Pago Pago’s place 43 Birch bark boat 44 Progress in the garden 46 Searches for prey, lion-style 51 Retread or radial 52 Bicker 56 Hair-removing brand 57 “Get out of bed, lazybones!” 60 Light bulb units 63 U.K. channel 64 Large crowd 65 Correspondence created on keyboards 66 Pipe fitter’s joint 67 __ but wiser 68 Shopping binge 69 Marvin or Majors 70 Garbage emanations
O S S W O R D
2 Number one 39 Neckwear that 53 One in an Hun makes a uprising 3 Visit faraway statement 54 “Gone with the places 40 Ran at a relaxed Wind” star 4 Shade of red pace 55 Male relative 5 “Follow me, 41 LAPD rank 58 Spot in the Rover” 42 Onassis of ocean 6 Chocolate bean shipping 59 “Skedaddle!” 7 Decorate 45 Owns 60 Filmmaker 8 “It’s possible” 47 Waiting to talk Craven 9 Beginning on 48 Kook 61 Electrical unit, 10 Easy plays for 49 Library, for one briefly infielders 50 Takes the helm 62 Paving material 11 Snitch ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: 12 Make angry 13 ’60s tripper’s substance 21 Roulette spinner 22 Put into service 26 Great Salt Lake site 27 ’60s chic 28 Be nosy 30 Mar. parade honoree 32 Not so rainy, climatewise 34 Upper-bod muscle 35 Ecol. watchdog 36 Long period of time 4/23/07 38 Roman love god xwordeditor@aol.com
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ARTS & CULTURE MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2007
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
Barbecues, block parties and campus events make Spring Weekend 2007 a success BY LYDIA GIDWITZ AND LINDSEY MEYERS ARTS & CULTURE EDITORS
Eunice Hong / Herald
The Flaming Lips headlined Saturday’s concert on the Main Green during this year’s Spring Weekend.
The long-awaited arrival of spring weather came to Brown on Friday, just in time for the beginning of Spring Weekend, the annual fete of food, frivolity and music. On Friday afternoon, Spagfest transformed Wriston Quadrangle into a cafeteria scene from “Animal House,” as the annual food fight left the quad and many Brunonians splattered with spaghetti sauce in the best tradition of John Belushi. Meanwhile, in Sayles Hall, the Slavic Festival — three hours of traditional Slavic cuisine and music — attracted those who preferred to keep their food on their plates. By 7:30 p.m., students headed to Meehan Auditorium for performances by bands Soulive and The
New England folklore re-envisioned in “Fishbone Fables” BY MARIELA QUINTANA CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The Brown University Graduate Program in the Literary Arts has continually produced impressive and original works by young, talented playwrights, and this year’s New Plays Festival proved to be no exception. Saturday night’s performance of “The Fishbone Fables,” written by Dan LeFranc GS with direction and music by Peter Sampieri, showcased the incredible creativity that characterizes the program. LeFranc’s innovative and interactive play found the perfect setting in the Pell Chafee Performance Center’s simple black box set. “The Fishbone Fables” combined LeFranc’s glib writing with Sampieri’s catchy musical score in a hybrid of traditional musical and folkloric oral narrative. The play’s singular style set the stage for a witty mockery of foundation legends and creation myths. LeFranc’s lyrics thrived on nasty humor that mercilessly poked fun at historical re-enactments and dowdy New England tradition. “Fables” surpassed the conventions of a traditional musical not only in its sharp lines but also in its theatrical presentation. Instead of simply their seats, the audience trailed after an assembly of actors called “Mad Minstrels of New England” as they romped and roared about the stage. In the center of the black box, a large cedar shaft akin to a totem pole or the mast of a tall ship likened the play to a series of campfire tales. Hanging from the ceiling in a circle around the pole were thin screens displaying eerie symbols and icons, many of which depicted skeletons of fish and other nautical images. Three of the screens displayed lists scrawled in a crude hand of phrases such as “The Fishbone Fable,” “The Waitress from Worchester,” “The Mild-mannered Mafiosos,” “The Neighbor from Nantucket” and “The Anchor Shaped Shoe.” As the play unfolded, the meanings of these menacing messages became clear. Each phrase referred to one of the fa-
bles, which the highly skilled and perfectly timed chorus of actors related in pagan-like songs and chants. Acutely aware of their own presence and those of their fellow actors, the chorus relayed a total of 30 fables with impressive comedic timing and outrageous antics. Dressed like the Grim Reaper and the Addams Family, the chorus’ dark costumes and startling white faces fit the play’s unsettling atmosphere and further evoked the gloomy portent of “The Fishbone Fable.”
REVIEW Each fable centered on the origins of traditional New England stereotypes, such as the Puritans, fishing, stoic endurance of foul weather, WASPs, the Red Sox and liquor stores closed on Sundays. Each fable incorporated a creepy reference to the fishbone skeleton or another allusion to death, recalling provincial regional myths and urban legends. Ideal for an audience mostly made up of members of the Brown community, LeFranc’s coy jabs and New England inside jokes had the robust and appreciative crowd clapping and hooting their praise throughout the performance. The undeniable entertainment and excitement provoked by “Fables” reflect the playwright’s own
ease with words and the actors’ confidence in their engaging performances, which easily drew in the audience without overwrought lines or exaggerated amusement. Strumming on stringed instruments and chiming on cymbals and tambourines as they sang out their lines, the actors effortlessly led the enthralled audience around the stage. The rush of their running energy encouraged the audience to actively participate in the action of the play. At times, the actors belted out their lines with gazes directly fastened at particular audience members, as if beseeching them individually and enveloping them wholly in the play’s rhythm and flow. The coordination of music, noise and lyrics carried the audience along as they shifted around and began to make sense of the mysterious legends. Though the stage teemed with energy and movement, the audience effortlessly kept up with the chorus as they chanted out their epic tale in perfect, bard-like unison. The pulse of the play beat with a distinct vitality. Whether encouraging audience members to dance or coaxing them to sit cross-legged as though listening to campfire stories, the actors stepped beyond the boundaries of imagination and brought LeFranc’s mock historical re-enactment to life.
Roots. The raucous crowd enjoyed the “funk-reggae-afro-soul” sound of Soulive. The quirky lyrics and rap music of The Roots were well-received, and the long drum solo of the Roots’ drummer, ?uestlove, left the crowd thunderstruck. At the sold-out Flaming Lips concert on Saturday, the Main Green reverberated with enthusiastic fans. Following openers Stardeath and White Dwarfs, Misson of Burma and Yo La Tengo, the Lips’ lead singer Wayne Coyne entered in a large, clear plastic ball reminiscent of a hamster wheel. After crowd surfing, Coyne landed in the middle of the crowd, incorporating the entire green — not just those lucky enough to be in the front row — into the experience, said concert attendee Taylor Friedman ’07. “The Flaming Lips shows are
known to be spectacles,” said Jillian Baron ’07. Saturday’s concert was no exception. The stage was filled with dancers costumed as pink robots —a reference to their 2002 album, “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.” But as big blue balloons floated through the air and pink robots danced on the stage, Coyne’s words to the audience turned political. The lead singer criticized President Bush, seeking to rouse the crowd in response, but encountered little enthusiasm. After two years of rainy Spring Weekends, beautiful weather made this year’s event a success. With outdoor barbecues, street parties and incredible musical performances — concluded Sunday with the iconic stylings of Dave Binder — the Brown campus rang in the beginning of springtime in grand fashion.
Mezcla shows its flavor in “Our Rhythm, Nuestra Sabor” BY TAYLOR BARNES STAF F WRITER
Most Brunonians probably haven’t seen a color guard since high school football games, and never as part of a tango performance. But Brown’s Latino performing arts troupe, Mezcla — “mix” in Spanish — mixed traditional mariachi with Shakira’s music, spoken word with acrobatics and flag corps with tango in their annual spring show held April 19 and 21. Titled, “Our Rhythm, Nuestra Sabor,” the show aimed for a “modern integration of Latin music with other cultures,” said Frinny Polanco ’07, Mezcla’s president. This multicultural theme was highlighted in “Dhol Mundial: An Afro Peruvian-South Asian Fusion,” performed with Brown’s Indian dance company Badmaash. First, Badmaash members in colorful tunics and jeweled bindis performed upbeat dances from India, then female dancers from Mezcla in red frilled skirts and crop tops danced traditional pieces from Peru. At the end, the stage filled with dancers from each troupe as they moved in sync to live drum beats, narrowing the gap of over 10,000 miles between the two countries to just the few inches between the festive performers. Many pieces maintained solely Latino dance styles. The most innovative performance of the night, “Tango Is Not for Three,” began with a couple happily dancing in the classic Argentine style. Then a second woman in a red dress wearing a rhinestone bra peeking above the neckline entered to seduce the man, who left his lady twirling a
REVIEW flag to the side. The three then collided and, still in tango style, simulated a physical altercation, after which the women dumped the man and left him banging his fist against the wall in frustration. Not every performance told a complex story or even drew upon Latino music. The best choreographed piece, “Freak It,” brought tight moves and breakdancing to Justin Timberlake’s “My Love” and T.I.’s “What You Know About That.” The lead male performer flipped on and off the stage, prompting one member of the energized audience to yell, “Don’t hurt nobody!” Though the dances were upbeat, the spoken word performances touched on serious topics. In “Reflejos,” one performer compared her father to TV dads with white-collar jobs, saying he “didn’t wear black slacks, he wore black Dickies,” while another speaker, whose mother “told her that real women have curves” and fed her tamales and tortillas, said, “You can tell why my body doesn’t look like the toothpick model.” Recognizing the need for cultural remembrance as they face contemporary challenges, the speakers concluded, “¿Que es el futuro sin el pasado? What is the future without the past?” Appropriating both traditional dances and modern styles in a celebration of Latino culture, the hour-and-a-half long Mezcla show effectively spoke to the value of synthesizing cultural traditions and the present.
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
Riner ’08, Glassman ’09 to face off for UCS presidency today
Freshmen filmmakers retrace Civil Rights movement
continued from page 1 conez ’10 treasurer. Ryan Mott ’09 was elected chair of the Undergraduate Finance Board in another uncontested race. The two candidates for UFB vice chair, Herald Opinions Columnist Don Trella ’08 and Jonathan Natkins ’08, will also face off in a run-off. Due to write-in votes and ballots that did not cast a vote for the race, neither candidate earned the required majority. The run-off for UCS president eliminated the only other candidate, Stefan Smith ’09. Another candidate, Eric Mukherjee ’09, was disqualified Tuesday by UCS’s elections board for failing to attend two required meetings. The Herald reported Thursday that Mukherjee, who had promised to dissolve UCS if elected, was initially unaware that he was running and that his campaign was spearheaded by friends without his knowledge. Glassman, currently the UCS communications chair, said his goals include developing a student response to Banner, renovating dorms, expanding January@Brown and increasing the number of stu-
dents participating in UCS. A two-year veteran of UCS, Glassman is from New York City and is involved with the Sustainable Food Initiative. Last year, he worked to create the Flex meal plan as a member of UCS’s campus life and admissions and student services committees. Riner, a history concentrator with a special interest in entrepreneurship, transferred from Duke University last fall and has been at at-large representative to the council since the beginning of this semester. Involved with the rugby team and the Brown Investment Group, Riner said his major issues include a response to Banner and increasing the amount of social space on campus. Riner, from Louisville, Ky., also wants to create a program that would reward students with “points” for attending athletic events. In the other contested races, Erik Duhaime ’10, Alex Wilpon ’10, Monica Rosenberg ’10, Michael Miller ’10 and Paris Hays ’10 were elected Class of 2010 representatives to UCS. Eric Bair ’09, Adam Axler ’08, Mallory Phillips ’08, Erinn Phelan ’09 and Anita Sekar ’10 were elected representatives to UFB.
