Thursday, September 17, 2009

Page 1

Daily Herald the Brown

vol. cxliv, no. 66 | Thursday, September 17, 2009 | Serving the community daily since 1891

Lagos probes government’s place in crisis Blunders

in e-mail transfer

By Hannah Moser Senior Staf f Writer

Watson Institute’s Joukowsky Forum overflowed Wednesday afternoon during former Chilean President Ricardo Lagos’s lecture, “Coming Through Crisis: A New Economic Model Emerges in Latin America.” A simulcast was set up down the hall to accommodate the roughly 80 people in attendance. Lagos, who led Chile from 2000 to 2006, is currently a professor-at-large at the University. Lagos discussed how Latin America can best learn from and respond to the current global economic crisis. Prior to the downturn, he said, there was much discussion of a policy plan called the Washington Consensus, which views government action in the economy as a problem, not a solution. continued on page 3

By Ellen Cushing Senior Staff Writer

develop a system that guarantees students an easier time getting into the classes they want. “A professor who is teaching a capped class can now ensure that students won’t take up class spots on Banner from those who either applied for the class, or are seniors or concentrators in a given depart-

Google accidently misdirected 22 students’ e-mail while shifting their Brown inboxes from Microsoft Exchange to Gmail last Friday — a problem that was only resolved Tuesday, according to Computing and Information Services. Some students received access to others’ mailboxes, some had their mailboxes sent to other students and some faced both complications, according to Chris Grossi ’92, manager of software distribution and desktop support field services. “The problem was on Google’s end. They acknowledged a bug,” Grossi said. In a telephone interview with The Herald, a Google spokesman accepted responsibility for the mistake. “During the migration, some people got wrong e-mail inboxes,” said Rajen Sheth, senior product manager for Google Apps. “It was a small hiccup along the way and it’s an issue we’ve taken extremely seriously.” Since announcing this past summer that Brown would begin using Gmail as its student e-mail provider, CIS has been working with Google to shift student data to the new system

continued on page 4

continued on page 2

Max Monn / Herald

Former Chilean President Richard Lagos spoke of Latin America’s economic future Thursday night.

A Banner year for registration, despite bumps By Brian Mastroianni Senior Staf f Writer

Except for Mocha crashing the night before shopping period and the inevitable student frustration with over-filled capped courses, the first week of registration this semester has gone by without any major hitches. “Overall this semester, things

are working very well,” University Registrar Michael Pesta said. This semester marks the first time Banner has allowed override PINs for professors to ease the task of admitting student into classes with course overrides, Pesta said. Students who wish to be admitted to a capped course can receive the override PIN number from their professor. The student then has

a “one-time chance” to enter the number into Banner. Separate PIN numbers are issued for smaller sections, labs and screenings depending on the course, he added. With roughly 70 percent of University courses capped at 20 students or fewer, Pesta said it was necessary for his office and Computing and Information Services to

Web site attempts to organize Brown social life By Alicia Dang Staf f Writer

inside

Students interested in publicizing, browsing or organizing campus events now have a new place to look — themaingreen.com, a Web site developed this past summer by Matt Smith ’12. The site features a Brown campus map on which public events are posted to help students find their way to events on time. Students need a University e-mail address to register. Smith came up with the idea for the Web site last semester after an unsuccessful night out. “I was supposed to go to a concert and party with my friends, but then went to ever ything at the wrong time and ended up in the Gate,” he said. Registered users will be able to

News.....1-4 Metro........5-6 Spor ts...7-8 Editorial..10 Opinion...11 Today........12

www.browndailyherald.com

F resh F ootball

add events to a weekly organizer, see notices of changes made to events and create or join groups in which private events can be organized. Visitors can log in as guests to check and post events — a feature Smith said he would keep intact “as long as people are responsible and well-behaved.” This centralized site for event organization, Smith said, allows students to “compare one event instantly with other things on campus and plan what they want to do.” It will also be easier for event organizers to advertise their events, he added. “No more table slips,” creating “paper waste,” he said. The site has more than 100 registered users. Smith said he has also posted public events. “I continued on page 3

Kim Perley / Herald

Football is starting the season with a veteran squad led by Bobby Sewall ’10 (above) and quarterback Kyle Newhall-Caballero ’11. See article page 7

Metro, 5

Sports, 7

Opinions, 11

Tent city dispersal Groups of homeless are running out of places to pitch their tents

football fall Football starts its season against Stony Brook this Saturday on the road

unfair trade? Rules for fair trade are onerous and arcane, writes Will Wray ’10

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

herald@browndailyherald.com


Page 2

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

C ampus N EWS sudoku

“Overall, I was just impressed with how fast they handled it.” — Evan Pelz ’11, on the response to gmail errors

Brown-Gmail transfer swaps users’ e-mails continued from page 1

Daily Herald the Brown

Editorial Phone: 401.351.3372 | Business Phone: 401.351.3260 Stephen DeLucia, President Michael Bechek, Vice President

Jonathan Spector, Treasurer Alexander Hughes, Secretary

The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is an independent newspaper serving the Brown University community daily since 1891. It is published Monday through Friday during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement, once during Orientation and once in July by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Single copy free for members of the community. POSTMASTER please send corrections to P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI 02906. Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Offices are located at 195 Angell St., Providence, R.I. E-mail herald@browndailyherald.com. World Wide Web: http://www.browndailyherald.com. Subscription prices: $319 one year daily, $139 one semester daily. Copyright 2009 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

in batches, said Donald Tom, director of IT for support services. On Sept. 11, CIS technicians were converting about 200 users’ data when Tom said they received notices from students about the glitch. “We weren’t sure what the problem was, but we heard from a student that he had received someone else’s mail,” Tom said. Grossi spoke to two students Friday who were concerned about the mix-up. “I was aware of two people right off the bat who called in and reported issues — the two I talked to expressed particular concern about what happened and why it happened.” The following day, CIS notified Google of the problem and sent an e-mail to the roughly 200 students whose mailboxes were included in the batch being converted, asking them if they had noticed a problem. On Tuesday, Google suspended all affected accounts and fixed the bug,

Tom said. Though Tom praised Google for its prompt response, he said he was concerned the company suspended affected accounts without notifying CIS first. “I’ve spoken very forcefully with the account (executive), my boss, senior administrators at Brown — including the president. (Google needs) to find a better way to communicate with us,” he said. “I’m pleased that they were forthcoming in admitting that there was a bug, but what concerns me is that they took it upon themselves to suspend our students’ e-mails,” Tom added. Sheth said the suspension was a necessary measure while the bug was being fixed to ensure that no more data were being improperly shared. “We wanted to make sure that we can fix the issue, but at the same time while we’re fixing it that the wrong students aren’t reading the wrong messages,” Sheth said.

According to Sheth, Brown was not the only institution effected by the bug, but declined to say how many schools were affected. Tom said he got the impression that 10 schools faced the problem. Grossi said the affected students he spoke to were “concerned but understanding.” Evan Pelz ’11, a former Herald staff writer who mistakenly received someone else’s mail, said he was impressed by CIS’ quick response to the bug. “Initially, I was unhappy in terms of privacy, but I think that overall, I was just impressed with how fast they handled it,” he said. Both Tom and Grossi said this incident should not undermine students’ confidence in Google as a mail provider. “Google does mail delivery very well,” Grossi said. “What this problem was, was a very small application that Google uses. So it’s concerning, but I don’t think it’s representative of the service as a whole.”

