Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Brown University woke up to cleanerinboxes Monday morning.

Computing and Information Servicesrolled out the new anti-spam systemProofpoint Monday. Proofpoint quaran-tines suspected spam messages and pre-vents them from reaching e-mail users’inboxes while sending users a digest ofthose e-mails.

“Overall, it’s going very well,” saidNancy Magers, a manager at CIS. Thequarantine mechanism was activatedSunday at noon, and the first round ofdaily quarantine digests was sent out bymidday Monday.

In its first 24 hours of operation,Proofpoint stopped 90,000 spam e-mailssent to 8,378 users on campus, for a totalof 447 MB of e-mail storage saved,Magers said. CIS had originally intendedto roll out Proofpoint March 1 but spedup its efforts in recent weeks to bring itout earlier, The Herald reported lastmonth.

“We’ve been getting a lot of great feed-back from faculty and staff,” saidStephanie Birdsall, lead communicationspecialist at CIS. Those users reported a“significant drop” in the number of spame-mails received, she said.

While no students had yet given feed-back to CIS, Birdsall said she had noticeda positive discussion of the new systemon the Brown Daily Jolt forum. “We likethat one,” she said.

Yvonne Wang ’07 said she received the

spam quarantine digest this morning,deleting it after “glancing” over the e-mail subject lines within. She said sheexpects most students to simply deletethe digest each day, calling it the “normalreaction” for students who have “figuredout” how to deal with spam by experi-

ence.“We’re very pleased with how smooth-

ly the rollout went,” Birdsall said. “Wethink it’s going to make a huge differenceon campus” in fighting spam.

— Ben Leubsdorf

BY JONATHAN SIDHUSTAFF WRITER

Beginning today, all undergraduates mayvote in an Undergraduate Council ofStudents referendum to change the votingprocedure for electing executive boardmembers to an instant runoff voting sys-tem.

The vote to accept or reject the consti-tutionally mandated referendum will beavailable on WebCT from Tuesday at noonuntil noon Friday.

The Elections Review Commission, anindependent body created last semester toreassess UCS election procedures,endorsed the recommendation.

Charley Cummings ’06, vice presidentof UCS and chair of the ERC, told TheHerald that IRV is one of many plannedreforms addressing a broad range of elec-tion-related topics, including financialand endorsement processes.

“In our constitution it calls for a runoffelection between the top two candidates,”Cummings said. “In the past four elec-tions, one candidate has not received amajority (in the first round),” he said.

In those years, candidates were shownonly the percentages that each candidateearned without knowing which candidatehad the largest percentage and asked ifthey accepted the results. “In every yearexcept for last year, the candidates accept-ed the results as final without knowingwhich candidate had won,” Cummingssaid. Last year, the presidential race wentto a runoff.

According to the statement placed byUCS on the WebCT voting page, “IRVessentially eliminates the need for a runoffelection by asking voters to rank the candi-dates instead of vote for a single one.”

The system would implement a prefer-ential voting system. When voting, stu-dents would rank candidates instead ofcasting one vote for their favorite. At theend of the election, the votes for the stu-dent who got the least number of first-choice votes would be redistributed toother candidates based on those voters’second choices until one candidate won amajority.

“The change will basically be that now

instead of winning by just plurality, peoplewill rank their choices. That way you don’thave to go to through the whole process ofa runoff,” said Joel Payne ’05, UCS presi-dent. “It sounds more complicated than itactually is.”

The referendum comes amidst contro-versy that last year’s election results wereskewed by holding a runoff election with a

THE BROWN DAILY HERALDF E B R U A R Y 1 5 , 2 0 0 5

www.browndailyherald.com

T U E S D A Y

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode IslandEditorial: 401.351.3372 Business: 401.351.3269 News tips: [email protected]

TODAY TOMORROW

showers51 / 35

showers50 / 26

Volume CXL, No. 15 An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891

Juliana Wu / Herald

Brown Environmental Action Network member Emily Benjamin ’08 asked studentspassing by the main green to donate $1 in support of clean energy and send avalentine to President Ruth Simmons asking the University to make use of renewableenergy sources.

LOVE IS IN THE CLEAN AIR

UCS voting referendum begins today

New system blocks 90,000 spam e-mails in first 24 hours

see UCS, page 9

Interest inROTC minimalat Browndespite debateat other IviesBY AIDAN LEVYSTAFF WRITER

The Reserve Officers Training Corps,abolished during the Vietnam Warthroughout most of the Ivy League, issparking renewed controversy on sev-eral campuses over whether to reestab-lish their programs. But at Brown, theissue only persists through some limit-ed student interest.

At Yale University, a Republican stu-dent organization hopes to get 2,000student signatures in support of ROTC,the Yale Daily News reported.

Harvard and Columbia groups havealso mounted substantial campaigns,with the Columbia newspaper appeal-ing for the reestablishment of ROTCand former defense secretary andHarvard alum Caspar Weinberger get-ting involved in the push to bring theprogram back.

Buttressed by the Pentagon’s recentrecommendation that Ivy League insti-tutions investigate the possibility ofreinstating ROTC, student and alumnigroups are mobilized to demonstratethe necessity of a change.

“If there are groundswells forming(at Brown), we’re not aware of them,”said Carol Cohen, associate dean of thecollege and coordinator for ROTC.

Yet Brian McGuirk ’06 asked aboutthe possibility of reviving ROTC duringthe question-and-answer session atthe Feb. 1 Spring Semester OpeningAddress two weeks ago.

“People at Brown are the type ofpeople who should be filling the mili-tary in large numbers,” McGuirk said.“I think the military is an institution weshould be dedicated to repair andbring into the 21st century.”

BY ERIC BECKSENIOR STAFF WRITER

Students may feel as though they aresurrounded only by their peers in resi-dential halls, but someone older is usu-ally only steps away. The University’sfaculty fellows and community direc-tors programs are designed to integrateadults into student life and ensure thatthey are available to help students.

Through the faculty fellows program,professors living in University-ownedproperties on campus are available tostudents for conversation, advice or abreak from studying.

“We are not trying to give Brown stu-dents more to do — we are trying to givethem better things to do,” saidAssociate Professor of Chemistry andBiochemistry J. William Suggs, who isthe faculty fellow for Keeney

Quadrangle.Suggs said weekly study breaks can

feature special topics such as summerinternships, visits by representatives ofcampus resources such as theChaplain’s Office, guest speakers orsimply conversation.

In the past, the Hewlett Foundationand the Office of the Dean of theCollege have funded special faculty fel-low programs to promote diversity,such as a trip to the Black RepertoryTheater, Suggs said, adding that theDean of the College continues to fundspecial events. About seven or eightspeakers are being considered for thissemester, he said.

Suggs said one of the challenges ofplanning events is balancing the desireto offer something intellectual with stu-dents’ desire to relax.

“Students are intellectual enoughfrom nine-to-five, so in the eveningsthey just want to kick back, relax andhave fun,” he said.

Stephen Foley ’74 P’04 P’07, associ-ate professor of English, said he and hiswife Mary Jo ’75 GS’99 P’04 P’07 wantedto be faculty fellows after their experi-ences as undergraduates. He is the fac-ulty fellow for east campus, encom-passing Perkins Hall, Young Orchardand Barbour Hall and Apartments.

“As students, we enjoyed that kind ofcommunity programming. … It seemedlike a good way to get involved in stu-dent life, and my wife and I, as alumni,thought it was a natural for us,” Foleysaid.

Foley said his weekly study breaks

Faculty fellows, community directorsoffer adult presence in dorms

see DORMS, page 9

see ROTC, page 4

CALLING THE SHOTSProliferation of liquor licenses onThayer St. has neighbors feelingunpleasantly buzzed

M E T R O 3

VEGGIE SALESHill ’04 and friends roll out thelocal-produce-lover’s answer to eBay

C A M P U S N E W S 5

STICKER POINTBrian Schmaltzbach ’07 gives theGeorgia evolution sticker a secondlook — and likes what he sees

O P I N I O N S 11

Editorial Phone: 401.351.3372

Business Phone: 401.351.3260

Jonathan Ellis, President

Sara Perkins, Vice President

Ian Halvorsen, Treasurer

Daniel Goldberg, Secretary

The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is published Monday through Friday during the aca-

demic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement, once during Orientation and

once in July by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. 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 [email protected]. World Wide Web:

http://www.browndailyherald.com. Subscription prices: $179 one year daily, $139 one semester

daily. Copyright 2005 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD, INC.

C R O S S W O R D

THIS MORNINGTHE BROWN DAILY HERALD

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2005 · PAGE 2

ACROSS1 Explode6 1966 N.L. batting

champ Matty10 Clarified butter14 Muse of love

poems15 Complain16 Diner sign17 All fired up18 Bygone Russian

despot19 Exclamations of

amazement20 “The magic word”22 Arrogant one24 Peggy or Spike25 Canine social

reformers?28 Health resort31 Hindu honorific32 Start to awake33 Diner

hodgepodge35 It’s left of “F1” on

a PC keyboard37 Racket41 Formic collectors

of short literaryworks?

45 Theatrical badguy

46 Aaron’s club47 Days in Madrid48 Corrida yells51 “The Sweetheart

of Sigma __”(1912 song)

53 “No seats,” onB’way

54 Bovineofficemates?

59 Onassis, tofriends

60 Pinta sister ship61 The Desert Fox65 Naked67 Memo69 Easy to trick70 Tabloid couple71 “The Rube’s

Honeymoon”author Zane

72 Wight and Man73 Tree house74 Manuscript encl.75 Fischer’s forte

DOWN1 Pager sound2 River through

Kazakhstan3 Intense anger

4 Lieu5 Trunks6 Play segment7 Cowboy’s gear8 Asian primates9 Force to move

from home10 Prefix with

thermal11 Non-Hawaiian, in

Hawaii12 Former

anesthetic13 Tricky curves21 Shore wader23 Sound from a

spring26 TV antenna,

perhaps27 R2-D2, notably28 Bygone Iranian

despot29 Window glass30 Hammett hound34 Bad thing to

wreak36 Cookout

throwaway38 Osiris’ wife39 Headliner40 “Happy motoring”

sloganeer42 Parachute

material

43 Need44 Different49 “Dallas” clan50 Northern Mexico

state52 Humorously

sarcastic54 Humble

abode55 Emulate

Demosthenes56 Does electrical

work

57 Motel posting

58 Tennis shot62 __ High City:

Denver63 Anticipatory

times64 To a smaller

extent66 CPR pro68 It can be winkin’

or blinkin’, but itdoesn’t nod

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16

17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27

28 29 30 31 32

33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40

41 42 43 44

45 46 47

48 49 50 51 52 53

54 55 56 57 58

59 60 61 62 63 64

65 66 67 68 69

70 71 72

73 74 75

D E C A F P A B S T C A MO R O N O A L O H A A N YC A R D C A T A L O G N N ES T A Y U P N O T T O D A Y

S A L E R O S EC H O C O L A T E L A BH E R O N D E N I M C D CA R A B A L E C S U H O HP O L H Y E N A G N O M E

C A N D Y S T R I P E RS C O U R E E OH O M E M A D E R U S S I AR N A F L O W E R C H I L DU G H U T T E R H E L I OB A A L O O S E O A T E S

By Bill Cascadden(c)2005 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

02/15/05

02/15/05

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

[email protected]

Chocolate Covered Cotton Mark Brinker

Jero Matt Vascellaro

Penguiener Haan Lee

Coreacracy Eddie Ahn

Homebodies Mirele Davis

Raw Prawn Kea Johnston

M E N USHARPE REFECTORY

LUNCH — Squash Pie, Vegan Rice andJalepenos, Mexican Corn, Vegan TofuPups, Waffle Fries, Spinach Pie, ChickenFajitas, Minestrone Soup, M & MCookies, Liberty Chocolate Cake

DINNER — Tomato Quiche, Wild andWhite Rice Pilaf, Stir Fry Carrots withLemon and Dill, Brussels Sprouts, BakedPotatoes, Squash Rolls, TortelliniAngelica, Pork Loin with Green AppleDressing, Yellow Cake with CoconutFrosting

VERNEY-WOOLLEY DINING HALLLUNCH — Vegetarian Lentil Soup,Chicken Noodle Soup, Chinese ChickenWings, Wisconsin Ziti with Four Cheeses,Mandarin Blend Vegetables, M & MCookies

DINNER — Vegetarian Lentil Soup,Chicken Noodle Soup, Italian BeefNoodle Casserole, Vegan Stir Fry,Vegetables with Tofu, Red Potatoes withFresh Dill, Sauteed Zucchini withOnions, Carrots in Parsley Sauce, SquashRolls, White Cake with Coconut Frosting.