Talent Quest aims to increase students’ socioeconomic diversity continued from page 1 tivity to issues” that lower-income students face. The Talent Quest program began in mid-2002. Associate Director of Admission Andrea van Niekerk, who coordinates Talent Quest, created a list of 120 secondary schools that are likely to have a core of talented, low-income students. The list changes from year to year, and admission officers visit Talent Quest schools in their geographic area and encourage students to consider applying to Brown and other selective schools. “When you’re thinking of increasing the representation of any particular group on campus, it is always a long-term project. It really takes years to come about,” van Niekerk said. “One of the great things for us is we’re beginning to see that,” she added, noting that this year, “there is sort of a visible sense of the greater socioeconomic spectrum in our applicant pool.” Talent Quest schools tend to be located in urban and suburban areas, with particularly high concentrations in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City and Providence. With eight Talent Quest schools, Providence has the largest cluster of any city. Van Niekerk’s initial list included several affluent preparatory schools — Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., among them — because they enroll high numbers of low-income students on scholarship. Van Niekerk said she later replaced the prep schools with public schools to refocus efforts on students with fewer resources. Through the Talent Quest program, admission officials recently began working with a number of community-based organizations that focus on sending low-income students to college. These organizations include the TEAK Fellowship in New York City, Young
Scholars in San Francisco and Upward Bound in Rhode Island. The program also covers travel expenses for admitted students from Talent Quest schools who cannot otherwise afford to attend A Day On College Hill, Brown’s annual spring program for admitted students. This year’s ADOCH was held last week. There were 160 students from Talent Quest schools in this year’s admitted class, up from 121 students last year. Of those admitted last year, 68 matriculated. “Pretty much every admission officer is involved in one way or another,” van Niekerk said. “The idea is to have it sort of entangled with every other aspect of what the Admission Office is doing.” Van Niekerk said she would like to incorporate Talent Quest into the Watson Institute for International Studies’ Choices Program, which designs curricular materials for secondary schools and holds training seminars across the country for high school teachers. “Recruitment and matriculation (of low-income students) is an effort that every school that I know of like Brown has committed to. We’re not unique in that regard,” Miller said. “There is real talent among students in that group,” Miller added. “For a long time Brown was not seen as a viable alternative, so I think we were wasting the talent from a whole segment of American society.” In recent years, selective schools have taken measures to increase their socioeconomic diversity. In March 2006, Harvard University eliminated tuition payments for parents earning less than $60,000 a year. Harvard, Princeton University and University of Virginia decided to eliminate their early admission programs next year over concerns that the process gives an unfair advantage to affluent students.
MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2007
continued from page 1 movement. The adventure begins Pulvers’ original idea was to walk the 54-mile route during the same week the event took place more than 40 years ago. When Pulvers proposed the idea as a final project for AF 185: “The Civil Rights Movement: History and Legacy,” James Campbell, associate professor of Africana studies, urged her to do more. Pulvers said she came up with the idea to make a documentary on Civil Rights tourism, and applied for a Research at Brown grant. On March 7, less than a month before her scheduled departure, Pulvers received a grant for $940. Though Pulvers had no experience in filmmaking, she began calling potential interviewees in late February to set up meetings, using names from Civil Rights books and Web sites. “We ended up interviewing (Rep.) Artur Davis (D-Ala.), who is the congressman from Birmingham, just because we coldcalled his office every day for two weeks,” Pulvers said. Once Pulvers finally had an itinerary, all she needed was a documentary team. In an e-mail to The Herald, Gibson wrote that she had interests in social movements and historical memory before making the documentary. But she never considered pursuing film. “My decision to join Evan on the trip was completely spontaneous,” Gibson wrote. “I really had no idea what to expect.” Parekh and Xu signed on to complete the documentary team, and the adventure began on March 23. Bumps in the road Pulvers said the group would rise as early as 5 a.m. and work until 8 p.m. The first night was the longest, when the amateur filmmakers decided to change the crux of the documentary. “Originally, the focus was going to be Civil Rights tourism,” Pulvers said. “But then we figured out ‘Damn, that’s a lot of us walking around a museum and that is so boring.’ ” Pulvers said the purpose of the film became clear as they went about the interview process. “The film is going to revolve around the idea that the fight has changed and people aren’t exactly sure how to tackle it,” Pulvers said. “It’s not a fight against a law that’s blatant. … It’s so much more subtle.” Montgomery remains a poor community, with great discrepancy in the affluence of black and whites. Pulvers said the team met with a member of the local board of education who was frustrated because improving one of the city’s failing black high schools seemed nearly impossible. As the team interviewed local Alabamians about challenging issues, the four girls from diverse backgrounds also had to learn to
work together to film the project. “Shruti is Indian, and Jing is Chinese and Swedish, and I’m white and from Oregon and Sarah’s white and from Vermont,” Pulvers said. “We would go places, and people would say ‘Hey, the U.N. is arriving!’ So part of it is the odyssey of four girls renting a car, crashing on floors and talking in real ways about race.” Pulvers said the film’s style was “definitely amateur.” A limited budget required the girls to use a hand-held camera and clipon microphone. Parekh and Xu said the greatest challenge was being punctual. Parekh said the group was often overscheduled, rushing from one interview to the next. The filmmakers laughed as they recalled a long night driving to Tuscaloosa on a road so narrow there was no room to pull over. “It was scary, all was quiet and we were the sole car on this road that went for miles with no road signs,” Parekh said. “The church music that was fun (to listen to) during the day was eerie at night.” Interacting with interview subjects also proved difficult. “I thought people might be guarded and suspicious, and with good reason,” Gibson wrote. “There are so many ethical questions of making a documentary, of recording people’s stories and editing them for a well-educated college audience, of using images of people and homes to convey the depth of poverty and racism, of interviewing someone about rampant drug use in his neighborhood and then packing up the camera and leaving forever.” Pulvers echoed this sentiment. She said her greatest frustration was observing instead of acting. “How do you hold a video camera and not a shovel?” she said. “Sometimes the movie, the product, will be the shovel, hopefully,” she added.
his Birmingham shop, walls full of black and white photos. Armstrong pointed to an image of black congressmen of the 1872 Reconstruction period. “We have been here before,” he said. Xu said her favorite part of the journey was visiting the Dexter King Memorial Baptist Church, where King was minister during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. “People were really dressed up for church,” Xu said. “I had never seen that before. I had never been in a black community, at a Christian service or in the South.” Parekh agreed about the value of first-hand experience. “There is nothing like going to the site where something happened and talking to the people who were involved and personally being there.” Parekh said one interview often led to another. “When we were done with interviews, someone would ask us if we had talked to Rosa Park’s lawyer, a foot soldier, a famous reverend, a judge and then in a few seconds we would have an interview with one of these people lined up for the next day,” she said. Gibson admitted she was nervous upon arriving in Alabama. But she also felt a sense of “deep awe” at the bravery and commitment of the Civil Rights activists she spoke with. Gibson said people were “incredibly generous.” Pulvers said one interviewee even prepared an elaborate dinner for them. “Most interviewees were interested in our project, excited that a younger generation wanted to learn about the movement,” Pulvers said. Gibson said they were “happy to tell their story, usually very honest, and touched that we were spending our spring break in Alabama instead of getting drunk on the beach with all those ‘college folks.’ ”
Witnesses to history One of the group’s major interview subjects was Fred Gray, lawyer to Civil Rights hero Rosa Parks. In one clip from the documentary, Gray answered questions with his own tape recorder rolling to preserve his words for his memoirs. “If you don’t see the problems, and if you are not willing to commit yourself to solving them, it’s not going to get done,” he said, addressing the younger generation. In addition to representing Parks and serving as Civil Rights attorney to Martin Luther King, Gray argued the 1965 case Williams v. Wallace, the class action suit against the then-Governor of Alabama George Wallace resulting in court-ordered protection for protestors as they marched from Selma to Montgomery. In one unedited clip, the classic red Coca-Cola symbol hung over the top part of a sign reading “Armstrong’s barber shop.” Armstrong was once King’s barber. The camera followed his arm as he gestured to the red walls of
The rewards By the end of spring break, Pulvers, Gibson, Parekh and Xu had put 1,064 miles on the odometer of the silver Dodge, written 52 thank-you notes and recorded 37 hours of film. For now, Pulvers will take an incomplete in Campbell’s class. She said she hopes to have a “rough cut” by the end of the summer, and a final product by December. She said she would like to submit it to next year’s Ivy Film Festival. Each member of the documentary team took away something serious from spring break 2007. “Don’t wait for the right time, or the right leader to show up,” Xu said she learned from the interviews with civil rights activists. “Do what you are committed to doing with the people around you and that’s enough to create social change.” The girls’ documentary is but a glimpse of an ongoing movement for civil rights, Xu said. “It’s a snapshot rather than a movie,” she said. “These people are making the movie, still.”
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College task force meets for first time BY EVAN BOGGS STAF F WRITER
Katherine Phillips / Herald File Photo
The University is continuing to evaluate its plans for the Smith Swim Center, which was closed Feb. 13 over concerns about the integrity of the building’s roof.