Does this bohter you? Come copy edit! Info session tonight at 8 p.m., 195 Angell St.


Thursday, September 17, 2009

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

C ampus N EWS

Page 3

“I get to see presidents.” — Maria Suarez ’13, on why she chose Brown

Lagos outlines future of Latin American economic policy continued from page 1 “When we were in the middle of this discussion, the (economic) crisis arrived,” he said. Now, he said, one of the big questions in Latin America is, “What is the area to be defined by the market, and what is the area to be defined by those in the government?” In addition to the crisis, there have been long-term changes in Latin America. Lagos pointed out that many countries in the region, including Chile, Brazil and Mexico, are described as “middle-income,” meaning they don’t qualify for foreign aid. These middle-income countries look at the crisis differently than more industrialized G8 nations would, he said. Lagos discussed the importance of creating “contra-cyclical” economic policies in national budgets that would plan for and help “smooth” the natural ups and downs of the economy. He said countries will need to regulate the private and public sectors to establish a partnership, utilize new technology to improve productivity and add value to their exports. The intersection of public and private sectors will be especially im-

portant in Latin America’s response to climate change, Lagos said. Countries are currently classified by their income, Lagos said, but in the future they will also be classified by their carbon emissions. By reining in deforestation, Latin American nations can significantly reduce their emissions and put themselves on top of this list. Lagos also questioned who would establish the rules in the new “financial architecture” of a globalized world. Though he said he recognized it will not be easy, he emphasized the need for Latin America to “speak with one voice” during this time. Among those in attendance were 15 Bryant University students in an international finance class there, who traveled to the lecture as a group. One of the group, sophomore Andres Orobitg , said he liked that “more people are going to have a say on what goes on in the world,” as Lagos mentioned during his discussion of the G20. Maria Suarez ’13 took advantage of the question-and-answer portion after the presentation. “It’s what made me so happy about coming (to Brown),” she said. “I get to see presidents.”

Courtesy of TheMainGreen.com

More than 100 Brown students have already registered for TheMainGreen.com

New web site keeps students in the loop continued from page 1

have done no major advertising,” he said, “but if ever yone starts using (the site), it will definitely happen.” The Web site is also available for students on other Ivy League campuses. It can, in the future, be “expanded to any other university pretty easily,” Smith said. There is also a “venue” section on the Web site where businesses can sign up and post their own events. With basic knowledge of

computer programming that he learned in CSCI 0040: “Introduction to Scientific Computing and Problem Solving,” Smith created the site on his own this past summer. Some students said they think the new tool is a good idea. “I’d totally use it,” said Yvette Gutierrez ’13. “It sounds like a good way for me to find out what’s going on on campus. From what I’ve heard, there’s so much going on and it’s hard — at least for me — to know (about the events).” But others expressed doubt it

would become a regular reference for the community. “It’s an interesting concept,” said Anne Fuller ’11. “But people have so many ways of getting information already. I wouldn’t necessarily check it.” Another student, Joey Burnett ’12 said, “It would be a good idea if it is connected to something already in place like Morning Mail or other sources which people regularly check. For example, Mocha is widely used because it has links to actual Brown Web sites.”


Page 4

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

C ampus N EWS

Thursday, September 17, 2009

“You just have to make peace with it.” — Lauren Sarat, visiting lecturer in English, on shopping-period chaos

Banner brings mixed reviews, few problems continued from page 1

ment,” Pesta said. The PIN system was developed specifically for Brown by CIS ­­— the first Banner school to develop this course override process, Pesta said. As of Wednesday, 5418 total overrides have been performed by professors, with 3,925 done since Sept. 1. Out of that number, 344 overrides were done by using the new PIN system, Pesta said. Despite sending out e-mails to students and faculty that feature links to online tutorials on using the PIN, Pesta said it is still a feature that members of the Brown community are getting used to. Besides the novelty of the override PIN, Pesta said that other concerns students initially had with the registration system are nearly non-existent as Banner enters its fifth semester at Brown. “The newness of Banner is no longer an issue. During that first semester, our office dealt with issues of student unfamiliarity with the program,” Pesta said. As current University seniors are the last students familiar with the old registration system, the majority of the undergraduates at Brown “no longer feel as discour-

aged as they had when Banner was first put into place,” Pesta said. Much has changed since the days when students would fill out pink paper slips in class and wait in line outside the University Hall offices to register. “I think the Banner registration system is great. Ever ything has gone smoothly for me since I have been a professor here on campus,” said Laurel Bestock ’99, assistant professor of archeology since fall 2008. Bestock said she remembered when, as a Brown undergraduate, she would have to bring her class choices to the Registrar’s office and then wait to find out if there was even an available spot for her in a given class. “I didn’t shop as many classes as people shop today. It just was a different registration process,” she said. “As a professor, I think Banner is a great system. I love Banner.” While the registration process has gone smoothly this year, many members of the Brown community agree on one thing — they wish Banner were more like Mocha. “I hate having to scroll through all of the class lists to get to a course title,” Visiting Lecturer in English Lauren Sarat said. “It’s unnecessarily time-consuming — it could

Courtesy of Brown.edu

Banner’s new PIN override system has been used for fewer than 10 percent of total overrides given this semester.

be better streamlined. It would be nice if they had an easy search feature.” Michael Enriquez ’11 said he agrees. Mocha “is very user-friendly,” he said. “Having to use Mocha to make up your schedule and then go to Banner to actually register for classes is really very annoying.” For Lillian Patil ’11, the most stressful part of the registration process was determining her first day of classes when Mocha crashed the night before shopping period began. “I think it’s pretty hard to use

Banner to figure out an actual schedule,” Patil said. “Mocha is clearly superior in that it shows your schedule as you find classes.” Still, not all members of Brown faculty are satisfied with the Banner system of registration. Sarat said it is ver y dif ficult to have a definite class list when students regularly drop and add themselves to sections of her ENGL 0180: “Introduction to Creative Nonfiction” class. “I always feel bad about turning people away from the class,” she said. “Some think they are actually in the class, when they really are

not. It’s a frustrating process.” While Sarat likes features of Banner such as class e-mail lists and student ID pictures, she sees the override PIN process as something that “just adds more administrative steps.” “If we just had a registration process with a piece of paper, everything would be all set and there would be no falling through the cracks,” she said. “There just seems to be more policing of the class list than there should be.” “There is so much chaos in the shopping period — you just have to make peace with it,” Sarat said.

blogdailyherald.com


Metro The Brown Daily Herald

“This is the closest link between air and rail in the country.” — Scott Avedisian, mayor of Warwick Thursday, September 17, 2009 | Page 5

City planning moves forward By Mitra Anoushiravani Senior Staf f Writer

Amid neighborhood skepticism, a final draft of a proposal to allow commercial development in the former Shooters Restaurant property by India Point Park was presented on Tuesday night by the Rhode Island Department of Planning and Development. The development plan — called the College Hill, Fox Point and Wayland Square Plan — was presented to the City Planning Commission as part of a larger initiative called Providence Tomorrow, which aims to promote growth while still preserving the character of Providence’s neighborhoods. Mayor David Cicilline ’83 and the city council proposed the initiative in 2006.