T O D A Y ’ S E V E N T S

WAYLAND COLLEGIUM LECTURESERIES:“INTRODUCTION TO THEECONOMICS OF THE JUNGLE”4-5:30 p.m. (CIT, 115 Waterman St.,Lubrano Conf. Rm, 4th floor ) —Speaker: Ariel Rubinstein, Tel AvivUniversity

STUDY ABROAD FAIR3-5 p.m. (Sayles Hall ) —Gather information and meetBrown students returned fromstudy abroad all around the world.

PAVING THE WAY FOR ETHNICCLEANSING: EASTERN THRACE(DOGU TRANKAY) DURING THEBALKAN WARS (1912-1913)6 p.m. (McKinney ConferenceRoom, Watson Institute) —Seminar with Dr. Eyal Ginio, Instituteof Asian and African Studies, Facultyof Humanities,The HebrewUniversity of Jerusalem. Pleaseemail [email protected] a copy of the paper, to be readin advance to enliven discussion.

W O R L D A T A G L A N C E

National missile defense test fails againpage 7

Thai farmers worry controls on bird flu threaten livelihoodspage 7

Bush decides to make Crawford’s FDA leadership officialpage 7

Property taxes overwhelm Habitat for Humanity homeownerspage 7

BY ROBBIE COREY-BOULETMETRO EDITOR

The impending arrival of new restaurants on ThayerStreet has increased debate over whether liquor licens-es should be granted to more College Hill businesses,highlighting an issue both restaurant owners and com-munity leaders say is central to the character of the dis-trict.

While community leaders contend that a surplus ofliquor licenses cheapens the neighborhood’s residentialappeal, several restaurant managers say having a liquorlicense raises profits and allows them to survive amidThayer Street’s highly competitive business atmos-phere.

Ronald Dwight ’66, who serves on the College HillNeighborhood Association’s Board of Directors, said hebelieves the sexual assault of a female Brown studentFeb. 6 underscores the need for liquor license restric-tions, as the presence of alcohol may facilitate such vio-lent crime. The incident occurred outside of the LiquidLounge at 165 Angell St.

But Raul Esteves, restaurant manager of Paragon andViva at 234 Thayer St., said such incidents “have more todo with the individual person” and little to do with alco-hol.

A refusal to administer liquor licenses to new restau-rants may put them at an economic disadvantage, saidMichel Boutros, co-owner of Shanghai, a Chineserestaurant that will replace Café Java at 272 Thayer St.

“Everyone has (a license) on the street,” Boutros said.“Why can’t we have one, you know?”

Shanghai’s owners have applied for a Class BV liquorlicense, which would permit them to serve any alco-holic beverage. The license is a step up from a Class BLlicense, which limits a restaurant to serving just beerand wine. The owners have a Feb. 25 hearing with theBoard of Licenses.

There are “about eight” establishments with Class BVliquor licenses near Thayer Street, with five locateddirectly on the street, said License AdministratorRichard Aitchison. This number “isn’t really any differ-ent from other parts of the city,” he said.

“Thayer Street has its share, but there are other partsof the city that have more,” including Federal Hill andthe downtown district, he said.

In order to obtain a liquor license, restaurant ownersmust submit an application to the board. A notice is


METROTHE BROWN DAILY HERALD

BY CAMDEN AVERYSENIOR STAFF WRITER

Local politicians and environmental advocacy groupsare speaking out against the possible upgrade of a liq-uid natural gas facility at Field’s Point, in Providence.The upgrade would maintain the facility’s current600,000-barrel capacity and improve the site’s accessto Narragansett Bay to allow deliveries from tankers.

Critics object to the plant’s potentially negativeenvironmental impacts and say the plant may com-promise the safety of surrounding communities.

KeySpan Corp., the company that has owned theField’s Point terminal since 2002, has been planning toexpand the facility since April 2004 and is currentlyawaiting approval from the Federal Energy RegulatoryCommission, said KeySpan spokeswoman CarmenFields.

Advocates fighting fuelterminal expansion

Rhode Island collegestudents couldsuffer from Pell cutsBY ANNE WOOTTONSTAFF WRITER

Changes to the federal student financial aid formula willcause some students at Rhode Island public universities tosee their Pell Grant awards decreased or even eliminated.

About 20,000 students in Rhode Island receive PellGrants, which range in size from $400 to $4,050, each year.

Though individual students are not likely to seedecreases of more than $100 in their awards, 90,000grants will be eliminated nationwide, according to ananalysis by the American Council on Education.

“It’s problematic, and people need to be aware of it,but I don’t think people should be frightened — it’s notwhat I would call a huge change,” said James Hanbury,director of financial aid at Rhode Island College, whichhad 1,844 Pell recipients this year in an undergraduatestudent body of 6,531.

“Pell Grants are an extremely important program forus,” Hanbury said, and the decrease in certain students’awards is “troublesome — we never want to see PellGrants reduced. On the other hand, we don’t want peoplethinking they can’t go to school next year and not evenapplying.”

Students on the margin of eligibility — and at risk oflosing their eligibility next year — currently receive min-imal grants of $400.

For some students, $400 makes a big difference,according to Christina O’Reilly, public relations officer atCommunity College of Rhode Island.

“We are most concerned for our students who areworking” because of the additional hours they may be

New liquor license applications draw protest

see PELL, page 9

see LIQUOR, page 6

see FUEL, page 8

Currently, only two Brownstudents are involved in theArmy Reserve Officers TrainingCorps program, offered througha consortium with ProvidenceCollege. During the past fiveyears, approximately 10 othershave made the trek acrossProvidence to participate in rig-orous weekly training exercisesand defense classes.

ROTC was abolished at Brownin 1969, when the FacultyStudent Committee passed a

motion stipulating that ROTCcould remain on campus only ifROTC professors abdicated theirfaculty status and the classeswere stripped of credit. Not will-ing to operate under theseterms, ROTC left campus.Numbers diminished drastical-ly, from an average of approxi-mately 100 Brown studentsenrolled at any given time dur-ing the 1960s to nearly none,said Dean of the College PaulArmstrong.

“It’s the incompatibility withthe principles of a liberal artseducation” that led to the endingof ROTC, Cohen said.

The Brown Corporation

raised the issue again in 1981,but negotiations went nowhere,Armstrong said. While discus-sion has not resumed, theadministration is striving tofacilitate the ROTC experience.

“I think that students whowant to go to ROTC, get a com-mission and get financial benefitshould have the opportunity todo so,” Armstrong said. “Therehas been discussion aboutspreading awareness, and it’sappropriate that we make stu-dents aware of that opportuni-ty.”

“I’ve always been a very patri-otic American,” said ScottQuigley ’05, BattalionCommander for ROTC atProvidence College. “After 9/11,something sparked in me.”

Michael McBride ’06 said he isnot one of the “9/11 children.”“One of the values instilled in mewas giving back to the commu-nity,” he said. “Poor people areoften forcibly thrust into thearmy, so I felt that if I have theopportunity to go to college andget a degree, also being an offi-cer in the army suited me nice-ly.”

McBride is a frontrunner fornext year’s battalion command-er. “The quality of the Brown stu-dent is superb,” said LieutenantColonel Steven McGonagle,commander of ROTC atProvidence College. “I thinkROTC brings a great deal ofdiversity and it brings the sort ofvalues that I think most collegeinstitutions would like toembrace.”

ROTC enrollment numbershave diminished from 177,000 in1967 to approximately 30,000.Sept. 11, 2001, and the war inIraq have stimulated interest inROTC at universities traditional-ly known for anti-war sentiment,McGonagle said.

Brown is resolute in its stance,unless the military is willing tomake concessions, but itappears there are no signs ofcompromise.

“It’s really the antithesis ofwhat Brown’s about,” Quigley

said. “Not to say we want to mil-itarize Brown or get a plethora ofstudents to join. We just want tohave the opportunity for one ortwo.”

While Brown does not offercredit for ROTC courses, the uni-versity does accept ROTC schol-arships. In the case of McGuirk,his Navy ROTC scholarship wasuseless at Brown, which onlyoffers the option for those inter-ested in joining the army.

“I’m planning to go into thenavy after college, and I could begoing to Brown almost for free,”McGuirk said.

Spurred by student protests inthe heat of the Vietnam War, themilitary’s recruiting arm hasbeen severed since the 1960s atevery Ivy League Universityexcept for Cornell and theUniversity of Pennsylvania,which still retain their programs,Armstrong said. Since then,ROTC has returned to PrincetonUniversity and DartmouthCollege.

Based on the almost unani-

mously voiced condemnation ofthe military’s “don’t ask, don’ttell” policy, it will take a concert-ed effort from students, facultyand alums before ROTC is rein-stated, Yale officials told the YaleDaily News.

The contentious policy,signed into law by formerPresident Bill Clinton in 1993,discriminates against openly gayand lesbian personnel, but thishas not deterred the YaleRepublicans. Despite the admin-istration’s hesitance in light ofthis policy, the group continuesto advocate for the opportunityto participate in the military —an institution almost entirelybereft of Americans educated atthe country’s elite institutions.

“I think anything’s feasible,but the support to bring ROTCback to Brown is not there at thistime,” McGonagle said. “It couldbe generated with the right vari-ables in place, but there wouldhave to be enough students whowant to take ROTC and agroundswell of alumni support.”

PAGE 4 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2005

ROTCcontinued from page 1

8-0 run of their own, but stillfound themselves down by 10at the half.

A big reason the Bearsstruggled a little offensivelywas that they were out-rebounded 41-29. The lack ofsecond-shot opportunitieswas something that really hurtthe Bears. “Against Harvard wewere able to get a lot of secondshots, which helped us a lot,but against Dartmouth wedidn’t get any,” Conrad said.“They made a conscious effortto keep us off the offensiveglass.”

The Bears steadily chippedaway at the lead until the BigGreen went on an 8-2 run thatpushed their lead back to 10points. “They were verypatient on offense. They ranwhen they got the opportuni-

ty, but in the half-court gamethey were able to find theholes in our defense,” Conradsaid.

The Bears put together onelast surge when Hayes scoredsix consecutive points, cuttingthe lead to seven, but the BigGreen once again had ananswer, going on a 10-2 runthat put the game away.

The Bears were also out-shot at the free-throw line. TheBig Green shot 20-of-23 fromthe foul line while the Bearsonly shot 5-of-7.

The loss drops the Bears tosecond place in the leaguewhile they continue to chaseundefeated Dartmouth.

The Bears will look to getback in the win column nextweekend as they travel toPrinceton and the Universityof Pennsylvania. The Bears willtry to sweep the season seriesagainst the Tigers and avengean early season home loss tothe Quakers.

W. hoopscontinued from page 12

BY ARI ROCKLAND-MILLERCONTRIBUTING WRITER

The United States governmentplaces an enormous emphasison the value of democracy, bothon the home front and abroad.However, this self-proclaimedmodern exemplar of healthydemocracy is in fact a perverse“corpocracy,” according toCharles Derber, professor ofsociology at Boston College.

Derber strove to answer thequestion, “Who Rules the World?Global Corpocracy or GlobalDemocracy?” at his Monday lec-ture in Starr Auditorium.

Derber said that today, “It isthe corporation, rather than thestate, that is the dominant hege-monic force.” He used the term“corpocracy” to refer to the spe-cial “marriage” of big businessand big government that plaguesnot only the United States butalso global governance bodiessuch as the World TradeOrganization.