Plans for closed Smith Swim Center still undetermined The University is continuing to evaluate its plans for the Smith Swim Center, which was closed indefinitely on Feb. 13 over concerns about the integrity of the building’s roof. The 34-year-old facility, which contains a pool and six squash courts, was closed for four weeks in December and January to install temporary support beams in the roof. The center reopened briefly from Jan. 17 to Feb. 13 but was closed again after the building’s architect, Daniel Tully, completed a more thorough review of the structure. “We are focused on determining what our options are,” said Russell Carey ’91 MA’06, interim vice president for campus life and student services. “There are a broad number of people involved in assessing and determining what makes the most sense for the short term and long term.” Carey said he could not provide a timetable as to when the University will decide on a course of action. “We want to be moving forward quickly, but we need to make sure we make an informed decision,” he said. Because the process of evaluating how to move forward with the center is still ongoing, Carey said he could not say how problems in the roof developed. Carey also said he could not provide the cost of temporary repairs to the facility. When reached by phone, Tully referred The Herald’s questions to Brown Facilities Management and said he was not authorized to release any information about the evaluation of the Smith Swim Center. He did say the center’s hyperbolic paraboloid design, a structure that he patented, is a “wonderful structure” that is “extraordinarily strong.” According to the Web site for Tully International Inc., Tully’s firm Tully International Architects and Engineers has designed athletic and recreational facilities at a number of colleges and universities. Tully’s firm also designed the Olney-Margolies Athletic Center, which was built in 1980. Director of Swimming and Aquatics Peter Brown said the swim center’s closure has been an inconvenience but that he recognizes the complexity of the situation. “The University has been sincere in its efforts in coming up with a workable solution,” he said.“It’s a complicated issue and an unusual problem. There’s not a simple, easy solution to this.” Brown said he has been honest with recruits about the situation, telling them that the University is taking a hard look at the problem and that he is confident they will come up with a solution. “Each option has its pluses and minuses, but I want to emphasize that a lot of people are working very hard to come up with the best possible solution,” he said. “We need to figure out what’s best for the University as a whole.” The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams, which are in their off-seasons, have been training at Fox Point Boys and Girls Club in Providence twice a week. The women’s water polo team has been in a more difficult situation. Its season has been devoid of home matches since Feb. 11, the last day of the Ivy Tournament. The Bears have been practicing at pools throughout the region. — Zachary Chapman
With surf, turf and what Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron called a “fabulously delicious” column of chocolate for dessert, the Task Force on Undergraduate Education met for the first time Thursday at the Faculty Club. The task force, which will undertake a broad review of the College and its curriculum, comprises 10 faculty members and three undergraduates and will make recommendations to University officials in the spring of 2008. The committee’s first meeting was primarily an introduction to the task force’s charge, and Bergeron — who chairs the committee — spoke briefly about the practical and philosophical responsibilities the task force has in examining the college, said Kathleen McSharry, associate dean of the College and dean of chemical dependency, who staffs the committee. The committee will not begin discussing the specific processes it will use to review the College until its next meeting at the end of the semester, Bergeron said. “It was a great first meeting,” Bergeron said. McSharry said the meeting soon progressed into a discussion of areas critical to a review of the College, as well as questions about the basic principles of a liberal education at Brown. The task force’s members “were raising issues that they feel are fundamental to a liberal education,” McSharry said, noting that quantitative skills, proficiency in a foreign language and writing were some of the areas discussed by the committee. Task force member and Dean of the Graduate School Sheila Bonde said she was particularly interested in the question of mathematical literacy raised by Jill Pipher, pro-
fessor of mathematics and a member of the committee. McSharry said the basic concepts of liberal learning are of particular importance to Brown because the New Curriculum does not have a system of general education requirements to build fundamental student skills. The task force members also expressed concern about the perceived confusion over the College’s open curriculum. McSharry said the committee agreed that “the open curriculum is something to be obviously examined, but (the task force should) also try to see how today’s students can experience it.” The three student members of the task force were present at Thursday’s meeting, and member Jason Becker ’09 said he was impressed by the openness of the discussions. “It wasn’t a kind of top-down meeting,” Becker said. “The best part about the meeting was that everyone was really interested in what everyone had to say.” Becker said the student members had met before the meeting to discuss the task force’s role among themselves and added that he was looking forward to getting student input on aspects of the College the committee would review. “I just know that the three student representatives really developed a strong rapport, and we’ve got really good chemistry,” Becker said. “We really want as many people to be involved as possible.” The task force has been given a reading assignment for its next meeting at the end of the semester: Professor of Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences Sheila Blumstein’s “The Brown Curriculum Twenty Years Later,” an evaluation of the curriculum published in 1991, as well as a 1976 report by four undergraduates on institutional and curriculum reform at Brown. Blumstein, a member of the
task force and former dean of the College and interim president, said her report “is a first step and hopefully will provide some background for looking at the curriculum, though it is fairly old.” The 1991 report attempted to identify basic principles that guide the New Curriculum, as well as to see if students were using the curriculum in harmony with those basic principles, Blumstein said. She said she hoped committee members would apply the same questions in the report to the College today and asked, “Is the curriculum set up to meet those requirements, or those expectations, or those philosophical principles?” Though Blumstein’s report drew from a number of sources, Blumstein said the task force’s report would be a “richer experience” because it will be a group effort. “Essentially (the 1991 report) was not a report of a committee, and so I think (the task force) is better because you have multiple perspectives and multiple levels of input,” Blumstein said. Becker said Blumstein’s report would also help the committee to begin compiling a list of possible recommendations for the College. “The indication in the room was that here were some things that (Blumstein) had recommended doing, or at least looking at, that remained weak points today,” Becker said. Bergeron said members will select subcommittees they wish to serve on at the next meeting. Each subcommittee will deal with one of the four sections in the task force’s charge — general education, teaching and assessment, concentrations and advising programs. “I think that the real work will begin this fall as the subcommittees begin to collect data, interview students and alumni and hold forums for the campus,” Bergeron said.
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Few EMS calls, Sigma Chi’s absence mark Spring Weekend continued from page 1 from Thursday to Saturday nights, University officials said. Though statistics for the exact number of alcohol-related EMS assistances, which can include help from foot patrols and DPS, were not available. The number of Spring Weekend EMS calls and transports was “not that much different from a typical weekend,” said the EMS on-duty supervisor. A second ambulance hired by the University for Friday and Saturday nights was only used for one transport. Though event management policies for this year’s Spring Weekend did not vary significantly from last year’s, the EMS supervisor suggested this year’s spring weather may have influenced students’ drinking behavior, distracting them from more destructive binge drinking indoors. “People were playing Frisbee or walking around enjoying the weather,” the supervisor said. “When people are indoors at parties, they drink more.” The weekend’s events were similarly under control, with no major disturbances, Klawunn said. The only major issue from Spring Weekend surrounded Sigma Chi’s conspicuous absence from Saturday’s Rage on Wriston event. The fraternity did not host an event on Saturday but held a small invitation-only cocktail party Friday and a registered porch event Sunday, said fraternity member Kevin Volk ’08. According to Klawunn, the fraternity purchased a large amount of wholesale beer — delivered to campus on Friday, April 13 — that the University deemed excessive.
During the week, University officials “worked with leadership at the fraternity and with Greek Counsel to reduce the inventory (of beer) to levels that would not promote overconsumption,” Klawunn said. Though Klawunn did not explicitly point to this purchase as the reason for the fraternity’s lack of a party Saturday, she did cite University recommendations against bulk beer purchases. “Bulk beer purchases encourage over-consumption, and that is something that we don’t want to happen,” Klawunn said. Sigma Chi President Keith Putnam-Delaney ’07 declined to give an official statement to The Herald, saying the fraternity needed more time to consider the matter. “We are in touch with the liquor control board and our legal counsel, and we need a day to figure things out,” Delaney said. Despite the troubles with Sigma Chi, Klawunn said University officials were pleased with the weekend. “The administration of the events went extremely well,” Klawunn said. “There were a couple of counterfeit tickets for Saturday’s concert, but the people staffing the events seemed to think things went very well.” Crowds at Zeta Delta Xi’s traditional spaghetti and wine “raucous dinner party,” Spagfest, were similarly contained, if not tame. Partygoers were doused with pasta sauce and red wine inside a tent under the watchful eye of security guards and deans on call. Impromptu parties, such as a naked drum circle on the Main Green Saturday night, were broken up uneventfully by Department of Public Safety officers.
MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2007
Baseball remains tied with Harvard after series split continued from page 16 strong start in Saturday’s second game. After starter James Cramphin ’07 gave up a first-inning run, Brown scored three runs in the third off Shawn Haviland. Two runs came on the first collegiate home run of his career by Brad Rifkin ’09. Brown scored again in the fourth to take a 4-1 lead, and the score remained that way until the seventh, when Harvard scored four runs. Matt Rogers burned Cramphin for a two-run homer and Matt Vance, who went 11-for-16 in the series with seven RBIs, added a two-run double. The Crimson added three runs in the eighth to take an 8-4 lead. Crimson closer Jake Bruton entered in the bottom of the eighth but gave up a leadoff triple to Matt Nuzzo ’09 and walked the next two batters to set up Papenhause’s stunning grand slam. The third baseman lofted a ball into right field that, with some help from the wind, seemed to float higher and higher before finding its way over the fence. “The way the field goes, if you can get the ball in the air to the right, it usually carries very well,” Papenhause said. “I was hoping it would get out, but I wasn’t really positive.” The Bears ended up batting around in the inning, scoring four more runs, three off a Dietz homer that was also aided by the wind. Rob Hallberg ’08 pitched the last one and two-thirds innings to pick up the win in the 12-8 victory. Drabinksi said he was proud of his players’ come-from-behind victory. “Things looked bleak, without a doubt, going into the eighth with (Harvard’s) closer coming in, but these guys never give up,” he said. Brown carried the momentum into Sunday’s first game. The Crimson touched Bears starter Will Weidig ’10 for a single run in the second and then in the third, when Vance smoked a homer to left. But the Bears tied the game in the bottom of the fourth against Harvard southpaw Eric Eadington. Chris Tanabe
’10 led off with a single, and Dietz moved him to third with a double. Tanabe scored on Nuzzo’s groundout and Dietz scored on a wild pitch. The game remained tied until the bottom of the sixth. With two outs, Nuzzo doubled and tri-captain Bryan Tews ’07 walked, setting up another dramatic situation for, well, guess who? This time, Papenhause left no doubt. He uppercutted the first pitch he saw from Eadington into left field, sending the Bears dugout into a frenzy. “Pap is really starting to hit,” Drabinski said. Weidig came out in the top of the seventh to try for his second complete game of the year, but allowed the first two runners to reach. Drabinski then called Hallberg into the game. Hallberg calmly got the last three outs of the 5-2 win for his second save of the season. The Bears carried the momentum from the consecutive comebacks into the final game of the series, but only briefly. Brown took a 2-0 lead in the first on consecutive doubles by tri-captain Devin Thomas ’07, Dietz and Nuzzo. But that was all the Bears had going for them as they regressed into their early-season form, making blunders on defense and on the basepaths. In the top of the third, starter Alex Silverman ’08 gave up six runs, four unearned. The Crimson got five hits in the inning but was aided by two fielding errors and a run-scoring wild pitch. Silverman was taken out in the top of the fourth after giving up a no-doubt-about-it home run to Griff Jenkins, the Crimson’s No. 9 hitter. Trailing 9-3 in the bottom of the fi fth, and one run already in, the Bears had runners on second and third with one out. Thomas hit a deep fly ball that was caught at the warning track in right-center. But Ryan Murphy ’08 was easily doubled up at second base, ending the inning. The Bears never seriously threatened again and fell 9-4.
Tews said the team needed to work on its defense and baserunning this week, and Papenhause called the loss “frustrating.” “If we had won that second game we would have had a two-game lead with six games left against teams I’m pretty confident we’re going to beat,” Papenhause said. Both Brown and Harvard have six league games left. On Wednesday, both the Bears and the Crimson will play makeup doubleheaders that were postponed because of weather. The Bears will be at Dartmouth, the Crimson at Yale. The two teams will switch opponents for their final four-game series this weekend. If Brown and Harvard are still tied for first at the end of the regular season, the teams will play a one-game playoff at a neutral site. The winner would advance to play a three-game series against the winner of the Lou Gehrig division for the Ivy League championship. Tews said he wasn’t overly concerned that the Bears lost a chance to take control of the division. “We control our own destiny,” Tews said. “If we win six games, the worst we can do is force a playoff with Harvard.” The Bears’ failure to win the Harvard series, combined with the rescheduling of the Dartmouth games, means they will have to ask a lot of their starting pitchers this week. Normally, Dietz and Cramphin pitch Saturday league games and Weidig and Silverman pitch Sunday games, with all four pitchers getting six days of rest between. But with the Bears needing to win every league game possible, Drabinksi said Dietz and Cramphin will pitch at Dartmouth on only three days’ rest, and then he will bounce back to throw against Yale on Sunday, also on three days’ rest. Weidig will pitch Saturday’s first game against the Bulldogs, and, after Silverman’s disastrous outing, Drabinski said the coaches will meet to see who will take the fourth spot in the rotation.