The department has held multiday meetings, which members of the community and business owners were encouraged to attend, and drafted plans for the future development of each city neighborhood. Most of the agenda for Tuesday night’s commission meeting was devoted to reviewing the final draft of the plan and to public comments. A major point of contention at the meeting was over the fate of the property that was once Shooters Restaurant. According to Rita Williams, a former councilwoman who represented Ward 2 from 1991 to 2006, the Department of Transportation bought the Shooters property for $4.7 million by eminent domain in 2000. The building was used to store construction materials and

building equipment while I-195 was being moved closer to the waterfront. Now that I-195 is complete, the Rhode Island Transportation Department has plans to sell the property, Williams said. “Now the value is much less and they would never recoup the money they paid for it,” she said. Daisy Schnepel, president of the Fox Point Neighborhood Association, said at Tuesday’s meeting that the Fox Point community would favor a more public or limited commercial use of the area. The proposed plan would keep the current zoning level, which allows for condominiums, hotels and other residential buildings as tall as eight stories to be built by the wacontinued on page 6

City uproots homeless colony By Sara Sunshine Senior Staf f Writer

After being evicted from their camps by city and state officials, a community of Providence homeless people who sought safety in numbers has been left looking for a home before the arrival of winter. Residents of Hope City, a collection of tents below an overpass in downtown Providence, were told to leave the site last month by city officials after a Superior Court judge ruled that they were trespassing. The group — which started after a homeless man froze to death under that bridge in January and

included almost 40 people at its peak — then moved to the town of Cumberland. Wilfred “Eagle Heart” Greene, chief of the Seaconke Wampanoags, offered Hope City’s leaders the use of a grassy area next to railroad tracks, an area Greene claimed as part of the tribe’s reservation, according to the Providence Journal. However, the Wampanoags have not been recognized as a Native American tribe by the federal government, and their claim to the Cumberland space was rejected in 2003 by a U.S. District Court judge in Providence. Furthermore, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, the Cumberland location has been

a Superfund hazardous waste site since 1983. In a letter to Greene, Town Solicitor Thomas Hefner said the group would have to leave by Sept. 2 because the site contained dangerous contaminants and lacked the proper facilities to support camping. Since then, Hope City’s former residents have spread out across Providence. Some have returned to continued on page 6

Rail service to extend to Warwick airport By Amy Chen Contributing Writer

Those tr ying to reach T.F. Green Airport could have a new transportation option by fall 2011. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority recently voted to extend rail service and run eight trips a day to the airport. A line of MBTA commuter trains is currently under construction, and will run between Boston, Providence, North Kingstown and T.F. Green in War wick. Construction is going well and the project is r unning slightly ahead of schedule, Patti Goldstein, vice president of public affairs and air ser vice marketing at T.F. Green, wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. This transpor tation hub will provide enhanced customer service to T.F. Green’s passengers with “a seamless link from the rail to the terminal,” Goldstein wrote. War wick Mayor Scott Avedisian agreed. “This is the closest link between air and rail in the countr y,” he said. The city of War wick has advocated for this project for more than 10 years, Avedisian said. Modifications to blueprints have contributed to this delay, he added. Though MBTA commuter rail trains have been running to Provi-

dence for 21 years, this will be the first time ser vice will operate in other Rhode Island locations, said Charles St. Martin, spokesperson for the Rhode Island Department of Transportation. “This project will help to provide (alternative) means of commuting,” St. Martin said. “It also takes pressure off highways.” Avedisian agreed that “it is a more effective way to move people, get cars of f the road (and) lessen traffic and pollution.” The airpor t train station will be a par t of the War wick Intermodal Facility, set to open in fall 2010. The facility will also include a rental car garage and a 1200 foot walkway connecting it to the airport. The car rental facility “helps in our marketing efforts to airlines,” Goldstein wrote. A six-level parking garage will have up to 1800 spaces for rental cars and 800 for commuters, and house all rental car operations including administrative of fices, according to a report released this year by the Rhode Island Airpor t Corporation. The airport updates and new Intermodal Facility will cost $267 million and draw from federal, state and private sector funds, according to the report. continued on page 6


Page 6

M etro

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

“All I’m trying to do is make sure no one dies.” — John Joyce, advocoate for the homeless

Providence homeless search for new site continued from page 5 the streets, while others have moved in with supporters or friends. Inhabitants of Camp Runamuck, a larger community located under an I-95 overpass near Fish Co., have not fared much better. After reaching an agreement with the Superior Court that they would vacate the site by Sept. 8, the group splintered. About 10 Runamuck residents moved to a city-owned area near the Elmhurst Campus of Rhode Island Hospital, according to a Sept. 9 Journal article. Around twenty others relocated to a vacant lot on Westminster Street, which has been named Provitents by its residents. The city’s homeless continue to look for long-term solutions in addition to a place to stay the night. “The city of Providence may seem small, but it has a big problem — homelessness,” said John Joyce, a formerly homeless man

who founded Hope City along with Megan Smith ’10, a member of the student group HOPE, or Housing Opportunities for People Ever ywhere. There is a “not-in-my-backyard” attitude about the homeless camps, Joyce said. But homelessness is not unique to Rhode Island — “it’s in every backyard on the planet,” he said. Joyce continues to work with HOPE and volunteer attorneys to advocate for those in need. As the state’s economy continues to struggle and unemployment rises, the homeless population has grown by 43 percent, Joyce said. There are over 6,000 recorded homeless people in Rhode Island, he added. For some of those people, particularly those with addictions or mental illnesses, there is nowhere to go, Joyce said. Some of the state’s shelters will not take anyone with such problems, he said.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

For others, shelters are simply undesirable. “They’re overcrowded and unclean,” Joyce said, adding that the state does not regularly inspect the condition of shelters. Shelters and tents are not a “longterm solution,” Joyce said. He added that placing homeless people in permanent housing could be cheaper than “warehousing them.” However, funding is limited and the state’s pockets continue to shrink. Representatives from the city could not be reached. Neither Joyce nor the students from HOPE intend to give up. “We go directly to the homeless community and ask about their needs,” said Rob St. Louis ’11, a co-coordinator for HOPE. Last year, the group was successful in opening up a “hugely successful” soup kitchen, said Meghna Philip ’11. “We’re not going away,” Joyce said. “All I’m trying to do is make sure no one dies.”

Citizens wary of new College Hill developments continued from page 5 ter. The plan proposes to extend the height limitation to twelve stories if developers agree to allow for park space, a community center or a wider waterfront walkway. The planning department is still in the process of determining incentives for developers, said Bonnie Nickerson, director of long-range planning for the city, in the presentation Tuesday night. Community members who spoke at the meeting, including Williams, expressed concern that the city is considering allowing condominiums and high-rises to be built on the site in order to bring in property tax revenue rather than opening the waterfront to the public. One public use for the site proposed by community members at the meeting was the construction of a marina for ferry service. Another goal of the plan is to help maintain small businesses on Thayer and Wickenden Streets and in Wayland Square and to prevent larger businesses from buying two or three plots of land and turning these areas into large commercial buildings. The planning department proposed a zone change for

each of these areas, which limits commercial development to small businesses. The department also proposed extending the evening hours for businesses on South Main Street to allow for nightclub activity. In order to preserve the residential feel of College Hill, the department also proposed prohibiting institutions, such as Brown and Rhode Island School of Design, from constructing buildings taller than four stories within 100 feet of a residential zone. Michael McCormick, assistant vice president of planning, design and construction, submitted a written letter of opposition that was read during the meeting. Other proposed changes included working with the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority to possibly change bus stops to include areas that receive more traffic, protecting historic buildings, such as University Hall and working with local businesses to help improve parking conditions. At next month’s commission meeting the planning department will present a newer version of the College Hill, Fox Point and Wayland Square Plan that incorporates the feedback from the public.

