Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Daily Herald the Brown

vol. cxliv, no. 115 | Tuesday, December 1, 2009 | Serving the community daily since 1891

Ballpark figure: Half of students go to games Goldberger said this low attendance at football games was partly due to the fact that the stadium’s loStudents are batting about .500 cation is inconvenient for students when it comes to attending sports — an opinion that was echoed by games this semester, according to several football players interviewed a recent Herald poll.

by The Herald.

At the time of the poll, just over Another reason for low atten50 percent of undance at sporting dergraduates said THE HERALD POLL events might be they had attended the inconvenient a sporting event as a spectator this timing of some of the games, said semester, with most of those stu- David Walls ’11, co-captain of the dents saying they had watched only men’s soccer team. one or two games.

“On a Friday or Saturday night, “I think I just went to one game students are more willing to watch this year,” said Hannah Levy ’13, a sporting event than if it’s Tuesone of several students interviewed day and they have a midterm the

by The Herald who have attended next day,” he said. at least one sporting event this Several athletes interviewed by semester. “I guess there’s just al- The Herald said they have recently ways something else that’s more seen an increase in attendance interesting going on — it’s not like at games, an improvement they that’s where the action is.” attribute in part to BrowNation, Director of Athletics Michael a student-led marketing group Goldberger said attendance at whose mission is to boost school games is not much different from spirit. peer institutions and that student Moses Riner ’09 GS started interest in the teams varies from BrowNation in 2007 after transfersport to sport. ring from Duke. “I enjoyed the en“Just based on the quick at- thusiasm around athletics at Duke, tendance sheet, from the NCAA, and when I came to Brown, the it looked like we had more atten- same enthusiasm was not here,” dance than any of the other teams he said. at the first-round NCAA men’s To increase attendance at soccer tournament,” he said. “But games, BrowNation rewards there are other areas where we students for coming to sporting haven’t been very good and haven’t events, Riner said. For a small fee, seen a lot of support — football, students can become members of for example.” continued on page 3

By Matthew Klebanoff Staff Writer

Alex Bell / Herald

Police removed a protestor from a panel discussion on health care yesterday after he shouted at Rep. Patrick Kennedy about his abortion views.

Rep. Kennedy discusses health care

By Alex Bell Staff Writer

Community members ranging from students to concerned citizens and from physicians to disgruntled politicos poured in to Andrews Hall Monday afternoon to hear a panel that included Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., speak on health-care reform.

The event, which was the last in the Paul Levinger Health Care Reform Roundtable Series, focused on health-care reform from a political perspective. The other pan-

elists were Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences Edward Wing, Professor of Community Health and department chair Vincent Mor and Erin Kelly ’07 MD ’11. The event was temporarily disrupted by an irate audience member, who was wrestled to the floor and arrested by Brown police after refusing to relinquish the microphone.

“How do we use the dollars that we’re spending now and make them go further for everyone?” Kennedy posed as the main question surrounding health care reform.

One potential area for reform,

Kennedy said, is in advancing information technology, which could not only facilitate the transmission of patients’ medical histories, but also make the latest evidence-based treatments available to people around the country.

The panelists also addressed whether health care is a moral issue.

Kennedy said he has a friend who is in chronic pain from an autoimmune disease, but often cannot be admitted to a hospital until Kennedy himself arrives to ask the hospital

‘Decrepit’ cable system soon to be on way out

By Anne Speyer Senior Staff Writer

inside

Cable television on campus may have survived past its expected expiration date, but according to Richard Bova, senior associate dean of residential life and dining services, the system will not last another year.

Administrators originally planned to shut down the cable network and switch to an entirely IPTV-based television access system during the summer of 2009. Bova said this plan was based on the assumption that renovations to Faunce House, where the cable infrastructure is centered, would interfere with cable access on campus, which turned out not to be true.

But Bova said the cable infrastructure, which has been in place since 1980, is “aging and decrepit and falling apart” — and will be shut down in June 2010.

News.....1-4 Metro.....5 Editorial....6 Opinion....7 Today......8

www.browndailyherald.com

continued on page 4

Twins’ blog adds flavor, flair to Ratty fare

By Monique Vernon Staf f Writer

“While the cable system is nice for a TV, only a portion of the listings are available,” Bova added.

When the cable system goes off air, students will have to rely on IPTV, which provides streaming television access over the Internet, to watch their favorite programs.

Students wishing to watch television on an actual TV will have to purchase or rent a set-top box to convert IPTV streaming.

“Other Ivies who have IPTV and provide set-top boxes have found that demand is very low,” Bova said.

“Many students go to Hulu or Fox and catch up that way,” he said.

“I think students’ viewing habits are changing.”

Diane Mokoro ’11, vice president of the Undergraduate Council of Students, said the ability to watch televicontinued on page 2

Can you have your Ratty cake and eat it too? With recipes from the new blog “Ratty Gourmet,” launched earlier this month by twins Connie

FEATURE

Monique Vernon / Herald

Connie Wu ’13 snaps a photo for a Ratty food blog that she and her sister founded.

Wu ’13 and Annie Wu ’13, you can — using just a dash of creativity and a few simple ingredients from the Sharpe Refectory or the VerneyWoolley Dining Hall.

With vivid color pictures of their creations — such as blueberry banana waffles and turkey cranberry quesadillas — and step-by-step guides to making them, Connie and Annie have created a site where students can also submit their own recipes or look for inspiration.