Derber said that, because U.S.corpocracy is obscured by a veilof superficial democracy, it ishard to come to terms with thefundamental contradictions thatlie beneath its surface.

“The United States govern-ment is a formal democracy,accountable to its people, but itis also serving the interests of avery different agenda,” Derbersaid.

Likewise, the newly estab-lished, ostensibly democraticIraqi government is also a cor-pocracy, Derber added.Although many Iraqi citizens arevoting for the first time, Iraq’sgovernment is driven by interna-tional corporate agendas, whichsully the purity of its democracyand decrease the power of its cit-izens’ voices, he said.

“I was happy that (Derber)reiterated the fact that just

because the U.S. is implement-ing procedural elements ofdemocracy abroad, doesn’tmean that they’re actuallyspreading true democracy,” saidaudience member Caitie Whelan’07.

Derber ended his lecture on asomewhat optimistic note, say-ing that inherent weaknesses inthe structure of corpocraciescould mean their ultimatedownfall as a legitimate andaccepted mode of governance.“Despite its overwhelming polit-ical and ideological seduction, Ifind this system quite unstable,”

Derber said, pointing to various“cracks” in the corpocracy para-digm.

Assistant Professor ofInternational Relations(Research) and event coordina-tor Simone Pulver said she wasunsettled by the persistence ofthe insidious penetration of cor-porate power into the structureof the U.S. government. “Theseissues have such a long, deephistory, as the U.S. Constitutionwas written by people suspi-cious of corporate power. Today,

CAMPUS NEWSTHE BROWN DAILY HERALD


U.S. government a ‘corpocracy,’not true democracy, Derber says

BY ANNA ABRAMSONCONTRIBUTING WRITER

The creators of the new eBay-style Web site locallygrown-food.com want you to thinkbefore biting into an apple.

The apple may have beenpicked in Holland three weeksprematurely and then pack-aged, transported and shipped.The aircraft carrying it wouldhave consumed thousands offossil-fuel miles on its way tothe United States. Upon arrival,a multinational agriculturalcorporation may have sold theproduce at wholesale prices toa national chain supermarket.

Or, the apple may have beenpicked yesterday in its ripenedstate, at a small farm strugglingto stay alive in the modern agri-cultural market, before makingthe twenty-minute car trip tonearby Brown University.

The idea behind locally-grownfood.com, said creatorLouella Hill ’04, is that buyinglocally means food is not onlytastier and healthier, but con-

sumers are being more socially,economically and environmen-tally conscious as well.

The aim of the site is to allowfor “direct connection betweenconsumer and producer,” Hillsaid. The Web site uses technol-ogy to overcome the problem ofincreasingly technology-domi-nated modern agriculture, shesaid.

Membership accounts allowfarmers to sign in and theninput their products. The con-sumer — a restaurant, forinstance — signs in and brows-es for local food options.

The Web site, run by the non-profit Sustainable Food RhodeIsland, functions similarly tothe auction site eBay, althoughcreative technologies specialistNoah Fulmer ’05 noted that it is“actually a reverse eBay” —instead of prices rising in accor-dance with bids, the consumermay negotiate the price down,he said.

Web site improves access to local produce

see DERBER, page 6

see PRODUCE, page 9

b r o w nd a i l y

h e r a l d. c o m


then sent to any business andproperty owners within 200 feetof the applicant’s building.Neighbors and any other inter-ested parties can either attend apublic hearing to voice theirconcerns or write a letter ofobjection.

Neighboring property ownershave a say relative to the size oftheir property, Aitchison said. Ifover half of the neighboringsquare footage falls underprotesting ownership, then theapplication is rejected automat-ically.

For all other cases, the boardexercises discretion in makingits final decision.

Atchison said those restau-rants who receive licenses“seem to do better” than thosewhose applications are denied.

“From a business point ofview, (having a license) doesmake a lot more sense,” saidLokesh Dua, manager of Kaboband Curry at 261 Thayer St.

Dua said Kabob and Curryhas had a Class BV liquor licensefor the past two or three years.

Esteves said a liquor licenseimproves business “tremen-dously.”

“(It) brings in a whole differ-ent type of clientele,” he said.

Paragon and Viva have oper-ated under a Class BX licensesince they opened in 1994. Thislicense allows owners to serveany type of alcoholic beverageand remain open until 2 a.m. onFriday nights, Saturday nightsand the eve of a holiday.

Neighborhood leaders partic-ularly object to this additionalhour of operation, saying thesort of nightlife it attracts com-

promises the neighborhood’scharacter.

Barbara Harris, president ofthe College Hill NeighborhoodAssocation, said she believesClass BX liquor licenses shouldbe restricted to Providence’sdowntown district, which ismore suited to handle bars andother late-night establishments.

“I feel that a midnight close isadequate for any restaurantthat’s serving liquor in thisneighborhood,” Harris said.“The neighborhood is onlyzoned for restaurants servingliquor — not for bars. The busi-ness for dining, generally, is overby midnight.”

Dwight said the high volumeof liquor licenses issued nega-tively impacts the entire CollegeHill neighborhood — “not justThayer Street.”

He said additional traffic thatresults from a 2 a.m. closingtime disturbs the peace ofneighborhood residents.

“Often people have theseenormous boom boxes in theircars and our houses are shak-ing,” he said, adding that thisnoise continues “all night long”and occurs regularly in the sum-mer when motorcycles with“illegally disconnected muf-flers” frequent the district.

Dwight said he agrees withHarris that bars and other estab-lishments with Class BX licensesdo not fit in with Thayer Street’sresidential feel and would bemore appropriate in the down-town district.

The high number of issuedliquor licenses on Thayer Streetcould alienate a significant por-tion of Providence’s tax base,Dwight said, as wealthy EastSide residents may decide toleave the city.

But Dwight stopped short ofcondemning all liquor licenses

in the neighborhood, saying,“There’s a place, of course, forlegitimate restaurants withliquor licenses. I have an openmind.”

Dwight said he believes thecity should handle liquor licenseapplications on a case-by-casebasis.

Harris said she hopes the city“restricts” incoming applica-tions.

Also, she stressed her desirethat any approved applicationsexpire when a building’s lease istransferred from its currentowner. This clause may allowThayer Street to include “a moregeneral mix of commercialuses,” such as retail stores andother businesses, she said.

Dwight echoed this senti-ment, saying the opening of newbars and restaurants is “pushingout other kinds of stores.”

While the neighborhoodassociation insists that somerestaurants and bars are tolera-ble, Harris said some establish-ments, such as Liquid Lounge,blatantly violate city zoningordinances and should havetheir liquor licenses revoked.

Liquid Lounge operatesunder a Class BX liquor license.

The neighborhood associa-tion has been opposing LiquidLounge “for a year now,” Harrissaid.

Dwight said he believes thebar is an example of rules “notbeing enforced” on ThayerStreet, adding that the neigh-borhood is not zoned for suchentertainment establishments.

The bar features advertisingand events Dwight said “panderto lust and alcoholism,” therebydetracting from other, morewholesome establishments.

“I would not take a smallchild on Thayer Street at anytime,” Dwight said.

Harris said she particularlyobjected to Liquid Lounge fliersadvertising disc jockeys, dancefloors and “$2.00 shots of PimpJuice.”

“We are hard-pressed to seewhy their license hasn’t beenrevoked,” Harris said.

Managers at Liquid Loungedeclined to comment for thisarticle.

Boutros said it is difficult tocompare Shanghai and otherrestaurants to Liquid Lounge,which is “more like a club wherepeople go crazy.”

Boutros said he hopes the citygrants liquor licenses “only to therestaurants that really need it.”

“They don’t need more clubsin Providence,” he said. “Theyhave so many clubs inProvidence.”

Officer Charles Matracia of theProvidence Police Departmentsaid the question of liquor licens-es “is always going to be anissue.”

While liquor licenses may raisepublic safety concerns, Matraciasaid the department does notactively oppose them.

“I’m not here to deny anyone’sright to do business,” he said. “Ifit creates problems, it will beaddressed.”

Liquorcontinued from page 3

the same constitution nolonger protects the averagecitizen,” she said.

At the end of his lecture,Derber opened up the floor tothe audience. One audiencemember noted that evenBrown is in part funded bylarge corporations. Anotherchallenged Derber, asking howhe can enjoy the fruits of cor-porations in his daily life, suchas when he flies on major air-lines, while simultaneouslyattacking the corpocracy

structure of the modern world.Derber’s lecture was the

first in a five-part series enti-tled, “Corporate Power inGlobal Governance,” spon-sored by the Watson Institutefor International Studies andthe Center for EnvironmentalStudies with funding from theBrown University FacultyLectures. Derber’s lecture wasa “kickoff,” that opened theseries by speaking more gen-erally about corporate powerin the world today, accordingto Pulver. The subsequentfour lectures will focus onmore specific issues of corpo-rate power and global envi-ronmental governance.

Derbercontinued from page 5

BY ANNIE GOWENTHE WASHINGTON POST

Kesha James remembers walkingthrough the freshly painted rooms ofher Habitat for Humanity house for thefirst time, making plans for the leathercouch she would buy, and the pianoand the canopied bed for her three lit-tle girls.

The couch remains a dream. The liv-ing room is in ruins because of aplumbing leak she can’t afford to fix.She took a second job and works sevendays a week but is still afraid she mightlose her house.

Her modest mortgage isn’t the prob-lem; it’s rising property taxes that keepher up nights. Her little house inAlexandria, Va., has more than doubledin value since it was built in 1999 and isnow worth a half-million dollars, forc-ing her monthly house payment, whichincludes real estate taxes, up from $515to $954 in the past 18 months — chieflybecause of higher taxes.

“It’s not fair. It doesn’t make anysense,” said James sitting at her cheer-ful kitchen table, her youngest daugh-ter curled in her arms. “Alexandria is

my home. ... I don’t want to leave.”Asked when her last day off was, she

can’t remember.Rising property values across the

region have put the squeeze on taxpay-ers, but the bite has been especiallyacute for owners of Habitat forHumanity homes in Northern Virginia.

At least a dozen of the 47 Habitathomeowners in Northern Virginia paymore in property taxes and insurancethan they do for their mortgages,according to Karen Cleveland, execu-tive director of the Northern Virginiaarm of the international nonprofitgroup that builds homes with volun-teers and sells them to low-incomebuyers.

“The rising property taxes have trulymade it almost impossible for them tostay in their homes,” Cleveland said.“We’re saying, ‘Help us to make itappropriate so our homeowners arepaying what is fair for them.’”

Habitat for Humanity of NorthernVirginia argues Habitat homes should-n’t be assessed at market rates becausedeed restrictions prevent their ownersfrom selling the homes for profit or get-

ting home equity loans until the 20-year mortgages are paid. If Habitathomeowners sell their homes before 20years are up, they must sell them backto Habitat for the amount they cost —$80,000 to $120,000 in most cases,Cleveland said.

Tax caps and programs such as afive-year tax abatement program fornew Habitat owners in the District ofColumbia have kept costs from risingas steeply in some areas. In FairfaxCounty, Va., assessors granted severalappeals that resulted in a reduction ofup to 50 percent in some cases,Cleveland said.

But owners of eight properties inArlington County, Va., have had valuestriple in the three years.

“To be honest with you, I’m a littleconcerned,” said Ronnie Watson, whobought a cozy Arlington duplex in 2000after he and his teenage son spentmonths in a homeless shelter and a rat-infested apartment. “We are living pay-check to paycheck.”

He works overtime as a meter reader

WORLD & NATIONTHE BROWN DAILY HERALD


National missile defense test fails again Bush decides tomake Crawford’sFDA leadershipofficialBY RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVARLOS ANGELES TIMES

WASHINGTON — President Bush, aftera lengthy search, on Monday nominatedlongtime acting commissioner Lester M.Crawford to head the Food and DrugAdministration, despite drug-safetyproblems on Crawford’s watch that haveundermined the agency’s reputation andcredibility.