Yale’s Lassonde named deputy dean of the College continued from page 1 priorities and directions for the College,” Bergeron wrote. Additionally, Lassonde will oversee undergraduate academic advising programs and “will be working closely with faculty, with academic departments, and especially with the Office of Campus Life and Student Services, on issues related to advising,” Bergeron wrote. In addition to serving as dean of Calhoun College, Lassonde is a lecturer in history at Yale and pub-
happy birthday pete!
lished a book in 2005 titled “Learning to Forget: Schooling and Family Life in New Haven’s Working Class, 1870-1940.” He is currently working on a project to examine the lives of several children growing up from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s and is authoring a history of 20th-century children’s perceptions of U.S. governmental authority. “I am, of course, enormously excited at the prospect of the new and broader responsibilities that await me (at Brown), just as
I recollect the cherished friends I have made among yourselves and the hundreds of Hounies who have passed through here during my time as your dean,” Lassonde wrote Sunday in the e-mail to Calhoun students. The search committee for the new position included Associate Vice President for Campus Life and Dean of Student Life Margaret Klawunn, Associate Dean of the College David Targan, Professor of Political Science James Morone and Lauren Kolodny ’08.
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In 11-day hitchhike, O’Neill ’08 encounters For an unnamed price, profs-atlarge bring name recognition 4 countries and friendly drivers BY RACHEL ARNDT SENIOR STAF F WRITER
Courtesy of Elizabeth O’Neill ’08 Elizabeth O’Neill ‘08 (above) was one of 16 Americans to take part in “the Hitch,” an annual event in which students hitchhike from England to either Morocco or Prague to raise money for children in Africa. View of Chefchouen, Morocco (below) BY ISABEL GOTTLIEB STAFF WRITER
Over the course of 11 days, Elizabeth O’Neill ’08 rode in 20 cars and trucks, boarded two ferries, slept in one Spanish onion field and took one shower on her way from England to Morocco. She was participating in “the Hitch,” an annual event organized by the nonprofit group Link Community Development, in which students hitchhike from England to either Morocco or Prague to raise money for children in Africa. The London-based group is dedicated to improving education in Ghana, Malawi, South Africa and Uganda. Though the event mainly attracts British students, 52 non-Brits participated this year. O’Neill, who is spending a semester abroad at Cambridge University, was one of 16 Americans to take part. O’Neill said the trip was “a great success, a lot easier than we thought.” She said she and her travel partner, Cambridge first-year Matt Owens, did not have much trouble reaching their destination. “We had a lot of rides quickly and rode in a lot of cars through France,” O’Neill said. “Those people were very eager to pick up hitchers, but the rides were generally short, just between towns. In Spain, people were less likely to pick up hitchhikers, but we found a lot of long-distance truck drivers. … So we made good time.” O’Neill said her favorite part of the trip was meeting and talking with the many drivers. Their first ride in France was with a Belgian truck driver who made regular trips from Belgium to France transporting liquid chocolate. “He said it was good but didn’t offer us any,” O’Neill said. Another French driver had traveled to Montana and was “a huge fan of Native-American philosophy,” O’Neill said. He told them about his hopes to eventually move to America and work with American Indians. But since neither O’Neill nor Owens speaks French or Spanish,
most of their conversations were limited to sentences out of a phrasebook. “We spoke about the weather, about whether they had hitched themselves, their names, and that’s it,” O’Neill said. “Conversations generally repeated themselves.” Even with communication barriers, O’Neill said, she was overwhelmed by people’s generosity and friendliness. “Hitchhiking restores your faith in humanity because people are so generous,” she said. “People were concerned for our welfare and helped us out a lot.” A Turkish man with no language in common with O’Neill and Owens offered them the food he had in his truck. A French man who gave them a ride asked them back to his house for drinks with his wife. He gave them gourmet pizza, cookies and yogurt and brought them to a new spot to find their next ride later that night. O’Neill and Owens brought a tent and sleeping bags and slept most nights either in the open or in their tent, depending on the weather. “The worst place to sleep was in a farmer’s field on a mountain,” O’Neill said. “In southern Spain, it’s all rocks and hills, and the only flat ground was in a farmer’s field. We weren’t going to lay the sleeping bags out on onions, but we found some reeds and spread those out (to sleep on).” O’Neill said the only time she was concerned for her safety was
on their last day in Morocco. Upon arriving in Fez, they learned that taxi drivers were on strike throughout the country, and they needed to get to the airport to catch their airplane. “We didn’t understand what was going on,” O’Neill said. She said a stranger approached them and tried to explain the situation. “Not so many people offer advice and aid in Morocco without being paid, but this fellow was helping us by explaining about the taxi strike. We took an unregistered taxi on his recommendation. That was the iffiest situation, but it turned out okay.” On April 5, O’Neill and Owens flew back to England. This year, 696 students successfully navigated the 1,600 miles from Portsmouth, England, to Morocco. LCD hopes the hitchers will raise 300,000 pounds — or about $600,000 — according to Tina Sloane, the organization’s events officer, up from about 295,000 pounds in 2006. Participants have until June to complete their fundraising efforts. “The event is so important to us at LCD because it accounts for about 20 percent of LCD’s U.K. income. Because this is unrestricted income, it allows us flexibility, which ensures that our partners in Africa can be confident that their projects will be supported in the long run and encourages sustainability,” Sloane wrote in an email to The Herald. The Herald reported on O’Neill’s initial plans in its March 20 issue.
In 1993, then-president Vartan Gregorian began inviting “scholars of exceptional distinction” to become professors-at-large “in order to enhance the existing strengths of particular academic programs or meet special needs,” as the position is described in the University’s Handbook of Academic Administration. With the appointment of former U.N. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke ’62 in February, the University now has four professors-at-large. Though Holbrooke has yet to visit Brown since his appointment, professors-at-large deliver occasional lectures and bring name recognition to the University. In addition to Holbrooke, the University’s professors-at-large are former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Mexican author Carlos Fuentes and linguistic anthropologist Shirley Brice Heath. University officials declined to disclose how much professors-at-large receive in salary. “We do not give out information about faculty salaries, as we consider that information to be strictly confidential,” wrote Jane McIlmail, executive assistant to the dean of the faculty, in an email to The Herald. Cardoso, who served as president of Brazil from 1995 to 2003, was appointed professor-at-large for a five-year term in February 2003 and is based at the Watson Institute for International Studies. As a professor-at-large, Cardoso spends four to six weeks in residence at the University each year conducting seminars, meeting with student groups and holding office hours. Holbrooke, architect of the 1995 Dayton Accords and a former editor in chief of The Herald, is also based at the Watson Institute. Holbrooke is “one of the
most accomplished U.S. diplomats in recent history,” said Geoffrey Kirkman, associate director of the Watson Institute. “We all hope we can benefit from (him).” Fuentes was appointed by Gregorian to be a professor-atlarge in 1993, said Mark Nickel, director of University communications. The following spring, Fuentes began acting as a professor-at-large, co-teaching a class on Gabriel García Marquez, Nickel said. As a professor-at-large, Fuentes comes to campus once a semester to give public lectures and speak to classes, said Enric Bou, chair of the Department of Hispanic Studies. “He is able to gather large crowds” at his lectures, said Bou, noting that they attract members of the community from outside Brown. Fuentes was ultimately chosen for the professor-at-large position by a presidential appointment. He was “chosen by the department” before the appointment, Bou said, because of his experience and status as a “very well-known literary figure.” “Everyone has a different arrangement” concerning salary that is determined by the Office of the President, Bou said, declining to describe Fuentes’ specific arrangement. Funding for Cardoso and Holbrooke comes from the University, not the Watson Institute, and both were chosen for their posts by the Office of the President, Kirkman said. “There’s a range of salaries” that professors are paid, Kirkman said, but he declined to say how much Cardoso and Holbrooke receive for their services. Professor of Literary Arts and Comparative Literature Paula Vogel taught at Brown from 1999 to 2003 as a professor-atlarge and now serves as a regular professor. She could not be reached for comment.
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MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2007
S P R I N G W E E K E N D | 20 07 FR I DAY, A P R I L 2 0 SOULIVE | THE ROOTS
Eunice Hong / Herald
Soulive opened for The Roots on Friday of Spring Weekend in Meehan Auditorium.
Eunice Hong / Herald
The Roots headlined Friday night’s Spring Weekend concert in Meehan Auditorium.
Eunice Hong / Herald
The Roots’ ?uestlove thrilled fans in the Meehan Auditorium audience with a drum solo.
MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2007
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S AT U R DAY, A P R I L 21
Eunice Hong / Herald
The Flaming LIps headlined Saturday’s concert — the first held on the Main Green in two y ears.
S TA R D E AT H A N D W H I T E D WA R FS | M I SS I O N O F B U R M A YO L A T E N G O | T H E FL A M I N G L I P S
Eunice Hong / Herald
Wayne Coyne, the lead singer and guitarist of The Flaming Lips, was passed around the audience in a giant bubble.
Eunice Hong / Herald
The Flaming Lips burst a giant balloon of confetti (left) for their finale on Saturday.
WORLD & N ATION MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2007
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Ruling party’s Sarkozy, socialist Royal reach French presidential runoff election PARIS (Los Angeles Times) — Setting up an electoral showdown that will bring a new generation to power in France, Nicolas Sarkozy of the ruling center-right party and Socialist Segolene Royal beat 10 other presidential candidates Sunday in a first-round vote. The May 6 presidential runoff will pit Sarkozy, a 52-year-old former Interior and Economy minister, against Royal, a 53-year-old former Environment minister who aspires to be France’s first female president. The campaign promises to be tight, hinging on an emergent and volatile voting bloc that gave centrist Francois Bayrou a strong third-place finish Sunday. With nearly all of the ballots counted, Sarkozy led with 31 percent, followed by Royal, with 26 percent, Bayrou at 19 percent and far-right candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen trailing with 11 percent. The 85 percent turnout was the highest since 1964, reflecting intense interest in a suspenseful election to replace two-term President Jacques Chirac, 74, who makes way for a generation of candidates born after World War II.
House Democrats propose change in AMT WASHINGTON (Washington Post) — House Democrats, aiming to seize taxes from Republicans as a political issue, have come up with a plan to shift the burden of the hated alternative minimum tax onto the shoulders of the nation’s richest households. The proposal, though still in its preliminary stages, would attempt to restore the original purpose of the parallel tax structure, which was created in 1969 to nab 155 super-rich tax filers who were using loopholes and deductions to wipe out their tax bills. Because it was not indexed for inflation, the AMT this year delivered a significant tax hike to an estimated 3 percent of households. Unless the law is changed, it is projected to strike nearly 20 percent of taxpayers when they file returns next spring, some earning as little as $50,000 a year. House Democrats are trying to craft legislation that would spare those families while providing relief to many current AMT payers. Under a proposal presented last week to Democrats on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, families making less than $250,000 a year — about 98 percent of taxpayers — would be exempt from the tax. Those earning $250,000 to about $500,000 would see lower AMT bills, according to Democratic sources. To make up the lost revenue, families earning more than $500,000 a year would take a much harder hit from the AMT, as well as other adjustments to the tax code, the sources said. Democrats haven’t finalized that part of the proposal. But an analysis by the Tax Policy Center, a joint project of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, suggests the nation’s wealthiest families — less than 1 percent of all taxpayers — would have to pay 5 to 13 percent more to offset the revenue lost by exempting the middle class from the AMT, with families who make more than $1 million paying an extra $52,000, on average, each year.