While the only recipes curcontinued on page 4

Sports, 2

News, 3

Opinions, 7

W. Hockey goes 0-2 But players see upside in close losses to St. Cloud State

What is it good for?

Former CIA officer Bruce Riedel ’75 is worried about the war in Afghanistan

american as apple pie Susannah Kroeber ’11 wonders how democratic sports really are

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

herald@browndailyherald.com

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NIH gives researchers grant to study JC virus

By Liz Kelley Contributing Writer

The National Institutes of Health has awarded Brown a five-year, $6 million grant to perform research that will determine how the JC virus attaches to host cells in the brain. Professor of Medical Science Walter Atwood, who has researched the virus since 1991, is leading the project, along with researchers at Dartmouth and the University of Tubingen in Germany.

“The grant brings money into the local area,” said Rahul Banerjee ’10, who works in the lab with Atwood. “It promotes collaboration between labs and opens new facilities to Brown.”

About 80 percent of the population has been exposed to the virus, but most people possess antibodies for the vir us, and their immune systems prevent it from causing damage, Banerjee said.

“The idea is to look at the surface of the virus now, and tr y to understand what parts of the virus interact with the receptors on the cell,” Atwood said in a University press release.

Patients with compromised immune systems, including those with HIV/AIDS, are especially vulnerable and can develop a brain disorder if exposed to the virus, according to the press release. The brain disorder — known as progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy — causes victims to lose all brain function and cognitive ability, Banerjee said, adding that there is no vaccine or cure for the disease.

Atwood and his team will focus on how the JC virus gets into the brain and attacks neurons.

They are working with cell lines that are highly susceptible to the virus and are looking to find a means of slowing down the process by which PML develops, Banerjee said.

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Tuesday, December 1, 2009

“When we get down a goal or two, we kind of just deflate.”

— Sasha Van Muyen ’10, women’s hockey player

W. hockey falls to St. Cloud twice

By Andrew Braca Sports Editor

The women’s hockey team found its offense over the weekend but still suffered a pair of one-goal losses to St. Cloud State.

Taking a break from ECAC play to host a Western Collegiate Hockey Association opponent, the Bears scored more than three goals in a two-game span for the first time since their opening weekend, but fell to the Huskies by the scores of 5-4 on Friday and 3-2 on Saturday at Meehan Auditorium.

“We’ve really been struggling with scoring this season,” said Samantha Stortini ’11. “So to score four goals in the first game and two goals (Saturday) was a huge boost of confidence for our team. We know we can score now, so hopefully we’ll take that into next week.”

Bruno was doomed by five SCSU power-play goals, succumbing to a recurring problem to fall to 1-8-3 on the season.

“It’s tough to be playing all the time on the penalty kill,” said Sasha Van Muyen ’10. “It’s hard to get anything going because you have certain kids out there all the time and you get tired. We need to be more disciplined and take fewer penalties, because that’s what’s been killing us in games this year.”

SCSU 5, Brown 4 On Friday, the Huskies (7-9-0 after the two games) roared out of the gate for the opening score five minutes in and doubled their lead with 5:34 left in the second period, notching both goals on power plays.

Brown’s comeback began when SCSU was whistled for having too many players on the ice with 2:27 left before the second intermission. On the subsequent power play, blue-liner Stortini came up big.

“On the power play they put me at forward in front of the net (to) create a lot of havoc (and) chip at the players and goalie a little bit and just try to make myself big so that the goalie can’t see,” she said.

With 1:58 left, Stortini collected the rebound of a shot by Erica Kromm ’11 and beat SCSU goalie Tayler VanDenakker top shelf. Laurie Jolin ’13 also picked up an assist on the play.

It took another 68 seconds for the

Bears to tie the game. Paige Pyett ’12 intercepted an SCSU pass and fed Kromm, who leads Brown with five points on the season in her first year as a forward.

But the Huskies answered 43 seconds into the third period and took a 4-2 lead six minutes later.

Bruno once again rallied to tie the game. Kelly Griffin ’13 scored her second goal of the season at 13:49, with the assists going to Jenna Dancewicz ’11 and Pyett.

Sixty-six seconds later Van Muyen

SPORTS scored after receiving a crisp pass from Stortini.

“My two linemates (Erin Connors ’10 and Katelyn Landry ’12) were busting to the net, so I was trying to get a shot to get a rebound, and it ended up going in,” Van Muyen said.

Often “when we get down a goal or two, we kind of just deflate a bit.”

This time, the Bears had tied the game with 5:05 left in regulation.

“It was definitely a big confidence boost for the team,” Dancewicz said.

“We all got a second wind.”

But minutes later a controversial goal won the game for the Huskies.

Brown goalie Katie Jamieson ’13 — who made 28 saves — was attempting to cover the puck as a group of Huskies converged on the net. The referee seemed to blow the whistle before Felicia Nelson prodded Jamieson’s glove to push the puck across the line, but the goal was allowed.

“It’s tough when a goal like that happens, because there’s not much that you can do,” Dancewicz said.

“We were trying our best to ... help protect our goalie, and she was trying her best to cover the puck, but it’s hard when the ref doesn’t blow the whistle right away when there are three people on her slashing at her glove.”

SCSU 3, Brown 2 On Saturday, the Bears got on the board 4:44 into the game when Connors grabbed the rebound of a shot

by Nicole Brown ’10 and found the back of the net. Kathleen Surbey ’10 picked up an assist as Brown opened the scoring in a game for the first time all season.