The appointment of an FDA commis-sioner had been keenly anticipated byconsumer groups and lawmakers, someof whom have criticized the agency forresponding too slowly to the discoverythat prescription drugs ranging frompainkillers to antidepressants and acnemedications have been approved eventhough they were found to have danger-ous side effects.

By sticking with Crawford, a pharma-cologist and veterinarian who has beenrunning the agency for almost a year,Bush disappointed those who hadhoped for a blue-ribbon nominee whowould bring dramatic reforms. The pres-ident essentially sent a signal that hebelieves nothing is fundamentally wrongat the FDA, although incrementalchanges may be needed to strengthenthe agency’s drug-safety office.

“I do not think (Crawford) should beconfirmed unless he is able to articulatesome strong priorities that will restoreconfidence in the FDA,” said one critic,Janell Mayo Duncan, a lawyer forConsumers Union and an assistant FDAchief counsel for enforcement from 1996to 1998.

“There has not been a clear messageout of the agency that it is playing thesafety role that it should,” she said.Consumers Union publishes ConsumerReports magazine.

“The administration could have

Soaring property taxes overwhelmHabitat for Humanity homeowners

BY ALAN SIPRESSTHE WASHINGTON POST

SUANTAENG, Thailand — SangwanKlinhom, a former Thai country singer,abandoned the circuit of farmyard wed-dings and cheap bars for the roving life of aduck herder.

But now this barefoot nomad is againsinging a plaintive tune. With deep-setbrown eyes bloodshot from sun and stress,Sangwan laments that his liberty and mea-ger livelihood could be a thing of the pasttoo if the Thai government prevails in ban-ishing ducks from the country’s broad wet-lands.

The effort to ban grazing ducks comes asrecent studies have shown that waterfowlare a crucial link in the spread of East Asia’savian influenza epidemic, which has killed45 people in the region in the past year andthreatens to become a human pandemicthat could cause millions of deaths world-wide. According to U.N. agriculture andhealth experts, ducks in particular havebecome silent killers.

A study completed last fall at St. JudeChildren’s Research Hospital in Memphis,Tenn., found that the bird flu virus is evolv-ing and that sick ducks are an increasingdanger for infecting other animals.Infected ducks do not show symptoms ofthe disease, unlike chickens. Duck herders,farmers and officials thus have little cluethat they must take emergency measures,such as culling flocks, to prevent the birdsfrom spreading the disease to chickens,other livestock and even people.

Separate research by the U.N. Food andAgriculture Organization and the Thai gov-ernment found a correlation betweenroaming ducks and the epidemic in thecountry’s lucrative chicken industry. Thestudy, released in December, showed thatthe outbreak of bird flu last year in the Thaichicken population was concentrated inareas where ducks commonly graze.

While avian flu has swept poultry innine Asian countries, the second studynoted that the epidemic has been mostintense in the wetlands of central Thailandand the Mekong and Red River deltas inVietnam, all home to roaming ducks.

Vietnam announced recently that it hadsuspended the breeding of all ducks tocontrol the outbreak, which has killed 12people in the country since early Januaryand spread to more than half its cities andprovinces. Thai agriculture officials, mean-while, said they were beginning to enforcethe new requirement that ducks be raisedonly in sheds.

Thai farmersworry controls onbird flu threatenlivelihoods

Alan Sipress / Washington Post

Sangwan Klinhom, country singer-turned-duck herder, is worried about plans to banishducks from wetlands.Thailand's effort to ban grazing ducks comes as recent studies haveshown that waterfowl are a crucial link in the spread of East Asia's avian influenzaepidemic, which has killed 45 people in the region in the past year and threatens tobecome a human pandemic that could cause millions of deaths worldwide.

see AVIAN, page 8

BY JOHN HENDRENLOS ANGELES TIMES

WASHINGTON — For the second time intwo months, a test of the national missiledefense system has failed, Pentagon offi-cials said Monday.

Military technicians believe the failureof the $85 million test was due to a prob-lem with ground support equipment, notwith the interceptor missile itself. A pre-liminary assessment indicated that thefault occurred in the concrete under-ground silo, where a variety of commonand widely used sensors perform safetyand environmental monitoring.

The interceptor, located at the RonaldReagan Test Site at Kwajalein Atoll in the

central Pacific Ocean, was supposed totarget a mock ballistic missile fired fromKodiak Island, Alaska. The target missilewent off as scheduled at 9:22 p.m. Alaskatime Sunday (1:22 a.m. EST Monday), butthe interceptor failed to launch.

While the failure marked yet anotherdelay for the program, defense officialsexpressed relief that the problem did notappear related to the interceptor. No datehas been set for another test.

“The interceptor itself is fine and will beused for other tests,” Rick Lehner, aspokesman for the Missile DefenseAgency, said Monday. “We’ll just keep try-ing, keep testing and hopefully we’ll beable to do another interceptor test in the

next few months, using the same intercep-tor.”

Yet analysts said each setback diminish-es credibility in the program at a timewhen the Bush administration must dealwith the announcement last week byNorth Korean leader Kim Jung Il that hiscountry has nuclear weapons.

Supporters of the system, popularlyknown as “Star Wars,” have envisioned it asan answer to the threat of a missile attackfrom North Korea.

“It’s certainly embarrassing at a timewhen the administration has basicallydecided that its North Korea policy is mis-

see DEFENSE, page 8

see FDA, page 8

see HABITAT, page 8

Specifically, Fields said the planwould involve rebuilding the dockconnecting the facility toNarragansett Bay so it can acceptLNG deliveries from tankers,increasing the amount of gas dis-tributed through the terminal. Shesaid the structure’s current capaci-ty — about 25 million gallons —would be maintained.

The FERC released a draftEnvironmental Impact Statementat the end of 2004 approving theplans for further review, which isnow underway. KeySpan has towait for the final EIS, whichaddresses possible environmentalimpacts, and then wait forapproval before it can begin modi-fying the site. The report is basedon the economic viability andenvironmental impacts of thedevelopment.

The final EIS is being puttogether after a period of publicresponse held in December andJanuary, during which time resi-dents were able to voice their con-cerns about the project.

Local politicians, concernedwith the site’s security, are opposingthe development proposal almostuniversally. Gov. Don Carcieri ’65,Mayor David Cicilline ’83, and U.S.Sens. Jack Reed and Lincoln Chafee’75 have all voiced their criticism ofthe project.

Reed refuses to support thefacility’s development because theFERC report does not include theCoast Guard’s analysis of potentialsecurity dangers, according to hispress secretary, Greg McCarthy.

“The coast guard has to do anevaluation process that takes intoaccount the potential dangers ofLNG to a site,” McCarthy said. Healso said that despite the fact “thesenator had urged FERC to workwith the Coast Guard on these con-cerns about safety,” the FERCreport was still being conductedwithout consideration of the CoastGuard’s recommendations forsecurity.

In his Dec. 1 response toKeySpan’s draft EIS, Carcieri saidthe statement “does not appear toresolve legitimate concernsregarding the safety and securityof such a facility.” Like Reed, whoissued a letter voicing his stanceon the development proposal Jan.31, Carcieri’s main concern is thesafety of the community sur-rounding the LNG terminal.

“While I favor the concept ofincreasing our supplies of lique-fied natural gas,” Carcieri said inhis press release, “I cannot supporta proposal that could threaten thewell-being of Rhode Island resi-dents or the health of NarragansettBay.”

In response to the concern forpublic safety and the facility’s

security, Fields noted the facilityhas been in place for 30 years, andhas never experienced any prob-lems with security, safety or spills.She added that allowing tankers tofill the terminal would requirefewer trips than the current prac-tice, which is to use trucks to haulin LNG — it would take one tankerto offload as much LNG as 200trucks.

At the same time, according tothe Providence Journal, increasingthe volume of LNG movedthrough the facility would alsodemand about 50 tanker trips ayear, or 100 annual voyagesthrough Narragansett Bay.

Other concerns, such as thosevoiced by local advocacy groupSave The Bay, are based on thedevelopment’s possible environ-mental impacts. A statement fromSave The Bay to Carcieri read, “TheProvidence River channel is a nar-row and congested waterway, andthe presence of LNG tankers andtheir security entourage wouldinterfere with other commercialand recreational uses of the Bay.”

To a number of publicly voicedenvironmental concerns, Fieldssaid natural gas “is so environ-mentally friendly, it doesn’t foulthe atmosphere and it is so muchmore versatile than other fossilfuels. … Burning it is less of ahealth hazard because it’s not anirritant, and that’s why you see it inmunicipalities, public schools,”among other places. “It’s a publicheath advantage as well,” she said.

But natural gas, while it burnscleaner than coal or oil, still pol-lutes the atmosphere and poses athreat to public health, saidMarissa Molinar ’07, anEnvironmental Studies concentra-tor. Molinar said that in addition toposing direct problems as air pol-lution and public health hazards,natural gas and the carbon dioxideit produces are greenhouse gases.

Fields also said KeySpan ishappy with the “environmentalbenefits” of their plan, namely that“our group will not require moredredging” of the waterway. Shesaid the groups concerned aboutenvironmental damage are“pleased about that.”

Additionally, Fields said the siteupgrade would be part of an effortto make the Northeast — andProvidence in particular — a moresignificant center for natural gassupply, to give the region astronger economic energy advan-tage, decreasing the amount ofnatural gas distributed fromCanada and the Gulf of Mexico.

Said Fields, “We feel it is soimportant to helping better theposition New England as a region-al supply hub, because as it is,we’re at the end of all the supplylines,” and “that’s in part why ener-gy costs here are so high. … Wethink it will help soften the sharpprice hikes that we’ve witnessed inthis region.”


for Brown in the event. “We wentseven-for-seven on the floor —everyone hit her routine,” Forziatsaid. Carver-Milne also felt thefloor was the best part of themeet for her squad. “(The meet)was positive in the fact that wewere able to pick it back up (afterbeam) and go to floor and have itbe our best event,” she said.

In the future, the squad looksto keep its focus despite anymishaps that might occur duringthe competition.

“It’s just a matter of confi-dence. The routines are alreadyin place, we just need to puteverything together and performat the meet,” Forziat said.

Brown will host its secondhome meet Sunday, taking onUniversity of Bridgeport andYale. This will be the second timeBrown meets the tough Yale con-tingent, as the Bears lost toBulldogs in their last match-up.Competition will begin at 1 p.m.at the Pizzitola Center.

Gymnasticscontinued from page 12

But duck herders such asSangwan are resisting the con-straints on their freedom andincome, underscoring the diffi-culty officials face in containingthe disease in ducks — especiallybecause they show no symptoms.

“When the government saysroaming ducks carry bird flu, itjust makes people panic,’’ saidSangwan, a blue and brown knitcap pulled down over his deeplyfurrowed brow despite the tropi-cal midday sun. “It’s not true that

ducks get the flu. For 20 years, I’vebeen raising ducks and I’ve neverseen one get bird flu.’’

Thai officials have alreadystarted restricting the movementof ducks from one village toanother in a bid to contain thehighly lethal bird flu virus beforeit develops into a form that is aseasy for people to catch as anordinary flu bug. Now, the gov-ernment plans to pay herders tokill their roaming flocks andinstead start raising ducks oncontained farms, according toNirundorn Aungtragoolsuk,director of disease control in theThai department of livestockdevelopment.

Thailandcontinued from page 7

brought in somebody with a repu-tation as a tough-mindedreformer whose top priority ispublic health, but instead they areappointing somebody who hasbeen a bureaucrat in the agency,and who does not have a strongrecord of calling for neededreforms,” said Michael Jacobson,director of the Center for Sciencein the Public Interest, which spe-cializes in nutrition.

But an administration officialsaid, “I think the FDA has gotten abum rap, and some people maybe trying to transfer that bum rapto Dr. Crawford.”

“Les Crawford is very well pre-pared to be commissioner,” addedthe official, who asked not to beidentified.

Crawford served as acting com-missioner during much of Bush’sfirst term.