New train to service T.F. Green Airport continued from page 5 A separate $49 million is devoted to the new Wickford Junction station, while additional expenses such as upgrading tracks will cost up to $20 million, St. Martin said. The economic impact is expected to be significant when the

project is completed and the train ser vice and facilities open, according to the report. This impact will include an estimated $43 million paid to construction workers. “This project will lead Warwick to a new economy,” Avedisian said.


SportsThursday The Brown Daily Herald

Thursday, September 17, 2009 | Page 7

Football begins season with high expectations By Dan Alexander Senior Staff Writer

Two weeks after they started watching other teams on television, Ivy League football players will finally get a chance to hit somebody not wearing a practice jersey. “It seems like it’s been forever since college football started,” said Head Coach Phil Estes. “We’re just very excited now to have a chance to open up and defend the title.” On Saturday night against Stony Brook, the Bears will kick off for the first time since the Columbia game that sealed their share of the Ivy League title last fall. Stony Brook will be the first game in a 10 week campaign in what players and coaches hope will be a road to Brown’s first ever back-to-back Ivy League titles. The Bears are ranked third in the Ivy League Football Preseason Media Poll, behind perennial powers Harvard and Penn. But the ranking doesn’t seem to worry coaches and players. “Coach said it — ever y time they’ve ever picked us third, we’ve won the championship,” said Bobby Sewall ’10, a first-team All Ivy-wide receiver last season. The Bears return twelve starters, including six first- or second-team All Ivy players. But they lost nine All Ivy selections, most notably quarterback Michael Dougherty ’09, who set the single-game Ivy League record for passing yards when he threw for 526 against the University of Rhode Island last year. Dougherty’s departure leaves a giant question mark under center —

named Kyle Newhall-Caballero ’11. Co-captain Paul Jasinowski ’10 said he thinks Newhall-Caballero will do well, especially given that the quarterback will be surrounded by one of the best receiving corps in the nation and behind an experienced offensive line that only gave up ten sacks last year. Newhall-Caballero will see his first Ivy League action when the Bears take on Harvard in a night game on Sept. 25. The early-season match-up between last year’s cochampions could have ramifications for this year’s title. “You don’t want to look past Stony Brook,” Sewall said. “But you know, Harvard under the lights, that’s going to be pretty sick.” Harvard Head Coach Tim Murphy said his team is used to playing with a bull’s-eye on its back. “You never get anybody’s B game,” he said. “You’re at a lot of homecomings. It’s everyone’s big game.” Sewall said every game in the hunt for an Ivy League title is critical. “You really can’t afford to lose.” “We’re the defending champs until we get beat,” Jasinowski said. “We want to win every game. We want the trophy, and we don’t want to share it.” Bears’ Offense With Newhall-Caballero taking over as quarterback, the Bears’ attack may look different this season. But the Bears have two firstteam All-Ivy receivers in Sewall and Buddy Farnham ’10, so Sewall said he expects the team to continue to pass often.

Kim Perley / Herald File Photo

The football team will begin their season against Stony Brook on Saturday with a new quarterback. Estes told his team that NewhallCaballero will likely see a number of blitzes coming his way before he proves himself, according to Sewall. But the quarterback should have good protection behind a line in which every starter has started at least one game in his career, accord-

ing to Jasinowski. “We’re a strong, veteran line,” he said. Sewall said of the 6-foot, 3-inch tall, 210 pound, Newhall-Caballero, “He can really stand in there and make the throws.” But Sewall is only judging from practice. Newhall-Caballero has nev-

er thrown a pass in a game. This fall, he has only faced practice defenses that aren’t allowed to tackle him. “We’ll see how he does when guys are actually coming at him,” said cocaptain James Develin ’10. Newhall-Caballero has plenty of continued on page 8


Page 8

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

S ports T hursday

Thursday, September 17, 2009

“We’ll be the best D-line in the whole league.” — James Develin ’10, football co-captain.

Women’s soccer loses two close games

By Han Cui Assistant Sports Editor

The women’s soccer team traveled to the University of Arizona over the weekend to compete in the Arizona Classic. The Bears faced off against the host Wildcats on Saturday. After the Bears led 1-0 for the first 86 minutes of regulation, the Wildcats scored a tying goal to send the game into overtime, when they scored one more goal to hand the Bears a 2-1 loss. The women came back the next day to play against No. 21 San Diego, but their effort fell short as the Toreros won by one goal, 1-0. The sole goal scored by Brown this weekend came from Eliza Marshall ’13, who tallied her first collegiate goal in the overtime loss to Arizona. “We held off really well” for most of the game, Marshall said. “That was pretty tough.” But the team also learned a valuable lesson from the loss, according to Marshall. “It’s about game management,” she said. “It’s about how to manage the clock to pull out a win.” The next day, the Bears returned

to the field to play San Diego. The Bears put pressure on the Toreros’ defense early in the first half, but the tide turned when San Diego started to attack the Bears’ half of the field. But Brown’s defense held off any threats coming from the opposition. Goalkeeper Steffi Yellin ’10 finished with four saves. But in the 61st minute, the Toreros’ Natalie Vinti found the ball and shot it past Yellin for the eventual gamewinning goal. The Bears had their chances later in the game, but could not find the back of the net. Despite the two tough losses, the Bears came out of the tournament feeling “positive.” “We made a lot of improvement in the second game,” Marshall said. “We have a really tough schedule right now. Coach told us that these games are preparation for the Ivy Leagues.” With the Ivy season starting at the end of the month, the Bears have three more non-conference games to play. They will travel to the mid-Atlantic on Friday night to face No. 20 Maryland. The Bears will then play Towson University on Sunday afternoon.

Kim Perley / Herald File Photo

Football gears up for another big season with wide receiver Bobby Sewall ’10.

New QB and veteran receivers to rack up points continued from page 7 targets around him, including the Bears’ top two receivers from last year. Sewall and Farnham combined for over 1,764 receiving yards and 132 catches last season. “If you try to take one of us away, then the other guy is going to be open,” Sewall said. But with a new quarterback, the Bears won’t rely entirely on the passing game. “If we can establish the run and take the pressure off Kyle, that’s exactly what we plan to do,” Estes said. After the loss of second-team All Ivy running back Dereck Knight ’08.5, the Bears will turn to some fresh faces in the backfield. Zach Tronti ’11 will start for the Bears, after having played on the junior varsity squad for the last two years. Spiro Theodhosi ’12 and Dan-

iel Ball ’11 will share carries with Tronti. Bears’ Defense The Bears’ defense will be led by first team All-Ivy defensive tackle David Howard ’09.5, who Estes calls an “NFL prospect.” Develin, a defensive end, said the line will be stingy up front. “We’re strong. We’re fast. We’ll be the best D-line in the whole league,” he said. The linebacking corps will be anchored by inside linebackers Kelley Cox ’10 and Andrew Serrano ’11, both solid players who bench press over 400 pounds, according to Sewall. The Bears were fourth in the nation in rushing defense last season, and they allowed only three rushing touchdowns all year. But their passing defense allowed 243 yards per game, the most of any team in the Ivy League.

JOIN THE HERALD Last chance info session!