Stortini said the Bears were buoyed by their strong offensive

showing the previous day. “(We) thought of that and had a little bit of extra strength and grit to go into the second game and know that we could score and that we could play with such a good team,” she said.

SCSU tied the game on a powerplay goal with 7:58 left in the first period. The score remained 1-1 through the second intermission, as Joy Joung ’11, making her first career start between the pipes, made 10 of her 22 saves in the first period.

But the Huskies took the lead 6:23 into the third period when they broke away for a shorthanded goal. They doubled their advantage 3:13 later on a power-play goal, marking their third goal of the game on special teams.

“A big part of the game now is special teams, so we have to be careful,” Stortini said, citing a general crackdown by the referees to open up offenses. “We have to capitalize more on our opportunities when we get power plays.”

The Bears tried to rally one more time. With 5:15 remaining, Dancewicz cut the deficit in half. Pyett passed to Jacquie Pierri ’12 at the point, who had worked with Dancewicz on passes to the post.

“I took a quick shot right when it hit my stick and it went in on the side,” Dancewicz said. “It felt so satisfying to see something that we practiced in practice actually happen and work in a game.”

The Bears went on the power play and pulled Joung for the six-on-four advantage with 1:07 left, but could not notch the equalizer.

“Joy played a really great game,” Dancewicz said. “We were trying to have a comeback so we could help our goalie out and win it.”

This weekend the Bears will hit the road to face Colgate (3-11-3, 1-4-3 ECAC) on Friday and Cornell (7-4-1, 6-1-1) on Saturday, looking to improve on their 0-5-3 conference record.

“We have to go in there with confidence and know that we can play with all of these teams,” Stortini said. “We know now that we can score goals, and we’ve always known that we can play defense.”

Dancewicz said winning the first face-off and crashing the net would be crucial. “We just have to keep up the pressure, keep our heads up, keep our confidence, and I think we should pull away with some big W’s this weekend.”

ResLife may start renting out cable boxes continued from page 1

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sion on an actual TV is still important to students.

“If there’s a special program or you’re getting a group of people together and you want that community atmosphere, students want to watch on a television rather than on a laptop,” she said.

Set-top boxes cost approximately $200 per unit, Bova said, so the Office of Residential Life is working out a system whereby students could rent a box for a “nominal rental fee over three to four years.” Dorm lounges and other spaces with communal TVs would be furnished with a set-top box

at no cost to students.

Bova said the time between now and June is being used to prepare for the switch to IPTV, which includes ensuring that the department is “fully versed” in its usage and determining a final channel line-up. A student advisory group including representatives from UCS and the Residential Council met last semester to select four to six channels, including both academic and entertainment options, to add to the current selection, Bova said.

Mokoro said UCS representatives polled students in the Sharpe Refectory last semester to determine what channels they would like to see added. While some major networks,

like Bravo or Lifetime, would not be “feasible” additions, she said, there are many channels students want that UCS and ResLife can work to make available.

“A lot of language students want to be able to watch programs in the language they’re studying so they can learn the accents of native speakers,” she said.

“Students will not miss cable,” Mokoro said. “Students want to watch quality television on an actual TV. The way that cable is functioning now, there are some channels you get, some that are fuzzy. I think the transition to full IPTV will meet student requirements.”

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

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Riedel ’75: Afghan war a ‘disaster’

By Leonardo Moauro Contributing Writer

Former CIA officer Bruce Riedel ’75 forecasted a bleak outlook for the political situation in both Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Watson Institute’s Joukowsky Forum, which was packed to capacity Monday night.

Currently a senior foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution, Riedel was an influential White House adviser in Middle Eastern affairs until his retirement from government in 2006. Though he is briefly resuming his role as adviser on Afghanistan and Pakistan at the request of President Barack Obama, Riedel addressed the audience as an independent speaker.

Riedel focused his talk on terrorism and foreign policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, emphasizing alQaida’s presence in the region.

“President Obama has inherited a disaster from his predecessor,” Riedel said, “and faces the most difficult decision, I think, of his administration” — namely, how to deal with the war in Afghanistan and the possible failure of Pakistan to survive its political instability.

The stabilization of both Afghanistan and Pakistan is on the White House’s main agenda, Riedel said.

The course of action Riedel recommends for the U.S. is necessarily “resource intensive,” he said. Deploying one soldier to Afghanistan for a year costs about $1 million, he added. The strategy also involves tripling economic aid to Pakistan, which would make it the largest U.S. economic assistance program in the world.

If this strategy proves to be effective, the U.S. will be able to work with a more stable region and a weaker al-Qaida 20 months from now, Riedel said, and Afghanistan’s government will be strong enough to deal with the Taliban effectively.

If the strategy fails, “the Taliban will take over southern and eastern Afghanistan,” he said, and the ripple effect throughout the region will be disastrous.

Riedel painted a pessimistic

picture of the current state of the Afghan war. “Eight years after the fall of Kabul,” he said, NATO “is losing the war.” The rate of bombings in the country has skyrocketed since 2002, he said, and the Taliban have direct command over one-third of Afghan territory.

As a result of its “disastrous” elections, Riedel added, the country has a government that lacks legitimacy in the eyes of both the Afghan people and the world at large. “Karzai and his associates cheated massively,” he said, and the UN did nothing about it.