As acting commissioner,Crawford has launched an inde-pendent scientific evaluation ofthe FDA’s drug-safety programand won White House approvalfor an increase of roughly 20 per-cent in the budget of the safetyoffice.

Nonetheless, Sen. Charles E.Grassley, R-Iowa, signaled that hisSenate confirmation — consid-ered likely — might not gosmoothly.

“I want to hear statements thatprove he understands why publicconfidence has been shaken, anda commitment to enactingreforms inside the FDA to keepthe agency focused on publichealth and safety,” Grassley said ina statement.

Grassley, who serves as chair-man of the influential FinanceCommittee, held hearings lastyear on Merck’s decision to recallthe arthritis painkiller Vioxx after astudy confirmed that taking theFDA-approved drug could lead to

heart attacks and strokes. Grassleyfaulted the FDA for ignoring oneof its own scientists, Dr. DavidGraham, who had repeatedlywarned of Vioxx risks.

The senator questionedwhether the agency had become“too cozy” with the drug industry.

With 10,000 employees, theFDA is charged with ensuring thatmedicines sold in the UnitedStates are “safe and effective.” Italso has major responsibilities forthe safety and security of the foodsupply.

Two recent debacles haveheightened concerns about theagency.

In one case, the FDA moved towarn of risks of suicidal behaviorfor teenagers taking antidepres-sants only after regulators in othercountries acted.

And late last year, the agencywas overwhelmed by the emer-gence of heart risks with Vioxx,Celebrex and other painkillers of aclass known as Cox-2 inhibitors.Doctors and patients were throwninto confusion by a series of stud-ies, each documenting a newproblem.

The FDA has scheduled a majorconference this week that couldlead to stricter warnings about thedrugs, or an outright ban.

Bush’s selection of Crawfordpuzzled some pharmaceuticalexperts.

“If he was going to take a per-son from the inside, one wouldhave thought he would have doneit a long time ago,” said Dr. BrianStrom of the University ofPennsylvania. “It just seems funnyto leave somebody as interim forsuch a long time.” Crawford hasbeen serving as acting commis-sioner since March of last year.

He had previously served inseveral government posts, as wellas heading an academic programpartly funded by industry.

Jacobson, of the nutritiongroup, said his organization hasbeen able to maintain a good rela-tionship with Crawford, who isoften described as low-key andunflappable.

“We’ve always found his dooropen, and he’s always been cor-dial,” Jacobson said. But “this is ananti-regulatory, pro-businessadministration, and to expect toomuch consumer protection fromsuch an administration may justbe wishful thinking.”

FDAcontinued from page 7

to pay basic bills, he said.Anything extra — such ashis son’s yearbook and highschool graduation cap andgown—is a stretch. Watsonis praying his house pay-ment, up from $363 to $442in recent months, won’t top$500.

“That’s a whole lot tome,” he said.

Kesha James had neverknown a home until sheand her new husband, IanRoger James, moved intotheir townhouse in 1999.They had poured more than500 hours of “sweat equity”into the project alongsideHabitat volunteers. Theybought the house — thenappraised at $190,000 —with a zero-interest mort-gage, for $90,000.

But 18 months ago herhouse payments started ris-ing fast, as home values inNorthern Virginia explod-ed.

James was working fulltime for a homeless advo-cacy group, making$28,000 a year. She addedSaturday and Sundayovernight shifts at a home-less shelter. School fell bythe wayside.

Her husband startedsaying the house wasn’tsuch a good idea. Afteranother fight about money,he left last fall.

She pays $954 a monthin house payment, $493going to taxes and insur-ance. Her payment is slat-ed to increase another 30percent in July.

“That’s my house Ihelped build,” she said. “Iput my heart and soul intoit, so I’m going to fight.”

Habitatcontinued from page 7

sile defense. You don’t get sec-ond chances in nuclear com-bat,” said John Pike, director ofGlobalsecurity.org, a nonprofitdefense analysis group. “Idon’t think these problems goto the core questions of dothey have the right technology.... But it does go to the centralquestion of whether the politi-cal system is going to trust thisthing or is it going to becomean object of mirth and merri-ment.”

Defense officials, however,considered Monday’s failureless of a setback than the Dec.15 launch, when the “kill vehi-cle” shut down withoutlaunching after sensors detect-ed a problem later determinedto have been caused by a faultin the interceptor’s software.That test — the first in twoyears — was the first to use therocket proposed for the com-pleted system.

In investigating that failure,technicians concluded thatthe software was too sensitiveto minor errors in the way dataflowed between the missileand a flight computer, anddecreased the system’s sensi-tivity to errors.

Delays in testing and imple-mentation have forced theBush administration toacknowledge that the system

will not be operational earlythis year — a Bush campaignpledge. The administrationhad earlier sought to have alimited version of the systemworking by the end of last year.

“It’s clear that the programis being pushed ahead forpolitical reasons regardless ofits capability,” said DavidWright, a senior scientist at theUnion of ConcernedScientists. “It’s as if Henry Fordstarted up his automobile pro-duction line and began sellingcars without ever taking onefor a test drive. This intercep-tor has never been tested in anintercept test. Yet thePentagon has already put eightof them in silos and is buildingat least another dozen beforeeven knowing if they work.”

The interceptor is intendedto be part of a multilayeredsystem meant to protect theUnited States from missileattack. As envisioned, the sys-tem — proposed during theReagan administration andbrought to the forefront byBush in 2001 — would rely oninterceptors based atVandenburg Air Force Baseand Fort Greely, Alaska.

The program, by someaccounts, has cost $130 billionand is scheduled to require$50 billion more over the nextfive years. Bush’s recent budg-et request for the 2006 fiscalyear cut about 10 percent fromthis year’s funding of almost$10 billion.

Defensecontinued from page 7

Fuelcontinued from page 3

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2005 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 9

Heptagonals. While Dissmorewas cleared to run the relay, alast minute change putBernitsky on the track instead.

While one meet still stands inthe way of the Bears and theHeptagonal Championships,the squad remains focused on

the larger goal. Sunday’s NewEngland Championships will beused primarily as a tune-up formost of the men competing,and many will skip the meetentirely to rest for Heptagonals.

“The guys who wanted toperform well this weekend wentout and did it,” Golenor said.“We’ve finished our build, andnext week is only preparationfor the main event. We’re readyto peak for Heps.”

Trackcontinued from page 12

Once the Paypal system isinstalled, money will be automati-cally transferred from the buyer’saccount to the seller’s account, saidsite designer Ivaylo Piskov ’04.5.

This Web site is “the next step”in finding market access for localfarmers with fresh produce,Fulmer said.

Locallygrownfood.com was oneof the recommendations put forthin Hill’s senior thesis, “Localizingthe Foodshed.” Hill graduated lastspring and now works as FoodSystem Coordinator for BrownDining. She works closely with theCenter for Environmental Studies.

With the dominance of largechain supermarkets and multina-tional food distributors, “farmershave been crowded out of tradi-tional markets,” Hill said. Whilethe use of farmer’s markets to selllocal produce locally is oneapproach, it leaves many prob-lems unsolved, she said. Forinstance, without much advertis-ing or market access, many localfarmers’ produce goes to wasteand must be plowed back into theearth.

Less than 10 percent of foodconsumed in New England is foodproduced in New England, Hillsaid, putting many farmers on thebrink of losing their farms. It isimportant that farms be “econom-ically viable,” because communi-ties are more likely to preservespaces that provide economicvalue, she said. Currently, we are“losing family farms with the blinkof an eye,” she said.

Use of the Web site is not limit-ed to farmers and restaurants.Individuals signing onto the sitecan access material includingrecipes and news about localfoods. Information and new sec-tions are currently being added,Fulmer said.

Thanks to grants from the U.S.Environmental Protection Agencyand the Rhode Island Foundation,Hill was able to hire Piskov, a com-puter science concentrator, to cre-ate the actual software and designthe Web site during the fall seme-seter. Hill praised his hard work,noting that he eagerly took the jobeven though it only paid a fractionof the price a Web designer earnsper hour.

Piskov expressed satisfaction

with the Web site, noting that thesite’s many components can func-tion independently of each other.Because of this, he said, “Problemscan be addressed easily and local-ly.”

Fulmer has also been a vitalpart of the Web site team. In addi-tion to spearheading the creativedesign of the site, Fulmer hasworked on a weblog component atlocallygrown.blogspot.com that isfull of “musings, opinions andpostings.”

Another source of funding andsupport has been Brown DiningServices, Hill said. Peter Rossi, thepurchasing assistant director, wasan essential player not only for theWeb site’s success but also in termsof reaching out to the communitythrough his support and purchas-ing of local foods.

Hill and Fulmer both said thatBrown makes an important state-ment in buying local food.“Because Brown is a huge institu-

tional buyer, it can be the anchorfor this project,” Fulmer said. Hilladded that she hopes to see dis-cussion of this issue occurring atall levels of the university, becausethe ramifications of these choicesextend beyond food.

Hill was also able to meet withRhode Island farmers to discussthe idea. Piskov said that the farm-ers provided excellent ideas andinsights that have since gone intothe design of the Web site.

All of the collaborators seemedoptimistic about the site’s future.“You’ll see it in the dining hall,”Fulmer said, in terms of “a lot ofpride and better food.” Hill saidshe thinks the site is a “really beau-tiful method of rekindling com-munities so people connect topeople and people connect to theenvironment.”

The site will “only prosper ifthere are users using it,” Piskovsaid. “You can go to the market-place or you can just click.”

Web sitecontinued from page 5

forced to take on, O’Reilly said.“There’s also the concern of

whether or not they’re going tohave to borrow more money.That’s going to be an issue for alot of our students — they’recoming out already saddled withdebt for their education, and a lotare going to want to go on tofour-year colleges and aren’tgoing to be able to becausethey’re going to be responsiblefor paying back those loans,money they wouldn’t have other-wise borrowed,” O’Reilly said.

A quarter of CCRI’s 16,000 stu-dents receive assistance at somelevel from Pell Grants, and thecollege processed $7.9 millionthis year from the grants, accord-ing to O’Reilly. “A small minorityof our students stand to benefitfrom (the changes to Pell Granteligibility),” O’Reilly said, “butthe large majority will suffer.”

Angie Bonin, a University ofRhode Island sophomore, saidshe believes the system alreadysuffers from insufficientresources.

“I think they don’t give themto a lot of people who needthem,” she said. “I can only sayfrom my own experience, but Icould probably use one rightnow,” she said, adding that her

own request for a Pell Grant wasrejected.

About 2,300 of URI’s 10,320students receive a total of $2 mil-lion in Pell grants each year,according to URI Director ofCommunications LindaAcciardo, and of these almost allreceive the maximum award of$4,050.

“We estimate that 200 URIstudents will completely losetheir grants, which is certainlysignificant,” she said.

Alex Roskowski, also a sopho-more at URI, gets $1,000 in PellGrant awards each semester, butsays he is not worried about hisaward decreasing. “It wouldn’tbe devastating to my family, butit would be a hassle,” he said. “Iwould probably have to getanother job.” Though Roskowskidoes not currently work, he wasemployed at a deli in EastGreenwich for 60 hours a weeklast summer.

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed has vocal-ized his opposition to the cuts tofederal financial aid, pledging towork with lawmakers to restoremoney to the Pell Grant pro-gram. “Everyone keeps talkingup education as the engine,especially in a global economy,but when it comes down to thebudget, we are squeezing,squeezing, squeezing,” he toldthe Providence Journal lastweek. “Frankly, I don’t thinkthat’s sound policy.”

Pellcontinued from page 3

lower voter turnout than the orig-inal.

Both Cummings and Paynesaid that UCS, which is inde-pendent of the ERC, does notformally endorse the referen-dum. “We’ve decided to leave itunendorsed,” Payne said. “Wewant this to be a situation for thestudent body to make a choice.”

Because the referendum is anamendment to the UCS consti-tution, two-thirds of those whovote must agree with the policyfor it to be implemented.Cummings said this is the firstreferendum to be held in histime working with UCS.