Thursday, 8 p.m. 195 Angell St., (between Brook and Thayer) Recruiting for all positions News Opinions Production Business Web

The secondary lost first-team All Ivy cornerback Nkosi Still ’09, but will keep second-team All Ivy safety Chris Perkins ’10. David Clement ’10 will take over for Still as the Bears’ No. 1 corner. Stony Brook The Bears will face Stony Brook (0-2), a team that awards athletic scholarships, in an away game under the lights this Saturday. Stony Brook is two games closer to mid-season form, but Sewall said that doesn’t worry him. “Sure, they should be clicking more,” he said. “But they’re 0-2. They’re struggling.” The game will be the Bears’ first visit to Stony Brook’s Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium. “We’re really eager to go out and play someone other than us,” Sewall said. “We’re starting to get that edge and that knack to go out there and hit somebody.”


World & Nation The Brown Daily Herald

Thursday, September 17, 2009 | Page 9

Pres. Obama in no rush to develop Afghanistan plan By Karen DeYoung and Paul Kane The Washington Post

Los Angeles Times

Mexicali, a city of wide, treeless boulevards, offers little evidence of drug trafficking or violence.

Mexican city a mysterious oasis By Richard Marosi Los Angeles T imes

MEXICALI, Mexico -— In Tijuana, schoolchildren get lessons on how to duck during gangland shootouts. Ciudad Juarez cops patrol with military escorts, and the morgue there is spilling over with gunshot victims. But here in Mexicali, people fear the desert sun more than drug hit men. The city of 700,000 has a homicide rate comparable to that of Wichita, Kan., and one of the biggest police deployments is Operation Beat the Heat, in which officers haul blocks of ice to shantytown residents. There hasn’t been a bank robbery in Mexicali in 18 months, or a reported kidnapping in a year. Mexicali is considered so safe that top law enforcement officials from Tijuana raise their families here, and are seen visiting restaurants and movie theaters without the phalanx of bodyguards that usually follows them everywhere else. But is Mexicali an oasis of tranquillity, or just a mirage? Across the border in California’s Imperial County, U.S. authorities believe the Baja California state capital has become the major staging ground for drug trafficking into the U.S. The Calexico port of entry now leads the nation in cocaine seizures, with a 64 percent increase in overall drug seizures for the period from October 2008 through July 2009 compared with the same period a year earlier, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. U.S. law enforcement agencies have dismantled at least half a dozen trafficking operations since 2007, each of them a key link in a pipeline pumping tons of cocaine, methamphetamine and other drugs to cities across the U.S. Some U.S. authorities suspect that the fire-free zone in Mexicali comes at a cost: a cozy relationship between Mexican law enforcement and the country’s most powerful organized crime group, the Sinaloa drug cartel, which is believed to have shifted trafficking through the

city to avoid gang battles in other border areas. “We should be seeing huge numbers of narcotic arrests and seizures. ... I don’t see it,” said Ernie Limon, a supervisor with the California Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement. “They don’t have a lot of law enforcement presence or commitment.” Mexican authorities deny that any relationship exists, saying the calm indicates that major traffickers have been driven out of the city. Mexicali’s director of public security, Alonso Mendez, who oversees the 1,800-member municipal police force, said authorities arrest organized crime members from Sinaloa before they get established. Indeed, the city of wide, treeless boulevards offers little evidence of narco-extravagance or violence. Mexicali’s conservative population of civil servants and agricultural laborers has tended to frown on ostentatious displays of wealth. Outsized mansions are few. And narco-culture staples such as roadside “death saint” shrines haven’t spread here, as they have in Tijuana and Nuevo Laredo. “It’s not easy for (organized crime groups) to take root here,” said Mendez, a young, burly former narcotics intelligence officer. A corrupt police department, he added, would create dysfunction and upheaval, the exact opposite of the current situation. “We’d be seeing cops dying and fighting and being arrested, and we’re not,” Mendez said. Officials in Mexico and the U.S. have suspected government ties to the Sinaloa cartel since a videotaped confession of a cartel gunman surfaced two years ago, alleging that former state Attorney General Antonio Martinez Luna was taking payoffs. Martinez Luna vehemently has denied the accusation. A federal police commander and one of his officers pleaded no contest this year to drug-related charges after being arrested in a Los Angeles-area home where police seized $630,000 in alleged drug proceeds.

The federal government, which leads anti-drug efforts in Mexico, has only about 20 agents in Mexicali, which in itself has raised eyebrows among U.S. law enforcement officials. But some Mexican authorities say the U.S. is partly to blame for not improving its border defenses in adjacent Calexico, the third-busiest U.S.-Mexico port of entry, which handles about 40,000 pedestrian and car crossings daily. U.S. authorities acknowledge that the 35-year-old facility doesn’t meet modern security standards. One recent undercover investigation suggests that U.S. inspectors may be stopping as few as one in 40 shipments through the 10-lane crossing. Traffickers have boasted publicly about how easy it is to slip drugs into Imperial County. “I was great at it. I had never lost a car in the border. (Drug-sniffing) dogs never hit it or nothing,” convicted smuggler Carlos Cuevas Jr., the leader of a large trafficking organization, testified last year. The layout of the Calexico port offers an advantage to smugglers. The facility sits only about 30 yards across the U.S.-Mexico line, giving canine units limited space, and limited time, to conduct preliminary checks before vehicles reach the inspection booths. And the cramped secondary inspection area provides little room to use the mobile gamma ray machines that can penetrate steel and help detect contraband. Newer facilities lie farther inside U.S. territory. “There are lots of infrastructure constraints,” said Billy Whitford, the port director. “The small footprint limits our ability to conduct our border security mission.” Those obstacles were illustrated in a recent California state investigation in which an undercover officer penetrated a Mexicali-based ring. The eight-month probe revealed that traffickers sent about 40 loads across the border. Inspectors detected only one of them, according to Limon, the California Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement supervisor.

WASHINGTON — President Obama made clear Wednesday that he is in no hurry to make a decision about sending more troops to Afghanistan and that he will resist any attempt to rush him until he has “absolute clarity about what the strategy is going to be.” Obama said he is still considering an assessment he received early this month from Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, and will also await reviews from civilian and diplomatic officials and the results of the disputed Afghan election before making “further decisions moving forward.” His comments, made to reporters after a White House meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, came as Congress voiced escalating anxiety over the direction of Obama’s Afghan policy and pressed for decisions sooner rather than later. An administration briefing for lawmakers Wednesday morning appeared to do little to assuage their concerns, with many members expressing irritation at what they described as scant information. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., ranking member of the Armed Ser vices Committee, said a closed-door briefing for senators was insufficient and reminiscent of the way the Bush administration’s militar y leaders handled Congress. “We thought we were going to have a real discussion of the strategy, and we didn’t,” McCain said. “I didn’t like it, but I’m not outraged. I saw this with other administrations.” McCain has said he supports sending additional combat troops to Afghanistan. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., one of the administration’s most loyal supporters on Capitol Hill, said he was unsatisfied. “We need more briefings,” Reid said. “You’ve got to give the president the opportunity to make his case,” said Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee. “But I think there are significant concerns: Where’s this leading to? When do we bring our troops home? The fundamental issues have yet to be presented to Congress.” Several senators expressed