But Riedel also said the Taliban’s influence over Afghanistan’s people is somewhat limited. “The Taliban aspires to be an Islamist jihadist organization,” he said, but is in fact an organization that seeks to impose Pashtun customs. “There are a majority of Afghans that, by definition, reject it,” he said.

The situation in Pakistan, which Riedel called “the most dangerous country in the world today,” is even more complicated, he said. As the country struggles to transition from a military dictatorship to democracy, “Pakistan is undergoing the most serious violence in its history,” he said.

Riedel also addressed Pakistan’s relationship with the terrorist organizations active on its borders, claiming that the country is hostile toward some groups while on friendly terms with others, like the Taliban.

The war in Afghanistan is placing the U.S. in a vulnerable position internationally, Riedel said. Eighty percent of NATO troops rely on supplies that are shipped in through Pakistani ports, he added.

Riedel wrapped up his lecture by looking to the future: Obama’s speech on the war in Afghanistan Tuesday night. The president has to be sure that his administration fully supports the war, he said, because a half-hearted effort would be insufficient.

“He has to convince you and me that he has totally bought into this,” Riedel said.

BrowNation spurring fan support continued from page 1 an incentives program and receive prizes for attending a certain number of BrowNation-sponsored games.

The group has also tried to boost attendance by hosting the MegaBowl, a competition in which varsity athletic teams compete against each another to attend the most games.

According to Riner, BrowNation, which boasts between 700 and 800 members, has made significant progress in improving school spirit among students.

“The culture around athletics and the enthusiasm is definitely changing,” he said.

Goldberger called BrowNation “the driving force” behind the effort to get more students to attend home games.

“We had more fans this year, which is pretty exciting,” said Leslie Springmeyer ’12, a member of the women’s field hockey team. “When you have more fans on the field, it’s definitely more of a motivation for the players.”

Peter Sullivan ’11, a captain of the men’s basketball team, has also seen an increase in his team’s fan base, but said the crowd at games is still composed mostly of players’ friends and families. “When I look in the stands and look at all the students, I know most of them,” he said. “But there are also people I know who are basketball fans.”

Some students interviewed by The Herald said they would attend more sporting events if they knew when the games were scheduled.

“I haven’t really heard when any

How many times have you attended a Brown varsity sports game as a spectator this semester?

7+ times

4.7%

6.3%

5-6 times

Don’t know / No answer

0.1%

10.3% 3-4 times

49.5% 0 times

29.1% 1-2 times

events were happening — it never was really advertised,” said Josh Wallace ’13.

“Kids make Facebook event invitations to raise awareness that there even is a game,” Sullivan said.

“People will say, ‘Oh, I would have come, but I didn’t even realize there was a game.’”

Several athletes said relatively low attendance at games is just a reflection of the culture of Brown.

“I feel like maybe the majority of the student body here … they’re just interested in other things,” said James Develin ’10, co-captain of the football team.

“Athletics at Brown has a good

tradition, but I think that’s only realized by the athletes who are actually recruited to come here,” Walls said.

“I think a lot of the non-athlete students fail to recognize that tradition, and because of that, students aren’t likely to come out to events and try new experiences.”

The Herald poll was conducted from Nov. 2 through Nov. 4 and has a 3.6 percent margin of error with 95 percent confidence. A total of 687 Brown undergraduates completed the poll, which The Herald administered as a written questionnaire to students in the Mail Room at J. Walter Wilson during the day and in the Sciences Library at night.

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

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Tuesday, December 1, 2009

“In the final analysis, all of us are children of God.” — Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I.

Spicing up the Ratty, one recipe at a time continued from page 1 rently featured at rattygourmet. blogspot.com are the twins’, they “want to make it a huge database,” Connie said. “It wouldn’t just be our blog, it would be ever yone at Brown’s.”

“It you’re nerdy enough and analyze your food, I think anyone can be a good cook,” Connie added.

The sisters’ love for edible creations began in seventh grade, when they took a cooking class and enjoyed their first taste of the culinary world, Connie said.

But their appetite for fun with food didn’t end in the kitchen.

During their senior year of high school, the twins started their first food blog: “Artful Food,” a collection of photos and commentary about the creations they cooked up.

“It’s really immersing yourself in food,” Connie said, “trying to imagine what it tastes like.”

After starting their freshman year at Brown, the twins found that they “really missed baking,” Annie said. To satisfy their urge to create delicious concoctions, the sisters started their second blog, “Ratty Gourmet.”

Annie had heard that “after a while” the selection at the Ratty seems “drab,” she said. “A big part of that is presentation.” The twins hope their new blog — replete with striking photos — “make it a little more appealing, more appetizing,” Annie said.

Originally, they wanted to share their recipes and photos in

a newsletter, but due to the costs of printing and distribution, they decided a blog was easier, Connie said.

The costs and complications of printing color photos were key to their decision, Annie said, calling the blog “super convenient.”

In the past, the Ratty has tried to create a place to house student recipes that used its ingredients, Connie said. But because of the excessive number of recipes the binder accumulated and the propensity for food to splatter on it, the idea didn’t pan out.

Though the pair works at the Ratty on Saturdays, their passion for food goes beyond the walls of Brown’s main dining hall. Both sisters are avid viewers of the Food Network, citing “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” “Good Eats” and “Chopped” as some of their favorites.