If the student body agreeswith the referendum, it must beratified by UCS to go into effect.“If the student body accepts it,we will have to ratify it. That stepis pretty much a formality. Wewill respect what the studentbody decides,” said Payne.

On the WebCT voting site, stu-dents will also be asked toanswer optional non-bindingpoll questions. The topics ofthese nine questions vary fromadvising to cable television andwill be used by UCS to bestassess the student body’s con-

cerns, Payne said.Both Payne and Cummings

said they are concerned that stu-dents will be confused by IRV,but that IRV itself is an effectiveelection procedure.

“The only thing I worry aboutis the confusion factor, whether

UCScontinued from page 1

are especially important forfirst-years living in Perkins,because the residential halllacks common space for stu-dents to meet.

Suggs and Foley both saidthe faculty fellows programprovides students with thewarmth of a home.

“There is something aboutopening up a home to studentsthat creates a different atmos-phere. It’s a matter of very sim-ple things like rugs, curtains,non-institutional food, dogsand young children. It’s a breakfrom the more institutionalaspects of dormitory life,”Foley said.

Foley added that the uniquecomfort of a home is particu-larly valuable in times of cam-pus or national anxiety.

Faculty fellows say one of thehighlights of the program forprofessors is being able tointeract with students from dif-ferent disciplines. Studentslikewise benefit from meeting aprofessor whose class they maynever take, they say.

“As a chemistry professor, Isee a limited range of Brownstudents. One of the greatthings about being a faculty fel-low is that I can interact with abroader range of students,”Suggs said.

Foley said his undergraduateexperience at Brown wasshaped by regular interactionoutside of the classroom withprofessors, almost of all ofwhom lived near campus. Withmost of the faculty now livingfarther away, the faculty fellowsprogram is an important way toallow the faculty-student inter-action to continue outside ofan academic setting, he said.

Both Foley and Suggs saidthey regularly host studentsfrom their classes for dinner intheir homes.

The faculty fellows programuniquely integrates a profes-sor’s family life into the collegeexperience. Foley said he raisedhis children, Nicholas ’04 andBenjamin ’07, while he was afaculty fellow.

“They have a keenly devel-oped sense of college fashionand music. They learned early onall the different kinds of thingsthat happen on a college campusbesides classes,” he said.

Faculty fellows live inUniversity-owned propertieswithout cost, in exchange forhosting weekly study breaksand being available to students,Suggs and Foley both said.

The University’s communitydirectors, meanwhile, provide avery different kind of support tostudents.

Community directors, all ofwhom are Brown graduate stu-dents, supervise residentialpeer leaders, oversee crisismanagement and ensure the

well-being of residents, saidChung Nguyen GS, the commu-nity director for upper KeeneyQuad.

Community directors alsoact as a liaison between resi-dents and various Universitydepartments, including theOffice of Student Life, theDepartment of Public Safety,the Department of FacilitiesManagement, Health Servicesand Psychological Services,Nguyen said.

B. Afeni Cobham, assistantdean of student life and resi-dential programs and directorof the RPL program, said theprogram “came about toenhance our first-year residen-tial programs, in particular togive our counselors someonethey can go to for support andto help them troubleshoot themany and various issues theydeal with as counselors.”

Though community direc-tors rarely work directly withresidents, they play an impor-tant role in supporting RPLs,who include residential coun-selors, minority peer coun-selors and women peer coun-selors in first-year dorms andresidential programmers insome upper class dorms,including the Graduate Center,Vartan Gregorian Quadrangle,Wriston Quadrangle, NewPembroke I and II and Barbour,Cobham said.

“I think that the added ele-ment of contact, to have yoursupervisors live with you andbe there as a constant presence,is a really good support networkfor our RPLs,” she said.

Both Cobham and Nguyensaid the program gives parentscomfort in the knowledge thatan adult is looking after theirchildren.

“I think from a parental per-spective, it is nice to know thatno matter the time of night,there is an adult I can talk toabout what is going on with myson or daughter,” Cobham said.

For Nguyen, being a commu-nity director is a valuable learn-ing opportunity.

“I come from another coun-try and another culture. This isthe first time that I have lived inan undergraduate dorm in anAmerican university. This is avery new experience for me,” hesaid, adding that training in cri-sis management and mediationwill also be useful outside ofBrown’s residential halls.

Nguyen also said a part ofthe attraction of being a com-munity director is living in aresidential hall environment.

“I really enjoy living inKeeney. I love living in a placewhere people are alwaysaround. … It is very convenientbecause I have easy accesseverywhere on campus,” hesaid.

Each community director isprovided a stipend, a rent-freeapartment in a residential halland, in some cases, graduatecourse credit, Cobham said.

Dormscontinued from page 1

Included in the UCS referendum will be

the following non-binding poll ques-

tions:

• If the University were able to get

free RIPTA passes for all students (cur-

rently they are subsidized by half ),

how often would you use it?

• How high of a priority should it be

for the University to build a music

concert hall?

• Do you believe that your course and

academic printing needs are suffi-

ciently met by the $25 PAW Prints

Card?

• Are you in favor of raising the stu-

dent activities fee annually to

account for inflation and increases in

the number of student groups on

campus (it is currently $136/year)?

• Kegs are currently prohibited on

campus. Are you in favor or opposed

to this measure?

• Would you be in favor of offering an

optional winter “j-term” during

Brown’s winter break?

• If you answered yes to the previous

question, what might you be interest-

ed in (i.e. intensive courses/seminars

on campus, programs abroad, service

projects, internships etc.)?

• Do you have an advisor?

• How many times per year do you

see your advisor?

• If you do not have an advisor, would

you like the University to assign you

one?

• If it would be possible to

replace/add another cable channel to

Brown’s cable system, what chan-

nel(s) would you like to add?

• What would you like to change

about Brown?

UCS REFERENDUM

EDITORIAL/LETTERSTHE BROWN DAILY HERALD


C O R R E C T I O N S P O L I C YThe Brown Daily Herald is committed to providing the Brown University community with the most accurate information possible. Correctionsmay be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication.

C O M M E N T A R Y P O L I C YThe staff editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial board of The Brown Daily Herald. The editorial viewpoint does not necessarily reflectthe views of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Columns, letters and comics reflect the opinions of their authors only.

L E T T E R S T O T H E E D I T O R P O L I C YSend letters to [email protected]. Include a telephone number with all letters. The Herald reserves the right to edit all letters forlength and cannot assure the publication of any letter. Please limit letters to 250 words. Under special circumstances writers may requestanonymity, but no letter will be printed if the author’s identity is unknown to the editors. Announcements of events will not be printed.

A D V E R T I S I N G P O L I C YThe Brown Daily Herald, Inc. reserves the right to accept or decline any advertisement at its discretion.

S T A F F E D I T O R I A L

L E T T E R S

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Rabindranath Tagore, Night EditorChessy Brady, Copy Editor

EDITORIALJonathan Ellis, Editor-in-Chief

Sara Perkins, Executive Editor

Christopher Hatfield, Senior Editor

Lisa Mandle, Senior Editor

Meryl Rothstein, Arts & Culture Editor

Melanie Wolfgang, Arts & Culture Editor

Justin Elliott, Campus Watch Editor

Robbie Corey-Boulet, Metro Editor

Stephanie Clark, Focus Editor

Kira Lesley, Focus Editor

Te-Ping Chen, Opinions Editor

Ari Savitzky, Opinions Editor

Chris Mahr, Sports Editor

Ben Miller, Sports Editor

PRODUCTIONPeter Henderson, Design Editor

Katie Lamm, Copy Desk Chief

Lela Spielberg, Copy Desk Chief

Matt Vascellaro, Graphics Editor

Ashley Hess, Photo Editor

Juliana Wu, Photo Editor

BUSINESSIan Halvorsen, General Manager

Daniel Goldberg, Executive Manager

Mark Goldberg, Senior Financial Officer

Lisa Poon, Marketing Manager

Abigail Ronck, Senior Accounts Manager

Kathleen Timmins, Senior Accounts Manager

Laird Bennion, Senior Project Manager

Elias Roman, Senior Project Manager

Jungdo Yu, Senior Project Manager

Laurie-Ann Paliotti, Sr. Advertising Rep.

Susan Dansereau, Office Manager

POST- MAGAZINEFritz Brantley, Editor-in-Chief

Adrian Muniz, Executive Editor

Sarah Gordon, Calendar Editor

Abigail Newman, Theater Editor

Josh Cohen, Design Editor

Marissa Hauptman, Photo Editor

Ruthie Baron, Features Editor

Jeremy Beck, Film Editor

Paul Levande, Assistant Film Editor

Jesse Adams, Music Editor

Senior Staff Writers Camden Avery, Alexandra Barsk, Eric Beck, Mary-Catherine Lader,Ben Leubsdorf, Jane Porter, Stu WooStaff Writers Marshall Agnew, Zachary Barter, Danielle Cerny, Christopher Chon, Stewart Dearing,Gabriella Doob, Kate Gorman, Jonathan Herman, Leslie Kaufmann, Aidan Levy, AllisonLombardo, Meryl Rothstein, Joel Rozen, Jen Sopchockchai, Jonathan Sidhu, Lela Spielberg, RobinSteele, Stefan Talman, Jane Tanimura, Melanie Wolfgang, Anne WoottonSports Staff Writers Kathy Babcock, Zaneta Balantac, Stephen Colelli, Lexi Costello, Ian Cropp,Justin Goldman, Bernard Gordon, Katie Larkin, Matt Lieber, Shaun MacNamara, Chris Mahr, BenMiller, Eric Perlmutter, Jilane Rodgers, Marco Santini, Charlie Vallely, Brooke WolfeAccounts Managers Steven Butschi, Rob McCartney, John Nagler, David Ranken, Joel Rozen,Rukesh Samarasekera, Ryan ShewcraftProject Managers In Young Park, Libbie FritzDesign Staff Deepa Galaiya, Allison Kwong, Jason LeePhoto Staff Marissa Hauptman, Judy He, Matthew Lent, Nick Neely, Bill Pijewski, Kori Schulman,Sorleen TrevinoCopy Editors Chessy Brady, Jonathan Corcoran, Eric Demafeliz, Leora Fridman, Allison Kwong,Katie Lamm, Suchi Mathur, Cristina Salvato, Sonia Saraiya, Lela Spielberg, Zachary Townsend,Jenna Young

D A N I E L L A W L O R

Despite its reluctance to endorse Instant Runoff Voting, it’sobvious the Undergraduate Council of Students doesn’t likerunoffs.

For years, in the event no candidate for a UCS executiveboard position — including that of president — captured amajority of all votes cast, UCS officials tried to work aroundthe system. They gathered the candidates behind closeddoors and, without indicating who had captured the plurality,asked if they would accept the results as final.

That system saved the campus from time-consuming —and occasionally controversial — runoffs a number of times.But it ran counter to the UCS constitution, which states, “arun-off election will be held between those two candidateshaving the largest plurality for a position in order to establish… a majority.”

Just as the national political conventions have moved awayfrom smoky back rooms to a more public method of selectingnominees, UCS is heading in the right direction with the IRVproposal it presents to students today. Under an IRV system,candidates will never be put in the position of choosingbetween the integrity of the vote and the hassle of ordering arunoff. Students will know the undisputed results of the elec-tion sooner. And most importantly, by making it more reason-able for voters to pick the true candidate of their choice, IRVmight encourage more students to run for UCS executivepositions.

We urge students to approve the proposed IRV system. Werecognize that voting on voting may not be the most attrac-tive use of time this week. But we encourage students to findthe time — a few minutes is all it takes — to participate in theWebCT referendum.

The non-binding survey questions provide an additionalchance to inform UCS of student opinion. Those who respondwill have the opportunity to weigh in on issues that havealready appeared in these pages this year, including activitiesfees, winter J-terms and RIPTA passes. There’s a chance toadvocate favorite cable channels and discuss academic advis-ing and kegs on campus.

The results of the survey will be far from scientifically pre-cise, but a randomly sampled poll is much more costly. If stu-dents are upset about campus life issues, they should use thisopportunity to make their collective voices heard, whileadding precision to the UCS election process.