disappointment with the level of the briefers, who included thirdand fourth-ranking White House, State and Defense Department officials. The briefings came a day after the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Michael Mullen, told a Senate hearing that he thought more U.S. troops would “probably” be needed in Afghanistan, in addition to the 21000 Obama has already authorized this year. By the end of 2009, the U.S. and NATO force there will total nearly 100000, about two-thirds of them American. McChr ystal, who took command in Afghanistan in June, as Taliban attacks and coalition casualties reached their highest levels of the eight-year-long war, was tasked with making a comprehensive assessment of the situation and recommending adjustments in the new strategy Obama outlined in March. His still-secret review, which arrived at the White House two weeks ago, calls for a massive increase in the size of Afghanistan’s security forces and for additional U.S. and NATO troops to train them. McChr ystal has also proposed a reconfiguration of U.S. and NATO forces and increases in several components, including intelligence, according to defense officials. As lawmakers have learned of elements of the report, many have called for Obama and senior national security officials to brief them on McChrystal’s recommendations and possible changes in strategy. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., who returned from a visit to Afghanistan last week, has recommended that Obama delay any decisions on increasing the number of U.S. combat troops there, but move quickly on expanding Afghan security forces. “It could be weeks or months before we get a presidential recommendation” on the overall strategy, Levin said after Wednesday’s briefing of senators. In the meantime, he said, there are certain basic requests that ever yone knows are coming, including funding for equipment and training of Afghan forces, that Congress should proceed with in advance of the larger plan as it considers the 2010 defense budget. “We ought to get on now with what we know we need,” Levin said.

blogdailyherald.com


Editorial & Letters The Brown Daily Herald

Page 10 | Thursday, September 17, 2009

JOIN THE HERALD Last chance info session!

Thursday, 8 p.m. 195 Angell St., (between Brook and Thayer) Recruiting for all positions, no experience required. E van D onahue and E rik S tayton

e d i to r i a l

News Opinions Production Business Web

The other Watson

t h e b r o w n d a i ly h e r a l d Editor-in-Chief Steve DeLucia

Managing Editors Michael Bechek Chaz Firestone

Deputy Managing Editors Nandini Jayakrishna Franklin Kanin Michael Skocpol

editorial Arts & Culture Editor Ben Hyman Rosalind Schonwald Arts & Culture Editor Features Editor Sophia Li Metro Editor George Miller Metro Editor Joanna Wohlmuth News Editor Seth Motel News Editor Jenna Stark Sports Editor Andrew Braca Asst. Sports Editor Han Cui Asst. Sports Editor Alex Mazerov Graphics & Photos Chris Jesu Lee Graphics Editor Stephen Lichenstein Graphics Editor Eunice Hong Photo Editor Kim Perley Photo Editor Jesse Morgan Sports Photo Editor production Ayelet Brinn Copy Desk Chief Rachel Isaacs Copy Desk Chief Marlee Bruning Design Editor Jessica Calihan Design Editor Asst. Design Editor Anna Migliaccio Asst. Design Editor Julien Ouellet Neal Poole Web Editor Post- magazine Arthur Matuszewski Editor-in-Chief Kelly McKowen Editor-in-Chief

Senior Editors Rachel Arndt Isabel Gottlieb Scott Lowenstein

Business General Managers Office Manager Shawn Reilly Alexander Hughes Jonathan Spector Directors Ellen DaSilva Sales Director Claire Kiely Sales Director Phil Maynard Sales Director Katie Koh Finance Director Jilyn Chao Asst. Finance Director Managers Local Sales Kelly Wess National Sales Kathy Bui University Sales Alex Carrere Recruiter Sales Christiana Stephenson Credit and Collections Matt Burrows Opinions Alyssa Ratledge Sarah Rosenthal

Opinions Editor Opinions Editor

Editorial Page Board James Shapiro Editorial Page Editor Matt Aks Board member Nick Bakshi Board member Zack Beauchamp Board member Debbie Lehmann Board member William Martin Board member

Jessica Kirschner, Julien Ouellet, Jessica Calihan, Designers Geoffrey Kyi, Adam Rodriquez, Copy Editors Sydney Ember, Ben Schreck, Kyla Wilkes, Suzannah Weiss, Joanna Wohlmuth, Night Editors Senior Staff Writers Dan Alexander, Emma Berry, Mitra Anoushiravani, Ellen Cushing, Sydney Ember, Lauren Fedor, Nicole Friedman, Britta Greene, Sarah Husk, Matt Klebanoff, Etienne Ma, Brian Mastroianni, Hannah Moser, Luisa Robledo, Ben Schreckinger, Caroline Sedano, Anne Simons, Anne Speyer, Sara Sunshine, Alex Ulmer, Suzannah Weiss, Kyla Wilkes Staff Writers Zunaira Choudhary, Chris Duffy, Nicole Dungca, Juliana Friend, Cameron Lee, Christian Martell, Heeyoung Min, Seth Motel, Jyotsna Mullur, Lauren Pischel, Leslie Primack, Anne Speyer, Alexandra Ulmer, Kyla Wilkes Senior Business Associates Max Barrows, Jackie Goldman, Margaret Watson, Ben Xiong Business Associates Diahndra Burman, Stassia Chyzhykova, Caroline Dean, Marco deLeon, Katherine Galvin, Bonnie Kim, Maura Lynch, Cathy Li, Allen McGonagill, Liana Nisimova, Thanases Plestis, Agathe Roncey, Corey Schwartz, William Schweitzer, Kenneth So, Evan Sumortin, Haydar Taygun, Anshu Vaish, Webber Xu, Lyndse Yess Design Staff Katerina Dalavurak, Gili Kliger, Jessica Kirschner, Joanna Lee, Maxwell Rosero, John Walsh, Kate Wilson, Qian Yin Photo Staff Qidong Chen, Janine Cheng, Alex DePaoli, Frederic Lu, Quinn Savit, Min Wu Copy Editors Sara Chimene-Weiss, Sydney Ember, Lauren Fedor, Miranda Forman, Casey Gaham, Anna Jouravleva, Geoffrey Kyi, Frederic Lu, Jordan Mainzer, Kelly Mallahan, Madeleine Rosenberg Web Developers Jihan Chao

This fall, Michael Kennedy, formerly a sociology professor at the University of Michigan, takes over as the director of the Watson Institute for International Studies. The previous director, David Kennedy ’76, resigned this summer after overseeing the Institute on an interim basis for just over a year. In a July interview with The Herald, Michael Kennedy remarked that he wanted to spend some time at Watson before he set an agenda for the institution. We appreciate Kennedy’s prudence, and would like to offer the following several suggestions to get him pointed in the right direction. First, the undergraduate International Relations course offerings should be more reflective of the pressing challenges the world currently faces. This semester, the number of IR courses on international law exceeds the number of courses on international security and the global economy or the international financial system. Certainly, international law is an important and worthwhile subject. But it need not be the primary area of focus, especially at a time when the world is struggling to cope with the threat of international terrorism and the effects of a severe financial crisis. Undergraduate students across a variety of concentrations would welcome the return of courses like INTL 1800K: “The American Military: Global Supremacy, Democracy and Citizenship” or INTL 1800C: “The Asian Financial Crisis.” Second, the Watson Institute should seriously consider offering a Master’s degree in International Relations. In the long run, a Master’s program would create an international network of professionals who received their terminal degree from Brown. This sort of network would enhance Brown’s global presence and expand the range of opportunities available to Brown graduates. A Master’s program would also offer more immediate benefits. Master’s students will have backgrounds in a variety of disciplines — political