In “Chopped,” chefs compete against the clock and each other to create a dish from a basket full of mystery ingredients that, when revealed, initially seem like an odd combination of flavors.

“It reminds me of the Ratty,” Connie said. “You have all these ingredients waiting to be discovered.”

Connie is currently taking BIOL0190E: “Botanical Roots of Modern Medicine” and is writing a paper about “how tea affects appetite,” she said. She also created a meatball mask in a studio foundation art class.

“Food is going to be a huge part of my life no matter what I do,” Connie said.

Alex Bell / Herald

Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., said limits to health care access present “a threat” to how we view ourselves.

Kennedy: Current system ‘perverse’ continued from page 1 staff personally.

“Isn’t there something perverse when some people matter more than other people because they happen to have a different card in their wallet or happen to be perceived by the way they look to be more important in society?” Kennedy asked the audience.

“In the final analysis, all of us are children of God,” he continued. “All of us have that spark of divinity. If any one of us is denied health care, it really is a threat to who we call ourselves as human beings.”

Wing provided a practical argument for health care reform by contrasting different countries’ systems, many of which cost about half that of the U.S.’s.

He said countries such as France and Japan have reduced the cost of health care in large part through

government regulation.

“The average length of a hospital stay in Japan is 36 days and in our country it’s six days,” Wing said.

“The way they control the cost is by government regulation of those prices.”

He said that medical professionals make less money in such countries than in those without such regulation.

An alternative way of controlling costs while increasing accessibility is through rationing care, like in the United Kingdom and Canada, according to Wing.

He said that systems that provide for universal coverage allow for more preventative care, which ultimately can save costs while increasing quality. The downside to such systems can be long waiting lines for care.

Mor said in systems that do not ration care, “one person may do well,

but that doesn’t mean that the population benefits.”

“Grappling with that issue of what it means for one person versus what it means for the population is a struggle that Americans aren’t used to making, and we do not trust our government to decide that for us,” he said.

Kennedy interjected to say that care is already rationed in America by insurance companies, and that the health care system could only do better to have that process managed by elected representatives instead.

Kelly, a PLME student who concentrated in political science and has expertise in health policy, addressed the debate over a public option.

“The government is already part of your health care through Medicare and Medicaid,” she said.

“And it’s worked quite successfully in providing competition.”

Mor added that he does not believe the government could gain enough power through a public option to set prices in a way that would endanger private industries.

Kennedy said a chiropractor in the audience who asked how the government would incentivize doctors not to order unnecessary procedures “hit the nail on the head.”

“Trying to right the ship and turn it around is very difficult,” Kennedy said, referring to the monetary incentives that can exist for doctors to order unneeded treatments.

But now that consumers and employers are aware of the way this tendency drives up their premiums, he said he hopes they will advocate against it.

The discussion came to a tense standoff when Providence Democratic mayoral challenger Chris Young stepped up to the microphone to voice his religious and moral objections to abortion. After shouting at Kennedy about the link between abortion and what he called “ethnic cleansing” of blacks, Young, who also clashed with police during a protest on the Main Green over Fall Weekend, approached the representative and threw him a DVD about the subject.

After Young was wrestled to the floor, handcuffed and removed from the building by police, the discussion proceeded peacefully.

Metro The Brown Daily Herald

“Times are bad and there are a lot of desperate people.”

— Noreen Shawcross, head of R.I. Housing and Community Development Tuesday, December 1, 2009 | Page 5

metro in brief

Providence Police Dept. buys 92 new BlackBerry phones The Providence Police Department is unleashing a new weapon in the fight against crime — the BlackBerry Curve. According to a Monday press release from the Office of the Chief of Police, 92 supervisory staff members have been issued the phones as part of a “long-term strategy of putting real-time tools in everyday policing.”

The BlackBerry phones, which were purchased with money from the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistant Grant, will provide officers with immediate access to crime bulletins as they are

updated throughout the day, according to the press release. Officers can also use the phones’ camera function to document evidence in assault cases and instantly communicate with other officers in the department.

“I am impressed with the vast amount of information available to me in real time with the BlackBerry,” said Youth Services Sgt. Carl Weston in the press release. “I don’t have to be in front of my computer at headquarters to have access to critical information.”

— Anne Speyer

Relatives of fire victims to get $8 mil.

By Ben Schreckinger Senior Staf f Writer

A report filed last week with the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island proposed a benefits distribution system for minor children of the victims of the 2003 Station nightclub fire that claimed 100 lives.

The report, authored by courtappointed Special Master William Poore, uses a point system to allocate nearly $8.3 million among the 41 minors whose parents died in the fire, an average of about $200,000. It allocates an additional $4.7 million among the 30 children of deceased victims who are no longer minors, an average of about $150,000.

In addition, 17 children of victims who survived the fire would receive a total of $1.5 million, or an average of $91,000.

The fire broke out at the West Warwick nightclub during a performance by the hard rock band Great White, when the band’s

manager set off a pyrotechnics display that ignited sound-proofing material on the club’s walls. The manager pled guilty to 100 counts of involuntar y manslaughter in Februar y 2006. In September of that year, the club’s owners agreed to a plea bargain and were also convicted on 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter.

Poore used the point system proposed earlier this year by Special Master Francis McGovern, a professor of law at Duke University, for deciding the size of each claimant’s settlement. Under the system, which Poore’s report calls “eminently fair” and “remarkably consistent,” children would receive marginally larger awards for each year under the age of 18 they were at the time of the fire.