Yes on IRV

To the Editor:

While I commend Anne Lewis and HannahWeitzman for their thorough dissection of thosedemanding divestment from Israel (“Loaded wordswhitewash Middle Eastern conflict,” Feb. 14), I fearthat in their desire to be conciliatory in tone, they leftout some of the strongest arguments against thegroups’ underlying rhetoric. No matter how manybuzzwords of “anti-racism” and “pluralism” it isframed with, their position is, in the end, anti-Semiticand anti-democratic.

The demographic and political fact of the matter isthat a “one-state solution” would be a Palestinianstate with a Jewish minority — in other words, exact-ly the sort of entity that the PLO officially endorsedprior to 1988. This reality runs counter to the coredesire and need of self-determination for the Jewishpeople. Dismissing fears about the destruction of theJewish state as illegitimate and racist sickeningly

demeans the plight of Jews in Israel and around theworld, and thus sadly illustrates Lawrence Summers'comments about those whose rhetoric is “anti-Semitic in effect, if not in intent.”

A one-state solution runs counter to the wishes ofIsraelis and Palestinians alike, as well as the ongoingefforts at a two-state solution by their democraticallyelected leaders. That groups claiming “democraticsolidarity” would so unabashedly seek to torpedosuch a process is condescending towards those mostdirectly affected by the conflict.

While facilitating the need for true dialogue anddebate about the situation in Israel, we should nothesitate to set informal standards for that process.Snide rhetoric bordering on the hateful (most offen-sively, in the form of mocking and ill-informed criti-cism of Brown Hillel as an institution) goes beyondthe pale. Even as we try to rise above such simplicity,let’s not be afraid to call a spade a spade.

Sean Siperstein '05Feb. 14

“Anti-racist” action preaches hateful rhetoric

Zionists threaten protestors as U. stands silentTo the Editor:

We commend your coverage, despite a few mis-takes, of the rally on Friday advocating divestmentfrom Israel. Your article and editorial (“Say it, don’tspray it,” Feb. 14) in particular accurately document-ed that one of the student activists was spat at twiceby a Brown student who wished to defend theZionist cause.

A befuddled heckler then yelled, “If you don’t likethe United States you should leave and go backwhere you came from.” Standing with a fellow whitemale, he yelled this at many people of color.

Regardless of what was said, spitting at a personis an act of aggression and is not civilized behavior.Representatives of the administration were pres-ent, particularly Dean (Robert) Samuels and thehead of campus security, and they did not rebukethe student nor take his information for furtheraction.

After the rally students in Anti-Racist Action told these deans that we will not tolerate arbitrary judi-cial processes and double standards on this campus.Like Action for Safety last spring, we assert that theDepartment of Public Safety is not fulfilling its man-date to provide equal protection to all students, andhence we reserve our right to defend ourselves ifnecessary and provide our own security in the vacu-um left by their negligence.

Zionists who spit at students and shout raciststatements at people of color, and those who claimauthority over campus safety and allow them to gofree are the true “incendiary” forces on this campus.We are responsible students attempting to do whatRuth Simmons has been unable to do: create ananti-racist and democratic community at Brown.

Dara Bayer ’08 and Anthony Rodriguez ’06 Anti-Racist Action and Democratic Solidarity

CommitteeFeb. 14

C O R R E C T I O N SAn article published Feb. 14 (“Protest seeks U.divestment from Israel”) claimed that a studentspat on another during a Friday protest on theMain Green. The student spat on the ground infront of the protester and there was no physicalcontact between the two students.

The same article misattributed incorrect infor-mation to Professor Emeritus of EnvironmentalStudies Harold Ward, the chair of the AdvisoryCommittee for Corporate Responsibility inInvesting. The ACCRI has nine members —three students, three elected faculty membersand three alums.

OPINIONSTHE BROWN DAILY HERALD


Gender offender?The volume of responses to Harvard

President Lawrence Summers' com-ments last month on the supposed futil-ity of achieving gender equality on hisscience and mathematics faculty seemsto represent a collective exhalation.University campuses are somewhataccustomed to considering questions ofgender difference and equality. But inthe midst of war, Bush and “DesperateHousewives,” and after another electionin which feminist organizations focusedsolely on abortion rights as a rallying cry,Summers’ remarks have generated pub-lic debate over questions and problemswe haven’t talked about for quite sometime: the glass ceiling, possible geneticdifferences between men and womenand the “second shift” domestic respon-sibilities of working wives and mothers.

If more powerful American menwould make speeches about the (lackof) women in their professions, maybedebates like this one would occur moreregularly. Women who stand up to speakabout such things are, of course, crazed,agenda-driven feminists. In the AtlanticMonthly Online Feb. 8, Stuart Taylor Jr.wrote a piece called, “Why FeministCareerists Neutered Larry Summers.”Try unpacking that headline — beyondthe ridiculous suggestion that feministsare out to castrate the reasonable, artic-ulate men around them, we’ve got“careerist” used as a slur. Ambitiouswomen are so out-of-line!

This feminist, for one, would like tothank Larry Summers for pushing thenational conversation about womenand gender out of the academy and intothe papers. In France, for example, livelydisagreement surrounds PACS, the civilunions utilized primarily by heterosexu-al couples, and parity, a legal principle

enacted in some municipalities requir-ing 50 percent of the candidates fieldedby any political party to be women. Insome French cities, female representa-tion in city councils has alreadyapproached 50 percent thanks to parité.Now the European Union and Canadaare discussing parity policies, despitethe logistical and political difficulties ofenacting them.

But in the post-post-feminist UnitedStates of 2005, we rarely stop to considerthe lack of women serving in govern-ment, nor do we wonder out loudwhether the institutions of marriage andparenthood really do afford women

equality, even as our pitiful lack of reli-able, affordable, guaranteed childcareprograms forces more mothers thanfathers to make painful choices abouthow to split their energy between workand family. Our women’s movement,silenced for decades now by anti-femi-nist rhetoric, maintains a public pres-ence only to fight for our necessary bod-ily rights. But with abortion remaining adivisive issue, especially during electionyears, it seems counterproductive forwomen’s organizations to limit theiragendas, especially when they claim torepresent a “feminist majority.”

In a Jan. 22 New York Times essay onPresident Bush’s inaugural address,Orlando Patterson discussed two com-peting American conceptions of freedom.

The liberal conception sees freedom asencompassing rights such as political par-ticipation, free speech and minoritygroup protections, while the model ofindividual, market-driven freedom con-ceives of liberty as simply the right to gowherever and do whatever one wants on aday-to-day basis, without being botheredby government interference. In otherwords, liberal freedom focuses on partici-pation in government, while individualfreedom emphasizes the man-as-islandtheory. The American women’s move-ment advocates this second type of free-dom, but neglects the pressing need forwomen to exercise the first by breakingthrough the glass ceiling in governmentand the professions. National health care,national childcare, income equality forwomen — aren’t these freedoms that ourwomen’s organizations should be talkingabout and organizing around? Increasingwomen’s political representation wouldhelp to achieve these goals.

Summers threw up his hands, indi-cating there was no hope for womenachieving true parity. This Harvard inci-dent has brought one of the centralquestions of academic feminism to thepublic eye. To what extent are womenfundamentally different, and to whatextent are we fundamentally the same?Who knows the answer? But by dislodg-ing abortion even for a moment as thecenterpiece of our national discussionabout women’s rights and participationin politics, Summers did Americans ahuge favor. Now it’s up to the interestedparties –– political organizations, scien-tists, feminists, women everywhere –– tokeep this conversation going. It’s animportant one.

Dana Goldstein ’06 lives in Hegemania.

Instant runoff voting sets an example

Because of problems during lastyear’s Undergraduate Council ofStudents elections that were in part theconsequence of an unwieldy runoff sys-tem, the undergraduate student bodywill soon vote on whether to use InstantRunoff Voting (IRV) in future UCS elec-tions. Students should seize the oppor-tunity to institute this important demo-cratic reform.

IRV compresses a traditional series ofrunoffs into a single vote by allowingvoters to rank candidates according totheir preferences. If no candidate wins amajority of first-place votes in the firstround, the candidate with the lowestnumber of first-place votes is eliminat-ed, and his or her votes transferred to hisor her voters’ next preferred candidates.The process repeats until a single candi-date receives a majority.

IRV significantly diminishes the so-called “spoiler” problem. We can turn adynamic similar to Florida in 2000 into acrude example: let’s say George Bushtakes 49 percent of first place votes, AlGore takes 48 percent, and Ralph Nadertakes 3 percent. Nader is then eliminat-ed, and his voters’ votes transferred totheir second- choice candidates — over-whelmingly Gore, for argument’s sake.Gore, clearly preferred to Bush by amajority of voters, wins Florida, andthen the nationwide vote too, even whilemany voters have formally expressedtheir support for Nader.

Traditional runoffs are the norm in

most functioning democracies. (Andyes, it is quite reasonable to question theextent to which plurality-based democ-racies are truly democratic.) IRV is easi-er, less time-consuming and cheaper touse than standard runoffs, since votersgo to the polls only once.

IRV fosters democracy and theexchange of ideas by encouraging elec-toral participation by third parties and

independent candidates. It lets people“vote their consciences” without worry-ing that they should instead vote to helpthe “lesser of two evils” beat an evenmore abhorrent candidate. It tends tomake campaigns a little less dirty — ifyou need the second place votes of thesupporters of your opponent, you’re lesslikely to tear into that opponent duringthe campaign.

IRV also creates incentives for coali-tion-building and cooperation, and lever-age for third party candidates that doesn’texist here today. In Australia, for instance,where IRV is used in parliamentary elec-tions, the Labor Party must approach theGreen Party to encourage Greens to pointsecond-place votes in Labor’s direction.That gives the Greens an opportunity tomove or solidify Labor’s positions on Iraq,East Timor, the environment and otherimportant issues.

Australia uses IRV more extensivelythan do other jurisdictions, but it isn’talone. London uses IRV to elect its mayor.San Francisco uses it for local elections.Berkeley, Calif., Burlington, Vt., andFerndale, Mich., all approved IRV referen-da in 2004. IRV legislation was heard in 23states in 2003-2004, with Maine closest toactual adoption of the reform. Princeton,Stanford, MIT, Berkeley, Wisconsin andother colleges and universities use IRV forcampus elections. The list of politicianswho support IRV is increasingly formida-ble; its ranks include Howard Dean,Dennis Kucinich, Jesse Jackson Jr. andJohn McCain.

A victory for IRV on campus wouldmean unequivocal legitimacy for victo-rious UCS candidates. It would alsoserve as a precedent for local electoralreform advocates — in numbers of vot-ers, Brown’s campus elections are aboutthe size of a race for Providence CityCouncil, or for the Rhode Island Houseof Representatives.

Brown graduates will reach promi-nence in politics and media in RhodeIsland and across the country. If theybecome familiar and comfortable withIRV during their days on campus, itcould help nudge the reform a little fur-ther along the path towards widespreaduse, and help us build a real Americandemocracy.

David Segal represents College Hill andFox Point on the Providence City Council.

IRV helps coalition building.

We rarely stop toconsider the lack ofwomen serving in

government.

GUEST COLUMN BY DAVID SEGAL

By now, most of the campus has heard ofCobb County, Georgia’s attempt to placestickers stating that “evolution is a theory, nota fact” in its science textbooks. If that were allthey said, this would be a short column.

But the full text of the sticker reminds memore of what President Simmons might sayto an incoming college class than somethinga Georgia fundamentalist would preach toschoolchildren. The stickers read, “This text-book contains material on evolution.Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding theorigin of living things. This material shouldbe approached with an open mind, studiedcarefully, and critically considered.”

This warning puts liberals in a bind. Tooppose the sticker is to oppose an open andcritical examination of science –– an awk-ward stance. Shouldn’t “closed-minded liber-al” be an oxymoron?

A liberal might argue that these stickersinsidiously support an interferingly theocrat-ic style of government. But for a true philo-sophical liberal it wouldn’t matter: the stick-ers still support the liberal ideal.