Pall of gloom begins to lift at VA Tech BY DANIELA DEANE WASHINGTON POST
BLACKSBURG, Va. — A pair of Virginia Tech sophomores, Kelly Doyle and Katelyn Phelts, decided that the time had come to go fishing. So they grabbed their dogs, put some corn on a hook, and headed down to Duck’s Pond on campus for their first afternoon outside. Since the mass shooting at Virginia Tech a week ago today, the two animal science majors mostly had stayed home, hanging out in their apartments with friends, going online, watching movies and just being sad together. You can only take so much grief,” said Doyle, 20, her freckled shoulders sunburned from the afternoon of fishing, during which she hooked three catfish. “People are ready to get out of their houses, do stuff and be happy now.” Afterward, the friends headed to the Drillfield, the big open grassy area at the heart of campus where loudspeakers blared oldies music and the restaurants of Blacksburg laid out a free spread on a glorious evening. “Nothing can keep a college kid away from free food,” said Phelts, 19. Maybe it’s because the first horrific week has passed. Maybe it’s because spring has finally come to this rural corner of southwest Virginia. Whatever the reason, the pall of gloom is unmistakably lifting from the Virginia Tech campus and its surroundings. “People are ready to get outside
and live their lives again,” said Michael Hubbard, a vendor selling pasture-raised meat at the Blacksburg Farmer’s Market, which went ahead with its grand opening this weekend although it canceled the blue grass band, face-painting and magician. “It’s like after 9/11, at some point, you have to move on.” The campus was filled all weekend with orange and maroon wearing alumni, visitors and college students from nearby universities, everyone just feeling the need to head to the remote little college town of Blacksburg. Freshman Saylor Allf said it felt like a football weekend “with people everywhere.” Classes resume today after being suspended last week because of the tragedy, with students deciding for themselves whether to finish the year. The university said Thursday that students who choose not to return to classes because of the trauma of the shooting will get credit for their courses with the grade they had earned so far. Joselyn Takacs, a Virginia Tech sophomore who lost her French professor during the shooting and whose college radio station colleague Kevin Stern suffered two gunshot wounds, said she knows Professor Jocelyne Couture-Nowak would want her to get on with her life. “She had such a ‘joie de vivre,’ ” said Takacs, who was helping a vendor sell his multi-colored pansies and homemade jams and jellies at the farmer’s market. “She would want us to look at her life as
a celebration and not just dwell on the tragedy. “I can just hear her telling us that,” said Takacs, eyes welling up at the thought. “I’ve been working with the plants and it’s made me feel better, looking at new life. It’s getting better day by day.” Her boss, Ronald Holdren, wearing a Virginia Tech t-shirt, said he picked the most colorful flowers he could find on his farm to bring to the market to try to make people smile at the bounty of spring. Cindy Cook, a blacksmith who sells iron hooks, candlesticks, and towel racks, said business was so brisk that she needed to get back to her workshop to replenish what she had sold. “It was so good to see everybody again,” she said. “This is a small community. We’ve missed each other. Nobody needed to say anything. We just hugged.” Moving on doesn’t mean forgetting, though. Tracy Reed, who works at one of the university dining halls and lives in nearby Christiansburg, was one of some 40 people who have come to Blacksburg’s Ancient Art tattoo parlor in the past few days to get a Virginia Tech remembrance tattoo. Reed opted for a $100 tattoo with a VT ribbon above the date of the massacre, April 16, 2007, a present from her soon to be sisterin-law Amanda Woolwine, who got a remembrance tattoo on her hip the day before. continued on page 11
Obama pledge about lobbyist donations draws a fine line BY DAN MORAIN LOS ANGELES T IMES
WASHINGTON — While pledging to turn down donations from lobbyists themselves, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., raised more than $1 million in the first three months of his presidential campaign from law firms and companies that have major lobbying operations in the nation’s capital. Portraying himself as a newstyle politician determined to reform Washington, D.C., Obama makes his policy clear in fundraising invitations, stating that he takes no donations from “federal lobbyists.” His aides announced last week he was returning $43,000 to lobbyists who donated to his campaign. But the Illinois Democrat’s policy of shunning money from lobbyists registered to do business on Capitol Hill does not extend to lawyers whose partners lobby there. Nor does the ban apply to corporations that have major lobby operations in Washington. And the prohibition does not extend to lobbyists who ply their trade in state capitals including Springfield, Ill., Tallahassee, Fla., and Sacramento, Calif., although some deal with national clients and issues. “Clearly, the distinction is not that significant,” said Stephen Weissman of the Campaign Finance Institute, a nonpartisan think tank that focuses on campaign issues. “He gets an asterisk that says he is trying to be different,” Weissman said. “But overall, the same wealthy interests are funding his campaign as are funding other can-
didates, whether or not they are lobbyists.” A relative newcomer to national politics, Obama stunned the political world by raising $25.7 million in the first three months of the year, all but matching money raised by his main rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y. Obama attained the lofty mark even as he decried the fundraising system. In his Internet appeals for small donations, Obama played up populist themes of reform. “It may sound strange for a presidential candidate to launch a fundraising drive that isn’t about dollars. But our democracy shouldn’t be about money, and it’s time our campaigns weren’t either,” he said in one such pitch. In another e-mail seeking money, Obama decried the “special interest industry in Washington,” and warned it would spend more money than ever to “try to own our political process.” “We’re not going to play that game,” the e-mail said. Obama spokesman Bill Burton said Obama instituted the ban on lobbyist money in reaction to public anger over the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. Burton also acknowledged the policy has its flaws. “This ban is part of Obama’s best effort to address the problem of money in politics,” Burton said in a statement. “It isn’t a perfect solution to the problem and it isn’t even a perfect symbol. But it does reflect that Obama shares the urgency of the American people to change the way Washington operates.”
Obama said in his first-quarter financial report that he received money from 104,000 donors, twice as many as Clinton, suggesting a disproportionate number of small contributions. But the Campaign Finance Institute said Obama still received 68 percent of his money from donations of $1,000 or more, compared to 86 percent for Clinton. Lobbyists generally are paid by corporations, unions and other interest groups to shape public policy by making regular contact with government officials. They must register with both houses of Congress, and make public disclosures identifying their clients and amounts they are paid. Some of the most influential players, lawyers and consultants among them, skirt disclosure requirements by merely advising clients and associates who do actual lobbying, and avoiding regular contact with policymakers. Obama’s ban does not cover such individuals. For example, partners from the Atlanta-based law firm Alston & Bird donated $33,000 to Obama in the first 90 days of 2007. Alston & Bird has a large lobbying division in Washington, D.C. It billed its lobby clients nearly $3.9 million in 2006, ranking 35th among Washington lobbyists. Alston boasts on its Web site that it offers clients “unique experience with how policy is made” and knows “the people who make it: government and agency officials; members of Congress and their continued on page 11
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
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Lawmakers and experts question necessity, implications of a new nuclear weapon for U.S. BY WALTER PINCUS WASHINGTON POST
WASHINGTON — Congressional hearings over the past several weeks have shown that the Bush administration’s plan to move ahead with a new generation of nuclear warheads faces strong opposition from House and Senate members concerned that the effort lacks any strategic underpinning and could lead to a new nuclear arms race. Experts inside and outside the government questioned moving forward with a new warhead as old ones are being refurbished and before developing bipartisan agreement on how many warheads would be needed at the end of what could be a 30-year process. Several, including former Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga., suggested linking production of a new warhead with U.S. ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, a move the Bush administration has opposed. Rep. David L. Hobson, R-Ohio, who originated what has become the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) program, wants the number of warheads in the current U.S. stockpile declassified as “the first step for an honest dialogue on nuclear weapons.” Including warheads that are deployed, inactive and in reserve, the total is assumed to be above 6,000. “I suspect our potential adversaries know the number of U.S. nuclear warheads with much better precision than do the members of Congress,” Hobson said at a recent congressional hearing. “I think I know the number,” he added, “but I can’t talk about it.” Sen. Pete V. Domenici, R-N.M., the ranking minority member of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that funds the nuclear weapons complex, said at a hearing Wednesday on the RRW program that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates have “not been forthcoming” about their views on the issue. Domenici, who supports the program, said he has sent letters to Rice, Gates and national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley, “urging them to take a more active role in supporting the RRW program.” He told them, “You
must answer critics who have argued that the RRW will lead to an arms race.” The program involves not only coordinating the design and costs of a new warhead for the Trident submarine-launched intercontinental missile, but also a multibillion-dollar plan — called Complex 2030 by the Department of Energy — to modernize the aging nuclear weapons facilities where warheads and bombs are designed, built and dismantled. Rep. Peter J. Visclosky, D-Ind., chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that funds the nuclear complex, said at a hearing late last month that the program is proceeding “although the administration has not announced any effort to begin a policy process to reassess our nuclear weapons policy and the future nuclear stockpile required to support that policy.” He also noted that the Pentagon’s Defense Science Board reported last year that there has been virtually no high-level, longterm articulation of U.S. nuclear weapons policy. Gen. James E. Cartwright, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, which controls the nation’s nuclear weapons, said at the hearing that he would like to challenge the proposed level of 1,700 to 2,200 warheads by 2012 as possibly too high, “based on new (conventional weapons) capability, not new nuclear capability.” Former Defense Secretary William J. Perry, also appearing at the hearing, said current nuclear policies were developed for the Cold War and are “really not appropriate to the world we live in today.” A new nuclear plan is “long overdue” and should be shared with the appropriate congressional committees, he said. It should include “not only issues about what numbers we need,” Perry said, “but on what a future trajectory of those numbers in our forces should be and what kind of R&D is needed to support it.” At the same hearing, Nunn said he does not favor dismantling the U.S. nuclear arsenal, but he expressed concern about the international impact of the RRW program. Nunn, a former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and now chief executive of the nonprofit Nuclear Threat Initiative, told the House
Pall of gloom begins to lift continued from page 10 “I work with a lot of students,” said Reed, 29, hunched face-down on a chair while tattoo practitioner Richie Richardson permanently inscribed the tragedy onto her lower back. “It has taken a toll on me too.” She said she got the tattoo because “I always want to remember.” Richardson said the remembrance tattoos were the only tattoos anyone was asking for this past week. Salem Copty and Andy Ferris came with three friends from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., to spend the afternoon relaxing and sharing a hookah pipe at the Shesha Cafe and Hookah Lounge. “We wanted to see what it was like here,” said Copty, a freshman from Jerusalem, blowing smoke rings into the air. “We just wanted
to come.” At the community picnic on the Drillfield, footballs flew in the air, soccer balls grazed the grass, Frisbees soared overhead and hundreds of people spread out blankets, turning their faces toward the evening sun. “Today was the first normal day we’ve had,” said Martin Rogers, a Blacksburg resident who sat listening to the music, along with his wife and 12-year-old daughter, who was antsy to get back to her sixth grade class since school had been canceled all week. But for some the tragedy was still too raw. One couple stood in the long line for free food holding hands and talking. All of a sudden, the young woman pulled away from her partner and stormed off, saying, “You don’t understand. All I want to do is cry.”