These awards would make up just a small portion of the $176 million settlement of the civil class action suit that followed the fire.

The damages are to be paid by 17 groups of defendants, includ-

ing the club’s owners, the town of West War wick and Anheuser Busch.

According to the report, onethird of the total $176 million in damages will go to the plaintiffs’ attorneys. Poore, an attorney with Providence-based Poore and Rosenbaum LLP, called the fee “standard and reasonable within the legal profession” in the report. The report goes on to state that the case required an unusual amount of effort and financial risk on the part of the attorneys.

The nearly $60 million in attorney fees will be split by seven Rhode Island law firms and the Boston-based Cooley Manion Jones LLP. “The complexity of this litigation was perhaps unparalleled in this jurisdiction,” Poore wrote.

As winter looms, state adds beds to homeless shelters

By George Miller Metro Editor

Rhode Island has enjoyed a warm autumn, but the approach of winter has caused the state to increase the number of beds at homeless shelters — a measure that advocates for the state’s growing homeless population say won’t be enough.

Homeless shelters in Westerly, Woonsocket, Pawtucket and Providence now have 88 additional beds, which will remain until spring, said Noreen Shawcross, the head of the state’s Office of Housing and Community Development. The state is funding 58 of the beds, while the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence and the United Way are providing the remaining 30. Statewide, there are about 610 emergency beds for the homeless, Shawcross said.

The state provides additional beds annually when colder weather approaches.

“We’re always trying to keep up with the need,” Shawcross said, adding that the ultimate goal is to find people housing.

But according to a count conducted Oct. 29 by the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless, there will be a deficit of 79 beds, even with the extra resources. The count, intended to identify the number of people on the street at a particular point in time, found that shelters were over capacity by 36, and 131 people were sleeping outside, said Jim Ryczek, the group’s executive

director.

According to the coalition’s data, the state’s homeless population has been growing — the number of people using emergency services increased from 925 in October 2008 to 1,518 this October — so the deficit is likely to grow, Ryczek said.

The coalition held a press conference and rally last week to alert the state to the shortage and is waiting for a response to a letter requesting a meeting with the governor.

“At a basic level, we’d like them to acknowledge that it is an emergency,” Ryczek said. The coalition also wants the governor “to take the lead on helping us solve the problem,” he said.

In order to make up the deficit, the state would need to find more space to put beds in order to comply with fire codes or fund emergency apartment housing to clear space in shelters, Ryczek said.

Shawcross said an emergency shelter task force is meeting to plan for the winter, and is searching for more space and more funding.

The task force includes members from her office, homeless advocate groups, service providers and homeless people, she said.

Calling it a “challenging situation,” Shawcross added that Rhode Island is one of a few states able to provide shelter for its homeless population.

“Times are bad and there are a lot of desperate people,” she said.

Editorial & Letters The Brown Daily Herald

Page 6 | Tuesday, December 1, 2009

l e t t e r to t h e e d i to r

Cheaters cheat on everyone To the Editor: Regarding Tuesday’s article (“Poll: 17 percent of students say they have cheated,” Nov. 24): I am bitterly disgusted to think that nearly one in five of my classmates is an academic cheater.

Professor of History Omer Bartov questions why students would spend tuition money in order to cheat. The answer is simple. It is the same reason why some people fabricate their resumes or lie to achieve power, fame and money — except less risky. I want to clarify that I am not criticizing Professor Bartov for his comment, as most likely any other professor could have been quoted as saying the same. It is important to continue to point out that academic dishonesty is a form of stealing from oneself.

Professor of Computer Science Andy van Dam’s argument that academic dishonesty “debases the coin of the realm” is nonetheless much more brave and true. As I approach graduation, I am realizing that my Brown degree and transcript will

represent the greatest achievement of my life. Perhaps many students forget that earning a Brown degree is, in the big picture, a rare and enviable achievement, uniquely qualifying one for positions of power, intellect, and responsibility. Those who falsely possess a Brown degree and transcript because they cheated will devalue my achievement, and the achievements of all other honest Brown graduates. I consider this a significant form of stealing from me. Cheaters receiving financial aid steal from tuition-paying students and the University’s donors. Cheaters using Brown’s physical and intellectual resources steal from all past and present University benefactors.

Cheaters steal from a centuries-old tradition, among the most exceptional in the world, of preparing knowledgeable and moral men and women for the responsibilities of society. These points may seem obvious, but they are under-articulated in today’s Brown community.

letters@browndailyherald.com

t h e b r o w n d a i ly h e r a l d Steve DeLucia

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e d i to r i a l

Practice makes perfect

Graham Anderson ’10 Nov. 30

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The news from the recent Herald poll that over 17 percent of undergraduates have cheated during their time at Brown has raised questions about the University’s academic integrity. As Professor of Computer Science Andy van Dam told The Herald last week, when students present a Brown diploma, “people see that and assume they’ve learned something.” But when it comes to the University’s reputation for rigor, we’re concerned more about the students who play by the rules than about the students who break them.

Consider this scenario: A student walks into an exam. He has seen most of the test questions before, word for word. In fact, he spent a few hours last night studying them in detail. All he has to do to get an “A” in the class is regurgitate the answers.