And to protest these stickers betrays thecore liberal principle that each person oughtto be able to hold his or her own beliefs with-out interference from the government, aslong as they are not harming others.

John Stuart Mill describes the danger ofnot challenging such orthodoxies as natura-listic evolution: “However unwillingly a per-son who has a strong opinion may admit thepossibility that his opinion may be false, heought to be moved by the consideration thathowever true it may be, if it is not fully, fre-quently, and fearlessly discussed, it will beheld as a dead dogma, not a living truth.”Since the successful study of science requiresa constant examination and re-examinationof evidence, what could be worse than gov-ernment canonizing the study of evolution?

Nevertheless, most liberals won’t changetheir minds about this issue because theywear two philosophical hats. In general, lib-erals support equality and freedom of expres-sion. The second hat, which seems to domi-nate liberalism at Brown, is a barely disguisedbelief in secular humanism.

This perspective on religion believes thatfaith should be excluded from all matters ofgovernment and education. Secular human-ism includes nonbelievers from atheists toagnostics and philosophical materialists toskeptics. What unites these people is thestrong desire to eliminate demonstrations offaith from the public sphere.

It is this belief that arouses such antipathytoward these stickers, which are encouragingstudents to critically evaluate the theory ofevolution, a dogma necessary for secularhumanists to explain the world without God.

Liberals who wore only the first hat wouldhave no problem with the stickers. Theywould agree –– even if they believed in evolu-tion –– with Mill that “both teachers andlearners go to sleep at their post, as soon asthere is no enemy in the field.”

By contrast, secular humanist liberalsrefuse to acknowledge the possibility of reli-gious creationism. Only these kinds of liber-als would be so threatened by Cobb County’sstickers to go so far as to support theirremoval, despite the spirit of liberalism thestickers clearly espouse.

In other words, such a person would bewilling to use political means to suppresschallenges to his or her religious perspective.

Doesn’t that sound much more theocraticthan anything a little school board in Georgiacould devise?

Brian Schmalzbach ’07 doesn’t like hats.

Liberals inCobb County

GUEST COLUMN BY BRIAN SCHMALTZBACH

DANA GOLDSTEIN

BY JUSTIN GOLDMANSPORTS STAFF WRITER

The women’s basketball team split thisweekend’s games, starting with animpressive 78-63 win at Harvard onFriday night but losing 63-48 to unde-feated Dartmouth on Saturday inHanover, N.H., as the team’s momentumfailed to carry over.

The Bears came out strong againstHarvard, shooting 54 percent in the firsthalf en route to scoring a season-high 40first-half points. “We just came out onfire. We made it a point during practicelast week that we were going to make allthe open shots we got, and we were ableto do that,” said Bears co-captain AndreaConrad ’05.

The tone was set early on as LenaMcAfee ’07 hit a pair of threes to get theBears off to a 6-0 lead. Those were onlytwo of the seven threes that the Bearsmade in the first half, a total that exceed-ed their season’s average for an entiregame.

The Crimson were able to keep thegame close after the Bears’ initial scoringburst, but the Bears went on a 10-0 run atthe end of the first half to stretch theirlead to 34-25. During that time, the Bearswere able to hold the Crimson without afield goal for 8:38.

A point of emphasis for the Bears wasstopping Harvard’s leading scorer, RekaCserny. The Bears were able to do that,holding her to only two points in the firsthalf and 11 for the game, nine below herleague average. “It was just a great all-around defensive effort — our teamdefense and pressure was what was ableto shut down Cserny,” Conrad said.

The Bears won the battle of the boards47-33 against the Crimson while holdingthem to a paltry 30-percent shootingfrom the field. “We knew if we were ableto win the rebounding battle that wewould probably win the game,” Conradsaid.

This was undoubtedly one of theBears’ best wins of the season, as theyplayed their trademark defense and gotvery good point distribution offensively.

Sarah Hayes ’06 led four Bears in dou-ble figures with 19 points while also grab-bing a team-high nine rebounds. Hayeswas followed by McAfee with 15 points

on 5-of-6 shooting, just two off of hercareer high; Jackie Vocell ’06 with 12; andHolly Robertson ’05 with 11.

The Bears’ hot shooting did not carryover to Hanover, as they only shot 32 per-cent from the field against the Big Green.The Bears jumped to a 6-0 lead on the BigGreen, who missed their first nine shotsfrom the field, but defensive lapses costthe Bears in the long run. “We came outstrong at first, but they were able to takeadvantage of our defensive breakdowns,”Conrad said.

Defensive breakdowns are uncharac-teristic for the Bears, who pride them-selves on defense and are second in theleague in field goal percentage defense,holding opponents to only 37 percentfrom the field.

The Bears kept the game close, butthree separate runs by the Big Greenproved to be insurmountable. The BigGreen scored methodically in the firsthalf, going on a 19-3 spurt that gave thema 19-9 lead. The Bears answered with an

SPORTS TUESDAYTHE BROWN DAILY HERALD

FEBRUARY 15, 2005 · PAGE 12

BY JILANE RODGERSSPORTS STAFF WRITER

With less than two weeks until theHeptagonal Championships, the men’strack and field team headed north for thetwo-day Fast Track Invitational hosted byBoston University.

No team score was tallied for the week-end, but the Bears were given the chanceto compete against some of America’s topathletes, as the meet was not restricted toNCAA competitors. Brown’s highlightscame from several athletes who had beenmissing from action and others improvingupon their previous successes.

The distance squad remained consis-tent in its accomplishments and had sev-eral standouts for the weekend. JeffGaudette ’05 took fifth in the 5,000-meterrun, breaking his own school record for theevent. He battled until the last minute withIvy rival Lucas Meyer from Yale, overtakinghim in the final quarter of a mile.Gaudette’s time of 14:07.6 places him atthe top of the Ivy League standings andearns him a provisional berth to the NCAAChampionships.

“Our whole focus right now is on thechampionships,” said Distance CoachJohn Gregorek. “We’ve set the bar high forPat (Tarpy ’05) and Jeff by making goalslike hitting automatic berths to nationals.We have to be careful not to be disap-pointed when we are still posting timesthat lead the league and break or are nearschool records.”

Co-captain Tarpy took fourth in the3,000-meter distance with a time of8:12.58. He already led the league prior tothis weekend in the mile and 3,000-meterrun. Gaudette’s new top mark gives Browna sweep of the distance events.

In the mile run, Eamon Quick ’07 had abreakthrough performance, clocking4:10.75 — a personal best by over five sec-onds. The time now grants him entry tothe IC4A Championships in a secondevent, complementing his previous quali-fication in the 1,000-meter run. Moreimportantly, it also makes him a threat toscore at the Heptagonals and adds depthto the Bears’ squad.

“It was great to see because he’s beenpersistent after previously struggling withinjuries,” Gregorek said. “We’ve tradition-

ally had success in the longer distances,but now we are getting stronger and deep-er in the middle distances as well.”

Another threat in the Ivy League, IkennaAchilihu ’08, will enter his first HeptagonalChampionships as a name to watch.Achilihu hit a mark of 49-3.5 in the triplejump to take second at the Fast TrackInvite. The personal best now ranks him inthe top three of the conference and fourthon Brown’s all-time list.

While young faces have the excitingpotential for points at the championships,many of the Bears were relieved to seeproven talent back on the line for the4x400 meter relay.

“The top three men we look up to in thesprints are Dallas Dissmore (’06), MikePruzinsky (’07), and Eldridge Gilbert(’05),” said co-captain Jake Golenor ’06.“When all three of them were injured atone time, it was very demoralizing. It’s abig boost to our spirits to have them com-ing back in time for Heps.”

Dissmore and Pruzinsky rank in the topten in the Ivies in the 500-meter and 200-meter sprints, respectively, though neitherhas had the opportunity to compete at fullstrength since very early in the season.

The returning Pruzinsky and Gilbertjoined Christian Tabib ’07 and WillBernitsky ’08 to clock a season best forBrown at 3:18.16. The performance wasgood for qualification to the IC4As and thechance to compete in the seeded heat at

BY MADELEINE MARECKICONTRIBUTING WRITER

In its 2005 home opener Sunday, thegymnastics team finished second toSouthern Connecticut State University,losing 185.475 to 181.950. However,Brown did earn a win over theMassachusetts Institute of Technology,which finished with 176.425 points. Theloss was a stunner to the Bears, as theyfully expected to win the competition.

“We had a really great week in prac-tice, so this was pretty disappointing,”said co-captain Kelly Moran ’05.

Brown performed well on the vault,uneven bars and floor exercise. As ateam, the Bears captured first for thebars and floor. Yet this was not enoughfor Bruno to pull out the win.

The Bears’ showing on the balancebeam was uncharacteristically weak,with most of the gymnasts falling ormaking mistakes in their routines. HeadCoach Sara Carver-Milne attributed hersquad’s showing to a loss of focus.

“(The poor results) showed them thatyou can never let your guard down when

you think that you can beat the teamsyou’re competing against,” Carver-Milnesaid. “This was a big wake-up call.”

In addition to the athletes performingpoorly on beam, the injury of MandiBaughman ’06 deeply affected the team.Baughman sustained a sprained ankleafter attempting a vault she never triedbefore in competition. This led to unan-ticipated changes in the lineup, asBaughman was expected to compete onthe beam and floor as well.

“(The injury) put people in the lineupwho weren’t originally slated. We werejust trying to pull things together whenit came to the beam,” said co-captainMelissa Forziat ’05.

Despite Brown’s sub-par showing onthe beam, many individuals contributedstrong routines, including some impres-sive performances from gymnasts com-ing back from injury.

Amber Smith ’06 continued herremarkable performance this season,taking second in the all-around with a36.950. Smith won the vault with 9.375,finished third on the floor with 9.675,

took fifth on the bars with 9.100 andcame in second for Brown on the beamwith 8.800.

Sarah Cavett ’06 and Moran both hadparticularly good routines on the bars,taking first and second, respectively, inthe event. Moran said the squad per-formed “really well today (on the bars).We’ve been struggling in the past twomeets (with the bars). We did lots of rou-tines in practice this past week, and thatreally built our confidence.” Cavettposted a 9.575, and Moran scored 9.425.

Sarah Durning ’08 made valuablecontributions in the vault and floor,tying for fourth and finishing as the sec-ond Bruno competitor in the vault witha 9.250 and then posting a 9.600 onfloor.

The floor has consistently been astrong point for Brown, and Sundayproved to be no different. Forziat had aremarkable performance on floor, cap-turing second with a 9.700. Her routineled a second- through fifth-place sweep

Gaudette paces m. trackat Fast Track Invitational

Nick Neely / Herald

With a time of 14:07.6, Jeff Gaudette ‘05broke his own school record for the 5,000meter run.

W. hoops beat Crimson, fall toBig Green for 6-2 mark in Ivies

Tumblers take second place in home opener

Ashley Hess / Herald

Jackie Vocell ‘06 had 12 points in Friday’s78-63 victory over Harvard. She was oneof four Bears to score in double figures.

see W. HOOPS, page 4

see TRACK, page 9

see GYMNASTICS, page 8

Men’s Basketball

Team Ivy Record (Overall)

1. Penn 7-0 (14-7)

2. Cornell 5-3 (10-11)

3. Yale 3-3 (7-12)

3. Harvard 4-4 (9-12)

5. Columbia 3-5 (12-9)

5. Dartmouth 3-5 (6-15)

7. Brown 2-4 (9-11)

8. Princeton 2-5 (11-10)

Women’s Basketball

Team Ivy Record (Overall)

1. Dartmouth 7-0 (11-8)

2. Brown 6-2 (14-7)

3. Harvard 5-2 (13-7)

3. Penn 5-2 (12-8)

5. Columbia 4-4 (11-10)

6. Princeton 2-5 (10-10)

7. Yale 1-7 (4-17)

8. Cornell 0-8 (2-19)

IVY LEAGUE STANDINGS

Documents

Tuesday, February 15, 2005