science, economics and sociology, among others — and could help alleviate the TA shortages in several departments. A Master’s program would also give current undergraduates an additional option for continuing their education at Brown. Third, the Watson Institute should look to attract additional faculty with real world experience. Already, the Watson Institute can boast of impressive relationships with Ambassador Richard Holbrooke ’62 LLD ’97 and former Senator Lincoln Chafee ’75. And several of the current Watson appointees have worked in institutions such as the UN, the World Bank and the Commerce Department. Nonetheless, the Watson faculty consists overwhelmingly of individuals whose primary experience is in teaching and academic research. Kennedy should look to diversify the range of backgrounds among Watson’s faculty, and undertake new efforts to bring in individuals who have been extensively involved in international affairs. For instance, the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies’ faculty includes a former Air Force pilot and instructor at the National War College, a former deputy director of the C.I.A. and the former Beijing bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times. Over the past three years, the University has repeatedly emphasized the importance of internationalization, but a more substantive agenda has been slow to emerge. If internationalization is to mean anything, it should involve the development of an institution on campus that emphasizes engagement with pressing global problems and encourages collaboration between academic researchers and practitioners with real world experience. This is the kind of institution that Kennedy should seek to build. Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.

C O R R E C T I O N S P olicy 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. C ommentary P O L I C Y The editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial page 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. L etters to the E ditor P olicy 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 clarity 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. advertising P olicy The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. reserves the right to accept or decline any advertisement at its discretion.


Opinions The Brown Daily Herald

Thursday, September 17, 2009 | Page 11

The secret life of Catholics at Brown

BY KATE FRITZSCHE Opinions Columnist I am a practicing Roman Catholic. I am also a practicing Brown student. These identities are not incompatible, despite what many students on College Hill might have you believe. However, my fellow students rarely make it easy for me to practice my faith on campus, nor do they even understand why I would choose to do so. Most Brown students are open-minded, adventurous learners who are curious and thoughtful. But after three years on campus, my fellow students’ ideas on religion still confuse me. Why is it that so many Brown students are not only non-religious but also disrespectful or distrustful of students who participate in religious activities on campus? It is not surprising that in a time when many Americans are not followers of a religious faith, many Brown students are also not religious. It is surprising, however, that there is an apparent exception to the rule that Brown students should not be religious: being Jewish. Most incoming students quickly learn where to find Hillel, and many students attend at least one event there, even if it’s not religious in nature. I long ago lost track of the number of times I mentioned my Catholicism to another student, only to be asked, “Is there even a church near here?” Apparently they have failed to realize that students of many different faiths go to worship in Manning Chapel on the Main Green

each week. Through my own experiences with the Brown Band and the Ultimate Frisbee teams, I have found that many student groups on campus make efforts to accommodate Jewish students involved and readily accept their plans to attend services or go home for religious holidays. Compare this to the incredulous questions I receive, like “Are you really fasting for Ash Wednesday?” I’d just like to ask my fellow students why it is acceptable to be a practicing Jew, while

sume that anyone who practices a religious faith is automatically conservative or unforgiving. I’ve never met a Brown student who was a member of a religion that didn’t fully endorse and embrace the idea of forgiveness — both by God and by other humans. And to believe that faithful students are simply following their parents or are uniformly accepting what they’ve been told is to dismiss us as not capable of the same caliber of thought as other Brown students. Why would we blindly follow our parents’ reli-

To believe that religious students are simply following their parents or are uniformly accepting what they’ve been told is to dismiss us as not capable of the same caliber of thought as other Brown students. Christians aren’t taken seriously. Perhaps because Judaism has such an active cultural life, non-religious students seem to write off Jewish students as “only culturally” Jewish, implying that they just stay involved in their faith for the family ties or the traditional celebrations. There are several reasons why students might be so disrespectful of the religious among us. Multiple students have told me how they find religion to be anti-intellectual — the “opiate of the masses.” Those who are politically and socially liberal might as-

gious choices if we didn’t find something compelling and necessary in them? I would hope that a truly open-minded person could understand that every student who chooses to be religious has different and sincere reasons and motivations for his or her faith, and that we are thoughtful students not only in our academic work, but also in our personal choices. Furthermore, students need look no further than Professor Ken Miller’s 2000 book, “Finding Darwin’s God,” to see that religion and science can be simultaneous-

ly understood. Based on my conversations with a number of Brown students, I don’t think Professor Miller is the only one with these ideas; plenty of Catholics on campus study evolutionary biology, and all the students of other religious faiths I’ve spoken to have fully grasped and appreciated scientific fundamentals. After all, if we didn’t want to understand a wide variety of academic issues, why would we have chosen to be at Brown? The assumption that all persons of religious faith are conservative is simply not true. Sure, many Christians are pro-life and support conservative candidates, but I think most Brown students are forgetting the strong ideas of social justice entrenched in many religions. Christianity teaches us to love our neighbors as ourselves and to give everything we can to help those who have less. If those aren’t liberal ideas, I don’t know what are. I don’t expect that Brown students will all suddenly become religious, nor am I asking them to. I’m simply hoping that we don’t blow off thoughtful discussions and don’t ignore religious students. Maybe then we can all feel freer to express our religious choices and our open-minded campus can claim to being truly accepting. It’s always been cool to be non-religious at Brown; would it be all right for the class of 2013 to feel comfortable being religious, too?

Kate Fritzsche ’10 is an applied matheconomics concentrator from Kennebunk, Maine. She can be reached at katherine_fritzsche@brown.edu

Fair by whose rules? BY WILL WRAY Opinions Columnist When you take a sip of coffee bought from Brown Dining Services, Blue State or the Bookstore, you may notice a unique flavor. The brew itself is unremarkable, mediocre or worse, but it’s fair trade coffee. That pleasant aftertaste is entirely psychosomatic. You have just bought coffee with an injection of what Brown University and Blue State serve best: smug self-righteousness. Fairtrade is a company that certifies certain coffee products as “fair.” Its mission statement proclaims that it seeks to promote “justice and sustainable development” in order to “develop (the) full potential” of coffee producers. Many consumers believe that Fairtrade coffee is organic, promotes stable prices for producers and helps small family farmers thrive in an industry dominated by corporations so soulless they have dared employ economies of scale. Fairtrade’s reputation is dearly bought and more than a little inaccurate. Let me preface this column by saying that I am completely enamored of using economic freedom to achieve social justice. The number of similar ventures — in which consumers pay a premium for a good in exchange for a guarantee that it was produced in a manner they deem virtuous — has burgeoned. Utilizing market forces to effect our values is less onerous than calling for government coercion. If Brown is to vote with our dollar, however, we cannot be content

with swallowing the public relations line of Fairtrade without some due diligence. Even a cursory examination of the Fairtrade business practices and guidelines reveals that the certifiers are anything but a politically neutral force for good. For starters, only about 10 percent of the premium we pay to sip Fairtrade coffee actually gets passed along to the producers. Given that Fairtrade sets the price of their coffee at nearly double the market rate for coffee of

penditures of the corporation. Both activities were meant to ensure that Fairtrade has a monopoly on self-righteousness, and both were classified under the heading “charitable activities.” In a very real sense, we are paying a premium for little more than the luxury of being told we are doing the right thing. Are we? The guidelines Fairtrade has set to qualify coffee producers are onerous, illogical and often exclude the very type of growers that