panel, “If Congress gives a green light to this program in our current world environment … I believe that this will be misunderstood by our allies, exploited by our adversaries, (and) complicate our work to prevent the spread and use of nuclear weapons.” Nunn suggested that the RRW program would be better received “in the context of a ratified test ban treaty.” He cautioned that “we can’t afford to do it in this atmosphere without being misperceived, not only by Russia but by many others.” Nunn quoted a recent study prepared for the Defense Department that said: “The world sees us as increasing emphasis on nuclear weapons. The world sees us as shifting from nuclear weapons for deterrence and as weapons of last resort to nuclear weapons for war-fighting roles and first use. … And the world sees us as blurring the difference between nuclear and conventional weapons — use whatever fits best.” Perry said there are two “valid” arguments being made in support of the RRW program — that it would maintain the capabilities of U.S. weapons designers and provide a new warhead that “cannot be detonated by a terror group, even if they were able to get their hands on it.” However, he said, development of the RRW program “will substantially undermine our ability to lead the international community in the fight against proliferation, which we are already in danger of losing.” Noting that present U.S. nuclear weapons will retain their capabilities for 50 to 100 years, he said the program could be deferred “for many years.” At Wednesday’s Senate hearing, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said bipartisan agreement on the program is necessary before Congress votes to spend funds to develop the new warheads. The chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee, Sen. Byron L. Dorgan, D-N.D., said playing a major role in funding the nation’s nuclear weapons poses important questions for him, and he is unsure how he will come out on the program. There are “serious questions to answer,” he said. “The survival of this planet, I think, depends on our getting these things right.”
MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2007
Voting is encouraged, but change is not in Assad’s Syria BY LOUISE ROUG LOS ANGELES TIMES
DAMASCUS, Syria — On the streets outside Jadat al Hashimi School, candidates in Syria’s parliamentary elections Sunday advertised their campaigns with pictures and banner slogans. But the plethora of posters belied the lack of choice inside the voting booth. Syrian voters who came to cast their ballots had no meaningful alternative to the ruling party, which largely dictates who has a chance to be in the next parliament. “What’s the point?” one young woman asked rhetorically as she sidestepped election workers near the school in central Damascus and moved on without voting. When Syrian President Bashar Assad came to power in 2000, he promised political reform would follow a liberalization of the economy. In the seven years since, his government has opened the economic system, spurring significant foreign investment in spite of U.S. sanctions. But the regime has shunned serious political reform. Though foreign fashion, flashy cars and boutique hotels have arrived in Syria, there is little sign that democracy is following any time soon. Polling stations were all but deserted Sunday, although the usual trappings of authoritarianism were in place: Schoolchildren toted pictures of Assad, and members of the regime were greeted with chants. In recent months, the government has moved to silence dissent by jailing its critics, including human-rights activists and academics. “The regime from the beginning said they would make economic reform before political reform, but the (political) reform has not come,” said a dissident who asked not to be identified for fear of persecution. “I don’t think that because you have Chanel or Yves Saint Laurent in Damascus that you have freedom.” Slightly more than two-thirds of the seats in the 250-member parliament are reserved for members of the governing coalition, the National Progressive Front,
led by Assad’s Baath Party. The remaining seats are reserved for candidates who are independent in name only. Staying away from the polls is one way to protest, said the dissident. At the Hashimi School, government officials and reporters outnumbered voters. By noon, about 70 people had cast votes there, as fashionable Syrians jostled for space at nearby sundrenched cafes. While there have been no signals from Assad’s government of changing political course, the growing economy is altering Syria in other ways. On a recent afternoon outside the newly built Four Seasons hotel, a young couple hopped into a red Ferrari and sped toward the old part of the city. Nearby, shoppers in a mall browsed through items that included a $2,000 red Cavelli leather jacket, gold embroidered Galliano jeans and a rack of wispy Versace dresses. One consequence of the foreign investment is that other countries are gaining leverage. Political observers say Saudi Arabia wants to break the political alliance between Syria and Iran and will be using cash as a crowbar. The Four Seasons, for example, is owned in part by Saudi Prince al-Walid bin Talal. Iranians, in turn, have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Syria, launching several highprofile projects, including the production of a Syrian-Iranian car, the Sham, which Assad recently test-drove alongside Iranian First Vice President Parviz Davoudi. Syria also just signed a freetrade agreement with neighboring Turkey. Following privatization of the banking sector, the Lebanese are setting up shop all over Damascus. Since a 2005 conference of the Baath Party, the government has privatized previously staterun sectors, abolished tariffs and dismantled other restrictions to stimulate trade. The regime and its supporters say they can’t unleash political reform too quickly. “I don’t expect political reform in the near future,” said Sameer Saifan, a businessman close to the government who has advised officials on economic reform.
Obama pledge about lobbyist donations draws a fine line continued from page 10 staff.” Obama kept $2,300 donated by Alston partner Tom Daschle, the former Senate Democratic leader. Daschle, based in Washington, is neither a lawyer nor a lobbyist. He is a consultant. According to Alston’s Web site, Daschle advises “clients on issues related to all aspects of public policy with a particular emphasis on issues related to financial services, health care, energy, telecommunications and taxes.” Daschle did not return phone calls. While refusing money directly from federal lobbyists, who get their income from clients, Obama takes money from those clients. In the first quarter of 2007, he accepted a combined $170,000 from Goldman Sachs and Citigroup,
two financial services giants that have numerous issues pending in Washington and spent a total of $4.6 million on lobbying in 2006. Obama’s biggest single source of corporate money — $160,000 — came from executives at Exelon Corp., the nation’s largest nuclear power provider, and its subsidiary, Commonwealth Edison, an Illinois utility. Exelon spent $500,000 to influence policy in Washington, D.C., last year. Although Obama took no money from Excelon’s Washington lobbyists, he accepted $1,000 checks from lobbyists John P. Novak and James Monk of Springfield, Ill. In Springfield, Novak represents Exelon Corp., and Monk is president of the Illinois Energy Association, a trade group that represents Commonwealth Edison.
Monk and Novak said they do not lobby in Washington. But their clients care about federal issues, among them where to store nuclear waste, and what restrictions to place on coal-fired plants. “I’m not going to second-guess his policy,” Novak said. “I think it is appropriate for me to support a presidential candidate from Illinois.” Lobbyists from other states also gave Obama money. In California, Obama accepted $2,300 from a partner whose lobbying firm represents AT&T, United Airlines and the Recording Industry of America in Sacramento. In Tallahassee, Obama held a fundraiser attended by several statehouse lobbyists, taking checks from lobbyists for trial attorneys, the insurance industry, fast food chains and sugar cane growers.
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2007
Ellis’ MLB Exclusive: MLB trends and mirages continued from page 16 seven home runs while hitting a robust .333. If he continued at this rate, Kinsler would shatter the single-season home run record with 80-plus bombs. Though no one expects him to maintain this Barry Bonds impersonation, I think he’ll have a breakout season, with 30-plus home runs. The first indicator is his greatly improved patience. He’s taken eight walks and struck out only eight times — significantly better than his .625 BB/K ratio from 2006. Patience is an important predictor of a power-hitter’s ability to slug consistently (note Albert Pujols’ career BB/K of 1.25). Also, five of Kinsler’s seven homers have come away from home. Last year, away from the hitter-friendly confines of the Ballpark at Arlington, Kinsler slugged .355. His slugging percentage was a healthy .552 at home. Now that Kinsler has overcome his homesickness, he seems poised to mash all season long. TREND Kip Wells and Braden Looper — pocket aces? Not many people expected the St. Louis Cardinals to be any good this year, largely because of their depleted starting rotation. With Chris Carpenter hitting the DL early, the situation looked dire. Despite the grim forecast, previously mediocre pitchers Wells and Looper are inexplicably battling for the “ace” title in St. Lou-
is. Wells has been simply unhittable, allowing only 17 hits and nine earned runs in 26 innings. Normally, I’d swoon at a pitcher’s 1.00 WHIP and 7.61 K/9, but Wells is pitching a lot better than he actually is. He had one good season in his nine-year career when he went 10-9 with a 3.28 ERA in 2003 for Pittsburgh. He’s been terrible almost every other year. At 30 years old, don’t expect a born-again pitcher. He’ll probably be in the minors by mid-season. Braden Looper started his first Major League baseball game on April 4th at — 32 years old. Baseball fans around the country shook their heads and pitied the Cardinals. You know a team is desperate when it throws a nine-year veteran reliever into the rotation. In return, Looper has made manager Tony La Russa look like a genius by going 3-1 with a 2.08 ERA. Can he keep it up? Not likely. The reason? Looper’s got a measly K/9 of 4.85. Only three pitchers in baseball last season had significant success (ERAs less than 4.00) with low strikeout totals: Roy Halladay, Derek Lowe and Chien-Ming Wang. These guys can get away with low K/9s because they’re masterful at inducing ground balls — Looper isn’t masterful at anything. The Cardinals better hope that Adam “Young Wain” Wainwright reaches his full potential soon, because Wells and Looper don’t have much magic left. MIRAGE
The Pathetic Phillies I predicted the Philadelphia Phillies will go to the World Series and so far my prediction has looked pretty dumb. The Phils have roared out of the gate to the tune of a 6-11 record. Their offense has looked anemic, hitting .256 with only 15 HRs. The pitching staff is even worse, sporting a 4.54 ERA, the highest in the NL. The bullpen has been particularly ugly, already blowing two wins for strikeout-machine Cole Hamels. In a move of desperation to fix the struggling relief corps, manager Charlie Manuel has decided to move staff ace Brett Myers to the bullpen. This shocking and rash move, accompanied by the team’s general dreadfulness could spell trouble for the Phils. Alas, I am sticking to my prediction. Philadelphia will be the Cinderella story of 2007. Ryan Howard and Chase Utley, who have combined for only three homers this season, will snap out of their slumps and make the AllStar team. Brett Myers will either return to the rotation within a few weeks or become a dominant closer when Tom Gordon inevitably gets injured. Finally, Manuel will realize that Hamels can pitch more than seven innings. Expect some complete game shutouts before the year is through. The Phillies losing 75 percent of their ballgames? MIRAGE
Ellis Rochelson ’09 wants to give Mariano Rivera a big hug.
MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2007
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
M. lax harnesses Hawks
W. crew continues to shine as regular season winds down
continued from page 16 midfield to get a more offensiveminded player into the attack. In all three instances, the Brown attacker running into the zone beat his opposing defenseman to the offensive area and was left wide open in the middle of the field for an easy shot-and-score. The almost mirrorimage goals came from midfielders Jeff Hall ’08, Will Davis ’07 and Zach Caldwell ’10. Hall said he was pleased with how well Brown executed in these transition and substitution situations. “We didn’t know it would be a weakness for (Hartford),” he said. “We worked on it all week in practice though. We call it a ‘gotcha.’ ” The second quarter was a different script with the same ending. Brown scored the first four goals of the quarter, the first three of which came in man-up situations. The Bears patiently moved the ball around the edges of the Hawk defense, forcing it to shift until gaps opened up for cutters through the middle. Brown also capitalized on Hartford penalties all day, and it scored in five-out-of-eight extra man situations, whereas Hartford took advantage of only one of the eight Brown penalties. Brown seemed to relax late in the second quarter, as passes became sloppy and a turnover in the offensive zone led to a transition goal for the Hawks. Hartford then added one more to shorten Brown’s lead to 9-3 at halftime. But Bruno resumed its domination in the third quarter, though
Hartford hung around until the finish. Attackman Thomas Muldoon ’10 scored the first of his three goals and midfielder Mike Bernard ’07 scored on another play reminiscent of the first quarter when he beat his man during a substitution. Those were the only two goals of the period. The defense continued to handcuff the Hawks offense and Brown entered the final quarter up 11-3. One minute into the final period, Hartford finally cracked the Brown defense and scored the first of three straight goals in a one-minute span. Hartford scored five of the first six goals in the quarter to pull within four with just less than five minutes remaining in the game. “We came out hard, but we didn’t sustain the effort,” Miller said. He added that “they went on a great run and we needed to buckle down.” Hall said the quick lead might have led to a letdown. “Maybe we got a little lackadaisical,” he said. “With a team like that that came back against a good team like SUNY-Stony Brook, we had to stay prepared all day. After the quick lapse, Brown closed the door on the Hawks. Muldoon and Hall both scored unassisted goals to make the final score 14-8. The game was one of Brown’s easiest in a season that has been full of nail-biters. Coming off two close losses, Brown was able to build a bit of momentum for next Saturday when it will play its final home game of the regular season against the nation’s top-ranked team, Cornell.
continued from page 16 Many seniors said they felt mixed emotions upon completing their last race on the Seekonk. “I wasn’t as sentimental and nostalgic as I thought I might be,” said co-captain Elizabeth Fison ’07. “We have so much more to do before I’m done with rowing. We’ve got a lot to look forward to.” Sarah Brooks ’07 and Devorah West ’07 expressed similar sentiments. “It’s very bittersweet,” Brooks said. “We had a really great day with great weather, so it was the perfect way to end our time here racing. But it’s also very sad because I know I’ll never race on this course again.” “But we also have another dual race and then Eastern Sprints and Nationals,” West said. “So it’s not
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the end yet.” The weather was perfect, sunny with calm water — a far cry from what the team fought through earlier in the year. Murphy said the conditions on Saturday made rowing much easier. “I think you can really think about the rowing and it’s not a survival thing,” he said. “You get some of those days when it’s really rough, and all the teams worry about just surviving the rough water. On a day like this you can really think about being the best you can be, so that was a lot of fun for us.” Fison echoed her coach’s comments and noted that the weather brought out many fans. “It was really nice to have the calm water,” she said. “The weather has been a little rough, so it was really nice to have a beautiful day. And it’s great to have the spectators here.” The team was also pleased that the men’s team competed at the same time against Northeastern, allowing the two squads to support each other. The men’s varsity eight, ranked No. 5 in the nation, defeated the Huskies by a time of 5:33.7 to 5:42.5. Murphy said he was particularly happy to share the day with the men.
“I enjoyed that very much,” he said. “I used to coach on the West Coast. I coached at (University of California-Berkeley) and then I coached at (University of) Washington, and they always did that. When you went to race somebody, you got everybody, the men and the women. It was a big event. They don’t do that that often on the East Coast. I enjoy it, I think the men and women on the teams enjoy it, and it’s better for spectators. It’s better all around, and I wish we could do more of it.” Murphy said he sees parallels between the men’s and women’s teams. “I think these teams are very similar,” he said. “They get along well. I think their goals and their work ethic and their maturity are very similar. I’m very impressed with this men’s team. I enjoyed that race that they just rowed out there. I followed as many as I could, but I got to follow the varsity men at the end. I enjoyed every minute of it. I think it was a great race and I wish I could see more of their races.” The Bears have their last dual meet of the season next Saturday against Yale and the University of Tennessee on the Housatonic River in Derby, Conn. The Bears will compete in the Eastern Sprints May 13 in Camden, N.J.
E DITORIAL & L ETTERS THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
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MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2007
STAF F EDITORIAL
Advancing advising As University officials move forward with their wholesale review of the undergraduate College, one topic is high on their agenda, and for good reason: advising. The College has traditionally been considered Brown’s strength — the “small college with the benefits of a large university” spiel is familiar to every student. But as professors and students alike learn after only a short time on College Hill, Brown’s undergraduate advising programs are woefully inadequate. After about 18 months at Brown, most students have at least one advising horror story to recount — the adviser who signs first-years’ blank registration forms, the students left to fend for themselves after their assigned concentration adviser leaves for sabbatical, the well-intentioned professor who can’t offer any advice outside of one’s department, the sophomore who has never heard of Randall advisers and the interdisciplinary concentrators dissatisfied with fighting for a brief timeslot with their program’s sole adviser. Despite common experiences of awkward and unhelpful encounters with first-year advisers and, for some, a sophomore year passed with a largely absent adviser, many students develop a close working relationship — if not formal advising partnership — with at least one faculty member. Capstone and thesis projects often yield useful advising connections for students but come far too late in the four-year process. We’re not suggesting that existing advising programs be eliminated or even significantly overhauled. But the current program, which consists entirely of faculty advisers — many of whom are unfamiliar with paths outside their own field — is not enough. It leaves students who have yet to determine their concentration with too few options. Students who all too easily slip through the cracks of the College’s patchwork advising system don’t have anyone to turn to for curricular and academic guidance. Without a robust suite of advising programs, the unlimited choices of a self-directed Brown education more closely resemble a dizzying maze than a constructive path of learning. Fortunately, the maze looks set to change. Today the University announces the selection of a new deputy dean of the College — a 14-year Yale University veteran with a solid background in undergraduate advising — who will oversee Brown’s programs. The Task Force on Undergraduate Education, which had its first meeting Thursday, plans to examine advising, and it’s also the subject of a new study stemming from a University-led survey of open curriculum programs funded by the Teagle Foundation. Recent restructuring in the Office of the Dean of the College — including centralizing post-baccalaureate pre-law, pre-med and fellowship advising under two deans — is evidence that (perhaps unpopular) administrative change is already affecting advising. There’s no quick fix that would perfect Brown’s advising programs, but this flurry of activity could still ultimately yield concrete results. Whatever specific changes are proposed, advising reform must match the uniqueness of Brown’s curriculum.
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LETTERS Garber ’07 criticizes Court decision on abortion To the Editor: In a 5-4 vote on April 18, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a federal law banning “partial-birth abortion,” the first law successfully banning an abortion procedure since the Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973. The law was signed by President Bush in 2003 and criminalizes an abortion method typically used in the early second trimester of pregnancy. The law allows no exception for use of the procedure in situations where a woman’s life is in danger. This decision has serious implications for women’s reproductive health and safety in the future. Upholding this law allows politicians, rather than qualified
providers, to make decisions about the healthcare that women will receive. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg stated that through this decision, “the Court deprives women of the right to make an autonomous choice, even at the expense of their safety.” Medical and moral decisions should be decided privately by women and their doctors, not by the government.
Emily Garber ’07 April 19
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EDITOR’S NOTE A letter in Thursday’s Herald (“UCS should have let Mukherjee ’09 run,” April 19) could not be authenticated. The individual identified as its author, Jon Nakatamo ’08, is not a known Brown student. 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 MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2007
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
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The problem of looking second-tier COURTNEY JENKINS OPINIONS COLUMNIST
Moving into my Keeney double as a freshman student-athlete four years ago, I thought I could do it all: ace my classes, win Ivies, perform at a top-notch level and still find time to have fun. And I did, as a member of the varsity softball team. I thought I had proven the critics wrong, the critics who alleged that you could never balance “the S triumvirate” — school, sports and a social life — on the same plate. They warned that something was bound to give, but I thought I had found the loophole. Then a year came and went, and suddenly I, too, was among the cynics, and not just of the way Division I athletics meshed — or, in my case, clashed — with a wellrounded collegiate experience. I became disillusioned by the politics of the Department of Athletics and how it played out on the athletes themselves. Without a doubt, playing a varsity sport is an extraordinary time commitment — that’s no surprise to anyone. What was shocking to me, however, was the proportionally minor commitment the athletic department put into our team. Looking at the media attention and facilities our big-money, big-crowd, headlinegrabbing sports garner around Providence, it was difficult not to feel that our team was, in essence, second-tier. Granted, I have no intention of arguing that first-tier sports like football, basketball and hockey don’t bring something unique and special to campus and to the greater Providence community. I
think they’re a wonderful and positive way of developing some semblance of school spirit at a university not particularly well—known for cohesive excitement. That said, for the athletes who aren’t getting print advertisements in the paper, snazzy media guides, catered tailgates before games, seven coaches, new warm-up suits, full-year locker rooms or even something as simple as an up-to-date facility, it’s not so easy to ignore the hierarchy of sports
country, and yet our football team — which beat six other teams to win the league two years ago — gets far more attention. The problem extends to facilities too. Take, for instance, the disparity between the baseball and softball fields. The baseball stadium may be a little old and in need of some maintenance, but at least they have a permanent fence, lots of seating and a large, detailed scoreboard. Does anyone even know where the softball field is? Probably not — there
It is a downright embarrassment to the school and to the athletes who devote so much energy and effort to representing the University when its facilities are so ridiculously sub-par. on campus. Sure, it was exciting when our football team won the Ivy Championship in 2005, but what percentage of our student body knows that our women’s crew team has won the NCAA Division I Championship four times (1999, 2000, 2002 and 2004) in the last eight years? It’s a little sad when we have the No. 1 ranked women’s crew team in the
aren’t any signs. But if you do stumble upon it, you’ll notice that it looks like the field from “The Sandlot,” only without the charm, and that it only gets a rickety chain—link fence for five months of the year and a scoreboard from the Nixon era which is barely readable unless you’re on the pitcher’s mound. I may be making light of the matter, but I am con-
vinced it is a downright embarrassment to the school and to the athletes who devote so much energy and effort to representing the University when its facilities are so ridiculously sub—par. What is equally disconcerting is that no one seems to care or to notice — except the other teams. I know it sounds a bit silly, but there was something painful about having the Princeton squad walk onto our field my freshman year and all but laugh at our antiquated “stadium” and, by proxy, us. I can’t say that was the reason we won or lost, but I will say that it took away from any home—field advantage we could have had. In traveling to other Ivy schools my freshman year, I can recall marveling at their stadiums, their manicured grass and their circa-Y2K scoreboards. It was palpable the way their teams took pride in not only their appearance but also in the way their schools clearly invested money and interest in their facilities. They were better for it, and it showed. Yes, I know, it’s a bit pomp and circumstance to talk about dirt and dugouts when there are more important matters at stake, and I understand there are budgetary constraints I know little about. But it is going to take serious steps to even out the disparities between our athletic teams, and starting with the superficial issues would be a start. Ultimately, while I love and pride myself on the fact that Brown values such a wide array of extracurricular activities and makes a valiant effort to support so many of them, what does it say about the University’s commitment to its student—athletes when it prioritizes some over others?
Courtney Jenkins ’07 has the varsity blues.