Sounds like cheating, right? Wrong. In far too many classes at Brown, this is simply the way professors help students prepare for exams. A number of professors give out practice tests before exams or distribute exams from previous years to help students study. This is not always a bad thing; practice tests are often helpful, giving students example problems and highlighting the most important material. But we’ve taken exams in which more than two-thirds of the questions came verbatim from the practice tests.

We’ve had exams like these that were open-book, so students didn’t even have to put in the effort to memorize answers from practice material.

If this behavior were not sanctioned by the professor, we would certainly call it cheating. After all, viewing the test questions before the test is an easy way out, a way to fly through a course without actually engaging with the material in a meaningful way.

True, when it’s done surreptitiously, it is also a serious breach of the academic code. But that’s essentially the only difference. Legal or not, looking at test questions before an exam lets students walk out of a course with an A on their transcript and a woefully superficial understanding of the subject at hand.

It’s useless to focus on cheating as the only threat to the University’s academic integrity when the line between cheating and due academic diligence is so blurred. Only 2.3 percent of students admitted in the Herald poll that they had copied answers off another student’s quiz, test or exam this semester. But hundreds of students take classes in which professors sanction what is essentially cheating. In both cases, students complete their coursework without truly learning. Granted, students who attend lectures, read the textbook, complete their assignments and study diligently will gain knowledge no matter what format the exam takes. But most students have other exams to study for and other papers to write, and they are more than happy to clinch an “A” by studying practice test questions and reproducing them in a bluebook.

For a university like Brown, this is disgraceful. If we’re truly concerned about graduating intelligent students and preserving the meaning attached to the Brown diploma, we need to address the University’s institutional rigor before we crack down on individual behavior.

Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald. com.

correction An article in Monday’s Herald (“Abuse during childhood speeds aging, prof shows,” Nov. 30) quoted Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior Audrey Tyrka as saying, “What you need most is the ability for yourself to divide to protect your genetic material.” The correct quote is, “What you need most is the ability for your cells to divide to protect your genetic material.” The Herald regrets the error.

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Opinions The Brown Daily Herald

Tuesday, December 1, 2009 | Page 7

There’s no vote like home ADRIENNE LANGLOIS Opinions Columnist Time for a warm and fuzzy moment: after nearly four years at Brown, I’ve come to consider this University, as well as Providence, another home. While I still look forward immensely to returning home to Asheville, North Carolina each and every break, I equally relish returning to Brown and the surrounding community.

Granted, Rhode Island is pretty different from my home state. Politically, North Carolina and Rhode Island might as well be Kansas and Oz. North Carolina is firmly situated in the “conservative” South, while Rhode Island is part of “liberal” New England.

North Carolina laws prevent the purchase of alcohol before noon on Sundays and limit liquor sales to regulated ABC stores; in Rhode Island, you can pull up to a liquor store and have the store’s staff fill your trunk without ever having to set foot in the store itself.

Rhode Island’s politicians tend to be far more interesting than North Carolina’s; try as he might, former Senator and Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards’ hijinks just can’t compare to those of former Mayor Buddy Cianci.

I’ve spent a summer in Providence,

worked on community service and paid state taxes through my paycheck. So when it comes time to align myself politically, where does my allegiance lie?

I, like many other Brown students from around the U.S., choose to cast an absentee ballot every election cycle. Voting in my home state is a way for me to feel connected to my family, friends and the place that has made me who I am today. It provides me with the opportunity to voice my opinion on zoning and taxation issues that still affect me

held for eight consecutive terms.

As a registered Democrat, I voted for Shuler in what was my first ever election, and I was proud to be part of his success. When early poll numbers for the 2008 presidential election showed North Carolina emerging as an important swing state, I excitedly requested my absentee ballot again.

I believe my vote was well spent. As the election results rolled in, North Carolina remained “Too close to call.” The final tally gave the Old North State to Barack Obama

Voting in my home state is a way for me to feel connected to my family, friends and the place that has made me who I am today.

when I return home. It is a way for me to make myself heard politically, in a way that is not always possible in Rhode Island.

Though North Carolina is traditionally considered a “red state,” in past years, formerly predictable elections usually called early for Republican candidates became more uncertain as a new group of Democrats challenged the status quo. In 2006, Democrat Heath Shuler claimed Republican Charles Taylor’s seat, which the latter had

by a mere 13,962 votes, mine being one of them. My vote also went to the election of a new Democratic senator, Kay Hagan, and Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue.

North Carolinians (conservative and liberal alike) aren’t the only Brown students who may benefit by registering to vote in their home state. There are 25 states where citizens can vote to veto state statutes, and 22 where voters can initiate laws — states that a significant number of Brown students

call home. This November, Maine voters had the opportunity to support or overturn the state’s recently added same-sex marriage law, an issue with national significance.

I do not want to downplay the benefits of voting in Rhode Island, however. There are many good reasons to vote in Rhode Island and many important issues at stake that would benefit from the voice of young, politically active students. For example, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I, was helped by strong support from college students in 2006.

So when it comes time to register to vote, consider the benefits of voting in each state in which you can claim residency, and choose carefully. Engaging with the community outside College Hill is an important duty all Brown students should undertake, but there are more ways than casting a ballot to effect change in Providence and Rhode Island.

If Rhode Island political issues move you, then by all means cast your vote here — it’s a great way to get involved in the state that serves as our residence for eight months out of the year. But if you feel your vote would be better spent in your home state, just click your heels three times and request your absentee ballot. Sometimes, there’s just no place (to vote) like home.