The guidelines Fairtrade has set to qualify coffee producers are onerous, illogical and often exclude the very type of growers that many Fairtrade coffee consumers believe they are supporting. similar quality, this begs the question: where is the money going? The 2006 annual report of the Fairtrade corporation sets publicity expenditures at around 1/4 of total expenditures. The 2008 Trustees Report saw a marked increase in both PR expenditures and the creativity of the accountants; the single largest expenditure of 2008 was on “Public Education and Awareness.” The second largest expenditure was “Marketing and Product Development.” These two line items — and the fact that they were deemed distinct is itself questionable — constituted over half of the total ex-

many Fairtrade coffee consumers believe they are supporting. Fairtrade coffee growers are barred from practices as simple as hiring a laborer for any period exceeding a year. One might suggest that, though the methods are crude, these guidelines bolster family farms, but Fairtrade will not deal with individual family farms. In order to qualify for the certification, coffee growers must reorganize into large cooperatives consisting of hundreds of land-owners. These cooperatives must dole out between $2,000 and $4,000 to Fairtrade in order to be ordained “fair.” If

the cooperative qualifies, then they must pay annual recertification fees on top of a percentage of each pound of coffee sold. Any profits made by Fairtrade growers belong solely to the cooperative, regardless of the needs or the contributions, whether quantitative or qualititative, of individual growers. Fairtrade has deemed that the proper way to divvy out any profit is to give each farmer one vote on its proper usage. Another popular misconception surrounding Fairtrade is that the certification has something to do with being “organic.” This is erroneous. Fairtrade certification has no substantive crossover with organic guidelines. Around 40 percent of Fairtrade certified coffee does not meet U.S. standards for organically produced goods. When Brown University decided to buy coffee exclusively from Fairtrade, we made the decision to boycott small and large family farms who refuse to re-organize into collectives. We made the decision that largescale coffee plantations — regardless of who is running them, or how workers are treated — are unethical. Perhaps worst of all, we affirmed that twenty-four employees at Fairtrade coffee know how to organize labor in a way that benefits the needy better than any individual coffee grower or an entire market. Consumerism as a moral act is a compelling notion, but one which requires serious research about the actual effect on those we so sanctimoniously purport to help.

Will Wray ’10 can be found at Starbucks.


Today The Brown Daily Herald

5

MBTA to connect to airport by 2011

7

to m o r r o w

64 / 50

76 / 49

Bears gear up for gridiron debut

Thursday, September 17, 2009

post-

t h e n e w s i n i m ag e s

to day

post-

Page 12

inside

magazine

Brown university ● September 17, 2009 ● Volume 11 ● issue 2

magazine

Brown university ● September 17, 2009 ● Volume 11 ● issue 2

7 c a l e n da r Today, september 16

tomorrow, september 17

EVENT — The Right to Bear Arms: DC vs. Heller Revisited Salomon Center 101

EVENT — Art+History Exhibition John Nicholas Brown Center, 357 Benefit St

EVENT2 — Former Chilean President Lagos, Joukowsky Forum, Watson Institute, 111 Thayer Street

EVENT — Divine Rhythm Auditions, T.F. Green 205

Contents 03 upfront

SENIOR YEAR BUCKET LIST WATCHING WATSON \\ the shrecking ball

04 university

Contents

LOVE IN THE TIME OF BRUNONIA \\ sydney ember

menu

05 entertainment

Sharpe Refectory

Verney-Woolley Dining Hall

Lunch — Italian Sausage and Pepper Sandwhich, Vegan Nuggets, Cheddar Mashed Potatos, BBQ Chicken Pizza

Lunch — BBQ Beef Sandwhich, Pasta Primavera, Chocolate Flake Cookies

Dinner — Tamale Pie, Jerk Chicken, Creole Eggplant, BBQ Chicken Pizza

Dinner — Vegan Paella, Baked Sweet Potatoes, Basque Cake

DANCE FLOORS ARE DELICATE \\ marshall katheder NO SIGHT BUT CERTAINLY VISION \\ sam carter

03 upfront

SENIOR YEAR BUCKET LIST 06 culture

WATCHING WATSON TARTUFFE ON CAMERA \\ jing xu\\ the shrecking ball MAAZEL BRINGS NOVELTY BACK TO THE NOVEL\\ booklus

04 university 07 lifestyle

OUR FIRST the hardy LOVEMYSTERY IN THE\\TIME OFbrothers BRUNONIA \\ sydney ember THE STOCK \\ ted lamm & alex logan THE SUMMER OF BLANK \\ allie wollner

RELEASE DATE– Thursday, September 17, 2009

05 entertainment

Los Angeles Times Puzzle c r o sDaily s w oCrossword rd Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

ACROSS 1 Giant Mel et al. 5 Skating jumps 10 Ballpark figs. 14 Beat to a froth 15 Euripides tragedy 16 Predicament 17 Pre-euro denaro 18 *Singly 20 *Gathering of reporters 22 Authorized, briefly 23 “... the morn ... Walks o’er the dew of __ high eastward hill”: “Hamlet” 24 Olympian’s quest 25 Sources of overhead costs? 27 Highchair feature 30 GPS suggestion 31 *Workplace gambling group 34 “The Swiss Family Robinson” author Johann 35 Game for one 37 Barbecue site 40 *Furthermore 44 “I love,” in Latin 45 Topple (over) 46 Stereotypical parrot name 47 __ jumbo 49 Cote occupant 51 Mormon initials 52 *Negotiating for a lesser sentence 57 *Credit company with a “Priceless” ad campaign 58 Boardroom VIPs 60 Director Preminger 61 Postpone, as a motion (and word that can follow the last word of answers to starred clues) 62 Morales of “NYPD Blue” 63 Lowly laborer 64 German industrial city 65 JFK arrivals, once DOWN 1 Big-eyed bird 2 Envision

3 Fed up with 4 Gush 5 Gas giant that merged with BP 6 One of the noble gases 7 First garden site? 8 Tree growth 9 Fill to the gills 10 Lauder of cosmetics 11 Washer setting 12 Alley prowlers 13 TV’s Remington et al. 19 Military force 21 Big name in food service 22 Guadalajara gold 26 Catcher Carlton __, who famously homered to win Game 6 of the 1975 World Series 27 Bottom line amount 28 Turnpike, e.g. 29 “Put __ on it!” 32 Author Wiesel 33 Woodsy aerosol scent 34 “What are __ believe?”

36 Turn red, perhaps 37 Janitor’s tool 38 Try to equal 39 Regains consciousness 41 Reason to miss work 42 Nasty geezer 43 Where Hillary was sen. 45 Lakers star Bryant

48 It’s passed in relays 49 Grammy-winning country star Steve 50 Add lanes to 53 Johnson of “Laugh-In” 54 Victrolas, e.g. 55 Ties up the phone, say 56 Chills, as bubbly 59 Bro’s sib

DANCE FLOORS ARE DELICATE \\ marshall kathede c o m i c s NO SIGHT BUT CERTAINLY VISION \\ sam carter Birdfish | Matthew Weiss

TARTUFFE ON CAMERA \\ jing xu

MAAZEL BRINGS NOVELTY BACK TO THE NOVEL\\ boo

07 lifestyle

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

OUR FIRST MYSTERY \\ the hardy brothers THE STOCK \\ ted lamm & alex logan THE SUMMER OF BLANK \\ allie wollner

Cabernet Voltaire | Abe Pressman

xwordeditor@aol.com

09/17/09

STW | Jingtao Huang

By Dan Naddor (c)2009 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

09/17/09

06 culture


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.