Finding my inner patriot, abroad BY MAHA ATAL COLUMNIST ABROAD
OXFORD, England — In last month’s Vanity Fair, Englishman A.A. Gill described with disgust the behavior of British expatriates in New York society. Frequenting exclusively British clubs, dressing in tweed and overdoing their accents, the British expats were trying far too hard to assert their difference. Gill is equally vexed by the unrealistic version of “Britishness” these emigrants cluster around. No one in Britain today — he claims — still lives in the 1950s sitcom world of New York’s British hangouts. Then again, the immigrants themselves aren’t typical Britons. According to Gill, while other groups in America represent the best of their home country, Britishers who go abroad are the ones who couldn’t hack it — academically, politically or financially — in the motherland. “What you get,” he says, “are our failures and fantasists,” owners of an inferiority complex that manifests itself in too-tight jeans and too many pints of Guinness. Perhaps, before coming to England, I’d have chuckled derisively as I read this piece. Today, however, I can’t help but sympathize with these Brits. Atypical expats gathering around an idealized nationality? That sounds strangely like my experience as an American in England. I, and most of the other Americans I know here, are pretty far from stereotypical Yanks. We don’t have strong accents, we don’t travel with fanny packs and Bermuda shorts, we don’t live on a diet of Big Macs and, to put it subtly, we aren’t gun-toting imperialist cowboys. Back in the States, many of us were among the first to recognize the errors of America’s current foreign policy or
the flaws of American culture. The American community abroad isn’t exactly a bunch of blind, flag-waving patriots. But 3,000 miles and 9 months away from home, we find patriotism and nostalgia in surprising places. I find myself nearly crying with joy when a friend makes me real pancakes for breakfast, and signing up for a March Madness pool despite never having watched a game of college basketball before leaving the United States. Some of the America we long for is as
I grew up comfortably middle-class in New York. I attended a predominantly white, Protestant high school, and most of my friends are middle-class and white. I don’t talk much about my ethnicity (South Asian) and tend to roll my eyes at speeches about diversity and multiculturalism. But it is only here, in a country and a university that is still shockingly segregated, that I see the real impact of multiculturalism. Diversity pervades American life in subtle ways. When my fellow visiting students
Atypical expats gathering around an idealized nationality? That sounds strangely like my experience as an American in England. made up as the expats’ New York Britain. At Brown, I doubt I’d be thrilled to watch my hometown Yankees play the Red Sox in a room full of Bostonians. But here, with a 3,000-mile perspective on regional rivalries, the national anthem hits the same spot in us all. It’s a spot I never knew I had, and perhaps finding it is the most important lesson of my time here. When I land in New York in June, I will carry a newfound patriotism. But unlike the blind nationalists I still criticize, I have learned only this year what it is about America that makes me proud to call it home.
and I pine for “American” food, we are thinking of Mexican fajitas and General Tso’s chicken. But I recently found myself having to justify the Americanness of these foods to a British friend who asked me what I missed most from home. Here in Britain, where homegrown terror is a real threat, where a white elite student population still has an exclusively immigrant population cleaning their rooms, that kind of acculturation is hard to imagine. Indeed, my cleaning-lady, or “scout,” always seems a bit confused when I speak to her in Hindi. I’m about the same age as her own daughter, but the British education sys-
tem — with nonexistent financial aid and no concept of affirmative action — gives families like hers little chance of moving up. Indeed, the most frustrating thing about Britain is how little things change here. Gothic buildings and antiquated traditions are charming, but the rigidity of the class and political structure that accompanies them is dangerous and disheartening. Friends and family from home sometimes ask me if I could ever imagine living in England. The answer is always “no,” mostly because I can’t begin to imagine calling myself British. It seems like an identity that’s hard to acquire, hard to move into. It doesn’t easily accommodate strangers. America, on the other hand, is obsessed with change, with everything that is newfangled and cutting edge, and our national identity is as subject to constant flux — just like our city landscapes. Which means that it’s always possible for new groups to become American and redefine American culture by their presence. Change is not always easy or conflict-free, but by and large, America welcomes it. Change, the sense of a society that is always trying to move forward, is the defining American ideal and defining principle of my new patriotism. Sure, America has its flaws, and as an atypical patriot, I will continue to whine about them. But our culture of progress also arms me to alter them and inspires me to bring the nation I come back to even closer to the imagined America I found here. The excessive tweed of A.A. Gill’s Britons is irritating, yet having rediscovered my American patriotism abroad, I can’t help but find the sight of the Scots and the English rooting for the same team strangely heartening.
Maha Atal ’08 no longer hates our freedom.
S PORTS M ONDAY MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2007
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
MLB trends Baseball remains tied with and mirages Harvard after series split BY STU WOO FEATURES EDITOR
Three weeks into the MLB season, and a little less than 10 percent of the full season has been played. But some interesting stat lines have begun to develop already. Kyle Lohse struck out 12 batters in one game Ellis Rochelson Ellis’ MLB Exclusive and Alex Rodriguez started his season better than any Yankee in history. Which trends are legit, and which are merely mirages?
Things didn’t look good for the baseball team late Saturday afternoon. Down four in the bottom of the eighth inning, Brown was six outs away from being swept in a doubleheader by Harvard, which entered the series tied with Brown for the Red Rolfe Division lead with a 7-3 record. That all changed with a swing of bat and a gust of wind. With three home runs — including a game-tying grand slam Saturday and game-winning blast Sunday — over the weekend, third baseman Robert Papenhause ’08 led the Bears to a pair of comeback victories over the visiting Crimson. In a four-game series that featured some clutch hitting and pitching but poor defense and baserunning, the Bears split a fourgame series with Harvard that was often tense and emotional. As a result, both teams remain tied
Ian Kinsler, elite slugger? In his 2006 rookie season, Kinsler smacked 14 home runs in 120 games. Based on his impressive debut, most pundits had pegged the Texas second-baseman for a nice 15 homer, .290 batting average season. Kinsler seems set on exceeding those expectations: in his first 17 games, he’s launched continued on page 12
atop the division with 9-5 league records with only one week left in the season. “It was a great series,” said Head Coach Marek Drabinski. “What we had here were two good teams going at it and we had a split.” In Saturday’s first game, the Bears, now 14-17 overall, sent Jeff Dietz ’08 to the mound. But the right-hander ran into some difficulty against the Crimson lineup. Dietz gave up a first-inning home run to Steffan Wilson, and Harvard (now 14-15 overall) added on three runs in the third thanks to a combination of singles, a walk and an error. Brown tried to catch up, scoring two runs in the bottom of the third, with one run coming off Papenhause’s home run to left, but Harvard scored three more runs in the top of the sixth to seal the 7-3 victory. The Bears responded with a continued on page 6
Jacob Melrose / Herald Robert Papenhause ’09 hit three home runs in Brown’s weekend series against Harvard.
M. lax harnesses the Hawks in 14-8 win W. crew continues to shine as BY JASON HARRIS SPORTS STAFF WRITER
The men’s lacrosse team took out its frustrations following two close Ivy League losses in its past two games on the University of Hartford Friday night. The Bears won by a score of 148 under the lights at Stevenson Field to improve to 7-5 this season. Despite struggling early in games for most of the season, Brown came out strong in its last two games, against the University of Pennsylvania last weekend and then against the Hawks this weekend. “The captains and coaches put more intensity in our pregame warm-up,” said long-stick midfielder Michael Miller ’10. “We came out faster and harder. Also, all the seniors starting gave us a lot of leadership and energy.” Brown jumped out to a 5-0 lead and finished the first quarter with a 5-1 advantage. The first three goals came off similar plays where Bruno brought the ball into the offensive zone and then had a man run back to Jacob Melrose / Herald File Photo
Will Davis’ ’07 had three goals in the men’s lacrosse team’s 14-8 victory over Hartford.
SP
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THURSDAY, AY APRIL 19 AY, SOFTBALL: Boston College 6, Brown 2
FRIDAY, AY APRIL 20 AY, M. LACROSSE: Brown 14, Hartford 8 M. TENNIS: Brown 5, Dartmouth 2 W. TENNIS: Brown 5, Dartmouth 2
SATURDAY, AY APRIL 21 AY, BASEBALL: Harvard 7, Brown 3; Brown 12, Harvard 8 M. CREW: Varsity Eight— 5:33.7, Northeastern 5:42. 5 W. CREW: Varsity Eight—6:17.16, Columbia 6:30.23, Cornell 6:42.07) EQUESTRIAN: 2nd of 7 teams, All-Ivy Competition W. LACROSSE: No. 3 Penn 12, Brown 4 SOFTBALL: Harvard 4, Brown 0;; Harvard 6, Brown 1
continued on page 13
regular season winds down BY ANDREW BRACA SPORTS STAFF WRITER
In the last home race of the season, the No. 2 women’s crew swept four races against Columbia and Cornell on the Seekonk River Saturday in yet another dominant performance. The Bears haven’t lost a race since the first meet of the season against Princeton. “I think (our performance) was good,” said Head Coach John Murphy. “These are good programs, Cornell and Columbia, and we, as well as they, have had a lot of rough weather to deal with the last week or so. I think everybody rode well, and we’re pleased.” Brown’s varsity eight faced a strong challenge from the Lions and the Big Red but pulled away steadily for the victory. The Bears crossed the line at 6:17.16, the Lions came in at 6:30.23 and the Big Red trailed at 6:42.07. “They were good,” Murphy said. “There are a lot of seniors in there, they’ve worked hard and they have a lot of experience. Columbia gave us a real good run in that first 700 or 1,000 meters, and it was close. I was very pleased they kept the pressure on us, and we were able to pull it out.”
The second varsity crew also finished first in its race at 6:36.21, followed by Cornell at 6:54.02 and Columbia at 6:58.57. The novice eight continued its string of impressive performance. The Bears crossed the line first at 6:50.51, followed by Cornell “A” at 7:15.23, Cornell “B” at 7:27.17 and Columbia at 7:40.08. “(The novice eight) did well,” Murphy said. “They’ve had a great season so far. They’ve got plenty of tough racing left, but we’re very pleased with the progress they’ve made and their spirit and their accomplishments.” In the varsity four race, Brown “A” and “B” took the top two spots, at 7:53.25 and 8:03.46, respectively, while Columbia trailed behind at 8:35.47. Murphy said he was pleased with the way all the boats performed. “I think it shows that there’s good depth and a good talent level,” he said. “If just one boat won and all the others lost, I think it would be something to be concerned about, but I think that any time in a rowing program when all the boats do well it’s a real good sign of the depth of the program.” continued on page 13
R E B O A R D
M. TRACK: 3rd of 6 teams, Husky Springs Invitational W. TRACK: 2nd of 8 teams, Husky Springs Invitational W. WATER POLO: No. 18 Brown 21, Utica 0; No. 18 Brown 18, Queens 2
SUNDAY, AY APRIL 22 AY, BASEBALL: Brown 5, Harvard 2; Harvard 9, Brown 4 M. GOLF: 2nd of 8 teams; Ivy League Championship W. GOLF: 7th of 7 teams; Ivy League Championship SOFTBALL: Harvard 3, Brown 0; Harvard 6, Brown 1 M. TENNIS: Harvard 5, Brown 2 W. TENNIS: Brown 4, Harvard 3 W. WATER POLO: No. 18 Brown 10, Harvard 1; Hartwick 18, No. 18 Brown 6
Courtesy of Susan Fison P’07 The women’s crew swept all races against Columbia and Cornell over the weekend. The matches were the last at home this season.