Adrienne Langlois ’10 is actually pretty jealous of states with ballot measures.

How far should democracy go?

SUSANNAH KROEBER Opinions Columnist Once you look beyond apple pie, Thanksgiving and the consumer culture of the Christmas season, there are few things that are more American than sports. The Super Bowl is the most watched television event in America, and March Madness, the World Series, and NBA and NHL playoffs do not disappoint sponsors either. Parents and children alike herald sports as the way to build camaraderie and teach how to win and to lose with dignity.

Sports heroes give us the underdog stories kids thrive on and offer an alternative path to success from a straight academic narrative of achievement. They formulate how we look at relationships in schools and workplaces. Everyone, regardless of involvement in sports, is taught to be a team player.

The team dynamic is intrinsic to our American identity, whether or not the Super Bowl is an event on our calendars.

What fascinates me most about sports in American culture is that it is the single institution which professes to be democratic yet has an inherently anti-democratic structure — for example, selecting captains for a team. Most teams have coach-selected captains, from intramural leagues to college varsity teams. An adult selects a player or two for a leadership position based on a highly

subjective set of criteria and often without consultation from other players. In what other student organization is there such clear despotism?

I’ve heard the justification from many coaches that a coach-selected captain system is the fairest system because it eliminates the possibility of captain-selection based on popularity. But we don’t have to look beyond the most obvious example of popularly elected officials, especially local politicians, to see that their ability to function depends heavily on whether they maintain popular support.

Likewise, a captain of a sports team will not

tain is only interested in preserving her own position and does not view keeping her teammates satisfied as crucial, the information that a coach receives from this captain about the team is likely to be unhelpful. A captain selected by the players will be those players’ advocate. A captain is that extra set of eyes for the coach to use, and is likely to offer an alternate opinion if she sees herself in a position to challenge the decisions of the coach and push the coach to see new options.

Like authoritarian leaders, a coach will rarely relinquish the ability to choose captains, while players who hold the ability to

What fascinates me most about sport in American culture is that it is the single institution which professes to be democratic yet has an inherently anti-democratic structure. find it easy to lead team members who resent their captaincy.

Coaches have a self-interested motive in selecting captains. A coach-selected captain owes her position to the coach, and therefore is more likely to serve the coach’s interests rather than her team’s. The danger of a player-selected captain for a coach is clear. This captain is a threat to a coach’s authority.

A player-selected captain does have a clear benefit for a coach, however. If a cap-

choose their own captains and relinquish this privilege won’t find themselves satisfied with the result. Even the most well-intentioned coaches can’t make a choice that will be respected by the team every time. When a coach selects a captain, a player above the rest, they inevitably lose a little bit of their credibility with the team.

Players don’t always make the right decisions. Captains might be selected for the wrong reasons — perhaps as a lesser of two

evils, perhaps because of their greater popularity. But once elected, this captain has a responsibility to all of the players. Captains who suggest their friends for starting positions they don’t deserve, or fail to advocate for the unseen star of the team, will find themselves quickly impeached.

One of the factors that coaches rarely consider is whether a player wants to be captain. The general assumption is that all players aspire to that position, but this is far from true. On a competitive team such as colleges boast, captaincy is a time-consuming and stressful position that not all competent players seek. It is hard for a player to say no to a coach and risk her personal standing in her coach’s eyes, whereas it is significantly easier to decline a nomination by players, allowing players more able to serve their own needs first.

At a school where intramural to club to varsity athletes are expected to be students before athletes, and at a school that professes a liberal ideology, it might be reasonable to expect students to be able to select their own captains. We are given the choice of direction for our education, we are eligible to vote for our politicians, and we select members of our other clubs. There is no reason beyond the “enlightened” leadership of coaches that players should not pick their peer leaders.

Susannah Kroeber ’11 is a proud member of a team with player-selected captains.

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Today The Brown Daily Herald

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

2

W. hockey suffers a pair of losses

5

to day

to m o r r o w

46 / 31

52 / 43

Homeless shelters prepare for winter

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Page 8

C lo u d y, with a chance of protest

3

c a l e n da r TUesday, december 1

wednesday, december 2

2:30 p.m. — Reading by Jhumpa Lahiri, Salomon 001

5:45 P.M. — “Let us Imagine a Straight Line...,” Pembroke Hall 003

5:30 p.m. — “Will Older People Survive Health Care Reform?” Bio Med Center 202

6:00 p.m. — “Musica Negra to Musica Urbana: Reggaeton, Race and Commerce,” Orwig 315

Kim Perley / Herald

A small group of demonstrators held signs outside Andrews Hall yesterday afternoon to protest Rep. Patrick Kennedy’s support for health care reform.

menu Sharpe Refectory

Verney-Woolley Dining Hall

Lunch — Chourico with Potatoes and Onions, Linguini with Tomato and Basil, Chocolate Oatmeal Squares

Lunch — Beef Stew, Tomato Quiche, Italian Vegetable Saute

Dinner — Vegetable Frittata, Carne Gizado, Sticky Rice

comics Dot Comic | Eshan Mitra and Brendan Hainline

Dinner — Chicken Pot Pie, Vegan Stuffed Acorn Squash, Apricot Beef with Sesame Noodles

crossword

Cabernet Voltaire | Abe Pressman

Fruitopia | Andy Kim

Hippomaniac | Mat Becker